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THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor
Enough!
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It makes me wonder if we’re ever going to grow up and grow out of this phase of alternate realities, and different versions of facts. At Digit, we are always going to push for rigorous testing methodologies, and skepticism and try and give as many people a scientific bent of mind – all of you magazine readers are like that already, so I’m probably preaching to the choir here. Why do we do this? Because we choose to be right, instead of popular, or fact check instead of rushing to be first. However, I don’t think we’re going to be able to do it alone. I want to ask you all to join in. Social media is being taken over by trolls and troublemakers, and while you may know the truth, there are plenty who will believe anything posted as a link or a video. Heck, we’ve recently had our own run in with it, where suddenly on a Flipkart product page for the Xiaomi Mi TV 4, there was a certified buyer called “digit.in” that apparently had given that product a 5 star rating. We were flabbergasted. Turns out, it was an attempt at something new in marketing, and they’d taken choice snippets from our First Look writeup about the product (not our review). Look, our content is available online for everyone to see, and it’s clear that we did not in fact rate that product as 5 stars (it got a rating of 80/100). Heck, the only thing we’ve ever rated at 100 percent in our entire history is India’s Mangalyaan mission, and let’s just say nothing can come close to that! But for the short time this was up on Flipkart, how many people would have seen it and thought that we were somehow involved with marketing a product? Will the facts ever change their mind? This is the problem with social media now, not just for us, but for everyone, and it’s going to take all of us to fix it. No matter what you read, or watch, make sure you check that it’s from a verified source – from the source’s own page, and not a quote on some other page. Try and refrain from sharing anything you know is false, and when you comment on stuff that is false, make sure to speak up and say it. If you don’t, there will be too many people who will be fooled by the trolls. It’s time we all said “Enough! No more.” Will you do it?
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WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD? Is it just me being old, or is the world actually going just a little crazy? Not all of it mind you, there are plenty of sane people on the planet, it’s just hard to focus on them when the crazies rule so much of our screen time thanks to social media. Let’s just look at what transpired in February. Fake news ruled the roost again. There were many, but people killing off a celebrity as a hoax seems to never turn old. Sylvester Stallone this time, who is alive and well, but enough people on the net think he died recently. Sadly, there was another shooting in a US school, and regardless of your stance on guns, you will agree that kids should feel safe in schools all around the world. It’s already hard enough to ensure they get a good education without them being gunned down in even supposedly developed countries. There is hope though, as the power of social media is being used by the kids to try and raise awareness about the problem. Of course it’s also being used to spread more fake news – a video claimed that one of the students speaking out was an actor, and it went viral. It was later proven to be untrue, but it’s not like the internet cares about truth anymore. Back home it was pretty sane for awhile. Despite the budget raising duties on imported tech, people were still positive because it would boost Make in India. Then came social media madness, and for some reason a small clip from a Malayalam movie that showed a woman wink at a camera, and the country lost its mind! First it was positive, with her getting more Instagram followers than Mark Zuckerberg in next to no time, and then suddenly some people hated her, and it was all because of a short clip online? The Olympics that no one cares about, the winter version, is on, and most don’t even know about it! A private company shot off a car into space, with a dummy astronaut in the driver’s seat, and far exceeded their own expectations in terms of thrust, but so few seemed to bat an eyelid. Yet when an actress batted one eyelid, we rushed off en masse to track her down on instagram?
“A private company shot off a car into space, with a dummy astronaut in the driver’s seat, and far exceeded their own expectations in terms of thrust, but so few seemed to bat an eyelid. Yet when an actress batted one eyelid, we rushed off en masse to track her down on instagram?”
Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: editor@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo
www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 1
PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Asst. Technical Editor
In y[our] best interests
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ing a crystal ball that’s eerily accurate about every person on the planet. It’s not just Facebook, every tech company does something equally scummy. Kumail Nanjiani, the actor from Silicon Valley created quite a furore last November when he tweeted about his experiences while visiting tech companies in the San Francisco valley for the show’s research. He mentioned how they had zero considerations for ethics while working on building the next big thing. It’s understandable how and why tech companies operate in such a manner, ethics are seen as a hindrance. The usual excuse is that they just build the technology, how people use it is out of their control. Just the same way that AI libraries are used to build smarter botnets while the entire IoT infrastructure has barely any security baked in, and how guns are just devices built to protect, but if they were to fall in the bad hands, then there’s no stopping the killings. It stands without question that AI libraries wouldn’t have grown to this level if there had been tighter regulations around what can and cannot be done. I used to be in the minority up until a couple of years back as I bothered to read up about a new software before I used it. Or ran it in a sandbox before installing it for good on my PC. Thankfully, more people are now aware about trying something new. Especially, when that new thing is built to “protect‘ you for absolutely “zero” cost. No thank you, sir. I’d rather pay for my VPN service and get a provider that maintains no logs and gives a middle finger to companies that seek to peek at user data. If you care about your privacy, you should do the same.
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THERE’S A WIDE DIVIDE between consumer and corporate interests. The latter is what all major tech companies do and the former is what they claim to do. There’s nothing new about this adage. It’s been like this ever since the caveman Bob came up with the phrase “customer satisfaction guaranteed” to swindle caveman Rob out of his 13 pebbles and 2 shells. While there are regulations to keep big corporates in check, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the smartest minds on the planet work for these companies and not for the Government. So if there’s a way to get around regulations, then they’re probably going to do it. It’s ridiculously simple to see through their veiled attempts to be helpful. The most recent example would be of Facebook which recently started showing an option labelled “Protect” in their main iOS app. Tapping on the Protect option takes users to an app listing for “Onavo Protect - VPN Security”. The average Facebooker who’s aware of VPNs will see this as a neat feature since Onavo is a free service. Isn’t it so nice of Facebook to help more users on its platform to install a VPN app to secure their internet traffic. That’s good guy Facebook right there, except for a few details that aren’t so openly advertised. For starters, Onavo is a data analytics company that was acquired by Facebook in 2013. It even collects your mobile data traffic in order to analyse all that data. After all, they are a data company. Here’s the good part, a VPN on your phone generally works by channeling all data packets via their DNS servers. This allows them full access to the device’s internet connection. So aside from Facebook already knowing your actions on their platform, they can even get every single information about each and every app you have installed on your phone. This is the price you pay for the “free VPN” service that they’ve so graciously made available. The information Facebook can get this way allows them to gain insights that only ISPs and governments can. That’s how powerful this VPN approach is. They can easily figure out which services are gaining traction in which markets and acquire them. It’s like hav-
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“It’s understandable how and why tech companies operate in such a manner, ethics are seen as a hindrance. The usual excuse is that they just build the technology, how people use it is out of their control.”
Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in
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MARCH 2018 • VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 03
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EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Features Editor Aditya Madanapalle Senior Writer Arnab Mukherjee Writer Manish Rajesh
ADVERTISING INDEX
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TEST CENTRE Asst. Technical Editor Mithun Mohandas Reviewers Abhijit Dey, Hardik Singh, Shrey Pacheco, Souvik Das, Subhrojit Mallick
Corsair............................................................11
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Kaspersky.......................................................13 iBall............................................................7, 21
DIGIT.IN Editor Soham Raninga Assistant Editor Sameer Mitha News and Features Editor Adamya Sharma Writer Shubham Sharma
Quantum....................................................... 112
COVER ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN Peterson PJ
FORM IV STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS ABOUT THE PUBLICATION DIGIT AS PER RULE 8 1 Place of publication Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt. Ltd., 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar Ph. I, Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi-110091. 2 Periodicity of its publication Monthly 3 Printer’s name Kanak Ghosh Nationality Indian (a) Whether citizen of India Yes (b) If a foreigner, the country of origin N/A Address BH-44, Sector-II, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091 4 Publisher’s name Kanak Ghosh Nationality Indian (a) Whether citizen of India Yes (b) If a foreigner, the country of origin N/A Address BH-44, Sector-II, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091 5 Editor’s name Kanak Ghosh Nationality Indian (a) Whether citizen of India Yes (b) If a foreigner, the country of origin N/A Address BH-44, Sector-II, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091 6 Name & Addresses of individuals who 1) Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha own the news paper and partners or shareholders 2) Mr. Asheesh Kumar Gupta holding more than one percent of the total capital 3) Mr. Vikas Gupta 4) Mr. Kanak Ranjan Ghosh 5) Ms. Anuradha Das Mathur & Others
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DESIGN Sr. Art Director Anil VK Art Director Shokeen Saifi Visualiser Baiju NV Lead UI/UX Designer Shri Hari Tiwari Sr. Designer Peterson PJ
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4 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
Share Holder More than 1% I, Kanak Ghosh, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to best of my knowledge. Dated: March 1, 2018
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PRODUCTS REVIEWED THIS MONTH
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.
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GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH Middle Earth: Shadow of War
MOBILE MONTHLY Sonic Runners Adventure | Prizefighters Timber West | Mayhem - PvP arena shooter Like A Boss | Inside Jumanji: The mobile game
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.
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contents
COVER STORY PAGE 40- 56
Fun with Cardboard
You must have created fun little crafts using cardboard in your art and craft classes in school. Well, it’s time to take things to the next level with these geeky cardboard DIYs. SCIENCE - PAGE 65-74
CULTURE - PAGE 57-64
MARCH 2018
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VOLUME 18 ISSUE 03
68 | Climate engineering
58 | Crazy fan theories
It could be our last and most effective hope to undo the effects of global warming.
There are fan theories, and then there are these fan theories!
70 | Single cell DNA sequencing
60 | Pseudoscience
72 | Clearing up space junk
61 | Crypto-shympto!
74 | Bacteriophages
63 | 1000 Words
AND MORE
AND MORE
Single cell sequencing can revolutionise the field of medical science and research.
With abandoned satellites still in orbit and newer ones being launched to replace them, space junk is increasing.
Bacteria are evolving resistances faster than the rate at which we can develop new antibiotics.
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If it’s pseudo, then it’s not science, and we definitely don’t have time for it.
Boo-Man lets you know exactly what he thinks about all this cryptocurrency nonsense.
A closer look at the microanimals that surround us, and their superpowers.
ALT - PAGE 76-96
TECH - PAGE 14-39
ON THE DVD We go over some of the biggest happenings in the world of tech that took place this month.
16 | Keeping it Cool
Diving deep into the tech that keeps your gadgets ‘oh-so-chilled’.
20 | Agent001
77 | The sun starter
What would happen if aliens came to Earth, destroyed the sun, and forced us to work for them as cheap labour?
TECH Liri OS (x64) A new OS where apps are built with modern design and features.
80 | Armed and dangerous
Firearms have played a crucial role in shaping the world that we know today, but how much do we know about their history?
88 | Do it like Dolittle
22 | Level-Up
AND MORE
Webcam tools CamFrog CamSpace Flutter Intel True Key iSpy ManyCam Netcam Studio Skype SplitCam Yawcam
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Agent001’s 18-year old relationship (with his chair) comes to a sad end. Join him on his quest to find a replacement.
Is talking to your pets even possible?
Give your PC components some much needed love. We help you achieve optimal airflow inside your PC.
25 | Recommended buys: Top 3
From IEMs to routers, here’s what we recommend for your next gadget purchase!
SKOAR! - PAGE 97-111
26 | Workshop
Customise your Android homescreen the right way.
28 | Teardown
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We take a look inside Apple’s first smart speaker: the Apple HomePod.
30 | PC configs
Wondering what to get for your next PC, look no further.
31 | Take My Money!
Crowdfunding projects that we think are worth checking out.
32 | Antec P8 vs Corsair Carbide SPEC-04 TG
Tempered glass side panels have finally entered budget mid-tower cabinets.
34 | Reviews
Sound Production of sound Sound properties (Amplitude, Period, Frequency, Wavelength) Speed of sound Relative speed of sound in solids, liquids, and gases Mach numbers Decibel scale Why do sounds get softer? Ultrasound medical imaging
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14 | What’s new
98 | Games that sold consoles Have you ever been tempted to buy a console just because of a game?
102 | The video game billboard hot charts
Some of the most iconic and recognisable songs we’ve come across thanks to games!
104 | REEVU: Monster Hunter World
The latest products put through our rigorous tests and reviewed for you.
The original monster slaying boss battle simulator is back, now on mainstream consoles, to show you how it’s done.
AND MORE
AND MORE
Essentials AdwCleaner Avast Antivirus Foxit Reader GIMP LibreOffice 6 Mixxx Nox App Player SketchUp Make Twitch Desktop App Visual Studio Code WhatsApp Desktop
SCI Executive systems of the brain Cognition Piaget’s stages of cognitive development Aging and cognitive abilities Attention and language Dreaming Memory Memory Emotion Limbic system And more...
