REAL TIME INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY

This story was shared by the Ex-Indian President Dr. Abdul Kalam. He said: "When I was a kid, my mom cooked food for us. One night in particular when she had made dinner after a long hard day's work, Mom placed a plate of 'subzi' and extremely burn roti in front of my Dad. I was waiting to see if anyone noticed the burnt roti. But dad just ate his roti asked me how was my day at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember mom apologizing to Dad for the burnt roti. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burnt roti."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy, good night and I asked him if he really liked his roti burnt. He wrapped me in his arms and said: “Your momma put in a long hard day at work today and she was really tired. And besides? A burnt roti never hurts anyone but HARSH WORDS DO...!"

Words are powerful. They have the power to heal or wound. Words have the power to build or destroy. Words can bring hope and words can bring defeat. So, think about the words that you will utter in the course of the week. Are they words that will empower others or are they words that will discourage and de-motivate people?

Before you speak: THINK
T: is it TRUE?
H: is it HELPFUL?
I: Is it INSPIRING?
N: is it NECESSARY?
K: is it KIND?

By Adebanjo Ajayi

Power of WORDS: good lesson

Adewale Thursday, 31 March 2016

After a month-long public debate about whether or not Apple should help the FBI break into a terrorist's iPhone, the courtroom showdown between the Department of Justice and the tech company has been postponed.

Judge Sheri Pym agreed to delay the meeting shortly after the government requested a postponement.

The DOJ said it may have found an alternative way into the iPhone Syed Farook, the gunman in the San Bernardino shooting, was using.

If you're confused about what Apple's fight with the FBI is all about, here's what you need to know.

1) The FBI is trying to get into an iPhone 5C used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

2) It can't get in because Farook's iPhone is permanently locked. If its self-destruct feature is turned on, it will erase its key after 10 incorrect passcode guesses.

It also has a time-delay feature that prevents people from quickly entering more than a few wrong passcodes before locking them out.

3) The FBI wanted Apple to create special software for Farook's iPhone that will help bypass the phone's security protocols.

The FBI can then try endless password combinations until it gets the right one. In effect, the FBI is doing the hacking, not Apple. But without Apple changing the locks, the FBI can't proceed.

4) A judge in February ruled Apple must comply with the government's request.

5) Apple has been fighting that order.

Its central argument: Removing the security protection in this case would create a "backdoor" that could potentially allow the government or hackers break into similar iPhones.

It has legal arguments as well: It says there is no specific law supporting the government's request; the government should not be able to compel a private company to alter its product; writing code is like speech, and so the request is a violation of Apple's First Amendment rights.

6) The Department of Justice is fighting too.

Its argument: This is a single request for a single phone, and doesn't not create a back door for bad actors, but rather a front door for law enforcement only when it has a warrant.

7) The fight has gotten increasingly nasty

Apple's high-powered attorneys have called the FBI's arguments "disturbing," and the FBI has called Apple's attempt to combat the judge's order a "desperate" marketing ploy.

8) Most technology companies and the ACLU have sided with Apple.

Facebook, Google and Microsoft are among the companies that have filed briefs with the court showing support for Apple.

9) If it continues, the case could go to the Supreme Court

The same judge that ruled against Apple was set to issue another ruling on Tuesday, March 22, before the DOJ requested the postponement. But any ruling wouldn't have been final. Appeals can go to a district court judge, then a court of appeals, and finally the Supreme Court.

Between Apple Company and the FBI ... in 2 minutes

Adewale Tuesday, 22 March 2016

By Otunba Olufemi Fadairo

Earlier this week, on Wednesday morning, I got into my car to go to work. Ta-yun-yun-yun,..... my car refused to start. It was already 6.30 am and I was not going to start checking anything. So I just opted for going to take a "danfo" (public) bus. Yes, I know, I can't afford taxi abeg.

So I got into this danfo bus and thought to make use of the opportunity that I'm not driving to read a report which I was supposed to give an opinion on to my boss by 9am on same day. As I was the 2nd to last passenger, I had not even finished reading the 2nd page of the 32 paged document when the bus proceeded on the journey to CMS in lagos island.

