1. Partial corruption of a text file or input stream by some bug or
consistent glitch, as opposed to random events like line noise or
media failures. Might occur, for example, if one bit of each incoming
character on a tty were stuck, so that some characters were correct
and others were not. See {dread high-bit disease}.
2. By extension, accidental display of text in a mode where the
output device emits special symbols or mnemonics rather than
conventional ASCII. This often happens, for example, when using a
terminal or comm program on a device like an IBM PC with a special
`high-half' character set and with the bit-parity assumption wrong. A
hacker sufficiently familiar with ASCII bit patterns might be able to
read the display anyway.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {terminak}]