Digit

TTHIS NEW YEAR marks the beginning of a NewEra at Digit. Digit has new parents! In December2007, 9.9 Mediaworx (www.9dot9.in) acquiredJasubhai Digital Media, the founding publishersof Digit.

Today, Digit stands tall in the clutter ofconsumer technology magazines. It isunsurpassed in its popularity—and we thank you,our readers and advertisers, for your unwaveringsupport in making this happen. It is an inspiringstory of entrepreneurship and independencespanning more than a decade.

Digit started as the first home-grown magazinein its genre. Despite the onslaught of several “me-too” offerings and global brands, Digit has held itsown due to constant innovations brought aboutby a set of outstanding editors and managers,unstintingly supported by Jasubhai Digital Media.Today, Digit is more than a magazine aboutinformation technology alone—it encompassesthe gamut of digital personal technologies thatyou and I use at home and work.

We at 9.9 Media value and respect theleadership of this powerful brand and thefollowing it has created. We are committed tobuilding on this legacy by bringing aboutcontinuous innovation in our offerings—toreaders as well as advertisers—as we power Digit’sgrowth into this new era. Given the potential thatexists, moving forward, we intend to offer youincreased content and insights. Over the next fewmonths, look for editorial and designenhancements in the magazine. Expect a morecontemporary online presence at www.thinkdigit.com. Continue to enjoy lots of value-addition and stay ahead with Digit.

As we shift gears, this is also a good time to getmore demanding of us! While we enjoy the kudoswe receive, what would help is constructivefeedback on where we are falling short. Tell us whatyou expect beyond what we have on offer. Give usfresh, new ideas. Join us in taking Digit to the nextlevel. I am confident that 9.9 Media’s associationwith Digit will ultimately help in strengthening

your bonds with this wonderful magazine.As India’s newest diversified media group, we

are committed to a level of quality—in whateverwe do—such that we always deliver above andbeyond the expected and the ordinary. We believemagazines and content-providers have atremendous responsibility to their readers indelivering content that is not onlyuncompromising in its quality, but also clearlyshows respect for the privilege of having thereader’s undivided attention. I hope you will keepus honest in our commitment to you!

Thank you once again for your continuedenthusiasm for Digit. I look forward to staying intouch and building on our partnership. A veryHappy New Year to all of you!

MD’s Note

A New EraFor Digit

“Given the potential that exists,moving forward, we intend to offeryou increased content and insights”

Dr. Pramath Raj SinhaFounder and Managing Director

9.9 Mediaworx

AAS I MEET and discuss with the various departmentsunder the Digit banner, I get a feeling that the agebracket of readers has, over the years, shifted. Whilea few years ago the average age of the Digit readerwould not have crossed 22, today it is much higher.Just to substantiate: we are running a daily contestfor Digit subscriptions on our Web site, and guesswhat: over 40 per cent of the contenders are over theage of 40. I get about three letters on an average, perday, from readers over 35 years of age. So is it truethat some cool, funky technologies are only for theyoung and restless? Data says otherwise…

They say the youth is fleeting; well, maybe in thegaming world. This definitely is not the case in theIT industry. Remember the tech stalwarts: Bill Gates,who started Microsoft at the age of 19, and Steve Jobs,who started Apple at 21? What is happening to theyouth of today? Looks like they are fleeing!

The revelations that I have received remind meof the famous Charms cigarette case study. The cig-arette was launched in a denim pack, to targetyouth in the 18-to-25 age bracket. But when a surveywas undertaken, it was found out that the pack wasbeing lapped up by smokers in the 35-plus age cat-egory. The reason—smokers in the 35-plus age cat-egory wanted to relive their youth, so they foundthe pack attractive—much more than did theintended target audience. (I’m not condoning thismental association, but facts are facts.)

Now coming back to Digit: do we spot a similartrend in the readership profile of the magazine?The 40-somethings are individuals who grew up onthe cusp of the IT wave. Since that is a generationwhich has dramatically seen how IT can impacttheir personal and professional lives, maybe itwants to ensure that it stays on the cutting edge oftechnology. Naturally, people from this generationare readers of Digit.

The youth, on the other hand, has not seen howlife used to be in all fields before the dawn of the ITrevolution. And how life used to be before Digit.

Maybe I’m reading too much into the phenom-enon, but it just goes to show that a digital divide

does not exist between the earlier generation andthe current one. In the years gone by, you wouldhave expected a strong case of IT phobia in the oldergeneration. Remember the strikes that used tohappen in certain sections of the industry to protestcomputerisation? When Big Blue was shown thedoor on a political whim? In this day and age, IT hasbecome the holy grail, as the desktop has becomeubiquitous in every organisation.

IT has now become an inclusive technology. Thatis to say, it does not exclude anyone from reapingthe benefits of technology utilisation.

The jury is still out on this one. I would love tohear from your side on this issue—and I am sure thatI’ll get to listen to a fair share of “veteran” voices!

[email protected]

Editorial

Sujay Nair Editorial Director

Young TongueAnd Old Gold

“The youth has not seen how lifeused to be before the dawn of the

IT revolution”

January 2008 • Volume 8 • Issue 1

Managing DirectorDr. Pramath Raj Sinha

EditorialEditorial Director Sujay NairAssistant Editor Robert Sovereign-SmithSr. Writer Nimish ChandiramaniWriters Samir Makwana, Asfaq Tapia, Bhaskar SarmaSr. Copy Editor Ram Mohan Rao

Test CentreAssistant Manager Sanket NaikReviewer Jayesh Limaye, Michael Browne, Rossi Fernandes Product Reviews Co-ordinator Yogendra Bagle

DesignCreative Head Kabir MalkaniArt Director Rohit A ChandwaskarChief Designer Shivasankaran C PillaiSenior Designers Vijay Padaya, Sivalal SDesigners Chaitanya Surpur, Shrikrishna Patkar,Nilanjan GhoshPhotographers Jiten Gandhi, Sandeep Patil

MultimediaContent Head Nimish ChandiramaniContent Co-ordinator Asfaq Tapia

Sales & MarketingVice PresidentBibhor Srivastava

Assistant Brand ManagerArpita Ganguli

MarketingMarketing Communication Thomas Varghese Senior Executive-Sales Support Ramesh Kumar

Production and LogisticsGM - Operations Shivshankar HiremathProduction Manager Mangesh SalviLogistics M P Singh, Vilas Mhatre, Mohd. Ansari, Shashi Shekhar Singh

Circulation & Subscription — SalesGM Circulation Milind PrabhughateCo-ordinator Rahul MankarSubscriptions Mahesh MalusareCustomer Service Prerna Panchal, Sneha Sen

Head Office: Editorial, Marketing and Customer Service Jasubhai Digital MediaC/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30 Near Sanpada Railway Station, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703Phone: 40789666Fax: 022-40789540, 022-40789640

Cover Design Rohit ChandwaskarWith special thanks to Vishwanathan Anand

Tell Us What You Feel About DigitEach month, Digit walks through the technologymaze to bring you the most relevant, mostresearched stories. If you have an opinion aboutanything published in Digit, or about technologyin general, please write in [email protected]

Product TestingWant your product reviewed by Digit?Contact our Test Centre at [email protected]

Software On DVD/CDTo submit and suggest software for inclusion in the Digit DVD or CD, contactus at [email protected]

Help!For subscription or copy-related issues,send an e-mail to [email protected] may also contact the followingexecutives for local queries: Bangalore: Devaraju N (09341809286)Chennai: L R Laxmanan (09380229283)Delhi: Samir Mehta (09313195354)Hyderabad: Norbert Joseph (09396229281)Kolkata: Jayanta Bhattacharyya (033-22317344)Mumbai & Pune: Mahesh Malusare (022-40789614)

Endorsements/ReprintsInterested in ordering article reprints,or using our logos?Contact [email protected]

Advertisers’ Index

6 DIGIT JANUARY 2008

Y O U R T E C H N O L O G Y N A V I G A T O R

Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page

Apacer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

APC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Canon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover

Cincom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Cisco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Cricket Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Crizal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Crosair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Enjay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Epson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Foxcon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Fujitsu . . . . . . . . . . Gatefold on Cover

Leadtek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Life Style Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Monster . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover

Nanopoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Palit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Ricoh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 81

Soft-Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Topgun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Viewsonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Western Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

XFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Disclaimer: For every Digit contest, there will be onlyone winner, unless specified otherwise. In the event ofa dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

Printed and published by Jasubhai Digital MediaPvt Ltd, a member of the 9.9 Media groupC/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30 Near Sanpada Railway Station, VashiNavi Mumbai 400703

Editor: Sujay NairC/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Near SanpadaRailway Station, Vashi Navi Mumbai 400703

Printed at Magna Graphics (I) Ltd, 101 C & D Government Industrial Estate Kandivli,Mumbai 400 067

HARDWARE

USB Flash Drives . . . . . . . 66

Buffalo Turbo USB 4GB



Corsair Voyager 1 GB

Corsair . . . . . . . Voyager 16 GB

Corsair . . . . . . . Voyager 2 GB

Corsair . . . . . . . . Voyager 4GB

Imation Nano 4GB

Kingston 4GB DataTraveler 100

Kingston DataTraveler

Kingston DataTraveler Mini

Kingston DataTraveler Mini Fun

Kingston DataTraveler Reader 2GB

Kingston DataTraveler Secure

Moser Baer 1 GB

Moser Baer 2 GB

SanDisk Cruzer Titanium U3 2GB

SanDisk Cruzer U3 2 GB

SanDisk Cruzer U3 8 GB

SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition

Tech-Com 4GB

Toshiba 1 GB

Toshiba TransMemory 2GB

Toshiba TransMemory 4GB

Transcend JetFlash 168

Transcend JetFlash V10 2 GB





Transcend Jetflash V60 4 GB

Transcend JetFlash V60 8GB

Transcend JF V10 4 GB

Umax Apus Zoom

Bazaar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Hardware

Aigo U Watch MP3 UW-F020 512 MB

ASUS Maximus Formula

Brother DCP-135C

CoolerMaster Real Power M1000

Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB

Nokia E51

Samsung ML-1630

Software

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Events Pro

Deluxe 11

System Mechanic 7.5.3

Products Reviewed This Month

SouthSanjay BhanE-mail: [email protected]: +91 9341829285, Phone: (080) 25546370-73 Fax: 41518330Phone: (044) 28235186/88 Fax: 28230731Phone: (040) 27894167/ 55221051Fax: 27720205

WestSuvarna Shringarpure E-mail: [email protected]: +91 9324928247

Phone: (022) 40373636/40373626/24494572/24467130/1Fax: 24482059/24481123

EastJayanta BhattacharyyaE-mail: jayanta_bhattacharyya@ jasubhai.comPhone: +91 9331829284(033) 22317344/46

NorthManish SharmaE-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +91 9312658374, (011) 41608655/56/57/58

International RepresentativeTaiwanMr.Marc Sonam, Image Media 2F-2, No. 35, Sec. 2,Fushing South Road, Taipei 106,Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel: (886) -2-87734199Fax: (886) [email protected]

To Advertise

Opinion Poll......................................17The Digital World .............................18Beat That ........................................20

Stat Attack ......................................22Q&A ................................................92Whatever Happened To ..................114

Bluff Your Way Through..................116Blogwatch ......................................117Tech Quiz ........................................118

REG

ULA

RS

115Martin Cooper’sStar Trek fantasyled him to mak-ing the first cellphone call

114Join the projectthat spams youto see if youreply. Thereward? MoreSpam!

Digital Leisure

Digital Business

Smart SohoLivinG If you are prone to tearing your hair out infrustration and longing for the good old ledgerbook days when your hard drive dies, with allthat data, this might be just what you werelooking for

Face OffOnline Services vs OfflineSuitesFancy trusting your documents to the Cloud, orprefer to take the tried and tested desktoproute? We put this question across, and gotinteresting replies

102

106

Tech CareersLivinG Patterns Love programming, and knowyour DNA from RNA?Bioinformatics could just be thecareer you were looking for, andto help you decide better welook at what you need to do toget in, and what will you get,once you are in

Touched By TechEager LearnersThe XO laptop is finally being putthrough its paces in schools in ruralIndia. We visit one such school in avillage named Khairat, and cameaway impressed. No toy, this one

Tabloid TechHillary: Over The HillOf course she’s going overboard—trying to ban in-game sex,(allegedly) putting up anti-Obama hate Web sites andheaven knows what else...

99

107

128

10 11JANUARY 2008 DIGITDIGIT JANUARY 2008

Contents Magazine January 2008

16Microsoft’sS. Somasegartalks to us aboutthe new VisualStudio 2008

16Want to bringdown yourcompetitor’s site?Rent a botnet!

22What’s thisAndroideveryone’sbuzzing about?

24How soon willyou see Intel’snew Moorestownin your mobilephone?

DIGITAL PASSION

Main StoryWars Of The FutureBattles will be fought less and less with guns

and more on the ether.With the world gettingmore and moreconnected and networksstill vulnerable, we giveyou a very possiblescenario...

DIGITAL TOOLS

27

32

30 Days withApple iPod Nano VideoWith Apple unveiling its sleek third generationiPod Nano, our reviewer has that look in hiseyes. The bosses relented, and it was, on thewhole, a pleasant 30 days

Main StoryMobile ComputingYou are the mobile warrior, armed with yourlaptop and your business phone. Here is a list ofawesome software which will help increase yourproductivity, keep in touch with contacts and makeyou feel like you have never stepped out of office.

Cover StoryA Game Of ChessIt’s not a fight—not with blood, anyway. Our testwinners thus far have had it good, but there’salways a challenger ahead. Will the championsstick around, or will the be checkmated? Who willtake away the coveted Zero1 Awards?

61

Test CentreBig ByteFlash drives are the easiest andmost hassle free tools to helpcarry data. Check out ourexhaustive tests and choosewhich of the 34 fits your bill

82

Take A CrackExpand TheWallpaper ListSee that list of wallpapers to choose from?Don’t you wish that was bigger? Well, figureit out!

DroolmaalGadgets that flaunt your status, they are the neighboursenvy and all that. Among others we have monster speakersthat rumble at 15 kgs, a gold plated remote for the filthyrich and earphones so tiny that…..oh well, decide

Agent 001Not QuitePrime TimeAgent 001 hunts highand low for a TV tunercard, but finds thatthey were just a littlebit lacking. You mightwant to know why...

96

Enter

Escape

6636

Know More AboutFilesystems Digital data is all 0s and 1s, and these 0sand 1s make up, well, everything—music,documents, images and videos. Seemslike madness, but there is a method to it

Game OnCrysisCrysis is the perfectgame this holidayseason, where you trek throughtropical jungles of Philippines to savea group of scientists attacked by… wewon’t spoil the fun by saying any more

112

34

30

12

INTERACTIVE

DIGIT JANUARY 2008 For any queries regarding the CD or DVD, e-mail [email protected] with “CD/DVD” as the subject. If the subject is notmentioned, your mail might not reach the right person.

MOVIESDone The Impossible

The story of the rise and fall and rebirthof the cult TV show “Firefly,” as told fromthe perspective of the fans who helpedsave it.

MUSICAeonblue by Subatomicglue

The artist’s description: “aeonblue fillsthe dark chasm of dream and light with aharder techno edge while keeping thesubatomicglue you’ve come to know. theaeonblue is a new beginning.”

Wake Up by Dan Masquelier

The artist’s description “Some of mypoems that inspired songs over the pastseveral years.”

TRAILERSNCAA March Madness 08Classic Teams Trailer (HD)ESPN’s Erin Andrews introduces theClassic Teams feature

MULTIMEDIAPaint.NET 3.10

Paint.NET is image and photomanipulation software designed to beused on computers that run Windows. Itsupports layers, unlimited undo, specialeffects, and a wide variety of useful andpowerful tools

Websmartz BannerDesigner Pro 3.0

WebSmartz Professional bannerdesigner 3.0 allows you to useprofessionally designed website flashtemplates, add text and image entryeffects to build flash banners in no time.Banner maker allows you to designbanner of specific size by choosing froma set of 11 size options

� Aimersoft iPod Copy Manager 2.1.19� Audiograbber 1.83� DVDFab HD Decrypter 4.0.1.4� Hugin 0.7 beta 4� ImgBurn 2.3.2.0� KMPlayer 2.9.3.1421 Beta� MediaCoder 0.6.0.3905� Movienizer� PhotoOnWeb 0.7.0.2� Mobile Ringtone Converter 2.3.64

SYSTEMNorton Ghost 12.0

Norton Ghost protects presentations,photos, music, videos, historicaldocuments, or any other kinds of data youkeep on your computer by making abackup of your computer’s entire harddisk. Or, limit your backup to include onlythose files that mean the most to you

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 1.0

Virtual PC allows you to maintain thecompatibility of legacy and customapplications during migration to newoperating systems and increases theefficiency of support, development, andtraining staffs

� Advanced WindowsCare Personal� DoublesFinder� Process Manager 2 Lite� Sysinternals Troubleshooting Utilities� Vispa 0.1.2� Vista Inspirat 2� Wise Registry Cleaner 2.9.6

INTERNETNASA World Wind 1.4.0World Wind lets you zoom from satellite

altitude into any place on Earth.Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data,World Wind lets you experience Earthterrain in visually rich 3D, just as if youwere really there

Trend Micro InternetSecurity 2008Trend Micro Internet Security 2008

makes it easy to protect your homenetwork, personal identity, and onlineactivity. It guards against present viruses,spyware, and identity theft as well as theweb threats of tomorrow. Confidently e-mail, shop, bank, or share photos online,knowing your privacy and files are wellprotected

� Direct Connect for Windows 1.0� Flock 1.0.1� Gizmo Project for Windows 4.0.0.324� GMailGarner 0.95b� Hamachi 1.0.2.4� Network Magic Basic 4.2.7234.0� WebSite-Watcher 4.35

LINUX APPSAPTonCD

APTonCD is a tool with a graphicalinterface which allows you to create oneor more CDs or DVDs (you choose the typeof media) with all of the packages you’vedownloaded via APT-GET or APTITUDE,creating a removable repository that youcan use on other computers. APTonCD willalso allow you to automatically createmedia with all of your .deb packageslocated in one specific repository

FREEDance MelaDance Mela is India’s first Multiplayer Online DancingGame. Groove to the latest Bollywood hits. Enter the never-ending party.

For Digit readers only: Register at http://dancemela.kreeda.com/partner/digit/ to get your free points!

� Alien Arena 2007 v6.10� Bear Go Home

DEMOSAge of Empires 3: The Asian DynastiesAge of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, the second expansionpack for the massively popular Age of Empires III, features theJapanese civilisation, a new random map (Honshu), and thechance to play King of the Hill—a new game type.

PERSONALBuddi forWindows 2.9.17.0

Buddi is a personal finance andbudgeting program aimed at thosewho have little or no financialbackground

VisualCron 4.7.7

VisualCron, or cron for Windows, isa free task scheduler for Windows.VisualCron has an easy-to-useinterface with a lot of features andfunctionality

RocketDock 1.3.5

RocketDock is a smoothly animated,alpha-blended application launcherthat is similar to ObjectDock.RocketDock renders quickly likeMobyDock, has the visual sharpnessof Y’z Dock, and the stability thatneither seem to possess.� FileBox eXtender 2.0� FreeMind 0.9.0 Beta 15� iTALC� Rainlendar 2.2� Samurize 1.64.3� Weather Watcher 5.6.24a� Yahoo! Widget Engine 4.5� BusinessCards MX 3.6� CD-DVD Lock 2.7� Peanut Butter PC 2.2.1.0� Sandboxie 3.20.01� SendPhotos Gold v. 3� ZipRecover 3.10 Build 0729

DEVELOPERSSWiSHmax 2.0 Build2007.11.02

SWiSH Max is packed with featuresthat make producing stunninginteractive Flash animations asimple and painless experience

Productivity

Entertainment

Tools

GamingF8,700 MB Of Quality Content!

DUAL LAYER

FREECrayon PhysicsCrayon Physicsshowcases agameplayelement rightout of therecent arcadefavorite Chalk.Draw squares to guide the red balltowards the stars to complete eachstage, with challenges usually requiringthe placement of bridges, weights orelevation objects around the landscape

BombermaniaYou will have toeliminate allrebelled robots.To do this use aunique bomber-o-mobil equippedwith highly destructive bombs. Blow allrobots up and free your city� Brixout XP� Deadly Stars� Stunt Playground v2

MULTIMEDIALEGO Digital Designer forWindows 2.3LEGO DigitalDesigner letsyou buildanything in yourimaginationusing virtualbricks, right onyour computer

� BlueScreen Screen Saver 3.2� CamStudio 2.5 Beta 1� DivX for Windows2000/XP/2003/Vista 6.8.0.11

� EvilLyrics 0.1.9 Final� iDeaS 1.0.2.0� Paint.NET v3.10� Recuva 1.09.194� The Gimp 2.4.2� Tux Paint for Windows 0.9.18� Xion Audio Player 1.0 Build 85� XnView for Windows 1.92� ACDSee 10.0.238� Axialis IconWorkshop

SYSTEMRevo Uninstaller 1.4Revo Uninstallermight be pullinginto the lead withthe release ofversion 1.4. This isthe first versionthat comes in portable or installableversions. In other words, you candownload a ZIP file containing RevoUninstaller, throw it on a flash card andtake it from PC to PC, making Revo akiller app for optimizing every PC in yourhome or office.

� ATI Tool 0.27 Beta 3� Attribute Changer 5.30� CCleaner 2.03.532� Ctfmon Remover 2.2� HostsMan 3.1.51 Beta 3

� PortableApps 1.0.1 Patch� Remove Hotfix Backup Files� Shup 0.20� SSL-Explorer for Windows 1.0.0� Startup Delayer 2.3 Build 129� TeraCopy 2.0� DTweak 3.6� Trojan Remover 6.6.5

PORTABLE APPSGIMP Portable2.2.17GIMP Portable is thepopular the GIMP forWindows image editorpackaged as aportable app, so youcan take your imageswith you and do your editing on the go.

VirtualDubPortableVirtualDub Portableis a desktop videoprocessing and capture application.� 7-Zip Portable 4.42 R2� FileZilla Portable 2.2.32� Mozilla Thunderbird Portable Edition2.0.0.9

� Notepad++ Portable� Opera USB 9.24� Pidgin Portable 2.1.1� PuTTY Portable 0.60� Sumatra PDF Portable� VLC Media Player Portable 0.8.6c

INTERNETGigaSmilies v1.1bGigaSmilies isvery simple touse. Created byDigit readersSantosh. S andCharan. K, you just have to click on thesmiley you want to add in the forum.The Smiley URL along with the [IMG]Code will be copied to clipboardautomatically. Then you can simplypaste it in the forum to insert thesmiley!

AI RoboForm6.9.85AI RoboForm is a one-click web form filler andpassword manager withsome serious ArtificialIntelligence inside

� Broadband Download Accelerator 1.01� DreamMail 4.4.1.0� Dynu Basic 3.24� FeedFusion 0.92� FileZilla v3� GMail Quick Login Green 2.0� Halite 0.2.9� Juice 2.2.2-a1� Youtube Video Downloader 2.3� IP Sniffer 1.95.02

ESSENTIALS� .net Framework 2.0� µTorrent 1.7.5� Avast Home Edition 4.7� Avast Update� Comodo Firewall Pro 3� Digit Software Archive 2006 Beta� DirectX Redistributable 9.0c August2007

� Foxit Reader

TOOLS

GAMING

LAshampoo Photo Commander 5A Digit Exclusive! Ashampoo Photo Commander 5 is anall-in-one application for organising, editing, sharing andpresenting photo collections. It also features additionalcreativity tools and audio and video management capabilitiesAmerica’s Army (also known as AA or

Army Game Project) is a tacticalmultiplayer first-person shooter ownedby the United States Government andreleased as a global public relations

initiative to help with U.S.Army recruitment.

America’s ArmySpecial Forces(Overmatch)

Movieof theMonth

5000PointsFREE!

MULTIMEDIA

� Free Download Manager 2.5� Irfan View 4.10� Irfan View 4.10 Plugins� Java(TM) 2 Runtime� K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 3.5.7� Microsoft XNA FrameworkRedistributable 1.0 Refresh

� Opera 9.4� Silverlight� Spybot Search and Destroy 1.51� Spybot Search and Detection updates� VLC Player 0.8.6c� WinRAR 3.71

DEVELOPERSEventLog AnalyzerFree Edition 4.0ManageEngineEventLogAnalyzer is aWeb-based,agent-lesssyslog and eventlog management solution thatcollects, archives, and reports onevent logs from distributed Windowshost and, syslogs from UNIX hosts,Routers and Switches. It helpsorganizations meet host-basedsecurity event management (SEM)objectives and adhere to demands ofregulatory compliance requirementslikes HIPAA, SOX, and GLBA

Volta from Microsoft LiveLabs Technology Preview

The Volta technology preview is adeveloper toolset which enables youto build multi-tier web applications byapplying familiar techniques andpatterns. You architect and build yourapplication as a .NET clientapplication, assigning the portions ofthe application that run on the serverand the target client platform late inthe development process. Thecompiler manages creating cross-browser JavaScript for webapplications, web services for anyserver side code, and all of thecommunication, serialization andother boilerplate code to tie the tierstogether. You’ll need the the VisualStudio 2008 Beta from the DecemberDVD to use this

� VSO Image Resizer� XAMPP 1.6.4� Contentteller Pro 1.0 Preview Release

PERSONAL� Back2zip� Baraha 7.0 Build 6� DAEMON Tools 4.10� HTML Optimizer� Jabref for Windows 2.3.1� JustZIPit� My Pictures 3D Album ver. 0.96� Outclass v1.2.4.1� PinNotes 1.2� Polyglot 3000 2.8� PopFile 0.22.5� wikidPad 1.9 Beta 13

PRODUCTIVITY

FreeFor DigitReaders!

DIGIT JANUARY 2008 13

NEW_Contents_Interactive_January_CD&DVD_ 07.qxp:NEW_Contents_Interactive_January_CD&DVD_ 07.qxd 5/14/2008 4:00 PM Page 12

By DemandYou get to choose what goeson Digit Interactive. Thismonth, you chose:

Age of Empires 3: AsianDynastiesSize: 612 MB

Scratch Size: 34 MB

taste technology at www.thinkdigit.com

This Month’s Question Vote at www.thinkdigit.com

What are your views on electronic publications?

Digit Reader Poll

You just can’t beat the feel of paperI only read small articles online; it’s still print for meI’d rather read the electronic version than not read at allDump paper! Save the trees! Make Digit an e-mag!

SubscribeNo more snail-mail! No need to visitpost offices! All you have to do is logon to www.thinkdigit.com/subscribeand use your Credit Card to makesure you never miss another issue ofyour favourite magazine!

Web SpecialCheapest TrumpetThe Internet can be an inexpensiveway to advertise your business.Find out how!(Log on to www.thinkdigit.com)

What do you think of government-imposed security measures incyber cafés, such as key loggers, ID checks, and security cameras?

Last Month’s Question

Tota

l:6,

116

They’reimportantforhomelandsecurity24.14%

Theyintrudeon ourprivacy10.84%

ID checksandcamerasare good,key loggersare not39.79%

Corruptgovernmentofficialsmay misuseour data25.23%

Online

FEATURED REVIEW FROM DIGIT FORUM ((wwwwww..tthhiinnkkddiiggiitt..ccoomm//ffoorruumm))This month we feature a member review from the forum here.

I got Creative’s in-hear noice-cancellation earphonesfrom the IT Mall,Lamington Rd.,Mumbai for Rs 975.

1.Build Quality - it’s strictly OK.it contains no buttonto change songs,that’s a bit dissapointing.the cablelength is just fine coz i’m kinda used to my 5300’scable which runs almost a normal person long.the’veprovided two extra sets of earbuds which is kindacool.one pair has larger buds.

2.Bass - The bass in all the songs was verygood,twice or even more better than SE.5300’s hasvirtually no bass at all.the bass is low for the drums inthe background.bass guitars sound good.Bass pro-duced is both types deep and near.whereas W700i only has bass thumping closer to the earphone.

3.Sound Quality - Impressive stereo divisionalthough the central voice could have been a tad bet-ter.almost equal to both 5300 and W700i.Depth in sound is very good;also xcellent reproductionof every beat and instrument used in the song.the

vocalists breathing and guitar riffs are quite clear.The whispers(central not stereo) in some songs arenot that clear. W710i and 5300 sound very mono com-pared to EP-630.though depth and stereo division isgood in 5300 too.W700i is only loud(less than ep-630)and the quality is largely due to it’s in-ear type.nomatch for EP-630 though.

4.Comfort - not comapring 5300 here.comfortable tothe ears but u do get the suction feeling when you openyour mouth wide-enough.you sense putting on thesewhen you talk which is not sensed otherwise.the budslook cheap but do a gr8 job.also the’re very lite.

5.Noice Cancellation/isolation - not comapring5300 here which doesn’t have any sort ofisolation.Xcellent noice cancellation even at the 3rdlevel of volume....

For more visit:http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76210

11-10-2007, 10:23PM

ratedrsuperstarThe Sexy BeastJoin Date: Feb2006Location: MumbaiPosts: 378

MMyy RReevviieeww ooff CCrreeaattiivvee EEPP--663300

DIGIT JANUARY 200814

networking sites bylaunching OpenSocial, a setof APIs for creatingapplications compatibleacross various such sites.And now, Facebook hasjumped into the fray byallowing competitors to useits source code and createinteroperable applications.For once, Google has beencaught off guard.

Senior executives atFacebook have announcedthat the architecture for itsdevelopment platform wouldbe licensed to itscompetitors. This wouldmean that applicationsdeveloped for Facebook couldrun on sites like Bebo, Hi5, orOrkut. So theoretically, itwould be possible to “tattoo”your Bebo friends or to senda “hatching egg” toFriendster buddies, which isnow only possible withinFacebook. Bebo, a socialnetwork popular in the UK,has already redesigned itsplatform so that it can hostfeatures found only onFacebook. Last we checked,they had iLike—one of themost-used Facebookapplications—on their frontpage, no less.

For Google with itsOpenSocial, Facebook’smove will be hard tocounter. Facebook has

cornered a large slice of thesocial networking pie, andhas thousands of third-party developers around theworld playing around withtheir API to make great,good, and downright sillyapplications (like throwinga cow at friends). Theseapps have large user bases,and developer support forthem is strong. With anentirely new format andplatform, this loyalty willbe hard for Google to break,which it has to if it is tohave any hope of catchingthe social networking bus.

OpenSocial is, for now,just a concept with lots ofpotential (those millions ofGmail accounts and Orkutusers)—nothing concrete. Itmakes sense for other socialnetworking sites topiggyback on Facebook anduse its developmentplatform. There is thedanger that those sitescould look start looking likeclones of Facebook and losetheir identity, but that’s achance they seem to bewilling to take.

In related news, othersites—like LinkedIn andFriendster—have opened uptheir sites for developers.Both LinkedIn andFriendster are partners inGoogle’s OpenSocial

initiative, though there isspeculation that they wouldalso enable their platformto allow interoperabilitywith Facebook.

For users the world over,all this would mean thebreaking down of the wallsaround the individual sites,enabling them to seamlesslyconnect with friends andcontacts across networks.But naturally, this means atrade-off betweenconvenience and identity...

Exercise And TheWiiThe world’s getting inon the get-off-yer-arse gaming wave—what could be better

than losing weight whilegaming? There’s even Wii Fit tokeep you, well, fit! Sure, youlook like a total chump whileyou’re at it, but people havedone worse to get in shape.

It Doesn’t Help!According to astudy by the BritishMedical Journal,gaming on the Wiidoesn’t expendenough energy to count as“real exercise”, so stopfooling yourself, and insteadof getting off yer arse andgaming, get off yer arse andgo for a jog!

16 DIGIT JANUARY 2008 DIGIT JANUARY 2008

S. Somasegar, Corporate VicePresident, Developer Divisionat Microsoft, was in Hyderabadat the Microsoft IndiaDevelopment Centre earlyDecember; we caught up withhim for some geek speak aboutthe new Visual Studio (2008),among other things

How have programmingenthusiasts reacted to theVisual Studio ExpressEditions? What does the newVisual Studio hold for them?The Visual Studio 2005 ExpressEditions were huge successes forus—we saw over 17 million down-loads for them, and we expect asimilar response for Visual Studio2008. We realised that not every-one had access to a high-speedInternet connection—especially indeveloping countries—so we’veeven decreased the downloadsize of each Express Edition toabout 30-40 MB.

How newbie-friendly is VS2008?We’ve designed the softwarewith one thing in mind: peoplewith a basic understanding ofprogramming should be able tostart developing their softwarefifteen minutes after they startVisual Studio for the first time.

What do the Express Editionsoffer teams of enthusiasts interms of collaboration?Right now, nothing—thecollaboration features arepresent in Visual Studio TeamSystem right now, but thatdoesn’t mean we won’t seethese features trickling down tothe Express Editions in futurereleases. Distributeddevelopment is growing today,and it’s going to be a corescenario to think about whenwe develop future editions.Teams should be able to shareapplication spaces no matterwhere they are. The ExpressEditions do have bettercollaboration features than theprevious versions, but still notas much as we’d like.

Direct To NetParamount Pictures is experimenting with a radically newdistribution model by releasing a full-length movieexclusively over the Internet, skipping movie halls. For aweek starting 19 December, Jackass 2.5 was available for freeviewing on the Web (www.jackassmovie.com).

SpeedWireFireWire has gotten a makeover. The data transfer interfacewill see transfer rates ramped up from 800 Mbps to 3.2 Gbps.FireWire is the commercial name for IEEE 1394, and the newstandard will be called S3200. This is faster than the eSATAstandard, used for connecting hard drives, and also USB 2.0.

Afew weeks ago, theFBI launchedoperation Bot

Roast II, and busted aring of cyber-criminals,who were then chargedwith running a botnet(a network ofcompromised computersunder the control of acentral server) thatspanned a millioncomputers worldwide—andcaused losses worth $20million (Rs 80 crore). Sohow exactly do phishers,rootkit makers, and“botmasters” manage tomake their money? Thesystem is complicatedand ingenious, and likeany efficient criminalenterprise, it operatesbehind multiple, difficult-to-penetrate layers.

For sale in thisunderground“cybereconomy” areproducts that automate thecreation of Trojans. Evensupport services areprovided for a period oftime, usually one year. Mostof these Trojan-spewingrings work out of Germanyand Eastern Europeancountries, but their servicesare available globally.Botnets can be “rented” outfor spamming or launchingDoS attacks. In 2007’s worstsecurity attack is believed tohave affected millions ofcomputers—which came tobe called the Storm botnet.Botnets, as mentioned,depend on a centralcommand-and-control server.Locating it and shutting itdown is extremely difficult

because of evasivemeasures—like DNSmasking—that thebotmasters adopt.

Another hotbed ofpiracy, China is home to avirtual industry that rakesin millions of dollars for itsplayers. A study byresearchers at PekingUniversity in Beijing and theUniversity of Mannheim inGermany has shed someinsights into how thiseconomy works. Maliciouscode has high value, withthe market price forpackages of Trojangenerator and evasionservices ranging from tensto thousands of ChineseYuan Renmimbi (RMB). (1RMB is about Rs 5.) Sellinguser data to third partiesmeans big money as well.The modus operandi is to

attract visitors to sites byoffering freebies likemusic and videos. Theusers’ IPs are loggedand sold to cyber-

crooks. Upon the nextvisit, the visitors are

redirected to malicioussites that install malwareon the victims’ machines.10,000 IPs are sold for 40 to60 RMB.

Gamers make up one ofthe most frequently-targetedgroups. Password theft andloss of in-game credits isrampant: in fact, a batch ofSeagate’s hard disks soldin Taiwan was reported tohave come installed withTrojans that stoleMMORPG passwords and

other account information.The kind of criminals

we’re talking about usebulletin boards tocommunicate with eachother and advertise services.

The good guys in thisfight are the security andanti-virus firms, who havebeen slowly buckling underthe onslaught of the attacks.For now, online crime seemsto pay, and lot.

SOCIALLY OPEN

FacebookOpens Up

The social networkingworld has been seeingsome not-insignificant

upheavals of late. A littlewhile ago, it was Google’sattempt to break down thewalled gardens of social

Enter

Security Watch

CRIMINOMICS

Crime Pays, And How!

17

Illustrations Harsho Mohan Chattoraj

n British drivers to be jailed for using mobiles while driving n Online version of OpenOffice.org available n Google Talk introduces in-chat translation n Firefox 3 beta 2 released with completely revamped download manager n Physiotherapists have been prescribing the Wii to patients n

S. SomasegarCorporate Vice President

Developer Division Microsoft

Patch IE, UpdateFlash PlayerThe ProblemVulnerabilites have beenreported in Adobe Flash Playeras well as in Internet Explorer (6and 7). The former is “HighlyCritical” according to securityfirm Secunia, and the latter isworse—“Extremely Critical.”

The IE vulnerabilities arefour in number, and one ofthem is reportedly beingactively exploited. Successfulexploitation can mean yourcomputer being used to executearbitrary code (read: it can betaken over).

The Flash Player vulnerabili-ties are in versions prior to9.0.115.0, and there happen tobe as many as 10 of them.There are also multiple thingsthat an attacker can now do asa result of the vulnerabilities,but being safe is only a matterof updating the software.

The SolutionIf you have Flash Player 9.0.48.0and earlier, you need to updateto version 9.0.115.0; get it fromwww.stage.adobe.com/go/getflash. As regards the IEvulnerability, if you have XP SP2with IE6, visithttp://tinyurl.com/2r63sb. ForXP SP2 with IE7, visithttp://tinyurl.com/2qdbqv

Do you use your cellphone to access the Web using GPRS/EDGE/WAP?(You, too, can participate in this poll—at www.thinkdigit.com)

Yes, I surf the Web on mobile daily Yes I use it only once-twice a week

I don’t, because I feel it is not secure (Bad experiences, if any) No; speeds are very slow. (Name the service provider)DC

BA

(You, too, can participate in this poll—at www.thinkdigit.com)

Opinion Poll

Option B. I use it only twice a week, andthat too for checking e-mails and offlinePMs. The pathetic speeds arewaste of time and on top ofthat we have to pay huge billsevery month. Its my last resorton the Internet but its usefulwhen I’m on vacation.Gaurish SharmaJaipur

I have a Symbian phone and using GPRS issuch a breeze that I can get info of any-thing on the go—anywhere,anytime. In addition, I use it asmodem with my PC too.Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal Jaipur

I’ll definitely go with option D. I don’tuse the Mobile phone for surfing simplybecause the speeds areextremely slow and expen-sive too with my serviceprovider—Vodafone.Sukhdeep Singh KohliJalandhar

Option D. I did use GPRS when I had nokiaN-Gage QD for the N-Gage Arena service totalk to other N-Gage users anddownload games. After I soldthe N-Gage, I got GPRS deacti-vated—there was no point pay-ing so much for slow speeds.Niranjan NaikPune

I’ll go for option D. I don’t surf the Webon my mobile since I heard that speedsaren’t too good. I don’t mindtrying to surf on my mobilephone, though.Prakash Jose KokkattMuvattupuzha, Kerala

My choice is option D. I never even thinkof connecting my Mobile phone for surf-ing as the speed is as slow asa snail. In place of that, I’dlove using my Laptop for surf-ing by connecting throughAirTel Broadband.Amit AnandJharkhand


Enter

GO GREEN—LITERALLY!

BambooGoodness

Apple, which todaysells sleekaluminium iMacs,

started out with the Apple1 in a wooden box.Manufacturers soon shiftedto synthetic materials forcasings, which werecheaper but turned out tobe harmful to theenvironment. E-waste is agrowing problem the worldover, and is exacerbated bythe rapid changes inhardware, whichnecessitates frequentupgrades.

ASUStek Computer,which markets its productslike notebooks andmotherboards under theASUS brand, has unveiled alaptop which, it hopes, willchange the trend. The ASUSEco Book, in the prototypestage, is encased in bamboo.Laminated strips cover allthe surfaces of the prototypeexcept for the keys,trackpad, and monitor.

For countries inSouth-East Asia, thisenvironmentally-friendly laptop is aboon. Bamboo growsabundantly in thispart of the world,and its rate ofgrowth is way fasterthan that of a tree.With municipallandfills indeveloping countrieschock-full of plasticsand hazardouschemicals like thelead and arsenic used incomputers, the demand forsuch green computers islikely to be huge. But theselaptops are still not readyfor prime time. The heatreleased from processorsand monitors is a bigconcern, as are problemsrelated to rough handling.These laptops are also notentirely green: the gluesand laminates used forfortifying the bamboomight contain toxins.

Green computing hasbeen a growing corporatetrend. Manufacturers havebeen trying to make eachand every component moreeco-friendly—whether it’s

chemicals used infabricating cases, or thematerials used in chips. Dell,Lenovo, Apple, and HP areall concentrating on cuttingpower wastage, recyclingcomponents, and improvingefficiency. A laptop madefrom bamboo fits neatly intothe scheme of things.

HACK ATTACK

Apple? AndSecurity?

The iPhone isundeniably hot. It’s sohot that people have

stood for days in longqueues to buy it, and itsmanufacturers have had toprevent people from buyingmore than five handsets.Now, though, the rock-starpopularity of the iPhonemight work to Apple’sdisadvantage in terms ofincreased security attacks.

Apple’s operatingsystems have always had areputation for solidsecurity. While Apple andits legions of fans tout theseas features, more neutralobservers ascribe theseemingly hacker-prooffeatures to a minisculemarket share (single digits).Hackers and cyber-crookssimply do not get enoughreturns on their efforts.

