:magic: adj. 1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain;
compare {automagically} and (Arthur C.) Clarke's Third Law:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic." "TTY echoing is controlled by a large number of magic
bits." "This routine magically computes the parity of an 8-bit
byte in three instructions." 2. Characteristic of something that
works although no one really understands why (this is especially
called {black magic}). 3. [Stanford] A feature not generally
publicized that allows something otherwise impossible, or a feature
formerly in that category but now unveiled. Compare {black
magic}, {wizardly}, {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}.
For more about hackish `magic', see {A Story About `Magic'}
(in {Appendix A}).
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
