Publisher’s

Note

Maulik Jasubhai Publisher

The Great Indian Tech Journey

XACTLY 366 DAYS AGO, while celebrating its billion-plus population. This may be true to

E
Digit’s third anniversary, I hazarded to write a certain extent. No one can deny that more
in this column about how India is on the than half our population is poor, and can
verge of that crucial inflexion point where barely afford two meals a day.
we could take off into the next era of However, if any one aspect of life can take
technology innovation and progress. At that them towards self-reliance, and later
point in time, to be honest, we could have prosperity, it is technology. NIIT’s Hole-in-the-
gone either way. Wall innovation, ITC’s ambitious e-Chaupal
I am happy to report that we have indeed project, and HP’s Project Muskaan, are all
broken the sound barrier, and are now examples of how our lives can be enriched by
zooming ahead into a new dimension, so to leveraging technology to generate employment,
speak. Technology is fast being accepted as an and create educational opportunities.
integral part of our lives—both personal and As Digit enters its fifth year, we reinforce
professional—more than ever before. our belief that technology adaptation is here to
Over the last four years, with each issue of stay and to accelerate. The coming year would
Digit, the team here bet on how technology see greater emphasis on Digit’s part to break
will change our lives; on how it will help us new ground in technology communication. We
communicate better, utilise limited resources have always innovated for our readers, and this
better, and even cut transaction costs to an year would no different. It is no coincidence
affordable level. that the year of India’s technological inflexion
We believe that, in our very small way, we point was also the year Digit saw the most
helped India reach a stage where its citizens (or growth in readership and mass acceptance.
at least a certain section) are no longer We are proud and privileged to be a small
technologically challenged. We are a nation of part of The Great Indian Technology Journey,
technology- and knowledge-hungry people, together with you.
waiting to burst into the international scene.
Digit recognises that, and this philosophy is
reflected in each article we write, each product
we review, and each column we opine in.
The sceptics would say that India is still an
elephant, and that it cannot dance. That India
is a nation of poor people, with little or
insignificant demand for technology, despite [email protected]
Editorial

Broadband, Narrow Minds

Y
“YAHAN PAR HAMARI kahani offbeat ho jaati hai,” said
Rajesh Khanna to budding director Asrani while
describing a melodramatic movie story in the ever-
green comedy Bawarchi. It loosely translates into:
“Here is where we have a twist in the tale.”
Any discussion on broadband penetration in
India reminds one of this dialogue. Was Rajesh
Khanna prescient?
Consider the evidence. First, we had the joke
played upon consumers by Internet service providers
by categorising 128 Kbps speeds as “lightning speed
broadband”. The government finally put paid to
these claims by defining broadband as “minimum
256 Kbps of download speed”. Then, the same ISPs
began defining their rate cards based on per MB of
download, and priced 1 MB at Rs 1.50 if you ever
dared to go beyond the specified limit. What they Sachin Kalbag Executive Editor
conveniently hide from customers is that they will
charge fees based on data transfer—so technically,
both uploads and downloads will be charged. Be that
as it may, consumers in India still welcomed the “Only if the mighty MSO
“broadband revolution”.
But it is at this juncture that the story turns off- deems fit, will you get a
beat. The success of broadband in India does not
depend on the government opening up bandwidth. broadband connection. ”
Nor does it depend upon the investments and mar-
keting campaigns by Internet Service Providers. And
it certainly does not depend upon consumers (those an Iqara connection, you will have to wait until InCa-
measly, low-life scum). ble builds its own broadband infrastructure.
It all depends, ladies and gentlemen, on your local The options are to a) wait; or b) work with your
cable operator. Only if the mighty Multi-System Oper- 56 Kbps modem.
ator (or MSO; an MSO is a super cable operator like Evidently, the trouble with technology penetra-
InCable, or Hathway) deems fit, will you get a broad- tion in India is not that people don’t want to spend—
band connection. This is because the MSO itself has an it is that there are too many hurdles to spend that
interest in the lucrative broadband business. money. The sooner the authorities realise this, the
Here is how it works: Most broadband Internet con- faster we can progress. And yes, we sure don’t need
nections are given using the cables already laid by the another twist in the tale, do we?
cable operator. The cable operator cannot provide any
broadband connection if the ISP does not have a
signed agreement with the MSO. So, suppose your
MSO has no infrastructure to provide you a broadband
connection, but intends to give it in, say, six months’
time, we wish you the very best of luck. He will not
allow any other ISP to use his cables to give you a
broadband connection. For instance, if you stay in an
InCable “territory”, and you want a Hathway, Sify, or [email protected]
 Tell Us What You Feel About Digit Advertisers’ Index
Each month, Digit walks through the
technology maze to bring you the most Client Page
YO U R T EC H N O LO GY N AV I G ATO R
relevant, most researched stories. If you have an
opinion about anything published in Digit, or Acer ..............................................109
June 2005 • Volume 5 • Issue 6 about technology in general, please write to Adline ............................................93
[email protected]
Chairman Amkette ..........................................33
Jasu Shah
Printer, Publisher and Editor Product Testing Brother ..........................................45
Maulik Jasubhai
President and Publishing Director
Want your product reviewed by Digit? Cricket Today ................................89
L Subramanyan Contact our Test Centre at:
[email protected] Compuage ......................................17
Editorial
Executive Editor Sachin Kalbag Dell ..........................................20, 21
Deputy Features Editor Aditya Kuber Software On DVD / CD Enjay ............................................44
Writers Preethi Chamikutty, Mithun Kidambi To submit and suggest software for
Copy Editors Robert Sovereign-Smith,
inclusion in the Digit DVD or CD, contact us at:
Epson ........................129,130,131,132
Ram Mohan Rao, Renuka Rane
[email protected] Epson ....................153, 154, 155, 156
Test Centre
Deputy Head Deepak Dhingra HP ............................................54, 55
Senior Reviewer Aliasgar Pardawala Help! IBM ................................................97
Reviewers Sanket Naik, Varun Dubey, For any subscription or copy-related issues,
Jayesh Limaye send an e-mail to [email protected] Intex ........................117, 118,119, 120
Coordinator Gautami V Chalke
You may also contact the following Kodak 145, 146,147, 148 ....................
Design executives for local queries:
Creative Head Kabir Malkani Bangalore: Marshall S (080-37629286) LG ........................................Gatefold
Lead Designer Jayan K Narayanan
Chennai: L R Laxmanan (044-33629283) Logitech ................Inside Back Cover
Senior Designer Shivasankaran C Pillai
Designers Atul Deshmukh, Shyam Shriram, Delhi: Puja Punj (011-51608659)
Binesh Sreedharan, Vijay Padaya, Sivalal S Hyderabad: Norbert Joseph (040-33629281) Lee ................................................23
Photographers Jiten Gandhi, Sandeep Patil Kolkata: Jayanta Bhattacharyya Maxtone ................149, 150, 151, 152
Coordinator Rohini Dalvi (033-33629284)
Mumbai: Arpita Ganguli (022-27629200) Maxtor ......Gatefold - Publisher Note
Multimedia
Content Coordinator Ishan Prakash Pune: Sachin Kamble (020-33629280) Microsoft ..................................81, 87
Programming Pradeep D’Souza,
Ashwin Nikam Endorsements/Reprints Neotric ........................................101
Design Sani Mani Interested in ordering article reprints, or using Neotric ....................141,142,143, 144
Marketing and Sales our logos?
Vice President, Sales Vijay Adhikari Contact: [email protected] Nikon ..............................................11
Head, Consumer Sales Saurabh Pandey
Numeric ........................................41
Head, Non-IT Sales Bhavesh Thakor Digit Patron
Brand Manager Nabjeet Ganguli Get more for being a loyal Digit reader. Register Philips Corporate ..........................25
Marketing Communication Vasuki Padakandla,
for the Digit Patron programme at Priya Limited..................................83
Mona Talati, Elizabeth Jacob, Anurag Acharya
Ad-sales Coordination Ramesh Kumar thinkdigit.com/digitpatron, or send an
e-mail to: [email protected] Rediff ............................27, 69, 71, 73
Production and Logistics
Head Operations Shivshankar Hiremath Disclaimer: For every Digit contest, there will be only Remittag ........................................63
Manager (Operations) Shailesh Iyer one winner, unless specified otherwise. In the event of a
dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final
Samsung ..................................48, 49
Managers (Production) Harish Suvarna,
Shiv Hiremath Samsung ..................125,126,127, 128
Deputy Managers
Mangesh Salvi, Prashant Nair Product Index Samsung ................133, 134, 135, 136
Production Executive Ravindra Dighe Hardware Western Digital Passport 40 GB
Logistics Anant Shirke, M P Singh, External Hard Drives 38 Western Digital WD2500BO11 RNN Samsung ..................137, 138,139, 140
Freecom FHD-2Pro 60 GB Western Digital 250 Media Center
Vilas Mhatre, Sriram Iyer, Mohd. Ansari Maxtor 300GB One Touch II New & Notable 34 Samsung ................121, 122, 123, 124
Shashi Shekhar Singh Maxtor One Touch 250GB Apple 30” Cinema HD Display
Audience Development Seagate Pocket Hard Disk 2.5 GB Contour Perfit Mouse Optical Sagarmatha ....................................57
Seagate Pocket Hard Disk 5 GB Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC
Assistant Manager Puja Punj, Krishna Kurup Seagate 100 GB ST9100801U2-RK HCL Beanstalk Neo Media Centre PC Seagate ........................................173
Digit Patron Cell Ghazala Siddiqui Seagate 160 GB with Firewire MSI’s P4N Diamond And NX6800GT SLI
Executives Neha Patel, James D’Souza Seagate 400 GB Barracuda Palm Treo 650 Sony..................................................8
Transcend Storejet 20 GB Sagem My X-8
Customer Service Transcend Storejet 40 GB Siemens SX66 PDA Symantec ........................................77
Arpita Ganguli, Amarjit Kaur
Triffin ..............................................31
Head Office: Editorial, Marketing To Advertise
& Customer Service Topgun............................................85
Bangalore E-mail: manoj_sawalani@
Plot No D-222/2, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC Vasuki Kashyap jasubhai.com
Shirvane, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400 706 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (022) 56310515/14 Toshiba ..........................................29
Phone: +91 022-27629191/9200 Phone: (080) 5325670/88, New Delhi
2899287 Twice Digital ..................................95
Fax: +91 022-27629164 Arvind Prabhakar
Printed and published by Maulik Jasubhai on
Chennai E-mail: arvind_prabhakar@ Unistal ..........................................103
Sahayaraj Prabhu jasubhai.com
behalf of Jasubhai Digital Media Pvt Ltd,
26 Maker Chambers VI, 2nd Floor, Nariman
E-mail: prabhu_sahayaraj@ Phone: (011) 51608658 Viewsonic ........................Back Cover
jasubhai.com Pune
Point, Mumbai 400 021, India and Published Phone: (044) 28235186/89 Xserve ............................................39
from Mumbai Manoj Sawalani
Editor: Maulik Jasubhai, 26 Maker Chambers VI, Kolkata E-mail: manoj_sawalani@ Xerox Modicorp Ltd ........................37
2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021 Jayanta Bhattacharyya jasubhai.com
E-mail: jayanta_bhattacharyya@ Phone: (022) 56310515/14 3d Matrix ........................................65
Printed at Magna Graphics (I) Ltd, jasubhai.com
101 C & D Government Industrial Estate Secunderabad
Phone: (033) 22345100/5200 Sahayaraj Prabhu
Kandivli, Mumbai 400 067
Mumbai E-mail: prabhu_sahayaraj@
COVER Manoj Sawalani jasubhai.com
Design Jayan Narayanan Phone: (040) 28235186/89

10 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Enter Hello, Convergence! Guest Columns
64 Of Bits, Atoms, And
Softwear
Nicholas Negroponte on the bit
switch and wearable computers

22 86 Human-Machine
Bharat Convergence
Dabholkar
Kevin Warwick on the need to
talks about
what tech converge with machines
means to him
94 Convergence Is Not
22 Congruence
Apple’s Tiger
has serious Anil K Gupta on convergence
issues in the Indian context

28 99 Technologies On
Samsung and The Verge...
MS will partner
on next Xbox Punya Mishra on three types
of convergence
30 50 Hello, Convergence!
Are the DVD In this special issue, we look at convergence 107 The Inevitability Of
format wars from every possible angle. We’ve got a Technology-Led
finally going to battery of guest columnists lined up, and
come to an end? Transformation
we also present Digit’s take on convergence Ganesh Natarajan on change

Contents Magazine
58 One World, One Home 80 Whither Mankind?
The first place you interact Will we converge with
with converged devices could machines at some point in
be your home. So what will our future? Is it inevitable?
your home look like?

68 The Ultimate 91 Applied Convergence

Converged Accessories ‘Convergence’ is not a hyped
Calling all geeks! Convergence word—far from it. We take a
promises to deliver the stuff look at practical applications
that geek dreams are made of

72 Crash Landing 96 Secure Your Home Now!

We take a look at products that Home security is big, and
were driven by convergence poised to become bigger. A
but weren’t well-received by look at the gadgets that are
the world helping secure our homes

75 The Name Is Connected. 105 The Top Five

Dr Connected Wired Nations
The gadgets in James Bond A look at the most-wired,
movies exemplify convergence. most tech-savvy countries
Here’s a sampler on the face of the earth

12 JUNE 2005 DIGIT

The Digital World 137 Adding Effects To
Your Home Videos
114 Remote Control So you thought only the pros
Your PC could make professional-
Applications looking videos? Here’s how to
Using your TV tuner add effects and make your
card’s remote, you can home-shot videos look pro
control many PC
applications wirelessly
141 Back Up Using A
129 Print Photos Portable Drive
Using Your Portable hard drives are ideal
Inkjet MFD for backups. We tell you how
Your home inkjet MFD to use these nifty devices to
can, of course, be put to always keep a backup of your
a variety of uses—photo precious data
printing included

133 Wall-Mounting 145 Understanding

An LCD Panel Manual Camera
For those of you lucky Configurations
enough to own an Get to know about the
LCD panel, here’s how manual settings on your
to mount it camera to get the most
out of it

June 2005
Test Centre 161 Tips And Tricks Escape
Included here are several software we use
on a daily basis: the Microsoft Office suite, 179
Dr Niklaus
Dreamweaver, Publisher, and FrontPage. Wirth created
We also tell you how to do home videos, the Pascal
and create your own RSS feed! family of
languages
170 Q&A
Your questions answered. There’s also
the usual ‘How To’ section, this time on
cataloguing your burnt CDs and DVDs
using XBaseCatalog

38 Let There Be Space! 180

External hard drives are the gadgets of
175 Agent 001
It’s the height of So, did Al Gore
choice for frequent backups. A comprehen- actually invent
summer, and Agent the Internet like
sive shootout, ranging from tiny pocket
001’s quest this he claimed he
drives to the seriously capacious ones
month is to find the did? Well, he’s
perfect cooling got a lifetime
34 New and Notable achievement
Some of the best products to have entered solution for his rig.
award for his
the market—most notably the Apple 30-inch He also answers a contributions,
cinema HD display, the HCL Beanstalk Neo few burning anyway
Media Centre PC, and the Treo 650 questions...

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 13

Month after month, these 67 pros work their butts off to bring you India’s
favourite technology magazine. Meet them right here, right now!

Maulik Jasubhai Sachin Kalbag Vijay Adhikari Saurabh Pandey Nabjeet Ganguli
yan
L Subraman

hi
Robert Sovereign-Smith Renuka Rane Aditya Kuber
Sivalal S Jiten Gand
Deepak Dhingra

Varun Dubey Shyam Shriram Atul Deshmukh

Jayan Narayanan Binesh Sreedharan
Vijay Padaya

Shivasankaran C Pillai
Sanket Naik Aliasgar Pardawala Preethi Chamikutty
Ishan Prakash Ram Mohan Rao

Kabir Malkani Mithun Kidambi

Elizabeth Jacob Divya Morparia Vasuki Padakandla
Mona Talati
 Arpita Ganguli Jayesh Limaye Shivshankar Hiremath
Rohini Dalvi Gautami Chalke

Shiv Hiremath Prashant Nair Shriram Iyer Mangesh Salvi

Shailesh Iyer

Harish Suvarna Ashwin Nikam Ghazala Siddiqui Amarjit Kaur

Ravindra Dighe

Sunil Patil Arvind Prabhakar

Sani Mani Nishant Srivastava
Pradeep D’Souza

Prachi Mishra
Nitasha Pania Sahayaraj Prabhu
Ramesh Kumar Agent 001

Manas Mishra
Suraj Nair

Harkirat Sandhu Vasuki Kashyap Manish Shar

Kunal Prajap ma
ati

Raj Iyengar
Somali Das Gu Manoj Sawalani
pta Sidharth Karant
Kanika Kapoor Vinit Pandhi h
 Online Digit Patrons
By Demand It really does
June 2005

You get to choose what goes in Digit pay to be loyal!

Interactive. This month, you chose: Find out more
52 Full Free Games on www.
Linux Software thinkdigit.com

Digit Reader Poll Last Month’s Question:

How much spam mail do you receive in a
This Month’s Question month?
How much of a
difference do you think
convergence will make in
your daily lives? None
Less than 10
None
11 - 50
Make life easier
Make life harder 51 - 100
Revolutionise it 101 - 200
Don’t care Above 200
Log on to www.thinkdigit.com
and vote

taste technology at
www.thinkdigit.com
There’s something for everyone on the Digit Forum www.thinkdigit.com/forum

16
 Contents Interactive
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■ Mozilla 1.7.7 ■ Headline Viewer 0.9.9 ■ DivXRepair 1.0.1 ■ Hangman
■ IBM - Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.02 ■ Easydivx 0.8.2.0 ■ Helicopter Escape
■ Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility ■ Evil Player 1.00 ■ Hot Air 2 30
6.3.0.1008 ■ FastStone Photo Resizer 1.4 ■ gShield 2.7.1 ■ Infection Freeware
■ IrfanView 3.97 ALL plugins ■ FastStone Screen Capture 1.5 ■ GuardDog 2.0.0 ■ J-Ball
■ Kerio Personal Firewall 4.2.0 Build 664 ■ FirePaint 2005 1 ■ IAn Webmail 1.0 ■ Jetz Fusion
Beta 6 ■ FLAC for Windows 1.1.1a ■ KBear 2.0 43 ■ Jetz Rampage 2
■ LanSpy 2.0.0.155 ■ Fmod 3.74 ■ KDE Multimedia 3.1.4 Freeware ■ Jumper + Level Editor
■ MemSpy 3.6 ■ foobar2000 0.8.3 ■ Kino 0.7.0 ■ Jumper Two
■ Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager ■ GDS Screen Capture 1.0 ■ kmail 1.0.29.2 ■ Liquisity
(Standard) ■ GrabCaptureScreen 2.0.5.3 ■ Lynx 2.8.3 ■ Martyrdom Dungeon
■ MountVD 4.0.30 ■ Guitar and Drum Trainer 2.0 ■ Mozilla 1.8b1 ■ Mummy's Curse
■ MSConfig Cleanup 1.1 ■ Juke 3.8.6 ■ Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.2 ■ Nikki the Ninja
■ Mozilla Firefox 1.0.3 ■ MyBackup 1.01 ■ KaraFun 0.80 ■ Onslaught
■ Netscape Browser 8.0 beta ■ NetStumbler 0.4.0 ■ LameXP 1.01 41 ■ Ore No Ryomi 2
■ Opera 8 ■ Partition saving 2.90 ■ MPEG2Schnitt 0.6l-b Freeware ■ Pac-Manic Worlds 3D
■ PageBreeze Free HTML Editor 3.0c ■ Power Defragmenter 1.82 ■ Photo Sorter 3.0.0 ■ Penguin Panic
■ Portable Firefox 1.0.2 beta ■ ProcessTamer 2.00.15 beta ■ QuickPlayer 1.00 beta 36 ■ Ping - The Sequel to Pong
■ Portello 1.04.0004 ■ Renamer 1.4 ■ Riva FLV Encoder 1.20 ■ Prisms of Light 2
■ Realpopup 2.6 build 167 ■ SC-DiskInfo 1.11 ■ Screenshot Pilot 1.40 ■ Shooter 4.0
■ RSSNewsTicker 0.9.6 ■ Skype 1.2.0.48 ■ Scrolling LED Bitmap Generator 3.1.0 ■ Sketch
■ SpeedyMSN 1.4 ■ SmartFTP 1.1.985 ■ SimplyCapture 1.0 ■ mpg123 0.59s ■ Sky Fire
■ Star Downloader Free 1.4.4 ■ SpeedFan 4.23 ■ Sonique 2.0 Beta 1.03 ■ MPlayer 1.0 pre 7 ■ Spid the Spider
■ Star Messenger 1.0 ■ SplitFile 1.2 ■ Turbine Video Encoder 1.0 ■ Pine 4.62 ■ Squarez
■ TeamTalk 3.0 ■ Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 ■ VSO DivXtoDVD Converter 0.5.2 ■ Pure FTP server 1.0.7 ■ Star Ball
■ Trillian 3.1 ■ SpywareBlaster 3.3 ■ xraster 0.9 ■ rsync 2.5.0 ■ Tank Assault
■ TrueDownloader 0.82 ■ System Spec 1.18 ■ Winamp Full 5.08 ■ Scintilla 1.62 ■ Dungeon
■ Windows Messenger 5.1.0639 ■ TaskSwitchXP 2.05 ■ Sylpheed 1.9.6
■ Windows Messenger Remover 1.0 ■ TitleFix 1.0 ■ The Circle 0.16
■ XMLEditPro 2.1 ■ Tweak FX 8.0 Beta ■ W3Perl 2.8.8
■ Y!Multi Messenger 6.0.0.1922 ■ TypeAndRun 4.6.1 ■ WU-FTPD 2.6.2
■ Yahoo Toolbar with Anti-Spy 5.5.5 ■ Unstoppable Copier 1.9 ■ X MPEG Player System 2.0
■ Yahoo! Messenger 6.0.0.1922 ■ Urfin 1.2 beta ■ X-CD-Roast 0.98 Alpha 15
■ Yahoo! Desktop Search 1.1 beta ■ XChat 2.0.2

18 DIGIT MAY 2005 Note 1: Grey areas show content available on the CD. The DVD also contains all that is on the CD
Note 2: If you do not want to boot from the CD, remove it from the drive at startup
 Hacking Ported New Windows For Fake
Developers have figured how to extract files from the Microsoft is offering Americans compensation if they bought
Universal Media Discs used in Sony’s PlayStation Portable, a dodgy copy of Windows in exchange for information on its
though there is no way to play the extracted games. Movie source. The compensation will be in the form of a handy
studios will release some of their films on the UMD format, little product activation key by e-mail, followed by a nice
but it’s not clear if the technique would work for films. new legit copy of Windows XP in the post.

Enter
IS THE TIGER LIMPING?
Bharat Dabholkar
Film Actor And Director
Security Holes And Compatibility
A lawyer, advertising
professional, actor, fitness
enthusiast and now a film
director—Bharat Dabholkar’s
Issues Could Plague Tiger
roles in real life are as
interesting and varied as those

T
he Tiger is on the prowl A few of the other widely “We are aware of an
in reel life. Here’s his take on and everyone raving reported flaws are SMB file issue that prevents the
technology. about its new features sharing and authentication playback of QuickTime
What does technology and considering the initial problems with Microsoft’s content embedded in PDF
mean to you? sales figures it may surpass Active Directory. Although files when using QuickTime
I think technology is the Panther’s first quarter Apple’s Tiger increases 7 Player on all supported
essential to make life sales figure very soon. support for Server Message versions of Mac OS X,” said
easier. The new tools But is everything sunny Block file sharing and Active an Adobe representative.
are giving a new in Tiger land? Bugs and Directory, several sources say Adobe said that it would
perspective to life. errors are being reported that the Finder fails to log issue a fix in an upcoming
What role does daily, and the present on to Windows and Linux maintenance release, but
technology play in trickle could turn into a Samba file servers. did not say when.
your life? torrent if Apple and their Some installations are Five of Symantec’s Mac
I read about all the latest associates don’t take also finding that Windows products are incompatible
developments in the market. remedial measures. workstations can’t log on to with Tiger, but the company
Programmers have the Mac after upgrading to said there was nothing
How often do you surf
detected a security hole in Mac OS X 10.4. unusual about the Tiger
the Net?
Dashboard, a suite of Another niggling release due to the nature of
Everyday—I check my mails
programs called widgets problem is a compatibility Symantec’s utility software.
regularly, and get my daily dose
that often access issue with enterprise Tiger also has caused
of technology updates by
information on the software. Adobe said some incompatibility with
reading online.
Internet, which could Acrobat 7 has a problem driver-level software related
What gadgets do you own? expose users of Tiger to with QuickTime 7, which to hardware. The Radeon
I do not own anything beyond attack, and may put ships with Tiger. X800 XT graphics card from
my cell phone and Tablet PC. personal information like ATI Technologies has ROM
What do you feel about passwords and credit software that
convergence of devices? card data at risk. is incompatible
Convergence is very futuristic, Tiger comes with Tiger.
Illustrations: Harsho Mohan Chattoraj

but is beneficial to the preloaded with 14 The ROM software

consumer. However, people widgets, including a can cause a kernel
usually end up buying things world clock, a panic, a type of crash
impulsively, and later realise dictionary and a when the Mac screen
that they do not use these hi- weather station. For is covered with lines
tech products. the convenience of of code.
You have been a lawyer, actor, users, most widgets Users can also see
and advertising professional. automatically install kernel panics when
Where has technology has themselves. Experts upgrading to Tiger with
evolved the most? fear that any program Maxtor FireWire and USB
The entertainment industry has that auto-installs is hard drives connected to
been the largest beneficiary. ripe for exploitation. the Mac. Maxtor, in fact,
Today, it is possible to make and A growing number recommends that users
transfer films digitally, saving of Mac experts are disconnect Maxtor external
huge amounts of money. sounding the alarm drives before running
Besides, it also reaches a wider over the dangers of Apple’s Tiger installer.
audience. Technology can also widgets—which can The company, though,
help improve the quality of films carry Unix commands said it could not predict
and help curb piracy. that could be run when a fix for these holes
invisibly from within. could be available.

22 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech Pulse

WELL DONE, DELL! YAHOO! GOES VIDEO

Security Watch
Googkle.com Dell Yahoo’s Opera 8
The latest
avatar of this
The Problem
In April, a warning was issued
Integrates Video Search browser doesn’t
disappoint. It
by Finnish anti-virus vendor F-
Secure Corp. about a
Windows Is Out Of The has all the customisable
features and tweaks to keep
problematic site, googkle.com.
One can reach this site by
x64 Beta Phase the advanced user happy,
while the neat interface
should suffice for all the
misspelling ‘google.com’—and needs of the basic user.
typing in ‘googkle.com’—in the
title bar of a Web browser.
The Damages
D ell will factory-install
Microsoft’s Windows
XP Professional x64
Y ahoo! Inc. has shifted
its online video search
tool out of its test phase, Netscape 8 Beta
When googkle.com is opened in Edition and Windows marking another step in Netscape 8,
a browser, two pop-up windows Server 2003 x64 editions the Internet powerhouse’s though in beta
are immediately launched, with operating systems across plan to use other media to stage, comes with
a very crisp and
redirects to third-party sites Dell Precision workstation lure more visitors to its sharp-looking interface. This,
loaded with scripts. One of the and PowerEdge server Web site. The Sunnyvale- however, doesn’t translate into
sites, ntsearch.com, downloads lines. It has also reinforced based company created a excellent features. It’s based
and runs a ‘pop.chm’ file, and available professional separate search channel on Firefox, and yet is bulkier,
the other, toolbarpartner.com, services that support faster for online videos in and lacks features and
customisation options.
downloads and runs a migration of the enhanced December. The product
‘ddfs.chm’ file, F-Secure said. features available in the had been running as a test
“Both files are downloaded x64-bit operating systems. till recently. video.search.yahoo.com
using exploits and they contain “Dell hardware has As part of the upgrade, include movie previews,
exploits themselves to run been 64-bit ready since Yahoo! is indexing more excerpts from previously
embedded executable files. One June 2004, and we have video from several new broadcast TV shows as well
of the Web pages of the worked extensively with media sources, including as original content. Yahoo!
‘toolbarpartner.com’ website Intel, Microsoft and MTV and The Discovery is counting on video
downloads a file named applications vendor Channel. Yahoo! touts its search to give it an
‘pic10.jpg’ using an exploit. This partners to drive search engine as the advantage over Google Inc.
JPG file is an executable that development of standards- Internet’s most Google processes about 47
replaces Windows Media based solutions,” said Jeff comprehensive source for percent of online searches
Player,” the warning reads. Clarke, senior vice finding online video, in the US, leaving Yahoo! a
Also launched are a steady president, Product Group, although the company won’t distant second with 21
stream of pop-up Web pages Dell. “Dell is committed to disclose the index’s size. percent of the market,
with different .exe files. One helping customers migrate The push into online according to Nielsen/
batch of exploits loads a from costly, proprietary video has been driven NetRatings.
malware package that includes platforms to cost-effective, largely by the growing “We want to be the place
two backdoors, two Trojan and standards-based number of homes with high- to go whenever people are
droppers, a proxy Trojan, a environments. speed Internet connections, trying to find online video,”
spying Trojan and a Trojan This is the same said Bradley Horowitz, Horowitz said.
downloader. strategy that has delivered Yahoo’s director of media Google is testing an
Precautions Dell workstation and desktop search. The online video guide that
It’s mostly users of IE that customers up to 10 times speedier connections make relies on an index of
seem to be affected. Windows the performance at a tenth it easier to watch video closed-caption text from
XP users who have installed of the cost.” online without the delays previously aired TV
SP2 are also safe. However, to Dell PowerEdge servers and choppy delivery programmes, and recently
be on the safe side, just don’t with integrated Windows commonly experienced on began to encourage visitors
misspell ‘google’! Server 2003 x64 Editions dial-up connections. to submit personal videos
will be available in June. Video clips available at so they can be indexed.

One Silly Question Mac’s fourth OS was called Panther, fifth is Tiger, what should the sixth be?

I think ‘Lion l keep

’ is perfect. nd wil
‘Cheetah’-because it’s s good a
‘Bear’? the fastest! rd’ sound
out the
Satish Muda Maybe ‘Monster’? !
liar, Mumbai
How ab Neel Parikh, Mumb ‘Leopa the family bai
jarat ai it with
in vi Mum
Gulshan Shetty, Mumbai Sanghv
i, Gu up ta, Na
Khyati nshu G
Subha

24 DIGIT JUNE 2005

4 Years Of Tech Pulse

The Digital World A Round-up Of Technology News From Across The Globe
UNITED STATES UNITED KINGDOM RUSSIA
Border agents using gamma-imaging technology on an Four British members of the global 'DrinkorDie Russian oligarchs are turning their attention to the
incoming freight train apprehended two men trying to network', an underground software piracy ring, were high-technology sector. As indicators, Russian
enter the US illegally from Canada. Nilson Giusti, 41, sentenced May 6 at London's Central Criminal Court. software exports will top $1 billion this year; SRISA, a
and Agiles Bezerra, 23, were found in two separate The men had formed part of a gang that communicated pilot IC sub-micron production facility, has put 0.21-
cars on the Black Rock Rail Bridge May 14. Inspectors across continents via a sophisticated online network, micron processing into experimental production; and
use gamma radiation technology to scan rail cars, which was also used to distribute pirated copies of the two leading Russian chipmakers, Angstrem and
trucks and cargo containers for people, weapons and software packages. Mikron, are expanding their production capacity.
other contraband.
BANGLADESH
A new computer game
brought out by Sony and
SWEDEN
developed by Zipper
Interactive, which portrays
People who use Bangladesh as a terrorist
mobile phones in state, has led to widespread
rural areas are three resentment in the country.
times more likely The mission of the game is
than city dwellers to to "protect America from
suffer from brain enemy forces … throughout
tumours, a study the world," and the main
has found. Professor locales for the game are
Lennart Hardell, a said to be Morocco, Poland
cancer specialist at and Bangladesh.
the University
Hospital of Orebro in AUSTRALIA
Sweden, said the The country should beef up competition in the telco
results definitely market or risk falling behind the world, an
point to a link international telco expert has said. Ewan Sutherland,
between the dose of head of the international telecommunications users
microwave radiation group, said Australia ranks poorly among other OECD
and the risk of (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
developing brain Development) countries in terms of technology,
tumours. particularly broadband Internet services.

TALK THE TALK The solutions would

combine IBM’s integration Three Incredibly Useful Sites
Cisco And and application
infrastructure software Files, Freebies, Answers
IBM To and speech technology
with Cisco’s Internet SOFTPEDIA
www.softpedia.com
Launch Protocol (IP) communi-
cations and focus on self-
A deft download site with scores of free
software. The site claims to be the
Speech- service speech
applications, which
encyclopedia of free software
categories such as Science and CAD to
Enabled together can enable easier
deployment of customised
the usual games, system, media
routine. The neatly arranged interface
Solutions speech applications that
enhance the customer
is user-friendly with no download more
than a couple of clicks away. The site
experience. also has links to the latest news from

I BM and Cisco plan to

deliver to contact centres
speech-enabled self-service
The IBM/Cisco offerings
will be designed to let
businesses extend www.dll-files.com
the software and media world.

DLL-files.com
solutions that combine enterprise-class speech self- What do you do when a program fails
IBM’s WebSphere Voice service to remote locations to load because of a missing .dll file?
Server product and Cisco’s across both IP and non-IP Go to www.dll-files.com. This site is
Customer Voice Portal. networks—including local your one-stop shop for such problems
and branch offices. When with over 400 common .dll files
banking customers available for free download. So the
make after-hours calls next time your PC shows a “.dll file
to their local branch, missing” message, don’t wring your
they won’t be limited hands in despair.
to voicemail, or be
asked to call another www.answers.com Answers.com
phone number. The If you have the questions, these guys
Cisco and IBM will give you the answers. That’s right.
solutions can allow Detailed answers culled from over a
customers to use hundred online encyclopedias and not
speech to interact with just links to those answers.
centralised automated www.answers.com has a search engine-
applications that reflect like interface and throws up very
up-to-date transactions comprehensive results for your queries.
and past history.
4 Years Of Tech Pulse

Digit Caption
“No, sorry I don’t make
house calls!”
Last Month’s Winner!
Dr Vikas Malhotra

“Kabad-E-walla.com”

Send your captions to

[email protected]
and win the
Family UtilityCD
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h something funnie
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mo nth, Digit will carry a caption for
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OPPOSITES ATTRACT Samsung as the exclusive technology to create the Like earlier versions of
High Definition Television perfect gaming experience. the ‘Sober’ worm, the virus
Samsung, (HDTV) worldwide
marketing partner for the
To leverage this Samsung’s
HDTV inbuilt speakers
can travel in both English
and German-language e-
Microsoft next-generation Xbox HD
gaming platform.
would emulate the most
realistic surround sound
mails as a malicious
attached file. The worm
Join Hands The next-generation
Xbox and Samsung HDTV
using SRS Tru-surround XT,
so the action feels
can use a variety of
different subject lines and
On Next-Gen combination is designed to
deliver the most advanced
even closer. message bodies, said
Graham Cluley, senior
Xbox and realistic high-definition
experience to gamers
WORLD CUP VIRUS technology consultant for
London’s Sophos computer
worldwide. To promote the Virus security firm.

S amsung Electronics and

Microsoft have allied to
elevate gaming to the next
HD Era, the companies plan
to place over 25,000 Samsung
HDTVs in Microsoft Xbox
Spreads By
If a user opens the
attached file, they’ll get
infected, and the worm
level through high-
definition (HD) technology.
retail kiosk locations across
the globe.
Promising will mass-mail itself to
other e-mail addresses
Microsoft has chosen The new 23-inch
Samsung LCD TV
Free Tickets found on the infected
computer. “Many people
(LNR238W) to be will be eager to attend one
paired at retail with
the new Xbox
console offers a 12-
A bilingual computer
virus spreading through
fake e-mails crashed the
of the biggest sporting
events in the world next
year, and may think it is
millisecond pixel computers of the World worth the risk of opening
switching speed, Cup organising committee, the e-mail attachment just
which will enable overloading the system in case the prize is for
intense action while with millions of e-mails. real,” Cluley said.
overcoming any The virus is contained in Fans who got tickets
motion artefacts. In attachments coming from got an immediate e-mail
addition, the Fixed senders with addresses such confirmation, without an
Pixel Device eliminates as [email protected] or attachment. Organisers
scan lines, further [email protected], telling fans already have foiled a
ensuring the game they have won tickets to fraudulent attempt to
play is smooth and next year’s tournament. place more than two
flicker-free. Picture Organisers were still unable million orders for World
quality combines to send e-mails, spokesman Cup tickets from the
with advanced audio Gerd Graus said. United States.
 4 Years Of Tech Pulse

FLOATING CLASSROOMS This database of animation and

lectures would therefore be expressions, Flash
XIMB useful for students for
future reference. “This sort
output and more,
all from the
Launches PG of technology provides
both the students and the
specially designed,
unified and easy-to-
Course On A professors with a large
amount of flexibility,” says
use interface.
Version 4 also
Virtual Sarup Chowdhury, CEO,
Reliance WebWorld. “A
provides enhanced
interoperability with
Platform student will not miss a
class just because he is
most 3D animation
products including
another city. All he has to Discreet’s 3ds Max,

C ome July and 150

students enrolled into
the PCPBM programme
do is patch in from the city
that he is in.”
Currently targeted at
cleaner encoding
software, and its
systems products such
offered by the Xavier’s executive level students, the as Flint, Flame, Inferno,
Institute Of Management, total cost of the course is Rs Fire and Smoke.
Bhubaneswar, will log into 1.8 lakh. This programme Autodesk Combus-
the Reliance WebWorlds will be followed by another tion 4 will sell for US
closest to their homes for in Rural Management, $995 (Rs 42,700
their lecture. Part of a new which will employ the same approx); an upgrade
e-learning initiative, this virtual classroom platform from Combustion 3 to
virtual classroom platform and commence in Oct 2005. Combustion 4 will cost
will offer a real-time multi- US$ 249 (Rs 11,000
way audio and visual NEW AND IMPROVED approximately).
presence of the professor that the two camps are
and the students.
This one-year
Autodesk UNITY IS STRENGTH working towards reaching
an agreement on their joint
programme will be divided
into three trimesters and
Combustion Sony And development.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun,
have 300 contact hours. Of
these, 240 would be via the
4 Launched Toshiba a Japanese daily, popularly
known as Nikkei, said Sony
virtual classroom format Want To End and Toshiba stepped up
and 60 on campus with
direct classroom contact.
“This is the first time that
T he Autodesk Media and
Entertainment Division
(earlier called Discreet) of
Format War
closed-door negotiations in
February to find a
resolution to their standoff.
such a programme has been Autodesk Inc, a leading After reaching a basic
taken via video-
conferencing to the entire
country,” said E Abraham,
design and digital media
creation, management, and
distribution company,
J apanese technology giants
Sony and Toshiba are
working towards an
agreement that a unified
standard would be
desirable, they were now
Director, XIMB. launched the Autodesk agreement to develop a new looking to develop a hybrid
Reliance Infocomm Combustion 4 software, the unified standard standard that took
would be providing the upgrade to its visual effects for next-generation advantage of each
latest in broadband and desktop software solution. DVDs, after battling three standard’s strengths, the
video-conferencing With Combustion 4, years for separate newspaper said.
technology with a dedicated artists will have access to rival standards. Sony and Toshiba had
768 kbps line to enable video 3D compositing, Sony and Matsushita begun briefing Walt
communication in real-time. comprehensive motion Electric Industrial Disney and AOL Time
This high bandwidth would graphics capabilities, introduced the Blu-Ray Warner, as well as
allow students to make numerous filter and standard in February 2002 Hollywood movie studios,
presentations, refer to particle effects, advanced and Toshiba and NEC to receive their approval
course materials online, and colour correction, tracking followed with the HD DVD for a unified standard and
interact with the professor and image stabilisation standard. Both camps were to pave the way for the
simultaneously. An added technology, powerful also courting a number of signing of an official
feature would vector paint, warping and Hollywood studios for agreement between the
be the recording of morphing, text effects, support of their format. rival camps, Nihon Keizai
every lecture. simple editing, advanced However reports suggest Shimbun said.

360
F irst it was Yahoo!, offering their Yahoo! 360°
service—the regular Geocities-style free Web
hosting with the added feature of a blog. Next it
and got 104 million results. Then we did a
search for ‘360 degrees’, and got almost 3
million results!
was Microsoft, christening the latest Xbox version Although it’s nice that the biggies are trying to
‘Xbox 360’. We preferred Xbox 2, but since when offer ‘complete’ solutions (thus the term 360), we
did we have a say! think they could do with some new blood in their
We did a Google search for the word ‘360’ creative departments!

30 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech Pulse

THE VISUAL PRISM Broadcom, the chip connect two cores on a

provides customers with single die, along with
SGI hardware-based encryption,
enhanced data protection
memory, I/O and dedicated
caches. Each of these CPU
Introduces and system access.
The new chip allows HP
core has it's own 1 MB L2
cache. An integrated DDR
Linux-based to deliver the first business
desktop compatible with
DRAM memory controller
decreases the memory
RSA Visual the future security features
expected in Microsoft’s
latency and increases
performance power. With
What is RSA?
RSA is an encryption
System Longhorn OS.
The dc7600’s customised
support to upto three
coherent HyperTransport
algorithm. It is widely used for
encrypting important thermal design also helps Technology links each
messages or digitally signing
documents for e-commerce,
and is included as part of the
S ilicon Graphics Systems
India (SGI) launched the
Linux-based visual
enhance productivity and
minimises system
downtime by providing
processor provides a peak
I/O bandwidth of upto 24
Gbps. The company also
Web browsers by Netscape and computer product line, the customers more reliable claims that the processor
Microsoft. Silicon Graphics Prism systems. The airflow design provides the best
Who developed RSA? family of visualisation is structured to help cool all performance-per-watt ratio.
The encryption algorithm was systems in India. With the components of the desktop, The non-disruptive upgrade
developed by Ron Rivest, Adi Silicon Graphics Prism, SGI as increasing demands for path of the Opteron is
Shamir and Len Adleman (R, S becomes the only hardware power are required.
and A) at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT)
company in the world to In addition, the dc7600
in 1977. offer a visual computer series is the first desktop
product line, based PC from HP to fully
How does it work?
RSA encrypts on the principle completely on open meet the European
of a private key and a public standards with Linux OS Union’s Restrictions on
key. Users who wish to encrypt and commercial off-the- Hazardous Substances
data first encrypt the message shelf components such as directive. All PCs sold in
using a private key. This Intel Itanium 2 processors EMEA must meet these
encrypted message can only and graphics accelerators requirements by July 2006
be decrypted using a public from ATi. and HP is moving quickly
key, which has already been Scaling from one to 16 to make it easy for
distributed to the recipients of graphics pipelines and customers to plan their
the message. The primary
advantage of RSA comes from from one to 256 processors, desktop deployments.
the fact that, while it is the Silicon Graphics Prism another elegant feature
relatively easy to multiply two family offers many times NEW CHIP ON THE BLOCK that will attract consumers,
huge prime numbers together the visualisation capacity says the company. The dual-
to obtain their product, it is
computationally difficult to do
of any currently available
computing system. For
AMD core processor will work
just as fine with the same
the reverse. users, this scalability
translates into the ability to
Launches infrastructure as a single-
core AMD 64 processor.
Where does RSA stand today?
RSA is still the most widely
used encryption algorithm.
interactively visualise
terabytes of data in their
Multi-Core Speaking at the launch,
Ajay Marathe, President
However, while other
standards such as DES are
native form without
spending time culling it
Opteron AMD India said that the
simple out of the box
faster to decrypt, RSA remains
an industry favourite for beforehand. Processor offering ensured that the
users would not have to
encrypting data, with many
believing that its 2048-bit key PROTECT YOUR SYSTEM undertake huge
encryption is virtually
unbreakable. AMD
HP Launches Opteron has launched its
dual-core 64-bit
processor for
upgradation costs while
moving from a single-core
to a dual-core processor.
Why use an encryption
algorithm at all?
With so much electronic data
Desktop servers and workstation
PCs in India almost a
The new processor also
supports the present 64-bit
interchange (EDI) taking place
in the form of e-commerce, it’s
With month after its launch in
America. According to
and 32-bit software
available in the market.
essential to secure critical
data. Several privacy laws
Security AMD the new processors
will improve performance
Offered in three series,
100, 200 and 800, the Dual-
make it mandatory that
personal information of Features by almost 90 percent as
compared to single-core
Core AMD Opteron 800 and
200 series has been
customers and its integrity is
not compromised. Opteron processor. available since May.
When will RSA be cracked?
Although RSA securities claim D esigned to help protect
customers’ business
systems, the new HP
With the Direct
Connect Architecture AMD
has eliminated the Front
AMD also announced
that the AMD Athlon 64 X2
processor will be launched
that the 2048-bit key
encryption cannot be cracked, Compaq dc7600 Business Side Bus Architecture, thus in June this year.
they offer bounties of up to Desktop will be the first to eliminating the data Compiled by Aditya Kuber,
$200,000 (Rs 87 lakh) to ship standard with the HP transfer bottlenecks. The Mithun Kidambi, Preethi
anyone who can crack ProtectTools embedded processors were designed Chamikutty, Ram Mohan Rao
their algorithm. security chip. Developed by from ground up to directly and Renuka Rane

32 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Contour Perfit Mouse Optical Siemens SX66 PDA

A t first glance, the Contour Perfit Mouse looks
like an optical mouse with two scroll wheels.
What A Pity—No Camera
One of them, in fact, is a rocker switch that
works as a ‘Forward’ and ‘Backward’ button for M aking a grand entry into the PDA phone market is the Siemens SX66.
This quad-band phone features a design similar to the O2 XDAs.
The SX66 features a 240 x 320 3.5-inch 65K colour screen,
Internet Explorer.
The mouse is available in small, and for connectivity, it has Bluetooth, infrared, and
medium, large and extra large Wi-Fi (802.11b), not to mention the USB connection.
sizes for right-handed use, and It features a fully-functional QWERTY keyboard,
small, medium and large for which slides out from under the screen. Powered by
left-handed use. a 400 MHz Intel Xscale processor, it comes with
The Contour Perfit Windows for Pocket PC 2003 and has excellent
Mouse is designed to fit the handwriting recognition, in addition to MS Word,
palm perfectly, and Excel, Outlook Express… the works!
considering it is available Although the Siemens SX66 comes with 128
in different sizes, hardly memory onboard (apart from the 64 MB ROM), the
would anyone not find a interface does become slow if you multi-task. Also
match for their hand. featured is an SDIO slot for memory expansion.
This is an ideal product for users who need A sorely-missed feature is the camera—which is pretty
greater control over their mouse movement. much standard on anything that costs over Rs 8,000!

