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THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor
Automation Ahoy!
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indicator that it had heard me when I said “Hey Google”, and I wasn’t just talking to the walls like an idiot… It’s not just for visual cues that I like the Home Hub, it’s because we are so programmed to search for screens now that if you don’t have one, it almost seems incomplete. Add to that the fact that almost all online “news” these days is in video format, and it’s obvious that to keep abreast with the events of the world you need a screen. Yes I could have it play stuff on my smart TV, but that comes with another set of complications... With the Google Home, all you ever do is use YouTube Music, or some other music service, whereas with the Home Hub, you can watch YouTube videos of stuff you are actually doing. For instance, I was sitting at my table trying to take apart a gadget, and despite having both hands occupied, I was able to ask Google to show me a video for how to open it – those hidden clips can be tricky! Because I’m learning how to cook, I often look for recipes online. I’m ashamed to admit I have to use a recipe to even make an omelette (but only because I want it done restaurant quality). With just Google Assistant’s voice, I often found it impossible to understand what was happening – cooking involves a lot of visual skills. With the Home Hub, I can watch the recipe video as I cook. (I use the term “cook” very liberally here). Now I’m sure that there are a few scenarios where a voice-only assistant device makes sense. I can’t think of any for me though. This is because I don’t have to look at the screen on the Home Hub, so everything Home can do, Hub can do as well, and much, much more. Now if only they’d put better speakers into the Hub… I think these screen-less assistant devices for automation are already extinct. Anyone want to buy a rarely-used, (and pretty useless) Google Home?
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I TOOK A RIDE ON A DRIVERLESS BUS THIS MONTH. The RAC Intellibus is a trial project being run in Perth, Australia, using which they hope to learn more about how people behave on roads, and to hone the skills of the “Intellibus”. That’s in quotes because the bus is far from what I would call “intelligent”. Essentially it’s been programmed to run a very tightly controlled loop, and has paranoid levels of safety. Travelling at about 14 kmph, the bus felt too slow, and when cyclists overtook it, the 3D LIDAR would sense them and jam brakes in a way that is certainly not coffee friendly… which is why you’re not allowed hot drinks on the bus. Although it seemed to be more programmed rather than AI, it was still interesting to see the bus react in real time, without any inputs from the nice lady holding the Xbox controller that can be used for emergencies – she’s never used it. I asked. It really got me thinking about how close we really are to total automation! And then another form of automation caught my attention this month. When I learnt that Google was launching a Home Hub (basically a Google Home with a 7-inch screen), I decided to buy one. Why? Because I have a Google Home, and I have rudimentary levels of automation in my rented house, but being me, I’m obviously going to want more… When I finally own my own place, I plan to automate the heck out of it. I want to dive headlong into the whole smart home phenomenon that’s starting to sweep across western countries. From cameras to phones and home security systems to my AC, and even the lights, locks on the front doors, everything! Why? Because I’m a tech-head, and if I can do something with tech, then I must do it. The Google Home Hub is a step in the right direction. These audio-only assistant devices were beginning to irritate me. Since I always have my smartphone with me, I found that there were very rare instances where I would use my Google Home for anything except playing some music while I relax. Sure, I would ask it to tell me what the weather would be like tomorrow, or ask it to save something in my calendar, but then I realised I would end up looking at the device, looking to see the visual
“I want to dive headlong into the whole smart home phenomenon that’s starting to sweep across western countries. From cameras to phones and home security systems to my AC, and even the lights, locks on the front doors, everything!”
Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: editor@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo www.digit.in | November 2018 | Digit | 1
PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Managing Editor
Exclusivity breeds piracy
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ing services so that Disney content remains exclusive to the Disney platform. While Disney has a lot of good content, the folks who’d subscribed to existing platforms aren’t happy about this new development. Sandvine, a research company found out that the rise of competing services is leading more people to pirate content off the internet. BitTorrent traffic, which once dominated the Internet pipelines, saw a massive decline from 2011 to 2015, and has now started to see a rise. A glance at the most popular torrents or the most seeded torrents on these BitTorrent search engines shows that folks are pirating these exclusive TV shows and movies the most. Simply put, studio executives think that exclusives help retain consumers and while that is true, data shows that exclusivity fosters the illegal market. If you check TorrentFreak’s weekly traffic tracker post, then you will find exclusives dominating the list every week. New episode of Game of Thrones came out on Sunday night? Guess what starts trending within one hour on all BitTorrent search engines? The exact same episode. Exclusivity, no matter what kind of content has always been perceived in a negative manner. Even with console architectures being the same (Xbox and PS both use AMD x86 CPUs and GPUs) we still see platform exclusive video games, only that Xbox seems to be on the losing front while Sony continues to rake in all the moolah. Exclusives are the only reason Xbox even sells. They’ve made quite a few announcements that didn’t go down well with the gamers and for that they lost fans. In the streaming segment, everyone except Netflix seems to be losing the original content war. All we can do now is wait for these folk to fight it out down to the last penny as revenues keep dropping and consumers keep pirating content. If only, things were simpler.
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NETFLIX AND SIMILAR STREAMING SERVICES not only helped make things convenient for folks to consume content but it also helped break the strangulating hold that major studios had over the entertainment industry. However, there’s no way that the studios were going to take this lying down. Almost every major group has started coming out with their own streaming service. Until then, most folks would need to subscribe to 1-2 services to get the entire gamut of shows and movies. Throw in regional pack to appease the folks back home and you’ve now realised that you’re paying more these 2-3 services than what you used to pay your local cable guy. The DTH operators killed the local cable monopoly and the online streaming services are in the process of killing off DTH service providers. Since the online streaming segment didn’t have a lot of players, we started seeing conglomerates such as Amazon step in with their Prime Video service. Then we had regional players such as Hotstar and the likes come into the picture. Now, if all the major service providers were to have the same set of content, then folks will simply subscribe to the cheapest option available. To prevent this, streaming services starting aligning themselves with certain studios and also started shooting original programming. The former is obviously, not for the good of the consumer, the latter on the other hand, is great! With hollywood studios signing exclusive agreements with certain providers, the consumer is forced to obtain more than one subscription and that’s where it stops being convenient. Switching between services is still tolerable but having to get a subscription just to watch one or two shows is ridiculous. Moreover, it’s not financially viable for the average consumer to have multiple subscriptions. So people start looking for loopholes to gain access to the content. Do note, that they’re still going at it the legal way. For example, with Netflix you can share your 4K account with four individuals and each person only has to pony up 200 for access to 4K content. It’s not as easy with Prime Video. It’s not as if folks can’t afford the 4K subscription, just that it’s a simple solution to the content fragmentation issue. Last we heard, Disney is coming out with their own streaming service and is cutting ties with existing stream-
2 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
“The DTH operators killed the local cable monopoly and the online streaming services are in the process of killing off DTH service providers.”
Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in
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NOVEMBER 2018 • VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 11
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EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Managing Editor Mithun Mohandas Features Editor Aditya Madanapalle Associate Editor Arnab Mukherjee SKOAR! Overlord Manish Rajesh
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BAZAAR Cooler Master CK550 ZOTAC RTX 2080 TI Intel Core i9 9900K Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile Beyerdynamic DT 240 Pro GM501 Zephyrus M Google Pixel 3 Apple iPhone XS Max Apple iPhone XS Blueair Classic 280i Mi TV 4A Pro 49-inch Motorola One Power
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TEST CENTRE Reviews Editor Swapnil Mathur Reviewers Abhijit Dey, Subhrojit Mallick, Vignesh Giridharan
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4 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
MOBILE MONTHLY Circuit Scramble | Cube Escape: Paradox | Animus - Harbinger | Wall Kickers | Golfing Around | New Star Manager | Pocket Build
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Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey PES 2019 WWE 2K19
SBI...................................................................5
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GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH
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contents
COVER STORY PAGE 49- 61
The drones are here We take a look at India’s drone story, what the new regulations mean for enthusiasts and companies alike, and much more.
TECH - PAGE 14-47
NOVEMBER 2018 VOLUME 18 ISSUE 11
28| Devworx: Guide to Ember.js
A step-by-step guide on how to build a simple web app on Ember.js
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32 | Reviews
16 | All about NVIDIA RTX
All you need to know about the tech in NVIDIA’s latest graphics cards that everyone is talking about
15 | Tech Watch
The best apps we’ve used this month, curated for you, along with an out of the box phone and security news.
20 | Level Up
Create better Instagram and Snapchat stories. Tweak your network adapter properties
25 | Recommended Buys
From activity trackers to sound cards, the top three products of every category .
8 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
The i9 9900K, Zotac 2080Ti, iPhone XS and XS Max, Google Pixel 3 and more – our reviews are all about highly anticipated products this time!
42 | Agent 001: Time for a new tracker
Agent001 feels like it’s time he upgraded to a dedicated fitness tracker. Here’s how he went about picking his next gizmo.
44 | Teardown: Google Pixel 3 XL
Taking apart Google’s latest flagship definitely leads to one conclusion – too much adhesive in the build makes it difficult to repair.
46 | Take my money
A tripod all about portability, glasses that block out screens and more for you to crowdfund!
47 | PC config
Everything you’ll ever need to build your own PC. Whatever your budget
AND MORE
CULTURE - PAGE 62-68
ALT - PAGE 78-95
ON THE DVD While the whole world goes ga-ga over drones, Boo-Man isn’t impressed.
64 | Fan films
Sometimes, the best entries in a franchise or a fictional world comes out from the efforts of the fans .
Anything wrong with your PC? Here’s how to go about finding the problem and solving it.
TECH KDE Neon KDE neon is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution and live DVD featuring the latest KDE Plasma desktop and other KDE community software.
82 | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them A map of the world’s fantastic beasts.
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66 | A tale of two scores
80 | PC Troubleshooting Checklist
More brands cheating benchmarks is a disconcerting issue and it has to stop.
84 | Digital Zombie
How would waking up from cryosleep feel?
67 | 1000 words
More people from India have died taking selfies than any other country in the world.
AND MORE
86 | The first LOL
Tracing the origins of humour.
AND MORE
SCIENCE - PAGE 69-77
SKOAR! - PAGE 96-111
SA 70 | Ten years to save the Earth
Humanity could have less then ten years to prevent irreversible climate change.
72 | Metal Whiskers
No, this isn’t a story about Tony Stark’s beard... or facial hair in ‘90s heavy metal bands...
106 | The Superhero game dilemma There are no doubts about who wins between Batman and Superman in the video game industry.
98 | Assassin’s Creed Odyssey THIS.IS.(actually).SPARTAAAA!
75 | Wear your health
100 | PES 2019
76 | Sample return missions to asteroids
102 | WWE2K19
AND MORE
AND MORE
The future of wearables in healthcare.
CULT Platformer indie games Cosmos Arena Lost Elements Matter Monster Sanctuary Stori Unspoken Chronicles : Nora
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63 | Drones suck
PES is still the king in gameplay.
Is this the revival the franchise needs?
Photo editing software Fotor GIMP Paint.NET Photoscape Photo Pos Pro PhotoPad Editor PC Image Editor
Video editing software Avidemux DaVinci Resolve 15 ffmpeg GoPro Quik Handbrake HitFilm Express Free Kdenlive Lightworks Magic MediaCoder OpenShot Shotcut VSDC VSXu Windows Movie Maker ARCore SDK With ARCore, build new augmented reality experiences that seamlessly blend the digital and physical worlds. Transform the way people play, shop, learn, create etc.
New York Comic Con 2018 trailers Electronyk Podcast Ep 13 & 14 ELECTRONYK PODCAST is a powerpacked mixtape of some of the best Electronic Music & Bollywood Remixes, handpicked by DJ NYK himself. SCI Video lectures on electricity Take a moment and learn about the force that holds our bodies together. Electric charge Electric field Electric potential and energy Voltage ALT Free music The Slip The Dark Side of Phobos Made by Google 2018 Event highlights and launches from the biggest event from Google..
