On Thursday, 21st of October, 2021 news filled the air that an American actor; Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins and a director of the movie, Joel Souza on a movie set while they were shooting a movie scene. The cinematographer died before she was airlifted to the nearest hospital while the director who was standing close to the cinematographer survived but sustained injuries.
The actor, Mr Alec Baldwin who is an A list Hollywood actor is loved by many for his movies and topnotch acting skills mostly as a crime boss, he may likely go scot free for this incident (unlike people expected especially the lovers of the victims) because according to police investigations, he was handed over a prop gun for the scene without knowing that the prop gun contained some life ammunition’s, so this is clearly a case of a honest mistake on his part.
When an honest mistake is made and it results to death of another then it will be a case of manslaughter as distinguished from murder. Manslaughter can said to have taken place when there’s is no intent to kill or a premeditated plan to kill but death happened anyway, intent in law is called (mensrea) while the action is called ; actus res. When there’s both an intent to kill (mensrea) added with the actual action of killing (actus res), then murder is said to have been committed because it was premeditated.
In the charge for murder or manslaughter, what the court looks at is if there’s an premeditated plan or thought which is called (mensrea) to carry out the killing. When the jury or the judge determines that there’s was no mensrea, then the charge for murder will be dropped (which in most cases carries a capital punishment) for the charge of manslaughter which carries a lesser punishment.
Going back to the case Alec Baldwin, according to the police investigation, the killing of the cinematographer is not premeditated, neither was it planned, so legally he cannot be charged for murder since there was no mensrea to commit the crime. So the actor may soon be a free man and will likely not be heavily punished for the honest mistake.
Satellite has since inception in the world proven to be a veritable tech-driven tool in mankind’s day-to-day activity, and is presently gaining greater relevance by the day.
A satellite is a celestial object or spacecraft that orbits another object while serving for a particular purpose. It could be natural or artificial (manmade).
The Moon is a good example of a natural satellite that orbits the Earth. The world’s first ever artificial satellite – the Sputnik 1 – was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Since then, countless satellites have been launched into the Earth’s orbit.
So far, about 6,600 satellites have been launched by different countries around the globe. Survey shows that, by 2013, 3600 of them remained in orbit. Among these, only about 1,000 were operational, whilst the rest have lived out their useful lives and thus become mere space debris.
Research further indicates that approximately 500 operational satellites are in low-Earth orbit (at about 2000km altitude), 50 are in medium-Earth orbit or intermediate circular orbit (at about 20000km altitude), and the rest are in geostationary orbit (at about 36000km altitude).
It’s worth noting that satellites are used for many purposes. Common types include the weather satellites, navigation satellites, military cum civilian earth observation satellites, communications satellites, and space telescopes.
Moreover, space stations and human spacecrafts in orbit are equally known as satellites. This discussion, as long as it lasts, will border on communication satellites, particularly ‘television satellites’ as the topic implies.
A communication satellite, which is purposely deployed for telecommunications, is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecom signals via a transponder. It creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on the Earth.
The Beeptool satellite
It is used for television, radio, internet, telephone, or military applications, as might be the case. There are, at the moment, over 2,000 communication satellites in the Earth’s orbit, used by both private and government organizations.
Wireless communication via television, for instance, uses electromagnetic (EM) waves to carry signals. These waves require line-of-sight, and are thus obstructed by the curvature of the Earth. Hence, the prime purpose of communication satellites is to relay the signal around the curve of the Earth allowing communication between widely separated points.
A communication satellite uses a wide range of radio and microwave frequencies. To avoid signal interference, international bodies have regulations for which frequency range or band any firm is allowed to use.
Specifically, the Television (TV) satellite delivers TV programming using signals relayed from space radio stations. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic reflector antenna often referred to as a satellite dish, and a low-noise block (LNB) down-converter.
A satellite receiver then decodes the desired TV programme for viewing on a TV set. The receiving device can be in the form of an external set-top box known as ‘decoder’, or a built-in TV tuner.
