THE SCHOLARS’ AVENUEIIT KHARAGPURFEBRUARY 13 2010

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Interview with George Kourounis

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few days ago I came across a Canadian professor's blog. AThe latest post was an

excerpt of a mail from an Indian s tudent inquir ing into the possibility of working in his laboratory as a summer intern. It was an innocent query from a student who found his research interests in perfect harmony with

those of the academician. Such a correlation was further established with references to publications and papers of the researcher that supported the student's claim. It had all the making of a genuine interest and sincere anxiety. All perfectly fine and acceptable.

The catch: The professor in question has never worked in the field so definitively highlighted as his area of expertise by this student who claimed to be so enamoured by his work.

Needless to say, what followed were citations from other professors to similar incidents in the comments section. The post was probably intended in good humour and to a certain extent, it lived to its expectations – gratefully. However, amidst hilarious takes on this 'isolated' case was one particular remark that caught my eye and inspired this editorial - "I wonder if this is something they're advised to do?" The "this" here referring to what we know as "FT mailing".

If a fresher, you are curious about it; if a sophomore, you are enchanted by it; if a junior, you are desperate for it and if a senior, you are experienced at it. In any case, you are all in the know of it. If you

are a professor reading this, you might probably be wondering why these students have latched onto the idea of Foreign Training or might be reflecting on the atrocities of spamming, unheard of in your college days. To these professors I say this:

Sir, the times have changed. It’s a more competitive world today. A summer internship is mandatory for some of us and even with the strenuous efforts of the TnP Cell, it is not possible that all students are picked by visiting companies. The alternative of lack-lustre training at one of the lesser known industries is much less appealing on our Curricula Vitae. This urges us, or rather piles on us the peer pressure that forces us to explore other

avenues – those more lucrative and relevant to our future endeavours. Being students from India’s top university, we are handicapped in our options in the country and hence, our broad-m i n d e d v i e w p o i n t . F o r sophomores, the motivation is, though premature, value addition to their profile.

The skewed-up student-teacher ratio is no help either. Gone are the days when a professor was familiar with the aptitude and attitude of e a ch o f h i s s t uden t s and consequentially, are days bygone when a student could confidently approach a certain professor and inquire if he could recommend him to an internship in a collaborative research laboratory. Instead, the average undergrad has to succumb to relying on his independent efforts on this front.

Our undergraduate curriculum was never structured to cultivate research interest in the student until his final year. With the first year being fundamentally an extension of Class XII, our academic knowledge by the fifth semester is confined only to the introductory courses of our sophomore year. The lack of appeal ing research

opportunities on campus doesn’t help student interests either, leaving our average Kumar with an open field of engineering to choose from. In the language of FT mailing this translates into students mailing professors with every remotely connected research interest under the sun.

What starts as a selective list of professors working on very interesting projects snowballs into a random database of academicians r e m o t e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h engineering! The absence of completed projects in your Curriculum Vitae does not support o n e ' s c a u s e e i t h e r . Wi t h approach ing dead l ine s and discouraging responses (most times, none at all), thoroughly researching a professor’s profile before mailing him seems a worthless effort. With the relentless approach of the summer and not much success, you yield to a template in the hopes that more mails imply more responses. The result: spam.

As much as this writer believes in FT mails, he does not justify blind spamming. The minimum a student can do is visit the professor’s profile page and glance through, and more importantly understand the subject of a few of his papers online. "Misinterpreting" research interests is as inexcusable as inexplicable. Period.

All said and done, it is our Institute’s reputation at stake and it is our collective responsibility to preserve it, if not uphold it. With every professor infuriated by a spam mail, the number of universities black-listing students of our Institute is bolstered. So the only question is -- should we proceed down this self-destructive path and subject ourselves to inevitable institute regulation or should we band together and make a concerted self-organised effort to safe-guard our standing in the international research community?

