Liveit Sept09

SEPTEMBER 2009

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RS. 50

IT magazine for the contemporary woman

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN GAMES JAVA-BASED MOBILE GAMES ‘PAN’ IN GAME CONSOLES MEDICAL SIMULATION GAMES THRILL & EXCITEMENT IN ACTION GAMES

ENTERTAINING GAMING TECHNOLOGY

Vol. 1 Issue 12

feature

106 Profile

contents september 2009

32 38 50 54 57 75

Gaming Technology in Medical Imaging Artificial Intelligence in Games Multimedia Technologies for Gaming The Digital World of Barbie PAN Technologies in Video Games Thrill & Excitement in Action Games

72

Advantages of Online Games

tech tip 60 Kiran’s Typing Tutor 61 Crayon Physics 62 FlickrSync to Sync Photos

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Gaming Technology & Entertainment

41 Style IT

63 64 65 66 67 68

Listen to BBC Radio on your Reliance Phone Google Enhances SMS Search in India LEGO Digital Designer Scratch Tux for Math Command Stream Movies in your Home with New Cisco Router 69 Listen to Movies on Mobile Phone 70 Waterproof Gadgets for Mobile Gaming the Monsoon Technology 71 Cool Alternatives to Skype

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102 Star Diary

how to 84 86 88 90 92 94

Founder Vishwa Nath (1917-2002)

Merge Pictures to Create a Panoramic Image

Editor, Publisher & Printer Paresh Nath

Snipping Tool in Windows Vista

Editorial Office E-3, Jhandewalan Estate, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055 Phones: 41398888, 23529557 E-mail: [email protected]

Downloading Facebook Photo Albums Using LiveScribe Ripping DVDs Effortlessly

Advertisement Department E-3, Jhandewalan Estate, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055 Phones: 41398888, 23529557 E-mail: [email protected]

Adding Text to a Picture

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The Virtual Vacation to Event Horizon

spice IT 13 18 22 36

Classifieds Department M-12, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001, Phone: 23416313

Buzz Byte Live IT or Leave IT Chatroom Snapshots

Bangalore: G3, HVS Court, 21 Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560052, Phone: 26577845

regulars

peek & pick 108 HP Elitebook 109 Ray T65 & Altec Lansing Digital Speaker for iPod and iPhone

110 Canon D10 Digital Underwater Camera

8 Tech News 12 Did You Know? 17 Letter to the Editor 95 Tech Career 101 Tech Cartoon 104 Interview 114 Shopper’s Guide 115 Q&A 116 Glossary 121 Supplement - Digital Photography

111 Apacer Handy Steno USB Flash Drive

112 Creative Aurvana X-Fi & Logitech QuickCam Go Black

113 iPhone Stand & Intuos4 Grip Pen

Regional Offices Ahmedabad: 503, Narayan Chambers, Asharam Road, Ahmedabad - 380009, Phone: 26577845

15 Care IT

Bhopal: 12-B, Maharana Pratap Nagar, Zone No. 1, Bhopal - 462011, Phone: 2573057 Chennai: 14, First Floor, Cison’s Complex, Montieth Road, Chennai - 600008, Phone: 28554448 Jaipur: Geetanjali Tower, Shop No. 114, Opp. Vyas Hospital, Ajmer Road, Jaipur - 302006, Phone: 3296580 Kochi: G7- Pioneer Towers, 1 Marine Drive, Kochi - 682031, Phone: 2371537 Kolkata: Poddar Point, 3rd Floor, 113 Park Street, Kolkata - 700016, Phone: 22298981 Lucknow: B-G/3, Sapru Marg, Luck now - 226001, Phone: 2618856 Mumbai: A 4, Shriram Industrial Estate, Wadala - 400031, Phones: 65766302, 65766303 Patna: 111, Ashiana Towers, Exhibition Road, Patna - 800001, Phone: 2685286 Secunderabad: 122, Chenoy Trade Centre, 116, Park Lane, Secunderabad - 500003, Phone: 27841596 Printed and published at Delhi Press Samachar Patra Pte Ltd., A-36, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Delhi Press, E-3, Jhandewalan Estate, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi - 110055. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publishers.

Professional Pen Tablet

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Moov 300 PND

This copy is sold on the condition that jurisdiction for disputes from sale, subscription and the published matter will be handled at courts/forums/tribunals at Delhi. Title Live IT is registered with Government of India as trademark. 2008 © D elhi Press Patra Prakashan Pte Ltd., New Delhi - 110055, India.

News News compiled by Priyanka Dey

… fy o o G & ld a n o D , ie n in Mickey, M E MAGIC OF DISNEY TH TATA SKY BRINGS ALIVE

ween the TATA Tata Sky Ltd., the JV bet e, tiv tia ini ind s-k f-it t-o In a firs ance with The ced a special content alli un no an , AR ST d an p Grou al world of ia to bring alive the magic Walt Disney Company Ind tform, pla e ctiv characters on its Intera Disney and its favourite tve Wizkids. ActveTM Stories and Ac scribers, especially sney offers Tata Sky sub Di of rld wo al gic ma e Th stories from fairy the very best of Disney s, up gro age all of en childr Pooh’ to the new White’ and ‘Winnie the ow ‘Sn la’, rel nd ‘Ci like tales on Actve Stories rs and Lilo’ and ‘Stitch’ ‘Ca as h suc s rite ou fav y Disne Children are sure and fun-loving manner. e ctiv era int ely rem ext in an e of the day. y story everyday, any tim sne Di new nd bra a oy to enj games featuring children a wide array of ers off o als ds zki Wi tve Ac nge’ or ‘Holiday ey Mouse Tennis Challe uced to fun facts about the most popular ‘Mick n ldren will also be introd chi all, t no t’s ds. These pages have bee tha d An le’. Stories and Actve Wizki tve Ac c in on Hunt with Chip and Da Ta ges d pa an al Tic titi as ers n le are know racters through int ledge, i.e., Chip and Da ow kn ir en to the Disney stories and cha the ldr chi ost bo de p sua hel l per r II to help g factoids that wil England during World Wa in designed to offer interestin de ma re we sks ma Mickey Mouse gas French and the fact that ce with d to enter into this allian Sky, “We are very excite ta Ta r, carry them! with ng fice Of alo g nt tin me rke ain errupted entert Mehra, Chief Ma ng our subscribers unint Acording to Mr. Vikram eri Disney off by rite ’, ou ent fav ir inm the uta experience with ays been on ‘ed al alw s ion ha cat us edu foc r ul, ou erf as nd y wo Disne d fun subscribers a and other interesting an tures will offer our young ns from stories to games tio op education. The new fea ng agi eng of y iet it covers a wide var stories and characters as at Disney is heart of everything we do the “At d, sai p ou .” Gr ies dia activit ough eractive Me y fans in unique ways thr ive Director – Disney Int platform to engage Disne new Mr. Nitin Chawla, Exect ole wh a us es vid ce with Tata Sky pro our content … this allian h their family ng subscribers along wit you t.” ere ten wh g con ss nin cla eve in t ed fill bes our nth at a fun y was announced last mo s and Actve Wizkids. The alliance with Disne on Tata Sky Actve Storie ng eri off y sne Di the e enc eri exp had an opportunity to

E L T T A B S R E T H IG F FLU PANDEMIC ONLINE

ndemic, game e to grips with the flu pa com to rd ha g glin ug str As the world is curb it online. a special game to help you developers have designed le online for free, ‘The dical centre and availab Developed by a Dutch me to choose their viral tflu.com) allows players Great Flu’ (www.thegrea and then control how to of the world it spreads in, adversary, pick the part funds and resources. en a limited amount of N1 swine flu manage the outbreak giv s the same month the H1 wa it r, yea s thi ril Ap in to some 180 First launched e and it has now spread Jun in ic em nd pa l ful a called declared H1N1 game based on the virus, rld Health Organization other humorous online An . virus emerged. The Wo ths dea ed firm on st 1,462 laboratory-c countries, causing at lea earlier this year. hter.com), was released efig win w.s (ww r hte fig Swine liveit.in

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September ‘09

WIKIPEDIA NOW AVAIL ABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON IPHONE Takin

g in view the tremendous growth of smart phone users, the online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia announced their iPhone application last month. That means Wikipedia wil l now be available for officia l download Apple’s iPhon e. The free application, called Wikipedia Mobile, can be downloaded from any iTunes App Store. According to foundation spokesman Jay Walsh, “Everybody recognizes wit h the growth of mobile too ls globally that this is how people access informatio n. Our mission is to spread free knowledge; we want to do everything we can to me et and embrace that aud ience.” The Wikimedia Foundatio n said the application wa s easier to use than having to browse the web on the ir phone to find a specific fact, and also had the advantage of saving the user’s search history.

LOP CHINA MOBILE TO DEVE HTC PHONEe, theWwoITrldH will now ’s largest mobile carrier,

China Mobil n as a es with HTC. This is see be developing smartphon ing to ple Inc’s iPhone, accord bid to compete with Ap Taiwan media. the its Ophone running on China Mobile will launch the C, stem) platform with HT OMS (Open Mobile Sy chairman e bil Mo ina Ch ed, citing Economic Daily report a Mobile could also set up Wang Jianzhou. China Taiwan raise its purchases from procurement center to suppliers, the Commercial Times reported. Wang will kick off a nine-day trip to Taiwan starting Friday, visiting the chairs of HTC and Mediatek, the island’s top chip design house, it said.

MICROSOFT SIGNS EDUCATION ALLIANCE WITH THE MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Maharashtra and Microsoft India to enhance ICT adoption in schools and build the employability readiness skills of the future workforce in the state. The Honble Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, and the Honble Minister for Education, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil witnessed the sealing of the agreement by Sanjay Kumar, IAS Education Secretary, Government of Maharashtra and Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft India Pvt. Ltd. The MoU aims to take ICT adoption further, and bring in a focus on employability. Microsoft India has already set up three state-of-the-art IT academies, in Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad, and trained over 92,000 teachers. As per the agreement, in addition to the three academies which will, over the next two years, train 6000 teachers as well as 100,000 pre-service teachers, Microsoft will also help build last mile capacity among educators. One educator from each cluster will undergo a 10-day training and each of the trained resources can then further build ICT readiness among others educators in the cluster. Additionally, the initiative will also focus on building employability readiness amongst students of classes 11th and 12th. Another unique aspect of the MoU is the development of a single login through Microsofts Live@Edu initiative, which will enable all students and teachers across the approximately 85,000 schools in the state to acquire email with school-specific domains, provide them with applications aimed to enhance collaboration (through Office Live Workspace), and give the school tools for creating an online community. September ‘09

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News

MESSAGE TO THE OUTER SPACE? WHY NOT!

Writing an e-mail to a friend in the U.S.? Well, nothing new or extraordinary about that. How about shooting off an e-mail to a distant place? How about sending your greeting to another planet? An Australian website is giving texting an intergalactic touch and allowing users to send short mobile phone-type messages into space. From Wednesday and until August 24, people from across the world were given the opportunity to post their messages for an out-of-this-world experience. A website, www.HelloFromEarth.net, was designed especially to post messages no longer than 160 characters that would be transmitted to Gliese 581d, the nearest Earth-like planet outside the solar system likely to support life. The expected delivery time, however, is some 20 years, the website said. And, of course, there’s no guarantee of a response. “It’s like a ‘message in a bottle’ cast out into the stars. What’s interesting is not just whether there's anyone listening, but what the public will say to intelligent life on another planet,” said project spokesperson Wilson da Silva. “Hello From Earth is our way of showing that science can make the impossible possible. We have been to the moon and now, we can speak to the stars,” he said in a statement. The messages, to be transmitted from the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, with the close cooperation of U.S. space agency NASA, is part of Australia’s National Science Week, which celebrates the country’s scientific achievements and creates awareness of the importance of science.

R E H T O N A T E Y S E C N VERTU ANNOU E PHONE – FUNKY EXPENSIV THE ASCENT NEON

nounced a s year that Vertu had an We last heard in July thi ge. Now Ti part of their Ascent ran Carbon Fiber handset as kier than fun le another handset, a litt reports are talking of yet . The on Ne Ti s, the Vertu Ascent any of the previous model dels is mo Ti t and the previous Ascen difference between this ce of pla in r rea a matching set. h a rubber top in the menu is designed to be een scr ing: that the Neon comes wit inthe r, ou col e would include the follow g. According to the s. The specs of the phon del mo the original leather backin us vio pre the n on it to be slimmer tha Some reports also menti /GPRS capabilities G 3G, EDGE al memory G 4GB of intern kup l camera G 3 megapixe ure data syncing and bac and pink. It is Vertu Fortress for ultra sec to rs: green, orange, white ess ou acc , col r rse fou cou in of le d, ilab G An ava be l wil d an e for an October releas The phone is scheduled like a fortune!!! Rs. 4,83,218. Now, that’s priced at approximately

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September ‘09

BELKIN UNVEILS S KYP E P H O N E S

Bid adieu to computer for making Internet calls. Be lkin India is here with their innova tive desktop and handheld WiFi Skype phones, which allo w you to make free Skype Internet calls without having to tur n on the computer. The phones come with inbuilt Wi-Fi facility, which are designed especially to wo rk anywhere in the world. On e just needs to have access to a Wi-Fi network in any home, off ice, public hotspot, or munic ipal wireless access point tha t does not require browser-based authentication. With sto rage of up to 500 Skype and Skype Out contacts in the contac t list, the phones come wit h special built-in TFT screen s offering extra visual clarity of vibrant, colourful text; outstanding sound qualit y; wireless security through WEP and WPA-PSK; compatibility with 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi standards; and software updates achieved wirelessly, without requir ing a USB cable. Backed with the Call history, Clock and Auto List Import features, the hand-held Skype phone (F1PP000GNakSK) is ava ilable at an MRP of Rs. 9,712 and backed with a one yea r warranty.

FABLE III TO BE RELEASED IN 2010

BMicrosoft and Lionhead Studios announced Fable III for Xbox 360 only at the GamesCon 2009, in Colog ne, Germany. Peter Molyneux , Creative Director of Lio nhead Studios, confirmed that the Fable series’ next game, Fable III, is under development and is expected to be released in 2010 holiday season. Th e story of Fable III is set five dec ades after events of Fable II. The new series of the gam e is the third installment of the highly acclaimed and po pular Fable game series. This gam e is set in Napoleonic-sty le Albion period and allows player to rule Albion like a king. The player becomes a kin g or queen after stepping into role of hero’s child from Fab le II. The player is required to make tough decisions and judgments considering the tougher moral choices, wh ich will decide the destiny of the player and also the Albion land. Some characters from Fab le II will also feature in Fab le III. Apart from this, Microsof t also said that it will releas e Fable II game in episodic for ma t. Fable II: Game Episodes will debut on Sept. 29 with a free download of first epi sode.

PEARL UNVEILS ST YLISH, AFFORDABLE ‘NANO’ NE TBOOKS Pearl India Electronics made its foray into the netbook market with the the launch of the nano netbook series. Small, light and incredibly functional, be stylish nano netbooks will easily charm passers-by. The netbooks will available in a choice of stylish and vibrant colours, which include pearl white, 3 cell classic black and unique metallic colours. Weighing just 1.300kg (with a x 600) (1024 battery), the nano netbooks incorporate a stunning 10.2 WSVGA to easier LCD screen and 85-key ergonomic keyboard that make them even type in comparison to other keyboards. The pricing is cool, too. The netbooks come with a one-year warranty and price starting from Rs 14,999. I

September ‘09

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Did You Know he game of snakes and ladders was created by the 13th-century poet saint, Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat.’ The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later, through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same, i.e., good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

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ichael Jackson, in some form or other, has appeared in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’, ‘Ready 2 Rumble-Round 2’, ‘Space Channel 5.1 & 2’, ‘GTA: Vice City’ and, obviously, ‘Moonwalker’.

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n 2001, a pair of art students created a version of Pong known as the PainStation, where losers could be inflicted with genuine whip, heat or electrical damage.

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September 11. He was called Darkel, a homeless guy who’d get you to rig buildings with explosives. n 1986, Nintendo released a special Disk System peripheral for the NES in Japan. Among its features was a microphone in the controller, which certain games used, including an updated version of the original ‘Zelda’. You could only destroy a certain enemy by shouting into the mic.

n the video game sequel to John Carpenter’s seminal sci-fi horror film, The Thing, the legendary director made a cameo appearance as a character called Doctor Faraday. He also oversaw the production of the game to make sure it was faithful to his original vision.

? w o n k U d i d ‘N

intendo’ translates as ‘Leave luck to heaven’.

n ‘Pilotwings 64,’ the character Lark is actually the mascot for famous American games magazine Nintendo Power, Nester. His name was changed at the last minute, probably because PAL gamers wouldn’t know who he was.

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he first ever product released by Sony was a rice cooker.

inal Fantasy got its name from the fact that its creator, Square co-founder Hironobu Sakaguchi, intended it to be his last video game, using up the remainder of Square’s money after a number of unsuccessful projects.

n the US release of Gameboy RPG Final Fantasy Legend II, Nintendo’s censorship guidelines meant that a band of opium smugglers became banana smugglers instead.

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n the original arcade ‘Donkey Kong’ game, Mario was called Jumpman and he was a carpenter, not a plumber.

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ockstar removed a character from Grand Theft Auto 3, although this time it was said to be because of the terrorist attacks on

he ‘Baily Bridge’ is the highest bridge in the world. It is a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge for over 30 years and is a great example of engineering technology. I

R liveit.in

scar-winning actor Marlon Brando recorded dialogue for EA’s ‘Godfather’ game shortly before he died, but it was deemed unusable due to the bloated thesp’s ageing, mumbly voice. Instead, they hired in a soundalike. What a waste of money, eh?

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Buzz Byte

Buzz Byte ow well do you about the gaming technology? Most of us live our life on the Internet and among technologies of all kinds. Here are questions about the games that we play either from the Microsoft package to fight off boredom or the various innovative gaming software. Are you keeping with the evolving game tech culture? Take this quiz and find out yourself!

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tegy games ever? best real-time stra e th of e on ’ II, t af ‘Warcr Who designed the A. Westwood B. Microsoft C. Blizzard

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ert, ‘Dune’ ten by Frank Herb rit w ok bo g in at in sc Inspired by the fa not one of them? play with. Which is to es us ho e re th offers A. Ordos B. Atreides C. Corrino

Q

ls and solve speak with the loca , ds an isl nd ou ar akes you jump g main character? ‘Monkey Island’ m of the funny lookin n tio pa cu oc e th is the mystery. What A. Soldier B. King C. Pirate

Q

lo have played ‘Diab plays online must ly lar gu re ill? ho sk w al Anyone esses the Ze r in the game poss II.’ Which characte A. The Barbarian B. The Paladin C. The Amazon

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ns? ings Nintendo ow What are three th do DS ger, and the Ninten A. Gamecube, Voya ll phone ecube, and every ce B. Gameboy, Gam ii, and PSP C. Nintendo DS, W

Q

e,’ you only e of ‘Spider Solitair In the Normal mod you play? . Which two suits do play with two suits Spades A. Diamonds and es B. Hearts and Spad s ub C. Hearts and Cl

Q

s, attempting to group of specialist a ad le u yo re he Name the game w World War II? s missions during ou er ng da e et pl com nquer A. Command & Co B. Wolfenstein C. Commandos

Check out the next page to see how well you scored! September ‘09

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Buzz Byte

Congratulations!

You finished the quiz! Now, calculate your score. A carries 1, B carries 2, and C carries 3 points. Did you check mostly A, B, or C?

If your score is

:

able st games avail e b e : th 0 f 3 o d st n o a ged m f Between 21 nd your kind o o. You have dig a d a d n rl o io c w fi a g e in m m . the ga You are a ga us. Great going knowledge of io st v a n v e e v ld a e h fi e u o th ers in rown. out there. Y ll make the oth to retain the c e ’ w IT e ld iv u ‘L co e k a th e f issue o gaming fr up with every w o ll fo u o y re Make su

Between 11 a nd 20: Not bad. You se em to have go od knowledge there are place of the gaming s you might ne world. Howeve ed a bit of bru r, sh-up. While y who do not ne o u are one of th cessarily consi o se der yourself to casual gamer) be a gamer (i.e , you do spend ., much of your le playing or learn isure time ing about diffe rent games. A ‘Live IT ’ may ce copy of the rtainly come in handy for you.

: st? Well, you te e th t a d n Less than 10 a rh since u even tr y you on’t lose heart d n e th t u What? Did yo B s. learn w expec tation w issues and fe a p u k ic scored far belo P . e to your rescu ut a lot more. ‘Live IT ’ is here b g in m a g t u st abo more – not ju

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September ‘09

Care IT

Safety standards for game-addicts.

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etail sales in the PC game software industry reached a whopping $911 million in 2007, marking a notable 40 per cent increase from 2006 in the total console, portable and PC game industry. This clearly illustrates the phenomenon that computer games have become today. From expensive high-graphic ones loaded with special effects to free and simple online games, there is something for everyone to enjoy. But, as is the case with most technologies, games too have several spillover effects on health. These effects can be divided into physical and psychological, and special care must be taken so as to avoid or minimize them when playing for long hours at the computer. To start with, one of the most common problems arising out of playing computer games is crooked posture. This occurs due to prolonged irregular sitting position in front of a monitor or TV screen. A growing number of children are developing crooked posture due to long hours of playing computer video games. In order to protect oneself, one must sit in a straight-backed computer chair when playing games and take regular breaks so as to minimize the strain on the

Mehak Siddiqui

spine. Never slouch while playing games, or lean forwards towards the screen or play in a lying down position. Also, avoid playing on laptop computers as their design facilitates the development of repetitive strain injury. Another frequent gamers’ complaint is pain in the hands, which is induced by constant repetition of certain game moves. This can also cause damage to certain joints as well as skin irritation. There has been a case of a young boy who ended up in hospital because of using a forcefeedback controller for seven hours a day, which severely damaged his wrists, knuckles and hand nerves. The best and only preventative measure one can take against these problems is to maintain the right kind of posture and take frequent breaks. Limit your gaming time to one or a maximum of two hours a day. Another obvious effect of long hours of gaming is vision deterioration. Computer games command intense staring at the screen, which can cause or worsen existing vision problems. Hours of watching the monitor, especially in a darkened room, can strain the eyes as well September ‘09

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Care IT

Limit your gaming time.

as damage the delicate retinal cells. Therefore, it is crucial that you play in a well-lit room (brightness of the screen must match the brightness of the room) as well as take regular breaks from the gaming session. Many people like to wear earphones while gaming so as to fully enjoy the sound effects. The continuous blaring of the game music/sound into the ears damages the delicate hair cells and may lead to irreversible hearing loss over a period of time. Therefore, it is crucial that one avoids using earphones as much as possible (by using speakers instead). If you must use them, keep the volume at a moderate level. Again, give your ears regular breaks from the loud sound. In the last ten years, the number of hours a child spends playing computer/video games per week increased from 2.8 to 4.3. Many children spend far more time trapped in virtual worlds than ever before, which is why it is extremely necessary to educate them about the precautions to take. When it comes to gaming, the effects on mental health are far more significant than those on physical health, especially with reference to children and youth. Considerable research has pointed out that the high level of violence depicted in many games has an adverse effect on children leading to an increase in violent behaviour exhibited by them. The interactive nature of games desensitizes people to violence – they can take actions to bring about a death, which is often depicted very graphically with ‘blood’ spraying everywhere on the screen. The fact that the game rewards such violent behaviour, by taking the user to the next level for example, leads to aggressive patterns of behaviour. Children playing such games begin to think that violence is right and consequently adopt it into their behaviour. The interactive element of point-and-shoot computer/video games lets children practice their shooting skills, which eventually become reflexes. liveit.in

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September ‘09

Research by psychologists, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Gentile shows that children are spending increasing amounts of time playing computer/video games – 13 hours per week for boys, on average, and 5 hours per week for girls (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, under review; Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh, 2004). Such negative psychological effects on children can be controlled by parents. Psychologists have found that when parents limit the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play, children are less likely to show aggressive behaviour (Anderson et al., under review; Gentile et al., 2004). Other researches suggest that active parental involvement in children’s media usage, including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative non-violent solutions to problems, can all reduce the impact of the violence on children and youth (Anderson et al., 2003). Another adverse psychological effect of too much gaming is problematic social interaction. When a child spends a lot of time lost in an imaginary world on the computer, it becomes harder for him/her to engage in more traditional real-life activities like playing with other children or reading. Studies conducted at Stanford University and Tohoku University in Japan indicated that excessive playing of certain computer/video games halts the process of brain development, which may eventually lead to brain damage. Research has shown that computers supplement and DO NOT replace other highly valued early childhood activities and materials, such as art, blocks, sand, water, books and dramatic play. Therefore, it is crucial to limit the amount of time your child/teenager spends playing computer games. Do not restrict them completely, but instead take time to educate them about the associated health effects and guide them towards limiting their gaming time. Computer games can be great fun and are also stress-busting, so go ahead and game away but do it the safe way and protect your physical and psychological well-being as well! I

Don’t get lost in the virtual gaming world.

