For General use.

Who is APPATAKAR really?

APPATAKAR  is the word which is regularly doing the rounds these days and is being often used in Tamil lingo, you would often hear people saying something like “Nee ena avalo periya Appatakar ah?”. So what does this word actually mean and what is the real reason for using it?.

FYI it actually refers to Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar, popularly known as Thakkar Bapa, who was a famous social reformer and a spiritually sound man, The Government of India even issued a stamp in his honor in 1969. He was a very knowledgeable person and an expert in many fields, to such a level that he would promptly answer any question that was fired at him and Thakkar Bapa was popular in Madras(now Chennai) as APPA THAKKAR (there is also a school there by that name to tribute him).So if anyone was an expert in his field they jokingly called him Periya Appa Thakkar meaning “BIG APPA THAKKAR” and in due course it was made into APPATAKAR. Now we call a person Appatakar when he acts like a show-off
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'Flying car' to end your traffic woes

WELLINGTON: A car, which doubles up as a plane, took-off for the first time in public during the afternoon air show on the first day of EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 

The prototypes of the car-plane hybrid, Terrafugia Transition, have been displayed at AirVenture for eight years now, but only in 2013 did the vehicle fly and drive in public, Stuff.co.nz reported. 

The Massachusetts-based company is hoping to market its drivable airplane to pilots, who detest being grounded by bad weather or have difficulty traveling after they land, the report said. 

Richard Gersh, Terrafugia vice president of business development, said that the hybrid provides the convenience of having your car and plane in one package. 

A 'dumbbell' to exercise thumbs of phone addicts

      

      NEW YORK: Thumbell, a dumbbell-like miniature weight has been designed to help people exercise their thumbs and aid smartphone users to fight off fatigue. 

            A UK mobile service provider is encouraging textaholics to turn their thumbs into lean, mean pressing machines with their tiny new Thumbells. The mobile service company and device provider O2 claims that over 26 million in the UK have complained of thumb pain in the past five years — after spending hours gaming, web browsing, and using social networks on their smartphones, 'New York Daily News' reported. 

         "Our research shows that excessive usage of the phone can leave people with sore thumbs, so we want our customers to make sure their thumbs are well looked after so they can make use of all the great technology that is available at their fingertips," David Johnson, general manager of devices for O2, told ABC News. The 65gmThumbell is currently being tested internally at the company.

Thumbell, a dumbbell-like miniature weight has been designed to help people exercise their thumbs and aid smartphone users to fight off fatigue.  

Detail about google glass

Google Glass: what you need to know

Back in early 2012, before the world had heard of Google Glass, the tech world was ablaze with rumours that the search giant was beavering away on augmented reality goggles.

As the days went by, it was clear that not only was this true, but that Google's dream of wearable technology was far, far closer to release than anyone would have guessed.

Roll forward just over a year and the first versions are in the hands of developers who went into a lottery to fork out $1,500 for their own pair of spectacles.

TechRadar has had time with the Google Glass Explorerso you can find plenty more information right there.

But what exactly is Google Glass? Why is it attracting all this attention and what are the implications - both good and bad - of having a Google-eye view of the world?

What is Google Glass?

Google Glass is an attempt to free data from desktop computers and portable devices like phones and tablets, and place it right in front of your eyes.

Essentially, Google Glass is a camera, display, touchpad, battery and microphone built into spectacle frames so that you can perch a display in your field of vision, film, take pictures, search and translate on the go.

The principle is one that has been around for years in science fiction, and more recently it's become a slightly clunky reality. In fact, the "heads-up display" putting data in your field of vision became a reality as early as 1900 when the reflector sight was invented.

Google Glass uses display technology instead to put data in front (or at least, to the upper right) of your vision courtesy of a prism screen. This is designed to be easily seen without obstructing your view. According to Google the display is "the equivalent of a 25-inch high definition screen from eight feet away". There's no official word on native resolution, but 640 x 360 has been widely mooted.

Overlaying data into your vision has obvious benefits; many of which are already functional in Google Glass. Directions become more intuitive (although it sounds like there is no GPS on board so you will have to pair it with your phone), you can view real-time translations or transcriptions of what is being said, and you can scroll through and reply to messages - all on the fly.

The embedded camera obviously does not need a viewfinder because it is simply recording your first-person perspective, allowing you to take snaps or footage of what you are actually seeing.

Any function that requires you to look at a screen could be put in front of you.

Controlling this data is the next neat trick. With a microphone and touchpad on one arm of the frame, you can select what you want to do with a brief gesture or by talking to the device, and Google Glass will interpret your commands.

