New 'rubber-band electronics' technology could pave the way for flexible, stretchable medical implants and consumer electronics (Photo: Shutterstock)
In the quest to develop implantable electronics to monitor the human body from within, flexibility and stretchability have been major hurdles. We’ve seen numerous developments including stretchable LED arrays, an implantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output, and an electrode array that melts onto the surface of the brain. Now researchers have developed technology that combines a porous polymer and liquid metal that allows electronics to bend and stretch to more than 200 percent their original size. While Yonggang Huang, Joseph Cummings Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University, and collaborators at the University of Illinois had previously developed electronics offering high stretchability and twistability, they still weren't stretchy enough for many applications. Although the circuits made from solid metals that are currently on the market can withstand a small amount of stretch, their conductivity plummets when they are stretched significant amounts. “With current technology, electronics are able to stretch a small amount, but many potential applications require a device to stretch like a rubber band,” said Huang, who conducted this latest research with partners at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea), Dalian University of Technology (China), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “With that level of stretchability we could see medical devices integrated into the human body.” To overcome the conductivity problem, Huang’s team created a highly porous three-dimensional structure using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), a polymer material that can stretch to three times its original size. They then placed a liquid metal (EGaIn) inside the pores that allowed electricity to flow consistently through the material, even when stretched excessively. “By combining a liquid metal in a porous polymer, we achieved 200 percent stretchability in a material that does not suffer from stretch,” Huang said. “Once you achieve that technology, any electronic can behave like a rubber band.” As well as flexible and stretchable medical devices that can be implanted inside the human body, the technology could also free consumer electronics manufacturers from the rigid designs we’re used to. The technology could pave the way for bendable consumer electronic devices, such as laptops, smartphones and tablets.
It's important to have a set idea of what you want your game to be
The creation of a game presents a plethora of challenges.
Which engine should you use? Who should you collaborate with? What's the backstory going to be, and how are you going to present it?
Which colour scheme are you going to use? Have you got enough coffee to get you through all those long nights of coding and designing?
It's an overwhelming amount of intricate detail. Get something ever so slightly wrong and people will tell you. The internet will let you know.
But good game design comes down to one simple thing: an idea. A single sentence. A physicist triggers an alien invasion. A gun is created that allows instantaneous travel between two places. A young man who can control time must rescue a princess.
Everything can be expanded from this point onwards, but it's important to always come back to that original point.
The technique's not unique to games – the best novels, films, music and art start out as a simple, broad stroke that's layered and built upon until you've got a finished product. This way, those crucial themes are never lost and the narrative never strays from its original path.
Not everyone wants to construct a complete game, though. The modding community is still huge, still adding new content to games and correcting the mistakes original developers made.
Like so many creative industries now, it's become full of eager fans who are willing to work for free to have that chance at making it to the top, the chance of becoming the next Ken Levine or Gabe Newell.
The best thing about current games – and it's never been better – is that you probably already have the tools to make an entire game from scratch.
Valve's Source SDK is a great place to start, but on top of that you've got the Unreal Development Kit, Skyrim's Creation Kit, Unity and Game Maker.
Our aim here isn't to show you the finer points of coding your first triple-A title, it's merely to show you the tools available for game construction.
We've used Valve's Source SDK to present an overview of what's needed to create a game, as well as detailing other engines and game creation programs.
"Level design should be part of a story"
There are, essentially, two ways for budding game designers to get started in the field of game design.
Modding is a tried and tested route, and a handful of big-budget titles and large studios began their illustrious lives as humble-but-brilliant add-ons developed by a handful of people.
Indie gaming is the plucky youngster of game design, and stand-out games likeBraid and Minecraft are often developed by one-man coding powerhouses.
Modding – an abbreviation of modifying – involves taking an existing game and altering its content. Just about everything in a game can be changed, from the look and dress of the characters to the colour of the sky, the design of the world, and the sounds and music.
You can also alter and create scripted events, artificial intelligence routines and ways for the player character to interact with the world.
Modding has come on leaps and bounds since the days of altering WAD files with the Doom Editing Utility.
Releasing mod tools is a win-win for publishers – not only do mods often correct or add content that should have been in the game in the first place (see STALKER Complete), but they can also be used by publishers to see what people want from games; what the trends are gaining traction.
A sudden rush of sci-fimods for, say, Skyrim, could push Bethesda into making another Fallout sequel.
Modder's toolbox
Where do you get the tools to start modding? You've probably already got them.
Open up Steam, click on 'Library', then 'All Games' and select 'Tools'. Among the multitude of dedicated servers you'll see authoring tools and software development kits (SDKs) for all the games you own.
