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The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0, 24 Jul 1996 by Various
page 178 of 773 (23%)
enticement purposes.

:demo mode: /n./ 1. [Sun] The state of being {heads down}
in order to finish code in time for a {demo}, usually due
yesterday. 2. A mode in which video games sit by themselves
running through a portion of the game, also known as `attract
mode'. Some serious {app}s have a demo mode they use as a
screen saver, or may go through a demo mode on startup (for
example, the Microsoft Windows opening screen -- which lets you
impress your neighbors without actually having to put up with
{Microsloth Windows}).

:demon: /n./ 1. [MIT] A portion of a program that is not
invoked explicitly, but that lies dormant waiting for some
condition(s) to occur. See {daemon}. The distinction is that
demons are usually processes within a program, while daemons are
usually programs running on an operating system. 2. [outside MIT]
Often used equivalently to {daemon} -- especially in the
{{Unix}} world, where the latter spelling and pronunciation is
considered mildly archaic.

Demons in sense 1 are particularly common in AI programs. For
example, a knowledge-manipulation program might implement inference
rules as demons. Whenever a new piece of knowledge was added,
various demons would activate (which demons depends on the
particular piece of data) and would create additional pieces of
knowledge by applying their respective inference rules to the
original piece. These new pieces could in turn activate more
demons as the inferences filtered down through chains of logic.
Meanwhile, the main program could continue with whatever its
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