S.Alagiavanan 3rd CSE GRAPHIC CARDS: V.Narendran 3rd CSE HOW THEY WORK voultion of computing over the last decade EVER Yet very few of you know exactly how these has seen a distinct differentiation based on marvels work. Today's graphic cards are the nature of the workload. On the one WONDERED marvels of engineering, with over 50 times the E raw computational power of current CPUs, but hand you have the computing heavy tasks while on the other, there are graphics intensive tasks. Rewind WHAT GOES they have far more specific and streamlined a back a decade, and you will remember almost every ON BEHIND task. There are two aspects to understanding other motherboard having a dedicated display port how a graphics card works. The first is to as the graphics processor was onboard. Also some THE SCENES understand how it works with the rest of the present day processors which sport integrated WHEN YOU components in a personal computer to generate graphics also have IGP ports on the board. But with an image. The second part would be to the graphical workloads getting more advanced and POWER UP understand the role of major components on outputs more realistic, you would need to invest in a video card. dedicated graphics processing unit to divide tasks YOUR between the CPU and the GPU. Another advantage GAME? of having a dedicated graphics processing unit is the fact that it lets your CPU be free to perform READ ON. other tasks. For instance you can rip a movie in the background while playing a game.

We're used to seeing pixel crunching monsters that can spit out millions of polygons per second, and run even the most demanding 3D games at blistering frame rates

6 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 STAGES OF A GRAPHIC CARD STAGES IN GPU WORKING WORKING IN A SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION At its most basic, a graphic card creates an image that you see on This stage involves computing on vertex data, which are your screen from binary data that it receives from the CPU. This data points in 3D space and converting these number into is converted to an image in parts. First, wireframes are created out of polygons in a 2D space. Based on the coordinates these straight lines, and elements like texture, lighting and colour are objects are placed relative to each other in what is a 2D added. The largest part of this work is done by the GPU, or graphic space, although the objects remain 3D. processing unit, a unit that compliments the CPU that is responsible for pixel and texture crunching among other things. There are other LIGHTING components on the graphic card other than the GPU, video RAM is These polygons are lit correctly, as they will appear based one such component, as well as a video-decoding chip enabling on the positioning and number of light sources and playback. A graphic card also has a lot of power circuitry and power reflective surfaces. controllers, for like any PC component, GPUs need precise power delivery. VIEWPOINT Graphic cards communicate with the CPU via a bus The viewpoint or orientation of user is taken into account, system on the motherboard. The current bus is PCI Express. As the closer objects will be larger and vice versa and all objects need for more powerful cards arose, the need for faster, more in the scene are manipulated on basis of the orientation. efficient communication pathways between CPU and GPU also became more urgent. Therefore the AGP bus gave way to PCI Express, and currently we're at PCIe v2.0 with the next generation CLIPPING PCIe V3.0 boards already in circulation. This involves pruning off the objects that will not be We've already know that the GPU receives data in the visible to the user. This saves the GPU precious binary form from the CPU. This data could be about a simple bitmap computation power as calculations for objects not in the image with colour references to each pixel, or a complex 3D game, viewable scene need not be done. in which case there will be chaging pixel information, texture information, geometry information, shader information, as well as RASTERIZATION lighting information. Objects are assigned to pixels, or in other words the In the past, CPU sent all data to the GPU which was only scene is visualised as it would be on your monitor-a required to draw an output on the display and nothing more. But bunch of 2D pixels. nowadays, apart from getting graphical data, the GPU also helps in certain computing tasks by working in tandem in a heterogeneous computing model with the CPU. For instance, offloading certain TRIANGLE SETUP tasks from CPU which can be performed better & faster using More complex shapes are made from joining the parallel processing in the GPU (such as CUDA cores) the tasks vertex, points, and creating multi-sided wireframe range from transcoding to molecular dynamics and computational models as are seen in 3D scenes. finance and many more. This is also known as GPU Computing or such a setup is known as a GPGPU computing.. So let's look at what happens when you hit that game exe file sitting on your desktop. The GPU itself performs quite a few tasks as we've listed. These CULLING tasks are completed in what is referred to as graphics pipeline. This Non-viewable pixels are removed. This is actually the pipeline is what converts all this 3D data into an image viewable on a second stage of culling after clipping. 2D screen-your monitor. Both NVIDIA and AMD have slightly different pipelines, but the processes and stages are roughly the same, with a few unique steps in the form of tweaks, optimisations and such. Graphically or more accurately in terms of 3D rendering, TEXTURE AND SHADING these stages are shown alongside. This involves performing a makeup job on each pixel. In case you are using an analogue display, the RAMDAC A texture is a 2D image that is added to the surface of present on the graphic card converts this digital data to an analogue a 3D object giving it a realistic look, while a pixel signal to be sent to the monitor via a D-Sub cable. In you are using a shader involves defining properties like colour, texture digital connectivity, such as an LCD monitor, there is no digital to and depth effects to a pixel to give it special analogue conversion required. appearance that mimics reality.

7 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 Techxtravaganza Round-up of Asia's largest technology symposium, Techfest 2012 held at IIT-Powai G.KEERTHANA FINAL CSE D.SUGANYA FINAL CSE

The big daddy of all the technology festivals not only in India but the cheer participants of the Robowars and bridge building whole of Asia- the IIT Techfest, happened in January. Just like last competitions and much more. Do check out the DVD for some year, we were there this year as well. We got to see some cutting exclusive videos of the event. Seen here are some things at the IIT edge technology over the three days, attend some riveting talks, Techfest that impressed us.

Canyon cross Nao A very interesting bridge building competition, participants can The humanoid robot Nao had everyone impressed with its only build a bridge using tooth picks, ice-cream sticks, white ability to mimic human behaviour. Developed by Aldebaran glue and thread! You need to apply all your knowledge of trusses robotics from France, Nao is finding application in the real here as the catch in the competition was that the bridge should be world as an active lab assistant, assisting children with able to sustain certain load. At last some bridge which could autism thanks to its ability to express happiness, sadness, sustain 200 kg plus of load has been constructed. anger and other emotions like humans.

CrazyCopter Touted to be the smallest Quadrocopter in the world and weighing Micycle in at just 20 grams, CrazyFlie is the prototype of the CrazyCopter. This was a unique concept from university of Adelaide, It includes a PCB fitted with four motors which can be controlled Australia. This unicycle balances you by detecting the rate of by a PS joystick. Immediate applications we were told lie in the fall both forwards and backwards and adjusting the motor field of surveillance where the Quadrocopter fitted with a camera. speed accordingly. It uses a gyroscope and an accelerometer (Think '3 idiots' but a very very miniscule Quadrocopter). It's to measure the rotation and position of the device relative to developed by Arnaud Taffeanel, Tobias Antonsson, Marcus the ground. Eliasson of Daedalus projects.

8 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 being rendered was streamed to the tablet as a video. . This allowed him to walk around the set DINES KUMAR.G 3RD IT and observe the elements as they would be seen ARUN RAJ D 3RD IT The future in the movie (the blue screen would be replaced by the actual environment of the scene), Autodesk is a company that enabling him to direct the actors in real-time in needs no introduction .Some the context of an animated environment. may say it's the world leader in Autodesk recently signed an agreement with 3D and engineering design is 3D Walt Disney for a tech called “X-gen”, software . Here is what developed by Walt Disney's top secret something about it. development division. The technology allows artists to procedurally insert various items and THE NEXT BIG THING effects into a scene. A good example would be TANGLED were the character's head was There's so much going on in the 3D industry. rendered in this method. Even in THE PIRATES Movies such as Avatar have spoiled the OF THE CARIBBEAN, where Davy Jones's audiences with special effects and animations tentacles underwent the same treatment. and their expectations have only gone up. We want more complexity, more detail, the next SOCIAL/CASUAL GAMING movie needs to further blow our mind. AND AUTODESK Designers are being asked to work on bigger and more complex projects, but with less time and a Everybody plays games now. The gaming smaller budget. What Autodesk is trying to do is demographic has gone from 14-19 years of yore bridge the gap between expectations and Autodesk has also adapted a format, which to the current small kid-to-grandma stage. resources. We are trying to do that with what we was developed by Sony Imageworks and Autodesk realises that and has taken a close look are calling “Digital Entertainment Creation”, Lucasfilms, known as Alembic. The main at the social and casual games. While it really which is basically to make the creation of advantage of which is the comparatively small doesn't have suite or application specifically for content easier for everyone, while still giving file size allowing for better portability. This has this genre, it's working on it and hope to have one them the power to be completely creative. To do the added advantage that artists and production ready in the near future. this we are working primarily on studios all over the world can work around 24x7, standardisation. without worrying about compatibility and PARTING THOUGHTS bandwidth issues. THE NEED FOR Autodesks has always been looked on as a STANDARDISATION AND VIRTUAL PRODUCTION company that made the software for developing DISTRIBUTED AND AVATAR! things like in-game assets and effects such as PRODUCTION: Now, this is a very interesting concept. As you weapon models and muzzle flashes. Now, know, movies and games, in fact, a scene of any however Autodesk wants to improve on the When it comes to creating something like a sort, starts off as a storyboard. The director middle-ware it provides and has been working movie, there are a lot of tool set involved . These works with an artist and sketches out a scene in on various pieces of software such as Kynapse tool sets need to be able to talk to one another. It the same way you would create a comic strip. and HumanIK as an AI and inverse Kinematics should be easy for artists to switch between such This allows the director to visualise, in a very system for use in animation and games. multiple tool sets and get the work done. Using rudimentary fashion, what the scene would look just one software such as Maya or 3DS MAX is like. Autodesk has taken this to the next level not necessarily the most efficient way about using Virtual ProductionYou can now generate a creating your work; you will need multiple tools visual storyboard and even view a CG scene in that they work together .one way Autodesk real time, while the characters are enacting it. wants to do this is by standardizing the formats James Cameroon did this in Avatar by setting up and even the interface elements, allowing artists his tablet as a virtual camera. His tablet was to switch between their tool sets and not feel lost tracked by the software (using motion capture), .Autodesk also wants to work on providing a and its position and orientation was interpreted broader palette of tools for artists to draw from. as a camera within the software. At the same time, the 3D scene

9 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 Virtual Storage COMING WITH Microsoft’s Windows 8

N.CHITRA DEVI FINAL IT

here are several new features that A better solution would be to pool, or combine drive, with the partition structure described. As get added to each Windows all your hard drives into one storage space, and your usage reaches 500 GB, you can just add Tversion that doesn't get the create partitions- without worrying about where another hard drive, say of 2 TB. Now Windows highlight it deserves. In Windows 7, it was the one hard drive ends, and another begins. This is will transparently start using space from both ability to mount and boot from a virtual hard what storage pooling is. hard drives till you start reaching 2.5 TB usage. drive. Windows 8 will feature a major upgrade to In Windows 8, you'll be able to simply You can further extend your available capacity the way Windows can handle storage devices, add a new hard drive, and have its capacity by adding more hard drives. with a new feature called Storage Spaces. This available to you in one combined pool that No need to worry about running out of should end a majority of the storage woes that encompasses all your hard drives. This way you space in one partition and having to re-partition. most people have. There are three key “features” can have a 600 GB partition across two 500 GB Windows will only use the storage capacity as it of Windows Storage Spaces that we should all be hard drives. Windows 8, however, will enable is available, and allocate it to the storage volume excited about, and they are: something even better, as you find out next. that needs it. Due to the inherent inflexibility of · Storage Pooling the older system, if you misestimate, and end up · Thin Provisioning THIN PROVISIONING filling your documents drive before your videos · Resiliency to Hardware Failures Let's say you bought a 500 GB hard drive, you have a problem. With thin drive a few years ago, and created a 100 GB provisioning, only the drives actually storing What's interesting isn't just the availability of Windows partition, a 200 GB partition for your something will take up space so you might as these three features, but also how they work videos, a 100 GB partition for your music, and well end up using all the 500 GB of your together. Perhaps you're already familiar with another 100 GB for your documents. documents volume while your videos volume is these terms and are already excited about what Now, your partition for videos could empty. Extending the size of existing volumes is Windows 8 could hold. We won't hold you back get exhausted, while your partition meant for possible, so there's nothing to worry about, even any longer. documents could have a lot of free space. There if you use up a volume entirely. isn't much you can do to expand your videos STORAGE POOLING partition to take up the space from the documents DATA RESILIENCY Hard drives have this way of shrinking partition. You could at most take some space Hard drive failures can be a tragic over time, don't they? Perhaps not in actual from the Windows partition. occurrence indeed, despite your best efforts. To capacity, but in the adjectives used to describe If you have pooled your storage in protect from hardware failures, your data should them. In just a few year's time, 80 GB hard drives Windows 8, it will offer a new way to manage be stored redundantly. went from “Wow! That's a lot!” to “Where do I storage. You will be able to create partitions Storage Spaces will help here as well, backup the other half of this Blu-ray rip?” based on the amount of space required for them, by supporting different levels of resiliency. For One of the problems with the way instead of the amount of space available. this, Storage Spaces support data mirroring storage works in Windows right now is that Thin provisioning, means to give the across multiple separate hard drives. Data on adding a new hard drive doesn't give you more appearance of having more resources than are storage volumes that have mirroring enabled space in each partition, instead it gives you actually available. In Windows Storage Spaces will automatically be stored on multiple hard another blank area to create new partitions in. this means you will be able to create a 20 TB drives, or three. At any point you could then pull This means reinstalling Windows, and/or videos partition, a l TB music partition, and a 500 out any one of the hard drives- or if one of your moving all your documents and files over to a GB documents partition, all on a 500 GB hard drives should fail- your data would continue to new hard drive; a tedious process. Over time, one drive. All of this storage won't really be available be accessible. The faulty hard drive can be tends to replace hard drives, even if they are of course! There is no new magic compression replaced with a new one, and Windows will working fine and is under warranty. It is just scheme in use here. The partition capacities are rebuild your mirrored data on it to ensure that more convenient to have one larger hard drive mostly meaningless here. your desired level of resiliency is maintained. than a few smaller ones having a few partitions You can start with a 500 GB hard each.

