TheNewsGuru

Tag: Technology

  • Video: Experts discuss the issue with s3x in space

    Romping in space is a “real concern” for astronauts, a top university professor in the US has warned.

    ImageFile: Sex in space

    It’s something we know little about — but is crucial if we ever want to colonise other planets like Mars.

    During a recent Atlantic Live panel, Assistant Professor Kris Lehnhardt, from George Washington University, said that the topic needs to be addressed immediately.

    He said: “It’s a real concern … something we really don’t know about is human reproduction in space.”

    “If we actually want to go places and stay there, there’s a key component and that’s having babies,” he added.

    It’s hard to imagine cracking on during a rocket mission, considering the lack of gravity. And space suits aren’t the most appealing when it comes to foreplay.

    But during the long mission to Mars (something which Elon Musk hopes to make a reality by 2030) it’s likely to happen.

    There are many things that humans need to prepare for before attempting long-duration space travel.

    Combating the radioactive space rays beaming from the sun, keeping your health in good nick and maintaining your fitness are likely to be prime concerns for astronauts.

    But sexual reproduction is probably the most important, according to Lehnhardt.

    “If we want to become a spacefaring species and live in space permanently this is a crucial issue we need to address that has not been fully studied yet,” he said.

    Earthlings might want to stick to the mile-high club.

    A sexpert said that midair romps can actually give you better orgasms, as a result of the dip in atmospheric pressure that comes with being 30,000 feet above the ground.

    The aeroplane setting is associated with a safe reduction of oxygen levels, which can excite the brain and create feelings of euphoria.

     

     

    This article originally appeared on The Sun.

     

  • Shocking report on Samsung devices

    Shocking report on Samsung devices

    Yesterday, a shocking report suggested that Samsung phones were using technology that could spy on users through a technique called “beaconing”.

    Claims suggested that the creepy technology could monitor everything you are reading and watching online, including personal emails and even porn.

    But Samsung has dismissed the claims, and reassures that “ultrasonic beacon technology is not embedded in devices”.

    According to Daily Mail, the shocking claims were made by Jim Killock, Executive Director of Open Rights Group, while speaking with The Sun Online.

    Mr Killock told The Sun: “Samsung want to get to know you – but they are behaving like a peeping Tom.

    “Samsung have taken spying on their customers to a whole new level.

    “What you can’t see, and can’t hear, won’t worry you – or so it hopes.

    “It needs to own up and switch it off before their customers wise up and ditch them”.

    Hundreds of apps and websites are embedded with ultrasonic cross-device tracking technology that picks up inaudible “beacons” emitted from advertisements.

    This allows marketers to create personalized ads based on your interests, as they are able to determine your location and what activities you may be engaged in.

    And while beaconing is mentioned in the firm’s privacy policy, this is in reference to the use of beacons on websites, rather than in the phones themselves.

    The privacy policy states: “We, along with certain third parties, also may use technologies called beacons or pixels that communicate information from your device to a server.

    But Samsung has reassured that beacons are not used in its phones.

    Read more here.

     

     

  • FG to build $1bn ICT Company to boost local technology – Osinbajo

    The Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the federal government had concluded plans to build a one billion dollar ICT company to boost indigenous technology.

    He made this known in Abuja while delivering his opening address at the 2017 Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition tagged: “the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Getting Africa Ready“.

    According to him, such an achievement will make Nigeria cease being a dumping ground for ICT products and services.

    Osinbajo, who was represented the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, said: “The Nigerian government is committed to encourage the growth of indigenous ICT companies to world standards by proving policies that will help them thrive.

    “With the mantra of change, the Nigerian political milieu will be recalibrated for the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

    “So that both the executive and legislative will be more responsive and responsible in addressing the major global challenges staring us in the face,“ he said.

    On his part, the Minister of Communication, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Sunday Echono, said the government was preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution predicted to happen globally in the very near future.

    According to him, the Federal Government has conceived a National ICT Park and Exhibition Centre in the Federal Capital Territory.

  • How technology is transforming daily living 20 years down the line – a personal experience

    How technology is transforming daily living 20 years down the line – a personal experience

    In 1996, I was in primary two; fast forward 6 years, in 2001, I came in contact with computers and its attendant technology, where else than in Lagos of Nigeria. This marks a tech revolution in my world. Since then I have never been the same; I practically became a gadget freak.

