200302_Digit.pdf

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editorial
Getting Along
“P
lease fax those documents across ASAP!”
“Sure thing. Uh…wait! What's the make of your fax machine?”
Thankfully, we need not worry about such unnecessary details as all fax
machines use a common standard for data transmission. But left to itself, the
tech industry would have made the above conversation sound more familiar
than we can ever imagine.
Industry standards are critical as they assure interoperability and
compatibility.
Without proper standards, any new technological advancement is limited
to a particular product featuring those capabilities.
Take the case of data communications. A few years back Rockwell and
3Com touted different, competing technologies in their modems for pushing
transmission speeds to 56 kbps. Without the intervention of the ITU-T in cre-
ating the v.90 standard, datacom speeds would have been limited to 33.6 kbps
with us being caught in the middle of having to forcefully adopt one technol-
ogy (based on what our ISP supported) in order to get a speed boost. This in
turn would have limited our freedom of switching to another service provider
using a competing standard.
In established markets, market leaders, based on their sheer size and the
control they exercise, can split or create new standards. For instance, Intel was
late in introducing the SSE instruction set for speeding up multimedia applica-
tions (AMD was the pioneer with its 3DNow! technology). But owing to Intel’s
market dominance, AMD is now forced to tout SSE compatibility in its proces-
sors as software vendors have adopted the Intel standard.
However, the battle for standards gains momentous proportions when it
comes to the adoption of new technologies in an emerging market. The current
mess of the rewritable DVD market can be squarely attributed to the lack of any
industry standard with two groups trying to lobby their competing technolo-
gies to the consumer.
The one-size-fits-all solution then is to have open standards owned by ven-
dor-neutral organisations, which anyone can use and implement. Case in
point: if Wi-Fi wasn’t a popular open standard, Intel could have easily created
another wireless communication technology for Centrino, its next generation
mobile processor technology.
It’s not too late for companies to realise that open standards are the only
way to avoid consumer confusion and drive innovations. Otherwise, we’ll be
left with the same madness of the rewritable DVD market where infighting and
bickering amongst trade groups has virtually sealed the fate of this promising
storage technology.
Now we can only hope that DVD’s successor, be it Blu-Ray or holographic
storage, will not suffer such a fate.
Vinit Aggarwal
Assistant Editor
“
Despite being
the pioneer with
its 3DNow!
Technology, AMD
is forced to tout
SSE compatibility
in its processors
as software
vendors have
adopted the Intel
standard
”
vinit_aggarwal@jasubhai.com
index
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magazine
FEBRUARY
2003
FEATURES
Bridging the Thinking
Divide.....................................26
Leslie D’Monte, Managing Editor of
Digit, talks about authorities in power
hindering the spread of technology
Play it Again, Sam ..............82
Throw away those MP3s, there are
some new boys in town
Music on Tap
........................86
Tired of the songs blared by your
radio? Head online for a fresh listen
Autorun
.................................28
Need more RAM? Thanks to
Autonomic Computing, your com-
puter can provide all that it needs
to itself
Operation Cleanup
.............90
Archive old mail and free up some
disk space
Danger Ahead
......................35
Your work habits could lead you to ill
health. Are you working healthy?
Power Builder
......................97
A little stitch here, a small tweak
there can bring out the hidden
potential of your computer
▲
▲
97
TEST DRIVE
The Power Equation...........40
Presenting the most comprehensive
test that covers 16 processors and 48
motherboards!
Learn the right way to
install a processor, heatsink,
power supply and much
more...because you can
never have enough power!
ARCADE
Pick a Life, Any Life
..........112
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-
Playing Games: Your ticket to a
new life
INSIGHT
Behind the Movies..............78
A behind-the-scenes peek at the
technologies that drive your
favourite movies
86
The radio star has been spot-
ted at your nearest Web site
▲
▲
▲
▲
28
4
Autonomic Computing promises a bag
full of miracles. Will it deliver?
▲
▲
40
Intel? AMD? Motheboard? Processor? We
got your bases covered
FEBRUARY 2003
index
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magazine
86
Tune your radio to the
Internet. Streaming
music is here!
