The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • Easy ways to sniff out fake viral online news

    Easy ways to sniff out fake viral online news

    The rise of the internet has broken down fetters inhibiting access to information. Particularly, social media platforms have added a new fillip to this phenomenon. With just a click of a button on the mobile phone or a personal computer (PC), information goes viral. However, with this new development has come false news items and old pictures that are often presented as new that could make the unwary run berserk. Here are a few steps you could take to sieve the wheat from the chaff.

    And so it begins … ISIS flag among refugees in Germany fighting the police,” blared the headline on the Conservative Post; “with this new leaked picture, everything seems confirmed”.

    The image in question purported to show a group of Syrian refugees holding ISIS flags and attacking German police officers.

    For those resistant to accepting refugees into Europe, this story was a godsend. The photo quickly spread across social media platforms, propelled by far-right groups such as the English Defence League and Pegida in United Kingdom (UK). At the time of writing, the page claims to have been shared over 300,000 times.

    The problem is, the photo is three years old, and has precious little to do with the refugee crisis. In fact, it seems to be from a confrontation between members of the far-right Pro NRW party and Muslim counter-protesters, which took place in Bonn, back in 2012.

    Some news outlets tried to highlight the hoax, including Vice, the Independent and the Mirror, as did numerous Twitter users.

    But news in the digital age spreads faster than ever, and so do lies and hoaxes. Just like retractions and corrections in newspapers, online rebuttals often make rather less of a splash than the original misinformation.

    As argued elsewhere, digital verification skills are essential for today’s journalists, and academic institutions are starting to provide the necessary training.

    But ordinary people are also starting to take a more sophisticated approach to the content they view online. It’s no longer enough to read the news – now, we want to understand the processes behind it.

    Fortunately, there are a few relatively effective verification techniques, which do not require specialist knowledge or costly software. Outlined below are six free, simple tools that any curious news reader can use to verify digital media.

     

    Reverse image search

     

    Not only is a reverse image search one of the simplest verification tools, it’s also the one that showed the “leaked” ISIS refugee photo was a fake. Both of the most popular services, Google Images and TinEye, found pages containing this image dating back to mid-2012. As the screenshot below shows, the “ISIS refugee” story could be debunked in less than a second.

    When a link to the story was posted to Reddit, sceptical users swiftly took to Google to query it. Soon, one reported back: “Google Image Search says the photo is from 2012”.

     

    YouTube DataViewer

     

    When watching the latest viral video on YouTube, it’s important to be on the look-out for “scrapes”: a scrape is an old video, which has been downloaded from YouTube and re-uploaded by someone who fraudulently claims to be the original eyewitness, or asserts that the video depicts a new event.

    Amnesty International has a simple but incredibly useful tool called YouTube DataViewer. Once you’ve entered the video’s URL, this tool will extract the clip’s upload time and all associated thumbnail images. This information – which isn’t readily accessible via YouTube itself – enables you to launch a two-pronged verification search.

    If multiple versions of the same video are hosted on YouTube, the date enables you to identify the earliest upload. This is most likely to be the original.

    The thumbnails can also be used in a reverse image search to find web pages containing the video, offering a quick and powerful method for identifying older versions or uses of the same video.

    ‘But news in the digital age spreads faster than ever, and so do lies and hoaxes. Just like retractions and corrections in newspapers, online rebuttals often make rather less of a splash than the original misinformation’

     

    Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer

     

    Photos, videos and audio taken with digital cameras and smartphones contain Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) information: this is vital metadata about the make of the camera used, and the date, time and location the media was created.

    This information can be very useful if you’re suspicious of the creator’s account of the content’s origins. In such situations, EXIF readers such as Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer allow you upload or enter the URL of an image and view its metadata.

    Below is the EXIF data of a photograph I took of a bus crash in Poole in August 2014. It’s very comprehensive; had I claimed the photo was taken, say, last week in Swanage, it would be very simple to disprove.

    It is worth noting that while Facebook, Instagram and Twitter remove EXIF data when content is uploaded to their servers, media shared via platforms such as Flickr and WhatsApp still contain it.

     

    FotoForensics

     

    FotoForensics is a tool that uses error level analysis (ELA) to identify parts of an image that may have been modified or “photoshopped”.