Inbox

Letters to the Editor AUGUST 2009

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RS. 50

IT magazine for the contemporary woman

CLOUD COMPUTING TRENDS WITRICITY IN THE AIR CELL PHONES IN EDUCATION 4G HARMONIZES GLOBAL ROAMING

WIRELESS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Hi to the whole team! The online storage and backup issue was simply outstanding. There’s were quite a few things that I thought would be extremely helpful not only for women at home but also for small business units. Live IT definitely lives up to my expectations. I waiting for more. Do keep me posted. Also, I would be subscribing to your magazine very soon.

The August issue gave me a new perspective of the concept ‘wireless’. I must say, your magazine is not only useful for the women out there but also for their counterparts. Great efforts by the team!

Rashmi, Publisher

Ashok Prabhu, Mumbai

Arun Dey, Consultant

It’s a great effort you people are putting to compile this kind of a magazine. I would like to congratulate your team for bringing out a beatiful magazine in the form of ‘Live IT.’

Please mail your comments/opinion to us at [email protected] or write to us at: E-3, Jhandewalan Estate, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi - 110055

Live IT or Leave IT

Burning Flame Bookmark What do you usually use for a bookmark? A thick piece of sheet off that old book cover? Or, do you simply memorise the page number? Use a flame for a change! It reminds you of the exciting page you stopped at and all for the price of a cup of coffee or two. Try it.

Kitty Digital Camera Lose your heart to Kitty, this cute digital camera suited especially for the cutie-pie gal age group. The shutter of the camera is located in the left ear and the lens is hidden in the bow tie. With a 2″ LCD display and support for SD cards, it features a 4 time digital zoom option and a 32 MB memory capacity. It measures 85 x 25 x 71 mm and weighs about 80 grams. Ideal for a gift.

Bliss Noise-reducing Earphones It is pink and shocking but a real blessing when you want to be away from all the shocking noise. The glam gal will love its colour and will enjoy the freedom she feels from sound all the more. It’s bliss for your ears and comes at a price, but peace always has its price doesn’t it?

Sorapot Teapot Want to brew your tea with a modern sense of beauty? Sorapot teapot does just that for you; it changes the concept of tea making, but it makes the same great brew. Watch the stainless steel, borosilicate glass, food grade silicon created aesthetic teapot unfurl tea leaves and change the colourless boiling water in the pot into a golden concoction, for two! liveit.in

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September ‘09

Rocking Alarm Clock Don’t ever be late because you got got up late from bed. Use this docking station with two 2.5″ speakers inside your iPod and kick start your day at the right time with this good-looking alarm. What’s more, while you sleep, the docking station will recharge your iPod so you won’t miss your music for the day at all.

Butterfly Speakers for iPod Looking for a new iPod dock? Here is one which will work with any model of the iPod or iPhone. It comes in shades of three – green, blue or pink, so that your speaker style won’t be a constant. Use it with 4 AA batteries if you want, and it’s surely worth the moolah you shell out.

Rape Alarm Lady, is your commute long, lonely, and/or at odd hours? Scared of those grey areas along your way? Then this rape alarm is what you should carry, just in case. If help is a teeny wit late, then you could try this as a whacking companion; it looks dangerous enough.

September ‘09

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Live IT or Leave IT

Rat Robots Looking for a better rat? The French lab is getting just that ready for you, and it’s a robot. So, you don’t need to fear that fever epidemic at all! It has two cameras for eyes, two microphones for ears, and tiny wheels, driven by a batterypowered motor, to provide movement. A couple of dozen whiskers measuring around a dozen centimetres (four inches) stretch out impressively on either side of its long, pointed snout. In fact, this super robot has everything going except the rat-smell power … but so far so good aint it? Watch out for the Rat Robot!

The Wall-E Toy Still nostalgic over Wall-E? Get one for your kid or even yourself and recreate the Disney Pixar magic of the last robot on the earth that someone forgot to turn off. This M-O robot actually rolls up his sleeve and uses his bristles to clean and you can even watch the waste collected in the garbage bin he carries. So, what are you waiting for?

Computer Corner Frame How would you like a better organized workspace? And stop yourself scampering away with that mug or this pen or post-it note? Get your own things and organize yourself with the Computer Corner Frame. The frame attaches to your monitor with three fastener tabs, and lets you store pens, paper clips and photos easily. Now all you have to do is to watch out for those guys who get away with other’s stuff.

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Olympus Pen The E-P1 is, essentially, an Olympus E-620 crowbarred into a compact, rangefinder-style body. Aside from the removal of the mirror and optical viewfinder – and a slight firmware upgrade – it is as fully fledged as any mid-range SLR.

Lock Out Memory Sticks It’s wow all the way with Swarovski’s crystal memory sticks. It’s a trendy-looking USB drive with up to 1 GB of storage space, and will hold all the one thousand songs of the music buff or up to two hundred and fifty photos of the shutterbug. Grab one for yourself !

USB Fragrance Flowers Miss the garden and its fresh blooms? And don’t even want to make up with air freshener sprays? Try the USB Fragrance Flower, which when plugged in will perfume your surroundings like you just had a bloom season. What’s more, you can also choose your bloom, instead of settling for the typical rose or jasmine.

Karaoke Microphone The karaoke with the ‘band in your hand’ and two thousand odd great songs; the diva in you is going to love this. Convert that iPod or home stereo into an authentic karaoke-club-at-home and get drowned in the music in your veins.

September ‘09

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Chatroom

m o o r t a h c

rs? ooked for hou h u yo p ee k hich ones ar Biswal line games? W n o y la p u Santosh Kum yo Do

Supriya, Social Worker I am very choosy whether it is a profession or game. My schedule in the day involves looking after the children and ensuring they don’t miss out their studies. Also, I play various online games with the slum children. In this connection, I like to play the game called ‘Sherkhan’, which I feel is a cool option. I think it is one of the best stuff for children as it helps them in moral education.

Heena, Student

Whenever I get free from the day’s work, I move to the games corner. Here I would like to mention the game, ‘Khanna unlimited’ which involves food making. I keep comparing my scores with the previous games and try to improve upon them. It’s really cool and fun playing games online.

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It’s really cool and fun playing games online

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Sabnam, Front Desk Executive

I like to play the games, which can be beneficial to my studies. For instance, there are games like ‘My Puzzle’, which needs much concentration. Even though sometimes it gets a bit tough, I feel relaxed after the gaming session.

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Online games are great stress-busters

Shabnam, Online Editor Online games are my favourite mode of killing time and they are great stress busters also. I love to play ‘Cat and Rat’, which is simple in nature. It is one of the coolest games, which paves the way for relaxation. Considering the nature of my job, I am left too tired and stressed out by the end of the day. Suffice to say, I often play this game in the evening hours with my siblings to de-stress.

Rubi, Student Even though I am a student, I like to travel extensively across the country. There is an online game called ‘My country, many places’. Here, the user gets to play with various tourist places and scores as per his/his interest and intellectuality. I rate it as one of the coolest games around.

Ruchi, Student I like to watch action and horror movies, especially in Hindi. As I love biking and car riding, I like to play the game called ‘Road Race’. It is one of the coolest game and interesting games available. This game provides some great voice and visuals as well.

While surfing, when you are led from one page to another through interesting links, how well do you remember all the links? Share your internet adventures with other techies. Send us your entries, with your photograph, to [email protected] September ‘09

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Feature

Gaming Technology W

hen I was setting out for Seattle in 2007, everyone had the same question for me, “You are a doctor, right? But you play games?” And I would be rather surprised. Doesn’t everyone? Can you think of anyone who has never played games? And I am not referring to the psychological types referred to by Eric Berne in his book “Games People Play”. We all love

Entertai n ment & Rajesh Bijlani

Take a tour through the world of online games & gaming platforms!

to play games, right from the time we are old enough to do so. Only as we grow older, some play less and less of them. And, of course, we adapt to the mode of game playing depending on our resources. Right from the slum dweller spinning a cricket ball in his hand to the hardcore internet gamer, games mean fun and entertainment.

Feature Gaming is a big industry, with an annual turnover in the USA itself being more than that of Hollywood. It is no wonder then that we have come a long way from playing ‘Pacman’ with just four cursor keys to playing ‘Counterstrike.’ The primary reasons for the evolution and advances in gaming technology are:  Older games were very predictable. As you played a few times, it was obvious what the computer was going to do and hence easy to act in accordance. I remember my favourite car racing game, ‘Test Drive’ and within a week I had mastered all the tracks and was through with the game. Obviously, more was needed and one just has to see the current versions of the car racing games like ‘Need for Speed’ or ‘Project Gotham Racing’ to experience something closer to real life driving.  The need to compete against tougher opponents or humans. Playing versus a computer or a machine all the time is boring. And if you are good, you need to showcase your talent. Hence, as games advanced, they started to go multiplayer. You could play versus your friends on the same console and then over a LAN and, finally, you could have a global human challenge over the Internet.  Man is a social animal and hence current gaming technologies are now involving more and more personal interaction between players and the opportunities to make friends globally. Some of my best online friends have been acquired through gaming. Okay, so now that you are ready to go in for the ride, let’s explore what options you have and what technologies are available to you for the gaming experience. The reason there are such a wide variety of options is because every one of us has a different mental and physical makeup and obviously we would have an aptitude only for certain types of games. The currently available technologies are, hence, best discussed under two major headings, the ‘Game Types’ and the ‘Gaming Platforms.’ Let’s look at the game types first.  First Person Shooter (FPS). This is the classic shoot ‘em up scene. Your character carries a number of weapons and basically goes about shooting the enemy. He may use simple hand-held guns, sniper rifles or even rocket launchers. The warfare may be and is usually in teams. One of the commonest games of this type is ‘Counterstrike.’



Role Playing Games (RPG). Here, one usually takes on a fictional character role. There are a myriad of games available. There are many MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) where one takes on fantasy characters like wizards, elves, knights, etc. and you basically play in your world of fantasy and your character gets stronger with time. There are innumerable such games available online and many of them are available to play for free. However, they do have options where you could spend a little money so your character gets an advantage over the others playing for free. This keeps the server going and makes some money for the developers. ‘World of Warcraft’ is one of these and is immensely popular. Though many of them involve attractive 3-D graphics, quite a few are played within just the browser window and do not need very high-end computers to play.  Real Time Strategy (RTS). This is for people who like to use their wits to win in a situation. These games need quick thinking and formulation of strategies to win. ‘Starcraft,’ ‘Warcraft’ and the ‘Command & Conquer’ series have a huge following in this category. Most of these are high-end and need pretty good system configurations to play.  Sports games. Here you have games like ‘Brian Lara cricket,’ ‘FIFA,’ ‘NFL,’ ‘PGA Tour Golf ’ et al. Almost every popular sport has its electronic version. With the increased computing power available now, these games are getting as close to the real thing as possible in terms of not only graphics but game play as well.  Racing games. Car racing, bike racing, snowboarding, even truck racing. All the driving fanatics can get their daily fix here.  Puzzles. There is a puzzle type available for everyone. ‘Chess,’ ‘Scrabble,’ ‘Bejewelled,’ ‘Alchemy’ ... the list is endless. Though this is a broad classification, the Internet and the advent of Flash games have brought in so many types of games that it is nearly impossible to have a comprehensive list. Even simple school games like ‘Hangman’ are there to be played in your browser online.

Gaming platforms The demand for games has made available to the avid gamer a vast variety of options to select their gaming platform. Electronic liveit.in

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gaming has fascinated individuals of all ages. Can you recall a tiny tot playing the bricks game on a small hand-held box with the beeps informing you of his presence? The most widely used gaming platform is the personal computer, either the desktop or laptop. For the casual gamer, the computing power of the average desktop is more than enough but for hardcore gamers, a much higher-end PC might need to be assembled with extra components like cooling systems to keep it all stable. For someone who just wants to relax a bit after work, technology has reached a level where you do not even need to go looking for games to bring and install. Just get online and visit any of the sites like http://www.miniclip.com.

motion sensors are mounted atop the display television to detect the player’s movements as well as audio inputs and hence he can control the game. This is still far from perfectly developed but gives an insight into what’s coming. Something like Tom Cruise managing his computer in ‘The Minority Report’ does not seem so fictional after all. If this still doesn’t quench your thirst, there’s more in store. The dedicated gaming consoles. Broadly, these are of two types: the portable and the not-so-portable. The portable game consoles competing now are the Nintendo DS and its Lite version and the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). The PSP has incorporated technology that not only lets you play games but also allows you to view pictures, watch movies, browse the web and even buy games online. The power in these tiny devices is amazing. Even the Nintendo DS is a far cry compared to its first hand-held ‘Game & Watch’ devices like the ‘Donkey Kong.’ But the real monsters of gaming are the three consoles vying for the crown – Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s Playstation 3 (PS3) and the Nintendo Wii. I am not going to comment on which one of these is the best. There’s one for everyone. The plus point of the Wii is its unique remote that has an accelerometer and an optical sensor that lets it be used as if you were actually playing in real life. Like swinging your arm around to play a tennis shot or moving your wrist to let your on-screen sword slice through your enemy. It is so exciting to play with, that a strap is used to anchor it to the

Another alternative is to log in to Yahoo! Games and play. The miniature games are, however, not enough of a serving for the ravenous appetite of the more dedicated gamers and they would rather step out, buy a DVD of the latest version of their favourite game and get going. We have come a long way ahead in using a PC as a gaming machine. The keyboard and mouse are no longer the only ways of controlling your game characters. Complex multifunction joysticks and for the racing enthusiasts, even steering wheels can be plugged into the system and a more realistic gaming experience obtained. After all, what’s the fun in racing a car if you have to press the cursor keys on your keyboard to drive it? And going by the latest news, Project Natal by Microsoft is being implemented to introduce controller-free gaming. A camera, microphone and

player’s wrist lest it goes out flying and causes more destruction offscreen than on it. The other two consoles have their legion of followers and both have a very strong online gaming experience built into them. Hardcore users of these consoles would be seen not just with a game input device but with a headphone and mic set screaming out to their team mates and collaborating at unbelievable skill levels. Gaming at these servers on a broadband connection can be an awesome experience. One has to feel it to believe the thrill of gaming technology that is available to us today. So, the next time you are getting bored, leave that fly swatter alone and count kills on your PC instead. Oops ... I just finished building my castle in my RPG. Better head out for battle. Till next time. I September ‘09

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Feature

I

t was the latter half of 1950. William Higinbotham, an illustrious American physicist, had already seen two World Wars in his lifetime. While he was hardly a kid of ten, the first happened; his involvement was active in the second. William was a prominent face in the nuclear non-proliferation group, even serving as its chairman and first executive director. But as ironic as it may sound, history still remembers him as the creator of the first video game. Little did Higinbotham know that the game of tennis that he created on an oscilloscope to entertain visitors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, would belittle everything else serious that he did in life. It was a monumental time in the life of the world; and it was more than a decade later that Higinbotham’s creation would eventually catch the fancy of the populace. America was slowly clawing back to savouring the lighter aspects of life. Jack Kerouac’s beat generation had all taken to the road and either found the answers or given up hope. The hippy culture was still reeling from the high of Woodstock 69; and the sore wounds of Vietnam were still fresh and hurting. The common man needed some fun and games. And that is when Higinbotham’s creation really came to the fore. Pioneered by a US company named Atari, home video game systems became increasingly popular in the mid-1970s. A sporadic boom and bust cycle followed in the early 1980s but a resurrection was soon headed by a Japanese company named Nintendo. Round about the same time, a Motorola researcher and executive named Martin Cooper had filed a patent for what was to become the first practical mobile phone for hand-held use. The researchers at Motorola were excited. A new technological highroad was in view – wireless communication products that could be used outside the home, office or automobile. And a communication device that had no strings attached. Quite literally! The potentials were immense and competition aplenty. Little wonder then that the first mobile phone call made by Cooper was to his rivals at Bell Labs. The first steps are always monumental. The rest of it is hardly noticed and fleeting. Technology was making rapid strides with the semi-conductor industry setting pace to the laws of Gordon Moore. There was no looking back. Devices were getting smarter as they were getting smaller; ‘accomplishing more with less’ was the going mantra and science fiction novels of yesterday were turning to be real life happenings of today. Mobile phones proliferated like mushrooms. It somehow seemed like mankind had suddenly realized the obsessive compulsive need to talk endlessly. Box-like clumsy handsets morphed into ‘candy bar’ style cell phones. And with it came enhanced features and calling capabilities. Cell phones ceased being merely communicating devices. There was a need to do more with it. Nokia for the first time in 1998 pre-loaded their mobile phones with a video game called the ‘Snake.’ Suddenly, waiting for a dentist appointment or waiting for the liveit.in

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Mo

bile

Tap mo ping t bile he gam best ing of !

y g g n i o l m o a n G ech T h

et e r P

8:30 tube was not boring any longer. A generation had been hooked. A new revolutionary industry, it soon became apparent, had been spawned. And why wouldn’t it be? With over one billion mobile phones in use today, the mobile gaming industry is akin to the Gold Rush; there is money to be made and lots of it. But industry insiders swear by one irrevocable truth – mobile gaming is not child’s play. Budgets are always smaller; memory is perpetually at a premium; processor and power are substantially lower; screen sizes and resolutions are very often different and interoperability issues a constant challenge. Add to it the fact that mobile games have very small shelf lives, the technology is very niche and we are very much on challenging terrain. Despite all said and done, the industry continues to make money. In a recent technology special report by Paul Korzeniowski of Tech News World, mobile gaming has been hailed as the latest wireless cash cow not just for game manufacturers but for online carriers alike. Little wonder.

Of all the available modes of classifications of mobile games, the simplest one would be into those that are pre-embedded into your phones and the family of others that can be downloaded. The buzz around mobile gaming quite predictably is around the latter. With a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) browser pretty much ubiquitous in any phone today, the most interesting of games is just the game provider’s URL away. Mobile games are developed on platforms that enable mobile game programmers to interact with the underlying hardware. The ones ruling the roost at the moment are Qualcomm’s BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) and J2ME September ‘09

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Feature tool that is widely being used for advanced graphics embedding, to make games even more realistic. Software-based gaming consoles are also gaining considerable traction. Sony Ericsson integrated the Mophun games engine onto its mobile devices not so long back. And industry experts predict software consoles and related technologies are sure to play a significant role in the days to come. The mobile development world, as is evident, is a different beast altogether. Even programmers with expertise in bread and butter languages like C++ and Java, often find their task cut out. Programming calls for exercising frugality in the usage of objects as memory is expensive. And programmers with a knack for writing compact, efficient codes are always in great demand. There is another aspect to mobile games as well – visuals. The game artists, who are responsible for this, bring a whole suite of tools and technologies with them. Unlike in game development, most of the tools and skills needed is pretty much the same as used in other games. The quintessential Photoshop continues to be the artists’ favourite tool. The other tools in a game designer’s arsenal are the usual suspects – Paintshop Pro is a commoner, as is ACDsee, the image viewer. Programs such as Debabilizer, which creates/matches colour palettes equal to or lesser than 256 colours, are also commonly used. But with newer mobile devices moving towards hi-colour displays, their usage is sure to reduce substantially. The mobile gaming technology arena is like the wild west of the technology space. The skills are niche and the opportunities are manifold; the stakes are high and the propensity to lose very likely; the technology is challenging and the potential ever increasing. Whatever the scene, for a techie, the lure of the mobile gaming world is like that of a cotton candy to the toddler. Amidst all this, mobile phone penetration in the emerging markets is rising rapidly. The Boston Consulting Group in an interesting study identified the next billion customers at the bottom of the pyramid and explored the possibilities that lay buried here. The mobile phone, incidentally, is expected to be an important cog in this wheel of opportunity. Imagine a mobile in the hand of the next billion. And imagine the possibilities this might well open for mobile gaming. Will technology continue to push the frontier to help discover new opportunities? Will some entrepreneurial idea bring online gaming to the masses? Only time will tell. But when it does, it will have wireless carriers and mobile gaming companies alike, laughing Mobile game addiction is instinctual. their way to the bank. I

(Java 2 Micro Edition). While BREW is a C/C++ based API that facilitates several different languages to interact with the mobile device, J2ME is a toned down strain of Java tailored for smaller devices like the mobile. While both these technologies are equally popular, they do have their unique propositions. BREW is known to provide developers with greater end-to-end support and is also widely known to be an industry accepted certification and distribution model for getting applications to the end consumer. J2ME and the Java bandwagon, in the meanwhile, have the backing of some of the powerhouses in the industry and are ever popular with the hundreds of Java programmers who swear their allegiance to these. In the world of telephony, there has been little that has been common between Europe and America. Much like the GSMCDMA divide, the two continents have different favourites in platforms as well. Symbian OS, a C++ based API has considerable traction in Europe. What adds credibility to Symbian is the fact that Nokia’s flagship gaming mobile, NGage is based on the Symbian OS. With Symbian all set to become the standard operating system of ‘smartphones,’ its credibility is sure on the upswing. But the fact remains that mobile games are consistently a generation behind modern day video games. If you ask me why? Well, there is something called the technology frontier and all said and done, lest we forget we are still talking about a communicating device where games are nothing more than a value added service. But over time, the games have gotten better and it is no longer just ‘Tetris’ and ‘Snake’ on mobile phones. With increased emphasis on 2D/3D graphics, APIs, like OpenGL ES, have become a part of core mobile gaming technology. This low-level, light-weight, cross platform API is a

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Feature

Gaming Technology in Medical Imaging Ritu Goyal Harish

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Game-based medical simulation has made it possible for surgeons to practice their procedures virtually ! Here’s how.

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he strides technology makes in the world of computers makes them powerful modes of change in medical advancements, speeding up their implementation and reducing their costs substantially. One way medical images are being improved is by using visual images from more than one source – magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI) and computerized tomography (CT) scans, for example. Patients stand to benefit from the greater power gaming technology is bringing to the medical imaging world. When three dimensions and millions of pixels are involved, the task of deciphering image data becomes exponentially complex. Within this scope, the need for higher processing speeds is essential. And this is precisely where the cost-effective benefits of gaming industry technology are starting to make an impact. With the use of the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) processor the first implementation of the Cell Broadband Engine Architecture used in Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), with its highly parallel architecture and its high memory bandwidth has the possibility to take medical imaging a step forward in performance, with real gains to be had in improving services to the patient.

The beginning It started when Dutch-based 3mensio, founded in August 2003, focused on exploiting the capabilities offered by so-called Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) on graphics boards. Their tremendous speed and programmability enhancing quickly as a result of the fierce competition in the multi-billion dollar computer games industry, to provide the path towards a new level of functionality and price/performance for advanced 3D medical imaging. Today, another company using games-derived GPU technology to speed up radically processing is Canadian company Acceleware. The company is examining the possibility of creating hardware (GPU) accelerated reconstruction algorithms. The innovative approach by these ‘early movers’ in marrying gaming

Feature technology to medical imaging has been noticed in the multi-billion dollar market place; and new players have also joined the bandwagon of developers. Jointly developed by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, in an alliance known as ‘STI’, the architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Centre over four years, on a budget reported to be approximately US$ 400 million. Collaborators from Mayo Clinic and IBM have also exploited parallel computer architecture and memory bandwidth to dramatically speed up the processing of 3D medical images. The advance significantly aids image registration – the computer-enhanced alignment of two medical images obtained at different dates or by using different imaging devices, in threedimensional space. With the images properly aligned over one another, a radiologist can more easily detect structural changes such as the growth or shrinkage of tumours. The popular Wii gaming remote may offer radiologists a fun alternative method to using a conventional mouse and keyboard to navigate through patient images, according to a recent study. The remote may also offer radiologists relief from repetitive motion injuries as a result of using a mouse and keyboard. The traditional keyboard mouse user interface limits the way a radiologist can interpret images and manage an everincreasing workload. The Wii remote may alleviate those limitations. In addition, repetitive motion injuries may be mitigated by altering usage between devices like the Wii remote and the traditional mouse because they use different sets of muscles. Small movements can manipulate the image on the screen and buttons can change windows and move between different series. This technology in its nascent stage is developing rapidly and in the coming few months will see rapid advancements for the benefit of patients across the world.

Economy A disadvantage of medical imaging equipment is its high price, but the techniques employed can replace expensive or painful surgical procedures. One example is where patients with brain tumours previously had to endure a painful procedure where air was injected into their skulls and then they were rotated upsidedown. Now, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans are used to detect brain tumours. Also, because imaging is generally non-invasive, patients do not need to stay in the hospital as they would after surgery, liveit.in

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Computer-aided imaging.

which also saves money. Sometimes, however, these cost-savings are hard to quantify because hospitals are often split into sections with their own budgets. One way to get around the high cost of medical imaging equipment is to have mobile units that can be driven around, allowing equipment to be shared between hospitals. This becomes a possibility as the size of the equipment shrinks. Healthcare frequently relies on the early detection of disease to employ cheaper and less drastic methods of therapy. To do this, screening tests need to be used that are low cost and easy to perform. “The student begins with the patient, continues with the patient, and ends his studies with the patient, using books and lectures as tools, as means to an end,” wrote Sir William Osler in the Aequanimitas. The esteemed physician, Sir William Osler, felt that learning was an apprenticeship, and that medical apprentice learners needed convenient access to authoritative information to aid them in their studies. How technology has changed perceptions over the years is quite evident from the use of medical imaging in medical education that creates a virtual world of medical simulations to aid the student! From teleporting students to a virtual hospital where they choose the patient they would like to see, only after all the rightful authorizations have been sought, to checking the patient’s profile, medical history (through a text file). To make it interesting for students, tests have to be passed that authorize them to go further, and test diagnosis can even be purchased in some cases. Developed recently by the Faculty of Imperial College London, this game-based method of medical learning can be very interesting for students. I

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Technology is making waves ... and there’s no part of the country that’s left untouched. Here, we take you through some of the latest happening in the tech sphere, in Pune. Viny Velayudhan

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Wannabe India’s first wireless city

Pune is gearing up to win the title of ‘India’s first wireless city’. Pune Municipal Corporation and Microsense are working together on the Unwire Pune project. The two organizations will launch the first phase of an 802.16d Wi-Fi and WiMax network that would provide wireless connectivity covering an area of 25 sq. km. In the first phase, the citizens will be offered a speed of 256kbit/s.

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Entrepreneurs rising in Pune

Pune is witnessing a lot of first generation entrepreneurs with new start-ups. New entrepreneurial activities are also initiated by the NRI diaspora in Pune. Although the IT industry is the backbone of Pune’s economy, the new age entrepreneurs are creating a revolution of entrepreneurship. NASSCOM Emerge, Pune OpenCoffee Club, Komli Media, TiE, Dr. Suhas Patil’s Cradle Technologies, and Zmanda are some of the notable start-ups in Pune. liveit.in

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A tech forum exclusively for cops

Recently, the Pune Police decided to get itself an edge in IT. NASSCOM and Data Security Council of India (DSCI) launched the Cop Tech Forum for knowledge sharing, especially with the city cops. The forum will help the cops build a stronger cyber security system by increasing exchange of ideas and knowledge between the IT industry and the police. A meeting will be held every quarter with the members of the forum and the police. The enthusiasm of the cops can be seen from the overwhelming response received by the programme. Around 100 officials registered themselves as members of the Cop Tech on the day of the launch itself.

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SMSONE serves the rural areas

SMSONE Media Services Pvt. Ltd. is a unique newsletter service company that not only caters to the rural mobile phone users but also generates jobs for rural youth who call themselves ‘mobile journalists.’ The company sends SMS newsletters containing local news to cell phone users of nearly 300 communities across 25 districts in Maharashtra. The SMS news service employs the rural youth to gather local news giving them a source of income as well. It’s been around two years since the company’s inception and it has already gained recognition by wining NASSCOM’s social innovation award for its unique concept.

IBN’s dynamic infrastructure lab in Pune

IBN unveiled a first-of-its-kind dynamic infrastructure Lab in Pune. The lab is located at its software lab in Pune. It boasts of getting more intelligence, automation, integration and efficiencies to the physical as well as digital world. This state-of-the-art technology lab will help them serve their clients in India and South Asia region with higher valued and cost-efficient services.

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Engineering stalwarts of Pune

Pune boasts of housing the Kirloskar Group, which is India’s largest engineering firm. Kirloskar was one of the early companies to set up their manufacturing unit in Pune. To name a few companies that add the technological advances of Pune are Kirloskar Oil Engines (the world’s largest genset company), Kirloskar Brothers Limited (one of the world’s largest pump company), Kirloskar Pneumatics Co. Ltd. and other Kirloskar businesses.

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Feature

Artificial Intelligence in Games David Welch

Game codes that make the machine think and act on its own. ust about all video games have other digitized characters that interact with you, the player character. These digital life forms may be friend or foe alike; such as a kindly wizard who assists you on your quest with magical aid; or an enemy soldier who hunts you through the barrel of a sniper rifle. The pixelized denizens who populate a world may even be your pets that you, the player, must care for, nurture, and train. In all these possible game scenarios, nearly all virtual characters possess a certain degree of artificial intelligence to move, make decisions, and interact with you and the environment.

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What is AI? As game play has evolved over the decades to include richer graphics and faster processing, game characters have also grown more life-like in the way they look, move, and behave. Detailed textures and countless polygons create realistic-looking characters, while motion-capture animation conveys a wide range of actions and emotions through physical movement and facial expressions. But, under the surface of these graphics, game characters have also evolved a higher capacity of intelligence, allowing them to make decisions based on logical processes. While, even though the most intelligent virtual characters still fall greatly short of the intellectual and reasoning power of the human mind, some artificially intelligent game characters are now able to react to an environment, pursue their own needs, liveit.in

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goals, and desires, and even learn new behaviours in an unprecedented mimicry of human intelligence.

example, Pac-Man’s ghost opponents had to possess the intelligence to navigate the maze as well as adjust their movement to concentrate on Pac-Man’s constantly moving location.

The birth of AI Artificial intelligence stretches back as far as the need for computer-controlled game characters has existed. The earliest video games were played between human players with human intelligence, like in the early version of Pong, called Tennis for Two. In Tennis for Two, one human player controlled a left paddle while the other controlled the right as they took turns moving to intercept a ball that bounced between them and reflect back at their opponent. Tennis for Two posed two humans against each other in a game of reflex and skill. But, if the game was played by just one human, then the designers would have had to answer one question – how do you make Tennis for Two into “Tennis for One”? The challenge was making a computer-controlled object mimic the behaviour of a human by creating the illusion or the semblance of intelligence. In Tennis for Two, a human player would anticipate the speed and angle of the incoming ball in order to move their paddle in front of it and hit it back at the opponent; so an artificial intelligence must do the same thing. Since the program itself determines where the ball will end up by using a set of physics-based algorithms, this same framework is used for the artificial intelligence of the paddle. Thus, an artificial intelligence would use logic to predict where they should move the paddle in order to hit the ball, just as the player would. This is an example of a reactive artificial intelligence; the paddle moved depending on the current angle of the ball during the game. But, many early games were only capable of scripted patterns of behaviour that never changed regardless of the actions of the player. In the classic arcade game, Space Invaders, the alien ships descend in the same pattern, line by line, until they either reach the ground or are all destroyed. In this case, their behaviour does not change because of anything the player does or does not do. Reactive AI exploded thanks to Pac-Man whose rainbow coloured ghosts would follow the titular character in a maze. In this

Even the simplest game requires some AI. In Tennis for Two, the AI must anticipate the angle and speed of the ball.

Growth of AI in combat FPS Reactive AI grew exponentially thanks to the need for intelligent enemies in the first-person-shooter (FPS) genre. In the original Wolfenstein 3D, enemies reacted to the player by simply moving and firing at them. They lacked the AI to employ advanced combat tactics, which gave the human player a significant advantage. But in later games like Half-Life and Counter-Strike, the enemies would learn to dodge, strafe, and hide behind objects for cover while reloading. Eventually, enemies learned to use teamwork tactics to ambush the player and use the environment to their advantage. Many players who underestimated the enemy’s AI were met with certain doom. Stealth games like the Thief series saw the need to limit the AI’s intelligence to exclude information the computer could access unfairly. For example, since the game itself always knew where the player is located, all computer-controlled enemies are also privy to that information – even when it was unfair and unrealistic. After all, the player could only see opponents in their line of sight. Thief: The Dark Project realistically blinded enemy AI when the player was hidden in the cover of darkness. Sudden movement or noise would alert nearby enemies to the players’ whereabouts, and they could also alert other nearby enemies.

AI in conversation Although the FPS and action genres changed the way artificial intelligence responded in combat situations, other genres developed the way artificial intelligence communicated and behaved in other areas of life. Given the near infinite ways humans communicate and the subtleties of language, games have often struggled to convey realistic communication between a player and a game character. Expressing complex thoughts and ideas to an AI has many more possibilities than anything that can occur in a combat scenario. The sci-fi action role-playing game, Mass Effect took a worthy stab at reproducing realistic conversations with game characters. Players are given the choice of several different responses to give to other game characters in a conversation. The player’s choice of response will dictate how the game characters ‘feel’ about the player and change how their relationship develops. For example, if the player chooses a response such as ‘Get lost! I don’t like you,’ the game character may react hurt or resentful. Also, inquiring about certain topics in your response may open up new topics of conversation and further opportunities to acquire new information. Of course, in Mass Effect, the player only has a few predefined ways of responding to another character. But the independent game Façade experimented with allowing the player to speak any message they could type on the screen. Façade describes itself not as a game, but as an “artificialintelligence based interactive story.” In Façade, the player character September ‘09

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are not told to work, they will not be able to pay their bills. If they are not told to have fun, they become depressed and are unable to do anything. They even have to be told to go to the bathroom and conceive a child. Instructing the Sims to pursue certain activities is the only way to ensure they live rich, fulfilling lives. In the process, the player adopts a sort of parental role and concern for their Sims. Half-Life made groundbreaking strides in combat AI as enemies employed teamwork tactics to outwit the player.

is invited over for cocktails at the apartment of his/her close friends, Trip and Grace. The evening quickly devolves into drama as Trip and Grace argue about unhappy issues in their marriage. The player has the ability to speak to the couple by typing in any message they can think of and Trip and Grace will react to this input accordingly, or to the best ability of their natural language processing and artificial intelligence routines. Players can then influence the behaviour of Trip and Grace allowing the night’s events to play out in practically countless different ways.

Emergent AI As AI has grown, it has gone from simple scripted patterns of behaviour, to reacting to a player’s input, and finally to emergent behaviours and the ability to learn new skills by observing and adjusting to its environment and the consequences of its actions. This idea has been explored in Lionhead Studio’s Black and White series. In Black and White, players take the role of a god who must take care of a village of worshippers in part by training a giant beast, “the Creature,” to do its bidding. The Creature will act on its own but can be told to perform specific actions. The player may then punish the beast by slapping it or reward it by stroking it, thus providing positive and negative reinforcement for its actions. Eventually, based on this behavioural reinforcement, the Creature will change its behaviour to pursue activities that it has learned are good and avoid those which it has learned are bad. A well-trained Creature will act according to the player’s wishes independently so that the player may concentrate on other hands-on processes and thus be more successful in his endeavours.

Taking care of your AI Some games intend to portray AI characters as human by giving them their own unique desires, goals, and habits that are independent of the player. In the role-playing game, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, townsfolk have their own 24-hour schedule of activities and habits, which they pursue independently each day. This may include sleeping, eating, visiting shops, or conversing with other townsfolk. This behavioural cycle will not change unless, of course, it is affected by actions taken by the player. The popular life/family simulator, The Sims, game characters also have needs and desires. However, in this game, the Sims are only semi-autonomous and cannot fulfill these goals without the guiding hand of the player telling them which activities to pursue. If they are not told to eat, they die. If they liveit.in

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In The Sims, players poke their nose into the lives of ordinary people and help them by making them make wise decisions – or not!

Don’t forget the fun The difference between the study and science of realistic artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence used in video games is that games are intended to be fun, so the AI is also used for that purpose. For this reason, fun game play can sometimes take priority over realistic AI forcing the AI to behave unrealistically in order to make the game more fun. Often to make a game more challenging, computer characters are imbued with greater strength in order to compensate for their lack of intelligence in comparison to the player. This may include having stronger attacks, faster speed, or more health than the player. For example, in many racing games, the winner of the race ought to be determined by the skill of the driver. However, AI drivers lack the sophisticated driving skill comparable to that of the player and will usually be left in the dust. To compensate for this lack of skill, computer-controlled race cars will ‘rubberband’ or unfairly speed up when the player establishes a sizable lead. It may not be fair to the player, who must rely only on his/her skill to win, but it keeps the game challenging and exciting.

The future of game AI As long as fun is the driving force behind video games, it will be a long time before game artificial intelligence approaches a level comparable to the infinite complexities of the human mind. But, at the same time, we can expect video game characters to resemble humans to an even greater extent in the way they look, move, behave, think, and learn. This will create a more immersive experience for the player as they interact with life-like virtual characters with personalities of their own. I

style it

Model: Tahira Kochhar Photographer: Sonhal Nichani Assistant: Manish Chadha Makeup/Hair: Nancy Miglani/Tom Gadgets: Soveena Mobile Zone

It’s Gaming Time

There’s an increasing demand for telecom products among all sections of users. Right from handset purchase to choosing accessories including Bluetooth devices, chargers, carry cases, and data cables, it surely calls for intelligent choice to get the best for yourself. Soveena Mobile Zone, located in the heart of the capital, caters to consumers’ choice of the widest and most comprehensive range of mobile phones with special offers from all the key brands available across the globe. From leading mobile brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Apple, HTC and Blackberry, you can also shop for state-of-the-art gaming products by Sony and Mitashi. For movie buffs, there’s a massive collection of the latest movies, music et al. At Soveena, it is a constant endeavour to provide the best product at the best price from the extensive product range, thereby making it a complete shopping experience. For now, here’s a sneak peek into their select product line. September ‘09

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Style IT Sony F305 mobile phone The Sony F305 with Motion Gaming puts ‘fun and entertainment’ at the heart of the mobile phone. Targeted firmly at a youth audience, the phone with motion gaming lets users control games with the flick of a wrist or the swing of an arm.

Portable Sony Playstn. (PSP) Game on PSP system anytime anywhere. Browse the web, enjoy RSS feeds, use Remote Play to access your PS3 system, or get instant messages and calls with Skype

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Sony Playstn.2 The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game consoles. Stylish, cool, and a must have for the gaming freak.

WILLIAMS F1 Team RACING WHEEL The Racing Wheel comes with a bundle of features to deliver a level of realism and authenticity previously unheard of on such a peripheral. Try it to believe it.

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MITASHI GAME – IN Infrazone wireless entertainment Get ready for some wireless gaming. Connect to a TV and play with wireless gear to get into action.

Nintendo Playboy Advance SP Comes with a rechargeable battery and charger with free 10-in-1 gaming cartridge. You can play up to 4 to 5 hours on a single charge.

Style IT

MITASHI GAME – IN SPORTMAX The fun has just begun. This machine comes with 48 in built TV video games sure to take you on a fantasy ride in the world of gaming.

iPod It’s dubbed as 'The Funnest iPod Ever', and it's easy to understand why. Features like the Multi-Touch Display, and a built-in accelerometer, which automatically rotates the screen, are just the beginning of this ground breaking device. Comes with a built-in Wi-Fi along with an e-mail client.

Multimedia Technologies for Gaming Roli Gupta

Special applications to make your game interactive and interesting.

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nce upon a time, a software programmer in a moment of boredom developed a software program to entertain himself. This consisted of a screen with a maze, lined with small dots representing fruits and a round shape representing a creature that would eat up the small dots. To make it more interesting, the developer gave himself points for each dot that the creature ate up. However, he soon got bored with this ‘game’. So, he added another level – there were liveit.in

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monsters out to eat up the creature, and the creature had to avoid them, while still eating up the dots ... and that presumably was the beginning of the multi-billion dollar gaming industry, an industry that provides employment to millions of people worldwide – smart, intelligent and supremely creative geeks working away on their desktops or laptops, trying hard to create that ultimate video game that will take the world by storm and get them into the same league as good ol’ Billy, dropout from Harvard University!

But, for all the riches and creative satisfaction that the field of game development offers, the going is not so easy. Only a tiny number of gaming ideas is good enough to get financial backing and of those too, only the very few really viable ones make it to the highly competitive market. Game developers have to deal with a host of issues, all the while retaining their originality. It’s certainly not an easy task. From the erstwhile ‘Pacman’ and its ilk, to the high action graphics and animation intensive games of today, games development has become a highly specialized field, requiring experts at different level of development. While a few years ago, game development was a tedious task, in which the game engine (the core software which actually allowed the game to run) had to be coded from scratch, the process is less cumbersome now. Considering the fact that graphics and animation have undergone a quantum leap in terms of the look and feel of the game and the technology available to really create it, the developer really has a multitude of options. He is well-assisted by several tools and technologies. There is a wide variety of software that allows for the creation of games ranging from the simple ones like those available online for children (which usually include simple jigsaws or colouring pages or numbers games), to the moderately complex games like card games or 2D games like ‘Pacman,’ to the graphics-intensive games like ‘Need for Speed,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and the like. Here then is a bird’s eye view of some of the popular multimedia technologies and software that are important for game developers in their quest to create some of the best and most entertaining games ever.

Storyboarding software Storyboarding is the not-so-simple first, crucial step in creating games. A little difficult to define, it basically involves the complete visualisation of the game, not unlike a movie script, complete with different scenarios, characters, screenplay, interaction

between the characters and so on. To sum up, it is a detailed, comprehensive view of the game. The game developer need not however use paper to create storyboards. Software like StoryBoard Artist and Toon Boom StoryBoard are easily available, which help one create a complete and effective professional, digital storyboard, which is easy to navigate, edit and link to whatever developer software that one intends to use. The novice or hobbyist games developer can opt for one of the several storyboarding software available online for free download.

3D or 2D animation software Obviously, actually creating the code that is behind the game is what forms the crux of game development. Being able to create

games that are high on visual appeal is very important for the success of any game. In-depth knowledge of the relevant software is almost mandatory. The software is usually powerful, integrated 3D modelling, 3D animation, and rendering applications. Widely used in TV, films and of course in game development, these offer a complete end-to-end solution for creating games. Here are some of the essential tools or software that provide an entire gamut of features for extensive game development: 1. Autodesk Maya/Autodesk 3D Max: http://usa.autodesk.com/ 2. DarkBasic/DarkBasicPro: http://www.thegamecreators.com/ 3. GameEditor: http://game-editor.com/Main_Page/ 4. GameMaker: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/ 5. Role Playing Game Software: RPG Toolkit – http://www.toolkitzone.com/ 6. Adobe Flash Player: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/ 7. Adobe Director and Adobe Shockwave Player: http://www.adobe.com/products/director/; http://www.adobe.com/products/shockwaveplayer/ 8. Torque 3D, Torque 2D: http://www.garagegames.com/ 9. GameStudio: http://www.3dgamestudio.com/ 10. Unity (for MAC): http://unity3d.com/unity/ September ‘09

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Feature All these are licensed, proprietary software, obviously very expensive and extremely useful and essential for professional game developers. However, there are several open source tools or freeware, which allow the novice or hobbyist game developer to create games with minimal or even no knowledge of programming. Here are some of them: 1. Microsoft’s Kodu: http://research.microsoft.com/enus/projects/kodu/ 2. MIT’s Scratch: http://scratch.mit.edu/ 3. Stagecast: http://www.stagecast.com/ 4. Adventure Maker: http://www.adventuremaker.com/ 5. Platinum Arts Sandbox: http://sandboxgamemaker.com/ Undoubtedly, all of this software is powerful enough to create the most complex games. The user interface is quite intuitive, allowing the developer to learn the ropes very quickly. Most come equipped with detailed tutorials and documentation too. The basic features that nearly all game development software typically provide include: 1. Real life simulation of the scenes from the storyboard. 2. Human body movement, highly precise and accurate muscle and skin motion.

3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

8.

Fluid effects like lightning, smoke, steam, snow, fire, water, clouds, rain, oceans, ponds, ripples, foam, and waves in water bodies, thick fog and objects walking through thick fogs, turbulence, and bubbles in water. Natural phenomenon like swamps, mud, volcanoes, and lava. Landscapes and elements like mountains, trees, flowers and so on. Collision between objects and its aftermath, explosions, blasts, fireworks. Life-like appearance of animal fur and human hair. Animal fur appearance can be varied as per requirement to simulate different kinds of animals; human hair of different textures, colours and styles too can be created. Simulation of cloth in various forms, even depicting tearing, burning and other damage, appear fitted or loose as the need is; cloth on cloth as and when a character

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wears multiple layers of clothing, movement of cloth in breeze or in water. 9. Lighting effects such as shadow and sun, shading in various objects appearing in the scene, how lights interact with surfaces and how shadows appear in 3D. 10. A large variety of sound effects – the crash of a car, footsteps, opening and closing of doors to name a few, which add the desired effect to the game. 11. On the more technical side, the facility to create a virtual 3D wire frame model, which is the base upon which the 3D figures are built is also provided. 12. They provide for very convincing limb animation (movement of hands and feet for instance in depicting various movements like driving, running, walking, cycling and so on) and motion capture facilities. 13. Emotion representation, i.e., the expressions on the faces of the 3D humans in the game – fear, terror, smiles, triumphs, grim and so on. Truly, gaming today has changed beyond recognition. There is a mind-boggling variety of games and the game developer sure has his task cut out. But, as always, technology is at his service, giving free rein to his creativity and talents. I

The

Play Barbie games online & be a part of her digital world.

Story…

Priyanka Mukherjee

O

nce upon a time there lived a young girl in the magic world of toys. She was the most beautiful girl indeed. Her cascading mane, slender frame, sparkling eyes and dazzling smile had set many a heart on fire. She would exude a charm that would keep her admirers enchanted forever. This girl had all the oomph to liveit.in

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enthrall her onlookers. She had a fetish for fashion and her sense of style would often pep up her otherwise lovely features. Ever since the day she walked the beach in confident steps, sporting a zebra stripped swimsuit and a topknot, she grabbed all the attention, wherever she went. This pretty girl was pert and smart too. She could dapple with careers as

varied as being a space walker and a doctor. While men would nurture their secret desire to posses her, women would often be envious. For young girls, however, she was their best buddy; a friend whom they would look up to. This once-a-young lass has now turned fifty and has successfully busted the myth of age and waning youth. This svelte lady can still kill with her glance. And guess what, she never had to go for a botox till date. She is Barbie. Barbara Millicent Roberts. Ruth had often observed her daughter Barbara ascribing grown up roles to her dolls. Her husband Elliot, one of the cofounders of Mattel, however, never agreed to her ideas of marketing an adult doll. It was on her visit to Germany in 1956 that Ruth stumbled upon the German fashion doll, Bild Lilli. Lilli was a German career girl who knew how to use her

“

Over these span of half a century, Barbie has grown with time. She is no longer coy and demur as she used to be in her initial days. With age she has shred her reserve. Barbie is rather a modern lady with no inhibitions about her sexuality. Ever since 1971, she has stopped looking sideways; her straight gaze instead oozes a confidence which inspires many. Aware of her abilities, Barbie is truly the most perfect representation of the new age woman, who is ambitious, self-oriented and gorgeous. Barbie has been a playmate to girls from 150 countries all around the globe. With two Barbie dolls being sold every one second, she is undoubtedly the most popular doll ever. In her mass appeal she matches the Hollywood Star. Barbie has been the Hawaiian sweetheart to the Pop Prince, Elvis Presley. For painter Andy Warhol, she has been his muse. Her fame has

Online Barbie games let the Barbie aficionados see the doll in action ... an animated Barbie is bound to mesmerize you with things she does on her own

”

charisma to her advantages. For Ruth, she was quite like what she had imagined her dream doll to be. At the end of her European sojourn, Ruth returned to the United States with Lilli, who would now go through an elaborate session of makeover. It was engineer Jack Ryan who gave Lilli the necessary alterations before she could hit the American market in her new avatar as Barbie. Ruth gave Lilli her new name after her daughter Barbara, and ‘Barbie’ made her first appearance on the 9th of March 1959 at the American International Toy Fair. Dressed up by Charlotte Johnson, the Mattel Fashion Designer, the then “Teen age Fashion doll” would set trends for her admirers to follow all around the globe from now on. Despite occasional challenges from the younger entrants into the world of toy glitterati like the bratty Bratz doll, Barbie still reigns as the stunning sensation, who surely knows the elixir of everlasting youth.