10 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 Of course, this also means that for any data Tongue Drive System to Operate Computers stored on a mirrored partition, double the space Scientists developed a new The motions of the magnet attached to would be used up- or even triple. This might be the tongue are spotted by a number of magnetic OK for really important, or really small data; revolutionary system to help individuals with however, for large data sets such as videos this disabilities to control wheelchairs, computers field sensors installed on a headset worn outside can be really inefficient and expensive. For and other devices simply by using their tongue. or an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The those, Windows supports another form of signals coming from the sensors are wirelessly Engineers at the Georgia Institute of resiliency, parity. Parity has lower storage space Technology say that a new technology called sent to a portable computer that placed on a requirements than mirroring, which blindly Tongue Drive system will be helpful to wheelchair or attached to an individual's maintains multiple copies; however, it is more individuals with serious disabilities, such as clothing. CPU intensive, and performs a lot more random those with severe spinal cord injuries and will I/O. The system is developed to recognize a allow them to lead more active and wide array of tongue movements and to apply WORKING IN SYNC independent lives. As we said before, it's not about specific movements to certain commands, taking these new features, but how everything works into account user's oral anatomy, abilities and together that is more interesting. For one, all of lifestyle."The ability to train our system with as this is now user-facing, with a graphical, easy many commands as an individual can comfortably remember is a significant advantage over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw..

The Tongue Drive system is touch-free, wireless and non-invasive technology that needs no surgery for its operation.

During the trials of the system, six able- bodied participants were trained to use tongue commands to control the computer mouse. The individuals repeated several motions left, right, up and down, single- and double-click to perform Individuals using a tongue-based system computer mouse tasks. A STORAGE POOL OF MULTIPLE should only be able to move their tongue, which EXTERNAL HARD DISKS The results of the trials showed 100 is especially important if a person has paralyzed to use interface in “Control Panel”. Secondly, percent of commands were accurate with the limbs. A tiny magnet, only a size of a grain of most of this is transparent to the user once set response time less than one second, which equals upAll the user has to do is connect a new drive, rice, is attached to an individual's tongue using to an information transfer rate of approximately and add it to the storage pool. You can even implantation, piercing or adhesive. This 150 bits per minute. mix up USB drives with internal ones, so you technology allows a disabled person to use Scientists also plan to test the ability of the can continue expanding even when your tongue when moving a computer mouse or a system to operate by people with severe internal capacity for adding drives is reduced. powered wheelchair. disabilities. The next step of the research is to With the combination of these develop software to connect the Tongue Drive Scientists chose the tongue to control the features it is also easier to continue expanding system to great number of devices such as text system because unlike the feet and the hands, your storage capacity even when you run out generators, speech synthesizers and readers. Also which are connected by brain through spinal of internal and external ports. If you have the researchers plan to upgrade the system by cord, the tongue and the brain has a direct enabled mirroring or parity on all your storage introducing the standby mode to allow the connection through cranial nerve. In case when volumes, you can just remove your smallest individual to eat, sleep or talk, while prolonging a person has a severe spinal cord injure or other hard drive and replace it with a larger one. the battery life. damage, the tongue will remain mobile to Since the data is stored in a redundant manner, activate the system. "Tongue movements are T.KEERTHANA there will be no data loss, and Windows will IIIrd CSE also fast, accurate and do not require much automatically detect the new storage added to thinking, concentration or effort." said Maysam the pool and start copying data back to it to Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the ensure that the level of redundancy you Georgia Tech School of Electrical and required is maintained. Computer Engineering.

11 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 ZOTAC ZBOX PLUS Id80 G.SRIDEVI 2ND CSE Cedar Trail is upon US!

he ZBOX PLUS ID80 is the first PC Mark Vantage gave an overall score ZBOX to sport the Intel Cedar Trail of 2575 whereas for the E350 CPU we got 2550 TD2700 processor clocked at 2.13 GHz Cinebench R10 multi-core rendering was found along with 2GB of DDR3 RAM,320GB hard to be slightly better in the D2700(at 2600 drive and a discrete graphics solution -NVIDIA marks)over the E350(at 2030 marks ).Gaming GT 520M.It also bundles in quite a lot of goodies wise also we could get barely playable frame such as a WiFi antenna,a Windows Media player rates - 11FPS - even at 1280*1024 resolution for remote control and an IR receiver for the Resident Evil 5 at Medium settings. same.Design wise the ZBOX looks like any HD videos were played back other ZBOXes we have tested in the past .It has flawlessly.CPU utilization was within the 5-7 per the blue coloured circular orb on its front black cent mark for majority of the playback time. glossy face. It is great for media consumption, Build quality is quite sturdy even watching TV, watching HD content along with though its a plastic body and we liked the stand casual web surfing, working on office that ZOTAC have provided so that the system is documents, etc. At a price point of Rs.19,999. we better than the AD03BR and HD-ID34 ZBOXes held vertically in place.The glossy surface is a felt it to be slightly on the higher side but much which sport a Blu-ray Drive. Decent buy finger-print and dust magnet. provided your needs are moderate.

DELL 4610X PROJECTOR K.A.ABINAYA 2ND IT The projector for the home office

he first thing that we noticed about the Picture settings can be tweaked to a 4610x is the feature set vs. the price, and certain extent, but aren't as extensive as on some Tthe conclusion looked impressive .The projectors targeted for home use. Brightness 4610x is built very well .The square designed levels are very high. control keys are on the top panel, with a classy The remote responds well most of the illumination to them .All connectivity options- time but the real fault lies with the design. AV, power and wireless antenna are on the rear Somehow, the fingers can never really remember panel. the key placement, forcing you to look at it every This projector has a native resolution of time. No backlit keys as well, something that will 1024x768,but with the HDMI input available, it be draw-back in a dark room during a can receive signals up to 1080i.This resolution is presentation. welcome considering it is meant for the home Overall, this projector will do the task office use, and 4:3 aspect ratio is perfect for The built-in wireless capabilities mean you can its meant to do, very well. It is a budget projector, document viewing and presentations. Unlike a lot share files on the network, without having to and is meant to appeal to a limited of projectors we have reviewed recently, this one connect a PC every time. The range isn't a lot demo-graphic-the small office setup. Anyone can handle audio, thanks to the build in speakers. though. buying it for home use will be disappointed.

HOW COMPANIES RIP YOU OFF

When paying for one component and getting another “free” turns traumatic K.JEEVANANDAM 1ST CSE

amar bought a branded notebook with an the front LCD and a dent around the keyboard.. pay almost half the price of a new device just for extended three-year warranty. He was When the product was taken to the service center, the broken glass. Ssatisfied with it until it randomly started he was told that the electric shocks were due to It's not new to hear about companies giving mild electric shocks during charging. One the faulty earthing in old wirings of Indian charging exorbitant prices to replace spare parts. day, while working he dropped it due to such a homes.When Samar claimed warranty for At times, these parts are not even essential, yet shock, which resulted in a crack in the top layer of repairs, he was denied benefits and instead told to they're overpriced. For example, in Samar's

12 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 notebook it wasn't even the motherboard or main Over-pricing of products and services without it virtually amounts to monopoly, prejudice to the LCD itself but a plain glass covering for which any reasonable basis amounts to “abuseof interests of consumers. For example, a particular the company had quoted the unrealistic price. dominant position” which is actionable underthe technology needed to repair or manufacture a company justified its stand that it would change Competition Law. Complaints can be filed before product may only be available with a particular the entire LCD; but why should it? The consumer the Competition Commission of India situated at company. If its act limits your options, you can is being forced to pay for parts that are not even New Delhi. complain against it to the Competition damaged. The company may directly and Commission which in turn can initiate an inquiry Interestingly, Samar found out that the indirectly impose unfair and discriminatory under the provisions of the Competition Act. same company was only changing and charging conditions during the sale of products and Acquainting yourself to companies' practices for the glass panel in the American market .Why services, which need to be indentified. In fact, in helps avoid being caught offguard. this discriminatory practice in the Indian market? certain situations there's no competition left and

Apple Mac mini Style finally meets performance M.NIVETHITHA 1ST IT

hile the cupertino-based company processor and a Thunderbolt I/O part at the Apple allowing Lion re-install through recovery dazzles the tech world with back.Its unibody single-block aluminium design partition and USB sticks.But yes,You'l need an Wiphones, ipads and MacBook is much the same as its predecessor,the Mac mini external DVD writer to install an older Airs,the Mac mini seems to be the forgotten child looks so simple yet so elegant on the desk-not to program,which adds to the cost.Also the entry- in Apple's product portfolio.Still with the latest forget its tiny,solid,and compact form factor. level Mac mini comes with the Mac mini's hood revision of the most inexpensive Mac ever,the In terms of bundled features,there are to access its RAM and Wi-Fi module-it is quite mini boasts of improved performance thanks to two main talking points.First,there's no optical easy - anything more requires a screwdriver Intel's second - gen Sandy Bridge Corei5 drive on or bundled with the Mac mini - with and a lot of patience. The core i5 processor and AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics ensures high performance on the new Mac mini,with multi- threaded apps and casual 3D games running just fine,it does tend to get heated up though .It's a great HTPC box as well,given the number of connectivity ports on the back.As far as mini PCs go, the Mac mini deserves consideration.

Canon Legria HF R205 V.KARTHIKEYAN 1ST IT An affordable camcorder, with HD capability

amcorders did take a back seat because We must say that the videos are quite 8GB SD card.For just under Rs.20k, you could most smartphones were also doing rich in terms of colour and crispness.Subject consider this if you can handle the annoying Cwhat the camcorder did as a standalone details are fully visible, and the HF R205 will do menu. Or consider spending a little device.However, it is true that the smartphone's all this in 1080p HD.However, Electronic video recording capabilities are severely Video/Image stabilization is a huge restricted, in terms of features and quality.The drawback- it just doesn't seem to fightback has begun with the affordable work..Unless you have a very steady camcorders-the LEGRIA HF R205 is one such hand there will be considerable device. amount of shake.The problem is It has a 1/4.85-inch HD CMOS sensor, even worse if you have shooting at approx.3.28 megapixels with 18x zoomed to focus onto more and go for the sony zoom.The 3-inch display is a touchscreen.Menu a distant object. HDR-CX130E/R, with much better image navigation is a bit of a pain and seemingly you There is no stabilization as well. can't access settings quickly, or make changes built-in storage on the swiftly and get on with the clicking. LEGRIA HF R 205, but canon ships it with an

13 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 The incredibly useful

E.GOKUL KRISHNAN 3RD IT smartphone apps K.ANBU 3RD IT Thought you’d seen The camera needs to be in a them all? We bet you’ve clear line of sight for this to not downloaded these,yet! work. However, it detects his month on App vehicles and objects in a V watch, we take a look angle only, beyond which everything at some of the apps that is a blind spot. you absolutely should While you should be attentive T at all times while driving, we have on your smartphone. Some add a dollop of additional functionality, think this app can be very while others are fun to use as well. useful in case you just take Since all of them can be downloaded your eyes off the road for a second Can't find that data cable your phone – WhatsApp and Skype for free, we urge you to take them for and something pops up in your path. AirDroid Viber allows free voice calls and a spin. Not only that, iOnRoad can also be Available for: android messages between Viber users, no Extra assistance while driving set for speed alerts that notify you the Price: free matter what the phone platform. Accessing the data on android Much like WhatsApp, Viber will iOnRoad Augmented driving moment you go above the limit. It's phones can be a very painful scan the phone's contact list to see Available for: android more of an annoyance usually and is Price: free experience, particularly if you're who all signed up on Viber and better turned off. The SMS reader This app is possibly the perfect using Mac OS, or if you don't have a automatically add them to your Viber feature is immensely useful though. driving companion, apart from a GPS data cable readily available. contacts. The Viber-to-Viber calls You can set iOnRoad to route all calls navigator. Requiring the phone to be AirDroid is a must-have app in and SMSes work over 3G and /or Wi- mounted on one of the universal to the speaker while driving.The auto situation. Open AirDroid on your Fi. wind-shield mounts, the app keeps an driving detection feature Android phone, the n enter the given eye on the road in front via the automatically starts up the app when web address in a browser on any PC Early warning connected on the same Wi-Fi camera. There will be a you start driving, if the phone is in the Winter wakeup network and enter coordinates the Available for: iOS and Android loud beep alert as well as a text alert mount on the dash. You'll need to buy on the display when the distance to app throws up. Enter the auto- Price: free a universalmount to put thus phone the car in front becomes generated password and voila! All What if it was clear but chilly winter in, for your car. There are a lot of uncomfortably less.There are two phone data is right there – contacts, weather when you slept, but changed them available in retail stores and settings for the distance which you messages, media, apps, capability to to snowy late at night or early in the can preset. online shops. send a message, copy data to and morning? This is the app that does from the device and the checking for you. Winter wakeup even browse and will check the weather online some downloads apps from time before the alarm time that you Android Market. had set, and modify your alarm time Free calls and if it's snowing or if there's frost. You messages:Viber can set the time by which the alarm Available for: iOS will be preponed in either weather and Android; coming condition. There's also a setting for soon on BlackBerry “don't bother to wake me...”! You Price: free should download this app, just for the This is something of a winters. mix of two apps that you may already have .

