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Zeus Lexicon

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M

Ma, YoYo - cellist whose name Kramer spasmodically repeats after being kicked in the head by Crazy Joe DiVola. See Yo-Yo.

Mac - see Macintosh.

Mac, 68K - See 68K Mac.

Mac OS - the operating system that runs on Macintosh computers, most notable for its pioneering commercial use of the GUI. Also known as System 7. See Finder, System, System Folder, Control Panel, Extension, File Type, Creator Code.

machineType - Lingo keyword, the machineType, returns a numeric code indicating the type of computer on which Director is running (not particularly reliable). See the list of machineTypes. See the platform.

Macintosh - 1. line of computers manufactured by Apple, featuring a GUI and running the Mac OS. See Apple II, Lisa. 2. Charles, 1766-1843, Scottish chemist, inventor and manufacturer.

Macintosh format - a floppy disk, CD, hard disk or file, which can be read or written on a Macintosh computer is said to be in Macintosh format, although many Macs are equipped to read DOS formatted items as well. See hybrid.

Mackintosh - rain coat (British). See Penny Lane and Apple

Macromedia - a software company which publishes mutlimedia authoring and content development tools, such as Freehand, Director, Authorware, SoundEdit, xRes, Shockwave, Fontographer, and BackStage. See Bud Colligan, Rob Burgess, Winromedia, Aldus, Macromind.

Macromedia Director - See Director, Macromind Director.

Macromedia Studio - software bundles from Macromedia, which include several content creation products focused on a single theme, such as the Graphics Studio or Interactive Studio.

Macromind - 1. original developer of Macromind Director. Merged with several other companies to form Macromedia (the name Macromind is still often used mistakenly instead of Macromedia).

Macromind Director - Director version 3.0 (the name is still often used mistakenly instead of Macromedia Director). See Macromind, Macromedia.

Made with Macromedia - Macromedia's logo requirement program for royalty-free runtime distribution. Zeus's logo and licensing requirements are based closely on the Made with Macromedia program.

MAFAI - My Apologies For Any Inconvenience, obscure e-mail abbreviation.

magenta - a deep reddish primary color, used in CMYK specifications.

magic cookie - see cookie.

mailer daemon - an automated program which routes e-mail to the recipient, including returning undeliverable e-mail to the sender. See daemon.

mailing list - a method of distributing e-mail to multiple recipients. You can subscribe to one of the thousands of available mailing lists to receive information about a topic of interest. Some mailing lists are only distribution lists, whereas others allow list members to participate in the discussion. Some lists allow anyone to post to the list, even if they are not members. See list server, message board. Refer to the TechNote, "Internet Mailing Lists," and join Zeus Productions' mailing list.

mail server - a computer or program dedicated to sending and receiving e-mail.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - a small engineering school in Cambridge, Mass, typically called MIT. See Tute, IHTFP.

massage - the process of converting content or data from its raw or current form into the desired form.

MB - 1,048,576 (approximately one million) bytes, a common unit of measure for RAM or hard disk space. See MegaByte, KB, byte

McAfee - an anti-virus utility for the PC. An older version of McAfee erroneously diagnosed a virus in one of the sound files included with Director for Windows version 5.0. No such virus was present.

McIntosh - an apple.

mctb - a Macintosh menu resource. The mctb resources can be edited to prevent the menu bar from flashing when switching applications with zLaunch. See the zLaunch for Macintosh FAQ.

mDescribe - a method use to display the other methods supported by an XObject. , including brief documentation. Replaced by the mMessageList method used by Xtras. See mNew.

