Don't be digitally dupedIt is scary how sceptical consumers now need to be as we entrench our lives in the digital era. While con artists have been around since the beginning of time, the need to be ever so wary when engaging and transacting online has increased vastly. You really need to question everything - not just an email from your long lost aunt in America who wants you to inherit her fortunes, or an email letting you know you've won £30,000,000 in the UK lottery. I'm as sceptical as it gets when it comes to random emails - and this comes with surfing hours gained over the years - but even I was almost duped recently when I received an email from "Absa". It looked ridiculously legit until of course it requested I submit my details - which is the ultimate never-ever if you bank online. This morning, while hanging out at the Money Market counter at Shoprite (major retail chain in South Africa), I spied a noticeboard advising people of steps to take when doing money transfers e.g. Don't transfer money to people you don't know and don't respond to people who claim you've won a competition you never entered and that requires you to transfer money. While these transactions are completed in-store, the same distrust must be applied while online - especially when it comes to monetary transactions that involve your personal details. It dawned on me that there are still people out there who fall prey to these scams. While it is sort of depressing that one has to question everything, it is extremely important. Perhaps a course needs to be introduced in schools regarding safe online engagement. In the meanwhile, remember to always surf the internet with eyes wide open. Ciao, Sindy Peters, Africa editor
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Special focus on media freedom
NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities Friday, 18 February 2011, in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya to cease their attempts to prevent media from reporting on anti-government demonstrations. Bahraini authorities used live ammunition - including fire from a helicopter - against peaceful protesters and journalists, according to news reports. Read more >>NEW YORK: Ivorian police in the economic capital, Abidjan, interrogated and issued summonses for questioning last week for editors of newspapers favourable to former presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara, according to local journalists. The UN has recognised Ouattara as the president-elect since disputed November 2010 runoff elections against President Laurent Gbagbo. Read more >>A delegation of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) travelled to Tunis in early February 2011 to assess what is needed to rebuild the independent press in Tunisia and ensure freedom of the press and freedom of expression are successfully established. Read more >>MALABO: Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, a novelist, blogger and editor of the arts and literature magazine Atanga, left Equatorial Guinea for Spain early on Wednesday, 16 February 2011, saying he had been "harassed" because of the hunger strike he began on 11 February in protest against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's dictatorial rule. He was planning to continue his protest in Spain. Read more >>[Gregory Gondwe] The Malawi chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Malawi) has disassociated itself from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) purportedly signed by government and some media representatives. Government on Saturday, 12 February 2011, signed the document with members of the Malawi media after the recent stand-off that was prompted by a newly passed repressive media law. Read more >> NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news that CBS correspondent and CPJ board member Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and beaten in Cairo on Friday, 11 February 2011, while covering rallies marking the resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Read more >>[Mohamed Keita] Across the continent, the emergence of in-depth reporting and the absence of effective access-to-information laws have set a collision course in which public officials, intent on shielding their activities, are moving aggressively to unmask confidential sources, criminalise the possession of government documents, and retaliate against probing journalists. Read more >> CSI
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Green Cross International (GCI) and Giorgio Armani have entered into a partnership to promote access to safe drinking water through GCI's Smart Water for Green Schools project in Ghana. A support and solidarity network has been devised around Acqua di Gio and Acqua di Gioia, two of Giorgio Armani's fragrances. Read more >>Digital
