Sleep on it (K2 #64)

Question of the Week
When I turn off my Windows laptop, I noticed options for Sleep and Hibernate. What is the difference between the two?
— Nawang S., Motithang

Answer
Dear Nawang,

Shut down, sleep, hibernate... Let’s try and sort things out. We’ll start with the most familiar option: Shut down. When you shut down your laptop, all your applications close, and then the laptop turns off. In this “off” state, the laptop uses no power, so the battery can keep for days. When it’s time to use the laptop again and you power on the laptop, Windows restarts (which can take a minute or two – or five) and then you need to re-launch your applications, like MS Word or your Internet browser.

Now let’s talk about sleep. In sleep mode the computer starts dreaming. OK, just kidding. In sleep mode (previously known as Standby), the screen and other power-hungry parts such as the hard disk are turned off, but the computer’s memory — where the running applications are kept — is still powered. This allows the computer to wake up very quickly – usually in a matter of seconds – and snap back to where you left it off, applications and all. In sleep mode, the computer uses little power but it still slowly drains the battery. If you are not using your computer for a few hours, or if the laptop is plugged into power, this is usually a good choice.

Finally: Hibernation. Somewhat like hibernating bears (but not all of them – sloth bears do not hibernate!), this is similar to a deep sleep. Hibernating the computer and waking up from hibernation takes longer than putting it to sleep and waking it from sleep, but when it wakes up, eventually it restores to where you left off. Why use hibernation? Under hibernate mode, the battery can keep for days. Here’s how it works: When you hibernate your computer, the content of the memory – where the running applications are kept – is first saved to the hard disk, and then the computer shuts down, so the laptop uses no power. When you turn the computer on, it restores the memory back from the hard disk. This is why waking up from hibernation takes longer than waking up from sleep. Hibernate mode is useful if you know your computer will be disconnected from power for a day or more, but you still want to kick off exactly where you left off.

The proper way to shut down
If you pull out the power cord or otherwise turn off the power while Windows is still running, this may result in corrupted files and other unexpected trouble. It is best to first shut down Windows, then turn off the power to the computer.

A Quick Quiz for Kuensel Readers

This inforgraphic was published in today's Kuensel (TV’s stand-alone influence on society).

Look at the bottom chart (Impact of TV on children), and answer the following question:

If one person equals 2%, and two people equal 4%, how many people equal 38%?

The Updated Broadband Packages: Strange Pricing

Fantastic news! As reported in the Kuensel a few days ago, Bhutan Telecom has reduced the price of its broadband packages by about 40%. In addition, all broadband users have been upgraded to the maximum circuit speed of 2 Mbps (actual download speed is often much less).

Since that the package you choose does not affect speed or validity, the main factor when choosing a prepaid package should be the cost per GB .

So which one should you choose? Let's look at the table. The Cost per GB is displayed in the last column.

Package Name	Recharge Amount	Data Quota	Cost per GB
Home	399.00	4 GB	Nu 100
Office	1499.00	12 GB	Nu 125
Enterprise	2499.00	24 GB	Nu 104

One would expect to get a discount when recharging with a more expensive package — or at least not to get penalized for higher recharge amounts. Surprise! Compared to the cheapest package (Home), when you recharge with the Office package, you pay 25% more per GB! The most expensive package (Enterprise) package, is cheaper than the Office but still more expensive than the Home.

What might be the explanation for such an unusual pricing scheme?

Tweet by SMS for TashiCell customers

TashiCell customers can now tweet (and receive tweets) using SMS. This was announced by Twitter about a week ago. Curiously, I could not find any mention of the new feature on T-Cell's website. To begin, text START to 40404.

B-Mobile used to offer an identical service, but it was not working - without any explanation - for a few months. Today it started working again. Coincidence?

Snapping the Screen (K2 #63)

Question of the Week 
I want to upload a snapshot of my laptop screen to my website. How can I create the snapshot and turn it into an image?
— Rinchen, aspiring web designer

Answer
Dear Rinchen,

Well, one foolproof way — though  undesirable — is to stand with a digital camera in front of the screen and take a snap... Luckily, there are neater ways to take a screenshot. If you are using Windows XP and above, simply clicking on the the PrtScr (Print Screen) key captures a crisp image of the entire screen to the clipboard. Look for this forgotten key at the top-right area of the keyboard. On different keyboards the key label might be  PrSc, Prt Scn, etc.

Now that the image is in the clipboard, you can paste it inside various applications, such as a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. You can even paste it into the rather antiquated Paint application. Pasting the image to a PowerPoint slide is probably the most useful, since you can right click on the just-pasted image and select Save as Picture to export the screenshot to an image file in various formats (JPG, GIF, PNG, etc). You can also use PowerPoint’s photo editing capabilities (crop, resize) to edit the image before saving.