With the release of theiPhone, Apple has comefrom niche to mainstream.And it’s not only Apple’scompetitors that havenoticed the surging sales:since the iPhone runs a full-blown Mac OS X 10.5, theiPhone is wide open tomalicious attacks. Withmillions of iPhones in themarket, volumes havebecome enough to justifyserious attacks that would

A Round-up Of Technology News From Across The GlobeThe Digital World

CHINAYahoo! China hasbeen accused ofpromoting piracy, assearch results lead tosites that arerepositories ofillegally-copied music

SAUDI ARABIAYouTube is the rageamong the country’syouth, with videos ofdrinking binges and crazycar chases being uploaded

NORWAYBy 2014, all governmentdocuments mustcompulsorily be published inthree open formats—HTML,PDF, and ODFGERMANY

After a challenge byVodafone, higher courts haveforced T-Mobile to sell theiPhone without locking thedevice to its network

UNITED STATESMicrosoft, Yahoo, and Google are topay fines totalling $31.5 million (Rs125 crore) for having promotedillegal online gambling in 1997 IRAN

Authorities shut down 24 Internetcafes as part of a crackdown onimmoral behaviour. They wereparticularly annoyed by computergames and obscene photos

n Apple rumour site ThinkSecret.com closes after settlement with Apple n Iran builds supercomputer on Opterons; maybe for nuclear programme n


Enter

Photograph Jyotbeet Singh Each month Digit will carry a caption for a photo. Come up with something funnier,

and beat the Digit team at their own game! Entries accepted by the 20th of this month.

Digit Caption

Oh no! I can’t find my petant!

yield significant returns interms of user data stored onthe phones. Already,hackers have breached thesecurity features of theiPhone (they’ve unlocked itfrom the AT&T network),and have installed third-party applications. Thoughthese hacks have beenrendered ineffective byfirmware upgrades,determined attacks on thebasic platform would poseactual, serious threats thatwould need more than asimple upgrade. Attackscould involve the spread ofmobile worms, which couldrender individual handsetsuseless, or the creation of avast mobile botnet forsending out spam mails andSMSes. This scenario is nowa distinct possibilitybecause of the ubiquity ofthe iPhone.

2008 could very well seethe release of securityproducts targeted at Macs.Bad news for fanboys, butreassuring for corporatesand businesses who are stillleery of trusting valuabledata to systems that do nothave security features.

WIKI-KILLER?

A Knol ofWisdom

Of late, Google has beendiversifying from itscore search business,

getting into areas liketelecom and security. Nowit’s knowledge managementand distribution à laWikipedia that the Big G hasset its eyes on.

Google has announcedthe launch of a new projectcalled Knol, which aims tobe a repository of theworld’s information. Theblueprint for Knol is to allowexperts to write definitivearticles in their field ofexpertise. On the face of it,this sounds like Wikipedia.But there are somedifferences—each topic orpage on the Knol, called “aknol” (a unit of knowledge)will be effectively owned bythe author, who will notremain anonymous. Theremight be multiple knols onthe same subject, and theymay only be edited by the

author or with the author’spermission. This modelborrows from Squidoo, acontent management sitethat lets authors own theirpages. Google will not actthe editor in any way, andthere will be nothing like anofficial knol for each topic. Itaims only to provide thetools and the server space.Knol, currently in privatebeta, is open to users byinvitation only.

Google will also host adson each knol. The upside isthat authors will get asignificant share of therevenues (the actualpercentage is being workedout). Industry watchers are,however, divided on thefeasibility of anotherknowledge repository, andare also suspicious ofGoogle’s aims. It’s a knownfact that for many searches,the relevant Wikipedia entrycomes at the top of theresults page. When usersclick on that link, they go toa site where Google cannotput in any ads… This meansa potential loss of millionsof dollars in ad revenue.Again, there is the danger

that driven by ad revenues,there might be aproliferation of knols oncommercially-viable topicslike microprocessorarchitecture or fashiondesign, and less about thePeace of Westphalia andSumerian civilisation.

The most basic argumentis, however, that sinceediting rights are locked,knols might contain biasedviewpoints, or that theymight contain outdatedinformation. But there arecertain arguments in favourof this new model. For one,since authors will no longerbe anonymous, they mightkeep their knols objectiveand updated. UnlikeWikipedia, where each pagecan be modified by all andsundry and it is oftendifficult to separate thewheat from the chaff, Knolcould result in pieces ofauthoritative work.

But then again, knolscan be searched by searchengines, and there are fearsthat Google might tweakits algorithms so knolsfeature at the top of searchresults. However,

Last Month’s Winner!Nobody!Sorry, you couldn’t match up toour crack team of caption-ers

n Windows 7, the successor of Vista, to support touch features n Microsoft offers free copies of Vista and Office 2007 in exchange for user data. n

E-mail your caption with thesubject “Beat That”, and yourpostal address, [email protected] win JavaScript, DOM Scriptinh and AJAX Projectsby Frank W. Zammetti

Published by


Enter

competition is, in general,good, and this proliferationof free content will onlybenefit the end user!

DATA RAYS

Playing WithPhotons

With eachgeneration,processors are

getting smaller and morepowerful, which you knowall too well; the currentemphasis is on multiplecores, higher bus speeds,and larger caches. However,some basic principles of

processor design haveremained unchanged overthe years. One of these isthe mode of data transfer—wires have always been usedfor transferring data withina single core and alsobetween cores.

There are problems,however. At the basic level,transfer of data means theflow of electrons, and thisproduces heat—which is ahuge problem when itcomes to modernprocessors. Electrons alsocan’t travel faster than acertain velocity. The secondfactor has little bearing onquad-core systems, butwhen the number of coresbecomes something like 12

(Intel and AMD alreadyhave plans for octa-coreprocessors in two to threeyears), this architecturewill be inadequate.Companies like IBM andIntel have been pouringmillions of dollars intoresearch on new processorfabrication designs andallied technologies; oneresult of these efforts isIBM’s advances intransferring data at thecore level using light.

IBM’s researchers haveimproved upon the Mach-Zehnder electro-opticmodulator, which is, at 200micrometers long, morethan 100 times smallerthan similar devices. Thismodulator converts electricsignals into light pulses. Alaser beam is kept focusedon the modulator, andwhen the electric signalcarrying data falls on themodulator, it getsconverted into light. Thislight beam falls on theother core’s modulator,where an inverse processconverts light to electronicsignals. Since light travelsfaster than electrons in awire, this means that dataflow would be faster,resulting in the possibilityof higher clock speeds.Since there is no heatproduction when lightflows, this increasedperformance won’t comewith higher heat emissions,which is the bane of today’sprocessors. Since cores areseparated by 200 to 400micrometers, this opticalmodulator seems possiblein theory.

In practice, researcherssay there is a lot of work tobe done before chips using

this technology reach storeshelves. Size is a big factorto consider; it is verydifficult to manufactureoptical components at suchmicro-scales. Besides, theprocessor architectureneeds to be changed if thisis to be implemented.

DEEP WATERS

StandardTrouble

Microsoft has severaltimes been accusedof unfair business

practices, and has beenrapped both by US andEuropean free traderegulators for throttlingcompetition. All these years,the company has been ableto shrug off the accusationsowing to the strongperformance of its products.However, with the lower-than-expected performanceof Vista and Googlebreathing down its neck, itlooks like they’ve been on asticky wicket and are opento mending their ways...

Pursuant to this new“strategy,” Microsoftrecently announced itwould sign a deal with themakers of open sourceserver software Samba,which will enable Sambasoftware (which allowsLinux users to share fileand print services onWindows machines) to runsmoothly on Windows.This deal was the result ofa 2004 EU ruling, backedby another one inSeptember, which held thesoftware manufacturerguilty of not sharing

Speculation has been rife in tech circles about anupcoming “Gphone,” from Google. They went anentirely different way though, releasing a softwarestack for mobile phones, called Android.

Android is a combination of operating system, userinterface, and Java-based applications like e-mailclient, SMS, browser, maps, contacts, databasemanagement, etc. Built on the Linux kernel 2.6,Android development is open source and platform-independent. Essentially, this means that software that

is developed will run on a wide variety of handsets.The Open Handset Alliance, a conglomeration of 34

companies—handset manufacturers (Motorola, LG),carriers (T-Mobile, Sprint), hardware companies (Intel,NVIDIA, Qualcomm), and software companies (eBay,Google)—is supporting the development of Android.

Google has released the Android SDK fordevelopers, and has earmarked $10 million as prizemoney for innovative applications. Phones working onAndroid are expected to be shipped by the end of 2008.

IBM has 73,000employees inIndia, a 40%increase from

2006.

UK gamers spent£1.52 bn ongames (Rs

12,300 crore ) in2007. 78 milliongame titles were

sold; gamesaccounted for

79% of allsoftware

Mobile subscriptions in 2007touch 3.3 billion—about 50%of the world’s population

Cell phone users in China arethe biggest users of textmessaging services, with anaverage of 967 messages perperson per year.

n Intel releases a fingertip-sized solid-state device that stores up to 16 GB n World of Warcraft gaming laptop introduced by Dell and Blizzard n

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Android

Percentage of adults with Internetaccess who use social networking sites


Enter

Intel MoorestownWhat’s that?The latest design architecturefrom Intel, Moorestown will beused in the Ultra Mobile PCs(UMPCs) and Mobile InternetDevices (MID) of the future.

Why are we talking about it?The platform is touted as beinga “system on a chip”; it willinclude a powerful 45nmprocessor core and the graphicsand memory controllers on asingle die. It consists of twoparts: a flexible die design thatcan include dual-coreprocessors if needed, and an I/Ochip that provides connectivityto an inbuilt graphicsaccelerator. It can also supporta DDR3 memory controller, PCI-Express, USB, SATA, and WiMAX.

Where is this headed?The future of MIDs and UMPCsdepends heavily on platformsthat can handle computation-heavy tasks while being energy-efficient, since the trend is thatof tasks traditionally carried outon a computer shifting tomobile devices.

Who would be interested?Everyone from HTC (high-endphone designers andmanufacturers) to Palm toNokia. Those into operatingsystems—like Microsoft andCanonical (the developers ofUbuntu)—are also looking at thiswith great interest—they’d wanta slice of the pie, of course.

How will this affect us??This is speculation, but it doesseem that everything youcurrently do on your computerwill be possible on the mobile,from browsing HTML Web sitesand watching HD movies tousing GPS. Moreover, thedevices will run at least 20times longer than the currentgeneration of mobile phones,according to Intel.

When can we start playingwith these devices?Not anytime soon. The launchdate for the platform isexpected to be around themiddle of 2010.

details of protocols whichwould enable servers madeby rivals to interoperateseamlessly with Windows.An appeals court orderedthe company to remedythe situation by sharingthe relevant data. ThisMicrosoft delayed, and as aresult, the market share ofother companies shrunk tonearly zero, while sales ofMicrosoft servers (SQLServer, Exchange Server)surged. Samba was theonly open sourcealternative in the market—and it survived.

Now with much-neededdocumentation, which itacquired for €1 0,000(Rs 5.7 lakh), Samba will beable to work on Windowswithout any glitches. Thedocumentation will be keptconfidential, though thesource code for theapplications that use theseprotocols would bereleased under the GPL.

In fact, Microsoft’sseems to be abandoning itsstrategy of runningroughshod over thecompetition, and seems—just seems—to be becomingmore reasonable. The newIE8 has passed the Acid 2test, which determineswhether browsers adhereto the official W3C (WorldWide Web Consortium)standards. This is goodnews for millions of Webdevelopers, who have beenforced to make differentversions of the same Website for IE and non-IEbrowsers. Besides, previousiterations of InternetExplorer had plenty ofsecurity holes, and one wayof sweeping away thedetritus would be byfollowing acceptedstandards. Thisannouncement wasprobably related to Operafiling a complaint againstMicrosoft accusing it ofusing non-standardprotocols that force Websites to follow suit, thusputting other browsers at adisadvantage.

Microsoft is sometimescalled the Evil Empire: it is

finally getting mellower?The jury is still ponderingabout this one...

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Games ForThe Good

The number of gamesin the market thatfeature violence and

gore, primarily to standout in the crowd andattract fans, has beensteadily increasing. Someare so disturbing thatcensors have fought toprevent their release: acase in point is Manhunt 2’stroubles with Britishregulators. Efforts are on,though, to harness the

potent visualisation andinteractivity of computergames in other, moresocially beneficial ways.

Games that simulateterrorist attacks andhostage crises have beenlong used by lawenforcement agencies totrain personnel. There’s aproblem with these games,though—they are so niche,they don’t appeal tomainstream gamers. Toremedy the situation, aprestigious New York-basedParsons The New School ofDesign has recentlylaunched PETLab,comprising its faculty andstudents, to study howplaying games might push

players towards developinga social conscience. The labwill interact with gamedesigners, educators, andother stakeholders todesign games like ~Ayiti:The Cost of Life~, whereplayers need to manage theday-to-day life of a family offive in Haiti. In a typicalscenario, players might beexpected to decide onwhether to throw a bash orbuy healthy food. Suchgames might also takeelements from citysimulation games like the~SimCity~ series and teachplayers how to do thingslike reducing globalwarming and curbingwasteful food habits.

Backed by a $4,50,000(Rs 1.8 crore) grant fromthe MacArthur foundation,

PETLab is in collaborationwith Games for Change, anon-profit that supportsserious game designers,and think.MTV.com, MTV’ssocially-oriented Web site.It is also negotiating withMicrosoft to determinewhether the Xbox’s gamedevelopment tool could beused to create games inthese genres.

The news that gamescan heal has been much inthe news the past two years,and no-one now doubts thatgames can be used for morethan entertainment. Thesenew initiatives, though,don’t sound entirelyconvincing, but we won’t bedownright pessimistic.

n Toshiba launches batteries that last 10 years with five minutes of charging n The NYSE replaces UNIX on its servers with Linux n

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

— Albert Einstein

Iremember that quote well; I’m one of the reasons the great Einstein wasproved wrong. But then, even Einstein couldn’t have imagined how fasttechnology would invade our lives.The quote was very popular during the Cold War, and even aided gov-

ernment-funded propaganda. Those were the days when most of us lived infear, with images of mushroom clouds in our nightmares. The rich and para-noid built underground bunkers and stocked them with a year’s supply offood. The rest of us would dart furtive glimpses at the sky at even the hintof a siren. When the Cold War finally ended, World War III began…

The third instalment is actually the only real World War. The soldiersare called “terrorists,” and the battlefield is your backyard. It continuestoday; though governments have fought back and tried to minimise suchevents, you probably still read about the odd incident halfway across theglobe, if not right in your city. To be honest, I cannot complain muchabout it, because WWIII is what forced countries to go high-tech, get con-nected and start depending on technology—it’s what lets me afford my

luxurious life.

Who Am I?I can’t tell you my name for obvious reasons, but I can tell you that

World War IV has begun, and I’m just one of thousands of soldiersfighting it. I’ve never held a real gun in my life, though I’ve fragged myfair share of enemies in my favourite FPS game. I’m certainly no JamesBond either, and I have a fast-developing pot-belly—the kind beer-drink-ing couch potatoes proudly sport. I have a regular day job, which

involves nothing more than sitting in front of a PC while I administer asmall company’s servers, so obviously, I bore easily. What I do have,

however, is something my government is willing to pay a premium for,and it’s the reason I have my moolah locked safely away in a Swiss bankvault. I drive a Maruti, but I can afford better. I live in an apartment—atrue bachelor’s pad—but no women ever visit. I guess they don’t like thesmell of rotting pizza, or my décor—if you can consider eight LCDs, fourPCs and spaghetti tangles of wires “décor.”

Lead Feature

WarsOf The

FFuuttuurree

27JANUARY 2008 DIGIT

Digital Tools l Jumpstart

32PassionDigital

30Fuelling The Pursuit Of Technology Knowledge

3430 Days with... Droolmaal Take A Crack

A World War IV soldier talks about his battlefield heroics

Chaitanya Surpur

Digital Passion l Lead Feature


Digital Passion l Lead Feature

able to thwart my “attack” in a little under twohours if they’re efficient; six, even if they’re not—ample time for us to plant our little e-bombs.

My measly 100 Mbps connection is hardlystrained while DDoS-ing the four governmentsites, my friends have already gained access to therailway servers. In under 45 minutes, they haveaccess to four major airports, and no-one’s thewiser. We’re won’t crash any planes… we probablycould, though.

The MotherlodeMy IRC chat client goes berserk. I get 40 messagesin under three seconds, causing my speakers tospit out the “bing” alert multiple times in a quiteconfused manner. “Hallelujah, Eureka,wheeeeeeeeee,” screams a friend. “What?” I ask.“Jackpot, baby, jackpot. We’ve hit the motherlode!” he types back in all caps—quite intention-ally. Not only do the Thirteen Ghosts have access tothe Rail Services and Airports, he’s also managedto penetrate the traffic system, while his sister—who, incidentally, is amongst the top 50 hackersin the world—thinks she can get into the paymentgateway of the country’s largest government bankin about two hours. Oh well, if bank admins aredumb enough to use keyboard combinations fortheir passwords (azsxdc, 1p2o3i, etc.) they deserveto be robbed. She gained access with a simplebrute-force password cracker, putting to full usethe power of her Intel 80-core rig.

State SponsorshipWe have no doubt that the country’s hackerswill attempt to hit back at us or our countries.We’re waiting. All of us have had substantialjumps in our personal Net worth; vive la PayPal!

A few days later, my contact returns. His superiors are thrilled.Besides our payments, he’s also offering to send me an iPod Pico for a job well done. “No thanks,” I type out, “I’d rather you not knowwhere to send it.” A few lols later, he leaves. Oh well, playtime’s over.It’s back to work...

[email protected]

I’m a geek of the highest order, andyes, I will inherit the Earth. I trudgethrough my work day, itching to gethome and start the real fun. At night, Isit awake at my PCs, probing computersacross the world looking for backdoors.Currently, I have a little over two milliondrones in my botnet, but still I can’t seemto make it to the Top 50 Hackers list. I’mhoping that will change soon.

I have a meeting today, so I rush home,kick off my shoes and log on. I find my wayto my IRC chat room and I see my contactis already there. He’s been waiting impa-tiently playing the trivia game on theroom’s bot. I know this because a mil-lisecond after I log in, he messages me andtells me. It’s straight to business; he informsme that the Chinese have been attacking gov-ernment sites with DDoS attacks and are gen-erally being a pain. He’s willing to pay me toreturn the favour. It’s not really big money,but hey, it’s still some fun… The icing on thecake is that I know I’m not going to be caught.A license to kill—people’s inboxes, PCs and Netpipes, that is.

I give him my PayPal account details and justas I’m about to leave, he says, “Hang on. I just gotnew authorisation.” I can smell the money, so Iwait patiently. In 95 seconds he’s back, telling mehis “company” has authorised him to pay a sig-nificantly higher amount for information or abackdoor into the Chinese government servers.For a considerably lower bounty, I can hack theirWeb sites and redirect them to, well, pretty muchanywhere I want. “Nice,” I mutter to myself, “I’vebeen eyeing the iPod Pico for some time now.”

Just BusinessNow big government hacks may pay a lot, but Ican’t stop my bread-and-butter business. I pop opena console window, create a batch file and send itover the botnet. Over two million PCs worldwideare connecting to popular sites in China, slowingthem down and preventing legitimate access. I’mearning $50 per hour per site, and I can easily keepthese sites down for six hours before they ban mostof my botnet’s IPs. Of course, I’m not going to stopthere. In another IRC room, the list of connectedusers reads like an FBI’s Most Wanted list. Iannounce that I have a paying job, and in under 10minutes I’ve recruited 14 soldiers like myself. Witha collective botnet strength of over 20 million, Ican keep the attack on for days—though I’msharing the spoils, I still get the lion’s share.

The smell of money wafts into the air as Iremember the other offer. I know just where tofind the right people for the job. Unfortunately,these guys are way better than me, and expect alot more money. Still, 10 per cent of a lot is waybetter than 100 per cent of a little. It will take a fewdays to co-ordinate the whole thing, but we havethe luxury of time.

Playing SniperTo begin with, one of my “friends” reports thatthe Chinese government site is easily hackable: itseems to have little or no security. It will be easyto deface the site, but it will be just as easy for the

site admin to get it back to normal—unap-pealing. A few days later, another friend, whospecialises in Trojans and backdoors for Linuxserver machines, happily announces that he hasfound his way through the first hack into theWeb server, and can now connect to the Chineserailway system. A little more probing by ourteam reveals that it’s quite possible to get intosome major airports too.

News spreads fast in our little online world,especially when there’s money involved. My spe-cialty has always been the networking. No, notthe WiMAX/LAN type; I’m talking (anti?) socialnetworking—I just bring like-minded peopletogether and unite them in a cause. I will help testthe backdoors, but after a few days, because wecan’t risk waking the sleepy admins whose sys-tems we’re penetrating.

I report to my “company” contact and give himall the details we have—14 popular sites can bedefaced, including China’s most popular directorylisting site and four government sites. Apart fromthat we can gain access to some A-grade citygrids—air, rail and road services can be tamperedwith. “Excellent,” he types, “give me a day to reportthis.” He’s back in less than 12 hours with hisorders. Full-frontal assault, take no prisoners!

The AttackD-day approaches. It’s close to the Chinese NewYear, which means loads of tourists and a strainon the infrastructure—perfect! By now my littlearmy has grown to 13 people from four countries.We sit around nervously in our IRC chatroom andjoke about what to call ourselves. “ThirteenGhosts,” someone suggests. It sticks—we like theidea of being able to get in and out like ghosts.

The attack begins the next day. While thegeniuses start by gaining root access to the Webservers, I run a script to start a DDoS attack. I’mattacking some other government sites on thesame IP masks as the compromised server. I’m justa smoke-screen, toying with useless servers to keepany alert admins busy. These admins should be

Chinese tried to hackAustralian Government PCs tooThe Chinese allegedly tried to hackinto highly classified governmentcomputer networks in Australia and New Zealand as part of abroader international operation to glean military secrets fromWestern nations.

Yahoo! News,September 12, 2007

Hacked: Email inboxes ofIndian missions in US andChina; NDA, DRDO officials tooTaking a dig at cyber securitypreparedness levels, a hacker, whoclaims to be based in Sweden,posted online this evening thepasswords of 100 email accounts ofembassies and government officesacross the world, including 13Indian accounts, containingclassified information andcorrespondence... Indian

Ambassadors to China, US, Sweden,Germany, Italy, Oman, Finlandbesides officials of the NationalDefence Academy (NDA) andDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO).

The Indian Express,August 31, 2007

World on the brink of globalcyber warfare?The latest annual security reportfrom McAfee has singled out Chinaas a particularly virulent source ofinternational cyber espionage, witha number of Western nations said tohave experienced significantepisodes in the past year. However,there is evidence to suggest that afar more sinister online threat couldbe around the corner from nationsother than China—state sponsoredcyber attacks on vitalinfrastructure.

IT Wire,December 2, 2007

Real Headlines

Thereare signs

that intelligenceagencies aroundthe worldare constantlyprobing othergovernments’networks lookingfor strengths andweaknesses anddeveloping newways to gatherintelligence”

Peter SommersLondon School ofEconomics

Breaking NewsJanuary 1, 2013, Beijing

Ahacker group that calls itself the Thirteen

Ghosts broke into Government sites this morn-

ing. Six of the big cities had flights grounded for

over six hours; rail systems are still not back

online and traffic lights went haywire, causing a

few hundred fender benders. The worst hit was

the National Bank, which was first DDoSed, then

hacked into. As a result, millions of dollars were

donated to charities across the globe and

detailed information about thousands of credit

cards was stolen. This is the worst cyber-attack

the world has ever witnessed, and a Government

spokesperson puts the estimated damage at a

little over $1 billion US. Luckily, no human casu-

alties have yet been reported due to the mayhem

that continues even now.

Day 1Unpacked it… Satin black aluminium front, chromedsteel rear reminiscent of the first generation nanos. It’smuch shorter than previous nanos, and slightlyslimmer and lighter. Build quality is exemplary—typical Apple—and the contoured body is stylish. Thenano 3G supports video playback on its 2-inch display,with a resolution of 320 x 240.

Day 2The click-wheel feels solid; iTunes is still the same—music needs to be dragged from its interface to thenano if you’re being selective, or you can sync the nano.Something new: the nano 3G shows up as a removabledrive even without iTunes (although iTunes is neededfor all multimedia files). After ejecting the nano, it stillcharges through USB. iTunes still won’t detect FLACfiles—sad.

Day 4Apple’s default earbuds leave much to be desired ifyou’re discerning about quality. Swapping these withmy EP630 proves a serious step-up. I used our BoseIntra-Ear earbuds and was even more impressed. Thenano offers punchy bass that is low yet tight. Mids aresuperbly detailed and highs are well-represented—perfectly neutral-sounding.

Day 7Paired this with my home setup—a tube amp coupledwith my Sennheiser HD650 cans—and played a fewfavourite tracks (320 kbps). All the depth, clarity anddetail was there; audiophiles who want portable source,consider this. I also tried the nano with the HD650s andno amp—there was an immediate loss in detail, thoughsurprisingly, the result wasn’t too bad, considering theoutput impedance of the nano is 40 ohms, while theHD650 is rated at 300!

Day 11Copied a few photos and a video. The screen, while goodenough for photos (crisp and bright), isn’t all that greatfor movies. For one, the viewing angles aren’t good.

Besides, I like my videos on a bigger screen. Skip thenano 3G if you’re looking at a video player.Day 14Attempted a firmware flash—the application is nowpart of the iTunes setup. It’s quirky: the downloadcrossed 100 per cent, but never completed. ReinstallingiTunes with my Net connection active sets the problemright. You can revert to the previous firmware at theclick of a button.

Day 17The nano allows me to download podcasts from theiTunes Store. Tried a few free audio and video podcasts.Even TV serials are available for purchase from iTunes,and this is where having a video player becomes a majorplus. You can also download books from their library—this is where the true power of iTunes is realised: rich andvaried multimedia content.

Day 23Decided that video playback was not bad—just not muchof an experience on such a tiny screen. Album Art whileplaying MP3s is more fun, courtesy the larger screen—pity it couldn’t get larger.

Day 23If you want to cart your entire collection withyou, don’t buy this— 4 / 8 GB is all you get. Ifyou want a good movie player, lookelsewhere. If you want something fancy,get the iPod Touch. If

you want somethingreally compact withamazing musicquality, the nano 3Gat Rs 6,500(4 GB) or Rs 8,500 (8GB) is the only wayto go.

[email protected]

Michael BrowneWe’re such busy people at Digit—so busy, we forget to stop munching, and neglect our health. I needed a workout buddy, and fast—a

PMP compact enough to pocket while jogging, plus good sound quality… Here’s an account of my first month with the iPod nano 3G.

Apple iPod nano Video

Digital Passion l 30 days with...

30

33DIGIT JANUARY 2008

he VRX Mach4 brings the sensation of real worlddriving to your home, but without all the danger! TheMach4 is a Quad-Xbox360 chained together to power

the three gigantic 37-inch Sharp 1080p screens. A MicrosoftForce Feedback Steering wheel is used to steer. If you'rewondering what happened to the fourth Xbox360, it's used topower the smaller 7-inch screen that is your rear-view mirror.There's a Sparco racing seat and a 1900-Watt vibrationsystem to ensure you feel every bit of unevenness on thetrack. To make the whole experience of racing as authentic aspossible, there are 2 fans that will give you the sensation ofwind in your hair when you've broken your car's windshield.Come to think of it, the only thing missing is a fly dispensermounted behind the fans. The price? £12,500 (Rs 10,50,000) -much more sensible to buy a real car, isn't it?

T

Digital Passion l Droolmaal

he iPhone isn't the only Apple gadget to get cloned by companies from our side of the world. There have been talks ofASUS apparently working alongside Apple on a "Mac-tablet" for some time now, but a company called Axiotron hasalready beaten them to it. Yes, there is, in fact, an Apple tablet that isn't made by Apple. The Modbook, as it's called,is based on the Macbook. A quick search on Google reveals 2 models of the Modbook - both between the price of

$2,279 (Rs 94,000) and $2,479 (Rs 1,02,000). This isn't some handicapped version of the Macbook, it's the whole shebang - aCore 2 Duo processor, a 80 / 160 GB hard drive, a 13.3-inch touchscreen (obviously), a stylus powered by WACOM's Penabledtechnology, WiFi, and even a in-built GPS! All this runs on the OS X Tiger operating system. It's not like they were running outof space to stuff in more things either. They even give you the option to put in 4 GB of memory and up to 570 GB of disk

T

Digital Passion l Droolmaal

ome Theatre systems are generally all aboutquality, power and detail, but LG thinks designcan't be ignored. Presenting the all new

HT762TT - it's got 5 speakers and a subwoofer thattotal up to 700W of power that should be enough toblow the windows off the walls. While it may all beabout aggressive power and chaos, its design iselegant and soothing and blends in well with yourdesigner room. To take it beyond being just anotherfancy speaker set, they have put in VSM (VirtualSound Matrix) which delivers a sensation of surroundsound like you would get from 10 satellite speakersinstead of 5. Plug in your USB devices to the systemand you can playback MP3s, WMAs, DivX videos oreven photos from your outings.

LG HT762TT

H

Ultrasone Edition9


VRX Mach4

f there's anything more desirable than a setof ultra-high quality headphones, we don'treally want to know. The Ultrasone limited

headphones that cost $1,500 (Rs 63,000) are toutedas the world's best, and many audiophiles wouldagree! The 'phones use 40mm Titanium plated Mylardrivers, and they can play frequencies from 8 to35000 Hz - well beyond the human ear's capacity.Ultrasone's S-Logic technology gives a great soundstage performance to the Edition 9. To keep yourhead pampered, exotic Ethiopian sheep leather hasbeen used on the earpads and headband.

I

he VRX Mach4 brings the sensation of real world driving toyour home, but without all the danger! The Mach4 is a Quad-Xbox360 chained together to power the three gigantic 37-inchSharp 1080p screens. A Microsoft Force Feedback Steeringwheel is used to steer. If you're wondering what happened tothe fourth Xbox360, it's used to power the smaller 7-inchscreen that is your rear-view mirror. There's a Sparco racingseat and a 1900-Watt vibration system to ensure you feelevery bit of unevenness on the track. To make the wholeexperience of racing as authentic as possible, there are 2 fansthat will give you the sensation of wind in your hair whenyou've broken your car's windshield. Come to think of it, theonly thing missing is a fly dispenser mounted behind the fans.The price? £12,500 (Rs 10,50,000) - much more sensible tobuy a real car, isn't it?

T

Axiotron ModBook

Droolmaal The good stuff l Stuff to lust after l Stuff for the well-moneyed

Olive OPUS N°5

Take a Crack and winDreamweaver CS3by Joseph Lowery

Published by

Rules and RegulationsReaders are requested to

send in their answers by the15th of the month ofpublication.

Employees of JasubhaiDigital Media and theirrelatives are not permitted toparticipate in this contest.

Readers are encouraged tosend their replies by e-mail.Jasubhai Digital Media will notentertain any unsolicitedcommunication.

Jasubhai Digital Media isnot responsible for anydamage to your system thatmay be caused while you aretrying to solve the problem.

Solution To Last Month’s Challenge

1. Start the Registry Editor: Start > Run >type regedit > [Enter]. Navigate toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer. If you do not see a keycalled MenuExt, create one with that name.

2. Under MenuExt, createanother key and call it E-mail Page. This is the textfor the custom contextmenu item.

3. You also need to specifyunder what conditions thismenu item is to be shown.For example, you may wantto show it when you clickon anchor elements, or forthe main document and notfor text boxes, and so on.This is specified by a valuecalled Contexts. Add aDWORD value under E-mail Page and call itContexts. Set the value forthis to 1, meaning that it is shown for thedefault context menu. You can also use thevalues below to change the conditions forthe menu:

Context ValueDefault 0x1Images 0x2Controls 0x4Tables 0x8Text selection 0x10Anchor 0x20

4. Now specify the action to be performed onclicking this menu item. This is done byspecifying the location of a script, which canbe JavaScript or VBScript. Set the defaultvalue of your context menu key to thelocation of a HTML file; for example,C:\Email.html

5. Type the following code in Notepad andsave the file as C:\Email.html:

<SCRIPT language=javascript defer>// Declare variables

var oExtArgs =external.menuArguments;

var sTitle =oExtArgs.document.title;

var sUrl =oExtArgs.location.href;

// Create IE objectvar oIE = new

ActiveXObject('InternetExplorer.Application');

if(sTitle == '')(sTitle = 'NoTitle');

// Escape title and URLsTitle = escape(sTitle);sUrl = escape(sUrl);

// Build mailto stringvar sMail = 'mailto:' +

'?subject=' + sTitle + '&body=' +sTitle + ': ' + sUrl;

// Load mailto string IEoIE.Navigate(sMail);

</SCRIPT>You should now see the extra menu item inIE, and be able to e-mail the page using yourfavourite mail client.

THIS MONTH’S CHALLENGE

Win!

Gaurav PrasadChennai

LAST MONTH’S WINNER

How would you rearrangethe elements of Desktopsettings to show more ofthe list of availablewallpapers?

Send in your solution withthe subject “Take a Crack”,and your postal address, [email protected]

Rearrange theelements of yourDesktop Settings

Create A Context Menu Item To E-Mail An IE PageLAST MONTH’S CHALLENGE


The result: e-mail pages from within IE itself!

37DIGIT JANUARY 200836 DIGIT JANUARY 2008

ZERO1 Awards 2007

A Game of Chess In the pages that follow, you will find products that can be considered thecream of the crop, battling it out for supremacy, and more importantly,the coveted Digit Zero1 Award

he technology market is perhaps thegoriest of them all. With companiesfighting tooth and nail to catch youreye and releasing products on amonthly basis, one thing’s for sure—life’s never boring. Most of us don’teven realise the amount of researchand development and planning that

goes into releasing a new model of even a hum-ble flash drive, let alone the mammoth task ofdeveloping and launching a new processor archi-tecture, graphics card, motherboard, monitor,hard drive, etc.

Someone here at Digit likened it to a battle ofchess grandmasters—there’s the opening move(announcing the release dates of the product);the countering of every attack (keeping an eyeon what your competition is doing); carefullyplanning your future moves even before youropponent makes his (market research, etc.); andfinally, as soon as you can, move in for the kill...and checkmate!

Products are released with a full frontalattack, moving like a castle; intelligently side-stepping diagonally like a bishop; castling toprotect their kings when threatened; all in theattempt to stymie the opponent and win the bat-tle. All of this only lasts for few months, and thenthe battle is reset as easily as a chessboard can

be, and a new generation of products battle itout all over again.

We’d like to think of our annual Zero1 Awardsas the culmination of the year’s tournaments,and the felicitation of the winners as the crown-ing of a grandmaster—champion of the world!Like in chess, you shouldn’t make the mistake ofthinking of the products we’ve tested in terms ofwinners and losers. Whether the reigning cham-pions prevail, or lose out to newer releases, youcan bet your life that companies will take thenecessary measures to come back and win what-ever they may have lost this year.

For example, our processor segment seesIntel outplay AMD, winning the game in very fewmoves indeed. Their Core architecture willremain their cash cow for some time on, and thePenryn only promises more of the same. AMD,meanwhile, countered with their true-quadcores, and are defending pretty well. The graph-ics card segment saw a similar story with NVIDIAand ATI (AMD again), with NVIDIA winning thisround of the tournament.

In this, the first of our two part Zero1 cover-age, we’ve divided products into 16 categories,read on to find out which products were thegrandmasters of 2007. Keep a look out nextmonth as well, where we’ll cover the felicitationceremony and announce a few more awards.

T

Jite

n G

andh

i


Right now, as much as 18 per cent of thepopulation owns at least one phone.The emphasis is on multimedia phones

rather than budget phones; the first genera-tion of cell phone adopters wants that extra.

With leading manufacturers likeNokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola,and Samsung introducing a lot of

models in the “multimediadevice” category, the time to be

stuck with “just a phone” seems tohave come to an end.

Powerful cameras, lots of Flashstorage, great PMP abilities, and inbuilt

Wi-Fi and GPS make for some trulyamazing convergence. Allied technolo-

gies have improved as well, like the dis-plays—nothing short of astounding.

MULTIMEDIA PHONES BETWEENRS 14,001 AND RS 20,000

The Reigning ChampionsNokia 6300; Samsung SGH-E840

Both our champions have seenmajor price dropssince we test-ed them.The Nokia6300 makesa very sen-sible buyfor theprice (Rs8 , 4 0 0 ,s t r e e tp r i c e ) .The SGH-E840 (Rs9,600) has

a beautifulscreen, andis one gor-

geous phone—a beautiful slider mechanism,the slickest we’ve seen. If you happen to have acopy of our August 2007 issue, you’ll see theprice difference between then and now...

The ContendersSony Ericsson K790i; Nokia N73

A lot has changed since August 2007when we conducted our shootout andadjudicated in joint favour of theNokia 6300 and Samsung SGH-E840.For one, the Gold winner in our Up toRs 20,000 multimedia category has

seen a serious price drop. The excel-lent K790i has fallen to Rs 12,800

from Rs 16,222. An excellentscreen, amazing music qual-

ity, and a brilliant 3.2 MPcamera make the K790i

an absolutely superb buy. The Nokia N73 isanother worthy candidate, priced at Rs 12,750:it has a superb screen (240 x 320, 2.4 inches),great camera on par with the K790i, and allthe flexibility that Symbian S60 provides. TheN73ME won Gold as well; although we didn’ttest the non-music edition, the featuresremain the same apart from the dedicatedmusic button.

The AwardSony EricssonK790i; Nokia N73We find our two newcontenders battling sohard for the crownthat in the end, we’vedecided to award ajoint Zero1 awardto SonyEricsson’sK790i andNokia’s N73.Both offertremendousvalue for moneynow after serious price

cuts—a very good entry point to the world ofmultimedia phones, and something you won’ttire of very soon.

MULTIMEDIAPHONES ABOVERS 20,000The ReigningChampionNokia N73 MusicEditionThe Nokia N73 MusicEdition was one fabulous20,000-rupee-plus phone—till it became cheaper! It’seven better value formoney now, but there are

ZERO1 Awards 2007

higher-end multimedia phones available thathave fallen into the price void it’s created.

The ContendersNokia N95; Nokia N95 8 GB; SonyEricsson K850iAfter a serious pricedrop, the N95 (streetprice Rs 24,550) isstill around andgoing strong. Theonly issue we hadwith this device waspoor battery life.The N95 8GB reme-dies this with a new1200 mAh battery, abigger screen (2.8-inch vs. 2.6-inch). Infact, the only reasonthe N95 lost out wasdue to its astronomi-cal pricing at thetime of our compar-ison test (Rs 40,249). It’s even got GPS and Wi-Fi—total connectivity. The new Sony EricssonK850i is another beauty—a very feature-richphone with a great camera.

The AwardNokia N95Nokia’s N95 emerges the Zero1 winner. It wasovershadowed by its cheaper-by-half sibling—

the N73ME—simply becauseof the price and the lat-ter’s stellar battery life.With great signal quality,a 3.5mm jack, and GPSand Wi-Fi, the N95 is a

fully-loaded pock-et computer,which is exactlythe way Nokiaadvertises it. Ifyou’ve got Rs25,000 to blowon a multimediaphone, it’d be ashame if youspent yourmoney anywhere else.

BUSINESS PHONES

The Reigning ChampionNokia E50; Nokia E90 Communicator;Sony Ericsson P990iNokia’s E50, E90 Communicator, and the SonyEricsson P990i were our Gold winners—threevery deserving candidates in three very differ-ent price brackets. The Nokia E50 is compact,Symbian based (read feature-rich), and offersan affordable entry point to the Businessseries. The SE P990i offers a touchscreen,QWERTY and number keypad, Wi-Fi, and agood 2.0 megapixel camera, apart from docu-

CELL PHONESCELL PHONES

ment creation and editing software. Very feature-rich, the only minus being that it’s heavy. And when we think ofthe businessperson, we thinkCommunicator.

The ContenderNokia E51Nokia’s E51 upsets the happyposition of the E50. It’s goteverything—a 16 million colourdisplay, good battery life, astrong metal body, sleek lines,Wi-Fi, and best of all, a greatkeypad. We haven’t reallyseen anything more fromother vendors, and certainlynothing threatening in theway of a high-end PDA.

The AwardNokia’s E90 Communicator—our Zero1 win-ner for this, the Business Phones category—retains its hold on the lofty high-end PDA

market. With anexcellent QWERTYand regular keypadand a host of fea-tures, it is still themost-sought-after

b u s i n e s s p e r -son’s compan-ion in thehigh-end PDAcategory. At Rs34,500, theE90 is oned e s i r a b l ephone!

N o k i a ’ sE51 becomes

the new entry-level businessphone ofchoice. All the

features of its predecessor and a bagful more—a better screen, keypad, and much better build.Highly recommend for the price (Rs 12,000approximate street price).

ZERO1 Awards 2007

Nokia 6300

Nokia N73

Sony Erricson K790iSamsung SGH-E840

Sony Ericsson P990i Nokia E50

Sony Ericsson K850i


Digital Cameras have helped the layman takeup photography; they’ve made the learningcurve a lot less steep. Their price and avail-

ability have made them very popular, and it’sonly getting better. Decent entry-level cameras

can be had for as little Rs 7,000 to 8,000.The dropping prices of memorycards has also helped.

Most of the technology hasstayed more or less the same as com-

pared to the previous generation; fea-tures like larger number of focus

points in a scene and image stabilisa-tion have become standard.

“Ultrazoom” or “pseudo-SLR” cam-eras refer to those that resembled D-SLRs

in shape while being much smaller andcheaper. The zoom levels and the megapixel

ratings have been the most prominentchanges here. A few models launched by a few

brands (Sony and Canon, for example) nowfill the gap between point-and-shoot and

Ultrazoom models.

POINT-AND-SHOOTCAMERAS

The Reigning ChampionCanon PowerShot A570 ISThe winner from our last digital camera test—backin October 2007—was the Canon PowerShot A570IS—a brilliant camera with a whole load of featuresand a highly competitive MRP of Rs 17, 500. The mar-ket price now is much lower, and the camera seemsto be available in the grey market at the Rs 9,000 to10,000 mark. It has a 7.1 MP sensor with 4x opticalzoom. One highlight was lovely, natural colours,not unlike most of the Canons in the category.

The ContenderCanon PowerShot A650 ISCanon has kept updating their cameras; theresult of this is the A650 IS—an updated A640—which lacked image stabilisation. The A650 IS isa 12.1 megapixel camera (really a lot!) and getsinto D-SLR territory in terms of resolution. Inaddition, the A710 IS has been replaced by thenew A720 IS. The upgrades here aren’t as sub-stantial as with the A650 IS.