www.digit.in | November 2018 | Digit | 9
opening INBOX
Photoshop On iPad
Lazy people hacking Bird Scooters
Adobe will soon bring its full version of its Photoshop application to the iPad. https://dgit.in/nov18-10-1
People are hacking Bird’s standing electric scooters to be able to sit comfortably while riding them. https://dgit.in/nov18-10-2
shorthand communication. Pardon me if you have already done it. And i am eagerly waiting for the December issue. Lots of love to you guys and all the best for future! –Aditya Patnaik
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Send your feedback at editor@digit.in
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FEEDBACK FOR THE OCTOBER 2018 ISSUE OF DIGIT
Thanks for your email Aditya, we’ll look into implementing your suggestions. And yes, one of our designers named that column because of my name. It just kind of stuck… Dmystify is a core science book, and does not cover technology topics. For that we have the Fast Track, and we have done a Fast TRack to AI in our December 2011 issue. You should write in to archive@digit.in and ask for access to the PDF archives, so that you can read the older issues online for free. –Robert
was your first, though we hope your last issue never comes :-) Coming to your Fast Track suggestions, we have covered Big Data in April 2016, IoT was May 2015, and we’ve done AI in December 2011 and Robotics in April 2017. We will try and cover more about machine learning in 2019. –Mithun
Hey folks! I am writing after almost a year and only thing i can say is kaise kar lete ho yehh sabb? I mean how can you be so awesome? At times I feel I am lucky enough because Digit exists. The articles are wonderful so are the others like reviews. And boo-man... he really shows me the other side of the coin. Nice. I always wait for what he has to say. I kinda like his stuff. And, does RSS feed mean Robert Sovereign-Smith feed? BTW, here is my short reevu of October edition. The blockchain stuff was nice, the Alt was exciting, so was cult and I am really thankful to you for providing those astronomy software. Overall it was packed with good stuff which left me wanting for more. And can I ask how many pani-puris he gave for 12 rupees? And can you do a Dmystify on AI? like the case at Facebook where supposedly their AI developed their own
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Hello Team Digit! First of all, thank you for being my favourite and number 1 source of tech news! Being an engineering student, I give all the credit to Digit for all the technical skills I have learnt and implemented in my college life. Keep the great work up! Now coming to my request, I would really love it if the Fast Tracks in the upcoming issues would cover the topic like Internet of Things, Big Data, Machine and Deep Learning. These are really popular technologies and even though one can learn a lot from surfing the net, the content you provide in the Fast Tracks is far better than any online content! Some of your Fast Tracks have actually helped me through my college projects! I was hoping that the upcoming Fast Tracks could cover the topics mentioned above since a knowledge of these topics would really help me in my college placements (beginning next year). Looking forward to hearing from you! Keep rocking! A Digit lover since December 2012 [Ironically, “The Last Issue?” was my first issue!] –Siddharth Gulati Hi Siddharth, thanks for your mail. It really is ironic that the last issue
10 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
Robert, I always loved digit. When I am 5 then my dad buys digit now I buy. He has a huge cool-lection (cool+collection). Now when I buy digit he reads (I am a subscriber). Your mag is the best mag I have ever seen. I like all the articles, product reviews, tips n tricks, games etc. Now I have some suggestions, complaints for you 1. I am a subscriber but i always receive copies late. 2. Can you please stop giving indie games and give some good games. You can give just one but PLEASE GIVE A GOOD GAME.... 3. You can give game walkthrough. But don’t get my first two suggestions wrong , you are the best and keep this up. And our favorite is tips and tricks, agent 001 diy . thanks for everyone. –Nishanta Nibir Borgohain Hi Nishanta, thank you for your mail, and thank you for the positive feedback, we really appreciate it when readers take time to write in to us, so please keep doing so when you feel the need to express something. I will have my subscription department contact you and sort out the late delivery issues. Sometimes changing couriers works wonders, though, sadly,
WHAT’S NEW
Amazon pitches image recognition software to US ICE officials
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E out, it would prevent illegal immigrants from accessing essential services, such as seeking out medical help when the situation demands it. https://dgit.in/rekogice
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DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUs, IT’S ALL HERE...
mazon has pitched a controversial technology that allows realtime recognition and tracking of individuals in realtime, through live CCTV feeds, to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. The technology is called Amazon Rekognition, and the decision to use it to track immigrants has led to protests from Amazon employees as well. An anonymous Medium post supposedly from an Amazon employee details how the software has an increased rate of false positives when it comes to people of colour. There are concerns that if the technology is rolled
Facebook slapped with £500,000 fine in UK
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K’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Facebook £500,000 for the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The fine is the maximum amount allowed for breaches of UK’s data protection laws. Even though the data harvested by Cambridge Analytica was used by it’s parent company, SCL group for the 2016 presidential election in the US, an investigation by ICO found that the data of over
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THIS MONTH IN TECH: What exactly is going on in NVidia’s new RTX cards, create better Instagram and Snapchat stories, network terminologies demystified, getting started with Ember.js, smart knapsacks and a peek into the innards of the brand new Pixel 3 XL
Delete your search history
Google has rolled out tools that lets you take more control of your digital footprints, and even erase your entire search history, if you so choose. https://dgit.in/delsrch
Privacy for Tigers
Geotagged photos of endangered wildlife, such as Tigers, Elephants, Rhinos and Tortoises can be mined for information by poachers. These wild animals could benefit from a little bit of privacy too. A new security framework explores a context aware, role based access to the data. https://dgit.in/tigerprivacy
14 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
one million UK citizens was breached during the data gathering campaign, which was then exposed to misuse. Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner, said, “Facebook failed to sufficiently protect the privacy
Tesla reports Q3 profits
An announcement of Q3 profits sent the prices of Tesla shares soaring. The company managed to make a profit despite the shenanigans of ex CEO Elon Musk, who ran into trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission over his tweets. https://dgit.in/tesq318
of its users before, during and after the unlawful processing of this data. A company of its size and expertise should have known better and it should have done better.“ The decision to fine Facebook is only one result of an investigation into the use of personal data for political campaigns. A further update on the investigation by ICO related to the investigation is expected this month. https://dgit.in/fbico
Notchless Mi MIX 3 launched
Xiaomi has launched the latest edition of its flagship notchless phone in China. The phone boasts a screen to body ratio of 93.4 percent, with a significantly reduced chin on the bottom. Yes, there is a front camera which slides out of the main body of the device. https://dgit.in/mimix3
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.
and collages are divided into five sets. The free version offers 25 frames and collages. If you like the other sets then you can pay for them individually. However, in our usage, we found the free set to be sufficient. Unfold supports both photos and videos. Download Link: https://dgit.in/unfold
the location or object you’re recording or you simply want to get rid of the crappy audio in the background. Usually, the workaround to add music is to play some music on your phone while recording the story and the music is captured from your mic. A better solution is to use InShot and add music to your
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Rather than posting photos or videos using the default stickers and filters, there are many ways to step-up your Instagram and Snapchat game
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Create better Instagram and Snapchat stories Abhijeet Dey | abhijeet@digit.in
EDIT YOUR STORY VIDEOS
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ARE YOU BORED of the available options of slapping on stickers and the limited filters on Instagram and Snapchat? Do you want to take your stories to the next level? We explored several apps out there to make that possible. Using a combination of these apps will allow you to spice up the stories that you post on Instagram or Snapchat. The same methods can just as easily be used for creating stories on other apps as well.
