Technology feature of the month
Hawk Eye: Image processing system that helps umpire take LBW decisions
Hawk Eye aims to aid the umpire by giving inputs on the physics of the ball by tracking and predicting its motion. It uses a special image-processing system from Roke Manor Research (a Siemens R&D company) and commercial off-the shelf hardware along with six specially placed cameras. Hawk Eye incorporates both image analysis and radar technology. The six fixed JAI monochrome cameras, with a 120 Mhz frame rate, are placed around the playing field (see picture). They track the ball’s entire trajectory, right from the point considered dead. This is updated 100 times every second. The cameras are used in two sets, and a multi-channel frame grabber handles each set. The images captured are then, processed by software to produce a 3-D image. The future path is predicted using a parametric model. The system is able to locate the ball in 3-D and can predict the motion with a claimed accuracy of 5 mm. Some of the esoteric statistics that can be generated by this system are: the areas where a particular bowler is pitched and how much swing or spin a particular bowler generated. In some cases where the system’s accuracy is questionable, it just gives a “can’t help” message to ensure its accuracy never goes below acceptable limits.
Besides aiding the umpire in taking a decision, the Hawk Eye is also used to give a more enhanced feed to TV viewers. Who can forget all those virtual replays shown from various angles of a player being called for an LBW?

Source : (PC Quest : March 2003)

IT Humour

The Yaksha-QUIZ would likely contain the following questions if it is
released in this month of march 2003.
1.  Which date would HOLI be celebrated in 2003 ?
a)  17th March b) 18th March c)19th March d)Any day of chutti
2.  Is Moharram a festival?
a)  True b) False c) Sometimes True sometimes False d) True for some,
      false for others.
3.  Who are the most likely teams in ICC-WorldCup finals.
a)  Kenya+Srilanka b) Kenya+India c)Kenya+Australia d)Kenya+Kenya
4.  Who will loose in the America-Iraq war.
a)  Grandson of Saddam b)Last secretary-general of UNO 
c)  Monica Lewinsky d)Tony Blair

IT Snippets

Diamonds for hot chips
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is researching diamond chips. Diamond chips could work at temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, while silicon chips cut out at 150 degrees Celius.
A higher temperature tolerance allows diamond chips to work at faster speeds and be used in hot environments such as automobile engines. Diamond chips can also resist higher voltages-up to about 200 volts compared to 20 volts for silicon chips. This would allow for small high-voltage circuits; today engineers must use several silicon chips together for high-voltage applications.
Diamond micro-circuitry is a good conductor of heat. It is also fireproof, strong, impact-resistant, light-weight and durable. 

Source: (Smart Inc : February 2003)

All-day fuel for your notebook
Substantially outlasting lithium ion batteries, Microfuel Cell today can power a notebook for an entire day, or can power a cell phone for up to one week of talk time, compared with the 5 hours or so generated by a lithium ion battery. Although the technology is currently in the prototype stage, it is believed, that the MicroFuel Cell will make the transition from the lab to a shipping product, integrated into devices, by late 2003.
The MicroFuel Cell works by converting a water-methanol combination to electricity. Because methanol is so inexpensive, the MicroFuel Cell can also be engineered to be cheaper than lithium ion batteries. 

Source :(Smart Inc. : February 2003)

IT Quiz

1. Ever heard of P2P?

2. Does Internet and World Wide Web mean the same thing?

3. What is Top Level Domain (TLD)?

4. What is OB Van?

Want a TV? Print it
Researchers at the University of California in USA are developing an ink-jet printing technology to print fully assembled electric and electronic gadgets at one go. 
The trick is to print layers of conducting and semiconducting polymers to build up the circuitry of device required as part of the bodywork. When the technique is perfected, devices such as light bulbs, radios, remote controls, mobile phones and toys will be spat out as individuals fully functional systems without expensive and labour-intensive production on an assembly line. The team has already worked out how to print electronic components such as transistors, capacitors, inductive coils and other semiconductor components.

Source : (Smart Inc : February 2003)

I Am Not a Ball
The PC Artemis ZxL is within the sphere, as shown. Made of “spatula contraction technology aluminium,” it contains the components of a regular PC. Accessing them is as novel as the shape: press a switch and the upper hemisphere rises so you can get to the optical (CD) drive. 
You can get one if you want some surrealism to manifest itself on your desktop, though you’ll need to go all the way to Japan to buy this inscrutable oriental. 

Source : (Smart Inc. : January 2003)

IT Quiz Solutions

1. P2P is the short form of Peer-to-Peer computing. In this, two computing devices (Peers) share their information and resources. No device is client or server, each one of them act as mini-servers. This technology recently became popular due to advent of programs like Napster, that allows sharing of music files between two computers.
   
   

2. No. Internet is a tangible technological system, which physically exists all over the world, www on the other hand is a software that currently is the de facto standard of information exchange through the Internet.
   
   

3. The word you find after the last period (.)in an Internet Address is called the TLD. For eg. in the web address www. uptecnet.com, “com” is the TLD. There are other TLD’s such as .org, .net, .mil, .edu, .int. Recently TLD’s like .biz, .info etc have also been introduced. Some times TLD’s may specify the country name such as .in for India . us for USA.
   
   

4. The OB or Outside Broadcast is a mobile unit installed in a van. It is the heart of the TV broad cast system, near event places, such as a cricket match, parade etc. OB van is capable of directly transmitting to base station using satellite technology.