The AwardCanon PowerShot A650 IS

The 12.1MP sensor apart, the opticalzoom has been bumped all the way upto 6X from 4X—yet another greatupgrade. This one as good as the A720and the A710 in terms of zoom, buthas a considerably higher megapixel

rating. The $400 price meansaround Rs 16,000. The market

price will be lower than that,and the grey marketprice even lower. If

you’re able to get the A650 IS for under Rs 12,000, it’s a must-buy!

ULTRAZOOM CAMERAS

The Reigning ChampionSony Cyber-shot DSC-H7We tested the Canon S3 IS in 2006, and we got totry the Sony DSC-H7 in our most recent compar-ison test. The latter is the Reigning Champion.

The ContendersCanon PowerShot S5 IS; Sony DSC-H9;Olympus SP-550UZThe Canon S5 IS is known for its realistic coloursand overall good quality. The Olympus SP-550UZhas the largest optical zoom of the lot—18x—butis a 7MP camera as compared to the rest, whichare at around 8MP. The Sony DSC-H9 is very simi-lar to the DSC-H7, with the exact same megapix-el rating and optical zoom, but it has a larger, 3-inch screen.

The sensor and the image resolution you getare very similar to those of point-and-shoot cam-eras. Until last year, 12x of optical zoom was thenorm for all manufacturers in this range. Thisyear, however, Sony upped it a notch to 15x withthe DSC-H7 and H9.

The AwardCanon PowerShot S5 IS

The Zero1 in this category goes to the CanonPowerShot S5 IS, a brilliant camera for its price—in the grey market, it’s around Rs 15,000. It’sindeed a bit costlier than a typical point-and-shoot, but you get something like a point-and-shoot with features you’d find on D-SLRs. It’s agreat first-step camera for anyone who wouldlike to start using a D-SLR but needs somethingaffordable to train with.

DIGITAL CAMERAS

ZERO1 Awards 2007

DIGITAL CAMERAS

This was clearly the year of the graphicscard. 2007 saw the penetration of DX10graphics cards into just about every seg-

ment, and the partial phasing out of DX9cards. Though DX10 games are lagging behindthe hardware, with poor optimisation andsuch, the desire to be future-proof is the driv-ing force behind what’s happening. We alsosaw the increased importance of HTPCs andgaming PCs last year; such PCs depend heavi-ly on the graphics card, and this is anotherreason to have seen a large crop of DX10 cardscoming into the market.

HIGH-END GRAPHICS CARDSThe Reigning ChampionGalaxy 8800 UltraThe Galaxy 8800 Ultra, based on the NVIDIAGeForce 8800 Ultra—currently the fastest GPUin the world—was easily the fastest-performinggraphics card in our tests. With 768 MB ofGDDR3 memory, this card just chomps up anygame! Even at 8x Antialiasing and AnisotropicFiltering, the Galaxy didn’t break the prover-bial sweat. It comes with a stock NVIDIAheatsink that appears to do the job well. Itmakes for an ideal companion for a powerfulgaming rig. And it goes without saying thatthis card will easily power any HTPC (anoverkill if there ever was one!), although itsaudience is the hardcore gamer who willspend the Rs 30,000 it commands.

The ContenderXFX 8800GTS Alpha Dog EditionAnother brute of a card, the new 65nmprocess enables NVIDIA to bump up clockspeeds on the same formidable 128 shaderunits, so much so that the 8800GTS comesclose to the 8800GTX, its elder brother.

The AwardGalaxy 8800 UltraThe Galaxy 8800 Ultra is the biggest, thefastest, and the costliest card out there. If you

have the dough (Rs 60,000 odd) then SLI twoof these… and tell us how Crysis looks!

MID-RANGE GRAPHICS CARDS

The Reigning ChampionASUS EN8600GTThe mid-range category is the bread and but-ter for vendors, characterised by high salesand good profit margins. This is also wherethe most buying happens. The ASUSEN8600GT outperformed all the other8600GT cards in our tests, and even demol-ished the 8600GTS cards. This overclockedmarvel (540 stock vs. 625 EN8600GT) stayedcool throughout the tests. It is a good buy forthe mid-range segment for a decent gamingmachine, and a superb powerhouse for anyHTPC, or someone who wants a combinationof both.

The ContendersATI Radeon HD3850ATI’s RV670, better known as the RadeonHD3850, enters the fray: a severely cut-down(as far as memory bandwidth goes) version ofthe older and much hotter HD2900 pro. Builtaround a new 55nm process, the HD3850 stillfeatures the 320 shader units and even moreprocessing power due to higher clocks. Thebest part is that at Rs 12,000 or thereabouts,the HD3850 makes one fantastic option for adecent mid-range card.

The AwardASUS EN8600GTWhile we’re yet to see the new mid-rangeseries from NVIDIA and ATI, the whole point

of a mid-range buy is the price point of Rs 8,000, beyond which we don’t see anyoneother than the discerning gamer spending.For its mix of price, performance, and lowpower consumption, the ASUS EN8600GT stillhasn’t got a worthy competitor to displace itof its lofty perch as our Zero1 award winner.

GRAPHICS CARDSZERO1 Awards 2007

GRAPHICS CARDS


In the past year, nothing significant hashappened in this category in terms of thetechnology; the trend of prices dropping

did continue, though. Then, IDE drives wentout, to be completely replaced by the faster

SATA interface. Perpendicularrecording, introduced last year,

is becoming mainstream—320GB drives built upon thistechnology are priced really

well. We expect things to staythe way they are for at least a

couple of years, before Flash-basedhard drives start the process of phas-

ing out magnetic storage media-butthat remains to be seen. Also, somedrives that cater to AV specialists havebeen unveiled along with so-called“green” hard drives that claim to con-sume lower power-we shall see a lot ofthis next year.

Things were similar with externaldrives. The interface has remained

the same—USB, and FireWire,while capacities have

increased. In this case aswell, drives based on per-

pendicular recording areincreasingly being used, espe-

cially in the backup category. Microhard drive based external drives werenowhere to be seen, and this indicates thewaning interest in that category, which waslast featured in 2006. In the coming year, weexpect to see drives featuring the new eSATAinterface sporting 3 Gbps speeds and thus,great performance. Networking is in vogue,we therefore expect that more and more ofthe drives will feature an interface such asRJ-45 or even Wi-Fi, because such drives don’tneed a PC to be able to serve as a file server.

INTERNAL SATAThe Reigning ChampionWestern Digital Caviar SE16WD3200AAKSThis 7200 rpm drive hits the sweet spotfor internal hard drives, with a gener-ous capacity of 320 GB and excellent

performance, along with a superbpaise per MB of just 1.47. Sporting

the SATA II interface, it has a large16 MB buffer—great especially

when you’re transferring largefiles of loading large game

levels.

The ContenderWestern Digital

Caviar SE16WD5000AAKSThis drive differsfrom the Reigning

Champion only in terms of capacity; the per-formance is very similar, but it loses out on theprice front: it costs Rs 7,500, placing it a little offthe sweet spot.

The AwardWestern Digital Caviar SE16WD3200AAKSThe Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKSexcelled in all our tests, synthetic and real-world. It posted an excellent 66.8 MBpsand 64.5 MBps in the read and write testsin HDTach, with a low CPU usage of just 2per cent and a low random access time of12.7 ms. It scored 154 MBps inH2Bench—again a good score. Itwas the top scorer in PCMark 05.The drive also scores well in real-

world file transfers—less than a minute to copya 4 GB file to and from the drive, while trans-ferring it between partitions on the drive tookjust over 2.5 minutes. Priced at a really afford-able Rs 4,500, this drive gets the Zero1 awardin this category.

BACKUP EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES

The Reigning ChampionWestern Digital My Book EssentialThe Western Digital My Book Essential lookslike a reference book, and sports a ruggedbuild. This 500 GB drive has 16 MB of buffer.The design allows you to stack drives one ontop of the other to increase capacity. It weighs1.32 kg, meaning it’s easy to carry around.

The ContenderMaxtor OneTouch III Turbo EditionThis 1 TB drive is built very well, and has abackup button that works in conjunction withthe excellent EMC Retrospect software (bun-

dled). The drive supports the speedy FireWire800 interface in addition to USB 2.0. This wasthe fastest performer in this category, but ispriced at Rs 36,200—which goes against it ifyou’re looking for a winner.

The AwardWestern Digital My Book EssentialOur Zero1 award winner in this category, theWestern Digital My Book Essential top-scoredin almost every test we threw at it. The aver-age read speed is 34.2 MBps, while write speedis 23.9 MBps. It took just 40 seconds to write a1 GB file to the drive, while reading it from

the drive took an amazingly low 35 seconds.Copying 1 GB of assorted data to and fro takesjust 1.5 minutes, which means it’s one of thefastest drives. It comes with a USB 2.0 datacable as well as a power adapter. The bundledWD Diagnostics utility helps you troubleshootany problems you might encounter. The priceis just Rs 8,300.

HARD DRIVESZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007

HARD DRIVES


PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARDDRIVESThe Reigning ChampionWestern Digital Passport Portable(Black)This drive is just a little bigger than a pass-port, and it is quite light at 231 grams. Thebody is of a strong black polymer with apiano black finish on the top and a rub-berised finish at the bottom that provides thegrip needed to prevent sliding off a surface.The 8 MB buffer is sufficient for sustaineddata transfers over USB 2.0.

The ContenderIomega Portable Hard DriveThis 80 GB Iomega drive is very sleek, and wasthe lightest drive in this category. The casinghas an extra power socket for when the drive isunable to draw enough from the USB connec-

tor. Though it is just a 4200 rpm drive, wefound the performance commendable—almostas good as that of the reigning champion. Itcomes with EMC Retrospect to take care ofyour backup needs. The pricing is very sensible.

The AwardWestern Digital Passport Portable(Black)This drive has a read speed of 33 MBps, whilethe write speed is 23 MB/s. Writing a 1 GBfile to the drive takes just 42 seconds, whilereading it back is even faster at 36 seconds;This makes it a top scorer in this category,

but in addition, its performance is compara-ble even to that of some of the faster backupexternal drives. WD provides a USB 2.0 cable.The bundled WD Sync software is good forall kinds of backup, meaning you won’t haveto spend extra on a third-party application.The price is good, too—Rs 6,500.


Inkjet MFDs are very popular today, especial-ly because of ever-falling prices. Nothing ofsignificance happened in this field in 2007,

but certain technological advancements suchas faster printing technology using a head that

does not need to move are in thepipeline, and are expected to go

mainstream this year.

HOME INKJET MFDSThe Reigning Champion

Canon PIXMA MP160An entry-level inkjet MFD based on 4-car-

tridge thermal inkjet printing technology.Having four separate cartridges is advanta-geous because if one of the cartridges getsdrained, you can replace just that, asopposed to having to replace a combinedcolour cartridge. This MFD has a 7-segmentLCD display that shows the selected num-

ber of copies to be printed.

The ContenderHP Photosmart C3188All-in-OneAn inkjet photo MFD based

on 2-cartridge thermal inkjetprinting technology, this one has

an input tray capacity of 100 sheets—good for most SoHo purposes. The scanner’soptical resolution is 1200 x 2400 dpi—the bestin the category. Being a proper photo MFD, ithas buttons to Reprint photos as well as proofsheets. Interestingly, it features memory cardslots but not PictBridge. Photo print qualitywas excellent, second only to that of theReigning Champion. This MFD was neck-and-neck with the champion—even the price is thesame—but it lost out a little on performance.

The AwardCanon PIXMA MP160 The Canon PIXMA MP160 prints really fast—it printed the normal-quality text docu-ment in 9.3 seconds flat. It was also thefastest at printing our combi-document atNormal quality. It printed exceptionallywell even at the highest speeds. The edgesof the text were crisp, and the ink did

not blot the paper even at high quality.The copy quality was the best in the

category, and this MFD scored the highest evenin our scanner test. Though priced a little onthe higher side, at Rs 5,999, its exceptionallygood performance fetches the Canon PIXMAMP160 the Zero1 award in this category.

OFFICE INKJET MFDSThe Reigning ChampionHP Photosmart C4188 All-in-OneGood looks, good prints, and great build quali-ty—good enough to bear the rigours of officeuse. Based on thermal inkjet printing technolo-gy, it uses two cartridges. This photo printer hasmemory slots for SD, MS, MS Pro, SM, MMC, andxD, and it also supports PictBridge. There is alsoa Reprint function and a special side tray tostore 4 x 6 photo papers. The C4188 has thePhoto Fix function, which lets you apply effectsto images read from memory cards so you canimprove print quality.

The ContendersCanon PIXMA MP460Now this MFD exhibited the best performancein every department. It was clearly the fastestin printing, and without a doubt had the bestphoto print quality despite the fast speeds. Itproduced clear prints in true-to-originalcolours. It was fast at the text and combi-doc-uments as well. The copy quality was so good,it was hard for us to distinguish between theoriginal and its copy! A swivel colour LCD letsyou not only view the photo from a memorycard or camera connected to the PictBridgeport, but also crop and resize it. However, thisMFD costs almost 2000 rupees more than theReigning Champion.

The AwardHP Photosmart C4188 All-in-OneThe HP Photosmart C4188 All-in-One (Rs 7,999)featured high-resolution scanning at 1200 x2400 dpi, which means it picks up even text in

fine print from hardcopies. It was the fastest inblack text printing at Normal quality. It wasalso a clear winner in the photo prints, repro-ducing natural colours. This is a clear winner ofa Zero1 award.

ZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007


INKJET MFDSINKJET MFDS

Laser MFDs are good for any business, butespecially for a growing one. They are bestused when the workload involves high-vol-

ume, high-speed printing, and one that needsto be very cost-effective. They are more expen-sive than inkjets, but the extra cash is quicklyrecovered as you print more and more, owingto the low printing cost.

BUDGET (UP TO RS 16,000)The Reigning ChampionBrother DCP-7010This is a compact MFD with a footprint of just43.2 x 39.5 cm2 (which is quite small). TheDCP-7010 is a mono laser printer, scanner, andcopier. It has a hardware print resolution of2400 x 600 dpi, which is quite high for anentry-level product. Scanner resolution is 600x 2400 at 24-bit resolution, and it supports amaximum paper size of A4. Along with theUSB interface, there is also the older parallelinterface for working with legacy devices.

The ContenderHP LaserJet M1005 MFPThis entry-level machine from HP rivals theDCP-7010 in all respects, and surpasses it insome. The performance is traditional HP: goodspeeds and excellent print quality. The scan-ner works reliably and has support for resolu-tions for all purposes. At Rs 12,999, it is pricedat a premium, but given the availability of con-sumables and other value-added services, it’swell worth the money.

The AwardBrother DCP-7010The Brother DCP-7010 wins our Zero1 award.Print quality was average for text in Draftmode, but improved a lot in Best mode. Thescanner reproduced colours fairly well; in fact,it’s good enough for photographs. The bun-dled MFL-Pro suite—a control centre to takecare of jobs such as scanning, faxing, andmore—is good, and also bundled is PaperPort9.0SE (OCR software). The DCP-7010 is decentlypriced (Rs 11,150); the toner cartridge costs

Rs 2,150, meaning the cost per print is 86paise. We’d still recommend this MFD becauseof portability, speed, and overall performance.

SOHO (RS 16,001—RS 30,000)The Reigning ChampionBrother MFC-7420With a rather small footprint of just 43.2 x39.5 cm2, it’s easy to set up this device justabout anywhere. It has fax functionality andan ADF tray that holds 35 sheets. It is built fair-ly well, except the flaps don’t seem sturdy. Theinput tray has a capacity of 250, sufficient formost SoHos, while the output tray holds 100sheets—again, not bad. The fax has a memoryof 500 pages, so you’ll probably never miss afax. This unit features the USB as well as theparallel port interfaces, and although it doesnot come with an Ethernet port, you have theoption of separately purchasing an EthernetPrint Server.

The ContendersCanon imageCLASS MF4122The MF4122 has a small footprint and is builtvery well. It has an input tray capacity of 250sheets—pretty good. There is also a multipur-pose tray that holds one sheet. It is amazingthat even though it doesn’t cost too much, itfeatures duplex printing. A Toner Gauge but-ton lets you monitor the amount of tonerremaining. Warm-up time was just 7.4 sec-onds, the fastest we’ve ever recorded for a laserMFD. Print quality was good, and so was copy-ing speed and quality. It comes with OmniPageSE OCR and Presto! PageManager.

The AwardBrother MFC-7420

The software bundled with the Brother MFC-7420—our Zero1 award winner—comprises theMFL-Pro suite with PaperPort 9.0SE OCR, and alsoa utility to set up the unit over a network. TheMFC-7420 has a toner duty cycle of 3,500, makingfor an economical cost per page of 61 paise. Rs 18,000 for this model is justified because ofthe fax, ADF, and sheet-fed scanner.

LASER MFDSLASER MFDS


Like most other categories, notebooksexperienced serious price drops last year.A few months after our notebook test, we

were surprised to see the specifications ofnotebooks from major players like Dell and HPbeing upped—instead of dropping prices, wewere seeing better CPUs, more memory, andbigger drives on identically-priced models. Wealso saw the intorduction of the latest seriesof DX10 graphics chipsets into the latest mod-els. For Windows Vista, 2 GB of RAM is consid-ered mandatory, and its good to see vendorsgiving us more memory, considering that wasour number one gripe with most of the 1 GBlaptops anyways.

PERFORMANCE LAPTOPSThe Reigning ChampionHP DV6226tx

Our winner, the HP DV6226tx, was a winningcombination of on-paper specs, features,ergonomics, style, and functionality. A Core 2Duo processor (T5200) and 1 GB of memory, a

GeForce 7400GO graphics solution, andinbuilt speakers by Altec Lansing meant

the DV6226tx was an attractive bundle.At Rs 56,990, it wasn’t pricey either—Gold belonged here.

The ContenderDell XPS 1530Dell’s XPS 1530 is a superb laptop.

Available for as low as Rs 55,000 (and upto Rs 85,000 if configured with all the

bells and whistles), the XPS 1530 is stylish,fast, and suitably elegant. The best part is,

Dell allows customisation of the processor,memory, graphics solution, and hard drive,

among other variables. Our XPS 1530 cameconfigured with a Core 2 Duo T7300, 2

GB of RAM, and an 8600GT graphicssolution, along with a 160 GB 7200rpm hard drive and a 9-cell bat-tery that was good for 3 hours. All

this for Rs 68,000—a real contenderfor the prize!

The AwardDell XPS 1530; HP DV6226txThe XPS 1530 oozes style, finish, and buildquality, and blazing performance at an excel-lent price point to boot. The only issue we cansee with Dell is the availability and presence

in our markets. HP has a solid presence inIndia, with service outlets everywhere, and

you can pick an HP notebook off a shelf,while with Dell, you need to orderonline, and there are delivery timesamong other inconveniences involved.

Unfortunately HP hasn’t reallyupgraded the specs of the DV6xxx

series so its one for the Dell.So we’re at an impasse... we

have a better, faster product that needs a bet-ter dealer network to become a truly greatand hassle-free deal. We’re awarding a jointwinner here—no runners up; Dell’s XPS 1530and HP’s DV6226tx share our Zero 1 award.

Two excellent products—one brilliant productfrom a brand that needs more market pres-ence in India, and the other a good productthat could use a few upgrades under the hoodfrom a tried and tested brand and a majotplayer in the Indian market.

VALUE LAPTOPS UP TO RS 45,000

The Reigning ChampionCompaq Presario v3225AUThe value market for laptops mostly consistsof students and executives who either can’treally afford to spend more, or simply won’tbecause they don’t really need all that per-formance. This doesn’t make the entry-levelcategory any less exciting, since manufactur-ers have less of a budget to play around with—and this ensures they try really hard to matchvalue with performance. This is by far themost fiercely-competed market segment. The Compaq Presario v3225AU exemplifiesvalue with a nice balance of performance and looks.


The ContendersDell Inspiron 1520Dell’s Inspiron 1520 rears its head to strike atthe v3225AU. It’s got a faster processor andmore memory, and is infinitely more config-urable. The only minus is that it’s not ready offthe shelf like Compaq is. Of course, it’s costliertoo, but that’s due to the faster components.Another minus for the Dell would be its blandexteriors—there’s nothing bland about the

Compaq Presario v3225AU.

The AwardCompaq Presario v3225AUWe feel a terrific package for the value audienceshould have strong roots in, well, value. TheCompaq v3225AU brings strong value to theentry-level segment. It sports the high-gloss fin-ish and the kind of design that HP has

brought to their entire line-up. The Zero1 for thisyear’s Value Laptop segment belongs to theCompaq v3225AU.

ULTRA-PORTABLE LAPTOPS

The Reigning ChampionSony Vaio SZ483N/CUltra-compacts are rare beasts—and even morerarely sought-after because of the high priceassociated with fitting high-performance com-ponents into a cramped space. Sony’sSZ483N/C was an excellent performer, builtfrom a carbon fibre like material, which madethe laptop extremely light, and a white LEDdisplay that made viewing anything a pleas-ure, not to mention slimming down what wasalready a very compact laptop. It was power-


LAPTOPSLAPTOPS

ful, too, with a Core 2 Duo T7400 and aGeForce 7400GO with 2 GB of RAM. The factthat you can switch between an Intel X3000and the NVIDIA graphics solution for batterylife or power usage is another plus.

The ContenderSony Vaio VGN-SZ58GN/C; Dell XPS 1300The Sony SZ483N/C has been replaced by amore powerful model, priced identically. Thatone features a lightning fast T7700 Core 2 Duoprocessor and a GeForce 8400GS, and is calledthe Vaio VGN-SZ58GN/C.

Dell’s new XPS 1330 is a serious contenderto the throne for the most compact yet power-ful package. It sports a T7500 and 2 GB of RAM,a GeForce 8400GS graphics card, and a 160 GB,7200 rpm drive. Serious horsepower for some-thing with a 13.3 inch screen, and enoughjuice for even moderate gaming! Of course, theportability is further enhanced with the optionof a crisp, WLED display that is even slimmer.

Although the XPS 1330 is a good lookingpiece of hardware, the Vaio SZ483N/C isabsolutely gorgeous—and you have to see it inthe skin to believe that a laptop could look soabsolutely up-market.

The AwardSony Vaio VGN-SZ58GN/CThe Sony Vaio VGN-SZ58GN/C is more than amatch for the XPS 1330. Also, the build andlook that Sony’s Vaio branding sports is

something that Dell’s XPS series can onlydream of. We’re awarding our Zero1 to theSony Vaio VGN-SZ58GN/C.

Dell XPS 1530

HP DV6226tx


Laser printers have evolved over the pastfew years; they are more compact andmanageable, and less expensive. The abil-

ity to produce fast, smudge-free prints hasalways been their selling point over inkjets. In2007, we saw laser printers have achieve a levelof efficiency that lets them output paper at aspeed very close to the claimed speeds.

Once confined only to offices, thanks tothe ever-dropping prices, the laser printer hascome a long way towards finally gainingacceptance from SoHos and even at homes.The advantages that they have over inkjetsare apparent—they are fast, they produceclean and sharp prints, they require littlemaintenance and are generally more rugged.

Also, their cost per page is remarkablylower than inkjets. With even somecolour laser printers appearing in com-

pact sizes, there is really not much to holdyou back from getting one of these rather

than an inkjet and this is what we predictis the shape of things to come.

PERSONAL LASERPRINTERS

The Reigning ChampionHP LaserJet 1020The vertical profile design of thisprinter means it occupies less

desk space. It weighs just 5 kg—light. It has a 234 MHz processor

and just 2 MB RAM, though that didnot seem to slow it down much. The

retractable input paper trays fold backinto the body and can hold up to 150

sheets, sufficient for any SoHo. Thereis also a manual feeding tray for

the occasional quick printout.The printer cartridge is easilyaccessible by popping openthe printer's top panel. The

control panel is very easy touse. The printer supports USB 2.0, and

the cable is provided. Print speed is around14 ppm, just 1 less than the claimed 15.

The ContenderXerox 3117The Xerox 3117 is an entry-level desktop

laser printer coming at a great price. Likethe HP 1020, it too is very compact and

has a vertical profile design. Thebuild quality of this creamy-whiteprinter is simply superb. It achievesa printing speed of 15 ppm, just 2short of the claimed 17. The printquality was good in the text as

well as graphics and there wasno smudging anywhere.

Though it is no printer

extraordinaire, the incredibly low price of justRs 4,500 makes it the cheapest on this planet!

The AwardHP LaserJet 1020The HP LaserJet 1020 takes just 9 seconds toprint a normal text document. Text print qual-ity was marginally better than that of mostother printers. It was the best printer in the

photo document printing test, reproducinggreater details in the dark areas, somethingthe competition couldn’t manage. Finer detailsand highlights were reproduced perfectly, too.

Good printing speeds, impressive printquality, and decent pricing go into taking thisprinter ahead of the rest; in addition, theunmatched warranty, easy availability of con-sumables, as well as good service and afford-able toner prices fetch this printer the Zero1award in this category.

LASER PRINTERS


LASER PRINTERS


LCDs have evolved from an emergingupstart to a mature technology. We’reseeing panel costs falling, courtesy

cheaper and better TN panels entering themarket. The costlier PVA and S-IPS panels arealso becoming cheaper, albeit at a snail’space. We’ve seen 17-inch monitors beingphased out in lieu of 19-inch panels at thesame prices. 22-inch monitors are threaten-ing the status quo.

19-INCH MONITORSThe Reigning ChampionAOC 197SThe AOC 197S bagged our Best Buy Gold awardfor its sterling value with decent perform-ance. Although based on a TN panel the 197Simpressed with decent colour rendition inDisplayMate, and good overall contrast.Although its not the equal of an S-IPS panelor an MVA panel as far as both these parame-ters go it also costs a fraction for what thesepanels cost.

The ContenderHP W1907; Dell E198WFPThe HP W1907 was another brilliant monitor—very good colour and contrast for a TN panel.The Dell E198WFP is yet another beauty—a goodlooking widescreen, and one of the best colourrenditions we’ve seen for a “mere” TN panel. Infact, this monitor is very suited for image edit-ing professionals and multimedia aficionadosalike. Aesthetically the E198WFP has a beauti-ful stand, and a very narrow bezel—ideal for adual monitor setup.

The AwardDell E198WFPDell’s E198WFP really cleans up here—colourbrilliance is not really associated with TN pan-els, but this one proves an exception in moreways than one. Definitely Zero1 material—which is why we’re awarding it. HP’s W1907 isalso an excellent monitor but it just isn’t theprice league of the Dell—besides being a greatperformer it’s a great steal at the price as well.

22-INCH MONITORS

The Reigning ChampionNone currently!We’ve included a 22-inch category for ourreaders just because 22-inchers now seem tobe de facto for mid-range consumers. In fact,based on the popularity of this category,we’ve decided to include it as a new categoryin our tests.

The ContendersViewSonic VX2235WM; ViewSonicVX2255WM; Dell E228WFP; BenQFP222W; Acer AL2216W; Samsung226BWMany and varied: ViewSonic’s VX2235wm andVX2255wm, Dell’s E228WFP, BenQ’s FP222W,Acer’s AL2216W, Samsung’s 226BW. All theseare TN panel-based LCDs.

The AwardDell E228WFPIt was a closely-fought battle. Dell’sE228WFP is an excellent panel with greatcolour and contrast once it’s properly cali-brated. The only issue we see is availability.BenQ’s FP222W is another excellent multi-media performer with nearly as good colourrendition as the E228WFP, the only minus isits a little bulky. The VX2235WM is good, butwe didn’t like it’s performance in some ofthe colour tests, and the bezel is too large.

We had a good time thrashing these moni-tors for all we were worth—Dell’s E228WFP isavailable for as low as Rs 16,000, and it’s abrilliant buy—great colours and great con-trast at a great price. It edges out the twoViewSonics and the BenQ FP222W for theZero1 Award.

LCD MONITORSLCD MONITORS

T he last couple of years have seen the releaseof a multitude of chipsets from Intel,NVIDIA, AMD, and SiS. Each of these have

their advantages, so there’s a myriad of optionsto choose from when it comes to motherboards.

NVIDIA 680I/650I CHIPSET BOARDS

The Reigning ChampionASUS Striker ExtremeThe NVIDIA 680i has been around for quite sometime, and was a path-breaking chipset at itslaunch. Thanks to the future-proofing by NVIDIA,it’s still got the power to take on some of thenewer chipsets. The ASUS Striker Extreme, whichbelongs to the “Republic of Gamers” franchise, isbased on the 680i, and has a lot of copper heat-pipes and heatsinks to take care of the coolingneeds of the Northbridge and Southbridge. Thereis support for multiple graphics cards in SLI con-figuration, and along with support for 8-channelHD Audio, this board is good for gamers.

The ContenderASUS P5N32-E SLIThis board has one of the best-looking coolingsolutions, and the layout is excellent. There areheat-pipes and heatsinks for the Northbridge as

well as the Southbridge; this makes it runcooler than other boards in its category.

It’s actually very similar to the ASUSStriker Extreme in terms of mostfeatures and performance, withcertain exceptions, notably the

absence of solid-state capacitors,which are important for a board’s

longevity, and a few fancy things likeLED buttons right on the board for

power On/Off, reset, and CMOS reset.

The AwardASUS Striker ExtremeThe ASUS Striker Extreme posted excellent scoresin every benchmark, and top-scored in almost

every gaming benchmark. It has a good bun-dle of games (including GRAW), and acces-

sories such as cooling fans and USB brack-ets are also provided. Priced somewhathigh (Rs 21,400), this is the Zero1award winner in this category.

INTEL P965 CHIPSET BOARDSThe Reigning ChampionASUS P5B Premium Vista EditionThe P965 chipset is pretty old, but it’s a well-known secret that the chipset unofficially sup-ports the 1333 MHz FSB through BIOS updates,and thus has support for the new Penryn—which breathes new life into this seeminglyfading chipset. The ASUS P5B Premium VistaEdition is based on the P965; it is a very feature-rich and fast board, though it costs quite a bit(Rs 14,750). It supports up to seven SATA harddrives and an additional one via the E-SATAport. There is also support for legacy PCI cards(three slots). It has all-solid-state capacitors,which add to its stability and increase its life.

The ContendersMSI P965 PlatinumA board that’s been around for quite some time,the P965 Platinum supports up to six SATAdevices and one E-SATA. The BIOS supports over-clocking with fine adjustments, making it a goodchoice for enthusiasts. Being a dated board, itwas natural for it to be a bit behind in terms offeatures as compared to the Reigning Champion,but it is priced well, and performance is superior.

The AwardASUS P5B Premium Vista EditionThe ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition is emi-nently overclockable. Performance across therange of our tests was one of the best in its cat-egory. The bundle is handsome: an IR remotereceiver (to control several functions, includ-ing the ability to hibernate, power down, andeven play music), an array microphone, and atiny LCD screen that allows you to view pop-ups such as RSS feeds (it will even sync withWeb sites when your PC is on). You have a clearZero1 winner in this ageing but not toothlesscategory.

INTEL INTEGRATED SOLUTIONSThe Reigning ChampionGigabyte GA-G33-DS3RIntegrated graphics platforms are of high impor-tance in India because of cost considerations.The Gigabyte GA-G33-DS3R motherboard, based

on the Intel G33 chipset, has a very good layout,is very well-built, and looks attractive. It employsRealtek’s latest ALC889A codec-based HD-compli-ant sound solution.

The ContenderGigabyte GA-G33M-S2HThe GA-G33M-S2H, though also from Gigabyte, isclearly built for a different target audience.Priced at an unbeatable Rs 5,950, this board hasan HDMI port that lets you hook up a compliantdisplay or TV. With the ALC889A-based HD audiosolution, this board screams that it is one of thebest solutions for an HTPC.

The AwardGigabyte GA-G33-DS3RThe Gigabyte GA-G33-DS3R is an enthusiast’ssolution with greater overclockability, solid-state capacitors, and an ATX form factor. Inaddition to six internal SATA devices, it sup-ports two E-SATA devices too. It supports anFSB of 1333 MHz, thus extending support tothe latest Intel processors. If you decide that the integrated graphics is inadequate,you can opt for any PCI-Express graphics card,thanks to the x16 port. (PCI slots also figure.)This motherboard is priced at Rs 9,500 and isworth every penny, which makes it our Zero1award winner.

AMD INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

The Reigning ChampionGigabyte GA-MA69G-S3HIntegrated graphics platforms are of highimportance in The AMD platform is still strong,delivering good performance at good value. TheGigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H has a nice layout,which makes installation of add-on cards veryeasy. There are three PCI slots. It supports thelatest AMD processors with the AM2 socket, andan FSB of 1600/2000 MHz. Up to four SATAdevices are supported, and there’s even an E-SATA bracket.

The ContenderZebronics ZEB-N61M2The onboard graphics on this board can han-dle low to medium gaming, and the 8-channelaudio solution is decent, too. This is one of theoldest boards in the category, so it loses out on new features, but it more than made upwith good performance and an unmatchedprice of Rs 2,150.

The AwardGigabyte GA-MA69G-S3HThe Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H delivers solid per-formance, ahead of much of its competition,especially in benchmarks such asPCMark 2005. The integratedRadeon x1250 deliv-ers decent per-formance ingaming, and hassupport for HD videoplayback, which is well-complemented by the 8-channel HD audio onboard.Add to this the DVI-to-HDMIconnector bundled along, and you have a boardthat makes an excellent choice for an HTPC.

INTEL P35 CHIPSETThe Reigning ChampionASUS P5K PremiumThe P35 is a relatively new chipset from Intel,and supports the newest breed of processorarchitecture—the 45 nm Penryn. The Asus P5KPremium has an excellent layout and excep-tionally good build quality. The use of high-quality components, such as solid-state capaci-tors, adds to the board’s stability and longevi-ty. Good support for overclocking is anotherfeature, and this makes it an enthusiast’sdelight. It supports up to 8 GB of DDR2 memo-ry at 1066 MHz, more than enough to take careof your needs for years.

The ContenderASUS P5K3 Deluxe WiFi-AP; Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3RBoth the Asus P5K3 Deluxe WiFi-AP and theGigabyte GA-P35-DS3R are well-laid-out, high-end motherboards with good build quality.Both support the latest Intel processors and alsoDDR3 memory at 1333 MHz, meaning they’requite future-proof. While the Gigabyte boardsupports up to eight SATA devices and one E-SATA, the ASUS has Wi-Fi onboard, along withsupport for CrossFire. As far as performancegoes, these were almost neck-and-neck, and a lit-tle behind the Reigning Champion. At the finaltally, these stood too close to each other, and itwas only fair to award both of them secondplace in this category.

The AwardASUS P5K PremiumThe ASUS P5K Premium—the Zero1winner—delivered knockoutperformances inwhatever tests werethrown its way; it wasthe top scorer in its cate-gory. With CrossFire, HDaudio, dual Gigabit, and evenWi-Fi onboard, this board is agamer’s delight. Though it is a bitexpensive at Rs 15,870, it is wellworth the price considering the performanceand the features you get.

MOTHERBOARDSZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007

MOTHERBOARDS

DIGIT JANUARY 200852 DIGIT JANUARY 2008 53

In 2006, it was MP3 players that we testedunder this genre. 2007 saw things change.There was video playability prominently fea-

tured on almost every device, barring a few oddones. In addition, there were features such as cal-endar, syncing with the PC e-mail client, etc.added to the spec-sheet. The devices were there-fore referred to as Personal Media Players (PMPs).

UP TO RS 5,000The Reigning ChampionSanDisk Sansa c240The “Lil Monsta”, as it’s called, looks unassum-ing, is sleek like a USB stick, and has top-classbuild quality. There is 1 GB of internal memory,though this can be augmented by means of aMicroSD card. The Li-Ion battery lasted us 13.5hours, which is pretty good considering the factthat it has an LCD screen rather than the power-efficient OLED.

The ContenderTranscend T.sonic 840This is a brand-new MP3 player, the replacementfor the T.sonic 630 models that followed the 610.The major upgrade has been that the 1.8-inchscreen does a resolution of 176 x 220. This meansyou can now use this device to read books as well.You can find the 4 GB version of this player forjust under Rs 5,000.

The AwardTranscend T.sonic 840

The Transcend T.sonic 840 is bril-liant value for its price, and dis-

places the Sansa c240 as the Zero1winner. A fresh new design, the

large number of features, and loadsof memory make it a very good buy

for almost anyone. There’s even a 2 GBversion for Rs 600 to 700 lesser.

RS 5,001 TO RS 10,000

The Reigning ChampionSanDisk Sansa e250This one has it all: FM radio, voice record-

ing, video playback, photo viewing, cus-

tomisable equaliser, and expansion—you nameit! It looks good, too, with the best-built, scratch-proof titanium alloy back. There is support forcustom playlists and equalisers, and it can readmedia stored inside folders.

The ContendersApple iPod nano 8 GB (third generation)The new iPod nano 8 GB has improved on theshortcomings of the older nano. This one hasa 2-inch screen for video. It’s wide, but it’s stilltiny, and more importantly, it’s light.Dropping memory prices means that now, an8 GB MP3 player is around Rs 8,500. The Sansaneeds to put out something special if it is tokeep its top spot!

The AwardApple iPod nano 8 GB (third generation)Improvements and upgrades have made thenano better thanever. The iPod nano 8GB (third generation)wins the Zero1 awardin this, the mid-rangePMP category. Whenthe older nano (2GB) wasaround, it waspriced aroundRs 8,150. Thisone makesmuch moresense. Usersalready using a Nanomight not find this worth the buy, but for thoselooking for something under Rs 10,000—there’snothing as good as this. It’s a lot about thestyling and good pricing.

ABOVE RS 10,000

The Reigning ChampionCowon D2A great looker, this PMP has a rather largetouchscreen—a brilliant 16 million colour dis-play. Although it is made of plastic, the buildquality is very good. The touchscreen is theonly interface, and therefore there aren’tmany buttons—a stylus is provided to aid innavigating the slick icon-based interface; notthat it’s required—you can even use your fin-gertips. It supports a wide range of audio for-mats, but there is native support for only twovideo formats—AVI and MPEG. This issue, how-ever, is taken care of by the bundled convertersoftware. If the 4 GB capacity falls short, thereis the option to add in an SD card.

The ContenderApple iPod TouchThere’s no better contender for the Cowon D2than the latest and most talked-of gadget fromApple—the iPod Touch. It’s similar to the iPhone,except, of course, there’s no phone. The Touch

PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYERSZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007

PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYERS tag indicates a touchscreen, and unlike the onesyou find on some phones, this one uses multi-ple touches to allow you to flip through albums,scroll, and resize. This is clearly a threat to thedominance of the Cowon D2.

The AwardApple iPod TouchThe iPod Touch comes in two flavours—8GB and 16 GB. It’s possible to find the 8 GBmodel for around Rs 14,000 in Indianmarkets—an absolute killer price. Audio,

video, photos, Webbrowsing, youname it—the Touchhas it. Think aboutit—you can evenuse it to watchYouTube videos!It’d be unfair tonot award it theZero1 in this cate-gory; people loveit, and we do, too.


Alot has changed from the Pentium andAthlon series of yore. Intel’s Core 2 Duo(C2D) is a breed apart and the reigning

champions of the number crunching game.AMD has lost the race for now, and with theirPhenoms failing to deliver, there’s nothing tostop Intel’s juggernaut. It’s only in the value seg-ment that we see AMD fitting nicely; some AMDprocessors offer the best bang for the buck.

THE BEST DESKTOP PROCESSOR

The Reigning ChampionIntel QX6850The QX6850 is Intel’s flagship processor—which we’d tested in our annual comparison—and it performs admirably. Though it’s aquasi-quad-core, its performance in multi-threaded application is breathtaking. With 8MB of L2 cache and 1333 MHz FSB, the QX6850running at 3 GHz just zips through mostapplications. Retailing at Rs 45,000, theQX6850 is very expensive, but with therebeing absolutely no competition, you shouldexpect to cough up that sort of money!

The ContenderIntel QX9650 (Penryn)Within a month of our processor shootout, Intelunleashed quite something else—the QX9650,the first 45-nanometre silicon piece. Running at3 GHz, with a 1333 MHz FSB, it has a 6 MB cacheper die—a huge 12 MB in all. Built on a 45nmprocess, the QX9650 is much more power-effi-cient as compared to its older sibling. The addi-tion of 47 new instructions under SSE4 gives abig boost to multimedia applications. Overall, wesaw a nice 7 to 10 per cent boost in performanceacross our tests. Retailing at Rs 50,000, the QX-9650 is definitely a step in the right direction.

The AwardIntel QX9650If money is no bar, Intel’s Core 2 ExtremeQX9650 is definitely the processor to go for, andgiven the performance advantage, we have nohesitation in awarding it our coveted Zero1award for the best Desktop processor.

PROCESSORSPROCESSORS

A PROCESSOR FOR EVERYONE

The Reigning championIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600The Intel Q6600 is in its own class; no processorcan hold a candle to its excellent performance /price ratio; it is sweetly priced at Rs 11,500. Thenewer AMD Phenom processors have had a hardtime trying to beat the Q6600...

The ContendersAMD Phenom 9600 and 9700Based on pricing and clock speed, the Phenom9600 and 9700 are the real contenders to theIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600. However, availabilityand compatibility with existing hardware willbe an issue for the newPhenoms. Further, theQ6600 offers better per-formance than both thenew AMD processors.

The AwardIntel Q6600 For now, it’s a one-sidedgame; the Q6600 is theclear winner. It rulessupreme and is theprocessor to buy to builda gaming or multimediaPC. It gets our Zero1award for its performanceas well as pricing.

DIGIT JANUARY 2008 55

56

Watching a movie, giving a presenta-tion, or simply huge-screen gaming—everything is possible on a projector

today, which is now within the reach of thegeneral consumer. We did see changes in thiscategory as compared to last year. 2006 wasdominated by SVGA projectors (capable of 800x 600), whereas this time round, the picturewas different, with XGA projectors (capable of1024 x 768) being the dominant breed. We’vealso seen the entry of native HD (720p) projec-tors for the home theatre audience. Fallingprices add to the attraction of a projector, anda large LCD or Plasma screen just cannot cap-ture the same cinematic experience.

XGA PROJECTORSThe Reigning ChampionAcer PD726WThe Acer PD726W was perhaps the best-look-ing of the projectors we tested last year. Asober black-and-silver colour tone and ruggedbuild quality make it really appealing.Connectivity options are endless, withComponent, S-Video, RCA, D-Sub, DVI, andeven HDMI thrown in—and there’s networkconnectivity via RJ45 and Wi-Fi. It is also pos-sible to interface with the device through RS-232 and USB (both USB A and B type connectsare provided in the package). The menu inter-face is easy. It allows you to specify an IPaddress to which a message can be automati-

cally sent in case somethinggoes wrong.

