Digit2 More To Do June 2015

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Just DO it
y apologies to Nike, but when

theres no better way to put
it, Im not going to waste
time thinking of a new catchphrase.
For years now, perhaps without us realising it, weve been doing a lot less. I know,
its contrary to what youd normally believe
because it certainly feels like youre doing
a lot more than any other generation before
you, but youre not; not really.
I can hear you scream out What rubbish!
Yes, I know, I know, depending on
whether youre a student or working professional, or even a retired person, youve
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, youre certainly able to
do things faster, perhaps even with better
quality, but are you really doing as much or
that much more?
The point Im 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
theyd 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 ownerstechnology 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 couldnt 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. Weve 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.
Theres a whole fight for net neutrality going
on because people want to be able to charge
you for chat, amongst other things thats

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, theyd yank out
their tools and fix it. No calling a carpenter
or plumber, or electrician. What for?,
theyd say, Its a simple job.
I actually wish my father would have
called an electrician at least more often,
wed have had to spend less nights without
electricity that way. Hed end up burning
something out, but at least he tried himself
(and sometimes he even fried himself)!
Now I dont suggest you try and do your
own wiring or anything (unless youre 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 Ive said in an editorial before as well).
So whats this anniversary issue really
celebrating then? The ability within each of
us, thanks to technology, to DO something.
Dont just pick up this issue and read it passively, try out the things were suggesting.
Write in to us and tell us how they went.
Send us pictures. Send us ideas for things
youd like to do and cant, and well try and
figure out a cheap and inexpensive way of
doing just that.
Were also going to ensure that this isnt
a one-off for us either. Well have more DO
articles in every issue going forward, and
wed love to feature all the innovative things
youve done as well.
Write in to us at do@digit.in for any or all
of the above, and get off your butt and start
doing already.
Robert Sovereign-Smith
Executive Editor
robert@digit.in
I know, its
contrary to what
youd normally
believe because it
certainly feels like
youre doing a lot
more than any other
generation before
you, but youre
not; not really.
Liked or hated this column?

Let me know at:
facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo |
robert@digit.in
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
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DO all they can to get you your favourite magazine.
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DESIGN
SPECIAL contributors
Vijay Padaya
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Logistics
Vijay Menon
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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 thats wrong with YouTube in five easy steps
12 Build your own Oculus Rift
Dont 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 its more important to do nothing,

because that helps you do the other stuff better
18 Build your own 3D printer
We kid you not! Its 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! Dont 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 Microsofts 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
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. Its much easier than youd think.
Anirudh Regidi
anirudh.regidi@digit.in
unlight is free and at the very

least, it can be used to charge your
phones. Follow this guide and
in five minutes youll have a dirt
cheap solar charger to play around with.
A solar cell converts sunlight to DC
A sampling of all the stuff youll need to

build the charger
voltage and since thats all a battery needs

to charge itself, its 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 youre 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 its
best to have one around)
Soldering gun + solder (optional)
Diode (optional if you know what
youre 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 youve 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 wont 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 its more voltage you
need or more current. If its current,
arrange the cells in parallel (http://dgit.
in/1Ap5ABa) and tape or solder the
cables accordingly. If its voltage that you
need, arrange the cells in series and tape
or solder accordingly.
Double-check youre the voltage and
output with the multiumeter and if youre
satisfied, proceed to the next step.
Step 2
Attach a diode to the positive end of the
bank of cells that youve created. This is
optional, but necessary if youre 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
its 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. Its that simple!
Your solar charger is this easy to make. The cell here is for representative purposes only.
Youll 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
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 YouTubes faults.
Abhijit Dey
abhijit.dey@digit.in
hile watching videos on

