Miggybyte 4/Miggybyte 4.adf/DOCS/MB_899.txt

Text File | 1996-02-14 | 25KB | 816 lines

Glossary

Accelerator

An  expansion  unit  that  speeds up your Amiga's CPU (Central Processing
Unit).  Some games and most serious programs benefit.

A.G.A.

Advanced  Graphics  Architecture.   This  chipset is graphically far more
advanced than its predecessors.  It first appeared in October 1992 in the
Amiga  4000  and  then into the mass market via the Amiga 1200.  It had a
higher  resolution  available called Super-High Res.  All the resolutions
could  have 256 different colours on screen beating the previous 32.  The
new  8-bit  HAM  mode  gave  262,208  colours on screen out of a possible
24-bit colour palette of 16,777,216.

AmigaDOS

Amiga Disk Operating System.  This is a system which can be controlled by
CLI and Shell.  It allows you to control what is happening on your disk.

Anim

The  most  common file format on the Amiga for storing animations.  Anim5
is the most common version used.

Animation

A  sequence  of pictures which when displayed quickly one after the other
look  like  a moving picture.  Each image in the animation is referred to
as a frame.


Anti-aliasing

Smoothing  method  used by computers to blur the transition between sharp
edges and background colours by using intermediate colours.

Archiving

A  process whereby a number of files are compressed and then put into one
single  file.   The  files  can  be decompressed into their original form
later on using the program you archived with.

ASCII

A  universal  data  format which stores plain text.  It doesn't allow the
text  to  be style e.g.  underlined, but most word processors will easily
view it.

Baud Rate

A measure of the speed of the connection through the serial port (handles
modems and some printers).  Usually translated as Bits Per Second.

BBS

Bulletin  Board  System.   A place which you link up to via the telephone
line  using your modem.  Once connected you can send/receive messages and
software or play multi user games.

Bit

The  smallest  unit of memory that a computer can hold.  It is either a 1
or a 0.

Blitter

Part  of  the  internal  Amiga hardware used to copy and transfer data at
extremely fast speeds.  Used a lot in games.

Bubble Jet Printer

Works  in  a  similar way to ink jet printers.  Instead of electronically
forcing  ink  through  the  nozzles  they, a bubble jet printer heats the
nozzles.  At certain temperatures bubbles form and ink is forced out.

Buffer

This is a place where information is stored for a short time until it can
be  used.   E.g.   a  printer buffer holds the information it is going to
print until it can print it (it can receive information more quickly than
it  could  print  it).   Therefore  while something is printing the Amiga
could be doing a different task.

Bump Mapping

Painting term to describe the process of shading a 2D image so it appears
to be 3D.

Byte

A byte is 8 bits.  In an ASCII text one byte would be one character.

CAD

Computer  Aided  Design.   This  type  of  program  is used for technical
drawings.  They store the image data mathematically.

CD

The  Compact  Disk  can  be  used  to hold a large amount of information.
About 550MB which is equivalent to 640 Amiga 880K floppy disks.

CD-ROM

Compact Disc Read Only Memory.

Chrominance

The colour component of video.

CLI

Command Line Interface.  A program/window that allows you to use AmigaDOS
for standard operations such as deleting or copying files.

Click

A  click is when you press the left mouse button once.  A double-click is
when you press the left mouse button and then quickly afterwards press it
again.

Clock Speed

Microprocessors  carry  out their operations strictly by the clock.  Each
time the clock ticks they carry out the next thing.  The faster the clock
the  faster they work.  In an A1200 the clock speed is 14.28Mhz, it ticks
14,280,000 times a second.

Composite Video

This is the combination of luminance and chrominance into one signal.

Compressing

This  is  when a file is reduced in size, usually by deleting information
which is repeated in a file.  The repeated information is remembered once
and then is then called back when ever needed.

Co-processor

A  chip  which  takes  some of the work from the CPU, allowing the CPU to
concentrate   on   the  serious  number  crunching.   In  the  Amiga  the
co-processors are the custom chips.  One other useful co-processor is the
FPU.

CPS

Characters  Per  Second.   A  printing  term showing the printer's speed.
Some  times  there  maybe two figures, one for draft printing and one for
NLQ (Near Letter Quality) printing.

CPU

The  Central Processing Unit makes all the decisions and tells everything
else what to do.

Crash

A  term used to describe a fatal error in the execution of a program that
causes the computer to lock up and/or reset.

