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50
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
IN GAMES
JAVA-BASED
MOBILE GAMES
‘PAN’ IN GAME
CONSOLES
MEDICAL SIMULATION
GAMES
ENTERTAINING
GAMING
TECHNOLOGY
Vol. 1 Issue 12
feature
32
38
Gaming Technology in Medical Imaging
Artificial Intelligence in Games
72
Advantages of
Online Games
106 Profile
50
54
57
Multimedia Technologies for Gaming
The Digital World of Barbie
PAN Technologies in Video Games
75 Thrill & Excitement in Action Games
tech tip
contents 60 Kiran’s Typing Tutor
61 Crayon Physics
september 2009
62 FlickrSync to Sync Photos
24
Gaming Technology
& Entertainment
78
The Virtual Vacation
13
18
Buzz Byte
Live IT or Leave IT
Classifieds Department
M-12, Connaught Circus,
New Delhi-110001, Phone: 23416313
Regional Offices
Ahmedabad: 503, Narayan Chambers,
to Event Horizon 22 Chatroom Asharam Road, Ahmedabad - 380009,
Phone: 26577845
36 Snapshots Bangalore: G3, HVS Court, 21 Cunningham
Road, Bangalore - 560052,
Phone: 26577845
Speaker for iPod and iPhone 115 Q&A Mumbai: A 4, Shriram Industrial Estate,
Wadala - 400031,
110 Canon D10 Digital 116 Glossary Phones: 65766302, 65766303
in n ie, D o n a ld & G o o fy …
Mickey, M TH E MAGIC OF DISNEY
TATA SKY BRINGS ALIVE ind ini tia tiv e, Tata Sky Ltd., the JV bet
ween the TATA
In a firs t-o f-it s-k ance with The
p an d ST AR , an no un ced a special content alli
Grou al world of
ia to bring alive the magic
Walt Disney Company Ind ctiv e pla tform,
characters on its Intera
Disney and its favourite
tve Wizkids.
ActveTM Stories and Ac scribers, especially
ma gic al wo rld of Di sney offers Tata Sky sub
Th e stories from fairy
of all age gro up s, the very best of Disney
childr en Pooh’ to the new
nd rel la’, ‘Sn ow White’ and ‘Winnie the
tales like ‘Ci on Actve Stories
ou rite s suc h as ‘Ca rs and Lilo’ and ‘Stitch’
Disne y fav Children are sure
ext rem ely int era ctiv e and fun-loving manner.
in an e of the day.
a bra nd new Di sne y story everyday, any tim
to enj oy games featuring
tve Wi zki ds als o off ers children a wide array of
Ac nge’ or ‘Holiday
ey Mouse Tennis Challe uced to fun facts about
the most popular ‘Mick ldren will also be introd n
d tha t’s no t all, chi ds. These pages have bee
Hunt with Chip and Da
le’. An
titi al pa ges on Ac tve Stories and Actve Wizki as Tic an d Ta c in
racters through int ers le are know n
the Disney stories and cha l hel p bo ost the ir kn ow ledge, i.e., Chip and Da sua de chi ldr en to
g factoids that wil r II to help per
designed to offer interestin ma sks we re ma de in England during World Wa
Mickey Mouse gas
French and the fact that ce with
d to enter into this allian
carry them! rke tin g Of fice r, Ta ta Sky, “We are very excite ain me nt alo ng with
Mehra, Chief Ma ng our subscribers unint
errupted entert
Acording to Mr. Vikram uta inm ent ’, by off eri the ir fav ou rite Disney
y as ou r foc us ha s alw ays been on ‘ed nd erf ul, edu cat ion al experience with
Disne subscribers a wo d fun
tures will offer our young and other interesting an
education. The new fea iet y of eng agi ng op tio ns from stories to games
it covers a wide var
stories and characters as at Disney is
ies .” Gr ou p sai d, “At the heart of everything we do
activit eractive Me dia ough
ive Director – Disney Int y fans in unique ways thr
Mr. Nitin Chawla, Exect vid es us a wh ole new platform to engage Disne
ce with Tata Sky pro
our content … this allian h their family
t in cla ss con ten t.” ed eve nin g wh ere you ng subscribers along wit
our bes nth at a fun fill
y was announced last mo s and Actve Wizkids.
The alliance with Disne Di sne y off eri ng on Tata Sky Actve Storie
exp eri enc e the
had an opportunity to
FLU F IG H T E R S B AT T L E
PANDEMIC ONLINE
As the world is str ug glin g ha rd to com e to grips with the flu pa
ndemic, game
curb it online.
a special game to help you
developers have designed le online for free, ‘The
dical centre and availab
Developed by a Dutch me to choose their viral
tflu.com) allows players
Great Flu’ (www.thegrea and then control how to
of the world it spreads in,
adversary, pick the part funds and resources.
en a limited amount of
manage the outbreak giv wa s the same month the H1
N1 swine flu
in Ap ril thi s yea r, it
First launched to some 180
a ful l pa nd em ic in Jun e and it has now spread
declared H1N1 game based on the virus,
called
rld Health Organization other humorous online
virus emerged. The Wo on firm ed dea ths. An
st 1,462 laboratory-c
countries, causing at lea earlier this year.
fig hte r (ww w.s win efig hter.com), was released
Swine
N C E S YE T A N OT H E R
VERTU ANNOU E PHONE –
FUNKY EXPENSIV
THE ASCENT NEON
We last heard in July thi
s year that Vertu had an
nounced a
ge. Now
part of their Ascent ran
Ti
Carbon Fiber handset as le fun kier than
another handset, a litt
reports are talking of yet Ti Ne on . The
s, the Vertu Ascent
any of the previous model t Ti mo dels is
and the previous Ascen
difference between this rea r in pla ce of
h a rubber top in the a matching set.
that the Neon comes wit in- screen menu is designed to be ing:
g. According to the col ou r, the e would include the follow
the original leather backin n the pre vio us mo del s. The specs of the phon
on it to be slimmer tha
Some reports also menti
G 3G, EDGE
/GPRS capabilities
G 4GB of intern
al memory
l camera kup
G 3 megapixe ure data syncing and bac and pink. It is
d, of cou rse, acc ess to Vertu Fortress for ultra sec le in fou r col ou rs: green, orange, white
G An e an d wil l be ava ilab
for an October releas
The phone is scheduled like a fortune!!!
Rs. 4,83,218. Now, that’s
priced at approximately
he game of snakes and ladders was created September 11. He was called Darkel, a homeless
T by the 13th-century poet saint, Gyandev. It
was originally called ‘Mokshapat.’ The ladders in
guy who’d get you to rig buildings with explosives.
the game represented virtues and the snakes n 1986, Nintendo released a special Disk
indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie
shells and dices. Later, through time, the game
I System peripheral for the NES in Japan.
Among its features was a microphone in the
underwent several modifications but the meaning controller, which certain games used, including
is the same, i.e., good deeds take us to heaven and an updated version of the original ‘Zelda’. You
evil to a cycle of re-births. could only destroy a certain enemy by shouting
into the mic.
ichael Jackson, in some form or other, has
M appeared in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’, ‘Ready
2 Rumble-Round 2’, ‘Space Channel 5.1 & 2’, I n the video game sequel to John Carpenter’s
seminal sci-fi horror film, The Thing, the
‘GTA: Vice City’ and, obviously, ‘Moonwalker’. legendary director made a cameo appearance as a
character called Doctor Faraday. He also oversaw
n 2001, a pair of art students created a version the production of the game to make sure it was
I of Pong known as the PainStation, where losers
could be inflicted with genuine whip, heat or
faithful to his original vision.
?
electrical damage.
ow
intendo’ translates as ‘Leave luck
‘N
n
to heaven’.
d U k
di I n ‘Pilotwings 64,’ the character Lark is
actually the mascot for famous American
games magazine Nintendo Power, Nester.
His name was changed at the last minute,
probably because PAL gamers wouldn’t
he first ever product released by Sony was a know who he was.
T rice cooker.
scar-winning actor Marlon Brando
F inal Fantasy got its name from the fact that its
creator, Square co-founder Hironobu
O recorded dialogue for EA’s ‘Godfather’
game shortly before he died, but it was deemed
Sakaguchi, intended it to be his last video game, unusable due to the bloated thesp’s ageing,
using up the remainder of Square’s money after a mumbly voice. Instead, they hired in a sound-
number of unsuccessful projects. alike. What a waste of money, eh?
n the US release of Gameboy RPG Final n the original arcade ‘Donkey Kong’ game,
I Fantasy Legend II, Nintendo’s censorship
guidelines meant that a band of opium smugglers
I Mario was called Jumpman and he was a
carpenter, not a plumber.
became banana smugglers instead.
he ‘Baily Bridge’ is the highest bridge in the
H on the Internet and among technologies of all kinds. Here are questions
about the games that we play either from the Microsoft package to
fight off boredom or the various innovative gaming software. Are you keeping
with the evolving game tech culture? Take this quiz and find out yourself!
Q ‘Warcraf t ’
II, one of the best real-time stra
tegy games ever?
Who designed the
A. Westwood
B. Microsoft Q sc in at in g bo ok w rit ten by Frank Herb
ert, ‘Dune’
C. Blizzard Inspired by the fa not one of them?
three hous es to play with. Which is
offers
A. Ordos
B. Atreides
C. Corrino
Q ings Nintendo ow
ns?
What are three th
do DS
ger, and the Ninten
A. Gamecube, Voya ll phone
ecube, and every ce
B. Gameboy, Gam
ii, and PSP
C. Nintendo DS, W
Q e of ‘Spider Solitair
e,’ you only
In the Normal mod you play?
. Which two suits do
play with two suits
Spades
A. Diamonds and
B. Hearts and Spad
es
Q he re you lead a group of specialist
s, attempting to
Name the game w
ub s
C. Hearts and Cl World War II?
pl ete da ng erou s missions during
com
nquer
A. Command & Co
B. Wolfenstein
Check out the next page to
C. Commandos
see how well you scored!
Congratulations!
You finished the quiz! Now, calculate your score. A carries 1,
B carries 2, and C carries 3 points. Did you check mostly A, B, or C?
:
If your score is able
0 : o st of th e b est games avail
a n d 3 ged m f
Between 21
m e a fic io n a d o. You have dig m in g w o rld and your kind o
You are a ga v ast knowledge of
the ga
en v io us. Great going
.
o u h a v e th e fie ld
out there. Y w e ll make the oth
ers in
IT ’ to retain the c
rown.
ea k co u ld f the ‘Liv e
gaming fr issue o
re yo u fo llo w up with every
Make su
Between 11 a
nd 20:
Not bad. You se
em to have go
there are place od knowledge
s you might ne of the gaming
ed a bit of bru world. Howeve
who do not ne sh-up. While y r,
cessarily consi ou are one of th
casual gamer) der yourself to ose
, you do spend be a gamer (i.e
playing or learn much of your le .,
ing about diffe isure time
‘Live IT ’ may ce rent games. A
rtainly come in copy of the
handy for you.
Less than 10
:
a n d a t th e te st? Well, you
u even tr y you
rh since
What? Did yo s. B u t th e n d on’t lose heart
w expec tation w issues and
learn
scored far belo e . P ic k u p a fe
to your rescu
‘Live IT ’ is here u t g a m in g b ut a lot more.
st abo
more – not ju
R
etail sales in the PC game spine. Never slouch while playing
software industry reached a games, or lean forwards towards the
whopping $911 million in 2007, screen or play in a lying down position.
marking a notable 40 per cent Also, avoid playing on laptop computers as
increase from 2006 in the total console, portable their design facilitates the development of
and PC game industry. repetitive strain injury.
This clearly illustrates the phenomenon that computer Another frequent gamers’ complaint is pain in the
games have become today. From expensive high-graphic ones hands, which is induced by constant repetition of certain
loaded with special effects to free and simple online games, game moves. This can also cause damage to certain joints
there is something for everyone to enjoy. But, as is the case with as well as skin irritation. There has been a case of a young
most technologies, games too have several spillover effects on boy who ended up in hospital because of using a force-
health. These effects can be divided into physical and feedback controller for seven hours a day, which severely
psychological, and special care must be taken so as to avoid or damaged his wrists, knuckles and hand nerves. The best
minimize them when playing for long hours at the computer. and only preventative measure one can take against these
To start with, one of the most common problems arising out problems is to maintain the right kind of posture and take
of playing computer games is crooked posture. This occurs frequent breaks. Limit your gaming time to one or a
due to prolonged irregular sitting position in front of a maximum of two hours a day.
monitor or TV screen. A growing number of children are Another obvious effect of long hours of gaming is
developing crooked posture due to long hours of playing vision deterioration. Computer games command intense
computer video games. In order to protect oneself, one must staring at the screen, which can cause or worsen existing
sit in a straight-backed computer chair when playing games vision problems. Hours of watching the monitor,
and take regular breaks so as to minimize the strain on the especially in a darkened room, can strain the eyes as well
outstanding. There’s were quite the women out there but also for
a few things that I thought their counterparts. Great efforts
would be extremely helpful not by the team!
