Lists
10 Travel Questions With Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves
Punk rock legend Blag Dahlia (Paul Cafaro) has been touring the world for over 30 years as founder and lead singer of “The Dwarves.” Courting controversy is second nature to the band, though it always comes after solid hard-core musicality and Paul’s inspired song lyrics. The Dwarves have produced fourteen albums, several music videos, and have played over 1,000 live shows. Fans follow the band along a global silk road of concerts, never tiring of the raw energy, sexuality, and The Dwarves you-never-know-what-will-happen-next reputation. If you know Paul as a friend, as I do, you’ll know that deep down he’s a serious dude. A voracious reader, he talks music, art, writing, politics, philosophy, travel. He’s published two novels and just finished his third–completing a trilogy about his alte...
5 Tech Trends to Watch in 2021
2020 was a year in which the tech industry came into its own and learned lessons about adaptability, resilience and collaboration that have changed the way we work forever. Perhaps the hardest thing for businesses this year was the uncertainty – which makes predicting trends for 2021 more challenging than usual. But as we move into what will hopefully be a post-COVID reality, here’s a view of the top five tech trends that will impact local businesses in the coming year. 1. Welcome to the Internet of Behaviours (IoB) Anyone who loves a good tech acronym will know the Internet of Things (IoT), is the network of interconnected physical objects – from fridges to data centres – that gather and exchange information and data over the internet. The Internet of Behaviours (IoB) takes this dat...
4 Digital Payment Trends to Watch in 2021
For many businesses that had previously relied on selling their products or services in person, accepting online payments has been a significant step in digitising their offering to the local market. As eCommerce adoption rates continue to soar in 2021, digital payment solutions will need to keep pace to ensure that customers continue to shop online. Jonathan Smit, Managing Director and Founder of PayFast, predicts that 2021 will continue to see an uptake in eCommerce use and digital payments in the following four ways: Contactless continued – contactless payments have become widely accepted. Whether it be by smartphone, card or wearable device – tap-and-go has become a convenient staple for South African shoppers. Additionally, many are still wary of the COVID-19 virus spreading through s...
5 Digital Transformation Predictions for 2021
Although 2020 might have been a year that no one could have predicted, shrouded with uncertainty, technology was the one constant. Helping businesses become more agile and connected with communities in different ways, it provided an essential part of our human and business adaptations to the so-called ‘new normal’. In 2021, technology will continue to provide a path to our economic recovery – and channel partners will play a key role in guiding our progress. They must advocate for the technological transformations that will help businesses to do more than simply survive, but to thrive. And there’s plenty for them to talk about. Here are five tech heroes to watch in the coming year, that will rock the channel and bolster business: 1. Hybrid cloud hype: understanding the full channel opportu...
4 Trends Every CIO Should Know in 2021
We enter 2021 in a very different place from where we were at the start of 2020. For CIOs, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented enormous challenges, but there is a silver lining. Organizations have come to recognize the importance that networking, and more broadly, the IT function can have on the business, including how fast change can be implemented, even under such stressful circumstances. As we begin the new year, with the coronavirus continuing its grip on the globe, organizations have to take the experiences and learnings from the previous year and apply them to their IT strategies if they are to find success. Here are the networking trends for 2021 which can assist CIOs in ensuring organizations stay one step ahead in the future: 1. The emergence of the hybrid workforce /...
Top 10 Most Imitated Brands for Phishing Attempts
In a brand phishing attack, cybercriminals try to imitate the official website of a well-known brand by using a similar domain name or URL and web-page design to the genuine site. The link to the fake website can be sent to targeted individuals by email or text message, a user can be redirected during web browsing, or it may be triggered from a fraudulent mobile application. The fake website often contains a form intended to steal users’ credentials, payment details or other personal information. According to Check Point Research, Microsoft was the brand most frequently targeted by cybercriminals. The most likely industry to be targeted by brand phishing was technology, followed by shipping and retail, showing how threat actors are using well-known brands in these sectors to tric...
7 Tips to Ensure Telegram is Private and Secure
When discussing the privacy and security of messenger apps, one needs to understand that the Telegram’s functionality goes beyond the simple messages exchange and has many surprising features. With Telegrams’ user-base exceeding over 500 million active monthly users, it now combines elements of a massive communication hub, messaging board and social media – and its security and privacy concepts differ from others. Here are seven tips to make sure Telegram is as secure as possible, as told by Kaspersky researchers: Pick a username and use it instead of your actual name or associated phone number when chatting with others. Enable 2FA for your account. If someone tries to take control over your account, hijacking a voice call or a text message with a temporary verification code won’t be enoug...
4 AI Trends to Watch in 2021
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining notable momentum across a number of industries. The past year saw rapid digital transformation spurred by COVID-19, with new technologies being adopted almost overnight. Entering 2021, the same upward trajectory can be expected as AI becomes an increasingly normal part of society. “In the past, many companies have dipped their toes into digital technologies such as AI, automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT), but 2020 proved to be the year to dive headfirst,” says Dries Cronje, CEO of Deep Learning Café. Local organisations are actively piloting AI within their businesses, experimenting with a range of different technologies, such as chatbots, virtual assistants and image recognition. “This is the beginning of an exciting pathway of digitisation...
5 Ways to Protect Private User Data on Messaging Apps
Facebook recently asked WhatsApp users to accept its updated terms of service and privacy policy – or else lose access to the app. “As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings,” reads WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy. “This includes helping improve infrastructure and delivery systems, understanding how our Services or theirs are used, securing systems, and fighting spam, abuse, or infringement activities.” This move has left many WhatsApp users concerned and searching for a more secure mes...
2020 In Review: From COVID-19 to Liverpool to Maradona, looking back at a wild, wild year
2020 has been quite the year, one for the history books, for better or worse. We break down the 10 things we will remember 2020 for. Lunch is on Marcus: Rashford’s campaign to help school children Footballers have a unique position of influence, especially the younger ones in today’s era, with their millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram. While almost all players take part in some form of community service or philanthropic endeavours, Marcus Rashford decided to use his social media as a platform to appeal to UK lawmakers who were about to end a program that allows free lunches to millions of schoolchildren. Eventually, the lawmakers decided to cave into his request and made sure the program stays running. This not only bought to light the potential influence a young footballer can ...
The Best Late Goals in Football
Scoring a late goal is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling parts of football – unless you happen to be on the receiving end! The sport’s history is littered with late goals that have helped teams win trophies, clinch promotion, avoid relegation or get one over their closest rivals. As none of the Sportslens team can remember much further back than the 1970s, we take a look at some of the best late goals of the past five decades. Michael Thomas vs Arsenal (1989) Arsenal travelled to Liverpool on the final day of the 1988/89 season needing to win by two clear goals to pip the Merseyside outfit to the title. Leading 1-0 with just seconds to play, Michael Thomas broke free of Liverpool’s defence to fire home and secure top spot for the Gunners. The look of abject horror in the home ranks mer...
Nigerian National Assembly spends billions of naira on constitution review
The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, an analysis has shown. The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail. At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise. While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals. Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments ...