Digit2 More to Do June 2015

The RSS Feed

Just DO it

M

y apologies to Nike, but when there’s no better way to put it, I’m not going to waste time thinking of a new catchphrase. For years now, perhaps without us realising it, we’ve been “doing” a lot less. I know, it’s contrary to what you’d normally believe because it certainly feels like you’re doing a lot more than any other generation before you, but you’re not; not really. I can hear you scream out “What rubbish!” Yes, I know, I know, depending on whether you’re a student or working professional, or even a retired person, you’ve seen your parents at work and know that although they were hard workers, they just got a lot less done in their lives. You get so much more done in a day than they ever did. Thanks to technology, which has made our lives easier, you’re certainly able to do things faster, perhaps even with better quality, but are you really doing as much or that much more? The point I’m trying to make is, yes, we can pay off all our bills within seconds of receiving our salary, while our parents used to have to plan days ahead and stand in lines in the scorching sun to do the same thing. Yes, we can Google within seconds something that they’d have to refer to books for, and maybe have to travel to a library for. You order groceries online, while your mum still wants to go out and knock on fruit to check for ripeness, and bargain with the shop owners…technology has simplified the mundane. So what exactly are you “doing” really? You have all this extra time (when compared to your parents) - what are you using that for? Oh sure, we know how to use gadgets and devices that they couldn’t even imagine existed, but what do we do with said gadgets? We consume a lot of entertainment – mostly videos, but also pictures, articles, slideshows and cartoons, among other things. We’ve all become chatterboxes! Everyone and his uncle can type an amazing amount of words a minute, and on tiny phone screens at that. Newton knows what we talk about, but we do a heck of a lot of it. There’s a whole fight for net neutrality going on because people want to be able to charge

you for chat, amongst other things – that’s how much we chat! However, when was the last time you built something? From scratch. By yourself. Even if your parents were not a part of the builder generation, their parents surely were. A door needs fixing, they’d yank out their tools and fix it. No calling a carpenter or plumber, or electrician. “What for?”, they’d say, “It’s a simple job”. I actually wish my father would have called an electrician at least more often, we’d have had to spend less nights without electricity that way. He’d end up burning something out, but at least he tried himself (and sometimes he even fried himself)! Now I don’t suggest you try and do your own wiring or anything (unless you’re certified to do so), but we really need to get back to actually “doing” stuff. We need to get up off our collective asses and build things, modify stuff, tinker (as I’ve said in an editorial before as well). So what’s this anniversary issue really celebrating then? The ability within each of us, thanks to technology, to DO something. Don’t just pick up this issue and read it passively, try out the things we’re suggesting. Write in to us and tell us how they went. Send us pictures. Send us ideas for things you’d like to do and can’t, and we’ll try and figure out a cheap and inexpensive way of doing just that. We’re also going to ensure that this isn’t a one-off for us either. We’ll have more DO articles in every issue going forward, and we’d love to feature all the innovative things you’ve done as well. Write in to us at [email protected] for any or all of the above, and get off your butt and start doing already.

Robert Sovereign-Smith Executive Editor [email protected]

“I know, it’s contrary to what you’d normally believe because it certainly feels like you’re doing a lot more than any other generation before you, but you’re not; not really.”

Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo | [email protected]

Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 1

The people who DO stuff for Digit Every day, every week, every month, year on year, for the past 14 years, Digit is and always will be a family of people who go above and beyond their job descriptions to DO all they can to get you your favourite magazine. leadership

Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha

Vikas Gupta

Kanak Ghosh

Asheesh Gupta

Anuradha Das Mathur

Krishna Kumar

Brand

Shreyans Daga

Arun Yadav

Sourabha Shakya

Shauvik Kumar

Kishan Singh

Jai Bhagwan

Himanshu

Sunny Rajan

Ashwin B

Nirmal K

Sudhir

Shabana

Pradeep Gupta

Bhismpal Singh

Amit Sagar

Virender

video

Apurva C

admin

Gaurav U

2 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

Raj Kishore

Praveen K

Amitabha B

Circulation

Samir Mehta

Jayanta Bhattacharyya

Norbert Joseph

Dharmendra Singh

Sandeep Bhandari

Sushil Tripathi

Finance

G. Chandrasekaran

Sampath Kumar

Sandeep Jain Sr.

Dinesh

Sandeep Jain Jr.

Amit Singh

Vinod

Neeraj

Sonu

Sucharita

Saru R.

Satish C.

IT

Zameer Ansari

Siddharth Singh

Durgesh

Ajay Jha

Dhirendra

Manish Karan

Ramesh Kumar

Sunil Pant

Jitendra Bhadana

Mayank

Kamal

Nazakat

Vinayak


sales

Lalit Arun

Debleena

Ram Sarangi

Suvarna

Sajeed

Jayan K. Narayanan

Anil V.K.

Anil T.

Baiju N.V.

Shigil Narayanan

Haridas Balan

Shokeen Saifi

Sristi Maurya

Charu Dwivedi

Manjith P.B.

Pradeep G. Nair

Manoj Kumar V.P.

Peterson P.J.

Om Prakash

Jiten Gandhi

Siddhant Sharma

Abhilash Pa

Nishant Maher

DESIGN

SPECIAL contributors

Vijay Padaya

Infancia Cardozo


Nachiket Mhatre

Logistics

Vijay Menon

Mohd. Nadeem Ansari

Nilesh Shiravadekar

Vijay Mhatre

Chandrakant

Vikas Patil

production

Shivshankar Hiremath

Rakesh Upadhyay

Vilas Mhatre

Brahmanand Nikalje

M.P. Singh

Siddharth Parwatay

Jayesh Shinde

Anirudh Regidi

Mithun Mohandas

Soham Raninga

Nikhil Pradhan

Hardik Singh

Prasid Banerjee

Kul Bhushan

Abhijit Dey

Ashvani

Hari P

Agent001

Robert Sovereign-Smith

editorial

Creepicheep



08 Build your own solar charger

Never again depend on anything but the Sun to charge your phone

10 Do YouTube Right

Fix all that’s wrong with YouTube in five easy steps

12 Build your own Oculus Rift

Don’t spend a bomb, just make your own VR headset and enjoy true 3D gaming

14 Android Skining

Take control! Make your Android phone look and feel exactly the way you want it to

17 Do NOTHING!

Sometimes it’s more important to do nothing, because that helps you do the other stuff better

18 Build your own 3D printer

We kid you not! It’s not rocket science, you can actually build one for yourself

22 Do Addiction right

Crazy about movies and series? We show you how to binge watch in style!

24 Build your own helicopter

R/C of course! Don’t go getting a fancy for being an Ambani, but these are way more fun

28 Go Legit

Avast ye pirates! Ye can spend the fewest doubloons possible yet to go totally legit fer yar entertainment. Arr!

30 Do Windows 10 right

All of the tips, tricks and secrets you want to know about Microsoft’s latest OS

33 Android dilemmas solved 10 Android irritants gone, poof!

38 Do memes right

You better, or you will become the butt of them yourself Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 7

A real Hoverboard?

This super cool one-wheeler rides like a hoverboard. Check it out: http://dgit.in/1PQUabo

do

All Rounder

Vivint has developed a new home automation system with a slight addition: http://dgit.in/1Gmcybv

Build your own solar charger DO your bit for the environment by building your own solar charger. It’s much easier than you’d think. Anirudh Regidi [email protected]

S

unlight is free and at the very least, it can be used to charge your phones. Follow this guide and in five minutes you’ll have a dirt cheap solar charger to play around with. A solar cell converts sunlight to DC

A sampling of all the stuff you’ll need to build the charger 8 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

voltage and since that’s all a battery needs to charge itself, it’s the perfect “green” solution for charging your batteries. Now for some theory. A normal mobile phone charger provides around 5V and 1A of current and this is enough to charge most phones at a reasonably quick rate. You will, of course, find certain chargers that charge at 2.1A or more, and these are usually required to charge more powerful devices that require larger batteries. The point here is that the required voltage remains the same at 5V, but the amount of current varies depending on what you’re charging. Up to a certain point, the more current your circuit produces, the faster your phone will charge and vice versa. Most solar cells are rated for only about 1V and 20mA, which is nowhere near enough. You have two options here, either purchase a more powerful panel (`400 for an 8V, 500mA panel). Alternately, if you have one of those solar garden lamp or other such contraption, you can recycle the solar cells for your charger.

What you need: •

• • • • • •

A bunch of solar cells that can provide at least 5V (either in series or in parallel) Some wire Insulation tape A USB car charger or old USB cable A multimeter (optional, but it’s best to have one around) Soldering gun + solder (optional) Diode (optional if you know what you’re doing or are using a car charger)

Assembly Step 1 First you need to determine the total current and voltage that each cell can provide. Once you’ve noted that down, you need to remember that you need to provide between 4-6V before your phone will start charging. The amount of current only determines how fast your device will charge but a lower voltage will mean that your phone won’t even start charging. Once you figured out the voltages

Wolfenstein is back!

Did you like Wolfenstein: New Order? Then you should try its prequel! http://dgit.in/1EZOeaI

Ask anything!

MyITReturn, a popular e-filing platform, has launched an ‘Ask a question’ feature on their mobile app: https://myitreturn.com/

Do

and current values, you need to determine whether it’s more voltage you need or more current. If it’s current, arrange the cells in parallel (http://dgit. in/1Ap5ABa) and tape or solder the cables accordingly. If it’s voltage that you need, arrange the cells in series and tape or solder accordingly. Double-check you’re the voltage and output with the multiumeter and if you’re satisfied, proceed to the next step. Step 2 Attach a diode to the positive end of the bank of cells that you’ve created. This is optional, but necessary if you’re not sure of the voltage of your solar cells. If you have a car charger, follow these steps: 1. The pointy bit at the end of the car charger is the positive terminal and the metal springs on the side are the negative terminals. 2. Hook up the solar cell bank to these terminals accordingly. You can simply use insulation tape to do this. 3. If you only have a USB cable: 4. Double check all your calculations first. The solar cells that you used will normally not be powerful enough to cause damage, but it’s better to be safe. 5. Attach the positive end of the cable to the red wire and the negative to the black. 6. Place the solar cells in sunlight and examine the voltages with a multimeter. If everything is good, you can plug in your phone. Place the solar cells in direct sunlight and plug in your phone to the car charger. If your voltage and current calculations are correct and there was no issue with your wiring, you will now have a working solar charger. It’s that simple!

Your solar charger is this easy to make. The cell here is for representative purposes only. You’ll need at least 4.5 V to make use of this charger

Note This charger will work as a universal USB charger as well. You can hook this charger up to a window and attach it to a power bank to charge it if you so desire.

A multimeter is absolutely essential for measuring the power of a solar cell. As you can see, even in bright daylight (mid-afternoon), the voltage is minimal from such a tiny cell Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 9

Fun Fact

If you drilled a tunnel straight through the centre of the earth, it would take you 42 minutes and 12 seconds to reach the other side.

do

Yuck!

The average human being accidently eats 430 bugs each year of their lives.

DO YouTube Right! After spending endless hours of watching videos on YouTube, you will realise that it is not perfect. Here are the ways to fix some of YouTube’s faults. Abhijit Dey [email protected]

W

hile watching videos on YouTube, you’ve probably faced certain problems and deadlocks on the web player. Let’s look at some extensions for the web player and some fixes for the official YouTube app on smartphones to enhance your viewing experience.

1

Declutter YouTube

There are many extensions that bring in bits of enhancements to YouTube. However if you want it all in one place, then SPOI Options is what you should be using. Formerly known as YouTube Options, the extension gives you complete control of YouTube’s interface, allowing you to eliminate all the elements that distract you and let you focus on the video only. Boasting over 120 options to tinker around with, this extension isn’t free but is available as a trial for seven days. Some of

SPOI Options has over 120 optionsto enhance YouTube 10 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

these options include being able to change the default video size and quality, block YouTube ads and the annoying annotations, and disable auto-play and auto-buffering. Let’s look at some of the useful options that you can use on this extension. YouTube ads aren’t always appreciated while watching videos, and although you might think that AdBlock or AdBlock Plus is the right solution, they do hamper the functionality of certain other websites. SPOI Options includes an in-video ad blocker that can be checked under Options > Video > In-video ads, annotations, and closed-captions > Hide in-video ads. If annotations bother you equally, you can also find the ‘Hide annotations’ checkbox in the same menu. After a video ends on YouTube, it automatically starts playing the next video in the playlist or recommended section. To prevent that, you can head over to Options > Video > Auto-play > Disable auto-play. Videos on YouTube automatically start buffering once opened. If you wish to save bandwidth, then you can disable auto-buffering in the same Auto-play section. The different sections around the player might not be important to you while watching videos. Using SPOI Options, you can disable the header, playlist, recommended videos, comments and other sections by going to Options > Layout > Appearance. You also have the freedom to disable all the sections by selecting ‘Hide everything and matte the background’. You can change the page font and lighting of the page, which is essentially switching between light and dark themes. This extension can also overwrite settings on other sites such as Metacafe, Twitter, Vimeo, etc. While SPOI Options is a very neat and useful extension, it

isn’t free. Following the seven-day trial, you must subscribe for $1.99 (`126) every month.

2

Queue videos on the go

With so many music videos uploaded daily, you’d wonder why YouTube doesn’t have all the necessary features and options seen in a regular music streaming service. Although, YouTube’s own music service Music Key is in Beta, it’s an invite-only service and hasn’t been launched globally. While you can create your own public or private playlists on YouTube, to add videos to your playlists, you need to open up the video and then add it to your playlist, or to search for the required videos you need to open up your playlist and search for the required videos. Currently, you can’t have a temporary queue of videos on YouTube that you can line up to watch or listen to for the current viewing session. The queue feature was initially supported by YouTube long ago, but later it

SPOI lets you change the background appearance and declutter the screen

Safety First

Wait, what?

Artefact has designed a backpack for cyclists that glows the moment the cyclist turns. http://dgit.in/1KhLQmF

Collectively speaking, humans have spent a little more than 6 million years playing World of Warcraft. http://dgit.in/1IGIpVX

went on to become ‘Watch Later’, which is essentially a playlist of saved videos. ‘InstantQueue for YouTube’ is a Chrome extension that brings back the queueing feature to your interface, letting you add videos by simply dragging and dropping them over the queue window. Another advantage of this extension is that it lets you export or save these temporary queues as playlists to your YouTube account. You can reorder the videos in the queue as per your preference. One thing to note is that the queue will run only under a single YouTube tab, opening another tab with YouTube won’t pull the videos from the other queue. Also, if you play or refresh the page, it will break the queue and you’ll have to click the video from the queue again to continue with the remaining videos.

3

Play YouTube videos in the background

There may have been times when you wanted to play YouTube videos while using another app on your smartphone. By default, the official YouTube app on most platforms doesn’t support background playback, but there’s a walkaround to this. On the BlackBerry OS, the YouTube app runs seamlessly even after you’ve minimised it. It continues playing even after you’ve locked your phone. To play YouTube videos in the background on iOS devices, start playing the desired video on the Safari browser app and minimise it. Then, swipe up to navigate to ‘Control Center’ where you can resume the video by tapping the Play button. This trick works on all video streaming websites opened through Safari, and works on iOS 7 and iOS 8. On Android, it’s a considerably longer

process if you want to play YouTube videos in the background. You’ll need a rooted phone, since you have to install the Xposed framework module. Xposed gives you hundreds of modules that enhance and bring in more functionality to certain apps. You can download the .apk file of the Xposed framework at http://dgit. in/XposedFr. After installing the apk, search for the YouTube Background Playback module and install it. Reboot your phone and enjoy this new feature that works with the official app. If you’re paranoid about bricking your phone, then you’re better off using an app – such as Wiper Messenger – that plays YouTube videos in the background.

4

Remotely control YouTube from your smartphone

Having a big screen has its own perks, some of which includes endlessly watching videos on YouTube. Wouldn’t it be great if you could remotely control your PC/ laptop/smart TV from your smartphone? ‘YouTube Leanback’ lets you control YouTube on either your PC, laptop or smart TV. Head over to http:// youtube.com/leanback on your browser. Scroll down to Settings > Go to ‘Pair Device’ and you’ll be given a pair code. If you have the YouTube app installed on your smartphone, go to Settings > Connected TVs > Add a TV and enter the code. Now, you can control the videos on YouTube using your smartphone. If you don’t have the YouTube app installed, you can visit http://youtube.com/pair, enter the code and start streaming videos through the browser.

