Able Baker

Doctor Able Baker, BD (Hons), Fdl, Kp, Pdf(Escrow) Director of Blit Studies, Brazeneck College.

A wizard with a seemingly impressive list of credentials.

Annotation

Able Baker - first two words in one of the World War II phonetic alphabets, which continued Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox (There is now the NATO/International version (Alpha, Bravo etc) which has superseded this older form. But Wizards are if anything conservative.) Also the names of the two atomic-bomb tests conducted at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

FDL - various unrelated firms called FDL are listed in trade directories. They respectively sell things like brown paper bags and packaging, hot air generators, and cheap carpeting.

In GNU-programmer speak, an FDL is also the Free Documentation Licence, allowing the holder to use other peoples' intellectual property for free.

KP - in Great Britain, a make of snack nuts. Also "kitchen portering", the lowest level of life in a professional kitchen, and "kitchen patrol," the US Army term for menial mess-hall duty.

.kp is also the Internet agreed country code for North Korea, a remote and guarded society with a lot of secrets to keep. North Korea has been accused of shamelessly stealing computer technology from other nations, rather than buying and developing its own.

A .kp file is also called a "knowbot" or "rapidshare", and is used as a worm virus which, without your knowledge or consent, will rapidly share the contents of your hard-drive with others. Given the definitions both Ridcully and Henry put on academic sharing of knowledge, a picture is beginning to emerge about Dr Baker's role in the scheme of things....

Pdf = computer suffix for you have just been sent a file you will find it impossible to open if you don't have the correct software

BD - can be Bachelor of Divinity, a degree more usually attained by theologians and the more cerebral priest. bd is also a baud, a single information-unit in computing, and the Internet address for Bangladesh. It's also a shorthand in sexual practices: "bondage and dominance". In medical terminology, it stands for "bis die" on a prescription - "take this medication twice daily".

Escrow - small town in between Lancre and Überwald not hitherto known to have a centre for conferring higher education degrees. Also, in Roundworld law, a 'limbo' status for monies or property held on behalf of another, in anticipation of conveyance; in a normal US home loan closing, the first year's property taxes and insurance premiums are placed in an escrow account from which the required payments are made.

Is it possible Dr Baker is padding it out somewhat? Or is his degree being held in limbo?