Ruth Handler, the brain behind the concept of Barbie.

earned her the rare honour of a having part of the Times Square named after her for a week in the year of 1974. As it is common for the rich and the famous, Barbie too has been bothered by controversies time and again. While some call her sexist, there are physicians worldwide, who often censure her impractical vital stats for pushing young girls towards becoming anorexic. All the blame games, however, seem inane as the little girl giggles with her Barbie, held to her bosom in a tight hug. Barbie has moved beyond being just a doll; this diva is no less than an icon emulated by millions throughout the world. The craze over Barbie has spread across adults and children alike. While the young daughters love taking Barbie to school with them, their mothers often indulge in dressing her up during their free times. Her popularity has led Mattle to introduce product lines named after her. She has made her appearance in some September ‘09

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www.everythinggirl.com

The fascinating virtual world of Barbie.

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commercial flicks as well. With children becoming more and more tech savvy, Barbie has also made her appearance in compact discs and online games. Samadrita Sengupta, a first year student of English at Presidency College, Kolkata takes pride in proclaiming herself as the Barbie Addict. On being asked about the popularity of video games on Barbie available in the market, this young girl pertly replies, “these video games let the Barbie aficionados see the doll in action, while your doll at home requires you to do things for her. An animated Barbie is bound to mesmerize you with things she does on her own and hence the high demand for such CDs.” Her friend, Jhelum, quips that affordability becomes a factor too. While a normal doll would cost one around 600 bucks let alone her accessories and other necessities, a video game would cost much less. These video games follow thrilling story lines. And the plots with Barbie posing in varied roles such as a high school kid or a private agent or a pretty princess are bound to keep children engrossed over the computer screen for hours altogether. A shop attendant from one of the city malls points that these compact discs, ranged between Rs. 300 to 2000, are bought in high numbers by Barbie enthusiasts of all ages. If one is yet to buy one of these CDs, she can try out some of the online games to get a feel of the Barbie experience. One can Google up a long list of sites were Barbie games can be played for free. Sites like www.sweetdressupgames.com and www.dressupdollgames.net are popular amongst kids who enjoy dressing up Barbie fittingly for different occasions. There are other options like www.playfg.com.barbie-games, which offer a variety of activities such as dress designing, painting and even going out on a mall spree with your dolly pal. Swagata Chatterjee, a working lady, comments, “These online games keep my six-year-old daughter engaged for quite a long stretch in the evening giving me enough time to finish my chores in peace.” Chatterjee chuckles as she points out that she too seldom pampers the child in her with these games on lazy weekend afternoons. Srijoni Bhattacharya, proprietor of a city-based play school, tells us that she often makes the toddlers at her Montessori play the Barbie games available on barbie.everythinggirl.com. This teacher opines that these games being interactive are always effective stimulants for a child’s imagination. Given their attractive content, they are entertaining while being educative as well. Lessons, when taught by Barbie, are ought to be remembered for a lifetime. Even with an option galore available before kids today, Barbie continues to fascinate generations of doll lovers. She has been in controversies. Her acts have often been critiqued. And despite it all, Barbie still remains a girl’s best friend. She has done it all that a girl aspires to do; she has it all that a girl desires to have; and she is all that a girl wants to be. As your little daughter plays with her Barbie, she nourishes her dreams as she fondles her doll. Her Barbie is as special to her as she is to you. She loves her Barbie as you love her. In her Barbie she sees herself. Every girl has a Barbie in her … I

Feature

PAN Technologies inVideo Games P

David Welch Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enrich games with networking options creating a whole new world of gaming.

ersonal area networking (PAN) has undergone a rapid transition over the last decade as wireless technologies have displaced wires and cables to connect electronic devices seamlessly. Without the need for wires and available ports, integrating multiple devices into a personal area network (PAN) is more convenient than ever before. And with the ease of connecting devices of everyday use, like phones, laptops, printers, and keyboards, comes the added benefit of connecting electronic gaming systems and peripherals in the same way. Thus, the evolution and transition of PAN technologies, like infrared and Bluetooth, have changed the way in which we play video games. Connecting video game peripherals through cables was the standard throughout most of gaming history. Controllers and joysticks had to be connected through wires to a game console the same way we connected keyboards and mice to our computers. Game ports allowed for a variety of different peripherals to be connected creating a personal area network for gaming, which

might include steering wheels, trackballs, gamepads, light guns, and instruments. But each of these personal gaming area networks was saddled with the inherent impediments of cords, which inhibited physical movement and limited the number of connected devices.

Wireless connectivity via infrared light Infrared Data Association (IrDa) was used as a popular means of wireless data transmission in personal area networks in the late 1990s This game controller uses a retractable cord to prevent it from becoming entangled in other wires. While this is more convenient than a non-retractable cord, it cannot stand up to a Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller.

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Feature and early 2000s. IrDa exchanged short-range data over infrared light. Using IrDa, a user could, for example, connect a computer to a printer and wirelessly send print jobs from one device to the other. Infrared was used the same way in video games to allow for wireless controllers. Players were free from cumbersome wires that inhibited game play. This was a real advantage to overzealous gamers who would accidentally pull controller wires from their ports in moments of exuberance, or have ever had a house pet or clumsy friend accidentally trip over their cords and disconnect them from a game. It also relieved them of the task of untangling a mass of cords from different controllers and peripherals. Because IrDa uses infrared light, there must be a direct line of sight between the devices. If an obtrusive solid object interfered, the IrDaenabled devices could no longer ‘see’ each other and thus be unable to communicate. This was a drawback in video games since a sudden loss of control at a critical point in game play could mean the difference between a ‘top score’ and a ‘game over,’ no matter how brief the interruption. These disadvantages would eventually make IrDa obsolete in the face of newer technology. However, infrared light would still be used later to capture motion for video games. Other early wireless controllers used radio links instead of infrared. But they often suffered from transmission delays, which were more disastrous for players than line-of-sight interruptions. Because of the necessity for maintaining complete control at all times in game play, wireless controllers were avoided until the technology finally improved.

The dawn of Bluetooth Bluetooth technology is now becoming the standard for short-range data communication ideal for personal area networks. Bluetooth is an open wireless standard and communication protocol for interpreting radio frequencies among These infrared headphones operate wirelessly by picking up numerous devices within a infrared frequencies emitted by an few meters. The biggest infrared-enabled CD player or monitor. They are intended for use advantage Bluetooth has over in front of a computer or while in a IrDa is that it uses radio car since the infrared must maintain a direct line of site with frequencies, instead of light, the emitter in order to function. so devices do not have to be in a line of sight. Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency-hopping spread spectrum where it switches or ‘hops’ among 78 frequencies 1600 times a second. This reduces the amount of interference allowing devices to communicate faster and more accurately, while at the same time making the signal more secure. Creating a personal area network using Bluetooth (often called a piconet) is becoming more common as more devices are made Bluetooth-ready out of the box. For example, mobile phone users may use a hands-free Bluetooth headset to use with their liveit.in

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mobile phone while driving. At the same time, GPS functionality of a mobile phone could connect with the car’s systems to help drivers navigate. Of course, Bluetooth allows for input and output devices like mice, keyboards, printers, and headsets to work together seamlessly.

Bluetooth in video games For video games, Bluetooth allows for several advantages in game play. Wireless controllers now allow for free movement The WaveBird without the hassle of for the Nintendo Gamecube was cords or the line-of-sight the first official interruption possible wireless controller made by a first-party through infrared. console gaming manufacturer. Among the three Nintendo had been attempting to create a reliable wireless controller since the current generation Famicom era with infrared technology. console gaming systems, However, the WaveBird succeeded by using radio frequency communication. the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PS3 both use Bluetooth controllers while Microsoft’s Xbox360 uses a proprietary protocol that uses a 2.4 gigahertz electromagnetic frequency. While all three use radio frequencies to communicate wirelessly, the Bluetooth protocol supports up to seven controllers to be used simultaneously with the PS3 while the Xbox360 is limited to four. At the same time, PCs and game consoles that are Bluetoothenabled can use other Bluetooth devices beyond controllers to create a more immersive game experience. Bluetooth headsets and mics allow gamers to chat with other players online easily. This communication advantage allows players to coordinate strategies with team members in games like first-person-shooters and other squad-based games. Or, they may allow human opponents to trash talk each other in fighting games. Increased compatibility is also an advantage of Bluetoothenabled devices. Bluetooth devices speak the same language, so a Bluetooth headset for a mobile phone would also work with a Bluetooth-enabled laptop and a Sony PS3. This cuts down on the cost of system-specific accessories. Bluetooth is also making waves in portable or hand-held gaming by allowing fast and accurate communication between hand-held gaming devices. This replaces the link cables of old that we fondly remember connecting GameBoys together. The iPhone is Bluetooth-enabled, which means two or more iPhone users can connect with each other for wireless multiplayer gaming without connecting to a WiFi network. Of course, since Bluetooth has a short range, the players must be no more than 30 feet apart. A new version of Sony’s PlayStation Portable called the PSP Go will have Bluetooth functionality as well. The latest version of the Nintendo DS does not have Bluetooth so players must connect via WiFi for multiplayer gaming.

Infrared and Bluetooth in motion control games The current and future trend for video games seems to be the integration of multiple PAN technologies to allow us to interface with games in multiple ways, including buttons, motion, facial recognition, and voice. The Nintendo Wii has pioneered the use of motion controls to manipulate in-game characters and events rather than rely solely on buttons and thumb sticks on a controller. The Nintendo Wii’s ‘Wiimote’ controller combines both Bluetooth and infrared technologies. A sensor bar features ten infrared LEDs (light-emitting diodes) that are detected by an image sensor on the Wiimote to triangulate its location in 3D space. Additionally, two dots of light on the image sensor can determine the rotation This headset designed for of the Wiimote with the PlayStation 3 uses Bluetooth to wirelessly send audio signals to respect to the ground. the console which can then be This infrared data transferred online to other players anywhere in the world. The added processing is then sent to convenience of voice chat has allowed the console wirelessly real-time audio communication to become a standard in the First-Personthrough Bluetooth. Shooter genre. Sony recently debuted a similar motion controller using their PlayStation Eye technology. The controller wand uses light-emitting diodes to mark its location in 3D space. The PlayStation Eye camera then tracks the lights along the image plane and determines its position in three dimensions by the wand’s distance from the Eye. The device does not use Bluetooth since all the data is collected and sent from the PlayStation Eye camera, which is placed above the television and connected by a wire. The system may be more accurate than Nintendo Wii since it is able to capture movement in real-time with ‘sub-millimeter’ accuracy. The technology does use light to calculate a position of an object in 3D space the same way as the Nintendo Wii, but it uses an electromagnetic frequency on the visible light spectrum rather than infrared. This can be seen by human eyes as the ball at the end of the wand controller, which lights up when in use.

body, eliminating controllers The Wii Remote or ‘WiiMote’ for the and other interface tools Nintendo Wii combines altogether. advances in infrared and Bluetooth technology. A The technology for sensor bar reads the Project Natal seems to build WiiMotes position in 3D space while Bluetooth upon existing technologies transmits this data for used for personal area interpretation to the console. networks, including infrared and visible light communications. By using a ‘time-of-flight’ camera principle, scenes are illuminated with short pulses of infrared light from a projector and the camera measures how long it takes for the light to reflect off a physical surface and reach the camera again. The camera thus provides a range value for each pixel, approximating the distance of each pixel from the camera. This is the same technology that 3D scanners use to scan objects. Project Natal is also capable of scanning in 3D objects, like skateboards, to recreate digital versions used within games. At E3 2009, Project Natal unveiled a demo of its technology in ‘Milo’ that utilized all its features including voice recognition, facial recognition, and object scanning. In development by Peter Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios, ‘Milo’ has players interact with an artificially intelligent young boy named Milo and his dog Kate through speech, body movements, facial expressions, and real, physical objects.

The future of PAN technologies in video games As the science of electromagnetic frequencies continues to grow, we can expect more sophisticated applications of such technology in everyday personal area networking as well as video games. Infrared, visible light, and other radio frequencies will be used to create more convenience in our lives and more immersive, interactive experiences in video games. Motion recognition technology is still in its infancy, but as the technology expounds designers will find new and exciting ways to adapt it to video games. I

Project Natal and full body motion recognition Microsoft’s ‘Project Natal’ for the Xbox360 and PC may be the most complex application of PAN technologies in gaming yet. The device does not use any hand-held controller whatsoever and instead detects full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition. The Project Natal sensor can see in three dimensions, thanks to an infrared projector and monochrome CMOS sensor. This technology can track up to four users for motion analysis and identify and interpret 48 points of movement on a human body, including each individual finger. With this system, game characters can emulate the same movements that you may make with your own

In this demonstration of ‘Milo’ for Project Natal, the player physically uses her hand to snatch up fish from a pond. The infrared projector uses time-of-flight motion capture to track and interpret the movements of the player.

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Tech Tip

Kiran’s Typing Tutor

An easy, interactive way to learn typing

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n today’s computerized world, a good typing skill can make a whole lot of difference to your career and to your social life as well. This is where Kiran’s Typing Tutor comes in. This easy-to-use typing program can make you proficient at typing within a matter of days. The program is a freeware and can be downloaded by pointing your browser to this link: ttp://www.kiranreddys.com/download/download.php. This scientifically designed tutorial begins with basic lessons, which can enable beginners to understand the modalities of touch-typing. Within the realms of this typing tutor, more than 500 typing practice lessons and more than 500 testing lessons can be found. So, you can be sure that you are going to learn about all the hidden nuances of typing and also have ample opportunity to practice them. There is a finger preview feature that shows what finger you have to use to strike any particular key on the keyboard. The Key preview feature shows the key that gets pressed. The program is capable of recording the accuracy with which you are typing, and the word per minute. Both of these details prove invaluable for self-evaluation. The program also has a Kids Typing module that includes five different types of typing lessons designed for age groups ranging from 4 to 8 years. So, it is not just you but your kid too can become proficient at typing by using this program. However, it is the typing of numbers that poses as a great difficulty for most of us. But don’t worry. Kiran’s Typing Tutor comes with a Numeric Typing module designed to demystify the use of the dreaded numeric keyboard. Then there are the myriad Typing Games liveit.in

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Tech Tips by Anoop Verma that turn out to be quite entertaining and they also manage to deliver succinct typing lessons. Kiran’s Typing Tutor is designed to run on all Windows powered systems, from Windows 2000 to Windows Vista, and it needs a RAM of at least 64 MB, but a RAM of 128MB is recommended if you want to enjoy the rich graphics in this program. Naturally, a QWERTY keyboard is a must when you are learning to type. If you have any issues with the program, then you can get your query resolved by going to the support pages at www.kiranreddys.com/support.php. It is also possible for you to contact the program’s creators, by visiting the ‘Contact Us’ page. I

Crayon Physics H

ere comes a game that takes you on a mesmerizing journey into a world replete with child-like creativity ... a world where your drawings can get magically transformed into twodimensional physical objects. The game can be downloaded from www.crayonphysics.com and it is available in versions compatible with Windows XP/Vista. Once the game is downloaded and installed in your computer, you are bound to have a scintillating interaction with all kinds of two-dimensional physics simulations, including gravity, mass, kinetic energy and transfer of momentum. A level editor enables players to share and download custom content via an online service. The thrill quotient in this game comes when gamers try to get a ball to a point that is marked by a star. The best way to achieve this objective is to draw a number of different items that can act in a variety of ways to help get the ball from Point A to Point B. On a basic level, the drawings act as ramps or barriers, while more advanced implementation accomplishes a number of feats like creating weights and levers as well as malleable platforms that can be affected by other creations. It is almost as if the drawings that you make are taking the two-dimensional shape of a virtual machine that is geared to obey all the laws of physics. Let’s assume that you intend to move the ball to a higher platform in the game. What you can do is trap the ball inside a box, which can be attached to a length of a string that runs over a tower that you have drawn, and then weigh it down on the other side. The weight is going to pull the ball to the position where you want it to be. After that you will make a

quick right click, which can make the box disappear leaving the ball to drop. You might even draw a catapult. You don’t even have to be a great artist like Van Gogh to draw all these things on the screen. For instance, in order to make a catapult all you need to have is a simple single-line drawing of a plough-like shape, with a bucket drawn around the ball and a long line stretching over your triangular pivot. After that you can draw a boulder above the far end of the catapult and watch it propel the ball into the air. What makes this game entertaining for gamers is that there is no dearth of ways to solve each level, thanks to the fact that no one is going to draw the same things in exactly the same way. But Crayon Physics does require creativity from its players. You have to solve each puzzle by using your own ingenuity. But the best thing about the game lies in the aura of innocent charm that it exudes. The visuals on the screen look exactly like someone doodling on a piece of paper. Even the soundtrack that plays in the background has extremely soothing and almost hymn-like quality. After playing this game, you will actually end up feeling quite relaxed. To have this super game in your computer, all you need to do is fork out $20. Now that sounds like quite cheap, doesn’t it? I September ‘09

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I

f you fall in the category of those who prefer to display each and every one of their favourite pictures on Flickr, then you are already in dire need of a synchronization tool. Now you need to look no further than FlickrSync. The program can be downloaded for free at http://flickrsync.freehostia.com. But you need to have a system that is running on XP or Windows Vista in order to take advantage of this freeware. Once you have downloaded and installed the program into your computer, synchronization between your local folders in which you place your pictures and your Flickr site can be established. There is support for all file formats. The program will have no effect on the folders or images in your computer system. But every image in your Flickr account will get updated to match the location information in your computer. So, if you change the position of an image from one folder to another, its position will change on Flickr too, in order for it to correspond with the new local position. You can use the system to define Flickr permissions for each liveit.in

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folder and other synchronization options. It doesn’t matter how you prefer to synchronize your files on Flickr – whether by date, by caption or by file name, the program is geared to do your bidding. You can also specify the permissions-related attributes for your images. When you open the program, you will find a specific field where you can choose how you want your Flickr permissions for pictures to be set (private, public, friends, family, etc). If you choose ‘Flickr default’ then FlickrSync will just use the default permission that you specified on your Flickr account. Let’s say, you want to avoid a scenario where images from your Flickr account get inadvertently deleted. For that you can set a ‘Never Delete’ option on your FlickrSync, so that only partial synchronization gets accomplished. The thing about this software is that it takes a little longer to get used to, but the convenience that it offers of managing your Flickr account locally makes it really worth it. The program serves as an exceptionally good photo backup tool too. I

D

id you know that now it is possible for you to listen to BBC Radio on your Reliance mobile phone? That certainly is a great way to get your quota of news while you are on the go. It was in the month of June this year that BBC World Service rolled out live audio service through Reliance’s ‘R-World value added services (VAS)’ platform. To access this service, Reliance subscribers have to dial 512344378. Once the service gets activated on your Reliance phone, you will be able to hear news from BBC World Service in five different languages seven days a week. Every news bulletin will

begin with news in English and the switch to local Indian languages will happen at different times during the day. There will be a switch to Hindi at 6.30 a.m., 8 a.m., 7.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.; to Tamil at 09.15 p.m.; to Urdu at 7 a.m., 8.30 p.m. and 11 p.m. and to Bangla at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. According to a press release, Reliance is specially targeting Indians in rural areas through this service. That makes sense, as radio happens to be quite a popular medium in rural India. Even BBC is enthusiastic about this service as it allows them to reach a large number of consumers across India. I

Tech Tip

O

Google enhances

SMS search in India

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ne thing is for sure, while you are on the go, a mobile serves as a good search instrument. An increasing number of people have started using their mobiles to search for information. Their task has become easier since Google decided to enhance SMS search in India. If you are looking for live IPL scores, current time in New York, today’s gold and silver prices, availability of seats or fares for trains from Bangalore to Mumbai, you can depend on Goggle’s SMS facility to bring you answers in quick time. All you need to do is send a simple SMS to 977-33-00000 and that will link you directly to Google search at the price of a normal SMS. For finding out scores in international cricket matches, you have to SMS ‘cri’ to 9-77-3300000. But, if you wish to know about IPL scores, then you have to SMS ‘cri ipl’. Let’s say, you want to learn about the performance of the SRK team. In that case, you might SMS ‘cri ipl knight riders’. For domestic cricket scores, you will SMS ‘cri ranji’. The service also allows you to keep track of stock and commodity markets. All you need to do is SMS ‘price gold’, ‘price oil’, or ‘price cotton’ to know the MCX spot prices for these commodities. To learn more, you can SMS ‘help commodity’ to the same number. This service is surely going to be a boon for traders. Now you don’t have to call a friend in New York to find out what the time is in that part of the world. Just SMS ‘time new york’ to 9-77-3300000 and you will have an answer instantly. Then there is the aspect of railway search. Google is geared to provide much more than just your PNR status and train schedule on your mobile phone. You can learn about seat availability and fare information as well. Let’s say, you want to check the seat availability for 29th October on train number 7777, going from Delhi to Mumbai. All you need to do is SMS, ‘train avail 7777 Delhi to Mumbai on 29-07’. And, if you want to check out the fares for sleeper class, SMS ‘train fare 7777 Delhi to Mumbai for SL’. By bringing such information gathering capability to the mobile phone, Google is certainly doing its bit in making life easy for the average customer. It is quite likely that in the times to come, more information gathering avenues will get incorporated into the system. And that is only going to add to the importance of hand-held mobile phones. I

DIGITAL

DESIGNER

Let your children learn ... the virtual way!

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ids usually do enjoy building new items out of real Lego blocks, and now they can start enjoying the same game in virtual world, thanks to the Lego Digital Designer. The game can be downloaded for free by pointing your browser to the link: http://ldd.lego.com/download/default.aspx. Versions that are compatible with Windows XP and Vista, and on Mac are available out here. Once the 28 MB program gets downloaded and installed, you and your kid can start designing your own Lego creations on a PC or Mac.