Company Contour Design Company Esource Global

Price US $109.95 (Approx Rs 4,947) (all sizes) Price Rs 38,500
E-mail [email protected] Phone 9820822205
Web site www.contourdesign.com E-mail [email protected]
Web site www.esourceglobal.com

Rating Rating
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Apple 30” Cinema HD Display

Bigger Is Better! seems a particularly pointless

W ith a native resolution of 2560 x 1600—

or 4 million pixels—this top-of-the-line
display from Apple is currently the world’s
design decision considering the
fact that widescreen displays by
vendors like LG support all
largest screen for a desktop computer. commonly used resolutions.
Couple that with a thin bezel made of This problem is further
anodised aluminium that feels divine to compounded by the huge bandwidth
the touch, and you have a product that requirements of the screen.
can truly be called awe-inspiring. Resolutions of 1920 x 1200 and above
The display’s design reflects the require a dual-link DVI port, whereas
classic Apple style. There are just three almost all current cards have only
soft-touch buttons along the right side of single-link DVI connectors.
the bezel—a power/sleep button, and two Thus, to actually get to use the
brightness controls. screen at a decent resolution, you’ll
Since the LCD uses an all-digital interface require a card like the GeForce 6800
through a dual-link DVI connector (not to be Ultra DDL, which will set you back by
confused with the two single-link DVI ports present on Rs 45,000 or so. Again, this limitation is not present in
certain cards), image correction controls such as the displays made by other manufacturers.
horizontal/vertical position and size are not required at all. Thanks to this, the 30-inch display is certainly not
Also, with a nice little contrast ratio of 400:1, the contrast recommended for home desktop owners, even if they have
settings have been eliminated. The result is an elegant- the Rs 1,90,000 to pay for this baby! Of course, if you’re a
looking screen that’s extremely simple to use. hotshot multimedia designer with an unlimited budget in a
One of its USPs is the 170-degree viewing angle. No multinational design studio, your search for the perfect
matter where you view it from, seeing its crystal-clear image display has ended. The rest of you can start saving now!
reproduction and massive size will leave you dumbstruck!
There are a couple of niggles, though. For one, it only Company Apple Computer International
Price Rs 1,89,500
supports resolutions with a 1.6:1 aspect ratio (2560 x 1600, Phone 080-25550575
2048 x 1280, 1920 x 1200, 1280 x 800, and 1024 x 640). Set the E-mail [email protected]
display to anything else, and all you’ll get is a blank screen. Web site www.apple.com
This severely limits the applications that it supports. Most
Rating
games, for example, do not have widescreen resolutions. This 1 2 3 4 5

34 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC

Tablets For Corporates cious little that you will be able to see. It is way

F ujitsu is the latest entrant into the rather dormant

tablet PC market. It is really sleek and snazzy, with
loads of flaunt value! Your entry into a boardroom
too reflective, so any background light will
surely reflect off it and make viewing things a
pain.
with this tablet PC is sure to turn heads! The tablet performed quite well on our tests
It comes in the slate form factor and hence features with sequential read/write scores of 28/28 MB/s
no keyboard (unlike a regular laptop) and runs and Random read/write scores of 21/20 MB/s, and
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It is really slim and an average access time of 12 ms. The Business
fairly light, so holding it in your hand should not Winstone test score was 10.5, which is
be much of a problem. respectable for a 1 GHz processor.
The added functionality that it brings You have the option of getting a docking
due to the Tablet PC edition is the station and a wireless keyboard and mouse
Windows Journal where, using the to facilitate your desktop needs. The tablet
stylus, you can scribble notes even in a PC is handy—not to mention cool—for
hurry—perfect for those meetings when you taking instant notes. If you are not too keen
can’t be bothered to type all you hear! on taking down notes or have terrible handwriting, keep
As regards hardware, it’s fairly feature-packed, with a away from this—else, this tablet will not let you down!
1 GHz Pentium Mobile processor, 256 MB of DDR RAM,
Wi-Fi, infrared, a modem, Gigabit Ethernet, MMC and Company Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd
Memory Stick reader, two USB ports, a microphone and a Price Rs 1,80,000; docking station Rs 20,000
Phone 022-56368718
phone port. You can toggle the screen between portrait E-mail [email protected]
and panorama views. Web site www.fujitsu.com
Speaking of the screen, once in the sun, no matter how
Rating
much you squint your eyes or tilt the tablet, there is pre- 1 2 3 4 5

HCL Beanstalk Neo Media Centre PC Sagem My X-8

A Dream Of A Media Centre The Sagem My X-8 combines elegance and func-
tionality in a single package. Encased in an ele-
H CL’s Beanstalk Neo is a full-blown
media centre PC for your living
room. The sleek looking Neo is
gant white and metallic silver casing, the My X-8
looks rather business-like.
designed along the lines of an LCD PC Apart from its appealing design, the other
and should go well with the décor of claim to fame of the Sagem X8 is its multimedia
any living room. capabilities—including the stunning 262,000
The 17-inch LCD monitor offers a colour 240 x 320 screen, 1.3 megapixel camera
crisp display, and its aspect ratio of with flash and audio playback. Standard features
16:9 adds that extra punch when such as tri-band, GPRS, MMS, and Java
watching DVD movies. The Neo MIDP2.0 support are in place.
is powered by an Intel Pentium The phone comes with
IV 3 GHz, 800 MHz FSB processor various applications
with HyperThreading technology. The Neo, including an organiser, alarm,
though, comes with a measly 256 MB of DDR RAM which makes the and timer. Infrared and
Media Centre OS interface slow. Bluetooth are integrated. The
A DVD writer is integrated into the body; on the left edge, a flap phone offers 40 MB of space for
covers a four-in-one memory card reader. USB ports, Firewire port, six images and other data, and
channel sound jacks, Ethernet jack, modem jack, and optical SPDIF ports allows for memory expansion
are available on the base of the stand. Similarly, component Video-in and using the mini-SD format. The
S-video in/out are also available on the back of the base stand. A TV tuner phone clarity is superb. The 1.3-
and FM radio is integrated into the main body. megapixel camera delivers good
The Beanstalk Neo comes with a full-featured remote. It will set you results when lighting conditions
back by Rs 78,990. However, we feel the sleek design, good hardware and are good. The flash serves its pur-
desirable software bundle makes up for the price. pose, but leaves you wishing for
more power when shooting in the dark.
Company HCL Infosystems Ltd
The audio output is superb for a mobile
Price Rs 78,990 phone, and you can easily use it as an MP3
Phone 0120-2537660 player. The battery should last you about three
E-mail [email protected] days with standard usage.
Web site www.hclinfosystems.com
Company Cenzer Industries Ltd
Rating
1 2 3 4 5 Price Rs 22,000
Phone 022-26858594
E-mail [email protected]
Looking for more information on any of the products featured here? Web site www.sagemindia.com
Write to [email protected]. The Digit Test Centre will be delighted to respond Rating
to your queries. 1 2 3 4 5

1 Poor: Has serious drawbacks and needs improvement before it can be used for its target application. 2 Mediocre: Does not live up to expectations, needs improvment
in many areas. 3 Average: Reasonably competent but nothing spectacular about the product. 4 Good: A good buy, better than most products in its category.
5 Excellent: A brilliant combination of price, performance and features—far beyond expectations.

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 35

 4 Years Of Tech

Palm Treo 650

The 650’s Better! The screen vibrancy is excellent with

T
he upgraded sibling of the popular Treo 600 colours reproduced well. The inbuilt
(reviewed in the December 2004 issue of Digit), the camera with 2X digital zoom captures
650 boasts of some significant enhancements—really stills and videos at an acceptable
making it worth a dekko! Major upgrades in the new model quality, if there’s enough light.
include a faster processor, an upgraded operating system, The rechargeable lithium ion
EDGE connectivity, a better screen, Bluetooth support, remov- battery will give you enough juice to
able battery and video capture functionality—which was last for three to four days with
lacking in the Treo 600. standard usage, but will be greatly
The Treo 650 is powered by an Intel PXA270 312 MHz CPU, reduced if you play media files,
running version 5.4 of Palm OS. The quadband GSM/GPRS games, or leave the Bluetooth
device offers about 23 MB of user-available memory—expand- perpetually switched on.
able through the SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) slot. Surely worth considering,
Installed applications include Phone, VersaMail, Web if you want a device that lets
browser, Camera, RealPlayer, and World Clock apart from you stay connected anywhere
standard PIM applications such as Contacts, Calendar, Tasks in the world, and offers
and Memos. RealPlayer can be used to play MP3 files, but you business and entertainment
would need an SD/MMC card to store the tracks, it does not functionality, all-in-one.
play from internal memory.
The Treo 650, as was the case with its predecessor, is Company Esource Global
Price Rs 36,000
designed for single-handed operation using the five-way Phone 9820822205
navigator and other hardware buttons. However, you need to E-mail [email protected]
use both hands (thumbs, in fact) while typing text on the Web site www.esourceglobal.com
QWERTY keyboard. The phone operation is smooth, and there
Rating
are no issues as far as voice clarity is concerned. 1 2 3 4 5

MSI’s P4N Diamond And NX6800GT SLI

A Real Diamond Of A Motherboard! in all the games was smooth, and the card played them

M SI’s P4N Diamond SLI motherboard ships with nVidia’s

Nforce 4 Intel Edition chipset. The board features
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology for plugging in
effortlessly when the resolutions were cranked up, and even
with full AA.
In fact, the system benchmarks,
two graphic cards. This is the first SLI board for the such as ZDBench Content
Intel platform from nVidia. Creation 2004, the
The P4N Diamond offers six SATA ports, and is
RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable. It also features two
Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 10 USB 2.0
ports and two FireWire ports. On
the aural front, the board
comes with a
dedicated 24-
bit sound
chip from
Creative that is
equivalent to the
Creative Live! platform
series. The board is returned a score of
also touted to be dual- 32.4, which is on par
core processor ready. with AMD Athlon 64-based systems.
MSI has a pair of SLI This new nVidia-based platform is meant for
graphic cards to go with a high-end gaming machine. As usual, MSI has done
the motherboard in the their bit of magic to exploit the potential in the nVidia chips
form of NX6800GT SLI. Based to the maximum. Both the P4N Diamond, and the NX6800GT
on the 6800 chipset, each card are worth their weights in gold.
offers two DVI connectors and a The P4N Diamond is priced at Rs 18,500, and the
composite video out. NX6800GT pair of graphic cards will set you back by
The test platform we used was a Pentium IV 3.6 GHz Rs 57,000. Although expensive, you have to see it perform
processor, 1 GB of Micron DDR2 RAM running at 533 MHz in to believe it!
dual-channel configuration, and a 250 GB hard drive from
Maxtor. We loaded the Forceware 71.89 drivers from nVidia, Company Micro Star India
Price Rs 18,500 (MSI P4N Diamond Motherboard), Rs 57,000 (MSI NX6800GT)
along with the latest system drivers for Windows XP. The Phone 9821551801
bench returned some of the best results ever; with scores of E-mail [email protected]
7905 and 19170 in 3DMark05 and 3DMark03 respectively. Web site www.msi.com.tw
Doom 3 returned an impressive 99.6 fps at 1024 x 768 and
Rating
86.5 fps at 1600 x 1200. Halo also returned impressive scores 1 2 3 4 5
of 106.94 at 1024 x 768 and 91.37 at 1600 x 1200. The gameplay

36 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Photograph Sandeep Patil
Imaging Atul Deshmukh

Let There Be Space!

With the ever increasing size of personal and professional data, most of us just cannot make do
with thumb drives and CD-Rs. Meet the external drives that have come to save the day!

The limitation with these The other usage pattern that

Varun Dubey drives is that they aren’t really exists would be the data backup
plug and play. Sure, if you’re a and storage kind. Here, the need

I
t all began with the first tech-savvy person, it just means is basically to back up lots of data
production model—the IBM disconnecting a data cable and a - probably once a day or once a
305RAMAC (Random Access power supply cable, and porting it week - and the backup device will
Method of Accounting and around - but for the rest of us, stay put on your desktop,
Control) hard drive in 1956. It had messing around with the internals whether at home or at the office.
a mere 5 MB of space and had writ- of a computer isn’t an exciting For this, we tested desktop stor-
ing speeds of about 8 KB/s—hardly option. Enter external hard disk age and backup drives.
considered a hard drive today! drives. Let there be, umm, space!
We have, since then, come a We conducted the following
long way, but our desire to cram Understanding The Tests series of tests:
more and more into less and less We realised there are broadly two Drive Index: A cumulative figure
space has grown exponentially. usage patterns for external hard that gives an overall performance
Thankfully, so has the capacity of disks. One is for people such as grade based on the average of
the hard disks of today. graphic artists or designers and read, write and seek tests, as well
Most computer systems today photographers who need to carry a as the file and cache size of the
come with 40 GB as the default fairly large amount of data back disk. The drive index simulates,
disk space, and people are already and forth between the workplace and hence benchmarks, the drive
finding this insufficient—so 80 GB and the home or other places. For performance under typical PC
hard drives are becoming increas- such people on the move, we tested usage, so the higher the score, the
ingly common. portable drives. better the drive.

38 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Test Centre 4 Years Of Tech
Sequential Read/Write: This But all they could hold was a mere
test is conducted with a single 2.5 and 5 GB.
large file, so the data is ‘in In this segment, the largest
sequence’. The hard disk already capacity was that of the Seagate
knows where to look for the data, 100 GB. This was a cool-looking
and hence this results in faster square drive that had a metallic
data transfer. If you transfer a mesh. It was slightly bulky and
single large file of, say, 1 GB, somewhat heavy—not exactly a
instead of multiple smaller files ‘pocket’ drive.
totalling up to 1 GB, the single A really light and pocketable
file will be copied faster. drive was the Freecom FHD2 Pro
Random Read/Write: This is 60 GB. This drive is wafer-thin and
conducted with multiple smaller extremely light. You wouldn’t feel
files instead of a single large file, it if you were carrying it in your
and the drive has to search for the pocket, though the pocket would
next file every time it is done copy- need to be large—the drive is
ing another. This test, therefore, rectangular and rather long.
results in slower times clocked. The Western Digital (WD) 40
Average Access Time: The GB Passport was low on storage
interval between the time the space, and quite bulky. But it
request for data is made by the featured a rubberised underbody
system and the time the data is that ensured that vibrations and
available off the drive. noise—which are, in any case,
CPU Utilisation: Since a copy- next to nothing—were minimised,
ing or backup job would probably and that the disk stayed put on
be going on in the background any surface. The ports are
and not as a dedicated process, protected by a rubber flap that
the drive that utilises less CPU resembles the port concealers on
time is a better drive. It will give everyday digicams.
you better system performance. If you are looking for some-
Lower CPU utilisation also means thing that’s stylish with lots of
that the drive can be attached to space, and is not just portable but
older, lower-end processors with- actually pocketable, look no
out the system hanging due to further than the Transcend
lack of availability of computing Storejet drives. They come in
resources. 20 and 40 GB models, and
The tests we described so are smaller than a deck
far were synthetic
tests—they measure
drive performance
of cards. They weigh
just 100 grams!
In our portable HDD
1 col Ad
reasonably well. shootout, the only drive that
But they are called came with the one-touch backup
synthetic for a reason; feature was the Freecom FHD
they might or might not Pro 2 60 GB.
reflect real-world usage. So we Funnily enough, in terms of
also did a good old copy-pasting Freecom FHD2 - visual indicators, all the drives
test, and copied 1 GB of assorted Pro 60 GB preferred a cool blue for the LED,
data to and from the drive, as well or even on the buttons (as in the
as single 1 GB file to test the case of the Maxtor and the WD).
sequential and random read/ That could be an oblique reference
write parameters. to the blues of backup!
Now that you have a basic
understanding of the tests, let’s get On To The Tests
straight to the tests themselves. Synthetic Benchmarking: We
started with the SiSoft Sandra file
PORTABLE HARD DISK system benchmark. The drive that
DRIVES absolutely blazed through the
synthetic benchmarks was the
Looks, Size and Build Seagate 100 GB. It returned a drive
We received drives in various index of 28. The only hitch,
shapes and sizes, from circular to performance-wise, was that the
rectangular to square. The only CPU utilisation was marginally
shapes missing were triangles higher, at 3.75 per cent. Remember
and ellipses! that the CPU we were using is
The Seagate pocket drives were extremely fast, so CPU utilisation
just that—pocketable. They were on lower-end CPUs would be a lot
scarcely bigger in circumference more than this.
than a cookie: they were 1-inch This drive could put up such
drives and were quite thin as well. a fantastic show because of its 8

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 39

 4 Years Of Tech Test Centre
MB cache, which was bettered at least 4,200 rpm. In fact, the The results we saw were mixed.
only by the massive 300 GB Seagate 100 GB and WD Passport There was no drive that beat all the
Maxtor One Touch II, which had were 5,400 rpm drives. Remember, others in every test. But the drive
16 MB of cache. the faster your drive spins, the that did beat the others in most of
The drive that came second better the transfer rate and the the tests was the Seagate 100 GB. It
here, and second by a long way lower the seek times. was beaten fair and square in two
from the third-placed Freecom CPU Utilisation: There is noth- tests (and that’s half of the real-
drive, was the Western Digital 40 ing much to differentiate these world tests!)—the assorted read
GB Passport. The drive had fabu- drives in terms of CPU utilisa- test—where it was beaten by the
lous 31 MBps sequential read and tion—they just varied between 3.4 WD Passport, which clocked a time
21 MBps random read speeds. per cent for the Seagate 2.5 GB to of 39.95 as compared to 40.26
The performance of the other 3.75 for the Seagate 100 GB. This Transcend seconds for the Seagate—and,
drives was strictly ordinary, was true even for our tests in the Storejet 40GB rather surprisingly, the
though special mention must be desktop storage/backup category, sequential write test.
made of the 2.5 and 5 GB Seagate so there really isn’t too much Here it was
pocket drives, for the simple point dwelling on this. beaten by the
reason that they’re so small. They So why do we need to talk Freecom FHD
utilised 1-inch drives as opposed to about CPU utilisation at all? There 2 Pro 60 GB,
1.8 inches for the Transcend drives are other drives out there in the w h i c h
and 2.5 inches for the Freecom, market that hog much more than clocked 42.89
WD and Seagate 100 GB. 3.75 per cent, but in the batch of seconds as compared
Sadly though, these drives drives we received for this to 47.02 for the Seagate.
were our worst performers, with shootout, it just so happened that The worst performers
speeds of 6 and 8 MBps respec- no drive—in either the portable or were again the Seagate 2.5 and
tively for the sequential read and the desktop category—was worse 5 GB disks, with times that were
sequential write tests. They have a than roughly 4 per cent. as much as 5 times slower than
spindle speed of 3,600 rpm, Real-World Tests: We now the frontrunners.
whereas all the other drives were come to our real-world test results. The drive that really
For these tests, we used a single 1 impressed, apart from the light-
GB file for our sequential ning-fast Seagate 100 GB, was the
read/write tests, and an assorted WD Passport. It almost matched
set of MP3 files totalling 1 GB. The the Seagate in every test and beat
files were copied to and from the it in one, and was light-years ahead
hard disk, and we recorded time of the rest of the pack.
using a stopwatch. The Transcend drives were
Here, ‘write’ means copying slow considering they have the
files to the hard drive being tested, same spindle speed and cache as
and ‘read’ means copying files the Freecom drive. This shows
Seagate 2.5 GB Pocket Hard Drive from the disk. that the Freecom disk’s cache

How We Tested
Performance
O ur test bed comprised an AMD Athlon 64 FX 53 Processor, with
an MSI K8T Neo 2 motherboard, 512 MB of dual-channel DDR
RAM, along with a Seagate 120 GB SATA HDD. The graphics card
To gauge performance, we conducted two types of tests-synthetic
and real-world.
we used was a GeForce 5700 LE (128 MB). For the synthetic tests, we used the SiSoft Sandra Professional
The hard disk was formatted as FAT 32 and loaded with 2005 benchmarking suite to assess theoretical read and write
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1. speeds, as well as average access times. We also tested with
The drives were benchmarked on the basis of Features, Winbench 99 2.0 to measure the CPU utilisation of each drive.
Performance and Price. In the real-world tests, we transferred a set of assorted files
We ran several benchmarks on the drives to find out which of varying sizes totalling 1 GB, back and forth from the system
was the best performing, and then weighed that against the price. hard disk to the external hard disk, and noted the time taken for
We were looking for the drive with the best all-round each transfer. Similarly, for noting sequential speeds, we
performance, features, as well as price. transferred a single 1 GB file.

Features Price Index

We looked at the various inbuilt characteristics and qualities of Price Index was calculated using the price-per-MB ratio. That is the
each of the drives. For the products being marketed as portable ratio of the actual usable space—not the rated space, as there is
devices, we laid particular emphasis on the drive’s weight and always some loss due to formatting—and the price of the hard drive.
dimensions for 1.8 and 2.5-inch drives only. We looked less at the
weight and dimensions of the 3.5-inch drives, because they will be How The Awards Were Given
primarily used as a stationary backup device. The score from Features, Build Quality, Performance and Price
We also observed the build quality, with more importance Index are given weightages relevant to the specific category. An
being given to the sturdiness of the product. Extra points were overall score out of 100 is then calculated. The product that
awarded for features such as extra USB/FireWire ports, scores highest here is adjudged the winner of the Digit Best Buy
configurable buttons, and so on. Gold award for its category. The second-highest scorer gets the
Digit Best Buy Silver award.

40 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech Test Centre
Seagate except when it comes to
size, where it lucks out at a mere
40 GB. The WD Passport is priced
JUN very reasonably at Rs 6,400, and is,
E 20 in fact, cheaper than the Tran-
05
scend 20 GB—priced at Rs 8,320.
Comparing the WD Passport
to the Seagate: if you buy two of
these WD drives, you’ll be paying
Rs 12,800 for 80 GB of space,
whereas the Seagate 100 GB gives
you a cool 20 GB of additional
Seagate 100GB space at virtually the same
cost—Rs 13,000.
implementation and utilisation, For overall performance, price
is far superior to that of the Tran- and features, the Seagate 100 GB
scend drives. portable HDD gets the Digit Best
The King of Space: Without a Buy Gold Award. The Western Digi-
doubt, the Seagate 100 GB is the tal 40 GB Passport comes in a
clear winner. The drive is excep- comfortable second to receive the
tionally fast and has a huge Digit Best Buy Silver Award.
cache, not to mention the massive
100 GB it can store, and is priced at DESKTOP STORAGE/
a very competitive Rs 13,000—just BACKUP SOLUTIONS
Rs 1,000 rupees more than the
Seagate 5 GB pocket drive. Looks, Size And Build
The drive that came in second In our desktop storage/backup
by a reasonable margin was the segment, all the drives were very
WD 40 GB Passport. It is a really bulky, and seemed even more so
good performer, and is eminently when compared to the portable
comparable to the drives we’ve been talking about so
far. In terms of looks, nothing beat
the Seagate drives with their
JUNE sturdy, square exteriors. The qual-
2005
ity of materials that make up the
outer casing is excellent, and the

1 col Ad use of high-grade plastic makes

the drives sturdy and also light.
Their design also enables stacking
of one drive on top of another.
Western Digital
That’s not to say that the
Passport 40 GB
Seagates were the sturdiest of the

How Hard Disk Drives Work

A hard disk essentially consists of a

flat plate-like object that is
polished to achieve a mirror- like
effect. This is the hard disk’s platter,
and this is where the data is actually
stored using the magnetic properties
of the material the platter is made of.
Hard disks of today feature
multiple platters. Each platter usually
has a read/write head attached to it,
which in turn is attached to an arm or
actuator that moves the head over
the platter.
Writing is achieved by subjecting
the platter to a magnetic flux by the record to read the record and play the song.
write head, which leads to the change of The case is pretty much the same here, except
polarisation on the platter. The process is the read/write heads don’t touch the platter—
reversed for reading—the magnetic field of the they fly less than a hairsbreadth above it.
platter affects that of the read head, and this The platter can spin at roughly 3,000
is interpreted as data. inches a second, which is approximately 270
A platter and a head can be thought of as kmph! Today, hard disks generally run at 5,400
the gramophones and record players of or 7,200 rpm, though you do get hard drives
yesteryear, where the needle moved on the where the platter spins at 15,000 rpm!

42 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech Test Centre
backup. In automatic backup, the
drive just goes ahead and backs up Jargon buster
stuff pre-specified by the user. In
on-demand backup, the backup ATA: Advanced Technology Attachment. This is a
software opens up and you can standard interface for connecting storage devices such
back up data as you please. as hard drives, CD-ROMs, etc. It allows only 18 to 36
The only drive that featured inches of cable length, and is therefore seen mostly as
something apart from what we’ve an internal solution.
mentioned so far was the Western Cache: This is a buffer available to the hard drive, and
Western Digital
Digital Media Center. It featured a is usually a physically separate entity on the hard
Media Centre drive’s IC. It synchronises data transfers between the
Multiple Multimedia Card Reader,
lot—that honour goes to Maxtor. which is stipulated to read pretty disk, reading it off the platter and the disk’s I/O system
The drives from Maxtor have the much every kind of card you can to the computer. Normally, a larger cache will result in
strongest cases we’ve ever seen. throw at it. You can copy stuff to faster read/write speeds and access times.
They’re built of solid metal! You the hard disk directly using the DMA: This gives devices within the computer the
can keep stacking and these on-demand backup button. There ability to communicate to and access the system
babies will take all the weight you is no screen, so you’re limited to memory without utilising the CPU—which results in
can throw at them, and more! copying the entire contents of the faster overall computing. All modern disk drives
The drives that disappointed card—you can’t see or choose what support this.
here were the WDs, which were you’re copying. Heads and Actuators: Modern hard disks have
rather plain-looking, and had multiple heads and multiple platters to read from. The
bodies of plastic that felt flimsy. If On To The Tests head is what reads the data from the platter, and the
you were to try stacking up these Synthetic Benchmarking: The test actuator is the arm that moves the head across the
drives, we wouldn’t be surprised to process used here was exactly the areas of the platter.
see some cracks after a while! same as with the portable drives. IDE/EIDE: IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics,
All the drives—except for Almost every drive we got here and is the standard used for all the drives commonly
WDs—in the desktop storage/ was a 7,200 rpm drive. For some found in computer systems today. EIDE is enhanced
backup category came with a reason, the Maxtor 250 GB was a IDE; it is a specific type of attachment interface
single button. This, when pressed mere 5,400 rpm drive with an specification that allows for high-performance, large-
once, activates the power; when extremely low 2 MB of cache. All capacity drives.
pressed twice, it acts as a ‘one- the others had at least 8 MB, and MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures. This is essentially
touch’ backup button. If you keep the Maxtor One Touch II came the reliability index signifying the average time for
it pressed for a while, the drive with 16 MB of cache onboard. which the device will definitely work. Typically, hard
shuts down. We started with the synthetic drives have an MTBF rating of 500,000 hours.
The WD drives came with three benchmarking using SiSoft Head Parking: When the platter of the hard drive is
buttons: one dedicated power Sandra 2005. One drive that not spinning, the head rests on the surface of the disk.
button, with the other two for absolutely blew everyone away When the platter does start spinning, the head drags
automatic backup and on-demand was the Maxtor One Touch II. It along the surface till enough speed is gathered for it to
disengage from the surface and stay nanometres
above the platter to read or write data. This dragging
can corrupt data, so there is a special track where no
data is written and is used for the head while it is idle
or gathering speed.
Platter: The flat disk that actually holds all the data on
the hard disk, in magnetic format. When requested,
the head reads the data off them.
SCSI: Small Computer Systems Interface; pronounced
‘skuzzy’. This is an advancement of the IDE/ATA
interfaces. While IDE is an interface, SCSI effectively is
a system-level bus with controllers on each SCSI device
1/4th page Ad working to optimise data flow. SCSI has multiple
standards such as ANSI, ITIC, NCITS and T10.
SATA: Serial ATA. It was primarily developed to replace
the parallel ATA technology. Transfer speeds for SATA
start at 150 Mb/s, and the newer SATA II is touted as
being capable of 3 Gb/s.
Spindle Speed (rpm): This the speed at which the
platter in the hard drive spins. The faster it spins, the
faster the access time, as the time taken by the head
to reach and access the data is lesser. Till recently,
5,400 rpm was quite common, but with the fall in
prices, more and more computers are shipping with
7,200 rpm drives. Laptops usually have 4,200 rpm
drives.
Seek Time: The seek time is the amount of time
between when the CPU requests a file and when the
file is sent. On an average, seek times are in the 2 to 5
ms range for internal hard drives. It’s a lot more for
external hard drives due to the interface limitations.

44 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 JUNE 2005
Scoreboard Portable HDD
BRAND Seagate Seagate Transcend Transcend Western Digital Freecom
Model Pocket Hard Disk 2.5 GB Pocket Hard Disk 5 GB Storejet 20 GB Storejet 40 GB Passport 40 GB FHD-2Pro 60 GB
Features 9.37 9.43 10.07 10.58 7.84 10.23
Drive Specifications
Physical Dimensions (LxWxH) (mm) 70mm(diam) 70mm(diam) 95x71.5x15 95x71.5x15 144.3x89.1x21.4 127x79x15
Weight (in grammes) 65.00 65.00 118.00 118.00 400.00 175.00
Drive Form factor (in inches) 1.00 1.00 1.80 1.80 2.50 2.50
Capacity (in GB) 2.50 5 20 40 40 60
Spindle speed (in RPM) 3600 3600 4200 4200 5400 4200
Data Buffer size (in MB) 2 2 2 2 2 2
Interface type USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0
Visual Indicators Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED
Additional configurable buttons None None None None None One Touch backup

Power over interface USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0 USB 2.0
Miscellaneous None None None None None None
Build Quality
Sturdiness (Scale of 5) 2.75 2.75 3.50 3.50 3.50 3.75
Aesthetic design (Scale of 5) 3.50 3.50 3.75 3.75 3.25 3.50
Package contents
Bundled software Toolkit Toolkit SJ Utililty SJ Utililty None Backup Software
Carry-case included (Y/N) ✖ ✖ ✔ ✔ None None
Other accessories USB Cable USB Cable USB Cable USB Cable USB Cable USB Cable

Documentation:
Quickstart guide ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Manual ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✔
Performance 14.04 16.67 23.72 35.41 47.58 43.37
Sisoft Sandra 2005 Drive Benchmark
Drive Index (in MBps) 4 8 10 17 26 22
Sequential Read (in MBps) 6 8 11 19 31 25
Random Read (in MBps) 4 7 9 15 21 18
Sequential Write (in MBps) 6 8 11 19 25 25
Random Write (in MBps) 3 5 11 14 21 17
Average Access Time (in msecs) 22 24 19 16 14 15
Winbench 99 2.0
CPU Utilisation in % 3.40 3.70 3.60 3.65 3.74 3.63
Real world file transfer tests
Sequential Write (1 GB) (in secs) 198.41 156.74 97.00 56.09 44.72 42.89
Assorted Write (1 GB) (in secs) 227.00 226.05 100.00 71.24 53.22 58.26
Sequential Read (1 GB) (in secs) 196.44 141.66 96.45 55.05 38.90 46.08
Assorted Read (1 GB) (in secs) 148.78 128.90 96.78 55.28 39.95 42.13
Price index: 0.55 0.93 5.43 5.50 13.74 8.59
Actual storage space (in GB) 2.32 4.70 19.00 37.00 37.00 56.00
Price (Rs) 10000 12000 8320 16000 6400 15500
Price per MB 4.21 2.49 0.43 0.42 0.17 0.27
Overall (100%) 23.97 27.03 39.21 51.48 69.16 62.18

scored a blazing 41 MBps in the Seagate 400 GB Barracuda and the was even close to the Maxtor One
sequential read score test. To be Maxtor One Touch II were Touch II. The drive absolutely
fair to the others, though, the completely in a league of their own! blazed past the competitors, being
Seagate 400 GB Barracuda did CPU Utilisation: The story is at least two seconds faster in every
score the same points as the identical to that of the portable test. It comfortably annihilated
Maxtor most of the time, except hard disk drives. Scores varied the competition, but this was
in the sequential/random write between 3.74 for the Maxtor 250 totally expected, given the huge
test, where it scored 28 MBps, as GB and 3.96 for the Seagate 160 GB amount of onboard cache.
compared to the One Touch II’s 31 and the WD 250 GB.
MBps, and in the random read Real World Tests: We now
test, where it scored 31 to the come to the tests that separate the
Maxtor’s 26 MBps. winners from the also-rans. In 05
E 20
The other drives did OK, but terms of pure data transfer, both JUN
were really not up to the mark. The from and to the drive, no drive

Contact Sheet External Harddirves

Brand Company Telephone E-mail Web site
Freecom J.S Equipments 022-23860976 [email protected] www.freecom.com
Maxtor Fortune Marketing 011-26427627 [email protected] www.maxtor.com
Seagate eSys Information Technologies ltd 011-51811694 [email protected] www.seagate.com
Transcend Mediaman 022-23828100 [email protected] www.transcend.com.tw
Western Digital Priya ltd 022-566631000 [email protected] www.wdc.com Maxtor One Touch II

46 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 JUNE 2005 JUNE 2005 JUNE 2005
Desktop Storage/Backup Drives
Seagate Seagate Seagate Western Digital Western Digital Maxtor Maxtor
100 GB ST9100801U2-RK 160 GB with Firewire 400 GB Barracuda WD2500BO11 RNN 250 Media Center 300GB One Touch II One Touch 250GB
13.25 8.24 9.99 8.68 10.18 11.01 7.73

127x99x25.4 180.9x165.5x57 180.9x165.5x57 230x150x50 230x150x50 210x120x4 210x120x4

100.00 1050.00 1176.50 1360.00 1360.00 1380.00 1380.00
2.50 3.50 3.50 3.50 3.50 3.50 3.50
100 160 400 250 250 300 250
5400 7200 7200 7200 7200 7200 5400
8 8 8 8 8 16 2
USB 2.0 USB 2.0/Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire USB 2.0/Firewire
Blue LED Yello LED 2 Blue LEDs Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED Blue LED
None Single Power/Backup One Touch backup Power, Auto backup, Power, Auto backup, poewr button single poewr button single
Button and On Demand and On Demand press is backup press is backup
Backup Backup
USB 2.0 Power Adapter Power Adapter Power Adapter Power Adapter Power Adapter Power Adapter
None None None None MMC card reader! None None

4.25 4.00 4.00 3.50 3.50 4.00 4.00

4.00 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.50 2.75 2.75

Seaget utilities Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup Backup

✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
USB Cable USB/Firewire USB/Firewire cable/Power USB/Firewire USB/Firewire USB/Firewire USB/Firewire
cable/Power adapter/stand cable/Power cable/Power cable/Power cable/Power
adapter/stand adapter/stand adapter/stand adapter/stand adapter/stand

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
50.14 33.61 46.89 44.24 40.96 49.77 33.73

28 24 35 29 24 35 22
34 28 41 29 24 41 25
23 20 31 29 25 26 21
25 20 28 27 21 31 19
25 18 28 27 21 31 19
14 15 8 9 2 14 9

3.75 3.96 3.87 3.96 3.89 3.79 3.74

47.02 56.91 41.90 43.65 54.46 34.20 58.26

52.66 62.28 46.63 44.98 58.08 42.24 57.50
31.89 39.15 39.42 31.16 37.36 26.99 48.71
40.26 54.79 33.88 34.93 45.90 31.54 48.73
17.00 5.49 8.57 7.16 8.55 10.05 8.95
93.00 149 372.00 233 232 300.00 233
13000 12500 20000 15000 12500 13750 12000
0.14 0.08 0.05 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.05
80.39 47.34 65.09 59.76 59.38 70.48 50.05

The painfully slow drive here fact, the WD 250 GB drive beat the Mr Spacious: The drive that
was from Maxtor—the Maxtor 250 Seagate 400 GB in every real-world eventually won had everything
GB. No surprises, as the drive has a test, and was slower only in the going for it: price, performance
slow 5,400 rpm spindle speed sequential write test. and some pretty decent features.
coupled with a devastatingly low So if massive storage is not The Best Buy Gold goes to the
cache (a mere 2 MB). There was no what you are looking for, and if Maxtor One Touch II 300 GB. This
way this drive was competing for you are a WD fan, this one is a is an excellent backup solution
anything with anybody. The rest pretty good buy. as it is affordable, performs like
were simply out of its league. a dream, and features a huge
The other drive that was 300 GB of space.
impressive and really kept a consis- The Seagate Barracuda 400 GB
tent performance was the Seagate comprehensively beat the rest of
400 GB Barracuda. Although it 05
the competition, and though the
can’t be compared to the One 0 price tag might seem a shocker,
N E2
Touch II, it was commendably fast, JU the fact is that no other drive or
and its value-for-money proposi- drive manufacturer out there gives
tion is simply to die for! A massive you a 400 GB hard disk drive. Cost
400 GB for a mere Rs 20,000! per MB, though not the lowest, is
The fact that the Seagate 400 certainly competitive—so we
GB scored some pretty impressive Seagate 400 GB adjudge it our Best Buy Silver
numbers is not to say that it was Barracuda award winner.
second only to the One Touch II. In [email protected]

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 47

 Illustration Binesh Shreedharan

Illustration Pradip Ingale

 INSIDE
Technologies are coming What Is Convergence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
together in every aspect Convergence As The Opiate Of The Masses . . . . . . . . . . .56
Sachin Kalbag
of life. A look at
One world, One Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
convergence from every Robert Sovereign-Smith
possible angle Of Bits, Atoms, And Softwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Nicholas Negroponte
The Ultimate Converged Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Sanket Naik
Crash Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Preethi Chamikutty
The Name Is Connected. Dr Connected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Varun Dubey
Whither Mankind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Ram Mohan Rao
Human-Machine Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Kevin Warwick
Applied Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Aditya Kuber
Convergence Is Not Congruence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Anil Gupta
Secure your Home Now! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Mithun Kidambi
Technologies On The Verge... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Punya Mishra
Con-Vergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
Robert Sovereign-Smith
The Top Five Wired Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Renuka Rane
The Inevitability Of Technology-Led Transformation . . .107
Ganesh Natarajan
 4 Years Of Tech

What Is Con
‘Convergence’ is a lot of things, and means different things to different people—as
you’ll find out in the pages that follow

F
ew devices exemplify digital convergence and that brings us back to the smartphone: who
better than the smartphone with its various wants a camera in a phone? In fact, many do. Which
functions—that of a PDA, cell phone, brings us to the question: Was it the market that
camera, and more. There was a market— drove the innovation, or did the finished product
now fast declining—for dedicated PDAs; and create demand?
a huge market for cell phones. Someone tacked those All we know as of now is that someone took a
two together, and the result was a huge success. And piece of duct tape and stuck a camera onto a phone
then, someone else threw in a camera as well, and (and perhaps we’ll soon see people throwing in
that was the masterstroke. Smartphone sales are phones into cameras!). The idea clicked (no pun
already eating into PDA and vanilla cell phone sales, intended) and as a result, a huge new market was
and ABI Research (Allied Business Intelligence created in a short span of time.
Research, New York, USA) predicts that by 2009, One driving factor here, could have been the fact
smartphones and connected PDAs will represent that with a phone, which these days is equipped with
nearly a quarter of all handsets shipped. Infrared and Bluetooth communications possibili-
In simple terms, this is what digital convergence ties, people could share their photos at the press of a
is all about—the coming together of diverse tech- button unlike with other media.
nologies into simple devices that are more useful If markets drive convergent innovations, we have
than the original individual devices themselves. But to ask, what are the ideal converged devices people
there’s more to convergence than just this. It’s an want? And if innovations create demand, we have to
inexorable force that is driving markets worldwide; ask, what of ideas that don’t work out?
it’s a force that is pushing innovation to the limits; As regards the former, think of the following as
it’s a revolution. the ultimate example of digital convergence: your
Let’s get back to the clock—the simple time- fridge automatically detects there’s not enough milk.
displaying device. In days bygone, a wristwatch or Without your even having to press a button, it uses
pocket watch were solely how we told time. Then your home’s wireless network to get on the Internet,
came the LCD and LED, and we had clocks all over places an order at your local supermarket and the
the place—in those old Nintendo and Casio pocket milk is delivered. Some call this the Holy Grail of digi-
video games, in home music systems, in TVs, in VCRs. tal convergence.
This is a primitive, but very indicative, example of One needs to see what is at work here: it’s the
convergence. Think about it. It is, in fact, a very good same thing that drove almost all technological inno-
example. What happened? vations—the idea of making human life easier. That
Essentially, manufacturers decided to throw in is the essential driving force. But there’s more on the
clocks into diverse devices, and people liked it—they, subject of what people want. With huge flat-screen
in fact, began to expect this of all electronics devices. TVs making their presence felt everywhere, courtesy
You might ask why a video game should display time, dropping prices, they will become essential compo-
nents of the networked home in the not-too-distant
future. And people will want content to fill those TV
screens with. That hunger for content will come
simply as a result of the TVs being there. The fulfil-
ment of one market will create another.
What about convergence ideas that didn’t take
off? Sometimes, when one idea is shotgun-married to
another, the result turns out to be something no one
wants. A prime example is the CueCat—a mouse-like
device that could scan bar codes, whose correspon-
ding products you could look up on the Internet with
one click. For reasons unknown, it flopped.
No one can pinpoint why exactly the CueCat
flopped; think about an almost identical concept—a
camera in a phone that can click a bar code. One can
then log on to the Internet for information. Say you’re
Convergence is not just about gadgets. It’s also about connectivity (left) and the buying meat: the barcode contains information about
facilitation of everyday things, exemplified by the fingerprint scanner (right) how the animal was bred and reared, and you get this
within a moment of scanning the barcode; this helps

52 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

vergence?
in your decision to buy. This is happening now, and
seems a good idea to many people.
That said, there is no single definition of conver-
gence. A popular definition on the Internet says
that digital convergence is “the technological trend
whereby a variety of different digital devices such
as televisions, mobile telephones, and now refrig-
erators are merging into a multi-use communica-
tions appliance employing common software to
communicate through the Internet.” Someone else
says, “What is really happening is the convergence
of content, communication, and computing.”
Think about how content reaches us nowadays.
Radio, satellite, cable, fibre optics, wireless, the Some converged gadgets just flop—refer Crash Landing in this issue. Others,
like the Kaleidescape (at right), are at the cutting edge of innovation
Internet are some of the more common media.
This is an example of how our lifestyles are chang-
ing, or are being changed, by the fact that we go Going back a little, think about the PC. What
anywhere we want, do anything we want, and the can’t you do on a PC these days? You can have one
content reaches us anyway. Cable disconnected? browser window open showing you the latest
Turn to the Internet. Net connection down? Get it cricket scores. Another brings you an e-learning
from someone’s GPRS phone, on the move. And so class (you shouldn’t be looking at cricket scores
on. Content is making its way across boundaries. when you’re studying, but anyway). An MP3 song
Communications is key when we’re talking plays in the background. And on and on… all at
convergence: devices are talking to each other the same time, most of them via broadband.
more and more. Your iPod talks to your PC. Your Broadband is the enabler: if communication
phone talks to another in the sense of being able is to happen and content is to be delivered, you
to transmit a picture to it—whether you’re stand- need a fat pipe. How could streaming Internet
ing near the other phone or whether you’re thou- video be delivered to your smart TV without an
sands of miles away from it. always-on broadband connection? The PC, with its
Everything has a chip—from phones to cars to broadband connection, is a wonderful example
stereo systems. And all these chips will talk to each of how ‘just a device’ became a converged
other—or are already talking to each other. Compa- device. Convergence is all around; and with most
nies want to put a chip into everything. people owning PCs, the PC had to be affected
Says Gottfried Dutiné, an executive vice-presi- sooner or later.
dent at Philips, “Digitisation is creating products As with the refrigerator example, another Holy
that can’t be categorised as tech or consumer elec- Grail of convergence is the perfect, networked
tronics. The walls are coming down.” And as an living room. The all-in-one living room device
article in BusinessWeek Online, dated 21 June 2004, hasn’t yet been manufactured, but it will soon be.
puts it, “That sets up a collision of three massive Market factors dominate here: how soon will
industries. In one corner stands the $1.1 trillion ultra-high bandwidth get to homes? How soon
computer and software biz, with its American will large flat-screen TVs become affordable to all?
leaders. In another is the $225 billion consumer- When all that is worked out, the idea is simple
electronics sector, with its strong Asian roots and enough: one centralised entertainment device
a host of aggressive new Chinese players. The third with a broadband connection and wireless satel-
camp is the $2.2 trillion communications indus- lites. The device will be fed from diverse sources,
try, a behemoth that extends from wireless power- and the satellites may be anywhere—even in your
houses in Asia and Europe to the networking stars house—and without any wire clutter whatsoever.
of Silicon Valley. All the three groups will have a In Singapore, Australia and other places, you
hand in building the digital wonders that are can pay for a can of Coke at a vending machine
headed our way.” with your cell phone—beam your phone at the
The rush to churn out those digital wonders machine, and your Coke is billed to your phone
has reached critical mass. Innovation is now a full- account. Luddites may ask, why not just pay using
time job. Many products coming out of this rush coins instead?
will flop: this is uncharted territory, and there are But the revolution has already begun. The
few precedents to draw from—there are few stan- Coke machine example states what digital conver-
dards, and interoperability and security are gence is all about: everything digital will talk to
key issues. The ones that make it will define everything else digital, and things digital will be
our digital future. near you all the time, everywhere.

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 53

 SSpecial
pecialAdvertising
AdvertisingSection
Section

H P S M A R T B U S I N E S S . Z I F F D A V I S . C O M
54 DIGIT JUNE 2005
 S pecial Advertising Section

H P S M A R T B U S I N E S S . Z I F F D A V I S . C O M
DIGIT JUNE 2005 55
 These are questions that require answers derived
from evidence gathered over a period of time. Yet, we
all know that convergence is where we are headed. It
is as if we are in a primordial soup of technological
evolution, where cell phones are still cell phones (add
a small camera here and a small PDA there), MFDs still
do only four functions at most, and personal enter-
tainment gadgets are still just that—personal enter-
tainment gadgets.
The time, therefore, has come to create a revolu-
tionary product. Very few technology products have
changed the course of history. The last time a prod-
uct did that was the personal computer, and that was
in the 1970s. The ‘big ticket’ product prior to the
computer was the television, in the 1920s. And around
30 years prior to that came the radio.
Nearly 30 years after the PC, therefore, we are due
for one more revolution.
Some say the Sony PlayStation Portable is the ulti-
mate converged tool. How shortsighted can we be? The
PSP is a glorified personal entertainment gadget. It
gives you gaming, it gives you good video, and it gives
you great audio. At best, it is an iPod killer; at worst,
it is the first step to the ultimate convergence tool—the
OmniPerpetual Machine, as I would like to term it.
The OmniPerpetual Machine (or OPM, or Opium!)
would do just about everything you ever wanted the
“Convergence can often be a ultimate convergence tool to be—a PC, a personal
entertainment gadget, a credit card, a mobile phone,
daunting word, where more is a camera, a printer, a scanner, a fax, a copier, an
instant messenger, a pager, the works. I can already
misunderstood than understood” see the headlines: “Opium is the opiate of the masses.”
Marx just turned in his grave.
The Opium is your car key, your personal infor-
Sachin Kalbag is Executive Editor of Digit mation databank, your personal banker. It connects to
the Internet to give you the latest tax information,

Convergence As The
Opiate Of The Masses
I
Nearly 30 n the beginning was the singularity—the physical and tells you how much you have spent in the last
state of being everything, yet nothing. A state of month. It is connected to the camera at home so you
years after being so dense that the entire universe was all of can keep constant vigil. The Opium is also the one-
the PC, we one dot. Just then, the big bang happened. And the stop GPS navigator, your one-stop connect to the
universe was created. unknown world in whatever country you are in. It is
are due for The singularity, in a sense, was the ultimate your interpreter, your communicator within an alien
one more converged world—where dark matter, the stars, the country; it gives you the latest currency rates, the
revolution black holes, the planets, the comets, well, just about sights to see, the people to meet, and the maps to
everything, was one. Mankind, it has been conclu- reach them.
sively proven, evolved from a converged world. It allows you to make phone calls over the Internet.
It is therefore apt that we are moving once again, It allows you to downloads songs, videos and TV
technologically at least, toward a converged world— programmes, and broadcast video around the world.
where more is less, and less is more. Where gadgets Corporations will video-conference with any other
come together, and technologies meet halfway. We company around the world using wireless broadband,
are coming full circle, so to speak. thus reducing air travel and creating an alternate cost
Convergence can often be a daunting word, where structure for any company.
more is misunderstood than understood. Trouble is, Well, you get the picture. The Opium will be a do-
truly very little of it is understood. Is convergence all gadget. I don’t know what shape it will take, and I
limited to communication? How can convergence daresay, even the most intrepid of artists would dither
increase productivity at the workplace? And so on. to make a prototype illustration.

56 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Yet, it is a gadget that could well be the ultimate

achievement of mankind. Are we dreaming? Maybe.
But if the ultimate objective of physics is to find the
Grand Unified Theory, the ultimate objective of
personal technology should be a gadget that can do
all of the above, and more. Most of all, the gadget
will serve to make the world smaller than
ever before, and create a world that has answers
at its fingertips.
Sociologically, though, it will be a nightmare,
further dividing the haves and the have-nots. But
then, what gadget or technology has not divided
the world? Today’s world, more than ever before,
is cleaved into the haves and the have-nots.
If 20 million people in India have access to the Inter-
net, there are 980 million who do not. If there
are 160 million people with access to TV, there are
840 million who don’t.
Despite these daunting figures, it is only
inevitable that technology will move towards
this machine. It may not be called Opium
(anyone with a better name can send their
suggestions to [email protected]), but it
will be there.
To be sure, building such a gadget would not be
too much of a problem. As aviation experts put it
when the Airbus 380, the world’s biggest passenger
plane, was in flight: “It is only a matter of scaling up.”
Today, the strongest candidate for such a universal
1/2 pg V AD
machine is the humble cellular phone. Build
[
[ Who will provide the
infrastructure to support
information on the Opium?

the devices around the cell phone, and you would

slowly, but surely, move towards the ultimate
converged device.
However, the bigger issues will be: Who will
provide the surrounding infrastructure to support
information of all kinds on a machine like the
Opium? Will the government address the bandwidth
issue to clear broadcast issues? Will ultra-wideband
technology become de rigeur? Will wireless data access
be cheap enough for the common man to access
without restriction?
We don’t know the answers yet, and it would be
foolish to hazard a guess. We wouldn’t want to predict
what government regulations could be, nor can we
even predict what the public’s reaction would be.
What if we never take to the Opium, just as we never
took to the Apple Newton?
Admittedly, the Opium will not take us even a step
closer to Utopia. At best, it may create a new army of
technocrats. No technology in the history of mankind
has been ubiquitous, none omnipresent. It would be
wrong to assume that the ultimate convergence
device would be a ubiquitous device. The presence of
such a device in anybody’s hand would be more of an
exception than the rule. It would definitely mean that
humans have advanced technologically to a very high
degree, but not so much as to turn technological
utopia into reality. That, unfortunately, would remain
a topic for science fiction novels.

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 57

 4 Years Of Tech

One World,
Your home
is all set to
become the
central
computing
device of
your life
The Living Room
Robert Sovereign-Smith The most important room in the house, the living
room, is where the majority of gadgets being made

W
e’re on the verge of an age of convergence, are targeted. This is because this is the room where
and the very first place you’ll interact with you and your family spend most of your waking
the new technologies will be at home. hours—seeking entertainment. All entertainment
Manufacturers are in the fight of the millennium, devices can be broadly classified into two groups:
trying to get into consumers’ homes, trying to intro- The Display Device: The TV is currently the
duce technology solutions—and, consequently, their default family entertainment centre, and thus, is a
gadgets—into every aspect of your life. multi-billion dollar market. We have seen the TV go
The fine line between electronics and comput- from a dumb visual output device to the interactive
ing devices is almost invisible already—everything entertainment centre that it is today. With more
from music systems to cars have computer chips technologies and companies coming up with
embedded in them, and they’re touted to get increased interactivity, such as Direct To Home
a lot smarter. (DTH) and Pay-Per-View, and even more companies
We take a look here at what technologies and already offering Internet access to your TV via set-
gadgets you can expect to see in your house over top boxes, it’s merely a matter of time before the TV
the next few years. Some of them have already becomes a one-stop entertainment centre.
been implemented, and are beginning to gain The Audio Device: Everyone loves music—it’s
popularity, while others are still in the prototype just tastes in genres that differ. Today, music
stage, or have only just been envisioned. systems are already offering VCD, DVD, MP3, and
Those with millions in the bank can possibly Audio CD playback. Some digital entertainment
go out right away and get their house outfitted, centres come equipped with wireless networking
just as is described in this article. The less fortu- so they can connect to your PC and stream audio
nate among us will have to wait a few years. and video to your audio and display devices.
Illustrations Shyam Shriram

58 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

One Home
The living room of the future will still serve as the house, and the device will connect to all others
a family entertainment room, and will divide all in the house wirelessly. The device will be controlled
content, whether from satellite channels or from by the house CPU, and will automatically follow you
your own PC, into audio and video. These audio as you move around the house—switching on
and video streams will be sent to unified audio displays when someone enters a room, and switch-
and video output devices. ing off once everyone leaves.
Since speakers are meant to be heard and not
seen, you will be able to install hidden speakers The Hallway/Entrance
throughout your house that will act as the audio The logical place for the main home security panel
output devices. Volume and settings will be visually is somewhere near the front door, so why mess
controlled via the room’s video output device. More with logic? This will merely control the security
likely, however, is that your walls themselves will settings of the house, such as turning on or off the
become your speakers; or for that matter, perhaps movement sensors outside, setting the burglar
the ceiling as well—talk about surround sound! alarm, and auto-locking the house at predefined
Perhaps, much further in the future, we will be times. All these settings will also be accessible
able to install paper displays that can cover our entire from anywhere else in the house using touch-
walls as wallpaper, and give us the freedom to sensitive video output devices, and entering the
demand the appearance of a screen, of any size, on correct username and password combinations.
any part of a wall or ceiling. The main CPU will govern the security settings
However, for now, we’ll stick to the already-popu- as well as other important semi-AI functions, such
lar LCD screen that can cover one wall of each room as privacy and data synchronisation.
and act as a visual output device for entertainment, When watching a movie or having dinner with
computing, and as a graphical user interface (GUI) your family, the house will automatically recognise
for changing the settings of all other devices. One that the entire family is involved in a particular activ-
such display device can be installed in every room of ity, and will automatically screen calls and e-mails.

