Monday, June 30, 2014

BET Awards 2014Davido, Lupita Nyong'O, Chiwetel Ejiofor & 12 Years A Slave Win Big + Other Winners! The participation of top African artists at this years BET Awards in L.A was another plus to the ceremony and kept a smile on the African continent. 12 Years A Slave continued their series of wins at the just ended BET Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A, California on Sunday taking home Best Movie of the year. Meanwhile its lead characters, Lupita Nyong'O and Chiwetel Ejiofor bagged home the Best Actress and Best Actor awards respectively. African afro star, Davido picked up his first ever BET trophy as Best International Act Africa beating Mafikizolo (South Africa), Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), Sarkodie (Ghana), and Toofan (Togo). The red carpet stunned with incredible fashion statements and the stage exploded with the most astonishing performances from the likes of Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Usher and African best music acts like Mafikizolo, Tiwa Savage, Sarkodie, Ice Prince, Davido etc. Here is the complete list of winners: Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: Beyonce Best Collaboration: Beyonce And Jay Z Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj Video Director Of The Year: Hype Williams Best Gospel Artist: Tamela Mann Best Actress: Lupita Nyong'o Youngstars Award: Keke Palmer Sportswoman Of The Year: Serena Williams Best International Act Africa: Davido Best Group: Young Money Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Drake Video Of The Year: Pharrell Williams Best New Artist: August Alsina Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor Best Movie: 12 Years A Slave Sportsman Of The Year: Kevin Durant Best International Act UK: Krept And Konan

Computer program Eugene Goostman becomes first to trick humans into thinking it is a real person

A “SUPER COMPUTER” has duped humans
into thinking it was a 13-year-old boy to
become the first machine to pass the
“iconic” Turing test, experts say.
Five machines were tested at the Royal Society
in central London to see if they could fool
people into thinking they were humans during
text-based conversations.
The test was devised in 1950 by computer
science pioneer and World War II code breaker
Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was
indistinguishable from a human, then it was
“thinking”.
No computer had ever previously passed the
Turing test, which requires 30 per cent of
human interrogators to be duped during a
series of five-minute keyboard conversations,
organisers from the University of Reading said.
But “Eugene Goostman”, a computer program
developed to simulate a 13-year-old boy,
managed to convince 33 per cent of the judges
that it was human, the university said.
Professor Kevin Warwick, from the University
of Reading, said: “In the field of artificial
intelligence there is no more iconic and
controversial milestone than the Turing test.
“It is fitting that such an important landmark
has been reached at the Royal Society in
London, the home of British science and the
scene of many great advances in human
understanding over the centuries. This
milestone will go down in history as one of the
most exciting.”
The successful machine was created by Russian-
born Vladimir Veselov, who lives in the United
States, and Ukrainian Eugene Demchenko who
lives in Russia.
Veselov said: “It’s a remarkable achievement
for us and we hope it boosts interest in
artificial intelligence and chatbots.”
Prof Warwick said there had been previous
claims that the test was passed in similar
competitions around the world.
“A true Turing test does not set the questions
or topics prior to the conversations,” he said.
“We are therefore proud to declare that Alan
Turing’s test was passed for the first time.”
Prof Warwick said having a computer with such
artificial intelligence had “implications for
society” and would serve as a “wake-up call to
cybercrime”.
The event on Saturday was poignant as it took
place on the 60th anniversary of the death of
Turing, who laid the foundations of modern
computing.