Custom Chips

One  of  the most important parts of the Amiga is its custom chips.  This
means  it  does  not  have to rely on the CPU for all the computing work.
The  custom  chips  are  smaller processors which handle various specific
processes on the Amiga.

Daisy Chain

This  is way of linking a few add-ons together.  E.g.  You can have up to
4 external disk drives linked together, using the drive ports at the back
of each disk drive to plug in the wires.

Data

Any  form of information stored and processed by a computer such as text,
images and sound.  Also an android in Star Trek the Next Generation.

Database

A  computer  file  containing  information.   Useful  for organization of
information e.g.  address book.  They are made up of records which are in
turn made up of fields

DF0: DF1: DF2:

System  names  for the floppy drives on the Amiga.  D = Drive, F = Floppy
and the number refers to a drive, 0 being the standard internal drive and
the :  means its a device.

Digitiser

A  device used for grabbing images from a video signal and then importing
them on an Amiga.

Digitising

The  conversion  of data from the real world into a digital form that the
computer can understand.  E.g.  images and sound.

Dip Switches

Dual  Inline Pole Switches.  These are switched either on or off to allow
printers  to  work  on  different computers.  Most of the time you can do
this using the front panel displays.

Disk

A medium for storing and retrieving data.

Download

To transfer a file from another computer to yours.

Dot Matrix Printer

The  cheapest type of printer.  It forms each part of the printout from a
group (matrix) of pins that strike the paper through a ribbon of ink.  It
can  be  very  noisy.   Some  dot  matrix  printers have 9 pins, the more
sophisticated  ones have 24 pins.  They produce a better printout because
there is less space between the dots.

DRAM

Dynamic  Random  Access Memory.  A kind of RAM which is faster than SIMMs
the Amiga standard.

Drive Click

All  disk  drives  click every few seconds to look for a disk in the disk
drive.   Some  programs  exist  to  stop this, but some drives solve this
problem with hardware solutions.

DTP

Desk  Top  Publishing.   This is the combination of pictures and words in
one  document.   Basically you have complete control over the lay-out and
appearance of each page you produce.

EMail

Electronic Mail.  Similar to ordinary mail but the messages are delivered
electronically  instead  of  physically, so you can't send woolly jumpers
through EMail.

Emulator

Emulators  are  either software or a combination of hardware and software
which  allow  you  to  pretend your computer is another machine.  This is
very  useful  if  you  use  a  number  of  computers and wish to transfer
information between them.

EPS

Encapsulated  Postscript.   A  file  format for saving pictures and other
graphics.

Epson Compatible

A  printer  standard.   The  chances  are  that  if  a  printer  is Epson
compatible  it  will  work  on  your Amiga.  You will probably get better
print-outs  if you have a specific printer driver for your printer (which
may just happen to be Epson because Epson is a printer manufacturer).

External Disk Drive

An  external  disk drive is just a copy of the internal disk drive (which
all Amigas have) but is placed in its own case outside of your Amiga.  It
means  you can work with 2 (or more) disks at once and many games support
external disk drives which means disk swapping is kept to a minimum.  You
can have up to 4 external disk drives working with your Amiga.

Field

A  database  is  divided  into  fields  that  contain  specific pieces of
information  for  each  record.  E.g.  In an address book possible fields
could be name, phone number, address, city and postcode.

File

Any collection of data stored on a disk.

Floppy Disk

Disk  made with a plastic.  Inside is a circle of magnetic material which
the computer can use to store information on.

Floppy Disk Drive

The unit in which floppy disks can be placed and then used.

Fonts

A style of typeface.

FPU

The  Floating  Point Unit or Maths Co-processor really only does a lot of
maths.   Especially  using  decimal  numbers.   It  is fast and therefore
useful for maths intensive operations like ray-tracing and other 3D work.

Fractal

Graphics which have been produced by some very complex maths.

Formatting

Before  a  blank  floppy disk can be used it needs to be formatted.  This
disk is then set-up to be used with your Amiga.

Frame Grabber

A  device for capturing live video data and converting it into a computer
image.  It doesn't require a still video signal.

Freeware

The  software  which  a  programmer  has  produced  can be copied freely,
however the programmer still retains copyright on his work.

Gadgets

Bits  around the border of a window, which allow you to resize, scroll up
or down or left or right through the window, etc.

Genlock

Add-on  device  used  to combine the graphical out-put of your Amiga with
any video source e.g.  VCR or video camera.

Gigabyte

1024 megabytes is equal to one gigabyte.

