32-bit addressing: the use of 32-bit units for memory address locations in your System software; enables the Mac to keep track of more than the 4M, 8M, or 10M file limit of the older models

ADB (Apple Desktop Bus): Apple's original way of connecting keyboards, mice, etc., to your Mac. Replaced by the USB standard ports on all recent Macs

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): a sound file format common to many signal analysis programs on both Macintosh and PC machines; the recommended format for saving Signalyze files

alias: a pointer to a file, extension, utility, or application; clicking on an alias will have the same effect as clicking on the original file, extension, utility, or application. Created in System 7 by the File>Make Alias command, or by a file utility

anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol): transferring files to or from an ftp site without the need for an account; usually you log in as 'anonymous' and use your email address as a password

the Apple menu: the menu below the little apple in the upper left-hand corner of your desktop

application: a program that is used to accomplish some larger goal (e.g. signal analysis; cf. utility below)

archives: a collection of information or resources, including computer software files, utilities, extensions, and applications

average access time: the average time (usually in milliseconds) taken to find some data on a memory device

backup: make a copy of data for safekeeping; a copy of material for safekeeping

batch loading: loading more than one file into an application at one time; usually done by highlighting more than one file and dragging the highlighted icons onto the application's icon

bit width/bitwidth: used in signal processing to refer to the range of values in a signal file; the higher the bit width, the higher the range of possible stored values (typically 8- or 16-bit for signal sampling). range of possible values = 2^bitwidth (e.g. sampling a sound with a bitwidth of 8 gives a value range of 2^8 or 4096; sampling with a bitwidth of 16 gives a value range of 2^16 or 32768).

buffer: a memory location used for the temporary storage of information

bypass key: a key that is used to prevent (bypass) something from happening; for example, the Shift key is the Startup bypass key to bypass (disable) the System extensions

Calculation Memory: the memory that Signalyze reserves for calculations it performs; it is taken from the remaining available memory assigned to Signalyze after starting up and creating its buffers

commercialware: software that must be paid for before receiving it; often a demonstration (demo) version is available (cf. freeware and shareware below)

conflict: when two applications or extensions try to use the same computer resource at the same time, resulting in a crash of the application, extension, or System; the result of this conflict

Control Panels: system extensions with user-adjustable settings

crash: a failure by an application or the System, usually due to a conflict

desktop: the disks, files and folders that you see on your monitor when you select the Finder; it's actually a file that keeps track of the windows and icons you see on your monitor

dialog (window): a window that either gives you a message, asks you for information, or both

DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module): a 168-pin memory module with two side-by-side rows of chips; used in the second generation of PowerMacs

DD (Double-Density) disk: a floppy disk that stores 800K of data on the two sides of the disk

directory path: the path leading to a file or folder.

• under the Mac OS, colons are used separators as separators (mydisk:myfolder:myfile)
• under DOS and on the Web, slashes are used as separators (mydisk/myfolder/myfile)

download: to copy a file, extension, utility or application (usually one that is compressed) to your disk via a communications connection

drag: to move something by positioning the cursor on it to highlight it, holding down the mouse button, and moving it before you release the button

drag-n-drop/drag and drop: moving a highlighted (selected) icon with the mouse; click on it but do not release the mouse button, and then move the highlighted icon to where you want it (if you move a highlighted file's icon to an application's icon this way, the application will launch the file but the file's icon will not be moved from where you moved it)

dynamic memory addressing: assigning blocks of memory as they are needed and rearranging the memory blocks as memory needs change; as opposed to static memory addressing where a block of memory is assigned once and remains in the same location

error message: a message from the System that tells you something has gone wrong with the application, System, or task you were trying to accomplish

extension: a System file that extends the capabilities of your Mac; also Extension, a particular type of extension (formerly called INITs) that do not have user-adjustable controls

external hard disk: a disk drive that is connected to your Mac's SCSI chain, the chain of devices (hard disks, etc.) connected to your Mac

external memory: any floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, etc. that contain storage space and are used for programs and program files

file: a string of data that is created by an extension, utility, or application and is used to store needed information

the Finder: the utility that manages your Desktop, creates its menus, and starts applications; sometimes used interchangably with 'Desktop', although properly the Desktop is merely the Finder's graphical user interface

floppy disk: a small, removable disk used to store data; for the Mac, comes in DD (Double Density—800K) and HD (High Density—1.4M) formats (not supported by PowerMacs or OS 8 and above)

fragmentation: the undesirable breaking up of stored data into several parts

fragmented: the undesirable condition where stored data has been broken up into several parts when it was stored

freeware: software that is free; it may be distributed to anyone by anyone (cf. commercialware above and shareware below)

ftp (file transfer protocol): the agreed-upon set of instructions and formats that two computers use to transfer information to each other

ftp (file transfer protocol) site: a host computer that follows the ftp; usually will let you download files without an account (anonymous ftp)

hard disk: a memory storage disk that is attached to your computer; it can be inside the machine (an internal hard disk) or outside (an external hard disk)

HD (High Density) disk: a floppy disk that stores 1.4M of data

highlight: to select something by clicking on it once (the name or icon will become highlighted)

icon: the picture of a file, extension, utility or application that appears on you desktop or in a folder; selected via the View menu of the Finder (View>by Small Icon or View>by Icon)

internal memory: memory that is located inside your computer

the Internet: the international connection of computers that encircles the world

memory allocation: assigning a block of RAM or hard disk data space to a particular file, extension, utility, or application