On TV satellites, some transmissions and channels are unencrypted, hence are free-to-air or free-to-view, whilst many other channels are transmitted with encryption requiring a subscription.
Most homes these days are set up for Cable TV – a system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre-optic cables, though there’s a growing number who have opted for the more advanced Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) TV commonly called Satellite TV.
With newer technologies in satellite broadcast being developed, it has apparently overtaken cable pattern of broadcast. Meanwhile, there are two sides to satellite TV that you should consider before cutting your ties with cable providers.
Satellite TV has access to a wide range of channels and services, especially in geographic areas without terrestrial/cable TV. The ability to receive and send broadcast signals using satellite tech increases the possibilities of gaining access to channels from other countries that utilize similar tech for broadcasting.
It suffices to say that, with satellite tech, you are not restricted to only the channels on cable networks. DBS TV has high-quality audio and picture display compared to cable TV.
DBS TV possesses parental lock-out options. It takes the worry out of parents who are concerned at what their kids are watching while they are away. Most DBS TV receivers are now able to block certain channels from a TV set.
It equally has a WebTV option, contrary to cable TV that does not. Internet data can be transmitted wirelessly, thus DBS TV can receive internet service from your TV set. In addition, it has digital video recorders. With some satellite TV receivers, one can record shows or programmes directly to a hard-disk drive for playback later.
However, for initial investment, the receiver and satellite dish could be exorbitant. Similarly, multiple TV sets would require multiple receivers unlike in the case of cable TV, thereby making both installation and sustenance very expensive if one has more than one TV set at home.
Its installation techniques, which involved many technologies, might attract additional charges. Above all, DBS can malfunction in bad weather. Since the satellite dish is usually located outdoors, it becomes susceptible to malfunction owing to atmospheric conditions like rainfall, strong winds, snow, and lightning, or what have you. For instance, thunderstorms could pose a threat to, or even completely damage, the receiver.
However, it’s noteworthy that obtaining high quality products could help to curtail or prevent any of these anomalies. Hence, we are advised to invariably opt for products manufactured by reliable firms whenever we intend to upgrade our viewing pleasure. This precaution can best be adhered to by involving an expert when need be.
Whatever the case might be, the fact is that TV satellites remain the best mode of radio cum microwaves transmission. But it’s pertinent to note that its installation and day-to-day maintenance require sound and adequate professional attention.
Ordinarily, there should not be anything like fake news because news is a truth-driven information developed and distributed by a group of people or an individual who have the ability, capability and professional principles of generating and communicating what constituted the news to the public. However, the emergence of the new technologies and the failure of people to hold unto telling truth led to the addition of “fake” before news in recent times.
Apart from fake news, which is part of information pollution ecosystem, misinformation and disinformation are also key components of the ecosystem. From academic scholars to members of varied professional associations, especially those in the media and entertainment industry, misinformation is a concept that has the tendency of misleading the public despite an avalanche of elements of truth in the information. Disinformation, on other hand, does more harm than misinformation, is an attempt of a source to deceive the public using propaganda.
Considering how these components are being traded in the economic, social and political life of every country, our analyst and other partners in the Europe started regional research [focusing on West Africa] a few months ago with a specific focus on knowledge of and attitude of West Africans towards FMD in the sub-region. This piece presents part of the preliminary findings.
From over 200 citizens of the region, who participated in the first stage of the research, it emerged that the majority is familiar with fake news, political bias, misinformation, hate speech and media literacy than other components of fake news, misinformation and disinformation. Over 90% of the citizens are extremely worried about the FMD.
The more they are familiar with fake news and political bias, the more they have interest in taking a media literacy course or attending media literacy training. Their familiarity with media literacy as a course or training only led to having 2.7% interest in going through the course or training. The results further indicate that the more they are familiar with disinformation and hate speech, the more they are disinterested in learning media literacy or going through any training associated with it.
