20 Things the Average Person Doesn’t Know About Windows XP

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type ’systeminfo’. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type ’systeminfo > info.txt’. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run… and type ‘gpedit.msc’; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care — some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter ‘rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That’s it — just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that’s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can make it show everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word ‘hide’ and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be the software and you can now uninstall it.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include ‘eventcreate’ and ‘eventtriggers’ for creating and watching system events, ‘typeperf’ for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and ’schtasks’ for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options.

6. XP has IP version 6 support — the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type ‘ipv6 install’ into Run… (it’s OK, it won’t ruin your existing network setup) and then ‘ipv6 /?’ at the command line to find out more. If you don’t know what IPv6 is, don’t worry.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using ‘taskkill /pid’ and the task number, or just ‘tskill’ and the process number. Find that out by typing ‘tasklist’, which will also tell you a lot about what’s going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you’ve got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files alone by typing ‘regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll’ at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can change things back by typing ‘regsvr32 zipfldr.dll’.

9. XP has ClearType — Microsoft’s anti-aliasing font display technology — but doesn’t have it enabled by default. It’s well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who’s using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your friend’s real IP address — they can find this out by going to http://www.whatismyip.com/ — and get them to make sure that they’ve got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As… and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might go insane before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run… from the start menu and type ‘control userpasswords2′, which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options… and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can’t see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You’ll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By… Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks — if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn’t, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. Windows XP secretly KNOWS that the average user has no idea what they are doing. Therefore, it doesn’t let you do really stupid things like deleting the windows directory (at least not without spending several hours convincing it that you REALLY want to do this). Oh yeah, and internet explorer kinda sucks, get Firefox.

Cell Phones No Cancer Risk - Study Says!!

A new Australian study refutes claims of health danger from cell phones and coffee.Drinking coffee, using mobile phones or having breast implants is unlikely to cause cancer, according to a risk ranking system devised by an Australian cancer specialist to debunk popular myths.
The cancer risk assessment reaffirms smoking, alcohol and exposure to sunlight as leading risk factors, but allays concerns about coffee, mobile phones, deodorants, breast implants and water with added fluoride.
The five-point system created by University of New South Wales Professor Bernard Stewart lists the risk of cancer from proven and likely, to inferred, unknown or unlikely.
"Our tool will help establish if the level of risk is high, say on a par with smoking, or unlikely such as using deodorants, artificial sweeteners, drinking coffee," Stewart said.
He found active smokers and ex-smokers to be the most at risk, although the risk is reduced for people who quit smoking.
Drinking alcohol was also a high risk factor, particularly for people who also smoke, although Stewart said no specific type of alcoholic drink was most strongly to blame.Drinking chlorinated water and using a mobile phone was far less likely to cause cancer, Stewart said, although the risks associated with the long-term use of mobile phones had not been fully established.He said there little risk from drinking coffee, using deodorants, drinking fluoridated water and having breast implants or dental fillings.

KNOL - Google's answer to WIKIPEDIA

Last night on the official Google blog, Udi Manber, vice president of engineering, announced that Google is testing a publishing platform called Knol.
It's being compared to Wikipedia and Mahalo. While it's a somewhat different take on knowledge collection, these comparisons are apt.
From what we know so far, Knol is a wiki-like platform. Authors can create topics, and there are tools to interlink articles and content, but as Manber says, an article, or "knol," is "just a Web page." Where it differs from a wiki is its focus on the author. All knols will highlight who wrote them.

