section

02 Content Writer

Our PatronDirector

Dr.S.Sundarrajan

Dean ( Students’ Welfare )Dr.G.Venkatesa Prabhu

Faculty AdvisorsDr.V.Sathyaraj

Dr.V.Vinod Balakrishnan

Content developers: Rithvik, Dinesh, Parameshwar, Satish, Shanal, Srivathsan, Suhas, Salil, Vignesh R, Shubham T, Anirudh R, Shubhadeep, Pompi.

Cover Story: Athira, Priyanka Garg, Sai Priyanka, Sharanya, Shruthi M, Aditya Prasad, Keshav Goud, Mike.

Creative writers: Abhinav, Sibi, Lakshmi M, Abhishek, Abinash Padhi, Arvind Ravindran, Devika, Subramaniam, Sanjana, Vyjayanthi, Priyadharshini, Vrindaa.

Illustrators: Shubham Gupta, Sidharth.

Designers: Angels, Ezhilvel, Jishnu, Nithish, Pradyut, Raghuram, Santosh, Sriram.

Special credits : Suraj BarthyPhotos : Pixelbug

Editor Raghav S Chakravarthy

Co-EditorMohit Asnani

Administrative HeadT. Gowtham Kumar

Associate EditorsLakshmi Po

Priyamvatha S

Blog HeadsSriKrishnan T.N. Veena

Creative HeadAnirudh Bharadwaj

Printed at Safi re Off set printers, Sivakasi.

Founders Karthik Selva and Deepak

Valagam ( ICE 2012)

© Feeds NITT 2014. All rights reserved.

It has been 4 years for me here. 4 long ones but it hardly seems that way. My time has come now and it sends

shivers down my spine as I begin writing this. I realise I have got to go, leave you all behind and face the world, but hey, not without a fi nal rant. So I was wondering what really happens here that our seniors dearly miss? What is here that drives the existing ones mad? And most importantly what is that which makes the ones who are leaving extremely emotional? A lot of alumni who come down here say how much they miss this place. I used to wonder why anyone would miss this college when all it has is places dreary and banal. And only recently did I realise that it was not the places they were actually missing but the people who they spent the most crucial part of their life with – Friends. I have made some friends here too. Some who I have had a great time with. Others who I probably won’t miss much. And there are those who are for life. It is oft en said that friends have a huge place value in life. I say it is yet undervalued by far too many. Fortunately for me, I have fi nally come to possess a few friends who have taught me, inspired me, supported me and been with me through everything. \../ -Th is is for you guys. So, when we were interviewing the core of the two fests for this edition, one of them said that the fest meant everything to them. I am sure it is the case for all those people out there who have passionately put in so much eff ort to take their clubs and teams to greater heights. Th e senti for clubs and teams is running high what with team photos and emotional statuses becoming common sights on Facebook. Th e most intriguing part about this is that it happens every single year. I was very apprehensive about all this but as life would have it, this particular pang came knocking at my door as well. It becomes really emotional when you are parting from something that you have become so attached to. Yet it must happen. And with this issue we will be passing the baton to our next team. As I fi nish this, I remember what one of my favourite heroes once sang – Th e show must go on. And I assure you- Go on, this show shall.

Raghav S ChakravarthyEditor

01

02

Nitt news

03

Nitt news

04

Creative space

05Vyjayanthi

Debate

06 Sanjana, Raghav

Cultural clubs and interests groups should NOT

conduct inductionsAGAINST

Our college is home to more than 5000 students and a number of clubs dedicated to various activities, like music, dance, photography, social service, etc. Club inductions are crucial when you need dedicated and closely knit teams. Clubs keep an upper limit to the number of inductees every year to ensure better management and functioning of the group. It also allows all the members to get to know one another and bond, facilitating better sharing of ideas and productivity.

With 300-400 people seeking to join any club every year, it becomes very important to find people who really are interested in the club’s activities and are not merely looking for something to fill the Extra-Curricular Activities section of their resume. Induction processes can be designed to measure the candidate’s knowledge of and enthusiasm towards the club’s activities and hold them liable for the promises they make.