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 59

 4 Years Of Tech

Let’s assume you have three levels of callers— Using secured wireless networks, the house will
‘one’ for unidentifiable callers, ‘two’ for friends, also connect to various other devices, such as the
and ‘three’ for VIPs. So when your family sits down entertainment centre in the living room to send it
to dine, the house will automatically change its instructions about what movies you requested for
status to ‘Dinner’, and, depending on the setting the evening, or what audio playlist is most popular
you’ve preset, will screen callers from the three at this time of day, and on this day of the week.
levels—for example, only allowing level three calls This house CPU will also monitor the external
to come through. It will also give callers from the security camera and watch for movement or people
other two levels a polite reason for not connecting approaching the doors or windows. You will be able to
them, and give them a tentative time to call back, set it to pop up a visual of the person approaching on
or even call them back as soon as you finish the video output device in the room you are currently
dinner—again, all preset. in, while the speakers will play a soft alert sound.

The Kitchen
Believe It Or Not! Keeping with the current popularity of open
kitchens, perhaps the kitchen no longer needs to
Devices exist that will blow your mind with the advancement of technology they be just that, and can be converted into more of a
display. Check them out for yourself online. chore and recreational area.
Devices such as washing machines and dish-
Solid State Hard Drives: Ahh, a thing of fiction for every hardware junkie. After washers will connect wirelessly to the house CPU
all, it’s the hard drive that’s the bottleneck of systems today! But, how about memory- and receive instructions from it. The house CPU
cum-hard drives that offer read speeds of 8 GBps, and write speeds of 6 GBps (a SATA will also control other devices such as the refrig-
hard drive offers a mere 150 MBps). Quantum Optical memory offers just that, and a erator, your Personal Digital Device (PDD) and the
250 GB memory chip-cum-hard drive is about as big a glucose biscuit! Check out Atom
Chip Corporation at www.atomchip.com, and don’t miss the Consumer Products link—
central heating or cooling.
there’s a tablet PC with 250 GB non-volatile memory (RAM + hard drive), and a 4 GHz The house CPU informs your family when the
AtomChip CPU. The products are mainly developed for the US Military, but you can pay fridge is low on food stocks, or when you are
the site a visit and dream, can’t you? running out of dishwash detergent. It also moni-
tors the functioning of these devices, and will
Not-So-Crazy Ideas: Most of these inventions have to be dreamed up before they even be able to draw a bath for your family,
are invented. It’s a pity not many companies are willing to share their dreams with us. remembering the temperature that each family
However, the NEC Design studios is kind enough to share some of their future projects member prefers.
online. Visit http://www.nec-design.co.jp/showcase/ to see some really innovative ideas. On a more personal level, convergence will
We loved their “tag” soft shell mobile phone so much we were inspired to use it in the
visual below, as an illustration of the Personal Digital Device (PDD) of the future.
mean that your house CPU will be the central
repository for all your family’s personal data. Each

60 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

member will have a PDD, which is nothing short The car will also have a computer running some Many
of a wearable (and perhaps flexible) laptop-cum- very basic functions, such as fuel injection and
cell phone-cum-PDA that can use your house communications, and could also be set to govern people
network or public networks outside for its safety—keeping safe distance from other vehicles and reading this
computing needs. It will act as a complete objects by using radar or imaging. This could put an
personal communications device that will make end to accidents, traffic congestion and rash driving.
article
and receive phone calls, send and receive e-mail The car’s communications device could be a might make
and other communication from your family, mini-home theatre system, offering both audio incredulous
friends, colleagues, and the authorities. and video outputs for video conferencing, phone
The house CPU will synchronise itself with calls, music or even movies—hopefully the auto- sounds, and
your PDD to make sure that both are up-to-date drive functions will be well developed by then. call it all
all the time—taking care of all data changes that Your PDD could interface with your car, telling
have occurred when you were out. it where your next appointment is, and pinpoint
mumbo
your destination to the car’s GPS device. Satellite jumbo...
The Car/Garage imagery could help your car automatically chart
Currently, our cars are the dumbest of the gadg- the fastest route to your destination, taking into
ets we interface with, and hopefully, manufac- consideration traffic and weather conditions.
turers will bring some of the technological The car locking system and ignition could be
sophistication that already exists in luxury fingerprint-controlled, doing away with the entire
sedans into the models for the masses. “Now where are my car keys?” scenario. It would also
Even currently available technology can make help the car identify the driver, adjust the seat accord-
our cars a million times smarter than they are ingly, as well as select the appropriate music playlist
today, and hopefully this segment will be less and user account. This will ensure that you always
ignored in the future—especially as traffic conges- hear the music you like, or prevent you from receiv-
tion increases, in turn increasing the time we ing e-mails meant for your dad, or worse, him receiv-
spend inside our cars. ing “I love you” messages from your significant other!
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are already
available in more expensive cars, so imagining The Gadgets
this in every car is hardly far-fetched. This will We understand why many people reading this
enable your house CPU to connect to the central article might make incredulous sounds, and
traffic server, using your predefined authentica- call it all mumbo jumbo. Well, here are a few
tion, and inform your family of your whereabouts. gadgets that have already been developed, or
It will also let your family contact you on your prototyped, and are expected to be available to
car’s communications system. consumers soon…

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 61

 4 Years Of Tech

Visteon Family Entertainment System Blaupunkt’s 15.4-inch Video Monitor

Here’s a neat way to have fun while driving—well At 15.4-inches, and with a WXGA pixel resolution,
OK, so the fun is all for the back seat passengers! this overhead car monitor delivers superb video
This product is great if you have a driver, or if performance. It also boasts of the simplest cable
you are driving and have kids. Long car journeys, installation possible—almost plug-n-play. This is
or even short ones on our congested roads, can feel just another example of well-known brands
like an eternity, but with a Visteon Family Enter- coming up with more gadgets targetted at enter-
tainment System, the kids will never ever taining your family while inside your car.
complain again. See www.blaupunktusa.com for more details.

It features a DVD player, so you can pop in a Kaleidescape

DVD movie for the kids to watch while you are This is a system that records your DVD movies onto a
driving, or you can plug in a video camera, or hard drive, then connects to the Net to get high reso-
anything with an audio/video out, and view its lution DVD cover images and all other details it can
contents. Kids of all ages can even plug in a video get, such as year of release, cast, rating and reviews,
game to have some fun. Use an Xbox, play DOOM 3 etc. It will then let you search through your library
in a car? and instantly play any movie you want.
See www.visteon.com for more details. Since the device connects to all TVs in the
house, you can easily access your movie playlist
LG Television Refrigerator from just about anywhere in the house. It also has
The LG Television Refrigerator includes a cable- a cool-looking touch-screen controller, and a really
ready, 13.5-inch television screen, FM radio, two simple to use interface.
speakers and a TV tuner. Problems of piracy abound, as users could rent
No longer will your mom, your spouse, or even DVD movies from the local movie library and copy
you, have to miss out on your favourite television them to the Kaleidescape. There’s a court battle ongo-
shows just because you have to be in the kitchen ing between the makers of Kaleidescape and the DVD
preparing dinner. Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), but the products
It’s also easy to see this device being fitted with are still avialable, pending a judgement on the case.
Wi-Fi and hooked up to a home network. Get one before the final court ruling, just in case!
See www.lgusa.com for more details. See www.kaleidescape.com for more details.

62 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Arrow Biometric Fingerprint Identification Lock

This is sort of a dream device for the more forgetful of us. Never again
will you find yourself locked out of the house, office or even your car.
The Arrow biometic fingerprint identification lock is powered by
batteries, that will give you enough advanced warning, so don’t
worry you won’t be locked out because the batteries died!
This device will fit perfectly into the future, as we move towards more
secure ways of transacting, whether it’s paying a bill or opening a door.
We can see this device being utilised not just in houses, but also for cars,
safes, personal lockers and even at supermarkets—it can make identity
theft and the use of stolen credit information a thing of the past.
A more creative line of thought could see them implemented in
schools and colleges, to make sure that only students authorised to
enter a classroom can do so. It could do away with ‘cheating by proxy’
(where someone else appears on your behalf, usually a smarter some-
one!), and even help in maintaining foolproof attendance records!
See www.arrowvision.us for more details.

Solid Drive Speaker Drivers

Turn a wall or a table into a speaker. Sound unbelievable? Believe it!
Solid Drive speaker drivers can make any flat solid object into a
speaker, by vibrating it to produce sound. Even windows can become
speakers, or the door, or a conference table—use your imagination!
The best use for it though, would be inside the walls of your
converged house, so that you get a true, complete surround experi-
ence, and no speakers are ever visible.
See www.soliddrive.com for more details.

1 col Ad

The House
As you can see, most of the devices mentioned here are hardly
components of a science-fiction flick. If you have enough money, you
can have the home of the future today! The good news is that as these
devices become more popular, the prices will fall, and all of us will
be able to afford the converged home of our dreams!
The home of the future will blur the existing lines that we draw
between different types of devices. And, if at all we’re forced to
divide the digital content, it can only be into audio and video—only
because that’s how we as humans experience multimedia content.
The demarcations between PCs, PDAs, TVs, audio systems, etc,
will be obliterated forever, as it isn’t really important to us what
we’re interfacing with; what’s more important is that we get the
content we desire, and are able to compute and communicate via
the audio-visual devices at will.
The box “Believe It Or Not” on page 60 points you towards some
more devices that we can expect to see in the near future.
Technology, of late, has become boring. It’s true! All we could see
happening over the past decade was CPUs getting faster, and hard
disk sizes increasing, but nothing groundbreaking. Now, thankfully,
we seem to be past this stagnation, and have started climbing again—
the next 10 years promise tons of exciting changes, not just in tech-
nology, but in the way we lead our lives!
[email protected]

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 63

 Wearable Computing
The digital road warrior’s kit—laptop, cell phone,
PDA, and pager—is just capable enough to bother
you everywhere without necessarily helping you
anywhere. It’s absurd that each device is still on
such poor speaking terms with the others. We
walk around like pack horses saddled with infor-
mation appliances. We should be in the saddle,
not under it.

The Evolution Of Softwear

GUEST COLUMN

More than 20 years ago, The Architecture Machine

Group at MIT built a mediaroom based on the idea
that one should be inside a computer rather than
in front of it. While that vision foreshadowed
today’s immersive environments, it did not go far
enough and shrink the room to the size of
a person.
In the future, the PC will be blown to bits,
many of which, naturally, should be kept near you
rather than in your home or at your office. But so
far, software has not been particularly soft.
Though bits are as insubstantial as the ether, they
tend to be packaged in hard boxes. For hardware
and software to comfortably follow you around,
they must merge into softwear. Developing wear-
able computing requires as much attention to the
“Computing is not about medium as the message.
In fact, the medium becomes the message.
computers any more. It is What single manufactured material are you
exposed to the most? The answer is fabric. We wear
about living.” it, stand on it, sit on it, and sleep in it. Marvellous
technology goes into looms, but all we ask fabric to
do is protect us from the elements, look pretty, and
Nicholas Negroponte is founder and director of the Media Laboratory not wrinkle or shrink. Can’t it do more?
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Advances in conducting polymers and
reversible optical media are pointing towards

Of Bits, Atoms,
And Softwear
O
ne of the first definitions of convergence fabrics that can literally become displays. Amor-
came from Nicholas Negroponte: “Bits co- phous semiconductors can be used to make solar
mingle effortlessly. They start to get mixed cells to power fabric. Polymer semiconductors are
up and can be used and re-used separately or candidates for wearable logic. The result would be
together. The mixing of audio, video, and data is the ultimate flexible computer architecture. Fash-
called multimedia. It sounds complicated, but it’s ion accessories will take on new roles, becoming
nothing more thanco-mingled bits.” some of the most important Internet access points,
Negronte pointed out in his 1995 bestseller conveniently surrounding you in a Person Wide
Being Digital that our world is fast exchanging the Web. How better to receive audio communications
trade in atoms for the trade in bits. In other than through a earring, or to send spoken
words, he has been a big proponent of the ‘bit messages than through your lapel?
switch’—the idea that we’re moving from produc- Footwear is particularly attractive for comput-
ing and distributing atoms in the form of prod- ing. Your shoes have plenty of unclaimed space,
ucts to producing digital things in the form of bits receive an enormous amount of power (from walk-
that get pushed around the world. ing) that is currently untapped, and are ideally
We present two columns Negroponte wrote for placed to communicate with your body and the
Wired magazine—‘Wearable Computing’ and ‘Bits ground. When you come home, your shoes can talk
And Atoms’. These columns read as well today as to the carpet in preparation for delivery of the day’s
they did when they were first published. personalised news to your glasses.

64 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

The Body Bus

A wearable computer will be useless if you have to
walk around looking like the back of your desk.
Fortunately, bits are more than skin deep. Tom
Zimmerman has shown that the non-contact
coupling between your body and weak electric fields
can be used to create and sense tiny nano-amp
currents in your body. Modulating these signals
creates Body Net, a personal-area network that
communicates through your skin. Using roughly
the same voltage and frequencies as audio trans-
missions, this will be as safe as wearing a pair of
headphones. Keeping data in your body avoids the
intrusion of wires, the need for an optical path for
infrared, and conventional problems such as regu-
lation and eavesdropping.
Your shoe computer can talk to a wrist
display and keyboard and heads up glasses. Activat-
ing your body means that everything you touch is
potentially digital. A handshake becomes an
exchange of digital business cards, a friendly arm
on the shoulder provides helpful data, and picking
up a phone downloads your numbers and voice
signature for faithful speech recognition.

Cyborgs
Cyborgs are here already. No, this isn’t a paranoid
fantasy about intruders from the future. Two
cyborgs have been roaming the Media Lab, wearing
computers day in and day out for over two years. It’s
an uncanny experience teaching a course to Thad
Starner, who is simultaneously watching you lecture
and annotating the lecture notes behind you
through Reflection Technologies’ Private Eye, a
wearable heads-up display.
Steve Mann goes further, wearing a completely
immersive system: movable cameras connect to a
1/2 pg V AD
computer and transmitter to send video to a work-
station for processing and delivery back to displays
in front of his eyes.
This lets him enhance what he sees (he likes
living in a ‘rot 90’ rotated world) and position his
eyes. (Some days he likes having his eyes above his
head, or at his feet, and when he rides a bicycle he
sets one eye looking forward and one backward.)
He can assemble everything he’s seen into larger
mosaics or 3-D images, and through the radio-
frequency link you can see through his eyes (at
www.wearcam.org).
Don’t expect to see much computing featured
in Bill Blass’ next collection, but this kind of digi-
tal headdress will become more common. Bear in
mind that 20 years ago, no publisher anticipated
that teletype terminals would grow into a portable
threat to books, that paper tapes would merge
with film into multimedia CD-ROMs, or that tele-
phones would threaten the whole business model
of publishing by bringing the Web into your home.
The difference in time between loony ideas and
shipped products is shrinking so fast that it’s now,
oh, about a week.

This article was co-authored by Neil Gershenfeld, an

MIT professor and one of three co-principal investiga-
tors of the Media Lab’s newest research consortium,
Things That Think.

© 1995 Nicholas Negroponte. Reprinted with permission

from the author.

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 65

 4 Years Of Tech

Bits and Atoms because it commands such a small piece of the market.
By contrast, Blockbuster can pull Hollywood around by
The $400 Limit Applies To Atoms Only the nose, because video stores provide 50 per cent of
When returning from abroad, you must complete a Hollywood’s revenues and 60 per cent of its profits.
Customs declaration form. But have you ever declared I thought about Huizenga’s remark and realised
the value of the bits you acquired while travelling? To that this extraordinary entrepreneur did not under-
Customs officers, the value of any diskette is the same— stand the difference between bits and atoms. His
full or empty—only a few dollars; the value of the atoms. atoms—videocassettes—prove that video-on-demand
I recently visited the headquarters of one of the top will work. Videocassettes are pay-per-view TV. The only
five integrated-circuit manufacturers in the US. I was difference is that in his business he can draw as much
asked to sign in and, in the process, was asked whether as one-third of the profits from late fees.
I had a laptop with me. I did. The receptionist asked for
the model, serial number, and the computer’s value. Library Of The Future
“Roughly US$1 to $2 million,” I said. “Oh, that cannot Thomas Jefferson introduced public libraries as a funda-
be, sir,” she replied. “What do you mean? Let me see it.” mental American right. What he never considered was
I showed her my old PowerBook, and she estimated that every citizen could enter every library and borrow
its value at $2,000. She wrote down that amount and I every book simultaneously, with a keystroke, not a hike.
was allowed to enter. All of a sudden, those library atoms become library bits
Our mindset about value is driven by atoms. The and are accessible to anyone on the Net. This is not what
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is about atoms. Jefferson imagined. This is not what authors imagine.
New movies and music are shipped as atoms. Compa- Worst of all, this is not what publishers imagine.
nies declare their atoms on a balance sheet and depre- The problem is simple. When information is embod-
ciate them according to rigorous schedules. But their ied in atoms, there is a need for all sorts of industrial-
bits, often far more valuable, do not appear. Strange. age means and huge corporations for delivery. But

[
[ “Our mindset about value is driven by atoms. Movies ship
as atoms. Companies declare their atoms on a balance
sheet. But their bits, far more valuable, do not appear.”

Atoms Are Judged Less Greene

Than Bits
suddenly, when the focus shifts to bits, the traditional
big guys are no longer needed. Do-it-yourself publishing
on the Internet makes sense. It does not for paper copy.
When Judge Harold Greene broke up AT&T in 1983, he
told the newly created regional Bell operating compa- Markoff-On-Production
nies that they could not be in the information business. It was through The New York Times that I came to know
Who did he think he was fooling? The seven sisters were and enjoy the writing of computer and communica-
already in the information business and doing just fine, tions business reporter John Markoff. Without The New
thank you. Their largest margins were—and still are— York Times, I probably would not have been introduced
from the Yellow Pages, which they have sold at great to him. However, now it would be far easier for me to
profit. Judge Greene, sir, the companies are and always collect his new stories automatically and drop them
have been in the information industry. What are you into my personal newspaper or suggested reading file.
talking about? I would be willing to pay Markoff five cents for
What the judge is saying is that the companies have each of his new pieces.
every right to kill thousands of trees, to litter our If one-fiftieth of the 1995 Internet population
homes, and to fill garbage sites with their information subscribed to this idea, and Markoff wrote 20 stories a
business, as long as this information is in the form of year, he would earn $1 million, which I am prepared
atoms. But as soon as the companies deliver the exact to guess is more than The New York Times pays him. If you
same information with no-deposit, no-return, environ- think one-fiftieth is too large a percentage, then wait
mentally friendly bits, they have broken the law. awhile. Once someone is established, the added value
Doesn’t that sound screwy? Was anyone thinking of a distributor becomes less and less in a digital world.
about the meaning of ‘being digital’ during the time The distribution and movement of bits is much
that AT&T was being disassembled? I fear not. easier than atoms. But delivery is only part of the issue.
A media company is, among other things, a talent
Pay Per View scout, and its distribution channels, bits or atoms,
During a speech I gave at a recent meeting of shopping provide a testbed for public opinion. But after a certain
centre owners, I tried to explain that a company’s move point, the author may not need this forum. In the digi-
into the digital future would be at a speed proportion- tal age, Wired authors can sell their stories direct and
ate to the conversion of its atoms to bits. I used video- make more money, once they are discovered.
cassette rental as an example, since these atoms could While this does not work today, it will work very
become bits very easily. well, very soon—when ‘being digital’ becomes
Wayne Huizenga, Blockbuster’s former chairman, the norm.
was the lunch speaker. He defended his stock by saying,
“Professor Negroponte is wrong.” His argument was © 1995 Nicholas Negroponte. Reprinted with permission
based on the fact that pay-per-view TV has not worked from the author.

66 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Ultimate
Converged Accessories

Illustration Binesh Shreedharan

mention the warm-hearted acceptance from

The stuff Sanket Naik consumers who are always on the lookout for that
something new.
dreams are

A
fter a decade of blank and weightless In this article, we bring to you some of the
made of… proclaims, the age of digital convergence has coolest products that incorporate cutting-edge tech-
for geeks finally dawned upon us. With industry nology and convey the very essence of digital conver-
bigwigs including Intel, AMD, Sony and Microsoft, gence in their own unique way.
anyway! to name a few shifting to solution-centric strategies,
Presenting digitally converged products are making it to the Oakley Thump
mass markets—slowly, but steadily. Oakley’s Thump is the coolest converged product
the best of Digital convergence is bringing three major that combines fashion with technology in a
the industries together—the IT industry with its hard- unique way of its own. While audio players have
converged ware and software expertise, the consumer elec- been built into watches, headphones and cell
tronics industry—deeply rooted into entertainment phones, Thump is the first audio player to be built
devices and the telecommunication industry that enables into sunglasses.
available short to long range communications. The Thump is made out of lightweight durable
Such a diverse communion results in the manu- plastic and is hence suitable for use all day long. The
today. A facture of extremely versatile products that lenses can be flipped up, making it possible for the
word of combine the best of technologies from all three shades to be used indoors without skipping on
caution: sectors. Just a few years ago, cell phones that listening to your favourite music.
doubled as digital camera, audio/video players or The earphones are well-placed and highly
Highly gaming consoles that transformed into a media- adjustable. They can be rotated, extended or raised
obsessive! centric device were unthinkable. But now, they to fit any ears without much discomfort. The
seem to be the imminent future. controls are placed on the two arms of the shade.
Rapid developments in technology leading to Buttons on the left side are for volume control
faster chips, higher bandwidth buses and broad- while those on the right are for Play/Pause/Power
band communication are proving to be the major and Skip/Shuffle. Songs are played back either in
driving factors behind the convergence trend; not to the order they are copied or alphabetically. There

68 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

are also some pre-configured equalisers slogging for all these years, Adidas
to be cycled. finally managed to get in on the tarmac.
On the specifications front, the So what’s tech got to do with a shoe?
Thump is available in two versions—128 Well, this is the first shoe with an embed-
MB and 256 MB. The Thump supports ded microprocessor that adapts the shoe
MP3s, WAV and DRM protected WMA cushioning based on the terrain and the
audio formats. A USB 2.0 port is provided user’s demand.
for faster transfer of songs and it is even While the fact is that no two runners
backward compatible with USB 1.1. have the same physical characteristics,
A non-removable Lithium-ion battery the same pair of shoes can’t always
provides the necessary juice for keeping provide the necessary comfort to both.
the audio player running for the claimed To tackle this problem Adidas_1 can
six hours. But, with prices starting at $400 dynamically change the cushioning
(Rs 17,400) for both versions, Oakley’s depending on the terrain, your weight
Thump isn’t for shallow pockets. and the speed, to provide the right
amount of comfort.
Fossil PDA Watch The shoe has a magnetic sensor
Dick Tracy fans will love Fossil’s wrist PDA placed in the heel and monitors any
watch. This rather ‘cute’ looking device changes in weight, pace and surface type
harbours a fully functional PDA based on at a rate of 1,000 times per second. This
Palm’s OS 4.1. Looks wise, it is hardly information is then fed to a micro-
distinguishable from a traditional wrist- processor, the brain that determines
watch, but speak of functionality, and it has whether the cushioning is in the ideal
enough features to beat the most hectic zone. If the cushioning is not right, the
schedules without missing any events. microprocessor sends a signal to a motor
The PDA watch is powered by a that is connected to a cushioning cylin-
Motorola Super VZ 66 MHz Dragonball der in the heel to either relax or tighten
processor and has 8 MB of RAM; enough depending on whether soft or firm cush-
for hourglass-free operation! The petite ioning is required.
touch screen display has a 160
x 160 pixel resolution offer-
ing 16-level greyscale depth
and backlighting for view-
ing in dark.
Inbuilt applications
include an address book for
contact management; a date
book for scheduling; a To Do
list; a Memo Pad for taking
notes; a calculator. And yes,
it also tells time.
These applications apart,
the watch can run most
Palm software; however,
Fossil recommends using
specially designed applica-
tions to take advantage of Running just got high-tech, thanks to the Adidas_1
the watch navigation
system, a rocker switch and
larger font set. There are two buttons on the sides of
For connecting with the PC, the watch the shoe, which are required to be
comes with a USB port and an Infrared pressed simultaneously to switch on the
transceiver for communicating with other active cushioning system. Moreover,
Palm devices. Power is derived from an there are five preset levels of cushioning
internal rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. that can be achieved using these two
Fossil claims a battery life of three to four buttons. A small battery powers the
days provided you use it for 30 minutes a entire system and is located under the
day without backlight and IR. foot soles of each shoe.
Priced at $249 (Rs 10,900), Fossil’s PDA Priced at $250 (Rs 10,875), the Adidas_1
wristwatch costs as much as a decent PDA are a really expensive pair of shoes. Would
from Palm. But it’s the size that distin- you really want to get them dirty?
guishes it from the rest. Now, does size
really matter? O’Neill’s H2 Series Backpack
Energy source is a persistent problem
Adidas_1 with many portable computing products
Sportswear giantAdidas, a synonym for such as MP3 players, cell phones and
high quality footwear has introduced a other electronics devices. The built-in
shoe for the geek. The Adidas_1 was rechargeable batteries can hardly hold
conceptualised around 2001 and after fort for a day and if you are the adven-

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 69

 4 Years Of Tech

turous type, this problem is simply compounded Microsoft Xbox 360

O’Neill’s by the lack of access to electricity. Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released next generation
backpack Your prayers seem to have been answered. gaming console—the Xbox 360—takes convergence
O’Neill’s H2 series of backpacks is what you should to the next level. While the gaming aspect is at the
also be looking at. The H2 series integrates two flexible core of its design, looking at the specs and the
incorporates solar panels with necessary electronics to control functionality one can’t argue the fact that it is
a snowboard communication and entertainment devices. more than just a gaming console.
The solar panels generate power during The new Xbox is supposed to derive its comput-
carry favourable lighting conditions and supply it to your ing power from a triple core processor running at
system, iPod, mobile phone and integrated Bluetooth module 3.2 GHz, where each core is capable of running two
via a USB connection. The system also has an elec- threads simultaneously, leading to generation of six
shovel stash tronic board that senses which device is
and in the most need of power and
compression smartly allocates it accordingly.
Apart from the solar panel,
straps the backpack also has an inte-
grated Bluetooth module for
handsfree calling. A microphone
is built into the left shoulder
strap and a universal headphone
jack is integrated in the chest
pocket. Moreover, when you get a
call, the iPod is automatically
paused till the call ends.
Both—the iPod and Bluetooth
module—is stowed away in discrete
water-resistant compartments. A
soft, washable, fabric control Microsoft’s XBox 360 that’s making waves, and Archos’ PMA400
panel is placed on the left shoul-
der strap to control playback of the
iPod without having to reach for
the device deep inside the pack. threads at once. Such huge reserves of computing
The backpack is constructed from ultra-light and power means a lot of data can be thrown at the CPU
strong nylon for maximum durability. The pack also for the ultimate gaming experience.
incorporates a snowboard carry system, shovel stash The graphics section is handled by a custom-
and compression straps. Prices are not yet out, but made ATI chip with 512 MB GDDR3 RAM and a 10
we fear they will be astronomical. Adventure calls! MB frame buffer. The chip also has 48 Shader units
working on a new Shader language to deliver the
HP ep9012 Instant Cinema best eye candy ever seen on a console.
Digital Projector Storage is provided via a detachable 20 GB hard
The ep9012 from HP is an all-in-one projection solu- drive which can further be upgraded when you run
tion for home users combining the ambience of a out of space. The Xbox 360 comes with a 12X dual
projector, fidelity of a 2.1 sound system and the layer DVD drive and will support most formats
versatility of a DVD player. including WMA and MP3 CDs. The console also has
The projector is based around DLP technology two memory unit slots.
and delivers sharp and crystal clear images. For On the I/O front, the console offers three USB
better colour saturation and depth, a six-segment 2.0 ports for connecting it to a PC, has an Ethernet
colour wheel makes into the projector. The 840 port, is wireless-ready supporting 802.11a, b and g
lumen built-in lamp offers enough brightness and standards and is video camera-ready.
contrast for big screen viewing at home. Further, you can stream media from portable
The integrated DVD player can play DVD-video devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs and can
and DVD±R/RW straight from the projector. rip music to the Xbox 360’s hard drive. In also comes
The DVD player also supports VCD, SVCD, CD-R, with a Windows Media Centre extender built-in.
CD-RW, CD-audio and MP3 audio formats for maxi-
mum versatility. Other interesting features include Archos PMA400
playing JPEG files from a CD directly as a slideshow; Archos Pocket Media Assistant400, as the name
just short of allowing direct camera connection. suggests, is a portable media player that also acts as
To complete the cinematic experience, the a digital assistant. Based on a Linux platform, the
system is equipped with a 2.1 speaker system. It has PMA400 offers class-leading features in a small and
two speakers on each side, capable of delivering compact structure.
20W and a third 30W sub-woofer base for bass. For The PMA400 can record directly from your TV,
a full immersive aural experience you can connect VCR, cable box or a satellite receiver with the help
the ep9012 to any 5.1 enabled home theatre system. of a cradle that comes with the package. The
The ep9012 is further equipped with S-video, device also allows transferring of media from a
composite video, component video, PC DVI and VGA Windows PC or a MAC on to its 30 GB hard drive.
(via adapter) inputs. To make it future proof the The recording is saved in MPEG4-SP format and
eop9012 is HDTV ready. Expected price for the the device can playback MPEG4-SP videos with
ep9012 is around $2000 (Rs 87,000), so get ready for soundtrack in MP3 format up to a resolution of
a compact home entertainment system. 704 x 480 at 30 fps.

70 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Other inter-
esting firsts on a
cell phone
include the
manual control
of the camera.
The SCH-V770
allows manual
adjustment of
focus, shutter
speed and auto
exposure lock. It
also offers shut-
ter priority, aper-
Samsung’s revolutionary 7-megapixel camera phone—the first-of-its-kind to ture priority and
be launched fully manual
options for expo-
sure control.
On the audio front, the PMA400 can The display on the SCH-V770 uses a
play MP3, WAV, WMA and DRM-protected new TFD (Thin Film Diode) LCD that
WMA files. The PMA400 can be used as a ensures QVGA resolution on the small
Dictaphone using the built-in micro- display size. The screen can reproduce a
phone. It also has a recording application breathtaking 16 million colours to give
that can record in MP3 and WMA in real lifelike pictures.
time from most analogue devices. Video-on-demand (VOD) and music-on-
The PMA400 also allows playing of demand (MOD) are the other new features
Qtopia-based games and it also has that are available on the V770. It also
Mophun game engine for playing games supports a TV-out function for viewing
based on the format. You can also transfer those photographs on a TV set.
your entire photo album can store around For storing the pictures, the phone
three lakh photographs to be viewed on its comes with a 32 MB MMC Micro apart
small screen. from the internal memory. The set is
The device is Wi-Fi ready and supports supposed to go on sale later in the year,
802.11b standard. You can also connect so stay connected.
using the Infrared and Ethernet port
provided via a USB to Ethernet adapter. BMW 3-Series Cars
You can browse the Internet using the BMW is a name that epitomises opulence
built-in Opera browser and send and and performance in cars and does not shy
receive e-mails via the integrated e-mail away from using the best available tech-
client. A personal information manager nology so they go faster, handle better
lets you schedule your meetings and and have the best safety and comfort.
events just like a PDA, as the PMA 400 has The 3-Series from BMW has been a
a touch screen for easy data input. Since favourite among techies for its practical-
the PMA400 is based on the Linux plat- ity and sporty character. The new 330 is
form you can customise it by adding new packed to the gills with technology.
third-party applications or your own. Under the hood, you have a magne-
Archos claims a battery life of four sium and aluminium composite engine
hours for continuous video playback and block fitted with BMW’s Valvetronic
nine hours for music playback. Priced at ignition system that digitally controls
800 (Rs 48,000), it’s not cheap but the the ignition to improve the car’s power
functionality demands it. and fuel efficiency.
BMW’s iDrive system is a digital inter-
Samsung SCH-V770 Cell phone face that manages a lot of functions such
A 7-megapixel camera phone! Yes that’s as GPS navigation, Internet access, BMW
what Samsung’s SCH-V770 offers. Assist System in case of emergencies,
Launched at CeBIT 2005, the SCH-V770 climate controls and the stereo functions.
ushers in a new era of true digital photog- The interface is operated via a knob and a
raphy convergence in cell phones. small in-dash LCD display. and can also be
While most cell phones today offer controlled via voice commands.
cameras with primitive features, the 7 Full control over the internal climate is
mp camera on the SCH-V770 has a level also provided. The windshield has built-in
of sophistication seen on standalone sensors that can detect rain, mist and can
digital cameras with 7 mp sensor. Boast- automatically switch on the wipers.
ing impressive features such as 3x opti- The car is also equipped with radar-
cal zoom and 5x digital zoom and based cruise control and, once set, it keeps
auto-focusing, it should offer good the car at a safe distance from other vehi-
results. The SCH-V770 can also attach to cles even in high traffic. We didn’t even
a wide-angle and tele-conversion lenses, dare ask the price!
a first for any mobile phone. [email protected]

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 71

 4 Years Of Tech

Crash
Landing

Illustration Binesh Sreedharan

body. The (e)film cartridge could capture up to 24

Preethi Chamikutty 1.3-megapixel images. You were supposed to be able
Convergence to use your SLR the way you normally did—with the

C
onvergence is, generally speaking, a good lens, filters and accessories. Your SLR camera could be
is the new thing, and converged gadgets are supposed to loaded with (e)film, and any of its accessories could
gadget make life easier for us. But not all converged be changed without much trouble.
mantra, but products are good. Some, in fact, never made it to Since 24 images is generally considered insuffi-
market. Others did and flopped. cient, you could invest in an (e)box, where the
not all It’s not just about the products themselves being images could be downloaded—after which you
converged good or bad. It sometimes turns out that a good idea could continue shooting.
is not well-received by the market. It’s a different The product was expected to hit the market
devices story with each converged device that turns out to around 2001, but is yet to do so. What went wrong
make it past be an also-ran. No-one can pinpoint why some is not clear. But what’s also at question is the util-
the labs—or tack-ons, such as the phone-cum-PDA, become the ity of (e)film: would the captured images be as good
norm, while others, such as the TV-VCR combo, as those captured by a digital SLR? And with costs
flop when never gain momentum. of digital SLRs—as well as those of regular digital
they do Here, we take a look at some products cameras—dropping, is there a place in the market
that seemed to have been driven by market for such an innovation?
forces pointing towards convergence, but never This is, ultimately, an apparently good idea
became bestsellers. that didn’t seem to have stood up to the scrutiny
of the market.
Silicon Film Technologies’ (e)film
Silicon Film Technologies’ (e)film held the promise The TV-VCR Combo
of changing regular film cameras into digital ones. A TV-VCR combo is not be such a good idea, for
This might have been a great product, because it multiple reasons. There are, in the market today,
would mean savings for people who already owned CRT TVs, LCDs, plasma displays, projection TVs, and
regular SLRs and didn’t want to invest in a brand- more. VCRs—yes, don’t forget the good old VCR!—
new digital camera. also have multiple features such as super-fast
EFS-1, a ‘digital film insert’, was an electronic film motion, slow motion, freeze frame, on-screen
cartridge that slipped into the back of an SLR camera programming and so on.

72 DIGIT JUNE 2005

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So what happens when you take the combo? Do One example of an e-book reader is the REB
Several you get the best of both worlds? The simple answer 1100, introduced by electronics giant RCA. The
companies is no. Manufacturers choose a TV model and a VCR company stopped promoting the product for
model, and just put them both together. The reasons unknown.
have converged product does not offer you as much
confused variety as the individual ones do. Sony eVilla
what was If there are five VCR models you could choose Sony Corporation’s eVilla was an Internet appliance
from, and ten TV models, and the features in each that fit on kitchen counters, and enabled users to
possible of these are to be combined in the new offering, the surf the Internet, send e-mail, and store music. The
with what permutations and combinations are limitless. What eVilla featured a vertical 15-inch monitor, ran on
is a manufacturer to do? You are, ultimately, stuck the BeIA operating system, had a memory stick
is useful with a model of TV that you like somewhat, and a reader instead of a hard drive, and had two USB
model of VCR that you like somewhat. Here, it’s a ports for connecting to Zip drives and printers.
case of too little choice, unlike with most converged Priced at $500 (Rs 21,750), the eVilla weighed
products where the choices seem overwhelming. nearly 32 pounds, and was 16 inches in depth.
In fact, the manual had directions on how to lift
Web TV the device!
Television and the Internet have been on a collision The product was launched around June 2001,
course for a long while now—the idea of converging but was hastily withdrawn from the market two
the two into something useful has been doing the months later. Although no clear reason was given
rounds for some time. Microsoft’s WebTV, which was by the company, a spokesperson attributed the
brought to market around April 1997, is still strug- withdrawal of the product to “falling short of our
gling to get noticed. Time Warner’s AOLTV, a combi- initial expectations with regard to stability and
nation TV and Internet service, included a TV-like set usability”. The operating system also could not
with a keyboard and remote. It was to enable cope with the network demands placed on it.
consumers to watch regular TV and access the Web
at the same time. The CueCat
So what happened? AOLTV has many features The things companies do to be called ‘the first’ or
such as a program guide and the facility to record to gain attention is best demonstrated by the
shows or remind you when they’re CueCat. When it was launched
on the air. You could watch towards the end of 2000, the
programmes while simultane- product was highly lauded. Digi-
ously browsing the Web, talConvergence, the company,
exchanging instant messages, designed the CueCat as a cat-
chatting about a show or send- Sony eVilla Ebook reader shaped barcode scanner about
ing e-mail. However, the service the size of a candy bar.
was extremely slow and clumsy. Customers could attach CueCats
It was priced at $249 (Rs 10,800), CueCat to their PCs, and the device
which included the set-top box, could read barcodes at the
wireless keyboard and remote. back of products. When a
Installation was a painful (e) film TV/VCR combo customer swiped one, the
task. On most Web TVs, it was CueCat directed the user’s
difficult to get a TV program and browser to a Web page with
a Web page on the screen at the information about the product.
same time, though that’s supposed to be the prime The designers also envisioned that the CueCat
feature. Another point is that the picture quality would read barcodes in newspaper and magazine
on TV and that of Web pages is, of course, differ- articles, and take readers to related stories on the
ent—most TV screens produce pictures that are 544 Internet. The problem: not many people thought
pixels wide, while PCs have at least 800-pixel reso- that a product that only scanned bar codes was
lutions. So when you try to fit a Web page on a TV worth investing in.
screen, the text becomes difficult to read.
What Next?
E-book readers Silicon Film Technologies, Sony and DigitalCon-
Passionate book lovers would have embraced e-book vergence may argue, “at least we tried”; but they
readers whole-heartedly if only it offered the same confused what was possible with what is useful.
reading pleasure that a paperback does. There are Companies may churn out converged products by
quite a few in the market, but it is still difficult to the dozen, but demand will be decided only by
find one that serves the purpose satisfactorily. the usability and efficiency that the products
E-book readers, though a good idea, never took off have to offer.
in a big way. Moreover, these products were driven by
Many factors contribute to choosing a good e- market demand more than the actual evolution,
book reader. First comes cost, not only of the reader, if you like, in the lab. They will, therefore, always
but of the downloaded books as well. Size, weight remain stop-gap options until the real thing is
and ergonomics also contribute to the decision to developed. A cut-paste job will not get conver-
purchase the reader. Then there’s readability, clar- gence far. It will only mar the image of conver-
ity, glare, and the reader’s ability to handle different gence in general, and make the consumer wary of
fonts and symbols. Low resolutions make the type the next device that will be launched.
look strange; reading in sunlight is also difficult. [email protected]

74
 4 Years Of Tech

“The Name Is Connected.

Dr Connected”

Illustration Shyam Shriram

Varun Dubey Gadget: Briefcase

Most of us Movie: From Russia With Love
salivate
over the J ames Bond is the flamboyant secret agent who
almost always seems to be able to dodge certain
death, and always manages to find time off from
saving the world to romance some of the most beau-
This was the first gadget the Quartermaster—or Q—
gave James Bond. The briefcase held an AR7 foldable
sniper rifle, 40 rounds of ammo, a tear-gas cartridge
disguised as a tin of talcum powder, some money in
gadgets
tiful women on the planet! But the women, the the form of 50 gold sovereigns, and concealed
Bond uses— death-defying close shaves, or the martinis—shaken, throwing knives.
and many not stirred—are not the only things that constitute
of them Bond’s aura. Plausible?
Most of us salivate over the gadgets he uses, Yes, but we need to ask: with all that equipment
reek of perhaps even more than we do over the women in his inside, how did Bond manage to carry it around? Ten
convergence company. That’s where Bond fits into this special on ten for Q’s packing skills—but we’ve got to subtract
issue that celebrates convergence: many Bond gadg- a few for the sheer craziness of lugging around some-
ets reek of convergence. They’re smart, they’re multi- thing so heavy and trying to save the world while
functional, and they talk to other gadgets. The you’re at it!
makers of the Bond movies do seem to have put some Coolness Quotient: 2.75
effort into envisaging a converged world—although, Plausibility: 4.5
of course, it was necessary that only Bond, and no-
one else, had the gadgets! Gadget: Mini Breather
We plunge into the wonderland of Bond’s Movies: Thunderball, Die Another Day
gadgetry, and analyse what is possible in the real This gadget, slightly larger than a pen, allowed Bond
world and what will remain in the reel world. to breathe underwater for about four minutes.
We’ve rated all gadgets by a ‘Coolness Quotient’
based on how much we’d love to own one of them, Plausible?
and also a ‘Plausibility’ score, based on how likely This is one of Bond’s gadgets that fall in the ‘fantastic’
it is that such gadgets can be made available. category. To get to hard facts today, a four-litre scuba
Scores are out of five. tank will give you 30 to 35 minutes of breathing air,

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 75

 4 Years Of Tech

and the smallest tank today is still as big as a cola can—

and will provide only two minutes of breathing. Sorry
Mr Bond—this doesn’t gel with reality.
Having said that, we must give credit where it
is due—hats off to the guys who thought this up.
When Bond’s engineers came up with this kind of
portable design, portable air tanks had not yet
been invented!
Coolness Quotient: 4
Plausibility: 2

Gadget: Omega Watch

Movies: Golden Eye, The World Is Not Enough
This beautiful Omega Seamaster is a collector’s item
in itself, but of course, for Q, and hence for Bond,
beauty is not enough. By the time Q was done with
it, this watch boasted of a high-power laser diode that
could cut through two inches of steel! It also featured The Bell Textron Jet Pack Bond used in Thunderball
a button that could arm or disarm any deployed
magnetic mines.
In The World Is Not Enough, the gadgetry is thing strapped on, the user could fly at extremely
enhanced, and the watch incorporates a miniature fast speeds to a height of 600 feet!
grappling hook including a 50-foot high tensile micro
filament, which could support a massive 800 pounds. Plausible?
Q also incorporates dual high-powered lasers into the Oh yes! It sounds fantastic, but not only is it possible,
design, and the casing is made of titanium. it was, in fact, a working prototype on loan from the
US Army. It can carry a person over nine metre-high
Plausible? (30 foot-high) obstacles at a speed of 11 to 16 kmph.
Well, a lot of Omegas do come with a titanium body, Now that’s what we call a flight of fancy!
but that’s pretty much where the semblance to real- Coolness Quotient: 4
ity ends. Even if you could incorporate a high- Plausibility: 5
powered diode into the watch, where would all the
power come from? And let’s believe that the wire fila- Gadget: Latex Fingerprints
ment can hold 800 pounds of weight, let’s also Movie: Diamonds Are Forever
suppose that the watch strap can withstand the same These false fingerprints were like latex stickers. Finger-
weight—we still fail to see how it's possible for a prints were taken on hot latex, which was then
human wrist to take that much stress! Also, we think allowed to cool and set in shape. You could stick it on
it’s improbable that any 800-pound people would to your fingers and assume a whole new identity!
want to scale 50-foot walls!
Here, audience intelligence seems to have been Plausible?
ignored, and this watch, though absolutely cool, Absolutely. Details of how to fake fingerprints are
remains in the reel world. easily available on the Net, and all you need is
Coolness Quotient: 3.5 things available in your own home. Of course, it’s
Plausibility: 1 illegal to fake fingerprints!
Recently, a study from Yokohama National
Gadget: Bell Textron Jet Pack University in Japan showed that phoney fingers
Movie: Thunder Ball concocted from gelatine, called ‘gummy
The pack strapped on to the user’s back like a back- dummies’, were able to trick quite a few
pack, and was the size of about two scuba tanks, filled fingerprint systems.
with propellants and a turbine thruster. With this Coolness Quotient: 3
Plausibility: 5

Gadget: Watch/Ticker Tape

Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me
The ultimate in faxing, this watch had an inbuilt
satellite link. MI6 could send Bond short messages
that would then be printed out on a spool of tape.

