Digit June 2019 Anniversary Special

Price

`300

A 9.9 Group Publication

Y O U R T E C H N O L O G Y N AV I G AT O R | W W W. D I G I T. I N | V O L . 1 9 I S S U E 0 6 | J U N E 2 0 1 9

TH

ANNIVERSARY

AMAZING CAMERA APPS | MILITARY INNOVATIONS | HEADLINES WE WANT | INDIAN PROBLEMS SOLVED WITH TECH | THINGS WE PREDICTED | APPS THAT KIDS USE | SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES UNDER `500 | SCAMS IN 2019 | TECH WE NEED | RABBIT HOLES | PC SOFTWARE WE WANT ON MOBILE | BIGGEST SCIENCE BREAKTHROUGHS | AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...

To follow the latest in tech, follow us on...

facebook.com/digitgeek

digit.in/facebook

PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Managing Editor

Strange times ahead

E

loads on the processors themselves rather than having to offload it onto a discrete accelerator.

That’s not saying that they aren’t focused on discrete accelerators for they did announce a Nervana AI accelerator a while ago.

So what does this mean for consumers like you and I? Once the third-party benchmarks for each company’s products come out, we’ll get a clearer picture on who must pull up their socks and work on getting a better product out. If AMD’s Zen 2 IPC improvement of 15% is indeed true, then it would be troublesome for Intel since that is where Intel has an advantage in the mainstream desktop space. Should AMD take the crown from Intel in single-threaded performance then we’ll see a lot more entry-level and mid-range configurations use Ryzen processors exclusively. In markets such as India, Intel is already losing market share owing to reduced stock for their 9th Gen processors. A 9900K now costs 42K while a competing solution from AMD costs just 30K. In price sensitive markets such as ours, it makes little sense to spend the extra 12K to get a few extra frames in video games or similar performance gains in single-threaded applications. However, should Intel drastically revamp the IGP or come up with SKUs similar to Kabylake-G, then it’ll be a game changer. The next couple of months are going to see so many different launches that will change the landscape of computing altogether. Pulling off way too many refreshes in a short period of time isn’t exactly great for business, so there’s going to be a lot of blood, but it’s going to be great for us consumers.

SA

M PL

THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS have seen some interesting announcements. Intel pulled out of the race to build mobile 5G modems right after Apple and Qualcomm resolved their differences. Their consumer processor roadmap leaked and shows that 14nm chips are going to be the mainstay for a lot more years. Also, the data centre wherein all major silicon companies enjoy constant growth is on a downturn. On Team Green’s side, revenues had to be adjusted drastically since NVIDIA’s RTX failed to convince both, gamers and investors alike. The data centre, professional visualisation, and OEM markets have slowed down. Gaming is still the largest contributor to NVIDIA’s business. AMD on the other hand seems to be having a fun time as they bagged the rights to provide for Google Stadia. Their upcoming processor Zen 2 lineup promises 15% IPC gains and massive core counts at affordable prices. The graphics lineup, however, still has no promising leads over NVIDIA, but it might end up eating more into NVIDIA’s GPU market share on the basis of affordability. Aside from all of these factors, IDC recently forecast a 7% global decline in semiconductor revenue.

If you look at all the three major companies, Intel has a diversified portfolio, AMD has some really interesting launches lined up and NVIDIA has just the consumer graphics portfolio to rely on. Considering the fact that AMD’s RX 5000 series has potential and the fact that Intel is coming out with their discrete graphics platform, Xe in 2020, should have NVIDIA worried about losing more market share in the gaming business. Practically, all companies have at least one personal computing technology that would grow over the next year. Except NVIDIA, who must solely rely on the AI and autonomous business to continue growing if the consumer graphics market won’t add to its already massive coffers.

So while the announcements at major tech conferences and trade expos create the impression that all these companies have a lot going for them, underneath it all, there seems to be a worrisome trend as each company’s strong suit is being affected negatively. All except for AMD, who’s already been to the pits and has only one way to go, up. It’s server chips have ridiculous core counts that allow for much higher density configurations but Intel has the advantage of VNNI which allows them to process AI work-

“So while the announcements at major tech conferences and trade expos create the impression that all these companies have a lot going for them, underneath it all, there seems to be a worrisome trend as each company’s strong suit is being affected negatively.”

Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in www.digit.in | June 2019 | Digit | 1

THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor

18 Years!

E

to the test, to have a lot of fun, sleepless nights, and hopefully also win some exciting prizes along the way.

However, the bigger deal, in my opinion at least, is the launch of our first ever eDVD. Yeah I know that nomenclature kind of sucks, but I couldn’t come up with anything better. Happy to hear suggestions from you, and if I like the name you provide, I’ll credit you with it online.

We know that the most important bit about the DVD is the fact that Team Digit sits down and looks for the best stuff out there that would be of some use or entertainment value to you, and then collects it all into one, easy-to-access bundle. What we’ve been limited by is the physical media we provide, which is something that’s only accessible on PCs and has a size limit. With more of us willing to download the stuff we need, and even more of us hungry for good content on our phones, I felt it was important to make sure we had something to offer you, even if it has been a long time coming.

On the 15th of every month, we will release that month’s ‘eDVD’ which will be made available for free to all magazine readers. For example, on the 15th of June you will get access to about 40 GB worth of content (this number could go up or down every month), which will range from standard software downloads, to curation of videos we feel you must watch, entertainment, movies, documentaries, games, ebooks, and more importantly, smartphone apps and content that will make your phone more interesting and educative than it already is. All of this will be hosted on our Geek site – https:// geek.digit.in – and will require you to sign up for an account. More plans are in the pipeline that include giving our subscribers special early access to magazine content and other exclusives online, using that same Geek account.

As always, please feel free to suggest what you’d like us to offer as exclusives to subscribers and purchasers of the magazine, and we will most certainly try to deliver that. Here’s to (at least) another 18 years of you and us ruling the Indian tech scene together.

SA

M PL

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S BEEN 18 YEARS since Digit was born. Feels like just a few years ago I was running out to my local newspaper guy, looking to buy the latest Digit. I used to make him promise to keep a copy for me, and he always did, but that never stopped me from asking if it had come every day of the last week of the month. And when it had just arrived, I remember the smile he’d flash at me as I was approaching his stall. Out would come the `100 I’d been saving for weeks, and in a flash the deal was done and I was heading home, eager to rip open the packaging and get to the innards.

My friends would make fun of me, and say that “Digit is Raaabo’s Debonair”. (If you don’t know of that other magazine, good, keep it that way.)

