Moderator: /
mōde · răt´ · ôr/ n. A worthless
BOFH.
In the earliest days of the Internet, way back before electricity even, TCP packets were routed in one of two ways -- via carrier pigeon, or via rat. The carrier pigeon was fast and reliable, and showed that the sender really cared about the recipient getting the message. The rat, on the other hand, would usually eat the packet and shit pellets. Naturally, sending via carrier pigeons cost more!
When sending a message over the internet, you had to go to the local Internet Office, take a number, and wait. (The old name of these offices,
America In Line, was only slightly modified for the electric age.) When your number was called, you would take a blank packet and write your message on it. You had to check how your message was sent:
___ mode RAT or ___ mode PIGEON (+ $10)
During the Great Depression, so few people could afford to send their internet messages by carrier pigeon, that AIL was forced to discontinue pigeon service. Their new packets had the pigeon option scratched out:
___ mode RAT or ___ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
AIL made other cutbacks as well, which made their employees very grouchy and pissy
all the time. Pretty soon, the grouchy, pissy Internet employees were identified in the public mind with the poor service and the pigeon-less forms. They became known as "mode rat ors", an in-joke that is today all but forgotten.
Today, the internet moves at lightning speed over invisible strands of pixie dust bestowed upon us by the great Al Gore, but the hated "mode rat ors" continue their work, raining on virtual parades, and pooping on e-parties.