LT-Bot

Retweets, non fattening food for thought....

[Ayodeji. S. Akerele @sammyalfred7]

Our first attempt at growing yam, just 500 heaps & the result blew my mind. 😀

Other than that, the experience itself was intriguing & exciting.. i enjoy doing this.

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Google would not send a Street View car to the Faroe Islands, so in 2016 a Faroese woman strapped a camera to a sheep and mapped the country herself.

The grievance was legitimate. Eighteen islands in the North Atlantic, some of the most spectacular road in Europe, causeways and tunnels and single track cut along the edge of a cliff face, and none of it on Street View. Google had been up Mont Blanc. Google had been to Greenland. Google had been above the Arctic Circle in half a dozen countries. The Faroes had about fifty thousand people and a coastline, and they were simply not on the list.

Durita Dahl Andreassen worked for the tourist board in Tórshavn. Her reasoning was straightforward and, in its way, unanswerable. There are more sheep on the islands than people. They walk freely. They go everywhere. They have no schedule and no other commitments.

So a fellow islander built a harness. Onto it went a 360 degree camera, a mobile phone and a lightweight solar panel to keep the batteries up, the whole rig weighing under a kilo. The camera was set to fire every minute. Five sheep in five locations were fitted out and released to do what they were going to do anyway, which was walk about eating grass on the edge of some of the most photogenic drops in the North Atlantic.

The images came back tagged with GPS coordinates, over a mobile signal, from a sheep. Andreassen uploaded them to Google Maps.

They called it Sheep View 360. Her job title, for a period, was Sheep View 360 Project Manager, which remains one of the finest lines ever printed on a business card.

The one technical hitch, reported by the tourist board with total sincerity, was motivation. The sheep had to be encouraged to go to the interesting bits, which meant somebody standing behind them doing the thing you do to move sheep. The technology worked perfectly. The talent needed direction.

Then it went round the world, because of course it did, and thousands of Faroese signed a petition asking Google to please come and do this properly.

Google saw it, called it shear brilliance, and folded. In August 2016 they shipped over a Street View Trekker and a set of 360 cameras on loan, and the islanders went out and mapped their own country with them: on foot with selfie sticks, on bikes, in cars, on horses, in kayaks, off the back of ships, and, at least once, with a wheelbarrow. The Google Maps team turned up in person in 2017.

The Faroe Islands are on Street View. You can go and drive those roads from a laptop tonight, and the reason you can is that a small nation with no leverage whatsoever pointed at the one asset it had a surplus of and put a camera on it.

Worth remembering what that asset is called, in the local telling. The Norse name for the place, Færeyjar, means the sheep islands. The oldest surviving document in the country is a set of laws about sheep, written in 1298.

Named by sheep. Governed by sheep. Photographed by sheep.

Everyone in this story was willing except Google, and even the sheep only needed a shove.

[BOLANLE AUSTEN-PETERS @bolanleap]

At 80, my dad, Aare Afe Babalola, founded Afe Babalola University (ABUAD). Today, it ranks among the Top 100 universities globally also the biggest employer of labour in Ekiti State. A powerful reminder: never stop dreaming, never stop building. Age is truly just a number.
@Abuadalumni_ @AlumniAbuad @Abuad_Uni

[OkinBiscuitsLimited @OkinBiscuits]

We are working hard to make this Nigerian dream come true…

[TVC News @tvcnewsng]

VIDEO: Okin Biscuits Resumes Production After 17-Year Shutdown

Okin Biscuits has taken a major step towards returning to the Nigerian market, as biscuits rolled off one of its rehabilitated production lines at its factory in Offa, Kwara State, for the first time in 17 years.

The company on its official Facebook handle on Wednesday said the production line had to be rebuilt after its cables, frequency drives, contactors, motors and other electronic components were stolen.

The company also announced that while further testing, calibration and rehabilitation are still required before the familiar Okin taste and quality are restored, the milestone marks significant progress towards bringing the biscuits back to the market.

Credit: Facebook|Okin Biscuits Limited

[ElaineStark @ElaineSstark]

Dolly Parton casi chocó su automóvil la primera vez que escuchó a Whitney Houston cantar “I Will Always Love You”.

