Soldiers Abduct Fayemi’s Campaign DG, Finance Commissioner…As PDP Begins Rigging Ekiti Guber Polls

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over the role of the military in Saturday's governorship election in Ekiti State, following the arrest of APC leaders by soldiers on the eve of the election. In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the part said armed soldiers arrested the Director-General of the Fayemi Campaign Organization, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, and the state Commissioner for Finance. Mr. Dapo Kolawole, on the eve of the poll. It said both Daramola and Kolawole were arrested in their country homes in Ire and Iloro respectively, and that their whereabouts remain unknown as at the time of this report. ''The role being played by the military in the Ekiti elections gives reason for concern, because an institution that is supposed to unite Nigerians has descended into the area of partisan politics and it is now seriously undermining democracy,'' APC said. ''Whoever the misguided soldiers in Ekiti are working for, they should know that their actions can only destroy the nation's democracy. We therefore call on the military hierarchy to defend the integrity of the institution by calling the partisan soldiers in Ekiti to order before it is too late. The consequences of a rigged election in Ekiti will reverberate far beyond the state,'' the party said. It reiterated its earlier warning that the APC will not accept the outcome of an election in which the military and other security agencies skewed the whole process in favour of a certain candidate, to the detriment of others. ''The APC seeks no favour from any individual or institution for Saturday's elections. What we demand is a level playing field for all the candidates, and a conducive atmosphere for the people of Ekiti to cast their votes without harassment or intimidation,'' APC said.  

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Security Agents Clamp Down On APC Leaders, Deport Journalists From Ekiti

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alerted Nigerians and the international community to the massive clampdown on the party's leaders as well as journalists during Saturday's ongoing governorship election in Ekiti state. In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Mr. Awodolu and 22 others were arrested at Egbe-Ekiti and taken to Ikere-Ekiti ; two leaders were arrested from Ilawe while 11 others were picked up from Ado-Ekiti. It said those arrested at Ado Ward A units 1, 6, 8 and 11 include Charles Fashuba, Tolu Ajayi, Elesun, Olu Hero, Gboyega Fabuero, all of whom were pointed out to security agents by one Femi Ogunleye, a member of the PDP. APC said those arrested, who are the party's leaders at their ward and local governments, were apparently being picked up to prevent them from casting their own votes, monitoring the election and subsequently being present at the collation centres. ''Ekiti has witnessed a massive turnout of voters despite the massive deployment of troops and policemen, ostensibly to provide security for the election but in reality to intimidate and harass voters to stay away from the polling units. ''Now that the strategy of the PDP-led federal government has failed despite their over-militarization of the state, they have unleashed security agents on the leaders of the APC to prevent them from monitoring the collation of results,'' APC said. The party said the same security agents have also descended on journalists who were duly accredited to cover the election, with at least five of them forcefully taken to the boundary of Ekiti and Kwara States by a detachment of police men led by Mopol Commander G.B. Seleke It listed the affected journalists, who were arrested at Ifaki Ekiti by over 50 mobile policemen, as Jadesola Ajibola of Inspiration FM; Toyin Yusuf, Oyetunji Ojo, Akin Ogunsola, and Aremu Awolola, all of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC). APC also said security men, who said they were acting on ''orders from above'', locked out voters and election officials at the Ekiti state government college, Ado Ekiti (wards 13, unit 18) are agitated. The party listed some of the other infractions as including the following: - The names of APC members are clearly missing on the list brought by INEC officials to Wards 3 and 4 Gbonyin LGA - Harassment of the fiancee and aged father of the campaign manager of Fayemi, Hon. Bimbola Daramola, by gun-wielding security agents. - Plan to burn ballot boxes if APC should win ward 2 Ifaki unit 7, LGA Ido-Osi - Fake soldiers purportedly from the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, acting under the command of PDP chieftains, are harassing and intimidating  voters in Ekiti State. It called on local and international observers to pay urgent attention to the infractions and ensure they are rectified in the interest of a free and fair election in Ekiti State.

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Ekiti Guber Polls: PDP Candidate Ayo Fayose Coasts To Victory With Early Lead In Declared Results

Polls results being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc officials at the various polling units and wards across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti state have put the PDP governorship candidate, Ayo Fayose in a comfortable early lead position.

