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Nigeria’s Termii raises $1.4M seed for North African expansion

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Termii, a Nigerian platform-as-a-service startup has raised a $1.4 million seed round for North Africa expansion starting with Algeria with plans to expand its messaging offerings across Africa.

The round of funding was co-led by Future Africa and Kepple Africa Ventures with the participation of Acuity Ventures, Kairos Angels, Aidi Ventures, RallyCap Ventures, Assembly Capital, Nama Ventures and Remapped Ventures. Angel investors who participated in the round included Josh Jones, the co-founder and CTO, Dreamhost; and Tayo Oviosu, co-founder and CEO of Paga and Ham Serunjogi, co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash.

Launched in 2017 by CEO, Gbolade Emmanuel who is the former COO of Accounteer, a Nigerian accounting technology startup and his CTO, Ayomide Awe , a former software engineer at Reliance HMO, Termii received backing from Lagos-based VC Microtraction and US-based Y Combinator to provide infrastructure that enables digital businesses to communicate seamlessly with their customers.

The Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) statup ensures a 90% deliverability rate, allowing its customers to engage, verify, and authenticate customer transactions through E-mail, SMS, Voice, and WhatsApp via the Termii APIs.

Termii pre-installs configurations that allow their APIs to be integrated into third-party apps in under 60 minutes to help marketing departments to send out campaigns, customer service for account security, and operations for account notifications and appointment reminders.

Termii’s analytics also give its customers insight into how customers engage with messages they receive from digital businesses, including whether they open the message, click on any links, or unsubscribe from any services. This helps businesses to better understand their customers’ communication preferences.

The B2B2C communications platform as a service aims to launch across Africa to connect digital businesses like fintechs and e-commerce companies with their customers, allowing them to engage with them and understand their behaviours and preferences.

Termii operates a per-billing model and charges its customers for each message sent. Some of its trusted customers include Bamboo, Helium Health, Eversend, Chaka, Yassir, Paystack, ULesson, Bankly, Omnibiz and Credpal. Termii’s vision is to build the infrastructure that powers digital communication across the African economy then focus on the global CPaaS industry which is worth $3.6 billion and is growing at a rate of 6% yearly.

Nigeria’s Plentywaka raises funding from TechStars, launches in Toronto, Canada

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Plentywaka, Nigeria’s bus-hailing startup has raised funding from Techstars is set to launch in Toronto, Canada as part of its global expansion plans.

In a statement, Co-Founder and CEO, Onyeka Akumah said, “We are very excited about this new investment to partner with Techstars. This is the second time a startup I founded will go through a Techstars accelerator program in Toronto and we are truly happy they have believed in our ability again to execute.”

Techstars Toronto Accelerator Program

Plentywaka will join the Techstars Toronto program to gain further funding, mentorship, and access to a rich network of entrepreneurs and experts in the travel industry. Plentywaka is also starting to expand globally to other countries, starting with a city in Canada on or before the fourth quarter of 2021.

Plentywaka is launching an Interstate travel service where commuters can now purchase bus tickets from a variety of bus travel companies using the Plentywaka mobile App.

300,000+ commuters

Over the last 18months, Plentywaka has moved 300,000+ commuters through their daily commute across three states in Nigeria. Last year, it raised a seed funding of $300,000 from Microtraction, Niche Capital, and EMFATO and a partnered with Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing, Nigeria’s first indigenous automotive manufacturer.

The Plentywaka City to city service helps commuters purchase the best bus travel ticket deals while choosing from a variety of bus transportation companies listed on the Plentywaka mobile app. The firm partnered with Libra Motors, one of the top bus travel companies in Nigeria, and 4 other players with a combined capacity of 300+ buses, moving Nigerians across 100 routes in Nigeria.

City-to-City bus service

With the new funding from Techstars, Plentywaka aims to help commuters in Toronto to get the opportunity to use the In-City bus service for their daily commute and the City-to-City bus service to buy tickets for longer interstate travels.

Sunil Sharma Managing Director, Techstars Toronto also said “Our only goal is to leverage the broader ecosystem to support and grow these incredible companies. Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, and strong partners and mentors help make this happen,”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSACTIONAL EMAILS FOR BUSINESSES

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In India, email service providers’ demand, email services for transactions, email marketing, and email verification services have increased rapidly with rapid growth in e-commerce. Out of these, a transactional email is used mainly by all kinds of businesses. 

These emails are significant to fulfill the company’s or enterprise’s responsibilities towards the potential or existing consumers. It is necessary to have altered or modified content for every use. Therefore, they have to be handled by professional and experienced experts in this particular field.

A team of trained professionals can provide the most finely altered and advanced solutions to enhance a company’s reputation with customers and reinforce its market presence. These emails can be effective only if user requirements are identified carefully. 

Thus, the professionals focus mainly on recognizing the targeted consumer base’s information-related needs and offering error-free solutions appropriately.

The open rate for such emails dramatically exceeds that of any email, even bulk mail or newsletters. These days these triggered emails are multi-functional missiles that impact reputation, audience retention, revenue, and company research. 

The most profitable and functional triggered emails are ordered and shipping confirmations and approbation for the merchandise return. Becoming proficient in using such email is possible only if the small business experts follow the tips from easy SMTP are mentioned below.

Best practices

The main aim is to use a triggered email to earn consumer trust and extra patronage; that mission shouldn’t be too apparent or aggressive. It is essential to provide the required facts regarding the email body’s transaction most thoroughly and utterly possible by using links, text, and images. 

Generate a professional look by utilizing the name of the company in the sender field. Also, include a header with the company’s official logo and colors. Business professionals can use HTML as an alternative to plain text to create a more engaging and exhilarating email. 

They can include colorful marketing content beneath the relevant transactional data. It can comprise purchase recommendations, a list of goods or products associated with what has been bought already, a widget of well-known products, or sales advertisements. 

They have to provide connections to company services, particularly account and assistance services, along with product links. It is also vital to restrict marketing to less than 30% of the email. Also, appreciation and gratefulness are always expressed to the customer. 

Customizing the promotions and emails will show awareness of the browsing and purchasing patterns of the customer. Business experts can use software to track down the effectiveness of emails and test with content and design if triggered emails prompt clicks or additional consumer action.

Benefits of transactional emails

1. Enhances customer engagement

The personalized one-to-one approach of this mail makes a consumer feel special and draws interaction. This interaction may lead to greater social media involvement or survey participation.

2. Increases customer trust

Consumers feel safe and secured with a company that offers valuable information at each step during a business transaction. These emails help in empowering the customer and reduces concerns and queries. It, in turn, promotes confidence, faith, and respect for a company.

3. Additional sales

When consumers look at descriptions and images of their current purchase alongside advertisements for associated products or similar products, that can instigate a wish to purchase more products or remind the customers of something that they wanted to buy but didn’t. They might also decide to browse the company’s website once more, creating wish lists for upcoming purchases.

4. Support requests

For the customers to have positive experiences, communication is essential. If a client comes up with a support request, it could be frustrating not to receive confirmation. Also, if an assistance team does not get the request correctly, the time to respond can get delayed, which can be frustrating to both the customer and the support team. Support-based transactional emails aid both sides by helping the processes involved in communication and notifying both parties with status updates.

5. Brand recognition

When it comes to new customers, looking at brand elements while completing one transaction might not cause them to recall the company’s name in the future. But when a message arrives confirming the order and the brand’s logo, and then a shipping notification comes afterward with the same brand logo followed by a warranty message, it presents the logo an extra time. 

Therefore, the customer will become very conscious of its brand name and likely consider the same company while shopping later on or even when talking about the purchase.

Best Photo Editing Software for Photographers

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Turn your digital photos into an extraordinary gift by using the best photo editing software. But what’s the best photo editing software?

After testing all the leading digital photo editing software, Adobe Photoshop Elements came out as the top choice for its powerful yet very accessible editing tools.