Many of our clubs send participants to competitions at other colleges. When it comes to a competition, interest and enthusiasm alone aren’t enough. We require skilled people to participate and increase our chances of winning. This skill can be assessed well during the induction process. However, all is not lost for those who don’t make it into the clubs. The clubs may organize events within campus open to all students. This would give them an opportunity to contribute and hone their abilities. And if they’re up to it, they are free to attend inductions again the next year.

FOROur college takes pride in imparting education that results in an all round and holistic development of students. That is the very reason behind the existence of numerous clubs on campus. The institute understands the need of such groups and associations and allocates a generous amount for the cause. Now, when that is the case it is not fair to restrict the common student from engaging, cultivating and pursuing his interest which in this case might be photography, music, dance, arts and so on. Yes, our college has 5000 students but it is also important to understand that they come from various parts of the country and as is the widespread case on campus, regional bias and partiality often creeps in during the course of inductions. Not to mention the lewd questions students are subjected to, which are irrelevant and only serve as instruments of harassment.

One may not be naturally good at something but he/she can always strive to become good at it. Most of our clubs make scores of students undergo the induction process and at the end of it all, select only a handful. Rejecting someone just because he/she is not ‘good enough’ is highly laughable. A student’s tenure in a club, which may be anywhere from 2-3 years, is solely interest-driven. When you structure the inductions in that way, it will be made sure that people who still remain with the club are those who are able to sustain their passion.

Another aspect that should be considered is the amount of diversity this brings to any club along with a broader horizon of perspectives. Some clubs might argue that they need to field the best possible team for competitions and all, which is fair. But can they not do so with the rest of the people still being in the club?

Crossword

07Suhas, Vathsan

section

08

Coffee with feeds

Festember and Pragyan are the face and pride of NIT-Trichy. The teams behind these completely student-run fests put in tremendous effort, time and energy to successfully pull it off year after year. Coffee with Feeds meets the people behind the scenes: the Overall Coordinator, the Cultural Secretary and the Treasurer of Festember, and the Chairman, the Overall Coordinator and the Treasurer of Pragyan, to get a glimpse of what goes on.

Festember :What were the major challenges that you, as the core, faced in organizing a cultural fest of this magnitude? Also, what was the toughest decision you had to make during Festember ’13?The major challenge was that we started all the work from scratch. To start with, we had a budget of less than 10k and our work started merely a few months before Festember. All the heads tried things their own ways, and trying something new takes more effort. Also, since Festember ‘13 was the Golden Jubilee edition, there was a huge burden on us to take Festember to greater heights. The toughest decision was whom to invite for the pro-shows, considering the budget constraint and the pressure of the Golden Jubilee year.

Pro-shows are the most attractive part of Festember, drawing huge crowds. How do you go about the process of deciding the artists?At first, there are posts on Facebook asking people for ideas of artists and whom they would like to see perform. The database of the previous year is also taken into account. All the artists are contacted by the Cultural Secretary, and they come to a decision after considering budget and availability dates. For example, Prasanna had been contacted for two years prior to Festember ’13, and

we finally saw him perform this year.

You have taken Festember to greater heights. What are you doing to ensure that the trend continues with your juniors? What goes into handing over the responsibilities and prepping them? During Festember, we collect feedback and responses from participants and audience. This is then analyzed and we draw up conclusions as to what went wrong. This information is passed onto the next batch so that they do not repeat our mistakes. Also, we draw up a timeline, which tells them when to do what. Choosing a competent core is a difficult task and we make sure we do our best to choose the right people.

For the next edition of Festember, the President will not be holding the post of Festember Chairman. How will this affect Festember? And how will this affect the general process of nominating a Chairman? The director plans to bring all the fests under the wing of a common student council. How will this affect the team?This will not affect the team much, since the President will still be a part of Festember Core. He will act as the link between Festember and the Admin. He may or may not have been a part of Festember previously, but the chosen

“Choosing a competent core is a difficult task

and we make sure we do our best to choose

the right people.”