In memory of fellow IITian M a l a y e s h B a n e r j e e (Architecture, Nehru Hall, 2005 batch) who succumbed to bullet injuries during the 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008, his friends and batch mates have come together with the Institute administration and have decided to institute a scholarship in his name that would ensure his name echoes forever in the corridors of IIT-KGP. Initiated by his fiancé Khushboo Jha, who aims to collect a corpus of Rs 10,00,000 for the scholarship, t h e M a l a y e s h B a n e r j e e Scholarship worth Rs 80,000 would be awarded to a 3rd year Undergraduate student who, like Malayesh, demonstrates all-round excellence. The judging criteria would be the same as the BC Roy Gold Medal and would be assessed by the same committee. Prof. B K Sengupta, H O D , D e p a r t m e n t o f Arch i tec ture remember s Malayesh as a very bright boy. "He was a good student, always ready to help others. We hope the scholarship will inspire many more to be like Malayesh," he said.

"I wonder if this is something they're advised to do?”The IITs have presented a proposal to the Government for an eight-fold increase in fees from Rs. 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh per annum (for B.Tech students), to facilitate the IITs in becoming self-financing institutions. The proposed fee hike, if accepted by the government would take place over a period of ten years, with an annual increase of Rs. 35,000. However, the Human R e s o u r c e D e v e l o p m e n t Minister, Kapil Sibal, suggested that the proposal would be considered after the Ministry sets up an Education Finance Corporation (EFC). This effectively, puts the fee hike on hold till 2012, by when the EFC is expected to be in place.

Fee Hike

Malayesh Banerjee Scholarship

ick of the messy conditions Sprevailing at the campus eateries? (Pun intended) You won’t have to worry anymore. This January, in a CELC (Commercial E s t a b l i s h m e n t L i c e n s i n g Committee) meeting, a proposal to form a subcommittee that would monitor the working of the food joints in the campus was passed and adopted. The ‘Food Management Committee’, as it is now called is composed of 5 members including 3 student representatives. Along with the Prof. Incharge of CELC and the

secretary of CELC, the other members are the VP-Gymkhana, the UG representative and a VP’s nominee. The reason behind instituting such a committee was to enforce a level of hygiene and to keep a check on the spiraling cost of food among other things. A survey of all eateries on campus was carried out on January 20th and several attention deserving areas were identified. “Some suggestions were put forth by us, in order to improve customer experience. Dreamland and Sahara were advised to improve

their existing seating arrangement and lighting, use clean utensils and paper napkins and prevent encroachment by stray animals. They brought to our notice, the blocked sewer in their premises that was creating a problem in the disposal of garbage. We have notified the sanitary section and that issue will be dealt by them. Dreamland has also agreed to provide uniforms to all its waiters.” sa id Shubham Matah , VP-Gymkhana. “Likewise, Tikka was asked to maintain better standards

of hygiene in their kitchen and place dustbins to ensure cleanliness. Another round of visits is planned after the mid semester exams to check how far the suggestions were paid heed to. If the eateries ignore some of our critical suggestions, they may lose their license to o p e r a t e . ” h e a d d e d . A suggestion/complaint box would also be placed at every eatery and the contacts of the members of this committee will be prominently displayed at the eateries in the coming months.

Food Management Committee

2 FE A T U R E S A V E N U E THE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ² SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010

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Executive Editors : D e e p a k C h e r i a n , M i t h u n Madhusudan

Editors: AVN Murthy, Bharath Bhat, Dheeraj Golla, Mayank Kedia, Pallavi Jayannavar, Siddharth Prabhu, Siddharth Singh

Asst. Editors: Abhirajika A, Amiya Adwitiya, Arvind Sowmyan, Ratan J S, Tiyasa Mitra, Vijay, Sumeet Mohanty

Reporters: Achyut Bihani, Chirag Tibrewal, Deepesh Kumar, Hridya Ravimohan, Indra Saha, Mahtab Soin, Parth Govil, Rishab Poddar

Junior Reporters: Abhijeet T, Ajay Viswanathan, Koulick Ghosh, Pranav Rao, Pravin Sharma