97
Power tips to
help assemble
your dream
computer
40
An all-inclusive buying
guide for processors and
motherboards
82
Replacement killers
target the MP3
audio codec
35
Is your PC
responsible for
most of your
health troubles?
78
SFX, Uncovered!
28
112
You could be a Jedi yet!
Computers that
can heal them-
selves are no
longer science
fiction
REGULARS
Reviewed
this month
NEWS FEED . . . . .16
LETTERS . . . . . . . .24
DROOLMAAL . . . .32
START UP . . . . . . .38
BAZAAR . . . . . . .64
UNDERCOVER . . .76
Q & A . . . . . . . . . .91
TACTICS . . . . . . . .116
OFF THE SHELF . .118
DIGIT DIARY . . . . .121
BACKBYTE . . . . . .122
HARDWARE
Bazaar . . . . . . . . . .64
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ACi Ethos 4 Laptop
■
Canon ImageCLASS
MPC600F
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Creative SoundBlaster
Audigy2 Platinum
■
Freecom FM-1 USB
Stick
■
HP Photosmart 130
■
IBM Microdrive 1GB
■
Labtec Pulse 420 2.1
speakers
■
Logitech MX500
Optical Mouse
■
MSI Dragonwriter
48x16x48x
■
Odyssey ATX-403A
Computer Case
■
Palm Tungsten T
■
Palm Zire
■
UMAX Astra4700
■
Wipro LQ 5400 Dot
matrix printer
■
Zenith 3 GHz PC
Motherboards . . . .40
■
ASUS A7S266
■
ASUS P4B533-UAY
ASUS P4B533-V-UAY
ASUS P4BGL-VM
■
ASUS P4S133-VM
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ASUS P4S533-VM
■
ASUS P4T533-C
■
ASUS P4T 533-R
■
ASUS A7V8X
■
ASUS P4SGL-VM
■
DFI AD73 PRO
■
DFI AD77-infinity
■
DFI AD77-PRO
■
DFI AZ30-EC
■
DFI NB30-BC
■
DFI NB35-BC
■
DFI NB71-BC
■
DFI NT72_SC
■
DFI PE 21-EC
■
DFI PM11-EC
■
DFI PM10-EC
■
Digi-link DGA-8LS533
■
Epox EP-8K3A+
■
Epox EP8KMM+
■
Gigabyte 7VAXP-Ultra
■
Gigabyte GA-8GE667-
PRO
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Gigabyte GA8PE-667-
ULTRA
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HIS M48-14
■
HIS M48-B7
■
■
To subscribe to Digit, fill out
the subscription form
available online at
www.thinkdigit.com/subscribe
HIS M48-DA
HIS M50-21
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Intel D845 PEBT2
■
Intel 850EMV2
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Intel D845GEBV2
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Jetway 845 LDM
■
Jetway P4MFM
■
Krypton M7VKQ
■
Krypton U8668 Z8
■
Krypton P4TDQ
■
Mercury KM266
■
Mercury KOB-730s-
FSMx
■
Mercury KT266A-FDSX
■
Mercury KOB650GL
NDSMx
■
Mercury KOB845G-
NDSMx
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MSI 845E Max2
■
MSI 845PE-MAX2
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MSI KT3ULTRA2
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MSI KT4-Ultra
Processors . . . . . . .40
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AMD Athlon XP
1700+
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AMD Athlon XP
1800+
■
AMD Athlon XP
2000+
■
■
AMD Athlon XP
2200+
■
AMD Athlon XP
2400+
■
AMD Athlon XP
2600+
■
AMD Athlon XP
2700+
■
AMD Athlon XP
2800+
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Intel Celeron 1.7 GHz
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Intel P4 1.7 GHz
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Intel P4 2 GHz
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Intel P4 2.2 GHz
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Intel P4 2.4 GHz
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Intel P4 2.53 GHz
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Intel P4 2.8 GHz
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Intel P4 3.06 GHz
■
SOFTWARE
Bazaar . . . . . . . . . .64
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ACT! 6.0
■
RestoreIT! 3 Deluxe
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Watchdog II
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WebCafe
6
FEBRUARY 2003
index
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digit interactive
HIGHLIGHTS
Adobe PageMaker 7.0
Size: 65 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\Multimedia
dBpowerAMP Music Converter
Size: 1.47 MB, Type: Free
Mindware\Software\Multimedia
Groove Workspace
Size: 26.92 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\Office
ON THE CD
KNOW YOUR CD
PLAYWARE\ARENA\EXTRAS
The Extras section on your Digit
Playware CD brings you
tools and add-ons for pop-
ular games. The Extra sec-
tion within the CD features
game mods, additional
game maps and update
patches. Get set to play
with new and enhanced
game levels, with patches that iron out
all those bugs!
