Meet Patricia Amechi, Solid Star's Business Manager

The sexy beautiful diva goes by Patricia Amechi who was formally Julius Agwu's Online Publicist was recently signed as aka Solidstar's bizness Manager, Under Achievas Entertainment... She's also a blogger .... A graduate of Madonna University Okija wit a B.sc in Masscommunication ... We will all see wat she has to deliver in d entertainment industry .... 

Check her out on twitter- @pilicious11,
 Instagram - @sopilicious &
 Facebook- www.facebook.com/patricia.amechi

I make my meals and wash my clothes - 91 years old Shoyele

He is an interesting old man. please read through his interview with a PUNCH reporter

Ninety-one-year-old Mr. Moses Shoyele talks about his experience in the Nigerian army in this interview with FEMI MAKINDE

 When were you born?

I was born on January 1, 1923. I attended Baptist Day School at Awe, Oyo State. After that, I taught for a year in Oyo town before proceeding to Iwo in Osun State. From Iwo, I left for Lagos in 1940.

 Who were your parents? 

My dad was a farmer and my mother was a petty trader and a housewife. My father was a polygamist.  My mother bore six children and I am her second son.

 How was your growing up like?

My growing up was tough. Before going to school, we had to do extra work to buy uniforms, books and other things. It was not easy at all in those days. Most times, we had to fend for ourselves because it was not easy catering for the needs of my elder brother, my half-brother including myself, attending school at that time. We wove baskets, set traps to catch animals and did menial jobs to raise money to buy some of the things we needed in school.

 What did you do after you left school?

I left for Lagos after schooling, I went there to stay with an uncle with the hope that he would help me further my education. Unfortunately, he couldn’t and was the one who suggested that I should enrol at a mechanic workshop to learn how to repair automobiles.

It was against my wish because I had always wanted to be a nurse.  I was a member of the First Aid group in secondary school. One day, I went to CMS Bookshop and met a European who was inquisitive and asked me what I wanted to buy. I told him I wanted to buy first aid books and he asked if I was a ‘first aider’ and I said yes.

He suggested that I should enlist in the army because they were looking for ‘first aiders’ for field ambulance. He said I would be selected if I applied and that morning, I went to the barracks at Obalende, Lagos.  I was selected and that was how I joined the West African Frontier Force in the 1940s.

 What was your experience in the army?

While we were in the unit, they organised a crash programme for us as first aiders cum nurses at General Hospital in Lagos.  After six months, they conducted an examination for us and those of us who were successful were absorbed into the army as nurses cum first aiders.  As the year 1941 was ending, we were moved to the Military Hospital at Abeokuta, Ogun State, where we continued our training and working on the field as well. That was how I became a nurse. As time went by, after series of examinations and courses, we were upgraded as nursing orderly Grades 1, 2 and 3.  We were posted to different departments after few weeks and moved to other departments to gain experience.  By 1942, the whole army unit was moved to Kaduna to set up a military hospital there.

While I was there, I had an opportunity to take some other courses. I was posted to X-ray department. There, I started some courses and eventually became an X-ray technician.

In 1943, I was already an X-ray technician 3. When it was time for the European personnel working in the hospital to leave, I was asked to take over the department. I was in charge of the X-ray department till 1946 before I was demobilised. Before that time, my colleagues had been discharged from the army. But unfortunately for me there was nobody to relieve me in the X-ray Department at that time and I was given another year. Initially, I felt so sad that my colleagues were going while I was still kept there but by September 1946, someone came. They gathered my papers and I was given clearance to go to Oshodi where I was handed my discharge certificate.

What happened after you were discharged from the army?

I went to stay with my brother in Lagos. He was working with a company in Lagos. Within the week that I stayed there something happened. I got a letter from the Military headquarters that I should go to Ibadan and report for work.  That was how I became the person in charge of the X-ray department there.  It was not a full-time job and the then Director of Medical Services decided that I should work in the ward as a nurse since I was qualified. He told me that I would return to work in the X-ray department if there was an emergency there.  So, I was working in the ward and at the same time in the X-ray department.

 How did you meet your wife?

I met her when I was still in the army. During the warm season, we were always given 30 days to relax. I went home during the 30-day-leave and a friend of mine, Mr. Oyewo invited me to his farm. He was a cattle rearer, so I went to see his cows and it was there I met one of his brother’s daughters, Grace Shoyele née Oyewo.  She was working on the farm, we chatted and I became interested in her.

 What attracted you to her?

 I was attracted by her smile and the way she talked. We started talking and that was how it started.

 How many children do you have?

I have six children comprising four males and two females. When we were growing up, we saw the value of education and thus decided that whatever it would cost us, we must educate our children. With my wife’s cooperation, we gave them the best of education.

 What are you children doing now?

One is a retired principal. He retired from Abadina Grammar School while another is a teacher at Command Secondary School, Lagos. One of them is also a teacher at Olivet High School, Oyo. I have a child in the UK who is a journalist, one is a lawyer and the last one is a quantity surveyor.

