Category: News

Bezos, Others Reacts To Queen Elizabeth II Demise

The death of 96 year old British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has sparked several rumours and debates both on and off the media. While the Queen who was head of United Kingdom for 70 years and 214 days received adulation during her reign for being generous and benevolent, emerging stories suggests she was anything but kind.

Elizabeth II, the eldest daughter to King George VI who died in his sleep became successor to the King. She was thousands of miles away on a holiday trip in Kenya with her husband Prince Philip when she got news of his death. Upon her return, she took over rulership after her coronation at Westminster Abbey in central London on June 2, 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II poses for a portrait at home in Buckingham Palace in December 1958 in London, England. (Photo by Donald McKague/Michael Ochs)

Many tech industry leaders have taken to social media to express their condolences at the Queen’s passing. Among the business leaders who shared their sentiments includes Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Bob Iger, Sundar Pichai, etc.

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates tweeted “I feel honored to have met HM Queen Elizabeth, and I am very sad to hear of her passing.”

There is nothing more noble than to devote your life to the service of others,” Apple’s CEO Tim Cook tweeted.

“The world has lost an extraordinary person, Queen Elizabeth,” Disney CEO Bob Iger also tweeted.

The founder and executive chairman of Amazon, Jeff Bezos equally shared his condolences “I can think of no one who better personified duty,” Bezos said. “My deepest condolences to all the Brits mourning her passing today.”

Jeff Bezos And Professor Uju Anya Spar Over Queen Elizabeth II

On September 8, 2022, it was a battle of wills on Twitter space when a tweet by Uju Anya sparked an uproar. Nigerian-born professor of Applied Linguistics, anti-racist and feminist, Uju Anya poured gasoline over the Queen’s grave and ignited it.

Uju Anya Credit: Daily Post

In a now deleted tweet which claimed to have “violated the Twitter rules,” Uju Anya expressed antipathy towards the Queen. The self-acclaimed, anti-racist Nigerian professor said “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”

This controversial tweet has provoked an outrage across Twitter and other social media platforms. It was a savagely cruel thing to say to a dead person, especially one beloved by all. Regardless, Anya maintained her stance with a follow up tweet amid cheers and verbal onslaughts.

“If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star,” Uju Anya tweeted.

Reacting to the initial tweet, Bezos tweeted “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow,”

The institution where Uju Anya works expressed displeasure toward the offensive message following the stir Uju’s tweet caused. “We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account,”

Carnegie University opposed the tweet but sang that, freedom of expression is one of their unswerving beliefs. “Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster.”

Why Did Uju Anya Make That Tweet About The Queen?

The alleged role of the British empire in supplying the Nigerian government with arms and ammunition during the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970. Over a million people, mostly from the southeast region were killed during the war.

Following Uju’s tweet, several Nigerians have made similar tweets on the negative effects of British colonialism in Nigeria and Africa. The British takeover, slavery, stolen artifacts, rape, hunger, the Igbo landing, etc.

How the Igbo people showed strength and unity in the face of persecution in ancient times Source: BBC Igbo

Yet another subject of resentment towards the Queen is her crown, adorned with the jewels stolen from Britain’s many colonies. Neither Queen Elizabeth II nor any member of the Royal Family ever apologised for the British imperial crimes committed in the past.

Africans still mourn the loss of what the British colonial masters took from them. Among them is Muthoni Mathenge, a Kenyan woman in her 90s who was tortured with an ax by British soldiers in 1952 for protecting her husband and resisting the British control. Muthoni recounted how she and several others were forced to bury their fellow comrades who were killed by the British.

Muthoni Mathenge with a photo of her husband credit: The Star

It might be hard to dispel these rumours, as so many Africans are reminiscing the subjugation of the British government. It is however important to note that Queen Elizabeth II cannot be held solely accountable for all the barbarousness of Britain over the years.

In many cases, the decisions made by the British government did not come directly from her. However, as the Monarch, everyone’s resentment, rage and hatred was targeted towards her.

The Queen never found it politically beneficial to apologise for the wrongs of the British government, hence, she never did.

September 10, 2022
Africa is not a Country!

Is it ignorance, sarcasm, a mockery, or affront when people ask or make statements like, “are you from Africa? Where is Africa, what country is that?”

Regardless of the reasons, the knowledge of Africa as a continent is universal which everyone ought to know, or should know. In fact, Africa is too ancient, too beautiful, too blessed, too big to be mistaken as a country. Therefore, it is worth the effort to summarize what this amazing continent, Africa is all about once more as many have done before now.

Number of countries in Africa

Among the 7 continents in world, Africa has the highest number of countries (54 countries) followed by Europe (51 countries), Asia (50 countries), North America (23 countries), Australia (14 countries), South America (12 countries), and Antarctica (0 country).

Africa is the second largest by land area (30,370,000 km²) and also the second largest by population with more than 1.3 billion people.

The continent currently holds about 54 independent countries divided geographically from North, West, East, South and Central/Middle Africa. This division was done by the UN (United Nations) Division Statistics.

Northern African Countries

The countries in the North of Africa are 7 in number. These are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

Western African Countries

The Western side of Africa has a total number of 17 countries. These are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

Eastern African Countries

The Eastern part of Africa has the highest number of Countries which are a total number of 19 countries. These are Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Somaliland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Southern African Countries

There are only a total number of 5 countries in the Southern part of Africa. These are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland.

Central/Middle African Countries

These are a group of 9 countries such as Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome & Principle.

All the African Countries and their flags

Finally, Africa a continent with such a large population, land area and resources including a large number of independent Countries should never be called or mistaken a country. Africa is a proud continent. Its Pride comes from been able to stand strong in beauty, natural resources and human capital after a long term slavery, colonialism, and all kinds of human cruelty.

May 9, 2020
Chinese Schools introduce Smart Uniforms with GPS Chips to track Students during School Hours

China has introduced a new technology that will track students location using their school uniform. The new tech dubbed smart uniforms will be to tell the exact location of your ward.

Eleven schools in the South-West province of Guizhou have introduced the uniforms, which were developed by local tech firm Guizhou Guanyu Technology.

These smart uniforms record the time and date a student enters the school and a short video parents can see through a mobile app. This is to help encourage good attendance rates.

It triggers an alarm to notify both teachers and parents of the student’s absence and an automatic voice alarm is activated if a student leaves school without permission.

The chips can detect when a student has fallen asleep in class, and can also allow students to make payments using biometrics attributes to confirm the purchase.

The company’s project manager, said that the school would only use the tracking beyond school hours if a pupil were to go missing

smart uniforms

He said the two chips, which are installed in each uniform’s shoulders, are able to withstand up to 500 washes and 150C. So that means students can wash, and rewash their uniforms without any problem.