La canción había nacido casi 20 años antes, cuando Dolly decidió separarse profesionalmente de Porter Wagoner, el hombre que había impulsado su carrera.

Como él se negaba a dejarla marchar, ella escribió una despedida y se la cantó.

Porter terminó llorando.

Tiempo después, Elvis Presley quiso grabarla. Para Dolly era un sueño, hasta que su representante le exigió entregar la mitad de los derechos de autor. Aunque necesitaba el dinero, se negó.

Aquella decisión cambió su vida.

En 1992, Kevin Costner eligió la canción para “The Bodyguard” y Whitney Houston la convirtió en un fenómeno mundial. Dolly escuchó la versión por primera vez mientras conducía y tuvo que detenerse: estaba tan emocionada que temió sufrir un accidente.

“Tomó mi pequeña canción y la convirtió en algo enorme”, recordaría después.

La versión le generó cerca de 10 millones de dólares en regalías. Dolly invirtió parte de ese dinero en un complejo de oficinas situado en un barrio históricamente afroamericano de Nashville.

Lo llamó «la casa que Whitney construyó».

Dolly escribió la canción. Whitney la hizo volar. Y entre las dos crearon una despedida que el mundo nunca pudo olvidar.

Ahora las dos nos han dejado, pero juntas hicieron que una canción de despedida se volviera eterna.

[Christopher Webb @cwebbonline]

The Empire State Building went pink at exactly 9:25pm for Dolly Parton.

Because of course they made it 9 to 5. That’s how you honor an icon. 🩷

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy.

She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid.

The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%.

She handed out the checks herself.

In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college.

When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months.

You've probably heard that part.

Here's the part you haven't:

The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top.

Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave.

She built her county an entire hospital.

She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it.

In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees.

Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal.

In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release.

And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it.

She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway.

She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did.

Rest in Peace, Dolly 🇺🇸

[YabaLeftOnline @yabaleftonline]

“I bought over 50 ceiling fans, 40 standing fans, 50 orthopedic mattresses. Where are they?” - Moment Nasarawa lawmaker demands answers over missing items he donated after discovering hospital staff allegedly sold them

[Alex Onyia @winexviv]

I was heartbroken to learn about these students today.

Their dad had both kidneys fail and no one could fund their education. They were forced to drop out of school in December last year.

Their names are Emmanuella Ngaha and Jason Ngaha. They came by themselves from Owerri to Enugu this morning to attend our 2-week intensive bootcamp.

They were both high-flying students at Ambassador College, Ota. The boy was the best in Maths and Chemistry in SS1, and the girl has won so many national awards.

Today they are out of school with no hope of continuing.

They decided to use their last ₦24,000 to take a bus to Enugu to attend the bootcamp.

Unfortunately, this morning they were defrauded of the ₦24,000, which left them with no option but to beg for transport support until someone helped them.

A lot of young, bright children are going through a lot that is beyond their control.

We can’t let these bright stars lose their shine because of challenges beyond their control.

[Snr. Cde. Robert Kabushenga @rkabushenga]

Kabushenga’s Thoughts

Here Is A Cause For You

I disappointed my friend @asiimwe4justice. You see, Jackie has this great concept which really works well & especially for her. She does this walk where she calls up a person she would like to have a conversation with & off they go. For a start, it is good exercise. Walking always is. Secondly, it is a really really cheap date. Almost laughably so. You who comes along never has to cost her anything. The road is free and no need to eat or drink. Yet you keep her perhaps the most productive company of any date that anyone can wish for. When you are done you go home. But I digress. This is not about hooking up. It is about conversation & learning.

So back to the disappointment. Jackie expected to talk about the change that my life has gone through since my previous work. Deep down, without saying it, she expected I would break out into a run rather than walk. None of that happened. In fact I stuck to walking. Only at a faster pace. She had to slow me down to catch her breath. But I couldn’t help myself. Rather than miss out on running, I spent most of our walking time on the road, talking about running. I said nothing about the new direction my life had taken. She didn’t forgive me. But my run talk was about an issue dear to Jackie’s heart. I decided to tell her why on Sunday October 4th we are going to run to #SaveAMother.

