Preview + Feedback, May 2009

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Industry Connect
We talk to Atindriya Bose of Sony Computer Entertainment about India's first PS2 game, Hanuman.

Buzz
Do we have to wait even more for 3G? Get all the dirt on recent developments in technology

Connections


Web Watch
Bored of the way Google simply lists search results? Read up on new ways of organising results.

Mobile Watch
If you are lost, and need directions, it's now just a phone call away.

Vacation Planning
Make the internet your travel agent.

The Mobile Warrior's Backpack
Find out how the true gadget geek takes a hike

Geek on Holiday
What's all the wizardry in Agent 001's backpack?

Digital Life


Drool Maal
A phone from a watchmaking company, a lounger that appeases your senses, and more.

The Demoscene
We trace the evolution of the mostly underground demoscene

Hobbies to learn online
From paper folding to gardening, if you are interested, you can get help

Sci-Tech

Powering the future
We have a close look at interesting and novel ways that electricity will be produced in the future

Camera Sensors
CMOS And CCD Image Sensor Breakthroughs Promise A "Bright" Future

Sixth Sense
MIT auguments reality with information exchange in realtime, on real objects.

Tried & Tested
Camcorders
The latest camcorders to hit the streets, including 5 HD camcorders

DSLRs Tested
We look at some of the best digital SLR cameras in the market

Ergonomic Devices
Aggressive work or play requires comfortable tools, we look at ergonomic keyboards, mice and chairs

Bazaar

Toolbox

Stellarium
Set up your own portable planetarium

Image Hosting
We present exciting ways to share your holiday memories with your nearest and dearest

XBMC Workshop
How to set up and operate a free media center software on your HTPC

Tips & Tricks
Tips on Advanced System Care 3, Google, XChat IRC, and K3b.

Q&A
Digit answers all your technical queries

Street Smart

Agent 001
Agent 001 gives the lowdown on a variety of accessories to spruce up your camera.

Killer Rigs
Choose the best PC for your budget

Consumer Protection
We take a look inwards, on our own costumer service, and at the HP laptop support.

Price Watch
The price on the streets for the latest technology

Tech@Work

Smart Soho
Using Virtualisation to serve your business needs.

Work@tech
Career story on chip design and microprocessor engineering

Developer Corner
Power Shell in all its glory

Esc
Websites to Waste time on
We scour the web, and find the websites for when you have time to kill

Photography tricks
Easy but stunning effects with a camera and an image editing software

Game Review: Ninja Blade

Game Review: Hanuman

Most addictive Linux games
Small games that take less than five minutes to install, but forever to master

Unwind
Last Word


Fast Track to Freeware -- Not a listing of software, but workshops on how to use the software to accomplish common tasks



DVD1
Tools
Multimedia
Apple iTunes 8.1.1
Vue 7 Pioneer 7.0
ALShow 1.7
AndreaMosaic 3.31
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer Free 1.20
BurnAware Free 2.3.3
Contenta-Converter Basic 4.2
DarkWave Studio 2.7.2
DivX Player 7.1.0.74
Free FLV to WMV Convert 2.7
Free PowerPoint to PDF Converter 5.5
Fresh View 7.68
GIMP 2.6.6
ImageVisu 5.0.0
Light Boogie 2.9.84
Moo0 ImageViewer 1.59
Need4 Free Audio CD Ripper 5.6.0.3
Performa Pro 2.1
Picasa 3.1 Build 71.18
Plato DVD Creator Pro 7.88
Pos Free Photo Editor 1.20
RadioSure 1.8.820
TwistedBrush Open Studio 15.73
virtualStudio 1.0.37
WIA-Loader 1.5.2.0
WildFire CD Ripper 2.9
Zortam Mp3 Media Studio 9.10

Internet
SeaMonkey 1.1.15
Hermes P2P 2.9
Billeo 2.0.0.15
BitKinex 3.1.1
BitsCast 0.14
FileZilla 3.2.3.1
GigaTribe 2.51
Gladinet Cloud Desktop Professional Edition 0.9.92 beta
InternetScrap 2.40
LimeWire 5.1.2
Make Your Own Browser 3.19.09
NetPen 0.97
Orbit Downloader 2.8.8
Skimmer beta
Vuze 4.2
Xcelerator 1.2