5

InstantQueue will let you queue videos on the go while browsing through YouTube

Quick actions

‘MagicActions’ is an extension available for Chrome, Firefox and Opera that gives you many useful and interesting features, including dynamic background lighting. You can download

Do

With YouTube Leanback you can use your smartphone as a remote

the extension to your respective browser at http://www.chromeactions.com/. Controlling the volume with your scroll wheel proves to be the most useful feature in this extension. Once installed, you’ll find a few buttons below the YouTube player that gives you some of the options from the extension. Talking about interesting features, the ‘Cinema’ mode exploits the screen’s real estate very well. The Cinema mode brings up a good looking backlight at the border of the video. The dynamic backlight feature changes the backlight in sync with

The Cinema Mode in MagicActions gives you the option to enable dynamic lighting

the video playing, giving you an ambient experience of watching videos. You can take a screenshot of the video playing by clicking on the Screenshot button below the player. Doing this opens up another tab where you can further edit your screenshot and save it according to your preferences. The MagicActions extension also brings up a button on the top-left corner of the YouTube webpage, which changes the theme of the page to dark. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 11

Smart home, dumb stuff do

Meet Roost, a Wi-fi enabled 9V battery connected to a smoke detector. http://dgit.in/1LduTY3

Fun fact

-40 degrees Farenheit is equal to -40 degrees Celsius http://dgit.in/1EdLZiF

Build an Oculus Rift on the cheap Here’s what you can DO to experience real 3D gaming for just `1,000 or less!

By Anirudh Regidi [email protected]

T

he Oculus Rift is currently the last word in gaming awesomeness but it’s still six months from release and very expensive. Here’s a temporary stand-in that won’t break the bank! The Oculus Rift was designed by a teenager in a garage who spent his time there tinkering with broken phones. If he can do it, why can’t you? To save you the trouble of having to conduct years of research, let’s first understand what an Oculus Rift does and how it does it. This knowledge will help us design our own version of the rift.

What is a Rift? A head-tracker: The Rift tracks your head movement with extreme precision. It does this using numerous infra-red LEDs that are affixed to the Rift in a precise pattern. A camera tracks these dots and uses algorithms to figure out where you’re looking. Earlier models of the Rift used an accelerometer and magnetometer to do the same thing. Whichever the method used, the head-tracking information is translat-

If you’re willing to dole out some cash, you can get yourself one of these, an actual 7” display 12 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

ed to player head-movement on the PC. HMD: It is a head-mounted display (HMD) that’s transmitting images from the computer to a screen to a secondary display mounted a few inches from your eyes.

Head-tracking This is the easy part. Just pick out the December 2014 edition of SKOAR from your archives or from the DVD and follow the instructions for creating your own infra-red head-tracking unit. Before you fish out the article, here are the things you’ll need: • 3xInfra-red LEDs • Appropriate resistors • Webcam (preferably a PS3Eye cam) • Soldering gun and solder • Cardboard / sheet metal / plastic

while, but once you’re done, you can proceed to the next step. The key to the Rift’s ability to render 3D environments in “real” 3D is the driver. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to that driver and we don’t have much of a choice but to go with free drivers that work only on a handful of games. Still, the experience of playing even those handful in 3D just can’t be matched! For a complete list of games that you can play in 3D with this setup, head over to http://dgit.in/1HA8mWV. This list includes some amazing games, including Crysis 3, Elite: Dangerous, Max Payne 3, DiRT Showdown and more. There’s a little bit of prep to be done, however, and it’s as follows: 1. Install Splashtop Streamer from www. splashtop.com

For the HMD, pick up a pair of cheap magnifying lenses and build a Google Cardboard device, or, pick up a clone at http:// dgit.in/1FtggxZ for `400. Now you need to hook up the head-tracking clip and attach it to the Google Cardboard or its clone. You’ll need to test it and calibrate it for a

2. Install the Splashtop 2.0 app on your smartphone. 3. Create a Splashtop account. 4. Set your games (from the list mentioned previously) to run in side-by-side (SBS) 3D mode. In this mode, two images are rendered, well, side-by-side. 5. Also set your game to run in windowed mode as Splashtop doesn’t support fullscreen apps as of yet.

A more expensive, but hassle-free alternative to a TrackClip is the Arduinobased EDTracker

Google Cardboard is the perfect contraption for experiencing 3D on the cheap

Head-Mounted Display (budget option)

Skateboard or a Hoverboard? This super cool one-wheeler rides like a hoverboard. Check it out: http://dgit.in/1PQUabo

Endothermic Table?

A ‘Zero Energy Table’ a day keeps hefty electricity bills away. http://dgit.in/1HdU6xN

Do

OpenTrack is the tool of choice for enabling HeadTracking.

You need to fine-tune your response time with the curves settings in OpenTrack

Here’s a snapshot of the SplashTop Streamer that should be running on your PC

6. If you have a phone and router with wireless AC support, you needn’t tone down your resolution, but if you don’t, bring down your desktop resolution to 1280x800 or lower. 7. Run Splashtop Streamer on your PC and run the app on your phone. 8. Install OpenTrack from http://dgit.

native to the Rift. The previous method works great if you’re on a really tight budget, but suffers from lag issues and is limited by your Wi-Fi router and phone. The alternative is to spend money on a 7” SVD display with adapter (like this one: http://dgit.in/1AkANWz). An SVD connector

design, but designed to accommodate the larger 7” screen.) You’ll also need to use larger lenses with at least 5x magnification for the housing. Attach the head-tracker to this housing as you did for the budget HMD. After that, just assemble the LCD, power it up, plug it into the D-Sub port on your PC and set it up as a secondary display that mirrors your PC. The resolution is limited to 1280x800, but it’s more than enough for a thrift. Run the games using SBS 3D and configure as described earlier. Note: You can also purchase a readymade TrackHat from www.trackhat.org if you can’t or don’t want to build your own headset. Another option is to purchase or build an EDTracker from www.edtracker. org.uk. EDTracker is an Arduino based headtracker that has the advantage of being far more precise and hassle free than the original, infra-red LED based design, albeit at a higher cost.

in/1SpIlNw

9. Fire up your head-tracker’s LEDs and position your camera as instructed in the head-tracking tutorial that you dug up in SKOAR. 10. D epending on the type of game you’re playing, you’ll have to set OpenTrack to run in either “TrackIR” mode or “VJoy” more. The former is perfect for flight sims and other games that support head movement in-game, the latter is useful for all other games as OpenTrack converts all movement into joystick input that can be assigned in-game. 11. Run the game. Voila! You’re now gaming on an Oculus Thrift!

HMD (Expensive) If you’re willing to spend a bit more money, you can build a much better alter-

A Delanclip, the perfect alternative for those who’d rather not build their own clip.

is something like a DVI connector that’s used in smartphones and tablets and you’ll need an adapter to add at least D-Sub support. This will cost you between `6,000 and `8,000 depending on the model of LCD that you buy. What you have to do is first purchase the display, build an Oculus Rift style housing (similar to a Google Cardboard

Warning: Using 3D glasses and / or head-tracking can cause motion sickness so if you’re new to it, make sure you have a bucket or an air-sickness bag beside you.

We’re using SplashTop here and as you can see, there’s no discernible difference in image quality between your PC and your phone. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 13

Say NO to Littering! do

Hong Kong is all set to publicly shame people who litter. http://dgit.in/1c2cocv

Live the lectures

LearnSocial’s new Social Learning Platform brings education to the cloud: https://www.learnsocial.com/

Skinning that

‘droid!

Show your Android OS who’s boss by completely skinning it to your taste. It’s not as hard as you would imagine.

Abhijit Dey [email protected]

Y

smartphones, but some phones can be unrooted cleanly without voiding warranty.

Installing Java SE Runtime Environment

ou may have come across many custom interfaces on Android that not only enhance user interface design, but also add more functionality, making it easier to access certain features and options. Such themes or interfaces are provided right out of the box by many manufacturers such as TouchWiz, Sense, MIUI, LG UI, Xperia UI, etc. or as downloadable options in certain custom Android ROMs out there such as Cyanogenmod. Wouldn’t it be great if you could design or build your own Android theme that perfectly fits your requirements and interests? If you really believe that, read on. This brief tutorial endeavours to introduce you to the process of theming and building your own Android theme. The tutorial is independant of device, but assumes that you’re using a Windows PC.

Download the latest version of the Java SE Runtime Environment from http://dgit.in/ JavaSERun if you haven’t already, and ensure that the right version and operating system is selected. Open “System Properties” from “Control Panel” and go to the “Environment Variables” section. You now need to specify the Java installation path on your Windows drive in the “System variables” section in order to run Java tools. Select the “Path” variable in “System variables” and click on “Edit” to enter the Java directory path (don’t forget to add a semi-colon before the directory path). To verify the functionality of Java commands, open up “Command Prompt” and enter java -version to display the installed version. If you don’t encounter any errors, you may proceed.

Getting Started

Setting up the Android SDK

First and foremost, there are certain prerequisites to theming your own custom skin. You’ll obviously need a rooted phone since accessing the framework and system files are crucial for making key modifications. If you are planning on rooting your Android phone, here’s a definitive guide on the same http://dgit.in/AndroidRootDT. Be advised: rooting might void your warranty on certain

Download and install “Android SDK” from http://dgit.in/AndroidSDKIn. You can either download the Android SDK bundle with “Android Studio” included but you will be fine with just the “Stand-alone SDK Tools” for this tutorial. After downloading Android SDK, install a few packages from “Android SDK Manager”. The important ones are: “Android SDK Tools”, “Android


SDK Platform-tools” and “Android SDK Build-tools”. Sometimes, your phone might not be able to push the drivers on to your PC, so you may also need to install the Google USB Driver package from Android SDK Manager. When you’re finished installing all necessary packages, connect your phone to your computer. Before connecting your phone, make sure that “USB Debugging” is switched on. This can be accessed from “Developer Options”, which is hidden by default. To enable that, you need to go to Settings > About Phone and tap seven times on “Build Number”. You will now be able to access the Developer Options of your device. Now open “Device Manager” on your PC to verify whether you can find a device named “Android Phone > Android Composite ADB Interface”. The phone has failed to install the drivers on your PC if the device is shown under “Other Devices > Unknown Device”. You can download the Universal ADB Driver from http://dgit.in/UnivADB which works most of the time. To ensure driver installation, right-click on “Unknown Device” in Device Manager and select “Uninstall”. While your device is connected, click on the “Scan for hardware changes” button at the top, which will list with your device again. If this still doesn’t display your device, right-click again on Unknown Device and select the “Update

Work hard, play harder

Introducing Tynker - a startup that teaches kids to code robots, drones and more: http://dgit.in/1FlDHZV

Driver Software” option. Then follow Browse my computer for driver software > Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer. Select “Show all devices” and then click on “Next”. Now, navigate to the Google USB Driver package we had installed earlier with Android SDK. Click on “Have Disk” and browse to the following path C:\_Android_folder_\sdk\ extras\google\usb_driver\ android_winusb.inf (where “_ Android_folder_” is the directory where you have installed Android SDK). You will now be able to see your device listed under Device Manager. It’s time to test whether the “Android Debug Bridge” (ADB) is working fine. Go to your Android SDK directory, by following android-sdk-windows > platformtools. Holding the shift button, right-click anywhere on the explorer to open the right-click menu. Click on Open command option here and the Command Prompt opens in the current directory. This is more convenient than opening Command Prompt and then navigating to the desired directory. Enter the command adb version, and if it displays the version of the adb installed, you’re good to go. If you’re interested in knowing more about ADB and its commands, visit the following tutorial http://dgit.in/ADBTut to get detailed indepth steps .

Burner a.k.a Shuffle

Shuffle, a new mobile app that lets you create disposable phone numbers and much more: http://dgit.in/1EZuJzcg

Other necessary tools Creating your own Android theme requires various tools, one of which is a decompiling tool that unpacks the apk files of the framework and your device’s system files. For this tutorial we will use the Windows based “Apktool”, which can be downloaded from http://dgit.in/Apktool. If you want all files in a single location – including adb, smali, backsmali, sign, and zipalign – you can download Apktool from http://dgit.in/Apktool2_9. If apktool fails to run, replace the “apktool.jar” file downloaded from the previous link. The download page also has requisite instructions to ensure a clean install. Once installed, follow the same method mentioned above to open the Command Prompt in the Apktool directory and check if it’s running by entering the apktool command. To unpack and pack certain files and create flashable zips, you will require either “7-Zip” or “WinRAR”. We recommend WinRAR. To edit icons and images for your theme, you will need either GIMP or Photoshop. GIMP is a great option since it’s a free software sporting all features required for theming. To make it easier to edit the .9 png images. Note: .9 files are essentially png images with 1-pixel wide borders. You can download “Draw9patch” from http://dgit.in/Draw9patch (download the “Better 9 patch tool”). Modifying the layout, text, font colours, and more requires

Do

editing the xml codes, which is easier done using Notepad++.

Pulling the apks from your phone With all necessary tools and packages installed, you can begin by pulling required apk files from your phone. There are three methods for obtaining the apk files: If you have downloaded the stock ROM or any custom ROM for your device, you can simply explore to the desired apk file. Once you root your phone, you get access to all the system files on your phone and the apk files as well. With any file browser app that can access the system files, you can obtain the required apks. Using the adb command is an efficient way of pulling the required or all apks in one go. To do that, open the Command Prompt from the Apktool directory and enter the following command adb pull /system/app/ Apps_backup. This will pull the entire app folder to a folder named “Apps_backup”. Thereafter, you can copy the requisite apps a different folder. Theming also requires framework files. These can be obtained by entering the command adb pull /system/framework Framework_backup. Now, you can find all the framework files in the “Framework_backup” folder.

1

2 3

Decompiling

Adding environment variables for JAVA

Before you start decompiling the apks that you have pulled in the previous step, you must install the required resources, which happen to be other apk files. Essentially, you’ll need two resource apk files – one found in the frameworks folder named “framework-res.apk”, whereas the other one is “SystemUI.apk”. In most cases, it can be found in the app backup folder pulled earlier. In case you don’t find the SystemUI.apk file in the backup folder, you might have to pull the apk from a different folder by entering the command adb pull /system/priv_ app Priv_app_backup. To install the resources , open the command window in the Apktool directory and enter the commands apktool if Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 15

So many atoms do

There are 8 times as many atoms in a teaspoonful of water as there are teaspoonfuls of water in the Atlantic ocean.

Let’s go to Titan

Humans can literally fly by flapping their wings on Titan due to its thick atmosphere and low gravity.

framework-res.apk and apktool if SystemUI.apk. Now that you have installed the resources, you can proceed with decompiling the apks. To decompile an apk, you need to use the following command apktool d SystemUI.apk. You can use the same commands to decompile any other apk.

Replacing icons and other UI elements After decompilation, a new folder bearing the apk name will be created. Browsing the decompiled folder should reveal multiple folders containing files that make up the apk. These files can later be used for further customisation. Editing images isn’t difficult at all. The original UI elements such icons, sliders, and separators can be successfully replaced with customised ones as long as all you retain the original filenames. The best part is that decompiling or signing the apk isn’t required if you are only planning to replace the icons and png images. You can open the png images on either GIMP or Photoshop and edit them, while ensuring that the original dimensions are retained. Now, open up the new apk in WinRAR and drag and drop the edited pngs into it. This should open a window to select the compression methods. This will only work if the “Store” compression method is used. When it comes to .9 png images, you have to decompile and edit them using either the above mentioned Draw9patch tool or any other image editor. After saving all images, navigate to “SystemUI/res/drawable-hdpi” where you can access all system icons. Do note that you need to maintain the original resolution and dpi of those icons, to avoid any issues. An Recognized Themer named Yorzua has created a handy guide on creat-

Use Ctrl+F to find the right parameter

ing and editing .9 png images, which is worth referring: http://dgit.in/9PngTut. To read an extensive tutorial on how to replace icons on Android devices, refer to the following thread: http://dgit.in/AndrIconTut. Just remember that the process of replacing UI elements is deceptively easy. The only challenging part is editing the elements due to the sheer volume and tedium of the process.

Changing text colour Text colour can be modified by editing xml files. To do this, browse to “SystemUI/res/ layout”, which is a location housing xml files that define the position, colour, text, and almost every other UI parameter. Finding the specific code defining text colour can be a time consuming affair due to the sheer volume of text. Here are some of the places where you can find and edit text colour for your theme: http://dgit.in/1HyXjgR. Change system text settings requires editing multiple xml files. This process involves extensive use of the Ctrl+F command to search for instances mentioning the colour parameter. The following guide is a great resource to attain a firm grasp on the basics of editing xml files pertaining to system text settings for building or editing your own theme: http://dgit.in/SysTextSett.

