If Shubham Banerjee cannot lay claim to being the world’s youngest venture capital-backed entrepreneur, he comes very close. Banerjee was 12 years old when he closed an early-stage funding round with Intel last month for his prototype for a low-cost Braille printer. Since then, the San Jose, California middle-schooler has turned 13.

After reading a fundraising flyer about the blind, Banerjee felt inspired to turn a high-tech version of Legos, the toy building blocks, into a device that could print in Braille. One day, he wants to mass-produce the printers and sell them for about $350, far less than Braille printers cost now.

This past summer, he worked on incorporating an Intel Edison chip, a processor aimed at hobbyists, into the printer. In September, Intel invited him to a conference in India to highlight uses for Edison. 

There, he got a big surprise. Intel executive Mike Bell announced from the conference stage that the giant chipmaker would invest in his company, Braigo Labs. Until then, his funding consisted of the $35,000 his parents gave him. He plans to use it to build a better prototype of the printer and test it with more groups for the blind.

Banerjee says he gets mostly As and Bs as a student at the Champion School in San Jose, California. Teachers have given him time off to attend events like the conference in India and the Intel Global Capital summit this week in Huntington Beach, California. He catches up on school work on weekends, he says. While many young entrepreneurs who win venture-capital cash end up ditching their education to focus on their businesses full time, Banerjee says he won’t take that path. ‘It’s an after-school thing,’ he says.

Source: Dailymail

Match the words with the definitions.

answers: 1-d 2-a 3-e 4-b 5-c

Engineer travels 60,000 miles across the world on £150 (60,000 HUF) 1984 Honda moped

Whether it’s the ferry to France or the plane to Spain, we all look forward to going on holiday. And Ed March can hardly wait for his next trip – Tierra del Fuego by moped.

The engineer’s 25-year-old Honda C90 is a machine better known for putt-putting through city traffic than hitting the open road. But he has every faith in the trusty G-reg bike to carry him to the foot of South America from a starting point 36,000km to the north in Alaska. After all, it’s taken him on several treks, including an eight-month journey from Malaysia to his home in Hartland, Devon. ‘It does 63.5 km to the litre and just does not go wrong,’ said the 27-year-old.

The intrepid explorer posted his bike to Malaysia in bits and rebuilt it after flying there in 2011. He has since ridden home from Mongolia, and through Germany and Finland to the Arctic Circle. Girlfriend Rachel Lasham, 29, is joining him on the American adventure on her own C90. She’ll discover there are advantages to globetrotting on a moped, Mr March said. ‘When you get to a border crossing nobody asks you for a bribe – they presume you don’t have any money.’

source: www.metro.co.uk

ferry – komp
to look forward to – várni valamit (eseményt)
can hardly wait – alig várja, hogy …
to putt-putt – pöfögni
to have faith in – hinni valamiben
trek – utazás, vándorút, gyalogtúra
to do 63.5 km to the litre – 1 litert fogyaszt 63,5 kilométeren
to go wrong – elromlani
intrepid – elszánt
explorer – felfedező
in bits – darabokban
advantage – előny
globetrotting – világjárás
border crossing – határátkelő
bribe – kenőpénz
to presume – feltételezni

True or false?

1. Ed March’s next trip is to Mongolia.

2. His moped never breaks down.

3. Ed March’s girlfriend has been to Finland with him.

4. If you ride an old moped, people think you have no money.

5. Ed March will be riding from Alaska to the other end of South America.

answers: 1-F 2-T 3-F 4-T 5-T

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Pensioner becomes oldest man to run 100m in Europe aged 104

A 104-year-old man has set a European record for the 100m, becoming the oldest person to complete it. Stanisław Kowalski is eight years older than the previous record holder and ran the distance more than a second faster, crossing the line in 32.79 seconds. ‘I feel like a new man,’ he said after finishing.

The grandfather, who was competing during the Youth Olympics in Wroclaw, Poland, only began running 12 years ago. He claimed he was in such good condition because he never went to see the doctor and had done anything that pleased him. Kowalski’s grandson, who witnessed him achieve the feat, added: ‘My grandfather always says “so as not to stress”. He is a very quiet man.’

source: www.metro.co.uk

to set a record – csúcsot felállítani
previous – előző
record holder – csúcstartó
distance – távolság
to compete – versenyezni
to claim – állítani valamit
to do anything that you please – azt tesz, amit csak szeretne
to witness – tanúja lenni valaminek
feat – tett, hőstett
so as not to – azért, hogy ne …

True or false?

1. Stanislaw set this record 8 years ago.

2. Stanislaw’s grandson went to see him run.

3. Stanislaw has been an athlete all his life.

4. The previous record holder was older than Stanislaw.

5. Stanislaw seems to be very healthy.

answers: 1-F 2-T 3-F 4-F 5-T

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Lazy brown fox stages a coop in the hen-house: Caught red-handed – the predator turned protector

It’s fair to assume that a fox stalking a chicken coop is on the hunt for dinner. So when Jane France found a wily predator sitting inside her hen house she feared she had stumbled across every farmer’s worst nightmare. But she need not have worried – for this fox was content curling up on a nest of eggs to keep them warm as her hens happily pecked nearby.

It was somewhat startled to have been found at a school farmyard, she said. And rather than run off, the fox stayed perfectly still while office manager Ms France took a few pictures. ‘I don’t suppose I’ll ever take another photo like that,’ said the 57-year-old. ‘The chickens were happily scratching around in the garden – oblivious to the fox keeping the eggs warm.’

Found by children at the Flying Bull primary school, in Portsmouth, it’s not known how long the fox was in the coop. Ms France said the school has been visited by foxes before, but added: ‘This one had a beautiful bushy tail. ‘Other foxes running through our grounds have generally been thin and in very poor condition.’ The fox left shortly after a colleague went into the shed and ‘had a word’ with it, she said. ‘All the eggs were intact and the chickens seemed none the wiser,’ Ms France added.

www.metro.co.uk

to be caught red-handed – tetten érik
to assume – feltételezni
to stalk – lopakodni, osonni
predator – ragadozó
hen house – tyúkól
to curl up – összegömbölyödni
startled – riadt
still – mozdulatlan
to scratch around – kapirgálni
oblivious –  nincs tudatában
it’s not known – nem tudni
bushy – lompos, bozontos
in poor condition – rossz állapotban
to have a word with someone – beszélni a fejével
intact – érintetlen
to be none the wiser – mit sem tud róla

True or false?

1. The fox wanted to eat the eggs.

2. The hens had no idea there was a fox in the hen house.

3. The fox didn’t behave like a typical fox.

4. The fox was found by the schoolchildren but it ran away.

5. The fox had to be sent out of the hen house.

answers: 1-F 2-T 3-T 4-F 5-T

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