Eccentrix Desk

I think most writers would agree that maturity in writing can be defined in terms of what one choose to write on/about and how one actually articulates their thoughts on that subject. So, it is my own personal belief that this week Team Eccentrix has come up with an issue that shows how well they have matured as writers in these past few months. 

Generally, when we talk about love, it is thought that it is the matter of the heart and is never meant to be what-you-call-it, disillusioned with logic. But there is so much more to this “affairs of the heart” than we actually know about it. So, N&N has set on a path to unmask all its dirty secrets along with its hidden treasures on this week’s absolutely scintillating Cover Story on “Unmask”. Check out to know whether you actually know yourself clearly.

Chennai Ponnu , for weeks on her column has been bringing you all the beautiful stuff about city life that urbanites like us just love. But, all coins have two sides don’t they ? This week she explores the city and its one nagging nuisance, the continuous “honk-honk” noise that actually threatens to make us all crazy. Check out her column to know more about this growing pain in the ahem-ear?

Kinitos is back with an excellent review on the latest hot smartphone from the Sony Mobiles, the Experia ULTRA T2. To know whether it is a worthy addition to the Experia Clan, check out what Vandhiyadevan has to say about it in Kinitos.

Rearview Mirror has been entertaining all you auto-maniacs by talking about the rides and the wheels of the most coveted Superheroes of all times. But hey, it is time for some futuristic talk. Don’t imagine robotics , but it is much simpler. This week Nova is writing about Fuel-cell Cars which promise to be the “in thing” pretty soon. Get to know all about it here, so that you can say “You liked fuel-cell cars before it was cool”!! 

Last but in no way the least, how can we not have our Tragánisma Arithmoús column be about our very own Master-Blaster who had his birthday this week ? So, yeah to know all the teeny-tiny facts, about this great legend, check our weekly Cricket column by Vandhiyadevan. Team Eccentrix wishes paaji a very Happy Birthday.

Hope you enjoy reading this issue.

See you next week.

Adios!

Team Eccentrix.

HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Alright now, it’s time for a little tech-talk. This week we will be looking at a technology that holds plenty of promise for automobiles in the future.

            As we all are aware of, fossil fuels are finite by nature – and, therefore, they will run out at some point of time. Focusing on the industry, we people cannot imagine a life without automobiles. The freedom they provide combined with the passion they inculcate in most of us mean that they rely on them heavily. But the fossil fuel problem is very evident from the ever rising price of fuel – an issue that’s letting down economies and consumers all around the planet.

            For a long time now, companies and governments have been working on a technology that offers most of the benefits of fossil fuels, without the limitations of course. At the heart of this technology are Hydrogen Fuel Cells. What differentiates fuel cells from conventional technologies is the fact that the cells use Hydrogen for energy production. Here’s it how it goes: When Hydrogen mixes with oxygen, it produces a chemical reaction that generates energy within the cell, which is used to charge a high capacity battery that in turn powers electric motors connected to the wheels.

            Now that might sound similar to electric cars, (remember the Audi E-tron with four electric motors – one for each wheel?) but the difference is – since Hydrogen is stored onboard in a high pressure tank, it allows the fuel cell powered car to cover distances similar to a conventional powered one. Secondly, since refueling Hydrogen is almost as quick as refilling petrol, no extra time is spent replenishing the vehicle’s range. Thirdly, the by product. This is the most significant advantage of fuel cell cars over conventional ones. Combining the two elements that produce energy in the cells creates water (H2O). So, the only emissions that a fuel cell car produces is water – making it one of the most environment friendly means of transport. Fourth, perhaps one factor that is so much in favor of fuel cells, is that their efficiency hovers around the 60% mark, which is a massive jump from internal combustion engines that have an efficiency of 20 – 25% at most. This means that for the same amount of fuel used, a Fuel Cell powered car can do almost three times as much work as a traditional car.

            But, there are significant challenges before the technology can be commercially viable – the first of which is producing Hydrogen in the first place, a process that’s still in the development stage. The other challenge is to safely store Hydrogen. Unless stored in a safe, pressurized container, Hydrogen is highly volatile and could be dangerous. Third is that for Fuel Cell vehicles to work there would be a need for parallel storage and distribution network similar to the one that exists for petrol pumps. And since this would be needed on a global scale, it’s a massive task (with estimates putting the cost of this above $500 billion), which most stakeholders are reluctant to commit to.

            Multiple conglomerates have been at the forefront of Hydrogen vehicle development, with Honda, BMW and Mercedes-Benz being some of them. In fact, in Los Angeles, a pilot project has seen a few Hydrogen pumps already set up.

            Fuel Cells hold massive promise for clean, environmentally friendly motoring in future, but there’s still much work to be done before we can expect to see these machines out on our roads.

Source: Internet

-         Nova

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MASTER!!

