Egyptian mummies and ancient papyri are known to preserve rich historical facts of cultures that existed eons ago, but are at risk of diminishing away without efficient preservation. That has inspired an Italian commodity aid initiative to implement the use of high tech instruments that would save the museum’s secular papyri.

The launch of the technology was presented this week at a ceremony at the museum that was attended by the Director General for the cooperation for development Gianpaolo Cantini and Egyptian antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim, Italian ambassador Maurizio Massari and the museum’s director Rarek el Awadi.

The initiative, in favour of the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry is part of a programme of aid that aims to import to Egypt high tech Italian products and train specialized personnel in a number of sectors. More so, Italian technology will allow the restoration and preservation of thousands of highly delicate papyri at the Egyptian museum in Cairo that overlooks the popular Tahrir square, Cairo. The state of the art instruments provided by the Italtrend Spa and produced by Bresciani Srl, would play a vital role in preserving the museum’s thousands of Egyptian secular papyri.

A low-pressure table with a humidifier would be used to preserve precious papyri of the Egyptian museum, to restore paper documents. It has been provided alongside ten thermometers, humidifiers and five climatic chambers to preserve the findings to recreate the same condition as in the tombs where the papyri were discovered.

Moreover, the technology that comes with a laser and a portable gadget, has its laser using non-invasive technology to clean delicate and sensitive surfaces without the need of chemicals. The spectrometer would be used for chemical-physical measurements and to analyse material without extraction of samples.

Reports say that the initiative was agreed in 19 years ago, began in 1996 and has since funded the importation of Italian goods worth27 million euros, while the installment for the Egyptian museum has a value of 300,000 euros.

In a bid to produce energy, drinking water and heat simultaneously to benefit micro-industries located in rural areas in Kenya and other countries experiencing high levels of sunshine in Africa, Schneider Electric, a specialist in energy management has launched the Microsol project.

According to Schneider Electric a single Microsol installation, which is involves modular solar technology producing both electricity and water, produces 50 MWh of electricity, 1,000 m3 of drinking water, and about 800 MWh of thermal energy per year, benefits about 1,000 residents in remote regions and has a lifespan of up to 20 years.

At a time when areas in Kenya have been hardly hit by scarcity of water with other areas having illegal electricity connections, it is noted that the project would begin in Kenya as the first East African country.

The project’s idea is based on thermodynamics, that applies the principle of cogeneration of electricity and heat, which focuses its constraints on the design of thermal storage that uses environment-friendly products, at the same time promising to satisfy needs of inhabitants in rural areas.

Apart from meeting needs of local residents, Microsol can help micro-producers in the food, textile and paper industries with processing raw materials.

While in the tourism industry, it can provide energy needed for many premium services such as electricity for refrigeration, security, heat for hot water laundry or heating or water for drinking or cooking.

The project would kick of for trials starting next year 2014 ahead of a 2015 commercial launch.

The ongoing Turkana siege, where over 600 people have been taken hostage due to continued cattle rustling dispute has made government officials to think of ways to curb cattle rustling and one solution is ICT.

Joseph Kaguthi who is the Chairman of the National task force on community policing has urged the counties to use GPS tracking system to track cattle that are stolen.

“What is the problem in getting small chips in each of those animals such that you can see the position of all those who stole them. The police will also intercept them and this will bring an end to the current state of affairs in the region,” he said.

According to Capital FM, Kaguthi said that such a technology would reduce incidences of cattle rustling as the police could easily track stolen cattle to their exact location and arrest perpetrators.

Rhys Collins, Head of African Operations for SSP, a leading provider of insurance technology to insurers across the continent, says modern technology overcomes these challenges, and this is increasingly drawing new players into the African insurance market.

 Both Hollard and Sanlam, for example, have had good success in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and Nigeria and are believed to be eyeing other opportunities across the continent.

 He said: “The tighter regulatory and governance requirements are good for the industry,” continues Collins, “but, the flipside for insurers is that many will need to make major changes to their administration systems.”

 As well as regulatory changes,  SSP says the growth in mobile is the other key trend to watch in the African insurance market. Unlike other markets, the African consumer is by-passing the desktop internet connection and going directly to hand-held devices,” says Collins. “With the likes of M-Pesa and Fundamo now household names processing billions of dollars in transactions every year, and mobile use in Africa continuing to grow at a rapid pace, insurers need to raise their game.”