Plausible?
Not really. If you have ever seen a fax machine, you’ll
know that if it was possible to make the unsightly
device any smaller, it would already be in mass
production.
But the possibilities are interesting. Imagine a
news report, or stock market updates, being spat out
of your watch on ticker tape. You’d have to be careful
Left: Fake latex fingerprints from Diamonds Are Forever; Right: The AR7 to not trip on the tape though…
foldable sniper’s rifle and the briefcase from From Russia With Love Coolness Quotient: 3.5
Plausibility: 1

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Bond has Gadget: Pen Grenade print scanner for breaking into safes, and a mini
Movie: Golden Eye screwdriver that appeared when the antenna was
always Perhaps the most clichéd of spy gadgets—no spy is removed. The phone opened up like a book to reveal
preferred complete without one! The pen looks like any a small LCD screen and disc-tapping the disc twice
British cars, other pen, but is actually a Class 4 grenade. You would start the car, and moving the fingers on the
click the pen thrice (careful, fidgety people!) to disc would drive the car!
and his activate the four-second detonation timer. If,
preferred within the four seconds, you click the pen thrice Plausible?
again, the bomb is deactivated. Here’s one pen Well, apart from the 2,000-volt shocker and the
mode of that’s mightier than the sword for sure! Since fingerprint scanner, everything else is plausible—the
travel is an Hollywood has done this gadget to death, not technology of today would certainly let you do it.
Aston many people find it cool any more. As for the 2,000-volt shocker, we wonder what
batteries were used! God help Bond if he spilled one
Martin—the Plausible? of those shaken-but-not-stirred martinis on himself!
DB5 in Well there is nothing against this really, except for It isn’t too difficult to incorporate the driving
how much of explosive you could store in such a tiny through a cell phone though; most Mercedes cars
Tomorrow device—which leads to the question of whether employ drive-by-wire, wherein everything is
Never Dies any serious damage could be caused by such a computer-dependent and controlled, and whether it
small explosion. receives the instructions from a pedal or from a cell
Coolness Quotient:1.5 phone is immaterial.
Plausibility: 1.5 Coolness Quotient: 4.5
Plausibility: 3

Gadget: Aston Martin DB5

Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies
Bond has always preferred British cars, and his
preferred mode of travel (when not snatching
enemy cars or running from them on foot!) is an
Aston Martin, in this case, the DB5.
The DB5 featured tyre shredders that could be
extended from the wheel hubs; bullet-proof wind-
shields; a retractable bullet shield that rose from
inside the boot area; revolving number plates that
made the car legal and valid in all countries; a
passenger ejector seat for dispensing of unwanted
hitchhikers; oil-slick dispensers to get rid of
pursuants; smoke screen dispensers; retractable
duel machine guns mounted beneath the head-
Left: Bond spying and clicking pictures with his digicam in Golden Eye; Right: controlling lights; rear-mounted duel water cannons for blast-
his BMW 750iL with his Ericsson phone ing away pursuers; a cellular fax machine,
disguised as a car stereo console; a cellular voice-
mail system; and let’s not forget the refrigerated
Gadget: Digital Camera glove box for storing a bottle of Bollinger and two
Movie: Golden Eye glasses—after all, Bond never knows when a lady
Now this is a really cool gadget: a high-res camera friend might hop in for a spin!
that could send pictures directly to MI6 headquarters Wouldn’t it be cool if our Maruti 800s could
using a satellite link. have some of this gadgetry? To be fair, the cars of
today will let you have a fair bit of the above luxu-
Plausible? ries—barring the military installations such as
Why not? Many handhelds of today (the O2 XDA II, machine guns, of course. Let’s take a look.
Treo, and more) have Wi-Fi connectivity. All a camera
manufacturer needs to do is put in a Wi-Fi chip to Plausible?
connect to a network. From there on, you can e-mail Tyre shredders: Not needed in India, as our
the image just like you do from a regular cell phone. government has provided these already; they’re
In fact, the Nikon D2H is already Wi-Fi-enabled! called ‘roads’!
The only problem might be the size of a high-reso- Bullet-proof windshields: Already a reality in most
lution image. That apart, it would be cool to be able cars with flashing red lights on top—Dr Manmohan
to send pictures to everyone the minute they’re Singh has a reinforced BMW Series 5, which can with-
clicked! In fact, you could send them to your local stand rocket-launcher attacks!
digital studio and pick up the prints on your way back Revolving number plates: Though illegal, these are
home! Now that’s the convergence we need to see! far from high-tech.
Coolness Quotient: 3.75 Most limousines already have cable TV and
Plausibility: 5 full communications capabilities. In fact,
some outrageously luxurious models even have
Gadget: Ericsson Mobile Phone a mini swimming pool and a helicopter
Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies landing pad! For once, Bond was actually behind
Once Q was done with this phone, it was equipped in terms of gadgets.
with a stun gun capable of delivering a 2,000 volt elec- Coolness Quotient: 4
tric shock (activated by pressing ‘Recall 3’), a finger- Plausibility: 4.5

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Gadget: BMW 750iL

Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies
This was the top-of-the-line BMW at the time. With a
roaring V12 inside, this car also featured not one, not
two, but 12 surface-to-surface missiles on the sunroof!
Coupled with Bond’s Ericsson cell phone, this car
was drivable via the controls on the phone without
Bond being physically present in the car. Such an
expensive piece of machinery would obviously need
to have protection measures built in.
After the security system was activated, anyone
who touched the car would get a rather nasty electric
shock, and if he or she managed to recover from that,
there were tear-gas dispensers incorporated as well.
To let Bond travel ‘no strings attached’, the BMW
The BMW Z8 being bisected by Bond’s enemies
logo on the bonnet rose to form a cable snipper! The
car also had metal tyre spikes deployed from under-
neath the rear bumper. The most mundane of the
features were the re-inflatable tyres, which could re- ment, surveillance and countermeasures. The car’s
inflate at the touch of a button after a puncture. body was redone and fitted with titanium plating
This technology is already in the market, with and armour, and a multitasking heads-up display.
tyre companies selling ‘Run Flat’ and self-sealing
tyres, wherein the tubeless tyres can take around 10 Plausible?
punctures and carry on without any problems. Yes. Even the sonic beam technology to eavesdrop
on conversations was available in 1999, when the
Plausibility movie was released. It’s currently being researched
The car is a complete fantasy, except for the so it can work by bouncing off obstacles! The only
remote-controlled driving and the re-inflatable thing is, we wonder if the car would really be able
tyres. Even the latter seem a little far-fetched to carry the weight of all the heavy stuff—surface-
the way they’ve been portrayed in the movie. to-air missiles included.
Coolness Quotient: 4.5 Coolness Quotient: 4
Plausibility: 1.5 Plausibility: 4

Gadget: X-Ray Specs Gadget: Aston Martin Vanquish

Movie: The World Is Not Enough Movie: Die Another Day
The stuff that every kid’s dreams are made of! The In Die Another Day, Bond was back to his ever-faith-
glasses are rather stylish (as are all things Bond!) and ful Aston Martin, as in the Vanquish V12.
very functional. In the movie, they help Bond roam As always, Q gave it a complete overhaul, post
around a casino scanning for concealed weapons and which the car had two under-hood mounted auto-
inspecting ladies’ lingerie. aiming machine guns, front-firing rockets behind the
main air intake grille, seat with spring-loaded ejection
Plausible? system, enhanced waterproofing, under-chassis air
Wouldn’t it be simply great if they were plausible? cannons, and central console-mounted controls.
We’d surely get one of those for our New and Notable This car was more feature-packed than any of
reviews, not to mention a 30 days with… article on it. the previous Bond cars. It incorporated four grille-
But sadly, it’s not to be. X-ray technology works on mounted rockets plus two machine guns; two
the principle of absorption and reflection, a lot like motion-sensing guns hidden under the bonnet;
radar, and it works fine on guns, metals, and, of and spiked tyres for ice driving.
course, bones. But not on lingerie—it just doesn’t But all this was routine stuff which Bond has
reflect anything! 007 gets 000 here. had movie after movie, so Q decided to do some-
Coolness Quotient: 5 thing new—and gave this car the capability to turn
Plausibility: 0 invisible at the flick of a button!

Gadget: BMW Z8 Plausible?

Movie: The World Is Not Enough All the regular features of this car are plausible.
If the BMW Z8 roadster, which can do 0-100 in less And do we need to actually go ahead and state that
than five seconds, isn’t enough eye-candy in itself, a car that turns invisible is not plausible?!
Q was at it again and added more weapons than Coolness Quotient: 5
the US carried into Iraq! Plausibility: 2
The car incorporated surface-to-air missiles,
and a needle-thin sonic beam that let Bond eaves- Over the years, James Bond has become synony-
drop on conversations in surrounding areas and mous with the absolute cutting edge in technol-
buildings. It also had all the equipment from ogy. There’s now a controversy over who will play
previous cars—rockets fitted behind headlamps, the next Bond, and with the death of Q, it would
remote handset driving, and much more. The car, be interesting to see what MI6 can conjure up for
using sensors, could drive itself to where the Bond in the next movie. We just hope it is every bit
remote control was located! as entertaining and far-fetched as the devices in
Q practically choked it with technology. The the earlier movies!
car had the absolute latest in intercepting equip- [email protected]

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 4 Years Of Tech

Whither
Mankind?

Illustration Binesh Sreedharan

tute (www.extropy.org) puts it, “Human beings

The “The body is neither a very efficient nor very durable achieved ‘civilisation’ thousands of years ago.
advancement structure. It malfunctions often and fatigues quickly; its Yet, we have not shaken off the ancient tyran-
performance is determined by its age. It is susceptible nies that haunt the human condition. We suffer
of the to disease and is doomed to a certain and early death. physical and emotional sicknesses ending in
physical Its survival parameters are very slim—it can survive decrepitude and death. The primitive parts of our
form is only weeks without food, days without water and brain spur us to envy, hate, despair, and kill. Our
minutes without oxygen.” philosophies and religions attempt to express our
possible —Stelarc highest values, yet, we use them to oppress and
using Principal Research Fellow, control. We use them to crush the world’s complex-
Performance Arts Digital Research Unit, ity into a simplicity that we can clutch to like a secu-
implants and Nottingham Trent University, England rity blanket for the human condition.”
various
electro- The Human Condition
Ram Mohan Rao Hundreds, perhaps thousands of things, define the
mechanical human condition. We do not communicate effi-
devices
I
mmortality! Mankind’s greatest desire, and the ciently enough—our speech is but glorified grunts
driving force behind the medical sciences. Utter compared to the immense possibilities of direct
the word, and most of us start dreaming of all brain-to-brain communication. Our experiences are
the things we could accomplish or the way our lives defined by hundreds of limiting factors such as
would alter if we could live forever; the thought is distance, time, atmospheric conditions, and so on.
surreal. However, immortality, or at least a vastly The simple fact is that our minds are evolving, but
enhanced and elongated lifespan, is not entirely our experiences are limited by the imperfect
fictitious or far-fetched any more. All mankind construction of these vessels called bodies that
needs to do, is evolve. carry our advancing brains.
We have seemingly hit a plateau on the ladder The logical progression would then have to be
of evolution, and it’s time we started climbing the advancement of the physical form. This is possi-
again. It’s time we broke out of the shackles we were ble using implants and various electromechanical
born into, not just in terms of lifespan, but also in devices. To put it succinctly, mankind needs to phys-
terms of physical limitations. As the Extropy Insti- ically evolve by turning Cyborg.

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The Cyborg For example, this creature would have trans-

The cyborg We’ve spoken about cyborgs earlier, in the January mitting and receiving antennas wired to its brain
is a 2005 issue of Digit. We laid out a definition, and through which it could communicate directly via
spoke about what kind of research is going on in thought; most of its body parts and internal organs
convergent the field of cybernetics, which, according to Dictio- would be replaceable, mechanical and synthetic; its
form, and nary.com, is “the theoretical study of communica- senses would be augmented in such a manner that
he has the tion and control processes in biological, it takes in reality in richer colours than we do; its
mechanical, and electronic systems, especially the implants would give him memory and brain power
tools to comparison of these processes in biological and arti- far superior to ours. It is this organism we are call-
defy death ficial systems.” ing the true cyborg.
‘Cyborg’ happens to be short for ‘cybernetic
organism’, and a cyborg, with his (or her) implants Cyborg Experiences
and wirings-up, is neither purely human nor purely So how would you spend you time as a cyborg? The
machine; he is a convergent form, and he has the same way you do now, except that your reality is
tools to defy death. enhanced by a variety of implants and accessories.
Apart from just living forever as cyborgs, we All unpleasantness is done away with, and only
could have greatly enriched lives. No more will our desirable experiences pass on through to your
minds, which can traverse vast lengths of space and brain. You could have a special interface, exclusively
time in the blink of an eye, be bogged down by through which you communicate with the world.
the physical limitations of speech, language, touch, This interface might filter out unwanted people
sight and other boundaries. and conversations; the interface could also enable
the recording of your thoughts and experiences so
Wired Humans that you can play them back later. You could actu-
Strictly speaking, anyone with an implant of some ally re-live your favourite experiences.
sort may be called a cyborg, because his or her body Think about what defines our lives today…
has been augmented. That includes people with Books and movies? As a cyborg, you could ‘read’
pacemakers and artificial limbs. An extreme exam- and ‘view’ via your thought receiver antenna, from
ple of this is clothing—it can be considered an a central server common to all of cyborgdom. This
augmentation of the skin. server would record the experiences of all fellow
However, we must remember that what defines cyborgs, so there is a much vaster pool of informa-
a cyborg is that his relations with the universe have tion to draw from than what we have now. And the
changed, usually for the better. Seen in that light, transmission would be instantaneous, doing away
while it is true that someone with an artificial limb with the need for spending hours reading a book
has a slightly different interface with the universe, or watching a movie.
he is not, in a subjective sense, a ‘true cyborg’. He Social interaction? Already, many people prefer
experiences, and responds to, reality pretty much interaction over the Internet, rather than face to
the same way we non-cyborgs do. What, then, do face. In cyborgdom, there would be no need for any
we mean by a ‘true cyborg’? unwanted interactions; entities could be screened
We may define a true cyborg as one whose rela- for suitability, and interactions would be at light-
tions with the universe have changed in a dramatic speed, without the need for elaborate, time-
way; as one whose body has merged, quite literally consuming social customs.
and very significantly, with the mechanical. Sex, and other pleasures? If, or when, you felt
So what kind of creature are we imagining? We the desire for such experiences, you could simply
can borrow from science fiction and talk about tap into your experience server, and have the expe-
limbs that can be torn apart and replaced, eyes that rience delivered—either as a standalone experience
can pop out of their sockets and have the capability ‘applet’, or in conjunction with a fellow cyborg. As
of zooming in or out, and infrared or ultraviolet a matter of fact, there need be no males or females
vision. But we can go further, and imagine a being in cyborgdom; all entities would be equal.
with add-ons that give him tremendous powers. Work? Ah, that lowest common denominator of
all human endeavour! Well, there would be no work
required of the cyborg version of you, since work
only serves to support the being—and in the stage of
evolution we’re talking about, life-support systems,
Matrix-style, would be the norm.
In essence, your life as a cyborg would revolve
around experience; you create your own experience-
space, think and live in it, and are isolated from
nature. You are no longer bound by space and time.

Ethics
According to Kevin Warwick, professor of cyber-
netics at the University of Reading, UK (see his
column Human-machine Convergence on page 86), it is
possible to control nearly every aspect of our
psychology by the means of implants. Stage fear?
Rely on the implant to get rid of it.
There is nothing, conceptually speaking, to prevent us reaching a state where we augment In such a scenario, there is bound to be a rush
all our body parts—limbs and internal organs included for these mind and body-altering augmentations.
Will human qualities mean anything any more?

82
 4 Years Of Tech

Every human will be defined by the augmentations What has the human race done thus far? We
they carry; it will mean the end of jealousy, of the were born into nature, comprehended and won over
concept of talent, but will also spell the end of art it, and destroyed half the planet. We built inhuman
and uniqueness. cities where people lead artificial lives, alienated
To elaborate, we are defined by our all-too- from nature; we fell prey to diseases that are caused
human qualities such as confidence, motivation, because of this disharmony with nature.
inhibitions, love, hate, and so on and so forth. In What this points to is that even in the purely
cyborgdom, these will mean nothing, as we could human state, we never did comprehend the essen-
simply augment any quality at will. You could tial need for the bond with nature; and so, how can
choose to play the guitar as wonderfully as Joe Satri- we expect to understand what will happen when
ani does, paint like Michelangelo, or bat like Viren- that bond is broken altogether—as will happen
der Sehwag; all you need to do is choose. You could when we turn cyborg?
choose to alter your feelings so you begin to actually
hate someone you love, or to love someone you hate. Death
You could even go as far as changing your physical Returning to the question of immortality: will we
feeling of heat or cold, and decide to shiver in the not be toying with the natural balance of the planet
summer and sweat in the winter. The possibilities if people were to live, say, for 300 years or more?
Think overpopulation. And who would decide when
and why someone was to die, if the need arose to
kill off some people when the need to reduce the
population arose?
This has a strong link with what we had to say
about eugenics. Who gets to live, and who gets
killed? Can we comprehend the power structure and
government that would be necessary to manage
such a world, where nature is not in control
any more?
And what if a particular individual decided to
live on indefinitely—would such a life be worth it?
The question is pertinent because that’s where
we’re rushing to: one of the defining qualities of
Utopia in cyborgdom is the possibility of living as
long—and as happily—as one wanted to.
A quote from Anglo-American novelist Susan
Will we all become “nodes on the Internet,” as Warwick says? The possibility of a Ertz is in order here: “Millions long for immortality
eugenically-enhanced, mass-produced population is real, and very scary who don’t know what to do with themselves on a
rainy Sunday afternoon.”
This is, of course, one point of view: there are
are endless, and limited only by the imagination. many who would maintain that immortality is the
Is this ethical? Debates already rage about mind- way to go. And this is a deeply philosophical ques-
altering substances—recreational drugs as well as tion as well—whether to die or not. We will not go
prescription medications. What kind of debates into that here. Suffice it to say that such questions
would begin once such implants became available? will become more and more pertinent as we move
Anti-implant advocates would essentially say into the wired future with its extended life-spans.
that the use of implants is unfair, that it gives an
unfair edge to those who can afford them. In the The ‘Matrix’ Trap
beginnings of the rush to the cyborg state, then, When we achieve the levels of automation required
would be another Digital Divide: the implanted rich to support human beings on run-of-the-mill life
and the only-human poor. support systems, without the need to eat, the
human being will have an option. Some aver that
Eugenics this will open up the avenues required for people
Ultimately, all this could boil down to the classic to finally do what is worth doing: creativity will be
have and have-not situation, where the rich can unleashed, entertainment will be on-the-spot, and
afford to live forever, while the poor die dreaming the struggle for survival will be gone.
of better lives. It could also lead to more serious But the cyborg will necessarily fall prey to iner-
scenarios, where implants are restricted to certain tia. He will have the option to choose entertainment
countries or races. Imagine the western world living exclusively and indulge in nothing else. He will have
forever as cyborgs, with third-world countries the option to lie in the permanent state of artificial
suffering in the human condition. The last thing stimulation of the senses. This raises the spectre of
mankind needs is another Hitleresque vision, where a Matrix-like situation, where a powerful few govern
someone decides who lives and who doesn’t. the sleeping, experience-immersed majority.
To see how this is a very real possibility, think
Nature again of recreational drugs. It is a known fact that
Do we have an idea about what will happen to the laboratory rats prefer cocaine to food, and will starve
race if we rush ahead to embrace a wired future? In to death given the option—continually choosing the
fact, do we have an idea, even now, of what it means offered cocaine rather than the food.
to be human? If we have no defining idea what We know very well how strong the drive towards
humanness means, how can we possibly know what inertia is. And if the drive towards inertia is so power-
it will be like to lose it? ful, what about the drive to an entertained inertia—

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a world where
one needs to
do nothing,
simply experi-
encing, with
five senses or
more, rich
worlds we
cannot even
describe today?
Such will
be the tempta-
tion that will
face the
cyborg.
Who will
A typical, very representative artist’s impression of what a half-human, half-machine have power over
organism will look like. Augmentation of the senses is a crucial feature of such impressions them? What
will the politics
of such a situa-
tion be like? There are no clear answers.
The rush to converge with machines may have benign motivations:
Given the a longer, healthier life, free from disease and pain. But there are
socio- hidden dangers that need serious looking-into.
economic Reality
divides of Thus far, we have spoken as though the ideal cyborg form is indeed
today, not achievable. It may be. But receiving an implant is no simple matter.
Warwick and others have proved that simple implants do, in fact, pose
everyone no long-term problems. But what of more complex ones, those that
will have interface with the nervous system? We just don’t know yet.
In fact, the order of the day is unanswered questions. What does it
access to mean to ‘experience’ ultrasonics? Is direct-thought communication
implants really possible? Will implants, in fact, successfully interface with the
that brain, with its billions of neurons? We do not entirely understand
memory; how can we assume that memory augmentation is possible
interface via implants?
with the The demand for augmentation will certainly be there when the
time is ripe. As of today, human cloning is banned, but is a very real
nervous possibility. And what an immense demand for human cloning would
system be there if and when it were legalised!
In the same way, when implants that interface with the nervous
system become available, there will be tremendous demand. It will
first be for medical reasons, as in restoring sight to the blind. Then
there will be the experimenters—those who will treat such implants
as a method of toying with the boundaries of experience.
Given the socio-economic divides of today, not everyone will have
access to them. However, the experiences of a few will be sufficient to
prove the concept, and make it known what it is like to be a ‘true
cyborg’. What happens if those first reports turn out to be positive?

Whither Mankind?
Warwick and others maintain that cyborgdom is the next, natural
step in our evolution. This, they say, is because we are creating
machines more powerful than ourselves, and the only way to keep up
if they jostled for power with us would be to merge with them. This,
of course, assumes that the machines will have a will of their own,
that they will want to dominate. If that ever becomes the case, turn-
ing cyborg will be the only way to go!
There are other compelling forces that will drive humanity the
cyborg way: the sheer desire on mankind’s part, as we said at the
outset, to overcome our inherent limitations. The desire to cure all
disease permanently, to forever negate Adam’s sin and not have to
work any more. The promise, thus, of a utopian existence.
What direction humanity will take will be determined only after
the first ‘real’ experiments. It’s then that we’ll know what will happen
to mankind, to cyborgdom. We can only hope that we learn a lot more
about what it is to be human before that day arrives.
[email protected]

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 85

 The two major advances of Thought Commu-
nication and E-medicine also have commonality,
in the sense, important initial steps have been
taken in the appropriate direction. In both cases,
we are already on the way to achieving the results.
In the case of Thought Communication,
contact has been successfully achieved thus far, in
the form of radio telegraphic communication that
takes place directly between the nervous systems
of two humans.
GUEST COLUMN

An experiment repeated between two human

brains is merely a matter of time. What will be
interesting then is how swiftly things will move
forward. Will it be a case of telephonic communi-
cation, followed by memory uploads and down-
loads, or will we all learn to think in a new
language—with our original spoken language,
with speech (in general) becoming obsolete?
It’s important to realise how poorly humans
communicate at present, converting complex elec-
trochemical brain signals into relatively trivial
bursts of pressure waves, by mouth movement,
which is called speech. These waves are picked up
in the ears of other individuals, who in turn, try to
put some sense into the signals they are receiving.
Unfortunately, the understood message is
invariably altered from the original, intended
“Electronic signals can be used to message, especially when different cultures are
involved. Thought Communication, therefore,
alter the workings of the human offers a much more powerful, effective, and less
error-prone means of communication.
brain in a variety of ways” As was the case with the telegraph, the tele-
phone and the mobile phone—all had a significant
Kevin Warwick, the world’s first Cyborg, is a impact on society, culture and commercial inter-
Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, UK ests. Thus, communicating by thought is likely to
For more of Kevin Warwick, visit www.kevinwarwick.com have an even more profound effect than all the
above three combined.

Human-
Machine Convergence
I
f asked to name the two technical advances that E-Medicine also depends on the basic electro-
will have a profound effect on society in the chemical nature of the human brain and nervous
not-too-distant future, my answer would be system. Chemicals have, for some reason, been the
clear and certain. mainstay in the Western world for treatment of all
Firstly, the ability to communicate directly types of diseases for centuries. However, in the
from brain to brain between humans, which could twilight of the last millennium we witnessed the
be called ‘Thought Communication’. Secondly, the first twinklings of the successful treatment of
use of electronic signals, as opposed to chemical, diseases by means of electronic brain stimulation
for the treatment of all sorts of ailments, particu- through implanted electrodes.
larly those that are mental in nature, which could The treatment of Parkinson’s disease by this
be described as ‘E-Medicine’. approach was found to be very successful. In fact,
These two seemingly disparate realisations in the new millennium, the number of patients so
have, perhaps surprisingly, a common technologi- treated had already run into hundreds. Now we
cal base—namely the use of implant technology to can witness reports on successful trials and
link the human brain directly into the computer further studies involving individuals with epilepsy
network. Essentially, humans will become nodes or multiple sclerosis. Clearly, the field is rapidly
on the Internet. From a cybernetic viewpoint, growing and diversifying.
signals on the human nervous system and those Indeed, it is exciting to look at the range of
in the computer network are interchangeable, and absolute potential in the broader sense of E-Medi-
are effectively one and the same. cine. Basically, what we are looking at is the use of

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purely electronic signals to dramatically alter the mathematical and memory features of a computer
functioning of a human brain. In the case of directly linked with your brain, and being able to
Parkinson’s disease or epilepsy, the result is to think in many dimensions.
override or counteract the nature of the disease, Through my own implant self-experimentation
restoring the individual to a semblance of research, I have already experienced an extra,
normalcy. In this sense, the use of electronic ultrasonic sense. I have directly controlled a robot
signals can be seen as a viable alternative, and in hand on a different continent by brain signals
many cases, an improvement on the more tradi- alone, and have communicated directly from one
tional chemical alternative. nervous system to another.
Electronic signals can be used to alter the To me, the prospect of upgrading from the
workings of the human brain in a variety of ways. limited world of a human into an exciting part-
For instance, we can consider the possibilities of human part-machine world—a ‘Cyborg’, in science
memory download—giving individuals memories, fiction terms, is so exciting that I cannot wait.
which hitherto, they have never experienced. Although many others will feel like I do, some may
This can even be extended to education. Want feel quite differently.
to play golf like Tiger Woods? Well, perhaps the For instance, if some humans have extra abili-
mental ability can be downloaded, even if physi- ties, how will they treat those that remain mere
cally you might be a little overweight or out of humans? Nevertheless, just because some people
condition. But potentially, even that could be dealt do not want to be upgraded, why should they stop
with. Why not try the patented ‘Slimplant’—elec- those who want to be upgraded? Clearly, we face
tronic signals used to control a brain’s functioning tough ethical questions in the years to come.
regarding eating and drinking patterns and the One area where this is highlighted is the mili-
amount of regular exercise? tary domain. Implant technology opens many
Research on rats has shown that their planned avenues to a whole new world of technological
movements can be controlled externally by the warfare. Not only can those involved have more
computer. When this is transferred to the human improved intellectual capabilities, including extra
[
[ “With a nervous system that can be extended via a
network, human soldiers can be safe at home, while some
of their senses are remote, at the point of combat.”
brain it means that you will not be able to have
that extra meal that you know you shouldn’t; the
implant will not let you! Of course, this could put
senses, but also, humans themselves no longer
need to be physically present in the battlefield.
With a nervous system that can be extended
McDonald’s out of business! via a network, the human soldier, pilot or sailor
All sorts of behavioural patterns could be can be safely ensconced at home, while some of
controlled in the same way. For instance, one indi- their senses are remote, at the point of combat.
vidual could potentially control some of the move- Any thoughts of the individual on control or move-
ments and decisions made by another. Not sure ment, as would be the case in firing a missile, can
what your spouse is doing? Well, now you could then be translated into immediate, direct
be, via an implant. commands in the combat zone.
Conversely, a person might want such signals From the home side’s perspective, this has the
to allow them to deal confidently with an inter- distinct advantage of saving the lives of those in
view, or make a presentation, or to do the right combat. For the opposition, however, it becomes
thing on a first date. The possibilities are endless. more of a challenge. Destroying a vehicle or
Any time you are not sure—rely on the implant. machine would be just that and only that. If it can
At the same time, such possibilities raise be replaced, it will be.
enormous social and ethical questions. It is one Moreover, the attacking machine will need no
thing to use this technology for therapeutic intelligence, no computer, and no high technology
purposes in order to help someone who has, say, on board. Effectively, it can almost become a
Parkinson’s disease or paralysis—very few people ‘throw-away’, low-cost artificial soldier, with the
would disagree with such usage. actual personnel residing safely at home.
However, it’s a very different thing when it Space travel, too, would take on a distinctly
comes to controlling another individual’s habits different meaning. Why send astronauts into the
or movements. Even if technology allows it, the extremely dangerous environment of outer space
society on the whole may not be keen on the idea. when they can stay at home and have their nerv-
Society is, indeed, a strange creature. ous system linked to a distant planet, by satellite?
The ethical issues are further exacerbated In this way, we will soon be able to experience
when enhancement of an individual is contem- planets at the extremes of our solar system, which
plated. The ability to communicate by thought is would, at present, appear to be impossible other-
one feature. However, brain implants offer the wise—simply because of the time required to safely
possibilities of: extra-sensory input (such as transport humans across space for such a distance,
infrared, ultrasonics), extending your nervous never mind bringing them back again.
system across the Internet (your brain can directly In all probability, we will develop space trav-
control technology in cyberspace), having the ellers that spring to life when they arrive at a

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distant planet, carrying and relaying signals from machines the ability to defend themselves under all
and to the human astronauts back on planet earth. conditions, we endow them with survival instinct—
With this brave new world, just as we have and this doesn’t have to be programmed in.
tremendous positives, just as we can enable a lot of As of now, it would be quite impossible to actu-
people who would otherwise have a more ally ‘switch off’ the Internet. We humans are far
restricted life, just as we can upgrade all human too dependent on it. Many lives revolve around the
mental capabilities and replace worn-out biologi- Internet on a day-to-day basis, and already, our
cal body parts with shiny new mechanical pros- present way of life demands that the Internet
theses—we have a potential goliath of a negative remain operative. Humans are, in fact, the
hiding around the corner. machines’ defenders!
The big question is, can we as humans stay in Just as humans do not listen to sheep or dogs—
control? Can we remain the dominant life form on creatures we feel are less intelligent than ourselves,
earth, or will we hand over power to a machine similarly, intelligent machines are very unlikely to
species, the likes and nature of which we really do listen to humans now. For instance, if a sheep came
not understand? into your room today and said “Baaah”, you would
I believe it’s not our physical prowess that has not say to it, “OK, yes, I will do what you tell me”.
put humans in the powerful, controlling position After all, the noises the sheep make are trivial in
we have on earth; rather, it’s our intelligence. To comparison with human language. Likewise, in the
put it simply, courtesy our intellectual capabilities, future, intelligent machines will find human
and because human brains can mostly out-think noises (speech) trivial.
and outwit those of other creatures, we have What is to be done about this? Are we all
claimed for ourselves the driving seat on earth. But doomed? Clearly, our only hope is to upgrade our
as machine intelligence is rapidly improved, as own abilities, to create a partnership between
computer-based systems become more powerful, human intelligence and machine intelligence. So,
how long can human domination last? far from being something that would be good to
It is estimated that within a decade, standalone do, linking human and machine brains together is
computers will have more processing power than quite simply something we have to do.
an individual human brain. Not only that, but they “If you can’t beat them, join them”, appears to
will be networked. And what is the intelligence of be true here. The decision is yours. Will you be
a machine-brain network? happy remaining a human, part of a sub-species in
Even now, a typical computer can perform the years ahead? Or wouldn’t you rather be
more calculations in the blink of an eye than a upgraded and have extra memory and extra senses?
human brain can perform in a week. By giving such Wouldn’t you like to converge with technology?

1/2 pg H AD

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Applied
Convergence

Illustration Binesh Shreedharan

ing bulkier cell phone handsets, but this time, it’s

Convergence Aditya Kuber not because of the lack of know-how in controlling
sizes. It’s just that the handsets have so much
is here to

T
echnology, in a way, needs to go back to the packed in to them that there is no other option!
stay. But basics to implement the latest in cutting edge. Coming back to the handset as a security hub, it
what type of Cryptic as that may sound, sample this: may sound far-fetched, but it’s as simple as using
fingerprint identity could well be the most secure the WAP facility on the phone. Your home could be
convergence way to protect your data and identity. This is a clas- secured with cameras that are accessible through
is practical? sic example of convergence that could take us back the Internet (even on your office desktop) and there
to our roots in an attempt to secure us. What are is a WAP site for this as well. All you do is log on
How far can some of the other practical areas that convergence securely and choose the room you want to view. In
we go to could make life easier in? case of a problem (a burglary, accident, etc), you are
make it work on top of it. Even if you are not watching, you could
Communication be intimated of a problem via a text message and
and that too, Perhaps the industry that would benefit most from you could then log on to see what’s going on.
effectively? widespread application of convergent devices is the Imagine this being used by doctors to monitor
communications industry. There are various patients or dispense advice if they cannot be pres-
avenues where the communications industry could ent personally. Yes, this also opens up some more
implement converged devices or technologies. security loopholes, but the benefits far outnumber
the pitfalls.
Telecommunications
Cell phones have already integrated MP3 players, Entertainment
cameras, PDA functionality, Web browsing capabil- Considering entertainment as a part of communi-
ities and payment options. Add to this the possibil- cations, you will no longer need to buy a newspa-
ity of using this as a hub for all communications, per. In an ideal world, this could also help save
including security for your home, and you have a trees and cut down on the production of paper. But
truly converged device. After the race to make more practically, you could just download a page
devices smaller, vendors are back to manufactur- (or a news article) from your favourite site (or news-

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 4 Years Of Tech

paper) and read it on your handheld device. medical history, diet history and the way it was
Doctors Technologies that are enabling foldable OLEDs killed could be made available just through the bar
need not (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) can make the code on the final package. Buyers could just scan
travel far at experience even richer. You just plug in the sheet this using their cell phone and get the information
of screen to your computer (or phone) and down- on their WAP-enabled cell phones before making a
the risk 10 load the day’s newspaper. Navigation keys placed buying decision. Why not?
patients’ right on the sheet will help you read through the The camera phone could work well for farmers
entire newspaper. as well. In the first scenario, instead of the farmer
lives to Of course, these services would be paid for, but going on to the Internet, he could just take a photo
operate on they are at your convenience. Like newspapers, of the bug and MMS it to the nearest authority—
one patient books and even movies or music could then be government or private—and get personalised infor-
downloaded to such devices and accessed at your mation and help faster than any other means.
convenience. That, in the future, would be the true Moreover, this information could then be logged for
operative word. Convenience. the future reference of other farmers.

Education Healthcare
Videoconferencing and virtual classrooms One of the major fields of convergence of basic,
already exist, and this is one of the best consumer-friendly technology could be healthcare.
marriages of technology, the Internet and a The worst time for a patient is after he suffers his
necessity that we have yet seen. In areas where injury or ailment and before medical help arrives.
schools or colleges are inaccessible, but tele- Using cameras or camera phones, in such situa-
phone lines are available, virtual classrooms or tions could help address this better.
teaching via videoconferencing can prove to be In fact, in an ideal world, a doctor need not leave
interactive and almost as good as the real thing. his chamber again unless absolutely necessary. It’s
Using tools such as instant messaging and e-mail akin to telecommuting for doctors. Agreed, this may
can further boost practicability. Reliance not be the most convenient way in all cases, but in
Infocomm, for example, offers good connectivity, some, it could definitely save doctors and patients
and could be perfect for this purpose. a lot of time and grief.
In today’s day and age, when operations are also
happening via videoconferencing, nothing is
fantasy. Experts, in particular, need not travel thou-
sands of kilometres at the risk of 10 other patients’
lives to operate on one patient. There are doctors
who are competent enough to successfully operate
with just the expert’s guidance, and this is already
reality. It’s like TeleOperate.

Identity protection
Fingerprint identity or cornea scanning could
combine the uniqueness of the human body and
technology to create perhaps the most secure form
of identity protection.
Contrary to what films may show us, there is a
certain amount of surety this form of security
Distance learning (left) and fingerprint identity (right) are two areas where lends us. A fingerprint is made of a series of ridges
convergence of the old and the new can facilitate things a great deal
and furrows on the surface of the finger. The
uniqueness of a fingerprint can be determined by
Good old Doordarshan has been telecasting the the pattern of ridges and furrows as well as the
UGC classrooms on its National Network for a while minutiae points. Minutiae points are local ridge
and it the programme has been popular. Even with- characteristics that occur at either a ridge bifurca-
out videoconferencing, education can reach a large tion or a ridge ending. The other method is the
audience thanks to technology. Just VCD payers—or correlation based method that is more practical
even VCRs for that matter—can aid in this. It’s just since matching minutiae in low-quality scans
a question of the drive being there. could be difficult.
But where can it be implemented? Can colleges
Agriculture And Farming and schools have this to avoid cheating? Can offices
Picture this: a farmer has a huge crop and it has secure data and maintain the secrecy of classified
been hit by a bug, but he has no idea which one it information? Can governments implement this to
is… no one around seems to know. He doesn’t have ensure that information is not stolen and misused?
enough time to go to the big city and get it The first example may be a bit far-fetched, but the
analysed and then treated. But somewhere in the other two are certainly practical and have, in fact,
annals of the World Wide Web lie the answers. been implemented in certain setups.
Problem is, he cannot access it since he does not Prohibitive costs are the main hindrance,
know English. But, thanks to the one computer- although devices from companies like Sony and
and Internet-savvy person in the village, he finds Microsoft are aimed at the mass market.
the answer to his problem and saves his year’s crop. Plus, the huge amount of data and the cumber-
Taking it further, from the consumer point of some nature of including new and dynamic data
view, an animal being reared for meat could be could prove restrictive.
tracked from birth. Information about its parents, [email protected]

92 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 of symbols—also forms a big part of
communication, and cannot be ignored.
Often, more is said through signs than through
words… if you take this away, communication
is limited.
One point I would like to make here is that in
areas where ‘modern’ communication is weak,
intra-community communication is strong, and
vice-versa. There is, of course, a paradox to this.
As mentioned earlier, convergence should be of
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communication, community and institute. If you

consider analogical communication, there are
metaphors involved, which may convey part of
the meaning. This involves a sender and a
recipient. In the case of digital communication,
the entropy is much more.
The other paradox is that societies are
created and based on the myths, legends and
stories they have passed on. This is what creates
a culture. This can go forward only through
analogue communication. One needs to apply
their mind to understand the meaning. What is
also does is allows you to understand, own and
derive your own meaning.
In the case of digital communication, there is
high entropy. Information is trashed much
faster. But things like folklore and folk songs are
“Convergence should be of still alive. These have been passed down through
analogue communication.
communication, community and One main challenge we are faced with is
the asymmetry of modern technology. There is
institute.” a division between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-
nots’. There is a need to reduce this, but it is
not possible.
Dr Anil K Gupta, Kasturbhai Lalbhai Chair in Entrepreneurship, By design, any service—including telephony—
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad would like to recover their cost, and wider
deployment can help them do this fast. But there

Convergence
Is Not Congruence
C
onvergence is not just about technology is a cause-and-effect angle to this as well. In such
but is a combination of technology, a case, they can survive through innovation.
institute and culture. Take the case of Take, for example, the case of someone in a
villages, where physical communication is tough village who needs to access a doctor or an expert
vis-à-vis in the cities. But, despite distances being for a crop disease. There are various reasons he
lesser, communication in cities is poorer than in cannot; he doesn’t have the money, there is no
villages. Technology is not necessary for access to a doctor, or the expert has no
communication. knowledge in his area, or there is no research
In terms of communication, technology is available in the problem he needs addressed.
the word while the institute becomes the What’s worse is if the wrong problem is
grammar. Communication within communities focused upon.
where modern means are absent is a study. The A systematic approach could actually help
real problem is communication within the solve this. Let’s re-look the above problem. The
communities. common refrain is, “What should I do?” If there
In a city, the problem is communication were a kiosk, the villager could go and ask the
within the community. We send e-mails operator for the answers. But what if the
within offices. Communication is not operator does not know English and the farmer,
merely about getting information across. too, is illiterate? Does this mean they have to be
There is more to it. Semiotics—the science deprived of the information?

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Indian language content is the only solution communication with a time lag is fine—so long
to this. Although funds have been earmarked as it happens.
for this, they have so far been spent in the Thinking that we need continuous
wrong manner. interaction could make people miss out.
Which brings us to the question, “Who is The Internet is not available in our
paying for this?” In India, the poor pay more languages, and depriving people of
taxes than the rich. While direct taxes in India information till that happens could leave
are progressive, the indirect taxes are people out in the cold. Providing solutions
still regressive. in ten days is also fine so long as there is
In convergence, culture and language need an assurance that it will happen.
to be bound very closely. Nuances of language, Innovation, as I said earlier, is the way ahead.
which may say more than anything else, are Innovation will come through diversity—the
better in one’s own language than in any other. very character of India.
India is a diverse country and that is its Convergence can be a shortcut to diversity.
richness. By trying to do everything in English, It should not lead to congruence to
we might just kill our own character. identical things. Imagine, then, innovation that
Our language shapes our habit of has come about thanks to convergence,
thought. Different languages shape different converted into enterprise. A grassroots
thoughts. We need all these languages to revolution can trigger globalisation. Sharing
thrive if we want different, rich thoughts these innovations is the way to move ahead and
to be thought out. Information and the way to true convergence. Yes, you could
Communication Technology (ICT) can enable charge a licence fee and patents could be
this. But for that, we need people who are granted… but this is the way ahead.
passionate about diversity.
There are different groups of people with
different needs. Those for whom convergence Dr Anil K Gupta is a professor at the Centre for
must happen need unique solutions. A VCD Management in Agriculture at IIM-Ahmedabad; co-
player and a black-and-white TV that costs ordinator of SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives
Rs 3,000 can help communities access for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions;
information that was hitherto beyond their www.sristi.org)and of the Honey Bee Network; and
reach. This is convergence. Executive Vice Chair of the National Innovation
Convergence solutions need to be robust and Foundation. Honey Bee is a newsletter on indigenous
cheap, not necessarily interactive. One-way innovations (www.sristi.org/honeybee.html).

1/2 pg H AD

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 4 Years Of Tech

Secure Your
Home Now!

Illustration Binesh Sreedharan

The most common system still widely used in a

Mithun Kidambi number of housing complexes is the closed circuit
Get television (CCTV). This, coupled with a few basic
introduced
I
n many places today, the night watchman has intrusion detection devices, was your security setup.
to the been replaced by a host of electronic sensors; these The protection afforded by such a system wasn’t
detect changes in temperature, suspicious move- a very big deterrent for potential burglars. Also, these
latest in ment and sounds of broken glass. Security systems acted more as a warning and recording device. There
home today have become watchdogs that don’t sleep and was only that much you could do—watch a recording
keep a watch for you 24/7. of your house being broken into.
surveillance If someone breaks into your home, the sensor
systems for informs the main control unit, which in turn sounds Ultramodern Technology
foolproof the alarm. The system is like a guardian who’s always With the age of convergence upon us, a lot of
watching over you, lest you slip up. progress has been made in security and surveillance
protection systems. Remote monitoring of your house and
Security And Surveillance protection does not come at a premium any more.
Break-ins and burglaries are not the only reason you Also, the technology used is becoming foolproof
need to install a security or surveillance system. and easy to adapt to.
These setups also act as a nanny when there are With the advent of the Internet and GSM tech-
toddlers alone in the house or when older folk are nology, you can now monitor your house and prop-
without company. erty in real-time. Moreover, you can take remedial
When deciding on how best to protect your home measures in case of a housebreak or other forms of
or how to keep a tab on the activities inside, you need emergencies. So, what are the gadgets that play the
to take several factors into account. There are many role of a watchdog and a protector?
home security systems, ranging from the very basic Picture a scenario where a burglar has broken
to the extremely complex. The key to a quality system into your apartment. You, of course, have the new
is to find one that is effective, yet simple to use. security system in place, complete with video surveil-
Earlier, security setups required extensive wiring lance in real-time. A break-in would trigger an alarm.
of your premises and expensive equipment such as This alarm could be set off by a series of infrared or
motion or touch sensors. This meant high costs, and laser beams set at strategic points. You get a notifi-
hacking of your walls to set up a surveillance system. cation of the intrusion via your cell phone in the

96 DIGIT JUNE 2005

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With security form of a text message, or as streaming video

through your Internet connection. This message can
becoming a also be relayed to the nearest police control room or
buzzword and security centre.
In addition to this, companies now offer you
with systems where the doors and windows get locked
advancements automatically in case of a break-in, and open up only
in technology, when a particular security code is entered. This prac-
tically traps the thief inside.
people are
pushing for Turning Futuristic Into Real
Sound futuristic? Well, it’s not just a prediction.
better and Companies around the world are actually providing CCTV cameras can be disguised to look like almost anything.
more efficient their customers with such technology. In India, Shown above is a tiny CCTV camera!
Zicom Electronic Security Systems and Honeywell
products to are providers of high-tech security systems.
secure their With security becoming a buzzword today and that works quite well in today’s hi-tech world.
homes with advancements in technology, people are push- Inix Technology from Malaysia has come up with
ing for better and more efficient products to secure a simple security system called ‘Secure Smith’. Acces-
their homes. Equipment such as colour CCTVs, digi- sible over the Internet, Secure Smith is a wireless
tal recording devices, wireless systems, radio product comprising a home security system, electri-
frequency identification tags and access control cal equipment automation, home surveillance and
cards, and automated contraband detection devices CCTV surveillance system.
have an increasing demand. Secure Smith does not need a PC to run, and
You also have biometric and multiple-PIN secu- neither does it require wiring through your homes or
rity access systems. With multiple-PIN access any additional infrastructure. This is because of a
systems, each house has a secure PIN. proprietary technology that utilises electricity lines
Each member of the household is given another to transmit digital data. Each Secure Smith control
unique access code, too. For entry into the premises, panel is able to control up to 4,000 home appliances.
both combinations have to be entered. A failure to When the systems are clustered together, they can
do so would trigger an alarm. But are these really also be used in office buildings and factories.
high-tech security systems the only effective way to
stay protected? Convergence Yet Again
Sophisticated wireless technologies are also being
Keeping It Simple exploited for home automation, which will not only
Skylink, a US-based security service provider, has a keep our homes secure, but also help us manage the
series of simple security products, such as a little PC and the audio system. By plugging various home
motion detector that you can mount outside the devices into Lucent Technologies’ HomeStar
house, and if someone invades your space it signals network, you can set a VCD/DVD player with the
the base unit to beep and flash. By putting the base same controls used to manage the alarm system.
unit in the living room and mounting the motion Before going off on holiday, you can program
sensor outside the front door, the LEDs (Light your audio system to switch on during the evening.
Emitting Diodes) on the base unit give you intima- This network can control your lighting as well. A
tion if someone is at your door if you’re playing your passerby would therefore be under the impression
music or TV so loud that you can’t hear the doorbell. that your house is occupied. You can turn your PC
While their basic system configurations require with a Web cam into a video surveillance system, too.
you to be home to see the lights flash and hear the There also exists software that let you control and
beeps beep, Skylink also offers optional equipment manage a video surveillance system and the lighting
that will send an emergency phone call to your cell of your home as well.
phone, pager, or wherever else you want it to yell for
help. All this is simple technology packaged elegantly Security For The Masses
Housing complexes across the country are wiring
up their homes with the latest security systems.
Though many such systems come at a premium
(being imported), people aren’t cutting expenses on
the security front.
Equated monthly payment schemes have made
most security features accessible to more people.
Residential societies that already have such systems
installed just have to add a couple of hundred rupees
to the monthly bill for each apartment.
However, a few simple precautions such as secur-
ing all windows that could be accessible from the
outside, locking your doors, keeping track of your
keys, need to be done to secure you homes and your
valuables inside. No matter how high-tech a security
RFID sensors as small as this can help in authentication system you might have in place, there is always a
as well as in other areas of home security chance that it might fail or be cracked.
[email protected]

98
 4 Years Of Tech

ings still prevail, making the idea of convergence

both slippery and richer. This is a good thing,
because dictionary definitions can sometimes be
straitjackets, and digital onvergence is different
things to different people.
These different meanings of the term play out in
different ways when we speak of digital convergence.
There are shades of the biological idea of convergence,
where different media and technologies develop simi-
lar features (your cell phone includes a camera while
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your camera may double up as an MP3 player). The

mathematical idea of convergence, in the sense of a
series of events adding up to a finite, manageable
whole, highlights the manner in which this current
talk of digital convergence is just the current conse-
quence of media and knowledge coming together,
which began thousands of years ago when people
scribbled on cave walls. And of course, while the phys-
iological definition reminds us that despite the
wonders of technology, we need to focus our eyes
inward, to reflect and think about the meanings and
consequences of technological marvels.
However, the focus of this piece is not on biologi-
cal, mathematical or physiological convergence. It is
on digital convergence, and what it means for us as
learners and educators. In this context, I would like to
speak about three different kinds of convergence. The
“Digital convergence obscures first is digital convergence, the kind of convergence that
has received a great deal of attention lately (this
physical and temporal special issue is a good example). This digital conver-
gence is, for the most part, here already, which is
boundaries...” maybe why we spend so much time talking about it.

Digital Convergence
Punya Mishra, Associate Professor, The words digital and convergence taken independ-
Learning, Technology & Culture, Michigan State University ently or together are today’s latest buzzwords.
People have argued that this new world of ubiqui-

Technologies
On The Verge…
L
ook up the word ‘convergence’ in the diction- tous and invisible computing, through small, rela-
ary, and you will come across a range of mean- tively inexpensive devices that merge multiple
ings. My favourite is the reasonably useless defi- media and communications technologies, will
nition that says convergence is “the act, condition, reshape the way individuals and organisations
quality, or fact of converging.” collaborate and share information.
Huh? Other meanings and uses of the word are Convergence in this sense of the term includes
not quite as circular. For instance, in biology, conver- content and application development for film, video
gent evolution means the adaptive evolution of super- games, music, advertising, and mass media; distri-
ficially similar structures, such as wings in birds and bution, including wireless, broadband, VoIP and
insects. In mathematics, convergence is the property more; hardware, such as cell phones, mobile devices,
of approaching a limit, or as my friend Hartosh said, game consoles, and so on.
convergence is the way in which infinities can be This digital convergence is often talked of
controlled, captured and understood. In physiology— in technological terms (such as my cell phone,
and this was something I didn’t know—it is the coor- digital camera or my gaming console). This
dinated turning of the eyes inward to focus on an emphasis on the technical is not surprising
object at close range (what in other words we would because there is still a lot of intricate and
call being cross-eyed). And finally, convergence is a difficult work (regarding communication
meeting place, a site where things come together. standards, interoperability, hardware handshakes
Though digital convergence is often used to indi- and software bugs) that need to be configured
cate the last of these definitions, the other mean- and deciphered.

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At the same time, this emphasis on the techni- enhanced by irrelevant and pointless flash and fizz.
cal should not obscure the psychological, social and We must remember that all the technologies in the
cultural aspects of these technologies. These tech- world are of no use if they are to push the same old
nologies are reshaping the way individuals and agenda. The language of pedagogy needs to rise up
organisations collaborate and share information. to meet the language of convergence.
This digital convergence, in an important sense, I remember visiting a school in Nagpur and talk-
removes, and maybe more importantly, obscures, ing to the computer teacher there. The school did
physical and temporal boundaries that in the not think of using computers to learn science. They
past served as impediments between individuals did not consider using computers to develop writ-
and the world. ing skills, though there is increasing evidence that
When communication integrates, maps and using word processors actually makes students
borders have less meaning—if any—and barriers of better writers and better thinkers.
distance begin to dissolve. In some ways these tech- Sadly, this is true of most schools today. So the
nologies of ‘action at a distance’ simplifies our lives, constraints are not as much cost and access, though
since it allows us to connect with the world in ways these are critical issues—rather a failure of our
that we might not otherwise. It becomes the centre collective imagination.
of our social network and constructs a ‘virtual space’ A part of the problem is, given the fast pace of
within which we live, learn and work. technological change, our learning theories and
pedagogical approaches have often been engaged in
Pedagogical Convergence a game of catching up. This is not to say that we don’t
Living in the physical and social world—for both have a sense of what this pedagogical convergence
work and play—requires acquiring knowledge. To will look like. The new pedagogical convergence is
survive and thrive in these new social and physical informed by thinkers such as John Dewey who urged
spaces, new ways of learning that meet the us to base all educational strategies on the impulses
demands of this new era will have to be developed. of the child—the urge to communicate, inquire,
The convergence of our strategies and theories construct, and express.
of learning to live in this digitally integrated world Some of these new understandings are inspired
is the second kind of convergence I am alluding by the technology itself. Games and simulations,
to—what I call pedagogical convergence. This conver- with their rich multi-player, immersive, interactive,
gence deals with how our approaches to teaching social worlds are showing us the way to the future of

[
[ “Being on the verge is to be somewhere unstable and
unpredictable... There is also a sense of excitement,
mingled with fear, mystery and anticipation.”
and learning need to converge with the new trends
in digital technologies.
learning. The title of James Gee’s recent book says it
all: What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning
Learning today can no longer be restricted to And Literacy. This is not to say that games and simu-
12 + 4 years of schooling and college. Not only do we lations are the only way forward. Not at all. Educa-
have more to learn, we need to do it more often and tion is a multi-dimensional beast, and there is space
in less time. This puts severe stress on our existing for various genres and ways of doing—as long as they
pedagogical systems including schools, training are thoughtfully implemented, and we resist being
workshops, colleges and universities. seduced by the shiny, sexy surfaces of technology and
Learning can no longer be limited to being able to are prepared to peer deeper into their essences.
recite multiplication tables by rote and such. Learn-
ing today is continuous, just in time and perpetual. Deep Convergence
This fast pace of change means that there is little time This brings me to the third and final kind of conver-
for leisure and reflection. Lifelong learning is not just gence, which for want of a better term, I call deep
an idle hope, but rather, the need of the hour. convergence. There are many people who pontificate
What role can technology play in developing on the social and cultural consequences of digital
solutions to these problems? The first thing to and pedagogical convergence. However, I take these
remember is that education and learning is always well-meaning pronouncements with a grain of salt
about more than the technology. We must never because forecasting often overestimates short-term
forget that technology is a medium, a tool for effects and underestimates long-term ones.
converting ideas into action. One thing that humans do is construct new
However, technologies do not force one set of understandings of themselves, and the world they
actions over others. Technologies can be used for live in through using these media. As the Foresight
‘old style’ learning as easily as for newer, flexible group (http://www.foresight.gov.uk/) says in a report:
pedagogy. The technology does not care. In some “At some point in our evolutionary past humans
sense it may even be easier to use technology to entered the ‘cognitive niche’ and fundamentally changed
achieve ‘old style’ goals. This is why we often see the their relationship to the world around them and the rate
online course that is merely a set of static Web at which they could develop their culture. The artificial
pages—a textbook moved onto the Web; or the naïve world is about to do the same, with humans as partners
drill and practice programme, cosmetically in the process—the effects will be equally far reaching.”