It features an array of creative tools including: layer styles, Brush Strokes, Auto Fill, Masking tools, Auto restore, Cropping tool and Fuzzy Logic. These tools enable photographers to edit and retouch their images in different modes-from being simple to being extremely complex.

Here is a list of top 9 best photo editing software for photographers.

9 Best Photo Editing Software for Photographers

Adobe Photoshop Elements provides amazing features at a very reasonable price. With the Intellisense technology, this photo-editing program has made it easy for beginners to work with even advanced images. This tool offers various color enhancements, filters, touch up, sharpen, and merge tools and much more. You can use this tool to fix broken, white, or dark spots on your photographs and make your photographs stunning.

Photex is an excellent digital photo editing software with stunning key features. It allows photographers to retouch, enhance, and customize pictures with ease. One of the major key features of this photo editing software is its user interface that is smooth and user friendly. This program comes with a free trial.

If you need a professional-looking product at a great price, you should take a look at Corel. It is one of the most popular and effective photo editing software tools today. This tool comes with high-quality color management, adjustment tools, and advanced image editing features. Corel can manage a variety of formats including PICT, TIFF, BMP, GIF, and JPG.

ACD SEE Gallery allows you to create, edit, and share your digital photos with others. This tool offers four customizable photo editors. These include the Camera, Poster, Web, and Business mode. In the Business mode, you can add text, titles, and even logos to your images. The Camera tool lets you take photos with your Canon camera, adjust levels and focus, and then save and copy them for use in ACDSee Studio.

Professional photographers love GIMP (Great Importance Photography Software). GIMP offers editing capabilities that are comparable to professional photographers. This tool is highly useful for photographers who edit on a regular basis. The advanced layer styles and smart functions allow you to make the best photo editing software selections for your images. There are a few key features you should take a look at, such as the histogram, the overlay tab, the resizing tools, and the smart scrubbing tools. GIMP is also compatible with most other programs.

Photo effects by Vertexshare is another great software (available to both PC & Mac users) to apply stunning and cool photo effects to your images. Some of the features include the ability to change the exposure, color, red eye removal, crop, rotate, blur, tone mapping, noise reduction etc. The inbuilt templates for photo effects are simply all you need to take your pictures to next level.

Pixlr is another noticeable editing tool that is used by millions of people. One of the key features of pixlr is its user interface. This program is similar to those offered by Adobe, including Photoshop, and was designed by Macromedia, the maker of Adobe Photoshop. One of the key features of the program is the fact that it does not require installation of any third-party software. Once you install pixlr, you will be able to import images from your digital camera, and also upload images from your webcam.

The Paint Shop Pro, offers similar functionality to the aforementioned four programs mentioned. This photo editing software can be used on the desktop or as a web-based application. In addition, the feature-set is similar to that of Adobe Photoshop, and many of the key features of pixlr can be found in the Paint Shop Pro as well. The only major difference is the fact that it is available for a lower price than some of the competition.

PhotoWorks is a user-friendly photo editor suitable for photographers of any level of skill and experience. It offers lots of AI-powered tools for retouching portraits, reshaping body parts, replacing the background, and correcting colors with ease. With this lightweight software, you can crop and resize your images, apply over 200 one-click 3D LUTs and filters, sharpen blurry pictures, add a texture, and even remove unwanted objects from your photo. PhotoWorks supports popular formats like RAW, PNG, and JPEG.

Conclusions

In this article, we have discussed some of the best photo effects and editing applications to take your pictures to next level upon which Photo effects by Vertexshare is really a great option for you since it has everything to edit pictures. Another reason to choose is because it is completely free which means you don’t need to pay for anything.

But if you know how to use photoshop, then photoshop should be your first choice ?

Why does cybersecurity matter?

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A wise person will never let irrelevant people get his personal data, nor will he like his family to fall for scams. We all are bound to use the internet, and one way or the other, we share our data on the internet or through the cyber world. Do you think that using cyberspace is safe? For many people, it is still unknown, and trusting it blindly would not be a good idea.

As hackers and other marketing companies working illegally are always searching for data, would anytime try to extract your data, so it is necessary to keep your data safe. There are several applications to help you in this regard; however, the pre-requisite to choose the best application like VPN to ensure security is to know the basics; the privacyenbescherming is offering a detailed account on internet security and privacy to help you through.

At the enterprise level, the cybersecurity threats are serious. Many companies such as E-bay and others had to suffer a lot due the cyber-security attacks and risks. If you are also initiating an e-commerce venture, consider the cyber-security risks and take special measures to fight them.

What are the impacts of cybercrimes?

If you are still considering yourself safe and do not want to upgrade the management or systems to avoid cybercrime. Keep on reading to find out the main risks and damages which can occur as a result of cyber-crime.

·       The economic cost.

For an individual, it can be the hacking of his finance holding accounts, which can also be referred to as cyber-theft. You never know when your PIN and credit card number were stolen, and one fine day you get to know that all your savings are gone.

For a company, it can be the biggest disaster. Capital is the main ingredient to make a company run, and a theft that too originated from the cyber-space is quite difficult to trace and compensate.

·       The consumer trusts.

A company with weak cyber-security experiences not only financial loss but also reputational costs. Imagine a consumer sharing his personal details with you, and the other day he finds out that his information is leaked. What do you think he will do except highlighting it and defaming the organization, which is, of course, the right thing to do. Such incidents will make survival impossible in the market.

·       The sanctions.

Many states, for example, the EU, would not allow you to let cybercrime happen deliberately. If a company or organization is negligent towards it, they will be heavily fined, as they are bound to install the regulatory authority.

Many companies had to suffer because of cybercrime; one such big name is Yahoo. They had to confront a breach by a group of hackers for almost 1 billion accounts.

Conclusion.

The cybersecurity threats and risks are real. Consider them as a challenge of the new world. To tackle it at an individual level, you need to learn about anonymity for security, head on to the privacyforkorea to find out more about it.   

How Tracking Someone On Instagram Can Be Good For Your Business?

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Instagram is one of the most amazing social media platforms that offer some incredible features for users from all over the world. People use it for various purposes. Be it selling something or working as a full-time content creator. They get to share their work with the entire world.

How Does Instagram Business Work?

Small companies, as well as large multi-national companies, use Instagram to promote their brand. Many small businesses are now thriving and earning lots of bucks with the help of Instagram.

Instagram gives people the option to create a private or a business account. Now, if you want to create a business account, you will get a chance to add details about your business. For instance, the website link, phone number, email, as well as the niche. Moreover, a business account is public, so your entire profile can be viewed by anyone out there.

Tracking Someone On Instagram

Now, we all think of how to see what someone likes on Instagram, right? Well, businesses think of that too. This helps them in getting ahead of their game and stalk their competitors. There are different apps out there, such as snoopreport and more that help you track. Have a look down below at how tracking someone can affect your business.

  • Stalking Competitors: By staking your competitors, you’ll get a better idea of what they are going for. You will be able to notice their strategies and leave them behind. This can do wonders for your business if you want to dominate the market and make sure your business flourishes.
  • Finding out what your audience likes: By keeping a check on your target audience’s likes, you get to find out what they are into. You can see the type of content they like, the products they are into, the competitors they are going for, and much more. This can actually result in being quite beneficial for a person who has his own business and finding out what his audience likes. Moreover, this way, you’ll also get a better idea of how to market your product. Remember, you need to keep in mind your audience when marketing, not just your own ideas.
  • Save your time: This point is a bit related to the ones mentioned above. Well, the thing is, once you get a better idea of what your audience actually wants, you will be saving your time as well as resources. You will come up with the right kind of strategies and go for stuff that can result in being great for your business.

What Do These Tracking Apps Offer?

