Thrangrycat(thrangrycat.com)
thrangrycat.com
Thrangrycat
https://thrangrycat.com/
10 comments
> How do you describe the meaning of this vulnerability name?
> We chose to communicate [Thrangrycat] through a visual representation of symbols, rather than “words.” Naming vulnerabilities using emoji sequences instead of other pronounceable natural languages have several advantages. First, emoji sequences are universally understood across nearly all natural languages. Choosing [Thrangrycat] instead of a name rooted in any one language ensures that the technical contents of our research can be discussed democratically and without latent cultural or linguistic bias. Second, emojis are indexical to the digital age. Third, clear communication is the foundation of friendship, and such a foundation must begin with proper ontological agreement. Just as the universal language of mathematics is largely expressed through interlinguistic symbology, so too is [Thrangrycat]. Fourth, cats are seen as almost paradoxical beings. While they exist in our lives as the ultimate creatures of leisure, cats are also fierce predators. “Cats are the most highly specialized of the terrestrial flesh-eating mammals. They are powerfully built, with a large brain and strong teeth. The teeth are adapted to three functions: stabbing (canines), anchoring (canines), and cutting (carnassial molars).”
Ironically, emoji don't work in Hacker News comments; so I had to insert their made up word "Thrangrycat" to convey their remarks on name choice.
> We chose to communicate [Thrangrycat] through a visual representation of symbols, rather than “words.” Naming vulnerabilities using emoji sequences instead of other pronounceable natural languages have several advantages. First, emoji sequences are universally understood across nearly all natural languages. Choosing [Thrangrycat] instead of a name rooted in any one language ensures that the technical contents of our research can be discussed democratically and without latent cultural or linguistic bias. Second, emojis are indexical to the digital age. Third, clear communication is the foundation of friendship, and such a foundation must begin with proper ontological agreement. Just as the universal language of mathematics is largely expressed through interlinguistic symbology, so too is [Thrangrycat]. Fourth, cats are seen as almost paradoxical beings. While they exist in our lives as the ultimate creatures of leisure, cats are also fierce predators. “Cats are the most highly specialized of the terrestrial flesh-eating mammals. They are powerfully built, with a large brain and strong teeth. The teeth are adapted to three functions: stabbing (canines), anchoring (canines), and cutting (carnassial molars).”
Ironically, emoji don't work in Hacker News comments; so I had to insert their made up word "Thrangrycat" to convey their remarks on name choice.
I'm really hoping that the choice of name here is meant as commentary on the trend of coming up with cute names for vulnerabilities. Using emoji combinations for vulnerability names does seem like the next logical step, even though it's also absurd.
I hope not, because not all terminals support unicode, not all applications do, etc. Also, as the author mentioned, it is hard for the layman to understand how to pronounce it. Why they did not name it "thrangrycat", I do not know. All though, that almost seems worse than the emoticon option.
Short discussion on this Cisco vulnerabilities earlier today:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19902923
Love the emoji domain :)
I found it interesting that the section that explains the name of this vulnerability is way more thought-out and verbose than any of the other sections. It's almost like they had a linguist on the team and the emoji name was his prideful contribution.
Also, I see zero justification for why this particular array of emoji: is this a particularly angry-making vuln? Particularly carnivorous? It's not even particularly unambiguous, a requirement, I would have thought, for "proper ontological agreement".
Anchor - Spiderweb - Personal Computer would have been a more meaningful name, from a cursory glance.
Anchor - Spiderweb - Personal Computer would have been a more meaningful name, from a cursory glance.
(Also, I don't think you can meaningfully claim it's properly called when both your HTML <title> and <h1> are both 'thangrycat', and the emoji themselves are relegated to the body text, as well as using the pronoun "this vulnerability" repeatedly to avoid having to put more kitties in your post)