Google Glass can also provide sound, with bone-induction technology confirmed. This vibrates your skull to create sound, which is both more grisly sounding and much less cumbersome than traditional headphones.

What can Google Glass do?

As well as Google's own list of features, the early apps for Google Glass provide a neat glimpse into the potential of the headset.

As well as photos and film - which require no explanation - you can use the Google hangout software to video conference with your friends and show them what you're looking at.

You'll also be able to use Google Maps to get directions, although with GPS absent from the spec list, you'll need to tether Glass to your phone.

"Is Glass cool and entirely novel? Yes, it certainly is. Is it a device that will change the life of, or even just prove useful to, the average consumer? That's doubtful."

To do that, Google offers the MyGlass app. This pairs your headset with an Android phone. As well as sharing GPS data, this means messages can be received, viewed on the display, and answered using the microphone and Google's voice-to-text functionality.

Google has given its Glass project a big boost by snapping up voice specialists DNNresearch.

That functionality will also bring the ability to translate the words being spoken to you into your own language on the display. Obviously you'll need a WiFi connection or a hefty data plan if you're in another country, but it's certainly a neat trick if it works.

Third parties are also already developing some rather cool/scary apps for Google Glass - including one that allows you to identify your friends in a crowd, and another that allows you to dictate an email.

The New York Times app gives an idea how news will be displayed when it's asked for: a headline, byline, appropriate image and number of hours since the article was published are displayed.

Other cool ideas include a air carrier's suggestion that you could haveflight flight details beamed to you while you are waiting at the airport. Basically, the sky's the limit.

If you want to know if Google Glass is any good - TechRadar's Alex Roth spent time with the device and said the following:

"Is Glass cool and entirely novel? Yes, it certainly is. Is it a device that will change the life of, or even just prove useful to, the average consumer? That's doubtful."

What are the Google Glass specifications?

As well as a mooted 640 x 360 display, the built-in camera is a 5MP snapper that can film at 720p.

Battery life is apparently a day, although that's with the usual "typical use" caveat, which probably excludes a lot of videoing.

There's 16GB of flash memory built into the device, although only 12GB will be available for user storage. The device will sync to your Google Drive in the cloud

Bluetooth and WiFi will be built in, but no GPS chip - so the Glass will probably work best alongside an Android phone, although you can pair with any Bluetooth enabled phone.

The frame will come with replacement and adjustable nose pads, and is expected to be both lightweight and extremely robust. It will also have a touchpad along one arm.

The sound will be produced through bone conduction transfer - vibrating your skull to transmit to your ears.

There is a Micro USB cable and charger for the dev versions, and all of the above specs are expected to be replicated in the consumer versions when they arrive.

Lastly, Google Glass will come in five colours: Charcoal, Tangerine, Shale, Cotton and Sky. Using Glass's translation ability to turn that list from marketing speak to plain English, that's black, orange, grey, white and blue.

What's the Google Glass price?

The Google Glass Explorer (the developer version being sent out now)costs $1,500 - around £985 or AU$1,449.

The consumer versions, which are expected to arrive by the end of 2013, are expected to be a little cheaper, although any actual prices remain speculative. They are unlikely to be super-cheap - but Google's success with the Nexus 7 tablet may prompt the company to subsidise some of the cost.

When is the Google Glass release date?

A final release date has not been announced, but sources tell us that theoriginal suggestion of 2014 was actually overly pessimistic and we could see Google Glass arrive in time for the end of 2013. So start readying your letter to Santa.

I already wear glasses. Will Google Glasses work for me?

Yes - Google is already working on designer versions which will include prescription lenses.

Who is providing the competition?

Of course, with something as high profile as Google Glass, every major company has been linked with building a competitor.

Apple and Microsoft are Google's most obvious rivals - and both are rumoured to be working on their own equivalents. Sony has gone so far as to patent a Glass-alike offering. Vuzix, Oakley and Baidu are other numbered among the potential Glass rivals, and they won't be the last. Indeed, one Taiwanese manufacturer Oculon are readying a cheaper, higher spec'ed (ahem) version.

Interestingly, Google might already be considering its own successor to Glass if this patent is to be believed. The patented design looks more like regular glasses, following the style of Google's potential competitors.

Is Project Glass evil?

Obviously with any new technology there is the potential for misuse - and Google Glass is, of course, a little problematic when it comes to privacy.

Of course, Google would say that it is merely taking the functionality that we already have in our portable devices and making it more readily accessible.

