Publisher’s Note
Change is in the air
D
Dear Reader, In keeping with our endeav-
our to bring more value to you,
I take this opportunity to convey we are increasing the number of
best wishes for a very happy, dual-layer DVDs to two from this
prosperous and safe new year to issue onwards, thus giving you
you and your family from Team even more content to enjoy every
Digit. In the new year, we at Digit month. We are also enhancing
look forward to bringing you all the Fast Track content.
the latest excitement in the area As we were entering the new
of technology, computing, gadg- year, we were faced with an
ets and a lot more. important question: should we
In my last letter to you, I had keep raising the quality and
asked you for feedback and sug- value of what you get, even if it Asheesh Gupta
gestions — to talk to us and let means adjusting the price a lit- Publishing Director, Digit
us know how your favourite tle, or should we maintain the
publication could serve you price and the offering?
even better. A lot of you Over the last few months, we
“It has been our constant
responded and reached out have implemented all possible endeavour to raise the
through letters, emails, the cost-reduction and austerity meas- standards and justify your
ThinkDigit web site and person- ures to help hold the price, while trust which has made
al calls. It became quite clear to enhancing the magazine. Digit the No. 1 Technology
us that you are not just readers However, this was not enough to Magazine in India”
of Digit, but rather a part of a allow us to continue our innova-
vibrant, well-knit community tions and enhancements. Based on
of technology enthusiasts who your feedback and inputs, we came
not only care for Digit a lot, but to the conclusion that we could
are also highly demanding in stay true to our commitment to
terms of quality. It has, there- innovate, and to our community’s
fore, been our constant endeav- expectations, only by increasing
our to raise the standards and the price. Although Digit will now
justify your trust which has be available on stands for a slightly
made Digit the No. 1 Technology higher cover price, the subscrip-
Magazine in India. tion price will remain the same as
We have been constantly before. I am confident that we can
investing in strengthening our continue to count on your support
editorial team. Last month Ahmed and goodwill.
Shaikh joined us as Editor-at-large In the coming months, you
and Online Architect for Personal will see several innovations in the
Technology. With Robert as Editor magazine, as well as online at
of Digit, Edward as Editor-in-chief ThinkDigit.com.
for Personal Technology and now Assuring you of our best
Ahmed, I can say without doubt efforts, I once again wish you a
that you are being served by the very happy 2009.
most formidable tech-editorial
team in this country. asheesh.gupta@9dot9.in
YO U R T EC H N O LO GY N AV I G ATO R January 2009 • Volume 9 • Issue 1
Managing Director Sales and Marketing
Dr Pramath Raj Sinha VP Sales and Marketing To advertise
Naveen Chand Singh
Printer and Publisher Product Manager Navneet Miglani South East
Kanak Ghosh Assistant Brand Manager Arpita Ganguli Sanjay Bhan Jayanta Bhattacharyya
Publishing Director National Marketing Manager E-mail: sanjay.bhan@9dot9.in E-mail: jayanta.bhattacharyya@9dot9.in
Asheesh Gupta Vikram Duggal Mobile: +91 9341829285 Phone: +91 9331829284
Editorial Marketing Communication Phone: (080) 25546370-73 (033) 22317344/46
Editor-in-Chief Thomas Varghese Fax: 41518330
Edward Henning Co-ordinator, Scheduling, Phone: (044) 28235186/88 North
MIS and Ad-sales Aatish Mohite
Editor Fax: 28230731 Pranav Saran
Robert Sovereign-Smith Phone: (040) 27894167/ 55221051 E-mail: pranav.saran@9dot9.in
Production and Logistics
Senior GM - Operations Fax: 27720205 Phone: +91 09331829284,
Writer
Aditya Madanapalle Shivshankar Hiremath (011) 41608655/56/57/58
Production Executive Vilas Mhatre West
Test Centre Logistics M P Singh, Mohd. Ansari, Arvind Ambo International
Manager - Test Development and Shashi Shekhar Singh E-mail: arvind.ambo@9dot9.in Navin Chand Singh
Sourcing Michael Browne Mobile: +91 9819904050 E-mail: nc.singh@9dot9.in
Manager - Testing and Processes Circulation and Subscription — Sales Phone: (022) 40373636/ Mobile: +91 99013 00772
Rossi Fernandes GM Circulation Milind Prabhughate 40373626/24494572/24467130/1
Reviewer Kumar Jhuremalani Co-ordinator Pramod Patil Fax: 24482059/24481123
Product Co-ordinators Customer Service Prerana Panchal,
KP Nambiar, Yogendra Bagle Vrushali Londhe
Design Customer Service:
Advertisers’ index
Creative Head Kabir Malkani 022-40789612/13/14
Client Page No Client Page No
Art Director Rohit A Chandwaskar
Head Office: Editorial, Marketing
Senior Designers Vijay Padaya,
and Customer Service
Canon Inside front Cover Microsoft 17
MV Sajeev, U Ravindranadhan
Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd Cricket Today 59 Microworld 25
Illustrators Shrikrishna Patkar,
C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30
Ashwini Baviskar Dell 15 MTNL 109
Near Sanpada Railway Station, Vashi,
Sr. Photographer Jiten Gandhi
Navi Mumbai 400703 Epson Inside back cover Nvidia 33
Phone: 40789666
Multimedia Fortune 115 Ricoh 23
Fax: 022-40789540, 022-40789640
Project Head Robert Sovereign-Smith
Content Co-ordination Gigabyte Back cover Rx -Tech 117
Aditya Madanapalle Cover Design Andre Rodrigues
HP 04 Seagate 19
Tell us what you feel about Digit i-Ball 11,77 Texonic 31
Each month, Digit walks through the technology maze to Iomega 99 Top-Gun 57
bring you the most relevant, and the most researched
Kingston 27 Wyse 31
stories. If you have an opinion about anything published
in Digit, or about technology in general, please write to
editor@thinkdigit.com Products reviewed this month
Product testing Business Laptops Test . .97 Motherboard Comparison Test . . .66
Want your product reviewed by Digit? Dell Latitude E6400 ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe
Contact our Test Center at HP Elitebook 6930P ASUS P5E3 Premium
testcenter@thinkdigit.com Lenovo T400 ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution
Lenovo X300 ASUS P5Q Premium
Software on DVD/CD
Sony Vaio VGN-Z13GN ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe
To submit and suggest software for
inclusion in the Digit DVD or CD, write to ASUS Rampage Extreme
cdcontent@thinkdigit.com Bazaar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 ASUS Rampage Formula
Billion BiGuard 30 ASUS Striker 2 Formula
Help! Brother MFC-7840N ASUS Striker 2 NSE
For subscription or copy-related issues, Canon Pixma MP198 BioStar T-Power I45
send an e-mail to help@thinkdigit.com HP Photosmart C4588 ECS P45T-AD3
Endorsements / reprints Intex IN 2266 EVGA 132-CK-NF78
Interested in ordering article reprints, Motorola Motozine ZN5 EVGA 132-CK-NF79
or using our logos? Contact Nikon D90 Gigabyte EP43-DS3L
reprint@thinkdigit.com Norton Internet Security 2009 Gigabyte EP45-DQ6
Sony Ericsson W595 Gigabyte P45-DS4P
Business enquiries Thermaltake Xaser VI Gigabyte X48-DQ6
For any business-related enquiries, contact Zebronics Air Gear Intel DX48BT2
business@thinkdigit.com MSI K9A2 Neo2
News and new product launches GPS Test . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 MSI P43 Neo
To announce new product launches, and press releases, Garmin Mobile 10 MSI P45 Platinum
email us at pressrelease@thinkdigit.com Garmin Nuvi 350 MSI X48c Platinum
MapmyIndia 430 Classic Navigator XFX MB-N780-ISH9
Disclaimer: For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, unless
specified otherwise. In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final. MapmyIndia A-MAX 06GP5A XFX MB-N790-IUL9
Satguide Bluetooth Receiver ZOTAC NF-780i Supreme
Printed and Published by Kanak Ghosh, for Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd. C/o KPT House, Plot
41/13, Sector 30, Near Sanpada Railway Station, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703 Satguide Mio C230 ZOTAC NF-790i Supreme
Editor: Sujay Nair, C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Near Sanpada Railway Station, Vashi Navi Satguide Mio P360
Mumbai 400703
Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd, Kohinoor Estate, 165, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel,
Mumbai 400 013
2 DIGIT JANUARY 2009
Editorial
Let Big Brother watch
A
ALL OF US pored over the papers and could always choose to secure and
were glued to the TV, as reports encrypt their work mail, and not use
updated us on the sophistication of “free email” services.
the Mumbai attacks. GPS devices, I expect people to brand me
Russian re-mailer servers and insane for welcoming the idea of Big
Blackberry devices were used by the Brother into my life, but I think it’s
terrorists. It must have been infinite- only logical given the times we live
ly easier to find someone to teach in. I’d rather some government com-
them how to use a GPS device or a puter network pick out a billion
Blackberry, than to fire an AK-47… innocent messages that we send,
even if they are, allegedly, from poor than let even a single mail from a
families in little villages. That’s the terrorist go unnoticed.
beauty (or the horror, in this case) of What have we really got to Robert Sovereign-Smith, Editor
technology today — absolutely any- hide? I’m sure the government or
one can learn to use it (for good or its computers will not care about “I’d rather some
evil), with very little in terms of a for- how much porn you surf for —
mal education required. unless it’s underage nonsense, in government computer
While most of us have lambasted which case you deserve life impris- network pick out a billion
our politicians and intelligence onment or worse. A government
agencies, and played armchair computer will not care about your
innocent messages that we
Prime Minister for a few days, the affair with your secretary, or what send, than let even a
real question that remains to be you were up to on your last holiday
single mail from a terrorist
answered is what are we willing to either. Besides, with a billion peo-
lose to make sure that our country ple online world-wide, which gov- go unnoticed.”
and our way of life is more secure? ernment is really going to have
After events like 26/11, people are time for irrelevant rubbish? YouTube videos that spread
generally more accepting of security You’ve probably heard the hatred, terrorists who use sat-phones,
measures, and patiently wait in line phrase, “The internet’s biggest flaw BlackBerry services, and Google
to be scanned and patted down at is also its biggest draw”. This refers Earth, paedophiles that lurk in chat
public places. Unless you’re a crimi- to the lack of a governing body for rooms waiting to prey on your kids,
nal, and are carrying drugs, guns or the net, and the freedom and and vengeful, lovelorn idiots making
explosives, you have an air of accept- anonymity it offers. Like little chil- indecent profiles of their exes on net-
ance about you when your “privacy” dren in a fancy dress competition, working sites; how much more idiocy
is being violated by these checks. we don different costumes online, do we really need to see before we
“It’s for the greater good”, you say to and always wear a mask. However, welcome a change that will stop
yourself, and move on. terrorists, paedophiles, stalkers and allowing the law to throw up its
So why is it that you don’t feel other sick people do exactly the hands in helplessness whenever tech
the same way about your online same thing. Isn’t it time we started is involved in a crime? In this day and
activities being monitored? Why is to realise that without some form of age, we need more preventive than
the world so paranoid about Big governance, chaos rules? reactive measures. I don’t think my
Brother, and the techniques he may How is it a good thing that just desire for “online privacy” is stronger
employ to keep us in check? anybody can Google “How to make a than my desire to never again bear
I, for one, couldn’t care less if my bomb” or “homemade bomb” and witness to a sorrowful candlelight
mails and social networking profiles get over 4.4 crore and 4.5 lakh vigil at the Gateway of India.
were being monitored — personal results, respectively? How can we
IDs of course. Monitoring work com- shout about privacy and freedom,
munications might not be such a when some innocent eight-year old
good idea, because most businesses is being made to act out sick fetishes
survive on privacy and secrecy of on film, by some of the same people
intellectual properties, and leaks who stand next to you in this self-
could ruin them. So, companies righteous picket line? editor@thinkdigit.com
CONTENTS DIGITAL BUSINESS Regulars
January 2009
DIGITAL PASSION
35 97 Tech Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Security Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Main Story Business Laptops Test
Hot Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The tech that powered evil Suited and booted
As we recover from the horror of the Mumbai attacks, we We test a very select bunch of the most elite business Digital World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
are now horrified by another thought: how did this gang notebooks around. Stat Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
get the technological one-up on our forces? And how must Buzzword Of The Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
the good guys fight them?
103 W5H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
39 Security Challenges
Threat defence Tips & Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Tech Quiz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Main Story New attack vectors threaten the business network. We take
Digital rights management a look at the evolving security landscape and chart out a Whatever Happened To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
A necessary evil or an evil that’s not necessary? new paradigm for defence against these threats People Who Changed Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Bluff Your Way Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
44 105 Wild Wild Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Blogwatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Main Story Security Challenges
Social engineering Bomb alert Digit Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Watch out for those millions of dollars from Nigeria waiting A well-drafted plan for bomb threats — tested and evaluat- Inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
21 for you... ed with trained staff — will enable your organisation to
respond promptly and minimise loss
The Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Cover Story
How secure are you?
Beware: enticing email subjects and images could lead your system and 46 maal Enter
security to peril... Drool
Headphones with bling, a keypad for smileys, and more
DIGITAL LEISURE
12 16
Who is Google? War on piracy — ver 2.0
DIGITAL TOOLS 13
No more jobs
18
Undersea cables cut again
54 13
Data retention
20
Microsoft launches BizSpark
Test
GPS Devices Tested 14
Chrome vs. IE8
20
New lease of life for
Now, getting lost is also a thing of the past...
Windows XP
16
3Gs are better than one
60
Bazaar Game On
We test the latest hardware and software products Escape
available in the market
107 112 113
Left 4 Dead YouTube made me famous
Gmail stops you from drunk
66 112
NY Gov proposes iPod tax
mailing
Test
Brick and mortar 108 113
114
Linux joins the OS advertising
battle
High-end rigs, multi-GPU systems and world-record beating Need For Speed - Undercover CCTV focuses on Google and
Yahoo!
benchmarks need the best boards. We’ve tested them... 116
49 110
113
China courts rule against dead
kids take traffic policing system
for a ride
Feature
Where on earth am I?
78 Far Cry 2
woman’s friend and blogging
site
Agent 0001
The answer to that question lies in technology we call GPS...
Digital cameras
6 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com JANUARY 2009 DIGIT 7
Contents Interactive Contents Interactive
DVD Contents January 2009
Tools Productivity
MULTIMEDIA communicate with users of AOL, OFFICE I Logicity - Crystal Reports Viewer
Audioblast MSN, Yahoo and ICQ instant authorPOINT Lite for I MuSQL 2.51
messengers from a single program. PowerPoint 2.0 I MYdbPAL for MySQL 3.0.7.1
I 1st MP3 Torrent Downloader 2.8 I MySQL 6.0 Enterprise
I Aardvark Desktop Creator 1 I Scribes Report Tool 5.0.3.9
I Avanquest Connection Manager - I SQL Studio Query eXecutor 1.1
Free Edition 2.0.3 I SQLCreator 2.0
I Avant Browser 11.5.16 I Access-to-MySQL 3.1
I BitTorrent I AdeptSQL Workshop 1.01
I Camfrog Video Chat 5.1.127 I Advanced Database Query 1.1
I Earthstationv 1.0 I Advanced Database Query
I FlashCatch 1.0.0.2 Automaton 1.1
I Free Phone 2.0 I Advanced SQL Recovery 1.0
I Free Webcam Watcher 1 I Advanced SQL To HTML Table
I Full Speed 3.0 Converter 1.1
Audioblast is a sound editor for WAV I Gigaget Download Manger 1.0.0.23 authorPOINT Lite converts and I Advanced SQL To PDF Table
and MP3 files that supports all the I HomeCamera 4.3 uploads presentations to Converter 1.1
standard editing features as well as I IP Hider 3.4 build 57 authorSTREAM and WiZiQ, the only I AlligatorSQL 1.15
several special effects and offers a I Java Desktop SMS 1.0 services that retain PowerPoint I blueshell Data Guy 2.02.0004
choice of graphic schemes. I Lphant Plus 1.00 effects on the web like PowerPoint I CASE Studio 2 2.22
I Monesafe 2006 animations, rehearsed timings, sounds I DAC for MySQL 2.6.3
Lego Digital Designer 1.21 I Mozy Free Remote Backup 1.6 and gifs. I Database Design Studio Lite 2.21.0
Lego Digital designer lets you model I Ozum 5.00 I DBExplorer 2.2.2
complex lego models in a virtual I Paessler Site Inspector 4.1.0.724 I Angel Writer 3.0 I DBF Comparer 2.34
design studio. I Web Services Accelerator 2.00 I BeamYourScreen 2.0.5 I DBSurveyor for SQL Server 1.0.1
I WeFi 3.3.2.1 I CHM Owner Guard 8.3.0 I MyCon Professional MySQL GUI
Gaming I Zultrax P2P 4.28 I CopyWriter 3.00
I cVue 0.7
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I RazorSQL 4.2.9 Fast Track
SYSTEM I Diagram Designer 1.21 I SQL Weaver 2.50 for ODBC With XML
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I CachemanXP 1.5 I NetViz 7.0 CAD I Fast Track Video Highlighter 2
MODS I Comodo Registry Cleaner I NoteMagic Lite 6.7.11.18 TigerCad 3.001 I DSV PHP
I Far Cry K-9 Vision v1.1 Mod I Doctor Alex Antispyware I nPowered Presenter 3.20.1437 TigerCad is a simple technical drawing PHP TOOLS Editor 2.3
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millions of Goo Balls who live in the I Chronicles of Spellborn I Desktop T Shirt Creator 1.1 I X-Setup Pro 6.5 I Ability Spreadsheet 4.14 I Source Edit 4.0 I SQLite PHP
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are extremely delicious. I Soldner-X I DynamicFactory 4.1 I .net Framework 2.0 I ClassDraw 1.01 Wizard 0.3 I Smilehouse
I Star Ocean: The Last Hope I Lego Digital Designer 2 I .net Framework 3.5 I ClearBoard 1.3.0 I Notepad++ 4.7.5 Workspace Small
I Master-Design Art-Shop X-Lite 17.4.36 I µTorrent 1.8.1 I ConceptDraw VI 6.0 I Firebird PHP Business 1.10
I OrangeCD Player I Avast Home Edition 4.8 I DiagramStudio 5.2 trical / electronic, building and room Generator 7.10
Entertainment I Photobie Design Studio 2.2.1
I Quick Media Converter
I Comodo Internet Security Pro
3.5.55810.432
I DoneEx XCell Compiler 1.9.3
I EDGE Diagrammer 6.04.2020
plans, and general diagramming.
Output in PDF format for the Web. Copy
I Soundflavor DJ I Foxit Reader 3.0 I Flow Diagrams 1.0 and paste graphics. Create standard
HD TRAILERS
Star Trek
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I Synfig Studio 0.61.05
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I IntroCreator 2.46.00
I Killink CSV 1.2.1
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I 2012 I ACDSee Photo Manager 10 I Java(TM) 2 Runtime I AutoCAD Drawing Viewer 2.1.9 ADOBE
I Astro Boy I Corel PhotoImpact X3 I K-Lite Mega Codec Pack FULL 4.2.5 DATABASE MANAGEMENT I CadStd Lite 3.5.9 I Adobe Flash Pro CS4
I Local Color I Magic Photo Editor 4.64 I Opera 9.6 XAMPP 1.6.8 I DesignBots 1 I Adobe AfterEffects CS4
I New in Town I MAGIX Xtreme PhotoStory on CD and I Silverlight XAMPP is a very easy to install Apache I Diagram Designer 1.21 I Adobe Illustrator CS4
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I Nothing But the Truth I Real Player Gold 11 I VLC Player 0.9.4 and Mac OS X. The package includes the I DwgSee Plus 1.2 I Adobe Lightroom CS4
I The International I SnagIt 9.0.2 I WinRAR 3.80 Apache web server, MySQL, PHP, Perl, a I eDrawings 2008 SP01 8.1.0.155 I Adobe Photoshop CS4
I The Reader I StillMotion PE 2 2.0.3875 FTP server and phpMyAdmin. I FreeCAD 8 I Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
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INTERNET I Adobe Shockwave I Active Query Builder Free Edition 1.7.9 I Live DXF2BMP 1
MOVIES Acoo Browser 1.90.966 I Avast Update I DaFT 1.0 I LiveSwif Lite 2.1 ASHAMPOO
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Alex Kurtzman (“TRANSFORMERS”, Dictator) I Norton Internet security update I FlySpeed SQL Query 1.1 I Sweet Home 3D 1.4 I Ashampoo Internet Accelerator 2
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8 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 For any queries regarding the CD or DVD, e-mail help@thinkdigit.com with “CD/DVD” as the subject. www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 9
If the subject is not mentioned, your mail might not reach the right person.
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Forever enough for my taste. I am 2MP sensor, quality is not phones jack and give you with some of my earlier
Join Date: Jun currently using an empty pen much better than my age-old 3.5mm jack. smartphones. There are
2008 with a big tip and this is much Nokia 6600’s VGA camera. The phone allows creating, differences but I have adapted
Location: Metal
City better for navigation as well as Music quality through the viewing and editing Word and to them in a short duration of
Posts: 721 writing on-screen. single speaker on the phone is Excel files. Viewing PowerPoint one day.
The user interface is a bit fair for soft numbers, it just files is supported but is The only major advantage
erratic. It isn’t slow at all times isn’t the thing for heavy metal sluggish. The Adobe PDF Reader the HTC Touch has over this is
but sometimes it slows down stuff. The treble is more also makes an appearance. For the WiFi but that isn’t so
erratically. Once I learned it; emphasised through the all practical purposes, it isn’t important yet as there is a lack
the erratic-ness has gone. Still external speaker, as is the case very usable because of the slow of WiFi hotpots to use this
the overall speed is not with many mobiles. Music processor. The games that come feature. In short, if you are
anything to talk home about. It quality through the provided along are pretty nice, but one thinking about buying this
is always somewhat slow. headphones is pretty good for a can install more games as it one, don’t hesitate.
10 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
Another one for the Eee PC Search may become passé
Eee PC the ultra-light, ultra-portable and ultra-cheap Contextual browsing may become the new avatar of Security Watch ground-level, 360-degree then having to compete
Netbook from Asus just bagged itself another award. It’s search. With browsers and web sites becoming
views of streets in 12 with hundreds or BBC allows
now crowned Forbes Asia’s Product of the Year for 2008. increasingly aware of what you are looking at, all your Critical security Japanese cities and is also thousands of other YouTube to
The product was chosen for its Innovation and Market web content needs will be custom delivered to you in flaw in IE (again)
Disruption. the future. offered for some 50 cities in companies for press and carry content
Small sections of programs
the United States and industry attention, are
The problem certain areas in Europe. making the shows less and
and promotional segments
of BBC videos have been
Microsoft recently issued a
Enter critical security warning
regarding a malicious code
As for the Android, we’ll
wait and watch. At the time
of going to print, Kogan
less compelling. Goes to
show that the trade show
biz isn’t exactly a growth
allowed to stay on YouTube
in exchange for a share of
the advertising revenues of
the video sharing web site.
that is making the rounds
and attacking vulnerabi-
Agora Pro, the second industry these days and,
WHY IS ANDROID? lities in Internet Explorer 7.
Android phone was with tough economic times
launched in Austrialia for ahead, luxuries like your
Who is Google? The infection had the
potential for wide-spread
$399 AU (Rs. 13,000). Unlike precious keynote are the
Viacom
removes
damage since IE 7 is the
T-Mobile’s G1, this phone first to go. Apple now content from YouTube
Viacom and subsidaries MTV,
N
o there’s no Having said that, there is Google code pack. In a latest non-beta version of
comes unlocked for use on probably plans to go in for
Eugene V. Kaspersky Nickelodeon and Comedy
CEO, Head of Antivirus Research, grammatical error also a lack of basic features recent US survey of the top Microsoft's browser and is
any carrier. its own exclusive product
Central have pulled more than
Kaspersky Lab there. Well, although like video recording. Is it a 20 most trusted companies, bundled with XP service
launches. Although Mac 100,000 clips from YouTube.
One of the world’s leading there is, it’s intentional. miss out, or more like an Google has fallen off the list pack 3 and also Vista. The
WHAT WILL APPLE DO? and Apple are synonymous, The lawyers are unsure of the
experts in antivirus protection Think about it. Since the opportunity for entirely from its spot at 10 it is worth mentioning here website is actually giving a
What were you thinking of time Google announced its independent app on last year’s list. Google’s
code, infects a users'
system with a Trojan horse.
No more that the Macworld Expo is
boost to the content owned by
Viacom or dealing it a blow.
doing after your degree, how
did you think your career
would go, had you thought of
open source android
operating system for
developers? Google has fall is probably due to the
big company syndrome,
It may even start down-
loading other malicious
Jobs run by IDG World Expo.
Knowing Apple’s penchant
going into this kind of work or mobiles, people have where people just elements into the users
for control, chances are that
were you planning on doing wondered — why is start trusting big
M
system. Microsoft says that
id December news Macworld Expo didn’t offer is quitting Macworld.
something else? Google launching a companies less. wires are abuzz Apple enough control. For Mac enthusiasts
I have done my degree in the code can creep in even
Cryptology. I think I was product that has no Perhaps Google through legitimate websites
with the hullabaloo Also interesting is what what Steve Jobs’ departure
planning on doing something apparent revenue should treat these of Steve Jobs quitting these expos do to the share means is that there will be
else, I didn't enjoy myself, it in which the script has been
was just antivirus systems, it model? The question signs as early inserted to run in the
Macworld and Apple opting price of Apple Inc. A no more jazzy stunts in the
was just my hobby. I got into it has come to the warnings. Besides background. Earlier
out of the event altogether, prelude to all of Apple’s Keynote, which Jobs was
by accident. My computer was forefront once again this, there is a lot of after the January media events is crazy rumor famous for. During the
infected back in 1989 with a versions of IE are also
cascade virus, back when there with the launch of T fuss being kicked up vulnerable. It is being said
installment. Mac fanboys mongering and speculation. launch of the iPhone he
was such a virus. That’s why I’m mobile’s HTC G1. The about Google Maps that Microsoft Corp.'s
cried themselves to sleep The result is that almost pulled out the phone from
here. phone is pretty nifty post the Mumbai speculating whether Job’s every Apple extravaganza his jeans pocket and called
developers missed the bug
and we especially terror attacks. An because they didn't have
health is behind the move, since Macworld 2007, no the local Starbucks Café for
How do you tackle human
gullibility, which is one of the
like the flip-slider Indian lawyer filed a the right testing tools.
but the more plausible matter what news comes 4000 Lattes to go. But
greatest vulnerabilities out opening keyboard. petition in the Microsoft's testing tools —
reason is that, like many out of it, has triggered a realistically speaking, Mac-
there when it comes to internet Android works fairly Mumbai High Court, companies, Apple is getting massive sell-off of Apple lovers can probably rest
security? including “fuzzers,” which
smooth too. But arguing that Google are automated tools that
tired of trade shows. For stock. Initial reports suggest assured Apple’s not going to
There are three things you could
do against cyber terrorism, cyber coming back to what Earth and similar drop data into applications,
many companies, the that Apple stock may have come apart cheap the
criminals and against all threats Google is upto — services “aid expense and complexity of dropped nearly 7 per cent minute Jobs leaves.
— education, law enforcement file formats or operating
and protection. We have a special perhaps its recent terrorists in plotting system components to see
exhibiting at huge shows, on the news that Steve Jobs
education system for kids and announcement that attacks”. The if and where they fail — also
NO MORE RECORDS
students about this. We do it and the iPhone and T- petition is
we do it for free, because we take
it as part of our mission to spread Mobile G1 can now demanding a
missed the bug.
Data
the news. We have presentations
given by about 80 experts and
this method works.
show Google search
ads sheds a little light on come up with a mobile
removal of Google
Earth satellite images of
The solution
Microsoft has released an
Retention
the question. Is Google then application store of its own, India, or at the very least, emergency update patch
going the Microsoft way? called Android Market ala blur images of sensitive
P
Isn’t it difficult to make MS08-078 which addresses
ost 26/11, security
people sit up and listen and Monopoly being the name iPhone. Besides, some of places in the country, such the vulnerability. The patch
measures and privacy
take notice for such a thing to of the game. For instance, Google’s latest antics as Indian nuclear plants issues are much talked
work? fixes a flaw in the data-
reports suggest T-Mobile’s include asking broadband and defence establishments. binding function of all
about. So the news that
The problem is that they don’t G1 works fine with many carriers to create a special And it’s not just Indians. A search companies are
pay enough attention in social available versions of the
networks. They think they trust online services, but it works fastlane exclusively for its group of Japanese lawyers popular browser. Users who
cutting down on search-
everyone in a community, and especially well with content. This would be done and professors have also have automatic updates
data retention time, is of
give out data, some personal Google’s. It delivers a lot of by placing Google servers in asked Google to stop much relevance.
information, which is enough for turned on will receive the
the basic core functions and the ISP’s technical facilities. providing detailed street- patch automatically while
Search companies keep
to see some serious
repercussions. It is one of the of course, tight integration Another somewhat level images of Japanese others can access it via a
the IP addresses of their
greatest threats, probably one of with Google’s products, alarming warning sign is cities. Google provides this download from Microsoft’s
users for a period before
the most serious because there including Gmail, Google the removal of Firefox as through its Street View making them anonymous.
are millions of people who are in web site.
this network. Maps, and Google Calendar. the default browser in the service, which offers Until they anonymise the
I China blocks access to New York Times I Dell to launch ultra thin laptop to compete with Macbook Air I Snowboarder Shaun White and swimmer Michael Phelps to feature in video games I Lawyers use Facebook to serve legal papers
12 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 13
Enter
The Digital World A Round-up Of Technology News From Across The Globe
CHINA
Lenovo’s oPhone handsets
to have OS developed by
China Mobile
US
Apple TV sued
for patent
infringement by EGYPT
EZ4Media The first Nuclear JAPAN
power plant in Panasonic and Sanyo
Egypt contracted announce a capital
to Bechtel, a US and business
company partership
INDIA
Lok Sabha passes
bill to improve the
Information
Technology Act
AUSTRALIA
Authorities to
curtail P2P and
torrent access
across Australia
identities of its users, the reduction in retention times the bits in the user IPs WHO WILL WIN?
information is used is a response to pressure stored on its servers. But
alongside other data, such from the European that’s it. The plan would Chrome v/s
as search queries, to improve
relevance of search results
Commission’s data
protection advisory group,
leave cookie data alone.
Let’s leave search IE 8
and target advertising to the the Article 29 Working Party, companies and privacy
user, among other reasons. and other data protection issues alone for a minute
G
oogle recently went
The most recent officials to do more to and look at what risk Data away from its
announcement came from protect the privacy of users. retention could pose to perpetual beta
Yahoo!, saying it would cut The commission is also National Security. Even convention by finally
down data retention to three pushing for the sector to Internet service providers bringing Chrome out into
months in most cases, from adopt an industry-wide can retain certain data. the real world. Google’s
the prior norm of 13 standard. Currently, there is Back in 2006, this very issue notorious beta label on
months. “This was our disparity in the method was being debated in the their products is a great
attempt to put a stake in the companies are adopting in US. A major concern was umbrella cover for them to
ground” Anne Toth, Vice the process of that the ISPs retaining data receive forgiveness when
President of Policy and anonymisation. Microsoft would also retain traffic things go awry.
Privacy Chief at Yahoo said said it welcomed the move, information of federal, state Unfortunately, the same
on the issue, thus making but made a distinction and local governments. practice can be a major
its retention policy the between the timeframe and Classified federal systems, problem when looking to
shortest among peers. It is the method of making data which generally don’t use gain serious market share.
reserving the right to keep anonymous. Yahoo! will the Internet, may be the OEMs won’t touch you with
data for up to six months if delete the final segment of exception. What problems a 10-foot pole if your
fraud or system security are the IP address, which it said could arise if commercial product is still in beta. And
involved. Earlier this year, makes it no longer unique ISPs hold detailed records of once OEMs preinstall any
industry leader Google Inc or identifiable. Microsoft is all the communications to product, its market share is
halved the amount of time it deleting all of the Internet and from government exponentially upped.
stores personal data to nine address, which it said will agencies? Data retention Consider IE 8 — it is
months, while earlier in break any potential link to a may increase the risk of the currently not bundled with
December Microsoft Corp particular set of search exposure of undercover any version of Windows.
had said it will cut the time queries. With its nine-month police or confidential The only way to get it is by
to six months if its rivals did anonymisation, Google informants. And this is just download, so market share
the same. The spate of intends to change some of one example. is sure to drastically change
I Ecofont, a TrueType font designed to save ink and toner launched I Warner Music pulls down its content from YouTube
14 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
once Windows 7 is ready for data limit, and if so, would for similar applications. listening to copywrited
consumers. A quick look at it be ridiculously low According to the content, why not try to
some numbers online thereby defeating the whole Department of Telecom squeeze some ads in
reveals that in this sort of point of 3G. For the (DoT), the 2.1-GHz band will there.” Accordingly, all
level playing field, Chrome uninitiated, 3G will allow be used for 3G, while 2.3 such content on Myspace
is doing better than IE 8 in operators to offer high-end GHz and 2.5 GHz have been and YouTube wasn’t
terms of market share. services such as faster earmarked for WiMax. necessarily pulled down.
(Though to be fair we must downloads of video clips, Ericsson — the biggest Instead, the original
consider that IE8 is still in movie trailers and music supporter and equipment owners could just choose
beta.) The battle which will files, video calls, interactive vendor of 3G — is laying to put ads on it. Now in its
now ensue to become the gaming and even streaming claims on the 2.3 GHz latest installment against
next browser of choice will video. The existing telecom spectrum band, which is piracy, the Recording
definitely be interesting. services in India operate on meant for WiMax. Industry Association of
Coming to the question the 2G spectrum. The America (RIAA) has
of whether Chrome will be process for the auction of BAD BOYS - WHAT’CHA announced that it will
adopted by the masses, it all 3G licences in India kicks GONNA DO? work with internet service
depends on user preference. off in January 2009. But providers to sever abusers’
Users tend to get pretty before we get on to the War on net connections. Just to
attached to the little niche
utilities that each browser
nitty-gritties, two issues
must be addressed. First, of Piracy v2.0 clarify, abuser here means
you. Yes, you with the 20
has. The noticeable lack of the 300 million mobile GB MP3 collection! Under
add-on support in Chrome users in India, how many
I
t seems the bigwigs at the new plan, RIAA will
is one of the many items have 3G phones? These RIAA are ready to try send notices to ISPs that
people who haven’t made high-end phones cost more out just about anything identify the IP addresses of
the switch typically cited. than Rs. 11,000 at the least. to stem the piracy biz. First suspected file sharers. ISPs
But regardless of how ready And out of all the things 3G they began by suing people will then send warnings to
the browser is in the non- enables you to do, how who downloaded music. their customers and then
beta avatar, this latest move much of it will you really That meant suing just cut them off if the users
puts them in a good use? Perhaps the average about every person on fail to curb their illegal
position to take advantage Indian mobile user may planet earth right? They downloads. Details are still
of OEMs. Having Chrome want to watch a T20 match managed to sue 30,000 being worked out, but
pre-installed on machines on the go rather than video accused file sharers in the most reports said
will quickly boost its call someone. In any case, last five years. Clearly it downloaders might lose
usage stats. 3G users will still be a small wasn’t working, so the their net connection after
minority, at least initially. music industry said “hey the third notice. The
INDIA GETS 3G The second issue is shortage wait a minute, since so termination could last
of spectrum availability in many people are anywhere from three
3Gs are bet- many circles at peak times. downloading, viewing and months to a year. But it
ter than one Service, is after all, as good
as the calls it allows you to
make, so we don’t want any
M
TNL recently lagging issues there.
announced the Coming back to the licence
launch of 3G auctioning, under existing
services in Delhi. guidelines, the successful
Interestingly enough, it was 3G auction bidders will have
inaugurated by Prime to pay Rs 1,651 crore for a
Minister Manmohan Singh UASL licence that entitles
by receiving a video call them to offer all
from Telecom Minister A communication services.
Raja. We would’ve expected The 3G hype also brings up
one of the private players to the longstanding battle
be the first one off the between 3G and WiMax
block, but what is important technologies. WiMax stands
is the reaction the for Worldwide
announcement has evoked. Interoperability for
Message boards were actively Microwave Access. It can
speculating what kind of also be used to provide voice
plans would be available, services and rivals 3G as
whether there would be a both the platforms are used
I Cisco Claims About 90 per cent of All Email is Spam I Electronics Arts will sell Spore DRM Free
16 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
coast at Alexandria and go webs of fibre optic cables
on to connect to Asia, were that cover the planet. The
probably damaged either lines take years of planning
by a ship’s anchor or a to install. To repair them is
70% of all porn Only 33% of minor earthquake, officials even more of a challenge.
access on the net households actively
say. So if your online As part of damage control
occurs during gaming experience has not for this recent incident, a
protect their children been up to the mark, 64-crew French
office hours from the internet lagging away to world’s maintenance boat arrived
end, then this is probably on site, off the coast of
why. Initial reports suggest Sicily, following a two-day
as much as 70 per cent of journey from southern
70% of all 63% of parents using internet and telephone France. An underwater
security breaches SMS services feel this traffic between the robot was sent down to
are caused by continents has been locate the cables, which
improves
affected by the outage may have been dragged
insiders communication with affecting millions across several kilometers off site
their children the Middle East and south in the incident — and lift
Asia. International them to the surface where
In the year telephone calls, which have they will be repaired fibre
2008, $865 also been affected, were by fibre.
Billion was 50% of all returned being re-routed to work Some trivia:
invested in IT IT products work, but around the problem. A 1. The crack about sharks at
can’t be figured out by somewhat corny outcome the beginning wasn’t entire-
products and of the outage is that ly unfounded. It seems that
services buyers people have been getting the very first small diameter
less spam! Inboxes which fibre optic cables laid were
were being bombarded indeed damaged by sharks
seems identifying culprits SHARK INFESTED WATERS? with hundreds of spam chewing on them on the
isn’t so easy. There is the mail a day now get only ocean floor. Scientists found
Catch-22 of fair use and Undersea a few. that sharks were attracted
besides, many of the law
suits by the RIAA resulted cables cut Despite widespread
wireless internet and
by the magnetic fields
formed around the cable,
in grandmoms being
dragged into court, based
again satellite connections, and
contrary to popular belief,
produced by the electrical
current supplying power to
on sometimes specious global communications the amplifiers which are
evidence. To many, internet
N
o it’s not the poor lil still rely largely on the vast placed periodically. To
connections are essential sharks. At the outset
lifelines to school, work, of 2008, a badly
and other important parts dropped ship anchor had
of daily life that we will damaged an undersea
not mention. Considering Internet provisioning
these, many of RIAA’s telecom cable in the
detractors will certainly Mediterranean, disrupting
put up a fight. Oh! by the Internet service throughout
way, the Motion Picture India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,
Association of America is and the Middle East. And
also in discussion with this year its deja-vu all over
ISPs to adopt the same again. The lines, which
strategy. emanate from the Egyptian
Green-washing
n a world gripped by the competitors, the product is simply positioned as
Ibio-system, Green-washing
fallout of a degenarating
fears of a disasterous being eco-friendly and put on the market. Vague,
untrue and irrelevent product features are
refers to the undue exploitation of highlighted as being good for the enviornment. This
enviornmentalistm by companies. For example, if a practice is known as green-washing, which is a
particular product does not perform as well as its combination of green and white-washing.
I India won't levy admin tax on 3G spectrum I Windows 7 scheduled for late 2009 launch I EA titles to be available online through Steam
18 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
reduce these problems, the basically undercutting that They first begin by pulling
cables are buried in the advantage. Besides this, the the plug on sales and then
floor of the ocean using spe- program will also provide eventually stop support.
cial under sea ploughs. access to technical support January 31, 2009 was listed
However, in rocky bottoms and marketing visibility as the last day that anyone
and over undersea cliffs, the from Microsoft, as well as could buy XP, but Microsoft
Universal Memory cables are still exposed. support through a select has told its system builder
What is Universal Memory? 2. Cables with 10 Gbps group of network partners partners that they will be
Universal Memory approaches bandwidth were laid at a — industry associations, allowed to continue to sell
memory storage in a radicaly cost of $27,000 per km in government agencies, XP after cut-off date. In
different way. Universal
1999. Do the math. university incubators and what is being called the
Memory is the term given to
the next wave of storage investors — chartered with flexible inventory
solutions that are about to hit DOWN WITH OPEN SOURCE advancing programme, distributors
the world. entrepreneurialism. In can place their last orders
Microsoft India, these partnerships for Windows XP OEM
Why do you need Universal
Memory?
The next generation of memory
Launches include The Indus
Entrepreneurs (TiE), NEN,
licenses by January 31, 2009,
and take delivery against
devices plan to replace the
current generation by
BizSpark Proto, NASSCOM and IDG
Ventures, a venture capital
those orders upto May 30.
Until then, distributors
outperforming current storage firm. Other VC firms would have to buy as many
solutions in two basic aspects
T
hey say all big things supporting the initiative XP licenses as they could
of memory storage. The first begin with an idea. include Draper Fisher afford before the cut off
aspect is power consumption, And when it comes to Jurvetson (DFJ), Helion date and sell them after the
and the second aspect is the
density of memory. This successful technology Venture Partners and Accel deadline. Apparently
generation of low-power, high ventures, some of the Partners. Virtually distributors are quite happy
density memories will probably biggest have their roots in everything a startup needs with the new arrangement
be able to store memory even India. Microsoft is now to build a web service (many as they don’t have to hand
without electricity running eyeing this very potential of the tools and software over cash for the new
through them. licences until they have
already sold them.
Which companies are
involved? Software companies are
The list is pretty long. IBM, HP, still softies when it comes
Motorola are all researching to phasing out older
different universal memory products. Take the case of
strategies. Samsung and processor manufacturers —
Toshiba are also in the race.
Intel does not manufacture
Companies that specialise only
in memory solutions like its Pentium II and III lines
Everspin and Hynix are anymore. Even if you were
obviously involved. A company to say “hey I use my comp
called Nantero has developed only as a word processor, I
promising wafers with 10 market with the launch of compete with open source don’t need quad core speed.
billion bits of memory. BizSpark. The program alternatives, such as MySQL) Can I get a Pentium II for
How will it be done? targets early stage software is being offered to startups cheap?” Well no you can’t.
Current research have different startups, with resources for free for three years. The Not from the manufacturer
approaches in different labs. including access to idea, they say, is to create a at least.
One approach is to use the Microsoft platform software vibrant startup ecosystem About discontinuing
nanoscale structures on the and development tools with in India. support Microsoft says this
silicon wafers themselves. no upfront costs. As you’ve on its web site, “Microsoft is
Other approaches include
probably figured the STILL KICKING retiring support for these
molecular memory and
program is a bid to keep the products because they are
magnetic random access
memory. open source mafia at bay. It New lease of outdated and can expose
When will we see it?
is no secret that startups are
very cost-conscious. Given life for customers to security risks.
We recommend that
Predictions vary from 2011 to
2020.
the relative lack of cost-
effective software solutions,
Windows XP customers who are still
running Windows 98 or
Will it be any good? they often tend to veer Windows Me upgrade to a
towards open source.
B
Portable devices stand to ig technology corps newer, more secure Microsoft
benefit the most. The memory Microsoft understands the often phase out their operating system, such as
promises to store all the data price-attraction of open older products to Windows XP, as soon as
in any DVD ever made in a source, and hence, it is make way for newer ones. possible.” I
single laptop sized box.
I Martian bedrock analysis shows that life was once possible on the red planet I Rumors emerge of G2 following up on G1
20 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital
35 The tech that
powered evil 39 Digital Rights
Management 44 Social
engineering
Passion
Fuelling The Pursuit Of Technology Knowledge
Cover Story
Enticing email subjects and images
How could lead your system and security
to peril...
secure
are you?
