smoke and mirrors: n. Marketing deceptions. The term is
mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly
associated with bogus demos and crocked benchmarks (see also
MIPS, machoflops). "They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for
under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix -- sounds like
smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase, popularized by newspaper
columnist Jimmy Breslin c.1975, has been said to derive from carnie
slang for magic acts and `freak show' displays that depend on
`trompe l'oeil' effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god
Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge
numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon
hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based
marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened.
See also stealth manager.
![[prev]](../gif/left.gif){kind=small}
![[up]](../gif/up.gif){kind=small}
![[next]](../gif/right.gif){kind=small}