There's little difference between the content of the two, apart from the fact that authoring tools are specifically set up for one game and its intricacies. For example, Portal's tool includes the ability to render those ubiquitous wormholes, which is pretty crucial to the game.
SDKs also include all the information you'll need to get started. You'll find a test level for you to play around with – and probably completely screw up.
There are models and objects to interact with. Some include documentation, but you'll find a mass of tutorials and walkthroughs on modding sites like www.modwiki.net, http://developer.valvesoftware.com and www.moddb.com.
It's worth noting that you need to have the game you want to mod installed on your PC. The SDK will give you access to literally every single little bit of the game, from the colour of characters' pupils to entire swathes of land – but it needs to have something to work with in the first place.
Remember, too, that games use different engines – Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead andPortal use Valve's bespoke Source engine, whereas The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Fallout 3 and New Vegas use the Gamebryo engine.
Before you even start getting to grips with modding, it's a good idea to just, y'know, play some games. Try to look at them as analytically as possible, try and work out what looks right for the setting and what feels forced and unnatural.
There are also games that can teach you a little about the basics of game design through playing them. Minecraft lets you create worlds using building blocks, which has parallels with level designers blocking out levels with Lego.
Garry's Mod serves as a great introduction to facial animations, models and physics, and lets you see how characters and objects interact – often hilariously.
Levelling up
Any game, at its most basic, consists of a level. This is the desolate landscape on which all the other elements sit – a blank canvas that's inhabited by your characters.
The undulations of a landscape or the sharp angles of an abandoned high-rise give visual cues as to the kind of environment we're inhabiting.
Smart level design – like that of BioShock – uses the environment to tell a story. Remove the characters and objects from Rapture and you'll still have a pretty good idea as to what's happened there.
Of course, a level doesn't have to be set underwater, but it should try to tell part of a bigger story.
While level editing is a complicated blend of art, maths and psychology, it's also a great way to introduce the basics of game design.
The majority of elements in a game are made up of triangles wrapped around a wireframe mesh, and this angular approach is why you'll never come across a perfectly round pipe or barrel in a game.
The environment of the game is created this way, too, and even the most awe-inspiring vistas of Skyrim are fundamentally made up of millions of tiny interconnected triangles.
The best way to take those first tender steps into level design isn't through an SDK, though. It's through one of the most powerful and easy-to-use 3D programs in recent years – Google's SketchUp.
SketchUp has been used to create everything from models of real-life locales in Google Maps to photo-real models of aeroplanes.
Although at heart, SketchUp wasn't really built with level editing in mind, its interface is very similar to that used in level-editing software, and its intuitive nature makes it the ideal starting point for any kind of 3D modelling.
SketchUp packs a couple of other advantages, too. Valve's Hammer editor now includes the ability to import models from SketchUp, so you can create detailed and interesting models that would be nigh-on impossible in Hammer and import them.
Fairly complex architecture can be imported to Source games via SketchUpYou'll find a plug-in for SketchUp in the Source SDK folder once installed.
SketchUp is also handy for sketching out levels and seeing how they'll look and play. Its renderer is far faster than that of a game, so you won't have to wait around for your levels to compile before you can see what they'll look like.
Valve's Hammer level editor is the natural step up from SketchUp. It's been around in various guises since 1996, when it was known as WorldCraft, and its fundamental interface and operation haven't changed a great deal since it was released alongside the original Half-Life back in 1998.
It's compatible with the majority of Valve's recent releases, from 2004's Half-Life 2to last year's Portal 2.
While it can look overwhelming to start with, working through a few tutorials can help you pick up the basics fairly quickly.
The key to Hammer's world-forging is the use of brushes. These are the basic blocks that are used to create the solid, static elements of levels – the floor, the walls, the sky and the water.
Hammer uses a technique known as binary space partitioning (BSP) to render levels, which takes into account each and every angle from which the gamespace can be viewed.
All levels created with Hammer must be contained in a completely watertight space, because any light leaking out confuses the hell out of the compiler.
A level simply compiled of brushes would look incredibly dull and lifeless, so to liven things up, textures are applied. These are two-dimensional image files that wrap around the 3D objects to make them look more real.
Upping the resolutions of these images using graphics editing programs is a modding art in itself – this is how high-resolution texture packs are created.
Hammer also allows you to control the lighting – be it the midday sun or a full moon – and adjusts shadows and highlights accordingly.
The characters, objects and interactive props that inhabit Hammer levels are known as models.
In the original releases of Hammer these didn't include buildings, but later releases term some buildings as models.
