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astroturfing n.

The use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular movement,
through means like letters to newspapers from soi-disant `concerned
citizens', paid opinion pieces, and the formation of grass-roots
lobbying groups that are actually funded by a PR group (astroturf is
fake grass; hence the term). This term became common among hackers
after it came to light in early 1998 that Microsoft had attempted to
use such tactics to forestall the U.S. Department of Justice's
antitrust action against the company.

This backfired horribly, angering a number of state attorneys-general
enough to induce them to go public with plans to join the Federal
suit. It also set anybody defending Microsoft on the net for the
accusation "You're just astroturfing!".
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atomic adj.

[from Gk. `atomos', indivisible] 1. Indivisible; cannot be split up.
For example, an instruction may be said to do several things
`atomically', i.e., all the things are done immediately, and there is
no chance of the instruction being half-completed or of another being
interspersed. Used esp. to convey that an operation cannot be screwed
up by interrupts. "This routine locks the file and increments the