Computers 101

Q:
What's with all the sizes I see? Kilobytes, megabytes, etc?

A:
File sizes tend to be one of the more perplexing issues for both the fledgling and intermediate computer user. So, we've put together a breakdown of the various file size "units" you may encounter.

Bit- The smallest unit in computing. It can have a value of 1 or 0. You'd be hard pressed to find a file size listed in bits.

Byte - A (still small) unit of information made up of 8 bits.

Kilobyte(KB) - A unit of approximately 1000 bytes (1024 to be exact). Most download sites use kilobytes when they give file sizes.

Megabyte (MB) - A unit of approximately one million bytes (1,024 KB).

Gigabyte (GB) - Approximately 1 billion bytes (1024 MB). Most hard drive sizes are listed in gigabytes.

OK, now for a little practical application.

A 3 1/2" floppy disk holds 1.44 Megabytes (1,474 KB).

A CD Rom holds 650 Megabytes (though most programs you get don't utilize the whole 650). This would be around 450 of those 3.5 floppies.

A 20 Gig hard drive will hold the same amount of info as 31 CD ROMs or 14,222 floppy disks.

It takes between 7-10 minutes to download a one megabyte (1024 KB) file using the average dial up interent connection.

A typical page of text is around 4KB.

To see the size of a given file, just right-click it (in Explorer or My Computer) and select Properties from the resulting menu.

I know that even with the information above, it can still be confusing, so I thought I would compare these digital units of measure to some everyday objects. Just picture them being completely hollow so you can store information in them.

Bit - Let's call this a regular sized marble.
Byte - Compared to the marble, this would be a baseball.
Kilobyte - Now we jump up to a pickup truck size.
Megabyte - Now for the leap - this would be a medium sized sky scraper.
Gigabyte - Take 1024 of the medium sized sky scrapers and stick them together for this one!

Well, hopefully that helps :-)

~ Steve

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Tip of the Day

Want Detailed File Info? Put it in the Properties

I'm sure that you have a bunch of image files, music files, and document files on your computer. How would you like detailed information about the file to stay with it? I especially use this one for image files. For instance, if I see a picture online that I would like to use as a screensaver or wallpaper, I put the artists name, date, and maybe even where I found it online in the File Properties.

To bring up the File Properties, just Right-click the file and choose "Properties" (you can also hold down your Alt key and double-click the file.

Some files will just show "General" in the properties, but others also have a "Summary" tab. On a JPEG file you can add Title, Subject, Author, Keywords, and comments.

Click the "Advanced>>" button and you can also see the width, height, resolution, and more. The "Description" and "Origin" info can also be modified from this screen by clicking the area next to "Title", etc.

MP3 and MS Office files work the same way, but the info is tailored for their purpose. There may be other types that also allow summaries, so take a look.

If you are an author, photographer, graphic designer, web designer, or musician, then adding file propereties can also provide important information to anyone who downloads your work. The file properties remain with the file, so if your website graphic has your name and such in the properties, they will still be there. You could even include copyright information.

Whether for personal or professional use, File Properties can really come in handy.

~ David

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Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Insectclopedia

Summer is the time of bugs, insects and such. (Sure it's just ending up here, but for our readers south of the Equator, it's headed your way!) Now you can learn all about them. There is an alphabetical species listing, insect control, rare cuisine and much more. You can learn where pests live, what type of plants they are attracted to, and even medicinal uses for them.

There are links that take you to other sites of interest: in the "cuisine" section I chose how to use insects as food, and learned all about their nutritional value.

“For example, crickets and grasshoppers have approximately 24 percent protein. Grasshoppers have 200 calories per 100 grams (approximately 900 calories per pound—some studies show up to 1,200 calories per pound) with 7-9 percent fat comparing to steak at 250 calories per 100 grams.”

So whether you want to learn about ants or wasps, or what kind of snack you can score in the backyard, the information you need is here.

Crawl, hop or fly on over.

http://www.insectclopedia.com/

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com