CULT Indie games A Raven Monologue Embuscade Grotto In Other Waters JetHack 3:00 AM at The Krusty Krab Landflix Odyssey Nuts Scorch The Flood The Golden Tulip ALT Free music archive Listen through an endless collection of public domain music across different genres.
www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 9
WHAT’S NEW
First Hyperloop in India?
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as little as 25 minutes. The service is being explored as both, passenger transit and light freight transportation. Currently, it takes about 2 hours to travel from Mumbai to Pune. Virgin Hyperloop One chairman, Richard Branson has written on Virgin.com that “I believe Virgin Hyperloop One could have the same impact upon India in the 21st century as
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DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUS, IT’S ALL HERE...
yperloop technology has been on every analyst’s radar ever since successful trials were completed for the rapid transportation technology. Numerous companies have started vying for contracts to be the first to get a commercial service started and it seems like India might be the first to get one running. Virgin Hyperloop One is one of the many companies that’s got a successful prototype running and they’ve recently entered into an agreement with the state of Maharashtra to build a test track. If all goes well, we could see the first Hyperloop service commence between the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Virgin Hyperloop isn’t the first to make such an annoucement, in fact, last September we saw Hyperloop Transportation Technologies sign an agreement with the state of Andhra Pradesh to build a Hyperloop service between the cities of Amravati and Vijayawada. HTT is also building a Hyperloop in Korea, while Hyperloop One is in the process of building a track in Dubai. Virgin has already built a functional test track in the Nevada desert. Coming back to the Virgin Hyperloop agreement, the service is planned to reduce the travel time between the two cities down to
COOL DOWN
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THIS MONTH IN TECH: We take a look at the cool tech used to keep our gadgets cool. Then we head to the workshop for some Android homescreen customisation. After that, optimise your PC’s airflow in Level-Up.
Swype Keyboard RIP
Nuance, the parent company for the iconic Swype keyboard that pioneered the swipe-to-type input method that we’re all so familiar with now, has officially discontinued the Android and iOS apps for it. http://dgit.in/deadswype
Sony’s own AI Uber
Competing against Uber and Didi Chuxing, Sony corporation has announced a cab service in Japan, in partnership with licensed taxi service providers. The AI based platform will manage demand based on factors like weather, traffic and local events. http://dgit.in/sonycabs
14 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
trains did in the 20th century.“ Branson also indicated that the track was the first corridor of a pan Indian Hyperloop network. Although this route is shorter than other alternatives proposed earlier, an ambitious Mumbai-Chennai route, it would still connect two cities with an aggregate population of around 25 million, that is projected to grow further steadily. We certainly are excited to see not one but two Hyperloop services being planned in the country. What about you?
http://dgit.in/2F3dPdP
Facebook’s twofactor snail mail
Advertisers for political campaigns, who intend to put the name of a candidate into an advertising campaign on Facebook, will now have to enter a code that will be generated and sent to them via postcard to prevent external interference. http://dgit.in/fbsnailmail
Spotify hardware
New job listings posted by music streaming company Spotify indicate that it is in perparations to launch its first hardware product. Speculation for what the product may be ranges from Spotify integrated headphones, standalone speakers, or an AI powered smart speaker. http://dgit.in/sptfyspkr
tech
AI decrypts manuscript
Discovered hundred years ago, the 240-page Voynich manuscript has been finally cracked by using aritificial intelligence. http://dgit.in/AIVoynich
FEATURE
Google closes deal on HTC
The $1.1 billion deal has finally closed between the two companies with Google taking over most of HTC’s smartphone design division. http://dgit.in/GoogHTC
Keeping it
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very generation of computing hardware increases the power of your devices to do amazing things everyday – run your favourite games, bring powerful videography and post production capabilities to your pocket, or even take the brunt of your never ending array of open browser tabs. What also increases at the same time is the ease with which your device can heat up, thanks to more components like transistors being crammed into smaller areas, thus building up the heat they give off due to resistance. But then, shouldn’t all kinds of devices become increasingly prone to overheating with every generation? The answer is no, thanks to the several types of cooling technology that are used across your devices and gadgets with an objective to cool them as efficiently as possible. Some rely on purely passive cooling, which uses natural convection and dissipation, while some opt for active cooling, which uses an external device to enhance cooling. But beyond this broad classification, there are numerous ways it’s done across gadgets.
at the cost of heating up the device when overused. There are quite a few advanced ways in which smartphone manufacturers are dealing with overheating, and some are yet to be applied to actual devices:
Heatpipes Using pipes to dissipate heat in smartphones is not new. NEC did it way back in 2013 with the Medias X. The design involved a pipe that contained water (in miniscule quantities) that ran from the CPU The heatpipe on the Galaxy S7 to other areas of the smartphone. Once heated, the water in its design. Right now, if one were drop would turn into water vapour, to bet, heatpipes are likely to stay for travel to other, cooler areas of the another couple of years or at least unbody and condense back into water, til vapour chambers (explained later) thus dispersing the heat before it become affordable. travelled back to the CPU again. Some designs can skip water altogether and Vapour Chambers use dissipation to turn your entire Working on the same principle of two smartphone into a heatsink. But it phase cooling as heatpipes, vapour was Samsung that revolutionised the chambers are different from heat technology for its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge by designing a new pipe based cooling system that was 50 times more efficient than pure copper in terms of thermal conductivity. They were able to How a vapour chamber works
SA SMARTPHONES Even the most rudimentary smartphones today boast of quite a few capabilities. And all those abilities come
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achieve this by experimenting with alloys and metal mesh inside the pipe. Even in 2018, despite the availability of other types of tech Samsung has announced that they’ll be using heat pipes in their 2018 models as well. The gaming centric Razor Phone also comes with a massive copper heatpipe
Source: iFixit
Arnab Mukherjee | arnab@digit.in
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Diving deep into the tech that keeps your gadgets ‘oh-so-chilled’
level
A COLLECTION OF PRO TIPS FOR EVERYTHING. Without being limited to a particular topic, these tips are from popular software, to coding, to browsers, search, storage rules, password rules, mobile device hacks, bios cracking, tweaks explained and everything tech under the sun.
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How to optimise airflow in your PC cabinet
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Figuring out the best airflow for your PC cabinet can be confusing. Here’s a handy guide to help you achieve optimal airflow inside Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in
your PC components. Here’s our guide to achieve optimal airflow in your cabinet.
