1. To cover the roller's bet in a craps game. 2. To move away casually. "Bulls (police), Ed, fade."

- american underworld dictionary - 1950
A type or feature of a haircut, especially of the short style worn by military members.
In short hair, especially men's, the hair should fade from none at the bottom to manageble hair at the top
The important part of a good fade is that there should be no visible changes in length of hair. There should never be any area of the hair that is obviously of a different length, except in those places where it is appropriate, ie. a part.

Fade is also the name of a book by Robert Cormier (who also wrote The Chocolate War and I am the Cheese.) It's about a boy who can "fade" (turn invisible) and the power it gives him and the grief it causes.

It's a good book. The cover says (paraphrasing), imagine Ellison's The Invisible Man crossed with Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, but I wouldn't go that far. I think Fade is somewhat reminiscent of a good Stephen King book; it's definately got King's sense of psychological drama. Of all of Cormier's books, Fade has the strongest elements of fantasy and science fiction.



A longer plot synopsis (warning: spoilers):

The first part of the book is about Paul, a poor, lonely and sensitive boy growing up during the Depression. He learns from his uncle how to "fade" (disappear). Paul is filled with longing and desire, particularly due to his awakening sexuality, and uses his power to spy on the people around him. What he discovers is that the way people act in public is far different than the way they are in private. This is disillusioning to the naive boy who keeps on promising himself that he'll stop fading. But he can't stop and eventually uses his power to commit a murder.

The second part of the book is about Paul's search for the next-generation fader in his family. He finds it in Ozzie, the illegitimate child of his sister, who was sent away to live in Maine. But whereas Paul was sensitive and shy, Ozzie is angry and disturbed. He hears voices in his head that tell him to commit crimes including arson and murder. So Paul has to go after Ozzie to stop him from his crime spree and, in the final confrontation, Paul has to kill his sick nephew.

I really liked the first part -- it was vivid and engaging and I could empathize with Paul. I didn't like the second part as much -- I thought it was a little trite and disjointed and relied too heavily on action rather than the meaningful character development that Cormier does so well. Still, I think it's well worth one's time.

Fade previously known as untitled.

traded heros for reruns
we won't even remember
when did we become so old
beat and forgotten, left out in the cold
your smile is wearing thin
trying to pretend you're not dying within

we became ghosts in hallways
lone spectres drowning sorrows
drunk in placid sedation
langushing in quiet desperation
broken down minds empty brains
wasting away until nothing remains

you feel the madness screaming
howling in your ears at night
it never lets you forget
how you will always be an idiot
the same familiar voice
saying you're worthless, that you have no choice

the scars never disappear
reminders of so much pain
stab it with your steely blades
the sensation never fades
trying to kill it away
hoping to feel alive again someday

still think about you sometimes
it just seems like yesterday
are you so blind, can't you see
This wasn't how it was supposed to be
the future was so bright
we still believed in things at first sight
A much ballyhooed new copy protection scheme soon to be used on Codemaster's new game Operation Flashpoint. Here's the idea: over a period of time, a pirated video game equipped with this FADE technology will discover that it is not the original and gradually degrade key portions of game play until the game itself is no longer entertaining. What a fucking joke. Here's a few reasons why fade won't work:

  • The most important part of the whole copy protection thing is still easy to crack. If they game never knows its been pirated, it won't start degrading. See [how crackers break copy protection
  • Game designers will be reluctant to fully implement this technology because, who wants to spend years developing a game and then add months to a development cycle in order to effectively and thoroughly ruin your own game.
  • Finally, most importantly, this is why the cracking scene exists. This is the entire reason for being. If ripping, cracking and distributing games was a piece of cake, everyone would be doing. There is a reason why the scene has grown the way it has. A lot of people think its greed, but, the real reason is because the challenge exists. Now that the cracking scene knows about this new method of protection (I learned about it from a major internet news outlet) it will be the biggest deal since bread came sliced. Every group and his mother will be rushing out to crack the new FADE enabled games to see who can get there first and when one does, they'll get a little bit more of some imaginary unit of respect than the others.

Fade (?) a. [F., prob. fr. L. vapidus vapid, or possibly fr,fatuus foolish, insipid.]

Weak; insipid; tasteless; commonplace.

[R.] "Passages that are somewhat fade."

Jeffrey.

His masculine taste gave him a sense of something fade and ludicrous. De Quincey.

 

© Webster 1913.


Fade (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faded; p. pr. & vb. n. Fading.] [OE. faden, vaden, prob. fr. fade, a.; cf. Prov. D. vadden to fade, wither, vaddigh languid, torpid. Cf. Fade, a., Vade.]

1.

To become fade; to grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.

The earth mourneth and fadeth away. Is. xxiv. 4.

2.

To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color.

"Flowers that never fade."

Milton.

3.

To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.

The stars shall fade away. Addison

He makes a swanlike end, Fading in music. Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.


Fade, v. t.

To cause to wither; to deprive of freshness or vigor; to wear away.

No winter could his laurels fade. Dryden.

 

© Webster 1913.

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