    Between 2001 and 2016, bearing in mind that tech revolution began to take its toll in the year 2000 in Nigeria, technology has changed the world in diverse ways. Looking back into time is a stark reminder of just how much the awareness of technology has advanced barely two decades in our clime, occasioned by accelerations in the telecoms sector.

    ImageFile: Oyibo Ediri at Odunayo Cyber Hub in 2002
    Author as a Computer Desktop Publisher at the Odunayo CyberHub in 2002

    It is easy to forget that this was a time before many people had even a dial-up modem to access the World Wide Web and send Electronic mail, let alone a dedicated broadband connection that did not prevent anyone else in the house using the phone for actual calls.

    When I was entering primary school, Windows 95 was about to launch. Windows 95 certainly did make PCs more popular, and was followed by the massive success of Windows XP, which, despite being unsupported by its maker, is still being used by millions around the globe.

    Counting Windows 10, there have been eight versions of Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system in the last two decades: 98, Me, Vista, 2000, XP, 7, 8, and now 10. Make that seven if you do not count Windows 2000 as a consumer OS.

    Wait a minute; if you played Dangerous Dave, Shadow Knight and Prince of Persia or even the DOS version of Mortal Combat, then you are on the other side.

    The import of the Internet and its attendant impact cannot be exhaustively discussed. It speaks volume more than 20 editions of encyclopaedia can hold. These days there is not much you can do with a Smartphone in Flight mode. Virtually every app relies on its connection to the ‘information superhighway’, the Internet. And, what is the use of an offline PC?

    How technology has changed the world in 20 years!

    The recommendation back then in 2002 was to buy a machine with a 200MB hard drive, 8MB of RAM and a 75MHz or 100MHz processor. Getting online was an expensive business. Your bargain basement PC cost a fortune, and that didn’t even include a modem, CD-ROM drive or sound card. If you had those you had a “multimedia” PC, and it means you are top notch.

    Today, even basic Smartphones have a CPU that is at least 10x more powerful than a 2002 PC and costs roughly one-tenth as much. In the budget laptops group, today, you will find models with 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drives and processors that run at over 3GHz, and you can have all that after a little hustle.

    We look back 20 years and smile at the paltry figures, no doubt, but right now these machines are veritable bargains. Of course, we now know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

    In fact, the Internet has changed more than just technology: it has changed the way we communicate, the way we work, do our homework, listen to music… in short; it has changed the way we live.

    The future of computing, and that of technology, is even brighter. 3D printing technology is with us already; the Internet of things is here with us, and I am expecting when I will start downloading houses, cars and what have you in the actual sense of it.

    Smarthomes — where you can dial your kitchen from the office and you get your dinner made before you are home, where you can have a robot doing house chores and drones running errands for you — are here with us. Self-driving and smokeless cars are here with us.

    Air-conditioned clothing, gadgets that measure the performance of athletes, and the ones you are counting up in your mind now, are all here with us – all thanks to the advancement of technology, and as LG puts it, life’s good!

    Who wouldn’t want to pimp their existence!? Who wouldn’t want to be sophisticated in this era!?

    With the current drive for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), the future of the world with technology will be like some sci-fi movies.

    But, are you prepared for this future!?

     

  • We are using technology to check fraud in N-Power scheme – FG

    The Federal Government says it has deployed technology as an anti-fraud mechanism in the selection and payment processes of its N-Power scheme.

    Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation (N-Power scheme), made this known when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

    Imoukhuede said with the deployment of technology, applicants’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) were included in the scheme’s portal to ensure that stipends meant for beneficiaries did not go into the wrong accounts.

    “Thanks to technology, when they applied we asked of the BVN and when they were selected we then asked them to go and upload their bank account number.

    “But then, part of our anti-fraud mechanisms and control was the fact that we didn’t allow them at the time when they were now selected and updating their bank account to change the BVN they uploaded before.

    “So when we then collected all of that we partnered the Nigerian Inter-Bank settlement System (NIBS) who is the custodian of all BVN in Nigeria at the moment and they run the NIBS validation.

    “Once all those records match, they check you and run you against the portal.

    “Once you match, those are the ones we call NIBS verified and only those ones are paid.’’

    The N-Power scheme is one of the six components of the government’s Social Intervention Programme (SIP), which seeks to recruit 500,000 volunteers as teachers, agricultural extension and health support workers.

    On the allegation of non-payment by some beneficiaries, he said many of the N-Power volunteers gave contradictory information about themselves, most of which could not pass the verification process.