The ContenderNEC NP1000NEC’s NP1000 showed signs ofexcellence, with an ANSI bright-

ness of 3400 lumens and an actu-al static contrast ratio of 800:1. The

NP 1000 is very good for home andprofessional use alike. It has got fivebayonet lenses inside that can varyfrom 30 to 500 inches, offering an

amazing viewing experience whenplaced at a distance of 2.5 to 68.5feet from the screen. It offers bothvertical and horizontal lens shift,

allowing nearly limitless projec-tor placement. This projector

also offers integrated high speed wireless LANIEEE 802.11b/g via an optional wireless card. Ithas presentation, broadcast, data conferenc-ing and training mode, that gives the user, theflexibility for just about any wireless applica-tion. Remote diagnostics features enable themonitoring of the status and adjustment ofdifferent functions of the projectors remotelyover a network, making it perfect for any cor-poration. The NP1000 features Eco-mode tech-nology, that increases the lamp-life by at least50 per cent. To add to this, the cooling fan con-tinues to run for some time even after thepower is disconnected and the in-built sensorsprotect the lamp and projector from overheat-ing. There are also some security features suchas logo lock, password protection cabinet con-trol lock which let you prevent anyone fromchanging the its settings. Its price of Rs1,20,000 does put it into the high-end bracketas far as affordability goes.

The AwardAcer PD726WThe Acer PD726W has a very good brightnessrating spec—3700 lumens. Coupled with a highcontrast ratio (2500:1), the PD726W is verymuch a multimedia aficionado’s dream. Whenwe did the 256-shade intensity screen calibra-tion, we encountered smooth transitionsbetween the shades. It performed very well inthe presentation tests; text reproduction was

sharp. While halos did appear aroundextremely light colours, they would disappearby tuning the brightness and contrast. This isa great movie projector with sharp image ren-dition and great contrast, and a great projec-tor for big-screen gaming and movies alike.Without a shadow of doubt, this is the onlyprojector that can win Zero1—absolutely nohesitation whatsoever!

PROJECTORSZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007

PROJECTORS

PC sound has matured over the past decadeto such an extent that it gives hi-fi sets arun for their money. This has become pos-

sible due to advancements in PC sound cards,and more so because the PC speakers of todayare much better than those of a few years ago.

2.1 sets are considered entry-level, thoughthe more expensive 2.1 sets are audiophile-class. 5.1 sets are better for multi-channel sce-narios such as games and DVD movies.

2.1 SPEAKER SETSThe Reigning ChampionAltec Lansing ATP3These sleek black speakers will look good onany desktop. They are also built tough. Thereare controls for Bass, Treble, and Volume. Thelarge, 6.5-inch woofer produces rich bass, andeach of the satellites has two 1.1-inch tweetersand a 3-inch driver. The woofer is 18 W RMS,while the satellites are 12 W (combined)—morethan what might be expected of a 2.1 set. Thepower adapter is built into the speakers.

The ContenderAltec Lansing FX4021As with the ATP3, build quality is rugged. Thereare two 5.25-inch drivers in isobaric configura-tion to provide double the amount of bass. Thesatellites have 40 mm and 18 mm drivers tohandle a higher range of frequencies. It comeswith metal stands that add to the aestheticappeal. There’s a wired as well as a wirelessremote control. Overall performance was good,and the bass stood out. This set is priced a littleon the higher side—Rs 7,500.

The AwardAltec Lansing ATP3The Altec Lansing ATP3 is strong in all areas ofthe audio spectrum, meaning both Westernand Indian music will sound good. Whether it’s

games or movies, these speakers will not disap-point. Even with a relatively high price tag of Rs3,400, these speakers are too good not to beawarded the Zero1 in the 2.1 category!

5.1 SPEAKER SETS

The Reigning ChampionArtis S6600R / FMThe Artis S6600R/FM set is unique: it has notonly FM radio, but also AM—an inexpensive,very useful add-on. Though they sport achrome finish, the speakers aren’t gaudy.There is a discrete amplifier box with all thecontrols. The full-featured wireless remotelets you control everything including theradio and individual channel volumes. Inaddition to the 5.1-channel input, there is alsoa stereo auxiliary input to let you connectstereo audio sources.

The ContendersArtis X10 MiniBuilt very well, the Artis X10 Mini (Rs 12,000)comes with nice, sturdy steel stands for rearspeakers to elevate them to the ear-level of thelistener. The satellites have veils with grillesbehind, giving the drivers some extra protec-tion. The subwoofer is made of wood; woodgrains are visible on the exterior, giving it aclassy look. The provided cables are colour-coded, and are of exceptionally good quality.The strong bass never drowned out the treble,and we could hear every bit of detail even withthe bass at full throttle. Cranking up the vol-ume and bass levels did not seem to do anydamage to the sound quality.

The AwardArtis S6600R / FMAs far as audio quality is concerned, the ArtisS6600R / FM is strong throughout the spec-trum—treble in particular. In our gaming andDVD movie tests, it reproduced directionalsound with great accuracy and clarity. The ArtisS6600R / FM is an all-in-one package at a verygood price of Rs 8,500; it wins the Zero1 awardin the 5.1 category.

SPEAKER SETSSPEAKER SETS


The launch of Vista this year saw the2007 saw Windows Media Center—whichdepends on compliant TV-Tuners to turn

your PC into an entertainment centre—reacheveryone, rather than just people who boughtMedia Center PCs. We tested TV-Tuners inthree categories: Internal PCI, External USB,and External Set-top, the first being the mostpopular as far as Desktop PCs are concerned.We also saw the first digital TV-Tuners mak-ing an appearance, though we didn’t testthem; the availability of digital terrestrialbroadcasts is very limited. We will probablysee more of these next year; digital broadcastis expected to grow.

INTERNAL PCI TV-TUNER CARDSThe Reigning ChampionLeadtek WinFast PVR2000This was one of a kind amongst the internalPCI TV-Tuners. It was the only one to feature anMPEG-2 decoder chip (which offloads the CPUfrom the task of encoding video while captur-ing). This TV-Tuner is Windows MCE and VistaMC ready. It sports the Conexant CX23882-39chip, which is known to deliver superior pic-ture quality owing to the 10-bit ADC. It sup-ports the PAL and NTSC TV standards withstereo audio. The full-function remote givesyou complete control over the TV card, thanksto the superb WinFast PVR software.

The ContenderLeadtek Winfast TV2000XP GlobalThis model is just a few stepsbehind the PVR2000 in terms offeatures, and is therefore pricedlower (Rs 2,500). Features

include FM radio,Picture-in-Picture,

and a

remote control that can control the MediaPlayer in Windows. In our tests, its perform-ance was as good as that of the PVR2000.

The AwardLeadtek WinFast PVR2000The Zero1 award winner in this category, theLeadtek WinFast PVR2000 managed to detect-

ed weak TV channels during our tests. Thedriver installation is simple, and the PVR inter-face is very easy to understand and use.Picture quality was top-notch. It comes with agood software bundle, which makes it evenmore worthwhile to spend that Rs 5,500 onthis card.

EXTERNAL USB TV-TUNERSThe Reigning ChampionLeadtek WinFast PalmTop TVNow here’s an external USB TV-Tuner thatlooks good enough to adorn your desktop.This was the only external TV-Tuner to fea-ture an MPEG-2 encoder. It has out-of-the-box support for Windows MCE and is VistaMC ready.

The ContendersCompro VideoMate Action ProThis one is, without a doubt, the mostrugged of external TV-Tuners, with astrong metallic casing. It was one of the

TV-TUNERSZERO1 Awards 2007 ZERO1 Awards 2007

TV-TUNERS

only three tuners to have a Composite port,which lets you hook up a camcorder so youcan transfer analogue video recordings andget them converted into digital video. Itcomes bundled with all the necessary cables.In this category, it detected the highest num-ber of cable TV channels, and didn’t evenrequire fine-tuning. The video quality was asgood as that of the WinFast PalmTop TV.

The AwardLeadtek WinFast PalmTop TVOnly the lack of certain features cost theCompro VideoMate Action Pro the Zero1award. As for the Leadtek WinFast PalmTop TV,which is our winner, the included PVR software

has all the capabilities you mightexpect. The remote can be used tocontrol everything. The tuner comes

with a rich bundle of software, which includesWinFast PVR, CyberLink PowerDVD, Orb,Ulead’s Cool 3D, DVD MovieFactory 3SE, andVideoStudio 9 SE DVD. And finally, the imagequality was the best we’ve seen thus far with anexternal USB TV-Tuner.

EXTERNAL SET TOP TV-TUNERSThe Reigning ChampionAVerMedia AVerTV Box7AVerMedia has been the dominant player forthe past many years as far as external set-topTV-Tuners are concerned, and it has remainedthat way. The AVerTV Box7 is way ahead of

the competition in terms of performance andits advanced features. It is the most rugged of the lot; it comes with a stand to keep it upright.

The ContenderTech-Com SSD-TV-722This TV-Tuner has most of the features youwould expect, and is reasonably priced at Rs1,750. Useful features include Picture-in-Picture, which can be controlled via the

remote. The Tech-Com SSD-TV-722 comes withan MMI (MultiMedia Interface) cable for videoand audio inputs from external sources suchas DVD players. It supports a healthy viewingresolution of 1280 x 1024. It detected 84 out of90 channels—not bad—and image quality wasquite decent too.

The AwardAVerMedia AVerTV Box7The Zero1 in this category must go to theAVerMedia AVerTV Box7; it was well ahead ofthe competition, detecting 88 channels out of90. None of its competitors came close to it asfar as image quality goes, even though some

featured similar resolutions.It supports a resolution of upto 1280 x 1024. It has all

types of connectors, enabling youto connect any AV source—evenyour set-top box. It’s priced a wee bit on thehigher side, but this is as close to TV as youcan get on a monitor!



W e all crave freedom: from wired tele-phones, wired keyboards, and evenwired networks. The Wi-Fi wave

reached Indian shores in a big way last year;we reviewed Wi-Fi routers (which enable wire-less networking at home) and also Wi-Fi ADSLrouters (which let you share your Internetconnection wirelessly).

ROUTERSThe Reigning ChampionASUS WL-530GThis device is small enough to be stuffed insidea trouser pocket. It’s not small on featuresthough—DHCP, NAT, VPN-pass through, and allthe security features are there. Though not thebest we have seen so far, you can make yourway around ASUS’ software after fiddlingaround for just a little while. Due to its tinyfootprint, we’d recommend it to the hotspotbrowser on the move.

The ContenderLinkSys WRT54GThis router sports twin antennas. It has fourports with bridging, and supports 802.11 b/g. Interms of security, there is support for NAT and

SP1 along with IP blocking and WirelessIsolation and encryption. It outpaced

much of the competition in the Zone1 tests. Though its signal quali-

ty is slightly inferior, wherethis one scores is inpricing: just Rs 3,634.

The AwardASUS WL-530G

With unmatched speedsin our tests, the ASUS WL-

530G is suitable for settingup a home or SoHo wireless office where its

data throughput capabilities will be put togood use. It exhibited superior performance

in the video streaming test as well—thusyou won’t have to

sit near your PC if you have one of these. Pricedat Rs 4,400, the WL-530G offers excellent valuefor money. Grab the WL-530G—it is the fastest Wi-Fi router out there, and our Zero1 winner.

ACCESS POINTSThe Reigning ChampionLinkSys WAP54GThis one is the AP equivalent of the WRT54Grouter. It is wall-mountable, and a kit to imple-ment that is provided. It sports two antennas,so we expected it to have stronger signalstrength, and this was indeed the case. An addi-tional feature is bridging capabilities. Thefirmware interface is identical to that of theWRT54G, apart from the lack of routing func-tions. Security features such as NAT and SP1 arepresent, along with almost every otheradvanced feature such as encryption, wirelessisolation, etc.

The ContendersSenao ECB 3220The wall-mountable Senao ECB 3220 functionsas a wireless bridge and also as an Access Point.In keeping with its primary function (bridge), itshowed very good signal strength. It was asteady performer and didn’t lose reception inany of the tests—not even while movingbetween Zones; something unique, because allthe other devices in the test, with the exceptionof the ASUS Wl-600G, lost reception while thelaptop was being moved between zones, thusreaffirming that the ECB 3220 has a very strongsignal. Being an AP, it carries a rather expensiveprice tag of Rs 8,280, but because of its powerfulsignal, office users will find it useful as a bridgebetween two wireless networks.

The AwardLinkSys WAP54GThe LinkSys WAP54G demolished the com-petition in our data transfer tests. The per-formance, coupled with the attractiveprice tag of $80 (Rs 3,200) makes it a greatbuy. The remote Web interface is easyto use, and securityfeatures are well-inte-grated in this AccessPoint—making it adeserving winner ofour Zero1 award.

WI-FI COMPONENTSZERO1 Awards 2007

WI-FI COMPONENTS

Asfaq Tapia

If you travel a lot, your mobile and laptopare quite likely your most important pos-sessions. In this article, we present softwareyou can’t do without when on the road.Actually, even if you aren’t on the road, this

stuff is still cool to have!

VITO AudioNotesOne of the coolest pieces of software out there foryour phone, VITO AudioNotes allows you to recordaudio (in WAV or MP3 format) from your phone’smicrophone. What this means is that you don’thave to scramble for pen and paper wheneversomeone dictates something to you. What’s more,it can record incoming and outgoing calls auto-matically—perfect for those sting operations!

At its highest recording quality of 96 Kbps, a10-second WAV file takes up approximately 1 MBof space, while an MP3 of similar length takesup 135 KB—very nifty. While recording notes, youcan also adjust the sensitivity of the mic withthe Mic. Auto Gain option. The automatic callrecord function does just that—on a WindowsMobile device, selecting this option will recordall calls even when the program is not runningin the background.

Once recorded, the calls and notes can besaved on either the phone memory or thememory card. Another interesting function ofthe software is that it allows you to appendnew recordings to previously-recorded notes orcalls; for example, if you have a recording of anoutgoing call, you can append your own sum-mary of the call to the end of it and save it allas one recording.

Platform: Symbian S60, Windows MobileBuy from: http://tinyurl.com/2ghob7 Price: $19.95 (Rs 800)

OfficeSuite 4OfficeSuite works on any Symbian Series 60phone and allows you to make and edit Word,Excel, or PowerPoint documents right on thephone. Though you won’t be able to make PivotTables or define custom style sheets, it should getthe job done for a file that has to be sent urgently.

When you make a new document, it will allowyou to save it on the phone or on externalmemory. Office-Suite gives younearly all thef o r m a t t i n gtools you getwith MS Office,including thered underlinesfor misspelledwords. Whenyou make aworkbook, youcan hide, freeze,or insert rowsand columns,and you can usefunctions too.

Shrikrishna Patkar

Presenting: themost usefulmobile softwarewe can think of!

Grab These Apps!

The Excel app in OfficeSuite 4looks pretty much like MS Excel

Digital Tools l Jumpstart

83ToolsDigital

66Technology For Personal And SoHo Productivity

96Flash Drive Test Tips & Tricks Not QuitePrime Time

Lead Feature

JANUARY 2008 DIGIT 61


Digital Tools l Lead FeatureAI RoboFormThis interestingly-named software is a passwordmanager and automatic form filler with someserious artificial intelligence. Why is it in this list,you ask? Simple: you don’t want to be carryingslips of paper with passwords written all overthem while travelling; AI RoboForm is a muchbetter alternative.

After installing the program, you’ll be askedto enter your details on an exhaustive Web form,which is stored on the computer. There on, it’sall smooth sailing. When you need to fill out aform on the Web—when registering on a Website, for example—just click “Fill Forms” and allthe fields will be automatically filled with thenecessary information.

The real beauty of the software is that it isencrypts all your pass-words with 3-DES tech-nology, so there is no wayyour passwords will becompromised. The soft-ware works even on AJAX-based pop-up loginwindows (like those onFacebook). It can also gen-erate random, secure pass-words for use on Web sites,which it automaticallysaves for later use. There isalso an option to print allthe passwords stored withAI RoboForm, but thatdefeats the purpose ofusing the software! Youcan also password-protect

your identity in AI RoboForm to prevent othersfrom logging into your account on Web sites.

Find AI RoboForm on this month’s CD.Platform: Windows (All)Get from: www.roboform.com

Free SMTP ServerPicture this: you’re on the move, and you need tosend an important e-mail to a client. Your officemail server is down, or taking excessively long tosend e-mails. Haven’t many of us been throughthis situation? Fret not; you can now use softwarefor exactly this situation.

Free SMTP Server creates an SMTP server righton your PC. It can be used with any mail client—all you need to do is change the outgoing SMTPserver to localhost in the mail client.

When it’s launched, the program will auto-matically detect the DNS server and port numberthrough which to send e-mail. If you want themail to go through a specific DNS server addressor port, you can configure that, too. Be aware thatthat some ISPs close the SMTP port 25, forcing youto use only their SMTP server, so make sure theport is unblocked before using the program. Theonly drawback of the software is that if any otherservice is already using the specified SMTP port,it gives you an error instead of adding the requestto the queue.

Free SMTP Server has no frills, but that’s whatmakes it so fast and efficient.

Platform: Windows (All)Get From: http://tinyurl.com/yrzl37

When using the PowerPoint application, youcan switch from slide view to slideshow view oroutline view. Most of the animation functionsand shapes are also available.

The software won’t save or read Office 2007format files, nor will it auto-save your files everyfew minutes, but it does the job better than anyother Office clone for mobile phones.

Platform: Symbian S60Buy from: http://tinyurl.com/2broycPrice: $49.99 (Rs 2,000)

Virtual Network ComputingLet’s face it—in spite of having all the cool tools tohelp you when you’re on the road, there’snothing better than accessing your computer atthe end of the day. Ultr@VNC is a virtual networkcomputing (VNC) program that allows you to dojust that from absolutely anywhere.

The Ultr@VNC software consists of two parts—VNC Server and VNC Viewer. You need to installVNC Server on the host computer (at home, forexample), and use VNC Viewer to browse the con-tents of the host machine over the Internet.

The greatest advantage of using Ultr@VNC isthat it has an option called JavaViewer, whichallows you to access a remote host even withouthaving the VNC Viewer installed. All you have todo is use a Web browser with Java installed andconnect to http://[ip_address]: 5800, whereip_address is your home PC’s IP address. You canget Ultr@VNC free off our November 2007 CD.

Mozilla ThunderbirdThunderbird is an open source e-mail client thatrivals Outlook in terms of features and perform-ance. It supports the POP3, IMAP, and LDAP pro-tocols. With the release of the Beta 1 ofThunderbird 2.0, it has become increasingly clearthat most of the functions available in Outlookwill be available in Thunderbird too.

When released, the client will eventually sup-port tabs to open multiple e-mails from yourinbox at once. Just like Gmail, Thunderbird canalso sort e-mails in a threaded view. You can con-figure multiple e-mail accounts to retrieve mailfrom. It supports the creation of multiple folders,among other things. Another new feature is theability to tag e-mails with keywords so they can besearched for easily.

Platform: Windows (All) / Mac / LinuxGet From: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thun-derbird/

The options menu in AI RoboForm

The Thunderbird e-mail program with mails sorted in folders

MojoPacThe biggest problem while using a computerthat’s not yours is that you don’t know if it’sinfected, or if your activities are being logged. Ofcourse, there are ways to find out, but you’drather be doing something more important withyour time.

Enter stage left, MojoPac. The idea behindthe software is simple: it installs itself on anyportable media device, from MP3 players to USBsticks, and creates a virtual environment for youto install and run applications. While most vir-tualisation software require you to purchase aseparate licence for Windows to install on yourportable media, MojoPac uses essential filesfrom the machine that it is connected to—thehost machine—to run a protected environment.

When in this virtualised mode, MojoPacplaces a toolbar at the top of the Desktop, whichallows you to switch back to the host whenrequired. The computing tasks you carry out inthe virtualised mode stay there, and no traces ofthose are replicated on the host machine. All thesoftware we installed in the virtualised mode

ran perfectly. There are reports, however, of Web-cams not working properly with the software.

There are a few things we don’t really like,though. In the virtualised mode, you don’t haveaccess to the drives on the host machine, andany file transfer you want to do between yourMojoPac USB stick to the host machine has to bedone outside of MojoPac. The software worksfine with USB 2.0 devices, but on older devices it

can get sluggish; and finally, MojoPac runs onlyon Windows XP host machines.

In spite of its few drawbacks, MojoPac is awonderful tool for professionals on the move whodon’t carry a laptop.

Platform: Windows XP onlyGet From: www.mojopac.comPrice: Free (Freedom Edition), $ 49.99 (Rs 2000)(Deluxe Edition)

BlacklistHave you ever been nagged by pesky telemar-keters who won’t take No for an answer? Or howabout those times when you want some peaceand quiet and your phone just won’t stop ringing?Epocware Handy’s Blacklist could be your saviour.

True to its name, the application blockscallers from calling you. When you run Blacklistfor the first time, a dialog box appears, whichallows you to block callers. From here, you canchoose if you want to block numbers from recentcalls, private numbers, unknown numbers, andyour contact list; if you want to enter the numbermanually, you have that option too. The Settingsmenu allows you to automatically add rejectednumbers to the blacklist and keep a log of allblocked numbers for up to 60 days.

Unlike other monitoring software, Blackliststarts automatically with your phone. The onlydownside of the application that we found wasthat it did not display an alert every time itblocked a number, so you’d never know until youchecked the logs.

Platform: Symbian S60Buy from: http://tinyurl.com/33kd33Price: $19.95 (Rs 785)

Handy ZipE-mail attachments are normally sent as zippedfiles, and unfortunately, there are very fewphones that natively support zipped files. Every

mobile professionalwho checks e-mail onthe phone dreads these,but if you have HandyZip, you’ll be fine.

This little applica-tion allows you toaccess and createzipped archives on thephone. When you startthe application, itsearches for any zippedarchives on the phoneand displays them. Justclick on the relevantarchive to go into it.

When you want to create an archive, go toSelect > New Archive. Then, browse to thefile or folder you want to archive and select it.

The application allows you to choose betweenfive levels of compression—from None to Max-imum. You can also choose to archive sub-foldersand sort archives by name or size in ascending ordescending order.

Platform: Symbian S60Buy from: http://tinyurl.com/38ptuePrice: $12.95 (Rs 510)

[email protected]

Changing the DNS server settings in Free SMTP Server

Now easily access and evencreate Zip archives on yourmobile—with Handy Zip!

MojoPac in action

MojoPac is awonderful toolfor professionalson the movewho don’t carrya laptop

Digital Tools l Lead Feature



Digital Tools l Flash Drive Test

Michael Browne

While nobody will dispute theaccuracy of the above state-ment it’s equally true thatstorage hasn’t followed thistrend in recent years. Sure

we’ve had bigger, faster hard drives, and evengreater capacities on optical media, as paral-lel recording gave way to perpendicularrecording and CDs gave way to DVDs anddual-layer DVDs.

Flash memory has always been considereda dark horse. It promised to be a great ridefor pioneers of the technology, but the riskswere equally big. Every technology needs acatalyst to speed up its development into amature product. Flash has two things work-ing in its favour now—the need for a depend-able portable medium to carry data, and thefact that magnetic recording (HDDs) havecome close to their limits both as far as speedand capacity go.

Today, examples of Flash storage can beseen from the solid-state hard drives thathave begun to appear in laptops to the hum-ble subjects in this test. Greater size andspeed in addition to the ever diminishingprice makes flash drives perhaps one of thebest buys this year. We were shocked whenthe prices of 4 GB flash memory plummetedto around Rs 1,500—just a year ago the priceswere more than double that. Higher capaci-ties (16 GB and above) are still pricey enoughto intimidate all but the most persistentbuyer, but that’s sure to change, just wait andwatch. Perhaps more surprising was the

increments in speed of read / write opera-tions—sadly, we don’t get to take coffeebreaks between tests any more.

We scoured the market and chose 34 drivesfrom amongst the masses—each contenderwas chosen on the basis of it offering some-thing unique—whether in terms of value, orperformance, or appeal.

SKINNY BYTES—1 GB FeaturesOut of the five drives we tested in thissection, we really liked the rugged buildof the Corsair Voyager 1 GB. Built with ahigh-quality rubber / silicone compound,the Voyager easily resists damage whendropped. Despite the soft body, it doesn’tfeel flimsy to hold or use. Transcend’sJetFlash 168 was another beauty. Oneside of the surface has a silver metallicsticker with beautiful embossing. Thequality of the plastic used is good. Otherthan the Moser Baer 1 GB—which had aswivel type design and a quality metalouter sheath—the other two drives werepretty ordinary.

Corsair had some sort of a security appli-cation installed on each of their Voyagerseries drives—but this didn’t prove to be reallysecure—a format removed the applicationentirely! Not good for someone who wants toprotect data.

PerformanceThe Moser Baer 1 GB proved to be speedy over-all. Although the Transcend JetFlash 168shocked us in the 100 MB assorted file testwith 4.11 MBps—an unheard of speed for a ran-dom write operation—so much so that we ranthe benchmark again to be sure. In fact thesetwo fought it out fiercely, but Moser Baer’soffering won the race in the end.

Shrikrishna Patkar

IGYTE

Flash is bigger, faster, andcheaper than ever before.Ride the wave at its cusp—you’ve got 34 of them tochoose from

Nothing is permanent but change.

—Heraclitus

We used Windows XP Professional with SP2. All testing wasdone on a secondary partition to avoid hard drivebottlenecks. We turned off functions like System Restore,and also kept a permanent swap file on a separate 1.5 GBprimary partition.

Features:Points were awarded for security features (encryption,password locking etc), we even tested the security feature(if present) to ascertain its strengthSoftware features include any firmware on the drive and

the bundle. We awarded extra points for backup andrecovery and sync suites bundledAn LED is a must to know when a read/write operation isbeing performedAccessories being the life breath of any personal devicewere awarded points for simply being part of the bundle.We looked for extras like belt chains and hooks, lanyardrings, and neck strapsOther features included something noteworthy in aparticular product that made it unique

Performance:HD Tach tests and reports on five parameters. We’velisted all five but only taken three (the read/write scores)into contention for our calculations.SiSoft Sandra 2007 tests the read / write performance ofa flash drive. We gave more bias to the write scores.Our file transfer tests consisted of two parts—one was a100 MB file transfer test, the other was a maximum sizetransfer test. We ran both sequential (one large file) andrandom (lots of different files of varying size) tests.

How We Tested

JANUARY 2008

MoserBaer 1 GBSmall n fast!

ProcessorMotherboardRAMHDDGraphics Card

Pentium 4 520 (3.2 GHz)Gigabyte P965 DQ6Kingston DDR2 800 MHz 512x2Hitachi T7K 250GB SATA 2NVIDIA GeForce 7600GS

Test Machine Specification

B





The Transcend JetFlash V30 turned out tobe the proverbial tortoise, as did the CorsairVoyager 1GB, while the Toshiba 1 GB neatlyseparated these two from the hares.

ConclusionA 1 GB drive is only recommended when youabsolutely cannot afford to spend any more.We say this because two and four GB drives arefaster—larger density flash modules tend tohave better data transfer rates—and offer morevalue for money. If you are specifically shop-ping for a 1 GB drive our Digit Best Buy Goldwinner—the Moser Baer 1 GB—is your best bet.

SLIGHTLY OVERWEIGHT—2 GBFeaturesOne glance at Umax’s Apus Zoom had us hum-ming Roxette’s She’s got the look—a jet blackdrive with two silver-chrome strips on eachside, it’s pretty, but didn’t feel sturdy enough.The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium was anotherattraction—solid metal body (as the name sug-gests) and a dark gun-grey colour. The regularCruzer drive is identical looking except thatthe material used is high quality plastic ratherthan metal. Corsair’s rugged Voyager seriesmade another appearance with in 2 GB avatar.Buffalo’s Turbo USB 2.0 is a cool looking trans-parent drive—though there’s nothing in termsof moving parts to make any sense of the trans-parency. It’s a pity that Buffalo didn’t add anactivity LED.

We also had a bulky Kingston DataTravelerReader which cunningly incorporates a mem-ory card reader into the regular pen drive.This is a good option if you need both a USBdrive and a memory card reader. It’s not builtvery well though. Transcend’s JetFlash V10, onthe other hand, is built solidly, but is unin-spiring to look at.

Buffalo’s 2GB offering uses a technologycalled Turbo USB, which requires a small down-load from their Web site. This software onceinstalled on the PC claims to help speed up

transfers and seems to be some sort of buffer-ing software. Another software called BuffaloSecure Lock Ware which is a security packagecan be downloaded and installed. We couldn’tsee the reason why such software couldn’t bebundled on a disk, or in the drive itself. Theyare still “bundled software” if you think aboutit, and all Buffalo’s drives feature them.

PerformanceCorsair’s Voyager 2 GB did a complete turn-around of our initial impressions with the 1GB model—it was fast, so much so that it near-ly overtook the speed demon that was theTranscend JetFlash V10. Both the SanDiskdrives just tagged behind the leaders andstrangely did very well with large write opera-tions involving multiple small files—betterthan the two overall leaders. Funnily the sce-nario changes when we look at the small 100MB file transfer tests, where the Cruzers lagbehind, although by a small margin.

The Moser Baer 2 GB was a ubiquitous per-former—fast, but amid faster drives, unlike itssmaller sibling. The attractive KingstonDataTraveler 2 GB was abysmally slow.

ConclusionWhether you’re looking at speed or somethingtough enough to withstand a few drops fromyour pocket look no further than our Digit BestBuy Gold winner—Corsair’s Voyager 2 GB. Iteven comes with an attractive transparent USBextension cable so you won’t have to get dustyfiddling around the rear of your cabinet if youdon’t have front USB ports. Best of all, it costsa measly Rs 900!

The SanDisk U3-based brothers, the CruzerTitanium and the Cruzer, also make very goodbuys for someone wanting a fast drive. Thesemake sense, because if you’re planning on trans-ferring close to 2 GB of data regularly, it’s point-less to choose something slow. Transcend’sJetFlash V10 2 GB (Rs 800) was also fast, similarto the V10 1 GB in the previous group.

Transcend clearly uses much faster Flashchips in their V10 series as compared to theirV30 series—which seem the slowest of theTranscend drives. In fact the TranscendJetFlash V30 is such a slowcoach that only onedrive in this category was slower—this dubioushonour belonging to the Umax Apus Zoom 2GB—unless you plan quick naps between largewrite operations you’ll stay well away.Toshiba’s U3 offering was also well below thestandard of what is considered fast—and if youwant a U3 based drive we can’t recommendthis after the brilliant SanDisk Cruzers.

CERTIFIED FAT—4 GBFeaturesThe 4 GB segment is where all the fun starts,mainly because just six months ago thesedrives were double the price they are today.There is also a lot more data you can carryaround—photos, movies, and music. The mathis simple too—double the price of a 2 GB givesyou double the storage space.

One drive stands out in this category—theSandisk Extreme Ducati Edition. The D wordcauses the motorcycling enthusiasts amongstus to get weak-kneed and dry mouthed withanticipation. This drive features a solid metalupper body (painted Ducati-red) with a qualityplastic bottom. The USB interface safely tucksaway and the LED indicator is made to look likethe tail-light of a super bike. The drive also fea-tures SanDisk’s famous Extreme Flash memory,which obviously made us want to test it first.

Also in this category were Kingston’s DataTraveler Mini and Data Traveler Mini Fun arereally tiny drives. The Traveler Mini has a veryneat retracting system which completely tucksaway the USB interface beneath its tiny exteri-or. The Mini Fun is designed to look funky—andis a bright red. Note that besides their diminu-tive size these are full fledged USB drives—Kingston hasn’t cut corners on functionality.

Toshiba’s TransMemory 4 GB has one of thecurviest forms—straight body curved inwardsat either end. A very attractive dark grey plas-tic body does justice to a beautiful footprint.

Tech-Com’s 4 GB offering came withDiskPro on the firmware. This softwareappears as a discrete floppy drive. Doubleclicking this drive will bring up a screen thatwill query for a password to protect access tothe drive. You can also set a hint question.What’s best about this is that the drive cannotbe formatted without providing the password(a contrast to the poor security suite on the

Corsair Voyager drives). Tech-Com also provid-ed good accessories—a long USB extensioncable and a neat lanyard.

Performance Ducatis are known for their performance,aren’t they? True to its heritage, the SanDiskExtreme Ducati Edition blows everything inthis comparison to smithereens—it waspuzzingly slow in the 100 MB assorted write,though still faster than the other drives andthat was it—no more complaints! With a ran-dom write speed of 13.34 MBps for 4 GB ofassorted files and an equally amazing 18.06MBps for sequential write, this drive is twoand sometimes three times faster than mostother drives.

The only other two contenders barely closeenough to choke on the exhaust fumes of theSanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition, were theJetFlash V10 4 GB from Transcend and theCorsair Voyager 4 GB. The stragglers consistedof the Imation Nano 4 GB, the Tech-Com 4 GB,Toshiba TransMemory 4 GB, and the KingstonData Traveler 100.

ConclusionIf our hearts ruled our heads we’d award theSanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition with gold andforget about this category. However its not thewisest choice and not everyone will want tospend three times more for double the speed.That established, Digit’s Best Buy Gold goes to

JANUARY 2008

Corsair Voyager 2 GBThe most rugged datalugger

JANUARY 2008

Transcend JetFlash V10 4 GBWhen performance and pricecollide

The Blue Whale—Corsair Voyager 16 GB

The only really large drive we were able to get our hands on was a CorsairVoyager featuring a massive 16 GB. Although their catalogue shows that the

32 GB variant is a market reality, availability is a different story. This drivefeatures the same ruggedness that the Voyager series are famous for, and shareseven the same colour. In fact, if not for the tiny 16 GB imprint on the translucentrubber that covers the activity LED, you wouldn’t be able to tell it apart fromtheir other versions—it looks just like the 2 GB version shown above.

It was a pity to see such a large drive thrashed in our random write tests,though. Although this particular test brings most drives to their knees, we werehoping for a different result here. Alas, with assorted write speeds of 1 and 2.35MBps the Voyager 16 GB isn’t as fast as its target audience would want it to be.If you want a 16 GB drive, you’re probably a movie buff or an enthusiast, lookingto transport dual-layer ISOs or rather large games on this drive, which mightend up being a painful wait.

Overall, this drive is a benchmark for the size we’d like to see become defacto next year. But there’s not much going for the Voyager besides its sizeand of course its price—Rs 6,990. Imagine lugging your MP3s to office andback. Got a bigger music collection than that? Wait for the 32 GB version, andpray that it’s much faster.





BRAND MODEL

Price (Exclusive Of Taxes)Comments

Grand Totals (Out Of 100)FeaturesPerformance FeaturesStorage Capacity (Claimed)Storage Capacity (Actual)SecuritySoftware FeaturesVisual Indicators (LED, etc.)Other Accessories ProvidedOther FeaturesBuild Quality (Scale Of 10)Quality Of Materials UsedSturdiness Of The Overall PackageCap Locking MechanismPerformanceHD-Tach 3 (8 MB Write Tests)Random Access TimeAverage Read SpeedAverage Write SpeedRead Burst SpeedCPU Utilisation (%)SiSoft Sandra 2007 (64MB File Test)ReadWriteFile Transfer TestWrite—100 MB (Sequential)Read—100 MB (Sequential)Write—100 MB (Assorted)Read—100 MB (Assorted)Write—1 GB (Sequential)Read—1 GB (Sequential)Write—1 GB (Assorted Files)Read—1 GB (Assorted Files)

Scoreboard 1 GBMoser Baer

1 GB

480+ Fast, looks good

– None in particular

42.7513.0929.66

1 GB960 MBN0NNANA

6.56.57

0.5 ms28.54.623.60.04

18.534.63

7.5726.741.0813.196.2333.686.2128.04

CorsairVoyager 1 GB

550+ Rugged

– Slow performer

40.0020.8619.14

1 GB967 MBNA6YUSB Extension cable

7.57.757

0.9 ms16.7 MBps7.35 MBps17 MBps0

16.38 MBps4.36 MBps

4.19 MBps16.19 MBps0.78 MBps13.71 MBps4.15 MBps14.93 MBps2.71 MBps11.84 MBps

Toshiba1 GB

470+ Attractive Looker

– Mediocre performer

37.6613.4424.22

1 GB960 MBN0NNANA

6.56.57.5

0.4 ms18.77.518.80.05

17.477.46

7.8820.410.9314.957.8513.244.0716.18

TranscendJetFlash V30 1 GB

550+ Attractive

– Very Slow

29.2115.2613.95

1 GB969 MBN0Ylanyard cableNA

5.55.57

0.6 ms18.26.819.20.03

18.234.53

5.7510.830.298.891.445.001.253.73

TranscendJetFlash 168

700+ Attractive, reasonably fast


41.2814.7726.51

1 GB998 MBN5Nlanyard cableNA

66.56

8.7 ms12.48.614.40

14.196.47

8.2313.624.1114.588.4012.735.2513.74


970+ Looks good

– Turbo mode not effective

37.3013.0924.21

2 GB1.88 GBN0NNANA

6.56.57

0.6 ms21.26.122.30.06

21.364.61

4.2847.170.7413.234.2419.613.3017.50

CorsairVoyager 2 GB

900+ Rugged and Fast


51.7720.8630.91

2 GB1.88 GBN6YUSB Extension cable

7.57.757

0.9 ms29.611.2310

29.496.55

7.7631.151.1112.997.5127.684.0321.49

KingstonDataTraveler

2850+ Well built

– Very slow

27.7212.2515.47

2 GB1.86 GBNA0NNANA

66.256.5

1 ms12.86.513.70

11.125.73

4.2910.090.307.455.9013.782.089.29

KingstonDataTraveler Reader

2GB

2500+ Feature Rich

– Slow

33.1613.6519.51

2 GB1.95 GBNA0NNACard Reader

66.56.5

0.7 ms12.67.612.90.04

13.846.84

6.4612.790.6111.686.1812.434.1911.58

JANUARY 2008 2 GBMoser Baer

2 GB

735+ Fast performer

– Flimsy design

41.6513.0928.56

2 GB1.88 GBN0NNANA

6.56.57

0.5 ms30.44.5250.03

18.564.36

4.0219.190.6210.667.0537.486.3430.36

SanDiskCruzer Titanium U3 2GB

1590+ Extremely Well Built

– Heavy

50.5624.7125.85

2 GB1.9 GBY8YNANA

87.56.5

0.4 ms20.68.4210.09

19.127.33

7.2619.611.508.757.6018.576.3016.61

JANUARY 2008

Flash Forward

We’ve seen flash emerging from a niche product to something that is properlymainstream. But as of now this applies to thumb drives only. On the bigger

scene flash memory has pervaded more than just your pocket. It has seen usageas a storage medium, particularly in notebooks, where power consumption is anecessary evil. The fact that flash has no moving parts and consumes a fraction ofthe power of its magnetic siblings, is an attractive enough reason for vendors touse it, despite the fact that anything more than 16 GB of flash is very expensive.

As the drive for convergence leads to better PDAs, multimedia phones,PMPs and their ilk, with more features and customisability, the demand forstorage as a medium will increase by leaps and bounds. Flash has been waitingin the wings for a while now—a nascent period that saw a growth of no morethan 10 per cent.

We’re still going to prefer 500 GB hard drives for awhile, and it’ll takesome time for extremely high density flash modules to enter the consumerspace. However, when it comes to portable storage, the invasion of flash hasalready begun…

Trancend’s JetFlash V10 4 GB. An excellentproduct—its fast, reasonably rugged and asteal at just Rs 1,600. The only other worthyalternative is the Corsair Voyager 4 GB (Rs1,550). It’s the third-fastest drive in the com-parison and has a decent bundle (similar tothe other Voyager drives).

Once again, Toshiba’s much acclaimedTransMemory drives failed to impress. We weresurprised at the lacklustre performance of theBuffalo 4 GB drive and even with Turbo USBenabled we didn’t notice a big improvement.In fact this was the case in the 2GB category aswell, sure a difference of 2-3 percent withTurbo USB enabled may seem significant, butits not a big deal and not really noticeable inreality—more over its a far cry from theclaimed 16 percent performance hike.

OBESE INDULGENCES—8 GBFeaturesWith the ability to store 8 gigabytes of data,you can actually extract entire DVDs to suchdrives. Kingston’s DataTraveler Secure was ahulk of a drive—heavy, and claimed to bewaterproof (up to four feet under-water);something we didn’t test. Buffalo’s Turbo USBwas identical to the other Buffalo drives, andthat’s a good thing. The 8 GB Cruzer fromSanDisk was built identically to the otherCruzer drives—exemplary. The other attrac-tive looking drive was the Transcend JetFlashV30 which used a shiny black, translucentbody to convey all the appeal it needed to. It’srather compact too, and was the smallest ofthe 8 GB drives.

JANUARY 2008

Transcend V60 8 GBOne stop data shop!




