 | IT Happens :
December 2002
Monthly News Notice of IT Happenings |  | | Issue -
18 |
Technology
feature of the Month
Musical
directory
 Phillips
may soon help you place a song you cant remember. All you will have to
do is dial a number and-place your-cell phone near the speaker when the
track is played. A computer tallies it against a data base and sends you a
text message with the relevant information. Hashing the technology used
here, breaks the tune into 33 narrow frequency bands and the energy of
each band is measured. When a tune is played the computer cross checks it
with the existing database. Philips hopes to have a data base of over a
100,000 songs and estimates that just three seconds of playtime should
give you an accurate match.
(Source:
Digit December 2002)
IT
Humour
IT
Snippets
New
credit cards dangle from key chains
Welcome to the future of digital
paying, where checking out is as easy as reaching for car keys. New credit
cards have come that are smaller than a stick of chewing gum with a key
chain wand. Firms are using radio frequency signals, scanners and stronger
plastics to make it easier for customers to give in to impulse. The
kidney-shaped cards come with a key chain and cover. The chip-embedded
plastic is about an inch long and looks like a tiny, black wand. Customers
fill out an application that links their credit card to the wand. The wand
transmits a signal to a sensor that allows the process for transaction.
(Source:
CCN News November 2002)
Molecular
memory bank draws closer
 One
day you could be storing data inside molecules. A group of scientists have
found a way to manipulate the atoms in a molecule to store more than 1000
bits of information. They used a single liquid crystal molecule as their
data storage medium and stored 1024 bits of information by manipulating
the spin states of the protons in the molecule's 19 hydrogen atoms. The
manipulation was done with a pulse of radio waves made up of 1024
different frequencies. Some of the frequencies had an amplitude, to
represent a binary "1", and some did not, representing a binary
"0". The information stored on the molecule represented an image
32 pixels square. The image was retrieved using a second electromagnetic
blast that had a range of slightly different frequencies. The image was
decoded by reading the change in spin states with a detector known as a
Nuclear Magnetic Resonator. Currently data can be kept in the molecule for
only one-tenth of a second.
(Source:
BBC News December 2002)
IT
Quiz
Q1.
The latest Intel Pentium 4 that uses hyper-threading technology runs at
what clock speed?
Q2. In the context of disk space, what are HiPack and UltraPack types of?
Q3. What is the ANSI standard for connecting fibre-optic transmission
systems called?
Q4. Which Asian country's domain extension is .bn?
Q5. What is the term used for e-mail returned to the sender after the
recipient's mail server has already accepted it?
VoIP
goes on air
iServ
India Solutions Pvt Ltd (a part of the Escorts Group) has announced the
launch of Zybertalk Super Voice, a "unique VoIP `in a box'
solution". It allows customers to place low-cost international calls
through the Internet without losing their investment in legacy telephone
equipment. It is designed for business use and provides near toll quality
voice utilizing a high-speed Internet connection over ISDN.
(Source:
The Hindu December 2002)
Thinner
Chips with everything
 Engineers
have crossed a symbolic barrier with a new way to make microchips
with transistors that are a thousand times smaller than the width of
a human hair or as small as a flu virus. The 90-nanometre width is
regarded as a major milestone because scientists believe it will
eventually lead to the production of transistors with atomic level
dimensions. The Silicon Valley company says it will reach mass
production with the 90-nanometre chip-making process, code-named Prescott,
in the second half of next year. One nanometre is a billionth of a metre,
or a millionth of a millimetre.
(Source:
BBC News November 2002)
Mirror
Mirror who is behind me?
 An
innovative new cycle helmet has been invented by a Durham businessman
Billy Morgan. The revolutionary piece of headgear contains a mirror,
which allows the rider to see behind them without having to turn
their head. Mirror enables the rider to look into a mirror under the front
rim and see what is behind through a window in the back of the
helmet. The cycle helmet costs 49.99, or 64.95 for a deluxe model.
(Source:
BBC News November 2002)
IT
Quiz Solutions
1.
3.06 Ghz
2.
Compression options.
3.
SONET [Synchronous Optical Network]
4.
Brunei Darussalam
5.
Soft Bounce
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