PC CABINET LAYOUT
The internal design of PC cabinets often keeps changing for the better. Not very long ago, the interiors looked like a
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BUILDING A PC is a therapeutic process for most of us at Digit. Spending hours on figuring out the most suitable routes for all the cables is quite normal. Implementing the best cable management is of priority. However, not at the cost of lower cooling performance. Air cooling is the most basic and easiest method to keep your system cool. It is also capable enough to handle basic overclocking. Your PC cabinet will consist of several locations to install cooling fans. Your objective is to ensure that the cabinet has a balanced flow of hot and cool air. If you mess up this balance, you will face problems gradually. We all know that overheating components is bad news. Populating each and every fan mount with high-speed fans won’t really achieve the best cooling performance. By keeping a few things in mind, you can actually extend the lifespan of
claustrophobic person’s worst nightmare. Optical drives and hard drive bays usually took up almost half of the space inside. This design immensely affected airflow since the drive cages restricted a lot of air intake from the front fans. Power supply units used to be installed on the toprear of the cabinets. Since hot air rises, it was a bad design choice. Next came the painful task of cable
Cable management was difficult earlier, so was optimal air cooling.
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management. If you’ve dealt with the ketchupand-mustard mess of cables from non-modular PSUs, you’d understand. Earlier, cable management was accomplished with just the motherboard plate cutouts. The entangled cables inside the cabinet would end up obstructing the airflow to an extent. Also, they would straight up look messy if your cabinet had a transparent windowed side panel. These designs still exist in cabinets on the lower price range. For the past few years, this has changed. Optical drives aren’t found anymore in the majority of the cabinets nowadays. The number of hard drive bays have also reduced over time. This has opened up more room (literally) for additional fans to be installed on the front panel. The power supply is nowadays mostly mounted on the bottom-rear. So now you can add another fan below the top panel. Apart from compact cabinets, you will also find fan mounts on the bottom. However, this isn’t new. New design
tech
Legally add music to FB and Insta
Google pushes for RCS
Facebook has signed an agreement with record labels to allow used to easily add songs to content on the networks. http://dgit.in/FBSongTime
HEAD-ON
Google is now sending messages using Rich Communication Services as opposed to bland SMSes. http://dgit.in/RCSSMS
Antec P8 vs Corsair Carbide SPEC-04 TG
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Tempered glass side panels have finally entered budget mid-tower cabinets
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Abhijit Dey | abhijit@digit.in them if you’re clumsy. However, who in their right mind wouldn’t show off their beautiful RGB LED-lit components to the world? By spending some extra time in cable management, you can achieve a neat build as well. The Antec P8 was recently launched at an attractive price of just `5,300. This probably makes it the most affordable cabinet with a tempered glass side panel in the local market. The Corsair Carbide SPEC-04 was originally launched with a transparent acrylic side window panel. They realised the demand and decided to launch a tempered glass variant of the same
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empered glass side panels have been rising in popularity since the last couple of years. Initially, they were introduced as a premium feature in the higher-end category. Now they are entering the mid-tier and budget range of cabinets. You won’t be getting any functional advantage as they are only meant for their aesthetic value. Compared to acrylic side panels, tempered glass is scratch-resistant and more durable. But it’s glass after all and it is prone to shattering. You should probably avoid
ANTEC P8
TESTING RIG:
• • • • • • • •
Motherboard: AsRock X79 Extreme9 CPU: Intel Core i7-4960X GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 RAM: Corsair Dominator 2x8GB DDR3 (16GB) HDD: WD Red 2TB SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 (120GB) PSU: Antec HCP-1000 Platinum CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9x65
BUILD QUALITY
The steel frame of the P8 is durable enough to prevent any kind of bending. The same is the case with the motherboard plate and fan mounting parts. All the SSD trays are also made of steel indicating durability even in the small components. There’s a layer of steel on the front plastic that makes it stronger. Coming to the tempered glass panel, the thickness is uneven. It lingers between 3.5mm to 4mm at the edges. Just like other cabinets, the tempered glass panel protrudes a little from the chassis. This indicates that the cabinet’s main frame wasn’t made for the tempered glass panel. Rubber grommets around the motherboard cutouts are rare to find in the budget segment. In terms of padding, the PSU bay and bottom standoffs are the only places where you’ll find rubber. Overall, the build quality on the P8 is impressive.
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cabinet for `7,999. Both of these cabinets will go head-to-head this month and only one shall be crowned the winner.
CORSAIR CARBIDE SPEC-04 TG
We didn’t find any structural weakness in the main steel frame of the SPEC-04. Although the front panel is made of plastic, it is dense and durable. The removable HDD drive cage is too flimsy and bends easily when removed. Otherwise, when it is screwed into the cabinet, it doesn’t bend. Both the cabinets have almost the same kind of dust filters, the exception being that the SPEC04 doesn’t a top filter. If you aren’t attaching exhaust fans on the top, cover it up. Compared to the P8, the tempered glass panel here is more uniform – just under 4mm throughout. The same four corner screw mechanism is used and the panel protrudes from the cabinet here as well. There aren’t any rubber grommets in the motherboard plate cutouts. The HDD trays are made of plastic with no rubber padding. You will only find rubber strips on the PSU bay and standoffs.
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The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products every month. Each of these products is put through a series of tests and is finally given a score. The final score is arrived at after considering a number of factors and evaluating them in terms of features, performance, value for money, build quality, and, in the case of software, even ease of use.
THE LATEST PRODUCTS REVIEWED FOR YOU
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AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
Xiaomi Mi TV 4 55-inch
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Corsair H115i PRO RGB
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Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
PLUS
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HP Elitebook X360 1030 G2
35 Corsair Obsidian 500D 35 Noctua NH-L12s 36 Logitech G613 37 Razer Kraken V2 Pro 38 ASUS ROG GL503 Hero & MORE...
Commission free trading
The zero-fee stock trading app, Robinhood, is rolling out access to buying and selling Bitcoin and Ethereum in several states in the US. http://dgit.in/FreeCrypto
Fox Searchlight and producer DeVon Franklin now have the rights to "Flamin’ Hot", a biopic about the creator of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. http://dgit.in/CheetoMvie
Corsair Obsidian 500D A premium level up for enthusiasts
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front I/O. However, it does
SPECIFICATIONS
feature a USB 3.1 Gen-2 Type-C port which is new for Corsair cabinets. Throughout the cabinet, the build quality is impressive as expected with the Obsidian series. Cable management could have been better.