14 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 Make your boss download Viber apps that add values to the smart phones this app,right now!

Amazon launches fully managed, M.MALA 1ST IT NoSQL database service

mazon Web Services, an Amazon.com .complex and requires significant engineering Acompany, has announced the launch of expertise and time investment by application Amazon DynamoDB, a fully managed developers. Amazon DynamoDB addresses the NoSQL database service that provides problem of scalability by automatically partitioning extremely fast and predictable performance and re-partitioning data as needed to meet the latency with seamless scalability.With a few clicks in and throughput requirements of highly demanding database read and write operations. Amazon the AWS Management Console, customers applications.Additionally, Amazon DynamoDB's DynamoDB stores data on Solid State Drives can launch a new DynamoDB database table, pay-as-you-go pricing enables customers to “dial in” (SSDs) and replicates it synchronously across scale up or down their request capacity for and pay for only the resources they need. multiple AWS Availability Zones in an AWS the table without downtime or performance “Amazon has spent more than 15 years Region to provide built-in high availability and degradation, and gain visibility into resource tackling the challenges of database scalability, data durability. Businesses can get started with utilization and performance metrics.Amazon performance and cost-effectiveness using distributed Amazon DynamoDB using a free tier that DynamoDB enables customers to offload the systems and NoSQL technology,” said Werner provides 100MB of storage, and five writes administrative burdens of operating and Vogels, CTO of Amazon. “Amazon DynamoDB is the and 10 reads per second (up to 40 million scaling distributed databases so they don't result of everything we've learned from building requests per month) free of charge. have to worry about hardware provisioning, large-scale, non-relational databases for Amazon DynamoDB also integrates setup and configuration, replication, Amazon.com and building highly scalable and with Amazon Elastic MapReduce (Amazon software patching, partitioning, or cluster reliable cloud computing services at AWS. EMR). Amazon EMR allows businesses to scaling.. Amazon DynamoDB offers low, perform complex analytics of their large Mitigating this by distributing a predictable latencies at any scale, and customers datasets using a hosted pay-as-you-go Hadoop workload across multiple database servers is typically enjoy single-digit millisecond latencies for framework on AWS.

15 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 SECURING YOUR trojan horses, spyware, malware and other over VirusHammer as the former seems to be DATA, THE OPEN threats. Further more, it can also be employed more active in terms of activity and signature in mail gateway scanning, running multi- updates. SOURCE WAY! threaded scanning daemons and other command line utilities. The core ClamAV When it comes to security solutions, library comes loaded with file format open source options are not as popular as their detection, unpacking and archiving support proprietary counterparts. In this article, we and multilingual virus signatures. The explore the open source security softwares and the usability of each for organizations. prowess of the ClamAV engine can be Antivirus and security solutions are adjudged from the fact that it powers IBM's like healthcare or medical insurances-you do not Secure E-Mail Express Solution in part. miss one until you wish you had one! As long as ClamWin Free Antivirus Immunet 3.0- the the person is healthy, healthcare investments former comes with a dedicated version for seem to be burden, but when, or if , the same enterprises and is absolutely free to use while person falls ill, such investments coming handy. the latter's enterprise equivalent is the 'Plus' Samba-vscan Similarly, security softwares do not make their version that, though free to use, is backed by Samba-vscan is a module of Samba which presence felt; but in their absence, a lot of things paid support. For Mac users, the counterpart uses Virtual File System (VFS) to provide an can surely go wrong. As a result, many software is ClamXav 2, but it does not offer a on-access anti-virus scanner for Samba. It organizations do not prefer running the risk of separate enterprise version . And of course, it natively supports and co-exists with trusting lesser known or 'open source' antivirus goes without saying that ClamAV is also proprietary solutions such as F-Secure AV, software and simply opt for the known names. available in multiple variants for Linux Symantec AV, McAfee, Trend Micro and But there is a set of anti-virus options available in machines, both in personal and enterprise many others, along with open source ones like the open source community that could be versions. ClamAV. considered. Here are the noteworthy ones. Samba-vscan caters predominantly Clam Antivirus VirusHammer to enterprise usage only and is also part of the No description of open source security VirusHammer is an antivirus solution enterprise release of SUSE Linux. The latest options can be made without mentioning written in JAVA and can be run on any build of samba-vscan can be downloaded from ClamAV. It does multiple things in one package- JAVA-enabled platform. While it offers a www.openantivirus.org at the very crude level, it is a GPL-licensed good level of protection and it is absolutely antivirus engine that can be used by multiple free to use, from an organizational B.DILLIBAI FINAL CSE applications and programs to fight viruses, perspective, ClamAV should be preferred

16 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 Google Chrome Finally Comes to Android

t's odd that it took Google so long, Ibut finally they have released a version of Chrome for Android. Opera and Google Chrome mobile Mozilla Firefox have long established a and tablet versions presence in the Android Market, Mozilla even f you are a offers multiple channels of Firefox for Ideveloper, all the Android. Still, better later than never.Google HTML5 goodness is there in Chrome for desktop has been steadily gaining a the mobile version, Web slew of features such as extensions, apps, Workers, Indexed DB, Web syncing of browser data, cloud printing, instant Sockets etc. are all supported. and a lot more. Only some of these features The bigger and more exciting have transitioned to the mobile version. It is still beta though, and does include a number of feature though is support for features not available in its desktop remote debugging. This is counterpart. Although Google does say that accomplished by enabling they will find their way to Chrome for desktops debugging on the mobile eventuallyDespite Chrome's minimal version of Chrome, and then interface, its tab UI isn't exactly mobile debugging it on Chrome on friendly. So while the tablet version of Google the desktop via and Android Chrome does feature the desktop-style tab UI, SDK debugger. the mobile version has a different tab mechanism that better suits mobile browsing. On Chrome for Android, one can switch from ehind all this, Chrome still has one tab to another by swiping left or right. An Ba multi-process architecture so overview of open tabs stacks them on top of Just like Google Chrome for desktops, the Android individual tab crashes don't bring down the each other like a “deck of cards” as Google version has Sync baked in. So if you connect it to a browser. The mobile version also supports calls it. To see this in action, check out the video Google account also linked with Chrome for desktop, GPU-acceleration for the canvas. Google at the end of this post. you will be able to see your bookmarks on mobile as Instant, which starts loading pages while you well.. The Android version also includes the Chrome are typing a URL, while a boon on the desktop The Google Chrome mobile tab stack omni bar, so if you have Sync enabled, the omni bar will can be a bandwidth hog on mobile; so while it take advantage of your browser history to give better is supported on the Android version, it is only o further ease browsing on small suggestions. Chrome has also been able to sync tabs for a enabled when WiFi access is detected. Tscreen, Chrome can zoom in on while, and now the mobile version can take advantage of links to make it easier to select and browse that as well, by giving you access to the list of tabs open M.ASHWIN 2ND IT links. on your desktop on the go. Highest Salaries of CEO’s

P.BALASUNDARI,2ND CSE

17 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 Millions of infected machines might be kicked

offline March 8 K.R.RAMYALAKSHMI 3RD CSE T.S.MOUNEKA 3RD CSE

In three weeks, the FBI could knock millions of infected systems offline by process hasn’t been as quick as desired and many users could learn disabling some DNS servers. In Nov tember, Estonian authorities arrested about their infection the hard way next month.Come March 8, the court six men suspected of using "DNSChanger Trojan" malware to redirect order allowing the feds to replace the bogus DNS servers will expire. victims to malicious websites and block them from genuine security sites Unless that's extended, the surrogate servers will be unplugged and that might've removed the infection. millions still plagued by DNSChanger will lose Web access. Even the order is prolonged, experts worry the cleanup will take years as with According to a report by Brian Krebs, the Trojan was on over four Conficker. million computers in more than 100 countries, including 500,000 in the US -- and not just home users, either. The malware is reportedly still present on "At this rate, a lot of users are going to see their Internet break on March computers at half of the Fortune 500 companies and at approximately half 8," said Rod Rasmussen, president and CTO of security firm Internet of all federal agencies. Identity. He added that pulling the plug might hasten the cleanup process. "It certainly would be an interesting social experiment if these When the criminals were arrested, authorities replaced their malicious systems just got cut off," he quipped. DNS servers with legitimate ones. Without doing so, victims would bepresented with DNS errors as their machines sent requests to the Checking your system for DNSChanger is relatively simple. You can use disabled rogue servers. The clean servers allow infected users to visit their ipconfig /all in the Windows command prompt to get your DNS desired destinations as normal.With the fresh servers in place, information, which can be compared against the numbers here. investigators could monitor the IP addresses of affected users and alert The DNSChanger Working Group also provides a list of free their Internet Service Providers resources that'll help you clean your machine(s).

From there ISPs aided users in cleaning their computers. Sadly, that

18 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 19 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 Researchers track mobile phone locations with cheap hardware and open-source software R.VINOTH 3RD CSE M.RAJASEKHAR 3RD CSE While cop shows have shown us that it's easy for service providers to track square km (38 square miles). But by testing for a user on a single tower a person's location via their mobile phone, researchers at the University of allows a user to be tracked to within a geographic area of 1 square km Minnesota have revealed it's also an easy task for hackers. Using a cheap (0.38 square miles) or less. phone and open source software, the researchers were able to track the It has a low entry barrier," Foo Kune said. "Being attainable location of mobile phone users without their knowledge on the GSM through open source projects running on commodity software."In a field network, which is estimated to serve 80 percent of the global mobile test using an inexpensive mobile phone and open source software and market. with no direct help from the service provider, the researchers were able to track the location of a test According to the new subject within a 10-block research by computer area as they travelled scientists in the University across an area of of Minnesota's College Minneapolis at walking pace. of Science and Engineering , a third party could easily In their Paper , which was track the location of a presented at the 19th mobile phone user without Annual Network & their knowledge because Distributed System Security cellular mobile phone Symposium in San Diego, networks "leak" the California, the researchers locations of mobile phone highlight some possible users. personal safety issues arising from their discovery. "Cell phone towers have to track cell phone subscribers "For example, agents from to provide service an oppressive regime may efficiently," Foo Kune no longer require explained. "For example, cooperation from reluctant an incoming voice call service providers to requires the network to determine if dissidents are locate that device so it can at a protest location. A allocate the appropriate second example could be resources to handle the call. the location test of a prominent figure by a group of insurgents with the Your cell phone network has to at least loosely track your phone within intent to cause physical harm for political gain. Yet another example large regions in order to make it easy to find it." could be thieves testing if a user's cell phone is absent from a specific To do this, mobile phone towers will broadcast a page to a area and therefore deduce the risk level associated with a physical user's phone and wait for the phone to respond when they get a call. break-in of the victim's residence." Hackers would be able to ascertain the general location of the user by But it's not all bad news. Foo Kune and his group have identified low- forcing those pages to go out and hanging up before the phone rings. cost techniques to plug the leaks that could be implemented without Although the GSM standard assigns a phone a temporary ID to disguise changing the hardware. They have contacted AT&T and Nokia to inform its identity, it is possible to map the phone number to its temporary ID. them of these techniques and are also in the process of drafting Just by looking at the broadcast messages sent by the network, the responsible disclosure statements for mobile service operators. researchers say it is possible to locate the device within an area of 100

20 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 COOL LAPTOPS R.SANDHIYA 3RD CSE

otebook computers typically take a standard shape that doesn't necessarily afford the ideal ergonomic Nexperience. The Homebook Laptop aims to change this by rethinking the arrangement of the electronic's key componentsTo satisfy the usual configuration with which most people are comfortable, Carl Andersen began with the conventional foldable form with a keyboard on the bottom and monitor that can be closed on top of it.The Homebook Laptop can thus be alternatively optimized as a reader and a movie screen without interference from the keypad panel.

echnology is evolving faster than the human population can keep up with and the Tommaso TGecchelin 2020 concept for MacBooks is a glimpse at what new gadgets are in store. This concept design is so concise, it even entertains the possibility of fitting your entire laptop into a pocket. Now, that's compact.The Tommaso Gecchelin 2020 concept for Macbooks involves a laptop with no plug-ins or wires and the ability to view your work in both regular 2D as well as 3D. Although the Tommaso Gecchelin 2020 concept for Macbooks is just a notion, it nevertheless gives viewers a chance to ponder over what technology will look like in the future.