SanDiskCruzer U3 2 GB

1690+ Well built


49.9423.7326.21

2 GB1.9 GBY8YNANA

776.5

0.5 ms20.58.321.40.06

19.247.72

7.7420.281.538.907.7518.216.3716.59

ToshibaTransMemory 2GB

860+ Attractive looks

– Very Slow

42.1024.0818.02

2 GB1.85 GBY8YNANA

6.577.5

4.3 ms13.24.313.90

12.323.42

4.7914.310.7918.053.8012.273.2411.08


900+ Compact, good looks

– Slow

31.8115.2616.55

2 GB1.9 GBN0Ylanyard cableNA

5.55.57

0.6 ms18.87.120.20.02

18.564.39

5.7610.960.319.792.9710.122.377.13


800+ Fast, well built

– Bland looks

49.3917.0132.38

2 GB998 MBN5Ylanyard cableNA

55.57

1.1 ms27.610.229.50.06

29.357.72

9.1630.861.5712.117.8027.345.2723.52

UmaxApus Zoom

1138+ Great Looks

– Very Slow

25.9613.5112.45

2 GB1.9 GBN0NLanyard ringNA

76.756

0.8 ms19.654.2321.430.05

17.244.26

1.812.160.461.284.378.302.403.15

BuffaloTurbo USB 4GB

2,000+ Attractive looks

– Turbo USB over hyped

36.9013.0923.81

4 GB3.74 GBNA0NNANA

6.56.57

0.6 ms20.85.421.30.07

20.754.36

4.3249.020.7512.634.2019.713.2517.18

CorsairVoyager 4GB

1,550+ Rugged, fast


47.9620.8627.10

4 GB3.78 GBNA6YUSB Extension cable

7.57.757

0.7 ms22.21122.80

21.857.64

7.5624.691.0012.697.4120.754.3618.40

ImationNano 4GB

1,800+ Cute looking

– Slow

27.9311.2016.73

4 GB3.82 GBNA0NNANA

557

11.8 ms11.34.811.80.04

9.85.4

5.3711.210.8711.064.9810.963.5210.30

Kingston4GB DataTraveler 100

2,272+ Good build quality

– Slow performer

33.5615.7217.84

4 GB3.84 GBNA0YNANA

6.256.57

1.8 ms13.95.5140.04

13.14.3

3.9215.920.9613.073.9612.752.9412.32

KingstonDataTraveler Mini

2,850+ Very Compact

– USB Mechanism tacky

36.2912.7423.55

4 GB3.84 GBNA0NNANA

6.56.56.5

0 ms20.66.721.40.1

19.56.17

5.7926.110.5912.925.8819.533.8816.34

KingstonDataTraveler Mini Fun

2,850+ Cute looking, compact

– Mediocre build quality

35.8212.3923.43

4 GB3.84 GBNA0NNANA

66.56.5

1 ms20.66.621.40.1

19.36.36

5.7320.330.6613.055.8819.863.8517.35

2 GB 4 GBBRAND MODEL

Price (Exclusive Of taxes)Comments

Grand Totals (Out Of 100)FeaturesPerformance FeaturesStorage Capacity (Claimed)Storage Capacity (Actual)SecuritySoftware FeaturesVisual Indicators (LED, etc.)Other Accessories ProvidedOther FeaturesBuild Quality (So 10)Quality Of Materials usedSturdiness Of The Overall PackageCap Locking MechanismPerformanceHD-Tach 3 (8 MB Write Tests)Random Access TimeAverage Read SpeedAverage Write SpeedRead Burst SpeedCPU Utilisation (%)SiSoft Sandra 2007 (64MB File Test)ReadWriteFile Transfer TestWrite—100 MB (Sequential)Read—100 MB (Sequential)Write—100 MB (Assorted)Read—100 MB (Assorted)Write—1 GB (Sequential)Read—1 GB (Sequential)Write—1 GB (Assorted Files)Read—1 GB (Assorted Files)

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

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dJe

tFla

sh V

30 1

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Tran

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dJe

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sh 1

68

Cors

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Voya

ger

1 G

B

Mos

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GB

Tosh

iba

1 G

B

60

7

68

7

63

8

46

8

65

10

Cors

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ger

16 G

B

SanD

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Cruz

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King

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Dat

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Buff

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30 8

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60 8

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66

46

5666

7277 76

102

80

118

85

164

King

ston

Dat

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44 42

Cors

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Voya

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2 G

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30 2

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2GB

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10 2

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Mos

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2 G

B

66

11

78

12

67

13

82

13

50

13

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King

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Dat

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59

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25

52

37

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100100

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4GB

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4 G

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4GB

Tech

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B

59

20

76

23

78

24

63

24

62

25

King

ston

4G

BD

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100

King

ston

Dat

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27

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53

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42

Value for money Index Price Index The Data Traveler Secure has full 256-bitAES (Rijndael) encryption. This makes theSecure the perfect choice for someone who’sreally serious about data protection. Not onlycan you limit access to the data on the drivebut any data placed in the secure folder auto-matically gets encrypted.

SanDisk’s Cruzer also allows passwordencryption, which is standard with the U3interface—and we’d like U3 if it wasn’t for theannoying pop-ups, in fact all U3 based drivesare reasonably secure—something of a plus—but the interface leaves a lot to be desired.

PerformanceWith absolutely nothing to choose frombetween the speeds of the Buffalo and Kingstondrives we knew we had our two performancewinners nailed down. The Kingston drive does

better at assorted writes—worth rememberingif you intend to copy lots to files to the drive. Ifyour need patterns dictate a lot of readingfrom the USB drive then the Buffalo would bebetter. The Transcend JetFlash V60 is the near-est competitor to these two speed demons, butstill loses by a small margin. Transcend’s ownJetFlash V30 brings up the rear.

ConclusionIf you are a security nut, and more concernedabout who’s viewing your personal stuff thengo with the Kingston DataTraveler Secure—nomore worries except the price: Rs 11,111. Ifthat’s a little too much to cough up, youshould look at the U3-based SanDisk Cruzer—for Rs 7,990, you get decent speed, and greatbuild quality. You’ll also get security as allthe Cruzer drives come with the U3 inter-

JANUARY 2008


SanDiskExtreme Ducati Edition

6,790+ Fast, gorgeous looker

– Costly extravagence

63.2819.4343.85

4 GB3.8 GBNA0YNeckstringNA

8.58.257.75

0.6 ms26.117.826.90.06

24.8216.48

18.2527.931.9313.6218.0623.9313.3420.21

Tech-Com4GB

1,350+ Decent security features

– Slow

37.1920.6216.58

4 GB3.83 GBUSB Disk Pro (Software)5NUSB extension cable, lanyard

NA

667.25

2.7 ms115.111.20.03

12.34

5.1310.660.9310.915.2510.373.4910.00

ToshibaTransMemory 4GB

1,680+ Secure U3 interface

– Very Slow

39.1124.0815.03

4 GB3.72 GBY8YNANA

6.577.5

4.5 ms13.74.513.90

12.013.27

3.8211.830.647.883.2312.772.7511.27

TranscendJF V10 4 GB

1,600+ Speedy performer

– Lack-lustre design

49.1217.0132.11


55.57

1.1 ms291029.20.07

29.497.64

8.4228.991.5011.458.1528.325.3223.16


1,600+ Attractive Looker

– Mediocre performer

39.9115.2624.65


5.55.57

0.6 ms18.76.819.40.04

16.815.63

5.6537.311.4511.924.5524.733.8716.62

TranscendJetflash V60 4 GB

1,700+ Well built

– Slow performer

35.4114.4920.92

4 GB3.8 GBN5Nlanyard cableNA

666

0.7 ms13813.30.05

14.196.55

6.5013.441.4811.906.4012.704.2411.99

BuffaloTurbo USB 8GB

5,220+ Looks Good, Fast

– Costly

45.4213.0932.33

8 GB7.49 GBNA0NNANA

6.56.57

1.5 ms30.71232.80.1

27.8310.53

7.9533.001.019.807.7429.124.7223.60

KingstonDataTraveler Secure

11,111+ Great Security features

– Very Expensive

53.4721.2532.23

8 GB7.6 GBY (256 bit AES Enctyption)6NNANA

87.56.75

0.5 ms24.910.826.20.06

23.429.4

7.5125.512.6810.569.4723.326.8520.17

SanDiskCruzer U3 8 GB

7,990+ Solidly built


50.6023.7326.87

48 GB7.63Y8YNANA

776.5

0.7 ms278.230.90

24.647.25

6.9217.541.698.267.3217.595.0917.27

TranscendJetFlash V60 8GB

3,100+ Great value for money


42.0814.4927.59

8 GB7.65 GBN5Nlanyard cableNA

666

0.6 ms21.99.622.80.02

21.18.83

8.1323.981.099.8910.0521.784.2019.29


4,500+ Looks cool

– Slow

35.7115.2620.45


5.55.57

0.7 ms14.58.415.92 5

13.247.35

6.6715.221.359.515.9814.742.6913.49

CorsairVoyager 16 GB

6,950+ Rugged, lots of space

– Slightly slow

48.0520.8627.19

16 GB15.1 GBNA6YUSB Extension cable

7.57.757

2.8 ms33.612.35350

33.866.55

8.1037.741.009.613.9315.572.3512.69

4 GB 8 GBBRAND MODEL

Price (Exclusive Of Taxes)Comments

Grand Totals (Out Of 100)FeaturesPerformance FeaturesStorage Capacity (Claimed)Storage Capacity (Actual)SecuritySoftware FeaturesVisual Indicators (LED, etc.)Other Accessories ProvidedOther FeaturesBuild Quality (Scale Of 10)Quality Of Materials UsedSturdiness Of The Overall PackageCap Locking MechanismPerformanceHD-Tach 3 (8 MB Write Tests)Random Access TimeAverage Read SpeedAverage Write SpeedRead Burst SpeedCPU Utilisation (%)SiSoft Sandra 2007 (64MB File Test)ReadWriteFile Transfer TestWrite—100 MB (Sequential)Read—100 MB (Sequential)Write—100 MB (Assorted)Read—100 MB (Assorted)Write—1 GB (Sequential)Read—1 GB (Sequential)Write—1 GB (Assorted Files)Read—1 GB (Assorted Files)

Web siteCompany E-mailBrand

Contact Sheet Flash Drive

Transcend

KingstonSanDiskUmaxTech-comToshibaCorsairBuffaloMoser BaerImation

Mediaman Infotech Pvt Ltd Supertron Electronics LtdKingston Technology IndiaRashi Peripherals Pvt LtdNeoteric Infomatique Pvt LtdSHREE Sagarmatha Distributors Pvt Ltd Abacus Peripherals Pvt LtdTirupati EnterprisesBuffalo TechnologyMoser Baer India LtdImation India Pvt Ltd

www.mediamangroup.com

www.supertronindia.comwww.kingston.com/indiawww.rptechindia.comwww.neoteric.co.in www.techcomindia.comwww.abacusperipherals.com www.tirupati.netwww.buffalotech.comwww.moserbaer.comwww.imation.co.in

022-23828100 022-23881397 / 1924NA022-67090909022-39828600011-26428541 / 42 022-40914600 9339207519011-41538059011-4059450041519880 / 81

face, which has security features in-built.If you’re really looking for something

cheap try the Transcend JetFlash V60 8 GB (Rs3,100). Buffalo’s Turbo USB is another decentoffering for Rs 5,220, and is a good mix ofperformance and price. However much welike performance, a mix of value is impor-tant. As far as the delicate balance goes,nothing sets a better example than theTranscend JetFlash V60 8GB which shames itsV30 brethren by a good margin. Our Best BuyGold goes to the Transcend JetFlash V60—good for carrying around volumes of data,and you won’t really feel the pinch.

[email protected]

JANUARY 2008JANUARY 2008


77JANUARY 2008 DIGIT76 DIGIT JANUARY 2008

If you are an executive inthe market for a suitablecell phone, Nokia’s E

series offers the best bangfor the buck. The Nokia E51is the latest from the vener-able E series, and an apt suc-cessor to the hugely popularE50 model, which it willeventually replace. The E51brings in new features at aprice that’s hard to beat.

The keypad is com-pletely revised, with dedi-cated keys for Contacts,Calendar,E-mail and Home. The softmenu keys, however, are toosmall for comfort. The restof the keypad is a delight—good tactile feedback, andkey spacing is immaculate.The rubberised keys forvolume up / down, push-to-talk and power are hard tooperate, though.

The E51 feels peppy—ituses the same processor as

on the flagship N95. With130 MB of memory on board,you can do a lot of multi-tasking without the phonegetting sluggish, and thememory can be expanded to4 GB via the microSD slot (a512 MB card comes bundled).The E51 runs on Symbian OSSeries 60, and crams in lot offeatures besides the stan-dard set. Most of these willgo down well with execu-tives—for example, theAdvance call manager letsyou manage incoming andoutgoing calls efficiently. Inaddition, WorldMate, anapplication for frequentfliers, comes bundled. The E51 is a 3G, quad-

band phone with HSDPA,Wi-Fi (802.11g), Bluetooth,Micro USB and an infraredport. There’s a switch to turnBluetooth on and off on themain keypad. Multimediafeatures include a good MP3player, a 2MP camera with

still and video shooting, andFM radio.

Signal reception is good,as is voice clarity. Internetbrowsing speeds are fasterthan with the E50 or E61,thanks to the revised Webbrowser. The camera is aboveaverage, but loses perform-ance in low-light conditions.The speakerphone is clear,with little or no echo on therecipient’s side. We gotaround three days of batterylife with nominal usage anda terrific seven days ofstandby time.

The Nokia E51 retails atRs 14,699; it is, we think, amust-buy.

SpecificationsWeight: 100 gm; Dimensions:114 x 46 x 12 mm; Quad-band;2MP camera; Video recording;xHTML browser; Push-to-talk;micro USB, infrared.

With Apple launching awhole new range of

iPods recently, includingthe iPod Touch, canCreative afford to be farbehind? Not one to becaught shuffling around(pun intended), Creativehas launched the ZenStone Plus series.

With a player so tiny,we’d expected the ZenStone to felt flimsy, butsurprisingly it didn’t.There’s a small circularblue OLED screen—nothingspecial—and a Play buttonsurrounded by a circularbutton that houses fourcontrols—track shuffle andvolume up / down. There’sa tiny button on the top ofthe player that hascontrols for the Menu andplay / pause functions.

Available in 2 GB only,the Zen Stone features FMradio and supports up to 32presets, inbuilt audiorecording, and a stopwatchfunction—not bad for such asmall device. Unlike iPods,there are no driversrequired to connect it toyour PC—just drag and drop,which is a huge relief.

Music quality is amixed bag with the Stone.Firstly, if you’re evenremotely interested ingood sound, throw awaythe bundled earplugs. Oncewe replaced them with ourCreative EP630headphones, everythingwas so much clearer. Thenwe tried the Bose IntraEar—our reference forPMPs—and things seemedeven better. Punchy, tightbass, superb vocal tones,and a decent extendedhigh-end makes the ZenStone very suitable for

rock, pop, jazz and reggae.If you listen to lot ofclassical music, you’ll needmuch better headphones tobring out the recessedhighs. Bottom-line: the ZenStone is only limited by itsdefault earplugs—and mostPMPs are.

Don’t let this stop youbuying it—if you wantsomething tiny, sturdy, andeasy to use, the Zen Stonewill suit you. If you wantgood sound, invest in a pairof decent in-ear earplugs.

SpecificationsCapacity: 2 GB; Battery life:9.5 hrs; Display: 64 x 64 blueOLED; Weight: 21 gm;Audio support: MP3, WMA,Audible, WAV

T his one comes as anoverclocker’s delight.The ASUS Maximus

Formula is based on Intel’snew X38 chipset, sporting anICH9R Southbridge. This is alimited edition, and featureshand-picked components forextreme overclockability.

There is support forPenryn and 1600 MHz FSB,and dual x16 slots thatofficially support CrossFire.Incidentally, the PCI-E slotssupport the new PCI-E 2.0standard too—more future-proofing for you. ASUS dropsin their fusion block systemas well—basically a heat-pipesolution that integrates awater block on theNorthbridge chipset forproper cooling. The entireboard has a very intricateheat-pipe system thatremained cool no matterhow hard we thrashed it.

Some nifty littleadditions will appeal tooverclockers: the CMOS,

Power and Reset buttons,and colour-coded LEDs onthe PCB that will display thestatus (whether overvolted ornot) of componentsincluding CPU, memory,Northbridge, and FSB.There’s also an inbuilt sensorthat will warn you if GPUtemperatures exceed a setthreshold—a boon for userswith the latest thermalmonsters from NVIDIA andATI. ASUS has alsoincorporated a 2-phasememory voltage terminationfor better voltage regulationeven while overclocking—thisshould filter noise and RFinterference for betterperformance under stress.The BIOS is full of

overclocking options andtweaks—newbies andenthusiasts alike will feelat home.

The Maximus Formula SEalso has a more-than-sufficient number of SATA,and USB ports.

With a PC Mark 2005score of 10,572, the MaximusFormula isn’t bottleneckingthe QX6850 (3.0 GHz) in anyway. With a graphics score of18,299 in 3D Mark 2005(using an 8800GTX), thisboard is definitely free of theearly hiccups that plaguemost platforms. We did getour E6550 (2.33 GHz) to runalong happily at 3.15 GHz(the FSB being overclockedfrom a default 333 MHz to

450 MHz)—a very good result. Rs 16,800 may seem high,

but it’s plenty of board forthat much. ASUS includes arich bundle too. Highlyrecommended for thoselooking at a high-end, stableplatform in general, orCrossFire in particular.

SpecificationsIntel X38 chipset; ICH9RSouthbridge; DDR2 1200 MHzand 1600 MHz FSB support;6 x rear USB ports; 6 x SATA2.0 ports

ASUS Maximus Formula CrossFire Compadre

Contact: Nokia India Pvt LtdE-mail: [email protected] site: www.nokia.co.inPrice: Rs 14,699

CoolerMaster is a bigname in the Desktopchassis and PSU

market, and there’snothing small about theReal Power M1000, either.CoolerMaster goes modularwith this model, whichcuts down on cable clutter.A 135 mm fan dominatesthe underside of the unitand cools well.

With the dedicatedcircuitry that active PFCfeatures, this PSU is ratedat 99 per cent—you can beassured of maximumefficiency of powerdistribution, a good thingfor those high-end PCs withcostly components.

We fired up a Core 2Quad QX6850 on an ASUSP5N32-E SLI and

overclocked it to 3.6 GHz,powered the 2 GB of 1066MHz memory at 2.2 V,two 8800GTX in SLI, twoWD Raptors in RAID 0plus a third 500 GB harddrive, and an X-Fi Elite Proalong with a couple ofDVD-Writers.

The M1000 handledeverything with no fuss—itremained cool to thetouch, supplying 3.31 V tothe 3.3 V rail, 4.97 V to the5 V line and 11.987 V to the12 V line—perfectly

acceptable and well withinthe boundaries of what’sconsidered really good.

If you’re looking forpower for the kind of PCthat gets geeks drooling,you should know that suchpower supplies don’t comecheap! But if the safety ofyour components mattersand you can shell out Rs15,600, then you can’t getanything better.

SpecificationsPower (continuous): 1000watts; Efficiency: >85%; Inputvoltage 90-264V (auto); Peakpower to each rail: 3.3V: 40amps, 5V: 40 amps, combined12V rails: 110 amps

CoolerMaster Real Power M1000 Never Run Out Of Juice

Contact: CoolerMaster Co. Ltd.Phone: +91-9833870302E-mail: [email protected] site: www.coolermaster.comPrice: Rs 15,600

We test the latest hardwareand software products available in the market

FeaturesPerformanceBundleValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Contact: Asustek Computer Inc Phone: 022-67668800E-mail: [email protected] site: http://in.asus.comPrice: Rs 16,800

FeaturesPerformance Build QualityValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Feature PerformanceBuild QualityValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

FeaturesPerformance Build QualityValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GBA Pebbleful Of Music!

Nokia E51 A Classic Reborn

BazaarBazaar

Contact: IDLDPLPhone: 011-46096400E-mail: [email protected] site: http://in.creative.comPrice: Rs 4,399


Digital Tools l Bazaar

Good camcorders anddigital cameras at

reasonable prices arecommon these days, andthat means that buddingfilm and art students are onthe lookout for good videocompiling and editingsoftware to go with them.Pinnacle comes into thepicture here with PinnacleStudio Ultimate Events ProDeluxe 11.

The package is huge, andcomes with a PCI FireWireexpansion card for your PC.There’s also a chroma clothto make keying and maskcreation a lot easier. Theinstallation is fairly simple—first install Studio Plus andthen the upgrade toUltimate.

The Ultimate versiongives you three mainplugins—proDAD Vitascene,BIAS SoundSoap andStageTools MovingPicture. Italso gives you the ability towork with 5.1 audio streams.

The bundle features ahuge collection of transitioneffects for scenes, and thereare also loads of sounds

provided in appropriatecategories. Each of thecomponents—sound, video,and text—are placed indifferent timelines, sohandling all of them is very

simple. There’s support foronline video hosts likeYahoo! Video and StudioOnline.

The package comes witha fat, highly-detailed usermanual, which even has tipson how to get your harddrive prepared for the largeamounts of data required

during video editing bytweaking and optimisingtransfer rates.

At first, Pinnacle StudioPro Deluxe 11 seems like avery sophisticated package,but its abundance offeatures is presented in avery friendly interface—youdon’t have to be a trainedprofessional to use them. AtRs 17,900 for the internalPCI package, the decision tobuy it is a little difficult, butif you’re a student gettinginto the film industry orrunning a small business,it’s a must-have.

SpecificationsIncluded in Ultimate: BIASSoundSoap, proDAD VitaScene,StageTools MovingPicture;Supports Dolby 5.1 encodingand HD video; Packagecontents: Green Screen,microphone, PCI FireWireinterface card, manual

Take one look at theSamsung ML-1630, and

you’ll be forced to think: isthis really a printer?Samsung has paid greatattention to the aesthetics ofthis mono laser printer bygiving it a glossy, piano-blackfinish and no sharp edges.Just 12.2 cm tall, it’s smallerthan many inkjets out there.

The control panel israther simple—there are twotouch-sensitive buttons forPower and Cancel. Thevisual indicators becomevisible during operation inthe form of a blue LEDdisplay that displays thetotal number of pagesprinted. The input tray ishidden, and can be openedusing a mechanical button.It holds 100 sheets, but theoutput tray holds just 30.

The printer has issueshandling paper—almostevery time we printed, thefirst page emerged crumpled.For a multi-page document,it took 17 seconds for thefirst page and around 4 forevery page thereafter. In ourstandard test print, it couldprint at 6.5 pages perminute. Print quality isdecent—sharp edges, propergray tones and small pointsizes were all printed well.

The printer featuresonly the USB interface.Nothing comes bundled

except for the standarddrivers and a manual. Itcomes with a tonercartridge that’s good for1,000 pages, but areplacement cartridge (for2000 sheets) is the standardone used with this printer.Backed with a one-yearwarranty, the Samsung ML-1630 is priced at Rs 11,490—too high a price for top-notch aesthetics with sub-par performance.

SpecificationsResolution: 1200 x 600 dpi(hardware); Input tray: 100sheets; Output tray: 30 sheets;Buffer: 8 MB; Dimensions: 33(W) x 37.6 (D) x 12.2 (H) cm;Weight: 6.3 kg

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Events Pro Deluxe 11Your Own Personal Video Studio

Contact: Samsung India ElectronicsPvt LtdPhone: +91-11-41511234E-mail: [email protected] site: www.samsung.com/inPrice: Rs 11,490

Features PerformanceEase of UseValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Features PerformanceEase of UseValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Samsung ML-1630Beauty Is Skin-deep

Contact: Pinnacle SystemsPhone: 9811904809E-mail: [email protected] site: www.pinnaclesys.comPrice: Rs 17,900 (Internal PCI),Rs 19,900 (External PCI)




The DCP-135C is thenewest addition to the

inkjet digital copier stable ofBrother Inc. It is builtruggedly enough towithstand the rigours ofoffice work. It’s just 15 cmtall, and the powerconnector is located to theleft, making it easy to placeagainst a wall. This is a four-cartridge inkjet solution—more economical, and thecartridge bay is placed at thefront right for easy access.

There is no power button,so you have to use the soft-power switch. The interfaceis USB 2.0; the USB cable hasto be channelled through anarrow canal into theinterior of the device—whichhelps prevent accidentaldisconnections. The buttonsare well-placed, but there canbe some confusion—the OKbutton does not apply asetting unlike most otherMFDs (!), so one needs to readthe manual. The one-lineLCD relays informationabout status and settings.The input tray holds 100sheets while the output trayholds 50.

Print quality is decent—there were no smudges, butthe borders were not alwayscrisp. Fine print was legibleeven at the smallest point

size. Colours in the photoprint were a little washedout, but not too much—nosmudging here either.Normal text printing is slow:27 seconds for a page, whilecombination documentsprint relatively faster at 33seconds for a page. Printingan A4-size photo takes justunder 270 seconds (4.5minutes)—quite average. Thescanner recognised coloursaccurately, and picked upminute details. It scans reallyfast—a 300-dpi A4 colourphoto took just 49 seconds.

Bundled with the MFD isthe ScanSoft PaperPort—agood documentmanagement and OCRsoftware. ControlCentre 3 isa control panel that puts allthe functions of this MFD atyour disposal in a singleplace. This is an enticing buyat Rs 5,400.

SpecificationsPrinter: Resolution: 1200 x6000 dpi (effective); Input tray:100 sheets, Output tray: 50sheets; Buffer: 16 MB; Printingtechnology: 4-cartridge inkjet;Scanner: Flatbed type;Resolution: 600 x 2400 dpi(optical); Media size: A4; Bitdepth (output): 24; Dimensions:39.8 (W) x 36 (D) x 15 (H) cm;Weight: 7.1 kg

Features PerformanceEase of useValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Brother DCP-135CAppealing Overall

Contact: Brother International(India) Pvt LtdPhone: 1800-222-422E-mail: [email protected] site: www.brother.inPrice: Rs 5,400

1/2 Page Ad

This watch, which lookslike an elegant (but not

gaudy) analogue watch, hasan MP3 player built in. Thefinish is scratch-resistantgalvanised steel-grey andblack plastic. We werepleasantly surprised to findthat it isn’t cheap trash (it’s

made in China!)—it’s ratherruggedly built.

The rubber strap looksstiff and uncomfortable, butonce you wear it, it is notthat bad. The watch looksrather large. The strapmakes it look like an aliencontraption, thanks to theembedded USB connectorwhich is to be pulled off toconnect it to the PC. Thedial is eerie, with hands andhour marks that emit acalm green glow in thedark. Indicator LEDs belowthe hour marks glow whenthe MP3 player is turned on,and make the watch lookeven more surreal.

The device gets instantlyrecognised as a removabledrive, so you can also use it

to carry your data. Transferspeeds are slow—it takes 110seconds to transfer 100 MB,so it takes around 9minutes to fill it up. Gettingused to the controls is alittle frustrating at thestart, but you can quicklyget the hang of it. Theabsence of any sort ofdisplay is sorely missed, butthings are made a littleuncomplicated by the LEDs.

MP3 playback is abovepar, and the bundledearphones do an excellentjob of complementing theplayer. There are four veryeffective preset equalisersettings. The fade-in andfade-out effects are there bydefault, though these oftenclip a couple of seconds ofthe start of the first songbeing played. The earphonesare rather large, and may beuncomfortable for some—and thanks to the 2.5 mmjack, you can’t connect yourfavourite headphones,either. It also has a voicerecorder with an inbuiltmicrophone, which madeus feel like Johnny Sokkocommanding the Giant

Robot—it adds plenty ofnerd value.

MP3 playback lasts alittle over 5 hours, which isfair—and the watch andplayer have separatebatteries, so you can telltime even after the musicstops. 512 MB is just OK foran MP3 player, but mayseem less if you have avoracious appetite foraudio; there is also a 1 GBversion available. Bundledalong is a longer cable toconnect it to the USB portand software that lets youupgrade its firmware. Itcosts Rs 4,125—a bit high,since there is no video oreven FM Radio.

SpecificationsCapacity: 512 MB; Audio: MP3(32 Kbps - 320 Kbps), WMA (5Kbps - 256 Kbps); Voicerecording: ADPCM; Interface:USB Full Speed 12 Mbps

Aigo U Watch MP3 UW-F020 512 MBAn MP3 Watch For Geeks

Contact: Bridge One TechnologiesPhone: +91-40-23550794E-mail: [email protected] site: www.aigo.comPrice: Rs 4,125

Features Performance Ease of UseValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

One of the first thingsyou’ll notice about

System Mechanic is thefacelift. The new interfacehas a nice red theme withbits of Vista-like treatment.

Cosmetic details aside,System Mechanic 7 is nowin charge of more than justRegistry cleaning. It nowdoes everything fromchecking your systemfor security holes tomaintaining disk drivesas well.

ActiveCare is a featurethat allows you to selectwhich components SystemMechanic shouldautomatically handle. Withthat set up, you won’t needto do anything manually—cleaning up the Registry,for example.

Newcomers won’t haveto worry with any of theadvanced features. System

Mechanic scans your entiresystem and then lets youdecide to fix all the issues itfinds. You can alsomanually run each cleaningtask individually. If you domake some massive changesto the Registry during thecleanup, the History featurehas you covered—it lets youjump back to previoussettings by undoingchanges to the Registry.

There’s a processmanager that displays allrunning applications—youcan choose to shut downapplications like you wouldin the Windows Task

Manager; only here, youcan also stop them fromrunning again. This isuseful when you’ve foundwhat could possibly be aworm or virus onyour drive.

The program is fairlylight: it only takes up 30MB of RAM.

System Mechanic 7.5 hascome a long way, and therehave been a lot of newfeatures added. The price

tag of $49.95 (Rs 2,000) isstill a little too steep,though, considering thereare free Registry cleanerslike CCleaner available fordownload.

SpecificationsMicrosoft Vista / XP / 2000compatible; Use on up tothree PCs

System Mechanic 7.5.3Solid Maintenance For Your PC

Features Performance Ease of UseValue for MoneyOverall

RATINGS

Web site: www.iolo.comPrice: $49.95 (Rs 2,000)


Digital Tools l Know More About

Samir Makwana

Dumping a cupboard-full of documents, audio cassettes,video tapes and even photo albums on a hard drive orDVD might sound easy, but is actually a complex

process. Operating systems use logical data structures for stor-ing, organising and keeping track of files on a partition or onan optical disc, called a filesystem.

The basic function of a filesystem is to make efficient use ofdisk space for data storage, ease basic file opera-tions (read, write, copy and delete) and cataloguefiles for faster retrieval.

A disk partition is like a compartment in atrain, while the filesystem is the seating arrange-ment fixed within the compartments. Beforeusing any partition on a disk, a logical filesystemneeds to be initialised on it. Let’s have a look athow a typical filesystem works.

How Filesystems WorkThe space in a hard drive is divided into unitscalled sectors, usually of 512 bytes. The filesys-tem groups the sectors together after creatinga sector index; the group is called a cluster or anallocation unit. It’s difficult for the filesystemto deal with data on a sector-by-sector basis, sowhen the filesystem needs to access a sector

for a read-write operation, it will first define the clusternumber of that sector. Then from that cluster, it will use thesector index to access that particular sector.

Each logical volume (hard drive) has a table—called theFile Allocation Table (FAT)—that carries all the informationabout the sectors and the files stored on those sectors.

Types Of FilesystemsDisk-based filesystemsThese would be found on hard disks, CD-ROMs and DVDs.Files are stored in a sequence of bytes on fixed-sized blockscalled sectors; these filesystems feature random-access filereads and writes, and also file fragmentation across the disk.

Some disk-based filesystems also have journalling and ver-sioning. In a Journalling filesystem like XFS on the SiliconGraphics platform, changes in files are logged first in a spe-cially-allocated area called a Journal before they’re actuallywritten on the main filesystem. Versioning filesystems likeOpenVMS allow for the existence of several versions of thesame file, and take periodic backups.

Popular disk-based filesystems include:

Windows: New Technology File System (NTFS), File AllocationTable (FAT, FAT16, FAT32), and many more; Linux:ext, ext2, ext2fs, NSS, ReiserFS and several othersbased on Linux and Unix variantsMac OS X: Hierarchical filesystem (HFS+), HFS,Macintosh filesystem (MFS), Xsan

Disk-based filesystems can be further classi-fied into:Solid-state media filesystems: These aredesigned for storing files on devices that rely onFlash memory as their storage. Such filesystemsrequire special handling, because data blockswear out if information is repetitively writtenand rewritten on the drive. Besides, the blockshave to be erased explicitly before any data iswritten on them. The Journaling Flash filesystem(JFFS) and Yet Another Flash filesystem (YAFFS),are popular solid-state filesystems.Record-oriented filesystems: The basic purposeof such filesystems is to store files in the formof records to be compatible with older operat-

ing systems that are used exclusively on mainframes andminicomputers.Shared-disk filesystem: These are also known as SAN (Stor-age Area Network) filesystems or Cluster filesystem. As thename suggests, they are used on huge blocks of storage whichare directly accessible to computers via a network connection.

Network FilesystemsNetwork filesystems (or distributed filesystems) support thesharing of files, printers and other computing resources overa network. The performance of such filesystems is measuredby the time it requires to satisfy the service requests by dif-ferent computers connected on the network.

Such filesystems are found on file-servers and provideaccess to files by acting as clients for remote access protocolslike NFS (Network filesystem) or SMB (Server Message). NFSand SMB are popular examples of network filesystems.

Several network filesystems prevail today: 9P, Apple Fil-ing Protocol (AFP), NetWare Core Protocol (NCP), Coda, Dis-tributed File System (DFS) and Google File System (GFS), toname a few.

Filesystems are critical for storage media to run properlywith the operating system. Regular maintenance and protec-tion from malware is not only advisable, it’s necessary.

[email protected]

You know FAT is a filesystem, that NTFS is a better filesystem, etc. But what is a filesystem?How do they work?

How files are distributed in a FAT filesystem


BURNING SOFTWARE

CDBurnerXP

We burn CDs and DVDs all thetime, and Nero’s all-too-well-known suite isn’t the only

option. CDBurnerXp is a free alternative

to Nero, if you don’t want to cough upfor Nero’s features.

Using The DropboxThe dropbox feature allows you to

browse through your Windows foldersand dump the items you want to burn.This way, you don’t need to browseusing the CDBurnerXP interface. To usethe feature, click the Show Dropboxbutton on the toolbar or go to View >Show Dropbox. Drag and drop filesonto the box that appears at the top left

of the screen. The dropbox shows thesize of the compilation and the currentpath where the folders are beingdumped. Right-click on it and clickSelect Folder To Drop Into. Thisway you can choose which folder thefiles get dumped. To get back to thedefault interface, click the Closebutton on the dropbox.

Set Media Size ManuallyOptical disc burning software

generally detects the media inserted inthe drive and determines the amount ofdata that can go on it, but you won’t getaccurate information if you’re piling upfor a future burn with no disc in thedrive. To tell the software the type andcapacity of the media, right-click on the

bar for data being burnt and clickSelect media size. Choose the typeof the media you’ll be using. Thechanges will be seen immediately in themain program as well as in the dropbox.

Printing CD CoversCDBurnerXP might be a fraction of

the size of Nero, but it’s still got basicfeatures like printing CD covers. Onceyou have all your data in place forburning, go to File > Print coverand select the type of cover. Enter thename of your disc, and if you want to,choose an image for the cover. SelectPreview to see how it’ll turn out. Ifyou’re happy with it, press Print.

File FilterThe file filter feature allows you to

filter out file types that you don’t wantto burn. For example, if you want toburn all the PDFs in a folder and noneof the Excel or Word documents, youwill find the feature useful. Click onEdit > File Filter. Enter the fileformats that you want to filter with asemicolon to separate them. Forexample, *.pdf;*.doc;*.xls willonly display the PDF, DOC, and XLSformats.

Disc Labelling Data OptionsMost of the time, all the CDs and

DVDs you burn end up with the sameold senseless label—DISC or DISC1.CDBurnerXP can change this. Go toFile > Options > Data Optionstab. Under Default Disc Label,enter DVD $day $month $year. Thereare other variables like $time, $userand $date that you can use as well.Click OK and then restart the programfor the changes to take effect.

The dropbox makes it easier to compile datafor a burn

Set the type of media so you know in advancehow much space there is

Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks

TIPSBurning Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Google Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Comodo Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

30 MINUTES EXPERTXP Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Norton Ghost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

SECRETS THAT KEEP YOU AHEAD IN THE RACE

CDBurnerXP houses a basic cover printingfeature!

Let CDBurnerXP automatically label discs for youHarsho Mohan Chattoraj


Digital Toos l Tips & Tricks Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks

ShowTime interface and clicking onOptions. Click on DNC. Turn it on ifit’s off.

Dynamic Range ControlDynamic Range Control is not just

another fancy name for a feature inNero ShowTime. It is basicallynormalisation of the volume of theaudio stream—so if you’re listening tomusic files of different volume levels,you won’t have to jump to the PC everytime a loud file plays. Right-click on theShowTime interface, select Optionsand go to Audio > DRC.

(Pseudo) Surround Sound OnHeadphones!

Nero ShowTime is great for watchinghigh-definition videos, and with these,you’re bound to get multi-channel audioas well. Now not all of us have fancysurround sound speaker setups. Nerocan simulate surround sound and givesatisfactory results on stereo speakersand headphones as well! Right-click onthe ShowTime interface and selectOptions. Under Audio, uncheck thebox for Use Windows Settings. Fromthe dropdown, select the type of setupyou have—if you select 2 speakers, useNero Virtual Speaker from theOutput mode. If you have headphones,

check Nero Headphone.

Customise FontsNero uses an On-screen

Display (OSD) to displayinformation of the video ormovie being played. By default,a set of fonts and colours areassigned to it, but you canselect a better set of fonts andcolours if you wish. Go toOptions and click on OSDSettings under General.Make sure Enable is checked,and then click on Set Font tochange the font type for theOSD. In the previous menu,you will also find the optionfor setting a colour and a

position where you want the OSD toshow up.

Similar fonts are used to displaysubtitles for movies. There, too, you canset which fonts should be used todisplay them. In the Options window,click on External Subtitles; checkthe box against Enable ExternalSubtitles and click the Set Fontbutton to set a different font style.

Video QualityHigh-definition playback isn’t very

easy for all hardware unless there’shardware decoding support from yourgraphics card or if you have a fairly newdual-core processor. Nero has anautomatic quality setting that downsizesthe quality of the video if your systemdoesn’t perform too well. You can findthis option under Video Qualityunder Options > Video. The settingshould be set to Auto-adjust. If youknow your system performs fine, thenyou would want the best quality—pushthe slider to Maximum Quality and viceversa if your system isn’t performing aswell as you’d like.

Nero’s Image Mounting toolNero comes with software called

ImageDrive which you’ll find underNero Toolkit in the Start Menu. It allowsyou to mount .NRG and .ISO images as avirtual drives so you can load some ofyour backed-up discs without having toput them in the drive. When you firstrun it, it installs the drivers whichcreate a virtual drive. Once that’s done,click on the Enable drive checkboxfor the first drive. If you want a seconddrive, you can check that box as well. Anew tab called First Drive willappear. Click on it and point to theimage you want to mount. Now whenyou go to My Computer or Explorer, youwill find a new drive in the list. Clickingon it will reveal all the files and foldersfrom the image.

Nero DiscSpeedDVDs have had a comparatively

notorious reputation when it comes toreliability, so it’s very important to usegood media and check the data on it.Nero DiscSpeed, under Nero Toolkit,allows you to check for disc quality.Select the Disc Quality tab and inserta burnt disc into the drive. Make sureyou have the DVD drive selected from thedrop-down menu at the top and clickStart. The software gauges the qualityof the burnt disc. A final score will beshown in the Quality score field on theright. On Internet forums, you’ll find alot of such media scan posts. Run thistest on different kinds of media you’veburnt so you know which media worksbest with your drive.

Burning Audio CDs If you’re burning data CDs all the

time and you want to burn an AudioCD, you’ll notice no option to create anew Audio CD—the only way is to closeCDBurnerXP and restart it; only thistime, make sure you choose the CreateAudio CD button. Now you can dragand drop audio files like you woulddata files.

If you want to burn an audio CDwithout spaces between tracks, use thedropdown menu for Burn disc withDAO when in Audio CD burning mode.

Creating A Bootable DiscCreating bootable discs may be

needed while trying to create LiveCDs orbooting into them for OS installations.Go to Disc > Boot options andmark the checkbox against Make DiscBootable. Click the button to select theimage and choose the type of emulationfrom the dropdown menu. You can also

create an image from a floppy drive byclicking on Create Floppy Drive.

Working With Disc ImagesCDBurnerXP has features that allow

you to create or burn disc images. If youhave images that were created on Nero,for example, you can convert them to ISOby going to File > Convert ISOImage. Select the source file—which canbe either a BIN or an NRG file—and thenselect a location to create the image in.Click the Convert to ISO button.

Discs can be replicated in the samemanner. If you don’t want to burn themright away, you can have the imagecreated from the disc dumped on thehard drive. Go to File > Copy ISOdisc. Select the source drive and insteadof the destination drive being the opticaldisc drive, select the hard drive. Now anew field will appear. Here you canchoose the path and a name for the ISOto be dumped.

NERO 8

Nero isn’t just about the BurningROM software—it’s also about allthe extras that come with it. You

can find the installer for the trialversion of Nero 8 on the November DVD.

Move The Cache FolderNero uses a location on the hard

drive when it needs to cache files beforeburning them. If you’re running shorton space in your main partition, youwould want to change it to one withmore free space. Go to File >Options > Cache and click onBrowse to choose a new location.

Sounds For EventsNero has support for sounds but

they are disabled by default. Go to File> Options > Sounds tab to setsounds for events. The sounds that comewith Nero are in the default locations,but you can select the ones you want byclicking the Browse button.

Nero BurnRightsNero BurnRights is an application

that comes with Nero; it allows you todefine which users on your system canburn CDs and DVDs. Go to Start >All Programs > Nero 8 > NeroToolkit > Nero BurnRights. Selectthe type of users that you want to givepermission to and click OK.

Do Not Eject The DriveEvery CD burnt is immediately

ejected from the drive by default inNero. To keep the CD or DVD in thedrive once it’s done, go to File >Options > Expert Features. Checkthe box against Do not eject thedisc after the burn iscomplete and click OK.

Retro NeroWe all miss the Nero

Burning ROM from the pastyears when it was a compactlittle CD / DVD burningsoftware and not a completesuite with modules we neveruse. It’s reached a point wherethere are tiny, hacked, illegalreleases of Nero Burning ROM

made available on the Internet whichtake a fraction of the space of the entiresuite. If you have the nasty habit ofblindly clicking “Next” during the Nero8 installation, you’ll most probably haveskipped the screen where you choosethe Custom installation mode. Uninstallyour current copy of Nero if you have itinstalled. Start the installation till youreach the window where you can choosebetween Typical and Custominstallation. Select the Custominstall option and click Next. You’llsoon see a window with the list of allthe Nero components selected. Click oneach one of them and select ThisFeature Will Not Be Available.Do the same for everything other thanNero Burning ROM and continue with

the installation. At the end, you’ll havecompleted your own clean compact NeroBurning ROM installation the way itused to be.