Recompiling

Before and after. Which do you prefer? 16 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

Now that you have edited and made required changes to your custom theme, you are ready to recompile or build the files into an apk. To build an apk from the files obtained through the decompiled Sys-

temUI.apk, enter the following command apktool b SystemUI. The recompiled apk file of the entered folder will be created in the “dist” folder inside the decompiled folder. Before using the apk file, you need to sign the apk. To do that, open the original apk in WinRAR (open WinRAR and drag the apk file into the window). Drag and drop the following two files “AndroidManifest.xml” and “META-INF” folder into the dist folder. Open the newly built apk in WinRAR and drag and drop the resources.arsc into the same dist folder. Now, open the new apk in WinRAR and drag and drop these three files into the window. This leads to a list of compression options. It is very important to choose “Store” compression option. Failing to do that might send your phone into a boot loop when you restart. Once you’re done with the above-mentioned steps, copying and pushing the new files to your phone is the final step. This can be done using the adb command adb push C:\Android\Apktool\SystemUI\dist\SystemUI.apk /system/ priv_app. Alternatively, you can refer to the following tutorial replacing apps on your phone http://dgit.in/AppRepTut. You may encounter many tutorials based on custom themes. This article serves as a primer for the basics of the process. Using this knowledge, you seek out more specialised guides and tutorials pertaining to editing individual sections or components such as the status bar, Settings app, notification bar, etc. Those conversant with the Smali programming language can begin editing Smali files, which is usually the domain of advanced themers and developers.

Romance automated?

Internet reduces attention spans

How bad could it be for the Internet of Things to automate romance? http://dgit.in/1PtKqJd

Microsoft conducted research which shows that prolonged internet usage reduces attention spans. http://dgit.in/1L0WZVN

Do

Do (more… by doing) nothing The art of doing nothing at all, effectively, is a happy place to be. Here’s how you do absolutely zilch, and then some. Jayesh Shinde [email protected]

T

echnically, it’s impossible for us humans (or any other living physical entity) to do nothing. No matter how hard you try, involuntarily your body is always doing something – breathing, thinking, digesting, sleeping (yes, it’s an activity). You can’t get a break even after you die because your body starts furiously decomposing itself and driving it back to nothingness. So, yeah – doing nothing at all isn’t as easy as it sounds. However, let’s attempt it anyway. What do we mean by not doing anything? Trying to break the daily cycles, taking a pause from our hectic schedule, and doing something less hectic that almost borders on a laziness overdose. Here’s how you truly can try to do nothing to do more.

Sleep It’s the easiest thing to do to kill time and do nothing at the same time. Don’t feel like going to school or work to get your daily dose of activity? Woke up on the lazy side of the bed? Don’t worry. Call in sick. Close the window blinds, shoo the sun away. Play Koop Island Blues (probably the most hauntingly sleepy lullaby ever). Hug that pillow tightly like your life depends on it… and dive right into bed.

Dump digital distractions When you’re serious about doing nothing, you can’t be connected to your digital umbilical cord. It has to be severed. That means no phones or laptops, no tablets or smartwatches. Definitely, no Internet. Go gadget free, switch them off and hide them in a safe, and most importantly avoid the temptation to go look for them every 11 minutes or so. Going by how addicted people are getting to their digital devices and are so overly consumed by the black hole that is the Internet, not having these digital distractions will be disorienting enough to give you the good enough feeling of having done nothing all that while. Go ahead, just try it. Your sanity will thank you later.

Breathing One of the best and easiest way to give your brain a quick timeout is to drop everything you’re doing and focus on your breathing. Nope, this has nothing to do with meditation – you only have to focus on your breathing, and closing your eyes helps you focus better, that’s all. Breathe in, breathe out, focus on the air entering your nose, travelling down your windpipe, filling your lungs, and vice versa. Do

this in your break time, not being distracted by anything, and it should calm your brain and give it a boost of sorts.

Numb the senses The next level of doing nothing takes a bit of planning. The jury’s still out on the benefits of sensory deprivation at a scientific level, but the activity itself has been in vogue for more than a couple of decades. The idea here is to deprive your senses of any stimulus. The best way to experience sensory deprivation would be by lying in a bathtub (or floatation tank, look it up) with the water temperature matching your exact body temperature. Cover your eyes with dark eye pads, making sure no light enters, put on earmuffs (or anything that blocks sound), and try to float in the bathtub for a while. It should take about 20 minutes or so for your nerves to stop seeking stimulus, and then… all goes quiet. It’s an odd feeling, mind you, for the time it lasts. But when you snap out of this funk, the sensory overload is a unique experience – your nerves are tingling with sensation, colours seem more vivid, you have a heightened sense of hearing, and you feel more alive than you will ever remember. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 17

Did You Know?

Sunflowers can help clean up radioactive waste. This and other random facts at: http://dgit.in/1EdLZiF

do

3-D Printing clothes

This prototype 3-D printers can print seamless fabric. Check it out: http://dgit.in/1B7mHTh

Build your own 3D printer; it’s not rocket science 3D printers aren’t affordable yet, so wouldn’t that motivate you to actually build one?

By Karan Chaphekar [email protected]

C

ontrary to the hilarious misconception many seem to harbour, a 3D printer is not a device that produces 3D images on printing paper which you have to look at using 3D glasses! No, it is a machine which takes 3D model files (which you can create using 3D CAD software or download from the Internet), and converts them


into real, physical objects made out of plastic. Thanks to this device, your imagination is literally turned into reality, all in a matter of a few hours, while you’re sitting at home. In the last few years, 3D printing has been gaining a lot of popularity worldwide, and has now gradually started making its presence felt in India as well. It all started around the year 2007, when patents for 3D printers began to expire, post which a string of replicas were produced by hackers who had fig-

ured out the technique. The first major project which attempted to recreate the prototype was the ‘RepRap’ (http://reprap. org/), which stands for ‘Replicating Rapid Prototyping’. It involved building a machine which could make another copy of itself. For the longest time, there have been no avenues to buy 3D printers in India. However, there are several vendors in the marker selling 3D printer components. And today, we have reached a stage where fashioning these printers

America,meet Xiaomi

Rest in Tees

Chinese handset company Xiaomi has started online sales of it’s accessories in the USA and Europe http://dgit.in/1EX99Lz

Extinct Startup Tees - yes, they print logos of extinct startups. But have they covered em all? http://dgit.in/1JsYbD7

Do

using your own two hands has become a lot easier than before. But before that, let’s clarify a few basic things first.

You can’t take 3D prints of just about everything A 3D printer is not some kind of a magic machine. You might discover an extremely attractive picture of an object with a complex assembly and multiple colors and figure it would be cool to get the real deal using your 3D printer. But these are not easy to convert into real objects and usually require special modifications to be made in your regular printer. What most 3D printers can definitely create are moderately-sized objects in single colors and simple structures. For instance, I got into 3D printing because I wanted individual parts of a device for my project. And of course, for the cool factor!

You need to learn 3D modeling if you want to fully utilize your 3D printer Sure, there are several useful websites like Thingiverse and Youmagine, which provide rookies with thousands of 3D models that they can print, as well as a few like Myminifactory which direct you to only those files with physical features that can be effortlessly converted into 3D prints, on the specific device that you are dealing with. But if that’s the only function you want from your 3D printer, then it’s no better than an expensive toy. Learn 3D modeling, however, and it’ll open up a whole new world of possibilities – you

can then make individual parts of your own and assemble them to build complex machinery. You can even fashion instruments to use around your house.

Keep it simple at first Don’t go for a fancy dual extruder or a 3D printer with a very large build volume from the word go. Keep it simple in the beginning. Build your own 3D printer and learn from it by tinkering around. You learn a lot more from building machines than buying them.

They aren’t plug and play

One of the many components that you will need

3D printers are not foolproof; none of the models made so far have achieved a 100 per cent success rate. Why, even your basic paper printers have jam issues. The performance of 3D printers, in terms of speed, reliability and detailing, varies from machine to machine. So be prepared for some minor tinkering around when you build one of your own. Since you’ve put it together from scratch, you know the ins and outs of it, and it’s therefore easier to fix.

It’s a learning process 3D printers are like musical instruments, you will always keep discovering new facets every time you use them. It’s a fastevolving field, with technological updates pouring in after every few months. Plus, there’s ample help and technical support available from the 3D printers’ online community, which provides useful tips on upgrades and maintenance.

And now to sit down and build one Here are a few pointers: First and foremost, select the 3D printer you want to build. There is a range of options among open source 3D printers that you can choose from. The best design to start out with is the Prusa i3. Named after Josef Prusa – the designer of i3 and its predecessor Prusa Mendel (the first printer I built!) – it’s the machine of choice for many people and was the unofficial product of the RepRap project. There are several versions and upgrades available for it. I had great success with the i3 model, as did many others whom I helped build it. The difficulty level of making a 3d printer is similar to assembling a computer, but the process is longer and Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 19

GeekGyan do

The majority of computer users blink 7 times per minute as comapred to a normal blinking rate of 20 times a minute.

slightly more complex. If you are dedicating all your time to it, then it’s a weekend project. After building it, you will need some time to get used to it. Kit for Prusa i3: http:// www.3dprintronics.com/ provides good instructional videos to learn the assembly process, or you can procure your own parts. If you are doing the latter, I will suggest using the EiNSTeiN variant, a guide for it can be found on http://dgit. in/1Fy08uU and general documentation on http://dgit.in/1Aod5Zx. 3D Printing Components can be sourced from the following sources: • http://makemendel.com/

Tech woes

Tech Giants ask POTUS to resist backdoor access to encypted data. http://dgit.in/1B9llYh

• http://www.3dprintronics.com/ • http://www.diy-india.com/ The single plate version is the most popular one and comes highly recommended. You can get an aluminum or acrylic plate. Just a heads up: the latter is a bit weaker and there is a chances of cracking if unnecessary force is applied.

Electronics Ramps 1.4 and Printerboard are the electronics predominantly available in India. Printerboard is more expensive but much simpler and compact to use and generally doesn’t fail. Ramps 1.4 is modular but has some faults in its design which might cause breakdown. I recommend the former, as it will give you less trouble in the long run. It’s simply plug-and-play and it takes about half an hour to do all the wiring the first time around. I started out with Ramps 1.4 but now prefer the simplicity of Printrboard.

LCD

One of the more important control heads that you’ll need

The LCD allows you to control your printer without having to use a computer. It’s essential to have one of these because some prints can take as long as 20 hours to emerge, forcing you to keep your computer switched on for the entire duration. And if the computer hangs or undergoes updates, it will cause the printing to fail. So buy an LCD when building a 3D printer. Both Ramps and Printrboard have different LCD modules available, which are generally available at stores which sell the electronics themselves. It’s a simple add-on, just enable the firmware and you’re set.

Extruder Your 3D printer in action 20 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

The extruder is the backbone of the 3D printer, for it does

This is how your completed 3D printer might look

the job of melting the plastic and extruding it through a small nozzle. A 0.4mm sized nozzle is a common and safe choice. There are two parts to the extruder – use the 1.75mm versions of both. (1.75mm, is the diameter of the filament). There have been rare cases in which the older, 3.0mm versions had to be used. Hot-End: Building the hot-end unit will take about 2 hours. Hot-End refers literally to the parts which heat up. A J-Head design here is a good choice and widely available. Don’t go for metallic versions as finding a good one is difficult and they are also expensive. Consider this particular part as a consumable one, which means its performance quality will go down after a while, depending on the usage. In my case, most hot-ends have worked for about 6 months or even a year. Pro-tip? Prolong its life by keeping the filament free from dust and using the attached sponge to keep it clean. Cold-End: Direct Drive extruders are highly recommended. Today, aluminum versions are also available which are heavier than the former but show better performance and don’t break. I suggest you go for this design: http://dgit.

Colour correct

Young guns

An app that provides you with the best colour palettes possible: http://dgit.in/1S5M9Di

Two teenagers managed to hack into a school district’s network and take it offliine : http://dgit.in/1BdpXfX

in/1AsF3Di. Many 3D printer designs have geared extruders – kindly stay away from those.

3D Printed Parts Now this is what they call a classic chicken-and-egg situation. The irony of this building-your-own-machine business is that you need 3D-printed parts to build a 3D printer! Most 3D printer vendors also offer 3D printing services, so you can get your parts printed from them. They take about 20 hours in total to get printed.

Heated bed Heated beds are needed to print materials like ABS; if the printing surface is not adequately heated, they come out warped. Don’t use them when you’re starting out though, as maintaining them is a huge hassle. This is where many users commit mistakes, in that they start using the beds from the word go, as most of the kits come with heated beds. This eventually creates unnecessary complications. So even if you have them, don’t use them initially. Instead, print PLA using the masking tape method (Google it!), which, in any case, is more popular and rookiefriendly than ABS.

Slicer software This software converts your 3D models (in STL format) into instructions on how to use your machine, clearing several doubts such as where to move and how to extrude plastic in .gcode format, among others. Slic3r and cura (https:// software.ultimaker.com/) are the most popular softwares of the lot. I recommended the latter as it has got a user-friendly interface and simpler settings. This is the part where you get to learn to play around in the machine settings to get good prints later, so be sure to get well-familiarized with this software. The file formats supported by these softwares are .STL and .OBJ. Instructions for building the 3D printer There is no shortage of instructions available on how to assemble a Prusa i3.

Build your 3D printer, get proficient at printing 3D objects and who knows? One day you might get to print a dress for a Victoria’s Secret model as well! Isn’t that something to strive towards!

You can download the PDF from here: http://dgit.in/1cdrRXr

Here’s a guide with interactive animations: http://dgit.in/1LvqBL4 You can also follow the 3dprintronics assembly video series: http://dgit. in/1Es3uvF

After assembly, you need to program the electronics. The firmware used for this is called Marlin, which needs to be configured. Here’s a guide on how to do that: http://solidutopia.com/marlin-firmware-userguide-basic/. A kit, of course, comes an

already configured version.

Notes to remember • Use tried-and-tested combinations of parts – they’re easier to get technical support for. Don’t opt for unknown alternatives to save money, especially if you don’t fully know what you are dealing with. • Starting out with a kit is not a bad idea. When I made my own machine, procuring parts was the most difficult fac-

Do

tor and I ended up being forced to import a lot of things like electronics, 3D printed parts and the hot-end. • The biggest issue you will face when starting out in 3D printing is bed leveling. The bed is the platform on which you print your first whole object. The first layer of sticking is very important. For that, the nozzle in any axis (be it X or Y), should be equidistant from the bed. There are many tutorials which show how to achieve this. Today, there is also the auto-leveling feature which solves this issue, but it comes with its own set of issues. • Temperatures can be tricky. There is always a standard recommended temperature to print any material – for example, 190 for PLA is the norm. But your setup may vary, based on the accuracy of your thermistor, hot-end design, etc. If the temperature is too high, the prints look like they’re halfmelted; if it’s too low, the layers won’t stick and the prints are weaker. So try to keep the temperatures stable. • Using a fan can improve the print quality dramatically. For example, if pointed towards the printed part, it helps the plastic harden quicker and makes the prints look much better. But be sure to check that your nozzle is not covered with kapton tape or some other material which can cool down because of the fan – not something you would want to happen. You can get a fan duct design from http://www.thingiverse.com/ which will direct the airflow towards the print.

Getting Help When in doubt, Google. More often than not, somebody on the Internet has already faced and subsequently solved the problem you’re currently experiencing. There is a thriving community on Facebook called ‘3D Printing – India Working Group’ that you can join. IRC chat for RepRap is also a good place to ask for help: http://dgit.in/1RfuOXf. Happy 3D printing! Built your own 3D printer? Send us your pictures to [email protected] and get featured here! Got any queries? Contact us @digitindia and we’ll get back to you ASAP. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 21

LOL Mania do

Two atoms were walking along the road when one of them said, “I think I lost an electron.” “Really,” the other replied. “Yep, I’m absolutely positive.”

Orderly chaos?

Tom Cruise once complained to NASA that its website was too disorganized and even helped in redesigning it. http://dgit.in/1KfDxaX

Get addicted!

