March 2006

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2/24/2006

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Enhancements in 3DMark 06

www.chip-india.com

at the heart of technology March 2006

Volume 3

Understanding PC-BSD

Issue 4

Rs 100

A behind-the-scenes look at today’s innovations

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WORKSHOP 117

Windows skinning Spice up your Windows interface WORKSHOP

Fun with the PSP Stream music over Wi-Fi to anywhere in your home 114

Also available in Bangladesh Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, U A E

35 laptops tested

62

From affordable to sleek to powerful, find your laptop here

Free storage

100 Great websites to hoard your images, videos and files

Gorgeousgrayscales Create stunning black and white digital images

O2 Atom: An office in your hand

120

LG.indd 1

2/24/2006 1:45:52 PM

EDITORIAL

7

The Information Buffet

The thirst for specialized information is fuelled by the existence of an abundance of it

Information—it’s the new currency that separates the today’s haves from the have-nots. Not 10 years ago, people’s intellectual capital was built on an investment of quality time in school and college libraries or hours spent in training institutes. Back then, these two sources were the mainstay of information—books and lectures. If we deconstruct these conduits, we’re left with a precipitation of two elementary forms of data—text and voice. Though many of us might not consciously realize it, we’re growing increasingly used to imbibing electronic forms of text. Be it e-mail, chat or active web surfing, we receive a fairly large portion of our daily information intake through a screen. Not to say that print is going away—quite the opposite actually. Statistics show that people are reading more newspapers and magazines than ever before. We’d like to believe the reason behind this is a thirst for specialized information that is fuelled by the existence of an abundance of it. An apparent dichotomy in terms, this makes complete sense—the more we are presented with terabytes of information through the likes of Google, Wikipedia and online blogging, the more we want to be able to filter in the stuff that is relevant to our daily lives. When it comes to voice-based information, the diversity of sources has increased exponentially—voice over IP, Podcasts and, of course, the surge in cellular telephony have become a part of many people’s lives. With the government ratifying VoIP services and adopting progressive stances on broadband and cellular policy, we are already experiencing grassroots penetration of voice-based services. I counted them on the way to office today— the cab driver, roadside fruit seller and even the balloon man were all cellular-enabled! Today we have more choice for information retrieval than ever before. I remember coming across a statement that likened the process of information retrieval over the Internet to holding a glass in front of an open fire hydrant. In today’s context, this couldn’t be more correct. Apart from the Internet, information is headed our way from a boggling array of other sources. From the cell phone to satellite radio, information has got us surrounded. It’s really not as bad as it sounds. More than resisting it, our lives will begin to change once we begin to intelligently embrace it. Now that an increasing number of services are eenabled, Internet-centric services are quite commonplace. Extend that idea to the fact that almost every new cell phone today has GPRS capabilities and you now have a pretty good Internet experience on even a cell phone. With a bit of practice, it’s tremendously easy to get used to booking movie tickets to paying bills to requesting for location-specific information on restaurants and the like. I’ve used these services fairly regularly since they first saw light of day and am beginning to see a maturity in their efficacy and convenience. With today’s product design catchword being ‘experience’, developers and service providers are now looking at incorporating out-of-the-box usability in their products and applications. This is a good sign—the more transparent a technology is, the easier it is to merge in our lifestyles. Thought we may not realize it, newer technologies are going to be part of our lives where we least expect it to. The ones who win will be those who actively educate themselves about these new technologies and try to integrate them into their daily agenda. Information is king and the time to ascend the throne is now.

| Marco Angelo D’Souza [email protected] MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Contents MARCH 2006 114

Wireless Music Station

62 32

Rural Revolution NEWSWIRE

24 Torino Winter Olympics 2007 CHIP speaks to Philippe T Davy to get an understanding on Lenovo’s interests at the Winter Olympics at Torino, Italy

32 Rural Revolution The government’s endeavors in educating the rural populace has seen a host of villages and towns hitching onto the IT highway

COVER STORY 34 The Winning Edge We delve deep into how technology has revolutionized sports

HARDWARE 44 Top Gear Spiffy new products—O2 XDA Atom, MSI graphics card, Canon digital camera amongst others

APPLICATIONS 84 Software Center Reviews of useful software such as backup tools, photo editors, audio production tool and so on...

90 Diagnose your PC The Everest 2006 is not only the ultimate tool kit for PC diagnosis but is also a fine example of simplicity and functionality.

92 3DMark 2006 The latest version of 3DMark is here, with new and better features to test the performance of your graphics cards.

96 A Word About Word It’s amazing how MS Word can be spiced up especially since most of us think it is one of the most vanilla looking piece of applications.

100 Free Space We help you discover some of the best sites where you could put in your precious stuff starting from important data to pictures, music, video, etc.

102 Radio Refreshed Satellite radio is fast emerging as a strong contender in the traditional radio space as WorldSpace spreads its tentacles far and wide.

104 Reinventing Learning Traditional forms of rigid learning systems are now being challenged and this time with more vigor and proof by a professor from IIT Mumbai who is determined to make a difference to the children of tomorrow.

107 An Alternative OS Here we guide you to a step-by-step approach in setting up PC-BSD—a secondary OS.

62 Anywhere Computing

HANDS ON

for Everyone 35 laptops tested. Find out what suits you—budget laptops or sleek, sexy portable powerhorses.

114 Wireless Music Station Let loose your PSP’s potential of playing music anywhere in your home without lugging across messy wires.

78 Juice up the Box More about PSU—the force that powers your mean machine.

Anywhere Computing for Everyone

34 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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107 An Alternative OS

100

Free Space 84

117 Dress it Up Add zest to your otherwise boring Windows desktop. We show you how…

120 Shades of Grey Turn your pictures to black and white tones with the help of this detailed workshop that teaches you to add a classic touch.

| Products Tested

136 Gaming Glitz We bring you a host of new and exciting game releases of this year. These are indeed a breed apart.

138 Scrabble Interactive 2005 Edition Word play in a brand new avatar.

139 Brothers In Arms -

132 Brain Food Stimulate those grey cells with fun as we tell you about a slew of games that will actually help you do the same.

134 Prince of Persia

Hardware

Enhanced AI and multiple player options bring out the warrior in you as you go back in time in this WWII genre.

147 Thriving on 3D A complete guide to aspirants planning to make a move in the field of computer graphics.

The spanking new version of the Prince of Persia series leaves you wanting for more.

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O2 XDA Atom, Altec Lansing FX-6021, Western Digital Raptor X 1500AFHD, MSI N7300GS, Canon Digital IXUS 750, Aiptek PocketDV 8600, Vantec Ion2 460 watts, HP Deskjet 460cb, ECS RD480-A939, Zebronics Las Vegas, Microsoft Wireless Optical

Laptops

Earned in Blood

UNWIND

Software Center

62

ACI Elite, Asus U5A, Asus W5F, Fujitsu Lifebook P7010, Gigabyte N211 U, NEC Versa S1100, Panasonic Toughbook CF-w2, Sahara NB5630-N4, Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP, Zenith Presidio Vu, ACI S28, Asus V6800J, Dell Latitude D510, Fujitsu Lifebook S6240, Gigabyte W431 UD, Lenovo ThinkPad T43, NEC Versa S940, Panasonic Toughbook CFY2, Samsung NP-X20 E, Acer Aspire 1640, Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi, Asus A6J, DELL Latitude D810, Gigabyte W511 UC, Lenovo Z60m, MSI Megabook M630, MSI Megabook M645, Samsung Sens X60, ACI Ethos V, Benq Joybook R31E, Gigabyte N521UC, Intex 023G, Acer Travelmate C202 Tmi, Fujitsu T4020D, Lenovo ThinkPad x41

Regulars Town Square

O2 XDA Atom 134 MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

…45

16

Letters

18

Technology Landscape

82

Dr. CHIP

110

Tips and Tricks

124

Game Reviews

134

Last Word

148

Disk Contents MARCH 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 4

Mobile: Cell Phone Manager, Opera Mini System: Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Backup Multimedia: FL Studio 6.0.8, Ultra Video Splitter Developer: NovaPDF SDK, Eclipse 3.1.1 Linux: AbiWord 2.4.2, Stopmotion 0.3.4 Internet: Download Accelerator Manager, ThunderBird 1.5 Utilities: ANote, Magic Utilities 2006, TweakNow PowerPack 2006 Professional Software of the Month: Ulead Photo Express 6

Full Games: Bookworm, Towers of Hanoi, Pure SuDoku, SuDoku Solver, Mummy Maze Game Demos: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: LOCKDOWN, B-Jigsaw, Crazy Tangram Game Addons: Age of Empires III 1.04 Patch Game Trailers: The Sims 2: Open for Business, Star Wars: Empire At War Movie Trailers: Slither, Hard Candy, Dirty

$)*1%7% Full Games: Trackmania Nations: ESWC, Navy Fleet Must-haves : 3DMark 06 , Magic ISO Maker, Internet Explorer 7 Game Demos: CrashDay, Star Wars: Empire At War, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, TimeShift Videos: The Godfather, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Game Addons: Half-Life 2: GMod Linux: Ubuntu 5.10

Quick Quote MARCH 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 4 GENERAL MANAGER - PUBLISHING

Krishna Tewari EDITOR

Chennai O K Gurumurthy Phone: (044) 28295050-54 Fax: (044) 28295060 [email protected]

Marco Angelo D’Souza

CHIP is insightful, informative and reader-friendly. The product reviews are rigorous and provide insights that are often missed by others N. Sambamoorthy, GM Business Products, Epson India Pvt Ltd

ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

Carol D’Costa SENIOR COPY EDITOR

Sharmistha Dey

Hyderabad Vasudevan Iyer Phone: (040)55622211 Fax: (040) 23393488 Kolkata A. K. Roy Phone: (033) 2468637, 2468638 Fax: (033) 2462964

WRITERS

Ashutosh Desai Jamshed Avari, Pradosh Mitra TEST CENTER

Soham Raninga Anand Tuliani, Gaurav Seth MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR

Anup Pillai DESIGN

Medha Modak Vishwanath Vanjire, Pramod Jadhav, Dinesh Desai Rushikesh Masurkar, Manoj Tandel, Umesh Dahiwalkar, Ravi Parmar

New Delhi Pranav Saran [email protected] (D) (011) 55303287 401-409, Prakashdeep Building, 7 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi – 110 001. Phone: (011)55303278,79,80,82 Fax: (011)23327884 CIRCULATION

National Circulation Manager Kumar Mohanani ([email protected]) CHIP INTERNATIONAL

Editorial Management International Ludwig Blaha, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen

PHOTO EDITOR

Shirish Karale

Editorial Consultant International Wolfgang Su, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen

MULTIMEDIA & WEB

Hemant Charya SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR-PROJECTS

Brian Pereira WRITERS

Gagan Gupta, Arunabh Arora Rahul Athalye, Olivia Yardi HEAD MARKETING

Ganesh Lakshmanan EDITORIAL OFFICE

Intelligent Computing Chip, TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 2430 2707 E-mail: [email protected] BUSINESS OFFICES

Mumbai (Head Office) Martin Wilson, [email protected] Sagar Salunkhe TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 24302707 E-mail: [email protected] Bangalore Mohammed Asif [email protected] 12th Floor, ‘C’ Wing, Mittal Tower No.6, M.G.Road, Bangalore – 560 001. Phone: (080)559 7282,83,84 Fax: (080)559 7285

CHIP is also published in the following countries China Czech Republic Germany Greece Hungary Indonesia Italy Malaysia Netherlands Poland Romania Russia Singapore Thailand Turkey Ukraine TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without due postal stamps for return postage. No part of this magazine can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher. TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. reserves the right to use the information published herein in any manner whatsoever. Copyright 2004 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP For all international subscription enquiries, contact the subscription department, Intelligent Computing CHIP ([email protected]). Intelligent Computing CHIP is printed by A. S. Vadiwala and published by K. V. Rao on behalf of TBW Publishing and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Infomedia India Ltd, Plot No.3, Sector 7, Off Sion-Panvel Road, Nerul, Navi Mumbai – 400 706 and published at TBW Publishing and Media Pvt. Ltd., `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA is an internationally protected trademark owned by Vogel Burda Communication GmbH Cover Design: Umesh Dahiwalkar, Pramod Jadhav

www.chip-india.com INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

16

TOWN SQUARE

THIS MONTH ON chip-india.com

Town Square G

reetings! We’ve had another very eventful month behind us and plenty of activity on our web site. Before I proceed, sincere apologies for the magazine reaching late this month. We faced a couple of hiccups during the printing cycle due to which there was a delay. These have been sorted out and we’re confident of our normal delivery cycles from the following month onward. On a related note, we’ve been receiving a bit of feedback regarding our courier and delivery services to certain parts of the country—if any of you have issues in this regard, please feel free to get in touch with our subscription department at [email protected]. They can also be directly reached on (022) 24232804. Of course, if you need to escalate your matter further, I’m always there to mail! We crossed a milestone this month—our web site has now officially crossed 20,000 registered users! We’d like to us this opportunity to thank each and every one of you out there for your support and endless enthusiasm. We’ve got significant plans ahead for our web site and we will be looking forward to hearing from all of you. Another interesting development—one of our readers, Mrinmay Bhattacharjee, has created a group dedicated to our magazine on the popular social networking web site Orkut. For those of you who are on the Orkut circuit, just search for IC-CHIP magazine. Thanks Mrinmay—we appreciate the gesture. This month, ‘Varun_007’ started an informative thread that queried the efficacy of the Windows Swap file. While we covered this subject in our Dr CHIP section during the previous month, ‘sans_india85’ did a good job of listing a few important points to keep in mind when dealing with the swap file. He also posted an interesting link to a file that explains this in the form of a video. Good stuff. Here’s what he said along with our explanations: The swap file depends on the programs that

are used. This is true—some applications are programmed to require greater amounts of RAM compared to others. For example, Adobe Photoshop requires plenty of RAM as it works on image files. With such programs, the size and type of your swap file becomes important, especially when your system memory falls short of what is required while running applications and open files. As per standard optimization rules, everyone sets swap file size to 1.5 times the amount of system RAM. This rule of thumb is recommended as it works pretty well for most types of applications and prevents users from creating too large or too small a swap file and subsequently deteriorating system performance. Virtual memory works great if you place the virtual memory file (pagefile.sys) in a separate partition. Very true—by placing the swapfile on a separate partition (or better still on a separate hard disk), its functioning and size will not interfere with program and data files. After changing the virtual memory file to a separate partition, defragment your C Drive. This is a very intelligent suggestion—after relocating the swap file to a separate partition, the freshly created free space could result in new files being scattered all over the hard disk. By defragmenting your drive, this is effectively alleviated. For all of you out there who’ve always wanted to know which games would run on an older generation graphics card (such as the 32 MB Nvidia or ATI cards), there’s an interesting post containing a list of plenty of good suggestions in our Games forum. Head over to “The best FPS game” post. The suggestions are actually more than just FPS games and the posts pretty much cover the entire gamut of genres. Finally, keep the feedback coming—especially keep posting to the sections that ask for suggestions for our Tools, Toys and DVD software. Ask for it and we’ll do our level best to deliver. Until next time, cheers! ■ | Marco D’Souza INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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LETTERS

Letters Dear CHIP, I am a regular reader of your magazine. I like the way you write the product reviews with less emphasis on text and greater weightage given to the detailed tables in your hardware comparison tests and reviews. However, I’ve noticed that you’ve never tested any gaming peripherals as yet. It’s true that wheels and joysticks cater to very few gamers but I would request you to not neglect hardcore gamers like me. Being a racing enthusiast, I feel I am getting only half the fun using my keyboard in all my racing simulation games. That’s when I started searching the market for force feedback wheels. I saw several products from the likes of Microsoft, Logitech, Typhoon and Frontech. Some of these wheels had the rumble effect whereas others advertised actual force feedback (and were also very expensive). The shopkeeper informed me that rumble effect feels almost the same as force feedback. But I’m puzzled because I don’t know how these wheels perform in real world. Without CHIP’s thorough tests, I can’t be sure of any of these products. So, I have decided to put a hold on buying any of these devices. Could you please feature a test on products such as these? If a full-blown comparison test is not possible, can you please feature them more regularly in your standalone test review section. I am sure many people like me would find it useful. Regards, Shubhajit Maity Dear Subhajit, Gamers such as you are truly a rare breed! Very few go through the bother of buying a steering wheel (much less force feedback!) for using them with the likes of Need For Speed and other racing titles. As you pointed out, there are plenty of options available in the market when it comes to steering controllers for racing games. These physical effects implemented with the ‘feedback’ element produced by actual instructions are sent to

the controller during the game. In the more expensive variants, this force feedback is finely variable and actually reflects the type of terrain in the game for more realistic effects. Therefore, if you drive your car outside the track and over gravel, you’ll feel a fair amount of feedback, but this will be more if you happen to drive over rocks or bump into something! In the cheaper controllers, this variable feedback isn’t there—all you get is a standard rumble, no matter what the situation. While effective, it’s not as realistic as actual force feedback. The best way to shop for such a controller is to see for yourself—have the salesperson demonstrate this to you at the shop and buy it only if you’re completely satisfied! Since there isn’t a great demand for game controllers, we haven’t conducted any comparison tests on them. But look out for standalone reviews in the issues to come! Team CHIP

Dear CHIP, Allow me to congratulate you for your rock-solid performance. I have been an avid reader of your magazine ever since the first issue, which I bought from the newsstand. I subscribed to your magazine shortly afterward and I have each and every issue of it till date, along with the accompanying cover CDs and DVDs. But it has become a very tedious process to keep hard copies of all the issues, and since I don’t wish to misplace even a single one, I would like you to provide the soft copies of all your past magazines. I was prompted to write this to you after I started my search for an HTML Editor included in one of your CHIP CDs. Not remembering which CD one it was on, I was forced to put in every CD in the drive and manually search for the application. I only found it after 45 minutes! Therefore, a searchable database of the software from your past CDs and DVDs would be a welcome feature. I’m looking forward to your implementing this in your forthcoming issues. Cheers, Arif Ismail Hello Arif, We already have a tool that tracks the applications carried on our cover disks! This is, in fact, available on our web site for download—it is known as CHIP INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Umesh Dahiwalkar

20

LETTERS

Letters CD Seek. Using this tool, you can locate which month a particular software has been carried on our cover disks. Download it at http://www. chip-india.com/install_chipcdseek.exe No more will you need to go through the tedium of manual searching, the next time you’re trying to locate your favorite application. Team CHIP Dear CHIP, It’s clear that you guys put a lot of hard work into your magazine. Getting so much information— news, product reviews, tips and tricks, workshops, et al in a single package is commendable really. And I would like to thank you a lot for keeping people like us updated on the computing front—you guys really are the jargon busters! However, I have a couple of requests that I implore you to consider: Can you please provide the latest edition of Autopatcher with your monthly DVD? Also, can you please include a CD containing all the past CHIP issues in PDF format published till date? Regards, Nipun Mohta Dear Nipul, Thanks for the adulation! It’s good to know that we’ve been helpful in your computing experience. Also, we do actively include the latest versions of Autopatcher on our CD each month—you will find it in our ‘Tools’ cover disk. However, this program is only updated once every couple of months or so. We include the latest version as and when it’s out. As regards including our past issue on PDFs, this is perhaps one of the most oft-asked requests we get. We are definitely looking into this and will be incorporating this suggestion in our subsequent issues. So look out for it. And keep writing in to us. Team CHIP Dear CHIP, The work put into making your magazine is mind blowing. I have been reading it since the year 2000 but February 2006 was my first subscribed issue. However, I missed the December and January issues of 2005. Is it possible for me to buy them

from you in case you have extra copies? Also, I have lost one of the issues published last year where there was a workshop on how to edit audio using a keyboard (music) for a midi workstation. Being an ardent music and technology enthusiast, the issue is of importance to me. Is it possible for you to make this article available to me? I would also like more information on audio-related connections, especially relating to audio mixers and the workstation setup, audio software, configurations for sound card, choice of speakers for a budget setup, etc. I’d appreciate if you incorporate such an article in one of your subsequent issues. Also, can you please help me set up mine? I’d really appreciate it. Once again, cheers to the great work and keep it up. Regards, Jeremy Fonseca Hello Jeremy, There are plenty of music creation enthusiasts out here in CHIP as well! It’s unfortunate that you lost your last year’s issues, but we’ll help you out here—we’ll be sending you the article on audio creation that was featured in our February 2005 issue. We hope that gets you started off on your musical journey. While several of us here would love to do a detailed workshop on how to set up a mini home studio and get started on using your computer for music, it would be a little beyond the scope of our magazine. However, there are several fantastic resources that provide invaluable sources of information when it comes to understanding, selecting and setting up audio workstations. You could check out books like ‘Digital Home Recording for Dummies’ (a publication from the famous Dummies series of books), ‘Anatomy of a Home Studio: How Everything Really Works from Microphones to MIDI’ by Scott Wilkinson, and ‘Desktop Digital Studio’ by Paul White. You should be able to get hold of these at a computer bookstall near you. Simultaneously, you can also check out web sites like www.tweakheadz.com for getting you started on your home studio journey. Hope this helps! Team CHIP INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Torino Winter Olympics 2006 Philippe T Davy, VP of the Olympics Project, Lenovo speaks to IC CHIP on the marketing activities associated with Lenovo’s sponsorship of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy CHIP: What is the main objective of Lenovo as the official computing equipment provider for the Torino Winter Olympics? Phillipe T Davy (PD): The Torino Olympic Winter Games are a coming out party for Lenovo. We are well known inside China and looking to build recognition outside of China. This is an unmatched global stage to show customers and business partners the best of Lenovo—our world-class people and technology.

Newswire

CHIP: Apart from supplying computing technology, what kind of infrastructural services is Lenovo providing during the event? How will the hardware provided by Lenovo be used during the event and in what applications will it be found practical? Kindly elaborate on the applications. PD: As worldwide computing equipment sponsor for the 2006 Torino Olympic Games, Lenovo has worked with TOROC, the Torino Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games, and other Olympic technology providers including Atos Origin to provide a hardware technology solution to secure and deliver real-time results from medal events; to manage the logistical and administrative activities of the complete Olympic operation; and to distribute comprehensive information about all aspects of the Games throughout the Olympic Family, including on- and off-site news media, broadcast commentators, Olympic and sports federation officials, coaches, athletes and volunteers. To do this, Lenovo has provided more than 5,000 personal computers, 350 servers, 800 notebook PCs to support the games infrastructure. This infrastructure will help ensure competition results are available to more than 10,000 journalists, 1.5 million spectators

and three billion television viewers. Lenovo is providing another 1,000 PCs to support business operations of numerous worldwide sponsors and organizations, including NBC television, Visa International, Bank of America and the United States Olympic Committee. What makes this solution and project overall particularly interesting is the environment in which it has been deployed. The winter alpine environment in Torino has posed several challenges from a distributed venue layout to preparing for extreme weather conditions. Some of our PCs will remain outside overnight at various venues in the mountains at more than 6,000-feet and in below-zero temperatures. These products have undergone rigorous testing by Games organizers to ensure their reliability, but we still must prepare for the unexpected, given these conditions. In tandem with our support of the overall IT infrastructure, Lenovo has created Internet “i.lounges” for athletes, coaches and press to utilize in the three Olympic Villages. The i.lounges have been developed to meet the increasing demands by athletes for Internet access and related PC tools while at the Games. The i.lounges will offer athletes a fun place to socialize with other Olympians and the ability to share their experiences and progress with family, friends and fans during the Games. As mentioned before, Lenovo is also working with several TOP Olympic partners to enable them to carry out their operations on site in Torino. For example, Lenovo is working with Visa International to award all 23 runner-up national winners of the “Visa Championships – Torino 2006” online video game with new ThinkPad Z60m widescreen notebooks. We are also

Pramod Jadhav INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

NEWSWIRE

working together to design and stage the global “Visa Championships – Torino 2006” finals in Torino on February 15, with competition taking place on Lenovo desktop PCs. As the personal computing supplier to NBC television in Torino, Lenovo has provided more than 1,000 ThinkPads and Lenovo desktops to produce hundreds of hours of coverage for NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo and Telemundo. 22Bank of America deployed Lenovo PC technologies in a specially designed i.lounge for its Hometown Hopefuls Program Family Center to allow athletes’ visiting family members to continue working while at the Games. Lenovo also provided PC technologies to support Bank of America’s daily corporate operations onsite in Torino. In addition, Lenovo created a customized i.lounge to support the United States Olympic Committee’s onsite operations in Torino.

and other technology providers such as Atos Origin, Telecom Italia and Omega as part of a technology consortium to prepare the IT infrastructure for the Torino Games. We have provided our unique expertise to create the solution and could not support the Games without one another. Lenovo began planning for the Torino Olympic Winter Games in April 2004 at which time a technology team of 30 moved to Italy to begin working onsite.

CHIP: What set of marketing initiatives has Lenovo planned during the Torino Games? PD: We have collaborated with several

NBC will extend throughout the Games and will deliver more than 100,000,000 impressions for Lenovo. As part of the Lenovo-NBC agreement, the NBC team will utilize Lenovo PCs during broadcasts and interviews. On NBCOlympics.com web site, Lenovo will be the exclusive sponsor of the “What’s New” section, which covers the current buzz about new athletes, events and technology in Torino. Lenovo and Visa have created cobranded Olympics prepaid cards for expenses by Lenovo guests and employees at Olympic Games venues in Torino. In addition, a co-branded Olympics credit card will be issued in co-operation with the Bank of China for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Coca-Cola-branded Lenovo notebooks are available in China and Italy as part of the companies’ promotional activities. In China, Lenovo has engaged China Central Television to run advertising spots and Lenovo product placements as part of its newsroom programming. Lenovo is releasing limited edition ThinkPad Z60 notebooks for sale during the Games that feature the Olympic rings logo. Approximately, 400 Lenovo customers and business partners throughout the world will be hosted at the Games. The guests will attend athlete competitions and receive a behind-the-scenes look at how Lenovo’s technology is supporting operations in Torino.

TOP sponsors to work together on various marketing/cross-branding activities during the Games, and we have created several programs to target key areas of our business. First, Lenovo advertising on

CHIP: What would be the nature of ‘combined strength’ between Atos Origin and Lenovo during the Games? PD: Lenovo has been working with TOROC

CHIP: According to Lenovo reports, the company plans to unveil a new branding strategy during the event. Please elaborate on the same. PD: We are excited to take advantage of the global audience engaged in the Torino Olympic Winter Games as a launchpad for our brand outside of China. We are doing this through our activities supporting the Torino IT infrastructure; creation and support of Internet i.lounges for athletes, staff and media; work with other Olympic sponsors for onsite activities and crossbrand promotions; and an upcoming product announcement during the Games that will further demonstrate the quality, innovation, reliability and value of our technology.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

25

CHIP: With security high on everyone’s mind, how does Lenovo plan to tackle the issue? Tell us about the kind of technology that will be implemented to ensure smooth functioning and safety of the people involved in and around the venue. PD: ThinkPad notebooks and Lenovo desktop PCs are renowned in the industry for providing the highest level of personal computing security. Our partners have chosen our equipment for its unmatched level of security and reliability to help deliver superior service and access to information during the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Subscribing to Olympic ideals of international understanding, fair competition and excellence, Lenovo has contributed secure, stable computing equipment for the successful operation of the Olympic Games.

CHIP: As Technology Equipment sponsor of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, how would you describe Lenovo’s agenda for promoting these colossal events? PD: Our agenda is simple: utilize these events to demonstrate the quality, innovation, reliability and value of our people and technology. With our headquarters in the US and employees worldwide, Lenovo is both a symbol of 21st century business and the Olympic desire to build international understanding. As a newly emerged global company, we have the resources and experience to become the next great leader in personal computing. ■ | Carol D’ Costa

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NEWSWIRE

Night driving safer

Video games may prevent brain ageing

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ideo gaming could actually be good for the growth of the human brain. At least that’s what is being claimed by a group of Canadian researchers, who are soon going to publish their papers in support of gaming. These researchers from York University, Canada studied 100 undergraduates and found that playing video games may help prevent their brains from ageing. The physical ability to silence mental noise is the key in making the elderly prone to distractions. But for gamers it has been found that a see-saw effect takes place which activates and de-activates the frontal lobe of brain (needed to focus on task). This effect actually fades away after the age of 60 (before 60 in case of non-gamers), giving gamers longer time to use the frontal lobe of brain and thereby prevent it from ageing. The see-saw effect also makes video game players faster and better performers at multitasking.

rivers rejoice. Now night driving will become less hazardous, thanks to night vision monitors on the dashboards. Mercedes and BMW are planning to install infrared-based night vision systems, which will expose the presence of objects beyond the ambit of headlights. The images of such objects will get projected on the monitor placed at the center of the dashboard, enabling the driver to see what lies within the darkness ahead. BMW is using far-infrared technology in its 7 Series. The night-vision system will scan a range of 984 feet in front of the car at an angle of 12 to 18 degrees. BMW’s infrared sensors are based on algorithms that detect heat from the objects outside the car. Therefore images of animals or pedestrians are seen as bright and ghostlike on the monitor, while the image of a landscape is less vivid. Mercedes S-Class, unlike BMW, is using near-infrared technology. Their system scans only a range of 492 feet, far less in comparison to that of BMW, but projects images that are crisp and clear. The other advantage of near-infrared technology is that it does not emphasize on living objects, and shows all objects with the same clarity to reduce visionary confusion at night. The image viewed on the monitor is more like viewing the landscape beyond, with extended headlights. These cars come with a bundle of electronic driver interface for navigation and costs over $100,000. Additionally, these cars also provide a set of driving performance and entertainment accessories. As the rate of accidents between midnight and 6 am in the US is as high as 20 percent even when the volume of traffic is 2.4 percent, it’s important to have night vision technologies that can make night night driving safe.

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The research shows bilingual gamers are bound to outperform their non-gamer rivals at any difficult task. According to the researchers, bilingualism helps in suppressing the knowledge of one language while using the other; similarly, gaming assists in filtering all irrelevant information to move to the core of other problems. It becomes easier for bilingual gamers to perform multiple tasks because they can shut out distractions and can swiftly switch attention between tasks.

Bye bye books

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eems like there’s no stopping for the iPod. Apple’s new venture, the iTunes U, will enable students from Canadian universities download their class lectures on their iPods. The project was launched around a year back with only seven American universities and is now being welcomed by other institutions. The podcasting trend, very popular in the US is catching up in Canada. The service will only provide university content along with administrative rights for tailoring the interface with university logo and matching colors and blocking certain content for outside parties. Administrators can also include audiobooks, music and video content. The freedom of posting different types of content has proved to be highly beneficial for students. Bob Burke, a chemistry professor from Carleton University started filming his classes and posting them online via iTunes with the name CHEM 1000 since last October. And it was viewed by more than 1,500 students, apart from Burke’s own 450 students. In

fact, one of the students declared that she could not have passed her examination if she would not have viewed CHEM 1000. The availability of university lectures on iPods has multiple advantages. Students will not miss any lectures even if they don’t attend a class and the need for textbooks has been reduced to a great extent. More importantly, podcasting of university lectures have created a wider scope for knowledge sharing across the globe.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006 2006

NEWSWIRE

Identity manager

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emembering passwords will not be a pain any more. No matter how many you have, Microsoft’s new security system InfoCard will father the responsibility of remembering them for you. InfoCard is already present in IE 7 and will be available in Windows Vista also. Based on the ‘identity metasystem’ technology that manages and enables interoperability of online identities, InfoCard allows you to create a number of virtual cards with specific sets of information. You can select and use these cards depending on the nature of transaction. For example, if you wantto go for online banking operation, you will need to choose the virtual card that holds similar information as that of your credit or debit card. Once that’s done, you don’t need to key in your user id and password, you will be allowed to access your account. The usage of multiple virtual cards will reduce the need to remember passwords and will also reduce the tendency of using one user id or password across all web sites. InfoCard runs like an isolated application and doesn’t affect any other application or the OS. It maintains your privacy and prevents intrusion of any malicious code or spyware.

Global IM service on your mobile

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obile phone operators are on a mission to make instant messaging on the mobile as popular as SMS by aiming to offer standard IM service across their networks to GSM enabled handsets. The initiative, spearheaded by GSM Association (GSMA), includes a list of 15 operators such as Orange, Vodafone, etc. The group also expects to join hands with Internet-based IM service providers and extend the availability and interoperability of IM wirelessly. Vodafone and Orange have already kicked off the drive among their mobile service users; Orange has also tied up with France Telecom to offer IM service to their Wanadoo customers in selected European markets. GSMA plans to use Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) or Session Initiation Protocol for instant messaging and Presence Leveraging (SIMPLE) standard to offer this service. The group aims to offer the service to their combined customer base of 700 million. Over the coming few months, they expect other GSM service providers to join in and develop a customer base of 2.2 billion. Though Internet messaging is free, instant messaging on the mobile will cost the person engaging in a conversation.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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NEWSWIRE

Smart armor for skiers Multitasking mobile

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eard about tech dressing for safety? Well, if not everywhere, a bit of technology in your apparel will surely save you in skiing land. To save skiers from injuries, Spyder, a leading skiwear manufacturing company, has developed a special skiwear that instantly hardens into armor upon impact. Normally, skiers wear bulky arm and leg guards during a slalom run to protect themselves from injuries. But with Spyder’s inventive d3o technology, skiers can give up the bulk while on the run. As a trial run, during November 2005, Spyder offered their ski suits incorporating d3o technology along the shins and forearms to skiers from the US and Canada. After the good response, Spyder manufactured a complete inner suit for skiers with d30. The lightweight and bendable material exhibits a property called “strain rate sensitivity”. Under normal conditions, the molecules of the material are weakly bound and can move past one another with ease, thus making it flexible. But a sudden shock causes the chemical bonds to strengthen and the weakly bond molecules to lock turning the material into a more solid protective shield. This reaction is instantaneous and repetitive. Without disclosing about the chemical composition of d3o material, Richard Plamer, CEO of UK-based d3o Labs stated that the material is synthesized by mixing a viscous fluid with a polymer.

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our mobile has become a truly multifunctional device capable of broadcasting multifluid digital TV, highfidelity surround sound, rapid multi-shot photography, and console-class 3D graphics. The new Nvidia GPU processor, the NVidia GoForce 5500, brings all of the above to your handheld. So far these features were seen in function-specific devices such as home entertainment systems, digital cameras and game consoles, but now you have a power device on your palm with such functionalities. The NVidia GoForce 5500 GPU supports video playback for H.264, WMV9 and MPEG4 formatted video. It supports both NTSC and PAL resolution at a rate of 30 frames per second. Moreover, it is compatible with major mobile TV standards including DVB-H,

ISDB-T and DMB networks. It produces an immersive audio experience with Crossfade and Multistream technologies to prevent annoying breaks between songs and music cut out when a ring tone is activated. The NVidia GoForce 5500 supported handsets can take multi-shot photographs with a resolution as high as 10 megapixels. It also boosts the 3D imaging capability. You can experience console-class games at an unrivalled speed on a handheld device. Finally, the low-powered hardware design delivers more hours of entertainment and less drain on talk time. NVidia claims that the launch of NVidia GoForce 5500 GPU will mark a new era for 3G mobile phones. The processor is likely to be released by the end of 2006.

3D in the air

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elcome 3D of a new kind. The Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) recently announced a breakthrough in 3D display technology. So far 3D images were shown on a 2D plane based on optical illusions or binocular disparity (disparity in viewing). But now 3D images can be showed in open air by creating plasma with lasers. It started when Keio University and Burton Inc figured out that if laser beams are strongly focused through a lens, an air plasma emission is possible, which generally takes place near the focal point of the lens. They combined a laser light source and two galvanometric mirrors (for controlling height and width) to construct an array of

dots, which together created a 2D image. To fine tune the display and to add depth to the image, AIST increased the quality of the laser and added a diffusion lens in their unit. AIST used high-brightness infrared pulse laser with a frequency of 100 Hz to control the production and position of the plasma. This frequency will enable brighter image with higher contrast, which can even be placed at several meters from the source. The time taken for emitting one laser pulse or creating one plasma dot is precisely 1 nanosecond; this way 100 dots per second are created for a 3D display. To create a 3D image in the air, the pulses are synchronized with the help of certain software.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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NEWSWIRE

Touch to pay

Slice nano balls off the tee

orget about carrying your credit cards to make payments at stores. A finger scan can simply complete the transaction process for you. The new technology for payment has been developed by Pay by Touch, a leading provider of biometric authentication, loyalty, membership and payment solutions. The company has tied up with two of the five largest American grocery chains. As a user, first of all, you have to register with Pay by Touch. Though the process is not time consuming, it asks for a lot of personal and private information like passport number or driving license number for creating a secure file. Once the registration is done, the user needs to provide information about direct debit account information, loyalty programs or other awards or discounts programs, so that while transacting using Pay by Touch, he does not lose the benefit of such programs and the store gets the payment without any hassle. And finally, the user will need to activate the account by visiting a participating store and by scanning his finger. While registering, a user also needs to provide an account access number that is termed as the ‘Search number’. At the payment counter, all a user needs to do is just place the finger on the scanning device and key in the Search number. Once that is done the amount will automatically get transferred from the user’s direct debit account to the merchant’s account. At the back end the scanning machine does not work with the user’s fingerprint, instead it measures distances between different points on the finger and generates an equation, which is then transferred to a secured data center. As a similar equation is already stored (when the user activated the account), the authentication function performed at the time of payment is just matching the two and approving the transaction. To access the account for online maintenance, you can use a separate user id and password. This way, your account will stay completely secure and can be accessed by you only.

fter we have heard about nanotechnology curing diseases, mitigating the energy crisis, now it has touched sports such as golf. Developed by New York-based NanoDynamics, these golf balls called NDMX are made of nano molecules. Specially designed, these balls measure less than 100 meters and can correct their own flight paths to get reduced scores. Unlike conventional golf balls, NDMX does not pop, jump or roll and thus provides better controllability. NanoDynamics’ balls offer a golfer some additional benefits. As the outer shell of this ball is stiffer than a normal ball, it doesn’t get easily deformed when hit unlike a regular one. This enables an efficient distribution of energy between the club and the ball. Also, such a ball doesn’t move off its normal axis as in the case of a normal golf ball. Because of features like ratio of stress to strain

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and specific gravity even on the putting green, the ball behaves like a wide-track tire breaking less on incline and being less prone to be nudged off. The United States Golf Association has approved the NDMX golf ball for tournament play. This ball provides an edge to the user like flying farther than a normal ball and reducing the problem of slicing (tilting of ball towards right) or hooking (tilting of ball towards left). The balls are already available on the company’s web site, www.ndmxgolf.com for sale and are available for $60 for a dozen.

