As families return to the city after Christmas holidays, they would not only need to focus on dieting, but perhaps think of turning back to their traditional ways of fetching water. A modern electronic study that tested tap and borehole water samples from some African countries like Uganda, found traces of benzene in drinking water.

A sample from City Water Supply of the country’s capital was also found to have traces of benzene. However, city water supply tap water that was boiled and stored, was found not to contain traces of benzene. It was assumed that heating the Clorox bleach would have activated it first enough for it to destroy the dyes and benzene impurities, noted the study.

Also in the study, three mineral water samples out of the eleven bottles of water were also found to contain traces of benzene. Yet, mineral bottle water is a commercial source that has become common in the market, represented under several brand names by different manufacturers, noted the report. Interestingly, in contrast with the pictures and names of the labels glued onto the bottles, it was discovered that nearly all manufactures obtained their waters from an underground source.

But the two samples of water obtained from shallow wells were not found to contain traces of benzene. The shallow well water source was noted to have come from an underground level less than 30 metric meters, often privately owned, of which, individuals use ropes attached to a bucket, lowered manually as other sources use an electric pump installed and plastic piping connected to a water reservoir.

In all, the study concluded that the best solution for water treatment industries would be to stop using impure bleach as an addition to the drinking water thus eliminating traces of benzene. For the time being, families in homes are urged to boil then filter their water.

However,  these findings have faced criticisms, some of which have led to court charges for fraud. But that has not stopped other electronics enthusiasts like Doerksen continue to improving Dr. Clark’s inventions while carrying out research.

Arthur Doerksen together with his wife Lyne are, the designers and manufacturers of the Sync-Rho-Meter among other gadgets. Arthur has spent years working to help people take control of their own health in addition to advocating for the consumption of clean water.

For details of the study and the modern equipment, they can be contacted on Tel: +1 888-257-4273, Fax 888-257-4273 or email CustomerService@toolsforhealing.com Shallowford, Chattanooga, Tenesee USA.

Nigeria’s Kano State Government has plans underway to establish an e-learning centre in each of the 44 local government areas of the state this year.

In an interview with local media of Nigeria,  the state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Tajuddeen Gambo, said  that the project, which would be executed in collaboration with a Canadian non-governmental organisation, was part of the government’s effort to encourage e-learning.

“By 2015, JAMB examination is going to be done electronically. So you have to ensure that all your students taking the examination are computer literate otherwise they will not pass the examination,” he said.

The Commissioner added that the e-learning centres are going to be opened in each of the local government areas with no fewer than 30 computers in each centre; and also that the state government will also provide 61 computers in every secondary school.

The government has already selected 100 secondary schools under the first phase of the programme.

“Computer study is now compulsory in all our secondary schools from this year, hence the decision to provide the facilities. The state government has awarded contract worth N65 million for the e-learning programme at the Governor’s College in Kano under its pilot project,” said Gambo.

He added that the project would later be extended to First Lady’s College and all the science and technical colleges across the state.

A lot has been expected to be accomplished by the end of 2013; we (most of the African countries) were to be floating in the digital world by this year. For some the resolutions have been made but for some the fight has spilled over the new year.

By December last year, the government of Malawi the first phase of the digital migration had been completed, having installed five transmitters covering Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

The good thing about this migration is that they are not planning to phase out the analogue TV sets immediately, because they reason out that they have until 2015 and plan to work with that time to work out their mechanisms for ensuring that enough set-top boxes or digital terrestrial decoders are available on the local market as Malawi switches to digital migration.

Kenya on the other hand took a different turn as deadlines kept postponing, thanks to the media owners association: and even when the government actually switched off the analogue transmission the again, the same body made their way to the court saying that the method used was not good enough.

The country’s Media Owners Association argued that the government should consider the poor in decision making  as not all of them can get the set boxes by deadline. They also revealed that some counties have not received set boxes making the migration quite inconsiderate. So the analogue signal is still in used for forty five days since the ruling that was made on 27th December last year.

Kenya is not the only country which has not achieved its resolution; Zambia has its own share as it has pushed its SIM card registration deadline from December 31,2013 to end of February 2014. The government says that this was done because of the response the exercise has received  from subscribers as well as giving them apple time to register.