System
Moo0 SystemMonitor 1.37
Allway Sync 9.2.11
AutoRuns 9.41
Daphne 1.41
Driver Magician Lite 3.5
Fast Duplicate File Finder 1.1
Fresh UI 8.28
Hawkscope 0.6.0
Micro-Sys Launcher 1.6.5
OnTarget Data Backup 3.0.4
Process Tamer 2.10.01
Restoration 3.2.13
Screen Mode Switch 2.0.2.1
TweakNow RegCleaner 4.0.5
Wise Disk Cleaner 4.23
Wise Registry Cleaner 4.23

Essentials
.net Framework 2.0
.net Framework 3.5
Avast Home Edition 4.8
Comodo Internet Security Pro 3.5.55810.432
Foxit Reader 3.0
Free Download Manager 2.5 build 758
Irfan View 4.20
Java(TM) 2 Runtime
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack FULL 4.2.5
Opera 9.64
Silverlight
Spybot Search and Destroy 1.6.0
VLC Player 0.9.4
WinRAR 3.80
µTorrent 1.8.1

Updates And Add-ons
Adobe Shockwave
Java runtime update
Windiws Vista SP2 RC

Gaming
Games
Wanted: Weapons of Fate
Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
Codename Panzers: Cold War MP
Flock
Myth II: Soulblighter v1.5.1

Game Trailers
Jumpgate Evolution
Alpha Protocol
Black Prophecy
Blade and Soul
Burn Zombie Burn
E.Y.E
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
Metal Rage
Modern Warfare 2
Prototype

Entertainment
HD Trailers
Big Man Japan
12 Rounds
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Hunger
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Sleep Dealer
Surveillance
The Song of Sparrows
Where the Wild Things Are
Year One

Animations
Hector's Hectic Life
The Cobweb Hotel
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
Linux
Essentials
7zip
amarok
Audacity
Mplayer Codec Pack
Pidgin
Vuze
Wine

Distros
Mandriva 2009.1 RC2
Nexenta 1.0.1
System Rescue CD 1.1.7
XPud 0.8.9

DVD2
Digit

Digit Videos
Bryce modeling
Asus P565 Unboxing
Bryce animation
Dell XPS 13 Unboxing
Samsung Pixon Unboxing
Watchmen
XBMC

Magazine Contents
Demos
DExposE2
Hanuman
Sixth Sense
Stellarium 0.10.2
Windows Powershell
XBMC

Fast Track
Camstudio 2.0
Tagscanner 5.3.1
Thunderbird 2.0
Advanced SystemCare Free v3
AVG Anti-Virus Free
Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus
Burn4Free 6.6.0.0
Byrce 5.5
Captureflux 5.2
Cathy 1.10
Clipboard Magic 4.01
Comodo BackUp 1
Easus Partition Master 3.5 Home Edition
EasyCleaner 2.0.6.380
FeedDemon
Feedreader 3.1.3
Foobar 2000 0.9.6
Fx Media Batcher
Handbrake 0.9.3
ImageForge
Mediacoder 0.7.0
Paint.net 3.36
Picasa 3
Pictomio
Sib Icon Editor 4.0
SimpleOCR 3.1
SyncBack Freeware 3.2.19.0
TruVeo Video Manager
VideoSpin 2.0
VideoThang
Virtual Dub 1.8.8
WaterMark V2
Wavepad
Wavosaur 1.0.4.0
Winamp 5.5.5.1
Tools
Create
Cool MP3 Mixer 1.01
Expresseur 2.0.8b
Wavosaur
ActiveSolid 2.6.8
AD Sound Recorder 4.4
Cfont Pro 3.7.0.3
CineCenter 1.3.2
Decompile Flash Free 2.0.2.1512
DipTrace 2.0
EasyFLV Streaming Video 8.0 build 0.0.1
Episode 5.1
EximiousSoft Banner Maker 2.72
FaceMorpher Multi 2.51
Flash Protection Gold 1.41
Flex jpg Animator 8.77
Free PowerPoint to PDF Converter 5.5
Image Clip Hunter 8.10
Media Pop Up Ad Maker 8.0
RonyaSoft CD DVD Label Maker 1.03.01
SmoothDraw 3.1.3
Solid PDF Creator 5.1.204
SquidNet Network Distribution Processor 2.18
Sweet Home 3D 1.8
Wirecast 3.5.1