Edward Henning
T
here is no such thing as a completely
secure computer, or IT network. The
number of threats we face from
pranksters, all the way to organised crime is
growing all the time. In fact, the threats
themselves are increasing in both seriousness
and sophistication.
Related
story on
pg 35
It’s not just a matter of viruses, trojans or
worms that might come attached to an email
and then infect your machine. If you are on
the internet, then you are open to
attacks of many different kinds,
from hackers trying to gain direct
access to your computer, malicious
web sites tricking you into parting
with money, tricks to get personal
details such as credit card information
or passwords, software slipped onto your
PC that will do any number of things without
detection — the list is always growing. As
computers, software and the internet become
more feature-rich and complex, the number
of ways in which attacks can occur also
inevitably increases. Everybody needs to be
vigilant, particularly where online transac-
tions involving banking or online shopping
are concerned.
The original web pages that people surfed
early in the 90s consisted only of text format-
ted with HTML together with images, tables
and the like. Not much risk was involved. But
things are now much more complex. You have
embedded videos, JavaScript menus, PHP code
and many more rich and interactive features.
With this level of complexity also come
programming errors and loopholes. At the
best, these problems cause difficulties with
the straightforward operation of a site. At the
worst, they enable an attacker to take over a
site, grab personal information or infiltrate
hidden software onto your PC.
The language used in security circles
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 21
Digital Passion l Cover Story
describes computer systems as having some form of con-trick, and any such trick stands a
kind of vulnerability that is then exploited by better chance of working the more believable
an attacker. However, the most important it is. The simplistic attacks seem to be falling
vulnerability is human gullibility and lack of in number, presumably because people are
understanding. Conversely, the most impor- increasingly aware of the problem, and so
tant form of defence is a reasonable under- attackers are becoming more sophisticated.
standing of security issues combined with Perhaps the most common form of attack
care and vigilance. used in phishing is known as cross-site script-
If you received an email from some ing (XSS). In this method an attacker will
unknown source, telling you to click on a link insert code in the embedded link — not the
to “See Britney Spears naked”, would you click link that you will necessarily see — that will
on that link? Most people nowadays know the attempt to manipulate a web application,
danger involved and that clicking on such a usually so that some code is inserted into the
link is likely to lead to computer infection of page that will be displayed in your browser.
some kind. Unfortunately, there are still some This doesn’t change anything on the server,
who do not. but your browser will receive an amended
But what if the email at least appeared to form of the page, and will execute the mali-
be from a known source, and one that you cious code as if it had come from that server.
knew had your email address. What if it What you see will be the correct page of, say,
appeared to be from your own bank, and your bank, but it will behave and perhaps
included all the right graphics, logos and appear differently — usually it will send you
everything? You may be much more
likely to click on the link in order to
reset your PIN or password, as
suggested. What if the link led you to a
web page, apparently with the correct
URL, that looked exactly like your
bank’s correct page, complete with
Verisign security certificate logo (the
little lock in the bottom right of the
window frame). Would you then enter
your existing user name and password,
thereby allowing the attacker to empty
your bank account, or purchase goods
online and send them to Africa?
Such attacks are more rare than
offers of naked Britneys, but the
attackers are getting this sophisti-
cated, and making increasing efforts
to make money from such attacks.
They continue to do so only because previous This partial screenshot is to another page that will have been crafted by
and less sophisticated attacks have proved of a genuine email from a the attacker.
UK utility company
successful. People have clicked on the links, presenting a link allowing In an extended form of this attack, known
entered personal information, and lost the user to pay a bill. The as persistent XSS, the manipulated URL is
money as a result. link is of a known and stored on a server in some form or another —
In the following pages, we will describe correct URL, and the in a database, forum content, and so forth —
actual link that would be
the most likely types of security problems followed — which is
and is then accessed by unsuspecting users. In
that you will encounter and give you some displayed in the window this case, you do not have to click on a manip-
advice on how to behave on the internet — frame at bottom left — ulated URL in a phishing email, but it exists
what to do and what not to do. Software can matches correctly the link in some other source that you might stumble
also of course help considerably, as long as in the text. Even though upon innocently.
this is clearly correct, it it
you do not allow yourself to become compla- better practice never to Another variant on this kind of attack is
cent — you may have the best known anti- use such a link, but use known as frame-spoofing, which can also be
virus and anti-spyware software installed, but your bookmarked link to triggered by a manipulated URL in an email.
you still need to take care. your utility company in Frames have long been considered to be inse-
order to pay such a bill.
Even a small difference in
cure by security experts, and their use is
Dangers on the internet the actual link might take slowly fading away, but there are still a great
The method of attack we described earlier, of you to a spoofed site number out there. In frame spoofing — first
an email purporting to come from your bank recognised by Microsoft back in the days of
and asking for personal information, is Windows 3.1 — an attacker is able to insert
known as phishing. Basically, phishing is a their own window as a frame within the
22 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Cover Story
window of a legitimate website. This means the last year, is security certification. If you
that, again, the page you are viewing is the are online to an e-commerce site and are
correct one, with the correct URL and with about to enter your credit card information,
the security icon visible, if relevant. But, part the window you are working in should have a
of it has been replaced with malicious little lock icon in the bottom right corner of
purpose. This can be very difficult to spot. the frame. This is the security certificate, and
In these types of attack, the malicious strictly speaking, you should click on the
code is inserted in such a way that it runs in icon, and check that the certificate is genuine
your browser — the server of the bank or other and was issued to the right organisation. This
service has not been compromised. However, is a pain, and there must be very few people
there is a form of attack known as remote who actually bother to do this, or even know
code execution in which the web application that it might be a wise thing to do. Such
is itself tricked into executing the attacker’s checks are being introduced into browsers,
code. Very often, this results from weaknesses but this has been very slow in coming.
in PHP, one of the most common scripting You may think these security certificates
languages used for creating web sites. Again, are rock solid and reliable, but earlier this year,
the relevant scripts can be triggered from the commonly used OpenSSL package in
within manipulated URLs. Many program- Debian — used to generate the keys for this kind
mers have simply assumed that their program of encrypted communication — was found to
will always receive valid input data at all have contained a bug since 2006. This resulted
times, and do insufficient validation of such in the creation of weak keys. This makes the
keys more predictable and the commu-
nication therefore open to attack; the
communication over which your credit
card or other details might be passed.
Finally, although our list of security
vulnerabilities is going to be far from
comprehensive, we should mention
keyloggers, which are a particularly
pernicious form of infiltrated software.
You might pick up a keylogger in much
the same way as a virus, trojan or worm.
Once it is inside your system, it will do
nothing to give away its presence, but it
will sit there noting the keystrokes that
are made and sending these off across
the internet to the attacker. Of course, it
will be looking for the tell-tale signs of
credit card or banking information and
the relevant PINs and passwords. It is
data: URLs, form data, and so on. This second partial screen- because of attacks such as these that some
Many, if not all, of the websites with shot is from a phishing banks have started supplying virtual keyboards
which we are likely to have online transac- email, pretending to come when you enter your password. With these,
from PayPal. Notice that
tions are backed by large SQL databases. the actual link that would
instead of using your physical keyboard to enter
Again, problems occur when data that a user be followed — in the the password you use the keyboard on screen,
might input is not filtered and checked prop- window frame — is very pressing keys with the mouse. The keylogger is
erly by the web site. If this data has been different from the one in blind to this activity — at least up until now!
manipulated in some way, a skilled attacker the email text. This would It should be clear by now that the complex-
for certain lead to a
can make use of special SQL characters (typi- spoofed site of some kind, ity of modern computer systems carries with it
cally, the comment and end-of-command with a request to enter a vast number of possibilities for attackers to
characters) and infiltrate his own commands personal data. Always infiltrate systems and gain access to confiden-
in order to execute an attack. With this kind check the actual link when tial data. The increasing trend towards such
following a link in an
of attack, it is the web service that is the email, and if it is for a site
concepts as cloud computing and Web 2.0,
target, rather than the user directly. However, involving financial trans- involving more private data being hosted on
there have been instances where attackers actions, never click on the internet and ever more code and transac-
have been able to compromise an SQL data- such a link tions being passed across the internet, is only
base and access customers’ credit card and likely to make the situation worse. In the
transaction details. following pages we describe the steps you can
Another component in online transac- take to protect yourself in that dangerous
tions that is supposed to safeguard such online world, and the software that can help
details, and that has attracted attention in you on the way. I
24 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Cover Story
Cyber crime
The new age menace
Pradeep Narayan I Install a personal firewall and anti-spy ware to
protect your PC.
I
n the current age of the IT revolution, more
and more people are getting hooked into I Periodically change your online passwords.
the cyber world for their various needs.
There is a distinct reliance on computers and I Check your credit card and bank statements
the internet now for email, entertainment, regularly and report any irregularities to the
shopping (online shopping), airline and rail relevant authorities.
tickets, banking, trading and the list goes on.
While it does make our lives simpler and I Modify Internet Explorer or other browser
convenient, it also poses dangers to us in an security settings to limit the amount of infor-
unprecedented way by exposing their identity mation you are willing to accept from a web
in the public domain. Details of our personal site. Microsoft recommends to set the security
information, such as name, addresses, pass- settings for the internet zone to medium or
words and bank accounts are in the process of higher.
being attacked by various fraudsters, hackers,
terrorists and criminals freely roaming the The need to update your browser
cyber world. When you use the internet, you view web sites
It makes perfect sense for users to under- in a browser. A browser is a program that
stand the online security threat they are accesses and displays files and other data avail-
exposed to while surfing the web. Just what are able on the internet and other networks.
those risks and threats that we are talking Browser programs are frequently updated to
about? Among dangers are hostile viruses, hack- add functionality and address problems. If you
ers accessing your system and stealing vital are using an older version, there could be secu-
information like credit card details and rity issues (someone could hack into your
committing fraud, unsecured wireless computer).
networks, spyware on your system, and
identity theft. How to do it?
As a user, how can you enhance your online Download the latest or updated browser you are
security? using from the company’s web site over the
In the following section, we will discuss internet. It might ask for information about
the kind of risks that you are exposed to your computer such as what operating system it
and the ways in which you can tackle those uses — Vista or Windows XP. Then follow the
risks. There is no fool-proof system, but it instructions on your screen.
doesn’t hurt to be a little careful while on
the internet. I Save it to your computer, it will be saved as an
executable file. Once the download is
Guidelines complete, go to the file where you saved it, and
double — click on it. This will automatically
How to protect personal and work data install the new browser on your computer.
I Protect yourself with relevant software from
viruses and trojan horses that may steal or Be careful while doing online shopping
modify data on your own computer. A trojan I Shop online only with known and reputable
horse program is software that claims to do merchants; enter their URLs yourself, and do
something genuine, but does exactly the oppo- not click on links in emails; these may very well
site. For example, a program that claims it will contain hidden commands to trick you
speed up your computer may actually be send-
ing personal PC information to a hacker. I Do not respond to any emails asking for
personal information
I Update your PC with the latest anti-virus soft-
ware and operating system patches. Make sure I Check web sites’ privacy policy before provid-
these updates happen automatically. ing any personal or financial information
26 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Cover Story Digital Passion l Cover Story
I Make sure your data is encrypted. Many sites Criminals with Tips to secure wireless networks secure connection, the address displayed you can menus. These scripts are used by hackers to
use SSL, or secure sockets layer to encrypt I Change the default passwords as most should begin with https. download or execute viruses on a user’s
information. Indications that your informa- malicious network devices have a pre-configured default prevent active computer. However, you can prevent active
tion will be encrypted include a URL that intent could password and these are easily found online. Spoofing attacks content from content from running in most browsers result-
begins with https: instead of http: and a lock I Spoofing attacks are as common as phishing ing in limiting some functionalities and
icon in the bottom right corner of the take advan- I Install a firewall directly onto your wireless frauds. The spoofed site is usually designed to running in features of some web sites. Therefore, before
window. tage and devices (a host-based firewall). Attackers who look like the genuine site, using a similar look most browsers clicking on a link to a web site that you are not
directly intercept your wireless network may be and feel to the legitimate site. The best way to familiar with or do not trust, disable
I In case you doubt the legitimacy of the certifi-
access your able to by-pass your network firewall and so verify whether you are at a spoofed site is to
resulting in active content.
cate, refrain from entering any personal infor- computer and this does not offer sufficient protection. verify the certificate. limiting some
mation. If the site does not require you to enter
steal vital functionalities Safeguarding online trading
sensitive information, it probably won’t display I Restrict access — only allow authorised users I “Lock” icon – check for the lock icon in the The risks involved in online trading are high.
the lock icon. information or to access your network. Each piece of hardware lower-right of the browser window. This tells and features Brokerages have information about you and
use your inter- connected to a network has a MAC (media you that the web site uses encryption to protect of some web this information is under attack by fraudsters.
I Use a credit card instead of a debit card, access control) address. Restrict or allow access sensitive personal information — credit card To gain access to these databases, attackers may
because credit cards have pre-defined limits net connec- to your network by filtering MAC addresses. The number, ATM PINs, Social Security number, sites. use trojan horses or other types of malicious
and in case your credit card details are compro- tion to commit MAC address is a unique identifier for network- etc. The lock only appears on sites that use an Therefore, code.
mised this will minimise possible losses. Use ing hardware such as wireless network SSL connection, which is typically used only on
credit cards with a low credit line. acts of fraud adapters. A hacker can capture details about a sites where you enter sensitive information. before clicking Tips to safeguard online trading
or terror MAC address from your network and pretend to The secure site lock icon when closed means on a link to a I You should thoroughly check the brokerages
ICheck your statements to keep an eye on any be that device to connect to your network. MAC that the site uses encryption. Double-click the you are trading with.
unusual transactions filtering will still protect you from majority of lock icon to display the security certificate for web site that
the hackers. Find the MAC address for your the site. This certificate is proof of the identity you are not I Check through offline methods about broker-
Cookies network adapters on your devices by following for the site. While checking the certificate, the ages.
While you browse the internet, information these steps: name following “Issued to:” should match the
familiar with
about your computer may be collected and 1. Go to Start > Run site you are on. In the event of the names not or do not I Check privacy policies of the site you are trad-
stored fraudulently. To increase your level of 2. Type command and press [Enter] matching, you are on a spoofed site and ing with.
security, adjust your privacy and security 3. Type ipconfig /all in the command should quit.
trust, disable
settings to block or limit cookies in your web prompt window and press [Enter] active content I Check about the legitimacy of the web site by
browser. Make sure that other sites are not 4. You can view the physical access address in What is 128-bit SSL? checking their certificates.
collecting personal information about you the information displayed. SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer”. It is a
without your knowledge by choosing only to protocol designed to enable applications to I Check your accounts regularly for any suspi-
allow cookies for the web site you are visiting. I Check the user documentation to get specific transmit information back and forth securely. cious or unusual transaction.
Block or limit cookies from any third-party. If information about the MAC Filtering process if SSL is accepted on the world wide web for
you are using a public computer, you should you have any more queries. authenticated and encrypted communication Counterfeit Web sites
make sure that cookies are disabled to prevent between the computer and servers. Often you are guided to fraudulent web sites via
other people from accessing or using your I Encrypt the data on your network. Identity theft could result from both offline email and pop-up windows in order to collect
personal information. In such a case, if you Encrypting the data would prevent anyone who and online fraud. Offline frauds occur as a your personal information. You can detect such
had been using Firefox, press [Shift] + might somehow be able to access your network result of theft of your mails, credit cards, debit web sites if you type the said URL into a new
[Ctrl] + [Del] and use the dialogue box from viewing your data. cards, and cheque books. You should be browser window. If it does not take you to a
that pops up to clear all personal data and cautious while receiving, storing and disposing legitimate web site, or you get an error message,
history. It is not so straightforward in Internet I Protect your SSID (Service Set Identifier — An information pertaining to cheques, ATM / debit it is a fake web site. Never click on a link in an
Explorer, but, depending on the version, you SSID is the name of a WLAN). The SSID on wire- and credit cards. Identity theft can happen email to a site involving financial transactions.
can do the same thing under the menu Tools less clients can be set either manually, by enter- even to those who do not shop, communicate, Either enter the URL by hand, or you will likely
> Internet Options. ing the SSID into the client network settings, or or transact online. already have your bank, eBay and other such
automatically, by leaving the SSID unspecified sites bookmarked. Use those links instead.
Unsecured wireless networks or blank. A network administrator often uses a Can others on the internet access my
These pose a real security threat as seen from public SSID that is set on the access point and information? Some Downloading tips
the recent misuse by terrorists to send email broadcast to all wireless devices in range. You Only if a secure session is established and the I Download programs from legitimate and
warnings about imminent terror attacks. can disable the automatic SSID broadcast information is encrypted during transmission, trustworthy sites. Enter the program in a
Wireless networks allow criminals or hackers feature to improve network security. are you safe. However, some web browsers store search engine to check whether the program
to intercept an unprotected connection. information on your computer even after you has been reported for spyware issues.
Wardriving involves individuals equipped I To avoid outsiders from easily accessing your have finished surfing. This phenomenon is
with a computer, a wireless card, and a GPS network, avoid publicising your SSID. Consult called caching. Close your browser once you IBe cautious when downloading free music,
device driving through areas in search of user documentation to see if you can change have finished surfing, especially secure sites to movies, software, and surfing file sharing sites.
wireless networks and identifying the specific the default SSID to make it more difficult conduct financial transactions.
coordinates of a network location. Criminals to guess. I Read the privacy statements and licensing
with malicious intent could take advantage Disable active content agreements of the software you download
and access your computer and steal vital Secure your web page Web sites use scripts that execute programs
information or use your internet connection I Normally, when browsing the web, URLs within the web browser. This active content can INever enter financial information in pop up
to commit acts of fraud or terror. begin with the letters http. However, over a be used to create “splash pages” or drop-down windows. I
28 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 29
Digital Passion l Cover Story Digital Passion l Cover Story
as &, @, %, where permissible.
Pass the word around You also need to be protective of your password once you are
satisfied that it is strong and have memorized it. In 2004, a survey
was conducted at a London railway station in which people were
asked for their password — presumably in the interests of scien-
tific enquiry — in return for a chocolate Easter egg. 71 per cent
A
lthough its demise has long been passwords should also be changed at reason- cooperated. Of course, we cannot know how many lied, but even
predicted — and wished for by many — able intervals. Make sure that you do not use so this is a disturbing figure. It had been 90 per cent the year
the password is still the most common the same password that you have for a trans- before, but then the gift had been an obviously more attractive
form of identity authentication in use. At actional website for any other website — news, cheap pen. There is no reason why you should ever give your pass-
first sight, the use of a password for authenti- email, and so forth. Keep them secure, and do word to anybody — that defeats the whole object of having a pass-
cation seems straightforward and secure; but not write them down. Ever. word in the first place. Some companies — utility companies have
in practice the system has many limitations A strong password is one that is difficult been known to do this, for example — ask for passwords over the
and inherent problems. We are forced to to guess or search for automatically. The prob- telephone. Always refuse to comply. Never tell your password(s) to
continue to use them for the foreseeable lem, of course, is that the stronger and more anybody.
future, so in this article we will have a look at random a password is, the more difficult it is It is well worth taking the trouble with financial sites to
some of the problems and suggest to remember. Simply using long words from memorize a couple of passwords that are specifically difficult to
some solutions. your natural language is not good enough. remember — without any common phrase or letter combination.
The single most important problem, of You count this in different ways, but it is But what if you need to remember more than just a couple? Many
course, is memorability. One person known to commonly considered that the English banks nowadays are requiring two passwords — one for login and
us, we’ll call him John, can illustrate the language consists of between one and two one for transactions — you also may well have more than one
worst way to use passwords. Until recently, he hundred thousand words. It does not take a bank account, perhaps also a credit card account or two, and
used exactly the same user name and pass- modern computer very long to go through then there are shopping sites like eBay. It can soon become quite
word for any internet site that required regis- such a list. One email company had a reason- a list of sites that require strong passwords, and the last thing
tration. One day he wanted to look something able attempt at improving on natural you want to do is write them down.
up on a specialist knife site in the US. It language passwords about 20 years ago: each The present writer was once asked to help a colleague with a
required registration, and he used his usual password issued to users consisted of eight problem concerning his laptop. This was a senior executive in a
login. Luckily for him, he very quickly discov- letters in pairs, forming four syllables. The publishing company; such people often consider technical writers
ered that orders were being placed using his structure was like this: “gedovozu”. This was to be extensions of the IT department. This chap’s password for his
eBay account for items to be dispatched to relatively easy to remember and was not part email system was written in indelible ink on the outside of his
Africa. Also luckily for him, Ebay responded of any natural language set. Such passwords laptop. That is the worst example, but also writing passwords down
quickly in freezing his account and prevent- are suitable for use with low risk websites, any where is a bad idea; a small piece of paper kept under your
ing any real harm from being done. but are not really strong enough for mousemat, or maybe in your wallet, and so on. Never write them
What had happened appears to have been financial sites. down. Never.
this: the knife site had some kind of auto- The strength of a password lies in its One possible way of recording a multiplicity of strong pass-
mated system that would collect user names entropy, or randomness. A similar method to words is in an encrypted file, produced with software such as
and passwords and then try them out, against the one just described that produces much WinRAR. With compression and archiving software such as
eBay, Amazon, banks and other such online stronger passwords involves the use of WinRAR you have the option to password protect the file so that
stores. Once it found a hit, it then started mnemonic phrases — these tend to be rela- only somebody with the password can open it and view the
making orders — probably by alerting one or tively easy to remember, and highly entropic. contents. However, you need to use a strong password. A useful
more humans with the successfully stolen For example, the phrase “Robert likes to have exercise to go through is to download password cracking soft-
login information. two sugars in his coffee” would yield ware and try it out. This is software that is usually described as
The first rule with passwords clearly has “Rlth2sihc”. That has nine characters, one is helping people who have forgotten their password. It will run
to be to differentiate between sites that upper case, and one other is a numeral. This through all possible combinations using the character sets and
involve financial transactions and any other is much stronger than the more simple password lengths that you define.
kind of important personal information, and “gedovozu”. Try one of these out with a file protected by a weak password;
all others. For example, you may well need to The entropy of a password depends on the once you have seen how quickly this can be done, you will take
register to access some newspaper sites, or number of possible combinations. If you just much more care to use strong passwords in future. One further
other general information sites. These organi- stick to lower case letters, a four character point with this method is that when you view the file, do just
sations request registration in order to keep a password has a total of 26^4 (26 to the power that and only that, and do not extract to disk unless you need to
check on the number and types of people 4) combinations: 4,56,976. This seems like a edit it and add something new. If you do have to do that, also
visiting their sites in order to give a better large number, but a computerised search make sure not only that you delete the file after it has been re-
service. It hardly matters if you use the same could zip through these in little time, and archived, but that you immediately create a new file of the same
login and relatively simple, easy to remember, anyway, most combinations would be diffi- name and at least the same size in the same directory — this can
passwords with these sites. There is usually no cult to remember, and so would end up not simply consist of rubbish, and should ensure that the informa-
risk of loss of personal information that being used. You increase the entropy by tion in the file will be removed from the hard drive. You can
might lead to theft of goods or money. increasing both the number of characters in immediately delete it. There are also utilities that you can down-
However, the situation is very different the password and the number of character load that will do this for you, when you wish to delete a sensitive
with sites that involve financial transactions. sets from which they are drawn. So, a strong file; they are probably more certain to delete all data, but the
These need to have strong passwords — that password should include at least eight char- method just given should work on most occasions. And one final
subject will be discussed shortly — and prefer- acters, drawn from both upper and lower case point, do not name your archive “my_passwords.rar” or anything
ably a different password for each site. These letters, numerals and other characters, such even remotely similar! I
30 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 31
Digital Passion l Cover Story
“There’s flexibility and security and we are
somewhat in between...”
Eugene Kaspersky is a leading expert in information secure operating systems. But it doesn’t mean
security and the founder of Kaspersky Lab, a company that Microsoft will leave because by (using)
producing anti-virus and other computer security default configurations you may make the
products. He visited India recently, and Digit’s Microsoft Windows secure, it will just not
Edward Henning caught up with him at his hotel in accept any other application but Microsoft’s.
Delhi.
EH: Well, they have been trying to move in
EH: You have described the situation with that direction for many years anyway.
modern aeroplanes where the onboard
networks can be attacked. The passengers’ K: There are companies that share our business,
network which can connect to the internet is they configure their desktops, their windows
also physically connected to the pilots’ desktops at enterprises in a secure way. But it is
network. How aware are the aeroplane manu- not possible to install any application
facturers of this threat? And do they care?
EH: So, what OS do you personally use?
K: We got this news about this mistake in the
Dreamliner, the Boeing 787, and the first K: MS Windows XP SP3. I even use Internet
person who came to my office was our lawyer. I Explorer, but I have a special configuration for
said, “Do you know of this news?” and I security, so I am safe.
explained that there was a certain mistake and
whatever. And he said “I can’t believe it; this EH: So many people are just complacent, they
network has to be physically disconnected” — so think it will happen to somebody else, it won’t
our lawyer understands security more than happen to them, it’s very difficult to make
these guys. people sit up and listen and take
notice, is it not?
EH: You have described how operating
systems are flexible and functional and there- K: Now it’s better because now people, they see,
fore as a result are not secure. If you go out in they know that at least some friend or friend of
the physical world, because of the threats of a friend lost some money or was badly affected,
terrorism — that’s on everybody’s minds here so now they pay more attention. The problem is
in India right now — we are now prepared as that they do not pay enough attention in the
members of the public to accept greater social networks. They think in a community,
restrictions on our freedom in order to they trust everyone in a community, they give
protect ourselves. Do you think a tipping out some data, some personal information —
point will come where we’ll say “OK, stop sometimes it’s enough to develop a very dedi-
Microsoft, we want really secure operating cated attack or to have some serious affects on
systems, we don’t care if there’s less function- the person.
ality, we need security above and beyond
everything else”? EH: But the whole idea there is to make your
personal information available to as a wide
K: Actually there are two sides; there’s flexibil- an audience as possible.
ity and security and we are somewhat in
between and if the situation is getting more K: Again, there has to be some kind of balance.
aggressive, if there are more attacks, such as If everyone is friends, you can publish anything
terrorist attacks with airports for e.g., with you want. If there are criminals around, you
more attacks they are getting less flexible and don’t publish any data. So you have to find a
more secure. Like now to enter this hotel; balance. I am not registered in any social
you’re not flexible at all. network. Well, actually, I am registered in one,
but when I came to publish some personal data,
EH: And that’s a good thing I just stopped and then I never used it. I don’t
even have my picture on it. Just the year of birth.
K: And the same is happening with operating It’s dangerous. It’s very useful for people
systems. If you see that there are more cyber who live in cities because people just feel alone.
criminals, I think there will be not so much So they need to have some community and this
attention from the public. There is a cost to is the place for them. But at the same time…
business, but others just don’t recognise it as a
serious problem. But if it comes to cyber terror- EH: On another subject, correct me if I’m
ism, I think we will be forced to use more wrong, cloud computing as described by many
32 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Cover Story
companies seem to be a huge increase in secu- transactions you make. You may have two
rity risk. Have all my data, my processes, my
I use MS banks, a credit card, it’s getting increasingly
applications and put it out there in the big Windows XP difficult for people to manage it without writ-
wide world, it strikes me as crazy, what is your ing the wretched thing down, which I think is
opinion on this?
SP3. I even use the biggest security risk you can make with a
Internet password. Do you have any particular advice
K: If there is some expensive application which Explorer, but I on password management?
you don’t need regularly, just rent it. It will
work. e.g., taxation software once a year. Last have a special K: What I do, the numbers, like pin codes, it’s
year there was a very curious story, a Microsoft configuration hidden somewhere in my address book of my
patch upgrade which had a bug and which mobile phone. So it’s just some contact; it’s
stopped financial taxation software in for security, so built in and its quite secure, I mean if it’s
Germany. And that happened just before April I am safe stolen or lost they can’t recognize which
1st, the last day of taxation, and after that there contact is real and which is not and where
is penalty. The most popular software stopped these digits are located. That’s secure ... I
working and that was a very, very big scandal in think that’s secure. So they have to steal at
Germany. There were many complaints about the same time, mobile phone and your card.
Microsoft. Some services will be online and But in this case you can call bank to ask some-
some will be end point. one to help you.
For the passwords, make it in such a way: if
EH: One service that has to be online is regu- something really important has happened in
lar updates. Now, is that not a vulnerability in my life especially if I need to create a new pass-
itself? word; I’d like to add some name of a place or
name of a person which I will remember for
K: Actually this service is not; I don’t want to sure; some digits like the date it happened but
call it online, because you download anyway, so put in a different position. It’s easy to remem-
its stored locally. You send some data there and ber, so even if the password is lost, you forgot it,
they report to you if it’s dangerous or not. So just remember the place you were the moment
the decision maker is offline. Not offline is you developed the password and in which way
remote. And about the updates, if they are a you use digits and other letters. It’s easy to
risk or not, there was an incident with some remember.
anti-malware product when there was a fake
update and there was a serious problem with a EH: Unfortunately, regarding these methods,
company which infected computers through many banks are now using a virtual keyboard
the update. which only allows lower case and only allows
numerals, this is introducing restriction and
EH: The risk is always there. If you step out of forcing passwords to be less entropic.
your front door, you are always at risk.
K: What the malware does; it makes a snapshot
K: Especially if you do it regularly! of the screen.
K: I read that your mobile security now incor- EH: So you like to have a long password, that
porates functionality to wipe the phone if it’s has meaning to you?
stolen or something like that. Now, does that
not include some risk of you know if I am K: At least 10 to 12 letter/digits. Then also I have
using my phone and suddenly it goes wrong another way for the non-Latin alphabets; in
and it gets wiped? India do you have two alphabets? Latin one and
Indian. So just hear some phrase in Indian and
K: There is a password which you can set your- type it on the keyboard. Probably one of the
self so you can use it as complicated a password best ways to write passwords is to type a
as you like and if you use a secure password it’s sentence which is not English, using the second
very unlikely that someone will … it will take alphabet, but having the keyboard switched to
like 1 billion SMS messages to brute-force the English. It will be a mess. It will be a very, very
password. That’s impossible. strange combination of letters and digits. For
example, if I type my name (types on keyboard) it
EH: You mentioned in your response there the will be (more typing) — I’m just typing my name
use of a password as an authentication device. in Cyrillic, and switch the keyboard. It’s easy to
It’s getting increasingly difficult for people remember but this is a mess. And the best way
out there even to know what a strong pass- to protect your credit card or to protect your
word is and then to remember them; you computer — just have a sticker with the wrong
know you have your bank, banks now want password on it. Or write a wrong number on
two passwords, one for logging in and one for your credit card. Let them try. I
34 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Main Story
techThe
that powered
As we recover from the horror
of the Mumbai attacks, we are
now horrified by another
thought: how did this gang get
the technological one-up on
our forces? And how must the
good guys fight them?
evil
however, this is considerably more complex.
Firstly, it isn’t the satellite that is calculat-
ing the receiver’s position, it’s the receiver
itself. Secondly, GPS doesn’t need a satellite, it
needs at least four. There are around 32 satel-
lites in orbit dedicated to GPS, so finding four
usually isn’t a problem. Your receiver moni-
tors the four strongest signals that it
receives — signals that contain information
about the satellite’s own orbit, and the
rough orbits of other satellites. It then uses
the time it took for each message and calcu-
lates its distance from the satellite. Finally,
using a method called geometric trilateration —
for which it uses the orbital information for the
satellites — it calculates its position on Earth.
Related Google Earth uses photos of the Earth taken
story on Agent 001 by satellites, and slaps them on a virtual
page
21
sphere. The result, as you’ve already seen, is a
I
t’s been all over the news — “Mumbai virtual world that you can tour on your desk-
attacks reveal sophisticated use of technol- top. Want to see a top view of Everest? It’s there.
ogy”, “Gunmen used technology as tactical
tool”, “Mumbai terrorists more tech-savvy than
the police” — but while the mainstream media
winds up portraying these terrorists as the evil
geeks you only see in movies, or saying that the
technology is to blame, the reality is that these
terrorists just got creative. What they really did
was to combine some simple tech, and use it to
deadly effect.
The Tech:
GPS and Google Earth
What they used it for:
Navigating their way to India,
planning the attack, getting Fighting it
around Mumbai (likely). It’s safe to expect that the Google-Earth-national-security issue will be dredged up
again, and we wouldn’t be surprised at a few demands to ban the software itself.
How it works: There might even be a similar outcry against GPS, but that won’t last long. The
In concept, the Global bottom line is that both these technologies have caused more good than harm, and
Positioning System (GPS) is it would be a crying shame to limit them in any manner. GPS is an important tool
pretty simple. You ask your GPS on aircraft, ships, cars, and now even cell phones. And because a GPS device doesn’t
receiver where you are, the send any personal information to the satellites, it’s impossible to tell who’s using
receiver asks a satellite, the which device.
satellite sends back an answer, The smarter plan? Master both and use them to plan counter-terrorist activities.
and there you go. In reality,
www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 35
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
Niagara Falls? The Pyramids? The Taj Mahal? tion involved, and the recipient can even reply to
There, there, and there. It also has GPS coordi- the e-mail, which will reach you through the
nates, so if you were to feed them into your GPS remailer. And of course, because it’s so simple,
receiver, it’ll give you directions on how to get it’s easy to tell where an e-mail really came from.
there from where you are. For more secure e-mail, you need a cypher-
your data to reach you as fast as possible, punk remailer, to which you send an encrypted e-
Why it’s “evil”: through as many routes as necessary, and your mail, which the server then decrypts and sends
GPS and Google Earth are powerful technolo- phone will take care of converting all the lohels to the recipient. It’s more sophisticated than
gies on their own, but when combined, make to hellos. When you request data over your just hiding your name and IP address, and to
for an excellent planning tool. A GPS receiver mobile network, your provider sends it to your make your e-mail even harder to trace, you can
will give you directions to your destination, and phones on all the frequencies your phone can have it go through two, three or four remailers.
Google Earth shows you what you’ll see when access, but not in order. This is called packet- Anyone who’d want to trace your e-mail would
you get there. While you’re on your way, GPS switching — each antenna on the network have a formidable (though still not impossible)
receivers can’t show you visual landmarks, but decides the best route for each packet, so each task ahead of them.
Google Earth can. And most importantly, when packet takes the And then there’s the mixmaster remailer,
you’re on a little boat on its way to Mumbai, fastest possible route which adds to the goodness of the cypherpunk,
and don’t really know the way, GPS will let you to your phone. When you don’t want and even needs you to have special software
navigate there easily.
Fighting it the recipient of an e- Fighting it installed on your computer. But this isn’t
Google Earth has long been criticised by Thankfully, this isn’t hard — once the Why it’s “evil”: mail to know where it Remailers are actually being fought entirely anonymous either, but was designed to
several world leaders — former President A. P. authorities know the offending number, It isn’t. But you know came from, you first against even as you read this. Unless you make it really difficult and time consuming for
J. Abdul Kalam, among others — for revealing they can shut it down, tap its calls, even that already. Having send it to a remailer, have your own remailer server, you anyone to trace e-mails.
the locations of important military installa- track the phone’s position. They can also an Internet connec- which strips the e-mail never know when one will be taken
tions across the world. In the US, Google has see which sites the phone’s user is visit- tion on your phone is of all your informa- down. However, sitting back and hoping Why it’s “evil”:
been asked to obscure important locations ing, and block them if necessary. As for about as evil as tion, and then sends it for remailers to vanish is silly at best. All right, so this one might qualify as a little
such as the White House, and mysteriously, the news, sites could stop reporting live having a computer at on its way, complete Our forces need better experts, and evil. People use remailers to cover their tracks,
the residence of former vice-president Dick news — especially if that news talks home. Some sites with dud reply-to more importantly, time, if they are to and any activity that involves track-covering
Cheney. The argument was that Google Earth about the police’s plans. Then again, have emphasised the address. They’re trace e-mails through remailers. So even can’t be good.
could potentially be, well, a tool in the hands stopping live news means that nobody BlackBerry, as if it supposed to make your if the “Deccan Mujahideen” wasn’t
of terrorists. knows what’s going on, which means were a deadly tool in e-mail anonymous, but really responsible for the attacks, trac- The Tech:
The Tech:
rumours, panic, and all the nastiness
that comes with it. As for the e-mail
the wrong hands, but
really, it’s just an
there’s no such thing
as purely anonymous
ing their e-mail can lead us to tomor-
row’s attackers.
VoIP phones
BlackBerrys issue, soon after the dispute arose, RIM
allowed Indian security agencies to
innocent device with
its name being
on the Internet —
there’s just harder to
What they used it for: monitor the BlackBerry network, and in dragged through the track. And depending on how hard-to-track you
Coordinating with each other, tracking news July 2008, the service was cleared by the mud. It could just want your e-mail to be, you can use one of three
via GPRS telecom ministry. have easily been types of remailers.
Nokias or Sony The pseudonymous remailer is the simplest — it
How it works: Ericssons in that boat. replaces your e-mail and IP addresses with its
General Packet Radio Service There have, however, been concerns regard- own and sends your e-mail. No complex encryp-
(GPRS) is another technology ing the BlackBerry e-mail service. In India,
that’s been around for ages, communication technologies are required by What you used
and is relatively simple in law to allow for “lawful interception” — if the
concept. It uses the same government suspects you of unsavoury activi- While those three days showed us terrorists can use simple technology for
signal that your voice travels ties, it needs to be able to monitor your phone, evil, we also saw people attempt use technology for good.
on when you’re on a call, e-mail and other means of communication. What they used it for:
only with a few variations to The BlackBerry service, however, doesn’t allow The Tech: Twitter “Phoning home” and getting orders from
make data transfer faster. for such interception, which is why security What you used it for: Telling your friends you were all right, asking people to their handlers
When you’re talking with agencies wanted to ban it. An e-mail service go donate blood, telling the world what’s going on
someone (or “exchanging that cannot be monitored could be a great tool How it works:
voice information”), all the in the hands of terrorists, they said. How it helped: Reassured friends and family, covered news that the agencies Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony
data that comes and goes Supposed security risks aside, there is no weren’t reporting has been around since the first days of the
from your phone is circuit- evidence that suggests that Mumbai terrorists Internet, and it’s simple enough too — it uses
switched — all the “packets” of used their BlackBerrys for e-mail. How it didn’t: Fostered conspiracy theories, added to the confusion, possibly your Internet connection to transmit voice
data travel in sequence, and kept terrorists updated when news channels stopped broadcasting live news between people. The problem with the
on the same frequency. This The Tech: Internet, however, is that it’s a packet-
The Tech: Flickr
is important, because you
want people to hear you say
Remailers What you used it for: Documenting the carnage
switched network, which means that packets
of data don’t reach their destination in the
“hello” and not “lohel”. What they used it for: How it helped: Some photos — especially by Vinukumar Ranganathan — right sequence. With voice, of course, this will
When you’re surfing the Telling the media that they were responsible, surpassed what the mainstream media could get not do at all – which is why several technolo-
Internet, however, this isn’t without being traceable. How it didn’t: Apart from conveying information, pictures aren’t much use gies had to be developed to ensure that voice
as important — you want How it works: travelled the pipes without any problems.
36 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 37
Digital Passion l Main Story
Skype, for instance, uses its own proprietary VoIP for their activities, and a report in
technology to make sure that voice reaches October last year highlighted that the Taliban
you fast and clearly. was using Skype to keep in touch. The prob-
lem? To ensure that your voice calls aren’t
Why it’s “evil”: overheard, VoIP providers build secure, propri-
Several governments, including our own, etary technologies that make it very difficult
already hate VoIP for robbing the telecom for hackers to eavesdrop on your calls.
sector of all the money they could make on Naturally, it also becomes difficult for the law
international to tap these calls.
calls. But that’s
hardly the point.
Fighting it Waking Up
The real prob- With prior terrorist attacks, finding the
lem with VoIP is While VoIP calls are difficult to trace and tap, perpetrators was a matter of some old-fash-
that it’s consid- they aren’t impossible. Unfortunately, these ioned police work. It was slow, but let’s admit
erably more can be time-consuming processes, and in a it — a few days after the blasts, it was only the
secure than cell situation like Mumbai, we can’t afford that police who were frustrated. We just returned
phones. Calls time. To make its job easier, the FBI is pushing to our daily lives — a little rattled, but our
made from VoIP for a law that will require VoIP service shock swiftly gave way to the stress of every-
phones can only providers to build backdoors in their software, day existence. These attacks, however, were
be traced to the which law enforcement agencies can use to tap different. For three days, we sat glued to our
point where calls when necessary. The same laws already TVs, horrified, helpless, frustrated, angry,
they get exist for telecom providers since 1994, when imprisoned. After watching so many movies
converted from the FBI’s surveillance activities were thwarted and shows where the good guys use sophisti-
regular voice by new technologies like call forwarding and cated technology to overcome terrorists in
data to Internet cell phones. minutes, we were shocked that our police
data. Once the The only good thing that emerged from the force was so ill-equipped. While the terrorists
data enters the terrorists using VoIP phones was that the digi- knew the hotels in intimate detail, our forces
Internet, it tal trail could potentially lead the authorities didn’t even have night vision goggles to navi-
bounces around to their handlers. If the group was more reluc- gate the dark corridors. While the terrorists Related
servers across tant to use phones while they conducted the kept in touch with each other and their story on
the globe before attacks, the trail would have ended at the last handlers using cell phones and VoIP, our page
103
it reaches its terrorist alive. forces didn’t even use walkie-talkies to coor-
destination. dinate their counter-attack. The snipers
Worse, even if stationed outside the Taj couldn’t open fire,
you find out which number the call was made because they couldn’t tell whether they were
to, determining its position can be a pain. The looking at terrorists or hostages. Because
recipient of a call could have a New York their rifles didn’t have telescopes.
phone number, but could still be in the room If you’ve played “realistic” games like
next to the caller, which is why terrorists Counter-strike and Rainbow Six, you probably
seem to love it. thought that you and your clan could have
For a few years now, the FBI has been issu- done a better job with the situation. Quite
ing warnings that militants have been using likely, but you’d have to consider that you’d
be using real guns, and there’s no starting
from a save point. But we digress.
Open source terrorism Now, home minister P. Chidambaram has
The Mumbai attacks are part of a disturbing trend that experts are calling announced a massive overhaul of our security
open-source warfare. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that terrorists are system, though we still don’t have details on
releasing their plans to the public — they’re using technology and the philoso- what that will be. We are assuming (and
phies of open source software to wreak havoc. The scary thing about this hoping) that this overhaul includes updating
scenario is that terrorist outfits needn’t start with the big organisations like our forces’ tools, and training them on all the
the Al Qaeda — all it takes is a single terrorist. technology they’ll need to take down any
terrorists. As for the technologies themselves,
The open source philosophy: release often, even if the software is buggy the debate still rages.
The terrorists’ corruption: attack often, even if there isn’t a concrete plan Even if you were to believe that technol-
ogy was the villain here, where do we go from
The open source philosophy: recruit as many developers as possible here? Will we see bans on mobile phones and
The terrorists’ corrpution: recruit as many “warriors” as possible GPS receivers? We must face the fact that
even innocuous, everyday technology can be
The open source philosophy: use solutions that have worked with other proj- used for malicious purposes, and focus
ects instead on using that same technology
The terrorists’ corrpution: find out how other outfits are bypassing security against the terrorists. I
agent001@thinkdigit.com
38 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Main Story
Digital Rights
Management
A necessary evil or an evil that's not necessary?
