Related:

• lopsucker /slop'suhk-r/ n. A lowest-priority task that waits around until everything else has `had its fill' of machine resources.
  Only when the machine would otherwise be idle is the task allowed to `suck up the slop'....
• hungry puppy: n. Syn. {slopsucker}. -- The AI Hackers Dictionary
• background: n.,adj.,vt. To do a task `in background' is to do it whenever {foreground} matters are not claiming your undivided attentio
  and `to background' something means to relegate it to a lower priority....
• background n.,adj.,vt. [common] To do a task `in background' is to do it whenever foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attentio
  and `to background' something means to relegate it to a lower priority....
• hungry puppy n. Syn. slopsucker.
• bottom feeder: n. Syn. for {slopsucker}, derived from the fishermen's and naturalists' term for finny creatures who subsist on the primordial ooze.
  -- The AI Hackers Dictionary...
• lop: n. 1. A one-sided {fudge factor}, that is, an allowance for error but in only one of two directions.
  For example, if you need a piece of wire 10 feet long and have to guess when you cut it, you make very sure to cut it too long, by a large amount if necessary, rather than too short by even a little bit, because you can always cut off the slop but you can't paste it back on again....
• Internet n. The mother of all networks. First incarnated beginning in 1969 as the ARPANET, a U.
  S. Department of Defense research testbed. Though it has been widely believed that the goal was to develop a network architecture for military command-and-control that could survive disruptions up to and including nuclear war, this is a myth...
• fudge factor: n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way to produce the desired result.
  The terms `tolerance' and {slop} are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger than necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is better to waste a little space than to lose completely for not having enough....