Sometimes I’m envious of you guys. I’m sure some of you still experience the excitement of opening the pack, first pulling off all the tapes and then sifting through the components, wondering which to attack first. Or maybe, like me, you have a favourite, and all else gets abandoned until that one component of Digit is devoured. For me it was the CDs 18 years ago, for you it might be the DVD or FT or the main mag, or something else.

Just over a year into my Digit addiction, this joy was taken away. Long story short, I joined the team, and ever since then, I’ve always known what was covered inside Digit that month. Now it’s more pride and reminiscing of the month gone by when I rip open my copy of Digit (which I get for free), but it’s not the same type of excitement, sadly.

What is exciting is sitting with a team of awesome people and planning how best to wow you, and make sure we try and make a product that, no matter what the price tag, you will still think of it as value for money. This month, with the smallest team we’ve ever had, we’ve put out the most content we’ve ever done in recent times. In our effort to make the `300 price tag look like peanuts, we pulled out all the stops, and hopefully, most of you will agree.

However, this time, we’re not just going for physical products in the plastic packaging, we’re adding in even more stuff.

To begin with, we will have Crack The Code VII in June, which we will announce on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and IG). Expect the announcement to be between the 15th and 20th of June. Get ready to put your grey matter

2 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

“Sometimes I’m envious of you guys. I’m sure some of you still experience the excitement of opening the pack, first pulling off all the tapes and then sifting through the components, wondering which to attack first.”

Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: editor@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo

E

contents

TH

M PL

COVER STORY PAGE 47 -90

ANNIVERSARY

18th Anniversary Special Issue

JUNE 2019

For our 18th Anniversary we bring you 18 stories, each consisting of 18 elements, about various aspects of technology and science.

VOLUME 19 ISSUE 06

SA

TECH - PAGE 14-35

16 | TechWatch

The latest on cybersecurity, new phones on the block and useful apps to make life easier.

18 | UI Design for India

We look at the possible reasons that made Tik Tok such a success, including UI design, data analytics and more.

4 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

24 | In short supply

Agent001 has to help a friend navigate the cryptic world of power supply technologies, tiers and certifications.

28 | DevWorx: AI platform wars

With all the major technology companies offering Machine Learning as a Service, you’d want to know which one’s right for you.

32 | Teardown

Huawei P30 Pro: Repairs made easier with modular components.

34 | Take my money

We take a look at a portable mini projector, a 360 degree dashcam and a drone that flies like moth.

35 | Top 3

From gaming mice to smartphones, here’s what we recommend for your next purchase!

CULTURE - PAGE 42-46

ALT - PAGE 102-111

ON THE DV­­­D 43 | 1000 Words

103 | Backtalk

44 | The Quantum Physics of Endgame

104 | DGT

Avengers: Endgame does not hesitate to dive into obscure theories of how the universe works

Our selection of some of the best tech gadgets, and geek entertainment from around the world!

110 | 1000 Words

TECH Kali Linux Kali Linux is an advanced penetration testing Linux distribution used for penetration testing, ethical hacking and network security and digital forensics.

M PL

46 | Diary - Raaabo is back!

We get the lowdown on how Skillsoft helps companies accelerate employee skilling.

If you are ever curious about what the Digit gang is up to, this is the place to get all the inside info.

There are few better ways to show your love for technology than getting inked, but now even the ink is getting high tech.

SKOAR! - PAGE 112-127

SA

SCIENCE - PAGE 92-101

94 | Pillars of Light

This multicoloured optical atmospheric phenomena appears as vertical columns of light.

96 | Machine Learning in drug discovery

Machine learning in drug discovery and development could be the key to getting more accurate results.

98 | Origins of Gene Mapping Gene mapping technologies are finally within the grasp of everyone.

100 | Imaging a Black Hole

How do you photograph an object from which even light cannot escape?

114 | Reevu: Rage 2

A sequel Rage fans have been eagerly awaiting for 8 years. How does it fare?

116 | The Perfect MMORPG What is the recipe for the perfect MMORPG?

118 | The Epic Dilemma

What’s the deal with the Epic Games Store?

124 | Mobile Monthly

We’ve got a mixed bag of mobile games, from spooky to infuriating, in this month’s mobile monthly.

127 | Zero2Hero

Principles of Chemical Science OxidationReduction and Electrochemical Cells Chemical and Biological Oxidations Transition Metals Crystal Field Theory Part I Crystal Field Theory Part II Kinetics: Rate Laws Nuclear Chemistry and Chemical Kinetics Reaction Mechanisms, Kinetics and Temperature Catalysts Applying Chemical Principles

E

Chefs around the world create art out of food, which look too perfect to take a bite out of.

This segment is dedicated to those of you who are toughing it out in the Indian gaming scene right now.

Essentials Calibre CPU-Z Discord EasyBCD Firefox Foxit Reader Free OCR Handbrake LibreOffice Notepad++ Skype TeamViewer Universal Media Server VirtualBox Vivaldi VLC Winamp

CULT Albums Blue Electric Eyes Fragments: Disclosure Racing Games Driving Speed 2 Ferrari Virtual Race Insane Monster Truck Racing Maximum Madness Volvo The Game

Science Tools BOINC CalculiXforWin CalculiX ChemToolbox DrosophiLab Elmer FreqGenie Impact Finite Element Program Logisim Molecular Workbench Netgen OnScreen Lite Plate Tectonics ALT Jungle Book: The story of Mowgli

SCI MIT Course: www.digit.in | June 2019 | Digit | 5

TO ADVERTISE JUNE 2019 • VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 06

PRODUCTS REVIEWED THIS MONTH

EMAIL: sales@digit.in SALES DIRECTOR: Rashmi Mamgain Kumar Mobile: +91-9900567780 NORTH: Mayank Sharma Mobile: +91-8800661912

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Managing Editor Mithun Mohandas Features Editor Aditya Madanapalle Writer Dhriti Datta SKOAR! Overlord Manish Rajesh

EAST: Jayanta Bhattacharyya Mobile: +91-93318 29284

BAZAAR MSI GS75 Stealth 9SG Apple Airpods 2 Canon EOS RP iGame GTX 2080 Ti Shinco 55 Inches HDTV ASUS Vivobook S14

E

SOUTH: Jayanth Ramakrishna Mobile: +91-9964087233 WEST: Suvarna Shringarpure Mobile: +91-93249 28247

GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH

TEST CENTRE Reviews Editor Swapnil Mathur Reviewers Subhrojit Mallick, Vignesh Giridharan

