Word: gibberish
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...Okay, take the College's alcohol policy. It's really for the birds. I mean, when I went to register, I got handed this 30-page packet of legal gibberish and administrative threats. They probably spent more time putting it together than all the first-years combined spent on glancing at it before throwing it in the trash...
...because the original DNA has been torn into so many random bits of genetic gibberish (as opposed to the predictable fragments made by gene-cutting enzymes), scientists need powerful computers to determine where the tiny fragments overlap. This is tough enough when you're sequencing a small part of a chromosome. But now Smith urged Venter to try it out, not merely on a strip of DNA but on an entire genome. He proposed Haemophilus influenzae, a bacterium that causes ear infections and meningitis. Until then, only a few small viruses, whose genomes had tens of thousands of genetic letters...
...streamline sampling, the system identifies subjects not by their entire genetic blueprint but by tiny stretches of DNA coding, known as short tandem repeats that are just two to seven base-pairs long. Though little more than genetic gibberish, STRs yield remarkably accurate results. If three of the ministrands match a suspect's, the likelihood is 2,000 to 1 that police have the right person. Nine matches boost the odds to 1 billion to 1. FBI sampling rules require no fewer than 13 matches. "Its success as a crime-fighting tool is incredible," says Christopher Asplen, director...
...vendors employ a technology known as SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer. SSL allows your personal information to be encrypted via the application of a sophisticated mathematical formula. The encryption process turns your information from a form that is easily understood by any human to a mass of seemingly random gibberish. The intended receiver of the information can then transform the gibberish back into its original form via a decryption process that uses a different set of mathematical formulas...
Your kid won't stop begging for a Furby, right? She says they squawk in kiddie gibberish and make gurgling noises and sing songs. And you've driven to every mall in the state and still can't find it. Your next-door neighbor traded his car for a dozen on a black-market website, but he's hoarding them until just before Christmas, prime time for scalping. You're stuck with a K Mart waiting list and cheerful lies from salespeople: "We'll call you soon." Makes you wanna gouge those adorable Furby eyes right out of their electronic...