Africa Lately: On KongaPay, M-KOPA And Value4Naira.com

E-commerce is one thing that is spreading across Nigeria and Africa as a whole, and companies and businesses are taking advantage of it. Recently Konga launched its payment service, KongaPay which has actually existed for some time now. We could call it a 'relaunch' if we want, but it has been on the Konga platform since August last year. But now is adding new features and extending KongaPay as a payment method to consumers outside the Konga.com platform.

Konga which is founded by Harvard MBA holder, Sim Shagaya, just last month launched KongaPay which is considered Konga's PayPal to Ebay.
KongaPay's "Me-Commerce" option will allow any business in Nigeria to create their own QR payment code from a mobile phone image. Social networks like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp will now have a new payment option in Africa, which is the KongaPay. Awesome right?

This move is in line with Shagaya's vision to create a 21st century operating system that will better connect buyers and sellers across Africa. Way to go! Ah! KONGA!

Now, M-KOPA Solar is a power startup that is lighting homes of low income across East Africa via mobile money leasing.
M-KOPA is presently in 330,000 homes in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and just recently, Ghana and plans to enter new African countries in the near future.

The company was co-founded by Jesse Moore, Nick Hughes at Vodafone, and Chad Larson.
The M-KOPA baseline box-kit comes stocked with a solar panel, lights, radio, multi-device charger and a pay-as-you-go SIM card.

The company, which launched in 2012, has Safaricom and M-Pesa as its finance partners in Kenya and Tanzania while customers in Uganda make payments via MTN Money or Airtel Money.

Coming to Nigeria, M-KOPA's Jesse Moore noted that there is "huge potential" but said that due to kerosene subsidies and the "not-so-patronized" mobile money scenario, the model is restricted for now.
M-KOPA is looking to better its services with new financing options and powerful solar charging capacity as well as additional product packages like its flat screen TV which it first offered in February. Good thinking.

Back to Nigeria, Value4Naira.com is Nigeria's latest online supermarket which is assuring Nigerians of the best prices and services. It intends to cater to the needs of busy Nigerians in terms of grocery shopping and purchase of household items.
"We want to ensure that Nigerians enjoy beautiful shopping experience while enjoying a premium customer service at the cheapest prices," says Umeike Ernest, Chief Operations Officer.

According to Ernest, the company has a team of experienced persons with over 15 years experience in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market segment, banking and e-commerce.

"This gives us a good understanding of customer needs in terms of price sensitivity, robust supply chain and dynamic customer care. We have chosen the supermarket part of e-commerce because we know that we can assure customers of the best prices, widest range of options and effective supply system to make this a wonderful shopping experience" says Ernest.

Concerning making its quality of service, it announced that it has secured a number of partnerships.
"We have gone into partnerships to ensure that our customers are assured of cheapest prices in e-commerce in Nigeria. The partnerships grow by the day and can only serve to reinforce the quality and variety of products and prices customers pay."

It's looking at being the fastest in terms of delivery with a same day delivery option for orders made before 11am within Lagos, and the next day for orders made after 11am. Pretty cool!

Low prices! Good quality! Quick delivery! Works for me.

Supermart.ng Wants You To Buy Nigeria To Strengthen The Naira

Shopping online is an interesting subject matter to me and I don't really know why, but I guess it's just the craze that comes along with it. And no, I'm not a shopaholic.

With the turn of the economies recently, all sorts of campaigns have hit the Nigerian commerce space, all preaching one thing and one thing only which is, "Buy Nigeria to strengthen the Naira."
Yes indeed, buy Nigeria and strengthen the Naira because the markets are not exactly smiling.

With the Naira's recent plummet and even fluctuation if you would say, Nigerians have been advised to buy our "Made in Nigeria" goods in order to give the Naira some value, and yes we need to do that. We cannot keep on patronizing other products from outside the country, while we have to an extent, some good Nigerian products that we can make use of and derive same, or close, or even better satisfaction from.

It is as only normal for stores to take advantage of the situation and try to offer buyers, made in Nigeria goods as a way of strengthening the purchasing power of the Naira. That is what Supermart.ng is doing.
Supermart.ng is an online supermarket and grocery delivery service that is encouraging the purchase of locally made products.
This it is doing as it launched its proudly Nigerian campaign early last month. It's labelling all locally produced goods with a "Proudly Nigerian" stamp, thereby making it easier for customers to identify and buy products made in Nigeria, which I think is really good.