he Lifebook X2 concept by Park Hyun Jin is stunning in its design and function.It takes a different Tapproach to portability and compactness that everyone on-the-go can appreciate. It is ultra thin and is able to fold into four different ways, showcasing very interesting features. When you unfold this nifty little laptop halfway, you are opened up to an ultra widescreen palm top. You can also unfold it completely to use it as a full-sized notebook. The LCD screen is a touchscreen so you hide away the keyboard and use it like a tablet. Because of this origami-inspired notebook, you can cut down on the bulky sizes of your tech.The uber cool Lifebook X2 is a concept that really needs to become a reality.

omputers are notorious for being electricity eaters, but the Plantbook Laptop concept aims to Cchange that. This utterly irresistible design bridges the gap between artificial and organic matter in a way that few could ever have dreamed of.Believe it or not, this cutting-edge notebook feeds on the food of trees. When the power is low, the long tubular battery can literally be placed in a glass of water, drinking in the H2O and experiencing a sort of photosynthesis. Like a leaf, the fuel cell soaks up the sun's rays through integrated solar panels, harnessing this energy to generate electrolysis with the clear liquid and discharging oxygen. Ingeniously conceived by Hyerim Kim and Seunggi Baek, the Plantbook Laptop actually improves its surrounding environment.

life with future computing' is the gift that keeps on giving if you consider yourself a fan of Aconceptual computers. For those who are, the Keyless Lifebook from Laura Lahti is one of the competition's most kickass designs (there are many) as it has a touch keyboard that can be customized at the drop of a hat.The keyboard of the Keyless Lifebook can be changed to display keys in different languages, to be more ergonomic and even to cater to lefties. The keyboard can instantly be wiped away using what looks to be a magic erase whenever you grow tired of your current setting. If you love typing on your touchscreen then this is definitely one concept computer you don't want to miss. he Logitech Cube is a small, mouse-like presenting tool released by the PC accessories maker TLogitech and Pocket-lint was on hand to have a play at this year's CES in Las Vegas.The first thing struck us is how damn small the cube is. When we first saw the official press pictures at the beginning of the month we expected the device to be the size of a pack of cards at least, but in the flesh it is smaller than a box of matches.That means that you are controlling it with your fingertips rather than it sitting with your hand cupping it like you would a normal mouse.The idea is that the top features a touchscreen surface that allows you to move your finger up and down to scroll. Left click is at the front of the top and right click in the middle.

21 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012

The Top 10 Tech Trends for 2012 M.MIRUNALINI.M 2ND CSE

1. Touch computing 3. NFC and mobile payments 5. TV Everywhere

New input methods will be the Google Wallet, Google's mobile-payment o you thought you'd be able to watch all your dominant trend of 2012. Tablet computers system, may become more widespread in 2012. favorite shows online and get rid of your cable subscription for good? Not so fast! such as the iPad might seem like a nice Next year is likely to be the year when S alternative to desktop and laptop computers, mobile payments blossom. While we've seen a The cable companies have a cunning plan: They'll but I believe they're more than that: They're great deal of innovation in mobile payments let you watch live TV, plus on-demand movies and replacements. Just as the command line technology this year -- including the success of TV shows, on your connected devices if you keep (remember that?) gave way to graphical user Square's iPhone dongle, allowing anyone to your cable subscription. Dish Network, Time interfaces, so the mouse will be superseded accept credit card payments -- 2012 is the year of Warner and Comcast are among those offering the by touchscreens. NFC. service. The signs are obvious: Windows 8 TV Everywhere has been buzzed about since 2010, and Mac OS X Lion, the latest desktop of course, and could be a dud -- but the rise of tablet operating systems, borrow heavy from their devices would seem to create increased demand mobile counterparts. These new interfaces for a "TV in your hands." essentially impose a touchscreen-inspired interface over the traditional desktop environment. 6. Voice control ere's another trend that's got a moderate chance of taking off in 2012: Voice Hcontrol.

What's that, you ask? Near Field Communication essentially lets you replace your credit cards with your phone: Wave an NFC- enabled phone near the credit card reader in a store (or taxi cab), and the money is deducted from your account. By 2013, 1 in 5 cell phones are expected to be NFC-equpipped.. Early Over time, this half-step will contenders include Google Wallet, Visa Wallet, become a whole one, and mobile operating Serve (by American Express) and ISIS. systems will dominate. The transition won't be complete by the end of 2012, but we'll be much 4. Beyond the iPad further down the path, and using computer mice much less often. f touch computing is the future, Siri, the voice-control feature in the then the iPad is surely king. And yet iPhone 4S, may spread to other devices.The 2. Social gestures Ithe iPad came up against serious novelty of Siri on the iPhone 4S -- which allows competition in the latter part of 2011: As I wrote you to send texts, create reminders, search the Web previously, I expect the new Amazon Kindle Fire In the social media realm, social and much more using just your voice -- may be the to outsell the iPad in 2012. Why? Simply put, the start of a new trend in voice controlled devices. gestures appear to be the leading trend of iPad costs $499 while the Fire costs $199. 2012. Launched by Facebook in September. Surely voice control has been around this so-called "frictionless sharing" Amazon's advantages don't stop at the for years? Yes, but it wasn't very accurate.Siri and functionality removes the need to click a price point, however: The company owns an its ilk define a new era in which we talk, and our button to share media with your friends. entire content store of movies, e-books, TV shows devices understand -- often on the first attempt. Instead, everything you listen to, read or and other media. With tablet devices, the Other device makers will likely follow suit. watch is automatically posted to your profile hardware is somewhat important but the content What's more, Apple may use voice control to once you approve the relevant app. available for the device is absolutely critical: replace the TV remote. With plenty of media available for the Fire right If you've seen apps such as Spotify away, it's an appealing proposition. or Social Reader in your Facebook news feed, 7. Spatial gestures you're already aware of these features. Why does one device constitute an entire trend? Well, as a true competitor to the iPad Other input methods are gaining The trend makes sense for social emerges, content producers, distributors and even traction too: Microsoft's Kinect, for instance, has networks: With 800 million people already on app developers may have an entirely new given rise to interfaces that use spatial gestures. Facebook, its growth is bound to slow. But if platform on which to push their wares. (And yes, Just like in "Minority Report," your devices can be sharing becomes automatic, the volume of the Kindle Fire does indeed run Google's Android controlled simply by waving your hands in the air. content on Facebook will grow at an operating system, but Amazon's version is so Thanks to the many innovators who accelerated pace. There's a big problem, unlike other Android tablets that neither users nor have hacked Kinect to work with other platforms, however: Users may be “creeped out” by all app developers will perceive it as "yet another we may see more devices using this input method this automated sharing of their Web activity Android device" -- it's a whole new platform.) next year. and grow suspicious of the apps using it.

22 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 8. Second-screen experiences "Second-screen experiences" is a Robotic Puppy buzz-phase among TV and movie execs these days. It refers to apps (mainly on the iPad) that listen to the audio output of your TV and display content related to the show or movie you're watching. The chances are that you already use your tablet computer or phone while watching TV, so there's ample opportunity to make the viewing experience a more interactive one. Disney already has second-screen apps for movies such as "The Lion King" and "Bambi," while multiple TV networks have similar offerings: We can expect many, many more to be released in 2012. 9. Flexible screens Personally, I just can't wait for flexible screens: These awesome new bendable We've been fascinated by Boston interfaces will let you zoom in, zoom out and Not only can it carry troops' various batteries and Dynamics' Big Dog ever since it was an scroll around a page simply by twisting your battery powered handheld devices, but it also adorable robotic puppy that couldn't even phone or tablet.Nokia and Samsung have both serves as a mobile power source that can recharge open its eyes. Now that the technology is all hinted they may release phones with bendable them on the move. The idea here is to create an grown up, repackaged, and rechristened the displays in 2012. The really exciting stuff, animal analog--something that can haul lots of Legged Squad Support System (or LS3), its however -- like paper-thin devices that roll up gear over rough terrain and interact with eyes are very much open--and fixed firmly to fit in your pocket -- is still years away. personnel naturally, in a way that is intuitive to on the soldier in front of it. The new LS3 the soldiers and Marines around it. In addition to prototype has just undergone its first its “eyes,” DARPA wants to give it auditory 10. HTML5 outdoor exercise, demonstrating the ability sensors that can respond to simple voice to “see” its surroundings and distinguish commands like “come” or “stay.” And ongoing Can I squeeze in one more trend? It's between objects and humans. tests aim to refine the vision system so it can HTML5 -- the fifth iteration of the HTML distinguish between humans and learn to track standard -- and it lets developers create richer, Over the next year-and-a-half, DARPA specific individuals. more interactive applications than ever.Why plans to prove out LS3's technology and get does this matter? As developers tire of building it ready to support war fighters in the field. At the end of the 18-month proving period, LS3 applications for every operating system out Its main battlefield role will be little more will embed with Marines conducting field there -- from Android to iOS to Windows Phone than that of a robotic pack mule, carrying exercises to see how it gets along in real and beyond -- HTML5 offers the opportunity to hundreds of pounds of gear so that maneuvers. Here's hoping those Marines don't build an app once and have it work everywhere. dismounted Marines and soldiers won't have require the element of surprise. LS3 can see and to. These days, a lot of that weight is move better than ever, but it is still very, very batteries, and here LS3 provides a two-fer: loud. J.SINDHU 3RD CSE

The rise of HTML5 is bound to be accelerated by a recent revelation: Adobe is killing off Flash for mobile devices, meaning one of the primary methods of serving videos and rich applications on mobile phones is about to disappear. HTML5 will fill that gap. For us as consumers, that means richer applications and experiences on all our devices.

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NEXT GEN FILE CEPH NEXT3 SYSTEMS FOR OPEN CEPH is a distributed network NEXT3 was developed by CTERA SOURCE storage and file system created to provide Networks, which has started shipping it on its excellent performance, reliability, and C200 network storage device. It is not just an scalability.CEPH is based on a reliable and P.Veeramani addition to ext3, but works by creating a IIIRD CSE scalable distributed object store, with a special, magic file to represent the snapshot of distributed metadata management cluster the file system. The files have the same The exponential rise in storage layered on top to provide a distributed file apparent size as the storage volume as a whole, needs has compelled Open Source system with POSIX semantics. CEPH is but they are thin files, so they take almost no developers to improve the existing file released under the terms of the LGPL, which systems to keep their data safe and organised. means it is free. CEPH will provide a variety of space at the beginning. Some of the key next gen file systems for key features that are generally lacking from open source are discussed below: existing open-source file systems, including When a change is made to a block on the ability to simply add disks to expand disk, the file system must first check to see volumes, intelligent load balancing, and whether that block has been saved in the most efficient, easy to use snapshot functionality. recent snapshot already. If not, the affected block is moved over to the snapshot file, and a new CEPH is designed to seamlessly and block is allocated to replace it. Thus, over time gracefully scale from gigabytes to petabytes disk blocks migrate to the snapshot file as they are and beyond. Scalability is considered in terms rewritten with new contents. Deleting a snapshot of workload as well as total storage. CEPH is requires moving changed blocks into the previous designed to handle workloads in which tens snapshot, if it exists, because the deleted snapshot thousands of clients are more simultaneously holds blocks which are logically part of the earlier access the same file, or write to the same snapshots. ZFS directory. ZFS is the feature rich file system REISER 4 developed by Sun for its UNIX version, REISER 4 uses B-trees in Solaris. ZFS allows quick and easy snapshots conjunction with the dancing tree balancing of data, data check summing, and integration of several tools to manage disks and file approach, in which under populated notes will systems. It is based upon a copy-on-write not be merged until a flush to disk except under design that writes the new copy of the data memory pressure or when a transaction completes. Such a system also allows REISER every time it changes. Once the new version EXOFS of the data is written the old version is marked 4 to create files and directories without having EXOFS (Extended Object File as deleted and the space can be reclaimed. To to waste time and space through fixed blocks. System) is a traditional Linux file system built implement a snapshot system you need to As of 2004, synthetic benchmarks performed by over an object storage system. EXOFS was instruct the OS to not mark the old data as initially developed by IBM and at that time was Namesys show that REISER 4 is 10 to 15 times deleted and changes are preserved. called the OSD file system, or OSDFS. Panasas, faster than its serious competitor ext3 working an object storage systems company, has since on files smaller than 1 KB. The benchmarks All data that is written to a ZFS file taken over the project and renamed it EXOFS suggest that it is twice the performance of ext3 system is check summed to ensure its based on its ext2 file system ancestry. for general-purpose file system usage patterns. validity. Hard drive corrupting data has always been an issue but due exponential EXOFS is a file system that uses an As of 2012, REISER 4 hasn’t been growth in storage requirements data OSD and exports the API of a normal Linux file merged into the core Linux kernel and is still corruption has become a common system. Users can access EXOFS like any other not supported on many Linux distributions; phenomenon. To help mitigate the risk of local file system, and EXOFS will in turn issue however, its predecessor REISER FS v3 has silent data corruption ZFS stores a checksum commands to the local OSD initiator. OSD is a been widely adopted. REISER 4 is also of all the data it stores and validates the data new T10 command set that views storage devices available from Andrew Morton's mm kernel again before relaying it onto the operating not as a flat array of sectors but as a container of sources, and from Zen patch set. system. If one copy of the data has been objects, each having a length, quota and time corrupted it is identified on read and attributes. Each object is addressed by a 64bit ID, VENKAT PRASAD 2ND IT seamlessly copied from another source. S.NISHANTH 2ND IT and is contained in a 64bit ID partition. 26 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 Ubuntu to a TV near There are also more rumours that Linux mixed clouds. Apple will be releasing a true integrated Apple you! A few years back Microsoft had made TV early in 2012, which will focus on content as V.ANITHA 2ND CSE a similar shocking move by contributing some well as intuitive user control, which could make code to the Linux kernel---although it may just There are no surprises in the first batch Ubuntu-TV look old from the start at least if the have been as the result of a GPL violation. The of ideas or initial mock-ups that may blow your software remains as it is currently described. The code would improve the performance of Linux socks off. Shuttleworth noted that it will have to biggest challenge may be to create a consumer when it was running on Microsoft's hyper-v be a 10-feet interface for watching media with electronics perception for Ubuntu Linux that can hypervisor. Since this made it more feasible to remote control support, cloud and server storage, match the acceptance level of the mainstream CE run Linux on Microsoft's windows servers, it physical media playback, Ubuntu one accounts, buyer. stands to improve the sales of windows licenses. installable image, easy configuration, From a platform perspective, the Similarly now by opening up Azure to Linux integration with other Ubuntu devices, portable integration with other Ubuntu devices will be servers it stands to make it more lucrative to devices control, as well as media sharing and the critical, but the low penetration of Ubuntu Linux those who need Linux servers as part of their option for media purchases. devices in the overall market decreases the value cloud. of this feature significantly. Microsoft embracing Linux?