 How do you relax?

I ensure that I go to the garden every morning to do some physical exercises. I cannot do without exercise in the morning. I do this every morning after my morning prayer.

 What is your favourite meal?        

 I eat anything. I don’t have any favourite meal.  I know that whatever I eat will not harm me.

 Did you partake in the World War 11?

No, I was in the hospital doing my work. I was not on the field.

 Do you attend social functions?

No, I don’t do that now. But even then, I didn’t have opportunity to attend social functions because of the volume of work. In 1958, when the General Hospital, Iwo, was inaugurated, we worked day and night because the employees were few and we had many people to attend to. We went to work early and came back late. We only came home to freshen up and return to the hospital if there was an emergency. So, we had no time for social activities.

After the hospital was well established, we discovered that we had little time for ourselves. That was why we formed a club to interact. It is situated opposite Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State.

 Who are your friends?

I have no particular friend. Anybody that comes my way is my friend. My wife always complained that people visited me but I would not visit them in return. But I don’t believe that is how to make friends. I try to assist anybody who comes my way in any way I can.

 What is the secret of your good health?  

 It is God. I am alive and well by the grace of God. I think  one of the things I enjoy is that I don’t restrict myself to a particular meal.

 What advice do you have for youths?

 I want them to be careful with their lifestyle. Young people indulge in drinking alcohol and cigarette smoking.

 Where is your wife?

She is dead. She passed on over a year ago.

 How did you cope with your wife during the war?

I was not married then.  I married after I left the army.

 How are you coping without your wife?

 I have learnt to live on my own anywhere I find myself. I don’t depend on people to do things for me.  It is my habit. I do everything for myself now. I cook and wash.

 Are you considering remarrying?

Not at all. I am 91, what else am I still looking for? Why do I need to remarry? My wife just passed on over a year ago.

 Aren’t you afraid of death?

Death is one of the necessities of life. One must die. As long as one lives a fulfilled life, one should not be afraid of death. Death will come when it will come and one should be prepared for it.

 What advice do you have for nurses? 

The nursing profession is a noble one, hence one needs to put in everything into it in order to be able to help others. It appears that things have changed now. In those days, what was paramount on our mind was to ensure that our patients were given adequate attention. It is unlike now when nurses are looking for other things.  When I retired from the service, I started a clinic in Iwo and I was using everything I had for my patients. I don’t think anything is too much to sacrifice in order to help somebody in need.  I am always happy to help others and I think that is how every nurse should feel. Anybody who one helps will not forget one. Such a person will not cease to pray for one even if he or she has nothing to give. Prayer is far better than anything else.

 What was your most memorable experience during your nursing career?

There was a pastor who came to my clinic when it was newly opened.  His wife was pregnant and she was taken somewhere to deliver the baby. Unfortunately, they were turned back after the delivery. The baby was just about the size of a rat, so the pastor came to the clinic and said I should help him.

I had no oxygen tent in the clinic and asked him to take his wife and the baby to the hospital but he said they had been rejected there. I improvised a bed, bought a roll of cotton wool and used it as a cover for the tiny baby. I asked the mother to distill her breast milk and the baby was fed through the nostril. I fed the baby in the morning, afternoon and night. He was given glucose and breast milk. You cannot believe that the baby is big now. He is married and practising as a nurse as well. Anytime I remember the incident, it gives me joy.

Actress Ellen Page: "I am gay"

Hollywood actress Ellen Page, known for her role in the movie "Juno," announced she is gay, in a very public way.

Page broke the news during an emotional speech Friday in a crowded conference hall in Las Vegas, her publicist confirmed to CNN.

"I'm here today because I am gay. And because... maybe I can make a difference," Page told a crowd at an event called Time to THRIVE, a conference to promote issues of the gay community.

The Canadian star got a standing ovation during the speech. "I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission," Page told the crowd. "I suffered for years, because I was scared to be out."

She spoke about football star Michael Sam, a man she called a "hero."

Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from the University of Missouri, also publicly revealed that he's gay this week.

Sam's announcement creates the possibility he'll be the first openly gay player drafted by the National Football.

Page, who is set to star in an upcoming X-Men movie, said she had learned a lot from others who have publicly announced their sexual orientation.

"We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise," she told the crowd.

Human Rights Campaign, an organizer of the conference, praised Page on Twitter.

"Congratulations, @EllenPage for taking the steps to live openly and come out as lesbian. #comingout," the organization tweeted.