Anup Bishnoi,

forum to air the opinions of residents of the campus, the Institute Authorities have finally come up with the Institute Suggestion Scheme. A brainchild of Prof. Damodar Acharya, the Suggestion Management Scheme will serve as a platform for voicing suggestions related to the holistic improvement of quality of life in the campus. The realm of the suggestions entertained is broad and academics falls within its purview. The seven member Committee headed by Prof BK Mathur will

i n c e i t s i n c e p t i o n l a s t SSeptember, The Counselling Centre has done considerable work for the distressed souls of IIT-KGP. It is currently running the Student Coordinator Training Programme as a measure to prevent student suicides. The problems students in campus appear to be facing range from low self-esteem to lack of motivation. The general feedback from students about the counselling has been quite positive. The centre's future programmes include the Gatekeepers Training, which aims at students being able to identify symptoms in their peers and refer them to the counselling centre in

ndia's vast pool of PhD scholars Iwill now be listed in the Doctorate's Information System (DIS) as per a decision taken by the IIT Council, enabling them to track doctorates right from their enrolment, registration, award of degree, employment and even thereafter. Students simply have to create an academic profile and can keep updating it even after their PhD degree is awarded. DIS will assist them in deciding their future funding programmes. This would come in handy for research labs across the world searching for talent. The system is now available at http://144.16.206.211/dis/ and can be accessed globally. All PhD students of IIT Kharagpur can start using this service from 1st February.

Praveen Kumar Sharma - Electronics and Communication Engineering - IIT Campus“Great Teacher”, “very comprehensive Course Covering all basics”, “I learnt quite a lot and feel confidence about the GRE now”Debajit Bhattacharya - Electrical Engineering - MS Hall - Excellent Classes, “there cannot be anything better”Koushik Das - Electronics Engineering - MS Hall - My Overall Experience at Roads was “Very Good”, The Class room “Interaction” was the thing I Admired the mostAamod Shanker - Electronics and Communication Engineering - MS Hall - “Excellent”, “A Great Experience”E Mallikarjun - Instrumentation - JCB Hall - “GRE words are derived into groups which are easy way to remember”Sumit Dhoble - CS Department - MS Hall - “The class was very interesting, never turned soporific even for a second”Ashish Sur - Electrical Engineering - RK Hall - “Good Content, Hope application process is similarly very good”Samrat Dey - Electrical Engineering - Azad Hall - “Faculty really provides the necessary knowledge”, “I really liked the amount of practice done in the class, really interactive and fascinating”Kollol Aguan - Electonics and Communication Engineering - RK Hall

time. However, the centre is currently facing an acute staff shortage with just one counsellor and a coordinator. Plans to recruit more clinical psychologists and even interested faculty members as counsellors are on. According to Dr. Rajlakshmi Guha, the head counse l lo r, “S tudent s have misconceptions about attending counselling. We want more students to break out of their shell and the best way to get students is through other students. The students who have taken our assistance are spread throughout al l courses and disciplines including PhDs and M.Techs.”

COUNSELLING CENTER FOLLOW-UP

INSTITUTE SUGGESTION COMMITTEEdeliberate on the suggestions and decide on their implementation. “If the suggestion is found feasible, the proposer of the idea will be invited to a meeting with the Suggestion Management Committee and will be given a chance to present his solution to the committee.” said Prof. Mathur. A total of 39 suggestions have been received so far and 3 meetings have been held since the inception of the service. A meeting to brainstorm over the implementation of the received ideas is on the cards.

DOCTORATE’S INFORMATION SYSTEM

n response to a flurry of opinions Icalling for the establishment of a

N E W S A V E N U ETHE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ² SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010 3