Could Microsoft be opening up their Azure service to run Linux servers in addition to windows servers? It might seem rather odd for Another barrier to adopting Azure was Microsoft to allow Azure customers to run the lack of support for persistent VMs. VMs Linux, but it might just make the best business being run on Azure had to be stateless since they sense. could be rebooted and reset at any time, thus While windows Azure might be a losing any data stored on it. This is ok for apps It is very early in the process and thus lucrative offering for those looking for windows- developed to take this into account, but for difficult to judge what Ubuntu-TV may look based cloud platform, it is unlikely that those traditional applications that need persistence, it like. There may be an opportunity for Ubuntu to who have invested in Linux-based solutions will is a deal-breaker. Microsoft is looking to add deliver a unified TV platform, but we know that switch to Azure. support for persistent VMs to Azure as well. Google TV largely failed in its first version due On the their hand Azure's competitors to the lack of content and the rough edges of the It is expected that these features will such as Amazon web services,rackspace etc. software itself. Google may come back with a be included in a technical preview coming later offer windows and Linux based cloud solutions, big swing that could correct the errors made with this year. thus making them a lot more lucrative for those the initial product generations. seeking Linux-based or hybrid windows and K.PAVITHRA 3RD IT

Hacktivism

When the freedom of the internet is under-threat, there rises a breed of socially conscious hackers who stand up to protect the rights of the free world. These are geeks with a cause and the necessary skills to retaliate against tyrannical powers that be who seek to limit the freedom of ordinary netizens. They're white-hat hackers, with noble intentions of social change but their actions are certainly illegal.Some people describing themselves as hacktivists have taken to defacing websites for political reasons, such as attacking and defacing government websites as well as websites of groups who oppose their ideology.

These include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and other's mischief. In recent times Anonymous, who normally are interested in their daily Lulz, launched a series of DDoS attacks on US government web sites in protest of SOPA.Now this isn't a sub-culture we necessarily condone but what we're trying to say is that geeks are socially aware, take up causes and make their voices heard in the face of justice. Apart from these misunderstood miscreants, much of the tech world turned hacktivists in their own ways.

Apart from biggies such as Wikipedia and google, many blogs posted anti-SOPA messages of their own and the geek universe galvanised united towards a common cause. Such is the power of Hacktivism. P.KIRUTHIKA 3RD IT

27 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 APPLE MACBOOK AIR 13 The new macbook Air 13 is faster and better than its predecessor with a core i5 processor and 256MB flash storage.

one are the days when the pixels, rendering visuals clear and sharp. Gslimmest notebook weighed The glossy display has been improved with more than 2 kg. Now the slim is really slim and an anti-reflective coating to avoid it from is packed with stunning features running shining under bright light. The speaker anything you want from games to video quality is passable and is the only deficit in editing. Apple launched their first ultra-book, the otherwise brilliant ultra-book. Its battery the Macbook Air a couple of years ago. What lasted a good 6 hours and is a significant was lacking in that device has now been boost for travelling workers, who can easily replenished in the new Macbook Air 13, lug in their suitcases with other stuff.Besides which sets a benchmark for the upcoming having core i7 processor and 4GB RAM, the ultra-books with its thin and light form and new Air features Intel HD Graphics 3000, prominent features.Look wise, nothing seems which is not at par with modern day heavy to have changed as this upgrade looks just like games.The SSD is great boost to the app its former self, except for the back-lit eneath the stunning exterior, speed, which starts almost immediately keyboard which is a welcome change with BMacbook Air 13 has a real livewire without any hitch. Also, the flash memory black coloured and well-spaced keys. Thanks with Intel's cutting edge core i5 processors, a valuable helps in fast boot-up taking a couple of sec. to the unibody design; its free of clutter on its upgrade over its predecessor that ran on Intel's Core 2 Last, but not the least is the price. Starting aluminium body with matte finish, which Duo and priced beyond many folks' reach.Also, the from the 67k for the 11 inch variant, it goes makes it dust and smudge free. The few ports former has 4GB RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, upto 89k for the 13 inch, a price which is comprise of two USB ports, one thunderbolt which is better than the latter's 2GB RAM and 64 GB pretty decent for both, given the quality and port, one SD card slot, power port and a SSD. Apple has introduced this new range in 13 inch weight it carries in its light body. Also, it is headphone jack. The keyboard is followed by and 11 inch variants. The device has missed on certain available with 1 year limited warranty. a quick to respond big multi-touchpad with key features, like not having an optical drive and an resting space on both. Ethernet port.Macbook Air 13 boasts of stunning VIGNESH 2ND IT bright display with native resolution of 1440 by 900 .

D.PAVITHRA 1ST CSE ASUS EEE PAD SLIDER SL101 K.RUBINI IST CSE The tablet which slides to reveal a physical keyboard underneath might be good competition to the tablets which are no good for people requiring heavy typing.

There are netbooks and there are tablets. This The display has 10 Fingers Multi-Touch Support Eee Pad Slider hopes to provide its users the and comprises of Scratch Resistant Corning Gorilla best of both worlds. Perhaps another attempt glass. However, one big flaw is that the top panel at being the iPad killer! The Asus Eee Pad is a with the screen, when adjusted for keyboard usage, tablet by design; the top panel containing the fixes itself at 45 degree and it can't be adjusted/tilted screen lifts up and fixes at 45 degree to reveal to optimize the viewing comfort. The plastic chassis a small and compact QWERTY keyboard is quite sturdy and drapped in a matt finish look underneath. The input options and the which looks decent enough. The glossy screen, keyboard are designed to extend the tablet however, is a fingerprint magnet which might not functionality to that of a network. The Slider really be a pro for the product. The tablet is heavy at SL101 sports a 10.1-inch, 1280 by 800 960 gms which is more than other standalone IPSLCD panel which is bright and color-rich tablets. But considering the fact that it comes with a and has a great viewing angles (178 degree). built-in physical keyboard, this weight is

28 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 manageable and better than any tablet with a of flash storage, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a front cam (1.2MP) for video chats. The separate keyboard. Apart from the GPS. The slider comes with one year unlimited ASUS quality of the rear is decent. This camera is ergonomics, the tablet is armed heavily to be Web-Storage for easy sharing of files and data. Other fine when using the slider in the tablet mode. considered as a replacement to the netbook, holes into the chassis are a Micro SD card slot, mini However, when the tab slides to reveal the and beyond. The tablet has SRS sound which HDMI input, a USB port and a head phone 3.5mm keyboard, the cam is now at the base of is decent enough.The slider works on the jack port. The USB port can be used to connect a USB keyboard and is not really easy to use. The Android 3.1 Honeycomb version which is dongle for internet usage. There is a 40 pin connector tablet offered a battery backup of around 9 hrs upgradeable to Android 4.0. The slider is as well which can be used for charging the slider as which was a tad bit on the lower side. powered by NVIDIA's Tegra-2 1GHz dual- sync with PC. core GPU, paired with 1GB of RAM, 16GB The slider has 2 cameras; a rear (5MP) and

LENOVO THINKPAD TABLET Aimed at business users, the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet is much more than just a tablet

Tablet market and manufacturers now seem to be ready to take on the laptop market and that's the reason why we are seeing tablet PCs with attached keyboards and ports. The ThinkPad Tablet from Lenovo runs on Android 3.1 Honey-Comb and has applications like print share. Citrix receiver and note and an additional stylus or ThinkPad pen that makes it ideal for corporates. The tablet is based on Nvidia's latest Tegra 2 dual-core 1 GHz processor, and comes with 1 GB RAM. It has a 10.1 inch Corning Gorilla glass touch screen that supports 1200x800 pixels resolution. The TFT screen provides for a bright and vivid display and supports a viewing angle of 178 degrees. But its weight can be a drawback. At 715 gms, Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet is heavier than Samsung Running on Android 3.1 Honeycomb, and you can also scribble and give a name to Tablet (565 gms) and Apple iPad2 (601 gms). Lenovo has added widgets for games and Lenovo the cover of the notebook also (you can create At the bottom, it has 4-buttons –2 of which we App shop. Yes in addition to Android Market, different notebooks).if your palm is touching usually don't see in tablets. There is home Lenovo has integrated its app shop where different your tab while writing, then there is an option button, a back button, a button to open the categories like business, entertainment, finance, etc of palm rejection and same is applicable for browser and the fourth is to lock the are given. There is a favorite button, integrated with left hand users. As compared to ThinkPad, orientation. You need to click the buttons with the interface where you can add or remove your Asus Eee Pad does not have stylus. ThinkPad an angle since you have to click them towards favorite applications. While unlocking the tab, we tablet also has a rear and front camera. Front the display rather than clicking them from noticed a slight lag but that is not something to worry camera is 2 MP and placed at the top left center. Below these buttons, there are about. Tablet worked fine when we ran multiple corner (while holding in landscape mode) different ports like 3.5 mm audio jack, mini- applications on it like music and games (music while the rear camera is 5 MP with a decent HDMI, micro-USB, dock connector, and then stopped when we opened the game). But at all times, quality. Unlike Asus Eee Pad Slider, where a cover hiding SD card slot and SIM card slot we noticed certain delays while closing applications. you cannot adjust the screen, ThinkPad Tablet for 3G connectivity. Bottom left hand side has Notes Mobile, one of the preloaded applications, is a allows you to adjust the screen if you are using a full sized USB port which can be used to pretty nice application which comes handy while the keyboard folio. plug in the keyboard attached in the casing. taking notes. Just above this USB port there is a speaker. It is where the stylus comes in use since On the top right hand side, it has volume keys R.ANTONY MICHALE REMILA this application supports handwriting recognition 2ND IT

29 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 HATERADE SOPA 101 GOOGLE'S STORE 10 FREE ONLINE This essay looks at how the culture You must have heard a lot about VIEW LEARNING of the anonymous internet SOPA and PIPA last month. It's an . RESOURCES commenting is preventing people American piece of legislation that Coding, HTML 5, MIT open from taking part in a dialogue based was being discussed in the senate courseware and more- a list of top on sense and logic.The author takes and blacklisted by a majority of the 10 learning resources online. And her pre web 2.0 era article and popular websites. But what doesn't like the saying goes, the best thing in discusses how it wouldn't have had it mean to people and websites the What happens when you mash up life comes for free, so do the sites the same impact today;the US? ArsTechnica gives an analysis Google street view to take it inside listed here http://goo.gl/bQZEv. comments would have been the http://goo.gl /QCalZ. commercial stores of participating main news http://goo.gl/tUybH business. Here's an example of Google store view inside the B&H photostore http://goo.gl/UH5G8 . FACEBOOK TIMELINE APPS: SHOULD YOU USE THEM?

