Sport: "What Sense Does It Make When You Sign a Star?" Pogba, Robinho, and Ozil

On Saturday, the European transfer market officially opens. Though many deals have been sorted before that July 1 date, time will now tick on towards Thursday, Aug. 31 when the window slams shut.


It has already been a market flush with inflated prices. Liverpool paid £36 million for Roma's Mohamed Salah; Manchester United are expected to part with £40m for Nemanja Matic, a player essentially surplus to requirements at Chelsea; Kyle Walker's move from Tottenham is Manchester City mooted at a price of £50m.

When such fees are being splashed out, instant results are expected from the recruit. Conventional wisdom dictates that a player will perform better when given a full preseason with his new coaches and teammates, but do the biggest deals of the last 10 summer Premier League transfer windows show that? Or does it not matter when a superstar is signed?

2007: Fernando Torres -- Atletico Madrid to Liverpool -- £26.5m, July 4.

Rafael Benitez made sure he got this deal wrapped up nice and early and was rewarded with a superlative first season from Torres, a couple of niggling injuries notwithstanding. Torres' 24 Premier League goals set a record for an incoming foreign striker's first season. During this season and the next, Liverpool enjoyed Torres at his height.

2008: Robinho -- Real Madrid to Manchester City -- £32.5m, Sept. 1.

Having been taken over that very morning by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Mansour, City's dash to try and sign players provided the craziest day in Transfer Deadline Day history. Having been beaten to the punch by Manchester United for Dimitar Berbatov, Robinho was snapped up from Real Madrid. A last-minute impulse purchase proved itself hasty as, beyond a few flourishes, the Brazilian was wholly unsuited to English football. By January 2010, Robinho was loaned out to former club Santos and left for a €15m move to Milan not long after.

2009: Carlos Tevez -- Manchester United to Manchester City -- £25.5m July 14.

Technically, Tevez was a free agent, his "loan" at United from MSI, the agency that owned his economic rights, having expired on July 1. The swiftly-done deal was reported to be worth £25.5m before reports then claimed it was actually up to £47m, though that was disputed by club and agent Kia Joorabchian. What City got for their money was a player who irked Sir Alex Ferguson upon arriving, bagged over 20 goals in his first two seasons and captained City to winning the FA Cup in 2011.

2010: Yaya Toure -- Barcelona to Manchester City -- £28m, July 2.

Another deal sorted at the start of the window proved to be one of the best in City's history. While Barcelona played him in defence and defensive midfield, under Roberto Mancini's management, Toure swiftly became the heartbeat of a team that ended a 35-year trophy drought. Enjoying his attacking midfield role, Toure scored the goals that beat United in the semifinal and Stoke in that 2011 final.

2011: Sergio Aguero -- Atletico Madrid to Manchester City -- £38m, July 28.

Aguero was signed as City completed their preseason duties, and it was obvious as soon as he scored two goals in a 30-minute cameo off the bench in a 4-0 defeat of Swansea for his debut that City would have one of the best strikers in the Premier League in their ranks. He would, of course, close the season by scoring the last-gasp winner in a 3-2 victory over QPR that won the title in dramatic fashion.

2012: Eden Hazard -- Lille to Chelsea -- £32m, July 1.

Which club Hazard might move to had been debated throughout the spring of 2011, with Manchester United his expected destination, before in the style of NBA star Lebron James, Hazard announced he was joining Chelsea on social media. United turned to Robin van Persie, tempted from Arsenal for £24m five days ahead of the new season. Van Persie fitted United like a glove and fired them to the title, while Hazard performed promisingly but not entirely convincingly in a troubled Chelsea season.

2013: Mesut Ozil -- Real Madrid to Arsenal, £42.5m -- Sept. 2.

Signing Ozil was perhaps Arsene Wenger's greatest coup in the transfer market, though also his most expensive. Completed hours before the window's closure, Ozil became an instant hero at the Emirates and has gone to make 42 assist in the Premier League. He lost form and fitness in that first February and March, which betrayed a lack of readiness for the physical demands of the English game, and continues to divide Arsenal fans with his performances.

2014: Angel Di Maria -- Real Madrid to Manchester United -- £59.7m, Aug. 26.

Di Maria ranks as perhaps the most disappointing signing United have ever made. Cashed in to fund Real's James Rodriguez swoop, the Argentine struggled with English football and life in Manchester. Curiously, though, he played his best football for United in his early weeks, including a delightful chip at Leicester, having joined with the season already ongoing. Soon confused by Louis van Gaal's complicated philosophies, Di Maria cut a reluctant figure and was sold to PSG at a £15m loss a year later.

