Penny's Search
Background Information Related to Technology
Peter Packet Game Background Information
Please check the Peter Packet Background sheet for information relating to packets, networks, servers, routers, encryption, viruses, hackers, and wireless communication.
Sending Data
People all over the world use computers for sending data. In Penny's Search, your students will help carry music, image, and video files through the Internet. They'll be playing the part of packets, or tiny pieces of information that make up the music, images, or videos.
Before delivering their data, your students will learn that Web crawlers, or robots, are software programs that go out onto the Internet and find information about Websites. All of the information gathered by Web crawler software is available on special Websites called search engines. When people enter keywords into search engines, the information that comes up on their computer screens is a result of the Web crawler software's work in searching and indexing the Internet.
Therefore, with the click of a button, information can be found on Websites anywhere.
Sound Files
Since music files are generally very large, they cannot travel easily through the Internet unless they are converted into a smaller size. To create files that will work on the Internet, a sequencer helps musicians write and encode music. The music is changed into MP3 files or other smaller files that can be sent through the Internet and downloaded by computers.
Image Files from Underwater to Satellite
Scientists engaging in underwater research often use sonar-activated cameras to capture images. Software known as Ping can collect sonar images from the cameras. To send the images, the scientists use File Transfer Protocol or FTP, which is the most common method of sending files from one computer to another.
Research scientists who are located far away from traditional telecommunications networks send their images through satellite dishes. Packets traveling to and from satellites often encounter problems related to space weather such as meteor showers, comets, sunspots, and asteroids; interference; latency, which is the delay between transmission of data and reception of data; and distance.
Video Files
Video files are even larger than sound files. The technique for transmitting video files through the Internet is called Video Streaming. The files are broken down into tiny packets and sent through the Internet one at a time—like a stream of packets. The packets arrive at the destination computer one at a time and can be viewed as they arrive. They eventually form a continuous video. Files traveling through a "video stream" are prone to disruptions such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) from sources such as electric motors, florescent lights, and power supplies; hacker packets, which are pieces of files and software sent out by hackers that cause congestion online; and crosstalk, which occurs when signals from one wire cross over to adjacent wires and interfere with the transmission of data.
Other Technical Information Covered in Penny's Search
Security measures for Websites often include software such as firewalls and virus protection. Data traveling through wireless networks is given a special code that is called a security key. Files arriving without security keys are rejected.
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