Spod

2 definitions found

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  spod n. [UK] 1. A lower form of life found on {talker system}s and
     {MUD}s. The spod has few friends in {RL} and uses talkers instead,
     finding communication easier and preferable over the net. He has all the
     negative traits of the computer geek without having any interest in
     computers per se. Lacking any knowledge of or interest in how networks
     work, and considering his access a God-given right, he is a major


     irritant to sysadmins, clogging up lines in order to reach new MUDs,
     following passed-on instructions on how to sneak his way onto Internet
     ("Wow! It's in America!") and complaining when he is not allowed to use
     busy routes. A true spod will start any conversation with "Are you male
     or female?" (and follow it up with "Got any good
     numbers/IDs/passwords?") and will not talk to someone physically present
     in the same terminal room until they log onto the same machine that he
     is using and enter talk mode. Compare {newbie}, {tourist}, {weenie},
     {twink}, {terminal junkie}, {warez d00dz}. 2. A {backronym} for "Sole
     Purpose, Obtain a Degree"; according to some self-described spods, this
     term is used by indifferent students to condemn their harder-working
     fellows. Compare the defiant adoption of the term {geek} in the
     mid-1990s by people who would previously have been stigmatized by it. 3.
     [Glasgow University] An otherwise competent hacker who spends way too
     much time on talker systems. 4. [obs.] An ordinary person; a {random}.
     This is the meaning with which the term was coined, but the inventor
     informs us he has himself accepted sense 1.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  spod
       
           (Great Britain) A lower form of life found on {chat}
          systems and {MUD}s.  The spod has few friends in {RL} and uses
          chat instead, finding communication easier and preferable over
          the {net}.  He has all the negative traits of the {computer
          geek} without having any interest in computers per se.
          Lacking any knowledge of, or interest in, how networks work,
          and considering his access a God-given right, he is a major
          irritant to {sysadmins}, clogging up lines in order to reach
          new {MUD}s, following passed-on instructions on how to sneak
          his way onto {Internet} ("Wow!  It's in America!") and
          complaining when he is not allowed to use busy routes.  A true
          spod will start any conversation with "Are you male or
          female?" (and follow it up with "Got any good
          numbers/IDs/passwords?") and will not talk to someone
          physically present in the same terminal room until they log
          onto the same computer that he is using and enter {chat}.
       
          Compare {newbie}, {tourist}, {weenie}, {twink}, {terminal
          junkie}, {dweeb}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1998-01-18)