Three Tips A Day

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication and is a family of web feed formats used to publish updated content like blog entries, news headlines and audio-visual content. RSS is used by millions world over to keep in track with the updates of their favorite websites or important news, without bookmarking and visiting the websites everytime. How RSS works? RSS works by compiling notifications and updates of a website(for example news headlines) and some metadata into a...

What is Second Life?

Second life is a three dimensional virtual world created by Linden labs in 2003, which can be accessed using the internet. Members can register and participate using the Second Life Viewer program assuming a virtual identity or avatar. The Second Life virtual world is made of such Residents who can interact with (via IM and built-in chat) and meet other residents.  Residents can take part in several activities, create and trade virtual real estate and services with one another, or explore the...

What is MP4 or MPEG 4?

MP4 is an ISO standard developed by Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG. MP4 is also known as MPEG 4 AVC or advanced video coding. MP4 is getting more and more popular. In fact, it is now very popular to people who use the latest iPod players and PSP owners. Just like how MP3s work by compressing music and audio files without affecting the audio quality, MP4 files are compressed video files.  This new technology is going to make video files decrease in size so that they are easier to work...

What is a ODP file?

ODP is the presentation format for presentation software that follow the Open Office Document Format. .ODP is the default presentation format for the OpenOffice.org Impress. These can be opened with any OpenOffice-compatible program, including NeoOffice (Mac), AbiWord (Mac & Windows), and KWord (Unix) and can also be imported into Google Docs. ODP files are based on the OpenDocument format (ODF), which became the native format for electronic office documents such as spreadsheets, charts,...

What is a ODS file?

ODS is the spreadsheet format for spreadsheet software that follow the Open Office Document Format. .ODS is the default spreadsheet format for the OpenOffice.org Calc. These can be opened with any OpenOffice-compatible program, including NeoOffice (Mac), AbiWord (Mac & Windows), and KWord (Unix) and can also be imported into Google Docs. ODS files are based on the OpenDocument format (ODF), which became the native format for electronic office documents such as spreadsheets, charts,...

What is a ODT file?

ODT is the word processing document format for text document created using word processors that follow the Open Office Document Format. .ODT is the default document format for the OpenOffice.org Writer. These can be opened with any OpenOffice-compatible program, including NeoOffice (Mac), AbiWord (Mac & Windows), and KWord (Unix) and can also be imported into Google Docs. ODT files are based on the OpenDocument format (ODF), which became the native format for electronic office documents...

What is an Operating System?

I was shopping for a good mic cum headset at the market when I overheard this question - What is an Operating System (OS)?. While this question caught me offguard, I also realised that not a lot of people are still aware of what an Operating System is or what it is used for. I hope to answer that here. Simply put, an Operating System or OS as it is popularly called is a software designed to run other softwares or programs on a computer. The Operating System is considered as the backbone of a...

What is a Pptx file?

Pptx is a new presentation format that was introduced by Microsoft in Microsoft Office 2007. It replaced .Ppt as the standard format of Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations. Pptx is based on the new standard for Office files(spreadsheets, word processing documents, presentations etc) called Office Open XML, which replaced the previous binary and 2003 XML formats. Pptx files cannot be opened in older versions of Microsoft Office without prior conversion to Ppt format. Related: What is a...

What is a Docx file?

Docx is a new document format that was introduced by Microsoft in Microsoft Office 2007. It replaced .Doc as the standard format of Microsoft Word Documents. Docx is based on the new standard for Office files(spreadsheets, word processing documents etc) called Office Open XML, which replaced the previous binary and 2003 XML formats. Docx files cannot be opened in older versions of Microsoft Office without prior conversion to Doc format. Related: What is a Xlsx...

What is a Xlsx File?

Xlsx is a new spreadsheet format that was introduced by Microsoft in Microsoft Office 2007. It replaced .Xls as the standard format of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets. Xlsx is based on the new standard for Office files(spreadsheets, word processing documents etc) called Office Open XML, which replaced the previous binary and 2003 XML formats. Xlsx files cannot be opened in older versions of Microsoft Office without prior conversion to Xls format. How to convert XLSx files to XLS files? You...