IT Happens : June 2004
Monthly News Notice of IT Happenings
Issue - 36

3rd Anniversary Special

Anniversary Editorial
Anniversaries are like Time Machines. They can take you back in time or they may allow you to take a look at your future all at the turn of a knob. Three years ago we made a small beginning, in the form of a single A4 sheet notice magazine about what is happening around us, in the world of information technology. Gradually our ideas took wings and the magazine started having regular sections of various forms & flavors. While the focus of the magazine continued to be the information about technologies that improve our lives, features like Quotes, Personality, Web-Watch, IT Humor, IT Quiz provided sufficient reasons for people to read it on the notice board. Then it was the turn of Specials. We tried to cover every thing from Nano-technology to bio-informatics, from BPO to career planning, from Graphics to multimedia & from Linux to web-technologies.

With the magazine entering its fourth year we will surely maintain the tradition of regular innovative changes and since it was you, the reader, who always initiated those changes, we feel that your feedback is invaluable. It will ensure the magazine’s metamorphosis to the next stage, the only way to match the Darwin’s law. Also, this time there is a new medium for feedback in the form of our
email address ithappens@uptecnet.com

Quote - IT

Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft….. and the only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor.

Werner Von Braun

Personality Of The Month

Minister of Communications & Information Technology
An alumnus of Loyola College, Chennai and Harvard Business School, Boston, a voracious reader, a seasoned politician and a globetrotter with a decade old association with the print media. That’s our new, Union Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Thiru Dayanidhi Maran, for you. 
Coming from a family of politicians, Maran has politics in his genes. His leadership skills were proved beyond doubt when he was elected for the Lok Sabha (from Central Madras) after defeating his opponent with a huge margin of over 1, 37,000 votes. The IT industry has lots of expectations from him and looking at his track record one can surely hope for a better future. 

IT Snippets in Time Machine

E-Paper Comes a Step Closer

Electronic paper , which promises to change the face of publishing and save forests, came closer to reality last month as scientists revealed a super-thin , flexible electronic-ink display screen. Just 0.012 inches thick, the device developed by researchers at E Ink Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts , USA, can be flexed without distorting the type and paves the way for electronic newspapers, wearable computer screens and smart identity cards. When it is fully developed e-paper will be able to display black and white and colour text using wireless technology. Buying the daily newspaper will no longer be necessary because with e-paper it will be updated wirelessly or through the Internet. 

The display consists of two components . The front part switches according to electronic signals and the back component is a circuit made of transistors that control each individual pixel that composes the display. The current device is too thick to be folded in half but the company is working on a thinner version. 

(Source: SmartInc: June 2003)

Editors Remarks

The recent Harry Potter movie release (Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban) shows another step forward to E-paper that is E-Poster. The movie makers have shown the multimedia image of the prisoner on a wall poster. Such innovative thoughts lead to urge for invention. We hope to see such dreams becoming reality in our life times.

Use DNA Ink to Prevent Forgery

A Japanese company has announced the creation of DNA ink that will allow people to sign documents with great security by using their genetic information to prevent forger.
The product will help people secure such legal documents as wills, as well as help guarantee the authenticity of autographs for such things as painting .

ID Technica will take DNA from clients and use it to create synthetic DNA that carries unique sequences but no information about such things as genetic diseases. Light reflecting particles will be mixed with the synthetic DNA to make ink. An ink-reading device that uses infrared rays will determine whether signatures are genuine.

The company says that one kilogram of ink will cost two million yen (about Rs. 760,00) while the reading device will cost 100,000yen(about Rs. 38,000).

(Source: www.technologyreview.com)

Editor's Remarks

This snippet from our bio-informatics special is worth a re-look. It is one of the leading examples of 
bio-technology being put to real usage. Legal documents are obviously the first target segments. Indian policy makers need to show interest here.

Web Watch (Worth a Re-surf)
http://www.uptecnet.com/ithappens

The web watch feature was introduced in the 28th issue of bio-informatics special which appeared in October 2003. It has interesting site addresses of varied areas of knowledge. 
For example, the WikiWiki site (Nov. 2003, http://en.wikipedia.org/) provides knowledge of mathematical, natural sciences, applied arts and sciences, social sciences and philosophy. Marketing people can also get information about outsourcing their work to global clients in January 2004, http://www.outsource2india.com) issue. Knowledge of voters was updated in the Election special issue giving link to site maintained by Election Commission of India. (Feb.2004, http://www.eci.gov.in)
The photoshop site (March 2004, http://www.photoshoptoday.com) was a treat for graphic designer’s, and of course with e-learning in news, digitalthink site (April 2004, http://www.digitalthink.com/) updated our reader’s about it. (September 2003, http://www.investorfriend.com) issue carried information about investorfriendcom, the site developed by Uptec’s software division for its client.
So go ahead and visit these sites again with the help of the IT-happens archives at uptecnet site. 

IT Humour (Time Proof Smile)

(We over-heard some of our readers discussing this joke from our October 2002 issue. Even today the joke maintains its time - proof sense of humour - Ed)

True story from a Novell Netwire Sysop:
Caller: "Hello, is this tech support?"
Tech: "Yes it is."
Caller: "The cup holder on my PC is broken."
Tech: "I'm sorry, but did you say cup holder?"
Caller: "Yes, it's attached to the front of my computer."
Tech: "Please excuse me if I seem a bit stumped, it's because I am. Did you receive this as part of a promotion at trade show? How did you get this cup holder? Does it have any trademark on it?"
Caller: "It came with my computer, I don't know anything about a promotion. It just had "48X" on it."
At this point the tech rep had to mute the caller because he couldn't stand
it. The caller had been using the load drawer of the CD-ROM drive as a cup holder. 

IT Quiz (Catch them Again)

  1. Why has the great search engine been named Google? 
  2. In the term CAT- Scan what does CAT stand for ?
  3. What is iSmell Synthesizer ? 

IT Quiz Solutions

  1. Google is a play on the word 'googol', which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, to refer to the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google's use of the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web and in the world. 
    NB : Nothing has yet been claimed to meet the count of this magic number. Not even electrons in this universe.
  2. CAT stands for Computerized Axial Tomography. It is an X-Ray procedure which combines many X-Ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed, three-dimensional images of the internal organs and structures of the body. 
  3. iSmell is a personal PC plug-in smell synthesizer costing less than Rs.10,000 from Digiscent Inc. USA that can be used to send scented emails or to enjoy smell along with various PC activities. It has replaceable vials of oils that can be selectively heated to produce desired smell.