Knol should make it easy to create nicely formatted reference pages.That small difference becomes dramatic when you put Knol alongside Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a collaborative system. There is no author listed on a wiki page because a page may have many authors (if you want to, you can divine who said what on the history pages).
Since Knol pages will be authored, users won't, presumably, be able to dive in and edit another page. They'll be able to submit edits to the author for approval, though. So much for open collaboration. But as a platform for authors who might want to make some money from their work, it's a better bet (Knol will allow authors to monetize their pages as they see fit).
Purists may think that since Google is in the business of monetizing content via advertising, it should not compete with other publishing platforms. However, this is not the first time that Google has gotten into this business.
Blogger, of course, is Google's biggest success in text-publishing platforms. But Google also experimented with its own database, Google Base, in which it not only indexes the information but also stores it. And then there's YouTube.
I would compare Knol to Blogger, and eventually, I think it will have Digg-like elements. Knol is like Blogger because it's a personal publishing platform. It's all about giving authors a platform for writing. It's just a like a blog, but much more structured. If you like a Knoller, you'll likely want to read more written by that person, or even subscribe to his work.
It could become Digg-like, in that multiple Knol pages on the same topic will compete with each other. And while the Manber's post hinted that the arbiter of Knol quality will be Google search rankings, I cannot imagine that there won't, at some point, be both a social network of Knol users and a main page that ranks the most popular Knol pages by votes, page views, discussion flow, or other group metrics.
At this point, based only on the official blog post, Knol looks like a solid end-user publishing platform. I strongly doubt that it will put much of a hurt on Wikipedia, since its author focus makes it much the antithesis of the open, community-driven wiki model. Knol looks more like a Google version of About.com, Mahalo, or Squidoo.
No word on when--or if--Knol will be released to the public.

BIOS Password Hack

A lotta of you guys out there will already be knowing how to reset a BIOS password if activated in a computer. But what I am about to teach you here is a new way to do it which very few people know. For those who don't know what BIOS is, here it is in short:
BIOS - Basic Input Output System whose settings are stored in your motherboard. The most general stuff you can find there is the system time, date, boot options etc. If you want to have more idea about BIOS goto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

Basically if a BIOS password is enabled one cannot do anything with the computer if the password is not known. There are a number of ways one can reset it.

1. If you open the cabinet of your PC you will find a small cmos battery which stores all the data even if the computer is turned off. (This is how your system time, date does not reset each time you restart your computer) If you take the battery out for about fifteen minutes and place it back in, all the setting stored previously will be reset. So most probably your BIOS password will reset. This works for most the AWARD BIOS.

2. The BIOS generally has a some preset passwords. Some of the most common BIOS passwords are:

lkwpeter
j262
AWARD_SW
AWARD_PW
Biostar
AMI
Award

P.S For more default BIOS passwords from any manufacturer, just leave a comment and the name of the manufacturer. I will get back to you in a couple of days' time.

3. This is one of the best ways to reset the BIOS, but the only flaw in this is that you should be able to access the DOS prompt. If you are able to, then type the following there:
DEBUG (hit enter)
-o 70 2e (hit enter)
-o 71 ff (hit enter)
-q (hit enter)
exit (hit enter)

Restart the computer.

A.P.J ABDUL KALAM'S SPEECH

Please read this article by giving 10 minutes from your busy life. Really good.... ** * * The President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad . * Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in >the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. However, the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India, we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this >lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones do not work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world and mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say, and say. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - >YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore, you do not throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore, you do not say anything, DO YOU? YOU would not dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else. YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop “Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?)”. I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America, every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage allover the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean >bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staffs that are known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! And others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who is going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently, for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system >we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure, we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to >Indians..... 'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY' Lets do what India needs from us

Top B-Schools of India

The parameters on which B-schools are judged and ranked, keeping in mind what each offers the student and how these facilitate education are:


Placement records of the last three years
Infrastructure: school and learning environment
Faculty
Geographical location: proximity of B-schools to business hubs
Entrance exams applicable
Interaction with alumni



Cluster 1

Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A)
Ahmedabad
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/
Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B)
Bangalore
http://www.iimb.ernet.in/
Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C)
Kolkata
http://www.iimcal.ac.in/
Indian School of Business (ISB)
Hyderabad
http://www.isb.edu/
Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L)
Lucknow
http://www.iiml.ac.in/
Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI)
Jamshedpur
http://www.xlri.ac.in/