This month we bring you three
bonus maps for
Warcraft III
and update
patches for
Return To Castle
Wolfenstein
that will update
your game, adding new
weapons and some bugfixes.
A patch for
Soldier Of Fortune
II: Double Helix Gold
that
updates it to v1.03, along
with three new multiplayer
maps are included. We also have a patch
for
Empire Earth,
which will improve
your multiplayer gaming experience.
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of
Secrets
Size: 23.9 MB, Type: Trial
Playware\Arena\Games
Hex Editor 4.0
Size: 2.70 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\Developer Tools
Live Billiards v1.3
Size: 5.89 MB, Type: Trial
Playware\Arena\Funzone
Microsoft Netmeeting 3.0
Size: 1.57 MB, Type: Free
Mindware\Software\Office
Splinter Cell
Size: 100 MB, Type: Trial
Playware\Arena\Games
Spytech Security Works 2003
Size: 3.86 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\System
UltraEdit-32 9.2
Size: 1.68 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\Developer Tools
MUST-TRY SOFTWARE
James Bond 007 Nightfire
Enter the world of spies, espionage, and
play with danger and gorgeous women as
super spy James Bond. As Bond, players will
operate in exotic locales such as the snow
capped Austrian
Alps and the far
reaches of outer
space as well as
underwater in the
depths of the South
Pacific to defeat the evil criminal master-
mind Rafael Drake, the popular head of a
supposedly benign environmental organi-
sation who is secretly bent on world dom-
ination. You have at hand 007’s arsenal of
upgradeable spy gadgetry and high tech
weaponry with a host of exotic vehicles.
Size: 146 MB, Type: Trial
Playware\Arena\Games
hold frames. Ver-
sion 5.0 features
non-destructive
vector paint tools,
of masking en-
hancements,
new visual effects,
interface enhancements, and more.
Size: 65.80 MB, Type: Trial
Mindware\Software\Multimedia
McAfee VirusScan Home
Edition 7.0
The McAfee VirusScan Home Edition scans
all system areas, including local and net-
work drives, CD-ROMs, floppies, boot sec-
tors, file allocation and
partition tables, files,
and compressed files.
Other features include a
new user interface, sup-
port for Windows XP,
new Quarantine and
Safe & Sound utilities,
incremental DAT file
updates, and a new Installation Configura-
tion Assistant.
The latest version also includes an
integrated personal firewall, intrusion
detection, and protection during PDA
synchronisation.
Size: 41.1 MB, Type Trial
Mindware\Software\System
Adobe After Effects 5.5
Adobe After Effects composites and creates
2D and 3D animation and special effects
for film, video, multimedia and Web proj-
ects. Compositing features include unlim-
ited layers, Beziér masks, alpha-channel
controls, anti-aliasing, interlayer transfers,
and the ability to mix multiple file resolu-
tions. Special effects such as time remap-
ping can be used to create such effects as
variable slow motion, frame stuttering,
playback delay, backward playback, and
India's Premier Software Provider
Note: Due to unavoidable reasons, Crystal 3D Impact! Pro, mentioned on the CD cover, has not
been included in the Multimedia section in the Mindware CD. We regret the inconvenience.
10
FEBRUARY 2003

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