CLOUD only for women at home but Arun Dey, Consultant
COMPUTING
TRENDS also for small business units.
WITRICITY IN
THE AIR Live IT definitely lives up to my It’s a great effort you people are
CELL PHONES expectations. I waiting for more. putting to compile this kind of
IN EDUCATION
4G HARMONIZES
Do keep me posted. Also, I a magazine.
GLOBAL ROAMING would be subscribing to your I would like to congratulate your
team for bringing out a beatiful
magazine very soon.
magazine in the form of ‘Live IT.’
WIRELESS FOR
SOCIAL CHANGE Rashmi, Publisher Ashok Prabhu, Mumbai
Sorapot Teapot
Want to brew your tea with a modern sense of beauty?
Sorapot teapot does just that for you; it changes the
concept of tea making, but it makes the same great
brew. Watch the stainless steel, borosilicate glass, food
grade silicon created aesthetic teapot unfurl tea leaves
and change the colourless boiling water in the pot into a
golden concoction, for two!
Butterfly Speakers
for iPod
Looking for a new iPod dock? Here is one which will
work with any model of the iPod or iPhone. It comes
in shades of three – green, blue or pink, so that your
speaker style won’t be a constant. Use it with 4 AA
batteries if you want, and it’s surely worth the moolah
you shell out.
Rape Alarm
Lady, is your commute long, lonely, and/or at
odd hours? Scared of those grey areas along
your way? Then this rape alarm is what you
should carry, just in case. If help is a teeny wit
late, then you could try this as a whacking
companion; it looks dangerous enough.
Rat Robots
Looking for a better rat? The French lab is
getting just that ready for you, and it’s a robot.
So, you don’t need to fear that fever epidemic at
all! It has two cameras for eyes, two microphones
for ears, and tiny wheels, driven by a battery-
powered motor, to provide movement. A couple
of dozen whiskers measuring around a dozen
centimetres (four inches) stretch out impressively
on either side of its long, pointed snout. In fact,
this super robot has everything going except the
rat-smell power … but so far so good aint it?
Watch out for the Rat Robot!
Karaoke Microphone
The karaoke with the ‘band in your hand’ and two
thousand odd great songs; the diva in you is going to
love this. Convert that iPod or home stereo into an
authentic karaoke-club-at-home and get drowned in
the music in your veins.
Supriya,
Social Worker
I am very choosy whether it
is a profession or game. My
schedule in the day involves
looking after the children
and ensuring they don’t miss
out their studies. Also, I play
various online games with
the slum children. In this
connection, I like to play the
game called ‘Sherkhan’,
which I feel is a cool option.
I think it is one of the best
stuff for children as it helps
them in moral education.
Heena, Student
I like to play the games, which
can be beneficial to my
Sabnam, Front Desk
studies. For instance, there are
Executive games like ‘My Puzzle’, which
Whenever I get free from needs much concentration.
the day’s work, I move to Even though sometimes it gets
the games corner. Here I a bit tough, I feel relaxed after
would like to mention the the gaming session.
game, ‘Khanna unlimited’
which involves food making.
I keep comparing my scores
with the previous games
“
and try to improve upon
them. It’s really cool and It’s really cool “
fun playing games online.
and fun playing
games online
Shabnam,
Online Editor
Online games are my
favourite mode of killing
time and they are great
stress busters also. I love
to play ‘Cat and Rat’,
which is simple in
nature. It is one of the
coolest games, which
paves the way for
relaxation. Considering
the nature of my job, I
am left too tired and
stressed out by the end
of the day. Suffice to say,
I often play this game in
the evening hours with
my siblings to de-stress.
Rubi, Student
Even though I am a
student, I like to travel Ruchi, Student
extensively across the I like to watch action
country. There is an online and horror movies,
game called ‘My country, especially in Hindi. As I
many places’. Here, the love biking and car
user gets to play with riding, I like to play the
various tourist places and game called ‘Road
scores as per his/his Race’. It is one of the
interest and intellectuality. I coolest game and
rate it as one of the coolest interesting games
games around. available. This game
provides some great
voice and visuals as well.
While surfing, when you are led from one page to another through interesting links, how well do you
remember all the links? Share your internet adventures with other techies. Send us your entries, with
your photograph, to editor.liveit@delhipress.in
Gaming
Technology
hen I was setting out for Seattle in 2007, everyone had the same question for me, “You are a
W doctor, right? But you play games?” And I would be rather surprised. Doesn’t everyone? Can
you think of anyone who has never played games? And I am not referring to the
psychological types referred to by Eric Berne in his book “Games People Play”. We all love
& Entertainment
Rajesh Bijlani
Gaming platforms
The demand for games has made available to the avid gamer a
vast variety of options to select their gaming platform. Electronic
player’s wrist lest it goes out flying and causes more destruction off-
screen than on it.
The other two consoles have their legion of followers and both
have a very strong online gaming experience built into them.
Hardcore users of these consoles would be seen not just with a
game input device but with a headphone and mic set screaming
out to their team mates and collaborating at unbelievable skill
levels. Gaming at these servers on a broadband connection can be
an awesome experience. One has to feel it to believe the thrill of
gaming technology that is available to us today.
So, the next time you are getting bored, leave that fly swatter alone
and count kills on your PC instead. Oops ... I just finished building
my castle in my RPG. Better head out for battle. Till next time. I
I
t was the latter half of 1950. William Higinbotham, an
bile
illustrious American physicist, had already seen two World
Wars in his lifetime. While he was hardly a kid of ten, the
first happened; his involvement was active in the second.
William was a prominent face in the nuclear non-proliferation
group, even serving as its chairman and first executive director.
Tap
mo ping t
But as ironic as it may sound, history still remembers him as the
creator of the first video game. Little did Higinbotham know
that the game of tennis that he created on an oscilloscope to
bile he
gam best
entertain visitors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, would
belittle everything else serious that he did in life.
It was a monumental time in the life of the world; and it was
ing of
!
more than a decade later that Higinbotham’s creation would
eventually catch the fancy of the populace. America was
slowly clawing back to savouring the lighter aspects
of life. Jack Kerouac’s beat generation had
all taken to the road and either found
the answers or given up hope. The
hippy culture was still reeling from the
high of Woodstock 69; and the sore wounds of
Vietnam were still fresh and hurting. The common
man needed some fun and games. And that is when
Higinbotham’s creation really came to the fore. Pioneered
by a US company named Atari, home video game systems
became increasingly popular in the mid-1970s. A sporadic
boom and bust cycle followed in the early 1980s but a
resurrection was soon headed by a Japanese company
named Nintendo.
Round about the same time, a Motorola researcher and
executive named Martin Cooper had filed a patent for what
was to become the first practical mobile phone for hand-held
use. The researchers at Motorola were excited. A new
technological highroad was in view – wireless communication
products that could be used outside the home, office or
automobile. And a communication device that had no strings
attached. Quite literally! The potentials were immense and
competition aplenty. Little wonder then that the first mobile
phone call made by Cooper was to his rivals at Bell Labs.
The first steps are always monumental. The rest of it is hardly
noticed and fleeting. Technology was making rapid strides with
the semi-conductor industry setting pace to the laws of Gordon
Moore. There was no looking back. Devices were getting
smarter as they were getting smaller; ‘accomplishing more with
less’ was the going mantra and science fiction novels of
yesterday were turning to be real life happenings of today.
Mobile phones proliferated like mushrooms. It somehow
seemed like mankind had suddenly realized the obsessive
compulsive need to talk endlessly. Box-like clumsy handsets
morphed into ‘candy bar’ style cell phones. And with it came
enhanced features and calling capabilities. Cell phones ceased
being merely communicating devices. There was a need to do
more with it. Nokia for the first time in 1998 pre-loaded their
mobile phones with a video game called the ‘Snake.’
Suddenly, waiting for a dentist appointment or waiting for the
T
A new revolutionary industry, it soon became
apparent, had been spawned.
And why wouldn’t it be? With over one billion mobile
phones in use today, the mobile gaming industry is akin to the
Gold Rush; there is money to be made and lots of it. But
h
industry insiders swear by one irrevocable truth – mobile
(Java 2 Micro Edition). While BREW is a C/C++ based API tool that is widely being used for advanced graphics embedding,
that facilitates several different languages to interact with the to make games even more realistic.
mobile device, J2ME is a toned down strain of Java tailored for Software-based gaming consoles are also gaining considerable
smaller devices like the mobile. While both these technologies traction. Sony Ericsson integrated the Mophun games engine
are equally popular, they do have their unique propositions. onto its mobile devices not so long back. And industry experts
BREW is known to provide developers with greater end-to-end predict software consoles and related technologies are sure to
support and is also widely known to be an industry accepted play a significant role in the days to come.
certification and distribution model for getting applications to The mobile development world, as is evident, is a different
the end consumer. J2ME and the Java bandwagon, in the beast altogether. Even programmers with expertise in bread and
meanwhile, have the backing of some of the powerhouses in the butter languages like C++ and Java, often find their task cut out.
industry and are ever popular with the hundreds of Java Programming calls for exercising frugality in the usage of objects
programmers who swear their allegiance to these. as memory is expensive. And programmers with a knack for
In the world of telephony, there has been little that has been writing compact, efficient codes are always in great demand.
common between Europe and America. Much like the GSM- There is another aspect to mobile games as well – visuals. The
CDMA divide, the two continents have different favourites in game artists, who are responsible for this, bring a whole suite of
platforms as well. Symbian OS, a C++ based API has tools and technologies with them.
considerable traction in Europe. What adds credibility to Unlike in game development, most of the tools and skills
Symbian is the fact that Nokia’s flagship gaming mobile, N- needed is pretty much the same as used in other games. The
Gage is based on the Symbian OS. With Symbian all set to quintessential Photoshop continues to be the artists’ favourite
become the standard operating system of ‘smartphones,’ its tool. The other tools in a game designer’s arsenal are the usual
credibility is sure on the upswing. suspects – Paintshop Pro is a commoner, as is ACDsee, the image
But the fact remains that mobile games are consistently a viewer. Programs such as Debabilizer, which creates/matches
generation behind modern day video games. If you ask me why? colour palettes equal to or lesser than 256 colours, are also
Well, there is something called the technology frontier and all commonly used. But with newer mobile devices moving towards
said and done, lest we forget we are still talking about a hi-colour displays, their usage is sure to reduce substantially.
communicating device where games are nothing more than a The mobile gaming technology arena is like the wild west of
value added service. But over time, the games have gotten better the technology space. The skills are niche and the
and it is no longer just ‘Tetris’ and ‘Snake’ on mobile phones. opportunities are manifold; the stakes are high and the
With increased emphasis on 2D/3D graphics, APIs, like propensity to lose very likely; the technology is challenging and
OpenGL ES, have become a part of core mobile gaming the potential ever increasing. Whatever the scene, for a techie,
technology. This low-level, light-weight, cross platform API is a the lure of the mobile gaming world is like that of a cotton
candy to the toddler.
Amidst all this, mobile phone
penetration in the emerging markets
is rising rapidly. The Boston
Consulting Group in an interesting
study identified the next billion
customers at the bottom of the
pyramid and explored the possibilities
that lay buried here. The mobile
phone, incidentally, is expected to be
an important cog in this wheel of
opportunity. Imagine a mobile in the
hand of the next billion. And imagine
the possibilities this might well open
for mobile gaming. Will technology
continue to push the frontier to help
discover new opportunities? Will
some entrepreneurial idea bring
online gaming to the masses? Only
time will tell. But when it does, it will
have wireless carriers and mobile
gaming companies alike, laughing
Mobile game addiction is instinctual.
their way to the bank. I
Gaming Technology
in Medical Imaging
Ritu Goyal Harish
to practice their procedures When three dimensions and millions of pixels are involved, the
task of deciphering image data becomes exponentially complex.
virtually ! Here’s how. Within this scope, the need for higher processing speeds is
T
essential. And this is precisely where the cost-effective benefits of
he strides technology makes in the world of computers gaming industry technology are starting to make an impact.
makes them powerful modes of change in medical With the use of the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) processor
advancements, speeding up their implementation and the first implementation of the Cell Broadband Engine
reducing their costs substantially. Architecture used in Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), with its highly
One way medical images are being improved is by using visual parallel architecture and its high memory bandwidth has the
images from more than one source – magnetic resonance imaging possibility to take medical imaging a step forward in performance,
with real gains to be had in improving services to the patient.