Cluster 2

Indian Institute of Management (IIM-I)
Indore
http://www.iimidr.ac.in/
Indian Institute of Management (IIM-K)
Kozhikode
http://www.iimk.ac.in/
IIM-A Agri Business Management (ABM)
Ahmedabad
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/
IIM-L Agri Business Management (ABM)
Lucknow
http://www.iiml.ac.in/
Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) - MBA & MBA - MS, Delhi University
New Delhi
http://www.fms.edu/
SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR)
Mumbai
http://www.spjimr.org/
Management Development Institute (MDI)
Gurgaon
http://www.mdi.ac.in/
National Institue of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)
Mumbai
http://www.nitie.edu/
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)
New Delhi
http://www.iift.edu/
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS)
Mumbai
http://www.jbims.edu/
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
Mumbai
http://www.tiss.edu/
Institute of Rural Management (IRMA)
Anand (Gujarat)
http://www.irma.ac.in/
Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA)
Ahmedabad
http://www.mica-india.net/

Cluster 3

Indian Institute of Technology - Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management
Mumbai
http://www.som.iitb.ac.in/
Indian Institute of Technology - Department of Management Studies
New Delhi
www.iitd.ac.in/academics/mba.html
MDI (HR)
Gurgaon
http://www.mdi.ac.in/
Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM)
Chennai
http://www.glakes.org/
Institute of Management Technology (IMT)
Ghaziabad
http://www.imt.edu/
Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (SCMHRD)
Pune
http://www.scmhrd.edu/
Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM)
Pune
http://www.sibm.edu/
TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI)
Manipal
http://www.tapmi.org/
International Management Institute (IMI)
Delhi
http://www.imi.edu/
Xavier Institute of Management (XIM)
Bhubaneshwar
http://www.ximb.ac.in/
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)
Mumbai
http://www.nmims.edu/
Goa Institute of Management (GIM)
Goa
http://www.gim.ac.in/

Cluster 4

Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB)
Pune
http://www.siib.ac.in/
Indian Institute of Technology - Vinod Gupta School of Management
Kharagpur
http://www.som.iitkgp.ernet.in/
Indian Institute of Technology - Department of Management Studies
Kanpur
http://www.iitk.ac.in/
University Business School (UBS)
Chandigarh
http://www.ubschandigarh.org/
Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics
Mumbai
http://www.sydenham.edu/
Welingkar Institute of Management
Mumbai
http://www.welingkar.org/
K.J.Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research (SIMSR)
Mumbai
http://www.glakes.org/
ICFAI Business School
Hyderabad
http://www.ibsindia.org/
Indian Institute of Technology - Department of Management Studies
Chennai
http://www.doms.iitm.ac.in/
Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Tiruchirapally
Tamil Nadu
http://www.bim.edu/


Cluster 5

FORE School of Management
New Delhi
http://www.fsm.ac.in/
Nirma University - Institute of Management
Ahmedabad
http://www.nim.ac.in/
Master of Finance & Control (MFC),University of Delhi (South Campus)
Delhi
http://www.mfc.edu/
Indian Institute of Technology - Department of Management Studies
Roorkee
http://www.iitr.ac.in/
Master of Business Economics (MBE), Department of Business Economics, University of Delhi
Delhi
http://www.mbe-du.org/
ICFAI Business School
Gurgaon
http://www.ibsindia.org/
Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA)
Chennai
http://www.liba.edu/
Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBS)
Delhi
http://www.lbsim.edu/
Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM)
Bhopal
http://www.iifm.org/


Cluster 6

Amity Business School
NOIDA, U.P
www.amity.edu/abs
Institute of Technology & Management (ITM)
Navi Mumbai
http://www.itm.edu/
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) (For Defense Personnel & their dependents)
Pune
http://www.sims.edu/
Alliance Business Academy (ABA)
Bangalore
http://www.alliancebschool.org/
ICFAI Business School
Other Campuses
http://www.ibsindia.org/
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM)
Kolkata
http://www.iiswbm.edu/
Chetana's Ram Prasad Khandelwal Institute of Management & Research
Mumbai
http://www.chetanamgt.org/
NL Dalmiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
Mumbai
http://www.nldalmiamgmt.org/
Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS)
Ranchi
http://www.xiss.ac.in/
Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIM Tech)
Delhi
http://www.bimtech.ac.in/
Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication (SIMC)
Pune
http://www.simc.edu/
Institute of Financial Management & Research (IFMR)
Chennai
http://www.ifmr.ac.in/