How the Chinese smart uniforms work

Face ID, built right inside the uniforms, is a small quantity of facial recognition software to make sure that the right student is wearing the right outfit.

Alarm is to keep the school premises in order, to notify both teachers and parents of the student’s absence and an automatic voice alarm is activated if a student leaves school without permission.

Tracking, each of student uniform has two inbuilt chips in the shoulders. This will enable the appropriate management to know when a child is at any moment during the school hours.

January 11, 2019
Darwin Life Aims to Impregnate 40 and Above Women with Designer Babies

Darwin Life is a new fertility clinic that aims to get women over the age of 40 pregnant with ‘perfect babies’. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks infertility as the third most serious health condition in the world, after cancer and heart disease. A Chinese founder and researcher Dr. John Zhang is developing controversial methods of fertility that involves replacing some of the chromosomes in a patient’s eggs with those of a younger woman’s.

Dr. John Zhang first made headlines in September 2016 when he successfully produced the world’s first three-parent baby using the spindle transfer technique.

The treatment is called ‘spindle nuclear transfer’, often referred to as a three-parent-baby technique, and it is outlawed in the United States. It’s been refused for FDA approval because it involves what some view as gene manipulation.

Doctor Zang’s work helped a woman with a rare disease called Leigh Syndrome become pregnant last year. The idea was that with the help of a donor’s chromosomes that the baby would protected against inheriting its mother’s disease, while still remaining genetically related to her.

Zang reported mixed results; the baby was born healthy but damaged DNA from the mother was unintentionally transferred over thus creating a possibility for health problems in the future for the child.

The alternative is standard in-vitro fertilization (IVF) where the entire egg is harvested from the donor and placed inside the mother – thus the baby is genetically related to the donor, even though the mother gives birth.

In this case the chromosomes were harvested in the United States, but the actual application and implanting occurred in Mexico due to US restrictions and ethical concerns. America isn’t the only country concerned about the ethics; the UK allows the procedure, but only in cases where normal conception or IVF might put the baby at high risk for health issues.

Doctor Zang wants to do more than use his method to eliminate hereditary diseases. He wants to impregnate women ages 42 through 47 who often can’t get pregnant even though they produce eggs.

The startup also aims to blow the ‘playing God’ conversation wide-open. The Doctor told Technology Review:

Everything we do is a step toward designer babies, with nuclear transfer and gene editing together, you can really do anything you want.

He’s referring to the ability for parents to choose a child’s eye color or decide if their child will be tall or not. It’s a minefield of ethics concerns – is it okay to edit genes to lower the risk of cancer? What about to increase your baby’s I.Q.?

What happens when intelligence becomes the territory of the wealthy? This is another example of the twisting complexity of the world we live in. Perfect people are on the way and I don’t think any of us are ready for that.

June 14, 2017
16 Online Jobs that will Make You Real Money in College
Are you a college student who is need of extra cash?

Do you know how to use the internet?

Are you skillful and talented?

Not really, you don’t have to be a college student to do these online jobs. Times are rough and everyone can use a couple of extra bulks, especially as a college student. Having been in a college myself, I understand how it feels when you are ‘broke’ and desperately in need of some extra cash.

Fear not though, the internet is to the rescue (sort of, as long as you are willing to spend some valuable time behind your computer screen) with platforms that let you earn real money doing online jobs.

There’s certainly no shortage to choose from; in fact, far too many to choose from, but I have limited my list to 16 online jobs that can fetch you the best value given the investment of time required and not scam.

16 Online Jobs for College Students

First, you don’t have to be a college student to do any of this online job. Mothers at home and part time workers are also welcome.

Second, this is not a straight up path to riches. While some of this platform will earn you quick ‘coffee cash’ in the short term, patience, dedication and a well built portfolio will let you earn even more in the longer term.

Article Writing

Are you someone who loves writing? Article write is one of the most common online jobs since internet came being. You could write up articles on various sites. If you are someone who has a passion for writing and also have a good knowledge on English Language then you can make money through your articles.

If you have a good knowledge on some subject matters such as Education, Politics, Health, Technology. You can write up articles on topics of various subject matters.

Below are some article writing sites :
- www. textbrokers.com
- Fiverr
- Scripted
- www.collegehumor.com
- Cracked
- alistapart.com
Online Tutor

Do you have the passion or zeal to teach a set of people? You can do this online. If you have the required skills needed to teach students, then you can be an online tutor. If you are good in different subjects, you could start online classes. Tutoring college and also high school students.

Do you really have the interest to coach students online? If yes then you need to check out these tutor sites, where you would be paid cash to tutor students online.
Blogging

A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (“posts”).

When you make money from your own website or blog it is known as blogging. Nowadays, everybody seems to own a blog site, you could also create your own blog site. You need to ensure you have a passion for writing and also good English skills.

You could discuss different issues or topics on you blog site. Blogging means to blog, whereby you share your thoughts, views and also interest online through the internet. You share out your views on what is going on the economy, your idea on some other delicate issues. Many top officials started their career through blogging, where they shared their thoughts and opinions. Also to give solutions on problems.

In your blog you need to ensure that when you write up on issues or problems, you also bring out possible solutions which can resolve the issue or problem.

In order to make money through your blog site, you need to ensure that your write up is unique and also useful to your online users, they can get solutions to problems. When your blog site is useful and unique you would have more visitors on your site.

Topics you can write on your blog site.
- Publish some little or unknown facts.
- Write a story.
- Write inspirational or motivational posts with popular quotes.
- Software and gadgets.
- Create a list of things (such as current songs, books, movies, etc.)
Online Typing Jobs

If you are good and fast in typing documents, then you can get an online job which requires your typing skills.

You can be at your home and commence on your online typing. In order to do this ensure you have a good internet connection. Also, there is a requirement of your typing speed, how fast you are when typing. A fast typing speed of at least 30Wpm.

You could go to any online typing job sites. In the online typing job sites, you would be paid genuinely for solving captcha. You could find more details and information on the online typing job sites which would help in generating income for you.

Online Programming Coding Jobs

Coding is the future of America and everyone elsewhere 🙂

Do you love coding? If yes, then you can get an online job. You can be a programmer or web developer for organisations.

Using the HTML and also the CSS you can design your own website. PHP can be used for website development.

In order to improve your skills, you could enroll for HTML, Java, classes. Web coding is something which requires your full concentration and time.

Ensure you keep on making use of your good skills in the developing of websites and also web coding.

If you are fully self-motivated, you would be able to design your websites, ensure not to take off your eyes from your computer screen and also be ready and willing to put in more time and long hours in the web design.

If you do all this, you would definitely get a good result or output. Your website would be created and also you would get users and also people who would want you to design their websites.