As soon as the bus pulled out, I heard the piercing shout "Prai, prai, praiissee the Lord".... one or 2 people in the 22 seater bus murmured "Hallelujah". I quickly searched my pockets for an earpiece and plugged the airpiece into my ears while I tried to continue reading. But the decibel level of this pastor was something else. It was like I was sitting right next to an "Ahuja" woover loud speaker. There was just one guy between me and the pastor on my seat row.

After trying to read for about 10 minutes without success as the noise was piercing through the earpiece, I decided to call the attention of the pastor to my suffering at his preaching. So as not to be labelled a "demon", I leaned towards him and whispered, "excuse me sir". He didnt hear, so I thought. So I tapped on him lighthly and whispered again, "Excuse me man of God". He completely ignored me. I then realized he was actually reading from the bible at that time. I said to myself, "Olufemi, respect the Bible, approach him again when he finishes reading from the Bible". So I waited. All the while the guy between me and the pastor was looking at me incredulously.

When he finished reading the bible, I approached again, tapping him lightly,"Excuse me pastor". I was surprised when he again ignored me and then said "the kingdom of darkness is trying to interfere with the preaching of the gospel". That was when I lost it. I mean completely!

Those who know me know that God has granted me a very loud boom of a voice. When I shouted "what is the meaning of this rubbish?", the whole bus was forced to pay attention. I was really vexed. "Is this what Jesus teaches us to do? Did he ask us to inconvenience others because we want to preach? Are we supposed to ignore people who try to call our attention to a sufferring we are inflicting on others?" This were the sentences I barked back at his own rantings which he had picked up again after his momentary shock. He tried to just continue preaching. I told him, "no one in this bus would hear that your preaching if you dont stop.".

Growing up in Mushin has its own advantages as we learnt a lot of yoruba poems. So I started singing (yes, in mushin, we dont recite poems, we sing them) the poems one after the other in my very loud voice while the preacher was also preaching in a very loud voice. I started with "Omo pupa o.... Omo Pupa le mi n fe" (I want a fair skinned damsel). Then went into "Ja itana to n tan, to tutu to si dara..." (the yoruba version of "Tick says the clock, tick-tick"). By the time I entered "Ise loogun ise, mura si'se ore mi, ise la fi n d'eni giga" (Hard work is the antidote for poverty, hard work makes a lowly person into a celebrity), someone in the bus shouted, "would the two of you just shutup?"

Then the reactions started coming in. Someone said "what Is even wrong with this man? Can't he just respect the word of God?" Another faced me and said "are you not aware that there is freedom of worship in Nigeria?". I retorted that "there is also freedom of speech in Nigeria so I am also exercising that freedom". Then I went into another song we used to sing on assembly, "l'ayo l'ayo la n lo'le, la n lo'le....." ( in peace, in peace we proceed home...). Another person told me, "but mr, why are you angry na, preaching in the bus is a normal thing na". I told him, No its not normal to disturb others in a bus. I moved on to the next poem "Ede time ede, remi ko ni'ya, o dabo, o dabo kayode, elere boolu... ( its a warped way of spelling 'exercise book' in yoruba back in the days. Who even invented this crazy spelling sef?)

By now, my voice had completely overshadowed the pastor's but he was still also raising his voice. we had been on this for about 40 minutes, not one person told the pastor that he did anything wrong. He was ranting, I was barking, other passengers were blabbing. It was a cacophony of sounds. The madness was total.

A pregnant woman behind me tapped me and I could see agony in her face. She couldn't even talk, she just rubbed her palms at me in a begging gesture and she touched her head signifying a great headache. I was touched by her helplessness, so I stopped my poems and allowed the pastor to continue with his own rantings. We were already around Apongbon by this time.

Ambode should pass a religious bill in lagos to curb the menace of these pastors disturbing our peace in the buses before these insensitive pastors would cause a problem some day that may result into breakdown of law and order.

Please, comment your view about this experienced.

Peace Breaker or Preaching "Lagos Public Bus Palaba"

Adewale Saturday, 19 March 2016

Sanusi Lamido's response to Sir Olaniwun Ajayi's book titled "Nigeria , Africa 's failed asset?"

"Let me start by saying that I am Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir and
therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.

"My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.

"Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around. Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria, Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regard himself as bakane. The man from Zaria was bazazzage. The man from
Katsina was bakatsine. The kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were Muslims, they were killing each other.

"The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom. They now said it was a Muslim North.

"The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours. Tell me, how many governors has South West produced after Awolowo that are role models of leadership? How many governors has the East produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe that can be role models of leadership? How Many governors in
the Niger Delta are role models of leadership? Tell me. There is no evidence statistically that any part of this country has produced good leaders. You talk about Babangida and the economy. Who were the people in charge of the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?
"We started the banking reform; the first thing I heard was that in Urobo land, that there will be a curse of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer. They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?

"We talk ethnicity when it pleases us. It is hypocrisy. You said elections were rigged in 1959, Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu rigged election in 2007. Was it a Southern thing? It was not.

"The problem is: everywhere in this country, there is one Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba and Itshekiri man whose concern is how to get his hands on the pile and how much he can steal. Whether it is in the military or in the civilian government, they sit down, they eat together. In fact, the constitution says there must be a minister from every state.

"So, anybody that is still preaching that the problem of Nigeria is Yoruba or Hausa or Fulani, he does not love Nigeria . The problem with Nigeria is that a group of people from each and every ethnic tribe is very selfish. The poverty that is found in Maiduguri is even worse than any poverty that you find in any part of the South.
The British came for 60 years and Sir Ajayi talked about few numbers of graduates in the North (two at independence) . What he did not say was that there was a documented policy of the British when they came that the Northerner should not be educated. It was documented. It was British colonial policy. I have the document. I have published articles on it. That if you educate the Northerner you will produce
progressive Muslim intellectuals of the type we have in Egypt and India. So, do not educate them. It was documented. And you say they love us (North)."I have spent the better part of my life to fight and Dr. (Reuben) Abati knows me. Yes, my
grandfather was an Emir. Why was I in the pro-democracy movement fighting for June 12? Is (Moshood) Abiola from Kano ? Why am I a founding director of the Kudirat Initiative for Nigerian Development (KIND)?

"There are good Yoruba people, good Igbo people, good Fulani people, good Nigerians and there are bad people everywhere. That is the truth. "Stop talking about dividing Nigeria because we are not the most populous country in the world. We have all the resources that make it easy to make one united great Nigeria . It is better if we are united than to divide it.

"Every time you talk about division, when you restructure, do you know what will happen? In Delta Area, the people in Warri will say Agbor, you don't have oil. When was the Niger Delta constructed as a political entity? Ten years ago, the Itshekiris were fighting the Urobos. Isn't that what was happening? Now they have become Niger Delta because they have found oil. After, it will be, if you do not have oil in
your village then you cannot share our resources.

"There is no country in the world where resources are found in everybody's hamlet. But people have leaders and they said if you have this geography and if we are one state, then we have a responsibility for making sure that the people who belong to this country have a good nature.

"So, why don't you talk about; we don't have infrastructure,we don't have education, we don't have health. We are still talking about Fulani. Is it the Fulani cattle rearer or is anybody saying there is no poverty among the Fulani?"

One Nigeria is better "Lamido Sanusi"

Adewale Friday, 18 March 2016

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” – Mahatma Gandhi

As one reflects on this quote from perhaps the greatest Peacekeeper in history, the latter part of Gandhi’s statement catches our eye: “must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” Unaffected by the stressors we encounter every day. Unaffected by forces that attempt to derail us from living life with a sense of inner peace. This is a challenge for most of us, as it was a challenge for Gandhi. The man encountered injustices that would make even the most resolute among us tremble. Yet, he was able to overcome these circumstances in a peaceful and loving way.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Gandhi’s victorious life was his exceptional devotion to cultivating his inner strength. He once said “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” He used his will to defeat both internal and external forces that attempted to defeat him. We too can recognize these internal forces and defeat them. There are ways that inner turmoil manifests itself and, once identified, can be overcome.

HERE ARE 10 SIGNS YOU MAY NOT BE TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF:

1. NOT EMBRACING SELF-ACCEPTANCE

This is one that many of us struggle with – the ability to simply embrace who we are. For whatever reason, we instead make fruitless attempts to think, act, and appear different than what we truly are. A predominant reason is that we attempt to mold ourselves to society’s expectations of who we should be and how we should live.

