the four right chords can make me cry

yay, google.

Definitions of bootstrap on the Web:

To load and initialize the operating system on a computer. Often abbreviated to boot.
www.ontrack.com/glossary/

(boot·strap) (b[ldbomac]t¢strap) in statistics, a method for computing the distribution of values based on random resampling from the observed data.
www.mercksource.com

A technique for loading the first few instructions of a computer program into active memory and then using them to bring in the rest of the program.
www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASMGlossary.html

a method for assessing the statistical significance the positions of branches in a phylogenetic tree that is inferred by a pairwise method (eg Neighbor-Joining or UPGMA). A bootstrap starts with a set of sequences in which every possible sequence pair has been aligned. For each aligned pair, it samples scores from random positions in the alignment, adding the scores. This is repeated until the pseudo-alignment is the same length as the real alignment. ...
calliope.gs.washington.edu/software/bonsaiWebDocs/Glossary.html

The bootstrap program can be used to start the computer, and in doing so, clear the memory, set up devices, and load the operating system from input/output internal or external memory.
www.careydigital.com/support/glossarya-b.html

help oneself, often through improvised means
a strap that is looped and sewn to the top of a boot for pulling it on
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Bootstrapping alludes to a German legend about a Baron Münchhausen, who was able to lift himself out of a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair. In later versions he was using his own boot straps to pull himself out of the sea which gave rise to the term .
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrap

i love the vagueness and arbitariness of the english language.

posted by beckyboo @ 11:10 PM