The beginning
It started when Dutch-based 3mensio, founded in August 2003,
focused on exploiting the capabilities offered by so-called Graphics
Processing Units (GPUs) on graphics boards. Their tremendous
speed and programmability enhancing quickly as a result of the
fierce competition in the multi-billion dollar computer games
industry, to provide the path towards a new level of functionality
and price/performance for advanced 3D medical imaging.
Today, another company using games-derived GPU
technology to speed up radically processing is Canadian
company Acceleware. The company is examining the
possibility of creating hardware (GPU)
accelerated reconstruction algorithms.
The innovative approach by
these ‘early movers’ in
marrying gaming
Feature
1 2
Artificial
Intelligence
in Games David Welch
Game codes that make the machine think and act on its own.
ust about all video games have other
What is AI?
As game play has evolved over the decades
to include richer graphics and faster
processing, game characters have also
grown more life-like in the way they look,
move, and behave. Detailed textures and
countless polygons create realistic-looking
characters, while motion-capture
animation conveys a wide range of actions
and emotions through physical movement
and facial expressions. But, under the
surface of these graphics, game characters
have also evolved a higher capacity of
intelligence, allowing them to make
decisions based on logical processes.
While, even though the most intelligent
virtual characters still fall greatly short of
the intellectual and reasoning power of the
human mind, some artificially intelligent
game characters are now able to react to
an environment, pursue their own needs,
Emergent AI
As AI has grown, it has gone from simple scripted patterns of
behaviour, to reacting to a player’s input, and finally to emergent
In The Sims, players poke their nose into the lives of ordinary people and help
behaviours and the ability to learn new skills by observing and them by making them make wise decisions – or not!
adjusting to its environment and the consequences of its actions.
This idea has been explored in Lionhead Studio’s Black and Don’t forget the fun
White series. In Black and White, players take the role of a god The difference between the study and science of realistic artificial
who must take care of a village of worshippers in part by intelligence and artificial intelligence used in video games is that
training a giant beast, “the Creature,” to do its bidding. The games are intended to be fun, so the AI is also used for that
Creature will act on its own but can be told to perform specific purpose. For this reason, fun game play can sometimes take
actions. The player may then punish the beast by slapping it or priority over realistic AI forcing the AI to behave unrealistically in
reward it by stroking it, thus providing positive and negative order to make the game more fun. Often to make a game more
reinforcement for its actions. Eventually, based on this challenging, computer characters are imbued with greater strength
behavioural reinforcement, the Creature will change its in order to compensate for their lack of intelligence in comparison
behaviour to pursue activities that it has learned are good and to the player. This may include having stronger attacks, faster
avoid those which it has learned are bad. A well-trained speed, or more health than the player.
Creature will act according to the player’s wishes independently For example, in many racing games, the winner of the race
so that the player may concentrate on other hands-on processes ought to be determined by the skill of the driver. However, AI
and thus be more successful in his endeavours. drivers lack the sophisticated driving skill comparable to that of
the player and will usually be left in the dust. To compensate for
Taking care of your AI this lack of skill, computer-controlled race cars will ‘rubberband’
Some games intend to portray AI characters as human by giving or unfairly speed up when the player establishes a sizable lead.
them their own unique desires, goals, and habits that are It may not be fair to the player, who must rely only on his/her
independent of the player. In the role-playing game, Elder Scrolls skill to win, but it keeps the game challenging and exciting.
IV: Oblivion, townsfolk have their own 24-hour schedule of
activities and habits, which they pursue independently each day. The future of game AI
This may include sleeping, eating, visiting shops, or conversing As long as fun is the driving force behind video games, it will be
with other townsfolk. This behavioural cycle will not change a long time before game artificial intelligence approaches a level
unless, of course, it is affected by actions taken by the player. comparable to the infinite complexities of the human mind.
The popular life/family simulator, The Sims, game characters But, at the same time, we can expect video game characters to
also have needs and desires. However, in this game, the Sims resemble humans to an even greater extent in the way they look,
are only semi-autonomous and cannot fulfill these goals move, behave, think, and learn. This will create a more
without the guiding hand of the player telling them which immersive experience for the player as they interact with life-like
activities to pursue. If they are not told to eat, they die. If they virtual characters with personalities of their own. I
style it Gaming
Time
Sony F305
mobile phone
The Sony F305 with
Motion Gaming puts
‘fun and
entertainment’ at the
heart of the mobile
phone. Targeted firmly
at a youth audience,
the phone with motion
gaming lets users
control games with the
flick of a wrist or the
swing of an arm.
Portable Sony
Playstn. (PSP)
Game on PSP system
anytime anywhere.
Browse the web,
enjoy RSS feeds, use
Remote Play to
access your PS3
system, or get instant
messages and calls
with Skype
Style IT
Sony Playstn.2
The successor to the
PlayStation, and the
predecessor to the
PlayStation 3, the
PlayStation 2 forms
part of the PlayStation
series of video game
consoles. Stylish, cool,
and a must have for
the gaming freak.
WILLIAMS F1 Team
RACING WHEEL
The Racing Wheel
comes with a bundle of
features to deliver a
level of realism and
authenticity previously
unheard of on such a
peripheral. Try it to
believe it.
Style IT
MITASHI GAME – IN
Infrazone wireless
entertainment
Get ready for
some wireless gaming.
Connect to a TV and play
with wireless gear to get
into action.
Nintendo Playboy
Advance SP
Comes with a
rechargeable battery
and charger with free
10-in-1 gaming
cartridge. You can play
up to 4 to 5 hours on a
single charge.
Style IT
MITASHI GAME –
IN SPORTMAX
The fun has just
begun. This machine
comes with 48 in built
TV video games sure
to take you on a
fantasy ride in the
world of gaming.
iPod
It’s dubbed as
'The Funnest iPod
Ever', and it's easy to
understand why.
Features like the
Multi-Touch Display,
and a built-in
accelerometer, which
automatically rotates
the screen, are just
the beginning of this
ground breaking
device. Comes with a
built-in Wi-Fi along with
an e-mail client.
Multimedia
Technologies
for
Gaming
Special applications to make your game interactive and interesting.
Roli Gupta
O
nce upon a time, a software programmer in a monsters out to eat up the creature, and the creature had to avoid
moment of boredom developed a software program them, while still eating up the dots ... and that presumably was the
to entertain himself. This consisted of a screen with beginning of the multi-billion dollar gaming industry, an industry
a maze, lined with small dots representing fruits and that provides employment to millions of people worldwide –
a round shape representing a creature that would eat up the small smart, intelligent and supremely creative geeks working away on
dots. To make it more interesting, the developer gave himself their desktops or laptops, trying hard to create that ultimate video
points for each dot that the creature ate up. However, he soon got game that will take the world by storm and get them into the same
bored with this ‘game’. So, he added another level – there were league as good ol’ Billy, dropout from Harvard University!
Storyboarding software games that are high on visual appeal is very important for the
Storyboarding is the not-so-simple first, crucial step in creating success of any game. In-depth knowledge of the relevant
games. A little difficult to define, it basically involves the complete software is almost mandatory. The software is usually powerful,
visualisation of the game, not unlike a movie script, complete integrated 3D modelling, 3D animation, and rendering
with different scenarios, characters, screenplay, interaction applications. Widely used in TV, films and of course in game
development, these offer a complete end-to-end solution for
creating games.
Here are some of the essential tools or software that provide
an entire gamut of features for extensive game development:
1. Autodesk Maya/Autodesk 3D Max: http://usa.autodesk.com/
2. DarkBasic/DarkBasicPro:
http://www.thegamecreators.com/
3. GameEditor: http://game-editor.com/Main_Page/
4. GameMaker: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/
5. Role Playing Game Software: RPG Toolkit –
http://www.toolkitzone.com/
6. Adobe Flash Player:
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/
7. Adobe Director and Adobe Shockwave Player:
http://www.adobe.com/products/director/;
http://www.adobe.com/products/shockwaveplayer/
8. Torque 3D, Torque 2D: http://www.garagegames.com/
9. GameStudio: http://www.3dgamestudio.com/
10. Unity (for MAC): http://unity3d.com/unity/
O
nce upon a time there lived a young girl in the enthrall her onlookers. She had a fetish for fashion and her
magic world of toys. She was the most beautiful sense of style would often pep up her otherwise lovely
girl indeed. Her cascading mane, slender frame, features. Ever since the day she walked the beach in confident
sparkling eyes and dazzling smile had set many a steps, sporting a zebra stripped swimsuit and a topknot, she
heart on fire. She would exude a charm that would keep her grabbed all the attention, wherever she went. This pretty girl
admirers enchanted forever. This girl had all the oomph to was pert and smart too. She could dapple with careers as
“ Online Barbie
games let the Barbie
aficionados see the
doll in action ... an
animated Barbie is
bound to mesmerize
you with things she
”
does on her own
Ruth Handler, the brain behind the concept of Barbie.
charisma to her advantages. For Ruth, she was quite like what
she had imagined her dream doll to be. At the end of her earned her the rare honour of a having part of the Times
European sojourn, Ruth returned to the United States with Square named after her for a week in the year of 1974. As it is
Lilli, who would now go through an elaborate session of make- common for the rich and the famous, Barbie too has been
over. It was engineer Jack Ryan who gave Lilli the necessary bothered by controversies time and again. While some call her
alterations before she could hit the American market in her sexist, there are physicians worldwide, who often censure her
new avatar as Barbie. Ruth gave Lilli her new name after her impractical vital stats for pushing young girls towards becoming
daughter Barbara, and ‘Barbie’ made her first appearance on anorexic. All the blame games, however, seem inane as the little
the 9th of March 1959 at the American International Toy Fair. girl giggles with her Barbie, held to her bosom in a tight hug.
Dressed up by Charlotte Johnson, the Mattel Fashion Designer, Barbie has moved beyond being just a doll; this diva is no less
the then “Teen age Fashion doll” would set trends for her than an icon emulated by millions throughout the world. The
admirers to follow all around the globe from now on. Despite craze over Barbie has spread across adults and children alike.
occasional challenges from the younger entrants into the world While the young daughters love taking Barbie to school with
of toy glitterati like the bratty Bratz doll, Barbie still reigns as them, their mothers often indulge in dressing her up during their
the stunning sensation, who surely knows the elixir of free times. Her popularity has led Mattle to introduce product
everlasting youth. lines named after her. She has made her appearance in some
PAN Technologies
inVideo Games David Welch
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enrich games with networking options creating
a whole new world of gaming.
P
ersonal area networking (PAN) has undergone a rapid might include steering wheels, trackballs, gamepads, light guns, and
transition over the last decade as wireless technologies instruments. But each of these personal gaming area networks was
have displaced wires and cables to connect electronic saddled with the inherent impediments of cords, which inhibited
devices seamlessly. Without the need for wires and physical movement and limited the number of connected devices.
available ports, integrating multiple devices into a personal area
network (PAN) is more convenient than ever before. And with the Wireless connectivity via infrared light
ease of connecting devices of everyday use, like phones, laptops, Infrared Data Association (IrDa) was used as a popular means of
printers, and keyboards, comes the added benefit of connecting wireless data transmission in personal area networks in the late 1990s
electronic gaming systems and peripherals in the same way. Thus,
the evolution and transition of PAN technologies, like infrared and This game controller
uses a retractable cord
Bluetooth, have changed the way in which we play video games. to prevent it from
Connecting video game peripherals through cables was the becoming entangled
in other wires. While
standard throughout most of gaming history. Controllers and this is more
joysticks had to be connected through wires to a game console the convenient than a
non-retractable cord,
same way we connected keyboards and mice to our computers. it cannot stand up to a
Game ports allowed for a variety of different peripherals to be Bluetooth-enabled
wireless controller.
connected creating a personal area network for gaming, which
and early 2000s. IrDa exchanged short-range data over infrared mobile phone while driving. At the same time, GPS
light. Using IrDa, a user could, for example, connect a computer to functionality of a mobile phone could connect with the car’s
a printer and wirelessly send print jobs from one device to the other. systems to help drivers navigate. Of course, Bluetooth allows for
Infrared was used the same way in video games to allow for input and output devices like mice, keyboards, printers, and
wireless controllers. Players were free from cumbersome wires that headsets to work together seamlessly.
inhibited game play. This was a real advantage to overzealous
gamers who would accidentally pull controller wires from their Bluetooth in
ports in moments of exuberance, or have ever had a house pet or video games
clumsy friend accidentally trip over their cords and disconnect For video games,
them from a game. It also relieved them of the task of untangling Bluetooth allows for
a mass of cords from different controllers and peripherals. several advantages in
Because IrDa uses infrared light, there must be a direct line of sight game play. Wireless
between the devices. If an obtrusive solid object interfered, the IrDa- controllers now allow
enabled devices could no longer ‘see’ each other and thus be unable for free movement The WaveBird
to communicate. This was a drawback in video games since a without the hassle of for the Nintendo
sudden loss of control at a critical point in game play could mean the cords or the line-of-sight Gamecube was
the first official
difference between a ‘top score’ and a ‘game over,’ no matter how interruption possible wireless controller
brief the interruption. These disadvantages would eventually make through infrared. made by a first-party
console gaming manufacturer.