M PL

Rage 2

DIGIT.IN Editor Soham Raninga Managing Editor Adamya Sharma Assistant Editor Sameer Mitha Senior Sub-Editor Shrey Pacheco Writer Shubham Sharma

Brand.......................................... Page No. Samsung.................................Inside front cover Compuage...............................Inside back cover Seagate.............................................Back cover Accenture.........................................................3 Kingston...........................................................7 Astrum..............................................................9 Gigabyte.........................................................11 D-Link............................................................13 Coolermaster..................................................15 ASUS......................................................... 17,45 Toshiba...........................................................19 Corsair............................................................21 Flipkart...................................................... 22,23 TP Link...........................................................25 Galax..............................................................27 Circle..............................................................49 MSI............................................................... 113 Zotac............................................................ 115 Quantum....................................................... 128

SA

DESIGN Sr. Art Director Anil VK Art Director Shokeen Saifi Visualiser Baiju NV Lead UI/UX Designer Shri Hari Tiwari

ADVERTISING INDEX

PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay Manager Logistics Mahendra Kumar Singh Executive Mohd. Nadeem Ansari

CIRCULATION SALES Head - Circulation Samir Mehta Regional Managers Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Norbert Joseph

READER SERVICES Team Leader Sudhir Patel +91-22-67899678 / help@digit.in 6 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

COVER DESIGN Anil VK

MOBILE MONTHLY Rest in Pieces | Squatbot | Cut It: Brain Puzzles | Full Metal Monsters | Reigns GOT | Rumble Stars | Cyber Hunter | Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs | Bombastic Brothers

Published and printed by Kanak Ghosh for and on behalf of the owners, 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd. (Formerly known as Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Private Limited) 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi - 110091 and printed at International Print-O-Pac Limited, C/4-11, Hosiery Complex, Phase II Extension, Noida-201306 (U.P.) INDIA. Editor: Kanak Ghosh.

“We do not endorse or recommend any product or service advertised in the magazine. The advertisement’s in this magazine are for information purposes only.

We do not, expressly or impliedly, warrant or assume any liability or responsibility for the quality, accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, usefulness or claims of any product or service advertised in the magazine.

Our readers are strongly advised to carry out their own independent assessment of the product or services advertised in the magazine.”

DISCLAIMER For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, unless specified otherwise.

In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

CONTACT US TELL US WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT DIGIT If you have an opinion about anything published in Digit, or about technology in general, write to editor@digit.in or call at +91-22-678 99 700. To interact with the authors of specific articles, please write to the email address specified under the author’s name HELP! For copy-related issues, delivery status or any other complaints regarding our service, write to help@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 678

JOIN THE GROUP THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS

https://www.facebook.com/digitgeek Your favourite magazine on your favourite social network. When mainstream tech is not enough, come over to the geekier side.

E

SOFTWARE ON THE DVDs To submit and suggest software or any other type of content, to be included in the Digit DVDs, write to dvd@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 707

DIGIT FACEBOOK PAGES

Q&A If you’re having trouble with your PC or a gadget, our experts can help solve your problems.

Just write in to sos@digit.in. Remember to include full system configurations in your email.

http://facebook.com/thinkdigit Join the conversation within a community of over 1.3 million tech enthusiasts. There is something for everyone.

M PL

AGENT001 Confused about what product to buy? You can get technology buying advice from our team (and maybe even directly from our very own secret agent... if you’re lucky), by addressing your query to: agent001@digit.in SUBSCRIBE Want to get an edge over everyone else at school, college, or even work? Subscribe to India’s #1 Technology Magazine, and you will find our secret sauce is the best! Plus you will save money. Visit www.digit.in/subscribe or email us at help@digit.in

http://www.facebook.com/techkranti Let’s wake ourselves up and gather the tools of tech to change the future of our great nation. Join The Revolution!

PRODUCT TESTING Want your product reviewed by Digit? Contact our Test Center at testcenter@digit.in or call +91-22-678 99 708 NEWS & NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES To announce new product launches and press releases, email us at pressrelease@digit.in

SA

ENDORSEMENTS / REPRINTS Interested in ordering article reprints or in using our logos? Get the requisite permissions by contacting us at reprint@digit.in BUSINESS ENQUIRIES Think we can help you grow your business, or maybe you can help us grow ours?

Get in touch with us at business@digit.in CAREERS Want to work for Digit? Send us your resume to careers@digit.in

SPONSORSHIP Want Digit to be a media partner for your tech event? Send your proposal in to sponsor@digit.in

http://www.facebook.com/ IThinkGadgets Community of People who love mobiles, laptops, cameras & other gadgets

http://www.facebook.com/devworx.in Community of software programmers who enjoy writing code and want to grow their career in software development

INTERACT WITH TEAM DIGIT

@digitindia

digit.in/facebook

8 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

digit.in/youtube

digit.in/forum

@digit.in

http://www.facebook.com/skoar What is life without gaming? Catch up on all the latest in gaming news, reviews and shenanigans from our test labs

opening

No stacking in Uno

Riot employees walk out

Around 150 employees at Riot participated in a walk-out on the grounds of sexism. https://dgit.in/june19-67

INBOX

Send your feedback at editor@digit.in

M PL

FEEDBACK FOR THE MAY 2019 ISSUE OF DIGIT

project I told you about, after his exams (just thought I should let you know).

2. Every company is absolute bi*-t*h towards privacy (sorry if the language is offensive) except Apple, gotta give Apple props for that. Google is a creep, it’s saving some of my data, like the recorded conversation with Google Assistant to a server thousand fu**n miles away without my permission. I still haven’t checked if they fixed it yet...

The only way I think about it is this: If you’re using something for free, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

A lot of people will be switching to the Apple ecosystem during this period so an article on bringing all your data to this ecosystem will be great. And as we all know, user is the weakest link in any security system so a privacy guide for users will be helpful. A little comparison between password manager apps will be useful.

3. I think I have some ideas that can make this chaotic world a little bit better place. Last time y’all told me to check out Digit forum and most of the discussions are about choosing the hardware for you next PC build, it does not have discussions related to game development or ideas for next startup or astronomy stuff (I love SpaceX). I need to find a place where I can freely talk to some real geeks who share their ideas and dreams with me. If you know such a place, like a Reddit forum or a Facebook page, please let me know.

It just hurts me....it’s painful, the world is so connected, the geeks, resourceful guys and the potential game changers exist, and I cannot find them.

Anyway, I really appreciate your support. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Buh bye –Archit Mishra

E

Uno’s Twitter account confirmed that you cannot stack Draw 2s and Draw 4s. https://dgit.in/june19-66

not get it you know? Saying this, I hope you consider all of this and maybe try to add more articles. Five or six more won’t do any harm right?