There's already a huge library of models in all Valve's games, and they can be viewed using the appropriately titled Model Viewer, included in the Source SDK.
Whereas editing maps in Hammer is fairly straightforward, creating custom models requires external programs – such as 3DS Max – and quite a lot of patience and skill.
The final piece of the Source SDK is the Face Poser, which, as the name suggests, allows you to tweak facial animations and add custom voice-overs. Half-Life 2 brought facial animations forwards by light years, and it's a surprisingly uncomplicated tool considering the advanced logistics of lip-synching a pretend 3D face.
Face Poser is also used to create skeletal animations, such as walk/run cycles and hilarious falling over motions.
One of the best ways to get to know the Source engine is to tie Dr Breen to a wheel and throw him aroundWe're merely scratching the surface of the Source SDK here, and there are thousands more things to consider.
You will run into problems – everything from "Where should that tree go?" to "Why is the level I've spent months working on crashing my computer whenever I load it?" It's all part of the amazing process and steep learning curve that comes with creating your first custom content.
Aside from Source's SDK, there's Skyrim's Creation Kit and Unreal's Unreal Development Kit. Both work differently from the Source SDK because they're creating rather different games and worlds, and it's up to you to decide which best suits your grand vision.
The Unreal Development Kit is in some ways friendlier than the Source SDK, but if you employ it you're basically going to be creating everything from scratch.
The Skyrim Creation Kit is gathering momentum, but it's fairly limited to creating mods and new areas for Bethesda's ubiquitous RPG romp.
The code abode
There is a fly in the ointment of all this, which is coding.
While it's all well and good being able to create levels and maybe even skin a character, if they aren't acting how you want them to you're going to get quite frustrated.
Source games use the universal language of C++ to dictate how the world works, whereas Unreal Engine 3 games use a bespoke language called UnrealScript or as it's often abbreviated, UScript.
UScript was built with ease of use in mind, whereas C++ is used in many different programming environments, and does look very impressive on a CV.
There are further issues to consider when choosing a game engine.
The Source SDK is – in our view – the best way to get started, but aside from authoring tools for specific games, it receives little to no love from Valve and isn't updated that frequently.
The Unreal Development Kit is updated on an almost monthly basis, and there's the added advantage that you won't have to hand over any royalties until your game makes over $50,000.
We'd say that the best approach is to use the Source SDK for getting started and beginning with mods, and then switch to the Unreal Development Kit once you're ready to make your first full game.
The final option here is Unity. This software was created with making 3D games in mind, and a completely free version is available from www.unity3d.com.
The main benefit of Unity is its cross-compatibility – create a game with it and you'll be able to play it on everything from an Android smartphone to a powerful PC.
It's yet to find its killer app, but Unity is gaining traction with games like BattleStar Galactica Online and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online.
There is, of course, a more lo-fi approach to making your first game, and one that makes it far more feasible for a single person to bash out a completed product.
Indie gaming has become far more popular in recent years, especially with the rise of the iPhone and casual gaming on sites like Facebook. Thanks to this low-spec hardware, ideas can come before graphical prowess.
"The Source SDK is, in our view, the best way to start"
The tools needed here are far less unwieldy than those required for 3D gaming, too.
Quirky indie point-and-clicker Machinarium was created using little more than PhotoShop, Adobe's Flash and some beautiful hand-drawn artwork.
Bonkers dungeon crawler Spelunky was made with Game Maker, a piece of software that puts ease of use over programming skills.
Whether you choose to get into game design through modding or creating a whole game on your own, there are hundreds of possibilities.
Hopefully we've shown you the best options for each and every type of game you can create, whether it's a complete overhaul for an ageing game or a mere additional teapot prop for your favourite RPG.
Don’t you have a DVD Rom? Oh how can you installWindows 7 on your computer without a DVD rom? Here is the solution. Now we can use Flash(Pen) drives ti install windows 7 to a new computer which is already installed windows xp. Just try it out and tell me how effective is it. Here is the method,
These are the instruments that you need.
1. USB Flash drive ( At least 4Gb capacity)
2. Windows 7 ISO file ( You can burn a image file of Windows 7 using an another computer)
3. Daemon tools ( A software)
4. WinSetupFromUSB. 0.2.3 ( A software)
First copy the Windows 7 ISO from the pen drive to your hard disk.
Then install Daemon tools on your computer. If you don’t have the software visit http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/downloads and downloadit.
After installation you will see an icon in the task bar near the clockindicating daemon tools. Then left click over that icon and mount the windows 7 ISO file that you have already copied to your hard disk.