If you a Bachelor degree in Java, Photoshop and CSS you could also apply for online jobs. Individuals with a Bachelor degree are also going for extra lessons so as to improve their skills.

Note that you need to know how to work with JavaScript, Photoshop and CSS in the development of your website and they are also the main requirements.

Is not too late to learn coding. There are online libraries such as tutorialspoint or w3school you can learn coding. We have also offered some guidelines on which code to learn first.

Play Game and Earn Money

You can earn money online by playing games. If you are someone who loves playing games, you could go online and play games for game developers. Nowadays, we all play games online. There are sites which pays for playing games.

How do you earn money by playing games online?

Game developers now are looking for people who would play the games which they have developed.They want to test their games, they tend to hire players who would play the games. You play the game, give them your review or report about the game and you get paid.

A list of sites which you can play online games and be paid is listed below
Resume Writer

If you have the skills needed to create a resume, then you can be a resume writer for people who are in need of jobs.

There are people out there who are in search of a job and they need good resumes. Also, students who just graduated and are looking for a job. You could earn money online by writing good resumes which are needed by people who are in search of a job. Check out these sites
Data Entry Clerk

Data Entry job is one of the easiest jobs for college students. It doesn’t require skills or experience.

The job requirement is entering of data for the organisation. All you need to do is enter the data as per the requirement and you would be paid. You can do this job while at as a college student. Check out the various sites where you can apply for Data Entry jobs.
Upload Your Videos on YouTube

Nowadays you get to watch different clips on Youtube. People now go on to Youtube to watch videos on how they get to do various tasks or find solutions to problems they don’t know how to overcome.

You can create your own Youtube channel where you can make money online. You make videos and upload your videos on Youtube.

If you have skills on cooking, dancing, singing, teaching, you could make videos on them and upload on Youtube. For example, if you know how to cook, you could make a video on how to prepare delicacies. If you know how to teach, you can create a tutorial video on different subjects and topics.

Also, if you are skilled in hand crafts like knitting, bead making, sewing, you can make tutorial videos on how to create different kinds of products and designs. Products like Bags, Scarfs, Dresses.

For an individual who has skills on coding or web designing. You can upload video tutorials on how to develop a website, how to install and uninstall applications on your laptop. Also create comedy or prank videos and upload on Youtube.

Freelance Photography

Everywhere you can go now you see people with smartphones, android phones in their hands. These phones possesses different sizes of camera resolutions. People nowadays tend to take picture of wherever they are or what they see.

Do you love taking pictures or want to be a photographer? You can earn money online by posting pictures taken either on your smartphone or your camera.

All you need to do is create an account online and upload your pictures where people would pay when they download and also buy your pictures.

Here are some sites where you can create an account and upload your pictures.
Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant is an online job, a virtual assistant is a personal assistant. Someone who works for various clients, you can do this job at home and also the hours which are convenient for you. It is involved with secretarial duties and it is done online. Activities involved includes receiving phone calls, arranging business meetings, arranging emails and also setting up events.

You can work for different clients, you don’t need to go to the office you can easily work at home. Apply for virtual assistant on these sites.
1. Indeed
2. Elance
3. HireMyMom
4. Zirtual
5. VANetworking
Transcriptionist

This is a job you can do online as well, it involves you listening and writing. You are to listen to an audio and write out what is being said in the audio. It is a job you can do at home and also at your own time and ensure that you have good listening skills, you need to make sure you listen carefully so you don’t miss any information.

Register on these sites as a transcriptionist
Power-point Presentation Designer

As a college student you definitely have had a project where you need to create a powerpoint presentation. You can earn money online by designing powerpoint presentations for organisations or business men and women. There are people who need to create a powerpoint presentation for meetings, seminars, events and they actually need someone who can create a nice design for them.

You need to ensure that you have good skills in powerpoint in order to do this job. You can apply on any freelancer sites.

Sales of Your Crafty Materials

For someone who has extra skills, such as knitting, bead making, sewing, shoemaking, drawing, to mention a few. You can make money online with your crafts. All you need to do is after making them, take a clear picture of them so that people can see the product clearly. After taking a picture of the product you post it online.

To know the price at which you would sell your crafts, make sure you calculate the time spent in the creation of the product. Also, make sure you include the expenses made to buy the materials needed.

You can advertise your products on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you can also create a web page for your products.

Affiliate Marketing

What do you do in your spare time? How about promoting products, brands, or services in exchange for real cash? If this online job sound interesting, you might as well love affiliate marketing.

This online job involves you writing referrals or promoting products that are sold online. All you need to do is first and foremost sign up or register in any of these companies that sells their products online. After registering, you create a referral or affiliate link for yourself. Whereby, when you write a review or promote a product, your readers can purchase the product through the link you created and you would be paid by the company. For every buyer that purchases products through your referral link, you would be paid.

You can do this job for more than one organisations. You can register on Amazon associate, Jumia affiliate, Upwork.com and any freelancer site.

Other Freelance Online Jobs

I have mentioned a few freelance jobs, there are other freelance jobs you can do apart from the ones I have mentioned above. Other freelance jobs such as designing logos, create your own plug-ins, video editing, audio editing, selling of your books, just to mention a few.

You can look up on any freelancer site and search for other freelance jobs which you can do online.
June 14, 2017
The US Government finally put an End to Phone Records Collection Program

Yesterday marked the end of NSA’s program to collect bulk phone records in the United States. Advocates all over the world questioned the The US government fairness about surveillance technology and started pushing for privacy since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the program to journalists 2 years ago.

The masses gained the government attention earlier this year with Congress passing the USA Freedom Act. But in light of the terror attacks that rocked Paris earlier this month, many hawkish lawmakers have attempted to hold off on shutting it down.

Reports reaching us says that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced on Sunday that the program shut down as scheduled.

As the program finally came to its ultimate doom, privacy advocates took a victory lap on Monday. Here are those hot takes.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote:

“This program’s very existence was concealed from the American public for over a decade. Across two administrations, senior officials from US intelligence agencies and the Justice Department repeatedly made false and misleading statements that concealed the truth about what they were doing. These officials relied on a secret body of law to justify the mass surveillance of the American people. Fortunately, in America sooner or later the truth always comes out. When Americans found out about this secret, unconstitutional surveillance two years ago, they were rightfully outraged. And they made their voices heard. The result was historic reform legislation that required the government to shut this program down.”

Senator Mike Lee said:

“Today both the safety and Constitutional rights of American citizens are more secure thanks to the USA Freedom Act. Not only did the USA Freedom Act strengthen the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans by ending the bulk collection of personal data, but it also better ensured national security by closing a loophole that prevented the government from tracking foreign terrorists once they entered the United States.”