Biometric Security SystemGC Standingshas been decided that not only students, but all staff and members of their families too, will have these multipurpose cards. In a campus as large as ours, locating a person can be quite tedious, especially, as it is often not known whether he is in the campus at that particular time. We have been assured that the data Biometric Security System will be strictly confidential and used which will assist in keeping a Aonly for students’ security. Since the track of the whereabouts of number of cards to be generated students is going to be introduced will be quite high, and there will be soon by the institute. This step has a constant need for a card generation been taken keeping in mind various system, there are plans for setting up security concerns and emergency one in the campus itself. Initially, it situations, where often the location was planned to implement this as a of a student in question is test project in SN and LLR Halls at ambiguous. A smart card, which the beginning of this semester. But will double as the library card will the new Biometric Security System be used for this purpose. Sensors will come into place possibly from will be placed at key points in the the next semester.institute and these cards will even

be used for recording attendance. It

The administration does have some ambitious plans laid out for the improvement of various facilities of the campus. Recently, it was the turn of the Institute’s Water Works Department as it unveiled a brand new Water Treatment Plant which was inaugurated on the 12th of February by the Director himself. Also in the pipeline (no pun intended) as a part of this initiative is a one-crore rupee pipeline that has been built to meet the demands of the halls. Check out our next issue for a more detailed report.

New Water Treatment Plant

Sir Leggett mentions that this led some people to believe that he could be a CIA agent planted in Japan!]

TSA: Scientists, particularly theorists, are often asked to justify their research with little significance to mankind when there are problems like climate change which need bright minds. Your thoughts, Sir?

AL: Yes, I can give you my public defense of my research [Laughs]. One of the ways a lot of energy is wasted is because of losses in transmission. We are working on minimizing these losses. We could make transmission lines out of the existing Cuprate superconductors. Or maybe find new materials which can work at room temperatures. We have the Energy Resources Centre at our institute, where we are conducting research on these lines.

TSA: Well, theorists have been known to say that they do research because they find it aesthetic, like musicians or painters. Now, the layman can appreciate art and music, but not so much Physics or Maths.

TSA: Let’s go back to the time you were a student. Unlike most scientists, you started off by studying Philosophy and the Classics. While most scientists debunk all philosophy, you seem to have a contrary perception.

AL: You see, philosophers, by the very nature of their discipline, question what a lot of people take for granted. And this leads to ideas and discussions – for example, my talk today about whether time can m o v e b a c k w a r d s . M a y b e , philosophy gave me the ability to think in a different way and see where I end up.

TSA: What was the guiding factor which led you to a career in Theoretical Physics?

AL: Firstly, I wasn't resourceful enough to look outside a university career [Laughs]. I was looking for a subject where I had some kind of external criteria, that provided by na tu re r a the r than f e l l ow practitioners to decide about good or bad work. And I thought physics might be a good idea.

TSA: After graduating from Oxford,

you had to make a choice for a university to pursue your Post-Doctoral Studies. Other than academic factors, you criterion was an atmosphere very different from that of Oxford. Similarly, students here have to make choice for their graduate studies. What would your advice to them be?

AL: Someone told me about this study carried out by the German Business and Finance Confederation a few years ago. They set out to see what factors would predict success for a university student. They looked at a lot of things - undergraduate scores, background, ethnicity, major subjects etc. and they found zero correlation [Laughs]. But one thing that did show up was that students who went abroad for their studies did better.

TSA: You once went on a fellowship to Japan for a year.

AL: Yes, and I certainly learnt a lot from the experience. I learnt the Japanese language and gained from learning about their culture. [Incidentally, in his autobiography,

outine has already made its Rdreary presence felt . SpringFest and Kshitij and the energy and pandemonium they brought already seem far off. All we are left with is the aftertaste.

SpringFest 2010 didn’t begin with a bang. A thud, rather. Skidrow had backed out last minute and Jal had cancelled a minute after the last. The crux of SpringFest seemed to have vanished. With zero hour nearly upon them, panic reigned. Frenzied, the team instantly went into damage-control mode, desperately struggling to salvage the fest. Finding replacement acts, worthy of one of the largest cultural fests in the country, wasn’t going to be easy. Yet miraculously, within what seemed like no time, they managed to conjure up two very well received concerts – those of Kailasa, and Pritam and his band. And then the tides turned.

