Why I want >576 Mega pixel, multi lens, 50 frame per second, point and shoot camera
Next time a person tells me that I don’t need a digital camera with more than 6-10 mega pixel resolution, I am going to hit him/her on the head with the sharp corner of my camera (my potential targets here, here and all over).
People who say that you don’t need more than 6 Mega pixel resolution in your camera are the same people who proclaimed “64K computer memory should be enough for anybody”.
These myopic folks miss the basic point of why one takes pictures. One does not take pictures to print out 3×4 prints from the local drug store; one takes pictures to preserve the memory, capture the moment for ever.
When people are running away from their burning house, what do they grab first? their old pictures! It is one of the most precious possession in people’s lives. Why would you want the most precious thing in your life to be of a mediocre quality?
When I click the shutter on my camera, I want to capture at least what my eyes can see. Apparently, if you converted the resolution of what an eye can perceive in to mega pixel, it turns out that an eye can see at 576 Mega pixel. So, I want my camera to be at least 576MP camera; is that too much to ask?
When I look out, I see in stereo; with full depth - is it too much to expect that my camera does the same?
I want to take pictures for the unknown technology that will be available to me in 20 years, not for the 3×4 print that can be printed now! Even today, there are methods that can take a regular print and create a 3D scene out of it. God know where this technology will be in 20 years. And when that technology is available, do I want a digital picture taken at resolution of 5MP or 500MP?
Even the displays are getting bolder and sharper. In 20 years, there may be life like displays, and on that display, would you like to use a picture taken with 5MP or 500MP resolution? When you recreate that precious moment in holographic 3D, which image do you think will show the details?
The main mistake these so called “experts” make, is that they believe that the only thing that can and will be done with a digital image, is to print it! A digital image is nothing but a piece of digital data; you can do a lot with it and when you are manipulating data, it is better to have as much original data as possible! It is not about being able to crop the image, it is about preserving most available data for future technology and processing advances.
If I can’t afford to buy 576MP camera or I can’t handle a multi lens camera, that is a different story; just don’t patronize me and tell me that I don’t need anything beyond 6MP camera.
Here is an example of a gigpixel image; see how much you can capture.
You can also visit the gogapxl image gallery.
<Rant complete> We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.
Rubber band Model of Universe : Winner of 2008 Stanford Innovation Tournament.
Last week, I wrote about the Stanford Innovation Tournament . Every year, Stanford sponsors a tournament where the participants are asked to “add value” to a common, everyday item. This year, the item chosen was a rubber band.
My favorite entry was the Artweb 2.0
However, the most educational and enlightening example was that of “failure”.
Which taught them “Fail early - fail fast!” and just because you build it, people won’t necessarily come.
BIL - the un-conference : Answer to TED
Let me start out by saying that this un-conference thing is not for me. I didn’t like the couple of these things I have attended, I don’t like the idea of it, I don’t like how they are executed and I don’t like the outcome.
Here is BIL un-conference.
BIL is…
an open, self-organizing, emergent, and anarchic science and technology conference.
Nobody is in charge.
If you want to come, just show up.
If you have an idea to spread, start talking.
If someone is saying something interesting, stop and listen.
What do you need to bring to the un-conference?
Things to bring…
A camp chair. Who knows where you’ll end up having a session. Bring your own folding chair, like this one.
A laptop.
A cell phone.
A camcorder (if you have one).
A power strip.
Funny thing is that I might actually attend the Bil2009 conference. Why? because despite its inefficiency and despite its unfocused organization, it has potential and it offers a soapbox that is interesting. Moreover, I keep thinking that a couple of un-conferences that I attended did not have a “critical mass” of people, so Bil2009 might be a part of the continued experience of exploring the un-conference format.
I don’t like un-conferences very much but I dislike regular rigid conferences even more! So see you at BIL2009. TED and BIL are coordinated so BIL happens just after the TED.
Entrepreneurship 101 - Value add to existing items
Since the last year, Stanford has been sponsoring Entrepreneurship week contest of being creative and “adding value to existing items.”
And, the drum roll please; this year’s secret item to add value to is: Rubber Band.
The 2008 Innovation Tournament is open to teams of Stanford students, as well as students around the world. Teams can be of any size. Your challenge is to create as much value as possible using rubber bands. You can use as many as you want, of any size, shape, or color. Value can be measured on any scale you choose. Remember, value comes from actually implementing your ideas and delivering results. To be successful, challenge assumptions, seize opportunities, be creative, and Make it Happen!
Last year, the secret item was Post-it Notes. And some of the entries were creative and business worthy.
My favorite entries from the last year were: Braille Note - A Braille Navigation System for Sight Impaired; selling ads on the Post-it was obvious, most sustainable and probably fundable idea; and selling the preemptive prize of the event on Ebay was gimmicky, but a cool thought.
You can see the complete list of winners for 2007 here.
Here are my ideas for the rubber band:
High tech ideas:
- Rubber band with a ring tone built in. There is already a strip of paper available that can be made to hum any tune. Use the rubber band instead to create a ring tone. Perfect for a packaging for a ring tone card or for birthday card.
- A rubber band rocket launcher. It might be possible to launch less than 2 lb rocket with rubber band canon. Do it right and win this competition and the Lunar X prize at the same time!
- Rubber band to monitor the temperature of your computer system. This should be easy to implement. If the temperature goes up, the band becomes softer and stretches more.
- Use rubberbands to generate energy while you are walking. Essentially, it stores a part of the energy when you are walking and then delivers it back when you need it.
Low Tech Idea:
- Make a rubber band music video (either as a story to existing number or create music using rubber bands.)
- If done right, rubber bands can be used as a filteration device. Additionally, they can be self cleaning. After using a bundle of rubber bands as a filter, stretch and release the bundle to auto clean.
- Rubber band with writable sleeves (ready for ads or customization) would be too obvious, but I think it will work. Printable friendship bands are all around so that doesn’t count.
- Make crossed rubber bands. I find that to secure something, I need to use two to four rubber bands and attach them in two different directions. A pre-arranged rubbers cluster might be helpful. Also, I hate those metal twist ties on bags. I end up using rubber bands to secure those bags any way. A custom designed rubber band suited to tie bags would be nice. Or, make adjustable rubber bands. When I want to use rubber band, they are never of the right size and don’t provide the right amount of force.
So what can you do with a rubber band? You have a less than a week to come up with an idea, implement it and document it.
Leave a comment if you can think of any other ways to add value to a rubber band.
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