Members of the House of Representatives also reiterated their support of the law. Bob Goodlatte, John Conyers, Jim Sensenbrenner and Jerrold Nadler issued the following statement:

“The implementation of the USA Freedom Act represents government at its best: it is the product of a robust public debate and intense bipartisan negotiations dedicated to finding a way to protect our Constitutional rights while enhancing the safety of our country. The bipartisan law ends the bulk collection of telephone metadata once and for all, enhances civil liberties protections, increases transparency for both American businesses and the government, and provides national security officials targeted tools to keep America safe.”

The implementation of the Freedom Act highlights that in a government marked by gridlock, there have been many major policy decisions that impact the tech industry from Washington this year. After little happened for the industry last year, 2015 brought significant reforms to the government surveillance and made net neutrality the law of the land.

December 1, 2015
Sweden Government Unwilling to Place Ban on The Pirate Bay

After one month of intense debate, a Swedish court has ruled that it cannot force ISPs to block their customers’ access to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. Reports reaching us says that TheLocal.se and safeguards citizens’ access to the site, despite it being used to distribute copyrighted material.

Pirate Bay for the past 10 years has been home for countless pirated copies of music, videos, games and softwares. Hence, triggering Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry to try and force ISP Bredbandsbolaget into blocking the service, as it has been in many other European countries. In the UK, for example, none of the major national ISPs allow access to the page following court orders.

However, the action was unsuccessful, at least at District Court level.

The court found that Bredbandsbolaget couldn’t be held responsible for the copyright infringement of its customers’ actions while using the service as it doesn’t constitute a crime under Swedish law, according to the report. As such, it’s also not liable for any of the fines.

While it could still be overturned by a higher authority appeals court, the group representing the copyright holders will have to pay the ISPs legal costs thus far, which is more than $150,000 according to TorrentFreak.

As a UK citizen – and therefore subject to the court-ordered bans in place here – it’s nice to see an ISP’s resistance to copyright holder demands be upheld by the court, whether or not it holds in the longer term, or other countries follow suit, remains to be seen.

SOURCE: The Local

MORE COVERAGE: TorrentFreak

November 30, 2015
US spy court appoints lawyers to panel of advisers

Under the USA Freedom Act, the panel is to advise the judge on privacy and technical matters

A secret U.S. spy court has appointed a five-member panel of advisers as part of the reform of the surveillance of the National Security Agency.

The presiding judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review have jointly designated five persons to be eligible to serve as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, according to a notice on the FISC website.

The appointments have been made under the USA Freedom Act, the reform legislation that was signed into law on June 2 by President Barack Obama.

The panel consist of four lawyers and a professor of law, and does not include technology experts, although the USA Freedom Act provides for a panel of experts at the FISA court to provide guidance on matters of privacy and civil liberties, communications technology, and other technical or legal matters.

The persons appointed to the panel are Jonathan G. Cedarbaum, a partner in the law firm of WilmerHale, criminal defense lawyer John D. Cline, Laura Donohue, a professor of law at Georgetown Law, Amy Jeffress, a partner in the the law firm of Arnold & Porter, andMarc Zwillinger, a privacy and data security lawyer.

The reform of the NSA was taken up after revelations in 2013 by its former contractor, Edward Snowden, about widespread surveillance by the agency in the country and abroad, including its collection of bulk phone records of Americans.

Obama promised in January 2014 significant reform of NSA surveillance, and called on Congress to authorize the “establishment of a panel of advocates from outside government to provide an independent voice in significant cases” before the FISA court, to ensure that the court hears a broader range of privacy perspectives.

Under the USA Freedom Act, the amicus curiae is expected to provide to the court, as appropriate, legal arguments to promote the protection of individual privacy and civil liberties, information related to intelligence collection or communications technology, and legal arguments or information regarding any other area relevant to the issue presented to the court.

Another key part of the reform – the bulk collection by the NSA of phone metadata records of Americans- is set to end by the close of this month. The USA Freedom Act places curbs on the bulk collection program by leaving the phone records database in the hands of telecom operators, while allowing only a targeted search of the data by the NSA for investigations.

In September, the FISC court appointed a lawyer Preston Burton as amicus curiae in connection with a specific application by the government to retain already acquired phone records beyond Nov. 28 for use for technical and litigation purposes.

November 25, 2015
Oxford’s word of the year for 2015: ?

No joke. It was announced on the Oxford Dictionaries’ blog yesterday that 2015’s word of the year is officially a pictograph, or more commonly known as a emoticon. Which emoticon? ?. Yes, the emoticon dubbed “Face with tears of joy” has been announced as the word of the year. According to the official blog post, the emoji was chosen because it was “the ‘word’ that best reflected the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015.”

Upon such news, one naturally asks “why would this be chosen?” Well, Oxford covered that question in the blog post as well!

This year Oxford University Press have partnered with leading mobile technology business SwiftKey to explore frequency and usage statistics for some of the most popular emoji across the world, and ? was chosen because it was the most used emoji globally in 2015. SwiftKey identified that ? made up 20% of all the emojis used in the UK in 2015, and 17% of those in the US: a sharp rise from 4% and 9% respectively in 2014. The word emoji has seen a similar surge: although it has been found in English since 1997, usage more than tripled in 2015 over the previous year according to data from the Oxford Dictionaries Corpus.

So, with that it is official. Looks like the use of emojis has developed into something greater than just icons to help add contextual message to our texts; seemingly, they’ve become words their self. For those wondering, there was a graphic created with the “runner-up” words that were looked into for the position that ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ took.

What are your thoughts on Oxford’s choice for word of the year? Leave a comment below!

source: OxfordWords Blog

November 17, 2015
Job Vacancy: Telecom Business Operation Leader, IBM, Ghana
Are you a Bachelor’s Degree holder in IT or related courses with at least 5 years experience in Project Executive experience working multiple commercial outsourced accounts? Here is finally an opportunity to work put your abilities into work.

IBM is looking to add to their number of employees in Ghana and you could be the just the right fit!

The vacancy is open to qualified candidates residing in Ghana. Read on to find more about this job position.

