dangling pointer
n. A reference that doesn't actually lead anywhere (in C and some other languages, a pointer that doesn't actually point at anything valid). Usually this is because it formerly pointed to something that has moved or disappeared. Used as jargon in a generalization of its techspeak meaning; for example, a local phone number for a person who has since moved to the other coast is a dangling pointer.
dark-side hacker
n. A criminal or malicious hacker; a {cracker}. From George Lucas's Darth Vader, "seduced by the dark side of the Force". The implication that hackers form a sort of elite of technological Jedi Knights is intended. Oppose {samurai}.
Datamation
/day`t*-may'sh*n/ n. A magazine that many hackers assume all {suit}s read. Used to question an unbelieved quote, as in "Did you read that in `Datamation?'" It used to publish something hackishly funny every once in a while, like the original paper on {COME FROM} in 1973, but it has since become much more exclusively {suit}-oriented and boring.
day mode
n. See {phase} (sense 1). Used of people only.