Bobcaygeon Promoter, July 27, 2001
NetScoop: Behind the "Magic"
by Anne Panter
When I first went shopping for a microwave oven, an enthusiastic saleslady demonstrated how the "automatic" setting started a timer when the food started to cook. I asked whether it worked by sensing temperature or humidity. Her answer: "it's magic".
Luckily, we can generally take advantage of new technology without bothering with the messy details. Imagine a world where you couldn't drive a car without having a mechanic's licence! On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be out on the roads if people were allowed to drive with no training at all.
Computers may not be as dangerous as cars, but neither are they as simple as microwave ovens. With 40% of Canadians now using the internet, there are a lot of untrained "drivers" out there. The "surfers" can't get into much trouble, but when they start to send email attachments they can cause some major traffic jams.
For instance, someone with a cable connection can just click on that "magic" paper clip to send a file. Out here in the "boonies", where broadband (cable or DSL) is not available (and won't be in the forseeable future, unless Bill Gates buys the farm next door), we might wait 20 minutes to receive that file that took mere seconds to send.
So, while you may not be inclined to "look under the hood" of your computer, you still need to pay attention to a few rules of the road.
Rule 1: Check the file size (in the right-hand panel in "Windows Explorer") and don't send anything larger than 100KB without first asking permission from the recipient. In fact, some people set their email options to not download large files without asking first, and most email lists (like kawartha-online) won't accept them at all.
If you are sending pictures, consider the size of the photo when viewed on a monitor. Those lovely, high-resolution pictures that look great on paper won't fit on a computer monitor. Here's why: Standard monitors display 72 dots per inch. To show a 5-inch snapshot at 600-dots-per-inch will take 3000 dots, or (3000 divided by 72= ) 41 inches to display. On a 17-inch monitor, that picture spreads across 2.4 screens ... and my, Grandma, what big eyes you have!
If you scan the same photo at 100 dots per inch (or set the resolution in your digital camera down to that), it will now fit nicely on one screen. The resolution is still quite good, you can see the whole picture at once, and the file itself is now small enough to send.
Rule 2: Make sure that the recipient will actually be able to open your file. The 3-character suffix in the name tells the computer what kind of file this is, and what program to use to display it. (If Explorer doesn't show you that suffix, click on View/Options and uncheck the box that says "Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered" . )
For instance, a file name ending with .jpg is a picture, which, on my computer, will open Microsoft Internet Explorer. Your computer may be set up to open it in Netscape. A file ending in .doc may be a Microsoft Word file, or a WordPerfect file. If it's sent to me, I can't open it unless I have the software that was used to create it in the first place. People seem to assume that, because they have a copy of MS Word, everyone on their email list does too.
Finally, even if I can open an attachment, I may choose not to, for fear of catching a virus. In particular, anything ending in .exe or .vbs I delete immediately. Basically, the only "safe" file types - ones that everyone can open, and can be trusted to be virus-free are .txt, .gif. .jpg and .htm.
The Kawartha Internet Users' Group meets on the second Thursday of each month, 7pm, at the Lions Club, Main St., Bobcaygeon. New faces are always welcome
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apanter@kawartha.net
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