2015: Kevin De Bruyne -- Wolfsburg to Manchester City -- £52m, Aug. 30.

De Bruyne's signing always appeared a fait accompli , a question of bartering, though City ended up paying handsomely for him. His first season at City was interrupted by a January knee injury that ruled him out for three months. Before that there were intermittent flashes of brilliance. Last season, after a summer at Euro 2016 with Belgium and then working with Pep Guardiola, he delivered a similar campaign of brilliance weighed against inconsistency and injury. It feels as if City are yet to see the best of him.

2016: Paul Pogba -- Juventus to Manchester United -- £89.3m, Aug. 8.

Following an entire summer of speculation, Pogba's transfer from Juventus was all but confirmed as United prepared to kick off their Community Shield victory over Leicester. Pogba and United were far better prepared for the social media splash that greeted his return -- "#pogback" -- than where he might actually play in Jose Mourinho's team. United's manager tried him in several different configurations, as Pogba struggled to rein in his free-spiritedness for the good of the team. Pogba also finished the campaign with doubts against his temperament in the big games, though did shine in a 2-0 April defeat of eventual champions Chelsea and in United's strangling of Ajax in the Europa League final, won by the same scoreline.

CONCLUSION
The evidence suggests that a player signed at the start of a summer has a better chance of hitting the ground running and, beyond that, sustaining his impact on the team. While some late purchases have had initial success, the foundation work of getting used to new surroundings appears to be the best means of getting better bang for your buck.

Read More »

Pirated Books Worth N800 Million Been Seized By Nigerian Copyright Commission (See Photos)

We would recall that in March this year, operatives of the Commission carried out a successful anti-piracy raid at Awodi-Ora Estate in Ifelodun-Ajeromi Local Government Area of Lagos State.


During the operation, which was tagged "Operation No Breathing Space", the Commission raided seven warehouses within Apapa which were found to contain several thosands of cartons of pirated textbooks, motivational books, bibles, dictionaries and medical and health books belonging to various publishers. The anti-piracy operation led to the confiscation of thousands of cartons of pirated works worth N600 Million.


The Nigerian Copyright Commission has again carried out another successful anti-piracy raid at Tedi Village in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State. The anti-piracy raid culminated in the seizure of about two thousand cartons of pirated books belonging to various publishers. The Commission also arrested a Chinese nationale in connection with the pirated books. The seized books are worth over N200 Million.


The success of these anti-piracy operations is as a result of the standing collaboration between the Nigerian Copyright Commission and the Nigeria Police. We thank the Nigeria Police for their immense support in the fight against piracy.

If these pirated books were allowed to enter the Nigerian market, Nigerian copyright owners will be losing their works to pirates.


The Commission remain determined to sustain the fight against piracy. Nigerian Copyright Commission urge the Copyright owners and owner-associations to deepen their support for the Commission in the fight against piracy. Their support is very crucial in intelligent gathering, investigation and prosecution of Copyright offenders. As usual, the Commission will investigate this seizure and all other credible information leading to the prosecution of offenders.

We warn all pirates to desist from importing pirated books as the Commission is more determined ever than before to seize them and prosecute the offenders.

We look forward to sustain collaboration between the Copyright owners, other sister government agencies and the Nigerian Copyright Commission in the fight against piracy. Together we can ensure that our creative industry earn substantial income from their creativity which will further lead to increased investment and employment in the sector.

Read More »

Tech: Tools To Block Offensive Comments and Filter Spam Been Added To Instagram

To safeguard its platform from online bullying, Facebook-owned Instagram has introduced two new tools, a filter to block certain offensive comments and a spam filter in nine languages.

The first filter is optional that can be toggled on or off in the settings. It hides offensive or inappropriate comments from appearing on posts and in live video.


“To help, we have developed a filter that will block certain offensive comments on posts and in live video. All other comments will appear as they normally do and you can still report comments, delete comments or turn them off,” Instagram said in a post late on Thursday. “Also, you can always turn this filter off. To access it, click the “…” settings menu from the profile and scroll to tap “Comments”,” the blog post added.

The spamfilter looks for any obvious spam in comments, blocking it from users’ posts and live videos. The filter will remove spam written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.

Recently, Facebook introduced a ‘profile picture guard’ tool in India. Through this tool, the user can avoid strangers from downloading or taking screenshots of their profile picture.

The updates are available as part of Instagram version 10.26 available for iOS and Android.

Read More »

6 Important Things To Consider Before Starting A Business

There are a number of extremely important factors to consider before a business investment, to protect your resources from the sometimes uncertain elements of an investment environment......

