IBM [International Business Machines, Incorporated] Zaibatsu that at one time completely controlled computers; really fucked up when they licensed Microsoft to market DOS (which was, by the way, a product that was acquired by them from another company). Because DOS backfired on them, they created OS/2, which was largely ignored. Most recently they’ve allied with Apple (previously their bitter foe) and Motorola with the PowerPC chip and have regained some of their reputation in the hardware world with the IBM ThinkPad, one of the best laptops available IBM-PC International Business Machines Personal Computer or compatible. Refers to one of the five gazillion machines that run Microsoft DOS or the variants; Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Windows for Workgroups; Microsoft Windows 95; LINUX or IBM’s OS/2. 90% of the marketplace is taken up by these machines. These systems include many basic types of machines, usually run on Intel’s chips. By the way, the term IBM-PC is becoming more and more of a misnomer; almost all are not actually made by IBM, especially since IBM is trying to challenge Microsoft and Intel with PPCP and the PowerPC chip now ICE [Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics] Used in _Neuromancer_ and other novels (I don’t know where first, but I know it was coined by Tom Maddox, who refuses to answer my emails as to where and how he first used it. Come on, Tom! :) But I digress) to be the graphical metaphor of computer security IDOL, BILLY [that’s not his real name, but I don’t give a fuck what it really is] Punk singer who was a success in the 1970s and '80s; former member of Generation X. Supposedly he used to be cool, but everything I’ve ever seen him do after Generation X was pretty lame. Jumped on the "cyber" bandwagon with his album _Cyberpunk_, which was a total failure as far as I can figure. You can reach him at idol@phantom.com IL DUCE see PHIBER OPTIK ILF Alternately the Internet Liberation Front, the Information Liberation Front, and Information Longs to be Free. Net "terrorist" group, possibly started as a joke. Rerouted Josh Quittner’s message system and left a politically motivated message. (This incarnation probably included MOD or LOD members, because Quittner had just written a book on the MOD/LOD war) In 1995, one or more people claiming to be doing "independant contracting" for the ILF hacked MGM/UA’s _Hackers_ home page. It is also used as sort of an international brotherhood; when confidential or proprietary information is released to the Net, the ILF sometimes gets the credit. There is also now the network available at <http://www.ilf.net/>, which I recommend INDUSTRIAL Techo's evil twin; style of music that has begun to go mainstream; considered cyberpunk or marginally so. Grew out of the late 1970s British punk scene with Genesis P. Orridge's Throbbing Gristle; was later watered down and combined with other styles of music to be more palatable. Skinny Puppy, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails are all considered industrial. Gareth Brandwyn called it "the sounds our culture makes as it comes unglued." INDUSTRIAL HACKING Industrial espionage using hackers, sometimes freelancers, though mostly corporate employees. Appears in SF more than in real life, though it does occur INFOBAHN see INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY INFORMATION LIBERATION FRONT see ILF INFORMATION LONGS TO BE FREE. see ILF INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY [or Infobahn or several other cutesy phrases] Pretty stupid metaphor for the Internet, popularized by (then) Senator Al Gore INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK [ISDN] see ISDN INTEGRATED SPECIAL SERVICES NETWORK [ISSN] see ISSN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES, INCORPORATED [IBM] see IBM [International Business Machines, Incorporated] INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES PERSONAL COMPUTER [IBM-PC] see IBM-PC INTERNET LIBERATION FRONT [ILF] see ILF INTERNET PROTOCOL [IP] see TCP/IP INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER [ISP] see ISP INTERNET WORM The worm created by Robert Morris in 1988 that replicated out of control due to bad programming and took down a lot of computers. News stories persisted in calling it a "virus," which pissed everyone off INTERZONE A cultural area where "the street finds its own uses for things;" from the hallucinogenic hell which appears in William S. Burroughs’ _Naked Lunch_. Also the title of a British SF magazine INTRUSION COUNTERMEASURE ELECTRONICS [ICE] see ICE [Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics] ISDN [Integrated Services Digital Network] Technology to completely digitize the phone service that was abandoned after much work (it began in the early 1980s) in the early 1990s because it was too expensive. It is currently used for high-speed Internet access, slower than T1 but faster than a modem. It is just becoming widely used by phone networks ISP [Internet Service Provider] The local networks most normal people have to dial into to reach the Internet; ISPs, in turn, make deals with such Internet backbone owners as MCI to connect to the Internet ISSN [Integrated Special Services Network] In a phone system (notably AT&T), controls special user features and customer control options. Not to be confused with ISSN, the serial number used by the Library of Congress used to register magazines