Acknowledging the fact that entrepreneurship development will aid the creation of job opportunities to address the high level of unemployment in Nigeria, the Bank of Industry (BoI), First Bank of Nigeria Limited and the Afterschool Graduate Development Continue reading
Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc said it had secured additional 160 megawatts of electricity to augment its allocation from the national grid.
The company, which is one of the 11 distribution companies in the country, said it had entered into bilateral Continue reading
Is HTC finally getting its long wished for Nexus prominence? According to a recent tip, supposedly supported by well-known leak source Upleaks, HTC has just signed a contract with Google to be the maker of Nexus devices, most likely smartphones, for three years. Of course, Google never reveals such details until announcement day itself, so there’s little to support that speculation. If true, however, it could be the marketing break that HTC desperately needs. Or, conversely, it could spell disaster for the Nexus line instead.
It’s not really unheard of for a single OEM to make Nexus devices for three years straight. LG already proved that could happen with the Nexus 4, 5, and 5X, though it probably never crossed anyone’s mind that there would be a three-year contract involved. The presumption is that Google changes Nexus partners every year and LG is just the very rare exception.
Such a deal, however, would be very beneficial for HTC, at least as far as publicity is concerned. While the device will of course be marketed under Google’s name, who made the device never escapes the public’s attention. The Nexus 6P helped put Huawei on the map, especially in the US. But that was mainly because the Nexus 6P was a well-made smartphone by its own right.
HTC’s flagships haven’t exactly been terrible but they have been rather disappointing at best. The premium design of the previous HTC Ones is not one you can easily dismiss. Features and specs, however, HTC hasn’t been unable to match those of its biggest rivals. And let’s not even get into cameras.
One thing’s for sure, making a Nexus for three years isn’t going to help HTC’s thinning coffers. LG has repeatedly emphasized how Nexus devices aren’t money makers, as they aren’t exactly manufactured for mass sales. And with Google rumored to want to exert even more control over the Nexus design and manufacturing process, things could actually turn the worse for HTC. But when you’re a company seen to be struggling in the smartphone market, any break will have to do.
Opera Software, a Norwegian software company popularly known for its Opera browsers has reported that users of its Opera Mini mobile browser in Africa saved about US$500million in mobile Internet data up to October 2015.
South African users enjoyed around a US$65 million (R905 million) saving over the ten months and Nigerians saved a whopping US$198 million (NGN39.5 billion).
These savings were made possible thanks to Opera’s advanced compression technology which shrinks webpages down to as little as 10% of their original size, reducing data consumption by up to 90% and has helped African users of the Opera Mini mobile browsers to use 82% less mobile data.
According to the report, overall Opera Mini users on Java-based phones saved an average of 88% in mobile data each month, smartphone users saved about 76% while Android and iOS users enjoyed 75% and 70% savings respectively.
The report is based on aggregated information obtained from the Opera Mini servers.
Opera Mini is compatible with over 3,000 mobile devices, ranging from basic Java phones to the latest Android and iOS smartphones, making it highly popular in the African mobile market, which has a healthy mix of consumers using a large variety of handsets.
Opera’s compression technology was developed to help the 40% Opera Mini users in Africa who now own more data-hungry Android devices to use less data and save more money.
Also, Opera Software recently launched an updated version of Opera Max, a data management and compression app which uses unique technology to save data on videos without any visible loss of quality and significantly reduces the rate of buffering, thereby making the users’ video-watching experience even better.
Africa accounts for around a third of Opera’s users globally and Nigeria is Opera’s third largest market in terms of numbers of users
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the independent national regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, has rated Globacom the best network in new Internet subscription acquisition in Nigeria’s telecom industry.
Globacom gained the highest number of Internet users in September of 2015 with over a million new Internet users on its network, according to 2015 third quarter statistics featured by the NCC on its website.
The stats showed that Globacom had 21,896,229 Internet users on its network as at the end of September, up from 20,765,379 data users in August. The figure showed an addition of 1,130,850 new Internet subscribers within the period.