V.SUBHA FINAL IT Is it worth it having your activity from other websites T.SUBHA FINAL IT cluttering your Facebook stream?Read on to find out...

acebook officially relaunched Timeline with Timeline Apps. Timeline is an opt- Fin feature on Facebook that replaces a user's wall and profile with a graphical and chronological timeline of events of his or her life on Facebook, as well as other life events that they choose to add. The new appTimeline integration, in a nutshell, posts activity from other Web sites and services that you use to your Facebook timeline. For example, enable the image scrapbooking site Pinterest to connect to your Facebook Timeline, and Pinterest will automatically post activity on your Timeline anytime you “pin” or save a new image to your account. All the activity from each app gets grouped into its own box on your Timeline, rather Rhapsody, Runkeeper, Slacker, Spotify, other apps, it's a little more apparent what you're than clobbering your stream with each individual StunHub, Ticketmaster, TripAdvisor, doing when you enable the integration from action you take on a thirdparty site. Is this new Tuntable.fm, Where I've Been, Words With within your Facebook Account Settings directly. integration a good thing? That depends on how Friends, Washington Post Social reader, and . you use Facebook, but here are some points that Yahoo news. Sharing and privacy might help you make up your mind. One nice feature of the apps integration is that you can toggle the privacy Apps for Facebook Timeline How to enable apps for timeline settings for all timeline posts that come from the At launch, 80 apps are promoted on To turn on app for Facebook Timeline, app in one shot. In your account settings, if you Facebook's Timeline Apps informational page. you'll need to first have the app connected to your tell the Washington post social reader app to To give you an idea of the breadth of topics and account .You can see what apps you currently make its timeline activity visible to “only me” or interests these apps cover, here are some of the have in Account Settings > Apps. For some just “friends”, it will always follows those rules. most well known: Airbnb, Buzzfeed ,The Daily, apps, it's clear how to turn on the “ post to Additionally, you can delete or hide Digg, Fab, Foodily, Foodspotting, Hulu, Timeline ” feature right from the app itself. See activity on your timeline post - by - post, although LivingSocial, MapMyFitness, Pinterest, the image from Pinterest for an example. With it's a little confusing and limited,What’s

30 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 KODAK'S MISTAKE STAR WARS UNCUT SMARTPHONE THE WEEK THAT Kodak and Fujifilm were arch rivals PATENT WAR KILLED SOPA at one point of time-in the pre- INFOGRAPH digital photography era. But Kodak Samsung fighting Apple, Apple has just gone downhill since the last fighting HTC,Motorola fighting couple of years, while it's Microsoft ,Oracle fighting competitor adapted to the changing google…yeah we know it's a hard scenario in the imaging and What happens when you break up a task keeping track of all the patent With all the web site blackouts and photography world. Economists star wars movie into 15-sec capsules lawsuits Using fought around the protests against the stop online takes a look at how Kodak's and request volunteers across the world. Here's an handy infograph piracy act[SOPA] and protect IP act complacency has led to it's eventual world to film/interpret it in their with an arrow diagram of who's [PIPA],it was hard to keep track of bankruptcy filing own way? http://goo.gl/0fGBk. fighting whom http://goo.gl/Pizkp. what happened when in that week http://goo.gl/p4XJo. http://goo.gl/EcTqo.

signed up for Timeline. Once you turn it on, you can't cancel it, so make sure you want the Timeline to permanently replace your wall and profile page before you start experimenting with Timeline app integration. That said, if you use Facebook as a way to share a lot of content that you like, whether it's articles you read or music you like, the Timeline often with news apps, like The WallStreet Journal app integration-like the Facebook Ticker, which and Yahoo News. If a friend reads an article that also posts about your activity from other sites and posts automatically via the app and you click it, confusing is the button that triggers the option is services via a small inset on the newsfeed page- you can't simply read the article. Instead, you're an “X” next to the post, which makes it seem like will make it more convenient for you to do so. invited to authenticate the app, too, and if you you'll be deleting the post. But press it and you'll You win. don't, you can't read the article. I am forever in fact be able to show, hide, or delete it. Below If you see yourself as more of an opening up another tab in my browser to search these options are more settings to stop the app absorber of content, picking up things other for the words in a headline because I don't want from posting to Timeline, or revoke its Facebook people post, the apps integration is a mixed these particular app integrations. I like the integration altogether. blessing. On the one hand, you'll likely be able to content, but I don't appreciate the inaccessibility. see more stuff that all those over-sharers make Another party to consider when Who wins? Who loses? public on their feeds and Timeline. On the other thinking about who wins and loses with Very important: If you opt-in to hand, you can't just click through a line to reach Facebook app integration is the businesses that Timeline, you cannot opt out. Many Facebook some of the content, a snafu that has frustrated makes these apps. Is there such things as too users I know didn't understand this when they me (and others) for a very long time. I see it most much integration with Facebook? Is it good for business? On the one hand, I think the case has always been made that “you have to reach the audience/market where they are, and they're all on Facebook”. But on the other hand, letting the audience so easily stay on Facebook without ever landing on the business' Web site could result in less traffic for the business. The flip side of the business question brings up the biggest winner of all: Facebook. Integrating app activity onto users' Timelines is another way to keep Facebook traffic on Facebook. Users never have to leave the page to see where else their friends are active online. If it's all on Facebook , you're all on Facebook.

31 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 SPHERO SPHERO POWERTREKK This translucent cricket-ball sized Power cuts are common in our part orb may look like a child's play thing, but it of the world. But next time, instead of packs in quite a punch in terms of technology. cribbing about the lack of basic amenities, you You basically control Sphero via Bluetooth can charge your phone using water. Yes, you from your iOS or Android-based smartphone read that correctly, we said “water”. Perhaps or tablet. Capable of producing millions of the best gadget to be showcased at CES. colours on its surface, it reaches speeds of up Powertrekk from MyFC produces power to three feet per second. Precise control is equivalent to four AA batteries using just a achieved with the integrated gyro, tablespoon of water. You can charge your accelerometer and compass. A host of apps gadgets or external batteries. The magic centred around Sphero are available on the happens in what MyFC calls the power pucks respective app stores. Priced at roughly Rs which are made of a material called Sodium 6,530, it won't have you diving too deep into Silicide, which reacts with water to produce your pocket. electricity. One such fuel cell costs Rs.15, 000 and the puck used for recharging costs Rs.150 Products from CES each 2012 that’ll make you go “whoa!” S.TAMILVAANAN 3RD CSE MAKERBOT REPLICATOR MakerBot Industries has been the most visible Priced at $1,749 for the face of the personal 3D printing movement; its single-extruder model and Thing-O-Matic printer has introduced both $1,999 for the dual-extruder geeks and the public (through appearances on version, the MakerBot shows like The Colbert Report) to the Replicator comes fully technology of printing physical objects. The MakerBot Replicator can print larger objects assembled and ready within than the Thing-O-Matic, up to the size of a loaf minutes to start printing. At that of bread. The two-nozzled (dual extruder) price it will appeal more to hobbyists version of the Replicator is capable of printing than typical households, but its ability to print larger objects in two colors using ABS and/or PLA objects, and in different color combinations, has the plastics. potential to entice a new wave of experimenters into trying their hands at personalized manufacturing.

FAVI A3-WIFI PICO PROJECTOR Projector makers have been SD/SDHC/MMC card reader. Its lithium ion expanding the capabilities of pocket- battery lasts for up to one hour between sized projectors, but the FAVI A3- charges, and it has a built-in speaker, plus a WiFi goes further. Not only does this USB port lets you connect the A3-WiFi to pico projector integrate Wi-Fi, it runs USB keyboards and mice. The projector can Android, uses Google Chrome as a act as a personal media player, and be used browser, and has a built-in for watching online videos or picture slide touchpad.The FAVI A3 WiFi has a shows, playing music, displaying eBooks, native SVGA resolution (800-by-600 Web browsing, and playing content from the pixels), 8GB of built-in memory, and a internal memory or online.

32 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 5 excellent, free online education resources S.T.SANGAR PRASANTH 2ND CSE 1.Code Year M.SENTHIL KUMAR 2ND CSE If learning computer programming sounds way out of your reach, best left to the geniuses of the world, you're wrong. According to Code Year, anyone can learn the basics of computer programming in just one year. Code Year encourages people to make a New Year's resolution to learn enough code to build their own apps and websites. A lot of people seem interested; at the time of publication, Code Year has gained over 355,880 wanna be-programmers—including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg—and more are joining every day. The creators of Code Year, a project of New York City-based startup Code academy, think that basic programming is an essential skill that everyone should learn. 2. W3Schools The largest site on the Internet for Web developers, W3Schools is a fantastic resource for those interested in brushing up on their Web development skills—or learning them for the first time. Want to make your own website? W3Schools offers tutorials and references on a large range of subjects, including HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and more. Though not as structured as Code Year, W3Schools is just as thorough. The HTML lessons, for example, are separated by subject, starting off with the most basic instruction and moving into XHTML. W3Schools offers a list of helpful references for each subject. Ever forget a tag name or need to know the color name for the website you're building? W3Schools has it all. If you think you've got your HTML skills down pat, you can test how much you really know (and determine what you need to keep working on) in the HTML quiz.

3. TED The nonprofit started out as a conference in 1984 with the intention of "bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design." (It even saw one of the first Macintosh computer demos that year.) Fast-forwarding 28 years, TED now features more than 1,114 free, award-winning talks, with more added each week. Released under a Creative Commons license, the videos can be freely shared and reposted. TED speakers discuss a wide array of topics—from technology and design to science and culture—and present them in the most innovative and engaging ways possible within an 18-minute window of time. Past presenters include Microsoft's Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, a number of Nobel Prize winners, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Stephen Hawking, Bill Clinton, and Jane Goodall.

4. Massachusetts Institute of technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a slew of undergrad and graduate courses available online for free through its OpenCourseWare program. Over 2,000 courses cover architecture and planning, engineering, humanities, arts, social studies, science, and many other academic areas. Some of the most popular classes online include Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Physics I: Classical Mechanics, Linear Algebra, Single Variable Calculus, and Introduction to C++. Some classes include interactive Web demonstrations, streaming video lectures, and complete textbooks written by MIT professors. MIT's OpenCourseWare program lets users move through the lecture notes, suggested reading lists, and videos at their own pace.

5.. iTunesU iTunes U hosts content from more than 800 universities and distinguished organizations. Stanford, Yale, and Oxford are on the list, as well as MoMA, the New York Public Library, Public Radio International, and PBS stations. iTunes U offers audio and video of lectures, plus slideshows, PDFs, books, films, exhibit tours, and audio books. iTunes U, which supports both the PDF and ePub file formats, allows educators to distribute schedules, syllabi, lecture outlines, study guides, notes, maps, and even entire books. Don't worry if you don't have an iOS device; these formats work on any compatible e- reader. iTunes U offers material on nearly every topic, so whether you're looking to educate yourself on app development or just want a Shakespeare refresher, iTunes U can help.

33 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 Amazon Kindle Touch Beetel Magiq Glide Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 The page turner is here One Level upgrade to a A very good all-purpose home capacitive display laptop below `50k J.RATNA JENISHA 2ND IT R.PRADEEPA 2ND CSE V.SANDHIYA 2ND CSE The kindle touch is slightly heavier Undeniable, but true-the Glide looks The Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 is a solid home than the kindle (the plain Jane edition), but is exactly like its predecessor. Competing against entertainment laptop which is good for casual considerably less bulky than the one with the the likes of the Reliance 3G Tab, the Glide comes gaming as well. It has a brushed mental screen keyboard. The device has 4GB on-board across as a bulky tablet. The use metal adds a lid with a funky dot-pattern to lend the IdeaPad storage. Amazon says that it is good for about solid feel. The integrated kickstand is a unique Y570 an air of premiumness on the outside, 3000 books. On-board is an experimental web feature we haven't seen an any tablets. while the laptop's gunmetal gray deck with black browser, and “experimental” for a good reason. eyes. The IdeaPad Y570 certainly isn't easy to Some flash heavy websites do not render carry around for a 15-inch home entertainment properly, but most sites load just fine. laptop, weighing just under 3-kg. With all the kindle devices till now, a As you can see from the specs alongside, lot of book lovers missed the feel of actually the Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 comes with a potent turning a page. The kindle touch brings that mixture of latest hardware building blocks-it back, to a huge extent. Amazon have divided the could've had a faster hard drive and higher fields on the display very well-tapping any resolution the display, lending the laptop a great –where in the wide margin on the right side to foundation to deliver high performance, be it flip to the next page, or tap anywhere in the thin gaming with 3D games or watching HD 1080p margin will flip to the previous page. movies or listening to audio on the laptop's JBL Alternatively, you can just swipe on the screen speakers, the overall user experience on the like you would swipe a page in a book. A 1GHz single core processor, couple IdeaPad Y570 is very good. with 512M B of RAM, powers the Glide. The OS version-Android 2.2 remains unchanged. We expected to see atleast Android 2.3 comes with. However, the performance of the Glide seems to be slightly better than the Magiq. The 7-inch touchscreen (480 *800 pixels) is the capacity type. We had criticized the Magiq for having a resistive touchscreen that spoiled the entire table experience. While the display specs remain the same otherwise, the Glide's display seems to be a lot crisper. Text reads better, and images don't seem bereft of sharpness. The disappointing 2MP cameras are carried forward from the earlier version. The video call camera is heavily We liked the laptop's isolated keyboard Amazon claims a battery life of about dependent on good lighting. with scalloped, curved keys which are great for 2 months, with an hour of reading daily. We still A bit of video viewing, web browsing typing, and the keyboard had no flex to deliver a haven't been able to drain the battery on our and half an hour of music in the background had top-notch typing experience. Kindle Touch! It has been with us for two weeks, the beetel MAGIQ running out of battery in The touchpad has a nice dotted grid for and despite a couple of hours of reading daily, about 4 hours. haptic feedback while scrolling with your finger- the battery is slightly above 50 percent. It had The Magid Glide is an alternative to if only the included mouse buttons were come out of the box with about 60 per cent the likes of the Reliance 3G tab. Performance separate, everything would've been just perfect. charge. wise it is same as its predecessor, but the upgrade The laptop's6-cell battery lasted just under For someone who already has a to a capacitive touch screen is the best thing that 2 hours in our tests, which is very good for a high kindle3, the Touch isn't an anticing enough could have happened. However, you are playing performing laptop. Overall, we're very upgrade. But for someone who is looking to buy extra for something that should've been there in impressed with the IdeaPad Y570 and have no their first e-book reader, then the touch is the the first place. hesitation in recommending it for your home smartest choice at the moment. entertainment use.

