Author: Adarsh

Adarsh explains how Semi-Automated Offside Technology will replace VAR at the upcoming FIFA World Cup for a more error free experience One of the biggest injustices in sport, especially football, is how an error on the referee or linesman’s part can cost a team a win, or even worse, a championship. Despite their best efforts, the referees are only human, and humans are prone to make the occasional mistake. Technology is supposed to negate human error. When the Video Assistant Referee or VAR technology was introduced, it was expected to at least minimize these errors. But if anything, it seemed…

Adarsh takes you on a walk down memory lane to a time when millennials used to burn CDs as a substitute for love letters The year was 2001. You had finally managed some alone time on the family desktop. Using your slow dial-up internet, you illegally downloaded your favourite songs from LimeWire or Pirate Bay. Once this was done, you picked the ones with the right lyrics and set them in the order you wanted them to play. And then, you inserted a blank compact disc (CD) into the CD Drive. On a CD-writing software like Nero, you added your…

Adarsh explores how Artificial Intelligence is playing a part in conserving and restoring historically famous works of art Major artworks have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Last month, Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece ‘Sunflowers’ was vandalized at London’s National Gallery when climate change activists threw tomato soup at the painting. A few days later, Claude Monet’s ‘Grainstacks’ – valued at $110 million – had mashed potatoes thrown on it by the protestors. While such deliberate attacks as a sign of protest is nothing new, there are other ways in which famous works of art are under…

Adarsh looks into broadcast innovations that are taking the World T20 viewing experience to the next level for cricket fans watching from home When Virat Kohli faced the formidable Pakistani team in an impossible-to-win match scenario during India’s high-octane first match, something else faced the ball for the first time: Artificial Intelligence. For the first time in the T20 World Cup, fans got to see exactly what Virat saw thanks to immersive 360-degree visualization of the field from live data fed by ICC into an AI system. 360 degree view of what Virat Kohli saw while facing Haris Rauf (Image:…

Always connected but never together. Never alone but always lonely. Adarsh explores loneliness in the age of social media Rahul just found out his next meeting is a little delayed. So as always, he takes his phone out of his pocket and opens Twitter. In a matter of seconds, he had scrolled endlessly on his timeline. Anjali is at home. She took leave to finish a bunch of household chores. But ever since her day started, all she’s been doing is scrolling away on Instagram. It has been a few hours but she shows no signs of stopping. Akash is…

As India becomes part of an elite list of countries with 5G, Adarsh covers everything you need to know about the update At the 6th Indian Mobile Congress held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of 5G Network services in the country. India joins an elite few nations like the US, Korea, UK, Japan, China, and some countries across Europe. In his address, Modi said: “New India will not remain a mere consumer of the technology but will play an active role in the development implementation of that technology. With 5G, India is setting…

Adarsh explores how a random image from a 1970s Playboy photoshoot helped in the creation of the digital image format now known as the JPEG Lena Söderberg was 20 years old in 1971 when she moved to Chicago from her native Sweden. Newly married and hungry for work, she was working as a house help for one of her affluent relatives. As they struggled to make ends meet, her husband encouraged her to sign up with local modeling agencies. The Photoshoot in 1972 That is how Dwight Hooker – a photographer for the infamous Playboy magazine – came to approach…

With tech giants like Infosys and Wipro cracking down on moonlighting employees, Adarsh explores the pros and cons of having a second job The conversation started a couple of weeks ago when Infosys sent out an email warning its employees against dual employment. “Remember – no moonlighting – no two timing,” read the mail. It added that the company “strictly discourages dual employment” and that it could lead to termination from the job. Wipro followed that up by firing 300 employees last week for moonlighting. “It is cheating – plain and simple,” tweeted Rishad Premji, the chairman of Wipro. The…

Adarsh looks back at the first game to appear on a mobile device! The year was 2000. You were at the bus stop. Or in the supermarket with your mother. Or at your dad’s office waiting for him to get done with work. If you didn’t have your own Nokia handset yet, you would borrow your parent’s. You would click on Menu and go to Games and select Snake. And then you’d play the game for hours on end. I am sure anyone who’s ever held a Nokia phone would’ve played the game at least once. And if you’ve played…

In a post-Covid world, employees are prioritizing mental health and work-life balance over hustle culture. Adarsh finds out how. Just over a week ago, Shantanu Deshpande, the CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, posted on LinkedIn about how freshers must “put in 18 hours a day for 4-5 years”. He spoke about how he had come across a lot of “youngsters who watch random content and convince themselves that ‘work life balance, spending time with family, bla bla bla’ is important”. According to him, “it is important but not that early”. Apparently, one must “worship your work, whatever it is, from…