A lot will come down to personal preference. For many, the prospect of being filmed by someone from their glasses will make them uneasy, having conversations logged and transcribed will be divisive, and the inclusion of facial recognition would clearly be problematic.

Google has released some information regarding how you know when people are filming through the device, which should quash some people's fears that the device will be used as a perving mechanism.

Essentially, if there is a light on then Google Glass is filming you or taking your picture.

A strip club and a bar have already earned cheap publicity by pre-emptively banning Glass, and TechRadar columnist Gary Marshall has had his say, he's also looked at just who fears Google Glass and why.

Design your own protocol

Among the most scary and official sounding terms in computing we find the word ‘protocol’. Its meaning really isn’t that scary, however. Just like when used in other contexts, all it means is a collection of agreements about how to go about something. In this case we’re talking about communication protocols, protocols which allow two or more devices and/or applications to communicate with each other.

Much like how humans have developed their own communication protocols, basically. We also do a handshake part during which we initialize the connection, whether it’s by smiling at each other, remarking on the beautiful/terrible weather or asking after something specific, depending on whether there was previous contact or not. Possible failure modes include getting ignored (Server Time-out), getting slapped in the face after a failed pick-up line (Connection Closed By Host) or interrupted by the girl’s muscular boyfriend (Connection Reset By Peer), as well as addressing the wrong person (Connection Denied).

After successfully establishing the connection, information is exchanged. For humans both during handshake and communication the form used for information exchange is a so-called language, a rather organic and informal set of syllables which when put into the right order (‘spelling’ and ‘grammar’) can be used to evoke understanding in the receiving party. To even get to this level, humans needed tens of thousands of years to evolve a series of grunts and other random noises into something coherent. Suffice it to say that human communication protocols are elaborate, imprecise, filled with misunderstandings and are a clear example of how not to design a communication protocol 

Finally, ending the connection. Again, for humans this can take many forms, generally fails to result in a clean termination and can add many more minutes to a connection. Aren’t we glad now that we are designing a communication protocol for computers?

All joking aside, designing a communication protocol is fairly easy. The first choice we have to make is whether we want the protocol to be binary or text-based. Text-based protocols include the HTTP protocol, which is what we use to browse webpages with. Main benefit of it is that it’s easy for humans to write it out and debug it. Main disadvantage is that it’s less precise and exact in that generally you can’t parse it in one go, can’t instantly verify that it is valid as a whole and using the wrong text encoding can mess things up quite badly. You’ll quickly find that it’s a cumbersome and error-prone way to go about a communication protocol. It’s no wonder that they’re fairly rarely used, mostly with network applications for some reason.

Text-based protocols have the benefit of not being affected by endianness [1], which is the byte order used by a particular system. Little endian is what Intel and AMD processors use and mean that the least important (little) bits are placed at the front of a byte, while big endian is the opposite. This means that if we take the number 14 (hexidecimal 0x0E), in little endian a resulting four-byte integer looks like this: 0E 00 00 00, whereas with big endian it looks like: 00 00 00 0E. Confusing little endian with big or the other way around will lead to interpreting the number wrongly and making our small number of 14 into a much larger number of 917,504. Oops.

To solve this problem with binary protocols which might be used in mixed endian environments, we add a magic number to the front of the header, usually two bytes with known values. By reading those we know which endianness the data is in. One example is using ‘MM’ like in TIFF file headers to indicate big endian (MSB) and ‘ll’ to indicate little endian (LSB) byte order. We can then enter a different parsing routine, or swap the byte order while parsing.

Writing out the protocol itself is a fairly easy and in my experience fun task, but I may just be a tad crazy. It is made easiest when you know what the requirements for the protocol are, but in general we start with the endianness indicator if needed, then one or more indicators identifying the header as being what is expected. I generally use the name of my company followed by the protocol name. After that the data follows. Sections within the data have their own text headers to detect corruption. Where offsets aren’t fixed such as with text strings, an unsigned integer precedes the data to indicate the length of the segment.

The basic protocol thus looks like follows:

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ll/MM        uint8(2) size        uint32 NYANKO        uint8(6) UDS            uint8(3) command        uint8(4)

To send a UDS protocol ‘LIST’ command to the server, we would use the following code, this one using a QByteArray:

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QByteArray data; data = "ll"; quint32 size = 19; for (int i = sizeof(size); i > 0 ; --i) { data.append((size >> (i * 8)) & 0xFF); } data += "NYANKOUDS"; data += "LIST";