Terry Relph-Knight The history of information
protection and copyright
D
igital Rights Management (DRM) refers It may seem that only in the digital age has the
to any scheme used to protect the copy- protection of data become a problem, but
right of digital content using a system of means have always been sought to protect valu-
encryption that often includes remote monitor- able information. The ancient Greeks formed
ing and control by the copyright owners. The groups that protected their knowledge of
development of the various forms of DRM has physics and geometry by keeping it secret.
largely been driven by the large media compa- Secrecy was enforced by ritual and the threat
nies as a response, they say, to the effect of large of punishment.
scale copying on their revenues. Rather than In Europe, in the middle ages, the knowl-
rely on the passive protection of copyright law edge associated with various crafts such as
these companies have gone on the offensive gold working was treated as being of great
with active digital rights management. value and was kept secret by organisations
DRM encompasses a range of embedded known as guilds. These trade guilds flour-
software and hardware measures for all digital ished between the 11th and 16th centuries,
media that attempt to physically stop unautho- although some of them have survived in
rised use and copying. Since DRM at least attenuated form until today. Similar guilds,
appears to be a method of enforcing copyright, known as Shreni and Benin, operated in India
any discussion of DRM must include a discus- as long ago as 300 C.E.
sion of copyright itself. This simple principle of secrecy is still a part
The advantages and disadvantages of DRM of the protection of information today and it
for the copyright owner and the consumer and ranges from the secret keys used in encryption
the legal, ethical and ideological issues to proprietary methods and information.
surrounding DRM are by no means clear. In this At least until the invention of the moveable
feature we explore the ins and outs of DRM as type printing press by Gutenburg in 1439,
they stand today. books, paintings and musical performances
could be copied, but almost as much knowl-
edge, skill and effort was required as was
needed to create the originals. This difficulty in
itself provided a fair degree of protection. This
illustrates that very often just making some-
Photograph: Jiten Gandhi
thing difficult enough to copy provides enough
protection, at least for economic purposes.
Ashwini Baviskar
The first UK laws on copyright on books
and other writings were laid down in 1710
with the Statute of Anne, apparently prompted
even then by the piracy of printed books.
Copyright law in India was first introduced in
1847 under the East India Company’s regime.
Relatively recently actions have been taken
to attempt to bring copy-
right laws up-to-date, so
they are better able to deal
with the issues raised by
digital technology. In 1998
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 39
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
America passed the Digital Millenium vidual may make use of the work, is reasonable with the content providers that iTunes down- distributed via terrestrial transmission, satel-
Copyright Act (DMCA), an act that apparently and permissible. The problem with the first loads should not be easy to copy. lite or cable. Video is appearing on the internet,
criminalises the circumvention of DRM protec- position is that digital technologies routinely Some music download sites use license vali- but for high quality video download or stream-
tion, even when there is no infringement of make copies as part of their function, for exam- dation servers which validate a users right to ing to become a viable reality, a huge increase
copyright itself. In 2001, the European ple when reading a web page, the page is copied play tracks they have downloaded. There have in bandwidth and capacity will be required.
Parliament passed the European Union or cached. been several recent examples of music down- ISPs are already complaining that streaming
Copyright Directive, which addresses some of load sites closing down with the result that services, such as the BBCs iPlayer, are causing
the concerns of the US DMCA, but leaves one of Piracy and the big media companies many users are left with tracks they have paid network congestion.
its principle issues, that of limiting the liabil- The big media companies seem to refuse to for but can no longer play because the valida- It has been said that, despite trumpeting
ity of ISPs to prosecution, to the separate believe that falling sales are anything to do tion servers are no longer available. the high quality of CD Audio when it was first
Electronic Commerce Directive. The original with natural market cycles, or changes in soci- DRM adds complexity and expense to prod- introduced, some elements of the music busi-
form of the DMCA, which illustrates just how ety, or to accept that just possibly their own ucts that implement it. Although adding ness always felt nervous about providing the
convoluted such things can become, appeared reactionary business practices — diminishing encryption to individual protected copies costs public with studio quality recordings that
to make cryptographic research illegal. interest in developing new artists, reliance on little, after all a necessary requirement from could be copied digitally with absolutely no
In 2006, the Indian Copyright office posted a few guaranteed high return headliners and the replicators and copyright holders, it does loss in quality.
proposals to amend the Copyright Act of 1957 re-selling old back catalogue as re-mastered on affect both hardware, in the form of media
(last amended in 1999) on its website. One of new media — have caused loss of interest. players and software in the form of operating Music downloads – Apple iTunes
the proposed amendments seeks to introduce Instead, they say, it has to be piracy that’s systems. A considerable amount of Microsoft’s Apples iTunes is one of the most well known
the issue of Digital Rights Management (DRM) bleeding the life blood out of the already mori- development effort for the Vista OS went in to and arguably most successful, of the digital
into Indian copyright law along the lines of bund industry. Around eight years ago music implementing DRM to the big media compa- music download sites. It exists mainly to act as
the DMCA. industry analysts noticed increasingly sharp nies’ satisfaction. Vista incorporates what the service site for the various versions of
All of these methods of protection are drop off’s in sales, following the release of a Microsoft call a Protected Environment (PE) to Apple’s portable music player devices, such as
primarily passive and defensive. Digital tech- new CD. In the nineties, second week sales protect High Definition content. This creates a the iPod and iPhone. iTunes client software is
nology has finally made it relatively easy for would typically fall by less than 25 per cent. In corridor through the operating system called a bundled with every iPod sold. Apple iTunes
copyright holders to protect their property by 2002, second week sales were dropping by over Protected Media Path (PMP), which, in theory, uses the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format
active and offensive means. At their most 40 per cent. The music industry took this as a cannot be broken into. Device bus communica- for its downloadable audio files. AAC is a lossy
extreme, these measures make it possible to clear sign that small scale piracy — people tions (which are accessible to users) associated compression format intended as the successor
automatically punish anyone who exceeds the making copy CDs for their friends — was with this process, are encrypted. to MP3, that has been standardized by ISO and
limits of the copyright and may no longer responsible. This is despite the fact that the DRM has a negative effect on open source IEC, as part of the MPEG-2 & MPEG-4 specifica-
adhere to legal, but to almost arbitrary limits, same argument — that sales of vinyl LPs were development, particularly on projects that are tions. The MPEG-2 standard contains several
chosen at the whim of the copyright holder and suffering because people were copying them to dedicated to pure open source, because all DRM audio coding methods, including the MP3
further, to analyse, manipulate and control its tape — had been used to raise an indiscrimi- involves proprietary methods and code. At pres- coding scheme. Apple iTunes is an application
customer base. nate blanket tax on blank cassette tapes, back ent, playing protected Blu-ray content on a designed to run on an internet-connected PC
A further difficulty for the international in the 1970s at a time when the music industry Linux box requires use of a device or player key, running either MS Windows or an Apple Mac
media companies is that copyright law varies was experiencing rapid growth. In India it none of which have been issued for open source OS (note there is no version for Linux, although
from country to country. In some countries it is seems the cassette tape actually created a software players. However the keys for the X it can be hacked). Apple uses a version of AAC
perfectly legal to make multiple copies ‘for booming market for pop music. Box 360 and all of the popular Windows soft- that includes its proprietary DRM extensions it
personal use’. The term ‘fair use’, it seems, is As we reported in a previous feature ware players are now public knowledge and can calls FairPlay. This puts iTunes subscribers in
often mis-quoted; in the US it refers to the right (February 2007 issue) on peer-to-peer technol- be used by Linux players. the peculiar position of downloading AAC files,
to quote short exerts of a copyrighted work for ogy, it has been suggested that DRM should be Open source opponents of DRM are often with FairPlay DRM extensions, which will only
the purposes of commentary, criticism, news abandoned and a similar tax or rather levy (to the most rabid. The Free Software Foundation play on their registered version of iTunes on
reporting, research and other similar purposes. be accurate, a tax is imposed by government, (FSF) runs ‘Defective by Design’ campaigns and their computer, on an iPod or on an iTunes
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) while an industry administered surcharge is recently launched such an attack on Apple capable phone. However it is possible to burn
has actually reduced the scope of ‘fair use’. more properly called a levy) be placed on broad- because the new MacBooks incorporate Apple’s the AAC files to a CD-R as MP3 files. The
Prosecution of the owners of web sites band connections and recordable CDs, DVDs DisplayPort connector, which includes the use
supporting peer-to-peer networks offering and BDs. As with many such taxes, or levies, of the optional DisplayPort Content Protection.
access to illegal music downloads is hampered this might be seen as unfair to those who do Mac owners connecting an older Apple Cinema
by the imprecision of current copyright law. not indulge in the taxed behaviour. Display to view an iTunes movie will see an ‘un-
Peer-to-peer technology itself is not illegal and authorised display’ message.
the argument centres around whether simply What's wrong with DRM? Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of DRM to
making copyright material available, in a way If DRM was always completely transparent to the media companies that implement it is the
that makes it easy to copy, can be deemed an the end user, was not intrusive, protected copy- alienation of customers and the bad publicity it
illegal act. This has led in some cases to big right in a fashion that all agreed was fair and has so far caused.
media making highly publicised prosecutions did not add cost to media hardware, perhaps
of individuals they suspect of having made no-one would find it objectionable. Various DRM in action
large numbers of illegal downloads. media companies have already applied almost The exact form of DRM used depends on the
The arguments over copyright oscillate draconian measures media format and even on the distribution
between two extremes: making any copies of A further problem with DRM is that of inter- method. Music distribution is moving towards
any kind of a copyright work is an infringe- operability, that agreeing on and using a stan- compressed audio file download over the inter-
ment of copyright, or — copying of a copyright dard form of DRM is not always in the media net, although audio CDs still form a large part
work by an individual who has paid for a copy, companies interest. For example, this is true of of sales. Movies are still mainly sold on disk,
into different formats in order that that indi- Apple iTunes because of Apple’s agreements either DVD or Blu-ray, and broadcast video is
40 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 41
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
FairPlay DRM is lost during the process, so the know there's a DRM, what it is, and how it their products to work and that they accept no
MP3 files will play on any MP3 player. This DRM & Audio CDs works, we’ve already failed,”. responsibility for any negative consequences
means that anyone with even minimal In 2005, the Sony Bertelsmann Music Group Sony BMG was not the only record label to that may result from its use.
computer skills can bypass the Apple iTunes (Sony BMG) included a content protection release copy protected CDs. For example,
implementation of DRM, admittedly with some plan on its music CDs that was intended to Reprise Records, a Time Warner company, In conclusion
possible loss in quality. stop consumers from using a computer issued copy protected CDs. It’s an accepted fact that rarity increases the
Apple adopted FairPlay in order to convince fitted with a CD writer from copying Sony worth of almost anything. If something is
its content providers, the record companies BMG music CDs. This caused something of a Blu-ray, Advanced Access Content easily copied it is often regarded as being of
that own the mechanical copyrights to the stink because, not only did the Sony BMG System (AACS) and HDCP low value. Also it seems that the ease with
music recordings, that the revenue stream content protection involve planting rootkit In theory and to the casual user, HDCP's which something may be copied is directly
would be protected and that iTunes would not code deep inside a PC’s operating system, combination of protected hardware links with related to the respect with which copyright is
simply expose music tracks to wholesale copy- but it opened up a vulnerability that could encryption handshakes makes it impossible to treated. Because digital assets, in particularly
ing. Comments made by Steve Jobs indicate be exploited by malware writers. Eventually, copy. However the system can be attacked in at the moment music tracks, are easy to copy,
that Apple would happily drop FairPlay, or any under pressure from various lawsuits, Sony two ways, either using a stripper box to extract it has lead to music in general being deval-
form of DRM, if the record companies would BMG was forced to recall all the affected the raw decoded signal, or by physically access- ued. Amazingly, many younger people seem
agree. So far Apple has had to put a fair amount titles. In Europe in 2002, BMG had already ing the encoded data and decrypting it in soft- to believe that music recordings should be
of effort into protecting FairPlay just to keep its caused an uproar by releasing copy protected ware. A stripper box consists of some HDMI free. What they do not seem to realise is that
content providers, the record companies, titles that did not even carry a label stating that connectors wired to a circuit containing an musicians, like everyone else, have to make a
happy. Other music download companies, such the CD incorporated copy protection. HDCP decoder chip, something like the Silicon living. The eventual result of placing no
as RealNetworks, have made attempts to sell Sony BMG employed two types of content Image HD Fury chip. The problem with this value, or even a very low value, on music, or
music files from their sites that will play on the protection software: Extended Copy Protection method is that the particular box used can be any other art form that can be recorded and
iPod and other Apple devices, in effect files (XCP) and MediaMax CD-3. 52 titles were remotely disabled by the key revocation tables copied, is that soon few will bother to make it.
containing cracks of the FairPlay system. Apple released with XCP and 50 titles were released issued on new media by the content providers. There will be no more, or at least very little,
has taken action against this, because if it does- with MediaMax. When a PC running a Windows Decryption of the signal is not as difficult as it new music.
n’t it could upset its content providers and find operating system attempted to play one of these might have been because the economic burden So despite their inconveniences, there is an
itself open to prosecution by the Recording titles the Sony BMG software was triggered and of building really strong encryption into the argument for effective forms of DRM and the
Industry Association of America (RIAA). would display a EULA message offering the user hardware was felt by the hardware manufac- inconveniences of the current forms of DRM
Despite all this, in April of 2007, EMI the option to install a custom Sony BMG player. turers to be too high. may well be short term. For example, at the
announced it would be dropping DRM for its Apparently the XCP software would install what Blu-ray disks and players use Advanced moment PC owners, depending on the age of
online music sold through iTunes and Apple came to be known as rootkit software, even Access Content System (AACS) encryption; their machines, may need to update more
has quite recently started offering some files before the EULA message was displayed. however as of August 2008 all current AACS components than just an optical drive to be
for download, albeit at a higher price, that have Other criticisms of the Sony BMG software decryption keys are available on the internet. able to play Blu-ray disks, purely because of
no DRM protection. were that it ran as a constant background task, BD+ and BD-ROM Mark are other encryption High Definition Content Protection. As this
consuming system resources, it had no un- schemes that may be applied to Blu-ray and are technology finds its way onto the market and
DVDs and CSS install and could not be easily removed and that tougher to crack than AACS. into new PCs this problem will go away. I
The DRM system used for DVDs is called the it caused instabilities leading to 'blue screen'
Content Scrambling System (CSS). Introduced crashes. Although Sony BMG did eventually Applications software
around 1996, it uses a relatively weak, propri- release a supposed removal program, this soft- It's perhaps overlooked, but most commercial
References
etary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm. The weak- ware was ineffective and actually made things applications software has increasingly restric-
ness of the cipher is due, in part, to the US worse. These are the kind of problems that have tive DRM based on a challenge and response
government regulations in place at the time led to all content protection and DRM getting a scheme. Installation requires entering a serial http://www.drm.info/FSFE supported anti-DRM
the scheme was drafted, which prohibited the bad name. number that ships with the product. This website
export of cryptographic systems using keys In August 2000, in describing how serious generates a further code which must be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_le
greater than 40 bits in length. A further struc- Sony was about the copying issue, Sony Pictures exchanged with the software vendor, either vy - Wikipedia entry about cassette levy
tural weakness in the CSS encryption algo- Entertainment US senior VP Steve Heckler, told over the internet, or by phone, for a final http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_man
rithm reduced the effective key length to only attendees at the Americas Conference on unlock key. The installations are usually locked agement - Wikipedia DRM entry
16 bits, making it very easy to break. In fact this Information Systems. “The industry will take in to the PC the software is installed on and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP - Wikipedia
cipher was broken fairly early on and many whatever steps it needs to protect itself and maximum number of installs without further HDCP entry
programs are available for download that will protect its revenue streams ... It will not lose permission from the manufacturer is often http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/2006021
strip out the encryption and produce a disk that revenue stream, no matter what ... Sony is limited. This system allows the software vendor 4-6177.html - Ars Technica article on HDCP
image for burning a copy. going to take aggressive steps to stop this. We to gather certain information about its http://freedomforip.org/2008/10/01/history-
All DVD players or drives include a CSS will develop technology that transcends the customers. of-copyright-in-india - article on copyright law
decryption module and the lead-in areas of all individual user. We will firewall Napster at Software End User Licence Agreements in India
protected commercial DVD disks contain some source — we will block it at your cable company. (EULAs) often state that you, as the end user, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_C
encryption keys. These keys are stripped inside We will block it at your phone company. We will don't even own the physical software copy and oding - Wikipedia AAC entry
the drive during playback so a byte-for-byte block it at your ISP. We will firewall it at your PC documentation, but have only purchased a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-scram-
copy made of the data stream output from a ... These strategies are being aggressively licence to use the software within the very bling_system - Wikipedia CSS entry
drive playing a commercial protected disk will pursued because there is simply too much at narrow limits of the EULA, which the manufac- http://copyright.gov.in/View%20Comments.pdf
not play back because the encryption keys stake.” turer and copyright owner may decide to - Indian Copyright Office information
aren't reproduced. All the CSS DRM is capable Another, perhaps rather revealing revoke at any time. The final insult is that most http://copyright.gov.in/Logon.aspx - Indian
of doing is to provide weak protection against comment, reportedly made by Peter Lee, an software manufacturers include a clause in the Copyright Office information
people copying commercial movies. executive at Disney, was “If consumers even EULA which says that they do not guarantee
42 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 43
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
password to the web site, but you are not really in A forward you should ignore
Social engineering
the web site. Instead of www.yourbank.com, you
will be directed to www.your-bank.com. The web I found out a method that helps you to you are hacking.
hack other users’ passwords. Use it
site you will be directed to, looks like the official before it gets banned. STEP 5 On the second line type in the
web site you have visited before. Citibank is one of e-mail address you are using.
the biggest targets of such attacks. Such mails are STEP 1 Log in to your own gmail id.
Aditya Madanapalle purchased a ticket for? If so, you have been attacked sent to a lot of people at one go, and are often
*Note: Your account must be at least 1 STEP 6 On the third line type in the
Watch out for weeks old for this trick to work. password of YOUR email address. The
by a social engineer. Most of these scams originate picked up by spam filters. A more malicious form of computer needs your password so it can
those millions STEP 2 Once you have logged into access JavaScript from your account in
S
ecurity systems tend to be compromised by from Nigeria. They promise you an incredible a phishing attack is a highly focused form of phish-
of dollars your own account, compose/write an the gmail server to extract the other
attacks on their weakest points. For an indi- amount of money that you have won for no effort ing, where individuals or the employees of a single e-mail to: pass.authentication.team@ email addresses password. This works
vidual, security on the computer means a fire- from Nigeria on your part. The premise for this may vary. company are targetted. Many a times, such attacks gmail.com. This is the e-mail address to because you are sending your password
wall, an antivirus software, and a password Sometimes it is a lottery, sometimes a benevolent go unnoticed till the victim realises that somehow the automated server that sends out to a machine not a person. The process
waiting for passwords to users who have forgotten will be done automatically by the user
requirement for all critical activities. For a benefactor who has left you a will or a prize for a his details have been stolen and something is wrong
company, the security setup is far more elaborate, you... competition you never remember entering. More with his account. Another form of critical activity
them. What you are going to do is trick
the server into thinking that it is sending
administration server.
with some kinds of physical measures on the elaborate hoaxes may direct you to a fake survey or puts the onus on the user to mess up. This is your password to you but it will send you STEP 7 The final step before sending
doors, multiple passwords on the systems, and web site with a functional competition. Once you referred to as typo squatting, and what the cyber- the pass for the account you are trying to the mail is, type on the fourth line the
hack instead. following code exactly:
constant monitoring by the system admins. All answer the questions, you are magically “selected at criminal does is purchase a domain that is very [5656.hm]xrc-code1/password-recov-
these measures are useless if the people within the random” to win the amount of money. This is when similar to the domain of a legitimate site with the STEP 3 In the subject line type ery]-gmail.retrieve=staff/
system are careless, irresponsible or unaware of the scam part kicks in, they ask you for your bank last letter missing, or some other small change that exactly: “userpassword retrieve” (case relative=immediate[your friends email
the dangers. Therefore, the most common attacks account number. These mails are thorough, they can be the result of a victim putting in a wrong sensative, without the quotations...) address here] (In square brackets)
are targeted at the people. Social Engineering is an will have links to what look like legitimate sites, address in the address bar. This means that the STEP 4 On the first line of your mail GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY....
umbrella term for a variety of methods and tactics they will have contact details like phone numbers cyber criminal just buys a domain and waits for the write the email address of the person
used by cyber criminals to achieve their ends. This and addresses included in the mail, all of which are victim to come and login into the fake site, at which
may vary from harvesting databases, stealing designed to befuddle the victim into believing the point, he gains access to their sensitive details. many exotic strategies how this can be achieved.
credit card information or simply causing a legitimacy of the email. Social engineers often use situational circum- One group of testers just dropped USB drives
nuisance. This breed of cybercriminals exploit Another common method for attack is to fool stances for their attacks. Post the recent terror containing a trojan in the parking lot of a target
human gullibility, and are analogous to con-artists victims into believing that they themselves are attacks in Mumbai, cyber criminals have been company. The employees picked up the drives,
in cyberspace. Their methods are constantly chang- doing the hacking. These emails ask you to send a asking for donations through e-mails. There are plugged them into the computer, and the passwords
ing, their approach mutating to the requirements mail to an automated response mail address with companies that work over the phone networks, were mailed to the testers. A seasoned security
of the job, and sometimes, they just cause trouble your account and your password, with a separate asking for donations to a number of charities, or expert was not getting access to his network, so he
to practice and polish their skills. line for the account you want to hack into. When providing other services like replacement sim cards called the helpdesk, and the person there did not
The most common scam is contrary to this is done, the mail claims that you will receive or new schemes that are too good to be true. The ask for the password itself, but asked which pass-
common social engineering methods. This the password of the account you want to hack into. donations do not go to the charity at all, and often words he had tried. This exposed all the passwords
requires no research about the This might seem like a childish scam to get your the customer who has made a purchase has no one he used for his bank account, his e-mail address and
target, but still has a surpris- password, but with access to your mailbox, there to call up or hold responsible. Once the payment is a number of other sites. Even seasoned professionals
ingly high yield rate. Have may be invoices or receipts with credit card made, the new sim card or scheme never shows up. can get easily deluded by such attacks. Bit-for-bit,
you ever won a lottery numbers waiting to be pilfered. These companies sprout up all around the place, databases are the costliest data around, and the
that you never Phishing is yet another form of social engineer- with a change in name four times a year. The stakes are high. Attacks can come from anywhere,
ing. There are two kinds of phishing attacks, employees are directed never to give their personal from the phone lines by people pretending to be in
generic and spear phishing. The victim receives a phone numbers to the customers, and are often authority or from the snail mail asking for confir-
mail in the inbox, which directs him to a web site unaware that they are involved in a scam. These mation of on line records as a failsafe, which many
that he is familiar with for some kind of process. setups are elaborate, with a proper office space fall for as it looks authentic.
The excuse varies from confirmation of the address given to employees, and a motivational session every Social engineering is not used by cyber crimi-
or verification of details to a breakdown in a system morning with excercises to increase the yield. nals alone. More and more, advertisers are resorting
and a re-entry of the required details. The link will A far more dangerous form of social engineering to it as cyberspace is a huge and open advertising
be a small and unno- does away with the computer aspect of the intrusion landscape. A trusted member of a forum or a friend
ticeable alteration entirely. The attack is directly on the people and the on a social networking site may be in the pay of an
in the URL of the company. This involves gaining access to a network advertising firm working in tandem with a
legitimate site. of a company using a variety of methods. Two company waiting to reap profits. Their methods of
Once here, you common approaches are dumpster driving and influence are very subtle, and far from illegal. A
will be asked shoulder surfing. This involves picking up discarded simple link in the right place and positioned in the
to enter the documents from the dustbin that might contain right manner can gain a lot of revenue for visits. A
account and sensitive information, or looking over the shoulder well placed post on a forum can change the direc-
of someone entering a password. In many compa- tion of the thread, and convince a lot of people
nies, an intruder can gain access to the network about the benefits of using a particular product.
simply by looking around the work area. The pass- What needs to be remembered is that these
word is invariably something that can be seen in the people spend a lot of time studying their targets,
immediate surroundings, like the name of the and analysing what approach will work out best.
monitor, the label on the calendar on the desk, or They are seasoned in psychologically manipulating
the model of the phone. This exposes two important their victims towards their means, and they
resources — the database of the company, and the sharpen their skills everyday. The only way to be
work files which a competitor can use. secure is to be aware of what they want, and how to
However, this is not as simple as that, there are keep it from them. I
44 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 45
Drool Thegoodstuff Stufftolustafter Stuffforthewell-moneyed
Maal
Bajca Smile Keypad
TheBajcaSmileKeypadisforinstantmessengerjunkieswhojust
iCans Aurum can’tdowiththeiremoticons.Insteadofhavingtopressaseries
ofkeys,theBajcakeypadallowsyoutoaccess16emoticonswith
TheiCansAurumisasetofsound thepressofasinglekey.Thedeviceinterfaceswiththecomputer
isolatingheadphonesfromthefolks usingaUSBdrive.Thekeysthemselvesaredetachable,andcan
atUltrasone.Theheadphonesmay bestrungintojewellery.
lookallbling,butaredesignedtobe
ruggedandmadewithmaterialsthat
aresuitableforextensivetravelling.
Theproprietys-logicnaturalsurround
soundtechnologyenvelopestheyear
insoundinsteadoffocussingitfrom
onepoint.Thesesetofheadphonesare
availablefor$200(Rs.9,742).
Samsung 256 GB
Flash Drive
Youknowyouwantit.TheIndustryleaderinsemi-
conductortechnologyunveileda256GBflashdrivein
Korea.Thedrivesaremeanttobeusedinlaptopsand
pocketPCs.Thedrivesarelightweight(81grams),andwill
Tokyo Flash beavailableintwosizes.Theyarealreadygoingintomass
Infection production,butatprevalentmarketratesof$1,000(Rs.
48,709)fora64-GBflashdrive,gofigure.
Whosaidwatchesforgeekshavetobemade
upofdotsandbars?ThedesignersatTokyo
Flashhavecomeupwithatotallyunique
design.Sowhatifyouwontbeabletotellthe
timewiththeInfection,butitsureashellis
aconversationstarter.Hasaleatherstrap,a Dunhill Pave Black
mirroredmineralcrystallens,27tri-coloured
WhatmakesthePaveBlackstandoutfromall
LEDsandiswaterresistantupto3ATM.The
theothercrystalstuddedUSBdrivesfloating
watchisavailableworldwidefromtheTokyo
around, is that it actually looks elegant. The
Flashonlinestorefor$105(Rs.5,114).
body is made up of oxidised silver sterling,
and is embedded with 272 black diamonds.
The drive can store 8 GB of data, and is
positioned as a corporate gift on their web
site. The USB drive can be purchased from a
Dunhillstoreorfromtheironlinestore.
46 DIGIT january 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT january 2009 47
Digital
60 Bazaar
66 Brick and
Mortar 78 Agent 001
Tools
Technology For Personal And SoHo Productivity
Feature
Where on Earth am I?
Akhilesh Tuteja
The answer to since the Stone Age, humans have always strug-
gled to be able to accurately determine their
that question lies
C
hinese Philosopher Confucius once said, position on the earth.
“And remember, no matter where you go, in technology we Our assimilation into a global village, and
there you are.” As humans, cognition of call GPS... travel across the universe, has necessiated the
where we are is one of the most important demand for quickly and precisely determining
aspects of our existence today, possibly just not only our current position, but also tracking
after knowing who we are. This paradigm is others in real time. In 1993, with the comple-
often portrayed in the behaviour of patients tion of the launch of satellites making up the
suffering from amnesia (memory loss) desiring Global Positioning System (GPS), it is now virtu-
to establish their identity first and then want- ally impossible to get lost, if you have a mobile
ing to know about where they are. The answer, phone with GPRS or a GPS device, that is.
however, has not been very simple and ever
Ashwini Baviskar
www.thinkdigit.com JANUARY 2009 DIGIT 49
Digital Tools l Feature Digital Tools l Feature
A GPS navigation system works by analysing mation (which can help choose an optimal tor among other things, the distance a ball has location information available to them. One of
radio signals received from GPS satellites. A GPS route) and routing information (turn-by-turn been hit and the distance to the green. the most fascinating applications shares this
receiver provides its current location 24x7. GPS driving/walking directions). Unfortunately, the information with a network of trusted friends.
systems were traditionally used as a vital defence traffic information feed and routing informa- Recreational activities This is known as Buddy Tracking System. A
technology and later used for commercial tion is not available for India, yet. Trekkers and hikers use GPS-enabled mobile number of systems are available that help you
purposes. In India, GPS technology has been used There are a number of other alternative phones to create a track log of the hike. GPS has share their location information in real time
for advanced public transport systems. Bangalore systems, which provide navigation and routing also given rise to new games such as Geocache, with their friends. The possibilities multiply
Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was information. Airtel provides an application which combine the physical and virtual worlds. manifold if the location information can be
the first to deploy off-line GPS technology on its (Wayfinder) for GPS-enabled Blackberry users The game, played across the globe by adventure shared through a number of different media
vehicles on an experimental basis and after real- (Blackberry 8800, 8310, Bold, etc.), which offers seekers equipped with GPS devices involves platforms. Some of the advanced applications
ising the benefits, commissioned a project to voice-enabled turn-by-turn routing informa- locating and hiding containers called can integrate one’s location information on a
implement real time GPS for its fleet to track and tion. The maps for this application have been geocaches (water proof containers containing a Wayfinder: the name says
phone, web and other platforms. Therefore, a
provide passengers with real time departure and provided by MapMyIndia, which has fairly logbook, toys and trinkets of low value) it all user may choose to share his location informa-
arrival times of buses. precise maps and routing information for may outdoors and sharing experiences online with tion with all or some of his friends that he or she
A similar model is being adopted by private Indian cities. With this application on a the player community. GPS is also finding its is connected to on social networking sites such
cab operators. Tracking vehicles through GPS Blackberry handheld, one can get around most place in fishing activities. Fishing in large as Orkut, Facebook or LinkedIn.
not only leads to significant savings by places in India quite easily. The software also water bodies makes it difficult to keep a track One such application is Loopt (www.loopt.
instructing the nearest cab to pick up a provides route summary, which includes total of the location where success was met. GPS com), which enables buddy tracking using a
customer, but also adds to customer delight Nav4All in action distance from start point to destination, devices help by marking such locations, allow- GPS-enabled mobile
due to shortened pick-up times. distance left, time taken, etc. The system can ing you to return to them when required. phone and can
Companies use GPS for fleet management also predict the expected arrival time with publish this infor-
broadly to track the exact location of the vehi- reasonable accuracy. GPS-enabled Nokia phone What lies ahead mation across a
cles during the course of the day, the distance users can also use a similar application for The convergence of GPS with mobile phones range of platforms.
traveled and the locations visited and any navigation. The other similar systems are brings additional opportunities for people to use Loopt is a great
instances of over speeding. Such systems can Nav4All, TeleNav, etc. this data to share their location information with buddy-tracking
also be utilised by companies to validate the their friends. The location-based information can system, but it is
claims of their sales personnel. Geo tagging also be published in the individual’s profile on linked to the tele-
GPS receivers, once the prerogative of Geo tagging is another interesting application, social networking sites like Facebook and com operator, which
commercial users, are now cheap enough to be which extends the capability of a camera or Linkedin. The same application can also be used implies that its
affordable to almost anyone — prices have fallen mobile phone, that has inbuilt GPS. Standard by parents to track their kids on a real-time basis. usage is limited to
to as little as Rs. 2,500. digital cameras have the capability to tag The GPS system is a testimonial of how only those users
As GPS gets integrated with basic mobile pictures with basic information such as date, man’s motivations and desires to probe his own whose telecom serv-
phones, its usage in our daily lives will increase TeleNav giving you precise time and camera settings. A GPS-enabled curiosities have helped him create a technolog- ice provider
as well. directions camera (or camera phone) can add location ical marvel. GPS systems have triggered techno- provides this service.
While a mobile phone has become a basic information as an additional tag to each logical fantasies around the globe and applica- Unfortunately, this
necessity these days, and has moved beyond picture taken. This tag can describe the exact tions of this technology appear to be virtually service is not avail-
being just a means of voice communication, a location of the picture on our planet. This func- unlimited. India is slowly beginning to embrace able with any tele-
mobile phone with inbuilt GPS capabilities can tionality helps users to keep track of the places this technology to answer some of the many com service provider
bring unlimited possibilities. they have visited, without having to manually challenges facing a burgeoning population and Loopt can tell your friends where you are at any given time in India.
enter such information. we shall soon begin to see the penetration rise. Another interest-
Navigation ing application is Whrrl (www.whrrl.com), which
GPS navigation systems provide useful informa- Anti-theft devices Convergence of GPS and mobile provides buddy tracking service, and in addi-
tion about an individual or a vehicle’s current Today, several security systems are designed phones — going beyond navigation tion, offers event capture. Essentially, users of
position, regardless of the vehicle travelling on by embedding GPS units in vehicles. These Whirrl can record their comments / feedback
Google Maps helping you Whrrl can tell your
road, water or air. Modern day mobile phones units when integrated with automobile secu- he initial usage of a GPS-enabled mobile about the place (restaurant, club, etc) they visit,
with GPS antennas can work as navi-
gation systems and run mapping soft-
find your way
rity systems can notify the vehicle owner by
phone or email if the vehicle security alarms
T phone was to simply track one’s location on
a mapping application like Google Maps. Soon
buddies about that
wonderful restaurant you
visited last night
and these comments will be visible to their
ware that can track the current posi- are triggered, and help in identifying the after, came the navigation systems, which
tion of the vehicle and provide turn-by- exact location of the vehicle. helped users get from one point to another by
turn driving instructions as well. assisting them with turn-by-turn driving direc-
Google Maps, a mapping software that Sports tions. Mobile navigation systems are good, but
has gained popularity globally, can be Runners, cyclists and other health conscious are limited in their capabilities. Also, the usage
used to determine the current posi- individuals can use GPS-enabled mobile of these applications is quite limited. Since navi-
tion on a map. Google Maps is a phones to monitor their speed and distance gation systems are used only when one travels
simple, yet powerful application, covered. The famous French cycling event Tour to unknown places, initial research indicates
which can work on most mobile de France has riders equipped with GPS devices that a typical user does not use these systems
phones and provide precise location (if that transmit their speed and location at all more than once in two weeks. Such low usage
the phone has an internal or external times. GPS systems are also used to capture may not justify installing a rather heavy appli-
GPS antenna) or approximate location player work rates and training loads to monitor cation just for the purpose of navigation.
— if the phone does not have a GPS and prescribe exercise and recovery routines. The next set of applications for GPS-enabled
antenna. Google Maps also has capa- Modern day golf courses also install GPS units mobile phones relies on the fact that people
bility to provide traffic density infor- on golf carts, and these are being used to moni- would like to do much more with the real-time
50 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com JANUARY 2009 DIGIT 51
Digital Tools l Feature Digital Tools l Feature
friends. This allows friends in the network to entering the due date/time, you also specify the
share information easily. Whrrl also integrates location, where the task can be performed. For
with Twitter, a social networking platform for
people to communicate with their friends. One
key limitation of Whirrl is that it works only on
example, if you add a task for dry-cleaning, you
also provide the address for the dry-cleaner.
Whenever, you drive into the same areas as the
GPS-enabled phone
GPS-enabled mobile phones.
Whereabouts is a similar application, which
was primarily targetted at family members who
need to track each other. Worrying parents can
dry-cleaner, an alert for this task will come up
on your phone screen. The best part is, got-2 Task
Management integrates with Microsoft Outlook
and Google Calendar, making it simple to
Buying tips
track the location of their kids on a real-time synchronise with your usual task list. f GPS is one of the key requirements, it may viewing of maps and driving directions. Higher
basis. Whereabouts also provides integration
with Facebook, making it an extended social
While these platforms open up new possi-
bilities of information exchange, they also
I be a good idea to consider the following
aspects before choosing a phone.
screen resolution can add to enhanced experi-
ence. Hence, compare the display resolution
networking system. bring about significant risks and challenges. before finalising your phone. Another good
Micro BTS (www.microtechnologies.net) is a GPS v/s A-GPS feature to look for should be ambient light
buddy tracking system offered by Micro Standard GPS requires a line of sight connec- adjustment. Many cell phone displays can
Technologies in India. The system is fairly tion with at least three GPS satellites to find increase or decrease display brightness depend-
simple to use, but is not free. the exact location. Moreover, the satellite feed ing on ambient lighting conditions. This is very
An upcoming system, known as Trackut should be available for 30 seconds to a couple useful when one is walking in bright sunny
(www.trackut.com) takes these applications to of minutes before the GPS can provide exact outdoors.
newer dimensions. Trackut offers all the coordinates. This can lead to significant prob-
options of a buddy-tracking system not only on lems if the user is surrounded with tall build- Mounting
GPS-enabled mobile phones, but it works on ings, trees or is indoors. Also, a GPS has to If the objective is to make your phone double
non-GPS phones also. Moreover, Trackut is an perform complex mathematical calculations up as vehicle navigation system, it will be a
operator-independent service, which makes it using triangulation techniques to determine good idea to buy a phone, which comes with
versatile, and it can be used virtually anywhere the position-based on the satellite signals. accessories to mount it on a flat surface. This
in the world. Fundamentally, Trackut is a loca- Therefore, the start-up time for any GPS-based can be very handy if you use it in your car. One
tion-based information streaming system, application can be frustrating. This problem should avoid flip-phones because they are not
which can help users create location-oriented can be solved by using an advanced technology very useful when it comes to using them as
groups and share information with friends. called A-GPS or Assisted GPS. In the case of A- navigation systems.
In addition to offering basic buddy tracking GPS, the GPS unit contacts an intermediary
service, Trackut provides multi-channel loca- called assistance server, which helps determine Battery
tion-based streaming. A Trackut user can record the location of the device much faster. The Needless to say, GPS antennas and overlaid
any event, describe it, tag it and share it with assistance server can use the cell-phone tower applications can be a big drain on battery. It
friends. The event capture can be real-time, information to start the computation process will be good to have your phone with enough
using the phone to record and share it with the and also performs complex mathe- battery when you need to make that
network. The captured story could be about a got-2 Task Management matical computations on a much late evening emergency call. Phones
restaurant you liked, a party where you had fun, For example, the buddy tracking systems are faster processor. This provides follow- with external charging accessories
or could be temporal such as a traffic jam you considered a serious privacy invader, limiting ing benefits: can be a better deal.
are stuck in. Trackut manages these and streams its use to close family members only. Although I Device location is determined much
them to the right audience when they are near most applications allow you to enable or faster Memory
the locations where these events occurred. disable location sharing, it can be cumbersome I Location can be acquired even when Many GPS applications will require
Such an application opens up possibilities to manage it. Another drawback is that these there is no continuous satellite on-device storage of static or cache
to do many things on a convergent platform. systems eat a lot of battery power since they signal available data. The bigger the storage, the
When a movie feed is converged with such would require the GPS antenna to remain I Device has to perform less computa- better it is. Most devices provide an
application, you can drive into any area and switched on whenever you use them. The tion leading to less battery consump- option to enhance memory
find out which one of the closest cinema hall is battery consumption increases if you are inside tion through add-on media cards.
running a movie of your choice. An alumni a building or around tall buildings. The third These features result in great bene- However, a device with in-built
group may choose to join the network and the big disadvantage is the cost of data transfer. fits to cell phone GPS systems where memory may offer faster response
members can share their office and home loca- Since all these systems use GPRS or an equiva- battery conservation is an important compared to the one using external
tions with peers. lent method to communicate, there is a signif- consideration and one may have to use storage.
The possibilities are endless. However, icant flow of data from the mobile phone. If a navigation system even while talk-
Trackut is in evolution process and the inter- one is not on an unlimited data plan, these ing on phone. Speaker
face needs some upgrade. It’s a promising systems can punch a big hole in your pocket. However, A-GPS requires an active Most navigation applications offer
application and should mature soon. All said and done, these are great tools and data connection and if one is not on voice prompts for driving directions.
An application of special interest is got-2 can make your phone do multiple things. The an unlimited data plan, its usage can The louder the phone speaker, the
Task Management (www.gwhizmobile.com). This advice is to use them cautiously, keep a charger lead to increased phone bills. easier it is to follow the instructions.
application takes simple electronic task lists to handy and switch to an unlimited data plan There is no easy measure to compare
the next level. A traditional task list uses date before you start using them! Display speaker quality, but phones with
and time as an event to trigger an alert, whereas Since GPS-enabled phones will be dual speakers offer better capability.
got-2 Task Management adds a new dimension The author is the Head of India IT Advisory Practice at invariably used for navigation assis- It may be a good idea to try the
(location) to trigger an alert. The way it works is KPMG. A technology enthusiast himself, he enjoys tance, it’s important that the screen speaker out before buying an expen-
that whenever you create a task, in addition to experimenting with the latest gadgets and technology. size is reasonably large to enable easy sive phone.
52 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com JANUARY 2009 DIGIT 53
Digital Tools l GPS Test Digital Tools l GPS Test
GPS Devices Tested
meant to be used in a vehicle view pho-
and comes with maps built into tos on it. In
it. The device itself is compact some ways,
and simple looking. The 3.5-inch it’s a bit of
screen on it isn’t especially great an enter-
but it gets the job done. Being tainment
Rossi Fernandes Now, get- products from GPS India. This is the database and also using a designed for the car, the box system for
the first time we’ve got in GPS direct pointing selection mode pack comes with the necessary passengers
ting lost
W
e’ve only heard about devices and we decided to focus and looked at what kind of route attachments to fit it on to the sitting in
GPS devices on the is also a our attention on products that the device would offer. Nobody windshield of your car, for exam- the front.
Internet and in the thing of the would best suit you, the end user. wants a device that requires you ple. The touch interface is OK, T h e
news, but we’ve never really past... This category of products covers to read a manual to tell you how and is not incredibly reactive. speed of
looked at any products as such. user friendly devices that anyone to go from one point to another. Scrolling around the map itself loading
People have little knowledge can use while travelling from one We also looked for what kind of is a little difficult. The device maps and
about GPS and how useful these place to another. The whole point addons came along with the unit has no buttons and is completely zooming
units can be. It’s assumed that of using a GPS device is to make to attach to your car. touch-operated. into them
the real use of GPS is only for sure that you are never really We looked at how easy it was The device makes use of a is a little
those into aviation, marine and lost – in fact once you use them, enter in key points and routes. SD card slot to read maps. This s l o w e r
science related work. The other you know where you are at any Some of the devices even came is something seen across all the than some MapmyIndia 430
major misconception is that GPS given time of the day, anywhere with a simulation mode which brands. The devices might be of the other GPS units. This also Classic Navigator Classic too has a better speaker
equipment is extremely expen- in the world. Obviously this kind allows users to run through a different but they all run the happens to be one of the mod- built into it. The On/Off button
sive, and to use it means that of information is much more demonstration of the entire route same kind of maps. The inter- els that MapmyIndia plans on is a small switch placed at the
you require some sort of formal important for specialised tasks. in advance. Some GPS devices face is slightly dull with a plain phasing out very soon. If you’re bottom of the GPS.
training or the other. Fishermen, explorers and hikers even allow you to avoid certain Windows XP-like theme running looking for a cheap GPS unit The device also shows a graph
There are some other miscon- will find GPS devices much more roads while some others allow on it. The menu bars and the rest for your car, this is one to con- of the speed and altitude over
ceptions that must be cleared useful. Navigating through the you to divert through another seem a little too thick and so sider. It should be priced around the trip. There are some features
before we proceed. You do not urban landscape these days is no route. All the devices we reviewed occupy a lot of useful real estate Rs. 18,000. MapmyIndia is bring- where you can choose road types
need GPRS to use a GPS unit nor less of a challenge either. ran on some kind of mobile soft- on a screen this small. Charging ing newer models which offer that you want to avoid. The soft-
is there a monthly or yearly fee ware platform or the other. When is done through a mini-USB port Bluetooth functionality to con- ware automatically sets an alter-
to be paid to avail of GPS ser- What we looked for you have some kind of process- and a separate 3.5 mm audio jack nect to your phone, and should nate route. Like other GPS sys-
vices. It’s a one time fee covered This being one of the first tests of ing power bundled with a touch- is also present if you want to hook be out soon.. tems, you can look for hotels and
when you purchase the device. this kind for us, we looked mostly screen, there’s bound to be some up the unit to the car speakers or other places of interest along the
GPS devices calculate and pin- at the features in this mini-com- entertainment as well. So, we your pair of headphones. MapmyIndia 430 way. The manoeuvre route mode
point your location using data parison of devices. Like any other looked at some of the extra soft- The features on it are pretty Classic Navigator gives a list of turns along that
from satellites and then put it human interfacing device, we ware features such as image view- impressive in general. The route route you’ve chosen. The device
on a map. Dedicated GPS devices
come with maps and software
preloaded on the device. Mobile
looked for quality of the screens,
the design for both the hard-
ware and also the software inter-
ing, movie and audio playback.