‘Pages’ as a series of posts that can be saved and edited later. It allows you to actually create or write a story in a beautiful format. You can
ADD FRAMES AND COLLAGES INTO YOUR STORIES
We know that any photo editing app can be used to add frames or create collages. However, Unfold does much more than that and it’s specially catered towards Instagram users. While giving you a huge number of frames and collage styles, it allows you to add text and change the background colours of the frames. The best feature has to be the option to create multiple
preview all these stories to get an idea how your story will look like in a sequence. When you’ve finalised on the flow of the story on these pages, you can post them straight to your Instagram Story individually. They can also be manually shared as regular images since the app allows you to save each and every page. Unfold’s frames
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Without getting your hands dirty with powerful video editing apps, you can get the job done with InShot. This is a must have app for anyone who’s seriously into maintaining consistency in their Stories. Speaking about the video part, the first thing you should change is the aspect ratio. Since manufacturers have started moving away from the standard of recording videos in the 16:9 format, this app allows you to crop them into the desired ratio which is 9:16. Even though you record a video in the landscape mode, it will still need to cropped to the 9:16 ratio. A rotated video isn’t a pleasant viewing experience. This applies to both videos and photos. One more feature that users would like is the ability to add music to your stories. You might want to add some music to suit
story manually. You can also add stickers and GIFs into your videos. Download Link: https://dgit.in/inshot
POST SEAMLESS VIDEOS ON INSTAGRAM
While Snapchat allows you to continue recording a Story even after it crosses the
> code / creativity / community >
FOR THOSE GEEKS WHO LIKE TO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY IN CODE
Getting started with Ember.js
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A step-by-step guide on how to build a simple app on Ember.js
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Arnab Mukherjee | arnab@digit.in
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which allows the use of future JavaScript standards through transpiling for use in today's browsers. • Convention over configuration: Ember has been built with developers as the highest priority so it comes with a lot of useful APIs that speeds up app development so that developers can focus on development rather than efficiency. • Vibrant addon ecosystem: Ember allows the consumption of add-on code from within the project and allows overwriting its methods and properties. So, without further ado, let us see how we can get started with this framework.
nybody delving in the developer circles in recent years would know about the framework wars. We now have so many JavaScript frameworks that its become something of a joke. However, some of these frameworks have been around for a while and have enjoyed steady popularity. We’ve covered a lot of them in this section. This time around, it is Ember. js that takes our focus.
WHY EMBER?
applications”. This is not limited to single page web applications but also includes desktop and mobile apps. Some of the most notable platforms running on Ember are NASA’s homepage, Apple’s user guides and Apple Music app, or even NYC’s land zoning and use app. Ember’s official webpage even claims that Microsoft, Netflix and Linkedin use the platform in some way. What makes one chose Ember? Here are three things that work for Ember: • Future proofing: Ember supports the Babel JavaScript transpiler
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According to its stated objective, and popular user feedback, Ember.js is a framework to develop “ambitious web
REQUIREMENTS
Before you install Ember, you need to ensure that a couple of dependencies are met. These would be: • Git: Git is required by Ember for dependency management While macOS and Linux users get it by default, Windows users can install it from here: https://dgit.in/ GitWin. • Node.js and npm: Since Ember CLI is built with JavaScript, it requires the latest version of the Node.js runtime. Additionally, it requires npm for dependency fetching. Let's get to the installation.
*CODING MATTERS
*Baidu breakthrough
STACL (Simultaneous Translation with Anticipation and Controllable Latency), is an automated system that is able to conduct high quality translation concurrently between two languages. https://dgit.in/BaiduTrans
28 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
*Nematode worm parks a car The researchers that had virtualised a worm brain, made it learn how to balance a pole have now taught 12 neurons in its brain how to park a car. https://dgit.in/NemaCar
*Linus is back Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and the person who steered it to its current position of world domination, is back as the Chief Linux Maintainer after a month long break from the project. https://dgit.in/LinusBack
reviews
THE LATEST PRODUCTS REVIEWED FOR YOU
For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a quick guide to our overall score Extremely poor product.
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Go for it, but there may be better products out there.
Very good product. Highly recommended.
Ground-breaking product.
We’ve never seen anything like it before. A definite must buy!
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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.
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iPhone XS Max 512GB
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Intel Core i9 9900K
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Google Pixel 3 64GB
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ZOTAC RTX 2080 Ti AMP
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile
PLUS
33 ROG Zephyrus M (GM501) 34 Beyerdynamic DT 240 Pro 36 Blueair Classic 280i 39 Mi TV 4A Pro 49-inch & MORE...
TikTok rival by Facebook
Facebook is reportedly working on its own form of video music app called Lasso that is set to rival TikTok. https://dgit.in/nov-18-33-1
Tesla to enter Chinese market
Reporting its first quarterly profits in two years, Tesla is looking forward to expand manufacturing in China. https://dgit.in/nov-18-33-2
tech REVIEWS
ROG Zephyrus M (GM501) Slim and power-packed
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hen ASUS launched the GX501 Zephyrus last year at COMPUTEX 2017, it was the first MAX-Q laptop to be announced and it was a pretty decent device for that reason. What kind of changes did ASUS do to the Zephyrus M GM501? Let’s take a peek inside and find out.
The Zephyrus M comes across as an extremely thin device featuring the same hatch design. The hatch in question, has been made more durable with a wider opening. The rear side of the panel retains the brushed metal finish with a distinct line that parts the surface diagonally. gaming laptops. To showcase The ROG logo has a backlight the performance difference and is not an over-the-top brought on by the single implementation. channel setup, we ran a PERFORMANCE........... 77 On the inside, the memory benchmark to get FEATURES.....................86 design is fairly standard. read speeds of 19346 MB/s BUILD............................85 This is a thicker notebook, and write speeds of 19838 so ASUS didn’t have to MBps. If ASUS had used slim down the components 2 DIMMs instead of one, and spread them across the entire these numbers would have been in the area. The battery takes up a smaller vicinity of 37-41,000 MBps. While real footprint but due to the added thickworld performance doesn’t scale in the ness, is of a higher capacity. same manner, you can expect a difference of about 11-17% in performance. In games, we managed to get about Display 90 FPS in Far Cry 5, 112 in Witcher The ASUS ROG GM501 sports a 3, 90 in Rise of the Tomb Raider and 15.6-inch FHD AHVA panel made by about 90-95 in PUBG. Some older AUOptronics. It has a nice anti-glare games would scale well into the high coating and decent viewing angles 130s. Given the 144Hz panel on the as well. There's a 144 Hz panel with Zephyrus M, it’s a visual treat to enjoy support for NVIDIA G-Sync as well. fluid gameplay at high frame rates. It’s brighter, has support for a wider We also conducted Wi-Fi benchcolour gamut and the response time is marks on the laptop. The upstream 9ms (Tr+Td). numbers featured in the higher 600s (Mbps) and the lower 600s for the Performance downstream numbers. It doesn’t feaMost gaming laptops that we’ve seen ture a separate QoS solution to prioriin this price segment couple the hexatise traffic, but you can always install core Intel Core i7-8750H with a GTX one yourself and get the job done. That 1070. However, the single-channel decision is up to you and depends on memory might cause some of the your specific requirements. numbers to be lower than competing