We already showed you how to not be a pirate and go legit, here we’ll show you how to get hooked. By Elroy Desmond [email protected]

D

o you have access to high-speed broadband internet? Are you a massive aficionado of Movies, TV shows, and video games? Do you find yourself always on the hunt for quality content that you can consume in a jiffy? If you’ve answered yes to all the above questions, then congratulations, you are hooked to a drug so potent, coke dealers are shaking their heads in concern. Digital games and media have such a massive consumer base that the volume of sources through which “addicts” can gather and consume such content are limitless. While Google is always your friend for this, we’ve gathered some sources to placate your addiction without the hassle of having to sift through the mire of substandard content. After all, we prefer to get our hands on only the best stash.

the Movie Genome Project (just as Pandora’s is based on the Music Genome Project), which takes into account over 2,000 “genes” such as plot, genre, mood and setting. Jinni does not, however, rely 100 per cent on a computer-based system. It also attempts to incorporate a social element by letting you view your Facebook friends’ watch lists for a more personalised experience. Jinni’s main selling point is its incredibly detailed search tool. Hunt for new titles by supplying the tool with a mix of parameters including mood, plot, genre, time/ period, place/setting, and attitude. The quality and quantity of content on display is quite impressive. Quick fact I learnt using this tool: there are ZERO movies with both tags “Zombie” and “Thoughtprovoking.” Who would have thought?

How to stay hooked Trakt.tv

While services like Jinni focus on helping you find the right content, Trakt.tv offers users with an excellent watch-list tracking and TV schedule organizing tool. Sporting How to get hooked an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, the Jinni service endeavours to help TV binge Jinni is a TV and Movie recommendation watchers keep a keen eye on their conservice that fashions itself in the ilk of sumption habits. Trakt also supports Pandora (a popular music recommendaintegration with your PC/media centre tion service) for Movies and TV shows. Its (e.g., XBMC or Plex) or Smartphone via recommendation algorithm is based on apps like TeeVee (iOS) and SeriesGuide (Android). This saves you from the hassle of having to manually update your “watched” list. Add this to its intelligent recommendation system, and you can experience watching TV oldschool style with schedules and guides, instead of going on a ridiculous binge. Although Trakt.tv is a free ser“Are you kidding me? I paid for 1080p content so I wouldn’t have to see pixels!” vice, it does offer a premium

Movie and TV content


Just one more episode, man! You know you want to!

account that adds a bevy of useful features. Highlights include zero adverts, integration with third-party productivity apps such as iCal (for iOS users) and IFTTT (for iOS and Android), and early access to new features—or as some would call it, paying to beta test new features. (-_-)

Twee Sometimes, all you need is a simple app to help you track the progress of your favourite TV shows. Twee is an easy-to-use app that packs in a load of features with an interface that is, at best, not overly daunting to use. Its core functionality is centred on users making a list of TV shows and keeping a track of watched episodes by manually marking them as “watched”. It makes use of the tvdb.com database, which provides concise episode summaries for all popular TV shows. Some of Twee’s other features include multiple profile management (ideal for shared smart devices such as tablets or SmartTV sticks), trending lists, and widget support. The app also allows you to backup data, letting you share tracking lists between other devices. Twee is currently only available for Android.

iShows Like most popular paid apps, iShows showcases excellent design, in terms of

Unfathomable

The Earth’s deepest point equals 24.5 Empire State Buildings laid end to end from the surface. http://dgit.in/1EdLZiF

both functionality and aesthetics. At its core, the app is a beautifully designed tracking app packed with a host of underlying features. Save a list of all your favorite TV shows, and the app will notify you if and whenever new episodes are available. It also lets you mark episodes as watched so if you decide to pick up that old sitcom after a few months, you won’t have to sift through multiple episodes to figure out where you left off. Each episode summary is crisp and well-written, without spoiling the central plot. The app helps you discover new and trending TV shows, while also showing you recommendations from friends who are using the app. In addition, all your data is automatically backed up on iCloud, so you never have to forget which episode of FRIENDS you were on during your latest umpteenth run.

What to do after you’re hooked Tiii.me Tiii.me is an answer one important question that every TV lover asks: How many days should I take off from work to binge watch this show I have on my watch list? Just type in the name of the TV show, and the website will let you know just how many hours, days, and weeks it will take to watch it from start to the last released episode. If you’re feeling particularly languid, the website also allows you to enter multiple TV shows, providing an exact total estimate of time required. What is doesn’t provide is a good excuse to skip work for your next gargantuan TV marathon.

Gaming Content How to get hooked YouTube Reviewers Gaming-centric websites like IGN, Gamespot, Machinima, and Kotaku have always been the average gamer’s mainstay for news and reviews of video games. However, the tide has been turning a lot of late, and gamers everywhere have begun to hunt for other, more “unbiased” sources for video games reviews. Thus exploded the culture of YouTube video game commentators who cater to each and every game genre.

Did you know?

Bees can be used to detect bombs. More fun facts can be found here: http://dgit.in/1EdLZiF

While there are channels dedicated to video reviews such as GameTrailers and GamesRadar, as well as the obvious big names such as IGN and the like, YouTubers such as Total Biscuit (aka CynicalBrit) and Angry Joe have carved a name for themselves in the gaming videosphere. Total Biscuit’s (www.youtube.com/ user/TotalHalibut) extensive first-impressions videos of PC games—both mainstream and indie titles—and are laced with quality content. His in-depth analysis and PC-centric focus on games have made him one of the premier video game review personalities for PC gamers. Similarly, Angry Joe (www.youtube.com/user/ AngryJoeShow), with his no-holds-barred video reviews, explores AAA titles from all popular platforms. His videos have high production value and focus on the fun factor of games while ripping apart their obvious shortcomings. Other YouTubers you should check out for awesome gaming-related content are ProJared, for his crazy one-minute reviews, and SuperBunnyHop, for his articulate and extremely well-written video reviews, many of which come sprinkled with insightful comments on the current state of the video gaming scene.

How to stay hooked

Do

Use a cheat code, son. I won’t tell mom. Promise.

games when you take a look at the next site on our list.

What to do after you’re hooked Games Finder Ever finish a riveting game and find yourself addicted? Maybe you want to sample some more of that awesome gameplay/ genre/setting (whatever made that particular game special) but with a twist? Games Finder (http://gameslikefinder.com/) is the answer to your gaming recommendation needs. Let’s say you want to find games similar to Diablo 3. Simply type in the name and the site will churn out a list of related games. It does this by referring to a curated list of games, which is assessed by

HowLongToBeat Many a gamer have hesitated to pick up a new and exciting looking title simply because they thought it would take too long to finish. HowLongToBeat (http://www.howlongtobeat.com)helps you circumvent this problem by helping you estimate the time required to complete a video game. In this context, completion could mean anything between a speedrun to complete the single player story to an extensive completionist run, requiring you to 100% all available objectives including side quests and (often annoying) achievements. The site makes use of data gathered from thousands of gamers worldwide, ensuring these estimates are as accurate as possible. Create a list of all the games you’ve played. Add the one’s you’ve yet to finish in your backlog. Mark some favourites for a replay so you remember to return to them when you run out of good games to play. Just kidding! You’ll never run out of

“We should really do this “playing outside” thing more often.”

analysing the likes and dislikes of gamers who use the website. Games Finder also maintains in-depth reviews of popular games with support for user ratings, so you can make a wellinformed decision when it comes to picking up a new game. The site lists games from almost all popular platforms, so you are not restricted to PC-only recommendations if you want to find games similar to PC exclusives such as StarCraft 2. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 23

2 for the price of 4?

Audi has unveiled a sporting bicycle in Japan, priced at $19,650. http://dgit.in/1QZJhGx

do

Snazzy Apple

Apple is now selling a lightning dock for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus: http://dgit.in/1HezsgS

DIY:

RC Helicopter DO you want to build an RC helicopter? Did you think it was too hard? This article will set your thoughts straight. Nachiket Mhatre [email protected]

I

f you’re a geek worth his salt, chances are high that you may have dabbled with radio-controlled (RC) vehicles at some point in the past. It’s hard to resist a hobby encapsulating the best of electronic and mechanical engineering in a package that appeals to our innate love of toys. Not surprisingly, almost everyone showing up in the market for an RC helicopter invariably ends up buying cheap, toy-grade ones. Unfortunately, these cut-price Chinese offerings use cheap motors that are slow, inefficient, and don’t usually last more than a few dozen flights. Hobby-grade RC helicopters are expensive because almost half of the cost can be attributed to import duties. Prima facie, spending tens of thousands of rupees on hobby-grade versions seems to be the only


way to ensure sophistication and reliability. Unless, of course, you happen to be an intrepid geek willing to get his hands dirty with a screwdriver and soldering iron to build a hobby-grade RC helicopter. If you’re smart about where and how you import the constituent parts, it’s easy to escape ridiculous import duties and build an RC helicopter at a bargain.

When in Doubt, DIY This is exactly what we are going to achieve with this DIY guide. However, instead of providing a blueprint specific to any particular RC helicopter model, this guide aims to prime the reader on how to choose the right components along with a templatised step-by-step assembly guide , common to all single-rotor electric helicopters. This doesn’t cover nitro/petrolpowered or quad-rotor helicopters. The former for obvious reasons and the latter because quadcopters are about as

manoeuvrable and fun to fly as tractors. The guide also excludes coaxial or larger outdoor helicopters because these alternatives represent the two extremes of the cost spectrum. The idea is to avoid platforms that are ridiculously cheap and simple or outrageously expensive and complicated. Although we have narrowed down our project size to the category of a singlerotor micro RC helicopter, it still contains a baffling array of choices that are best tackled once we break down the basic constituent parts of an RC helicopter and understand their functions.

What Makes a Helicopter Tick? (1) Canopy: The lightweight outer body shell that protects the delicate innards and improves aerodynamics. (2) Frame: Made from either fibre-reinforced plastic or carbon fibre, the frame forms the skeleton that houses sensitive electronics as

Zapping to death!

DARPA’s new laser research boosts Airborne Death Rays. Read more at: http://dgit.in/1Aq7xgK

The outer body of the craft

The inner setup of the main motor

The tail assembly

The rotor head and electronic speed controllers

well as the mechanical components. (3) Skid landing gear: Crafted out of compliant shock absorbing material, this reduces the risk of expensive crashes during landing manoeuvres. (4) Main rotor: A pair of blades angled sharply to generate lift. They are mounted on a mechanically complicated assembly that allows a fine control over their angle of attack (pitch) to generate varying amount of lift. (5) Flybar: The second set of blades found on fixed-pitch helicopters. These are mechanically linked to the main rotor and automatically maintain and correct its pitch. (6) Rotor head: An extremely complicated mechanical solution that translates flight-control input

Big but light

Saturn, the ringed planet, is light enough to float on water (If you can find a tub that’s big enough!)

into precise changes to the main rotor orientation and pitch. It’s instrumental in controlling helicopters. (7) Main motor: Drives the main rotor to generate lift. (8) Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC): Electronics essential for achieving commutation and speed control in brushless motors. (9) Receiver/Control Unit: Incorporates the radio that receives user input signal from the transmitter. In micro RC helicopters, this also incorporates microcontrollers responsible for Collective Cyclic Pitch Mixing (CCPM). CCPM allows user inputs to be translated into complicated servo commands needed to achieve desired flight control. The assembly also houses gyroscope(s), which is crucial to maintain stability. (10) Servomechanism: Electronic control system that’s connected to the rotor head by pushrods. These are responsible for conveying user inputs into adjustments to the rotor head to achieve proper flight control. (11) Tail assembly: Consists of the tail boom, motor, rotor, and rudder. This essentially provides compensating torque to nullify the natural torque generated by the main rotor. Now that you know what makes an RC helicopter tick, it’s time to decide which type of single-rotor RC helicopter you prefer. Choosing the smaller micro RC form factor brings down cost considerably because the gyroscope is integrated into the main receiver/control unit. The reduced weight and a relatively small amount of torque produced by the main rotor also mean that you can get away with much simpler and hence cheaper tail rotor assembly. Modernisation of the hobby has made some of the choices redundant. The widespread adoption of the superior, interferencefree 2.4GHz radios rendering glitchy FM radios obsolete is a prime example. However, fundamental options such as the binary choice between fixed and collective pitch helicopters still remains the most important consideration.

Fixed or Collective Pitch? A fixed pitch implementation employs a flybar assembly to automatically control the pitch angle of the main rotor. It inherently makes the helicopter self-correcting

Do

and hence easy to fly. But it also reduces the responsiveness and overall manoeuvrability as a consequence. On the other hand, collective pitch helicopters are capable of what’s known as 3D flight – the ability to perform gravity-defying manoeuvres such as inverted flight, barrel rolls, and multiple loops. However, the lack of flybar-assisted dampening makes them twitchy and harder to control for beginners. The additional degree of motion also calls for sophisticated six-axis gyroscopes that increase cost. A fixed pitch helicopter requires a four-channel radio controller, where each radio channel corresponds to conveying input signals to a motor, actuating servomechanism, or manipulating any electronic switch. In a four-channel setup, these channels control (1) main motor for generating lift through the main rotor, (2) tail rotor to control yaw, (3) fore and aft cyclic pitch through the rotor head, and (4) left and right cyclic roll again using the rotor head. Collective pitch versions need more expensive six-channel radios for additional pitch and gyro gain/setting control, apart from an extra servo mechanism for controlling the main rotor pitch angle.

Brushless or Coreless Motors? Deciding between regular permanent magnet DC motors, coreless, or brushless variants is the next most important choice. Regular DC motors are good enough for RC cars, but they can neither handle the high amperage values of RC helicopter circuits nor do they possess a sufficient power-to-weight ratio. As the name suggests, the rotor of a coreless motor lacks an iron core, making it incredibly lightweight. The reduced inertia allows it to accelerate faster and achieve a significantly higher RPM than a regular DC motor. Despite their advantages, coreless motors employ brushes to transfer current to a rapidly spinning armature. This reduces efficiency and limits both power and torque capability. Brushless motors, on the other hand, involve permanent magnets moving around a fixed armature. This is a highly efficient arrangement that doesn’t depend Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 25

The same pigments do

A new study shows that pigments found in eyes of octopi is also found in their skin. http://dgit.in/1Q2D36D

on brushes for commutation. Instead, it replaces them with an Electronic Speed Controller (ESC). The digital timing and stepping control not only increases input precision, but it also allows the motor to achieve ridiculously high power and torque output, which is only limited by the thermal ceiling. However, the single most important factor going for brushless motors is durability. The lack of friction and the ability to dissipate heat better significantly increases the lifespan of a brushless motor. The improved efficiency, lightness, and durability of a brushless motor easily offset the additional weight of an ESC.

Choosing the Right Platform When it comes to choosing parts for your DIY helicopter project, it’s important to remember that while this approach gives a near infinite freedom to customise your helicopter, you’re still bound to a modular platform determined by the brand and model. In other words, it’s imperative to decide upon a make/model and order the constituent parts accordingly. Helicopters are distinguished according to their size, which typically ranges anywhere between 120 and 700. The number represents the radius of the main rotor. Greater the number, the larger the helicopter. Since we are primarily interested in micro RC helicopters, it’s better to stick to platforms that are smaller than 200. There are three main players in the micro RC helicopter market. Walkera and E-flite represent value for money offerings, whereas Align products deliver high performance and quality at a commensurately higher premium. The extra money you pay for Align products pays off in terms of powerful ESCs and brushless motors combined with precision mechanical components that allow these micro helicopters to perform advanced acrobatic manoeuvres out of the box. Those seeking to cut their teeth on less expensive, but equally capable gear from Walkera and E-flite can build their own helicopters from $100 to $300, with another $50 to $300 for the transmitter, LiPo battery pack, and a battery recharger. 26 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

Little Genius

An 11 year old student recently graduated from college saying, “There was nothing to it”: http://dgit.in/1IQNGKD

It would be deceptively easy to fill up the remainder of the issue with the virtues of micro RC helicopter models such as Align T-REX 150, E-flite Blade 130X, or Walkera Genius CP followed by a step-bystep process of assembling each one. Since that isn’t feasible, the next best option is to visit a micro RC helicopter specialist e-store such as Wow Hobbies [http://www. wowhobbies.com] to choose one according to your needs and budget. Once you have zeroed in on a make/ model of choice, you can obtain user manuals, exploded-view blueprints, and other associated schematics from RTF-Heli [http://www.rtf-heli.com/Downloads.html]. These documents will also give you a complete idea of the parts needed to build a helicopter from scratch. It must be noted that you’re better off buying the same parts from China-based sellers on Ebay (international), most of whom ship to India for free. Unless, of course, you have a benevolent uncle who would agree to haul helicopter parts for you.