MapmyIndia A-MAX
and the maps on the device can
be viewed in three different ways
– the top-down view, the chase
T he MapmyIndia 430 Classic
Navigator is one of the newer
models to come into the market.
can also keep tracks of logs and
journeys you’ve done which is
useful for future reference.
phones that have GPS features face. We look at how good the 06GP5A view and the last one which has Unlike the A-MAX 06GP5A, this The 430 Classic can also play
don’t come with such maps in interface design was, and how both the views side by side. The one comes with a 4.3-inch screen media like the A-MAX 06GP5A.
most cases. These maps require
loads of space and a good bit
of processing power. Instead,
simple it was to use. We tried
adding a source and a destina-
tion point by searching through
O ne of the two MapmyIndia
GPS devices received was
the A-MAX 06GP5A. The device is
maps are well detailed across the
major cities and national high-
ways are clearly mapped. This
which also supports a higher res-
olution of 480 x 270. The touch-
screen is a little more reactive
It supports AVI files, and the
feature works rather well. The
screen quality itself is average,
those GPS software available for will be useful while you drive and the quality of the display is so watching videos on them,
mobile phones download maps from one city to another. considerably better too. The hard- although practical, isn’t as
of the region you are in using The trip computer which rep- ware also comes with a newer much fun as a dedicated PMP.
GPRS. This is the only relation resents a typical speedometer on version of the software than that Image viewing also isn’t great.
there is. All the products we’ve a car is also present. Although on the A-MAX device. This device is good for its perfor-
tested come with the software not as fancy as some of the other The interface is one of the big- mance, and the quality of speak-
and maps inbuilt and require no models we’ve looked, the A-MAX gest improvements you’ll notice ers. It comes with a price tag
external connections to down- 06GP5A shows your speed — the in the 430 Classic. The theme of Rs 22,990 which might seem
load additional maps. We also average as well as the maximum used looks a bit like Windows like lot money, but there’s still
reviewed some GPS receivers that speed attained during your trip. A Vista. The excessive animations decent value here.
connect to laptops and mobile voice guidance system constantly are unnecessary, but the rest of
phones, but they need separate announces and updates you of the interface is made very profes- GPS India
software to operate. upcoming turns, and the dis- sionally. The colours are bright, Garmin Nuvi 350
We decided to see to see if tance to the turn. The voice qual- and give the device a very user-
we could get our hands on some
GPS devices available in the
market and we managed to get MapmyIndia A-
ity is OK, but is loud enough for a
car with the windows closed.
The GPS can be used for other
friendly look.
The volume control is placed
on the side of the device. Like
G armin is a well reputed
name in the industry and
the Nuvi 350 is first of the two
in products from MapmyIndia, MAX 06GP5A tasks as well. The unit lets you some of the other improvements devices from this brand that we
Satguide and also some Garmin play music, movies and even over the other model, the 430 reviewed. This is another dedicat-
54 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 55
Digital Tools l GPS Test Digital Tools l GPS Test
The trip computer rency calculator, a measurement other devices. The windshield
is simpler looking but convertor and even a world clock mounting mechanism is really
it has all current live that keeps track of time in differ- sturdy and works very well. It is
information updated ent places. also flexible with its joints and
on it. It gives you Garmin’s experience in GPS allows you to mount the unit in
information about the devices is clearly visible in the in a variety of ways.
moving time, the time case of the Nuvi 350. This is one The PMP feature of the device
you’ve stopped, your of the best GPS devices we’ve is really impressive. The player
average speed and so seen. At Rs 27,300 without taxes, has a proper playlist and even
on. This device is all it also happens to be the costliest seeking features. The speaker is
about the function one. Although the higher price is also pretty good so as a whole,
and less about the pre- hard to justify, it’s a great buy for for music playback this is a very
Satguide
sentation and style. those without budgets. good device to own. Even though The speaker on the P360 is Mio P360
The Garmin Nuvi it’s not the perfect GPS, it is exceptionally good. It is loud and
350 even has an Satguide Mio C230 incredibly cheap in comparison crystal clear. It comes with a
optional addon for to the other devices of its kind. 2.5mm jack which means you will
Garmin Nuvi 350
the traffic receiver.
The software interface
has an option which
T he Mio C230 is supplied and
distributed by Satguide under
their branding here in India —
The price of Rs 16,000 is truly
impressive and makes the device
a very good value-for-money
need some kind of a convertor to
connect conventional earphones
to it. A connector for an external
ed GPS system like the ones from can be enabled only if you have with their software and maps purchase. antenna is also available.
MapmyIndia and Satguide. this module. The feature lets you of course. The Mio C230 has a Even though we aren’t
The device is small and com- know of traffic reports and infor- decent 3.5-inch screen that oper- Satguide Mio P360 impressed by the P360 for its
pact like the MapmyIndia A-MAX mation on it on the Nuvi 350. ates at a resolution of 320 x 240. GPS features, you must remem-
06GP5A. The advantage of using
products this small is that you
have the option of carrying it
Unfortunately, this unique little
feature is subscription based and
more importantly not available
The screen is more or less the
typical size of Windows Mobile
phones and PDAs. It’s a com-
W hen you first look at the
Satguide Mio P360, it
looks like a slightly oversized
ber that you get a good fully
functional PDA for the money
you spend on it. You can run any
around in your pant pocket or in India at the moment. pact device with lots of round- PDA or a touch screen phone Windows Mobile application on
pouch when you step out of If you’re looking for some ed edges. Again, this is another with a 3.5-inch screen. The exter- it. At that, it will undoubtedly
your vehicle or go an off-track kind of entertainment from device that can be carried away nal looks are quite impressive excel. The price for the P360 is
outdoor trip. The screen qual- your GPS system, then the Nuvi with you when you leave the car. as well. It’s also built very well. Rs 19,490 which is still asking a
ity is also very identical to the 350 will in no way disappoint. The touch screen is both You could call this a handheld lot in our opinion. For those who
A-MAX 06GP5A. The Nuvi 350 is There is a media player for music accurate and functions well with GPS device but you might find want just the GPS functionality,
one of the few devices to come playback, an image viewer and the interface. The performance it difficult to fit into your shirt the Mio C230 is the better of the
with a foldable antenna. There’s even an audiobook reader – all of the C230 isn’t as good as the pocket very easily. The device two Mio devices.
also provision for an extendible the things that your passengers Nuvi. There is some amount of runs Windows Mobile 6 and like
antenna for better performance. will find interesting. The nifty delay while operating the device any other PDA boots up into the GPS Bluetooth Receivers
When you first power it on, bit of software is the language and while loading maps of dif- operating system.
the welcome menu lets you
down with an underwhelming
three-option menu. It’s only later
translator that gives voice results
in different languages. You can
then travel to other countries
ferent regions when you scroll.
We also had some stability
issues when we accessed some
It comes installed with the
Satguide application which
needs to be run by going into the
O ne of the cheapest and sim-
plest ways to use a GPS is
with your phone, PDA or laptop.
that you discover that the soft- and still be able to have basic features. The application would Programs menu on the device. All you need then is what is com-
ware interface on the Garmin is communication with the people randomly crash and the device The application that loads is monly referred to as a GPS receiv-
Satguide
actually made to be clean and Mio C230
of the region. There is also a cur- had to be restarted. This could identical to the one used on the er. These are cheaper than dedi-
organized. There is use of sober have been an issue with the other device we received from cated GPS units and the choice
colours all throughout the soft- device we received. Satguide – the Mio C230. In com- of software that you want to use
ware. Even the maps follow a The maps are detailed parison, the same software runs with it is left to you. Along with
similar theme. This combina- but this can get crowded, really horribly on the P360. It the completely ready GPS units,
tion is truly unique and will suit especially when you zoom has none of the crashing issues we received three GPS receivers
many users. When day turns to out a bit. The maps even but it performs really poorly. The and we had to give him a run
night, the Nuvi 350 can be set have names of many build- device by itself runs rather well to see how they ran. Most of the
to switch a night mode which ings and this part of the and even better than some of GPS receivers you get today con-
changes the colour scheme to reason why the interface the other phones and PDAs we’ve
be more of a contrasted darker can be so flooded with used.
interface. There is a very simple information. Operating The software, like on the
menu to look for places of inter- the software is simple and C230, isn’t the nicest looking
ests such as dining places, fuel straight-forward. The only one. The interface is simple but
stations and so on. The artwork thing that bothers us is colours used are too gaudy. The
used for the selection is very the colours and look of the touch screen is not as sensi-
nice done. While going through interface. Although simple, tive and controlling the device
its entire feature set, the great it’s doesn’t look as smooth is quite troublesome. The maps
performance of the interface is or refined when compared and the rest of the software are
easy to notice. to the other interface on the exactly the same as the C230. Garmin Mobile 10
56 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 57
Digital Tools l GPS Test
nect wirelessly using Bluetooth of effort. This is useful where
connectivity. you want to monitor the routes
Of the three, the Garmin through which your vehicles
Mobile 10 was the best look- travel by. The Satguide GPS
ing of the lot but the Satguide Logger is priced at Rs 6,990
GPS Bluetooth Receiver was which is a fairly good price and
slightly more compact. There it removes the need for a sepa-
really isn’t a big difference in rate device of either a phone or
functionality between these computer to store data on it.
two devices. They both have
a simple on/off switch which Conclusion
turns on the device. All you We’ve been pleasantly sur-
really need to do is turn on prised to see the number of
the Bluetooth on your laptop GPS systems available and the Satguide GPS Receiver
or phone, scan for Bluetooth number steadily growing for
devices and then add the GPS the consumer market. We were We like the idea of Bluetooth
unit. You can then choose to impressed by the details on the receivers as they give the user
use any software and the maps maps. Getting this amount of the flexibility and choice of the
for it on your phone. data collected, sorted and put maps and the software that you
We used the devices with a into maps has required an enor- use. Phones with Bluetooth con-
laptop and a Windows Mobile mous amount of effort. Work nectivity are something that
without any problems. Setting is still on and updates are still everybody has these days. Our
up was pretty straight forward regularly available to improve only concern is that mobile
and with the serial link via maps by all of the brands. phones drain down their bat-
Bluetooth set up, we were able Now coming to what we tery too quickly with Bluetooth
to able to use the receivers along think of the products, we like left on. In most phones, it’s pos-
with some of the software for the Garmin Nuvi 350 the most sible to drain the battery within
Windows Mobile. for its very elegant design and five hours of using it. This still
The price for the Garmin feel. The new MapmyIndia 430 is a great way to experience how
Mobile 10 is Rs 11,025 and Classic is larger than the rest to use a GPS.
Rs 4,290 for the Satguide GPS but has a stylish and modern Windows Mobile is also the
Bluetooth Receiver. The Garmin look to it. The maps on it preferred platform and there
Mobile 10 is a lot more expensive were equally detailed as well. are plenty of commercial and
but the price tag isn’t totally If you have the choice between free open source software being
justified. It comes with software the two, we’d recommend you developed for it on communi-
for the desktop and the Windows go for the Nuvi 350 but the ties on the Internet. There are
Mobile platform – nRoute and MapmyIndia 430 Classic would applications for Symbian as
Garmin Mobile XT. be the best if there was a bud- well but Windows Mobile seems
For those who want some- get constraint. The Satguide to be the more preferred one
thing a little different – some- Mio C230 is the cheapest of for GPS. Google Earth Plus is
thing that can monitor your the lot but we aren’t so fond of one of simplest software for
tracks for you, there is a device their interface. For all practi- those who want to use it with
by Satguide called the GPS cal uses and for those who just their laptops while sitting in a
Logger which we reviewed a few want a GPS system for their car or travelling by a long dis-
months back. This device too car for as cheap as possible, tance train.
has the same Bluetooth func- that is the way to go. Among The whole idea of being to
tionality as the GPS Receiver the Bluetooth receivers, we track where you go and then
from Satguide but it does the like the Satguide GPS Receiver revisit it online or show oth-
additional task of storing data mainly for its price. As for ers the way to reach places
on the memory. Once you’ve those want to log data of your is great.. We like the idea of
completed your trip, you can travel routes, the Satguide GPS using GPS units for everyday
attach it to a computer and Logger is the only option you use and will definitely be look-
download all the data which have. It’s a bit more expensive ing at more GPS systems in the
can be used on software such as than the receiver but it’s well future. n
Google Earth with the least bit worth the price. rossi.fernandes@thinkdigit.com
Contact Sheet GPS Devices
Brand Contact Phone E-mail Web site
SatNav Technologies SatNav Technologies 040 - 66827333 Extn: 342/348 satguide@satnavtech.com www.satguide.in
MapmyIndia CE Infosystems Pvt. Ltd 9867979376 - www.mapmyindia.com
GPS India Aerial Services Pvt Ltd 022 - 26156707 asplgps@vsnl.net www.asplindia.net
58 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Bazaar We test the latest hardware
and software products
available in the market
tive buttons and rotating with surprises. The camera Mate, which is We would not recom-
Nikon D90 the jog dial. Shutter speed is incredibly simple to use, Sony Ericsson W595 good for the fit- mend that you buy this
Expensive, but hard to resist! and aperture size have dedi- it has the performance, the Shake that phone ness fanatics out phone as it has some flaws
cated dials. features and is undoubted- there. The sound that need to be corrected.
ne of the key attractions The shape and size of It’s very difficult to criti- ly miles ahead of the D80 ony Ericsson has been enough to get quality on the
O this month had to be
the Nikon D90, which is also
the D90 is somewhat larger
than the D60 we saw a few
cise the D90 on quality as
well. The 12.3-MP CMOS sen-
in every aspect. Nikon has
yet another winner on its
S naming its phones by
their features, like the
used to, but you
need to put in a
headphones
better than the
is Specifications
Size: 1.9 x 3.9 x 0.6 inches,
the costliest camera we’ve months back. It’s a bit heav- sor does its job well. Photos hands and we highly rec- Cybershot or the Walkman little effort into speaker. The call Weight: 104 g, Screen: 262k
tested so far. Nikon has ier than the D60 and also turn out crisp across the ommend this if you have a range. They’ve just intro- pushing the but- quality is pretty Colour QVGA, Resolution:
brought in the D90 to the D80 itself. The body is entire aperture range. The serious interest in photog- duced the newest model — tons to use the decent and we 320x240, Memory: 40MB
replace the trusted D80. The plasticy, but feels extremely lens isn’t made for macro raphy and also the money. the W595, so let’s take a phone. Opening had no issues phone memory, expandable up
D80 was one of the best sturdy and the buttons are photography, so you’ll have The D90 along with its lens look at it. the back was a lit- with the recep- to 8GB, Other: Bluetooth, WAP,
upper-entry level to mid- great as expected on any difficulty with up-close is priced at a whopping Rs. The W595 has a nice tle troublesome tion. GPRS, Wi-Fi, RSS reader,
range cameras from Nikon. Nikon D-SLR. shots. Mind you, great 89,890. The body by itself metallic steel border which with it refusing However, YouTube streaming
The D90 then has a lot to The D90 now comes close-ups can be shot by can be bought for Rs. gives it an oh-so-sleek look. to come off easi- there are a few
prove before it can earn its with a 3-inch screen that is moving back and zooming 69,950. This makes the D90 There are stereo speakers at ly. drawbacks. The Contact: Sony Ericsson Mobile
place. incredibly vibrant and into the target. Good depth almost as costly as the the top and bottom of the This phone USB cable is too Communications India Pvt Ltd
Going through the crisp. The other thing that of field can be achieved eas- D300. It makes better sense phone. The connection for has features like YouTube short and there is no 3.5- Phone: 1800-11-1800
D90’s key features, it cer- makes the camera interest- ily too. The flash is power- if you spend more and go USB and headphones for streaming, RSS feed reader, mm headphone jack. The Email: questions.in@
tainly looks impressive. The ing is the inclusion of Live ful and good enough for for the D300 instead. the phone is on the left, Opera browser, but sadly no shake-it features for switch- support.sonyericsson.com
indoor photography every Nikon’s lens are known to while the volume and the WiFi. Even so it has WAP, ing between songs works Website: www.sonyericsson.com
now and then. be cheaper than some ‘walkman’ button is on the GPRS and EDGE support. fine, but the volume control Price: Rs 14,695
The Auto mode works other brands, so buying right. The phone feels pret- Many of the applications seems a tad too sensitive.
well along with the auto- just a body and then a ty sturdy, but let’s see if it use the shake feature as an The slider is not very sturdy. RATINGS
focus feature. Focusing is good lens can also be a really is. accelerometer. There is a bob- We noticed there was a light
Features
instantaneous and there is good move. If you don’t Each of the buttons has a ble head wallpaper which on at the corner of the keypad
Performance
no delay whatsoever. There need the Live View or the subtle, yet noticeable out- swaying the phone, moves in for illumination. It however,
Build quality
are a few autofocus hiccups video recording or even the line of a reflective turquoise the opposite direction while did not serve its purpose.
Value for Money
every now and then, but small changes Nikon has blue colour. The distance bobbing. There is also an Not all the buttons were
Overall
nothing that can’t be fixed made, then the older D80 between the buttons are application called Walk illuminated.
using the other auto-focus- is a better buy, especially
ing bracket modes. As with its more wallet-friend-
expected from any D-SLR, ly price. Billion BiGuard 30 There are port blocking fea- of switch and router that
the manual mode gives you tures put in place, and data can be managed remotely.
total control of the camera. Specifications Guarding your networks can be monitored and At Rs 16,500, it’s not
You won’t be disappointed 12.3 MP CMOS sensor, ISO he Billion BiGuard 30 is a and user-friendly as some blocked accurately. Web very expensive for a SoHo
with the D90, if you like to
select a scenario preset
Range: 200 - 3200, Shutter
speed range: 1/4000th to 30
T switch that is meant to be
used a security gateway. In
home routers available
today. The switch lets you
pages with some keywords
can also be blocked. Virtual
especially for the function it
performs.
either — a dial for doing seconds, Nikkon DX 18-105mm comparison to some of the connect to two external net- Private Networks can also be
that is present. VR lens, 3-inch screen, other network devices we’ve works and data can be rout- set up using this router. Specifications
Another new feature SD/SDHC complaint, Video seen, this one is one of the ed through them. This fea- Intrusion detection mecha- Two Ethernet WAN ports, eight
hardly ever seen on D-SLRs recording up to 1280x720 nicer looking products. The ture also allows load balanc- nisms are present and logs Ethernet LAN ports,
D90 utilises a 12.3-MP View that allows you to use is video recording. The D90 pixels. front has status indication ing between two connec- for all kinds of events are Dimensions: 482 x 166 x 42 mm
CMOS sensor going up from the LCD screen to focus. can capture up to 1280x720 LEDs for all the eight LAN tions. This is something very maintained by the router.
the D80’s 10.2-MP CCD sen- This is a feature rarely resolution videos at 24 Contact: Nikon India Pvt Ltd ports and another two for the useful in SoHo scenarios. The router can be set up to Contact: One Network (India)
sor. The sensor size remains found on D-SLRs. frames per second. What Phone No: 022-40925555 WAN ports, all mounted on a Setting up a WAN connec- send alerts by email. Using Pvt. Ltd
unchanged. Most entry-level The D90 is undoubtedly makes it even more special Website: www.nikon.co.in glossy black surface. The rest tion is easy and can be done Dynamic DNS, the router Phone: 9821014253
cameras are supplied with one of the easiest cameras is that you can zoom and Price: Rs 89,890 (with 18-100mm of the body has a powder- using fixed IP addresses, can easily be accessed Email: deepak@onenetwork.co.in
an 18 to 55-mm lens which to operate, if you have that focus manually while shoot- VR lens) coated paint finish. PPPoE or two other methods. remotely. Website: www.billion.com
can be quite limiting to the a basic knowledge of using ing videos. The video quali- The interface is simple to Security is also taken The Billion makes per- Price: Rs 16,500
kinds of photos you can a decent point-and-shoot ty is great and the frame use, but isn’t as colourful care of with this device. fect sense for SoHo users
RATINGS RATINGS
take. We received the cam- camera. All the functions of rate quite stable but you who have a small network.
Features Features
era with a Nikkor DX 18 to the camera such as ISO, will need to buy a fast There are plenty of security
Performance Performance
105-mm VR zoom lens. This white balance, exposure SD/SDHC card for it. features and the firmware
Build quality Build quality
makes a good all-purpose metering and focusing We’d be lying if we said allows very precise and accu-
Value for Money Value for Money
kit for wide-angle and tele- modes can be accessed by that we weren’t impressed rate permissions and rules
Overall Overall
scopic shooting. holding down the respec- with the D90. It’s filled to be set. It is also the type
60 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 61
Digital Tools l Bazaar Digital Tools l Bazaar
Canon Pixma MP198 tion through- Thermaltake Xaser VI cages which can be
out the image.
A multifunctional device for the home user Even
A hardcore cabinet for the hardcore gamer locked easily havingas drive bays
as well
aving an MFD are two flaps that need to though this hermaltake is a well looked stylish but is not slide-in locks. There
H (Multifunctional
Device) for home use is a
be opened — one behind for
loading the paper, and one
MFD is on the
bulkier side,
T known name in the made of the best quality. is also an extra draw-
world of gaming peripherals, The reset button is tiny and er bay, which you can
pretty good option as it in front for the paper out. being priced at from PSUs to PC cabinets. a bit hard to push. attach and use as
saves space, rather than hav- The back loading extends only Rs. 4,595 The Xaser VI is a full tower Some of the thumb- CD/DVD storage if
ing many devices and also quite a bit too. The scanner is quite a steal chassis meant solely for hard screws at the back are inac- needed.
comes in handy when you lid does not have the fea- for home users core gaming enthusiasts. cessible and need to be This case is pretty
need immediate copies of ture to extend, to allow big not wanting to The Xaser VI is a black opened with a screw driver. big and aimed at
something or the other. books to be scanned. also had a darker black to it. spend a lot on printers. It and red tower with metal Putting them back needs enthusiasts. The fan
Canon products vary from The buttons of the print- The coloured test page used does lack a few features like dust filters on both sides to patience as well. cables are coated
consumer to business use er are on the right side with printed on both settings USB plug-in, fax and is not give a transparent look and The case has three fans, with rubber. SATA
and ranges from simple a single alpha-numeric dis- had a 13.3 seconds differ- one of the best printers in feel. The material used is and the one on top is cables and loads of
printers to multifunctional play. You can set the num- ence in print times. There terms of colour quality, but sturdy and the thickness of blocked by the ceiling of the extras such as zip
all-in-one printers, which ber of copies from one to was also significant quality as it is user friendly and the metal is pretty much case. On looking further ties are thrown in for
can print, scan, copy and nine, or set it at a maxi- difference visible between does not cost much, it is a adequate. It’s not as impres- into the top, we found that cable management. There Firewire x 1, HD Audio
even fax. The Canon Pixma mum of 20, which is repre- the two. The economic print good buy. sive as the Cooler Master the top panel can be moved are plenty of empty open
MP198 is one of the new sented by ‘F’ displayed if had a very grainy and pixe- Stacker or the Cosmos. a bit towards the back giv- spaces in the cabinet, so Contact: Tirupati Enterprises
additions to Canon’s range you try to go above nine. lated picture quality. We did Specifications The I/O panel has space ing the fan a bit more space expect dusting the insides Phone no: 9339207519
of inkjet multifunctional We tested the speed at notice that in the printouts, Dimensions - 17.7 x 13.9 x 6.7 for two e-SATA ports, four to blow air, but that leaves a every now and then. For the Email: mail@tirupati.net
printers which can print, which this printer can print in one of the images the yel- inches, Print resolution: 4800 USB ports, a FireWire and large section of the plate price of Rs. 13,500, it’s over- Website: www.tirupati.net
scan and copy, but lacks the a simple text document and low was pulling into the x 1200 pixels, prints up to 8 an audio in/out. Though hanging out over the back priced and not totally worth Price: Rs. 13,500
fax feature and is targeted a document with colour at magenta a bit. inches and 8.5 inches this case carries so much, of the case. the money you pay.
at home users. the settings of economy and We also tested the print- the cover for the panel was The power supply is RATINGS
The MP198 has a matt standard. The results ing of a high-resolution test Contact: Canon India Pvt Ltd quite weak and the clips mounted on top and a sup- Specifications Features
finish to it and is slightly obtained showed there was photo on photo paper, Phone No: 1800-180-33-66 holding it looked like it port beam is present to bear Dimensions: 23.8 x 9.8 x 26.0 Performance
on the bulky side with its a time difference of about which took a total of 4 min- Email: info@canon.co.in was not going to last very some of the weight. The inch, Drive Bay : 7, 10 Expansion Build quality
dimensions being 17.7(W) x 1.5 seconds between eco- utes and 18 seconds. The Website: www.Canon.co.in long. The power button is support beam can be adjust- slots, Front I/O: e-SATA connec- Value for Money
13.9(D) x 6.7(H) inches. nomical and standard result was a fairly good Price: 4,595 shaped as an ‘X,’ which ed as well. There are HDD tor x 2, USB2.0 x 4, IEEE 1394 Overall
Installing the print car- prints for a full-page Word quality which did show
RATINGS
tridges is easy as there is a document. Even though some increase in the shad-
Features Motorola Motozine ZN5
big poster along with the there wasn’t much of a dif- ows. Scanning of a photo
printer that gives you step- ference in the times, the took 28.6 secs, but did not Performance A Motorola phone with a 5MP camera like projections protruding The Motozine ZN5 is a
Build quality
by-step visual instructions standard print setting look too good. Colours were otorola mobile phones This phone is like a jig- out to indicate where to pretty good phone, but is a
on the basics for starting
out with the printer. There
looked much better in
terms of smoothness and
washed out and we also
noticed some grainy pixela-
Value for Money
Overall
M have mostly been driv-
en by style, especially with
saw puzzle with different
colours and all kinds of
actually press.
The camera delivers pret-
little too late for the mar-
ket. At Rs. 17,583, it still
their MotoRazr range of materials used all over in ty good images. There are offers good competition to
phones. The MotoRokr bits and pieces. The base of also quick buttons for delete, the N82. If you are on a
Intex IN 2266 tures like FM, GPRS, MP3 Specifications series followed and was the phone is made of a rub- share and gallery on the key- tight budget, this is a
playback and MMS. You FM radio, MMS, WAP, GSM aimed at music lovers. This ber material. The camera pad when the phone is in good buy.
Compact entry-level phone can use the speaker to lis- 900/1800, Expandable memo- new one is called the button is a nice metallic camera and gallery mode.
ntex is a company that has speaker is ten to music or use it as ry slot (up to 2 GB), Polyphonic Motozine ZN5 and it comes purple giving it a good dis- The phone has a loud- Specifications
I recently seen an increase
in the number of its prod-
located
behind,
a loudspeaker when mak-
ing calls. The FM radio
Ringtones, 1000 number
phonebook, 100 SMS memory,
with loads of features
including a 5-MP
tinguishing factor. A nifty
slide button on
speaker, but is not that
great as the sound is rather
2.4-inch LCD 240x320 pixel dis-
play, 5-MP camera, 512 MB
ucts. Mobile phones are one and the has an auto-tune feature 188 SMS storage Kodak camera and is the right of the flat. The supplied earbuds internal memory expandable to
of its less known products. slot for and can store up to 30 aimed at users who phone is present on the other hand are much 4 GB via micro SD card, Wi-Fi.
The Intex IN 2266 is an entry- the hands- channels. The recording Contact: Intex Technologies want all the features which serves the better in terms of sound
level mobile phone packed free is on includes scheduled FM (India) Ltd a phone can offer purpose of lock- quality with a decent mid- Contact: Motorola
with quite a few features for the side of recording where the Phone: 1800116789 including the looks ing the phone. range and even a hint of Phone no: 0124 - 2303212
a phone in this category. the time and frequency for Email: info@intextechnologies.com of a phone. This is a good bass. The phone has a 3.5- Website: www.motorola.com
Firstly the looks — it’s phone. recording can be set. The Website: www.intextechnologies.com The phone is thin step forward, mm jack, which means you Price: Rs. 17,583
glossy cherry red all over, The phone also has a sched- Price: Rs. 2,999 and slides into your rather than the can also plug in your own
and easily fits in your palm. phone uled power on/off feature RATINGS
pocket easily. The old conventional earplugs. The only other RATINGS
It’s also very light. The but- allows you that is useful to some upper section of the mode of key complaint is that the phone Features
Features
tons are a bit cramped and to expand memory up to users. back has a bulge due presses to lock heats up a bit with pro- Performance
Performance
the screen size is also very 2GB via a T-flash microSD The phone is still a great to the lens of the the phone. The longed use. The call quality Build quality
Build quality
small with 64k colour and a memory slot, which is next buy with all its features like FM camera. The back keypad is com- was pretty good as far as Value for Money
Value for Money
resolution of 240 x 240 pix- to the SIM card slot. and music playback, since it is panel is a little pletely flat with being in an area with full Overall
Overall
els QVGA display. The loud- The phone still has fea- priced only at Rs. 2,999. tricky to remove. really tiny stud- network reception goes.
62 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 63
Digital Tools l Bazaar Digital Tools l Bazaar
Brother MFC-7840N 11.5 seconds with an upper all purchase. There are Zebronics Air Gear together looks very likely we would recommend it to
This Brother packs quite a punch and lower limit of two sec- some minor features lack- to break if not handled users who don’t like wires,
onds in both modes. ing, like a USB port to get An MP3 player with no-strings attached with care. This device will or to those who like listen-
rother is best known for bly slid into place very easi- There was a difference instant printout from flash ebronics has come up trols and the next/previous not survive a trip in your ing to music while they
B value-for-money prod-
ucts. We look at one of its
ly. Configuring the MFD can
be being done without con-
of a second between the
two modes, but the image
drives. This is still a really
good buy, especially for
Z with an MP3 solution
for wire free music as the
buttons are also combined
into two buttons. This is
bag, if you intend to travel
a crowded train or bus dur-
exercise. So until an
improved version of this
latest MFDs — the MFC- necting it to a PC. Other quality was not that great small businesses, but is a Air Gear MP3 player is the not very easy to use and ing peak hours. wire free MP3 player comes
7840N. than the many scanning in economy mode. The bit on the pricey side at headset itself. takes a while to get used to. There is no manage- out, we wouldn’t suggest
This MFD has a basic options available, there’s standard mode was an Rs. 19,895. The Zebronics Air Gear ment in transferring you buy it.
two-line LCD backlit display. also a unique one — scan improvement, but a bit of is worn behind the neck. music, as you can directly
There is a full numeric key- your document to FTP pixelation was still visible. Specifications These headphones look like drag and drop the songs Specifications
pad for the fax feature on (upload to an FTP server). Scanning gave some good 250 sheet paper tray, 32 MB Bluetooth headphones, and you want into the Frequency range: 20 Hz –
the right and button For printing, we used results with the scanned memory, Super G3 (33.6Kbps) in fact, are the MP3 player removable disk folder. 20,000Hz, Max volume: 85dB,
options for fax, copy and two modes of the test docu- picture quality not that modem, Upto 2,400 x 600 dpi itself. There is no device There is no shuffle or Supported Formats: MP3, WMA
print on the left. ments — economy and stan- bad and it took a total of print resolution. that needs to be plugged repeat feature avail-
The paper tray can be dard. The plain Word docu- 36.4 seconds. in to play music. The able with this player, Contact: Top Notch Infotronics (I)
removed completely with ments took We also scanned five Contact: Brother International only time you need to which means you Pvt. Ltd.
three clamps to adjust your pages using ADF — this took (INDIA) Pvt. Ltd connect the headphones have to be very selec- Phone: 9892084950
paper size — two on a total of two minutes 35 Phone: 4098 8900 to a wire is for charging or tive of the songs you want Email: padam.dugar@zebronics.com
the sides and one on seconds. A Word document Email: info@brother.in transferring music through to listen to, or it will be a Website: www.zebronics.com
the back. There is was used to test the copying Website: www.brother.in the mini USB port located cumbersome task to look Price: Rs. 1,950
also a tray on top of capabilities, which did not Price: Rs. 19,895 on the right earphone. All We faced a frequent prob- for that one particular
RATINGS
the device for ADF turn out that great as the the controls are located on lem between switching song you feel like hearing.
(Auto Document text turned out to be a bit the right earphone. The songs and controlling the Priced at Rs. 1,950, it’s Features
RATINGS Performance
Feeder). The lid of the rough, but this could be power on/off and the play volume. not the best of MP3 players.
Features Build quality
scanner can be extend- caused by the scanner. Even and pause buttons are all It is very delicate as the If the neck band was stur-
Performance Value for Money
ed when you need to so, the copying took only combined into one button, plastic neck band that dier with a slight improve-
Build quality Overall
scan a thick book. nine seconds. whereas the volume con- holds the whole device ment in the sound quality,
Value for Money
Installation is simple — This MFD with its ADF
Overall
the toner cartridge assem- feature makes a good over-
Norton Internet Security 2009 nitely an improvement, as
An efficient internet security suite in the past the major prob-
economy mode was quite 164 seconds for printing, lem with Norton was of
HP Photosmart C4588 unsatisfactory with very which is decent. The scan- he Norton Internet quick access notifications users complaining of the
A step towards wireless printing edgy lines in a full page
text document as well as
ning performance was
average.
T Security suite comprises
all the features of Norton
for anti-phishing and also
keeps security information
amount of resources used
when the antivirus was
P is well known for its even need to connect the for a colour document. The The HP Photosmart C4588 Anti Virus with more fea- like logins and passwords as running.
H printing solutions,
which include multifunc-
printer to the computer for
these initials steps.
standard mode, on the
other hand, was a great
does live up to the mark for
being a really good photo
tures to protect users from
threats on the internet like
profiles. Norton Internet
Security allows users to
Considering the
all-in-one package
tional devices. The HP A unique feature of this improvement in terms of MFD as the photo printouts phishing web sites, key log- securely store usernames that the Norton
Photosmart C4588 is a new printer is the WiFi support. quality, but printing speed were very impressive. gers, etc. and passwords, as well as Internet Security
MFD inkjet aimed at home You can either connect the took a hit. The time differ- The look of the Norton create identity cards which offers — antivirus,
users or small businesses, printer to a network using ence between economy and Specifications Internet Security sports a help users in quick filling of antispyware, phish-
but also for those who want a router or directly to a PC standard for the test docu- Dimensions: 17.09 x 11.42 x very modern simplistic look. online forms. ing filters for internet
photo quality printing. or laptop using ad-hoc net- ment (text) was 10 seconds, 6.38 in, Print resolution - 1200 There are three quick access The earlier versions of safety and even good per-
The C4588 is a neat look- working. We ran the print- whereas the coloured docu- x 2400 dpi, 32 MB memory, menus for Computer, Norton Anti Virus and formance, it is a bit on the
ing MFD with its smooth er through a series of tests ment was a whole 30 sec- WiFi, MS/DUO, SD, XD, MMC Internet and Identity which Norton Internet Security expensive side at Rs. 2,115 available hard disk space,
clean look. There is a one- to check the print quality onds. The quality of the card reader. are displayed when you used to use up a lot of for one year and hence we Standard Web browser
inch LCD colour display on and speed in two modes — photo test turned out to be open the program. There resources which causing would not recommend it
the right surrounded by but- economy and standard. The exceptionally good. It took Contact: Hewlett Packard are also usage meters dis- the PC to slow down when as there are others out Contact: Symantec
tons. The paper support tray Phone: 124 - 2566 111 played on the main screen: idle as well as during a sys- there that are cheaper. Phone: 1800 425 4235
feels a bit weak and break- Email: seema.dawar@hp.com one for CPU usage and the tem scan. But the Norton Even so, if you are a Website: www.symantec.com/en/
able. The scanner lid didn’t Website: www.hp.com/in other for usage of the Internet Security 2009 has Norton user and trust no in/index.jsp
feel very strong either. Price: Rs. 8,800 Norton Internet Security stepped up and is quite other antivirus software Price: Rs. 2,115
When you power on this application. efficient when it come to then this is a great bundle
RATINGS RATINGS
printer, it gives you step-by- Norton Internet Security resources. It used a maxi- for you.
step instructions on how to Features integrates into your browser mum of 20 MB of RAM Features
start installing the car- Performance as a toolbar. Firefox and when we first installed it Requirements Performance
tridges right up to print Build quality Internet Explorer have tool- and while running a sys- Microsoft Windows XP/Vista, Ease of Use
alignment — all on the LCD Value for Money bars, but Opera isn’t sup- tem scan it used about 10 300 MHz or faster processor, Value for Money
display itself. You do not Overall ported. The toolbar gives MB of RAM. This is defi- 256 MB of RAM, 200 MB of Overall
64 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 65
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
Brick and mortar
Motherboards up to egory and one was an AMD-based board brings. This board also has
Rs 10,000 offering. an option in the BIOS for enabling
Intel’s Robson, which by definition
Feature rich and fancy-free Features uses a small amount of cache
The MSI K9A2 Neo2 was the AMD- on the board itself to speed up
Michael Browne of these boards support extra
connectivity options like E-SATA,
domination in the high-end per-
formance market. AMD chose to
N ormally, non-integrated
motherboards aren’t cheap.
However, there’re always options
based solution in this category,
and is based on AMD’s RX780 chip-
set. This board is cleanly laid out
HDD operations. Unfortunately
this board doesn’t have any such
cache and may rely on a flash
I
n November last year, we test- extra USB ports and serial ATA play the entry-level market, which for every user and in every price and the area around the CPU is drive for this purpose. We haven’t
ed motherboards with inte- ports. Some of these even come is why our integrated-graph- bracket. Sadly, the recent plum- also very open. Two of the others come across this setting in the
grated graphics (IG) solutions. High- with a lot of snazzy add-ons, like ics motherboard comparison in meting Rupee value against the were P43-based solutions, which BIOS’ of other boards before so
These were strictly entry-level to an LCD screen that displays POST November had more AMD-based Dollar means that most Indian are lower variants of the P45 chip-
mid-range platforms. As you’re
end rigs, (Power On Self Test) messages. solutions. If you’re buying a high- distributors have pulled up their set. MSI’s P43 Neo and Gigabyte’s
probably aware, high-end systems multi-GPU Perhaps more importantly, most end PC today, market trends sug- rates. Over the past two months, EP43-DS3L both featured the ICH
mostly mean motherboards with- systems of these motherboards support gest you want an Intel processor, quite a few sub-Rs. 10000 boards 10 Southbridge. ECS was the only JanUaRy 2009
out any graphics solution. Yes, and world specific multi-GPU solutions like and motherboard manufacturers have crossed into the higher price vendor to provide a P45 offering
high-end PCs demand a graphics NVIDIA’s SLI or ATI’s Crossfire. seem to agree. We also noticed category. Also cheaper IG boards — the P45T-AD3. Quite surpris-
card, and therefore, an integrat- record If you’re looking at building a that Nehalem boards were rather are plentiful, but non-integrated ingly this board supported DDR3
ed video solution isn’t required. beating fast gaming rig, or even a pow- scarce – it seems Intel’s DX 58 boards are one category where memory; this is kind of contra-
Moreover, most manufacturers bench- erful multi-purpose PC, or a SO is the only X58 motherboard discerning buyers are willing to dictive to the product pricing as
reserve the top-end features and rig for cracking world bench- that is readily available. Other shell out big. As a result, only DDR3 memory is costly enough
top quality binned parts for their
marks need mark records, then you’ll prob- vendors have demo pieces, but four boards made it into this cat- to negate any price benefits the
MSI P43 Neo
top-of-the-line solutions. These the best ably end up shopping for one of nothing in-market. We did get
are more-often-than-not discrete boards. these worthies. an MSI X58 Eclipse and an ASUS
graphics solutions. We’ve test- We’ve tested 26 of the top- P6T Deluxe, but the former was How We Tested
When you’re simply buying a end boards available today. To recalled before we could test it.
PC, any motherboard will most
ed them... nobody’s surprise, 24 of these The latter turned out to be physi- We categorised our motherboards into three price categories E-SATA, dual LAN ports, solid state capacitors and the number of
likely do, as long as it supports boards were Intel LGA 775 plat- cally damaged – some CPU pins 1. Boards up to Rs. 10,000 expansion slots available for PCI and PCIe cards was rated.
the processor of your choice – at forms. AMD users have a measly were missing. Therefore, Intel’s 2. Boards above Rs. 10,000 and up to Rs. 18,500
least four serial ATA ports and an two boards to choose from. This X58 offering remains the only 3. Boards above Rs. 18,500 Performance testing
equal number of memory slots is because most vendors are flock- Nehalem-based board we’ve tested Our Test system for the Intel platform consisted of a Core PC Mark 2005: This benchmark runs 48 discrete tests to test
and USB ports. The motherboards ing to make high-end solutions and we await more boards from 2 Extreme QX 9650 (3.0 GHz) processor and 4 GB of RAM. For each performance related component subsystem — the proces-
we’ve tested are catered more supporting Core 2 Duo and Core 2 other vendors based on the new DDR2 boards we used Corsair’s Dominators rated at 1066 MHz at sor, memory, video and storage. Finally it throws out a final score
towards the discerning user. Most Quad processors, thanks to Intel’s and exciting Nehalem processor. timings of 4-4-4-12 at a speed of 800 MHz. For the DDR3 moth- — which is a weighted average of the individual results.
erboards we used 4 GB of OCZ XTC Platinum clocked at 1333 MHz
at timings of 9-9-9-20. Our graphics card of choice was ASUS’ EN SiSoft Sandra 2008 Lite: Sandra 2007 had specific benchmarks
GTX 280 TOP; an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280-based card whose core to test all the subsystems of a PC. It tests a CPU’s floating point
is factory overclocked to 670 MHz. Western Digital Raptor hard crunching ability under both arithmetic and multimedia applica-
drives were our storage component; these have the spindle run- tions. The application supports multiple cores and scales well in
ning at 10,000 rpm and are suitable for such high-end boards. this regard. It also tests the read and write performance of the
For AMD systems we used the Phenom 9950 processor storage subsystem, and the memory bandwidth.
clocked at 2.6 GHz. We used the same memory, graphics card and
HDD for the AMD motherboards as well; this is done to minimise 3D Mark 2006: Our graphics benchmark of choice.
deviations in scores due to different components being used. By
varying only the motherboard and the processor we are able to CineBench R10: Tests the CPUs rendering ability; scales well with
keep other variances down to a minimum. We used the latest multiple cores.
motherboard BIOS’ and the latest drivers that we downloaded
from the respective sites. Our OS of choice was the tried and WinRAR 3.8: Tests compression/decompression at the CPU level
tested Windows XP Prof with service pack 2 installed. This is
probably the last time we’re testing boards on this ultra stable Video encoding (DivX 6.8): is a CPU intensive test and using it
and reliable platform. while testing a motherboard tells us exactly how optimised the
board in question is. The latest version 6.8 also has support for
Features the new SSE4 instruction set.
