Fundamental questions...

I am constantly moving files from my computer to other computers, and most recently this has been due to a problem with our router at home, which we have had to bypass in order to access the Internet. We use a network printer at home, which my computer cannot access right now, due to the same router issues. To move files at home, I use my 2 gig thumb drive. I use it also sometimes when I need to move digital photos from home to my work computer, or from work to home. I have also emailed items to myself at my Fairmont State email address, since I know I can access it from any computer with an Internet connection. The FSU ftp site is good, but I have had difficulties accessing it from different computers, so the FSU email is more reliable in those situations. My files are, for the most part, stored on my hard drive in my home computer. In addition, some of them are stored on the Fairmont State ftp site. Then, of course, there are Google docs and my blog, which I had never really considered as storage options before. To access the Fairmont State ftp site, I go to http://www.fairmontstate.edu/, acces the Library page, choose the ftp option, and follow directions there, depending on which browser I am equipped with at the time. For Google docs and my blog, I go to http://www.google.com/, enter my user name and password, and follow the links to my blog or Google docs. The big advantage of the ftp site, Google docs, and my blog is that they are all password protected. With the exception of some difficulty with the ftp site, they have all been readily accessible to me with any computer having an Internet connection. An advantage of my thumb drive is that it is on my keychain so it is with me anywhere I go, but a disadvantage is its limited storage space of 2 gig. That always seemed like a lot to me, until I took a graphics class, and making graphics files portable takes a lot of space, especially if it concerns stuff like iMovies. Pretty big files! Some links to my work are provided in the image above.

File extensions designate what type of file it is and determine what programs are able to access those files. Some more common file types are Microsoft Word Documents (.doc, or docx with Office 2007); Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets (.xls); PowerPoint Presentations (.ppt); Photoshop Documents (.psd); Portable Document Format File (.pdf); graphics files such as JPEG Images (either .jpg or .jpeg), Bitmap Image Files (.bmp), Graphical Interchage Format Files (.gif); and video files such as Apple QuickTime Move (.mov), Real Media Files (.rm), and Windows Media Movie Files (.wmv). The program being used should identify what types of files it can access and what "save as" options are available when saving project files.