Quick Takes

NCS Congratulates Buhari

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body for technology professionals in Nigeria, has congratulated General Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect, on his victory at the presidential election held on Saturday 28th of March 2015.

NCS also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for placing the nation’s interests first by conceding the election and congratulating Buhari on his victory.

In a congratulatory message, the President of NCS, Prof. David Adewumi, said, “We congratulate the president-elect on his victory and we hail the indomitable spirit of the Nigerian people who have again demonstrated their commitment to democracy through their participation in a peaceful and keenly contested election process that has been commended globally.”

Google Offers Free Roaming

Google hopes to offer customers free use of its upcoming network while outside the United States without the traditional roaming fees that travelers pay, according to a report. The option is the subject of negotiations between Google and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, the UK newspaper report said.

Hutchison Whampoa would be a potentially powerful global partner to help Google cut roaming fees. It operates the UK’s three network and is trying to acquire the UK’s O2 network from Telefonica. It also operates networks in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Ireland.

In March this year, Google announced plans to offer mobile phone network service in coming months through partnerships to use other operators’ network infrastructure.

Although Google’s Product Chief, Sundar Pichai, said the service would be on a smaller scale, it could shake up the market by resetting customer expectations for what a network should offer and how much it could cost.

Turkey Lifts Ban on Twitter

Social media restrictions are being lifted in Turkey as sites comply with a court order to stop sharing images of a prosecutor being held at gunpoint.

The blocks on Facebook and Twitter were later lifted after they both complied. Talks with YouTube are continuing.

Two gunmen, reportedly from a far-left group, took the prosecutor hostage at an Istanbul courthouse last week. All three died during a police rescue bid. Turkey has previously blocked access to social media. Officials described the images of prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz as “government propaganda”.

Before imposing the blocks on the websites, Turkish authorities had moved to stop newspapers printing the images.

The newspapers were accused by the government of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” for the DHKP-C group that was reportedly behind the attack on the courthouse. The DHKP-C is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and US.

Bloggers Hold Conference

West Africa Blogers Conference, tagged ‘WABC Lagos 2015’ is scheduled to hold next month in Lagos. The theme of the conference will be: Blogging is A Very Serious Business.

The organisers said in a statement that the conference would be a for two days and it is aimed at bloggers from across the West African countries.

“With blogging now fast becoming a lucrative business globally, WABC aims to offer learning opportunity to young West Africans on advanced blogging techniques, creative and branding strategies, revenue opportunities and structured business models, successful digital business principles and other topics that will prove advantageous for Bloggers in all fields. It will also provide a networking opportunity for the Bloggers to meet and share their knowledge,” the statement said.