These Instagram tracking apps come with a whole bunch of features. For instance, the best part about apps like snoopreport is that they offer easy-to-read and understand reports. The reports can be based on weekly or monthly results. These results include the videos someone liked on Instagram, the pictures, as well as the most liked hashtags. This way, you can easily discover someone’s interests.

For instance, are you a business owner who wants to impress someone well-known out there? Find out their interest through the app and impress them in no time!

Moreover, the apps use publicly available data and big data in order to predict users’ behavior and also verify their actions.

Are These Tracking Apps Safe?

However, most people hesitate to use these apps since they believe they access their Instagram accounts. Well, that is not the case at all. The apps have no access to your or your follower’s accounts, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.

Tracking apps are completely safe and secure, and you should only go for the one that has good reviews out there. One of these includes snoopreport that has more than 26,000 users out there. This kind of apps can do no harm at all!

That’s it!

Tracking someone on Instagram is not only good for you but also for your business. You get some valuable information that can result in being quite great for you!

Vivo Y20s now available in Kenya, retailing at Ksh20,000

Vivo smartphone has today announced the release of the vivo y20s in the Kenyan market. This move comes after the brand was ranked fifth in the global smartphone market in 2020 by the International Data Corporation (IDC) with a market share of 8.6 percent and shipments exceeding 110 million devices. 

Within the year, vivo was one of the three smartphone brands to maintain an increase in shipments despite the overall downturn experienced. With the new release, vivo seeks to leverage on this global success to take on the Kenyan market by unveiling sophisticated yet affordable devices for consumers.

‘’vivo’s success in the global market can be attributed to its persistent efforts to understand and tap into specific consumer behaviors. In line with its ambitions to continue its growth trajectory, vivo works relentlessly to develop stylish and dynamic products that cater to diverse consumer segments around the world. This is a reason we have the Y20s in Kenya,’’ said Mr. James Irungu, vivo Smartphone Kenya Brand and Communications Manager.

Price and availability

The new Y20s will retail for 20,999Ksh countrywide and comes in The device will be available from today in two variant colors, Obsidian Black and Purist Blu

Features and specifications

comes with a long-lasting 5000mAh battery, with 18W FlashCharge Technology, high-end specs and a Side Mounted Fingerprint Scanner for instant unlocking.

The device also features a capable Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor and 4GB+128GB of memory for a power-packed performance. For high-quality photography, Y20s has an AI Triple Macro Camera 13 MP (wide) + 2 MP (macro) + 2 MP (depth) supported by a wide range of features including Face Beauty, Portrait Light Effects and Filters to capture sharper images. The selfie camera comes with an 8MP. 

The vivo Y20s sports a 6.51-inch Halo FullView Display that gives an elongated aspect ratio of 20:9 and HD+ (1600 x 720) resolution. 

Addressing Digital Inclusion Barriers in Isiolo County: A Digitruck Program for Soft Skills Improvement.

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On Friday 19th March, 55 female trainees have graduated from a four-day soft skills training offered by the Digitruck, in partnership with Women in Technology Huawei (WITH) in Garba Tula, Isiolo County. This is part of the program’s women’s history month initiative to empower women through training. These trainees are part of the 150 young community health volunteers who will be receiving digital skills training over the course of the next one month.

Soft skills are essential as they enable out-of-the-box thinking, and have a significant impact on an individual’s work ethic and overall career success. As such, it has grown to become a point of emphasis during most job applications. Integrating this missing link to the digital skills already provided by the Digitruck will enhance employability amongst the trainees.

During her speech, the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs CAS Nadia Abdallah lauded Huawei’s efforts in bridging the digital divide through the provision of digital literacy training to the disadvantaged. She also applauded the Women in Technology Huawei Program for its role in providing mentorship and guidance to young women pursuing courses and careers within STEM.

Technology plays an integral part of our everyday life. It facilitates the implementation of applications and solutions that continue to improve the quality of life and reduce equality gaps both locally, and across the globe. However, to the marginalized, the lack of digital skills has been identified as one of the key barriers to the adoption of technology.  The Huawei Digitruck seeks to address this gap by making digital skills accessible to those in need, thereby exposing them to the various opportunities that technology presents.

Isiolo Deputy County Commissioner, Mr. Stephen Nyakundi commended Huawei for having the Digitruck at the county, adding that through the skills acquired, the community would gain by having its beneficiaries create employment opportunities. He reiterated that the county would continue to support such initiatives.

Since its launch, the Digitruck has visited over 10 counties and trained over 2000 beneficiaries from across the country. The Huawei Digitruck continues to forge great partnerships with various stakeholders to not only scale the program but also increase the pool of resources offered during training. The partnership with the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs allows the trainees to put to use the skills acquired, to utilize the resources available under the Ajira Digital program, and seek opportunities online including online jobs and additional training.

WITH director, Maureen Mwaniki, noted that an increase in the number of women being empowered with digital and soft skills will yield greater opportunities for them in the digital world. She noted that this would be especially so for those coming from marginalized communities, notwithstanding the COVID challenges experienced globally. She added that this being the first-ever graduation held solely for women only, shows Huawei’s efforts in empowering women from disadvantaged communities with the knowledge that they can access the world from the comfort of their homes. Additionally, this could help them grow their communities through creating employment and knowledge transfer.

The women in Technology Huawei program, launched in 2019, aims to directly empower, connect and support over 4000 girls and women in STEM by 2022 through mentorship and training.

Instagram, WhatsApp & Facebook Messenger down for users across the world.

UPDATE: Sites have been restored for the majority of users globally.

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Facebook-owned Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are down for millions of users across the world on Friday 19th March 2021 with a number of users reporting error alerts and inability to send or receive messages on Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

No official communication has been released yet from the parent company Facebook but this is becoming a common occurrence for the Facebook-owned platforms which have become highly integrated leading to bigger outages than necessary. The outages began around 20:40 Friday EAT and users are yet to connect more than 40 minutes later. WhatsApp and Instagram have three billion and two billion users respectively while Messenger has 1.3 billion users active monthly.

Screenshot of update screen on Instagram

In September last year, Facebook announced an update to Instagram DMs by connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram.Messages and calls from friends and family using Instagram will stay in your Instagram app.

The update made it possible for people using the Messenger app to reach Instagram users without the need for downloading a new app, and vice versa. Users could, however, control where they receive messages and calls, such as in their chats, in their message requests, or not at all.

Screenshots of Watch Together, Selfie Sticker and Vanish Mode

Here are all the features of the Messenger experience on Instagram:

  • Communicate Across Apps: Seamlessly connect with friends and family across Instagram and Messenger by using either app to send messages and join video calls.
  • Watch Together: Enjoy watching videos on Facebook Watch, IGTV, Reels (coming soon!), TV shows, movies, and more with friends and family during a video call.
  • Vanish Mode: Choose a mode where seen messages disappear after they’re seen or when you close the chat.
  • Selfie Stickers: Create a series of boomerang stickers with your selfie to use in conversation.
  • Chat Colors: Personalize your chats with fun color gradients.
  • Custom Emoji Reactions: Create a shortcut of your favorite emojis to react quickly to messages from friends.
  • Forwarding: Easily share great content with up to five friends or groups.
  • Replies: Respond directly to a specific message in your chat and keep the conversation flowing.
  • Animated Message Effects: Add visual flair to your message with animated send effects.
  • Message Controls: Decide who can message you directly, and who can’t message you at all.
  • Enhanced Reporting and Blocking Updates: Now you can report full conversations in addition to single messages on Instagram, and receive proactive blocking suggestions across Instagram and Messenger when you add your accounts.

Screenshots of cross-app messaging on Instagram and Messenger

Facebook’s family of apps see over 100 billion messages each day and an outage of this scale could easily cause panic among its billions of users especially in March 2019 when Facebook’s apps went down for more than a day for its millions of users across the world affecting not only primary users but also third-party sites that use Facebook login verification.