Co-CEO, Raphael Afaedor speaking during the launch last month, said they did a test-run in the months of February and March. "What we have seen is that when customers know what is produced in Nigeria versus what is imported, they are likely to choose local equivalents in a significant number of cases; today's customer wants to make an impact through what they buy" he says. "We have seen a 32% increase in the purchase of local products since we started promoting locally made goods." He's right for the most part because some Nigerians are really looking to patronize proudly Nigerian products lately. I am one of them. Let's do ourselves a favor please.

Gbolahan Fagbure, Co-CEO also said, "We’re not one to jump on a band wagon but for the last couple of months, we've been promoting homegrown goods." He said that all made in Nigeria goods on their site, has a tag on them which reads "Proudly Nigerian".
"If you're thinking of substituting more foreign imports for locally produced items, there is no better place than Supermart.ng" says Fagbure.

This is just great as it is beneficial to local farmers and companies and to the Nigerian economy. I really do hope a lot of Nigerians would wake up to this and embrace it.
Celebrate our own. Make use of our own. Patronize it. Promote it. Be Proud of it. Encourage it. Tell someone about it... I think that's it.

I've got love for Naija. Naija na we own o! Make we join hands together build am. Cause at the end of the day, it's what we've got. It's our homeland, and nothing can change that. It's a beautiful place, where money is all around us but we are not really opening our eyes to see it. There's more to us than meets the eye(especially more than our "oil"). Open up your mind. This land is blessed. So blessed by God. Don't let anyone deceive you. Support the sale and purchase of locally made goods.

Well, I guess this is my own campaign right now.
A Vote for Locally Made Products(LMP), is a Vote for the Naira. Vote LMP, vote Proudly Nigerian.

LMP! Power To The Naira! Lol!

God bless the Naira . God bless Nigeria. The most awesome nation in the world. Carry go jor!

Curb Energy Usage With "Curb" Household Energy Monitoring System

First of all, before we get to know what "Curb" is really about and what it does, I need to say that Nigerians, especially those using PHCN bill-reading metres, need this device thingy. Although not available in Nigeria(I think), we just need this technology to help out.

*off the record* I think some metres over here in Nigeria, bill you for the very air you breathe cause I don't understand how you wouldn't have power for about say 1 week, and your monthly bill would remain the same or even exceed the previous months. I really don't get it. No offense but no one doesn't know that already. Just saying. *On Air* It's getting better though, I think. Oops! Did I say that on air? Never mind.

Okay. Now, you know the feeling you get when your bills are on the rise and then your electricity bill is always topping the chart simply because someone always leaves the light on, or annoying still, someone always forgets to turn off the lights. 😬  Slap! Well, there isn't much you can really do about it. But with Curb, you can at least know just how much energy you're making use of.

Curb is a comprehensive household energy monitoring system which monitors the entire home by using sensors installed in the circuit breaker. Just imagine what this technology could do, with it you will be able to monitor the energy consumed by appliances in your home, even when you're not at home. How? Well, it works with an app that lets you view, live, the use of energy in your home whether you are in the office, supermarket, or church. Talk about drastic reduction of use of appliances. Those heavy appliances like electric kettle, dryer and air conditioners, can be checked. Although it's used as an energy monitor, for some reason it cannot easily monitor and report how much energy is consumed by a computer or espresso machine. Why? Don't know.
But for lights and other appliances, thank you Curb.

Now an electrician(licensed) has to work on this and closely too. A sensor has to be installed on each breaker and then the system configured through an iPad app. This is not something an average person can just install all by themselves so please don't go hero on us, thank you very much.
Curb looks to serve you and your home with data not previously available. Other energy monitoring services either monitor the entire home or individual outlets. Curb sits in the middle of the two at the circuit break box. Every breaker is connected to a sensor and an app can display live consumption information. An approximation of how much the energy is costing you is also shown to you.

You can see what time appliances were being made use of on a chart, and even what appliances were used. On the chart, you can view the circuits that power a particular room or space.

The company is working towards implementing new features.
The team is trying to give weekly emails that gives the consumer a breakdown of their energy usage and if anything odd happened like an appliance consuming way to much electricity. Good work. Although, there's a lot more we can expect like you being able to switch off which ever appliances you want, maybe one that you forgot to turn off, even when there's no one at home. Probably from your app or something like that.