Job description
- This role constructs partnerships between clients, team IBM, vendors, and subcontractor organizations and manages the implementation of these partnerships to address business opportunities for the IBM Corporation.
- Have equally balanced skills in five key general management areas of client relationship management, consultative selling, financial / business management, portfolio / program management and team / people management. Be the primary focal point and owner for all activities on a large complex contract.
- Accountable for meeting revenue, profit, and growth objectives and for improving overall customer satisfaction targets. Responsible to build and maintain strong client relationships at all levels with the objective of being a trusted business partner.
- Proactively work with client to identify their business objectives, priorities and directions, critical success factors and applies this knowledge to establish and implement an Account Strategy.
- They translate customer requirements into formal agreements, establishing specific solutions, and leading the efforts that culminate in client acceptance of the results.They have overall responsibility for their contractual cost, schedule, and contractual deliverables. They manage IBM resources and coordinates client resources to deliver services and solutions to support the client organization.
- They are recognized for business acumen by the customer set they support. The employee leads a functional/business unit.
Key Responsibilities
- Has successfully managed a Telecom Business Operations/Billing operations team for a commercial outsourced customer
- Sole customer interface to their TBO or Applications Operations group
- Manage TBO Team and their skills building
- Manage TBO Costs Quarter to Quarter both from capex and Open perspective
- Issue and Risk management of a TBO operations
- Service Level management of a TBO operations
- Outage management of a TBO operations
- Establish and execute a TBO governance structure
- Interface to customers Application Development team
Skills:

Environment:
Business unit, country, or international professional mastery related to operations, strategies, and objectives in leading edge or critical situations.

Communication/Negotiation:
Teamwork at highest levels. Plan and conduct complex negotiations reaching lasting agreements and commitments.

Problem Solving:
Anticipate, create and define innovative and visionary concepts in strategic environment.

Contribution/Leadership:
Develops and implements product, market, business, or technology strategies with executive review. Has vision of overall strategies. Contributes to policy making. Recognized as an expert and leader by members of a field, related functions, and multi -country organizations. Leads business unit, country, or international teams, conducts special projects, or manages functions or strategic departments.

Impact on Business/Scope:
Accountable for business unit, major country, or international projects or programs. Responsible for committing multiple resources and achieving customer satisfaction, cost, expense, revenue and other business measurements of critical importance. Responsible for quality output/value add for highly visible products, services and future business development.

Required

Bachelor’s Degree
- At least 5 years experience in Project Executive experience working multiple commercial outsourced accounts
- English: Fluent
Preferred

At least 10 years experience in Project Executive experience working multiple commercial outsourced accounts

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. To apply kindly visit https://jobs3.netmedia1.com/cp/faces/job_summary?job_id=SO_DEL-0706903
February 25, 2015
Sony Hack: President of United States vows responsibility for FBI claims

A couple of days ago, North Korea was posed as the fault to the SONY FILMS hack, formally by the FBI. This all followed the major GOP hack on SONY FILMS databases, media, and employees. There is no doubt that the news of and following the SONY FILMS hack is the most breaking and worrisome in both the political and technological industries at the moment. The following article is from BBC News: President Barack Obama has vowed a US response after North Korea’s alleged cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. The US leader also said the studio “made a mistake” in cancelling the Christmas release of The Interview, a satire depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony said it still planned to release the film “on a different platform”. On Friday US authorities linked North Korea to the hack, which saw sensitive studio information publicly released. Sony said it cancelled the planned Christmas release of the film after a majority of cinemas refused to show it following anonymous threats. “We will respond,” Mr Obama told reporters on Friday, declining to offer specifics. “We will respond proportionately and in a space, time and manner that we choose.” He added: “We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States.”

The US leader said it was important to protect both public and private cyber-systems from attack which could have significant economic and social impacts. Mr Obama also noted he believed Sony Pictures was mistaken in failing to go ahead with the release. “Americans cannot change their patterns of behaviour due to the possibility of a terrorist attack,” he said. “That’s not who we are, that’s not what America is about.” Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC technology reporter The FBI say it spotted distinct similarities between the type of malware used in the Sony Pictures attack and code used to attack South Korea last year. Suspicious, yes, but well short of being a smoking gun. When any malware is discovered, it is shared around many experts for analysis – any attacker could simply reversion the code for their own use, like a cover version of a song. But there’s another, better clue: IP addresses – locations, essentially – known to be part of “North Korean infrastructure” formed part of the malware too. This suggests the attack may have been controlled by people who have acted for North Korea in the past. What is the FBI evidence? Sony Pictures chief executive and chairman Michael Lynton later told CNN it had not made an error in pulling the film. He said the president, press and public were mistaken about the withdrawal, saying the decision had only been taken after major chains had refused to screen it. He said: “We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down.” A Sony statement on Friday said that the firm was “actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform”. “It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so,” the statement said. Earlier on Friday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation officially tied North Korea to the cyber-attack, linking the country to malware used in the incident. Hackers had earlier issued a warning referring to the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, saying “the world will be full of fear” if the film was screened. The duo play journalists enlisted to kill Kim Jong-un The movie features James Franco and Seth Rogen as two journalists who are granted an audience with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The CIA then enlists the pair to assassinate him. The film was due to have been released over Christmas. The film’s cancelled release drew criticism in Hollywood, with some calling it an attack on the freedom of expression. Actor George Clooney told the trade website Deadline on Thursday the film should be released online, saying Hollywood shouldn’t be threatened by North Korea. In November, a cyber-attack crippled computers at Sony and led to upcoming films and workers’ personal data being leaked online. The hackers also released salary details and social security numbers for thousands of Sony employees – including celebrities. North Korea says the film hurts the “dignity of its supreme leadership” North Korea earlier this month denied involvement in the hack – but praised the attack itself as a “righteous deed”. An article on North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency, quoting the country’s top military body, said suggestions that Pyongyang was behind the attack were “wild rumour”. However, it warned the US that “there are a great number of supporters and sympathisers” of North Korea “all over the world” who may have carried out the attack. In the article, Sony Pictures was accused of “abetting a terrorist act” and “hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership” of North Korea by producing the movie. source: BBC news

December 20, 2014
Job Vacancy: Oracle Database Administrator for IBM
If you are a Bachelor’s Degree holder in IT or Computer Science with at least 6 years experience in Business Controls, time management and ability to multi task, get your CV ready, IBM calls.