Kwik Delivery raises $1.7m pre-Series A financing round to launch into new markets

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Kwik Delivery is an on-demand, last-mile delivery platform that connects African businesses to independent delivery riders, dubbed Kwiksters, has closed $ 1.7 million pre-Series A financing round in equity from institutional and high net worth investors to expand into new markets.

Launched in 2019 and trading as Africa Delivery Technologies SAS, the Kwik platform is currently open to Kwiksters operating in Lagos and Abuja.

“Kwik Delivery has demonstrated to customers and investors alike its efficiency as well as the relevance of its bold technology-based approach during a most challenging period” explains Romain POIROT-LELLIG, Founder & CEO of Kwik Delivery. “This financing round is enabling us to grow even faster and to disrupt and conquer new markets.”

The firm recently launched its just-in time delivery service to businesses, government agencies and merchants in Abuja, promising 1-hour delivery through its fleet of bike delivery partners and also provides access to a host of reliable, efficient and trusted 4-wheels vehicles.

“As the political center of Nigeria, Abuja is in strong demand for speedy, efficient delivery of goods and services” as explained by Yinka OLAYANJU, Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Kwik Delivery. “Whether you are managing the office of the Permanent Secretary or the cabinet of a leading financial institution or a leading multinational company, you need to ensure your documents and parcels are delivered promptly in FCT.”

Using the Kwik Delivery app, customers can request a delivery vehicle and track their shipment in real-time. Kwik Delivery is vetting the vehicles and drivers and ensures consistent quality of service. It also provides goods in transit insurance.

“Kwik’s breakthrough delivery platform will enable businesses and government agencies to gain productivity and to optimize logistical expenses in the Nation’s capital” explains Romain POIROT-LELLIG, Founder & CEO of Kwik Delivery.

Launched in 2019, Kwik Delivery is an on-demand, last-mile delivery platform that connects African businesses to independent delivery riders, dubbed Kwiksters. The Kwik platform is currently open to Kwiksters operating in Lagos State and Abuja. The Kwik Delivery app is available on iOS and Android. Kwik Delivery is the trading name of Africa Delivery Technologies SAS.

Facebook introduces a wrist device capable of reading the human mind

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Facebook has introduced a wrist device that is capable of reading neurological signals sent from users’ brains down to their hands. The wearable tech device is capable of reading the signals and interpret what a user wants to do and then recreates the action in a virtual or augmented reality environment.

Facebook reality Lab’s director of research science, TR Reardon, said that more of a humans brain is dedicated to controlling their wrist more than any other part of the body, probably twice as many neurons controlling the wrist and the movement of the hands than is actually dedicated to the mouth for feeding and speech.

 In a virtual meeting with the press, the Facebooks Reality Lab division gave a briefing about the technology and showed videos of the project to the media representatives.

The researchers demonstrated force actions where a user could pinch with their fingers in real life to hold and control virtual, far away objects in augmented reality. The name of the action is a reference to Star Wars Franchise in which certain characters can use Force to control and move people or objects that are far away from them.

The company also demonstrated electromyography wristbands a device that a user can wear to type on any surface as though they were typing on a physical keyboard. The device does not come with a keyboard but the electromyography wristbands would capture the intentions of a user’s finger nails and write down the letters and words. 

The smart-glass technology does possess a specified mechanism as compared to smartphones which rely on touch screens or, even oculus virtual reality headset which rely on handheld controllers. This is why Facebook is working on this project and according to Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer,the projects are in the early stages of development, and that it’s difficult to predict their timelines. He added that how things sequence in the market and when they show up are things, he did not have crisp answers to.

Apart from this project the company is also preparing to launch its first ever smart-glass, a Ray Bun glass device together with its partner Luxottica later this year.

The mind reading wrist device with the augmented reality will enable users to replace the mouse and keyboard in the future hardware projects.

Instagram is restricting interaction between adults & teenagers | Here is How

Instagram is introducing new policies that would restrict interaction between adults and teenagers. The move is intended to make the platform safer for young users.

Instagram will not allow adults to directly message teenagers and on the other hand it will prohibit teenagers to directly message adults deemed to have suspicious characters.

Block or report adults messaging teenagers

Safety prompts have been installed on the App to enable young users to block or report adults who are messaging them. The safety prompts will alert young users not to be coerced to respond to messages and to be vigilant when it comes to sharing photos, videos and information from persons that are unknown to them.

Don’t friend or message request teenagers

The app will send an alert when Instagram will notice any suspicious from adult users. Although the company is not clear on how these security measures will be applied, but they said that suspicion behavior could include sending large amount of friend or message request to teenagers. According to the company, this feature will be rolled out in some countries this month and will extend globally soon.

The company which is owned by Facebook has hinted on developing artificial intelligence and machine learning technology which will enable the platform to detect a person’s age when they sign up for an account. To open an account with Instagram, a person is required to have attained the age of 13 years and above however some people lie about their age thus the company intends to restrict with the introduction of new machine learning systems.

Private profiles

New teenage users will be required to make their profile private and that those who choose to have public account the app will contact such youth later emphasizing on the importance of having a private account calling upon them to change their settings

During the pandemic cases of cyber security against children doubled as children were spending more time on the Internet either learning, connecting with friends and family or to play games.

Kenyan sanitation startup Sanivation raises funding from Water Unite to convert faecal sludge into biomass briquettes

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Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle, a partnership between Water Unite and Wellers Impact, is pleased to announce the closing of its first transaction, an investment into the Kenyan sanitation developer Sanivation Ltd (“Sanivation”).

The Water Unite Impact  Investment Vehicle, which has a planned capitalisation of US$ 100 million, invests into private sector water, sanitation and plastics pollution reduction  SMEs globally. The fund uses a catalytic capital structure relying on Water Unite’s programme of micro-contributions from international retailers as its foundation while concurrently leveraging capital from the private sector. This innovative structure is a creative way of enabling each dollar of funding to support more than one organisation, generating social and environmental impact multiple times.

The first Investee, Sanivation, primarily works with public sector sanitation service providers in Kenya to convert faecal sludge into biomass briquettes that are sold as a replacement for firewood.  Through this circular economy approach to sanitation, Sanivation has treated over 2,500 tonnes of sludge per year.  Further, each Sanivation city-wide treatment facility will employ up to 50 people and offer a total carbon offset of 288,000 tonnes over ten years by reduced deforestation and carbon emissions from burning wood.

Andrew Foote, CEO & Co-Founder of Sanivation, commented ‘We’re excited to be partnering with Water Unite and Wellers Impact. Overall, we appreciate ambitious financiers that set a vision like ending water poverty by 2030. Together, it’s possible’

Neil Sandy, CEO of Wellers Impact and the Wellers Law Group, commented that ‘the partnership with Water Unite in the execution of the Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle has the potential to significantly accelerate the delivery of clean water, improved sanitation, and a circular economy for plastics, through the use of a blend of public and private capital (coupled with technical assistance) that has not been tested at scale.’

Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle is planning to continue to actively deploy funds to other impactful entities in the water, sanitation, and plastics recycling sectors.

Founder Institute holds Women in Leadership Roundtable in Nairobi

In a COVID-19 driven world, more women are embracing entrepreneurship across the world. In the case of Africa, she has one of the fastest-growing numbers of women in entrepreneurship.

The roundtable with the theme ‘achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’ is being organised in recognition of IWD 2021.

At this live interactive online event, the region’s top female entrepreneurs, investors, and startup experts will share their stories, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid.

Date: Mar 23, 2021

Time: 06:00 PM (EAT)

Panellists for this session include:

  • Meghan Mc Cormick: Co-Founder & CEO, OZE, & Dare to Innovate
  • Bolanle Afuye: Head of Digital Services, TPAY Mobile
  • Celestine Ukpere: Founder, Celestine Ukpere Consulting
  • Lavina Ramkissoon: Founder Institute Director, Johannesburg

This event is free but registration is compulsory, so grab a seat Now!