True, most of the events were

delayed. True, every show was preceded by a stampede of over-enthusiastic dolts. True, Skidrow-tshirt-clad heavy-metal junkies were unfortunate enough to be treated to Kailash Kher instead. True, there were a lot of things that h a d m a s s i v e r o o m f o r improvement. Yet, you can’t help but take your hats off to the team that brought a fest, at the brink of being a colossal fiasco, to being one of the best editions of SpringFest so far. This year saw not only the largest, but also the best quality in participation ever – be it in Rangmanch or Wildfire. The Pronites met and exceeded expectations and true to their slogan, SF '10 did manage to encapsulate the spirit of the youth

.Kshitij 2010, on the other hand,

appeared well organised and seemed blessed enough to avert any last-minute disaster. There was some good and some bad. Starting with the latter – the 3D Holograph Show. Thanks to the needless

lighting on stage, the 3D fell flat. 2D-style. Segmenting the show, was Nitin a.k.a. Rivaldo’s somewhat distasteful act which did little to help things. From humour (or lack of ) to hogwash. Tsk-tsk. Another mystery was the point of such a large deluge of people. The campus was teeming with students, who just seemed to idle around at eateries or strut about with the aim of just occupying space. When asked what they planned to do at the fest – they merely shrugged, oblivious to the fact that they, as ‘participants’, are obliged to ‘participate’ in the fest. The notice on DC++ requesting Kgpians to house outsiders in their rooms was evidence enough of lack of accommodation. Many were denied the opportuni ty to a t tend workshops, citing lack of space. The logistics need serious scrutiny. It would have been a lot less unpleasant if, the capacity and influx were on comparable scales.

Anyhow, other than a few hiccups, the rest of the fest was conducted with professionalism and reached new levels of excellence with the quality of the Megashows, workshops and guest-lectures. Nigel Mead and George Kourounis were a mammoth success, with the latter giving a r e p e a t l e c t u r e t h a t w a s spontaneously organised on popular demand. All the events saw great involvement, especial ly the Robotix events that had tougher problem statements, thus inviting probably fewer, but definitely better participants. With this edition, KTJ has undoubtedly taken a step closer to brilliance.

Slip-ups and smooth-outs, h a r m o n y a n d c a c o p h o n y , exc i tement and confus ion , exhilaration and disappointment all came together giving us the flavour of the two fests, of two memorable weekends. Not too sweet. Not too bitter.

Bittersweet

Going Back in Time With Sir Anthony Leggett

4 FEATURES AVENUE THE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ² SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010

ir Anthony James Leggett is a world renowned authority in the field of low temperature physics and super-fluids, for which he Swas duly recognized with the Physics Nobel in 2003. Born in

London, UK, this theoretical physicist has laid new paths in Condensed Matter Physics and the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. He has an adventurous side to him as well with rock climbing and countryside cycling being his major passions.

AL: [Laughs heartily at this one]. Well, certainly. I guess it's a matter of perception. I think my appreciation for modern music is much worse than my appreciation for, say, General Relativity.

TSA: A lot of people emphasize on doing things correctly and children learn to err on the side of inaction rather than mistakes. You like the idea of "Being wrong without being stupid".

AL: That’s true and it’s helped me [Laughs]. I think we need to realise that risk-taking is essential. It certainly helps you to get to something new.

TSA: Sir, This is your 9th visit to India...

AL: That might just be right. I am not as sure as you are [Laughs] but I have come a lot of times, yes.

TSA: How do you find the Indian culture and the people here?

AL: Well, I can’t talk about the whole country. It’s so huge and diverse. One thing I do like is that students are very open in questioning and discussing. They are ready to reveal their ignorance of a particular aspect much more readily than Western students. This is something that I really appreciate.

For the complete interview visit www.scholarsavenue.org

GK - Well, fear is always there. I am not fearless;if I were, I would make mistakes. T h e r e ' s a d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n confidence and fearlessness. Fear keeps you alive, that little voice in your head which tells you to draw the line. It's

probably a good thing I started out later in life, because when you're 18 o r 1 9 y o u t h i n k y o u ’ r e indestructible. And I'd probably not be alive now if I had started out then. Who knows?

