How technology is driving terrorism and cybercrime

A bomb hidden inside a microphone killed Arsala Jamal, a popular Afghan politician and the governor of Logar, a province near the capital Kabul yesterday as he spoke after prayers celebrating the Islamic holiday, Eid.  It's yet another reminder of how criminals and terrorists are using technology.  It reminded me of when Dele Giwa, a popular investigative journalist in Nigeria was killed in his dining room via letter bomb.  This week is the 27 years anniversary of the death of Giwa, a thoroughly bred investigative journalist, and founding editor of Newswatch, the pioneer in insightful magazine journalism in Nigeria.
The exponential growth the world has seen in technology offers great prospects for fighting crime and terrorism. But there is a flip side.  Technology is increasingly making us unsafe and overly exposed.
"In the hands of the tech community, these are awesome tools which will bring about great changes for our world, but in the hands of suicide bombers the future can look quite different," says Marc Goodman, a security expert.
"We consistently underestimate what criminals and terrorists can do. Technology has made our world increasingly open and for the most part that's great.  But all of this may have unintended consequences," Goodman said.
"Whether or not you realize it, we are at the dawn of a technology arms race, an arms race between people who are using technology for good and those who are using it for ill.  The threat is serious and the time to prepare for it is now."

Terrorists prayed as Westgate massacre took place

Terrorists who attacked the Westgate Mall last month took turns to pray in between their bloody mission, new footage shows.
Video clips seen by the Nation show one of the terrorists taking time off to pray as two of his accomplices stand guard inside what appears to be a store inside the Mall.
A separate clip shows five of the terrorists taking position inside a supermarket within the mall during the attack.

Fat discrimination could be as common as racial bias

Weight discrimination, especially against women, is increasing in U.S. society and is almost as common as racial discrimination, two studies suggest.
Reported discrimination based on weight has increased 66% in the past decade, up from about 7% to 12% of U.S. adults, says one study, in the journal Obesity. The other study, in the International Journal of Obesity, says such discrimination is common in both institutional and interpersonal situations — and in some cases is even more prevalent than rates of discrimination based on gender and race. (About 17% of men and 9% of women reported race discrimination.)

Westgate: A damage so heartrending

An Indian man prays by the grave of Kenyan journalist
Ruhila Adatia Sood, who was killed by gunmen at the
Westgate mall, during her funeral in Nairobi (c) CNN

We can't really quantify the human and material damage caused Africa and the world by the terror attack last month in Westgate Mall, Nairobi: 68 innocent lives wasted and another 175 deformed in varying degrees.
Victims were not just Kenyans, but Ghanaians, Brits, Indians, and nationals of several other countries. The pains in the heart of family members is unimaginable.

                                                                  (c)nytimes.com

The New York Times and CNN have put together a collection of pictorials to show what transpired during those four days of gross wickedness and heartless killings by Al-Shabab, the Somali-based terrorist group.

As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror

What the Westgate experience reminds us is that terrorism is by its nature international.  It happened in Kenya, but the loss and pains caused is global.  President Obama puts it right when he said that "in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement."
According to Vladimir Putin of Russia, "terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims. An end must be put to this. As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror."

Check out New York Times and CNN to see the heartrending fallouts of the Kenyan attack.

Physics Nobel Prize goes to 'God particle' scientists

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics has gone to Britain's Peter W. Higgs and Belgium's Francois Englert, the Nobel Committee announced in Stockholm on Tuesday.
They were jointly awarded the prize for their work on a theory that offers an explanation for how the fundamental particles of the Universe acquire mass.
Last year, the pair's work was confirmed after the discovery of the so-called Higgs particle — known also as the Higgs boson and the God particle — at a laboratory in Geneva.
"I am overwhelmed to receive this award and thank the Royal Swedish Academy," Higgs said in a statement released by the University of Edinburgh. "I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research."
Englert told the committee he was "very happy" at winning the award.

How Instagram and Pinterest can get you to eat less

When next a friend points you to beautiful photos of food on Instagram or Pinterest, tell him/her you will look at them after dinner.  Why?  Looking at many photos of food on Instagram can make the actual eating less enjoyable.
The message is: “If you want to enjoy your food consumption experience, avoid looking at too many pictures of food.”
Researchers at Brigham Young University say looking at many photos of food before eating may actually ruin your appetite “by making you feel like you’ve already experienced eating that food.”

Terrorists ain't poor people - Nigerian president

Terrorists ain't poor people.  Listen to President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria disagree with President Clinton that Boko Haram exists because of poverty.  Interesting interview by Arise TV(another big move by Nduka Obaigena. By the way, Nduka said nice things about his vision for Arise in an interview with New African magazine.  I think it's a big leap.)