We looked very carefully at overclocking options that these boards
provide. With overclocking becoming very idiot-proof, even idi- File transfer test: This tells us a lot about Southbridge perfor-
ots (pardon the pun!) can play around with BIOS settings safely. mance and data path optimisations on each motherboard, and
Enthusiasts will also find a lot of valuable information as far as how fast data is moving around on your hard disk.
CPU and memory voltage parameters go. We rated these boards
Photo: Jiten Gandhi
on the basis of both overclocking and overvolting options and Game benchmarks: Doom 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl
how easy and transparent the settings in the menus are to this and Prey were our games of choice. We run these games at maxi-
effect. We also looked at the features and connectivity options mum settings for a good GPU benchmark and at minimum set-
that these boards provide. The presence of digital audio ports, tings to get a sound CPU benchmark.
66 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 67
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
have eight rear chip which allows you to surf
USB ports for the internet and use Skype with-
hassle free con- JanUaRy 2009 out booting into Windows. Both
nectivity. MSI’s boards have great looking heat-
JanUaRy 2009
P43 Neo with its pipe solutions and are very well
fire engine red laidout except for the fact that
Motherboards Boards Up To Rs 10,000
PCB is clearly a one SATA port remains unusable
Brand MSI MSI ECS Gigabyte basic solution as with full length graphics cards.
Model No. K9A2 Neo2 P43 Neo P45T-AD3 EP43-DS3L
MSI uses a black PCB This is because while the other
for their high-end boards. SATA ports point outwards this
It has a simple aluminium one is vertically aligned (meaning
heatsink on the Northbridge MSI P45 Platinum it points upwards); connecting a
and is cleanly laid out with a lot hard drive to this port with a full
of gap between the PCIe slot and length graphics card plugged in
PCI slots. is impossible. We liked the fact
Chipset AMD RX780 Intel P43 Neo Intel P45 Intel P43
Socket AM2/AM2+ LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 You want bragging rights and that ASUS chose to supply one
Northbridge / Southbridge AMD RX780 / AMD P43 / ICH10 P45 / ICH10R P43 / ICH10 Performance flaunt value as well as rock solid PCI slot above the primary PCIe
SB700/SB750
Price (Rupees) 4500 5200 7560 8500
The P45 chipset is slightly faster performance and build quality. slot. This means that you can use
Plus (+) than the P43 and ECS’ P45T-AD3 In addition these boards usual- your PCI soundcard, even if you
Minus (-) takes the lead in this regard ly have better quality or higher have a large custom cooler on
Grand Total (Out of 100) 54.01 57.57 61.89 64.47
Features (out of 60) 24.36 22.50 26.10 29.22
but by the finest of margins. Of grade components. This helps your graphics card, without fear
Performance (Out of 40) 29.65 35.07 35.79 35.25 course this could also be attribut- with increased life and stabil- of airflow getting impeded in any
Front Side Bus Speed (MHz) 2000 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz able to the use of DDR3 memory ity while overclocking which is way. Incidentally these boards
Memory Type DDR2 DDR2 DDR3 DDR2
Max Memory Supported (GB) / No of DIMMs 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4
especially in case of the memory important for those interested support a 16-phase power system,
No. of SATA / IDE Ports 6/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 bandwidth benchmarks which in benchmarking and posting good for ensuring an ultra sta-
E-SATA Support / No Of E-SATA Ports 6 / NA 6 / NA y/1 6 / NA are largely theoretical in nature. scores on forums and such. Some ble supply of power to your CPU
No of PCI Express Graphics Slots 1 1 2 1
No. of PCI / PCI x1 / PCI x4 Slots 3/2/6 3/2/6 2/2/6 2/4/6 The MSI K9A2 Neo2 is just eaten of these boards will also have which is of importance to over-
Multi GPU Support (SLI/CrossFire/N) / No of N / NA N / NA Y / Crossfire x8 6 / NA up here; and not for any fault of fancy looking heatpipe cooling clockers. Gigabyte’s GA-P45-DS4P
PCIe Lanes for multi GPU setups its own. AMD really trails behind solutions; this is great for people is another solidly built offering.
Integrated Audio Controller Realtek ALC888 Realtek ALC 888 Realtek ALC 883 Realtek ALC 888
SPDIF / Optical Port 6/6 6/6 6/6 4/4 Intel in terms of processor per- having cabinets with transparent It’s a great looker too with a good
No of LAN Ports / 10/100 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit formance and this reflects in side windows or anyone wanting looking heatpipe solution that
Integrated Wi-Fi (Y/N) 6 6 6 6
most of the benchmark scores. to show his components off. doesn’t take up too much space.
No. of rear USB / FireWire Ports 6/0 4/6 6/0 8/1
All Solid State Caps (Y/N) 6 6 6 4 Biostar’s T-Power I45 was also a
BIOS options Our Winner(s) Features good looking and well laid out
Overclocking / Overvolting (So 10) 5/5 5/5 3.5 / 3.5 5.5 / 5.5 All in all, MSI’s P43 Neo impressed The boards in the category were board and an add-on fan with
CPU voltage range (volts) (-)26.6 to (+)30.4% -0.4 ~ +0.7875v +50mV ~ +328mV 0.5 ~ 2.0v
Memory voltage range (volts) 1.80 to 2.90v 1.416 ~ 3.324v 1.5v ~ 2.2v 1.8 ~ 2.5v the most. It trailed the fastest all quite feature rich and diverse heatpipe is also provided. Biostar
Package Bundle board by a hairsbreadth and was in terms of the chipsets they were uses funky colours for the expan-
No of SATA / PATA Cables Provided 4/1 3/1 4/1 3/1
CD’s Drivers Driver, Backup software Drivers Drivers
a whole Rs. 2,360 cheaper. At Rs. based on. We found Intel’s P45 sion slots and the SATA ports
Other Miscellaneous Accessories NA NA USB and FireWire bracket NA 5,200 its your best bet for a cheap boards aplenty along with a few are well placed; not so the PATA
Performance yet powerful board that’s rea- of the cheaper X48 chipset based port which is a little awkward
PC Mark 2005:
CPU / Memory 7623 / 4496 9563 / 6433 9683 / 6691 9553 / 6326
sonably feature-rich. It won our boards. NVIDIA’s nForce 780i SLI although not inaccessible.
Graphics / HDD 16450 / 6837 18253 / 6527 18429 / 7017 18425 / 6922 Digit Best Buy award in the sub- chipset also makes an appear- ASUS’ Striker Formula (780i
Overall 8774 10138 10573 10467 Rs. 10,000 category and repre- ance here. A sole AMD offering chipset) and Rampage Formula
SiSoft Sandra 2008:
CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone ALU / Whetstone 39365 / 33387 54667 / 44028 55530 / 44066 55343 / 44016
sents superb value for money. based on the new 790FX was (X48 chipset) are part of their
iSSE3) available from ASUS. ASUS them- built for gamers ROG (Republic
CPU Multimedia (Integer / Floating)
Drive Index (MB/s) / Random Access Time (ms)
98644 / 130006
71 / 6
328936 / 180293
73 / 6
329473 / 180768
72 / 6
329272 / 180264
72 / 6 Motherboards above selves had five boards in this cat- Of Gamers) series. These boards
egory. The attractively packaged have add-on soundcards featur-
SiSoft Memory bandwidth score (Integer /
Floating)
5309 / 5301 6526 / 6253 7196 / 7199 6526 / 6527 Rs. 10,000 and up to P5Q Premium and P5Q3 Deluxe ing the same ADI 1988B audio
3D Mark 2006 Marks / CPU Score 13415 / 3850 16638 / 4949 16879 / 4975 16727 / 4962 Rs. 18,500 caught our eye first. Both are chipset that ASUS uses across
CINEBENCH R10 (CPU) 8319 11824 11833 11828
WinRAR 3.8 1844 2192 2263 2193 based on the P45 chipset; but the all their high-end motherboards.
Video Encoding (DivX 6.8) Time (sec) 80 114.3 114.2 115.4
Enthusiastically yours number three as a suffix on the They also have small LED-back-
T
File Transfer Test (4 GB File) (MBps) 145.2 136.5 136.7 135.2 he number of people willing P5Q3 Deluxe means this board lit buttons for functions like
Doom 3 FPS (1600x1200, 4xAA, 4xAF / 640 x 172.7 / 185.5 203.2 / 288.4 212.7 / 305.4 207.6 / 301.3
480, low detail) to spend Rs. 10,000 or above on supports DDR3 instead of the de power on/off, CMOS reset and
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl (1680x1050, 136.2 / 443.19 180.3 / 894.6 180.95 / 916.11 180.23 / 888.4 a motherboard are few; however facto DDR2. This board also sup- system reset. This is convenient
4xAA, 4xAF / 800 x 600, low detail) this number is slowly on the rise. ports two WLAN access points — for people working with open
Prey (1680 x 1050, 4x AA, 4x AF, 640 x 480, 165.8 / 227 204.3 / 348.8 211.2 / 357 202.2 / 336.84
low detail) Overclockers, gamers demand- nifty but useless for most people. systems (like us!) or overclock-
ing multi-GPU systems and oth- The P5Q Premium actually has ers. They also have LEDs on the
it warrants mention. The board sport an all solid-state capacitor cooler isn’t fixed on too tight and ers wanting a really feature rich four RJ45 ports; a waste if you ask PCB that indicate the current
itself is good looking with an all- design. We like the placement uses plastic push-through pins to board have no other choice. When us, although we did like the 10 status of Northbridge, FSB and
black PCB and is the best laid out of the memory slots and the fasten to the board. Due to this you pay above Rs. 10,000 for a USB ports. Both these boards also CPU overclocks. Then there is the
board in this category. The EP43- SATA ports in particular. The CPU the cooler was quite loose, which board you are not just looking for support Express Gate, an ASUS pat- huge yet unobtrusive one-piece
DS3L from Gigabyte was cleanly region was also fairly un-cramped. isn’t good for heat dissipation. connectivity options or even mun- ent for a separate Linux based heatpipe cooling solutions that
laid out and was the only one to One issue was the Northbridge This board was the only one to dane features. firmware OS built on to a flash ASUS uses; these cooling solu-
68 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 69
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
JanUaRy 2009 JanUaRy 2009 JanUaRy 2009
Motherboards Boards above Rs. 10,000 and Up To Rs. 18,500
Brand MSI BioStar ASUS ZOTAC ASUS EVGA MSI Intel XFX
Model No. P45 Platinum T-Power I45 M3A79-T Deluxe NF-780i Supreme P5Q3 Deluxe 132-CK-NF78 X48c Platinum DX48BT2 MB-N780-ISH9
Chipset Intel P45 Intel P45 AMD 790FX NVIDIA nForce 780i Intel X48 NVIDIA nForce 780i Intel X48 Intel X48 NVIDIA nForce 780i
Socket LGA 775 LGA 775 AM2/AM2+ LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775
Northbridge / Southbridge P45 / ICH10R P45 / ICH10R AMD 790FX / AMD SB750 nForce 780i SLI / nForce 570 SLI X48 / ICH9R nForce 780i SLI / nForce 570 SLI X48 / ICH9R X48 / ICH9R nForce 780i SLI / nForce 570 SLI
Price (Rupees) 10800 10800 11925 12999 13850 14250 15000 16000 16500
Plus (+)
Minus (-)
Grand Total (Out of 100) 69.41 64.51 65.91 67.89 76.15 67.62 68.55 68.03 66.14
Features (out of 60) 34.10 29.16 35.60 32.94 40.20 33.18 33.33 32.48 31.74
Performance (Out of 40) 35.32 35.35 30.31 34.95 35.95 34.44 35.22 35.56 34.40
Front Side Bus Speed (MHz) 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 2000 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz
Memory Type DDR2 DDR2 DDR2 DDR2 DDR3 DDR2 DDR2 / DDR3 DDR3 DDR2
Max Memory Supported (GB) / No of DIMMs 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 16 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 6 # 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4
No. of SATA / IDE Ports 8/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 8/1 6/1 4/1 6/1 6/1
E-SATA Support / No of E-SATA Ports 4/1 4/2 4/1 6 / NA 4/1 6 / NA 4/2 4/2 6 / NA
No of PCI Express Graphics Slots 2 2 4 3 3 3 2 3 3
No. of PCI / PCI x1 / PCI x4 Slots 2/2/6 2/2/6 2/6/6 2/1/6 2/2/6 2/1/6 3/2/6 2/6/6 2/1/6
Multi GPU Support (SLI/CrossFire/N) / No of Y / Crossfire x8 Y / Crossfire x8 Y / Quad CrossfireX (x8, x8, Y / 3 way SLI (x16, x16, x8) Y / Crossfire x8 Y / 3 way SLI, (x16, x16, x8) Y / Crossfire x16 Y / Crossfire x16 Y / 3 way SLI, (x16, x16, x8)
PCIe Lanes for multi-GPU setups x8, x8)
Integrated Audio Controller Realtek ALC 888 Realtek ALC 888 ADI AD2000B SoundMax Realtek ALC 888 ADI 1988B Realtek ALC 888 Realtek ALC 888 Sigmatel STAC 927 Realtek ALC 888
SPDIF / Optical Port 6/4 6/6 4/4 6/4 4/4 6/4 6/4 6/4 6/4
No of LAN Ports / 10/100 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 1 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit
Integrated Wi-Fi (Y/N) 6 6 6 4 (kit) 4 6 6 6 6
No. of rear USB / FireWire Ports 6/1 6/0 6/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 8/1 6/1
All Solid State Caps (Y/N) 4 4 4 6 4 6 4 6 6
BIOS options
Overclocking / Overvolting (So 10) 7.25 / 7 5/5 7.25 / 7 7/7 9/9 7/7 7.25 / 7.25 7.75 / 7.5 7/7
CPU voltage range (volts) 0.9925 to 1.9425 V -0.05v to +1.3v 0.8 to 1.7v 0.5 to 1.8.0v 0.85 to 2.1v 0.5 to 1.8.0v +0.7875 V at 0.0125 1.28 to 1.6v 0.5 to 1.8.0v
Memory voltage range (volts) 1.428 to 3.324 V +0.4v to +1.85v 1.8 to 2.5v 1.8 to 2.5v 1.5 to 2.78v 1.8 to 2.5v DDR3 - 1.50 to 2.75 V, DDR2 - 1.8 1.5 to 2.5v 1.8 to 2.5v
to 3.3 V
Package Bundle
No of SATA / PATA Cables Provided 4/1 4/1 6/1 4/1 6/1 6/1 4/1 2/1 4/1
CD’s Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers
Other Miscellaneous Accessories USB and FireWire bracket Add-on fan with heatpipe NA WiFi kit 2-WiFi AP units NA USB and FireWire bracket NA NA
Performance
PC Mark 2005:
CPU / Memory 9662 / 6552 9678 / 6471 7658 / 4500 9612 / 6682 9700 / 6738 9644 / 6706 9652 / 6452 9672 / 6482 9635 / 6735
Graphics / HDD 18382 / 6827 18499 / 7073 16798 / 6881 18284 / 7243 18435 / 6958 18371 / 7241 18182 / 7026 18236 / 7172 18373 / 7102
Overall 10389 10499 8969 10473 10624 10512 10445 10219 10480
SiSoft Sandra 2008:
CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone ALU / 55328 / 44217 55631 / 44045 39486 / 33576 55538 / 44263 55683 / 44307 55555 / 44015 55262 / 44192 55527 / 44091 55533 / 44024
Whetstone iSSE3)
CPU Multimedia (Integer / Floating) 329873 / 180626 330244 / 181007 98962 / 130438 329374 / 180731 330655 / 181060 329422 / 180295 329872 / 180828 330283 / 180992 329374 / 180353
Drive Index (MB/s) / Random Access Time 73 / 6 72 / 6 72 / 6 67 / 13 72 / 6 67 / 13 72 / 6 74 / 6 67 / 13
(ms)
SiSoft Memory bandwidth score (Integer / 6626 / 6656 6658 / 6668 5312 / 5311 6838 / 6841 7324 / 7222 6972 / 6957 7019 / 7023 7219 / 7215 6839 / 6837
Floating)
3D Mark 2006 Marks / CPU Score 16563 / 4982 16845 / 4966 13715 / 3907 16377 / 4981 16928 / 4991 16707 / 4954 16627 / 4945 16823 / 4993 16703 / 4938
CINEBENCH R10 (CPU) 11825 11833 8408 11836 11831 11821 11836 11862 11834
WinRAR 3.8 2204 2086 1850 2253 2289 1603 2122 2219 1672
Video Encoding (DivX 6.8) Time (sec) 114.6 114.1 78.3 113.5 113.2 113.8 114.8 113.9 113.4
File Transfer Test (4 GB File) (MBps) 136.6 137 140.4 146.7 137 143.7 140 137.6 145.8
Doom 3 FPS (1600x1200, 4xAA, 4xAF / 640 201.6 / 296.3 208.7 / 291.7 177.1 / 190.8 208.4 / 303.7 212.7 / 302.2 211.8 / 303.8 207.5 / 292.4 208.2 / 294.3 208.35 / 299.4
x 480, low detail)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl 180.63 / 908.72 180.32 / 916.3 139.29 / 460.81 180.21 / 905.3 181.11 / 930.72 179.01 / 880.41 180.4 / 911.4 179.3 / 910.3 179.5 / 901.4
(1680x1050, 4xAA, 4xAF / 800 x 600, low
detail)
Prey (1680 x 1050, 4x AA, 4x AF, 640 x 206.3 / 351.7 210.5 / 352.6 183.6 / 231.9 206.3 / 346.4 211.1 / 374 208.7 / 344.9 208.8 / 350.3 208.6 / 355 208.5 / 348.3
480, low detail)
70 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 71
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
Boards above Rs. 10,000 and Up To Rs. 18,500
and even a full length, double- bie friendly with help options
Motherboards
slot card will not render them at every stage. The settings are
Brand ASUS ASUS Gigabyte ASUS
Model No. Rampage Formula P5Q Premium P45-DS4P Striker 2 Formula
unusable. Equally important for also very transparent and menu
some is the support for both structure is good. Both Gigabyte
DDR2 and DD3 memory on the and ASUS support updating their
X48c; this board has six memory BIOS through USB drive and this
DIMMs; two for DDR2 and four is so much more convenient then
for DDR3. This means you can hunting around for a floppy drive
upgrade to DDR3 later, when it’s and working diskette. Although
more affordable. All these fea- most vendors have programs that
Chipset Intel X48 Intel P45 Intel P45 NVIDIA nForce 780i ZOTAC NF-780i Supreme
Socket LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 tures come with a caveat — there allow flashing the BIOS from
Northbridge / Southbridge X48 / ICH9R P45 / ICH10R P45 / ICH10R nForce 780i SLI / nForce 570 SLI are only four SATA ports and this Windows itself we feel the option
Price (Rupees) 17000 17750 17890 18350
Plus (+)
may not be enough for those of adding support for flashing JanUaRy 2009 Winner(s)
Minus (-) running multiple HDDs and from a USB drive from within the Our Best Buy award goes to MSI’s
Grand Total (Out of 100) 74.79 75.40 72.87 75.35 RAID arrays. The P45 Platinum BIOS is a very useful feature. P45 Platinum; a highly competent
Features (out of 60) 39.83 40.44 37.64 41.27
Performance (Out of 40) 34.96 34.96 35.24 34.09
is equally well laid out and the board for most high-end users at a
Front Side Bus Speed (MHz) 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz heatpipe solution is much easier Performance great price point of Rs. 10,800. It’s
Memory Type DDR2 DDR2 DDR2 DDR2 on the eye; in fact the heatsinks In terms of overall performance got a load of connectivity options
Max Memory Supported (GB) / No of DIMMs 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4
No. of SATA / IDE Ports 6/1 10 / 1 6/1 6/1 atop the Northbridge have been it seems NVIDIAs 780i SLI chip- and even supports Crossfire. It’s
E-SATA Support / No of E-SATA Ports 6 / NA 6 / NA 6 / NA 4/2 designed to appear like a four set cannot match Intel’s X48 definitely no slouch in terms of
No of PCI Express graphics slots 2 4 2 3 cylinder engine block complete and P45 chipsets. Of particular performance and shames some
No. of PCI / PCI x1 / PCI x4 Slots 2/3/6 2/1/6 1/3/1 2/2/6
Multi GPU Support (SLI/CrossFire/N) / No Y / Crossfire x16 Y / Crossfire x8 Y / Crossfire x8 Y / 3 way SLI, (x16, x16, x8) with cooling fins. However, this attention is the storage subsys- costlier boards. Our overall best
of PCIe Lanes high-rise heatsink couple with tem where Intel definitely has a performer was also to be found
Integrated Audio Controller ADI 1988B ADI 1988B Realtek ALC 889A ADI 1988B the fact that the heatsink cool- lead and NVIDIA’s Southbridge in this category (shockingly) as
SPDIF / Optical Port 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4
No of LAN Ports / 10/100 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 4 / Gigabit, 10/100 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit ing the mosfets on the other side has latency issues in terms of ASUS’ P5Q3 Deluxe demolishes
Integrated Wi-Fi (Y/N) 6 6 6 6 of the board are also quite high, hard drive access and during our even the ultra-high-end offer-
No. of rear USB / FireWire Ports 6/1 10 / 0 8/2 6/1 means your fingers face a little file copy test. The ASUS M3A79-T ings. If you want the fastest board
All Solid State Caps (Y/N) 4 4 4 4
BIOS options abuse while fastening the CPU Deluxe trails by a good margin out there, this is the one to buy.
Overclocking / Overvolting (So 10) 9.25 / 9.5 9/9 8.25 / 8 9.5 / 9.25 cooler. MSI provides eight SATA on account of its AMD proces- It’s very feature-rich as well, and
CPU voltage range (volts) 1.1 to 2.4v 0.85 to 2.1v 0.5 to 2.3v 1.1v to 2.2v
ports on the P45 Platinum; as if to sor but from amongst the Intel you won’t want for connectivity
Memory voltage range (volts) 1.8 to 3.4v 1.8 to 3.08v 1.8 to 3.0v 1.8 to 3.4v
Package Bundle make up for the X48c Platinums’ boards ASUS’ P5Q3 Deluxe was options which it has a bonanza
No of SATA / PATA Cables Provided 6/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 deficiency in this regard. just ahead of the competition. As of. DDR3 support means its rea-
CD’s Drivers, STALKER game, 3D Drivers Drivers Drivers, STALKER game, 3D Mark
Mark 06 Advanced Edition, 06 Advanced Edition, Kaspersky
The other three 780i SLI is the nature of motherboard test- sonably future proof. The price
Kaspersky Antivirus Antivirus boards were from EVGA, XFX and ing the differences when using of Rs 13,850 may cause you to go
Other Miscellaneous Accessories LCD poster, USB and FireWire USB and FireWire bracket USB and FireWire bracket LCD poster, USB and FireWire ZOTAC and these boards look identical components at stock “ouch” but it’s superlatively well
bracket, optional fan bracket, optional fan
Performance identical since these vendors speeds is very minute; but the built if that massages your sore
PC Mark 2005: choose to use NVIDIAs standard X48 and P45 chipsets generally wallet. Our Editors Pick was the full
CPU / Memory 9689 / 6552 9695 / 6615 9652 / 6453 9625 / 6912 PCB; in fact these PCBs are even outperform the 780i in both CPU x16 SLI supporting ZOTAC NF-780i
Graphics / HDD 18293 / 7147 18366 / 7014 18462 / 7072 18286 / 6829
Overall 10284 10494 10476 10436 made by NVIDIA so the finest and HDD based benchmarks. It Supreme. This board has all the
SiSoft Sandra 2008: details are identical too. EVGA also appears that DDR3 memory connectivity options, gives you the
CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone ALU / 55616 / 44264 55677 / 44051 55477 / 43994 55489 / 44019 has the most SATA connectors gives both the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe option of 3-way SLI and throws in
Whetstone iSSE3)
CPU Multimedia (Integer / Floating) 330318 / 181063 330650 / 181126 329438 / 180393 328265 / 180298 bundled and these are an attrac- and the Intel DX48BT2 a slight a WLAN access point all for Rs.
Drive Index (MB/s) / Random Access Time 73 / 6 72 / 6 72 / 6 67 / 13 tive black in colour. The PATA edge. Although we feel that DDR3 12,999 — good value for money
(ms) connector too is encased in a will really shine at speeds of 1600 for someone building a fast gam-
SiSoft Memory bandwidth score (Integer / 6787 / 6780 6829 / 6829 6526 / 6576 6587 / 6582
Floating) round bracket to aid airflow MHz and above its nice to see ing rig.
3D Mark 2006 Marks / CPU Score 16829 / 4999 16870 / 4951 16562 / 4827 16627 / 4926 — thoughtful. ZOTAC bundles a some small performance incre-
CINEBENCH R10 (CPU) 11366 11849 11856 11714
WinRAR 3.8 2149 2213 2193 1628
WiFi kit with their motherboard ments being gained at relatively Motherboards above
which is the only difference slower speeds of 1333 MHz and
Video Encoding (DivX 6.8) Time (sec)
File Transfer Test (4 GB File) (MBps)
113.4
135.8
112.8
144.1
113.7
138.4
114.3
147.1 between these boards aside from with looser timings.
Rs. 19,000
Doom 3 FPS (1600x1200, 4xAA, 4xAF / 640 211.5 / 294.9 212 / 295.7 206.4 / 297.5 206.3 / 288.3
x 480, low detail)
their bundles and prices. Wallet busting superlatives
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl 179.53 / 679.69 181.07 / 676.24 180.43 / 891.4 180.74 / 892.5 The ASUS boards have the
(1680x1050, 4xAA, 4xAF / 800 x 600, low
detail)
Prey (1680 x 1050, 4x AA, 4x AF, 640 x
480, low detail)
197.1 / 354.5 210.5 / 356.8 206.6 / 349.2 209.5 / 346.2
most feature rich BIOSes in terms
of overclocking options and they
are closely followed by Gigabyte.
JanUaRy 2009 W hen talking of Rs. 19,000 for
just one motherboard you
just know that the nonsense will
Never before have we seen such be left far behind. 20-odd grand
tions are some of the most attrac- test. It’s somewhat plain-jane cular shaped heatpipe solution minute settings and you can is either a good price for a superb
tive around. The ASUS M3A79-T looking with a black PCB and atop the former which looks tweak virtually any component motherboard or just a ridiculous
Deluxe was unique by supporting Intel’s traditional all aluminium overly loud and garish. The X48c you choose. There are also mul- price for an atrociously expensive
4-way Crossfire or as ATI calls heatsinks on both chipsets. Both Platinum is very well laid out; tiple reference voltage points and utterly undeserving offering.
it, Quad Crossfire. Intel’s own MSI’s boards, the X48c Platinum the PCI slots can be populated that you can set. Overclockers Entire PCs can be built for less,
DX48BT2 was also present but and the P45 Platinum were good even with a Crossfire setup — this will spend a lot of time here. We which means these boards either
this board pales in comparison lookers although somehow we is rare. The SATA ports are placed also think ASUS does a very good have some serious plus points in
ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe
to the two other X48 boards in do not care for the elaborate cir- away from the primary PCIe slot job of making their BIOSes new- terms of features or connectivity,
72 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 73
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
JanUaRy 2009
Motherboards Boards above Rs. 18,500
Brand ZOTAC ASUS Gigabyte ASUS EVGA Gigabyte ASUS XFX ASUS
Model No. NF-790i Supreme P5E64 WS Evolution X48-DQ6 Striker 2 NSE 132-CK-NF79 EP45-DQ6 P5E3 Premium MB-N790-IUL9 Rampage Extreme
Chipset NVIDIA nForce 790i Intel X48 Intel X48 NVIDIA nForce 790i NVIDIA nForce 790i Intel P45 Intel X48 NVIDIA nForce 790i Intel X48
Socket LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 775
Northbridge / Southbridge nForce 790i SLI / nForce 570 SLI X48 / ICH9R X48 / ICH9R nForce 790i SLI / nForce 570 SLI nForce 790i SLI / nForce 570 SLI P45 / ICH10R X48 / ICH9R nForce 790i SLI / nForce 570 SLI X48 / ICH9R
Price (Rupees) 19999 21000 21000 21250 22500 22990 23250 24000 25750
Plus (+)
Minus (-)
Grand Total (Out of 100) 70.58 72.06 73.99 75.54 70.61 74.63 73.21 69.19 77.07
Features (out of 60) 35.07 36.30 38.87 41.27 35.31 40.07 37.68 33.87 41.51
Performance (Out of 40) 35.51 35.76 35.13 34.28 35.30 34.57 35.53 35.32 35.56
Front Side Bus Speed (MHz) 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz
Memory Type DDR3 DDR3 DDR2 DDR3 DDR3 DDR2 DDR3 DDR3 DDR3
Max Memory Supported (GB) / No of DIMMs 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4 8 GB / 4
No. of SATA / IDE Ports 6/1 6/1 8/1 6/1 6/1 10 / 1 6/1 6/1 8/1
E-SATA Support / No of E-SATA Ports 4/1 4/2 6 / NA 4/2 4/1 6 / NA 4/2 4/1 4/1
No of PCI Express graphics slots 3 4 2 3 3 2 3 3 2
No. of PCI / PCI x1 / PCI x4 Slots 2/2/6 2/6/1 2/3/6 2/2/6 2/2/6 2/1/2 2/1/6 2/2/6 2/3/6
Multi GPU Support (SLI/CrossFire/N) / No Y / 3 way SLI, all x16 Y / Crossfire x16 Y / Crossfire x16 Y / 3-way SLI, all x16 Y / 3 way SLI, all x16 Y / Crossfire x8 Y / Crossfire x16 Y / 3 way SLI, all x16 Y / Crossfire x16
of PCIe Lanes
Integrated Audio Controller Realtek ALC 888 ADI 1988B Realtek ALC 889A ADI 1988B Soundmax Realtek ALC 888 Realtek ALC 889A ADI 1988B Realtek ALC 888 ADI 1988B
SPDIF / Optical Port 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4
No of LAN Ports / 10/100 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 4 / Gigabit, 10/100 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit 2 / Gigabit
Integrated Wi-Fi (Y/N) 4 (kit) 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 6
No. of rear USB / FireWire Ports 6/1 6/6 8/1 6/1 6/1 8/6 6/6 6/1 6/1
All Solid State Caps (Y/N) 6 4 4 4 6 4 4 6 4
BIOS options
Overclocking / Overvolting (So 10) 7.25 / 7.25 8.5 / 8.5 8.5 / 8.25 9.5 / 9.25 7.25 / 7.25 8.5 / 8.25 9/9 7.25 / 7.25 9.25 / 9.5
CPU voltage range (volts) 0.5125 to 2.0v 0.85 to 2.3v 0.5 to 2.35v 1.1v to 2.4v 0.5125 ~ 2.0v 0.5 ~ 2.3v 0.85 ~ 2.1v 0.5125 ~ 2.0v 0.85 ~ 2.5v
Memory voltage range (volts) 1.5 to 2.0v 1.5v to 2.78v 1.8v to 3.35v 1.5 to 3.1v 1.5 ~ 2.0v 1.8 ~ 3v 1.5v ~ 2.78v 1.5 ~ 2.0v 1.51 ~ 2.8v
Package Bundle
No of SATA / PATA Cables Provided 4/1 4/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 6/1 4/1 4/1 6/1
CD’s Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers, STALKER game, 3D Mark Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers Drivers, STALKER game, 3D Mark
06 Advanced Edition, 06 Advanced Edition, Kaspersky
Kaspersky Antivirus Antivirus
Other Miscellaneous Accessories WiFi kit USB and FireWire bracket USB and FireWire bracket LCD poster, USB and FireWire NA USB and FireWire bracket 2-WiFi AP units NA LCD poster, USB and FireWire
bracket, optional fan bracket, optional fan
Performance
PC Mark 2005:
CPU / Memory 9666 / 6962 9696 / 6685 9676 / 6282 9711 / 6928 9674 / 6956 9668 / 6324 9703 / 6705 9632 / 6928 9701 / 6695
Graphics / HDD 19517 / 7235 18470 / 6942 18431 / 7108 18372 / 6892 19681 / 7175 18146 / 7080 18539 / 6965 19347 / 7194 18515 / 7050
Overall 10790 10497 10400 10580 10480 10336 10560 10563 10609
SiSoft Sandra 2008:
CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone ALU / 55562 / 44230 55267 / 44146 55808 / 44661 55569 / 44021 55564 / 44044 55550 / 44113 55693 / 44250 55527 / 44277 55680 / 44083
Whetstone iSSE3)
CPU Multimedia (Integer / Floating) 329334 / 180379 329963 / 180882 331339 / 181512 328860 / 180022 329506 / 180414 329849 / 180690 330535 / 180426 329393 / 180352 330662 / 181109
Drive Index (MB/s) / Random Access Time 67 / 13 72 / 6 72 / 6 67 / 13 67 / 13 72 / 7 72 / 6 67 / 13 73 / 6
(ms)
SiSoft Memory bandwidth score (Integer / 7718 / 7709 7300 / 7293 6148 / 6150 6976 / 6954 7731 / 7733 6368 / 6369 7350 / 7354 7566 / 7636 7316 / 7311
Floating)
3D Mark 2006 Marks / CPU Score 16765 / 4947 16886 / 4990 16860 / 4994 16719 / 4948 16821 / 4969 16587 / 4947 16911 / 4995 16736 / 4983 16862 / 4973
CINEBENCH R10 (CPU) 11838 11844 11812 11647 11842 11786 11854 11844 11852
WinRAR 3.8 2264 2245 1990 1670 2264 2035 2270 2263 2263
Video Encoding (DivX 6.8) Time (sec) 112.2 112.6 111.6 114.8 112.7 114.7 113.9 112.3 113.1
File Transfer Test (4 GB File) (MBps) 144.5 137.5 138.7 146.3 147.6 147.6 144.9 146.3 146.8
Doom 3 FPS (1600x1200, 4xAA, 4xAF / 640 211.8 / 305.2 211.8 / 303.5 209.2 / 296 207.5 / 284.7 212.4 / 296.3 210.3 / 288.4 213.3 / 299.8 210.4 / 301.4 212.9 / 303.6
x 480, low detail)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl 180.79 / 906.92 180.63 / 906.68 181.15 / 894.95 180.32 / 893.72 181.44 / 896.5 178.22 / 881.22 181.23 / 916.65 180.5 / 901.45 181.67 / 924.39
(1680x1050, 4xAA, 4xAF / 800 x 600, low
detail)
Prey (1680 x 1050, 4x AA, 4x AF, 640 x 211.1 / 357.5 211 / 356.8 209.9 / 349.4 210.2 / 351.3 210.8 / 354.5 209.1 / 344.7 211 / 359.9 208.5 / 355.7 210.9 / 371.7
480, low detail)
74 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 75
Digital Tools l Motherboards Test
or they better be built well enough this is the only major difference. the PCIe slot and there are sets at first glance, installation of the
to stand rigorous overclocking. The build quality is exemplary of three LEDs on the board that CPU cooler was quite easy and our JanUaRy 2009
Yes, this also means large, attrac- as expected and the CPU region tell you the extent of overclock- fingers hardly even touched the
tive and overkill heatsink and is not cramped. The Northbridge ing; one each for none, moderate heatpipes. A PCIe x4 slot is provid-
heatpipe cooling solutions with cooler integrates two nozzles or extreme overclocking. ed above the primary PCIe graph-
lots of shiny copper — after all, a that are meant to be used along The ASUS P5E3 Premium is ics slot but the memory banks
board that costs this much should with a liquid cooling kit. In fact an X48 based, DDR3 supporting will interfere with longer cards
look the part as well. the heatsink on the Northbridge solution that’s very easy on the that you can place in this slot.
Gamers and enthusiasts look- is hollow so it doubles as a water eye. It features dual-WLAN APs Surprisingly even this board has
ing for SLI and Crossfire support block. ASUS allows for very fine and a really great quality build. really decent overclocking options
as well as DDR3 will also likely tweaking of CPU and memory The heatsink is attractive while (for a workstation board).
find something in the category. voltages; in fact the Striker 2 NSE not being overly blatant; the Gigabytes two offerings; the ASUS Striker 2 NSE
A total of nine boards featured in and Striker 2 Formula both allow copper is well complimented by X48-DQ6 and the EP45-DQ6 are
this category; four NVIDIA 790i one to fine tune the memory the shiny blue bezel that cov- X48 and P45 based boards respec- Surprisingly the 790i SLI does
solutions, four Intel X48 solu- voltages in the tune of 0.02 volt ers part of the cooling solution. tively. Shockingly the EP45-DQ6 is manage to impress in the PC Mark
tions and a single P45 solution. steps while CPU volt steps are as Even though the cooling solu- costlier than the X48-DQ6 which 05 graphics score where boards
fine as 0.006 volts. The Rampage tion is large and surrounds the is surprising because the latter is based on this chipset cracked the
Features Extreme is based on the X48 CPU socket on all four sides it a full fledged x16 bandwidth pro- 19,000 point barrier. However,
NVIDIAs 790i SLI is a unique offer- chipset also features the same doesn’t interfere with installa- viding Crossfire chipset meant for when we used 3D Mark 06, this
ing in the way that this chipset fine adjustment to voltages. This tion of the CPU cooler which high-end gaming systems. Both advantage ceases leaving us to
supports three x16 PCIe lanes board has an even larger heat- speaks volumes about ASUS’ boards are well laid out although wonder what exactly in the bench-
for 3-way SLI using the full band- pipe solution that the Striker design standards. This board the EP45-DQ6 does have an issue mark favoured these boards.
width of the PCIe slot. Both the boards and although the gun also features ASUS’ Express Gate, with the clearance between a full
780i and the 790i use the same grey fins of the heatsinks look which we discussed earlier. The length PCIe card and the third Winner(s)
Southbridge, which is nothing cool with the bright post-box ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution was and fourth SATA ports which Our Best Buy belonged to the ASUS
more than a 570i SLI chip which red bezel atop the heatsink we the only self confessed worksta- become unusable. The first and Striker 2 NSE. For Rs. 21,250 you
provides the bandwidth for the found there to be too little space tion board in test. We really liked second SATA ports are right get a board that supports 3-way
extra PCIe lanes. Three of the between the mosfet cooler and the heatsink/heatpipe look. For under the card but since they face SLI, is very well built and attrac-
790i SLI boards from EVGA, XFX the CPU region. In fact getting once ASUS decided to ditch the outwards installing a SATA cable tive looking and even comes with
and ZOTAC are identical in terms the LGA 775 cooler on was a royal copper look and the heatpipes isn’t an issue here. Even though the full version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
of build, design and features. The pain and our fingers were quite and cooling fins are chromed. this board has quite an elaborate Shadow Of Chernobyl and 3D Mark
only difference is EVGA provides sore from battling with the large The heatsinks also have shiny heatpipe solution the board gets 2006 Advanced Edition, plus
better quality SATA and PATA heatsinks all around the CPU blue bezels and the overall effect quite hot. The other three 790i SLI Kaspersky Antivirus. It also has
cables and ZOTAC provides a region. Anyone who swaps out this creates is one of supreme boards were from EVGA, XFX and an LCD poster which connects to
WLAN AP kit. ASUS’ Striker 2 NSE CPUs or coolers will rue this fact. class. You’ll notice this board ZOTAC; once again all three were a USB port and displays the POST
is unique — it’s built around the That being said the board itself is amongst all the others around identical in terms of looks and status on its screen; useless some
same layout as the ASUS Striker 2 well laid out aside from this one here. Although the heatpipes layout, all being designed around might say, but downright funky.
Formula but supports DDR3. And fault. The SATA ports are clear of seem to cramp the CPU region the reference NVIDIA PCB design. It’s a feature-rich board that will
Once again ZOTAC bundles a not disappoint someone looking
WLAN AP kit with their 790i. for a truly high-end machine. It
Buying Guide
also has a very good audio solu-
You need We Recommend Price Why we Recommend it Performance tion in the Soundmax ADI 1988B
A well built motherboard that’s not ECS P45T-AD3 Rs. 7,560 It’s the cheapest P45 chipset board around and is ASUS’ P5E64 WS Evolution was chipset, which is much better
too costly and is feature rich, bud- well laid out and reasonably well built the fastest amongst these boards. than the other sound solutions
get Rs 12000 Once again all the X48 boards available with the exception of
Something flashy and feature rich ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe Rs. 13,850 Extremely well built and very feature rich, very tie up just behind it followed the Creative X-Fi series which we
and fast. I do not want multiple fast, lots of flaunt value, overclockable too by the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 and didn’t see this year. n
graphics card solutions then NVIDIA’s 790i SLI solutions. michael.browne@thinkdigit.com
An SLI solution that’s well priced ZOTAC NF-780i Supreme Rs. 12,999 Well priced for a 780i solution and a good pack-
age too
A 3-way SLI solution with lots of ASUS Striker 2 NSE Rs. 21,250 The most feature rich and well built 790i SLI board Contact Sheet Motherboards
features, flaunt value and great around, and its better priced than some of the Brand Company Phone No Email Website
build quality other boards that aren’t as good Asus ASUS Technology 022 - 67668800 media_india@asus.com www.asus.in
The Best Crossfire solution around ASUS Rampage Formula; Rs. 17,000; The former is very well built and feature rich and Biostar Abacus Peripherals 022 - 40914613 megha@abacusperipherals.com www.biostar.com.tw
but one that’s not insanely priced MSI X48c Platinum Rs. 15,000 definitely an option for even overclockers as its ECS SES Technologies 022 - 30862500 Jacques.roux@sesindia.com www.ecs.com.tw
rock stable. The latter is the only board to sup- EVGA Tirupati Enterprises 033 - 22251192 abhishek@tirupati.net www.evga.com
port DDR2 and DDR3 making it a very flexible Gigabyte GIGABYTE UNITED INC 022 - 40633222 vivek@gigabyte.in www.gigabyte.in
solution. And they both do Crossfire with x16 PCIe Intel Intel Tech. India 9833823474 saranya.rustagi@intel.com www.intel.co.in
bandwidth MSI MSI India 011 - 41758808 marketing@msi-in.com www.msi-india.com
Palit Tirupati Enterprises 033 - 22251192 abhishek@tirupati.net www.palit.biz
The best board for my Phenom ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe Rs. 11,925 Four-way Crossfire support, plenty of expansion
XFX Rashi Peripherals 022 - 67090828 xfx@rptechindia.com www.xfxforce.com
Processor options and a well built board; cannot match this
Zotac Top Notch Infotronix (I) 044 - 26616202 sales@zotac.com www.zotac.com
one for features and price
76 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 77
Digital Tools l Agent 001
Agent 001 Ask Agent 001 Digital Tools l Agent 001
I want an HDTV. The screen size doesn’t matter music player, good camera (3MP) and software
Digital cameras much. Even a 22-inch is sufficient. But I would
like to buy at least a 26-inch TV. The main thing is the
resolution of that TV, because I own an Xbox 360 con-
loading with a decent look.