Then download “Win SetupFromUSB. 0.2.3″ from the following site. To see the download icon go down the web page. http://www.netbookfiles.com/1022/winsetupfromusb-023/ . Then install it on your computer. Run that program.
Open up the program WinSetUpFromUSB. Now, make sure that under “USB Disk Selection” the flash drive you intend to use is recognized and selected. Make a back of your data of the USB drivebecause the program will format it. Click on the button “RMPrepUSB” as shown in following image. You will see a pop-up window.
In that pop-up window (RMPREPUSB window) select the following options as I shown in below image;
Then you should click the tab called “Choose folder” at the bottom of the pop-up window and show the virtual drive you have made with daemon tools.
Now you are ready to format the USB Drive. So Click on the button called “Prepare Drive” to make your bootable USB Flash drive. A command promptish window should appear, wait for it to finish.
After it is done click EXIT in the RMPREPUSB window. Then in the remaining Windows look under “You may also add:” and check the second bullet “Vista/7 setup/PE/Recovery ISO”. Click the the “…” button next to the selection to browse for ur mounted ISO. Select the virtual drive and click OK.
Then look at the bottom of the window and click on “GO” button. Then the process will start. This may take several minutes to end. Because it will copy the files from your virtual drive to the USB Disk. During this process you may receive a error “Could not install grub4dosector…”. Just click OK and it’ll continue.
After copying those files it will give a “done” message. Then click “EXIT” and close all the windows. Now this is the time to remove the USB Flash from the computer (Safe removal).
Then restart the computer and go to “BIOS screen” by hitting “DEL” or what ever and change “First Boot Device” in to “USB-ZIP” under “Advance Bios Set Up”
Then save it and plug the USB Drive. Then restart the computer. Then it will boot from the USB drive and install your windows as usual. Enjoy Windows 7.
Most of you must be aware abouta toolcallednotepad. It isa simpletext based editor. But today I am going to discuss somecool trickswhich you can perform on your computer using notepad. You can also use these tricks to scare yourfriends.
Cycle a message inyourfriend’s computer.
Type :
@ECHOoff :Begin msg * Hi msg * Are you having fun? msg * I am! msg * Lets have fun together! msg * Because youhave beeno-w-n-e-d GOTO BEGIN
Save it as pc.bat and send it to your friends.
MakeKeyboardKeys Type Continuously:
Type :
MsgBox “stop me..! if you can” Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”) do wscript.sleep 100 wshshell.sendkeys “{bs}” loop
Save it as pc.vbs and send it to your friends.
Convey your friend a message and shut down his/ her computer.
Type :
@echo off msg * I don’t like you shutdown -c “Hahahah You are Doomed” -s
Save it as pc.bat and send it to your friends.
Toggle your friend’s Caps Lock button simultaneously
Type :
Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”) do wscript.sleep 100 wshshell.sendkeys “{CAPSLOCK}” loop
Save it as pc.vbs and send it to your friends.
Frustrate your friend by making their keyboard hit Enter simultaneously whenever they press a key
Type :
Set wshShell = wscript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”) do wscript.sleep 100 wshshell.sendkeys “~(enter)” loop
Save it as pc.vbs and send it to your friends.
Hack your friend’s keyboard and make him type “You are a fool” simultaneously:
Type :
Set wshShell = wscript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”) do wscript.sleep 100 wshshell.sendkeys “You are a fool.” loop
Save it as pc.vbs and send it to your friends.
Open Notepad, slowly type anythingand freak your friends out:
Set oWMP = CreateObject(“WMPlayer.OCX.7″) Set colCDROMs = oWMP.cdromCollection do if colCDROMs.Count >= 1 then For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count – 1 colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject Next For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count – 1 colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject Next End If wscript.sleep 5000 loop
The online submission of EAMCET applications has been smoother than expected though it's the first time students are exposed to this format. Last couple of years had both online and printed application forms but students found the printed format to be more comfortable.
“Initial hiccups apart the online submission has been totally accepted and surprisingly there are few complaints from rural areas where we thought students would find some difficulty,” says the EAMCET-2012 Convenor, N.V. Ramana Rao. Complaints have been very few, but the EAMCET office has made arrangements to deal with them at the earliest.
Phone complaints are being solved within 30 minutes and written complaints on the same day itself. Majority of complaints pertained to entry of wrong hall-ticket number followed by entry of wrong stream. There were a few complaints on clicking the wrong gender.
Most of the mistakes were being done at eSeva centres where there seem to be a communication gap between the data entry operator and the candidate.