LUXEMBOURG, JOHANNESBURG: The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is scheduled to be launched on 29 March 2011 from Arianespace's launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Intelsat New Dawn is an African private sector communications satellite. Read more >>SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Thursday (17 February 2011) began letting its more than 600 million members indicate whether they are in civil unions or domestic partnerships in what was seen as a victory for same-sex couples. Read more >>WASHINGTON: Google is making web search more social, weaving posts from Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and other accounts of a user's friends into search results. Read more >>CAIRO: Egypt's new military rulers have launched their own Facebook page to better communicate with the youth who used the social networking site to organise protests that drove Hosni Mubarak from power. Read more >>The recent landing of the West Africa Cable System (WACS) in Namibia has provided the first direct connection for the country to the global submarine cable network. MTN Business, a subsidiary of the MTN Group, which is a major investor in WACS, looks forward to the completion of the cable which will result in the acceleration of affordable broadband capacity. Read more >>PARIS: The director-general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has signed an agreement to launch a US$12 million project to boost the information and communication technology capacity of West African universities, by creating a regional virtual library network. Read more >>Education and Training
[Carole Kimutai] The Inter-region Economic Network (IREN) has announced the ninth Eastern Africa media training workshop scheduled for 9-12 March 2011. The training will bring together journalists from the region to brainstorm with leaders from China, India and Europe under the theme: 'Is Eastern Africa ready for China, India and Europe?' Read more >> Eventing
The Hotel Investment Conference Africa (HICA), formerly known as the Hospitality Investment Conference Africa, will be held in KwaZulu-Natal from 5-6 May 2011, preceding the annual tourism Indaba in Durban. The theme will be 'taking stock'. Read more >>Media
[Carole Kimutai] The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) has announced the winners of the inaugural Women Entrepreneurs in the Global Digital News Frontier grants. Each grantee will receive US$20,000 to launch innovative new media enterprises. Read more >> [Gregory Gondwe] Government officials on Saturday, 12 February 2011 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Malawi media after the recent stand-off that was prompted by a newly passed repressive media law. The signing ceremony, which took place in the boardroom of the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA), was initiated by government which deemed it important to call for a meeting with the media to iron out the misunderstandings. Read more >> Mobile
[Carole Kimutai] Orange was announced the winner of the 2011 Best Mobile Technology for Emerging Markets Award during the Global Mobile Awards held last week as part of the GSMA Mobile World Congress. Read more >> [Gregory Gondwe] Malawi's two major players in mobile phone services, Airtel Malawi and Telecom Networks Malawi (TNM), could venture into fixed telephone operations with the development of a convergence licence regime policy by the Malawi government. Read more >> BARCELONA: Smartphones and tablets are driving a mobile revolution, allowing video to take the lead in a business once dominated by voice calls, industry players and experts say. Read more >>Newspapers
[Staff reporter] The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) chairman Godfrey Majonga has expressed concern at delays by licensed newspapers to start publishing, saying this was a "cause for concern to the commission". Read more >> Online Media
WASHINGTON: Google launched an online payment platform for digital newspapers and magazines on Wednesday (16 February 2011), as a subscription service unveiled by Apple a day earlier came under fire for the size of the bite it takes from publishers. Read more >>[Nadia Neophytou] "When people hear about Africans and the internet, they immediately think of 419 scams," says Ngozi Odita, who runs societyhae.com, a collective of voices that is creating a global network of creativity. The Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based designer is out to prove there's so much more to the way the continent uses the internet - by highlighting how artists from Africa are using social media to get their music across the world. Read more >> PR & Communications
[Thabiso Mochiko] Businessman Lazarus Zim, who was appointed Telkom 's non-executive chairman, has to find a CEO soon - before the government appoints one. Read more >> Radio
UGANDA Radio Uganda dot Net network provides online coverage for 2011 Ugandan electionsRadio Uganda dot Net have announced that it will be providing updated coverage of the presidential elections in Uganda taking place on Friday, 18 February 2011. Updates will be provided via its network of FM stations which includes CBS Radio Buganda, Radio Simba, Kaboozi and Sapientia among others. The radio stations are available on www.RadioUganda.Net. Research
[Staff reporter] Newspaper readership increased across the board during the fourth quarter of 2010 (Q4 2010) as the liquidity situation under a hard currency economy recovered, improving disposable incomes, the latest Zimbabwe All Media Products and Services Survey (ZAMPS) revealed. Read more >> Retail
[Staff reporter] Zimbabwe's retail super-brand winner 2010, supermarket franchise Spar, and TM Supermarkets, the biggest supermarket by outlets, trailed rival OK Supermarkets as the most preferred outlet, with emerging Chinese-owned Afro-Foods Supermarkets taking the fourth spot. Read more >> Consumer goods group Tiger Brands announced on Tuesday (15 February 2011) that it had entered into an agreement to buy the whole of Davita for R1.345 billion in cash. Read more >>JOHANNESBURG: Scooters Pizza has opened a store in Windhoek, Namibia - its first foray out of South African borders. According to CEO of Taste Holdings Food Division, Christo Calitz, Namibia's economy has steadily grown since independence from South Africa in 1990, and Windhoek's burgeoning new market provides a perfect base for Scooters Pizza to expand and increase its market share, in line with the brand's expansion goals. Read more >>CAIRO: Workers at Egypt's largest factory have suspended a strike in support of the revolt that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak but will continue to press for higher wages, they told AFP on Sunday (13 February 2011). Read more >>TV
