The world's tiniest fisheye camera

Twenty-five year-old student Greg Dash was frustrated. He wanted to take "fisheye"-style camera pictures without having to pay for an expensive lens, or fiddle around with a smartphone app. He wanted something light and small that he could pull from his pocket at a moment's notice. Unfortunately such a device did not exist.
So, he went ahead and invented it.
Measuring just four centimeters long and two centimeters high, the "Little Cyclops" has only two buttons and no viewing screen.
However, an array of nifty features -- including a timelapse mode, 12 megapixel resolution and HD video recording capabilities -- have proven so popular with photography enthusiasts that the camera easily surpassed its funding target on the crowdsourcing website, Indiegogo.
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The Little Cyclops had raised $100,000 as donations came to a close this morning, almost double the initial $53,000 target.
"It's all been a bit overwhelming," said Dash. "At one point I was getting an email every seven minutes and it has been just impossible to respond to everyone.
"Because the money has gone so far over the goal now though I can get other people on board to help get the cameras out," he added.
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Dash says he first came up with the idea for the camera late last year when he was unable to find an affordable fisheye lens to use with his own digital SLR camera.
He resolved to fashion one himself using an old camera and a lens he had custom made.
When friends were impressed with the results he decided to see if he could raise the funds to put his invention into production.
A manufacturer -- which he doesn't wish to reveal as he is still in the pre-production phase -- was then sourced to make a limited run of 1,000 devices completely from scratch which will be sold on a first-come first-served basis.
The cameras are priced at $100 each and orders have already arrived from as far afield as Japan and Taiwan.
"It's been amazing as there has been interest from everywhere really, all over the world," Dash said.
"I was even invited to go on Dragon's Den (a popular British TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their products and ideas to prominent businesspeople) but there's no way I'm going on that," he added.
See also: $30 gadget lets your eyes take control
Despite the unforeseen level of interest, Dash says he has no plans to go into the serious business of mass production any time soon.
His main priority remains studying towards a PhD on the economic and social impact of wind energy development at the University of Aberystwyth in his native Wales.
The success of Little Cyclops however has helped him pay-off mounting student fees and encouraged him to further test his powers of invention.
He now has a new limited edition camera in the pipeline which he hopes to release at the end of the summer, although he remains tight-lipped as to what exactly that may be.
"There's going to be a view finder added and a load of other features but I don't want to give away what it is yet," he said.
"It's going to be able to do something that you can't do on any smartphone and would usually cost hundreds of pounds but I can do it for about £50 ($76)."
It's been amazing as there has been interest from everywhere really, all over the world
Greg Dash
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Dash plans to listen to feedback on the Little Cyclops before finalizing the design of his next product and crowdsourcing for funding.
For now, however, the main priority is to continue with his studies while indulging his passion for photography and camera development when he can.
"It's not a business really, just a project that I'm working on to see what we can do with cameras and have a bit of fun with them," he said.
"I really enjoy my PhD and the work that I do so if the money I make from the cameras makes that a bit easier or more comfortable for me then all the better."

Source : CNN

French Senate honours Sulabh founder with 'Legend of Planet' award

PARIS: Ahead of World Environment Day, the French Senate has honoured Indian social reformer and Sulabh movement founder Bindeshwar Pathak with the 'Legend of Planet' award for bringing about a toilet revolution in his country and for liberating manual scavenges from the inhuman practice.

Senate vice-president Chantal Jourdan decorated Pathak and five others from across the globe with the honour at a reception the at Palais du Luxembourg on Monday night.

Hundreds of environmentalists from all over the world have gathered in the city for a three-day Green Games Congress organised at Unesco headquarters in Paris to discuss burning environmental issues.

While accepting the honour, Pathak termed it a recognition of his 40 years of service for the society" "It's honour for Indi"," he said.

Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation which is spearheading a toilet revolution in India using indigenously-developed, cheaper and eco-friendly technology. The eco-friendly Sulabh Sauchalya invented by him requires only one litre of water, thus directly conserving the environment.

Pathak is known around the world for his wide-ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health, advance social progress and improve human rights in his home nation and other countries.

The Indian sanitation expert has previously been awarded the prestigious 2009 Stockholm Water Prize. The award, akin to a Nobel Prize on environmental issues, was presented to him by Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. He was awarded with Padma Bhushan by the Indian government, besides several other international and national awards.