100 DIGIT JUNE 2005

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What these new effects will be is hard to imagine.

These new technologies allow us to imagine new worlds;
to create new selves in this world. In some sense, this
idea of digital convergence is the first step towards an
unfolding journey that will spark other convergences,
many of which we cannot even imagine at this moment.
One of the things that humans have done over the
years, as new media have emerged, is play with their
capabilities and constraints, and then used them to
develop new ways of expressing themselves. These new
expressions are ways of developing a deeper under-
standing of who we are as individuals, as groups (such
as organisations or nations) or who we are as a species.
This is a different kind of convergence and is some-
what difficult to explain. Maybe the only way to do is
through an example. The beginning of the twentieth
century was a time of immense upheaval in our way of
understanding our place in the world. In the arena of
technology, those early years saw a range of inventions
that forever changed the way we lived. These include the
airplane, the radio receiver, neon signs, air condition-
ing, the vacuum diode, colour photography, motion
pictures, crossword puzzles, zippers, tommy guns,
insulin and the precursor to what we now call television.
And then there were the revolutions in science and
art, from relativity theory to cubism, from quantum
mechanics to surrealism. Within the space of a few
years we moved from a worldview where time and space
were absolute, to a relativistic, fractured, unstable one.
This change in zeitgeist was reflected in the sciences as
well as in the arts.
Consider the year 1922. This was the year that
Einstein won the Nobel Prize, James Joyce published
Ulysses, and T S Eliot published The Waste Land. This
was also the year that Picasso designed the sets for a
ballet performed by Diaghlev and scored by Stravin-
sky, the debut of which was attended by the likes of
James Joyce and Proust.
1/2 P V Ad
This kind of a convergence is larger, deeper and
more fundamental than the other convergences I
have discussed above. In some fundamental way, these
convergences, developed a century ago, still define
the world we live in today.
It would be foolhardy on my part to even attempt
to make predictions about the nature of deep conver-
gence that will emerge from the technological
changes happening around us today. Not the least
because the effects of technology on society, and of
society on technology are complex and multi-
threaded. Simple cause and effect relationships are
difficult to trace.
Moreover, thinking of such deep convergences
can also be risky. At the heart of the word conver-
gence is the word ‘verge’ with its connotations of
being on the edge (as in the leading, or as others say,
the bleeding edge).
Being on the verge, or at the edge, is to be some-
where unstable and unpredictable, and this instabil-
ity can be nerve-wracking. There is also a sense of
excitement, mingled with fear, mystery and antici-
pation. There is a realisation that decisions we
make today will have ripple effects and conse-
quences, both intended and unintended, far beyond
what we can imagine.
The era of digital convergence that this special
issue justly celebrates is the culmination of thousands
of years of biological and cultural evolution, even as it
is the first step in an unfolding process that will yield
its fruits in the years and decades to come.

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Con-vergence

Illustration Binesh Shreedharan

Let’s assume you’re loyal to a few manufac-

The era of Robert Sovereign-Smith turer brands. So you decide it has to be from your
digital favourite brand. You manage to whittle the

E
very technology and standard has its draw- choices down to less than 20. Of course, every
convergence backs, its loopholes. Though convergence dealer out there has his ‘favourites’—the phones
is not isn’t a technology by itself, it is the process of he gets the most profit out of—and will try and
amalgamation of others, and as a result, the new sell you everything but what you want.
without its technologies inherit the same problems that The days when dealers sold phones by the kilo
misgivings plagued the parent technologies. are long gone, too. Every second dealer reads up
In this section, we spell out a few warnings for on phones now.
manufacturers and users alike, and pose a few ques- Of the 20 phones available from your favourite
tions that don’t really have an answer right now. brand, about 10 will be out of your budget—and
teasingly so. You’ll be tempted to spend that little
A Matter Of Choice extra. You’ll read the features list and drool—
Technology was always meant to Bluetooth, GPRS, 3G, PIM Applications, Java-
ease our lives, and it did; until enabled, games, PDA Applications, multi-
now, that is. The problems really megapixel video cameras, MP3 support—ad
begin when you decide to infinitum, ad nauseam.
purchase a gadget. The accepted practice today is to buy a phone
Take the example of a mobile phone—you with features you’ll never use! Why? Because
decide you need a new one. You even set yourself mobile phones are so common today that you
a budget and think, “I’ll just buy the best phone need to have that something extra just to be
available in this price range.” Well, good luck find- able to maintain your identity in your circle of
ing one—you’ll be hit in the face with over 200 acquaintances!
models, each boasting one little thing or another The convergence of a whole lot of technologies
that the other models don’t have. into everyday devices is making it harder for us

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end-users to choose, and more often than not, we

It’s bad end up with a gadget that has features we will
enough that never use, or offers everything but the features we
technologies really wanted.
A common example is that of smartphones
have such that have so many features and complicated
short life- menus that one cannot figure out how to turn the
damn T9/dictionary function off, so as to be able
spans; to type in our Indian names in SMSes. Don’t you
Convergence miss your old phone now?
compounds
Incompatibilities Abound
this It’s bad enough that technologies
problem by have such short life-spans; conver-
gence just compounds this prob-
orders of lem by orders of magnitude. Just
magnitude when you’re getting used to one
technology, they change everything and you are
stuck with outdated and incompatible hardware.
The Laser Disc (LD) player was the best example.
It could play VCDs, Audio CDs and Laser Discs (LDs
were the size of vinyl records, and about twice as
heavy). Those of you who bought one, will remem-
ber that within a few years, some genius decided
that LDs were too big and awkward to carry about,
so they invented the DVD. Now you are stuck with
an LD player.
Want to watch the latest movies? Pop them
into the DVD player and enjoy Dolby surround
sound. Want to watch Pink Floyd’s Pulse concert,
which you have on LD? Climb up to the attic, sift
through 20 boxes, pull out the LD player, wipe off
two inches of dust, connect it to the TV, realise
1/2 pg V AD
that it doesn’t work, spend four days trying to
find an engineer who has at least heard of an LD
player, leave alone fix it, give up, pack it all up,
put it back again, and go out and buy Pulse on
DVD! It’s just not fair!
Let’s not forget that even our two-year ‘old’
DVD players are on the brink of extinction, what
with Blu-ray and a host of other formats that
promise utopia on the horizon!

Upgrade Mania
Technology has always been
fickle; what’s in and cool today
will not necessarily be the norm
tomorrow. Hardware changes are
especially irritating, as it usually
involves you having to take a day off from every-
thing and going out and buying new parts for
something that actually works just fine!
Again, as with the mobile phone example, you
bought a phone less than two years ago, and it
boasted of Bluetooth then. Today, you find it actu-
ally has Bluetooth version 1.0, whereas the stan-
dard today is 1.1.43.5572.x, or something equally
innane. So you can’t connect to certain newer
devices. Doesn’t that just want to make you want
to tear your hair out?
And it’s not like you can just pop in a new card
and have it all work again. Take your phone to an
‘authorised service centre’ and tell them that you
want to have your phone upgraded to Bluetooth
1.1.43.5572.x, and they start shifting away from
you uneasily, and signal the receptionist to call the
loony van!
Even if that doesn’t happen, the cost of upgrad-
ing a chip inside your mobile is almost 80 per cent

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 103

 4 Years Of Tech

of the phone’s cost! You’d be better off pawning luck, all your friends will buy devices from
Security is the phone and buying a later model with the manufacturers C and D.
perhaps the feature set you want—if you can manage to figure So now what? Either you cross your fingers,
biggest out what you want! hope that your manufacturer will release a quick
Even computers are not spared: Just when you fix (such as a software ROM update/flashing) that
worry of the thought you had everything you wanted in a will make the devices compatible, or you junk
digital age computer, along comes Apple with their enticing your device and buy one from the same manufac-
iPod, mesmerising you with its coolness, compact- turer as your friends.
ness and sound, and before you know it, you’re
twenty-something thousand rupees in debt on your On The Blink
credit card and have an MP3 player that can store 50 Convergence means that you
times more songs than you own, or have even heard! depend on fewer gadgets to help
That’s still not the problem, however. You get you do more of your daily tasks.
home, unpack your little beauty and think, “Ah, But what happens when the
my precious, I can’t wait to download my entire device fails, or when you drop it?
collection of MP3s to you!” Easier said than done— As it is, devices aren’t made to be even half as
“What the hell is this whole FireWire business, sturdy as they used to be; now you have the addi-
where’s the damn USB connector?” you hear tional worry of knowing that this one little
yourself scream. gadget in your hand is your cell phone, PDA,
Time to upgrade your computer with a FireWire laptop, MP3 player and more, all together.
PCI card! There goes another Rs 1,000, and more if Take a smartphone that you use as a cell
you decide to get a card that adds USB 2.0 heads. phone, MP3 player and PDA. If you drop it and the
phone display goes kaput, you have to send it for
Security Snags repairs. While the phone is being butchered at the
Security is perhaps the biggest service centre, you’re stuck without your PDA
worry of the digital age. Everyone contact list, meeting schedule, and even your
and their uncle are paranoid travel music!
about security, and with good Even with MFDs (Multi-Function Devices), if
reason—what with all the millions the scanner unit stops functioning, you have to do
of worms, Trojans, viruses and malicious code without printing, copying and faxes while it’s
floating about in cyberspace. As devices and tech- being repaired!
nologies converge, they increase the risk of creat-
ing even bigger security holes in the end product. Jack Of All
Take Bluesnarfing and Bluejacking for Manufacturers are so busy trying
instance! It’s bad enough that hackers are find- to offer you a whole range of uses
ing it easier and easier to get into Bluetooth- for a single device that they end
enabled devices; do we really need to give them up compromising on quality.
access to all our devices? Or for that matter, do There is no contest between
we want to put ourselves at additional risk by the quality offered by specialised devices and the
letting convergence force us to store all our data quality of converged devices. A standalone scan-
on just a single exploitable device? ner will always work faster and better, ditto for a
If an older cell phone was hacked, the hacker printer; digital cameras will always offer more
only got hold of, say, contact numbers and functions and better picture quality than cell
SMSes, but if your smartphone-with-a-camera is phone cameras. It’s the same for all devices.
hacked, the hacker can get hold of your
address book, your pictures, your files, meeting It’s Not All Bad
schedules and more. Think Paris Hilton! The point of what we’ve said here is not that
Let’s not even begin to imagine what a hacker convergence shouldn’t happen; it most definitely
would do with your Bluetooth-enabled laptop— should. But manufacturers and users alike need
which, incidentally, is Bluetooth-enabled only to be more discerning about the problems we’ve
because you need to transfer data to and from mentioned, so as to best avoid wasting their time
your smart-phone! and our money.
Manufacturers need to test and verify the
Of Standards compatibility of technologies properly, not just
There are none! At least that’s with their devices, but also with devices from
how it seems when the latest other brands. This is only possible when brands
technologies are released, and stick to offering technologies that have proper
subsequently incorporated into standards and guidelines in place. Perhaps reach-
new gadgets. ing a standard before launching a product is the
It’s quite silly that some device manufactur- solution. But is it possible?
ers form small consortiums and test interoper- As end users, we also need to be more discern-
ability only between themselves. As a result, ing about what we buy, and think a lot before
when new technologies are released, you get a spending our hard-earned money on the latest
rush of devices that are only half-tested and gadgets—just because they showcase features that
released, just to keep up with the first-to- we’ve never even heard of! We also need to realise
market brand. that the latest, is not always the best.
As a result, a device made by manufacturer A Remember, if the buying stops, the manufac-
works with a similar device made by B, but not turing will too!
with devices made by C and D. And, with your [email protected]

104 DIGIT JUNE 2005

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Top Five
Wired Countries

Illustration Shyam Shriram

SINGAPORE
Renuka Rane A global hub in Asia, Singapore is a kind of bellwether
The top five for the introduction of new technology. It ranks first

W
hich are the five most-wired nations in the in the Global IT Report 2004-2005. Also, in the 2004 e-
wired world today? We have shortlisted five coun- readiness rankings by the EIU, Singapore emerged as
nations are tries that are leaders in the wired revolution, the top country for Asia-Pacific. The island nation is
not just with soaring technological innovations and a rapidly also the second most wired country in the world,
multiplying Internet community. We considered vari- according to the 2004 Networked Readiness Index.
about the ous parameters to arrive at the select some. It is strategically location within ASEAN (Associ-
highest We took into account the Information Society ation of Southeast Asian Nations), which represents
Index (ISI) 2004—research firm IDC’s annual survey, a combined market of more than 500 million
number of which evaluates the information wealth of 53 coun- people. Singapore has the lowest rates of corruption
PCs or tries around the world. It combines 15 variables in and is ideal to initiate e-commerce and Internet
mobile four infrastructure pillars (computers, the Internet, marketing. Singapore is host to more than 6,000
telecommunications and social factors) to calculate multi-national corporations; the high-tech and
phones. and rank each nation’s ability to access and utilise financial services industries are lightly regulated,
They also information and information technology. and telecom was privatised in 2000.
We also considered the annual ‘E-readiness’ Consider Singa-
have policy rankings for 2004 and 2005, prepared by the Econ- pore’s port: it has a
support for omist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of The Economist and first-mover status
digitisation IBM’s Institute for Business Value. The 65 countries as the world’s IT
surveyed are assessed on their ability to promote leader in seaport
and a and support digital business and information and logistics. A world
tech-savvy communications technology (ICT) services—a leader in broad-
weighted collection of nearly 100 quantitative and band rollout, there
citizenry qualitative criteria. Capital: Singapore
are thousands of
Population (millions): 3.54
However, keep in mind the estimates arrived at Area: 683 sq km broadband access
by the surveys may vary. Also, the rankings accorded Internet penetration: 60.2 % (Sep 04) points across
to the nations by research firms are very dynamic. the country.

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DENMARK SWEDEN
The erstwhile seat of Viking raiders, Denmark has Another Scandinavian nation, Sweden has one of the
evolved into a modern, prosperous nation with an world’s highest life expectancies and one of the lowest
advanced broadband infrastructure and one of the birth rates. It’s the most tech-savvy country in Europe
highest levels of broadband penetration in Europe. according to a 2005 report by Jupiter Research, a US
Denmark replaced Sweden as the information market analysis firm. Sweden was ranked as the third
champion in the IDC Information Society Index (ISI) most e-ready nation by EIU (2005).
2004. It leads in the telecom variable—notably wireless The EIU named Sweden as best-in-class in key areas
subscribers, high user penetration and mobile Internet of connectivity—mobile penetration and Internet use,
users. Almost 69 per cent of the Danish population and a standard setter in e-government implementation.
accesses the Internet, with 84 per cent connecting from Sweden ranked second in the Information Society
home, 22 per cent of Index by IDC in 2004—with highest penetration of Inter-
households using net access, highest usage of mobile phones, and a very
broadband while high level of Internet and computer skills among busi-
the total mobile ness managers. For instance, it has the
subscriber penetra- highest business penetration rates for
tion in Denmark Microsoft Windows and Apple OS.
reached 60 per cent. The gadget loving populace doubles
Denmark also as an advanced testing ground for a
Capital: Copenhagen
Population (millions): 5.4 ranked No. 1 in the range of mobile commerce applica-
Area: 43,093 sq km EIU’s 2005 e-readi- tions—even the Bluetooth technology
Internet Penetration: 68.7 % (Mar 05) ness rankings, and was invented in Sweden. The country’s
was proclaimed to WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multi- Capital: Stockholm
Population (millions): 9.04
be the best place in the world to conduct business over ple Access) 3G mobile infrastructure Area: 449,965 sq km
the next five years. The government has promised covers over 70 percent of the population, Internet penetration: 73.6 %
to boost spending on R&D, and facilitate the creation state wireless consultants Northstream. (Feb 05)
of knowledge industry. Incidentally, Sweden is the only
According to the Computer Industry Almanac, country in the world to have more mobile phones than
Denmark is among the leading countries in computer inhabitants—thanks to lower calling costs than any
and Internet penetration—as of 2004, there were 682 other European nation!
surfers per 1,000 Denmark residents, compared to 649
in Australia; 641 in Canada; 611 in Japan; 570 in the UK; THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
and 628 in the US. The US ranked third on the Information Society Index
Denmark has it all—highly developed infrastructure by IDC (2004), and ranked second on e-readiness (EIU
and institutions, a skilled labour force, low inflation 2005). This land of silicon chip innovators and manu-
rates, political and economic stability, and an interna- facturers scored highest for PCs per household and
tionally plugged financial sector. software spending, steadfast in its position as the
world’s largest consumer of computer products and
CANADA services. The US also ranked higher because of secure
Canada has one of the highest rates of Internet usage Internet server penetration, overall spending on IT
and broadband adoption in the world. It ranked fifth and growth in broadband adoption.
on IDC’s Information Society Index (2004). Residential The US remains the world’s leading broadband
broadband access enjoyed continued growth in 2004 user with nearly 31.7 million lines in the third quar-
as the increase in dial-up accounts slowed. ter of 2004. The number of broadband users increased
Broadband deployment continues to progress 36 per cent in 2004, accounting for 55 per cent of the
under active government encouragement, with 85 per total at-home users by the end of 2004, according to
cent of Canadians now living in communities served a survey by Nielsen/NetRatings.
by high-speed Internet access. In fact, nearly three out of
The 2004/2005 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in four US households with a phone
Canada Report by BuddeComm indicates that almost line have access to the Internet,
43 per cent of Canadians use a wireless device. Canadi- states the February 2004
ans are heavy Web users, with 90 per cent using e-mail Nielsen/NetRatings survey.
weekly. Anti-spam/virus software company, Sophos, According to Sophos, the US
ranked Canada as the fourth highest spamming nation continues to lead the world in Capital: Washington D.C.
in November 2004 with 5.7 per cent of all spam in the originating spam attacks; Population (million): 296
world originating from Canada. accounting for over two out of Area: 9,629,047 sq km
The Canadian Government launched an anti-spam every five (42.1 per cent) spam e- Internet penetration: 67.8% (Feb 05)
action plan in mails sent throughout the world.
2004. The Cana- According to research group Point Topic, the total
dian Internet number of US DSL (digital subscriber line) subscribers
Registration is growing, but still lags behind the country’s 19
Authority oper- million-plus cable modem subscribers.
ates the dot-ca In July 2004, residential broadband connections
Internet country in the country overtook the use of slower, dial-up
code Top Level connections for the first time. Almost one-third of
Capital: Ottawa Domain—t here the wireless services budget in the US is now dedi-
Population (millions): 32.5
Area: 9,976,137 sq km
are more than cated to data. The vast majority (91 per cent) of US
Internet penetration: 63.8 % (Dec 03) 530,000 .ca firms use wireless data.
domain names. [email protected]

106 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

slow to adapt to the new trends in

communications technology.
Not for long, though—passing through Denver
airport on a recent trip to the US, I was amazed to
see that almost all boarding gates have now
become wireless ‘hot spots’. Take out your
computer, click your browser and you are on the
Web faster than you can say ‘PDA’!
With the number of hot spots expected to soar
from a few hundred in 2003 to over a hundred
GUEST COLUMN

thousand by the end of the decade, and cellular

providers such as Sprint and Verizon boosting the
capabilities of their wide area networks to
facilitate high speed data transfer, the world is
changing faster than many of us would imagine.
Picture three scenarios so eloquently described
in Hemispheres Magazine and you will get the
message: Wireless Point of Sale devices are
beginning to augment, and in some cases replace,
the traditional billing stations at major retailers
such as Home Depot, Sears and K-Mart, with
agents walking up customer checkout lines armed
with handheld PCs and order scanners—a process
that is being referred to as line busting. Barton
Marlow, a Michigan construction firm, is setting
up wireless networks at all its construction sites to
help engineers, financial analysts and other site
“...the world is changing faster and corporate office employees share architectural
blueprints, project plans, spreadsheets and e-mails
than many of us would imagine.” to speed up the construction process. And the
third, Studio Pipelines of America, a Vancouver
television production company, has given PDAs to
all studio hands, producers and even actors on
production sets, and connected them to a wireless
Ganesh Natarajan is Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Zensar network to enable set planning and even script
Technologies, Pune, and chairs the Innovation initiative of NASSCOM updating to be done ‘on the fly’.

The Inevitability Of
Technology-Led Transformation
A
lvin Toffler once talked about people who What has been the sequence of events leading
“suffer from the dizzying disorientation up to this movement of wireless technologies into
caused by the premature arrival of the the mainstream of business? The ill-fated Apple
future,” and it is not surprising to find that the Newton, introduced in 1993, was probably the first
rapid changes that technology is causing in many attempt in this area, but it was the introduction of
lifestyles and workplaces often happens at a pace the Palm Pilot three years later that really set off
that staggers even the most techno-savvy of the revolution in handheld computing.
communities and even countries. And now, notebook computers with Intel’s
Nothing epitomises this more than the Centrino technology come with inbuilt wireless
telecommunications industry in India. In a land capabilities; PDAs provide wireless connectivity
where a famous Harvard professor once said “half through national and international carriers;
the population was waiting for a telephone while smartphones and pocket PCs are beginning to
the other half was waiting for a dial tone”, it is merge in terms of features and functionalities; and
amusing, though not surprising, to find not just tight integration between computing and
educated professionals but even farmers and communications is enabling seamless handling of
milkmen making effective—and sometimes voice, data e-mail and text messages, with
innovative—use of the mobile phone. multimedia messaging services now being
In fact, a few years ago, it seemed that the provided as well.
wireless revolution would catapult Asia ahead The ubiquitous Bluetooth will soon make
of the long-developed nations of the USA and seamless and cordless communication between
the UK, where the traditional population were smart devices a feature of all working

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environments. Public WiFi systems are becoming my American neighbour witnessing this wireless
the order of the day, with more and more people transaction happening across thousands of miles.
slipping in a wireless LAN card in their computer This technology transformation is not just
and connecting at airports, bookstores and coffee restricted to the telecommunications arena—in
shops. Airlines such as Lufthansa and SAS have field after field, from information to education to
introduced the service on their flights, and SBC entertainment, the rapid proliferation of
plans to make countrywide access points a reality, technology is enabling animated movies to be
starting with 13 states in the US. produced in just months instead of years. It is
The proliferation is being helped by the enabling educators to move from chalk and talk.
substantial reductions in costs with routers, access From teachers to facilitators of computers and
points, LAN cards, and other devices all witnessing Internet-enabled learning, it is happening and
dropping prices, and the cost of setting up and spawning a new set of cartoons such as the recent
moving wireless networks now becoming a one with the smug face of an American kid saying,
fraction of that associated with wired Ethernet. As “Thank God I’ve found a way to outsource my
the 802.11b standard yields to the more advanced homework to India”.
standards with higher bandwidths and higher On a more serious note, though, the great
ranges, more advanced applications, such as video, Indian Software Industry, which has found the
will be enabled. The only concern that remains is magic mantra of low cost and high quality to move
one of security against hackers, but newer third- huge quanta of IT and Business Process work to
party software will result in industry-strength Indian centres, are themselves preparing for a new
features in this area as well. paradigm, when programs will be generated by
The concept of ubiquitous computing that technology rather than human programmers, and
makes wireless so attractive is also being extended many professionals would have to learn new tricks
to Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technologies, to continue to be ahead of the world.
wireless cash registers, and Radio Frequency What does this mean for the Indian software
Identification (RFID) systems. Logistics firms industry? A generation of programmers for
running delivery operations across vast whom artistry in Java has been the path to the
geographies are able to schedule and service holy grail of dollar salaries will have to retool

[
[ “The concept of ubiquitous computing that makes
wireless so attractive is also being extended to GPS
technologies, wireless cash registers, and RFID systems”
customer needs better and faster using GPS, while
retailers and manufacturers can track supplies
and inventory across the supply chain using RFID.
themselves to become true architects—a
challenge akin to the humble bricklayer or
plumber or mason who suddenly takes on the
The day is not far when all these facilities will role of an architect. This will cause a true
get fully integrated, and the science fiction dream paradigm shift, where analysis of business
of locating a restaurant, making a reservation, problems and creation of efficient designs will
finding the lowest prices and paying without cash enable automated code factories to be set up even
are all available to completely transform the day to in expensive countries, thereby bringing the
day processes of working and living. entire Indian success model of large campuses in
I remember writing in a column a couple of low-cost economies into question.
years ago about the modern man in a smart world Is that, then, the end of the dream promised
leaving his office in a car that receives a message by even the finance minster P Chidambaram in
from the fridge at home that there is no milk and his Budget speech, where he promised the
routing its journey via the grocer’s store, where creation of over 70 lakh jobs in the IT sector by
the order has already been placed and is ready for the end of the decade?
pickup. All that and more is waiting to happen in Not really, because there is enough innovation
the very near future. in the Indian industry and India’s youth to seek
Will the wireless revolution transform this new opportunities to demonstrate the strength
country soon? Of course it will, as some industry and quality of Indian initiative and intelligence.
leaders such as RPG Retail, Hindustan In sector after sector, city after city and
Construction, Star TV, etc, begin to emulate the generation after generation, we have seized
global best-in-class, and of course, use the opportunities that have come our way and
software that would inevitably have been will continue to do so. It will definitely
developed by Indian software companies. need a strong partnership between the
If there is one area where Indians are already industry, the academic institutions and all
ahead of their US corporate brethren, it is SMS. the State and Central governments to
Sitting in a plane at Newark airport in New Jersey identify opportunities early and capitalise
one morning and busy sending and receiving on them, and our technology-friendly youth
messages to and from my office in Pune, it was will have enough openings to build their
wonderful to watch the amazement on the face of own new global dreams.

108 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 The
Digital World
Your ultimate dream
home and workplace
comprises gadgets that
talk to each other
making life a push
button experience...
How far away are we
from this? Looking at
the gadgets already in
existence and those that
will make it to the
marketplace soon, not
too much.
The following pages
could give you a good
idea of how you can
totally digitise your
home, your office
and your life

Photographs Sandeep Patil

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
Location Courtesy Zeos Infotech, Mumbai
JUNE 2005 DIGIT 113
Remote-Control Your PC
Applications!
Want to control multimedia
applications on your PC using your TV
tuner’s remote? Try SlyControl
 4 Years Of Tech

Jayesh Limaye card by plugging the IR photo enable WinLIRC server emula-
SlyControl
module to the line-in jack. tion in case you have
brings the

T
he comfort and conven- Here, we will only talk about programmes such as ProgDVB,
comfort ience offered by the using SlyControl in conjunction BSPlayer and LightAlloy. These
Windows XP Media with your TV tuner’s remote— programmes are supported
and Center PC is worth drool- whatever brand you may have, by WinLIRC, and can be
convenience ing over—all you need is the SlyControl will probably work supported in SlyControl if you
offered by remote, and you can do almost with it. The software costs $26.89 use WinLIRC emulation.
whatever you want! (approximately Rs 1,170).
the Media A remote is a good thing. And Now, let’s configure your
Center PC if the Media Center PC is not When you start sound card mixer. You
something you’re keen on SlyControl, the configu- can set up the sound to
to your buying, there’s an alternative way ration window opens. automatically un-mute
computer to control PC applications using a Here, you are presented
remote—your TV tuner’s remote with a multitude of remote
control, to be precise. control plugins to choose from.
You can get the SlyDiman’s Select the appropriate plugin
SlyControl software at http:// that corresponds to the TV
snipurl.com/ez29. It allows you
to run and remotely control any
Windows application, such as
Winamp, PVR software, FM
Radio, Windows Media Player,
and much more.
You can also remotely log off,
reboot or shutdown the system. Configuring the sound card mixer
SlyControl achieves this by using
the remote from a TV tuner card
package, or through other Choose the right corresponding
devices such as joysticks. remote control plugin
SlyControl supports several
devices including IR remote remote installed on your system.
controls of TV tuners using the If you click the ‘Setup’ button at
BT8x8 and Philips chips, the the top of this window, you can
Creative Live! Drive, the ATi view the remote control button
Remote Wonder, the Generic assignments. Click ‘Apply’.
DCD (LIRC) and Serial
(UIR/Irman) devices, WinLIRC, In this step, you can
uICE, and also through a sound enable WinLIRC server
emulation by simply
clicking ‘Apply’. Set default action for ‘Mute’ function
Also, you might want to
at the start of a TV or radio
programme, and mute
when it’s over (applicable
only if you are using a TV
tuner remote control, and
not the other devices that
we have mentioned).
Click the ‘Mute Tuner’
and then the ‘Unmute
Tuner’ buttons in order to
adjust these settings. Click
‘Apply’ to proceed.
SlyControl up and running Enable WinLIRC server emulation

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 115

 4 Years Of Tech

You can
use your More Alternatives
favourite Didn’t like SlyControl or want to try something different? Well, there are more
application options available for you. Here’s a list of software that are similar to SlyControl.
uICE: Available from www.mediatexx.com, this software is in every respect as good
for playing as SlyControl except that it supports fewer devices. The control provided by uICE is
audio, very good, and its interface and OSD (on screen display) are much better
than SlyControl.
video, ARC2000: It is an Advanced Remote Controller with a Scheduler and HTTP Server
TV and for your computer. It can be configured with plugins and remote modules. It has a
very small skinnable interface and can be minimised to the system tray. A free-
FM radio ware, it can be downloaded from http://snipurl.com/ez34.
Girder: Girder is a very good software that lets you control and automate your
computer. Girder opens up almost unlimited possibilities, from home theatre
automation, PC-based media player, business applications, and IT functions to
home applications. There are hundreds of plugins available for Girder. Girder is
available for $19.99 (around Rs 867) at www.promixis.com. To learn about the keys used
to launch the various applica-
tions, refer to the help provided
This step allows you to with SlyControl. There is
select the various appli- another way to find out: after
cation plugins depend- SlyControl is up and running,
ing on the kind of appli- click the ‘Script’ tab, and click
cations you wish to control the tab of the particular applica-
using SlyControl. tion, the controls of which you
When SlyControl starts, want to learn.
only these application plugins
will load, and the correspon-
ding applications will be avail- You can select your favourite
able for control. Click ‘Apply’ to multimedia application
go to the next step.
This is the last step—you
can configure miscella-
neous options such as
enabling Test-To-Speech
(TTS), disabling the SlyControl
icon in the system tray, and
using ZSoft Lupa for the
Zoom/Fullscreen button.
This button is equivalent to
the magnify feature in
Windows’ Accessibility menu.
Click ‘Apply’ to finish the config-
uration, and start using
SlyControl!
Select the existing scripts for applica- View the remote control buttons used in
tion control each application

At this point, you choose SlyControl plugins are

the applications you frequently updated, and hence
wish to use for playing there is a great chance that you
audio, video, TV and FM may find new plugins that
radio. You can choose only one support your model of the TV
application for each of these. tuner remote.
Click ‘Apply’. You may configure some more options [email protected]

116 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Turn On The Volume!
Good acoustics make for a good aural experience.
Speaker placement also plays a big part. Read on
to learn more...

Photograph Jiten Ganhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

We show your room, you should try and Remember to switch off the
Bhaskar Banik stay close to the defined angles. PC first, and then connect the
you how to This should be taken as a rule of speaker wires. You may
set up your

A
fter having read the thumb for users with a 5.1 setup. invariably disturb or unplug any
Digit May 2005 speaker other cable when you are
speakers comparison test, you Connect Right fiddling on the back panel of a
the easy must be eager to get Once the new speakers arrive, powered on computer. If the
way your hands on a good set of the first thing you must do is power cord gets unplugged, you
speakers. Irrespective of what connect them properly to the could end up losing a lot of data.
without you desire, it is imperative that sound card. Most new The speakers we used for
breaking you install the speakers right. motherboards have support for this workshop had colour-coded
Why? Because even if you get the 5.1 speakers, and connecting audio connectors at both ends
your head best set of speakers, and play a them to the integrated sound which let us easily plug in the
song or a film on your PC, it card can be done in a jiffy. This is cables to the audio jacks on the
won’t sound right if the speakers easy if the cables are colour- back panel of the connector.
are not placed properly. Read on, coded. However, if they are not, For a 5.1 setup on an
and we will help you place your you will need some time to get integrated sound card, here’s
speakers right. the configuration right. what you should do:

The Surroundings
The acoustics of the room in
which you intend to keep the
speakers are important. Even if
you get high-end speakers, if
the acoustics of the room are
not up to the mark, your
investment is likely to suffer.
Curtains, carpets, wood B. Inserting the front speakers
and/or metal furniture, all A. Colour-coded integrated audio
connectors to the back panel of PC
ultimately add to the room’s jacks on the back panel of the PC
acoustics. So, before you actually
get down to screwing the First, let’s take a look at the
satellites to the wall, check back panel connectors of the
thoroughly at different angles. PC. You will see three distinct
Of course, not all of us are colour-coded audio jacks—
audiophiles or movie freaks, but green, blue and pink. The
a slight exercise in installing the audio jacks have two roles.
speakers will go a long way in In the general onfiguration,
getting a good aural experience. a green jack is meant to be the
One aspect is the angles at audio line-out, perfect to
which you set the speakers. connect a stereo or a 2.1 set of C. Inserting rear speakers connectors
Depending on the dimensions of speakers (most 2.1 speakers
don’t come with a separate sub-
woofer connector). The blue The green or front channel
audio jack acts as the line-in, speakers go into the green jack
and is used to connect devices (image B). The rear speaker
such as a walkman to the PC for connectors go into the line-in or
recording from the walkman. the blue jack on the back panel
The pink one serves as a of the computer (image C).
microphone jack. This is the Finally, the subwoofer connector
general configuration (image goes into the microphone or the
A). While the placement of pink jack on the back panel of
audio jacks may differ amongst the computer (image D).
motherboards, their colours The final assembly of speaker
An ideal placement of speakers in a room essentially denote the same cables on the back panel of the
functions as mentioned above. computer is shown in image E.

118 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Configuring can access the driver

configuration panel by either
sound card going to Start > All Programs,
drivers is and locating the name of the
program, which could either be
important Realtek or Soundmax, and
when clicking the Control Panel.
setting Alternatively, double-click the
System Tray icon at the bottom
up the D. Inserting the subwoofer speaker
connector to the back panel of the PC G. Connecting the satellites of the screen for opening the
speakers driver configuration panel.
Once you have opened the
Once this is done, connect speakers. The image G depicts driver configuration panel, you
the other colour-coded audio connecting a single satellite will see that the default option
cables to the back of the connector to the subwoofer. is chosen as ‘stereo speakers’.
subwoofer (image F). Since the The final assembly of cables So we will have to change the
jacks are labelled, you are spared on the back of the subwoofer is default option to ‘5.1 speakers’.
the guessing game! shown in image H. With that done, we need to
This completes the hardware test if each channel is properly
connections part for speakers. configured. Press the ‘Test’
Next, we move into the driver button at the bottom of the
configuration for speakers. configuration panel, and choose
the default settings.

E. The final assembly on the back

panel of the computer

Once the speaker cables are

connected to the back panel of
the computer, we can H. The final Subwoofer assembly
concentrate on the speaker
itself. For most part, we shall I. Changing the speaker options
deal with the subwoofer. The Driver Deal
After connecting the speakers,
it’s time to configure the
drivers. For most motherboards,
integrated sound solutions are
based on the Realtek AC6XX
chips. High-end motherboards
have ALC8XX chips.
However, some
motherboards such as the Asus
F. Connected audio cables on the A7N8XE-Deluxe are based on the J. Click the ‘Play Test Noise’ button
back panel of the subwoofer Nforce 2 chipset, which uses the
extremely good SoundStorm Now, click the ‘Play Test
All multimedia PC speaker audio solution. Newer Noise’ button. This will play
satellites connect to the motherboards such as the MSI the noise from each of the
subwoofer by means of a P4N Diamond SLI have the speakers including the sub-
connecting wire. These wires may Creative Live! 24-bit chip as the woofer. If everything sounds as
or may not be colour-coded and on-board audio solution. it should then you are done.
labelled. Generally, they are not, Since Realtek is the generic The next step would be to put
but if they are then it is definitely chip that most motherboards up your feet and relax!
a plus for easy installation of have, we will stick to that. You [email protected]

120 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Laptop Maintenance Tips
A little care in maintenance will go
a long way in increasing your
laptop’s life

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

data on it. Make sure your weeks. If you don’t do this, it

The bane Varun Dubey laptop is at least 13 cm away will quickly lose battery life
of most from any electrical appliance due to what is known as the

L
aptops are expensive that generates a strong ‘memory effect’.
laptop gadgets made for magnetic field—such as a The memory effect means if
users is the mobility. Generally, they microwave oven. you don’t follow the above
are not very tough, and procedure, your battery will
lack of are not known to take too well Give It A Breather only charge up to the
really long to being mishandled . If you have just shut down your percentage of the last charge.
battery If you do end up messing laptop, give it 30 seconds For instance, if you discharge it
your laptop, even the smallest before you start it up again. to 30 per cent, it will only
life of repairs will set you back This ensures that the hard charge up the remaining
by thousands of rupees. Read drive has spun down, and is not 70 per cent.
on to learn how to care for subjected to sudden switching Do this repeatedly, and the
your laptop. on and off. 30 per cent will become
We have also included some unusable, giving you an
important pointers you need to Data Backup effective 70 per cent charge
stick to before, during and Always back up your data. even though the indicator will
after using your laptop. Laptops are mobile devices, still show a 100 per cent charge
and are susceptible to each time you charge it.
Clean It Right breakage. Also, it’s possible
Since your laptop is such an that the hard disk simply Nickel Metal Hydride
expensive gadget (falling prices crashes. Remember, you can Ni-MH batteries are similar to
notwithstanding), be extremely never back up too frequently. Ni-Cd batteries, although they
careful while cleaning the are less susceptible to the
screen. Make sure the cloth Laptop Battery Care memory effect. They also have
is very soft, and has no The bane of most laptop a higher capacity.
imprints or monograms users is the lack of a really
on it, as these may scratch long battery life. There are Lithium Ion
the screen. three main types of laptop These are the latest type of
Also ensure that the cloth is batteries: batteries, and have no real
lint-free, else it will leave fibres Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) problems as far as the memory
on the screen, and make the Nickel Metal Hydride effect is concerned.
display unclear. Make sure you (Ni-MH) The problem with these is
don’t spray any cleaner directly Lithium Ion (Li-ion). that they lose their
on the screen. Instead, spray effectiveness if overcharged or
onto the cleaning cloth, and Nickel-Cadmium left for a long time with a full
allow the cloth to capture the This type of battery must be charge. Always discharge these
dirt and contaminants. fully discharged and then batteries if you’re going to be
fully recharged every few storing them away.
Choosing The Spray
The screen is the most
expensive component of your
laptop. Adequate care must be
taken while choosing the
cleaning spray. Harsh sprays
could turn the screen yellow,
and may even cause cracking.
Use plain water or vinegar to
clean the screen.

Placing The Laptop

Hard drives work on the
property of magnetic flux, so
any electrical field may
damage the hard disk and the

122 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

A hard Keep Your Battery access to presentations, proposals

Healthy and other information they use
reboot on a day-to-day basis.
should only Before the first use, charge
the batteries for 12 hours or Clean Up The Junk
be used as the minimum charge time, as Uninstall applications you
a last mentioned in the manual. don’t use. Apart from saving
resort For daily use, charge the on disk space, you’ll also
battery to capacity, then run prevent your notebook from
the laptop on battery power slowing down.
until it is completely drained Be resourceful—keep backups
(for Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries, of the OS, drivers and commonly
this prevents the memory used applications on a secondary
effect) or almost drained. (For partition so you can do some re-
Li-ion batteries, this can help installing on your own if you face
prevent overcharging). any issues when travelling. Carry
Don’t leave your battery simply holding down the power driver CDs and recovery disks.
unused for long periods of button until it powers down.
time. Even if you use AC power Although quick, this method is Laptop Security
most of the time, use the harmful to the laptop and Don’t Be A Jerk
battery regularly to keep it in could cause data loss. Don’t subject your laptop to
good condition. Switch off A hard reboot should only jerks and shocks. This will help
your AC adapter when the be used as a last resort. avoid damage to your hard drive.
laptop is not in use. This Sometimes this is inevitable, Preferably, power the notebook
prevents overcharging. off before moving it from
To extend battery life, one place to another.
you can try decreasing the
LCD brightness while Dusty Notebooks Don’t
using your notebook. You Impress
can activate the ‘Standby’ Protect your laptop from
and ‘Hibernation’ power- dust. Ensure vents are clean
saving modes, too, for to enable good air flow.
better battery life.
Drinks And Laptops A
Battery Storage No-No
If you do not use your Don’t place any containers
laptop for extended periods filled with beverages (hot or
of time—a week or more— cold) near your notebook,
remove the battery pack to prevent accidental spills.
from the laptop, but only
after discharging it fully. Power Saving Tips
The batteries should be Let Power Be Managed
stored in a cool dry place, By The Pros
removed from heat, Set the device to switch
humidity and dust as well off the LCD screen, and
as metal objects. for instance, when Windows hard drive after fixed intervals
hangs. But this should not be a of time.
Use A Laptop Case regular practice.
It is advisable to spend a couple Disconnect
of thousand rupees and get a General Tips External peripherals and
sturdy carry-case for your laptop. Shortcuts To Success accessories such as external opti-
The case should ideally be Create shortcuts to your cal drives, PC cards and USB
hard from the outside and soft most commonly used applica- keyboard lights draw power from
on the inside, while being a tions, folders and files on the the notebook. Disconnect such
comfortable fit. It should be able desktop. This way, you can access devices when not in use.
to absorb shocks and carry your them quickly. If you like your
laptop accessories. desktop clutter-free, you can also Suspend Your Notebook
create custom toolbars in Booting the notebook
Keep Eatables Away Windows XP. when it is not connected to a
Obviously, no eating and drink- To do this, right-click on power source draws a lot of
ing near or around your laptop. the Windows taskbar, go to power from the battery.
The least bit of water could ‘Toolbars’ and click ‘New Instead of shutting down
short-circuit some sensitive Toolbar’. Next, choose the drive your laptop in the middle of a
laptop circuits, and render or folder you want to access meeting, choose the ‘Suspend’
it useless. using the toolbar. You can create mode if you wish to use it
different toolbars for different again after just a short interval.
No Hard Booting drives and folders. This will save battery and help
You may sometimes be tempted This is expecially useful for you restart your work faster.
to turn your laptop off by sales executives who want easy [email protected]

124 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Do It All With
Laser MFDs
Save costs and work faster with all-in-one laser-based MFDs
that can print, copy, scan and fax

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

identical copies of the data on of paper and showing them on

Bhaskar Banik the same page. For instance, if the same page.
you want four copies of a Consider business cards that

M
ost workgroups and receipt—by using the Clone Copy have printed data on both sides.
departments option, you can fit this on one A card can be kept on the glass
consisting of 25 page, and cut the page to get the document scanner, and both
people or thereabouts four copies. sides of the card can be copied
generally use a laser-based MFD Again, this mode works only onto a single sheet of paper on
solution. This is not only when you manually place the one side.
because a laser-based MFD is far document on the glass, and not In order to get to this menu,
cheaper courtesy the laser in the ADF. You can do so in the follow the same path as given
printing functionality, but it’s same manner as mentioned above for ‘Autofit Copying’. All
also faster. And that leads to above in Autofit copying, but you need to do is look for the ‘2-
improved productivity. instead of looking for ‘Autofit’ Side’ option in the menu. Then
Some models of laser-based when you access the menu, press ‘Enter’ and start copying.
MFDs have special features that choose the ‘Clone’ option.
remain largely unused, since 2-Up Or 4-Up Copying
most users are unaware of them. Collation Copying This is another useful mode, if
Here’s looking at some of these Collation Copying is an you want to compare two
features to help you get the most extremely useful feature. In this documents, or want a copy of
out of your MFD. process, you can get a set of two different documents on the
documents collated and sorted same page. You can also choose
Copying automatically as per your needs. to have four documents fitted
The copy button is one of the onto a single sheet of A4-sized
most-used buttons on the MFD. paper—good enough for
Generally, copying is done at comparing four documents on a
default or preset settings. single sheet.
However, in some models, you There will be a reduction in
can tweak this. Here’s a small the size of the printed text when
list of such tweaks. you choose this mode. This mode
can only be accessed when
Autofit Copying you are manually copying
This is a copying mode that documents, and not using
works when you manually place the ADF.
the document on the glass and
not on the Automatic Document Poster Copying
Feeder (ADF). Next, you can This is a special mode that lets
press the ‘Special’ button on Control panel of a laser-based MFD you expand a single document to
the MFD and then, using the a poster. Poster copying is only
‘Scroll’ button, locate the For instance, if you want to possible when you are manually
‘Autofit’ option. copy a five-page document, sort copying a document. It’s a good
Pressing ‘Enter’ will save the the pages in a manner in which technique for blowing up a
selection, and you can start the they have to be copied, place single image on one page to
copying process. This is them in the ADF, and then press multiple pages. Choose the
especially useful in scenarios the ‘Special’ button. Next, access ‘Poster’ option from the menu
where you need to spread a the menu, go to the ‘Collation’ and start copying.
small amount of data over a option. Then press ‘Enter’ to
page. This gives the page a choose that menu, and start the Faxing
professional appeal. copying process to get accurately Faxing is available on most laser-
sorted sets of the number of based MFD models. Generally,
Clone Copying copies you had specified. you can use the MFD to receive
Clone Copying is another faxes using the preset settings.
technique that spreads a small Two-Sided Copying However, if you are worried
amount of data over the whole This option is present on some about confidential faxes falling
page, and instead of just MFDs. It’s useful for copying into wrong hands, you can
spreading the data, it creates information from smaller sheets configure the MFD to not

126
 4 Years Of Tech

provide a printout for the faxes. toner and drum are in a sealed costs, are rugged and offer
This is called the secure cartridge, so when your toner is longer duty cycles. They are
receiving mode, wherein all used up, you have to replace the costlier and generally meant
incoming faxes are stored in the entire cartridge including the for large firms.
MFD’s memory. You can later half-used drum. These MFDs are the best in
access the MFD, and print the Heavy-duty MFD technology the laser-based category, and offer
faxes by punching in the is the same as copier machines, a host of additional features.
password you provided earlier which are quite rugged. Here,
when configuring the MFD. the toner is stored in a separate The MFD Buying Guide
For system administrators, cartridge from the drum; so you
such MFDs can also provide only replace what you use up. Before Buying An MFD
detailed prints about fax usage Typically, a drum is rated to last Consider your usage pattern: if
on the particular MFD. You can for 50,000 pages, and the toner you print and copy a lot, choose
get a report about the phone lasts for about 5,000 pages. So, a a copier engine-based MFD. If
numbers stored in the MFD’s copier-based MFD actually works you print more and copy less,
memory, a sent-fax report, out cheaper in the long run. opt for a printer engine-based
received-fax report and more. MFD. If fax is your main concern,
Some MFDs also have a Personal MFDs opt for a specialised laser fax
power failure report generator In small offices, devices with a that doubles as a laser printer
that automatically generates a smaller footprint are preferred and scanner.
report after restoration of the over huge machines. Due to the Look for handy features such
device from a power failure. absence of a flatbed scanner, as paper capacity, buffer
Similar to e-mail spam, sheet-fed MFDs score in terms of memory, duplex printing, and
there are people who randomly space, and do the same job as toner save. Ensure that the MFD
send junk faxes to other fax their bigger counterparts. can print on the type of paper
numbers. If your fax products you use, say,
machine receives junk faxes envelopes or index cards.
regularly, use the junk fax Consider upgradeability
barrier feature through and scalability, as these
which you can specify upto options will extend the life
10 fax numbers as junk. of the device. Being bulky,
Any incoming faxes lugging laser MFDs around
from these junk numbers is not feasible. Make sure
are blocked from being your model is covered by an
printed, and are included on-site warranty.
in the generated received- Try the console
fax report. interface to figure out how
These were some of the to operate the device.
features available on most Examine the control panel.
high-end laser-based MFDs. It should have a good LCD
The manner in which you panel to display status
access them will vary for messages and warnings.
various MFDs.
Some More Functions
Take Your Pick Such MFDs are You can scan multiple
Laser-based MFDs can be recommended for work documents in batch processing
broadly classified into three environments where space is at mode or optionally, use Optical
distinct categories—Personal, a premium, and also for Character Recognition to convert
Workgroup and Heavy Duty, professionals who carry work scanned documents and faxes
and cater to a specific segment. home. A small footprint and into text documents for editing.
Personal MFDs contain greater usability make these On some MFDs, you can save
devices that are sheet-fed, and devices a good option for the received fax on the PC and
have limited scanning abilities. getting work done faster. print only the required faxes.
Most are monochrome scanning If your machine is out of
devices restricted to 256-colour Workgroup MFDs paper, or the ink cartridge is
grayscale scanners. For a low to medium volume of low, faxes will be stored in the
Some are actually fax printing and copying, MFDs ‘fax memory’. When the paper
machines, with laser printing based on laser printer engines tray is refilled or the cartridge is
and scanning capabilities built are preferred. These are replaced, then the stored faxes
around them. They are best generally deployed as shared will be printed. Some MFDs can
suited for very low print resources in departments. These store up to 500 pages.
volumes, as the cost per page MFDs can handle a fair amount Use the ‘PC Faxing’ option
is high. of work-load and also provide if you would like to send faxes
Workgroup MFDs utilise a fast-paced printing and copying. directly from your computer’s
laser-printing engine. The modem without having to
consumable used is a unified Heavy-duty MFDs print the document and
toner cartridge. The toner life is Heavy-duty MFDs are good for feeding it manually into the
usually 3,000 pages, and a drum high volumes of printing and fax machine.
is said to last for 7,000 pages. The copying, have low running [email protected]

128 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Print Photos Using Your
Inkjet MFD
Using an inkjet MFD, you can take your photographs and
convert them into digital memories—and also make copies
for family and friends as well

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

Typically, you should

Varun Dubey buy photo paper that is
Your MFD
around 270 gsm—‘gsm’ or
can be the

H
as there recently been grams pre square metre is
single device a function you the density of the paper,
neglected to attend? and as a general rule,
that Or one you forgot to determines the quality of
enhances and carry your state-of-the-art the paper. A 15-sheet, A4
prints your digicam to? size, 270 gsm bundle costs
Perhaps one of your friends about Rs 200. Also, most of
digital photos was present, and therefore has the top manufacturers have
and does photographs you would love to their own set of papers that
add to your collection. But he are optimised for their Preview the photo to be scanned
more... can’t find the negatives for devices, and it’s recommended
reprints, and he definitely isn’t you opt for those. all the software and drivers that
going to give his copies to you! came with it, you’re ready to get
In this age of digitisation, Once you’ve connected prints of your own!
photographs are one of the few your MFD to your Place the photograph(s)
things people prefer to have computer and installed that you want to scan on
hard copies of. the scanner bed of your MFD.
We show you here how you If you are placing multiple
can copy photographs from photographs at the same
friends and, perhaps, time, make sure you leave
magazines using your inkjet a small gap between them
MFD. You can also enhance so it becomes easier to
them to make them look better separate them when you’re
than the originals! editing them.
Most MFDs come with
What You Need bundled image-editing
An inkjet MFD, some photo- software that will satisfy
quality paper, and let’s not most of your basic needs.
forget the photographs you However, we’ll use the most
want to copy! Choose the appropriate capture device popular image editing

MFDs can make for a very useful investment—they let you scan and print your photos from the comfort of your home

130
 4 Years Of Tech

image size, scan size, etc. If

you want to print a large
image, it’s recommended
that you scan at a higher
resolution and then resize or
crop, if required.