Coffee with feeds

09

Chairman would have been working for Festember for 2 years. He will have previous experience, which the president may lack. Hence, we would call it a positive development for the team. Selection of the Chairman has been very tough, as we have had to make sure that we select the right person; this has caused a delay in announcing of the Festember ’14 core. There will be a member of the student council as a part of the core, which will help bridge the gap between the core and the admin. This decision will benefit all three teams equally.

Festember ‘14 will be the first edition with a Quality Management Team. What was the main vision and aim behind its conception?We have decided to form this new team as we require a link of communication between the different teams of Festember. This team will act as the common team for communication.

What do you see in the future for Festember?International artists! We would also like to see guest lectures by famous and distinguished personalities like Kamal Hassan. This would be similar to what happens during Saarang and Mood Indigo. And maybe, ISO!

Festember Social Responsibility is one of the most active teams of Festember. How valuable is FSR to Festember?FSR is very integral to Festember as it gives students a chance to give back to society. One unique thing about FSR is that whoever is interested can work and go through the wonderful experience of helping people in need. Volunteers were also given certificates for their work, which is appreciated by the team.

As the core of Festember, you will be the ones who are privy to all the happenings. Can you tell us some facts about Festember ’13 that nobody knows?The air tickets for Salim-Sulaiman were confirmed only on day 1 of Festember! Also, Shakthishree Gopalan performing was confirmed on day 0. Modi coming down to Trichy had created huge issues as the electrical in-charge was called to help for Modi’s rally. Procuring staff at the last minute became a huge problem for us.

Can you give us your views on the much heard of rivalry between the two fests?That majorly depends on the person. Teams such as design and publicity are pretty much common for the two fests. We are hoping for integration of more teams in the future.

Describe Festember in 3 words.Pranav (OC) – Fest to Remember!Fasil (Cult Sec) – Magnificent, Senti, Pro-showsDivya (Treasurer) – 3 words are not enough.

Pragyan :What were the biggest challenges you faced in organizing an international techno-managerial fest? When we first started, we thought of doing two things. We could do the same things better, or we could come up with better ideas. Deciding that and formulating ideas for Pragyan were our main challenges. We had a major time constraint due to the month long orientation and Festember. We would have like to have started work in August, with the teams and motto ready. There were many tough decisions to be made for which we had to argue from both sides and come to a consensus; the team has been very supportive, so this hasn’t been very difficult.

You have taken Pragyan to greater heights. What are you doing to ensure that the trend continues with your juniors? What goes into handing over the responsibilities and prepping them? The induction process is being carefully conducted and the right juniors are being chosen for the right teams. Choosing the team is a continuous process; we observe them throughout their second and third year and analyze how they react to situations. We also have a mentorship process. All the flaws and feedback is properly documented and handed over to the juniors for them to judge for themselves and do things differently the next time.

PSR reached out to under-privileged students this time. Can you tell us something about it? Our staff advisor, Alphonse sir, gave us the idea of making technical contributions to the society. We had an event called “Catalyst” for a local school. We taught basic scientific concepts through practical applications and we also had an evaluation quiz. We conducted a mentorship program which was aimed at informing students about opportunities at NITT and other colleges for higher education. We also had an event where NITT students had to give technical solutions for problems in the campus.

What do you see in the future for Pragyan?This edition, Pragyan has made a number of technical contributions to the college as well. For example, we implemented the Pragyan ticket barcode system for mess

section

10 Priyanka Garg, Shruthi

registrations. This was highly appreciated by Jerome sir. We would like to see more of such progress from Pragyan’s side. Pragyan is a platform for our own students to compete with the best minds that come down for Pragyan. We’d like to encourage a passion for technology amongst our student populace.