    This tool allows you to either upload, or enter the URL of a suspicious image and will then highlight areas where disparities in quality suggest alterations may have been made. It also provides a number of sharing options, which are useful for challenging the recirculation of inaccurate information, because they allow you to provide a direct link to your FotoForensics analysis page.

     

     WolframAlpha

     

    WolframAlpha is a “computational knowledge engine”, which allows you to check weather conditions in at a specific time and place. You can search it using criteria such as “weather in London at 2pm on July 16, 2014”.

    So if, for example, a photo of a freak snowstorm has been shared to your timeline, and WolframAlpha reports that it was 27 degrees and clear when the photo was purportedly taken, then alarm bells ought to be ringing.

     

    Online maps

     

    Identifying the location of a suspicious photo or video is a crucial part of the verification process. Google Street View, Google Earth (a source of historical satellite images) and Wikimapia (a crowd-sourced version of Google Maps, featuring additional information) are all excellent tools for undertaking this kind of detective work.

    You should identify whether there are any reference points to compare, check whether distinctive landmarks match up and see if the landscape is the same.

    These three criteria are frequently used to cross-reference videos or photos, in order to verify whether or not they were indeed shot in the location the uploader claims.

    Google Earth, in particular, has been put to incredible use use by Elliot Higgins AKA Brown Moses, of Bellingcat – a site for investigative citizen journalism.

     

    • Courtesy: The Conversation

     

  • ATCON to NCC: protect smaller players

    ATCON to NCC: protect smaller players

    The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has stressed the need for regulatory intervention to safe smaller players in the telecoms space.

    The group warned that if the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) fails to intervene, smaller players in the industry may go into extinction.

    Its President, Lanre Ajayi however said caution must be taken in the course of doing this so that success is not punished.

    He spoke with The Nation against the backdrop of calls for structural readjustment in the telecoms sector owing to the presence of dominant operatorship in the industry.

    He said: “This is an area that

    has to be carefully addressed. This is because you don’t want to punish success; you don’t want to punish someone that has invested. We are encouraging people to come and invest and they have invested and are getting big. You don’t want to start punishing them because they are getting big because in the first place, you pleaded with them to bring their money to come and invest in your environment and they have done that and they are expanding, that should make us happy right. We should not make deliberate efforts to start punishing them. “But on the other hand too, if care is not taken they will grow so big that they would not allow the smaller ones to grow. So there is also a need for a regulatory responsibility in that perspective that would ensure that you do not use your market size as a deterrent for smaller ones.”

    On whether the NCC is doing enough, he said the regulator is doing something, adding that its best may not be good enough though.

    “Well, I will say the NCC is doing something but maybe not enough. Well because I know for a fact that NCC introduced an asynchronous inter-connect billing which made the older company to pay more interconnect rate than the newer company. It’s a deliberate policy to encourage younger business to grow. So that’s a policy in that respect.

    “I will not say the NCC is not doing anything about it; rather, the NCC is actually doing something. And again you will realise that at some point, the NCC regulated about having separate billings for off net and on net. At some point NCC made some regulation in that area; that is also to a sort of move to discourage market dominance and prevent roughshod ride over the smaller players. So with those examples you will agree with me that NCC is doing something but can they do more, maybe yes,” he said.

     

  • Our strategies for growth, by Slot chief

    •D’banj brand appointed ambassador

    Slot Systems Limited has said it will continue to grow its business by offering high quality products and providing after sales service to its customers across the country.

    Its Managing Director, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, the firm has come a long way from having just one outlet at inception to its current over 50 outlets across the country.

    He said the firm would continue to invest in both human and material resources needed to grow the after-sales subsector of the telecoms industry.

    Ezeigbo, who spoke during the unveiling of Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (popularly known as D’banj) as Slot’s new brand ambassador, said: “This event is the celebration of partnership of two great brands, Slot and D’banj. Slot, is a household name for top quality phones and accessories. At Slot, we are committed to delivering quality products, services, after sales support and value to our customers and stakeholders’. One word you can take anywhere is this: If you buy a phone from Slot, you are sure of the source.

    “Incorporated in 1998, from having just one outlet, when we started, we now have 50 top notch outlets scattered around the country, and as part of our vision to continue to be Nigeria’s number one phone seller, we have decided to partner with a true Nigerian and African music icon, D’banj, to be our brand Ambassador.

    “As you all know D’banj is a singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and businessman. He has won several music awards, including the awards for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009; Best International Act: Africa at the 2011 BET Awards, Best-selling African Artist at the 2014 World Music Awards.’’