 He believes that to deliver insurance products and services effectively on the ground, insurers and managing agents need a strong core insurance system and ICT infrastructure in place. ““There’s no denying that Africa has entered the age of mobile. Insurers and managing agents need to consider and embrace this and use the many advantages it offers to enhance their offering, or stand the risk of being left behind. To do this they need a modern, flexible insurance solution. Obviously this is easier for new start-ups, but for firms with existing legacy solutions, complex and risky transformation projects are not always popular in boardrooms. However, by adopting a gradual approach to legacy modernisation, such as SSP’s Enhance and Evolve approach, insurers can address their most urgent business priorities proactively. They can extend the life of their existing systems and only replace  when the time is right, in line with their long-term strategic priorities,” concludes Collins.

In the next three days, Konga.com, Nigeria’s largest online mall, will bringing Black Friday and Cyber Monday Super Sales to Nigeria termed as “Fall Yakata” meaning “Fall totally, utterly, completely” this Christmas, inviting all online shoppers to buy new goods at least half their original price.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales exist in the US and Europe. However Nigeria’s Konga.com is now bringing two days of mind blowing price slashes. For instance, games, cosmetics, and clothes the most popular items have had their prices slashed by half. The popular Play Station 4 for instance, is now being sold for N60,000 instead of N138,000 regular prices, Ruby Woo lipstick that is normally N4,000 sold for N2,000 while Tecno Phantom A+ phone that is N39,000 that will be sold for only N19,000. Clothes too, normally sold for N30,000 would be on the Fall Yakata sale for only N10,000.

This year marked Konga’s success of winning the online the online retailer and best emerging brand of the year at the Marketing World Awards 2013, moving to a new 120,000 square feet fulfillment Centre and celebrating its one year anniversary.

Thus, this biggest sale ever taking place Nigeria would be happening from 9:00am on Friday 29th November to Monday 2nd December, 2013.

For details Simply visit www.konga.com/Yakata

In hospitals worldwide, it may soon be possible for doctors or even family members determine the exact time of death of their loved ones, as Russian scientist Konstantin Korotkov has discovered a technique that can capture the timing and actual disembodiment in which a spirit leaves its body.

This technique developed by the Korotov, the Director of the Research Institute of Physical Culture, St. Petersburg, is already being endorsed as a medical technology by the Ministry of Russia of which over 300 doctors worldwide use for the stress and monitoring progress of patients treated for terminal diseases like cancer.

Korotov’s new technique uses a bioelectrographic camera that captures the images of a body using the gas discharge visualization method, an advanced technique that shows in blue hues the life force of a dying person leaving his/her body gradually. This technique, which measures real-time and stimulated radiation is amplified by the electromagnetic field is an advanced version of the technology developed for measuring Semyon Kirlian aura. It is said that Korotkov observations confirm, as proposed by Kirili, that “stimulated electro-photonic light around the tips of the fingers of the human being contains coherent and comprehensive statement of a person, both physically and psychologically.”

Developed by the Russian Scientist, the technique shows that the navel and the head are the areas of the body that first lose their life force while the groin and the heart are the final areas where the “spirit” departs. Korotov notes that his energy imaging technique could be used to show all kinds of biophysical imbalances and carry out diagnosis.

In other cases, it is said that Korotkov discovered that “the soul” of people that suffer or die a violent death manifest a state of confusion in their power settings and return to the body in the days before death, due to a surplus of “unused energy”.

According to Korotkov there is also an effect in the bioenergy field with food, water and even cosmetics. He also warns of cell phone use and their negative radiation often being carcinogenic, which several studies seem to confirm, notes socialconciousness.com.

Similar to Rupert Sheldrake’s experiment of the feeling of being watched, the Russian scientist notes that the reason behind the phenomena is due to a person’s bioenergy field change when someone else directs his or his attention even though it’s not consciously perceived, identified as “sixth sense”.

In all, analysts predict that Korotkov discovery is optimistic signifying an advancement in the scientific world, of which, schools especially those in Russia, would begin teaching kids to factually recognize the use of energy captured through this camera technology.

A new project by Schneider Electric dubbed MiCROSOL aims to be the first to produce electricity, drinking water and heat simultaneously to benefit micro-industries in Africa’s rural areas.

 The technology based on the principle of cogeneration of electricity and heat aims to help people access reliable and affordable electricity; ever-flowing clean drinking water  and continuous and environmentally sound heat.

Expected to be ready for commercialization in 2015 in Kenya, Microsol can help micro-producers in the food, textile and paper industries with processing their raw materials by automating some of their processes such as drying, washing and  pasteurization. It is also expected to provide energy for the tourist industry to power services such as refrigeration or security; heat for hot water, laundry or heating; water for drinking or cooking.