This was the first edition of Pragyan that went truly international. What went into the process?A couple of the core members wanted to go beyond what has already been done. Initially, doubts were high about the feasibility of the event because of funding issues. A few days prior to the scheduled event, we received sponsorships from Emirates Gas. Following that, we procured a total of five sponsors. This allowed us to make the event a big hit. Seeing participation from 25 schools all over UAE, with over 120 students, we realized that if we put our minds to something, we can achieve it. Even the non-Pragyan NITT students from the area turned up for the event, showing us how far Pragyan ‘senti’ had reached.

Pragyan is one organization which does not have an elected person in the team. How much does it affect you? How will the decision to bring all three fests under the wing of a common student council affect the face of Pragyan?It does not affect us much. Our whole process is very transparent. We have a standard procedure and grading system which helps us to select members in a fair manner. This system works well for us because we have been able to watch their work over the past two years. An elected representative may or may not have as much experience with Pragyan as opposed to a team member. The core members must have the ability to make autonomous decisions, without external influences. Having a student council may increase our workload, as we’ll have to go through another tier for taking decisions. This could lead to delays and place other constraints. On the other hand, we would like the student council to help us with administrative relations.

As the core of Pragyan, you will be the ones who are privy to all the happenings. Can you tell us some facts about Pragyan ’14 that nobody knows?Our original choice for guest speakers for Crossfire (based on role of youth in politics) had caused a bit of a problem as the college decisions do not make an allowance for people in certain positions. Hence we had to make last minute cancellations. This helped us to learn a lot about general institute decisions.

It is now the time to hand over the responsibilities to a new batch. How does it feel to leave behind something this valuable to you?We have grown tremendously from this experience and gained many qualities. We have basically gone through corporate lifestyles one step in advance. From coordinators, to managers, to core members, we will now be taking up the role of active alumni. Only our roles will change. Though leaving Pragyan will create a big void, we will never be detached.

A few words about Pragyan, please?Rahul (Chairman) – It was everything.Somnath (OC) – It’s been the last two years of my life.Priyanka (Treasurer) – Let’s celebrate technology.

“The core members must

have the ability to make autonomous

decisions, without external

influences.”

Creative space

11Abhinash

12

Bitcoin has been making waves in the recent news. Everyone has been talking about it, thanks to its meteoric rise in valuation and the perks that anonymity offers. However, truth be told, not many of us really know as to how bitcoin (or for that matter, any other crypto-currency) really works. So let’s try and demystify this phenomenon.

$$

$

$

$

$

$

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Bitcoin

Tech

13Vignesh R

A Brief History : Bitcoin has its origins in November 2008 when a paper was posted in the internet under the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ titled ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ highlighting the basics of his idea. Interestingly enough, nobody still knows the real identity of this person, or whether it is a group of people operating under a single name. This was implemented in January 2009, when bitcoins were first available to be ‘mined’. Ever since then, bitcoin has ballooned to massive proportions, while seeing massive fluctuations as well. One bitcoin had a value of around 1 cent in January 2010, when the first real world bitcoin transaction was made (A user buying a pizza for 10,000 BTC). 1BTC equalled one dollar at around February 2011, after which it spiralled to 266$ per BTC in April 2013. It subsequently fell to 100$ per BTC, reached a 1000$ per BTC in January and has fallen to around 340$ per BTC after the fall of the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.

How does it work?

Mining:To start off, it’s easy to relate this with an accountant’s practice or a stock market scenario. Here, all transactions that are made are recorded on a digital ledger, which is called as a block chain. Each block is a heavily encoded file. The basic process is that once a certain number of transactions have been made, the ‘miner’ will receive a small part of the transactions made, plus an additional reward in the form of bitcoins. This entire process is known as mining. Currently, a person who mines an entire block is rewarded 25 bitcoins per block, although this will be reduced in the future. A limit has been set so that by 2040, 21 million bitcoins will be in circulation across the world, with no more to be produced. After this, the only reward for a miner would be a small percentage of the transaction amount. While this sounds extremely easy, the fact remains that mining in itself is an extremely laborious process, involving computing processors that have to make millions of calculations. In addition to this, as bitcoin mining is becoming increasingly commonplace, the manufacturers of this are correspondingly increasing the difficulty of mining a block. If normal computers were to be used for these processes, it would not be uncommon to find that the electricity costs involved for this process would soon outweigh the gains made through mining. In fact, mining has become so competitive that some computer manufacturers are devising special machines which are exclusively built for such purposes.