Crushee Is A New Social Network For Best Friends That Haven't Met Yet

Years ago I worked at a major tech publication right about the time things like Facebook and Myspace were becoming popular. Consequently my colleagues and I received emails nearly daily that all shared one phrase that we all rued. We hated – and still hate – the term, “not just another social network”, because every time another social network was launched the phrase used it to try to explicate just how “special” it was. The words cut us. There was a “not just another social network” dedicated to Toyota Prius owners; one for yo-yo enthusiasts; and even one for those who collect World War I era dummy firearms. Few social networks, then, made us take note, and fewer still do today. Those scars run deep.
But then I made friends with a charming social network called Crushee. It was awhile ago and it was in a closed private beta. I was asked to take a look and share my opinions with the small cabal in charge of the site. It was cute, but obviously still growing. The most important thing, however, was that it operated in a totally different way than the big social networks, like Facebook.
Crushee isn’t about keeping in touch with the awesome people in your life; Crushee is about meeting and gathering new awesome people into your life. Going in, I had only one or two people I’d be able to say I “knew” on Crushee. Now I’m best friends with everyone there.
It may sound like hyperbole, but it’s not. I’m helping one member I met on there book her first rock show in Seattle when she tours this summer. I’m putting up another for a couple days while they road trip through the West coast. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve helped with their websites or other tech projects just because they’re fellow “Crushees”.
These aren’t people I know in real life, these are people I met and befriend and fell in love with on a website. And the love, let me tell you, is real, man.
It helps that, for the most part, the Crushee’s membership are indeed a hip set. Musicians, alternative models, artists, and designers are the norm. The people tend to be young and attractive, dress exceptionally stylishly, and there are more than enough tattoos to go around. And, amazingly, the creep factor is low. (The site is designed that way, more on how that’s achieved below.)
It’s also generated its own customs and traditions that seem to have appeared via the collective will of the participants. On any given day you can see the merits of different types of pizza being debated via animated gifs of cats. Again, that’s not hyperbole, that’s just how it works.
Crushee was founded by Annaliese Nielsen, whose previous web successful major web venture is (the decidedly not safe for work) GodsGirls, a website for independent and alt glamor models, many of whom call Crushee a second home.
I talked with Nielsen about her vision for Crushee, how it came to be, and why it’s so special.
So who’s behind Crushee?
There are currently zero people on staff. This is a completely bootstrapped start up. We are self-funded and working on this thing on our nights and weekends. We’re a team of three founders: Atom Smith, Brent Akamine and myself. We did give a little equity to a friend to help us navigate our legals and financials with a little more literacy, but otherwise it’s just us.
Is Crushee a dating site?
Crushee isn’t a dating site. Brent and I met in 2009. I think and we talked about building a niche dating product at the time. We prototyped it with some capital that a friend kicked in. It was basically like Tinder [an alt dating app], but on the web. It had a feed that was a very basic shoutbox [similar to “Facebook’s “wall”] sort of utility. The idea was that people could use this shoutbox to make a post to grab a user’s attention and get some extra eyeballs on their profile.
During that prototype, we let some people onto the site to test it out. They were all using the shout box to talk to each other. Everyone used the “crush” utility very freely regardless of any actual potential romantic interest in each other. it became obvious pretty quickly that we would need to move in another direction if we wanted to address a real need as opposed to this need that we had hypothesized the existence of.
We found out that people just wanted to talk to each other regardless of whether they knew each other. And then people were making friends. It was neat!

Google unveils smartphone with 3D sensors

Google has offered a limited number of prototype phones as part of a development kit to software companies.

Google has unveiled a prototype smartphone with "customised hardware and software" that enables it to create 3D maps of a user's surroundings.

The device's sensors allow it make over 250,000 3D measurements every second and update it's position in real-time.
Google said potential applications may include indoor mapping, helping the visually-impaired navigate unfamiliar indoor places unassisted and gaming.
It has offered 200 prototypes to developers keen to make apps for it.
Google said its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) unit developed the phone as part of a project called Project Tango with help from researchers at various institutions.
"We are physical beings that live in a 3D world. Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen," the firm said.
"The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.
"We're ready to put early prototypes into the hands of developers that can imagine the possibilities and help bring those ideas into reality," it added.

'Smart' technology

“Start Quote

The focus is not just on the hardware or the device, but on what the gadget can actually do”

Bryan Ma IDC

 

Various firms, including Google, have been looking at developing niche technology.

For its part, Google has already unveiled its Google Glass - the intelligent specs due to go on sale later this year.
Earlier this year, the firm said it is also working on a "smart contact lens" that can help measure glucose levels in tears.
Also in January, it bought DeepMind, a UK firm that specialises in artificial intelligence, for £400m.
According to DeepMind's website it builds "powerful general-purpose learning algorithms".
Analysts say that firms have been looking at ways to help bring the advances made in technology to practical use in every day life in an attempt to attract more customers.
"The focus is not just on the hardware or the device, but on what the gadget can actually do," Bryan Ma, associate vice president at research firm IDC told the BBC.
"It is all about taking it to the next level of usage - be it augmented reality, help with basic healthcare or even just creating better maps."
Mr Ma added that once fully developed such gadgets could have huge commercial applications as well - which would help drive demand not only among individual consumers but also businesses and corporate users.
"There could be a lot of opportunity waiting to be exploited in this area," he said.
Last year, Japanese firm Sony filed a patent for a "SmartWig", with healthcare cited as one of its potential uses along with the ability to help blind people navigate roads.
It said the wig could use a combination of sensors to help collect information such as temperature, pulse and blood pressure of the wearer.