Are you game for games?

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hink you got the brains of Kasparov? If you wish to find that out a company based in Silicon Valley will come to your rescue. Just spend 2 hours for the test series designed by Sports Potential from Palo Alto and you will know which game you are suited for. The 2-hour non-invasive test series includes assessment of power, endurance, foot speed and coordination. According to Sports Potential, the tests can be described as physical, talent IQ test and something like a summer camp challenge. Before the actual testing for physical ability starts, you need to provide information on family history in sports, attitude towards team and individual activity and measurement of body composition through an online questionnaire and then sit for a pulse test. Once the preliminary information is disseminated, the candidate will come across a quiz for assessing concentration. He will be asked to point and call out numbers from 1 to 100 as guided by the application, named Sports Potential Assessment, on a random grid of all numbers within 1 minute. To assess balancing ability, the candidate is

asked to stand on a wobble board; for speed and agility he will be asked for a 25-meter sprint which also includes making a turn and return past the finishing line to check turn agility as well. For checking endurance level, he is asked to run a lap of 20 meters within specified time, with the time limit reducing after each lap. At the point when the runner fails to meet the time limit twice in a row, the endurance test ends. The test series is mainly targeted towards individuals who are of 13 years of age or above and wish to know which sports suit them best. The tests will be particularly useful to people who don’t have perfect eye-hand coordination in sports like baseball, basketball and football. In April this year, the company will unveil another series of tests aimed at children between eight and 12 years of age. This series named Sports Readiness Awareness is targeted towards the parents who remain worried about their kids’ future in sports. The Sports Potential Assessment costs somewhere between $175 and $225 and the upcoming Sports Readiness Assessment will range from $125 to $150. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Rural revolution

Vishwanath Vanjire

A rural IT ecosystem in India is underway, thanks to the government’s information communication technology programs

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ver the years, the government of India has undertaken several information and communication technology programs. In the recent past the impetus has been to educate the rural populace in the country by embracing information technology. An important step towards information communication technology reaching the masses was the establishment of a non-profit research organization called Media Lab Asia in collaboration with the government of India (Ministry of Communications and Information Technology). The organization, which was established with the objective of bringing the benefits of innovation and technology to the masses, officially began operations on January 1, 2002. A network of research labs were established on the IIT campuses at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kanpur and Kharagpur. Media Lab Asia also collaborates with other non-profit organizations to develop and deploy technology that helps the masses. MLAsia is not the only organization working in this field. In April 2005, Drishtee (an NGO) in association with Microsoft,

conducted a pilot survey in some districts of UP, Bihar and Assam to improve the standard of life of the residents. The project was initiated to help the people meet their e-commerce and e-health needs by setting up kiosks. These kiosks provide health, e-governance, insurance, computer education facilities, etc to the villagers. In Kerala, the information communication technology movement by the name of Information Kerala Mission (started operation in June 1999) has been expanded to develop an e-governance environment by strengthening local self-governance. The project work includes computerizing and building a network among 1,215 local selfgovernment institutions, thus addressing the entire gamut of issues concerning local body governance, decentralized planning, and local economic development. Different applications like Sulekha (to monitor financial planning and expenses), Sevana (to register civil information), Samoohya (to maintain a citizen database) have been developed by the Center for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT) to help improve local self-governance.

Education has been the area of focus of several information communication technology projects. For instance, in the interior parts of Maharashtra, NGOs like Vijyan Ashram and Vatke Vimukti Vikash Parishad in collaboration with IIT Mumbai, have set up a number of camps to encourage education among the nomadic tribes. The teaching methodology is divided into two phases. In Phase I, the children learn in the natural environment like learning the names of the trees, animals and the environment around. The entire process is video recorded and then used as a learning tool in the second phase. Phase II includes teaching with the help of laptops. Every camp accommodates 20 students to maintain a balanced student-teacher ratio. Each camp is given one laptop. During the first two days, the instructor helps the students familiarize themselves with the laptop, teaches them how to handle it and also introduces them to the interactive applications. After this, every student sits for 2 hours a day and 6 days a week for the lessons. The teaching module includes self-learning packages INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

NEWSWIRE

based on interactive applications such as sorting exercises (sorting boys from girls) and arranging exercises (arranging objects in descending orders of heights). To help teach abstract concepts, the instructors prepare colorful, visually attractive animation. Every student has the benefit of getting 24x7 instructional support, a patient mentor who is available on demand. He or she can access modulated lessons, as the lessons are prepared keeping the IQ of the individual student in mind. Students will also get explanations to wrong answers as the applications are programmed that way. They can also revise and repeat a lesson as many times they want; an ever-changing set of questions is also available for children while they sit for assessments thereby stopping them from getting into the habit of guesswork. The teaching model is designed in a manner that it can help a student recall previous events while seeing the prerecorded video and solve mathematical problems, etc independently. The laptops are left in the camps so that the students can access it any time they want to. Also, if the tribe relocates, the laptop travels with them. Dr M V Ananthakrishnan, Prof of IT Mumbai who is heading the project said, “We are trying to extend education facilities to nomadic tribes. As of now, we have undertaken a research to evaluate how comfortable the children are with using laptops. Interestingly, we have found that the students are more comfortable with the touchpad rather than the mouse. This will reduce project cost as there will be no additional expenses for the mouse.” Apart from IITs and NGOs, technology bigwig like Microsoft has recently unveiled project “Saksham”. As a public-private initiative, Saksham aims at developing self-sustaining and upgradable information kiosks for rural India. Saksham has been designed in close consultation with industry partners to develop a strong rural IT eco-system. “So far IT has been viewed as a means for social development for this segment”, stated Neelam Dhawan, MD, Microsoft India, “but we believe, that it can also serve as a driver for economic growth.” While describing the project, MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Exercise to arrange objects in ascending order of height Dhawan explained that Saksham through its four levels of innovative business models, private public partnership, localized content and affordable solutions will address the issues that have so far affected the uptake of IT in rural segment—be it lack of infrastructure and connectivity or affordable and relevant IT services and solutions. The initiative will also address the concerns of economic viability of the existing kiosk models. These kiosks will also have a portal powered with content that the rural populace can access such as information on agriculture, education, etc. They will also act as a point of revenue generation for local independent software vendors, who will be developing the content and applications. An extensive research for the initiative revealed that users are looking for a mix of online and offline services, targeting their socio-economic needs. Ranjivjit Singh, Group Director, Consumer Business, Microsoft India said, “Users want access to government records, agriculture related information, entertainment and communication services, education and learning, among other things. However, there is a gap between what they want and what the existing models are able to offer. With Saksham, we aim to enable the rural eco-system to deliver solutions to these needs.” Keeping in mind the research findings, these kiosks will offer government to citizen services such as information on land records, birth and death certificates, etc. In the health service area, users can find direct referrals to hospitals, they can also place online appointment and online consultation requests. Among agricultural services, users

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Exercise to sort objects can access agri-newspapers (sites devoted to agriculture) and go for online consultation as well. They can take advantage of commercial services like insurance, astrology, matrimonial services, etc. They can also communicate with one another through chat programs, online-telephony and e-mails. Web browsing, games, music and movies are part of the entertainment segment. The kiosks will offer desktop publishing services as well, which will allow the users to type, design and print different communication materials. As education is an integral part of Saksham, the kiosks include computer education and language literacy content as well. Sakhsham’s objective is to set 50,000 kiosks in the near future. Singh stated, “Our larger aim will be to touch more than 50 percent of the rural population in the next three yeas. We believe Saksham serves as a great framework for a rural kiosk model and other bodies including government and private entities.” Media Lab Asia and Sakhsham are different steps towards the same objective—achieving rural knowledge revolution. According to S N Swaminathan, chairman, National Alliance for Mission 2007 and National Commission for Farmers, such initiatives will help accelerate the pace in achieving the goal of National Alliance for Mission 2007, where every village will turn into a knowledge center. A rural revolution is on and what with the government of India’s initiatives to boost it with the help of information communication technology, the day is not far when we will have a self-reliant rural community gathering and sharing information across the world. ■ | Pradosh Mitra

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The Winning Edge

Coverstory

Where Innovation is the name of the game

Pramod Jadhav

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

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| COVERSTORY

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he need to excel in sports has increased over the last 10 years so much so that the sports fraternity has been continually turning to the latest in technology for that extra edge over competition. Six years ago in a cricket match between South Africa and India, Hansie Cronje walked on the grounds wearing an earpiece. A move that coach Woolmer presumed as ‘innovative’ was shot down immediately by the ICC. Cronje was asked to remove the earpiece before the match started. All Cronje and Woolmer wanted to do was discuss strategy during the match. That did not work out too well for Woolmer and Co who probably thought it to be a brilliant way to outsmart the Indians. Even though this sort of ‘invasive’ technology did not work in favor of the game there are other entrants that have managed to survive (like the Third Umpire) and make a huge difference. Football has also seen a sea change with competition among teams getting more and more intense. Last year, FC Genk goalkeeper, Jan Moons became the first footballer to use an earpiece on the field. He conveyed messages from the coach to the rest of his teammates. No objections were raised and the Football Association did not pass a verdict against it. Formula 1 too has had its share of controversies over design changes made by a team (that allegedly made a difference to the car’s lap timings) to the use of different brakes for tighter turns. Innovations such as these have either been a boon to a sport or have failed to impress at times. We take a look here at some of the most popular sports that have benefited immensely, resulting in increased viewership. | Anup Pillai, Ashutosh Desai

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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HARDWARE COVERSTORY FEATURE TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

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Courtesy: Hawk-Eye Innovations

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Before: The oscilloscope trace before the ball makes contact with the bat

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After: The spike in the trace when the ball makes contact with the bat

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Hawk-eye gives a ball-by-ball analysis of the over bowled

he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is

Hawk-eye: Paul Hawkins is the brain a value chipset for the entry-level segment. behind innovation. It’s built this usingtechnological the 90nm fabrication, It uses sophisticated image and processing ensuring higher clock speeds smaller techniques to 7300GS track theistrajectory of thecard ball size. The MSI a PCI Express once it has left the bowler’s hand the supporting Shader Model 3.0 andwith comes help a series ofDDR2 cameras placedclocked all around with of 256 MB of memory at the stadium. InGPU addition to resolving 810 cricket MHz. The 7300GS is equipped with LBW decisions umpires,with it helps 4 pixel shader given units,by in the accordance all to compare bowlers’ speed, theaccurately current entry-level GPUs. The coreline is and length. Hawk-eye is used extensively clocked at 550 MHz, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

| COVERSTORY

Dartfish generates a frame-by-frame path of the ball

he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is by a lot chipset of teams cricket today due to its a value forinthe entry-level segment. ease of useusing and also is visually It’s built thebecause 90nm itfabrication, appealing. However, is not only ensuring higher clockcricket speeds andthe smaller sport where used; card it is size. The MSI Hawk-eye 7300GS isisa being PCI Express equally popular in Model tennis 3.0 where helps supporting Shader andit comes to resolve controversial line-calls.clocked It is also with 256 MB of DDR2 memory at developing systemGPU foris the American 810 MHz. Thea7300GS equipped with baseball leagueunits, for accurately tracking 4 pixel shader in accordance withthe all fl ightcurrent of the bowler’s pitches using four the entry-level GPUs.byThe core is to six dedicated cameras. clocked at 550 MHz, MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Courtesy: Dartfish

Courtesy: Dartfish

Cricket

Dartfish being used in a studio at Karachi during the final Hutch Cup ODI

he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is Dartfish: Dartfifor sh the is a entry-level very usefulsegment. tool that a value chipset allows a complete breakdown analysis It’s built using the 90nm and fabrication, of the player’s ball trajectory and ensuring higheraction, clock speeds and smaller so size.on. TheThe MSI software 7300GS isuses a PCI digital Expressvideo card graphics to Shader deliver instant feedback supporting Model visual 3.0 and comes without the flmemory ow of theclocked match.at It with 256disrupting MB of DDR2 includes analysisGPU tools like SimulCam 810 MHz.video The 7300GS is equipped with and StroMotion thatin enable the with players 4 pixel shader units, accordance all as as the coaches GPUs. to make thewell current entry-level Thepowerful core is technical, tactical clocked at 550 MHz,and statistical analysis.

SimulCam composites two video test from the 7xxx series, the sequences of live or archived 7300GS is a value chipset for the clips to illustrate at each entry-level segment. It’sinstant built the relative position fabrication, and speed using the 90nm of the different players into ensuring higher clock speeds anda single integrated sequence. smaller size. The video MSI 7300GS is to aStroMotion PCI Expressallows card viewers supporting see live action unfold Shader Model 3.0 and comesbefore with their in time and space by 256 MBeyes of DDR2 memory clocked breaking theThe video images at 810 MHz. 7300GS GPUinto is a frame-by-frame sequence. The equipped with 4 pixel shader units, force with behind StroMotion indriving accordance all the current technologyfrom is itsthe ability select entry-test 7xxxtoseries, certain images break them the 7300GS is aand value chipset intothea entry-level series, thussegment. editing It’s the for unnecessary recently built using theimages. 90nm The fabrication, concluded India-Pakistan ensuring higher clock speedsseries and saw the extensive of this smaller size. The MSIuse 7300GS is enabling atechnological PCI Expressinnovation card supporting viewersModel to analyze thecomes path of the Shader 3.0 and with ballMB or aofplayer’s action from the 256 DDR2 memory clocked comfort of their living rooms. at 810 MHz. The 7300GS GPU

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COVERSTORY

| TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

M

Fluent uses Computational Fluid Dynamics to simulate air flow on a Ferrari

Car design:

A typical Formula 1 car can accelerate to 100 kph in just under 4 seconds and experiences lateral forces of up to 3.5 times its body weight while making a sharp turn (3.5 Gs). To be able to do this the team needs to use a powerful engine. But at such speed a car would topple over while making a turn; in fact, such speed could make the car practically take off the tarmac if there is a cross wind. So the car and engine have to

Courtesy: Allianz F1

Courtesy: Allianz F1

Courtesy: Ferrari Spa & Fluent Inc

arch 12 2006, Bahrain—the time and place will bring a smile on many a racing fan’s face. It’s when Formula 1 begins. Ask any fan about his favorite team and expect an outpouring of emotion that could rival a nationalist. You will get the lowdown on the team, the car, the engine, the super smooth pit stops and the number of ‘Gs’ the driver is subjected to while taking a sharp turn. The race is also continuously monitored from the pits and split second decisions are conveyed to the F1 driver in case of an eventuality. There is absolutely no room for error. Formula 1 is a precision sport where the pole position can be lost by a hundredth of a second. There are numerous technicalities like these that one can unearth. For instance, how does the Ferrari manage to take tight corners at high speeds? What makes the Williams car faster on a straight stretch? How in the world does a Formula 1 car—one that is built to ride at speeds as high as 320 kmph—manage to keep to the regulation pit stop speed of 100 kmph? What goes on in the pits while the race is on? It’s time to get these questions answered.

A battery of buttons on the BMW Williams steering wheel

be designed such that the car remains stable at all times and also offers least amount of resistance. All of this has been achieved over the last 12 years with the help of a concept known as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). CFD analysis is done with the help of high-end workstations—clusters. Ferrari uses AMD Opteron processor-based high performance servers while teams like

Race track analysis starts before and continues throughout the race

Sauber and BMW leverage Intel’s technical expertise. McLaren Mercedes on the other hand uses Sun’s Technical Compute Farm (rack-based enterprise servers). Even after the car has been designed, its prototypes are made using different materials to test in wind tunnels. Iterations are made to parts of the car so as to reduce drag and increase ‘downforce’ to keep it stable. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

| COVERSTORY

The team gets inputs from the F1 driver as well as the headsup display

Steering: The steering wheel in a Formula 1 car is filled with all sorts of buttons and knobs. Some are to adjust the fuel-air mixture, power steering or other engine adjustments, while others are related to gearshifts and neutral. There is also a button that provides fluids to the driver via a pipe under the helmet. Human error has been ruled out by providing an additional button on the steering wheel that maintains the MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Courtesy: McLaren

Courtesy: Allianz F1

Courtesy: Overdrive

Formula 1

McLaren’s ATLAS system analyses a car’s speed around the race track

car’s speed (under 100 kph) while in the pits. A display on the steering wheel provides information on personal lap times, average speed, etc.

Telemetry – Modern Monitoring: Once on the circuit, the car is constantly monitored by sensors placed in different sections of the automobile. Each sensor gives multiple readings and produces hundreds more

when they are made to work in combination. McLaren uses a system known as ‘Advanced Telemetry Linked Acquisition System’ (ATLAS) to constantly monitor their cars—in trial runs as well as on the final race day. 120 sensors placed across the car relay data to the team. Information on speed, tyre pressure, fuel levels, lap times, temperatures, etc are beamed from the car wirelessly to the control room in the pits. A driver is warned if any of the readings are found amiss, thwarting a possible disaster. All these readings and complex calculations are done on the fly on the workstations and notebooks. After the race is over the team pours over all the data once again and tries to rectify niggling problems on the clusters.

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COVERSTORY

| TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

W

adidas’ +Teamgeist ball will be used in the upcoming FIFA World Cup this June

adidas’ +Teamgeist Ball: This is the ball that is going to be used in the World Cup. It has been tested by the adidas Innovation team in the toughest laboratory conditions. Extensive tests conducted by a high-tech robotic leg at the adidas football laboratory in Scheinfeld demonstrated that this ball is 30 percent more accurate when compared to the other competitive balls tested. Other noticeable tests that were conducted

The Allianz-Arena in Munich will host some of the games in the World Cup

include the circumference test to ensure the ball has a consistent circumference, the water absorption test to check if the water absorption is within the permissible limits set by FIFA, the shape and size retention test to see if the ball can perform identically till the last second of extra time and the loss of pressure test to check if the ball would lose air while the match is in progress.

Courtesy: Allianz

Courtesy: adidas

Courtesy: Allianz

ith the football World Cup around the corner, it makes sense to talk about the current technologies being employed in the game that has such global appeal. Over the years live television coverage of the matches increasingly helped to increase the popularity of the game amongst viewers. The past decades of watching football reminds us of players on the field concentrating on scoring more goals than their opponents and defending well till the final whistle was blown by the referee. But time has shown that even a game like football known for its simplicity cannot remain untouched by technology. Since the last few years defensive tactics began to be employed by football coaches to win matches. In fact, to bring more flair to the game, lighter footballs began to be manufactured so that spectators witnessed the scoring of more goals during matches. FIFA is working towards making sure that the World Cup about to kick off in Germany in the month of June, turns into the biggest entertainment event of the year 2006. In that case, we should all be hoping to see some mind-blowing action on the field with the game having roped in the lastest technology. Let us check out what will follow in the World Cup.

The stadium changes color from red, blue and white according to the team that plays there

Allianz Arena-Munich: The Allianz Arena in Munich is one of the most beautiful as well as the most technologically advanced stadiums in the world today. Online access to the arena is controlled by W-LAN which covers the entire stadium. An integrated IT concept has combined all the installations which include fibreglass connection to the Internet, power supply, and telephone connections in a detailed network. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

| COVERSTORY

Football

The control center where tickets will be monitored to validate their authencity

Ticketing System: For the first time FIFA along with the organizing committee has opted for chip-based tickets so that they can improve customer service as well as ensure that every ticket is unique. These chips will allow precise allocation of tickets and also ensure that every genuine customer gets his or her seat in the stadium. If anybody with a counterfeit ticket tries to gain entry into the stadium his ticket MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

A new technology that will see a chip placed in the ball

will be blocked. These chip-based tickets can also be used as parking tickets or for payment in the food kiosks within the stadium.

Chip in ball :

Future tournaments could see the usage of chip-based balls on the field. Developed by Institut Fraunhofer for Integrated Circuit in Erlangen, working together with Cairos and adidas, the chip

in the ball will determine if the ball has crossed the goal line or not. The data from the chip is processed immediately by a computer present in the stadium which will help the referees in difficult situations and minimize the errors made by them. These chip-based balls have been manufactured in order to avoid the controversy that had erupted during the 1996 World Cup which saw the referee make a blunder in awarding a goal against Germany. The decision resulted in England winning the cup. Already tested in the Under 17 World Cup that took place in Peru in September last year, these chip-based balls are undergoing further tests in order to obtain more conclusive results.

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COVERSTORY

| TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

E

The Trek bicycle in the Aerospace Long Speed Wind Tunnel

Cycle design: One perfect example of how a cycle is created is to first consider what seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong and his team rode in July 2005. They all rode different models provided by Trek Bicycles. Each one was designed almost completely on high-performance computers using ‘thinkiD’ to model the cycle’s components. Right from frame design to its behavior when it is subjected

The cyclist being monitored in the wind tunnel for wind resistance

to external factors like wind, everything was done on computers. This sort of simulation enabled them to practically model the entire bike on their machines. The end product is the Modane SSL 5.9 that Lance Armstrong rode to victory last year. The cycles and their riders were further tested in Allied Aerospace’s Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT). The San Diego facility’s wind tunnel subjects the cyclist

Courtesy: Trek Bicycles

Courtesy: Allied Aerospace

ndurance cycling is not a new form of extreme sport, it has existed for over nine decades. Amongst all the races held through the year, the Tour de France is one that always garnered maximum popularity. Spanning over 21 days across more than 3,000 kilometers, the Tour de France is undoubtedly the most grueling cycling race in the world. The race involves limitless reserves of energy, teamwork and the smartest innovations money can buy. Each team is sponsored by companies that provide them with cutting edge equipment or valuable expertise. Everything from the pedals to the headgear is designed such that the cyclist can improve his performance. Improving performance by a few seconds also is of utmost importance as it could cost the cyclist a crucial position in the race. The Tour de France consists of 21 stages and cyclists are made to brave a punishing terrain—one that even takes them through the Alps. A team is usually made of specialists—some are ‘climbers’ while others are ‘sprinters’. All of them have their work cut out in supporting their leader and for this they need to have gear to help them achieve their goals. This is made possible with the help of drag resistant apparel and the right kind of cycle, and training.

Lance Armstrong’s Trek bicycle was designed by Trek with the help of thinkiD

to a 40 kmph head wind. It is even capable of producing cross winds while computers (running on AMD Opteron processors) and notebooks (using AMD’s Turion64 processors) calculate the drag, cadence (pedaling rhythm), speed and heart rate. This is where the cyclist also learns at what position and speed he is offering least amount of resistance to the wind. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

| COVERSTORY

Courtesy: Polar

Cycling

Watches by Polar record a cyclist’s heartbeat, cadence, speed and altitude

Training and Communication: The Intel Action Team—a Polish cycling team uses Polar watches to keep a check on the heart rate, cadence, speed and altitude. This device connects to the cyclists’ Centrino notebooks wirelessly allowing them to transfer readings easily. These readings are compiled visually with the help of software so that the athlete is able to recognize the areas he needs to improvise upon. MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

A cyclist can wirelessly transfer readings from the watch to a notebook for analysis

While the cyclist is on the road he is in touch with the team manager via a wireless voice communication system consisting of an earpiece and a transceiver that is slipped into the back of the cycling outfit. The team manager keeps the cyclists updated on the road ahead, wind direction and other general race statistics. The Discovery Channel Team uses similar methods too. While on training in a different country, cyclists need to stay

in touch with their trainers. So they use AMD Turion64-based notebooks to connect to the Internet and log into www. trainright.com. The team is able to share the progress with the coach via a web-based tool. Devices like PDAs or cell phones are used to keep the trainer informed regularly. This way the coach can advise changes in their training accordingly. The SRM Training System is used to monitor performance. It consists of a device attached to the bicycle, recording everything from heart rate, speed and power (measured in watts). These details are visible to the cyclist on a small display and can be transferred to a PC later to be sent to the trainer via e-mail for analysis. ■

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Vishwanath Vanjire

Top Gear

Hardware

T

he first two months of every year keep us busy with the release of new new products and technologies. These new releases set the pace for the year ahead and this year has not been any different. Similar to last month’s product list, this month we have some spanking new releases which up the performance and features graph by a long way. The Raptor-X and O2 XDA Atom are fine examples of a huge leap in technology. The Atom has surprised us with the almost perfect mix of features and size. The 7300GS from MSI announces the incoming of next-generation budget cards that will

serve the mass market. The Zebronics slim case is a unique product that serves a very niche market and is a nice variant in the PC case segment. The Aiptek PocketDV 6800 is another interesting product the represents the budget DV camera segment. Speaking about cameras, the Canon IXUS 750 will excite the ultra compact digital camera buyers with its looks and features list. In the audio department we have the stylish high-end AltecLansing 2.1 speaker system with distinct looks and lot of power. We enjoyed testing the assorted platter of gadgets and are sure you it will tickle your “tech” buds!

| The Ratings Explained The products in the individual and comparison tests share exactly the same test procedures. Each product in Top Gear is rated on a scale of 5 for different key parameters: Performance, Build Quality, Features, Ergonomics and Warranty. These vary according to the characteristics of the hardware. For instance, ergonomics (ease of use) is not important in a graphics card and therefore, it will not be evaluated for this. A product’s Overall Rating is calculated by assigning weightages to each evaluation

parameter—the more important a parameter, the higher is the weightage allotted to it. In addition, there is a Value for Money rating, which is calculated from the performance and the features of the product, in relation to the price. High performance and lots of features at a low price translates into a better Value for Money rating. This rating is calculated using current prices. Note: The prices mentioned here do not include taxes. Hence, they will vary according to the taxes applicable in the city or state where you buy the product from. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

45

Smart Phone

O2 XDA Atom Specifications: Dimensions: 58x102x18.5 mm (WxHxD), Weight: 140 g, Processor: Intel PXA272 416 MHz, 262K colors TFT, miniSD slot, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, 2 MP camera with flash, FM Radio, Pocket Office, 5 hrs 30 min talk time

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 38,888 Creative e-Biz

9892939268 [email protected] www.seeo2.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Hello gorgeous!

T

he smart and sexy O2 XDA Atom is another hot addition to O2’s line of smart phones. It sports a glossy black plastic shell that leaves fingerprints easily and packs in all the bells and whistles in a form factor nearly as much as a deck of cards. Features: It’s powered by the Intel PXA272 416 MHz processor and runs the latest version of Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0. The memory is bifurcated into RAM and ROM. The 128 MB ROM contains the OS and program files and data that the user decides to store. Program memory is 64 MB of RAM where the open programs run. If you plan to buy the Atom, make sure you buy a hefty mini SD card as the usable memory won’t suffice in the long run especially if you’re a shutterbug or a music lover. A 2.0 MP camera with flash and FM radio are also packed into the phone. The 6.8 cm TFT screen with 262K colors serves its purpose well. The display is quite sharp and vibrant. The phone fits snugly into your hand; navigating it is a cakewalk using the programmable hotkeys and a small toothpick-like stylus. A directional pad that doubles up as controls for Media Player 10 further eases operation. Don’t miss the two tiny stereo speakers sitting at the base of the phone!

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

In a struggle to fit too much in too little space, O2 has cleverly provided a 2.5-inch audio jack. This will disappoint music lovers as standard earphones are not compatible with this phone. And even more disappointing is the fact that the bundled earphones are very uncomfortable to wear. The Atom also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and IR squeezed into it. With the built-in Wi-Fi adaptor, it’s possible to instantly access the Internet at any hotspot. Support for EDGE support enables accessing high-speed Internet while you are on the move. Performance: For a Windows Mobile device, the Atom is sluggish. A ROM update is seriously required to rev up the phone’s speed. The 2.0 MP camera is good for nothing! It takes around 10 seconds to start up and the quality of images and video are below average. Integration of a

The Atom sports a 2.0 MP camera with flash and a self-portrait mirror

flash is a good feature if you want to shoot in low light conditions. But the person will get blinded for a few seconds after saying ‘cheese’ due to the strong blinding flash which stays on for a few seconds after clicking. Barring the camera and speed issues, the phone is simply mind-blowing. Even though it has its share of foibles, we still recommend it due to its features and the amazing form factor. The O2 XDA Atom needs serious consideration if you’re planning to buy a smart phone. For: Looks cool; FM radio; Windows Mobile 5.0; Wi-Fi; EDGE. Against: Sluggish; poor image and video capture quality; ill-fitting earphones.

The O2 XDA Atom is of the size of a visiting card

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HARDWARE

| TESTED

Speakers

Altec Lansing FX-6021 Specifications: Dimensions: Satellite – 1x1x1 Subwoofer – 1x1x1, Power rating: Satellite: 12.5 W, Subwoofer: 50 W, Total output: 75 W RMS Control pod, IR remote, satellite audio extension cable

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 9,800 Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd

022-28221013 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Slim, svelte and loud!

I

f you’re on the prowl for a powerful and sexy looking 2.1 speaker system to complement a small desktop, stop right here! The Altec Lansing FX-6021 combining power with elegance meets your demand for the above features. The slim and svelte satellites are sleek towers, each housing six one-inch neodymium drivers, which means a total of 12 drivers to deliver mid and high-range frequencies. After seeing through the grill, you’ll be surprised to see half a dozen tiny drivers residing behind. In fact, so far these satellites have the most number of drivers in them. The wooden subwoofer with a rear bass port also stands tall and houses a single 6.5-inch driver to deliver low frequencies. In comparison to the stylish satellites, the subwoofer looks vanilla with a plain face. Adding to the beauty of the FX-6021 is the slick control pod with all the necessary controls to adjust the volume, treble and bass. The LEDs present on the pod indicate the levels. It also bears an IR

Color coded connectors make the process of setting up the speakers a breeze

receiver and a recess to house the tiny IR remote control having all the controls. The IR remote will surely please people who love sitting far while watching movies or listening to music. Setting up the speakers is child’s play. Like most Altec Lansing speakers, the jacks and connectors are color-coded—so connecting the satellites and the control pod to the subwoofer is a breeze. Altec Lansing has been extremely generous with the wires. The satellite and controller cords measure 3 meters! And to top it, you also have the option to extend the length of the satellite cords by 2 meters. This totals to a cord length of 13 metres or 43 feet for a 2.1 speaker system. So even if you plan to wall-mount the speakers well apart, the length of the cord won’t be an issue. The FX-6021 looks chic, and the sound the system belts out is enormous. The satellites are rated at 12.5 watts RMS and the subwoofer can punch 50 watts of

The satellites of the FX-6021 measure more than a foot!

power. A total of 75 watts RMS for a 2.1 channel system is monstrous. In terms of sound quality, the FX-6021 is excellent in terms of sharpness. A dozen neodymium drivers in chorus is loud! But the mid-range frequencies are restricted by the size of the drivers—you can’t expect 1-inch drivers to deliver excellent mids. The bass delivered by the subwoofer is fairly above average. The speakers are good for gaming since they’re loud but they are not meant for music and movie lovers. If you’re serious about buying high-end 2.1-channel speakers, get the THX-certified Altec Lansing MX-5021 instead. It rocks! For: Excellent build quality; control pod and IR remote; good cable length; great looks. Against: No depth in sound due to absence of mid-range drivers.

A control pod as well as an IR remote are bundled in the package INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

48

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Hard Disk

Western Digital Raptor X 1500AFHD Specifications: Interface: SATA 150 MB/s, Capacity: 150 GB, RPM: 10,000, Cache: 16 MB, Platters: 2, Heads: 4, NCQ

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 17,500 Amarjit Singh

9321029204 [email protected] www.wdc.com

RATINGS Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Watch it whizz!

N

eed for speed! That’s what the hard drives belonging to Western Digital’s Raptor family are all about. The Raptor 740GD which used to be the fastest drive for the desktop PC is a thing of the past now. Meet its big brother, the Raptor X 1500AFHD—now the fastest hard drive on the planet! The Raptor 740GD still outperforms most of the SATA-II drives with twice the buffer size. With approximately 30 percent more performance than the 740GD, the Raptor X is undoubtedly the king of all hard drives! The Raptor series of drives derives its lightning like speed from the 2.5-inch platters that whiz at 10,000 rpm as compared to the slower 7,200 rpm drives featuring 3.5-inch platters. This translates into a blazing rotation speed of 120 km/h for the entire life span of the drive! Like the 740GD, the Raptor X too features a pair of 2.5-inch platters read by 4 heads, but they have double the density, which amounts to 75 GB per platter. With 16 MB buffer size and support for Native Command Queuing, it outperforms all the hard drives. Although NCQ has limited benefits at present, it will have a significant role in optimizing performance by reducing latencies in rigorous multithreaded scenarios where multiple simultaneous commands from the

OS can expand the command queue depth. Coming to environmental specifications, the WD1500 is quite similar to the WD740GD. The operational and nonoperational shock measures 65 G and 250 G respectively, which is a tad lower than most of the other drives due to the higher spindle speed. Rated at 4.6 dB in seek mode and 3.9 dB in silent mode, the acoustics of the drive are on the higher side—bearable for a single-drive setup, but the rattling of heads in the RAID 0 array will drive you nuts especially when you’re working in a quiet environment. The WD1500 looks quite similar to the WD740GD, but what sets it apart is the strong transparent top panel meant to please enthusiasts. It’s a treat to see

Watch the platters spin and the head move to and fro!

the head moving to and fro in split seconds reading the platters spinning at 10,000 rpm. Performance: The Raptor X 1500AFHD cruised through all the synthetic and real-world tests. For real-world tests we transferred a single as well as multiple files amounting to 1 GB from the RAM drive to the hard disk and vice versa. After the tests, we were amazed to see the raw muscle power of the drive—80 MB/s read speed and a drive index of 73 MB/s for a SATA 150 MB/s drive is so far the highest record achieved by a hard disk in our Test Center. The WD1500AFHD will surely make enthusiasts desiring ultra-high performance drool! And if you’re a big spender geek with a mighty bank balance, plug four such drives to create the most powerful RAID array in the world having 600 GB spinning at 10,000 rpm. For: Killer performance; cool looks. Against: Heats up; high CPU utilization; terribly expensive. TEST RIG Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Memory: 1 GB Kingston HyperX ULK2 in dual-channel mode INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

49

Graphics Card

MSI N7300GS Specifications: GeForce 7300GS chipset with 4 PixelShader units, 256 MB DDR2 memory with 64-bit memory interface, ShaderModel 3.0 support, DVI and D-sub connectors, TV-Out option

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 6,000 Micro-Star International

011-51758808 [email protected] www.msi-india.com

RATINGS Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Entry-level upgrade

T

he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is a value chipset for the entry-level segment. It’s built using the 90nm fabrication, ensuring higher clock speeds and smaller size. The MSI 7300GS is a PCI Express card supporting Shader Model 3.0 and comes with 256 MB of DDR2 memory clocked at 810 MHz. The 7300GS GPU is equipped with 4 pixel shader units, in accordance with all the current entry-level GPUs. The core is clocked at 550 MHz, one of the highest clocks for an entry-level GPU. Going by the clock speeds and memory configuration, the card looks promising. However, in reality, the performance of the card is seriously restricted by the 64-bit memory interface. The 256 MB DDR2 memory clocked at 810 MHz makes very little sense with the 64-bit memory interface. The card provides DVI and D-sub connector along with support for TV-Out. Performance: The card comes with a decent active cooler, which is more than sufficient for the chipset. Moving on to the performance, the graphs tell the story. The 7300GS from MSI is at par with the best of the entry-level cards. Even though the card performs at par with the other cards, the overall performance is disappointing. Representing the next generation of MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

cards, there is negligible performance boost over the older generation cards. The answer lies in crippled 64-bit memory bus, which significantly influences the overall performance. The same card with a proper 128-bit memory interface would have made a lot more sense. The GPU as well as the core has some potential for overclocking. We were able to push the GPU to 580 MHz and the memory to 855 MHz. The performance boost is almost negligible and hence it’s recommended to use the card at stock speeds unless you desperately need those extra two frames! For: 256 MB DDR2 memory; high core and memory clocks; good performance. Against: Over priced; 64-bit memory interface.

Quake 4- High@1024x768 41 33 30 92

MSI 7300GS GeCube GC-RX550GU2 AZebronics 6600LE BIG 6600GT 128MB

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MSI 7300GS GeCube GC-RX550GU2 AZebronics 6600LE BIG 6600GT 128MB 2000

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2227 MSI 7300GS 3790 BIG 6600GT 128MB 0

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HARDWARE

| TESTED

Digital Camera

Canon Digital IXUS 750 Specifications: 7.1MP CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, 32 MB memory card supplied, 2.5-inch LCD screen, 9-point AiAf, manual exposure and shutter speed controls.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 29,995 Canon

1600-3453366 [email protected] www.canon.co.in

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Small is big!

T

he Digital IXUS series of cameras from Canon is popular for a perfect mix of quality, size and features. With the IXUS 750, you get a massive 7.1 MP CCD resolution and a host of features all packed in a compact body. The 2.5-inch LCD screen with wide viewing angle dominates the back of the camera. The IXUS 750 offers 3x optical zoom and can capture VGA (640x480) quality MPEG-4 video at 30 fps. It also gives you an option of capturing videos at 60 fps as long as the resolution is 320x240. Using the 9-point AiAf system along with preset shooting modes, you can get good results from the camera without getting to the manual settings. In case you want manual settings, the manual mode lets you change the shutter speed, white balance and exposure settings. The camera comes with a 32 MB card as part of the package with slots for SD cards for storage. The unit is powered by a 790mAh li-ion battery, which is charged by the supplied charger. Just in case you don’t want to use the LCD screen as the viewfinder, there is an optical viewfinder as well that allows you to save power when the battery is low. The camera connects to the PC through USB and also sports an A/V out for viewing the captured pictures and movies on TV.

