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MULTI-MEDIA—THE FUTURE OF THE NET Things to Learn:
What is Streaming audio / video and why is good? Streaming is a technique used for transferring data, usually video, animation or sound. Instead of waiting for the whole file to download before it starts playing, sites that utilize streaming can start showing you the video or playing the sound the second that data starts “streaming” into your computer. As the Internet grows, streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important because most users do not have fast enough access to download large multimedia files quickly. To view websites that utilize streaming you might need to download a special program called a plug-in, discussed below.
What is a plug-in and which ones do I need? A plug in is a program that works with your browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer). A plug-in connects or “plugs-in” to your browser and helps the computer to understand special kinds of data. Plug-in’s allow you to do things that the browser itself is not capable of doing, like viewing multimedia files. If a page needs a plug-in to work correctly usually it’ll let you know. You’ll get a message saying something like “this page requires ‘Plug-in Brand X’. Would you like to download the plug-in?” Some plug-in’s will automatically install themselves. Others need to be downloaded and installed like normal programs.
Necessary Plug-Ins. These Are the Ones You’ve Just Got To Have: Before you go downloading these plug-in’s you may just want to make sure that you have the newest version of your browser. Most of the new versions come with the below plug-in’s. THE FLASH PLUG-IN Allows viewing of 2-D and 3-D Director and Flash animation files, which are very popular on the Internet. Flash sites are heavily animated and interactive, and are the beginning of the second real evolution seen on the Internet. According to Macromedia, the company that makes Flash, over 90% of Internet users have the Shockwave plug-in. Shockwave is a free and fast loading download that comes included in newer versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer. AWDSF's web design course uses flash for its main page. http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/ REALPLAYER Every day, millions of people enjoy live and on-demand audio and video with the RealPlayer. RealNetworks is the leading developer for Streaming Media software. RealSystem software is used to deliver content on more than 85% of all Streaming Media enabled Web pages. Currently there are over 60 million unique registered users of the RealPlayer. This Multimedia Player is free and is one of the more popular plug-ins on the web. Real offers a $29.99 version of the RealPlayer, but most people can get by just fine with the free version even if you have to hunt around some on Real’s site to find it. QUICKTIME Quicktime is pretty much the same as the Realplayer, but is preferred by some content providers. Consequently, you need it too. Each time a new version of Quicktime and the Realplayer come out they’ve improved the way the Plug-in can stream sound and video. Fickle developers often switch back and forth between the Realplayer and Quicktime depending on which format works best at the moment. ADOBE ACROBAT VIEWER Adobe Acrobat Reader is free software that lets you view and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Almost any document can be saved as a PDF file, allowing people access to files they don’t have the corresponding program for. Example: people without Adobe PageMaker can view PageMaker files in PDF format. Acrobat Reader also lets you fill in and submit forms online. Among companies currently utilizing Adobe Acrobat forms is the IRS, who lets you fill out and submit PDF forms online. www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html What is file Compression and what am I supposed to do with this .Zip file?What can you do with those huge files to make them smaller? Compress the file and make it smaller! You’ve just downloaded a file off of the Internet. It has an extension like “.zip” and you can’t seem to make it work. What’s going on? Well partner, you’ve got yourself a compressed file. You need to uncompress it. You’ve got a folder full of things that you want to e-mail. Your e-mailer only lets you attach files one at a time. Or maybe you’ve got a four-megabyte file and your e-mail only allows for a three-megabyte attachment. Compression can solve both of your problems. You can compress, or “zip” multiple files into one file, to be uncompressed later. If you compress a four megabyte file chances are that it’ll shrink down small enough for your three megabyte server to allow the file. Compression software uses complex mathematical equations to scan a file for repeating patterns in the data. It replaces the data with smaller codes that take up less room. For example, one way compression software works is to replace repeating text characters with a code. When compressing a picture file, compression software would find all of the red pieces, for example, and replace them with a code. The most popular file compression software for PC’s is WinZip. You can use WinZip to compress and uncompress any type of file. Compressed WinZip files have a “.zip” extension. To uncompress a zipped file, just double click it. WinZip will automatically open and uncompress the file for you. WinZip is free and is available for download at: A file that has been zipped has an icon that looks like: Compressing a file with WinZip can be confusing. Here are some handy directions for you:
INSTRUCTIONS TO ZIP (COMPRESS) A FILE OR FILES 1) You can select more than one file by Ctrl clicking them. Right Click the file, files, folder, or folders that you want to zip. 2) Choose “Add to Zip” 3) Choose “I Agree”. 4) Make sure “Recurse Folders” is clicked. This will leave your original file or folder alone and make a zipped copy. 5) Under “add to archive”, Click New. (each zip file is considered an archive) 6) In the Create In window, click down and select desktop. 7) Name your file. This is what the zip file will be named. 8) Click OK 9) Click ADD You’ll now have a new zip file on your desktop. That’s it!
