Dilbert
- Name and title character of a comic strip nationally syndicated in
the U.S. and enormously popular among hackers. Dilbert is an
archetypical engineer-nerd who works at an anonymous high-technology
company; the strips present a lacerating satire of insane working
conditions and idiotic management practices all too
readily recognized by hackers. Adams, who spent nine years in cube 4S700R at Pacific Bell (not DEC as often reported), often remarks that
he has never been able to come up with a fictional management blunder
that his correspondents didn’t quickly either report to have actually
happened or top with a similar but even more bizarre incident. In 1996
Adams distilled his insights into the collective psychology of
businesses into an even funnier book, The Dilbert Principle
(HarperCollins, ISBN 0-887-30787-6). See also pointy-haired, rat dance.