Once you have

imported the image
into your image editing
software, you can tweak
it to your heart’s content. The Epson Stylus PHOTO CX1500
You may want to adjust the
colour, brightness, and
sharpness, or even apply cool with the results, continue
filters and effects to your to the next step.
image. If your image has the Once you are done with
Tweak your images in Photoshop red-eye problem, correct it! the editing part, simply
If it’s overexposed or go to File > Print. You
software—Adobe Photoshop. underexposed, correct that will see the print dialog
Open Photoshop box, where you can select
and go to File > the printer you want to
Import. Here, you use (if
will see a list of you have a printer
the image acquisition installed in addition to
devices that are installed your MFD). Then, click the
on your computer. ‘Properties’ button.
Select your MFD’s
scanner from amongst This will open the
these. It will probably be printer driver’s
listed as something like interface, and
‘WIA-xxxxxx’, where allow you
‘xxxxxx’ is your scanner to tweak various image
name; or it will be listed settings, such as image
as ‘xxxxxx TWAIN’ (an quality, paper quality,
industry standard for landscape or portrait
scanning), where again, mode, etc. Make sure you
‘xxxxxx’ is your scanner’s set the printer to print at
name. If both are listed, high quality, and set the
select the TWAIN source. too! In fact, refer to the Fast correct paper size, else you will
Track book on digital mess up your photo paper!
Clicking on that will photography that was given Finally, just click ‘Print’,
get you to the driver with the March issue of Digit. and watch as your tweaked
interface for your There are plenty of Photoshop photograph is printed! You now
scanner. Now, tips and tricks in there. have your very own copy,
depending on your driver’s Play with the menus and which, may be better-looking
abilities, you can adjust the settings in Photoshop, than the original.
scan size, quality settings, and when you are pleased [email protected]

Copying An Image
We’ve told you what you need to do to scan, edit and print colour LCD screen—where you can view and change
a photograph. What if you do not want to edit it? If you settings.
simply want to copy it, and feel that the effort required— Navigate to the printer settings on your device and
however minimal it may be—to scan and then manually select ‘Photo Quality’ from the print quality settings. Then
click ‘Print’ is too much for your taste, all MFDs will let you navigate to the page setup and make sure your page size is
copy images at the touch of a button! set to the same size that you will be printing the picture on.
To copy your image, simply place it on the scanner bed Note that if you have a 4 x 6 size paper, and an image
and press ‘Copy’. The device will first scan the image and much larger in size, you should also select the ‘Scale to page’
then print it. option. This will ensure that your photograph is resized, and
But hang on! Before you go and starting wasting that the print sizes of the image and the page match.
paper, keep a few things in mind. Just pressing the ‘Copy’ Some MFDs, such as the Epson RX630, come with
button may not give you the best image quality. It’s fine if memory card readers—so you can just take your memory
you just want to copy text and are going to use your device card out of the camera and plug it into the MFD. You can
more as a Xerox machine than as a photo printer, but view the LCD to edit and print the image! Some other MFDs
for photographs, you may need to tweak your printer also let you do basic image editing, such as cropping, rotat-
settings a bit. ing, resizing, and even increasing and decreasing
Most MFDs have an LCD screen—and some have a brightness and contrast!

132 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Wall Mounting An
LCD Panel
LCDs can be mounted on walls for different
purposes and use in public places

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

Disconnect The as the one in the form of an

Courtesy Aliasgar Pardawala and Panel arm, which gives you the
Varun Dubey If the panel is in use, flexibility to move the panel
wall you will first need to and face it in all directions.
mounts,

L
CD panels have gained disconnect it from the PC by You also get non-flexible
LCDs can popularity primarily plugging out the video cable types. Make sure you make the
because of their small and power cord, and if possible, right choice, since once it’s bolted
now be footprint and low power detaching both these cables on to your wall, there’s not really
used in consumption. These factors from the panel as well. much you can do
have made a lot of people turn Remove the panel from its to change it.
airports, a blind eye to their current stand and place it face
showrooms, shortcomings such as their down, gently, on a flat, dry and Fix The
and hotels, restrictive viewing angle. smooth surface. Make sure Wall
Due to this popularity, there is nothing in the way Mount
and do not manufacturers took LCDs a step that could damage the screen. Once you know
mess up the further by introducing a the size
wall mount. Since an LCD between the
décor as panel doesn’t weigh much, threaded Two mounting
CRTs did it is easy to mount it on an holes, get plates
earlier adjustable arm that’s the wall
fitted on your wall. This mount of your choice and
meant that LCDs could get prepared to bolt it to
now be used in places such the wall. First of all, fix
as airports, showrooms, the sheet metal back plate
hotels and restaurants, of the wall mount to the
and not mess up the décor LCD panel.
as CRTs did before. This back plate has
However, none of the four U-shaped pegs, which
panels available in India fit exactly into the
come with the Video provided groove on the
Electronics Standards wall mount.
Association (VESA)
compliant wall mount. Drilling Holes
This Now it’s time to
is done to drill holes in the
decrease costs, Hole Spacing wall as per the size and
as India is a In the LCD manual, diameter mentioned in the
very price check out the VESA manual, so you can fix the
sensitive wall mount page to find out second plate. This is the plate on
market. the spacing between the holes. which the panel, along with the
If you There are two standards; the arm, will be fastened.
would like 75mm and 100mm. This
Wall mount VESA arm to get a spacing will decide the type of Arm Assembly
wall wall mount you need to buy. Fix the arm assembly on
mount, you will need to buy it to the wall plate with
separately from your vendor. Various Wall the help of the provided nut and
Here, we have elaborately Mounts bolt. Make sure that the arm
explained how you can fit the There are several types assembly is secured tight
panel in the wall mount. of wall mounts available, such enough to take the load and

PPM63h3 63-inch Samsung Plasma TV

Wall mounting design map

134 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Since an your PC switched on in order to

watch your favourite TV show!
LCD panel Apart from the
doesn’t aforementioned video inputs,
LCD monitors feature the whole
weigh gamut of connectors for
much, it can attaching your
be easily DVD, VCD or
other video
mounted input sources—
on an such as
Swivel arm assembly handycams—as
adjustable well. They
arm fitted HLP6163 61-inch Samsung Rear and also have a socket to plug in generally
on your wall Projection TV your cable. The inbuilt TV tuner support various Mounted display
then scans and stores all the screen aspects
(16:9; 4:3). They will also let
occasional jerks that it will you zoom into the image!
be subjected to. This is where it gets
really cool. Some of them
Mount Your also support the PIP
Display (Picture-in-Picture) function
Fasten the arm with wherein if you want to
screws to the plate that you watch a show but have a
fixed on the back of your pressing deadline at work,
LCD panel earlier, and check you can start working on
for tightness. That’s it. The your presentation and
panel is mounted on a VESA have the TV program run
wall mount and ready for as a small window on
use. All you have to do is the screen.
reconnect the wires! The beauty of this
function is that the
TV Or PC Monitor window need not remain
Or Both? small. You can resize it to
Some LCD monitors come whatever size suits you,
with the neat feature of having channels available, letting you and you can also place it
an inbuilt TV tuner. These operate your monitor as a anywhere on the screen!
devices have a regular port for regular flat screen TV! Moreover, [email protected]
connecting to your PC or laptop, you don’t even need to have [email protected]

Display Technologies
DLP (Digital Light Processing): A technology by Texas Two-Piece Rear Projection: This is similar to a front projector,
Instruments, it uses a Digital Micro Mirror, which consists of a except that the image is projected onto the screen from behind,
million small mirrors that reflect light and hence create the instead of from the front (unlike in a theatre where the projec-
image. DLP is touted to be the best digital picture you can get tor is placed at the front of the screen).
because of a better fill rate. The fill rate is essentially the ratio High Definition Television (HDTV): Regular NTSC TV signals
of the frame making up the image to how much of the frame will provide you with 525 lines of resolution, and as a thumb
lies between the elements. For DLP, the fill rate is a massive rule, the higher the
88 per cent! number of lines,
D-ILA: Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier is a type of the higher the
LCD display that was developed by JVC. Unlike LCD, its resolution. HDTV
elements reflect light twice before letting it pass through the gives you five times
lens. D-ILA offers a 93 per cent fill rate. those many lines,
LCoS: LCoS stands for Liquid Crystal on Silicon, and is Hitachi’s and thus, the clar-
version of D-ILA. ity and sharpness is
Plasma: A plasma screen is different from the regular screens simply outstand-
as it contains millions of small compartments filled with stable ing. Moreover, the
noble gases Argon, Xenon and Neon. To turn a pixel on, an elec- aspect ratio of
tric current is passed through the compartments, thus charg- HDTV is 16:9
ing the gas, and hence producing red, green, or blue colour. (widescreen) as
Rear Projection: The size of a rear-projection television gener- opposed to 4:3,
HC-P4741W 47-inch Samsung
ally ranges between 40 and 80 inches. The front projector proj- which is the regular
Widescreen HDTV Monitor
ects the image onto a mirror, which then reflects it onto the television format
display screen where we finally see it. these days.
Front Projector: This is a two-piece unit similar to the stuff The flip side is that since it has such high resolution, the
they use in movie theatres. With this kind of a setup, you will transmission of signal requires a massive amount of bandwidth
have two parts to your TV: the projector and the display screen. which makes it almost prohibitively expensive. HDTV receivers
It can be made from any of the above mentioned display types, are on an average 30 per cent more expensive than their
namely LCD, CRT, DLP, D-ILA, or LCoS. conventional top-of-the-line counterparts.

136 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Adding Effects
To Your Home Videos
Your home videos no longer need to be bland and
boring. Make your own movie with a title and credits
at the end... Here’s how

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

Adding Jayesh Limaye

effects to
your home

S
o you’ve finally managed
to store the memorable
videos that videos you captured
can make the during your holidays last
videos look year. And now you even have it
on your computer’s hard drive.
professional, What next?
Scene Detection Window
and make You could add some Movie Project Window
transition effects to your videos
you look to give it a professional feel. are listed. The area at the
good You might have frantically bottom are the ‘Storyboard’ and
searched the Internet looking ‘Timeline’ areas, where you will
for tools that might let you do be able to monitor how your
this, and probably found that video progresses.
everything available is either While ‘Storyboard’ displays
shareware, or whatever is the videos and transitions you
freeware, has very few features. are using, the video effects, text
Most of you might not be effects and audio items can only Detected scenes are displayed
aware that Ahead, the makers be added to the ‘Timeline’ view.
of Nero Burning ROM, has In the ‘Storyline’ view, these supported. The video clips
developed a tool—NeroVision items appear as symbols below added will be visible in the ‘My
Express 3—that lets you do all the video. Media Files’ list.
the editing you want.
NeroVision Express 3 For transition
can also be downloaded effects to be
from http://nero.com, added, you need
where it is also updated multiple clips to
quite frequently. add transitions in
This utility not only between. Hence, it is
supports adding transition recommended to have as
effects to captured video, many clips as possible.
but also lets you capture But, if all your videos
video using your TV tuner are just one file, you can
card, video capture devices also insert transition
and DV cams. effects into the video.
Right-click on the
To start off, open video in the ‘My Media
NeroVision Express Files’ list and click on
from the Nero ‘Detect Scenes’. Scenes will
program group. then be automatically
Now, click on ‘Make detected and displayed.

Click on the first blue Detected scenes can be

button below the ‘My added to the project by
Media’ files to browse dragging and dropping
and select the video them to the ‘Storyboard’
clips to be added to the and ‘Timeline’ areas.
compilation. A browsing Then, click on the ‘Display
window will be opened and you Transition’ tab, which is the last
may choose as many video clips tab above ‘My Media’ files.
as you want. Now, just click Here, you will find a host of
‘Open’. Almost all popular video transition effects, which are
Nero Version Express 3 formats—except Real Media—are further classified into 3D,
Wipes, Others and Fades.
Movie’, located on the left 3D effects consist of many
of the window. three-dimensional effects such
as Exploding Cubes, Horizontal
A new ‘Untitled Project’ Spinning Strokes, Spherise,
window will open up. In Tunnelise, and so on.
this window, you will ‘Wipes’, as the name
have a preview pane on suggests, consists of several
the left, while on the right, you wipe effects such as Circles,
will be able to view the ‘My MeltDown, Paper Roll, Wipe
Media’ files, in which the Left, Right, Up or Down, etc.
videos selected by you for the Movie Project Window after choosing ‘Others’ has Move In and
addition of transition effects video clips Move Out while ‘Fades’ consists

138 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

After adding the transitions in between

the scenes
Digital camcorders with 10X and 20X optical zoom that can really let you get
of several effects such as ‘into’ the thick of things!
Additive Blend, Blinds,
CheckerBox, Blur Fade, and
many more. custom, you can specify the bit- You can also view the
These transitions can be rate and resolution for the duration of video that can be
added between the scenes by output video. accommodated on one disc. This
just dragging and dropping In the ‘Sample Format’ drop- video format requires the
them in the desired place. down menu, you can specify the highest amount of space.
interlacing method. It is best to When you choose VCD,
Once you have set this as Automatic. You can the output video is created
added all the effects you also specify the Encoding in MPEG-1 format. Resolution
want, click on for PAL is 352 x 288
‘Export’ to bring at 25 fps.
up the window of the final In the ‘Custom’
stage, where you can template, if you select
specify various settings MPEG format, then
regarding the video file to you can also specify an
be output. aspect ratio of your
Here, you may select an choice. If you select AVI,
export template from DVD, you can select the
SVCD, VCD, or Custom, if compression codecs for
you wish to specify the video and audio. You
format of the output video can also specify the
file. In file types, the video format such as
options available are PAL, NTSC or Custom.
MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and AVI. When ‘Custom’ is
In the ‘Export selected, the frame
Template’, when you select rate and resolution
DVD, it essentially means can be specified. Once
the MPEG-2 video you do this, choose a
standard. This standard is location of your choice
known for its high video as for your output file
well as audio quality. mode—choose between ‘Fast’ and name the file.
If you choose NTSC, the and ‘High quality’. Finally, you When you click ‘Export’, the
video resolution chosen is 720 x can specify the audio format— final file with the transition
480 at 29.97 frames per second you can choose between Dolby effects you added is created. It’s
and the bit-rate is 5,073 kbps. Digital (AC-3) 2.0 and Stereo. as simple as that.
If you wish to choose the PAL Choose ‘Stereo’. [email protected]
standard, the resolution
becomes 720 x 576 at 25 frames
per second with the bit-rate Other Software You Could Try...
remaining the same. You can Adobe After Effects 6.5: This is a high-end tool for video editing and motion
configure the different settings graphics. It has stunning 2D and 3D transition effects that create professional-
by clicking the ‘Configure’ quality videos. It is available in Standard Edition, which costs $299 (approx Rs
button. In the ‘General’ tab, you 13,000) and Professional Edition, which costs $999 (approx Rs 43,450). Additionally,
can choose the video standard the Professional Edition has flexible Motion Tracking, powerful scripting, precise
according to your country or keying and matte tools, advanced visual effects and much more. These are some
features the Standard Edition does not have.
between PAL and NTFS. MainConcept MainActor v5: This tool grants you high-end power at entry-level price.
In the DVD-Video tab, you It has all the necessary features for good quality video editing, plus a dynamic inter-
can choose the aspect ratio from face. The demo version can be downloaded from www.mainconcept.com. The retail
between 4:3, 16:9 and version is available for $199 (approx Rs 8,650).
Automatic. In quality settings, Windows Movie Maker 2.1: Windows Movie Maker 2.1 is included in Windows XP SP2
you can choose from Automatic, and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. This tool can capture—as well as edit—
High, Standard, Long Play, videos from various devices including DV Cams. You can create home movies and give
Extended Play, Super Long Play them a professional look from the 130 new titles, effects and transition options that
and Custom. If you choose are available with this software.

140 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Back Up Using A
Portable Drive
It’s easy to use Windows XP’s inbuilt backup
software to always have a backup of your
data at-hand

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

guided tour of the advanced

You can Varun Dubey feature set.
choose the Backup

S
o you have a sprawling
type of MP3 collection, a whole Click on the backup
backup: lot of movies, and, of tab, and you will be
course, important taken to a split window akin to
Normal, documents and contacts, a file explorer. Here, you can
Copy, addresses and the like. check the boxes next to the
Differential, Wouldn’t you sleep a whole lot folders on the left pane (if you
better at night knowing that want to back up the entire
Incremental you have a secure and safe folder or drive). After you select
or Daily backup of all your important, folders, the entire contents
and possibly critical, data? (including files) are displayed.
We give you step-by-step Select the files or folders you
directions to back up your data want to back up.
to an external drive. In fact, Once you’re done, select the
you can back it up to pretty location to where you Choose from the various backup types available
much any drive using the want to back up, and also what
instructions given here! name you would like to you to a backup options
specify for the backup, from window where you can choose
What You Need the drop-down menu below. to verify the data after backup,
A drive to back up your data on Now click ‘Start Backup’. or back up data onto remote
(any USB or FireWire external Remember, it’s a good practice storage. You can also choose
HDD). The software we will be to keep a date and data- the type of backup, as
using is Windows XP’s inbuilt indicative nomenclature. mentioned below.
backup software. When you click ‘Start Normal: A regular backup.
Copy: Simply backs up the
Accessing The selected data, but does not
Software mark anything as backed up.
To launch the software, Incremental: Backs up the
go to Start > All Programs > selected files only if they have
Accessories > System Tools > been created or modified since
Backup. If you don’t have the last backup.
the software installed, you Differential: The same as
will have to add the feature incremental, except that it
from your windows XP does not mark the files as
installation CD. Enter the name of the backup file backed up.
The software starts with a Daily: Backs up the files
wizard. If you just use the Backup’, you will be presented created or modified only today.
wizard, it is fairly simple to with a backup ‘Job When you click ‘Schedule’,
carry out routine backups, but Information’ window where you will be prompted with a
we will take you through a you can modify the name and warning that says you should
description of the backup. save your backups before
Now you have two options: scheduling. Click ‘Yes’, and
you can either append the you will be prompted to set
backup to your existing up a password for security
backups on the media, or you reasons. Just enter a password
can wipe out other backups and confirm it, and you will
and create a new one by be ready.
selecting ‘Replace the backups You will be taken to a
in the media with this backup’. window where you can give
this schedule a name, and
Advanced Options using the options button,
Clicking on the configure options such as
The backup software starts with a wizard ‘Advanced’ tab will get ‘don’t backup if running on

142
 4 Years Of Tech

The reason your external

storage drive.
you need
to install While
connected to
two OSes is your office PC,
different install the OS
configs will on the first
partition.
have
different Once all the
drivers have
drivers that been installed,
will be migrate your
loaded, and data to that
partition.
doing it off The settings for a scheduled backup Restoring a file from your backup
the same
battery’ (in case it’s a laptop), synchronise and back up, and When you get home, boot up
OS will lead the time that the backup all the cables—and it makes your PC and install your OS on
to system should show, and of course, you wonder, “Isn’t convergence the second partition. Migrate
instability you can also configure when supposed to make life easier? all your work-related
you want to schedule the Isn’t that what we have documents from your home PC
action. You don’t want your ‘standards’ for?” to the second partition.
work to be disturbed because Efforts are on, but true
of backing up going on in the plug-and-playability is still Now this portable drive has
background. You can choose to some way in the future. essentially become your
back up on weekends, laptop—sans the screen
when you won’t be using and CTS-inducing
the machine; at system keyboard!
startup, if you’re a little The reason you need
paranoid; when the to install two OSes is
system is idle, so you have because different
a backup ready when configurations will have
you’re done with a work different drivers that will
session— be loaded, and doing it off
and so on. the same operating system
Once all this is will lead to system
configured, you can instability.
finally start your backup. Now, depending on
The backup file is saved where you are—home or
with the .bkf extension. office—boot up using the
To restore your backup, appropriate partition, and
simply fire up the you will never need to
software, and if you are in synchronise data to carry it
‘Advanced’ mode, click on back and forth: it would all
the backup file you want But we have a really neat be stored and worked upon from
to restore, and click solution for all your data the USB drive.
‘Start restore’. synchronisation between If you have installed the
office and work. same OS on both partitions,
Digit Tip! Most motherboards today the dual-boot option will give
Are you synchronisation- support booting via an you the same name, so how
phobic? Well, you aren’t alone! external USB drive. What you will you know which one
We offer you our heartfelt can do is, format and partition to use? Simple...
sympathies—we know that The name that appears is
synchronisation isn’t the configurable. To configure it,
easiest of things. Add to that right-click ‘My Computer’,
the trouble of remembering to and select Properties >
Advanced > Startup and
Recovery > Edit.
In the window that opens,
look for the text in quotes
stating with “Microsoft
Windows XP…”
You can type whatever you
want within the quotes, and
that will get displayed as the
boot option.
A choice of OSes shows up at bootup... ...Rename these to anything you like! [email protected]

144 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Understanding Manual
Camera Configurations
It’s very tempting to just use Auto
mode on your digicam all the time, and
that’s just the fear of the unknown.
Here’s how to overcome it!

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

sensor) and the depth of the sure value. Sometimes, though,

With Varun Dubey photograph. it selects the wrong part, and
manual This setting works in tandem your photo may turn out over- or

A
control, you re you one of those who with the shutter speed, so if you under-exposed (depending on
would love to get friend- want shots of something moving the selected area). To counter
can lier with your digicam fast, you should increase the this, most cameras today let you
experiment, but find that the menus aperture size and increase the change the wrongly-calculated
and acronyms are just too shutter speed to minimise the exposure value using the EV
and capture confusing to bother with—and blur. In fact, if you get the (Exposure Value) compensation
what the simply use the Auto setting on balance right, you can even get feature. The camera usually
Auto mode your camera? Many people do brilliant blur effects—like the provides you with a slider oper-
not realise the true potential of ones you see on F1 posters! ated by the ‘navi’ keys, and the
will not their camera and tend to do EV compensation values range
this. Aperture Priority from -2 to +2 with incremental
It’s true that most of the You can select the desired aper- steps of 1/3.
default settings in cameras ture and the camera will automat-
these days work just fine, and ically select the best shutter speed Flash Output
the hassle of tweaking puts for it. (Some cameras will let you Compensation
people off of the manual set both independently, but these Some cameras even allow you to
controls. But with manual are mostly professional cameras). determine the power of your
control, you can experiment, flash. This means you can
and capture what the Auto AE Lock control the amount of light the
mode will not—especially when Automatic Exposure Locking is flash emits when you shoot. This
it comes to things such as shad- the ability to lock the aperture is helpful when, due to confus-
ows, lighting effects, black and and shutter speed (and hence, ing light conditions, the flash
white photography... Read on Exposure) settings for a series of metering (calculated automati-
and find out how you can tweak images. That is, for every image cally) goes awry.

An under-exposed image on the left vis-à-vis a correctly-exposed image on the right

those settings to get the best out in the series, the aperture and ISO
of your digital camera. shutter speed settings will be The ISO setting on your camera
the same. This is extremely help- basically tells you how sensitive
Aperture Settings ful if you are trying to merge the camera sensor is to the light
The aperture is the size of the multiple images together (while falling on it. Now, for regular
opening in the lens, which creating a 3D walkthrough, for film cameras, the ISO rating is on
determines how much light example, or during the creation the film roll, but in digicams, the
received falls on the camera’s of a panoramic image). setting is related to the camera’s
sensor (in the case of digicams) sensor. As a thumb rule, the
or film (in the case of conven- Exposure Compensation higher the ISO setting, the faster
tional cameras). This setting In Auto Mode, the camera basi- the shutter speed required. So, if
affects the exposure (the cally selects a part of the image the ISO setting is too high, you
amount of light received by the to determine the correct expo- will start seeing a lot of noise and

146 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech
Most
prosumer
cameras
today let
you shoot a
photograph
as close as
4 cm from
Incorrect white balance leads to incorrect colours in the left image. The image on the right shows the image using the
the subject correct white balance, and therefore the correct colours

the image will become grainy. into different zones (like a light. If you keep the shutter
You therefore need to maintain matrix) which are then speed high, the camera sensor
the correct balance between ISO evaluated individually for will receive light for a lesser time,
and shutter speed and aperture, the light availability and and vice-versa.
as well as the exposure setting. exposure requirements. Then
the algorithm, which differs Time Lapse
Macro Mode from camera to camera, calcu- Some cameras can be
Macro mode is used for extreme lates the correct amount programmed to take multiple
close-ups. When set in Macro of exposure. photographs over a specified
mode, the camera will assume interval of time with a set time
that the subject is extremely Centre-Weighted gap between each shot. This is
close, and will adjust the settings Average Metering mostly used for photography in
accordingly. Most prosumer This is the most common meter- astronomy, or for special photos
cameras today let you shoot a ing method, and is implemented like capturing the opening of a
photograph as close as 4 cm from in pretty much every digital flower bud.
the subject. camera. In this method, the
camera scans and calculates the White Balance
Metering exposure for the entire scene, but In digital cameras, white
The “metering” in a digicam basi- the centre of the photograph is balancing is done on a per
cally scans the entire scene, given a higher weightage than, photo basis. The camera decides
calculates the amount of light say, the edges. the white balance for each
and then calculates the appropri- photograph by scanning the
ate exposure value. There are Spot (Partial) Metering image and taking a portion of it
three types of metering modes. In Spot Metering, only a small as a reference point.
In the automatic mode, you area of the whole frame is This system can easily be
just select the type of metering, metered and the exposure of fooled if the image is domi-
and the camera will calculate the the remaining frame is nated by a single colour. For
rest. The various methods of ignored. This is helpful when example, if you are shooting a
metering differ from shooting portraits or close- ups room, and there’s a bulb throw-
each other of people. ing yellowish light on a white
depending o the wall, the camera will assume
way the scene is Shutter Priority the wall to be white and calcu-
scanned for the This is similar to Aperture Prior- late everything else based on
determination of ity except that in this case, you that—and would get it wrong.
the exposure can select the shutter speed So, the cameras of today let you
value. and the camera will automati- change the white balance for
cally select the appropriate such circumstances. The basic
Matrix or aperture setting. available modes include
Evaluative Sunlight, Tungsten (A and B),
Metering Shutter Speed Indoor, Fluorescent light
In this kind, the This is the duration for which the and others.
scene is divided sensor of the camera receives [email protected]

148 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Drive Your Graphics
In this brief primer, we tell you a
little about graphics card
features—so you can get the
most out of your card

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

There are Aliasgar Pardawala and

DIRECT3D
two APIs Jayesh Limaye Bump Mapping
using which This feature—when enabled—

G
games are raphics card drivers are allows textures to show
software that help the depth. Tiles on the floor, or a
developed. card work seamlessly tiled stone wall, will actually
The first is with the rest of the appear bumpy. This feature
system, and can enable better was introduced in DirectX 6
DirectX, performance. Graphics card and thus, most current-
and the vendors usually release updated generation games support
second, versions of these drivers on a this feature by default.
regular basis, so you can get When enabled for older
OpenGL that little extra from your card. games, it will improve image
Many features and quality, but reduce
enhancements depend on the performance. This, again, This image shows how bump mapping
way drivers are written. Some depends on the game, and is used to create the emboss effect on
games are specifically optimised whether the game supports the kettle
for certain versions of drivers, this feature. Games these days
and vice-versa. Here are some use two types of bump mapped bump mapping), and
critical features to get more mapping—EMBM (environment DOT3 bump mapping.
performance from your games. EMBM can generate
There are two APIs the bump mapping
(Application Program Interface) effect with intricate
using which games are details such as the pock-
developed. The first is marked surface of
Microsoft’s DirectX, of which bricks, scratches on a
Direct3D is a critical metallic surface,
component. The second is realistic reflections on
OpenGL—Open Game Language. water ripples, and
Games developed using either more. This was
of these APIs use different sets of introduced in the
features, which can be enabled or Matrox G400 graphics
disabled to improve quality chip for the first time
and/or performance. We’ve back in 1999.
classified the various features Adust the Anisotropic Filtering in the nVidia DOT3 bump
under ‘Direct3D’ and ‘OpenGL’. control panel mapping, also known as

Graphics Jargon
Anti-Aliasing option. A higher setting of, say, 8x, will dramatically improve
This is a technique that removes jaggedness at the edges of image quality, but will also adversely affect the output frames
an object. Since it eats up lots of GPU cycles, a higher setting per second.
will lower the frames per second that you can get. Most cards
are set by default to the lowest setting of 2x, and the Texture Compression
‘Application Preference’ option lets you define the setting This is a technique, using which, a compression algorithm built
from the game. into the hardware of the graphics processor compresses and
decompresses the texture data, which results in an increase in
the effective bandwidth of the graphics data path between the
Anisotropic Filtering graphics chip and the CPU.
This filtering technique—when enabled—lets you see distant This was developed by S3 for OpenGL applications, and
objects clearly. A good example is a straight road. With this was known as S3TC. It was later adopted by Microsoft and used
setting enabled, you will be able to see the texture even at the in DirectX, and became known as DXTC (DirectX Texture
farthest point clearly. Similar to Anti-Aliasing, the lowest Compression). This feature requires that the hardware be
setting is 2x, and there is also the ‘Application Preference’ capable of supporting it.

150 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

per-pixel lighting, allows you to performance. This means better

With TCL add high detail to surfaces or performance at no decrease in
Back Face objects without increasing the graphics quality!
Culling, number of polygons.
OPENGL
objects not Dither Mode
visible to This is a mode setting for ATi 3DNow!/SSE and SSE2
drivers that works in tandem 3DNow from AMD and SSE2
you are with Alpha Blending. It is from Intel are optimisations
removed. instrumental in deciding the built into the processors.
This means wave pattern created by water Enable this feature to reap its
bodies and other similar Adust Anti-Aliasing in the nVidia benefits when playing OpenGL-
better effects. Alpha blending, on the control panel
performance other hand, is used to impart
the transparent look to water Vertex Shader Version
at no or glass. This is similar to Pixel Shader,
decrease in When enabled, this will hit and choosing a lower Vertex
graphics performance, but will make Shader version will offer
game scenes on a beach or better performance.
quality when swimming look very real.
TCL Back Face Culling
Pixel Shader Version When you select this function
The latest generation cards from the driver, objects that
from ATi support Pixel are not visible to you are
Shader 2.0, while those of removed. This frees up a lot of Adust the image quality here in the
nVidia support 3.0. However, bandwidth, which improves nVidia control panel
by default, the setting is
‘Driver Default’. There are based games—you’ll get
other options such as 1.0, increased performance.
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 and 3.0
also available. AGP Textures
A higher version of If you haven’t upgraded to
Pixel Shader can only be a PCI-Express-based
selected if your hardware graphics card yet, and are
supports it and if you have still using an AGP
installed the latest version interface-based graphics
of the display drivers and card, you should enable
the appropriate version of this setting. It provides
DirectX (e.g., Pixel Shader OpenGL-based games
3.0 is supported only in access to your system RAM
DirectX 9.0c ). You can to store texture
even lower the setting to information when
get better performance, necessary. This option
albeit at the loss of should be used if the card
image quality. has about 64 MB of
onboard RAM, and you are
playing texture-heavy games
such as Doom 3 or Far Cry.

Video Memory Textures

When enabled, this only uses
video RAM, and doesn’t transfer
texture information to system
RAM. This feature should be
enabled if your graphics board
has more than 128 MB of RAM.
However, cards with lower
memory will experience a
drop in performance if this
feature is enabled.

Force 16-bit Texture

When enabled, this feature
forces down colour depth from
32-bit to 16-bit. This improves
performance but makes textures
The above image is an example of how anisotropic filtering has been used to look flat.
clearly display the floor tiles even at a long distance [email protected]
[email protected]

152 DIGIT JUNE 2005

Ceiling-Mounting
A Projector
Hang your projector from a ceiling
to save space and project better

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

placed on the centre table or in a of the projector. There are

If you feel Aliasgar Pardawala bookshelf. Also, mounting the several designs available, for
the screen projector on the ceiling will help example, a single plate with

H
ome theatres are all in better air flow, but this will many drilled holes so that it
size of a the rage now, as prices depend on the design of the can match a wide variety of
plasma of the plasma displays mount as well. projector models.
and sound systems A bad design might block the Alternatively, use four
display or a have dropped to affordable air flow and damage the flexible arms instead of a
rear- levels. But if you feel the screen components or reduce the lamp plate, so that you can move it
projection size of a plasma display or a life, and lamps are expensive. to the position exactly over the
rear-projection television A ceiling mount for a mount holes on the projector
television doesn’t justify the price tag, projector is also useful in and fix it.
doesn’t what alternative do you have? boardrooms where you need to Fix another plate on the
The best answer is a have a fixed projector for ceiling securely, as this plate is
justify the projector. Projectors are presentations. Here, we help the one that will bear the
price tag, compact compared to rear- you to perform the mounting weight of the projector and
the best projection televisions or plasma task all by yourself. the mounting arm.
displays, and the screen hangs
answer is on a wall—hence not occupying At present, there are no Fix one side of the
a projector any floor space. specific standards on flexible arm first to the
The only problem is the adhering to dimensions ceiling plate, and then
position of the projector: it has for the ceiling mount.
to be in front of the screen. You will have to get one that
This will leave you with the will work with your projector. Buying Tips
option of either sitting behind The right place to enquire
the projector or beside it. for your model-specific ceiling Some considerations to bear in mind
Sitting behind the projector mount is, of course, the vendor when selecting a projector
can be troublesome because of from whom you purchased the LCD vs DLP
the noise of the fan and the unit. Since ceiling mounts are Differences are minimal for most
bright light from the lamp. not readily available, there may educational uses
be a waiting period before you Better contrast ratios of DLP may
can get one. be better suited for high ambient
light situations
Image features
The ceiling mount is Check the brightness first and then
not a single unit. In the contrast ratio
most cases, it is either Match the resolution of projector
in two (or a maximum to that of the computer
of three) pieces—two plates Consider short throw distance and
and an arm. keystone correction as extra features
The first plate with the Connectivity
drilled hole will exactly match Wireless connectivity is the latest
A typical ceiling mount attachment the four drilled and taped holes new feature in projectors
Wireless is useful for rapidly
at the bottom of the projector. switching between multiple inputs
You can free If the mount is Size
the table space brand and model- While smaller projectors
and reduce specific, be rest provide flexibility, it is at the cost
cable clutter by assured—you will of some advanced features and
fixing the get a smooth fit. physical security
projector on If you get a Educational features
the ceiling. universal ceiling Blackboard mode helps
This will mount, you will compensate when projecting without
a screen
eliminate the need to adjust Bundled document cameras can
problems that the plate to project paper and 3-D objects
you might have match the Copy-boards can be used for
faced, had the mount holes annotating and saving images
projector been A projector with ceiling attachment at the back

154
 4 Years Of Tech

You can use fasten the projector with the ‘Options’. Here, you will see an
mount plate to the other end option that reads similar to
the flexible of the arm. Once this is done, ‘Desk/Ceiling Mount’. By
arm to you are through with the default, this is set to ‘Desk’;
fixing part. change it to ‘Ceiling Mount’.
correct
keystone Switch on the
errors projector. We’re
assuming you have
taken care of the
cabling part, as you will
need a longer cable—both
video and power—to plug
in your video source (such
as a DVD player) to the
projector and power it up.
Since the projector is
ceiling-mounted upside Different kinds of ceiling
down, the first time you’ll mount attachments
see the company logo or a
wallpaper upside-down on You will now need
the screen. to adjust the focus
To correct this, click the and the zoom for
menu button on the image sharpness,
projector and go to and also perform keystone
correction such as trapezoidal
and rotation corrections.
Since the flexible arm can
roll, pitch and yaw (swivel in
three dimensions), you can use
it to correct keystone
discrepancies. In fact, you can
also use software to achieve the
same effect.
Now, you view your
favourite movies large and
clear, without having the
projector as your
immediate neighbour!
Epson EMP-SiH [email protected]
Align the screws of the ceiling mount exactly with the
drilled holes at the back of the projector

How To Buy A Projector

Some dos and don’ts of buying a projector: you adjust the brightness, as a lower lumen value can signifi-
LCD Or DLP: If your usage is more document-oriented rather cantly enhance the lamp life.
than multimedia-oriented, you won’t notice much difference Contrast Ratio: A higher contrast ratio allows you watch your
between DLP and LCD projectors. The higher contrast ratios movies with ease even in less than optimal light conditions.
offered by DLP make it much more convenient to use your Also, a higher contrast ratio will improve colour shading. A low-
projector in less-than-ideal light. end projector can make up for its relative lack of brightness by
Brightness: The brightness is an extremely important aspect of having a higher contrast ratio.
a projector’s performance. As a thumb rule, the brighter the Resolution: The higher the resolution, the higher the price. The
projector, the better the image. In most cases, for a regular most common projector resolutions are 800 x 600 and 1,024 x
room, a 1000-lumen projector will work just fine. For a larger 768, but you do get 1,280 x 1,024 and 1,600 x 1,200 projectors
room or a larger size of the projected image, a brighter projec- that are very expensive and meant for specialised uses.
tor is required, because the larger the image, the dimmer it Throw Distance : The further you move a projector from a wall, the
appears. Conversely, as your room grows dimmer, the image larger the screen area is. However, some projectors are equipped
projected becomes brighter and clearer. with wide-angle lenses that provide large image projections even
If you cannot buy a brighter (read: more expensive) projec- if they are at a small distance from the screen—useful in places
tor, then investing in a high-quality screen with high reflectivity where there isn’t too much space available.
is advised, as this will reduce the dimness of the image to a What You Can Connect It To: It is advisable to have as many
large extent. If you plan to use your projector primarily for additional inputs as possible. Modern projectors incorporate
PowerPoint presentations and for watching movies, you really multiple video and audio inputs such as digital input, HDTV
don’t need a really bright projector, as the amount of detail input, S-video and composite inputs. Apart from these, if your
required to be shown here is fairly low. projector has WiFi connectivity, so much the better.
However, if you plan to use it for graphics and Excel spread- Size Matters: These days, you can get projectors as light as a
sheets that require a higher amount of detail, you need to get a laptop, though much thicker. It is, of course, advisable to get a
brighter projector. As a general rule, the higher the brightness, projector that can be easily carried, but the smaller and more
the lesser the life of the projector. Almost all projectors will let powerful the projector, the more expensive it is.

156 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Setting Up Wi-Fi Cards
Did you know you could configure a
simple Wi-Fi card as an Access Point?
It’s very easy with Windows XP—here’s
how to do it

Photograph Jiten Gandhi

Imaging Atul Deshmukh
 4 Years Of Tech

Aliasgar Pardawala and PCI slot. Plug in the Wi-Fi card. profile. Give it an appropriate
It’s easy to Varun Dubey Close the cabinet and attach the name, and under the SSID field,
get an detachable antenna to the card. type in “New SSID”, or anything
Access

D
on’t you wish you could Since Wi-Fi uses radio else. Leave the channel to its
access stuff on your PC— signals, line of sight is not an default value, which is 11 in
Point or and indeed, your issue—but at the same time, most cases if you have just one
router and broadband connection— make sure that the antenna is Wi-Fi setup. Save this profile and
set up a from your laptop, without going not in a corner; this might exit the utility.
through the hassles and the affect performance.
connection, mess of metres of wires?
but that It’s very easy to get an Installing The
can be Access Point or router and set Drivers
up a connection, but remember Boot the system, and
pretty it can be pretty expensive. the card will be
expensive The following is a step-by- detected. Install the driver and
step explanation of how you utility that comes on the CD.
can turn your Wi-Fi card into You might have to restart the
an Access Point, and thus share machine depending on the
data and an Internet driver’s requirements.
connection over it. View your network properties
What’s more, this is no The Configuration
tougher than taking time out Utility
on a lazy weekend to go The utility installed for
shopping for an expensive and the card is where you can
wholly unnecessary device! do most of the setup from. Since
different manufacturers design
Setting Up A Wi-Fi Card their utilities differently, you will
As An Access Point have to look at the different tabs
Access points cost over on your card’s utility to get the
Rs 5,000—an investment that hang of it. It’s pretty simple with
doesn’t make sense for a very most cards—you can initialise
small setup of, say, two PCs. the configuration/monitoring
There are cheaper alternatives utility from the ‘Start Menu’ or
that will be easier on your from the Taskbar.
pocket. By ‘cheaper alternative’,
we mean Wi-Fi cards, which can Creating a Wi-Fi profile
be PCMCIA-based for laptops, or
PCI-based for desktops. Producing An
In the following steps, we IP Address
take you through the process You will need to give
of configuring a Wi-Fi card the network an IP
as an Access Point to which address. To do this, go to the
wireless clients can connect— ‘Control Panel’ and click the
and subsequently share an ‘Network Connections’ tab.
Internet connection and access Select ‘Wireless Connection’
shared resources. and right-click it.
We used the SMC2802W PCI- In the window that pops up,
based Wi-Fi card plugged into a click ‘Properties’. This will
desktop PC. It was configured as open a new ‘Wireless Network
an Access Point to which Wi-Fi Connection Properties’ window,
clients connected. Configuring your Wi-Fi card where you’ll see a TCP/IP field.
Highlight it and click the
Installing The Card Create A New ‘Properties’ button. This will
Switch off your system Profile open a window where you can
and remove the side In the utility, you will assign the IP address, subnet
cover. Locate an empty need to create a new mask and DNS server.

158
 4 Years Of Tech

The Give an appropriate IP

address and click on the
technique subnet mask field once. This
of ‘driving’ will fill the empty field with a
subnet mask. Click ‘OK’ and
around exit the Control Panel.
town
looking for
Wi-Fi
hotspots is
termed as
‘war
driving’ Your network SSID

If all the settings are When you see the SSID

correct, you should be able to highlighted, your Wi-Fi card
see the SSID—the one you has successfully been set up as
typed in—highlighted in the an Access Point!
utility after it scans for an [email protected]
Check your IP information available network. [email protected]

War Driving
NetStumbler is a neat tool made for the purpose of With NetStumbler, you also have the option of using GPS.
network scanning, and is a great addition to the arsenal of any If you have a Wi-Fi card with GPS capabilities, then you can run
network administrator worth his salt. This freeware utility NetStumbler, enable
is available for download from www.stumbler.net. It scans the GPS, and it will
surrounding area for available wireless connections within reach. pinpoint the location
Note, however, that just by scanning, you cannot expect to of the Access Point!
log on and surf using that connection. The device
Using the utility is fairly simple. Install and run the utility, requires absolutely no
and click on the button on top that’s shaped like a ‘play’ button. user input (apart from
This will start the ‘Scan’ mode for NetStumbler, and it will start the click at the start!)
scanning and recording data. and you can keep it
The information running in the back
provided is quite descriptive. seat of your car while The signal strength graph
It tells you about the you drive around the
signal strength, and whether neighbourhood scouting for Wi-Fi hotspots.
or not any encryption (WEP)
is used. The SSID, too,
NetStumbler’s default view is displayed.
The display of the signal
strength is particularly helpful for network administrators, as
you can go around with a laptop and locate and mark dead
spots or areas of poor signal strength. Available active APs show up
In fact, the advent of pocket PCs prompted the author of
NetStumbler to come out with a version that works with hand- The technique of ‘driving’ around the neighbourhood look-
held PDAs that have Wi-Fi built in. This is called MiniStumbler, ing for Wi-Fi hotspots is termed as ‘war driving’. Whether war
and can also be downloaded from www.stumbler.net. driving is ethical is an ongoing debate: say you leave your
Windows XP can natively display signal strengths, but the house door open—intentionally or unintentionally; are you thus
information is not as accurate as that provided by NetStumbler. inviting people to take what they want from inside?