Looking at the preliminary outcomes, it is surprising that the citizens are not ready for media literacy course or training despite the fact that a large number of them are consuming news contents from social media and online bloggers, sources that have been established by a number of previous researches as conduits of fake news, misinformation and disinformation in the region.
Though, 46.5% of the citizens said media literacy course is not popular in the region, Mustapha Muhammadu Jamiu, the European Leading Investigator and Assistant Professor at the RUND University, Russia, notes that the results clearly indicate that there is a need for further studies on factors that could influence the citizens’ non-interest in having media literacy course or training.
Tekedia Startup Masterclass: from Start-Up to Unicorn is designed to help founders, entrepreneurs, and those generally working in the startup ecosystems, to master the mechanics of building category-king startups. The program runs for 8 weeks and it includes an hour-long one-on-one Zoom session every week, per participant, with Tekedia Institute’s Lead Faculty, Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe.
We invite you to register and let us meet in the class. Begin here
Pricing: $400 or N180,000 naira; you begin once you register.
Curriculum for Startup Masterclass
Week
Topic
1
The Mission of Startups
Private Zoom Session
2
The Gameplays of Great Startups
Private Zoom Session
3
The Greatest Business Models
Private Zoom Session
4
The Pursuit of Massive Growth
Private Zoom Session
5
Raising Money, Global Accelerators like YC & Techstars
Valuation and Re-domiciliation (Delaware State)
Private Zoom Session
6
Making Money – Pricing, Revenue and Profit
Private Zoom Session
7
The Africa Ecosystems, Opportunities & Competition
The first day I met Mr. Tony Elumelu. He became a mentor and I remain thankful for how he has helped me over the years.
If you want to do very well in business especially in Africa, invest to find a mentor. Business mentoring is very important and if you are lucky to have access to the legends, your path to glory is paved. Yet, you must work for it. Understand what you do, be concise and clear on what you want. Never ask for free money. Focus on the ideas!
Your mentor must be someone you know has proven that he/she understands the ecosystem you need help. And the person holds laurels. Business is not about who is the most intelligent person. It is about who can combine factors of production to solve market problems; that is not an easy skill to have. And that means your university professor, while your former academic mentor, may not be your business mentor.
As a young banker in Lagos, I read one book – The Richest Man in Babylon – and since then, I have mastered where to ask for help. I do not waste time asking a carpenter about clean water. Never. Find a mentor and make sure it is not parasitic. In short, that mentor must gain something as he/she mentors you.
When I was starting, I asked Mr. Tony Elumelu many questions. In his responses, he cuts out the noise. He has more access to data and his perspectives are closer to reality than mine. Why? He sees Nigeria and Africa through the balance sheets of his companies! Simply, he feels the pulse of markets. His support made me better. Find someone who can make you better.
Comment on LinkedIn Feed
On books and mentoring in Africa: . You do not need a mentor in US that much because their business leaders write many books. If you get the insights from books, perfect. But the books have to be written first. Have been waiting for Dangote to write a book; I will order 100 on day 1 for all our startups.
Comment #1: Prof: ‘Find a mentor and make sure it is not parasitic. In short, that mentor must gain something as he/she mentors you.’ This is an extremely important point Ndubuisi Ekekwe.
I get 5-10 requests to mentor per week. It is a rolling program ? Some even expect that at some point along the way, I will fund or sponsor something they are into. Can’t see how that can work.
Time = Money.
You invest one, you expect the other in return. They don’t both flow the same way.
I usually point to my writings on Tekedia Institute and let people know it is for free. There is a lot of good stuff on there that is open source which can be browsed. My content is just a very very small part of what is available.
If anybody is interested in a specific mentor then my advice would be to formulate what the mentor can gain from the process and lead with it as a value proposition instantaneously with the mentoring request.
This way the targeted mentor can weigh up if it works for them or not, and they can do that right away. Requests for mentoring that leave the prospective mentor scratching their head and having to tease out information like pulling a tooth will probably end right there.