Productivity
Spryka Desktop Budget Lite 2.0
Notepad2 3.0.20
AceMoney Lite 3.16
Calendar Magic 17.2
Efficient Diary 1.51 build 25
Evernote 3.1.0.1107
FET - Free Timetabling Software 5.9.3
NeedForTrade Studio Lite 3.2
PhoneTray 1.33
Rainlendar Lite 2.5 Build 72
RGS-CardMaster 6.0.5
Savings Bond Wizard 4.15
Simple Home Budget Lite 1.7.5
Smart Diary 4.40
Smartstock 7.2
Splendid City Scheduler Lite 6.6.5.3
Task Coach 0.72.1
Text Encoder 2.0
Tiny Pad 2.0
Wammu 0.29

Office
Dolphinity Organiser 2.1
NolaPro 4.0.4394
BillQuick Lite 2009 10.0.60
BillQuick Web Suite 2009 10.0.68
Brochure Template 1.0
Ghost Meeting 1.1
GreenLights 2.1
My Tenant Management System (MySQL as Database) 1.5
Nebula Business Suite 1.1
POSI 1.1.0.4
Primitive Word Counter 1.09
SnapshotMyVM 1.0
SoHoMoney 9.04.06
TortoiseSVN 1.6.1
Yugma Web Conferencing 4.1
TenderWiz
SoftDrom RFBServer 1.0.4

Videos
Astronomy 160
Lecture 2 - Planetary Orbits
Lecture 3 - Our Solar System and the Pluto Problem
Lecture 4 - Discovering Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters

Linux Journal
AIR Applications
DCop
Dropbox
Host File Tricks
Network Troubleshooting
RSI Break
Rsync
Symbolic Links
Top Commands
Upgrade Linux - Install IE7

Bleeding Edge TV
Bleeding Edge TV 300: White Beats by Dr. Dre
Bleeding Edge TV 301: Mophie Juice Pack
Bleeding Edge TV 302: Zune Originals hands-on
Bleeding Edge TV 303: Beats by Dr. Dre versions
Bleeding Edge TV 304: An in-depth look a LASIK part 1
Bleeding Edge TV 305: An in-depth look a LASIK part 2
Bleeding Edge TV 306: An in-depth look a LASIK part 3

Introduction to Robotics
Lecture 1 - Course Overview
Lecture 2 - Spatial Descriptions
Lecture 3 - Homogeneous Transform Interpretations

[Devrath_ND]

It is going to be fantastic week ahead with magazine.

Good Contents in Magazine and DVD's especially Robotics and Work@tech.

Could have been a great package but by giving fasttrack on freeware you just spoilt the party.

[nitinm]

The Problem continues..... no digit archive...... And by the way where is the Game Section..??????????? There are only reviews and videos....... I was expecting fast track to dot net or SQL..........The Mag looks ok.. Thanks for rescue CD

[Sathish]

dvd contents good..
but fast track to free ware.. once again repeated... im really disappointing.
lot of new topics have discussed in suggestion sections. but nothing was imposed..

[alexanderthegreat]

Whatever happened to the games section??? Also, could you guys please hurry up with the Digit Archive?

[krishnandu.sarkar]

gr8 dvd contents as well as articles...............specially Robotics......

But Fast Track is dissapointing............

Thnx for rescue cd..........

[sarosh]

I'm not sure if something is wrong with my dvd player, but neither of the discs with the May dvd work for me. One disk of april didnt work either.

I received the May issue on the 28th of April, so it's good to see digit have successfully sorted out their delivery issues.

[topgear]

Welcome back of the good old fast track to freeware after Nov 2005 ( the 1st time I bought Digit )

But what about dreamweaver & fireworks CS4.

Thanks for those tech vids.

[saqib_khan]

WTH !! Fasttrack to freeware again.

[╬Switch╬]

FT to Freeware ??????????????????????????????????
AGAIN????????????????????????????
The only reason I buy the mag is for the FT and the articles on new technologies.
Please don't spoil the FT series by such issues.

[red_devil]

FT is THE reason why many people buy the mag and the guys come up with FAST TRACK TO FREEWARE ???

and btw, interesting that there is
Websites to Waste time on
We scour the web, and find the websites for when you have time to kill


people who've read the mag..can you please tell me if they have included
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum
on the list :-P

[Raaabo]

The last fast track to freeware was a long listing of all the possible freeware available. This time around, based on popular feedback we received via email, we've given you workshops and how tos to help you actually use the software we've listed.