The greatest thing for people who live on numbers is the people who provide those numbers. Who else other than Sachin can give more value to these numbers? Here is a small tribute to this legend who can not be expressed in words. Telling your name itself is a great honour. Thank You Paaji!!

1. Sachin Tendulkar's first numbers in the cricketing arena that, was recognized world over was the partnership of 664 he shared with Vinod Kambli during his school years. Interestingly, he finished his career with the same numbers in a different way. He has played 664 International matches in total, that are split as: 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20I.

2. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score a century on debut in Ranji Trophy (1988 – 89), Duleep Trophy (1990 – 91) and Irani Cup (1989 – 90).

3. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to have scored a century in his captaincy debut for India. This still remains a world record for all international matches. He scored 110 against Sri Lanka at Colombo RPS on August 28, 1996.

4. Sachin Tendulkar has played alongside 743 opponents and 123 teammates in ODIs. He has played along side 500 opponents and 93 teammates in Tests.

5. Sachin Tendulkar played his first 32 test matches in 32 different grounds. He has totally played in 59 different test grounds all over the world. He has played in 96 different ODI grounds.

6. Sachin Tendulkar has brought up his century by hitting a 6 in SIX different occassions in Test Match. Another number coincidence.

7. By an odd coincidence Sachin Tendulkar has aggregated same number of runs (5068) in a match’s first innings as well as second innings. Incidentally Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of aggregating most runs in first and second innings of a Test. He has also scored most runs (1625) in match’s fourth innings. His tally of 2996 runs is the third highest in third innings of a Test.

8. Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman to open his innings in a Test match with 2 sixes. He did this against Australia at Chennai in 2013. Note: I had the greatest and rarest of an opportunity to score that match as one of the official scorers. It was truly a great honour and that was his last match in his 'adopted' home ground too.

9. Sachin Tendulkar has played 146 Tests with Rahul Dravid, 122 with Anil Kumble, 120 with VVS Laxman and 103 with Sourav Ganguly (his world class teammates and best friends on and off the field).

10. Sachin Tendulkar has featured in 72 Test Wins which is the most by an Indian Player.

11. Sachin Tendulkar scored 1522 Test Runs which inclued 5 Test Centuries as a teenager. This is still an amazing world Record.

Sachin Tendulkar started his career of cricket at the age of 11 and here is my small tribute by ending this number session with 11 Stats. His name was christened by his father after the great musician Sachin Dev Burman. He went on to carry his name into a legend of his own style and now many fathers like to christen their children with His name. Hats off Paaji!! A Thank You is too small a word. A big Bow to the Little Master!! Salute Sir!!

Happy Birthday Paaji!!

-Vandhiyadevan

SONY XPERIA T2 ULTRA

Sony has established its name in the mobile phone industry by introducing a range of phones whose popularity is increasing day by da. With the release of Xperia T2 Ultra, they enter the phablet market all set to compete with the global leaders. And as the name indicates, the ultra phab boasts of amazing features and uses.

SONY XPERIA T2 ULTRA

Sony has started to launch a series of varied range of mobiles and tablets and here they enter the Phablet market with an “Ultra” one called as the Xperia T2 Ultra. As the name says so it’s an Ultra Phab with all features for both uses.

GENERAL

The phablet has a 6” screen with 720 x 1280 pixels and thus falls in the mediocre ppi density of 245ppi. Its dimensions are 165.2 x 83.8 x 7.7 mm, looks comfortably big and weighs a meagre 172 grams. It comes with a micro sim slot and is compatible with 4G network too. The display is an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16M colours. It also has Trilumious display with multi touch till 10 fingers and an in-built BRAVIA Engine 2. It comes with an internal memory of 8GB and 1GB RAM with a microSD slot expandable up to 32 GB.

MEDIA

Like any other Sony device, it has a brilliant sound clarity. The loudspeaker has a range of nearly 50 m with impeccable quality of sound. It comes with a rear camera of 13MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, with auto focus and flash. The front camera is 1.1MP with 720@30fps. It has all features of Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, image stabilization, HDR, sweep panorama, which Sony never compromises on.

FEATURES

It comes with an android version 4.3 (Jelly Bean) and has a planned upgrade to 4.4.2 (Kitkat). The chipset is manufactured by Qualcomm with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad – core processor functioning at 1.4GHz. The graphics input is Adreno 305 and the sensors available are Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass.

BATTERY

It comes with an in – built, non-removable battery. It has the capacity of 3000mAh and thus lasts for more than a day under normal circumstances very easily. Stand-by – Up to 1071 h (2G) / Up to 1046 h (3G), Talk time – Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 24 h (3G) and Music play – Up to 93 h. Thus, it lasts really long for any normal consumption for a regular use among the smartphones.

CONCLUSION

FOR

·         Long lasting Battery

·         Amazing Camera

AGAINST

·         Big size for making calls

·         RAM Speed

- -Vandhiyadevan