Performance: The startup time of the camera is excellent, ensuring you don’t have to wait for long just to get the camera up and running. The controls are intuitive and the menus are fast and easy to master. The brushed metal body with smooth finish not only looks great but is also one of the sturdiest in the category. In short, the IXUS 750 simply exuberates style and quality. The 2.5-inch LCD is nice with good refresh rate and excellent viewing angles but the resolution could be a tad better. The flash is sufficient for most conditions and is one of the best in the ultra compact category. The focusing is generally accurate and fast except for low light conditions where the unit takes some time to focus accurately. Color reproduction is excellent

An optical viewfinder sits on top of the 2.5-inch LCD screen

with proper saturation and contrast. The image quality is good with high detail level but some of the test images were a little too soft. Noise levels till ISO 200 are minimal ensuring crisp images; at ISO 400 the noise typically creeps in. Battery life is above average, giving about 150 shots on a fully charged battery. Overall, the IXUS 750 is a stylish and capable camera made for a demanding point-and-shoot user. Having said that, more manual controls and a better LCD screen would have made the IXUS 750 almost perfect! For: Excellent build quality and finish; 2.5-inch LCD screen; fast operation; 7.1 MP image resolution; easy to use. Against: LCD resolution could be better; images are little soft; few manual controls.

The build quality of the camera is one of the best in the ultra-compact category INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Digital Video Recorder

Aiptek PocketDV 8600 Specifications: 8 MP (5 MP optical sensor) camera, Video-in, Video-out, Personal Media Player, Voice Recorder, PC/Web Camera.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 12,500 Wespro India

022-30916039 [email protected] www.wesproindia.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Digital Swiss knife

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orget about the clunky devices promising to do a lot when you can have a fully functional device housed in a small form factor. The Aiptek PocketDV 6800 digital video recorder is one such multifunctional device with a wide array of features. Design: It’s just the right size and snugly fits into your palm. It has a 2.4 inch LCD screen which can be rotated by 270 degrees, pretty much like in camcorders. However, the recorder has been designed in a way that while holding it, you inevitably end up blocking the flash. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery rated at 850 mAh lasts for 4 hours per charge. You have to charge the battery externally with a charger, which is a bit of a pain. It comes packed with 32 MB built-in flash memory with 16 MB for storage. Memory is expandable upto 2 GB with slots for SD/MMC cards. Camera: Although it’s being touted as a 8-megapixel camera, it actually has a 5-megapixel image sensor. So in case of shooting pictures at a resolution higher than 5 megapixels, the size can be increased only with the help of a certain software. The camera also features a flash . However, it misses out on optical zoom. While testing the image quality

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

of the camera, we clicked snaps at 8 MP resolution, set to automatically control white balance. The image quality was above average but the color reproduction was not accurate. After manually adjusting the environment settings, the color reproduction was much better. You can record video clips at VGA (640x480) or QVGA (320x240) resolutions. The recording quality is very good and smooth at 30 fps. Video Recorder: We were very impressed with the video recorder, which records movies, programs from TV or DVD player. You simply have to connect the required cables and the image will instantly display on the TFT screen. You can directly start recording by just hitting the record button. Video is recorded at VGA and QVGA resolutions.

Left to Right: Charger; mini tripod stand; remote; earphones

Video Playback on TV: It was easy to set up video playback on TV. Whatever pictures or videos you view on the 2.4 inch LCD can also be played back on your television in real time. MP3 Player & web/PC Camera: MP3 playback is very good, though the supplied headphones don’t do justice. The recorder also functions as PC/web camera. The software is very intuitive and the bundled small tripod stand is a nifty addition. In addition to the above features, it can be also used for voice recording and as a portable storage device. It comes with a fully functional remote and a carry case. You will need at least a 1 GB SD/MMC card to store and record data to fully utilize the potential of the device. A 1 GB MMC card costs around Rs 2,500, effectively making the price of the unit Rs 15,000 (12,500+2500). And at 15,000 bucks, it’s an expensive proposition, especially when you look at the performance. For: Extensive bundled package; easy to implement functions; smooth video capture and recording; PC/Web camera; MP3 playback; well illustrated and simple to understand manual. Against: No optical zoom; external battery charger; low on storage. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Power Supply Unit

Vantec Ion2 460 watts Specifications: 460 Watts, EZ-Grip connectors, Presleeved cables, PCIexpress power connector, SATA connectors, 20-24pin ready.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 4,500 Apical Impex Pvt Ltd

9821349177 [email protected] www.vantec.com.tw/

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Super power

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ut of the box, the Ion2 from Vantec is a good looker. The glossy black finish with a steel fan grill looks classy. The top rung PSU manufacturers normally sleeve just the main power cable. Vantec has gone a step ahead and has sleeved all the cables in black, which is very commendable. And if you are wondering that it’s easy to sleeve the cables on your own, think again. It’s pretty time consuming and you need to remove the Molex connectors for which you need Molex removal tools. But Vantec has done away with these hassles. The sleeved cables don’t obstruct airflow and give a neat look. Features: We have already mentioned about pre-sleeved cables, which is a big plus. Next comes Vantec’s EZ-Grip Molex

The ratings of the Ion2 are pretty impressive

connectors. Almost everyone who has spent time with a computer case knows how difficult it is sometimes to remove the Molex connectors with the risk of snapping the cables. But with the EZ-grip connectors, you just need to press the grip and off they come. It comes with a 24-pin connector. The last four pins can be slid off to make it a 20-pin connector for motherboards with a 20-pin socket. The 120 mm fan sucks in air from the case and exhausts it from the outlet. The outlet has a meshed grill. The 120 mm fan is thermally controlled, that is it spins faster if the temperature increases. The ION2 is pretty silent and even at higher temperatures when the fan rpm increases, it’s not very audible. Credit it to the 120 mm fan, they are less noisy at higher rpm than an 80 mm

Top to Bottom: PCIexpress, SATA & EZ-Grip Molex connector

fan plus they also move much more air. It comes with the wall socket-to-PSU power cable, again something unique as most PSU manufacturers leave this out. The manual is spot on and very detailed, though most of us wouldn’t be interested in all the numbers inside. Performance: This is the most important part. Sleeved cables, EZ-grip connectors, etc are all features to reckon with but a power supply is no good if it can’t be stable when stressed out. To check for stability we observed the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V rails under load. It is acceptable if it fluctuates within +/- 5 percent. Bad PSUs widely fluctuate at load. To check this out, we stressed the ION2 with Prime 95, a software application. Our test system included a 7800GTX, AMD 3800+, Asus A8N-E, 2 SATA hard drives and one optical drive. The ION2 came out with flying colors. All the three rails were well within the 5 percent acceptable range and didn’t stray even at loads. We were very impressed with the ION2. It’s one of the most complete packages you can expect and at Rs 3,890 it’s a killer deal. For: Gold plated connectors for better conductivity; EZ-grip connectors; all cables sleeved; silent operation; rock stable. Against: None. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Printer

HP Deskjet 460cb Specifications: Dimensions: 340.2x80.5x163.8 mm, Weight: 2 kgs, thermal inkjet printer, 1200x1200 dpi, 32 MB memory, 50 sheet input capacity, Pictbridge compliant, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity options

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 14,999 HP India

+91 124 270 6283 [email protected] www.hp.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Mobile Printer

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P’s sleek Deskjet 460cb is a ‘mobile’ printer with multiple connectivity options. It is certainly not as small as Canon’s compact printers or as bulky looking as Kodak’s printer docks. Weighing in at 2 kgs, it’s a slimmed down version of a desktop printer that can accompany you on all your journeys. A 2300mAh lithium-ion battery pack is also provided with the printer for the moments when you are left stranded without a power outlet in sight. The battery is slim and does not make the printer heavier. The notable features incorporated into this printer are the various connectivity options. Printer supports USB, Bluetooth as well as wireless (802.11b standard) connectivity. However, wire-free printing is possible only if you have the necessary add-on hardware plugged into the device. This was a bit of a disappointment as we expected the features to be out of the box. You need to either have a Bluetooth USB dongle or a CF card (since the printer also houses a CF/SD/ MMC card reader). The same goes for the Wi-Fi hardware. Since the Pictbridge port on the printer is a regular USB connection (A-connection or ‘upstream’), you can connect the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi dongle to it. True to its mobile theme, the Deskjet 460cb allows you to save three wireless

profiles—say, home, office and direct. It manages to save all these details— whether to connect directly (ad-hoc mode) to your home network or securely with a key in the office—in its ample 32 MB memory. The input and output trays fold in to keep the printer protected from dust when not in use. The printer was put through a basic text print of 10 pages, and it took a good two-and-a-half minutes to complete it. The black text in the Normal print seemed to spread a little—at different places—on the paper. This effect was even more pronounced in areas where text had been highlighted with Word’s yellow marker. Printing the same text in ‘Normal Fast’ produced a slightly better output while the

Multiple connectivity options are offered by HP’s mobile printer

Draft mode seemed to be the best one to use for basic black text printouts—it took a little over a minute to print 10 sheets. Color prints taken of documents containing geometric detailing and text in color were quite good. A normal print of such a page on regular A4 paper took around half a minute. The same page when printed on 260 gsm photo glossy paper made a world of difference. The grey tones, minute detailing and text readability was much better. The color management needed to be switched from ColorSmart to AdobeRGB for precise outputs. This ensured an output that was true to the original document. The print mainly comes through well on photo paper while it seems to be strictly average on regular paper. For the price it is available, the printer should ideally have wireless and Bluetooth built into it by default. To take advantage of its mobility, you have to invest in more hardware. For: Good photo quality printouts; smart design; profiles can be created for different wireless scenarios. Against: Doesn’t support Memory Stick or CF-Type II cards; printing plain text on Draft mode to prevent the ink from spreading; additional hardware needed to avail wire free options. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

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Motherboard

ECS RD480-A939 Specifications: ATX, AMD Socket-939, ATI Xpress 200 CrossFire (ATI RD480) chipset, dual-channel DDR400, 8 USB ports, 8-channel audio, Gigabit LAN, 4 SATA headers, 2 PCI slots, serial and parallel ports

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 6,500 Cyberstar Infocom Ltd

080-51266808 [email protected] www.cyberstarindia.com

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Budget CrossFire board

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fter hearing about ATI’s CrossFire for months, we have it here finally! With multi-GPU CrossFire setup gradually gaining popularity, the wait for CrossFire motherboards to hit the shelves is finally over. The ECS RD480-A939 is one of the first budget CrossFire motherboards aimed at audience having a tight budget in hand for a CrossFire setup. As the name suggests, the ECS RD480A939 is an AMD Socket-939 based ATX motherboard featuring ATI’s Xpress 200 CrossFire (RD480) chipset. Like most ECS motherboards, this one too is purple having colored slots. The layout is such that it leaves plenty of breathing space between various components. This is primarily because it’s an entry-level CrossFire board. There are some components missing in the board contributing to some barren areas on it. One such is the empty area at the rear-panel, which is usually occupied by

The rear panel of the RD480 doesn’t feature a parallel port MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the parallel and D-sub ports. Instead, the board has a parallel port header and the port comes bundled separately. The board also lacks SPDIF and optical outputs, RAID controller, SATA 300 MB/s and Firewire support. The PCIe slots are placed well apart allowing two cards in CrossFire mode to breathe comfortably. This holds only true in case of cards occupying a single slot. If you populate the slots with two mammoth-sized cards like the X1800XT or the X1900XT, they are separated by merely half a centimeter! An interesting feature of the motherboard is the provision of a shunt card in the package. You can plug it into the empty PCIe slot in a single-card setup to allow the occupied slot to utilize full 16x bandwidth without which the bandwidth would halve to 8x. Being a budget board, the RD480-A939 offers more then a handful of features. It supports AMD 64 FX and dual-core processors and a maximum of 4 GB DDR400 memory in dual-channel mode. Gigabit LAN and 8-channel audio support are an added bonus. Other features like 8 USB ports, 2 IDE connectors, floppy disk drive connector and serial port are also included as seen on most budget

motherboards. Performance: The RD480-A939 delivers good performance for its specifications. When coupled with high-end components, the board reported fairly decent scores. Finally, it’s to be kept in mind that this board is a budget board—it won’t do justice to top-end cards like the X1800XT or the X1900XT. So, enthusiasts keep away! Get it only if you get a kick out of multi-GPU gaming! For: Budget CrossFire motherboard. Against: No optical or S/PDIF outputs; no SATA-II support; tiny PCIe retention clips. TEST RIG Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Memory: 1 GB Kingston HyperX ULK2 in dual-channel mode Hard Disk: Western Digital Raptor 740GD SCORES SiSoft Sandra 2005-SR3 CPU arithmetic: Dhrystones: 19,799 Whetstones: 9,136 Memory bandwidth: 5,280 MB/s PCMark 2004 – 6,763 3DMark 2003 – 17,487 3DMark 2005 – 10,577

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Computer Case

Zebronics Las Vegas

Specifications: Specifications: Slim Case, Micro-ATX form factor, touch front panel, 300 watts power supply

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 2,300 Zebronics 022-23009539 [email protected] www.zebronics.net

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Microsoft Wireless Optical

Specifications: optical, 1000 dpi, Tilt wheel (4-way scrolling), magnifier. Rs 2,600 Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division

1600-111100 [email protected] www.microsoft.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

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ith PCs becoming living room items, it has become important to consider asthetics while designing a case. The Zebronics Las Vegas has a compact, slim body. Let’s check out the features it offers. Exteriors: The case is 34.5 cms in height, about 20 percent lesser than a conventional case and 13.5 cms in width, which is lesser than the width of an optical drive—reason why the optical drive bay is vertical. The USP of the case is its feather touch panel, which apart from looking elegant has buttons for power, reset, standby and hold. But the classy touch panel is not complemented by a good exterior paint job. It’s black and has a matte finish and is best described as average. The front bezel is made of plastic. It has a color-coded front panel for USB and audio. Interiors: The frame is made up of above average quality aluminum and more importantly it doesn’t have sharp edges. Sadly, the default back panel hasn’t been cut out completely during fabrication and

attaches itself to the case at three or four points. You need a pair of pliers to remove it and even after you have removed it, the sharp joints still remain which can be dangerous while installing the back plate of your motherboard. It can only fit a Mirco ATX board and not standard ATX board. You can fit in a single hard drive, optical drive and floppy drive, understandable for a small form factor PC. With regards to case ventilation, it has slots for two 50 mm rear exhaust fans, one 80 mm front intake and side intake fan each and is supplied with one 80 mm side intake fan. The power supply is good enough for normal computer usage and since the case is anyway limited with the number of components, it does a fairly good job. For: Feature touch front panel; thumb screws; side panel fan with stylish grill; well managed interior space. Against: Average power supply; difficult to remove default back plate; ordinary paint quality.

Comfort with precision

Input Device

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Small wonder

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ll of us look for clutter free desktops. And therefore wireless keyboards and optical mice make more sense than anything else these days. The Mircosoft Wireless Optical Mouse while following this trend also offers a host of other cool features. Design: The mouse has well designed grooves for comfort and comfortably fits in your hand. The dark blue portion of the mouse has a matte finish for better grip. The rest of the body is silver in color to give it a refined dual tone look. It’s not ambidextrous, which means it’s only designed for right-handed operation. Two pencil-sized batteries make it heavy. Features: There are two thumb buttons on the left hand side. Both of them are configurable. The smaller thumb button is pre-configured to enable the magnifier feature. Just point and press the magnifier button to enlarge anything on the screen. The larger thumb button can be configured to perform a variety of functions. You just have to install the given software and using the program you can assign a

function to it from the huge list of available options. For example, you can assign it to launch MSN Messenger or assign it basic options like “Copy” , “Paste”, etc. The tilt wheel is one unique feature and is indeed nifty. It lets you do the conventional vertical page scrolling and also lets you scroll horizontally. Functionality: Most importantly, it does not eat into your desktop space. The receiver plugs into the USB or PS2 port. You must keep in mind that the distance between the receiver and the mouse should be 6 feet or less. It has a resolution of 1000 dpi. Though it cannot match up to the 1600 dpi-laser mice, it costs lesser than a laser mouse and is perfect for anyone looking for a affordable and reliable wireless mouse. At Rs 2,600 , it’s a little more expensive than similar models from Logitech. For: Wireless; configurable keys (magnifier); good build quality; four-way scrolling. Against: Two pencil-sized batteries make it heavy; not ambidextrous. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Anywhere computing for everyone

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35 laptops across five categories put under the magnifying glass. FInd out which one can be yours...

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

LAPTOP COMPARISON

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n an era where our towns and cities are rife with progress and excitement, people are beginning to spend an increasingly large amount of time in transit. Be it on the way to office, on the way back or between cities on work, you’re probably away from your digital data longer than you’d like. Being so heavily dependant on connectivity, it’s only natural that every once of us have, at some time or the other, fantasized about owning a laptop. We all know the possibilities it throws up, not to mention the status symbol it embodies. Until just last year, the very thought of owning a laptop was just that: a thought. But not anymore—with plummeting prices, increasingly capable specifications and deliciously portable form factors, the laptop has finally come into its own. No matter which town you stay in, you’ve probably come across at least a dozen advertisements on laptops from at least half-a-dozen brands. Yes, there are a growing number of people jumping onto the laptop bandwagon these days and the trend clearly shows no signs of abating. In the midst of all this excitement, there’s just one ruling question that looms above every prospective laptop user’s head: Which one? Given the sheer spectrum of specifications, screen sizes, form factors, processor speeds, integrated graphics and other frilly features, it’s not difficult to understand why people are so confused. Moreover, every brand out there is boasting of a USP that is curiously similar to the next one. In planning, sourcing, categorizing and evaluating the laptops in this comparison, we have used a format that demystifies

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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the entire process of understanding what makes laptops different from one another; more importantly, what task each is best suited to. To that end, we’ve focused on the laptop’s final application as the fulcrum point of reckoning during our search and decide process. Specifications, features, size and every other characteristic follow later. With this ideology in mind, we’ve evaluated the 35 laptops here on a selection of many of the usual (and enhanced) real-world applications and have put these devices under the magnifying glass to reveal every facet of how well they are designed and built to suit your particular application. By abstracting the specifications from the actual application, we found the suitability of each laptop to a given task standing clearly. Since the last year, there has been an obviously upward transition in terms of specifications: every one of these devices features high-speed wireless network capabilities (802.11g), all of them feature processors with speeds upward of 1 GHz, almost every one has optical drives with writing capabilities as de-facto standard… the list goes on. However, three of the most interesting trends we’ve seen in terms of specification are the proliferation of the widescreen displays, the arrival of ‘dual core’ mobile processors and, of course, a sharp drop in overall prices. We’ve factored all of these new enhancements into our review process and checked them out for effectiveness. There are some fantastic products out here, many of them first-ever reviews in the Indian market. So what are we waiting for—let’s go ahead and dig right in.

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Test process Before getting our hands dirty with the battalion of laptops, we first segmented them into 5 categories—ultra-portable, mainstream, desktop replacement, budget and tablet PCs based on their form-factor, features, usability and price. We logged more than 150 scores and specifications for each laptop to give you detailed results. The laptops were evaluated on the basis of their features, performance, ergonomics, build quality and warranty, and support. Let’s take a close look at what went into each of these parameters to find out how we arrived at the results.

Features: A powerful feature set implies that the laptop is a powerhouse and covers a large application area. Hence we have assigned the highest weightage to this section. Here, we noted the specifications of the core components like the processor, memory, hard drive, graphics subsystem, display and pointing device. The better each of these features, the higher the points awarded to the laptop. Presence of integrated features such as Bluetooth, IR, webcam, biometric security, FireWire, memory card reader is an added bonus. We even logged the specifications of each component such as the type of optical drive, resolution of the web cam, number of USB ports and card formats supported by the card reader to further refine the results.

Performance: Here, we used a couple of synthetic and real-world benchmarks to assess the core performance of each laptop. We ran SiSoft Sandra Pro 2005 to evaluate the performance of the processor, hard drive, RAM, optical drive and the

Presence of an integrated webcam is useful for video conferencing.

overall system. PCMark 2005 which emulates real-world scenarios like booting Windows XP, web page rendering, hard drive usage and multithreading was also used. 3DMark 2003 and Doom 3 were only run on desktop replacements and laptops having a powerful graphics subsystem capable of handling the stress put forth by the tests. For real world tests, we logged the time taken to encode audio to MP3 and a VOB file to Xvid using Easy CD-DA Extractor and AutoGK respectively. Being CPU intensive, these tests clearly highlighted the laptop’s processing power. The optical drive was assessed by measuring time taken to rip two tracks off an audio CD. The LCD display was also tested for the reproduction of color gradients and viewing angle. We used MobileMark 2002 by Bapco to assess the battery life. It emulates realworld activities like web surfing, imaging and word processing until the battery runs dry and reports the battery life in minutes.

Ergonomics: Apart from features and performance, it is crucial that a laptop has good ergonomics to offer the user maximum comfort. Side or front placement of audio and USB ports, dedicated volume control, presence of hotkeys and good heat management system does make the user experience more pleasurable. If you are used to desktop keyboards, minor features like the placement of ‘ctrl’ key before ‘Fn’ key in a laptop’s keyboard is appreciated. The placement of the touchpad centralized to the keyboard rather than the chassis plays a significant role in reducing finger stress when using the touchpad while your fingers are placed on the keyboard. Inclusion of such features were taken into account and points were awarded accordingly.

Touchpad centralized to the keyboard is easier on the fingers while typing.

15% Warranty & Support

30% Features

15% Build Quality

10% Ergonomics

30% Performance

Weightage distribution for evaluation parameters

Build quality: Since laptops are portable devices, they must be able to withstand the occasional bumps and scratches while you are on the move. Robust chassis and sturdy hinges, clasps and flaps contribute to the overall sturdiness of the laptop. Use of metal (brushed aluminum or magnesium alloy) or carbon fiber in construction of the body renders extra ruggedness. Since the LCD screen is the most delicate component of a laptop, a sturdy screen frame is a must to prevent bending or wobbling of the display. Owing to the compact form factor, laptops usually have a small keyboard. Therefore we also took the layout of the keyboard along with the size and spacing of the keys into consideration for evaluating the overall build quality.

Warranty and support: Since laptops are an expensive asset and susceptible to damage like hardware failure, it is crucial that it must be backed up by a robust warranty and support. We evaluated this parameter based on the number of years of warranty offered, the total number of service centers in the country and the number of cities in which service centers are present

Value for money: We concluded the round up with the ‘Value for Money’ index which we calculated by stacking up the features and performance against the price. The higher the performance and the number of features with respect to price, the greater this score. In each of the five categories, we awarded the notebooks having the best performance and the highest ‘Value for Money’ index. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

LAPTOP COMPARISON

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Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 1 GB DDR2

Specifications: Intel Pentium M 745 1.6 GHz, 256 MB

Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 2GB DDR2 @

@533MHz RAM, 12.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Intel

DDR@ 333MHz, 12.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Intel

533MHz RAM, 15.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Nvidia

945GM integrated graphics, 100 GB HDD.

855GM integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD.

GeForce Go 7400, 100 GB HDD.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 99,000 ASUSTeK Computer Inc 022-40058914 [email protected]

Rs 49,000 Zenith Computers Ltd 022-28228162 [email protected]

RATINGS

RATINGS Features

Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Perfomance

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Build Quality

Build Quality

Warranty

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money

Value for money

Value for money

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Ultra portable notebooks are expensive as they have to pack in all components within a small package. The Zenith Presidio Vu is one such laptop but at an affordable price. The body of the notebook is gleaming white and so is the keypad. It has a 12.1-inch wide screen with a maximum resolution of 1280x768. The notebook is powered by the Intel Pentium M processor 745 at 1.6 GHz and has 256 MB of DDR RAM. Though it’s absolutely usable with 256 MB of RAM and allows you to run all applications on Windows XP easily, yet an upgrade to 512 MB of RAM will make this machine unbeatable. It comes with a 40 GB hard disk, which is not enough for a notebook in the ultra portable category as you would be carrying movies, music, tons of data while out on a business travel. A 60 GB hard disk would have been more apt. Coming to battery life, it lasted for almost three-and-half hours during our tests, which is commendable. For: Good value for money for a notebook in the ultra portable category. Against: A 40 GB HDD; 256 MB RAM.

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Rs 1,10,000 ASUSTeK Computer Inc 022-40058914 [email protected]

RATINGS

Features

The Asus W5F is an ultra portable mean machine with looks that would make heads turn. From a black body made of carbon fiber to steel buttons to a glare screen, the notebook exudes style and class in every little detail packed in. The W5F is the only notebook in the ultra portable category which is powered by Intel’s latest Core Duo processor and has the 2 GHz variant. It has 1 GB of RAM, a 100 GB hard disk, a 12.1-inch wide screen with a maximum resolution of 1280x800. The screen quality is good and has good viewing angles. It’s a tad heavy though at 1.6 kgs in the ultra portable category. Additional features include a 1.3 MP web cam, a DVD writer, a FireWire port and a S/PDIF out for multi-channel sound. It has a battery life of 3 hours and 10 mins, which is good for a laptop of its size. The laptop costs Rs 99,000, a price you would be ready to pay for a powerhorse which is portable and easy to carry around. For: Dual core 2 GHz processor; DVD Writer; good looks; S/PDIF out. Against: None.

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The Asus V6800J belongs to the new breed of powerful and good looking notebooks from Asus. The body is composed of carbon fiber making it sturdy. It is a tad heavy at 2.5 kgs but its stupendous performance is to be reckoned with. The notebook is powered by Intel’s latest dual core 2 GHz processor with 2 GB of RAM, which is four times the RAM in other mainstream notebooks. The hard drive is king size at 100 GB. The 15.1-inch screen supports a maximum resolution of 1400x1050. Other features include a DVD writer and S/PDIF out for multi-channel sound. The V6800J has one of the latest graphics cards, the GeForce Go 7400 delivering very good performance. While running the battery test, we found it to last for 3 hours 3 minutes, which is good for a feature-rich laptop with powerful components. The V6800J at Rs 1,10,000 is certainly not affordable for everyone but considering the workhorse it is, the price factor is justified. For: Dual Core 2 GHz processor; S/PDIF out. Against: None.

HARDWARE

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Specifications: Intel Pentium M 740, 512 MB

Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 1024 MB DDR2

Specifications: Intel Pentium M 740 1.7 GHz, 256 MB

DDR2@533 MHz RAM, 14.1-inch screen, DVD Writer,

@533 MHz, 15.4-inch screen, DVD Writer, ATI

DDR2 @533MHz RAM, 15.4-inch screen, DVD Writer,

Intel GMA900 integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD.

Mobility Radeon X1600XT, 100 GB HDD.

Intel GMA900 integrated graphics, 60 GB HDD.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 54,499 Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd 022-26526696 [email protected]

RATINGS

Rs 1,34,999 Acer India 080-25219520 [email protected]

Rs 42,499 Acer India 080-25219520 [email protected]

RATINGS

RATINGS

Features

Features

Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Perfomance

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Build Quality

Build Quality

Warranty

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money

Value for money

Value for money

The Gigabyte W431 UD is a perfect mix of features and performance at a very affordable price tag of Rs 54,500. The Gigabyte and the ACI S28 are fighting a close battle for the best-value notebook in the mainstream segment. The Gigabyte W431 and ACI S28 both have Pentium M processors. The former has a better clock speed of 1.7 GHz when compared to ACI’s 1.6 GHz. Both have 512 MB of DDR2 RAM The W431 UD is a widescreen notebook with a screen size of 14.1 inches and supporting a maximum resolution of 1280x768 as against ACI’s 15.1inch normal screen. While the Gigabyte has a DVD writer and a 60 GB hard disk, the ACI has a combo drive and a 40 GB hard drive. Battery life at 4 hours 36 minutes for the Gigabyte W431 UD is extremely good. The ACI has a battery life of 3 hours and 10 minutes. It’s priced at Rs 50,000. But we would say you pay for the extra Rs 4,500 more to get what’s worth your money. For: Good value for money; DVD writer; excellent battery life. Against: None.

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The Acer TravelMate 8240WLMi is one mean machine and one of the fastest notebooks we have ever laid our hands on. It’s powered by the latest technology— Intel’s dual core 2 GHz processor and X1600XT graphics card. The notebook has good build quality. Expect a 15-inch widescreen with an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a maximum screen resolution of 1680x1050. The screen quality is good although with a compromise on viewing angles. It has both DVI and docking ports—rare features in laptops. A built-in 1.3 MP camera is also part of the package. Our tests revealed how the Asus A6JA duked it out closely with the Acer 8240 in all the performance department but was shot down completely when it came to battery life. The 8240 has a whopping battery life of 5 hours 10 mins when compared to Asus’ 2 hours 6 mins. At Rs 1,34,999 it is expensive but with a nitro boosted performance. For: Dual Core 2 GHz processor; X1600XT graphics card; good build quality. Against: Heavy.

The Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 is powered by an Intel Pentium M 740 1.7 GHz processor, which although not top of the line is quite fast for the mobile platform. Though it has just 256 MB of memory, we suggest you get the RAM upgraded to 512 MB to make it a more balanced machine. An additional Rs 2,000 shouldn’t hurt your pocket. The notebook is heavy at 2.9 kgs. It packs in a 15.4-inch wide screen supporting a maximum resolution of 1280x800. To cut down on the price Acer has not included features like a memory card reader, Bluetooth and infrared. These accessories can be bought separately for few hundred rupees as and when you feel the need. For example, a card reader comes for Rs 300 only and is small enough to fit in your laptop bag. However, Acer doesn’t miss out on important features like Wi-Fi B/G, Ethernet and FireWire. Our tests revealed it has average battery life at only 2 hours per charge. For: Best priced; DVD writer. Against: 256 MB RAM, average battery life; heavy. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Specifications: Intel Celeron M 360, 256 MB DDR@333

Specifications: Tablet PC, Intel Pentium M 740,

MHz, 15-inch screen, Combo Drive, Intel GMA900

512 MB DDR2@ 533 MHz, 12.1-inch screen, DVD

integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD.

Writer, Nvidia Go 6200 (64 MB),80 GB HDD

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 31,999 Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd 022-26526696 [email protected]

RATINGS Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Build Quality

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money

Value for money

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Rs 94,999 Acer India 080-25219520 [email protected]

RATINGS

Features

The Gigabyte N521UC is the best in the budget category. It has won the Best Value award and also the Best Performance award. The Gigabyte 521UC and the BenQ Joybook R31E wrestle it out closely in the performance tests. The 521UC wins the test in spite of having a slower processor @ 1.4 GHz when compared to BenQ’s 1.5 GHz because of superior battery life. The N521UC gave us almost four-and-a-half hours of battery life! The N521UC has an Intel Celeron M360 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz which is good enough for office based applications and general multimedia applications like watching movies. It comes with 256 MB of DDR RAM but we recommend getting it upgraded to 512MB. It sports a good quality 15-inch screen plus a card reader, which is absent in the BenQ. Also included is a combo optical drive. For: Phenomenal battery life for its category. Against: Heavy at 2.8 kgs; 256 MB RAM; Windows XP not bundled.

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Acer TravelMate C202 Tmi

Intel Core Duo: Based on 65nm

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The Acer c202 Tmi tablet PC is truly unique in design. In the normal mode, the screen is fixed at one angle, therefore the viewing angle is restricted. Acer has done away with the touch pad and used a stub instead. There is small scroll wheel in the corner, a feature indeed unique. This is the first and the only tablet we reviewed which packed in a DVD writer with a slot loading mechanism. You no longer have to worry about the flimsy drive trays. Coming to performance, the tablet is powered by Intel’s Pentium M 740 processor @ 1.7 GHz. With 512 MB DDR2 RAM, the requirement for office applications is taken care of. The cherry on the cake comes in the form of Nvidia’s Go 6200 64 MB graphics chip which is better than onboard graphics chipsets. Battery life is healthy at 3 hours 19 minutes. For: Best value for money; Nvidia Geforce Go 6200; fingerprint scanner; wide array of hotkeys. Against: Heavy; fixed viewing angle.

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fabrication process, the new Intel Core Duo processor is the next-generation processor for Intel Centrino mobile technology-based notebooks. With two execution cores, the Intel Core Duo processor is optimized for multithreaded applications and multitasking. With speeds ranging from 1.5 GHz to 2.16 GHz per core, it is highly suited to handle multiple demanding applications simultaneously. Tasks such as encoding audio and video as well as rendering a 3D model simultaneously is a breeze for notebooks based on the Core Duo processor. The extreme power of the Core Duo processor doesn’t compromise on the battery life of the mobile device thanks to the 65nm fabrication process and ultra-low power consumption.

LV/ULV Processors: Most of the mobile processors from Intel that belong to the Centrino platform, sport the LV or the ULV tag. These tags are used to classify the processors depending on the power consumption technology incorporated in them. The LV stands for Low Voltage processors that are found in most of the Intel Pentium-M based notebook computers. The Ultra Low Voltage processors are used in the ultra compact notebook computers; these are lower clocked processors and hence consume less power. The Intel Core Duo series of processors use the ULV technology built on the 65nm fabrication process. They consume less power while delivering high performance. Turion Processors: AMD Turion 64 is primarily based on their vastly popular Athlon 64’s architecture. What has changed is the power consumption; the Athlon 64 Mobile dissipates 65 W while Turion 64 dissipates only 35 W (ML models) or 25 W (MT models). Another difference between them is the amount of L2 cache, which is always 1 MB on Athlon 64 Mobile, while Turion 64 can have a L2 memory cache of 512 KB or 1 MB, depending on the model.

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1 Soham Raninga [email protected]

After using the Sony VAIO VGNTX17GP, it’s hard to imagine life without it. The sheer looks, size and grace of the machine combined with power and style mesmerized me like no other. A near 6-hour battery life packed in such a form factor speaks volumes of the engineering and technology behind the VAIO. The only hole left by the VAIO is the gaming department and that’s where the ACER TravelMate 8200-ZC1 comes to rescue. The machine packs more punch than most of the desktop PCs, thanks to the Core Duo processor, mammoth 1 GB of memory, 100 GB of storage space and ATI X1600 graphics. Now that you guys know what I want, show me the money!

Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

2

Ultra portable Zenith Presidio Vu

Asus W5F

Zenith Computers Ltd

ASUSTeK Computer Inc

022-28228162

022-40058914

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 49,000

Rs 99,000

19.29 16.37 5.96 9.74 11.67

21.78 19.50 6.44 10.12 4.07

Total: 63.02

Total: 61.90

30.8 x 3.2 x 22.2 1.6 Intel Pentium M 745 / 1.6 256 40 / 4200 12.1 16:10 widescreen 1280x768 Combo drive Intel 855GM Intel 855GM ✓|✓|✓ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

30.5 x 3.1 x 22 1.6 Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 1024 100 / 5400 12.1 16:10 widescreen 1280x800 DVD-Writer Intel 945GM Intel 945GM ✕|✕|✓ ✓ ✓|2|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

57 52 NA 6.75 1468 NA 213 8.6 Average

43 27 NA 9.26 3121 NA 190 8.2 Below average

✕ 5 ✓ ✕ Average Good

✓ 1 ✓ ✓ Average Good

Average / Good Average ✕ ✓

Average / Good Average ✕ ✓

450 450 1

44 22 2

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5)

Features Dimensions (cm) Weight (Kg) Processor (Name, speed in GHz) RAM (MB) Hard disk (size GB, rpm) Screen size (inches) Screen format Max resolution Optical drive Motherboard chipset Graphics Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, web cam) Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Ports (Ethernet, USB, FireWire) Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) Battery capacity (mAH)

Performance Anand Tuliani [email protected]

Thirty-five gorgeous devices and just one choice! For a budget of Rs 45,000 that most of us would set aside for a laptop, the Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 hits the sweet spot on all counts. Based on Intel’s Sonoma platform powered by a 1.7 GHz processor coupled with a decent memory, a generous 60 GB hard drive and a dual-layer DVD writer, it can easily replace a basic desktop PC while also being portable. Watching movies on its slick 15.4inch glossy widescreen display is a visual treat to reckon with. The only problem is average battery life while you’re on the move. But all in all—it’s a terrific package. Gamers stay away!