The opening is vacant for qualified applicants residing in any part of Nigeria. As an Oracle Database Administrator, you are expected to carry out the following key functions:
- Implement and manages databases per defined standards and procedures
- Analyzes and provides recommendations on application logic and interfaces to improve database performance, capacity, and availability
- Identifies opportunities to optimize application data models for performance, manageability, scalability and availability
- Performs database administration activities such as storage management, backup and recovery using RMAN, and performance tuning
- Analyzes and resolves critical and complex database issues
- Ensures successful, daily backups and guaranteed recoverability
- Responds to monitoring alerts and high severity problem tickets, applying analytical, problem solving, and resolution skills to handle scenarios
- Define mechanisms to improve SQL performance
- Works with fellow database administrators in defining standards for backup and recovery, performance tuning, disaster recovery, high availability and monitoring
- Works with Infrastructure and development teams in delivering optimal database solutions throughout the life cycle
- Identifies tasks to be automated, developing scripts and supporting documentation
- Seeks and contributes to the continuous improvement of the databases and database environment
- Leads internal Infrastructure DBA projects
- Creates test and implementation plans
- Performs duties in such a way as to serve as an example to other DBAs in the department
- Maintains accurate and up to date documentation
- Performs research and evaluation of new database features and technology
Required Skills and Expertise
- Have worked on oracle 10g/11g RAC on Unix HP/Sun/Aix/Linux/Windows
- Experienced in the design and support of large Oracle and mission critical databases in a 24/7 environment
- Proven experience in troubleshooting complex Oracle database problems such as performance, corruption and recovery
- Understanding of Cloud based database strategies and configuration
- Intermediate knowledge of database internals and data structures, including defining init.ora parameters for optimum performance and understanding Oracle V$ system tables
- Proficient in designing advanced backup and recovery procedures using RMAN
- Experience in implementing and supporting complex architectures such as high availability, disaster recovery and scalability using utilities such as Oracle Dataguard
- Experience in managing Oracle databases on clustered hardware
- Experience with Oracle 10g/11g features such as Locally Managed Tablespaces, Transportable Tables and Automated Storage Management.
- Experience deploying and managing databases with enterprise monitoring and management tools such as Oracle Enterprise Manager.
- Understanding of Oracle Real Application Clusters technology
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree
- At least 6 years experience in Business Controls, time management and ability to multi task
- Ability to speak English language fluently
- Engineering
- At least 8 years experience in Business Controls, time management and ability to multi task
To apply logon to the job application page and hit the apply button. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
November 10, 2014
Why Apple CEO Tim Cook’s open ‘gay’ confession matters to the world

Last week the CEO of Apple Tim Cook wrote a public essay for Bloomberg Businessweek, in which he proudly proclaim that he considers “being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” The essay has attracted mix reaction from media, customers & fans alike. Hence, EwtNet has taken to the tab once more to analyze how Cook’s real sexuallity will fare among different cultures.

“The world has advanced to the point that (sexuality) is a total nonissue,” said Gerald Storch, a former CEO of Toys R Us. “Ten years ago, CEOs might have kept it closer to the vest because of consumer backlash.”

As much as I would like to sit back here, agree with Gerald Storch and write ‘who cares?’ I know everyone cares. Even those who ‘don’t care’ care so little about it that they take time out to tell us how little they care! It seems that they care a great deal about making sure we understand how little they care.

This could be such a noissue in California and few other states in the US but Apple is a globally recognized company in the world. Remember, for all the personal attachment we have to the company’s products, Apple is still a publicly traded company that must answer to shareholders. Sales and profits rule on Wall Street, not a leader’s sexual orientation. And lets face it, in some countries Cook could be facing a 15 years jail term for his public declaration or worst still a death sentence.

“Apple is a business, not a social group,” said Billie Blair, a management consultant who advises several boards of directors. The only way a board would care about a CEO’s sexual orientation if it somehow drove away customers and sales and profits fell, she said.

“Then the board would be forced to look at the issue,” Blair said. “It’s not about the sexuality of the CEO but rather what the CEO’s sexuality does to the business.”

In Cook’s case, absolutely nothing. Apple’s products may continue to fly off the shelf for the foreseeable future in the US. Consumers don’t care about Cook’s sexuality as much as they care about the battery life and design aesthetics of the iPhone 6 and fancy Apple Watch. But doubts still hovers on how far Apple products will fly in other part of the world in light of this event.

Do you really believe people in over 79 countries of world where homosexuality is outlawed doesn’t care about Cook’s sexuality? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t be surprised to see laws against buying apple products in Nigeria and most African countries.

In the United States where Apple products are more dominant, anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, but they are still on the books in 13 states: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Conservative state legislators refuse to repeal the laws and, in some cases, police still enforce them. Reportedly, in the past few years more than a dozen LGBT people were arrested for violating those laws, but the arrestees were freed because prosecutors won’t seek convictions based on defunct laws.

Acceptance of the LGBT community has come a long way since 2007. Thirty-two states offer legal same-sex marriage; courts have overturned gay marriage bans in another five states. The U.S. Supreme Court also gutted a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples.

“We are already moving in the right direction,” said Selisse Berry, founder and CEO of the advocacy group Out & Equal. “Hopefully, (Cook’s announcement) will be a tipping point” for corporate America.

Even so, whether today’s executives and employees choose to come out will still largely depend on a person’s individual circumstances and a company’s particular culture.

Cook was brave enough to come clean and as hopes, his decision could make the road a little less treacherous for gays and lesbians in the workplace.

“If hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy,” Cook wrote.

November 3, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook Reveals he is Gay on Bloomberg Business Week

Today the CEO of Apple Tim Cook wrote a long essay on Bloomberg Business Week magazine in which he proclaim that he considers “being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

Below is an extract from Bloomberg Business Week published on the 30 October, 2014.

Throughout my professional life, I’ve tried to maintain a basic level of privacy. I come from humble roots, and I don’t seek to draw attention to myself. Apple is already one of the most closely watched companies in the world, and I like keeping the focus on our products and the incredible things our customers achieve with them.

At the same time, I believe deeply in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, who said: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ” I often challenge myself with that question, and I’ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important. That’s what has led me to today.

For years, I’ve been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky.

While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.

The world has changed so much since I was a kid. America is moving toward marriage equality, and the public figures who have bravely come out have helped change perceptions and made our culture more tolerant. Still, there are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation. There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being gay, or where we can be barred from visiting sick partners and sharing in their legacies. Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation.

I don’t consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I’ve benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.

I’ll admit that this wasn’t an easy choice. Privacy remains important to me, and I’d like to hold on to a small amount of it. I’ve made Apple my life’s work, and I will continue to spend virtually all of my waking time focused on being the best CEO I can be. That’s what our employees deserve—and our customers, developers, shareholders, and supplier partners deserve it, too. Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one’s sexuality, race, or gender. I’m an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things. I hope that people will respect my desire to focus on the things I’m best suited for and the work that brings me joy.

The company I am so fortunate to lead has long advocated for human rights and equality for all. We’ve taken a strong stand in support of a workplace equality bill before Congress, just as we stood for marriage equality in our home state of California. And we spoke up in Arizona when that state’s legislature passed a discriminatory bill targeting the gay community. We’ll continue to fight for our values, and I believe that any CEO of this incredible company, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, would do the same. And I will personally continue to advocate for equality for all people until my toes point up.

When I arrive in my office each morning, I’m greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don’t pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I’m doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.