34 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 CYBEROAM NETGENIE NG11EO S.LALITHA 3RD IT Gone are the days where laptops were the only devices connected to your wireless router. New products like smart phones, tablets etc are the new additions list of devices that need connection over wireless bandwidth. The important aspect here is that being hooked to the internet also means same amount of threats to the system. Now instead of running a endpoint security solution on each device, it makes sense to have all security measures within the router. And besides the security features standard in most wireless routers, this device is unique in the sense it comes with a antivirus protection which gets constantly updated post-registration and is free for first three years. The other notable features of this router include built-in 3G data, data card support and a VPN.

To check the performance of this router, we carried out two tests. We first checked the TCP, throughput using 'Qcheck 3.0', with a payload of 1000MB. It gave 22 Mbps speed. To check the speed of the transformation, we created an isolated network (N) with NetGenie connected to two machines one via Ethernet and other via wireless connection. Then we transferred 50MB of data from one machine to other. It took an average of 33 seconds to complete this data transfer. TRANSCEND STORE JET25H2 1TB NANDHINI 1ST IT The latest USB2.0 hard drive from Transcend StoreJet 25H2, is not a everyday hard drive but also works as your backup solution which you can use to encrypt data and also sync it. With a storage capacity of up to 1TB, the new hard drive boasts of a sophisticated shock protection mechanism that includes the silicone outer shell, a reinforced hard casing and an internal hard drive suspension damper to make it highly resistant to shock and fall.

The drive is easy to use and requires mere plug and play instead of wanting driver installation. A particular application is needed which is called StoreJet Elite that offers multiple storage related solutions. The drive claims high speed data transfer rates upto 480 Mbits per second and for transferring video data of 8GB from HDD to the PC and vice versa. It took about 6 minutes. Transcend Elite application offers instant backup and data synchronisation with your computer. It allows you to synchronise your IE favourites and Firefox bookmarks from your HDD, so that you can access them from anywhere if you have it near you. Also you can create backup for your files and organise them into different categories. Incase you lose it you can restore it via restore option. Elite offers you quick and easy way to protect files with powerful 256-bit AES encryption. NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 2012 J.DIVYA 3RD IT With the hackers trying everything to get into your accounts, security providers are also gearing up for the challenges in front of them. To keep with this pace Symantec has come up with Norton Internet Security 2012(NIS 2012). We installed Norton Internet Security 2012 on an i5-processor based machine with 4GB RAM and 500 GB hard disk space. Installation was quite easy and surprising fast. It took just 54 seconds to install the software on the machine. But before we proceeded we updated the NIS and the update was of 98MB. To make it more simple Norton has added details with each option so that a user can understand the functionality. To test features, we loaded around 500 viruses in the system. After we scanned the system, it detected almost all the viruses that we have loaded. It was very good in detecting viruses. After we ran a quick scan which took 6 minutes to scan a 100GB data, NIS detected 3 tracking cookies and resolved it.

Next comes the parental control which actually blocks certain websites. You have to install it separately. We tried to visit certain websites, but we got the prompt that URL is blocked and that you have a request to the parent or the administrator of the system to let you open this URL. The request is received in the form of an e-mail. Next we checked the anti-spam ware feature with Outlook 2010. It integrated itself with the Outlook and there is a separate tab for Norton. We tried to block few e-mail addresses and tried to send e-mails from these addresses. We didn't receive any e-mail and also we downloaded a application Norton prompted us that it is a safe file. 35 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 MAC OS X MUTHU RATHINAM 3RD IT save the image to the clipboard. Alternatively you can use Grab, the Apple has always been the epitome of easy to use application which comes bundled with your products; the Mac OS X is no exception.Here are a Mac OS X. few handy tips to further increase ease of use, tricks you never knew and a few interesting software all mac users must have. NTFS 3G and MacFuse If you haven't already realized Spotlight Mac can read a NTFS volume but can't write them. Go ahead and install NTFS 3G,which Lets start with one of the highly used features of the will by itself install MacFuse. Volia! You can MacOS X-spotlight. It rests on the top-right corner More tips to further limit your now read and write a NTFS volume on Mac. of the home screen represented by a magnifying search Now, you can also use disk utility to format a glass, which you can click to open the feature. If you know the exact name of the file for drive to NTFS format. Sadly, a Mac Os X Alternatively, press [command]+[space bar]. You which you are searching, type name :file. If you Lion supported version is not out yet. probably already know that you can use it to search know the author of the file, use author :author for all files, folders or to launch applications. These name. if you know the type of the file use kind :type following tips will help you further filter your of file. You must be surprised by how much Mac ShakesPeer If you've been searching for a Direct Connect search. lets you exploit this feature and understands exactly what you need. Your keyword for “kind:” can client for Mac OS X, look no further. Search in spotlight include almost any thing i.e movies, email, audio, ShakesPeer is an Open Source Dc client with an extremely easy to use interface. Plus, it 's If you search for anything using quotation marks, MP3, JPEG,PNG, images, keynote, Word, absolutely stable. spotlight will only look up for files and folders that Powerpoint, Quick-Time, PDF, app, etc. you can also use a combination of all the above to further narrow down your search. Other cool thing your Mac can do: Calculate with spotlight Slo-mo with Mac Yes, you can use spotlight as a calculator, all you While minimizing or maximizing need to do is type in the desired math equation. For windows or while using Expose or Space example type 55*55/100+50 and you'll get the you can slow down the way the process answer 80.25. It's as simple as that and you no takes place. All you need to do is hold longer need to find the calculator app unless you down[shift] while doing the above want to perform complex equations. To find the mentioned tasks. This looks really cool, try square of a number, just enter pow (5,2). Likewise it. you can enter sqrt(number) to find the square root. Get the Apple logo Alternatively you can use Alfred, a productivity Ever wanted to put the Apple logo in your documents? Here's how you can: In TextEdit contain the exact time inside the quotation mark. application. It's available in both free as well as or Google Docs, hold down[option]+[Shift] You don't need to complete the quotation marks; paid package. The paid version of the app can +[K]. There!You have your very own logo. starting the search with open quotes tells spotlight increase your productivity manifold. It's a great that it should search for items that include the app to have. words that follow. Make your Mac talk Take a screen shots January 1984-the year Steve Jobs unveiled Search using metadata Just press down[Command] the first Apple Macintosh, the year we all first heard a Mac speak. For those of you Apart from searching for files and folders, +[Shift]+[3] and you'll hear a click sound. The who haven't been able to figure out how to spotlight further searches for metadata, viz file file image is captured and will to be saved to your make your Mac talk, here's how to do it. information created during its generation. If you desktop. Pressing [command]+ [Shift]+[4] gives Open up terminal and fire in this command: control-click any file or folder and open the Get you the option to choose the area you want to say ``what –ever you want it to say''. It's that Info window you'll find all the metadata the file capture. Pressing [Command]+[Shift]+[4] simple. You can even ask your Mac to read stores. The interesting part here is that the file followed by [space] will allow you to take the out the from a .txt file. Fire in this command; information is not limited to that data, which means screenshot of a window without needing you to say-f ~/Desktop/Test.txt. Replace you can add your own keywords to every file. To do select the area manually. In case you want the ~/Desktop/Test.txt if the file you want to read so, in the same Get Info window , you'll find a box image to be saved to clipboard, you need to press from is placed elsewhere. In TextEdit go to that reads “Spotlight Comments:”; here's where [Control]+[Command] +[Shift]+[3]. The same Edit >Speech>Start talking and Mac will you can add your comments. You can now direct applies to the other two commands; just remember read out all the content from the .txt file. spotlight search for the file based on this data. to hold down the control button when you want to 38 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquestgct march 2012 Make your own QR code Forget those boring black and white QR codes, add some colour and customize your very own hip QR codes D.ALEX 3RD CSE

Quick Response codes or QR codes are slowly but surely becoming mainstream what with every other person sporting a smartphone with a decent camera these days. It is the most convenient way to go from an offline to online experience. You just have to focus your phone camera on the QR code and you're automatically taken to the QR code's embedded destination (mostly an hyperlink).Nine out of ten times, you'll notice a Modified QR code with the QR code in its white and black avatar and this Original QR code with black color IQ logo could be boring. So can you really change that On a text layer we placed “Your colour combination? Add your personal touch Then click Select menu > Color Range and Technology Navigator” below the QR to a QR code? Yes, you can. keeping all things constant select the white colour and hit delete. Now you'll just get the QR code.There's so much more you can do with the QR code to personalise it. Google QR code In this tutorial, we'll show you how code. Recheck the background layer. enthusiast, Patrick Donnelly's Farmville you can change the colour of your QR code, We tried adding an inner embossing design, which he spent months “growing”. You add a personal logo bang in the middle of the on the code, while constantly checking if the can even arrange real-life objects such as music code and even smoothen the sharp edges of the QR code is still pointing to the web site, else instruments, animals, cartoons, etc into a squares and rectangles that comprise of the QR you need to go slow on the modifications or scannable code. Up to 30 percent of the QR code. There are many websites such as even undo a few changes, so take care. We then code image can be removed and replaced with http://goqr.me/ to help you generate your QR added the Digit logo in an image layer and gave an embedded image while ensuring the code is code. You can program the QR codes to lead it an outer glow. It was placed in the centre.The still stable. Let your imagination run wild. the scanner to a URL, phone number, text or tricky part was adding a gradient on the even a visiting card. background. After a lot of trial and error with different colours, the blue/light blue combo Move the slider alongside to a size of seemed to work for us. 300x300px. Under “Options” select the Error Correction Code as Q. You can change the Data Pixel colour to one that you like from its swatch. Though there's no rule saying that the background must be white, there has to be a strong contrast between the background and the code for the phone camera to be able to scan it easily. Once the QR code is generated, all you need to do is download the file for further editing. You can use any advanced image editing program. We used Photoshop, and here's what we did.

We first opened a layer and superimposed the QR code on it. We then unchecked the background layer, leaving us with the white background of the QR code. To remove it, you need to convert the image to a Smart object.

37 | online follow us on twitter.com/infoquest_gct march 2012 38 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 EYE SEE YOU Scientists have managed to take design one MegaUpload SATHYA 3RD IT step further by focusing an LED mounted on shutdown, Anonymous The contact lens used by William Brandt to take one of the lenses onto the retina. retaliates images to the Russian codes is a fascinating piece of S.PRABHAKARAN 3RD IT the technology. It was one of the few pieces of tech in The U.S. department of justice (DOJ) the movie that caught our eye. Wearing just a contact lens and still getting an augmented experience of the announced that it shut down MegaUpload, world is a very interesting concept and one that isn't the one-click hosting online service and far from reality.The fact that you can just look at a charged its members on five counts of face and get details about the person on a mobile copyright infringement and conspiracy by device might seem intrusive in a way. It's like taking trafficking and hosting pirated image and This is much harder than it sounds as it cyber-stalking to the next level. Of course, if video content. Four out of seven of the site's everybody starts wearing these, you won't need to involves a lot of micro-lenses being owners and operators have been arrested. keep drawing yourself up to your full height just to manipulated at a microscopic level. This explain who you are.Scientists have found a way to means that you can have, say, one eye with a embed miniature circuits in contact lenses and have mechanism for taking images and also managed to transmit data to and from the lens. transmitting it to a mobile device like your The outer ring can be lined with a fine, wireless phone, while the other can be set up to display antenna, with the circuit embedded in the middle. the processed data directly on your retina.

