LiveIT Nov09

IT magazine for the contemporary woman

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 ● R S . 5 0

TECH SAVVY STARS

THE MAGIC OFSPECIAL EFFECTS

NEW TELEVISIONTECHNOLOGIES

SCI-FI IDEAS COME ALIVE

CELEBRITY SPECIALPRIYANKA’S IT MANTRA

feature30 The Magic of Special Effects

36 Celeb Blogs Rule Cyberia

50 Smartphone Fitness Apps

53 Future Phones for Fun Unlimited

74 Demystifying Benjamin Button

76 When Sci-fi Makes It to Real Life

81 New Television Technologies

59 Get More Out of Your Notebook

60 Defragment Hard Drive to Speed Up PC

61 Use Scrape Torrent to Search Torrent Sites

62 Invest in IPOs with HDFC Securities

63 Search in Google & Yahoo! Simultaneously

64 Soapdish Becomes Cradle for BlackBerry

65 DAP for Speeding Up Downloads

66 Get Parrot Minikit for Voice Dialling

67 Google Trends Track Online Behaviour

39Do You Need Blu-ray?

56Best Tips for MS Word Users

106

Vol. 2 Issue 14

42Style IT

Tech Must-haves forTech-savvy Stars

24

Profile

contentsnovember 2009

tech tip57 Save Notes Online Using Evernote

58 Merge, Split and Repair PDF Files

how to90 Get Back Missing Calculator in XP

92 Encrypt Your USB Flash Drive

94 Optimise Outlook Express

96 Upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7

102 Capture Screenshots from

Videos and DVDs

spice IT13 Buzz Byte

18 Live IT or Leave IT

22 Chatroom

34 Snapshots

regulars6 Letter from the Editor

8 Tech News

12 Did You Know?

15 Care IT

17 Letters to the Editor

88 Interview - Sunny Vaghela

114 Shopper’s Guide

115 Q&A

116 Glossary

121 Supplement - Photoshoper

peek & pick108 HTC Hero & HP Pen Drive

109 Car Charger for iPod & Logitech

Bluetooth Notebook Mouse

110 iPod Touch

111 Logitech QuickCam Sphere MP

112 HP All-in-One Printer &

Morning Walker

113 HCL TFT Desktop &

HTC Touch Diamond2

Founder V ishwa Nath (1917-2002)

Editor, Publisher & Printer Paresh Nath

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

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

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

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

Bangalore: G3, HVS Court, 21 CunninghamRoad, Bangalore - 560052, Phone: 26577845

Bhopal: 12-B, Maharana Pratap Nagar, Zone No. 1, Bhopal - 462011, Phone: 2573057

Chennai: 14, First Floor, Cison’s Complex, Montieth Road, Chennai - 600008, Phone: 28554448

Jaipur: Geetanjali Tower, Shop No. 114, Opp. Vyas Hospital, Ajmer Road, Jaipur - 302006, Phone: 3296580

Kochi: G7- Pioneer Towers, 1 Marine Drive,Kochi - 682031, Phone: 2371537

Kolkata: Poddar Point, 3rd Floor, 113 ParkStreet, Kolkata - 700016, Phone: 22298981

Lucknow: B-G/3, Sapru Marg, Lucknow - 226001, Phone: 2618856

Mumbai: A 4, Shriram Industrial Estate,Wadala - 400031, Phones: 65766302, 65766303

Patna: 111, Ashiana Towers, Exhibition Road, Patna - 800001, Phone: 2685286

Secunderabad: 122, Chenoy Trade Centre, 116, Park Lane, Secunderabad - 500003, Phone: 27841596

Printed and published at Delhi Press SamacharPatra Pte Ltd., A-36, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad andDelhi Press, E-3, Jhandewalan Estate,Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi - 110055.

No part of this publication may be reproduced inany manner without the written permission ofthe publishers.

This copy is sold on the condition thatjurisdiction for disputes from sale, subscriptionand the published matter will be handled atcourts/forums/tribunals at Delhi.

Title Live IT is registered with Government ofIndia as trademark.

2008 © D elhi Press Patra Prakashan Pte Ltd., New Delhi - 110055, India.

85Tech Career

68Abducted by Aliens

104Boost Your WirelessRouter Signal

Netgear WirelessRouter

111

mailto:[email protected]


Letter

From Editor’s DeskCelebrity Watch!

Priyanka Chopra has been on it for quite some time. So have Big B, Gul Panag, Mallika Sherawat,Preity Zinta and Shahid Kapur. As is common with film celebrities around the world, even our dearBollywood stars like to keep a track of the number of stargazers who closely follow the latesthappenings in their lives. Not that they are always in a number game; but it is natural to get anego kick to find out how eagerly they are being watched by their fans. And the latest fad in thisage of stargazing is to maintain a Twitter account and keep a tab on the online users who followyour updates.

But for once, the glamorous world of Bollywood was trumped by the dreary world of politics whenit came to celebrity stalking. It was in the month of September when this great debaclehappened and a quirky politician from down south Kerala clocked in more than 100,000 Twitterfollowers, making him the first Indian celebrity to cross that milestone. Thanks to Shashi Tharoor’srelentless ‘tweeting’ about the austerity measures that were being implemented by the Congressgovernment, and his now legendary ‘cattle class’ remarks, a new dimension was added toIndia’s yet nascent world of celebrity mania in the cyber sphere.

All of a sudden, Twitter became a household name and Tharoor, the poster boy for this micro-blogging service. With the growing popularity of social networking sites and developments in Web2.0, more and more Bollywood stars, much like their counterparts in Hollywood, are nowmaintaining blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts – all in the name of reaching out andconnecting with their fan base. Social networking sites have brought our favourite stars (and thenot-so-favourite ones too) closer to us than ever before.

But it is not just for reaching out to their fans that most of these young generation film stars haveembraced the wonders of IT. For them, tech gadgets and gizmos serve the dual purpose ofutility and fashion statement. Much like the expensive cars and designer wear, cutting-edge ITgadgets have also become a part of the persona donned by movie stars.

In this issue of Live IT, we take a close look at the IT mantra of India’s celebrities. From thegadgets they love to the blogs they write, we explore the star-studded IT quotient that our fabledcelebrities have built up for themselves – both to suit their personal needs and to project atrendy image.

Anant NathManaging Editor

FREE ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWAREFROM MICROSOFTAre you tired of shelling out big bucks to companies likeNorton and the likes? Don’t worry – it is now possible tobid adieu to paid anti-virus software and opt for a totallyfree version. In October, Microsoft has officially releasedits new computer security programme, MicrosoftSecurity Essentials, although the beta version has beenavailable since June this year. With the official release,users can download the software for free fromhttp://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials. Thecompany provides regular updates, so that one can stayabreast of the latest malicious programmes, which cansteal passwords or turn PCs into spam servers. What’smore, the programme will not slow down users’ systems,claims Microsoft. The IT giant has also made it clear thatit does not intend to steal business from companies likeMcAfee and Symantec.

GOOGLE DOODLE MARKSMAHATMA’S BIRTHDAYIt was Mahatma Gandhi’s 140th birth anniversary on Oct. 2. And guess who had come forward to celebrate the memorable

occasion in the most unique manner? It was none other than Google and the search engine giant featured a doodle on its home

page as a mark of respect. Google featured the face of

Mahatma Gandhi on its logo, a touching gesture, even

as people across the globe celebrated Bapu’s birthday

and paid homage to the Father of the Nation. Even

today, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi remains the

undisputed political and spiritual leader of modern

India, and Oct. 2 is marked around the world as

International Day of Non-Violence.

Conceptualised by Dennis Hwang, Google’s doodles

are created to remind people of important dates or

events. Other prominent figures who have been

featured here include Albert Einstein, Leonardo da

Vinci, Confucius, Louis Braille, Pablo Picasso and

Michael Jackson.

News

Compiled by Priyanka Dey

November ‘098liveit.in

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials.

WORLD’S MOSTEXPENSIVEBLACKBERRYMade of 18 carat yellow gold and studded with 4,459

diamonds, the world’s most expensive BlackBerry is bound

to be the darling of every heart. It has taken designer

Alexander Amosu nearly 350 hours to create this eye candy.

What’s more, the owner of the piece can personalise the

product with his name or company logo inscribed on it. The

stunning handset in glittering gold and dazzling diamonds

comes at a staggering 125,000 pounds. An anonymous

millionaire from the Middle East has acquired the first of

the three limited-edition handsets.

liveit.inNovember ‘09 9

TRANSCEND’S EXTERNAL HARD DRIVESCOMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 7Transcend, a global leader in storage and multimedia products, has declared that its StoreJet external hard drives have passedWindows 7 compatibility test. The latest among Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 is an evolutionary upgrade that willbe fully compatible with applications and hardware designed for its predecessor, Windows Vista. According to ChangeWaveResearch, the current satisfaction rate for Windows 7 is four times higher than Windows Vista.

In order to ensure complete functionality whenused with the new Windows 7 operating system,Transcend’s 2.5 inch and 1.8 inch StoreJetexternal hard drives have been thoroughly testedto meet Microsoft’s strict standards. Those usingTranscend’s external hard drive can now restassured that their Transcend products will haveno compatibility issues when they upgrade toWindows 7.Says Mr. Austin Huang, Regional Head(Sales) for SAARC & APAC: “We always striveto keep pace with technology. Our incessantR&D has made our products highly acceptablein the market. Now that Microsoft is launchingits latest version of Windows operating system,Transcend users can freely use their externalhard drives on Windows 7 computers withoutworrying about compatibility issues.”

News

MAGAZINE-STYLE BROWSING WITH

GOOGLE FAST FLIPGoogle Labs has launched a Web application where users can search and share news articles as never before. Named Google

Fast Flip, this application combines Print and Web features, and enables users to ‘flip’ through pages online. Besides, users can

also follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their custom magazines around searches. The Web application is

available at

http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/. The

window presents a number of pages

in thumbnail style and you can search

for most popular news and magazine

sites. There are arrows at the left and

the right side of the thumbnails to let

you flip through the pages like a

regular magazine. Now that is

certainly unique and works more

quickly than opening the pages one

by one.

ADOBE FLASH 10.1 FORSMARTPHONESAdobe has recently announced that Flash 10.1 will be available on a wide range of smartphones and handheld devices. Abeta version of Flash for Windows Mobile and Palm WebOS is likely to hit the market later this year, followed by GoogleAndroid and Symbian versions in early 2010.

Many interactive pages and videos that you see on the Web arepowered by Adobe’s Flash technology. Till now, smartphone users canonly access Flash Lite which cannot show anything better than a subsetof Flash pages. Then there are quite a few cell phones which are unableto display Flash content.

But the tech constraint seems to be over now and almost allsmartphone users will be entitled to full Flash support. “Flash onWindows Mobile will require OS 6.5 and Flash for Android will run onOS 2.0, codenamed Eclair,” said Anup Murarka, director fortechnology strategy and partner development within the PlatformBusiness Unit at Adobe. On the other hand, the Palm Pre, HTC TouchPro2 and BlackBerry Bold will all have in-built Flash. But what aboutApple’s iPhone? Well, there is no hope yet, unless both companiesdecide to work in sync.



FUJIFILM LAUNCHESFIRST 3D CAMERANow you can enjoy three-dimensional (3D) images and movies without wearing those cumbersome glasses. Fujifilm India,

one of the largest photographic solutions companies, has launched its groundbreaking imaging technology – the FinePix

REAL 3D System. It is the world’s first 3D digital imaging system that lets users enjoy 3D images without wearing special

3D glasses. The revolutionary 3D system includes FinePix REAL 3D W1 (a 3D camera), FinePix REAL 3D V1 (an eight-

inch viewer on which spectacular 3D images can be displayed) and a 3D Print (Fujifilm’s high-precision production

technology that enables users to print 3D images).

According to Mr. Kenichi Tanaka, Managing Director, Fujifilm India, “Fujifilm believes in bringing the latest

technological innovations to its discerning buyers in India. In tune with our strategy to become one of the top digital

camera brands in India and acquire 15 per cent market share in three years, we shall continue to introduce digital camera

models which are either world’s first in some aspects, award winners or based on our exclusive and innovative

technologies.”To click a 3D image, two Fujinon lenses are installed and a 3x optical zoom is also added. Moreover, the RP (Real

Photo) Processor 3D, another photo technology marvel developed by Fujifilm over the years, synchronises the data it

receives from both lenses and two CCD sensors. It then determines shooting conditions such as focus, brightness and

tonality, and instantly blends the data into a single symmetrical image.

The FinePix REAL 3D W1 camera costs Rs 39,999 and is available at all leading Fujifilm stores across the country. �

Did You Know

liveit.in November ‘0912

Around 210 million handsets aremanufactured by Nokia every year,

which means the company produces up to6.6 phones per second.

The name Joomla is derived from theSwahili word ‘Jumla’, which means ‘all

together’ or ‘as a whole’.

Around 6,000 new computer viruses arereleased every month.

The first hard drive available for an Apple machine had a capacity of

five megabytes.

I f the National Science Foundation had notannounced paid domain services on

September 14, 1995, we would still beenjoying zero domainregistration charges.

CompuServe, currently owned by AOLTime Warner, was the first Internet

Service Provider.

According to Mercury Research, over 80per cent of the world’s computers have

Intel processors.

The 216 hues, rendered on Windowscomputers and Mac operating systems,

are called Browser Safe Colours.

Ahighly educated chief priest of DaiohTemple in Kyoto performs memorial

services for lost data through his onlinevirtual temple. Lost data, restin peace.

During their historic first flight, theWright Brothers covered a distance less

than the wing span of a jumbo jet.

Hewlett-Packard was the first corporationto move to the Silicon Valley in 1938.

As number ‘4’ is considered unlucky inmajor regions of Asia, Nokia has never

launched any phone model in this continentthat begins with the digit ‘4’.

Boeing was the first airline to discover theY2K problem in 1993.

Robert T. Morris (Jr.) created the firstInternet worm, which attacked more

than 6000 Internet hosts.

Orkut, Google’s social networkingservice, was named after its

creator Orkut Büyükkökten who was aGoogle employee. Initially, Orkut accounts were available by invitation only.But in 2006, it was opened for all – so that everyone can easily create an Orkut account.

An average computer user blinks seventimes a minute.

In 1998, Satyam Online became the firstInternet Service Provider in India.

The World Wide Web had 50 millionusers in around four years while the

television took 13 years and the radio took 38 long years to reach out to as many users.

Facebook has taken three years to reachout to 50 million people. �

did Uknow?

Does the world of digital entertainment amaze and enthral you? Do youlove to tinker with the latest gizmos and bring to life your very ownconcepts? Digital tech is changing at lightning speed and you need tostay up-to-date about the latest happenings. So try out these SEVEN

brain teasers to test your ‘digitainment’ knowledge. All set to take the quiz now?Let the show begin …

Buzz Byte

Check out the next page tosee how well you scored!

A. 90 minutes

B. 60 minutes.

C. 76 minutes.

If you want to change a picture of your dog into a horse, what

software should you use?

A. Animation software.

B. PowerPoint.

C. Morphing software.

Q

Who created Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)?

A.Marc Andreessen.

B. Ken Thompson.

C. Paul Zimmerman.

Q

What is so unique about a dual-layer DVD?

A. It uses a second layer to offer a speed increase.

B. It creates alternative sound tracks.

C. It can hold more data.

Q

According to the specifications mentioned, how many

minutes of music can a compact disc (CD) hold?Q

A. gif file.

B. bitmap or bmp.

C. jpg or jpeg file.

When you take a picture with a digital camera,

the picture will be stored in which format?Q

A. Diamonds and Spades

B. Hearts and Spades

C. Hearts and Clubs

A programme that enables us to extend a website so that we can play

usic and more is called:

Q

When using a sound clip in a website design,

you should

A. always make it loop continuously so that it does not stop.

B. always mute it so that the person looking at the site cannot hear it.

C. give the visitor the option to turn it on or off.

Q

Buzz Byte


Between 8-15Your knowledge of the tech terminology isgood but a little Photoshop enhancementwould make it picture perfect.Double-click the effort button and see the result pop-up

before your eyes!

Between 16-21

You are the true DVD – Digitally Very Driven. Go all out to make it

big in the technology space and leave your footprints in the

virtual world!

If your score is:

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

Between 0-7

Your current tech knowledge is in mega bytes but

there’s enough promise that you can upgrade it to giga

bytes. Add to your knowledge hardware constantly and

feel the difference!

Buzz Byte


Beat thatThrobbing Pain

Mehak Siddiqui

Care IT


According to a recent survey, more than 10 millionpeople visit their doctors every year because ofheadache complaints. Some of the commonlyreported maladies are migraine, cluster headache

(frequent headaches of short duration) and tension headache.The last one is a medical condition that may affect eventeenagers, although those aged between 20 and 50 tend to suffermost. Around 69 per cent men and 88 per cent women fall preyto tension headaches at some point of time or other.

Tension headaches may be caused by various medicaldisorders, but one malign factor behind the throbbing painhas already been diagnosed. It is the growing use ofcomputers and other electronic devices that seems to be keyreason. Tension headaches range from mild to severe andusually manifest as a tight band of discomfort around thehead. The tension normally results from tense muscles aroundthe eyes, head and jaw bones. Those constantly stuck to theirsystems, cell phones or even televisions are most likely to get

this kind of tension around the eyes, as well as in the neck andshoulders – leading to terrible discomfort and annoyingtension headaches.

An effective way to keep the tension headache at bay (orpreventing it from getting worse in case you already have anattack) is to adjust the ‘refresh rate’ settings of the monitor. Although we cannot notice it physically, thecomputer screen refreshes itself hundreds of times a second.To understand the concept better, think of the old black-and-white movies where one could see each frame flash onthe screen and the characters move in a jerky manner. Thisis due to a slow refresh rate, which makes the screen flickerlike a fluorescent light and gives many people headaches.The default setting on most computers is set to a slow refreshrate, which triggers the problem. In order to change thesettings and minimise the strain on your eyes, follow these easy steps:

� Go to Start menu and choose ‘Control Panel’.

� Now click the ‘Display’ icon (located below ‘Appearanceand Themes’ in Windows XP).

� In the window that opens, click ‘Settings’ followed by‘Advanced’.

� Now, click the ‘Monitor’ tab. Under ‘Monitor settings’,there is a pull-down menu that says ‘Refresh rate’.

� Choose the largest number there. Then click the ‘Apply’button and close the window.

In addition to resetting the refresh rate, you can also try theseuseful strategies to prevent computer-related headaches.

� Try and place the monitor right in front of you. Keepingthe monitor off-centre results in neck and shoulder pains asyou have to twist your body to see the screen.

� Keep the monitor at an arm’s length when you are working.Sitting too close to the system or too far away from it maycause eye strain, resulting into headaches.

� The screen should be at eye level. So adjust your chairaccordingly.

� Increase the text font size so it is easier to read.

� Adjust the monitor’s brightness to suit the surrounding light.Make sure that your home and workplace are well-lit aspoor lighting can cause severe headache.

� Place the monitor in such a way so that you can avoid theglare. If that is not possible, use an anti-glare screen.

If you still find your head throbbing after spending severalhours at the computer, PDA etc., try these simple measures.However, do remember that none of these remedies arealternatives to professional help. If your headaches persist,consult your doctor immediately.

Go for medicationWhile medicines such as ibuprofen and aspirin are commonlyused to treat headaches, there are specific ones prescribed for tension headaches. These pills contain active ingredientssuch as high doses of acetaminophen and caffeine to relieve muscle contractions and reduce tension. However, donot go for these medications unless you have consulted your physician.

Reduce stressStress often triggers chronic tension headaches; so it is importantto adopt stress-busting techniques. Do breathing exercises,meditate and hold on to a positive outlook. Also, try and getadequate rest, exercise regularly and organise your work-lifemore efficiently. Keep anxiety and depression in check, whichindirectly improves your emotional well being. Talk to yourdoctor about anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications andtake natural mood stabilisers.

Massage helpsGently massaging the temples will calm your nerves and relax the muscles. Every hour or so, close your eyes andslowly massage the temple area for a couple of minutes toease out tension.

Take frequent breaksTaking frequent breaks is extremely important. Staring at abrightly lit computer monitor for several hours tires the eyesand causes strain. So take short breaks after every 30minutes or an hour, stretch yourself, take a brisk walk andkeep your eyes closed for some time. All these may help youbeat tension headaches.

Adequate rest is requiredLack of sleep or rest can trigger tension headaches. You must sleep seven to eight hours to beat the fatigue and start afresh. If you find it too difficult to sleep or wakeup several times during the night, drink herbal non-caffeinated tea before bedtime or take a natural supplement to calm your nerves. This will help you rest and sleep peacefully.

Opt for heat and cold therapyHeat and cold are both effective treatments for tensionheadaches. Heat relaxes the muscles and eases tension, whereascold reduces pain and inflammation. Apply a heated cloth or anice pack (wrapped in a dry cloth) to your forehead several timesa day and you will feel better. �

Care IT


Letters to the Editor

Inbox

IT magazine for the contemporary woman

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 � R s . 5 0

SITES TO SUIT YOUR MOOD

IDEAS FOR MODERNHOME DÉCOR

GEEKY GADGETS FORBEAUTY & FITNESS

FASHION PAIREDWITH TECHNOLOGY

WEARABLE TECHGADGETS

TECH BRANDS FORGLAM DOLLS

SITES TO SUIT YOUR MOOD

IDEAS FOR MODERNHOME DÉCOR

GEEKY GADGETS FORBEAUTY & FITNESS

FASHION PAIREDWITH TECHNOLOGY

WEARABLE TECHGADGETS

TECH BRANDS FORGLAM DOLLS

BLENDING JEWELLERY WITH TECH GADGETS:

USB JEWEL }

LIFESTYLE n IT SPECIAL

{

Dear Editor,The October issue of Live ITwas information packed. Inthe Access Total supplement,Label making was wellexplained. ‘Different Sites toSuit Different moods’ featuresa very useful listing. VirtualCard also provides usefulinformation. My best wishesto one and all at Delhi Pressand Live IT.Sincerely yours,

M R V NathChennai

I’m a great fan of Live IT. TheAnniversary issue on Lifestylewas excellent. All the sectionswere loaded with greatinformation. The Best of StyleIT pages were simplygorgeous. The Access Totaltutorial and the interactive CDwere good. Congrats for yourgood work!

Shruthi RajaramBangalore

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


Looking for a new outfit? For your mobile or MP3 player, of course. Little MissMobile is just the thing you need. It is only 60x100 mm in size and comes in threestylish designs. Choose from Chatterbox, Sunshine or Naughty, or buy all three –these are very reasonably priced.

It is a six-in-one photo panel on a cube that takes up the space ofjust one photograph on your shelf, table or desktop. And it revolves,so you don’t need to lean over to change the snap when you feel likeit. All you need is a single AAA battery that doesn’t come with thepurchase! But that’s a small issue for this great gift idea.

Little Miss Mobile Socks

Terra Magic RevolvingPhoto Cube

Live IT or Leave IT

Are you on a diet and fearful of sudden snack attacks? Grab this DietDecision Maker and stick it on your fridge to help you keep those falsehunger pangs at bay. The size is just right at 4x10x10 cm and the threeAG13 batteries required actually come with the gadget. Just push it insidethe fridge door and hear size reminders like ‘naughty pickers wear bigknickers’ and ‘a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’. Surely, youwould run away after such timely warning!

Diet Decision Maker

There’s a power cut but do you still want to walk in the lawn or thepark with a light handy? Want an LED under the pillow at night?Why not a bit of music to accompany the breeze or rock you tosleep? The LED Torch Lantern with AM/FM Radio is anabsolutely handy gadget for outdoors and indoors. The gadgetincludes AM/FM 2 band radio, earphone jack, volume control,LCD clock, torch (5 LEDs), lantern (8 LEDs), siren, built-in speaker,etc. and also a belt. The 4 AA batteries required are not included.

LED Torch Lantern with AM/FM Radio


Hate the headphone in bed, but want to rock yourself tosleep listening to relaxing music? Want to read your

audio books in bed? Have to finish that foreign languagelesson before you sleep? The Sound Asleep Pillow is just

what you are looking for. The speaker is built into thepillow and your partner will never hear a ping. All youneed is a music source like a radio or an MP3 player, a

3.5 mm stereo plug to connect your pillow to and themood to listen. So happy listening folks!