As the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, the Nairobi Founder Institute can help you:

  • Focus on what’s important, using a structured growth process that defines your next steps, enable you to move quickly, and with its track record, has proven to help reduce the time and cost to build a startup.
  • Make smart decisions, through constant feedback on your strategy and progress for the entire lifecycle of your business from the world’s top entrepreneurs and investors.
  • Build a global business, by leveraging the world’s largest network of startup mentors, founders, and investors (based in Silicon Valley, with chapters spanning 200+ cities across six continents).

Since 2009, the Founder Institute has helped over  4,500 portfolio companies raise over  $950M in funding, solve big problems, build products people love,  recruit amazing teams, and more.

Founder Institute Nairobi is led by Sheilah Birgen, CEO, The Cord; Kitawa Wemo, Founder, Mama Ventures & Tessie Omulo, Director, Female Founders Kenya supported with 40 amazing mentors all committed to helping you build an impactful startup.

Join us for what promises to be an informative and entertaining roundtable and Q&A discussion.

Apply to FI Nairobi if you are looking to launch a startup. The Final Admissions Deadline for the Nairobi Virtual 2021 Semester is Mar 28, 2021.

What threatens Elon Musk for tweets about cryptocurrency

Ever since Elon Musk decided to change his Twitter bio to #bitcoin, the cryptocurrency seems to have gotten a lot more attention. Shortly after the dramatic rise and fall of GME stock, the popular engineer tweeted that “in retrospect, it was inevitable”, referring most likely to a need to create a system based on decentralization and transparency instead of divisibility and lack of regulatory clarity.

 

While his #bitcoin status lasted just a few days, it was enough for people to purchase Bitcoin in hopes of its future appreciation. However, the behaviour of musk seems rather contradictory ever since then, and some could even say that there are unseen forces at play. Forces that observe his tweets and even control them, making him “fight back” using humorous and often confusing tweets.

Dogecoin is a joke, and probably so are Elon’s tweets

Over the past month or so, Elon Musk has been repeatedly tweeting about Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency with no utility or purpose, as stated by its creator Billy Marcus. The cryptocurrency has seen extreme volatility due to these tweets, and many retail investors have lost money trying to bank on public sentiment.

 

But why exactly is Elon Musk doing this? From an intelligent investor’s point of view, it could be “payback” to those who repeatedly try to control his tweets, claiming that each written word will likely have consequences in the market. It could also mean that he still sees the crypto markets as a joke, which could further explain the memes he keeps on posting. There could also be a small chance that he actually likes and believes in Dogecoin, but the chances are very slim, unlike most Doge investors are hoping for. It’s safe to say that Elon’s tweets do not aim to promote Dogecoin, but rather make fun of it, just like it was meant to be used in the first place.

Elon Musk likes Bitcoin, but he doesn’t get too attached

In a recent Clubhouse interview, Elon Musk mentioned that “I need to be careful what I say here” when he was asked about Bitcoin. After all, he is a celebrity, and every tweet could move the needle of the Bitcoin price. He continued “I like Bitcoin” pointing out that it is an interesting technologic development, but doubled down that he only owns a small fraction of it.

 

Naturally, Bitcoin maximalists saw this interview as a “permission” to invest more in Bitcoin, and have since been trying to convert Elon into a Bitcoin fan. In recent times, the engineer mentioned that Bitcoin may be a little bit better than cash, but its price does seem high at this moment. This tweet came after Tesla had already announced their purchase of $1.5 Billion worth of BTC.

Tesla’s choices are not Musk’s choices Shortly after Tesla decided to allocate a part of its cash reserves into Bitcoin, we saw prominent crypto figures discuss how Elon Musk had embraced cryptocurrency. The sentiment may have been justified based on the company’s actions, but Elon made sure to point out that his company’s actions were not his own, replying to a livestream of Changpeng Zhao . We are still unsure whether Elon Musk will become a vocal proponent of Bitcoin, much like we have seem with other entrepreneurs of his stature. The unseen forces at play Much like most important personalities, there certainly is some sort of unseen force that tries to control and manipulate tweets of “celebrities” in order to avoid purposeful market manipulation. This issue was most likely observed when Musk made his Bitcoin position more vocal. But Elon is not one to conform it seems. His random Dogecoin tweets continue to this day, seeming almost like a pushback to the establishment. What will the result of these actions be? We are not sure, which is why we avoid Dogecoin. We already known from the previous bull market how emotional attachment can lead to massive financial losses in a short period of time.

Why you need an SEO consultant

Before we begin, let’s first ask ourselves a few questions. 

What does SEO mean to you? And how do you think SEO can help your business?

This is a great place to start when you consider hiring a freelance SEO consultant.

Let’s go over the checklist of what you may want and expect from an SEO consultant.

  • Youtube SEO
  • E-commerce SEO
  • WordPress SEO
  • LocalSEO
  • Technical SEO
  • International SEO

If you are looking at expanding your online business and presence on social media and other channels. 

The only real effective way of doing this is through SEO. I am more than sure that at least one of the several different variations of SEO mentioned above could help in some way in increasing your brand awareness. 

Working on at least one branch of SEO could be enough to gain attraction. 

That’s what SEO does, increases brand awareness. However, there is still a right and wrong way of doing this. Therefore, you need to know what to look for and know what to expect from the SEO process. 

What to look for

A freelance SEO needs to understand your brand at an exceptional level. But, this means that choosing the right consultant is going to be important. 

What should we look for in a consultant?

A consultant that has years of experience is a good place to start. Alongside this, a proven track record of success in working with several different clients from a range of industries. 

You may be able to read about his or her background on the page as well as read previous case studies. 

This shows that the consultant is not only diverse but can develop a tailored strategy for several different businesses. That’s what we’re looking for. A consultant that can adapt to your industry. 

It’s this that separates the average SEO consultants from the top consultants. A top saying I like to remember is that research of the brand and industry comes before the SEO process. 

Without the research, there is no SEO. 

So, let’s say YES to research and YES to SEO! 

A good way to know that the consultant is willing to do this kind of work is by looking at ratings. How well-rated is the consultant on the page and google?

Look for awards and other companies that back his or her work. 

Above all else, marketing is a constant effort, which means that working with a consultant that is available on call or by text 7 days a week may propel your business at a faster and more efficient rate. 

Your SEO strategy

When it comes to SEO, there is no one approach. Each business is different. 

So, once you choose a consultant that works in many areas. Think about what you think your business needs to work on. 

It may just be your keyword searches or working on mobile SEO. Mobile SEO is very important in this day and age of digital marketing as a majority of users looking to use local services use a mobile device. 

To sum up

Here is what you need to know in 5:

  1. SEO is crucial for most online businesses
  2. Focus on the research part before SEO
  3. Choose a consultant based on experience, awards, case studies, and ability to adapt. 
  4. Consider your SEO strategy before and during your journey with the consultant.
  5. Consider all branches of SEO when developing your strategy

These 5 points will give you a better understanding of what to expect from a top SEO consultant. 

Good luck. 

Author bio

Sam Edwards is a content writer who lives in Tunbridge Wells. He is working for La Dolce Studio.  When he is not writing, he can be found grabbing a coffee or playing guitar.

The Best Free Online Resume Templates: How to Find The One That Works For You

Not everyone is the same.

That’s why not every resume is going to be the same.

It may look like they are— but with the help of a template, you can make yours stand out.

There are several criteria that every resume should have in common.

Both the kind of resume you are writing and the type of job you are applying for determine the kind of template to use.

To make the most of some of the best free online resume templates, you need to know:

What makes a good resume?

What makes a good resume template?

The best resume template for you

What makes a good resume?

