Forget 3D, Japenese Movie Watchers to Experience Iron Man 3 in 4D

Yes, the world has moved away from 3D, we are now in the age of 4D...

Want to know what Iron Man smells like? Head to Japan, where the film will screen in 4D

Iron Man 3 will be the first film in Japan screened using the enhanced motion picture technology known as 4DX, when it hits the country’s theatres on April 26.

4DX films screenings of Iron Man 3 will include tilting and vibrating seats, strobe lights that also drop bubbles, smoke, blowing wind machines (so you can feel Tony Stark’s Audi R8 speed across the screen) and, yes, even scent devices that will fill the air with the smell of Pepper Potts’ perfume, among other things.

The features will be operated by Korona World chain in Japan, which is in talks with Hollywood and Japanese studies to release 12 more titles using the fourth dimensional settings. Films using 4DX technology already screen in some South American countries, as well as China, South Korea, Thailand, Russia, Mexico and Israel.

“It was really a matter of timing that Iron Man [3] became the first title for 4DX in Japan, though we were looking for a blockbuster action film, as that is what works best with the system,” Korona World spokesperson, Tagiki Ishiguro, tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

Source: National Post

 

Polymer Notes Not Environmentally Friendly- Analyst

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced that it would discontinue producing N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes. Well, this analyst says they are not environmentally friendly...

NCC orders MTN to Collapse Its tariffs

MTN has been overcharging subscribers for calling other networks in Nigeria it seems. Hence the Nigerian Communications Commission has ordered the company to collapse tariffs...

NCC orders MTN to collapse rates

TELECOMMUNICATIONS regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, has ordered MTN Nigeria to collapse the rates for its on-net and off-net voice services, which it said has a 300 per cent differential with effect from tomorrow, May 1.

The NCC, in a report titled, ‘Determination of dominance in selected communications markets in Nigeria,” signed by Mr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, said it plans to make a determination of pricing principle to address the rates charged for on-net and off-net voice calls for all other operators, to manage dominance in the market.

The NCC also disclosed that competition in the Nigerian mobile voice market is not highly competitive, and using what it called the HHI, said MTN with 44 percent of the market share has emerged the dominant operator in the mobile voice segment.

According to Juwah, an industry review showed phone calls between MTN customers cost three times lower than calls to other networks, indicative of the likely establishment of a calling club for MTN subscribers.

Juwah said, “As a result of the determination outlined above, the Commission has resolved to immediately enforce and implement accounting separation on the dominant operator; ensure that the differential between the on-net and off-net retail tariffs will immediately collapsed, while the tariff for on-net and off-net will be the same and subject to periodic review.

“The Commission may require the dominant operator to submit details on specific aspects of its operations from time as the need arises.”

Continuing, in the wholesale Leased Lines and Transmission Capacity market, which are in the upstream segment of the telecoms market, the NCC said the dominant operators, MTN and Glo jointly control 62 per cent of the market, and they shall be required to adhere to the following obligations as the Commission will come up with a price cap for wholesale services and price floor for retail services, and subject to periodic review.

“The Commission will immediately enforce and implement account separation on the joint dominant operators.

“The commission may require any of the joint dominant operators to submit details on specific aspects of its operations from time to time as the need arises.

“The determination shall take effect from 1st May 2013 and remain valid and binding on Licenses for the services specified in relevant market segments of the section, until further reviewed by the Commission.”
NCC said there are about 113 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of 2012, with MTN Nigeria leading with 47 million lines.

Globacom followed with 24 million users, Bharti Airtel had 23 million customers while Etisalat, had 14 million.

Source: Vanguard

 

Extreme Sheep Herding Meets LED Art

This is really cool.

Follow Queen Beatrix's Abdication Live

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates. Follow the ceremony LIVE http://bbc.in/16gB4Ji

Microsoft Disses Apple, Android and Samsung in New Windows Phone Advert

Really funny advert. Don't fight, switch.

Picture: This girl has stunning pale blue eyes

This girl's eyes are absolutely stunning! From Twentytwowords

How to Setup Google Authorship for your Website

Google Authorship is the new factor that Google has introduced into its algorithm for deciding search results which virtually all webmasters try to manipulate in their favour. It basically is having your profile linked to content you generate on the internet. Google recognises the content you generate and links it to you thereby helping to improve the credibility of its search results and traffic to your website if you have properly set it up.