After you have managed to create something special with your virtual Lego blocks, you can also upload the image on the Lego website and then order the ‘real’ pieces necessary to build the structure, along with step-by-step instructions. However, a custom Lego Kit turns out to be quite costly, so you have to check out your budget before you start ordering. For example, a model of the house or a police station, or a spacecraft might cost you in excess of $100 in Lego. Despite the price, it is still fun designing your own Lego toys on the computer and then have your creation delivered to your house. Even if you don’t want to order anything, you and your kid can have fun by designing Lego toys of your imaginations on the colourful screen. You can also download designs that others have created and edit them according to your own tastes and sensibilities. You can point your browser at http://factory.lego.com/gallery to check out a cornucopia of virtual Lego designs. Their prices in real Lego are also listed, so you can find out what these toys cost in real life. In the virtual world you can choose from over 763 brick types, which is much more than what you get in a normal Lego kit. A click on the ‘Parents’ link at the Lego website will take you to the URL: http://parents.lego.com/engb/default.aspx. Here, you can find plenty of suggestions about the kind of designing that can be attempted to enthuse children of

different age group. There are different kinds of Lego activity planned for different age groups. Children in smaller age groups can design simpler items like a toy train, cement mixer, etc. Older kids can attempt things like space shuttles, robots, etc.If anything, these virtual Lego games pose as a good way for helping kids unleash their creativity. I

Create your very own animated cartoons, video games and interactive artworks ere is a good way of helping your kid to create his own animated cartoons, small video games or even his own interactive artworks. You can do all this even if you don’t know a bit of Flash and coding. All you need to do is visit this site: http://scratch.mit.edu. Scratch has a set of innovative tools through which people without any computer programming skills, and that means most of us, can create animations. It is not just standalone animations that you and your kid can create, but Scratch will allow you to dish out animated stories, small games and much else. Before you can start using the tools available on the website, you need to download and install the program by pointing your browser to: http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_1.4_Download. And all this for free. With its comprehensible menu-based system, using Scratch is eminently simple. You can either upload images from your own computer or you can use the ones that already exist in the Scratch library. Once the images have been imported, a number of blocks can be assigned to each one of them. Now you have to assign various commands to these blocks. Scratch lists all of the most commonly used commands for any animation film in the form of buttons. Let’s say, you want one of the blocks to move. Then you have to press the ‘Move’ button. And after that you can specify the type of movement that you wish to incorporate. Let’s say, you want your character to move by ‘ten steps’ or turn in a clockwise direction, or in an anti-clockwise direction. There are simple buttons that help you specify such traits. To create an animation, just assign the commands and stack the blocks together. If you want to make the character play drum as it moves ten steps, then first click on the ‘Sound’ tab and then specify the type of sound from the options available. Let’s say you want the character to keep going back and forth while playing the drum. To do this you will need to add another ‘Move’ command that will entail a movement back by ‘ten steps’. You can also put a commencement sign to your animation so that the animation starts moving only when you click on something. It could be a ‘Green Flag’ for instance. Similarly, there can also be a ‘Stop’ button, clicking on which will make the animation come to a halt. There is also a button called ‘Looks’ that proves very suitable for adding many other special effects to your animation. You can switch costumes, change colour effects and do much else. Once your masterpiece is complete, you can share your creation on the web by uploading it on the Scratch website. Some of the members of Scratch have even created their very own ‘Mario’ and ‘Pac-Man’ based games! You can go to the ‘Gallery’ page on the website to take a peek at some of the latest animations and games that have been created using Scratch. They even have a Scratch concert on the gallery page. Michel Jackson continues to groove in the virtual realm of Scratch. There is no dearth of games that you can enjoy at this gallery. However, before you and your kid are able to come up with this kind of advanced creations, you will need a lot of practice. Now is a good time to start. The website itself is a pet project of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) media lab and it is targeted mainly at youngsters. I liveit.in

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The penguin is here for some basic maths

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f you are a mother of a young child, you already know how difficult it is to teach math to your young one. But now you have Tux to depend on. But, hey who is Tux? Well, he is a penguin who resides in a virtual video game type of world and yet he manages to do a pretty fine job of teaching basic math to kids. The best thing about Tux is that his tutorials are available for free. You can download the free software by pointing your browser to this link: http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/download.php. It doesn’t matter whether you use Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Mac or Linux, this versatile math tutorial is available in versions that are compatible with almost every system used in household computers or schools. Once you have downloaded the software, it will take less than two minutes to get installed. After that all you have to do is make your kid sit in front of the computer and start interacting with the friendly virtual penguin, who is so good at dishing out lessons in basic math. The game play of this math tutorial is based on arcade style video games that are proving to be so popular with kids these days. Comets falling on cities, which are inhabited entirely by penguins residing in cute little igloos. The players, your kids in this case, have to protect the cities from the falling comets and the only way they can achieve their objective is by solving elementary match problems. Cool, isn’t it? Kids are going to enjoy this tutorial. Once they solve the math problem, the comet gets destroyed and the city is saved. The game also includes a multiplayer mode, in which more than one kid can participate. There is also the provision for factor-fraction activity called Factoroids. The game features a training mode, where the kids can hone their game play skills. It also has a score table, where children can keep a tab on how they have been faring with their game, or more precisely their math lessons. Numerous schools around the world have already started using Tux, whose tutorials are available in many different languages, including English. The game has also been mentioned in numerous school newsletters. Once you the game downloaded on your computer, you will know just how good a math teacher Tux, the penguin, is. 

Stream Movies in your

Home with New

Cisco Router

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or movie buffs the new Router from Cisco, the dual-band wireless router (WRT320N), will prove to be dream come true. This is clearly the router for next generation of extreme networking and is ideal for users who demand more from their wireless networking. The installation process is relatively easy – all you need to do is hook up a couple of wires, run a small program on your laptop and PC and the system gets ready for use. You can then start streaming video movies immediately. However, when you are hooking the router up, you must make sure that you create a strong password and do not let the device remain at its default settings. This is for your own online safety against identity theft. With the new Cisco router, setting up a password is a breeze. The range of this router is about 1000 feet and that should be enough to cover the entire area of most houses and a little bit of outdoors too. You could work or watch movies comfortably in your verandah or balcony. You can get recipes at the kitchen or even check mails anywhere in the house. The location in your house where you have the router installed is important. For best results, the device has to be placed at a central point of the building so that the signal gets spread out in all the directions. The signal is quite strong, so even if you put the router inside a closet to keep it out of sight, it will continue to work. And once the system gets installed, you are ready to start streaming movies directly to your HDTV or home theatre system. That should be a treat. The WRT320N is equipped with gigabit ethernet for wired liveit.in

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connections and 802.11n grade wireless operating in either the 2.4 GHz wireless band or the wider 5 GHz band. The truth is that operating the router in the 5 GHz band is ideal as it is less crowded than the 2.4 GHz band and hence is better suited for carrying latency sensitive data like video and audio. The WRT320N is shipped with Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA), which helps users to get their network up and running and helps keep their network updated and secure. Incorporation of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) support proves great for making devices on wireless local area networks more secure and to make the setup easy. To have this system in your house, all you need to do is fork out is a sum of Rs. 8,999. Now, that’s definitely not much considering the benefits you get in return. Think of the time and money that you can save with home networking by sharing files, printers, storage and other peripherals. Once you have the system in your house, you will soon realize that you can’t do without it. 

Listen to Movies on Mobile

Phone

his is just the kind of service that movie buffs have been waiting for. Now even your mobile phone can act like a version of the movie theatre, but only for the audio part of it. UTV New Media Ltd. has now announced the launch of its Audio Cinema, which happens to be first of its kind movie-on-your-phone service. By using this innovative service, you can listen to an hour-long audio version of your favourite movies. The dialogues, narrations and the gist of the story emerge out of your mobile phone. Imagine the delight of listening to the dialogs of ‘Sholay.’ How about having a tryst with the lines of the latest film, ‘Fashion.’ If you are Tamil movie fan, then will enjoy ‘Thalapathi.’

T

But what if you get a phone call, or have to make a phone call, while you are enjoying your movie experience. The service comes with a pause/resume feature that will take care of the problem. Refreshing audio versions of movies are being released every Friday. Users can access the service through all the major telecom players in India, including Idea, Vodafone, Airtel Mobile and Reliance. Thus, you enjoy the freedom to pick up movies from a long list of titles, in accordance with your preferred language option. So, wherever you go now, your favourite movies will be following you closely. However, the service is not for free. You have to pay a small amount to enjoy movie experience on your mobile. If you are carrying a Vodafone or Airtel mobile then you have to pay Rs. 6 per minute. From Idea Cellular you have to pay Rs. 6.99 per minute. But Reliance mobile is only going to cost Rs. 30 for a monthly package. For enjoying a movie, those sorts of charges don’t sound like too much. I

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Waterproof Gadgets for the

Monsoon I

f you are living in Delhi, then you might not have much reason to worry about the rains, as it has hardly rained this year, but if you are settled in a place like Mumbai, where it has been raining cats and dogs, then you must be having a tough time trying to protect your gadgets from the vagaries of the monsoons. Maybe your mobile phone, to which you are so addicted, is already malfunctioning after it was exposed to a severe bout of Mumbai rains. That’s just too bad. Had you chosen a mobile phone like the Sony Ericsson C702, then you wouldn’t have had to worry about the rains at all. Sony promises that the C702 is splash and dust resistant and that naturally means that this phone can withstand exposure to all kinds of torrential rains. Monsoon season in full swing – no problem for the C702! Along with being rain- proof, this phone also bundles up HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, MP3 player, FM radio with RDS, Media Centre, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP and the respectable 160 MB of built-in memory. It also features a 3-megapixel camera that takes advantage of geo-tagging, and features face detection, red-eye reduction, auto-focus and dual LED. But what if you prefer to carry your iPod and Blackberry every time you venture out of your house? These gizmos are not being offered in a waterproof avatar as of now, but you can still find protection for them by getting hold of a waterproof case made by Otterbox. These rugged, plastic cases are waterproof to a depth of 3 feet and so they are able to withstand any amount of rain. In order to learn more about these boxes, you can visit www.otterbox.com. They even have boxes for the newly launched iPhone 3G. The box will enclose your iPhone 3G and provide the most perfect protection against rains. There can also be a scenario where the rains really inundate your city and as a result of which you find yourself wading through few feet of water. For such occasions, the Oregon Scientific MP120 waterproof MP3 is a great option. This MP3 player is capable of dishing out excellent music even when it is under few feet of water. The 128 MB of space that this gizmo has may not sound like much when compared to an iPod, but an iPod is not going to work under water. The device also offers its users the option of switching on to FM radio at a simple press of a button. Then there is the EGO Waterproof Sound Case from Atlantic, which poses as a good way of keeping your iPod running when the city is knee-deep under rainwater. The device is waterproof enough to withstand the kind of monsoon rains that India experiences and it can operate an iPod for 30 hours on just four AA batteries. The case even has a slim surface click-wheel membrane that allows you to control all the iPod’s functions from outside the plastic. That sounds cool. Definitely worth a try. I

Some cool alternatives to Skype

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kype may be the most recognisable name in the VoIP field, but there are many established competitors as well as start-up companies ready to compete for customers. In order to attract you, these companies are launching faster applications as they continue to lower their prices. Don’t waste a fortune to stay connected with family and friends abroad when these VoIP companies offer a cheap alternative: not to mention the added benefit of video chat! The only people not smiling at these advancements are the telephone providers who are surely minting money. Take a look at these seven great VoIP alternatives to Skype and see which one best suits your needs.

1. Vbuzzer (http://www.vbuzzer.com/index.php) While Vbuzzer does offer a free download, you need to buy credit to access its premium features: $10 will get you started and from there you can pay as you go. The service offers free internet faxing for US and Canadian users only and low cost calling starting at 1.5 c/min to both landline and cell phones anywhere in the world for all of its users. A convenient instant messaging application is also available.

2. VoIPBuster VolPBuster features free calls to a number of popular destinations, but only after you have established a line of credit with the company and additional limitations also apply (check out http://www.voipbuster.com/en/free.html for details). Sending an SMS within the US to another VolPBuster account holder also in the US only costs 8 cents per message so the company is still offering a great deal.

3. Smart VoIP (http://www.smartvoip.com/en/index.html) Yet another VoIP service provider, SmartVoIP, also offers free calls to a number of countries. After joining the service, you will be given 120 free days during which you can call any of the listed

countries for free. In addition to sending an SMS for a low rate, you can also use SmartVoIP for phone to phone communication.

6. iChat (http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/ichat.html) iChat is the instant messaging application for Mac users featuring everything from custom buddy lists to invisibility on other’s buddy lists to multiple logins. Tabbed chats and SMS forwarding make chatting easy even with friends and family who use a PC. The iSight video camera allows for video chatting as well.

7. Jajah (http://www.jajah.com/) Over 15 million people around the world use Jajah and with the savings surely explain why. The VoIP service allows you to save up to 98% on international phone calls. No contract, unique software or headset is needed to use Jajah and the service can work on any phone. Simply start an account and your first five minute call is absolutely free. In addition to its basic service, Jajah offers an IP platform that calls itself ‘the world’s only complete data communications platform.’ With this service, established companies can offer Jajah’s VoIP services under their own name. I September ‘09

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Feature

Advantages of Online Games Partha Mukherjee

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an, by design of nature, is a gregarious animal. However, by the first decade of the new millennium much of man’s social skills have withered. The reasons are not far to seek. Like many other social malaises, the root of a man’s dwindling interaction with another fellow human being lies in the shrinking family unit. Even in the traditional societies prevalent in the East, nuclear families have virtually become de rigueur. A cartoon that has been in cyberspace for a while comes to mind. A child sitting in front of his computer screen reading an e-mail message from his Mom, “If you have finished your homework, come downstairs. Dinner is ready.” This Bradburyesque picture is sadly not far from the truth in the context of urban India. As expected, this setting builds up bottled emotions which may find an outlet, albeit somewhat unnatural, in online games. Child psychologists accept that there is a cruel and vicious trait in a child’s psyche. It is not a bad idea, after all, to let these violent streaks to have a controlled expression through an online game. The emphasis, however, is on control, which unfortunately is forgotten by many designers of online games for children. Some of the games are having bad impacts on the mind of the players like for instance, violent games. So, it is good that we know where to find good games, which are challenging, educational and fun. The most common disadvantage of these free online games as we all know is that, teens prefer to come online rather than doing their homework or studying their lessons. This, of course, is just one genre of online games. To cater to a wider clientele, there are others like adventure games, mystery games, quiz games and so on. They can stimulate the child’s power of imagination, liveit.in

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reasoning ability, mathematical skills, deductive skills, analytical ability, skills of observation and many other desirable attributes, which will go a long way in shaping the mind of a well-rounded young adult. I’ve come across well-designed online games, which can fire the child’s yarning to learn more about history or geography or science. Developers have created a slew of games, covering a wide spectrum in action, board, cards, and adventure.

There is yet another set of popular online games that start by giving the player a package of resources and then challenge him or her to build a prosperous town or a successful business or to become a military strategist or to perform a particular task by overcoming obstacles. Games like word puzzles, visual puzzles and trivia are just some of the ideal categories that can help children become more sharp and bright. One reason behind the popularity of free online games is that a player can access them whenever they want to. Although the objectives of these games are primarily to amuse the gamer, there are others that exercise your brain. Sudoku and Mah Jong have easy-to-follow rules and yet demand analytical ability. Jigsaw puzzle games are fun. Arcade games are good fun too. In a Role-Playing Game, the player can play with or against other players. Several platforms have a rating system, which further enhances the experience. Many games offer a ‘save’ option and you can resume it another time. There are game portals like gamerevolt.com that offer chat rooms for discussion. A chat room is like a social gathering. Recent developments make the future of online gaming look promising. All of these apply just as well to an adult. As the wit says, “A man never grows up and a child lurks somewhere inside a man’s mind. As per a recent survey, as much as 66% of online players are between 8 to 21 years of age and a major chunk of gamers are over 30. Online games are fast turning into a major form of entertainment not only for the younger generation but for grown-ups as well. These games are addictive, and yet, free! Online games can provide benefits such as improved visual perception, hand-eye coordination, mental acuity and memory. Once you go online, you will find a whole world of games to suit your taste. And then there are hundreds of mindless games that are little more than pointless pursuits of brownie points, where the objective of accumulating points is an end in itself. The less said about them, the better.

Online games: Manna from heaven To the teenagers, free online games are manna from heaven. With the growth of high-rise apartments making inroads into almost every available space that once offered youngsters many a healthy afternoon, the concept of online games certainly proves to be a great response to an urgent need. Needless to say, an affordable panacea indeed! Now teens can not only update themselves with information on science, geography, literature and what not, but also fill their leisure with adventure, analytical approach to reveal a mystery, solution of a puzzle, a plan to build up a business strategy, a diagram to lay out an September ‘09

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Feature architectural wonder, a gameplan to win a limited over cricket match and so on. All they have to do is to mildly press on a computer keyboard sitting at home. And voila! The world is yours and that too without drilling a gaping hole in your pocket. As it costs nothing, people join the fray in large numbers and this contributes on quite a sizable number of net users who can afford to play online games for free. Besides, one does not need to hang out to take part in an online game; rather, he or she can play any version of the game sitting at home. If you have your own computer (which is a necessary item in every household nowadays) and if you have an internet connection, then all you have to do is you-know-what. You need not stick to a particular kind of games, if it seems to be a boring lot to you; there are slew of other games to offer you as exciting as cliff hanging. You simply switch from one to another. You do not have to hang on till the game is over, as you may have experienced while waiting for long in a game-parlour of token-operated game machines. In online games, you can always exit the game anytime if you don’t feel like continuing. Just click exit or close the window. TeenWants (www.teenwants.com) is highly recommended to play free online games on their site. They have a bouquet of free games, ideal for teens with loads of options which are good, fun, challenging and educational. They are matured enough to ensure what kind of games are worth the time teens spend on playing them. And also, they have avoided including violent games which can have a negative impact on the mind of the young player. They have games that are easy to play and some that are not. Some games are such that with little manipulation of your fingers you can win, while some need a little brainstorming. As for change, you can also choose to play sports game, puzzle games or arcade games. They have more games under each category so that one can really extract fun from those games which fascinate you. So, visit TeenWants. Loads of amusements await you there.

Advantages of online gaming Almost everyday, new online games pop up in the cyber space. They are classified in different categories – from simple mind games to arcade games, racing games, shooting games, dress-up games, online virtual games, sport games and many more. But, online casino games, among all others, draw attention of the gamers. It has more advantages rather than the bad effects. While visiting Casino is rather a risky proposition, considering an unknown premises and people, playing online Casino in the company of friends at one’s residence ignoring any dress code (which is a must in any aristocratic casino hub) is hassle-free. At home, before your friends, you need not be an expert overnight but you cannot simply afford to be a novice while playing at any outside Casino, as that would result in a massive loss of your money. Over and above technological edge over other modes, online casino has another plus point, which is its accessibility. Could anyone even dream of accessing ten casinos at a time on a single evening and that too sitting at home, before online casino was available? Even stake-moneywise online casinos offers are more liveit.in

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enticing for the gamers. It is reported that in some of the best land casinos, the minimum stake may be to the tune of $100, whereas in the top online casinos one can gamble the night away for less than $100. In many online casinos the table stakes begin with less than $1 and slot machines can be set to whirr with nickels. People no longer have to save for years to plan a casino outing. The best online casino gambling can be enjoyed for a sum one splurges at an upper class restaurant. To talk about the innovativeness of online casinos, it deserves mention that land casinos are nowhere near it. While games played at land casinos are hundred years old, online casinos change the pattern of games every week. Gaming companies like Microgaming and Playtech usually flood markets (sites) with new and exciting variations of old games with rapid frequency. Now Microgaming blackjack comes with a progressive jackpot and Playtech slots have features, which are way ahead of those available on land-based slots. Online casinos are a boon for novice as freshers can maintain their anonymity; on the other hand, they can avoid mocking glances of the pros for their very low wagers or mistakes they commit. In fact, the best online casinos enable novice players to learn the ropes without wagering real money. The best casino games come in free play versions and players try out their hand at these till they mature themselves for wagering with real money. In addition, there are demo games and tutorials to hone player skills in top online casinos. It is not that one can make lolly only through winnings from wagering; there are other frills too. The best online casinos offer the best casino bonuses. The deposit bonus is probably the best online casino bonus. When a player makes an initial deposit, the top online casinos match that deposit with a bonus to the player. The player is then free to use that deposit for wagering subject to certain rules to prevent the misuse of the bonus. The best casino promotions are another attraction at the Internet casinos. The best casino slots offer the best promotions with multiplied payouts on certain games during festive occasions like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Online gaming is quickly becoming popular, which is why millions of individuals, regardless of age and location, are playing for hours on end. There are myths and facts surrounding the topic. Is online gaming really good for you, or is it just as it was initially viewed by parents ages back? Still, one should learn more about the possible risks and benefits before taking the plunge. I

Thrill & Excitement in Action Games Fascinating storylines in games that keep you busy during your leisure time.

Preeth

Feature At a suburban apartment: I walk noiselessly down the dangerous alley. I can feel the blood racing through my veins and my heart pumping like there is no tomorrow. It’s a treacherous demon- infested world. And for all I know they could be right down that corner; waiting to tear into me. Courage was something that I was born with – half demon that I am myself. And only the very brave and the very dangerous will risk the glistening sword that I am brandishing in my hand. I have my two custom pistols, Ebony and Ivory (yes, I have names for them) strapped to my holster; and if truth be told they have never let me down. Damn. This conversation has made me take my mind off the lurking danger. In a flash, a burly mean monster is leaping at me with claws that can kill. I evade him; and then leap into the air raining the monster with a barrage of bullets from Ebony. There is blood on the tarmac and then there is silence. But it is just the beginning for there are many more to come. For me Dante, the demon hunter this is just another day in the office.

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ell, if you thought I lived a paranormal existence then I am sorry to disappoint. This was just me playing the popular action game – ‘Devil May Cry.’ With sedentary desk jobs and hectic work schedules, people like me find it increasingly exciting to spend the weekend killing demons and fighting crocodiles the size of a building while staying afloat in a wooden dingy. And the fact that you can have lunch when you want to and watch the English Premier League once you have finished killing enough demons is incentive enough to be hooked onto action games. ‘Why so serious?’ questions the billboard advert for a popular automobile. And it is a refrain that is increasingly representative of the voice of the new generation. With manic lifestyles and a stressful work life, the younger generation is increasingly looking for avenues that are enjoyable, relaxing and act as a great stress buster. So, whether it is jumping off crane tops with a suspendable rope tied to their feet; or signing a lengthy ‘I am responsible in case the unfortunate happens’ release form before zorbing down the grassy slopes of a hill, it is all fair game. But for the ones, for whom the excitement is better enjoyed in the warm confines of the home, there is no looking beyond the splurge of action games available in the market. The action games genre is probably the oldest video game genre with games like ‘Space Invaders’ (1978), ‘Asteroids’ (1979), and ‘PacMan’ (1980) being iconic examples. The fact that action games were a versatile variant was proven when the game, ‘Paperboy’ (1984) made even a mundane task like newspaper delivery into high action. Ideally for a purist, an action game is one that emphasizes physical challenges and puts the handeye coordination of the player to test. Typically, such games will have the player playing the protagonist navigating various levels with each progressive level getting more difficult than the ones preceding it. The life of a hero is never easy; so most games will either have a time constraint or limited ammunition to further complicate matters. liveit.in

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The puritan approach notwithstanding, there a slew of games in the market today which traditionally fall into the action-adventure genre. These games mesh the story line and situational problems of an adventure game with the reflexes and fast pace of the action genre. Games like the ‘The Legend of Zelda’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ series typically characterize this genre. Interestingly, there is a school of thought who sees alarm bells ringing in the soaring popularity of action games. For them, the gun totting, demon killing game player is a manifestation of a larger community that is increasingly becoming more aggressive. But, side-stepping the validity of that opinion, one of the more fundamental reasons for the popularity of action games today is its accessibility. Most action games are available online and can be played without really paying a penny. With advanced animation and graphics and a superior storyline, there is little wonder why these games are so popular with the new generation. In a lighter vein, and in further defence of action games, studies have demonstrated that people can improve their eyesight considerably by playing action video games. In fact, it could be just what the doctor did not order for your perfect 20/20 vision. Researchers at the University of Rochester conducted this interesting experiment on college students over a one month period and concluded that subjects who played action games improved their eye performance by as much as 20 per cent as against those who played good old games like ‘Tetris.’

Incidentally, action games are so much more challenging that there are interesting economic angles to it as well. For instance, have you ever wondered why most arcades have more action games than any other? Well, the answer is not in customer delight and providing uninhibited entertainment to the arcade visitor; it is simply because action games are so much more difficult that a large number of unskilled players end up as sitting ducks making it an easy avenue for arcade owners to smile all the way to the bank. The advent of gaming mediums like the Xbox and PlayStation has taken action gaming to the next level. And with it, the number of available gaming options has sky-rocketed. For instance, close to 50 new Wii action games have been released in 2009 alone. August will see the release of six new games including ‘G.I.JOE: The Rise of the Cobra,’ ‘Super Star Wars’ and ‘Overturn.’ Like movies, action games are also known to go the sequel route. So, games like ‘Devil May Cry’ apart, there are eternal favourites like the ‘Prince of Persia’ series and ‘Ninja Gaiden.’ While the former is credited to have gifted the gaming world the coolest protagonist ever, it also featured some of the best platforming around. ‘Ninja Gaiden,’ on the other hand, made for the Microsoft Xbox is regarded in gaming circles as the best action game of all time. Apart from all the amazing fun factor of the game, it is also often regarded as one of the hardest games of its kind. In fact, the game was touted to be so difficult that a bonus packed re-release came with a ‘ninja dog mode’ that made the game a tad easier to negotiate. But if you ever used the ‘dog mode,’ it was something you never mentioned in

gaming circles. After all, machismo is not something restricted to the ‘Hell’s Angels’; it is also a gaming thing. With the rising popularity of action games, one is obviously bound to wonder who the traditional action gamer is. While it is not true that women do not have a fancy for such games, it has been evidently proven that males tend to enjoy action-adventure games more than females. And the loyalists in particular are the younger ones. But having said that it is known that games are a personality choice and there are as many avid women action gamers as there are men.