Globacom’s figure surpasses the combined total of 716,450 new Internet subscribers who joined the three other major telecom operators in the country – MTN, Airtel and Etisalat – in September.
A break down of that figure showed that MTN recorded 423,448 new Internet users on its network. Airtel recorded 235,941 new data subscribers, while Etisalat recorded 57,061 new data subscribers joining the network.
The growth in the number of data subscribers on the Globacom network has been attributed to the improved data services which followed the network improvement exercise it carried out and the launch of several attractive and user-friendly packages which offer a lot of appeal to data users.
Some of the packages include the Free Tomorrow promo; Campus Booster; Bumper Data Offer, and the Twin Bash promo, which gives subscribers who recharge with N200 up to 200 MB of data worth N800, along with full value of the airtime recharged.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the independent national regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, has rated Globacom the best network in new Internet subscription acquisition in Nigeria’s telecom industry.
Globacom gained the highest number of Internet users in September of 2015 with over a million new Internet users on its network, according to 2015 third quarter statistics featured by the NCC on its website.
The stats showed that Globacom had 21,896,229 Internet users on its network as at the end of September, up from 20,765,379 data users in August. The figure showed an addition of 1,130,850 new Internet subscribers within the period.
Globacom’s figure surpasses the combined total of 716,450 new Internet subscribers who joined the three other major telecom operators in the country – MTN, Airtel and Etisalat – in September.
A break down of that figure showed that MTN recorded 423,448 new Internet users on its network. Airtel recorded 235,941 new data subscribers, while Etisalat recorded 57,061 new data subscribers joining the network.
The growth in the number of data subscribers on the Globacom network has been attributed to the improved data services which followed the network improvement exercise it carried out and the launch of several attractive and user-friendly packages which offer a lot of appeal to data users.
Some of the packages include the Free Tomorrow promo; Campus Booster; Bumper Data Offer, and the Twin Bash promo, which gives subscribers who recharge with N200 up to 200 MB of data worth N800, along with full value of the airtime recharged.
Meanwhile at the Nigerian senate today, of all issues there is concerning Nigerians, our senators decided to discuss Nigerian women vs imported women.
Senator Dino Melaye argued that Nigerians prefer imported women using Edo governor =, Oshimohole as an example. Governor Adams Oshiomhole is married to a woman from Cape Verde
Two suspected gay pastors, Prince Ejimole, 26, and Lawrence Udo, 25, have been arrested and charged to court after they were allegedly caught having sex in a hotel room at Ijeshatedo, Lagos.
They are facing charges of having carnal knowledge of each other against the order of nature before the presiding Magistrate, A. O. Awogboro.
The pastors were arrested at a popular hotel at Ijeshatedo where they are alleged to be be using to have sex with each other under the guise of praying.
They were arrested after Pastor Ejimole and Udo allegedly lured another member of the congregation, Chidiebere Mozie, who needed prayers to the hotel. But they allegedly forced him to have sex with them.
Mozie alleged that when they got into the hotel room, Pastor Ejimole started sucking his bosom and was pulling out his joystick as well to penetrate into his anus.
He raised the alarm that attracted the hotel management who had allegedly been suspicious of their activities.
The management contacted the police at Ijeshatedo division who arrested them and took them to the station.
They were later arraigned before the magistrate where a four-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful carnal knowledge, etc. was slammed on them.
The first count reads: “That you, Prince Ejimole and Lawrence Udo on the same date, time and place did have carnal knowledge of each other against the order of nature.”
The second count reads: “That you, Pastor Prince Ejimole on the same date, place and time did gross indecency by sucking Chidiebere Mozie’s bosom, attempting to suck his joystick and having carnal knowledge of him.”
The police said the offence the defendants committed was contrary to sections 516, 214 and 516 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2004.
They pleaded not guilty.
The presiding Magistrate, Awogboro, granted Ejimole bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties, while Udo was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety.
The renewal of Mercedes-Benz’s E-Class range after last week’s debut of the W213 sedan in Detroit will continue with the more spacious Wagon , otherwise known as the Estate or T-Model.
