:dump: /n./ 1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information
about a problem or the state of a system, especially one routed to
the slowest available output device (compare {core dump}), and
most especially one consisting of hex or octal {runes}
describing the byte-by-byte state of memory, mass storage, or some
file. In {elder days}, debugging was generally done by
`groveling over' a dump (see {grovel}); increasing use of
high-level languages and interactive debuggers has made such tedium
uncommon, and the term `dump' now has a faintly archaic flavor.
2. A backup. This usage is typical only at large timesharing
installations.

:dumpster diving: /dump'-ster di:'-ving/ /n./ 1. The practice
of sifting refuse from an office or technical installation to
extract confidential data, especially security-compromising
information (`dumpster' is an Americanism for what is elsewhere
called a `skip'). Back in AT&T's monopoly days, before paper
shredders became common office equipment, phone phreaks (see
{phreaking}) used to organize regular dumpster runs against
phone company plants and offices. Discarded and damaged copies of
AT&T internal manuals taught them much. The technique is still
rumored to be a favorite of crackers operating against careless
targets. 2. The practice of raiding the dumpsters behind buildings
where producers and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are
located, with the expectation (usually justified) of finding
discarded but still-valuable equipment to be nursed back to health
in some hacker's den. Experienced dumpster-divers not infrequently
accumulate basements full of moldering (but still potentially
useful) {cruft}.