The week before I visited Mengo Hospital Blood Bank. It was a sobering experience. The Independence Marathon is partly a fundraising drive to benefit them because they serve the underprivileged particularly mothers in child birth. Of the 187 Ugandan mothers that die every year during child birth, most of them bleed to death. Uganda suffers an annual blood shortfall of 100,000 units. So Mengo Hospital Blood Bank a major source, is in desperate need of blood and money to collect it. They also need a cold room to handle the raw blood. Right now it is kept in a few ordinary fridges. And let me add that the shortage of O-Minus blood is particularly acute. This was my conversation with Jackie. By the time she remembered why she had wanted us to go on this walk together, we were done. I laughed at her! And she was sold in signing up for the cause. Please join her #WalkToConnect bus that day if running is too much for you. See you then

PS: Got to donate blood myself & meet two old friends @naviomusic & @Mizzflav

[Jacqueline Asiimwe @asiimwe4justice]

Who Gets Mapped?

“I’m coming to Uganda. What can I bring for you?” my dear friend @Kyakyo_ asked me a few months ago.

“Bring me one of the bestselling fiction books in the UK at the moment,” I told her.

I love fiction, and I wanted to get my hands on a book I wouldn’t ordinarily find in bookstores in Uganda.

And Tracy brought me Land, by @author_magfarr

I had never read any of her books, but I was happy to dig into this 434-page book.

My, what an experience!

The story is riveting. You fall in love with the characters, and there is so much tragedy. I do like sad stories… I hope that doesn’t say something about me. 🙃

It has all the things I love - the great outdoors, history, geography, family, dogs, suspense, love, hope, fear, dread, religion and class relations. All mixed together into one potent brew.

But the enduring lesson for me was about maps.

I had never really thought about how political maps are.

We are taught about maps in geography as though they are neutral things: lines, boundaries, names, places, coordinates.

Land made me think differently.

Maps are also about power.

Who gets to draw them? Who gets named? Whose version of a place becomes official? Whose land is acknowledged? Who gets erased? What disappears when a place is renamed or simply left off the map?

Suddenly, a map is not just telling you where something is. It is also telling you something about who has the power to decide what matters.

What an education.

What entertainment.

What a good reason to read fiction!

I finished Land entertained, moved and thinking differently about something I have looked at all my life.

Now that is a good book!

Get your hands on Land. Read it. And then come back and tell me what you think.

I highly, highly recommend it.

#Land #MaggieOFarrell #WhatIAmReading

[LT-Bot @LtdBot]

@Sugar_Pops_ 🤣🤣

[E! News @enews]

Angélique Kidjo has officially made history as the first African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[FSD Uganda @fsduganda]

Investment readiness starts long before meeting investors.

The Deal Flow Facility (DFF) helps Ugandan SMEs strengthen governance, systems, and investor confidence building businesses that are ready to grow.

Watch how @RideAuto47063 transformed its operations through the programme. https://t.co/iGuBLn9sXW

[Typical African @Joe__Bassey]

Khalifa Aminu, an 18-year-old inventor born in Kano, Nigeria, 🇳🇬 has built a pair of sensory glasses intended to help people with visual impairments move around safely on their own.

Aminu told DailyNews24 TV that his interest in building things began in childhood after watching movies, which led him to construct a canoe as his first project and sparked a broader interest in creating tools to benefit his community.

Beyond the sensory glasses, he has also worked on other projects, including a radio station, a bomb detector, and an automatic water sprinkler system for farmers.

Sources:
Reported by AfroTech (Samantha Dorisca), based on statements Aminu gave to DailyNews24 TV.

📸: Al Generated / Modified / Anadolu

[Lucy @TheLucyShow1]

Our favorite Vulture is zooming again 🤣

[🤠 @heavensbvnny]

I just want you to remember. That we live in a world where octopuses dream, otters have a favorite shell that they carry with them all their lives, cows have best friends, and bees have different "dialects" of dance depending on the region. Cats purr at a frequency that accelerates bone healing, the forest grows flowers first after a fire, and dolphins give each other names and respond to them. Penguins make proposals by giving each other the most beautiful pebble

[Obirinism @Obinrinism]

Adekemi Olugbade says she wants to become one of the best ceramists in the world. ❤️

[Lucy @TheLucyShow1]

I’ll never look at another Vulture the same again 😂