“Online system has helped us to rectify the mistakes immediately,” Prof. Rao said. At the same time precautions are being taken to contain mischief mongers. “We do it after a thorough check-up of data available with us.” Despite the smooth going, Prof. Rao reminds the applicants that they have to be careful. For rectifying the mistakes candidates can contact at 040-23150362 and 040-23150462.
As soon as the form is submitted candidates get an SMS alert as well as the form is displayed on the screen. Check the form for mistakes once again and bring it to officials' notice immediately. The copy is also sent to the email of the applicants. He advises the candidates to take a print and preserve the copy of the form carefully. If candidates forget to take a print out they can access their form on ‘www.apeamcet.org' by typing the registration number and hall-ticket number of Intermediate.
Caste certificate
SC ST candidates should submit caste certificate. Candidates need not upload any certificates now. However, SC and ST category candidates need to bring a photocopy copy of the attested caste certificate to the examination hall along with a copy of filled in application form and hand it over to the invigilator. OBC candidates need not submit any such form.
Applicants don't need to upload the photographs if they are writing the Intermediate exams this year or have completed Intermediate in 2010 and 2011. However, those belonging to CBSE or ICSE or its equivalent have to upload the photo of 30 KB size and signature of 15 KB size as and when prompted by the system.
Prof. Rao said students appearing for both streams Engineering and Medical will be allotted the same test centre.
If the candidates register for engineering and wish to apply for medical stream also later the system will not accept the form as their details are frozen.
Such candidates have to approach the EAMCET office by sending an email to ‘convenereamcet2012@apeamcet.org' or contact on 040-23150362 and 040-23150462 for help. Candidates cannot transfer the registration fee from one stream to another. It is not refundable also.
Facing problem with your windows PC performance time to time. There are so many ways which helps you to Speed up your computer. Slow windows PC take more time to respond to a user’s actions like opening files, surfing internet, copying or moving files and other important tasks. Today we will show you some of the best tips which helps you to can improve your computer’s performance. Do try these steps in a order to speed up your computer performance.
1. Always Clean Your Desktop
Always try to clean your Desktop files, try to put those files in the “My Documents” folder. If there are so many files with big size, you can put them in separate folders on your drives. Create shortcuts on your Desktop for the folders or files you frequently use. This method will help you to free up the memory for your PC and also reduce the time and frequency the hard drive is used and improve the response of your computer to programs you open and things you do. With this simple and easy method you will make your computer run faster.
2. Fix Windows Systems Files
We recommend this method to use this will help you to fix your windows system files. A Windows PC has lots of system file that perform different functions. Some time some of these system files has changed or become corrupted and that’s the cause of slows windows pc. If this happens to your windows PC, the speed of your system may decrease. By using the utility “System File Checking”, it will scan these files and fix any problem it finds.
How to use System File Checker, follow these steps:
1. Close all open programs on your Desktop
2. Click on the Start button
3. Click Run
4. Type this command in the Run box: SFC /SCANNOW
5. Click the “OK” button
3. Scan for Viruses, Spyware and Adware threats
Every Windows computer is vulnerable to viruses. Viruses are the major factor of your windows PC slow performance. All these Spyware and Adware are programs created by companies to find out more information about customers, so they can better market products to them. All these spyware and adware can load into computer memory and slow down your PC. Here are 10 Best Anti Virus Programs of 2012 and Top Free Windows Antivirus and 10 best Free Online Virus Scanners which will help you to scan your PC.
4. Uninstall Unused Programs
Whenever you install a new program in your PC, it creates connections between the program and the operating system. But most of the time you didn,t some of the programmes which are installed on your PC, they can slow down your system. So always try to uninstall unused programs, removing unused programs will free up space on your computer and may speed up your system’s performance.
5. Adjust Visual Effects for Better Performance
Windows provides a lots of interesting visual effects including animated windows and fading menus for operating system. If you do not have enough operating memory or facing memory problems, than these visual effects can slow down your computer. Adjusting or reducing visual effects can make a difference.
6. Defrag Your Computer
7. Don’t Automatically Start Programs
Unnecessary programs running on windows startup is the major factor of Slow PC. With the helps of this article we will show you how to determine what programs run when Windows boots, so you can choose which ones to remove from start ups programs. All these programs uses your system resources (operating memory), so any program not running will reduce memory use and may speed up your PC. Try the following step to stop automatically start programs
Open the System Configuration Utility:
1. Click on the Start menu, then click on “Run” 2. Type “msconfig” into the textbox and click OK (The System Configuration Utility will open). 3. Click the Startup tab (to see the list of items that automatically load with Windows). 4. Uncheck the box next to the program name you do not want to start with Windows. 5. Close this program and restart your computer.
