mouse droppings

1. graphics, operating system, jargon Pixels (usually

single) that are not properly restored when the mousepointer moves away from a particular location on the screen,

producing the appearance that the mouse pointer has left

droppings behind. The major causes for this problem are

MS-DOS programs that write to the screen memory

corresponding to the mouse pointer's current location without

hiding the mouse pointer first, and mouse drivers that do not

quite support the graphics mode in use.

2. World-Wide Web, jargon The client address recorded in a

World-Wide Web server's log whenever a client connects to a

site.

Users may be unaware that their activity is being logged in

this way but the potential for misuse of the information is

limited.

[March 1996 Macworld, p260, Viewpoint article by Larry Irving].

(1994-12-05)