Audio Encoding (sec) + Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) PCMark 2005 index 3DMark 2003 index MobileMark 2002 (mins) LCD quality (out of 10) Speaker quality

Ergonomics Manual volume control Number of shortcut keys Smoothened edges Wizard-driven wireless setup Heat management Operational silence

Build quality Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Optical Drive tray Use of metal in construction Scratch resistance

Warranty & Support Authorised service centers Cities with service centers Warranty (Years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra + WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor ++ XviD, using AutoGK

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

LAPTOP COMPARISON

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Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP

Fujitsu Lifebook P7010

NEC Versa S1100

Sony India Pvt Ltd

Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd

Enkay Technologies India Pvt Ltd ASUSTeK Computer Inc

1600-11-11-88

022-30213388

022-24962705

022-40058914

022-56407000

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 1,22,900

Rs 1,40,000

Rs 92,900

Rs 85,000

Rs 49,999

19.49 16.26 7.69 10.93 4.11

19.51 16.54 7.03 10.86 1.82

16.81 16.37 5.19 11.50 5.16

Asus U5A

18.66 16.45 5.62 8.67 4.07

ACI Elite ACi Asia Ltd

16.77 16.08 6.64 9.74 3.96

Total: 58.48

Total: 55.76

Total: 55.02

Total: 53.47

Total: 53.19

27.2 x 2.9 x 19.5 1.24 Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 512 60 / 4200 11.1 16:9 widescreen 1366x768 DVD-Writer Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|2|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 7800

26.1 x 3.3 x 19.9 1.4 Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 512 80 / 4200 10.6 16:9 widescreen 1280x768 DVD-Writer Intel 855GM Intel 855GM ✓|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|2|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

27.2 x 3.2 x 23.8 1.41 Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 512 60 / 5400 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 DVD-Writer Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✕|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|✕|✕|✕ 4800

27.4 x 3.3 x 23.2 1.4 Intel Pentium M 760 / 2 768 80 / 4200 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 DVD-Writer Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

27.5 x 3.5 x 26.5 1.8 Intel Pentium M 730 / 1.6 512 40 / 5400 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓ 4400

95 85 NA 4.52 1397 NA 307 9.6 Below average

78 62 NA 5.98 1258 NA 260 9.6 Good

75 63 NA 6.31 1551 NA 248 9.2 Average

45 41 NA 7.12 2080 NA 152 9 Below average

56 46 NA 6.73 1730 NA 203 8.6 Poor

✓ 5 ✓ ✓ Average Excellent

✕ 2 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

✕ 0 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✕ 1 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✕ 0 ✓ ✓ Good Good

Below average / Excellent Excellent ✕ ✓

Excellent / Excellent Good ✕ ✓

Good / Good Excellent ✕ ✓

Below average / Below average Average ✕ ✓

Average / Average Average ✓ ✓

170 50 1

7 7 1

7 7 3

44 22 2

200 6 1

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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9

Mainstream Asus V6800J

Samsung NP-X20 E

Dell Latitude D510

ASUSTeK Computer Inc

Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd

Dell India Pvt Ltd

1800-425-8045

022-40058914

011-51511234

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 1,10,000

Rs 67,490

Rs 51,184

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100)

22.53 23.33 6.39 12.74 4.07

16.66 18.30 6.04 11.52 5.38

15.87 15.57 5.96 10.95 9.44

Total: 69.06

Total: 57.90

Total: 57.80

33 x 3 x 27.18 2.5 Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 2048 100 / 5400 15.1 4:3 conventional 1400x1050 DVD-Writer Intel 945PM Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 ✓|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

32.9 x 3.1 x 27.4 2.4 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 512 60 / 5400 15.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive Intel 915PM ATI Mobility Radeon X600 ✕|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓ 4800

33.8 x 3.6 x 27.36 2.36 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 512 40 / 5400 15 4:3 conventional 1024x768 DVD Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|4|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4700

44 29 97 9.23 3780 4364 183 8.6 Average

52 45 67 6.93 2473 3359 136 7.6 Good

54 49 NA 7.27 1988 NA 132 9 Average

✕ 5 ✓ ✓ Average Excellent

✕ 4 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✕ 1 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

Average / Average Average ✓ ✓

Good / Excellent Excellent ✕ ✓

Excellent / Excellent Good ✕ ✓

44 22 2

17 17 3

200 200 3

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Dimensions (cm) Weight (Kg) Processor (Name, speed in GHz) RAM (MB) Hard disk (size GB, rpm) Screen size (inches) Screen format Max resolution Optical drive Motherboard chipset Graphics Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, web cam) Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Ports (Ethernet, USB, FireWire) Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) Battery capacity (mAH)

Performance Audio Encoding (sec) + Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) PC Mark 2005 index 3DMark 2003 index MobileMark 2002 (mins) LCD quality (out of 10) Speaker quality

Ergonomics Manual volume control Number of shortcut keys Smoothened edges Wizard-driven wireless setup Heat management Operational silence

Build quality Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Optical Drive tray Use of metal in construction Scratch resistance

Warranty & Support Authorised service centers Cities with service centers Warranty (Years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra + WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor ++ XviD, using AutoGK

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Desktop replacement Lenovo ThinkPad T43

Gigabyte W431 UD

NEC Versa S940

Lenovo India Pvt Ltd

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd

Enkay Technologies India Pvt Ltd Acer India

ASUSTeK Computer Inc

1600-425-4240

022-26526696

022-24962705

022-40058914

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 89,900

Rs 54,499

Rs 82,900

Rs 1,34,999

Rs 1,05,000

14.87 17.83 6.10 13.07 5.78

17.49 18.51 6.01 9.33 3.22

16.48 17.75 5.15 9.95 5.16

Acer Travelmate 8240WLMi 080-25219520

24.28 27.26 6.48 12.43 3.03

Asus A6JA

23.25 22.70 6.41 10.71 4.07

Total: 57.65

Total: 54.56

Total: 54.48

Total: 73.48

Total: 67.14

31 x 2.54 x 25.4 23 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 256 40 / 5400 14.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|2|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4800

33.2 x 3.7 x 27.5 2.4 Intel Pentium M 730 / 1.6 512 40 / 5400 15 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✕|✕|✓ ✓ ✓|4|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4400

30.9 x 3.1 x 22.1 2 Intel Pentium M 745 / 1.8 512 60 / 5400 13 16:10 widescreen 1280x768 Combo drive Intel 855GM Intel 855GM ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|2|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4400

36.4 x 2.6 x 27.1 3 Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 1024 100 / 5400 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1680x1050 DVD-Writer Intel 945PM ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 ✓|✓|✓ ✓ ✓|4|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 7800

36 x 3.7 x 26.9 3.1 Intel Core Duo T2600 / 2.16 2048 100 / 5400 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1280x800 DVD-Writer Intel 945PM ATI Mobile Radeon X1600 ✓|✕|✓ ✓ ✓|5|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

54 44 NA 7.33 2021 NA 227 8 Good

56 47 NA 7.22 1967 NA 190 8.2 Good

48 46 NA 6.77 1702 NA 238 9.2 Below average

44 25 125 9.33 3677 7670 310 7.8 Average

40 25 118 9.80 4302 6588 126 2.6 Average

✓ 4 ✓ ✓ Excellent Excellent

✕ 3 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✕ 4 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✕ 6 ✓ ✓ Average Excellent

✕ 9 ✓ ✓ Below average Good

Excellent / Good Average ✓ ✓

Below average / Average Average ✕ ✓

Good / Good Average ✕ ✓

Good / Good Good ✓ ✓

Excellent / Good Average ✕ ✓

35 35 3

200 6 1

7 7 3

66 57 1

44 22 2

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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SpecScan 16 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

17

18

Desktop replacement Dell Latitude D810

Samsung Sens X60

MSI Megabook M645

Dell India Pvt Ltd

Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd

Micro-Star International

1800-425-8045

011-51511234

011-41758808

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 1,06,000

Rs 84,990

Rs 57,000

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100)

19.61 20.13 6.75 10.71 9.44

20.06 21.23 7.32 11.88 5.38

18.19 20.06 8.32 11.17 3.22

Total: 66.64

Total: 65.87

Total: 60.95

36.12 x 4.18 x 26.04 2.94 Intel Pentium M 780 / 2 2048 80 / 7200 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1900x1200 DVD-Writer Intel 915PM ATI Mobility X600 ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|4|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 7200

36.1 x 3.4 x 26.5 2.5 Intel Core Duo T2300 / 1.63 1024 80 / 5400 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1280x800 Combo drive Intel 945GM Intel GMA 945 ✓|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✕ 5200

35.5 x 3 x 25.5 2.9 Intel Pentium M730 / 1.6 512 60 / 4200 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1280x800 DVD-Writer Intel 915PM Nvidia Go 6600 ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|4|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4400

45 44 77.18 7.67 2756 3427 185 7.2 Good

52 31 26 8.44 4891 1452 245 8.2 Average

60 48 98 6.37 2639 5438 170 9.2 Good

✓ 4 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

✓ 5 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✓ 4 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

Excellent / Excellent Good ✕ ✓

Good / Excellent Excellent ✕ ✓

Average / Average Average ✓ ✓

200 200 3

17 17 3

70 70 1

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Dimensions (cm) Weight (Kg) Processor (Name, speed in GHz) RAM (MB) Hard disk (size GB, rpm) Screen size (inches) Screen format Max resolution Optical drive Motherboard chipset Graphics Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, Webcam) WiFi (802.11b/g) Ports (Ethernet, USB, Firewire) Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) Battery capacity (mAH)

Performance Audio Encoding (sec) + Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) PC Mark 2005 index 3DMark 2003 index MobileMark 2002 (mins) LCD quality (out of 10) Speaker quality

Ergonomics Manual volume control Number of shortcut keys Smoothened edges Wizard-driven wireless setup Heat management Operational silence

Build quality Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Optical Drive tray Use of metal in construction Scratch resistance

Warranty & Support Authorised service centers Cities with service centers Warranty (Years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra + WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor ++ XviD, using AutoGK

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Budget Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8

Gigabyte N521UC

Benq Joybook R31E

Intex 023G

ACI Ethos V

Acer India

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd

BenQ India Pvt Ltd

Intex Technologies

ACi Asia Ltd

080-25219520

022-26526696

022-25705231

1800-11-67-89

022-56407000

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 42,499

Rs 31,999

Rs 33,000

Rs 29,000

Rs 22,999

16.66 15.79 5.66 12.64 3.03

15.51 16.82 6.03 12.74 3.22

14.38 15.90 4.93 11.62 1.98

11.15 10.54 5.16 10.74 2.43

10.67 8.54 5.12 4.93 6.24

Total: 53.78

Total: 54.32

Total: 48.81

Total: 40.03

Total: 35.50

36.2 x 3 x 27.2 2.9 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 256 60 / 4200 15.4 16:10 widescreen 1280x800 DVD-Writer Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✕|✕ ✓ ✕|3|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2000

33.4 x 3.5 x 27.7 2.8 Intel Celeron M 360 / 1.4 256 40 / 4200 15 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4300

32.9 x 3.5 x 27.7 2.7 Intel Celeron M 370 / 1.5 256 60 / 4200 15 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive VIA PM 800 S3G Unichrome Pro ✕|✕|✕ ✓ ✓|4|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4400

31.5 x 3.55 x 25.5 2.7 VIA Nehemiah C3 / 1.2 256 40 / 5400 14.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 Combo drive VIA VT8622 S3G Unichrome ✕|✕|✕ ✕ ✓|4|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2200

31.7 x 4.5 x 25.6 2.4 VIA Nehemiah C3 / 1.2 256 40 / 5400 14.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 CDROM VIA VT8622 S3G Unichrome ✕|✕|✕ ✕ ✓|4|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2200

53 48 13 7.10 1749 822 121 9 Average

65 63 NA 6.19 1501 NA 267 9 Average

60 55 NA 6.31 1301 NA 168 8.2 Excellent

247 117 NA 5.09 571 NA 111 8.6 Average

245 163 NA 4.92 571 NA 95 7.6 Below average

✕ 7 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

✕ 3 ✓ ✓ Average Excellent

✕ 0 ✓ ✓ Average Good

✓ 5 ✓ ✕ Average Excellent

✓ 4 ✓ ✕ Average Average

Excellent / Average Good ✓ ✓

Average / Good Good ✓ ✓

Good / Excellent Average ✕ ✓

Good / Good Good ✕ ✓

Poor / Below average Poor ✕ ✕

66 57 1

70 70 1

14 14 1

42 27 1

206 206 1

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24 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

25

26

Tablet PCs Acer TravelMate c202 Tmi

Lenovo ThinkPad x41

Fujitsu T4020D

Acer India

Lenovo India Pvt Ltd

Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd

080-25219520

1600-425-4240

022-30213388

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 94,999

Rs 1,24,900

Rs 1,60,000

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100)

18.90 18.66 6.97 10.71 1.98

16.76 16.99 5.83 11.74 5.78

19.68 17.55 6.89 10.79 1.82

Total: 57.22

Total: 57.10

Total: 56.73

31.5 x 3.5 x 23.8 2.5 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 512 80 / 4200 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 DVD-Writer Intel 915PM Nvidia GeForce Go 6200 ✓|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 4800

26.6 x 2.79 x 23.25 2 Intel Pentium M 758 / 1.5 512 40 / 4200 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 None Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✕|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|3|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓ 4500

29.21 x 3.6x 23.6 2 Intel Pentium M 750 / 1.86 512 80 / 5400 12.1 4:3 conventional 1024x768 DVD-Writer Intel 915GM Intel GMA 900 ✓|✓|✕ ✓ ✓|2|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ 5200

53 56 56.8 7.05 2263 2603 199 9 Average

62 53 NA 3.53 1674 NA 259 3.8 Below average

50 53 NA 7.18 1963 NA 190 9.6 Average

✕ 6 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

✓ 4 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

✕ 7 ✓ ✓ Good Excellent

Excellent / Good Excellent ✕ ✓

Good / Good Average ✓ ✓

Good / Good Good ✕ ✓

14 14 1

35 35 3

7 7 1

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Dimensions (cm) Weight (Kg) Processor (Name, speed in GHz) RAM (MB) Hard disk (size GB, rpm) Screen size (inches) Screen format Max resolution Optical drive Motherboard chipset Graphics Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, Webcam) WiFi (802.11b/g) Ports (Ethernet, USB, Firewire) Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) Battery capacity (mAH)

Performance Audio Encoding (sec) + Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) PC Mark 2005 index 3DMark 2003 index MobileMark 2002 (mins) LCD quality (out of 10) Speaker quality

Ergonomics Manual volume control Number of shortcut keys Smoothened edges Wizard-driven wireless setup Heat management Operational silence

Build quality Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Optical Drive tray Use of metal in construction Scratch resistance

Warranty & Support Authorised service centers Cities with service centers Warranty (Years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra + WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor ++ XviD, using AutoGK

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

LAPTOP COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

SpecScan 26

27

Category

Ultra portable

Name

Sahara NB5630-N4

Contact Phone

Panasonic Toughbook CF-W2

29 Gigabyte N211 U

Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd Third Wave Exim

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd

1800-180-7235

9322133259

022-26526696

E-mail

raksham. [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Price*

Rs 47,999

Rs 1,49,990

Rs 62,999

18.64 15.15 5.71 11.52 2.07

14.87 13.38 5.89 13.33 5.12

16.85 17.63 5.69 6.62 3.22

Total: 53.10

Total: 52.60

Total: 50.00

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan 30

31

32

Category

Mainstream

Name

ACI S28

Fujitsu Lifebook S6240

Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y2

ACi Asia Ltd

Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd

Third Wave Exim

022-56407000

022-30213388

9322133259

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 49,999

Rs 1,08,000

Rs 1,69,990

18.22 15.76 6.91 10.83 1.82

15.83 15.10 5.59 11.67 5.12

Total: 53.54

Total: 53.30

Contact Phone E-mail Price*

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100)

17.95 16.80 6.42 8.05 3.96

Total: 53.17

Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan 33

34

35

Category

Desktop replacement

Name

Lenovo Thinkpad Z60m

Gigabyte W511 UC

Lenovo India Pvt Ltd

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd

Micro-Star International

1600-425-4240

022-26526696

011-41758808

Contact Phone E-mail Price*

MSI Megabook M630

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 74,990

Rs 51,499

Rs 45,000

19.24 15.87 6.46 12.60 5.78

18.09 18.69 6.72 10.19 3.22

14.78 14.16 6.54 10.74 3.40

Total: 59.94

Total: 56.91

Total: 49.63

Overall Features (out of 30) Performance (out of 30) Ergonomics (out of 10) Build Quality (out of 15) Warranty & Support (out of 15)

Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5)

75

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| LAPTOP COMPARISON

Buying Guide Buyer profile

Applications

Minimum specifications

Key features

Budget

Surfing, office applications, e-mail and basic computing

Processor with minimum clock speed of 1.4 GHz. 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk drive, 14.1-inch TFT Screen, LAN, Modem, 90 minutes rated battery life, combo drive.

Overall build quality of the product, generation of heat, warranty and support. Default operating system bundled with the laptop. Don’t rely on the rated battery life; most of the budget laptops deliver 80% of the promised battery performance

Student

Surfing, presentations, e-mail, educational software, gaming

Processor with minimum clock speed of 1.6 GHz. 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk drive, 14.1-inch TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, modem, 90 minutes rated battery life, combo drive.

The budget as well as the cheaper mainstream laptops are recommended for this category. Make sure the LCD screen quality; viewing angles as well as the wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) are in place. Carry case bundled with the laptop is a bonus.

Home user

Movies, gaming, office applications, surfing

Mobile processor clocked at 1.6 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Disk drive, 15-inch TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, combo drive, 3 USB ports, VGA-Out

The mainstream laptop and desktop replacement category are a perfect match for the home user segment. wide-screen displays and good multimedia functionality is a must. Look for comprehensive expandability options with Firewire port, VGA port as well as S-Video out. Ensure that the keypad is well spaced for maximum comfort.

Executive

Office applications, video conferencing, presentations.

Mobile processor clocked at 1.6 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive, 14-inch TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, combo drive, 3 USB ports, VGA-Out, webcam

The mainstream as well as the ultra portable laptops are meant for this segment. Make sure the battery life, weight and build quality get maximum priority. A webcam comes handy for video conferencing and if you have a healthy budget, tablet PCs are recommended for excellent feature set and portability.

Gamer and graphic designer

Gaming, graphic designing, 3D modelling, video editing surfing

Mobile processor clocked at 2 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 1GB of DDR2 RAM, dedicated graphics chip with 128 MB video memory, 80 GB hard drive, 15.4-inch TFT widescreen display, Wi-Fi, DVD writer. TV-Out

A dedicated gaming level desktop chip which is above the GeForce Go 6200 or the ATI Mobility Radeon X300 is a must. Make sure the graphics chipset is suppoted by 128MB of dedicated and not shared video memory. The screen resolution and view angles matter and hence check for the overall LCD quality and not just the size.

All of above and more!

Mobile processor clocked at 2 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, 100 GB hard drive, 15.4-inch TFT widescreen display, Wi-Fi, DVD writer, Firewire and TV-Out

Desktop replacement category is the most suitable match for power users. The preference should be more on performance and features rather than the dimensions. Dual core processors and highresolution screens with good color reproduction and view angles are crucial for this category.

E-mail, office applications, movies, music, digital imaging

Mobile processor clocked at 1.2 GHz, 512 MB DDR2 RAM, 12.1-inch TFT LCD screen size, 4 hour rated battery life, maximuim 1.7 Kg, combo drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

The ultra-portable category is made for the frequent traveler. The weight, dimensions and battery life should be the driving point. Special battery saving modes and easy Wi-Fi configuration wizard saves time. Don’t compromise too much on the performance front, especially when you are paying a bomb for it!

Power user

Frequent traveler

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

LAPTOP COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

77

The Specialists

Reviewed models Gigabyte N521 UC, BenQ Joybook R31E ACI Ethos E2

Benq Joybook R31E ACI S28 Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8

Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 Gigabyte W431 UD Dell Latitude D510

Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP Even though Sony’s latest ultra portable notebook did not win any accolades in its category it certainly managed to attract a lot of attention. This 2.4 kg carbon fiber notebook is just 2.9 cm thick, making it the slimmest notebook available in the country today. In spite of such dimensions Sony notebook designers have been able to offer a slick 11.1-inch widescreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, flash memory reader, a 60 GB hard drive and 512 MB RAM. They even managed to fit in an internal DVD writer! Top it off with its ability to see you six straight hours of work. This notebook is worth the price.

Zenith Presidio Vu ACI Elite Gigabyte W431 UD

Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi DELL Latitude D810 Asus A6JA

Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 DELL Latitude D810 Asus V6JA Samsung Sens X60

Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP Asus W5F Zenith Presidio Vu

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Encased in a magnesium alloy body, fringed with toughened rubber, the Panasonic CF-18 is one tough nut to crack. Its uniqueness made it a misfit in any of the notebook categories. Meant for rugged use this shockproof notebook has all its ports covered with tough rubber flaps to protect it against dust and water. Built around the Centrino platform it supports Wi-Fi and runs on Intel’s 1.1 GHz Ultra Low Voltage processor. The CF-18 is a rugged Tablet PC with additional protection on the LCD display too, giving it a tough exterior and a power savvy interior –just what a trekker, geologist or the military need.

xxxxxxxx

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Juice up the Box Get your facts right about one of the most underrated components of a computer system—the power supply unit

W

e have done an article on power supply earlier, but with newer standards having been introduced in the recent past, this article should be an eye opener. The power supply unit or the SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) converts AC (Alternating Current) from your Wall socket and converts it to DC (Direct Current) which is then fed into the various computer components. As users you need to know whether the PSU works the way it’s supposed to or not, also you must know which PSU is the right one. So let’s dive straight into that. The PSU is indeed one of the most underrated and overlooked components of a computer. An insufficient power supply can cause random restarts, system hangups, or the system may not boot at all. In such cases, we first blame it on the motherboard, then the other components and finally we realize that it’s the power supply unit that needs to be taken care of. A power supply unit is of more significance to the overclockers since components at overclocked settings

consume a lot of power. Also, graphics cards, especially in SLI (two of them together in a system) consume humungous amounts of power. For eg, two 7800GTs in SLI consume 125 watts of power.

How to choose the right power supply unit With so many different manufacturers in the market, not all practise fair standards of representing the power ratings. So the rule of the thumb is to look for a reputed brand. Antec, Vantec which are a little on the expensive side, and Powersafe which is reliable and affordable, are brands that you can trust. Next comes wattage—the most widely looked upon criteria for determining the ability of the power supply unit. The PSU supplies power through different lines, popularly known as rails. Primarily, the components draw power from three rails—+3.3V, +5V, & +12V rail. The table, Current consumption of high-end system describes clearly how different components pull power from different rails.

Don’t go just by the wattage The total wattage is a sum of all the smaller separate values of each ‘rail’ in the PSU that runs at different voltages. Total amperage available on the +12V rail is the most important, followed by the +5V amperage and then the +3.3V amperage. Because of the increased power consumption of the new high-power video cards, the recommended minimum amperage for +12V is 24A, for SLI it’s 35A. Now let’s look at the voltage ratings given for Vantec ION2 400 watts power supply. 30A on the +12V rail is good for mid to high-end gaming systems but not enough for ultra high-end systems with two 7800GTXs in SLI. 28A and 30A on the +3.3V and +5V ratings respectively are sufficient.

Power supply calculator You can utilize the power supply calculation utility by Outervision Extreme called the Extreme PSU calculator v1.3. It allows you to input your system components and then gives you the total INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

FEATURE

+5V 3 0 2 3 0.5 0.8 1.2 0.8 0.5 0.25 0.25 0

+12V 0.3 0.25 0 3 0 2 1.1 0 0 0 0 10

wattage required by the PSU to run your system smoothly. It even gives out wattage for an overclocked processor and has options for everything, right from system fans to water blocks for water cooling. It’s one the most comprehensive PSU calculators available. Check it out at http://www.extreme. outervision.com/index.jsp

New standards introduced Dual 12V rails: Intel’s latest ATX 2.xx specification doesn’t allow more than 240 VA to pass through any wire in the computer for safety reasons. So in case

79

Fact sheet

Current consumption of a high-end system +3.3V 5 0 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

| HARDWARE

Some companies have their PSUs manufactured by another company. (OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer). For example, the Zebronics Power One 640 watts available here is actually SkyHawk Power one 640, a reputed international company known for quality value PSUs. But not all Zebronics PSUs are from SkyHawk. An Nvidia 6800 ultra graphics card consumes 30 watts when idle but consumes a whopping 76 watts when at load. You can go by their weight when it comes to PSUs. Heavier PSUs signify that good quality heat sinks are used.

Device Motherboard Fans( Case and Components) Memory 512 MB DDR Graphic Card 7800 GT PCIe PCI Sound Hard Drive Sata Optical Drive Floppy USB Devices Keyboard Mouse Pentium 4, 3 GHz you’re buzzed while working inside the computer, it will not be all that bad. Ideally, there should not be more than 20A on the 12V rail (12A x 20V = 240 VA). But since our recent system components rely heavily on the +12v rail for power, the PSUs have heavy +12V rails going right up to 30-35A. This problem was catered to by making dual +12V rails. So for 30A on +12V, you can have the +12V1 give out 18A and the +12V2 give out 12A. The 12V2 is supposed to supply only the AUX12V 4-pin plug, which supplies only the CPU. Though a PSU with a single +12V rail would work just as fine without lagging in performance.

by the ground pin. The +3.3 and +5V have enough current already. A 20-pin PSU would work fine on boards with a 24-pin slot leaving a few boards like the DFI. Please read your motherboard manual before making any decisions. You can also use a 24-20 pin adapter for a 24-pin PSU and 20-pin board, though this only assists in compatibility and not in functionality.

Silent PSUs PSUs generate heat and need to be cooled. You can choose from the various options given here—single 80 mm fan or two 80 mm fans or single 120 mm fan or even one 80 mm and one 120 mm fan. And certainly with fans come noise. If you are looking to build a silent system, take a PSU with a single 120 mm fan and make sure it’s thermally controlled, that is, it adjusts its

24 Pin Power Connector: It has been introduced following the latest ATX 2.0 standards. It adds another +12V pin along with +3.3V and + 5 V and ground pins. This is done because the latest high-end PCIexpress graphic cards consume a lot of power. In the extra 4 pins added, only the +12V is immediately critical, followed

Pin diagrams 1 Pin 1

Pin 4

+ 3.3V

+ 3.3V

COM

+ 3.3V

-12V

COM

COM

COM

+ 5VDC

+5V

PS_OI

COM

COM

+5V

COM

Molex Connector

COM PWR_OK

Pin 1 COM COM

Pin 3 + 12VDC + 12VDC

+ 12V Power Connector (+12 V2 In dual rail set up)

Power supply calculator version 1.3 MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

11

+ 12VDC

+ 3.3V

+ 3.3V

+ 3.3V

-12V

COM

COM

+5V

PS_ON#

COM

COM

+5V

COM

COM

COM

COM

-5V

PWR_ON

NC

+5VSB

+5V

+5VSB

+5V

+12V1

+5V

+12V1

+5V

Main Power Connector 20-Pin ATX

+12V1

+5V

+ 3.3V

COM

Main Power Connector 20-Pin ATX

Left to Right: 4 pin Molex Connector (top), 4 pin AUX Connector(+12V2 in Dual Rails), 20 pin and 24 pin Connectors.

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HARDWARE

| FEATURE Acceptable fluctuation limits Output

Range

Min

Ideal

Max

+12V

+/- 5%

+11.40V

+12V

+12.60V

+5V

+/- 5%

+4.75V

+5V

+5.25V

+3.3V

+/- 5%

+3.14V

+3.3V

+3.47V

Powersafe 400 watts RthDribl stressing out the processor 100%

Digital Multimeter

Everest 2006

Idle

Load

Idle

Load

+3.3 V

3.36

3.36

3.20

3.18

+5 V

5.08

5.13

4.87

4.89

+12 V

11.84

11.56

11.39

11.01

Power Safe 400 Watts: Just within prescribed limits, but nevertheless does the job.

Vantec ION2 460 watts

Digital Multimeter

Everest 2006

Idle

Load

Idle

Load

+3.3 V

3.33

3.33

3.20

3.18

+5 V

5.09

5.13

4.92

4.92

+12 V

11.98

11.80

11.65

11.39

Vantec ION2 460 Watts: Again well within prescribed limits. Good performer. Digital Multimeter being used to measure the rail voltages rpm according to the heat generated. So it spins at lesser rpm and is relatively silent when you are casually using your system, such as for Internet browsing. It spins faster when your system is stressed out, for example, while gaming.

Symptoms indicating PSU trouble Random system restarts. System hangs when you start a game. System switches off randomly. System doesn’t boot at all. PC components need a steady supply of power and are susceptible to even small fluctuations in voltage. A fluctuation of 5 percent is acceptable. For example, for the +12V, voltages in the range of 11.4V to 12.6V are acceptable. The adjoining table shows the acceptable limits.

Cooler Master 460 Watts

Digital Multimeter

Everest 2006

Idle

Load

Idle

Load

+3.3 V

3.33

3.33

3.18

3.17

+5 V

5.05

5.06

4.81

4.84

+12 V1

12.16

12.03

+12 V2

12.14

11.96

11.71 *

11.58 *

CoolerMaster 450 Watts: Good performer again. It comes with dual 12V rails. *Note: It’s not possible to measure the +12V1 and +12V2 rails independently using the sensor on the motherboard.

Recommended PSUs Entry-level non gamer:

PowerSafe 300 watts, Rs 800 - no graphics card

Mid-level gamer:

PowerSafe 400 watts, Rs 1,550 - up to 6600GT Antec SmartPower2 350 watts, Rs 3,000

High-level gamer:

Vantec Ion2 460 watts, Rs 3,890 – up to Single 7800GTX Antec SmartPower2 400 watts, Rs 4,000 CoolerMaster RS-450-ACLX, 450 watts, Rs 3,965

Ultra high-level gamer/ Overclocker

Antec TP II 550 watts, Rs 7,500 Up to two 7800GTX in SLI

Let’s stress test some PSUs We have used Rthdribl, an application which stresses out your system completely, particularly your processor and graphics card. It is a “Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting” demo. The Load voltages mentioned in the table are noted down when Rthdribl is running.

Our test system Processor Motherboard RAM GCard HDD Optical Drive

AMD FX 53 Asus A8N SLI Deluxe Kingston HyperX 1GB (512x2 MB) ATI X1900XT Western Digital WD740 DVD Writer DRU-810

We measure the voltage rails using: Digital Multimeter—it’s reliable and accurate Everest 2006—a diagnostics application which measures the voltage off the sensor of the motherboard, not very accurate. ■ | Gaurav Seth INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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HARDWARE

| TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE

A heady affair A guide to choosing the perfect headphones suiting your budget Mid range

High end

Models: HB 575, iBall 660MV, Frontech JIL 3465

Models: Altec Lansing AHP5, Philips HP 800, Altec Lansing AHP 512

Models: Zalman 5.1 ZM-RS6, Gainward Sound Xplosion, Plantronics DSP 500

Budget: Below Rs 500

Budget: Rs 500-Rs 1,500

Budget: Above Rs 1,500

I

f you are looking to buy very basic and affordable headphones or headsets, the requirement has to be elementary. You can’t expect high quality sound and excellent frequency range or bass response from a headset that sells for Rs 500. There are plenty of brands in this range and all of them more or less offer the same quality. It’s recommended to have a demo of the unit before you buy it. The build quality is suspect with these headphones. Hence you need to check for the quality of materials used. In case of headsets, look for the quality of microphone as well. The microphone that manages to filter the ambience sounds is always a better choice. The quality of microphone depends on the sensitivity of the unit. Make sure you test the headphones at full volume and check for any crackling or breaking of sound. Many of the entry-level headphones struggle to maintain the sound quality at high volumes. When buying headphones or headsets, depending on your PC setup make sure you buy a headphone with a sufficiently long cord that allows enough headroom for movement.

I

f you have a decent budget for headphones, there are some very interesting options in the mid-range category. A mid-range user expects good sound quality as well as sturdy construction. In case of headsets, the Altec Lansing AHP 512 is a good choice. It uses 40 mm neodymium drivers and delivers a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. The build quality is excellent and the ear cups are well cushioned for comfort. If you want want only headphones, the Philips HP800 is an excellent option. The sound is warm and clear, perfect for music or movies. The build quality is excellent; the ear cups encircle around the ears and are very comfortable for long duration usage. If you want something sleeker and more stylish that can be used with your PC as well as your portable media player, the Altec Lansing AHP5 is a good choice. Ergonomically designed, the AHP5 fits behind the head rather than on top of it, making it less conspicuous than the other headsets. If sound quality is your prime concern, stay away from the cordless variants. Given the price range, none of the headphones come near to the sound quality delivered by the corded headphones in the mid-range category.

I

n case of high-end headphones/headsets, there isn’t too much of a choice available in the local market. High-end headphones not only give god sound quality but they also provide extra features in terms of surround sound support and cordless functionality. If the application is only music, surround sound headphones make little sense. Headphones from brands like Sennheiser, Koss and Grado are tough to get in the local market but you can find them in duty-free shops and grey markets. These headphones are the best in terms of pure sound quality with excellent frequency response and low noise ratios. In case of gaming or movies being the prime application, the Zalman 5.1 ZM-RS6 and Gainward Sound Xplosion are two of the well-known and commonly available brands in the market. The RS6 from Zalman has good bass response for the thumps and thuds in games and movies while the Gainward Sound Xplosion has a cleaner high frequency range. The Gainward headphones also come bundled with an external soundcard, which uses the USB port to connect to the PC. It’s an ideal solution for notebook users who want 6-channel sound for games and movies. | Soham Raninga INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Vishwanath Vanjire

Entry level

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

| HARDWARE

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What’s next? PC phone? I

fondly recall scenes from the television series of the Sixties, Star Trek. If you’ve seen the older Star Trek serials, you’ll remember how Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) ends phone conversations with orbiting shuttle crew. In his own inimitable style, he’d flick his wrist to close his communicator—a striking resemblance to today’s flip phone. Little did I imagine then that I’d do the same someday, minus the shuttle crew at the other end of the conversation. In light of that, I feel the future is here. But the cell phone is indeed evolving at a feverish pace. Here’s a look at what it’s likely to become in the near and distant future. It wasn’t too long ago when a cell phone was just a phone. It had a simple interface, a two-line LCD display and keys that you see on a regular desk phone. Two additional keys let you answer and end calls. Since then, we’ve seen many technology innovations, both on the device and at the backend (services). This enabled operators to offer more services; manufacturers could provide more features on the phone. And the humble phone evolved to become a ‘smart’ phone. Take a look at today’s top-of-the-line smart phone. It’s got an operating system (Windows Mobile or Symbian), and equivalents of PC applications: MS Office-like applications, e-mail client, web browser, media player, document reader, file compression, personal information manager, games, even anti-virus software. Some models offer proprietary or third-party software to edit photos and videos. The smart phone may not offer the same feel as a laptop, but for all practical purposes, it’s a mini computer. (Read all about smart phone applications in CHIP, January 2006). When phone applications are coupled with wireless services, the range of possibilities explodes. I’m talking about high-speed wireless services like those available in Tokyo and Seoul. In Japan, you’ll see people wielding sleek phones packed with technology. But it’s more interesting to see what the Japanese youth are doing with their phones. NTT DoCoMo, a leading service provider in Japan, offers a service called “i-mode”. Wireless Internet and e-mail are the main attractions. It’s not uncommon to see young Japanese women consult shopping and restaurant guides, dash off a quick e-mail to a dear friend, or MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

download the latest radio tune—all on her cell phone. A recent development is the Mobile Suica system, now in use on the Tokyo metro system. It’s a very practical and convenient application for commuters, which allows contactless ticketing from a mobile-based wallet (an application on the SIM card). If you own a handset with the FeliCabased mobile wallet you can stroll through any of Tokyo’s 900 stations by waving the handset near the ticketing barrier. No more queuing to buy tickets from counters and ticket vending machines! And the same technology can be used in retail outlets. In South Korea suitably equipped phones can receive satellite TV broadcasts from operators like Takeout TV and SK Telecom. Back home, Reliance Infocomm offers near real-time television by video-streaming the live telecast of two news channels—Aaj Tak and NDTV.

Future phone While the focus is now on mobile entertainment, I think the mobile phone will become an allencompassing personal information device. Star Trek fans would remember the Tricorder. It’s a scientific device that’s supposedly loaded with sensors. In the TV series Kirk and his crew used Tricorders during exploratory trips to new planets. Various sensors on the Tricorder were employed for detecting surface radiation levels or the presence of aliens. I think the future cell phone will have something similar. While it may not be able to detect the presence of aliens in the room, it should be able to give you accurate readings for temperature, altitude, humidity, etc. There’s great potential in the healthcare sector. Imagine a cell phone with a built-in pulse monitor (heart patients) or glucose meters (diabetics)! I’d also like to know how many calories I’ve lost during my brisk evening walk! And cell phones with built-in GPS (global positioning system) will certainly be an instant hit. That would make it easier for me to locate a client’s place in the periphery of the suburbs. ■ The writer has been covering personal technology issues for the past 12 years

| Brian Pereira [email protected]

When phone applications are coupled with wireless services, the range of possibilities explodes. Check the high-speed wireless services available in Tokyo and Seoul

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Pramod Jadhav

Software Center

Applications

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n this month’s roundup of cool tools and fun applications, we have data security, system tweaking, image editing and audio production as the dominant themes. With Norton Ghost 10.0, Stellar Data Security and Acronis True Image 9.0 we have reviewed a set of tools that safeguard your hard disk’s contests by effectively creating images of your files. In these versions, we’ve seen several improvements in user interface and ease of use. If you are swamped with digital photos and are looking for a fun way to touch them up, add special effects and share them with family and friends, Ulead Photo Express 6.0 is just the tool. It has more features than most home users would ever need and it’s plenty of fun to use. For all you music buffs out there, you’re going to love Fruity Loops Studio 6—the

latest release of a well-known sequencing and looping audio production application. From novices to pros, it empowers you to create some very professional-sounding tunes and have fun while doing so. Panda Platinum 2006 Internet Security is a suite of programs that safeguards your computer from Internet-based threats. If you’re the geek who’s never satisfied with your system’s speed and are always looking at pushing it further, TweakNow Powerpack will help unlock several speed boosts inside various components of your computer. Then we have FileZilla which is an easy-to-use FTP client for browsing FTP servers easily and quickly. With its small install size, comprehensive functionality and nice price (free!), it’s a must-have for your Internet toolset.

| The Ratings Explained The parameters used for evaluating software are assigned a graphical rating out of a scale of 5. These parameters include performance, features and ease of use. The overall rating shown in the reviews is based on all these factors. In addition, there is a value for money rating for each application. This rating is obtained

by stacking the features and the utility of the application against its price. In the case of freeware and shareware tools that are available for download from the Internet, we replace the price with the download size (and therefore the time taken to download the application) for arriving at the value for money rating.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

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Backup Tool

Norton Ghost 10.0 System requirements: 300 MHz processor or higher, 256 MB RAM (384 MB or higher recommended), 160 MB available hard disk space, Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 2,242 Symantec

09324604427 [email protected] www.symantec.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

The importance of backing up

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hen dealing with a corrupt Windows installation or lost files, there’s nothing that quite offers the comfort of having a backup. Adopting a different approach to traditional backups, Norton Ghost has built a name for itself with its ability to completely clone your system into an image file that can later be restored in case of a file system fault or hard disk crash. Other than working with individual files, it operates on the principle of a sector-forsector copy of your hard disk, enabling the content to be exactly duplicated. Installation is straightforward. During this process, the program goes through a driver validation process to ensure that the Symantec recovery disk contains the necessary drivers of the storage devices present on the computer. This is critical to allow you to boot your computer and access drive images on a storage device, in case Windows is unable to start. During the activation process of the installation, the computer is required to be connected to the Internet without which the program will only function for 15 days. Also, the program intrusively requires Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed, significantly adding to its install size. The box contains two disks—Norton Ghost 10.0 with Norton Ghost 2003

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

bundled. The Norton Ghost CD is bootable and enables you to start the computer and access stored drive images even if your Windows installation is corrupt. The box also contains a friendly and informative user guide. It starts off by listing data loss scenarios and assists in suggesting courses of action depending on the problem. The program’s main interface is straightforward, containing three sections—Backup, Restore and Status. Clicking on each of these opens a set of associated tasks. The backup section allows you to create a recover point (drive image), edit backup schedules, view backup progress and copy your hard disk. All processes are wizard driven—for example while backing up, it helps you select the target drive, destination for the recovery point, backup method, compression, schedule, etc. This step-by-step functionality makes it a snap to complete. During the backup process, a slider lets you control the amount of processing power used during the backup. This lets you throttle back resource utilization to let you work smoother while the backup is in progress. Once a backup is created, it can be accessed quickly by simply clicking on its entry in the backup list. Backup schedules

can be modified subsequent to creating the backup. Since recover points can take up a significant amount of storage space, the program allows you to optimize how they are stored by defining limits to the space taken and automatically deleting older recovery points. It is now possible to browse within a recover point making it more convenient to recover individual files or folders. Additionally, this version even has the ability to mount a recovery point as a logical drive in Windows. With this, you can access individual files in your recover point and this drive can even be shared and accessed over the network—very functional and utilitarian in a corporate environment. Another interesting feature added to this version is event-triggered backups where a backup procedure automatically starts after detecting certain system event—each time an application is installed or when data on a drive exceeds a pre-set limit, for example. With an easy-to-navigate interface and excellent functionality, this is a valuable tool for protecting your system against eventualities. For: Simple interface; powerful features. Against: Requires .NET framework to be installed.