Putting It All Together Now that we have the helicopter parts and schematics at hand, all you need is a set of watchmaker’s screwdrivers (you’ll mostly need Phillips PH000, PH00, or PH0 sizes), soldering kit (iron, solder, and flux), modelling or thin-nosed pliers, heat-shrink tubing, and double-sided tape. The adjoining images serve as a step-by-step assembly guide for a Walkera 4#3B micro RC helicopter. This is a fixed pitch helicopter, so it has a more complicated rotor head with an additional flybar assembly. Considering the rapid advances in micro RC helicopters and subsequent reduction in prices, chances are that you’re going to choose a more sophisticated collective pitch helicopter. This will add a servo, but the rotor head assembly will be a lot less complicated. At any rate, the assembly instructions imparted here apply to all types of micro RC helicopters being considered by this guide. The mild variations will be restricted to the position of basic parts and polarity of some electrical connections. However, that shouldn’t be an issue since you already have access to requisite blueprints for your particular helicopter model.

Read the manual for the rotor head assembly

(1)

Depicting the rotor head assembly would be moot, because it varies with each model and manufacturer. You can’t really mix and match parts for a rotor head, so you’re essentially going to buy it as a kit. The idea is to assemble it according to the instructions provided with the package or the same depicted in the schematics. The rotor head assembly itself is attached to the primary shaft using a small pin. The shaft then eases snugly into the helicopter frame through a pair of bearings. The position of the bearings and shaft will vary according to your helicopter model, but it should roughly resemble what’s depicted in the image.

Main rotor gear assembly

Attaching the rotor gear with a pin

(2)

Attach the main rotor gear to the part of the primary shaft protruding from the bottom of the frame. Now secure the shaft into the gear using a retention pin as shown in the image.

(3)

Now to put together the tail rotor assembly and attach it to the frame. Install the tail motor in the tail rotor housing, screw the rudder onto the

The need is back

EA debuts a teaser for the latest NFS game, a reboot of the Underground series. Watch it here: http://dgit.in/1FFqCMD

Mad max on Mushrooms

A video mashup of Mad Max:Fury Road with Mario Kart is making the rounds on the internet: http://dgit.in/1SrAu1W

servo pushrods to the designated control points on the rotor head. The number of servos, their orientation and mounting points, and where they connect to the rotor head depends upon your specific model. Consult the schematics for correct assembly. Tail rotor assembly

Do

collective pitch helicopters. Certain units are meant to be oriented horizontally, whereas the one in Walkera 4#3B works as intended only when fixed vertically to the frame.

(5)

Add main rotor blades, the skid landing gear, and the main motor. The orientation of all these parts will be more or less similar across all manufacturers. Place the battery tray carefully in position

(7)

The battery tray is usually located at the bottom to obviously house the battery pack and also to tighten up the centre of gravity.

Attaching the tail rotor to the frame

Attaching the main rotor blades

Soldering the tail motor connector

Assembling all the parts together Add the main motor with the rest of the body

Don’t mess up the specified polarity

housing, and screw the entire housing onto the tail rotor shaft. Make sure you pass the tail motor wire through the shaft beforehand. This is where you’ll need a soldering iron to solder the tail motor male connector to the wiring. Stick to the polarity specified by the manufacturer.

(4)

Attach servo-mechanisms to the helicopter frame. Connect the

(6)

This would be a good time to add the brains of the helicopter – the receiver/control unit. It’s best secured onto the chassis using double sided tape. Extra care must be taken to ensure that the unit is secured tightly onto the frame in the proper orientation and position recommended by the manufacturer. That’s because the unit also houses a sensitive gyroscope responsible for keeping the helicopter airborne. Getting this wrong will render the bird uncontrollable, especially in the case of complicated

(8)

Connect the main motor and tail motor leads with respective Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC), which in turn are hooked up to the receiver/control unit. Do the same for the battery connector. The exact nature of the connections will be specified by the manufacturer.

The completed RC helicopter

(9) The servo mechanism on the helicopter frame

The receiver/control unit

Install the canopy. Throw in a battery, pair up the transmitter, and you’re ready to fly. Congratulations, you’re a bonafide aeromodeller now. You may look down at toy RC peasants in disdain if you please. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 27

Self healing buildings

A researcher comes up with limestoneproducing bacteria that can heal cracks in buildings. http://dgit.in/1HnkdET

do

Blurring the blur!

Microsoft Hyperlapse, the technology that smoothens out your shaky shots! http://dgit.in/1S1ovYA

Pirate No More What you need to DO to go legit Nikhil Pradhan [email protected]

P

iracy is not an alien concept in India. In fact, it’s widely accepted as an acceptable behaviour by society, if not the law. One of the prime reasons for this is that even though over the last two decades technology has permeated to every facet of our lives, giving us multiple devices to enjoy content on, we still face issues like availability, insane pricing, inconsistent quality, Internet service issues, etc. In comparison, it’s easier to just head on over to your favourite torrent site and queue things for download. However, over the past two or so years, multiple services have popped up that make it easier, simpler and more affordable to just go legit and not worry about all the hazards that piracy brings. In fact, some of these services are so good and tuned towards the needs of the Indian consumer that they make piracy redundant. Some of these services that we’ll talk about haven’t been officially launched in India but still do a great job of letting you access content that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

Going Legal: Movies & TV shows

Image courtesy @invokeanand

Movies and TV shows are probably the most popular type of content when it comes to piracy. A lot of times Indian TV

A censored scene from Seinfeld on FX India 28 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

channels are themselves to blame because of the awful gap between episodes airing in the U.S./U.K. and when they’re aired here. Another ridiculous thing that’s becoming more and more common here is the stupid amount of censorship on TV which destroys any semblance of enjoyment that you can get from a show. With respect to movies, while most blockbusters get launched here, many interesting, smaller movies don’t and you might as well forget about most R-rated movies. If you’re a fan of international movies and TV shows and want to stream them rather than buy them outright, Netflix is

Netflix isn’t available in our country yet

for you. You’ll also like Netflix if you’re more comfortable with the idea of paying a fixed rental every month and getting access to an entire library of movies and TV shows instead of buying or renting movies one by one. Of course, Netflix hasn’t been launched in India and if you try to access the website normally, you’ll get an error message like this one: To access Netflix in India, you’ll need to use a VPN connection which sounds more intimidating than it actually is. We’ve already written about how you can do so, and once you have your Netflix account up and running, you’ll be able to enjoy movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and TV shows like Breaking Bad without worrying about censorship in any form. After a month long free trial, Netflix will cost you $8.99 (`550 approx.) every month, which will be charged automatically to your credit card. While that amount is higher than what you pay on average for

a DTH connection, Netflix also gives you much more. You can watch any show at any time and the in-browser player will always remember what part of which episode you last watched. Netflix also has a robust, built-in recommendation service that understands your watching habits and tastes and suggests movies and TV shows. The Netflix player is also intelligent in the way it uses your broadband and automatically improves or reduces video quality based on your Internet connection. As a result, you will rarely be stuck watching a progress bar buffering as you often do in other video streaming services. Netflix has a couple of drawbacks as well. The biggest one that applies to Indian users is the fact that Netflix hasn’t been officially launched in India. Even though you can access it through VPN, the legality of that is often a point of debate. Also, if your favourite VPN service uses PPTP or L2TP protocols, then your ISP can block it. Another drawback is that Netflix’s library of new movies isn’t all that great and you may find some movies that are only available to rent on DVD (not feasible for Indian users). Netflix also doesn’t have

Netflix features exclusive content as well

access to HBO content, so if you want to watch Game of Thrones, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Overall though, Netflix is the best current option for fans of international movies and TV shows, and is relatively inexpensive considering the library.

Okay then!

‘Science’ and ‘Shit’ are both derived from the ancient word ‘Skheid,’ which means to seperate.

If you don’t care much about Netflix’s library and want a more homegrown option, then you should look at Spuul. Spuul is a better option overall when compared to competing streaming options because of its library of free and paid movies, its simple interface and affordable pricing plans. If you like to watch plenty of Indian movies and want to access them on your phone, tablet and PC, Spuul lets you do that without any issues. You also get to download movies to your mobile devices using the app and you can stream the movies on both your mobile devices and your PC’s browser as well. Spuul charges `300 for a month long subscription and `3,000 for a year long one after which you get to access its library of premium movies. However, one great thing about Spuul is that it also has a sizeable library of free movies including some pretty new titles like Ankhon Dekhi, Ship of Theseus and B.A. Pass.

Spuul offers a big library of free Bollywood movies

The biggest issue we had with Spuul was that apart from a few filters, there aren’t many ways to navigate the library. Also, unlike Netflix, Spuul doesn’t have any curated sections, at least none that I’ve come across so far. With so many movies in its library, Spuul should quickly plug in a recommendation/curation service. Spuul also compares unfavourably to BigFlix when it comes to the number of non-Bollywood Indian movies, which may turn off prospective users. There are a bunch of other sources from which you can legally buy, rent or stream movies. Websites and apps like Google Play Movies, Bigflix and Hotstar also have libraries you can browse through and search for the movies you’d like to watch.

Crazy Car

Have to 30k to spare? This insanely awesome car is up for sale. Which one? http://dgit.in/1HpXXx4

Going Legal: Music If movie studios have been hit hard by piracy, then music labels have been ravaged, flayed, boiled in oil and left to die in the desert. Yes, most music piracy is bolstered by the fact that it’s dead easy to pirate music. You can search for the name of any song along with an ‘MP3’ tag on Google and chances are you’ll come across a source to download the song for free. Pirating music is also easy because individual songs are small in size and even downloading an album over a 2Mbps connection barely takes more than 10 or 15 minutes. A lot of the blame for music piracy can be attributed to the heads of music labels, who, in all their wisdom are yet to embrace the ways of the Internet and still love their ridiculous pricing policies. Also, unless you happen to be a big Taylor Swift or Beyonce fan in India, you will face the problem of delayed international launches and, in many cases, you just won’t find an album you want for a reasonable price. As with movies, streaming has emerged as a medium which makes it easy for consumers to go legal. Rdio is a big name in the global music streaming market and it launched its services in India earlier this year, immediately becoming the best repository of international music available in the country. We have been using Rdio for over two weeks now, and have been so impressed that some of us have signed up for its monthly subscription plan that costs just `119 a month. If you’ve been waiting for Spotify to launch its services in India, then we’d suggest you try out Rdio because of its vast library of international music that ranges from classic artists like Black Sabbath, to new ones like Kendrick Lamar. I was thrilled to find even lesser known artists like Shiner and The Concretes and their entire discographies available for streaming. Rdio is available as both a mobile/tablet app and a web player and once you’ve signed up for a premium account, you can either download an unlimited amount of music to your phone in whatever bitrate you want (ranging from 64 to 320kbps), stream music over the Internet or do both. Rdio allows you to stream music for free as well but you have to deal with certain restrictions like ads and the ability to only play artist stations and not a particular album.

Do

Rdio is great for you if you don’t want to deal with manually organising your music and want immediate 24x7 access to whatever music you want. However, if you want the ability to download songs on your PC and organize your music yourself, then you’ll find Rdio lacking. One thing you must keep

Rdio has a vast library of international music

in mind is that signing up with a streaming service doesn’t mean that you own the content you download. Therefore, if you ever unsubscribe from the service, you will lose any content you’ve downloaded. Another drawback of Rdio is that even though it has tried its best to assemble a sizeable library of Indian music, it doesn’t match up to the one that Saavn has. Yes, if you’re a fan of music from Indian artists and like Bollywood soundtracks, then Saavn is the service you should opt for. Saavn has a very good free plan in which you have to listen to ads every so often but are not restricted from listening to music. However, if you want an ad-free experience and want to download unlimited music to your phone, you need to sign up for Saavn Pro for which you’ll have to pay about `240 per month. So, to Pirate or not to Pirate? You don’t need us to tell you that piracy is illegal and, in most cases, hurts the content creators. However, we also know that certain reasons, make it easier to pirate. That fact though is changing, and the point of this story is to help open your eyes to a lot of ways you can avoid piracy and still enjoy content easily and without paying through your nose. To sum up, if you’ve been thinking about going “legal”, this is a great time to do it. Do you think piracy is God’s work & “going legal” is the devil’s? Let us know about what do you think about piracy @digitindia Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 29

Paper thin TVs!

No more pesky ads! do

LG has unveiled a TV screen that is so thin it can be stuck onto walls using magnets: http://dgit.in/1JCtXO9

AdBlock Plus, the popular ad blocking extension launched on Android in the form of a browser: http://dgit.in/1AmLisf

10 things to DO with Windows 10 Summer 2015 (whatever that is) is just around the corner – that’s when you can get your hands on the official release of Windows 10. Can’t wait that long? Download the latest 10074 Build because here are 10 cool things you can do with it right away! Kshitij Sobti [email protected]

Upgrade for free

Organise yourself with virtual workspaces

One of the first things you can do with Windows 10 is to get it for free. Microsoft seems to be intent on getting as many people as possible running Windows 10 as soon as possible. To enable this they are offering — for the first time ever — the new version of Windows as a free upgrade to anyone running not only Windows 8 / 8.1 but also users of Windows 7. Microsoft is also coming up with “attractive” upgrade offers for those running illicit / non-genuine / pirated versions of Windows.

Linux and OS X users will be well versed with the concept of virtual desktops / workspaces. This feature allows users to group related windows together and then switch between these groups of windows just as you can alt-tab between individual windows right now. The implementation of virtual Each group gets its own virtual screen area desktops in Windows 10 allows users to create new allowing you to have different sessions active at a desktops. time while focusing on only one. If you are doing a couple of things at once, you can segregate the windows at a time. For instance, one virtual workspace could have your photo collection and a photo editor open, while another is running your work email and a word document, and yet another could have your music player running.

1

3

Keep updating for free With the notable exceptions of Windows XP SP2, and Windows 8.1, Windows updates have usually just been about bug fixes and security patches. With Windows 10, that is about to change forever. Microsoft will continually release not only bug fixes to Windows, but also new features through Windows Update. Users who would prefer to run a stable version of Windows with just bug and security fixes can opt for a slower update track, while those willing to experiment more can opt for a faster or even a beta release track that can give them features that are still under development. The aim here is that once you purchase a device run-

2 30 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

ning Windows 10, you never need to purchase a Windows upgrade for that device. The current Windows 10 preview build occasionally releases entirely new builds of Windows with major changes through Windows Update. Windows 10 will give Microsoft developer evangelist users a choice to be more referred to Windows 10 as the ‘last conservative with updates. version of Windows’. Windows 10 could be around for a very long time, looking and working quite differently in a few years, bringing in new features. All you need to do to upgrade your OS to the latest release of the installed Windows 10 and run regular Windows Updates.

All aboard the hoverboard!

A Canadian inventor has won the Guiness Record for hovering the longest time over a lake: http://dgit.in/1Kba2nt

Before the dawn of man

Stone tools dated to be 3.3 million years old have been discovered in Kenya http://dgit.in/1cPz5S1

Do

Buy good-old Windows Apps from the Store Windows 8 introduced a new store, but the store was overly restrictive. It would only offer the new ModernUI applications in the store that were introduced for the first time with Windows 8 and these applications would only be available from the Windows Store. For Windows 10, Microsoft has already released developer tools that allow for the creation of ‘traditional’ Win32 apps — the kind The Windows 10 store will allow that ran on Windows 7 and below, not the new users to install more traditional Modern / Metro apps — that can be sold on desktop apps. the Windows store. You’ll still be able to install and run traditional applications as always, a feature which is absolutely essential. What Microsoft needs to do though, is a better job of managing the store than they have done so far. The Windows store is rife with fraudulent and fake products that often remain available for far too long.

4

Keep your system clean with virtualised application installs With new apps available on the Windows store, there is always the worry that poorly coded apps, or malware will damage the user’s computer. Also, installing and uninstalling applications leave a thick layer of digital garbage all over your system. The good news here is that apps installed from the Windows store, even the traditional Win32 apps, will all be installed and run in isolation. Windows will manage how and where they write their data to the registry and file system, giving each app a virtualised view of these resources. When you uninstall an application installed using the Windows store, it will leave no trace behind. So go ahead, install from the Windows Store and be sure the app will be gone just as easily as it was installed.

5

The new XBox app for Windows 10 allows gamers to message friends, track gameplay and achievements and more.

Get back into PC gaming With the Xbox console making money for Microsoft not only from the sale of the console and its accessories, but also from each game, it’s easy to see why they abandoned the PC as a gaming platform. Halo 3 wasn’t released on Windows, and it’s not controversial to say that Games for Windows Live never got accepted by gamers. Microsoft seems to have had a change of heart, and are trying to win back PC gamers, perhaps as a preemptive strike against SteamOS. With Windows 10, Microsoft will include a host of gaming features such as the ability to stream Xbox One games to Windows (hopefully the other way around as well), and to record and share in-game videos.