JUNE 2005 DIGIT 159

 4 Years Of Tech

continue checking your

MS PUBLISHER publication. If you don’t want
to fix the problem, click
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts ‘Ignore’ or ‘Ignore All’, and
[Ctrl] + [Spacebar] click ‘Continue’. Click ‘OK’.
removes all style
formats from highlighted text Get Your Publisher
Superscript: [Ctrl] + [=] Files Together
Subscript: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [=] When you take your
Small Caps: [Ctrl] + publication to another
[Shift] + [K] computer, you can be sure it
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [F] accesses looks the same on the other
the font menu, the arrow computer as it does on yours
keys select what you want, by including the fonts and
and [Enter] changes the graphics you used in your
selected text to that font publication with the files you
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [P] accesses save. When you use the Pack
the font size menu, the arrow and Go Wizard to pack your
keys select the size, and SECRETS THAT KEEP YOU AHEAD IN THE RACE
files, Publisher can include
[Enter] enables the change both fonts and graphics with
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [>] increases GENERAL TIPS 30 MINUTES EXPERT your files.
the font size by half a point MS Publisher 41 Creating Your Own RSS Feed 43 If you are taking your
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [<] decreases Dreamweaver 42 Create Home Videos files to another computer on
the font size by half a point MS Excel 44 Using WMM 46 disk, Publisher automatically
Move between the current MS Outlook 44 compresses and splits your
page view and actual size MS PowerPoint 45 files so they fit on multiple
view: [F9] FrontPage 47 disks. Publisher also includes
Check spelling: [F7] a program to unpack your
Copy formatting: [Ctrl] + The Nudge Option Use The Design Checker files on the other computer.
[Shift] + [C] In order to achieve a To Check For Missing Text To start the Pack and Go
Paste formatting: [Ctrl] + high degree of control Missing text often Wizard, go to File > Pack and
[Shift] + [V] over the positioning of occurs when you resize Go, and then click ‘Take to
Return character formatting objects on the page, use the a text frame after inserting Another Computer’. The Pack
to the current text style: ‘Nudge’ option. Just select the text, or when you add a and Go Wizard takes you
[Ctrl] + [Spacebar] object you need to move and graphic that pushes text into through each step of the
End one line and begin use [Alt] + [Arrow key] (up, an adjacent text frame. packing process.
another without starting a down, right, or left), and your Adding a continued notice to
new paragraph: object will move one pixel for a text frame can also cause Keep An Object’s Centre
[Shift] + [Enter] each keystroke. Use Arrange > missing text. Publisher In The Same Place
Begin a new paragraph: Nudge to change the indicates that text is missing To keep the centre of an
[Enter] increment of movement. by showing the text in the object in the same place
Nudge to the left: [Alt] ‘Overflow’ symbol at the in your publication while you
+ [Left Arrow] Add a Reply Form To bottom of a text frame when resize the object, click the
Nudge up: [Alt] + [Up Arrow] A Publisher 2000 the frame is selected. Use the object, then hold down [Ctrl]
Add a page after the current Publication Design Checker to check your while you resize the object.
page: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [N] Reply forms make it publication for missing text. Release the mouse button
Move between the easy for your readers to It analyses your publication, before you release [Ctrl].
background and the respond to a survey, sign up stops at every text frame that
foreground page: [Ctrl] + [M] for an event, or place an contains text in the overflow Apply Text And Graphics
Go to page: [F5] order. Add a reply form from area, and also suggests Formatting Multiple Times
the Publisher 2000 Design possible solutions. If you have ever wanted
Changing The Page Size Gallery to your brochures, To run the Design to make several non-
You can start a new newsletters, catalogues, Checker, go to Tools > Design sequential words stand out by
document of any page Web sites, or other Checker. To check your entire using a special font, or have
size, and even change an similar publications. publication, click ‘All’; or, to ever wanted to change certain
existing document to any In order to add a reply check specific pages, click solid lines to dotted lines in
page size you like. All you form to your publication, go ‘Pages’, and then type the graphics created with the
need to do is go to File > Page to Insert > Design Gallery page numbers in the ‘From’ drawing tools, you might not
Setup, and under ‘Choose a Object. Under ‘Categories’, and ‘To’ boxes. Click ‘OK’. realise how easy it is.
Publication Layout’, select click ‘Reply Forms’. Now, Publisher checks the Instead of clicking the
‘Special Size’. double-click the reply form design, and displays a dialog ‘Format Painter’ button on
Under the option ‘Choose you want. Drag the reply box if it finds a problem. If the Standard toolbar every
a Publication Size’, select form to the desired position you want to fix the problem, time you want to apply the
‘Custom’. You may then enter in your publication, and go to the publication, and new format, you can take
the physical dimensions of resize if necessary. Be sure to make your changes; you don’t advantage of the button’s
your printed piece making replace any placeholder text, have to close the ‘Design ‘sticky’ feature.
sure the orientation is such as “First Question” and Checker’ dialog box. When First select the item
correct. Once you finish, “Answer A”, with the you’ve finished, click whose format you would like
click ‘OK’. appropriate text. ‘Continue’ to have Publisher to copy. To copy the selected

DIGIT JUNE 2005 161

 4 Years Of Tech Tips & Tricks

format to several items, below and close all others (all works a little differently.
double-click the ‘Format panels are listed in the Pressing [Enter] creates a Bet You Didn’t Know
Painter’ button. The button Window menu. You can paragraph (<P>) tag, leaving a
stays selected, or ‘sticky’. always open them again later blank line after the preceding Make Text Wrap Around
Select the text or graphic through the Window menu). paragraph. To break to the An Image
where you want to apply the So, keep the following panels next line without creating an Place the image just before
new format. When you have open: Objects, Properties, Site extra line space, press [Shift] the text (whether you want
finished applying the format, Files, CSS Styles, History. + [Enter], which creates a the image to sit on the left
click the ‘Format Painter’ break (<BR>) tag. or right of the page). Then,
button again or press [Esc]. HTML Styles select the image. In the
Don’t use ‘HTML Styles’. Controlling The Size Of A ‘Properties’ panel, select
Change How Text Wraps HTML Styles aren’t real New Window either ‘Align Left’ or
Around A Graphic stylesheets; they are good A new browser window ‘Align Right’.
You can adjust the only for one-time formatting. is usually the same size
amount of whitespace If you use real style sheets— as the original browser
between text and a piece of CSS (Cascaded Style Sheets) window containing your site. elements in the Head section
clip art, scanned Styles—you can change a style This can be confusing for of your HTML document. To
photographic image, or any anytime you want and the some novice Web users. do so, choose View > Head
other graphic in Publisher. change will be automatically To make navigation as Content. Dreamweaver
To change how text wraps applied to every instance simple and straightforward as creates a frame in the page
around a graphic, click the of the style. possible, you may want to set window and displays the
graphic. On the Format the new browser window to a items in the Head section.
menu, click ‘Picture Frame Add An Extra Space smaller size. You can do so Now, you can add, modify, or
Properties’. Click ‘Picture Between Items using the ‘Open Browser delete these items.
Only’. Click ‘OK’. On the To add an extra space Window’ behaviour. To use To modify an item, first
Formatting toolbar, click the between items in a the behaviour, choose choose Window > Properties
‘Edit Irregular Wrap’ button. bulleted list, place your Window > Behaviors to to display the ‘Properties’
Grab the picture handles that cursor at the end of the item display the ‘Behaviors’ palette. After that, select
surround the graphic until and press [Shift] + [Enter] palette. Then, select the link the ‘Head’ object and modify
the space between the text twice. This adds two <BR> in your HTML document. the values displayed in the
and the graphic is the way tags after the list item instead Next, select ‘Open ‘Properties’ palette.
you want it. of adding another <LI> tag. Browser Window’ from the
To add additional Adjust Or, if you are familiar with ‘Behavior’ menu. In the Cleaning Up Word
handles, hold down [Ctrl] and CSS, control the spacing in resulting dialog box, enter HTML Documents
click where you want the new your style sheet. the URL of the link and set Microsoft Word can save
handle to appear. To delete a the desired width and height documents in the HTML
handle, hold down [Ctrl] + Break Out Of A List of the new window. Click format. However, the HTML,
[Shift] and click the handle. Pressing [Enter] when in ‘OK’. At this point, when the XML, and CSS code that Word
Once that is completed, click a list gives you a new user clicks the link, a small generates is geared more to
anywhere on the page. bullet instead of a plain window opens with the format and display
paragraph. With your cursor linked page. documents in Word than to
Make Alignment A Snap at the unwanted bullet, go to display the HTML file in a
Align objects in the ‘Properties’ panel, and Allowing The User To typical Web browser. Because
Publisher without deselect the bulleted list Resize A Window of its complexity, it’s a good
hassling over your mouse. button. Also, deselect the Dreamweaver makes it idea to clean up the Word-
Click Arrange > Rules guides numbered list button for very simple to set the generated HTML code.
and choose either ‘Add numbered lists. new window so the user can Moreover, Dreamweaver
Horizontal Ruler Guide’ or resize it. Simply use the can instantly remove the
‘Add Vertical Ruler Guide’. To Add Space Around Items ‘Open Browser Window’ extraneous Word-generated
move the guide, hold [Shift] In A Table behaviour. To do so, choose HTML code. To do so, launch
and drag the guide to the Select the whole table Window > Behaviors. In the Dreamweaver and choose File
position you want. Click (the easiest way is to ‘Behavior’ palette, choose > Import > Import Word
Tools > Snap to Guides. Now click on the <table> tag in the ‘Open Browser Window’. HTML. In the resulting dialog
any object you move near the bottom of the Dreamweaver In the resulting dialog box, box, select your Word-
guide will snap to the grid window). With the table now select the ‘Resize generated HTML file and
and be automatically aligned. selected, go to the ‘Properties’ Handles’ checkbox. click ‘OK’.
panel, increase the cell At this point, you can
padding and cell spacing Viewing The Head Section choose to customise the
DREAMWEAVER until the table looks the way Dreamweaver places a cleanup process by selecting
you want it to appear. Title and a Metatag options from a series of
Close Some Panels element in the Head section checkboxes that Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver by default Break Only To The of an HTML document. These displays in the ‘Clean Up
comes with all the Next Line elements are normally Word HTML’ dialog box.
panels (or ‘palettes’) open, Unlike a word processor, invisible while you view the When you are ready,
taking up all the space on Dreamweaver inserts page in Dreamweaver click ‘OK’. Then,
your screen, and making the ‘two paragraph spaces’ (two WYSIWYG (What You See Is Dreamweaver scrubs the
program hard to use. Since lines) when you press [Enter], What You Get) mode. imported Word HTML
you need only a few of these as Dreamweaver is writing However, you can set document clean of the Word-
panels, open the panels listed HTML as you type, and HTML Dreamweaver to display generated HTML code.

162 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Tips & Tricks 4 Years Of Tech

Creating Your Own RSS Feed

With a program that reads RSS feeds you can add more traffic to your portal or blog

Varun Dubey News</title> you have used the RSS feed the following format:
<url>http://www.nutsw reader in Firefox, then it’s Sun, 22 Aug 1983 00:00:01

R SS stands for Really

Simply Syndication,
and allows you to do just
ork.net/logo.gif</url>
<link>http://www.nuts
work.net/</link>
the content in this tag that’s
visible when you click on
your bookmarks.
GMT

Adding It To
that—distribute headlines </image> Next, you have the Your Web Page
and other Web content. <item> <description> tag. This is a Since RSS is
A family of XML file <title>Imola Race brief description of the essentially an XML
formats for Web Results</title> article that the <title> tag (eXtensible Markup
syndication, RSS is used by <description>The Race links to. Then of course, you Language) file, we need to
news Web sites and Web Results for the 2005 San have the <link> tag, the link tell the RSS reader as much.
slogs. With Firefox Marino Grand of the article. Finally, you Hence, you should add the
clocking nearly 50 million Prix</description> have the closing tag for the following as your first and
downloads and <link>http://www.nuts headline as </item>. You can foremost line in the
incorporating native RSS work.net/f1/2005/imola/rac also repeat the <item> tag document:
feed support, no Web site e.html</link> for as many items as you <?xml version=”1.0”
or blog owner can afford </item> want, to get as many encoding=”utf-8” ?>
to ignore the power of RSS </channel> headlines you require. Note: This tag is not closed
(kindly ignore any </rss> Every time you would in the end i.e., there is
political connotation)! like to add a new headline, no </xml>
There are many Web Understanding just add a new <item> tag Next, you need to save
sites (for instance, The Tags on top of your earlier <item> this file with an xml
www.feedforall.com) that The first tag is the tags. See to it that you don’t extension. Say, myfeed.xml
do it for you for free. But <rss> tag, where you specify add too many headlines Now that your feed is
if you are the do-it- the standards of coding to without removing the ready, your next goal is to
yourself technology buff which the script tell Web browsers that it
(we know you are dear conforms. We will be exists! So you need to
reader!), we will teach you using the latest incorporate the following
how to create your very standard—‘2.0’. lines into the <head> tag of
own RSS feed from The second tag is your Web page—
scratch! As they say, no <channel>. This tag <link rel=“alternate” type=
pain, no gain! incorporates all the “application/rss+xml” title=
data of your RSS feed. “My RSS Feed” href=
The Essentials The <title>, <link> “http://www.nutswork.net/m
You need to have a and <description> yfeed.xml”>
simple text editor, tags tell the feed Whatever you put in the
(even notepad will do the reader the topic your ‘Live bookmarks’: Automatic RSS feeds title= “ ” field is displayed
job), and of course, a Web feed pertains to, and when someone clicks on
site or a blog! the Web site with which the earlier ones as this could your subscribe button.
feed is associated. make your feed too big and That’s all there is to it
The Code All tags discussed so far slow it down. really! Your RSS is ready to
There is no need to are mandatory but the roll! Or should we say, you
feel apprehensive <image> tag is optional. If Optional can now Roll Your Rss!
at the mention of the you don’t put this in your Elements If you have incorporated
word ‘code’, it’s extremely RSS file, you will simply get So far, all the it in your Web page header,
simple and if you know a text-only feed, which is ok aforementioned elements then you need not worry as
HTML, it’s ridiculously but it’s better to have your are required for your feed to compatible browsers will
easy! Here is a sample of a Web site icon on the feed! work properly. There are detect it automatically.
simple RSS Script— We now come to the quite a few elements that However, for users of IE
<rss version=”2.0”> part you will be editing you can add. Consider, (since IE does have an in-
<channel> frequently—the headlines <author>. You can put your built RSS reader), you need
<title>Nutswork:Latest you want visitors to notice! email address in this tag. to show them your feed.
Stuff</title> Every headline in your Similarly you can have To do this, you can
<link>http://www.nuts feed is wrapped inside the <pubDate> to signify the download any of the
work.net</link> <item> tag. publication date. At the available RSS or XML images
<description>Ferrari Inside, you have the same time, keep in mind available online, and put the
News</description> <title> tag. Whatever you that the date must conform location of your RSS file as
<image> put in here will be seen by to the time specifications of the image link.
<title>Ferrari subscribers to the feed. If RFC 822, i.e., it should be in [email protected]

DIGIT JUNE 2005 163

 4 Years Of Tech Tips & Tricks

Add Colour To Sheet Tabs Change Cell

MS EXCEL First select the sheets Background Colour
you want to colour. On Using VBA
Sort By More Than the ‘Format’ menu, point to To modify the
Three Columns ‘Sheet’, and then click ‘Tab background
Excel’s sort feature only Color’. You can also right- colour of a cell using
allows it to nominate up click on the sheet tab and Visual Basic for
to three columns to sort by. then click ‘Tab Color’. Click Applications (VBA),
The key to this is sorting by on the colour you want and you need to use the
the last key first and working click ‘OK’. ‘Interior’ property of
back to the first key. Say your the cell, and then you
data is in Columns A:E, and Four Conditional can use ColorIndex (to
you want to sort by A, B, C, D Formatting Options use one of the 56
then E. Select all the columns Conditional formatting ‘preset’ colours in
A:E. Go to Data > Sort > Sort in Excel allows for three Excel) in this way, Changing gridline colour in Excel
by C then by D then by E. conditions. However, by for example:
Click ‘Sort’. Now again with setting up conditions ActiveCell.Interior.ColorIndex and 90 to specify the
Columns A:E selected, go to correctly—from least to most = 36 Instead of ‘ColorIndex’, diameter of the hole.
Data > Sort > Sort by A then restrictive—you can really you can use ‘Color’. In this
by B. Click ‘Sort’. allow for four conditions, example, you are colouring Change The Plotting
when the default formatting cells A1 through A6: Order Of Data Series
Entering Named Ranges of the cell is considered. Range(“A1:A6”).Interior.Color Click a data series in the
Into Formulas For example, say you = RGB(200,160,35) chart you want to
When you write a want to add colour to your change. To change the
formula, sometimes you data in the following View Multiple Sheets plotting order of data series
want to use a Named Range manner. You have four Or Workbooks in a surface chart, click a
as one of the arguments for ranges, with fill colours Red, To view multiple sheets legend key. On the ‘Format’
the formula, but you cannot Yellow, Green and Black or workbooks at the menu, click ‘Selected Data
remember the name. respectively. The four ranges same time, open the Series’ or ‘Selected Legend
In these cases, simply are “Less than or equal to - workbooks you want to view. Key’, and then click the
press [F3] when you reach the 25”, “Between 0 and -25”, To view multiple sheets in the ‘Series Order’ tab.
argument that you want the “Between 0 and 25”, and active workbook, click ‘New In the ‘Series order’ box,
Named Range in, and Excel “Over 25”. This can be Window’ on the ‘Window’ click the series you want to
will display the ‘Paste Name’ achieved by doing menu. Switch to the new move. To place the series in
dialog. Click the name you the following. window, and then click a the order you want, click
want, and click ‘OK’. First select your range of sheet you want to view. ‘Move Up’ or ‘Move Down’.
cells. Click ‘Conditional Repeat for each sheet you
Catching Formula Errors Formatting’ on the ‘Format’ want to view. On the Change The Cell Range
Whenever typing one of menu. Under ‘Condition 1’, ‘Window’ menu, click A Chart Is Based On
Excel’s functions, in the first two boxes, choose ‘Arrange’. Under ‘Arrange’, Click the chart you want
especially nested ones, into a ‘Cell Value Is’ and ‘less than click the option you want. to change. On the
cell, use lowercase. This way or equal to’ respectively. In order to view sheets in ‘Chart’ menu, click ‘Source
when you press [Enter], Excel Then type the value “-25” in only the active workbook, Data’, and then click the
will capitalise only the names the third box. Now click the select the ‘Windows of active ‘Data Range’ tab. Make sure
of the functions you have ‘Format’ button, choose a red workbook’ checkbox. the entire reference in the
entered correctly. fill colour from the ‘Patterns’ ‘Data range’ box is selected.
tab, and click ‘OK’. Click Change The Colour Of On the worksheet, select
Transpose Formulas ‘Add’. Under ‘Condition 2’, Cell Gridlines the cells that contain the
Without The Reference choose between in the Select the sheets on data you wish to appear in
Changing second box, type the values which you want to the chart. If you want the
In cell A1 of sheet 2, put “0” and “-25” in the third change the gridline colour. column and row labels to
“=Sheet1!A1”. Copy this and fourth boxes, and then Go to Tools > Options, and appear in the chart, include
a maximum of 255 rows. Now choose a yellow fill format. then click the ‘View’ tab. the cells that contain them in
with the formulas selected, Click ‘Add’ again. Under ‘Window options’, the selection.
go to Edit > Replace, and Under ‘Condition 3’, click the colour you want
Replace “=” with “#”. Now choose ‘Between’ in the in the ‘Color’ box. To use
select and copy cell B1, go to second box, type the values the default gridline colour, MS OUTLOOK
Edit > Paste special, and “0” and “25” in the third and click ‘Automatic’.
choose ‘Transpose’. Delete fourth boxes, and then Display Non-consecutive
column A, and with row 1 choose a green fill format. Change The Hole Size In Dates
selected, go to Edit > Replace, Click ‘OK’ to close the A Doughnut Chart The Outlook Calendar
and Replace “#” with “=”. ‘Conditional Formatting’ Click a data series in the displays dates
dialog box. Finally, while doughnut chart you consecutively—usually in
Display Or Hide Scrollbars your range is still want to change. On the single week or month view.
Go to Tools > Options > highlighted, choose a black ‘Format’ menu, click ‘Selected But sometimes it’s useful to
View. Select or clear the fill from the colour palette. Data Series’, and then click see several non-consecutive,
‘Horizontal scroll bar’ Your range is now pseudo- the ‘Options’ tab. In the key dates at a glance. For
checkbox and ‘Vertical scroll conditionally formatted to ‘Doughnut hole size’ box, example, if you met with the
bar’ checkbox. cover all four cases! type a value between 10 same client on January 12

164 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Tips & Tricks 4 Years Of Tech

and 19, March 31, and April 4, that you can easily save to the list. To remove the colour
you might want to view those your Contacts folder. from the appointment or Bet You Didn’t Know
dates in a single pane, giving To include a vCard with meeting, in the ‘Label’ list,
you easy access to meeting your e-mail signature, go to click ‘None’. About Using More Than
summaries, attachments, and Tools > Options, and then To create your own One Guide
lists of attendees. click the ‘Mail Format’ tab. coloured label, click If you like using guides, and
To view non-consecutive Under ‘Signature’, click ‘Calendar’. Right-click an wish there were more, you
dates, on the right side of the ‘Signatures’, and then click appointment or meeting, can create additional guides
window in the Date Navigator ‘New’. Select the options you point to ‘Label’ on the by simply holding down [Ctrl]
(the small calendar that want, and then click ‘Next’. shortcut menu, and then while dragging on an existing
displays the current month), Under ‘vCard options’, select click ‘Edit Labels’. Pick the guide. This will create a new
click the first date you want a vCard from the list or click colour you want to rename, guide. To get rid of guides,
to view. Then, while holding ‘New vCard from Contact’. type in your new label name, just drag them off the edge
down [Ctrl], click any other and click ‘OK’. of the slide.
dates you want to view. To Get Rid Of Space-Stealing
remove a date, click it again. Files In Outlook Find Related Messages accounts—but sometimes,
You can display up to 14 When it’s time to clean In Outlook responses to those meeting
non-consecutive days. up their mailboxes, Do you end up scanning requests end up in their
most people have trouble Outlook folders to find bosses’ mailboxes. Here’s a
Save Multiple finding and deleting the messages previously sent or way to return responses to
Attachments messages that take up the received as part of an the administrative assistant.
Simultaneously most space, such as those extended e-mail conversation? You can grant someone
When you receive an with large attachments. Outlook can find and display permission to send e-mail
Outlook message Here’s a fast way to expose these messages, if they are requests for you by using the
containing several attached the space stealers hiding in part of the same conversation ‘Delegate Access’ feature: go
files, you don’t have to open your Outlook folders. string: select one of the to Tools > Options, click the
and save each file separately. To create a customised messages in the e-mail ‘Delegates’ tab, and click
You can save multiple search file in Outlook, go to conversation. On the ‘Actions’ ‘Add’. With that done, it’s
attachments to the same Tools > Advanced Find, and menu, point to ‘Find All’, and easy to specify that responses
location in a single step. then click the ‘More Choices’ click ‘Related Messages’. be returned to that person as
Click ‘Save Attachments’ tab. In the ‘Look for’ box, You can also use a a delegate.
on the ‘File’ menu. When the click ‘Messages’. In the Size shortcut to find related To return responses to
‘Save All Attachments’ dialog list, click ‘greater than’, and messages. When you open an delegates, go to Tools >
box opens, click OK. Then then type a number such as e-mail message you have Options, and then click the
select the folder where you 500 (for files that are 500 already replied to, a yellow ‘Delegates’ tab. Select ‘Send
want to save the files, and kilobytes or larger). Select the information bar indicates the meeting requests and
click ‘OK’. remaining search options you date and time you replied to responses only to my
When you use this want, and click ‘Find Now’. delegates, not to me’.
shortcut, you must save all When the search is
the files to the same folder. complete, you can save it as a Open, Dismiss, Or Snooze
To save each attachment to a shortcut. Here’s how: click Multiple Reminders
different folder, you will need ‘Save Search’ on the ‘File’ Did you know that you
to save them individually. menu of the ‘Advanced Find’ could act on more than
dialog box, and save it one reminder at a time in
Calendar-Viewing somewhere you can find it Outlook 2002? Your
Shortcuts easily later, such as your reminders are listed in the
In Outlook Calendar, do desktop. Then, the next time ‘Reminders’ window, which is
the following: you want to run this search, accessible from the ‘View’
Press [Alt] + [-] to display just double-click the shortcut. menu. From there you can
the current week. Using a message in a thread, you open, dismiss, or ‘snooze’
Press [Alt] + [=] to display Colour-Code can find all related messages multiple reminders with a
the current month. Your Calendar single click.
In your Outlook the message, and provides a To work with multiple
Use vCards Calendar, you can use link you can use to find all reminders, first select the
Outlook supports the colours to help you manage related messages. Click the first reminder. Hold down
use of vCards, the your appointments. For information bar to view [Ctrl]. Select any additional
Internet standard for creating example, you can choose related messages. In Outlook reminders. Click ‘Open Item’,
and sharing virtual business colours with predefined 2002, the bar also indicates if ‘Dismiss’, or ‘Snooze’.
cards. By adding a vCard to labels such as “Personal”, the sender is currently
your e-mail signature, you “Needs Preparation,” or “Must online, and if that sender is
can easily include your Attend”; or, you can create an Instant Messenger contact. MS POWERPOINT
business contact information your own labels. Here’s how.
with every e-mail message To colour an appointment Return Meeting Making Auto-Fit Text Stop
you send. or meeting with a predefined Responses To The Auto-Fitting
If you receive a vCard and label, click ‘Calendar’. Right- Right Person To turn this feature off,
would like to save the click an appointment or Most administrative go to Tools > Options,
information it contains, meeting, point to ‘Label’ on assistants have click on the ‘Edit’ tab, and
simply double-click it, and it the shortcut menu, and then permission to send meeting uncheck ‘Autofit text to
will open as a contact item click a colour-coded label in requests from their bosses’ text placeholder’.

DIGIT JUNE 2005 165

 4 Years Of Tech Tips & Tricks

Create Home Videos Using WMM

Use Windows Movie Maker to cut Oscar winners from your camcorder recordings!

device in the software, you may click Once you’ve got all the
Varun Dubey ‘Change Device’, and you will get a contents onto the clip area,
configuration window where ‘Video:’ and you can see the various
So you got yourself a brand new will show the various video capture clips, you are ready to create your
camcorder? And you need to share devices available (if you have multiple movie. Browse through the various
your videos with family by burning TV tuners or FireWire ports. clips and drag and drop the suitable
VCDs and distributing them? We get In the latter case, you will need to ones onto the timeline area below.
into the nitty-gritty of WMM so you have the camera connected to it, The neat thing about the timeline
can do just that—rest assured, 30 otherwise the FireWire port will and clipping is that you can entirely
minutes of familiarisation is all not show up.) change the order of the video!
it’ll take! Choose the appropriate video and
audio devices and the correct line-in After you have the various
What You’ll Need settings if you are using a TV tuner (as clips on the timeline, you
A camcorder, a TV tuner card if you opposed to a FireWire connection). can, if you want, edit out
have an analogue camera, and unrequired stuff from the clips to
Windows Movie Maker (WMM), Encoding make the movie crisp and fast-paced.
which comes pre-installed with On clicking ‘OK’, you will
Windows XP. You may want to return to the previous screen After you’ve satisfactorily
download WMM2, which is the where you can make adjustments to nipped and tucked your
updated version, from the quality. If after setting the quality movie, you can preview the
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/dow to High Quality you are not satisfied, entire thing by clicking the first clip
nloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx on the timeline and hitting ‘Play’ in
Note that WMM2 comes bundled the preview area.
with XP Service Pack 2. The key If all is well and you’re happy
difference between WMM1 and with the results, you’re ready to save
WMM2 is that WMM2 allows you to the movie file.
burn a CD in the WMV or
HighMat formats. Click on the ‘Save Movie’
However, HighMat does not enjoy button on top, and select the
widespread support, so you’re better proper resolution.
off burning a simple VCD using Remember, the higher the
third-party software such as Nero or resolution, the more time your
Easy CD. The other difference is the
added effects. Everything else is
essentially the same. WMM automatically generates clips for you!

Firing Up Movie Maker we recommend you click ‘other’

To start the program, and select ‘Video for broadband
navigate to Start > All NTSC (768Kbps)’.
Programs > Accessories > Windows The automatic clip creation
Movie Maker. feature works really well. What it
essentially does is, it detects scene
Configuring The changes, and saves each scene as a
Audio/Video Devices separate video file, or clip, so you
To configure your video need not cut out different video clips
or leave too much gap in between the
different recordings. Save your movie at the proper resolution
Now you need to play the
video file on your camcorder movie will take to save, and
(if you connected via an S- obviously, it’ll occupy more space.
Video cable or a regular A/V cable). That’s all there is to it, your
In case, you’ve connected via very own home video is ready! Now
FireWire, you’ll get the controls on just burn a VCD using your favourite
the software itself—now you can burning software, and share all
play and record the movie those precious moments!
from there. [email protected]
The configuration window for the video device

166 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Tips & Tricks 4 Years Of Tech

Using Ctrl-Drag To Copy object changes while the file want the curve to start, and scale all objects in a group as
You can quickly make a is open—click ‘Automatic’ or continue to move the mouse a single unit. You can also
copy of any object by ‘Automatic update’. To update and click wherever you want change the attributes of all
holding down [Ctrl] while you a linked object only when you to add a curve. To end the objects in a group at one
drag on the object. You will click Update Now, click curve, double-click any time. time—for example, you might
then ‘drag off’ a new copy. ‘Manual’ or ‘Manual update’. change the fill colour or add
(b) To manually update a Add Or Remove a shadow to all objects in the
Using Guides To Measure linked object when you Arrowheads group. Also, you can select
Make the Guides visible choose, click linked object, Instead of pasting or an item within a group
by clicking View > then click ‘Update Now’. deleting arrowheads on and apply an attribute,
Guides. Then, hold down (c) To break a connection lines, change the line style to without ungrouping.
[Shift] while you click and to a linked object, click ‘Break reflect the format you want. You can also create
hold a guide; the tool-tip for Link’. After you break the Select the line you want to groups within groups to help
the guide will display “0:00”. connection to a linked object, change. (You can only add an you build complex drawings.
As you move the guide, you must reinsert it into your arrowhead to a line or You can ungroup a group of
the distance the guide covers file to reconnect. connector line.) On the objects at any time and then
from the beginning of the (d) To reconnect a linked Drawing toolbar, do one of regroup them later.
drag will be displayed in the object when the source file the following: (a) To group objects,
units of your ruler. In this moves or is renamed, click (a) To add one or two simply select the objects you
way, you can measure ‘Change Source’. In the ‘File arrowheads, click ‘Arrow want to group. Then on the
distances between objects, name’ box, enter the name of Style’, and then click the style Drawing toolbar, click ‘Draw’,
place guides at specific the file to which you want to you want. then ‘Group’.
places, and so on. reconnect the linked object. If (b) To remove all (b) To ungroup objects,
you don’t see the file you arrowheads, click ‘Arrow select the group you want to
Selecting Small Or want, select a different folder Style’, and then click ‘Arrow ungroup. On the Drawing
Covered Objects in the ‘Look in’ box. Style 1’. toolbar, click ‘Draw’, then
Hit [Esc] to ensure that click ‘Ungroup’.
nothing is current Using A PDF File Flipping An Object (c) To regroup objects,
selected. Next, repeatedly hit You cannot insert a PDF This tip, again, is select any one of the objects
[Tab], which will toggle you file into PowerPoint as indicative of how to use that was previously grouped.
through a selection of all of an embedded object. You can, the Drawing toolbar. Select Then on the Drawing toolbar,
the objects on a slide. This is however, link to a PDF file the AutoShape, picture, clip click ‘Draw’, and then
useful to select very small from within a presentation art or WordArt that you want click ‘Regroup’.
objects, or those objects using hyperlinks: select the to flip. Then on the Drawing
covered up by larger ones. text or object you want to use toolbar, click ‘Draw’, point to
to link to the PDF file. On the ‘Rotate or Flip’, and then FRONTPAGE
Change How A Linked Or ‘Insert’ menu, click click ‘Flip Horizontal’ or
Embedded Object Appears ‘Hyperlink’. Under ‘Link to’, ‘Flip Vertical’. Cool ‘Backward’ And
Select the linked object click ‘Existing File or Web ‘Forward’ Links
or embedded object you Page’. Select the PDF file you About Grouping And Say you have a Web site
would like to change. On the want to link to, and click ‘OK’. Ungrouping Objects with a series of pages in
‘Edit’ menu, point to the When you use the a row. You could be showing
object, for instance, Draw A Curve Group commands, slides, for example. It would
‘Worksheet Object’—and click This tip is indicative of under ‘Draw’ on the Drawing be nice to have backward and
‘Convert’. Follow any one: how to draw in toolbar, to group objects, you forward arrows on each page.
If you want to display the PowerPoint. On the ‘Drawing’ combine them so you can You can do it in FrontPage by
content, clear the ‘Display as toolbar, click ‘AutoShapes’, work with them as though inserting a little text into the
icon’ checkbox. point to ‘Lines’, and then they were a single object. You HTML. It’s a simple JavaScript
If you want to display as an click ‘Curve’. Click where you can flip, rotate, and resize or trick. Use this code:
icon, select the ‘Display as <FORM>
icon’ checkbox. <INPUT TYPE=”button”
VALUE=”BACK”
Control How Linked onClick=”history.go(-1)”>
Objects Are Updated <INPUT TYPE=”button”
Go to Edit > Links. Click VALUE=”FORWARD”
the linked object you onCLick=”history.go(1)”>
want to update. To select </FORM>
multiple linked objects, hold
down [Ctrl] while you click Using Themes
each object. Now do one or What if you like the
more of the following: idea of Themes but
(a) Change a linked don’t like the options
object’s setting to automatic available? Most of the themes
or manual updating: to that come with FrontPage
update a linked object each have a very standard look to
time you open the file that them. That just won’t do
contains it—or any time the You cannot use a PDF file as an Embedded Object—but can link to one with something as personal

DIGIT JUNE 2005 167

 4 Years Of Tech Tips & Tricks

as a Web site. Your first quickly, and a little advance checking each piece and
option—and this works with preparation is always worth downloading a collection in a Bet You Didn’t Know
both FrontPage 2000 and the effort. shopping cart-type of format Make Sure Your Colours
FrontPage 98—is to buy Create a folder for every when you finish looking. Can Be Seen
a theme from a third- group of documents you’ll If you select the piece There are dozens of
party company. have on your site. Put your directly, you will see the different browsers out
If you don’t want to buy images in one folder, your categories under which this there. Not all of them use
one, you can always design ‘about’ information in piece was listed. You can colour, but for those who do,
your own theme. FrontPage another, and your documents select any of these categories you need what is known as a
98 came with a theme in another. to find other similar items. ‘Web Safe Pallette’.
designer program on the CD. Label the folders and Use this feature if you are When you select the
But one of the more exciting directories in a way that looking for a collection of colour options anywhere
options available in FrontPage makes sense. There is simply similar pieces. from within FrontPage, the
2000 is the ability to edit an no need to ever have to say, FrontPage does all the dialog box mentions ‘More
existing theme or create a “Where did I put that file?” work needed to transfer the Colors’. Clicking that button
new one from directly Use sub-folders as deep as file type to something shows you several more
within FrontPage. you want if it makes sense. readable on the Web, and colours available—it opens
You will notice there is a Remember, FrontPage keeps Microsoft updates this site on up the ‘More Colors’ dialog
‘Modify’ button at the bottom track of where every file is, a regular basis. box. Everything in that box
of the ‘Themes’ dialog box. so if you move a file from is a Web Safe colour. Any of
Clicking it will open up three one folder to another, it will Make Sure Your Site Works those will work on any
options for editing: the make sure the paths are On All Browser Versions browser that displays colour.
Colours, the Graphics, and correct. This is useful if you New to FrontPage 2000,
the Text. Modifying the are contemplating if and not well- page should be formatted,
colours lets you either pick a it would be worth it to documented, is the ability to from how many indents
scheme for your theme, or organise that out-of-control choose the browser type and should come before each tag,
lets you pick colours for the Web site. version as well as the server or whether or not to use
colour elements modified Not only is this technique type that you wish to design optional tags.
by a theme. good for you, it’s also easier for your site for. To use this tool, By default, FrontPage
The colour options are all the viewer. If your site starts to open the ‘Compatibility’ Tab in preserves the formatting of
on an Internet-safe palette. make sense through the URL the ‘Page Options’ dialog box. existing HTML, but applies
Modifying the graphics gives structure, they will have The browser’s drop-down new HTML formatting to
you a chance to replace or another navigation tool for menu lets you choose between content you add to the
modify any graphic element your site—always a good idea. Netscape, IE, and WebTV, and existing page. HTML
on the theme. You can create combinations of the three. formatting is viewed in the
your own elements in Quickly Find Clip Art The ‘Browser Version’ HTML pane.
whatever graphics program When you open the drop down menu lets you The formatting options
you choose. The final option, ‘Clip Art’ dialog box in pick the browser version type. you choose will apply to all
Text, lets you modify or either FrontPage 98 or 2000, The Server drop-down menu pages you create in
create the text elements there is an under- lets you pick the type of FrontPage. New in FrontPage
of your theme. documented button that can server you are designing the 2002 is the ability to take a
Once you are done make your life easier. Select site for. Below this are a page that has been imported
modifying your theme or the ‘Clips Online’ button— number of technologies that into your Web site and
creating a new one, you which, in FrontPage 98, are either going to be reformat it according to
simply click the ‘Save As’ resembles the Internet supported or not depending your preferences.
button in the bottom of the Explorer shortcut symbol in on if the box is checked. In order to apply your
‘Theme’ dialog box, and give the lower right hand You can check or uncheck HTML formatting preferences
it a name. corner—to open up the Clips any of these items. In case an to a Web page, open it in
Note that with Office 2000, Online Web Site. item is not selected, you will FrontPage 2002 and perform
themes are now used across The Web site will first not be able to create anything the following: go to Tools >
the tools—Word, PowerPoint, ask you to agree to the that uses that functionality. Page Options, and then click
Excel, and others. Consider EULA. You’ll then be taken Not all browser types use the the HTML Source tab. Click
making use of your new theme to a Web site that is updated technologies on this dialog ‘Reformat using the rules
in everything you do. on a regular basis, which is a box. If you want to make sure below’. Then under
searchable database of that your site is as viewable ‘Formatting’, select the
Use Folders Effectively clipart, photos and sounds on as my types of browsers as options you want.
Folders make your life that are all usable as part of possible, deselect all the For instance, if you would
easier, and have the your FrontPage license. fancy options. like all tags to appear as
added bonus of making You can view clips by a It is important to note lowercase instead of
navigation easier for your number of categories or types, that this feature won’t uppercase, select ‘Tag names
audience. It is easy to put but the real value lies in the prevent you from entering are lowercase’.
everything into the root ‘search by’ option where, you anything that uses these Under Tags, select the tag
directory—and that is the can enter a term on which types of functions directly and attributes you want. For
program default—but in fact, you’d like to see some clip art. into the HTML. example, select ‘Body’, and
you don’t have to, and there Considering the size of this then change indent to 12
will come a point where you database, you will surely find HTML Formatting And spaces. FrontPage will change
wish you didn’t. something. Once you do, you Optional Reformatting the HTML pages you create in
Web sites have a can either download it by You can tell FrontPage FrontPage to use these
tendency to get large rather selecting the piece, or 2002 how your HTML formatting rules.

168 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 integrated sound card. Windows XP has installed its
default drivers for my card, but the sound is very low
even at full volume. My speakers are fine. Please tell
me where can I get the drivers, and if possible, please
include the drivers on the CD with the next issue!
Bijesh K
Thane

The latest version of the driver for the

ALC100 sound card is 3.71. You can down-
load this driver from the RealTek Web site at
http:// snipurl.com/86p8. The size of these drivers
Your Questions, Our Answers is 11,453 KB. After installing, you will be able to
access the extended features of your sound card
Copy Protected? as well. Please install the latest version of DirectX
for smooth functioning of this sound card along
My PC’s configuration is a Pentium 4 1.9 GHz, with the drivers.
Intel 845G motherboard, 128 MB of RAM, Intel
82845G graphics chipset with 32 MB video memory. Write Error, Wrong Error?
I have a problem when copying CDs to my
hard disk. Whenever I try to copy, I get an When I write CDs on my PC, after 90 per
error message that reads: “Data Error (Cyclic cent writing is completed, a write error
Redundancy Check)” and when I click ‘OK’, occurs and the CD becomes unusable.
the error procedure cancels, and I cannot Although not consistent, this is a frequent
copy the data thereafter. How do I solve this occurrence. This problem occurs once in three
problem? I have tried reinstalling the OS, but to four write attempts. In the process column
the error persists. I use Windows XP Home it shows ‘Lead in’ and ‘Lead out’, and in the
Edition. The error appears in all versions action column, ‘Failed’ when the error occurs.
of Windows. The problem occurs in Windows 98 and XP
Gurmail Chand Professional. My PC configuration is: ASUS CD
Delhi writer, AMD Athlon processor, 512 MB of RAM,
80 GB hard disk, and the software used was
The error you are experiencing is Nero 5 and Nero 6 OEM version. I had also tried
known as the CRC or ‘Cyclic Redun- reinstalling the CD-Writing software.
dancy Check’ fail error. This error occurs Mahendra Gajbhiye
when the data being copied appears to Indore
have lost its integrity or is corrupt. In your case,
there may be two possible reasons for the error to Your problem could be caused by a variety of
occur: either your CD media is damaged or your reasons. The most probable reason is that the
CD drive has developed a fault. You may check if brand of media you use might have a compatibil-
it is the first by trying to copy files to the hard ity issue with your writer. You could try using
disk on another computer. Or, get the CD drive another brand and confirm this. Another reason
serviced at an authorised service centre. is that your CD-Writer’s lens might have become
dirty. This may be cleaned using a CD cleaner disc.
Mute Computer If the problem is not solved, you might try upgrad-
ing the firmware for your CD-Writer. You may
I have a Pentium III 700 MHz system with an find the latest firmware for your CD-Writer from
Intel 815 motherboard, 128 MB of RAM and a 20 the ASUS Web site: www.asus.com/support/
GB hard drive with three partitions running Windows support.aspx.
XP Professional. My problem is that I don’t have my If your drive is very old, the laser calibration
sound card drivers for XP. I searched the Intel Web could also have developed a fault. This is a result
site but found nothing. I have an AC 97 sound ALC100 of the aging process of the CD writer and cannot
be rectified.

Anti-virus In Hiding?
I own a Celeron 2 GHz Intel motherboard and 256
MB of RAM running Windows XP SP2. Recently, I
installed Avast 4.6 Home edition. But the Windows
security centre doesn’t detect my anti-virus and it
alerts me to install an anti-virus. Why does this
happen? How can I overcome this?
T A Ravishankar
Palghat, Kerala

Avast 4.6 Home Edition and other anti-virus

software are not recognised by the Windows
Security Centre. Hence, many anti-virus manu-
Edit the PowerOffActive key in the registry facturers have released newer versions of their

170 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

products to make them compatible with folders. To re-enable this feature, just run this
Windows XP SP2. You need to upgrade to the command at the command prompt: “regsvr32
latest version of Avast, which is 4.6.652. zipfldr.dll”.

Always On Windows—A Non-Starter

I have a Pentium 3 733 MHz with 256 MB of I have a Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, 512 MB of DDR RAM
SDRAM, an Intel 810 motherboard and a and an 80 GB hard drive with Windows XP. I
Seagate 40 GB hard disk. I use Windows XP. I have have recently started getting an error message—
not been able to completely shut down my computer “NTLDR not found”—during bootup, and I am not
for the past few weeks. When I select try to shut able to boot into Windows XP. Please help me as I do
down, Windows shuts down but my PC does not not wish to reinstall Windows and lose all my data
power down. Is there any way to re-enable my PC to and settings.
completely power down? Ashutosh Rane
Parag Trivedi Panjim, Goa
Nashik
You have not specified whether you have
While starting your PC, enter the CMOS FAT32 or NTFS on your boot drive. We shall
setup. This may be done by pressing the [Del] assume that you have FAT32 on your boot drive,
key on most PCs. In the BIOS, go to the ‘Power that is, the drive on which Windows resides. Just
Options’ page and enable ‘Advanced boot with a Windows 98 bootable floppy.
Power Management’. Save the settings Select the ‘Boot with CD-ROM’ support
and restart the computer. option and hit [Enter]. Insert the Windows
Now, run Regedit. Go to XP CD into the CD-ROM drive. Copy NTLDR
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control and NTDETECT.COM files from the i386
Panel\Desktop. Edit the key ‘PoweroffAc- folder of the CD to the root of the boot drive.
tive’ and give it a value of 1. Do the same in If your boot drive has been formatted
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\ with NTFS, then first boot with the
Desktop. Close Regedit and restart the Windows XP CD. At the first ‘R=Repair’
computer. Now your PC will completely option, press hit ‘R’. Press the number that
power down after you shut down Windows. corresponds to the correct location of the
boot drive. If Windows is installed in the C:
Hide Folder drive, this number is 1. Enter the adminis-
trative password when prompted to do so
I have a Celeron 1.2 GHz, Intel 815E and then enter the following commands:
motherboard, 128 MB of PC100 SDRAM, COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C:\
and a 20 GB hard disk with an nVidia Riva COPY X:\i386\NTDETEC.COM C:\
TNT2 M64 32 MB display card. I have Windows XP Bear in mind that you will have to replace the
Professional with Service Pack 2 installed. I have letter ‘X’ with your CDROM’s drive letter. Take
also installed WinZip 9 on my computer. In Windows out the CDROM and type “exit”. This should fix
Explorer, the .zip files are still shown as folders. I your problem.
wish to turn this off. Is there any way to do this?
Supriya Khambatkone Clean Title Bar
Mumbai
I have Windows XP Home Edition with Service
The feature of Windows XP/ME Explorer Pack 2 installed. My Internet Explorer 6
showing .zip files as folders is not affected window has title that goes like “Internet Explorer -
by installing WinZip. You can turn this feature provided by XYZ company”. I wish to restore the
off by running a command as follows. Click Start window title to the default.
> Run, enter “regsvr32/u zipfldr.dll” in the dialog Aarti Gupte
box and press [Enter]. Restart Windows and you Indore
will notice that .zip files are no longer viewed as
The Internet Explorer window title you are
referring to is sometimes used by OEMs to
brand their computers. You can easily get rid of it.
Open Regedit. Go to HKEY_CURRENT _USER\
Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main, and
in the right pane, search for a string named
‘Window Title’. You will be able to view the OEM
branding next to this string. Delete this string
to get rid of the window title.

Where’s The Space?

I use an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ laptop with 512
MB of RAM and a 30 GB HDD single partition
running Windows XP Professional SP2. Of late, I
seem to be losing hard disk space on the sole parti-
Windows XP Explorer shows .zip files as folders tion of my laptop. Once, when I transferred a file of

DIGIT JUNE 2005 171

 Catalogue CDs And DVDs Using XBaseCatalog
Almost all of us who own CD and DVD-Writers have gone on a burning rampage over the
past couple of years. Here's how to organise the results
Jayesh Limaye The first step involves
creating a new volume

I
t's only natural that as our burnt-CD or to be included in the
DVD collection grows, we lose track of catalogue—the volume
what has been stored on what disk. of a CD or DVD is an index of the
Remember when you searched for that very files on that disk. To create a
special MP3 song you burnt a long time ago? new volume, click the Add
And didn't find it? Volume button on the toolbar.
That needn't happen again. There are The Add new volume dialog box
software utilities that can index the contents will come up.
of your CDs and DVDs into searchable cata-
logues. OOBOX XBaseCatalog is one such soft- Place the disk to be
ware—here, we take a look at how it can be catalogued in the CD or Browsing the media catalogue you created
used to catalogue your disk collection. DVD drive, and select
The OOBOX XBaseCatalog Standard that drive in the Add new volume In the same way, you can scan and add
evaluation version can be downloaded from dialog box. Click Process Start to start the disk more such volumes to the catalogue.
www.oobox.com. It can catalogue Zip disks, scanning process. After the scanning is
complete, the Info window will indicate the To browse a volume,
right-click it and
select Browse this
volume. You will be
presented with a window that
shows the directory tree of the
volume with files and their
details such as size, date, etc.

You can also search

the database by click-
OOBOX XBaseCatalog interface ing the Search button
on the toolbar. In the
floppies and digital tapes in addition to CDs Search dialog box, you may
and DVDs. search for a file based on name,
The limitation of the demo version is All files and folders have been scanned at this point creation date, and size. Try
that you are allowed to create a maximum of searching for a file, and you will
three volumes; contents of ZIPped files are information about the media, such as the be pleased to see that the results are
not indexed; MD5 authentication, which is volume label, total size and serial number. displayed in no time!
used to verify the authenticity of the files, is Enter an ID in the ID field
not available; files cannot be compared with to identify the CD or DVD
files already present in the database; and a volume in the catalogue.
nag screen is displayed every time you start You can also add
or exit the program. comments to make it easy to iden-
The Standard version is available for tify the volume later. Now click
$19.95 (Rs 870), and the Professional version— Add to add the volume created
with even more features—is $49.95 (Rs 2,170). from the just-scanned disk to the
database. Click Close to return to
the main interface. Here you will
be able to view details such as the
size, number of files, the serial
number, and the name and ID of the volume. Search the media catalogue

There is also the facility to

export a volume (or all
volumes) in the database,
so it (they) can be backed
up for archival. Similarly, the import
facility can be utilised to export a
volume into the database.
Adding new volume to catalogue Multiple media in a catalogue [email protected]

172 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech

Divide And Rule! L 100 2 0 1

N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
My computer configuration is as follows: 2.40 GHz Intel R BX
Celeron processor, 40 GB hard disk and 256 MB RAM. My OS 0
is Windows XP. I also want to run Windows 98 on my computer R CX
and this is where the problem arises. I have only two partitions 200
on the hard disk. One (D :) is full of system recovery i.e., of 4 GB W
while the other (C:) has Windows XP, taking up 36 GB. Q
Here, nearly 10 GB of space is free. I want to make Save the file to the Win98 Startup Disk as READ.SCR. Boot
tion another partition without backing up my data so as to the computer with the Win98 Startup Disk and at the A:
Quefsthe
o nth install Windows 98 there. Is there any software that prompt, type
Mo allows a partition out of the free space available on C: DEBUG <READ.SCR
while working on it? These steps will create the BOOTSECT.DOS file needed to
Another problem related to installing Windows 98 boot Win98. You may need to use the ATTRIB C:\BOOT-
over XP. Will it replace the boot loader of Windows XP and SECT.DOS -S -H -R command if BOOTSECT.DOS already exists.
boot to Windows 98? If yes, what should be done to correct Configure your computer to boot from the CD drive. To
the boot loader so as when I boot up my PC, it will prompt do this, enter the CMOS setup which is usually done by
me whether I want go for 98 or XP. I don’t want reinstall pressing Del key during booting. Go to the Advanced BIOS
Windows XP. Settings and here you will be able to change the boot
Sunil S Kewade sequence of your computer. Boot from your Windows XP CD.
Nagpur When you are presented with a choice of installing or repair-
ing an existing installation, choose repair. You’ll be asked
To create a partition in the free space of your hard drive which XP installation you want to log into. Enter ‘1’. There
without losing any data, you will need to use a utility is usually only one installation. You’ll be prompted for the
known as Ranish Partition Manager from www.ranish.com Administrator password. For XP Home, the default password
or Norton Partition Magic 8 from www.powerquest.com. It is is blank, so just hit [Enter]. For XP Professional, enter the
never 100 per cent safe to play with partitions and be same password you did during setup for the Administrator
assured that your data will not be lost. Still it is advisable to account. At the C:\Windows prompt, type ‘FIXBOOT’. You’ll
back up your important data before you begin the creation be prompted to confirm.
of the partition. When FIXBOOT is finished, remove the XP CD and type
In order to restore the Windows XP boot loader, you need EXIT and the machine will reboot. Reconfigure your computer
to follow these steps: Create a Win98 Startup Disk. Create a to boot from the hard drive if necessary. Now you will get the
text file with the following entries, exactly as shown: XP boot loader with your choice of operating systems.