Results already announced at the polling units and wards across the state put Fayose far ahead of the incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi. Some of the election results as reproduced below are however not official yet until INEC formally announce the result. Iworoko Polling unit 008 :PDP - 109, APC - 63 Usi Ekiti Unit 009, Usi Grammar school : PDP-79, APC- 41, LP-3, Accord- 0, CPP- 1, PPA-1, PDC-2. Ado LG, Unit 004 ward 004 : PDP- 199, APC-84, LP-21. Iworoko ward 005 :PDP- 64, APC-37, LP-8. Iworoko Ward 009 : PDP-78, APC-19, LP-10. Okeyemi, Ward 005, Unit 11 : PDP- 162, APC, 57, LP-8. Onikoye's Palace IKLG, Unit 16: PDP- 78, APC-50, LP-5. Erinmope ward 2 Unit 006: PDP- 47, APC-66, LP-4. Imesi Ekiti Ward 5 Unit 003 : PDP-36, APC-46, LP-2, PDC-1, PPA-1, NCP- 1. Methodist Polling Unit, Ifaki-Ekiti : PDP-51, APC-1, LP-1 Ikere Ekiti Health Centre Ward 010 Unit 7: PDP- 270, APC-81, LP-6 Health Centre Ward 010 Unit 8: PDP- 252, APC-81, LP-18. Ward 10 Okemesi: Emiloju: PDP 59, APC 25 Saloro: PDP 26, APC 13 CAC: PDP 47, APC 18 Ita-Ode: PDP 36, APC 6 Adetoyinbo: PDP 67, APC 39 Town Hall:  PDP 80, APC 45 Aro/Saba: PDP 40, APC 36 Obalekosi: PDP 74, APC 44 Ogborodo:PDP 47, APC 56 Obalogbo: PDP 58, APC 29 Akeji:PDP 3, APC 14 Kanmodi:PDP 11, APC 9 Ikole LGA: Odo Oro:PDP 748, APC 564 Igbara Odo ward 8: Unit 02 PDP-75,APC-52,  LP-7 Unit 11 PDP-73,APC-33 and LP-2 Unit06 PDP-70,APC-51 and LP-3. Unit 09 PDP-68,APC-22,  LP-5. Unit 13A PDP-98,APC-55,  LP-5. Unit 13B PDP-108,APC-26,  LP-8. Ara Ekiti Polling Unit 002 PDP 102, APC 32 Igbara - Odo Ekiti Ward 8, Polling Unit 009 APC 32, LP 11, PDC 01, PDP 69 Polling Unit 008 PDP 62, APC 47, LP 2 Imesi Ekiti, Ward 5, Polling Unit 003 PDP 36, PDC 1, PPA 1, NPC 1, APC 4 Ilawe Ekiti: APC 12, PDP 69, LP 2 Ward 1, Polling Unit 1 PDP 46, APC 21 Eyio Ekiti Polling Unit 001 PDP 72, APC 40 Polling Unit 002 PDP 102, APC 30 Polling Unit 003 PDP 67, APC 64 Polling Unit 004 PDP 93, APC 23, LP 5

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Soldiers Detain House Of Reps Speaker Aminu Tambuwal In Kaduna

Stern looking armed soldiers earlier today in Kaduna detained the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, insisting his official car must be searched before he could be allowed into an international conference he was due to deliver a speech. Angered by the conduct of the soldiers,  the Speaker came out of the car and trekked into the venue.

The incident occurred at Hotel 17, venue of an  International conference on security and development challenges of pastoralism in West and Central Africa organised by the office of the National Security Adviser. This is coming barely days after four state governors of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC were treated in the same manner by soldiers acting 'on orders from above'

While Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa was prevented from flying from the Yola airport, Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state were prevented by soldiers from entering Ado Ekiti to attend the final campaign rally of Governor Kayode Fayemi, all also acting on 'orders from above.' Tambuwal is believed to be top on the target of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration for his critical stance against the executive.

The Speaker,  who arrived the venue of the gathering at exactly 9.16 am for the 10.00 am local time opening ceremony, had his convoy stopped by soldiers who insisted they must search his official car before he could be allowed into the venue.

Despite much entreaties by security details attached to the Speaker, the soldiers refused, with some saying they have orders from above to search the Speaker. Incidentally, other VIPs, especially Governors,  who attended the conference were allowed access into the hotel without hindrance. The Speaker is the number Four in protocol hierarchy in the Federation,  after the President, Vice-President, and the Senate President.

When contacted for his reaction, Tambuwal's spokesman,  Malam Imam Imam, decried the conduct of the soldiers, saying their attitude undermines the institution of the legislature. "It is not about the person of the Speaker, but the office he is occupying. What we expect is for the security agents to show respect for the office of the Number 4 citizen of the country, " he said.

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This Glove Makes You Beethoven

“Have you ever seen the Matrix?” Thad Starner excitedly asks me over the phone. “There’s that scene where they need to fly a helicopter and Trinity just says, “hang on” and then uploads the instructions to her brain. That’s the future of what I’m doing.”

What started as a wearable experiment for the Georgia Tech professor could possibly make anyone a master at guitar, piano, Braille or even dance steps at superhuman speed.

