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handle


handle: n. 1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a `nom
   de guerre' intended to conceal the user's true identity.  Network
   and BBS handles function as the same sort of simultaneous
   concealment and display one finds on Citizen's Band radio, from
   which the term was adopted.  Use of grandiose handles is
   characteristic of crackers, weenies, spods, and
   other lower forms of network life; true hackers travel on their own
   reputations rather than invented legendry.  Compare
   nick. 2. [Mac] A pointer to a pointer to dynamically-allocated
   memory; the extra level of indirection allows on-the-fly memory
   compaction (to cut down on fragmentation) or aging out of unused
   resources, with minimal impact on the (possibly multiple) parts of
   the larger program containing references to the allocated memory.
   Compare snap (to snap a handle would defeat its purpose); see
   also aliasing bug, dangling pointer.