YouTube, youve probably faced certain problems and deadlocks on
the web player. Lets look at some extensions for the web player and some fixes for
the official YouTube app on smartphones
to enhance your viewing experience.
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 YouTubes 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 isnt free but is
available as a trial for seven days. Some of
SPOI Options has over 120 optionsto

enhance YouTube
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. Lets look at some of the useful
options that you can use on this extension.
YouTube ads arent 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
isnt free. Following the seven-day trial,

you must subscribe for $1.99 (`126)
every month.
Queue videos on the go
With so many music videos

uploaded daily, youd wonder
why YouTube doesnt have all the necessary features and options seen in a regular music streaming service. Although,
YouTubes own music service Music Key
is in Beta, its an invite-only service and
hasnt 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
cant 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 wont pull the
videos from the other queue. Also, if you
play or refresh the page, it will break the
queue and youll have to click the video
from the queue again to continue with the
remaining videos.
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 doesnt support background playback, but theres a walkaround to this. On the BlackBerry OS, the
YouTube app runs seamlessly even after
youve minimised it. It continues playing
even after youve 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, its a considerably longer
process if you want to play YouTube videos in the background.

Youll 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 youre paranoid about
bricking your phone, then
youre better off using an app
such as Wiper Messenger that
plays YouTube videos in the
background.
Remotely control
YouTube from your
smartphone
Having a big screen has its own perks,

some of which includes endlessly watching
videos on YouTube. Wouldnt 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 youll 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 dont have the
YouTube app installed, you can visit
http://youtube.com/pair, enter the code
and start streaming videos through
the browser.
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, youll 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 screens 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.
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
Heres what you can DO to experience real 3D
gaming for just `1,000 or less!
By Anirudh Regidi
anirudh.regidi@9dot9.in
he Oculus Rift is currently the last

word in gaming awesomeness but
its still six months from release
and very expensive. Heres a temporary
stand-in that wont 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 cant you? To save you the
trouble of having to conduct years of
research, lets 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 youre
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 youre willing to dole out some cash, you

can get yourself one of these, an actual 7
display
ed to player head-movement on the PC.

HMD: It is a head-mounted display
(HMD) thats 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
youll need:

3xInfra-red LEDs

Appropriate resistors

Webcam (preferably a PS3Eye cam)

Soldering gun and solder

Cardboard / sheet metal / plastic
while, but once youre done, you can proceed to the next step.
The key to the Rifts ability to render
3D environments in real 3D is the driver.
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to
that driver and we dont 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 cant 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.
Theres a little bit of prep to be done,
however, and its 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.
Youll 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 doesnt 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
Heres 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 neednt tone
down your resolution, but if you dont,
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 youre 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.) Youll 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 its 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 cant or dont 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-trackers 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 youre
playing, youll 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! Youre now gaming on an Oculus
Thrift!
HMD (Expensive)
If youre willing to spend a bit more
money, you can build a much better alter-
A Delanclip, the perfect alternative for

those whod rather not build their own clip.
is something like a DVI connector thats

used in smartphones and tablets and
youll 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 youre new to
it, make sure you have a bucket or an air-sickness bag beside you.
Were using SplashTop here and as you can see, theres no discernible difference in image quality between your PC and your phone.
Say NO to Littering!
do
Hong Kong is all set to publicly

shame people who litter.
http://dgit.in/1c2cocv
Live the lectures
LearnSocials new Social Learning Platform

brings education to the cloud:
https://www.learnsocial.com/
Skinning that
droid!
Show your Android OS whos boss by

completely skinning it to your taste. Its not
as hard as you would imagine.
Abhijit Dey
abhijit.dey@9dot9.in
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. Wouldnt 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 youre using a Windows PC.
Download the latest version of the Java SE

Runtime Environment from http://dgit.in/
JavaSERun if you havent 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 (dont 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 dont 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.
Youll 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, heres 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 youre 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 doesnt 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.
Its 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, youre good to go. If youre
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 devices 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 its 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 its 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.
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,
youll 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
dont 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
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.
Lets 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 isnt
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 isnt 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?

