I've heard about these a thousand times, but still don't know what it means ... I'm assuming it has to do with button presses or peanut butter... someone fill me in.

It's a timing thing in the kernel, see the Jargon File

/Michael

If you are running beta 13, you don't need to worry about it, the bug has been fixed.

A Jiffy is a clock cycle, it's part of the timer mechanism on computers. Sometimes software is dependent upon these timer mechanisms. A small bug in the 2.0 beta 11 software related to this would sometimes cause the user interface (your button presses) to stop responding for a period of about 20 minutes.

This bug was fixed in beta 13. It was also fixed in the Hijack kernel.

I think it's like a nooner.

Heh. I've heard those referred to as a "Matinee", also.

Of course, you could have a "jiffy" any time of day, even at 3am.

If you are running beta 13, you don't need to worry about it,

Unless, of course, he plans on writing empeg software that takes a long button press into account...

For those of you not in the UK,
You may or may not, be aware that there is/was a brand of condom available in the UK called "Jiffy" [don't ask me why its called that - except that maybe Jiffy
used as a condom brand name hinted at how quick/easy they were to put on/use, and hopefully not how long they were in use for].

I recall seeing them for sale in coin operating condom dispensers in some UK pubs in the 80s.

The Jiffy brand name lead to a memorable marketing slogan - (so I have been told),
of:

If its stiffy, use a Jiffy.

Which is kind of succinct and to the point [no pun intended].

Which reminds me of a colleague of mine told me once years ago that one of Stiff Records (a UK independent record label in the 70's and 80s) early marketing tag/byline was "If it ain't Stiff it ain't worth a F*ck"

But, neither of these explain why a small unit of time is called a Jiffy.

Then again, how many people know the smallest measureable unit of measure of mouse movement is/was called a "mickey" [I read this in some Microsoft documentation 20 years ago]?

[I think there were something like 100 mickeys to a inch, but I may be wrong]

[I think there were something like 100 mickeys to a inch, but I may be wrong]

Man, that's a heck of a drinking game -- move your mouse an inch, drink 100 mickeys? I don't think I'd last more than a pixel...

In reply to:

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[I think there were something like 100 mickeys to a inch, but I may be wrong]

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Whilst we're on the subject of strange measuring units...

My car get 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way i likes it!

ISTR "When you have a stiffie, come in a Jiffy"

I used to be good friends with the manufacturers (no, not for that reason! The family were close neighbours where I grew up).

Well, not to be prudish or anything - I like my remembered version better.

But whatever I bow to your obviously more detailed and recent knowledge of the subject.

The basic concept behind both of these bylines is the same:
Use Jiffy condoms.

Do they still sell this brand in the UK?