–Kashika Kumar

Hey Kashika, It’s great to see how passionate you are about anime. It’s true, we don’t have a lot of stuff on anime, it’s kind of a niche. Very few of us here at the labs actually watch any anime at all. I’ve been trying to get these guys to watch a few myself.

I get what you mean about people being insecure about discussing anime, it’s usually not a hobby most openly discuss.

Calling it a Chinese pirated cartoon was a new one though, that gave all of us a good chuckle.

To change things for the better, we’re going to be making anime reviews a regular thing starting from our upcoming June anniversary issue. Hopefully, you’ll discover some new ones or perhaps you could tell us the ones that you’re most interested in and we’ll be certain to check it out.

–Manish

SA

Hi editor I’ve come to complain against the frugal importance given to anime. You guys barley have any content related to it, or maybe I didn’t find it. For hardcore anime lovers such as myself and a few friends of mine, it’s sad to see that this isn’t given as much importance as we thought it would get.

If an otaku logs in to your website and types in anime, they should probably expect lot of articles regarding the same, including some theories about some anime, or a poll on who’s the most loved character of an anime, or even a review. To be honest, that’s the type of content that would make people like us want to participate in discussing the article, because we have a lot of info about that particular topic.

Some people are really insecure about discussing anime or putting it out into the open because (saying this from personal experience) they call it “lame” or a “Chinese pirated cartoon.”

It really makes one person mad who really loves their fandom and all they want is to find someone to discuss and fangirl/boy with.

It’s honestly really lame and tiring trying to explain how good a particular anime (or even a manga!) is and how it would be fun to watch (the anime) or read (the manga) it. Some people in your friend circle might just

10 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

I know your time is valuable, I’ll keep this as short as possible.

1. I was able to contact Nayan only because of you great guys, so thank you for that. We will be starting the

Hey Archit, We’ve been telling people for ages that they’re both products and wal-

WHAT’S NEW

China bans Wikipedia

C

E

the censorship in advance, unfortuntaely. Wikipedia becomes the latest site to join the long list of already banned sites in China. This has forced users to use VPNs or Virtual Private Networks to get over what is being called the “Great Firewall” of China. https://dgit.in/wikibye

M PL

DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUs, IT’S ALL HERE...

China has gone ahead, and in a rather radical move, completely banned the community-fed online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, in all its available languages.

The site was initially banned in the country, however, it was only the Chinese version that was banned, and specific pages with search terms that were deemed sensitive, such as the Dalai Lama and Tiananmen massacre.

However, now they have taken it a step ahead and completely banned the website itself.

The block has, apparently, been in effect since late in April of this year. The Wikimedia foundation stated that it did not receive any notice of

F

ollowing the addition of Chinese tech giant, Huawei, to the “Entity List” in the United States because of fears that the company is spying on the US for the Chinese government, US companies are pulling all support for the Chinese smartphone brand.

Google being one of the US companies, has pulled Huawei’s Android license, which could deal a big blow to the phonemaker and its position in the

SA

THIS MONTH IN TECH: This month we covered the process of UI design in India and also delved deeper into the repairability of the Huawei P30 Pro.

Google pulls Android support for Huawei

Broken Firefox extensions

A technical glitch on Firefox caused all extensions on the browser to stop working.

The cause was found to be an out-of-date certificate.

However, a fix for the issue has already been deployed. https://dgit.in/ffext

Tor in Firefox

Mozilla has been looking for a way to integrate Tor into Firefox, and is offering a research grant to get the job done in an efficient manner as well.

Currently Tor can be used with Firefox, however, it slows the browser down significantly. https://dgit.in/fftor

14 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

smartphone industtry. A Google spokesperson speaking to Reuters said that, “Google Play and the security protections

from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.” So if you

$1m for virusridden laptop

An artist is auctioning off a laptop that’s housing some of the nastiest malware to ever exist in it.

It’s titles “The Persistence of Chaos”. It supposedly contains six of the most dangerous malware to ever have been created. https://dgit.in/pochaos

happen to own a Huawei phone you don’t need to worry yet. It’s likely that future updates and such for existing phones will be impacted, however.

As an alternative, Huawei will have to fallback to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), meaning it will lose access to all the critical Google apps and services, stuff that we’re used to on all regular Android devices. https://dgit.in/huabye

3D printed Village

The world’s first 3D printed village is coming to Latin America. The goal of the project is to eradicate global homelessness across the entire world. The project is targeted towards people living in multigenerational homes and on less than $200 per month. https://dgit.in/3dvil

tech

Kotlin for app development

Enemies no more

Google announced that Kotlin is now their preferred language for app development. https://dgit.in/june19-17

M PL

E

FEATURE

Windows 10 will soon begin shipping with a built-in GPLed, open source Linux kernel. https://dgit.in/june19-18

UI DESIGN

SA

FOR INDIA

Successful apps in India are adapting themselves to the habits of local users.

Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in n India, there are certain unique criteria for making apps successful. The app has to be lightweight, and should work easily on spotty 2G networks. This is why major companies such as Facebook, Google and

I

18 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

Microsoft have launched “Lite” versions of apps. The applications cannot be demanding considering that most users have entry level phones.

Developers now have the ability to collect a lot of feedback about how end users are navigating their applications.

This allows developers to modify and extend the UI, based on the needs and habits of the users.

TESTING One of the best ways to ensure that the application is being used as intended, is rigorous testing. Avinash Saxena, the cofounder of Roposo, a local social entertainment application, explains the approach, “Testing the design with

some users and collecting feedback has become important as it gives us the idea of how the user is responding to the design and experience, where the user is facing the problem and where the user is getting blocked. Typography, padding, buttons, elements, proximities are some of the major design wings which make the user feel complete while using the product.” Testing outside the office allows application developers to understand how the app will be used in the real world.

UX personalisation is a new approach, where the app tracks the activities of a user, and serves the users content that is relevant to them. Personalisation is not just customisation, but

tech

Dark Forest Internet

The Persistence of Chaos

The Internet has become more insular and closed with the growth of private channels. https://dgit.in/june19-64

AGENT001

Guo O Dong is selling a laptop filled with 6 deadly strains of malware for over $1 million. https://dgit.in/june19-65

E

In short supply Agent001 has to help a friend navigate the cryptic world of power supply technologies, tiers and certifications.

M PL

Agent001 | agent001@digit.in

few days ago, I received a rather peculiar query from a friend. He’d wished to upgrade his computer with a new graphics card and had gone through a few articles about power supplies to figure out what he’d need.