Sound Asleep Pillow

Are you a chocoholic and feeling guilty about it? Are you gaining‘prosperity’, thanks to your sweet tooth? Here is the most unique gizmo tocontrol those chocolaty urges. This crazy clock will hold all your small-sized temptations, say 25-30 pieces. And every hour, it plays ‘dance of thesugar plum fairy’ and tantalisingly holds out a piece for you to grab. Takeit within 30 seconds or it will be gone – back into the storage room. Sonow you know what to do. And yes, it has a light sensor; so it definitelywon’t wake you up at night by playing the tune.

Chococlock Chocolate Clock Timer

No, it isn’t a teeny weenie satellite you need to launch from yourwindow, but a cool set of speakers that works with any MP3 player(including iPods). It’s really, really light. And with just two AAAbatteries, you can keep going for a whopping 10 hours. Of course, thecolour is your favourite pink. The truly mobile speaker for your MP3player is finally here!

Tripod MP3 Speakers for MP3Player & iPod

Are you a solitary traveller on the PC circuit? Don’t worry, Tengu willkeep you company. It is a USB-powered device which responds to anymusic or sound you hear in the vicinity. This little guy is fun to be with;he matches his facial expression to what he hears and he has a stock ofthose faces to choose from. When there is no sound, he will simply fallasleep but as soon as he detects some noise, he will wake up again.Bored with what is showing on his face? Blow gently, he changes hisface and guarantees your smile. Any free USB port will do for Tengu;he is a standalone device that does not need any software on the hostcomputer. He is a very compatible guy that gets along with any systemand a compact one too, at 71x43x15 mm.

Tengu – USB Character Light

Live IT or Leave IT


Saving a bit here and there but have no idea how much? Keep tabs on yoursavings with this Pink My Personal Bank ATM machine. It adds up yourmoney as you save and tells you how much you have whenever you want toknow the amount. There is a coin box with an add machine as well as a notedepositor, a password and security system, time and target setting, calculator,alarm and even facilities to withdraw by ATM. So try this wonder machineand also teach your kids the saving habit!

Pink Cyber Bank

How about being a human clock? No, this is not afancy dress ball, but just a set of four AAA batteries,which are discreetly hidden in a small pocket of yourT-shirt. Switch the battery pack on and have fun. Getahead, stop the clock or lag behind and watch thepeople around you fuss about being late, early or notbeing there at all! You can wash your T Shirt afterremoving the batteries, so no sweat, buddy, literally!

Digital Clock T-Shirt –Share the Time

Do smelly kitchen clothes make your life miserable? TheNo Stink Cloth Kit is the perfect solution that will endyour kitchen woes. The odour-causing bacteria and mouldare almost entirely removed by the patented technology –so that it remains fresh and smells great. The kit includestwo nylon sponges, two tea towels and one micro-fibrecloth. What’s more, these are machine washable and canbe used again and again.

No Stink Cloth Kit

Who is that on your doormat? Yeah, surprise yourguests with this unique mat which blinks a welcome.Absolutely retro stuff and it is sure to be a hit withthe crowd. Makes a great gift too and a sure changefrom the doormat image, right?

Invaders Doormat

Ever felt a dire need for a Dictaphone/voice recorder? Then the iRecorderiPod Voice Recorder is just the thing for you. This iPod doubles as a deviceto record voice without needing any additional software – it is already builtin. So go ahead and record that interview, personal memo or note. Thisfeatures the plug-and-play technology with a recording-indicator LED thatshows the recording status of the voice recorder. And it is a very compactdevice at a size of 38x25x15 mm.

iRecorder iPod Voice Recorder

See life kingsize with the USB Digital Microscope! If youhave a big enough screen, you can have a magnification ofup to 200 times. The software comes along with thegadget and you don’t need any external power supply; justplug in your USB and your digital microscope is ready.

USB Digital Microscope

chatroomDo you use any video editing software to put together your audio and

video files? Share your experience.

Santosh Kumar Biswal

Nanthini A. SoumitriMedia plannerI use Windows Movie Makerfor video and audio editing.Also, if my friends suggestsome good software, Idefinitely give them a try. Ihaven’t done much video oraudio editing but made someDVDs from personal videos.And I love to watch them onmy LCD television screen.

Neeti MehtaStudentI use Windows MovieMaker for video editing. Itis totally hassle-free andeveryone can use it withoutany difficulty. However, it isa basic application andwon’t help you much if youwant to try advancedfeatures. I had also triedAdobe After Effects, butfaced problems with certain features such asaudio rendering.

I enjoy

compiling my

personal video files“ “

Sarah MendoncaBio-tech patentsconsultantI have never done any audioediting since it is notrequired. But yes, I search theInternet for good editingsoftware in case I need it.Once in a while, when Icompile my personal videofiles, I just download somebasic video editing softwareand follow the instructionsunder the ‘help’ menu.

Chatroom


With Web 2.0 and advanced technologies, we can now create, customise and organise digitalcontent. Join us and share your DIY experience in personal entertainment. Send your entry with your

photograph to [email protected]

Trupti MeshramStudent (BA, Animation)I have done a multimedia courseand learnt to work on AdobePremiere, a professional video-editing software. It comes with a lotof advanced features and I canmodify audio and video files theway I want it. Initially, the interfacelooked a bit frightening; but now Ican handle it with ease. I use itoccasionally though, as editing isnot my key area of expertise. I alsouse it for my personal works.

Mayura AthalyeMedia professionalI used Windows Movie Makerand Sound Forge for collegeprojects. At present, I am usingSonic DVD maker that camewith my Sonic DVD writer. Itallows me to add videos, musicand pictures, and edit them asper my requirements. And it’sreally easy to use. Moreover, Ican use custom backgroundsand music, and make mypersonalised DVD/VCDcollection. It also enables me toseparate bloopers into chapterson the DVD.

I can modify AV files the

way I want to“

“liveit.inNovember ‘09 23

Reni KurienStudentI don’t use video/audio-editing software as I amnot very conversantwith relevanttechnologies. In case Ineed to get any videoediting done, my friendsusually help me.


Love me,love mygadgets...

Celebs pose for gadgets, celebs lend their names to gadgets, but dothey love their gadgets, too? The tech age is right here and everytime you turn around, some quirky gizmos are bound to hit youor, worse still, take over your life. All is not right with the world if

your BlackBerry or iPhone doesn’t ring every alternate minute. And youmust check your mail during that 15-minute visit to the coffee shop thatoffers WiFi as a part of the ware. Go for a drive and you may find yourselfin a super car that helps you find the way or alert you when it requiresservicing (well, there’s a computer inside, of course). Tech has spread likewildfire and caught the fancy of all and sundry – including the handsomehunks and hot babes of the silver screen.

There was a time when the filmy crowd steered clear of all things geek.Bollywood stars wouldn’t know how to use their gadgets and style divaswouldn’t endorse ‘boy toys’ (read complex tech apps) that lacked typicalfeminine grace. But the digital dazzle of the new millennium has changed it all.The glam brigade is now too busy touting and tweeting that they are right ontop of tech. They love to flaunt hot pieces of hardware; communicate via socialnetworks and make sure that the Net revolution would radically change theirlife. From macho to chic, futuristic to fantastic – every tech toy excites theircuriosity and fires their passion. Meet the beautiful babes (and a hunk, too) asthey reveal to Live IT how tech is rocking their life and style!

Tech must-haves fortech-savvy starsUma Narayanan, Partha Mukherjee and Priyanka Mukherjee

Geek or glam – What’s her rashi?Priyanka Chopra was only 17 when she was crowned MissWorld, dazzling the world with her victory and making everyIndian proud. Ever since, there has been no looking back for thebeauty queen. After making the waves as an acclaimed model,she has carved a niche in Bollywood, proving her actingpotentials as well. What’s more, ‘Piggy Chops’, as nicknamed byJr Bachchan, has been fast in keeping pace with changingtechnologies. She is one of the first few from the Bollywoodbrigade to jump on the Internet bandwagon. But the tech-savvysuper star has gone even further. From film promotion to fanconnection – she does it all with the help of the Web. Priyankaranks No. 1 on Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site, withmore than 65,000 followers. And she has beaten her

contemporaries likeMallika Sherawat, GulPanag and directorKaran Johar in thisrespect. Her fan-following is increasingevery day, thanks to herregular ‘tweets’.

In recent times,celebrities like AmitabhBachchan and AamirKhan have gone all outfor blogging as this isan effective medium ofcommunication. Butask Priyanka about herblogging experiencesand she replies, “I don’tblog. But I’m onTwitter. My Twitter IDis @priyankachopra. I enjoy chatting withmy fans and followersthere. It’s a greatfeeling to be directly intouch with them.”

Going overboard withsocial networking iscatching up fast withcelebs. So it’s time toquiz her about the newturf and the glam queenexpresses her fascinationfor latest tech apps. “I dote on Web 2.0applications as these helpme touch base withfriends and fans directly.Twitter gives me aplatform to speak heart

to heart with all of them. And I don’t need a spokesperson orthe media to do it for me. So I am very happy about it,”Priyanka points out.

Her profile on the World Wide Web reflects how active,popular and impactful she is online. This svelte diva regularlyupdates her profile with pictures from her upcoming flicks andother relevant information. That she is a big-time surfer is,therefore, quite apparent.

This actress with oodles of oomph has a fair grasp over thenitty-gritty of technology. Asked about her computingpreferences, Priyanka candidly confesses her fetish for the AppleMac. Even though her MacBook makes a wireless lifestylefeasible, this hottie is just as conversant with the regular PC.Priyanka is not among those who keep their WiFi on 24x7; but


Priyanka Chopra

Feature

she believes that WiFi and GPRS help her most to stayconnected in spite of her hectic schedule. “Whenever I havetime, I try to chat up with friends and family. It is an excellentmedium to stay in touch.”

While keeping in touch with her loved ones has always been apriority, this smart chic has also used the virtual plane in creatinga buzz around her forthcoming movies. Priyanka lovestechnology and her official website,http://www.priyankachopra.org/, caters relevant informationabout her upcoming projects.

Piggy Chops is ready to embrace any technology whichpromises to make life easier and it is all the better if it comes in achic package. Would she like to have a robot maid ever?“Certainly,” pat comes her reply.

Her favourite piece of gizmo till date is an N95. Nokia is thislady’s first love when it comes to tech apps. “Nokia has been myconstant companion throughout. It’s basically an extension ofmyself and makes life more organised,” she remarks. Whetherit’s texting to her friends or responding to a missed call from hernear ones, nothing will be possible without her smartphone.However, here is a piece of advice from the lady. Priyanka wantsher fans to be prudent in using earphones, which come alongwith cell phones. In fact, she is not the one to endorse ‘listening’(or talking) while driving as this may result into a fatal accident.The actor thinks it is “smarter to be safe than to be sorry”.

Priyanka is a regular netizen who manages to squeeze sometime out of her hectic schedule and replies to most of the e-mailfrom fans and friends. But she admits skipping the forwarded mailmessages that often jam her mailbox. Priyanka deletes most ofthem except when the header promises some interesting content.

She is, however, extremely cautious when it comes to cybersafety and responsible use of technology. Piggy Chops iscompletely against music/movie piracy and illegal downloads. Akey figure from the entertainment industry, she is well aware ofthe hard work which goes into film-making or creating goodmusic. “I do not download music or movies and appeal to myfans to refrain from such downloads. Being an actor, Iunderstand the efforts that go into making films and music. Wemust respect the hard work and put a stop to illegal downloads.One should only buy original CDs and DVDs as they do notcost much.” she comments.

While films like Fashion and Kaminey have brought her criticalacclaim, two of her other projects, Chamki Chameli and PyarImpossible, are all set for release. So which of these projects hasbeen most exciting?

“I have different feelings for each of my movies. Kamineycaught my fancy as it is a path breaking film. And What’s YourRashi was a huge challenge as I played 12 different characters inthe movie; I guess, we have not done it before. But being a partof something groundbreaking can be really scary. Pyar Impossible,again, caters to a different kind of audience – it’s a sweet, coolstory where I look glamorous and play a contemporarycharacter. As cliché as it sounds, each one is special,” Priyankaaffirms before signing off.

Tech’s a ‘guy’ thing, Onida DevilRemember the hunk from Daddy Cool or that enticing Satanfrom the Onida commercial? Be it a romantic thriller like Three: Love, Lies and Betrayal or an out-of-the-box TV ad, thisyoung man surely makes heads turn. Starting his career as amodel, Aashish Chaudhary is all set to make his mark as anactor à la mode. Ask him what keeps him engrossed besidesacting and Aashish confesses his passion for technology.“Technology is to guys what makeup is to girls,” Aashishchuckles over his rather puckish comment.

That Aashish is a tech addict is apparent from his love forgadgets. And it is just not regular stuff like a laptop or a cellphone that keeps him hooked. An avid gamer, Aashish hasalmost all latest games in his possession. “I am a heavy-dutygamer to be sure. Nintendo, PS3, PlayStation and Xbox 360– you name the gaming console and I have it,” he quips. Buthis love for gaming doesn’t stop there. This game freakfrequents relevant websites and plays games online wheneverhe gets a chance.

Aashish caught this fad while shooting for his latest flickDhamal. Long breaks in-between the shoots could have beenboring otherwise. But thanks to his love for gaming, the actorknew quite well how to keep himself entertained all the time.Ever since those Dhamal days, he has remained hooked to gamesand gizmos.

“Since then, I have flown planes and landed on runwayswhile my friends operated the landing systems,” Aashish takespride in his fidelity to gaming technology. This upcoming stargoes a step further and reveals his deep fascination by sayingthat gaming is much better any day than the “frivolousflirting” in chatrooms.

Our hectic to-do lists often leave us longing for some ‘me’time, some breathing space to do what we love to or to catch upwith old buddies. But for those in a hectic and demanding careerlike acting, staying in touch with old friends can be quitedaunting. Of course, there are social networking sites that canconnect you with your friends. So what does the hero of Shaadika Laddoo think of these popular sites?

“At first I thought only folks who had nothing better to dowould visit those,” Aashish admits. But his opinion changedcompletely when he could actually trace his teenage sweetheartvia a social networking site. His childhood crush is based inAustralia and ever since he has found her, the actor is all praisefor these sites.

What impresses him most are the security measuresadopted by the networking sites to make sure that nobody’sprivacy is intruded upon. He is happy that Facebookprogrammers have done their bit and provide users withenough ‘filters’ to avert unwanted attention and intrusion.Besides Facebook, Aashish also wants to try out Twitter. “Itis quite basic in functionality but I am yet to give it a try,”he remarks.

Talk about blogging and you will find Aashish quite open tothe idea; in fact, he is really keen to share his views and


http://www.priyankachopra.org/,

experiences with his fans. But this guy surely knows where todraw the line and his admirers are often left guessing about hisreal opinion. “I would rather wait for people to get interested inwhat I have to say. It shouldn’t be like: Hey, let’s get on to thenext page,” the actor points out.

A prudent user of latest tech applications, Aashish has bothWindows and Mac installed on his laptop and enjoys the best ofboth worlds. “I prefer Windows for routine work while Apple isbest for listening to music and surfing,” pat comes his reply.

But what is his most expensive tech toy? Well, it’s his swankyMercedes Benz, the actor professes.

If you are wondering whether this is a valid answer (chancesare he is just showing off), Aashish is quick to clarify. “It maysound a bit weird but my car has an on-board computer thatalerts me regarding servicing and so on. I can also synchronise

music and video from my laptop while on thego. Plus there is a GPSdevice in the car thathelps me navigate thecrowded bylanes ofMumbai.”

And what would be hisdream tech toy? Given hispassion for driving andtechnology, it cannot beanything but a flying car.“It’s got to be a flying car.It will save me a lot oftime spent in travelling.But yes, you cannot driveand fly at the same time,right?” Aashish laughs ashe reins in his imaginationfrom flying higher.

With two of his flicks,Paying Guests and DaddyCool, running smoothly atcity theatres, thisBollywood star is all praisefor online film promotion.“These days, it is vital to beseen and noticed amongthe clutter; hence, publicityis the key. If top stars cantattoo movie titles on theirbodies for the sake ofpublicity, online visibilityshould be pretty cool, Iguess,” he comments.

Certainly, Aashish. Andkudos to you for such wiseuse of tech apps.

Mac is cool, says JacquelineMeet Jacqueline Fernandez, the svelte chic who hails fromSri Lanka and happens to be a former beauty queen. She hasspent her childhood in Bahrain but returned to the emeraldisland after graduating from the University of Sydney. Aperfect blend of sensuality and sensibility, Jacqueline’s sultrylooks and little grey cells are sure to gain a solid footing inBollywood with time.

Jacqueline plays the female lead opposite Riteish Deshmukhin the fantasy caper Aladdin, directed by Sujoy Ghosh. What’smore, she is sharing the screen space with none other than Big Bwho plays the genie. Looks like a glitzy acting career is awaitingthis hottie and she is bang on track. Jaqueline has been apopular face in the modelling world and we have caught up withher in a chit-chat.


Aashish Chaudhary


Well, Jacqueline loves her gadgets to be sure, but she is not theone to go bonkers over them as that’s a very “guy thing” to do.So what’s her favourite tech toy?

The pretty woman confesses her passion for her phone.“It’s got to be my phone. I just can’t live without it. Thesedays, smartphones offer a lot more than just vanilla voiceand text. You can listen to your favourite music, watchvideos, play games and even surf the Net – all at high speed(courtesy 3G).”

What about her next best tech toy?“It’s the Apple Mac, any day,” she quips. “Once you use

Apple products, you are just hooked to them.”Jacqueline is not yet into blogging but she simply loves Twitter,

the micro-blogging site. She is new to it, but the smart babe isenjoying every bit of the discovery journey. “I have just joined

Twitter and I am still trying tofigure things out,” she sayswhen asked about the most popular Web 2.0 applications.

The actor passionatelysupports her peers when itcomes to video piracy. Shecan never endorse piracymovie or music piracy of anysort and thinks of it assomething “cheap”.Jacqueline buys “only”original DVDs and CDs forher personal collection andtakes pride in saying, “I digquality stuff.”

This graceful actorappreciates the producers’efforts to promote movies on the World Wide Web.This surely helps in reaching out to a wideraudience and gives a flickthat extra boost at the boxoffice. “The Net is simplyamazing as a promotionalmedium. It has really helped people from ourindustry to get that extracoverage and publicity,” she affirms.

Jacqueline is happy at theidea of getting a robot maidas that will surely do awaywith the tiring task offinding a good domestichelp. But more than that,she wants to own an Osim

massage chair. The very thought of getting a relaxingmassage after a hectic day elates this slender beauty.

And what is the most expensive piece of technology she owns?Jacqueline says it is her Apple Mac, which is a perfect blend ofutility and style.

iPhone is my world: Kkusum girlThe demure and docile young wife of the TV serial Kkusumseems to have come a long way. Once a small screensensation, the lead actress of Ekta Kapoor’s daily soap hasdone her bit of tightrope walking and undergone a radicalmakeover to become a glamorous Bollywood babe. Withoodles of oomph and a confident stride, Nausheen AliSardar stuns all with her gorgeous looks and is bound tomake it big in no time.

Jacqueline Fernandez


As Kusum, she used to endure her husband in spite of his flings outside marriage. But now there will be a rolereversal for Nausheen, as she makes her debut on the bigscreen and plays an adulterous wife in Three: Love, Lies andBetrayal. But there’s more to come. In Marathon (awaitingrelease), her second big project, she will be opposite her real-life love interest, Prashant Chainani. As we eagerlyanticipate a mushy reel romance between a real-life couple,Live IT catches up with Nausheen and discusses her love for technology.

So, is Nausheen a gadget girl?“Absolutely! I love my gadgets – be it my cell phone or

laptop,” she gushes. “These gizmos have made our life soeasy. I will be totally handicapped in the absence of my tech toys.”

When asked about herfavourite tech toy,Nausheen doesn’t evenpause to think before shereplies. Yes, it’s her iPhone.The attractive techie has afetish for fashion and it isthe chic look of the gadgetthat keeps her hooked. Herfascination is all tooapparent as she details itsfeatures. “I just love its sleeklook and the touchscreeninterface. And thanks to myphone, I don’t need tocarry my iPod anymore –my music is there on thephone itself.”

The iPhone is surely acharmer to keepNausheen hooked. But thesensuous siren has onecomplaint – there is nomessage forwardingoption in the gadget.

A regular laptop user,Nausheen sticks toWindows but plans tochuck it soon and go forMac. But why so? BecauseMac is less susceptible tovirus, pat comes the reply.She is sure to impress youwith her knowledge oflatest tech developments.

Staying connected withfamily, friends and fansoften seems an arduoustask when you are as

busy as Nausheen. But the tech-savvy actor manages it wellby keeping her laptop WiFi-enabled while on the go. “WiFiallows me to access e-mail messages in hotspot areas withouta data card and cable,” she clarifies. However, unlike thosewho keep the Bluetooth on 24x7, Nausheen prefers not to useit unless there is an absolute necessity. And her logic is quitesound. For one, non-stop use of the Bluetooth can actuallyexhaust the gadget’s battery. Then, there are greater risks ofgetting annoying messages from complete strangers, shepoints out.

The diva loves toying with the idea of a robot maid and feelsthat a properly programmed one will surely be a boon. Butwhen it comes to video piracy, Nausheen is not the one toendorse anything illegal, although a bit of file-sharing is notmuch of a crime to her. �

Nausheen Ali Sardar

Are you fond of a betrayal-and-revenge tale thatcomes alive with chilling thrills and a supernaturallacing? And what can be better if Bollywood’s sexiestsiren (read Mallika Sherawat) plays the nagin this

time? Critics say that she has beaten Reena or Sridevi hollow inHissss – a movie directed by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of thefour-time Oscar nominee and two-time Cannes Film Festivalwinner David Linch.

But in case you think that it is just a remake of Nagin thathad taken Bollywood by storm in the 1970s, well, think again.For Hissss features some spectacular visual effects or VFX shotsthat Indian cinema has never witnessed before. In fact, RobertKurtzman – Hollywood’s best in make-up and special effects –has been roped in to make it a Hollywood delight in the guiseof Bollywood.

According to a media report, Jennifer is more than happywith her unique creation. “The Americans have never seensuch a snake and the Indians, too, haven’t seen a snake-womanthe way I’ve designed her,” she gushes. When the incrediblemetamorphosis happens, Mallika is not the run-of-the-mill tinysnake we almost always find in a horror serial. Instead, sheturns into an enormous reptile, viciously bares her fangs, lookssuperbly natural and shocks you to the core. “Robert is aspecial effects genius and he fell in love with the snake becauseit’s something that he hasn’t yet worked on as far as specialeffects and make-up go,” adds Jennifer and the outcome is,indeed, spectacular.

Watch out for these fab flicksHissss is a sensual story and Mallika Sherawat sans dialogues anda lot of butt-show (some say it’s her body double) makes it evenmore mind-blowing. But the movie is a must watch because you

Feature

VFX: Eye-popping

visuals that thrill& chill Viny Velayudhan

The magic of special effects


can experience a lot of splendid special effects in this flick –opening up a world of fantasy that is as good as reality.

Another movie in this genre is Aladin, of course, with bigstars like Big B (the genie), Sanjay Dutt (he plays a cool villaincalled Ringmaster) and Riteish Deshmukh (as Alladin). Call itthe Indian version of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, for thevisual delights in store will straightaway take you back to theArabian Nights. Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh has equated hismovie to eating an ice-cream with your eyes. And even Big Bruns on and on about the magic moments the movie is capableto create. The big-budget, special effects-laden film also marksthe entry of Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez, pairedopposite Riteish.