If your resume doesn’t contain good content, it wouldn’t matter if you had the best template in the world.  Before you look for a template, remember that, when writing your resume, there should be an emphasis on four important things:

  • Content.  Depending on what kind of job you are applying for, what you put on your resume should contain information about you, your past experience, and your soft/hard skills. 
  • Personalized to you.  Not every person is the same so not every resume is the same.  Let yourself stand out by using strong adjectives that accurately describe you.
  • Truthful.  If you don’t have the skill, don’t put it on your resume.  You can always mention the skills you hope to have in the future in your cover letter.
  • Adjusted to the job you are applying for.  While staying truthful, be sure to emphasize and include the skills (both hard and soft) that are most relevant to the job you are applying for.

Also include past experience that is relevant to the job (i.e. if you are applying for a job as an editor, you would include the time you were a writing tutor over the time you were a part of the neighborhood car wash fundraiser).

What makes a good resume template?

Remember, there should always be an emphasis on content over layout design.  You want a template that will best organize and reflect your experience and skills to your future employer.  

The best resume template should have these three things:

  • Organization.  As you are searching for templates, don’t even consider the ones where words are jumping all over the page.  Look for a neat outline, with occasional line breaks.
  • Easy to read.  If you see a page packed full of words, your first instinct is probably not to read it.  White space makes the page look appealing.
  • Simple.  Flashy titles and bold colors are typically not ideal for a resume template.  Unless you’re a graphic designer, shy away from any overly creative layouts.
  • Adjusted to the job you are applying for.  Maybe you are applying to be a graphic designer— go for layouts that are more creative than just functional.  Your template should reflect the job you are applying for.

The best resume template for you

There are lots of free online resume templates to choose from, so it can be overwhelming.  

When you are looking, be sure to search for templates that exemplify the characteristics of a good template and include areas for the contents of a good resume.

For most jobs, it is typically best to use a standard template— something that is void of color and is organized linearly.  Even so, decide based on your needs and whether or not the employer is looking for a creative resume.

Remember, it is not the layout of the resume that counts, but the content it contains.

Author Bio: Sam Edwards is a content writer who lives in Tunbridge Wells. He is work at Kemistri. When he is not writing, he can be found grabbing a coffee or playing guitar.

Develop the ultimate plan using a cold calling service

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Are you reaching your desired number of customers? Do you think your current plan in reaching and securing deals is effective?

Whatever the answer, it may be time to consider using a cold calling service. But why?

Lets first define what cold calling is. Cold calling is when a business contacts an individual, who hasn’t expressed interest in the service with the end goal to convince that individual to use or purchase the business’s products or services. 

When this process goes right, it’s awesome. But how do we get this process right? Well, this form of communication relies on several factors for it to go right. Getting this process right may not be suited for people who have no experience in the field. 

Which is why a cold calling service could be the answer. Let’s take a look at the whole process. 

The cold calling process

Before we know what to look for in a cold calling service, let’s take a look at the process and its requirements. 

By looking at the defintion, it’s obvious that you open first to the customer. The opening line of communication needs to be effective. If it doesn’t draw the attention of the listener, then it will be very unlikely that you will secure a deal. 

So, communication is important in gaining the customers trust and selling your service. In the best cases, a script is used to ensure the best communication. 

The script can be made to avoid confusions and to reply with precision. It’s highly recommended from several cold calling services. Behind each cold calling service, lies an experienced sales team who want to protect the business’s reputation. 

After each cold call, the end goal is to always secure a deal. That’s when you know you have succeeded. 

What do you need to look for?

When searching for a cold calling service, you need to look out for a few key features. These features include:

  • Experienced sales team
  • Researched strategy
  • Valued reputation

You need to select a cold calling service with a team of professionals when it comes to sales. The more experienced they are, the better. 

Applying their experience to an unpredictable scenario is what outranks their service to other cold calling services. 

Each cold calling strategy needs to be well researched. The service needs to take into account the business’s competitors and market trends. 

But more importantly, the cold caller needs to put their shoes into the customers and market the service in that manner. It’s a skill that only the most experienced can master. 

However, the most important point to takeaway is that the reputation of the business is well respected and communicated in the strategy. Therefore, selecting a service that understands this is going to help your business and make you feel valued. 

The takeaway

The 3 points are all important when it comes to cold calling. But on a finishing note, do an analysis on your current business and think how you can attract more customers. 

Put your customers first and understand what you think they would want to expect from your service. 

This point is the first building block to developing your cold calling strategy. However, this won’t be possible until you reach out to a good cold calling service. 

Author bio

Sam Edwards is a content writer who lives in Tunbridge Wells. He is working for Pearl Lemon Placements.  When he is not writing, he can be found grabbing a coffee or playing guitar.

What to look for in an SEO agency in London

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Everyone who has experience in online business knows about SEO. It’s the perfect answer to fix technical issues of your site and to expand your content in a multi-layer fashion. 

It’s the layers of SEO that get business owners excited and willing to use their service. But what are the layers? And what exactly should you be looking for?

The first step is to search for an SEO agency in London. London has become the primary hotspot for some of the finest SEO services around. 

To get the bigger picture, use the keyword agency. This means that the service will be more specific as there are sites that may do multiple runnings and do an SEO service on the side. 

An SEO agency, however, is completely dedicated to its craft. This is what they specialize in. 

What should the SEO agency deliver?

Here comes the important part. All in all an SEO agency should be concerned with the following: 

  1. Local SEO
  2. SEO audit
  3. WordPress SEO
  4. E-commerce SEO
  5. Technical SEO
  6. International SEO

SEO doesn’t just come under one form. Maybe your business specializes in E-commerce purchases, therefore it would make sense to use an E-commerce SEO. 

Well, a good SEO agency will be able to help you with that. 

What else should you look for?

Like I mentioned before, search London SEO agencies on the web. However, you still should look for a few more things once you land on the page. They need to have experience in all aspects of SEO including link building. The other two elements to look out for are: 

  • Reviews
  • Testimonials
  • Awards 

These will give you a taste of how they work and more importantly a proven track record of success. It shows that their strategies and work philosophy have paid off for clients from a range of industries. Not only this but choosing to use a service that has claimed awards will only reassure you. 

This part is what separates good SEO agencies from the ones that run an SEO service on the side of their business. 

Once you land on a good SEO agency, you will have the option to book a free SEO audit. I can’t recommend this step enough. It will provide you with a great starting block on how you can improve your site and it’s totally free! 

At this point, you have nothing to lose. 

The last point to look out for, but probably the most important is their process. How do they operate their SEO strategy on your business? How can you communicate your business goals to them? 

This process needs to work both ways and if it suits you, then you are probably in the right place. 

The takeaway

Here is what you should do in 5! 

  1. Search and select one London based SEO agency
  2. Book your free SEO audit
  3. read reviews/testimonials and watch case studies
  4. Make sure their SEO approach suits you
  5. Contact them

All the best! 

Author bio

Sam Edwards is a content writer who lives in Tunbridge Wells. He is working for Pearl Lemon Properties.  When he is not writing, he can be found grabbing a coffee or playing guitar.

Farmshine wants to impact smallholder farmers with knowledge on crop production and accessing the first-hand market.

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Farmshine is a worldwide platform for agricultural matters where farmers, vendors and purchasers can trade on mutually agreed terms. These terms are meant to favor everyone. Farmshine aims at providing the best market-based solutions for farmers. Kenya has over 8 Million smallholder farmers,40 Million in East Africa and 1 billion worldwide. Accessing fair-minded prices on the global market is a challenge to most of these farmers since they mostly live in rural areas and rarely go to markets. Agricultural buyers on the other side choose to merchandise with one vendor mostly avoiding having to deal with multiple sellers. Smallholder farmers are often the low-cost producers of a certain crop.

Farmers get advice and support through the entire growing season from the technical field agents from Farmshine. These agents assist the farmers aggregate crops for trade to large purchasers. The Farmshine platform links farmers with the knowledge, suppliers and service providers they require to minimize costs and the harvests maximized.

