Facebook Turns 10: The Mark Zuckerberg Interview

Zuckerberg.  Pix: olorisupergal.com

Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t usually observe sentimental anniversaries. This year he’s confronted by three of them. On Feb. 4,Facebook (FB), the company he co-founded in a Harvard University dorm, turns 10 years old. The prodigy himself turns 30 in May. It’s also been a decade since his first date with Priscilla Chan, now his wife, whom he first met in line for the bathroom at a Harvard fraternity party.

OBAMA PRAISES PUNCH PIZZA FOR RAISING MINIMUM WAGE

President Obama.       Pix:Reuters.com

President Obama praised one of the Twin Cities’ favorite pizzerias during his State of the Union address.

Punch Pizza founder and co-owner John Soranno and kitchen worker Nick Chute attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address as guests of First Lady Michelle Obama — a month after all eight of Punch’s Twin Cities’ locations raised the minimum wage for employees to $10 an hour.

Baby factory operators arrested in Ondo State

Busted!

Olumide T. Agunbiade

A baby factor syndicate operated by a couple, Mr and Mrs  Ogundeji operating in Ilutuntun, Okitipupa Local Government area of Ondo State was on Wednesday  busted by the men of the Ondo state Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Kublai Khan and his 5,000 Dogs

Dogs.

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

China has a love-hate relationship with what is foreign. Traditionally all people beyond the Great Wall were barbarians - only part human. But invaders have sometimes been welcomed, in time, into the Chinese family. One was Kublai Khan who famously owns 5,000 mastiff dogs.

Kublai Khan

In the 13th Century, no-one knew how big the world was so it was not so wild for the Mongols to set off from the grassland with the idea that they were going to conquer all of it.

Grammys 2014: Winners list

Daft Punk and Pharrel Williams  Pix: Grammy.com

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

The 56th annual Grammy Awards was held in Los Angeles on Sunday night with performances from Lorde, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Jay Z, Beyonce and more.

Take a look at some of the top winners below:

Record of the year
"Get Lucky" -- Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers -- WINNER
"Radioactive" -- Imagine Dragons
"Royals" -- Lorde
"Locked out of Heaven" -- Bruno Mars
"Blurred Lines" -- Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell

98% of Global Marketers Increasing or Maintaining Digital Spend

Pix: Talentcircles.com

The most comprehensive marketing report of 2014 is  finally here. ExactTarget surveyed over 2,600 marketers to identify the major challenges, areas of potential growth, and channel-by-channel strategies that marketers must know in 2014. That research is now available at their 2014 State of Marketing report.

THE 6TH FLOOR: THE PRICE TAG (2)

Money.

 By Olumide T. Agunbiade

I checked my watch for the umpteenth time as our Honda finally eased its way out of the chaotic Lagos traffic on to the expressway en route Ibadan. As planned, a man named Daniel came to pick me up the next day. Daniel was hired by Jibola Akinyemi to drive me to Ibadan.

I became perturbed when I began noticing road blocks at every 300 metres, but I breathed a sigh of relief as Daniel--who was very friendly—assured me that it was just the Nigerian Police mounting the blocks as checkpoints for security purposes.

WHY DO WE GROW OLD AND DIE?

B y Olumide T. Agunbiade

The question why humans grow old and die is one that scientists have been trying to answer for decades. The Bible also has much to say on the subject. By examining what science has learned about it in light of the Bible we can get a much better understanding of the cause of aging and death.

2014 REAL ESTATE FORECAST: WHAT TO EXPECT

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

Whether you’re buying, renting or selling it out this year, here is what’s ahead across the globe.

In Nigeria, the trend in 2013 and with notable projects still in the pipeline, professionals within the real estate sector have expressed optimism that there would be increased investments and consequently activities within the industry in the year 2014.

  The Mortgage Refinancing Corporation (MRC), launched by the government and its prospective impact on housing provision and home ownership in Nigerian has further strengthened the position that the sector will boom in the coming year. 

 The forecast, notwithstanding, the seeming parlous state of the nation’s economy, would be more visible in some states like Lagos, Port Harcourt and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. 

 Besides, they hinted that there is so much interest in the sector from foreign investors especially in the commercial, retail, leisure or hospitality. The service sector is not left behind in the flurry of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). There is this anticipation that capital transfer into the sector is expected to be in billions of dollars.

 One of the areas where exponential growth is expected is Lekki corridor, situated along the Lagos–Epe expressway, an area that has being touted as the fastest growing location in the sub-Sahara West Africa.

  This axis is still going to be the haven of a bubbling real estate sector this coming year, they say, citing the huge on-going infrastructural development, namely, the expansion of the expressway and the ambitious Lekki Free Trade Zone, where a new sea port and an International Airport are in the offing.

JOIN ME IN NEW YORK CITY FOR THE REAL ESTATE CONNECT 2014

                                                                                  Pix: eaglesville

By Olumide T. Agunbiade

In a world where people are closer to one another than ever before, how will our industry adapt? When our connectivity is redefining what it means to work for and with one another, how can agents and brokers make the most of the opportunity?

There is no better conference than Real Estate Connect to identify, dissect and apply the new guidelines of the partnership economy and determine what those changes will mean for the real estate industry. Come meet the change makers, find kindred spirits, and rewrite the rules of engagement right before our very eyes.

Is 38 years in prison appropriate for a teacher who slept with her 12-year- old student?

Ethel Anderson sentenced.                                  Pix: www.latimes.com

Former teacher Ethel Anderson, 31, was found guilty and sentenced to 38 years in prison in December 2013 for having sex with her 12 year old student.

The married mother of one had sex with one of her students, whose identity is being kept secret because of his age . The alleged abuse started in 2011 just one month after the teacher and the minor started a tutoring session in her home.

Pastor who steps on his congregation and makes them eat grass!

South African Pastor, Lesego Daniel stepping on his members.  

Pastor Lesego Daniel ,the head pastor of Rabboni Center Ministries, Pretoria, South Africa is under fire as images of him stepping on his church members have been tagged abusive by South Africans and human rights groups.

THE 6TH FLOOR: THE PRICE TAG (1)

                                                        Source: Sunonline

  By Olumide T. Agunbiade

           

IT happens a lot these days in Nigeria. Homeowner falls on hard times and has to move from his home, selling or renting it out to make ends meet. But, if that house happens to sit on a few acres in Ikoyi area of Lagos, there may be one difference. The rent is N2.5million. A month.

That was what chief Korede, a politician and socialite--his close friends includes Senators and Ministers—was asking for his Bourdillon Palace, as it was called. In the year since he moved, he already had two tenants. One a Russian oil tycoon and the other an Italian interior decorator. They were the sort for who price hardly matters. What they want instead are security, the location and the experience.

HOMES AND THE HOMELESS

A homeless mother & child

By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Nigerian writer

IT rained heavily on Wednesday, July 10, 2011. On that day, nine-year-old Sarah Adubi was searching for an alternative shelter after an ill-wind had blown away her carton and Cardboard made home. Unfortunately, she didn’t succeed in getting one, even though she tried to.

 About 12 metres away from her home, she needed to get past one of the erosion-created gullies that transverse her neighbourhood but she couldn’t get past the gully. Her small feet slipped and she fell into a four feet deep gully while the treacherous flood swept her at top speed, smashed her against several objects and finally deposited her at the foot of a banana tree near a carpentry workshop. By the time she was found later that evening, her clothes were in tatters and she was unconscious.