But if you want to move away from the domain ofsupernatural or fairytale, and want to be a part of the‘macho’ actions movies, VFX can surely keep your adrenalinflowing. Take, for instance, Blue, the first-ever underwaterthriller that promises never-seen-before visuals and stunts.Directed by Anthony D’Souza, who can lead this top-of-the-rung action film except our good old Akki (Akshay Kumar)?The stunning special effects and underwater photography

ILM, Tippet and Café Efx are there, as well asHong Kong-based studios Centro and Menford.Animatronics will be handled by Stan Winston Studio whohas done some amazing work for Predator, Jurassic Park, IronMan, Pearl Harbour, I, Robot and Terminator. It is rumoured thatthe studio is creating a robot that will be a replica of theIndian film star. Indian Artiste will co-ordinate the VFX andanimatronics for Endhiran.

One should also watch out for Priyadarshan’s De Dana Danand Dharma Productions’ Qurbaan; both have some specialeffects magic in store and Red Chillies VFX is currentlyworking on them. What’s more, King Khan himself has joinedthe VFX bandwagon. Shah Rukh’s next home production willbe a superhero movie with some spectacular VFX which canturn out to be a benchmark in the Indian VFX industry.

Invisible effects that trick and treatSo what is so special about special effects? Well, we wouldsay that the technology has gone beyond the spectacular butthe obvious. Can you ever forget Shah Rukh carryinghimself in his arms in Don where he plays a double role? Butwhen you are watching that or the futuristic gadgets ofDhoom 2, you are fully aware of what is real and what is not.The visual treats in these movies surely satisfy your sense ofawe and wonder, but cannot trick you into believing thatthey exist in real life.

Hold on! Don’t forget the breathtaking scenes that look asreal as can be. You will never suspect that they are totallynon-existent in real life, thanks to some neat technologicalmanoeuvres. Remember, when Shah Rukh Khan jumps offthe roof in Main Hoon Na? No, you haven’t watched a great

complement the scintillating stunts and action – on land and under water.

Among the upcoming movies, we have Rajnikanth’s Endhiran,which promises a rich fare of special effects. Budgeted at $24million and directed by S. Shankar, the sci-fi flick will feature arobot as the villain while a machine dog plays another key role.Aishwarya plays the female lead and Rajnikanth happens to bethe hapless scientist whose robot creates havoc and he is obligedto work out a solution.

The storyline may sound like a remake of Frankenstein, butwhen it comes to striking special effects, we have a clutch ofHollywood biggies working for Endhiran. Hollywood studios


The VFX work for Aladin was the most complex

of its kind ever undertaken in India. With

approximately 1600 VFX shots created over one year

and at a quality level never achieved before, Aladin was a

huge challenge – both technically and artistically.

Moreover, it was created by a new company in Mumbai,

EyeQube Studios, which was opened only six months

before Aladin got into full swing.

There are companies in India who have been in this

business for 10 years but who can never achieve the

quality we have managed to produce. Personally, I think

work can always improve and nothing is perfect.

However, I sincerely believe that Aladin shows that India

can be taken seriously in the VFX world if it focuses on

quality, not just quantity, and the price.

– Charles Darby on Aladin. He heads EyeQube

Studios, an Eros International company. EyeQube did the

visual effects for Aladin while Darby was the

creative supervisor.

“

“

Feature

act of stunt. Instead, SRK was just acting in a studio withthe ‘Chroma Screen’ background. The strings that held himin the air were actually placed on him in such a manner thatthey could be cleaned up during compositing (a processthrough which multiple layers of effects are mergedtogether). The background, the flames and other visualswere later put together by the VFX team to make it lookmost realistic.

It was the same old story when Hrithik and Ash rode theirbike over whirling helicopter blades and missed them narrowlyin Dhoom:2. The original police chopper was a rickety woodendummy whose heavy blades fell off even before the shootstarted. But thanks to VFX at work, the rotor-blades managedto freeze our blood when the duo took that scintillating leap.

The clean-up act was there, too; all the rigs and wires thatenabled the characters to perform some stunning actions had togo off the screen. And who else could help except the specialeffects team?

Want to know more? Some of the mind-boggling VFX byRed Chillies can be seen in Om Shanti Om where DeepikaPadukone dances with Bollywood heroes of yesteryear in a retrosong. It took six months to scan the negatives from the 70smovies and three songs from Amrapali, Saccha Jhutha and Jay-Vijaywere finalised. The old negatives were then restored to the bestpossible quality while the OSO shots were brought down a littleto match the overall effect. The fire scene in the climax of OmShanti Om was another challenge for the studio, but it came offamazingly well.

Stunned? Well, the same thing happened in Jodhaa Akbar too.The battle scenes of the movie do not lack the grandeur orimpact of Mughal-e-Azam. But unlike K. Asif, director AshutoshGowarikar did not opt for an elaborate shoot with thousands ofmen on-field. Akbar’s army was created on-screen, with the helpof crowd-replication technology – thus cutting on costs, timeand efforts. Visual Computing Labs (VCL), Tata Elxsi’s VFXDivision, not only did a commendable job in this area but alsocreated the realistic-looking palaces that wowed the Jodha Akbharaudience.

Location shoot? It’s history now …Or nearly so, if we may say so. In Karan Johar’s Dostana, PriyankaChopra’s luxury apartment in Miami was actually shot in FilmCity, Mumbai. The Miami backdrop was added later – a mostconvincing touch but make-believe, all the same. Once again inDhoom:2, the entire fort heist (where Ash and Hrithik carry outtheir stealing operation) was computer generated in the VCLstudio. There was no fort – only a terrace which was 12 ft highwith an area of 16 ft x 16 ft. The palace, fort, walls and, of course,the city far below were all CG creations, digitally added to the liveaction. So in reality, Ash only climbed 12 ft instead of 200 ft to thereach the top of the fort. Similarly, the hair-rising drop of Hrithik-Ash to the city far below was as safe as possible.

New York and Delhi-6 are no exceptions, either. While YashRaj’s New York was mostly shot in Philadelphia due to certainissues, VCL made the all-important metamorphosis andtransformed the location by incorporating the New York skylinein the movie. As for Delhi-6, it was next to impossible to shoot in

But that’s not all. Do you remember the jam-packed stadiumsand the cheering crowds of Chak De? Believe it or not, thestadiums were empty during the live shoot and the rest wascreated by VFX artists. Crowds were created using backgroundscenes and only 300 artists were required for a day’s shoot. Eventhe scoreboards and the flying balls in penalty shots werecomputer-generated. The last 40 minutes of Dil Bole Hadippa wasalso shot in an empty stadium. The entire crowd was later addedby the studio. The benefits? It cuts costs in the first place andalso takes care of security issues. Imagine thousands of people ina live shoot with SRK, Rani, Hrithik or Ash. VFX helps preventthat pandemonium which will most surely occur in such cases.


The times are changing. The directors, the

producers and the writers are now aware of

what the VFX artists can do. Earlier, VFX artists were

usually called to fix the shots where the damage was

already done. Or they were involved at the last stage,

post-shoot. VFX was used as a cost-saving exercise as well.

But these days, VFX people are called in for the creative

part during the initiation of the film. VFX-oriented scripts

are being written also. India is almost on par with

Hollywood in systems and infrastructure; but we are a little

behind due to the shortage of trained manpower.”

– Keitan Yadav, COO, redchillies.vfx

“

“

Old Delhi and Chandni Chowk because of the crowd. So theUTV crew moved to Jaipur and at least 40 per cent of the flickwas shot there – ensuring both cost-cutting and convenience.Delhi-6 might not have tasted success at the box office, but it hadsome cool visual effects done by Chennai-based post-productionhouse, Prasad Efx.

However, Hollywood blockbuster King Arthur has done it in themost spectacular manner. Forget the misty mountains, frozenlakes or the picaresque bays of the Celtic England so beautifullyshown in the movie. They do not exist in reality. Simply put, it iscomputer graphics (CG) at its best and what you get to watch isan aesthetic combo of great natural elements – Irish cliffs,Scottish highlands, French Alps and English south coast.

Tech or art – What makes them tick?Not all VFX movies make it big at the box office in spite ofbeing tech marvels. Drona is a case in point, where the uniquespecial effects were worked upon by EyeQube and headed bythe renowned Charles Darby and David Bush. Consequently,this Abhishek-Priyanka starrer displayed all kinds of VFX –right from set extensions and enhancements, crowd replicationand sky replacement to CGI animation, particle animation,wire-removal and much more. Drona came with some awe-inspiring shots and the entire movie was done in 4K resolution,which ensured very good picture quality. Yet, the Goldie Behlflick failed miserably because VFX was given more importancethan the story and the film eventually failed to connect withthe audience.

Again, the failure of the much-touted Love Story 2050 provesthat a good story is the key to a movie’s success. Directed by

Harry Baweja, the Harman-Priyanka starrer is particularlyheavy on special effects and gizmos. In the movie, Mumbaibecomes a super-futuristic metropolis while a robot and a teddybear play key roles. And the result? People were delighted towatch the special effects but the storyline failed to grip them.

The message is quite clear, it seems. Today’s movie-goers dowelcome special effects only if it contributes to the story-line. Itmust be an integral part of the movie and must serve a purpose.Instead of being mere eye candy, technology must bring a senseof distinction that will help movies stand out from run-of-the-mill productions. A good story-line, a meaningful message, ahilarious fantasy, a great adventure – such themes never losetheir charm and VFX certainly adds more zing to them.

Think of Jadoo in Rakesh Roshan’s Koi Mil Gaya where analien charms kids and grown-ups alike. Jadoo’s spaceship andother ET-like wonders left the audience longing for more. Socame Krissh – with stunts, visuals, effects and gizmos that wowedall, especially the sci-fi lovers. Craig Mumma, VFX director atPrasad Efx, created the award-winning special effects for Krissh.Although science fantasies, both movies come with grippingstory-lines and touching messages – key qualities that do not loseway in the complex maze of tech wonders.

Soumitra Ranade’s Jajantaram Mamantaram is anotherinteresting flick where theme and technology complement eachother. Based on Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, the movieexperiments with several visual effects and tells a much-lovedtale with an Indian touch. Directed by Kunal Kohli, Thoda PyaarThoda Magic is another delightful watch with a lot of beautifulVFX shots. Do you remember Rani Mukherjee cycling on arainbow? Or the God Almighty (Rishi Kapoor, of course) withaccess to state-of-the-art technology? Well, there are more suchscenes with fun, frolic, fantasy and a little melodrama embeddedin them. And the overall reception was good.

For those looking for a completely new genre (read Disney genre)in Bollywood with suitable special effects, nothing can be moredesirable than Roadside Romeo. Yashraj Films was once again incharge of a movie with a fun story, good musical numbers andamazing technical excellence. The full-fledged animation filmthrived on the Disney legacy and employed some advancedtechniques never used before. Directed by Jugal Hansraj, thespectacular special effects for this movie were made by Tata Elxsi-VCL in collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures. Meticulousattention had been paid – not only to the characters, but also to thesurroundings. VCL is now working on their second 3D animationfeature film, Arjun, which promises to be a treat for the eyes.

To wrap things up, it can be easily surmised that movie buffswill have a jolly good time. You will be able to watch some mind-blowing flicks created with the help of cutting-edge technologiesthat will surely redefine your movie-viewing experience. You willbe stepping into that unreal yet more-than-real fantasy world ofCG – enthralled by great movies with wonderful content andinnovative special effects.

Let’s go get more popcorn! �Additional input: Sanghamitra Mandal

We are getting more challenging VFX work now.

Every movie is a new challenge. There are two

types of challenges we face – internal and external. The

internal challenge is creating the visuals envisioned by film-

makers. But the external challenge is somewhat different.

Here, we have to demonstrate how VFX can be used in

their movies. For us, the 3D animated movie RoadsideRomeo was the turning point and for visual effects, Dhoomand Dhoom:2 were the benchmarks.

Indian VFX movies fail when they rely more on

techniques than on the story. Story is the most important

thing that connects with the audience. If you can’t do that,

VFX will be of no use. If creative people write good

scripts for VFX movies and animation flicks, it will work

for us as well. Our writers may lack experience, but they

are not weak. They only need to write more scripts and

learn more. They need to figure out what works and what

doesn’t work. It’s just a matter of time and we will soon

have some good movies with great VFX and animation –

on par with international standards.

– Pankaj KhandpurCreative Director, VCL, Tata Elxsi

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Wireless home within easy reach?In a bid to promote their wireless products and services,

Cisco and Tata sent a mobile van across the residential areas ofGurgaon – showcasing the ease of leading a wireless life. Thedemonstration focused on combining Cisco’s Linksys productswith Tata’s wireless broadband services to help create state-of-the-art wireless homes in Gurgaon. Cisco, a market leader in wirelesshome networking solutions, has developed a plethora of productsincluding wireless adaptors, entertainment routers, network-attached storage and Internet-based home-monitoring cameras.Another objective of this unique campaign was to make peopleaware of various tech-related topics such as wireless printing,home monitoring, video streaming and Internet sharing.

ID card for student trackingAre you worried about your children’s safety when they

are away in school? Take heart and smile, as stringent safetymeasures will be implemented soon to keep students safe. DelhiPublic School in Sector 45 has decided to use GPRS, GPS andGSM technologies for student ID cards. The hardware will beattached to the card and the student’s movement can betracked through radio frequency identification technology(RFID). If the student leaves the school premises or gets off theschool bus, an alarm will ring in the control room and theparents will be notified immediately via an SMS. Thisinnovative move surely testifies that the school is concernedabout its students and their well-being.

Live life F1 styleSo what do you think Gurgaon is lacking when it comes to

‘Life after Work’? The city has all the entertainment quotients thatone looks for – dazzling malls, gourmet restaurants, decent wateringholes, futuristic multiplexes and jazzy discotheques. But those with apenchant for thrill and adventure may find these too tame for theirtaste. Here is good news for the brave hearts though, especially if youlove speed. No, we are not talking about the multi-starrer flick, butthe motor sports city that will come up in Mewat district, nearly 60km away from the city of Gurgaon. The Haryana government hasalready approved the plan and the proposed Gurgaon Motor SportsCity will be spread over an area of 1600-1700 acres. The project willfeature a race track and other facilities like hotels, entertainmentparks and a golf course. Initial investment has amounted to Rs 2000crore, and the future projection stands at Rs 6000 crore. The newcity will also generate direct employment for 7500 persons. Now, allwe need is some fast-track development and a speedy finish.

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Gurgaon, a tech city that showcases latestgizmos, isthe hotbed of the hi-tech fads.Let us take look to find out the most in-thing in this happening city .

Viny Velayudhan

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Rural Gurgaon gets TERI powerThe Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has set up a

solar-powered IT knowledge centre in rural Gurgaon for the firsttime. And the solar-powered hybrid battery used by TERI is,indeed, a utility item as it can provide an average electricitybackup of four to six hours. Using the latest in information andcommunication technology, the knowledge centre provides a widerange of paid free services to the rural population. In addition tocomputer training and spoken English classes, services like naturalresource management and water testing solutions are also offered.The centre provides agricultural information and serves as aninteractive platform so that local farmers can exchange ideas withTERI experts. Solar products and culinary herbs are alsomarketed by the organisation. Encouraged by its success inGurgaon, TERI has further plans to set up more solar-poweredtechnology centres across rural India.

Drink & drive to defamationIn a bid to control drunk driving with an iron hand,

Gurgaon police have come up with the novel idea of defamingthe offenders. Now motorists caught in the act have their names,addresses and photographs published on the police website. Butwho wants that dubious distinction, that bad publicity, whichmay hound him (or her) for life? Not many, for sure, because theplan has worked well and the number of road accidents havecome down considerably. But those who still think that drinkingand driving go together and do not give a hoot even afterdefamation, will eventually lose their licenses. �

Gurgaon police go hi-techGuess who is getting tech savvy in this dynamic era of

digital revolution? The cops, of course, in case you are not awareof it. In a recent attempt to ensure a makeover, the Gurgaonpolice have decided to go hi-tech with many cool gadgets. Tobegin with, all standard services are made available on theirofficial website: www.gurgaonpolice.net and one need not visit apolice station in person. You can register an FIR online, take aprintout of the document and check the complaint status. Onecan also access all necessary information regarding missingpersons, lost/found vehicles, road accidents and so on. And ifyou want to apply for a driving license, a passport or an armslicense, forget the tiresome paperwork and the long queues.Here, you can apply online and check the status, too.What’s more, all important city areas are now scanned by IP andCCTV cameras. There are GPS locators, too, in all policestations and control rooms. Best of all, the police can quicklytrack the location of a cell phone if someone sends an SMS,asking for help. Senior officers can keep track of the wholesystem on a broadband-based online surveillance system that isconnected to all police stations and CCTV cameras.

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http://www.gurgaonpolice.net

Do you remember the trend of maintaining a personaldiary? Or journals? Where we recounted our dailylives, incidents, feelings, expressions. We locked it witha numeric code in case mom came peeking in and

discovered the latest crush or bunked classes. We wrote in there,we coloured in it, we pasted pictures, decorated it with knick-knacks. Sometimes when we felt nostalgic, we turned back thepages and reflected upon the moments gone by. And enjoyed it!

That was then, when we maintained personal diaries. Todaywe maintain blogs. We blog in cyberspace, pouring in ourexperiences and daily dos – as much as we would like to share.We write, we share, we post pictures, we invite friends to readour experiences on the blog. No wonder the blog bug has bittenalmost everyone – be it a cyber junkie, a technocrat or a 70 mmsuperstar. Blogging has become more than a trend in cyberia.From Hollywood hunk Bruce Willis to Bollywood’s own Big B –the celebrities of the world have taken to blogging as a greatplatform to speak one’s mind.

As we all know, blog is the short form of the word weblog. It is apersonal online log book which is open to the world to read, reactand interact. And that’s what makes blogging a medium to reckonwith. A medium which is respected and adopted quickly. Because itis easy, fast, editable, reaches out to the world without any hassle and,most importantly, it belongs to the person who writes it. Theowner/creator of the blog has unlimited freedom to post personalviews without editorial interferences. It is a personally ‘owned’ mediaspace which has no restriction or segmentation of readership. Nowonder then that several celebrities including those in India havetaken to blogging as the means to share.

Tracking celeblog and moreIn August, 2006, Technorati discovered the blog of Chinese ActressXu Jinglei as one of the most linked-in blogs(http://blog.sina.com.cn/xujinglei). With more than 50 millionpage views as claimed by the Chinese media, it was one of the mostpopular blogs at that time. It’s a different thing that China imposeda blanket ban upon blogger-powered blogs early this year. Severalcelebrities from all walks of life are steadfast bloggers already.

Take the top-of-the-mind example in this field. It is one of themost talked about celebrity blogs currently in the blogosphere –the big blog of the techno-savvy superstar Amitabh Bachchanwho is probably one of the most dedicated and genuine celebritybloggers today (http://bigb.bigadda.com/). More than thecontent, what makes his blog interesting is the story behind howit all started. Big B has been blogging for more than 550 daysnow. And it all began when the media started to misquote himand use his citations in twisted versions. Controversies piped upand there was a lot of negative media light on him for all thewrong reasons. It was then he decided to take to blogging as hismouthpiece and an effective tool to communicate with his fansand readers across the globe. As the owner and writer of theblog, he can now cite his version of the stories in a true sense.

The concept had been clarified in his first ever post(http://bigb.bigadda.com/?m=200804&paged=12): ‘Here is aquestion on the reason for repeating my interviews on the blogeven though they have been read in print. Very valid, but with aminor difference. Read the print in the newspaper and thenminutely, my official written responses and you will discover thatall that I have given has NOT been incorporated in the Press.This is not an accusation. Press has the liberty and the right toprint, in their assessment, what they feel needs to go on their

Celeb Blogs ruleC Y B E R I A

Payal ShahWhy celebs share their personal space with fans…


paper. But at times I feel, all that I had to say and the manner inwhich it was said, can and does give a different mentality to theinterview. I would in all fairness therefore, want the readers ofmy Blog, that take the trouble to access it, be privy to facts asthey were portrayed by me. And in the true spirit of fairness,allow the reader to judge what he thinks is acceptable or not.The Blog shall, therefore, give all of us an opportunity tointeract as freely as possible and not have to wait for, or beguided by, another medium, which may not be as easilyapproachable as this Blog.’

Blogging for Bachchan initially started as a communicationmedium to put things into proper perspective. He wanted tocounter negative stories and put to rest media-driven rumours thatsensationalised the gossip mills. Counter-attacks were on as hetackled the false allegations of ‘Big Bannerism’ published in theOutlook magazine and then went on to clarify the family’s templevisits as a regular act (which was quoted in the media as a way tocleanse Aishwarya Rai’s manglik tendencies). And he had successfullymanaged to voice his indignant reactions politely, diplomatically. Ofcourse, the media did help in hyping up the space – since bothblogging and AB were hot topics and they still are.

Readers’ reactions overwhelmed him and in spite of the factthat he was new to this technology, Bachchan got hooked toblogging with some help from the Bigadda team (in whosedomain space Big B’s blog exists). He is quite regular and candidlyinteracts with his readers. There are hundreds of comments onevery post, sometimes within minutes of his posting a new entry.And he even manages to reply to a few. Such is the humblegrandeur of this man, deeply loved and respected throughoutIndia and across the world. Being on blogosphere gets him closerto his fans whom he refers to as his ‘extended family’.

While Big B has started blogging to fight it right against falsemedia claims and directly interact with his fans, other celebritieshave taken to it as they feel that it is a better promotionalmedium than most. Says Avis Dhir, product manager ofBigAdda: “A lot depends on the status of the celebrity and whatkind of mileage he or she is looking for. Some look to promotethemselves, their activities and films; others want to gaugeviewers’ response. Again, some celebs simply want to interactwith their fans.

Since blogging is credible and transparent, it puts thesecelebrities directly in touch with their fans. Moreover, it’s asimple medium to operate. So once guided, anyone can use thisas a platform to communicate,” he adds.

But all celebrity bloggers are not as successful. “The success ofthe blog depends on the stickiness of the content,” commentsDhir. “Amitabh writes himself unlike a lot of other celebs whoget their posts ghostwritten or posted by their PR managers. Butreaders can gauge whether the post is genuine. Besides thecontent, the frequency is also important. To attract morereaders, it is essential to blog at least once a week.”

Akhshay Kumar, too, has a blog on BigAdda, and although hewrites himself, the posts haven’t been too regular. If you followthe pattern, you will find that his posts have more to do with his

films and currentprojects. May beblogging helps himhighlight things thatother media would notdo. It might have helpedhim recount the actualstory behind the whole‘unbuttoning’ drama at acertain fashion show thisyear. But again, his is nota much-talked-aboutblog as his posts areinfrequent, althoughinteresting.

Aamir Khan’s blog onhis website(http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog/login.php) is a decentaffair, too. But his postsare as infrequent andcome once or twice a month. His writing has a personal touch andthe star keeps one updated about his current projects, his interestsand whereabouts. Do you know that Aamir is a great fan ofRoddick and Federer? In fact, he seems like a sports freak. He alsoloves reading and has given up smoking.

Not just film stars, but sports stars and fitness experts likeHarbhajan Singh and Anjali Mukerjea blog as well.Controversies have plagued his professional life but just likeother celebrities, Harbhajan has used his blog as his mouthpieceto clarify the ‘cameraman’ incident wherein the mediainsinuated that he had slapped the camera guy in Bangalore.

Why would we read celebrity blogs?Celebrities are people we look up to, whom we adore and thosewho have a claim to fame. As a curious species, we would like toknow more about these people we like – their work, hobbies andthoughts. In fact, we would like to know the real persons behindthe façade. Celebrityblogs are all the moreappealing to fans andfollowers who love tocollect trivia and keepthemselves updated.Blogging as a personaland universal mediumoffers both the celeb andthe fan/reader a win-winsituation where theformer gets the self-owned freedom ofspeech and the latter thecontent to feed upon.


http://(http://www.aamir

Microblogging: The new trendFor those celebs unwilling to type out a few hundred words,microblogging has turned out to be the best option. It is a newformat of blogging in précis and busy celebs now go withTwitter as they fire off 140 words or so. From Shah Rukh Khanto Lara Dutta and Mallika Sherawat, from Pritish Nandy toShashi Tharoor – a great many celebs are regular ‘Tweeters’.The basic utility of ‘Twittering’ is the same as blogging, but thedifference lies in the size of the post. Nonetheless, the ‘Tweets’enable them to stay connected with fans, update informationand express personal thoughts.