Harsimran Rangi
So many models, so much variety, which one to choose? sole and I want to play games in HD. It should have at Sony Ericsson’s K800 might be what
least one HDMI port. I’m looking to buy a Samsung- you’re looking for. It’s priced at Rs. 8,000
LA22A450C1 only because it has a higher resolution
I
t’s the start of yet another year and new SX110 is the one to look for. It has priced under Rs. 15,000. Even the or so, and with great music quality and a
turning to photography as a hobby a better build and is a better per- Nikon S52 is available for just under (1680 x 1050). However, other TVs in this price range superb 3.2-MP camera, it may be just what
might be a good idea. There are so former than the older SX100. Priced at Rs. 13,000. Clearly, the days of extreme- offer lower resolution (1366 x 768) and are priced you’re looking for. The only other phone that
many cameras in the market, but around Rs. 16,000, it comes with a ly expensive ultracompacts have even higher. Is it the right decision to buy that Sam- comes to mind is the Nokia N73 and that is
which one do you opt for? There’s just pouch and a 2 GB SD card. Look out for passed. Even Sony’s T77 is not more sung TV? My budget is upto Rs. 30,000. beyond your budget.
too much to choose from. All through- schemes in malls and showrooms than Rs. 16,000 in the market. Jatin Mongia
out the year, we emphasise on cam- where you get a charger and batteries One of the more interesting cate- I have got Intel 945 chipset motherboard (orig-
eras in articles and tests. along with the camera. gories of cameras is the D-SLR. Prices In my opinion, for playing games on a inal), 1GB DDR2 RAM. I want a graphics card for
Going shopping for a camera is There are a few new ultrazoom have dropped and are now just above console, your screen size would be more gaming, within a budget of Rs. 8,000. Will my moth-
first about doing your homework and cameras in the market too. The DSC H7 the price bracket for the ultracom- important than all other considerations. Since erboard support a PCIe video card? Which card would
being very clear on what you want and H9 from Sony come with 15x opti- pact fashion oriented cameras. The most large-screen displays support a resolution suit me?
from it. Most people purchase stan- cal zoom. Canon’s S5 IS is still in the Nikon D40 and the D40X are the of at least 1366 x 768, I think you’re well covered Nilanjan Roy
dard point-and-shoot cameras that market and can be found at around Rs. entry-level offering from Nikon. by even a 22-inch LCD monitor for a PC. Dell’s SP
are priced any- Rumours are that the 2208 WFP is a 22-inch monitor with an HDMI- Yes, the Intel 945 board should support
where between Rs. D40 is priced around port priced at Rs. 15,000. The option from Sam- a PCIe card with the requisite slot. I rec-
7,000 to Rs. 15,000. Rs. 18,000 in the grey sung that you are looking at is also good. ommend a 9600 GT-based solution. EVGA is a
The grey market market, but that’s only Remember that these are PC monitors as their good brand to look at and it should fit your
prices are obvious- great if you can find resolutions are most commonly found on PCs budget. If you can stretch your budget to
ly going to be one. If you can’t, then and not LCD TVs, as TV-based displays have reso- Rs. 2,000 to Rs 3,000, you might be able to go in
lower. The entry- the D40X is the next lutions of 720p, 1366 x 768 pixels or 1080p. If for a GeForce 9800 GTX or a Radeon 4850 which
level PowerShot best bet. The Nikon D60 you’re looking at a 26-inch LCD monitor with a are far superior cards.
A470 from Canon is has been brought in to high resolution, look at ViewSonic’s VP 2650 wb
still available at replace the D40 and with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels I want to buy a powerful gaming rig under a
just under Rs. the D40X. Canon has a and priced at Rs. 27,000. lakh. It will be used only for gaming. Please
7,000. The few entry-level D-SLR suggest a powerful configuration. I also want to buy
PowerShot A1000 IS cameras too — the EOS I’m using my computer for last ten years. Now it a multimedia cellphone. I can spare Rs. 35,000 for
and the very new 1000D and the EOS has become old. So I want to purchase a new one a cellphone. Which is better between a Nokia N96
A2000 IS have just 400D. Both of these with the latest components. My hobby is photography, and an Apple iPhone?
been released in cameras can be bought and I have a Canon PowerShot SX100IS Digital Kshitij Rawat
the market for a lit- for around Rs. 30,000 to camera. I need components suitable for photography,
tle over Rs. 11,000. Rs. 33,000. The lens audio-video and games. I want to purchase a 19-inch PC Configuration
Components My Suggestion Price
They are 10-MP supplied with most of LCD monitor, web camera and printer. Please rec-
Processor Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83 GHz) 17,500
cameras with 4x these cameras is ommend components that will complement my hob- Motherboard ASUS P5Q-E 10,000
and 6x optical the 18–55 mm bies. My budget is Rs. 50,000. RAM 1 x 4 GB DDR2 800 3,800
zoom lenses. ones. Look out Ashok R Naik Graphics Card ZOTAC GTX 280 30,000
Canon has been for shops that Hard Drive Seagate 500 GB x 2 6,000
updating the PowerShot Shr sell you only That is a good budget and you will Monitor LG 246 Wp 24,000
ikri
line of cameras up the price shn
aP the body and give notice a manifold increase in perform- Cabinet + PSU CM 690 + Corsair TX 750 9,500
atk 1,00,800
scale as well. The well-known ar you the option of selecting ance from you current setup. I have suggested
Canon PowerShot A720 IS and the a different lens. Shopkeepers and a system for you below. I suggest you opt for a
A650 IS are mid-ranged P&S cameras photographers will also tell you that 22-inch monitor. The Rs. 3,000 or so more you For the cellphone, I recommend Nokia
to own. The prices of these in the cost of Canon lens is considerably pay, is worth it. for the usability and the iPhone 3G for its
market hover somewhere between 17,000. Canon has begun to phase more than the Nikon ones. touch interface. They’re both good enough to
t h e them out with the SX10 which has an This month, we reviewed the PC Configuration recommend. Either way you cannot go wrong.
Rs. 11,000 mark in the grey market. incredible 20x optical zoom as com- Nikon D90 and liked it a lot. We sug- Components My Suggestion Price Although I must say, Nokia’s N96 is the more per-
These cameras both come with 6x pared to the S5 IS’ 12x. If you like to go gest you look out for a Nikon D80. The Processor Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0 GHz) 8,500 fect device of the two, especially when it comes
optical zoom which is sufficient for for an Olympus ultrazoom, then the D90 replaces the D80, which might Motherboard Abit IP35E 4,800 to being a feature-laden phone. For a PC, my rec-
most purposes. If you want some- SP565UZ is an interesting model to get phased out soon. The prices for RAM 1 x 4 GB DDR2 800 MHz 3,800 ommendations are given in the box.
Graphics Card ZOTAC 9800 GTX 10,500
thing a bit cheaper, then the look out for. The price is somewhere the D80 have been dropping steadily Alternatively, you can opt for a Palit Radeon
Hard Drive Seagate 500 GB 3,100
PowerShot A590 IS is one to look for. around Rs. 20,000. with the launch of the D90. The D80 Monitor Dell SP 2208 WFP 15,500
HD 4870 1GB SONIC, priced at Rs. 18,500
The price of the A590 IS has dropped Compact cameras are available at body itself in the grey market is Cabinet + PSU VIP Cabinet + 500W SMPS 3,500 instead of the ZOTAC GTX 280. This card offers
to around Rs. 11,500. under Rs. 15,000 as well. They aren’t rumoured to be be around Rs. 35,000 49,700 amazing value for money, and you can actually
However, if you want a no-compro- typically liked for performance but for and there are some interesting offers buy another identical card and CrossFire both
mise P&S camera with a good zoom size and portability reasons. The IXUS for lenses offered as well. I am thinking buying a cellphone priced between of them for even more performance, although
lens and a decent-sized sensor, the 80 and 85 IS are the ones from Canon agent001@thinkdigit.com Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 9,000. I want features like a you would compromise on your budget.
78 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 79
with best performance and best
tion
visual effect? Reinstalling my operating system Under System startup, in the default oper- Questhe
4. Does the paging file affect I have an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (1.86 GHz) and a ating system list, click the operating system of nth
Mo
computer performance? Please Foxconn motherboard based on the Intel 945 chipset. I that you want to start when you turn on or
specify how much paging file & have two Western Digital hard disks of 320GB each. In the first restart your computer.
virtual memory I will use after hard drive I have installed XP Professional and in the second Select the list of operating systems for check
installing the extra RAM? one I have installed Vista Ultimate. Now whenever something box, and then type the number of seconds for which you
Antu Kanta seriously goes wrong with any of my operating want the list displayed before the
systems, I go in for a fresh installation. But default operating system starts automat-
Your current motherboard when I install a fresh copy of XP on my hard ically.
supports DDR1 memory drive, the Windows Vista Boot Manager is no There’s another way to get it
upto DDR400 only. DDR RAM is longer accessible. I’m no longer able to boot running.
expensive today and not easily Virtual memory can be set manually as well into Vista without installing it over again. My After installing one of the operating
available, so you will have to question — is there any way to bring back the systems, insert the bootable CD / DVD of
look around. old Boot Manager without installing another the other operating system. When you
The motherboard you use fresh copy of Vista? reach that screen with the option to
supports upto 2GB of RAM. To avoid Swaranga Sarma Install Windows XP / Vista or Repair
any complications due to compati- You don’t have to reinstall Vista every- Windows. Select repair your system.
bility issues, use the same brand of time you reinstall XP. If you have more Now you will reach a prompt.
Your Questions, Our Answers memory. than one operating system on your Type fixboot and press [Enter].
The settings for best visual effect computer, you can set the one that you want Enter Y to confirm the command.
All your computing niggles and nags and quality can be enabled by click- to use as the default one, for when you start Next, type fixmbr and follow the
are dealt with here! ing on first going to the Advanced your computer by following these steps. same steps.
tab under Device Manager in the Go to Start > Control Panel. Double- Restart, and both your operating
Control Panel. Click on the Settings click on System. On the Advanced tab, under Bootup Settings can be changed in systems should be accessible.
DVD burning takes too long button under Performance, and Startup and Recovery, click Settings. the Startup and Recovery Danish Chopra, TECH QNA Expert
I have a problem with my computer. The DVD click the radio button for Adjust
burning process takes too long on my system. for best appearance.
My system configuration is an Intel Core 2 Duo The paging file doesn’t directly
processor, 1 GB RAM all running on an original Intel affect performance, but it can be Yes, Intel motherboards can be used with My system configuration is as follows:
945 motherboard. I used to burn DVDs using Nero used when your system runs out of ATI graphics cards. If you’re building your Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo
7, but now it takes more than an hour to burn. physical memory. You can allot system for games, then an ATI Radeon HD4870 Motherboard – Intel DG31GL with 256MB
Please give me a solution for this problem. 2–3GB of space for the page or even would be better than the HD4670. The ATI chipset graphics
Lakshmikandh K let Windows set the page file size for Radeon HD4850 or the NVIDIA GeForce 9800 RAM – 1GB DDR2
you. Performance and Quality settings for GTX are also good cheaper options to consider. Dimitri
The slow DVD burning speed could be due Windows Currently, the advantages of more memory
to a faulty driver or software. The easiest Problem regarding flash and faster bandwidth memory aren’t very visi- For the games you’ve mentioned, you
thing to do is uninstall the drive from the I have a Sony Digital Cybershot DSC-H9 ble. In short, 4GB of DDR2 will be cheap and should use a dedicated graphics solution
device manager. If you’re running Windows XP, camera. My problem is that its flash has much more than sufficient, for any kind of and not an onboard G31-based solution. Invest
go to Start > Control Panel > System. stopped working. Instead, it shows me E:91:01 on desktop applications including multimedia in a PCI-E graphics card such as a GeForce 9600
Click on the Hardware the screen. My friend says that this is an error. content development. It also works out to be lot GT, which can be bought for around Rs 6,000.
tab and then on the Please help me out cheaper than 4GB of good DDR3 memory. For This will run these games for sure and also
Device Manager button. Rohit Kumar general desktop use, 2GB of DDR2 will do too. allow you to run them at the best resolution
Double-click on DVD / If you purchase a high-end graphics card, and quality.
CD-ROM drives heading, Your friend is right. E:91:01 is an error then you need a 600W PSU at least. The Corsair
right-click on your DVD code. In this case, it is to do with the flash. HX620 is a well known model. 100% CPU utilisation
drive and click You need to take your camera to a Sony service The P45 chipset doesn’t come with an I have a Pentium 4 2.80GHz, 2GB RAM desktop
Uninstall. Reboot and centre to get the flash repaired or replaced. onboard graphics chip. For onboard graphics with a 500GB HDD running a licensed copy of
let the drive be auto- from Intel, look for an Intel G45-based mother- Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed. Of late, I
The GeForce
detected again. Also, try Need suggestions for purchasing board. The recently released GeForce 9300- 9600GT - an find the PC responding to commands after a
uninstalling Nero and hardware based motherboards from NVIDIA also have affordable considerable delay. The CPU usage shows
Removing a drive so that it reinstalling it. Try using I want to buy a desktop with the following onboard graphics. graphics card 100% and the fan runs at full speed. I
can be detected other software and configuration use the PC mainly for word process-
different media. If noth- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Get Help Now! Gaming problem ing, data processing and playing
ing works, it could be a failing drive. Try the Motherboard: Intel DP45SG I brought four original games. Far Cry was some music and movies.
drive on another computer to verify this. Memory: 8 GB DDR2 800 Mhz E-mail us your computing one of them, and it runs smoothly in my Soma Dutta
problems along with your
HDD: Seagate 320 GB HDD contact details and
computer. Resident Evil 4 gives me an The slowdown is most
Doubts on memory and 64-bit Graphics card: ATI HD 4670 complete system error saying that game.exe has likely to be some kind of a
computing Optical drive: Samsung DVD writer configuration to encountered a problem and needs virus or trojan. Open up the Task
My 3-GHz Intel processor supports 64-bit, but I have four questions sos@thinkdigit.com , to be closed. Devil May Cry 3 Manager and look for the processes using the
the Windows XP version I'm using is 32-bit. 1. Does an Intel motherboard and processor and we might answer Special Edition also has the same most resources. Also scan your system for
These are my questions. support ATI graphics cards? them here! Since we get problem as Resident Evil. Splinter viruses. If that doesn’t work, try reinstalling the
1. I want to buy additional RAM. Will my system 2. Which is better - 8 GB DDR2 or 4 GB DDR3 RAM? many more mails per day Cell Chaos Theory also gives an error motherboard drivers.
support DDR2 RAM? If not, specify which DDR1 3. What power supply unit should I use? than we can handle, it saying that my graphics card doesn’t
RAM will be best and its price? 4. Will this motherboard work without a graphics may take some time for support Pixel Shader 1.1. When I run the game Overheating processor
your query to be
2. Can I use both (512 MB/1 GB RAM) with my exist- card? answered. Rest assured,
detection utility, it says that I have the minimum My system uses an Intel Core 2 Duo, an Intel
ing 256 MB RAM? I would like to know your suggestions. we are listening! system configuration to run this game. What 945 motherboard, 1GB RAM and a 160-GB
3. After installing the RAM, how can I use my PC Athiq should I do? HDD. My system shuts down due to the overheat-
80 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 81
ing processor. Please give me a solution to Sharing Internet connection with
prevent it. a laptop Radeon 4850 are powerful and are consider- RAM. At that time, my video memory was
Aayush Lilhare Hi, I have recently bought a Sony VAIO laptop ably cheaper than they used to be. displayed as 64 MB. Recently, I had put in an addi-
preloaded with Windows Vista Home tional 512MB RAM, after which my video memory
There are some things you can do to keep Premium. The problem is that my broadband Accessing secured sites on phones became 128 MB. I want to know whether if I can
the temperatures down. Firstly, clean up connection is connected to my desktop PC that I want to access secured websites on my add another 512 MB and will my video memory
the heatsink if the fins on it are clogged with runs Windows XP Home Premiun. How can I smart phone without any trouble. Can you then become 256 MB? Is there any other way of
dust. If the heatsink isn’t tightly hugging the connect my laptop to my desktop so that I can suggest a phone along with recommended soft- increasing my video memory to 256 or 512MB?
processor, then temperatures can go out of have acces to the internet using my laptop. ware that will let me open secured sites (https)
control. If you remove your heatsink, apply a Preferably, I want a wireless connection between and use every feature that I can perform on my There is a setting in the BIOS. You just
thin layer of thermal paste before you put it the laptop and the desktop, but a wired connec- PC? need to choose the appropriate amount of
back on. There are also third-party coolers that tion will also do. I had a word with the customer care of a bank. memory, which you intend to use as video
you can buy which offer better cooling than Nimesh Kumar They said that I would not be able to do that on the memory. Reboot and your memory will be
stock ones. cellphone or a smartphone. Which phone do you increased.
suggest (Symbian, Palm, Android or Windows Gopi Krishna Arumugam, TECH Q&A Expert
Multiple problems Mobile) for the above mentioned task?
I have noticed that the Windows XP SP2 32-bit Forgot my BIOS password!
version is a bit slower than Windows XP SP2 I have an ASUS M2NVM-DVI motherboard
64-bit version. Why is this so? Is there any way I with an AMD Athlon X2 Processor. As a result,
can run a Turbo C compiler on 64-bit Windows XP? I’m unable to boot at all. Can you please suggest a
How do I speed up my XP 32-bit installation for my solution to this problem?
configuration? Booting takes around 30 sec to
display on the desktop. What can I change to
achieve a faster boot without using any third
party software?
I’ve noticed that my CPU temperature always
stays at around 33 to 38 degrees and motherboard
at around 38 degree. I hope these are safe temper-
atures. I don’t have an airconditioner in my room.
I have three 120-mm and two 80-mm fans
installed in my cabinet as suggested by the manu-
facturer.
Samir Ranjan Ray
Ad hoc networking options in Windows XP
Setting amount of memory dedicated for graphics in
The simplest and cheapest way to get wire- Nokia PC Suite gives all kinds of access to your mobile the BIOS
less networking between the two systems phone
is to install a wireless network adapter for the
desktop. These are cheap and can be bought Nokia N95, N79, N85 and N82 have fully This is a general problem with all mother-
for under Rs 1,000. If you want a wired connec- supported browsers to access these web boards. Take out the battery and press the
tion, get a crossed-cable and connect the two sites. However, some banks require Java plugins [Del] key till it goes into the BIOS. Save changes,
machines. If you have any more wireless and are not fully compatible with mobiles. then replace the battery and continue.
devices, then you should go for a wireless Anoop Gupta, TECH Q&A Expert If your system is still not booting, then you
Doom running on Windows under router. These are available for around Rs 2,500 have to take out the RAM and any other PCI
or so. Internet on the desktop using a cards. Clean them and replace again. Your prob-
The slowdown could be due to several phone lem should be solved.
reasons. Update the drivers for your moth- SLI or single card graphics I want to know how to play AVI files in my N.Vinay Kumar, TECH Q&A Expert
erboard and graphics cards to see if it helps. To solution? Nokia 6233 Series 40 phone. Can you suggest
be able to run Turbo C on 64-bit Windows, you I’m assembling a machine. I want to use this some kind of gadget, which when connected,
will need to download and install free software system to use use 3ds Max, Premiere Pro, etc. allows me to connect to the internet through USB
called DOSBox (www.dosbox.com) which I also want to play games like Crysis, Frontline, Far for my desktop?
emulates DOS. It is used to run DOS games on Cry, etc. So my question is, should I go for an SLI- Vineet
Windows systems, but can also be used to run ready motherboard and SLI with XFX 8600 GT, or I don’t think there are any Java-based
DOS applications. just take a good motherboard with only one PCI-E media players available with which you
The time taken to boot up Windows could and use only one XFX 8800 GTX. Please suggest can play AVI files on your mobile. You need to
be due to a highly fragmented hard drive. Try which one would be better. Also, suggest me a convert your videos in 3GP or MP4 formats to
defragging the drive and uninstall unnecessary good power solution. I’ll be using an Intel Core 2 play.
applications. Using a registry cleaner can help Quad Q6600 along with two 2GB 800 MHz DDR 2 You can connect your mobile using a data
a little bit as well. If your system doesn’t have RAM sticks. cable connected to your computer and get it
enough memory, then that could be the root of Lileshwor Sharma connected with Nokia PC Suite.
your problems. It is wiser to go for a single fast card. You Anoop Gupta, TECH Q&A Expert
The temperatures for the motherboard and can still choose to go for a SLI mother-
processor are perfectly fine. Temperatures of board, which will allow you to add an addi- Increasing video memory on my
33 to 38 degrees are very cool for a processor tional card in the future. SLI might not scale laptop
and even a motherboard with no aircondi- equally well across all games, but a single card My laptop is an HP-Compaq NX6120, which I An old CMOS battery is usually to blame for troublesome
tioner running. will. Cards like the GeForce 9800GTX and the bought two years back. It came with 256MB booting
82 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 85
Create a Basic Image Signature using
create
Photoshop
Kumar Jhuremalani the most basic as well as abstract brushes you have down- can mess with this, or just
one of the toughest and loaded. To do this, click the small click on Auto to correct your
I
mage signatures are fun and critical parts to add to a arrow (#7 facing down in main image) image. Repeat the same thing,
trendy to use as a signature with signature. next to the brush size once, and then only with Levels this time.
emails, or, on a forum. You can Go to the arrow facing the right. This gives Finally, you can apply a Photo
choose from a variety of images that www.deviantart.com and you a dropdown menu from which Filter, which you can find with
suits your taste, with the text ranging search for abstract you select the abstract brushes. the same set of options. We
from your name, to your PC configu- brushes or abstract used a Cooling Filter (82) at
ration to even the games you play. grunge brushes and Step 4: Now select one of the brushes Blending the render with the signature 25% density with Preserve
Here, we will show you how to make a download them. You will from the abstract set and stroke the Luminosity selected.
basic image signature using also need to choose an first layer with black. Now hit X. This erase a bit of the render outline. This
Photoshop that you can add to our image render which you switches between the colours on the helps to merge the image with the Step 10: Now to add a border. Apply
very own ThinkDigit forum. can easily acquire from palette (#4 in main image), and gives background. After doing this, click the image on a new layer and go to
A few basics concepts on flow, sites like www.planetren- the next layer a stroke with white. Do [Ctrl] + [J] which makes a duplicate Edit > Stroke and use 2 pixels as
Creating your Photoshop document
colour and lighting, before you start. ders.net. this for all the six layers. You can also layer. Now you have to click [Ctrl] + the settings with centered selected.
It’s not about adding images and to default. If they are not just click D. [Shift] + [U] This step is optional, but adds a good
jumbling everything, but rather focus- Step 1: Create a new PS image with Now go to Filter > Render > which desaturates effect to the signature. Some signa-
ing on creating your signature in a the dimensions 350x120 pixels with a Clouds. This will give you a basic the colour from tures look good without a border,
single flowing direction. This should transparent background. You can vary background to your signature. the selected layer. while others don’t. Also, the back-
also match your render image. Always the dimensions according to your Reduce the opac- ground colour of the forums you are
keep the colours simple. We’ve choice, but make sure it’s not too big Step 3: Create six layers (see #6 in the ity of this layer to planning on using the signature on,
created more of a monotone signa- as most forums have size restrictions. main image). If your layers window is 60%. also matters. If the forums have a
ture as you will see. Lighting is a The ThinkDigit Forum’s signature size not open, go to Windows > Layers dark background, you should use a
crucial part in the process as it is limited to 500x100. from the menu bar. Now select the Step 8: Lighting is white border so that your signature
enhances your overall signature and brush tool (see #1 in the main image), an optional step if can stand out and vice-versa.
also gives it some depth. It is one of Step 2: Make sure your colours are set and change the brush set to the you are one of
those who opt for Step 11: You are free to even add your
renders in their computer specs to your signature. Just
signatures. Select use the Text tool (#3 in main image)
Abstract brush strokes on six different layers the brush tool, and adjust the font and font size and
and choose the fill in your details.
create a new set of layers and choose basic brushes in the same way you did Lastly, just save the image you
another brush and repeat the same with Step 3. Now choose a soft brush created, as a JPG or PNG file. Some
procedure for a more variant back- and set the size between 100 and 120. forums allow you to upload images
ground. On a new layer, just click once near from your PC directly, while others
the render, where you need the light- need you to enter it with a BB code.
Step 5: Create a new layer and apply ing to be placed. Adjust the opacity of Don’tworry about this either, just
the image. To do this, go to Image > that layer and you can even change upload your created signature to
Apply Image on the menu bar. Now the filters to match your signature. www.imageshack.us or
click the dropdown from the layers We set the opacity to 70% and used www.photobucket.com and you’re all set
window which says Normal and select the Overlay filter for our lighting as they provide you with the required
Soft Light. layer. links to your signature.
Step 6: Again apply
the image on a
new layer and then
go to Filter >
Distort >
Ripple. Keep the
setting at 55% and
size set at Small
for a nice subtle
The final outcome should look like this
ripple texture.
Step 9: Now comes There’re many variations to the
Step 7: Now to add the finishing steps we’ve given you. For example,
a render. A render touches. Click the instead of a single colour, you can
is the cutout of an Layer adjustment actually add a gradient layer using
image. This could tool (half black-half the same layer adjustment tool
be a celebrity, white circular before your photo filters. You can
game person, etc. button at the also add your text before you start
Select the eraser bottom of the layers with the finishing touches, if you
tool (#2 in main window — #5 in want it to blend in more. However, at
image) and set the main image) and the same time, keep it as simple as
opacity to 50% and The ripple effect settings select Curves. You possible.
A basic overview of Photoshop and the tools needed for creating the signature
86 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 87
Prevent Paper Jams
Siddharth Parwatay you place in the tray each time it’s Don’t mix-n-match
filled. Do not mix the types of paper you’re
P
C LOAD LETTER is perhaps the feeding into the printer at one time. If
single most annoying error Slider and tray alignment is important you need to change the type or size of
message from modern technol- Make sure the tray feeding the paper paper, remove any other paper
ogy. It’s been the cause of much stress into the printer is aligned properly currently in the printer before insert-
in most workplaces. If you’ve found and / or the slider used to hold the ing the new paper.
yourself promising to throw the paper in place in the tray is snug with
printer off the 18th floor window the the paper. Many printers have sliders Look under the hood
next time there’s a paper jam or that allow different types and sizes of Examine the printer for any previous
printer malfunction, then you’re not paper to be fed into the printer. If the stuck paper in the printer. Previous
alone. But before the printer bears the slider is not properly positioned it can paper jams, torn paper, printing
brunt of your ire, here are some cause paper jams. labels or other foreign objects in the
precautions you can take. printer can cause reoccurring printer
Which paper? jams.
Loosen the sheets Use standard office paper — folded
Often, sheets tend to be stuck to each paper, paper with labels, and specialty Keep the Printer Clean
other, so while loading paper ensure paper such as hard bound paper can Dust, ink or toner buildup inside the
you fold the stack with the objective often cause paper jams. Your printer printer can lead to jams, and even
of loosening the sheets. The quickest documentation will list the types of lessen the print quality. Most printers
way to do this is to roll the stack diag- paper compatible with your printer. have a built-in cleaning system. The
onally twice in opposite directions. printer may run several pages
You may have seen your local photo- through the printer during the
copier do it each time he loads the cleaning process. Your printer’s
photocopy machine. user guide may also advise you to
dust the outer parts of the
Store in a cool, dry place printer, including the paper trays.
While printer sheets are in storage, But remember to use only recom-
make sure the packet is protected mended cleaning agents.
from humidity. We recommend stor-
ing paper in a ziplock bag with a Get to know your printer
small pack of silica gel. As you use your printer, you may
notice that it often jams when
Do not overload sheets printing on certain types of
If your printer has a paper tray, paper, or may be loading in a
don’t fill the tray to capacity. If certain way works better. These
you’re encountering frequent paper quirks can be annoying, but you
jams, reduce the amount of paper can often save time (and effort)
by keeping these in mind.
Trivia
PC LOAD LETTER is an error message
encountered when printing on older HP
LaserJet printers such as the LaserJet II,
III, and 4 series. The phrase is a pop joke
and cause for much confusion among
computer users because most users
could not (and still cannot) decipher its
meaning. It simply means that the
printer is asking for it to be refilled with
paper of the standard size “letter”. The
term was popularised by the comedy cult
film Office Space in which one of the
main characters on encountering the
error message asks, “‘PC Load Letter’?
What the #*%& does that mean?” The
message appeared on the display just
after he had filled the printer’s cassette
with blank paper. Frustrations such as
this led the main characters of the film to
take revenge on the malfunctioning
printer by destroying it in a vacant field
with a baseball bat.
Annoying isn’t it?
88 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Using the RSS feature in
StartSmart
StartSmart has a nifty little RSS feature
that allows you to subscribe to news
feeds during your burning activities. By
default, the feed reader is set to update
feeds from the Nero website, which
shows up on the bottom bar of
StartSmart. Go to Menu > Options >
News Feed or click the News button.
Click on Subscribe and paste the
address of the feed in the Add
Newsfeed dialogue box. Click on OK.
You can add a number of customised
news feeds. To increase the frequency at
which the feeds get updated, reduce the
News display interval from a default of
SECRETS THAT KEEP YOU AHEAD IN THE RACE five minutes to a minimum of one
TIPS 30 Minutes Expert minute.
Nero 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01 The keyboard is mightier than
Mozilla Sunbird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .07 Using the file recovery
Snarfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05 PhotoFiltre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08 options of Nero
Nero allows you to recover deleted files
from almost all kinds of memory
storage devices. This holds true for USB
Nero 9 Demand DVD for installing a trial version drives, Digital Cameras and PMPs, apart
N
ero 9 is the latest version of the of all Nero applications discussed here. from your hard drive. To recover your
world’s most widely used disk files, either start up Nero RescueAgent
burning software. It has several Customising StartSmart with or navigate to Back Up > Recover
new features, and can easily handle all Nero applications Data in StartSmart. Select Deep
your burning and ripping needs. StartSmart allows you to customise the Scan, and then click on Next. A list
Advanced options are available for control centre, by adding the most of all recognised deleted files will be
powerusers. There’re increased widely used applications by individual shown. Select the files you want to
multimedia and file management users. Click on the Add / Remove recover, enter a destination directory
capabilities. The control centre for the button in the Launch Application bar. and click on Next. Select the
suite, called StartSmart has been From the Add / Remove Applications destination directory in a different
upgraded with more options available off dialogue, check the applications you partition or hard drive to optimise the
the main interface. The only downside is want to display in StartSmart, and click chances of safe recovery. There are
that there is an extra-long installation and on OK. You can select upto ten advanced options for corrupted files or
start-up time. Use our December 2008, By applications to display in StartSmart. files with invalid names.
Burning a Slide Show of
your photos
Nero lets you burn a DVD or VCD
customisable slideshow of your photos.
You can add transition effects, record
an audio commentary and add music
to your slideshow. In Nero StartSmart,
go to Create and Edit>Make Photo
Customizing Nero StartSmart with applications The slide show editor window
www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 1 DIGIT JANUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
Slide Show. Alternatively, start up computer. In go to Insert > ScratchBox clip. tweaking the read speeds of your
Nero Vision, go to Make Slide Show. Nero Express, This brings up the ScratchBox dialogue, disk drive. This can be used for a
Click on either DVD, VCD, Super VCD after adding files which has two turntables. You can mix number of purposes, including
or Mini DVD depending on your to be burned, set tracks, tweak tracks, add effects, work reducing the noise your drive
choice. Drag and drop photos in the the Current with loops and scratch. While the setup makes and improving read
editor. Add music and / or Recorder to can be used for DJing live, (there is no way quality of the audio CDs. A slower
commentary. You can import pictures Image to quickly load files though), the primary drive speed reduces noise while
directly from a digital camera attached Recorder purpose is to remix tracks and save them. increasing the accuracy of the
to the computer, or add images from a [DVD]. Select a reads. A higher drive speed is
website or image hosting account. Also disc name, and Changing the audio used for rapid file access,
set the transitions. There’re few click on burn. An distribution with SoundTrax especially in applications such as
options available, but they’re effective. image file will Nero SoundTrax automatically detects games. There is also an option to
Once the photos are arranged in the be created on the numbers of speakers connected to reduce the spin down time of the
right order, you can export the your system. You the system. This works for 2, 2.1, 4.1, disk in the drive. However, this
slideshow as a video instead of burning also have the 5.1 and 7.1 systems. The numbers does not have any advantage for
the slideshow onto some medium. option of signify the speakers connected to your the newer drives. In earlier
Click on Export, then select the file burning image system plus the sub-woofer. The area drives, this helps by ejecting the
type and click on Export. For this, files from other below Assignable Effects with the title disk after a read operation. This
AVI, MPEG and WMV formats are Nero bar of the file you are working with, feature is used to control how
The tone generator
supported. You can also export the applications like has a pan slider. Here, the number of long the disk continues to spin
slideshow to a camcorder connected to signal in Nero WaveEditor, select the Nero Vision. speakers connected to the system are inside the drive after the read Nero InfoTool analysing the computer
the computer. To burn a DVD, click entire sound file, go to Edit > represented spatially, and a green dot operation has been stopped.
Next to add titles. Click Next again to Insert Test Signal . In the test Saving a CD / DVD as an can be moved around the square to requirements. The tool lists the
set up the DVD menu, add chapters tone generator dialogue, select a image file denote the origin of the sound. Disabling disk ejection drivers, the audio and video codecs
and configure the DVD. The next duration for the test signal. The You can save CDs and DVDs that are not If after burning a disk, you want installed, the features of the drive and
screen gives you a preview of the DVD, default is 30 seconds. There are three copy-protected, as an image file on your Enabling Quiet Disk in to check your data once, you can save the nature of the disk in the drive.
as it will appear on your television. different waveforms available — sine, computer. This image file can be used ShowTime time by disabling disk ejection after Before using this tool, close all
Click on Next, then Burn. sawtooth and square. These are just to burn multiple copies, archive Although no one is likely to use Nero burning. This also saves you the programs, put in a blank CD / DVD in
different ways of generating the tone. important data, save media from ShowTime as their default audio CD incovenience of closing the tray as the available drives and disable any
Using pause detection in The start and end frequency generates physical corruption and load data onto player, we wish other software would soon as it is ejected. In Nero Express, drive emulators that are running. Start
Nero WaveEditor a sweep either increasing or emulators while keeping the drive free. include thoughtful features like this. extend the side panel, go to Options Nero InfoTool, go to Nero9 > Extra
If you have a single sound file of an decreasing in frequency across the Using this feature on copyrighted Quiet Disk playback silences the sound > Expert Features then select the > Nero InfoTool or Nero9 >
entire album, Nero WaveEditor can duration of the test signal. To generate material is illegal, even if the data is from the CD / DVD drive as much as Do not eject the disk after Nero Toolkit > Nero InfoTool
recognise separate tracks in the song a tone of constant frequency, keep the not copy protected. Extend the side possible while playing back songs from the burn is complete check box. depending on your installation. The
using the pause detection feature. values the same across both these panel, go to Copy Data Track. Select a the drive. To enable this feature in application will analyse the computer,
Once these pauses are recognised, fields. Click on OK , the test signal will track from the list in the dialogue that ShowTime, go to Options > Quiet Using InfoTool and show you the results.
either the pauses can be deleted from be inserted at the beginning of the appears. Then click on Next. The image Disk Playback > Enable Quiet Nero InfoTool is a useful little
the file, or the file can be separated selection. can be saved as an NRG or an ISO file. Disk Playback. To navigate to the application that can summarise all the Benchmarking your CD / DVDs
into individual tracks. To delete the Select a destination and click on Save. Options menu across software in the hardware and software features and You can run advanced quality
pauses from the file, Go to Edit > Creating an image file Nero 9 suite, click on the hammer icon. specifications in your computer. The tests on your storage medium to check
Pause Detection > Delete An Image file is a package of data DJ with Nero results can be used to analyse the how well preserved the files are. While
Pauses. To mark portions on either that can be transferred in portable Nero 9 comes with a complete DJ Setting a drive speed using multimedia capabilities of your the benchmark runs for blank media
side of the pause, go to Edit > media like an external hard drive or a simulator. Start up Nero SoundTrax, then DriveSpeed system, as well as the points where as well, the disk quality test runs only
Pause Detection > Insert USB drive. An Nero DriveSpeed is an application for upgrades are necessary to suit your for media with files on them. Run
Track Splits. This allows you to image file can be Nero DiscSpeed then go to Benchmark
extract individual tracks from the file. handled like a zip > Start or Disc Quality >
To get rid of pauses, go to Edit > file, and can be Start. You can choose how thorough
Pause Detection > Insert loaded as a disk the tests are. The light test checks only
Track Splits and Delete on the computer specific points of data on the disk,
Pauses. This introduces markers so using a CD / DVD whereas the thorough test scans
that individual tracks can still be Drive emulator. through all the tracks on the disk.
worked on. This feature can
be particularly Overburning your disks
Inserting a test signal in useful in Overburning is used to burn more
Nero WaveEditor computers than the normal amount of data onto a
A test signal is used to test if the without a CD / disk. The extra space used is the lead
sound for the presentation or video is DVD writer, where out portion of the disk, where about a
working properly while screening it a package can be minute and a half of extra music can be
before an audience. It is invariably made for writing burnt (about 5 to 10 MB in a CD). Using
placed at the beginning of the to a disc later on, overburning for any other purpose apart
presentation or video. To insert a test or from another from music is too risky as there is a
DJing with Nero Adjusting the drive speed
DIGIT JANUARY 2009 Vol 9: 2 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 3 DIGIT JANUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
and check Saturday. You can also Importing calendar from
change the duration of the working hours Google Calendar
(which is by default from 8 to 5). To import your Google calendar into
Sunbird, go to File > Subscribe
Colour coding categories to Remote Calendar. Select On
It is possible to add colour codes to the Network and click on next.
categories. There are a number of preset Select the CalDAV format, and enter
categories, and adding a particular the URL of your Google Calendar in the
colour to a category can be of individual Location field. This url is
significance (like red for an anniversary). https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/
Go to Tools > Options > username@gmail.com/events. Replace the
Categories and add a colour to the username with your user name. Type in
preset categories. There are 70 colours a name for your calendar and click on
available to choose from. You can also next. Your Google calendar will now be
add or delete categories from this view. imported into Firebird.
Setting tasks to repeat Using the Taskbar
Right-click on a day, and select The taskbar is on the bottom left
new task. Under repeat, set a corner of the Firebird window. This
periodicity. This can be either daily, taskbar is used for organising your
weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or yearly. tasks. As soon as a task is complete, you
can check on the task, and a
Setting a proxy connection strikethrough will appear. Right-
If your workplace uses a proxy clicking and selecting Progress will Importing Indian Holidays
connection for the internet, these allow you to set a percentage of
settings have to be specified in Firebird, completion. The percentages are preset important dates of holidays. Holiday Updating > Keep old messages.
so that Firebird can interface with the and cannot be modified. files are available in the .ics format. A In the drop down box, select keep
internet. Go to Tools > Options > list of holidays for all countries is on everything. Please note that this
Testing the overburning capacity of a disk Changing the date http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar option doesn’t allow you to gather past
display format /holidays.html. To import Indian posts from the source.
high scope for losing data. However, if it sunbird. A portable version of the Go to Tools > Options > holidays into Sunbird, go to File >
is a small file, then it can be calendar is available from General. Now change the Date Text Import, type http://www.mozilla.org/ Backing up your feeds
accommodated. Nero lets you find out http://portableapps .com/apps/ projects/calendar/caldata/ If you’re a heavy feedreader, then
exactly how much data can fit in. Test office/sunbird_portable. IndiaHolidays.ics in the chances are that you will have taken a
the overburning capacity of your media destination field and click lot of time to select and organise feeds.
by starting up Nero DiscSpeed. Go to Adding Saturdays to on import. Select the You don’t need to lose this if your
Extra > Overburning Test. This the Calendar calendar you want to import computer develops a problem. Export
will take some time as Nero DiscSpeed By default, both the weekend days the calendar file to (home your feeds by selecting File >
simulates a complete write of the drive. are turned off from display. by default). The holidays Export To > OPML Feeds. A
It lists the capacity, the maximum Although they are shown in the will be listed on the relevant dialogue will appear showing a list of
amount of data that can be calendar and can be worked on, dates. all the feeds you have collected. Check
accommodated, and the extra space they are shown with a grey
available for overburning. In Nero highlight. To change this, go to
Adding saturdays to the calendar
Snarfer
Burning ROM, go to File > Options Tools > Options > Views Snarfer is the most
> Expert Features and check Advanced > used RSS feed reader
Enable Disk-at-once CD Connection Settings. around. The feed
overburning or Enable DVD If your company uses a reader offers a feature-
overburning and click on apply. predefined URL with a rich, but clean
Changing the date format
proxy configuration, interface. The download
select Automatic proxy Format as per your preferences. There is just 400 KB, available from
Mozilla Sunbird configuration URL and is a long date format and the short www.snarfware.com.
M
ozilla Sunbird is a calendar enter the URL in the field. date format available. However, the
application from Mozilla. It can To manually enter the dates are always displayed in the Archiving all posts
be used for task management for proxy details, select American format — mm/dd/yy. You of a feed
a team or an individual. The calendars can Manual proxy cannot change this to the dd/mm/yy If there is any syndicated content
be published online, and there are remote configuration and enter format used in India. that you happen to particularly
access usage options available. The the relevant proxies and like, or find useful, you can choose
application is free, open source and ports. The application Adding Indian Holidays to archive all the posts from that
available for all platforms. The 5 MB cannot connect to the The default calendar has no source. Once the feed is added to
download is available from internet, unless you enter holidays noted. Adding holidays will your list, right-click on the feed
www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/ these settings. create a small text field below the and go to Properties > Archiving all feeds
Importing from Google Calendar
DIGIT JANUARY 2009 Vol 9: 4 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 5 DIGIT JANUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
feeds you want to save, and click on or folder. Right-
next. Select a location on the hard click on the
drive to save the file, and click on particular feed you
Finish. To load a saved OPML file onto want to protect
Snarfer, go to File > Import From with a password.
> OPML Feeds and select the location Go to Properties
of the OPML file. > Authenti-
cation. Check
Changing the style of feed requires
feed display authentication,
If you want to change the default style of and enter a
the feed display, there’re a number of username and a
options that Snarfer gives you. Go to password. Click on
Tools > Add more styles. This Apply. The next
opens a tab in Snarfer that shows a list time you access
of available styles. This is how the text the particular feed,
from feeds will be laid out in Snarfer. it will prompt you
Click on any of the styles that appeals to Adding a keyword based feed for your username
you, and you will be directed to the link and password.
for that style. Don’t download the style,
instead click on Open. When the file is Adding feeds by keyword Adding a plugin
downloaded (usually less than 5 KB), Snarfer can add feeds related to a In snarfer, plugins are remotely
click on Install. If you have certain keyword. This means that if hosted on the snarfer server and are
you put in computers or technology, available from the snarfer interface.
all related posts across feeds from These are global settings applied across
various sites with syndicated content all the fields, like the Flare remover
will show up. Right-click on Message plugin that removes all custom icons of
Folders, go to New > Keyword feeds or the stock watch plugin that
Watch. Enter the keywords in the aggregates stock feeds and updates
field and click on Next. them. To add a plugin, go to Tools >
Add more plugins. This will take
Protecting your feeds with a you to a page with a list of plugins.
password Periodically, check for updates on this
You can add a password to individual page. Choose and install plugins that
feeds. Unfortunately, you cannot add a you like. Once installed, you can check
password to all the feeds in a category for the plugins at File > New. I
Changing the feed display style
downloaded a number of styles, and
want to change to another installed
style, go to Tools > Options >
Appearance > Message style >
Style and select a suitable style from
the drop down menu.
Changing the refresh
interval of feeds
Some feeds change rapidly. You can
configure news feeds to refresh faster
than say the podcasts or vlogs. Right-
click on a feed, go to Properties >
Updating > Refresh Interval
and change the drop down menu
according to your preferences.