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Verdict
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GM501 follows in the footsteps of the GX501. While the older model was priced at a premium owing to its extreme slimness and hardware portfolio, the GM501 isn’t the same. There’s competition from other brands in this segment and it’s hard to overlook ASUS’s decision to ship a single RAM module in the Zephyrus M. Most users will not notice the difference in performance, however, when you’re catering to the enthusiast gamer, these things do matter. There are two variants of the Zephyrus M GM501, the GTX 1060 based GM501GM (`1,59,990) and the GTX 1070 based GM501GS (`1,99,990). When you compare the MSI GS65 with the GM501, it ends up being a bit more appealing because of the slightly lower price, which works in its favour. –Mithun Mohandas
SPECIFICATIONS
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7 8750H | PLATFORM: HM370 | RAM: 16 GB 2666 MHz | SCREEN SIZE: 15.6–inches | SCREEN RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 | GPU: GTX 1070 8 GB GDDR5X | SSD: Samsung SM961 1 TB NVMe | BATTERY: 55 Whr | AC ADAPTER: 230 W | WEIGHT: 2.2 Kg
CONTACT
ASUS TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD. | PHONE: +18002090365 | EMAIL: reachus@asus.com | WEBSITE: asus.in
www.digit.in | November 2018 | Digit | 33
tech AGENT001
Satellites to save Sharks
Dog colour matters
According to a research, satellites in orbit could help curtail overfishing of sharks in certain areas of the ocean. https://dgit.in/nov18-42-1
A research reveals that chocolate Labradors live significantly shorter lives than their black and golden cousins. https://dgit.in/nov18-42-2
Time for a new tracker
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Agent001 | agent001@digit.in
cross my many travels across the globe, one thing that’s quite evident in most first world countries is the prevalence of fitness trackers among the people. Head to the US or Singapore and you’ll find practically everyone wearing a smart band or a fitness tracker. If you hang around the water cooler to catch up on some goss, then you’re definitely going to be part of a conversation around these trackers. The conversation generally turns into a pissing contest of sorts with everyone waxing on about how they clocked 300 kilometers last month or are halfway towards hitting the million-step milestone. That isn’t the case back home in India. Or rather, that wasn’t the case. With more brands bringing their fitness gadgets into the market, we’re slowly catching onto the trend. So while I have owned a smartwatch since the first Moto 360 hit the market, I haven’t been a religious user. Which is why I decided to make the most of this moment and get myself a decent fitness tracker. Since I’ve had the Moto360 for a long time, it has undergone quite a bit of wear and tear, and it shows. So I might as well get a new tracker and check out some of the new features
that current gen fitness trackers ship with. So what are my needs? A good quality strap, one that’s not only durable but is also not going to cause a rash after prolonged periods of time. We’re talking about a 36-hour stretch here, and not more than that. Wearing or using any device that long is
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Agent001 feels like it’s time he upgraded to a dedicated fitness tracker. Here’s how he went about picking his next gizmo.
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never recommended. Not that fitness trackers would end up making you do something outrageous, such as getting you to exercise. Jokes aside, if you wear a strap for that long then the sweat and oil accumulating under the strap can result in a nasty rash. Natural rubber
seems to be the best choice here since it is not only hypoallergic but feels good to touch as well. Then comes the device itself. A simple and time-tested form-factor is the classic watch design. It not only acts as a tracker but also has a screen to tell the time. I’m not too finicky about the watch face being analog or digital. Either is fine, and if the manufacturer allows you to switch between the two or pick a custom watch face, then that’s fine as well. What I don’t like is having to dismantle the tracker each time I have to charge it. So, anything that makes something as simple as charging into a cumbersome process is off my books. The tracker should allow me to pick different activities and have a pretty good accuracy for the sensors. After all, it is a “tracker” and what good would it be if it doesn’t have accurate enough sensors to do the primary job that’s expected of it. Since we’re on the topic of sensors, one of the sensors most pertinent to my favourite activity i.e. running is the GPS. A lot of the fitness trackers in the market do have GPS functionality, however, the tracker relies on your phone to obtain GPS data. Take your phone out of the equation and your accuracy goes for a toss. Moreover, running with a heavy phone dangling around in your pocket isn’t something I look forward to. So the tracker must
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SA cover story M PL E Imaging: Anil VK
INDEX: 50 52 54 56 58 60
THE INDIAN DRONE ENTHUSIAST SCENE DRONE REGULATIONS 1.0 MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF UAVS INDIAN DRONE STARTUPS BIRDS OF WAR THE SKY IS (NOT) THE LIMIT
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the drone enthusiast scene in India on the road to becoming one yourself!
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
Before you start off, you need to decide what kind of a drone enthusiast you are. The Indian scene – just like any other drone scene in the world – comprises two types of drone geeks. The first kind likes to build the drones from scratch and then fly them, and the second kind gets a pre-made commercial drone and delves into the joy of flying it. Choosing your destination from here will decide which path you trod on, but fear not, we’ll take you on a tour of both. Drone operation is such a practical experience oriented task that it is impossible or ill-advised to go ahead with partial knowledge of how things work. So before you buy your drone or start building one, you should work on getting to know all you can about them. A few years back, the only way you could increase your knowledge about drones
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he story of the attraction between people and being airborne has been told too often. Even if one isn’t flying themselves, flying objects, especially ones we can control have always attracted us. From fun childhood activities like flying paper aeroplanes and kites, the attraction quite naturally flows towards more sophisticated objects capable of flying today. Drones, quadcopters, UAVs – call them whatever suits your purpose but there’s no denying that they have arrived on our shores. While other cover stories in this issue will explore bigger application areas like the military and some really impressive work being done by startups and big companies alike, this one is all about finding out that when it comes to drones, what exactly is happening at the ground level all around you and how can you get involved in the drone scene in India. Let us take you through
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would be to use the internet. Right now there are a number of organisations that conduct drone workshops conducted across the country that you can attend for free or by paying a small amount of money. These workshops can range across teaching you the basics of aviation to getting you through your own drone build, including the regulations that govern such activities in India. One such company is Skyfilabs, based out of Bangalore. They conduct all kinds of training in technology which includes a range of workshops around drones of multiple kinds. A couple of other organisations like this would be Indian Academy of Drones and the Indian Institute of Drones. Both of them offer training from ex-military drone operators and are recognised by the DGCA.
