Digit 20091201 Scan06 Online Campaigns

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If we offer some product and service, we want to get the word out. Mostly we want that only those who might be genuinely interested should get to know. We are also interested in controlling the rate of interest generation to match the rate of production. If more people get interested than we can handle, the demand with suffer. Similarly if not enough people get interested, the supply would suffer.

The advantage of online campaigns is that these are more targetable and more measurable than advertising campaigns in traditional mediums. Because they are more fine tunable, they are usually more cost effective too. While most online campaigns used to focus on placements in various high traffic websites (clicks or impressions) and in search engines (organic or inorganic), there is a growing realization that one way communication might not be cutting it anymore.

First with blogs and then with presence in social networking sites, businesses are appreciating the value of direct interaction with their customers.

Digit 20091201 Scan05 Zero1 Awards Laptops LCD

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Awards are a double edged sword. They can guide us to the right products but only if our requirements are more or less like those of the target consumers. The problem is we don't know for what sort of a consumer did a product win the award. To complicate matters further, the selection process may not have been altogether very scientific.

Best would be to first survey the options, then create a short list, then see if some of the options have been endorsed by those in the know. Also keep a tab on after sales service because even though electronics have become so reliable, a bit of mishandling or some spike in voltage can cause a lot of trouble. In general, we should stick with established brands for better third party support and resale value.

In notebooks, HP-Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, Sony and Apple are the premium brands with Acer, Toshiba, HCL, Zenith handling the volume end. Asus, Benq, Samsung and LG are the newcomers.

Among LCD monitors, a new trend is the Monitor-TV combo. Benq MK2432 (24", Rs 17,000) and LG M237WA (23", Rs 16,000) are notable combos with FullHD resolution. The Samsung P2370HD is not available in India yet.

Digit 20091201 Scan04 Online TV and Movies

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Cable had all but killed the movie rentals business. The spread of DTH however may revive it because DTH platforms cannot be used to show pirated movies and their pay per view channels do not exactly carry the latest flicks. But then the latest movies aren't released on DVDs either.

Another factor that is helping movie rentals is the proliferation of the Internet. Depending on bandwidth, a website can offer just catalogs or catalogs plus downloads or even catalogs plus downloads plus streaming. With websites however, the problem is how to ensure legality. Sites such as BigFlix, MovieMart and SeventyMM are completely legal. Others may not be so. Another aspect is brick and mortar presence. For instance, in high demand areas, it becomes feasible to set up franchisees as with the BigFlix chain of stores, which makes the transactions a bit less cumbersome.

Digit 20091201 Scan03 Blu-ray in India

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The red laser used to read DVDs has a wavelength of 650nm. The costlier blue laser used to read Blu-ray discs has a wavelength of 405nm but thanks to better tracking, the track pitch on a Blu-ray disc is only 320nm compared to 740nm on a DVD. For this reason, a Blu-ray disc can hold about 5 times more data (25GB) than a DVD. A dual layer Blu-ray disc can hold 50GB of data (over 9 hours of HD video). The format has support for even more layers so for instance, Pioneer's 16 layer Blu-ray disc holds upto 400GB of data.

There are basically three ways to do Blu-ray. A dedicated player, a Sony PS3 console, or a computer with Blu-ray drive. If we reach price parity with the West in an year's time then the dedicated player (Sony BDP S350) we pay 20,000 Rupees for today might be available for more like 10,000 Rupees next year. The Sony PS3 console would retain most of its value because it is first and foremost a game console (and a mighty fine one at that). Similarly a PC or laptop would also retain its value because it is a primarily a computer. That said, a Blu-ray writer (Sony BWU-300S) actually costs more than a dedicated player. A Blu-Ray reader (Sony BC-5100S or Asus BC-1205PT) however, is priced around Rs 12,000. Here again, price parity with the West would cause these drives to cost half as much as they do now.

Digit 20091201 Scan02 Mobile Entertainment

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With the explosion in mobile subscriptions, we are seeing a commensurate increase in revenues of value added service providers. In my opinion, the value in value added services depends on how closed the system really is. If I am free to select my voice or data plan (as with an unlocked phone) and if my phone is smart enough to run browsers and visit various websites, most mobile VAS companies would find it difficult to earn anything out of me. It is because most phones have limited capabilities do we have to pay through our nose for so many "value added services" that are otherwise so plentiful and free on the Net. Which is not to say that all value added services are based on exploiting such limitations, some are both genuine and worthwhile.

Digit 20091201 Scan01 DVD Contents

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Digit December 2009 was a Collector's Edition with 3 Dual Layer DVDs. There were tons of customization options and software for mobile phones. What is ironic perhaps is that the Mindware DVD carried a warning: replacing the shell might throw up false positives. Magazine DVDs are so well checked for malware that most people don't even bother to scan them. Sadly on this particular DVD, one of the Foobar skins (Old n Style, I think) was indeed infected.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan06 Aamby Valley City

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I love the expanse of that wooden deck and the intricate placement of those huts. Aamby Valley City is spread over ten thousand acres in the Sahayadri mountain range. It is a planned self-contained city with 5 star amenities and ambiance. It is situated about 120 km from Mumbai and is a great weekend getaway.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan05 LG Vacuum Cleaner

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An allergic reaction is an overactive or misdirected immune response to a foreign substance. Dust mites are the bane of urban existence causing all sorts of allergies. We shed about 1.5 grams of skin flakes everyday, enough to feed almost a million mites. They thrive in mattresses, quilts and pillows due to the moisture generated by human breathing and perspiration. Sunning and beating the bedding would help but it is neither very effective nor very convenient. LG's Sani Punch vacuum cleaner punches the surface 50 times a second to suck out even the minutest of allergens and dust particles.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan04 Asin Thottumkal