Majority of the audiences don’t listen to the critics, and big screen display will almost always win over quality entertainment. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing the movie I wanted, and least not all the bad reviews in the world. If it’s an event movie — I needed to see it for myself. It should be noted that box office should never be looked at as an indication of the mainstream public’s thoughts on a movie but only an indication of the hype. So here is a list of movies that were underrated or rather reviewed lowly and made it big:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 
Box Office: $607.7 Million (so far)
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%

The Da Vinci Code
Box Office: $758.2 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 24%

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Box Office: $961 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Box Office: $1,066.2 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

Shrek The Third
Box Office: $799 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%

Hancock
Box Office: $624.4 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 39%

What are the cultural events to look forward to in 2014?

With a new Star Wars movie, another Bond adventure, The Avengers 2 and Batman vs Superman all penciled in for 2015, the year after next is already being touted as one of the biggest ever in the world of film.

Until then, though, there is still plenty to get one’s teeth into – so long as the prospect of yet more remakes, reboots, sequels and comic book movies doesn’t put those teeth on edge. Case in point? Why, it’s our old friend Robocop, back in February with a new suit and a new star – The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman – but with the same zero tolerance approach to Detroit law enforcement.

He’ll be followed in March by another familiar crime-fighter: Marvel’s Captain America, back for a second helping of solo action in a film that sees Chris Evans’s shield-wielding hero share the screen with a certain Robert Redford. Marvel properties dominate the year’s schedule, with another outing for The Amazing Spider-Man in April, more mutant mayhem in May with X-Men: Days of Future Past, and a debut appearance for the Guardians of the Galaxy in August.

But the latter will face stiff competition from The Inbetweeners 2 – one of a raft of 2014 sequels that includes a fourth helping of Transformers, another visit to the Planet of the Apes, a third dose of The Expendables and the self-explanatory Muppets Most Wanted. Even non-sequels have to have a familiar element these days. Take Maleficent, which finds Angelina Jolie reviving Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis, or Noah, a Biblical epic starring Russell Crowe.

And then there is Paddington, the first big-screen outing for the marmalade-loving bear whose animated antics were such a beloved staple of so many childhoods and who returns in November with the voice of Colin Firth. Mercifully, however, there are a few new movies on the horizon that don’t feel the urge to use a pre-existing entity as a crutch. And one of them, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, is shaping up to be one of the year’s highlights.

A futuristic yarn involving space travel and wormholes, this late-2014 release not only boasts an (inter)stellar cast but also something that is fast becoming an endangered species in Hollywood – an original script. Fast forward 12 months, though, and the likelihood is that what’s on at your local multiplex will look strikingly similar to what’s showing there at the moment.

There’ll be another installment of The Hunger Games, another helping of The Hobbit and even another incident of Paranormal Activity. At least the popcorn will be fresh.

The most pirated movie of 2013 might be a bit unexpected. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the most pirated movie of 2013, with an estimated 8.4 million downloads. That’s according to a list of the top 10 pirated movies released by TorrentFreak.

Uploads to The Pirate Bay increased by 50% in 2013

Coming in behind the Peter Jackson-directed tale from Middle Earth is Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, followed by The Fast and Furious 6. The top-grossing film on the list is Iron Man 3, which came in fourth place. The comic book-made-movie franchise Iron Man 3 grossed $1.2 billion in box offices compared to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which pulled in $1 billion. None of the other movies on the top ten pirated movie list broke a billion in worldwide box offices.

The numbers are based on downloads, and several factors keep the numbers of illegal views from being truly accurate. For instance, the use of services such as cyberlocker and online streaming are not counted, TorrentFreak notes.

Notable films that didn’t make the list include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Man of Steel. TorrentFreak lists Gangster Squad as a notable mention. The movie placed seventh on the list with 7.2 million downloads. The movie grossed just $105 million, which is the lowest worldwide box office figure on the list.

Measures to block illegal downloads include court orders for Internet service providers to block access to sites such as the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, which hosts links to download pirated content, BBC News reports. Court orders and other actions have caused The Pirate Bay to change its domain six times. Yet in the past year, the site has experienced an increase in uploads of 50 percent, with 2.8 million files now being listed.

The complete Top 10:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (8.4 million)
Django Unchained (8.1 million)
Fast & Furious 6 (7.9 million)
Iron Man 3 (7.6 million)
Silver Linings Playbook (7.5 million)
Star Trek Into Darkness (7.4 million)
Gangster Squad (7.2 million)
Now You See Me (7 million)
The Hangover Part III (6.9 million)
World War Z (6.7 million)

TorrentFreak’s top pirated movies list follows its release of the most pirated TV shows of 2013. Among the list, Game of Thrones took the crown with an estimated 5.9 million downloads. The number of downloads tops the estimated 5.5 million US viewers. However, the pirated download list is a worldwide number. Coming in second was Breaking Bad with 4.2 million downloads, and in third was The Walking Dead with 3.6 million downloads. Also on the list were The Big Bang Theory (3.4 million), Dexter (3.1 million), How I Met Your Mother (3 million),; Suits (2.6 million), Homeland (2.4 million), Vikings (2.3 million) and Arrow (2.2 million).