IrDa obsolete in the face of newer technology. However, infrared light Among the three Nintendo had been attempting to create a
would still be used later to capture motion for video games. current generation reliable wireless controller since the
Famicom era with infrared technology.
Other early wireless controllers used radio links instead of console gaming systems, However, the WaveBird succeeded by using
infrared. But they often suffered from transmission delays, which the Nintendo Wii and radio frequency communication.
were more disastrous for players than line-of-sight interruptions. the Sony PS3 both use
Because of the necessity for maintaining complete control at all Bluetooth controllers while Microsoft’s Xbox360 uses a
times in game play, wireless controllers were avoided until the proprietary protocol that uses a 2.4 gigahertz electromagnetic
technology finally improved. frequency. While all three use radio frequencies to communicate
wirelessly, the Bluetooth protocol supports up to seven
The dawn of controllers to be used simultaneously with the PS3 while the
Bluetooth Xbox360 is limited to four.
Bluetooth technology is now At the same time, PCs and game consoles that are Bluetooth-
becoming the standard for enabled can use other Bluetooth devices beyond controllers to
short-range data create a more immersive game experience. Bluetooth headsets
communication ideal for and mics allow gamers to chat with other players online easily.
personal area networks. This communication advantage allows players to coordinate
Bluetooth is an open wireless strategies with team members in games like first-person-shooters
standard and communication and other squad-based games. Or, they may allow human
protocol for interpreting opponents to trash talk each other in fighting games.
radio frequencies among These infrared headphones Increased compatibility is also an advantage of Bluetooth-
operate wirelessly by picking up
numerous devices within a infrared frequencies emitted by an
enabled devices. Bluetooth devices speak the same language, so a
few meters. The biggest infrared-enabled CD player or Bluetooth headset for a mobile phone would also work with a
monitor. They are intended for use
advantage Bluetooth has over in front of a computer or while in a
Bluetooth-enabled laptop and a Sony PS3. This cuts down on the
IrDa is that it uses radio car since the infrared must cost of system-specific accessories.
maintain a direct line of site with
frequencies, instead of light, the emitter in order to function.
Bluetooth is also making waves in portable or hand-held gaming
so devices do not have to be by allowing fast and accurate communication between hand-held
in a line of sight. Bluetooth uses a radio technology called gaming devices. This replaces the link cables of old that we fondly
frequency-hopping spread spectrum where it switches or remember connecting GameBoys together. The iPhone is
‘hops’ among 78 frequencies 1600 times a second. This Bluetooth-enabled, which means two or more iPhone users can
reduces the amount of interference allowing devices to connect with each other for wireless multiplayer gaming without
communicate faster and more accurately, while at the same connecting to a WiFi network. Of course, since Bluetooth has a
time making the signal more secure. short range, the players must be no more than 30 feet apart. A
Creating a personal area network using Bluetooth (often called new version of Sony’s PlayStation Portable called the PSP Go will
a piconet) is becoming more common as more devices are made have Bluetooth functionality as well. The latest version of the
Bluetooth-ready out of the box. For example, mobile phone Nintendo DS does not have Bluetooth so players must connect via
users may use a hands-free Bluetooth headset to use with their WiFi for multiplayer gaming.
Project Natal
and full body motion recognition
Microsoft’s ‘Project Natal’ for the Xbox360 and PC may be the most
complex application of PAN technologies in gaming yet. The device
does not use any hand-held controller whatsoever and instead
detects full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice
recognition. The Project Natal sensor can see in three dimensions,
thanks to an infrared projector and monochrome CMOS sensor.
This technology can track up to four users for motion analysis and
identify and interpret 48 points of movement on a human body,
In this demonstration of ‘Milo’ for Project Natal, the player physically uses her hand
including each individual finger. With this system, game characters to snatch up fish from a pond. The infrared projector uses time-of-flight motion
can emulate the same movements that you may make with your own capture to track and interpret the movements of the player.
Kiran’s
Typing
Tutor
An easy, interactive way to learn typing
I
n today’s computerized world, a good typing skill can make
Tech Tips by Anoop Verma
a whole lot of difference to your career and to your social that turn out to be quite entertaining and they also manage to
life as well. This is where Kiran’s Typing Tutor comes in. deliver succinct typing lessons.
This easy-to-use typing program can make you proficient at Kiran’s Typing Tutor is designed to run on all Windows
typing within a matter of days. The program is a freeware and powered systems, from Windows 2000 to Windows Vista, and it
can be downloaded by pointing your browser to this link: needs a RAM of at least 64 MB, but a RAM of 128MB is
ttp://www.kiranreddys.com/download/download.php. This recommended if you want to enjoy the rich graphics in this
scientifically designed tutorial begins with basic lessons, program. Naturally, a QWERTY keyboard is a must when you are
which can enable beginners to understand the modalities learning to type. If you have any issues with the program, then you
of touch-typing. can get your query resolved by going to the support pages at
Within the realms of this typing tutor, more than 500 typing www.kiranreddys.com/support.php. It is also possible for you to
practice lessons and more than 500 testing lessons can be found. contact the program’s creators, by visiting the ‘Contact Us’ page. I
So, you can be sure that you are going to learn about all the
hidden nuances of typing and also have ample opportunity to
practice them. There is a finger preview feature that shows what
finger you have to use to strike any particular key on the
keyboard. The Key preview feature shows the key that gets
pressed. The program is capable of recording the accuracy with
which you are typing, and the word per minute. Both of these
details prove invaluable for self-evaluation.
The program also has a Kids Typing module that includes five
different types of typing lessons designed for age groups ranging
from 4 to 8 years. So, it is not just you but your kid too can
become proficient at typing by using this program. However, it is
the typing of numbers that poses as a great difficulty for most of
us. But don’t worry. Kiran’s Typing Tutor comes with a Numeric
Typing module designed to demystify the use of the dreaded
numeric keyboard. Then there are the myriad Typing Games
O
ne thing is for sure, while you are on
the go, a mobile serves as a good
search instrument. An increasing
number of people have started
using their mobiles to search for information.
Their task has become easier since Google de-
cided to enhance SMS search in India. If you
are looking for live IPL scores, current time in
New York, today’s gold and silver prices, avail-
Google
ability of seats or fares for trains from Bangalore
to Mumbai, you can depend on Goggle’s SMS
facility to bring you answers in quick time.
All you need to do is send a simple SMS to 9-
77-33-00000 and that will link you directly to
Google search at the price of a normal SMS.
For finding out scores in international cricket
enhances
matches, you have to SMS ‘cri’ to 9-77-33-
00000. But, if you wish to know about IPL
scores, then you have to SMS ‘cri ipl’. Let’s say,
SMS
you want to learn about the performance of
the SRK team. In that case, you might SMS
‘cri ipl knight riders’. For domestic cricket
scores, you will SMS ‘cri ranji’.
The service also allows you to keep track of
stock and commodity markets. All you need to
do is SMS ‘price gold’, ‘price oil’, or ‘price cot-
search in
ton’ to know the MCX spot prices for these
commodities. To learn more, you can SMS
‘help commodity’ to the same number. This
service is surely going to be a boon for traders.
Now you don’t have to call a friend in New
India
York to find out what the time is in that part of
the world. Just SMS ‘time new york’ to 9-77-33-
00000 and you will have an answer instantly.
Then there is the aspect of railway search.
Google is geared to provide much more than
just your PNR status and train schedule on
your mobile phone. You can learn about seat
availability and fare information as well. Let’s
say, you want to check the seat availability for
29th October on train number 7777, going
from Delhi to Mumbai. All you need to do is
SMS, ‘train avail 7777 Delhi to Mumbai on
29-07’. And, if you want to check out the fares
for sleeper class, SMS ‘train fare 7777 Delhi to
Mumbai for SL’.
By bringing such information gathering ca-
pability to the mobile phone, Google is cer-
tainly doing its bit in making life easy for the
average customer. It is quite likely that in the
times to come, more information gathering
avenues will get incorporated into the system.
And that is only going to add to the importance
of hand-held mobile phones. I
After you have managed to create something special with your different age group. There are different kinds of Lego activity
virtual Lego blocks, you can also upload the image on the Lego planned for different age groups. Children in smaller age groups
website and then order the ‘real’ pieces necessary to build the can design simpler items like a toy train, cement mixer, etc.
structure, along with step-by-step instructions. However, a Older kids can attempt things like space shuttles, robots, etc.If
custom Lego Kit turns out to be quite costly, so you have to anything, these virtual Lego games pose as a good
check out your budget before you start ordering. For example, a way for helping kids unleash their
model of the house or a police station, or a spacecraft might cost creativity. I
you in excess of $100 in Lego. Despite the price, it is still fun
designing your own Lego toys on the computer and then have
your creation delivered to your house.
Even if you don’t want to order anything, you
and your kid can have fun by designing
Lego toys of your ima-
ginations on the colourful
screen. You can also download
designs that others have created
and edit them according to your
own tastes and sensibilities. You
can point your browser at
http://factory.lego.com/gallery to
check out a cornucopia of virtual
Lego designs. Their prices in real
Lego are also listed, so you can find
out what these toys cost in real life. In
the virtual world you can choose from
over 763 brick types, which is much more
than what you get in a normal Lego kit.
A click on the ‘Parents’ link at the Lego
website will take you to the URL:
http://parents.lego.com/en-
gb/default.aspx. Here, you can find plenty
of suggestions about the kind of designing
that can be attempted to enthuse children of
Create your very own animated cartoons, video games and interactive artworks
ere is a good way of helping your kid to create his own animated cartoons, small video games or even his own interactive artworks.
You can do all this even if you don’t know a bit of Flash and coding. All you need to do is visit this site: http://scratch.mit.edu.
Scratch has a set of innovative tools through which people without any computer programming skills, and that means most of us,
can create animations. It is not just standalone animations that you and your kid can create, but Scratch will allow you to dish out
animated stories, small games and much else.
Before you can start using the tools available on the website, you need to download and install the program by pointing your browser to:
http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_1.4_Download. And all this for free. With its comprehensible menu-based system, using Scratch is
eminently simple. You can either upload images from your own computer or you can use the ones that already exist in the Scratch library.
Once the images have been imported, a number of blocks can be assigned to each one of them.
Now you have to assign various commands to these blocks. Scratch lists all of the most commonly used commands for any animation film
in the form of buttons. Let’s say, you want one of the blocks to move. Then you have to press the ‘Move’ button. And after that you can
specify the type of movement that you wish to incorporate. Let’s say, you want your character to move by ‘ten steps’ or turn in a clockwise
direction, or in an anti-clockwise direction. There are simple buttons that help you specify such traits. To create an animation, just assign the
commands and stack the blocks together.
If you want to make the character play drum as it moves ten steps, then first click on the ‘Sound’ tab and then specify the type of sound
from the options available. Let’s say you want the character to keep going back and forth while playing the drum. To do this you will need to
add another ‘Move’ command that will entail a movement back by ‘ten steps’. You can also put a commencement sign to your animation so
that the animation starts moving only when you click on something. It could be a ‘Green Flag’ for instance. Similarly, there can also be a
‘Stop’ button, clicking on which will make the animation come to a halt.
There is also a button called ‘Looks’ that proves very suitable for adding many other special effects to your animation. You can switch
costumes, change colour effects and do much else. Once your masterpiece is complete, you can share your creation on the web by uploading
it on the Scratch website. Some of the members of Scratch have even created their very own ‘Mario’ and ‘Pac-Man’ based games! You can
go to the ‘Gallery’ page on the website to take a peek at some of the latest animations and games that have been created using Scratch.
They even have a Scratch concert on the gallery page. Michel Jackson continues to groove in the virtual realm of Scratch. There is no
dearth of games that you can enjoy at this gallery. However, before you and your kid are able to come up with this kind of advanced
creations, you will need a lot of practice. Now is a good time to start. The website itself is a pet project of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology’s (MIT’s) media lab and it is targeted mainly at youngsters. I
I
f you are a mother of a young child, you already know how difficult it is to teach math
to your young one. But now you have Tux to depend on. But, hey who is Tux? Well, he
is a penguin who resides in a virtual video game type of world and yet he manages to do
a pretty fine job of teaching basic math to kids. The best thing about Tux is that his
tutorials are available for free. You can download the free software by pointing your browser
to this link: http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/download.php.
It doesn’t matter whether you use Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Mac or Linux, this versatile
math tutorial is available in versions that are compatible with almost every system used in
household computers or schools. Once you have downloaded the software, it will take less
than two minutes to get installed. After that all you have to do is make your kid sit in front
of the computer and start interacting with the friendly virtual penguin, who is so good at
dishing out lessons in basic math.