All you have to do to play like Beethoven, Starner tells me, is slip on this glove he’s made called the Mobile Music Touch and it’s just bzzz, bzzz bzzz… bzzz bzzz…bzzz bzzz buh bzzz bzzz bzzz. Pretty soon you’re playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” like a pro.

Starner, by the way, is a current technical lead on Google Glass. He’s actually been wearing some kind of computer on his head for over 20 years. In fact, he built a wearable computer with a mounted display back in 1993. He’s also heavily involved in AI and techniques in human computer interaction (HCI) using wearable tech.

His glove is like one of those fingerless leather gloves you’d see at the gym for weight lifting, but with a robotic box of wires fixed at the back containing a Bluetooth radio and microcontroller. This means you can hook it up to your laptop or mobile device and start to play a song.

Mobile Music Touch has been something of a study in haptic learning for Starner for the past couple of years. That repetitive buzz from the device infuses a kind of muscle memory that, in theory, can really cut your time for learning things like playing the piano.

But it has a much wider potential for teaching not just patterns but also language. He lists off a series of other applications like sign language and Braille.

He’s also studied the effects the glove might have on those with spinal cord injuries. “We looked at those with fractured spines between the fourth and seventh vertebrae and found that using the glove actually helped them gain some sensation back in their hands.” This was over the course of a year and without other rehabilitation efforts, according to Starner.

The remarkable thing is that those studied in the injury actually pick up skills faster if they don’t think about it. It’s an idea called Passive Haptic Learning (PHL). If you’ve ever been a dancer or played guitar you know you’re better when you just move to the rhythm instead of thinking about what you are doing. Starner says it’s kinda like that.

The PHL activities associated with Starner’s glove allows an individual to learn one skill through their sense of touch while performing another, unrelated activity.

“And do you think a baseball player improves his pitch if you just show him a video of what he’s doing wrong?” he asks. Maybe? “Who knows? I don’t know…but what if he had something that could teach him how to throw right while he’s throwing?” Rad.

We’re far off from learning to immediately fly a helicopter, according to Starner. And of course you don’t suddenly become Beethoven just by putting on the glove. But the research does indicate you can master skills at a much faster pace and with more precision than just trying to do it on your own.


SOURCE

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Google and Nest Acquire Dropcam For $555 Million

Remember those rumors a few weeks ago that Google was looking to acquire the plug-and-play security camera company, Dropcam?

Yep. It just happened.

Just months after being acquired themselves, the now Google-owned Nest has just announced that they’ve acquired Dropcam. We’re digging for more details on the deal now, but have confirmed that the final sale price was $555 million in cash.

Wondering what the heck a Dropcam is? They make a few different things, but their namesake device is a WiFi-enabled security camera ($149 or $199, depending on video quality) that requires little-to-no-effort to maintain. You plug it in, get it up on your WiFi, and you’re set. If you just want to be able to check in on your cameras remotely, that’s free; if you want Dropcam to keep an archive of recorded footage on their servers, that’ll cost you anywhere from $10 to $30 a month (depending on how long you want archives kept).

In a blog post on the acquisition, Dropcam founder Greg Duffy explains the move:

Nest and Dropcam are kindred spirits. Both were born out of frustration with outdated, complicated products that do the opposite of making life better. After numerous conversations with Nest Founders Tony and Matt, it was clear that we shared a similar vision.

If privacy advocates were bothered by the idea of Google buying a thermostat, this acquisition will probably send them up the wall.

Right off the bat, Nest founder Matt Rogers started working to sooth the inevitable concerns in his initial announcement of the deal:

Like Nest customer data, Dropcam will come under Nest’s privacy policy, which explains that data won’t be shared with anyone (including Google) without a customer’s permission. Nest has a paid-for business model and ads are not part of our strategy. In acquiring Dropcam, we’ll apply that same policy to Dropcam too.

According to Crunchbase, Dropcam had raised just shy of $48M to date.

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Autopilot Launches CoPilot Sales Automation Tool

Those campaigns can be tweaked based on a client’s behavior, and CoPilot automates follow-ups based on the recipient’s actions. The service also provides sales teams with a real-time feed of a prospect’s actions from within the email.

Unsurprisingly, CoPilot is integrated with Autopilot’s Prospect Ace, which allows companies to verify their email lists using social profiles. The service also allows companies to import their existing lists using CSV files. The team tells me the service is also integrated with Salesforce Sync, and the plan is to add more solutions and data providers directly over time, so users won’t need to rely on CSV files.

CoPilot is now available for sign-up, with prices starting at $39 per month and seat, which allows a company to send up to 5,000 monthly emails.

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