Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the
connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of
particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).

:attoparsec: /n./ About an inch. `atto-' is the standard SI
prefix for multiplication by 10^(-18). A parsec
(parallax-second) is 3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus
3.26 * 10^(-18) light years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1
attoparsec/{microfortnight} equals about 1 inch/sec). This unit
is reported to be in use (though probably not very seriously) among
hackers in the U.K. See {micro-}.

:autobogotiphobia: /aw'toh-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/ /n./ See
{bogotify}.

:automagically: /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ /adv./ Automatically, but
in a way that, for some reason (typically because it is too
complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too trivial), the speaker
doesn't feel like explaining to you. See {magic}. "The
C-INTERCAL compiler generates C, then automagically invokes
`cc(1)' to produce an executable."

This term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s and
probably much earlier. The word `automagic' occurred in
advertising
(for a shirt-ironing gadget) as far back as the late 1940s.

:avatar: /n./ Syn. 1. Among people working on virtual reality
and {cyberspace} interfaces, an "avatar" is an icon or