Thanks to microblogging, Mallika Sherawat can instantlyshare her experience when she was in Los Angeles shooting for afilm. Her Twitter posts talked about herself, the comments she

received from a particulardirector or how sheenjoyed at the TwitterHead Office. Again,Priyanka Chopradiscussed how hectic herschedules were during herlatest film What’s YourRashee and also‘Twittered’ happily abouther upcoming movies.Karan Johar, too,announces music releases,press conferences andmovie releases on Twitter.

Blogging for brand buildingBlogging/microblogging can prove to be powerful brandcommunication and brand building tools for a unique ‘product’like celebrities. They are brands in their own right, but peoplejudge them too frequently and too fast. So they are alwaysunder the threat of being misperceived. Blogging does helpthese iconic figures get on a personal level with the world. Theworld on whose peaks they otherwise reign. They can use thetool to get intimate, build relations and interact with their fans.They can re-make or break the image other people or themedia have created. They can bombard people withinformation about themselves without being misquoted. Simplyput, they can communicate heart to heart and cash in on agreat many advantages.

But PR guru Dale Bhagwagar who has handled imagemanagement for Hrithik Roshan, Shilpa Shetty et al, thinksotherwise. “It’s okay for less-known celebrities (say, Ram GopalVerma or Karan Johar) to blog regularly. But a stalwart likeAmitabh Bachchan should refrain from frequent blogging. Itwould make him too familiar and he would lose that enigmawhich makes him a super star.

In my opinion it’s professional hara-kiri. Take the example ofShilpa Shetty or Aamir Khan. Aamir, for instance, postssomething and then just disappears for a while before posting

anything new. A celebrity of that status must retain that aura ofmystery,” he adds.

Can celebs use blogging as PR tool?“We are living in a world where perception is the reality. Starsare what we think they are; we only build their image. If weknow the reality, they won’t remain stars,” says Bhagwagar. In anutshell, celebrities must use blogging discretely and should nottell people everything about their daily life and routine. It mayhelp build a relationship with fans, but it kills the enigmatic aurathat a celeb often wears.

But all in all, blogging or microblogging does help celebritiesmanage negative PR rising out of controversies. It is, indeed, agreat opportunity as they can personally clarify things and doaway with confusions on a public forum like this one. Take, forinstance, the case of Dr Shashi Tharoor. The ‘cattle class’controversy (that’s how he termed the common men) had theparties calling for his head. So he has apologised profusely andcontinues to ‘tweet’ without losing his fan following. It is becausehe has built a sound relationship with the ‘common men’ by‘tweeting’ about his thoughts and activities and they have startedadmiring him. So the fallout was not as bad as expected. Whilethe mass media spent hours and pages on discussions, his‘tweeting’ habit helped retain his image.

Speaking of politicos, one can hardly forget the blogs posted by LK Advani (http://blog.lkadvani.in) where he tried to do an Obamaand garner support. He had talked about the underprivilegedfemale child and other ‘hot’ issues – topics that would gain his partya lot of political leverage. The blog did create a buzz, but it didn’thelp BJP win the elections. May be because blogging as acommunication tool is still not powerful enough to influence voters.Charismatic politicians should keep that in mind, especially afterthe blogs of Omar Abdullah and Laloo Yadav failed miserably.

Although the concept of blogging comes from the West, it hasbecome the ‘in’ thing here in India, especially after celebs fromall spheres decided to have a finger in the blog pie. The tech-savvy brigade has jumped on the bandwagon faster but othersare also trying to catch up. In a nutshell, celebrity blogging ishere to stay and it will evolve into something bigger, moreinteresting and more impactful with time, if done in the rightsense. Till then, watch out for more of these popular iconsmaking it big on blogging. �

Feature


Do you needBlu-ray?

Kajal got a call from her cousin in the USA. “I am at abookstore here and there are some great movies on sale,in Blu-ray format! Do you want me to get them for youwhen I come next month?”

“Let me think it over and mail you tomorrow.” Kajal replied.She wasn’t sure what Blu-ray meant, and didn’t want to admit itto her cousin. So she decided to find out.

What is Blu-ray?Blu-ray is a recent technology for storing a huge amount ofdata in an optical disc. A Blu-ray Disc or BD has the samesize and shape as a DVD or a CD, but it uses a blue-violet

laser to read/store data while a standard DVD uses a redone. As we all know, a series of pits are burnt intoDVDs/CDs to store data. Since the blue-violet laser has ashorter wavelength (405 nanometer instead of the traditional650 nm), it burns smaller pits on the surface, thus storingmore data with greater precision. Blu-ray Discs can store upto 25 GB data on a single-layer disc and up to 50 GB on adual-layer (DL) disc.

Think about it for a second. An average DVD can store up to4.7 GB data on a single-layer disc and about 9 GB on a DL disc.So the data storage capacity of a Blu-ray Disc is five times morethan a standard DVD. What’s more, the image quality of a Blu-

Feature

Sudarshan Purohit


Next big thing in home video technology

ray video ensures the ultimate cinematic viewing experience –far superior to the traditional DVD output.

The first Blu-ray Discs came out in June, 2006; but they weremuch too expensive and did not sell well. Blu-ray really took offwhen Sony released its gaming console PlayStation 3 in the USAin November, 2006. As PlayStation 3 came with a Blu-ray player,lakhs of US homes were flooded with these ready-to-perform,high-end gadgets. Keen to cash in on the new technology,renowned studios such as Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Fox,Disney and Lionsgate started releasing movies in the Blu-rayformat. Till date, more than 10 million Blu-ray players havebeen sold and the number is going up every day.

Blu-ray products – at home and abroadAround 2,500 Blu-ray products are available in the USA such asmovies, console games for PlayStation 3 and relevant softwareprogrammes. Although some of these are available in India,demand for these high-end gadgets is yet to build up. Currently,Sony is the key supplier of this Gen Y home video technology asPlayStation 3 and new models of Vaio laptops come with Blu-ray players. Then there are companies like LG and Samsungwho have also come up with Blue-ray and HD players (the latteris meant for high-definition DVDs). Philips has also introduced anew range of Blu-ray players and home theatre systems for theIndian market. However, most of the Blu-ray products are fartoo expensive and, therefore, lack popular acceptance.

But what matters most is the content or rather, the lack of it.Very few Indian movies are available in this format and all youcan buy are the deluxe editions of new releases with extrafeatures and commentary. Although some of the Hollywoodflicks in Blu-ray are sold here at a premium, majority of theIndian firms only roll out DVDs and do not seem too willing toopt for a format change due to technology and cost constraints.

Converting a movie to a Blu-ray video includes a complicatedprocess known as remastering. This involves scanning a print ofthe movie at very high resolutions. This is only possible whenhigh-quality prints are available for use. It is, therefore, easy toconvert recent movies but not the old flicks, as there are no good

prints left. Old movies are definitely better preserved incountries like the USA and Japan. But even then, it takes timeand money to remaster those movies to Blu-ray quality.

Till date, Indian DVD companies have not taken the initiativeto remaster old movies. Even DVD releases of old movies lack therequired quality. The output is just CD-quality, repackaged into asingle disc. The reason for very less Blu-Ray releases is simple –there are not enough Blu-ray players, content and buyers in India!The Blu-ray market is picking up though, as tech giants likePhilips and Sony are working together with leading productionhouses such as Eros, Yash Raj Films and Big Videos. Efforts areon to remaster more than 500 Indian films which will furtherdevelop and broaden the Blu-ray ecosystem in the country.

Do you need a Blu-ray – pros and cons

Who comes first, the player or the disc?This is the proverbial chicken-and-egg problem. There is notenough content (read Blu-ray videos) for Indian viewers becausethere are not enough BD players which are affordable andaccessible. And there is no point in buying players because there isnot enough content! Add to this the high price of Blu-ray discs,players and high-definition televisions, and we can easilyunderstand why the demand for Blu-ray products is so low in India.

Does movie quality improve?Movies in Blu-ray format provide sharper images, richer coloursand clearer lines. But this is readily apparent only on a televisionwith good enough resolution. Blu-ray viewers must have HD TVs– a new format that promises three times the clarity of normaltelevision sets. However, HD TVs are just beginning to be popularin India and haven’t yet reached the mass market. Samsung, Sonyand others biggies have launched HD models that cost twice ormore the price of normal television sets. But unlike othercountries, Cable TV and DTH do not transmit high-resolutioncontent to justify a super-expensive HD TV at home. TheCable/DTH quality is often on par with average DVD outputand the only time you get to see HD-quality video on your HDTV is when you connect a Blu-Ray player. The situation isentirely different in digitally advanced countries like the USA andJapan. The content transmitted there are digital and HD. As aresult, you are assured of a better viewing experience even whenyou are watching routine TV programmes.

Then, there are TV screen sizes to consider for good-qualityviewing. Studies show that most people are able to notice thedifference between DVD and Blu-ray only if the TV screen is 38inches or more. But in India, most television sets feature 28-32inch screens and you can only see DVD-quality images insteadof the optimum picture quality that your HD TV and Blu-rayplayer can provide.

Is Blu-ray all hype?With the right equipment – a large HD TV, the right cablesand connectors, and a Blu-ray player – watching Blu-ray


In a few years, movie files of 25 GB ormore may get stored in central servers on theInternet and buyers/renters can simplydownload them on to their computers ormedia players. With an infrastructure like thisavailable, the only purpose of high-capacityoptical discs will be to take backups. Theactual data will live on hard drives.

Similarly, the capacity of flash memorycards is increasing too. These are the tinycards that we put in our digital cameras andmobile phones to store photos and music.

With the prices falling rapidly, it may soon become moreeconomical to distribute movies on flash memory. Also, they aremore sustainable than discs and there are fewer chances of datagetting corrupted.

So what is the best option for the Indian consumer right now?Wait and watch, advise the experts. Better innovations maycome up soon, like broadband movies on demand. In that case,Blu-ray may become a transient technology only, without anylasting effect. �

movies is, indeed, a superior experience. Butthe cost involved in setting up this system ishuge. In India, the setup can be used onlyfor Blu-ray content and not for TVtransmissions, which makes it even worse.

But when you hear about Blu-ray being thenext big thing in the world of digitalentertainment that will optimise your movie-watching experience, beware! Some of this is justhype, for sure. Media companies, the onesmaking Blu-ray discs, are also to be blamed.

When the CD became popular, peoplewho already had audio cassettes and videotapes were compelledto buy their favourite movies and music in the new format. Thiswas an unexpected bonanza for the media companies as theywere able to sell their products twice. The same thing happenedwhen the DVD came out and ruled the market. The companies, therefore, expect that it will happen again with Blu-ray.

So far, that has not happened. Blu-Ray discs are doing well, but not as well as the DVDs. It is mostly the latest Bollywoodblockbusters that people are buying; old Indian moviesalready out on DVDs are not beingreformatted due to various constraints.So you can hardly watch the old classicsin a new form even after paying forfortune. But the hype has to be there tomake people feel that they are missingout on something great unless they getBlu-ray immediately.

Beyond Blu-rayBelieve it or not, hardware companies arealready hard at work trying to bring out Blu-ray’s successor. Hitachi, TDK andPanasonic have revealed demo discs that can store up to 100 GB data. However, itis the Internet and not the larger-capacity discs that can pose the toughest challenge to Blu-ray.

Broadband capacities are increasingfast and Netflix, a popular movie rentalcompany in the USA, has alreadyunveiled a service where users candownload HD quality movies from theWeb server on to a custom hardwaredevice. These can be watched on high-definition television sets for two days,after which they get deleted. Althoughthe image quality of these movies is notas good as Blu-ray yet, it is proved thatconsumers are more than willing to payfor downloading movies from a networkservice if the quality and theconvenience match their requirements.


Blu-ray Disc

DVD

The storagecapacity of a Blu-raydisc is five timesmore than astandard DVD and itcan store data withmore precision

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DelightingYouAlwaysstyle it

Tech innovations are impactinglife big scale. And consumerelectronics benefit most from thisfast-paced, future-perfecttechnology march ahead. Aproduct launch brings forth anew invention and a new vista oftechnological applications –technologies that are smart,trendy and trail-blazers in style.Be it a digital camera or asophisticated surveillanceequipment, it is all about howinnovative technologies arepackaged in mostcontemporary designs to makean indelible style statement.

Even mundane officemachines like printers haveevolved into tech marvels withmultiple functionalities and chiclooks that complement theworkplace décor. Canon India,country’s No 1. complete digitalimaging company, has recentlylaunched an amazing variety ofgizmos which celebrate thesuper convergence oftechnology, utility and design.Live IT showcases some of themost popular Cannovationswhich have transformed our life.


Model: Anu Kuwar

Makeup: Geetanjali

Stylist: Vikram Seth

Photographer: Dinesh Gaur

Garments & accessories: KAZO/ALDO

Gadgets by:Canon Image Lounge,Ambience Mall, Gurgaon

IXUS 95 IS - PinkTry this 10 megapixel wonder camera

that comes with a host of excitingfeatures such as Smart Auto, anti-blur

with motion detection, face detectionand i-contrast. You can also frame

and review shots with a 2.5 inch LCDscreen, which is protected againstlight reflections, scratches and dirt.

PIXMA MP988It’s green, it’s wireless and offerssix-colour printing. The PIXMAMP988 prints on both sides tosave paper. And it supportsEthernet & wireless LAN, so thatyou can take prints fromanywhere. Plus there isChromaLife 100+, atechnology to ensure thatphotos will last up to 300 years.

Style IT

Legria HF 200It’s the tiniest and the lightest HD

camcorder, bringing you the easeand convenience of Flash

memory. Now, record full HDmovies straight to a memory card

and that, too, for a six-hour stretch.HF 200 also offers great flexibility in

file transfer and playback.

Camcorder XL2This feature-packed digitalvideo camcorder is a top-notch performer, thanks tooutstanding optics,ultimate control and othervalue add-ons. Gooddetails, depth of field andsuperior colourrepresentation are just apart of its capabilities.Never before so muchcreative power has beenput in the hands of filmmakers and video artists.

Style IT

Selphy CP780It sports a chic, simple

design and comes withfive printing options.

You also getexceptional colour

gradations and a 2.5inch LCD screen foreasy operation. The

printer supports multiplelanguages and works

on both PC and Mac platforms.

PowerShot A480Available in four colours, it’s a fungadget for taking superb 10 MPphotos. Just slip it into your pocket –it’s that sleek. Plus there are greatfeatures such as Face Detection,Motion Detection and the power tocapture images even from adistance of 1 cm.

Style IT

EOS 5D Mark IIThis superb gadget with HDmovie capability marks theCanon initiative to enhance thephotography experience.Compact, lightweight andenvironment-friendly, EOS 5DMark II features a 21.1megapixel camera and ensuresgreat video qualities. So it’s timeto get going and try out amultitude of new possibilities.

Smartphone Appsto keep you fit

Feature


Fitness applications onyour mobile

Puja Goyal

Are you a fitness freak with little timefor the gym? Or a strugglingindividual who frequently fails herdate to show off a wonder bod that

wows? Don’t worry even if your fitness trainer hasgiven up all hope. Here is the cell phone gym tokeep you going – all the way to good health. Gethold of your smartphone now and get to knowthese fitness applications that optimise yourworkout, generate personal data and keep a tabon your training. There can be no better way tofeel good and look great this festive season.

Calorie trackerCounting calories and finding nutritional details ofany food item is easy now, thanks to the Calorie

Count application on the BlackBerry App World™. Developed incollaboration with caloriecount.about.com, one of the largest freediet resources, it helps you search, evaluate and compare all kindsof food – from apples to zucchini and even those gourmet dishesfrom popular restaurants, supermarkets and fast food chains. Sostay close to your BlackBerry even when you are shopping for foodor eating out. A quick scan of the nutrition details and you are notlikely to pick up the items that your body will regret.

Calorie Count offers much more than popular diet plans.It is a back-to-the-roots weight loss method and focuses onwhat really matters – eating less than you burn. For peoplewho are trying to lose weight, it does not matter if they arecounting carbohydrates, protein or fat. All they need is tokeep a check on total calorie intake and exercise enough tofight the flab.

Livestrong Calorie Tracker is available on both iPhoneand BlackBerry. This application is the mobile version ofLance Armstrong and Demand Media’s health and lifestyleWebsite. It allows the user to track calories against arecommended daily intake, log fitness activities and chartweight fluctuations. The application syncs with the Website,where users can participate in community fitness challenges,share the results of their food diaries and learn about healthissues. For more information, visit www.livestrong.com.

COUCH to 5KThis programme is for individuals with sedentary lifestyle butwho still want to stay fit. Now, iPhone users can download thisnine-week training regimen which will help them run 5 km (3.1miles) at a stretch. The application offers directions via acomputerised (male or female) voice and beeps that are timed tohelp the user transit between warm-up, workout and intervalphases. For more information, visit http://felttip.com.


http://www.livestrong.com.

MapMyRunMapMyRun is afree applicationwhich makes useof the iPhone’sGPS technologyand help runnersin trackingtraining dataincluding time,distance andpace. Like theLivestrongapplication, thismobileprogrammebecomes muchmore inclusive at the MapMyRun Website. Application userscan interact with other users and share their routes on Facebook,create Google maps of their runs and join online groups. Thedownside: It can be stalling if you are unable to connect to thephone’s server, because it would delay your run. For moreinformation, visit www.mapmyrun.com.

Mood JournalMood Journal tracks bipolar disorder, depression, manicconditions, SAD or seasonal affective disorder and othermood disorders. It is one of the most popular applicationsused by individuals, as mood swings and depressive symptomsare constantly on the rise across the globe. About 20 per centof the US population suffer from at least one depressivesymptom in a given month while about 12 per cent reporttwo or more in a year. Around 100 million people worldwide

are also affected bybipolar disorder.Even in India,people are underpressure and lead ahigh-stress life infast-paced,competitiveenvironment. Sothe utility of suchan application isbeyond doubt.

The MoodJournal helps yourecognise thesymptoms andpatterns of yourmood swings. Thebuilt-in sleep chartalso helps you keepa tab on your sleep

pattern. You can share the same with your physician, so thathe can have a better understanding of your condition. Thereis also a medicine log which allows you to record the sideeffects you may experience due to medication. This will helpyou and your physician to work together and manage thebipolar disorder better. Since the bipolar disorder and themedicines used to treat this condition are known to causeweight fluctuations, the weight chart in this application willhelp enhance weight management by recording anysignificant change that may occur.

This application is also community connected on the Internet.The Mood Journal will connect you to individuals facing similarproblems and give you a place to share your conditions,thoughts and insights with others. It also lists quite a few activeorganisations and resources which may help you control bipolardisorder. The only setback is that this application requiresnetwork connectivity.

More for the fair sexWoman Calendar: First released in 1999, Woman Calendaris a simple yet useful application built around natural familyplanning practices. The first ever application of its kind on amobile computing platform, it has become the choice family-planning organiser for many women.

Pregnancy Wheel: Available on BlackBerry, thePregnancy Wheel allows you to calculate the pregnancy duedate and gestational age based on last menstrual period(LMP) or ultrasound. The application is provided by QxMDSoftware and developed by expert physicians. Founded bymedical professionals, QxMD Software is dedicated tocreating high quality, point-of-care tools for practising healthcare professionals. It has been the leading provider of freemedical software for the BlackBerry since 2007.�

Feature


http://www.mapmyrun.com.

Arecent coffee table discussion has got me thinking. Isthe mobile phone a want or a need? It is a questionas profound as it is philosophical. I would even go onto put it on the same pedestal as the thought-

provoking, quasi-humorous – What came first, the chicken orthe egg? At this very minute, if you are not wondering howtrivial and unimportant the question, the answer and everythingin-between are, you must be thinking about the banality of mycoffee table discussions. But quite seriously, there is much to belearned from this question.

Preeth

Future phonesfor fununlimited

Origin of wireless communicationTo put things into perspective, it is important for us tounderstand what happened in the year 1943. Those were toughtimes and most of the progress made by the human race was fordestructive pursuits. But amid all the bang-bang and the

megalomania, there was also hope, as well as learning. Onescientific discipline that benefited most (well, I am excludingnuclear science and the likes from this list) is humanpsychology. And it was in this context that a man calledAbraham Maslow propounded a paper on man’s hierarchyof needs.

While Maslow and his study of human motivation isnot the topic of our discussion, I would still need todetail it to make a sound argument. Maslow classifiedhuman need into five levels (the famous Maslowpyramid) with the basic physiological needs at thebottom and the highly attained ‘self-actualisation’ atthe top. In between were needs catering to safety,love/belonging and self-esteem. Now, if you are still

wondering what mobile phones have to do with this,here is the crux of the matter.

A decade or so ago, when Lehman Brothers was still a bankand the dot com companies were mushrooming like there wasno tomorrow, mobile phones were definitely an object of self-esteem. It was a sure sign of having arrived and making themark. Making and receiving calls were purely incidental at thattime. But communication technology had advanced since andcell phones ceased to be the plaything of the rich and thefamous. In fact, with the urban lifestyle demanding that wespend more time away from home, mobile phones transformedinto objects that kept the ties of love and friendship alive.Inadvertently, it had transcended the levels of Maslow’s needhierarchy. It was no longer a self-esteem need; instead, it becamea love/affection need. Mobile penetration the world over

Your chic cell phone has come a long way


continued cancerously. And soon, a mobile in your handmeant that safety was just a call away. Quietly and yetincredibly, it had become more integral to one’s lifestyle thatone would have ever imagined.

‘Want’ or ‘need’ – the debate continuesMaslow’s next level is physiological – the realm of the basic. Thefood, water, sex and sleep domain. I know people who claimthey cannot do without their mobile phones and I wonder if thatwould be a nice place to be. If it were a 20th Century Fox film,mobiles would morph into humanoids and take over the world.But I shall refrain from the lure of fantasy and explore the

grassroot realities. Which gets back to our question – is it a wantor a need? For all practical purposes, I am compelled to thinkthat it is turning to be more a need and less a want.

For all that has been said to prove the need factor, here comesthe twist to the story. Ironically, according to a research, peopleare not really attached to their gadgets. That explains why urbancustomers constantly change their handsets and go for newer,slicker models. The consumer, as it turns out, is more a prisonerof the services that his mobile phone offers than the actualgadget itself. A recent joint study in the UK by HenleyManagement College and Teleconomy, a research consultancy,has substantiated this. During a three-year survey that coveredpeople aged between 25 and 34, 46 per cent of the respondentsstated that they used their mobile phones as a means of personalentertainment; 55 per cent to fight boredom and 52 per cent togossip. So if you have ever considered that the mobile phone ismerely a device used to make and receive calls, you may as wellrest your case.

Mobile phones have metamorphosed into multi-utility itemsbecause they are more than mere telephones. The fact that youcan receive and send images, text messages, download ring tonesand games, click photographs, stream the Internet and watchyour favourite movies/videos are merely cases that prove thispoint. So it is hardly surprising that they are indispensable and ithappens to be an amazing case study for that hallowedtechnology buzzword – convergence.

Feature


4G to enhance mobile entertainmentFor the uninitiated, it is a safe approximation to state that we arein the third generation of mobile phones, with countries likeJapan being at the forefront. Advanced countries haveaccomplished data transfer rates as fast as 64 to 384 kilobytesper second and have had the rest of the world adopting 3G withno reservations. In fact, the technology divide between Europeand the USA is fast disappearing as 3G is rapidly gainingground as the unified global standard.

The scale and speed of innovation in the mobilecommunication space has been so rapid that they areconstantly making science fiction writers appear moreprophetic than they actually aspire to be. With fasterconnections and cheaper storage, the future beholds muchmore than what the mobile phone can do. Mid-range andhigh-end phones from the Nokia and Sony Ericsson cradlecan now store and play more than 1500 songs. For couchpotatoes, companies like MobiTV in the USA are pioneeringthe idea of real-time television on cellular phones. Mobilegaming is a rage across the globe and it is spinning as muchmoney as the casinos in Las Vegas. In fact, with better 3Dgraphics and greater user experience, it will not be long beforethe PSPs and the Xbox(s) have a serious contender in thesmartphones of tomorrow.

There is little doubt that mobile phones have shaped up to bethe defining gadget of our times. The fact that it is an everydaydevice has propelled the industry to pack more punch into it –music, video, pictures, games, news and a lot more. However,the curious question remains – what next?