TSA - Witnessing human suffering in disaster zones must be really tough…

GK - Yes that's hard, really hard. But usually the scale of devastation is so huge that I alone can't help everybody. The best thing that I can do is try to document everything for the world to see. That way awareness is generated; people can get help or be better prepared for future disasters. If a cyclone lands in an uninhabited area, it is a force of nature. But if the same cyclone strikes an inhabited area, it is dubbed a natural disaster. I prefer to document forces of nature but sometimes I end up documenting natural disasters. It's a challenge.

India is one of my favourite countries. I call India a sort of sensory overload...

You can make a career out of anything... Don’t let other people tell you that it can't be done.

TSA - How has IIT Kharagpur been?

GK - The experience here was fantastic. I've never been so warmly welcomed in a school, and I've been to a lot of schools. The students here are great, enthusiastic and bright. I totally loved it.

TSA - You have been to India before, how do you like it here?

GK – India is one of my favourite countries. I call India a sort of sensory overload, because the tastes are so strong here and there are so many extremes. There's always a lot going on, there's chaos on the streets and you have to really pay attention. India forces you to pay attention to it, and I like that. When I was here last two years ago, we went around all over India. It was a great experience. Our timing w a s p e r f e c t a n d coincided with the rainy season, which came just when we expected it to. In Mumbai, we had tremendous flooding one day and it was amazing to see how a city of so many million people reacted. Rickshaws and cars just went on, ploughing through the water as if it was part of their daily life. It's really interesting to see.

TSA – What h a s b e e n y o u r f a v o u r i t e adventure?

GK - I am contractually obligated to say it was when I got married on the volcano (laughs). I can't say I have any one favourite, it's kind of like asking which one of your children is favourite, because each one is so different. I do, however, prefer some of the warmer adventures as

opposed to freezing my butt off.

TSA – Your life is almost like living on the edge...

GK - No, I don’t live on the edge. It's more like I visit the edge frequently. The more time you spend on the edge, the more likely you are not to return, and I want to keep doing this for a long time.

TSA - How does your family react to

your profession?

GK – My family is very supportive and proud. My mother, however, prefers to not always know exactly what it is that I'm doing on a particular trip. She prefers to hear it

out after it is done. My wife allows me t o disappear a t a moment's n o t i c e . S h e k n o w s I'm crazy

but I'm not stupid. I take all precautions and make sure I r e s e a r c h a n d p r e p a r e comprehensively.

TSA - Are there moments when fear takes over?

eorge Kourounis, Canadian adventurer, storm chaser and TV presenter, is the first person ever to have filmed from the inside Gof three of world’s most fearsome forces – a tornado, the eye of

a hurricane, and an active volcano. From the searing craters of the most active volcanoes to the numbing cold of the Antarctic – this man has seen it all; and what’s more, documented it for the world to see. The Scholars’ Avenue caught up with the ‘Stormchaser’ during Kshitij, where he delivered a guest lecture.

Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons!

FEATURES AVENUETHE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ² SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010 5

TSA - Adventure is not easy to come by in everyone's life, how does one get started?

GK - Start small, learn to get uncomfortable, physically and psychologically. Start taking risks. Small steps are very important here. If you try and bite off too much, you'll get intimidated and fall back. So develop a steady pace.

TSA – How d i d y o u m a k e a c a r e e r o u t o f adventure?

GK - I t w a s a n overnight s u c c e s s that took

10 years. Here's the thing, you can make a career out of anything, you

just have to be really good at it and have an overwhelming passion about it. Don’t let other people tell you that it can't be done, because it can. It's been such a thrill and joy to turn something that I enjoy so much into a career, and part of that career is sharing my experiences with the world, which is the best part.

TSA – What is your advice to people who want to pursue unconventional careers?

GK - You have to first know what you want. If you don't know where you're going, then the steps that you're taking might not be in the right direction. Know exactly what you want, and put a time on it. Make goals, not wishes, imposing deadlines. I had thought I'd visit all 7 continents before I turned 40 and I ended up doing it twice by the time I was 38. That's one example of the way I set goals. Take steps every single day towards your goal. Massive action is good, but you must take at least a small step towards your goal, every single day. See yourself make progress slowly, and pretty soon you're snowballing. Also, whether it's a job or adventure, there are people out there who can help you. No man is an island. Ask a lot of questions. Like you're doing now, it's a great step! (Grins.)