Memory Control Panel: the Mac Control Panel that controls the RAM cache, 32-bit addressing on older Macs, Virtual Memory on most Macs, and the Modern memory manager on PowerMacs

(power user tip: if you don't mind taking a chance on having a RAM chip go bad some day, hold down Option-Command when opening the Memory control panel--this will enable a hidden option at the bottom of the window, Startup Memory Tests. Deselect this option to speed up how fast your Mac starts up.)

the memory manager: the part of the Mac System that controls RAM memory assignments to software that is running

Minimum Size: the smallest size block of RAM that an application will accept from the memory manager when it starts up; if this much RAM is not available, the application will not start up

mirror site: an ftp site that contains copies of the files stored at another ftp site

MO (Magnetic Optical) disks: a species of removable disk media; very durable and of long life

Modern memory manager: the new memory manager that introduced in the PowerMacs (optional in System 7; a part of OS and OS 9); responsible for the assigning and management of memory

native: usually refers to software that is written to take advantage of the newer types of processor chips in the PowerMacs (e.g. SoundApp PPC is a native application). Also used to refer to a file belonging to a specific application (e.g. a Signalyze-native file will have a Signalyze icon)

normalization: the changing of data in a file to meet a specific guideline or format; see normalize below

normalize: usually refers to amplifying a signal by a constant value to fill the available bitwidth range; also used in the Signalyze manual to refer to standardizing a file's numeric type, bit width and sampling frequency when changing file formats

numeric type: the range of the numerical values in a signal file; in Signalyze can be either unsigned (positive values only) and with values ranging from 0 to 32,767, or signed (+ and - values; also called complements-two ) with values ranging from -32,767 to +32,767

optimize: to reduce a disk's fragmentation by collecting fragmented file segments, rewriting them in one continuous file, and then erasing the fragments

overall program memory: the total amount of memory that the memory manager will try to assign to a program when it starts up; set with both Minimum Size and Preferred Size

PAL SIMM: a special SIMM that contains an extra chip used for parity checking; used in Apple II's that are conforming to U.S. government specifications

partition: memory space on a hard disk or RAM that has been reserved for a specific use

PC (Personal Computer): improperly but widely used to refer to non-Mac machines that run DOS or Windows (hey, how much more personal can you get than a customized Mac?)

PowerMac: the newer Macs that use the new RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) chips, allowing much faster processor speeds

power supply: the internal component that supplies power to your machine

PPC (Power Personal Computer): an abbreviation used for a PowerMacs

Preferred Size: the size of the block of memory that an application will request from the memory manager when it starts up; if this much RAM is not available, the application will try to start up with a block of RAM as big as the Minimum Size setting

program memory: see overall program memory

RAM (Random Access Memory): memory that can be both read from and written to, as opposed to ROM (Read-Only Memory)

RAM cache: the small memory cache that your System uses to store instructions that are used repetitively in order to speed up processing

RAM chips: the computer chips that contain read/write memory; also used to refer to SIMMs and DIMMs, the boards containing the RAM chips that are inserted into your computer

RAM disk: a partition of the RAM memory that is treated as a separate disk

RAM software: software that extends your RAM or the control of it

removable hard disks: hard disks that do not have a disk-specific drive units or power supplies; they may be removed from the drive unit just like floppy disks can be removed from your floppy drive

removable media: disks of various type that do not have a disk-specific drive unit or power supply; they can be removed from the drive unit just like floppy disks

SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface, pronounced 'skuzzi') chain: the chain of devices that you have connected to your Mac's SCSI port via a 25-pin/50-pin cable—external hard disks, scanners, etc.

shareware: software that you pay for after you have tried it; it's software on the honor system. Many authors now distribute limited shareware versions of their programs; after you pay your shareware registration fee you will receive a registration number that will fully enable the software (cf. commercialware and freeware above)

Signal Memory: the amount of non-relocatable memory that Signalyze reserves to store the signals that are loaded into it; assigned after Calculation Memory is assigned

SIMM (Single In-line Memory Module): a memory module with a single row of chips; 30-pin SIMMs are used in the older Macs, 72-pin SIMMs are used in the first generation of PowerMacs

snd (sound) resources: Macintosh sound files; they can be played by double-clicking on them and can be added to the System file for use by the System

startup disk: the disk whose System Folder is used when you Start your Mac

static memory addressing: memory assignment that is fixed; once the memory block is assigned it cannot be reassigned until the application that is using it is Quit

Suggested Size: the size of the block of RAM that the author of the application recommends setting the Minimum Size to; found in the File>Get Info... window; usually both Minimum and Preferred Size are already set to this value

System: The OS (Operating System) of your machine; contained in the System Folder of your hard disk

System Folder: the folder that contains your System software

unrelocatable memory: memory whose contents cannot be moved to another memory partition

upgrade: to obtain the latest version of a piece of software, or to buy a more modern piece of equipment

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): a unique Internet address given to each host computer connected to the Internet; conforms to the agreed-upon format for addresses

USB (Universal Serial Bus): the industry-wide standard for connecting serial devices; replaces Apple's SCSI bus on newer models

utility: a program that performs some specific task or collection of tasks (e.g. maintaining the integrity of your hard disk; cf. application above)

Virtual Memory: hard disk storage space used as RAM by the System software (built in to System 7 and above); set via the Memory Control Panel (note: many newer applications run much more stable with Virtual Memory turned off)

web browser: a program that allows you to view documents created in the html (HyperText Markup Language) format

WWW (World Wide Web): the collective sum of the computers that allow information to be viewed in the html (HyperText Markup Language) format; they allow easy access to graphic information and other www sites