The game play of this math tutorial is based on arcade style video games that are proving
to be so popular with kids these days. Comets falling on cities, which are inhabited entirely
by penguins residing in cute little igloos. The players, your kids in this case, have to protect
the cities from the falling comets and the only way they can achieve their objective is by
solving elementary match problems. Cool, isn’t it? Kids are going to enjoy this tutorial.
Once they solve the math problem, the comet gets destroyed and the city is saved.
The game also includes a multiplayer mode, in which more than one kid can participate.
There is also the provision for factor-fraction activity called Factoroids. The game features a
training mode, where the kids can hone their game play skills. It also has a score table,
where children can keep a tab on how they have been faring with their game, or more
precisely their math lessons. Numerous schools around the world have already started using
Tux, whose tutorials are available in many different languages, including English. The
game has also been mentioned in numerous school newsletters.
Once you the game downloaded on your computer, you will know just how good a math
teacher Tux, the penguin, is.
Stream
Movies in your
Home with New
Cisco
Router
F
or movie buffs the new Router from
Cisco, the dual-band wireless router
(WRT320N), will prove to be dream
come true. This is clearly the router for
next generation of extreme networking and is
ideal for users who demand more from their
wireless networking. The installation process
is relatively easy – all you need to do is hook
up a couple of wires, run a small program on
your laptop and PC and the system gets ready
for use. You can then start streaming video
movies immediately.
However, when you are hooking the router
up, you must make sure that you create a strong password and connections and 802.11n grade wireless operating in either the
do not let the device remain at its default settings. This is for 2.4 GHz wireless band or the wider 5 GHz band. The truth is
your own online safety against identity theft. With the new Cisco that operating the router in the 5 GHz band is ideal as it is less
router, setting up a password is a breeze. The range of this crowded than the 2.4 GHz band and hence is better suited for
router is about 1000 feet and that should be enough to cover the carrying latency sensitive data like video and audio. The
entire area of most houses and a little bit of outdoors too. You WRT320N is shipped with Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA),
could work or watch movies comfortably in your verandah or which helps users to get their network up and running and helps
balcony. You can get recipes at the kitchen or even check mails keep their network updated and secure. Incorporation of Wi-Fi
anywhere in the house. Protected Setup (WPS) support proves great for making devices
The location in your house where you have the router on wireless local area networks more secure and to make the
installed is important. For best results, the device has to be setup easy.
placed at a central point of the building so that the signal gets To have this system in your house, all you need to do is fork
spread out in all the directions. The signal is quite strong, so out is a sum of Rs. 8,999. Now, that’s definitely not much
even if you put the router inside a closet to keep it out of sight, it considering the benefits you get in return. Think of the time and
will continue to work. And once the system gets installed, you money that you can save with home networking by sharing files,
are ready to start streaming movies directly to your HDTV or printers, storage and other peripherals. Once you have the
home theatre system. That should be a treat. system in your house, you will soon realize that you can’t do
The WRT320N is equipped with gigabit ethernet for wired without it.
T even your mobile phone can act like a version of the movie theatre, but
only for the audio part of it. UTV New Media Ltd. has now announced
the launch of its Audio Cinema, which happens to be first of its kind
movie-on-your-phone service. By using this innovative service, you can listen to
an hour-long audio version of your favourite movies. The dialogues, narrations
and the gist of the story emerge out of your mobile phone. Imagine the delight
of listening to the dialogs of ‘Sholay.’ How about having a tryst with the lines of
the latest film, ‘Fashion.’ If you are Tamil movie fan, then will enjoy
‘Thalapathi.’
But what if you get a phone call, or have to make a phone call, while you are
enjoying your movie experience. The service comes with a pause/resume feature
that will take care of the problem. Refreshing audio versions of movies are being
released every Friday. Users can access the service through all the major telecom
players in India, including Idea, Vodafone, Airtel Mobile and Reliance. Thus,
you enjoy the freedom to pick up movies from a long list of titles, in accordance
with your preferred language option. So, wherever you go now, your favourite
movies will be following you closely. However, the service is not for free. You have
to pay a small amount to enjoy movie experience on your mobile.
If you are carrying a Vodafone or Airtel mobile then you have to pay Rs. 6 per
minute. From Idea Cellular you have to pay Rs. 6.99 per minute. But Reliance
mobile is only going to cost Rs. 30 for a monthly package. For enjoying a movie,
those sorts of charges don’t sound like too much. I
S
kype may be the most recognisable name in the VoIP field, but there are many established competitors as well
as start-up companies ready to compete for customers. In order to attract you, these companies are launching
faster applications as they continue to lower their prices. Don’t waste a fortune to stay connected with family
and friends abroad when these VoIP companies offer a cheap alternative: not to mention the added benefit of
video chat! The only people not smiling at these advancements are the telephone providers who are surely minting
money. Take a look at these seven great VoIP alternatives to Skype and see which one best suits your needs.
1. Vbuzzer countries for free. In addition to sending an SMS for a low rate,
(http://www.vbuzzer.com/index.php) you can also use SmartVoIP for phone to phone communication.
While Vbuzzer does offer a free download, you need to buy
credit to access its premium features: $10 will get you started 6. iChat
and from there you can pay as you go. The service offers free (http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/ichat.html)
internet faxing for US and Canadian users only and low cost iChat is the instant messaging application for Mac users
calling starting at 1.5 c/min to both landline and cell phones featuring everything from custom buddy lists to invisibility on
anywhere in the world for all of its users. A convenient instant other’s buddy lists to multiple logins. Tabbed chats and SMS
messaging application is also available. forwarding make chatting easy even with friends and family
who use a PC. The iSight video camera allows for video
2. VoIPBuster chatting as well.
VolPBuster features free calls to a number of popular
destinations, but only after you have established a line of credit 7. Jajah
with the company and additional limitations also apply (check (http://www.jajah.com/)
out http://www.voipbuster.com/en/free.html for details). Over 15 million people around the world use Jajah and with the
Sending an SMS within the US to another VolPBuster account savings surely explain why. The VoIP service allows you to save
holder also in the US only costs 8 cents per message so the up to 98% on international phone calls. No contract, unique
company is still offering a great deal. software or headset is needed to use Jajah and the service can
work on any phone. Simply start an account and your first five
3. Smart VoIP minute call is absolutely free. In addition to its basic service,
(http://www.smartvoip.com/en/index.html) Jajah offers an IP platform that calls itself ‘the world’s only
Yet another VoIP service provider, SmartVoIP, also offers free complete data communications platform.’ With this service,
calls to a number of countries. After joining the service, you will established companies can offer Jajah’s VoIP services under their
be given 120 free days during which you can call any of the listed own name. I
Advantages
of
Online Games Partha Mukherjee
M
an, by design of nature, is a gregarious animal.
However, by the first decade of the new
millennium much of man’s social skills have
withered. The reasons are not far to seek. Like
many other social malaises, the root of a man’s dwindling
interaction with another fellow human being lies in the
shrinking family unit. Even in the traditional societies prevalent
in the East, nuclear families have virtually become de rigueur.
A cartoon that has been in cyberspace for a while comes to
mind. A child sitting in front of his computer screen reading an
e-mail message from his Mom, “If you have finished your
homework, come downstairs. Dinner is ready.”
This Bradburyesque picture is sadly not far from the truth
in the context of urban India. As expected, this setting builds
up bottled emotions which may find an outlet, albeit
somewhat unnatural, in online games.
Child psychologists accept that there is a cruel and vicious
trait in a child’s psyche. It is not a bad idea, after all, to let
these violent streaks to have a controlled expression
through an online game. The emphasis, however, is on
control, which unfortunately is forgotten by many designers
of online games for children. Some of the games are having
bad impacts on the mind of the players like for instance,
violent games. So, it is good that we know where to find
good games, which are challenging, educational and
fun. The most common disadvantage of these free
online games as we all know is that, teens prefer to
come online rather than doing their homework
or studying their lessons.
This, of course, is just one genre of online
games. To cater to a wider clientele, there
are others like adventure games, mystery
games, quiz games and so on. They can
stimulate the child’s power of imagination,
W
ell, if you thought I lived a paranormal existence The puritan approach notwithstanding, there a slew of games in
then I am sorry to disappoint. This was just me the market today which traditionally fall into the action-adventure
playing the popular action game – ‘Devil May Cry.’ genre. These games mesh the story line and situational problems of
With sedentary desk jobs and hectic work schedules, an adventure game with the reflexes and fast pace of the action
people like me find it increasingly exciting to spend the weekend genre. Games like the ‘The Legend of Zelda’ and ‘Tomb Raider’
killing demons and fighting crocodiles the size of a building while series typically characterize this genre.
staying afloat in a wooden dingy. And the fact that you can have Interestingly, there is a school of thought who sees alarm bells
lunch when you want to and watch the English Premier League ringing in the soaring popularity of action games. For them, the
once you have finished killing enough demons is incentive enough gun totting, demon killing game player is a manifestation of a
to be hooked onto action games. larger community that is increasingly becoming more aggressive.
‘Why so serious?’ questions the billboard advert for a popular But, side-stepping the validity of that opinion, one of the more
automobile. And it is a refrain that is increasingly representative fundamental reasons for the popularity of action games today is its
of the voice of the new generation. With manic lifestyles and a accessibility. Most action games are available online and can be
stressful work life, the younger generation is increasingly looking played without really paying a penny. With advanced animation
for avenues that are enjoyable, relaxing and act as a great stress and graphics and a superior storyline, there is little wonder why
buster. So, whether it is jumping off crane tops with a these games are so popular with the new generation.
suspendable rope tied to their feet; or signing a lengthy ‘I am In a lighter vein, and in further defence of action games,
responsible in case the unfortunate happens’ release form before studies have demonstrated that people can improve their eyesight
zorbing down the grassy slopes of a hill, it is all fair game. But considerably by playing action video games. In fact, it could be
for the ones, for whom the excitement is better enjoyed in the just what the doctor did not order for your perfect 20/20 vision.
warm confines of the home, there is no looking beyond the Researchers at the University of Rochester conducted this
splurge of action games available in the market. interesting experiment on college students over a one month
The action games genre is probably the oldest video game genre period and concluded that subjects who played action games
with games like ‘Space Invaders’ (1978), ‘Asteroids’ (1979), and ‘Pac- improved their eye performance by as much as 20 per cent as
Man’ (1980) being iconic examples. The fact that action games were against those who played good old games like ‘Tetris.’
a versatile variant was proven
when the game, ‘Paperboy’
(1984) made even a mundane
task like newspaper delivery
into high action. Ideally for a
purist, an action game is one
that emphasizes physical
challenges and puts the hand-
eye coordination of the player
to test. Typically, such games
will have the player playing the
protagonist navigating various
levels with each progressive
level getting more difficult than
the ones preceding it. The life
of a hero is never easy; so most
games will either have a time
constraint or limited
ammunition to further
complicate matters.
I
t was a rather small chamber, with walls, roof and floor made Rakhi realized that the bright light was coming through a
out of shiny metal, in which Rakhi Sinha woke up. Her body glass wall. She looked out and was momentarily stunned by the
felt stiff, her head was throbbing as if a thousand needles had spectacular view of millions of stars arrayed in a close proximity.
stabbed it. She sat up slowly, swinging her feet over the side “What is the meaning of all this?” she panted. “Where are we?”
of the bed. Slowly she lowered her feet down to the metallic A woman seated nearby raised her head, and said, “Don’t you
ground, which felt as cold as ice. She felt a dire need for her already know? We are at the Event Horizon. Outside that glass
shoes, but her feet were naked and she was dressed in strange wall, there is the final boundary of our universe. We are at the
blue coloured dress. When did she change into this dress? Where final boundary of space-time.”
were her own clothes and shoes? More importantly, what was It suddenly dawned on Rakhi that the face of the woman was
she doing in this strange metallic chamber? melting and there were needles stuck on her head. She looked at
Suddenly she realized that the chamber was not stationary; it the other men and women in the room; their faces were melting
was swirling about in an insane manner. But staying on the bed too. “What is happening to all of you?” she screamed. “You are
was not an option; her mind was being racked by the desire to melting in front of my eyes. Who drove those horrifying needles
explore what lay outside the chamber. She forced herself to in your heads?”
stand on her own legs and walking gingerly, she exited the “This sort of thing is expected to happen in the vicinity of
chamber through its door. She found herself in a large room Event Horizon, the final boundary of the universe where time
awash with bright light. Everything in the room was completely stops moving forward or backward. Enjoy the ride,” creepily
bathed with a thick cloak of light. replied the same woman.