Storage: After obtaining the bitcoin, the miner then receives a special code called as a ‘key’. The bitcoins are stored in a digital ‘wallet’. A key is nothing but a complex alphanumeric code that has the address of the corresponding bitcoins. Hence, this key is the only way that one can access this wallet. Therefore, safeguarding this key is of paramount importance as the bitcoins are useless and viable to theft without this key.

Controversy :Bitcoin, unlike any other currency, is not regulated by a central authority such as a government. Any company can use a server to host this process. This has caused quite a stir with several governments, leading to countries such as Singapore, Canada and USA making new laws to accommodate this. On the other hand, countries such as China and India have heavily restricted the usage of bitcoin in their respective states and Iceland has banned bitcoin entirely. The anonymity associated with bitcoin has also been a double-edged sword. While bitcoin has often been used to raise money for many causes (such as aid for combating hunger in impoverished countries and to support open system software developers), its anonymity also means that a large amount of criminal activity has been associated with this. One infamous example was the online market ‘The Silk Road’, where bitcoins were used for the purchase of illegal drugs. The safety of bitcoin has also been a cause for concern, with data losses being increasingly reported with several instances of key theft. These concerns were only exacerbated when the online exchange Mt.Gox went bankrupt earlier this year, leading to the loss of thousands of bitcoins and therefore, millions of dollars.

Nevertheless, despite all these controversies, bitcoin has captured the public imagination and has made millionaires out of paupers, for some lucky early investors. All in all it doesn’t look like bitcoin will be going out anytime soon.

Creative space

14 Keshav

TEERTS SYOB

X

I II II I

II

Rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. Here are some that depict

some of the popular bands.

1 2

3 4

65

7 8

15

BOYS

Feature

17Vyjayanthi, Subramaniam

Photography

18

19Raghav S Chakravarthy, Suraj Barthy

20 Aditya, Mike

21Cover Story

22 Cover story

24Cover story

25Cover story

26 Cover story

27Cover story

Cartoon

28 Shubham Gupta

Creative space

29

I'm leaving college in a month. So I volunteered to do an article, because it would be

the last written impression I leave behind in Feeds. But now with the thought of the

deadline pushing relentlessly at the back of my brain, I can't �nd the words. I look back

at my college life frantically trying to �nd inspiration like I look for my transcript in my

topsy-turvy room ten minutes before my placement interview. What do you say when

you are leaving? Do you try (and miserably fail) to impart wisdom? Do you say "Good-

bye and Good-luck" in 400 words?

�e truth is, I do not want to leave. As much as we all curse and crib about college, it is

still home to most of us. Despite all the monstrous spiders, creatures drinking unicorn

blood and a professor trying to kill him, didn't Harry Potter love Hogwarts a�er all?

Who does want to go out into a world where one has to fend for oneself and can no

longer count on the mercy of kind professors or last-minute studying to get through

life!�e transition from being looked a�er to becoming a care-taker or a bread winner is

scary. In a couple of months, how can we be expected to move from students who

cannot take care of our own rooms or tolerate mess food to professionals who must

work all day, take of their families and cook for themselves? Above all, we have to leave

behind people who have been with us through thick and thin for �ve years. And for

what? To make our way through a corporate crowd schmoozing and making small talk.

�e thought of leaving something so home-like for the uncaring world outside makes

us weep even at the sight of a black-toothed watchman anna.

Perhaps, entering a company would be like entering college, exciting but also, terrify-

ing. Perhaps, like in college, many times in the �rst six months, we would want to run

away without looking back from our responsibilities. Or maybe, just like the �rst

night-out, the thought of a bed would make us want to sleep in the middle of work.

