Upon further research it has been revealed that the elusive and ethereal entity formerly known as Data Sludge has a more common ancient appellation: QUAGCZAR!

Quagczar, lord of the bog, the mire, the data sludge. Beginning-without-Beginning, End without End. Eater-up of Life. The Annihilator. The Dissolver. Very much alive, but a quality of living that is the antithesis of Life as we know it. Life is a tranquilizer, stabilizing and condemning Quagczar in a vertical hold. Prosumer and consumer electronics, animals and birds and all creatures, vegetation and water and air and fire, sun and stars and moon—all are this being’s to dissolve into its nebulous corpus, if so desired. Quagczar’s Modus Operandi: NTSC — Never The Same Corpus

One Stealthy Sleuth has attempted to decode the underlying implications this ancient nom-de-fume might have for contemporary culture by proposing a backronym. Revealed thusly:

Derived, etymologically, from “Quag” an obsolete term for bog (quagmire is the more common term), and “Czar” or “any [thing] exercising great authority or power in a particular [interlaced] field” Of course this name also is a parallel dementia of “Quasar” (see this FAQ for semionautical leads!),