He’d managed to calculate his power requirement but was confused regarding a few terms he’d come across. Apparently, having referred to multiple forums, he was introduced to the concept of PSU tiers. While certification such as the 80+ Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium was easy to comprehend, the whole concept of tiers wherein PSUs of different certifications were present in the same tier was confusing. If two power supplies are indeed Gold certified, then why on earth are they in two different tiers.

Like him, many others had taken to the concept of tiers rather seriously.

That’s not a bad thing, it’s just that you need a bit more context about the concept of tiers before you go through them. And most places that mention these tiers don’t provide said context.

Tiers are simply a way to rank the power supplies based on community feedback which is sometimes clubbed with empirical testing. Since the feedback element varies from one community to another, you will see tier lists with a few power supplies

SA

A

classified higher or lower. Say if two or more members of a particular community were to say that a certain power supply burned out on them, then the PSU tier list formulated by that community will have that particular power supply downgraded by a tier.

Which is why it’s always better to rely on a tier list that has an empirical element to it. Very few PC review sites

24 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

Seasonic Focus Gold PSU

properly test power supplies because you need a lot of expensive equipment to properly test them. The rest simply rely on the websites that do empirical testing but as time passes, the lists start to differ a bit.

There are certain lists that you can always trust such as the infamous JonnyGURU tier list which has been trusted for many years. However, there’s another factor at play here, the brands. When certain brands get good reviews for a PSU model, they’ll try to capitalise on this by trying to retain

the same model number even after changing the power supply design.

Some brands will have have a version number placed in a nondescript location while some brands will try to cheat you in an outright fashion. This is where you need to cross check with the certification authority. Entities which offer certification such as Plug Load Solutions which offers the 80+ badge, and Underwriters Laboratories which offers the UL certification or TÜV SÜD, all document each and every power supply they test and provide unique file numbers for each new design. This way you can tell if the design has changed or not.

After learning the truth about PSU tiers and certifications, my friend finally decided that he didn’t need a power supply with a ridiculous overhead and finally settled on a Seasonic Focus Gold which he managed to get for cheap from a friend travelling back from the States. An 80+ Silver certified power supply is actually proper for everyone. You should only bother with a Gold or higher level certified power supply if the price difference is very low. The law of diminishing returns applies heavily here. Power supply manufacturers have managed to nearly perfect PSU designs so there’s very little difference between good PSUs that are manufactured by different companies. All you need to worry about is user feedback. Simply

WHAT’S NEW

Black Mirror 5 hosts a star-studded cast

B

E

INSIDE

become the norm after Netflix brought the show under its banner. https://dgit.in/bmcast

Avengers: End Game broke multiple records

M PL

GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

lack Mirror season 5 recently released its trailer that showcases the star-studded cast they have managed to recruit this season. The show’s creators also explained that Black Mirror 5 would be more aligned than previous seasons with core technology and its effects on humanity. The cast this season features famous stars like Andrew Scott, Miley Cyrus, Topher Grace and Anthony Mackie in important roles. This season, however, will only have three episodes rather than six, which had

THIS MONTH IN CULT: We take a look at the Quantum physics that comes into play in The Avengers: Endgame.

Before that, be sure to check out 1000 words for works of Food Art from around the world. Finally, join us at Diary to find out what shenanigans we’ve been upto at the Digit Test Labs.

T

he massive amount of anticipation and fervour associated with the release of The Avengers: End Game is reason enough for the

Biggest US opening weekend - $350 million

Biggest 3D opening weekend - $540 million

Biggest opening weekend (adjusted for inflation) 38.8 million tickets sold Biggest weekend per-theatre average - $75,000 Biggest opening day - $157 million

SA New Coke, which was considered one of Coca Cola’s biggest marketing failures, will be making a comeback.

The company has partnered with Netflix to promote Stranger Things 2, which is set in 1985, the same year the newly formulated ‘New Coke’ was released. https://dgit.in/newcoke

Biggest international opening weekend - $859 million

Biggest IMAX opening weekend - $91.5 million

film breaking several records within weeks of its release.

Furthermore, the film didn’t disappoint and gave long-

New Coke makes a comeback

Biggest global opening weekend - $1.2 billion

Avatar 2 in 2021

It’s been 10 years since we’ve had an Avatar sequel.

Seeing that Avengers: End Game is struggling to beat its box office record, you’d think that Disney would want to capitalise on that. However, they have revealed that Avatar 2 will only arrive in 2021. https://dgit.in/avatar221

42 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

Biggest weekend market share - 90% Fastest to $100 million - 17 hours Fastest to $350 million - 3 days Fastest to $1 billion - 5 days

GOT S8 remake!

No, not us (Okay, maybe us too). 1.4 million Game of Thrones fans signed a petition to remake the entirety of Game of Thrones: Season 8, the final season.

There was a general sense of disdain towards the writing by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss this season. https://dgit.in/gots8remake

time MCU fans a fitting farewell for Phase 3. We list out all the records Avengers: End Game has broken (so far). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll be crossing Avatar’s worldwide gross anytime soon. https://dgit. in/endfame

Note: All figures are the gross amount.

Grumpy cat passed away

Internet and meme sensation, Grumpy Cat, who first got famous in 2012, passed away recently at seven years of age.

She was one of the most followed pet influencers, with a total of 2 million followers on Instagram. https://dgit.in/ripgrumps

culture

The Deutsch Proposition

Endgame accuracy

The research paper by David Deutsch that forms the basis for the time travel in Endgame. https://dgit.in/june19-1

could differ from other person. If you are an observer watching a friend go by in a car, time is passing slightly slower for the person who is moving faster. If there are two identical clocks, and one of them is under a stronger gravitational influence, time will pass more slowly for that clock. Time passes at a different rate for everyone because of this reason.

These differences in time dilation are most apparent at relativistic speeds, or when a clock is travelling close to the speed of light. In which case hardly any time passes by. Time dilation has been proved experimentally using pairs of incredibly accurate atomic clocks, one sent to space and the other on Earth.

The Global Positioning System works because all the atomic clocks on the satellites correct the effects of time dilation to ensure that they are synced to the clocks on Earth. Astronaut Scott Kelly spend a year on board the space station, and when he came back, the age gap with his twin brother increased by 5 milliseconds. Time dilation shows that time travel is possible in one direction. If someone, let’s call him Rip Van Winkle, orbits the Earth in a spacecraft travelling at nearly the speed of light allowing twenty years to pass on Earth, when they land, they have practically jumped twenty years into the future.

Now the question arises, if time travel is possible into the past?