Cluster 7

Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, Global Business Operations (SRCC GBO)
Delhi
http://www.srcc.edu/
Masters in International Business (MIB) Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics
Delhi
http://www.du.ac.in/course_details.html?department_id=Commerce&coursename=Masters+in+International+Business+%28MIB%29&course_id=149
Master of Human Resource and Organisational Development (MHROD) Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics
Delhi
http://www.du.ac.in/course_details.html?department_id=Commerce&coursename=M.H.R.O.D.&course_id=150
Institute of Technology & Management (ITM)
Bangalore, Chsennai, Hyderabad, Warangal
http://www.itm.edu/
Jaipuria Institute of Management
Lucknow
http://www.jiml.ac.in/
Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University (FMS BHU)
Varanasi
www.bhu.ac.in/fms
Army Institute of Management (AIM)
Kolkata
http://www.aim.ac.in/
Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME)
Bangalore
http://www.xime.org/


Cluster 8

New Delhi of Institute of Management (NDIM)
New Delhi
http://www.ndimdelhi.org/
Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM)
New Delhi
http://www.iilm.edu/
Jagan Institute of Management Studies (JIMS)
Delhi
http://www.jimsindia.org/
Globsyn Business School (GBS)
Kolkata
www.globsyn.com/gbs
Asia Pacific Institute of Management (APIM)
New Delhi
http://www.asiapacific.edu/
Entrepreneurship & Management Processes International (EMPI)
New Delhi
http://www.empiindia.com/

Direct to Home(DTH)

Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television is becoming a buzzword in the satellite broadcast industry due to the fact that DTH offers immense opportunities to both broadcasters and viewers. Thanks to the rapid development of digital technology, DTH broadcast operators worldwide have been able to introduce a large number of new interactive applications in the television market besides a large number of entertainment programmes over a single delivery platform. In addition, since digital technology permits a highly efficient exploitation of the frequency spectrum, the number of TV channels that can be broadcast using digital technology is significantly higher than with analogue technology. The increased number of television channels allows the operator to satisfy the demand of a number of niche markets with dedicated transmissions.

In general, DTH service is the one in which a large number of channels are digitally compressed, encrypted and beamed from very high power satellites. The programmes can be directly received at homes. This mode of reception facilitates the use of small receive dish antennas of 45 to 60 cm diameter installed at convenient location in individual buildings without needing elaborate foundation /space etc. Also, DTH transmission eliminates local cable operator completely, since an individual user is directly connected to the service providers. However, a digital receiver is needed to receive the multiplexed signals and view them on a TV. DTH, in sharp contrast to Cable TV, lends itself to easy monitoring and control.
Transmission in Ku band is most appropriate and widely used for the purpose. As mentioned above, all the encoded transmission signals are digital - thus providing higher resolution picture quality and better audio than traditional analog signals. All the advantages of the digital transmission, as applicable to the terrestrial transmission are relevant in the satellite transmission also.
Tata-Sky offers 58-channels to consumers at an introductory offer of Rs 200 per month. You will have to pay Rs 3,999 for hardware (set-top box and installation), and a monthly charge of Rs 200.Zee group's Dish TV offers its hardware and installation at Rs 3,000 (excluding taxes) and three months' free subscription. This Dish TV package of 75 channels costs Rs 180 per month.DTH providers justify the prices as it offers high quality transmission which makes TV viewing a pleasant experience. Dish TV also offers other packages. The second DTH operator is government-owned DD-Direct Plus. This comes at a one-time cost of Rs 2,000-2,500.
In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window or rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the broadcaster directly connects to the user.DTH can also reach the remotest of areas since it does away with the intermediate step of a cable operator and the wires (cables) that come from the cable operator to your house.DTH offers better quality picture than cable TV. This is because cable TV in India is analog. Despite digital transmission and reception, the cable transmission is still analog. DTH offers stereophonic sound effects.Apart from enhanced picture quality, DTH has also allows for interactive TV services such as movie-on-demand, Internet access, video conferencing and e-mail. DTH will not be able to be an alternative to cable if the initial investment is more than that for cable. DTH requires initial investment for both a dish antenna and a TV-top box.

Watching television will no longer be the same again. Bad transmission quality, blackouts, disconnection of channels, high cable bills -- all these could soon be history.