Grabbing

The  process of taking images from video/TV and storing them on a disk so
they can be viewed on an Amiga.

GUI

Graphical User Interface.  A means of communicating with your Amiga via a
WIMP type interface using Workbench.  It makes things simpler as keyboard
commands do not have to be memorised, makes computers much easier to use.

HAM

Hold  And  Modify.   This  function  holds  the screen and modifies it to
display all the different coloured pixels available to you.  HAM programs
vastly  increase the number of colours to available to you.  However this
mode  is  slow  to  use,  animations  are  jerky  and a certain amount of
fringing  is produced which lowers the quality of the image.  Though with
careful  choices  of  colour  good  results can be achieved.  Perfect for
digitised  pictures  with their many colours.  HAM-6 which is used in the
older non-AGA Amigas displays 4096 different colours out of a 4096 colour
palette.   HAM-8  which  is  used  in  the  AGA  Amigas  displays 262,144
different colours out of a 24-bit palette of 16,777,216 colours.

Hard Disk

As  the name implies the Hard Disk is hard (would you believe it?) it can
hold vast amounts of data compared with a floppy and operates much faster
than  a  floppy  disk.  Many programs benefit form being stored on a hard
disk.   In  fact some programs will only run from it because of the large
amounts of information involved.

Hook Up Games

Games  which  allow  you  to  play another person on two or more separate
Amigas.

Host

The computer you connect to when you dial up a BBS with your modem.

Icon

A small picture on the computer screen which represents a specific thing.
Icons can be used to run programs and show that data exists.

IDE

Intelligent  Drive  Electronics.   A  device  which allows you to connect
hardware  to  it  such  as  hard  drives.   It  is  cheaper than the SCSI
interface, but it is slower, which fortunately is still quite fast.

IFF

Interchange  File  Format.   A standard form of saving data.  This allows
similar  applications  to  load the same data.  For example any Amiga art
package will load in IFF images.

Ink Jet Printer

Higher  quality  and  far  faster  than  a  dot matrix printer.  Works by
spraying ink on the page through tiny nozzles.

Interface

The point of communication between you and a computer.

JPEG

Joint  Photographic  Experts  Group.  A way of compressing large graphics
with  staggering  savings.   Its  really  only used on true-colour images
(images with 16.8 million colours).

Kickstart

The  name  of  the  set  of  programs that are automatically run when you
switch on your Amiga.

Kilobyte

Abbreviated  to  K.  Each kilobyte is 1024 bytes.  A kilobyte is about 14
lines of ASCII text.

Laser Printer

The  best  quality  type  of printer.  Basically the laser in the printer
creates  the  image of whatever you want to print by firing a charge at a
photosensitive  drum,  which then attracts the toner to it.  The image is
transferred to paper when the paper runs over the drum.

Licenseware

Licenseware programs are a little commercial, you are not allowed to copy
them  freely.   When  you  pay  for  this  type of program the programmer
automatically  gets  his  cut.   They  only  cost  a little bit more than
standard PD software.

Light Pen

A  device  shaped  like  a  pen.   You  point it at the screen to control
functions during special application programs.

Luminance

Black and white video.

Megabyte

Abbreviated  to  MB.   A megabyte is 1024 kilobytes.  At release the A600
was  equipped  with  1MB  of RAM.  At release the A1200 was equipped with
2MBs  of  RAM.  A megabyte of memory can hold about 46 pages (1400 lines)
of ASCII text.

Memory

Memory  is  where  a computer can remember data, for later retrieval.  It
can  store  things  in RAM in ROM or on some kind of disk.  Memory can be
worked  out  in  bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes and in some rare cases
gigabytes.

Menu

A list of functions and operations, usually contained as a pull down menu
in  a title bar.  E.g.  Pressing the right mouse button on Workbench will
show  the  menu  titles on the title bar.  Moving your mouse (while still
holding  the right mouse button) over the menu title will show you a list
of options which you can access.

MIDI

Musical  Instrument Digital Interface.  Standard way of get your Amiga to
work  with  a  sequencer.   You  need  a synthesizer to actually make the
sound.

MNP

Miracom Networking Protocol.  A device used with a modems and a telephone
line  to filter out any rubbish from the line.  A level 5 MNP filter also
compresses the data you send.

Modem

A  device  which  allows  you to connect your computer to others over the
telephone  lines.   You  can  use  it to connect up with a Bulletin Board
System (BBS) and it also lets you to get connected to the Internet.