Extracted from Bloomberg Business Week post released on 30th October, 2014 Tim Cook Speaks Up

October 30, 2014
Job Vacancy: Lead Pipeline Engineer, Wood Group Kenny – Lagos
Engineering firm Wood Group Kenny is currently recruiting for a Lead Pipeline Engineer on a rotational basis located at their offices in Lagos, Nigeria.

The successful candidate will provide –Accountability: Job role is independently accountable for staff and support arm of the Wood Group Dover (Lagos) Office.
Basic Functions: Responsible for design, specification and services related to piping systems and piping layout including piping material selection, piping material line classes, standard and specialty piping components, pressure, weight and thermal analysis of pipeline systems, vibration analysis and pipeline support systems. Principal Responsibilities: With Local autonomy, establishes and maintains the technical standards within the discipline. Sets strategic and tactical direction with regard to policy/procedures, work force staffing, and budgeting. Participates in decisions regarding the acquisition and execution of engineering and/or Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contracts, and supporting business acquisitions & preparation of technical proposals. This is a management level position with full responsibility for hiring decisions, staffing levels, budgets, salary administration, and career development of assigned personnel within an engineering discipline. May supervise several subordinate supervisors or team leaders, including discipline lead engineers on EPC projects.

Job Requirements

A broad range of Pipeline Engineering skills particularly in the oil and gas processing industry in both the onshore and offshore environment. Well versed with national/international standards. Be able to create results and a local organization in line with corporate vision, through sharing of engineering knowledge within the region and creation of the engineering people of the future in the African Region Good English spoken & written and clear communicator Excellent presentation skills:
- Good Interviewing Techniques and Skills
- Team Player
- Excellent Coaching and Mentoring
- Sharing Lessons Learned between Regional Projects
- Local Negotiation and problem Solving
- Focused Drive
- Emotional Intelligence (Culturally Adept)
- Trusted Influence
- Systems Thinking
- Willing to Travel (Africa)
- No Visa Restrictions
- 15-20+ years’ experience in engineering (onshore and offshore projects)
- Performing a similar role in the past an advantage and involved in developing of engineering offices from inception.
- Knowledge of WGPSN/WG Management Systems
- Licensed/Chartered Professional Engineer (advantage) with associated undergraduate Degree in Engineering.
How To Apply
- Please quote job reference IRC in all correspondence relating to this position.
- Internal applicants must discuss their application with their line manager prior to applying.
- Online applications only – no email applications
You can submit your application online via this page. You can also access several other engineering job opportunities at Rigjobs.
October 28, 2014
Job Vacancy: Data Solutions Sales Specialist, IBM, Lagos
What does your dream job look like? Does it include working for a globally recognized technology and innovation firm? IBM is about to make your dream a reality.

The tech-savvy company headquartered in US is looking to add a data solutions specialist to their branch in Lagos, Nigeria. Data Solutions Sales Specialist is responsible for developing Storage Brand/Product solutions that address client’s business needs (both industry and business) and delivers client value while supporting Storage brand specific business strategies.

Required
- Bachelor’s Degree
- At least 4 years experience in Unix Brand Sales in the Region
- At least 3 years experience in Implementing Account/Territory Planning
- At least 4 years experience in Leading Channel Development
- English: Fluent
Preferred
- At least 5 years experience in Unix Brand Sales in the Region
- At least 4 years experience in Implementing Account/Territory Planning
- At least 5 years experience in Leading Channel Development
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. You can apply directly for this job position on this page or read more about IBM here.
October 28, 2014
Job Vancancy: Africa Corporate Communications Leader, MasterCard, Lagos and Johannesburg
As usual, EwtNet is keen on bringing to your notice the most mouth-watering of all jobs openings. And what other company would you rather work for, other than MasterCard?

With the company seeing off competitions from Interswitch and Visa, partnering with Payoneer and extending their dominance in Africa, MasterCard has set sights on employing a new employee to play the role of corporate communications leader in Africa.

The jobholder will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa or Lagos, Nigeria, he or she will report to the Communications Manager: Africa. This individual will lead all communications functions across two divisions – South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa – including: External and Media Communications, Social and Digital Communications, Internal Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility and Event Management.

Responsibility
- Tell the MasterCard Africa story at a global level, both internally and externally. This includes writing error-free, on-message content tailored to a wide range of audiences and channels including blog posts, newsletters, media releases, speeches, briefing documents, internal employee stories, social media posts etc.
- Lead MasterCard’s communications strategy and media presence across Africa. Work with the Communications Manager: Africa, the MEA Communications Vice President, senior management, country mangers and business unit leads to devise and implement successful communications programs at local and pan-African levels, allocate resources and direct execution.
- Manage MasterCard’s PR Agencies in Africa including day to day management, development of strategy, overseeing contracts and budgets, continuously scope for better vendors, etc.
- Work with Marketing to put in place a solid social media communications platform to ensure optimized share of voice for MasterCard in social networks across Africa and effective two-way communication therein.
- Manage major South African, Sub-Saharan and African events especially those attended by the Region’s President or by senior visiting executives like the MasterCard Africa Knowledge Forum, World Economic Forum Africa, African Banker Awards, etc. This includes creating high-level briefing packs, scheduling senior executive meetings, managing PR agencies, etc.
- Lead and implement MasterCard MEA’s strategic and interactive employee communications and engagement programme in Africa, using all existing internal communications channels to ensure the company’s African story is well told within MasterCard.
- Conceptualize, plan and manage employee events including year-end functions, team off-sites, town halls etc.
- Lead employee volunteering efforts by identifying charitable causes, coordinating with NGOs and mobilizing employees.
- Support the Communications Manager: Africa and MEA Comms VP to ensure structures, personnel (internal and agency), resources, workflow, and communications processes are in place to deliver a solid pan-African strategic plan against the SA and Sub-Saharan African business objectives and the MEA Communications strategy.
Required Skills & Expertise
- Distinguished track record as a high achieving communications executive with a demonstrated capacity to build and execute communications programmes that support business growth within a dynamic and changing corporation.
- Superb writing skills and the ability to simplify complex topics.
- Excellent project management skills and the ability to effectively collaborate across countries and business units.
- Team player who will work well with senior business and functional leaders of MasterCard South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Keen understanding of the African scene beyond just media and into culture, economy, socio- politics and development agenda.
- Educated to degree level, with a minimum of six years’ experience in corporate communications – either in-house or at a public relations agency.
- Journalistic experience an advantage.
You can apply for this job using the online job portal found here. Feel free to refer your friends to this page if you have anyone capable of fitting into this role.
October 28, 2014
Job Vacancy: Graduate Computing Pre-Sales Technical Consultant, Hewlett-Packard, Lagos, Nigeria
If your dream job is to work with Hewlett-Packard or HP, here is good news for you: The American multinational information technology corporation is looking for a technical consultant to take charge of its Printing and Personal Systems department in Lagos.

