beta (BAY-tuh, BEE-) noun

1. Mostly working, but still under test; usually used with `in':
`in beta'. In the Real World, systems (hardware or software) software
often go through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and
Beta (out-house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of
lucky (or unlucky) trusted customers.

2. Anything that is new and experimental. "His girlfriend is in beta"
means that he is still testing for compatibility and reserving
judgment.

3. Flaky; dubious; suspect (since beta software is notoriously buggy).

[From the second letter of the Greek alphabet.]

"By the time this column appears, AOL may have released a newer beta
of Netscape 6. Until a final version comes along, remember that
preview releases are not fully tested and stable--use them at your
own risk."
Scott Spanbauer, You've Got (Real) Mail: Netscape Does AOL, PC World,
Sep 2000.

More spam... As many of you pointed out, Spam (R), a trademark of Hormel
Foods, was coined as an acronym of SPiced + hAM. Monty Python's Flying Circus,
a comedy troupe from the UK, is a favorite of a great number of hackers. In
one of their skits, the word `Spam' is offered ad nauseam--more than one
hundred times: http://montypython.net/scripts/spam.php3 Read it and you will
see how spam achieved the dubious distinction of a word used to refer to the
indiscriminate mailing of unwelcome messages.

-Anu

This week's theme: words from the hackers' jargon.

.............................................................................
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about
telescopes. -Edsger W. Dijkstra, computer science professor

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/beta.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/beta.ram

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