1). The Business
This is an obvious one. An investor needs to understand the business in which he/she is investing. Like Peter Lynch’s investment maxim says ‘Invest in what you know’. It will be difficult to be cheated in an investment, if you understand the rubrics of that business. Before investing in a business, study the business; the more you understand the business, the more confident you’ll feel about the investment. Additionally, talking to an expert - someone who knows the industry that interests you - can also help.

2). The Growth
In addition to understanding the business, it’s important to understand the growth of a business. Consider how the venture is growing – is its growth organic or does it have more of a buying growth? Also, consider how the company will grow. To help with this, an investor will need to dig into the key financial statements of the venture like the balance sheets, income statements and cash-flow statements.

3). The Exit Strategy
Understand and know the exit scenarios for the industry that will be best for you. As a responsible investor, it’s best to always be prepared and have an exit plan laid out either for when the venture reaches the ideal scale intended or when the venture doesn’t seem to be yielding the returns you expected. Either way, always have an exit strategy of some kind for every business investment.

4). Legal Counsel
A good number of investors overlook this very important factor, and end up running from pillar to post seeking legal counsel when things go wrong. Be sure to seek legal counsel on all crucial steps of the investment and be sure that every legal document associated with the investment is shown to a trusted lawyer for feedback. Prevention will always be better than cure, and in legal matters, ignorance or oversights is not an excuse. So avoid the avoidable by seeking legal counsel; you don't have to agree with all your lawyer’s points, but you should at least understand them and make your decision based on that understanding.

5). Your Comfort Zone on Risk Taking
All investments have some form of risk associated with it, so it’s therefore important to understand the risks of a business investment and first decide if the risks are what you can bear. If you can’t bear the worst case scenario and have no plan B to help deal with the worst case scenario, then it’s advisable to refrain from such investment. You must always consider your propensity for risk before putting your resources in a business investment.

6). Circumstances that Can Lead to Fraud
This is one of the most important factors on this list. There are a lot of scam artists out there looking to lure potential investors into their trap by making their ‘opportunity’ sound legitimate. But there is a limit to how well they can do this, and if you’re careful and vigilant enough you’ll be able to see through their facade. As a responsible investor, ensure you do your research well beforehand, ask questions and check out the answers with unbiased sources before you invest. Also, never rush into an investment. In fact, any investment that puts pressure on you or tries to rush you into it, is a fishy one. You should tread carefully. Always take your time and talk to trusted family and friends before investing. Never for any reason rush into an investment, regardless of the pressure.

Read More »

Hello Teelamford Ladies, Can You Rock This Swimsuit? (See Photos)

Would you rock this swimsuit which looks like the naked body of a man complete with hairs?..
Lol.

Read More »

Meet Nigerian Man Who Graduated as a Doctor In Ukraine as He Reveals He Lost His Parents, But Not His Dream (Photo)

So inspiring. Congratulations to him..

Read More »

Tech: Hangouts Takes Over as Google Talk Shuts Down

Google has officially shut down its Google Talk service which is more commonly known as GChat or GTalk. The tech giant had previous announced that it would be moving its Google Talk users to Google Hangouts and would begin streamlining the process from 2013.


However, Google which was offering both GTalk and Hangout options, has finally drawn the curtain over Google Talk and this is for good reason as Hangouts comes with better improvements. This is a departure from GTalk’s simplicity and personal tone. Hangouts, on the contrary, provides group chatting and video conferencing options. The interaction would take place on the basis of a list of conversation rather than a contact list. Moreover, it allows the users to share photos to a group of people.

Google Talk was quite popular back in the days when people used to primarily depend upon their computers rather than smartphones. Introduced in 2005, Google Talk has now been replaced by Hangouts which operates on both, Android and iOS other than Chrome. Moreover, it will integrate with other products from Google as well, including its business suite of office apps.

Google also has other products like Google Duo and Google Allo, which are basically built for mobile and compete with services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram.

Read More »

Tech: Brain Imaging Technology That Read Minds and Identify Thoughts

Using machine learning algorithm, US researchers have developed a novel brain imaging technology that can “read minds” and identify complex thoughts with 87 per cent accuracy. The findings indicate that the mind’s building blocks for constructing complex thoughts are formed by the brain’s various sub-systems and are not word-based.


By measuring the activation in each brain system, the new technology can tell us what types of thoughts are being contemplated.

“We have finally developed a way to see thoughts of such complexity in the fMRI signal. The discovery of this correspondence between thoughts and brain activation patterns tells us what the thoughts are built of,” said Marcel Just, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania.