700 MB via FTP, I encountered the error due delete all the unwanted files from the
to insufficient disk space and I lost those 700 hard drive and you have to live with these
MB permanently and could not recover it. files, since some of these are required for
Another strange thing I have observed is the functioning of Windows.
that my ‘Temporary Internet Files’ folder is Alternatively, you may use third-
unusually large in size (961MB) and keeps party utilities such as Cleanup! from
increasing. Windows says that it contains 14 http://cleanup.stevengould.org and
folders but I can’t see even a single folder in it. System Cleaner from www.system-
Since this is a special OS folder, I can’t even cleaner.com to cleanup your system and
delete it and recreate it. Please help me recover registry and free up some more space.
my HDD space! Since these third party utilities deal with
Nikhil Wason the registry and system files, use them
New Delhi with a little caution. You may not be able
to view the folders inside your ‘Windows’
Windows creates a lot of temporary folders because these are system folders
files during the course of its operations. and your Explorer might not be config-
The sad thing is that it forgets to delete each and ured to view hidden and system files and folders.
every one of The other solution would be to do a clean install
these tempo- of Windows XP on your hard drive.
rary files and
hence these Return To The Game
files go on accu- Get Help Now!
mulating and E-mail us your computing I want to know how I can back up my saved
eating up your problems along with your games in Grand Theft Auto Vice City, so I can
hard disk space. contact details to use them after I have reinstalled Windows.
Most of [email protected], Aamir Khan
these files can and we may answer them Via E-mail
be done away here! Since we get more
with, though, mails per day than we All GTA Vice City saved games and profiles
using the can handle, it may take are placed under “GTA Vice City User Files” in
some time for your
provided ‘Disk “My Documents”. Just copy these to a folder of
query to be answered.
Cleanup’ utility. Rest assured, we are your choice. When you reinstall Windows and
But even this listening! GTA Vice City, just copy these to the original loca-
The Disk Cleanup utility in XP utility cannot tion and you can access your saved games.

174 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 4 Years Of Tech
Agent 001

Cooling Solutions
It’s summer, and like you, your computer, too, needs to stay cool!

I
could blame it on the Greenhouse effect, but The perfect However, commonly available brands such
I am not an environmentalist! Anyone who as Mercury and iBox have also introduced
uses a PC and claims to be an environmen- synergy between some good models. Mercury has two series—
talist is fooling himself. But I am digressing system and the KOB and the KM. If you are buying a new
even before getting to the point (and that is a component PC, I would recommend the new KM series; it
first even for me!). cooling leads to conforms to Intel’s recommendations. So
Problem is, the heat is getting to me—and the best overall what if it does not have 120 mm fans?
the evidence is pretty clear. Which brings me to iBox, too, has the i531 model specifically
this month’s topic—cooling solutions. cooling of made in keeping with Intel’s recommenda-
I hate summers. The heat and humidity your PC tions. Zebronics is a popular brand in south
drain me completely, and at times leaves me India, and has some good models. Such cases,
wondering what life in Rajasthan would be like. though, will set you back by around Rs 1.5K.
It is this time of year that I take the maximum Although manufactured conforming to Intel’s
care of my PC too—a ritual I started because I’ve specs, they work great with AMDs too!
lost too many PC components during the sum- Gamers, though, with high-end processors
mers. My experience apart, lately, my mailbox and graphics cards (nVidia 6800 GT), have no
has been bombarded with requests for cooling option but to spend that extra cash on an
solutions, and I thought this was the best time Antec case.
to address the heating problems so many face. On the component level, the processor,
In PCs, air is used as the medium for trans- graphics card and PSU dissipate significant
ferring heat from the components to the atmos- amounts of heat as compared to the
phere. In fact, until some years ago, liquid cool- other components.
ing for PCs was unheard of, and only recently has Processors are generally provided with a
liquid cooling emerged as an effective alternative heat sink-fan combo (HSF), and can take care
to traditional methods. of heating issues under standard working con-
To achieve maximum cooling efficiency, you ditions. However, if you overclock the proces-
need to manage on the macro (system) as well as sor, you might need some help keeping the
micro (component) levels. The perfect synergy temperature under control.
between system and component cooling leads to For processors, three types of solutions are
the best overall cooling of your PC. available—the first is the standard HSF, but
When it comes to system-level cooling, a lot with better heat conducting materials such as
depends of the PC case (cabinet) you buy. I have copper in place of aluminium alloy. Such solu-
often received letters where users say they have tions are available from Thermaltake, Cooler
two-fan cabinets, but the cooling is not up to Master, AVC and others, and are generally in
the mark. The culprit is often the types of the range of Rs 1K to Rs 1.5K.
fans and their placement in the case. To further improve thermal conductivity,
Most cabinets in the market today manufacturers introduced a heat pipe—a pipe
have provision for 80 mm fans—one at the containing coolant—between the fins of the
front lower bottom and other at the rear. HSF. Such solutions cost upwards of Rs 2.5K.
Instead of opting for such cases, consider a The third type are the liquid cooling kits
case with provision for one 120 mm fan from Thermaltake and Cooler Master. Here, a
at the rear. These fans run at a lower small pump drives water (or coolant) between
speeds, but dispel a high vol- a copper block and a radiator. Liquids are
ume of air and so, in general, more efficient in conducting heat and hence,
are more efficient than the better cooling is achieved via these kits. Such
faster-spinning 80 mm fans. a kit could set you back by Rs 8.5K.
Moreover, with the launch Unfortunately, there are very few shops deal-
of the new Prescott-core ing in such specialised products and hence,
Pentium IV processors, Intel the best way to get them would be by
has recommended changes importing them.
in the case design, and these There are liquid cooling kits available
cases are called 38 degree for graphics cards too, but they are
cases. There are ducts on the extremely rare in the Indian market.
side panel that open straight on As for PSUs, just buy a good-quality
the top of the processor and the one—it will come with two fans that will
graphics card for better cooling. keep the heat under control.
Not many vendors sell them
except for those made by Antec and Want more of Agent 001? Turn over to read his
VIP. Cabinets from these brands are answers to your buying questions
expensive and not for the average user.
Illustration Shyam Shriram
DIGIT JUNE 2005 175
 4 Years Of Tech
Ask Agent 001
DVD Switch Laptop With After-Sales
For printing on
I read the review of the Mitashi DIVX-555 CDs, you need I am interested in buying a laptop in the range
DivX player, and was planning on buying it. I’d printable CDs of Rs 35,000-40,000. On inquiring in the mar-
like to know of a dealer in Kolkata. I am also ket I got to know about different models from vari-
planning to buy a DVD-Writer, and would like to that support this ous manufacturers such as Compaq’s m2002, Acer’s
know about the best one that would be available feature Sempron-based model and Zenith’s Salespro. I need
around Kolkata. help with my purchase decision as I am confused
Appusarkar about quality, speed and after-sales service.
Lalit Jain
The Mitashi DIVX-555 player is available
through Mitashi Edutainment Pvt Ltd, a In your mentioned price range, you will
Mumbai-based company. You can contact them get laptops based on Pentium 4, Celeron
on 022-25006661 and find out about their or Sempron processors, though I would still ask
branch in Kolkata. As for the DVD writer, I sug- you to shell out a little more and opt for
gest you go for the Lite-On 1653S, which costs Centrino-based laptops. As far as raw speed is con-
around Rs 4K and can burn DVDs at 16X. It also cerned, Pentium 4 and Sempron will pose no
supports dual layer +R at 6X. problems. I would suggest you not to look at
Celeron processors as an option at all.
Print To CD Digit reviewed Acer’s Sempron-based laptop
and found it good in terms of performance, fea-
I want to buy a printer that can print directly on tures and price; since Acer is based out of
CDs, that is, I want to print the CD face directly Bangalore, service won’t be a problem for you.
on the CDs rather than printing it on paper and then As far as Compaq and Zenith are concerned,
pasting that onto the CD. What model would you Digit hasn’t reviewed them so I don’t have a con-
suggest I go for? My budget is around Rs 8K. clusive opinion to offer. In general, though, they
Anil will be good as far as quality and service is con-
cerned, while the performance will depend on
There are quite a few models from the configuration you choose.
Epson and Canon that offer CD face
printing via an attachment. As far as Epson is Video Capture Cards
concerned, the printing quality is not as great
as Canon’s—I’d suggest Canon over Epson. I am interested in buying PCI-based video cap-
Canon’s new line of Pixma printers has the CD ture cards. Does any such card offer TV tuning
face printing feature in their mid- and top- capabilities? My budget is around Rs 8K, and I plan to
range printers. use it to record from a VCR and handycam.
Digit evaluated two of these—the Pixma Jithin Jayaram
IP3000 and IP4000—both of which have the CD
printing feature. The IP3000, though, costs There are some players in the video cap-
around Rs 8,495 while the IP 4000 will set you ture segment—Pinnacle Systems have
back by Rs 10,995. Speed and cosmetic good products, but they are priced a little high-
differences apart, the two models are virtually er than the others. You can look out for
the same, and you can safely settle for the Pinnacle Studio 9, and external solution inter-
IP3000 model. Remember that for printing on faces for your PC via the USB port, which cost
CDs, you need printable CDs that support around Rs 14,500.
this feature. Monarch Vision, an Indian company, also
has products tailor-made for the Indian audi-
ence. The MV5 and MV20 models are priced at
MP3, FM Radio And Warranty Rs 9K and Rs 14,800 respectively.
I am looking to buy an MP3 player that suits my
needs—a Flash-based device with 256 MB capaci-
Last month we gave you details on
ty and with FM radio. I would like a player that uses
high- and low-end PCs. This month, we
normal batteries or one with rechargeable or user-
take a look at mid-range PCs.
replaceable batteries. I don’t have any particular
brand in mind. Warranty, though, is a concern. Mid-Range PC
Nish Dave
Mid-Range AMD
Make939 pin Athlon64 3000+ or AMD Cost (Rs)
Rs
I would suggest you go for Creative’s CPU 939 pin Athlon64 3000+ or 3200+ 7,500
MP3 players as they offer good features, Motherboard MSI RS480M2 6,500
RAM 512 MB DDR 400 Hynix 3,500
great performance and have good after-sales Ask Away HDD 80 GB SATA Samsung/Seagate 2,650
support in place. Creative has a long line of Monitor 17" Acer 715 CRT 6,500
players to choose from; you can settle for the Want a tech product, but Logitech
Keyboard 300
MuVo TX FM model. This player runs on a single don’t know how to go Logitech optical mouse
Mouse 300
AAA battery and offers decent battery life. about buying it? Any cabinet you like
Cabinet 500
Capacities range from 128 MB to 1 GB; prices Send an e-mail to Antec / VIP 350 W power supply
Power supply 2,000
[email protected]
vary according to the capacity. It also has a FM to get your queries
Optical Drive Lite-On / Sony combo drive 2,750
tuner. The MuVo TX FM is priced at around Rs Speakers Creative Inspire 2.1 2,400
answered
8K for the 256 MB model. Total 34,900

176 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Football Club On eBay! Linux Leader Quits
Dinel Staicu, owner of Romanian second division side Richard Seibt, one of the leading lights behind SuSE Linux
Universitatea Craiova, tried to give the club to his local before it was acquired by Novell, has quit. Seibt’s resignation
council. The council said they weren’t interested. Staicu then comes just a week after Novell made Ron Hovsepian president
said, “The only thing I can think of doing now is putting it on of worldwide field operations. Hovsepian and Seibt had been
eBay and seeing if I can find someone to take it over." public about their differing opinions about SuSE’s future.

First
Escape
WHAT SAY BABY? babies mean to say, could make bringing up

Scientists Working On researchers are analysing

whether high or low
children more enjoyable for
parents. “It is cruel just to

Baby Babble Translator frequencies in the sound of

the cries show they want
specific things.
tell them ‘You should
naturally know what your
baby wants’,” he says.
The team is also “There is no use scolding

T he cryptic cries, grins and

gurgles of babies that
leave parents dumbfounded
cries, facial expressions and
body temperature changes
in a project backed by the
monitoring temperatures of
the babies’ bodies, mostly
the face, using thermo-
parents. We want them to
have fun raising babies by
taking advantage of tech.”
could soon be deciphered, if government-subsidised graphy. Shinohara says the
modern technology delivers Japan Science and changes in temperature
as it promises. Technology Agency. indicate particular desires.
Three years after a “We are trying to read The professor, who
toymaker scored a smash babies’ faces numerically declined to elaborate on his
hit with the ‘Bowlingual’ such as the distance conclusions or the shape of http://tamilnaduinf
gadget to interpret the warp between eyebrows and the the gadget pending otech.com
and woof of a dog’s life, nose tip,” said Shinohara. As patenting, aims to launch
Japanese researchers may for other clues on what the device by mid-2006.
have an even bigger The product would be
sensation—a translator for for use at medical
baby babbling. institutions and homes. The
Illustrations: Harsho Mohan Chattoraj

“We aim to develop a professor would like to price

device to read babies’ a home-use version below
feelings,” says Kazuyuki ¥10,000 (approx. Rs 4,100).
Shinohara, a neurobiology “You may lose confi-
professor at the state-run dence as a parent if your “Tamilnadu Infotech
Nagasaki University who baby cries a lot. But your THE WEB COMPANY”
leads the research team. child-rearing ability inc- That’s it.
Shinohara’s group has reases by trial and error,” Huh? Well, that’s it!
been conducting says Yuko Iguchi, clinical Don’t get it? OK, let’s
experiments involving psychologist at National explain a little bit: that
mothers and their babies by Children’s Castle in Tokyo. piece of information—that
monitoring the infants’ Shinohara claims his device Tamilnadu Infotech is “The
Web Company”—is all there
is on http://tamilnadu
My Desktop infotech. com. It’s a
.jpeg logo.
We tried clicking on the
T hink you have the most
beautiful, most innovative
desktop around? Send it to
logo, then, in frustration,
on random places all over
[email protected], and the page—to no avail. Then
Digit will publish the most we realised that we could
eye-catching of them each month. view the page source, and
there it was—one jpeg logo,
The winner that’s all.
receives a copy We’d assume that the
of Enterprise site is under construction,
Application but wouldn’t an ‘under
Architechure With construction’ logo or text
VB, MTS and ASP have helped? Without that,
By Joseph Moniz,
we’re forced to conclude
published by Shroff
that Tamilnadu Infotech
Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd.
Shubhajit’s desktop makes good use of desktop tweaking doesn’t have anything to
This month’s winner is
Shubhajit Maity tools, cursor enhancements and player skins. We love the icons tell the world except that it
and taskbar transparency. Congrats Shubhajit! is “The Web Company”.

178 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 People Who
Changed
Computing

Pascal
Pioneer

STOP THE GYPSY MUSIC Softwin, a Romanian PIXEL EYES

D r Niklaus Wirth is
considered the creator
of the Pascal family of
company specialising in programming languages.
A Very anti-virus software, said
the worm works by
Artificial Wirth earned a degree in
Electronics Engineering
Selective targeting files associated
with singers’ names.
Retina To from the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology,
Virus Softwin spokesman
Cosmin Mares said, “The
Help Blind Zurich
(ETHZ), in
effects of the virus are an See Again 1959

A new computer virus

reported in Romania
increased usage of the
Internet bandwidth and
followed by
an M.Sc.
deletes only electronic
gypsy music files. The
Win.32. Antiman.A virus
serious problems to
companies’ servers. All
these cost money and
S cientists are helping the
blind see again, one pixel
at a time. If all goes well, an
from Laval
University,
Dr Niklaus Wirth Canada. He
destroys audio and video someone has to pay.” artificial retina could be completed
files containing ‘manele’ Vali The Blizzard, a commercially available his Ph.D. from the
music. Manele is popular Manele singer, within three years. University of California,
traditional gipsy music said, “I don’t believe this is Artificial retinas have Berkeley, in 1963.
played in an electronic a threat for us. On the been successfully implanted In 1968, Wirth
style, which has become contrary they are doing us in six patients, allowing returned to ETHZ as a
very popular in Romania. a favour. This way our them to see light and detect professor of computer
But it also has many fans will have to buy the motion, researchers of the science. At ETHZ, Wirth
detractors who have CDs and not take the Association for Research in developed Pascal (1970),
praised the virus as a music from the Internet Vision and Ophthalmology Modula-2 (1979) and
utilitarian blessing. for free.” in Florida announced in May. Oberon (1988). Pascal
Developed by researchers turned out to be a new
from the University of computer language as
Southern California and the well as a novel
Doheny Eye Institute, the programming paradigm.
artificial retina pairs a tiny It became an educational
electronic eye implant with tool that motivated
a video camera mounted on systematic and structured
a pair of sunglasses. ways of thinking.
The implant, a four-by- From 1992 onwards,
four grid of electrodes, his research has concen-
connects to damaged trated on digital design
photoreceptors on the tools as well as the use of
patient’s retina. The programmable devices.
electrodes stimulate the Wirth has received
photoreceptors, which several honorary
transmit signals to the brain doctorates and awards,
through the optic nerve. including the Turing
The videocam translates Prize, the IEEE Computer
the field of view into Society's Computer
electrical impulses that are Pioneer Award, and the
transmitted wirelessly to a ACM SIGSOFT
microchip located behind Outstanding Research
the ear. In turn, the Award in Software
microchip is connected to Engineering.
the retinal implant by wires Wirth retired from
under the skin. ETHZ in 1999, after more
The system, named than 30 years of service as
‘Argus’ after the Greek god a university professor. He
who had a hundred eyes, has published several
works only with patients books that are considered
with degenerated rods and classics in the field.
cones, a condition often

DIGIT JUNE 2005 179

 4 Years Of Tech Escape

Four Down, Many More To Go

“I t’s been Four Years? Wow!” That’s
the reaction most employees of
Digit had. Time sure flies when you’re
bosses to the lowly writers, still love
reading Digit. Some are so tired of
magazines disappearing from their
having fun. office desks, they’ve subscribed!
It’s true, we admit it! Each and every While preparing this anniversary
Dreamweaver one of us loves our jobs. It’s not a crime, issue, every employee took the
How do you manage to look is it? It’s hard to not love a job where you opportunity to drift down memory
intelligent when someone get to interact with the latest technology lane, reliving their first story, their first
throws Dreamweaver jargon at and the greatest technological minds on ordeal of burning DVDs, their first e-
you? Here’s a very brief primer. a daily basis. And we don’t mean just the mail from a reader, their first goof up,
“Add an image swap employees, or the people we interview; our reader forums, Planet Digit, the
behaviour...” some of our readers have taught us a redesign, and a million other things.
Just remember that anytime a thing or two thousand over the years. We’d like to thank each and every
user mouses over a menu item And yes, we did end up hiring them! reader and employee that stuck with
and the item gets highlighted, That’s the beauty of the philosophy us through the good and then the
that's an “image swap”; and a of Digit; we’re an open forum, a better. So, here’s to another great year
“behaviour” is jargon for
community magazine that’s, to in technology with Digit, and we
JavaScript codes that can be
built into a document. It’s “a paraphrase, “of the reader, by the promise to only deliver the best. With
combination of an event and an reader and apologies to
action". “Behaviour” is a term for the Frost, “We’ve
you'll come across pretty often. reader.” got promises to
“CSS Styles...” Every keep, and miles
You're bound to hear that from employee, to go before
anyone who's building a Web from the big we sleep...”
site. All you need to remember
is, “The W3C-approved method
for presenting and positioning caused by disease. It will not Ironically, one of the key supercomputer will process
objects in a Web page is using help people with damaged founders of the Internet, signals from up to 13 billion
cascading style sheets (CSS). optic nerves or other types Vint Cerf, will give Gore the light years from earth, as far
Dreamweaver makes it easy to of blindness. award at a June 6 ceremony back in time as the
define styles.” in New York. beginnings of the earliest
“Layers...” AL’S INTERNET CONNECTION When Gore joined stars and galaxies after the
When someone mentions layers, Congress eight years after formation of the universe.
you’ll know what they're talking
about if you remember this:
Lifetime the Internet was created, he
promoted high-speed
“Unlike current observatories
that use large optical mirrors
“Dreamweaver uses DHTML to
make layers. DHTML is a
Achievement telecommunications for eco-
nomic growth and sup-
or radio dishes to point to
distant galaxies, ASTRON will
scripting language that allows
HTML to change even after a Award For ported funding increases for
the Internet. He also coined
harness more than 25,000
simple radio antennas,”
page has been loaded into a
browser.” Of course, you've also Gore the term ‘information
superhighway’ when he was
claims IBM and ASTRON.
Running on 12,000
got to remember that layers are
a little bit like containers for vice president. PowerPC microprocessors,
stuff on the page. You can the supercomputer can
actually specify exact co-
ordinates and some other stuff
F ailed presidential candi-
date Al Gore, who once
famously claimed to have
STAR-GAZING SUPERCOMP execute 27.4 teraflops, or
27.4 trillion floating-point
like hiding particular layers. You
can have many layers on one
“invented the Internet,” is
to get a lifetime achieve-
Europe operations, per second,
which makes it Europe’s
page and hide each one until
required. ment award for services to
the Internet.
Supercomp most powerful computer
in terms of sustained
“Just re-use that snippet...”
Reusing code pieces, also known
Gore was widely laughed
at for his comments in a
To Process performance.
The new computer will
as ‘snippets’, is supposed to be
“a great way to save time.”
CNN interview that he “took
the initiative in creating the
Starry Data form the heart of a new
And as for “bindings”, we don’t Internet.” In fact, he was
know what they are, so just
rote-learn the following: “The
Bindings tab of the Applications
only 21 when the Internet
was created out of a E urope’s biggest
supercomputer will
crunch data from
panel holds dynamic content in Pentagon project.
a safe place for you to easily However, the Webby thousands of radio
access and bind as you build awards for online achieve- antennae eavesdropping
your documents. ments said that Gore will on the history of the
For example, when you create get a lifetime achievement universe, claims its Dutch
a recordset, it will be listed award for three decades of developers, the
under the Server Behaviors service to the Internet. Netherlands Foundation
tab, and accessible under the The Webby awards say he for Research in Astronomy
Bindings tab. You will be able did “amazing work for three (ASTRON) and the US
to bind recordset columns into decades as Congressman, computer giant IBM.
your document.” Based in Holland, the
Senator and Vice President.”

180 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 E sc ape 4 Years Of Tech

whatweretheythinking.com radio telescope developed

by ASTRON, and gather
in wireless and broadband
capabilities.
HULK’S DIARY THAT IS ON THE INTERNET and analyse information The PS3 will not only
from ASTRON’s Low deliver high-definition video
Frequency Array ‘software games to HDTV sets, it also
S eriously. We've seen some stupid, corny and outrageous
stuff on the Internet, but this takes the cake. It's not actu-
ally a site, rather a blog called “Hulk's Diary That Is On The
telescope’ network. will allow those who own
two HDTVs to create a single,
Internet”. Supposed to be the Hulk's (the green cartoon mon- SUCCESSOR TO THE PS2 panoramic, ultra-wide
screen. A second screen such
ster character) diary (that is on the Internet, so we assume he
also maintains one offline), there is nothing but text that PS3 Due as a PC monitor could also
be used to show tactical and
seems to be written by people with sub-zero IQs or those who
have been drugged before they wrote it. Or maybe both! Next Spring statistical game data or video
chat streams.
The blog is run by someone called Puny Human Kevin (and
it seems he gets help from another Puny Human, Scott) and “This is allowing (users)
they are the Hulk's flatmates. It has been in existence since
January 2001 and apparently, over 3,60,000 people have vis- M ay 16, Sony announced
that PlayStation 3, the
successor to the top-selling
to merge the real and
virtual world together,” Ken
Kutaragi, largely seen as the
ited the site since. Incredibly (as much as the Hulk, perhaps), is
the fact that there seems to be a loyal following with sugges- PlayStation 2, will arrive father of the Sony
tions like “Hulk must drink Superdrink Red Bull”. What? next spring. Playstation, said.
People are sending photographs and stuff they make to the Microsoft’s Xbox 360, The PS3 will use the cell
site and if not put up, they get mad and then, “Hulk apologise”. announced mid-May, is processor, created by IBM
What doesn't surprise us, though, is the fact that donations are slated for release this fall. with Sony and Toshiba,
being accepted. For what? “To Microsoft thus has a head which has supercomputer-
buy Superdrink for Hulk”! start, and the Xbox 360, too, type performance 35 times
It's ridiculous and after is aimed at the living room, more powerful than does
reading through half the home with high-definition video, the PS2. The nVidia
page, we were numbed at the music and movies. But Sony graphics processor in the
lack of intelligence of the entire boasts that the PS3 will have PS3 will be more powerful
membership. How seriously can twice its power. than two high-end PC
you take a sham? Visit and you The system will support graphics cards.
shall know! Sony’s high-definition
P.S. Some stuff like the format—the Blu-Ray disk, Compiled by Aditya Kuber,
Hulk’s song (!) are funny, and and all PlayStation and PS2 Mithun Kidambi,
http://incrediblehulk.blogspot.com make you snicker once. formats, in addition to Ram Mohan Rao and
DVDs. It also will have built- Renuka Rane

Educational Weblogs All about Technology

http://weblogs.asp.net/jasonsalas http://techupdates.blogspot.com
Albert Delgado indian

Shrook 2.2 - RSS newsreader Save Battery using Offline Mode in Ngage
I am a proud owner of Nokia Ngage. I am totally
What's New: Full attachment support with iTunes and satisfied with the quality and functions of this
On using Google Web iPod integration for podcasts Access to podcasts from beauty. One more feature of Ngage is that it can
Accelerator in iPod Notes menu * Spotlight searching support * save your battery and even can make you away
conjunction with Support for self-signed HTTPS certificates * Improved from annoying and disturbing calls.
phpMyAdmin; an RSS feed: support * Various minor improvements and Saving Battery: While roaming, if you haven't
newsreader with bugfixes activated roaming or there is no network, you can set
support for iPod Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or later. thepProfile of your phone to 'Offline'. Offline mode
integration and more; makes your phone not reacheable to anyone and will
Simple Thoughts stop searching for new network, hence will save battery.
on saving battery on http://blog.taragana.com/
the Nokia Ngage; and angsuman Eric Bowen’s .NET technology blog
a rant about VB http://scrappydog.com/blog/
versus C#. That’s our Thought experiment: Google Web Accelerator
pick of blog posts and phpMyAdmin combo I’ve become a VB hating C# bigot
this month What would happen when a GWA user uses I’m not sure quite when it happened, but I've gone
phpMyAdmin? over to the dark side and become a VB hating C#
It is not https connection, yet protected by bigot. I've had a long career as a Basic programmer
a password, which will be visible to Google. going all the way back to my TRS-80 Model I Level II
With GWA's pre-fetching and disregard for in 1979, following by AppleSoft, QuickBasic, and then
javascript confirmations, you have the prospect of every version of VB and Microsoft Access...
serious data loss (read database wipeout). Does Last week I started a major new project for a
Google apply its caching ingenuity to password large corporate client that is using VB.NET, and I
protected pages? just don't want to do it. Yes, intellectually I know
Anyone up for the little experiment? Open VB.NET and C#.NET are almost identical, and I'm
phpMyAdmin, while using GWA, and browse around equally fluent in both, but I just don't LIKE VB.NET!
a bit. Let me know what happens. Moral of the story? None...

DIGIT JUNE 2005 181

 TechCritique
FIFA Soccer 2005
FIFA 2004 was not a good game. Actually, that
was a huge understatement. OK, it sucked. Real
bad. I actually preferred to play FIFA 2003 instead
of FIFA 2004. Now EA’s come out with FIFA 2005.
Is it more of the same, or is it any good? Will it
be a waste of your money? Hell, no!

This Is The New Shit

FIFA 2005 is one helluva game. It comes with the
customary 350 licences, including 20 leagues, 40
national teams and over 15,000 players. All
rosters are also up to date, with all transfers up
to October 1, 2004 reflected in the game. The game oozes realism, while still being fun to play
There’s an all new interface, which is a real
saving grace, because FIFA 2004’s interface… well, opponent will now race towards it. In 2004, you’d
the less said the better. kick the ball out if you ran at it because of your
Also, for the first time since FIFA 2002, 2005 momentum. In 2005, however, you have complete
comes with a Creation Centre built in, so your control of the ball in such situations. Players will
days of downloading them are gone. It’s detailed even slide and try to keep the ball in play if it’s
to the core. rolling out. The game oozes realism, while still
Another nifty feature is the EA Store. By being fun to play.
fulfilling certain objectives, you earn points that
allow you to unlock certain items. So you have Sweet Is The Fruit Of Patience
alternate kits, different balls, songs and stadia to EA has also put in a whole new Career mode into
be unlocked—even celeb referee Pierluigi Colina! 2005. This time around, your career lasts fifteen
All this is just the tip of the iceberg. What really seasons, instead of just five. There are five different
makes the game so darn good is the First Touch regions where you can begin your career, each with
model and ultra-realistic gameplay. its own major leagues.
Games So England comes under one region, Spain
under another, and so on. You start off at the teams
in the lowest leagues and have to build a
reputation to get a job at a top-level club. You have
to keep winning trophies and your Job Security
meter up.

Whoa, She’s Beautiful!

EA has had the best football title for a long
time when it comes to graphics, and this time it’s
no different. The graphics are jaw-dropping. 3D
grass, accurate shadows, and the players
look better than ever. However, audio is the
one disappointing thing about the game.
One feature in FIFA 2005 that’s both
realistic and annoying is player retirements. From
2005 realistically simulates your first touch of the ball age 32 onwards, players start to retire and are
replaced by randomly-generated characters having
They Call It The Real Deal their names, skills and looks similar to those
EA has introduced, for the very first time, a First they’re replacing. While this does make the game
Touch model that realistically simulates your more realistic, it also makes it very annoying,
player’s first touch of the ball. The first touch because by the time you have enough managerial
depends on how the player is positioned and the prestige to get into a top club, the best players are
angle at which the ball is played to him, giving you gone! Another irritating feature is the ‘Load Replay’
the most realistic gameplay ever in any menu. You can save all the replays you want, but
FIFA game. the menu only lets you see 13 of them.
Now you can plan your movements before you Basically, there are plenty of ways EA could
receive the ball, ensuring that the opposition’s have improved FIFA 2005, but that still doesn’t stop
defence can’t get anywhere near you. The game’s a it from being one great game. It really is a must-
lot less monotonous, because it allows you to bring buy, especially for FIFA fans who gave up on the
variation into your play and lets you try out some franchise after FIFA 2004. Go get it now!
of those cool moves you saw on TV.
Everything about the gameplay has been FIFA Soccer 2005
improved. Take the AI. I could swear they read your Publisher Electronic Arts
mind sometimes, because the way they cut your Developer EA Canada
most disguised ‘through’ ball is just unbelievable. Web site www.easports.com/games/fifa2005
System requirements 700 MHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB video card,
Another very welcome improvement is the 800 MB free hard disk space, DirectX 9.0b
player’s ball control at the touchline. If the ball has Distributor Gayatri Impex Pvt Ltd
just deflected off your defender and rolled to a Price Rs 1,299
standstill just on the touchline, you and an Courtesy SKOAR! Magazine

182 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Need For Speed Underground 2
NEED FOR SPEED Underground (NFSU) was a
revolutionary game where you could mod almost
every part of your ride. The game was a little
monotonous because you just won a race,
unlocked stuff, and went to the Customise menu
over and over; NFSU2 throws in a whole city with
five distinct parts that you have to unlock while
following the storyline. You have the freedom to
choose your race and sponsors, you’ve got three
new modes, and many more cool features.
This is the first NFS game driven by a story. The
story picks up from where NFSU ended, depicting
you as a top-dog racer, when suddenly an idiot in The city is split into five parts that are unlocked in stages
his 4x4 smashes into your ride one night. Once
you’ve recovered from the crash, Samantha (the girl Car In The Big City
in NFSU) directs you to Bayview, where you need to The races in NFSU2 can be completed in any
rise up back to the #1 position. Every few races, a order. The city is split into five parts that are
cutscene is played, which leads to the next stage of unlocked in stages. Also, instead of a one-stop
the plot. The end objective is to find the person modding menu, you need to visit shops scattered
who totalled your across the city. You need to unlock these shops
car and give by finding them, upon which they’ll be added to
him hell. your GPS map. Points where races will take place
NFSU2 looks are also displayed on the map, but some races
splendid, and the you’ll have to uncover.
night-time races The tweaking in itself is pretty exciting.
add to the effect. Almost every car part can be tweaked. Every
The game uses a fancy addition earns you respect, increasing
tweaked NFSU the points you get as well the nitrous boost
engine. Motion you have. Your tricked-out car will also get
1. Need For Speed Underground 2 blurs and light featured in magazines, earning you cash in
Rs 1,299 trails have been the process.
Gayatri Impex Pvt Ltd
fine-tuned to Basically, the game revolves around you
2. Mafia perfection. The striking deals with sponsors and fulfilling your
Rs 699 effects when you contract. Race modes consist of the legendary

TechCritique
E-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd
hit the nitrous give Drag, Circuit, Sprint and Drift races, with a
List Courtesy Crossword Mumbai

3. Harry Potter And The Prisoner you a sense of notable addition being Street X, a combination
Of Azkaban
Rs 1,299 speed hard to find of the Circuit and Drift modes. Then there’s the
Gayatri Impex Pvt Ltd in any other game. Time Attack, where you have to complete certain
4. Constantine The cars are exact objectives in the given time.
Rs 699 replicas of their
E-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd real-world More Sound Than You Want To Handle
5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City counterparts. Snoop Dogg’s remix of Riders on the Storm is the
Rs 1,299 As for those oh- best opening sequence we’ve ever heard. The
E-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd so-lame crash other tracks aren’t that good, though. Effects
effects, the such as engine sounds, crashes, nitrous boosts,
introduction of a and various other ambient sounds have been
‘different’ camera angle still can’t make them look done extremely well.
any better. Due to the lack of damage modelling, Multiplayer in NFSU2 is as simple as it gets—
the only enjoyment you can get is out of the nice all single-player modes are available in
sounds that shearing metal makes. Overall, the multiplayer. The servers are good—you can play
game isn’t more graphically advanced than NFSU. online even with a slow Internet connection (we
used a 33.6 Kbps modem).
The graphics are good, sound effects great,
music OK, but the voice acting needs a lot of
improvement. If you crave the need for speed this
game is definitely for you—it’s worth the money.
Until the next iteration, satisfy your speed
addiction through this game, not in the real
world. Drive safe.

Need for Speed Underground 2

Publisher Electronic Arts
Developer EA Canada
Web site www.needforspeed.com
System requirements 933 MHz CPU, GeForce2, 256 MB RAM, 2 GB
HDD space
Distributor Gayatri Impex Games
Price Rs 1,299

The night-time races in NFSU2 are really well done Courtesy SKOAR! Magazine

DIGIT JUNE 2005 183

 THIS MONTH’S CHALLENGE

So you still love FAT32 and

have a huge hard disk...
how would you go about
Create a FAT32
creating a FAT32 partition
larger than 32 GB on your
disk? Sound impossible?
partition
Write in to
[email protected]
larger than 32 GB
with your solution
on your hard disk

LAST MONTH’S CHALLENGE Disable right-clicking anywhere on the Desktop

We are disappointed to say

that this month, there were
Win! no winners for the ‘Take A
Crack’ contest. Most of those
who responded, sent in only
half the answer. We had
asked you to suggest a way
to disable the context
menu—or right-clicking—on
the entire Desktop, includ-
ing the Start Button,
Taskbar and the System Disable the context menu on the Desktop and in the System Tray
Tray. Most entries stated the
way to disable the context
Take a Crack menu only on the Desktop. First, navigate to
and Win Anyway, here is the solu- HKEY_CURRENT _USER\
Artificial Intelligence A tion to last month’s problem. Software\Microsoft
Modern Approach You need to use the Win- \Windows\CurrentVer-
By Stuart Russell and sion\Policies\Explorer.
Peter Norvig Right-click in the right
Published by Pearson Education pane and create a new
(Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
DWORD value. Name
this DWORD key Disable right-clicking on the Taskbar
WINNER “NoViewContextMenu”.
There was no winner for last Double-click on this HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Soft-
month’s Take A Crack contest. DWORD and set its value to ware\Microsoft\Windows
1. Click ‘OK’. This step will \CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Rules and Regulations disable the context menu Advanced. Right-click in the
Readers are requested to send The default Windows XP Desktop for the Desktop. right pane and create a new
in their answers by the 15th of the Next, in the same reg- DWORD value as before.
month of publication.
dows registry editor. Start istry key as above, again Name this DWORD “Taskbar
Employees of Jasubhai the registry editor by right-click in the right pane ContextMenu”. The new
Digital Media and their relatives going to Start > Run, and create another, new DWORD will have a value of
are not permitted to participate typing in “regedit” and DWORD value. Name this 0—let it remain. That’s it—
in this contest.
pressing [Enter]. DWORD “NoTrayCon- you’re done.
Readers are encouraged to textMenu”. Double- Exit the registry editor.
send their replies by e-mail. click on this DWORD Log Off and then log back
Jasubhai Digital Media will not and set its value to 1. On for the new settings to
entertain any unsolicited
communication. Click‘OK’. This step take effect. Now try right-
will disable the con- clicking anywhere—you won’t
Jasubhai Digital Media is text menu for the Sys- be able to!
not responsible for any damage tem Tray. To restore the context
to your system that may be
caused while you are trying to Finally, we’ll dis- menus, repeat the above
solve the problem. able the context menu procedures, and simply
for the Taskbar. To do change back the values from
All steps involve creating a new DWORD value this, navigate to 0 to 1 and 1 to 0 as necessary.

184 DIGIT JUNE 2005

 Digit Forum
ACi laptop on Indiatimes for Rs 2,999

…That’s Why Digit Is No. 1 Dear Rishabh and Kartik,

I was really very angry when I received my Nothing gives us greater pleasure than to
April issue of Digit. Reason: the DVD know that our efforts are being appreciated
digen was unusable. Though I’m not a by our readers. You don’t need to thank us
Brainiac subscriber, I am definitely a regular for sending another DVD… it was the least we
Location: Belgaum reader. When I had read the DVD could do. Keep reading and let us know what
My bro has ordered it for himself. But the contents in Digit, I was really eager to you think… that’s what helps us improve.
mode of payment he has selected is lay my hands on the DVD. —Executive Editor
DD/Cheque. So, unless the payment is But to my horror, it didn’t work! It
received they won’t process the order. Maybe was like separating a mother from her Who Moved My Contest?
I’ll just wait and see how it goes. Play Safe! I baby; I tried all sorts of ways to execute I don’t know if I am a bit late in
seriously hope it’s not a typo man. Fingers the installers, but no use. The DVD sending this e-mail, but I had to… I also
crossed, it’s too good to be true. didn’t have a single file that could run. don’t know whether my mail will be
I decided I would definitely call Digit published, because I am writing
**************************************** and ask for a replacement. And I did.
Sourabh something which concerns the
Digitized Flooder The lady in your Mumbai office ‘wrongs’ in the magazine.
Location: LoSt asked my phone number and suggested I bought my copy on May 7. I was
Well this thing is really bugging me now! They I put my complaint on the feedback very happy to read in the magazine
called me up day before yesterday from section. I did as I was told, but I had about the Contest Carnival. However, I
Gurgaon saying that the real price of the lappy very little hope that I would get was not able to take part (or couldn’t)
was Rs 29,990, and there had been a error on another DVD. till May 9.
the site so they would have to cancel the order. Two, five, 15 days went by, but When I finally sat down by May 10,
I paid them then and there thru my ICICI there was no response from your team I entered the exact URL that had
bank account, after some of their phone calls and I had lost appeared in the magazine in my
and heavy scolding, they said higher officials hope of Web browser
will get back in touch with u. 3 hrs from that getting http://www.zdnetindia.com/digitcontest.
conversation, I got a mail to confirm my another DVD. A nice and functional page was
order and shipping address, which I had to But then came ready for me to browse, but it also said
reply to. After that I have seen a change in the turning “This Web page has been upgraded”,
my status of product from STATUS—NOT point... the and there was nothing in it that
SHIPPED to the present: May issue of concerned the Contest Carnival.
Digit, that Let me also tell you that this was
carried the exactly what happened when I tried to
editor’s note view the results of the February contest
Now I dunno what’s happening: I still saying on March 15, as the site during that
haven’t got my money back, no phone calls, newsstand contest said that the results would be
also the status in Indiatimes is absurd, buyers, too, declared on March 15.
everything is blank so can’t figure out anything. could get a How could it be upgraded so soon?
The error was there for almost 24 hours replacement DVD by simply providing But, thanks to Google and Yahoo!,
and, about 45 guys booked it and still they their Patron Code. which opened some related sites, I got
didn’t stop the product from being ordered. This was like a hero who rescues access to the site which had the
Even after this whole deal had been addressed the baby and helps it meet its mother! February results. I also opened a few
they still had it on their site for a while for the Right now, I’m enjoying my DVD. I’m other links provided by the search
same absurd price. greatly impressed by the care that engines, but it was of no use.
I feel that all they are doing this for is to team Digit takes of its customers, and Finally, I reached the site that was
get more visitors on their site and hoping to get this is what makes Digit India’s No. 1 relating to the May contest. But, I was
more money from the extra traffic. tech magazine! surprised to see that the site already
I got a call from them almost 24 hrs after I had the winners name for the May
had made my payment, also they said that they Rishabh Jha contest itself.
would return the money within 10 days to my Vadodara This happened on May 12. Moreover,
ICICI bank account. Does Indiatimes have the site was also not ‘/digitcontest’, but
problems even for Rs 4k, that they will have to I was just thinking of sending you back ‘/dcnew’ and something else as well!
take 10 days to deposit the money in it again? the DVD shipped with the April ’05 And all this happens when I was
issue, since it did not autorun. I was feeling unsatisfied by the April DVD
**************************************** surprised to see the new DVD with your
go4inet problem. I have been a regular reader
Resident Techie May ’05 issue and your apology note. for the last nine months was very
Location: Chennai Thank you so much for treating all satisfied by the software and other
They have updated their page now. Still there is subscribers at par. You really deserve all utilities you have always provided.
an error on their page : MRP: Rs.5,999 the thanks for it. And yes, once I read that someone
Offer Price: INR: 34,999.00 USD: 795.40 Kartik Kamdar wrote to you saying you can also
You Save: -4.8E+2%. Lol! Via E-mail include full versions of old games such

202 To post your comments on Digit Forum,

visit www.thinkdigit.com/forum
 Write to the Editor Digit will publish the best letters on these pages.
Letters may be edited for clarity.
E-mail: [email protected]
For subscription queries, call the Help Desk at
Snail Mail: The Editor, Digit, D-222/2, Om Sagar
022-27629191/9200, Fax 022-27629224, or
Building, MIDC, TTC Industrial Estate, Nerul,
send an e-mail to [email protected]
Navi Mumbai 400 706

Inbox
as the IGI, Max Payne and many 2. Since you have made Outlook
others. You can conduct a poll on (POP access) restricted to subscribers An Apple A Day...
your site and find out whether (which the average Indian cannot pay
First up, let me congratulate you for
people really want them. I know that for), I am stuck with deleting mails on
bringing out yet another excellent
probably most of the PC gamers would an hourly basis.
issue of Digit. Your article on the
have the games I mentioned, but as I 3. Like all my friends, I will have to
future of inkjet printers was
said, there are many other games and migrate to my other e-mail accounts
especially praiseworthy.
you too, now, give more than 4 GB. causing me great inconvenience. If I
However, I have a gripe. Your
were in the US, I would have sued you
Ayush Dinker coverage of Apple Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger
for billions.
Kanpur was treated as very inconsequential
Dear Ayush, in the computing world.
www.zdnetindia.com/digitcontest/
Priyank Modi As you already
Was [email protected] for eight years
automatically forwards to www.zdnetindia. know, Tiger is the
com/dcnew/, which is the new address Dear Priyank, most advanced OS Letter
of the contest. We couldn’t agree more. For your in the world with
It appears that you logged in at a time information, Hotmail offers 250 MB to its features that won’t of the
when the pages were being updated, we North American users. Maybe you could even be present Month
apologise for any inconvenience caused to all probably inconvenience yourself once and in Windows’
our readers due to this. switch over to Yahoo! (1 GB) or GMail (2.2 GB upcoming Longhorn
Another possibility is that your browser and counting!). operating system.
didn’t redirect, as it should, or was showing —Executive Editor In India, people do not have any
older cached pages. To overcome any such idea of the Mac platform and its
problems, all readers are requested to More Registry Tweaks, Please advantages. The release of Tiger
empty their browser caches before playing I have noticed that in the Tips & gives a great opportunity to bring to
the contests. Tricks and Q&A sections, there are the fore the advantages of this
The contest page is up and running, many little registry tweaks or hacks. platform. In my opinion, there
and can be accessed by going to My suggestion is to devote one or should have been a full story
http://www.zdnetindia.com/dcnew/ two pages of your magazine for a dedicated to Tiger.
(http://www.zdnetindia.com/digitcontest different section, in which, you can Moreover, people are also
still works as well). present some registry tweaks and discouraged to try out the Mac
The contest closes on June 15, 2005, so continue it in every issue. In fact, at platform by your magazine, which I
hurry up and start playing! least 10 registry tweaks per issue find very stupid.
—Executive Editor would be great. In your Agent 001 section, Vinay
You could also include only the Anand has been advised to purchase
Thanks, But No Thanks most useful ones to control space. Else, a Windows-based PC for high-end
To, you can use this as a topic for your multimedia applications;
Customer Service, upcoming Fast Track book. something for which Macs have
Hotmail.com Continue with your excellent work, been traditionally famous for.
I have the following issues with and hats off to the Digit team! Agent 001 also mentions that
Hotmail which need remedial action: Mac OSX is not popular with
1. I have just 2 MB of storage space
Shashank Rawoorkar developers and that “very few
Via E-mail
compared to the 2.2 GB that your professional applications are
competitor offers. This must have been Dear Shashank, available for Mac OSes”.
enough space five years ago, but today, That’s an excellent suggestion. We will This kind of advice reinforces
it seems a bit less. Don’t you agree? definitely try to implement it either in the the mindset that the MAC platform
magazine or in the form of the book soon. is application-starved, which is
Why don’t you write in and let us know exactly untrue, as all major applications
what you would like to see in this book? are supported. In the case of
—Executive Editor some minor applications, some
are supported while there are
Corrigendum alternatives for others.
In the April 2005 issue of Digit, the I have been using an Apple iBook
contact details of Esource Global in the for the past one year and have not
Motorola MPx review (page 56) were felt deprived of any software
incorrect. The correct contact number available for my PC counterparts.
for Esource Global is 9820822205. While being a magazine of such
You may also visit their Web site at repute, you have given voice to a
www.esourceglobal.com. The error rumour that is untrue.
is regretted.
—Executive Editor Dr Sudeep Bansal
Hotmail.com still offers a paltry 2 MB of free storage space Via e-mail

DIGIT JUNE 2005 203

 4 Years Of Tech Tabloid Tech

Yank That Cell Away

P
arents looking for a The Cheil Communications
punishment for their survey found that of 13- to
wayward teens, which 15-year-olds, 77.5 per cent said
does not involve beating or a mobile phone was a ‘must-
locking them in the wardrobe, have’ item, while for those
should consider confiscating aged 16 to 18, the figure
their mobile phones: a study was 76.7 per cent, the
by a South Korean advertising survey showed.
firm shows that a mobile is a The survey indicated that
Korean teenager’s most prized teens felt helpless without
possession, and that taking their mobile, thus taking it
them away from them is a bit away from them would be a
People And Events That Grabbed Headlines—For Better Or For Worse like social castration. really good punishment.

They Survived DVD For The

Mourners!
Carly Fiorina!
A
n Australian
undertaker is offering a

A
Web site is offering a Carly’s tenure as CEO” and let hearse with its own
selection of products you tell the world all about it. mini-bar, DVD player and
celebrating the “Carly Was she all that bad?! coffee maker. It is fitted with
Fiorina Years”. The items Apparently. Some readers chrome handrails, tinted
available at www.cafepress. might recall that Fiorina was a windows, pop-out cup holders
com/carly_survivor include controversial figure at HP, and atmospheric lighting.
mugs, shirts and other partly because of the abrasive The mint green hearse
paraphernalia, and carry the manner in which the takeover can hold up to 12 mourners
logo “I survived the Carly of Compaq was fought in 2001 and a coffin, reports The
Fiorina Years”. and 2002. As a matter of fact, Sydney Morning Herald.
The site says the items HP shares rose 7.5 per cent Martin Tobin, of Tobin
commemorate “your after the news of Fiorina’s Brothers Funeral in
survival, or not, through stepping down! Melbourne, said: “We already
Was Carly all that bad?
know that this will not be for
everyone, and we are not
saying that this is the only

Toying With Cybersex way to have a funeral.

“But for those who want
to be together and travel with

W
ould you have through personal profiles and the deceased, particularly
cybersex with Internet communities, “people those with large families, it is
someone you met are looking for an increased a good option for them.”
through an online dating site? level of interaction,” he says. The family funeral bus
Would you go on a date with Members fill out profiles, in costs £400 (Rs 32,600).
someone you met through a varying degrees of detail. You What’s with all these
cybersex chat room? HighJoy is can search the database by funeral gadgets coming out
betting you will. characteristic or member name, these days? Earlier, in this
HighJoy is a fusion of a contact people through space, we spoke about a
dating database, a proprietary anonymous e-mail and have HighJoy—very adult, very “with it” German inventor’s tasteless
chat client, and ‘teledildonics’— private chats. A favourites list invention that lets you talk to
the integration of telepresence lets you keep track of people sex toys, without access to the the dead—a gadget you bury
with sex. you’re most intrigued by. community rooms and in the ground along with the
Amir Vatan, CEO, describes And, of course, you can profiles. You can’t contact body so you can call up the
the company as something invite someone to control people through their profiles, body and speak to it.
between AdultFriendFinder your vibrator while you and they can’t see yours. And now this! Imagine
and Match.com. He sees control theirs. Seriously, this idea— people dressed all in black,
HighJoy as the logical next For the monogamous, “something between sipping Foster’s and watching
step for those who enjoy HighJoy offers a ‘one-on-one’ AdultFriendFinder and their favourite DVDs in
making connections online. membership that lets you sign Match.com”—strikes us as a between sniffles. Whatever
Now that we’re used to the on to chat privately with each good idea, and as a sign of happened to good old-
idea of meeting people other and control each other’s the times. fashioned mourning?

204