programmed

Definition

The act of force-feeding instructions into a computer's brain so it stops asking questions and just does what you want. Whether you're configuring software or scheduling events, programming transforms chaos into compliance—at least until the code breaks at 3 a.m.

Example Usage

The engineer programmed the system to automatically reject emails containing Comic Sans font.

Source: Merriam-Webster via Free Dictionary API

Related Terms

Beginner

rotate

To spin, turn, or advance through a sequence—especially when aircraft do that dramatic nose-lift thing right before takeoff that makes your stomach do backflips. Pilots call it rotating; physics calls it defying gravity for a moment; everyone's seatbelts call it showtime.

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whacked

When technology or a system behaves in ways that defy all logic, documentation, and the laws of physics. The polite way programmers say something is fundamentally broken without admitting they have no idea why.

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Intermediate

ROM

Read-Only Memory, the permanent storage chip in your computer that holds essential instructions like the BIOS and can't be easily modified—it's the tattoo of computer memory. Unlike RAM which forgets everything when you turn off the power, ROM stubbornly remembers its data forever, like that embarrassing thing you said in 2007. It's where your computer stores the startup instructions it needs before it can even think about loading an operating system.

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Intermediate

axles

The hardworking spindles that let your wheels actually turn instead of just sitting there judging your engineering. The unsung heroes of mechanical motion—boring, essential, never mentioned in pitches.

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Advanced

the daily

Apple and Murdoch's 2011 attempt at a paid iPad newspaper that proved people won't pay for mediocre content just because it has fancy swipe effects. The publication lasted about as long as most New Year's resolutions, shuttering in 2012 after burning through millions. A cautionary tale in the "build it and they'll pay" fallacy.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

functionality

Corporate speak for "what this thing actually does" when stripped of marketing fluff and aspirational promises. In product development, it's the features that work versus the ones listed on the box; in trademark law, it's the legal concept that saves actually useful designs from being monopolized. The more someone emphasizes "rich functionality," the more likely you're getting a bloated mess of half-working features nobody asked for.

💻 Tech / IT

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