Noctua NH-L12s Can’t go wrong with a Noctua
Price
8,500 octua has built a reputation for quality, cooling efficiency and low acoustics. They don’t release as many models as other brands but they spend a ridiculous amount on R&D towards improving their existing portfolio and that’s clearly experienced when competition only have a using their products. The few fins from the entire NH-L12s is an upgraded FEATURE.......................82 assembly soldered. With variant of the NH-L12 PERFORMANCE...........78 Noctua’s approach, there’s wherein they’ve reduced VALUE............................75 more headroom for heat to the height of the cooler DESIGN..........................83 move to the fins from the from 93 to 70 mm. The 70 heatpipes. The unit comes mm height is when the packed with every included NF-A12 fan is mounting bracket under the sun mounted under the fins, when except the newly released TR4 since mounted above, the height comes up to that needs a much larger baseplate and 85 mm. There are 58 aluminium fins you’re better off getting a cooler with a and each of them are soldered to the base plate to match. The mounting is heatpipes. Most products from the
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Two 120 mm fans are included and n this setting under full load, the CPU stabilised at 58 degrees Celsius while the graphics card stayed at 70 degrees. With all fan mounts populated, the CPU reached 52 degrees and the graphics card went up to 60 degrees. Once the stress test was stopped, the CPU and graphics card reached their idle temperatures after 13 and 4 minutes respectively. The Obsidian 500D does seem expensive and the lack of a few features is a complete miss by Corsair but it’s a great performer. –Abhijit Dey
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REVIEWS
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he Obsidian 500D has a beautiful brushed aluminium finish similar to the one seen on their mechanical keyboards. This same finish is carried on the edges of the side panels and the top panel. The hinged panels are removable and the glass has a smoked tint. The fan and radiator mounts on the top and front panel make the installation process easier. You will find dust filters on the top, front and bottom of the cabinet. As a premium cabinet we expected a fan and lighting hub but were PERFORMANCE...........80 disappointed to not find FEATURES.....................75 any. Nor did the cabinet BUILD QUALITY............70 include a fan speed or VALUE............................60 lighting controller on the
tech
Flamin' Hot Cheetos movie
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MOTHERBOARD FORM FACTOR: Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX | POWER SUPPLY STANDARD: ATX standard (max. length of 225mm) | I/O PORTS: 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 3.1 Gen-2 Type-C, 1x microphone, 1x headphone | DRIVE BAYS: 2 x 3.5-inch HDD, 3 x 2.5-inch SSD | COOLING SUPPORT: 3 x 120mm (front), 2 x 140mm (front), 2 x 120mm (top), 2 x 140mm (top), 1 x 120mm (rear) | RADIATOR SUPPORT: Up to 280/360mm (front), up to 240/280mm (top), up to 120mm (rear) | CLEARANCES: CPU cooler - 170mm, Graphics card - 370mm |
CONTACT
CORSAIR | PHONE: 1800-425-5464 | EMAIL: NA | WEBSITE: www. corsair.com
very snug with little wiggle room and the baseplate has a shiny nickel plated surface with a teensy bit of bulge. This allows for a much better contact with the CPU IHS. Performance wise, we achieved a load temperature of 62 degrees with the Intel Core i9-7960X set to default clock speeds. Once we overclocked the CPU, we managed to get a peak temp of 76 degrees which is very good for an air-cooler on our test rig, however, it can’t equal the NH-D15. Overall, the Noctua NH-L12s is a worthy successor to the NH-L12 and is a great choice, especially if you are building a compact machine. –Mithun Mohandas
SPECIFICATIONS
HEIGHT (WITH FAN): 70 mm | WIDTH (WITH FAN): 128 mm | DEPTH (WITH FAN): 146 mm | WEIGHT (WITH FAN/S): 520 g | FAN: 1x NF-A12x15 | MAX RPM: 1850 | MAX AIRFLOW: 94.2 m3/h | MATERIAL: Copper base plate and heat pipes, aluminium fins | WARRANTY: 6 years.
CONTACT
NOCTUA | PHONE: NA | EMAIL: support@noctua.at | WEBSITE: noctua.at
www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 35
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CARDBOARD
40 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
is a ubiquitous material that can be used for so many purposes other than just transporting stuff from point A to B. Here at Digit, the amount of cardboard we had lying around from product deliveries and online purchases was tremendous. Instead of just throwing it all away, we decided to put it to good use. Via the pages that follow, we hope to encourage your self-expression and creativity, using humble cardboard (and tech). We challenge you to make geekier DIYs, document them with photos and videos, and then share them with us, and the best of the lot will be showcased proudly to over two million of our social media followers, and also win surprise gifts. So what are you waiting for? Get famous!
cover story
ck: o l c d r a o b d r Ca 368
MATERIALS NEEDED
is nsive part of th The most expe n ement, which ca build is the mov it to th or w line. It is be purchased on but t, en better movem pay more for a on cheap clocks you can open up well. custom build as sale to make a
• 1x Quartz Clock Movement - `300 • Cardboard - Free • 1x A4 Transparency - `10 • 1x Craft Crepe Paper (23 x 10 in) - `18 • 1x AA battery - `40
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le | aditya@digit.in Aditya Madanapal
This one is pretty simple, and the end of it, you have a custom clock, that can be kept on a desk or hung on a wall. We created a Star Wars clock, but you can find other ways to creatively use the second, minute and hour hands, the clock face, and the casing. Send in images of your custom clocks to editor@digit.in, and we are giving out a free surprise gift to the best one.
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STEP 01 We got a Japanese quartz movement that was made in China. Quartz based movements are available online, and are shipped along with the hands. If you like the hands, you can opt to designing just the face, and forget tweaking the hands. However, we wanted custom hands as well.
STEP 03 We used a pen knife to cut the details into the hands. We used the lightsabers of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Kylo Ren. The movement has rings, like the layers of the onion. There are holes within the hands to accommodate the hand on top. The hour hand is in the outermost ring, with the largest hole, the minute hand sits on top of the hour hand and has a smaller hole. The second hand does not have a hole, and sits in the tiniest hole. The approach we found that works best is to use adhesive glue to attach the cutouts to the hands and then cut out the holes using any small, pointy object. Make sure the clock is working at this stage, as we found we had to bend the lightsabers a bit, as Obi-Wan’s lightsaber was obstructing Skywalker’s once every minute.
STEP 02 We went for a circular clock, and designed a rather abstract face without the numbers, that we printed out on card paper. We went for a 70 gsm paper, using anything too thick would interfere with the mechanism. It is best to mark the center of the face while designing itself, using the graphics software of your choice.