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 youre 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.
Heres how you do absolutely zilch, and then some.
Jayesh Shinde
jayesh.shinde@digit.in
echnically, its 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, its an activity). You
cant 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
isnt as easy as it sounds. However, lets
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.
Heres how you truly can try to do nothing
to do more.
Sleep
Its the easiest thing to do to kill time and
do nothing at the same time. Dont feel like
going to school or work to get your daily
dose of activity? Woke up on the lazy side
of the bed? Dont 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 youre serious about doing nothing,
you cant 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 youre 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, thats 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 jurys 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. Its 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.
Did You Know?
Sunflowers can help clean up radioactive

waste. This and other random facts at:
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;

its not rocket science
3D printers arent affordable yet, so wouldnt that motivate you to
actually build one?
By Karan Chaphekar
readersletters@digit.in
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 youre
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 its 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,
lets clarify a few basic things first.
You cant 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 thats the only function you
want from your 3D printer, then its no
better than an expensive toy. Learn 3D
modeling, however, and itll 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

Dont 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 arent 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 youve put
it together from scratch, you
know the ins and outs of it, and
its therefore easier to fix.
Its a learning process

3D printers are like musical instruments,
you will always keep discovering new facets every time you use them. Its a fastevolving field, with technological updates
pouring in after every few months.
Plus, theres 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!)
its 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
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 its 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 doesnt 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.
Its 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 youll need
The LCD allows you to control your printer without

having to use a computer. Its
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. Its a
simple add-on, just enable
the firmware and youre set.
Extruder
Your 3D printer in action
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.
Dont 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 dont 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

districts 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. Dont use them when youre
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, dont 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
Victorias Secret model as well! Isnt that
something to strive towards!
You can download the PDF from here:

http://dgit.in/1cdrRXr
Heres 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.
Heres 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 theyre easier to get technical
support for. Dont opt for unknown
alternatives to save money, especially if
you dont 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 theyre halfmelted; if its too low, the layers wont
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 youre 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 editor@digit.in and get
featured here!
Got any queries? Contact us @digitindia and well get back to you ASAP.
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, Im 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 well show you how to get hooked.
By Elroy Desmond
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 youve 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,
weve 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 Pandoras 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.
Jinnis 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 serAre you kidding me? I paid for 1080p content so I
wouldnt 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
featuresor 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 Twees 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 Earths deepest point equals 24.5 Empire State

Buildings laid end to end from the surface.
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 wont 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 youre

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 youre feeling particularly languid,
the website also allows you to enter multiple TV shows, providing an exact total estimate of time required. What is doesnt 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 gamers 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:
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 Biscuits (www.youtube.com/
user/TotalHalibut) extensive first-impressions videos of PC gamesboth mainstream and indie titlesand 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 wont tell mom.

Promise.
games when you take a look at the next

site on our list.
What to do after youre

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. Lets 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 youve
played. Add the ones youve 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! Youll 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.
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
f youre a geek worth his salt,

chances are high that you may have
dabbled with radio-controlled (RC)
vehicles at some point in the past.
Its 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 dont 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
youre smart about where and how you
import the constituent parts, its 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 doesnt 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
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DARPAs new laser research boosts Airborne

Death Rays. Read more at:
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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 thats big enough!)
into precise changes to the main rotor

orientation and pitch. Its 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 thats 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, its 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 whats 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 doesnt depend
The same pigments

do
A new study shows that pigments found in eyes

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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, its important to
remember that while this approach gives
a near infinite freedom to customise your
helicopter, youre still bound to a modular platform determined by the brand
and model.
In other words, its 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, its
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.
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 isnt 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 youre 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
watchmakers screwdrivers (youll 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 youre 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 shouldnt 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
cant really mix and match parts for a
rotor head, so youre 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 whats 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
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EA debuts a teaser for the latest NFS game, a reboot

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A video mashup of Mad Max:Fury Road with

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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
Dont 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 youll 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. Its 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.
Thats 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

youre ready to fly. Congratulations, youre
a bonafide aeromodeller now. You may
look down at toy RC peasants in disdain if
you please.
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!
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Pirate No More
What you need to DO to go legit
Nikhil Pradhan
nikhil.pradhan@digit.in
iracy is not an alien concept in