+Bill Parlaman explains in this very easy to understand video.



Ensure you have completed the process correctly by going here http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets and posting your website address. If your profile picture shows with the search results for your website, then you have Google Authorship properly setup for your website.

I hope you find this useful. It is definitely worth doing.

Obasanjo Slams Jonathan Over Proposed Oil Pipeline Protection Agency

That there is a rift between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan seems not to be in doubt any longer with this outburst from Obasanjo...

Obasanjo tackles Jonathan on proposed pipeline protection

Obasanjo who spoke at a thanksgiving at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Garki Abuja to mark the 50th birthday of the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili also said he took full responsibility for any failure his regime has been accused of and that his team of ministers who worked with him should not be blamed for any inadequacies.

The former President who extolled the outstanding qualities of Ezekwesili who served under him stated that no one would have probed her following her position on the state of the nation as widely reported recently.

Instead, Obasanjo said the government would have paid her for the services she rendered to the country during the time she served.

Obasanjo who chided the present government for a move to set up an agency for pipeline protection, argued that this was another way of stealing from the government coffers.

Said he: “When I was coming from Abeokuta, I was listening to the radio and they said they are going to set up an agency for pipeline protection. Now, what are the Police there for? All the security agencies that we have, what are they for. This is another chop-chop.

We have no choice we have to get it right. Let us decide individually that I will have to do what I will do to bring about change in Nigeria. And if you do that, let me assure you, you will be abused. You will be called names. Some people are hired to do that. But like Oby, say what you believe is right and stand by it.”

Commending his former minister for the role she played in government, the former president said, “those who wanted to probe you, I think if they were honest, after probing you, they would ask that the government of Nigeria should have specially given you money for work you have done for this country.

But as one of those who worked with me and to achieve whatever we may claim we achieved, and I have always said it you should be commended. Whatever you might want to blame in my government, blame me, don’t blame any of those people who assisted me. Blame me. If there is any credit, we share together. But if there is anything you want to say it is wrong, I was the one in-charge.”

Obasanjo who said he would have been in Ghana but for the importance he attached to the celebration, however, stated that their role as citizens of Nigeria and stakeholders in the affairs of the nation was to continue offering advice that would bring the needed change.

He also recounted an experience he had with a friend on the natural endowment of the country, stressing that mismanagement of resources is Nigeria’s greatest challenge.

Obasanjo: “Today is a great day in your life and I know that otherwise I should have been in Ghana. But because I realize how important this day is to you, when I leave here I will proceed to Ghana. I want to thank you for what we jointly worked for and lived for; service and values. And I do hope that we will never stop meditating, repeating, shouting and talking.

“One of my friends said the other day when I said let us pray, he said stop tempting God and I said what do you mean by that, he said Look, God has done everything for you and you are mismanaging it. You are tempting God. I hope you will stop tempting God.

But let me say personally what Oby stands for, what she has lived for and the exemplary service she has rendered under my own administration and indeed in the global setting

Speaking to newsmen at the reception on how she feels at 50 years, the celebrant, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili looked back and said it was the grace of God that has brought her thus far.

Her words: “It feels really great. I have to tell you that I feel a sense of completion of a certain phase in my life and when I look back I just remember so much that God has done in my life, you know I can’t help but really understand God as the One who gives greatness.

“It is only because of the Grace of God that I am what I am today and grace is called unmerited favour, not because I deserve it but because God decided that He will take a child from a humble home and enabled my parents to give me education and He laid on my path the opportunity to prove myself then He blessed the work that I did at different stages of my life.

“So, to come to fifty and to be in great health and to still be strong in my God because my salvation is an important part of my personality. My own relationship is not a joke. It’s real. That’s what my life is about. I don’t wear it about like a title but I really believe in God. There is God. And when you truly believe in God, there is a way that your values will be shaped. I am so grateful to God because the family that I was born into is a strong family that shaped her values on the basis of principles of God.”