COMMUNITIES If getting into a classroom and learning about drones is not your thing, there
WHAT’S NEW
New York Comic Con 2018
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second season. Another TV show coming from Neil Gaiman, Good Omens was revealed through a trailer at the convention. Apart from these, we got to see new trailers for The Flash season 5, Daredevil season 3, Harley Quinn and a longer trailer of DC’s Titans. https://dgit.in/NYCC18
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GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
hile Marvel Studios didn’t conduct any presentations or reveals this time, the comic convention wasn’t short of announcements for comic book nerds. As we near the release of Aquaman, Warner Bros. dropped an extended look of the upcoming movie starring Jason Momoa and Amber Heard. This was the same video clip that was shown to attendees at San Diego Comic Con this year and now it was released online. It shows a bigger scale of the war and a better look at Black Manta. Also, we finally got to see Aquaman’s comic book suit that has been done to extreme detail. Spider-man: Into the Spidey-verse got its second trailer detailing other characters from the Spider-family. After an impressive first season, American Gods released a first look into its
Untitled Marvel Studios Film removed from 2020 release
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arvel Studios has removed an untitled movie from its 2020 release date. Originally planned for a July 31, 2020 release, the movie that got removed is still unknown. In the phase four of the MCU, there are several movies that are already planned. Out of the lot, the only movie with a dicey future
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THIS MONTH IN CULT: First, Boo-Man has a few choice words about this month’s theme – drones. Then we explore some of the best fan-made films ever made. Following which, in 1000-words, we take a look at some of most dangerous selfies you shouldn’t attempt.
Dark Phoenix to be released by Disney
While Disney and Fox are taking things forward with the merger, Dark Phoenix is still waiting for a release date. And now, it looks like it’s going to be the first X-men movie released by Disney. https://dgit.in/DrkPhnx
Luke Cage and Iron Fist cancelled Netflix and Marvel have cancelled superhero TV shows Luke Cage and Iron Fist after they recently had their second seasons release. Daredevil’s latest season on the other hand, did pretty well. https://dgit.in/LCIFCan
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is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. After cutting ties with James Gunn, Disney hasn’t found a replacement director for the movie. While the filming of the
“The Quantum Realm, that’s the key”
While there are numerous rumours floating around over what’s going to happen in Avengers 4, Michael Douglas has confirmed some of them by confirming the importance of the quantum realm. https://dgit.in/QuanRlm
movie was already moved, it only makes sense to not stick to the original release date. Marvel Studios is currently focusing on phase three and there haven’t been any official announcements about phase four apart from Spider-man: Far From Home that comes out after Avengers 4. https://dgit.in/Dsny2020
Spider-man’s new suit revealed
Set photo leaks from Spider-man: Far From Home already gave us a glimpse of suits belonging to Mysterio and Spider-man. Tom Holland officially revealed the new black and red suit on Jimmy Kimmel Live. https://dgit.in/TomHoll
culture FEATURE
Mars could contain oxygen
All-in-one bacteria screening
According to Caltech researchers Mars could sustain more oxygen under specific conditions. https://dgit.in/nov18-64-1
Scientists have developed a diagnostic platform that can screen for all known human pathogenic bacteria. https://dgit.in/nov18-64-2
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Fan Films Normally, it is the Hollywood executives that call the shots when it comes to major franchises, but the best aspects of fictional worlds shine through when fans get behind the camera Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in
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an films are an integral part of geek culture, and a form of fan labour, or one of the activities that fans like to indulge in. Fan films have been around for almost as long as movie franchises have been around, with the first fan film being made back in 1926. Star Wars and the Matrix were two franchises with notable fan film scenes. Trekkies went ahead and made their own fan series, entire TV shows with episodes and story arcs. Until recently, most fan films were made by amateur film
makers, and the quality also showed. However, of late, with an increasing amount of technology being available to the common people, the quality of fan films have also increased. The result is a number of fan films with production values that are nearly as good as the films that roll out of Hollywood. Fan films are so good because they are pure fan service, without the commercial considerations needed for reaching a wider audience. Here are some of the best fan films out there.
VOLDEMORT: ORIGINS OF THE HEIR
PRELUDE TO AXANAR
This film is set after the Fantastic Beasts movies and before the Harry Potter movies. Grindelwald has just been defeated, and Voldemort is going around creating his horcruxes. The film introduces three new characters, who are also the heirs of the Hogwarts founders, who pledge to make the world a better place. The wand duels are extremely well choreographed, and the special effects are top notch. The film was originally made in Italian, and then dubbed into English. This is a very well told story, with a stunning twist in the end.
Set in the Star Trek universe, this movie is a proof of concept, a demonstration of what a well trained crew of film makers can produce on a low budget. The film was the result of a successful kickstarter campaign, and the production quality is out of this world. The framing of the story is similar to a documentary, where various characters tell their stories in an interview format. However, there are still plenty of spaceships, epic battles, and of course, awesome explosions. The production crew is in the process of making a longer film, called Axanar.
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culture
If you are ever curious about what the Digit gang is up to, this is the place to get all the inside info. From the latest game we’re obsessing about to the newest intern we’re driving up the wall – it’s all here folks. productivity levels but then you had two ran through a re-writing service that more guys from the edit team disappear. replaced words with their synonyms to Ergo, it was just Aditya and Mithun in the throw off plagiarism scanners. Alas, the office for a good portion of the time. You synonym replacements were so ridiculous see where this is going, right? that Shakespeare is probably rolling In other news, we had some in his grave right now. Want a really enthusiastic contribufew examples? Well, they QUOTE OF tors this month. You’d asreplaced the term ‘cashTHE MONTH sume that the enthusiasm back’ with ‘currency-rear’ was for working with Digit, and ‘product shipping’ with oh no! The enthusiasm ‘item sailing’. And these –Robert was grossly misplaced were the sensible ones. and the articles that came in In the land down under, were some of the worst we’ve Raaabo is house hunting. The lord ever come across. At first glance, there of the dingos, black widow spiders and would be nothing out of the ordinary. The wallabies is on the hunt for another place structure seemed fine, spellcheck was to form his base of operations and preach all in the green and the format had been the tenets of Raaaboism. Last we heard, followed to the T. The horror was unveiled he has nearly finalised on a place and has during closing as we saw a lot of synonym nearly inked the deal. World domination replacements. It’s as if the articles were just got one step closer to completion.
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ctober is more of a relaxed month for us. It’s one away from the gargantuan Zero1 issue and getting a breather right before that works best for us. And if you’ve been reading the Digit diary for some time, then you’ve probably guessed that things didn’t go the way we planned. Arnab was off in Shondesh Town, relaxing and meeting up with old friends who’d all converged onto the Motherland for Durga Pujo. That left four of us to do most of the writing but given how things generally run their course at Digit, someone or the other had to fall sick. Abhijit and Manish, the usual culprits a.k.a. “Recreational hospital surfers” a.k.a. “Prime examples of weak immune systems”, had to fall sick and that too for a good chunk of the week. This was, of course, the week of Navratri, so not only were there plenty of holidays to drop
Every month we will highlight some of the more interesting discussions happening on our Digit Forum (digit.in/forum). Head over and join our forum if you want quick answers to your queries from some of the geekiest Indians online. In case you love giving gyaan, or even if you love arguing with others, the Forum is the place you should be.