    According to Imoukhuede, in the first month of implementation the scheme captured 82,100 out of 200,000 beneficiaries in the first payment.

    He said the scheme could only pay 65,000 beneficiaries then while others came back as invalid records.

    “The reason, we can boldly say we have not paid a ghost worker or paid a wrong person is because it went through a transparent process.

    “The only thing you will hear is non-payment and it is because measures have been put in place to address all these issues.’’

    The presidential aide said that from a figure of 65,000 verified as at December 2016 the figure increased to 149,183 in April 2017.

    Imoukhuede said in the N-Power Scheme, no fewer than 200,000 out of 500,000 youths targeted were recruited in the first batch of the exercise.

    He said all beneficiaries from 36 states and the FCT had since been deployed while many had started receiving their N30,000 monthly stipends.

    The aide said the N-power was implemented under the SIP as promised by President Buhari during his campaigns to help the poor and vulnerable people.

    “We deployed 200, 000 of that 500,000 in the first batch and we also know that the process was such that we had a portal which was created for centralised application and recruitment and we went through.

    “It opened June 2016 and closed August 31, 2016 after cleaning up of duplicate application, incomplete application, it rounded off with 751,000.’’

    According to him, N-Power has two broad components of graduate and non-graduate schemes.

    The aide said that the government had been focusing on graduates applicants.

    “Those we focus on is the graduate applicants out of the 750,000 I mentioned, 350,000 were on the graduates applicant round, which took 200,000 of them,’’ he said.

    Imoukhuede noted that volunteers in education were deployed as teaching assistants in public schools while healthcare volunteers were deployed to work in partnership with States’ Primary Health Care programmes.

    According to him the agriculture extension volunteers are working with Agricultural Development Programmes in the various states and FCT.

     

     

    NAN

  • 15 things we don’t do anymore because of technology

    15 things we don’t do anymore because of technology

    It is needless to say technology is here to stay, but there is no gainsaying the fact that technology has affected our lives in diverse ways; to the extent that things we used to do, we do them no more.

    When I was small, I have this world atlas I boast of and I have this Lagos state map with which I walked the length and breadth of Lagos with.

    I can still remember licking a stamp to attach to my JAMB registration, but I have forgotten how it tasted.

    You’ve probably seen more scrumptious two-minute recipe videos in the past week than you’ve consulted a cookbook your entire life.

    We all know technology is making things easier and less time-consuming, but it’s hard to believe how much our devices have transformed the way we live.

    Tasks and tools that once seemed routine now seem hopelessly out of date, and in only a few short years — indicative that the future technology will bring is ‘ungbikuable’!

    Here is a list of 15 things we don’t do anymore because of technology; except you are yet to fully grab the essence of technology. Teenagers may shrug, but if you’re 25 years or older, you’ll probably smile with nostalgia.

    • Memorize a phone number

    How many phone numbers do you know by heart? Some people don’t even know their spouse’s numbers. Before our smartphones automatically stored our friends’ contact information, at best, we kept a diary, at worse, we resorted to cocktail napkins to scrawl down numbers, for fear we wouldn’t find that listing in the phone book. How times have changed.

    • Send a handwritten letter

    It’s still wonderful to receive a postcard from faraway places. You might say that email, texting, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and the rests, have made handwritten letters even more special, if not obsolete. No one is forced to transcribe their thoughts by hand and drop those letters in a mailbox!

    • Call a family member to ask where they are

    Find My Friends for iOS and Phone Tracker for Android, and also Google Device Manager are radical apps that help family members and close friends pinpoint each other’s precise location. There is more to what these apps can do than you can imagine.

    • Use a phone book to find a company to do work around your house

    Once upon a time, people felt perfectly comfortable flipping through the Yellow Pages and randomly calling a plumbing company to fix their pipes. Maybe they’d consult friends for a recommendation, but they often relied on trial-and-error. Given technology, you can quickly read reviews of a local business on the Internet, and if you like what you read, you can tap their number and automatically dial.

    • Park your used car on the street with a sign that says “For Sale”

    Parking your used car on the street with a sign that says “For Sale” is now far obsolete when the likes of olx.com and jiji.com can do the magic of selling your used items in matter of minutes.

