Streaming games look to make consoles, PC upgrades obsolete

SAN FRANCISCO: A new technology service called OnLive claims to have developed a way to stream video games over the Internet, without any lag that humans can notice.

The on-demand service would allow users to play games on any TV and nearly any personal computer – even stripped-down netbooks and PCs without graphics processors, said founder and chief executive Steve Perlman.

“When you want to play a game, you just click a button and it plays instantly. It’s that simple,” said Perlman. “So the instant you press a button to shoot something on the screen, the gun goes off.”

This has not been possible before, because unlike with music and movies – which can be compressed for easy online transfers before being streamed – video games are interactive and require instant responses.

OnLive’s technology gets around that limitation with a new form of compression that lets its game servers communicate with players over broadband connections in real time.

Thus, the service can also work on older computers, even those without a graphics processing unit – an essential component of gaming.

For a standard definition TV, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second (mbps) is required. And for HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed.

Through a “MicroConsole” gadget, OnLive’s service will also be available for television sets. In a demonstration on Tuesday at the Game Developers Conference in San Diego, Perlman played Crysis – a game notorious for its demanding graphical processing needs – on a TV set and on a Mac laptop through OnLive.

Leading game publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Take-Two and Eidos, have already signed on. OnLive has also incorporated social networking elements for multiplayer gaming, such as letting users share ‘brag clips’, which save the last 10 seconds of your game.

Perlman has a lot of confidence in OnLive: “It’s the last console you’ll need.” AGENCIES

A screenshot of the OnLive ‘Arena’ of games

50 new species found in Papua New Guinea

A brilliant green tree frog with huge black eyes, jumping spiders and a striped gecko are among more than 50 new animal species scientists have discovered in a remote, mountainous region of Papua New Guinea.

The discoveries were announced on Wednesday by the US-based Conservation International, which spent the past several months analysing more than 600 animal species the group found during its expedition to the South Pacific island nation in July and August.

Of the animals discovered, 50 spider species, three frogs and a gecko appear to have never been described in scientific literature before, the conservation group said.

The new frogs include a tiny brown animal with a sharp chirp, a bug-eyed bright green tree frog and another frog with a loud ringing call. One of the jumping spiders is shiny and pale green, while another is furry and brown.

“If you’re finding things that are so spectacular and new, then it is an indication that there’s a lot out there, which we don’t know about,” said expedition leader Steve Richards. “It never ceases to amaze me the spectacular things that are turning up from that island.”

The findings are significant, particularly the discovery of the new frog species, said Craig Franklin, a zoology professor who studies frogs at The University of Queensland in Australia.

“They’re often regarded as a great bio-indicator of environmental health,” said Franklin, who was not involved in the expedition. “Often, we see declines in frogs as a direct pointer to an affected environment.”

Researchers from Conservation International explored the region with scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada and Montclair State University in the US, as well as local scientists from Papua New Guinea.

The area the researchers explored provides a critical source of drinking water to thousands of people living in surrounding communities, and local clans rely on the region for hunting.

Montclair University anthropologist William Thomas worked with the local Hewa clan to document the area’s resources during the expedition as part of a project he started with scientist Bruce Beehler of Conservation International.

“In a place like Papua New Guinea, the local communities are very close to their environment,” Beehler said. “By working with these very traditional people, we actually learnt a lot more because they already know so much.”

Conservation International plans to conduct three more expeditions to Papua New Guinea this year, in the hopes of turning up even more new animals.

“Most of us live in urban worlds where we think everything’s totally well-known,” Beehler said. “It’s a little bit of a reminder, just a wake up call, that we really need to know our world better so we can manage it better.” AP

Nyctimystes, a large tree frog with enormous eyes

Cyrtodactylus, a bent-toed gecko, lives in dense rainforests

Tabuina varirata, a jumping spider, is from a new genus

Orthrus, a shiny and pale-green jumping spider

Litoria, a frog that uses a loud song to call for a mate

Uroballus, a spider that can jump at least 6 inches high

UK schools swap history for blogging, Wikipedia

British children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war under proposals to overhaul the primary school curriculum, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

However, the draft plans will require children to master Twitter and Wikipedia and give teachers far more freedom to decide what youngsters should be concentrating on in classes.