U2's Cape Town concert scheduled for today, Friday 18 February 2011, will be broadcast live on Highveld and KFM in South Africa, alongside a live stream on DStv.com, throughout Africa. Read more >>LOS ANGELES / PARIS: DISCOP Accra, which concluded last week in Ghana, attracted the largest attendance of any DISCOP event to take place in Africa to date, with 439 participants, according to the organisation. Read more >>ISTANBUL, TURKEY: The organisers of the Intercontinental Advertising Cup and Summit have announced the speakers and programme for the event, which is due to take place in Istanbul over two days - 11-12 March 2011 - at the Conrad Hotel Istanbul. Read more >>SINGAPORE: The organisers of Spikes Asia have announced that the 2011 Festival will take place 18-20 September and will return to the Suntec, Singapore, with the awards ceremony taking place at the Esplanade Theatre. Read more >>GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: The Rolex watch company of Geneva has announced the opening of applications to the 2012 Rolex Awards for Enterprise. For more than three decades, this international philanthropic programme has honoured and supported pioneering individuals whose projects benefit their communities and the wider world. Read more >>RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 171 million US Internet users watched online video content in January for an average of 14.5 hours per viewer. The total US Internet audience engaged in nearly 4.9 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month. Read more >>PARIS, FRANCE/DARMSTADT, GERMANY: Phillip Crawley, CEO and publisher of The Globe and Mail in Canada, is among the senior international newspaper executives who will be talking about product innovation at the annual WAN-IFRA Printing Summit, to be held in Mainz, Germany, the birthplace of modern printing, 6-7 April 2011. Read more >> More International news...
Out Of Home
Right Stuff's latest product offering is the Round Kiosk - a quick-to-assemble/disassemble one-man portable vending unit suitable for Africa, with an original and modern curved design and digitally printed aluminium and polyester. Read more >>
SOUTH AFRICA JFW - Day 1 MoreMatt Gennrich has been appointed general manager of Volkswagen Communications. Read more >> More Motoring news...
[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] When it comes to pricing hotel stays there are rates... and there are rates. Increasingly, hotels refuse to publish their rack rates and quote a best available rate for a particular room on a particular night. *Kiss - Keep it simple, straightforward. Read more >> DUBAI, UAE: Emirates, the award-winning Dubai-based airline, has partnered with Vitality to extend the travel benefits enjoyed by Vitality members to include 14 new international destinations on board Emirates' internationally acclaimed airline fleet. Read more >>DUBLIN, IRELAND: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has officially opened its new premium lounge at Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 (T2). Etihad became the first airline to operate its scheduled arrival and departure services from T2 in late November 2010. Read more >>[Simcha Van Bel] If you dream of secluded white sandy beaches with overhanging palm trees and crystal clear warm waters, then Madagascar is the place where your dreams will come true. We always dreamt of visiting this island and finally the day came. Read more >> More Travel news...
[Justin Williams] One Wednesday evening my dining partner and I decided that we were in the mood for red meat, steak to be precise, and that the popular Cowboy Fillet-themed evening at Krugmann's Grill was in order. The special takes place every Wednesday evening and you are treated to 300g fillet steaks, with your choice of starch and sauce, for R89 each. Read more >> [National Geographic Traveller] Issue eight of 8 National Geographic Traveller will have Beach Breaks as its theme. "There's nothing that says summer quite like the sound of waves on the shore and the tangy scent of sea air," the magazine says, offering readers a few of its favourite seaside stays. Read more >> [Ruth Cooper] P.H.Fat's debut album "Dinosaur Blood" is swampy mix of gut-stirring bass and sticky psycho-delic dubby beats overlaid with luscious lyrics, which, when experienced, feels like the musical equivalent of a sweaty bone-crushing hug from a sexy alien from outer space. "Dinosaur Blood" is an aural mind f**k for sure. Read more >> [Denver Keytle] Whether you're a fan or not, Zebra & Giraffe never disappoint, as everyone who attended their Kirstenbosch open-air concert found out. Read more >> [Jordan Scott] Unplugged and Unhinged is Rob van Vuuren's way of developing his one-man stand-up show. It basically makes the audience the directors, which is a new experience for any seasoned show-goer. Read more >> More BizLounge news...
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