Rakhi peered at a mirror on the wall and she realized that her “Yes, please.”
face was also melting and there were needles stuck into her head. The vehicle slowed down immediately. Rakhi could now enjoy
Rakhi was feeling very anxious. Ever since she had her mind the view better. The vista outside the Maxi-Cab’s window so
updated with a virtual vacation about two days ago, the back of her clearly resembled the Delhi of a previous era – an era when
head had been feeling kind of heavy. When she was being discharged technology had not made such deep inroads into people’s lives.
from the Virtual Vacation Tourism Center, she had complained to Even though the scenery of this area never failed to touch her,
the scientist about the feeling of heaviness. But he did not find that to Rakhi was also filled with the realization that the world around
be a cause of worry and assured her that she would be fine. her was fake. The deep blue sky dotted with picturesque looking
Now 48 hours had passed, but there was still no improvement clouds was actually the city’s dome. In year 2160 majority of the
in her condition. The Maxi-Cab on whose back seat she was human beings lived under huge domed cities that provided
ensconced was passing through the India Gate area of New pristine living and working environment. The entire city was
Delhi. Even though this was the year 2160, this area still fully air-conditioned; its air and water quality was always
retained its old name. monitored by thousands of state-of-the-art computers. Every bit
“Can you slow down please,” said Rakhi to the robotic driver, of the city was networked to a central server.
“I wish to enjoy the view.” Even the way in which people enjoyed their vacations had
“The minimum speed limit on this road is 60 miles per hour,” changed. No one wanted to leave the safe environment of a
said the robotic driver. “Would you like me to bring the speed domed city anymore. That is why entrepreneurs had launched a
down to that?” product called ‘Virtual Vacations.’ Instead of going for a
vacation to a dangerous locale, people could just go into a secure “By the way, I can see that you are not feeling well. Your head
laboratory and for a price they could get their minds updated is feeling heavy and your blood pressure is higher than normal.”
with memories of a glorious vacation to any place on the planet Being a cyborg, Brenda was capable of diagnosing abnormal
and elsewhere in the universe. If anything, these virtual vacation conditions in any human being immediately.
laboratories were quite innovative in coming up with myriad “I am glad you noticed,” said Rakhi with a sigh.
scenarios for vacations that their customers could choose from. “I will inform the cyborg doctor to give you a full body scan as
Rakhi took a new vacation almost every week. So, when the new soon as you are in your room,” said Brenda, putting her hands
tour to Event Horizon was launched, she signed up immediately. close to the keyboard as she planned to punch the keys that
But things did not turn out too well this around. would have alerted the cyborg doctor.
By now they had passed through the India Gate area and “Please don’t do that,” Rakhi said, gently pushing Brenda’s
were crossing through a road that was lined with many high-rise hands away from the keyboard.
buildings. This was the commercial district, where most denizens “But why? I know that you are in need of medical care.”
of the city made a living. Rakhi did not like this area too much, “The heaviness I feel in my head is not that bad at all. I will be
as she preferred open spaces. She told the robotic driver to start fine after resting for a couple of hours. Right now I am too tired
driving at his normal speed. The Maxi-Cab’s driver nodded for an invasive full body scan.”
silently and the speed of his vehicle went up instantly. These “Ok, as you wish. But I will check on you after three hours. If
days no one drove a car in Delhi. In fact, very few people even you are not feeling better by then, I will inform the doctor.”
bothered to learn driving all over the world. It simply made no “Thanks. I will now be on my way to my apartment. See you.”
sense to drive your own car, when robotically controlled Maxi- Rakhi walked to the opposite side of the lobby that was lined
Cabs were so easily available everywhere. with a series of elevators and pressed a button. The door of one
Finally, the Maxi-Cab reached the residential area of the city of the elevators opened, into which she entered. She pressed the
and parked itself in front of a high-rise residential apartment. button for 135th floor. In less than five seconds, Rakhi stepped
Rakhi placed her thumb on a touch pad installed in the panel out on the floor where her flat was located. The feeling of
dropping from the Maxi-Cab’s roof. In a moment, a ‘transaction heaviness was now getting more acute. She knew that she
completed’ sign flashed on the small monitor above the touch needed rest, but somehow she could not make herself walk
pad. “Thank you for your payment,” said the robotic driver. towards her flat. A mysterious instinct made her walk in a
Rakhi stepped out of the cab holding her handbag and direction opposite to where her flat was located. It was Putul
marched into a building’s large compound. She next peered into Rastogi’s flat. He lived here with his girlfriend, Monica. Rakhi
an iris scanner that was affixed to the wall. Her identity was knew that at this time of the day, both Putul and Monica would
confirmed immediately and the glass door slid open. A robotic be out of their flat.
receptionist was manning the reception desk inside. Her name No one bothered about locking their flats, as burglaries were
was Brenda and she was actually a cyborg, part human and part virtually unknown. When Rakhi pushed at the door, it opened
robot. Robotic technology had advanced to such an extent that directly. As she entered the sparsely furnished living room, her
cyborgs could look, behave and feel emotions like any normal heart started beating like a windmill. She knew that what she
human being. was doing was illegal, but she could not stop herself. She quickly
Brenda looked exactly like any normal 25-year-old girl. She moved towards the large virtual calendar, displaying the design
used makeup and she used to dress in latest fashion. These days of a snowy landscape. When she tugged gently at the virtual
she was dating a young guy called Vipin Saigal who was 100% calendar, it moved aside to reveal a specious cupboard inside
human. Both planned to get married in near future. Of course, which all sorts of household items were stored. With a great
the conservatives in the society used to frown upon relationships sense of urgency, Rakhi started riffling through the contents of
between a cyborg and a human. But Rakhi was not like that. the cupboard. She found some gold and diamond jewellery,
She was quite liberal in her attitude and was eager to see which she placed in her pocket. She also found some old-
Brenda and Vipin married. Despite the heaviness in her head, fashioned pens, and notebooks from the era when people still
she managed to conjure a pleasant smile for her receptionist used to write on paper. The pens, a couple of notebooks, a
friend. “Hi Brenda.” bottle of perfume too ended up in her pocket.
“Hi there,” Brenda smiled back. After that she rushed out of the flat leaving the cupboard open
“Vipin and I are planning to get married on the coming behind her. She looked around suspiciously to make sure nobody
Friday. Both of us would be extremely delighted if you could had seen her. She marched to her own flat with hasty steps and
accompany us when we leave to get the marriage license.” once she reached her door, she noticed the large cartoon. From
“Congratulations,” Rakhi said cheerfully. “I will be glad to the label stuck on top of cartoon she learned that it had arrived
accompany both of you to the marriage bureau.” from a company called ‘Futuristic chemicals’. But why should this
“Great!” said Brenda. “I must say, you have always been a company send her this packet? She never ordered anything from
pillar of support for me.” them. The veil of suspense shattered almost immediately and the
“It’s my pleasure,” Rakhi smiled back. realization dawned on her that she had indeed placed an order
The sound came through the speaker installed outside “We were not there physically,” snapped Rakhi. “We travelled
the door. in the virtual realm, through our minds.”
“I don’t care about any danger. I can’t see you now. Please go “But something happened in the Event Horizon, something
away,” replied Rakhi. that changed the way your minds work. All seven of you became
From other side of the door came the sound of a security card different people after returning from this virtual vacation. You
being swiped. Rakhi knew instantly that Brenda was using the went to the Event Horizon as decent law-abiding citizens, but
building administrator’s master key to open the door. She picked when you returned, you had developed the mindset of a killer.”
up a kitchen knife lying on the table and like a hungry tigress she “I … I …”
eyed the door, which opened in a quick motion. “I don’t want you to die the way the other six have died,”
“My God!” blurted Brenda putting her fingers on her nose. Brenda said compassionately. “There must be a way for you to
“What kind of chemicals are you using in your flat?” get cured. Come with me to the tourism centre from where you
“Get out of here,” hissed Rakhi. “Get out before I hurt you took your virtual vacation. They will know how to help you.”
with this knife.” But Rakhi stayed put on the sofa. “I want you to calm down,”
There dawned a look of complete surprise on Brenda’s face. Brenda said soothingly. “Calm down and come with me. I will
“Rakhi, you are not feeling well. Put that knife down. I know find a way to save you.”
you don’t want to hurt me.” Suddenly Rakhi lunged at Brenda, but this time Brenda was
“I am not in control of my mind,” Rakhi cried desperately. ready for her. She caught hold of Rakhi and forced her to sit
“Get out of here, or I surely will hurt you.” down on the floor. “Let me go, please,” screeched Rakhi. “I have
But Brenda walked into the centre of the room; now she was to create this chemical. This is my mission in life.”
standing close to the mahogany desk on which Rakhi’s “No way,” Brenda shouted back. “I am not going to let my
paraphernalia of chemicals was lying. “You have been engaged best friend get destroyed.” She was holding Brenda’s hands in a
in creating a dangerous chemical,” said Brenda suspiciously. vice-like grip. Being a cyborg, she was much stronger than
“Haven’t you?” Rakhi just stood there, few feet away from Rakhi. The very next moment the door to the apartment burst
Brenda, weeping silently. “There is enough chemical on this open and armed cops barged in. They instantly saw the two
table to make every inhabitant of this building fall sick,” Brenda women fighting on the floor of the apartment.
continued. “Is that what you intend to do?” “Please don’t shoot. I have managed to subdue her,” Brenda
“I told you to get out, but you won’t listen,” screeched cried to the cops. One of the cops moved forward and placed a
Rakhi. “Now the inevitable must happen.” She lunged at handcuff on Rakhi’s hands.
Brenda and thrust the knife into her chest. Brenda gaped at “We are here to take you to the virtual vacation tourism
Rakhi with eyes full of shock and disbelief. The knife had centre,” said a cop. “I hope you will cooperate.”
managed to cut through the fabric of the dress she was “I am her friend. I would like to accompany her,” said
wearing and enter her chest. Brenda. The two women, escorted by three cops, moved out of
“What have you done,” cried Brenda. “I am your best friend.” the apartment. Two cops stayed back in the apartment to take
“You should have heeded to my warning when I told you to control of the dangerous chemicals. Rakhi was clearly
leave,” Rakhi shouted back. traumatized and she was sobbing bitterly as she walked towards
The truth was that Brenda was a cyborg; she could not be the elevator with lethargic steps. Brenda supported her friend by
killed with a knife or even a bullet. With one quick motion, she holding her arms around her waist.
pulled the knife out of her chest and placed it back on the A high-speed police cab managed to transport them to the virtual
mahogany table. By now Rakhi had slipped down on the sofa vacation tourism centre in a couple of minutes. The cops had
and was weeping bitterly. already sent an advance notice to the scientists at the centre and
“When you went on that virtual journey to Event Horizon, they were already waiting for Rakhi to arrive. Soon Rakhi and
you were part of a group of seven people,” said Brenda. Brenda were seated in the cabin of chief scientist at the centre.
“What has that got to do with what I am going through now?” Rakhi’s hands were still cuffed. “We have gone through the tapes of
cried Rakhi. the virtual vacation to Event Horizon that you and seven others had
“Six members of that group are now dead. Four of them experienced two days ago,” said the head doctor. “At first we could
committed suicide within a couple of hours of their virtual not detect an anomaly of any kind but after examining the tapes
journey, and the other two were shot dead by the cops to prevent under the lens of an electron microscope, we found that while the
them from committing some heinous crime.” virtual spaceship was stationary at the border of the universe, it was
“What?” Rakhi gaped at Brenda. struck by a short burst of particles of unknown nature.”
“You are only one from that fateful group who is still alive.” “Where did these particles come from?” asked Brenda.
“But that was a normal virtual vacation that we took.” “From the other side of the universe, perhaps.”
“It was not a normal virtual vacation,” said Brenda “But how is that possible,” Rakhi said with amazement.
emphatically. “No one has ever gone to the Event Horizon, “Nothing exists beyond the borders of the universe. The Event
which is the boundary of the universe.” Horizon is the final border beyond which nothing can exist.”
Image 1 Image 2
Y
ou have a folder bursting with great pictures that you Here’s what Photoshop can do. It can help you create a
clicked on your vacation last week. Perhaps pictures of panoramic image with just a few, quick steps. You don’t have to
verdant forests, turquoise oceans, and historic places. All worry about angle and scale anymore. Just use this great
of these are great scenic pictures, but there’s just a small technology and save those prayers (that you would have used
problem. You’ve got a series of sceneries, pictures of the same while gluing it on a piece of paper) for greater calamities.
place, taken shot by shot, covering every angle of the view. You
know for sure that if you placed these shots next to each other, like Getting the perfect panoramic view out
a perfectly solved jigsaw puzzle, and glued them onto a sheet of of pictures:
paper, they would make for one great panoramic image. But then This is how you can create your own panoramic images.
pasting them would take the fun and the finesse out of the • To begin this simple exercise, you need some raw material. And
photographs. And you don’t want to create a cheesy panoramic that raw material is a series of photographs taken with appro-
photograph by stitching or gluing the shots on. ximately 40% overlapping details. This will help you merge them
automatically with Photoshop. If you want to automerge to Cylindrical, Spherical, Collage, and Reposition. Choose
create a panoramic picture, we are also assuming that you did the layout you feel will look great for your photograph.
not zoom in and out your lenses while taking the pictures. • When you press Ok, your photos will automerge.