I hope you guys will change your mind once you read it, because there's a lot of interesting tutorials in there, and it's another step in our attempt to reduce piracy and save money for those who pay for their software.

[topgear]

Just bought the mag on yesterday night. I must admit it's an awesome issue & the fast track to freeware just rocks as I'm a freeware software user for a long time now.

Originally Posted by topgear

Welcome back of the good old fast track to freeware after Nov 2005 ( the 1st time I bought Digit )

But what about dreamweaver & fireworks CS4.

Thanks for those tech vids.

Sorry for the mistake. The nov 2005 fasttarck was essential windows tools.

The fast track to freeware was last published on March 2007. Now it's May 2009. So it's 26 months later & the contents are not repeated.

The only thing I'll suggest about this & upcoming issue is if you have to repeat
a particular fast track name just make it 2.0, 3.0 & so on.

For eg : Fast Track To Freeware 2.0

[comp@ddict]

I liked the mag, but I wished the DVD game content wud have been better. plz dun include useless games (demos are the worst). If a demo of prototype is available, tht wud hav been better than some of the other game demos.

[toofan]

Good One.

Specially the Editorial by Raboo. Its touching and today's truth. I love the Editorials by Raboo then that Senior Editor. Use of Simple Language and Day to day topics. Make me to read it at first.

Digital SLR review is Nice but with only few options to look about. (Although I am not buying any one soon as I had bought Cannons SX110IS but very interested in them after my purchase.)

[manudhiman6]

Oh ****, it's again !!!!

You guys are really doing such a fantastic job, but I'm little bit disappointed from you, What's the reason you are not giving "Digit Software Archive". It's the main part !
I ever tries to update it, it hands up, n ......

Plz avail it or give any other way to get it. Plzzzzzzzzz.
N ya, this month's issue is rocking.
Thanks.

[vamsi360]

Raaboo,

One serious advice. The Essential section needs to be updated and I think the section has more audience than anyother(i use it after my windows reinstallation) but the software are outdated and also there are more good ones available for free.

My list:

.net Framework 3.5 SP1
JDK 1.6 update13 (give JDK not JRE as it includes JRE also and the compiler javac)
Winamp
VLC 0.9.9
7-zip or Peazip (note that Winrar is not freeware but you are mentioning it as free.)
Free Download Manger
uTorrent
XAMPP or EasyPHP 3.0 a must
Opera, Firefox, IE8 all three are must not only Opera so that users have their own choices.
Windows Live Essentials full
Notepad++ a must
XChat
Revo Uninstaller
Adobe Reader 9.1
Paint.NET

Please consider these as a serious advice and I hope many will be benifited from this compilation

[ax3]

@Raaboo ...... plz do start email service 2 subscriber abt our copy dispached & details of he courier company also ....

as v cannot track our issue & it arrives LATE if v JUST wait .....

many ppl HERE will agree with me .....

[MetalheadGautham]

@Raaabo: Tatoo your head. Looks sorta dumb when left blank.

Other than that: Well, I think you could include a page with updated prices of all reviewed hardware and gadgets. Would be really helpful to choose, because by dividing digit benchmark scores by price we can get better VFM ratings. While benchmark scores don't change, price changes and hence so does performance/price ratio. I still haven't forgiven digit for giving best buy to an Rs. 6,000 8600GT an year or two back when its actual price was 4500 and it was already eclipsed by HD3650.

[vamsi360]

DVD contents not nice these days.

The linux distros are all alphas and betas. Why?
If you have more space then have a look at Debian Leny, Cent OS and a whole bunch of distros listed in distrowatch.com.
Why not give the ubuntu repo in DVDs?

MS Office service packs given previous months were also useless. Why SP1,2,3? if only SP3 is sufficient?
BTW this month Office 2007 SP2 is released so you should have waited for one month.

Again why not have more focus on the developer section. You can give SQL Server 2008 trail. The VS2008SP1 given by you is not actually SP1 it is instead the old SP none version and no one noticed it. I have installed it yesterday over VS2008 and noticed that it is the same. Have a serious look at your DVD compilation.

