Tag: headlines

Zuckerberg “deeply disappointed” by the Internet.org, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explosion

Dianne Jacobs

Earlier today, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad for no apparent reason. While we’re still trying to learn more about what happened, we already know that the company was doing a test, and an anomaly created a big mess. Fortunately, all personnel were clear of the launch pad. But this incident is going to affect Facebook’s Internet.org effort in a significant way as a satellite was also destroyed in the process. While insurance companies are going to pay out for today’s failure, the SpaceX rocket was…

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QnA: Five critical questions, How industry experts view development of Internet of Things

Editor
Google

How do industry experts view the development of the Internet of Things, and what would they change? The Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving rapidly. In these short videos, McKinsey’s Michael Chui poses five critical questions about its development to experts ranging from MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito to Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group deputy director Dan Kaufman to Cloudera cofounder and chief strategy officer Mike Olson to O’Reilly Media founder and chief executive officer Tim O’Reilly. An extended and edited transcript of their comments about the development…

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Nigerians Take The Lead In Mobile Online Shopping

Dianne Jacobs
Online Shopping

When compared with other countries in the continent, Nigerians take the lead when it comes to mobile online shopping, local retailers or foreign notwithstanding. A research conducted by Ipsos in Nigeria indicates that this trend is not likely to wane anytime soon. Nigerians love mobile commerce. The research conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Paypal shows that Nigerians are the keenest shoppers on the African continent. 72% of these shoppers use their smartphones to shop. This places Nigeria after China(86%) and India (82%) when ranked according to incidences of shopping…

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New Kaspersky Report Indicates That Crypto-Ransomware Attacks Are On The Increase

Dianne Jacobs
crypto-ransomware

Kaspersky Lab has released a new report whose findings indicate that crypto-ransomware attacks are on the increase and will not end anytime soon. Ransomware is a type of malware that, upon infecting a device, blocks access to it or to some or all of the information stored on it. In order to unlock either the device or the data, the user is required to pay a ransom, usually in bitcoins or another widely used e-currency. The Kaspersky Lab report covers the evolution of the threat over the last two years. The…

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The First Interactive Digital Learning Centre (IDC) In Africa Has Been Launched in South Africa

Dianne Jacobs
IDC

The first Interactive Digital Learning centre (IDC) in Africa has been launched in Tshwane, South Africa, ItNewsAfrica reports. EON Reality, a Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer for industry, education and edutainment is behind the Interactive Digital Centre.  The Chairman of EON reality, Dan Lejerskar, said that: “We’re extremely excited to partner with the City of Tshwane and build an IDC in South Africa…We fervently believe that knowledge is a human right and this aligns perfectly with Tshwane’s goal for greater income equality, creating jobs, and improving educational opportunities.” This IDC will…

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Becomes the 475th City To Get Uber

Dianne Jacobs
Uber Africa launches Uber Cash in partnership with Flutterwave

After beginning operations in Kampala, Uganda and Accra, Ghana. Uber officially launched in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania yesterday. Uber had earlier on announced their intention to expand to three African countries. The launch of operations in Tanzania marked the accomplishment of Uber’s goals. Tanzania becomes the 475th city to get Uber and the 5th African nation to enjoy the Uber services. Uber is celebrating the launch by giving Tanzanians free rides through the code, ‘Move Tanzania’. Tanzanians can enjoy six free rides over the course of three days. Uber’s existence…

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CyberXchange Conference And Hackathon To Be Held In Nigeria In November

Dianne Jacobs
CyberXchange

The Facebook Sponsored CyberXchange Hackathon will be held in Lagos, Nigeria in November. The Hackathon is a competition geared towards finding the best prototypes by starting from scratch to build a workable idea with the help of collaborating colleagues on their teams. As aptantech reports, during the Hackathon, teams will compete against other teams with less than 2 years experience from all over Nigeria. These participants will have the opportunity to build a hack against a cybersecurity issue. The pre-qualifier registration for the Hackathon closes on August 30th, successful parties…

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Youth And Entrepreneurs Set To Benefit From AfricaWorking, A New Initiative

Dianne Jacobs
AfricaWorking

AfricaWorking, a new initiative by Barclays Africa, Emerging World, FranklinCovey, Knod, Safal Group, Microsoft and Syngenta is set to support 200,000 youth and 50,000 entrepreneurs. The new association will seek to channel the collective power and voice of the private sector in order to make an impact on employability and entrepreneurship in Africa. AfricaWorking will start supporting youth and entrepreneurs in Kenya and South Africa but it hopes to work across the continent by 2020. It will leverage existing approaches and two bespoke engines to help get youth career and…

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Microsoft Is Buying LinkedIn For $26.2 Billion

Dianne Jacobs
microsoft

In what is being considered as the biggest tech merger of all time, Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion in cash. As the guardian reports, both companies announced the move on Monday.This is Microsoft’s biggest purchase ever and it said that LinkedIn would retain it’s distinct brand, culture and independence. The success of the deal would see Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s chief executive will report directly to Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s boss. Weiner said that the deal would give LinkedIn a chance  to change the way the world works.…

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120 Students Embark On The WeThinkCode Two Year Coding Training

Dianne Jacobs
Coding

120 students in South Africa have begun their 2 year training at the WeThinkCode campus in Johannesburg. According to ItNewsAfrica, WeThinkCode says its mission is to source and train Africa’s future coding talent. A mission that is now well on its way to being achieved after the launch of the first peer-to-peer tertiary IT education academy in Africa. The 120 students who come from all parts of South Africa were were carefully screened. The course had attracted 30,000 applicants who were asked to play two games online as the first…

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