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APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

Photo Editor

Ulead Photo Express 6.0 System requirements: Microsoft Windows XP, Intel Pentium III 450 MHz (700 MHz or higher recommended), 64 MB RAM (128 or more recommended), 420 MB of available hard disk space, display capable of 800x600 resolution

Price E-mail

$ 29.99 (Approx. Rs 1,440) www.ulead.com/pe

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Tweak and manage your pictures

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ith a plethora of images being created by people today—be it from a digital camera, a mobile camera or scans from old photos—managing them becomes quite a task. Also, the need for sharing images and porting them to different devices is increasingly important. You’d definitely want to transfer your favorite vacation picture to your cell phone and use it as wallpaper, right? Ulead Photo Express 6.0 offers these capabilities in a fun-to-use package. With its generously beveled interface and large, indicative buttons, it’s simple to learn. The main interface of the program launcher features four buttons for Browsing, Editing, Creating and Importing images. There are buttons on the top of the application that let you perform several tasks on your image. You can import photos from a digital camera or scanner or from a video capture device attached to your computer. After doing so, functions such as Batch Adjust lets you run a variety of tasks such as cropping the image, straightening it (especially for images that have been scanned), adjusting brightness, contrast, hue, color focus, etc. These can be executed on one or several images at a single go. However, we found it was not possible to preview the effects of these tools while

using the batch command. Double-clicking on an image opens it in an interface that provides a variety of fun tools for enhancing or modifying it. The toolbar on the top consists of several buttons that expand into drop-down selections consisting of a number of associated tasks. For example, there is a Selection tool for selecting specific areas of your image by color, shape, etc. The Effects button gives access to several filters like lens flare, distort and warp. The Adjust button lets you remove red-eye from subjects in your image, automatically enhance hue, color and brightness, etc. After touching up your image, the Decorate function enables you to add fun special effects like funky edges

Decorate your images with plenty of photo effects

around images, frames, etc. After you’re through with dressing up your images, the Create button lets you assemble them into a slideshow, greeting card, calendar, slideshow, wallpaper or even export to a mobile phone as wallpaper. This functionality makes it easy to share images across devices. If you need to create printouts of you images, you can do so in a variety of formats. Besides normal prints, the program creates tiled images, posters, T-shirts and tiled-print sheets. Within each of these, there are several settings for tweaking the outcomes of each of print method. Throughout this imaging program, all functions are clearly described and the online help file adequately explains its functions and capabilities. But more than poring over help files, the fun in using this program lies in trying out all the functions and experimenting with its capabilities. This application is highly recommended for young photo and imaging enthusiasts and for users who don’t want to be bothered with the nitty-grittys of digital photo editing. For: Very simple to use; feature-rich. Against: Not possible to preview effects while using the batch command. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

Three-in-one tool

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data loss can happen any time. If you’re the kind who values the prudence of taking precautions, this data safety suite from Stellar offers a utilitarian set of tools. It consists of three applications that together address an individual’s data safety needs. The first is a backup tool for creating images of your hard disk’s files. With this, the user can backup specific folders on the hard disk or choose from profiles allowing specific backups like Outlook files, registry, favorites, Windows Address Book, etc. There is also the option of filtering specific files in these selections. The resulting image can be saved to the local disk, on a network drive or even uploaded to an FTP server. You can select from an incremental backup or a full backup with additional options for deleting files currently in the destination folder or compressing them. The wizard allows you to schedule these backups daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or at user-defined times and dates. The program can even send e-mail

undling a comprehensive suite of applications for enabling security during your Internet usage, Panda Platinum 2006 contains an anti-virus, firewall, antispam and anti-spyware applications. During installation, Panda Platinum interestingly detected McAfee anti-virus as an ‘incompatible program’ and would only proceed if it was uninstalled. It even offered to initiate McAfee’s uninstall process. That being done, it proceeded to install its various components. At every stage, the application presents indicative and helpful prompts—ideal for novices to configure its components like the firewall, content filtering, etc. After installation, the main program window displays a status of the various components. There are three sections here—Security protection, Unwanted content filters and Updates and subscription. By expanding the views in each of these section, the status of the components are visible. Individual settings can be configured for each of these. In the first section, for example, you can turn MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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Backup Tool notifications of the backup status—very useful in a corporate environment. The second application is a tool for monitoring and reporting the health of your computer’s hard disk drive. This tool runs in the background and logs the temperature and the S.M.A.R.T. status (a technology found on most drives for monitoring drive integrity) of the hard disk, and pre-empts imminent hard disk failure by issuing a warning. The third program is called Stellar Shield—a file recovery tool that enables deleted data to be safely recovered. Besides its intuitive wizard-driven interface, we found these tools to be effective and surprisingly quick, making it a wise toolkit for individual or corporate applications. However, there were a few stray instances of instability we encountered especially when the program was set to run on system startup. For: Straightforward; wizard-driven interface. Against: Plain design; stray stability issues.

Stellar Shield 3.0

System requirements: Any IBM-PC compatible computer, 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended), 100 MB available hard disk space, Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP (may not run on Windows NT)

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 3,000 Stellar Information Systems Ltd

124-4045819 [email protected] www.stellarinfo.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

System Security

Safe from online threats

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| APPLICATIONS

on or off the virus scanning functionality, select what types of files to track (files on disk, e-mails and chat messenger transfers), etc. The other sections enable Internet access control, fraud protection for online transactions (such as phishing attacks) and protection against systems vulnerabilities. There is a useful side bar that also offers information on each of these threats. The next section protects against junk e-mail and spam. This can be configured to add e-mails and domains whose messages are to be excluded from scanning. The last section helps manage automatic updates and Internet proxy settings for enabling the application to access the Internet. Offering a holistic approach to protection against online threats, this application is a good one-stop shop for keeping your system safe while surfing, while being relatively light on system resources. For: Wizard-driven configuration; comprehensive protection; informative Against: Doesn’t co-exist with other antivirus applications.

Panda Platinum 2006

System requirements: 300 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 160 MB available hard disk space, Windows XP/Windows 2000 Pro/Windows Millennium/ Windows 98, Internet Explorer 5.01 or later

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 3,595 Panda Software India

011-23418199 [email protected] www.pandasoftware.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

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APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

FTP Client

Feature-rich and free

FileZilla 2.2.18

his is an FTP client developed under the GNU license. It’s small, fast, free and yet boasts plenty of the configuration and FTP control options you’d find in most commercial FTP clients. Among its salient features are the ability to resume uploads/downloads (if supported by the server), SSL connections for added file integrity, firewall support, drag and drop functionality across the Windows interface, SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP 1.1 protocol support, a Site Manager for saving FTP server settings, a Keep Alive system that helps maintain connectivity, etc. Since this is a GNU-covered application, if you’re inclined to do so you’re free to add features and functionality to it and recompile it to a new version using the MS Platform SDK. The main interface is split into five windows: the message log, the local view, the remote view, the transfer view and the status bar. A Quick Connect bar at the top of the screen allows you to directly feed in an FTP server’s address information

System requirements: Windows XP/2000, 64 MB RAM, 3 MB available disk space

Price Website

Free www.sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Backup Tool

Acronis True Image 9.0

System requirements: Pentium-compatible processor, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Price Website

$ 49.99 (Approx Rs 2,390) acronis.apposite.com.hk

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

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and the username, password for quickly hooking up to a remote FTP server. You can also enter this information using the Site Manager, which stores it for quick access later on. While connecting to the server, you’ll see FTP-specific status information in the message log, with the windows showing the local and remote files on the left and right respectively. The queue window at the bottom lists the files being transferred along with information such as elapsed time, remaining time, progress bar, etc. All of FileZilla’s configuration options are accessible through the settings menu, where parameters such as firewall and proxy settings, directory caches and speed limits can be accessed. You can choose to store these configuration settings in either the registry or in an XML file. For: Plenty of functionality in a small size. It’s free and re-compliable for added features. Against: Some of the more advanced FTP features like inter-FTP transfers are missing.

Mirror your data

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his is a powerful, yet simple to use application that helps protect your data by saving it to an image file. This file can later be used to restore its contents in the event of data loss or a hard disk crash. The program allows you to backup your entire hard disk on a sector level where it creates a mirror image of the state of your entire system—the OS, folders, program, user settings, etc. You can also use it to create images of personal data in individual files and folders. These images can be saved on a variety of media including hard disks, writeable CDs and DVDs, USB drives, etc. The main program interface presents a lucid collection of icons and explanations that describe each of the program’s operations. Actions are grouped by tasks that allow you to either backup your disk, restore a previously created image, clone your entire drive or add a new disk. By cloning your hard disk, you can create a mirror image of your existing hard disk to a new one—very useful if you need to transfer your OS and applications to a new drive without having to re-install everything. The ‘Add new hard disk’

feature enables you to prepare a new hard disk by formatting and initializing it. Besides its basic drive image functionality, the program features several other useful tools. For example, it can mount an existing drive image, where it shows up as a system drive in Windows Explorer, letting you conveniently view and access image contents without needing to restore them. If, for example, your Windows installation becomes unstable and refuses to boot up, you can launch the application in standalone mode, enabling it to access saved drive images even before the operating system loads. The program also enables you to create bootable media for restoring images to your system. With most of its functionality accessible through step-by-step wizards and helpful prompts, Acronis True Image is a thoughtfully created application enabling data protection and preservation. For: Easy access to all of its features. Utilitarian additional functionality besides its drive image capability. Against: None. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TESTED

System boost

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eep down, don’t we all believe that our computer can perform faster than it actually does? TweakNow Powerpack 2006 Professional is a tool that will appeal to the little geek in you—be it boosting the speed of your hard disk’s file access, speeding up your Internet connection or optimizing system memory. The program’s main interface looks a lot like Windows’ Control Panel, with icons representing various areas of Windows such as the processes manager, system RAM tweaker, disk cleaner, registry cleaner, system optimizer, Windows enhancement, track cleaner and system information. Using these tools, a user can perform a myriad of performance tweaks such as modifying the priorities of running applications for better response, tweaking system RAM, periodically cleaning out extraneous files from the hard disk, enhancing the appearance of various Windows applications or erasing tracks created while using your computer and Web

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System Tweaking browser. With the RAM optimizer, you can define thresholds for how much free RAM you need in your system, and configure the program to run a preset times or if the free RAM falls below the set threshold. The Windows tool offers access to plenty of hidden features in common Windows applications such as the Media Player, Internet Explorer, Desktop, Start Menu, Windows Messenger, etc. The program also includes many other nifty tools. For example, the Virtual Desktop feature lets you run up to four exclusive desktops on you computer simultaneously. You can also edit the OEM information on your system, configure the CD autorun functionality and configure the program to automatically shut down your system at a given time. For: Quick access to plenty of Windows enhancement features without inundating the user with unnecessary options. Against: Not the most comprehensive of tweaking tools.

TweakNow Powerpack 2006 Pro

System requirements: Pentium-compatible processor or higher, Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/XP/x64

Price

Shareware ($ 34.95 to buy, approx Rs 1,670)

website

www.tweaknow.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

CD

Audio Production

Rhythm and groove hen it comes to creating funky trance, RnB and hip-hop tracks using a computer, there are very few applications that can outshine Fruity Loops. Like its catchy name, this program has invoked creativity for the musically inclined through its numerous past iterations. In its present avatar, it boasts powerful capabilities and sophisticated tools that allow real-time effects on audio during playback, an open architecture allowing for several third-party plug-ins and effects like VST2 and FL instruments. While advanced users will find the interface familiar to their recording studio gear, it does tend to be intimidating for a first timer. Being a music sequencer at heart, there are several related concepts and fundamentals that need to be understood before producing sensible music. Here’s where the comprehensive help system comes in. With in-depth and comprehensive descriptions of its numerous capabilities, it is easy for even a first-timer to jump right in. During the setup process the program

| APPLICATIONS

automatically sets itself up for your particular hardware. The main interface consists of three main areas—the Channels, the Mixer and the Playlist. Using these sections, you can proceed to setting up the instrumentation on the various channels (bassline, drums, synths, etc). You can compose either by using a MIDI keyboard connected to your computer or using the intuitive step sequencer that lets you ‘paint’ musical sequences onto tracks using the mouse. Once the basic track is in place, the real fun starts by overlaying effects on each of your instruments or entire tracks—there are hundreds to choose from including reverb, chorus where virtually every parameter of these effects can be individually modified. Plus, there are numerous techno-effects to create professional sounds. Your work can be exported to CD Audio or MP3 for distribution. For: Funky interface; immense audio processing functionality; professionalquality song production. Against: Rather steep learning curve.

FL Studio 6 Fruity Edition

System requirements: Pentium II-compatible processor or higher, Windows 95/98/ Millenium/2000 or XP, DirectX-supported sound card, 30 MB available hard disk space, 16 MB required (64 MB recommended), CD-ROM drive

Price website

$ 99 (Approx Rs 4,720) www.fruityloops.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

CD

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APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE

Diagnose your PC Everest 2006 ultimate edition is a one-stop shop that lets you get up, close and personal with your computer, literally!

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iagnostic utilities have been around since the time PC was invented. Slowly they started trickling down from the engineers and debuggers to the end users. Currently there are full fledged diagnostic utilities which give in-depth information on each component inside the computer to the end users. Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 from Lavalys is the mother of all the diagnostic tools—with its comprehensive diagnostic modules, you can find out the finest of details regarding any component of the PC. Users who don’t want to get their hands dirty by digging into the registry or going through the device manager can take advantage of this extremely simple and friendly utility. Apart from providing detailed information,

Sensor Information

Everest Ultimate 2006 provides extensive information on the CPU inside your computer. The CPUID, CPU and Overclock are the three components that together provide information on the CPU. The “Overclock” option under the “Computer” module typically provides details on the CPU type w.r.t name, core type, stepping and name. It also gives real-time CPU speed in MHz along with the multiplier and FSB settings. The total CPU cache in the form of L1 and L2 cache size is also given under CPUID. The CPU option under the “Motherboard”

it also includes some useful benchmarking modules that offer basic benchmarking of core components. Everest also offers some powerful features like temperature, voltage and fan RPM sensor readings which help you monitor critical components of the computer. Everest 2006 Ultimate edition is vast and hence it’s nearly impossible to cover all the modules. We have covered the most impressive and sought after modules, explaining the utility, usage and importance of these. The free version of Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 restricts some of the readings and values while the full version does not hold anything back | Soham Raninga

The sensor is one of the most crucial components of the diagnostic utility. The sensor readings are taken from the motherboard and hence the motherboard model and its sensing capabilities are very important. Latest motherboards are equipped with much better overall sensing technology, while older motherboards don’t support extensive sensing. The Everest 2006 sensor will give you temperature readings for the processor, GPU or the graphics chipset, hard drive and the overall motherboard ambient temperatures. The CPU and GPU temperatures are very crucial for users who are experimenting with overclocking the system as well as those who are troubleshooting. In case of troubleshooting, with temperatures of

module gives additional detail about the CPU. The supported instruction sets (MMX, 3DNow! SSE2) along with the manufacturing process, die size and number of transistors are also provided. Such intricate details are a bonus for enthusiasts and geeks who would not let go until they know everything about their CPU. Lastly, the CPUID does the job of assimilating all the CPU-bound information under one roof, and giving additional details on the CPU which though very rarely referred to, can be put to use when required.

all the crucial components displayed together, it is easier to isolate a particular component that is heating more and causing the system to fail or reboot. The second and equally important aspect is the rpm of the cooling fans. A computer makes use of the fan to cool the CPU, GPU, motherboard chipset as well as the case. With support for measuring the rpm of the fans, you can monitor the fans and can spot a failing fan with the low rpms. Lastly, the voltage values, though not accurate, are good indicators of the performance and stability of the Power Supply Unit (PSU). You can identify a faulty PSU when the sensor shows drastic anomalies in the derived and promised/expected voltages on the 12 and 5 volt rails.

CPU Information

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

FEATURE

The overall system performance and compatibility heavily depends on the motherboard and the chipsets used by the motherboard. Hence, information on the type of motherboard, the ports, expansion slots and support are all very crucial. The “Motherboard” option under the “Motherboard” module particularly gives information on the mainboard and its features. Information on the Front Side Bus (FSB) width, real-time clock speeds and bandwidth are provided along with memory bus and chipset bus properties. The physical information with respect to the number of expansion slots, RAM slots and integrated devices is also listed. This information saves

Memory information

A separate module labeled “Benchmark” gives benchmarks for memory and CPU. The Benchmarks are split into particular sub-modules which test various aspects of the hardware component. Memory benchmarks are split into read, write and latency tests. Similarly, CPU benchmarks are also granular in nature. The results are clearly given with scores and are compared with the inbuilt database which has a log of almost all the latest CPUs. The “Tools” menu further gives more comprehensive benchmarks for cache, memory, hard drives and optical drives. The cache and memory benchmarking suite gives read, write, MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the time and pain of actually opening the system just to check whether it has an AGP slot for graphics upgrade or if you can add more memory to the system by populating another RAM slot. Particular information on the motherboard chipset is given by the “Chipset” option under the “Motherboard” module. This option gives exact information on the North Bridge and the South Bride used by the motherboard. Information regarding the AGP/PCIE controller, integrated sound chipset Error Checking Code (ECC) support and FSB speeds is very valuable for users keen on investigating the minutest of details on the motherboard.

Very often you end up being confused with what kind of RAM your system uses, what is the speed in MHz and what latencies it runs at. With high-performance processors heavily depending on RAM performance being released for the mass market, it’s crucial you know the type of memory your system uses and the specification it carries. The “Memory” option under the motherboard module gives basic information about the total size of physical memory and its usage. It also gives information on the virtual memory or the swap file which is allocated by the operating system. The “SPD” option under

copy and latency tests for the system memory as well as the L1 and L2 cache in the CPU. The Disk benchmark suite is even more comprehensive, allowing you to test the read, write and access capabilities of the drives. The disk tests also gives a CPU consumption reading while the benchmarking is in progress, giving an idea of the load the CPU goes through when the disks are under usage. Benchmarks and diagnostics for CRT and LCD monitors are also included here. Each and every benchmark and test is explained clearly and is simple to execute and analyze.

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Motherboard Information

the motherboard module gives details on each of the DIMM slots occupying the RAM stick. You can get the exact rated memory speed, latency, type and of course the storage capacity of the RAM stick. The memory timing is the most crucial component, indicating the exact latencies that the RAM can run at as stated by the manufacturer. Many a times, the RAM in your system runs at slower latencies due to the “default” or “safe” settings which might not allow the memory to run at its best possible timings. After obtaining the exact latency timings, users can actually fine-tune the memory performance by resetting the timings to optimal level.

Benchmarking

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3DMark 2006 hands on We decided to test-drive the latest version of 3DMark and the results are very interesting...

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uturemark has been consistently updating its graphics card benchmark by incorporating latest features and technologies and gearing them up for the next level of GPUs. 3DMark is almost a de facto standard used to gauge the overall performance of a graphics card, including both its processor and memory subsystems. Though 3DMark 2006 is essentially an update to 3DMark 2005, it incorporates latest features that test the performance

capability of the cards for present and upcoming games. The three demos from 3DMark 2005 are revamped with better lighting and shadow effects. “Deep Freeze” is the new demo which is specifically included to test new lighting and shading performance. Scores are split into three sections with individual indexes for each, apart from the overall score which is commonly used to compare performance across graphics chipsets on a common platform. | Soham Raninga

SM2.0 Graphics Test - Canyon Flight 3D Mark 2005

3D Mark 2006

“Return to Proxycon” from 3DMark05 is being re-used in 3DMark06, but its uses the updated engine, improved artwork and a new shadow technique. The texture resolution is beefed up and the lighting is more complex when compared to the earlier version. There are all in all 26 light sources in the test, each dynamically effecting the scene. The stress on particle count dominates this benchmark along with extensive use of soft shadows.

3D Mark 2006

Firefly Forest is also repeated with an additional firefly which almost doubles the complexity of the scene. The lighting and shadow effects along with foliage are simply amazing. This test uses additional diffuse, diffuse detail, normal and normal detail maps. The rock surfaces also have specular mapping, stressing particular areas of the graphics processing unit.

3D Mark 2006

Canyon Flight from 3DMark05 has been updated with the improved engine, HDR rendering, use of SM3.0, a new shadowtechnique and a completely new shadow filtering technique. This test gives an example of a large scale outdoor scene with HDR rendering, massive use of smooth shadows and complex SM3.0 shaders. The scene is very complex with large areas of water reflecting the high canyon walls.

SM2.0 Graphics Test - Firefly Forest 3D Mark 2005

HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Test - Return to Proxycon 3D Mark 2005

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

FEATURE

| APPLICATIONS

93

HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Test - Deep Freeze

Deep Freeze is a completely new graphics test, introducing an Antarctic research base. Carrying a cinematic effect, it uses other very subtle effects. This test is a good showcase for using HDR effects in vast landscapes, and stunning dynamic soft shadows. The snow uses enhanced shading model, 2 normal maps and 1 color map. The metallic and other surfaces use Strauss shading model. This test also uses the heterogeneous fog, along with heavy use of particles, to create a nice snowstorm effect. The snow also uses the subsurface scattering effect. Overall, Deep Freeze is one of the most intensive benchmarks for testing ShaderModel 3.0 performance.

Apart from the overall score, 3DMark 2006 generates seperate scores for SM 2.0 and HDR/SM 3.0. This way, one gets a better overview of the graphics card’s performance

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3DMark 06 scores (SM 3.0)

3DMark 06 scores (SM 2.0)

3DMark 06 scores (Overall) 2373 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS

996 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS

908 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS

3694 ATI X1800XT

1613 ATI X1800XT

1680 ATI X1800XT

4133 Asus N7800GTX Extreme

1925 Asus N7800GTX Extreme

1898 Asus N7800GTX Extreme

4501 ATI X1900XT

2068 ATI X1900XT

2236 ATI X1900XT

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Benchmark scores and performance A new release of 3DMark is known to bring the best of the graphics cards to their knees and this one is no different. At best, top of the line cards manage to touch 50 percent of the 3DMark 2005 scores. The ATI 1900XT leads the pack with a score of 4501 points, which is almost 1/3rd of what it scores in 3DMark 2005. Similarly, even the 7800GTX and the 6800GS logged very low scores when compared to 3DMark 2005. With 3DMark 2006, the bar is raised once again and we will witness the race for crossing the 10K barrier in the coming months. Just for the record, a card that crosses the 10K barrier will have to be more than twice as fast and powerful as the X1900XT which currently boasts of 48 pixelshader units!

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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APPLICATIONS

| INFOGRAPHIC

How RFID works Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is currently used in an array of applications; from waste management to product tracking to highway toll systems. Here we take a look at how this technology helps in the production, tracking, and maintaining of stock in a company’s inventory.

1. Mass generation Consider milk cartons manufactured in a plant. The cartons have a smart RFID tag embedded on the carton that stocks important information such as its price, date of manufacturing, unique batch number, etc.

2. Transportation of goods The RFID tag has the capacity of hoarding a wealth of information, so shipment details such as the number of the cartons and the destination address can be stored in the tag itself. The manufactured products pass through various checkpoints and are handled by various people before they are finally unpacked and displayed on store shelves.

Pramod Jadhav

INFOGRAPHIC

A simplified explanation of how RFID works from conception to execution in a manufacturing unit

| APPLICATIONS

There are four key elements in a basic RFID system: A transponder – also known as tag, is cogitated with data that uniquely distinguishes itself, thus the concept of “automatic identification”. A transreceiver also known as a tag reader addresses radio communication through the antennas and passes tag information to the outside world. An antenna attached to the reader is used to communicate with transponders. A reader interface layer or middleware which compacts thousands of tag signals into an individual identification also acts as a passage between the RFID hardware components to the client’s application software systems, such as the inventory, accounts receivable, shipping, logistics.

3. Warehousing and storage Warehouses preserve a stock of all products purchased and keeps track of the number of cans present in the store. If the stock falls lower than the specified limit, the warehouse places an order for more.

How the system works: The tag is actuated when it goes through a radio frequency field (generated by an antenna and reader). The tag sends out a programmed response.

4. Intelligent reorders

The antenna that generates the field is attached to a reader that detects the tag’s response.

Once a buyer purchases a carton and picks products he/she has bought, the list with the supermarket is updated.

The transreceiver (or reader) sends data to the middleware.

5. Purchase history Shoppers during a visit to a supermarket carry items they wish to purchase in a cart. The products get displayed on the cashier’s PC as soon as the RFID tags on the products come near the range of the tag reader.

The middleware sends data carried in the tags to the systems requesting that information. For example, this could be a database or ERP software that is used for inventory management.

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A word about Word The beige box you’ve got sitting on you desk at home is capable of producing documents that look as good as anything made by professionals

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ord processing on a home computer used to be a tedious job. Those were the days of WordStar, monochrome monitors and dot-matrix printers. You couldn’t even see effects like bold and italicized text on your screen and you weren’t sure what anything would look like until you held a printed copy of it in your hands. Fast forward to 2006 and practically every home computer user has a copy of Microsoft Office, the gold standard productivity suite. Today, what you see on screen is what you get in print. Programs like Microsoft Word have grown tremendously in terms of features and functionality in the last 10 years or so and home and office users have far more power in their hands than they might be aware of. Before proceeding, it’s important to note that desktop publishing (or DTP) is not the function of a single application. There is no one single DTP program. Desktop publishers use word processors to prepare their matter and then use page layout programs to manipulate the appearance of that text on a page as well as the tables, charts, images and graphics that will accompany it. The most commonly used page layout programs for print publications today are Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign and Quark Xpress. Page layout is what most people refer to as desktop publishing, but it is only one part of the process. Other

programs that come into play include Adobe Illustrator or CoreDRAW for creating vector illustrations i.e. drawings and diagrams, and Adobe Photoshop to edit images and photographs. In addition, desktop publishing now encompasses electronic and online publishing, so additional programs might be used.

What Word can and can’t do Today, the lines that separate programs like Word from specialized illustrating, image editing and page layout programs have blurred. Designed primarily to work with text, Word has evolved into a program that is fully capable of handling images, graphs, charts and illustrations. It still isn’t on the level of page layout packages such as Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress, but most people don’t need that level of functionality for their day-to-day needs. First of all, your choice of program should depend on what you need it for. Word is a good option if you’re going to produce text-based documents with only a few images, such as letters, official documents, pamphlets, flyers, and leaflets. But image-heavy brochures, booklets that require extensive formatting and anything that involves a lot of different formatting styles and designs is best left to page layout packages. The other major consideration is how you plan to print your work—Word is fine if you’re going to print only a dozen

or so pages on your home inkjet, but high-volume jobs require a page layout program that can handle the file formats used by professional printers. For home use, Word can handle pretty much anything you could possibly need to produce: school or college projects, great looking cards, invitations and letters. For offices, it’s suitable for internal documents, letterheads and reports. You’ll soon come to appreciate the advantages of page layout programs if you’re designing a newsletter or magazine, which means you’re dealing with a number of small articles and pictures rather than one continuous document. And don’t use Word (especially WordArt) to design logos since these often need to be printed at different sizes. An illustration program will allow you to print it at any size without suffering a loss in quality.

Things to know about page layout First and foremost, always remember the purpose of the matter you’re working

Text wrapping doesn’t have to look staid and boring

on. Everything from the selection of fonts to the images and colors must be appropriate to your specific project. Your choice of fonts, layout and even the size of the paper will depend on the type of document you are producing and how it is intended to be handled. Use larger point sizes and more white space for posters that will be displayed on a notice board, and more descriptive text in smaller font sizes for documents that people will hold in their hands to read. Page layout is all about manipulating text and images on screen, so don’t be afraid to try new ideas and see how they look. Feel free to experiment with margins, borders and the structure of your pages. Remember to save your work regularly, or even save multiple versions of it so you have more choices. It helps to type your text first, and then place images (including tables, charts and text boxes) to fit. Keep in mind which images you want to place where, and plan which page you want each one to be on. Inserting images will displace a large amount of text, so be a little flexible when imagining the end result. Pay attention to the visual appeal of each page. Try to follow the rule of thirds—divide your page into a 3x3 grid and align elements like pictures and text boxes along those lines—for a more striking look. And remember that humans tend to scan pages starting from the upper left and continuing in a “Z” pattern. Place your most eye-catching images on the upper half of the page, and try to avoid starting new subtopics too close to the bottom. Use white space (any blank space without text or images) generously, and plan pages so that viewers’ focus

Your charts and graphs can look better and convey more information

Use text boxes to break monotony as well as draw focus to important points

is drawn to the points you want to emphasize. There are no set rules about whether or not to use justified or leftaligned text, so choose whatever you think is appropriate to the subject matter.

be used only after careful consideration. Whatever you do, do NOT type your resume using Comic Sans! The type of font you chose will have a major impact on how well your work is received, but that isn’t the only consideration. While you can use more than one font in your document, try to make it look as uniform as possible to avoid the impression of clutter. If you aren’t happy with the fonts you have, there are thousands available for free online. Try your luck at sites such as www.1001freefonts.com. Now it’s time to explore the lesserknown font manipulation options in Word. Click Format>Font… and try out all the options there. Click on the Character Spacing tab, and you’ll find options to fine-tune the appearance of your text. You can tweak the spacing between individual characters and also enable kerning, a highly sophisticated method of adjusting the spacing between specific combinations of characters (like A and V) so they look better. Next, click Format>Paragraph, where you’ll find options to tweak the alignment, indentation and spacing of paragraphs. One great way to make your document look better is to manually adjust the spacing before and after paragraphs instead of hitting Enter

How to get great looking results with Word Creating good-looking documents with Word is just a matter of exploring the program and becoming familiar with all the options. First and foremost, change the default font! Everyone’s sick of 12-point Times New Roman. If you want to grab eyeballs, a nice, crisp font is the place to start. There are two main types of fonts, serif and sans serif. Serif fonts have decorative “curls” on the ends of each character. These are considered classical and elegant, and connote a sense of stability and formal establishment. Common examples are Times New Roman, Garamond and Book Antiqua. Sans Serif fonts use straight lines without any curls. These are used to convey a sense of neatness and modernity, for example Arial, Tahoma and Verdana. Similarly, thicker or “heavier” fonts project a more formal feel, and lend a serious, credible image to your text. Thin, light fonts look crisp, fresh and energetic. Decorative and novelty fonts should

twice while typing. This is also an easy way to make pesky paragraphs that are running over into a new page fit where they should. The Line and Page Breaks tab in the same dialog box has a very cool option called Widow/Orphan Control. Checking it ensures that paragraphs will never start on the last lines of a page or spill over to a new page for one or two lines! Next up, it’s time to tweak your images. You might be familiar with Text Wrapping, the art of making text flow around pictures, but here’s something you probably didn’t know. Double click on any image to open the Format Picture dialog box. Select the Layout tab and click the button labeled Advanced. You’ll see many more options for text wrapping, including how far text should stay from the edges of the picture. The Picture Position tab even lets you manually specify the exact position of the image on the page. (By the way you can also add a border to your image using the Format Picture dialog box.) But that’s not all! If your picture is an irregular shape, you can force Word to wrap text perfectly around it, rather than in a rectangle. Enable the Picture toolbar (select View>Toolbars>Picture) and select the second last tool, labeled “Set Transparent Color”. Now just click anywhere in the space surrounding the shape and voila! Instant wraparound text! Click the Text Wrapping button on the same toolbar and select “Edit Wrap Points” to further tweak the shape if you want to. Nothing looks as tiresome as the default charts in Microsoft Word, and luckily there are dozens of other options already built in. Effective chart design goes a long way in making your

documents look professional. Tip: Use Microsoft Excel to make your charts, since it has a very flexible wizard that lets you specify all options in one go. Check out all the types of charts available, and make sure you know what you need—a single 3D 100 percent stacked column chart can often illustrate the data in five or six pie charts far more simply and effectively. Specify names and labels for all axes, and explore all the tabs in the wizard to suit the look of your charts to your document. To make data more easily understandable, try the options under the Data Labels tab, and enable the Show Data Table option to integrate the chart with a table for further clarity. Finally, once the chart is created, double click on each area, i.e. the legend, the background, the walls of the chart and even each individual column or line to bring up its Format dialog box. Experiment with colors, gradients and background effects, and once you’re completely done, copy and paste the chart into Word. Text boxes are also a powerful way to make a plain text document look more interesting. They can be used to highlight

important points within your subject matter. Here’s a quick tip to create the perfect sized text box quickly and easily—rather than creating a textbox and then having to resize it to fit your text, just type the text first, select it and then click Insert>Textbox. You can double click on the box border and format it just like a picture, including wrapping your document’s text around it. You could also use a slightly different font, spacing or paragraph style to make it interesting. And there you have it! These are just a few pointers. Word has far more hidden tricks that can help you create some awesome looking work without expensive and complicated page layout programs. You’ll impress your friends, family and colleagues, but what’s more important is that you know they’re looking at your work and reading it with interest. A little attention to presentation goes a long way. So start exploring all the options Word has to offer, and your boring old documents will never be the same. ■ | Jamshed Avari

Use fonts, photographs, illustrations and formatting to make an impact

COLUMN

| APPLICATIONS

99

Personal data Privacy risks in data transfers and corporate compliance “You have zero privacy. Get over it”. Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems Despite Scott McNealy’s blunt admonition that Internet users should get comfortable with the notion of vanishing privacy, 86 per cent of users are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about electronic privacy. The issue has generated intense media scrutiny worldwide.

Data protection law in Europe Privacy law structured in its present context with data protection legislation on the lines of the EU Model is the norm for any business in the Internet economy. Compliance with privacy law is of great practical relevance for any company doing business in today’s global information economy. With the advent of electronic commerce, the concept of ‘data transfer’ is much broader than what it used to be in the past. Today, data transfer is a routine activity in every day business transaction. India has no data protection or privacy laws. Privacy has been in most cases interpreted as the right to be let alone as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. However, except for the tort of unlawful invasion of privacy, there is no recourse against private parties.

Data transfers The definition of “personal data” under present European data protection legislation (as envisaged by the EC Data Protection Directive 1995) is wide enough for it to cover practically any information held about an individual. This is because the simplest information such as a name associated with a terrestrial address will constitute personal data for the purposes of the legislation. Holding such personal data requires the organization in question to obtain registration with the data protection registrar (information commissioner) and to provide specific details of the purposes for which the data is held. All personal MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| Rodney D Ryder [email protected] data, which is held must comply with the following eight principles: Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully. It must be obtained only for one or more specific and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose. The data held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which it is processed. It must be accurate, and where necessary, kept up to date. It must not be kept for longer than it’s necessary for the purposes for which it was obtained. It must be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the Act. Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to personal data. Personal data shall not be transferred outside the European economic area unless the recipient provides an adequate level of protection (equivalent to the data protection principles within the European Union). Regretfully, the legislation does not provide any guidance as to what is meant by the word “lawful” in the context of data processing. Decided case law suggests

that the natural meaning of “unlawful” is “something which is contrary to some law or enactment or is done without lawful justification or excuse”. An essential prerequisite for the processing of personal data is that the data subject has given consent to the processing. That consent must be informed and unequivocal. It’s important to recognize that if a request to supply data is not adequately fulfilled then the data holder may be the subject of a criminal prosecution under the legislation. One of the fundamental consequences of Internet usage is that national boundaries are easily crossed, often without the knowledge of the users. It’s not unusual for Internet trading sites to carry personal data about customers. There is, therefore, the risk that the personal data might, albeit innocently and inadvertently, move outside the confines of the European Union. This is potentially a major problem for data users. That’s because under the Data Protection Act, no personal data can be exported anywhere outside the European Union unless it is sent to a jurisdiction with equivalent legislative protection for data or unless it is subject to express confidentiality provisions. Data ‘exported’ to call centers, BPO operations in India is governed by a contract structured in terms relating to European law, with jurisdiction and governing law in Europe. Any business user of data must care about the operation of the legislation because there are quite a number of issues which need to be taken very carefully into consideration to ensure that the use of personal data is in accordance with the principles of the relevant legislation and is also consistent with the terms of the registration which all users must obtain. ■ Rodney D Ryder heads Preconcept (www.preconcept.com), a service law firm with cutting edge specialization in Intellectual Property, Media and Technology [email protected]

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APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE

Free space Make the best use of free online file hosting sites

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ave you ever felt helpless not being able to share documents, home videos, voice recordings, music or photographs with people who rarely check their e-mail accounts or those who’re always busy? How about sharing huge files with hundreds of people? In such situations, using optical media is pointless. The solution is simple. Host the files and distribute the links via phone call, SMS or e-mail so that people can download them from anywhere at their own convenience. This way you can be sure of one thing —you won’t have to worry about e-mails bouncing back or clogging the inboxes of recipients. Also, you need not worry about people not having an e-mail account. Apart from sharing files, you can even use it to create online backup of your critical data. With sites offering over a gigabyte of hosting space, size of the data doesn’t matter. Let’s drill into what file hosting is all about and take a look at a few sites offering free file hosting service.