To improve the agricultural value chain, Farmshine provides:

  • Farmers with the knowledge and contacts needed to get reach of the organic and high value crops as they can lead to large harvests.
  • Market efficient platform which gets rid of numerous middlemen thus enabling low cost producers to link with the purchasers directly.
  • Tracking of farmer’s production, developing both value chain and the transparency. Farmers also get a chance to access credit and markets.
  • Advice is given to farmers where they can get cheaper prices on seeds as well as other inputs. They are also enlightened on small loans and insuring their crops.

Farmshine benefits in the following ways:

  • A percentage of farm shine’s profits are set aside for improvement of rural communities. This is meant to help the marginalized people who earn little pay.
  • Improving livelihood by providing a market which farmers earn the highest pay. Farmers profits are increased through higher contract prices for crops and increased production of crops.
  • Farmshine focuses on improving farmer’s income and as well as ensuring that there is a sustainability of resources such as the land and water. Technical field agents assist farmers boost production of crops and practice of climate smart techniques meant specifically for agriculture.

You can get in touch with  Farmshine via email at info@farmshine.io or visit them at Westlands Plaza, Nairobi

Twitter Is Testing A New Feature That Will Allow Users To Watch YouTube Videos

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Twitter is testing a new feature that will allow users to watch YouTube videos.

Twitter is testing a new feature on Apple’s iOS devices that will allow users to watch YouTube videos right from Twitter, without leaving the app. “Starting today on iOS, we’re testing a way to watch YouTube videos directly in your Home timeline, without leaving the conversation on Twitter,” Twitter said from its official support account.

As of now, Twitter redirects users to the YouTube app when they click on a video. They must leave the Twitter app in the background. With the new feature, the videos will play right within the Twitter app, eliminating the need to switch apps. Check out the tweet below.

Twitter working on improving media-sharing experiences

Twitter has also been improving ways to share media via the app. The platform had also announced two new features last week that are still under testing.

The first of these is a feature for both Android and iOS apps that will allow users to see the full size of media on their timelines, instead of a cropped one that enlarges into the full version after a click. This will allow users to scroll through the feed to see media as it was uploaded.

Twitter said:

“Now testing on Android and iOS: when you Tweet a single image, how the image appears in the Tweet composer is how it will look on the timeline –– bigger and better,”

The app has also been working on the ability to let users share 4K images on Android and iOS. The feature once set up via the ‘Data Usage’ section, will let Twitter users share high-res 4K images.

Facebook Is Building A Version Of The Photo-Sharing Tool For Children Under The Age Of 13

Facebook is building a version of the photo-sharing tool for children under the age of 13.

Facebook Inc. is building a version of the photo-sharing tool Instagram specifically for children under the age of 13, an effort to get its popular products into the hands of the next generation of internet users.

The new app was announced internally Thursday, but is not yet launched. Instagram currently requires that users must be at least 13 years old. BuzzFeed News previously reported on Instagram Kids.

Facebook spokesman said in a statement:

“Right now there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products — like we did with Messenger Kids — that are suitable for kids, managed by parents. We’re exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more.”

It will have a number of parental controls.

Messenger Kids is a version of Facebook’s messaging app for pre-teens. That app includes a number of parental controls, but a flaw previously allowed some kids to chat with people their parents had not approved. The incident sparked concern from regulators that it didn’t adequately protect children. Instagram currently requires that users must be at least 13 years old.

How To Use Google Chrome’s New Instant Caption Feature

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Google is expanding its real-time caption feature, Live Captions, from Pixel phones to anyone using a Chrome browser, as first spotted by XDA Developers. Live Captions uses machine learning to spontaneously create captions for videos or audio where none existed before and making the web that much more accessible for anyone who’s deaf or hard of hearing.

According to Indian Express it worked for YouTube videos, podcast players, WhatsApp audio or video files, and other content. However, the Live Caption in Chrome took some time to download speech recognition files when playing a Podcast. The feature struggled to immediately display captions.

We did get spontaneous captions once the speech recognition files were downloaded. You just need to reload the site once the files are downloaded. The feature worked perfectly fine when we played WhatsApp video/audio content and YouTube videos.

How to enable Live Caption feature on Chrome?

Once you come across any video, Chrome will ask you if you want to use the Live Caption feature. You can enable this feature by tapping on the music icon located near the Extension icon. Once you tap on the music icon, a box will appear which lets you enable the Live Caption feature.

After enabling it, you don’t need to follow the same steps to use that feature for other videos. Live Captions will automatically appear in a small, moveable box at the bottom of your browser when you are watching or listening to any video. One will notice Live Captions even when the audio is muted or the volume is down. So, if you don’t have a pair of wireless earphones and want to watch a video without disturbing anyone around you, then this feature will come in handy.

In order to use the latest Live Caption feature, you need to make sure that you are using the latest Chrome version.

Hao Finder help you find your dream house via your smartphone

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Haofinder.com is an online platform offering accommodation for houses for individuals, hostels for students, offices and businesses. Hao Finder aims to make house hunting a simple process in Kenya as this is a very tedious process for many people especially when new to that certain area. Founded by Gilbert Waliuba, Hao Finder an IT and Real Estate Company leads you in discovering reasonably priced houses in Kenya. Hao Finders ensure that all their clients and Real estate partners are well attended to. Hao Finders Ambassadors and Hao Finder Guardians have powered the services of IT solutions as well as peer-to-peer interactions.

Most customers are served the same day they ask for Hao Finders services and if not within 48 hours Hao Finders delivers rental houses or commercial property to its customers. Assurance that the houses and properties are real is by verification of the houses and properties done by Hao Finders where they take their won photos and videos.

The procedure of booking a house with Hao finders is:

  • Form filling whereby you are required to present your contact details and your budget and type of house or property that you need explaining it in detail.
  • Hao finders are able to analyze your data and offer services. In a case where your preferred property is not found in their database, Hao Finders allocates your property request to a team of ambassadors who acquires the house for you before deadlines set.
  • After a house or property of your choice is found, Hao Finders sends a report that has all details in it concerning the house which can be via a call, WhatsApp, text, or email.
  • A visit to the house is the next step after the house hunt has been productive. Hao Finders agent accompanies you to the property. There is also an option of using the contacts and location details provided to pay a visit as well. This is encouraged by Hao Finders for verification and booking as well.
  • Hao Finders have the best customer service as they help their customers move in or out. This makes it a relaxed process for the clients.

Hao finders assists in finding another property with no extra fees in instance where the Landlord, manager of the property or an agent cancels your booking. This mostly occurs when searching to move out in apartments for sale in Nairobi or Westlands. If you’re looking to sell your home however, then you can achieve a quick sale at The Property Buying Company.

Payment is only done through the Mpesa Buy Goods till number 942027 (Hao Finder Group). There are no extra charges asked for so one is expected to pay the exact amount displayed. Hao Finders does not allow payments to be made to an individual number or bank account. Refunds are rare as the client is encouraged to make another choice or rather the transaction charges are charged then the amount left is given back to the client. It’s so easy to discover whether you’re dealing with Hao Finders ambassadors as they are branded with Hao Finder T-Shirts and with Hao Finder Staff IDs as well. Hao Finders covers most houses for sale in Kenya and also anyone who needs to vend or purchase a house. Hao Finders clients support call is +254770 537 943 or Via their email info@haofinder.com.

An Instagram For Kids Under 13 is In The Works

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Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri confirms that a version of Instagram for children under 13 is in the works, BuzzFeed News reports. The Facebook-owned company knows a lot of kids want to use Instagram, Mosseri said, but there isn’t a “detailed plan yet,” according to BuzzFeed News.

“But part of the solution is to create a version of Instagram for young people or kids where parents have transparency or control,” Mosseri told BuzzFeed News. “It’s one of the things we’re exploring.” Instagram’s current policy bars children under 13 from the platform.

“Increasingly kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends,” Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to The Verge. “Right now there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products — as we did with Messenger Kids — that are suitable for kids, managed by parents. We’re exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more.”