For the study, published in the journal Human Brain Mapping, the team included seven participants and used a computational model to assess how the brain activation patterns for 239 sentences corresponded to the neurally plausible semantic features that characterised each sentence. Then the programme was able to decode the features of the 240th left-out sentence. They went through leaving out each of the 240 sentences in turn, in what is called cross-validation.

The model was able to predict the features of the left-out sentence, with 87 percent accuracy, despite never being exposed to its activation before. “Our method overcomes the unfortunate property of fMRI to smear together the signals emanating from brain events that occur close together in time, like the reading of two successive words in a sentence,” Just explained. “This advance makes it possible for the first time to decode thoughts containing several concepts. That’s what most human thoughts are composed of,” the professor added.

Read More »

"We Do Not Increase Tuition Fees" - Obafemi Awolowo University

The management of The University of Obafemi Awolowo in Ile-Ife, Osun State, said it was not planning on increasing it's tuition fee to N55,700.

The chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Ibadan Chapter, Dr. Deji Omole, was recently quoted as claiming that no fewer than 38 universities across Nigeria had jerked up their fees.

He reportedly named OAU as one of the schools affected by the increment.

In a press statement on Tueday, the OAU Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, explained that the tuition fee remained as increased three years ago.

Olarewaju said, “The attention of the authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has been drawn to a news item that ’38 Varsities increase tuition fees’, where OAU was listed among the universities that have increased their tuition fees.

“Although there may be paucity of funds from the Federal Government in running the institutions of higher learning, which might have prompted some universities to upwardly review their fees, but the situation in OAU is quite different.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no meeting, either of the university management or Senate, where the fee increment was announced; and the vice chancellor of the university, Prof. Tope Ogunbodede, has not contemplated on increasing any fee in OAU.

“In actual fact, his administration is poised to making the welfare of staff and students a topmost priority.”

“Accordingly, the VC has advised the students, their parents and/or guardians to completely disregard as unfounded rumour the said news item.

“The administrative and academic affairs of OAU will not be run in secret. The VC will not renege on his pledge of running a very open and transparent administration,” he added.

The students of the school (OAU) currently pay between N19,700 and N33,700, depending on their course of study.

Read More »

Inspirational Quote of The Day!

There is nothing God can not do.

Read More »

Tech: Video Chat, Animated Reactions, Live Filters Sets To Be Featured In Facebook Messenger's New Update (Photo)

Facebook’s newest update for its Messenger app is going to roll out with a new video chat feature which includes live filters, saving screenshots directly and animated reactions. With animated reactions, the five emoji reactions on Facebook — the smiling face, a surprised face, an angry face, a crying face and a heart — will be overlayed on the user’s face. This means that if you have chosen the crying emoji, then tears will start falling from your eyes while the heart creates a halo of exploding hearts around your head.


Also, Instagram like filters have also been introduced into the live-video chat alongside a piece of Snapchat’s augmented reality face filters, which were present previously, have also been released.

Facebook is also adding an instant screenshot button, so that the users can save all the effects to the camera roll without ruining the shot with the Messenger interface. The new updates should be rolling out on all Apple and Android devices by 26 June, 2017.


This update comes when about a month back Instagram had taken a leaf out of Snapchat’ s book and introduced face filters to its own app. The options are an angelic wreath with God rays, koala ears and nose, geeky spectacles with floating equations, bunny ears, a circlet of flowers with fluttering butterflies, an icy crown, a tiara with purple feathers, and a beautification filter with sparkles.

Facebook has also planning to come out with a new app dedicated for creating Facebook videos. The app is believed to include exclusive tools such for Facebook live and the ability to add outros and intros. Moving over the lines of just creating a video, the upcoming app is also expected to have some analytical data which will let the user know more about who is watching the video and how. This is Facebook’s effort at pushing for the growth of videos as a popular medium for receiving information.

Read More »

Meet Young Brilliant Nigerian Who Graduates In Poland With Perfect CGPA (Photos)

A young Nigerian has made academic history in far away Poland, graduating with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0 in Computer Technology from the University of Computer Sciences and Skills, Lodz, Poland.


Already leading in first class from his first semester examinations in Babcock University, 20-year old Olukayode Mobolaji Oluwasona, was among the 17 outstanding students of Babcock University that left Nigeria at the beginning of their 200-level programme in 2014 to continue their undergraduate studies in Poland.

This was under a special degree exchange programme arranged by Babcock University with the University of Computer Sciences and Skills in Lodz, Poland, where they remained international student until the end of their four-year course.

Under the arrangement, they had to return to Babcock for their final year in 2016, during which they remained under the monitoring, supervision and mentorship of their lecturers in Poland.