STEP 04 At the back of the clock, although it was not necessary, we fashioned a small case out of cardboard to secure the movement. This is just so that the movement does not fall off when the clock is held horizontally, while moving it.
STEP 05 Then we made a ring casing for the clock. The cardboard was covered with the space age looking silvery-grey crepe paper. The clock face was placed in the middle of the ring. We used the circular cutter to cut the transparency, and attached it to the inside of the ring with cello tape. It is best to use cello tape at only one point, let the transparency sheet swing out for access to the interiors. This can be replaced with glass if making a square clock, or skipped altogether. The idea is to provide some protection from the elements (pollution and dust) to the face and the hands.
STEP 06 Finally, for the back we cut out another circular cardboard portion, pasted crepe paper on top, and fashioned a basic stand by attaching a strip of cardboard, also with crepe paper pasted on top. That is it, our custom Star Wars clock was ready.
www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 41
WHAT’S NEW
Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker?
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most likely be coming back in Suicide Squad 2 but he won’t be involved in the origin movie. The movie will take a deep dive into the events that led the Joker to become a ruthless criminal. We still aren’t sure whether we’ll get to see the early relationship between him and Harley Quinn. We don’t even know whether we’ll get to see some Joker and Batman rivalry as well. It’s also reportedly said to be based in the 80’s and be more of a crime drama rather than a typical superhero movie. http://dgit.in/JkrPhoenix
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GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
t’s already known that director Todd Phillips is working on an untitled Joker movie exploring the popular character’s origins. There has been a lot of speculation on who will play the clown prince of Gotham. For now, Joaquin Phoenix is being reported as Phillips’ top choice. According to a report by Variety, Phoenix has apparently accepted the offer. However, Warner Bros. is yet to officially confirm his role in the movie. This doesn’t mean that Phoenix is going to replace Jared Leto’s Joker from Suicide Squad. Leto will
Solo: A Star Wars Story might show Kessel Run
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an Solo has been bragging about the Kessel Run since A New Hope, all the way till The Force Awakens. And we might finally see him complete it in 12 parsecs in the upcoming spin-off movie. There were already rumours flying around when the trailer was revealed. Towards the end, we see the Millennium Falcon flying across a cloudy environment where a huge creature
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THIS MONTH IN CULT: We rant about Pseudoscience and then Boo-Man lets us know how he feels about cryptocurrencies. After that, we’ve got some of the craziest fan theories for you.
with tentacles is seen. It certainly looked like a situation that warranted jumping into hyperspace to escape. However, these were mere speculations.
That is, until new developments were revealed by LEGO with a new set. Called the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon, the description read, “outsmart the villainous overseers and escape the Kessel Mines aboard the amazing Millennium Falcon!” This all but confirms that we are indeed going to see the legendary Kessel Run that earned Han his bragging rights. http://dgit.in/SoloKessel
Michael Bay for Lobo
Popularly known around as the man who loves blowing things up in his movies, Warner Bros. wants Michael Bay for a Lobo movie. Marvel already has Deadpool and with Lobo, DC can finally deliver an R-rated character to the silver screen. http://dgit.in/MchlByLobo
Secret superhero movie
Thomas Haden Church aka Sandman from Spider-man 3 is supposedly going to return to superhero movies. He hasn’t revealed which movie yet but he confirmed in an interview that it’s not a Marvel movie. http://dgit.in/THCSuper
Darkseid in Justice League 2
Recent revelations suggest that Darkseid was set to be the villain in the Justice League sequel. A storyboard depicts how Snyder’s vision continued from Batman v Superman on the mysterious Knightmare alternate future scene. http://dgit.in/DKSjl
Metropolis TV show starts filming
Filming of the upcoming Metropolis TV show, similar to Gotham, will begin in June in New York. The TV show will revolve around Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, ultimately leading to the arrival of Superman later in the show. http://dgit.in/MtrplsDC
www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 57
culture
High-end with Airbnb Plus
Intel to have 5G laptops
Airbnb will now offer high-end accomodations that meet a 100-point quality checklist. http://dgit.in/AirbnbPlus
FEATURE
Intel announced that mobile PCs with 5G connectivity will be here next year onwards. http://dgit.in/5GLaptop
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There are fan theories, and then there are these fan theories
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Arnab Mukherjee | arnab@digit.in
uncoordinated actions are compared, move by move, with a particular discipline of Kung Fu called Zui Quan, or Drunken Fist wushu. To establish his force powers, the theory highlights how a silly character like him goes on to become a Bombad General and eventually a senator apparently by the use of force based mind control. The best part of this theory is the analysis of his actions being based on an overarching evil motive to
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ll of us have our favourite fandoms, don’t we? Well, some might have a hallowed respect for everything that is part of the official mythos. That doesn’t stop some fans with an (over)active imagination from coming up with their own theories to explain and expand their favourite universe or story. More often than not, these theories make a whole lot of assumptions and are downright hilarious. But sometimes, the sheer craziness combined with proper analysis and backed by actual observations lead to some insane fan theories.
DARTH BINKS
Starting this off with something that is hilarious and has a detailed analysis to back it up at the same time, the most infamous character from the Star Wars prequel trilogy is theorised to be a great Sith lord based on a number of clues, detailed by reddit user Lumpawarroo in this thread: http://dgit.in/JJBSith. The analysis basically highlights the numerous times when Jar Jar’s seemingly innocuous and seemingly ‘stupid’ actions have actually had important consequences and would have required considerable amount of combat mastery to pull off. The best part of this section is where is stumbling,
58 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
Behold the Phantom Menace
drive the plot where it went. He taught Anakin to be disrespectful of Qui-Gon by making fun of him behind his back, fanned the flames of Anakin’s feelings for Amidala. This was because he was a co-conspirator with Palpatine, possibly even his master. It does seem like a rare coincidence that both Binks and Palpatine are from the planet of Naboo. In light of the overall structure of the Star Wars universe, many have supported this theory by stating that
Jar Jar was originally planned to be the phantom bit of the Phantom Menace. Another aspect of the universe that is put behind this theory is George Lucas’ particular mirroring of the original trilogy in terms of narrative themes. While the light side in the original trilogy has Master Yoda, the dark side in the prequels has – you guessed it – Darth Binks.