Meanwhile, at the suburban apartment: My ammunition is running out. And danger is now lurking at every turn and cross. I am now in a zone where the demons are meaner than ever before. They almost make the demons from the earlier levels seem like West End comic artists. My heart beats like it were on fast forward mode and I don’t know or don’t care what the rest of my family is up to. I just have Ebony and Ivory for company now. I did not see him lunge at me until the very last moment but I deftly manage to escape his grasp. I leap and fire at the beast as he recovers and makes my way. But this is the end; my only friend, the end. There are no bullets. He is on me in a flash and I die my virtual death. Phew!!! But you know what the good thing about gaming is? There is always a next time. Happy gaming. I September ‘09

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Fiction

I

t was a rather small chamber, with walls, roof and floor made out of shiny metal, in which Rakhi Sinha woke up. Her body felt stiff, her head was throbbing as if a thousand needles had stabbed it. She sat up slowly, swinging her feet over the side of the bed. Slowly she lowered her feet down to the metallic ground, which felt as cold as ice. She felt a dire need for her shoes, but her feet were naked and she was dressed in strange blue coloured dress. When did she change into this dress? Where were her own clothes and shoes? More importantly, what was she doing in this strange metallic chamber? Suddenly she realized that the chamber was not stationary; it was swirling about in an insane manner. But staying on the bed was not an option; her mind was being racked by the desire to explore what lay outside the chamber. She forced herself to stand on her own legs and walking gingerly, she exited the chamber through its door. She found herself in a large room awash with bright light. Everything in the room was completely bathed with a thick cloak of light. liveit.in

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Rakhi realized that the bright light was coming through a glass wall. She looked out and was momentarily stunned by the spectacular view of millions of stars arrayed in a close proximity. “What is the meaning of all this?” she panted. “Where are we?” A woman seated nearby raised her head, and said, “Don’t you already know? We are at the Event Horizon. Outside that glass wall, there is the final boundary of our universe. We are at the final boundary of space-time.” It suddenly dawned on Rakhi that the face of the woman was melting and there were needles stuck on her head. She looked at the other men and women in the room; their faces were melting too. “What is happening to all of you?” she screamed. “You are melting in front of my eyes. Who drove those horrifying needles in your heads?” “This sort of thing is expected to happen in the vicinity of Event Horizon, the final boundary of the universe where time stops moving forward or backward. Enjoy the ride,” creepily replied the same woman.

Anoop Verma

Rakhi peered at a mirror on the wall and she realized that her face was also melting and there were needles stuck into her head. Rakhi was feeling very anxious. Ever since she had her mind updated with a virtual vacation about two days ago, the back of her head had been feeling kind of heavy. When she was being discharged from the Virtual Vacation Tourism Center, she had complained to the scientist about the feeling of heaviness. But he did not find that to be a cause of worry and assured her that she would be fine. Now 48 hours had passed, but there was still no improvement in her condition. The Maxi-Cab on whose back seat she was ensconced was passing through the India Gate area of New Delhi. Even though this was the year 2160, this area still retained its old name. “Can you slow down please,” said Rakhi to the robotic driver, “I wish to enjoy the view.” “The minimum speed limit on this road is 60 miles per hour,” said the robotic driver. “Would you like me to bring the speed down to that?”

“Yes, please.” The vehicle slowed down immediately. Rakhi could now enjoy the view better. The vista outside the Maxi-Cab’s window so clearly resembled the Delhi of a previous era – an era when technology had not made such deep inroads into people’s lives. Even though the scenery of this area never failed to touch her, Rakhi was also filled with the realization that the world around her was fake. The deep blue sky dotted with picturesque looking clouds was actually the city’s dome. In year 2160 majority of the human beings lived under huge domed cities that provided pristine living and working environment. The entire city was fully air-conditioned; its air and water quality was always monitored by thousands of state-of-the-art computers. Every bit of the city was networked to a central server. Even the way in which people enjoyed their vacations had changed. No one wanted to leave the safe environment of a domed city anymore. That is why entrepreneurs had launched a product called ‘Virtual Vacations.’ Instead of going for a September ‘09

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Fiction vacation to a dangerous locale, people could just go into a secure laboratory and for a price they could get their minds updated with memories of a glorious vacation to any place on the planet and elsewhere in the universe. If anything, these virtual vacation laboratories were quite innovative in coming up with myriad scenarios for vacations that their customers could choose from. Rakhi took a new vacation almost every week. So, when the new tour to Event Horizon was launched, she signed up immediately. But things did not turn out too well this around. By now they had passed through the India Gate area and were crossing through a road that was lined with many high-rise buildings. This was the commercial district, where most denizens of the city made a living. Rakhi did not like this area too much, as she preferred open spaces. She told the robotic driver to start driving at his normal speed. The Maxi-Cab’s driver nodded silently and the speed of his vehicle went up instantly. These days no one drove a car in Delhi. In fact, very few people even bothered to learn driving all over the world. It simply made no sense to drive your own car, when robotically controlled MaxiCabs were so easily available everywhere. Finally, the Maxi-Cab reached the residential area of the city and parked itself in front of a high-rise residential apartment. Rakhi placed her thumb on a touch pad installed in the panel dropping from the Maxi-Cab’s roof. In a moment, a ‘transaction completed’ sign flashed on the small monitor above the touch pad. “Thank you for your payment,” said the robotic driver. Rakhi stepped out of the cab holding her handbag and marched into a building’s large compound. She next peered into an iris scanner that was affixed to the wall. Her identity was confirmed immediately and the glass door slid open. A robotic receptionist was manning the reception desk inside. Her name was Brenda and she was actually a cyborg, part human and part robot. Robotic technology had advanced to such an extent that cyborgs could look, behave and feel emotions like any normal human being. Brenda looked exactly like any normal 25-year-old girl. She used makeup and she used to dress in latest fashion. These days she was dating a young guy called Vipin Saigal who was 100% human. Both planned to get married in near future. Of course, the conservatives in the society used to frown upon relationships between a cyborg and a human. But Rakhi was not like that. She was quite liberal in her attitude and was eager to see Brenda and Vipin married. Despite the heaviness in her head, she managed to conjure a pleasant smile for her receptionist friend. “Hi Brenda.” “Hi there,” Brenda smiled back. “Vipin and I are planning to get married on the coming Friday. Both of us would be extremely delighted if you could accompany us when we leave to get the marriage license.” “Congratulations,” Rakhi said cheerfully. “I will be glad to accompany both of you to the marriage bureau.” “Great!” said Brenda. “I must say, you have always been a pillar of support for me.” “It’s my pleasure,” Rakhi smiled back. liveit.in

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“By the way, I can see that you are not feeling well. Your head is feeling heavy and your blood pressure is higher than normal.” Being a cyborg, Brenda was capable of diagnosing abnormal conditions in any human being immediately. “I am glad you noticed,” said Rakhi with a sigh. “I will inform the cyborg doctor to give you a full body scan as soon as you are in your room,” said Brenda, putting her hands close to the keyboard as she planned to punch the keys that would have alerted the cyborg doctor. “Please don’t do that,” Rakhi said, gently pushing Brenda’s hands away from the keyboard. “But why? I know that you are in need of medical care.” “The heaviness I feel in my head is not that bad at all. I will be fine after resting for a couple of hours. Right now I am too tired for an invasive full body scan.” “Ok, as you wish. But I will check on you after three hours. If you are not feeling better by then, I will inform the doctor.” “Thanks. I will now be on my way to my apartment. See you.” Rakhi walked to the opposite side of the lobby that was lined with a series of elevators and pressed a button. The door of one of the elevators opened, into which she entered. She pressed the button for 135th floor. In less than five seconds, Rakhi stepped out on the floor where her flat was located. The feeling of heaviness was now getting more acute. She knew that she needed rest, but somehow she could not make herself walk towards her flat. A mysterious instinct made her walk in a direction opposite to where her flat was located. It was Putul Rastogi’s flat. He lived here with his girlfriend, Monica. Rakhi knew that at this time of the day, both Putul and Monica would be out of their flat. No one bothered about locking their flats, as burglaries were virtually unknown. When Rakhi pushed at the door, it opened directly. As she entered the sparsely furnished living room, her heart started beating like a windmill. She knew that what she was doing was illegal, but she could not stop herself. She quickly moved towards the large virtual calendar, displaying the design of a snowy landscape. When she tugged gently at the virtual calendar, it moved aside to reveal a specious cupboard inside which all sorts of household items were stored. With a great sense of urgency, Rakhi started riffling through the contents of the cupboard. She found some gold and diamond jewellery, which she placed in her pocket. She also found some oldfashioned pens, and notebooks from the era when people still used to write on paper. The pens, a couple of notebooks, a bottle of perfume too ended up in her pocket. After that she rushed out of the flat leaving the cupboard open behind her. She looked around suspiciously to make sure nobody had seen her. She marched to her own flat with hasty steps and once she reached her door, she noticed the large cartoon. From the label stuck on top of cartoon she learned that it had arrived from a company called ‘Futuristic chemicals’. But why should this company send her this packet? She never ordered anything from them. The veil of suspense shattered almost immediately and the realization dawned on her that she had indeed placed an order

for these chemicals. She needed these chemicals to produce a concoction that she would mix in this building’s water supply to cause sickness in its residents. How evil of her! Why should she want to make innocent residents of this building, many of whom were her friends, feel sick? One part of her mind desperately wanted her to get rid of these dangerous chemicals, but there was the other section that wanted her go ahead with creating the poison. Ultimately, it was her desire to create mayhem in the building that prevailed. She opened the door and pulled the box of chemicals inside. She clapped once and the lights came on instantly. In one corner of the room, a colourful sofa set was arranged around a glasstopped centre table. On the other side there stood a large mahogany desk with three computer screens. This was her workstation. The windows had thick velvet blinds drawn on them, because she preferred to use household bulbs. Leaving the carton full of chemicals there, she went into the adjoining bedroom and threw her handbag on the bed. She then emptied the pockets of her overcoat of all the things that she had pilfered and dropped them on the bed. It made her feel ashamed to find the evidence of her kleptomania lying in front of her. It had never been her habit to steal from other people. Why was she doing this today? Was she

sick? It was a strange sickness that was inspiring her to steal from her neighbour and soon it might inspire her to pollute the water supply of this building. But she could not think beyond that. A hidden force inside her mind was prodding her to start working with the chemicals to create the concoction. Despite herself, she rushed out of the bedroom and soon she was sitting at her workstation. On the LCD screen connected to the Internet, she was browsing through an anarchist website that divulged information on easy ways of creating a product that when added to drinking water would make people fall sick. Few minutes later, the jars containing the various chemicals were lined up on the mahogany table in front of her. She was wearing protective nylon gloves as she poured the chemicals into a large plastic thermos. The room was filled with acidic fumes that were arising out of the final mixture; it was making her feel nauseous. She felt as if her head was about to explode. But she continued to stoically labour at mixing the chemicals. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The sound was enough to suffuse her heart and mind with apprehension. “Who is it?” she cried in an agonized voice. “I am busy. I can’t receive you right now.” “It’s me, Brenda. I need to talk to you. You are in terrible danger.”

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Fiction The sound came through the speaker installed outside the door. “I don’t care about any danger. I can’t see you now. Please go away,” replied Rakhi. From other side of the door came the sound of a security card being swiped. Rakhi knew instantly that Brenda was using the building administrator’s master key to open the door. She picked up a kitchen knife lying on the table and like a hungry tigress she eyed the door, which opened in a quick motion. “My God!” blurted Brenda putting her fingers on her nose. “What kind of chemicals are you using in your flat?” “Get out of here,” hissed Rakhi. “Get out before I hurt you with this knife.” There dawned a look of complete surprise on Brenda’s face. “Rakhi, you are not feeling well. Put that knife down. I know you don’t want to hurt me.” “I am not in control of my mind,” Rakhi cried desperately. “Get out of here, or I surely will hurt you.” But Brenda walked into the centre of the room; now she was standing close to the mahogany desk on which Rakhi’s paraphernalia of chemicals was lying. “You have been engaged in creating a dangerous chemical,” said Brenda suspiciously. “Haven’t you?” Rakhi just stood there, few feet away from Brenda, weeping silently. “There is enough chemical on this table to make every inhabitant of this building fall sick,” Brenda continued. “Is that what you intend to do?” “I told you to get out, but you won’t listen,” screeched Rakhi. “Now the inevitable must happen.” She lunged at Brenda and thrust the knife into her chest. Brenda gaped at Rakhi with eyes full of shock and disbelief. The knife had managed to cut through the fabric of the dress she was wearing and enter her chest. “What have you done,” cried Brenda. “I am your best friend.” “You should have heeded to my warning when I told you to leave,” Rakhi shouted back. The truth was that Brenda was a cyborg; she could not be killed with a knife or even a bullet. With one quick motion, she pulled the knife out of her chest and placed it back on the mahogany table. By now Rakhi had slipped down on the sofa and was weeping bitterly. “When you went on that virtual journey to Event Horizon, you were part of a group of seven people,” said Brenda. “What has that got to do with what I am going through now?” cried Rakhi. “Six members of that group are now dead. Four of them committed suicide within a couple of hours of their virtual journey, and the other two were shot dead by the cops to prevent them from committing some heinous crime.” “What?” Rakhi gaped at Brenda. “You are only one from that fateful group who is still alive.” “But that was a normal virtual vacation that we took.” “It was not a normal virtual vacation,” said Brenda emphatically. “No one has ever gone to the Event Horizon, which is the boundary of the universe.” liveit.in

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“We were not there physically,” snapped Rakhi. “We travelled in the virtual realm, through our minds.” “But something happened in the Event Horizon, something that changed the way your minds work. All seven of you became different people after returning from this virtual vacation. You went to the Event Horizon as decent law-abiding citizens, but when you returned, you had developed the mindset of a killer.” “I … I …” “I don’t want you to die the way the other six have died,” Brenda said compassionately. “There must be a way for you to get cured. Come with me to the tourism centre from where you took your virtual vacation. They will know how to help you.” But Rakhi stayed put on the sofa. “I want you to calm down,” Brenda said soothingly. “Calm down and come with me. I will find a way to save you.” Suddenly Rakhi lunged at Brenda, but this time Brenda was ready for her. She caught hold of Rakhi and forced her to sit down on the floor. “Let me go, please,” screeched Rakhi. “I have to create this chemical. This is my mission in life.” “No way,” Brenda shouted back. “I am not going to let my best friend get destroyed.” She was holding Brenda’s hands in a vice-like grip. Being a cyborg, she was much stronger than Rakhi. The very next moment the door to the apartment burst open and armed cops barged in. They instantly saw the two women fighting on the floor of the apartment. “Please don’t shoot. I have managed to subdue her,” Brenda cried to the cops. One of the cops moved forward and placed a handcuff on Rakhi’s hands. “We are here to take you to the virtual vacation tourism centre,” said a cop. “I hope you will cooperate.” “I am her friend. I would like to accompany her,” said Brenda. The two women, escorted by three cops, moved out of the apartment. Two cops stayed back in the apartment to take control of the dangerous chemicals. Rakhi was clearly traumatized and she was sobbing bitterly as she walked towards the elevator with lethargic steps. Brenda supported her friend by holding her arms around her waist. A high-speed police cab managed to transport them to the virtual vacation tourism centre in a couple of minutes. The cops had already sent an advance notice to the scientists at the centre and they were already waiting for Rakhi to arrive. Soon Rakhi and Brenda were seated in the cabin of chief scientist at the centre. Rakhi’s hands were still cuffed. “We have gone through the tapes of the virtual vacation to Event Horizon that you and seven others had experienced two days ago,” said the head doctor. “At first we could not detect an anomaly of any kind but after examining the tapes under the lens of an electron microscope, we found that while the virtual spaceship was stationary at the border of the universe, it was struck by a short burst of particles of unknown nature.” “Where did these particles come from?” asked Brenda. “From the other side of the universe, perhaps.” “But how is that possible,” Rakhi said with amazement. “Nothing exists beyond the borders of the universe. The Event Horizon is the final border beyond which nothing can exist.”

“That is what has been popularly believed till now,” said the chief scientist stoically. “But in light of new evidence, we now know that the Event Horizon is not the end of space. Something exists beyond the outer boundary of the universe. That thing managed to send a burst of particles, which altered the minds of seven human beings.” “All this seems unbelievable to me,” said Rakhi desperately. “I was not at the Event Horizon physically. I was there only in a virtual form, so how can these particles alter my living brain.” “We need more research to find an answer to that question.” It was left to Brenda to ask the most crucial question. “But then, is there a cure to this?” “We tried to isolate the particles virtually, but were unsuccessful,” said the scientist. Rakhi was shocked. If she could not be cured then she would have to spend the rest of her life in maximum-security psychiatric ward to prevent her from harming others. Brenda too seemed depressed. “However, I believe that if the process of removing the particles from the mind is attempted when the infected person is virtually located in the Event Horizon, then we might succeed.” “You mean to say that the only option Rakhi now has is to go back to the Event Horizon,” ejaculated Brenda. “Yes. But due to her current state of mind she cannot be allowed to go on this virtual journey alone. Someone must accompany her. I am planning to send one of my technicians ….” “There is no need for your technician. I will accompany Rakhi to the Event Horizon,” injected Brenda. “I am a cyborg, so I can be programmed instantly to tackle any situation.” In less than ten minutes, Rakhi and Brenda were in the state-of-the-art laboratory at the Virtual Vacation Tourism Centre. They were donning spacesuits and were seated on white chairs that were attached to a giant machine outfitted with myriad LCD screens displaying intricate data. The room was completely sealed and there was not a speck of dust to be seen anywhere on the pure white floor made out of transparent glass. Outside the glass enclosure the scientists were working on various computer terminals installed on different desks. On the IVR system an announcement was heard, “reverse counting to send Rakhi and Brenda to their virtual vacation will now start. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.” The two chairs started rotating at great speed and by the time the rotation stopped, the two women had fallen unconscious. Their minds were now locked inside a highly advanced virtual spacecraft that was soaring at billions of times the speed of light towards the edge of the universe. Rakhi opened her eyes and looked around incredulously. She was strapped to a heavy seat and in front of her there was a control panel outfitted with many intricate looking controls. Beyond the control panel there was the LCD screen showing strange views of outer space. She tried to get up, but her hands and legs were strapped. Even her head was locked inside a helmet from which there flew out many wires. “Where am I?” she cried. “Get me out of here.”

She heard the sound of footsteps, but was unable to turn her head and look in the direction of the sound. However, the person behind her did not choose to keep herself hidden for long. She walked in front of the chair on which Rakhi was strapped. “I am glad that you have finally woken up,” said Brenda. “In 5 minutes we will be at the Event Horizon.” “Let me out of this chair at once,” snapped Rakhi. “I don’t think so, you are safer strapped to the chair. Once we are at the Event Horizon, I will excise the mysterious particles from your head.” Rakhi made a futile attempt to break the straps that were holding her to the chair, but the bonds were too strong. Meanwhile, Brenda’s eyes were fixed to the vista that was unfolding on the giant LCD screen. They were now seeing the first lights from Event Horizon. The final boundary of the universe was exuding a circle of light, which was brighter than a trillion suns. Rakhi had already experienced the glory of Event Horizon once and now she was panting with awe and fear as her eyes became fixated to the LCD screen. “We are at the Event Horizon,” shouted Brenda. “Now I will start the system that will excise your brain of the mysterious particles.” “Please don’t do it,” whined Rakhi. “That is the problem with you. You don’t know what you want.” Brenda pressed a few knobs on the control panel. The helmet that enclosed Rakhi’s head started vibrating making her shake all over. “What is happening to me?” Rakhi screamed. “Calm down, your brain is being cleared of foreign particles,” soothingly said Brenda. Soon the vibrations had increased to such a degree that Rakhi fainted. But Brenda was not too worried about her friend’s fainting; she was busy managing the virtual controls that were engaged in removing the foreign particles from Rakhi’s brain. Within a few moments she had a hit, the particles were sucked out of Rakhi’s head and channeled into a secure virtual compartment, where myriad sensors analyzed them and their properties were relayed back to the laboratory on earth. By the time Rakhi regained her consciousness, she and Brenda were already back on earth. She found herself perched on the chair in the glass-enclosed laboratory. Brenda was seated on another chair. The glass door of the laboratory opened and a couple of technicians, covered from head to toe in airtight dress, walked in. They helped the two women arise from their seats and removed the spacesuit that they were wearing. Finally, Brenda and Rakhi could look at each other directly. “How are you feeling now?” asked Brenda with concern. “I no longer feel the heaviness in the back of my head,” smiled Rakhi. “You have saved my life, Brenda.” She stepped forward and hugged Brenda. “I will never let anyone tell me that a cyborg is incapable of being loyal to a human being,” she continued. “I don’t think any human being would have taken the kind of risk that you took for my sake. Despite being a 50% robot, I think you are more human on an emotional level than most people that I know.” I September ‘09

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How To

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Merge Pictures to Create

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ou have a folder bursting with great pictures that you clicked on your vacation last week. Perhaps pictures of verdant forests, turquoise oceans, and historic places. All of these are great scenic pictures, but there’s just a small problem. You’ve got a series of sceneries, pictures of the same place, taken shot by shot, covering every angle of the view. You know for sure that if you placed these shots next to each other, like a perfectly solved jigsaw puzzle, and glued them onto a sheet of paper, they would make for one great panoramic image. But then pasting them would take the fun and the finesse out of the photographs. And you don’t want to create a cheesy panoramic photograph by stitching or gluing the shots on. liveit.in

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Here’s what Photoshop can do. It can help you create a panoramic image with just a few, quick steps. You don’t have to worry about angle and scale anymore. Just use this great technology and save those prayers (that you would have used while gluing it on a piece of paper) for greater calamities.

Getting the perfect panoramic view out of pictures: This is how you can create your own panoramic images. • To begin this simple exercise, you need some raw material. And that raw material is a series of photographs taken with approximately 40% overlapping details. This will help you merge them

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Panoramic Image Chandana Banerjee

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automatically with Photoshop. If you want to automerge to create a panoramic picture, we are also assuming that you did not zoom in and out your lenses while taking the pictures. Now that you have a series of photos to merge, open Photoshop, and then click on the File menu. Choose Automate from the menu and then go to Photomerge. Under the Photomerge window, browse for the files that you want to merge then check the boxes at the lower part of the window. Choose a type of layout and then click OK. Speaking about layouts, you can choose from Auto, Perspective,

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Cylindrical, Spherical, Collage, and Reposition. Choose the layout you feel will look great for your photograph. When you press Ok, your photos will automerge. If you feel that the edges of the picture are jagged or they do not match, try cropping the non-matching sections with the cropping tool.

Tip: Next time you go on a photo shoot, try to take the pictures from a greater distance. That was simple, wasn’t it? Now dig out all your picture series and create your own panoramic pictures. I September ‘09

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How To

How to use the Snipping Tool in Chandana Banerjee

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he Snipping Tool is a great option for those of you who work as technical writers as well as for those who like to play around or work with images and screenshots. This particular tool is part of the Vista Tablet PC Optional Components feature. You can use the Snipping Tool to snap up selections of your desktop or windows, and save them as screenshots or snips right on your computer. Earlier, if you wanted a screen shot program with all the features, you would have to buy it. And for basic screenshots, you had the ‘Print Screen’ option in the past versions of Windows. So, the Snipping Tool in the Windows Vista is not only versatile and free, it also lets you take screen shots of only specific sections of your screen rather than the entire window or screen. Understanding the Snipping Tool options: Before we get on with the step-by-step guide about using the tool, let’s first understand the Snipping Tool. The options are broken up into ‘Application’ and ‘Selections’ groups.