A big congratulations to him.

Read More »

Tech: Apple Reportedly Pulled Down 58,000 Apps From China App Store, Includes 33% Cloned Gaming Apps

Apple has been on its App Store clean up act since October last year, where it suddenly pulled down 50,000 apps at the time. This time the focus is on China as Apple has reportedly pulled down an even bigger chunk of apps, totalling 58,000, from its Chinese App Store.


While Apple seems to be on a spree against developers, the Cupertino giant is basically taking down clone and unsupported apps from its App Store as part of a much-awaited hygiene process.

According to People.cn, Apple pulled down 58,000 apps in just two weeks. While the move appears to be one related to hygiene, Chinese app developers claim otherwise.

33.5 percent of the apps removed were games. This isn’t surprising, given the high number of clone apps or template apps on the App Store. These would be apps that were be apps built using set templates.

On 15 June this year, Apple pulled down 22,000 apps from its crowded Chinese App Store. While users will be more than happy to see fewer sub-par apps show up in their search results, it’s the developers in China who are unhappy at the moment. They see the move as a counterattack by Apple on Tencent, where Apple came under fire for taking 30 percent of donations from Chinese social network apps, including WeChat, which is owned by Tencent. ASO 100, a Chinese data analytics company dismissed those claims that Apple did not take down any of these apps, nor targeted them in particular during the last purge. The company said that it was routine for Apple to do the same.

The need for the removal of apps from the App Store came from the fact that there are thousands of clone apps, abandoned apps and even problematic ones that make their way into search results, reducing the overall quality of apps available. An earlier report by TechCrunch, revealed renewed guidelines with a focus on abandoned apps that have not been updated for years. There are some apps that have never been downloaded in years. Adding to this, a number of apps will soon be taken down due to the lack of 64-bit support, those that have been ignored by developers for years. The lack of 64-bit support is indeed a big deal for Apple as the company’s OS 11 mobile software will see an App Store devoid of 32-bit apps. Apple has been sending out subtle warnings in the past coaxing developers to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit instruction sets to avoid being taken down in the near future.

Read More »

"These are What I Would Focus On In The Next 2 Years" - Ambode

Governor Ambode of Lagos state is Working no doubt because Lagos state stands out better than some states where the governors are Noise makers.

Ambode,Whilst addressing reporters on Monday has said his administration will focus on the state’s power, environment and transportation sectors in the next two years.

According to him, the sectors were crucial to driving social infrastructure in the state.

According to dailypost “There is nothing we can do in the next two years that is ever going to be enough. There are three things I want people to watch out for in the next 12 to 18 months, the issue of power, environment and the sanitation as well as transportation.

“I believe those three sectors are the key sectors that can drive every other social infrastructure that we will be dealing with in Lagos.”

Read More »

Check Out These 5 Surprising Importance Of Playing Chess Game

The game of chess is often described as problem solving at its finest. It’s a game that requires strategic thinking, creativity, determination and even the ability to properly analyze body language. It’s a game that exercises the mind and is highly beneficial to mental and intellectual development.


Here are some 5 surprising importance of playing chess game.

1). Exercises Both Sides of the Brain
Studies have shown that playing chess involves the use of the brain’s left hemisphere (which deals with object recognition) and the brain’s right hemisphere (which deals with pattern recognition). Mainly because of the rules and techniques of the chess game, you end up effectively exercising and developing both sides of your brain over time.

2). Improves Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
Especially in children, learning and playing chess helps to significantly improve thinking, problem-solving and reading skills. The game’s complexity and the fact that problem-solving is foundational for tackling this complexity and winning the game, eventually helps to improve and develop the brain’s capacity and capability for thinking and problem solving overtime.

3). Improves the Brain’s Performance
Learning and playing a game like chess actually helps to stimulate the growth of dendrites (an extension of a nerve cell that conducts signals from the neuron cells in your brain to the neuron they are attached to).

The growth of these dendrites in turn helps increase the speed and improves the quality of neural communications throughout the brain. This increased processing power ultimately improves the brain’s performance.

4). It Helps Creativity
Mainly because playing chess exercises the right side of brain, it helps to enhance creativity and originality. The game greatly enhances creative abilities as it makes the player consider, analyze and prioritize a wide variety of possibilities.

Playing chess contributes significantly to growth and development in creative thinking.

5). It Improves Memory
The rules of the game that have to be remembered, alongside the memory recall needed to avoid mistakes and remember the specific opponent’s playing style, contribute to the memory improvement and optimization that playing chess offers. Playing chess largely helps to enhance memory performance and recall.

Read More »