Self-acceptance is elusive, but it’s certainly possible. It’s not only a healthy and peaceful way to live; it should be the only way to live. Self-acceptance is simply embracing our inner selves without reservation or judgement. We should all seek to connect with our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual selves.

2. NOT LIVING WITH SELF-COMPASSION

When we incessantly berate ourselves, self-compassion becomes impossible. Continuously punishing our self-image and refusing to accept mistakes is a sure path to an unhappy destination.

The solution is to treat ourselves with compassionate care. We accomplish this by admitting our shortcomings while resisting the urge to hand out needless self-punishment. Nobody is without faults and flaws, and the willingness to accept this universal truth determines our capability to render self-compassion.

3. NOT CONNECTING WITH YOUR NEEDS

Selfless people are the lifeblood of any noteworthy society. That said, self-denial can be taken to an unhealthy and unnecessary extreme. As human beings, it is paramount that we are attentive to our needs. We all require love, acceptance and purpose in our lives. Self-deprivation is not an altruistic trait, nor is it needed.

Instead, all of us should be cognizant of the fact that our needs are of the utmost importance. Taken a step further, our needs should provide the foundation that lends meaning to our lives. Let us all connect with our emotional, physical, mental and spiritual needs.

4. NOT CONNECTING WITH YOUR THOUGHTS

There’s no way around it: our thoughts will default to auto-pilot if we allow it. The human mind is a magnificent gift, but only if we’re nurturing towards it. One aspect of our mind that is often subconsciously overlooked is that it is habitual. In other words, it’ll often repeat thoughts that have surfaced – both positive and negative.

10 Signs You Aren’t Taking Care of Yourself

Adewale Thursday, 17 March 2016

We’re all artists. That doesn’t mean we’re all Picassos with paintbrushes, mind you. But we all have the capacity to create something unique: music, paintings, buildings, sculpture, books, logos, iPhones, businesses.

I know this creative spark is a cornerstone to entrepreneurship (along with drive, talent and balls of steel). But not everyone agrees. Every once in a while, I find myself arguing with someone from some corporation or educational institution about what entrepreneurship is and what it means to our culture. This is their recurring response: “Entrepreneurship means you are the sole proprietor of a business, or you are a business owner assuming risk -- nothing more.”

No, actually, sir or madam, that’s wrong. Entrepreneurship means creating something never imagined before, born from a passion that wouldn’t be stopped. It’s in our DNA to figure out how to solve problems. And thank God for that because it’s how we’re going to survive as a species.

Entrepreneurship requires people who recognize blank canvases as opportunity. What sets them apart is the innate curiosity and boldness to throw paint on that white space and see what happens. Even if it sucks, having the guts to do it is what matters.

Of course it’s hard. Failure is expected. But man, it is a hell of lot more fun than simply owning and running a business. And when it works, the rewards are magnificent. This month we profile two very different versions of entrepreneurial creativity. Our cover story on the Hanson brothers -- yes, the boy band from the 1990s -- and their evolution from pop-culture phenoms to savvy entrepreneurs who dabble in music, festivals and craft beer, says it all.

But we also wanted to show another side of this ingenuity. As we are all painfully aware, we are in the midst of the bloviating, flatulent season that is a tenet of American society: the election year. Politics is a tough racket, which is why we decided to take a look at people brave enough to turn it into a business plan. Brigade (“Politics Pays. But Does Civics?” pg. 24) is a mobile app that aims to build a social network for the politically inclined and to drive citizens from talking about political issues to doing something about them.

We hope reading this issue inspires you to look for your next blank canvas and start throwing paint. And along the way, understand that you’ll pick up some rules of the game. But don’t worry; you’re learning them so you can then break them and make something wholly new, per Pablo Picasso.

The Artist Otherwise Known as an Entrepreneur by Amy Cosper

Adewale

Facebook Founder announced 30 virtual reality games that will be available on Oculus when it ships later in March. This is the best content lineup I've ever seen for the launch of a new gaming platform. Check out this video to see what's coming.
https://youtu.be/pN6YCFlS8nU