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Contest

Here's a little contest for you.  This is serious, although it isn't
written quite that way.  Your participation is actually solicited!

Prelude
-------
Rich (DeMillo), Hira (Agrawal), Hsin (Pan) and I (spaf) have been
working on this debugger project for a few years now.  We've got a
working prototype.  We're writing all kinds of papers about it.  It's
marvelous, revolutionary, and cutting edge research.  It's also
nameless.

We've been so busy with fascinating research results, we have totally
neglected coming up with a clever name for our work.  As a result, we
are at a clear disadvantage to all those research teams that develop
the acronym or name prior to building a project -- they have the name
by the time they get to publish and attend conferences.  Of course,
sometimes all they ever develop is the name, but....

This contest is to come up with an appropriate, catchy name for our
debugger (project).  It doesn't have to be an acronym (at least, it
doesn't need to be one originally), but that would be even better than
just a catchy name.  Words in English preferred, but words in exotic
languages that are appropriate would suffice (nb: Cobol is *not* an
exotic language).

Principle features of our debugger than make it unique are the
inclusion of backtracking, dynamic slicing, and the use of test-based
information to help locate faults.  It's X Windows based, and works
for C.  If you want more information, let me know and I'll ship you
copies of some recent tech reports on the project.

Other groups have used up names like Raid and Black Flag, so please
don't suggest those.

We're looking for the kind of imagination displayed by Stu Feldman in
coming up with the name "Mothra" for a system doing (program) bug
mutation.  We are not looking for suggestions like "drop all the
vowels from debug -- call it dbg!"

Rules
-----
1) Entries accepted until the start of the IAB meeting.

2) Contestants may make more than one entry.

3) The judges are Rich, Hira, Hsin and myself.  In the case of a tie
vote, whatever makes Shirley laugh the most wins.

4) Judges can enter the contest, too.

5) Entries must be suitable for use in submissions to family-oriented
refereed journals.

6) There is no rule 6.

7) Each entry must be pronouncable by at least some of the judges.

Prizes
------
Grand prize winner gets his or her name in a footnote on the next few
papers and grant proposals we write.  I may also throw in a six-pack
of the winner's favorite carbonated beverage (that normally comes in
six packs).  I won't throw too hard, to avoid undue fizz.

Second prize gets a hearty "thank you".  If the suggestion is good
enough, we may fabricate another project around it.

Third prize winner buys us lunch somewhere.

Entering
--------
E-mail your entries to debug@cs.purdue.edu after midnight tonight.
(The mailer alias will not be established before then.)

Disclaimer
----------
This contest void in Idaho, Quebec, and parts of Oz.  No purchase
necessary.  Any attempt to bend, fold, spindle, or mutilate the judges
will result in immediate disqualification.  Please do not drive or
operate heavy machinery while entering this contest.  Do not exceed 12
entries per day.  Keep out of the reach of children, pets, and
politicians.  Judges' decisions are final.  Maybe.

--spaf (Friday afternoon again)