IT Happens : October 2002
Monthly News Notice of IT Happenings
Issue - 16

Technology feature of the Month
Voice Print New Biometric - ID 

Imagine if your bank or the other companies you deal with on a regular basis could instantly recognize you on the phone, eliminating the need to answer a list of identification questions. Systems that allow just that to happen have been developed by a raft of companies keen to cash in on the power of the human voice. This software creates the vocal equivalent of a fingerprint. First a voiceprint is created by recording samples of a voice, then chop them up into hundreds of chunks of speech and perform mathematics on them. The set of equations used in speech technology is able to sort vocal characteristics. The result is software that can instantly recognize your speech, even if you have a cold or have lost your voice. For governments around the world, keen to introduce biometric-enabled ID cards to keep an eye on citizens, voice-authentication technology could prove a valuable tool. Such software can even keep track of prisoners released on parole.

(Source: BBC News October 2002)

IT Humour

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 Snippets
Alarm clock helps you to sleep more

A smart alarm clock will allow you a lie-in or wake you up early depending on traffic conditions has been invented by researchers at Brunel University in southern England. The Rise alarm clock has in built internet access and can be connected to the web via a normal telephone line. The clock retrieves relevant traffic information from across the web based on data the users have given it, such as where they live, where they need to travel to and what time they need to arrive. The alarm clock will then work out what time you need to be woken. 

       (Source: BBC News October 2002)

T.V. in your picnic basket  

 You will soon be able to roll up your TV set and take it along on a picnic, thanks to a compound called pphenylenevinylene that emits light when an electric charge is applied to it. With some more tweaks and developments you could print your TV screen onto any surface like thin plastic.

(Source: PC Quest September 2002)




IT Quiz

Q1.What is the abbreviated term for a rewritable CD?

Q2. What do the initials ERP stand for?

Q3. How much information is contained in a Gigabyte?

Q4. What is the abbreviated term used for the measurement of computer  performance?  


Music in code

Some times its easier pick up patterns through sound than sight. Betting on this, researchers are working on debugging software to represent bugs in computer code through music than visually. They are developing a program that convert code written in Pascal to music such that when put together the code forms a harmonious tune. Any error in the code produces unharmonious code.

                                    

                                     (Source: PC Quest October 2002)

KBC on your mobile

While snakes is the most popular game in India, mobile handset makers like Nokia are developing games that are more interactive. The games range from KBC style quizzing to mobile lottery games with assured prizes.

(Source : Data Quest September 2002)  

Tiniest Computer Circuit

International Business Machines Corp. scientist have built and operated a computer circuit in which individual molecules of Carbon monoxide move like toppling dominoes across a flat copper surface. One circuit is so small that 190 billion could fit on a standard pencil- top eraser

(Source: Economic Times October 2000)

IT Quiz Solutions

1.  CD-RW

2.     Enterprise Resource Planning : This refers to a family of integrated software tools that can be used to automate functions in a large enterprise

3.     Approximately one thousand megabytes : ( i.e. 1024x1024x1024). The common hard disk available today is 40 GB which can accommodate data equivalent to around 1 million books of hundred page each.

4.  MIPS : Million Instructions per second.