Source : TOI

Honda-driven Japan first team to qualify for 2014 World Cup

An injury-time penalty from Keisuke Honda fired Japan into the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making the Samurai Blue the first country to qualify for next year's tournament in Brazil.
With Japan needing to avoid defeat in order to clinch one of the 32 places with a game to spare, playmaker Honda converted a late spot-kick to level the score at 1-1 after Australia had taken a surprise lead through Tommy Oar's speculative cross with eight minutes remaining.
Tuesday's point means Alberto Zaccheroni's Japan are seven points clear at the top of Asian qualifying's Group B and assured of a place in a fifth consecutive World Cup.
The top two teams from each of Asia's five-country groups advance, with both third-placed teams entering a playoff.
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The winner of that two-legged tie plays the fifth-placed team from the South American section to decide who goes to the tournament. Brazil, as host nation, has does not need to qualify.
Oman also enjoyed a fruitful Tuesday as they leaped from second bottom in Group B to second top after beating Iraq 1-0 in Muscat thanks to Ismail Al Ajmi's goal in first half stoppage time.
The Omanis' nine points are now two better than both Australia and Jordan, but the latter pair have a match in hand.
This will be played when the Socceroos, who have qualified for the last two World Cups, host Jordan in Melbourne next Tuesday.

The result of that match will determine what each team needs to do in their final qualifier on June 18, when Group B concludes with Australia at home again, against Iraq, while Oman travel to Jordan.

Japan's next commitment is the forthcoming Confederations Cup in Brazil, a warmup event for 2014's four-yearly showpiece.

Zaccheroni's Asian champions play hosts Brazil in the competition's opening game on June 15.

Elsewhere in Asia, former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been named head coach of Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R & F.
The Swede, who has also coached Manchester City, Lazio, Roma and Ivory Coast during a 36-year managerial career, has left his post as technical director of United Arab Emirates club Al Nasr.
"The club's board of directors has today officially hired Sven-Goran Eriksson as Guangzhou football coach until December 2014," read a statement from the club, which is 13th in the 16-team CSL.
"Coach Li Bing will from today no longer serve as the acting head coach."

Source : CNN

Seagate unveils Ultrathin hard disk for use in mobile devices

Source : Seagate.com

Seagate Technology has launched the thinnest hard disk drive ever, targeting use in mobile devices. The hard disk, that has been dubbed Seagate Laptop Ultrathin HDD, is only 5mm thin and weighs approximately 93 grams.
Seagate Laptop Ultrathin HDD is a 2.5- inch drive, which will be available in two variants, 320GB and 500GB, but takes 25 percent less space than its previous-generation 7mm counterpart. The suggested retail price for this hard disk is $89, for the 320GB variant. This hard disk comes with a 6Gbps SATA interface. It also supports SED encryption on the 500GB capacity version.

Due to its slim profile, Seagate is hoping the hard disk will find use in mobile device like tablets, further diminishing the boundaries between tablets and laptops.

Commenting on the launch, Steve Luczo, president, CEO and chairman of Seagate said, "When we originally demonstrated this solution last September, we knew we had a truly innovative product that would empower our partners to reimagine mobile applications. The strong support from our OEM partners indicates we have delivered on our vision and look forward to a new wave of innovative solutions enabled by this revolutionary product."

"The new Seagate Laptop Ultrathin truly raises the bar, enabling us to finally create high-capacity, thin and light laptops that consumers crave at mass-market price points they can afford," said S.Y. Shian, corporate vice president and general manager of Asus' notebook business unit. "The drive's capacity, coupled with its ultra-slim, lightweight footprint, empowers our engineers to think out of the box and create truly ground-breaking, innovative system designs- it's a win- win for both us and the consumer."

Seagate has recently unveiled 660 SSD, which is its first solid-state drive (SSD) for consumers, as well as next-generation enterprise SSDs - Seagate 600 Pro SSD and the Seagate 1200 SSD.

Source : NDTV

World Bank all for an eco-friendly Hyderabad

World Bank country head Barjor E. Mehta hails the innovative features, multi-modal integration and the urban redesign approach of the HMR project; terms it a very promising one

The World Bank has promised all support to the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project and the plans to transform the capital into an eco-friendly global city.