Searching For SpecificFormats

Trying to search for a few selectedfiletypes you need to burn can be anightmare in an unassorted folder. Tolook for a particular file usingwildcards, right-click on the folder inthe left pane of the browser window.Click on Select pattern. Enterwildcards with semicolons as seperatorsand click OK. For example, entering*Digit*;*.PDF as the pattern willselect all files with “Digit” in theirnames and PDFs as well.

Encode Audio FilesNero Burning ROM comes with an

in-built audio encoder: go to Extras >Encode Files, click on Add and

select the files you want to encode.Using the drop-down menu for Outputfile format, select which format youwant to encode to and click on theSettings button to set parameters forthe encoder. Finally, click on theBrowse button to select where youwant to store the encoded files onceencoded. Click Go to start encoding!

Better CompatibilityOne of the issues with media and

the way they are burned is that is thatthey’re not always compatible on allDVD players. There are a few things thatcan be done to solve this: one of them isto set the high-compatibility mode onfor your drive. Click on the ChooseRecorder button to the right of thedrop-down menu for selecting the drive.Select your drive and click on Options.Check the box against DVD HighCompatibility Mode. This will makesure that at least a gigabyte of data iswritten on the media even if you don’thave that much data.

Another thing you can do is to usethe Book Type settings—this is basicallyis to tell the drive that you haveinserted a DVD-ROM (for example) not aDVD-RW or any other kind of DVD. Thisway, there are better chances of thedrive reading your media. Use the drop-down menu for Book Type settings inthe drive properties window and selectDVD-ROM, as it generally gives bettercompatibility.

NERO SHOWTIMEDynamic Noise ControlIf you’re playing CDs or DVDs, you

would know that your drives runcontinuously like your hard drives do.The noise from spinning up and downof the drives can be distracting. Nero’sdevelopers have implemented a featurecalled dynamic noise control that helpsreduce this sound. You can find thisoption by right clicking on the Nero

Remember to restart CDBurnerXP if you wantto burn an audio CD. It’s a bit annoying, butthere you go

Easter Egg!

Nero Burning ROM still has the Easter Eggwhich you can find in most of its earlier ver-sions. Go to Help > About to see thecredits. Double-click in this window andyou’ll see the credits text flowing with dif-ferent kind of effects. If you hold down [Ctrl]and [Shift] together and then double-click,the effects and scrolling will speed up.

A basic audio encoder is built into Nero Burning ROM

Embedding a boot image onto a disc is simpleto do

Dynamic Noise Control can help lower drive noise withcertain drives

Watching movies with surround sound onheadphones is worth trying



GOOGLE SERVICES

Google’s all but taken over ouronline lives now—can you imaginedoing anything without it?

PICASADownload Albums From PicasaWeb Albums

Photos that you see on Picasa WebAlbums can be downloaded directly tothe Picasa program without having tomanually save each photo from withinyour browser. When on an album page,look for a link on the left side that saysDownload Album; confirm thedownload, and once it’s complete, youcan view all the downloaded albums byclicking on the Downloaded Albumlink on the left.

Upload Your Albums One of the biggest and the most

important feature of Picasa is itsintegration with Google’s online photohosting service—Picasa Web. Click on theSign in to Web Albums link on thetop right of the Picasa window to log into the service—use your Google user IDand password. Once signed in, select theimages you want to upload and click theWeb Album button at the bottom. Give atitle to the album and other descriptionif needed. Select the resolution you wantso that the images can be resized, andchoose whether you want to make thealbum public or private. Click OK andthe images will be uploaded.

Creating Albums With StarredPhotos

Just like in Gmail and Google Reader,you can “star” important photos. Browseto the folders or albums where you haveall your photos. Select the ones you want

and click the Star icon at the bottom ofthe screen. When you’re done, go toFile > New Album and give it a nameand description. Now click on StarredPhotos, select all the images and dragthem into your newly-created album.

Getting More OrganisedWhen you install Picasa and run it

for the first time, it asks you whether youwant to scan your entire hard drive orjust scan your My Documents folder. Allthe photos on the hard drive appear asfolders and albums on the left andthere’s no real way of identifying whichfolders they belong to on your hard drive.Sometimes, unnecessary images like onesfrom your browser cache folders alsomake their way into the list. The firstthing to do is to manually enter the pathsthat you want to scan. You can do this bygoing to Tools > Folder Manager.Choose the folders you don’t want, selectthe Remove from Picasa radio buttonand click OK. Add any folders that Picasamay have left out in the same manner.

Another way you can see from wherePicasa has listed all the photos is to go toView > Folder View > Tree View.

Backing Up Photos Every now and again, your hard

drive is bound to get clogged withphotos that you’ve taken and it is a goodidea to keep backing them up from timeto time. Picasa gives you the option toburn your photos on to optical discs. Goto Tools > Backup Pictures, selectNew Set and give a name to it. Alsomention what formats you want to saveand if you’d like to save the backup intoa different folder or a network drive byclicking on Disk-to-disk backup.Click Create to finish. Now check thecheckboxes for the folders and albumsyou want to backup and select Backup.

In the location that you backed up thephotos, you’ll find PicasaRestore.exe,which you can run to restore the imagesto the original path.

Picasa also has a Gift CD feature—goto Folder > Create a Gift CD.

Click on Add More to add more foldersto the gift CD. Select the resolution forthe photos using the Photo Size drop-down menu and give the CD a name.Finally, click Burn Disc to burn the CD.

Adding CaptionsTo add a caption to a photo, double-

click on it and you will find a small textarea at the bottom of the photo. Enteryour caption here and hit [Enter]. Todelete the caption, click the Deletethis caption icon on the right. Toview the captions while in the mainphoto index view, go to View >Thumbnail Caption > Caption.

Host Your Own Web AlbumsIf you don’t want to use Google’s

online Web space to store your photos,you can upload them to your ownpersonal Web site’s FTP server. Right-click on the album you want to uploadand select Export as HTML Page.Enter a name for the album title and theresolution that you want to export theimages to. Click Next, choose a templatefrom the list and click Finish. Thefinished page will be displayed in yourdefault Web browser. You can uploadthat folder to your site and create a linkto it from your main page.

There’s a feature that Google claimsas experimental but it allows you toupload the photos to the FTP serverdirectly through Picasa. Go to Tools >Experimental > Publish via FTP.Again, select a resolution, a save locationand a template. Now you’ll be promptedto select an account. Click on AccountManager to create a new account. ClickAdd an Account and enter your FTPserver information—address, user andpassword—and click OK. Now you canselect your new FTP server and click OK.

GMAILGoogle never stops plugging new featuresinto Gmail. We take a look through someof the more useful ones added recently.

Colour Labels AndOrganising

Labels and filters are a good wayto sort e-mail. To create a label, goto Settings > Labels, give ita name and click on Create.Now your label will appear in abox to the left side of the window.Click on the blank box to theright of the label and select acolour to assign it to the label.

You can set labels to yourmails manually by clicking thecheckbox for the mail andclicking the dropdown menu formore actions and selecting thelabel of your choice. You can set

more than one label to the mail. Backup photo albums to a drive or even on a CD to giftit to someone



Even More XP SecretsHere are some things you thought you couldn’t do in XP

Asfaq Tapia

We won’t waste much time with thisintroduction, so here it is—another

round of tips and tricks that will improveperformance, stability and sort littleannoyances in XP, among other things. Statutory warning: Playing with your Registrycan be injurious to your PC’s health.

System Volume Information If you use System Restore, you must have

noticed the System Volume Informationfolders in the root of each of your drives.This folder stores the files used by SystemRestore. Their sizes can sometime balloonto gigabytes, because System Restoredoesn’t delete your older restore pointswhen creating a new one. Moreover, everytime you try to access the folder, you getthe Access Denied error. Oh, and you can’tdelete the folder, either. So what do youdo when you want to view its contents?

In an Explorer Window, go to Tools> Folder Options > View. Here,choose Show Hidden Files andFolders. Uncheck Hide ProtectedOperating System Files and UseSimple File Sharing.

You should now be able to access theSystem Volume Information folder; if not,you’ll have to add yourself to the list ofusers allowed to access the folder. Right-click on System Volume Information andgo to Properties > Security. ClickAdd under Groups or User namesand enter your username in the dialogthat appears. Click OK, and in the bottomhalf of the Security tab, grant yourselfall the permissions.

Sort Menus AlphabeticallyStart the Registry editor: Start > Run> regedit > [Enter]. Navigate toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder

Right click on the MenuOrder folder,choose Permissions; go to Advancedin the new window that pops up, anduncheck the entry Inherit fromparent the permission entriesthat apply to child objects.Include these with entriesexplicitly defined here. Asecurity dialog box will open up; chooseCopy. This will take you back to theAdvanced Security Settings forMenuOrder dialog. Click OK here. In thePermissions dialog, uncheck FullControl in your account and securitygroups. Don’t change the Readpermission. Reboot the computer and allyour menus will be alphabetically sorted.

Increasing Internet BandwidthWindows XP reserves 20 per cent of yourInternet bandwidth for Quality of Service.This is unnecessary, and can be disabled:

Open the Group Policy Editor: Start> Run > gpedit.msc > [Enter]

In the left-hand column in thewindow, navigate to ComputerConfiguration > AdministrativeTemplates> Network> QoSPacketScheduler.

In therightcolumn,double-clickLimitrese-rvablebandwidthand selectEnabled.

Change the Bandwidth Limit to 0and click OK.

Getting Rid Of The “Unread EmailMessages” Message......on the Welcome Screen, that is. Here’show to do it:

Start the Registry Editor: Start >Run > regedit > [Enter]

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Right-click on the CurrentVersionkey and select New > Key. Name thisUnreadMail.

Right-click on the blank area on theright side, and select New > DWORDValue. Call it MessageExpiryDaysand give it a value of 0.

You may need to log off or restart forthe changes to take effect.

Modifying the “Internet” Key OnInternet KeyboardsYou can change what programs you wantto launch with the Internet key:

Open the Registry Editor and navigateto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AppKey\7

Right-click in the right column andcreate a new String calledShellExecute

Set the value as the application path,for example, C:\ProgramFiles\Opera\Opera.exe. If you wantto disable the key, delete the value fromShellExecute and leave it blank.

Open Explorer With A Single Pane When you use [Windows] + [E] to open aWindows Explorer window, it opens inthe two-pane layout. To have it openwith a single pane by default, dothe following.

In the Registry Editor, navigate toHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\explore\ddeexec

Double-click on (Default) andchange the string to[ViewFolder(“%l”, %I, %S)](including the brackets)

To revert to the double-pane window,set (Default) to[ExploreFolder(“%l”, %I, %S)]

[email protected]

Here is the error you’ll see when trying toaccess the System Volume Information

The start menu gets sorted automatically, too

Increase your bandwidth by 20 per cent



To set up filters, go to Settings >Filters and click on Create a NewFilter. Enter information for thenecessary criteria along with wildcards.For example, if you want all your mailsfrom Orkut to be labelled, enter orkutin the subject field. Go to the next step.Check the box against Apply a Labeland select a label from the list. Set anyother options that you want and clickCreate Filter.

Connecting To AIM ThroughGMail

You can now login to your AIM or ICQuser ID using Gmail. When you’ve loggedinto Gmail, click on Options in the Chatand click Sign into AIM. Enter yourusername and password and click onSign in. You will be logged in, and allyour AIM contacts will be displayed alongwith your Google Talk buddies with anAIM logo on the side.

IMAP For Free!Gmail has had POP3 for a while

now and now they’re taking it one stepfurther—you can now get IMAP too! IMAPsynchronises mail between the Gmailserver and your local machine ordevices. So now, you can have the samemails on your Gmail account on theInternet, your desktop computer, yourphone and so on, as long as the mailclient supports IMAP. Anything that youdo to your mail from any device will beupdated on the server. So if you move afile from one folder to the other usingyour phone, that change will bereflected on Gmail and your mail clientat home.

First, enable IMAP for our account—once you’re logged into your Gmailaccount, go to Settings >Forwarding and POP / IMAP.Under the header IMAP Access, clickEnable IMAP and click SaveChanges. Next, set up IMAP for the mailclient. We’ll use Outlook Express sinceit’s available on every Windowsmachine. You can use similar steps forany other IMAP-supporting mail clientthat you may use. Create a new IMAPaccount by going to Tools >Accounts and select Add > Mail.Enter a display name and your Gmailaddress. Keep clicking Next till youreach the Window where you need toenter the server addresses. Select theserver type as IMAP from the drop-down.Enter the address for incoming mailserver as imap.gmail.com andoutgoing as smtp.gmail.com. ClickNext. Enter your account name [email protected]. Enteryour password and proceed to finish thesetup. Click on Properties for theaccount you just created. Go to theAdvanced tab and enter the Outgoing

SMTP port number as 465 and incomingas 993. Also check the boxes againstThis server requires a secureconnection (SSL) for both theincoming and outgoing ports. Beforeclicking OK, go to the Servers tab andcheck the box against My serverrequires authentication for theOutgoing Mail server. Click OK and clickthe Send / Receive button. All the folderson your Gmail server will be downloadedand you can start using your IMAPenabled GMail account.

ORKUTWe’ll be honest here—we’re not thebiggest Orkut fans, but you can’tignore it. With a Firefox add-on calledGreasemonkey, you can enhance yourOrkut-ing experience quite a bit.

Scripts for FirefoxOther than the general JavaScript

tricks that work on any browser, thereare some that work on Greasemonkey.Greasemonkey is an add-on for Firefoxthat allows you to run scripts that canmodify the characteristics of a page.

You can get information onGreasemonkey from www.greasespot.net. Download Greasemonkey fromthere. Once you’ve installed the add-on,restart Firefox.

Widescreen Orkut-ingWidescreen LCDs are great for

gaming and for watching movies. Itturns out Orkut on widescreen ispretty useful as well.

There’s a Greasemonkey scriptwhich stretches Orkut pages so you seea lot more and have far less verticalscrolling to do.

When you have Greasemonkeysetup right, visithttp://userscripts.org/scripts/source/12286.user.js. A window shouldpop up to confirm the adding of thescript. Click Install. Orkut pageswill now be stretched to the width ofthe window.

Add A Formatting BarWhen it’s time to scrap your buddy

back and you want to keep things a littlecolourful, you’re busy looking for theformatting tools like in any other forum.Orkut’s formatting tools can be accessedby clicking the scrap tips link next tothe text entry box. There’s also aGreasemonkey script that will make theformatting tools show up right on top ofthe text box. Download it fromhttp://userscripts.org/scripts/source/12841.user.js.

Adding a Talk gadget in OrkutWe’ve shown you how to use

Google Talk in your browser before, butnow you can go crazy chatting withyour buddies through Orkut itself.Download this script:http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/12532.user.js. Go back to yourOrkut home page and you’ll see aGoogle Talk addon above your friendslist. Click Show GTalk to show theapplication.

Keyboard Shortcuts For OrkutWith the power of Greasemonkey

and its scripts, you can now use shortcutsto quickly jump from your scrapbook toyour home page, for example. Downloadthe script from http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/12784.user.js and then usethe shortcuts given below.

Home: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [H]Scrapbook: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [S]Friends list: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [F]Communities: [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [C]

Hiding Your ContentGoogle’s stepped up their effort to

make Orkut a little more private by

Greasemonkey can be used to add and modifyfeatures in a page

Privacy has been implemented in Orkut

The lack of visible formatting tools can befixed by using a Greasemonkey script



To The RescueUse Norton Ghost to keep your data safe from untoward incidents

Samir Makwana

Norton Ghost may cost a bit, but it’s abrilliant solution to take backups

and images of your data. You can find thetrial version on this month’s DVD.

The BasicsWhen you run the program for thefirst time, you’ll be asked to select abackup destination. Choose any healthydrive or partition except for C:, or

better yet, an external hard disk. Aftersetting the backup destination, definethe source—choose Run or ManageBackups under the Tasks menu orthe main screen. Ghost lets you backup selected files and folders, or entiredrives. Drive backups are calledRecovery Points, and are saved with the.v2i, .iv2i or .pqi extensions. The newversion of Ghost lets you create driveimages as well as file and folderbackups (the older versions were onlydrive imaging utilities), so it’s acomplete backup solution.

To define a backup, open theTasks tab in Ghost and choose Runor Manage Backups. To back upeverything on your computer, selectBack Up My Computer. The BackUp My Documents option will allow

back up your MyDocuments folder, inaddition to file typeslike music, movies andso on. To change thedrives you want to backup (or files in the lattercase), click on the driveletter (or folder name)in the dialog.

The recovery pointsyou create can be copiedto CD DVD under Tools> Copy RecoveryPoint.

Browsing A Recovery Point Once you’ve made a recovery point of apartition or on your hard drive, you canbrowse through the files as they wereat the time of the backup, and evenrestore individual files instead ofrestoring the entire recovery point. Go

to Tools > Recovery PointBrowser and open the RecoveryPoint you want to browse through.To restore an old version of a file,right-click on it and chooseRecover.

You can also browse therecovery point in WindowsExplorer by mounting it as aseparate drive. In the RecoveryPoint Browser, select theRecovery Point and click Mount.Alternatively, you can useWindows Explorer to browse tothe Recovery Point, right-click onit and choose Mount. You’ll be

asked to give it a drive letter, and you’llbe able to browse through it like youwould any other partition on your PC.Any changes you make to the mountedimage will go away once you un-mountthe recovery point.

Unattended Backups And RestoresYou can schedule incremental backupsunder the Status menu by editing thecalendar. Right-click on the calendarand choose Define New Backup. Tobackup computers on the network, goto Computers > Add and add the IPaddress of the computer you want toback up. Once it’s connected, you cancreate recovery points, schedule, andeven restore backups on the computersin the list.

Helpful ToolsBackups can be taxing on your system;you can set adefaultperformancelevel forbackups inTasks >Options >Performance.

You canalso setsecurityoptions whilesetting up abackup undertheAdvancedtab. You’ll getdifferent encryption options to password-protect (the character limit depends onthe encryption level) the backup files.

Pay!When you pay and obtain the full

version of Ghost, you get theability to convert recoverypoints to VMware virtual disks,and the ability to copy onehard disk to another. Existingrecovery points can beconverted to the VMWarevirtual disk format for use as avirtual OS. Go to Tools >Convert to Virtual Disk.To make a copy of your harddrive, go to Tools > Copy MyHard Drive.

[email protected]

A good backup strategy is always important

Specify critical files and folders for backing up

Timely backups can bring about peace of mind!

Backups stay secured bysetting password-protectedencryption



allowing you to hide parts of yourcontent. As usual, you can find thesepermissions under Settings >Privacy. There have been some newoptions added here. Items like photos,videos, feeds and testimonials can nowbe made viewable only to your friends.

There’s also an option to disableyour Orkut profile from appearing inGoogle’s search results! Click on thehide information radio button and clicksave changes when done.

COMODO FIREWALLPRO 3.0

The “Pro” in Comodo Firewall Promight imply an expensivecommercial firewall, but it’s

available free on their site—http://personalfirewall.comodo.com andour CD every month. It’s no half-completesoftware either—it’s loaded with featuresand plenty of options to play around with.

While installing the firewall, be sureto choose Advanced Firewall withDefense+, which gives you more alertsand a few more advanced features.

View Current ConnectionsEver wonder which process is

hogging all your bandwidth? ComodoFirewall has a feature that allows you

to view all the connections going fromyour PC to the network or Internet andvice versa. Click on the Firewall icon onthe top of the window and select ViewActive Connections.

Here you can see all details such aslocal and destination ports and IPaddresses. You can even force-close aconnection by right clicking on it andchoosing Terminate Connection.

Disable Popup AlertsWith the Defense+ feature enabled,

the pop-ups you’ll receive will be morethan your patience can handle. You’ll getan alert for everything from connectionalerts to programs accessing otherprograms. Right-click on the Comodo

Firewall icon in the system tray and un-check Display Balloon Messages.Click Apply.

However, if you don’t want ComodoFirewall to monitor everything, click onDefense+ and then on the Advancedtab on the left. Click on Defense+Settings. Select Monitor Settingsand then uncheck the activities youdon’t want monitored. Click Apply.

Quarantining Processes AndPrograms

Similar to looking for connections madeby programs to and from the Internet,Defense+ allows you to look forprograms and processes currently active.Like in the Task Manager, you canterminate programs or quarantine themand move them to a safe folder. This isuseful to isolate suspicious programs—which might be worms or viruses—onthe computer.

Click on Defense+ from the topbar. Select View Active ProcessList. Here you can right-click on anyprocess and click Terminate (orTerminate And Quarantine toterminate and move the program intoquarantine).

Blocking Networks AndMachines

To block IP addresses or entirenetworks, go to Firewall > MyBlocked Network Zones. SelectAdd > A New Blocked Address…Here, you can choose to block IPaddresses or range of IPs or even MACaddress. Add the required informationand then click Apply.

Policies For SoftwarePolicies aren’t limited to the

network in Comodo Firewall—you cancreate policies for all kinds of softwarerunning on your OS as well. You can

also create your own custom policies forprograms. Go to Defense+ >Advanced tab. Select PredefinedSecurity Policies to view existingpolicies and to add new ones. You canchange the existing policies by clickingon any one, then clicking Edit andchoosing Access Rights orProtection Settings.

To create a new policy, click on Add,and set permissions and access rights in

the same manner. To set this policy toan application, click on ComputerSecurity Policy. Select theapplication you want to set the policyfor and click on Edit.

Check the Use a PredefinedPolicy radio button and then selectyour custom policy from the drop-downmenu next to it.

Parental ControlNow that you have your firewall

set up and restrictions in place, youwouldn’t want other users to alter thesettings all the time. This is done byenabling the parental control. Go toMiscellane-ous > Settings. Clickthe Parental Control tab and checkthe box to enable password protectionfor the settings you’ve made. ClickChange Password to set a password.

Submitting Suspicious FilesEvery once in a while, you come

across a worm or virus that your anti-virus program can’t clean or evendetect. At such times, use the filesubmission feature to send the fileacross to Comodo’s developers. ComodoFirewall allows you to upload the filesto them so they can analyse and create apossible fix for it. Under Miscellan-eous, select Submit SuspiciousFiles. Click on Add to add files. Add adescription and mail ID if required.

Importing And ExportingSettings

Once you’redonesetting upandtweakingComodothe way youneed it, youwant to beable to storeand loadthe settingsfor futureuse. Youcan createprofiles andswitch toany of themwheneveryou want.Go toMiscellan-eous andthen on Manage My Configurat-ions. Click on Export to export yoursettings. Give a name and save the file.To import a saved configuration, go toImport > Import and select the fileyou saved. Now you can switch betweenprofiles by clicking on Select andcheck from one of the profile.

Setting policies and then applying them toprograms

You’ll find several types of predefined policies

Never lose your settings: youcan save them!

Machine LanguageWhenever I restart my Windows XPcomputer, I get this error message: “Stop

0xC000021A”.Bhavesh Shah

This happens if the Wbemprox.dll library isprematurely unloaded. You need to down-

load and install the hotfix fromhttp://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451(http://tinyurl.com/34jrgl). Restart yourcomputer and you should find it’s OK.

Unpacking The Service!I recently installed SP1 on Windows XP andthen used System Restore to revert Windows

to the previous state. I am now not able to createa network connection.

Ram Kapadia

If you reinstall SP1, the problem will besolved, but if for some reason you don’t

want to install SP1, there is a workaround.Open the Registry Editor and go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan. Select File >Export, type EXPKEY in the File Name box,and click Save. Double-click on theObjectName String Value in the RasMan key,type LocalSystem in the Value Data box, andclick OK. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\PPP\EAP\25 and delete the key. (ClickYes to confirm.) Do the same withHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\PPP\EAP\26.Restart your computer. You should now beable to create a network connection.

Beep No More!I want to turn off system beeps, but I don’twant this to affect any other audio settings on

my computer.S Gopal

To disable system beeps, open theRegistry Editor and go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound. Modify or create the String ValueBeeps in the right pane and set its value to 0.Restart for the setting to take effect.

So It’s A Coaster...Whenever I try to install ASHAMPOO WINOPTIMIZER 2007 from the Digit CD, it shows

the following error message: “An I/O erroroccurred while installing a file.” When I abort it,a message says “corrupt installation file.” Howdo I install it?

Sunney

Like the error message says, this happenswhen the installer file is corrupt or

damaged, and that often happens often whenthe media itself is damaged.

Please e-mail [email protected] for areplacement.

Slo-MoI have an Athlon XP 3000+, an ASUS V82-mmotherboard, and 512 MB of RAM. My problem

is that Quake 3 runs very slowly.Shakti Dash

Check whether the latest ForceWare driversare installed; they are available at

www.nvidia.com.Also, try playing the game at lower resolu-

tions and turn down the effects.

92 DIGIT JANUARY 2008 93DIGIT JANUARY 2008

Poof!My computer suddenly shuts down after afew minutes of activity. My service engineer

checked everything including the heatsink andfans, but found nothing wrong. He replaced a fewcapacitors on the motherboard, but the problempersists.

J Ramesh

Since you’ve already gotten everythingchecked, our guess is that your power

supply is at fault—either it is not able to deliverenough power to your PC, or there is someother problem with it. Get it examined andpossibly replaced. You could go through ourDecember issue for an idea about what kind ofPSU you need.

Playing With PartitionsI am aware that there is a partition resizing util-ity in Vista, and I want to try it out, but I’m a

little afraid because of the risks involved. Please tellme what I need to know.

Ankit Pathak

The Disk Management Utility in Vista is anupgrade over that in XP; it can resize disk

volumes (partitions). Before getting into it, doback up all your data, because although it canresize partitions keeping the data intact, there isalways the risk of data loss in the case of a suddeninterruption (such as a power failure).

Open the Control Panel and type Partitionin the search box. Click on AdministrativeTools: Create and format hard disk partitions.To shrink a volume, right-click on the parti-tion to be shrunk (in Disk Management) andselect Shrink Volume. You will be able to seethe current size, space available to shrink, adialog box to enter the amount to shrink by,and the volume size after shrinking. Enterthe amount to shrink (in MB) and clickShrink. Similarly, to extend a volume

(increase the size), right-click on the partitionand select Extend Volume; the ExtendVolume Wizard will start. Here, you can spec-ify the amount that you want to increase thepartition by. Click Next, then on Finish tostart the process.

It’s Just The DriversI’m having a problem with the game Gangland.I’ve played the demo earlier, but now the full

version I bought gives this error:===== Console::Initialize() =====Compiled Sep 27 2005 10:58:36

(release build) Renderer rejected: RendererD3D.DLLRenderer found: RendererOGL v. 1.3

(release build)RendererOGL::GLInitialize(): Using

Microsoft Corporation GDI GenericRendererOGL::GLInitialize(): OpenGL

version 1.1.0RendererOGL::GLInitialize(): Card

doesn’t supportGL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc

Error creating renderer instanceWhat should I do? I’m using an ASUS V9400

Magic graphics card.Vijesh Vijayan

Your graphics card is based on the NVIDIAGeForce4 MX 4000 chipset. The error

message indicates that your OpenGL rendererdoes not support S3TC (S3 TextureCompression). The error message also indi-cates that the game is trying to use the graph-ics renderer from Microsoft and not fromNVIDIA, so your OpenGL file could be corrupt,or there could be a problem with your graph-ics drivers. Since your graphics card supportsS3TC, we suggest you install the latest refer-ence drivers for your card fromwww.nvidia.com. Your problem should besolved now.

Back From The FutureI upgraded from XP to Vista and I want to getback to XP. How can I do it without losing any of

my program settings?Manu Shastry

Currently, it is not possible to downgradefrom Vista to XP and retain all program

settings. You would have to do a clean formatof the partition and install XP. We’d advise ourreaders to dual-boot between Vista and XP(instead of upgrading) if they just want to geta taste of the new OS. Assuming Vista isinstalled on a partition different from whereXP is installed, do the following to uninstall it.Boot into XP. Insert your Vista DVD into thedrive or load the image in DVD emulation soft-ware. Run X:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52ALL /force where X is your Vista DVD driveletter. Restart the computer and you will findthat the old XP boot menu has returned.Format the partition where you’d installedVista, and remove Boot.BAK and Bootsect.BAK.That’s it!

E-mail us your computingproblems along with yourcontact details andcomplete system configuration tossooss@@jjaassuubbhhaaii..ccoomm, and we might answerthem here! Since we getmany more mails per daythan we can handle, itmay take some time foryour query to beanswered. Rest assured,we are listening!

Get Help Now!

Mode MessMy Sony DRU-820A DVD-Writer takes almost an hour tocopy a DVD. What could be the problem?

Bhuvnesh Agrawal

The data transfer mode of the DVD-Writer is probablyset to PIO, which is a lower-speed mode than the DMA

mode it should run at. To check this, open the DeviceManager by running devmgmt.msc, expand IDE/ATAPIcontrollers, double-click Primary IDE Channel, and clickon Advanced Settings. Set the Transfer Mode to “DMA ifavailable”, click OK, and restart the computer. If that does-n’t help, you might need to delete that channel and restartthe computer to re-detect the hardware. You might alsoneed to repeat this with the Secondary IDE Channel ifyour drive is not listed. If nothing happens after restart-ing, you should uninstall the IDE channel from the devicemanager and restart the computer so it can re-detecteverything on that channel. Your drive will now work inDMA mode and its transfer speed will improve.

If it doesn’t, try changing the IDE cable. You mightneed to replace the drive if none of the above helps.

Errors like these occur when installer files are corrupt

Makesure theIDEChannel isset to“DMA ifavailable”

Question

of the

Month

All your computing niggles and nagsare dealt with here!

Your Questions, Our Answers


It Won’t Work...I recently got myself a Tata Indicom Walkyphone with a cable to connect it to the PC. I

configured everything as told, but cannot connect tothe Internet. When I try to view the modem diagnos-tics, I get an error.

Rajnish Mathur

Your PC is not able to communicate withthe modem in your phone. Check in the

Phone and Modem Options in the ControlPanel to see if you’ve installed a generic 33.6Kbps model rather than a 56 Kbps modem.Access the modem properties and enter theinitialisation settings as AT+CRM=1. This isassuming you’ve created the dial-up connec-tion and are dialling the number “#777”. Theusername and password are to be entered as“internet”. In the phone, using the menu, youcan access the modem settings; select themodem speed as 115 Kbps. You should now beable to connect.

Game Over—For NowI have an Intel 915GAV chipset motherboard.When I start playing The Sims 2, I get the

error message “ialmrnt5 display driver hasstopped working normally”, and I have to rebootthe computer.

Eklavya Ashar

This error is due to a bug in the Intelgraphics driver. Install the latest drivers

from downloadcenter.intel.com. If you still getthe error, right-click on the The Sims 2 icon,select Properties, and add the switch -w tothe end of the target field so it looks some-thing like “C:\Program Files\EAGAMES\The Sims 2\TSBin\Sims2.exe” -w.(The actual path may vary depending on wherethe game’s been installed)

Direct ConnectI have a cable internet connection thatrequires me to dial using PPPoE. I recently

installed a 4-port router and configured it to dialdirectly to my ISP. The problem is that it is notable to connect despite my having correctlyconfigured the router to use PPPoE and enteringthe correct username and password.

M Krishnamurthy

It looks like your ISP has locked youraccount to the MAC address of your

network card, so you can only dial through thatcard. First, find the MAC address of yournetwork card by typing ipconfig /all in acommand prompt window. Copy that MACaddress. Launch the administration page ofyour router and search for the option to set theWAN MAC address (sometimes referred to as“WAN MAC Address Cloning”). Enter the MACaddress of your network card here and save thesettings. This will set the MAC address of yourrouter to the same as that of your network card,and it will seem to your ISP’s server that thenumber is being dialled through your networkcard. You will then be able to connect to theInternet via the router.

Dead On Install!I tried to install theAdobe GoLive! Tryout

and Adobe Illustrator Tryoutfrom one of your DVDs. Theygot installed, but when I tryto run them, I get a messagesaying the products haveexpired, even though I’venever installed them before.

Sabyasachi Sadhu

Some software canwork in the demo

version mode only for alimited period of time (likethree months) from thedate of release. Usually,after this period, a newertrial or demo version of thesoftware is released. Get itfrom www.adobe.com.

Wired—But Not QuiteI own a cyber-café with five computersrunning XP connected to an 8-port switch

and one server. I am not able to access any of thefive computers from any one of them. I can stillping them one from the another. What could theproblem be?

Abhishek Gupta

This often happens when File and PrinterSharing is disabled or if the Guest

account is disabled. Open NetworkConnections, right-click on the networkconnection being used, and click Properties.Make sure the box next to File and PrinterSharing for Microsoft Networks is checked.Click OK.

You might be prompted to reboot thecomputer—do so. Open User Accounts inControl Panel and click Guests. In the nextwindow, click on Turn On the Guest Account.This should solve the problem.

Cyber-Empty-SpaceI can connect to the Internet but I can’t openany Web sites on my Windows 98 SE PC.

Sunil Bihari

Ping any site—ping www.yahoo.com in acommand prompt—and if you get a reply,

your browser is corrupt, and reinstalling it isthe solution.

If you do not get a reply, run winipcfg.Click on the More Info button and verify that aDNS is specified. If the DNS is blank or 0.0.0.0,the computer is not being assigned a DNSaddress.

Close winipcfg. Disconnect from theInternet. Double-click on Network in theControl Panel, highlight TCP/IP > Dial-UpAdapter, and click Properties. Click on theDNS Configuration tab and verify thatDisable DNS is selected.

If this was already selected, then contactyour ISP to verify if any DNS settings need tobe set up.


Enable File and Printer sharing

Jayesh Limaye

Fact of life: when hard drivescrash, they usually do so withoutwarning. What results is a

headache and, more importantly,heartache. But the data is usually notwiped clean from the crashed harddrive; rather, the file allocationtable—which contains filenames andpoints to data on the drive—is whatusually gets damaged. It is thereforetechnically possible to recover data insuch situations; you only need toknow the tools of the trade. The toolwe’re talking about is PC InspectorFile Recovery—a freeware that can bedownloaded from www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm.

If you’ve lost data on a partitionon a drive other than C, just installthe program in Windows. If yourentire hard drive has crashed andyou’re unable to boot, install theprogram on another computer andattach your hard drive as a secondarydrive on that computer.

Launch The ProgramLaunch PC Inspector FileRecovery, choose English asyour language, and click

on the green tick button. Choose whatkind of data you wish to recover byclicking on one of the three buttons tothe left. If you choose Lost Data, go

directly to Step 6; if you choose lostdrive, go directly to Step 8. If it isdeleted data that you wish to recover,click on the icon at the top left.

Select The DriveThe program will scanyour hard drive for sometime for available parti-

tions, after which it will display them.You will most likely be able to selectthe drive from the Logical Drives tab. Itmay sometimes be listed twice; selectthe entry containing the drive’s letter.

To verify the drive’s content, click thePreview button. Click on the tickbutton to continue to the next step.

Sniffing Out Deleted FilesThe selected drive will nowbe scanned; this may take afew minutes. A Deleted

folder will be displayed (with theRecycle Bin icon). You need to gothrough this folder to locate the filesyou wish to recover. You might findthat the original filename has not beenpreserved. You can opt to search for thefile in the following way: chooseObject > Find, enter the file type,and click on the green tick to search.

Recovering The FileA list of matching files willappear after the searchprocess ends. If the file

you’re searching for does not appear,you can use the Size and Date Modifiedcolumns to help identify it (assumingyou know these details). Click on thetop of these columns to arrange themaccordingly, to make it easier to locatethe file. Select the possible candidatesby keeping on clicking on them whilekeeping [Ctrl] pressed. Keeping[Ctrl] pressed, right-click on themand choose Save to. Choose a location.

Check And RenameAfter they are restored,you should try to open thefiles to see if they are

indeed the files you were looking for.After confirming this, you canrename them to what they were andcopy them to the original locationlater. If the files are not the ones youwere searching for, return to PCInspector File Recovery and try tosearch for them again.

Find Your Lost DataSometimes data is lost dueto a quick format or dueto system or program

crash. In such cases, you shouldchoose the Lost Data button (themiddle button on the left) in themain screen of PC Inspector FileRecovery. In this case, data isretrieved in a way similar to deletedfiles. Select the drive from theLogical Drives list and click on thetick button when the Select ClusterRange dialog appears. The process ofidentification of files to be retrievedbegins; this will take some time.

Retrieve The Lost DataYou will see that PCInspector File Recoveryhas found hundreds of

“lost” files—many will be fragments.It will take quite a bit of your time togo through them all, but it is worth-while because you have a chance ofgetting back precious files. Repeatsteps 3 to 5 to find your file andcheck its integrity.

Find The Lost DriveIf your partition table hasbeen damaged, you mayno longer be able to view

any drive from the affected harddrive in the Logical Drives list. You’llhave to manually search for it. Clickon the Physical drive tab from theSelect Drive dialog, and select yourhard drive—usually named fixed disk#1. Click on Find logical drives.

Search Within ClustersYou can choose to scanthe entire drive for lostdrives, or if you havesome idea about where

the partition was physically locatedon the disk, you can move the slidersto concentrate the search on thatparticular area. Now click on the tickbutton and wait for the search tocomplete, after which you can selectthe logical drive to recover your filesand folders (as explained in theprevious steps).

[email protected]

Launch PC inspector File Recovery

Recover Data From A Crashed Hard DriveRecover Data From A Crashed Hard Drive

Scanning for lost data

Select the drive form which to recover data

1STEP

2STEP

3STEP

4STEP

5STEP

8STEP

9STEP

6STEP

7STEP

Here’s a crash course on recovering data from a crashed hard drive!

96

Digital Tools l Agent 001

Not Quite Prime Timepanel. It costs 4,200 rupees, and the TV Donglewill be very suitable for laptop users due to itssize. The guy told me he could arrange for aHauppauge Win TV-PVR-150 for Rs 5,100. Thiscard has all the features you’d need in order toset up a Media Center PC.

Incidentally, the Win TV-PVR-150 is digital.I was impressed by this guy’s contacts, becauseI remember wanting to buy a Hauppauge TV-Tuner myself a few months ago—and havinggiven up either because people couldn’t get it,or were pricing it exorbitantly. We also saw aCompro VideoMate Gold Plus M500, costingRs 2,200. This is an older model from Compro,proved by the bundle, which although rich,contains software versions older than what’scurrently available. The evergreen ComproVideoMate Gold was also on display: Rs 4,500.This is a full-size PCI card. Once again, it’s aprevious-generation product. It seems thelatest Compro cards haven’t reached Lam-ington Road yet.

Decision time for my friend. I had filled himin earlier on the CAS (Conditional AccessSystem) issue doing the rounds. CAS will meanencrypted channels, which a regular satellitedish cannot receive. It will ultimately preventexploitation of consumers by TV operators whohave been hiking prices for no rhyme or reason.CAS will mean investing in a set-top box andsubscribing to individual channels, or a“package” of channels. For those who aren’taware, once conditional access comes into force,TV-Tuners without digital connectivity won’t

function properly, because set-top boxesuse a digital cable. Your TV-Tuner

will therefore only receive anyanalogue channels if

they’re still beingtransmitted. Need-

less to say, your TV-Tuner remotewill also cease to function. You’llcontrol channels with the remoteof the set-top box instead.

Considering that digital TV-Tuners are costlier than their ana-

logue counterparts, and that myfriend wasn’t willing to upsize his

budget, we decided to wait a bit beforeinvesting in a TV-Tuner. Sure, the dig-ital ones won’t really be affected by theCAS decision, but my friend wasn’twilling to splurge. All considered, wedecided to sit this one out a bit tillthings become clearer.

I’ve a good friend who recently moved toMumbai. Being an IT guy, he’d brought alonghis PC and set it up here. He isn’t a gamer like

me, so he gets his kicks elsewhere. I’m nottalking booze and discos—nothing so dramatic—he’s a TV buff, and would spend his weekendsback home glued to Star World.

One of his first purchases in Mumbai, there-fore, was a TV… no surprises there. Problem is,he isn’t at home most of the time, so he decidedto opt for a TV-Tuner card or box to record hisfavourite serials, the ones he just couldn’t miss.But after investing in a mammoth 500 GB harddrive (and the TV of course), he could only spend3,000 bucks for a TV-Tuner. Naturally, we endedup at Lamington Road rather early in the day...

Unfortunately, I’d miscalculated, and veryfew shops were open upon our arrival. Well, evenAgents trip up! A couple of Cokes later, we foundshutters starting to open. The first shopkeepergreeted us with a toothy smile. Ahh, the joy ofbeing first customers…

The smile done, he went on to show us a Pin-nacle PCTV 50e (Rs 4,250). It’s a rather bland-looking external TV-Tuner that can recorddirectly to DivX. We were also shown a Dazzleinternal TV-Tuner for Rs 1,400; however, the boxdidn’t have any specific model number; therewas just “Dazzle PCI TV Tuner”.

Dealer #2 showed us a couple of Leadtek TV-Tuners. One was an ultra-compact WinFastPalmTop TV, a cute, orange-coloured tuner box.The PalmTop TV has a host of powerful featuresincluding seamless playback for multiple videoand audio files. It was priced at Rs 4,000. Next,we saw a Leadtek DTV 2000H. This PCI model isdigital, and sports a host of features. The retailcost of the bundled software is more than thatof the card itself! You can also directly burn pro-grammes to DVDs. It costs Rs 4,600, but the DTV2000H supports HD output as well.

Variety being the spice of life, itwas on to dealer #3. Before enteringthe shop, my friend informed methat he would prefer an internalcard, citing desk space as the reason.We came across a LeadtekWinFast TV Dongle. It wasultra-compact, a little largerthan a pen drive. The volu-minous feature set will godown real easy, especiallywhen you consider itsdiminutive size. In fact, thisminiature TV-Tuner doesn’tgive up any features to its much largerbrethren. The remote control unit, whilefeature-rich, does look bland with its arrayof similar buttons—like some sort of control

Agent 001

Now isn’t the best time to go around looking for TV-Tuners—thus spake Agent 001

DIGIT JANUARY 2008

Want more of Agent 001? Turn over to read hisanswers to your buying questions

Shrikrishna Patkar


Digital Tools l Agent 001Luxury!

I want to buy an LCD TV for my room. The viewingdistance will be 8-10 feet. Could you suggest which

brand and size of LCD to buy? My budget is between Rs75,000 and Rs 1,00,000 for a 32-inch (or above) TV. I’dalso like to know the significance of features likeDynamic Contrast Ratio and Full HD.