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What’s file hosting?

Features of file hosting sites

The name says it all! In simple terms, it means hosting files which are uploaded on an online host or a server so that they can be downloaded anywhere in the world using a computer that has access to the Internet. The hosting server is a super-fast computer having terabytes of storage space and a constant, high-speed connection to the Internet. The need for such a monstrous computer for a hosting server is obvious. Storing millions of user accounts and terabytes of files and handling thousands of simultaneous upload, and download requests from all over the world 24 hours a day throughout the year is certainly a Herculean task.

One-click hosting: Unlike web hosting sites which are

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dedicated to hosting web sites that require registration, most file hosting sites don’t require user registration. Instead, they offer an interesting feature called ‘One-click hosting’. Here, the user simply has to upload a file on the host server by specifying the file and then clicking on the upload button. After the file is uploaded, the site returns a short URL which can be given to other people, who can later download the file. Some hosting sites also have a field wherein you can specify the e-mail address of the person who you wish to send the URL of the uploaded file. The method of deleting a file on one-click hosting sites is

Step 2

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Select the file you wish to host

Upload the file to the host server

Make note of the link and share it

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2005

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Free online storage sites Website

One-click hosting

www.mytempdir.com

✓

40 MB

www.rapidshare.de

✓

100 MB

www.sendspace.com

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1.2 GB

www.webfilehost.com

✓

Unlimited

www.upload2.net

✓

www.zshare.net

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www.yousendit.com www.filefactory.com eng.webfile.ru

✓

20 MB

www.uploading.com

✓

300 MB

www.gfoto.com

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1 GB

Images

Unlimited

Images, audio, video, flash content

www.putfile.com

File types

Max file size

Image gallery

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zip, rar, doc, pdf, txt Media Files: mp3, wmv, rm

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simple—along with the URL of the file, you also get a URL to delete the file. Click on the link and the file gets deleted in a jiffy.

Large files? No problem: Uploading large files isn’t a problem—some file hosting sites allow a maximum single file size of 20 to 40 MB. There are also sites which allow you to upload a maximum file size of 1.5 GB for a single file. Since most one-click hosting sites allow only a single file to be uploaded, it would make sense to utilize the space by uploading big files of music and video. However, there are some sites featuring multiple file support also. Storage duration: After the files are uploaded, there is no limit on the duration of storage provided that they are downloaded at least once during the time period mentioned in the terms and conditions of the hosting site. If you wish to share a file for a few days, there are sites that offer a definite storage period ranging from a week to a month.

Online photo album: If you’ve got photographs which you would like to share with your friends or family members, the easiest way to do it is by creating an online photo album. All you’ve got to do is upload the images and share the link. The best thing is that you don’t need any application to create it. MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Capacity

25 MB

File hosting vs e-mail Even though major web based e-mail service providers like Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail offer massive storage space, using a file hosting service is far more preferable due to the following reasons: Unlike webmail which restricts the maximum single file size to a few megabytes, using file hosting you can upload a file up to 1 GB in size. If you forget to include one e-mail address while sending a mail to many with a big attachment, you’re calling for trouble. Because even if you have a copy of the sent mail, you’ll have to forward the e-mail all over again. Giving the link of the hosted file to people would be a better option. Storing huge files like videos or high-resolution images would hog humungous space on your e-mail account. And, one day you will find your inbox jammed. Such a problem is eliminated by hosting files. Imagine the amount of space you would be saving. If you wish to share a file with colleagues at work or friends at school or college, you need not remember everyone’s e-mail address; simply give them the link to your file. Finally, uploading or downloading files from the host doesn’t require the user to have an e-mail account.

www.gfoto.com Creating an online photo album could never get as easy as using www.gfoto. com. After registering on this site, you get a personalized URL using which people with who you share it can view your album from anywhere in the world. Uploading the images to the album is a breeze using applet displaying a Windows Explorer-like interface having a thumbnail view. After uploading the images, you have options to rotate images and add comments to them on the fly. Creating multiple huge albums with hundreds of images is not a problem. This site not only offers a few MBs but also a whole gig of storage space. If you don’t want to make your album public, you can even create password-protected private albums. The next time you wish to share those precious memories captured in photographs with your friends and loved ones across cities or overseas, create an online album to light up their faces with a smile. ■ | Anand Tuliani

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| FEATURE

Radio refreshed WorldSpace’s satellite radio is gaining ground as an alternative medium for listening to music

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pple’s iTunes might have had a grip on the music scene for quite some time now. But in India, although the legal download market is showing rapid growths, a sizeable music loving population is not game for downloads yet (it’s only recently that MP3 players have redefined the concept of personal music and more so for the mobile populace). They still prefer to listen on their trendy music systems or the ageold radio. While, the coming of FM revolutionized radio listening in India to a great extent, a lot of the music-hungry citizenry were left craving for music of the rare kind and a wide plate to choose from. It’s only then that WorldSpace, which pioneered satellite radio worldwide, launched its digital audio services in India. But sadly even before a considerable size of the public could tune into satellite radio, the services faded into oblivion because of no impetus on marketing and the issue of highcost barriers. Cut to 2004 and the country witnessed the resurgence of satellite radio with WorldSpace in a new avatar; it’s not unusual that since then we have watched listeners driven into a musical frenzy unseen before.

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WorldSpace India, a subsidiary of WorldSpace Inc, has been screaming about its subscriptionbased services over the last months in several major cities in India. A technology company that eventually metamorphosed into a media company, Worldspace leveraged on the unique features of satellite radio by providing immense value to the subscribers. These features include an extraordinary platter of music stations, outstanding quality content and service, and a refreshingly clutter-free environment virtually free of advertising of any kind. Not surprisingly then, WorldSpace today has a base of over 1,15,000 subscribers across the globe (a sizeable portion of this consists of Indian listeners). The fourth quarter of 2005 saw an addition of 40,000 subscribers, increasing the subscriber base by more than 50 percent. Satellite broadcasting of radio programs: WorldSpace beams audio content across the globe through strategically positioned satellites. The two geostationary satellites—AfriStar and AsiaStar have three beams each, with each beam having the capability to send up to 80 channels directly to portable satellite radios. The content is recorded in digital quality in a studio and then encoded, and sent to the satellite from a ground station. The satellite then transmits the signal to special receivers at your home where embedded chipsets decode the broadcast. Satellite radio signals are broadcast in digital form, which means no fading of sound, no noise or distortion and listeners are presented with clear and CD quality audio. Every WorldSpace satellite radio is equipped with a data port that transforms it into a wireless modem that can be used to download data to PCs at rates of up to 128 kbps. Therefore, one this service is made available to you, your WorldSpace receiver can also serve as a device capable of broadcasting multimedia content. WorldSpace earth stations: WorldSpace satellites use onboard processing to enable program reception from many stations. Content providers on the WorldSpace system can uplink their programs via the traditional hub method, sending broadcast signals to a central location for transmission to the satellite. A second mode enables use of smaller, more mobile Feeder INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006 2005

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Link Stations (FLS). Onboard processing technology converts these multiple signals at the satellite, combining them into a single downlink signal before transmitting them back to earth. Focus: Worldspace’s metamorphosis in India came about with an increased focus on communication activity. Initially, there were very few stations. “Today at WorldSpace, we beam over 40 stations playing a range of music, news, sports and other information directly to millions of households across the world,” says Andy Ras–Work, worldwide COO, WorldSpace. Listeners get an opportunity to choose from a wide range of musical genres from classical to popular and regional to international hits. An aggressive push in approaching music companies and radio and TV broadcasters lifted the content base to include a rich and comprehensive package of news from CNN, Bloomberg, BBC Asia West, NDTV (English and Hindi), music from two Indian classical stations—Shruti (Carnatic) and Gandharv (Hindustani), as well as from regional Indian stations that include Tara (Bengali), KL Radio (Tamil), Sparsha (Kannada), RM Radio (Malayalam) and Spandana (Telugu). Recently four new stations have been added to its network—Tunak Punjabi (Punjabi), special interest stations like Moksha (spirituality and wellness) and Radio Art of Living (The Art of Living Foundation on radio), and PLAY (India’s first 24-hour dedicated sports radio station). Tie-ups with local vendors such as BPL resulted in slashing the cost of the receivers, which would otherwise have to be imported. A reduced subscription rate helped in augmenting revenues. Though currently the annual subscription rate is Rs 1,800 per year (Rs 150 per month), customers get a bouquet of services, and spend less than what they would on CDs every month. Receivers are a one-time investment; at present customers have a choice of four receivers—and from what we last heard about prices, the BPL Diva (Rs 3,790) and the BPL Celeste (Rs 4,990) are affordable while the Tongshi (Rs 8,190) and the Polytron (Rs 6,790) are a bit high up the scale. The BPL Diva is now available at a special price of Rs 1,999, which includes 3 months’ subscription. However, this is a MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| WorldSpace’s USPs You can choose from over 40 radio stations, each catering to a specific musical genre. Digital quality music, virtually ad-free. The stations and programs are music-focused and committed to leading listeners through a journey of musical exploration. An entire radio station dedicated 24x7 to a genre of music means in-depth exploration of the genre beyond the obvious. Listeners are offered truly national radio stations—which means a Malayalee living in Kochi or Mumbai can tune into Malayalam music on RM Radio.

limited period offer only. The experience zones or ‘lounges’ as they are known as, in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, have been a boon to listeners wanting to touch base with WorldSpace. Each of these zones has the right ambience for listening to music with bean bags and listening posts. So in case you like what you hear, you can sign up for the service and take a receiver home. However, more importantly, adding mobility to its radio services will see an upscale in revenue for WorldSpace. After all, who wouldn’t welcome radio sans insipid jockey talk while they on the move? Making the receivers portable in India will go a long way in increasing the listeners’ base, agrees Andy Ras-Work and says that they have plans to implement the same. Educational services: Moving forward with its subscription-based business model, WorldSpace depends on a nonprofit organization it created called First Voice International (FVI—www. firstvoiceint.org) for humanitarian and educational programming. FVI, which is endowed with 5 percent of the WorldSpace satellite system, provides the vehicle for corporate social responsibility, it offers distant education programming to the most remotest regions. The WorldSpace receivers can be powered with electricity, batteries or solar panels for those areas that are off the electrical grid. FVI provides satellite bandwidth at low costs. In India, WorldSpace intends to take education to various parts of the country with the help of its Digital Audio

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Broadcasting (DAB) technology. Unlike traditional broadcasting of programs, WorldSpace’s superior satellites enable easy and smooth transfer of voice and data—therefore teachers will be able to send presentations of their lectures to students via the Internet who in turn will be able to interact with them via instant messengers, etc. Promotion: Satellite radio is still like a nouveau radio service for many in India. Reason why WorldSpace is focused upon creating more awareness among the audience through a 360-degree communication campaign launched across nine cities in India. The campaign includes print, radio and outdoor advertising, customer contact programs based on one-on-one interactions, ‘experience zones’ in the form of mobile experience vans, participation in a range of ground events and concerts, and a recent alliance with Café Coffee Day playing only WorldSpace radio stations. It also recently signed a MoU with Webel Electronics to explore technology transfer for the assembly, installation and commissioning of broadcast infrastructure that work in conjunction with WorldSpace’s satellite radio offering. With a slew of promotional schemes, a new MD—Shishir Lall—entrusted with the responsibility of spearheading the growth strategy drawn up for 2006 and just going live in Kolkata, WorldSpace seems zeroed in on establishing the fact that it’s indeed not a replacement for download or other mediums but a complimentary medium which will keep music aficionados riveted to its stations. ■ | Sharmistha Dey

Reinventing Learning Our education system where a student’s success is centered more on marks other than comprehension, is in dire need of revival. Albeit in a small way, that revival has begun. CHIP meets one such institution driving this change…

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or a minute, let’s step back and question the very root of the issue of education. What does it entail really? When a child is sent to nursery, junior school, high school, college and university, what does the system really expect him or her to take away? Are the tools of knowledge imparted using today’s techniques adequate armament for a young worker headed out into the world? While this topic has been argued to death at numerous casual and formal platforms, there is no real sign of any change. Refinements, if any, happen at a superficial level, leaving the system to go about its modus operandi of drilling fact over fact of textbook literature into increasingly fatigued minds of our students today. These are the kinds of issues that impelled Prof Kirti Trivedi to think about the system of Indian education and, on a deeper level, the very core of the learning process. Teaching at the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, at the IDC (Industrial Design Centre), Prof Trivedi has been associated with the fields of visual design and photography since the past 30 years. It was this fascination with the world of

instructional design that led him to create a product which now helps thousands of children in villages, towns and cities enjoy a new kind of education. Known as the K-yan, this product is a marriage of a multimedia computer and a DLP projector, resulting in a portable computer that has the propensity to convert any blank wall into an interactive, engaging classroom. The K-Yan was developed as part of a project commissioned by IL&FS Education and Technology Services. The mandate was to develop an integrated multimedia-based device that would facilitate group learning in communities. Being a self-contained unit, it is built to be transported between teaching venues, enabling much wider reach. When used with the right blend of multimedia applications, the effect of the large, vivid screen, the in-built speakers, the networking capability and the wireless keyboard/mouse, the K-Yan has proved its efficacy in opening up a world of learning and wonder to children in India and abroad. Already into a second generation of production, its manufacturing unit at TVS Electronics in Himachal Pradesh will be producing about 500 units per month. This

device continues to be promoted by the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) and costs around 1.5 lacs. (We covered the initial development of the K-Yan in January 2004.)

The software behind the system However, this is the half of it. More than being a glorified multimedia computer with a projector fused into it, the device’s real power comes from the applications that have begun to drive it. It is the development of these new software-based tools that has the propensity to reinvent the way students can be taught. All of this stemmed from Prof Trivedi’s ideology pertaining to learning. Diametrically opposite to the fact-funneling approach adopted by almost every teaching system today—schools, colleges and training institutes alike—his philosophy speaks of first inculcating an ethos of curiosity in the minds of students. To him, this is the only way in which a person can grasp the very fundamentals of the world around him, and from which the quest for learning becomes inherent. The form and function of the software tools created by him and INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Pramod Jadhav

his team at their development center in Mumbai is born out of this very ideology. He maintains that the K-Yan and its associated software tools are facilitators of learning and not radically new and powerful products. It is more the merger of the capabilities of each of the system’s components that, if used correctly, can facilitate a rich learning environment. These tools only reach the pinnacle of their capability when they are intelligently used as instructional tools along with teaching methodologies that promote discussion and multiple perspectives through activities like active classroom discussions. He believes that this is the combination which would truly inspire students to learn and continue learning. In the time I spent with Prof Trivedi, this was aptly demonstrated through the software. Beginning at the very foundation, Prof Trivedi and his team of developers are creating teaching modules for students ranging from pre-school all the way to grade XII. This software initiative, known as K-Class, is unlike any other multimediabased training application that you would come across. Structured on his scientific studies of learning and comprehension, these tools do not deliver information in the traditional top-down manner—instead, they provide a range of relevant tools that can assist the teacher to probe the mind of students across various subjects. All this is done in an environment that encourages creativity and inquisition. MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

He demonstrated several such modules pertaining to different classes and across subjects such as mathematics, physics, history, geography, etc.

Experiencing the system The design of the interface of the K-Class is itself an interesting study. Structured to closely resemble the objects you’d encounter in a real-world classroom, the application’s main interface contains elements like images of books on a library stand, whiteboards, colored painting tools, tools for drawing shapes, etc. These modules deviate from the usual splash screen followed by screen upon screen of information ending with an interactive question-answer module. Instead, the onus of directing the flow of the lesson plan is placed on the instructor. Using these tools, the teacher presents scenarios—many of them from real-world examples—where students can see phenomena happening, and derive the concepts from there on. For example, in the demonstration of the lesson on physics, the concept of trajectories of moving objects is illustrated by a video clip of a person throwing a ball at several angles and examining how far it traveled. This is followed by a video of a child holding a hose pipe and pointing it higher and lower—seeing the natural phenomenon being played out conveys the concept of the subject and not the mathematics behind it. Once the concept is grasped, the mathematics and

theory follow later making it far easier to understand. This is but one of the several examples I was shown on a wide variety of subjects. Another very innovative module is the one on pre-school learning. Targeted at children at the pre-alphabet stage, the system of explaining concepts here is very innovative. In one charming example that teaches about the different kinds of fruit, the module starts off by displaying images of an actual fruit stall. It then goes on to stress on understanding particular characteristics in fruit by showing it in different sizes, comparing it to other similar fruit, etc. It is this approach that marked the difference between traditional methods of teaching—while children are traditionally asked to identify fruits from a chart and by associating the fruit to a word, their understanding of the concept

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of a fruit is marred by the fact that they are still not fully aware of he concepts of words! Prof Trivedi elucidates this approach saying that if a child is able to identify the characteristics of a fruit or vegetable or even an animal, regardless of its shape or type, his mind will then graduate to isolating key characteristics. It is from here that comprehension stems where he will finally be able to abstract identifying information and use it creatively in other contexts. After that, associating it with a particular word will be a comparatively insignificant step in the entire process of learning and comprehension.

Providing tools Throughout each of these lessons, the K-Class interface is designed to provide access to a set of related tools that help the teacher during a lesson. For example, in the geography lesson plan, the toolbar on the side contains Google Earth along with links to local and web-based geographyrelated resources. These tool sets change to suit every lesson plan. These tools are all culled from new-age information resources, most of which are web-based, such as Google earth, Wikipedia, etc. Placing them all in one interface provides a palette of opportunities that can then be used to stimulate a student’s mind. When combined with the visual approach of representing ideas and concepts, coupled with interactive discussions and viewing a topic from multiple perspectives and contexts, he found that comprehension is that much easier. Interestingly, in most of his lesson plans, there is very little use of the written word. This languageagnostic approach enables his teaching aids to be used across cultures and demographics—he believes that the visual approach of conveying information is a language unto itself. Also, once language is separated from the learning process, the barriers of comprehension and the subtleties generally lost in translation are no longer issues. With basic concepts illustrated through images and video, it is left to the teacher to further explain this in a language of their choice, resulting in a far wider reach. Another feature of these modules is

The K-Yan system integrates a multimedia computer with a projector, facilitating large-screen, interactive teaching

their ability to be extended. According to Prof Trivedi, the process of learning opens new avenues to additional questions and directions. This would necessitate students and teachers to be able to supplement the material already contained in the K-Class modules with additional media of their own. The system’s library can therefore be augmented with user-created or externally procured audio, video or text files that can be categorized and recalled subsequently. This is being made possible with a module under development called K-Content Creator that will allow students and teachers to create their own learning material and integrate it into the K-Class system. Prof Trivedi explains that some of the biggest problems faced while deploying these systems in the vast majority of rural classrooms is that of infrastructure. Very often, power is so erratic that the device and consequently the classes are left at the mercy of power availability. Also, being a device of significant potential, its efficacy comes to the fore only when used correctly and in an enthusiastic classroom environment. This is a challenge while teaching teachers to use the system and its associated application software. All of this represents a radical

departure from the norm in teaching. In fact, these teaching systems clearly indicate a sea change from present-day education. But such a system would only reach the pinnacle of its existence if it’s accepted and used within the right context and in the right manner. IL&FS is coordinating with several central and state governments to make these systems available to government run schools via educational programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Primary and elementary education programmes, etc. The device has also found acceptance in several private schools across the country. How far-reaching the effects of such systems will only be dictated by their acceptance and institutionalization by today’s government bodies—not on a local level, but by ensuring their mass popularity. As is with the introduction of any radically new system, it is bound to meet with opposition, especially in light of the complacency of present-day education systems. If today’s education has to produce talent to meet the needs of our country’s pace of advancement today, we believe that it is innovation such as this which will drive the change. ■ | Marco D’Souza INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Pramod Jadhav

An alternative OS Installing a new operating system is like an adventure sport—exciting for some and harrowing for others. Find out how the events unfolded while installing PC-BSD

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ast year, I had attempted to install FreeBSD 5.4 on my computer. The experience is still quite fresh in my mind. Maybe because it was the least user-friendly installation routine I had ever attempted. After about three attempts, I gave up—I could not bring up the GUI. On hindsight, I realized it must have had something to do with my motherboard—an Nvidia nforce2 chipset, which I am very fond of despite its *nix compatibility problems. So when I came across PC-BSD, I had my reservations. But then what is life without an adventure, right? So I eventually decided to install PC-BSD. Not one to plunge into unfamiliar waters, I decided that some ‘Googling’ was in order. Apart from all the information I found about the installation, I came across some really interesting trivia. BSD—an acronym for Berkeley Software Distribution—owes its existence to the University of California, Berkeley. It is a Unix-based operating system that is developed and maintained by a large team of individuals. (Many web sites are hosted on BSD). BSD contains (almost)

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

everything you need for a running system, including kernel, C libraries, command line tools, installation programs and a system to “integrate and update third-party applications”. Just like Linux, BSD comes in a number of flavours—both commercial and free. Major flavors include FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonflyBSD, PicoBSD, TrustedBSD and PC-BSD. Incidentally, Apple Macintosh OS X, which is derived from Open Darwin, is also one of the BSD flavors. Pico BSD is another flavor that is quite noteworthy. It allows you to have secure dialup access, a small diskless router, or even a dial-in server. What is so great about this, you may ask? Well, all these can be run off a mere 3.5-inch 1.44 MB floppy! For those who care to know, the BSD Virtual Memory system is claimed to be far superior to that of Linux—it uses available memory resources more optimally. This results in a stable system which is ideal for mission critical server applications. I guess that is why FreeBSD is the operating system for the biggest single-machine ftp

server in the world, ftp://wcarchive.cdrom. com/. Sites like Yahoo have also used FreeBSD for providing Internet services. That’s one hell of a job for FreeBSD. Since PC-BSD is a reworked version of FreeBSD, it is therefore optimized for desktop use. (FreeBSD has a mode that allows you to run Linux applications on it. As a result, almost all Linux applications run on FreeBSD with practically no performance drop.)

Hard Disk Nomenclature in BSD With all this trivia and all the technical information required for the installation under my belt I was ready to install PC-BSD on my computer. I have to admit that my earlier experience with BSD came in handy here. Unlike Linux, BSD will only install onto a Primary partition. This peculiarity is applicable to PC-BSD as well. Another unique characteristic of BSD is its nomenclature for hard disks. It refers to the first hard disk as ‘ad0’ and ‘ad1’ for the second hard disk. These are suffixed once again to denote the partitions (‘slices’ in BSD). For example, the second partition

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Dddddddddd

Install PC-BSD, reset the graphic configuration or partition your drives after booting from the CD on the first hard disk would therefore be ‘ad0s2’. As far as space requirements go for this distribution, a 5 GB slice will do just fine for the install. The file system used by BSD is ‘ufs2’ and it is capable of reading and writing to VFAT, ext2/3. It can also read NTFS partitions.

Install and Konquer When you boot with the installation CD, you are first greeted with the BSD boot menu (this appears during every boot sequence). Choose the default option to boot to BSD. Shortly thereafter, you will be greeted with an ncurses menu which has options for configuring the language (default is US English), keyboard (default is US), disk partitioning by fdisk (this is also ncurses driven, and is reasonably user friendly; only keep in mind the disk/partition naming convention) and graphical install. On selecting this option the graphical interface comes up. It is slick and similar to the GUI used by Fedora. The hardware detection was quite good. All my hardware including my optical scroll mouse was properly detected and configured. During the installation, BSD makes its own ‘sub-partitions’, including a swap space, within the assigned ‘slice’. These have an additional suffix starting from ‘a’. Consider another example, the BSD ‘/’ partition on the second partition of the first hard disk would therefore be called ‘ad0s2a’. An experienced user can configure this ‘sub-partition’ scheme as per his or her requirements. However, for most users (who will most probably be newbies), this is really not required. Another thing to note about BSD is its boot loader. It uses its own boot loader, which can apparently load

Choosing the right boot loader option is one the most important installation decisions other operating systems as well. Installing this into the Master Boot Record (MBR) as the primary boot loader is really not recommended if you already have a Linux distribution installed on your computer. If you have Linux installed then one can boot to PC-BSD by ‘chain-loading’ it with the help of GRUB. I would highly recommend this over the PC-BSD’s native boot loader. If you intend on installing PC-BSD only on your computer then you can opt for the BSD bootloader to install on the Master Boot Record instead of the boot partition.

Partitioning and Boot Loader Options The only inputs required from the user are about partition selection, and boot loader installation. Both are critical decisions. For partition selection, in case you have more than one disk, you have the option of selecting the appropriate disk. The default option is to use the whole disk—certainly not recommended. Since the disk partitioning has already been done, just select the required Primary partition using the nomenclature as described earlier. The next critical decision is about the boot loader. De-select the MBR option, and select ‘No bootloader’. This option writes the bootloader into the BSD partition and permits chain-loading using GRUB. Once this is done, the operating system and the complete applications packages are copied to the selected ‘slice’. You have no control over the package selection. On my machine with an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor, 1 GB RAM, and a Seagate Barracuda PATA hard disk, the install took about 12 minutes, including the post install configuration. The only other thing left was to create a ‘root’ account and a user account. At this point

Post-installation reveals a familiar desktop environment - KDE 3.4 make sure you deselect the ‘auto-login’ option for security. With a new user created, the installation completes and clicking on Finish will restart the machine.

Post Installation The default option boots into PC-BSD with KDE 3.4.2 as the desktop environment—the version I installed on my machine (as of now the version available is ______). You have to login as a normal user, since ‘root’ is not permitted in GUI logins. I have to say that KDE’s startup tune came as a pleasant surprise to me. KDE 3.4.2 is a slick interface and it is accompanied with a very decent bundle of packages covering most requirements. Konqueror is the default package in KDE. While it is a fairly good web browser, I prefer working with Mozilla Firefox or Opera (no ad banners and very fast). Unfortunately, neither of these is installed. Another glaring absence is that of a word processor. All my hardware was detected—all except the network card. PC-BSD, like many other distributions, configures detected network cards with DHCP. Since my Internet connection uses the network card with a static IP address, I had to configure it manually. For this you have to open the shell console, sign as ‘root’ and run “sysinstall”. This will require you to enter the following commands pressing Enter after each one, $ su password: # sysinstall This opens up a ncurses menu, which permits the user to configure the various components of the system, including INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

FEATURE

system security settings. For configuring the network card, select ‘Configure Networking Interfaces’ from the menu. This will display a list of devices detected by the system. Select the appropriate device, and configure it. Enter the necessary parameters to configure the network card - IP Address, Netmask, Default Gateway & Primary Nameserver. Once you are done, it will give you the option to start the device. If this does not work then rebooting the system will get the network card to become functional. Another thing you will need to take care of here is the list of devices that appeared earlier. Disable all the devices that appear above yours. This is because the systems seems to load the first one in the list—ignoring the one that has configured. This will require selecting each device and deselecting the option to ‘bring up the device’, when you exit the device configuration menu. This is kind of tedious and it could be worse. Like my network configuration, which was not as simple from the start. The nforce2 chipset which supports the network interface too is not natively supported in PC-BSD. Hence, the device did not show up at all. I solved this issue by downloading the driver from www.pbidir.com. Obviously, I had to boot to another operating system on my computer to do this. I saved this file on a primary VFAT partition so that I could retrieve it while working in PC-BSD. (PC-BSD does not seem to be able to work with extended partitions/logical drives). If you visit the site www.pbidir.com, you will come across a list of a number of software packages in the *.pbi format. I downloaded the nforce driver for my motherboard (nvnet20050312.pbi). It also works for nforce1 chipsets. Unfortunately, Nforce3 chipsets are not yet fully supported.

Install Additional Packages While you are at this site, you might as well download Mozilla Firefox (the latest version available), Opera 8.5, Ktorrent (BitTorrent client) and K3b (for DVD/CD writing). Open Office 2.0 is also available, which is a 94 MB download—much time and bandwidth is required. After downloading these packages, I restarted and booted into PC-BSD. The /etc/fstab MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Configure your network card through the ncurses menu file showed only the Primary partitions on the disks. The next step was to mount the VFAT partition (ad0s3 in my case). For this click on Kmenu Computer Disks. This opens up a Konqueror window with the devices/ partitions which can be mounted. Right clicking on the device gives the ‘mount’ option. Double clicking on the mounted device to display its contents in a new

| Editing GRUB If you intend on booting to PC-BSD via GRUB (Linux’s boot loader) then some editing is required. For this you will have to add an entry in the ‘/boot/grub/grub. conf ‘ file on your Linux distribution, which GRUB is a part of. (In some distros this file is called ‘/boot/grub/menu.lst’). Boot into the Linux distro and as ‘root’ (Administrator, in Windows terms) open the relevant file in any text editor, and add the following lines: title PC-BSD rootnoverify (hd0,1) chainloader +1 (hd0,1) is the GRUB naming convention in which the first hard disk is hd0, and the first partition on the disk is ‘0’. (hd0,1) indicates that you have installed PC-BSD on the second partition of your first hard disk. Change this notation according to your installation. “rootnoverify” may not be required for the newer versions of GRUB. However, adding it will not do any harm. Save the file and reboot the computer. When the GRUB screen appears, it will display an additional entry “PC-BSD”. Selecting this will cause PC-BSD to be booted.

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window. Installation of any *.pbi package is a breeze. Right clicking on the package gives the option ‘runpbi.sh’. Selecting this option starts the install. You are asked for the root password, and then the program is installed by the graphical installer. It also makes the required changes to the ‘Kstart’ menu—you may have to use the menu editor to put the new menu entry into the appropriate category. After the ‘nvnet’ driver was installed (it required a reboot to complete the installation), it showed up in the configuration menu (/stand/sysinstall) as ‘nv0’—it was on the top of the list of devices. Now it was just a matter of entering the relevant parameters, another reboot, and the network was up and functional. Before accessing the Internet, I set the system security level to ‘secure’ using ‘/stand/ sysinstall’. It is not clear whether it is enabled by default. The Internet is not the place you should be without proper protection. I have used PC-BSD for over a month. It is a fully functional desktop operating system that appears to be very stable, secure and has a good mix of essential applications— packages include glib-2.8.3, kde-3.4.2, and xorg-clients-6.8.2. The multimedia player ‘kaboodle’ that is included plays MP3 files, which is not bad at all, considering it is just a single CD install. I had to install Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7, Opera 8.5, K3b and Ktorrent, and I hope some of these will be included in the later releases. PC-BSD has a graphical “Online update” utility, which permits you to keep the system up to date. For the more technically minded, PC-BSD also supports the FreeBSD package installation procedure using “ports”. This essentially permits you to download application source code, and then compile it on the machine. I will however, stick with the “Online update” facility, and occasional downloads from www.pbidir.com. The only grouse that I have about PC-BSD is that you can’t access logical drives from PC-BSD. But then, it would be unfair to blame PC-BSD for my decision to store my music on a logical drive. All in all, PC-BSD turned out to be a better desktop replacement and well worth the install. ■ | John M

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Hands on

Dinesh Desai

Q> I installed Mandriva Linux 2006 from the CHIP DVD. The installation went on fine but after it restarted I was not greeted with a graphical login screen. Instead, it was a plain text-only screen. Even after logging in, I reach the user prompt. How do I get it started with the graphical user interface? -George

To change the mode a linux distribution (in this case, Mandriva) boots to, you need to edit the ‘inittab’ file. The ‘inittab’ file runs like a script during the startup process. When you reach the login screen (non-GUI mode), enter as ‘root’ (the administrator of the system). If you are already logged in as a different user then type the following command and press [Enter]. su After pressing Enter you will be prompted to enter the ‘root’ password (since you want to log in as the super user). When you type the password, you will not see any changes in the password field on the monitor. Don’t be alarmed, your input will be registered. Press [Enter] after the password. Now that you are logged in as root, type the following command and press [Enter], pico /etc/inittab Pico editor is used here to edit the ‘inittab’ file. When the file opens look for the following section, # Default runlevel. The runlevels used

| How to Read the Code All code lines and commands are written in the following manner: netsh•int•ip•reset•tcpreset.txt where the • symbol denotes a space. Hence, the above code line should be typed as netsh<space>int<space>ip<space >reset<space>tcpreset<dot>txt

Edit the inittab file to make the computer change from the text to GUI mode

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DR. CHIP

by RHS are: # 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this) # 1 - Single user mode # 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking) # 3 - Full multiuser mode # 4 - unused # 5 - X11 # 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this) # id:3:initdefault: The line “id:3:initdefault” has to be edited. All you have to do is change the value ‘3’ to ‘5’. Do not make any other changes. Press [CTRL]+[X] to exit the Pico editor. A prompt will appear asking you to save the changes you made. Press [Y] to save changes and restart the computer by typing in ‘reboot’ and press [Enter]. The system will restart and you will get a graphical user login screen. If the ‘pico’ command does not work, you can try using the VI editor. Type the command, vi /etc/inittab Press [Enter] after typing this line. The inittab file will be opened in the “Normal” mode. Press the [I] to enter the “Insert Mode” and edit the “id:3:initdefault” only. After changing the number, press [Esc] to get back to the Normal mode. Press the following keys in sequence (not together) to save the changes you made, :wq The changes will be saved and the file will be closed. You will return to the prompt. Restart the computer and this time it will boot in the GUI mode.

Printer Problem Q> I own a printer that connects to my computer via the LPT port. The printer worked fine for a few days after which it stopped printing documents. I have not made any changes to my system or installed any software on Windows XP. Do you think the printer cable is the cause of my troubles? -Rajat There can be two reasons for your printer refusing to print. You have more or MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

less stated them in your question itself. It is either your printer drivers that might have been altered, deleted or damaged or the other reason might be a faulty cable. I am assuming you have made sure the cable is connected firmly on either side so as to rule out a loose connection. By running a DOS command from the MS-DOS command prompt window, you can use the ‘print’ command to find out if the printer cable is faulty or not. First, open Notepad (from Start | Programs | Accessories). Enter some dummy text and save the file in “C:” drive as ‘test.txt’. Click on Start | Run and type, cmd Click on Ok. In the MS-DOS command prompt window that appears after this, type and press [Enter], print /D:lpt1 C:\test.txt If the printer prints the test file you just created then it proves that nothing is wrong with the cable. All you have to do now is remove the printer that has been installed from “Printers and Faxes” in the Control Panel. After removing the printer, reinstall the drivers once again. You can also use another command, which directs the output of the ‘directory’ command to the LPT1 (parallel) port. It is usually used on Windows 9x machines. Type, dir > lpt1 Press [Enter] and the printer will print a list of all directories within the “C:” drive.

Error 1606! Q> I’m experiencing a strange problem. I can’t install programs on my computer. I keep getting an error message. Now, I get the same error message when I try to remove certain programs also from Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP. It just says, “Error 1606: Could Not Access Network Location”. This is really annoying me. The last thing I want to do is format and reinstall Windows. -Shaukat Shaukat you have not mentioned what sort of programs you have tried to install or remove. Changes in some of the default registry entries might be the cause of this error. Click on Start | Run, type ‘regedit’ and

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Create a new ‘Expandable String Value’ in the folder and assign the default value to it click Ok. Navigate to the following register key after the Register Editor window appears, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\User Shell Folders Now check the values of each of the items listed in the right hand side of the Register Editor. Here is the list of all the “Values Names” that should be there with their respective “Values”. If there is any Value that does not match with what is given here, delete it. (Note that all these value names are of the ‘Expandable String Value’ type) Value Name : Value Data AppData : %USERPROFILE%\Application Data Cache : %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files Cookies : %USERPROFILE%\Cookies Desktop : %USERPROFILE%\Desktop Favorites : %USERPROFILE%\Favorites History : %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\History

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LocalAppData : %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data Local Settings : %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings My Pictures:

%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Pictures

NetHood :

%USERPROFILE%\NetHood

Personal :

%USERPROFILE%\My Documents

PrintHood :

%USERPROFILE%\PrintHood

Programs :

%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\ Programs

Recent :

%USERPROFILE%\Recent

SendTo :

%USERPROFILE%\SendTo

Start Menu :

%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu

Startup :

%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\ programs\Startup

Templates :

%USERPROFILE%\Templates

To create a new value after deleting an incorrect one, right click on “User Shell Folders” and select “New | Expandable String Value”. Enter the Value Name as mentioned in the list above and double click on it to enter the Value. The value will be as given in the list above. Now, navigate to another folder in the Registry Editor hive, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\ Explorer\User Shell Folders Now, verify the following Value Names with their data and delete in case of any discrepancy. Create another “Expandable String Value”, name and modify its value as explained above.