D'banj Signs Tonto Dikeh To DB Records

Sources have revealed
that
controversial Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh, has
been signed by D'banj to his recording outfit DB
Records.
The deal had previously been speculated earlier
this week, after Tonto was photographed with the
entire DB Records crew, in what seemed like a
get-together of some sort.
Tonto who has achieved remarkable success in
Nollywood over the years, had taken the leap into
music production, recording, and publishing, but a
majority of her songs such as 'Hi', 'Jeje', and a few
more, have received negative and, for the most
part, malicious feedback from the Nigerian public.
Pulse.ng also gathered that along with Tonto Dikeh,
DB Records also have added 2 brothers, 2Kriss ,
who have inked a deal to join the record label.
2Kriss are a collaboration of two brothers with
versatile musical productions ranging from Hiphop
to Afro-Pop. They previously were signed onto
Bigboyz Ent, but with their crossover to DB
Records, their career can only get bigger.
With speculations and unconfirmed rumours
circulating about the Tonto Dikeh deal, there have
been mixed reactions to the move. Many are of the
opinion that Tonto was not recruited for her
musical dexterity, but as a PR stunt to add a
certain allure and spotlight on DB Records. Also, it
is public knowledge that D'banj and Tonto Dikeh
are friends, and the new deal is just a step forward
in what has been a good relationship.
Tonto Dikeh on paper, stands to gain a fairly good
number of advantages, as she will now have
unfettered access to the production abilities of
2Kriss and DeeVee, as well as the mentorship of
D'banj and Kay Switch, while also benefiting from
the 'musical' atmosphere that exist in organized
record labels.

Tiwa Savage and Davido win big at the MTV Music Awards in South Africa

Today in Durban, South Africa, the biggest music
award show was held, the 2014 MTV Africa Music
Awards
Celebrities flocked in from various countries and
continents to witness the amazing event.
Winners for different categories have been
announced and our very own Davido an

Say Your Mind Is It Right For Church Members To Pay For The Luxuries Of Their Pastors?

Some men of God in Nigeria are fond of preaching
prosperity and in the process, they urge their
congregation to give money for the work of God but
they end up using these monies to fund their
luxurious lifestyles.
In Nigeria today, many men of God, General
Overseers and Founders of churches live
extravagant lifestyles » while many in their
congregation are poor, jobless and lack the basic
things of life.
While the GOs drive the best cars, buy private
jets, send their children to the best schools abroad
or build institutions » that children of their
members cannot afford to attend, they still urge the
members to pay their tithes, make offerings or
donate for one thing or the other.
Some say tithing and offerings are Biblical, others
see it as a way of enriching these men of God to
the detriment of their poor members.
Today, we want to ask you if you think it is right
for the GOs to live such ostentatious lives » while
their members are suffering.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Protests Do Work! UNILAG Officials Announce Reversal Of Student Fees After Protest Protests Do Work! UNILAG Officials Announce Reversal Of Student Fees After Protest Timmy Campbell June 7, 2014 Education 16 lag NL Protests Do Work! UNILAG Officials Announce Reversal Of Student Fees After Protest After protesting for days which also continued this morning when UNILAG students shut down the gates leading into the school and all academic activities, with some of them also occupying the senate building, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic & Research, Prof. Babajide Alo immediately pronounced a reversal of the hiked fees for course registration, and other charges, described as unacceptable by the protesting students this morning. He also said the imposition of various charges on students to register separately for General Studies (GST) courses which they also protested be reversed. The increased charges from N10, 000 for late registration of courses, to N25, 000, were also immediately reversed and asked students who have made payments for some of these to approach their faculty officers with teller evidence for a refund.

Protests Do Work! UNILAG Officials Announce Reversal Of Student Fees After Protest

Timmy Campbell
June 7, 2014
Education
16

After protesting for days which also continued this morning when UNILAG students shut down the gates leading into the school and all academic activities, with some of them also occupying the senate building,
the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic & Research, Prof. Babajide Alo immediately pronounced a reversal of the hiked fees for course registration, and other charges, described as unacceptable by the protesting students this morning.
He also said the imposition of various charges on students to register separately for General Studies (GST) courses which they also protested be reversed.
The increased charges from N10, 000 for late registration of courses, to N25, 000, were also immediately reversed and asked students who have made payments for some of these to approach their faculty officers with teller evidence for a refund.