Amit Jain

Dynamic Contrast Ratio (DCR) refers to theratio of luminosity of the brightest and

darkest colors that a display can produce overtime. Static Contrast Ratio (SCR) measures theluminosity values simultaneously, i.e., withoutthe time factor. Values for DCR will be typicallyhigher than those for SCR because DCR simplycancels the effect of the room, causing equalamounts of light to reflect from the display to theroom and forth. Therefore DCR values areinflated, and an LCD with an SCR of 3000:1 willoutperform an LCD with a DCR of 3000:1.

Full HD simply means HD viewing at itshighest possible resolution, i.e., 1080p. Thisequates to a progressive scanned display con-sisting of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The next-best thingwould be 1080i, i.e., 1920 x 1080 pixels interlaced.

Samsung has some real beauties in their LCDTV range. The Bordeaux series, for one, proves thatbeauty isn’t always skin-deep. I liked the bodyshape of the series; build quality is also right upthere. Choose between two colours—theLA32R71W (white) and the LA32R71B (black). Bothcost around Rs 70,000 (Mumbai street price).

Money MattersI want to upgrade from my W550i SE to a newhandset. I have zeroed in on the K790i SE for its

3.2MP camera and the loads of other features. Anyother suggestions for the same price and features?

Vikas Maurya

You seem to primarily want a good cameraphone. The Nokia N73 also has a 3.2MP

camera, and even outperforms the K790i when itcomes to camera quality. Needless to say, the N73is feature-rich, with greater application support,mainly due to its Symbian platform. Anotheradvantage is a better screen (320 x 240). Musicplayback quality is around the same. The onlydeterrent for you as far as I can see is the fact thatthe N73 will cost at least three thousand rupeesmore, going by today’s street prices. If you’rewilling to upsize your budget, go with the N73,else stick with the K790i.

C2D All The Way!I am assembling a PC for animation work withsome gaming on the side. I am confused between

two processors: the Pentium 630 and the Pentium D820. Which would perform better? Could you also sug-gest a suitable motherboard?

Ganesh Badgujar

Between the two processors you’ve men-tioned, a Pentium D 820 would perform

better on multithreaded applications or whilemultitasking, simply because it’s a dual-core.

Since you seem to be going in for a brand newsystem, I’d suggest you scrap both these and investin a Core 2 Duo instead. The E6300 (1.86 GHz)would easily outperform both the processors youmentioned while costing just a couple of thou-sand bucks more. A good motherboard to pair aCore 2 Duo with is the MSI 965P Platinum.

PSU PointersI use a 300-watt SMPS and am planning toupgrade to a 400-watt model, because I’m plan-

ning on attaching another hard drive and CD drivesoon. Will a higher power supply overload my mother-board? Which brand should I look at?

Tushar Mathur

Using a higher-rated power supply will notdamage your motherboard in any way. The

processor, motherboard, graphics card, memory,and other peripherals only draw as much poweras they need. People use higher-rated power sup-plies simply because power supplies perform opti-mally when they are under a maximum load of 60per cent, so a 500-watt power supply will performoptimally if the load is not more than 300 watts.This is also because most manufacturers stateinflated output figures. Some 400-watt power sup-plies may actually be capable of only 300 watts.

VIP is a good brand, known for their reliablepower supplies. I’d suggest a 400-watt VIP PSU.

Wanted: A Box And A ScreenI have decided on the following configuration (pri-marily for gaming):

NVIDIA nForce 680i motherboard, Intel Core 2 duoE6600, Samsung SP2504C 250GB SATA 2 HDD, 2 x 512MB DDR2 @ 667 MHz, XFX-PV-T73G-UDL7 (NVIDIA7600GT), iBall Power Key Designer, Lite-On DVD-Writer

Please comment. I need help choosing a cabinet,power supply, and a 19-inch LCD monitor. My budgetfor the cabinet and PSU is Rs 4,000, and for the mon-itor, Rs 14,000.

Vamsi N

Some pretty good choices there. Since it’sgoing to be a gaming rig, I’d suggest a

high-end graphics card. I’d recommend a7900GTO or an X1900XT. If you can spend Rs27,000 on graphics alone, the BIG 8800GTS is avail-able, which is a future-proof option. If budgetbecomes a problem, I’d suggest an E6300 in lieuof the E6600—game performance won’t beaffected much. If you don’t plan to SLI, you canconsider a motherboard based on Intel’s P965chipset. I recommend the MSI P965 Platinum.

Games benefit from more memory. I suggest 2GB of RAM—two sticks of 1 GB each; make sure touse them in dual-channel mode.

For the kind of power your system will need, Idon’t think you should cost-cut on the PSU. Investin a VIP 500-watt supply at the least. You could alsoconsider Cooler Master’s 600-watt Extreme Powerseries. The Zebronics Peace is a good cabinet; itsflashy, functional, and won’t cost a bomb.

19-inch widescreens are the in-thing today. Gowith a Samsung 940BW. It’s the best monitor forits price, period.

Want a tech product, butdon’t know how to goabout buying it? [email protected] your complete contact details, and hemight answer them here!Please note thatAgent001 only answerspurchase-relatedquestions in this space.

Ask Away!

Ask Agent 001


Digital Business l Tech Careers

Asfaq Tapia

As the field of Biotechnology beganto grow after 2001, it becameincreasingly clear that computers

would play a big role in the future of com-mercial biology. Over the years, computershave played their part in decoding thehuman genome, drug and vaccine design,determining the bio-molecular structureof cells, and studying cell metabolism,among other things. This graduallyevolved into a specialised industry calledBioinformatics.

Bioinformatics can, in simple terms,be defined as an interdisciplinary areainvolving biological, computer, and infor-mation sciences to manage, process, andunderstand large amounts of data, forinstance from the sequencing of thehuman genome, or from large databasescontaining information gathered fromplants and animals for use in discoveringand developing new drugs. Mutation sim-ulations and modelling of bio-moleculesand biological systems is also done usingthe data. (Unfamiliar terms are explainedin the box Indicative Terms, which mightgive you a flavour for what one deals within this discipline.)

According to the Confederation ofIndian Industries (CII), the Bioinformaticsindustry is still in its nascent stages, and isset to grow to $25 billion (Rs 1,00,000 crore)by 2011. Among other significant develop-ments in the sector, the government of Kar-nataka along with ICICI invested, in 2001,Rs 5 crore to develop the Institute of Bioin-

formatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB)in Bangalore, to offer diploma courses andshort-term training in bioinformatics andbiotechnology.

The Bioinformatics industry today isheavily dependant on researchers who areable to work with custom software thatinvolves data mining (sifting throughlarge volumes of data to look for patternsand trends), downstream processing(referring to the separation or purificationof biological products), and modelanalysis. Researchers comfortable withusing Virtual Reality tools are also muchsought-after in drug design and unicel-lular organism design.

This could be the industry for you ifyou are excited by the prospect of comingup with new cures for diseases,unlocking the secrets of life, and so on...and as you can expect, work here ishighly research-oriented.

A Preview Of The IndustryYou’ll generally find bioinformaticsapplied in three broad cases: pharma-ceutical companies that have a bioinfor-matics division; IT companies that have abioinformatics wing—a small teamworking on specialised in-house projectsfor better data retrieval techniques; andcompanies that offer bioinformatics solu-tions to pharmaceutical companies.These range from research institutions,pharmaceutical companies, and chem-ical industries to the agriculture andallied industries. These companiesrecruit the bulk of the bioinformaticsprofessionals today.

Tech Careers

Shrikrishna Patkar

BusinessDigital

How Technology Can Help Your Organisation

102 MultipleRedundancies 106 Online Services Vs.

Software Suites

LivinGPATTERNSAn offshoot of the Biotechnology industry, Bioinformatics is gathering pace like never before. It isstill a niche industry, though


tion of Senior Research Fellow. In this role, youwould be in charge of suggesting the tests andresearch paths to follow in order to reach thegoals of the project. For example: a projectrelated to the design and analysis of DNAmicroarrays, with the goal being to extend anexisting Java application that models, say, the behaviour of synthetic DNA under certaincircumstances.

Most biotechnology companies in Indiatoday work on techniques involving docking,modelling, sequence analysis, and advanced bio-statistics. You can also branch out to being aQuality and Data Analyst, in charge of over-seeing the data generated by the various testsand validating their authenticity.

After another three to four years of experi-ence, you could qualify to be a Head Researcher—in charge of providing inputs to the project inyour field of specialisation. After two years, youcould aim to become Project Head. This rolewould require you to have in-depth knowledgein your field of specialisation, and thoroughexperience on the software tools used in thebioinformatics industry; you would be expectedto lead—and define a roadmap for—a project thatfalls within the scope of sequence assembly, data-base design and maintenance, sequence analysis,and Proteomics.

The table overleaf lists the educational back-ground required for each position in theindustry, with an estimate of the remunerationone could expect.

Parting NotesThe bioinformatics industry will continue toevolve into a highly specialised sector that willservice biotechnology companies. Solutionsdeveloped will help researchers sort and retrievedata more effectively. For the industry to grow inIndia, global pharmaceutical companies need toconduct their research and development activi-ties here, rather than just doing field trials,which is mostly the case today.

The science is constantly evolving; studentsneed to constantly update themselves on thelatest trends, as well as the software and tech-niques used.

[email protected]



It must be noted, though, that bioinfor-matics is still very niche in India, with only ahandful of companies carrying out research thatrequires the use of bioinformatics. It is prima-rily large companies doing outsourced workfrom multi-national pharmaceutical companiesthat recruit. Also remember that bioinformaticsis an application-oriented subject and demandsa clear understanding of biological and alliedconcepts, and that students therefore need tobuild a research-oriented mindset.

SyllabiUntil recently, due to the specialised needs of thebioinformatics industry, there was no fixedcourse one could opt for. Companies employedgraduates who had completed an M.Tech. and hada little background in biology, or those who hada B.Sc. background with a flair for programming.The bioinformatics courses available today are amash-up of the B.Tech. and B.Sc. syllabi, coveringconcepts in programming and in biology. Thesedays, to get into the industry, you need to have aB.Tech. or similar qualification. This is a steppingstone into the industry, to get further; you need aMaster’s degree with a super-specialisation in theresearch area you’ve opted for.

Due to media hype and a rush of studentswanting to take up bioinformatics courses, thereare many fly-by-night colleges, not affiliated toany reputed university, that offer courses inbioinformatics. Most equipment for biotech /bioinformatics courses is expensive; it is there-fore important to check for lab facilities. It is alsoimportant to check the background of the fac-ulty members of the college you are applying inbefore registering for a course. If you can, speak

to alumni of the college regarding the lab facil-ities and such.

MBA degrees specialising in bioinformatics isa new phenomenon. Since these courses have onlyrecently started, it is important to remember thattheir marketability has not been proven.

Head-startsThe computational software that most bioinfor-matics companies use runs on UNIX-like oper-ating systems like Red Hat Linux and Fedora; it istherefore good to have hands-on experience withthese while pursuing your graduation.

You can take up summer apprenticeshipcourses during the holidays or between semes-ters. These courses help you gain an under-standing of how a bioinformatics project works,and can be an add-on to your résumé. They nor-mally last for between three and six months.You could apply for a summer apprenticeship atcertain institutions.

The RemunerationWorking in this industry requires patience andanalytical skills. The ability to analyse statis-tical data from graphs and statistical tables isan added bonus.

According to Dr S K Mahajan, Gharda Pro-fessor of Biotechnology, Institute of Science,Mumbai, “The field of bioinformatics isdemanding as well as low-paying. In spite of thenumber of students graduating from thesecourses every year, only a select few are offeredlucrative placements.” According toRaghothama Chaerkady, Research Fellow atMcKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine,Johns Hopkins University, a competent bioinfor-matician assisting in research can make up toRs 12,000 to 16,000 as a Junior Research Fellow.With a Master’s degree, working on Proteomics,mass spectrometry based sequencing,microRNA, and such, it could be Rs 40,000 permonth, and at the Ph.D. level, around Rs 40,000to 80,000 per month.

When a company first recruits you, you startas a Junior Research Fellow. Here you would bein charge of assisting Senior Research Fellows inconducting tests on preset parameters of theproject. This work is, for the most part, very basicand repetitive in nature. After three years ofexperience, you would be eligible for the posi-

Though we don’tactively look forstudents from“bioinformaticscourses,”candidates whohave a B.Tech. orM.Sc. in anybranch of the lifesciences arepreferred”

Dr M VidyasagarExecutive vicepresident (AdvancedTechnology)Tata ConsultancyServices

Human genome: The genetic map ofthe human body’s DNA, includingchromosomes and genes.Mutation: A permanent structuralalteration in DNA; in most cases, thisrefers to DNA changes done byresearchers to improve an organism’schance of surviving.Modelling: Refers to the theoreticalmethods and computationalprocessing used to mimic thebehaviour of biological molecules.Proteomics: Roughly speaking, the

study of proteins.Mass Spectrometry: A technique used

to determine the composition andabundance of the atoms in amolecular substance.Sequencing: A technique foridentifying nucleotide sequences in aDNA fragment.MicroRNA: A short piece of single-stranded RNA that controls theexpression of genes.Docking: Computational explorationof the possible binding modes of DNABiostatistics: The application ofstatistics to a wide range of topics inbiology, medicine and to agriculturein particular.

Indicative TermsMoney Matters

Educational Pre-requisitesB.E., B.Tech., or B.Sc.

M.E., M.Tech., or M.Sc.

M.E., M.Tech., or M.Sc.

Ph.D. in your field of super-specialisation

Ph.D. in your field of super-specialisation, in-depth knowledge ofBioPerl and GMOD/Chado basedapplications

Remuneration (PA)0.5 to 1 lakh

2 to 3 lakh

2 to 3 lakh

4 to 7 lakh

7 to 9 lakh

PositionJunior Research Fellow

Senior Research Fellow

Quality and DataAnalyst

Head Researcher

Project Head

Getting An Education

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Undergraduate CoursesAmity Institute of Biotechnology—B.Tech.Vellore Institute Of Technology—B.Tech.Tamil Nadu Agricultural University—B.Tech.Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology- .Tech.Postgraduate CoursesPune University—M.Sc. in Bioinformatics Jamia Millia Islamia University—M.Sc. in Bioinformatics Tamil Nadu Agricultural University—M.Sc. inBioinformaticsMadras University—M.Sc. in Bioinformatics University of Hyderabad—M.Tech. in BioinformaticsUniversity of Madras—M.Sc. in BioinformaticsAdvanced Diploma CoursesPune University—Advanced Diploma in Bioinformatics Madurai Kamaraj University—Advanced Post-graduateDiplomaUniversity of Hyderabad—Post-graduate AdvancedDiploma in Bioinformatics Bioinformatics Institute of India—Post-graduateDiploma in Bioinformatics Ph.D. Research CoursesIMTECH—Protein Science and Engineering CCMB—BioinformaticsNII—Bioinformatics IGIB—Genome Informatics CDFD—Computational Biology IICB—Structural Biology and BioinformaticsIICT—Research Projects


Digital Business l Smart SoHo

Image Or File?Like hardware, data backup software comes withvarying levels of features and complexity. Backupsoftware basically performs two types of backups:image and file. Image backup is when you restoredata along with all the settings of the system. Thesoftware creates bit-for-bit copies of the sourcedisk—something like the System Restore feature inWindows. This is ideal when you’re not planningon upgrading your hardware, or when you need toget back up and running minutes after a diskfailure. However, image-based backups typicallytake a lot of time, which might mean that the usercan perform less frequent backups.

File backup, on the other hand, is the conven-tional copy-and-paste (rather, copy and burn tostorage media). The software copies the selectedfiles on demand, or on a predetermined schedule.This is fast, and is suitable even when you installnew hardware. The problem with file backup isthat if and when the OS crashes, you will have tostart installing everything—Windows, devicedrivers, and your software, before you can use thedata. Then again, there is the chance that youmight just forget to back up an important new doc-ument because it wasn’t in the usual source folderfor the backup software.

A third type of backup solution is offsite, online-based backup. For a price, storage companies allowyou to automatically back up data to their servers.This works well if you have a broadband connection.Online backup is file-based; it takes less time, andless space is utilised because only the data is copied(without any settings).

SoftwareWhen it comes to software, customers have a numberof choices based on budget and requirements. Databackup and recovery software comes in both paidand free versions. We’ll look at both categories.

Norton Ghost 12This is Symantec’s data recovery software; it fallsin the image backup segment. It costs $69.99(Rs 2,800); find a free evaluation copy on thismonth’s DVD. Norton Ghost works on Windowsand does a comprehensive backup of your harddrive. You can also back up individual files andfolders. Restoration is as easy as clicking a button.However, it is a resource hog. Ghost analyses yourhard drive when you start it, so startup timesdepend on the amount of data on your hard disk(s).

Some optionswith Norton Ghostare the schedulingof backups and useof password protec-tion on the backedup files. It createsperiodic restorepoints, like SystemRestore does inWindows. NortonGhost does notneed to be runningfor a scheduledbackup to start: itwill start all byitself. It even allows



Bhaskar Sarma

Most of our personal and businessdata exists as bits and bytes storedon optical media and hard disks incomputers. We live in a digitalworld. The robustness of computers,

though, is still often thrown into question—thinkvirus attacks, system failures, and hardware mal-function. It’s therefore important not to keep allyour data in just one place: back up.

Traditionally, the process of backing upvaluable data has been glossed over, probablybecause of the absence of affordable storageand the lack of easy-to-use software. However,this doesn’t apply today, when you have storageavailable at dirt-cheap prices as well as greatsoftware—some of which are free. Such soft-ware has a plethora of features that enable youto set up a backup system once, and then forgetabout it; and they are suitable both for indi-viduals and businesses.

The BasicsIf you’re convinced about the necessity of databackups, you need to sit back and understandyour requirements. The frequency of generationof data will determine your choice of software,as there are some upper limits to how frequentlyyou can back up. Likewise with issues ofretrieving older copies: some software allow youto store multiple versions of the same files, whileothers overwrite older versions and keep onlythe latest version in storage.

Data backup methods have evolved over theyears. Until about a few years ago, most SoHosused the older and cheaper way of data backup—optical media (CD / DVD). But though CDs and/orDVDs are still useful for one-time backups, theycan be a pain in the neck when regular backupsare needed. More user-friendly storage would beexternal USB hard drives. Many drives featurethe “one-touch backup” option; they come withsoftware that automatically backs up data at thepress of a button.

Chaitanya Surpur

MultipleRedundancies

Data today, gone tomorrow.That’s why youalways needplan B

Security options in Ghost

offers 2 GB of storage space for free, withunlimited space for personal use at $49.50 (Rs2,000) per year, and 50 GB to 500 GB for busi-nesses at yearly rates starting from $99.50 (Rs4, 000). These services typically require theinstallation of a client on the local machine;this is used to control settings and options.They offer the full range of features, right fromscheduled backups to encryption—just likethose offered by Desktop software.

At The End Of ItFor a SoHo user, the best solution would be touse backup software and back up data toanother hard disk, preferably an external drive.It is not advisable to use another internal diskto back up the data, as both data and backupcould be lost at the same time.

External hard disks are pretty affordablethese days—a 160 GB drive, for example, costsbetween Rs 4,500 and 6,000 (internal hard drivesof the same capacity cost about Rs 3,000). Sinceyou can carry all the data with you, you haveyourself a great solution.

Online backup can be expensive or afford-able depending on your budget, needs, and con-nectivity. It’s definitely worth considering.

[email protected]





you to back up more than once in a day, whichis ideal for a busy day at office. Backups, espe-cially image-based backups, are a performancehog when they run, and Norton Ghost has aProgress and Performance feature which allowsyou to slow down the backup if you are in themiddle of something. You can even back up sys-tems that are dual-booted.

The backup sets can be burnt onto CD / DVDor transferred onto a USB drive. Security for yourbackups is rock solid—the files are protected by256-bit AES encryption, one of the best methods.Apart from scheduled backups, backups can alsobe triggered by user-set events like the installa-tion of a new application, or when the size of thebackup source folders increases beyond a certainlimit. Multiple computers running Ghost can becontrolled remotely from a single machine.(Each computer needs to have an unique licensekey, so this proposition would be very costly ifyour network is large.)

Restore times depend on the amount of datathat is imaged. However, the process is easy—it isbasic point-and-click. If you have no time to do an

image backup, Ghost will let you do an individualbackup of files and folders. It will do incrementalbackups when space is a concern. The backup filescan be searched either through Ghost’s inbuilt fea-ture, or synced with Google Desktop Search.

Norton Ghost is a costly choice, but it does itjob pretty well. The documentation is prettydetailed, and technical support can be obtainedvia e-mail. For more details on how to useNorton Ghost like a Pro, check out this month’s30 Minute Expert in our Tips & Tricks section.

Vembu StoreGrid Backup SoftwareFor those businesses that run more than one com-puter, this is a godsend. Each computer on the net-work usually has some free space. VembuStoreGrid allows you to back up data across anintranet utilising this free space. Find the soft-ware on our August 2007 DVD. The free editionruns on Windows, though the paid versions runacross all platforms.

Unlike Norton Ghost, StoreGrid runs verywell on systems with average system specifica-tions. The free version does not have all the fea-tures of the paid one, but it does the job ofbacking up your files. Some nice features arethe ability to do incremental backups bydefault—StoreGrid will back up changes eachtime they appear in the file, but it won’t savemultiple copies of the same file. Rather, thechanges will appear in a single file, whichresults in space and time savings.

If you’ve spent hours tweaking your Registryfor optimum performance, those changes canbe saved, too. User data is encrypted up to 448bits using the Blowfish algorithm, and is pass-word-protected. StoreGrid supports hardwarelike Network Attached Storage (NAS) andexternal hard drives. The Pro version has the fea-ture to back up files via secure FTP (File TransferProtocol). It also stores Outlook, OutlookExpress, and browser settings and will back updata to Microsoft SQL and Exchange Server.

The interface is intuitive, and setting up thesoftware is easy. There are three modes of con-figuring the software. The first is client / server

Schedules can be set for backup, at your convenience

You can choose to back up only select file types

The browser-based console in Vembu

Configuring Vembu for a network is as simple as addingIP addresses.

mode, in which the computer can be used tostore backups of other systems and also back upits own data to others. The other two optionsare client and server: systems configured for theclient mode cannot have backups of other sys-tems stored on their hard drives, while systemsconfigured for server mode cannot have theirdata backed up elsewhere.

Control is through a browser-based inter-face, and you need to type http://localhost:6060into your browser’s address bar to start theconsole. Backups can be scheduled on a cal-endar, or set up so that every time a file isupdated, it is backed up. For users who useboth a laptop and a Desktop, StoreGrid can beconfigured such that data on specific folderson laptops will be automatically backed up onconnecting to the network.

Back2ZipFor those on a budget, Back2Zip is a simple andeffective data backup software. It is freeware; findit on this month’s CD.

This is a no-nonsense, no-frills software. Itsports an extremely simple interface with aminimum of options, but does all that you’dexpect it to do. It can either do a simple copy, orcompress the files into zipped folders; the levelof compression can be set to low or high. (Thehigher the compression, the slower the backup.)Back2Zip backs up whole files and folders; it isnot image backup. The duration between suc-cessive backups can be set from 20 minutes to6 hours; the 20-minute option is ideal when youare working on important documents.

This software leaves a very small footprint.The compression method used is the industry-standard ZIP and ZIP-64.

Over The WiresOnline backup is typically a costly option forindividuals and small businesses because ofrecurring costs, but you can get some good bar-gains if you hunt for them. Some companieslike IDrive (www.idrive.com), Mozy (http://mozy.com/), and Carbonite (www.carbonite.com) offerpackages tailored to the needs of individualsand small businesses. The offerings are com-parable in terms of cost. IDrive, for example,

Multiple backups of the same file can be archived by Back2Zip.

Online Services Vs. Software Suites

Neev Technologies provides software services specialising inWeb-related solutions. They are involved in the development ofrich Internet applications using AJAX, Flash, Java/J2EE, Rubyon Rails, .NET, and others.

“In general, we believe the world is movingmore towards online services. Prices of storageand bandwidth are both following Moore’s

law and are falling rapidly. It has finally becomefeasible to be always connected, have all yourdocuments online, and free yourself from beingdependant entirely on a machine. We have been inthis mode for around four to five months.

“Several reasons make online services enticing.There’s no need to buy hardware—hardware bringswith it so many costs—air conditioning, space, IToperations, electricity, racks, and if you add upeverything, it’s significant. For our company, the costbenefits were secondary, though; the most importantbenefit was time saved, which is the most expensiveresource for a young, growing company.

“It was easy, since people are used to onlineapplications these days. We still haven’t beensuccessful in optimally exploiting the potential ofcomplex documents, presentations, and spreadsheets,but simpler spreadsheets or documents are so muchbetter online since you can collaborate easily. Wehaven’t done a quantitative analysis, but qualitatively,there has been a substantial improvement.

“Overall, our IT team is now more productive,since common shares or mail servers need not bemanaged. The number of servers in the company hasbeen kept to a minimum. The major limitations are inthe creation of documents like proposals,specifications, and costing sheets. Online suites havesome way to go in those areas.

“Online office suites would be apt for neworganisations where inertia is low and the (younger)staff is more eager to use such apps, since they use somany other online services anyway.”

GlobalLogic, Inc. offers full product development lifecycle servicesto start-ups as well as emerging and established tech companies.

“At GlobalLogic, we’ve been using MicrosoftOffice for the last five years, and our experiencewith it has been very good so far. Although it is

termed “productivity software,” it has become animportant tool for our day-to-day business operations.

“Every company has different IT policies, but theyuse the popular Office software suite to remain in syncwith others. The common Office suite acts as a tool foreasy communication with most of our clients whileworking on their projects. The suite has helped us

directly improve productivity, which has indirectlyincreased our profitability.

“Besides that, it is also helpful in databasemanagement, documentation and inventorymanagement, which form an essential part of ourdevelopment processes.

The main limitation of the Office software suite isits incompatibility with different office suites.

“By using the Office package, various functions likecommunication through e-mail and Word documents,setting up meetings, presentations, preparing complexspreadsheets and so on, have become very systematicand organised. These software packages have fuelled theroutine activities like the preparation and maintenanceof project status reports.

“The main limitation of the Office software suite isits incompatibility with office suites like OpenOffice,StarOffice, and Lotus SmartSuite, which are used byvarious companies. To fix this issue, we have to use thesame office suite that our clients use.

“We would highly recommend the use of offlineoffice Suites to anyone, as they substantially improveproductivity. It helps with day-to-day activities, and alsohelps stay on a common platform with clients.”

As told to Samir Makwana([email protected])

Sanjiv KumarSenior Manager IT GlobalLogic, Inc.

“People can collaborateeasily, do simultaneousedits on shared docs,and are not dependanton one machine.”

“The main limitation ofthe Office software suite

is its incompatibility withdifferent office suites.”

Saurabh ChandraCEO and co-founder,Neev Information Technologies

How open are you to using an online office suite for your daily work?

Overall, our IT team is now moreproductive

“Our offline suite has helped usdirectly improve productivity”



others. Each of these companies have donatedapproximately 7 crore to the initiative.

The OLPC project revolves around five coreprinciples, including the fostering of the idea ofownership in children between the ages of six and12, by providing them with their own laptops.These would have hardware and softwaredesigned for them, in keeping with their age. Theproject aims at promoting the constructivist wayof education by donating laptops to needyschools, for free, all over the world, wheneverpossible, and allow them to connect and shareideas using free and open source tools.

In India, the OLPC project is supported byReliance ADAG, which takes care of the logisticsand provides the resources necessary for imple-menting the project in villages and small towns.That apart, the OLPC project works closely withthe Digital Bridge Foundation—created by theDhirubhai Ambani Trust—to work with inter-ested organisations, NGOs, and volunteers inIndia to identify and sponsor needy schools.

The first school to be sponsored in India isKhairat School, 40 km from Navi Mumbai, closeto the Mumbai-Pune expressway. We wanted totake a look at what things were like at the schoolnow that the laptops were there, and we wantedsome views and first-hand information from thepeople behind the project. We were half-suspect-ing that the laptops would just be gathering

cobwebs; however, what we saw was quitedifferent. So how exactly is this project

making an impact in the lives of the chil-dren in Khairat village?

The VisitThe Khairat School comprises classes (stan-dards) I to IV, all in one room. The XO laptopswere donated to the school in October lastyear; the children had had some time toexplore their laptops by the time we metthem. The instructional material isprepared by the only class teacher of theschool, Mr Surve, but Manusheel Gupta,Technical Consultant, One Laptop Per

Child Inc., says they have been approachedby a number of organisations interested in

sharing the curriculum they’ve developed.

Digit went to Khairat village near Mumbai, the pilot site of the OLPC project in India

Asfaq Tapia

Y ou’ve heard almost too much about it inthe news—now here’s a little first-handreport: the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

association is a non-profit organisation that wasformed by faculty members of the MIT Media Labin Delaware in the United States to oversee theconstruction of an affordable laptop for children;the laptop was christened the XO. The organisa-tion is supported by industry bigwigs like AMD,Google, eBay, Red Hat, and Intel, among

Digital Leisure l Touched By Tech

Technology Beyond WorkLeisureDigital

115 MartinCooper

Tabloid Tech112 Dressed to Kill 128

Eager Learners?Touched by Tech

Chaitanya Surpur



AG: At present, we intend to start with ruralschools. We are in talks with various stategovernments, NGOs, and corporate bodies toassist us. We are building an ecosystem for thecollection of funds, and are working with educa-tionists and interested volunteers to createeducational content and plan for its deploymentinto the system.

CGM: The issue is not only the size of theclass, but also how the laptops are used to fosterthe children’s learning.

Don’t you think that donating only to govern-ments is impeding the progress of the project?MG: Our goal is to reach the rural children ofdeveloping countries. Dealing with governmentsmakes this process efficient. However, this is notthe only strategy that we are adopting. We havevarious running programmes—like “Give 1 Get1” and “Give Many,” where the purchase madeby an individual or organisation benefits ruralparts of the world. You can find more informa-tion at http://tinyurl.com/yo4s3h.

CGM: The idea was to have governmentssponsoring for their people.In most countries, govern-ments run the entire educa-tional system, especially forpublic schools. It is easier towork with one well-estab-lished and influential entityin a country than to createecosystems in each countryto make it happen. That’swhy the first approach wasthrough the governments.

The landing cost of the XOin India is about Rs 8,500.Taking that into considera-tion, don’t you think theASUS Eee PC is a moreviable proposition? Thoughit does not support the abil-ity to create mesh networks on the fly, itsupports an interface that teachers are familiarwith (MS Windows)...SC: We believe in following the constructionistapproach to teaching. The XO laptops are aimedat children in specific age ranges, and containactivities tailored for them. It would be unwiseto compare the two.

AG: Comparing XOs to other laptops defeatsthe whole purpose. Remember, we are targetingyoung minds and want to create a system thattriggers their thinking and creative abilities andnot one that turns them into experts at Word,Excel, or PowerPoint. Some key features thatstand out are that the laptops are very sturdy,consume low power, and foster collaborativelearning through the mesh network.

What happens if a student says a laptop is lost?Do you provide for a replacement?~MG: That depends on the definition of “lost.” If alaptop is stolen, the security mechanism enabledon the laptop will disable it within hours.

AG: The kids are given some basic instruc-tions about handling the laptops, thus minimis-

ing the chances of it getting lost. Having saidthat, some laptops are needed as spares forcompensating for rough handling by the kids.

Earlier in the year, there were reports ofstudents in some countries being caught view-ing pornography on their XOs. What has beendone since to combat that problem?SC: The porn menace can be easily solved inIndia. Most rural villages do not have access tothe Internet. When we do provide them withInternet access, we can have filters installed toblock pornographic and malicious Web sites.

In one of his mailing list posts, Gogna said: “OUROLPC MESH NETWORK is going to set its NODESall across the NATION.” Does this mean thatReliance ADAG will provide the backbonenetwork connectivity for the OLPC project inIndia? If yes, by when will this be completed?MG: We’re glad to have seen the best supportfrom Reliance ADAG in the first OLPC pilot proj-ect conducted in Khairat School. We don’t knowthe answer, and will take some time depending

upon various parameters.We’d be happy if RelianceADAG provides us with thenetworking services.

AG: That statementwas much more of an anal-ogy than fact. What Imeant by “OLPC MeshNetwork” was the forma-tion of the ecosystem forthe project to spreadacross various parts of thecountry, acting as nodes.

CGM: The analogycomes from how the actualMesh Network of the XOlaptops works. The XOlaptops can connect toeach other (without beingconnected to the Internet)

and thus collaborate on all the different softwareapplications (“activities”). The XOs can also benodes that replicate the Internet signal amongthem, in case only one of them has access to theInternet. They can do it even when turned off.

What are the goals (and roadmap) of the OLPCproject in India?~MG: The OLPC project in India and all aroundthe world aims to revolutionise the way we teachchildren. We hope to reach the remotest parts ofIndia by means of the “Digital Bridge Founda-tion,” comprising corporate partners, non-profitorganisations, Ministers at the state level, andmost importantly, interested volunteers.

AG: We also intend to reach most villagesand towns across the country.

The OLPC project seems to have started off onthe right foot in India. There are loose ends,however; foremost amongst these is the problemof creating awareness about the project. The OLPCteam is indeed working with state governments toprovide support to schools in Gujarat and Kolkata.We’ll be keeping our eyes open.

[email protected]

The students just can’t get enough of the XO

“The XO laptopsare aimed at chil-dren in specificage ranges, andcontain activitiestailored forthem. It would beunwise to com-pare it to theASUS Eee”



It’s interesting that the students are given afree hand to explore and discover their XO.When we were at the school, we saw manystudents taking photos and video clips of us!

We saw quite a few animated clips that MrSurve had prepared—on various topics such asthe earth’s orbit and the water cycle system—which were distributed to those in the class ontheir XOs. The laptops act as individual nodesand create a wireless network, also known as amesh, when two or more XOs are in a 1 km radius.This can be used to chat and transfer files with-out the need for an Internet connection. Wefound Surve using the chat application innova-tively by asking the class a question that requireda written reply. The students would reply via thechat tool. The kids are taught how to writeMarathi words in eToys, an application similarto MS Paint, and they complete their homeworkon Write, an MS Word-like application. Accord-ing to Surve, the students are now eager to cometo school because they get to learn somethingnew about their laptop every day, either fromhim or from their classmates. Parents, who wereearlier not interested in sending their kids toschool, have changed their attitude because theyknow that their kids are getter a good level ofeducation, thanks to the XO.

There are, however, hurdles to overcome.Foremost amongst these is the availability ofelectricity, which, of course, is needed for charg-ing the laptops. There are plans to get solarpanels for recharging the batteries. There alsohappens to be a contraption to aid in recharging

the laptops, which has been developed usinglocal materials and runs on cow power! A cowmoves in a circle, driving a system of belts andpulleys connected to a dynamo to generatepower to charge all the laptops. The dynamo isthe one used in Fiat cars, very commonly seen astaxis in Mumbai. It takes one to two hours tocharge all the 20 laptops in the village simulta-neously. This is possible due to the extremely lowpower consumption of the laptop and the robustpower supply built into it. The contraption is thebrainchild of Arjun Sarwal, an OLPC volunteer.

The XO has a robust frame, but we noticed afew laptops without antennas, and two non-func-tioning ones. The OLPC volunteers who accompa-nied us said they would be replaced. We also saw

that the keyboards were in English; this might,we thought, initially hinder students from work-ing on the XO; plans are under way to create akeyboard with keys in the Devanagri script, butit’s not clear when it will be introduced.

The laptops the students have been given areearly prototypes of the XOs available today, andare not likely to be replaced, though.

Q&AWe were looking to get some questions answeredby the OLPC India team. For example, we wantedto know what the roadmap for the programmewas, how they were planning on taking theprogramme to other parts of the country, and soon. The questions below were answered by

Manusheel Gupta (MG), Technical Consultant,One Laptop Per Child Inc; Sumit Chowdhury (SC),CIO, Reliance Communications; Carla GomezMonroy (CGM), OLPC India team member; andAmit Gogna (AG), OLPC India team member.

What is being taught in Khairat School usingthe OLPC laptops? Is there any coursewareavailable for it?AG: We’re working on a booklet for teacherswith a basic introduction to activities on the XO.It’s too early to talk about courseware. The XOgives teachers the liberty to create projects anduse various “activities” that suit their needs asthey go about with their daily curriculum.

How long do the laptops have to be crankedbefore they are fully charged?MG: We have several research groups looking atdifferent human-power solutions, including ahand crank, a foot treadle, a yo-yo, and a pulleysystem. Our goal is a minimum of a 1:10 ratio of“cranking”—one minute of cranking should giveyou 10 minutes of use. The XOs can also becharged using a solar device, which is a goodsolution for India.

AG: The laptops currently shipped to us donot come with the crank mechanism. They getcharged using an AC adaptor. In addition, onestudent at the school uses solar panels tocharge his XO.

SC: We do not have laptops that have to becranked. Getting more solar-powered batterychargers seems to be a more effective alternative.

The XO is aimed at students of what standard(or class, or grade)?CGM: It is targeted at primary school children. Inmost countries, children start primary school atthe age of five. However, in some schools, thereare children who could not start school at thatyoung an age, which means that in some cases wehave children as old as 15 or 16 in primary school.

How do you plan to introduce the OLPCconcept in classrooms across India, where theaverage head-count per class is 60?SG: We will look to adopt entire schools orcommunities with the help of the Digital BridgeFoundation—comprising corporate partners,non-profit organisations, ministers at State level,and most importantly, interested volunteers—and try to provide laptops to all the students.

The Cow Power charging device, stowed away for later use

There are plansto get solar pan-els for rechargingthe batteries. Fornow, the laptopsare rechargedusing a contrap-tion that turnscow power toelectricity

XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra,Intel Core 2 Duo E6600,

4 GB DDR2 RAM

GAMING PC

August 7, 2020. An asteroidcrashes on Lingshan Island inthe Phillipean Sea. August 14,2020. A distress call from agroup of archaeologists whowere investigating the crash

zone is intercepted. It seems the area isswarming with Korean troops. An artifact ofunknown origin has been uncovered from thecrash site, and the scientists have beendetained to analyse its properties. A few dayslater, you and your elite team are sent to res-cue the scientists, and find out what the heck isgoing on.

Things get plenty nasty after you see ateammate who’s been torn to shreds by someUnknown Entity.

Essentially a “sandbox” game, Crysis’brilliance lies in its simplicity. Huge levels,missions and complete freedom—do as youwill! Your Nanosuit is your best friend, and willgive you an array of powers—from boostingyour armour during fire-fights, to cloaking youfor stealth kills and recon and increasing yourspeed or strength. The suit runs off an energypack, so you won’t be able to use these powersindefinitely—run too fast in stealth mode andyour power meter will drop like pins in abowling alley. Weapons and weapon mods likescopes, laser sights, and damage modifiersare aplenty.

Enemy AI is ferocious, even on easy set-tings. They’ll flank you, grenade you and takepot shots at you from behind cover. They’ll also(quite irritatingly) call for reinforcements.

Although your suit makes things easier, you’llbe surprised how quickly your health andarmour nosedives if a couple of Koreans catchyou in their sights.

The level of detail that Crysis achieves isnothing short of incredible. Lush jungle envi-ronments come to life, dappled sunlightthrough trees and the corona effects of dustand fog will dazzle you. Battles are spectacular,with smoke and flame spewing from weapons,debris and concussions from explosions—allextraordinarily life-like. The environment’scompletely destructible too: imagine machinegunning a palm tree to have to fall on a coupleof opponents and crush them! Very immersive,and very, very realistic, I say.

The only minus point—Crysis eats mostCPUs and GPUs for breakfast. In fact, if youwant to experience Crysis the way it’s meant tobe played (no pun) then you better have aGeForce 8 series or a Radeon 2xxx series card—preferably two! It’ll be worth the upgrade.

The long and engrossing storyline hasthree distinct parts (no, we’re not going tospoil it for you). The multiplayer componentisn’t much with its paltry selection of maps,but the single player experience is frantic fun.Genre defining? Yes! Genre redefining? No.Crysis takes the best components of Far Cryand adds a few of its own—which isn’t a badthing, although there’s nothing in the way ofpath-breaking differences.

I have two bits of advice: upgrade, and playthis game...

[email protected]

Rating: 8/10Developer: Crytek Studios

Publisher: EAPrice: Rs 1,000

Digital Leisure l Game On

investigation leads. In therecent past, even newsdailies have started lookingin on online socialcommunities for peopleinvolved in various crimes.

Mark Zuckerberg,Facebook founder, had aheart attack (14 December2007) when he learnt thathis personal documents andinformation were floatingonline for free download.(Actually, we’re justspeculating—about theheart attack and the date,that is.) His application toHarvard University—whichcarried his social securitynumber, the New Yorkaddress of his parent’shouse, and also hisgirlfriend’s full name, wasavailable to anyone with anInternet connection.

What happened was thata freelance reporter, in anindependent magazinecalled 01238 (yes, that’s whatit’s called) wrote a story“poking” a conversationabout the suit filed byConnectU.com on Facebookfor stealing their idea. (Yes,we know it’s complex, andwe’ll leave out furtherdetails because (a) You mightnot understand them, (b)

They’re not interesting, and(c) We don’t understandthem ourselves.) At the endof the article weredocuments like Zuckerberg’scorrespondence withHarvard, Facebook’s cash-flow statement for 2005, etc.

Find out more athttp://tinyurl.com/2w9w9p(don’t blame us if thearticle’s been removed).Theoriginal documents thatcarry Zuckerberg’s detailshave, naturally, already beenremoved. As it stands now,The Magazine Whose NameContains No Words mightface serious legal action...

But do you care? (Wedon’t). The point is, when theowner of a social networkingsite cannot prevent hisprivacy (and a lot of it) beingviolated online, how canusers be comfortable withputting up personalinformation on socialnetworking sites?

Possible morals of thestory: (a) Never trust anyoneon the Internet. (b) Magaz-ines with no letters in theirnames can sometimes bereally stupid. (c) Reaffirmyour belief in Scott McNealy’swisdom (“You’ve got zeroprivacy anyway...”)