Modulator

A  device used to convert the Amiga's RGB (Red, Green and Blue) and audio
signals into either RF (Radio Frequency) or television and separate audio
signals.

Monitor

A display specially designed for computers.  Images are clearer than on a
TV  screen, which means less strain on the eyes.  If a monitor comes with
speakers the sound is also usually better than on a TV.

Morphing

A  graphical  technique which makes one image appear to turn into another
in front of your eyes.  It can also be used to distort images.

Mouse

A  device which sits on a desktop.  It allows the Workbench pointer to be
moved.   When  its pushed around the rubber ball inside the plastic shell
moves  around, this in turn rotates three little rollers which detect the
direction  that  the  mouse  is  moving.   The  Amiga  interprets  in the
information and changes the position of the pointer accordingly.

Multimedia

Combination  of text, images and sound in a single program.  Sort of like
a computer book.

Multi-tasking

Allows  a  number  of programs to run simultaneously.  Remember the Amiga
has had this for years!

NLQ

Near  Letter  Quality.   Most  printers  have  at least one NLQ font, for
printing  finished  documents  of  a high standard.  Printing in NLQ mode
slows  down  the  print  speed.  Some top of the range printers offer SLQ
(Super Letter Quality) fonts.

NTSC

National  Television  Systems Committee.  The 525 line television display
used in the USA.  Also due to its poor quality its some times referred to
as Never Twice the Same Colour.

Null-Modem Games

Games  which  can  be  played by 2 players on 2 separate Amigas which are
joined together by a null-modem cable.

Overscan

A  screen  mode  which  allows you to work with any area of the TV.  Most
screen  modes  leave  a  small vertical bar down the left side of the TV.
Overscan  is  only  really  used  for  video  work, to achieve a far more
professional effect.

PAL

Phase  Alternating Line.  The 625 line display used by televisions in the
UK.

Palette

The range of colours at your disposal in a paint program.

PD

Public  Domain.   This is when programmers waive their copyright on their
software.   It can then be copied freely.  The Public Domain software can
be  bought  cheaply  from  PD libraries for little more than a price of a
disk.  There are few restrictions to PD, the most common being the author
should be credited for the work.

Peripheral

Piece  of  hardware  such as monitors, disk drives and printers which are
connected to and controlled by your Amiga.

Pixel

Picture Element.  A dot of colour on the computer screen.  A picture on a
computer  is  made  up  of many square pixels.  Each individual square is
coloured.

Pointer

An  arrow  or other symbol on the screen under your control.  The pointer
is used to select commands or draw in graphics programs.

Port

Socket  on  a  computer  that  you can use to connect peripherals to your
Amiga.

Program

Set  of  instructions  for  the computer telling it what to do.  Computer
programs are collecitively referred to as software.

Protocol

A  transfer  protocol  is  a  software  system  whereby  by  two separate
computers  can  send  and receive information over a telephone line.  The
most known protocols are Kermit, XModem, YModem and ZModem.

RAM

Random  Access Memory.  Memory which can be altered.  The main use of RAM
is  store  programs and program data while the program is running.  Every
time  the  Amiga is switched off the contents of the RAM is erased unlike
ROM  chips.   There  are  2 types of RAM they, are Chip RAM and Fast RAM.
Chip  RAM  is  allocated  to the Amiga's custom chips as well as the CPU.
Fast  RAM  is  only accessed by the CPU.  It is therefore far faster than
Chip  RAM.   A  computer which has Fast RAM and Chip RAM will work faster
than the same type of computer with only Chip RAM.

Range

The  spread  of  colours  from  one shade to another.  E.g.  red to white
through lots of shades of pink.

Ray-Tracing

This  when  realistic  images  are  created  from calculating where light
bounces and travels.  This is a very mathematical process.

Record

A record is the database equivalent to a card containing information on a
single subject.

Rendering

Producing a 3D image by calculating it.  Very similar to ray-tracing.

Resolution

The  number  of  pixels across by the number down is the resolution.  For
example  Low-Resolution is 320 pixels across by 256 down which amounts to
81,920 pixels on screen.
    The  Amiga has a variety of resolutions all varying in detail.  Games
usually use a Low-Resolution for speed.

RF

Radio  Frequency.   The  method used to transmit combined video and audio
signals  from  a  broadcaster  to a receiver.  There is a loss of quality
from the original source.