    • Figure out math in your head

    I used to fancy maths back in the days, but just like I will throw every other thing that doesn’t make sense at the moment aside, I have thrown maths somewhere long ago – yes, even one plus one. Calculators have been around for a long time now, but few of us ever carried calculators with us to the grocery store. In contrast, pretty much everyone with a smartphone has it available to do double-digit multiplication, no matter where or when we need it. In fact, there’s even an app called PhotoMath (available for iOS and Android for free) that can solve any equation just by taking a picture with your smartphone’s camera.

    • Telling time by hands on a clock

    Analog clocks are teetering on extinction. Few people with smartphones bother with watches anymore unless they’re fashion statements or fitness trackers. With digital clocks dominating our computers and hardware, those 12-numeral timepieces may become pure novelties. Even your trusted alarm clock has received tech makeover.

    • Make photo albums

    Purists still love their dark rooms, because chemicals and photo paper can be so rewarding for the patient photographer. But few people pine for the days of dropping off rolls of film at a one-hour photo shop. Instead of pasting five-by-seven snapshots into your faux-leather album, most people will prefer the ease of photo-sharing services like Flickr, Instagram, or even Facebook.

    • Have a CD or record collection

    Wasn’t it cool, back in the days, to walk into a shabby apartment and see those shelves of CDs? Wasn’t it a joy, to flip through boxes of vinyl records? Well, the mp3 generation has transferred all those songs to a digital index. Turntables have seen a resurgence in popularity, but it’s hard to imagine CDs making a comeback.

    • Make mix tapes

    There was something so personal about a mix tape. We spent hours finding the right song, then lining up two cassettes in order to copy a song. So many lovers cemented their relationships using a blank tape and a few dozen favourite albums. Now, you can throw together a digital playlist in seconds.

    • Call a theatre to get movie times

    Millions of people would rather buy a hit new movie on iTunes before it’s even finished in theatres, or rather use BitTorrent to steal some movies. But if we do decide to drive all the way to cinema and fork over some hard earned Naira for two tickets and popcorn, there’s no need to call ahead and find out what time a movie is playing. The Internet has everything we need. In Google, you can often just type “movie times” and the search engine will list films based on your location.

    • Run to the store for a last minute gift

    Curses! You forgot a Mother’s Day gift! Should you change your whole schedule so you can rush to the store and hurriedly pick something out? If you have an Internet enabled smartphone, there’s no need. You can order same-day delivery and have that gift curried to your front door.

    • Cut things out of the newspaper

    Many grandparents still love to buy newspapers, and when they find an article they like, they snip it out, put it in an envelope, and send that little slip of newsprint to a relative. “Thought you might find this interesting!” reads an accompanying note. But most of us don’t waste our time. Nearly every article in every major newspaper is archived online and can be instantly shared by email, social media, and even text message.

    • Looking up the spelling of words in the dictionary

    Spellcheck is nearly as old as word processors, and many of us have grown up expecting Microsoft Word to underline our mistakes in red squiggles. But autocorrect takes this concept a step further, guessing what we actually intended to write and correcting our mistakes. This can be handy for clumsy thumbs, but it can be embarrassing when autocorrect guesses wrong.

    • Use a phone booth

    Phone booths are so rare nowadays that you’d probably have an easier time just buying and activating a cheap cellphone. The last holdout may be your local airport, but even international travellers can usually nab a SIM card the moment they step off the plane.

     

    If you think the list is incomplete, leave a comment.

  • Shittu visits Lt Gen Buratai, to deploy ICT in wiping out Boko Haram

    The Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu has said the ministry is ready to collaborate with the Nigerian Army on Information Communications Technology (ICT), with the view of deploying ICT to wiping out terrorism from Nigeria.

    The Minister said this when he visited the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) recently in Defense Headquarters, Abuja.

    Shittu recalled receiving the COAS some months ago in his Office where the collaboration was first initiated and he deemed it fit to reciprocate the visit in order to further strengthen the collaboration.

    He said the Ministry is set for the collaboration and all the agencies under the Ministry would be engaged to help in deploying technology in all aspect of the Military activities and operations where necessary.

    He commended the achievements made so far under the leadership of the COAS in fighting Boko Haram and other miscreant groups; he however, encouraged him to do more so as to completely wipe out terrorism in the country.

    The Minister suggested that the COAS should consider establishing a strong ICT department in the Nigerian Army and Military Academy, assuring him of necessary support to complement his effort in fighting crime and terrorism, stating that war cannot be fought with arms alone but with technology as well.