E

FEATURE

Which of the terms in Endgame were used for effect, and which were consistent? https://dgit.in/june19-2

M PL

THE QUANTUM PHYSICS OF ENDGAME this actually plays out in Endgame is very different from other movies that deal with time travel. Endgame appears to get down and dirty with quantum physics, exploring some of the less well known theories in the process. If you have not watched the movie yet, and care about spoilers, the story is discussed in detail beyond this point, so it is better to come back after catching the film.

SA

Avengers: Endgame does not hesitate to dive into obscure theories of how the universe works

Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in

A

t the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos had collected all the Infinity Stones to make the complete the Infinity Gauntlet, and then uses it to wipe half the living things in the universe out of existence. In Ant Man and the Wasp, Ant Man gets stuck in the quantum realm as the Wasp, and Hank Pym who were supposed to bring him back, are all removed from existence by the actions of Thanos.

Fans had already speculated that Ant Man would be the key to the solution, using some kind of time travel. How

44 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

TIME TRAVEL

One of the earliest depictions of time travel was in the 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, where Ebenezer Scrooge gets to visit christmases in the past and future. In 1895, HG Wells popularised the notion of using devices for time travel with The Time Machine. The phrase “time machine” was coined in this novel, which is now the commonly used term for such a device. Just a few years later, Einstein formulated his theory of relativity, which had many jaw dropping implications. One of these was time dilation, where the time measured by one person

ENTER THE WORMHOLE Kip Thorne, a Nobel prize winning physicist has been a consultant for a number of science fiction works, including Contact and Interstellar.

It was Thorne who suggested Worm Holes as a scientifically plausible way of quickly traversing interstellar distances, when Carl Sagan was writing Contact. Wormholes are theoretical structures, also known as Einstein– Rosen bridges, that can connect two points in the space time continuum. A wormhole has two mouths, or ends.

Now imagine one of these mouths is moving relativistically to the other, similar to the spaceship of Rip Van Winkle. This mouth then moves close to where the first mouth begins. If Rip

SA cover story M PL E TH

ANNIVERSARY

INDEX:

Imaging: Anil VK

I 18 camera apps that will make you a social media star....................................... Pg. 48

II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII

18 Indian tech startups that are solving local problems....................................... Pg. 51 18 tabletop games that you cannot stop playing once you start........................... Pg. 54 18 apps that kids use which you’ve never heard of ............................................. Pg. 56 18 must have smartphone accessories under `500............................................. Pg. 59 18 scams to watch out for in 2019...................................................................... Pg. 61 18 biggest scientific breakthroughs you will see in your lifetime......................... Pg. 63 18 military innovations that will rule the world................................................... Pg. 65 18 technologies we need right now. Please! ....................................................... Pg. 67 18 things Digit predicted and how they panned out............................................. Pg. 70 18 rabbit holes on the internet to dive into.......................................................... Pg. 72 18 software we wish were available on other platforms....................................... Pg. 74 18 innovations that ruined lives.......................................................................... Pg. 76 18 headlines we cannot wait to see.................................................................... Pg. 78 18 pieces of hardware that became legends........................................................ Pg. 79 18 unexpected ways in which 3D printers are being used..................................... Pg. 82 18 fictional devices that we wish were real......................................................... Pg. 85 18 cool things you didn’t know you could do with blockchain............................... Pg. 88

cover story

The mobile version of Adobe Photoshop is just about the most powerful and versatile image editing app. The app allows users to work with high quality raw images, and also supports the TIFF format.

Professional photographers will love the ability to add a custom watermark to their images. The app connects to Creative Cloud and Google Photos, so you can seamlessly move photos from your phone to your computer.

02

These applications will allow you to post unique looking images that will help your photos stand by a mile out in cluttered social media feeds.

M PL

01

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP EXPRESS

E

18 CAMERA APPS THAT MAKE YOU A SOCIAL MEDIA STAR

BEAUTYPLUS

04

03

CA-MERA

This is a camera app processes images using cellular automaton, which involves providing a set of rules to a grid, with any information in a single pixel triggering a change in the brightness levels of the adjacent pixels, which then cascades across the image. The app takes black and white photos only, and users can tweak the amount of pixelation. The end result photos are very different and unique.

48 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

CINEMAGRAPH PRO

Cinemagraphs are a bit of both, images and videos, which are shared as gifs where a small portion of the image sees repeated movements. Cinemagraph Pro makes the production of these cinemagraphs very easy, by using a tool that detects motion as you mask portions of an image. The resulting cinemagraphs are very high quality, and can be exported in 4K, in H.264, HEVC, Live Photo, and GIF formats. A tripod is highly recommended for using this app.

SA

This beautification app is higher rated than even FaceTune 2 or B612. This is because of a comprehensive list of features, as well as an easy-to-use interface. There are a number of retouching options, a tone slider and a contouring tool to adjust the shapes of features. Once an image is captured, you can add make up, and even dye the hair. There are also stickers, fx brushes and AR filters.

Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in

05

COLOR SPLURGE

This app highlights particular colours while making the rest of the image black and white. Users have to selectively paint over the portions of the image that they want to retain the colour of, which gives users a lot of control when it comes to highlighting portions of the image. The application can also be used to change one colour to another.

06

DARKR

This is an application that simulates a dark room, and allows you to tweak the exposure, contrast, shadows and highlights of an image as if you were using a dark room. You can also add grain to your photos. There are

burning and dodging tools available to lighten or darken portions of your images. The images are in black and white, which is great for portraits.

However, the photos can be adjusted using simulated chemical toners, which are Selenium (purple), Cyanotype (blue) and Sepia (brown).

07

HUJI

Huji is another one of those apps that gives your images a nostalgic effect. The experience is carried over to the actual act of shooting, as the interface looks like one of those cheap point and shoot film cameras. There is a tiny viewfinder in the corner, and you have to “develop� an image after it has been shot, during which a random filter is added, which simulates damage to the film or light leaks. Hugi also adds a timestamp to the image - for the year 1998.

08

HYPERLAPSE

Hyperlapse is an app from Instagram that allows you to take steady timelapse videos. There is some clipping along the edges, but the resulting videos look like they have been shot on a tripod or a steadycam rig. You can adjust the duration of the hyperlapse after you have shot the video as well.There is also a Hyperlapse app from Microsoft.

cover story

E

18 INDIAN LOCAL PROBLEMS THAT ARE BEING SOLVED

BY TECH

I

01

Indian tech startups and companies have begun creating and molding technology to cater to local issues that are uniquely Indian and are solving them at the grassroots level.