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Asin has nearly flawless facial features. The eyes, nose and especially the mouth have come out lovely. My only gripe (apart from the slight over-exposure) is with the hairline being too monotonous. Some sort of parting would have helped. Another way to break the monotony could have been some kind of subtle streaking or even just some hair pin or head band.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan03 Kareena Kapoor

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I love snaps where the subject is looking away. Specifically, I love candid snaps of people in deep thought with a serious expression oblivious of what is happening around them. Here Kareena is somewhat is that sort of a state. Though the hair is a bit unmanaged and the legs are a bit awkward, the dress is nice with fabric contrast in the top (satin). The broad V neck also lends character.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan02 Lata and Asha

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Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosale have sung upwards of 50,000 songs between themselves of which only 75 are duets with each other with the last being for Aaina 1993. Enough fodder for the sibling rivalry theorists. On our planet, first leverage is decided then competition is decided. In their time, the leverage was very high with only a handful of singers around. Naturally all sorts of politics would have played out. What is remarkable is that as the elder sister, when Lata was no longer allowed to keep Asha with her at school so she could babysit her, she too stopped attending school.

Marie Claire 20091201 Scan01 Asin Thottumkal

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Even though the hair is slightly unmanaged and the hairline is so monotonous, I rate this image at a 100 simply because the genius lies elsewhere; in the colours and especially in the pose including how the hair crowns the face. And in the expression on the face. The background colour and texture, the dress colour and sequins, the lipstick colour, all are nearly flawless and surprisingly complementary.

Chip 20091201 Scan05 Personalize your phone

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It is quite remarkable, the extent to which we can personalize our phones nowadays. And also the number of users doing it and the extent of personalization keeps on increasing every day all thanks to these wonderful sites which allow users to network and share their experiences. Visit these sites to get the most out of your mobile phones: zedge.net, mobile9.com, getjar.com, mobango.com, crazy4mobilez.com, emobilez.com, iphone-tool.com, fsmobilez.com, axefeather.com and flycell.com

Chip 20091201 Scan04 Top Threats 2009

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According to a recent report, cyber crime has assumed gigantic proportions. There is an urgent need to monitor and secure our PCs and networks. We need to upgrade our browsers to the latest, more secure versions: IE 8, FF3.5, Opera 10, Safari 4. We need to fortify other aspects of our PC too. There are a number of free tools available on the Net such as Advanced System Care (system optimization), Zone Alarm (firewall), Avast! (anti-virus), Spybot (anti-spyware), Virtual Box (sandbox), No Script (Firefox extension) that can secure our interaction with the Internet.

Also because cyber criminals use Blackhat SEO to fool search engines, we need to frequent sites like mywot.com and siteadvisor.com or better still, install their respective plugins in our browsers for real time and continuous checking. Another way to avoid such sites is to use social bookmarking sites such as delicious.com (general) or Sphinn.com (specialized) and many others.

Chip 20091201 Scan03 Budget P55 Boards

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Among the new set of processors from Intel, the Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3, the desktop processors Core i7 960, 950, 940 and 920 on a X58 LGA1366 board are meant for high end workstations. The Core i7 870 and 860 along with the Core i5 750 on a P55 LGA1156 board are meant for mainstream PCs. While the Core i5 670, 660 and 650 along with the Core i3 540 and 530 on an H55 LGA1156 board are meant for Home Theatre PCs because the on-chip Clarkdale GPU is optimized for HD playback.

The best deal however is the Core i5 750 on a P55 LGA1156 board because the absence of Hyper Threading does not cause as serious a reduction in performance as one would suspect. This scan presents a number of P55 boards to pair with the Core i5 750.

Chip 20091201 Scan02 Desktop and Mobile CPUs

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My most favourite gadget of all time is the desktop PC simply because it is so open. Sadly the architecture of the desktop PC being open is one thing, making use of its openness is quite another. 95% people do have the time to actually fuss over the various components that should go into building their PC and yet only about 5% are seen to do so. Maybe because the system is set up that way.

So in such a system when I see a table like this, I understandably go berserk. It is crazy. Actually it is beyond crazy. First select the top 100 processors from the jungle out there. Then measure their performance from every angle then calculate a weighted index, and finally work out the price performance ratio. Fussing over becomes super easy.

For Desktop PCs, the top CPUs are AMD Athlon II X2 250, Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300, AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE, AMD Phenom II X4 620 and Intel Core i5-750. For Laptops, the top CPUs are Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, Intel Core i7-720 QM and Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400.

Chip 20091201 Scan01 Electronic Waste

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We all need to do our bit for the environment. One way we can help is to cut down on our electronic waste. But to a certain extent, it is the electronics companies who are more responsible. They are the ones who never bothered to make their products less proprietory, more repairable, more reusable, more future-proof and so on.

Showtime 20091201 Scan06 Celina Jaitley

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I rate this image to be among Celina Jaitley's better ones. It is a bit risque but not out of line altogether. In fact it has been able to depict a curious mix of innocence and sensuality. I absolutely love the hair, the colours and the expression. Definitely a keeper for Celina's fans.

Showtime 20091201 Scan05 Aman Verma

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I like the effort Aman Verma has put into his makeover especially with those US military dog tags, mutton chop beard and heavy bracelet. I would have liked the jeans to be torn all over. Similarly the vest should have had more texture and maybe even some grease too. Actually, this sort of a look demands more ripped biceps and preferably a clean shaven chest.

Showtime 20091201 Scan04 Kashmera Shah

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Except for that tad bit of over-exposure and that kind of unnatural right hand, this image is nearly perfect. Almost poster quality. I especially like the pose, dress, toning and expression. The mood gets conveyed quite effortlessly.