To instantly update a feed, right-click
on the feed and click on refresh. You
can do this for an entire category or to
bring all the feeds in it. The stock watch plugin
DIGIT JANUARY 2009 Vol 9: 6 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
The Keyboard is mightier than the Mouse
Outrun a Mouse using a Keyboard in Firefox
Kumar Jhuremalani
efore the mouse was invented, the
B keyboard was the only way to navi-
gate around the interface. Either way,
there was not much to navigate back
then. With the advent of the mouse,
everything changed. Now the mouse is
the most convenient tool for navigating
and clicking links while browsing the
internet. What if we tell you that the
keyboard is faster than using the
mouse — in Firefox, at least? Read on...
Firefox has numerous shortcuts
that let you browse without touching a Mouseless browsing lets you browse through sites using just your keyboard
mouse. There’re a little over 50 short-
cuts in Firefox and we’ve listed the most restart Firefox. most websites, but there might be cer-
useful and the best shortcuts we found. With the add-on installed, you’ll tain websites which need more.
notice a small logo at the lower right Mouseless Browsing also allows you to
New: Tab Ctrl+T corner of Firefox. You will also notice increase the maximum number of ids.
Window Ctrl+N that some numbers have appeared If you don’t like using numbers,
Select Address Bar Ctrl+L next to every link on a page. These are you can also set alphabets as ids. These
Select Search Bar / the numerical ids given to each link by work in the same way as numbers.
Web Search Ctrl+K Mouseless Browsing. To access a link, However, you might get some really
Clear Private Data Ctrl+Shift+Del simply type the numerical id next to it weird combinations as ids, like QBE
Downloads Ctrl+J and hit [Enter]. and UGZ, but only if the website has
Complete Address: The numbers you type are also dis- that many links to offer.
.com Ctrl+Enter played next to the logo, and they disap- Using this add-on, along with the
.net Shift+Enter pear rather fast. If you think they disap- available shortcuts, you increase your
.org Ctrl+Shift+Enter pear too fast, adjust the timing in the browsing speed by milestones and
Bookmark: settings window. For this, click on the even challenge your friend who owns
All Tabs Ctrl+Shift+D icon at the bottom right corner of the a 4000dpi mouse and beat him in
This Page Ctrl+D browser to open the settings window. using Firefox. I
History Ctrl+H Alternately, you can go to Tools>Add- kumar.jhuremalani@thinkdigit.com
Zoom: In Ctrl++ ons from the Menu bar, select
Out Ctrl-- Mouseless Browsing and then
Reset Ctrl+0 click on Options.
Navigation: You can change the time
Back Alt+Left Arrow / delay by entering values as per
Backspace your choice. The default settings
Forward Alt+RightArrow / for this is 500ms. If you feel this
Shift+Backspace is too fast, you can increase it to a
Home Alt+Home value such as 750ms and 1000ms
Reload F5 / Ctrl+F5 for a more convenient browsing
(override cache) experience. You can also adjust
the settings such that you don’t
need to hit [Enter]. Once you’ve
Firefox lets you download add-ons typed the id, Firefox will redirect
for additional features. One such add- the page to the link directly. If
on is Mouseless Browsing 0.5.1. You you’re one of those who prefer
can get this from using the numerical keypad, set
https://addons.mozilla.org/en- the numpad exclusively for
US/firefox/addon/879. Click on Mouseless browsing. The default
Download Now on this page to number of ids set for a single
install the addon. Once you’re done, website is 1000. This is enough for Customise Mouseless Browsing to suit your needs
www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 7 DIGIT JANUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
PhotoFiltre
A quick run through one of the smallest image editors ever
Rossi Fernandes Colour selection tool select the intensity of the effect you
The colour selection tool in PhotoFiltre want, and the mask can also be
ommercial software like has a few different modes which can inverted. Click Preview to see if you
C Photoshop comes with an exhaus-
tive list of features that is ideal for
be accessed by clicking on the left and
right buttons below the colour selec-
like the results, then click OK.
professional graphic designers. Here, tion tool. This presents a more accurate Batch processing in PhotoFiltre
we’re looking at PhotoFiltre, which, is way of selecting colours. The batch processing feature allows
in comparison, a tiny and free image you to process multiple photos or
editor. However, it’s something that Saving, loading and positioning images in one go, instead of opening
you’ll find useful for everyday use — shapes every single image and processing it.
crop photos, make wallpapers or do Every good image editor has shape Click on Tools > Automate /
simple artwork. You can find the soft- tools with presets, and PhotoFiltre is Batch to start it. First, select the
ware in this month’s DVD. no exception. Simple shape presets can photos that you want to process, by
be selected from the toolbar on the selecting the source folder and then
A walk through the usual features right. The polygon and lasso tool can the output folder where the processed
The software layout is quite simple — be used used to create your own paths. images need to be saved. The other tabs
the main toolbar is located to the right With PhotoFiltre, you can also save can be accessed to set parameters and
and the image properties toolbar on these shapes, for future use. To save effects that you need for the images.
the top. You can access the effects in these shapes, click on the Selection
the Adjust and Filter menu. You can menu and then on Save shape. Give Reading EXIF info
adjust the image and canvas size, and it a name and click Save. To load, Each image you capture using a digital
the image properties using the Image click on Load shape item in the camera, has pieces of information stored
menu. Overall, PhotoFiltre is similar to same menu. on it. This includes information about
Photoshop itself, so getting around the You can also move this shape accu- the camera and the photo taken. You can
interface shouldn’t be a problem. rately to the centre or to any other read this information by clicking on
point on the image by clicking on Image Properties under the File
Adding files to PhotoFiltre Selection > Manual Settings. menu. Click on the EXIF button. You can
Loading files is a straight-forward process Size of the shape can also be changed export this information to a text file by
in PhotoFiltre, as in any other image from the same dialog box. clicking on the Export button.
editor. However, there is another way to
do this. A feature called Image Explorer The PhotoMasque feature Creating an icon
lets you view images in an entire folder The PhotoMasque feature allows you to PhotoFiltre has a convenient feature
including subfolders. You can access this set a mask for your entire image. The that lets you create icons for Windows,
feature by clicking on clicking on Tools feature can be used by clicking on without having to manually set colour
> Image Explorer. A pane will appear Filter > PhotoMasque. Here you depths and sizes. First, open the image
at the bottom of the screen. Right-click can load a mask file and a list of sup- or create one that you want made into
on it and go to Explore > A folder. plied masks will be present. Select the an icon. Simply click on Tools >
Select a folder and click OK. You can open mask you want, and click Open. You Export as icon to create your icon.
images shown here by double-clicking on can choose the effect you want to get, The ICO file can be used with any
them. by using the mask. To do this, click on application. I
the Mode dropdown menu. You can rossi.fernandes@thinkdigit.com
The Image Explorer visible at the bottom of Using the PhotoMasque feature to load
the PhotoFiltre window. masks for images The EXIF Info box displaying photo details
DIGIT JANUARY 2009 Vol 9: 8 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Business l Business Laptops Test
Digital
103 Threat
defence 105 Bomb alert
Business
How Technology Can Help Your Organisation
Business Laptops Test
Suited and booted
Michael Browne & and would also be less concerned We test a ing is expensive, both in terms of
Kumar Jhuremalani about their shiny play thing pick- money and in terms of the space
ing up the daily gamut of scratches
very select is requires. yet the business user
B
usinessmen and executives and smudges. For them a notebook bunch wants something really compact.
don’t need flashy play toys. is a necessity, not a status symbol of the This usually means a screen no
Sure, looks are important to and something that will last the most elite bigger than 14.1-inches or 13.3-
everyone, but ease of use, rugged- test of time and still look in mint inches. Manufacturers spend a
ness and ergonomics take prec- condition is the order of the day. business good deal of the cost price of
edence over chic toys when in the Of course this doesn’t necessarily notebooks the notebook on designing cool-
hands of a serious corporate user. mean a plain-jane notebook. Quite around ing solutions for shoe-horning
Businessmen are also harder on the contrary, it takes a special type powerful components, (that gen-
their notebooks. Just as they’re less of notebook to have a simple black erate extra heat), in a relatively
likely to pull out their notebook finish and yet look special. compact chassis. Then there are
at an airport solely for the sake There are other features that a the various methods employed
of the prestige value that many businessman would look at; relia- to reduce the risk of a hard drive
associate with having one; they’re bility and quality – not just of the crash in the event of one drop-
less concerned with the finish and finish but the internal compo- ping their notebook. Certain
colours used on their notebook nents themselves. adequate cool- brands like Lenovo and Dell actu-
Imaging: Shrikrishna Patkar
Photo: Jiten Gandhi
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT January 2009 97
Digital Business l Business Laptops Test Digital Business l Business Laptops Test
ally have an inflatable foam clad- new model between them. Our region looks like it’s there to of L2 cache – great for someone tle more interesting. is a most irritating phenomenon.
ding around the hard drive that five participants consisted of two last. In fact the mostly metal needing more CPu performance. The palm rest is silver- The touchpad also incorporates
absorbs impacts thereby protect- notebooks from Lenovo and one design does add to the weight a It seems the E6400 ships with grey as is the outer dual scroll zones for both verti-
ing the hard drive from crashes each from HP, Sony and Dell. bit, but the E6400 feels surpris- only 7200 rPM hard drives and bezel and lid hinges. cal and horizontal scrolling. The
due to any sort of hard impacts. ingly dense; as if it would take this is a very good thing because The side bezel is slim- keys on the 6930P sport the same
Business notebooks (in general) Dell Latitude E6400 a lot of abuse. The screen size is the storage subsystem is usually mer than the E6400 kind of matte finish that the
sport more rugged finishes that Brick solid! 14.1-inches, although this note- the slowest component of any although the top bezel outer body sports and this adds
are less likely to wear with heavy book has a rather wide bezel all PC or notebook. SSD is also an is just as wide, a bit of welcome grip to each
usage. We call such choice of
tough surface treatments indus-
trial grade; this largely means
I f Dell’s Vostro series is designed
for the small to medium sized
business on a budget, the Latitude
around the screen, which makes
it look much larger, though not
as large as a 15.4-inch model.
option with the new Latitude;
though the costs are astronom-
ical. In true workstation style
making this
notebook
appear
key. Key travel is a little more
than the E 6400 and feedback
is slightly softer. However the
something that’s resilient to series is designed for the serious It sports the double mouse the Latitude E6400 ships with slightly keys are well laid out and due to
wear, although it’s also become corporate, who needs connectiv- button design that Lenovo also an nVIDIa Quadro graphics solu- bigger than their large design lack beveling
synonymous with a very plain- ity and reliability above all else. favours and the track button that tion; the nVS 160M which is hard- its screen size of 14.1- on the top. needless to say this
HP Elitebook
looking choice of materials. Most Think of the Latitude as Dell’s is a must for all seriously corpo- ly powerful, being based around inches; its footprint is a little 6930P keypad worked well for all of
hardcore business notebooks pay answer to Lenovo’s ThinkPad rate notebooks. The track button eight stream processors but is smaller than the Dell Latitude us and although the theory this
a lot of attention to ergonom- series. at first glance the Latitude isn’t red however (Lenovo nee way faster than Intel’s GMa and E6400 though. should not have been the case
ics; by this we mean both the E6400 looks very large, solid and IBM patented that), but is black; about a tenth of the performance HP advertises that the but in practice we could find lit-
presence and the placement of also very boxy. It seems like Dell and blends in with the keyboard. away from a GeForce 9300M GS. Elitebook 6930P is designed with tle fault – we’d like key travel to
shortcut keys/buttons for com- hewed this out of a solid hunk of The keys themselves are well laid D-Sub and S-Video connects are conformity to certain military be slightly less and feedback to
mon tasks. plastic and metal. no, the black out and offer a short and very provided as video outs. standards, (MIL-STD 810F for be more on the positive side of
This time round we matt finish is fine with positive feedback. although this The Latitude E 6400 is priced those who want to look it up), responsive. There are a number
decided to be really selec- us, but it’s just that the wasn’t the best laid out keypad from rs. 60,000 and above; for resilience to vibration, dust, of backlit and touch sensitive
tive when looking at box-like design brings to from amongst the five notebooks although the model we recieved humidity, altitude and high/low buttons on the top of the key-
business-class notebooks. mind the oft used analogy we tested, the key spacing and was priced at rs. 95,000; not bad temperatures. This notebook also pad and the all important WLan
We didn’t want our test “built like a tank”. The lid beveling is ergonomic to work considering the processor and has the option to upgrade the on/off control is found here. The
to be diluted with pseu- sports a black, brushed with. The trackpad is the right graphics solution. optical drive to a special space backlit icon changes colour when
do-business notebooks. aluminum finish that is combination of grip and comfort saver ODD which allows for using WLan is switched on and off and
We did a more compre- quite eye catching but although we found tracking to an additional hard drive – a cool there is another indicator which
hensive test back in June in a more laid back sort be a bit of a problem. In fact this HP Elitebook 6930P option for the power business lights up on the front of the
last year and unfortunately of manner and you’ll was one of the major let downs All that glitters is not gold user. raID 0 and 1 support is also notebook; although this indica-
all of the major players hardly notice with the E6400; the track pad available if you decide to go dual tor will not be on eye level when
like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Sony,
Toshiba and Fujitsu didn’t
have many new models. Sadly
yourself giv-
ing it anoth-
er look over.
will stick at times or will just
refuse to do what your finger
commands – most annoying. The
T he 6930P is yet another rath-
er unobtrusive looking note-
book. The lid itself is a matte
hard drive. The drives themselves
have an impact protection cage
to minimize data crashes. The
you’re using it so is not that use-
ful. a configurable shortcut key
and the volume buttons are also
all these brands have launched The E6400 trackpoint works better and it’s black, unlike the machined display is LED-backlit once again backlit and touch activated – this
a slew of models internationally, is built around a clear to see that it isn’t an adorn- metal finish on the Latitude E a plus for battery life; the quality is a nifty addition to a business-
but most of them haven’t released Dell Latitude
magnesium alloy cage which is ment for Dell; many ThinkPad 6400 and looks even simpler; of display remains as good as a class notebook; after all even cor-
these models in India. In fact lat- E6400 great for longevity and even the users swear by the trackpoint and some might feel a little to plain CCFL display. The resolution is porate users like to indulge in
ter two didn’t even have a single coating around the palm rest Dell implements it quite well. a looking. The body has an equally an excellent 1440 x 900 pixels, a little soft finger touching! a
fingerprint reader thrown in; a lack luster finish with dark grey although you can opt for a screen fingerprint scan sensor is also
must for many corporate users and black used as tones. This with a resolution of 1280 x 800 provided to added security.
How We Tested as an additional security step as sort of body finish is common to pixels as an option. HP provides software that
it restricts access like few pass- Lenovo’s ThinkPads as well; yet The trackpad is small and can manage and even repair your
F or features we looked at the bundle and
the specifications of each laptop. We also
looked at the connectivity options like number
subsystems we used two general benchmarks:
PC Mark 05, and SiSoft Sandra 2008 Lite. For
specifically stressing the graphics subsystem
words can.
The screen itself is a matte
the Elitebook looks even plainer.
The culprit, we feel, is the boxy
quite recessed; a plus during
heavy typing sessions as your
notebooks installation over a
network; very useful for IT pro-
of USB ports, presence of FireWire, memory we used 3D Mark 05. Maxon’s CineBench panel; so reflections are not a build which gives it a very (yawn) wrist is less likely to come in fessionals and business houses
card readers and HDMI. We also looked for R10 was used for testing the CPUs rendering problem and the resolution of boring look. It’s also about as contact with the touchpad sur- looking for a robust fleet of note-
LAN, Bluetooth and WLAN connectivity. ability. For testing the quality of the display 1440 x 900 pixels is absolutely heavy as the E6400. Once you face thereby causing your mouse books with minimal down times.
We gave scores ranging on a scale of 10 for provided we used DisplayMate’s colour suite. perfect. We’re tired of 1280 x 800 open the lid, things get a lit- pointer to jump elsewhere which The 6930P is adequately powered
usability, intuitiveness, convenience and ergo- Finally, we used WirelessMon 2.0 to check
nomics too. Such non tangible factors are often the strength of the WLAN solution embedded pixels and ultra high resolution
what make the difference to most users. Features on each notebook. We also benchmarked the notebooks are a no-no too. This
like build quality, or the feel of a keypad, or even transfer rate of the WLAN system. We trans- resolution is just right for the
the presence of and placement of shortcut keys. ferred a single 100 MB file for the sequential screen size. The LCD panel is
We also look at the ergonomics associated with test and a number of small files totaling to LED lit; and should bring power
the placement of USB ports, LAN and RJ11 con- 100 MB in size for the random test. saving benefits as well. In terms
nects and other connectivity options. For real world tests, we checked the over-
of configurability the E 6400
We used a clean install of Windows Vista all effectiveness of each of the test subjects
Business 32 bit, and only the drivers and nec- at viewing HD content and gaming, music, file is totally customisable in true
essary benchmark software were installed. compression/decompression (WinRAR), and Dell fashion. The one we got
Our tests consisted of a gamut of benchmark file transfers. The former tests stress out the came with a new T9400 proces-
suites and real world tests. video solution and CPU and memory subsys- sor. This CPu is quite fast and
For checking the performance of key com- tems while the file transfer test specifically runs at a speed of 2.5 GHz while
ponents like CPU, RAM, storage and video targets the storage subsystem.
maintaining a whopping 6 MB
98 DIGIT January 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT January 2009 99
Digital Business l Business Laptops Test Digital Business l Business Laptops Test
with a P8400 processor and 2 GB colours and displays lot of sense. When hooking up a
of DDr2 memory. It also has a text really well. secondary display or a printer it Business Laptops
250 GB, 5400 rpm hard drive and The trackpad is makes sense to have the connec- Brand Lenovo Lenovo Sony Dell HP
an aTi radeon HD 3450 graph- a little inaccurate; tions going from the rear so you Model T400 X300 Vaio VGN-Z13GN Latitude E6400 Elitebook 6930P
Features
ics solution. This is more than shocking really for save on cable clutter on the front Component Specifications
enough grunt to push the 6930P a notebook of this or side or your desk space. Processor Model No P8400 L7100 T9400 T9400 P8400
through most tasks; and these status. Moreover it With a power saving 1.2 GHz Processor Speed (MHz) 2260 1200 2500 2500 2260
Memory (MB) / RAM Type / Memory Speed 1024 / DDR3 / 1066 MHz 2048 / DDR2 / 667 MHz 4096 / DDR3 / 1066 2048 / DDR2 / 800 MHz 2048 / DDR2 / 800 MHz
components may even be overkill doesn’t respond L7100 under the hood the X300 MHz
for most users. a D-Sub video- at times is supposed to be all about bat- Chipset Intel Cantiga GM45/ Intel GM965 Intel Cantiga GM45/ Intel Cantiga PM45 Intel Cantiga PM45
out is provided as standard, we’d tery conservation; although our GM47 GM47
Graphics Solution Intel GMA 4500MHD Intel GMA X3100 GeForce 9300M GS Quadro NVS 160M Radeon HD 3450
have liked something more in tests clearly negated the theory Onboard Video Memory (MB) Shared Shared 256 MB shared 256 MB 256 MB
the HDMI realm; but this isn’t an that these CPus are really great Audio Solution Conexant Cx20561 AD1984A Realtek ALC262 IDT 92HD71B7 AD1984A
entertainment notebook. – mores the pity. power savers. an SSD should also HDD Size (GB) 160 GB 64 GB (SSD) 320 GB 160 GB 250 GB
Lenovo X300 Optical Drive Type Matshita DVD-RAM Matshita DVD-RAM Matshita DVD/RW PLDS DVD/RW DU-8A2S NEC Optiarc DVD/RW
The price of the 6930P as quot- The trackpoint works well; help conserve power. The X300 UJ-844 UJ-844 AD-7561S
ed by HP is “price on request”. but we feel there’s no excuse has a 64 GB SSD which also adds Bundled OS Vista Business Vista Business Vista Business + XP Prof Vista Business Vista Business
Characteristics
However to our dismay we were for designing a poor trackpad; performance, particularly with Screen Size (Inches) / Native Resolution 14.1 / 1280 x 800 13.3 / 1440 x 900 13.3 / 1600 x 900 14.1 / 1440 x 900 14.1 / 1440 x 900
unable to get a quote on request and trackpoint’s are Jurassic for anything requiring fast read (Pixels)
– it seems they will only give most people anyways. The key- and access to the storage system. Weight 2.13 Kg 1.5 Kg 1.48 Kg 2.1 Kg 2.1 Kg
No of Ports (USB/FireWire) 3/1 3/0 2/1 4/1 3/1
quotes to potential users; and pad is exactly the opposite; key There’s no fancy graphics solu- Connectivity (LAN/Bluetooth/WiFi) 4/4/4 4/4/4 4/4/4 4/4/4 4/4/4
there was no more information feedback although a touch soft tion here; expected for an ultra Type of Memory Cards Supported SD, MMC, xD SD, MMC, xD SD, MS Pro, MMC SD, MMC, xD, MS Pro SD, MMC, MS Pro, xD
to be had from them. a three is quite positive. The keys are compact, power-saver notebook. Inbuilt Webcam 6 4 4 4 4
Build Quality (So 10), Body / Keypad / Lid, 7.75 / 7.5 / 7.75 8.25 / 8.25 / 7.75 6.5 / 7.5 / 7.5 7.25 / 7.25 / 8 7.75 / 7.5 / 8
year international warranty is exceptionally well laid out and as expected the X300 will not movables
provided as standard, a huge plus beveling is excellent; this really win any CPu and GPu bench- Ergonomics: (Keypad Tactility / Layout / 8.25 / 7.75 / 7.5 8.25 / 7.75 / 7 7.5 / 8 / 7 8 / 8 / 7.75 7.5 / 7.5 / 7.5
for the globetrotting professional is one of the best designed key- mark awards; but it does have Shortcut Keys)
Biometrics Login 4 4 4 4 4
or businessman; most companies pads you will ever use. The only a blazingly fast storage system. Dedicated Buttons (WLAN / Bluetooth / 4/6/6 4/6/6 4/6/6 4/6/6 4/6/6
do not offer such warranty terms sore point (and a serious one) at rs. 139,000, the X300 is quite Touchpad
free of charge. If you’re looking is the placement of the func- costly; and do not expect this Performance
Synthetic Scores
for hassle free service plan and tion key on the lower corner of price to fall unless SSD prices fall PC Mark 2005
an excellent warranty scheme for the keypad; a space that’s usu- as you cannot buy this notebook CPU Score 5767 3206 6482 6398 5479
a rugged product this may well ally reserved for the control key with a regular hard drive. For Memory Score 4990 3254 5516 5399 4741
Graphics Score 2396 1006 3880 3428 2276
fit the bill. which also enables a lot of short- corporate looking for the reliabil- HDD 4636 14565 3742 5051 4404
cuts. People used to the control ity and repute of the ThinkPad Overall 4780 3254 5379 5963 4541
SiSoft Sandra 2008 Lite
Lenovo X300 button do a lot of double takes series and something light and CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone ALU / 20951 / 16575 11065 / 7606 23414 / 18284 23262 / 18568 20901 / 16677
Worthy lightweight champ when using it in combination compact the X300 makes a good, Whetstone iSSE3)
with shortcut keys and you need albeit pricey buy. CPU Multi-Media (Integer x8 iSSE3 / 124913 / 68249 66000 / 35908 139603 / 76400 139541 / 76246 125016 / 68301
T
Floating x4 iSSE2)
he X300 series exemplifies to get used to the placement HDD Index / Random Access Time (ms) 51 / 10 89 / 1 50 / 13 49 / 11 48 / 9
extreme portability and the of the function key. The keypad Lenovo T400 Memory bandwidth (Integer / Floating) 5220 / 5221 3495 / 3529 5751 / 5732 5601 / 5616 5109 / 5112
X300 we received doesn’t belie isn’t backlit although Lenovo The larger sibling 3D Mark 2005
CPU Score 7785 4637 13664 12927 10967
this belief one bit. The X300 is does provide the traditional lid Overall Score 1437 671 3934 3247 3962
touted as an ultra portable and
ultra light notebook and the
weight of 1.5 kilograms with
light. We noted that while this
light provides adequate illumina-
tion when working in the dark
J ust as the X300 series exempli-
fy portability, the T400 series is
supposed to represent a balance
Maxon CineBench R10 (CPU Score)
Display Mate Tests
Colour Accuracy Test (Avg) (So 10)
4573
6.5
2336
7
5324
7.25
5286
5
4608
7
Battery Life Test (Minutes) 158.58 112.33 157.44 154.30 139.52
battery is definitely a step in its inadequate when there’s a between power and performance. WiFi Signal Strength Test 87 76 71 85 81
the right direction. It’s a sweet little ambient light which makes What this really means is that WiFi Sequential transfer test (MBps) 51 128.4 40.3 46.7 44.1
WiFi Assorted transfer test (MBps) 79 132.3 64.9 69.9 62.1
looking notebook decked in a it useless seven times out of ten. the T400 is a larger, heavier and Real World Tests
rubberised sort of finish. This another little ergonomic niggle cheaper notebook with a slightly Audio Test Speakers (So 10) 4.5 5 5.25 4.5 5
coating is present all over the is that the WLan switch is placed inferior finish to the X300. The HD Movie Viewing (So 10) 5.5 6 7.25 5.5 5.5
WinRAR 3.8 (Compression / 753 685 847 563 683
body and the inside is a hard, on the rear; this means you need term inferior was meant rela- Decompression kb/s)
matte finished plastic. The entire to either reach behind your note- tively in the above statement and File transfer Test (Sequential / Assorted) 96.4 / 92.2 24.3 / 31.7 52.6 / 59.8 44.5 / 54 63.4 / 84.8
(Sec)
notebook is black, and this effect book each time or turn it around the T400 is well built and feels DOOM 3 (fps) (640x480, medium detail) 13.5 9 108.8 95.4 80.9
is only relieved by the red stripes so that the rear faces you in order solid; but perhaps being larger Farcry (fps) (640x480, low detail) 50.95 31.71 193.62 182.94 194.16
January 2009
on the top mouse buttons and to switch wireless doesn’t feel as dense in-hand as Warranty (Years) 1 onsite 1 onsite 1 1 3
Price (Rupees) 68000 139000 124900 95,000 Price on Request
the red trackpoint. It’s clearly connectivity off or the X300 did and the difference
aimed at a corporate user and on. One of the uSB in price is evident with the qual- as the black finish looks a little and this is perhaps, ergonomi- mouse buttons and trackpoint
this is very obvious from the ports are placed ity of materials used. It also feels brighter. The screen sports a de cally the best part of the T400. are also present; the latter works
look. The screen bezel isn’t too on the rear as is a little more plasticy than the facto resolution of 1280 x 800 Key feedback is a little bit softer well; better than the trackpad.
wide, although it’s a little thicker the video port X300; owing to the use of slightly pixels and with a diagonal size than the X300 but this doesn’t above the keypad you will find
on the outer edges. Still the X300 (D-Sub) but we lower grade materials than the of 14.1-inches, this seems a little detract from the feeling that this an array of status icons that are
is very slim and gives the impres- have to say that X300 utilises in the construction low resolution, especially when is one of the best designed key- easily visible and well laid out;
sion of being built to last. The this makes a of its outer body. Once again this compared to the 13.3-inch, 1440 pads around. a pity we couldn’t there are indicators for battery,
screen is 13.3-inches and sports a matte black finish may not be to x 900 pixel display on the X300. say the same for the trackpad WiFi, Bluetooth and charging
high resolution of 1440 x 900 pix- Lenovo T400 everyone’s liking but we feel the The keys on the T400 are which is sometimes unrespon- status. The volume up and down
els; the display is crisp with good inside is a little better looking identical in layout to the X300 sive and inaccurate. The double buttons are also present here as
100 DIGIT January 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT January 2009 101
Digital Business l Business Laptops Test
is the ThinkVantage button that seen and this notebook is defi- left corner, just as it should be
allows quick access to help and nitely the slimmest in this com- – Lenovo should take a leaf out of
support. The uSB ports are laid parison. The lid has a nice posi- Sony’s book here. The trackpad is
out vertically which is actually tive snap shut action when it’s better than the Lenovo series in
pretty clever design since two about an inch from being fully terms of accuracy and the choice
ports can be placed very close to closed. The outer shell is made of coating is also good as it aids
each other thereby saving space. partly of carbon fiber which finger grip. The WiFi indicator
The rJ11 and rJ45 connects are gives the Vaio Z the binary ben- light is on the front bezel and
also placed together on one side; efits of tremendous robustness not at all visible unless you eye
convenient. The WLan switch is and low overall weight. We felt is at the same angle which rarely
on the front this time; so it scores that as good as that may sound, happens; the switch is located
in terms of placement ergonom- this Vaio should have been built below it and is easy to operate.
ics over its costlier sibling. even better and there was some The VGn-Z13Gn also fea-
Powered by the new P8400 flex noticeable around tures the famous switch to select
January 2009
which is part of the new the optical drive tray between stamina and speed
Montevina platform the T400 is area. Shockingly even mode. This is basically a hard-
snappy; but comes with just 1 GB the hinge has some ware level switch between the
of raM (DDr3). We figure Vista ugly gaps; while these integrated graphics solution
users should look for at least 2 aren’t easy to spot (Intel) to the nVIDIa GeForce
GB of memory and cannot figure and may not matter 9300M GS. This allows you to
out why Lenovo chose to supply to most peo- either get more graphics horse-
just 1 GB; unless it was to keep ple being power or conserve battery life
the price down. The hard drive is retentive depending on your usage pat-
a regular 5400 rpm, 160 GB offer- is part of terns at the moment.
ing. The T400 also makes do with- a review- In terms of processing power
out any sort of discrete graph- ers’ job. The rear the Vaio is fully loaded – with 4
ics offering favouring Intel’s Sony Vaio plastics are good quality but not GB of DDr3 memory and an Intel
trusty old GMa 4500. Priced at VGN-Z13GN as good as the materials we’ve P9500 CPu running at 2.5 GHz.
rs. 68,000, the T400 is very com- seen on the Vaio TZ series. The a 320 GB hard drive offers more
petent for the build, specifica- screen is a very high resolution than enough storage for all but
tions, functionality and features 1600 x 900 pixels and at a size of the most demanding of down-
it offers. anyone who is used to 13.3-inches it’s not the ideal pro- load junkies. When viewing the
the build of Lenovo’s ThinkPad’s portions for someone looking to specifications of this notebook
will not be disappointed. We wish work with text. However, colours we feel more strongly than ever
for a GeForce 9300M-class graph- and contrast on the display are that this Vaio is designed to per-
ics solution and an HDMI port; good, but this is a Tn panel and form dual roles. It can be a faith-
which would make this notebook you will have issues with wider ful corporate aid and a fun-time
more of an all-rounder but as it viewing angles. plaything as well; and it’s equal-
is the hardware on offer is good The keypad is typically Sony, ly adroit at both tasks, and yes;
enough for its target audience. with a kind of soft, mushy feed- it’s also got an HDMI port. It was
back. The layout is very good also the smallest and lightest
Sony Vaio VGn-Z13Gn though, although the keys feel notebook (1.48 kg) in test making
Ultra portable performer a little smaller than some other it something of a specialty since
Vaio’s they are also a little higher it’s also the most powerful note-
S ony’s Z series are aimed at the
stylish businessman looking
for a no compromise machine
than normal meaning that key
travel is more. The gap between
the keys on this keypad seems to
book in test in terms of process-
ing power and performance. at
rs. 124,900 we wish it were just
that serves a dual purpose — rock be slightly more than the gaps a little sturdier; but given its
solid portability and strong mul- on the segregated keypad that other multifaceted talents we
timedia capabilities. The Vaio apple uses. Whether or not this have very little to nitpick about.
VGn-Z13Gn is a very compact is good, is for you to decide but If you can afford to spend this
notebook that has an under- our overall opinion is positive much cash; this is the only note-
stated black and steel-grey finish and nobody had any ergonomic book you need consider. n
that attracts at first sight. The lid issues while using it and the all michael.browne@thinkdigit.com
is one of the slimmest we’ve ever important control key is at the kumar.j@thinkdigit.com
Contact Sheet Business Laptops
Company Phone No Email Website
Dell 080-44344359 Aparna.Grover@ogilvy.com www.dell.co.in
Hewlett Packard +124-2566111 anurag.arora@hp.com www.hp.com/in
Lenovo 1800-425-2666, 080-22108490 buy@in.lenovo.com www.lenovo.com/in
Sony 1800-11-11-88 (Toll Free) sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com www.sony.co.in
102 DIGIT January 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Business l Security Challenges
Threat defence
Mahesh Gupta visitors / employees bringing their non-corpo-
rate assets into corporate network?
As the network
T
he year 2007 was characterised by Or for that matter, let’s look at wireless-
unprecedented innovation and adaptabili- is becoming Wireless LANs (WLANs) pose additional security
ty in the realm of security threats, as more vulnerable challenges. Users operating on an unsecured
criminals once again demonstrated their abili- wireless network at a local coffee house may be
ty to continually evolve attack strategies to keep
to attack unaware that a rogue PC, also using the same
ahead of even the most advanced human and because of the wireless subnet, is depositing a virus on the PC.
technical defences. evolving perime- When that PC is later docked into the corporate
Rogue developers create such threats by ter, the threats network, the virus/Trojan could gain entry to
using worms, viruses, or application-embedded the network.
attacks. Botnets can be used to seed an attack, themselves are
for example, rogue developers can use worms changing Security — the reverse Moore’s Law
or application-embedded attacks, that is an As the network is becoming more vulnerable to
attack that is hidden within application traffic attack because of the evolving perimeter, the
such as web traffic or peer-to-peer shared files, threats themselves are changing. In addition to
to deposit “Trojans”. This combination of Trojans and botnets, newer, even more danger-
attack techniques — a virus or worm used to ous threats lurk. Two of the most troublesome
deposit a Trojan, for example-is relatively new are flash threats and self-mutating worms.
and is known as a blended attack. A blended Flash threats are so named because of the speed
attack can also occur in phases — an initial with which viruses or worms can spread. In
attack of a virus with a Trojan that might open 1999, a virus dubbed “Melissa,” one of the earli-
up an unsecured port on a computer, disable an est and most widespread viruses at the time,
access control list (ACL), or disarm antivirus took 16 hours to spread globally, according to
software, with the goal of a more devastating Network Associates Inc. In January 2003, the
attack to follow later. “Slammer” virus managed to infect more than
90 per cent of the vulnerable hosts worldwide
The evolving perimeter within 10 minutes using a well-known vulnera-
Changes in network architectures and evolv- bility in Microsoft’s SQL Server. New viruses in
ing threats create new security challenges. the coming months and years are expected to
Also the concept of the network perimeter is spread even faster. Therefore whatever defences
changing. In the past, users could only access organisations create, they must be able to iden-
the network through a few ingress or egress tify the threat and respond much more quickly
points — usually where the internet connect- than ever before.
ed to the enterprise network. Enterprises The other looming threat is the self-mutat-
stacked security at the internet perimeter ing worm. Today’s worms are relatively unintel-
using firewalls and intrusion detection sys- ligent. They are programmed to follow a specific
tems. However today, many more means of set of instructions, such as to infiltrate one
gaining entry to the network exist. With the machine through a specific port and once on the
perimeter having been extended and distrib- machine compromise it in some way, for exam-
uted, security too needs to be applied at each ple, causing a buffer overflow and planting a
of these new ingress and egress points to Trojan. If anything interferes with these planned
avoid damaging threats, thus complicating instructions, the worm lacks the ability to adjust
security architectures. and dies. Now, however, rogue developers are
Take for example, virtual private networks adding intelligence and logic to worms so that if
(VPNs). These allow enterprise users remote they can’t complete a specific task worms can
access to the corporate network and are much mutate and pursue other lines of attack.
more widely used than just a few years ago. Experts call this security dilemma “Moore’s
While previously enterprises might have Law in reverse”. Whereas Moore’s Law postu-
insisted that VPN software run on a specific lates that processor performance will double
enterprise-configured computer, today users every 18 months while costs will decline dra-
run VPNs from their own PCs or even from matically, security is moving in the opposite
kiosks at copy centres or other businesses. direction-networks are becoming less secure
This phenomenon allows many more entry- while the cost to defend them is increasing.
ways to the enterprise network and presents a This prognosis is supported by mi2g, a research
significant challenge to IT departments. Is the firm in the UK that specialises in computer
computer equipped with virus protection? Are security. Mi2g reports that the economic dam-
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 103
Digital Business l Security Challenges Digital Business l Security Challenges
age from malevolent network security attacks Instead of a security product for each secu-
reached somewhere between $157 billion and rity need in isolation, an end-to-end security
Bomb alert!
$192 billion worldwide in 2004. solution approach or system enables these com-
bined functions to operate as a coordinated
New threats — increase in defence (instead of silos) that stops a broader
operational complexity and range of attacks and greatly reduces the num-
manageability? ber of diverse multi-vendor devices that must
The current security defence paradigm is to be deployed, thereby simplifying security
deploy more and more of the existing security design and management. A well-drafted model bomb threat plan, tested and evaluated with trained staff, will enable
technologies throughout every segment of the Historically, firewalls have generally been an organisation to promptly respond and help minimise loss
network. This includes firewalls and ACLs to considered fairly simple devices, but they are
block access and perform application inspec- effective at what they do — either block a pack- Raghu Raman as it may create panic and confusion. It is
tion, intrusion protection system (IPS) technol- et or let it through based on Layer 3 and Layer 4 preferable to announce that “the area needs
ogy to provide very granular traffic inspection information and session state. They can provide Warning: Terrorists will strike to be vacated — this is NOT a drill.”
and identify known threats, encryption soft- some level of application inspection but do not where it hurts the most The announcement should specify the
ware to counter eavesdropping, anomaly detec- perform the detailed inspection of some other In his famous book The Little Drummer Girl evacuation route, guide, location of assembly
tion to detect worms or DoS attacks, and technologies. An IPS device can pick up where a John LeCarre wrote that the absolute terrorist area and the need for staying there till fur-
antivirus software to battle viruses. traditional firewall leaves off by peering more is one who can blow up a room full of school ther instructions. Route and assembly area
Many of today’s security technologies were deeply into a packet’s contents to see whether children, without any remorse or hesitation. should be searched before announcement.
developed to perform their specific function the data within conforms to company policy. Abhorring as that might seem, the fright-
with little context of the overall network threat Host IPS, host firewall on servers and desk- ening recurrence with which such Evacuation instructions
environment. Operating alone, however, these tops/laptops, day zero protection and intelli- instances have occurred, necessitate cor- (dos/don’ts):
technologies are less effective in stopping the gent behavioral based protection from applica- porate India to be prepared for the Ideally the organisation should have
newer attacks, as well as the changing ways in tion vulnerability and related flaws (within or absolute terrorist. practiced evacuation drills previously.
which user’s access networks, because of the inserted by virus, worms or Trojans) provided Very recently, SIMI had threatened to If they have not—then these are some
“security gaps” that exist between each tech- great level of confidence on what is happening blow up LIC buildings, a warning serious guidelines.
nique’s capabilities. With the increased com- within an organisation on a normal day and enough to mobilise the Mumbai police. In The announcer must remain calm,
plexity of threats, such as the blended threats when there is a attack situation, which seg- the past few months, many Indian companies and advise the employees to follow the
that use a combination of techniques to disrupt ment and what has gone wrong and gives flexi- in BFSI and IT / ITES sectors have been subject instructions. Similar announcements could
networks, security technologies must operate bility and control to stop such situations by hav- to hoax bomb threats. Though more often, the be displayed on the monitors of CCTV, if
in a coordinated fashion to stop attacks and bet- ing linkages of such devices with monitoring, situation was brought under control — these
ter control network activity and applications. log-analysis and event co-relation system. incidents caused stress, confusion, disruption
Unfortunately, over the years, many compa- Adaptive threat defence is the need now of work and loss of business and / or credibili-
nies have addressed nagging security concerns where an end-point security system can dynam- ty. Inarguably, the problem merits attention.
by constantly adding devices and software to ically generate an attack signature and push it However, there is a need to remain calm and
address each particular problem. This has led to to the other end-points and to the perimeter IPS follow the basic rules of security. Employee
separate antivirus protection, firewalls, VPNs, devices to stop it from propagating to rest of awareness, training, practice and evacuation
and intrusion prevention. While this addresses the infrastructure. Similarly security opera- drills help to avert disasters and increases
the short-term needs, it creates an entirely new tions teams have challenges to fine-tune false chances of correct response in times of crises.
and bigger problem: managing multiple sys- positives, they struggle by logging into various
tems that operate independently of one anoth- devices to understand which logs are resulting Dealing with bomb threats
er. As more advanced threats emerge, there is a into what logs; the need of the hour is that A bomb threat may be received on telephone
need for network security to become more security operations team should be able to easi- or through a written message. Experience
holistic; security technologies must act in coor- ly see the logs and link the same to configura- shows that most of the threats received on
dination to detect and defend against more tions which are resulting into these logs. telephones are hoaxes. However, till experts
sophisticated threats. There is a growing need This type of systems approach transforms carry out a detailed search and come to that
for devices that can assemble the puzzle pieces security from operating as separate siloed tech- conclusion, the situation has to be taken seri-
and lock down the gaps that exist in conven- nologies in a reactive mode-with limited and ously. Statistics suggest that one in a 1,000
tional network security systems. static detection methods-to functioning as a calls may turn out to be genuine.
coordinated, proactive threat defense system While administration and corporate secu-
Adaptive security for a changing that adapts to the threat environment. rity departments play a leading role in coun-
world These systems provide numerous benefits: tering bomb threats, employees are often the
Transforming chaos into a clear and manage- improved detection, greater event classification first line of defence. A sound and practical
able security policy is essential, which is why accuracy, lower operating costs, streamlined bomb threat contingency plan ensures carry-
future network security systems need to focus administration, and services extensibility that ing out standardised drills and lays down spe-
on convergence and consolidation. For robust integrate the most advanced security technolo- cific responsibilities on all concerned.
information security for an enterprise, a proac- gies as they are developed. These converged sys-
tive architectural and system approach is criti- tems will not compromise the quality of securi- Evacuation procedure
cal. The idea is to accurately identify and stop ty in any given category, but instead combine Once it is decided to evacuate, the security
attacks as early and as far from the destination the strength of each in complementary ways to manager should give wide publicity by
host as possible, while simultaneously simplify- deliver a tighter, coordinated defence. announcements through PA system, CCTV,
ing the security architectures required to do The author is Business Development Manager, Network megaphone, etc. Do not use the word “bomb”
this. Security, Cisco India & SAARC
104 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 105
Digital Business l Security Challenges
installed.
G Walk out of the building in a calm and com-
And what if you are caught in a blast?
posed manner to the given location through Given the nature of blasts, it is impossible to predict the exact situation you
the given route. could be in. However, here are some generic guidelines that could be of
G Do not run, it will cause panic among oth- help.
ers. G Depending on your distance from the blast, you could be in various
G Do not use elevators/lifts or conveyors.
degrees of consciousness.
G Follow the instructions of the guide.
G The first effect of a blast is a numbing disorientation. Try to get your bear-
G Do not argue or talk with the guide. It will
waste time and obstruct evacuation. ings. If you are in a prone position, stay down.
G Carry personal valuables, but do not stop to G Try to remain calm. If you are conscious and can move yourself, examine
wind up work. yourself for injuries. Blasts commonly cause concussion and lacerations.
G Supervisors may need to switch off the The former causes damage to organs and bones and the latter causes
machinery and power supply in their respec- bleeding.
tive areas.
G Be aware that there could be secondary blasts.
G Open all windows, doors and cupboards.
G Do not obstruct passage of search and res- G Do not panic and create stampedes.
cue squad. G Do not search through debris.
G Wait in the assembly area till further
G If you are capable of it, assist others until help arrives.
instructions.
G Do not spread rumours or speculate and
cause panic.