CHIP-INDIA KNOW HOW | (www.chip-india.com/knowhow) Configuring user interface I have a question with regards to the user interface in Windows 2000 Professional, which is my operating system. How can I configure my English user interface to display Spanish? Please help. - AOLSolution You should visit this link on the Microsoft web site, http://www.microsoft.com/ globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/MUIFaq.mspx It says, “Microsoft first introduced the Multilingual User Interface Technology for Value Name :

Windows 2000 Professional as ‘Windows 2000 Professional Multilanguage Version’ and was later extended to the Windows 2000 Server Family.” It is also available to other Windows operating systems. You will get all your questions answered here. You need to install the MUI over your English version (from the Control Panel) in order to select other languages, which you can get directly from the Microsoft web site. - neo_natasha and roco salgok

Value Data

Common AppData : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Application Data Common Desktop : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Desktop Common Documents : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Documents Common Favorites : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Favorites Common Programs : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Start Menu\Programs Common Start Menu : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Start menu Common Startup : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Start Menu\Programs\ Startup Common templates : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ Templates

After this verification and modifications, close the Registry Editor and restart the computer.

Can’t start Firewall Service Q> I use McAfee as the anti-virus solution and its firewall for protection and monitoring. I have not been using the firewall for a while as it used to make my computer a little slow. Now, when I want to start the firewall because of sudden increased threat of infection, it refuses to do so. It gives me an error saying something like a service was not able to start. How do I make the service start? -Darshan To enable the service once again click on Start | Programs | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services. In the

Since the services at the top of the list are once again dependent on the ones below, start with the lower ones first Services window that appears, look for the McAfee Firewall service (or the firewall you are using on your computer). Right click on it and select “Start”. If it does not start and still gives an error about some dependencies failing to start then right click and select Properties. Click on the ‘Dependencies’ tab and click on the ‘+’ sign for the item under ‘This services depends on the following system components’. After you have expanded the list completely, look for services (from bottom of the list to top) with the same name in the main Services window. Enter their properties, make their ‘Startup type’ automatic and ‘Start’ the service. Only after you have started all the services that the McAfee Firewall service is dependent on can you start the program’s own service. Close the Service’s window and enable your firewall now.

A blank System Restore Q> I can’t run System Restore anymore on INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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my computer. The window does appear but nothing is visible within it. I can’t even go back to a previous restore point because the utility does not work anymore. What can I do? I use Windows XP Professional. -Manoj This sort of problem might be because of a damaged Java script file. You will need to re-register the necessary DLL files. Click on Start | Run and type, regsvr32 jscript.dll Click on Ok. Run the same command for the file “vbscript.dll”. Each time you register a DLL file you will get a confirmation. If you still get an error, then you will need to replace the files with the ones on the Windows XP CD. Place the CD into the drive and click on Start | Run and type “cmd”. Click on OK. Enter the following command, replacing “X” with your optical drive’s letter, expand X:\i386\JSCRIPT.DL_ -r C:\windows\system32 Press [Enter]. Now type the same command replacing the file to be extracted from the CD, expand X:\i386\VBSCRIPT.DL_ -r c:\windows\system32 If the System Restore screen still appears blank then click on Start | Run, type “regedit” and click on OK. Navigate to the following folder (key) in the Registry Editor, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d100aa00bbbb58}\In procServer32 After clicking on “In procServer32” make sure the value for ‘Default’ is “C:\ WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\JSCRIPT.DLL”. If not, right click on ‘Default’ and select ‘Modify’. Change the value to the path mentioned here and click on OK. Also make sure the “ThreadingModel” has the value “Both”.

Extract files from Windows XP CD from the command prompt using the Expand command MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Now, go to the following folders and carry out the same tasks as you did above. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c261-6ac0-11cf-b6d100aa00bbbb558}\In procServer32 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c262-6ac0-11cf-b6d100aa00bbbb558}\In procServer32 Close the Registry Editor and restart the computer.

Page fault in Excel Q> I have Office 2000 installed on my computer. I use Excel quite often for my projects and finances. Of late, it has been refusing to open and it all ends with one error that says it came across an invalid page fault in ‘excel.exe’. What do you think is the problem? Will I have to reinstall Office 2000? I don’t have the CD with me. -Arun Try starting Excel in Safe Mode. Note that this is not Windows Safe Mode that is being referred to. It is Excel’s Safe Mode that you need to start. This loads Excel without processing any customizations like toolbars and ignores macros. Here is how you start Excel in its Safe Mode. Click on Start | Run and type, excel /s Click on OK. By default, it should work. If it doesn’t then verify the path ‘excel.exe’, then use the Search or Find Files or Folders tool to search for this file. Make a note of the path and enter it in the Run dialog box in the following manner, "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ Office\EXCEL.EXE" /s Excel will launch in Safe Mode, click on OK. This should resolve the problem. Otherwise, open Windows Explorer and

Make a note of the path where Excel.exe is installed on your computer before running the Excel Safe Mode command

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Need a hand with your PC travails? Log on to www.chip-india.com/ knowhow and post your query. Voila! You’re on your way to a glitch-free future.

Info | For Accurate Diagnosis… 1. Mention system specifications. 2. Mention new hardware or software installed recently. 3. Note the error message, including the action or event that triggers the error. For instance, the error message comes up only during startup or shutdown, or when starting a particular application and so on. 4. Mention any changes you’ve made just before you started getting the error. For instance, have you deleted some files recently or uninstalled some application? go to the following folder, “C:\Windows\ Application Data\Microsoft\Excel”. Look for a file called “Excel.xlb” – this is your toolbar in Excel with all your customizations. It will have to be renamed to get Excel to work again. This means you will lose all your toolbar customizations. If the extension is not visible then click on Tools | Folder Options. Click on the ‘View’ tab and uncheck “Hide extensions…” under Advanced Settings. Save the changes by clicking on Apply and OK. Now you will be able to see the extension “.dlb”. Select the file, press [F2] to rename the file extension to “.old”. Start Excel once again. ■

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Wireless Music Station Learn here how to unleash your PSP’s Wi-Fi potential to play music wirelessly at any corner of your home

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o you know the PSP has Wi-Fi capabilities and you also know that you can play multiplayer games with a PSP via Wi-Fi. But did you know that you can browse and listen to gigs of music stored on your computer’s hard drive on the PSP wirelessly in any room of your house? You can also listen to thousands of international Internet radio stations on your PSP wirelessly within a range of 100 meters anywhere inside your house. You no longer need to buy separate music systems for each room. Just connect the PSP to a pair of speakers and you have a full fledged music system at your service, anywhere. In this workshop, we show you how to do this by using two of the most popular PSP homebrew (third party) applications for Wi-Fi—the Wi-Fi Jukebox and PSP Radio. After you finish with this exercise, you will agree why PSP was touted as the best gadget of 2005.

How it works You need the following: 1) A version 1.5 PSP or lesser.

2) Wireless Access Point (WAP). You can also use a wireless router with an access point or a PCI Wi-Fi card which can be configured in software as an access point (for example, the Asus WL-138G). 3) Internet connection (Preferably 256 Kbps for PSPRadio; the Wi-Fi Jukebox doesn’t need an Internet connection). 4) Software application i.e. PSP Radio or Wi-Fi Jukebox. 5) Windows PC (for Wifi Jukebox) The PSP with in-built Wi-Fi capabilities communicates with your computer through the wireless access point. Here is the detailed step-by-step guide to get started. STEP 1.

Configure and activate your access point

We have used the Asus WL-138G PCI Wi-Fi card. It’s configured to work as an access point in software. You can also use an access point or a router with an access point and configure it accordingly. Install the Wi-Fi PCI card in an empty PCI

Asus WL-138G PCI Wi-Fi card

slot on the motherboard. Load the software CD in the drive and follow instructions to set up an access point in software. After completion, note down the Static IP Address and SSID. STEP 2.

Configuring your PSP for Wi-Fi access

a) Slide the Wi-Fi switch to ‘on’ position. b) Go to the main PSP Screen> Settings>Power Save Settings>WLAN Power Save and turn it “off”. c) Go to: 1) Network Connections INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Carefully enter the addresses obtained in the first connection

2) Select Infrastructure Mode 3) Select New Connection 4) Enter Connection name (eg: Connect) 5) For the SSID, hit “Scan” and the PSP finds it and enters it automatically. Then for encryption, you can either enter a WEP key or use the option “none”. We kept it as none. 6) Address settings “Easy”. 7) Press X to save and then “Test” the connection. If the connection is successful, note down the settings on a piece of paper. You will require it in the following steps. 8) Now using the first three steps, create a new Infrastructure Mode Connection (say for example: Connect1). 9) Enter the WLAN settings in the similar manner as in step no 5. 10) For Address select “Custom” and for IP Address Settings select “Manual”. 11) Enter addresses noted down from step no 7. 12) For Proxy Server, select “Do Not Use”. 13) Save and Test the connection. If successful, on the next screen right at the bottom, it will show Connection: Successful. STEP 3.

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Main screen of the Wi-Fi Jukebox

your bedroom and you want to listen to it in your living room on your music system. Just connect the PSP to the music system and wirelessly access the songs from the computer on the PSP. Concept: Wi-Fi Jukebox is a client/server application which sends MP3s from your Windows PC to your PSP using Wi-Fi and an access point. The PSP Jukebox creates two 10 MB buffers each to hold the song it is playing and to queue up the next song. MP3s larger than 10 MB will be skipped by the client. Once the first song is buffered, it will begin playing and the next song will be sent. Once both songs are buffered, then you can press R1 to skip the current song and begin playing the next song. Installation: Download both the “Wi-Fi Jukebox server for Windows” and “Wi-Fi Jukebox for PSP” files from the web site mentioned at the bottom of the page. A) For Windows Server Install the program from “Wi-Fi JukeboxServer-v0.0.2” folder and run it. In the right hand bottom corner under server settings for IP address, put the IP address of the access point (we had 192.168.0.1).

Below that, in the open box under the “Music Folder”, enter the path of the folder in which the music is stored and hit the reload button. For example, the artist you want to listen to is in D:\Music\Bryan Adams, just type in the path or go to that folder and copy paste the path. B) For PSP Connect the PSP to the computer using the USB cable. On the main screen, go to Settings | USB Connection and hit the button [x]. On your computer screen, go to “Open the folder to view files”. Then open the PSP folder and proceed to the Game folder. Now copy the folders WIFIJUKEBOX and WIFIJUKEBOX% from the folder WiFiJukebox-v0.1c and paste it in the Game folder. C) Launch the Application On the Main PSP screen, go to Game | Memory Stick | Wi-Fi Jukebox Version 0.1c. Put the same Music Server Address as in step A i.e. 192.168.0.1. And you’re ready to roll. Official web site: http://www.globware. com/psphomebrew_wifijukebox.php

Load the software on the PSP

This has been described separately for each of the applications below:

Applications Wi-Fi Jukebox For: PSP with firmware 1.5 or lesser. Imagine you have about 20 GB of music on your desktop computer stationed in MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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Put the IP address of the access point in the server settings

Put WIFIJUKEBOX and WIFIJUKEBOX% folder in I:\PSP\GAME

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Playlist screen: It lists your chosen favorite radio stations

Note: We have made an alternate URL for it, so that it’s not difficult for you to type the long URL address from here to your browser. It will direct you to the same web page as above. From now on, along with the original URL, we shall also provide the tiny URL for your convenience. Alternate TinyURL: http://tinyurl. com/cnon5 File Download URL: Same as above.

PSPRadio For: PSP with firmware 1.5 or lesser. You can listen to several international radio stations wirelessly on your PSP in case you don’t want to opt for satellite radio. Whereever there is Wi-Fi Internet access, you can stream music to your PSP from international radio stations. Concept: When you tune into an Internet radio station, it streams music to your computer. Similarly, using a wireless Internet connection, the PSP connects to the Internet radio station and it streams

A different skin of PSPRadio seen here

Shoutcast screen: It lists the top 600 radio stations

music to the PSP. You can go to www. shoutcast.com to checkout thousands of Internet radio stations playing all genres of music. Installation This is exactly similar to steps B and C of Wi-Fi Jukebox, the only difference being the folders which you copy and paste are “PSPRadio” and “PSPRadio%”. It is advisable to have an Internet connection of 256 Kbps or more for lag-free streaming of music. Lower connection speeds will also do but then you will have to stream songs of lower bitrates to compensate for lesser bandwidth or else the music will break occasionally. Once into the application, hit the “Start” button of the PSP to enter the Options screen, enable the Wi-Fi connection here. There are three other screens available to perform independent functions: Main Playlist Playback screen It lets you play your own choice of

Internet stations. ShoutCast Playback screen This screen gives you access to the top 600 Shoutcast radio stations. It is also sorted so that you can select by genre of music. MP3/OGG Playback screen Plays MP3 and OGG files on your memory stick. An excellent detailed guide on the “Working of PSPRadio” is available for download at http://viscovich.dhs.org/pspradio/ PSPRadioInst37pre8.pdf TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/e48k9 Official web site: http://pspradio.berlios. de/phpBB/index.php TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/dp9mz Download web site: http://dl.qj.net/ PSPRadio-v0.38.03-Gaming-Consoles-PSPHomebrew-Applications/pg/12/fid/835/ catid/189 TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/9fket ■ | Gaurav Seth

Options Screen: Enable Wi-Fi here, also use it to exit PSPRadio

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Dress it up Give your Windows desktop a facelift like never before

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f you’re the one falling for great looks more often than not, you probably are already bored with the same old boot screen consisting of the Windows logo and the desktop lined up with icons. Changing wallpapers, themes and icons won’t keep you satisfied for long. In case you have dreamt of making Windows look like the Mac OS or an OS from outer space, stop right here. Not only can you transform your Windows desktop into something totally different but you can also customize the default boot and logon screens. So, how about setting

the picture of your favorite movie star as your boot screen? With countless number of themes available on the Net, the possibilities are limitless. However, bear in mind that the eye candy is a bit demanding on the system resources—better have a system armed with a good amount of memory. This workshop will take you though the entire process of changing the boot screen, logon screen and Windows shell to give Windows XP a facelift that will baffle everyone around you. | Anand Tuliani

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STEP 1. On running BootXP for the first time, it will prompt you to make changes to the file ‘boot.ini’ located in the root of the system drive in order to use custom boot screens. Clicking on ‘Save and run BootXP’ will modify ‘boot.ini’ and back up the original file as ‘boot.bxp’. It’s crucial you don’t delete ‘boot.bxp’ as it will be required to restore the default settings.

STEP 3. Apart from using downloaded boot screens, it’s also possible to use your favorite images as boot screens. Simply browse for an image, select it and hit the ‘Set as your boot screen’ button to convert it into a boot screen. Images when used as a boot screen get converted to 640x480 16-color format. Since it results in loss of image quality, do preview your boot screen.

STEP 2. Plenty of boot screens are available for download on www.themexp.org and www.deviantart.com. To change the boot screen, run BootXP and specify the folder having the downloaded boot screen in the first tab called ‘Your boot screens’. Select the file ‘ntoskrnl.exe’ and click ‘Preview boot screen’ button to see the boot screen in action. Click on the button ‘set as your boot screen’ and the job is done!

STEP 4. After using hundreds of boot screens, you may feel like reverting to the same old Windows XP boot screen. To restore the original boot screen, go to the options tab and select the option to restore the ‘boot.ini’ backup. The original ‘boot.ini’ will get restored only if its backup exists. Hence, it is strongly advised to create a copy of ‘boot.bxp’ to be on the safe side.

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STEP 1. Logon Loader is useless unless you have downloaded logon screens. Get some logon screens from www.themexp. org or simply by querying Google. It’s recommended you organize all your logon screens in a single folder. Start Logon Loader and set the default logon screens directory under the ‘Settings’ tab. After applying the settings, you will get the entire list of logon screens under the ‘Browse’ tab.

STEP 3. Logon Loader also has an option to randomize logon screens in order to display a randomly selected boot screen each time Windows starts. Select the ‘Favorites’ tab and add your favorite logon screens to the favorites list. After saving the list, click on the settings tab and check the option ‘Randomly select a logon screen from your favorites’. Finally, save the settings to apply the changes.

STEP 2. Changing the Logon Screen is a piece of cake—Click the ‘Browse’ tab and select a logon screen which you would like to use. The preview of the screen appears as a thumbnail under the tasks pane. If you haven’t organized the logon screens at a single location, click on ‘Select a logon screen’ under the Tasks pane and select the desired logon screen.

STEP 4. Restoring the default Windows logon screen is just a click of a button away. Simply select the option ‘Reset to default logon’ from the ‘Tasks’ pane. Logon Loader will display a message saying that the default logon screen has been successfully reset to confirm the action. It is crucial that you restore the default logon screen in case you plan to uninstall. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

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Desktop alternative STEP 1. Talisman Desktop starts with giving Windows a completely different look by replacing the Windows desktop with its own default theme having a brand new Start menu and a Google toolbar. You can either replace the entire desktop or add a desktop panel having various shortcuts and applets. To change a theme, click the Talisman menu and select the desired theme from the ones listed under ‘Themes’.

STEP 3. Talisman Desktop can also replace the Windows Explorer shell with its own shell giving Windows a brand new look and feel. In addition to different taskbars, icons and system tray, it adds several enhancements to the desktop such as calendar, media player, analog clock, etc depending on the theme applied. Select ‘Talisman Menu | Settings | Shell switcher’ to switch to shell mode.

STEP 2. Hundreds of themes are available for download on www.lighttek.com/ themes2. Before using the downloaded theme, you need to install it. Go to ‘Talisman Menu | Themes | Theme manager’ and select the tab ‘Theme installer’. Browse for the downloaded theme and click on the install button to add it to the list of themes to begin using it.

STEP 4. You need to master the Talisman menu to get used to the Talisman shell. Apart from clicking on the menu button, it can also be invoked by right clicking on the desktop. In addition to the Start menu components, Talisman menu has a task list, theme manager and a group called ‘System folders’ which has most of the Windows desktop components. Have fun!

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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Shades of Grey

In this workshop, we explore the various methods to strip out the color from your images and create a refined monochrome picture

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f you have a favorite photograph of a portrait or a still-life experiment, you’ll often find the true spirit of the image emerging when viewed in black and white. By imparting a sense of nostalgia or conveying a subtle message of solemnity or recreating memories of a bygone era, black and white photography is an art form unto itself. In this day of digital photography, it is all too easy to shoot a black and white image—simply flick the dial on your digital camera to the appropriate mode and there you have it. But then, this is certainly not the best way to create black and white photos—if you truly want an artist’s control over your image, it makes sense to delve a little deeper and grab the reins of some powerful, yet subtle image editing tools. Once you understand these tools, you’ll surprise yourself with the amount of life that you can breathe into your black and white images! In this workshop, we are going to use Photoshop to explore three different methods of creating black and white photos. All of these techniques can be used for either digital camera images or

scanned images of actual photographs. These methods are presented in order of quality and control offered, starting with the quickest method (which offers least control over your image) to the most

comprehensive. For our test image, we’ve used a photograph of an old seminary located in the Nilgiri hills from South India—an ideal candidate for conversion to black and white!

In choosing an image for conversion to black and white, select one that has character— portraits, still life and old architecture lend themselves very well

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Changing the mode The quickest and easiest way to convert a color image to black and white is to change the image mode. Load the image in Photoshop and simply click on Image | Mode and select the ‘Grayscale’ option. You’ll be presented with a dialog box

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asking if you wish you discard all color information from your image. When you click OK, your image is converted to black and white. This method leaves every pixel with only its brightness value. This value can represent one of 256 shades ranging

from 0 (black) to 255 (white). Though this is the simplest method, it certainly isn’t the best for converting color images to monochrome as it does not give you any control over this conversion process. For an artist, this is not good, so let’s look at other options!

evenly distributed across the intensity range. This means that there is a good balance of dark, mid tone and bright pixels in the image— characteristics of a good image. In an image that is predominantly brighter, you’d find the higher part of the graph toward the right of the histogram area, which represents a greater number of pixels with higher intensity in the image. Similarly, for images with greater pixel information in the mid-tone area (such as skin tones in portraits of people), you’d find the graph highest in the middle of the histogram area. As you move the cursor across the histogram, you’ll find the values of the three parameters on the right varying—the ‘Level’ corresponds to the intensity of the pixels at

that point and ranges from 0 (lowest intensity) to 255 (highest intensity). ‘Count’ specifies the number of pixels having a particular Level value and represents the height of the graph at that point. Percentile represents the Level value as a percentage. The other two histograms indicate an overexposed (Fig b) or underexposed (Fig c) condition of a photograph. In the first, the histogram indicates very low pixel content (loss of detail) in the darker areas and in the second, there is very low pixel content in the brighter areas. A correctly taken photo is primarily indicated by a good distribution of pixels over all areas across the intensity range.

| The Histogram demystified The Histogram is one of the most powerful tools for reviewing the tonal quality of an image. It is also one of the most misunderstood. This tool illustrates how pixels in an image are distributed by counting the number of pixels at each color intensity level and plotting these in the form of a graph. At a glance, it allows the user to see where pixels are concentrated. From this, one can ascertain the amount of detail in the shadow (dark), mid-tone or highlight (bright) areas of an image. Seeing this tonal range enables a user to make smarter corrections to the image’s color or brightness intensity. In the histogram graph (Fig a), you’ll see an example of an image whose pixels are fairly

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Desaturating the image This process creates a black and white image from a color image by assigning equal red, green and blue values to each pixel. By doing so, the resultant image

is monochromatic, while preserving the lightness value of each pixel. At first glance, the resultant image from each of these methods might appear similar, but you’ll notice a slightly higher contrast

Using Curves Curves are one of the most powerful tools for editing the color and brightness characteristics of an image. With it, a digital artist can exert fine control over the color of an image using an intuitive graphical control system. But before we delve into using curves, we’d be better off converting our test image into a mode called ‘Lab’ color (also written as L*a*b). Just as RGB and CMYK are color modes for digital images, the Lab color mode is the one used by Photoshop as the intermediate mode for image conversion. The advantage of this color mode over any other is that it is independent of the imaging device (monitor, scanner, printer, etc) it is used on, and it also retains a greater tonal range within its images. In this mode, the ‘L’ represents the Luminosity value, the ‘a’ represents the green-to-red range, while the ‘b’ represents the blue-to-yellow range in an image. The Curves tool gives us the ability to accurately and intuitively vary these parameters. Firstly, to convert your image to the Lab space, open the image in Photoshop and click Image | Mode | Lab Color. You won’t

Viewing channels in Lab image mode

immediately notice any difference in the image. However, if you view the channels of the image (by clicking Window | Channels), you will notice that the “Red”, “Green” and “Blue” channels have now changed to the “Lightness”, “a” and “b” components. The first step of our black and white conversion process starts by eliminating the a and b channels in this image. Do this by clicking on the eye icon beside the a and b channels. You’ll notice that the image immediately transforms into black and white as the color information masked from view. This shall be the starting point in our tweaking process. Bring up the Curves tool by clicking on Image | Adjustments | Curves (alternatively, pressing CTRL+M). What you now see is a tool that lets you accurately control the tonal range of your monochrome image—from this, we

when using this method (as seen by the greater pixel distribution in the Histogram). Even so, with this method we still don’t have control over the conversion process, so let’s move on to the next.

can achieve striking contrast and clear details. Let’s first run through the controls in the Curves tool. In the Channel dropdown box at the top, you’ll only find the lightness selection, since there is no other chromatic (color) information in the picture. The graph you see in the main area specifies the relation between the input (existing) and the output (final) values of each of your image’s pixel intensity values. These values are shown in the boxes below. When you first start this tool you’ll see a straight line, implying

The Curves tool is a powerful image tweaking function. Learn it well! INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

WORKSHOP

Curves can bring out details in areas

Add points on the curve and move them

all the intensity values of the pixels, from the darkest to the brightest, are at their original values—there is a linear relation between their input and output value as these are equal. By clicking on any part of this graph, you can change the value of sets of pixels of similar intensity by dragging points up or down. The darker pixels of the image are represented on the left of the graph with the brighter ones on the right. You’ll immediately see this effect in the image by keeping the ‘Preview’ box checked. The three eyedropper icons on the lower right area of the tool represent the Black point (dark), Grey point (mid tones) and the White point (bright) areas of the image. They are also called the Shadow, Midtones and Highlight areas respectively. By clicking on these icons, you can target these areas specifically. Go ahead and play around with this tool—you can always cancel the effects later if you wish! After you’re fairly familiar with the Curves tool, you can proceed to tweaking your image. First up, we need to establish the brightest and darkest levels in the image. This will result in good image contrast. In our image, there are some very dark areas in the doorway on the MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

ground floor and also in the area beneath the rooftop. With the Curves tool on screen, click with the eyedropper mouse cursor on these areas and look out for its corresponding location and value indicated on the Curves tool. When you find the lowest reading, this is your final shadow value. Click on the Black Point icon in the Curves tool and click on the image’s darkest area. You’ll notice the image becoming slightly darker. Similarly, for setting the White point, find the brightest area in the image by clicking bright areas with the eyedropper mouse cursor. Once you’ve found it, click on the ‘Set White point’ icon in the curves tool and click that point. You’ll immediately notice the image becoming brighter. You’ve just improved your image’s contrast. Now, you can selectively change the intensity of any area of your image by first finding its relative location on the curves line (as you did for the black and white points above), and then move that point on the curve up or down to vary its relative intensity. For example, we can slightly brighten the dark areas under the roof to reveal some of the details there. Click on the line of the graph and add additional points if you feel the curve is going out of shape—the trick being to keep the line as straight as smooth as possible. This results in natural images.

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Duplicate the Lightness channel to save

Save the channel to a new file

Saving your creation Once you’re happy with your image, you’ll need to save your work. Before doing so, you’ll need to convert it to a format that is recognized by JPEG or TIFF (Lab files cannot directly be saved). This is how it’s done: select only the Lightness channel, right click the channel and choose ‘Duplicate Channel…’ In the box that comes up, select ‘New’ from the Document drop box. This creates a new file from your existing Lightness channel. Convert this new file to a Grayscale image by clicking on Image | Mode | Grayscale. That’s it— you can now save your masterpiece as a TIFF or JPEG image! ■ | Marco D’Souza

The final image. Compared to the original, this black and white photograph almost speaks of a story of a long-forgotten era

E

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| TIPS & TRICKS

Tricks Tips& MARCH 2006

WINDOWS 1

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Tip of the month Configuring the power button How can I stop Windows from automatically shutting down when the power button is pressed? Windows XP has a very smart and efficient power management system, which lets you configure the system “power on/off” button. By default when the power on/off button is pressed, the system automatically performs the “Turn off computer” action which is otherwise done by going to “Start | Turn off computer | Turn off”. Here’s a tip to change the settings and stop Windows from automatically shutting down when the power button is pressed. Right click on the desktop and select “Properties”. Click on the “Screen saver” tab and then go to the option “Power” at the bottom of the window. Under the “Power” settings click on “Advanced”. Go to “Power buttons” and select the first option “When I press the power button on my computer”. The default action is set to “shutdown”, you can change it to other options like “stand by” or “ask me what to do” and click on apply.

Windows XP

125 Hide/Show extension for known file types

2

Windows XP

Enable/disable AutoRun feature for CD/DVD ROM

3

Windows XP

Transferring settings from an older OS

4

Windows XP

Hidden desktop icons

5

Windows XP

A web page as your desktop

6

Windows XP

Target forlder for ‘My Documents’

7

Windows XP

Changing icons

8

Windows XP

Change the taksbar location

9

Windows XP

Scroll effect

10

Windows XP

Create your own toolbars

11

Windows XP

Shift focus

12

Windows XP

Back to Classic style Start Menu

13

Windows XP

Accelerate your print jobs

APPLICATIONS

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14

Word

Saving Word content as a text file

15

Word

Clear formatting

16

Word

Changing the default font

17

Word

Quickest way to run spell check

18

Word

Optimize the layout

19

Word

Linking questions to answers in Word

20

Winamp

Migrating custom equalizer presets

21

Winamp

Synchronizing inaccurate visualization plugins

INTERNET & COMMUNICATION

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22

Internet Explorer

Surf smart with AutoComplete

23

Internet Explorer

Cache cleaning

24

Internet Explorer

Disable script errors

25

Internet Explorer

Printing Internet Explorer favorites

26

Internet Explorer

Editing default associations in IE

27

Outlook Express

Automate e-mail check

HARDWARE

131

28

MP3 Player

Using your MP3 player for studies

29

Hard Drive

Protection against static electricity

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

Windows 1 | Windows XP Hide/Show extension for known file types Whenever I rename a file or create a new one and name it, I also have to type the file extension. For example, if I create a new word file and want to name it as “magazine”, I have to name it as magazine.doc otherwise I get a prompt saying, “If you change the file extension it may become unusable, do you want to change it?” Previously, I never got any such warning message and I was able to save the file name without the need to type the extension. What do I do? This happens because your option “Hide extension for known file format” option is unchecked. To enable or check the options do the following: Go to “My Computer” In the top row, click on Tools > Folder Options >then Click on the “view” tab. Check the box for “Hide extension for known file formats” and then click on Apply and OK. Alternatively, you can uncheck the box if you want to see the file extensions.

2 | Windows XP Enable/disable AutoRun feature for CD/DVD ROM Earlier whenever I inserted my CHIP CD in the CD drive, it played automatically and also launched the graphical interface. Now when I insert the CD in the drive, it doesn’t play automatically and I have to access the contents by right clicking on the CD drive icon and by using the “open” option. How do I get my CDs to play automatically again? When a CD is inserted in the optical drive, Windows XP looks for the autorun. inf file, which has instructions to launch a program or do any other task. For CHIP CD, the autorun.inf file has the instruction to launch the graphical interface where you see all the contents in a graphical format rather than the regular file explorer. Sometimes due to changes in the OS, the AutoRun feature gets disabled. Here is how MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

to enable it again. You will have to modify the registry for it. We suggest you make a backup of your registry so that if anything goes wrong, you can go back to your old registry settings. Go to Start > Run. In the open box, type “regedit” without the quotes. The Registry will open. First save your current registry settings, here is how you do it: Click on file and then click on import and save the file. Now here is how to enable AutoRun: On the top left hand side, you will see my computer, expand it in the following manner : My computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Services > Cdrom Click on Cdrom and on the left hand side there will be a string called AutoRun, double click on it, a box will open, make sure the base is hexadecimal and put the value as “1”. In case you want to disable AutoRun, shift the value to “0”.

3 | Windows XP Transferring settings from an older OS I have just bought a new computer for my office already installed with Windows XP. I intend on setting up this computer similar to the rest of my employees’ machines. I have been doing this manually and would like to know if there is an automated method to configure a PC similar to others in my office. It will save a lot of time. There is a way by which you can make the process of configuring a new computer with settings similar to the ones in your office. You should use Windows XP’s ‘Files and Settings Transfer Wizard’ to save time. Older operating systems like Windows 95/98/ME settings are also supported. For this reason you will need to have the Windows XP or a “wizard disk” handy on the older operating system. Running the Wizard on Windows 95/98/ ME machine, Here is how you can create a wizard disk or run it from the Windows XP CD: On a Windows XP machine, click on

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3 Create a Wizard Disk if you need to transfer settings from an older operating system Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Click on ‘Next’ and select ‘New Computer’. Choose “I want to create a Wizard Disk in the following drive”, insert an empty floppy disk and click on ‘Next’. This is all you need to launch the transfer wizard on an older operating system. To launch the wizard on say, Windows 98, insert the floppy disk, click on Start | Run and type, A:\FASTWiz Click on OK. The wizard will run prompting you to select the settings you want to transfer to the new computer. If you want to use the Windows XP CD then let it auto run on the Windows 98 system and click on “Perform additional tasks” in the CD menu. In the next menu, select “Transfer files and settings”. Running the Wizard on Windows XP machine, All you have to do is start the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, click ‘Next’, select ‘Old Computer’ and click on ‘Next’ again.

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3a Select the type of storage (or transfer) where you would like the settings to be stored Saving the Settings of the Old Machine You can transfer both files as well system settings or you can manually select the items you would like to reproduce. When you reach the “Select a transfer method”, choose the ‘direct cable’ option if you have created a direct connection between two machines. If your office is interconnected (networked) then select the ‘small office network’ option. In the office environment it would also be better to save the settings to an external storage or a shared folder for later use. For this, select “Other (for example, a removable drive…)” Clicking on ‘Next’ will display a list of all the files, file types and settings that saved to the destination folder (or external drive). If the new computer is for a different department then the files need not be transferred—select “Settings Only”. This will transfer display settings, audio settings, mail, network (including proxy), dial-up, Office settings. There are many more settings that are listed. If you select “Files Only” then everything within your user profile folder (Desktop, My Documents, Fonts and QuickLaunch) will be transferred. Manually select the file types, files or settings you want to transfer by checking the box “Let me select a custom list…” Transfer settings to the new computer Start the ‘Files and Settings Transfer Wizard’ and select ‘New Computer’. Select ‘I don’t need the Wizard Disk. I have already collected my files…” and click ‘Next’. Now select the transfer mode you want to use—cable (if network or direct) or external

3b Manually remove any settings you don’t want to replicate on your new computer storage. Browse to the source folder and click on ‘Next’ to begin the transfer. (Passwords will not be transferred in this process. Any passwords created in Outlook, Office or dial-up will not be transferred.)

4 | Windows XP Hidden desktop icons Placing shortcuts on my desktop of the applications I install has resulted in a cluttered desktop. I would like to hide the icons on the desktop. Please tell me how I can do it. To enjoy your favorite desktop image without the clutter, follow the steps and learn how to hide the desktop icons. Minimize all the windows and right click on the desktop. Select the option “Arrange icons by”. Inside the option, deselect the option “Show desktop icons”. There you are, all the icons on the desktop are gone! You can enable them by going through the same process.

Click on the “Web” tab, this tab lists the available web pages that can be viewed as the desktop background. To add your own choice of web page, click on “More” and then select the web page that you would like to add to the list of web pages that are available for desktop background. Out of the list, select the web page that you would like to view as a desktop and then confirm by clicking on “OK” The “Browse” option lets you select the web page of your choice.

6 | Windows XP Target folder for ‘My Documents’ Can I specify a different folder as the target to store the contents of ‘My Documents’? By default, the contents of ‘My Documents’ which you see on the desktop are stored in the folder, ‘Documents and settings | (user account name) | My Documents’. To specify a different target folder, right click on ‘My Documents’ on the desktop and select ‘Properties’ to bring up the ‘My Document Properties’ dialog box. Under the ‘Target’ tab, click on the ‘Move’ button and select the destination folder. Upon clicking the ‘OK’ button, the existing contents of ‘My Documents’ will be moved to the selected target folder.

5 | Windows XP A web page as your desktop How do I view a web page as a desktop background?

6 The contents of ‘My Documents’ can be So you’re looking to add some variety and fun to your desktop. Try this then.

shifted by just changing the target path

7 | Windows XP Right click on the desktop and select “Properties”. Select the “Desktop” tab click on the “Customize desktop” option at the bottom.

Changing icons How do I customize my desktop to change the default icons? To change the default icons and add INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

taking away some desktop space. Note: You can’t move the taskbar or alter the size of the Quick Launch toolbar if the task bar is locked. Right click on the taskbar and check if the option “Lock the Taskbar” is selected. Deselect the option to enable changes to the taskbar. On the contrary, if you wish to prevent and restrict any kind of changes done to the taskbar, select the option and lock the taskbar.

9 | Windows XP Scroll effect

7 Select the icon that you would like to change and click on “Change Icon” that extra whiff of customization to your desktop: Right click on the desktop and select “Properties”. Select the “Desktop” tab click on the “Customize desktop” option at the bottom. Under the “general” tab, select the icon that you would like to change and click on “change icon”. The next window presents the default icon bank that Windows has to offer. To apply your own custom icons, select “Browse” option, it allows you to select any icon file that you have stored on the computer. Select the icon file of your choice that contains the icons and click on “OK” to apply. Select the icon that you would like to change and click on “Change Icon” You can download icons from http://www. themexp.org

8 | Windows XP Change the taskbar location Although I’m aware that Windows XP allows you to change the location of the taskbar, I don’t know how to shift its position. Please tell me how to do it. To change the location of the task bar, simply click on the taskbar and drag it to the left, right or top of the screen. When dragged to the top of the screen, the task bar looks exactly the way it does when it is at the bottom of the screen. Shifting the taskbar to the left or right broadens the taskbar a bit, MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

By default, menus fade into view in Windows XP. How do I switch back to the classic ‘scroll effect’ like it used to be in Windows 98/ME? Will Windows run smoother if I disable transitions and other effects?

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10 | Windows XP Create your own toolbars How can I create a toolbar to represent a particular category of applications? To represent a particular category of applications, for example, media players, which would house shortcuts to all the media players that you frequently need for opening various types of media files, you need to create a new toolbar by following steps such as: Right click on the task bar and select “Toolbars”. Select the last option “New Toolbar”. Here you can select any existing folder that can be added as a new toolbar to the existing list of toolbars or create a new one by clicking on “Make a new folder”. In this manner, you can have a customized toolbar that houses some particular type of files, applications or shortcuts.

11 | Windows XP Shift focus How do I shift the focus back to the previous option if I have shifted it to the next option by pressing the ‘tab’ key on the keyboard?

9 It’s possible to change or disable menu transition in Win XP

If you are still addicted to the classic ‘Scroll Effect’ for menu transitions, do the following: Right click on the desktop and select ‘Properties’ from the context menu to bring up the ‘Display Properties’ dialog box. Click on the ‘Appearance’ tab and click on the ‘Effects’ button. Now change the transition type to ‘scroll effect’ from the first drop down list and click on the “OK” button to apply the changes. Alternatively, you can also disable the menu transition. You can also toggle other options like shadows under menus and showing contents of a window while dragging it. Keeping Windows less fancier does result in increased performance especially if you are low on memory.