EGO-SURFING

Where Do IStand,Virtually?

Google’s searchfunction has all butcrippled humans.

From recipes to research,people have stoppedthinking; they Google stuff.(It might well be eventuallyproved that the averagehuman neuron has shrunkin length by 40 per cent,that its shape has changedto vaguely resemble a “G”,etc.) Very helpfully, all thosebillions of searches don’tvanish into the digital void:Google’s Zeitgeist comes outwith statistics about themost searched-for terms. Atthe end of each year, we geta clear picture of what theyear was like in terms ofsearch (and thereforepopular culture). The 2007year-end Zeitgeist says themost popular search termswere iPhone, Transformers,Heroes, Facebook, and AnnaNicole Smith. (Most ofwhich are guessable.)

114 DIGIT JANUARY 2008 115DIGIT JANUARY 2008

FirstEscape

You’ve won a lottery…Get a free iPhone…Resize your manhood…

The bigger the better… Youcan easily recognise these asthe subject lines of thedelete-worthy mails in yourInbox. However, intriguingsubject lines do entice aselect few idiots intoopening the mails—in caseyou didn’t know.

Creating good spamfilters to tackle such mailshas been the agenda of manysecurity companies, workingwith Web-based mail serviceproviders. McAfee recentlydecided to think outside thebox; the company said theywould be hiring volunteersfrom the UK and the US for athirty-day spam analysis. Theresearch has been dubbed“Super Spam Me.” Thedistasteful thing thevolunteers would have to dois to reply to the spammessages; this act willsupposedly help the

researchers figure how thatwill affect the flow of spam.

The project, if one maycall it that, will only includea few paid volunteers.

Here’s the first bit ofhilarity: applicants wouldhave to send an e-mail tothe company that overseesMcAfee’s PR work. Seeing asthe job (namely, to reply tospam messages) is easy toperform, there willdoubtless be thousands ofvolunteers (people tend tolike money). The poor slobswill now receive moreMcAfee PR mails than otherspam, we can bet.

In case you haven’tfigured it already, the secondpoint here is that everyoneknows what’s going tohappen. When you respondto a spam mail, you’re goingto get more spam—for thosenot in the know, this isbecause the spammer gets toknow that yours is a valid,active e-mail address. So

what’s with the bit aboutanalysing how the flow ofspam would be affected? Ifyou can guess, if we canguess, McAfee can guess,too—more spam, period.

The deal, evidently, isthis: get paid to get morespam—from your spammersas well as from us. Quitenormal for a regular Webcompany to be offeringsomething like this—but notquite normal for a companythat should be spending itstime making spam filters.

PRIVACY WOES

No morePokey-Pokey!

Whether it is to spyon a cheatinghusband or to

probe into a murder, socialnetworking sites havebecome a major source of

You don’t gawk at peoplearound you when theyuse their mobiles, but itwas a novel experiencefor New Yorkers whenthey saw Martin Coopertalking on a phone whilewalking along the streeton 3 April 1973. At thetime, he was head of R&Dat Motorola; he made thefirst cell phone call toJoel Engel, hiscounterpart at competitorBell Labs, on that

definitive April day. Themobile that Cooper usedwas a clumsy affair,though, a big as a brickand weighing almost akilogram.

Portable phones werenot new; there werealready car phones, usingwhich one could place acall from inside a car. Butthe concept of a portablephone was novel. An avidStar Trek fan, Cooper sayshe dreamed up the ideawhen he saw a charactertalking on a wirelesscommunicator. And wecall TV the Idiot Box…

Cooper is also knownfor Cooper’s Law, whichstates that the number ofconversations that can becarried out in a particularslice of the radiospectrum doubles every30 months. An electricalengineer by training, hebegan his career with theUS Navy and later joinedMotorola in 1954. Cooperwon the 2003 WhartonInfosys BusinessTransformation Award forhis contributions totelecommunications.

Lakhya Jyoti Nath, Sonitpur, AssamHow he did it:It’s confusing—is he running Windows? Is herunning Linux? Both? What Lakhya’s done here is avariation of an old trick—customised his WindowsXP desktop to his liking and taken a screenshot onit. He then fired up SLAX from our December 2006CD and applied the XP desktop as a wallpaper! Sosimple, yet so befuddling.

People WhoChanged

Computing

Audiophiles Are PiratesAccording to the Recording Industry Ass. Of America (RIAA),ripping personal CDs to the MP3 format on your PC is copyrightinfringement—even the possession of such copies could beunauthorised and illegal. This means audiophiles backing up thedigital copies of their CDs are pirates. Play safe, now!

PAY TO GET SPAMMED

Exploring Charted Territory

The Communicator

My Desktop

Whatever Happened To…

The Semantic Web is anidea that promises tomake Net-connected

computers understand humanlanguage. When we search forinformation on the Net or fileson a computer, we enter aspecific set of keywords; withthe Semantic Web, if you entera search query saying that youwant to book flight tickets forMumbai to Bangalore at thelowest possible fares for thelast flight on Sunday, thecomputer will automaticallysift through all the data andpresent to you the bestresult—essentially, better dataretrieval and more accurateresults.

According to Tim Berners-Lee—the inventor of the Web—and his colleagues at theWorld Wide Web Consortium(W3C), the Semantic Web willmake use of detailedmetadata present indocuments to identify and tageach and every file on anetwork. This tag will thenwork with other technologiesto further categorise thedocument and its contents.

The idea seems brilliant,but there are problemsgalore. It is practicallyimpossible for the entire Webto be made semantic,because the documents onthe network today do notcontain detailed metadata,and modifying them in thefuture is an insanelyformidable task. But whenyou consider that Berners-Leehas been actively working onthis for the past decade, youstart to wonder what’s beenhappening to it!

W3bster Says w00t!From the online gamers’ lingo, the word ‘w00t’—anexpression of joy—was crowned as Word of the Year 2007 byMerriam-Webster Inc. The entry in the dictionary will reflectthus, and is the first time l33t language has made it into theworld of “propah” English.

Please open the door to your Windows

WIN!Send in your entry and you could win an excitinggift by sharing an amusing picture with a techangle to it. The picture should have been shot byyou, and should not have been publishedanywhere earlier. E-mail your picture with “DigiPick” in thesubject line, mentioning your postal address, oonnoorr bbeeffoorree tthhee 2200tthh ooff tthhiiss mmoonntthh [email protected]. One prize-winningpicture will be published each month.

Send us your desktop with a description of how youmade it to mmyyddeesskkttoopp@@tthhiinnkkddiiggiitt..ccoomm with the subject““MMyy DDeesskkttoopp””,, and tell us your postal address, too.

Participate in this contestand win next month

.net Interview Questionsby Nagaraju B

Published by

Participate and win next month:

Beginning Access 2007 VBAby Denise Gosnell

Published by

The Semantic Web

Last month’s winner:Benoy SomanathanChennai

Martin Cooper

n Canadian man gets $85,000 phone bill for using phone as a modem n A new feature in Ask.com will allows users to erase porn searches n Iranians make supercomputer from banned AMD parts; is XP capable n US School bans mobiles after pupil films principal fighting with a student


EEscscapeape

Scandoo, Foonance, Kelkoo.Actually, you wouldn’trecollect the names even ifyou’d stumbled upon them.

In this, the Web 2.0 era,a new site is launchedevery fortnight (they’re allin beta, but no matter; theyexist). Why do these sitescome up with the most out-of-the-world names, whichsometimes sound goofy,and are sometimesunpronounceable? What agroup of directors used todo behind closed doorsearlier is now done...untrained monkeys armedwith typewriters. (No, thatwas speculation; we do alot of that in this space).Actually, the thanks go toonline services like Dot-o-mator.com: no morewasting time. Just couple ofclicks and voila... a newdomain and Web 2.0 site name!

In the past, sites hadnames that actually meantsomething, and thosenames were associated witha brand name and withservices offered. (Forexample, god.com is aspiritual site.) Some bignames might seem likeexceptions, though, forexample, Yahoo!. But then,

after some soul-searching,illumination dawns: Yahoo!Is an expression of joy,ostensibly upon receivingan e-mail. (At the time thename was conceived, peoplejust loved to receive mail.)Google refers to one googolWeb pages; Googol means 1followed by 100 zeroes.Then there are the self-explanatory names: Amazon(which obviously refers tothe vastness of the site, justlike the Amazon basin);

Digg (referring, doubtless,to the digging up ofinformation); eBay (who canpossibly not know thatelectronic commerce beganin the Bay area?); etc.

But Yokld, doodlekit,Bykaee, Yamli, Sphinn,Yuku… ? The only way outwe can see is to impose thefollowing ThreeCommandments upon newdomain registrars:

The name of yourdomain shall roll freely

off the tongue and shallnot generate in thelistener the question“Beg pardon?”At least five minutes ofthought, with valid brainactivity being measuredand certified by an EMG,shall have gone into thecreation of the name.When in public, you shallpin to your breast pocketa badge bearing yourname following the nameof your site.

Of Change And Small ChangeBidding farewell to Deepak Ajwani as

Editor—in fact, as a member of thisorganisation—was a mixed affair. It was sadfor most of us; one or two women wept theway some women do when the time comesto say good-bye. The chaiwala, however, wasglad, because Deepak never had never givenhim a tip—we know because he told us.

The outgoing (rather, the out-went) editorhad won our minds and hearts by virtue ofhis genuineness, his big heart, his lack ofattitude and ego issues, and hisunwillingness to wield the stick of discipline(the above, not in any order—really!). But inparticular reference to the last point, weshould mention that Nimish and Robert gotto play Quake, Ram got to sleep, Samir got touse his PSP, Bhaskar got to dohis Wikipedia edits, Asfaq

got to chat, Vijay got to surf for exoticpictures, etc. etc.—during official, paid, officehours. Still, we should reinforce the idea thatthis thing about Deepak’s not having beenstrict about discipline was not the biggestreason for our loving him.

Raaabo now manages the things Deepakdid, and we’ll soon begin to treat him in thisspace the way we’ve been treating Deepak.For example, fun shall often be poked athim, and gentle ridicule shall sometimes bedirected his way.

We collectively gifted Deepak a goodphone, because it’s better to give than toreceive (and when you know you won’t receive ifyou ask, it’s even better to quietly give).

We do know that the chaiwala has nocomplaints with Raaabo, though—he

tips enough for all of us!

n Windows Explorer identified as virus by Kaspersky, quarantined n Facebook accuses British MP of impersonating self, disables account

Jonathan Bradford and Ian Leaderhttp://tinyurl.com/2ogfxkhttp://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_accounting_google_apps.php

...So what’s next for Google Apps? What might be thenext killer app? We think it will be an accounting systemand in this article we will outline why. There are strongbenefits to an online accounting service in GoogleApps—both to users and to the targeted advertising-driven business of Google...every site. What does thishave to do with the portals?

...Google could bring significant expertise to onlineaccounting, thanks to their ability to deliver simple,effective online applications with high-performance andreliable infrastructure.

Steve Rubelhttp://tinyurl.com/24n7vahttp://www.micropersuasion.com/2007/12/wikipedia-and-w.htmlGoogle announced last night they are starting a projectcalled knol that will allow anyone to create wiki-likepages on topics. In particular, Google is encouragingpeople who know a particular subject to write an“authoritative” article about it. The search engine willnot vet any of the content, however, they will prioritize

the most credible entries and rank them first in searchresults. It remains unclear how Google is measuringcredibility—a scary thought.

...My initial take on this is that knols are going tokill Wikipedia—but it will take time. This theory,however, hinges on whether people actually startcreating knols, but I believe they will. Here are severalreasons why Wikipedia and Wikia are dead ...

Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkinshttp://tinyurl.com/2gdjsvhttp://mashable.com/2007/12/13/citizen-journalism-dangerous-and-irresponsible/

Why are Thomas, Hazinkski, and a growing number ofmainstream journalists suddenly saying that those of uswho are in the New Media shouldn’t be trusted? Hasthere been some major faux pas that we’ve committedand didn’t know? Did the bloggerati collectively all breakone of the “unwritten ethical standards” recently?

No, the impetus for the criticism lately from allsides isn’t something we did, it’s something CNN did.Those that remember the controversy I caused a fewweeks ago even intimating that New Media could begetting a black eye from the Republican YouTube-CNNdebates are likely groaning right now, because what Ipredicted is starting to come to pass...

Serious issues thismonth. What’s theconnection betweensocial networking andlarge portals? Then,the OLPC project stillruns strong inblogging circles... andthen, what’s gotteninto the head of theChinese government?

So Call Us Warped

There’s this sad site atwww.avazo.com. From the

Welcome Page: “Welcome tothe online web magazine,modern digital medianewspaper, blog—www.avazo.com. This is a greatportal for articles publicationsand discussions, demonstrationall kind of images legal,acceptable and pleasant for thewhole family. You could publishany information about you inthe modern world, how you liveand what you like! We acceptand will publish your personalopinion and you could see whatother people think about it.

“What you’ll find here...Everything I want to include, as

an editor and owner of thisInternet digital magazine.”

We’re calling it “sad”because it’s so genuine, soinnocent, so depressinglynaive. And it’s so sad, it’s funny.Call us warped.

The editor and owner ofthat Internet digitalmagazine is Russian. This,therefore, seems to be a sitefor Russians in America tofeel sort of American anddemocratic, to feel free andbrave. A sample from the“Last Additions” (sic):“Buying a home, although isa good investment and it canput a tremendous strain onyour finances. Actually themonetary cost of buying a

house or a piece of propertyis so large that most peoplewould not be able to pay forit straight from their pockets.This is where a mortgagecomes into play.” Russians inAmerica, unite! You havenothing to lose but yourdebt! Learn from fellowRussians about buyingproperty in America, owningyour own money, even thatcapitalist banks will give youa loan!

Don’t miss “Google: Goodor Evil?” in the Articles section.

You need to have agenuinely heartless sense ofhumour to be able to laugh atthe site. Don’t forward thejoke—people will like you less.

But it’s rather moreinteresting to go over itcountry-by-country, just sowe can poke fun at people bymeans of crude comments.

We didn’t know theInternet had extended toAfghanistan yet, but veryapparently, it has. Interestingtop search terms include“map” at #1 (they need toknow!), “afghanistan” (talkabout ego surfing!),“pakistan” (talk about hero-worship), “vida guerra” (oho,they’re a**-men!), and BBC(ego-surfing again; theyknow they’re constantlyreported about).

In India, “PAN card” and“income tax department”wer getting really popular inNovember. (Oh well, justmoney matters.) But therewere two more money-related terms on the list:“tata mutual fund” and“financial express”. Probablysigns of a healthy economy.

“Priyanka Chopra” wasat #2, and “Times of India”was at #7, for the UK inNovember. We aren’t tooBollywood-savvy, andneither do we read thenewspapers too much, sowe have no idea why... butwe’re guessing there aremore Indians in the UKthan ever before (but thatcould have been deduced bymeans of basic logic

anyway, since those that gothere don’t come back).

FAIR DEAL

Let’s Get BadThisChristmas

It’s amazing what fatherswill go through for theirprized offspring. It’s also

amazing how said offspringcan go into blithering-idiot-mode with alarmingregularity. A combinationof the two can lead to oneticked-off parent, as onewayward 15-year old inCanada was soon to learn.

The father—aschoolteacher—had gonethrough extraordinarylengths to get his son a copyof Guitar Hero III for the Wii—which is apparently theUltimate Christmas Gift, ifthe ridiculous demand isanything to go by.

Alas, heartbreak wassoon to ensue. As hereturned early from workone day, this father caughthis son smoking marijuanawith his “delinquentfriends”. He kept his cool inthe moment (well, notreally), secretly plotting apunishment that befit the

crime, and then some. Thatcopy of Guitar Hero III he sopainstakingly bought? Hesold it on EBay. As a reasonfor selling, he mentionedhis son’s indiscretions andtold buyers, “If you canconvince me that he stilldeserves the gift, then I willend the auction.” Notenough people thought so,apparently, because theauction closed when anAustralian buyer put up $9100.01 (Rs 3.64 lakh) forthe game (we told you it wasthe Ultimate Gift).

The father—whosenickname on EBay is k_lid—still loves his son though,and plans on getting himanother game for his Wii—”something like BarbieIsland Princess”, hecontemplates. Punish kid,make a pile, punish kidagain. You can’t make uphappier Christmas stories.

FROM DINGO TO LIMBU

What Is In AName,Really?

You probably haven’theard of theserecently-up Web sites:

Squidoo, Kayak, Pownce,

116

Escape

DIGIT JANUARY 2008

Audio RemixingA remixed song is, simplyspeaking, an alternative,augmented version of a song:multiple other tracks, musicsamples, loops, and soundeffects are added to theoriginal. Since remixes are sopopular these days, you mightjust seem silly if you don’tknow how it’s done. Here aresome terms to help you notseem silly.Console: Also known as amixing deck, it is the controlpanel for making the changesto the audio track. Synthesizer: An instrumentthat can be used forgenerating new sounds fromraw audio material such aswaveforms—and also forgenerating original sounds.Filter: A circuit that carrieshundreds of knobs, used foreliminating certainfrequencies and letting otherfrequencies pass through.Scratching: The technique ofmoving a vinyl record to andfro by hand on the mixer withthe phono cartridge forcreating different rhythmicsound patterns.EQ (Equalisation): Theprocess of altering, cutting,or boosting the levels ofindividual frequency bandswithin an audio signal using anumber of filters. This controlcan be simple or highlycomplex, depending onsoftware or hardware. Fader (Slider): This acts as acontrol device used for theprecise manipulation of audiolevels—something like anadvanced volume control.BPM: The unit that definesthe pace of music—beats perminute.Usage: Last night, I got achance to remix some songsat a local discotheque on theDJ’s console hooked up totheir synthesiser. Whenever Iincreased the BPM—or usedthe fader to change the track,the audience would roar likecrazy! I need to improve myscratching technique andlearn EQ by working on filteradjustments.

Wild Wild Web

n In a bottle-cap promo, Pepsi will offer 1 billion DRM-free songs on Amazon n Blu-ray site hacked; redirects to the official HD-DVD site


Escape

You’ve won a lottery…Get a free iPhone…Resize your manhood…

The bigger the better… Youcan easily recognise these asthe subject lines of thedelete-worthy mails in yourInbox. However, intriguingsubject lines do entice aselect few idiots intoopening the mails—in caseyou didn’t know.

Creating good spamfilters to tackle such mailshas been the agenda of manysecurity companies, workingwith Web-based mail serviceproviders. McAfee recentlydecided to think outside thebox; the company said theywould be hiring volunteersfrom the UK and the US for athirty-day spam analysis. Theresearch has been dubbed“Super Spam Me.” Thedistasteful thing thevolunteers would have to dois to reply to the spammessages; this act willsupposedly help theresearchers figure how thatwill affect the flow of spam.

The project, if one maycall it that, will only includea few paid volunteers.

Here’s the first bit ofhilarity: applicants wouldhave to send an e-mail tothe company that oversees

McAfee’s PR work. Seeing asthe job (namely, to reply tospam messages) is easy toperform, there willdoubtless be thousands ofvolunteers (people tend tolike money). The poor slobswill now receive moreMcAfee PR mails than otherspam, we can bet.

In case you haven’tfigured it already, the secondpoint here is that everyoneknows what’s going tohappen. When you respond

to a spam mail, you’re goingto get more spam—for thosenot in the know, this isbecause the spammer gets toknow that yours is a valid,active e-mail address. Sowhat’s with the bit aboutanalysing how the flow ofspam would be affected? Ifyou can guess, if we canguess, McAfee can guess,too—more spam, period.

The deal, evidently, isthis: get paid to get morespam—from your spammers

as well as from us. Quitenormal for a regular Webcompany to be offeringsomething like this—but notquite normal for a companythat should be spending itstime making spam filters.

PRIVACY WOES

No morepokey-pokey!

Of Change And Small ChangeBidding farewell to Deepak Ajwani as

Editor—in fact, as a member of thisorganisation—was a mixed affair. It was sadfor most of us; one or two women wept theway some women do when the time comesto say good-bye. The chaiwala, however, wasglad, because Deepak never had never givenhim a tip—we know because he told us.

The ourgoing (rather, the out-went) editorhad won our minds and hearts by virtue ofhis genuineness, his big heart, his lack ofattitude and ego issues, and hisunwillingness to wield the stick of discipline(the above, not in any order—really!). But inparticular reference to the last point, weshould mention that Nimish and Robert gotto play Quake, Ram got to sleep, Samir got touse his PSP, Bhaskar got to dohis Wikipedia edits, Asfaq

got to chat, Vijay got to surf for exoticpictures, etc. etc.—during official, paid, officehours. Still, we should reinforce the idea thatthis thing about Deepak’s not having beenstrict about discipline was not the biggestreason for our loving him.

Robert now manages the things Deepakdid, and we’ll soon begin to treat him in thisspace the way we’ve been treating Deepak.For example, fun shall often be poked athim, and gentle ridicule shall sometimes bedirected his way.

We collectively gifted Deepak a goodphone, because it’s better to give than toreceive (and when you know you won’t receive ifyou ask, it’s even better to quietly give).

Now, a source says Robert hasn’t yet giventhe chaiwala a tip either. Surprising: his

name doesn’t end in “-ni”...

n Xxx n Xxx

Jonathan Bradford and Ian Leaderhttp://tinyurl.com/2ogfxkhttp://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_accounting_google_apps.php

...So what’s next for Google Apps? What might be thenext killer app? We think it will be an accounting systemand in this article we will outline why. There are strongbenefits to an online accounting service in GoogleApps—both to users and to the targeted advertising-driven business of Google...every site. What does thishave to do with the portals?

...Google could bring significant expertise to onlineaccounting, thanks to their ability to deliver simple,effective online applications with high-performance andreliable infrastructure.

Steve Rubelhttp://tinyurl.com/24n7vahttp://www.micropersuasion.com/2007/12/wikipedia-and-w.htmlGoogle announced last night they are starting a projectcalled knol that will allow anyone to create wiki-likepages on topics. In particular, Google is encouragingpeople who know a particular subject to write an“authoritative” article about it. The search engine willnot vet any of the content, however, they will prioritize

the most credible entries and rank them first in searchresults. It remains unclear how Google is measuringcredibility—a scary thought.

...My initial take on this is that knols are going tokill Wikipedia—but it will take time. This theory,however, hinges on whether people actually startcreating knols, but I believe they will. Here are severalreasons why Wikipedia and Wikia are dead ...

Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkinshttp://tinyurl.com/2gdjsvhttp://mashable.com/2007/12/13/citizen-journalism-dangerous-and-irresponsible/

Why are Thomas, Hazinkski, and a growing number ofmainstream journalists suddenly saying that those of uswho are in the New Media shouldn’t be trusted? Hasthere been some major faux pas that we’ve committedand didn’t know? Did the bloggerati collectively all breakone of the “unwritten ethical standards” recently?

No, the impetus for the criticism lately from allsides isn’t something we did, it’s something CNN did.Those that remember the controversy I caused a fewweeks ago even intimating that New Media could begetting a black eye from the Republican YouTube-CNNdebates are likely groaning right now, because what Ipredicted is starting to come to pass...

Serious issues thismonth. What’s theconnection betweensocial networking andlarge portals? Then,the OLPC project stillruns strong inblogging circles... andthen, what’s gotteninto the head of theChinese government?


Which of these ridiculous-sounding theories was floated

on the Internet in December?(a) Most Xbox 360 units areassembled by lepers(b) The Wii emits a cockroach-attracting hum(c) The PS3 emits a lizard-repellinghum(d) For each PSP sold, one Chinesekid gets richer by $1.50

What turned 60 on 17December of last year?

(a) The typewriter(b) The transistor (c) The vacuum tube(d) GDDR3 RAM

What character can’t be partof a filename on a Mac?

(a) The hash (#) (b) The backslash (\)(c) The caret (^) (d) The colon (:)

What organisation devisedthe printed circuit board?

(a) The US National Bureau ofStandards(b) Texas Instruments(c) NVIDIA(d) Xerox

Which of the following is acomputer language?

(a) Stonehenge (b) Taj(c) Eiffel (d) The SydneyOpera House

Which of the following is trueabout the Netscape browser

before 2000?(a) It would crash when“www.ww.w” was typed into theaddress bar(b) It had no Reload button(c) The page would reload uponresizing of the window(d) It would crash when there weremore than 32 images on a page

Belgium, February 1998, BillGates was hit in the face with

a pie. What did he do?(a) Sued the pie-thrower(b) Swore at the pie-thrower: “You

Steve!”(c) Quietly wiped his face(d) Said it wasn’t very tasty

In UNIX systems, the OSviews every entity (including

a disk!) as...(a) A directory (b) A file(c) A logical address (d) A virtuallocation

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

ACROSS7. Graphics (6)8. A machine that captures data for the computer(6)10. ‘C’ in CPU (7)11. Business Process Outsourcing (abbr.) (3)12. Short for Infosys (4)13. Spreadsheet programme from Microsoft (5)17. Personal Web sites in the form of onlinejournals (5)18. Network configuration in which all computersare connected by direct cables to a main hub (4)22. Makers of the Macintosh line of computers (5)23. ‘A’ in AOL (7)24. In GUI-small windows containing messagesand a button to click to dismiss the windows (6)25. One unit (6)

DOWN1. -----breaker- device that interrupts anelectrical path (7)2. Zoom tool function-to increase in size (7)3. SI unit of inductance symbolized H (5)4. Type of printer from Hewlett Packard (4,3)5. Graphical software solutions for networkpublishing (5)6. Server----—have codes in the 500 range (5)9. Trademark for a tough transparent acrylic plastic thatcan be substituted for glass (9)14. Computer that can request information from a server(6)15. Contiguos set of alphanumeric characters that do not

contain numbers for calculations in programming (7)16. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network(abbr)(4,3)19. Radio Detection and Ranging (abbr) (5)20. -----case or capital letters (5)21. -----player- software application thatcontrols audio and video of a computer (5)

Crossword

Got aninterestingquestion? Send it in withthe answer [email protected] “TQ” in thesubject area.

What Would Gates Do?US Presidential Candidatesare doing this for votes:

(a) Wooing younger voters via SMS(b) Wooingolder votersusing greetingcards(c) Using adslots on freeNet radio stations(d) Podcasting gay-and-lesbian-friendly speeches

1

Tim Berners-Lee, whoinvented the WWW (if

we must remind you), oncesaid: “It staggers me that peoplehave actually put up withHTML. It was never supposed tobe something that you wouldsee, but something produced byan editor program.”

Did YouKnow?

Answers1. A2. B3. B4. D5. A

6. C7. C8. D9. B

Crossword by Nitta Jaggi

November’s Solution

Due to an error on our mailserver, we lost all your entriesfor November’s crossword.Our sincerest apologies

Send in your entries [email protected] on orby 20th of this month.One lucky participant will win Amazon.comMashupsBy Francis ShanahanPublished by

Win!

DIGIT JANUARY 2008 127DIGIT JANUARY 2008

magazines, even if they were painful tohandle for you.

Team Digit

Seeing DoubleFirst of all I would like to wish Team Digitand all Digit readers a Happy New Year andMerry Christmas. This is the first time I’mwriting to you, and I’ve been a reader forthe last 4 months. Digit is exactly what Iwas looking for, and I save my pocketmoney every month to buy it because it’snow an important part of my life.

The December Mega Issue is superb,and I have read it again and again. Iwould like to compliment you on thisfive pack issue, especially the editorialteam. The “Tips and Tricks” in thisissue are wonderful. The “How Tos”even more so.

I liked the Connect issue the best,as it is related to the Web and I amcurrently learning Web programming.I have a complaint as well, I got twoConnect DVDs and no Computing DVD.Please send it to me because I needUbuntu! It’s your articles that haveinspired me to stop pirating softwareand use Open Source alternatives.

I also loved the PDFs of all past Digitand Fast Track issues. I request you topublish a Fast Track to Web programming,or programming in general.

Mohammad KhalidChandigarh

We’re so tempted to tell you that we sent youtwo Connect DVDs on purpose, because weknew you’d love that section the most. Don’tworry, that’s not our official stand, and we’vealready sent you a Computing DVD. We’re alsoglad that you’ve gone the Open Source wayinstead of pirating software like most others do.Every such mail makes us proud to know thatwe’re doing everything we can to rid India ofthe “pirate nation” tag that it’s earned. It’s aslow process, but we’re glad that people likeyou have decided to lead by example.

Team Digit

On A Personal NoteI know “the editor” status is arespectable one, so forgive me forconsidering you my “editor brother”. Iwas born and brought up, and studiedin Bangalore, and am currentlystudying—second year, BE, Electronicsand communications. I came acrossDigit in our college library and fromthen on, I’m a regular reader. I’ve beenplanning to write to you, butsomething always came up.

Inbox

Ads Are GoodI started to read Digit 2 years ago. Iappreciate the efforts which Digit puts inwhile providing an outstandingmagazine to us. I have no complaintregarding the Ads in Digit because it isnecessary for you and as well as readerssince these Ads provide informationabout new products and technologies inthe market, and keep the price of ourDigit down. You should consider addingsome more reading materials (Articles,Tutorials) in the Disc. It may be a goodidea if you add a Letter Section in theDisc as well, so that more and moreLetters from the readers can be included.

Deepak Bhalla Aligarg (UP)

At last, someone who understands the valueof advertising. Yes it’s true. It’s theadvertising that keeps the cost of all printmedia down. We like your suggestions aswell, and are planning on enhancing Digit’smultimedia content over the next fewmonths. All we can say is keep reading, youshould be pleasantly surprised shortly.

Team Digit

Someone Stole Our TaglineI’m a subscriber, (and a loyal one atthat!). Incidentally, you should know thata new shop opened in my town, and I amshocked to see that they are using yourslogan. The shop is called Saravanaa’sComputer Sales & Service, and its sloganis Your Technology Navigator. You may wantto look into this.

I have been a reader for the pastfive years, but this is my first letter toyou. I want to buy SKOAR! As well, butit’s not available in my town. Pleasetell me how I can get my monthly doseof SKOAR! as well.

Digit’s November issue rocked, andmy friend bought himself a PC as peryour advice, and is very happy. Onlyone complaint, I haven’t received mycopy of the December issue yet, and it’sthe fifteenth already. In fact, I alwaysget special issues late. Please look intothis matter.

S. PrasannaKaraikal

Imitation is the finest form of flattery, and we’reflattered that the small business in your town isinspired by us, and uses our slogan. Althoughwe’re usually quite strict about such copyrightissues, I have a feeling that our legal departmentwill let this one slide. We’re glad your friendbenefitted from our reviews, and you shouldurge him to get his own subscription!

The December issue was delayed becauseof some complications with our DVD replicator,and thus was late going out to both stands andsubscribers. We’re trying to make sure suchissues never crop up again. Still, we understandyour point completely, and will put all ourefforts to ensure that all our readers startgetting their magazines sooner—especially ourcontent-packed special issues.

Team Digit

Wonderfu(e)lI am a regular reader of your esteemedmagazine. This edition is wonderfu(e)l(Dec 2007), because of several reasons:The biggest being the e-archives. I haveasked our college librarian to put themon the library LAN under the head e-journal, so that all students can accessany pages, anytime. Unfortunately, inthe Fast Track PDFs, you have forgottento include the Fast Track To Google(Dec 2006). I have searched every nookand cranny of all the DVDs and can tellyou that it wasn’t even accidentallymoved to another folder—it’s just notthere. Wishing you all at Digit a veryMerry Christmas and a Happy New Yearin 2008.

V K Adarsh

Whoops! You’re absolutely right. As soon aswe got this mail we searched every “nookand cranny” of our DVDs as well as ourbackup servers and just cannot find it. We’reguessing someone yawned a little too hard at4 am while making DVDs and accidentallypressed [Delete]. Yes, we mean you, Nimish!We’re going to have to dig into our archivesand recreate the whole PDF from scratch.We’ll provide it in our February 2008 DVD.

Team Digit

No CompetitionI am a regular reader of Digit for thepast one year. I must say that yours isthe best magazine because I had alsosubscribed to two other magazines, butquickly discontinued because Digitsatisfies all my needs. I would like topublish your articles on my blog. Iassure you that I’ll give the necessarycredits. Hope you’ll help students likeme to help my blog visitors learnsomething useful. Also, if you want Iwill put a link to your subscriptionpage in my blog. Please give me therequisite permission to do so.

Ajay ShivaaTamil Nadu

All of our articles are already published onlineat www.thinkdigit.com. Our policy for requestssuch as yours is to allow linkage to the articles,and although you can post excerpts from thosearticles, you cannot copy-paste the entirearticle. We realise that your intentions arenoble—the fact that you asked for permission istestimony of that. However, our legaldepartment makes the laws on such things.

As a personal note to our readers: if youwant to increase traffic to your Web site, tryadding unique content, instead of relying oncontent that others generate. Try writing articlesof your own, and reserve the usage of contentfrom Digit, or other sources, as excerpts orexpert opinions. If you do so, and start getting alot of hits, make sure you send us your CV.

Team Digit

Bah HumbugI wasn’t impressed by your December 07issue. Personally, I feel that dividing themagazine into 5 parts was not a great idea.The lack of a Fast Track, which I consider tobe one of the best parts of your magazine,was even more disappointing. On theother hand, the magazine contents andthe CD/DVD contents were fine. Please tryand give full system requirements for yourgame reviews. OVERALL A GREAT MAGAZINE!

Ahmad Nadeem

Wow! We love it when you guys are candidwith us. To be quite honest, we received adozen or so mails criticising us for the 5magazine idea. However, we’ve also receiveda lot of positive feedback—see the letters thatfollow—and we know we can’t pleaseeveryone. If it’s any consolation, this was aone off idea, and Digit is safely back to itsoriginal form. We’re glad you liked the 5DVDs, and the content inside the 5

Write to the EditorE-mail: [email protected]

Snail Mail: The Editor, Digit, KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400 703

Digit will publish the best letters on these pages. Letters may be edited for clarity.PPlleeaassee iinncclluuddee yyoouurr ccoommpplleettee aaddddrreessss iinn aallll ccoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn..

For subscription queries send an e-mail to [email protected]

126

Since the story telling isprobably boring you, I’ll get right tothe point.

Since childhood, technology hasfascinated me. I want to be a“computer geek”, and achievesomething in this field. But I don’tknow what to do. Some people tellme to learn programming, otherstell me to get certifications (Cisco,MCSE, MCP, RHCE, etc.), and someeven tell me to join NIIT, IIHT and doanimation. I’m totally confused!

All I know is that I want to beable to achieve something great intechnology, and lead from the front.I desperately need your help to sortout my confusion about this vastfield of IT.

VivekBengaluru

Our deepest sympathies, Vivek. We knowhow vast the technology industry is, and itreally can be quite confusing. However, wemust point out that your confusion islargely your own doing. You’re goingaround asking too many people for theiropinions, and that’s never a good thing,especially when it involves something asvital as your career. We’re not going to addto your confusion by suggesting a careeroption for you without knowing you. Wewill, however, tell you that you should readthrough our Tech Careers section on aregular basis, try and identify a field oftechnology that really interests you, andthen read more about it online. You mighteven want to consult a career counsellorto see if you fit into the field that interestsyou. What you need to remember is thatthe field you choose needs to be veryintriguing and interesting to you, youshould have an aptitude for the kind ofwork that is involved, and mostimportantly, look for good growth options.We have no doubts that once you do this,you will succeed, and probably be featuredin a Digit article. We love your spiritthough, so make sure you never lose thepassion for technology that you possess.

Team Digit

DIGIT 2007 GTX:EXTREME FATAL1TYEDITIONNow that’s a DIGIT! Packedto the brim with loads ofTech stuff any geek wouldwant. I really loved your ideato split Digit into 5 sectionswith relevant individual content. Iappreciate all the work you guys put inthis month. The 2020 Love Story was verygood. I really liked the Agent 001 section,huge reviews and articles covering everydetail possible. Mission accomplished 001!

The Gaming section was the best. Ireally loved the previews of upcominggames, and I’m happy to learn that thePS3 will finally brush off all that dust,with a huge collection of superbupcoming titles.

The five DVDs was the best ever-hugecollection of all that one would everneed. The articles on how mobiles work,stop motion animation, how to build anHTPC, the weirdest gadgets,overclocking (obviously) & the inputdevices shootout were excellent.

Now for the complaints:l I really missed the Fast Trackl The price of a humble YES YMP45 waspriced at a hazardous 70,000 instead of7,000.l A shootout of the latest DVD-writersetc., would have really helped. l Those without DVD drives would havesuffered.l There was no poll!l Way too many ads, eating up valuablespace that could have been filled witheven more information. (I really likedthe Intel ad on the DVD though)

Please continue your fight againstpiracy, you guys are really contributing alot to bringing it down. Agent 001 hasreally completed his mission! I also wishto congratulate the artists who have donea great job throughout the magazine. Thecovers especially looked glorious. Overall,this was the best Christmas and New Yeargift for any Digit reader.

Praveen PrakashKochi, Kerala

Whoa! All we can say is thanks forappreciating the work we put into theDecember issue. It wasn’t easy, especiallywith the shifting of office bang in the middleof the preparations for the issue. Thegraphics designers and artists have pinnedyour letter on their walls, and thank youfrom the bottom of their hearts for noticingthe hard work they put into every issue.

Team Digit

Letter of theMonth

December 2007

ERRATA—December 2007 Personal Tech

Page 32, ASUS P525 review:For sales inquiries contact, IDLDPL Pvt Ltd,011-46096400, [email protected] Page 35, YES YMP45 review: The price is wrongly printed as Rs 70,000—it’s really Rs 6,499; Contact: IDLDPL Pvt Ltd,011-46096400, [email protected]

People And Events That Grabbed The Headlines—For Better Or For Worse

Deep down in our hearts,we always want to belike our favourite

celebrity. No, don’t deny it:those sunglasses, clothes, andcars—how we want to look likethem! Alas, for us ordinaryfans, the hoi polloi, thesethings don’t come cheap. Theirshoes cost more than ourmonthly paycheck, and wewouldn’t be able to affordtheir cars even if we workedour arses off for life. So what’sa ordinary guy / gal to do? Usethe cell phones the celebritiesuse, of course.

The above solution mightbe a tad difficult if you are afan of a celebrity who has aparticular attraction for gold-plated, diamond-encrustedmobiles. However, last wechecked, most of the usualsuspects use commonMotorolas and Nokias andsuch. Maria Sharapova hasoften been spotted with a pinkMotorazr. In Hollywood, phonecompanies give away freephones as publicity; businessphones from Blackberry arethe most popular among

celebs. Among its long list ofusers are Tom Cruise, AngelinaJolie, Brad Pitt, Katie Holmes,Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan,and Cristina Augilera. TheBlackberry also seems to be afavourite assault weapon:Naomi Campbell has beenprosecuted after beatinghousekeepers and assistantswith it. The iPhone, however, isnot a hot favourite, which issurprising because of its now-certified hotness. This is partlydue to Apple’s not cosying upto the Page 3 type. Anotherreason would be its poorer e-mail capabilities compared tobusiness phones.

Closer home, our desicelebrities might be endorsinghandsets left, right, andcentre, but we can bet they’renot all using the phones theyprofess to love. Now while wewon’t go about namingbrands, we suggest you do alittle harder staring when nextyou see a photo of yourfavourite celebrity on thephone. Then e-mail us so wecan share the data with therest of our readers.

Politicians are pretty muchthe same the world over.They take minor issues,

blow them out of proportion,conjure up doomsday scenarios,then promise voters thatdeliverance lies in electing himor her to office. They also have apeculiar knack for missing theforest for the trees (read:focusing on trivial issues whileserious ones go unattended).

By these standards, HillaryRodham Clinton is now a full-blown politician. While Americais in the midst of a bloody war inIraq, Clinton had gotten all hotunder the collar over virtual sex.This indignation was apparentlyprompted by an Easter Egg inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas,where a scene shows characters

having sex. To access that part ofthe game, players had todownload and install a patch,which was far more complexthan simply Googling for morerealistic porn. This issueoccupied quite some time of theaugust lawmakers, and also ledto the introduction of a failedSenate bill. In her latestcampaign declaration, Clintonannounced that if electedPresident, she would takestringent steps to monitorvirtual sex peddled by thegaming industry. Which wouldmean countless pressconferences, debates—the works.Now if that isn’t a nanny state,then what is?

Clinton is in the news foranother wrong reason: Two

anonymous, recently-launched Web sitesfeatured attacks onher main competitorBarack Obama.Serious allegationswere raised, and therewas quite a bit ofspeculation as to whowas behind thesesites. Then someonedid some snoopingaround—and foundthat the official Website of Hillary Clintonand these Web siteswere hosted on thesame domain. Snipingat political rivals ispart of the game, butgetting caught due toa minor oversight ispretty embarrassing.Surely with all thosecampaign dollars,they could haveafforded a different IPaddress...

I f you have been reading ourpast few issues, you’d havenoticed a sprinkling of

stories about music companiessuing individuals for illegalycopying music. The premise ofthese cases was that file sharingis harmful to the interests ofartists who have toiled so hardfor success. By not buyingmusic, fans are cheating themusicians of their livelihood,and the record companies arebeing the good guys, fightingdirty legal battles while themusicians can keep the creativejuices flowing, bless them.

All well and good, but hasanybody bothered to ask theartists themselves what theythink? We were wonderingwhen some hack would try to

get it straight from the horse’smouth, but rapper 50 Cent hashimself stepped forward to setthe record straight. For thosenot in the loop, Curtis JamesJackson III, who goes by theundeniably silly name of 50Cent, is one of the most suc-cessful rappers today. The guy isalso a canny businessman andmarkets his own music. Accord-ing to him, all the hullabalooover file sharing is misplaced,and artists are not really feelingthe pinch when their music isillegally copied. He displays arare degree of pragmatismwhen he says that musicianshave to keep up with the times,especially musicians like him-self, whose fans were youngerand more likely to adopt newertechnologies. 50 Cent sees cur-rent DRM business models out-dated, and feels that music com-panies are not doing enough toexploit marketing opportuni-ties in merchandising and thecrowded concerts.

In other words, his messageto the music label suits was: “getoff your lazy behinds and thinksmart.” We may not like hismusic, but we sure appreciatethe message.

Getting The Rap

Hillary: Over The Hill

Phones Celebs Use

128 DIGIT NOVEMBER 2007