RGB

Red,  Green  and Blue.  The raw colours used to make-up electronic images
such as colour TV or computer screen images.  The Amiga outputs RGB video
as  standard.   Using an RGB monitor insures a far better display than an
RF signal on a TV.

ROM

Read  Only Memory.  ROMs cannot be altered and when the Amiga is switched
off the contents is retained, unlike RAM.
    The most obvious use on the Amiga is to store the Kickstart
    The A1200 has a 512k ROM.

RTF

Rich  Text  Format.   RTF  is text format which is interchangeable with a
variety of programs.

Sampler

A  device  which  allows the Amiga to record sounds electronically.  They
work  by  checking  the  voltage levels of the sound thousands of times a
second.  The more times the voltage is checked then better the quality of
the  sound when it is played back.  Compact disks store data digitally at
44.1kHz  (441,000  voltage  changes a second) if a sampler can operate at
this rate it is said to have CD quality.
    The  higher  the  sample rate the more memory is required to hold the
information.  Sampled sounds are used in many games to great affect.

Scanner

A  device  for  converting  a  still, flat image like a photograph into a
computer  image.   Scanners  are either hand held (you move them over the
image) or flat bed (used like a photocopier).

SCART

A  21-pin connector used by many Videos and TVs to send picture and sound
information into one socket.

Script File

A  set  of commands saved as a ASCII text file, so you don't have to type
them out by hand.

Scrolling

Moving a screen in any given direction.

SCSI

Small  Computer  Systems  Interface.  A device that allows you to connect
hardware to it such as laser printers, memory expansions and hard drives.
It is quite a fast interface.

Self-Booting Disk

A  disk  that  starts  up of its own accord.  Most disks are self-booting
e.g.  your Workbench disk is self-booting.

Sequencer

A means of recording all the notes and performance data to be played by a
synthesizer.   No  sounds are recorded, just the instructions to tell the
synthesizer what to do.

Shareware

Software which is initially free but if you like the program then you are
meant to pay for it.  It allows you to try before you buy.  Usually after
paying you will get the latest version of your program.

Sheet Feeder

A  device  which  automatically  gives the printer a fresh piece of paper
whenever needed.

Shell

An  advanced  version  of  CLI, which allows you to use standard AmigaDOS
operations such as deleting or copying a file.

SIMM

Single  In-line Memory Management units.  RAM for the Amiga usually comes
in the form of SIMM cards which plug easily into the appropriate slots on
the motherboard.

Splitter

A  device  for  splitting  a  video  image into red, green and blue image
components instead of with a black and white camera or filters.

Sprite

A graphic that can move over a background without affecting it.  Used for
mouse pointers and in games for ships, bullets etc.

Startup-sequence

A  script  file which is executed by standard Amiga DOS disks on loading.
They  handle  the setting up of many programs and help the user by giving
them less to do.

SysOp

System Operator. The person who is in charge of a BBS.

Task

A  task is one individual software application which is running.  Because
the  Amiga  is  multi-tasking  it  is possible to have more than one task
running at any given time.

Tractor Feed

A mechanism which pulls a continuous line of paper through a printer.

Upload

To send a file from your computer to another computer.

Virus

Nasty  programs which can harm your computer data.  They can damage files
stored  on floppy disk or hard disk, they can crash the computer and ruin
software.   Some viruses are not very harmful, but annoying.  Fortunately
virus killing programs exist, check-out the Virus Checker series.

Wild Card

A  function  which  allows you to group files together, e.g.  look at all
image files ending with .iff

WIMP

Windows  Icon  Menu Pointer.  The first user interface which did not rely
on the keyboard.  It used the mouse and pointer instead.

Window

A frame which contains icons to data and programs on the computer.

Workbench

An  Amiga  program  with  a  GUI  which allows you to control many of the
facilities  of  your  Amiga.   Many  programs  can be integrated into the
Workbench environment.

WYSIWYG

What  You  See  Is  What  You Get (pronounced whizzie-wig).  Applies to a
program in which the screen display matches the printed out-put.

Y/C Video

By  keeping luminance (Y) and chrominance (C) video components separate a
better picture quality can be obtained.  This format is used in Super-VHS
systems.

Zorro

Zorro boards are expansion boards for the high-end Amigas.


Legal Stuff

This file is the COPYRIGHT of
Mark Klocek 1995
Ben Gaunt 1995

It  must  not  be used/re-published etc.  without written permission from
both  parties.  Who can be contacted at CHANNEL X BBS on 0181 943 5187 or
Fido - Ben Gaunt 2:256/260.12

END
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