Mean Time Betwen Failures - number of hours a component is expected to operate before failing, such as 50,000 hours. See MTBF.

mega - 1. a prefix meaning 1,000,000 (one million), as in megahertz. See kilo. 2. a prefix meaning 1,048,576 (approximately one million), as in megabyte. 2. adj. very big, as in "It is a mega project?"

megabyte - 1,048,576 (approximately one million) bytes, abbreviated MB. See KB, mega.

megahertz - one million (1,000,000) Hertz, abbreviated MHz. See kHz, mega.

memory - 1. n. something that fades with age, such as a 30-inch waist. 2. computer storage, usually RAM. See KB, MB.

memory leak - a bug in a computer program in which memory is slowly consumed, possibly leading to an eventual crash. Director handles memory management for Lingo programs, but improper use of Xtras or XObjects, or bugs in those components may cause memory leaks. Refer to the Technote, "Memory Leaks in Director".

Memphis - 1. a city in Tennessee. 2. Microsoft's code name for Windows 97

menu - 1. a list of choices or operations available to the user. See GUI. 2. a Lingo keyword used to define a menu, which is installed using the installMenu command.

menu bar - 1. a place where menus go to meet other menus and have a few drinks. 2. the menu that appears at the top of the Macintosh desktop. See Start Menu, mctb.

menu resource - a Macintosh resource, such as mctb, which is used to display items on the Macintosh menu bar.

message board - a public area where on can post questions or replies in order to exchange information with other participants. AOL's message boards feature an active forum on Macromedia products. (accessible via Keyword: Macromedia). See mailing list, newsgroup, discussion group, post.

method - 1. a function associated with an Xtra, XObejct or or a child object which can be called from Lingo. A method generally performs some useful operation. For example, the FileIO Xtra includes a method to create a file. Also behavior. See new, ancestor, mNew, mDescribe., instantiate. 2. a systematic approach.

Metrowerks - software manufacturer based in Austin, Texas, maker of Code Warrior. Often misspelled as "Metroworks". See Geekware, Blood, Sweat, Code, IDE.

mFactory - makers of mTropolis, a multimedia authoring tool.

MFC - Microsoft Foundations Classes, a common development system for Windows Systems supported by all the Microsoft Compilers and Development products and most non-Microsoft development environments as well.

MHz - MegaHertz 1. a measure of a CPU's clock speed, indicating to some extent the power of the computer. 2. a measure of the frequency of a sound or radio signal. See Hertz, kHz.

MIAW - Movie-In-A-Window (pronounced "meow", or "M-I-A-W", or referred to by its full name).

microprocessor - a computer chip acting as the "brain" of a system, coordinating other components and processing data, such as a Pentium or PowerPC chip. See CPU, Intel, Motorola.

Microsoft - 1. a small company in Redmond Washington, perpetrators of MS-DOS, Windows and various other viruses. See MSNBC. 2. a compound word formed by combining two adjectives describing the private parts of the CEO of definition 1.

Microsoft Access - 1. Access. 2. what Microsoft gets in exchange for political contributions.

Microsoft Excel - see Excel.

Microsoft Internet Explorer - a web browser available for both Macintosh and Windows, commonly referred to as Explorer, IE or MIE. Sent out to kill Netscape Navigator.

Microsoft Network - a private computer on-line service, known as MSN. See AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy.

Microsoft Office - a suite of office productivity software, including Excel, Word and Access.

Microsoft Word - see Word.

MIE - Microsoft Internet Explorer. See IE.

mil - (pronounced "dot mill", not "M-I-L") the final portion of the domain name of a military agency. See com, edu, gov, net, org, dot.

MIME - 1. Marcel Marceau; 2. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - a file encoding scheme that usually gives people fits. You'll need a MIME-decoder to wrestle with for several hours before asking the sender to resend it in another format or Fed Ex you a copy; 3. Mostly Irrelevant Mail Enclosed.

MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. See Tute, IHTFP, edu.

mm - millimeter, a unit of measurement (one thousandth of a meter) often used to indicate a monitor's dot pitch.

mMessageList - a method use to display the other methods supprted by an Xtra, including brief documentation. Replaces by the mDescribe method used by XObjects. See new.

mNew - a method use to instantiate an XObject. Replaced by the new method when using Xtras. See mDescribe, mMessageList.

