< jargon > /si:'ber-kruhd/ 1. (Coined by Ted Nelson) Obfuscatory tech-talk. Verbiage with a high MEGO factor. The computer equivalent of bureaucratese.
2. Incomprehensible stuff embedded in e-mail. First there were the "Received" headers that show how mail flows through systems, then MIME ( Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions ) headers and part boundaries, and now huge blocks of hex for PEM ( Privacy Enhanced Mail ) or PGP ( Pretty Good Privacy ) digital signatures and certificates of authenticity. This stuff all has a purpose and good user interfaces should hide it, but all too often users are forced to wade through it.
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(1995-04-04)