Pico is the PIne COmposer. It is the text editor that is included with the University of Washington's Pine software. The text editor is the favorite of many Unix newbies who are afraid of the sheer power of text editors like VI and Emacs. (Or maybe it is just that Pico is more user-friendly.)

SI prefix meaning 10 to the negative 12th power (10-12 or 10^-12). Abbreviation is p.

A street in Los Angeles.

Also one of a duo of Hispanic troublemakers on the Firesign Theater's albums, the other being Alvarado.

the funny thing is that in Chile, pico is part of the dirty slang and it means dick. So, sometimes i've heard things like "What do i use to write my code? i use my dick all the time" :-)

"Program In, Chip Out." Acronym for a technology currently being used by HP that "compiles" a C software program into a hardware chip designed to run that program. Or more accurately, it creates several different chips based on how successfully they perform their required tasks, how fast they perform, and how much they would cost to manufacture. The produced chips are intended for use in cars, gadgets like mobile phones, and various "smart" devices.

phreaking = P = pig-tail

pico- pref.

[SI: a quantifier meaning * 10^-12] Smaller than nano-; used in the same rather loose connotative way as nano- and micro-. This usage is not yet common in the way nano- and micro- are, but should be instantly recognizable to any hacker. See also quantifiers, micro-.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.

Command Line Options for version 4.0 of pico. A comfortable knowledge of them truly makes vi and emacs unnecessary for most purposes, I feel. Excerpted from the man page.



Syntax
       pico  options   file 


Options
       +n     Causes pico to be started with the cursor located n
              lines into the file. (Note: no  space  between  "+"
              sign and number)

       -a     Display  all files including those beginning with a
              period (.).

       -b     Enable the option to  Replace  text  matches  found
              using the "Where is" command.

       -d     Rebind the "delete" key so the character the cursor
              is on is rubbed out rather than  the  character  to
              its left.

       -e     Enable file name completion.

       -f     Use  function  keys for commands.  This option sup-
              ported only in conjunction with  UW  Enhanced  NCSA
              telnet.

       -h     List valid command line options.

       -j     Enable  "Goto"  command  in the file browser.  This
              enables the command to  permit  explicitly  telling
              pilot which directory to visit.

       -g     Enable  "Show  Cursor" mode in file browser.  Cause
              cursor to be positioned before the  current  selec-
              tion  rather  than  placed at the lower left of the
              display.

       -k     Causes "Cut Text" command to remove characters from
              the  cursor  position to the end of the line rather
              than remove the entire line.

       -m     Enable mouse functionality.  This only  works  when
              pico  is run from within an X Window System "xterm"
              window.

       -nn    The -nn option enables new mail notification.   The
              n argument is optional, and specifies how often, in
              seconds, your mailbox is checked for new mail.  For
              example,  -n60  causes  pico  to check for new mail
              once every minute.  The  default  interval  is  180
              seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no
              space between "n" and the number)

       -o dir Sets operating directory.  Only files  within  this
              directory   are  accessible.   Likewise,  the  file
              browser is limited to the specified directory  sub-
              tree.

       -rn    Sets  column  used to limit the "Justify" command's
              right margin

       -s speller
              Specify an alternate  program  spell  to  use  when
              spell checking.

       -t     Enable "tool" mode.  Intended for when pico is used
              as  the  editor  within  other  tools  (e.g.,  Elm,
              Pnews).  Pico will not prompt for save on exit, and
              will not rename the buffer during the  "Write  Out"
              command.

       -v     View the file only, disallowing any editing.

       -w     Disable  word  wrap  (thus  allow  editing  of long
              lines).

       -x     Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.

       -z     Enable ^Z suspension of pico.

       -q     Termcap or terminfo  definition  for  input  escape
              sequences  are  used  in  preference  to  sequences
              defined by default.  This option is only  available
              if  pico  was compiled with the TERMCAP_WINS define
              turned on.
"Pico" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for peak -- the pointed top of a mountain. Because of this, there are many mountains named Pico this or Pico that, and sometimes just plain Pico. (Particularly in Spanish speaking countries).

There is also an island called Pico (in Portugeuse Ilha do Pico), in the north Atlantic. It is the second largest of the Azores (433 sq. km. {168 sq. mi.}). It's named after it's mountain, Pico Alto (high peak), which also happens to be a volcano. Pico Alto is the highest point in Portugal (2,351 m).

Pico can also be translated as beak (of a bird), pick (noun, not verb), pickax, or 'a little bit'. Due to this it is also used as an amusing reference to males' private parts (a mountain? a spike? a little bit? The wordplay is endless).


Besides meaning one trillionth (10-12), the prefix pico- also refers to other really, really small things (For example, picornavirus).

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