Nikon D5100 DSLR Hopes Special Effects Like 102,400 ISO Night Vision Make It Special

2011-04-05

These things no longer make even a $900 DSLR special: 15+ megapixel resolution, 1080p video recording and a swivel LCD screen. So Nikon’s 16.2-megapixel D5100 tries to stand out by slathering on the in-camera special effects. This is the appification of your digital camera.

Here’s what we’ve got, special sauce-wise:

• A monochrome night vision mode that pushes the sensor from its standard 100-6400 ISO range to 102,400, like the D3s. (Expect the photos to look more like cheap night vision goggles than the D3s’s shots, though.)

• HDR mode that shoots two photos, three stops apart, and combines them. From what I was told, you’re still gonna wanna use a tripod rather than hand-hold, unless you’ve got cybernetic arms that can remain deathly still.

Celebrities help UK dogs steal a march over cats

2011-04-05

 

The number of British households with dogs has overtaken those with cats, according to a survey, with smaller breeds becoming more popular, possibly because of their association with celebrities.

“The popularity of small and very small dogs is often perceived as a fashion trend, influenced by celebrity ‘handbag’ dogs,” said the survey by Mintel.

Another factor could be the appeal of canine couture with top designers including Vivienne Westwood and Ben de Lisi creating dog outfits, it added.

Other reasons for the increase could be the cost of keeping a larger dog, and the space required to do so.

Our View: ELAM members’ arrest provided free publicity for nationalist group

2011-04-05

 

SIX MEMBERS of the extremist nationalist group ELAM (National Popular Front) were taken in for questioning by police over the weekend. A brief police statement said the six individuals were questioned in connection with a case of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour and public insults.

The six men taken in for questioning were part of a 30-strong group of ELAM members who had gathered outside the Nicosia Central Prisons on April 1st after they had been refused permission to enter the area where EOKA heroes were buried. The group reportedly shouted insulting slogans against President Christofias both on his arrival and departure; it was also involved in minor scuffles with officers at one stage.

Body snatchers found guilty

2011-04-05

CONVICTED rapist and murderer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, his brother, and an Indian national were yesterday found guilty of stealing the remains of former President Tassos Papadopoulos in December 2009.

Kitas, alias Al Capone, his brother Mamas Kitas and Sarbjit Singh were found guilty of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, illegal entry to a burial ground and exhuming a body without a court order.  Sentencing will be handed down on April 18. All of the charges are classed as misdemeanours and carry sentences of up to three years. It is expected the trio will be sentenced to between six and 18 months, making it likely two of them will be sentenced to time served. Kitas, the mastermind of the plot is already serving life for the murder of two women in 1993.

Delays in reform trigger doubts over commitment, says governor

2011-04-05

Cyprus’ delays in tackling long-overdue reforms has cast doubts on the outlook of the island’s economy from international markets, the influential head of its central bank said yesterday.

Athanasios Orphanides, who is also a Governing Council member of the European Central Bank, said swift action was needed by authorities to improve public finances, particularly in the wake of ratings downgrades by international credit rating agencies.

“In my view international markets have doubts about our republic right now, to a large extent because we have not taken decisions which we ourselves had said we would take,” Orphanides, a member of the ECB Governing Council, told reporters in parliament.

DISY calls for greater role for private sector

2011-04-05

OPPOSITION DISY yesterday slammed the government’s economic policies as being “below par”, as more bad news emerged about an impending further downgrading of the economy by international rating agencies.

Speaking at a news conference in Paphos, party leader Nikos Anastasiades said the present administration has failed to deal with the effects of the global financial crisis.

“The naked truth is that the government’s economic policy is far below the circumstances…it is a policy which has failed and which leads to repeated dead ends,” Anastasiades said.

Ban and the leaders discuss meeting in June

2011-04-05

UN SECRETARY-General Ban Ki-moon would like the next meeting with the two leaders to be in June due to the lack of progress in the negotiations.

Ban hopes conditions will be more favourable by then, an announcement from the presidential palace said.

The development came after Ban spoke with President Demetris Christofias by phone on Sunday evening. He also spoke with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

According to the announcement from the Greek Cypriot side, Christofias told Ban that his predictions concerning the negotiations had been right and that ”the stance of the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey had not been at all helpful, but on the contrary it has been problematic.”

Two men remanded for child pornography

2011-04-05

TWO men, one Cypriot and the other British, were yesterday issued a four and seven day remand order respectively in relation to possession of child pornographic material.

The Cypriot has already been convicted of possession of child pornographic material in 2010 and was fined €9,000.

The British man lives in the British Bases whose authorities are conducting their investigations in cooperation with Cyprus Police Electronic Crime Department.

Initial investigations of their computers after a police raid early yesterday morning revealed pornographic pictures and videos

Another British man and a Cypriot are also being investigated.

Man seriously injured in multiple car crash

2011-04-05

A 45-year-old from Aradippou, Zacharias Papacostas, was seriously injured yesterday in a pile up on the Nicosia-Limassol highway.

The accident took place near the highway’s exit for Idalion Industrial area where a 20-year-old man from Paralimni lost control of his car and hit the highway’s protective rails.

A bus then crashed onto the 20-year-old’s car and was then hit by Papacostas’ car.

He was trapped in his car and had to be removed by the Fire Department.

All three drivers were taken to Nicosia General Hospital. The other two drivers were released but Papacostas was kept in intensive care.

The accident in conjunction with ongoing works on the highway created a traffic jam which lasted from around 2:30pm until around 6pm.

April showers carry hope

2011-04-05

The torrential rains of the previous days may have disrupted traffic and reduced visibility on the highways but they are nothing but good news say the Meteorological Services.

In just two days current rains have met halfway the total amount of last year’s April rainfall and have gone beyond normal in places, meteorological officer Marios Theophilou said yesterday.

Rainfall for the whole of the year (starting on October 1 for meteorological purposes) has reached 81 per cent of normal, while dams are at 61 per cent capacity.

Rain is expected to continue until Friday.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.