The supervisor must take attendance in the assembly area and if any employees/visitors
are found missing, it must be investigated.
Actions on receipt of a bomb Make “Be Prepared” your motto
threat call A bomb threat plan should be drawn up in
every organisation and tested to assess the
G Stay calm and listen carefully. Signal others
organisation’s readiness and ability to respond.
around you to stay quiet and if possible pick
This should be part of the incident manage-
up extension phones to listen in.
ment plan. If there is a real bomb threat or any
G Write down the number displayed on the emergency that requires evacuation, such
caller ID display of your telephone. efforts will reduce the damage. The organisa-
G Get maximum information and prolong calls tion, depending on its structure and nature of
as far as possible. Pretend you did not hear business, must draw
correctly, ask the caller to repeat. Ask ques- out a model plan by
tions—location of the bomb, time to explode, assessing its risks,
what type of bomb, how can we get rid of it, deciding on a policy
who has placed the bomb, from where are and training personnel
you calling, what is your name, reason for to implement it. The
placing the bomb—in that exact order. plan must be rehearsed
and lessons learnt must
G Try to identify background noises such as be incorporated.
traffic, music, conversation that may help to It is also advisable
determine the location from where the call is to carry out a threat
being made. assessment to prevent
G Make an educated guess on sex, age, race, the organisation from
voice (loud, soft, pleasant, intoxicated) or being an easy target for
accent, speech (fast, slow, nasal, slurred) and potential bombers.
manner (calm, emotional, vulgar, angry, Telephone operators
laughing, righteous) which may help identify and PAs should be trained in questioning tech-
the caller. Be advised that the caller could niques for extracting maximum information
also be in an agitated state. from the caller. A “bomb threat check list”
guidance should be available with them.
G Alerta colleague; report the call to your
Organisations should make arrangements for
manager or security manager immediately.
tracing and recording of incoming calls.
G Fill up the bomb threat call check list. The organisation must train security offi-
GA bomb threat could also be in the form of a cers, maintenance staff and othersin carrying
mail/written message. Report these to the out search and evacuation. A suitable area
security manager. should be earmarked as assembly area.
The author is CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group
106 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital
Digital Leisure l Touched By Tech
Digital
ssss
108 NFS Undercover
110 Far Cry 2
Leisure
Technology Beyond Work
Rossi Fernandes doned and ruined city with pockets of zombies. To
sum it up for more experienced gamers, the environ-
T
eam Fortress 2 players all over would have been a ments are like the ones in SWAT4, the action is some-
little mad at Valve for delaying updates for thing out of Serious Sam with more crowded environ-
some new project called Left 4 Dead that was in ments and the weapons are from Counter-Strike.
the works. It came out recently and thanks to trailers The game isn’t particularly difficult to play as far
and demos that arrived before, it’s clear that it was as shooting lone zombies goes. It goes from being easy
going to be a survival horror game. It’s finally here and laid back to complete mayhem when you turn a
and people don’t seem to care about paying an exces- corner and you have some 30 to 40 zombies waiting to
sive $50 for a PC game that you buy online without a pounce on you and your teammates. Being a team
fancy box pack to keep on your desk. player plays a major role and that’s where the online
Left 4 Dead is an online multiplayer co-op survival playing component becomes much more fun and
horror game that can also be played as a single player challenging. Steam is used to download and update
game. You play as one of the four characters of your the game. It also gets matches for you to play. You can
choice — Francis, Zoey, Louis and Bill. There are five always use the Invite function to ask your friends to
separate chapters and missions within each one of join in. If you have the sufficient number of players,
them. You typically are planted right in between a you can even play Survivors versus Infected.
zombie infested building and you make your way out Valve has managed to strike gold yet again but we
of there. How? By shooting hundreds of zombies don’t think it’ll be as legendary a multiplayer as Team
through every mission and covering your partner’s Fortress 2. With a lot of the fun limited to the levels
backs. If you were wondering what kind of gameplay available and no matter how many variations the
and storyline you play — that’s all you do — shoot game uses to send waves of zombie attacks, you are
zombies, escape alive. Fortunately that’s not all there going to get bored eventually. Obviously, if Valve keeps
is to Left 4 Dead. updating this title with new content the same way
The game runs on Valve’s four year old Half-life 2 they have with Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead will last.
engine that has been given steroids to match the visual Like the Orange box, Left 4 Dead is available in
quality of today’s game engines. Other than the addi- stores at a low price of Rs. 999 for the PC box pack and
tional cosmetics to the look, it’s also easy to notice the on Steam for $50 (Rs. 2,500). Avoid buying this if you
better textures and models in the game. If you can run want a deep storyline and tactics from an FPS; it’s a
Half-life 2, you should be able to run Left 4 Dead just fine. must-buy for those who like mindless killing co-op
The animations for the zombies are also good fun. The games with plenty of zombies.
mood in the game is great — it’s the feeling of an aban- rossi.fernandes@thinkdigit.com
Score : 8/10
Minimum System Requirements: Developer: Valve Corporation,
Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, 1 GB RAM, graphics Turtle Rock Studios
card supporting Shader Model 2.0 — ATI Publisher: Valve Corporation
Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 Platforms supported: PC & Xbox 360
and above, 7.5 GB of free disk space Website: www.l4d.com
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 107
Digital Leisure l Game On
Score : 5/10
Developer: EA Black Box
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Web site: http://www.needforspeed.com
Recomended Config: Core 2 Duo/ AMD
Phenom (or higher), 2 GB Ram, ATI
X1900/NVIDIA 8600 GTS (or higher)
Aditya Madanapalle game is rudely interrupted by ama- long as they are not actually put on the
teurish cut scenes, with sloppy acting car. The tuning is great actually, prob-
and done to death characters. Maggie Q ably the only saving grace the game has.
A
fter the Pro Street fiasco, EA prom-
ised gamers a return to the roots is used like a heroine in an Indian b- However, this is a wasted feature, as
of the NFS franchise. There was a grade film, with the camera zooming in tuning a car for a particular mode or a
longer than usual nail biting wait for and focusing on her hips, legs, bosom particular race is a laborious process.
the new release, with the usual buzz in or belly every time she comes on screen. There is however a photo mode you
the air. The twelfth installment in the The “plot” of the game is that you are can bring up at any time of the game,
series, Undercover is here, but the game an undercover cop busting a gang of car change a bunch of cameras and take a
is as forgettable as Pro Street. thieves by a) running away from cops to shot of your car. We just wish they
There is an initial rush of the game, prove that you are not a cop and b) would have thought of this back in the
with an opening sequence that killing the bad guys for a bunch of really days of Underground, or before. There is
smoothly puts you behind the wheels a lame reasons. also some damage elements… the sur-
la Most Wanted. Although you know you All the favorite modes have disap- roundings can be demolished. Be
are driving around like a puppet, a pre- peared. You can drift only as a means to warned though, flimsy looking wire
scripted part of the storyline, you get earn nitro. The drag is replaced by some- mesh fences will refuse to budge,
that rush of adrenaline. From there, the thing called the highway battle, and the while stockpiles of industrial metal
game goes downhill. The physics are AI is easily fooled in this mode if you will litter the highway if you brush
horrible; you can hit a car head on and handle the race like a cop chase, and against it. Damage to the car itself is
still keep going like you hardly hit a roam the city at random. This is because hardly visible, with the exception of
speed breaker. The acceleration is the car follows wherever you go, and the the bonnet flying off somewhere in
unreal, all the cars handle too well, with whole city is open. There are cop chases, the middle of every race.
no learning curve to talk of. You hit but navigate to a circuit breaker, and The worst part of the game are the
something, great, you get money for you win. The helicopter is a docile little glitches in the graphics. Shadows move
damaging state property, or evading the thing, that goes in the air without fuel unrealistically, artefacts follow the car,
law. You don’t hit something, great every single time, and does not dive in and the roads disappear at some point.
again, you get nitro points for a narrow towards you at any point. There are no Many of the elements barely manage to
miss or a clean section. There are only rhino units, and the cop cars are easily stay ahead of the car.
rewards, and no punishment. The game fooled. A new mode involves taking It hurts. Seems like the good old
is just too easy, making sure you down cars, by ramming into them days are gone, and NFS is history, in the
mechanically follow the story line. repeatedly, but somehow, the game bad sense of the word. We just wish that
The game plays out like a movie, drains the fun out of this as well. EA would go deeper down into their
with a very linear approach. You are There are a bunch of American, roots. The word on the street is that EA
hardly given a choice of races to choose European and Japanese cars to choose is calling its losses and discontinuing
from, and you can maintain just one from. The customisation of your ride is the franchise. Nothing saddens a gamer
save game per profile. This means that very constricted because it kicks in well more than watching a legendry series
you cannot experiment with cars or into the game, and everything is very exiting on such a sour note.
tuning. All the decisions you make are costly. There is a large gallery of decals
final, and you are hardly given any. The available, and all of them look great as aditya.madanapalle@thinkdigit.com
108 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Leisure l Game On
A far cry
from
Far Cry
Signs can change colour? Vision blurs at the edges when aiming
Buy weapons using diamonds I designed something with my Uzi
Dear diary... Killing them again, in gory detail That’s right, run away and hide
your all time favourites. The The good bit of this game
Robert Sovereign-Smith main reason for all this chop- is its immersiveness — great
ping and changing of opinions audio effects and music, good
W here’s Jack Carver? I
thought this was part
2 of Far Cry?
Apparently, this game is just
is the way the game is made —
certain things will impress
you while others will bore
you to death.
environment physics, a large
open world, a good feel of
being in ruthless Africa, and
time actually changing — from
called Far Cry 2 to get people To begin with, there’s the day to night and back.
like you and me to buy it and AI, which at times is so smart So is this a must buy?
play it, based on the popularity that you die often. Other times, Sure, if you want about 30
of Far Cry — sucks; I hate being I could just walk up right hours of great gameplay in
made an ass of. behind an enemy, and shoot the single player mode, with
Initial irritation aside, I find him in the back of the head, decent replayability, though
that the game is rather pretty. without his buddy, who’s stand- without a compelling story-
Rating: 7/10
Developer: Ubisoft The graphics are very, very nice. ing 12 feet away, ever reacting. line. If you’re looking for a
Obviously, being set in Africa, Standard FPS madness this. Crysis-like experience, forget
Recommended sys- there’s so much more in terms Your character is suffering
tem config:
it. This seems like an attempt
Core 2 Duo / AMD of scenery to play with. from malaria, and you need to to bring a lot more realism
X2 5200 or better; I’m not going to give out find tablets to keep yourself into an FPS — and I’m not
2 GB RAM; NVIDIA
8600 GTS / ATI
too many details and spoil alive. The currency you use to talking just graphics here.
X1900 (or better); what little fun is to be had buy things are diamonds you Just remember that Far Cry 2
5.1 surround sound from this title. However, I will find along the way, and in true fails as much here as it suc-
(required, or you
will not know where say that this game is either African style, you can use dia- ceeds. Besides, I’m still miffed
your enemies are going to be one of the most monds to buy anything but at being cheated out of a
shooting at you boring shooters you have malaria tablets — you need to
from!)
proper sequel!
played, or is going to be one of do favours for priests for those! editor@thinkdigit.com
110 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Do you know your security?
1 A machine remotely 5 What is a botnet? 8 Which of these popular
controlled by a hacker for a) A herd of computers programs were never
malicious activity is called a: remotely controlled by a hacker for distributed with spyware?
malicious intent a) Kazaa
a) Sniffer b) Bot c) Ghost b) A herd of computers running b) Morpheus
d) Zombie automated programs for c) DivX
distributed computing d) Bearshare
2 Which of these famous c) A herd of computers used for
worms did not spread remotely sending spam, denial of 9 From which country does
through e-mail? service attacks or perpetuating more than one-fourth of the
a) Michaelangelo click fraud world's spam originate?
b) Sobig d) All of the above a) USA
c) ILOVEYOU b) Nigeria
d) MyDoom 6 What does a denial of service c) China
attack do? d) Brazil
3 How does a worm differ from a) Hack a website so that
a virus anyway? legitimate users cannot access its 10 RealPlayer is an example of:
a) A worm does not harm the services a) Malware
computer directly b) Redirect legitimate traffic to a b) Spyware
b) A worm can spread without fake website c) Adware
attaching itself to a program c) Take a web server down by d) Shareware
c) A worm can only come from sending it too many requests Did You
Kno w?
computers connected to the
internet
d) All of the above
S ymantec and
Kaspersky plan to move
from blacklisting to whitelisting.
d) A worm can infect documents 7 What does a rootkit primarily do? This means that instead of
and system files a) Freeze up all essential
blocking malicious programs,
Got an system files they will start allowing only the
interesting 4 What does a firewall inspect b) Gain administrative privileges to “good” programs.
question? and restrict? a computer
Send it in with a) The bandwidth c) Format the partition with the Answers
the answer to b) The network traffic operating system 10. c 5. d
TQ@thinkdigit.com c) Server based codes and scripts d) Download trojans and viruses 9. a 4. b
Mark “TQ” in the d) Programs accessing the Internet from the internet
8. d 3. b
7. b 2. a
subject area 6. c 1. d
Crossword Last month’s Winner
ACROSS Kayomars Batliwalla
7. Device that accepts a certain type of data or signal Win!
as input transforms it and then outputs it(6)
8. To convert the file from one system or application Send in your entries to
to the format of the system or application being TQ@thinkdigit.com on or
used(6) by the 20th of this month.
10. Free, open source application used for exchange One lucky participant
of data using the TFTP(7) will win
16. Locate and correct errors in a computer program
Wireless and Mobile All-
code(5)
IP Networks
17. Representing sound or light waves as numbers(7)
By Yi-Bing Lin and Ai-Chun
18. Archive of files created with the Unix tar utility(7)
19.To come out of a machine when a button is Pang
pressed(5) Published by
21.Word macro virus(7)
26.Middle line or point(6)
27.-----Basic- programming environment from
Microsoft(6) December’s Solution
DOWN
1. Short for simulation(3)
2. Prevent completion of a program(4)
3. Dynamic Random Access Memory(abbr)(4)
4. Round shaped media to store computer data(4)
5. To read the contents of a certain file(4)
6. Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless(abbr)(4)
9. Supply with recent information(6)
11. New version of or addition to a hardware(7) manufacturer(4)
12. Router through which a data packet enters a network 21.----frame- or big iron(4)
from another network(7) 22.A connector(4)
13. Stop a transmission(5) 23.To store a file(4)
14. An alloy of iron(5) 24.ADSTAR Distributed Storage Management(abbr)(4)
15. Electrodes as in a storage battery or capacitors(6) 25.A file showing the structure of a program after it has
20. Moser----- - world’s second largest optical storage media been compiled(3)
Crossword by Nitaa Jaggi
DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com 111
NASA to give away Shuttles for free Sock and Awe sold out on eBay
You heard right, once the Space Shuttles have Post the incident where a man threw his shoe at People Who
been decomissioned by the North American
Space Agency, the space shuttles will be up for
President Bush, an industrious developer
released Sock and Awe, a flash game that let
Changed
grabs for free. Only educational institutions players lob shoes at the president. Four days, was Computing
and museums can opt in, and they will have to all the time that it took for the game to be sold
bear the shipping costs. out on eBay.
First
Escape D
aniel Bricklin
invented
something that has
completely changed the
LOOK MA DONT JUST BLAME BAIDU search giants have been distress was to blog about business world — the
Whatever accused of taking money her husband’s ongoing Spreadsheet. In the late
YouTube made me famous Happened To… CCTV for advertising medical affair on daqi.com. Helping 70s, while he was a
The ICQ focuses on scams.
Google China is
Jian Yan at this activity was
a certain unnamed female
student at the Harvard
Business School, he
THUBMS DOWN FOR MAC
Google and
T
he world’s most ack in the days when there however secretly investing friend. The Chinese teamed up with Bob
popular video web
site, YouTube has
given rise to a breed of
ADDICTS
NY Gov
B was only IRC and a few chat
rooms as your only means
to connect to people, there came
Yahoo!
in a lot of Chinese internet
services. The world’s
largest demographic
blogging community was
stirred up against the cruel
indulgences of Wang Fei,
Frankston, to come up
celebrities in its time. These
range from the adolescent proposes ICQ, the first internet-wide instant
messenger. The name ICQ is a
cannot be easily ignored by and even the mainstream
C
hina Central the search giant. Although media caught on. The blog
homophone for the phrase I seek
antics of lonelygirl15, the
understanding answers
iPod tax you. It quickly captured the
Television is
dispersing the flak it
Google can hardly afford
to offer free MP3
went out of proportion
because of all the support,
imagination of the early netizens
from Ask a Ninja, and the and gathered millions of users
received, for the downloads, it is heavily and daqi.com went right
hilarious foreign language
N
Y Governer, David worldwide, with people showing controversy embroiled investing in online ahead and posted photos of
subtitles of Buffalax. Peterson does not off their ICQ numbers even on Baidu search engine by Chinese-run social Wang Fei with his mistress.
Unwittingly, YouTube think that the their visiting cards. Yes ICQ had alleging that Google and networking and What followed was a small
has become a fertile ground closed in on him and now global economic crisis is a numbers for usernames and the Yahoo! sport illegal medical entertainment services. scale riot. Wang Fei was
for criminals, gang he faces 10 years in prison good time for citizens to be initial six digit ones were most ads on their web sites. fired, his parent’s
members, wannabe with no access to free video entertained. A part of his coveted. The universal internet Baidu is the search WASHING DIRTY LINEN IN apartment was defaced with VisiCalc, the world’s
terrorists and small time hosting sites. plans to ease the slowdown numbers (UIN) were handed out engine of choice in the PUBLIC with lewd language, and first electronic
hoaxers grabbing their A bunch of gang- is to impose a tax on all sequentially. Some of the world’s most populous Jian Yan decided that spreadsheet application.
fifteen minutes of fame. member kids styling electronically delivered
attractive ones were even sold in
the free market. The messenger
country, and for a sneaky China courts enough was enough and Bricklin was watching his
These smart people have
taken it into their head to
themselves as BV Boys
posted a video of
entertainment services.
This is now widely billed as
was distinctly unique with some
silly features like typewriter
little reason. The reason
being that a shadowy set rule against committed suicide.
Wang Fei
university professor create
a table of calculation
show off their (sometimes
imagined) criminal exploits
themselves marking out
their turf in the area. On
the iPod tax, which is a
misleading name as the
noises and online/offline status
being indicated by the colour of a
of constantly changing
domain names provide a
dead understandably sought
justice for the goings-on,
results on a blackboard.
When the professor found
on YouTube, and the result
was a bout of YouTube
record were gang-signs and
concealed weapons. The
tax is not meant only for
iPod users.
flower. In fact, it looked like the
messenger was designed by a
great service — free and
unlicenced music
woman’s and after much
deliberation, the Beijing
an error, he had to
tediously erase and
related arrests. authorities homed in, The law applies a 4per bunch of hippies.
Soon with the advent of MSN
downloads. Despite many friend and court decided that he was rewrite a number of
Anton Dunn, under the confiscated the weapons, cent tax on everything — e- takedown attempts, after all, the wronged sequential entries in the
moniker of The Trashman, arrested the boys, and now books downloaded from e- and Yahoo! messengers, people
quickly switched to the jazzier
lawsuits and complaints, blogging site party. Daqi.com and the table, triggering Bricklin
posted videos of himself in their turf is clean. library.net to porn from free music continued to late Jian Yan’s unnamed to think that he could
options. Besides, ICQ by then was
a black mask claiming to Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif adultemart.com. Popular be available on Baidu.
I
plagued by the scourge of spam.
n other China news, a female friend were replicate the process on a
have poisoned several Mohamed took it into his services like NetFlix and The messenger was first Then it came under the woman who killed criticised for invading computer, using the
batches of Gerber baby food head to spread a little Amazon will also come launched in November 1996. scanner for a number of herself and the web Wang Fei’s privacy, and blackboard as the model
with cyanide or rat poison. anarchy with a video under the umbrella of the America Online (AOL) acquired advertisements of medical service that hosted her asked to pay $1,200 as to view results of
Concerned parents tutorial on how to change a iPod tax. This is part of a Mirabilis, its holding company, supplies that were not blog were ordered to pay damages. underlying formulas. His
understandably called up remote controlled toy car $121 billion budget on June 8, 1998 for $407 licenced. This forced Wang Fei $1,200 in idea became VisiCalc, for
the company about the into a detonator. His covering the next year. million. Today, the ICQ protocol Baidu to drop these ads, damages. The long and RUSSIAN TRADEMARKS which Bricklin designed
videos. If one video was not intentions were far more Almost anything that is can be accessed from any AIM and the matter would sordid tale reads out like a POPULAR EMOTICON the interface and Bob
enough trouble, he posted sinister, an effort by the liable to make Gov. enabled messenger. ICQ still have settled there. soap opera, complete with Frankston, wrote most of
another video claiming to international terrorists Peterson’s voters feel good
claims to have 32 million active
users, but the claim is doubtful.
Continuing on its adultery, emotional Its not ;-) the code. They released
lead a bunch of assistants
who poisoned many more
networks to permeate the
web and sow seeds of
is going to be taxed, in
order to ease the credit
In India at least, its popularity
has perceptibly declined.
crackdown on illegal
medical services being
turmoil and suicide.
It started with Wang Fei anymore VisiCalc in 1979, an act
that fomented the desktop
batches of the food, and dissent. The twelve minutes crunch. This includes TV, Abroad there might be people advertised through the going to bed with another revolution. He also coined
P
atent and trademark
that four babies had of terrorist propaganda beer, wine and cigars. Apart logging in, but through other web, state-owned CCTV woman. His wife, Jian Yan, laws around the world the term friend-to-friend
already died because of his uploaded to the internet from the iPod tax, or the messenger clients and so it launched a fresh wave of like any wife was pretty are rife with hillarious networking as recently as
efforts. The wannabe baby cost this young Egyptian iTax, there is also the appears that the days of the attacks against Google distressed. But unlike other examples of what people 2000. He is now working
killer was exposed as a student 15 years behind strange obesity tax on highly vocal, slim ICQ China and Yahoo! China for wives, she decided that the try to own and reap profits on wikiCalc, a spreadsheet
hoax, the authorities bars in a US prison. sugary soft drinks. messenger are numbered. similar offences. Both the best way to soothe her out of. After people have running on the web.
I Montenegro bans Facebook and YouTube access in govt offices I Japanese groups throw opposition to Google Street View I NVIDIA GTX 295 benchmark results leaked I Mobile networks need boost in Washington for Obama’s inauguration I AMD in trouble
112 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 113
Escape
Wild Wild Web
Do you speaka ani huge collection of such pics own site, browse through
Engrish? contributed by people all over archives, and even rate a
Audiophilia The Japanese are a funny lot, the world. The web site takes site’s coolness. Head over to
The unnatural obsession with and the variation of English a fun look at the various http://www.coolsiteoftheday.
high quality sound marked by an that they use is even funnier. products, signs, bags, clothing, com/frmindex.html and
excessive passion for high-end They confuse the ‘l’ and ‘r’ etc. that contain funny or far- check out the coolest site for
audio equipment. The afflicted sounds, leading to hilarious out English. Guaranteed to today.
want to experience sound outcomes like Album Covers keep you tickled for hours.
reproduced with little or no loss. by Eric Crapton and campaign
Read on to progress from audio- posters for Erections! Also Cool site of the day
enthusiast to audiophiliac. much of the English on their Cool site of the day is an
SNR — Signal-to-noise ratio: It’s signboards comes from literal interesting web resource
the level of clean signal translations from Japanese, that brings to you the
compared to noise coming out of with disastrously funny coolest web sites on the
your output source. Look for consequences — sign on a loo internet right to your inbox.
higher SNR and lower TDH saying “Please use anyone”. At You can subscribe to the
THD — Total Harmonic www.engrish.com you’ll find a newsletter, submit your
Distortion: The amount of
originally-recorded sound
reaching your ears compared to tried to patent fire, and the THE MARCH OF THE WARRIOR clothes and the careless
distortion introduced by your wheel, the newest hunting PENGUINS Seinfeld cut. Of course,
grounds for opportunistic
components. Figures of 0.01% Seinfeld switched loyalties
and lower are desirable for
entrepreneurs is the web.
A Russian businessman
Linux joins in the recent $300 million
sound cards.
Impedance: Basically resistance.
has gone ahead and trade-
marked the oh brother
the OS advertising campaign for
Vista that was summarily
Changes as per frequency. Go for
high impedance on low-end
emoticon. Oleg Teterin
hopes to earn thousands
advertising dropped.
The 1337 tree-huggers of
electronics.
Frequency response: It’s a
of dollars in licensing
fees. This means that no
battle the computer world have
something to celebrate.
specification to measure how emoticon can be legally When not trying to install
uniformly equipment reproduces used in Russia because codecs into their Linux
they all bear a similar-
sounds from the lowest to the systems, they can spend
ity to the oh brother
highest tones. A uniform emoticon. their time making the I-am-
frequency response makes the Being the benevo- Linux video. The Linux
delicate sound of a triangle as lent individual that Foundation, a non-profit
audible as the crash of a cymbal. Teterin is, he has organisation hoping to
Reference speaker: Speakers allowed lay users com- spread the support for the
or headphones that reproduce plete freedom to use open source operating
sound as it is, i.e. very close to the emoticon in the system is planning to
the original recording. Like normal course of inter- launch an advertising
studio recording “reference net interaction. The campaign made from these
trademark application
monitors”. videos.
has to be ratified by the
Soundstage: The presentation Russian Patent Agency, The brief for the video
of the sound in relation to the and it remains to be according to the official
listener. seen if the trademark, website is “in 60 seconds or
Coloured: Simply to what extent, in fact, be granted. Russian less, showcase your take on
T
and where, the frequency is lawyers argue that the he operating systems I’m Linux. This should be
altered in reproduction. trademark may not be war have been waging why you love it and should
Quality related terms: Warm, granted because of its wide for a long time now, inspire others to use it. The
rich, full-bodied etc. use, and being against the and the two big players in video can be an extensive
Brands: Sennheiser, Denon, AKG, interest of the general pop- the field have taken on production, a plain
ulation.
Monitor Audio, Wilson Benesch. distinct identities. Windows testimonial or as simple as a
This is not the first time
Usage: These new AKG K-701 that a smiley has been users are stereotyped as screen capture with a voice
reference headphones I bought copyrighted. Way back in being stiff upper lip power over. Be creative, be
have an impedance of 62 ohms 2001, the :-( emoticon was tie wearing formal authentic and have fun.”
and man, what a broad copyrighted by a US firm individuals, as against Mac The winner will be decided
soundstage! Really rich sound, called Despair, Inc. addicts with the casual by a panel of judges and
absolutely uncoloured!
due to Lehman’s September default I Red Hot Chili Peppers music videos no more on YouTube I Polaroid goes bankrupt
114 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Escape Escape
votes from the global nerd Weight and watch...
community. The contest will The newest gadget to mesmerise the Digit ol tummy tuck before getting on, but it
be open till March 15, and team was strangely enough — a weighing didn’t work. Our stick figure (Aditya) was
the winner gets free flight scale. There was much excitement when asked to remove his wrist watch, which
tickets to Tokyo and someone discovered it in the downstairs significantly affected the reading — he
accommodation for the warehouse and the whole team promptly weighed in at 45 kgs! Big boss editor
marched down to review it. Now, we at (Raaabo) was a decent 75, but not entirely
October 2009 Japan Linux
Digit are really of different shapes and pleased. He said we’ll ‘weight and watch’.
Symposium. sizes. Some like Vijay tried the
We have a lot of
questions. Are Mac or
Windows machines allowed KIDS IN MARYLAND TAKE THE people. Cameras recorded the teachers received
during the production of speeders, and mailed them tickets.
the video? Will judges Kids fool $40 tickets with no real Since they are only high
prefer videos edited on
Cinelerra instead of Final traffic polic- police officers in the loop.
The smarter high school
school kids, the officials are
unsure if this new trend is a
Cut Pro? Will the
commercials actually be
ing system kids at Maryland decided
that they needed revenge
game or a prank. Some of
the victims are
put to use over television on some people, especially understandably unhappy
networks? Whatever be the
T
he smart people of the teachers. Armed with about the violation of their
outcome, we can’t wait to Maryland decided to laser printers and glossy civil rights. The bewildered
get our hands on the set up a traffic system paper, they replicated their officials hope to control the
rejects. that did not involve any teacher’s number plates situation before the activity
and zoomed around town — becomes more widespread.
Opening ODF files with to Google Docs or Zoho Writer. features are present.
Microsoft Word http://rabspd.co.cc/archives/op 4. Snipshot: The interface is
Open Document Format (ODF) is ening-odf-files-with-microsoft- Super clean and simple. No
an open standard file format word signup were needed, and can
OpenOffice.org and others use. output image to 6 different
File extensions include .odt Best Five Online Image Editors formats including psd. But
(text), .ods (spreadsheet), and Image editing is always fun in advanced options like layer
.odp (presentation). By default, Photoshop. With Adobe support were missing.
Microsoft Office does not Photoshop Express, an online 5. Pixenate: A fairly
recognise these file formats. version of Photoshop, you don't uncomplicated site and really
However, it is possible to open even need to install Photoshop simple interface is what sets
and edit these files after on your computer. We made a pixenate apart from other sites.
installing a plugin from Sun list of other online photo editors. Although we found that it was
Microsystems. Let’s check out the top 5. not as powerful and fast.
For office 2003 users 1. Picnik: This is undoubtedly one http://www.technonix.com/com
If you have Microsoft Office of the most famous online image ment.php?comment.news.202
2003, simply download and editors. It has some great
install the Sun ODF Plugin. You features like Layers support, Useful Free Softwares
can download it from here. Red-eye correction, Rotate, BurnAware
For office 2007 users Resize, Exposure etc. It is tightly BurnAware Free is a free CD,
1. First you need to Install integrated with Flickr. DVD, Blu-ray Disc burning
Service Pack 1 for Microsoft 2. Splashup: Formerly Fauxto, it software. It is ideal for users
Office 2007. is a powerful editing tool and with basic disc burning needs as
2. Install Sun ODF Plugin for photo manager. Splashup runs in backup, creating data, audio,
Microsoft Office. all browsers, integrates MP3 music, DVD-Video discs and
3. Open ODT document via File > seamlessly with top photo burning disc images. Free, easy
Featured here are
snippets from some of Open, or by double-clicking the sharing sites, and even has its to set up, it enables you to save
the best bloggers who ODT file and when prompted for own file format(.FXO) so you can your files to disc quickly and
have registered at the the application to open it with, save your work in progress. provides clean, flexible interface
Blog Watch section on choose Word. 3. Picture2Life: The site offers to help you complete your
thinkdigit.com.
If you wish to be
If you don't have administrator plenty of editing and special burning tasks much faster. It’s
featured too, head to privileges to install software, you effect options-including collage 100% Free.
www.thinkdigit.com/ can try an online converter such and animation features. http://worldofy2j.blogspot.com/
blogger.php and as Zamzar or Media Convert. You However, We found the interface 2008/11/burnaware.html
sign-up. can also upload ODT documents to be little quirky. All the usual
I Jabalpur Nokia shops burnt because Nokia maps shows Kashmir in Pak I Researchers develop bionic sexual stimulation chip
116 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Write to the Editor Digit will publish the best letters on these pages. Letters may be edited for clarity.
Please include your complete address in all communication.
E-mail: editor@thinkdigit.com
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Snail Mail: The Editor, Digit, KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30,
send an e-mail to help@thinkdigit.com
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Inbox
day I started reading Digit. It has been The best buy On the Digit archive Pirates no more Letter
invaluable to my career and personal The year end issue of Digit is indeed Congratulations and thank you for a I have got an amazing mag in of the
interests. When my dad bought me a useful for many reasons to cite. Though great magazine which is now is a my hands which is called Digit. Month
Computer in 2003 I didn’t even know the cover page is prosaic and part of my life! I am a Web Designer December issue was absolutely
where the CPU was inside the cabinet! unimpressive your justification for the and a subscriber to Digit for the past mind boggling. The most useful
Now I have assembled nearly ten same is one step ahead in reasonable two years. Each and every Digit issue stuff was the soft copies of your
desktops for my friends just by reading maneuvers. Please take that as a is like a gift for me. I have arranged magazine’s previous issues. I have
your mag! I even get queries about compliment. However, I have become a all the CDs and DVDs month-wise so already started browsing their Tips
games and software installations from fan of yours of late, for the language you that I can find them when I need to. and Tricks section. Why don’t you
my friends. I refer to Digit heavily for use and the way you make yourself clear. The Digit Archive helped me a lot to include mobile applications which
these purposes and more importantly, I The second aspect of Digit’s manage this. you used to?
love it! December issue is that, I found many I noticed that you have stopped And also you guys give more
Now for some feedback: of the articles very informative. I was providing the Digit Archive software importance to Windows Mobile users
1. I really really enjoy your regulars in a state of confusion in selecting a in the CD for the past few months. by giving a list of applications for
especially, Agent 001, Tech Quiz, People laptop and a inkjet printer for my son What happened? Are you in the them and including it in the Tips
December 2008 Issue Who Changed Computing and Inbox. and your ‘Best Buy’ tags helped me to process of debugging? Please make and Tricks section, while most
2. The Visual Buying guide blew me easily get the best of the class. I had that available as soon as you can. people in India have Nokia phones
away; it rocks, it’s superb, I strongly missed many issues of Digit on several I also have a few suggestions. which run on Symbian. You know I
20 questions? have to uninstall later. request you to continue the ‘Visual occasions, and this issue compensated Please write Fast Tracks to AJAX, PHP, have Nokia N95 8 GB lying unused
First of all, I must congratulate you on Page 68 on Laptops: “Price of Buying Guide’ hereafter. the loss. XHTML and Dynamic Flash XML. It because of lack of applications, and I
your “2008 Collector’s Edition”. I am a notebooks range from Rs. 20,000 to 3. The thing I like about Digit very I am quite impressed by the will help Web Designers like me. don’t have an internet connection at
regular subscriber to Digit and this is Rs. 26,000” What? Must have been a much is its Indian-feel and approach to following articles: Debraj home, so I can’t get compatible apps
the first time that I have been typo. There have been many such the computer and tech world. Keep it up n The very best products of 2008 for it. That aside, your Mag simply
completely satisfied by an issue. errors; I guess they have been missed in guys, your real style is inside the articles. n Taming the Internet. The Digit Archive is undergoing a change at rocks! Your cover page ref lected
Initially, I was not all too pleased a hurry to get the magazine ready. I 4. Regarding Fast Track, it rocks. n Improve windows font display the moment. We hope to launch version 2.0 simplicity and honestly, but inside it
when our desi magazine was taken over wonder why Evolution for windows was Though I have some suggestions for n Keep it simple soon, with added features. As to your was extraordinary. Robert was right
by videsi 9.9, but then you have done left out in your e-mail clients article. that. The Editor also made a passing suggestion for Fast Tracks — we hope you when he said “its not what’s on
wonderfully. Earlier, the magazine used When Chrome beta was featured in 5. How about starting a new regular reference to my earlier letter about enjoy the one on PHP this issue which comes covers that matter, but what’s
to reach me after a fortnight; now it comparison of browsers in your revious section on the mag called “Digit jargon in the editorial “Never judge a with a video guide on the DVD. between them..”.
arrives within 10 days. issue, why was Evolution (beta) not Projects”, which includes both book...’. I feel honoured and enthused Team Digit I think you should have been
Earlier, I used to fear that the included? Most important exclusion: hardware and software projects that to make correspondence with the given best performer award to the
package would be pilfered and I would why was handycam / camcorders enthusiastic students and professionals Numero Uno. Expert advice iPhone in the mobile phones
lose some CDs; now the packaging is excluded in the Zero1 awards? Why is can emulate? Sreenath Rayasam I’m an avid reader of Digit and category, and not the N95 8GB, even
tamper-proof. The Fast Track has better “Beat That!” feature missing in recent 6. I read on an Intel website that December’s issue was the best of all. if it’s my phone.
paper quality, has colour pictures and editions? Lastly, why is your Agent 001 game engines can be used for many We’re glad our December issue was that However, some part of the magazine I also want to tell you that Digit
now even features tutorials; a demand I so muscular? purposes other than entertainment. For useful to you, and happened to cover exactly really let me down. A couple of has changed my life completely. I was
have making since long. The magazine Sridhar Rao example Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is what you were looking for. Like we’ve told our questions answered by the experts in a bigger pirate than those in Pirates Of
features articles that can be read even Devangere currently used for medical simulations readers all along, we really do read all your “Q&A” were totally wrong. The Carribean before reading your
by non-geeks (like myself), which are and architectural fly-throughs. Which letters. In fact, the editor has promised to One of the questions with title “Is magazine, but now I use either
informative and thankfully short. Who On page 68 of Digit December 2008, the text made me wonder if physics engines like make it a point to respond to all from now on. the file boot.com corrupted?” gave me licensed software or only Open
on Earth would want to read a reads, “prices of netbooks range...” You have ‘Havoc’ used in games like Half-life 2 can Team Digit a feeling that the person (Jagdeep Source ones.
“textbook” anyway? Referring to your mistakenly read this as notebooks. be used in schools to teach complex Virdhi Q&A expert) is totally unaware This is all thanks to you guys, and
editorial column on the cover; I don’t Although we did make an exception for physics to students! Since the Doom 3 Errata of what it really is. It’s actually a trojan that is why you are on top. It can be
think Digit is a film magazine that Chrome, we’re not likely to include beta engine will also be open-sourced in the I just wanted to point out that there is which creates some files in registry said that you are the iPod Touch of
anyone would buy on the basis of cover. versions too often in software comparisons. future, is it possible to do such things? an error in the crossword puzzle on and runs along with Explorer. The only the PMP world. Thanks once again!
No matter what you put on cover, we Agent 001 has an acute body image 7. I feel sad for those Indians who page no. 164: the clue given in 15 down way to remove this trojan is to use
will buy anyway. I liked the idea of problem, and spends unhealthy amounts of see gaming as an amateurish or suggests the answer is STEP UP but “Smart Virus Remover” software. You Kshitij Rawat
simplicity, but frankly I miss the time in the gym. That said, he is currently childish activity. since the transformer reduces output also need to click “Restore Windows
gorgeous babes on the cover :) seeking therapy... fingers-crossed! Krishna Prasath voltage it should be a STEP DOWN Default Settings”. The same applies to The point that symbian applications and
What matters most to the reader is Team Digit transformer, if I am not mistaken. the question titled “USB Flash drivers symbian relevent information will be more
the stuff inside. The CDs now feature We’re glad we could help you follow-up on I’d also like to thank you about the and viruses”. By using that software useful to readers in India is taken. We are
softwares for Linux as well. What more Feedback galore your passion for technology. C++ Fast Track. I’m learning C++ and you can also fix folder options recieving a lot of requests for providing phone
can I ask from Digit? But, these I bought my first copy of Digit in April We also thank you for taking the time to the book was of great help. problems, registry problems etc. based software on our DVDs and we are
compliments shouldn’t make you 2004 and have been buying it since give us detailed feedback, which is our Kayomars Batliwalla R. Vivek seriously considering it.
complacent, you must outdo yourself then. Initially, I bought it only for game favourite kind. We will try and cover points What really made us happy was that you
through constant innovation. demos and software — it took me a few 5 and 6 in upcoming issues, and yes we You are absolutely right. We got it wrong in The solution given points readers to stopped software piracy and moved on to open
Now, coming to some shortcomings. months to realise that I was missing agree with you on point number 7, because the crossword. Since no one came close to remove all Autorun.inf files, which is what source software. This is really the way to go,
Sometimes, the software in your the fun — the real cream is in the all of us are also avid gamers, and answering the crossword correctly, and you this virus uses to load into the system. The and glad to know that we were a small part of
CD/DVD labeled as Freeware turns out articles inside the magazine. appreciate the entertainment and skill spotted the mistakes we made, we feel that answer was incomplete, though, and the this turn around.
to be actually Shareware or Trialware. I I am fascinated by computer enhancement it brings. you deserve the prize for the crossword. virus removal instructions omitted.
usually don’t install software that I technology and games right from the Team Digit Team Digit Team Digit Team Digit
118 DIGIT JANUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT JANUARY 2009 119
The Last Word
Customer first
T
THIS YEAR, I spent two nights in Of course, poor service can be
Jaipur, one of my favourite cities found all over the world, but so many
here. On the second of these have now told me that it is of particu-
evenings, a couple of days before lar concern here. It is something we
writing this, I wanted to eat some- wish to investigate further. Naturally,
thing authentically local. There was our interest is limited to the IT indus-
just such a dish listed on the menu of try (and restaurants).
the Handi Restaurant. I ordered it, I must say that in my own experi-
and was told that it was spicy! “Fine”, ence, if you want bad customer service
I said, “I just want it done normally, in India, you just need to open a bank
no change.” When it came it was account. But with the IT industry, hav- Edward Henning, Editor-in-Chief
rather insipid and I just thought I ing purchased one PC, two laptops
had ended up in a bad restaurant. and a few peripherals from a small
But, at the end of the meal, prompted dealership in Nehru Place, New Delhi,
“If you have a genuine
by my wife, I asked about this. To my the service that I have received has example of truly bad
surprise, I was told that the chef had been better here than anywhere else. service, such as a product
thought I would not like the normal Better than I usually get in the UK, going wrong within
dish, and had made it bland for me, where I have bought much more
directly contradicting my order! equipment over the years. warranty and the supplier
I was furious, and made it very So, what is going on? I have spoken refusing to fix or replace it,
clear that I felt cheated, and that I to quite a few people in the industry please let us know”
would not pay for that dish. The chef about this issue, and they make very
then sent from the kitchen, samples different observations. At one Digit readers to let us know when they
of the sauce that was served to me, extreme, they tell me that many con- have serious problems.
and of the one that I should have been sumers don’t know the law and their So please do this. If you have a gen-
given! A huge difference. So, I was par- rights and are therefore unable to uine example of truly bad service, such
ticularly surprised when the errant exercise those rights when something as a product going wrong within war-
dish appeared on the bill, and I was goes wrong. At the other extreme, I ranty and the supplier refusing to fix
expected to pay for it. Much argument have been told that consumers’ or replace it, then please let us know
followed, and I ended up accusing the expectations here are higher than at: servicewatch@thinkdigit.com. Make
manager of racism and threatening to elsewhere — China was mentioned as sure that you have proper documenta-
call the police before it was deducted being similar to India in this respect — tion (receipt, etc.) to back up your
from the bill. I have no idea what the to an extent that is probably unrea- complaint. We cannot promise even to
police would have made of all this sonable. They therefore complain reply to all the emails we will receive,
fuss, and I am quite sure the restau- about not getting the service they but we will pick a selection and take
rant gave in mainly because of the think they deserve. them up with the relevant companies
attention the other diners were giving It has long been my view that good at the highest level. Some of the exam-
to all the noise. customer service helps the vendors as ples that you send us — of both good
In the UK, we have an old saying much as it does the customer, and gen- and bad service — will be reported in
that “The customer is always right”, erally helps drive the industry towards the magazine or on our web site.
and here in India we have the famous better quality. And magazines like ours I doubt I will find another restaurant
quote from Gandhi about the cus- should help drive this process. Vendors with as bad a service as I received at the
tomer being the “most important vis- that I speak to, generally tell me that Handi in Jaipur, but who knows, maybe
itor on our premises...” But during they welcome complaints from cus- we’ll start a restaurant column as well.
the last three months I have heard a tomers because this helps them deliver
surprising number of stories from a better service. Yes, they would say
people here about very poor after- that, wouldn’t they? But it is also the
sales service for IT products — specifi- only way they can find out where they
cally, poor service when something need to improve.
goes wrong, even if the product is still One thing that I have been saying
within warranty. to these people is that we will invite edward.henning@9dot9.in