Maybe we would miss a lot of deadlines and opportunities like we did during club

inductions, assignment submissions and scholarships.

Maybe we will crib about the college life we le� behind just like we did when we le�

school. And meanwhile, perhaps, some of the best friendships would be formed.

Perhaps, we will �nd friends again, �nd our own little joys in gossiping, hanging out or

drinking co�ee. Perhaps, it won't be so di�erent or maybe it will be. Remember how we

all felt blue when we got here? College turned out �ne. Maybe change is not so bad

a�er all.What about me? I guess I did �nd my inspiration a�er all. Like my transcript, it too

was lying in a dusty corner. Almost forgotten but just saved from destruction, thanks to

a deadline.

"Goo

dbye

and

Goo

d-lu

ck"

"Goo

dbye

and

Goo

d-lu

ck" in

400

wor

ds?

C h a n g eCFeature

30 Lakshmi

I'm leaving college in a month. So I volunteered to do an article, because it would be

the last written impression I leave behind in Feeds. But now with the thought of the

deadline pushing relentlessly at the back of my brain, I can't �nd the words. I look back

at my college life frantically trying to �nd inspiration like I look for my transcript in my

topsy-turvy room ten minutes before my placement interview. What do you say when

you are leaving? Do you try (and miserably fail) to impart wisdom? Do you say "Good-

bye and Good-luck" in 400 words?

�e truth is, I do not want to leave. As much as we all curse and crib about college, it is

still home to most of us. Despite all the monstrous spiders, creatures drinking unicorn

blood and a professor trying to kill him, didn't Harry Potter love Hogwarts a�er all?

Who does want to go out into a world where one has to fend for oneself and can no

longer count on the mercy of kind professors or last-minute studying to get through

life!�e transition from being looked a�er to becoming a care-taker or a bread winner is

scary. In a couple of months, how can we be expected to move from students who

cannot take care of our own rooms or tolerate mess food to professionals who must

work all day, take of their families and cook for themselves? Above all, we have to leave

behind people who have been with us through thick and thin for �ve years. And for

what? To make our way through a corporate crowd schmoozing and making small talk.

�e thought of leaving something so home-like for the uncaring world outside makes

us weep even at the sight of a black-toothed watchman anna.

Perhaps, entering a company would be like entering college, exciting but also, terrify-

ing. Perhaps, like in college, many times in the �rst six months, we would want to run

away without looking back from our responsibilities. Or maybe, just like the �rst

night-out, the thought of a bed would make us want to sleep in the middle of work.

Maybe we would miss a lot of deadlines and opportunities like we did during club

inductions, assignment submissions and scholarships.

Maybe we will crib about the college life we le� behind just like we did when we le�

school. And meanwhile, perhaps, some of the best friendships would be formed.

Perhaps, we will �nd friends again, �nd our own little joys in gossiping, hanging out or

drinking co�ee. Perhaps, it won't be so di�erent or maybe it will be. Remember how we

all felt blue when we got here? College turned out �ne. Maybe change is not so bad

a�er all.What about me? I guess I did �nd my inspiration a�er all. Like my transcript, it too

was lying in a dusty corner. Almost forgotten but just saved from destruction, thanks to

a deadline.

"Goo

dbye

and

Goo

d-lu

ck"

"Goo

dbye

and

Goo

d-lu

ck" in

400

wor

ds?

C h a n g eCCreative space

31SIbi R

Emerging �ields: UX DesignEmerging �ields: UX Design

Have you ever had trouble searching on Google? Now, I'm not talking about � nding the exact same sub-heading of an obscure assignment that you are trying to complete at the last minute, just the process of � nding the