India. In fact, its 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, its 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 well talk
about havent been officially launched in
India but still do a great job of letting you
access content that you wouldnt 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

channels are themselves to blame because

of the awful gap between episodes airing
in the U.S./U.K. and when theyre aired
here. Another ridiculous thing thats
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 dont and you might as
well forget about most R-rated movies.
If youre a fan of international movies
and TV shows and want to stream them
rather than buy them outright, Netflix is
Netflix isnt available in our country yet
for you. Youll also like Netflix if youre

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
hasnt been launched in India and if you
try to access the website normally, youll
get an error message like this one:
To access Netflix in India, youll need to
use a VPN connection which sounds more
intimidating than it actually is. Weve
already written about how you can do so,
and once you have your Netflix account up
and running, youll 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 hasnt 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 Netflixs
library of new movies isnt all that great
and you may find some movies that are
only available to rent on DVD (not feasible
for Indian users). Netflix also doesnt have
Netflix features exclusive content as well
access to HBO content, so if you want to

watch Game of Thrones, youll 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 dont care much about Netflixs

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 PCs 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
arent many ways to navigate the library.
Also, unlike Netflix, Spuul doesnt have
any curated sections, at least none that Ive
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 youd
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 its dead easy to pirate music.
You can search for the name of any song
along with an MP3 tag on Google and
chances are youll 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 wont 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 youve been waiting for Spotify to launch its services in India, then wed
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 youve
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 dont 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 youll
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 doesnt mean that you own the content you download. Therefore, if you ever
unsubscribe from the service, you will lose
any content youve downloaded. Another
drawback of Rdio is that even though it has
tried its best to assemble a sizeable library
of Indian music, it doesnt match up to the
one that Saavn has.
Yes, if youre 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 youll have to pay about `240
per month.
So, to Pirate or not to Pirate? You dont
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 youve been thinking about
going legal, this is a great time to do it.
Do you think piracy is Gods work & going legal
is the devils?
Let us know about what do you think about
piracy @digitindia
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 thats when you can get
your hands on the official release of Windows 10. Cant wait that long? Download the
latest 10074 Build because here are 10 cool things you can do with it right away!
Kshitij Sobti
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.
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
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.
Youll 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.
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 users 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.
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, its easy to see why
they abandoned the PC as a gaming
platform. Halo 3 wasnt released on
Windows, and its 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.
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 cant be sold or distributed outside the
Windows store.)
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, its 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 its unlikely
youve ever used it. It is Microsofts
alternative to Google Now, and Apples
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.
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.
Cortana currently isnt 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 wont 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 Ive lost an

electron. re you sure? Im 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
nikhil.pradhan@digit.in
Lets begin this story with some stats:

Androids 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 nobodys fault,
neither Googles nor Android as an OS;
they exist because of Androids 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 lets 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 dont 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 phones UI looks

but also the way you use the phone.
Prime examples of these are Samsungs TouchWiz, HTCs 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
cant blame them if theyre 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, theyd
be disappointed if they didnt 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 theres a device in the market that runs Android the way Google
expects it to be run.
Unfortunately, Googles device sales
are nowhere near that of companies like
Samsung, HTC and LG. Therefore,Google
Orcish charms!
do
Heres 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, its worth
noting here that iOS had just under 15% of
the market share in 2014, as opposed to
Androids 81.5%, so the problem is bound
to be magnified in the latters 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, its the user who will suffer.
Security
The Google Now launcher unifies Androids UI across multiple forks of the OS
Security has always been a kind of bogeyman for Android because the threat is
blown completely out of proportion. As
we saw with Windows, Androids presence is so large that its 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 its possible to keep
your Android device perfectly secure
by only installing apps from trustworthy sources and clicking on weird All of Googles 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. Whos to blame
ate a work profile governed by your comprises. Even though Google has released
here? Google or manufacturers?
panys 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: Googles 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 wouldnt 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
Samsungs Knox platform.
The iOS-first apps problem
A pie-chart that highlights the seriousness of Androids 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 Apples 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%
Fun Fact
do
14% of Googles workforce hasnt 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 thats not entirely
the truth. Android itself takes up about
40% of the internal storage space and on