7

Run ‘Modern’ apps in a window Microsoft tried its best to counter some of the worst limitations of the Windows Modern apps by releasing their Windows 8.1 update, however, they are still far from coming up with a comfortable experience on desktops and laptops. As expected, Microsoft has gone for more of a middle road in Windows 10, with the ability to run Modern apps in resizable windows. They are also making these apps, for all intents and purposes indistinguishable from traditional Windows Win32 apps. (Other than the fact that such apps still can’t be sold or distributed outside the Windows store.)

6

The Windows 10 Weather ‘Modern UI’ app running in a window.


Google all the way do

Google has indicated pssibilities of eradicating human driving in 5 years. http://dgit.in/1FqCzW8

GeekGyan

The first stage of the Saturn V rocket was fueled by kerosene. It produced 215 million hp and got 5 inches of elevation to the gallon.

Get Cortana into doing your stuff Windows 10 includes DirectX 12, but it will take some time before a majority of games support it.

Take advantage of your hardware with DirectX 12 DirectX 12 is part of the latest trend in graphics API, which is to reduce the layers of software and management between the game engine and the graphics hardware, making console-like efficiency possible even on PCs. Depending on the game and graphics hardware, switching to DirectX 12 can have a moderate-to-huge impact on game performance and quality. Since Xbox One already has some of the features of DirectX 12, it’s likely to bring a bigger boost to PC gaming performance than it will to console games. Like DirectX 10 was exclusive to Vista and above, DirectX 12 will be exclusive to Windows 10 and above; and so if you want to make the most of your hardware in games, you will need to upgrade to Windows 10.

Windows has had support for voice recognition via Windows Speech Recognition since Windows Vista, but it is only in Windows 10 that it comes with some form of personality; with integration into the OS, and with an immediately accessible and usable interface. Cortana will be familiar to those with Windows Phones, so it’s unlikely you’ve ever used it. It is Microsoft’s alternative to Google Now, and Apple’s Siri. It is a voice-activated assistant that can respond to simple voice commands such as setting reminders, getting factual information etc. With Windows 10, this kind of functionality is finally available to PC users.

8

Switch between a tablet and desktop UI anytime with Continuum While Windows 8 tried to converge the tablet and desktop form factors, it ended up unsuitable for either. Tablet users still had the desktop to deal with occasionally, and desktops users had to frequently deal with a clumsy tablet interface. Windows 10 aims to do a better job with Continuum, which allows Windows to adapt its interface to the current state of the device. Plug in a keyboard into a Windows tablet, and it will switch from a touch-based UX to a desktop. Connect a TV, and the same device can show a TV-specific UI as well. Even Windows 10 Mobile will have the ability to show a desktop UI when docked, and a TV-centric UI when connected to a TV. This is something KDE community and Canonical have been working on for their respective desktop environments.

9


Cortana currently isn’t available in India, but hopefully it should be there by launch.

Cortana will also be extendable by Windows apps, allowing for possible integration with third party applications. In future updates, it won’t be a surprise if you are able to control most of the applications installed with the assistance of Cortana.

10

As cheap as it gets

Motorola has earned the ‘economical’ tag deservedly. http://dgit.in/1EWUO1R

LOL Mania

One atom told another, “I think I’ve lost an electron.” Äre you sure?” I’m absolutely positive.”

Do

The Android Dilemma:

10 problems that need fixing Android is the largest computing platform in the world and because of that, it also has a bunch of problems that need to be understood. By Nikhil Pradhan [email protected]

Let’s begin this story with some stats: • Android’s global market share in 2014: 76.6% • No. of Android smartphones shipped in 2014: over 1 billion • No. of active Android users in a month: over 1 billion • No. of apps available on the Play Store: 1.5 million The above numbers represent something massive, something reminiscent of Microsoft during its heydey. They also prove beyond doubt that Android is the single most popular mobile platform today. On the flipside, Android does exhibit certain inherent flaws. Many of these flaws exist because of nobody’s fault, neither Google’s nor Android as an OS; they exist because of Android’s size and reach and are therefore, unavoidable. The point of this story is to highlight these flaws, which, we believe, can be improved upon in time. To sum it up, the flaws do not lie within Android itself, but rather arise because of where Android is at its current moment. Still on the same page? Then let’s go.

es in existence globally, only 21% of which ran the latest Android version at that time. Of course, the same fragmentation that can be a bane for developers, is a boon for consumers because it means that they get access to a wider range of devices for all markets. Fragmentation is an issue that gives birth to other problems facing Android, problems that Google should tackle (and have begun to tackle).

Fixing fragmentation: Forks The most immediate way that Android manufacturers try to differentiate their devices from others is with customized user interfaces. These interfaces don’t just

The Fragmentation Problem Fragmentation is one of the biggest headaches that Google has to deal with. What this means is that there is such a vast array of Android devices with different features that it becomes difficult for Google or Android developers to efficiently release software for them. Open Signal states that in eight months of 2014 alone, there were 18,796 different Android devic-

A chart showing the fragmentation of Android.

change the way the phone’s UI looks but also the way you use the phone. Prime examples of these are Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense and CyanogenMod. Now whether these are true ‘forks’ of Android is a debate for another day. What matters right now is that these interfaces present a bunch of different faces of Android to the end-user. If a layperson previously owned the original Motorola Moto G bought the Huawei Honor 6, you can’t blame them if they’re stumped by the UI, despite being on Android. This confusion is further intensified by the numerous homebrewn core apps that Android manufacturers bundle with their devices. If, for instance, someone owned an HTC phone and liked BlinkFeed, they’d be disappointed if they didn’t find it in an Android phone from another manufacturer. Google also has no control over the way, or the time in which these homebrewn apps are updated to stay perfectly compatible with newer versions of Android. Other times these apps function as pure bloatware (such as ChatOn or LenovoNQ). The Solution: Google is already trying to mitigate the effects of software and UI fragmentation in a couple of ways. One, with the help of the Google Now launcher, users get the experience of Lollipop on any Android phone. Two, Google also appears committed to its line-up of Nexus devices so that there’s a device in the market that runs Android the way Google expects it to be run. Unfortunately, Google’s device sales are nowhere near that of companies like Samsung, HTC and LG. Therefore,Google Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 33

Orcish charms! do

Here’s a first look at Orgrim, the enthralling star from the upcoming WoW film: http://dgit.in/1HdTMiw

Mars just got printed

SpaceX, owned by tycoon Elon Musk has created some breathtaking posters about life on Mars: http://dgit.in/1B7GtOl

has to work with manufacturers to weed out the above mentioned issues.

Update delays A direct repercussion of the above problem is that a majority of Android users are never on the latest Android update. This is because even though Google makes the updates available to everyone, the manufacturers have to make the update conform to their respective custom UIs or forks. Depending on the company, and the handset, the delay may be for a week, a month or, never at all. As a result, Android users miss out on a lot of benefits and critical bug fixes for the system. To get an idea of how serious this issue is, take a look at the pie chart from the Android developers dashboard which shows that by the first week of April, only 5.4% of Android phones were on Lolipop, an update that was released in the first half of November last year. The chart also shows that nearly 20% of Android phones are still on a version of Jelly Bean that was released in October of 2012. In comparison, about 73.2% of iOS users are currently using iOS 8 or later, less than seven months after the update was made available. Of course, it’s worth noting here that iOS had just under 15% of the market share in 2014, as opposed to Android’s 81.5%, so the problem is bound to be magnified in the latter’s case. Different manufacturers use different user-interfaces for their menus.

The Solution: As with the previous point, Google is tackling this issue, primarily by bringing all of its core apps, under the purview of the Play Store. This ensures that the core apps at least are updated regardless of fragmentation. None of the above is enough to deal with this issue. Google needs to take the risk of angering its partners and take a harder stand on updates beacuse ultimately, it’s the user who will suffer.

Security

The Google Now launcher unifies Android’s UI across multiple forks of the OS 34 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

Security has always been a kind of bogeyman for Android because the threat is blown completely out of proportion. As we saw with Windows, Android’s presence is so large that it’s bound to be a big target for all manner of virus, malware

Unbelievable

The San people of Africa today use the same set of tools that were found in a cave, dated 44,000 years ago. http://dgit.in/1Khjj0t

Too light?

This new lightphone costs $100. But is it worth it? http://dgit.in/1FvVot0

Do

and security vulnerabilities. One of the most evident security problems stems from the staggered update cycle that we mentioned earlier and it has but one solution: Android phone manufacturers need to step up their game and deliver updates ASAP. Another issue is the presence of third party app stores and the ability to install apps directly using apk files. Yes, complaining about this issue is like complaining about getting fat while your diet only consists of cheese burst pizzas and it’s possible to keep your Android device perfectly secure by only installing apps from trustworthy sources and clicking on weird All of Google’s core apps are now present on the Play Store, pushing for a more consistent links on the Internet. However, mali- experience cious apps were discovered on the suite even if just to alleviate its users’ worPlay Store itself as recently as two managers and employees who have been ries, just like Microsoft did with its Securimonths ago. Things turn even greyer with trained to manage iOS and BB. ty Essentials suite. Better yet, manufacturad-networks on websites triggering apk ers need to be forced to push updates. download pop-ups. The Solution: Google is taking the right In some cases however, Google is step by introducing Android for Work. directly to blame, as in the case of a WebWith Android for Work, users can comEnterprise acceptance View bug uncovered earlier this year pletely separate their official and personal Because of all the above problems, which affects all Android devices that run work on their phone. It allows you to creAndroid is not very popular among enterOS versions before 4.4. Who’s to blame ate a work profile governed by your comprises. Even though Google has released here? Google or manufacturers? pany’s IT policy and at the same time stay the Android for Work app/platform for away from your personal profile - much enterprises, there are still some issues at The Solution: Google’s decision to bring its like having 2 phones in one. play. Android for Work still requires comcore apps into the Play Store ecosystem The most important thing here is more panies to set up an Enterprise Mobility has made them easier to update and patch IT departments opening up to accepting Management system so that IT managers irrespective of the operating system verAndroid devices as part of their BYOD can control the devices. Because Apple sion. It does need to improve oversight on policy. Things are getting progressively and Blackberry have a considerable lead the Play Store though. easier for Android now that many popular over Android in enterprise acceptance, With more and more malware being EMMs from Blackberry (BES), VMWare companies that have already spent money directed at Android, it wouldn’t be crazy (Airwatch), SAP, Citrix, IBM (MaaS360), in establishing an IT policy with iOS and for Google to push out its own security MobileIron and SOTI support Android BB in mind. This further extends to IT for Work. Maybe they need to emulate Samsung’s Knox platform.

The ‘iOS-first apps’ problem

A pie-chart that highlights the seriousness of Android’s fragmentation issues.

Android has long since overtaken iOS in number of apps in the app store. The Play Store also beats the App Store in the number of developers with almost 4 lakh developers making Android apps as opposed to under 3 lakhs in Apple’s stable. However, iOS is still the preferred platform for development. According to Quartz, an analysis of start-ups showed that about 90% of them were developing apps for iOS, 45% were developing for both iOS and Android while only 10% Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 35

Fun Fact do

14% of Google’s workforce hasn’t gone to college after they found those test scores to be worthless as a criteria for hiring.

Front Door Caller ID

Introducing Peeple, a camera and sensor that attaches to your front door peephole. http://dgit.in/1KhlCAK

The ‘Resource Hunger’ problem

were developing exclusively for Android. Popular apps like Snapchat, Vine, Mailbox and Pinterest debuted on iOS and were only launched on Android after a significant amount of time had passed. New and popular apps like Periscope and Meerkat are also only available on iOS. This trend also extends to popular games like Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Cut the Rope 2. One of the big reasons for the above trend is that developers tend to earn more money from their apps through iOS downloads. According to an AppAnnie report, developers made 60% more revenue from their iOS apps than from Android. Developers of the critically praised game, Monument Valley also revealed that 95% of Android gamers had pirated the game. Apart from piracy and revenue, one other reason some app developers prefer iOS over Android is app discovery. App curation in iOS is much better than on Android. The Solution: With Android becoming more popular and western markets reaching saturation, developers will soon flock to it as well. Better curation of the Play Store would also help. Piracy is a more complex problem but Google has the ability to exploit its own ad network to offer app developers other streams of income that are more reliable, prompting developers to go for an ad-supported approach.

The Storage problem Most budget Android phones in the market today offer 8GB or 16GB of storage, along with MicroSD card support. Now, many users believe that because of the external storage support, their storage needs will be met but that’s not entirely the truth. Android itself takes up about 36 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

40% of the internal storage space and on phones that don’t run Lollipop, you can’t install apps on external storage. Also, if you’ve got personal data such as music and photos on the external card, Android doesn’t let apps modify that information, rendering your microSD card completely useless and leaving you reliant on the low internal storage capacity of your device. The Solution: Google has identified the storage issue and Lollipop allows thirdparty apps full control over the external storage. However, you’re still unable to install apps on the microSD card directly. Google should be able to identify a process that would allow users to install apps on external storage without hampering performance and it’s not like piracy will be affected either way.

There is a general feeling that Android phones, unless super-powered, tend to be resource hungry and often suffer from performance problems. This issue tends to be heavily anecdotal just as we saw when the 1st gen Motorola Moto G got the Android Lollipop update. While many Moto G users didn’t have any issues with the update, some complained that their Moto Gs had slowed down considerably and had even started crashing. Much of this evidence is anecdotal of course, but there’s an obvious performance difference between, say, a similarly specced iOS device and an Android one. The problem is that device manufacturers boast of awesome specs on paper, but hide the specs that matter, such as RAM speed, thermal throttling, etc. The above issue is not Android’s fault and is similar to the issue one faces when purchasing a Windows PC. Unless you have deep and detailed knowledge of specs, it’ll be quite hard to adjust expectations based on reported specs alone. Another major issue with Android phones is RAM management. The reason why you’re already seeing Android phones with 3GB of RAM is because of

Civilization gets a sequel Sci-fi bestseller Civilization: Beyond Earth expands its reach; sets out to the oceans. http://dgit.in/1Hp1Hw5

the former’s garbage collection process. Android’s overall efficiency depends on how its unused memory, freed up after an app is closed, is recycled into the usable memory pool. Android tends to stack this unused memory for a time after which it recycles it wholesale and in order to do that, it needs a large quantity of free, usable memory without which the recycling process slows down the entire system. Both the Dalvik Runtime (default in Android phones before Lollipop) and ART runtime (default in Lollipop era phones) use similar, non-compacting garbage collection methods, so the above issue will remain and you need Android devices with greater RAM storage.

GooglezillabyRodrigo

The Solution: Google has tied up with some manufacturers to give consumers and the market an idea of what the ideal and minimum Android device should be with programs such as Nexus and Android One. With respect to the garbage collection process, the reason Android sticks with this system is that this process saves the app’s state, theoretically letting you conserve your battery life. That said, AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is working on a compacting garbage collector for ART that improves Android’s RAM management and this needs to be integrated into the OS by default.

Hololens is back!

Microsoft’s Hololens is back. does it have what it takes to be a winner? http://dgit.in/1PuFLXo

Do

In Android 5.1, Google has also allowed app devs to choose between performance and battery life by letting apps spread their functions to all cores in a multi-core processor.

The Tablet problem Apart from a few Galaxy Tab variants from Samsung and the Nexus tablets, most large screened Android devices fall into the phablet category. However, the continued popularity of the iPad, and Microsoft’s renewed focus on the tablet/laptop hybrid category, prove that people are looking for devices with 7-inch and larger displays. The iPad today is being used in multiple fields and it seems strange that Android manufacturers have stayed away from the fray. Sure, tablet sales are falling but the segment continues to remain an important one and Microsoft’s efforts could give it a shot in the arm. The Solution: If Google believes in the potential of the tablet segment, then it needs to take a more active role in promoting Android as a tablet OS perhaps by tieing up with trusted device manufacturers as it did with Android One. It should also develop more tablet exclusive apps that have clear content creation and productivity uses and encourage top of the line developers to do the same. iOS beats it hands down here.