search bar. It’s simple, uncluttered interface is beautiful in its minimalism and most importantly, extremely easy to use.� e concept of user friendliness or 'user experience', combined with design, usually of a website or application, is what UX Designers are involved with.Although the ease-of-use of an interface is o� en thought of as a given, most people are not able to think about and process the variety of situations, and users need to be catered to. A great coder might develop the best so� ware in the world but it would be completely lost on novice users who do not understand how to best make use of it. � is is where a UX Designer comes in, to bridge the gap. User experience design is a highly multi-disciplinary � eld, incorporating aspects of psychology, anthropology, architecture, sociology, computer science, graphic design, industrial design and cognitive science. Depending on the purpose of the product, UX may also involve content design disciplines such as communication design, instructional design, or game design. � e subject matter of the content may also warrant collaboration with a subject-matter expert (SME) on planning the UX from various backgrounds in business, government, or private groups.� is allows people from various � elds to enter this career path because it requires a range of experience and skillsets. � ere are cases of accountants and people with cognitive science degrees stumbling upon the � eld, discovering their interest in it and making it as great UX Designers. You could also do a course on Interaction Design and take the direct path, if you feel it works for you. Go to this link to check out 'How to Get Started in UX Design for the Average Joe'https://medium.com/design-ux/85ba97a8� b6

Career Growth and ProspectsSince UX Design is a very new � eld, job descriptions and prospects vary widely. Depending on whether you have experience or a degree closely related to the � eld, you tech skills, the requirements of the company that hires you and whether you are running your own consultancy, the money you make will di� er. Even your job description could vary from UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Visual Designer and Information Architect among others. In the end, it all boils down to how well you understand human behaviour and their interaction with their surroundings, as well as an ability to design the best solution for problems, in the form of a phone app, a website or sometimes even a print ad.To get a rough idea of salaries you can visit http://www.onwardsearch.com/UX-Jobs-Salary-Guide/UX-Jobs-Salary-Guide-small.png

Ux Design In IndiaUX Design is an upcoming � eld in the country even though it is not o� en talked about. Most UX designers run a consultancy and sometimes do research. Some of the UX Consultancy websites in India are Bardo.com, PeepalDesign.com and Lollypop.biz.IIM Bangalore hosted an international conference on User Experience Design last October called UXINDIA 2013. It was organized by UsabilityMatters.org, a non-pro� t organization working for greater design sensibilities. Take a look at their website here, http://www.2013.ux-india.org/, to get an idea of the people and activities involved. Some speakers have even shared slides presented at the conference.32

If this violence-every-50-years trend continues, then the US will have to brace itself for an increase in terrorist activities in the year 2020.� is graph pretty much sums up Peter Turchin’s � eld of cliodynamics: quantifying history to develop laws that may govern the stability of societies over time.� e word is derived from ‘Clio’- the Muse symbolizing history in Greek mythology, and ‘dynamics’ - the study of processes that change over time.Cliodynamics involves creating a mathematical model of one data-set from history and applying this model to other historical data sets to check if it holds true. � e resulting patterns could possibly be used to predict what could happen in the near future. For example, Turchin created a model for political violence with data from French and Roman history. He then tested the model on data from American history, and observed that the model held true. Turchin plotted the above graph for US using the data, and thus predicts that in 2020, there will be another crest in the curve, indicating an increase in violence.Come to think of it, these cycles are but inevitable. First there is an egalitarian society, where everyone’s life is going smoothly. � is a� uence leads to a population boom. Soon, population outstrips productivity, the state goes into debt, there are more quali� ed young people than jobs available and the elite begin to � ght for positions of power - all this leads to unrest and � nally breakdown in the central authority. � e unrest lowers the population, governance changes into what people feel is a better option, and the cycle begins again. Of course, the governing class may successfully introduce reforms that lower the pressure and prevent the outbreak of a revolution (proper reforms explain the missing spike of 1820). However, violence is usually the most common way through which stability is restored (ironically).