The proposed curriculum, which would mark the biggest change to primary schooling in a decade, strips away hundreds of specifications about the scientific, geographical and historical knowledge pupils must accumulate before they are 11 to allow schools greater flexibility in what they teach.

The plans have been drawn up by Sir Jim Rose, the former Ofsted chief who was appointed by ministers to overhaul the primary school curriculum, and are due to be published next month.

The papers seen by the Guardian are draft plans for the detailed content of each of six core “learning areas” that Rose is proposing should replace the current 13 standalone subject areas.

The proposals require:

Kids to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia as sources of information and forms of communication. They must gain “fluency” in handwriting and keyboard skills, and learn how to use a spellchecker besides how to spell.

Children to be able to place historical events within a chronology.

Less emphasis on the use of calculators than in the current curriculum.

An understanding of physical development, health and wellbeing, which would address what Rose calls “deep societal concerns” about children’s health, diet and physical activity, as well as their relationships with family. They will be taught about peer pressure, how to deal with bullying and how to negotiate in relationships. AGENCIES

UK mulls tracking networking sites

London: The government was accused of excessive snooping on Wednesday over proposals to monitor social networking sites as part of an anti-terror strategy.

Networking sites, which are thought to have millions of British members, could be forced to log data on everyone their users make contact with on their sites, according to a report on the government proposals in the Independent.

The moves follow controversial proposals, under EU directives, to store information on phone calls made, emails sent and websites visited in Britain. The information could be added to a planned database to track terror plots.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said the directives did not include the social networking sites, and the government was looking at closing the loophole.

Coaker made the comments earlier this month at a little noticed Commons committee to examine the EU directives which date back to the 2005 London bombings. AFP

Eye can do it!

Eight blind students from Kamla Mehta Dadar Andha Vidyalaya are practising for a rare feat — they want to create the shape of an eye while doing the Rope Mallakhamb

ALPITA MASURKAR

Sight is not an impediment. Be it rope-climbing or studying, I can do it as confidently as any other student,” said 16-year-old Habiba Shaikh, as she hauled herself up on a rope with elan and twisted herself around it. Hanging in mid air, Shaikh formed an arc.

Right after she got into position, eight-year-old Anjali Tapal followed suit. Jumping and grabbing Shaikh’s feet, Tapal tossed her agile body backward for Shaikh to hold on to her feet. And thus, the duo formed an eye.

“By forming an eye, the girls want to spread the message that blindness is not an impediment. They don’t want people to pity them. the girls want to stand on their own feet with dignity,” said organiser Bharat Joshi, who actively works for the blind.

Eight girls from Kamla Mehta Dadar Andha Vidyalaya are busy practising for a rare treat - they want to create awareness about blindness through the art of ‘rope mallakhamb’ or rope climbing. The girls will showcase the feat at an event in Matheran on April 10, 11 and 12.

Neeta Tatke, who has been teaching the feat to the girls, shared her thoughts. “Teaching a visually challenged student is not the same as teaching a visually abled.

“A visually abled student has advantages, like being able to see the height and shape s/he is forming in mid-air. But the girls have gotten past such deterrants.” Tatke is teaching the students under the guidance of Uday Deshpande of Samartha Vidya Mandir.

Deshpande has been teaching the students since the early 1990s. Said Tatke, “During Deshpande’s first session with the girls, he had asked them to run. But the girls did not move. That’s when he realised they had never run before.

“Deshpande started with basic movements before he taught them the more complex art of rope climbing. Every movement on the rope, every bend, has to be correct. The girls are first prepared on the ground before they practise on the ropes.”

The principal of the school, Suparna Ajgaonkar shared similar sentiments, “The biggest achievement has been that the sport has increased the girls’ confidence. Besides performance in Matheran, the girls will also be participating in a seminar on disaster management for school students, including the visually challenged.”

The girls will showcase the feat at an event in Matheran on April 10, 11 and 12.

IIT profs to protest against Centre’s ‘failed promises’

MANOJ R NAIR

It is very rare that teachers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) resort to agitation to air their grievances. But the government’s delay in announcing new pay scales for faculty members has led to simmering discontent among the institution’s teaching staff. While the date and method of agitation has not been decided yet, the general body of IIT Bombay Faculty Forum, an association of teachers is planning to meet soon to discuss the issue.