  • Smile, Samsung mull LTE smartphone for Nigeria

    Mobile phone manufacturer, Samsung Electronics West Africa and Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, are partnering to launch the first long-term evolution (LTE) or 4G compliant smartphone in Nigeria.

    Smile Communications Nigeria pioneered the deployment of the 4G LTE services in the country and would be the first to go into this  deal with Samsung, a global technology giant.

    Chief Marketing Officer, Smile Nigeria Alero Ladipo, and Director, Information Technology and Mobile, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Emmanouil Revmatas, who spoke during the unveiling of the partnership at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos stressed the need for both firms to enhance the customer experience through their product propositions.

    The firms underscored the noble pedigree and innovative streak of both companies which they are determined to harness in serving the best interest of their customers. The offer will be available at all Smile Stores and some selected Samsung stores.

    On the partnership, Mrs. Ladipo said Smile Communications is focused on the importance of partnerships of this nature to deliver on the end-to-end needs of the customer.

    “The customer experience at our shops should create a lasting impression with the customer. A customer must enjoy the simplicity of the service and leave ready-to-go. Our partnership with Samsung gives the customer the opportunity to own the latest Samsung LTE compliant smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S6 edge with a Samsung complimentary clear cover), a 5GB bundle SmileOn plan for a fixed price,” Ladipo added.

    According to Revmatas, the Galaxy S6 edge has the world’s first-ever dual curved edge display, which distinguishes the device as the ultimate premium Smartphone. This partnership with Smile on S6 edge is the first of its kind in Nigeria, offering consumers the opportunity to drive productivity with a unique smartphone coupled with the 4G experience that Smile LTE network offers.

    “Our collaboration with Smile on the Galaxy S6 Edge LTE launch is a staunch affirmation of Samsung’s drive for novelty in the smartphone market globally. Samsung is committed to continuously engaging in partnerships that highlight innovations that create an impact in the life of consumers. This partnership with Smile on S6 Edge will give Nigerians the opportunity to drive productivity with a unique smartphone coupled with the 4G experience that Smile LTE network offers,” said Revmatas

    The 4G LTE mobile network will allow faster Internet on the S6 Edge which includes video calls, faster music, video streaming and conferencing, faster downloads and more pictures. “We are pleased that Nigerian consumers will have the opportunity to reach new and progressive frontiers with their Samsung Galaxy S6 edge device,” Revmatas said.

     

  • Firm unveils housing website

    An online property platform, ToLet.com.ng, has launched its newly upgraded services and website to provide users with the up-to-date information, guidance and best real estate agent network to make Nigerians better informed about property decisions.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Fikayo Ogundipe, said the rental, which was formerly for property rentals now includes sale of properties, adding that the goal is to provide users with the best property search experience through its creation of a fast and smooth online search system.

    He added that the aim is also to connect users with legitimate and verified real estate agents to ensure the offline aspect of the property search is equally seamless, noting that the platform is for property consumers to search for homes and the favoured online marketing partner to search for landlords, estate agents, letting agents and property developers.

    Its Chief Technology Officer, Seyi Ayeni, added that the website has added advanced search filters and a cleaner user interaction, which are designed to provide user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality.

    He said part of the upgraded services is ‘post a property’ tab on the home page of the website, which allows landlords to post their properties directly onto the website from the comfort of their homes.

    “These added services will give landlords control over how their property is marketed,” he said.

    He said the company also added a new market place programme on the platform called, the ToLet Partner Agent Programme (TPA), which is designed for the use of all real estate agents and will allow property seekers to have access to Nigeria’s largest collection of property that is verified, trustworthy and hard working property agents.

    “The TPA asides improving service delivery to users is also geared towards empowering small and medium scale real estate agents in Lagos.’’

    He said the TPA platform gives shortlisted agents an opportunity to leverage on the reach and expertise on the company to generate more leads, make more money and ultimately grow their real estate business.

    “The online platform also guarantees increased and improved user experience for prospective tenants who can now be assured that they are dealing with the best crop or trusted, committed and hardworking real estate agents,” he said.

    He assured real estate agents who wants to come on the platform, that asides harnessing the marketing power of the platform, they will also make use of the company’s technology tools to help them organise all aspects of their business from property marketing, inspection scheduling, logistics support and deal closure.