Source: Vanguard

 

Pic: Pure Cuteness, Tigress and her cub

Tigers are beautiful and this pic is really cute.

Solving any problem in 6 easy steps

Do you feel like the world is collapsing on you? Well, you are not the only one and I am 100% sure this feeling was caused by a problem. A problem is a challenge or difficulty that prevents an individual from being in their ideal or preferred state.

Everybody has problems. However, what differentiates happy, productive and successful people from sad, despondent and unproductive people is their attitude to problems.

I am going to share with you  6 practical steps that will help you effectively manage and hopefully solve any problem you may face.

6 Key Steps to Problem Solving 

1. Identify the problem: This seems obvious enough but in reality many people do not really understand the problem they are facing. They are more focused on the negative effect of the problem rather than what the problem is. For example, an unemployed individual may be fixated on the fact that he cannot get a job. However, his real problem might be that he cannot meet his basic needs- food, clothing, shelter. The lack of a job only amplifies this problem; it is not the real problem. 

In order to identify a problem, you have to answer this question- What is the primary factor that is keeping me from being happy and satisfied to a reasonable extent? Please note, you can never be totally satisfied.  Once you know what it is, you have identified your problem.

2. Understand the problem:  Once you have identified the problem, the next step is to understand it. Why does the problem exist? What are its causes? Are there other issues related to it? These are all questions you need to answer before you can truly understand a problem.

3. Think about potential solutions: Now that you understand the problem, you have to think about potential solutions. Focus on the problem and think deeply about solutions, you can write down the potential solutions that come-up in your mind as you think. You need to put genuine effort into finding solutions to your problem. If you are dedicated with going through this process, you will almost certainly have more than one idea as a potential solution to your problem. 

4. Screening of potential solutions: The next step is to screen the potential solutions you have come-up with. Evaluate the feasibility of each potential solution so as to determine the appropriateness or otherwise of going through with that solution. After going through this process, select the best solution.

5.  Implement the best solution: You now need to implement the best option out of the possible solutions to the problem that you have identified. This is the most difficult part of problem solving because more often than not, you may not have the required resources and/or skills required to implement the plan that is meant to solve your problem. However, you need not get stuck at this stage; you should apply what I call the continuous progress strategy if you are in this position. The continuous progress strategy simply means you do the things that you have the capacity to do first and then look for ways of finding the required help to complete the implementation of your plan. 

Let us look at an example, Frank lives in abject poverty and he has come to the realisation that he needs to get higher education to acquire skills that will help him get a good job with good pay. However, he has no money to pay for the required examinations to gain admission to the University. Frank realises that not having money to pay for the university entrance examination is only part of the problem, he has to first of all have the required knowledge to pass the exam before his not having money to pay for it becomes  a pressing matter. Hence, he goes to the public library to study hard and improve his knowledge of the required subjects. 

What Frank has done is to apply the continuous progress strategy. He has not halted his plan because of lack of finance, instead he has applied himself to the factor he has control over which is gaining the required knowledge to pass the examination. Thereafter, he can now seek for help either from family, friends or even people he meets at the public library who would have noted his dedication to his studies.

6. Review the problem solving process and make improvements:  There is a high possibility that you will make mistakes in the process of trying to solve a problem. Therefore it is important that you review the process as you implement your problem solving plan for mistakes that you can correct and also for areas of improvement. This will make you a much better problem solver and you can even begin to help other people solve their problems too. We see this with some social workers who may be reformed drug addicts for example. They reach out to current drug addicts and learn from the mistakes that previous social workers may have made and begin to improve the process. This is usually easy for them because they were in the undesirable position of being drug addicts and from experience can avoid making old mistakes. They help those they are working with avoid such mistakes as well thereby improving the process of solving a big societal problem- drug addiction.

Problems are an integral part of life and it is important that we as individuals learn to manage and solve them. I hope this article will help you in that regard. You can let me know your thoughts on this article and problem solving in general by making comments below.

1 Million won't Get Admission into Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria

Nigeria's Minister of Education says there are no places for a million candidates that wrote yesterdays Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)...