While the protest options that are being discussed include wearing black badges or mass casual leave, more drastic plans include a refusal to mentor the new IITs that have been set up recently. IIT-Bombay is mentoring the new institutes at Gandhinagar and Indore, including selecting the faculty for the new centres and also providing teachers there till a full fledged teaching infrastructure is set up there.

Usually, new payscales for IIT teaching staff are introduced along with the revised salaries for central government employees. This time, however, while the Sixth Pay Commission for other government employees was announced in September 2008, the faculty members at IIT are still waiting for pay hikes that are due from 2006.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had appointed a pay review committee headed by Professor Govardhan Mehta, chairman of National Academic Acredition Council to make recommendations for revised pay scales, among other things, for IIT teachers.

The committee submitted its report on February 6. While the report’s contents were not revealed, the government appointed another committee on February 24 to examine the findings of the Mehta report. There has been no development in the issue since then.

Not making the grade...

FINE PRINT

Education is not yet a fundamental right in India. Governments’ failure to push through this single obvious point exposes the extent to which politics compromised the nation’s educational goals

TEAM TOI

Controversy is the constant companion of education ministers. If it was saffronisation of textbooks and headon-collision with IIMs during the NDA regime, UPA’s Arjun Singh has been top of the charts for nearly five years. Be it OBC reservation in admission to state-run higher educational institutions or autonomy of IIMs/IITs, Singh has earned his share of bad name.

Often the real picture is missed in the rhetoric. During Murli Manohar Joshi’s stint as HRD minister, the biggest achievement was the 86th constitutional amendment making free and compulsory education to children of age 6 to 14 a fundamental right. Though Joshi spent more time packing institutions with his own men, he should also be credited for putting Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on track. It is also not that he did not have a case while taking on IIMs on fee hike issue.

Arjun Singh, an old HRD hand, had his task cut out. Desaffronise textbooks and institutions and make a mark. He started immediately and even revived bodies like Central Advisory Board of Education, discontinued during NDA regime. A new national curriculum framework was adopted, textbooks were changed, without creating much rancour. Even political adversaries admit the books are forward-looking.

But after the Supreme Court did away with reservation in private professional institutions in Inamdar case in 2005, Singh came up with the idea of not only restoring reservation in private institutions but also reserving seats for OBCs in government as well as private institutions. While constitutional amendment for reservation was smooth, enabling the legislation met with stiff resistance. Finally, Supreme Court upheld it last year.

To be fair, many of Singh’s positive decisions got lost in the raging fire on reservation. Higher education has never seen the kind of expansion as it witnessed under him. Part of the credit goes to PM’s emphasis on higher education and liberal funding. From Indian Institute of Scientific Education and Research, many more IITs, IIMs, IIITs and SPAs, Singh ensured that institutes of excellence spread throughout the country. To bolster the university system, every state is being given a central university. Apart from that, 14 national universities are also planned. However, the manner in which UGC has been granting deemed university status to private institutions is being questioned.

Under Singh, SSA has progressed with an emphasis on quality. Even independent audit of elementary education shows that both SSA and Mid-Day Meal schemes are successes with enrolment rate going up across class and gender.

However, Singh did not show the same enthusiasm for pushing the Right to Education Bill. First few years of UPA regime were wasted in various committees and yet no common ground could be found on the landmark legislation. First the Planning Commission and finance ministry objected to a law that would cost the exchequer a lot. It resulted in the HRD ministry revisiting estimates and finally a figure of Rs 12,000 crore/year was calculated as cost to provide free education. But four years were lost. At the fag end of UPA regime, the bill was introduced in December.

In all this, secondary education is the sick child that Singh never attended to. The plan to have an SSA-like programme for secondary schools is still being put together and model schools are still a distant dream.

Times View

The biggest disappointment has been the failure to ensure free compulsory education as a fundamental right. In the seven years since the Constitution was amended, the Bill is yet to be passed, although the issue seems to be close to everyone’s hearts. Expansion of institutes like IITs/IIMs and a new pay structure for teachers are a required boost. That said, unbridled growth of deemed universities is a cause of concern. UGC’s tough regulations are too little, too late. A holistic approach , an integrated blueprint is the need of the hour to ensure education for all at the primary level and accessibility to higher education.