Tip: If you need to capture only the active window, as is often the case, clicking Alt-PrtScr (holding the Alt key while clicking PrtScr) will do the trick.

What about Smartphones?
Want to capture a witty SMS exchange and turn it into an image? It’s easy to take snapshots of your smartphone’s screen if you know the right key combination. On Apple gadgets, simply click on the round Home button together with the Lock button. You will hear a click, and a screenshot will be saved to your Camera Roll (iPhone) or Saved Photos (iPad, iPod).

Android users have it a bit more difficult. On most phones running Android 4 you will need to press the Volume Down key together with the Power key, then hold for about 5 seconds. Not easy for people with small hands! You will then hear a click and the screenshot will be saved to the Screenshots folder, which you can view (and share) with the Gallery app. On some Samsung phones, the Power+Home keys does the trick. If neither of these work on your phone, your best bet is to check the user’s manual or to Google it.

Snip, Snip
The Snipping Tool is a great tool that makes it easy to take a snapshot of any area of the screen. The tool is automatically available to the lucky users of Windows Vista, Windows 8, and certain versions of Windows 7 (Home Premium and above). To run, simply click the Start button, then start typing Snipping Tool.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Cyber Sundays?

Mr. Karma Sangay has this suggestion in today's Kuensel: Open the government offices' WiFi networks to the general public on weekends. The government is paying the bill for these leased lines anyway, and very few people are in the office, so why not use the underutilized infrastructure for the benefit of the public? Great idea!

© Kuensel Corporation

Rigsum #SherigCollection visits Bajothang Book Fair

We just returned from two days at the Bajothang HSS book fair, where we displayed and distributed the Rigsum Sherig Collection to many schools outside of Thimphu: School principals, librarians, teachers and staff from nine dzongkhags visited the Rigsum Sherig Collection tent: Chhukha, Dagana, Gasa, Paro, Punakha, Thimphu, Trongsa, Tsirang, and Wangdue.

Teacher from remote Lungtengang PS downloads the collection

Lots of interest from principals, teachers, and students

Teachers were eager to gain access to quality offline learning resources. Many have told us that the Internet connection at their school was more in theory than in practice (we learned that in some areas, 3am-6am was the only time to attempt sending an email!). Other schools were so remote that even mobile reception was insufficient. For teachers and students in such schools, the Sherig Collection was perceived as a life-changer. At last, teachers and students will have fast access to digital encyclopedias that do not cost a fortune and do not need to be kept locked behind glass doors. More than 2,000 Khan Academy videos in maths and sciences will provide teachers with new ways of teaching existing materials, and for students, ways to strengthen their knowledge and expand it, while keeping their curiosity healthy.

Nearly all schools that visited our tent reported having computers for students to access. While a few schools have only 1-2 computers for students, many others have a computer lab. School computers range from old models to newer ones, from those with Windows XP to those with Windows 7. Some visitors were surprised to learn that the Sherig Collection will work on even old computers running Windows XP.

Many of the teachers and principals who visited had an external hard-drive or a laptop with them. They were therefore able to copy the Sherig Collection (approximately 25–30 min), and take it back to their schools. The demand was so high, that at some point we had 4 or 5 disks attached to our computers at the same time!

Gasa PS principal (left) and Bajo HSS IT teacher (middle)

An additional benefit is that these Sherig-Collection-holding-schools now serve as contact points for nearby schools. For example, the principal of Gasa Primary School, Mr. Pema Dorji, will be distributing the software to all four schools in Gasa. Mr. Passang Tshering at Bajothang HSS has been distributing the Sherig Collection to many schools in the Wangdue-Punakha area, as well as assisting fellow teachers with ideas and tips about using the collection.

Our display was also visited by several officers from the Ministry of Education's Department of Curriculum Research and Development. They too now have the collection and will serve as a distribution point for schools in Paro. Executive director of the Bhutan Canada Foundation along with a Canadian teacher have expressed much interest - we hope that they can help spread the collection to schools with BCF teachers.

The Sherig Collection can be used in many ways. Students can be instructed to conduct research on a particular topic during the weekly IT session. A staff room computer can help teachers improve their lesson plans. One of the early adopting teachers of the Sherig Collection shared that he uses a projector to show students a Khan Academy video during class.

DCRD Director getting a tour of the Sherig Collection

It was a busy two days, with plenty of visitors, demos, downloading, and interactions. We have also collected wish lists for further improving the collection.

Educators who missed the Bajo fair and the earlier information session in Thimphu are welcome to visit us at the Rigsum Research Lab and obtain the collection.

The Sherig Collection Facebook group, intended for sharing information and experiences, already has over 100 members, including teachers, principals and other education/knowledge seekers. The group is fairly active and we invite teachers, librarians, principals, curriculum developers and anyone interested in getting their school or organization on board.

We extend our many thanks to Bajo teacher Mr. Passang Tshering for organizing the Sherig tent and for the wonderful hospitality.