> I got up to geometry in high school (i.e., I know cosines in triangles but have no idea what a cosine wave is, how it works, and/or how they're related if at

> I got up to geometry in high school (i.e., I know cosines in triangles but have no idea what a cosine wave is, how it works, and/or how they're related if at all). Hmm... I guess these could work... http://www.coolmath.com/algebra/index.html http://www.coolmath.com/algebra/index.html http://www.purplemath.com http://www.purplemath.com If you want video tutorials, this might work: http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy For a calculus resource based on analogies and stories, try this: http://www.karlscalculus.org/ http://www.karlscalculus.org/ Trying to create an implementation of a lossy compression is a bit over-the-top, especially when you are trying to learn it through Wikipedia. Try a Google search and filter through those results. Maybe there will be a less technical, but still informative explanation. Also try Youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sckLJpjH5p8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sckLJpjH5p8 (Haven't watched it all the way through) Going from basic Trigonometry all the way to Discrete Fourier Transforms isn't exactly a 'overnight-hack' type of thing. Grokking everything will take a lot of time, if you do attempt it. Please don't hurt yourself.