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smoke and mirrors n.
Marketing deceptions. The term is
mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly
associated with bogus demos and crocked benchmarks (see also
MIPS, machoflops). "They claim their new box cranks 50
MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix --
sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase, popularized by
newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin c.1975, has been said to
derive from carnie slang for magic acts and `freak show' displays
that depend on `trompe l'oeil' effects, but also calls to mind
the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for
whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were
regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another
round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel
analogously disheartened. See also stealth manager.
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