Application options: Hide instruction text: If you enable this, it hides the instruction text in the main Snipping Tool window. Always copy snips to the clipboard: This will help you copy your screenshots to the Windows clipboard, and then you can liveit.in

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paste them into the word processor or any other image manipulation program. Include URL below snips (HTML only): If you save your snip as a Single File HTML, or MHT document, and the snip was taken from an Internet Explorer browser window it will show the URL of the page that you took the snip from. Prompt to save snips before exiting: This will remind you to save the shots that you worked on. Display icon in the Quick Launch Toolbar: When you use this, the icon for the Snipping Tool will be clipped onto your Quick Launch Toolbar. Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active: If you click on this, the Snipping Tool interface will vanish while you are working on your snips.

Selection options: Ink Color: This will change the colour of the selection border when you create a snip. Show selection ink after snips are captured: The selection border will be shown, using the colour selected in the Ink Color option, around the snip. Types of snips: While using the Snipping Tool, you can take four types of screenshots. Free-form Snip: You can draw a shape around the object. Try a circle, triangle or an irregular shape.

Rectangular Snip: You can draw a precise rectangle around the object by dragging your cursor around it.

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You can modify the screenshot by adding brushstrokes and highlights on this window.

Window Snip: The Snipping Tool will capture the entire window that you select. Full-screen Snip: As the name suggests, the Snipping Tool will capture the complete screen of your computer.

After that, click ‘Save As’ to save this file as an image. As a default setting, it gets saved as type PNG. You can save space by changing it into JPEG. However, for better quality, stay on with PNG. I

Taking snips: •

To begin, click on the Windows logo. Now click on Snipping Tool.

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Once the Snipping Tool’s window opens, click on ‘New’ to begin snipping a part of the screen.

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After that the window of the Snipping Tool will disappear and you can begin marking the screen using the rectangular cursor. As mentioned above, you can take four types of snips, namely, the free-form snip, rectangular snip, window snip, and the full-screen snip.

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Go ahead and mark that part of the screen that you want to snip. After you’ve taken your screenshot, the captured part will appear on the window of the Snipping Tool.

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How to download

photo albums Chandana Banerjee

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bet most of us spend a substantial amount of time on social networking sites like Facebook. In fact, quite a few are addicted to the world of Facebook, a place where we can catch up with the latest, know what our pals are up to, search for long-lost friends, make new buddies, and discuss things we probably last spoke about in college. Facebook is the virtual version of our college canteen, where we spent hours gossiping over cups of tea and soggy samosas. Here at Facebook, we may not be sitting across a table with our friends, but they’re just a click away. Apart from the chit chat and the messages on the Wall, the albums that our pals post on their profiles are a great way of catching up with what’s hot and what’s not in their lives. Someone rightly said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Don’t we all like thumbing through albums bursting with pictures of birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, wedding shots, picnic pictures, baby mug shots and more? And all of us are constantly uploading pictures. When our family and friends upload pictures, we save them locally to view them at leisure. Now with Facebook Photo Album Downloader, we can download these albums easily and quickly. How to download Facebook photo albums: Instead of rightclicking on every picture and saving it on the hard drive, we can download a complete Facebook album with a single click. This can be done by using a free Firefox add-on called Facebook Photo Album Downloader or FacePAD. You can download it from here: https://addons.mozilla.org/ This feature helps you download an album from Facebook by sorting through each page of the album and downloading the pictures individually. The program had been initially written for Firefox 2, but now the code has been updated for Firefox 3 as well as the latest version of Facebook. • First install this add-on to Firefox to begin downloading photo albums from Facebook. • Then go to a page that has a list of photo albums, and right-click on any of the photo albums that you want to download. • You’ll get a new option called Download Album with FacePAD. • The photos will start downloading to the default location you have set for downloads in Firefox. Remember that this add-on will not create folders for the photographs, and there are chances that your computer may get cluttered (in case as a default setting, Firefox downloads all the photographs onto the Desktop). To avoid this, go into the Firefox options panel and change the download location temporarily to a specific folder and then download the photo album. I September ‘09

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How To

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Chan

ver the last few years, there have been many attempts to create a product that could easily let you capture handwritten notes in digital format, but nothing really worked that great. When I first heard of the LiveScribe digital pen, I was initially skeptical … but finally decided to give it a try. Here’s the really short review: If you have the need to write a lot on paper, this is by far the best product for capturing any kind of handwritten notes. Not only that, it links audio with your handwritten text, so you can jot down notes and record what is going on around you. It is perfect for students and people who have to attend a large number of meetings.

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What’s in the box Here’s what you get when you first open your new Pulse Smartpen: • Pulse Smartpen (the pen has a headphone jack, microphone, OLED display, speaker, infrared camera, and removable ink cartridge) •

USB mobile charging cradle

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LiveScribe starter notebook You also receive a 3-D recoding headset, Smartpen case, and interactive demo card inside the notebook that helps you get started. liveit.in

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Getting it working At first, figuring out how the whole thing works can be a bit tricky. Can you start writing immediately or should you install the desktop application first? Basically, each notebook has special paper that the Smartpen can read using the camera, so you can turn the pen on and start writing immediately. Note that you can only write on proprietary LiveScribe notebooks; if you try to write on a plain piece of paper, nothing will be recorded. This is one downside to the product, but it’s also why it works so well. Everything will be recorded as long as the pen is ON, which means you can see something on the display window, such as the time. Note that you should install the LiveScribe desktop software before connecting your USB cradle to the computer. Apparently, the Smartpen will only link with one computer, which I’m not too kicked about. That’s probably the other major

Simply click on the green text and you will hear all the audio that was recorded while the text was being written! Cool, huh? The other great feature of the Smartpen is that all your handwritten text notes can be searched instantly. And this was probably the most impressive feature of all because my handwriting is horrendous. However, the desktop application was able to find just about every word I typed. For example, I searched the word ‘again’ and it found it and highlighted it: The search feature is excellent and very useful if you take a lot of notes, but can’t remember where you wrote what. If you can remember one word, you’ll be able to find the notes using LiveScribe. To record audio while writing something in the notebook, just click the Record button that is at the bottom of each page in the notebook. They are basically special controls that let you navigate all the pens’ features and applications.

downside I see in the product. If I spend $250 on a product, I should be able to use it on as many computers as I like. Anyway, once you write in your notebook, simply connect the Smartpen back to the USB cradle and watch the magic happen! The software will automatically recognize that you connected the pen, will check for any new additions to the notebook, and if so, will upload them into the software for you! As you can see, I’ve only used one page and the rest are empty. As you write on the pages, more will show up individually. Simply double-click on a page to view the digital version of it.

There are a few things to note in the above image. Firstly, you will notice that some text is black and some is green, namely, the circle. What does that mean? Anything green means there is recorded audio linked to that text.

You can also create a bookmark anywhere in the notebook and then use the controls at the bottom to skip to previous or next bookmarks. You can use the Jump To Position control on the page to move around the page quickly when listening to audio. The pen can hold up to 100 hours of audio and if you ever run out of space, you can delete them from the pen, but still have them stored on your computer. Of course, you won’t be able to listen to the audio by just using the pen if you delete an audio session, but it will remain on the computer. But that’s not all. You can also upload your notes along with audio and create what is called a ‘pencast’. A pencast is basically a replay of your written notes along with the audio. You can even create your own pencasts and share them on your blog or website. This is great for teachers or anyone who wants to explain an idea or concept to someone using pen and paper. Overall, the LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen is an excellent tool for anyone who writes a lot. It’s simple to use, works very well, and has a lot of great features. Enjoy! I September ‘09

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How To

How to Rip

DVDs

Effortlessly Zahid H. Javali

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ith so many videos available for free on the web, it’s now become a necessity to rip DVDs and store them for future use. One such application is the popular VLC player that does the needful for an MPEG-1 file. But then, with technology morphing ever so rapidly, there are others that come along and shoo away the old guard. One such application is ImgBurn. Since storage is cheap, this performs better than VLC. And how? Simple. This service retains the full image quality and size as well as all the menus, languages, subtitles and bonus material from the original DVD. And, what’s more, ImgBurn is free (www.imgburn.com).

The procedure With ImgBurn, you can rip the entire disc to an ISO file and then use the VLC player to watch the DVD just like you would have if you had the physical disc in your drive. After downloading and installing ImgBurn, a wizard will appear and offer you a few choices. You will need to choose ‘Create image file from disc’. Before you start ripping, you have to prevent ImgBurn from splitting the file into multiple parts. This is because you want a single ISO file of the entire disc. Go to Tools¡Settings and click on the Read tab. Under Options, change the value of File Splitting from Auto to None. Click OK to go back to the main screen. The main screen shows you everything you would want to know about the disc. Under Destination, click the folder and navigate to a location where you want to store the image file. Be sure you have enough space.

Look in the window on the right; the value for Size is how many bytes the disc contains (this disc is 4.6 Gigs). When you are ready, click the button at the bottom with the green arrow. The ripping process will begin and the screen will give you a progress indicator including the estimated time remaining. This will take some time, so you might as well occupy yourself with something else! A dual layer disc can hold more than 8 Gigs and you should rip at the lowest speed you can bear for best results. When it’s done, you will have a file called ‘Name of the disc’ .ISO.

Play along Start VLC player and select Open¡File. Navigate to the ISO file and select it. VLC player will start playing the file and the result will be the same as it would if you were playing the physical disc. Now you can enjoy the full quality and functionality of the DVD without having to lug around all the discs. ImgBurn is a very powerful piece of software that does a lot of other things, including burning image files to disc. It runs on all versions of Windows, including Vista and all 64-bit versions of Windows.

Note … If you happen to obtain a copy of DVD Decrypter, you will see that its interface and operation is very similar to that of ImgBurn. But why DVD Decrypter? Because ImgBurn does not rip encrypted discs (discs with CSS and/or Macrovision). Here is where this tool can help. However, the developer of DVD Decrypter no longer works on the software due to issues with the Macrovision Corporation and the obvious violations that the product brings with it. So, it wouldn’t be wise to rip protected material or commit DMCA violations. However, if you already have a DVD Decrypter, nothing wrong in using it. I September ‘09

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Chandana Banerjee

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ll you need is Photoshop, oodles of creativity and a bit of know-how to create a plethora of bright and beautiful things for your family and friends. In this capsule, you’ll be able to get a lowdown on how to add text to pictures, and once you know that, you can create greeting cards, logos, posters, photo brochures, websites, flyers and a lot more. So, dig out those adorable photographs, sketches and doodles from the folders in your computer, and get going with this ‘How-to’ capsule. From catchy captions to interesting thought balloons, snappy headings to random words floating through the picture, this Text feature in Photoshop will let you do all.

Adding text to the picture: • •

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First, start Photoshop. Then go to the File menu and select Open. Choose a cute-as-a-button picture from one of your folders in the computer, and select Open. Alternatively, you can doubleclick on the picture. Then click the Text tool on the toolbar. You can easily spot the Text tool by the uppercase T. Click the uppermost of the two squares at the lower portion of the toolbar. The top square stands for the foreground colour and this will be the colour of your text. Depending upon the colour of your picture or photograph, choose a colour for the text that will stand out on the picture from the palette. Select OK. Click on the picture where you want to place your text. A dialog box will open. Select a font, style, size and alignment from the lists. Click in the dialog box and start writing your text. Click OK when you’re done.

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•

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Move the text by holding down the left mouse button on any selected area (surrounded by the selection line, which looks like marching ants) and dragging the text to its position. If you want to delete the text, then just press the Delete button on your keyboard or select Clear from the Edit menu. Once, you’ve completed your creation, save the edited picture by selecting Save or Save As from the File menu.

Tips: •

As mentioned earlier, use a contrasting colour for the text for it to stand out over the picture. If your picture is dark, then you might like to use light colours, like yellow or white. For lighter pictures, use darker shades and black. • To retain the original picture and save the new one, save your edited picture under a different name. This way you won’t lose your original picture. • Click the vertical alignment option to vertically align the text on the picture. • If you are planning to use clip art or pictures from another website, permission is the word of the day. Get permission before you use copyrighted clip art and pictures from someone else’s portal. The fun part: This feature in Photoshop enables you to move your text around the picture. Whether you want your letters to float around the picture or march in a straight, tight line, you can position your text as you wish for the best composition. You can even give your text a 3D effect with shadows behind the letters or give it texture. Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and create your very own communications material. 

Gaming for Life Making a career in the gaming industry. Viny Velayudhan

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row Up!” Is this what people tell you regularly just because you love gaming? Not anymore. Because there is a fruitful career for you die hard gamers out there in the gaming industry. We all grew up playing games like ‘Mario,’ ‘Prince of Persia,’ ‘Brick games,’ etc. And it’s a good idea to stay in the gaming world as grown-ups now. Firstly, do you know a career in the gaming industry is one of the hot careers of the future? It’s growing in India and is already one of the major sectors in various parts of the world. Research reports show that 80 per cent of total outsourcing market is taken over by the game development making India a gaming hub. And the game development market is expected to grow at 37 per cent p.a. and achieve a whopping 14 million INR by 2012. Also, the mobile gaming market, which leads the gaming industry, is expected to rise from 63 per cent in 2008 to 71 per cent by 2012. In short, with more work come more jobs. India has emerged as a one-stop destination for game development with outsourced services constituting 80 per cent of total market. The market for gaming development in India is expected to witness growth of 37 per cent p.a. and reach INR 14 million by 2012. Mobile gaming is likely to dominate the market with its share in the total Indian gaming market

expected to increase from 63 per cent in 2008 to 71 per cent by 2012. Some of the prominent national and international game companies in India are Ubisoft, India Games, Trine Gaming Studio, Game loft, Dhruva Interactive, Jump Games, etc. Besides, there are ample other game companies coming up in India. In pre-production, a game idea is conceptualized and a game document is created once the concept is finalized; thereafter the storyboarding, art guide and a prototype are created. In the production stage 2D and 3D Art Assets are created. Programming is done and various elements like graphics, animations, and sound are integrated with the code in the game engine. Testing, De-bugging and balancing the game play is carried out in this stage. In the post-production stage, quality testing, packaging, marketing and deployment of the games are carried out. Different companies follow different processes to create a game. Ninad Chhaya, VP, Jump Games emphasizes, “The most important thing is you have to follow the industry standards.” Career options are available in four departments of gaming, namely, Game Design, Art, Programming, Sound Design and Quality Assurance. In Game Design, you can be a creative writer, technical writer or game designer. For jobs in this department, you should be very creative with a good command over the English language. The creative writer writes scripts. Many people prefer story-based games, so writing scripts is also a good career option. The game designer creates the storyboards, the pre-production artwork, etc. The technical writer writes game documents, which carries the storyline, the game’s goals, level designs, game mechanisms, etc. You should have the ability to think out-of-the box. You should have the ability to see a project through the whole process. Besides, you should also have a structured approach to thinking and writing. This department mainly works in the pre-production phase. In the Art department, you have career options like concept artist, texture artist, level designer, animator, and character modeler. For jobs in this department you should have a good September ‘09

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Tech Career understanding of arts and aesthetics. Knowledge of editing tools and software like 3dsmax, etc. is essential. If you are interested in character modeling, it is important to have a good foundation in anatomy studies. The level designer designs the various levels of the game. For example, in a particular level the character is confined to a particular environment and space, etc. The level designer also decides how hard or easy the game level should be. The texture artist creates textures for the games. Game art relies heavily on textures. It is very crucial to get them right. The rough patches, the mood and feel of the concept into the 3D product are given by the texture artist. The texture artist should have a very balanced sense of art knowledge and should be well-versed with the nitty-gritty of the software to get the desired output. An animator animates the game characters. 2D and 3D artists work in the animation department. Next is the programming department for IT freaks who love to write programs and find solutions. Career options in this department include the profile of engine programmer, physics programmer and Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmer. For jobs in this department, you should have a strong command over physics and mathematics. You should also be well versed with programming languages and tools. Sound design is another important area in gaming. Game audio is a highly specialized discipline that requires no small degree of skill and intuition in order to correctly manage. And yes, you should also have the necessary training in sound design. Finally, there’s the quality assurance department. This is a fun section but serious work also happens in this department. Here you can become a game play tester, code tester or a quality analyst. In this department, you can play games that the companies develop and evaluate how good or bad they are. It is a serious job since it is one of the most important stages of game development. To be in this department, you need a keen eye for detail, and the ability to spot visual & game play related bugs. You need to convey the game issues properly so that those bugs are fixed. You should also be well versed with the industry standards of quality assurance. The most important thing in this department is you should love to play games and decide whether the games you are playing will be thoroughly enjoyable by the target audience without any bugs. If a bugging game is out, then it will affect the reputation of the company. Most entry level coders and designers join gaming firms as testers. Apart from these major departments, the other job roles are producers and assistant producers. The assistant producers work as an interface between the programming and the art team. Then there are senior roles of art directors and supervisors. The job requirements in a game company depend on the size of the company and the type of games it develops. The top gaming studios mainly abroad use the expensive motion capture technology for capturing realistic motion of humans and use them in game characters. This opens job prospects in Motion Capture Artists who know how o use the technology. liveit.in

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You can join some short- or long-term professional courses in gaming to enter this industry. Some of the games designing courses available are: Advanced Diploma in Game Design, Diploma in Game Design & Gaming, Video Game Design and Development Certification, and Video Game Design and Development. You must choose a course depending on which department in the gaming industry you wish to enter. Check the game curriculum for art or programming or animation depending on your choice. Some of the prominent gaming schools in India are Whistling Woods International, Digital Academy Film School and IDCIIT in Mumbai, Srishti School of Design in Bangalore, Colorchips Animation Training Centre in Hyderabad, National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, and Image College of Arts, Animation & Technology in Chennai, Asian Academy of Film & Television in Uttar Pradesh, etc. In foreign universities you can study for a gaming degree. In the gaming industry, show reels with content-related to gaming are evaluated. Also, while interviewing a person his software and technological knowledge are assessed.Employers seek knowledge of software like Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop, Pro Painter, 3D Max, Maya, etc. Augustine John, Sr. Technical Artist, India Games Ltd., suggests using software help documentation to learn on your own. You can also learn by yourself by joining online gaming forums and asking questions in these forums. Another good way to learn is by using DVD tutorials. The pay package is similar to other entertainment industries like animation. You can join in as an intern or a trainee and with experience your pay package will increase. You can also sell your own mini games on freelance basis. The industry is huge because these days you have games for cell phones, PC games, TV games, Internet games, educational games, handheld devices, etc. So, the requirement for people in this industry is also good enough. There are good opportunities abroad as well. If you have learnt some software on your own and are planning for an interview in a game studio, then in the show reel you can put architectural walkthroughs, mini games, etc. Recruiters will evaluate your knowledge of software, games and technologies. In the gaming industry, strict guidelines are to be followed to meet the necessary quality standards. There involves a lot of hard work, patience and co-ordination to succeed in this industry. When you enter the industry, try to gain as much experience as you can and develop your skills instead looking for heavy pay packages. You should work towards making your work portfolio strong. This will help you in the long run and will also earn you better pay packages later when you have good experience. You need a passion for games to survive in this industry. And if you love games then this is the best place to be in. Gaming is another popular form of entertainment that is here to last forever. People will never stop playing games, so why not get involved in making some? I

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Tech Cartoon

Santa goes to the U.S.

Santa went to meet Bill Clinton in the U.S. to see technical advancements there.

Come Santa, let me show you how technically advanced we are.

Yes, Bill. I got something that looks like a wire.

What is it Santa? Did you find something there?

Ok, Santa, start digging the earth … more … more ….

After digging about 100 feet of earth, Santa was exhausted but the hard work did not go in vain. When Bill came, Santa took him to a dense forest. Now I want to show you our advancements. Dig the ground here.

Santa got angry. Now, it was his turn to prove that Indians were no less. So, he invited Bill to India. So, my friend Bill, did you get anything?

More ... more ... a little more. C’mon. Don’t give up so soon. Keep digging.

Bill goes up to 400 feet ... yet finds nothing in the ground. No, I’m afraid, absolutely nothing.

Well, that shows even 400 years ago, we used to be ‘Wireless’.

Illustration by Dinesh Rawat

You, this shows even 100 years ago we used to have telephones here in the U.S.

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Star Diary

Nauheed Cyrusi Bollywood actress, Nauheed Cyrusi who will soon face her worst fears in Colours’s ‘Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi Level 2,’ says that she is quite tech savvy as far as gadgets go.

I

am not too much of an Apple Mac person and other advanced stuff though BlackBerry phone and PS3 would be my favourite tech toys. Though many people dig the iPhone (its design is definitely slicker), BlackBerry is certainly easier to type with my long nails. I prefer to text than talk. The touchscreen interface of the iPhone does not work due to the above reason. I also sadly miss the music and gaming functions of the iPhone. This business class phone is just like having a laptop in your bag. I can easily access my e-mails on the move. Having said that, I love my privacy, hence I don’t prefer to keep my phone ‘ON’ always. I like to be available, but on my own terms and conditions,” says she. Coming to her second tech love, gaming, she says, “I dig on the ‘Grand Auto Theft’ on PS3 platform.” Remembering her childhood days, she says, “Mario Bro was the best video game we played back then.” This model-turned-actress does not, however, spend too much time over the Internet. “I use the Internet to check my mail, download music and find out the latest happening in Bollywood. I love Facebook. This pre-

mière social networking site allows me to stay in touch with my friends. We exchange photos, jokes and wish each other on special occasions.” Unlike other celebs, this Parsi babe, who is awaiting the release of three films (Kissan, Qurban, etc.), does not feel social networking sites are harmful. “You get to choose which people can access your profile.” She also does not shop online. “I am not a credit card person. It’s not that I am scared of safety concerning online transactions, but I just don’t like to spend extra moolah.” Nauheed also loves to shoot video/click pictures with her camcorder. “Whenever I go on a vacation or outdoor location, my Sony digicam always accompanies me. I like to upload videos/pictures on my Facebook, so I can share the same with my friends. “I clicked a lot of pictures on my recent ‘Fear Factor’ trip to South Africa.” She also thinks that tech toys work as wonderful gifts items. “If I know that a particular friend loves cell phones, I might think of gifting a snazzy model he/she has been eying for a while. But yes, I will spend good money only on somebody really close.” In closing, we asked her to comment on the age-old adage that tech is a man’s domain and she promptly replied, “Says who? I know of some women whose tech knowledge will put most male techies to shame. It’s jut like saying only guys should wear trousers and not girls.” I

Interview

Lexulous

Back in the Game Room

From designing Scrabulous.com, which could be termed as the most popular word game for the masses, to relaunching it in the shape of Lexulous.com, the Agarwalla brothers have come a long way. Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla share with us their journey.

Q.Do you play scrabble yourselves?

Yes! Lots of it actually. My brother and I have been playing Scrabble since childhood. Even our family members show keen interest in the game and play it with full enthusiasm. Exposure to the game for such a long time helped me to win the Statesman Scrabble Championship 2007 for my age group in Kolkata.

inspired you to create the Word Q. What game, Scrabble?

Well, we played Scrabble religiously at a website, sometime around November 2004. However, things changed when the website started charging a fee. We didn’t have too many options. liveit.in

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Although the charge wasn’t too high by any standards, people generally tend not to pay for anything on the Internet, and we were no exceptions. So once I completed my high school, I joined RJ Softwares (Rajat, Jayant) and created BingoBinge with my brother. We soon shifted to Scrabulous.com (re-launched as Lexulous.com in 2005) with the sole purpose of keeping such a lovely game free for everyone forever.

would you differentiate lexulous.com Q.How from other game websites?

Lexulous is pretty unique in that it focuses on just one game, Scrabble, and offers a few variations of the game as well. The

site has not been cluttered with annoying advertisements and other smaller games. The interface too is of top quality and very easy to use. Plus, we do not collect any personal information from users except their e-mail ID which is necessary to prevent false accounts. The game rooms are great fun; people can practice alone, play against the computer, and even over e-mails. Lexulous is the destination for everything Scrabble. The best part about the site is the speed it offers which remains unbeaten by most of the other paid sites.

you have any particular future targets for Q.Do the website? If yes, then what are they? Lexulous was created with the objective to make Scrabble available to schools and institutions across India and even in foreign countries. We shall bear the cost of creating private room for the children and manage the servers. It is just an effort on our part to make sure that the next generation is in touch with this legendary game and gets easy access to it. We also hope to add newer features to Lexulous in weeks to come.

