Related:

• howstopper n. A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an implementation effectively unusable
  one that absolutely has to be fixed before development can go on....
• engine: n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of {front end}.
  Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer....
• bug n. An unwanted and unintended property of a program or piece of hardware, esp.
  one that causes it to malfunction. Antonym of feature....
• crew: [MIT] n. A {lose}, usually in software. Especially used for user-visible misbehavior caused by a bug or misfeature.
  This use has become quite widespread outside MIT. -- The AI Hackers Dictionary...
• critical mass: n. In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction.
  Of a software product, describes a condition of the software such that fixing one bug introduces one plus {epsilon} bugs....
• blivet: /bliv'*t/ [allegedly from a World War II military term meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] n.
  1. An intractable problem. 2. A crucial piece of hardware that can't be fixed or replaced if it breaks....
• weeds: n. 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no possible relevance or practical application.
  Comes from `off in the weeds'. Used in phrases like "lexical analysis for microcode is serious weeds....
• wirehead: /wi:r'hed/ n. [prob. from SF slang for an electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1.
  A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on communications hardware....
• chroedinbug: /shroh'din-buhg/ [MIT: from the Schroedinger's Cat thought-experiment in quantum physics] n.
  A design or implementation bug in a program that doesn't manifest until someone reading source or using the program in an unusual way notices that it never should have worked, at which point the program promptly stops working for everybody until fixed....