6 TECH AVENUE THE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ²SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010

software hasn’t yet caught up with the processing power made available to them, the mobile OS market has certainly transformed into a lively playground of innovation in its own right, with varying philosophies to match (such as Android’s and iPhone OS’s “There’s an app for that” approach, Blackberry/Windows Mobile’s emphasis on the “corporate” market, Maemo’s FOSS philosopy, or ChromeOS’s “Let’s outsource to

t was probably Captain Kirk with the cloud” paradigm. With this kind his wireless clipboard who first I of development atmosphere,

brought the notion of tablet making a quality tablet PC has never computing into the mainstream. Or been easier. It only remains to be Kubrick with those tablets in his seen whether the market ’s magnum opus, 2001. But somehow interested in biting – are people the idea of a slate as a self-sufficient really going to switch over to tablets computer never quite appeared as their home computing device of feasible or marketable – up till now, choice, intent on using them in the that is. Perhaps it was a natural step leisure of their beds or couches, or up after last year’s e-Reader/Smart- would they figure that a slightly phone craze; or perhaps it took a cheaper netbook could work just as certain Cupertino-based company well for their purposes? Or would throwing its hat into the ring – but they rather their portable computer either way, 2010 is all set to become fits in their pocket?the year that the Tablet PC evolves from a niche novelty to a The question is moot; whether mainstream portable. the world was ready or not, this

January was awash with countless This was where the technology announcements from several

has been leaning towards for some electronics firms, each coming up time now. For the last two years with something thin, touchable and Intel and NVIDIA have been twitter-friendly (there were atleast engaged in a showdown for the 10 new tablets at CES-2010 alone). mobile market with competing And leading from the front is chips (Intel’s Atom versus NVIDIA’s Apple’s massive PR machine as it ARM-based Tegra) providing sets out to convince the whole netbooks and mobiles with dollops world that it needs a larger iPod. of power. Capacitive touch Here’s a quick look at some of the technology has grown more different kinds of devices that have sophisticated, and multitouch is fast been cropping up.becoming a norm. SSDs have also come a long way towards being more affordable. And while the

Mobile Wars: Return of the Tablet

Here’s one from the Home Team!

Founded by KGPians Rohan Shravan and Rohit Rathi, and packed with a roster of IITians (including two other KGP alumni, Devanshu Agrawal and Mohit Gupta), Notion Ink aspires to tackle the Consumer Electronics giants head-on, and may well come out on top. The company debuted the Android-based Adam Smartpad at CES-2010 this January and received surprisingly positive feedback from Engadget, Slashgear and numerous other gizmo-blogs. This tablet PC is one of the early adopters of NVIDIA’s bleeding-edge Tegra 2 architecture. Also, as an innovative addition, it features a 10.1” multitouch display with collaborative additions from Pixel Qi, the firm behind the resilient

displays powering the OLPC Project – the screen can switch between regular backlit mode and e-Reader style E-Ink mode (a high contrast monochromatic mode that allows viewing under direct sunlight with drastically reduced battery consumption). As a result, the Adam offers hitherto unheard of battery life for a tablet PC, potentially functioning for days on end (compare that with the iPad’s 10 hour supply). And the kicker – the price. While the final rate isn’t out yet, depending on the degree of carrier subsidies for their 3G connection, the Adam could cost as little as Rs. 15000 (about $320) around its release date in June 2010.

Asus EEE PC T91Specs: 1.4 Ghz Intel Atom Z520, 1GB RAM, 16GB Solid state hard drive, 8.9” TFT Resistive Touch-screen, Windows XP.Price: Rs. 22,000.Availability: Since July 2009.