By the look of things, the GPS can be touted as the next bigthing in your mobile. Siemens has already introduced a phone inthe European market that packs a GPS and navigation system andthere are talks of similar advancements in the US market as well.The other big head-turner is the initiative to use the cell phone as amedia centre. While the challenges in accomplishing this aremanifold, there can be little doubt that answers will be found soon.

As is the norm in the mobile industry, things are alwaysmoving at a fast clip. NTT DoCoMo is planning to introduce4G in Japan by 2010, which means consumers there will soonhave faster data transfer rates and smoother video transmission.What’s more, the current new will soon be old and another neworder will be awaiting you.

What the future holdsA quick glance at the future of mobile phones will show that alot more can be achieved than we can ever think of sitting in ourliving rooms. And mobile phones will continue to be even moreindispensable than what they are today. For all you know, it mayalso manage to nudge into the consideration set of Maslow’sphysiological needs. But I have one small doubt – can anythingstop the pace of innovation from eventually meeting thefrontier? Battery life is already posing a seething problem.Powering auxiliary features like a media centre will pose greatdemands on battery life. Similarly, screen size and the limitationof the visual display will eventually limit what can be achievedwith the wonder gadget. Trade-off will have to be made andrationalisation will be called for. But with everything else that thedevice will be capable of doing, there is little doubt that it willchange your life and mine. �


an easy away to put the Office Assistant to rest. Click on theOffice Assistant and choose ‘Options’. Clear the ‘Use OfficeAssistant’ check box and it will not bother you any more.

3When you copy text from the Web or another documentinto a Word file, it may appear odd because Word initially

preserves the colour, font and size of the originaltext from the original page. To clear this, click ‘Edit’ from the File menu, go to the option ‘Paste

Special’ and choose‘Unformatted Text’.You can also removeformatting byhighlighting thedesired text

and pressingCTRL+SHIFT+N.

4What are you going todo when you need to

put some generic text inyour document? Youwould type randomly ortry pasting from anyother document. Butthere is a better way out

– just type =RAND ()and press Enter. Immediately

you will get three paragraphs of‘The Quick Brown Fox’.

5Want to select a sentence? Justhold down the Ctrl key and click

the line you want to select. Theentire sentence will get selected.

6Changing the case of any text isa breeze. Just select the desired

text and press Shift+F3. �

Best tips forMS Word users

There is just one name that stands out when it comes totaking care of Word processing needs – MS Word.Well, that remains the usual pattern for students or forthose whose job entails writing essays, reports or

articles. They spend a major chunk of their work hours toilingon Word documents.

Although MS Word is one of the most popularprogrammes across the globe, more than 90 percent computers in China and India are said to berunning pirated versions. If those users opt forthe authorised version, Microsoft’s profits willdefinitely skyrocket.

Despite the obvious popularity of this software,many users are still not aware of all itspotentials. Given below is a list of tricksand tips to help you understand MSWord better and make it moreinteresting to work with:

1How do you open Worddocs on your system? Most

users go to a specific folderwhere the document is storedand double-click to open it. Butthat is a time-consuming process.If you need to work on thedocuments frequently, it is betterto create a shortcut on yourDesktop. Right-click onthe file and choose the‘Send to’ option to create ashortcut on the Desktop.Now you can access the filedirectly from your Desktop.Just double-click on theshortcut icon to open the file.

2There are times when the friendly Office Assistant in thebackground may feel like an irritating intruder. But there is


Tech Tip

Anoop Verma

Save notes onlineusing EvernoteC

onsider this scenario –you are on the go, on avacation or an officetour and suddenly you

are struck by an idea, inspiration orexperience you want to capture.Enter Evernote! This versatileWeb-based tool is capable ofcapturing anything – fromtypewritten text to websitematerials, from digital photographsto videos and much more. AsEvernote offers client software inPC and mobile devices, you canaccess your notes on a wide rangeof supported devices. As the finaldata – consisting of images, text,clips, audio, PDF and other formats– are stored in Cloud, users do nothave to go through the rigmaroleof transferring files while shiftingfrom one system to another.

In order to start using themagical tool, you have to sign up atwww.evernote.com. All you have toenter is your e-mail address. Oncethis process is complete, you are ready to store all yourimportant files in the Cloud. If your note-taking activity islimited to 40 MB, which should be good enough for most of us,then Evernote is free for you. In case you need more than that,you will have to fork out a nominal sum of money. Let us say,

you want some text, which you have photographed for posting.Evernote will automatically extract the text for you. At onemoment you have a photograph and once you stick it onEvernote, you have the text.

The many uses of this Web-based system will really help you.You can even use Evernote to keep track of your expenses. Theprocess is simple – just pen down whatever you spend, or use itfor comparing prices at different establishments. But there aremore features. How about placing the birthdays of your friendsand relatives on Evernote? That way, you will never forget towish someone on the D-day. And when you want to findanything fast from all the notes that you have taken, all you needto do is to use that innovative ‘Keyword Search’ facility on theopening page. �

jot itemail it

write it

collect ittweet it

scan it

sav e it

upload itplan it

send it

keep it

pdf it

sketch it

select it

record it

rip it

create it

drag-n-drop it

clip itsnap it


http://www.evernote.com.


Tech Tip

s p l i tand repairIt is supposed that PDF files are like printed paper on which

no changes can be made once the initial printing has beendone. But if you have access to a versatile tool like the Pdftk,tampering with PDF files becomes a breeze. With this tool

merge, you can easily split and repair your PDF files at a fairlyrapid pace. And that’s not all – you can also decrypt, encryptand rotate your PDF files. To start using Pdftk, first downloadthe software from http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk. Once thesoftware has been downloaded, you have to unzip and store it ata location easily accessible by Command Prompt.

You can copy it to a folder on the Desktop or in the C:/ drive,and in the same folder, you are required to store the PDF files onwhich you wish to make changes. Now you have to open theCommand Prompt Window and type ‘pdftk–help’. This willopen a file displaying various instructions on how the tool is tobe used in order to rectify the PDF files. If you want to mergetwo PDF files, this is the command that you will have to use:pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf 3.pdf cat output 123.pdf. If you want to splitthe pages of any given PDF file, the command will be: pdftkmydoc.pdf burst. The instructions are too many though, andyou will be surprised by the magnitude of things you canaccomplish using this tool.

From the ‘Help Page’, you will also get a comprehensive list oftasks for which Pdftk can prove to be quite handy:� Merge PDF documents.� Split PDF pages into a new document.� Rotate PDF pages or documents.� Decrypt input as necessary (password required).

M e er g

� Encrypt output as desired.� Fill PDF forms with FDF data or XFDF data and/or

‘flatten forms’.� Apply a ‘background watermark’ or a ‘foreground stamp’.� Report on PDF metrics such as metadata, bookmarks and

page labels.� Update PDF metadata.� Attach files to PDF pages or the PDF document.� Unpack PDF attachments.� Burst a PDF document into single pages.� Uncompress and re-compress page streams.� Repair corrupted PDF (wherever possible).

The tool does not require the presence of Adobe Acrobatin your computer in order to function. It is available inversions compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X,FreeBSD and Solaris-based systems. Now you can use theCommand Prompt to go to the folder where the Pdftk tooland PDF files are stored. In this folder, you have to perform various commands to make the desired changes inyour PDF documents. �

files

http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk.

One thing is for sure – in these times of globalrecession, when well-paying jobs are hard tocome by, it is extremely inadvisable to splurgeon a new Notebook. Till the job market

recovers, we need to tolerate the old system that we havegot. Here are a few must-follow tips to enhance theperformance of your old Notebook.

Get a caseThe one thing your Notebook needs more thananything else is a sturdy case that can protect it from

bumps, scratches and dents while it is on the go. Leaving a‘bare’ system on the car seat is not a good idea as it may slipand hit the floor if brakes are suddenly applied. These days,most Notebook cases offer space for storing many other thingsand that is an added advantage.

Defragment the hard driveWhen was the last time you defragmented yourNotebook’s hard drive? In order to maximise

system performance, you have to defragment its hard driveat least once a month. Every time you create, delete anddownload files, your computer splits up and stores datafragments in various locations. A hard drive that has notbeen defragmented for a long time will have large amountsof scattered data, which tends to slow down theperformance of your Notebook. Once you have gone

through the rigmarole of defragmenting the hard drive,you will experience a significant improvement in yourNotebook’s speed.

Remove start-up programmesEvery time you boot your Notebook, a plethora ofuseless programmes load themselves – eating up both

the memory and the processing power. It is about time you goto the Start section of the System Configuration Utility anddisable those programmes which are not essential for day-to-day functioning.

Clean up the NotebookJust as your home or office needs regular cleaning,your Notebook, too, requires a date with the virtual

brush. For this, you must go to the Disk Cleanup utility anddelete all cookies, temporary Internet files and other datawhich might have been stored on your system.

Turn off the screensaverAre you one of those who prefer to keep theirNotebook switched on for the entire day? If that is the

case, you must get rid of the screensaver. Most people thinkthat their systems consume less power just because they have ascreensaver on. That is simply not the case – the screensaverconsumes almost as much energy as a fully functioningNotebook. Remember that your screensaver just prevents yourNotebook from fully going to sleep, but you do not get anypower advantage.

Clean and defragment the registryBuying an extra RAM should be your last option. Itwill cost you at least Rs 2000-Rs 5000. So why should

you spend so much money? Instead, you can clean up anddefragment the registry – so that programmes will load faster.

Protect your notebookIf your Notebook is misplaced or stolen, you notonly lose a costly gadget but also a lot of valuable

data. So you must be doubly careful. If you leave itunattended in a public place, you might as well have a ‘StealMe’ sticker pasted on top of it. The same goes for a systemthat is left in your car where people can see it. YourNotebook is a valuable device. You need not be paranoidabout protecting it, but you must be on your guard. �

Get more out ofyour Notebook

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tech tip

The Disk Defragmenter window will open up.You will see your C: drive properties (File System, Capacity,

Free Space, % of Free Space).Select the C: drive and click on ‘Analyze’.Now the ‘Disk Defragmenter’ will start analysing your

C: drive to check how much free space can be generated afterdefragmentation is complete.

Once the analysis is complete, click on the ‘Defragment’button.

The process of defragmentation will now commence.Depending on the state of your C: drive, it may take an hour oreven more than that, to complete.

Once defragmentation is complete, you will have a full reporton your screen and, hopefully, your computer will start workingfaster than it did earlier.

As defragmentation may require some time, it is best to leaveyour system on at night and let the programme run. In case ofWindows Vista, the process of defragmentation is automated; soyou don’t have to go through the rigmarole of defragmentingyour system manually. But for earlier versions like Windows XP,you will have to run the process manually. �

Are you plagued by an exceedingly slow PC or laptopthat simply crawls and takes eons to perform even asimple task? It may be happening because the harddrive has not been defragmented for a long time.

Data stored in any hard drive tend to get fragmented since anoperating system usually looks for the nearest available freespace to store data. But if the new file is larger than thatspace, the OS fills it first and then searches for the next freespace to store the remaining data. This process continues tillthe file is fully stored and it results into file scattering in afragmented manner.

When you defragment the hard drive, the fragmented files getsaved and compiled together in an ordered manner. Thisreduces data access time and allows you to use the stored filesmore efficiently. And the end result? Your files are moreaccessible and there is a considerable boost in the system speed.Follow the steps listed below to defragment your system:

Go to Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools.

Here you will find a button called Disk Defragmenter. Clickon it.

Defragment your hard driveto speed up your PC


Tech Tip

want to look for. Just below the box are placed four buttons –Seeds, Date, Name and Size. You can select the one mostsuitable for your search. You can also select whether you wish tohave ‘Zero-Seeders’ or ‘Duplicates’. There is a drop-down list aswell, from which you can select the most likely search category.

Once you have keyed in all the data, all it takes is to click the‘Search’ button. In a matter of moments, an exhaustive list ofTorrents matching your query will appear on the screen. Youcan search here for the relevant file and begin the download.The best thing about ScrapeTorrent is that it presents its searchresults with necessary Torrent statistics like file size, ‘seed’ andhow many times the file has been downloaded by other users.

So if downloading Torrents from the Internet is really yourkind of thing, you are going to enjoy life on ScrapeTorrent. �

There’s no question about the rising popularity of Torrentsites these days. They have become the very backbone ofP2P (peer-to-peer) sharing. We use them to share files,software, games, video clips, movies, music and a lot

more things. But searching for authentic Torrent files is a problemthat most users must have faced. This is where the ScrapeTorrentwebsite (http://scrapetorrent.com) can help you. The site allowsyou to search for Torrent files in a simple and seamless manner.ScrapeTorrent works by collecting Torrent search results from thebiggest Torrent indexes across the Web. Once collected andcompiled, the data are made available to users for free.

The good thing about ScrapeTorrent is the usability factor –using it is as simple as making a Google search. There is a boxon the top of the website where you can key in the file name you

Use Scrape Torrentto search multipletorrent sites


The IPO investment system at HDFC Securities is designedfor small investors only. So you can invest a maximum of Rs 100,000 in one IPO. If you want to invest more thisamount, you will have to apply under the HNI (HighNetworth Individual) category.Click on the IPO that you wish to invest in. A trading pagewill open in which you have to enter the number of sharesyou wish to apply for and the bid amount.Input all the details before pressing ‘OK’.Next, a window from your banking account will open. Hereyou will have to authorise the capital required for thepurchase. You will get a confirmation of the transaction made.Now, you will have to press the ‘Confirm’ button tofinalise the deal.You will get an online receipt confirming the completion ofthe entire process.If the shares get allotted in your name, you will get your allocation on the day the IPO gets listed on the stock exchanges. In case your IPO application fails, the money you deposited into your trading account will be transferred back to yourbanking account. �

For those who want to invest in IPOs (initial public stockoffering), it is essential to begin by opening an accountwith HDFC Securities. You will be required to open atrading account as well as a banking account, both of

which will be linked. The amount you intend to invest has to bedeposited in the HDFC banking account. Once you haveopened your accounts and deposited the money, you will beready to start investing in various IPOs.Here is a step-by-step guide for you to follow:

Point your browser to http://hdfcsec.com.Click on the ‘Trade Now’ button.A new window will open where you will have to input yourlogin ID before pressing ‘Enter’.In the new window that opens, you will have to input yourpassword before pressing ‘Enter’ again.Now you will reach the trading platform of HDFCSecurities. Here you can buy/sell shares and invest in variousderivatives and IPOs or corporate fixed deposits.To invest in IPOs, press the button at the extreme left-handcorner that says IPO/FD.A new window will open showing a list of IPOs on offer atthat time. If no new IPOs are there, the page will return themessage: No issues are currently available.

Invest in IPOswith HDFC Securities

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Now that you have search results from Yahoo! and Googlepitted against each other, you can really compare them and findout which one is better suited for your needs. You will beamazed to find that many of the search results will differ sinceboth Google and Yahoo! are known to use different technologiesfor search result display. To be fair to both the search giants,Twingine randomly keeps changing the sides on which resultsfrom Google and Yahoo! appear.

If you get results from Google on the right side and Yahoo! onthe left during your first search, they may swap positions in thenext session. That is Twingine’s way of ensuring an unbiasedattitude towards any particular search engine. This website canprove to be very useful when you need to do an in-depth searchon an abstruse topic. Try it today to find out just how easysearching on the Internet can be, especially when a handy twinsearch engine such as Twingine is around. �

When it comes to search engine war, Google beatsall others hands down. But there are times whenyou need to hit the Yahoo! page to find that elusivelink. Hopping from one search engine to another

can be a real pain in the neck, especially if you are working undertime constraint. On occasions like these, Twingine can prove to bereally handy. When you point your browser to http://twingine.com,you get directed to a starkly bare site that is quite similar to Google.

As the name suggests, this website is a twin. Once you enter yoursearch term in the given text box, you can avail results from bothYahoo! and Google. Enter any keyword in the box and press the‘Search’ button. The new page that opens is vertically divided intotwo frames of equal size – on one side there are search results fromGoogle while the other half displays results from Yahoo!. You canincrease or decrease the size of any window by moving the verticalbarrier left/right with the help of the mouse.

Search in

simultaneously&


Are you a gizmo lover with a penchant forcreativity? Just look around carefully and youwill always find some inexpensive items whichnot only look artistic but also have great utility

value. Take the case of the BlackBerry cradle, forinstance. Most of us find it quite difficult to find a cradlethat can safely house a large phone like the BlackBerry.Good-looking cradles for iPhones and smaller Nokiaphones are easily available; but with the BlackBerry, thereis no easy solution.

So, how about a soap dish? Not the tacky plastic soapdish we are so familiar with. Nowadays, it is easy to findbamboo soap dishes which look quite chic. These soap-dishes are large enough to carry large bars of soap, as wellas your precious BlackBerry. You can also stick a patch ofVelcro (nylon fabric for fastening) at the bottom of thebamboo soap dish and also on the table top where youwould like to place it.

There you have it – your own BlackBerry cradle that isfirmly tied to the table. Your favourite gizmo is now safefrom being accidentally knocked off the table and it is wellwithin the reach. The soap dish can also store othermodels, but due to its large size, it is especially suitable fora BlackBerry. And the best thing about this new holder isthat it brings a natural touch to your gadget-ladenworkplace. Just imagine what you can achieve with asimple soap dish made out of bamboo. �

Turn yoursoapdish into aCradle forBlackBerry


Tech Tip

When every moment counts, even an extra minutespent on a download may seem like an eternity.It is very annoying, indeed! But there is help outthere. DAP or Download Accelerator Plus is a

software programme that can speed up things considerably. Itworks by boosting your file-grabbing speed and improvingyour download connection quality. In case you face a brokenlink problem, DAP will pause your download and restart itonce the link gets restored.

In order to download DAP, you have to point your browserto http://www.speedbit.com. Earlier, DAP was available as anadd-on for the IE (Internet Explorer) browser, but now it has

been developed into asuite of products. Oncethe software has beendownloaded andinstalled on your system,you will find a simple,tabbed interface, so thatyou can easily switchamong threeapplications – an FTPconnection tool, adownload dashboardand a Web browser.

The next time you wantto download a file, theDAP will automaticallystart using multiplethreads to accomplish thetask, leading to a fasterinformation flow. Thesoftware is capable oflooking at other websitesfor the same file andpulling from them as well.While the download is in

progress, a multicoloured bar will appear, showing myriad fileconnections. Users are allowed to select one or several streams forthe purpose of stopping and starting file transfers.

If you wish to pause an active download, a small icon nextto the selected transfer will do the needful. This icon is locatedin the ‘Status’ column and is viewable while you are in the‘Download’ tab. Until the ‘Resume’ icon is clicked, the pausedstatus will remain on the DAP interface. A premium versionof the software is available for $29.95 on the same link wherethe free version is found. With this version, you can preserveyour privacy as it is capable of removing all download tracesby using an advanced ‘Trace Cleaner’. �

Download Accelerator Plusfor speeding up your Downloads


http://www.speedbit.com.

carrying the parrot logo should help you communicate withyour mobile contacts; after all, parrot is one bird thatpossesses the ability to mimic humans. The Parrot MinikitSlim sports a sleek look and makes use of Bluetooth tosynchronise its phonebook with the contacts listed on yourcell phone.

So, the next time you need to dial a number while you areengaged in cooking or working on your laptop, you can usethe Parrot Minikit Slim’s text-to-speech function to do thetrick for you. This is how it works: You simply say the nameof your contact and the Minikit will recognise the name andstart dialling. In situations where several numbers areassociated with the same name, you can specify whichnumber is to be dialled – mobile, landline, office, residence,etc. The voice recognition function is another feature worthmentioning and it will always lead you to the right numberthat you wish to dial.

The high-end microphones and speakers built into thesystem ensure that you have a great conversation eventhough the phone is not held close to your ear. When youreceive a call, the Slim will match the incoming number withthe contact in its memory (only if the number is from one ofyour stored contacts, of course), and use the text-to-speechfunctionality to announce the name of the caller. Therefore,you do not have to look at the cell phone screen to identifythe caller. The voice announcement will save you the trouble.This is really one of those feature-rich gizmos which aredesigned to be fun and make your life easy, as well. �

Trying to dial someone’s number while you are furiouslytyping away at the laptop may not be an agreeable taskfor many of us. But you may not mind it after all, ifyou are armed with a versatile gizmo like the Parrot

Minikit Slim. It should come as no surprise that a gizmo

Get ParrotMinikit Slimto dialnumberswith voicecommand

Tech Tip

It is possible to have a glimpse of the future by simply lookingat today’s trends. What people search today may influencetheir actions tomorrow. And that is one of the key reasonswhy Google Trends is considered such an important

instrument – for gaining insight into the world’s preferences. Youcan access Google Trends by pointing your browser tohttp://www.google.com/trends. The page that opens is verysimilar to what you have on a Google search page. There is abox in the middle of the page where you can input your text.Next to it, there is a button that says ‘Search Trends’. At thebottom of the page, you will find a list of ‘Hot Trends’ for theday which will go on changing depending on the number ofclicks they receive.

Let us say, you want to find out if the term ‘Bollywood’ hasmade waves on the Internet during the past few years. Justtype ‘Bollywood’ into the text box and click on the button. Anew page will open up displaying a steadily rising graph. Onelook at the steeply rising graph and you know for sure that

netizens across the worldhave increasingly searchedfor this term between 2004and 2009. Below the graph,there is a list of regions andcities from where searcheshave been made. And hereis an interesting piece ofinformation extracted fromGoogle Trends. “Bollywood’seems to be as popular inPakistan as it is in India – atleast the search dataconfirm it. However, themajority of the searchesconducted are in English.

Similarly, you can find outhow other topics fare on theNet – the Google Trendswill provide you thenecessary data. Search for‘sex’ in Google Trends alsoyields interesting results.India ranks second in theworld when it comes to Net

surfers searching for ‘sex’. Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?That the ultra-moralistic Indians are searching for ‘sex’ on theInternet in such large numbers! May be it is time that youinstall ‘parental control’ software and keep a tab on yourfamily’s search trends. And here is another piece of news.Maximum number of ‘sex’ searches actually generate fromthe Capital city of Delhi.

So that is the kind of interesting information you can gleanfrom Google Trends. What’s more, this information is availablefor free. There is no software you need to download; theapplication runs on the Web itself and delivers results atlightening speed. If you have not tried it already, it is time youshould. Google Trends can be a healthy tool for researchinghuman behaviour and it will also help you understand newperspectives. Media professionals can also use this application togarner a broad overview of popular geopolitical and economicaltopics. Currently, Google Trends is providing information onsearch trends from the year 2004 to 2009. �

withGoogleTrendsTrack Online Behaviour


http://www.google.com/trends.

Fiction

The bus trundled down the suburb, leaving behind thestretch of verdant greenery. The greenery hadvanished to a large extent, replaced by a long row ofpicturesque houses, double-storied, with large glass

windows and spacious lawns in front. Finally, the bus stoppednext to a large hoarding displaying an advertisement of a newlyopened shopping mall.

Neena, Rakesh and their three kids stepped out of the bus.Seven-year-old Mohit looked ahead excitedly along with his twinsisters, Sanjana and Rekha. The bus trundled ahead. Just then, anine-year-old boy came running down the road dragging amangled kite behind him. “Hey, did you hear about thespaceship that has landed somewhere in the forests nearby,”asked the boy excitedly, his eyes focused intently on Mohit.“Cops are currently on the lookout for aliens who they thinkhave escaped from the spacecraft.”

“Really?” said Mohit. “We were out of town so we didn’t getto hear anything about these aliens and their spacecraft.”

“Just ignore him Mohit,” Sanjana instructed lookingdisdainfully at the boy with the kite. “As usual, Sanju is lying.”

“I am not lying,” Sanju replied sharply. “Check out thenews channels; they are all flooded with stories of the alienlandings in Dehradun.” Having said these words, he didn’tbother to wait for a riposte and took off dragging hismangled kite behind him.