M PL

ndia has always had unique problems as well as solutions to those problems. Globally, with everyone looking to technology as an easy fix to problems that have plagued us for years, we look at some uniquely Indian solutions.

FARMER SUICIDES

are homeless people on the roads, pavements, hume-pipes, under staircases and flyovers, at railway stations, places of worship... everywhere! A startup called Billionbricks is attempting to help the homeless by mass manufacturing good-quality tents. Called WeatherHYDE, the tent can accommodate a family of two adults and three children.

SA

About 70 per cent of the rural population of India relies on agriculture as their source of income. So how can technology help? A product called MATT by Nebulaa Innovations attempts to solve the problem of wholesalers falsely claiming low quality of produce in order to short change farmers. Using image processing and AI, MATT just needs someone to click a picture of the produce and that gives it a rating and a valuation. Because over 75 per cent of farmers in India own one hectare of land or less, it isn’t viable for them to invest in machinery such as tractors. farMart is an on-demand agri machinery renting platform for farmers, by farmers. Not only do farmers with small plots get the help of machinery, those who own machines earn extra income, in a win-win outcome.

Dhriti Datta | dhriti@digit.in

02

HOMELESSNESS

Although homelessness is not a uniquely Indian problem, we do have a huge problem of people living below the poverty line – about 29.6% of population in fact. Although most of us have been conditioned to ignore the reality, there

03

MANUAL SCAVENGING

Since 2017, one person dies every five days (on average) while cleaning sewers or septic tanks across the country. A Thiruvananthapuram-based startup called Genrobotics, uses a spider shaped robot called Bandicoot, to go down into manholes to clean sewers. The 50-kg, pneumaticpowered robot is controlled via remote control, and cleans using a 360-degree sweep motion. The Bandicoot additionally utilises machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to figure out the amount of unclogging that is required for each sewer.

04

POWER SHORTAGE In a diverse country like India with varying weather

across different states, power usage varies wildly. This disparity of consumption leads to disparity in supply, despite the country having enough power for everyone’s needs. IEX (Indian Energy Exchange) attempts to solve this by providing an efficient electronic power trading platform. This enables those states with surplus to sell to those with a deficit. Currently, IEX now has a panIndia presence with over 4000 participants that include power generators, industrial consumers and companies that distribute power. Another startup called Aatapaha helps save power by using smart street lighting that automatically dims streetlights when there are no vehicles on the road.

05

LANGUAGE BARRIER

A very unique problems we Indians have is being able to understand one another, because of how many languages we speak. This language barrier is cited as one of the reasons for low penetration of smartphones in India. Indus OS is the world’s first regional smartphone OS which allows Indians to interact and communicate in their own native language. The www.digit.in | June 2019 | Digit | 51

WHAT’S NEW

Quicker Robotic Eyes

O

M PL

THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE:

thing. The new algorithm is called Pull Message Passing for Nonparametric Belief Propagation.

Similar techniques were already used in computer vision programs, but not robots because of how demanding they were in terms of processing power. The team managed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, by effectively getting a robot to manipulate the shelves in a drawer, even when it was half covered by a blanket. https://dgit.in/roboeyes

E

SCIENCE IS THE PATH TO KNOWLEDGE, AND FINDING OUT ABOUT HOW OUR UNIVERSE WORKS. YOU CAN’T BE A GEEK AND NOT KNOW YOUR SCIENCE!

ne of the reasons that we do not have robotic helpers in our homes already is because of how slow robotic eyes are. In an assembly line, the robots can work quickly because the environment does not change constantly. In unstructured environments, such as homes and hospitals, the robots can’t adapt quick enough to ever-changing surroundings. Researchers from the University of Michigan have tackled this bottleneck, and come up with a solution an order of magnitude faster than previous approaches. This allows the robot to understand the position and orientation of objects within ten minutes. Previous robots would take about half an hour to do the same

Ancient toy inspires cutting edge tool

A

n ancient toy known as the whirligig, which is more than 5,000 years old, has inspired a cutting edge tool for scientists. The toy is a circular disc that spins because of twisted strings. Researchers at Georgia Tech found out that the simple toy, when modified, was very effective as a centrifuge. Along the disk, the researchers placed cavities, into which tubes containing samples could be placed. This

SA

FIND OUT ALL ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS LIGHT PILLAR PHENOMENON, LEARN ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF GENE MAPPING, HOW MACHINE LEARNING IS USED TO DISCOVER NEW DRUGS AND WHAT IT TAKES TO VISUALISE A BLACK HOLE

portable centrifuge, dubbed the 3D-Fuge could be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of other devices. While tabletop units cost between $3,000 to $5,000, the 3D-Fuge costs less than $1! Four spe-

cies of plants and insects, previously unknown to science, were discovered through DNA samples that were isolated using the the 3D-Fuge by scientists in Peru. Gaurav Byagathvalli, co-inventor of the device said, “through this, we’ve realized how much of an impact simple yet effective tools can have, and hope this technology motivates others to continue along the same path.” https://dgit.in/3dfuge

Autonomy can reduce traffic

Researchers have calculated the degree to which traffic can reduce if all the cars on the road are autonomous. The research shows that the traffic flow can improve by 35 per cent. If a human driver is introduced, the cars collectively move away to improve safety. https://dgit.in/autotraf

Fabrics with chips

Researchers at MIT have embedded chips loaded with sensors into fabrics, which can be used for all sorts of composite products such as clothing, airplane wings or dressings for wounds. They can be used for a variety of purposes such as monitoring structural integrity, or the progress of a treatment. https://dgit.in/fabware

92 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

Where do stars come from?

Astronomers studying a nearby galaxy, NGC 300 found that new stars are formed in clouds of hydrogen and dust, called molecular clouds. However, the new stars quickly disperse the clouds, in a relatively short span of time, in less than 1.5 million years. https://dgit.in/strfrm

The colour of an extinct mouse

Thus far, it’s been impossible to tell what colour a fossilised animal was. However, a team from Manchester University has done just that. Using high energy X-Rays, they investigated the traces of pigments in a fossilised mouse. https://dgit.in/mousecolor

sci

Wandering Black Holes

Hole in the Milky Way

Some Black holes aren’t at their galaxy’s center, but instead appear to roam the outskirts. https://dgit.in/june19-41

SPACE AGE

Something enormous appears to have torn a hole in part of the Milky Way’s halo. https://dgit.in/june19-43

E

IMAGING A BLACK HOLE

M PL

How to photograph an object from which even light cannot escape?

