handle

handle n.  1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a
   `nom de guerre' intended to conceal the user's true identity.
   Network and BBS handles function as the same sort of simultaneous
   concealment and display one finds on Citizen's Band radio, from
   which the term was adopted.  Use of grandiose handles is
   characteristic of {warez d00dz}, {cracker}s, {weenie}s,
   {spod}s, and other lower forms of network life; true hackers
   travel on their own reputations rather than invented legendry.
   Compare {nick}. 2. [Mac] A pointer to a pointer to
   dynamically-allocated memory; the extra level of indirection allows
   on-the-fly memory compaction (to cut down on fragmentation) or
   aging out of unused resources, with minimal impact on the (possibly
   multiple) parts of the larger program containing references to the
   allocated memory.  Compare {snap} (to snap a handle would defeat
   its purpose); see also {aliasing bug}, {dangling
   pointer}.