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DISCUSSIONS
Skates pls
IEMs below Rs 2000 https://dgit.in/trvliem
Picking earphones for a daily commute require a particular set of considerations. The cables should be resilient to tangling, should be strong enough to survive sudden tugs or yanks, and the noise isolation should be good enough for particularly noisy environments. The forum members help pick out the perfect IEMs for commuting.
Deep Learning/ Gaming Rig
Reading WhatsApp chats from Google Drive
The community helps put together a computer to run deep learning networks based on Tensorflow, Keras, PyTorch and Caffe. With a budget of 1.3 lakh, the computer will also be used for playing AAA titles. Check out the options provided by the community for this very specific requirement of the user.
Without access to a phone, a forum member wanted to read the WhatsApp messages saved on Google Drive. The database is encrypted, and therefore, the end users cannot directly access the data and then read it. Only the WhatsApp app itself can access and restore from the backup. But, is there a workaround possible?
https://dgit.in/dlgr
https://dgit.in/wagg
Join the discussions at: Web: geek.digit.in | Forum: geek.digit.in/community | Facebook: facebook.com/digitgeek
68 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
WHAT’S NEW
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018
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Nobel Prize in Physics 2018
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THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE:
Winter. Together, the two scientists developed methods to produce new proteins by manipulating bacteriophages – a class of microorganisms that attack bacteria. The approach developed by Smith and Sir Winter has been used to manufacture new drugs. Both the approaches are still in the early days of their use, and have a potential to tremendously benefit humans in the future. https://dgit.in/chmnob18
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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!
ne half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 has been awarded to Frances H Arnold. Arnold mimicked the forces of natural selection in a lab environment, to engineer enzymes for specific purposes. Essentially, a new environmental niche is created in laboratory conditions, which encourages the existing enzymes to evolve into new ones over many generations. These enzymes, often proteins, can be used for a number of applications, including manufacturing pharmaceuticals and producing fuel. The method has even been used to create bacteria that can feed on plastics. The other half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 is divided between George P Smith and Sir Gregory P
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he Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 is split in two parts, with half the prize going to Arthur Ashkin, while the other half being awarded to Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland. Ashkin has developed optical tweezers. The laser light can be used to apply equal pressure on small objects from all sides, and keep them in the center of the beam. Atoms, molecules, and even microorganisms can be
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The science section kicks off this month on a grim note with a reminder on how we probably have just ten years to save our planet. In other areas, we talk about a strange, inexplicable phenomenon that metals go through over time and more.
Looking back in time
Normally, black holes are formed after a star goes nova. However, theoretically, black holes can also be formed when a galaxy is born. Scientists have so far not been able to look far enough away, or far enough back in time, to observe these black holes. Researchers hope to use the James Webb Space Telescope, for this purpose. https://dgit.in/oldbh
Why did dinos get so big?
Sauropods were a class of gigantic dinosaurs that were the biggest animals to ever walk the Earth. A newly discovered, well preserved fossil, from the early days of the evolution of the group, promises to show researchers exactly how and why they evolved to be so big. https://dgit.in/brontos
physically manipulated with these optical tweezers, without harming them. Strickland and Mourou came up with a method for generating high intensity short laser pulses. The pulses
Tackling drugresistant bacteria
Researchers have developed a novel approach for combating drug resistant bacteria. A protective shell around probiotics ensures that the beneficial bacteria are not killed by antibiotics being administered. The next phase involves animal and human testing. https://dgit.in/biotics
were first stretched, generated over time to reduce power consumption. Then, they were amplified, and finally they were compressed into short, high intensity pulses. The approach is used to generate the shortest, and highest intensity laser pulses ever made by man. The approach, known as chirped pulse amplification, is used for a number of applications, including eye surgeries. https://dgit.in/phynob18
Helping doctors with predictions
University of Washington researchers have developed an ML system that can help surgeons predict the complications that can arise over the course of a surgery, using readings from the instruments and sensors available in a standard operation theatre. https://dgit.in/prescience
www.digit.in | November 2018 | Digit | 69
sci
Uber Works by Uber
DJs can mix online streams
Uber is currently testing its new On-demand staff hiring business, Uber Works in Chicago. https://dgit.in/nov18-72-1a
IGNORANCE
SoundCloud is rolling out a feature that allows DJ to perform by remixing songs streamed from its service. https://dgit.in/nov18-72-2
Metal Whiskers
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No, this isn’t a story about Tony Stark’s beard... or facial hair in ‘90s heavy metal bands...
Robert Sovereign-Smith | editor@digit.in
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or as long as we’ve been making circuits, we’ve had a problem with metals. While we think of metals as these smooth and cold materials with shiny polished surfaces, that’s not exactly accurate most of the time. Add to that the race to miniaturise everything, and problems at the macro scale are several orders of magnitude worse at the micro or nano scale. This article is about one of those problems – namely, the weird tendency of some metals to grow “whiskers” spontaneously over time. Yes, you read that right. Just as we humans grow body hair in all sorts of weird places, metals almost feel alive when viewed through a time lapse camera. Of course you’d have to lapse for years, and use microscopes, but if you did, you’d find that the smooth metal surfaces we normally envision just do not exist.
WHISKERING
So what is this whiskering we’ve mentioned a couple of times already? Well, just as men grow facial hair over a period of days or weeks, metals can grow little strands that look a lot like hair over months or years. We’re not really sure of why it happens, or what causes
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it, but scientists have made some educated guesses – none of which are conclusively proven. What we do know for sure is that it happens, and we have observed it happening. Now this might not seem like a problem for most applications, but when it comes to technology, it’s a nightmare. This is because we have electricity flowing through our semiconductors, and connectors are all packed close together. Heck in the case of CPUs and GPUs, there are
hundreds of millions of transistors at a nanometer scale, all crowded into the same area as a pinhead! With such precision engineering and such low fault tolerances, metal whiskering is a billion dollar pain in the backside for technology companies. Solder, for example, has been plagued with this problem for ages. This is because solder is usually tin or zinc based and the two are among the hairiest metals around.
sci
Facial recognition at airports
Adobeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new app for YouTubers
The TSA has announced plans to use facial recognition technology for Domestic Flights. https://dgit.in/nov18-76-1
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SAMPLE RETURN
MISSIONS TO ASTEROIDS Humans have only managed one successful mission to an asteroid, and that was a flyby. Now, two ambitious missions in progress plan to grab pieces of these space rocks and bring them back to Earth for further study.