Appreciating the innovative features, multi-modal integration and the urban redesign approach of the project, Barjor E. Mehta, World Bank country head, had mentioned that the Hyderabad model was a very promising one. He was speaking at a joint workshop conducted by the World Bank and HMR on “land value capture for Transit Oriented Development (TOD)” in the Metro Rail Bhavan on Thursday.

Tracing out the development of cities like Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, Hiroaki Suzuki, Lead Urban Specialist, World Bank, explained how they had achieved prosperity and development, apart from addressing traffic problems through the TOD approach.

Metro rail projects in these cities made them global centres of economic activity with planned densification along metro corridors and large-scale development of areas around stations through land pooling and incentives like higher FSI to accommodate the increasing urban population, he said.

Loss-making metro projects are cross subsidised through revenues from property development in and around stations. TOD strategies has to involve the government, city administration, private sector and other stake holders for sustainability of urban areas.

HMR Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy highlighted the main features of “Transit + ” model of the Hyderabad project like the inter-modal integration with the railway stations of Secunderabad, Nampally and Begumpet; bus depots/stations at Miyapur, JBS, MGBS, Dilsukhnagar, Koti, Lakdi-ka-pul and Falaknuma and six MMTS stations.

The operation of merry-go-round feeder buses in colonies and business areas around Metro stations, skywalks, footpaths, bicycle stations and pedestrian facilities etc are being planned to avoid personalised vehicles, he said.

Stations are to have shopping complexes, multiplexes, food courts, clinics and retail stores to cater to the day-to-day needs of people, thereby reducing congestion on roads.

Urban Development Principal Secretary B. Sam Bob highlighted the need to finance more urban infrastructure projects by capturing enhanced land values through the TOD mechanism.

Source : TOI

Joneja, 15, becomes youngest Indian to climb Everest

New Delhi: At 15 years and seven months, Raghav Joneja has become the youngest Indian to scale Mount Everest, climbing the peak with five teenage mates from Lawrence School, Sanawar.

Lawrence became the first school in the world to send a team to the highest peak.

The boys achieved the remarkable feat May 21 when they summited Everest after a month-long gruelling expedition, backed by Hero Cycles.

The expedition comprised of seven boys with their sherpas, three fathers as a support team and another four old Sanawarians, who joined the group from here to the base camp for 21 days to give them moral support.

Col. Neeraj Rana, ex-director of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), was the mentor for the expedition which April 9 arrived at Lukla, Nepal from where the group trekked for nine days to the base camp. At the base camp they acclimatised for nearly a month and began the final ascent May 17.

While they set off in a group of seven, one of the seven, Hakikat Grewal, developed a problem in his oxygen mask and couldn’t reach the summit, having to retreat from 27,600 ft.

However, the rest completed the expedition successfully.

Ajay Sohal (16) and Prithvi Chahal (17) together climbed the summit first, next came Shubham Kaushik (16), who was followed by Fateh Brar (16) and then Joneja and Guribadat Singh (17).

“Whatever we do through the rest of our lives, this is one achievement that will always stick to us and will always make us proud. The team is grateful to Hero Cycles and our school for making this ultimate achievement possible for us,” said Joneja.

Established in 1847, the Lawrence School is located near Kasauli, in the Shimla Hill in Himachal Pradesh.

IANS 

Monsoon enters Andhra, to advance further

Hyderabad: The Southwest Monsoon on Monday entered Andhra Pradesh and is likely to advance in the next two to three days, says the met office.

The Monsoon has set in over parts of Rayalaseema region, said the state's disaster management department quoting the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).



The Monsoon, which touched Kerala coast on Saturday, has arrived in Andhra Pradesh two days in advance.

Many places in Rayalaseema and some parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been receiving rains since Sunday.

The IMD has forecast moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema and at a few places over Telangana during the next 48 hours.

It has warned that heavy rain would occur at isolated places in the districts of Chittoor, Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa of Rayalaseema and Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari of coastal Andhra Pradesh in the next 48 hours.

Officials said Tungabhadra river in Kurnool district was in spate due to heavy rains and in the upper reaches of Karnataka.

Five people were killed in thunderbolts in Guntur district in south Coastal Andhra on Sunday. Four were injured in lightning near Hyderabad.

Several parts of the state received rains last week under the impact of low pressure area over Bay of Bengal, providing relief from the intense heat.

According to officials, 524 people died due to heat across the state since April 1.

IANS