Turchin’s recent work is on modeling social instability, but he and his colleagues hope to develop models that explain the entire world history, tracing the social-cultural evolution since the Neolithic Era. Population, economics, literature, etc. form the input indicators. It is Turchin’s � rm belief that history needs to be converted from a moral art into an analytical, predictive science, for then, it might be useful in preventing violence at the right time and place. Any new � eld will have its share of skeptics, and cliodynamics is no di� erent. Most historians remain convinced that it is simply impossible to draw up ‘laws’ that govern history - people and their behavior are too unpredictable to simplify history in such a manner. Many aspects of human societies are the same - use of languages, rituals, etc. and only when one looks deeper do the distinctions become clear. Cliodynamics’ critiques say that it is very easy to confuse these similarities for patterns, whereas in reality, the reasons may have been widely di� erent. Also, as of now, cliodynamics provides no way of predicting where or how severe the violence will be, or who will be the causal agent(s).How Turchin’s further research answers these questions will decide the future of cliodynamics. I’m going to assume that Peter Turchin (and yours truly) have inspired you to become a cliodynamicist. Here’s what you will need (a� er your B.Tech degree):• A post-doc in political/any social science � eld • A Ph.D project that involves experiments and ground-

work• Taking courses related to mathematics and dynamic

systems • Programming skills

1870: during and a� er the Civil War 1920: a� er World War 1 1970: during the Vietnam War

Cliodynamics: Modeling history tounderstand

ourselves better

http://cliodynamics.info/ http://socialevolutionforum.com/ http://www.wired.com/http://io9.com/ http://www.smartplanet.com/

Emerging Fields

33Devika, Vrindaa

34 Subramaniam, Vignesh R

Creative space

35Abhinav

Creative space

36 Priya Rajagopal

Fake news

37Stealth Shiva

Everyone, at some point in their college life, has wondered why certain things have happened to them and their friends. Most people brush it off as coincidence, as bad luck.

But is it? It has recently come to light that this so-called “bad luck” not only has a name, but also a password, a secret

hand gesture, and a strict organizational hierarchy. This reporter has stumbled upon NITT’s best kept secret – the existence of an underground society on campus. For those of you who don’t know, Wikipedia says “an underground society is a club or organization whose activities, events, and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence.” When the Admin was asked to comment on this startling revelation, they claim to be as surprised as we are. The society does not seem to appear on any records, both electronic or on paper. However, a certain distinguished alumni of this college (who wishes to remain anonymous) confirmed its existence when approached by Feeds. You might be wondering what the aim of such an organization is, or why such emphasis is given to secrecy. We all are. But in this case, ignorance is a good thing. The only people who know are either the members themselves or have been dealt with suitably.

The organization can schedule meetings under any pretext. Are you really sure that the German class that is happening in A12 is what it appears to be? Or the numerous NSO meetings that you bunked? Or the seemingly random crowd outside Juicy? This reporter found himself in the middle of such a meeting by accident, and thus was able to sniff out a scoop of gigantic proportions. I would like to note down my observations in the likely event that I fall victim to an “unfortunate accident” .The crowd seemed to be divided into two factions – the thetas and the phis. On careful observation, I was able to infer that the thetas seemed to be a subset of the circuital branches and the phis consisted of the non circuital branches. There were further sub groups but the time was insufficient to figure out the basis of the divisions. I also noticed some well known faces from campus, heads of some popular clubs, professors. It seemed to be a meeting for the new inductees so my presence went unnoticed. That brings us to the question, how do they conduct their inductions? And, inductions without questionnaires, GDs and PIs? That truly is radical.

We are still making concerted efforts to find out what the true aim of such a society is. But until such time campus residents are advised to proceed with extreme caution. Do not trust anybody and keep your eyes open. The next time your less talented roommate gets through a grueling induction process, or the guy after you “picks” the easy experiment in your lab exam or the Gurunath people give back the correct amount of change, you know the reason why.

Disclaimer: The following article contains highly sensitive information. Feeds NITT is not forcing you to read this article. The team is not, in any way, responsible ensuring your personal safety on campus, if you choose to read this. Also, you should know that they are watching. Always.

Secret society

Freelance

38 Cherry, 3rd yr MME

How to

39Anirudh R

40

REBUS SOLUTIONS

section

43Content Writer

section

44 Content Writer