• Now that you have a series of photos to merge, open • If you feel that the edges of the picture are jagged or they
Photoshop, and then click on the File menu. do not match, try cropping the non-matching sections with
• Choose Automate from the menu and then go to the cropping tool.
Photomerge.
• Under the Photomerge window, browse for the files that Tip:
you want to merge then check the boxes at the lower part Next time you go on a photo shoot, try to take the pictures
of the window. from a greater distance.
• Choose a type of layout and then click OK. Speaking That was simple, wasn’t it? Now dig out all your picture series
about layouts, you can choose from Auto, Perspective, and create your own panoramic pictures. I
Chandana Banerjee
T
he Snipping Tool is a great option for those of you paste them into the word processor or any other image
who work as technical writers as well as for those who manipulation program.
like to play around or work with images and Include URL below snips (HTML only): If you save
screenshots. This particular tool is part of the Vista your snip as a Single File HTML, or MHT document,
Tablet PC Optional Components feature. You can use the and the snip was taken from an Internet Explorer browser
Snipping Tool to snap up selections of your desktop or window it will show the URL of the page that you took
windows, and save them as screenshots or snips right on the snip from.
your computer. Prompt to save snips before exiting: This will remind you to
Earlier, if you wanted a screen shot program with all the save the shots that you worked on.
features, you would have to buy it. And for basic screenshots, Display icon in the Quick Launch Toolbar: When you use
you had the ‘Print Screen’ option in the past versions of this, the icon for the Snipping Tool will be clipped onto your
Windows. So, the Snipping Tool in the Windows Vista is not Quick Launch Toolbar.
only versatile and free, it also lets you take screen shots of Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active: If you
only specific sections of your screen rather than the entire click on this, the Snipping Tool interface will vanish while you
window or screen. are working on your snips.
Understanding the Snipping Tool options: Before we get on
with the step-by-step guide about using the tool, let’s first Selection options:
understand the Snipping Tool. Ink Color: This will change the colour of the selection border
The options are broken up into ‘Application’ and when you create a snip.
‘Selections’ groups. Show selection ink after snips are captured: The selection
border will be shown, using the colour selected in the Ink
Application options: Color option, around the snip.
Hide instruction text: If you enable this, it hides the Types of snips: While using the Snipping Tool, you can take
instruction text in the main Snipping Tool window. four types of screenshots.
Always copy snips to the clipboard: This will help you copy Free-form Snip: You can draw a shape around the object.
your screenshots to the Windows clipboard, and then you can Try a circle, triangle or an irregular shape.
Window Snip: The Snipping Tool will capture the entire After that, click ‘Save As’ to save this file as an image. As a
window that you select. default setting, it gets saved as type PNG. You can save space
Full-screen Snip: As the name suggests, the Snipping Tool by changing it into JPEG. However, for better quality, stay on
will capture the complete screen of your computer. with PNG. I
Taking snips:
• To begin, click on the Windows logo. Now click on
Snipping Tool.
• Go ahead and mark that part of the screen that you want
to snip. After you’ve taken your screenshot, the captured
part will appear on the window of the Snipping Tool.
aner jee
da n a B
Chan
How to Rip
DVDs
Effortlessly Zahid H. Javali
Note …
If you happen to obtain a copy of DVD
Decrypter, you will see that its interface and
operation is very similar to that of ImgBurn.
But why DVD Decrypter? Because ImgBurn
does not rip encrypted discs (discs with CSS
and/or Macrovision). Here is where this tool
can help. However, the developer of DVD
Decrypter no longer works on the software due
to issues with the Macrovision Corporation and
the obvious violations that the product brings
with it. So, it wouldn’t be wise to rip protected
material or commit DMCA violations.
However, if you already have a DVD
Decrypter, nothing wrong in using it. I
A
ll you need is Photoshop, oodles of creativity and a bit • Move the text by holding down the left mouse button on any
of know-how to create a plethora of bright and beautiful selected area (surrounded by the selection line, which looks
things for your family and friends. In this capsule, you’ll like marching ants) and dragging the text to its position.
be able to get a lowdown on how to add text to pictures, • If you want to delete the text, then just press the Delete button
and once you know that, you can create greeting cards, logos, on your keyboard or select Clear from the Edit menu.
posters, photo brochures, websites, flyers and a lot more. • Once, you’ve completed your creation, save the edited picture
So, dig out those adorable photographs, sketches and doodles by selecting Save or Save As from the File menu.
from the folders in your computer, and get going with this ‘How-to’
capsule. From catchy captions to interesting thought balloons, Tips:
snappy headings to random words floating through the picture, this • As mentioned earlier, use a contrasting colour for the
Text feature in Photoshop will let you do all. text for it to stand out over the picture. If your picture
is dark, then you might like to use light colours, like
Adding text to the picture: yellow or white. For lighter pictures, use darker shades
• First, start Photoshop. Then go to the File menu and select and black.
Open. • To retain the original picture and save the new one, save your
• Choose a cute-as-a-button picture from one of your folders in edited picture under a different name. This way you won’t lose
the computer, and select Open. Alternatively, you can double- your original picture.
click on the picture. • Click the vertical alignment option to vertically align the text
• Then click the Text tool on the toolbar. You can easily spot the on the picture.
Text tool by the uppercase T. • If you are planning to use clip art or pictures from another
• Click the uppermost of the two squares at the lower portion website, permission is the word of the day. Get permission before
of the toolbar. The top square stands for the foreground you use copyrighted clip art and pictures from someone else’s
colour and this will be the colour of your text. portal.
• Depending upon the colour of your picture or photograph, The fun part: This feature in Photoshop enables you to move
choose a colour for the text that will stand out on the picture your text around the picture. Whether you want your letters to
from the palette. Select OK. float around the picture or march in a straight, tight line, you can
• Click on the picture where you want to place your text. A position your text as you wish for the best composition. You can
dialog box will open. even give your text a 3D effect with shadows behind the letters or
• Select a font, style, size and alignment from the lists. Click in give it texture.
the dialog box and start writing your text. Click OK when Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and create your very
you’re done. own communications material.
“G
row Up!” Is this what people tell you marketing and deployment of the games are carried out.
regularly just because you love gaming? Different companies follow different processes to create a game.
Not anymore. Because there is a fruitful Ninad Chhaya, VP, Jump Games emphasizes, “The most
career for you die hard gamers out there in important thing is you have to follow the industry standards.”
the gaming industry. We all grew up playing games like ‘Mario,’ Career options are available in four departments of gaming,
‘Prince of Persia,’ ‘Brick games,’ etc. And it’s a good idea to stay namely, Game Design, Art, Programming, Sound Design and
in the gaming world as grown-ups now. Quality Assurance.
Firstly, do you know a career in the gaming industry is one of In Game Design, you can be a creative writer, technical
the hot careers of the future? It’s growing in India and is already writer or game designer. For jobs in this department, you
one of the major sectors in various parts of the world. Research should be very creative with a good command over the English
reports show that 80 per cent of total outsourcing market is language. The creative writer writes scripts. Many people
taken over by the game development making India a gaming prefer story-based games, so writing scripts is also a good
hub. And the game development market is expected to grow at career option. The game designer creates the storyboards, the
37 per cent p.a. and achieve a whopping 14 million INR by pre-production artwork, etc. The technical writer writes game
2012. Also, the mobile gaming market, which leads the gaming documents, which carries the storyline, the game’s goals, level
industry, is expected to rise from 63 per cent in 2008 to 71 per designs, game mechanisms, etc. You should have the ability to
cent by 2012. In short, with more work come more jobs. think out-of-the box. You should have the ability to see a
India has emerged as a one-stop destination for game project through the whole process. Besides, you should also
development with outsourced services constituting 80 per cent have a structured approach to thinking and writing. This
of total market. The market for gaming development in India department mainly works in the pre-production phase.
is expected to witness growth of 37 per cent p.a. and reach In the Art department, you have career options like concept
INR 14 million by 2012. Mobile gaming is likely to dominate artist, texture artist, level designer, animator, and character
the market with its share in the total Indian gaming market modeler. For jobs in this department you should have a good
understanding of arts and aesthetics. Knowledge of editing tools You can join some short- or long-term professional courses in
and software like 3dsmax, etc. is essential. If you are interested gaming to enter this industry. Some of the games designing
in character modeling, it is important to have a good foundation courses available are: Advanced Diploma in Game Design,
in anatomy studies. Diploma in Game Design & Gaming, Video Game Design and
The level designer designs the various levels of the game. For Development Certification, and Video Game Design and
example, in a particular level the character is confined to a Development. You must choose a course depending on which
particular environment and space, etc. The level designer also department in the gaming industry you wish to enter. Check the
decides how hard or easy the game level should be. The texture game curriculum for art or programming or animation
artist creates textures for the games. Game art relies heavily on depending on your choice.
textures. It is very crucial to get them right. The rough patches, Some of the prominent gaming schools in India are Whistling
the mood and feel of the concept into the 3D product are given Woods International, Digital Academy Film School and IDC-
by the texture artist. The texture artist should have a very IIT in Mumbai, Srishti School of Design in Bangalore,
balanced sense of art knowledge and should be well-versed with Colorchips Animation Training Centre in Hyderabad, National
the nitty-gritty of the software to get the desired output. An Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, and Image College of Arts,
animator animates the game characters. 2D and 3D artists work Animation & Technology in Chennai, Asian Academy of Film
in the animation department. & Television in Uttar Pradesh, etc. In foreign universities you
Next is the programming department for IT freaks who love can study for a gaming degree.
to write programs and find solutions. Career options in this In the gaming industry, show reels with content-related to
department include the profile of engine programmer, physics gaming are evaluated. Also, while interviewing a person his
programmer and Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmer. For software and technological knowledge are assessed.Employers seek
jobs in this department, you should have a strong command over knowledge of software like Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop, Pro
physics and mathematics. You should also be well versed with Painter, 3D Max, Maya, etc. Augustine John, Sr. Technical Artist,
programming languages and tools. India Games Ltd., suggests using software help documentation to
Sound design is another important area in gaming. Game learn on your own. You can also learn by yourself by joining online
audio is a highly specialized discipline that requires no small gaming forums and asking questions in these forums. Another
degree of skill and intuition in order to correctly manage. And good way to learn is by using DVD tutorials.
yes, you should also have the necessary training in sound design. The pay package is similar to other entertainment industries
Finally, there’s the quality assurance department. This is a like animation. You can join in as an intern or a trainee and
fun section but serious work also happens in this department. with experience your pay package will increase. You can also
Here you can become a game play tester, code tester or a sell your own mini games on freelance basis. The industry is
quality analyst. In this department, you can play games that huge because these days you have games for cell phones, PC
the companies develop and evaluate how good or bad they games, TV games, Internet games, educational games, hand-
are. It is a serious job since it is one of the most important held devices, etc. So, the requirement for people in this
stages of game development. To be in this department, you industry is also good enough. There are good opportunities
need a keen eye for detail, and the ability to spot visual & abroad as well.
game play related bugs. You need to convey the game issues If you have learnt some software on your own and are
properly so that those bugs are fixed. You should also be well planning for an interview in a game studio, then in the show
versed with the industry standards of quality assurance. The reel you can put architectural walkthroughs, mini games, etc.
most important thing in this department is you should love to Recruiters will evaluate your knowledge of software, games
play games and decide whether the games you are playing will and technologies.
be thoroughly enjoyable by the target audience without any In the gaming industry, strict guidelines are to be followed
bugs. If a bugging game is out, then it will affect the to meet the necessary quality standards. There involves a lot
reputation of the company. Most entry level coders and of hard work, patience and co-ordination to succeed in this
designers join gaming firms as testers. industry. When you enter the industry, try to gain as much
Apart from these major departments, the other job roles are experience as you can and develop your skills instead looking
producers and assistant producers. The assistant producers work for heavy pay packages. You should work towards making
as an interface between the programming and the art team. your work portfolio strong. This will help you in the long run
Then there are senior roles of art directors and supervisors. and will also earn you better pay packages later when you
The job requirements in a game company depend on the size have good experience.
of the company and the type of games it develops. The top You need a passion for games to survive in this industry. And if
gaming studios mainly abroad use the expensive motion capture you love games then this is the best place to be in.
technology for capturing realistic motion of humans and use Gaming is another popular form of entertainment that is here
them in game characters. This opens job prospects in Motion to last forever. People will never stop playing games, so why not
Capture Artists who know how o use the technology. get involved in making some? I
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TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
goes to
the U.S.
Yes, Bill. I got
What is it Santa?
