21 Things for Students

 Different agencies and companies around the world like to adopt their own secret naming schemes. They also use special language terms (examples: omg, lol, .jpg, .mp4, etc.). Filenames, formats, and domains are need-to-know information for Recruits.

A Special Note from the Director: You're doing great! There is only one more quest after this one and you will receive your Cadet Rank and badge.

Investigation:

Agent Lurk wrote up some field reports on a laptop at home and saved the report with this name: Lurkinvestigation, and turned off the computer. Lurk's chief operating officer called and ordered the file to be emailed to the office immediately. Agent Lurk said, "Sure right away." Lurk turned on the computer, and noticed that there were 4 files named Lurkinvestigation on the desktop. One was Lurkinvestigation.doc, one was Lurkinvestigation.jpg, one was Lurkinvestigation.xls, and one was Lurkinvestigation.mp3. What to do? Which one was the correct file? Lurk thought about the investigation, of taking a photo of the crime scene, the recording done when interviewing with a witness, making a list of possible suspects, and then a written report. Which one should Lurk send?

Action:

Lurk clicked on the Lurkinvestigation.mp3 file and the computer prompt asked what program to open it with? Lurk didn't know. Lurk selected Microsoft Word from the list. Error! It wouldn't open the file?

 Help! What should Lurk have known and done?

File Names

A file on the computer (or digital device) needs to have a unique name, or filename to identify it and the program used to create it.

Carefully examine these four filenames. What similarities and differences do you see?

aboutme.doc   aboutme.pdf    aboutme.mp4   aboutme.jpg   aboutme.docx

Did you notice the period?
How many letters and/or numbers come after the period?

*Fact 1: The first part of the filename before the period is called the base name, and the part after the period is called the file-ending, type, or also the extension. 
*Fact 2: File-endings: Companies that create software programs use a unique file-ending (usually 3 or 4 letters after a period) to indicate what type of content it is. Examples include: .doc, .pdf, .jpg, .mp3

 What happened to Agent Lurk, is that when you click on a filename on your computer (or device), it will automatically try to open the program the computer associates with that file-ending/extension. At times the computer will not know which one and will prompt you. 

Caution, Warning:

Avoid using  the following characters in a filename as it may cause an error or not let you save it: / ? \ % * : | " < > 

File endings for Images and Photos:

When you take photos with your digital camera, use/create artwork, or images (such as avatars, maps, secret images) you are most likely to have files which end with one of these:  .jpg, jpeg, .png, .tif, .bmp, .gif

Popular file endings: 

MailBigFiles has compiled a ranking of the 101 most common file extensionswhich pass through their site for sending large file attachments.  Notice the top 10 most popular extensions used - have you used any of these file types? 

When you are trying to locate files on your computer this may help you locate the right kind of file and open it in the correct application!

Here are some other ones you might want to be aware of, especially in creating multimedia projects:

Domains

A serious agent might take special care to notice which domains are being used when researching informational websites. 

What is a domain name? Click here to learn what they are, why they were created, and some different ones (such as .com, .us, .biz, .gov). As you're reading through the information, think about which ones might be most reliable for specific kinds of information. 

***While visiting the site, make up a possible domain name for yourself to see which ones would be available for you to purchase if you wanted your own (besides .com, which are often already taken). 

Class Discussion about Domains:

Tell which domain you think would have the more reliable information and why - .com, .jobs, .me, or .gov? 

If you decided to get your own domain name today, what is available?

 There is only one more quest to complete in the Basic Mission Briefing Quests to achieve your Cadet badge! 

Check this Quest off on your Tracking Document