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here has only been one successful mission to an asteroid so far. The planners of the New Horizons mission, did not actively consider any targets on the asteroid belt, to conserve fuel. However, there was an asteroid close enough to observe on the way, called Asteroid 132524 APL. The spacecraft studied the properties of this asteroid, and used it as an opportunity to test out the imaging systems on board. Now, two space agencies are leapfrogging to the next step - missions that will go to an asteroid, gather some of the material, and bring it back to Earth for further study. In June 2018, the Hayabusa 2 mission by JAXA, rendezvoused with 162173 Ryugu, a near Earth carbonaceous asteroid. Studying this type of asteroid will allow scientists to find out more about the formation of the Earth, and maybe even about the origins of life.
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SPACE AGE
Adobe just launched the Adobe Premier Rush CC, a video editing app designed specifically for online video creators. https://dgit.in/nov18-76-2
Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in
HAYABUSA 2
After that, the spacecraft will visit the new crater to collect its third and final sample. Hayabusa also has four rovers on board. These rovers will explore the asteroid, and provide additional contextual information for the returned samples. There are three hexagonal Micro Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid (Minerva) rovers on board, which are equipped with cameras, are autonomous, and will hop across the surface of Ryugu like robotic grasshoppers. The rovers have adopted the hopping strategy, considering the low gravity environment on the asteroid. In September, the two Minerva rovers successfully landed on the asteroid. They are equipped with colour cameras, and are in the process of surveying the asteroid, as well as capturing stereoscopic images. The fourth rover, called Mascot was developed by the German Aerospace Center. Mascot had a rather short mission duration of under 17 hours, but managed to
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The Hayabusa 2 is a solar powered spacecraft with ion propulsion. Hayabusa 2 is expected to conduct experiments on Ryugu till the end of 2019, after which it will begin its return journey, with a plan to reach home by the end of 2020. There are plans to obtain three samples from various locations on the asteroid. Two of the samples will be obtained through a sampling horn. This horn fires a tantalum bullet to the surface of the asteroid, and captures the ejected material directly. These two are the surface samples. The third sample, will be a subsurface sample. Gathering the third sample involves reaching deeper into the asteroid, to gather material that has not been affected by space weather or heat. To do this, Hayabusa will essentially detonate an explosive on the surface of Ryugu. The explosion is expected to create an artificial crater that is two meters wide. Then Hayabusa 2 will wait for two weeks for all the dust from the explosion to settle down.
76 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
pack in a lot of science in that time. After landing on the asteroid on 2 October, it visited the south pole of the asteroid, found some rather large boulders, and found very little regolith, which was a surprise.
OSIRIS-REX Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, SecurityRegolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) launched on 8 September 2016, and is on its way to 101955 Bennu. The spacecraft is expected to rendezvous with the asteroid towards the end of the year. On approach, the spacecraft will start mapping the asteroid to choose a suitable site for gathering the sample. This is expected to be an extensive remote sensing campaign. The strategy used to gather the sample is very different from the one used by Hayabusa 2. OSIRIS-Rex will not really land on the asteroid at all. Using the low gravity, it will reduce the altitude of its orbit till it is almost grazing the surface. Over the course of the
WHAT’S NEW
Why you peep at other people’s phones
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password. So far, the studies on shoulder surfing have focused around computers, but the behaviour is much more widespread because of smartphones. People may be shoulder surfing without intending to, or even being aware of the term. Now, a team of researchers has studied the meaning, impact and consequences of this behaviour, in the context of smartphones. https://dgit.in/peekaboo
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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?”
n a typical daily commute, it is almost impossible to ignore sneaking a glance at someone else’s screens. These screens are a window into the private lives of strangers. You are almost casually introduced to the instant messengers, social networks, videos and games of absolute strangers. Many people may even feel guilty after staring too long at these screens. Even if you look elsewhere, chances are, that your eyes will get attracted to another device. The act is known as “shoulder surfing”, which was so far considered a vector of compromising security. Password fields replace the text with asterisks to prevent someone from casually learning your
Your IQ is irrelevant
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ngoing results from the longest study in psychology clearly goes to show that the results are really not that relevant. The study originally began in 1921, and is ongoing to this date. The approach was to take a small group of the brightest students according to IQ tests, and track their progress through life, to match up how the IQ numbers match with their careers. The results are pretty disappointing. None of the students who
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What would it be like to wake up 300 years in future? Check out our Future Feature to get a somewhat grim idea. After that rude awakening, head to the Origins section to calm down by learning about the very first LOL. Or maybe tickle your fancy with our Infoporn section featuring a monster hunting map.
Chocolate Drone
Mechanical Engineering students at Duke university made a drone out of chocolate for a friend’s birthday. The frame, rotors and blades were off the shelf components, but the fuselage was made from chocolate, and was edible. To keep the integrity of the drone, the chocolate was strengthened with vermicelli. https://dgit.in/ chocodrone
Designing a peeler
The development of the Oxo vegetable peeler is a case study on how industrial design for the edge cases, actually helps benefiting most people. Since coming into the market, the peeler has changed the way products are designed for kitchens. The approach of “inclusive design” has proved itself over three decades. https://dgit.in/oxopeeler
78 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
were the brightest in the group, went on to become well known geniuses. Two of the students who were part of the study, went on to helm the study itself. However, both of these are not
Automated jobs
The article looks at people who have silently, without the knowledge of their superiors, automated most or all of their jobs. They now go to office, sit comfortably, and pretend to be working, while the computers do all the work. You’ll be surprised to learn how much some of these people earn! https://dgit.in/autojob
distinguished names in the field of psychology. Essentially, IQ has little to do with success and failure. Additionally, scrutiny of those who were or weren’t successful did not track with the IQs that they did obtain in the tests. One of the candidates who was not considered bright enough to qualify for the brightest group in the study (Luis Walter Alvarez, pictured here), actually went on to win a Nobel Prize. https://dgit.in/whatiq
Archeologists find vampire burial
At an ancient Roman burial site in Italy, archeologists have found the skeleton of a 10 year old, of unknown gender, with a brick in its mouth. The brick had been placed there to prevent the dead child from rising from the grave. There is evidence to suggest the child died of malaria. https://dgit.in/vampbury
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The Renault EZ-GO Concept is a robot vehicle that drives itself while letting its occupants continue their day at work. It allows up to six passengers to sit in a booth fashion, making for easy meetings and conversation. It has no driver’s seat or steering wheel. It’s completely electric-powered.
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PARIS MOTOR SHOW 2018
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The Renault EZ-PRO Concept is a robot vehicle for transportation of both passengers and goods. It can be configured to deliver goods autonomously right up to the last mile or host a human concierge for say, running a food truck. It drives itself around the city on electric power completely by itself.
90 | Digit | November 2018 | www.digit.in
The Renault EZ-ULTIMO Concept is an all-electric luxury limousine for short hauls. It’s designed to drive around completely by itself. On the inside it features a large armchair and a table for two. It’s 5.8m long and has a range of up to 499 km on a single charge.
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