     

  • Tecno Mobile launches Phantom 5

    Having sold 45 million units of its mobile devices in Africa last year, Tecno Mobile at the weekend launched the latest of its mobile phone device in the Phantom series, known as Phantom 5.

    Unveiling the new mobile phone device in Lagos, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) said it designed the latest phone to make it attractive and irresistible to Nigerians and the rest of the African people.

    Its Digital Marketing Manager, Jesse Oguntimehin, said: “Phantom 5 is fully optimised for work and leisure, with an embedded MediaTek TFA9890 Octa-core chipset.

    “The Nigerian market is fast maturing. What we see is an increasingly segmented space where end users buy phones based on key features like music, camera and internet connectivity, which are all included in Phantom 5. Tecno is positioned strategically to meet the mobile needs of each segment with quality music, camera and internet connectivity phones from our product line.”

    Its Media and Public Relations Manager, Miss Hanane Karroumi, said the accuracy and speed of the Phantom 5 touch sensor, remained unbeatable and fantastic, having a scanner that reads 360 degrees user fingerprint and in just about the same instant that the finger makes contact with the rear grove.

    Tecno believes that its brand loyalists can now enjoy the long awaited touch finger print identification from the leading mobile phone device manufacturer, as it unveils Phantom 5, which is TECNO’s first fingerprint touch sensor that is mounted on the rear of the smartphone device.

    Phantom 5 comes with a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera that takes bright pictures even in low light environment and it has become the first natural boom sound stereos with zero sound distortion.

    Deputy General Manager, TECNO Mobile, Mr. Chidi Okonwo, said the device comes with the latest Android version, the Android 5.1, which allows easy use of different mobile applications on the smartphone.

    He said a lot of research work was carried out before the phone was finally designed and released, putting into considerations, the needs of smartphone users in Nigeria and the African market. “Based on the research work, the Random Access Memory (RAM) of the Phantom 5 was improved and increased to three gigabyte. The internal memory is up to 32 gigabyte with expandable features, which allows customers to stream and download video and television contents and store them in an expandable memory, using up to 64 gigabyte external memory card,” Okonkwo said.

    The phone comes in fantastic features, with powerful front and back flash light, metal back over, yet very light and slim, for easy handling.

    The new TECNO Phantom 5, comes with a lot of features that will bring great entertainment to its users in the areas of music, internet connectivity and video streaming and download, including bright picture snap shorts that are taken at night or in dark environment.

    Some of the outstanding features of TECNO Phantom 5, include the 6.8mm thickness of the phone, superior low light performance, which enable users to take bright and sharp pictures at anytime of the day, including night and in dark environment, eight megapixel front flash camera light, fast video streaming and download, quick music streaming and download, and it comes with FM Radio and embedded with up to 10 fingertips lock device, which allows up to a family of 10 to unlock the mobile device with ease.

     

  • Samsung eyes SMEs with smart signage solution

    Samsung Electronics has launched a Smart Signage TV, designed to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with all that they require to get up and running with digital signage.

    Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa’s Enterprise Business Division, Mr. Charles Ojei, said the new smart signage solution is specifically targeted at SMEs to improve productivity as well as lower operational cost.

    “At Samsung, we understand the unique challenges that small business owners face when it comes to selecting and implementing technology, and we built this product to address the market need for a cost-effective, easy-to-manage, professional-grade solution that is better suited for these environments. With Samsung Smart Signage TV, we’re giving SMEs the power to enhance their customer communications and enable them to create more personalised content to drive conversations that extend long after a customer leaves the store to keep them coming back. The solution helps to Turn on Your Business,” he said.

    Speaking further on the solution, its Head of Enterprise Display Unit, Mr. Anu-Rotimi Agboola, said: “It is available in 40-inch and 48-inch models, Samsung’s smart signage TV provides a complete platform for displaying digital content on promotions, sharing educational information about products and services, and broadcasting live TV for customer entertainment. Business owners can wirelessly connect to the TV from their laptop, tablet or mobile device to instantly publish and update content, or load new content using a USB drive. The solution boasts over 200 free templates for creating personalised signage designs and split-screen content.’’

     

     

     

  • Google jobs with mega-cash rewards

    Google jobs with mega-cash rewards

    Google, which started out as search engine has, over the few years, transformed into an integrated information communication technology (CT) global player.

    With its enormous financial war chest valued at over $1trillion, the company’s perks are one of the best in the world.