“Don’t you think Sanju was speaking the truth?” asked Rekha. “I think that is quite likely,” replied Neena. “What if the aliens turn out to be like ET? That would be

fun,” Mohit chuckled. “Do you really believe in this alien stuff ?” Rakesh smiled at

his son. “Well, I was just wondering that this town will be lot more fun

to live in if some aliens were to arrive.”The family walked down the street and reached their two-

storey home. As they stepped in, Mohit and his sisters made abeeline for the TV. “Let me check the truth behind the wholealien thing that Sanju told us,” he said eagerly.

“It has to be a lie,” said Sanjana tersely, settling herself downon the couch.

“I second that,” agreed Rekha. But the news channels proved all the sceptics in the family

wrong. A local reporter was walking through what seemed likea burnt and utterly decimated section of the forest in thevicinity of Dehradun, while breathlessly dwelling on therumours that the damage had been caused by the crash of analien spaceship. She was interviewing some locals who claimedto have seen the spacecraft drag through a large swath of theforest flattening many trees and shrubs before coming to restagainst the huge boulder. Plumes of smoke and flames werestill spewing from the debris. This was enough for Neena andRakesh, along with their three kids, to remain glued to thedrama unfolding on the small screen.

“If the spacecraft came to rest against the boulder in theforest, why are they not showing it,” Neena’s voice was a hushed

sort of whisper. As if on cue, the reporter on TV came up withan explanation to that crucial question.

“According to locals, after the spaceship crashed against theboulder, it started contracting at a feverish pace,” thereporter said pointing towards the group of locals whosupplied the information. “I know this sounds unbelievablebut this is what these people claim to have seen. When thespaceship had contracted to the size of a small sparrow, itflew away once again and disappeared in the sky. If anything,the technology these aliens have access to is mind boggling. Itis quite possible that the spaceship may already be on its wayto the planet in space where it came from but it is alsopossible that it might be lurking somewhere in these forests,”she concluded.

The entire area was teeming with cops, government officialsand reporters from various media fraternity. The governmentofficials were silent on the happenings. It seemed as though theywere trying to cover up something.

“My God!” exclaimed Rakesh. “This is unbelievable.” “Alien spacecraft in Dehradun! Who could have expected

that?” ejaculated Neena. “What are these aliens doing outhere?”

“What if they are here to kidnap us?” said Sanjana frightfully.“We should keep all the doors and windows locked to ensure

our security,” Rekha suggested with alacrity.“Relax girls,” said Neena. “Even if these are real aliens, I

don’t think they travelled hundreds of light-years just to abductmy family. We are not that important.”

“Hey, I have an idea,” said Mohit, jumping to his feet. “Let usall go to the forest where this alien craft is said to have landed.”

But his sisters would have none of it. “Are you out of yourmind?” Sanjana snapped.

“Of course, he is,” agreed Rekha. “Only a crazy personwould want to there to look for aliens.”

“Not all aliens are evil. They may have good intention,”Mohit ejaculated passionately.

“How can you say that?” Rekha challenged. “I have a feeling that the aliens are here with a good

intention. Like mother said, they could not have travelled acrosshundreds of light-years just to abduct our family. Since theirtechnology is so great, their intention must also be good. It can’tbe otherwise.”

“Very good, Mr. Philosopher,” Mukesh smiled at his son. “Butit is dangerous going to the forest right now.”

He pointed towards the TV. The three kids looked intentlyat the TV screen that showed cops barricading the area withropes to prevent public from walking all over the site wherethe spacecraft had crashed before it got miniaturized and tookoff again.

But Mohit was adamant. “But dad,” he protested, “we canalways find a way to slip past the barricades if we try hardenough. Both of us can go to the forest and leave mom and thetwo girls here. Just think of it, if we get lucky we might meetsome aliens.”


Mukesh was happy to see his son’s enthusiasm but that didn’tmean obliging him by taking him to the forest. “We will go theresome other day definitely but not today,” he said quietly.

“But we may never come across the aliens then. It is not as ifthey have arrived in Dehradun to stay on forever,”

“I hope they are already gone,” Rekha added. “I definitelydon’t like the idea of a freaky alien spacecraft loitering about inthe forest so close to our house.”

“What if these aliens try to attack as like they did in the film,Independence Day,” Sanjana shuddered with horror at thethought of her house coming under alien attack.

Mohit jumped to the defence of his favourite aliens. “Youshould not believe everything that they show in movies. I believethe aliens are fundamentally nice guys. They are here to makeearth a better place.”

“Maybe they will help you with your homework,” saidSanjana sarcastically.

“Who knows, they might,” Mohit reposted sharply. “It is foolish of you to think this way,” Rekha chided.“Dad, tell them to stop or I will beat them up,” said Mohit

threateningly. “I would like you to try,” challenged Rekha. It was clear that the three kids were now itching for a fight.

For all this time Neena had been mostly watching the exchangebetween her kids with amusement writ large on her face but nowit was clearly time for her to intervene. “That’s enough. Stop thiscat-fight,” she reprimanded.

“But Mohit is acting stupid,” Rekha remonstrated. “The problem with you, Rekha, is that you talk too much,”

said Neena. “But …” Sanjana began.“No ifs and buts,” Neena interrupted. “I want all of you to go

to the study room and finish your homework. No more talkabout aliens. There aren’t any aliens.”

“But all news channels are flashing stories about the alienslanding on earth. They can’t be lying,” Mohit jumped in.

“I can afford to disbelieve whatever I want to disbelieve,”Neena said peremptorily. “This news story is completely false.There is no question of an alien spacecraft ever landing in theforest or anywhere else on earth. There aren’t any aliens outthere. I am sure they would soon come up with a perfectlylogical explanation for the devastation in the forest.”

It was clear that Neena was worked up with frustration atwhat she considered to be frivolous reporting by the TVchannels. She picked up the remote and switched off the TV.

“You are quite right,” Mukesh said. “The TV channels haveno right to telecast unsubstantiated rumours. There are nothingcalled aliens. Human beings are the only intelligent species inthe entire universe.”

However, the kids were not convinced. “Why aren’t all of you going to the study room?” Neena

glared at her kids. This time they got the message, loudand clear. They marched out of the room with their headshung low.

It was late in the evening. The sun had started meltingbehind the horizon and it was turning darker by the minute.Neena was preparing dinner in the kitchen and the rest of thefamily was in the living room watching a movie on HBO.Suddenly the lights in the house began to blink. At the sametime, the television lost its signal. “What is happening?”exclaimed Mohit.

Sanjana and Rekha seemed to be on the edge by thephenomenon of strangely blinking lights. “I hope it is not thealiens who are doing this to our house,” whispered Sanjanaprophetically. Rekha shuddered with terror but didn’t say aword. “Relax. I think there is something wrong with the electricsupply,” said Mukesh pressing the remote to switch off the TV.“I will check the electric meter. It is possible that one of theswitches may have malfunctioned.”

Suddenly there came Neena’s scream from the kitchen. “Whathappened?” cried Mukesh and rushed towards the kitchen. Thekids were too afraid to remain alone in the living room so theyfollowed their father blindly. The kitchen was awash with redlight that seemed to be beaming in through the kitchen window.In the midst of this red light Neena stood frozen with terror. Shewas pointing hysterically towards the window.

“There is something moving outside the window,” Neenapanted, “some kind of a strange creature.”

“What strange creature?” Mukesh said with alarm. “I can’tsee anything due to this infernal wall of red light.”

Meanwhile, the two girls had started crying hysterically. “Iknow it is the aliens who are behind this red light. They arecoming to get us,” cried Sanjana. “They will surely wreckour house.”

“We are doomed,” cried Rekha. Even Mohit seemed afraid but at the same time he looked

forward to an encounter with the aliens. “I hope the aliens arethe peaceful type,” he said fervently.

Suddenly five green-coloured alien creatures, with aboutfive feet tall humanoid body, walked in through the kitchen’swall. It was obvious that conventional walls didn’t pose muchof a barrier for aliens who were capable of using the inter-molecular space to cross any physical barrier. Thesecreatures had bald and rather elongated pear-shaped headswith two large eyes devoid of eyelids. They were snub-nosed,without any ear and their mouths consisted of a mere slit.They were dressed in green-coloured spandex type of dressthat was so tight-fitting that it seemed part of their body.They wore a logo of some kind of an alien dragon on theirsleeves. They had three fingers and their feet were encasedin tight-fitting boots.

Naturally the family was horrified by the suddenappearance of these strange looking aliens in their kitchen.They tried to scream but no word came out of their mouthand in a matter of moments, they went into some kind oftrance. When they woke up, they found themselves in astrange chamber with its roof beaming down an amazingarray of colourful lights and around whose walls there lay

Fiction


intricate-looking scientific instruments. There were five-stretchers laid out in the chamber, one for each member ofthe family. As they lay still on their separate stretchers, thealiens were keenly observing them.

“Where are we?” Neena murmured with fear. The aliens did not bother to answer her question. One of

them, perhaps their chief, replied telepathically. It was clear thatthe aliens used their mouth only for fulfilling their dietaryrequirements and they could speak only in the telepathicmanner. Soon a running telepathic conversation was beingcarried on between the five members of the human family andaliens. The family was convinced that the aliens were peacefulby nature and did not mean to harm anyone. The aliens did noteven need to walk. They levitated one inch above the groundand so it was easy for them to move around by floating in theair. Neena, Mukesh, and the three kids were no longerfrightened of the aliens. Instead, they felt calm and composed.Even the two girls, Sanjana and Rekha, were regarding thealiens enthusiastically. Mohit, of course, had always beenenthusiastic about them.

When Neena expressed her wish to leave the stretcher onwhich she was lying, the aliens said that every member wasfree to walk around the spaceship. The family was now ontheir feet and they were gushing at the intricate instrumentsthat were arranged in the chamber. Even the floor of thechamber felt strange – it was not carpeted but was coveredwith some kind of velvet that felt very soft to the feet. Thethree kids and their parents took off their shoes as theypreferred to walk bare feet on the soft floor. Communicatingtelepathically, the aliens told them that the floor in thespaceship was not only comfortable to walk on but it was alsooutfitted with diverse kinds of sensors that could collect datafrom the body of humans and aliens.

After checking out the diverse properties of the chamber, thefamily decided to explore the rest of the spacecraft. The alienspromptly learned about their desire and by using mere thought,they opened in the walls of the chamber a portal through whichanyone could move in or out. It was clear that the alienspacecraft was unimaginably large. In response to a pointedquestion from Mohit, the aliens replied telepathically that thespacecraft was more than 200 sq km in area from the inside butfrom the outside, it was only 2 inches in diameter.

“How can something only 2 inches in diameter from outsidehave an interior that is so large?” exclaimed Sanjana.

“Space, like time, in the universe is relative,” the leader of thealiens replied telepathically. “Latest cutting-edge development inscience has made it possible to have a very large area inside avery small container.”

“Then your technology must be really advanced,” saidMukesh, “because we can’t do this kind of thing on earth yet.”

“Yes, it will take about 4 billion years for this kind oftechnology to reach earth,” replied the leader of the aliens.“Our civilization is 4 billion light years older than yourcivilization.”

“You people have been all over the universe, how many otherintelligent civilizations are out there?” eagerly asked Mohit.

“The universe is teeming with life of all kinds,” replied theleader of the aliens. “But as the universe is still quite young, it isonly about 13 billion years old, most of the life is still notevolved enough to be called intelligent. No one knows the exactnumber of planets that are supporting intelligent civilization buttheir number may well run into billions.”

“Billions of intelligent civilizations,” exclaimed Rekha. “Couldwe visit them all?”

“The civilizations are flung so far apart in different galaxiesthat it is nearly impossible for anyone to reach them all in theirlifetime,” said the leader of the aliens.

“But where are you people from?” asked Mukesh. “We are from a civilization located in the Andromeda Galaxy.

We have been visiting earth for the last 10,000 years.”“That is a lot of time!” exclaimed Neena. “In that case, you

may have goos knowledge of human history.”“That is true,” the aliens answered telepathically. “We saw the

two great wars.”“By the two great wars, I guess you mean the First World War

and the Second World War?” injected Mohit cheerfully.“We did witness the World Wars,” nodded the leader of the

aliens, “but that was not what I was referring to when I talkedabout the two great wars. I was referring to wars that werefought in a much earlier era and were more devastating in scopethan any war ever fought on this planet.”

“Which wars were those?” asked Mohit.“The wars that happened during the Ramayana and the

Mahabharata era,” replied the alien. Hearing this, every member of the family came up with

many more questions about the life and society in theRamayana and the Mahabharata era and the leader of thealiens was only too pleased to acquaint them with facts thatwould satisfy their curiosity. After about a long session of Q& As, the aliens could sense that their guests were hungry. “Imust apologize for bringing all of you here when you wereabout to have your dinner,” said the leader of the alienstelepathically. “Now we would like to invite all of you to havedinner with us.”

“That is very kind of you,” Neena simpered. “The childrenare hugry and so are we,” she looked at Mukesh, who noddedin agreement.

“Please follow me to the dining room,” chief aliens. Thefamily hardly needed any second invitation and eagerly followedthe aliens down the corridor leading to the dining room. Soonthey reached a large hall in the centre of which stood a largedining table that could accommodate more than 100 people.

“Wow!” exclaimed Sanjana. “I have never seen anything solavish as this. The walls of the dining hall were warm with paleblue wallpaper embossed with floral designs. The floor wasmade out of some kind of gleaming white marble whichsomehow felt soft to the feet. A sparkling chandelier fitted withreal diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls hung from the roof.


Even the dining table was studded with precious metals. Thechairs were incorporated with state-of-the-art alien technologycapable of adjusting themselves to the size of the person placedon them.

With utmost politeness, the aliens escorted the family of five totheir seats.

“It is an extraordinary feeling,” said Neena. “It is our pleasure to play host to your wonderful family,” said

the leader of the aliens. “Now what would you like to eat?”Neena and Mukesh looked at their kids and all of them

seemed somewhat confused about what kind of food could beavailable on this spaceship. Once again the aliens read theirmind and the leader of the aliens said, “The kitchen in thisspaceship is more advanced than any kitchen on earth. Out herewe can prepare more than 1 billion kinds of recipes from allover the universe. Whatever food you order, our robotic chefswill be able to create it for you within minutes.”

“One billion recipes!” Neena exclaimed. “This isunbelievable.”

“So what do we order?” asked Rakesh. “We can let ourimaginations run wild – almost every food that we can think ofis available on this spaceship.”

“How about letting our alien hosts decide the menu for us?”ventured Mohit.

“That is a good idea,” chirped Rakhi merrily.“I agree,” laughed Sanjana.Now that the kids had made up their mind, the parents too

preferred to let the aliens order for them. “You can already read ourminds so you are the best people to decide what kind of food wouldbe best suited for us,” said Mohit looking at the leader of the aliens.

“You have been coming to this planet for the last 10000 yearsso more than anyone else, you know what kind of food will begood for humans. We will have something as per your choicetoday,” said Neena.

Fiction


“Well then, I will order top-class food from all over theuniverse for all of you,” said the leader of the aliens.Telepathically he placed the order and within a few moments astream of robots came in carrying different kind of dishes insilver cutlery. In no time the food was served before them.

“Won’t all of you be eating with us?” asked Mohit looking atthe aliens who were seated at the table.

The aliens looked at each other in surprise. “We don’t takefood like humans and many other creatures in the universe do.We get our sustenance from the air and from sunlight,” repliedone of the aliens.

“Astonishing,” said Rakhi.“It’s too bad that you cannot enjoy this delicious meal,” said

Sanjana, smacking her lip.“That is true. But watching all of you eat gives us just as much

pleasure,” said the leader of the aliens. “One thing comes to my mind,” said Neena, “if you people

don’t eat, why do you have such a state-of-the-art kitchen builtinto your spaceship.”

“The kitchen is there to serve the needs of our guests whomwe keep bringing to the spaceship from earth and other planets.”

The family had now started eating the delicious food that wasunlike anything that they had ever tasted. Most of theingredients that went into the making of the dish had beencollected from planets from the farthest reaches of the universe.Even the recipe in accordance to which the food had beenprepared was extraordinary. After each member of the familyhad eaten to their satisfaction, the aliens took them to a speciallounge equipped with comfortable sofa sets.

It is quite natural that the five humans were eager to have aglimpse of the civilization from which these aliens hadarrived. The aliens belonged to a civilization was four billionyears older than the civilization on earth. But it was onlyafter Neena, Mukesh and their children had a telepathicglimpse of their civilization that they learnt how thesebillions of years translated into advancement in science andtechnology. They were electrified and bewildered by whatthey saw. There were skyscrapers more than 5 km high.There were expressways where vehicles flashed past at 5000 km per hour. There were Cyborgs much advanced than anything Hollywood can ever imagined. There wereknowledge clinics where knowledge could be directlydownloaded inside one’s brain within a matter of seconds.Life on this planet was a glaring example of the old adage,“truth is stranger than fiction.”

After a whirlwind telepathic tour of their own civilization, thealiens introduced the humans to other advanced civilizations ofthe universe. With their mind’s eye, the humans saw the planetSeroseum that was completely covered with water. The process ofevolution had taken a watery route here. The Seroseumites lookedlike the hypothetical mermaids of earth. They lived in huge andintricately planned underwater cities. Another planet, Geldis, wastoo far from its sun with the result that it was constantly frozen.The process of evolution had imparted its inhabitants with thick

white fur, which enabled them to survive the cold. The Geldisianslived in cities built of frozen blocks of ice.

Neena, Mukesh and their three children were swept off theirfeet as their minds woke up to the amazing array of intelligentlife that existed in the furthest reaches of the universe. Humanswere not alone. There were other intelligent beings aroundwhose science and technology was much more advanced thatanything that was available on earth. However, time wasrunning out. It was going to be midnight soon and post-midnight the spaceship was scheduled to take off for anotherplanet located in the furthest reaches of the universe. The leaderof the aliens communicated this fact to his human guests.

“I am heartened by the hospitality you have shown,” Neenasmiled. “We would not want to delay your departure to anotherfabulous planet for any reason.”

“You can drop us off to our home,” said Mukesh. “We are so pleased to have spent all this time with you all,”

said Mohit.“I hope the next time you are back on earth, you will visit us

again. I am itching for a sojourn on your fabulous spaceship,”said Sanjana.

“Absolutely, repeated Rakhi, it will be fun being on yourspaceship again,” said Rakhi.

The aliens too seemed to be equally enchanted by thishuman family. The leader of the aliens promised to visitthem again. Then the family was put into trance once againso as to be transported back to their home on earth. WhenNeena woke up again, she found herself lying on the bed inher home. Mukesh was lying beside her. Her head felt heavyand she vaguely remembered the tryst that her family hadwith the aliens. But the thought struck her mind that shemight have dreamed about going to an alien spaceship whileshe had been sleeping. She raised her hand and shookMukesh from his reverie. He sat up on the bed drowsilyrubbing his eyes. At the same time, the children camerunning into their room.

“Mom, dad,” shouted Mohit enthusiastically. “The aliensdropped us back home.”

“Was it all a dream? But then why would all of us have thesame dream?” Mukesh said circumspectly.

“I have no idea,” uttered Neena.“But it did happen,” ejaculated Sanjana. “We were with the

aliens till a few minutes ago.”“We had dinner at their spaceship,” said Rakhi.“Well, maybe …” Neena managed to utter. “But I find it hard

to believe. One thing is for sure, all of us had an adventure of alifetime today.” With these words, she broke into a heartylaughter. While the family of five was celebrating theirencounter with aliens, the spacecraft had picked up speed andwas out of sight in a less than a few minutes. From the earth’satmosphere, it entered a wormhole capable of bending theuniverse. By navigating through the wormhole the spacecraftcould reach the Andromeda Galaxy, which is billions of lightyears away from earth, in a matter of moments. �


So, what is the movie about?The film is based on a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At once tragic and comic, frightening and emotional, the talefeatures a protagonist (Brad Pitt) who ages backwards. Benjamin Button is born with the face of an octogenarian and the body of a newborn. As his biological age increases, hisface gets younger and the body gets older ... a curious case,indeed! Mentally, he ages the conventional way. The moviedepicts his life from birth to death – a life that is curiouslydifferent from the rest of us. Unlike a baby who ages gradually –both physically and mentally – Button ages in the reverse way.Even as he becomes younger in looks and older in body andbiological age, his lover Daisy (Cate Blanchett) ages the regularway – a great premise for a love story with plenty of fantasy and drama.

intricate and uncommon plot, the other aspect that wowsmovie buffs is that the character of Benjamin Button isportrayed by Brad Pitt alone throughout the film; no otheractor plays the lead role regardless of the curious ageevolution that happens on-screen. While make-up wasessential to achieve the desired effects, one could not overdo it as subtle expressions would be totally lost underheavy prosthetic make-up. Technology had to be brought in, of course, and the very best in computergraphics and visual effects were required. And all theseshould have eased up the process of recreating Brad Pitt at different ages. However, when it came toselecting the software, the wrong choice of technology could have marred the film, turning it into a dud – devoidof the rich range of emotions that its lead character had to experience.

Capturing the essenceSo, making such a movie should have been simple, shouldn’tit? All the director (David Fincher) had to do was to getdifferent actors with the right make-up to play BenjaminButton at different ages ... right? Wrong! Besides the

“Curiouser and curiouser,” exclaimed Alice, as she beganto grow smaller and smaller after eating some portionof a cake in Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice inWonderland. And she might have felt just the same

after watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a flickwith multiple Academy Awards to its credit. Indeed, the titleand the content, the filming and the technology are just toooffbeat, to say the least.

One look at the film and you cannot but agree that it richlydeserves the three Oscars for art direction, make-up and, ofcourse, visual effects. Now that your curiosity is aroused, here’s aclose look at the technology used – making the movie a veritableculmination of all that present day special effects encompass.

Technology had to be brought in, of course,and the very best in computer graphics and visualeffects eased up the process.

Demystifying BENJAMIN BUTTONAgeing the reverse way with technology

Roli Gupta

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““

human emotion and each facial expression was recorded byhigh-definition cameras. From joyous smile and boisterouslaughter to unbearable agony, crippling grief or red-hotanger – you name it and they recorded it. It was a uniqueand exhaustive library that mapped Pitt’s emotionalexpressions as accurately as possible. Next came the partwhere several other actors with Benjamin’s physicalcharacteristics stood in for Pitt on the sets, shooting theportions of the movie where Button is physically a child or ateenager. All these actors wore a blue hood, which was to beerased digitally and superimposed with Brad’s face at a laterstage. After this filming was done, Brad lent his voice andfacial expressions to the scenes (rather like dubbing). This‘visual and sound dubbing’ was recorded from four angles,ensuring that even the tiniest change in the actor’s facialexpression was not missed.

space and in stunning details – gathering up to 1,00,000motions and points. All the details that make a face human –laugh lines, crinkling of the eyes, wrinkles, crow’s feet,dimples, eyebrow movements, trembling of the chin and soon – are tracked and reproduced digitally, allowing thetechnical artist to play around with digital effects on thesemappings. Thanks to this technology, the aged Brad Pittlooks like a ‘really’ aged Brad Pitt and not just a detached,digitally generated image.

While several movies use special effects, it is only in this filmthat the technology has been stretched to its limits. Amazinglysubtle in its use, its beauty lies in the fact that most movie-watcherswould not even realise the painstaking effort that has gone intomaking Benjamin Button an extraordinarily realistic juxtapositionof the real and the digital. As always, this is technology at its bestthat not only entertains but also inspires awe and wonder! �

It may seem that we are exaggerating the ‘portrayingemotions’ bit. However, most digital performances orcomputer-generated characters lack the full range of emotiveexpressions that an actor can render. For a movie like BenjaminButton, it is important that each character, especially the leadrole, should be able to emote and capture the subtle nuances.Such a movie requires a high level of animation, or else it couldend up like an all-too-obvious digitally generated film,incapable of bringing out the emotions and the drama thatwould be integral to the story. So the real challenge lay in usingthe right technology, and using it well.

So how did they do it?To put it simply, a series of well-planned, detailed steps wentinto the creation of this movie – a process that involvedmonths of hard work and the best in technology to digitallycreate Brad Pitt from the neck up. And the result? Astupendous visual effect, a jaw-dropping experience quiteunmatched till date. Without much ado, let us tell you whatwas actually done.

The initial task was to create a Brad Pitt emotion library.Wearing fluorescent make-up, Pitt conjured every possible

The expressions that Brad emoted at this stage were mappedto those already in the emotion library. The correspondingexpression from the emotion library was then aged digitally andsuperimposed on the actors who were doubling for Brad duringshoots. As these actors had worn blue hoods, the digital erasureand superimposition became easy. Together, they created aneerily real Benjamin Button who had the body of a seven-year-old and the face of an 80-year-old. Although the face wasentirely computer-generated, the creation was replete with thetiniest of details and portrayed the entire range of Brad’sexpressions. In fact, the movie’s official website has some reallygood graphics and videos that explain the technology behindBenjamin Button. It is definitely worth a dekko(http://www.benjaminbuttonfx.com/site.html).

And the Oscar goes to …With prestigious awards, rave reviews and accolades comingits way, one unsung hero (besides the technicians) of thispath-breaking film happens to be Contour(http://www.mova.com/) – a system that captures facialperformance. Simply put, Contour tracks an actor’s (in thiscase Brad Pitt’s) facial movements in three-dimensional


http://(http://www.benjaminbuttonfx.com/site.html).

http://(http://www.mova.com/)

Feature

When sci-fi makesit to real life

Fantasy fictions make way to real-life technology Suneetha B.

Is necessity the mother of invention? Nope! The phrasecan be easily changed to ‘Fiction is the mother ofinvention’ when one takes stock of the concepts whichhave made their way from fantasy fiction to real-life

technology. Believe it or not, most of the mainstays ofmodern life had once been the idea buds that took shape inthe imagination of sci-fi writers. Just look at theseillustrations and you will realise it soon.

Cell phones: No wire, no tireCan you imagine life without cell phones? You can hardlyremember it, let alone imagine, one would surmise. In thosedays, you booked a trunk call and waited for hours before itcame through; or broke your journey to make a call from aphone booth and waited in the queue. We accepted it and werecontent till Star Trek was beamed.

Captain Kirk’s ‘communicators’ in Star Trek used to talk tothe crew of the Starship Enterprise. And that preciselyinspired and influenced Martin Cooper while he wasdeveloping cell technology at Motorola. On a fine April dayin 1973, Cooper walked down a New York Street and putacross the world’s first ever cell phone call from a handsetthat weighed all of two pounds and more. The call wasmade to Joel Engel, the research head at Bell Labs,incidentally Cooper’s rival.

Space travel: Winging a new worldWe all remember the humorous science fantasy From the Earth tothe Moon (French: De la Terre à la Lune, 1865) by Jules Verne orthe 1901 sci-fi romance The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells.Taking a cue from these, Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès made thefirst science fiction movie, A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans laLune, 1902). This was a 14-minute movie about six astronomerswho build a bullet-shaped ship; it is then fired from a cannonand reaches the moon.

Sure enough, humans followed the concept of flying andspace travel without much delay. The invention of the airplaneby the Wright brothers was soon followed by Yuri Gagarin’spioneering space tour and the actual moonwalk by NeilArmstrong and Edwin Aldrin. Undoubtedly, it is one giant leapfor mankind and the journey of discovery continues till date. But just remember, we have first read it as a piece of fiction.

Robotics: Will Man play God?When Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the word ‘robota’in his play in 1921, little did he think that the word was going tobe etched in gold. Robota means forced labour and the play isabout a factory where artificial people are created to work forhumans. Finally, the machine-man rebels and the humans meettheir end.

Isaac Asimov made it sound even betterin 1942 with a slight twist and coined theword robotics in his short story, Runaround.And Asimov fans are sure to remember thethree rules for robots. Later on, BladeRunner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator andthe sci-fi TV flick Battlestar Galactica made usmarvel at the rebelling potentials of therobots. But so far, our robots areemotionless and the farthest they haveventured is the ramp in Japan where theyhave catwalked as fashion models.

Submarines: For under-oceanodysseysWilliam Bourne in 1578 and CornelisJacobszoon Drebbel in 1620, as well asLeonardo Da Vinci during the Renaissance,


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talked about and envisaged submarine designs. And onceagain, Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seaopened up the possibilities of under-ocean odysseys. That wasin 1870, of course. But submarines came up fast and wererampantly used during the World Wars. Next came thenuclear-powered subs but alas, it is not the Navy alone thatnow enjoys all the underwater fun, adventure and secrecy.The first tourist submarine came up in 1985 and luxurysubmarines happen to be the latest fad among the uber rich.According to a media report, an estimated 100 or so luxurysubs are out there in the deep seas, ranging between $12million and $80 million.

Geostationary satellites: Moon-making for a causeScience fiction buffs know that Arthur C. Clarke had predictedthe possibility of geostationary satellite in the Wireless Worldmagazine in 1945. Today, these are being launched left, rightand centre for communications and weather observation.These are artificial earth-orbiting satellites (you can say, fakemoons) placed directly over the equator at an altitude of35,800 km. They revolve in the same direction as the earthrotates (west to east), take 24 hours to complete one orbit andappear nearly stationary in the sky when we look at them fromthe ground. The orbital path has been named the Clarke Belt,in honour of the visionary.

Food supplements: Survival made easyDo you remember The Jetsons, a popular sitcom originallymade in the 1960s and remade in 1980s as the space-agecounterpart of The Flintstones hailing from the Stone Age? Itfeatures humans in a futuristic utopia in 2062 and showsseveral concepts which may become a reality soon. Forinstance, food supplements are something most busy housemanagers with multiple careers long for, at least on a workday.The people in the flick pop in tablets for breakfast, lunch anddinner instead of sitting down to meals. No one can deny thevalue of food supplements in this jet age; but will it make uslong for the good, old home-cooked meals?

Such ideas are aplenty, but let us now go fast forward and lookat the future for a bit.

Back to the futureAs a fun discussion, we have asked a group of sci-fi enthusiaststo open up on future-tech ideas which will change our life in thetime to come. So take a look at what they have to say.

Rohith Jyothish, an Economics studentand an avid sci-fi reader living inThiruvananthapuram, was all for teleportingand jet packing. “If there is a way we can flyfrom one place to another at the click of abutton, I would say ‘WOW’,” he exclaimed.

I guess the poor guy is as tired of the trafficas we all are!

Sudhindra Mokhasi,author of the best-selling BPOSutra and CEO of e-SutraChronicles, Bangalore, wouldideally look forward to “anotebook PC shaped like a pen,with a projecting virtualkeyboard and a screen to keep iton the table and bang away.”

Won’t it be great when thisactually happens?

Himanshu Gaur, an Adman and sci-fi writer from NewDelhi, was all enthusiasm when

it came to generating futuristic ideas which might change ourlifestyle dramatically. “Every advancement in science andtechnology changes our life. Today, it’s most natural to chat withour loved ones who are on the other side of the globe. Or wecan fly and meet them in less than 48 hours. Things can only getbetter in the days to come and we can expect a lot more. Likeamphibious and flying cars, computers that we can control bythought, Internet spectacles we can surf by thinking, backpackfor human flying and most importantly, an increase in theaverage human lifespan – let’s say 350 years, for a start!”

And once this happens, we will have to emigrate to otherplanets for sure!

Dr. Amarjeet Nayak, a sci-fiwriter and a college teacher was allfor the invention of a vaccine sothat hunger pang would cause nopain. When pressed further, hedived deep into imagination andforesaw the annihilation ofmankind. Would you like to knowthe cause? No, it’s not nuclear waror global warming, but flu – thehate flu epidemic, to be precise. Itbegins with mild symptoms of


‘jealousy flu’, then turns into intolerance flu, and finally acutehate flu would occur. And the symptoms? Red eyes, irritatedmental state and murder frenzy.

Should we now seriously consider changing ourselves and getover such mental blocks?

Anil Menon, a well-known sci-fi author and a techie residingin the USA, had a list of 10 innovations jotted down in a jiffy.His fertile imagination flew from bene markets to exoskeletonsand climate engineering in rapid succession.

Anil spoke of bene markets where financial instruments wouldconvert social goods into market goods and investors would beable to invest in social changes. Climate engineering, on theother hand, focused on techniques that would tweak the climateand curb the greenhouse effect. But what I liked best was thenictitating membranes. Present in reptiles, birds and someanimals, this is the transparent or translucent third eyelid, butAnil wanted it in humans for another purpose. It would be veryuseful to carry around a computer display in the eyes. Need ascreen? Drop an eyelid.

Then there is the new behavioural genetics, where someparents will tweak their kids to give them a better future.Imagine a kid designed to like mathematics, to concentrate, tohave no interest in the other sex till a pre-set age. Another ideawas finding the cure for most viral and bacterial diseases. It hasonly taken 20 to 40 years to crack the HIV virus, perhaps themost complex one in existence. So in another 50 years, most‘natural’ germs would surely be destroyed by modern medicines,he felt.

Anil, you definitely have the future mapped in your mind!

Vaibhav Rathi, a tech student at IIT Jaipur, looked forwardto one comprehensive scientific study that would span allbranches and enable individuals to communicate better. “Majorscientific breakthroughs involving collaborations from variedfields such as Physics, Neurology, Biotechnology and Psychologyhave actually opened up new possibilities in the area of

communication,” hesaid. “So let’s have anewly developed ‘brainsupplement’ that willensure mind-to-mindcommunication –making the use oflanguage totallyobsolete. The newtechnology will allowtwo individuals to sharetheir respective ‘thoughtpools’.

There’s a logic givenby scientists andtechnicians in thisrespect. Not all thoughts

can be converted to words without losing their meaning. Andduring the communication process, words, too, tend to lose somepunch. Consequently, the ideas conveyed fail to carry the realmeaning – they are either distorted or we get them totallywrong. Either way, the intensity or the meaning will get lost,”Rathi added.

“The social implications of this new ‘brain supplement’ willbe debatable though, as the boundaries of the ‘thought pool’concept are not clear yet. This is being branded by some as thenew ‘toy’ to forgo privacy while others think that it may help thedisabled or the linguistically challenged,” he opined.

Pervin C, a writer and English language consultant fromPune, fervently wished that “we should never fall ill or becomeobese. And when one has to die, one can just fall asleep and die– not because of heart attack or any such illness. Why should wetolerate such a prolonged period of misery, aches and sufferingbefore death? Why are we made that way? It will be awesome ifat 70, someone can just fall asleep and die painlessly!”

It was great to hear a feminine comment at last when shewanted “forever contact lenses that need not be washed andrinsed and cleaned every night! And how about a way to set hairpermanently so that there are no bad hair days? Want it in curls?You set it and it stays that way whether you shampoo, shower orsleep ... until three months later when you prefer straight hair.”

But she also wished for an invention that would ensure worldpeace for ever.

Perhaps that was the best suggestion! But I did wonder whynobody thought of the holodeck? A hangover of the Star Trekdays, this is a big room that can simulate any number ofenvironments and/or experiences for the user, and can trick allfive senses into believing that it’s real. That’s the ultimate, isn’t it– a switch from one reality to another and find out whatresonates with us? Much like Richard Bach’s One that offersparallel worlds and endless lifetimes for us to savour! Believe it ornot, you surely may experience it one day. Like those thingswhich were concepts once, but are realities now. �

Achieve academicexcellence with

Spearheaded by IIM-IT alumni, the foundations of

Career Launcher were laid in 1995. Ever since its

inception, Career Launcher (CL) has focused on

academic excellence, technological innovation and

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What initially began with a vision to set up a world-

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of the leading education corporate in South Asia. CL

is led by top business and engineering alumnus from

IIMs and IITs. It has learning centres spread across

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in the US, Dubai and Abu Dhabi offering various

services to students.

With its focus on students’ needs, its foundation firmly

set on its ‘Core Values’ and technology as a key driver,

CL strives to enable people to realize their potential.

Career Launcher is also actively involved in the field

of mainstream education, mainly through its growing

network of playschools and secondary schools.

Currently, CL runs eight schools in Indore,

Inaugural function at Indus World School, Ahmednagar.

Hyderabad, Raipur, Bhiwani, Mandi, Ahmednagar,

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CL also runs a business school based out of Greater

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Currently, CL is in the process of setting up a university

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this project, CL aims at generating direct employment for

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A pioneer in the realm of personality development

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CL is actively involved in pre-hire training and skill up-

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has also tied up with ICICI Bank and NCDEX (National

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oriented courses in banking and commodities sector.

Are you an incurable television addict, a self-professed couch potato who is forever gluedto the small screen and cannot let go of theremote? Chin up and cheer up – you are not

alone. Modern homes claim to have at least one TVset per family member as all of us have our ownpreferences and want to enjoy our private space.

Times have changed since that bulky, black-and-white ‘idiot box’ made its first entry to our drawingrooms in the 1940s. Today, the average television set iscapable of showing 100-plus channels and tends todrown us in an incessant shower of infotainment.Nestled in the comfort of your sofa, you can admirethe grace of Russian ballet, savour the fine art of

French wine-making, admire the haute couture on display at theOscar Red Carpet or have a face-to-screen darshan of BabaRamdev – all in 15 minutes flat.

Watching television has always been fun, thanks to the fast-evolving content. But why don’t you watch your favouriteprogramme on a laptop, mobile or PDA? “No way,” says KiranRanjan, a quality analyst by profession and a die-hard sports fan.“One can hardly enjoy the world cup soccer final or even a movieon that kind of screen. Televisions are definitely here to stay.”

But before you buy a hi-tech TV amounting to thousands oreven lakhs, let us take a close look at the dizzying array of newterminologies and decide which television will best suit yourrequirements and budget. So here we go …

Choose a digital, high-definition TVGreat picture, vibrant colour, reverberating sound, wide screen –all major manufacturers are now working on future technologies toensure these and much more. Picture quality depends on two basicfactors – the number of horizontal lines on the screen and thenumber of pixels or colour dots (that make up the picture) in eachline. Most of us have grown up with standard-definition television(SDTV) that can display 480 horizontal lines and 640 pixels perline. High-definition TVs are much better, of course, as they candisplay 1080 lines and 1920 pixels per line with better refresh rateand high contrast ratio. However, sets that display 720 lines and1280 pixels are also considered high-definition.

You also need to consider the shape and size of the screen.Instead of the regular, nearly square screen, high-definitionTVs come with wide screens like the ones we find in movietheatres. Any good set should feature a screen above 32

inches. Up to 32 inches, images will definitely be sharper butyou may not be able to find much difference.

Next comes the contrast ratio that measures the brightnessdifference between the darkest and brightest spot on a display. Butdo you really need a TV with highest contrast ratio? There areseveral ways to calculate contrast ratio and as per VESA (VideoElectronics Standards Association), a contrast ratio of 7000:1 is thebest possible one. Unfortunately, the specifications provided byvarious manufacturers are just a marketing hype. It simply refers tothe gadget’s ability to reproduce different levels of brightness and itis much better to judge things with your own eyes. Go to a storeand check how a particular television looks. Your eyes can betterrecognise contrast than resolution, which is why a full HD TV of1080 pixel resolution and low contrast may not look as good as a720 pixel with high contrast.

Now that you are shopping for a digital, high-definitiontelevision, there will be options galore in terms of technology anddisplay which we will discuss below. But here lies a small catch. Notall digital televisions are high-definition as per the above standards.So it is always better to find out if the DTV you want to buy comeswith standard picture resolution and screen size.

The world on the wall – Plasma versus LCDAre you craving for one of those sleek, wall-mounted modelswhich are bound to give you the home-theatre type look and feel?Go for the flat-panel sets then – the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)and the Plasma are the best buy. Both look quite similar and comewith full HD resolution (1920x1080), but they differ in technology.

Technologies: Plasma screens consist of numerous pixel cells,each filled with a mixture of rare natural gases – usually xenon

Sleek, chic, light and wide – you cannot take your eyes off these tech wonders …

Forget the idiot box…It’s HOME CINEMA now


Anuj Agarwal

and neon. This gas mixture islocated between two electrodes andcontains both positively andnegatively charged ions. Every pixelof the Plasma TV acts as a sourceof light and is coated withphosphor, a fluorescent material,which displays colour when it reactswith light. Also, each pixel consistsof three smaller areas – againcoated with phosphor materialsthat produce red, blue and greencolours. These smaller areas areknown as sub-pixels.

When hit with an electric charge,the ions collide with each other asthey try to move towards theiroppositely charged electrode. Suchcollisions produce ultraviolet lightrays or photons which subsequentlyreact with the coloured phosphor,coating the sub-pixels. The sub-pixels then release differentamounts of red, blue or green lightand colour images are produced.

LCD or the liquid crystal display technology works in a differentmanner. Here, liquid crystals containing pixels are pushed in thespace between two pieces of polarised glass. When power isswitched on, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp or CCFL at the backof the screen emits a white light that passes through the liquidcrystals. Meanwhile, a matrix of thin-film transistors (TFTs)supplies voltage to the liquid crystals, so that they can reproducejust the ‘right’ colours by blocking out other colour wavelengthsfrom the spectrum of white light.

Let us also consider FLCD or Ferroelectric Liquid CrystalDisplay, in this context. FLCD is quite unique compared to thetraditional LCD, since power is required only for the initialswitching on. This leads to substantial energy-saving, to say theleast. Moreover, FLCD has very fast response time. It also offersfull colour and full motion for video applications, high contrastvalue and a better resolution – thus improving the image quality.

Pros and cons: Plasma comes in bigger sizes and normallystarts from 40 inches, while LCD sets are also available in less than40 inches. But the biggest advantage of Plasma is its price when itcomes to really big screens. Larger LCD sets do not abound (ofcourse, there is a 65 inch set manufactured recently) and they willsurely cost you a fortune. However, LCD tends to consume lesspower, is lighter in weight, provides sharper images and is believedto have a better lifespan than Plasma screens.

There is another plus for Plasma as it is better equipped torender deeper blacks. Colours appear richer and more naturalon a Plasma screen. Viewing angle is undoubtedly superior, andit also ensures better motion tracking for fast-moving pictures.So Plasma is best suited for movie and sports lovers. An LCD, on

the other hand, generates typically brighter pictures. If youprefer watching daily soaps or news, go for an LCD display asPlasma screens tend to glare in brightly lit rooms. Also, Plasmadisplays are generally heavier and more delicate to ship. So ifyou need to relocate often, think again before shelling out yourmoney on the Plasma.

Another concern with the Plasma TV is the ‘burn-in’, wherestatic images like a channel’s logo would leave a permanentimprint on the screen. Although measures have been taken tominimise it, you must be careful and should not pause your Plasmafor a long time. Plasma is still considered the best by movie buffs,fond of large-screen viewing. Samsung’s 50 inch B550 full HDmodel is one of the top-rated products, but a wide range is outthere to choose from.

Buy LED LCD, get brownie pointsTechnology: The latest on offer is the LED backlit TV which issimilar to LCDs but comes with LED (light-emitting diode)backlights instead of the white fluorescent light used in traditionalLCD televisions. Made of semiconductive material, LEDs havemany advantages over traditional lighting sources including lessenergy consumption, better lifetime and smaller size.

There are several ways of backlighting an LCD panel usingLEDs. These can be positioned directly behind the LCDpanel; or you can opt for the latest edge-lit LED where LEDunits are placed at the right, left, top and bottom of the panel.Each unit contains a row of tiny white diodes and a thinscreen-sized plastic sheet known as a light guide plate. Thecombined light output is funnelled and redistributed evenlyacross the screen.

� Better home-theatre image quality� Wider viewing angles� Deeper black levels� Superior motion resolution� Big screens (40 inches and above)

cost less than LCDs of equal size

PROS

CONS

What youcan watchbest

� Smaller screens are not available� Heavier than LCD sets and fragile� Lower native resolution� Burn-in problem� Short lifespan� Less energy efficient� Glass screens reflect light in brightly lit space

� Movies, sports, gaming. Best for movies on DVDs.

� Sleek, less bulky than Plasma sets� Available in a wide range of sizes� High contrast and bright pictures� Matte screens keep down reflection� Less power consumption� Better lifespan than Plasma screens

� Picture quality is not as good as Plasma sets� Poor black levels� Motion blur caused by display� Relatively narrow viewing angle� Bigger screens (40 inches and above) are priced

higher than Plasma sets

� Regular TV shows and gaming which produce static images on the screen.

Plasma LCD

Feature


Pros and cons: So, what are the pluses when you get anLED LCD? The brightness is better, for one thing, and theblack level has gone up to Plasma-like quality. The viewingangle has also improved, thanks to the ‘most sleek, all screen’concept. Use of LED in LCD TV consumes less power andhence, is good for environment. It has better contrast ratio withhigh response time and is pretty much sleek, even slimmer thanthe LCD TV. In fact, the innovative spin-off can really add tothe grace and space to your living room. For example, a 32 inchLCD TV will occupy around 80 mm of your living space interms of thickness while the latest LED TV occupies less than30 mm. It means more than 50 per cent space saving – a boonfor those who either love ‘size zero’ or suffer from space crunch.

LED TVs are available in India and the most visible brand isSamsung. Sony and LG have also introduced their products in theIndian market. Very few models are available though, and youmay not find them at every retail outlet. LG does not have a largeviewing angle but claims to be a full back-light LED LCD TV,rather than Samsung’s edge-lit LED LCD. Samsung claims tohave mega contrast ratio, which means you will get a perfectpicture with highest colour quality and improved refresh rate.Sony is somewhat expensive, but it is the slimmest of all with only9.9 mm thickness. Samsung is a medium 29.9 mm while LG is thethickest with 94 mm.

Sony’s latest ZX series 40 inch LED LCD model costs aroundRs 200,000; Samsung’s 40 inch model is priced at around Rs125,000 while LG’s 42 inch set is just Rs 90,000. Sharp has alsointroduced a few LED LCD models with 2,000,000:1 contrastratio, but these may not be easily available in the Indian market.

If you want a television with latest technology and better

features, an LED LCD set will be ideal foryou. It can produce immensely bright imagesand deeper blacks compared to thetraditional LCD. LED displays have higherrefresh rate, so you will get better motionimages than the LCD. The only drawback isthe price, as LEDs are more expensive thanthose with conventional lighting systems.LED is as good as Plasma; all you have to dois to shell out some extra bucks to get thisbeautiful, slim wonder.

OLED – The new wonderTechnology: If you are wondering what’snext, we have more good news. Anotherwonder gadget is on its way to hit the marketsoon – the OLED TV, to be precise. Simplyput, OLED (Organic Light EmittingDisplay) is an organic LED that does notrequire a backlight but emits its own light. Itis also supposed to be more cost-effectivethan LCDs.

So, what is so great about OLEDs?Everything, you may say. This futuristic

display comes with lightning fast response time (less than 0.01 ms),very high contrast ratio, outstanding brightness, wide viewingangles, exceptional colours and very little power requirement.

The technology is simple enough, though. Instead of liquidcrystals, a layer of organic material is pushed between twoconductors – an anode and a cathode. It is then put between twoglass plates (a seal and a substrate). When the conductors are hit bycurrent, the organic material produces a bright, electro-luminescent light. OLED generates amazingly pure colours (red,green and blue) when relevant pixels are stimulated and these arefurther refined by a colour filter to ensure great image quality.

Pros and cons: As OLED TV claims to have very high refreshrate, watching fast-moving images and playing games will definitelyget a boost. OLEDs can also be used to create flexible andtransparent displays, thanks to their simple design and sleekness. Theycan really replace the Plasma and the LCD if the manufacturing costof OLEDs gets reduced along with improved lifetime.

OLEDs have already found success with mini-displays (mobilephones, MP3 players, digital cameras, etc.) and manufacturers arenow working to achieve the same on bigger screens. As of now,efforts are on to enhance their lifespan and ensure better productsealing as intrusion of water can destroy the organic material.Samsung and Sony have already showcased several products basedon OLED technology. Sony has started marketing its 11 inchOLED TV in Japan and the USA. And the latest productdemonstrated by the company is a 21 inch prototype.

Surf and tweet – on small screenBelieve it or not, technology convergence is happeninglightning fast. And your small screen is getting Web

� Better picture quality than LCDs, almost as good as Plasma displays

� Super sleek,High refresh rate� Deep black levels,Better motion resolution� Less power consumption� Wider viewing angle

� Higher cost

� Movies, sports, day-to-day programmes and gaming.

