File Extension: What's That Mean?

You know the signoff of the TV production company that goes: "What's that mean?" I don't know which company it is. The only signoff tagline I do know is: "Sit, Ubu, sit." That was Gary David Goldberg's signoff for UBU Productions, Inc. that did the old Family Ties sitcom. I always thought that was funny. Especially when he replied: "Good dog." But I digress.

Mysterious 3 Letters

What I started to tell you about is that the "What's that mean?" pops into my head every time I see a file name with 3 letters I don't recognize after the dot. You know, the file name extension. I used to just groan and whine about having to figure out the obscure reference. But no more. I found a website that's a no-brainer. Even for a non-tekkie like me.

Rescued

Well, I found File-Types.com. It's another WordPress blog that you'll want to write down for your resource list. Why? I'm glad you asked.

The categories on the blog are letters of the alphabet. That makes it so easy to look up a particular file extension. If you have a dot asp file and you don't know what application to use to open the file, just select A in the category list. Then read about the asp file extension.

The post will explain:

• what it is
• how to open it whether you're running a Mac or a PC
• what any drawbacks to the file might be.

You see File Extension is a pretty comprehensive guide to the meaning of all those cryptic 3 letters.

Takeaway Truth

You can teach an old dog new tricks, like file extensions, even if the dog isn't named Ubu.