DUMBLEDORE = DEATH
To understand this theory, we might need to head to one of the popular fables in the universe, namely, the tale of three brother. In the story, the three brothers come across Death while crossing a river they were supposed to die in, with a magical bridge. Death cunningly grants them the ability to ask for “gifts” that they might need to hide from him. The brothers ask for the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone respectively, and the invisibility cloak. Dumbledore had all three items at some point of time. And we all know by now how he gave the invisibility cloak and the resurrection stone to Harry, and inadvertently ended up giving the Elder Wand to him too. It is also evident that Dumbledore was responsible for the death of Voldemort (the brother after the Elder Wand) and Snape (the brother whose loved one dies) and it was Harry who lives till a
WHAT’S NEW
NASA finds mother lode of Cretaceous animal footprints
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days. The location is believed to have been at the fringes of a wetland. The find has the the largest mammalian footprint from that time period. The creature that left it behind was a racoon sized animal, with a hand that had five digits, very similar to the human hand today. http://dgit.in/NASAfossil
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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!
ASA is usually known for studying the depths of space, but stumbled upon something from the dinosaur age. NASA has carefully extracted and studied a slab of rock discovered in its Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The slab of rock, about two and a half meters long and one meter wide, has almost 70 well preserved tracks from eight species. Impressions by nodosaurs, sauropods, theropods and pterosaurs share space with 26 mammalian tracks on the slab. The imprints of all the tracks are believed to have been left behind by the animals between 110 to 112 million years ago, within the span of a few
THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE:
Researchers teach tricks to a worm uploaded to a computer
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he nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the simplest microanimals around. C. elegans has the distinction of being the only animal whose entire connectome has been uploaded to a computer. A connectome is a map of all the neural connections in the nervous system of an organism, which can be thought of like
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From coral reefs to climate engineering and space junk to bacteriophages, it’s all here!
Musk’s Space Roadster may come home
Researchers have worked out the likely future landing spots of Elon Musk’s Space Roadster. There is a six percent chance that it will come back to the Earth, and a 2 percent chance that it will end up on Venus. There is also a remote chance that it could strike Mars, or fly out to the Kuiper belt. http://dgit.in/spaceroadster
Scientists demonstrate stopping electrons with light
Researchers fired high powered laser pulses at a high energy electron beam, to demonstrate for the first time that electrons can be stopped with light. The conditions created were similar to the surroundings of black holes and quasars. http://dgit.in/astragemini
a wiring diagram. This is not a computer program, it is an actual digital copy of the worm. Even with the simple nervous system, the tiny worm can navigate, eat bacteria and
TIFR researchers study electrons travelling faster than light
The setup involved firing a laser at a glass target. Since light slowed down within the glass, the electrons moved faster than light within the medium, emitting measureable Cherenkov radiation in the process.. http://dgit.in/tifrftl
respond to touch. If the worm feels a touch, it wriggles away. The digital version of the worm reacts to a simulated touch in the same way as the real nematode would, simply because the response is hard coded in the neural network of the organism. That response was used to teach the worm a new trick – to balance a pole. http://dgit.in/poleworm
Planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system could have more water than the Earth
New measurements of the Plannets in the TRAPPIST-1 system suggests some of the planets may have as much as 250 times the water as the oceans of Earth. http://dgit.in/ trappistwater www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 65
sci
Belgium wins lawsuit vs. Facebook
Russian troll factory
The country of Belgium has won a lawsuit against Facebook, claiming the company does not respect privacy. http://dgit.in/belgvFB
SPACE AGE
A Russian troll factory apparently had a $1.25 million monthly budget to mess with the 2016 US election. http://dgit.in/trollfact
efforts are taken to reduce orbital debris. The deorbit approaches include active and passive propulsion systems on board the spacecraft, external removal by other satellites, and ground based solutions as well.
NETS AND HARPOONS
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This might sound like a fishing expedition, and is an active debris removal approach. Tiny CubeSats deploy a net through a harpoon, to capture the debris. The satellite subsequently deorbits along with the catch. The Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and Airbus have developed two DebrisSats to test out this approach.
CLEARING UP SPACE JUNK With an increasing number of satellites being abandoned, and more being launched to replace them, the amount of junk in space is increasing.
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Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in
possibility of collisions and creating more space debris. A Chinese anti-satellite missile test in 2007 was responsible for creating the largest amount of space debris in a single event. Over 3,000 pieces of debris were tracked, with each piece being golf ball sized or larger. The debris created by the test passed six kilometers away from the international space station in 2011. In 2009, a commercial satellite built in the US collided with a Russian military satellite, creating over 2,000 pieces of trackable debris pieces. With each collision, the chances of further collision increases. A chain reaction of hypervelocity collisions, as seen in the movie Gravity, is known as the Kessler effect. It is critical for future spaceflight operations that
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he space around Earth is littered with upper stages of launch vehicles, as well as derelict satellites. There are over 500,000 pieces of space debris, moving at speeds in excess of 28,000 kilometers per hour! At the end of its operational period, the energy required to increase the altitude of a satellite is less than the energy required to deorbit the satellite. Because of this, defunct satellites are moved into what is known as the junk orbit or the graveyard orbit, to reduce the
72 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
DEORBITING SAIL
There are two types of sails, active sails and passive sails. Solar sails use the energy from the sun to steer the satellite towards the ground. A dragsail, is a passive propulsion system that uses the particles in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, to make the satellite fall back to the Earth faster. Both sails can be incorporated into the satellites themselves. The technologies for deploying the sails are susceptible to jamming, and there is an altitude limit to the dragsail.
LASER BLASTERS
One of the ground based plans by NASA to hasten the reentry of derelict satellites, is to reduce their velocity with ground based lasers. The laser broom would slow down the debris by 1 mm per second, and would require firing over multiple passes. Recently, researchers from the Chinese Air Force Engineering University conducted a study, and found that it was viable to use high energy lasers from a space station to destroy orbital debris, and break it down into smaller, less harmful pieces.
