micro-: pref. 1. Very small; this is the root of its use as a
quantifier prefix. 2. A quantifier prefix, calling for
multiplication by 10^(-6) (see quantifiers). Neither of these
uses is peculiar to hackers, but hackers tend to fling them both
around rather more freely than is countenanced in standard English.
It is recorded, for example, that one CS professor used to
characterize the standard length of his lectures as a microcentury
-- that is, about 52.6 minutes (see also attoparsec, nanoacre,
and especially microfortnight). 3. Personal or human-scale --
that is, capable of being maintained or comprehended or manipulated
by one human being. This sense is generalized from `microcomputer',
and is esp. used in contrast with `macro-' (the corresponding
Greek prefix meaning `large'). 4. Local as opposed to global (or
macro-). Thus a hacker might say that buying a smaller car to
reduce pollution only solves a microproblem; the macroproblem of
getting to work might be better solved by using mass transit, moving
to within walking distance, or (best of all) telecommuting.
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