B

SA

lack holes are incredibly dense regions, where matter has been squeezed together into incredibly small spaces. There are various kinds of black holes, with the smallest being about the size of a single atom. The mass of an entire mountain can be squeezed into this tiny radius, and such black holes were created at the birth of the universe.

Bigger black holes can be created by the collapse of stars, and are called stellar black holes. A stellar black hole can have a mass that is up to 20 times the mass of the Sun. The largest black holes are known as supermassive black holes, and are typically found in the hearts of galaxies. Such black holes can be more massive than 4 million Suns, and can easily fit a few million Earths within their radius. When two black holes merge, they create an even more massive black hole. The LIGO instrument observed gravitational waves from such a black hole merger back in 2015. Black holes are regions of space from which no form of electromagnetic waves can escape,

100 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

including light. Around the black hole is a region known as the event horizon, and anything that passes beyond it travels forever towards the center of the black hole. Stephen Hawking had theoretically shown that a certain kind of emission was possible from the event horizon, and this is known as Hawking Radiation.

As there is no light escaping from the black hole, it is difficult to capture it using equipment that works on the basis of capturing gases. However, the intense gravitational field around

Credit: STScI/AURA

Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in

the black holes churns gas and plasma. This gas releases energy, which can be observed using astronomical instruments.

THE EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE The closest known stellar black hole to Earth is V616, which is about 3,000 light years away. This is a black hole of relatively low mass, between 9-13 times the mass of the sun. The closest supermassive black hole to the Earth is at the centre of the Milky

WHAT’S NEW

The Nuclear Spring at Chernobyl

B

E

ALT this month:

of humans. The populations of elk, deer, bison and wild boar have also shot up. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone interests researchers as it is one of the few places in the world that humans have withdrawn from. https://dgit.in/chspring

M PL

THIS IS TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE, AND THAT DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST NORMAL PEOPLE GO “WTF?”

etween 25 and 26 April 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine caught fire. It was the biggest nuclear power plant fire in history, with the radiation released finding its way all across the northern hemisphere. Over 300,000 people were evacuated from the area. Soon after the disaster, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was established. The wildlife in the exclusion zone turned radioactive, with the swallows having mutation rates 2-10 times higher than their cousins outside the exclusion zone. There are also radioactive wolves that spread their mutations to other wolves. However, now flora and fauna in the region are flourishing because of the absence

How news is consumed in India

T

he Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford have investigated the ways in which people in India access online content. Most people use search or social media to get to news articles, with only 18 percent of the readers being loyal to a site, and navigating directly to a particular url of a news site.

The biggest social media platforms that people use to get to news articles are Facebook and WhatsApp. 57 percent of the

SA

We explore the current situation at the Chernobyl exclusion zone, how news is consumed in India and much more.

readers are concerned that the news articles they read contain misinformation, and about 50

per cent are concerned about hyperpartisan news and poor journalism, which is a healthy amount of skepticism. 68 percent of the respondents access news content through their mobile devices. While those over the age of 35 consume more print and television, it is surprising that those under 35 actually listen to more radio. https://dgit.in/roind

Gotham rules

Gotham is a simple, versatile sans serif font designed in the year 2000 for GQ. Over the years, it has been used by many companies, including Coca Cola, Twitter and Netflix. Advertisers love it.

Within a short span of time, Gotham has taken over the world and we can see it all around us, in virtual and real spaces. What makes this font so special? https://dgit.in/gotfont

The tragedy of airpods

The batteries in airpods last about 18 months. The pods have to be thrown away as recycling them is too much of a hassle considering how tightly the components are packed together. There is no safe way to take apart the airpods, so the batteries cannot even be replaced. https://dgit.in/podtrg

102 | Digit | June 2019 | www.digit.in

Eating Someone

While scientists know farm animals experience pain or fear, very little is known about their intelligence, personalities and social structures. New research into the private lives of pigs, chickens, cows and sheep show a surprising amount of emotional complexities in them. https://dgit.in/eatsheep

How friends affect habits

The amount of self control and habits that we develop is affected by our friend circle. In an effort to fit in to the group, we may end up eating more, applying less sunscreen, or care less about the environment. We use their behavior as a guide for how to behave ourselves. https://dgit.in/frndshab

30th JUNE 2019

SUBSCRIPTION FORM DURATION

COVER PRICE

ASSURED GIFT / YOU SAVE (on cover price)

YOU PAY

Money Saver offers (With Fast Tracks & DVDs)* � 1 Year

` 2,500/-

` 1,899/-

Cash discount of ` 601/-

(24%)

� 3 Years

` 7,500/-

` 5,499/-

Cash discount of ` 2,001/-

(27%)

` 1099/-

Cash discount of ` 401/-

(27%)

Magazine - Only Package (Without Fast Tracks & DVDs)** � 1 Year

` 1,500/-

*Includes regular issues of ` 200/- each and higher priced special issues per year **Includes 12 regular issues of ` 125/- each per year

Start / Renew my subscription from

m m

y

y

Name ______________________________________________________________________________________________ (First Name)

(Middle Name)

(Last Name)

Occupation_______________________Company___________________________Designation_______________________ Delivery Address _____________________________________________________________________________________ City _______________________ Pin Code ___________________ State ________________________________________ Telephone_____________________ Mobile_______________________ E-mail ___________________________________ (Please mention an active email-id to receive your copy dispatch details )

(STD Code) (Phone Number)

Subscription Number ______________________________________ (Only for existing subscribers)

Payment Details

Mail this form alongwith your cheque/DD to: 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd.

(Formerly known as Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd)

B-205, Arjun Centre Station Road, Govandi (E), Mumbai 400 088 Board line: 022-67899666 Fax: 022- 67899667

Subscribe online at www.digit.in/subscribe OR Whatsapp ‘DIGIT SUB’ to 99103 72536 For quick customer service, email us at help@digit.in OR call (022) 678 99 678

SUB JUN 19

Enclosed Cheque/DD No.________________ (Kindly add ` 50 for cheques not payable at par in Mumbai) dated ______________ favoring 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd. from Bank_____________________

TERMS & CONDITIONS: This is a limited period offer | Rates & offer valid in India only | Allow 5-6 weeks for processing of your subscription | Free assured subscription gift will reach you within 8 - 10 weeks of commencement of your subscription | Orders once placed will not be terminated or transferred | Specific colors and features of the guaranteed free assured gifts are subject to change depending on availability of the stock with the manufacturer | Destinations not covered by courier will be serviced by post under a certificate of posting | Replacements will be made upon receipt of the damaged goods within 30 days of sale | Above schemes are valid till 30th June 2019 | Price of assured gift may vary, but specifications will be unchanged.