Common file standards associated with the Internet questions and answers
Q1. Describe why PDF files are needed on the Internet.
A1. A PDF file is used on the Internet to let people open up, view and print documents on their own computer, even though they may not have the software themselves that was used to originally make the document. You can think of a pdf document as a photograph of a document because although you can view it, you can't usually edit it unless you have some special software. PDF files have the advantage of keeping all of the formatting in place, regardless of the PDF viewer you are using to view the document. There are many free PDF file viewers that you can download and use and many common word processing applications can view them as well.
Q2. Describe a situation where it might be desirable to use a JPG picture format.
A2. JPG is a picture format commonly used for photographs and complex pictures, which require thousands (up to about 65000) of different colours and shades. It uses 'lossy compression' so files are small and download quickly with very little loss of picture quality.
Q3. Describe a situation where it might be desirable to use a GIF picture format.
A3. The GIF format is perfect for simple diagrams and drawings, which require only a limited number of colours (up to 256). The files are small and therefore are transmitted across the Internet quickly. They are also used to make 'animated gifs'. These are small animated pictures, often used for 'emoticons', for example. Try searching for 'animated gif' or 'emoticon' and see what you can find.
Q4. What is MP3 used for?
A4. This is a file commonly used on the Internet for sound files and voice recordings
Q5. Why is MPEG often used for video streaming?
A5. This type of file is used on the Internet for video. It uses a lossy compression method, which sends a full picture only occasionally (a few times a second) but sends what has changed since the last time a full picture was sent far more frequently. By using this method, near TV quality video can be sent and streamed across the Internet.
Q6. Use the Internet to find two pdf viewer applications.
A6. E.g. Foxit, Xpdf, Google Chrome, Adobe.
Q7. Use the Internet to find an alternative to the MP3 format.
A7. E.g. OGG.
Q8. What is an animated GIF?
A8. An animated GIF is a set of gif picture files that rotate around and around quickly, giving the impression of animation.
Q9. Use the Internet to find a free application that can be used to create an animated GIF.
A9. E.g. Beneton Movie GIF, Falco GIF animator, Microsoft GIF animator.
Q10. Set yourself a challenge! Make an animated gif. If you know how to make a web page, add your animated gif to a web page.
A10. If students have studied making web sites, creating an animated GIF would make an excellent competition!