Since your website has gained so much Q. popularity and is receiving such a huge Lexulous has got a lot in very less time. How amount of traffic, why not make it a paid website? Q.long did it take for you to design the whole website? And what type of hurdles did you face That’s because we left the other site! Had it not started charging, Lexulous would not have happened. Our primary goal is the satisfaction of every Scrabble lover. Lexulous was started not as a business but as a hobby. And even though it is surely possible to monetize it, for example by selling e-mail addresses or showing hundreds of ads, we would be happier to see a smile of content on the faces of our users more than anything else.

Why only “scrabble” and no other games Q. like crossword or monopoly? What is so special about this game? Scrabble has a charm of its own, the beauty of which has only enhanced over the generations. Scrabble and Monopoly are perhaps games played in every home across the world. However, many people find it hard to get a group together for a game of Monopoly (2-player Monopoly is perhaps a bit boring). But in case of Scrabble, it’s a lot faster and can be thoroughly enjoyed by a couple. And while Monopoly is a huge deal of luck, Scrabble requires strategy as well. In fact, we offer Strategy Scrabble at Lexulous where users get to see the tiles in their opponent’s hand which requires a lot of thinking to be done before playing a move. We had implemented this feature based on a suggestion sent by one of our users.

type of security measures does the Q.What website take?

We do not collect any personal information like name or location of our players. So besides an e-mail address, no other personal information of the user is disclosed. Our servers are provided by reputed firms and till date there have never been security concerns. Lexulous is free from adware and spam. We also encourage our users to get the Firefox browser for general safety on the Internet.

Do you have any paid services on the website? If yes, please mention. If no, please Q. tell us if there are any plans to do so. At present we do not have any paid features besides that of purchasing a no-quitter badge, which too is free if one plays 2000 games. We do not have plans to offer any paid features in the near future, but if we ever do, the basic functions of the site shall always remain accessible for free.

while creating it? How do you work out the funding for running the website?

We started work on a Scrabble site in April 2005. BingoBinge.com was launched in Beta mode in August 2005. The problems we faced initially were tremendous. We were inches away from pulling off the site due to rising server costs and regular breakdowns. However, our determination paid off and once the server crashing problems were fixed, we shifted to the then Scrabulous.com in July 2006 and have not looked back since then.

do you work out the funding for Q.How running the website?

The few unobtrusive advertisements that we display on Lexulous are enough to cover our server costs, so funding was not quite necessary.

You offer a 24x7 support to your users, and Q. promise a response within 12 hours. However, most websites do not offer such type of service. What according to you is the need to do this?

There is no need as such, because people are happy even if they get a response within 48 hours. It’s our immense love for the game and because the Lexulous community is so wonderful that makes us feel it is our responsibility to give them a little more than what they bargained for. When users express their bewilderment upon getting a quick reply, it seems like a pat on our back!

Your website sends reminders to people who Q. do not play the game very often even after registering with the website.This is more like an

encouragement.What makes you think of something like this out of the box and how have people reacted to a service like this?

We got a mixed reaction to this. Some felt that we were keeping a check on them while others were really thankful to us for taking so much care of them. As the majority of users are positive about this, we do send out the e-mails but unsubscribe the user if they so desire. I September ‘09

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Profile

P

olitical language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murders sound respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. But the language of business is all about survival of the fittest. Ask Dewang Neralla, the 40-year-old Director of Atom Technologies and Director Technology of Financial Technologies that creates next generation financial markets. He is now spearheading a revolution in the mobile payment eco system. With atom, you can now pay through an application on your mobile, through a voice call over IVR or at the point of sale at the speed of a bullet. Neralla started small to make a big impression. The year was 1992 when the wind of liberalization was sweeping the Indian landscape like no other. “I was on the brokerage and exchange side and part of the IT scene at the Bombay Stock Exchange for four years,” he reminisces. Later, life offered him an option to either stay back in India or go abroad; either be a programmer with one of the multinationals or be an entrepreneur.

Just Atom It

The future of mobile payments is now, says Dewang Neralla of Atom Technologies in an exclusive interview to ZAHID H. JAVALI Boring labour is a threat to humanity. It follows therefore that interesting labour can be a form of redemption. Like fixing motorcycles. Or starting something that you like. No wonder, it didn’t take Neralla much time to figure out his calling in life. He teamed up with friend Jignesh, set up Financial Technologies in 1995 and became his own boss. “The scope was only just opening in India at the time,” he recalls. “There was a huge deficit for any kind of transactional backbone. Our focus was to create a product-based company rather than a pure servicebased company.” He started with trading software ODIN, named after the Greek god of wisdom. “We licensed the software to brokers,” he explains. “From 1998 onwards, more than 100,000 trading terminals with more than 300,000+ licenses were sold to brokers.” In 2003, his team developed an exchange trading solution called DOME that is used by exchanges promoted by Financial Technologies. And in late 2005, Atom was born to focus on payment processing with a special focus on new age payment gateways like mobile, IVR as well as traditional point of sale terminals. The hard work shows. Today, there are over 100 merchants signed up by Atom on mobile and IVR and more than a million customers have already made their payments using Atom. No wonder, the slug line ‘don’t just pay it, atom it’ rings so true. Holding a bachelor’s degree in engineering and computer science, Neralla is with a company that is as good as it can get. liveit.in

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Digest this. Atom’s services have processed more than $150 million of transactions with a merchant list spanning the best in the industry. Some of them include DTH majors like Tata Sky, Dish TV, Sun Direct; movie cinemas and entertainment players like Fame Cinemas, Cinemax, 70 MM; insurance majors like ICICI Lombard, Reliance General Insurance, Royal Sundaram; travel agencies like Paulo Travels, Redbus and in-shopping outlets of Dell, Disney World, Asian Sky Shop, Deccan Chronicle, eBay, IFB, Indiatimes Shopping, Living Media, Rediff, TVC and Readers Digest. Atom’s vision and mission is to create a convenient and secure mobile payments platform for the masses, establish a social goal for providing delivery of financial services for the ‘unbanked’ and emerge as India’s number one service provider for payments. “The company’s products and services span the complete vertical for payments,” explains Neralla. “There’s the voice-based payments solution that is easy to use for both the end-consumer and the merchant. It’s a change from a call centre-based solution to an automated Interactive Voice Response solution that eliminates human intervention and customer insecurity. The mobile payments platform is targeted at the end user who has to download an application and make payments on the fly. Atom Sewa is for the ‘unbanked’ sector. “Many people have no access to banking facility, so using technology to get them on board is the fastest way,” says Neralla. “We use technology to

create a framework for micro finance institutions and banks and enable bank’s business correspondents across the country to efficiently perform their banking tasks.” What this means is enrolling customers and monitoring their transactions at a mobile branch, which in this case is the business correspondent of the bank. The customer only has to walk up to him to either withdraw or deposit cash. Using m-collections, micro finance institutions can track loan repayments to self-help groups as most of them happen to be weekly recoveries and quite a logistical nightmare. One pilot project with a large bank is gaining momentum. It’s local language support for receipts as well as voice intimation in the local language for regular withdrawal and deposit banking transactions. So, if a non-English or illiterate speaking customer walks into a bank, he gets a voice prompt on deposit or withdrawal in the local language. The customer hears and obliges. Even the receipt gets printed in the local language. Safety is ultra crucial to Atom’s work. Which is why Atom has certified its products and services for PCIDSS & PA-DSS. The PCI DSS certification ensures that Atom always keeps the customer’s account data protected while PA-DSS applies to software vendors who develop payment applications that store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. Among the many services on offer, mobile payment is dwarfing the others. “Over a period of time, the mobile payment market easily should be 60-70,000 crore per annum in India overall based on the current card spends of same size,” says Neralla. “It will carve out a new niche and we should capture 25% of the market share in the next three years on both voice-based and mobile-based payments.” Innovation is the key to survival and more business. And no one knows this better than Neralla and his team. “We have developed a 2D bar code for face to face technology,” he begins. “The customer selects the card and payment which generates an image. The optical scanner reads the 2D barcode image (that contains the payment and card details), making it secure and quick. We are piloting this project at a few locations. We are also focusing on voice biometrics for authentication, so instead of an image, you use a voice print.” Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle aimed his thoughts at evolution and gave him both the facts and intellectual stamina to work toward his magnificent goal. So, what has Neralla’s journey so far taught him? “The biggest is that you need to be committed and have the perseverance to drive your idea all the way. And for this, you need to have the patience and the will to achieve. If there is no fire in the belly, come what may, you won’t be able to achieve anything. And yes, it takes a strong team effort to see things through.”

“

For prophetic visions of the future, some people turn to horoscopes. But if you want to know what the future holds, better to ask a scientist, or an entrepreneur like Neralla. He says the day is not far when all your financial transactions will be on the mobile. “Person to person mobile transfer for payment of any kind of services, be it face to face or remote, will be a certain reality,” he says. “Right now, we are looking at cash and card, but there will be an inflection point where a mobile will change that behaviour itself.” The scenario isn’t complete yet. Adds Neralla, “In the future, your cell will become your personal lifestyle assistant and not just a mobile. You could have a card on the phone or some sort of tracker. With just a tab, the phone could act like a debit or credit card.” Neralla’s typical day goes something like this. He wakes up at 6 a.m. and goes for a one-hour walk. By 9.30 a.m., he is in the office, attending meetings, scheduling things and planning strategy and marketing. His work day ends at around 9.30 p.m. Back home, he spends time with his nine-year-old son. We fly today and arrive yesterday. That’s technology for you. So, how does he keep pace with it? “I read newspapers and magazines and interact with people and internet companies.” So, what’s the buzzword today? “Everybody is focusing on software as a service and there is much talk on Web 3.0 and how to maximize it.” One look at his office and you know it is minimalist and functional. Besides the mandatory laptop and a couple of landlines, there is a bookshelf staring in front of him. Not to mention, glass doors, wooden finish, flowing carpet, a drawing board and a threeseater conference table. Democracy needs to know the serious reading of books. Long books. Hard books. Books with which we have to struggle. Take Neralla. When he’s not working, he’s reading. “I catch up on reading, but on the Internet only,” he says. There are three books he is reading right now. There’s “Killer Differentiators: 13 Strategies to Grow Your Brand” by Tai Jacky; “Creating a World Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus and “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” by Dan Ariely. Clearly, Neralla has his heart and mind in the right place. After all, a person can be judged by the books he keeps. Conspiracy theories remain the pastime of crank groups. But conspiratorial thinking, the idea that someone out there is to blame for every misfortune, has become respectable. But that isn’t Neralla’s mantra in life. “Mine is dream to dare and dare to dream,” he says. Case in point? “When we were setting up Financial Technologies, there were non-believers who said this technology will not take off and tried to de-motivate me saying there’s no future in it,” says Neralla. “However, if you believe in your convictions and stick to it, it will happen. Within a few years, we were No. 1 in that domain and there are still people trying to catch up with us.” That’s Neralla. He can turn any business into an adventure and any risk into an opportunity. Truly, the mark of a businessman. I

Our focus was to create a productbased company rather than a pure servicebased company.

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Peek & Pick Product Reviews: Anoop Verma

HP Elitebook 6930P With its brilliant magnesium alloy finish, the new HP EliteBook does manage to make a great first impression. Once you open this laptop, you will find that the keypad is quite comfortable and there is a 14.1-inch, 1280x800, matte display, which is a good thing, because matte displays don’t reflect light and hence are much easier on the eyes. The device is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4 GHz). It has 2 GB of RAM and 160 GB hard drive. Currently, the laptop is running on Windows Vista, but it is fully compatible with Windows 7, which is set to be released later this year. Available at: All HP and Compaq stores Price: Rs. 30,000 to 45,000 depending on configuration selected.

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Ray T65

It is quite surprising to find a mobile store franchise announcing the launch of its own mobile phone, but that is exactly what ‘The Mobile Store’ has accomplished. The Ray T65 is now out in the market and it is boasting of impressive features: 3-megapixel camera, a 262k, 1.8-inch display, music player, Bluetooth and much else. The phone has a touchscreen as well, so it might not be too off the track to term this gizmo as the iPhone’s smaller cousin. In any case, the Ray T65 is worth a try. Either you can walk into their store in any Indian city or town, or you can buy it online from their portal. Available at: (The Mobile Store) www.themobilestore.in Price: Rs. 6,489

Altec Lansing T612 Digital Speaker for iPod and iPhone Music buffs are especially going to like this product. Its speakers are geared to offer rich, distortion-free sound from your iPhone and iPhone 3G without your ever having to miss a call. The device is fully compatible with all versions of the iPod and iPhone. It also has a built-in dock through which you can recharge these two devices. Another good feature is the provision of auxiliary stereo input that lets you connect to any another MP3 or CD player. Available at: (Rediff) http://shopping.rediff.com Price: Rs. 11,220

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Canon D10 Digital Underwater Camera liveit.in

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The unique thing about this camera is that it is completely waterproof up to a depth of 10 meters. So, even if the waters rise drastically during this monsoon season, and your camera gets completely drenched, it will still keep clicking quality pictures. The D10 boasts of 12.1 million pixels (CCD), and it has a 3x zoom. It is incorporated with face detection technology, automatic White Balance and much else that will make the clicking of professional quality results a breeze. Available at: (Gadgets Guru) www.gadgetsguru.com Price: Rs. 23,849

Moov 300 PND Navigating roads in India can be a nightmare, especially if you are new to any city or town. Signboards are invariably missing from most of the roads and you might have to ask directions from 20 different people before you reach your destination. But once you are armed with Moov 300 PND, such vagaries of travel might become a thing of the past. The device has a 4.3-inch screen and it is capable of providing step-by-step direction through most Indian locales. Available at: Asian Sky Shop (www.asianskyshop.com) Price: Rs. 15,990

Apacer Handy Steno AH325 USB Flash Drive

The new flash drive from the ensemble of Apacer is as stylish as it is technologically advanced. With its clean classic look, embellished by smooth lines and distinctive cool grey and arctic white tones, the AH320 is the kind of gizmo that you can flaunt whenever you want to make a style statement. As it comes with a 4 GB of capacity, it proves to be perfect for users who want to store high-resolution images, MP3 music files, or even videos on the go. Available at: Rediff (http://shopping.rediff.com) Price: Rs. 410

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Peek & Pick

Creative Aurvana X-Fi Great sound quality and state of the art sound enhancement features are just some of the hallmarks of the Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones. The best thing about these headphones is that they come with an iPhone cable. Available at: (Amazon) www.amazon.com Price: $147

Logitech QuickCam Go Black For those who prefer to use their PC or laptop for holding conversations with friends and family, here is a good way to keep in touch. The Logitech QuickCam Go Black webcam is embellished with high-tech editing software that will allow you to capture, edit or print images. You can use it to capture crystal clear images at the push of a button. The best thing about this webcam is that it is compatible with all major messaging applications. Once you get powered by this webcam, the experience of chatting is only going to get better. Available at: http://futurebazar.com Price: Rs. 725

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iPhone Stand A stylish phone like the iPhone deserves to be either carried in your hand and when it is resting then it should do so on some kind of luxurious stand. Enter the iPhone stand! This stand will let your iPhone stand in a portrait as well as landscape mode for perfect viewing of videos. Here is a good way to lounge in your sofa while you enjoy the video clips that you have made using your iPhone. Available at: (Rediff) http://shopping.rediff.com Price: Rs. 265

Intuos4 Grip Pen Professional Pen Tablet By incorporating Wacom’s Tip Sensor technology, the new Intuos4 Grip Pen can offer its users near-zero (one gram) starting pressure, which is most conducive for a natural writing experience. The product is especially suitable for photographers, designers and artists seeking optimal control and productivity. After all, when working with digital assets, there isn’t a more natural tool than a pen for increased comfort and control. Available at: Ebay (http://ebay.in) Price: Rs. 13,650

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Shopper’s Guide

The surf shop Live IT or Leave IT (pages 18-21) Rape Alarm Buy online: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/ gapyearshop-21/detail/B000VXVZJQ Price: £ 9.99 Sorapot Teapot Buy online: http://www.sorapot.com/buy Price: USD 250.00 Olympus Pen Camera Buy online: http://www.amazon.com/OlympusInterchangeable-Lens-14-42mm-Silver/ dp/B002CGSYKS Price: USD 799.99 Wall-E Toy Buy online: http://www.robotsrule.com/html/ wall-e-toys.php#idance Price: USD 51.99 Rat Robots Buy online: http://www.therawfeed.com/2009/06/ french-researchers-create-giant-rat.html Price: On request Computer Corner Frame http://www.shinyshiny.tv/ Buy online: http://www.shopgetorganized.com/ prodetail~itemNo~29829.asp Price: USD 29.98 Karaoke Microphone Buy online: http://www.hammacher.com/publish/ 74622.asp?promo=hl_media Price: USD 49.95 liveit.in

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September ‘09

Live IT provides you the following shopping guide which should help to get you started on a fabulous online shopping spree. Call it an easy finder or a quick search, the list compiles all the gadgets and gizmos featured in this issue with appropriate links of the best possible places for you to shop wisely and browse coolly!

Bliss Noise-reducing Earphones Buy online: http://www.momastore.org/ Price: USD 45.00 Lock Out USB Memory Key Buy online: http://www.swarovski.com/Web_AA/ en/909823/product/Lock_Out_USB_ Memory_Key.html Price: EUR 150.00 Rockin’ Alarm Clock Buy online: http://www.pbteen.com/products/girlsrockin-alarm-clock/?transid=58640813 1009&cm_src=TEEN-TRUNKSALARM-CLOCKS-DORM Price: USD 129.00 Kitty Digital Camera Buy online: http://www.amazon.com/ Hello-Kitty-Digital-CameraKT7002/dp/B0002ISEIK Price: USD 19.99 USB Fragrance Flowers Buy online: http://chicgadget.today.com/ 2008/10/10/smell-good-with-usbfragrance-flowers/ Price: On request Butterfly Speakers for iPod Buy online: http://www.thesource.ca/estore/ product.aspx?product=1412225& language=en-CA Price: USD 99.99

Burning Flame Bookmark Buy online: http://www.perpetualkid.com/index.as p?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID= 3138 Price: USD 3.00

Style IT (pages 41-49) iPod A1288 Price: Rs. 13990.00 Portable Sony PSP Price: Rs. 8990.00 Sony PSP2 SCPH – 90004 CB Price: Rs. 5990.00 MITASHI GAME – IN MT 04 Price: Rs. 1099.00 MITASHI GAME – IN SPORTMAX MT 16 Price: Rs. 2990.00 Sony F305 Price: Rs. 6690.00 WILLIAMS F1 Team RACING WHEEL Price: Rs. 1490.00 Nintendo Playboy Advance SP AGS101 Price: Rs. 3990.00 Buy: Soveena Mobile Zone S - 8A, Green Park Main Market, New Delhi 110016 Phone: 011-26510661/26962467 Mobile: 9811006985 [email protected]

(Note: Prices may vary or discounts may be available on some products.) I

Q&A How can I copy a game from the desktop computer onto my laptop?

If I uninstall a computer game and then reinstall it, will my saved game still be there?

It depends on the game. Some programs you can simply copy the directory via a CD-Rom or across a network. Find the game folder by right-clicking on the icon and checking its properties. You will need to copy that directory and everything under it. However, if the game doesn’t run on the other machine, you may have to run the original installer that you got at the time of purchasing the game. This is because it needs to add information to your Windows system folder and/or the registry before it can run properly. In this case, your best bet would be to contact the company you purchased the game from and ask them about their policy to allow you to transfer the game to your laptop.

First of all, many games will ask if you want to keep your saved games before uninstalling, so then you just have to pick the right option and your saves will stay intact. Second, this depends on where these games store their saved games on your computer. Many games store saved games in folders like My Documents or Application Data, so they don’t get deleted when uninstalling and they’re easier to back up. The safest way is to back them up anyway. So, look in My Documents, Application Data and of course the game folder itself for a folder containing your saved games. Then replace them if necessary after reinstallation.

How can I set animated signature in my mail?

You can use USB cables, Bluetooth/Infrared dongles, or memory cards to transfer games from your PC to your phone. If you install the cell phone’s software for PC then you can install games directly on your phone without transferring the setup files. Don’t forget to enable Bluetooth or infrared if you are using these technologies. Another method can be to upload your files on your own WAP site using your PC and downloading the files from the WAP site via GPRS on your phone.

With a non-MIME enabled e-mail client, you won’t see anything but simple text. However, it seems nowadays the MIME mail extension is spread enough and widely exploited and abused; briefly speaking, the extension allows an e-mail to be an html, even with embedded images; what you see is just an animated image embedded in the text; likely, simply an animated GIF. You can create your own animated GIF using a program like gimp or Adobe ImageReady. Once you’ve got your animated GIF, you must get a MIME capable e-mail client and use it to write your e-mail. Normally, these modern clients have a button that allows you to add an image. So, add your gif at the end like a signature, and you’re done.

How do I install my computer game onto a different disk drive? During the installation, it should ask where you want to install it. And, usually, it would have something like the following: C:\program files\Game_Name\ So, all you need to do is change that to E:\ Then it should install onto the E: Drive. You can also click on the browse button next to install option and choose the location of installation. If it doesn’t let you choose where to install, then it maybe perhaps you just need to free up some space on the C: Drive.

How can I transfer games to my mobile?

How to get a moving background on my desktop? Search for an animated .gif online and just use it like you would any other picture on your desktop.

‘New hardware found on PCI modem.’ What is this? It is a dial-up modem but sounds like the drivers are not installed so you need to reinstall its drivers from disk or from the PC manufacturer’s website. It is a built-in modem. If you are not using it, go to Settings→Devices and disable it. I

If you have any queries, write to us at: [email protected] or mail your queries to Live IT, E-3, Jhandewala Estate, New Delhi - 110055 September ‘09

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Glossary THE Geekspeak FPS (First Person Shooter)

Gameplay It refers to anything you do in a game. Gameplay features can include shooting, jumping, buying and selling in-game items, and interacting with NPC (Non-Player Controlled) characters.

Loot An item, or gold, or a treasure found on the ground, or dropped from killing a monster.

An extremely common and popular genre of video games. In this genre, Game Master you see through the eyes of your character, and always use guns. In some The player who runs the FPS games, your character never has any game (often abbreviated dialect. This is done so that any reaction to ‘GM’); many games give Simulation your character may have is imagined by them a more specific title Game Game you. Games of this genre are typically such as dungeon Developer Here you fast-paced and have good master, storyteller or Company or simulate an graphics. Examples of FPS companies that story guide. activity based on games are ‘Halo’ and create the game from the real world. This scratch. The developer ‘Call of Duty’. may include flying, controls everything that goes into the sports games, life games game, ranging from game controls Powers (like ‘The Sims’), and war to the game’s story. Describes extraordinary abilities, simulators. These games range which make a character from bad to great graphics, but special, such as flight or telepathy. almost always allow you to have great control of what happens Cheat Code in the game. Is a button combination or RPG (Rolepassword, which triggers an event or affect within a video Playing Game) game. Cheats can be as simplistic Here you control one or more Avatar as adding ammunition to a gun, characters, and every attribute Is your character, or increasing a character’s about them. This means that while primarily used for health, or changing the you play the game, your character(s) instructions or character to a completely may get stronger, faster, gain directions in a guide, or different character. intelligence, or improve in a number because it’s shorter than of other skills. Most RPGs are based character in times where in fantasy worlds, oftentimes fast typing is mandatory.

Buff

not ever connected with Earth.

EULA Level Refers to a few things, either your character’s actual level, or the act of gaining experience by killing mobs in game, in order to reach a higher level.

Platform Refers to the specific combination of electronic or computer hardware, which, in conjunction with low-level software, allows a video game to operate. The term ‘system’ is also commonly used.

A beneficial spell cast on a player or creature in a game.

An acronym for End User License Agreement. You usually have to accept an EULA before installing or playing a game.

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