Ok, Santa, start digging the something that
Did you find
earth … more … more …. looks like a wire.
something there?
You, this shows even 100 When Bill came, Santa took him to More ... more ...
years ago we used to a dense forest. a little more. C’mon.
have telephones here Don’t give up so soon.
in the U.S. Now I want to Keep digging.
show you our
advancements.
Dig the
ground here.
So, my friend Bill, did No, I’m afraid, Well, that shows even 400 years
you get anything? absolutely nothing. ago, we used to be ‘Wireless’.
Illustration by Dinesh Rawat
Nauheed Cyrusi
Bollywood actress, Nauheed Cyrusi who will soon face her worst fears in Colours’s
I
‘Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi Level 2,’ says that she is quite tech savvy as far as gadgets go.
am not too much of an Apple Mac person and mière social networking site allows me to stay in touch
other advanced stuff though BlackBerry phone with my friends. We exchange photos, jokes and wish
and PS3 would be my favourite tech toys. each other on special occasions.” Unlike other celebs,
Though many people dig the iPhone (its design this Parsi babe, who is awaiting the release of three films
is definitely slicker), BlackBerry is certainly easier to type (Kissan, Qurban, etc.), does not feel social networking
with my long nails. I prefer to text than talk. The touch- sites are harmful. “You get to choose which people can
screen interface of the iPhone does not work due to the access your profile.” She also does not shop online. “I
am not a credit card person. It’s not that I am scared of
above reason. I also sadly miss the music and gaming
safety concerning online transactions, but I just don’t
functions of the iPhone. This business class phone is just
like to spend extra moolah.”
like having a laptop in your bag. I can easily access my
Nauheed also loves to shoot video/click pictures with
e-mails on the move. Having said that, I love my privacy, her camcorder. “Whenever I go on a vacation or outdoor
hence I don’t prefer to keep my phone ‘ON’ always. I location, my Sony digicam always accompanies me. I like
like to be available, but on my own terms and condi- to upload videos/pictures on my Facebook, so I can
tions,” says she. share the same with my friends. “I clicked a lot of pic-
Coming to her second tech love, gaming, she says, “I tures on my recent ‘Fear Factor’ trip to South Africa.”
dig on the ‘Grand Auto Theft’ on PS3 platform.” Re- She also thinks that tech toys work as wonderful gifts
membering her childhood days, she says, “Mario Bro items. “If I know that a particular friend loves cell
was the best video game we played back then.” phones, I might think of gifting a snazzy model he/she
This model-turned-actress does not, however, spend has been eying for a while. But yes, I will spend good
too much time over the Internet. “I use the Internet to money only on somebody really close.”
check my mail, download music and find out the latest In closing, we asked her to comment on the age-old
happening in Bollywood. I love Facebook. This pre- adage that tech is a man’s domain and she promptly
replied, “Says who? I know of some women whose
tech knowledge will put most male techies to shame.
It’s jut like saying only guys should wear trousers and
not girls.” I
Interview
Lexulous
Back in the
Game Room
amount of traffic, why not make it a paid website? Q.long did it take for you to design the whole
popularity and is receiving such a huge Lexulous has got a lot in very less time. How
P
olitical language is designed to make lies sound truthful
and murders sound respectable, and to give an
appearance of solidity to pure wind. But the language of
business is all about survival of the fittest. Ask Dewang
Neralla, the 40-year-old Director of Atom Technologies and
Director Technology of Financial Technologies that creates next
generation financial markets. He is now spearheading a
revolution in the mobile payment eco system. With atom, you
can now pay through an application on your mobile, through a
voice call over IVR or at the point of sale at the speed of a bullet.
Neralla started small to make a big impression. The year was
1992 when the wind of liberalization was sweeping the Indian
landscape like no other. “I was on the brokerage and exchange
side and part of the IT scene at the Bombay Stock Exchange for
four years,” he reminisces. Later, life offered him an option to
either stay back in India or go abroad; either be a programmer
Just Atom It
with one of the multinationals or be an entrepreneur.
The future of mobile payments is now, says Dewang Neralla of Atom Technologies
in an exclusive interview to ZAHID H. JAVALI
Boring labour is a threat to humanity. It follows therefore that Digest this. Atom’s services have processed more than $150
interesting labour can be a form of redemption. Like fixing million of transactions with a merchant list spanning the best in
motorcycles. Or starting something that you like. No wonder, it the industry. Some of them include DTH majors like Tata Sky,
didn’t take Neralla much time to figure out his calling in life. He Dish TV, Sun Direct; movie cinemas and entertainment players
teamed up with friend Jignesh, set up Financial Technologies in like Fame Cinemas, Cinemax, 70 MM; insurance majors like
1995 and became his own boss. “The scope was only just ICICI Lombard, Reliance General Insurance, Royal Sundaram;
opening in India at the time,” he recalls. “There was a huge travel agencies like Paulo Travels, Redbus and in-shopping
deficit for any kind of transactional backbone. Our focus was to outlets of Dell, Disney World, Asian Sky Shop, Deccan
create a product-based company rather than a pure service- Chronicle, eBay, IFB, Indiatimes Shopping, Living Media,
based company.” Rediff, TVC and Readers Digest.
He started with trading software ODIN, named after the Greek Atom’s vision and mission is to create a convenient and secure
god of wisdom. “We licensed the software to brokers,” he explains. mobile payments platform for the masses, establish a social goal
“From 1998 onwards, more than 100,000 trading terminals with for providing delivery of financial services for the ‘unbanked’
more than 300,000+ licenses were sold to brokers.” and emerge as India’s number one service provider for
In 2003, his team developed an exchange trading solution payments. “The company’s products and services span the
called DOME that is used by exchanges promoted by complete vertical for payments,” explains Neralla. “There’s the
Financial Technologies. And in late 2005, Atom was born to voice-based payments solution that is easy to use for both the
focus on payment processing with a special focus on new age end-consumer and the merchant. It’s a change from a call
payment gateways like mobile, IVR as well as traditional point centre-based solution to an automated Interactive Voice
of sale terminals. Response solution that eliminates human intervention and
The hard work shows. Today, there are over 100 merchants customer insecurity. The mobile payments platform is targeted
signed up by Atom on mobile and IVR and more than a million at the end user who has to download an application and make
customers have already made their payments using Atom. No payments on the fly.
wonder, the slug line ‘don’t just pay it, atom it’ rings so true. Atom Sewa is for the ‘unbanked’ sector. “Many people have
Holding a bachelor’s degree in engineering and computer no access to banking facility, so using technology to get them on
science, Neralla is with a company that is as good as it can get. board is the fastest way,” says Neralla. “We use technology to
“
part of authorization or settlement. minimalist and functional. Besides the
Among the many services on offer, mobile Our focus was mandatory laptop and a couple of landlines,
payment is dwarfing the others. “Over a there is a bookshelf staring in front of him.
period of time, the mobile payment market to create a product- Not to mention, glass doors, wooden finish,
easily should be 60-70,000 crore per annum based company rather flowing carpet, a drawing board and a three-
in India overall based on the current card
spends of same size,” says Neralla. “It will than a pure service-
“ seater conference table.
Democracy needs to know the serious
carve out a new niche and we should based company. reading of books. Long books. Hard books.
capture 25% of the market share in the Books with which we have to struggle. Take
next three years on both voice-based and Neralla. When he’s not working, he’s reading.
mobile-based payments.” “I catch up on reading, but on the Internet only,” he says. There are
Innovation is the key to survival and more business. three books he is reading right now. There’s “Killer Differentiators:
And no one knows this better than Neralla and his team. 13 Strategies to Grow Your Brand” by Tai Jacky; “Creating a World
“We have developed a 2D bar code for face to face Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus and “Predictably
technology,” he begins. “The customer selects the card and Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” by Dan
payment which generates an image. The optical scanner Ariely. Clearly, Neralla has his heart and mind in the right place.
reads the 2D barcode image (that contains the payment and After all, a person can be judged by the books he keeps.
card details), making it secure and quick. We are piloting this Conspiracy theories remain the pastime of crank groups. But
project at a few locations. We are also focusing on voice conspiratorial thinking, the idea that someone out there is to
biometrics for authentication, so instead of an image, you use blame for every misfortune, has become respectable. But that
a voice print.” isn’t Neralla’s mantra in life. “Mine is dream to dare and dare to
Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle aimed his thoughts at dream,” he says. Case in point? “When we were setting up
evolution and gave him both the facts and intellectual stamina to Financial Technologies, there were non-believers who said this
work toward his magnificent goal. So, what has Neralla’s technology will not take off and tried to de-motivate me saying
journey so far taught him? “The biggest is that you need to be there’s no future in it,” says Neralla. “However, if you believe in
committed and have the perseverance to drive your idea all the your convictions and stick to it, it will happen. Within a few
way. And for this, you need to have the patience and the will to years, we were No. 1 in that domain and there are still people
achieve. If there is no fire in the belly, come what may, you won’t trying to catch up with us.”
be able to achieve anything. And yes, it takes a strong team effort That’s Neralla. He can turn any business into an adventure and
to see things through.” any risk into an opportunity. Truly, the mark of a businessman. I
HP Elitebook
6930P
With its brilliant magnesium alloy
finish, the new HP EliteBook does
manage to make a great first
impression. Once you open this laptop,
you will find that the keypad is quite
comfortable and there is a 14.1-inch,
1280x800, matte display, which is a
good thing, because matte displays don’t
reflect light and hence are much easier
on the eyes. The device is powered by
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4 GHz). It
has 2 GB of RAM and 160 GB hard
drive. Currently, the laptop is running
on Windows Vista, but it is fully
compatible with Windows 7, which is
set to be released later this year.
Digital
monsoon season, and your camera gets completely
drenched, it will still keep clicking quality pictures.
The D10 boasts of 12.1 million pixels (CCD), and
it has a 3x zoom. It is incorporated with face
Underwater
detection technology, automatic White Balance
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professional quality results a breeze.
Camera
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Creative
Aurvana X-Fi
Great sound quality and state of the art
sound enhancement features are just some
of the hallmarks of the Creative Aurvana
X-Fi headphones. The best thing about
these headphones is that they come with an
iPhone cable.
Logitech
QuickCam
Go Black
For those who prefer to use their PC or laptop for holding
conversations with friends and family, here is a good way
to keep in touch. The Logitech QuickCam Go Black
webcam is embellished with high-tech editing software
that will allow you to capture, edit or print images. You
can use it to capture crystal clear images at the push of a
button. The best thing about this webcam is that it is
compatible with all major messaging applications. Once
you get powered by this webcam, the experience of
chatting is only going to get better.
Geekspeak
It refers to anything you do Loot
in a game. Gameplay An item, or gold, or
features can include a treasure found on the
FPS (First Person shooting, jumping, buying ground, or dropped
Shooter) and selling in-game from killing a monster.
An extremely common and popular items, and interacting
genre of video games. In this genre, with NPC (Non-Player
you see through the eyes of your Controlled) characters. Game Master
character, and always use guns. In some The player who runs the
FPS games, your character never has any game (often abbreviated
dialect. This is done so that any reaction to ‘GM’); many games give
Simulation
your character may have is imagined by Game them a more specific title
you. Games of this genre are typically
Game
Developer such as dungeon
Here you
fast-paced and have good Company or master, storyteller or
simulate an
graphics. Examples of FPS companies that story guide.
activity based on
games are ‘Halo’ and create the game from
the real world. This scratch. The developer
‘Call of Duty’.
may include flying, controls everything that goes into the
Powers sports games, life games game, ranging from game controls
Describes extraordinary abilities, (like ‘The Sims’), and war to the game’s story.
which make a character simulators. These games range
special, such as flight from bad to great graphics, but
or telepathy. almost always allow you to have
great control of what happens Cheat Code
in the game. Is a button combination or
RPG (Role- password, which triggers an
Playing Game) event or affect within a video
Here you control one or more game. Cheats can be as simplistic
Avatar as adding ammunition to a gun,
characters, and every attribute
Is your character, or increasing a character’s
about them. This means that while
primarily used for health, or changing the
you play the game, your character(s) instructions or character to a completely
may get stronger, faster, gain directions in a guide, or different character.
intelligence, or improve in a number because it’s shorter than
of other skills. Most RPGs are based character in times where
in fantasy worlds, oftentimes fast typing is mandatory.
Buff
not ever connected
A beneficial spell
with Earth.
cast on a player
EULA or creature in
An acronym for End
Platform a game.
Level Refers to the specific
User License
Refers to a few things, Agreement. You usually
combination of electronic or
either your character’s have to accept an
computer hardware, which, in
actual level, or the act of EULA before installing
gaining experience by conjunction with low-level
software, allows a video or playing a game.
killing mobs in game, in
order to reach a game to operate. The term
higher level. ‘system’ is also
commonly used.
(REGISTERED) RNI DELENG/2008/26856 DL(C)-14/1295/09-11