THE REASON BEHIND IT

#4 Bluetooth

It seems like yesterday when we shared a 3mb song across Bluetooth while waiting for minutes to let the transfer complete. As of now, Bluetooth may seem a petty thing but Bluetooth was the one who started the wireless wave in the technology world. It was a replacement for the RS-232 data cables. Bluetooth was a result of the hard work done by Special Interest Group(SIG) formed by the major tech players like Nokia, Ericsson, Intel etc. They decided to unite in order to create something which would change the physical transfer of knowledge to a virtual one.

Since it was an initiative taken by all the big tech players(except some) by uniting with each other it was named after a Scandinavian king named Harald Gormsson who tried and succeeded in uniting Scandinavia. The king had a dead tooth which looked blue and hence everyone called him Bluetooth. Of course, we don't know whether he liked this name or not but if he knew what it would later become, he definitely would. The Danish name of the king was Harald Blatand whose initials when written and combined in Runic Alphabets gives us the modern logo of Bluetooth. 

Bluetooth uses short wave-length UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz. The invention of Bluetooth was a giant leap towards the future without wires. It enabled us to talk on a phone while we are driving a vehicle, it enabled us to transfer information without the help of the mighty internet, it enabled our phones to act as a remote to control everything. Today SIG has more than 30,000 members(Mobile phone companies etc.) which are providing the Bluetooth to everyone. 

But change is constant and today, Bluetooth is mostly replaced by an option in each and every smartphone called Hotspot. It has managed to overcome almost every flaw of Bluetooth including Speed. So next time you turn on Bluetooth on your phone I hope you know how important it was once upon a time.

-Rtr. Vishwa Joshi


#3 Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a term commonly used today, something that makes heads turn and ignites inquisitiveness. But have you ever explored the science behind it?

 Here’s an insight:
Artificial Intelligence is, of course, the simulation of human intelligence by machines. We’re all well aware of the several uses of AI today – entertainment, medicine, banking and more. Directly or indirectly it is serving us every day in numerous ways, like through virtual assistants or by making decisions easier with music/movie suggestions based on our previous judgments. Tasks like voice and facial recognition have evolved through AI.
There are a lot of functions AI performs that we aren’t entirely aware of. For example, it helps make predictions for the prices of items on e-commerce sites or displays ads based on our previous interest
Problem with AI assistants
Microsoft’s artificial intelligence assistant Tay – an acronym for Thinking About You, was suspended after it created a generated of controversy on Twitter. It began responding with racist and abusive retorts to people who started trolling it. The assistant, however, cannot be blamed as it drew it’s learning from the people and reported just the same way any other human would have.
AI is as Biased as Humans
In another controversy – Google Photos tagged two black people as Gorillas in 2015. It was also observed that Google showed higher paying jobs to men more than women.
The question is here what causes these drawbacks when AI is based on algorithms which seem to be pretty neutral? The answer lies in the fact that algorithms are built and maintained by humans, who in turn are biased by nature.
The Trust Factor
Do you trust AI enough to give away all your personal information – like your credit card details?

It is indeed remarkable that AI has and will continue to change our lives in remarkable ways. Not having to deal with maps and directions or spend a lot of time fiddling with data to find what we need is convenient, sure. Gradually, AI’s presence in our lives will be much larger.

-Rtr. Khushi Agarwal 

#2 Li-Fi

Many of you might have not even heard about this but this is the alternative equivalent of wi-fi. Well, it works on the light so let's get to how it works and why it came into being. For starters, it can deliver speed up to 224 gbs per second. Light Fidelity or Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) system running wireless communications traveling at very high speeds.Li-Fi uses common household LED (light emitting diodes) light bulbs to enable data transfer.

The term Li-Fi was coined by University of Edinburgh Professor Harald Haas during a TED Talk in 2011. Wi-fi and Li-Fi both work on the system of electromagnetic waves, wi-fi on radio waves while li-fi works on visible light. data is fed into an LED light bulb (with signal processing technology), it then sends data (embedded in its beam) at rapid speeds to the photodetector (photodiode).The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs are then converted by the 'receiver' into an electrical signal.The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream that we would recognize as web, video and audio applications run on the internet enables devices.Li-Fi signals cannot pass through walls, so in order to enjoy full connectivity, capable LED bulbs will need to be placed throughout the home. Not to mention, Li-Fi requires the light bulb is on at all times to provide connectivity, meaning that the lights will need to be on during the day.

You might wonder, well why do we need it if we have wifi? And it works well enough (unless you have MTNL connection). The answer is wifi has four problems capacity, efficiency, availability, and security. Connect 10 people to wifi and you end up with snail slow WiFi speeds, Li-Fi solves the capacity problem. It can connect more devices than wi-fi. Radio waves heat up at the stations where they are produced and the system has 5% efficiency. And production of radio waves is even costly so it had availability problems too. While lo-fi which works on LED doesn't have that problem. Radio waves pass through walls making it easy to hack. Li-fi surpasses that problem too!Maybe one day we wouldn't have to switch WiFi on separately, just switch on lights and you are good to go.

-Rtr. Prashil Shah

#1 Fidget Spinners

If you're an internet addict or use the internet at all, you would've noticed this small toy-like thing doing rounds. Right, fidget spinners. Fidget Spinners are Everywhere! No one knows who invented it, but if you've ever got your hands on one, you know this is your new addiction.

 

So what are these fidget spinners really?

A fidget spinner has two or three paddle-shaped blades attached to a central core.

When you press the core, the blades are set in a motion and the momentum also gives a sensory effect to us.

Why was this invented?

Some researchers claim that this created to help ADHD patients focus better. While a group of scientists believe in the theory, a number of them couldn't see the co-relation between these spinners and ADHD patients and people with other attention disorders. The movements seem to suggest an activity and a way to enhance cognitive tasks.

Nonetheless, this toy has been on Amazon's top 20 best sellers ever since it was released about 3 months back and has been flying off shelves of every other toy store. There are hundreds of variations available in today's creative market, though they revolve about a fixed blueprint. These fidget spinners have a major advantage of being more portable than your average fidget toy, therefore have won the hearts of thousands of people worldwide.

These little spinners have made their ways into the hearts of not only the children but also the adults!

So what makes them so much fun?

The simple joy of being about to fidget without annoying people!

How many times have you heard your mom or other people tell you to stop fidgeting around with things, for example, constantly liking a pen. Happens to the best of us, we are curious we see something we want to figure out what it is, we fidget.

But this is one toy, that doesn't portray us fidgeters in a bad light, so we can fidget away!

Great Stress Buster:

A lot of people have also noticed that it is a great stress buster, and it also is way more fun than your average desk ball or bug.

The movements again are responsible to help cope up with stress and helps us stay under control and reduce anxiety or stress.

Nervous for your next meeting? Grab 'em now.

Some smokers have also suggested that these have helped them quit smoking but there is no scientific evidence as such, but if it does help smokers, then bring them on, the world could use fewer smokers.

Super cool designs:

Initially built around a ninja star kind of design, these little spinners have evolved a long, long way. They now come as fidget cubes, your favorite car logo, or even as Batman! With so many exciting designs to choose from, these become an irresistible deal!

-Rtr. Khushi Agarwal