zip to zm9; why's that?

My son Ed and I were discussing the other day who the Internet and especially Google has changed the way we feel about "knowing". We just aren't content to let things lie.

For example Bob, a friend of ours, is putting together a web site and wanted a photo gallery of boy scouts in action, doing what boy scouts do. I scanned some that I had and, to make it easy to transfer, I used the program WinZip which not only compresses files to shorten transmission time but also joins several files into one. Thus instead of sending 35 picture files to Bob, I sent him two zipped files attached to my email.

But, a funny thing happened along the way. When he received my email, he found two files with the file extension ".zm9" Neither his email program nor his version of Windows could unlock or open these two files, or even see what sort of files were zipped. Bob emailed me back explaining the situation and asking that I use a different Zip software.

I started writing back to say the attachments left my computer just fine. Then I decided I'd Google the term "zm9". I got hundreds of references with what I wanted to know explained different ways in the first 5 responses. I especially likedd the information at http://filext.com/file-extension/ZM9 Turned out to be a rogue program on Bob's system that interfered with incoming mail, changed zip files to zm9 files among other things. It also triggered a falase alarm in certain cases.

Another example: We have an old computer which still has Windows 98 on it. I'm thinking maybe I was to upgrade Windows before making the decision to replace the computer. What does Windows XP require and how much does it cost? This is late Sunday evening; it's raining; and I want to know the answers to my questions without leaving the house.

Again a quick click to Google and I've got my answers.

We are really spoiled.