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Buratai thanked the Minister for finding time out of his tight schedule to reciprocate the visit.

    He commended the Minister for the good job he is doing in reforming the telecom industry and using ICT to add to the growth of the GDP.

    Lt Gen Buratai added that, the role of ICT is key to military operations and also the use of cyber space where today one can fight war or battle right from ones office, stating that this cannot be achieved without the support of the Ministry, hence the collaboration.

  • CashlessAfrica Expo 2017 holds March in Lagos

    CashlessAfrica Expo 2017 event as part of the MobileMoneyAfrica conference series has been announced to hold in March 2017 in Lagos by the event organizers.

    According to a press release by the Event Director, West Ekhator, the CashlessAfrica conference, which is a platform for financial services supply side actors to share their innovation, will hold beginning 22 March 2017 with the theme: “the future of finance”.

    Ekhator said, “Digital disruption is shifting the balance stay of power in financial services and influencing the way, millions of people bank their money, make payments, remittances and more, in a continent where mobile phone penetration exceed bank accounts and bank cards ownership, combined”.

    “Africa’s highly regulated financial industry now needs to adapt itself to the on-going disruptions in the Fintech space and the increasing demands of young and energetic customers which represent a significant percentage of the continent’s population”.

    Ekhator said that this series of the event represents a unique opportunity for the industry players to “rethink their current models and gain valuable market insight of the African digital financial services market.”

    According to the release, the conference agenda, keynote and interactive sessions will focus on carefully selected topics such as:

    • The digital bank and evolution in a competitive market;
    • The future of banking, money and payments in Africa;
    • Disruptive technologies and their impact on financial services in Africa;
    • Balancing regulation against innovation;
    • Remittances in the digital age;
    • Fintechs and Banks: Collaboration or Competition;
    • Protecting the customer in a digitalized economy.

    “New for 2017, the expo will host a Hackathon session which will drive collaboration to co-create solutions to compelling financial services challenges across Africa and the CashlessAfrica champion awards, given to organizations that have made a significant contribution to the digital financial services industry in Africa,” a statement read on the release.

    The conference which will round off 23 March will hold at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Nigeria with the industry key thought leaders converging from more than 40 countries to address the theme.

    According to the release, speakers already signed up for the event are from Helix institute, Pwc Nigeria, Oradian, Millicom, Voguepay, Barclays Bank, Musoni, Wallettec, Konga, Redcloud, TransferTo, Chamsmobile, ConnectAfrica, Hormuud Telecoms, Impala pay and M-paya.

  • China concludes half-year ‘space’ survival experiment

    Four Chinese volunteers on Wednesday concluded their 180-day stay in a sealed space capsule in south China’s Shenzhen City, testing technology intended for space exploration.

    The project’s technical chief, Li Yinghui, said the experiment was “a complete success”.

    The volunteers have grown 25 kinds of plants and tested 635 pieces of equipment.

    One experiment recycled supply all of the oxygen and water in the capsule and part of the food for the four volunteers, while other tests with regard to nutrition, hygiene, work and rest in space have also been completed.

    The project also shed light on the physiological effects of a hermetic environment and changes to biological rhythms.

    The volunteers – three men and one woman — were selected from 2,110 candidates after the Astronaut Center of China launched a call for volunteers in May last year. They have lived in a 1,340-cubic-meter sealed capsule with a floor space of 370 square meters for the past 180 days.

    The project’s success has opened up new areas in life support technology for extraterrestrial bases, Li said.

  • Cuba, Russia improve cooperation, sign new pacts

    Cuba, Russia improve cooperation, sign new pacts

    Cuba and Russia on Thursday has signed seven cooperation pacts covering technology, military, industry, aviation, medical equipment, and railroad transportation.

    The pacts were signed during a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

    Cuba-Russia cooperation is in its best shape in over two decades thanks to both sides’ political willingness to deepen their ties, said Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas.

    Rogozin said Moscow and Havana are key allies in facing “external pressures” from Western powers.

    “Several Western countries like the United States try to put pressure on us by imposing sanctions, but Russia and Cuba share the same idea regarding independence and sovereignty,” he added.

    Russia is one of Cuba’s top trading partners and Havana seeks to deepen cooperation with Moscow. The Soviet Union was the island’s main ally until its disintegration in 1991.

    Rogozin travelled to Havana after visiting Venezuela, where he met with President Nicolas Maduro.