MOA - Macromedia Open Architecture. Macromedia products which support MOA are able to use Xtras. Director 5.0 was the first version to support the MOA XDK. Authorware, Freehand, and other Macromedia products support MOA.

modal - 1. v. a dialog box that forces you to respond to the dialog box and does not allow you to activate other windows, is said to be "modal". See non-modal.

modem - MOdulator/DEModulator, a device allowing computer to communicate over phone lines.

MOM - mTropolis Object Model.

moose - v. to prevent from doing useful work or assist in procrastination, ordinarily by providing an engaging if meaningless distraction. You don't help someone to moose, you moose them, leaving them no choice but to be moosed. In fact, you cannot moose by yourself. There needs to be a mooser and a moosee. Otherwise it is just procrastinating. Moosing implies a certain reluctance on the moosee's part, although the mooser is usually quite willing.

Motorola - manufacturer of the 68000 and PowerPC families of microprocessors used in Macintosh computers.

mouse - a pointing device which usually a trackball to move the cursor. See GUI.

movie - 1. Apocalypse Now 2. a Director DIR , DCR, or DXR file 3. a QuickTime file 4. a movie-in-a-window

move-in-a-window - a Director movie that is opened as a subwindow of the stage, abbreviated MIAW. See window.

movie script - a Lingo script which contains handlers that are accessible globally. Movie scripts receive the startMovie and stopMovie messages. See cast script, sprite script, frame script, score script.

Mosaic - a browser developed by Mark Andreeson. See NCSA.

MPC - a minimum standard for multimedia PCs, pushed by the Multimedia PC Marketing Council, known as MPC Level 1. MPC Level 1 computers, such as 386's, are outdated for current multimedia applications

MPC2 - a minimum standard for multimedia PCs, pushed by the Multimedia PC Marketing Council, known as MPC Level 2. MPC Level 2 computers, such as 486's are the bare minimum for current multimedia applications.

MPC3 - a minimum standard for multimedia PCs, pushed by the Multimedia PC Marketing Council, known as MPC Level 3. MPC Level 3 computers, are current multimedia-ready computers.

MSN - Microsoft Network.

MSNBC - collaborative news effort between NBC and Microsoft, which includes a cable TV station and a web site.

MPC - Multimedia Personal Computer. A standard for certifying the ability of a PC to use multimedia software. See MPC Level 1, MPC Level 2

MPC Level I - an entry level multimedia PC, no longer adequate for most multimedia applications on the market today.

MPC Level 2 - an mid-level multimedia PC, adequate for most multimedia applications on the market today.

MPC Level 3 - an new multimedia PC standard, adequate for higher-end multimedia applications.

MST - (pronounced "Mountain Standard Time", not "mist") Time zone of the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Two (2) hours earlier than EST, one (1) hour earlier than CST, and one (1) hour later than PST. Seven (7) hours earlier than GMT.

MS-DOS - the version of DOS from Microsoft, as opposed to versions from other manufacturers, such as IBM.

MSVC - Microsoft Visual C/C++.

MS-Windows - the Windows OS, published by Microsoft.

MS-Word - see Word.

MTBF - Mean Time Betwen Failures, a measure of the reliability of a device, such as a hard drive, which may have a MTBF of 50,000 hours.

mTropolis - a multimedia authoring tool from mFactory. Refer to the TechNote "Choosing a Multimedia Authoring Tool".

MUD - Multi-User Domain - a role-playing environment.

MUI - Macromedia User Interface. The common interface components shared across multiple Macromedia products. including dialog boxes and menu structures.

multi-process - v. to think about or operate on multiple things at the same time, said of both computers and people.

multi-task - v. to perform multiple functions simultaneously, said of both computers and people. A multi-tasking operating system such as Windows or the Mac OS allows applications to share the processor's attention, allowing you to, say, print one document while spell-checking another.

multi-user - adj. a system which supports multiple simultaneous users, such as UNIX. Windows and the Mac OS are not multi-user systems.

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