BuzzFeed News obtained a message from an internal messaging board where the Instagram vice president of product Vishal Shah said a “youth pillar” project has been identified as a priority by the company. Its Community Product Group will focus on privacy and safety issues “to ensure the safest possible experience for teens,” Shah wrote in the post. Mosseri would oversee the project along with vice president Pavni Diwanji, who oversaw YouTube Kids while she was at Google.

Instagram published a blog post earlier this week describing its work to make the platform safe for its youngest users, but made no mention of a new version for kids under 13.

How To Use WhatsApp’s Desktop Calling Feature

How do you use WhatsApp’s desktop calling feature?

WhatsApp recently announced the availability of the voice and video calling feature for users of its desktop app. This new feature is available on Windows PCs and MacOS-powered devices for individual users only. This means that users won’t be able to make group voice or video calls using WhatsApp’s desktop app. However, the company clarified that it will be expanding this feature to include group voice and video calls in the future.

As far as the details are concerned, this newly introduced feature works in both portrait and landscape orientation and it appears in a resizable standalone window on users’ computer screens. WhatsApp says that is set to be always on top so that users never lose their video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows.

In addition to that, users will also need an audio output device and microphone for voice and video calls, a camera for video calls, and an active internet connection on their computer and phone.

Here’s how to make a voice call using WhatsApp’s desktop calling feature:

Step 1: Open the individual chat with the contact you’d like to call.

Step 2: Click the Voice call icon.

How to answer a voice call using WhatsApp’s desktop calling feature:

Step 1: Click on Accept to accept the call.

Step 2: Click on Decline to decline the call.

Step 3: Ignore or x to ignore the call.

How to switch between voice and video calls while using WhatsApp’s desktop calling feature:

Step 1: Hover over the Camera icon during the call.

Step 2: Click the Camera icon.

Step 3: The voice call will switch to a video call if your contact accepts the switch.

TikTok May Soon Be Launching A Group Messaging Feature

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TikTok may soon be launching a group messaging feature.

Video-sharing platform TikTok may launch a group messaging feature this year, people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters, putting the Chinese-owned app in more direct competition with social media rivals such as Facebook.

group messaging is part of owner ByteDance’s plan to develop TikTok into more of a “social interactions app”, one of the sources said. The feature has been part of the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, since 2019.

Why would TikTok need a group chat feature?

A group chat function would help TikTok keep users on the app longer. TikTok, which is particularly popular with teenagers and young adults, has also been expanding its livestreaming and e-commerce offerings and group chats would enable influencers to more easily connect with fans.

Sources said that they are currently evaluating when and where they will launch group chats on TikTok.

The group chat messaging service is likely to be unencrypted, one of the sources said.

Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert who is on Tiktok’s US advisory council, said he had not been notified about group chats being launched in the United States, but added the platform would need to be ready to deal with dangers that would come with expanding into social messaging.

Reuters also put out a security concern quote:

“If you are a site that is the size of a TikTok or a Facebook, even if it’s not encrypted, you still have to worry about how am I going to moderate this material and deal with the harms.”

How Do I Turn On Spell Checker in Google Chrome Automatically?

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Google Chrome uses a slew of web services to enhance your browsing experience. The web services range from suggesting alternative websites to quickly loading pages when you are unable to view a specific website. Chrome includes a built-in spell checker, which is a very useful feature. The Google Chrome spell checker is set by default to the language of your operating system, but you can easily add different add languages and switch between multiple languages based on your preferences.

How To Enable Spell Check In Google Chrome

How to Enable Spell Checker in Google Chrome

  • Open Google Chrome and select the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the browser.
Click the Three-Dot Menu on Google Chrome
  • Navigate to the Settings menu.
Visit Settings on Google Chrome
  • Scroll to the bottom and select Advanced Settings.
  • Learn more about “Use a web service to help resolve spelling errors” under Privacy.
  • Tap the slider to enable the feature. When the spelling checker is enabled, the slider will turn blue.
Enable Enhanced Spell Check on Google Chrome
  • Close and reopen Google Chrome. Alternatively, you can simply refresh the browser by right-clicking on it and selecting ‘Refresh.’

Microsoft PowerPoint Now Has A Presenter Coach That Help You Practice Presentations

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Microsoft PowerPoint now has a presenter coach that help you practice presentations.

Microsoft Presenter Coach, a feature that can help you practice presentations, has been made available on the Microsoft PowerPoint web version for a while now and is finally coming to the desktop and mobile versions too. Microsoft has announced that the Presenter Coach on PowerPoint will now be available on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.

The PowerPoint Presenter Coach listens to you practicing your presentation out loud and analyses what you are saying. It can warn you if you are going too fast or too slow and also warns you if you use too many filler words like “umm” or “aah”. It will also point out if you are just reading off the slides instead of actually presenting.

At the end of the presentation practice it also gives you a little report telling you about what you need to practice.

Besides the fact that the PowerPoint Presenter Coach is now available on various platforms, there are also some new ways this feature can help your presentation better – like it can look at your body language, how close you are to the camera or if you are making enough eye contact or are putting things in front of your face. 

And it also warns you if you are repeating words or saying them wrong and tells you off if you swear while presenting.

The feature that warns you about swearing didn’t seem to turn up on Mac while being tested by the verge, but it was there on iOS. Microsoft has not mentioned when this feature is going to turn up on the Mac. There is also no information about whether the vocal and video analysis was done on-device or in the cloud for the desktop and mobile versions.

This will be perfect for those who are not so sure about presenting especially if its your first or you’re basically unsure of what to do.

For proper analysis and the use of the coaching feature, you do need internet access though. The PowerPoint Presenter Coach cannot coach you without it.

How do I add a missing location to Google Maps?

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Google Maps is now one of the most popular services. It assists users in a variety of ways, from measuring the distance to providing directions. You’ve been using Google Maps to persuade others, but did you know that Google is now allowing users to add missing places to Maps?

Before you begin using Google Maps, you must first complete the following steps:

  • Turn on the GPS.
  • Allow Google Maps to access your current location as well as your audio speakers.

How to Add a Missing Location on iPhone, iPad, or Android

Go to the “Contribute” tab in the Google Maps app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

At the top of the screen, tap the “Add Place” button.

You must now complete the information for the missing location. Everything marked with an asterisk must be completed.

Instead of typing in the address, tap the map to move a pin in the location box.

When you’re finished, click the arrow icon in the top-right corner.

Your submission will be sent to Google, and you will be notified via email once it has been reviewed.

On the desktop

  • Launch Google Maps. In your browser, navigate to https://www.google.com/maps. You can add a location from this website if you’re logged into Google Maps.
  • Click ☰. It’s in the top-left corner of the page. A menu will pop out from the left side of the window.
  • Add a missing place by clicking the Add a missing place button. This link can be found near the bottom of the pop-out menu. When you click it, a window called “Add a Place” appears in the upper-left corner of the page.
  • Give the location a name. Click the “Name” text field at the top of the “Add a place” window, then enter the name of the location you want to add.
  • Include the location’s address. Enter the street address of the location in the “Address” text field. If applicable, include the city, state, and ZIP code.
  • Choose a category. Click the “Category” text field, then select a place category (e.g., Restaurant) from the drop-down menu.
  • Fill in the blanks with additional information about your location. You may include the non-essential information listed below.

Phone number – Click the Phone text box, then enter the phone number for your location.

Website – In the Website text box, enter the URL of the location’s website.

Hours – Click the Add hours link, choose your days of operation, and then enter an open and close time.

  • Click the Submit button. It’s the blue button in the bottom-right corner of the “Add a location” window.

That’s all there is to it. The difficult part is getting your submission accepted. Google is fiercely protective of its map data, and rightly so. It’s one of the reasons Google Maps is so dependable. Places should be added with caution.