Nokia says 3G tariffs need corrections

Jasmeet Gandhi, Nokia India's head said that the 3G pricing in India has to be “corrected” to ensure that it is affordable for the lower-end consumers. “A lot of consumers in India want to future proof themselves in terms of technology at the right price point. So when the pricing of 3G will be Meanwhile, hacktivist group, anonymous affordable, they will definitely go for it. He also pointed out that the 3G technology was meant to retaliated to the MegaUpload closure by “revolutionise” mobile experience giving high-speed internet and facilities such as video-calls, shutting down the website of DOJ, universal interactive gaming and mobile TV. The actual number of the 3G users is lesser than the expectations. Gandhi, however, turned down speculation that hefty prices of 3G services were music group, MPAA, RIAA and U.S. hampering the sales of smartphones. “Because people who buy smartphones at the high-end can copyright office on 19th January. The group afford 3G. it is not an issue. I think in smart phones segment 3G penetration is very decent.” called it the single biggest strike its history. A.PRAVEENA 2ND IT Even passwords won’t help you

i-Fi users in the country are vulnerable to password for the wireless network or Failed attempts to exploit the vulnerability virus attacks, warns Indian computer could lead to a denial of service condition. The Wemergency response team (CERT-In). agency also pointed out its reports that revealed The firm has discovered that the Wi-Fi protected setup several WPS devices do not feature any king of (WPS) has a design error, increasing risks of virus lockout policy for such attack attempts. Users in attacks that potentially allow attackers to take control India mostly use the WPS method to set up a of even a password protected system. wireless router for home network. The WPS The CERT-In alert to consumers read: “the virus is procedure requires a PIN to be used during streaming in the Indian internet networks with a high setup. The CERT-In alert elaborated that users severity. The combat mechanisms are being deployed. should disable the external registrar feature of An unauthenticated, remote attacker within range of the WPS to protect their devices from virus the wireless access point could use the PIN (password) attacks. change. the configuration of the device to gain unauthorised access to the device to retrieve the A.M.F.NASREEN PARVEEN 3RD IT

D-Roll Scroll-Based Laptop G.VINODHINI 3RD CSE

The D-roll, or "digital roll," is what i.e You could check your email even designer Hao Hua considers to be a "next with the screen rolled up, for there is an generation laptop design," as it does away adaptation available on the roll. Designer Hao with the book-like form factor in favor of one Hua has taken the thought to the next level, with mimicking an artist's scroll. Whether or not options for the USB on the roller belt and even a something like this will even be possible in detachable wearable web cam you could use on the near future seems to matter less when you the computer or wear on your wrist. The mouse look at how much effort Hua put in the and web camera can also be used as the end caps design. for the laptop case, while the straps double as Up above you can see the D-roll set ports to plug in your USB up like a regular laptop, and it's easy to These are going to be in market very soon in 1st imagine how portable it'd be all rolled up. quarter of 2012…. There's an in-between configuration that you could theoretically use to browse quickly,

Sony Smart Watch is an Android Phone’s Best Friend SASIKALA R 3RD CSE

early hidden away at CES The updated version is sleeker in was a $149 Sony Smart appearance (and about 0.3-inches thick), has an Watch (due in March) that accelerometer, can vibrate, and will launch with a N colorful swatch of wristband accessories. A black doubles as a Bluetooth command center for Android Phones. Featuring brushed chrome wristband and wristband adapter is included. edges, the 1.3-inch OLED (65k color) touch You can do many things through the screen features Bluetooth 3.0 and is techie timepiece, including the basics such as read compatible with Android phones from Sony, SMS, e-mail, or the weather. In addition, a pop-up HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and others. You caller id prompt appears during incoming calls may remember its predecessor, the Live View (allowing you to accept or deny), or check social accessory that Sony Ericsson released in late media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I liked 2010. how it displays user icons with the status updates. The dust and splash proof Smart Watch is essentially the same story.

WORLD'S FIRST DUAL SCREEN LAPTOP E.KARTHICK 2ND CSE

This tablet has two touch screens, each with W100 as an e-book reader or for productivity. LED backlighting and 1,024 x 600 resolution. With Wireless-N and Bluetooth 2.1 technology You will note the virtual keyboard, and it is plus its handheld size, it's an incredibly portable billed as the world's first dual touch-screen product that seems most appropriate when Windows mini-notebook PC. It can be used both traveling, either for business or leisure. vertically and horizontally, thanks to a built-in Additionally, with the built-in webcam accelerometer. The battery life is good for 2 or 4 and microphone, you could turn it into one big hours with high-capacity battery. Other features Zack Morris-esque cell phone. Just a thought. include Intel Pentium U5400 CPU , 62GB SSD, 2GB RAM, WiNMAX, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Some of the other notable specs on the Libretto Bluetooth 2.1, Micro SD/SDHC slot, USB port, W100 include: and Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit. · Intel Pentium U5400 processor Toshiba's Libretto W100 laptop, which garnered a lot of buzz earlier this summer with · Windows 7 Home Premium its dual-screen design, is now available in the United States. But for a little notebook, it sure · Integrated Intel HD graphics has a big price to pay. · 2GB of DDR3 memory The clamshell-style computer boasts dual 7-inch diagonal multi-touch WSVGA displays with · 62GB solid state drive several different virtual keyboards. Thus, users can alternate between using the · Memcard reader

40 | online follow us on facebook.com/infoquest.gct march 2012 C.PRADEEP RAJ KUMAR FINAL IT S.MOHAMMED SHAHID FINAL CSE Biggest Games of MASS EFFECT 3 You bet your bottom dollar that 3 every single person who played 2012 mass effect 1 and 2 is eagerly awaiting to see TOMB RAIDER the curtain raised on the third installment of It's time to become a careless teenager this epic sci-fi RPG, whose mere mention is 1and forget to act one's age because which games are you eagerly enough to send pleasure waves through fans you know what, a new tomb raider game is waiting in this year? we gaze all over apart from finally encountering arriving next year. Yes, you read it right. Come into the crystal ball to give earth, the ME3 also ventures into the largely on, let's be honest- no female archeologist's as you the 15 most anticipated untested waters of online multiplayer mode, famous(or attractive) as Lara Croft, and no game releases of 2012. it which is sure to put a smile on a lotta faces. quest half as exciting than exploring ruins with What's more, you can import your ME1 and lara bouncing all over the place. The upcoming doesnt get any bigger than ME2 saved game files into ME3 to have a release next year is the 9th installment of the this. the world may as well direct impact on the final chapter of the game with no ties to the past tiles, giving the end after we finish playing upcoming game. Can't wait? Me neither. franchise a much-needed reboot. The game these titles reportedly focuses on combat, has a skill system, and new game dynamics previously unseen in any tomb raider game. Oh please let this release tomorrow!

. STREET FIGHTER XTEKKEN DARKSIDERS 2 Ever since the marvel vs. Capcom Darksiders was a good adventure 4 game out, we've been waiting for 2 game, and the upcoming dark siders 2 something similar to happen with street is no different. I mean, the game is about fighter. And we're glad for what's coming next playing as death, the lead horseman of year. Capcom's street fighter meets namco's apocalypse. How cool is that? THQ points at the tekken in this crossover fighting game, where following features to watch out for that includes you can pit legendary fighters from both these action over completely new maps and terrain, independent game series against each other. and a host of NPCs that issue side quests. Be It's going to be interesting as street fighter prepared to travel between heaven and hell and character supports 6 button system, while all things in between. It's time to choose your tekken heroes retain their 4 button control fate and die! system. BIOSHOCK INFINITE The original bioshock had one of TWISTED MEDAL 6 the best game endings, in our Ah, how we love this game! Any opinion. We hope the excitement and intrigue 7 twisted metal game- and there have continues in bioshock infinite, the 3rd game in been quite a few over the years- is pure the bioshock series. The game leaves rapture unadulterated fun. Since the game debuted and its submerged murkiness to leap for the back in 1995, twisted metal has been a HITMAN:ABSOLUTION heavens-yes, the upcoming game is set in a city demolition derby of sorts, the game's heavy One of the most dangerous assassin suspended in air called Columbia. And the focus on vehicular combat. The upcoming 5 in video game history is poised to game's story isn't directly related to bishock 1 chapter in the twisted metal series comes after return soon next year. Look forward to seeing or 2, adding an element of mystery to it. a decade and it promises quite a bit to keep agent 47 leaner,meaner and at his dangerous Whatever the plot, a bioshock game isn't seasoned fans happy. Multiplayer combat best like you've never seen him before. Not to complete without its uncanny and acute sense plays an important role supporting up to 4 give away too much of the plot, suffice to say of art and design which we all love, and for player split screen action and 16 players the game has an engaging storyline and agent infinite, we're back to the early 1900's. online arena. Let the mayhem begin! 47 has some new moves. His killer instincts are honed to such a level in absolution that he can WORLD OF WARCRAFT: literally transform any item at hand into a The big kingpin of MMORPG's, deadly weapon. Improved AI helps keep 8 blizzard's world of warcraft is gamers engaged and we have no doubt the slated for a cool new expansion pack next year game's certain hit. called mists of pandaria. It's a whole new continent, pandaria, and it raises the current level cap from 85 to 90. With new expansion comes a whole new race(pandaren) and class (monk). With mists of pandaria, wow's existing talent tree will be overhauled by a new tiered system. Oh and players won't be able to fly around in the game until they've reached the highest level. That's about it. All set for pandaria?

MAX PAYNE 3 It has been closed to eight 10years since the last max payne game. And words can't describe the agonizing wait of fans DOTA 2 looking forward to the next game in You thought dota was good? Wait take two's adored max payne 9 till you see dota 2 early next year. franchise. Sao Paulo in brazil is the That pretty much sums up valve and dota's city of choice, and max payne 3 fan base in anticipation of the title. Dota 2 begins approximately eight years combines elements of strategy and RPG after the second game. Controls are effectively to deliver a mesmerizing similar to GTA IV and red dead experience. We don't want to say a lot about redemption with a cover system the game, as close beta testing. deployed. BORDERLANDS 2 THE LAST GUARDIAN We loved borderlands and If you loved lco and shadow of the 11we're eagerly awaiting its 12colossus, you can expect similar sequel slated for next year. The game's a visual and gameplay treats from the last sci-fi FPS with elements of RPG(sounds guardian, an upcoming third-person action- like deus Exx.no?) set in a picturesque adventure/puzzle game. The game features a world. The sequel stick to four playing small boy and giant creature called trico, characters, although all of them new with the boy trying to escape the ruins of a compared to the original. We love the gigantic castle. Controlling trico is tricky game's cel-shaded cartoony graphics and and quite difficult as he's more an animal borderlands 2 will have plenty of that and than a conforming side-kick. it's Like more. Improvements over the original training a pet and promises to be equally feature improved AI with cover system, challenging and fun. customizable weapons system, four-seat vehicles, and a dynamic quest system. We are waiting. METAL GEAR SOLID:RISING WARHAMMER40K: Announced at E3 2009, the clock Fans of the warhammer 40k games who 14 is finally ticking out on this much 13 always wanted to slug it out online have a awaited installment of metal gear solid. You good reason to celebrate. Dark millennium is a reprise the role of raiden in rising and the proper MMORPG that throws you into the deep game boasts some cool features like end of a war-ridden star system with no time to dismembering enemies or cyborgs and waste. Expect to fight in battlegrounds of epic taking on their body parts for ammunition, proportions, choosing between the forces of order energy, etc… the gameplay focuses on two and destruction. Players will be able to fully key elements: sword-fighting and stealth. customize their characters and have a whole host of Apparently, rising incorporates a new game accessories to go with. Expect plenty of blood and mechanic called free slicing mode for gore, and battle cries go up. For the emperor! efficiently slicing enemies in any geometric plane. Definitely something more than what fruit ninja offers, yes. Can't wait, just can't.

DIABLO III Twenty years have passed since the three prime evils have been layed 15in the land of sanctuary, but not before baal, the lord of destruction managed to corrupt the worldstone, the very object that hid the mortal realm of sanctuary from heaven and hell. Mysteriously, Diablo, the lord of terror is set to once again. Are ye shakin' in yer boots? No? ye better ye! Okay, notwithstanding the initial negative response to a small preview, we still expect blizzard to wow us when the game releases next year. It's blizzard we're talking about and this is Diablo, so wake up. @LEISURE AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE INTERNET T.JAYANTHI 2ND IT

Google got its name from the mathematical figure googol, which denotes the number 'one followed by a hundred zeros'. Marc Andreessen founded Netscape. In 1993, he had already developed Mosaic, the first Web browser with a GUI. It was once considered a letter in the English language. The Chinese call it a little mouse, Danes and Swedes call it 'elephant's trunk', Germans a spider monkey, and Italians a snail. Israelis pronounce it 'strudels' and the Czechs say 'rollmops's...What is it? The @ sign. In the Deep Web, the part of it not currently catalogued by search engines, public information said to be 500 times larger than on the WWW. The first search engine for Gopher files was called Veronica, created by the University of Nevada System Computing Services group. Did you know that the original URL of Yahoo was http://akebono.stanford.edu/ The testbed for the Internet's new addressing system, IPv6, is called the 6bone. The first Internet worm was created by Robert T.Morris, Jr, and attacked more than 6000 Internet hosts. Researchers consider that the first search engine was Archie, created in 1990 by Alan Emtage,a student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANDROID ANBU SELVAM.P 2ND CSE Android has been available as open source since 21 October 2008. The updates for Android are named after Pastries. Android was developed by Android Inc in 2003 by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner. The first phone to run on Android OS was HTC Dream and was released on 22 October 2008. The first publicly available application was the Snake game. As of July 2010 App Market has around 75,000 Android applications. As of July 2010 reports Android is getting activated in more than 2,00,000 phones daily. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.

TECHSPOT WINDOWS8 FEATURES

New 7 and 9-inch Kindle Fire models may be on the way It Runs On ARM Chips Microsoft opening new retail stores soon, coming to Canada by year's end It Has a New Interface It Has a Tablet -Centric Multitouch Interface Google Wallet PIN vulnerable on rooted Android devices. Its Developer’s Preview Is Available Now Swagg Security hackers hit Foxconn, release usernames and passwords It Has Xbox Live Support It Has Built -In Cloud Features Google's cloud storage service 'Drive' to launch soon It Has an App Store AMD releases Catalyst 12.2 "pre-certified" driver. It Has Enhanced Securit y Microsoft reimagined logo for Windows 8 is official. HTML 5 Gaming: Old Classics and Modern Titles You Can Play for Free. MUTHURAMALINGAM 1ST IT Philips 2012 TV line-up to offer dual-view gaming S.SUGUMAR 1ST CSE STAY SAFE ! STAY AWAY FROM GOOGLE !!! Google analytics : Google Analytics (GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew. It is the most widely used website statistics service, currently in use on around 57% of the 10,000 most popular websites. Another market share analysis claims that Google Analytics is used at around 49.95% of the top 1,000,000 websites. GA can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, e-mail marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents. If your site sells products or services online, you can use Google Analytics e-commerce reporting to track sales activity and performance. RAMCHAND II YEAR CSE

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