� Super sleek,High refresh rate� Brighter images and higher contrast ratios� Deep black levels,Better motion resolution� Wider viewing angles,� Less power consumption,Supposed to be more

cost effective than LCDs

� Short lifespan� Easily damaged by water

� Supposed to be ideal for gaming with very low response time. Very good for movies, sports and regular TV programmes.

LED OLED


connectivity. Leading manufacturers like Sony, LG, Samsungand Vizio have tied up with Yahoo! to build small applicationsand widgets – so that you can surf and tweet while watchingyour favourite programme.

Right now, only a few models come with Internet connectivity.Samsung has released a 55 inch Series 8 LED LCD TV, so thatyou can be online any time and access a number of Websites suchas Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Twitter, Flickr and many more.All these can be done from the sidebar using various widgets whileyour favourite programme is on. You can also have a news tickerand a stock ticker on display. And that should be able to put a stopto the eternal bickering you have with your spouse or kids. Now,they can watch the latest stock quote or cricket score on the tickerwhile you watch your favourite show.

But all this comes for a price and you need to shell out some Rs350,000 to get this wonderful television from Samsung that hasincreased the frame rate conversion to 240Hz. LG has alsointroduced Internet@TV, the LG LH50 series. This is a 47 inchmodel and the price is very competitive – just Rs 95,000. But it hasonly 150,000:1 contrast ratio while Samsung has mega contrastratio. But you can still use various Yahoo! widgets, YouTube andother such applications.

3D TV – Future tech comes home?Do you remember watching Chota Chetan or the 3D version ofMeet the Robinsons on the big screen with special glasses on? Well,now you may not have to visit cinema halls or wear those glasses toenjoy the 3D effect. Sony has already demonstrated a single-lenscamera that captures 3D images and expects to come up with 3DTVs by the end of 2010. Research is also on to introduce 3Dtelevision with an in-built camera that will capture viewer’smovements and adjust the picture accordingly. And once thathappens, you won’t have to wear special glasses to enjoy yourfavourite 3D show.

So how far are we from a three-dimensional television? Toget the 3D effect, a fast response rate is required and the highrefresh rate of the current LCD and Plasma televisions maysoon make it a reality. Philips is working on this technology forthe past 15 years and has demonstrated several 3D applications.The global giant is confident of creating effective 3D solutionsbased on its WoWvx technology.

So when you own a 3D-ready TV, all you need is 3D content foran evening fun, thrill and adventure. However, companies mustcome up with a device to send 3D signals to 3D-ready televisions.You can also connect the 3D TV and your system using an HDMIcable and then stream your favourite 3D content for small-screenviewing. Mitsubishi has already come up with a model (LaservueHDTV) that has a standard 3D port and the 3D content can beviewed by wearing active 3D glasses.

And finally, points to ponderNow that you are more or less conversant with the existingtechnologies and ready to take your pick, here are a few pointers toensure the best buy.

Big is beautiful, but …Many people wonder whether a large screen will be suitable fortheir bedroom or should they get a larger one for their living room.Actually, the rule of the thumb is you should not sit closer thantwice the width of your TV display and no farther than five timesits width. So if you want to purchase a 40 inch Plasma or LCDscreen, your room length should be somewhere between six and 16feet. An average bedroom also has that much space. So you canenjoy your favourite programmes and movies on a big screen withyour family and loved-ones.

Size zero is not that goodIn 2008, Samsung showcased world’s thinnest OLED display,which measures just 0.05 mm (thinner than paper) with a contrastratio of 100,000:1. Then, there is the world’s largest OLEDtelevision which has a 40 inch screen with full HD resolution(1920x1080) and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. But we need tocheck whether 0.05 mm display is feasible for our living room ornot. It is not too difficult to guess what will happen if somebodytouches it with a heavy hand. May be we need to have a cautionmessage up near our TV saying: Please handle with care; this TVis very sensitive.

The ‘P’ factorFrom CRT to LED LCD and Plasma, from flat screen to flat panel– a dizzying range of models are out there which come withdifferent price tags. Of course, you buying decision may getinfluenced by various factors – looks, features, power usage or, mostimportantly, PRICE. But Savvy buyers like Kiran Ranjan oftenchoose to wait and watch before opting for a new technology. “Iprefer to wait a few months, or even a year, for reviews and marketreaction,” the 34-year-old quality analyst confirms. “By that time,the price also comes down a little and you have a fair bargain.”

Also, keep in mind the cost of TV furniture and suitableinstallation. Unlike your old set, televisions today do not come infreestanding cabinets. So you may have to buy a brand new standwhich will cost you quite a few extra bucks. Installation costs will bethere as well, especially if you are wall-mounting your hi-tech set.You may also require new power points, new wiring and extra-strongstuds for hanging up your TV. As for those looking forward to a realhome-cinema experience, more shopping will be on the cards interms of additional audios such as surround-sound speakers.

Ensure tech supportNo, we are not talking about warranty and after-sales support,although you should have a clear idea about what the company isoffering and how you stand to gain in case things are not workingright. But it is even more important to understand what techsupport you can expect from your cable/satellite service provider,once your new television set is safely home and correctly installed.Make sure that your set is able to capture high-definition signalsand go for an upgrade if it requires additional equipment. Nowthat you are all set, it’s time for that phenomenal click of theremote. Happy viewing! �

Feature


“No, never ever would I approve of your joiningthe school of multimedia,” roared the father,“better you join the coaching centre as it willequip you with all the necessary skills to clear

those competitive tests to secure a job.” He would not like anydeviation from it. Even a decade back, such was the commonreaction if a young member from a family wanted to opt forsome off-beat profession. However, days have changed and sohas people’s idea about career. With the advent of technology,things have changed like what it has been in the entertainmentfield. Initially entertainment primarily meant cinema where anactor or a musician, an editor or at the best a sound engineerruled the roost but it is a different story now. Considering time,money and competition, a production needs the involvement ofexperts at every stage to make a mark. While a sound engineeror an editor could earlier manage the post-production processwith only a couple of assistants, today a group of technicallyskilled persons are working round-the-clock to give shape to thedirector’s ideation. Today an actor can rehearse before avideo camera to shed his imperfection, if any, beforehe goes for the final shot. The

director, in this case, can better explain where the actor fails orsucceeds to portray a particular emotion or how he should usethe available light by watching the recorded frames. Thepresence of an expert cameraperson cannot be ignored. Notonly actors but even editors are extremely benefited if they areequipped with the latest technology and know-how of videoediting. This process certainly helps control time and money –two important aspects of filmmaking. Then comes the role of asound engineer, who must be well acquainted with latesttechniques and familiar with modern gadgets. Even a make-upartist can obtain enormous help from computer graphics; he cancreate a virtual image of a character onscreen before he putsmake-up on the artist to get the actual ambiance of thecharacter. A set designer can chalk out a plan on his console,

well in harmony with thestoryboard, before preparing thefinal layout. The advantage? Well,anything and everything can bechanged, if required, with the clickof a mouse in a jiffy. Also, anyaddition or alteration, even omissionor retrieval of clips can be madequickly. Those stressful hours ofediting on Moviola or Steenbeckhave given way to latest digitalediting. Jump-cut, matching offrames, montage effect,separating(segmenting;editing,

making sub-clip), linking

(sequencing, adding),selecting (select, activate, mark

in/mark out), inserting (substitute,splice in), removing (eliminate, extract),

replacing (permutations, replace, overwrite),expanding and compressing (trim, slip, slide) on AVID

media composer have become an experience to cherish. Digital video editing can do wonders, provided one is

thoroughly conversant in the process. A career in this field canbe an interesting option for creative people to prosper in theentertainment and media industry. But what is digital editing? It is a process of modifying or re-arranging segments of video

from one or more video tapes to create a final piece ofvideo. The primary role of a video editor involves

editing of soundtracks, video and film formotion picture and broadcast visual

media industries. Video editing is categorisedas ‘linear’ and ‘non-linear’ editing or digital video editing. Itinvolves the use of computer technology for onscreen editing. Innon-linear editing, audio and video data are captured and thenedited using various software.

A career in video editing has become lucrative with the arrivalof movie clips and videos. The growing popularity of onlinevideo clips has resulted in increased video editing activities byInternet users. There are numerous job opportunities in thisavenue and video editors can find good placements in film andtelevision production studios, advertising and multimedia firms,and Web design studios.

They can also try their luck in motion picture studios andindependent production companies. Most of the video editorswork as freelancers or on short-term contracts for televisioncompanies, post-production studios and corporate employers.

A career in video editing is open for all, as no specificeducational qualification is required to enter this field. Yet, for agood payoff you may enrol for video editing courses such asDiploma in Video Editing, Diploma in Video Editing & Sound

Career Opportunitie

s In

Entertainment Industry

Priyanka Mukherjee


Recording, Certificate Course in Non-Linear Editing, PostGraduate Diploma in Post-Production (Editing), Diploma inFilm Editing, etc. For digital video editors, it is an addedadvantage to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in media artsor animation.

Video editors should possess high level of self-motivation,creativity, keen eye for detail and the basic knowledge ofcameras and digital camera technology. Of course, commitmentto the work one does is most essential.

Another lucrative career option may be animation effects. Theadvent of cable, DTH and video as well as groundbreakingtechnology in computer graphics has generated a host ofanimation marketed to all ages. Now, that certainly means morejob opportunities and better scope in animation. Information Courtesy: http://www.3stepads.com/68241/career-animation-

industry/

Animation is fast emerging as a multibillion dollar industry,generating a great scope of employment for creative bugs.

The art of animation came to being with the cavemandrawing pictures on rock surfaces. Remember Walt Disneycreations, especially the lovable Mickey Mouse? In the presenttimes, it means linking the series of drawing and simulating theirmovement together. There are numerous B-schools that providecourses in animation.

Animation awaits the present generation with a sparklingcareer option even though it is still at a nascent stage inIndia. Though this profession seems low-key but for adedicated individual, it must make hay as the sun of fortuneshines on it.

Those not good at sketching/drawing or having poor choiceof colours should not venture in this direction. For diploma orbachelor degree in animation, one needs to clear at least 12thstandard. For Post-Graduate programmes, one must be agraduate in any discipline, preferably in arts. And basicknowledge of computers is also essential.

As a newcomer, it is a good idea to keep a portfolio withsamples of your best artwork. As an alternative, you may sendyour work samples to various studios you are interested inworking for.

Institutes where a fresher can apply for, include Zee Instituteof Creative Arts (ZICA), Industrial Design Center (IDC), IITMumbai and Guwahati, Arena Multimedia, Maya Academy ofAdvanced Cinematics and TOONZ Animation India Pvt. Ltd.Information Courtesy:

http://www.indiaedunews.net/Career/Indian_animation_industry_poised_

for_growth_3713/

http://www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/career-in-

animation-industry-1147591.html

Tech Career


http://www.3stepads.com/68241/career-animation-

http://www.indiaedunews.net/Career/Indian_animation_industry_poised_

http://www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/career-in-

Hang on! There is more …So far we have talked about only two prospective options, butthere are more. Have you ever tuned in to those radiostations? Let me rattle off their names – Radio City 91.1FM, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, Red FM 93.5, Big 92.7 FM,Fever 104 FM, etc. If the strains of music haven’t put youasleep, give a thumbs-up to the radio jockeys who will removeyour day-long ennui with a click-shut by matching beats ofsongs. So you realise the need of a DJ (Disc Jockey) in thepresent world, set on a war-footing pace where you need to berejuvenated at every step.

With the boom in entertainment industry, DJs have provedtheir worth to add to the zing of city life. Visit any metro andyou will find it going gaga over the signature beats of themost popular DJ. Many pursue it as a part-time opportunityto earn extra lolly. DJing has now become a considerablecareer option.

But there are a few things you need to be familiar with. Say,the concept of timing. A DJ’s basic job is to first listen to thebeats of a song and internalise the same. The songs can bedivided into a particular number of beats per minute (for thesake of convenience) and, thus, essentially the DJ must matchthe BPMs (beats per minute) of the songs to play properly. Onemismatch and the whole rhythm can go awry. Basic mixinginvolves two tracks, one on the left and another on the right.Hardcore DJs mix four-five tracks together, but you better stickto basics first.

Women, too, are joining the fray and a special coachingcentre is being launched to train youngsters. “We DJs enjoyour job as we get to liven up parties by mixing tunes, formingbeats and creating the right ambience in the club,” says alocal DJ in Kolkata. “There’s party happening all around andwith an increase in party hoppers in metros, I mustencourage others to join this profession,” she cheers upnewcomers in this field.

The radio industry in India has truly come of age. Withthe growth, expansion and increased reach of the radioindustry, a variety of FM channels have come up offeringdiverse content.

With renewed zing (DJing), let’s switch over to the field of MassCommunication. With India’s media and entertainment industryopening up multiple avenues, there are many job profiles open to afresher now – from radio jockeys, actors, musicians, dancers,journalists, video technology creators and managers to cameramenand editors, soundmen and public relations managers. These arehigh-profile jobs and help earn huge remunerations. Some of theprofiles talked about are as follow:

The media industry is one of the most versatile industries.Mass media, as it is called theoretically, is one of the mostinfluential industries today as it is directly connected withthe masses. The primary role of the media industry is toprovide information and generate public opinion. Theindustry started with the mass distribution of newspapersand magazines. Today, the definition of media has

undergone sea change and includes many sub-forms likebroadcasting with the help of TV and radio; entertainmentwith the use of audio-visuals, films and videos; Internet withthe inclusion of blogs, forums, music and news; andpublication of books, journals and magazines. Thus, thescope of a career in media industry is vast.

Media institutes in India Bangalore University, Gnana Bharati, Bangalore, University ofCalcutta, Senate House Calcutta, Stella Maris College,Cathedral Road, Chennai, MA Mass Communication andJournalism, University of Calcutta, Senate House, Calcutta,Mangalore University, Mangalore, University of Madras,Chennai, Kodaikanal Christian College, Paradise Hill,Kodaikanal, University of Pune, Department ofCommunication Studies, Pune, Manipal Institute ofCommunication, Manipal, MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia, NewDelhi, Mudra Institute of Communication, Shela, Ahmedabad,SNDT Women’s University, Nathibai Thackersey Road,Mumbai, Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida (UP),Dr. Harisingh Gour Viswavidyalaya, Gour Nagar, Sagar (MP),Indian Television Training Institute, New Delhi.Information Courtesy: http://www.indiaedu.com/career-avenues/career-in-

media.html

It can best be described as the ‘high tide’ of technology, asevery day a new career option is opening up. A career in gamedesigning is one among them. It is one of the most complexparts of software development. Game designing involvesdesigning the content and rules of the game. The principles ofgame designing are applied to various forms of games such asboard games, video games or card games.

Video game designing requires the co-ordination of gamemechanics, programming, visual arts, production process, etc.Usually, the purpose of games is to entertain, train or educate.The game designing job sector is booming in India and it isconsidered a hot career option.

There are numerous established companies that offer excellentjob opportunities in game designing. Synapse, Smackall, IshirInfotech and Csharks are some of the popular game designingcompanies in India that cater their services to the mobile phoneindustry, online games and video games sector.

Aspirants may enrol in courses like Advanced Diploma inGame Design, Diploma in Game Design & Gaming, VideoGame Design and Development Certification, and Video GameDesign and Development to step up their market value. Somewell-known institutes in India include Colorchips AnimationTraining Centre in Hyderabad, National Institute of Design inAhmedabad, Digital Academy Film School in Mumbai, ImageCollege of Arts, Animation & Technology in Chennai, andAsian Academy of Film & Television in Uttar Pradesh. Theseinstitutes offer courses with genuine study material and assuredplacement service.

Let these be enough for the time being. More informationmay leave you head-in-the-clouds and slewed off your dreams. �


http://www.indiaedu.com/career-avenues/career-in-

that. It actually started when I was in Standard X and fellvictim of a phishing attack. I was quite disturbed and madethe effort to learn all about hacking. This became a passionwith me and I used to spend nearly 12 hours a day learningthe nitty-gritty. Later, I took up computer engineering andwanted to unique projects because they totally engrossed me.In fact, I had presented quite a few research papers duringmy college days.

During my first year in college, I took up ‘hacking’ as a project. Noone else in the group attempted the topic; so my project got a lot ofattention. In the second year, I took up a project on SMS controlsystems and came across several loopholes in mobile networks whichmight lead to SMS and call forging. The project won nationalrecognition and I came into the limelight at a very young age.

At this point of time, most of us in India started usingsocial networking websites like Orkut. So I got interested aswell, and found two major loopholes in Orkut which meantthat anybody’s ID could be hacked. My work was appreciateda lot and the Orkut people met me at Ahmedabad to discussthe issue. And next year, I did a project was on Internetprotocol techniques.

My work brought me the Rajiv Gandhi Young Achiever’sAward when I was in my fourth year of college. So, I would saythat my interest in the technical aspects of Internet and itsperipherals had been quite rewarding even as a student. I havealways yearned to do something different, and that’s how I liveeven now. Be different, that is my motto.

Live IT: What are the common Internet security failures inthe Indian context? How can one ensure minimum safety onthe Net?SV: In India, people are not all that aware of Internet securityand its loopholes. So unless you educate yourself and followcertain ground rules, life on the Net can be tough and stressful.Here are a few pointers to help you out:

Don’t disclose your password if it’s a non-secure site. Forinstance, you may be signing up and have to provide your e-mailID, along with a password. Create a new password for thatpurpose, so that none can access other accounts or vitalinformation even if it is hacked. In other words, don’t use thesame password in all your e-mail accounts. Also, use strong

His is the world of e-mail hacking, data theft, callforging, phishing, credit card fraud, ID spoofing,terror e-mail and Orkut hacking. He can easily sendan e-mail from your account but you will never

know anything about it. And yes, you can find that mail ‘you’sent in the send folder.

No, don’t dial 100; he is with them. Yes, he is on the right sideof the law.

Meet Sunny Vaghela, a 22-year-old computer engineer fromAhmedabad. And he is on a mission to make people aware oftechnology hazards. His classes on ‘Ethical Hacking’ and ‘WebSecurity and Mobile Security’ are in huge demand, and hislectures on cyber security and allied topics simply wow all, eventhe non-technical audience. His simple words pack a punch andhelp explain most complex concepts. Vaghela has conductedmore than 140 workshops across the globe.

Sunny Vaghela is a pioneer in his field. A consultant in thefield of information security and cyber crime, he has severalfeathers in his cap and used his expertise to serve the nation.The police achieved a major breakthrough in the Ahmedabadblast case when Vaghela managed to track some incriminating e-mail messages. Similarly, during the 26/11 Mumbai case, policewere able to use his expertise for accessing crucial information.

At present, Vaghela is the director and CTO of TechDefense,a rapidly growing security services and investigation consultingorganisation with focuses on cyber crime investigations, cyberlaw consulting, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing,and information security training. What’s more, he will soonopen an NGO to help the people solve cyber issues. Knowingthat only five to six per cent of Indian Web users are reallycyber-savvy, this is a much-needed step in the right direction.

Live IT met Sunny Vaghela and our conversation took aninteresting turn. So, here we go…

Live IT: What is your background? Do you have any formalqualification in your field of expertise? How did you come to beinterested in the cyber world and then become an expert inInternet security?Sunny Vaghela (SV): I have graduated in computerengineering from Nirma University. I finished the course in2008 but I had active interest in cyber issues even before

Meet Sunny Vaghela -the ethical hacker

Interview


Suneetha B.

passwords which aren’t guessable, like yourdate of birth, phone number and so on. Whiledownloading files, be very careful. You mustinstall a good anti-virus programme and optfor a daily system scan. This is becausemalicious software programmes often makebackdoor entries during downloads. Also, useup-to-date, licensed software which can protect your systemfrom latest threats. In India, pirated software is commonly usedby the majority, which increases the risk.

Live IT: Tell us more about your cyber crime probes.SV: When I was in college (in my third year, to be precise), I helped the crime branch solve three long-pending cases.Then I went on to help them solve 15 cyber crime cases injust seven months. We dealt with almost everything – aphishing offence, one of the biggest data theft cases, anespionage ring, a credit card fraud and several profileimpersonation cases on Orkut. I was also able to trace thelocation of the terror e-mail used in the Ahmedabad blastcase. Then there was the Mumbai attack, of course. I helpedthe authorities by providing confidential information relatedto the cyber part of the crime.

Live IT: So what are you doing right now?SV: I am an independent Internet security consultant andrunning a consulting and training firm. We are based inAhmedabad with operations across the country. I am also invitedby many to speak on my field of expertise. What’s more, I havestarted a certified training programme on ethical hacking, cybercrime investigation and forensics. Training sessions are held atAhmedabad and various other centres across Gujarat.

Live IT: Tell us about your NGO. What do you propose to do?SV: The aim is to put up a website which will deal withcomplaints of the cyber variety. But we are still looking for aname. The name we want has been taken already; so we mustfinalise another and get it registered. The site is in alpha testingand will be launched soon.

If you have been a victim of cyber crime, you can approachus via the website. Register with us and post your problem here.We will try our best to help you. You can also check out similarincidents happening to other people.

Live IT: But how much will it cost?SV: You don’t have to pay anything. Best of all, we can send theinformation to cyber crime cells and alert them on time. Oncethey start monitoring things closely, those crimes won’t berepeated. Since fake profiles and other related cases abound onOrkut, there should be a separate section for them. But rightnow, we are working on some legal formalities regardingjurisdictions. All Indian states don’t have cyber crime cells and

we are not entitled to jump borders, either.So, it is really necessary to clarify things. Also,in Orkut cases, most people don’t want toapproach the police as they fear bad publicity.

Live IT: What worries you most when itcomes to cyber issues?SV: The most worrying thing is ‘e-mailheader spoofing’. This is how one can accessany e-mail ID and send e-mail messages from

the hacked account. You can also find these mail messages inyour ‘sent mail’ folder. Although it takes a lot of effort,authorities can determine whether the mail ID has been hackedand used for fraudulent purposes. However, it is extremelydifficult to track the origin of that mail. So it can easily turn outto be the new hotbed for criminal activities. Also, the evidence of‘sending’ the mail is right there in your mail box and it tends tobe a dangerous situation for you. Be careful, therefore, ashackers can hack your email ID while chatting and use it fortheir nefarious purposes.

Live IT: Do you have any future plan regarding cyber sleuthingand cyber security education?SV: I plan to get a master’s degree from a foreign university, maybe in two or three years’ time. Meanwhile, I am very much intoInternet security consultancy and plan to continue it. Anotherscheme on the cards is to hack websites (with due permission, ofcourse) and find the vulnerable points. Based on our findings, wewill offer customised Internet security packages which will plugall security loopholes.

As for teaching cyber security, I am already conductingtraining sessions on ethical hacking and getting quite a goodresponse from all verticals, not just the computer aficionados. SoI would definitely like to pursue it further and help people more– so that they don’t become cyber crime victims in the future. �


In India, most

of the people are not

aware of Internet

security and

its loopholes

“ “

Get backmissingCalculator in XP

Chandana Banerjee

How To

It often happens that when you are busy at your laptop, you suddenly begin to speculate aboutthe household budget or wonder about the neat sum of money that some freelance assignmentmay bring home. In such cases, all you need to do is to access the calculator tool instead ofrummaging your bag for the pocket calculator or using all your fingers and toes to add up the

numbers. But what if you go to the Calculator icon in Windows XP and realise that it is missing? Thismay happen due to a number of reasons but there is no need to panic. You can easily restore it if youfollow the simple steps given below.

Method 1This is the easiest method and you will only require the originalWindows CD.

Insert the CD in the disk drive and go to the Control Panel.Go to Add/Remove Programs and click on Add/RemoveWindows Components.Go to Accessories and under the Utilities option, click theDetails button.

Click on Accessories and click the Details button again.Make sure to check the Calculator box.Click OK and Windows XP will reinstall the calculator.

Method 2: In case you do not have the CD, try this methodto get back your calculator.

Here you will have to copy the calc.exe file from anothersystem to your PC. Try the C:\Windows\System32 folder tocopy calc.chm to your system.Now create a shortcut to the calc.exe file on your Start menu.

This should take care of the problem. Now that you have yourcalculator back, go ahead with your calculations. �

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Encryptyour USBFlash Drive

How To

LiveIT Nov09

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