UTME: Over one million candidates will be denied admission – Minister

Over 1 million candidates that sat for the University Tertiary Matriculation Examinations,UTME, on Saturday, may not gain admission into the nation’s higher institutions due to lack of space, the federal government has stated, DailyPost has gathered.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufai, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday after having monitored the conduct of the UTME in Abuja and Suleja, Niger State, alongside the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board,JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.

Rufai said that the current capacity of tertiary institutions across the country was only about 500,000.

This, she noted cannot cater for the 1.7million candidates sitting for the UTME.

Professor Rufai who bemoaned the gross inadequate number of universities in the country appealed for more public private partnerships for the establishment of more institutions to increase access to university education in Nigeria.

She made the plea, noting that the growing number of students who enrol for admission into tertiary institutions annually is alarming as revealed by the number of students siting for this year’s UTME.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, announced that over 1.7million candidates registered for the UTME, an increase of 13.35 percent compared to last year’s.

According to the Minister, there is space for only one-third of these applicants and the remaining candidates, who may even pass the admission cut-off mark, may never get admitted.

She further lamented that this vicious cycle is bound to continue if the appeals of the federal government goes unheeded.

The Federal Executive Council,FEC, recently approved provisional licenses for the establishment of five new private universities in Nigeria.

This brings the total number of government owned and private universities in the country to 122. With over a hundred universities, the federal government claims, the institutions are not enough to address the challenges currently facing the nation’s tertiary education.

Over 1 million candidates that sat for the University Tertiary Matriculation Examinations,UTME, on Saturday, may not gain admission into the nation’s higher institutions due to lack of space, the federal government has stated, DailyPost has gathered.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufai, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday after having monitored the conduct of the UTME in Abuja and Suleja, Niger State, alongside the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board,JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.

Rufai said that the current capacity of tertiary institutions across the country was only about 500,000.

This, she noted cannot cater for the 1.7million candidates sitting for the UTME.

Professor Rufai who bemoaned the gross inadequate number of universities in the country appealed for more public private partnerships for the establishment of more institutions to increase access to university education in Nigeria.

She made the plea, noting that the growing number of students who enrol for admission into tertiary institutions annually is alarming as revealed by the number of students siting for this year’s UTME.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, announced that over 1.7million candidates registered for the UTME, an increase of 13.35 percent compared to last year’s.

According to the Minister, there is space for only one-third of these applicants and the remaining candidates, who may even pass the admission cut-off mark, may never get admitted.

She further lamented that this vicious cycle is bound to continue if the appeals of the federal government goes unheeded.

The Federal Executive Council,FEC, recently approved provisional licenses for the establishment of five new private universities in Nigeria.

This brings the total number of government owned and private universities in the country to 122. With over a hundred universities, the federal government claims, the institutions are not enough to address the challenges currently facing the nation’s tertiary education.

Over 1 million candidates that sat for the University Tertiary Matriculation Examinations,UTME, on Saturday, may not gain admission into the nation’s higher institutions due to lack of space, the federal government has stated, DailyPost has gathered.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufai, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday after having monitored the conduct of the UTME in Abuja and Suleja, Niger State, alongside the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board,JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.

Rufai said that the current capacity of tertiary institutions across the country was only about 500,000.

This, she noted cannot cater for the 1.7million candidates sitting for the UTME.

Professor Rufai who bemoaned the gross inadequate number of universities in the country appealed for more public private partnerships for the establishment of more institutions to increase access to university education in Nigeria.

She made the plea, noting that the growing number of students who enrol for admission into tertiary institutions annually is alarming as revealed by the number of students siting for this year’s UTME.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, announced that over 1.7million candidates registered for the UTME, an increase of 13.35 percent compared to last year’s.

According to the Minister, there is space for only one-third of these applicants and the remaining candidates, who may even pass the admission cut-off mark, may never get admitted.

She further lamented that this vicious cycle is bound to continue if the appeals of the federal government goes unheeded.

The Federal Executive Council,FEC, recently approved provisional licenses for the establishment of five new private universities in Nigeria.

This brings the total number of government owned and private universities in the country to 122. With over a hundred universities, the federal government claims, the institutions are not enough to address the challenges currently facing the nation’s tertiary education.

Source: Daily Post