MAC Compression The most popular compression software for the MAC is Stuffit, made by Aladdin Systems. WinZip will not open a file that has been “Stuffed”. If PC users are trying to open a file that their friend the MAC user has sent them they will need to get the Stuffit Expander, available for free at: www.aladdinsys.com/expander/expander_win_login.html
MP3. What’s all the Hubbub? MP3 is a type of compression shrinks audio files in such a way that sound quality is preserved, but the file size is significantly smaller than it would be as a regular CD song file. MP3 allows you to download and stream near-CD quality music and audio from the web. MP3 works by, among other things, removing all sounds that are inaudible to the human ear. This means you're able to stream music directly into your computer and out your speakers or you can download an entire song in only a few minutes with a slow modem. After that, you can play the song instantlyas many times as you want—regardless of your modem speed! MP3’s are often abused to illegally publish copywritten music, but MP3’s themselves are not illegal. MP3’s can be played on the Real Player or embedded into a Flash based website.
Viruses. What are they, how do they work, and how you can foil their evil schemes. A virus is the computer equivalent of keying your car or throwing a brick through your window. Viruses are programs written to mess with you and make your life miserable. According to statistical information presented at the 1994 Virus Bulletin Conference in Jersey, Channel Islands, most people who write these programs are 17-26 year old males. Too much testosterone, not enough direction, I guess. Some viruses are silly. The Wazoo virus, for example, works with Microsoft Word. Every time you hit the “W” key, the computer types “Wazoo”. Most viruses are not that nice, though. Many viruses target your hard drive, completely erasing it. Good morning, ALL your stuff is gone. Viruses have been known to spin your hard drive in such a way that creates enough frictional heat to set you computer on fire. If your plastic computer catches on fire, what do you think is going to happen to your pressboard desk—and your house if you’re not around? You can get a virus in a couple of different ways. You can download one off the Internet. The virus could come attached to any file. There have been known instances of established companies with viruses attached to their downloadable files, unbeknownst to them. You can also get a virus by saving a file on a floppy disk. If that computer has a virus, usually the Virus will secretly save itself to the disk. When you put the disk in a new computer the virus will offload itself, infecting the new machine. Viruses can be hidden in attached e-mail files, too, but you can’t get a virus from just looking at an e-mail. You have to purposely download an attached file. Now, you could decide never to download anything from the Internet, but you won’t really be able to avoid it in the future and you’re probably going to have to share floppy disks sooner or later, anyway. You need a virus checker. It’s not optional. You flat need one. Virus checkers are programs that, well… check for viruses. They scan downloads and files going into your computer for recognized viruses or instructions that may be new viruses. The virus checker needs to be updated periodically in case any new viruses have been found. The most popular programs can be can be set up to update themselves automatically while you’re on the web. The top two virus checkers are Norton Anti-Virus, by Symantic Systems, and Mcafee Anti-Virus. They can be found for around $20.00. |
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