phones that dont run Lollipop, you cant
install apps on external storage. Also, if
youve got personal data such as music
and photos on the external card, Android
doesnt 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, youre 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 its 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 didnt 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 theres 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 Androids fault
and is similar to the issue one faces when
purchasing a Windows PC. Unless you
have deep and detailed knowledge of
specs, itll be quite hard to adjust expectations based on reported specs alone.
Another major issue with Android
phones is RAM management. The reason why youre 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 formers garbage collection process.

Androids 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
apps 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 Androids RAM management and this needs to be integrated
into the OS by default.
Hololens is back!
Microsofts 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 Microsofts
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 Microsofts 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 Googles.
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 isnt 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.
Going Bananas
Smart quad
A bananas 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
hat, up there, is the textbook definition of a meme. Sadly, youve

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 Judges 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, its 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,
dont despair because itsnt 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, its 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 arent 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 isnt 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 risqu, 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, its
time to learn how to ride the meme train.
That is, how you do memes right.
To make great memes, its 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. Thats 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 cant
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.
Speeding along on dung!

do
The UKs 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
isnt 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 thats 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 cant 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, youre essentially looking for a meme thats still relevant.
Photoshop vs Online Meme

Generators
Now that you know how to select an
exploitable meme, its 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. Imgurs

meme-specific tool, memegen, is a hit
with Reddit users. Its one of the quickest
and no-nonsense means of creating a
meme that uses the websites 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 Imgurs memegen tool, but its
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
doesnt 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 effects colour to black. Choose Hard Light in the
Blend Mode option. Set the thickness of
the outline according to your preference.
Thats 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 Reddits 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 its all fair game in
the end.
> code / creativity / community >
A Beginners 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
hen the entire world is moving towards Information

Technology, why shouldnt you? Wouldnt 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 its essential to know your potential and limitations. Its 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 editions
FastTrack. Even if you are a newbie, learning via projects is a fast

and practical approach to programming.
Building good projects doesnt 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
*Theres 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 wasnt
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. Its 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, theres 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 arent 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 dont even require a
computer. But its 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 dont have a background in mathematics.
These arent 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 isnt 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 isnt 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. Its a myth that
testers dont 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 dont 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 dont 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
dont, 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 youre 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
Arias announced an band for Android wear that

lets you control your smartwatch with gestures.
http://dgit.in/1FFvbX6
Do
Weve DOne the craziest things

Even though this issue is all about DOing things, its nice to remember that nobodys perfect. Weve
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. Heres 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
its 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 thats 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
cant we have this today, especially on
the front of busses? It cant be all that
hard if it worked well even at the turn
of the century.
You must really be a bookworm if youre

going to buy one of these. They may
not have form but theyre 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
wouldnt 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 worms 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 didnt 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 wouldnt 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 Digits 14th anniversary issue is out
As revelatory and transformative as the Ants month was, Abhiand in your hands (and hopefully, on time)! The anniversary
jits 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 wasnt 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 others 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 wasnt bad enough, all that efSkillz learned: Stoic Fortitude L9
The AntMan appears
fort was wasted. And if even that wasnt
Quote of the
Speaking of the Ant, the lads finally
bad enough, his phone was stolen while
month:
Im 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 didnt
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, hes 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), cant 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 its 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, its 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 isnt 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 doesnt 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 theres less intake, the system relies more on ventilation
for air inflow. This is why negative systems are optimal when
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 theres 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 its 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 Indias first decision making tool to help students and
parents choose the right college. We have evaluated more than 1000
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To search, select and compare streams & colleges visit www.pickacollege.in
rni regn. no. MAH ENG/2001/3791

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