The ‘Too Big to Fail’ Problem Just like Microsoft, Google too has fallen into the bad books of the EU and now faces anti-trust allegations. There is some validity in those allegations though, because even without Android, Google held a monopoly on the search engine market. There are plenty of other players in the search market, but none of them are as good as Google and of course, Google holds a monopoly here. The new allegations focus on pre-installed Google apps on Android but Google has said that its hardware partners are free to install any apps on their devices, not just Google’s. If the EU manages to prove its allegations in court, then Google may be prevented from pre-installing any of its suite of apps on Android devices, forcing them to give users a choice from the get-go. The Solution: Analysts suggest that Google may ‘open-up’ its apps to competitors in order to beat the anti-trust charges. Luckily for Google, this isn’t a problem that Google faces alone as both Microsoft and Apple are also in the same boat and even if Google is forced to comply with EU regulations regarding bundled apps, so will Microsoft and Apple. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 37

Going Bananas

Smart quad

A banana’s DNA is 50% identical to that of a human. http://dgit.in/1QX0wIA

A new quadcopter called LilyCamera can fly itself when thrown in the air. Read more at: http://dgit.in/1LdqIvi

do

How to do Memes Right Meme (n): an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.

Nachiket Mhatre

th ey ca ll ed me sh or ty

[email protected]

T

hat, up there, is the textbook definition of a meme. Sadly, you’ve already lost the game if you have to look the word up in a dictionary. This sentiment is captured well in a pivotal scene from Mike Judge’s cult classic Office Space, wherein a bunch of white-collar software programmers realise the futility of looking up the term “money laundering” in a dictionary. The true understanding of memes, pretty much in the same way, is best imbued in an organic manner with experience rather than through rote academic research. To explain it in a more Internet-centric fashion, a meme constitutes anything from an image, video, or even simply some text representing mostly humorous themes. However, it’s differentiated from a regular joke in that a meme is usually a template that is slightly modified and then propagated between Internet users. Another significant factor distinguishing it from a regular joke is the logic – or the apparent lack of the same underpinning it. Unlike your regular form of humour, memes are mostly comprised of uncanny non sequiturs that are deeply contextual. In other words, the ability to ‘get’ a meme requires a person to be aware of the original context, or at least have a deep understanding of the same. If that seemed hard to understand, don’t despair because it’sn’t meant to be a cut-and-dried affair. The very concept of memes is just as hard to explain as it is to understand the humour underlying the often indecipherable examples. Best explained as inside jokes of the Internet age, memes however differ in one crucial aspect that defines


I called them an ambulance inside jokes – the sheer number of people sharing them. The unprecedented reach of the medium ensures that these seemingly obscure references are sometimes shared by the teeming millions that populate the underbelly of the Internet.

Breaking into the Mainstream The very fact that you – as the quintessential layman – are interested in this phenomenon speaks volumes of the meteoric rise of this cultural currency. Although memes originated in the dark underbelly of the Internet, it has trickled down to the masses thanks to the proliferation of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, nothing establishes its ubiquity as well as the inevitable adoption by the film and advertising industries, as well as by the marketing machinery.

Not surprisingly, the Grumpy Cat meme made its way to Hollywood as a titular character of a film starring Aubrey Plaza and funny man Russell Peters. Scumbag Steve, the curiously named meme based on the quintessential selfish friend that everyone knows, caught the attention of Pepsi Co, which used the meme to market one of its beverages. Samsung leveraged the inherent creepiness of the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme to sell SSD drives. The list goes on, but the crux of the matter is that Internet memes are breaking out of their original domain and into mainstream media. The true spirit of memes, however, transcends the sanitised PG13 world of mainstream entertainment and commercial marketing. Memes resonate with the masses mainly because they are entirely user-generated. A successful meme is too

Die locksmith, die!

Apocalypse nearing?

This robot can crack combination locks in seconds: http://dgit.in/1dfgCiy

A giant ice shelf in Antarctica is set to disappear within a decade, says NASA. http://dgit.in/1IGNUUI

Do

down to the popular social networking websites, it’s already too stale and overused to be funny. What you need is an introduction to meme hierarchy. To understand this concept, just assume that you aren’t dealing with memes, but with diamonds instead. By that analogy, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks are the jewellery shops that receive the cut and polished diamonds. In short, this isn’t the place where memes are made. They are usually created in large forums with subscribers ranging in millions. The best example would be imageboards such as 4chan, which interestingly accounts for creating an overwhelmingly large number of memes.

Reddit: Socially Curating Memes subversive, often times quite risqué, and rather culturally complex to be thought up by corporate entities. Although, there have been exceptions such as the The Man Your Man Could Smell Like commercials by Old Spice, which have a distinctive memelike quality to them.

Meme Hierarchy To sum it up: memes are invariably user generated, extremely hard to understand, require a fair grasp of the underlying context, and are popular enough to break

into the mainstream. Now that you have some idea of what constitutes a meme, it’s time to learn how to ride the meme train. That is, how you do memes right. To make great memes, it’s imperative to understand where they originate from. Sure, you have witnessed some really funny ones that you actually understood, but they were shared by some snotty kid on your Facebook feed. That’s a terrible starting point because Facebook is where memes go to die. In other words: by the time a meme is popular enough to trickle

they will never find your body

AS ATTRACTIVE AS i DO

However, like any large system, such forums are inherently entropic. The rare gem of a meme is usually buried beneath millions of metaphorical rocks. You can’t get to the diamonds unless you sift them from rocks in a large processing plant. This is where Reddit comes in. The memeworthy stuff from 4chan and other Internet forums makes its way into Reddit, where users decide whether it gets up-voted or down-voted. With a membership large enough to ensure that entries reach hundreds of millions of eyeballs, the members of Reddit are essentially unpaid mine workers that sift diamonds from rocks by exercising their voting privileges. After a meme has made it big on Reddit, you have what metaphorically resembles an uncut and unpolished rock. From here onwards, the raw template for a particular meme is created for the convenience of Internet users by websites that specialise in making meme generators. These websites allow users to co-opt as well as modify popular memes to create even more impressive iterations. This usually happens when memes popularised on Reddit are picked up by the Cheezburger network, or other entities that provide free templatised meme generation tools. Websites such as Meme Generator, Quick Meme, and Live Meme provide such tools that make it easy for anyone to modify existing templates of popular memes to create their own iterations. Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 39

Speeding along on dung! do

The UK’s waste powered bus set a new speed record for fastest service bus at 123.5kmph http://dgit.in/1Hog7tE

Know Your Meme: The Wikipedia of memes Unfortunately, creating successful memes isn’t as easy as browsing to a meme generator and creating one from a choice of templates. Memes are spread socially from user to user, much like a virus. This also explains why popular memes are said to have gone viral. And just like a virus, memes tend to have a lifespan that’s characterised by a certain point where the infection is at its peak. Therefore, making an informed choice on a meme requires research. The online meme resource, Know Your Meme, is arguably the best source for meme-specific research. Best described as the Wikepedia of memes, this handy website effortlessly breaks down the basics of any meme. It gives a crucial insight into the underlying context of a meme by documenting its origin, spread, and timeline. This should be your go-to resource for demystifying any meme and understanding how it works. To put it simply, you can’t successfully co-opt a new meme unless you familiarise yourself with it on Know Your Meme first. The best part is that this website also provides a handy search trend analysis chart. This data is important because it shows whether the Internet still has any interest in the particular meme. To ensure success, you’re essentially looking for a meme that’s still relevant.

Photoshop vs Online Meme Generators Now that you know how to select an exploitable meme, it’s time to take a look at the best ways to do so. There are plenty of online meme generators that let you create your own version of a popular


meme with just a few clicks. Imgur’s meme-specific tool, memegen, is a hit with Reddit users. It’s one of the quickest and no-nonsense means of creating a meme that uses the website’s acclaimed clutter-free UI. Users have the option of either browsing through a comprehensive list of memes or simply selecting one from the drop-down menu. Thereafter, the tool provides the option to add text in order to customise the meme. Additionally, users can add their own images to create an entirely new meme from scratch. Once done, the image is uploaded directly to Imgur, from where it can be shared on Reddit or other social networking websites. Quickmeme is one of the oldest online meme generation tools and it was the website of choice for Reddit users until it was caught and subsequently banned from Reddit for manipulating votes for self-promotion. It is similar in functionality to Imgur’s memegen tool, but it’s marred by the presence of watermarks and incompatibility with Reddit. MemeDad is a great alternative to Quickmeme. It incorporates the same features without the annoyance of watermarks or a Reddit ban. Most meme purists, however, do not prefer online tools at all. This kind doesn’t appreciate the watermarks and the general rigidity entailed by these easy-to-use tools. Some meme makers like to customise their creations by using images of varying sizes, relying on nonstandard fonts and placement, and other means of creating bespoke meme implementations. This kind of user prefers image-editing tools such as Photoshop and GIMP. The only relatively complicated aspect of process is recreating the typical outlined meme font style. Going about it is deceptively simple in Photoshop. After loading your base image, create a text layer at the top and bottom.

Floppy music

An Arduino board and 49 floppy drives were combined to make an Organ! http://dgit.in/1elYtQt

Use the Impact font to fill in the text, making sure that you use all caps. With the text entered, navigate to the Layer tab and hover the mouse pointer on Layer Styles. Select Outer Glow, which will open up a window. Use it to change the effect’s colour to black. Choose Hard Light in the Blend Mode option. Set the thickness of the outline according to your preference. That’s pretty much all you need to create a meme without the aid of online tools.

A Scienctific Approach Now that you are armed with the knowledge of selecting and creating memes for success, it would be a good idea to refine the process with a bit of science. Yes, computer scientists from Stanford University have tried their hand at demystifying memes and they have come up with some interesting observations. The meme scientists observed that each meme submitted on Reddit’s reposted an average of seven times. Interestingly, most of the reposts have gone on to garner popularity while the originals languished in obscurity. The scientists have figured out that Reddit has a memory of 45 days, following which there is less chance of encountering negative reactions to a repost and a greater chance of success. Moreover, lunchtime in North America is the best window to post memes on Reddit, as it gives a higher chance of positive exposure. Yes, I realise that the scientific study essentially recommends reposting memes for success. That may sound dishonest but, then again, memes themselves use imitation as a primary means of propagation, so it’s all fair game in the end.

> code / creativity / community >

A Beginner’s Guide to Coding Projects >>There are a lot of things you can learn and practice in the world of programming, so where do you get started?> by Rajat Motwani

W

hen the entire world is moving towards Information Technology, why shouldn’t you? Wouldn’t it be great if you could be a part of this revolution by making utility applications and projects, or otherwise doing your part to improve the digital landscape? Taking up a project involving an unexplored or relatively new technology poses a great challenge for programmers, but the key to success comes through ambition tempered by pragmatism. Taking up challenges and aiming higher are good virtues, but at the same time it’s essential to know your potential and limitations. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut with no means of getting out otherwise. If you have just entered the world of programming with little to no knowledge of coding and its applications, you can start off by referring to the “Learn to code” section of this edition’s

FastTrack. Even if you are a newbie, learning via projects is a fast and practical approach to programming. Building good projects doesn’t necessarily call for mastering every minor programming. What matters the most is effective practical implementation of technologies involved in software development. A good project is not only characterised by its complexity and efficiency, but by the ease and amount of functionality provided to the end user. How to start a project? Every programming project essentially needs two things: an idea that can be built into something innovative as well as functional and technologies that facilitate successful implementation of this idea. It is really important that you take up technologies

*coding matters

*There’s a Python in your browser

>>If you want to run and execute Python scripts from a web browser, which can also run on mobile browsers, trinket.io is an extension that lets you do the same.

http://dgit.in/1AgV3bv

*CSS turns 20 years old

*Ruby goes berserk

http://dgit.in/1K4siPe

http://dgit.in/1Ah0N55

>>It has been twenty years since the first idea of CSS was proposed. This has afforded web designing a degree of sophistication that wasn’t available before.

>>Ruby On Rails has turned out to be the most sought-after framework employers seek, with a potential salary value exceeding $109,000. Read more at:

devworx> | June 2015 | www.devworx.in 41

An idea serves as the elementary basis of the project.

that fall within your domain of expertise. If you plan on learning new ones, take up those devoid of any dependencies. It’s great to stretch your skills, but avoid overloading them. Before you begin the development process, it pays to identify and exploit programming languages and technologies that are in demand. For example, learning legacy programming languages like COBOL in this day and age is practically useless. Opting for a modern alternative such as Java development, allows one to apply their skills across a wide variety of products ranging from mobile apps to PC software. Its pays choose wisely at the outset. Here are a few examples of in-demand technologies that will help you decide better. Java: A very popular object oriented programming language, essential for Android development. It is not only used to build mobile apps, but also desktop and server applications. Android and Hadoop are two of the most popular technologies at the moment, both of which are developed in Java. Java developers are better served by learning Swings (for creating User Interfaces), servlets, and other modules that will hone your development skills. PHP: It is estimated that about 81% of websites use PHP as their programming language. A large number of websites still run on php and this number has been either constant or growing in the last few years. Needless to say, there’s a dire need of webdevelopers, who are experts in PHP programming. You can start practicing PHP by building basic websites/static pages and

Android Studio is a popular IDE to build Android apps. 42 devworx> | June 2015 | www.devworx.in

then move on to dynamic pages, followed by integration with other technologies. Database/SQL: Even though SQL does not qualify as a programming language, it is equally important for development purposes. Databases are essential in any application environment because saving and retrieving data is a basic function common to all. As data increases the complexity of the database increases commensurately, which makes the role of database administrator/ engineer important. All programming languages have different means of database connectivity, which makes learning them worthwhile. It should be noted that you aren’t restricted to the aforementioned technologies. Each domain has its own set of programming languages that are best suited for the purpose of development. If you wish to go for iOS development, it is essential to learn objective C or Swift (a programming language developed by Apple). Similarly, assembly language is a must to work on hardware projects. However, some hardware modules such as Raspberry Pi or Arduino support hardware interfacing via different high

In the web domain, you can have two choices - as a web developer or a web designer.

level languages. Almost all microcontrollers require the knowledge of C as well as assembly language (ASM). ASM is known to be tedious and its popularity has decreased due to high level languages. However, it is as important as ever because machine code is generated in ASM. Big Data, Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Wearable Technology, and Artificial Intelligence are examples of technology trends that are in demand. Cementing Your Programming Base: If you wish to brush up your coding skills, this would be a great to time to register with competitive coding websites such as CodeChef or SPOJ. These websites emphasize on algorithms and logic, which not only improves your logic, but also teaches you to code efficiently with time and memory constraints.

Rosetta Code is an online programming chrestomathy which has a compilation of common programming algorithms in almost all programming languages. Project Euler is a website with a mathematical approach to programming. It features numerous computational problems that can be solved using a computer. Though it is mathintensive, some problems don’t even require a computer. But it’s still a great way to practice programming; especially if you plan on going into mathematical projects. You should be able to solve at least 10 - 15 initial problems even if you don’t have a background in mathematics. These aren’t the only websites, there are tons of other websites such as w3schools or dreamincode for help with projects. Additionally, stackoverflow.com is useful when you are stuck somewhere and unable to think of a solution. Understanding the skill requirements Building projects isn’t just about writing and compiling source code. Instead, it entails building a complete environment where your application will interact with various entities around it, such as users or other devices. However, it isn’t necessary for a project to interact with some external entity at all times. It is still essential to master these skills besides programming. These involve usage of various APIs (Application Programming Interface), building user interfaces, database connectivity and maintenance etc. If you learn a skill that is in-demand and is uncommon in the software industry, it might improve your employment prospects. Even after the completion of a project, testing and debugging is an uphill task. It’s a myth that testers don’t code. Even if you plan on delving into software testing as a vocation, sufficient knowledge of programming languages and their implementation is essential. Testing is a major part of projects and takes place before deployment. It is a sought-after asset since it requires good observation, analytical and com-

*pointers >>Interesting developer news

*Android Studio goes Alpha >>Android Studio, the easy-to-use app maker, has finally gone out of beta for it’ first version:

http://dgit.in/1Q4p0xd

Developing ideas for the project Ideas rarely happen to strike out of nowhere. They are mostly inspired by practical problems or the needs created in day-to-day life. They can consist of solutions that improve the quality of life and technologies that simplify common tasks. If you are struggling for a project idea, these tips may come in handy. There are a lot of websites that can help you with the decision. Programming subreddits and other forums often host discussions regarding new projects and technologies. Frequenting such forums is a smart way to put out project ideas for feedback from fellow programmers.

*Wunderlist launches API

>>Wunderlst has launched the API for their To-Do list integration for developers, which is a project that was underway since 2013. The API can be accessed at

developers.wunderlist.com

http://dgit.in/1An92MP

Google Summer of code has some very good projects to get some inspiration.