    But wait a minute, if you think these perks are the only reason to work for Google, you may have got it wrong—the firm also offers fantastic cash as salaries to its employees.

    Google’s well-known perks range from on-site physicians and free travel insurance, to state-of-the-art amenities and assistance with studying for its employees which grew from 16,805 in 20017 to 53,600 last year.

    While the perks alone are a good reason to send curriculum vitae (CV) to the company, the salaries it offers are just as appealing to any skilled or qualified individual as these mouth-watering perks.

    Business Insider broke down what the internet giant pays its top employees, based on information gathered from Glassdoor.

    It is noteworthy that all the figures below refer to base salaries and do not include bonuses.

  • NITDA to focus on tech startup, innovation

    Emerging technology startup, innovation and the ecosystem is one key areas of Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector that is engaging the attention of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Director-General of the agency, Mr. Peter Jack, has said.

    According to the DG, with the vast resources that Demo Africa attracts, the technology “startups require this kind of exposure” now and in the future; as the agency has supported Demo Africa, which Nigeria is hosting for the second year.

    Demo Africa will showcase Nigerian ICT startups to the world and enrich their solution as well as provide them opportunity to network with venture capitalists, managers and investors. In addition, the event will build the necessary partnership that would take the startup technology products to a successful height. “This will pave the path for job and wealth creation”, he enumerated.

    Explaining what motivated NITDA to partner iDEA in the establishment of innovation hubs in Lagos and Calabar, he affirmed that it is an Act of parliament to establish IT parks and incubators as part of the efforts to develop the ICT industry.

    “We have partnered with iDEA to establish those two centres. The result of iDEA is fascinating and proves that government can do more partnerships with the private sector to grow the industry,” he said.

    In the last three years of Demo Africa, 26 Nigerian ICT startups have launched their products at the event while others have co-located or incubated inside iDEA Hub, Co-Creation Hub and other hubs.

    The agency avowed that it would continue to explore platforms to encourage ICT startups to develop innovative solution, launch their products and build organisational capacity. While also helping the technology startups to access funds, market and scale their businesses, NITDA believes Demo Africa offers the right atmosphere to develop the ecosystem.

    To sustain this tradition, the agency said it would assess existing situation in the country, viz-a-viz, other technology events and decide what would be the best form of partnership with the industry stakeholders.

    While appreciating the commitment of the Demo Africa Local Organising Committee (LOC) for managing the technology event for two consecutive years, he said it is such “a sacrifice and passion that they have for the industry. We are all working relentlessly to ensure the success of this event. Many thanks to the chair, Mr. Yele Okeremi, for his leadership support”, he said.

     

  • Renux, Peoplelink partner on unified communication, telepresence

    Renux Media, an integrated service and communication solution company, has entered into strategic partnership to bring Peoplelink’s product,  Peoplelink Low Bandwidth Unified Communication and Telepresence to Nigeria.

    A statement by the firm explained that the solution  is integrated with image capture and compression technology, which enables it to deliver utmost picture quality at any capture resolution. For video encoding, transmission and decoding, Peoplelink solution makes use of H.264 VBR/CBR encryption protocols for video and G.273, G.711 and GIPS as audio compression algorithms, which ensure a stable audio video clarity under all network bandwidth conditions. The solution is most capable of achieving 1080p resolutions at the most optimal bandwidths.

    Renux Media’s External Communication Manager, Mr. Caleb Achu,  in a statement said,   Peoplelink Solution has come to unlock various doors of collaborative possibilities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), institutions of learning, religious organisations, health and manufacturing sectors, government and its agencies, non-government organisations and others.

    “Peoplelink is an ideal gateway into experiencing a ‘Smart City concept for Nigeria and Africa at large.

    “Corporate workers in Nigeria (urban and less cities) are no longer bound by the limitations of low bandwidth internet to collaborate, various religious bodies can now stream their events live or even schedule vital meetings with ease, students can now join classes seamlessly from their smart devices and laptop computers on-the-go, remote medical consultation/telemedicine is now readily possible and so much more,’’ he said.

    “Nigeria will be the Fifth major African Country to have the opportunity of experiencing Peoplelink VC Smart City Application. Other Countries include Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia. Smart and easy collaborations are now possibilities for all; it is left for us to decide how we will embrace it in order to jumpstart ourselves into a new borderless world of technological achievements,” Achu added.