The company announced the vacant position on their official job site yesterday, hoping to find applicants with the following qualification:
- Bachelor’s Degree in IT related discipline (graduation from 2013 onwards)
- 1 year of experience in a similar position
- Ability to design and propose PC and Mobile client architectures and solutions for customers.
- Current knowledge of computer client technologies, hardware, Operating systems, Deployment and Management solutions
- Broader knowledge of the IT industry, technical directions and IT solutions.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Good presentation Skills
- Good level of Technical English
- Ability to search out knowledge and self-train.
- Ability to build and maintain strategic customer relationships
The person in this position is expected to carry out the following responsibilities:
- Provide technical in depth technical presales support to customers and sales team in multiple computing product and solution areas.
- Act as trusted advisor to customers based on in depth understanding of the industry and the customer’s unique business strategy and drivers.
- Build and develop relationships with key technical influencers, decision makers, and top executives.
- Actively participate in ongoing account planning with the PPS salesperson in opportunity analysis, technical deal qualification and competitive analysis
- Proactively promote, propose and help ensure delivery of computing full portfolio of products, solutions and services to customer and account team.
- Maintain positive total customer experience (TCE)
- Technically support sales account team in competitive tenders.
- Support the sales team in creating and proposing the right solution and answering the technical sections and aspects of tenders, RFI and RFP customer requests.
- Providing closed-loop feedback to product divisions.
- Maintain and manage a competitive and appropriate level of technical and professional competence.
- Regular reporting of activity and results.
You can apply directly for this job by visiting the job page. Click Apply and create a free account. If you have no interest in this job, kindly help a friend by sharing this page on social Facebook, Twitter or anywhere your friends are. GoodLuck!
October 26, 2014
US Court Officially bans Aereo from streaming live TV to devices

Aereo can no longer relay TV shows to its customers using its teeny-tiny antennas (for now, that is), according to US District Judge Alison Nathan.

It’s been a while since the Supreme Court decided that the service violates the law by “transmitting performances of copyrighted work to the public,” but it’s only now that a judge has issued a temporary ban order. For those who’ve forgotten what it is: Aereo used to stream live or nearly-live programming to its subscribers’ phones, laptops or tablets for $8 a month.
Each customer is assigned a minuscule antenna of his own (pictured above), which captures shows from the airwaves, as well as a DVR that stores recordings for a later time. Now, though, it’s no longer allowed to beam on-air TV shows to people’s devices anymore. Even worse, Judge Nathan has refused to acknowledge it as a cable service, which means it can’t reinvent itself as one — even if it’s now willing to pay those licensing fees.

Wondering what’s next for Aereo? Well, the jury’s still out on whether it can record and store programs to be aired at a later time. The judge didn’t grant TV networks their request to stop the company from doing so, since they didn’t include it as part of their demands when they first filed a lawsuit. She’s currently investigating whether she should grant that request, though — and whether to order a final, permanent ban against Aereo. If you want to know more about the temporary injunction, prepare to pore over 17 pages of legalese before checking out the official court documents.

[Image credit: AP] SOURCE: Scotusblog, Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter,Injunction (Scribd) Via Engadget.

October 24, 2014
Job Vacancy: Senior Procurement Manager, Nexius, Inc.
Are you looking to work from the comfort of your home? End-to-end wireless services and software solutions company Nexius is looking for honest applicants with excellent communication skills to work as senior procurement manager.

The position is open to everyone residing in US and not limited to any city. Since it’s a virtual office, you have the option to work from home or anywhere you are comfortable.

Job description

Nexius is the leader in delivering end-to-end wireless services and software solutions to industries worldwide. The company’s ~1000 dedicated professionals serve as subject matter experts, providing Technology Strategy, Network Services, and Software Solutions to many of today’s leading organizations. Nexius closely collaborates with their customers to deliver the strategic insight, proven experience, and practical knowledge necessary to transform their business through wireless.

Nexius is on a steady path of growth in the U.S. and globally, ranking as the 103rd fastest growing business in America by Entrepreneur Magazine and in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and the Inc. 5000 lists. Headquartered in Allen, Texas, Nexius has offices in Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, Puerto Rico, Dubai, London, Sao Paulo, Mexico and Argentina.

Senior Procurement Manager

We are hiring a Senior Procurement Manager. This role will be part of the Corporate Operations team. While our corporate headquarters is based in Allen, TX, we are willing to consider virtual work for the best-qualified candidate.

Responsibilities:
- Develops and implements an efficient, effective strategic sourcing, procurement and distribution function in support of the strategic and operational objectives of the company.
- Develops and implements a compliance program and regulations to prevent fraud and ensure adherence to best practices in any procurement activities.
- Lead the Procurement organization and drive sourcing business objectives and strategic initiatives, with focus on market project related services procurement activities.
- Manage activities related to strategic and tactical purchasing for services, suppliers/GCs.
- Develop and manage the Procurement including setting targets and monitoring performance
- Collaborate with other Supply Chain functions to improve organizational, system and process efficiency
- Coordinate with planners & deployment primes from regional markets to forecast demand and create supply plans that ensure availability of services needed, including but not limited to Construction, Site Acquisition, Installation, A&E, etc.
- Ability to lead complex negotiations and secure the best price & commercial terms for the company (subcontractors and material vendors).
- Monitor supplier performance to assess ability to meet quality and delivery requirements.
- Implement new or improve the existing Purchasing processes.
- Optimize the supply base and drive supplier spend consolidation where applicable
- Develop material/services costs forecasts or standard cost lists.
- Develop a supplier engagement model to select, evaluate and manage suppliers.
- Gather and analyze supplier performance data & metrics.
- Build Supplier Relationships at a senior level to help the company’s purchasing & negotiation position. Work closely with key suppliers on cost reduction and other value add programs
- Document Procurement processes such as workflows.
- Ensures the Procurement team has the tools, processes, skillsets and training to successfully perform procurement activities.
Skills:
- Excellent communication skills, negotiations , and ability to drive a win-win deal.
- Sound Managerial skills including the ability to lead a team.
- Continuously looks for ways to improve processes and business practices.
- Possesses entrepreneurial qualities.
- Stress tolerant and decisive.
- Able to collaborate , honest, trustworthy, and transparent
Experience:
- Experience leading the development and implementation of strategic procurement plans including purchasing, sourcing and vendor selection. Best if this experience is in the Telecom industry – network deployment.
- Experience in leading teams of up to 7 people or more
- Established relationships/contacts with General Contractors (GCs) in the telecom services space nationwide or in specific markets is a huge asset.
To apply for the job, you will have to sign up on Nexius job portal. View job posting on Nexius website.
October 23, 2014