Long before Apple had even considered chasing after the ubiquitous netbook, Asustek had attempted with its own touch-enabled version of the same. This runs the trusty, frugal Windows XP. Touch is enabled with an ASUS developed software called the Touch Gate. With a price tag of $450, it didn’t quite catch the fancy of netbook buyers, but considering the specs and going rates of today’s tablets and hybrids, the question begs asking: can this still have a shot?

ARCHOS 9 Specs: Intel Atom Z510 (1.2 Ghz), 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, 8.9” LED Resistive Touch-screen, Windows 7 Starter Edition. Price: Rs. 27,000.Availability: Since December 2009.

Running Windows 7 and support for full HD video playback, this tablet can trump the iPad spec to spec. But with the constrained resources of the Atom processor, the user interface is a bit on the sluggish side for this day and age. Having entertainment as its focus, this device caters to a niche category.

Dell Mini 5S p e c s : 1 G h z Q u a l c o m m Snapdragon ARM Processor, 5'' multi-touch capacitive OLED screen, Android 1.6, 3G support, 5 MP Camera.Price: Rs. 50,000(!)Availability: 2nd Quarter of 2010.

Sporting only a 5'' screen, Dell's challenger (unofficially called the “Streak”) seems to be completely different from its rivals. With a 5 MP camera enhanced for video-conferencing and 3G support, what you are looking at is essentially a king size smart phone. While the current cost looks monstrous, the tablet would come bundled with mobile-carriers and hopefully a heavily subsidised price.

Lenovo IdeaPad U1 HybridSpecs: Windows 7, Core 2 Duo CULV Processor, 128GB SSD / Linux, 1 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM Processor, 16 GB Flash

Memory.Price: Less than Rs. 50,000.Availability: June 1, 2010.

The Lenovo IdeaPad is a touchscreen laptop running Windows 7, but once you pull off its display it turns into a Linux powered Tablet PC. Once detached the base turns into a 3G wireless hub for the tablet. Despite the different operating systems, one would have a seamless experience with web

browsing between transitions.

11.6 inch display,

Apple iPadPrice: Starts at Rs. 25,000.Availability: March 2010.

Although Apple had always maintained that it felt Netbooks were too cheap to be profitable, or that e-Readers were a waste of time, it still went ahead with the unfortunately named iPad. Priced similar to the Kindle-DX, sporting multi-touch and backed by a burgeoning iTunes collection of apps, music and (now) books, the iPad will all but killed off the e-Reader market. Once Apple sorts out issues like Adobe Flash support and multitasking, it may likely crush all of its future competition, even the likes of the mysterious Microsoft-backed HP tablet.

BH A A T A V E N U ETHE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ² SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010 7

You can’t tell if it’s coffee or tea. Or anything else in particular... typically not a

good sign.

The traditional Bong Coffee. Loaded with

twice the daily recommended dosage of sugar. Will keep you on a sugar rush for hours

on end.

This elusive beverage may be found hiding in HJB, Sup Dup or the Staff Canteen. Any South Indian you know will never waste a moment not reminding you that it’s never the same as the stuff theyget back home.

Know Your Coffee

The Original Capitalist Sin around these parts. 10 parts water, one part

flavouring. Part of a sinister conspiracy by

Nestle to drain KGP of all its short change.

A lot can happen over an empty cup of coffee while you’re sitting

around waiting for over an hour for the bill.

Playdom, Inc. is a leading social gaming company based in Mountain View, California.

We are committed to delivering the best possible player experience to more than 26

million monthly active users of our games on Facebook, MySpace and iPhone.

Fueled by explosive growth of our games on Facebook and an expanding pipeline of

new games and features, we may be the fastest growing social gaming company on

the planet. How do we do it? We're obsessed with one thing: our players.

Playdom has now started operations in Bangalore, India. The Bangalore office is an

independent game studio where we hope to attract some of the smartest people in

the country who believe in the future of social gaming.

We don’t try to fit people into positions. Instead, we recruit the smartest people and

then build positions around them.

If you think you fit the bill, please email us at campus@playdom.in with your latest

resume.

8 AD AVENUE THE SCHOLARS’ AVENUE ²SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 13TH 2010