*Apple launches Analytics for the app store

>>Apple has rolled out an Analytics app that enables users to send metrics on app usage and performance. The app is currently in Beta and open to all developers.

Additionally, you can refer to Google Summer of Code (GSoC) archives for a host of ideas recorded since its inception. GSoC is a project that encourages students to code. It is held annually during summers. Although this programme is only open students, the ideas showcased there are inspiring and can help budding programmers to develop projects better.

http://dgit.in/1Lfkvyj

*SQL courses with Khan Academy

UIADI provides an Authentication API using Aadhar ID and demographic/biometric information.

munication skills to interact with the end user.

Khan Academy, the popular MOOC course website, has announced the start of SQL courses which lets users learn the popular database query language for free. Access this course at : http://dgit.in/1IWPeBr

Join an open source project: An open source project or software is a freely available software along with its source code. The source code is available to everyone and can be studied, changed, and redistributed by anyone. A major advantage provided by opensource software is that it is constantly improved with collaborative efforts of participating individuals. Contributing to the open source community is considered to be a good practice. Numerous projects such as Firefox, Android, and OpenOffice allow inputs from the community for developing and improving their ecosystem. It should be noted that coding is not the only way to contribute to the open devworx> | June 2015 | www.devworx.in 43

Popular open source projects include WordPress, Firefox, Chromium, VLC Media Player, Android etc.

source community. Other domains where you can contribute your expertise are documentation, testing, debugging, and designing. You can even download existing source code and develop your application on top of that. This can then be released as a free open source project, thereby allowing you to give something back to the community. Start working on existing ideas It is not always possible to come up with a striking idea immediately, so you don’t have to worry about it. There are many organizations and individuals around the globe with great ideas who are looking for programmers to implement them. You can contact such entities who are open to outsourcing their ideas. Most of them offer respectable stipends to boot. There are plenty of websites where people just put down ideas for software and utilities expecting programmers to take them up. You can start off by figuring out which one of these projects is worth taking up to hone your skills. This can even be a means for making a quick buck if the project turns out to be successful. One example related to such practice is theinternetwishlist. com, where you can find a pinboard full of user suggested app and website ideas. It is a basic yet unique idea that can potentially inspire startups and entrepreneurs.

If you feel you are relatively new in the programming field and are unable to handle large projects, you should opt for smaller modules of large projects or a small project altogether. You can even approach new startups as they usually don’t ask for a lot of experience. You can learn new technologies and hone your skills by working for these startups while helping them build their products. Some startups offer a minimum stipend while some don’t, but your initial focus should be on learning the technology and mastering it for the future. Expecting large financial compensation at this nascent stage would be a gross exaggeration of your skills. Acquiring projects In order to acquire projects, you have to create an impressive portfolio. GitHub is the best platform GitHub is an online code repository, to show your contributions and is home to some of the biggest to the open source commu- open source projects. nity and to showcase your best projects. You can also create a website showcasing your portfolio and the projects you have been involved with until now. The next important part is to gathering new clients. Client satisfaction should be at the top of your priority list. This can be achieved by participating in product reviews and feedback sessions, or otherwise interacting with clients. Remember, happy clients will lead to new projects and a larger client network that grows with word of mouth. Conclusion The growth of Information Technology in recent years has led to a paradigm shift in business domains, entertainment, and even the society as a whole. This is as good time as any to jump into the programming world and make money while you’re at it. >

*Multi-threads to look up

*SourceLair, an IDE that integrates with GitHub

*Cheat Sheet for Java developers

*Code that translates other code

http://dgit.in/1LfljU3

http://dgit.in/JCheatSheet

http://dgit.in/1LtbxO8

>>SourceLair is a web-browser based software that is meant for first time developers. It is also integrated with GitHub to allow for easy commits.

44 devworx> | June 2015 | www.devworx.in

>>If you ever need a quick reference to some of the basics while learning Java, this cheat sheet from Princeton University just might help you -

>>Rosetta Code is a library that has tasks coded in different languages. This way, you can choose whatever task you want to execute in your language of choice.

Grand Anti-Theft Auto

Africans can legally attach flamethrowers to cars to repel car hijackers. http://dgit.in/1Khjj0t

Just a gesture

Aria’s announced an band for Android wear that lets you control your smartwatch with gestures. http://dgit.in/1FFvbX6

Do

We’ve DOne the craziest things Even though this issue is all about DOing things, it’s nice to remember that nobody’s perfect. We’ve DOne things in the past that make absolutely no sense today, but probably seemed like the best way to get things DOne at that time. Well, at least they tried. Here’s to the DO-ers!

The Manual Dredger

The Cyclomer

Dredging is an arduous, considering the amount of area to be covered and the sheer labour involved but it’s essential to a functional port and as expensive as it is today, it was worse then. Regardless, someone tried to come up with a more efficient solution and the result was the manual dredger!

If you ever wanted something that was both cheap and could be used to make you feel like Jesus, this ambitious invention, called the Cyclomer, might help you achieve just that. The bike was designed to be used with tyres on land and and the giant spheres that look like wheels provide the buoyancy that’s needed to keep the bike afloat.

The Scroll-along GPS Back in 1926, people needed a way to navigate the city without having to hold a map in their hands all the time. The TomTom Scroll-Map, a product designed by YesterYear, sought to solve that issue. It was a paper map rolled up into a box which was wired to a car. It scrolled through a roller that moved according to the speed of the car. Effective? No.

The Hamblin Reading Glasses

The pedestrian shovel This invention shows that car accidents were not as rare back then as we thought. The main intention of the shovel was to roll the person away from the wheels of the vehicle, out of harms way. Why can’t we have this today, especially on the front of busses? It can’t be all that hard if it worked well even at the turn of the century.

You must really be a bookworm if you’re going to buy one of these. They may not have form but they’re certainly for serious readers. The glasses are actually a pair of mirrors that the reader wears so that they can read lying down completely and not strain their neck. If they had thrown in a lamp as well, the PaperWhite wouldn’t have seemed so revelatory.

The Radio Hat Humans have always had a thing for portable items. Why else would we make a hat that had a radio? The Radio Hat was manufactured by an American company and could tune into stations within a 32km radius. Certainly the design of the hat meant that it was trying to be as classy as possible, and we suppose that it represented the height of fashion.


Low-res worm

A worm’s brain was replicated by programmers and used inside a LEGO Robot. http://dgit.in/1dqlwt7

do

Iron clad Edge

A new version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with an Iron Man theme is rolling out soon: http://dgit.in/1cb5ykY

How we unwind High on Coffee Staticsid spent so much time fussing about his special filter coffee machine that we just had to try it out for ourselves. It didn’t take any convincing on our part though and before we knew it, his precious coffee machine had found a place for itself in our kitchen and everyone was savouring the aromatic brew.

Interns galore!

Darts

Issue closing wouldn’t have been the same without Abhilash and Nishant, a couple of younglings who stumbled into our office and got so enamoured by the gadgets around, that they immediately and unthinkingly signed up for indentured servitude. The Inern Enrichment Program v2.0 begins now. (Muahahahaha!)

Playing darts is slowly replacing our Quake sessions. So far, Regidi and Mithun are just happy to land a dart on the board, but Big Daddy has almost mastered the art of throwing darts and any match that involves him is just a rush to second. Still, the competition between Sid and Raaabo is fun to watch.

diary Drumrolls and trumpets, a fanfare is what we need, and maybe Depths of Despair a circus clown as well, for Digit’s 14th anniversary issue is out As revelatory and transformative as the Ant’s month was, Abhiand in your hands (and hopefully, on time)! The anniversary jit’s was, if anything, the exact opposite. The poor guy spent the issue, particularly one that involves CTC has us spending more first half of the month arguing with a software provider for DVD time together as a team than any other month. content, then had to delay the DVDs waiting for said content. Nerves are frayed, our mental make-up slowly disinteWhen the DVDs were finally sent for replication, he was acgrating and sloughing off as stress and sleepless nights cused of sending an infected pen drive. eventually take their toll. In the If that wasn’t bad enough, he had left absence of the unparalleled stressthe source files at his home (at least an buster that is the Ant, we have to rely hour from the office) and had to go runThe Digit SKOAR!board on chewing each other’s brains out, but ning to retrieve the data in the middle of we somehow pull through. Difficulty level: 12 Digitflops the night. Rats Incarcerated: 6 If that wasn’t bad enough, all that efSkillz learned: Stoic Fortitude L9 The AntMan appears fort was wasted. And if even that wasn’t Quote of the Speaking of the Ant, the lad’s finally bad enough, his phone was stolen while month: “I’m not spoilt!” become a man in the truest sense of – Staticsid he was making his way to the office a few the word. He has fulfilled all the duties days later. that he was set on this world to perform A sad, sad month for the poor lad, but (All? All.). to his credit he bore the misfortune like a How did we find out? Well, he disapman. The force is strong in him. peared from office one night and didn’t reappear for the next couple of days. When he did return, it EcstaticSid was with a new spring in his step and a general air of sedate Speaking of all things revelatory, Siddharth recently discovered bonhomie that was absolutely alien to his being. Something that, apparently, he’s spoilt silly. And used to doing things a was seriously wrong. certain way. Even when it comes to drinking coffee. He HAS to What really tipped us off eventually was when he got his drink coffee from his “special” machine (going so far as to bring arse handed to him in Quake and shrugged off the loss like it it to office), can’t sleep on anything but his own pillow and, the was nothing. Half an hour of mental badgering and a car ride most damning of all, Raaabo called him a Prima Donna because was all it took to finally extract the truth out of him. of his fussing.


Learning from animals

A drone with a sonar array gets it’s inspiration from a bat. Check it out here: http://dgit.in/1AgJCkm

Lighting up the way

Philips has introduced a new indoors navigation system featuring Visual Light Communication and LEDs: http://dgit.in/1HAGvDg

Do

Every month we recognise the best article written by our community members and publish it here. Keep up the good work, Digitians!

Airflow 101 Be it an entry-level or a high-end rig, keeping it cool is top priority. The first step towards maintaining proper component temperature is optimising airflow. There are a host of utilities that can help monitor components such as the processor and GPU in addition to optimising settings to maintain optimum temperatures. However, it’s easy to forget that ambient temperatures can also affect component integrity as well as performance. Dileep While enthusiasts go for elaborate liquid cooling Mohanan systems, properly managed airflow is half the battle won. What follows are some basic rules to keep in mind while designing an airflow management system for your rig. Before we begin, it bodes well to know that airflow is at its optimum if intake and outflow are in line of sight.

1. COLD AIR IN, HOT AIR OUT The basic rule is to keep the air inside the case moving. If the air within the system enclosure is static, the ambient temperature will rise and adversely affect performance. This is often a consequence of a significantly imbalanced airflow design. The rate of intake and outflow can be attributed to a number of factors such as size, airflow, and speed of a fan. Even factors such as the size of perforations for ventilation affect airflow. To ensure lower ambient temperatures, always verify the direction of airflow before securing any fan to the system case. If a fan is behind a grille, make sure the perforations are large enough to provide sufficient airflow. Removing the system grille occluding the fan is a great way to reduce noise and increase airflow. Bigger the opening, better the cooling.

2. HOT AIR RISES Hot air is less dense and tends to rise upward. This phenomenon makes the flow of air inside the case to move in a lazy ‘Z’ manner. The cold intake is from the front lower side of the case whereas the hot air escapes from the rear top side of the case. This setup is ideal, unless extra fans are employed for cooling hot-spots. The side fans, especially, create a whirlpool effect and interfere with the ‘Z’ pattern, leaving dead spots in the case. If spot cooling is required, for the processor or GPU, use air ducts that direct the side fan to the target.

3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT FAN FOR YOUR RIG There are three kinds of fans: airflow optimised, static pressure optimised and, as always, the hybrid. An airflow optimised

fan has a relatively bigger gap between its blades to facilitate air movement. This is useful when the fan isn’t addled with resistance from any components such as grilles or radiators. If the fan pushes air against a radiator, the air will take the path of least resistance and flow around it. This is where static pressure optimised fan come into the picture. Such fans leaves almost no room between the blades to form a suction and force more air to flow through it. It also has a wide exhaust angle, and is hence pressure optimised. The hybrid fan strikes a balanced between these two designs and is characterised by a blade gap that lies between the two designs. Hybrid designs may sometimes feature blades of differing shapes in a single fan.

4. PAY ATTENTION TO RATINGS Look for fans that have high airflow rating. The rating is usually expressed in CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) and denotes the maximum volume of air that the fan can move in one minute. Higher the airflow value, fewer the fans you need. A fan with high static pressure rating, which is measured in mm/H2O, works the best when used in conjunction with more obstructive applications such as radiators.

5. KNOW YOUR AIRFLOW SYSTEM Using more fans doesn’t always translate into better cooling performance. Sub-optimal positions and choosing the wrong fan type can lower cooling efficiency. There are three primary types of airflow systems that you can consider.

NEGATIVE PRESSURE – LESS IN, MORE OUT In this type of airflow setup exhaust fans outnumber intake fans. Since there’s less intake, the system relies more on ventilation for air inflow. This is why negative systems are optimal when Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in 47

Mind boggling do

Wait, what?

A prosthetics manufacturer has developed a mechanical limb that can be controlled mentally: http://dgit.in/1IQMUvK

An IAF fighter jet managed to land on a highway as part of a new landing procedure: http://dgit.in/1AgHyZB

JIXOS About his creation JIXOS is a Windows-based Open Source operating system developed in Batch. The operating system was programmed in four days and took 2,269 lines of code. It runs best on Windows XP (32-bit) along with the Java Development Kit (JDK) installed. The OS is also compatible with Windows 8 and 7. The new version of JIXOS now includes the DOS game, DOOM. The inspiration to build JIXOS was solely his love for programming.

About the creator

the exhaust is slow. This way, there will always be enough air in the case to carry heat away. Negative systems are quieter as well. While implementing this system, ensure that there’s enough ventilation at the right positions for intake, whie ensuring that radiators get targeted intake.

Saarisht Thaman, currently in Class 10, has been learning to code since the very young age of 11. By reading through many books, the first programming language that he learned was QBasic. Since then, Saarisht went on to learn more programming and scripting languages such as Batch, HTML, C, C++, JAVA, Pascal, BASIC, PHP and Javascript. Saarisht recently developed a simple Arkanoid game and has gained a keen interest in Arduino programming.

ment. The open panel setup is hazardous for many reasons starting with air being static.

6. ADJUST YOUR SETTINGS Adjust the fan speed for normal as well as heavy use. The noise is linked to air turbulence generated between the blades and grille, and can be reduced by lowering fan speed. A good airflow system keeps the machine from reaching high temperatures under medium load. However, if overclocking or processor/GPU intensive applications are involved, it makes sense to go for a more effective and expensive cooling system. Hopefully, this primer in airflow management will help you select the right components and design your own cooling setup.

Cable Management And why it’s important!

POSITIVE PRESSURE – MORE IN, LESS OUT More inflow of air means better cooling. Positive systems are recommended only if you can keep a periodic check on dust accumulating inside the case. The cooling performance exhibited by this setup is slightly better than negative pressure systems. Moreover, the abundance of intake causes build-up of internal pressure, which aids exhaust in turn.

NEUTRAL PRESSURE – BALANCED IN AND OUT A Neutral system is almost equivalent to a system running with the side panels open, which is otherwise very difficult to imple48 Digit | June 2015 | www.digit.in

This is important because cables invariably tend to obstruct airflow unless managed optimally. The best way to manage cables is by routing the biggest and thickest cables initially, which happen to be the motherboard and CPU power cables. It also helps to fold, tie, and put away unused PSU cables. Most modern PC cases are designed with enough room at the back of the motherboard tray to facilitate routing cables through the gap between the motherboard tray and the side panel. The side tray behind the motherboard bears multiple hook points to accommodate cable ties, which can be used to streamline more cables. Just make sure you avoid overlapping the cables otherwise closing the side panel of the case can be a problem. If you insist on ensuring a really clean cable management job, a modular PSU will go a long way in making that possible.

Initiative of

Find out at

A publication of

Powered by

www.pickacollege.in

Education experts and scientists from IITs, Stanford and MIT have joined hands to create India’s first decision making tool to help students and parents choose the right college. We have evaluated more than 1000 engineering colleges based on location, program, employability and fees to rank them and help you pick the college that is best for you. To search, select and compare streams & colleges visit www.pickacollege.in

rni regn. no. MAH ENG/2001/3791

Digit2 More to Do June 2015

Recommend Documents