With 50 MWh/year of electricity, 1,000 m3/year of drinking water, and around 800 MWh/year of thermal energy, Microsol technology has an expected life of at least 20 years and help meet some or all of the production needs of local residents such as water supply, electrification of communal areas, and so forth. It can also guarantees zero greenhouse gas emissions, reduced deforestation and health problems owing to the clean production of heat and electricity.

Gilles Vermot Desroches, Senior Vice-President, Sustainability, Schneider Electric said, “All countries with high levels of sunshine are potential targets for marketing Microsol. However, because of its infrastructure needs, geographical location and economic models, Schneider Electric and its partners decided to focus their efforts on Africa”.

It seems that internet has more positive than negative impacts in the lives of Kenyans and Senegalese, because a report from the McKinsey says shows a list of countries according to the contribution of internet to the local GDP.

The report which is titled The lions go Digital:The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa says that the overall GPD of Africa is as low as  1.1 percent.

In Senegal, the internet accounts for 3.3 percent of the GDP, earning the country a global ranking just behind that of the US, and in Kenya the internet is said to contribute 2.9 percent. Sweden takes the lead internationally as the internet contributes to 6.3 percent of the county’s economic growth.

McKinsey’s research suggests that the internet’s overall iGDP estimate is $18 billion per annum across the continent

Mobility is highlighted as a major source of potential revenue. It says revenue generated from this market segment is equivalent to 3.7 percent of Africa’s GDP – more than triple the amount within developed economies.

“In a baseline scenario, Africa’s iGDP could grow to at least 5 to 6 percent of GDP, matching that of leading economies such as Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. However, if the Internet achieves impact on the same scale as mobile telephony in Africa, iGDP could account for as much as 10 percent of total GDP by 2025 – or some $300 billion,” the Report states.

It is clear that Kenyans do not use this technology just for fun but also to improve themselves. Now that the country’s government is keen on growing the ICT sector, it means that the growth will be exponential.

Who would have known that Asus was going to be threat to the world of electronics, and was holding the third position during the third quarter of this year, this is according to a research by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The company has really outdone itself and pretty soon it will be the leading if the other competitors are not careful.

The research, which is pegged on tablet shipment, shows Asus rise from 4.5 percent tablet market share in the second quarter of 2013 to 7.4 percent in the third quarter.

The Taiwanese multinational shipped 3.5 million units compared to 2.3 million units in the same period last year. At third position, Asus now competes with the top two tablet manufacturing companies Apple and Samsung which took first and second positions respectively.

The survey also attests to Android being a favored operating system among various consumers with 47 million units shipped. The growing appetite for tablets has also been a factor with the increasing 36.7 percent year over year in the last three months.

Chris Wen, the product manager, Asus Kenya said: “The present success for Asus in the tablet market share is partly as a result of the growing popularity of tablets in emerging markets like Kenya. This ranking is not just important to the company but to gadget users as well since they will be keen to lay their hands on other Asus products which are better performing and pocket friendly.”

During the second quarter of this year Asus introduced the Fonepad in Kenya. The device was the first android tablet that runs the new Intel Atom processor. A few months later the Fonepad was followed by the launch of Nexus 7 that comes with Android 4.3- the latest version of the android Operating System (OS).

Kenya Television Network (KTN) has over the weekend announced that it has broken the one million likes on Facebook, being the first television station to do so.

Months ago, the Standard newspaper, owners of KTN announced that it has surpassed Nation’s Nation.co.ke website in terms of traffic. This has seen the company shift its energies to online media as readership grew.

These new shift reflects the increasing internet access in Kenya. According to the new Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) report, the internet users in Kenya has reached 19 million users by June this year.

Nation Television and Citizen Television are on KTN’s hot heals to also break the one million mark.

1. This image of a skinny woman made rounds on Twitter in Kenya this afternoon. Does it make you weep or burst out in laughter or both?

2. The pick above shows who really is the king of the road in Kenya!

3. Above, a woman rocking football boots on a bus, heading to church! It’s a football season anyway!

4. Above, a girl in love…probably…or just a friend trying to reach Jack Reacher!

5. The boys above probably have no idea who a woman is at this age, they better be told to respect their moms and sisters!

6. Above-the red carpet is wasted on your leaders, who aren’t leaders at all but a bunch of ….

7. Those were models in the 1920’s Nairobi! God forbid! So little has changed though!

8. This is what most people want to do this Christmas!