Plot
Nelson Mandela’s remarkable life story, based on his 1994 memoir. Young Mandela (Elba) is politicized as a lawyer, joins the ANC fight against South Africa’s white oppressors, meets feisty social worker Winnie (Harris), and the rest is history…

In recorded history, few lives equal Nelson Mandela’s — from herd boy to the world’s most famous political prisoner to President of South Africa — for reversals of fortune, drama and global impact. So the big expectations for this film prove hard to meet given it is a largely conventional biopic. But with Mandela’s passing it hits exactly the right note, celebrating the passionate commitment and dignity of the man.

Screenwriter William Nicholson (Gladiator, Les Mis) is at pains to chart Mandela’s evolving stances, director Justin Chadwick dramatizing affectingly the cruelties that hardened the activist and set Madiba (his clan name) on a more radical path. They also have a stab at reflecting the controversial figure he became, although his first marriage’s failure due to neglect and adultery is given more weight than his espousal of guerrilla warfare. It’s no hagiography, but understandably so sympathetic you wouldn’t call it “warts and all”.

Shouldering the role of Mandela requires presence, and Idris Elba certainly has that. The actor acquits himself very well, studly in the womanizing years, savvy in the fight to end apartheid, stoic while jailed, statesmanlike in the triumphant outcome that glued one billion people to the TV. Naomie Harris as second wife Winnie is a firecracker on her progress from sexy soul-mate to damaging ideological opponent. Mandela’s own journey in prison — from proponent of armed struggle to messenger of peace and reconciliation — is harder to grasp while amazing things were happening outside without him. Nevertheless, the lesson the man learned as a boy, “You alone are small; your people are mighty,” is insistently brought home, and inspirationally. The final shot, and his achievement in getting there, cannot fail to be all the more affecting as the world mourns his death.

Reviewed by Angie Errigo

James Avery, the bulky character actor who laid down the law as the Honorable Philip Banks in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” has died.

Avery’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, told The Associated Press that Avery died Tuesday in Glendale, Calif., following complications from open heart surgery. He was 68, Snyder said.

Avery’s “Fresh Prince” co-star Alfonso Ribeiro, who played his son Carlton on the show, took to Twitter following Avery’s death:

I'm deeply saddened to say that James Avery has passed away. He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly. pic.twitter.com/UrW0EeBFbO

— Alfonso Ribeiro (@alfonso_ribeiro) January 1, 2014

Avery played Will Smith’s uncle on the popular TV series and was called Uncle Phil. His movie credits included “Fletch,” “The Prince of Egypt” and “8 Million Ways to Die.” He also appeared in “Grey’s Anatomy,” “That ’70s Show” “Charmed” and “That’s So Raven.”

According to Snyder, he will be seen in the film “Wish I Was Here,” directed by Zach Braff and scheduled to premiere later this month at the Sundance festival.

Avery grew up in Atlantic City, N.J., and served in the Navy in Vietnam in the late 1960s. After returning to the states, he settled in California and studied drama and literature at the University of California at San Diego.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and stepson Kevin Waters.

President Obama allows his daughters only a limited amount of television viewing, and Duck Dynasty is one of the shows they are allowed to watch.

According to the Business Insider, the Obamas limit their daughters’ cell phone usage to weekends, limit computer usage to what is necessary for homework, and restrict television viewing. They are very attentive to what their daughters are exposed to and who they are exposed to, as well.

So it says something about Duck Dynasty that it is a show the Obamas are comfortable with.

CBN’s Beltway Buzz blog says the president is big fan and that he personally told Willie and Korie Robertson that, “He loves the show and watches it on Air Force One.”

Korie said: “I know the Obama’s are very particular about what they let their girls watch on TV so if our show is one they find acceptable, that’s really great.”

Willie is the son of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson. On December 18th A&E “indefinitely” suspended Phil from the show for answering a GQ reporter’s questions about his faith honestly. Outraged progressives have painted Robertson as a bigot.

In an interview conducted before the firestorm over Robertson, Obama told People magazine he would rather spend a day with the Duck Dynasty cast than with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.