The ‘Tab’ key on the keyboard can be used to cycle the focus between the options or buttons in a dialog box or web pages. If you would like to shift the focus backwards, use ‘Shift + Tab’. It comes very handy when you are using the keyboard to navigate web pages especially while filling forms.

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12 | Windows XP Back to the Classic Start menu I don’t like the new eye-candy Start menu and would like the classic default start menu that came with the older version of Windows. How do I get it? To go back to the classic default Start menu, follow the steps and you shall have it in no time.

12 Choose from the menu option to go back to the Classic Start menu Right click on the taskbar and select “Properties”. Under the properties, select the “Start menu” option. This is where you can choose between the “Classic Start menu” and the default “Start menu”. The tab “Customize” provided next to both the options lets you further customize the Start menu, you can add and delete the items that you would like to appear in the Start menu. Select the style for the Start menu and customize it further.

perform other tasks while you print. While this might be an effective way of multitasking, there might be numerous occasions where you may need to simply print multiple documents or photographs. This is when the spooler might actually slow the printing process by writing data to temporary files and then printing. On most printers, you can turn off the spooler by going to “Start | Settings | Printers”. Right click on the icon of the printer you’re using. Click “Properties” and select the “Advanced” tab. The Spool settings options can be altered from here, select the “Print directly to the printer” option. This will tie up your application until the printer has all the data, but your print job should finish more quickly. Printing directly to the printer will also come in handy if your print spooler crashes and you need to print before you reboot your PC.

Applications 14 | Word Saving Word content as a text file

15 | Word Clear formatting When I copy the contents from web pages to a Word document, the formatting too gets copied. Is there a way to clear the formatting in a single shot? Word takes into consideration the formatting of the web page contents when they are copied to the document. It may get irritating at times when you simply need the contents without any formatting. The next time when you copy contents from a web page, do not press ‘ctrl+v’ or paste the contents directly. Instead, go to ‘Edit’ and select the option ‘Paste special’. Select the option ‘Unformatted text’ from the dialog box and click the ‘OK’ button to paste the contents as plain text without formatting.

Which is a quick way to save the contents of a Word document as a text file? The ‘Notepad’ is the simplest plain text editor if you don’t need formatted text. However, at times you might want to convert a Word document into a plain text file. Or you may simply like to use Word to create plain text document rather than using ‘Notepad’. To save a Word document as a plain text file, select ‘File | Save as’. In the ‘Save as’ dialog box, locate the ‘save as type’ drop down list at the bottom. Scroll down the drop down list and select the option ‘plain text’ which is the second

13 | Windows XP

15 Paste the web contents as unformatted text to exclude formatting

16 | Word Changing the default font How do I change the default font in Microsoft Word and Excel? The default font in a new Word document is ‘Times New Roman’ having a font size of 11 points. In case of a new Excel worksheet, it is ‘Arial’, 10 points. But it is possible to change the default font according to your choice.

Accelerate your print jobs How can I perform other tasks on my computer while shooting prints? By default, Windows uses the spooling technique for print jobs. The Print Spooler is a background program that writes data to temporary files in your C:\Windows\Temp directory. The final print command is sent to the printer through the spooler, allowing you to

last option. Provide a file name and hit the ‘Save’ button. In the next dialog box, select Windows (default) as the text encoding and click on “OK” to save the contents as a plain text (.txt) file.

14 If you don’t require formatting, save the document as a plain text file in Word

To change the default font in Word: Go to ‘Format | Font’ and set the desired font and font size in the ‘font’ dialog box. Click the ‘Default’ button and accept the changes. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

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18 | Word Optimize the layout How do I ensure my document prints without any error?

16 The default button is the key to set the default font in Word

The “Print Preview” option is one of the commonly underutilized features in word processors. It gives you an exact idea/preview of the output that the printer is about to give. The “Print Preview” option is mostly placed under the “File” menu. Formatting errors are easily detectable in this view of the document, which can save multiple printings due to errors. Within the “Print Preview” itself there is an option “Shrink to fit” which compresses the overlapping text so that it fits in adequately without wasting a complete page for a few lines or words of text.

19 | Word Linking questions to answers in Word

16a The default font in Excel can be set by changing the standard font in ‘Options’ To change the default font in Excel: Go to ‘Tools | Options’. Click the ‘General’ tab and change the ‘Standard font’ to what you wish. Click the ‘OK’ button to apply the changes.

17 | Word Quickest way to run spell check Which is the quickest way to do a spellcheck in a Word document? The usual way of doing a spell check in Word is by clicking the ‘spelling and grammar’ button located next to the ‘print preview’ button, on the ‘standard toolbar’. Alternatively, you can also select the option ‘Spelling and grammar’ from the ‘Tools’ menu. However, the fastest way is by pressing the ‘F7’ key on the keyboard. Place the mouse cursor at the beginning of the document and press ‘F7’ to perform a spell check on the entire document. You can also perform a spell check on selected contents—Simply press ‘F7’ after selecting the contents! MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

I have been working on a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for my students in Word. I would like to make it similar to the web pages that have a list of questions at the top of the page. Clicking on a particular question takes one to the relevant answer on the same page. Can I do something like this in Word too? Yes, you can link the questions to different parts of the Word document. There are different ways of doing this. One is by using Word’s “heading styles” and the other is by using “bookmarks”. Let us create a link on question number 1 (Q1), which will lead you to the answer (A1). Create a link using ‘heading styles’: Select an answer. In this case it is “A1”. Change the heading style to “Heading 1”. Now select the question Q1, right click on it and select “Hyperlink”. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut keys [CTRL]+[K] to bring up the ‘Insert Hyperlink’ dialog box. Make sure “Place in this document” is selected under “Link To”. Under “Select a place in this document”, expand the ‘Headings’ section and select the answer you want to link (in this case it is A1). If you want to include any text to be displayed

19 Click on ScreenTip and add ‘hover text’ similar to links in web page when the mouse pointer is placed on the question (soon to be a linked question) then click on the ‘ScreenTip’ button. Click on “OK” to save changes and verify if the changes have taken effect in the document. Create a link using ‘bookmarks’: The process is similar to heading styles. Click on the answer you want the link to take you to and then click on ‘Insert | Bookmark’. Name the bookmark—Answer1, for example. Click on OK. Now select the question (Q1), right click on it and select “Hyperlink”. Expand the ‘Bookmarks’

19a Select the bookmark you want to link text to within the same document

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section under “Select a place…” and select the bookmark you created. Click on “OK” or add a screen tip. Save the changes and verify the hyperlink.

20 | Winamp Migrating custom equalizer presets I have saved plenty of custom equalizer presets in Winamp. How do I get them on another PC? Equalizer presets are stored in a file called ‘Winamp.q1’ in the Winamp program folder. Custom equalizer presets when saved get appended to the same file. To migrate the presets, simply copy the file ‘Winamp.q1’ to the Winamp folder on the destination PC and you’re done! The file is so small that you can even e-mail it to your friends if you want to share your presets with them.

20 The file ‘winamp.q1’ contains the equalizer settings

21 | Winamp Synchronizing inaccurate visualization plug-ins The synchronization of Winamp’s visualization plugins to the music isn’t accurate. Give me a quick tip to solve the problem.

Watching visualization plugins isn’t fun when their synchronization with the music isn’t accurate. The inaccuracy arises when the priority of the visualization plug-in is set to ‘Normal’ or lesser. You need to crank up the priority to increase the accuracy. To do so, Press ‘ctrl+p’ at Winamp’s main screen to bring up the ‘Preferences’ dialog box. In the left pane, click on ‘plugins’ and set the priority to the highest. Now close the dialog box and play a song. Watch visualization dance to the music more accurately!

Internet and Communication 22 | Internet Explorer Surf smart with AutoComplete While surfing, the problem of forgetting the entire URL happens very often. What do I do in such a circumstance? Whenever you begin typing a URL in the address box of the Internet Explorer, it attempts to find a recently visited page that matches the URL of the web site that you are typing. If it finds a match, it automatically fills in the rest of the address for you. Apart from saving the effort of typing the complete URL, this feature also comes in handy when you seem to have forgotten the entire URL and remember only just a part of it. To enable the “AutoComplete” feature: Open the ‘Internet Explorer’ and go to “Tools | Internet Options | Advanced”. Scroll down and select the “Use Inline AutoComplete” feature that is placed under the “Browsing” category.

of some web pages. Clearing the browser cache can also retrieve some disk space, in case you are in need of some extra space. To clear the files, inside the Internet Explorer go to “Tools | Internet Options” Under the “General” tab, click on “Delete Files” to clear the cache. An additional option of “Delete all offline content” is displayed; selecting this option will delete all the web pages that you might have saved for viewing them in the ‘offline’ mode.

24 | Internet Explorer Disable script errors How can I stop pop-ups of script error messages? When you’re surfing the web, there are times when some of the scripts don’t run correctly and you encounter lots of script errors. You can turn off these useless script error messages from popping up by doing the following: Click on “Tools | Internet Options | Advanced” Now click the checkbox labeled “Disable script debugging”. Uncheck the checkbox labeled “Display a notification for every script error”. Note: Please do this if you are absolutely sure that you don’t want the script error notification; though the error notification doesn’t affect the page loading and execution, users who want to test or de-bug a web page should have the notification turned on.

25| Internet Explorer 6.0 Printing Internet Explorer favorites How do I carry my list of favorites in IE?

23 | Internet Explorer Cache cleaning How can I clear the browser cache of files?

21 Up the visualization plugin priority for better synchronization with the music

Internet Explorer uses the “Caching” technique to store the common elements of the web pages that you visit. Though the caching technique saves on some amount of time by loading some elements of the web page from the cache without having to wait for the web site to send them, it can cause problems with some web sites by causing incorrect loading of content

Internet Explorer allows us to add web sites to the list of favorites but when you want to carry them along with you, you can either email the links to yourself or get a hard copy and carry it along wherever you go! To print out the web pages listed under Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu, follow these steps: Click on the Start button, point to Programs, and then click on Internet Explorer. On Internet Explorer’s File menu, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

choose Import and Export. In the Import/Export Wizard, click on Next. Click on Export Favorites and then click on Next. Click on Favorites—the topmost folder —and click on Next. Click on Export to a File or Address, type C:\MY DOCUMENTS\BOOKMARK.HTM in the Export to a File or Address box, and then click on Next. Click on Finish and then click on OK. Quit Internet Explorer. Open the My Documents folder on your desktop and open your newly created BOOKMARK.HTM file. (It opens in Internet Explorer.) On Internet Explorer’s File menu, choose “Print”, Go to options and Click on the option “Print table of links” and click on OK. Now you shall have the list of favorites printed on the page.

26 | Internet Explorer Editing default associations in IE How can I edit the default associations in IE? By default, Internet Explorer has various associations where applications are set to work with it. You can change the default associations by: Go to “Tools” menu in the Internet Explorer. Click on “Internet Options” and open the tab “Programs”. You will find a list of associations, there are drop down bars where you can select an alternative application, for e.g, you can change the default “HTML editor” from “Microsoft Word” to “Notepad”. Click on “Apply” and your Internet Explorer associations will be edited immediately.

27 | Outlook Express Automate e-mail check How can I automate my Outlook Express Most of us check e-mails about two to three times a day, especially if it’s the work e-mail ID which is expected to be active throughout the day. If you find the process of launching Outlook Express and connecting to the server every time you need to download e-mails a tedious MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

and repetitive job, you can automate the whole process where Outlook Express will automatically check for new e-mails at every specified time interval. Follow the steps to automate e-mail checks and downloads: From the menu choose “Tools | Options” Click on the “General” tab Under the “Send/Receive Messages” section, select the third option“Check for new email message every …….minutes” Specify the time interval at which Outlook Express should check for new e-mails by selecting the time interval from the drop down menu. Further down, below the “Send/Receive messages” you can also instruct Outlook Express to connect to the Internet in case you are not connected to the network/Internet for downloading the latest email messages. Click on “Apply” and you are done!

Hardware 28 | MP3 Player Using your MP3 player for studies I’m a college student and spend almost two hours traveling to my college and back. I own a MP3 player. I want to know if I can use it for educational purpose. There are two ways in which you can utilize your MP3 player for the above. First, if your MP3 player has a microphone, you can use it to record lectures. It will directly encode the file to MP3 format. You can playback the recorded lecture afterwards. Second, you can use a software like Speaking Notepad (it’s free, you can download it from http://www. qwertystudios.com). The program will convert whatever text you want into speech and save it as an MP3 or a wav file. You can choose between six male and female voices. So, for example, if you have a boring chapter, you can skip reading and just type it into the speaking notepad and it will convert it into an MP3 file. Then you can conveniently listen to it while traveling. It’s easier to listen to text rather than read them. You can pause whenever you want and resume from where you left. It can

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read TXT, DOC, HTML and RTF documents, readme’s, notes and e-mails.

29 | Hard Drive Protection against static electricity I have heard that static electricity from the human body can damage electrical components. Can you please tell me why this happens and what precaution I need to take so that I don’t end up damaging computer components? Internal computer parts and especially hard drives are extremely susceptible to static electricity. This static electricity is held within our body. It happens due to a process called Triboelectrification. Everything surrounding us including our body is made up of atoms. The atom has a nucleus, which has protons positively charged and neutrons which are neutral. Outside the nucleus are the electrons, which are negatively charged. The protons and neutrons don’t change but the electrons transfer from one atom to another. When an object touches another object with either an opposite or neutral charge, electrons flow. Static electricity is created when electrons move back and forth between atoms. Before you begin work in the computer case, make sure you ground the static electricity. There are two ways of doing it: Use an anti-static band (found in most of the electrical hardware stores). Touch the metal part of your computer case while it is plugged to the AC wall socket. The static electricity will be grounded through the wall socket. ■

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Brain food

Give your brain the much needed shake by stepping into the realm of mind games

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ant a break from the usual FPS, RPG, racing and arcade games? Here’s something different that you could try—Mind Games. Unlike shooting down monsters, running around the arena and stepping on the gas to win the race, what you’ve got to do is use your brain! Games belonging to this genre facilitate reasoning and help improve logic. The best thing is that you don’t need a super computer to play such games—a plain Jane PC is more than enough. Want some brain food? Check out these brain-busting puzzle and logic games that will keep you thinking hard for hours (check out the CHIP Toys CD). | Anand Tuliani

Towers / / /of/Hanoi ////////////////////// At first glance, the Tower of Hanoi looks like a child’s toy with circular discs placed on top of one another on a peg. The game looks simple but it’s not as easy as child’s play. The objective of the game is to move the stack of discs from the first peg to the last one. Only one disc can be moved at a time and no disc can be placed on top of a smaller disc. The game gets tougher requiring more moves with higher number of discs. Try solving a game with 6 discs. It’ll keep you scratching your head for quite some time!

Rating : 2.5/5

Unwind

B-Jigsaw ////////////////////////// If you like jigsaw puzzles, this one’s just right for you. B-Jigsaw can turn pictures into a jigsaw puzzle at the click of your mouse button. The number of pieces in the puzzle depends on the size of the image and the level of difficulty you set. To make it even more difficult you can enable rotation of pieces. Apart from solving puzzles, you can also print or e-mail them to your friends. Do sit with a packet of popcorn and a can of Coke if you plan to solve an insanely large puzzle. It’ll take ages to put it all together!

Rating : 4/5 Vishwanath Vanjire

/Crazy / /Tangram /////////////////////// Did you ever imagine that over a 1,000 different figures could be made with just seven pieces? Tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle where you must arrange all the seven pieces called Tans to form a given figure called the Tangram. Tans comprise two big, one middle-sized and two small triangles, a square and a rhombus. Tangrams look simple, but at times they can be very tricky to solve. Many a times you’ll feel that a piece is still missing even after you’ve used up all the pieces!

Rating : 3/5

Bookworm ////////////////////////// Get ready to chomp on words. The goal of Bookworm is to link adjacent letters together into words to feed the hungry bookworm. At the same time you also need to look out for burning letters. If you don’t get rid of them by using them in words, they will soon land at the bottom of the screen igniting the library, ending your game. However, you can score bonuses by utilizing rewarding tiles or making bonus words. Stunning 3D graphics, animation, music and sound effects make this game highly addictive.

Rating : 5/5

Mummy / / / /Maze ////////////////////// Beware of the Mummy or you’re dead! The objective of the game is to exit the maze without getting caught by the Mummy. The game is turn-based, but for every one square you move, the Mummy moves two. Luckily, the Mummy isn’t too smart; you need to take advantage of his limited intelligence and get him trapped into dead ends and behind walls so that you can escape. Mazes keep getting more and more complex as you advance. Some brain-busting mazes have two mummies, scorpions, and traps. So better watch out!

Rating : 4.5/5

SuDoku /Pure // ///////// If you’re a SuDoku addict, you don’t need a morning newspaper to get glued to a SuDoku puzzle. Pure Sudoku is the electronic version of the classic Japanese number puzzle. The puzzle has a 9x9 grid which is sub-divided into 3x3 sub-grids with some cells having numbers between 1 and 9 as clues. The aim of the puzzle is to complete the grid by placing a digit in each cell so that every row, column and 3x3 sub-grids contain all the numbers from 1 to 9. To solve a SuDoku puzzle you don’t need any mathematical skills but plain reasoning, logic and most importantly, patience—no guessing and no chance of cheating! Every puzzle has a unique solution. The difficulty level of the puzzle depends on the number and position of clues given in the puzzle. While simple puzzles get over in minutes, difficult ones are marathon brainmassage sessions!

Rating : 5/5

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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

FEATURE

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he latest of the Prince of Persia trilogy surely leaves you asking for more. The storyline of the game is so gripping that by the time you reach the end of the game, you don’t want to wait for the next sequel. The last two iterations successfully kept a void open in the final sequence to keep you wondering where the story will take the hero next. In The Two Thrones, the game begins with the Prince returning home to Babylon with Kaileena (in her mortal form as seen in the alternate ending of the previous game— Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within), only to find the city in flames. With his ship destroyed and Kaileena captured, the Prince sets on an adventure fit for the grand finale of this glorious trilogy. The Sands of Time—the first part of this trilogy had brilliant puzzles and an excellent combat system that did true justice in resurrecting the appeal of this ancient franchise. Warrior Within, the sequel, was more an action game with the typical multi-hit combos and guitar riffs from Godsmack. Though it did have some great moments and a few plus points, many felt that the game did not truly do justice to the Prince franchise that had its biggest appeal in its puzzles. With The Two Thrones, the Prince is back on the right track with the perfect mix of puzzles as well as action. Unlike the previous versions, the Prince performs most of his acrobatics not just to move on to newer levels but to strategically place himself at a vantage point against the enemies. This is exactly where the new ‘quick kill’ feature comes to play. Instead of getting into a button mashing session every time you encounter a foe, you have an option to strategically sneak up and go for a quick kill or go head-on for an upfront combat. The choice is yours.

RATINGS

8 / 10

Against: Ill-fitting voice acting; relatively short play-time. Vishwanath Vanjire

Publisher : Ubisoft

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Distributor: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd

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The game wastes no time in carrying forward the story. Showing the killing of Kaileena unleashes the dark side of the Prince, ensuring a change not only in the way he looks but also in the game play. As the Dark Prince, he is more powerful in combat with his special whip-like weapon (the Daggertail), which also assists him in swinging around to get to otherwise unreachable places. Though the whole “split-personality anti-hero” gig has been done before by various other game franchisee, it still works out pretty well in this case, very evident during game play. Graphically, the game has pushed its engine to perform as well as it can on the PlayStation 2, which is quite commendable. The world design is linear in nature so you usually know where to go next; the challenge is how you get there. The voice acting is passable with the usual “everyone in the world speaks with a Yankee accent” syndrome, but at least the guitar riffs have been replaced back by the Persian themes that seem fit for the game. Overall, The Two Thrones is a great finale to the Prince of Persia trilogy on the PS2. If you liked the previous two games, there is no way you’ll be disappointed with this one. Ubisoft in all probability will come up with a new iteration of this extraordinary franchise for the new generation of consoles. Till then, this game will successfully leave you nostalgic about the Prince trilogy in the days to come. ■ | Gagan Gupta

For: Great visuals and world design; quick kills and engaging action modes; fitting end to the trilogy.

Price: Rs 2,999

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Tel: 022-28870016

System: PlayStation 2

Gaming Glitz A slew of new game releases will set all gamers into a flight path of excitement

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he past two months have been a pretty dull period for gaming enthusiasts around the world with no new noticeable game release. But gungho gamers will love the fact that there are lots of games lined up for release in the months of February and March; hence it’s the right time for us to give you an insight into these games and tell you what to expect from them. The release dates just mentioned here are the US release dates. These games will hit the Indian shores approximately a month after their release in the US. However, some of the games would have released in India by the time you read this preview. Read on to find what these upcoming games have to offer.

games to an entirely new level. This game grants you the ability to perform time manipulation and at the same time lets you slow down, stop and rewind the world around you. The most interesting feature of this game is when you perform time manipulation your enemies will be frozen in time but you will be able to move as well as shoot freely. You can do this as you are equipped with a specially prepared suit that makes you immune to any kind of changes in the flow of time. There is also a fun aspect associated with the game wherein you could finish off your last enemy and then you could reverse the time and shoot him again. Experience the game by playing the demo present on the CHIP DVD. Slated for release in March 2006

[01] Star Wars: Empire at War This new game in the Star Wars series from Lucas Arts bridges Episode III and Episode IV. Wars are fought to gain control of the galaxy after the devastation caused by the Clone Wars and also as a result of the Jedi slaughter that has disrupted the balance of the force. This game will allow you to fight battles in air as well as on ground. It will also let you experience the formation of the Rebel Alliance, strengthening of the Empire and the initial stages of the Civil War. The game play is unique because the strategic as well as tactical elements from the previous events cause a permanent effect on the galaxy. The demo for this game has been included on the CHIP DVD and after playing it you will realize that Empire at War offers you a mix of tactical and strategic game play and certainly aims to be the best Star Wars game till date. Released in February 2006

[02] TimeShift TimeShift is different from other FPS games in which you only run around and shoot your enemies. In fact, TimeShift promises to take FPS

Vishwanath Vanjire

[03] Hitman: Blood Money Agent 47 is back! This game is the fourth installment in the Hitman Series. This time around he finds himself caught in war between two contract agencies. After many of his colleagues are assassinated by the rival agency, Agent 47 begins to think he is next on their target list and escapes to the US. Unlike the previous games, in this game he is paid in cash and how he spends this money will affect what weapons he has and what he does next. A new graphics engine and a completely new soundtrack

[04] Commandos Strike Force |||||||||||||||||||||

composed by Jesper Kyd definitely makes it seem like this game has all the right ingredients to appease the fans of the Hitman series. Slated for release in March 2006

[04] Commandos Strike Force If you are a fan of the Commandos series then you will be surprised to see that the developers (Pyros) have done away with the top-down strategy game play of the previous games. This game is a first-person shooter—the first one for the Commandos series. But this does not mean that you will be confronting the Nazis directly, you will still have to do a lot of sneaking around, the only difference is that you will get to experience the action from a first person perspective. You can take control of one of the three members of the ‘Strike Force’ namely Green Beret, Spy and Sniper. You will then have to execute the plans of attack by combining the Commandos’ unique skills. Slated for release in April 2006

[05] The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II A follow up to EA’s popular strategy game, The Lord of the Ring: Battle for Middle Earth, this game will allow you to experience epic battles involving the Elven and Dwarven

[06] Rainbow Six: Lockdown ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

armies along with heroes and creatures that were never seen in the three Lord of the Rings movies. The game features better lightning and shadowing effects as compared to the earlier game. Like its predecessor, The Battle for Middle Earth II will let you play as either the good or bad guys as you attempt to lead your forces to victory. In additon to the campaigns, there is also a Risk-style mode that will give you a chance of conquering the whole of Middle Earth the way you would like. Released in February 2006

[06] Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown The console version of this game that was released last year didn’t offer anything new to the legions of the Rainbow Six series fans. But you will be wrong to think that the PC version of this game will be a direct copy of its console counterpart. This is a new version that has been built specifically for the PC. In this game you will be leading Team Rainbow to battle a bio-terrorist threat. The action really heats up when you and your team members are targeted by a terrorist organization. You will then have to embark on a new mision to ensure the safety of your life as well as the life of your team members. For more check out the demo of this game that has been inlcuded in the CHIP TOYS CD. Released in February 2006

[02] TimeShift ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

[07] The Godfather Join the Corleone family and earn respect through loyalty and fear and rise through the ranks to become the don in the late 1940’s New York. The game will allow you to solve the family’s problems through violence, skillful diplomacy or a mixture of both. You will stepping into the mafia world where you will need to intimidate as well as negotiate with your rivals so that you can reach the top. Also, the decisions that you will make will have long lasting consequences. The game features GTA-style game play, a new story line and voice-acting by original cast members. The highlight for this game definitely has to be the virtual Marlon Brando. Slated for release in March 2006

of life as a double agent. You will have to make your decisions in a matter of few seconds. With this game Ubisoft aims to expand the story of Sam Fisher as well as give his character more depth. Slated for release in September 2006 | Anup Pillai

[01] Star Wars: Empire At War ||||||||

[08] Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent Sam Fisher faces his most difficult test this time. He has to infiltrate into a dangerous terrorist group and destroy it from within. You will get to experience the dilemas

[03] Hitman: Blood Money ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

[07] The Godfather ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

[08] Splinter Cell: Double Agent |||||||||||||||

[05] LOTR : Battle for Middle Earth II |||||||||

Move over FPS, RPG, puzzle games. Try word play for a change

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t goes without saying that Scrabble is the world’s best word board game. Scrabble is played between two to four players on a board with a 15x15 grid having certain premium letter and word squares. Players battle it out taking turns to score maximum points by strategically forming words in a crossword fashion using lettertiles drawn blindly from a sack initially having 100 tiles. A high-scoring word not only depends on the length of the word, but more importantly, it depends on the skill of the player in taking maximum advantage of the premium squares. At times, using a single letter can yield a score a couple of times more than using multiple letters. Scrabble has strict rules and doesn’t permit forming proper nouns, abbreviations and slang. The Scrabble Interactive 2005 Edition is the PC version of the classic word game, which has the official ‘Scrabble Words International List’ built into the game engine. Installation is quick and occupies merely a third of a GB on the hard drive. Before playing, the game prompts you to create a profile that includes your name, age, gender and level of experience. Based on the profile, you are assigned a rating that gets affected with wins and losses in rated games. It also displays statistics like the number of wins, losses and draws, highest game score and highest-scoring word made. After logging in using your profile, you can either choose to play or learn the basics. First timers can refer to the tutorial that exhaustively explains the rules of the game with examples. Help topics are categorized and listed in a neat tree structure. Even if you aren’t a first-timer, it’s worthwhile going through the list of hints included in the tutorial section to improve your strategy. After going through the hints you’ll be surprised to know that ‘U-less’ Q-words like

Qi, Qadi, Talaq, Qwerty and Qanat and vowel-less words like Brr, Hmm, Psst, Shh and Tsk exist in the official Scrabble words list Scrabble Interactive offers a lot more than the standard game. There are multiple game modes like Anagram where you’ve got to solve anagrams and Conundrum where players take turns to make the longest word from a series of random letters. If you don’t have a partner, you can compete with a virtual player who you can select from a list of 20 AI players having varied levels of experience. You can also challenge people on the network or the Internet who have a licensed copy of the game. Scrabble begins with choosing the number of players and virtual players. If you like racing against time, there’s also an option to set duration per move and the entire game. The interface is neat—the board with colored premium squares dominates the screen and the letter rack with options to shuffle and exchange letters sits at the bottom of the screen. Score, timer and move-list panels are also present to keep track of scores and the words made. Words can be formed by dragging the letters to the board or by clicking a position on the board and by typing the word. The on-screen Mentor and the Dictionary panels are the most interesting features of this game. The Mentor suggests the most scoring words, which can be made from the letters present in your rack—a good feature for learners or if you’re in a difficult situation. Using the Dictionary panel, you can search for words and their anagrams existing in the Scrabble words list. If you are a Scrabble lover, don’t miss out on this one! For its price, this game is a steal! ■ | Anand Tuliani

RATINGS

8.5 /10

For: Multiplayer support; excellent interface; exhaustive tutorial; extremely addictive! Against: It would be an added bonus if the dictionary displayed meanings of the words.

Price: Rs 499 Publisher: Ubisoft Distributors: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-28870017 CPU, 256 MB RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 350 MB of free hard disk space, DirectX 9.0 compatible video card.

System: Windows All, Pentium II 350 MHz or faster

Pramod Jadhav

FEATURE

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Watch out for improved enemy AI and multiplayer options much required in a World War II genre game

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rust me, this FPS offers you a lot more action than what its predecessor did. The game tells the story of Joe ‘Red’ Harstock, the character introduced in the prequel, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. The game is set against the backdrop of World War II, where you get to step into the shoes of Joe. Joe, in this game, like thousands of American airborne troopers, had been dropped behind the enemy lines the night before the Normandy landing in France. While the prequel was lauded as an innovative FPS concentrating on the tactical aspect of combat in World War II, this version features improved AI and multiplayer options. The campaigns are based on the experiences of Hartsock and his colleagues as they battle through the French countryside. You can easily master the controls of the game even if you haven’t played Road to Hill 30, thanks to the tutorial. A large chunk of the game is played in flashback as Hartsock is debriefed by a superior officer. Gameplay is similar to that of Road to Hill 30. Those who have played the prequel will know that in Brothers in Arms you simply can’t rush out and finish off your enemies with headshots. Instead, you will have to make use of the four “F”s—find, fix, flank and finish to complete your mission. You can suppress your enemies by firing at their positions—the indication of which you get in the form of small red and white circles above their respective positions. The circle is red initially and as you and your team open fire, it slowly turns white telling you about the suppression. With much improved AI in Earned in Blood, you

will find that as soon as the enemy soldiers spot you or your team flanking they start retreating to another position even though they are suppressed. The new feature called ‘Situational Awareness’ allows you to pause the game and then inspect the surroundings to find out where the enemy soldiers have taken cover and then plan the best possible method to flank them. You can also use grenades to kill the enemy soldiers. But it’s difficult to throw these grenades to the exact spot where you want them. Also, you can’t manually save the game in between; there are checkpoints within the missions where the game saves automatically. The new Skirmish mode allows you to play any of the single player missions cooperatively. Timed assault is another interesting mode in which you will have to have to kill all your enemies in a specific amount of time. If you consider yourself to be a very good tactician then you can try your hand at the ‘Tour of Duty’ mode. It’s a series of five consecutive missions that you need to complete without dying. The modeling of the characters in the game is very good. Sound effects is also commendable. However, we must say that the sequel leaves you with the feeling that you have played an expansion pack rather than a full sequel. ■ | Anup Pillai

RATINGS

Pramod Jadhav

8.5 / 10

For: Improved enemy AI and multiplayer options; the game brings into focus the tactical aspect of WW II combat. Against: This game is more an expansion pack rather than a sequel.

Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher: Ubisoft Distributors: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-28870017 System: Windows 2000/XP, 1.0 GHz or faster CPU, 512 MB RAM, 8x or faster DVD drive, 3.5 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 32 MB or more memory, Broadband connection required for multiplayer option.

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Classifieds

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Classifieds

Banlgore 09845028869 Hyderbad 09848052085 Shop No.16,Laxmi Building Compound, 390,Lamington Road, Mumbai-400004 Calcutta 09830045322 Mumbai 09821035100 Phone: 23896600,23855500 Fax: 022-23885500 Chennai 09840077334 Kolhapur 09890690655 [email protected]

BOOK REVIEW

Thriving on 3D Planning a career in computer graphics? Grab this book then

T

here’s something about a book with ‘animation’ in its title that appeals to virtually any computer buff out there. If you’re a graphics enthusiast yourself, or if you’re vying to make inroads into the field of computer graphics, you’d most probably want to lay your hands on every computer graphics book out there. That’s what happened when I came across the book. This is the first practical book on 3D animation that I have come across. Sure, it does talk about modeling techniques using applications like 3D Studio MAX, Lightwave and Maya, but it extends itself by providing a wealth of insightful information on the ‘soft’ aspect relating to the psyche of a 3D artist. Setting the pace for the book, the author first touches upon very practical aspects related to what it takes to be a 3D artist and what you should be considering before you get into the field. The author describes the various types of jobs an animator could search for in the industry and what each of them entails in terms of experience and skill requirement. This includes practical insights such as pitching the project, contracting and billing, storyboarding, objects, scenes and characters, motions, testing, rendering and also how to get paid! There’s a very interesting section within the first chapter which offers practical tips on how to get employed, where he illustrates aspects as granular as résumé creation, formats for tracking contacts while planning interviews with companies and even tips on how to answer the phone when calling an animation studio for a job! The second chapter gets into the meat of things where the author uses a case study of a typical 60-second animation project required by a client. Marked with live examples, he describes how to plan the animation storyboard, the kinds of questions to ask clients, adding dialog, acquiring voice and music talent, presenting your work to the client, etc. He then talks about the actual systems used to create special effects from motion capture systems to non-linear editing tools, to network computer rendering configurations to wearable sensors for character animation. Chapter three goes on to describe the different equipment needed in an animation

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

environment—a mission-critical rendering workstation, selection for peripherals like scanners and printers to audio editing software, amplifiers, speakers, cabling, video acquisition gear, etc. While this is insightful information for beginners, it will also be helpful for those looking to setting up an animation studio themselves. From chapter four onward, the book gets technical and dives into explaining the capabilities of the three animation applications listed above. The author elucidates various 3D creation concepts such as the various modeling methods, rendering light (using radiosity, rendering engines, volume lights, shadows, lighting effects) etc. The final chapter deals with character animation where aspects such as rigging, skinning, kinematics and bones are described. Throughout all of these examples, the author concentrates more on describing the 3D concepts, other than delving too deep into a particular modeling software. Therefore, various examples are illustrated using different animation software throughout the book. The book also bundles a CD that contains a working copy of Lightwave and Maya along with several other trial versions of modeling applications to get you started off. The author’s deep experience and practical knowledge in the field of 3D animation shows clearly through this book. With a friendly yet articulate style, he effectively describes both the functional as well as the psychological aspects of a successful 3D animator. This book is highly recommended to those aspiring to get into the field of 3D modeling as well as users looking for a deeper insight into the industry. ■ | Marco D’Souza

| Digital Animation Bible Author : Price : Publisher : Phone : E-mail :

George Avgerakis Rs 595 Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co 011-25882935 [email protected]

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LAST WORD

The Last Word

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uring the long hours of daily commute I sometimes reflect on the early stages of my career. You see, I was a computer instructor before pursuing journalism. It was a tough job that called for a lot of learning and patience; but there were oodles of fun too. It’s those humorous (and embarrassing) moments that I’d like to share with you. In the early Nineties the masses in India were just being introduced to PCs and applications. In those days people had diverse reasons for signing up for computer courses. Some enrolled just to keep up with the Joneses; for others, it seemed a guarantee for a job; but the wise ones were serious about making a career in the then ‘happening’ IT industry. I’m glad I took the plunge because it gave me the freedom to explore and learn. And believe me, I learned much more in the role of teacher than as a student. My students were from all walks of life. I taught corporate executives, bank officials, home makers, college students, and even senior citizens. My day at the computer institute began at 7:30 am. So I had to boot myself at 5:45 am. Booting the machines came next. The PC-XTs and PC-ATs (as they were then known) would take a full 3 to 5 minutes to boot. Much of that time was spent for the Power On Self Test (POST). And so students would sit back, twiddle their thumbs and watch all the cryptic POST messages on the screen, in complete befuddlement. The incrementing figures that appear on the screen during the memory test look like the digital tape counter on a VCR machine. So a student observing the memory test during the POST asked me if the PC was “rewinding”. With much effort I contained my laughter, saving it for the staff room and the coffee break. In those days Lotus 123 was the de facto spreadsheet application. Creating graphs (charts) was a highlight of Lotus. To create a chart, you need to first select data in a table to “define ranges”. There was this guy who

defined too many ranges for his bar graph and then got thoroughly confused. His chart looked like the Mumbai skyline. I put his mind to rest by suggesting the use of “legends” for the graph. And then everything made sense. There were those moments when we had to explain funny-sounding terms like WYSIWYG and ‘Zapf Dingbats’. The very mention of these terms generated a war of laughter in the classroom. When the mouse (and Windows) arrived, there were those moments where one learned to use the mouse. Someone once interchanged the position of the mice for two adjacent computers. The unfortunate victim was a lady, who moved her mouse in all directions, and couldn’t figure out why the pointer refused to budge on the screen. I later discovered that this was the handiwork of a prankish student—the mice were deliberately interchanged! The first day of a course was always memorable because something unusual always happened. I remember how someone spent the first 5 minutes struggling to insert a 3.5-inch floppy disk into the slot of a 5.25-inch drive (now extinct). Then there was this elderly gentleman who had to leave early. So he switched off his monitor and system unit, just the way he was taught. Thoughtfully, he also switched off the master switch (near his terminal) as well. And all the machines were turned off in the process. In that moment no one quite understood what was happening. And then realization dawned as the student at the next terminal burst into peals of laughter, much to the embarrassment of the elderly gentleman. I sympathized with the gentleman, assuring him he couldn’t have known, since it was the first day. From what you’ve just read, it may appear that being an instructor is a fun job with a lot of excitement. On the flip side, it is also a very challenging role. The biggest problem is technical obsolescence. What’s ‘hot’ today is outdated tomorrow. There are so many computer packages and languages. If you’re a multi-role instructor who teaches several subjects then it is difficult to master them all. On the bright side, an instructor learns new things all the time. There is that special feeling of authority, the respect you get from students and the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. ■

| | Brian Pereira INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

2006

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Technology in Sports | 35 laptops tested | Free storage

RNI Registration No MAHENG/2003/12687 .