Does Facebook Oculus VR acquisition doom real reality?

Future history books will note that March 25, 2014, was a bad day for human legs. It was a bad day for the outdoors, a bad day for bicycles and an utterly abysmal day for cafes, bars and other places where people meet in person.

It was the day Facebook — the social media giant that has already digitized a good part of our social interaction — acquired Oculus VR, which sounds like a malevolent, world-destroying Transformer but is actually considerably more frightening.

The "VR" in the company's name stands for "virtual reality." Oculus has been busy working on a gaming device called the Oculus Rift headset, which, according to a blog post by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, puts the user in "a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away."

Boko Haram: 500 killed, 100 killed, so what?

Priests pray for corpse of Boko Haram victims before burial

Does it really matter how many die daily from Boko Haram attacks? Who cares who the targets are? Who is interested in the body count? What difference does it make if 500 die today or 100 the next day?
Have the gruesome details of victims being burnt, slaughtered, or buried alive made any impact on us? Are we even able to count how many have been killed?
Nigeria has descended to the dreaded lethargy prolonged exposure to gory lawlessness creates. There was a time when loss of a few lives drew those magnificent comments about the sanctity of lives and measures that must ensure that we never went through the fatal paths again.

South Africa software industry to ‘balloon’ in 2014

South Africa’s software industry will balloon this year as spending is forecast to increase 10.5% to $518m, according to the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) market analysis report.

The South Africa Enterprise Application Software Market 2013–2017 Forecast predicts that overall enterprise applications software spending in the country will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6% across the five-year forecast period to total $787.19m in 2017.

South Africans not sold on in-car tech

A survey by Accenture indicates high interest in next-generation in-car technologies among drivers in emerging economies, which could help shape future demand for sales and provide the automotive industry with a sustained revenue stream.

However, across five major emerging markets, South Africans were the least likely car buyers to let their decision be influenced by in-car technology.

Accenture surveyed over 14 000 drivers in 12 countries, including South Africa, on their current use of in-vehicle technologies and expectations for future use.

Microsoft new CEO, Satya Nadella, shares vision for the company

Satya Nadella, an Indian national, was yesterday announced as the new CEO of tech giant, Microsoft.  Nadella has worked with Microsoft since 1992 and comes from a rich professional background in cloud computing.
Nadella joins the growing list of Indian-born executives heading major global corporations. They already include PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain.

Bloomberg launches $10m Africa media initiative

Michael Bloomberg

The immediate past mayor of New York, and founder of the Bloomberg Media group, Michael Bloomberg, is committing $10m towards building the capacity of African journalists.  The initiative is aimed at advancing
transparency, accountability and governance on the continent.
The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, a three-year pan-African programme to build media capacity, convene international leaders and improve access to information on the continent, will initially focus on Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, financial news agency Bloomberg said on Monday.
"Timely and accurate reporting of business and financial matters play a critical role in advancing efficient markets and is a key driver in supporting economic and social growth," the agency said in a statement. "Strengthening business and economic news coverage, expanding training programmes for journalists and providing greater access to reliable data about Africa are frequently cited as important enablers to the continent's continued development."

Your Yahoo account may have been compromised

If you use yahoo email, you may consider changing your password.
Latest information from Yahoo indicate that some of its customers' email accounts were compromised in a recent cyber-attack.
According to time.com, Yahoo has the world’s second-largest email service after Google, the Associated Press reports, with 273 million users worldwide and 81 million in the United States. The company said affected users have been prompted to reset their passwords by email notification or text message.