Scooped here undergoing cold weather testing in northern Sweden, the E-Class Wagon should surface this summer before making its public outing at the 2016 Paris Motor Show in early September, with sales to follow shortly after.
The prototype appears to have a marginally more curved roofline and a slightly steeper rear window than today’s car, which gives it a sleeker profile, likely at the expense of rear boot volume that might be a tad smaller than the current E-Class Wagon’s 695 liter capacity with the rear seats up, and up to 1,950 liters when folded down, but it should remain at the top of its class.
Besides a self-levelling rear suspension, everything else will be the same with the W213 saloon, from the safety and comfort gadgets to the available range of powertrains, including an assortment of
four- and six-cylinder turbo diesel and petrols in Europe, while in the States, it should come with a six-pot. A twin-turbocharged V8 model from AMG will be introduced within a year of launch.
According to some rumors, we may also see Mercedes-Benz giving the E-Class Wagon a crossover-treatment similar to Audi’s A6 Allroad and Volvo’s Cross Country models, possibly named ‘All-Terrain’ and featuring a taller riding suspension and a tweaked all-wheel drive system.
While the new C-Class Cabrio has completely dropped its camouflage in the latest spy video, Mercedes other upcoming model, the E-Class Estate, isn’t ready to reveal its tailgate just yet.
Carrying plastic sheeting on their rear ends, the E-Class Wagon prototypes have roof-mounted spoilers and elegant dual exhaust systems. The slightly lowered roof contributes to their modern and sportier character. Since it follows in the footsteps of the E-Class Sedan, revealed last month, the front end adopts the same design.
Comfort gadgets will be carried over from the four-door version and an assortment of four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel mills will make the engine lineup. Just like in the smaller C-Class , the AMG version will benefit from the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8.
Reports indicate that the new BMW 5-Series fighter will take on the Audi A6 Allroad as well, with a similar version that could be dubbed All-Terrain . If it will indeed hit the market, then it will differentiate itself from the regular estate with an increased ride height and plastic body claddings. Chances are we might see it next fall, at the Paris Motor Show, prior to its launch.
Halloween: A combination harvest festival/ghost party, celebrating the day of the dead
Every year Halloween is celebrated in countries around the world. This near-global holiday happens to coincide nicely with the harvest festivals which have been celebrated at the end of autumn by cultures throughout history.
The contemporary Western celebration of Halloween owes much of its roots to the Celtic harvest festival of Samhain, although it also has ties to ancient Roman celebrations, and the harvest festivals of medieval Europe.
Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”) is the Old Gaelic word for “the end of summer.” There were four quarter dates in the medieval Gaelic calendar, corresponding to the turning of the four seasons. Of these dates, Samhain was the first and most important. It marked an important date for people who raised livestock, as flocks were brought in from their summer pasture, and animals were slaughtered in preparation for winter.
The night of Samhain marked the boundary between fall and winter. Like many boundary periods, it was a time when magical creatures and the souls of the dead had an easier time visiting our own plane of existence. Thus it became a default celebration of the dead, a practice which can still be seen today in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead on November 1st.
Ghosts were often thought to visit their old homes, and the living residents would hold feasts to welcome them, complete with an empty chair at the table where the ghosts were invited to sit. Samhain was also a night to practice divination, which was thought to be more successful on that night than any other.
On a more sinister note, harmful spirits were also thought to be more active on Samhain night. Superstitious households would often take measures to counteract their malicious mischief, including practices which may have led to many of today’s Halloween celebrations.
One such custom was the practice of dressing up in a costume and going door-to-door asking for treats. By disguising yourself, you were hiding yourself from the evil fairies and goblins who were also about. The hobby horse, a horse’s skull attached to a long pole used as a puppet, was an important part of many of these celebrations.
The Jack ‘o lantern also came from this practice. When traipsing about the dark countryside in costume, Samhain celebrants lit their way with small lanterns carved out of turnips and beets. These were meant to represent the will ‘o the wisp, the eerie spirit light which could be seen over marshes at night, and which was closely associated with evil spirits.
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