PROPULSION SYSTEMS An active propulsion system can be incorporated into the satellite, specifically for actively deorbiting the satellite. This approach is more viable with the smaller nanosatellites,
WHAT’S NEW
Super female crayfish
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reproduce without having to mate. The mutation has also officially been declared a separate species from its parents, the marbled crayfish. These crayfish can now be found in the wild in Japan, Madagascar, Europe and the US. Dr Wolfgang Stein, one of the people researching the cray has said that in as little as three months, a single crayfish can multiply to 200 or 300! http://dgit.in/supercray
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THIS IS TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE, AND THAT DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST NORMAL PEOPLE GO “WTF?”
mutant species of crayfish that are all-female are taking over the world. Literally. The crayfish do not need males to mate and reproduce. As such, they are multiplying rapidly and invading ecosystems around the world. This particular crayfish are descended from one single female crayfish with a mutation which allowed it to reproduce without males. All of its offspring are also female only. These self-cloning crayfish can actually be found for sale in North America, and not for eating purposes but to keep as pets. People have been advised against doing so for obvious reasons. The mutated crayfish was born to a male and female slough crayfish, a species native to Florida. The mutated crayfish had an additional set of chromosomes, which basically allowed it to
Improvise. Adapt. Overcome
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t’s been found that animals are adapting to rapid climate change in their own way. Some species of animal that used to turn white during the winters are now staying brown year-round. At least twenty one species of birds and mammals change the colour of their coats during the transition from summer to winter to hide from predators.
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Talking to animals like Dr Doolittle? Digit AutoTech, ever popular DGT and of course some sci-fi and some data on why air travel isn’t getting faster...
However, with winters arriving later than usual and snow melting early, this change has
left them more vulnerable than protected as white tends to stand out on snowless terrain. As a result, animals are now adapting, and quite quickly at that. In a study, L. Scott Mills and his colleagues have mapped locations that could be potential hotspots to observe rapid evolutionary response to climate change. http://dgit.in/blkorwht
Lunar Litter
When it comes to keeping our planet clean, we don’t really have a good track record. So of course, we’re the same when we went to the moon as well. NASA has actually made a list of all 809 objects we’ve ‘left behind’ on the moon. http://dgit.in/lunarlitter
#10000YearClock
Jeff Bezos is building a giant mechanical clock that he says will work for 10,000 years. The clock is being built inside a mountain in West Texas and stands at a massive 500 feet tall. It’ll derive its power from the Earth’s thermal cycles. Why? To keep time for the next 10,000 years obviously. http://dgit.in/10000yrclock
76 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
Bacteria that ‘poops’ gold
A rod-shaped bacterium called Cupriavidus metallidurans that lives in the soil is known for being able to survive large doses of toxic metals. It’s also able to convert toxic versions of gold into inert solid gold nuggets. Start digging up your gardens! http://dgit.in/goldbact
Man sues Microsoft for $600m, or Win 7
A man has sued Microsoft for automatically upgrading his laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 10. He’s seeking damages from Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella for this violation of civil rights, in the form of either $600m or a new copy of Windows 7. http://dgit.in/Win74ever
Fewer teens on FaceBook
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Tamron lens on Sony FE mount
Youth (under 25) are migrating away from Facebook to other social media platforms. The reason: parents being on the same platform. http://dgit.in/fbrip
Tamron unveils their first ever DSLR lens, a 70-210mm for Sony FE mount for $800. http://dgit.in/TamSonyFE
FUTURE FEATURE
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THE SUN STARTER Remember when the aliens killed our sun to make a profit?
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Sanket Nikte | feedback@digit.in
HIS EYES OPENED WIDE. The sheets, damp with his sweat, were crumpled where he had clutched at them, clinging on for dear life. Remnants of the nightmare flashed before his eyes – the open green fields, the warmth of the sun and that one horrible moment. He did not say farewell knowing he would see it again soon. As he got out of bed to make a cup of coffee or what passed for coffee now, the clock on the mantelpiece winked 4:06 AM, February 1, 2043. It was a chilly night, as all the nights were now. There were no seasons or global warming to worry about. Thetatron looked out of the window at the dark sky. He saw his grim reflection, a look that didn’t suit his boyish handsomeness. ‘At least the rest of me is not yet gone to seed’ he thought admiring his lean, muscular body – the kind of muscles you get when working in the fields and toiling in the sun. Ahh, the sun. The warm, circle of light always shining down, ever taken for granted until that fateful day. That day, February 1, 2038, had begun like any other. Thetatron met his childhood friends, Xenapsilon and Omi-cron at
the 24 hour resto. The nostalgia hit him hard as he was served a plate of chicken steak burger. One pill for each. Scientists had finally cracked the nutrition code on an atomic level and were mashing up all the proteins, carbs, sugar, fats the body needed in one single pill. The turning point came when they could be flavoured to your every mood and desire. The slice of chocolate cake was no longer a diet cheater, it was the diet. Xena, of course, loved the pill. She was a part of the team that cracked the code. The golden brown curls pulled back in a ponytail, framing a cherubic face half hidden behind horn rimmed glasses. Despite her double PhD’s in bioengineering and biological DNA sequencing, she had the gift to put anybody at ease. Theta always envied and loved this about her. He caught Omi eyeing him surreptitiously. Poor guy thought Theta, fervently hoping that Omi’s crush on him wouldn’t break their friendship. The trio sat there reminiscing about the good old days when they didn’t have to care about mortgage payments and could just sit back and enjoy their lives. But the ruckus was making it difficult to hear each other over the small table. www.digit.in | March 2018 | Digit | 77
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THE BEST CAR TECHNOLOGIES AT THE
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FROM AN AUTONOMOUS MOTORBIKE TO A BUNCH OF ELECTRIC CARS THAT WILL BE LAUNCHED IN INDIA SOON, HERE’S LOOKING AT THE BEST AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES SHOWN AT AUTO EXPO 2018. Souvik Das | souvik@digit.in
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he 14th edition of the biennial Auto Expo has concluded, and this year, the prime theme of the Expo’s main exhibits were either cutting edge technology or electric mobility. Still, some other went ahead and presented what happen to be uber-futuristic offerings like one-seater EVs for last mile connectivity, and putting everything together, this year’s Expo has been all about seeing the kind of automotive technologies that will be rolled out in India in the near future. If you somehow couldn’t make it all the way to Noida to catch India’s biggest automobile extravaganza, we bring to you the most notable technology-laden exhibits that were shown off at the 2018 Auto Expo.
82 | Digit | March 2018 | www.digit.in
Yamaha Motoroid
Yamaha Motoroid
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erhaps the most impressive, and one that was not expected to steal the headlines was the Yamaha Motoroid. This motorbike can recognise gestures and faces, unlock and balance itself, and go around by itself, without any kind of human intervention. The motorbike can learn frequently travelled roads to improve riding quality, and even has an HUD projector to project information like speed, navigation, battery status and connectivity in thin air. The Motoroid is, needless to say, a concept till now, but is a marvellous sneak peek at what motorbikes can expect in future. It is also, of course, fully electric, and hence meets the emission standards expected of cars and bikes of the future.
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