[toofan]

Agent 001 was on holiday and the packaging he does is some what foolish.

he takes two types of Ear pieces for listening Music.
And two type of GPS devices. One nOkia N 95 and other Imate KJam. Everyone knows for what N95 8Gb is made. first you spend 30 thousand on N95 then another 13000 on that GPS tracking device. And after that you still need IPOD touch.
for what? Listining Music on Creative EP630 & Grado SR 225. Why doesn't he uses N95 for listining music.

If he needs only a Phone to talk and seperate Music devise then why he bought N95. He might have just spent 5-10k and got a decent Mobile with all the necessary features.

He needed extra 2 bags for his gadegets.

What you all think about this. And agent be a bit smart.

[ratedrsuperstar]

^i did not find anything wrong except the imate phone.besides why is digit doin this every year,with the same devices used

also would like to point out the magazine is turning out excellent

but digit is cheating us by giving us tons of videos in some CVID video codec and PCM audio.wtf

being a tech magazine i expect them to use a standard h.264 and nero aac codec.besides despite most of u guyz having a HD camcorder the videos seemed so pathetic,which i think were shot from a non-HD source.

plzzz utilize the space in the dvd like u've done for the other videos(which i loved )

[ax3]

@Raaabo ... may issue is good ... bt fastrack seems 2 b ok ... my small suggestion is >> instead of unpacking vids, y not show "how 2 install or partition or re-partition OS" ... it may b Linux or Xp or Vista ... Many ppl might like that ... including me ... coz v make small mistakes while doing so ... & y waste space with HD trailers with 2 diff resolution of same movie ...

[cyberjunkie]

@ax3: 1080p HD clips look awesome but then not everyone can play 1080p content. That's the reason we carried both. Thank you for your video suggestions.

@ratedrsuperstar: The videos should run fine on most media players. Try VLC Player if the others are giving you trouble.

[damngoodman999]

What about the linux distros before 4 to 5 months Digit magazine came with full DVD content on the fedora like that if it possible on the UBUNTU,SABAYON to be in the DVD content .

[cause my friend is new digit magazine reader he has no broadband connection so downloading is not possible , it would be gr8 if we get full DVD content of UBUNTU & other distros ]

BTW , new looks & the style in the magazine is really gr8 .

thank u ..

[topgear]

Originally Posted by cyberjunkie

@ax3: 1080p HD clips look awesome but then not everyone can play 1080p content. That's the reason we carried both. Thank you for your video suggestions.

@ratedrsuperstar: The videos should run fine on most media players. Try VLC Player if the others are giving you trouble.

I'm running all those videos on DVD with KMplayer & they are running just fine without a single hitch

[toofan]

Originally Posted by ax3

@Raaabo ... may issue is good ... bt fastrack seems 2 b ok ... my small suggestion is >> instead of unpacking vids, y not show "how 2 install or partition or re-partition OS" ... it may b Linux or Xp or Vista ... Many ppl might like that ... including me ... coz v make small mistakes while doing so ... & y waste space with HD trailers with 2 diff resolution of same movie ...

Yes the un packaging videos are just waste, U can provide "How to use those Items" and we would see how they actually perform.

And the informative videos suggested by AX3.

[vamsi_krishna]

^....Unboxing or Unpacking videos are not wate stuff. They will satisfy the people who can't buying that costly stuff but still have a heart to know much about that thing and to see know how it looks. You may say that they can see the pictures over internet of that thing. But watching a video seems good. That's what i felt when watching unboxing of UFO in last month. That is why thousands of people are watching unboxing videos on youtube... of their favourate games, consoles and pc parts.... But if you are concerned about the space it is taking. Then telling them to compress would be a good suggestion.

[toofan]

Originally Posted by vamsikrishna919

^....Unboxing or Unpacking videos are not wate stuff. They will satisfy the people who can't buying that costly stuff but still have a heart to know much about that thing and to see know how it looks. You may say that they can see the pictures over internet of that thing. But watching a video seems good. That's what i felt when watching unboxing of UFO in last month. That is why thousands of people are watching unboxing videos on youtube... of their favourate games, consoles and pc parts.... But if you are concerned about the space it is taking. Then telling them to compress would be a good suggestion.

Don't you think that by seeing unboxing its better to see how they really work.

[vamsi_krishna]

It will look amazing. But it will slam your wallet .