Curb was built by a small team in Austin, Texas. The company acquired $117,000 in preorders and pledges through an Indiegogo campaign and got seed fundings of up to $1.25 million from angels, strategic partners and Austin’s Capital Factory. Currently Curb is available through Indiegogo and Amazon. The company has sold just less than a thousand units and are working with electricians to get these systems installed in homes in the US.

Curb is also talking with solar power providers to use the Curb system to monitor the energy output of panels while also providing the deep energy usage data. Curb can change how consumers use their electricity output. And might I just add quickly, especially here in Nigeria.
Now that's a 'smarthome.'

Well that would be in time to come. For now we've got other things to worry about. But hey, nice technology!

What The Diavelo Zeitgeist Electric Bike Will Do For You

How easy is it, riding a bike? Maybe really easy. But not as easy going up a hill on a bike, or even coming down, especially very steep areas. For professional bikers, it really isn't as much of an issue as it is for others. The Diavelo Zeitgeist Electric Bike was designed to solve this problem of getting uphill on a bike. It has a battery that only has to be charged every two weeks and it is hidden within the structure of the bike. "We want to be the Warby Parker of bikes" so says Kartik Ram, the CEO of the Zeitgeist company.

The carbon-fiber electric bike was designed by Brian Hoehl of Denmark and has already won several awards. The battery slides seamlessly into the bottom tube and was designed in-house and patented. The entire bike, including the and patented. The entire bike, including the 500-watt battery, weighs only 20kg(about 44 pounds). Super light yeah? Despite its battery pack and all. "You can carry it up three flights of stairs,” says Ram. The battery only assists the rider as he pedals; there’s no throttle. But that assistance only gets you up to 28mph which is about 45km/h, the legal limit for electricpowered bicycles in the United States.

The company's co-founder Gregg Stewart noted that you can ride up a steeper hill on an electric bike than you might be able to using only your own leg power. "Brakes become crucial on the downhill,” he says, and this is the reason why the Zeitgeist has ventilated disc brakes.

The Zeitgeist is aimed at casual riders, people who don’t want to take the car to run errands. They’ll use this bike a couple of times a week, not as a daily commuting vehicle. The company has already established a relationship with Thule to create a basket and panniers that fit the bike. According to Stewart, the first batch of the bikes go for $3,999, and notes that for this reason, the Zeitgeist is going to be treated differently than just a commuter bike. Ram added that the bike’s buyers are “round trippers,” people who take it to get coffee then ride back home. The Zeitgeist can be locked up at the coffee shop like any other bike, but the battery can also be unlocked and popped out, making it less likely for the bike to be stolen. Amazing!

Because the Zeitgeist was designed from the ground up not by modding an existing bike model -it's going to be sold differently, too. Ram and Stewart found that neither traditional bike shops nor big-box stores were a good fit. Stewart said that they were going to showcase the bike in pop-up shops and online to sell it through direct channels.

Now hold on, I've just been quiet since. Did you say $3,999? That's more than 800,000 Naira. Na motor? You can get a good fairly used Camry for that price (I think). No offense. Just saying. I feel much lighter now that I've got that off my chest. Anyway, never mind me I guess in the future I would understand. 😉

In order to get the company off the ground, the founders approached Tesla for a partnership, you know, the Tesla brand, auto company, but things didn't work out well. So they ended up working with Crowd Supply, a funding platform based in Portland, Oregon, which found the project interesting and outstanding. in Portland, Oregon, which found the project unique. “We were able to test it,” said Crowd Supply’s Josh Lifton in an interview, "so we were able to back Zeitgeist up with confidence.”

At Crowd Supply, delivery rate matters most. When you order your bike, the ship date depends on how many people ordered before you. Ram said the company is going to sell the bike in small lots. "That’s key,” he said, "We don’t like to tease. We want to give people the future now." The first few backers on Crowd Supply will get their bikes shipped within about a month. The company wants to work with those early patronizers to get feedback on how to improve the design while working on it for a second time.

The future is here and now. All the tech movies of the future we see on TV, they're all coming to play gradually and Zeitgeist is keen on making it a reality now than in a distant future.

Ram and Stewart hope that people realize how easy it is to explore their surroundings with an electric-assisted bike. And, as Ram said, "People want to buy cool stuff. Well, I'm not much of a biker so maybe that's why I don't really appreciate the price. But I know You will and so will lots of other persons. At the end of the day, it's one more Awesome technology of the Tech Age. *Loving it*

Facebook Messenger’s Newest Call Feature

Don't you just love to talk to loved ones and keep those connections. The laughter? The vibe? The feeling? The kindness? The love? It's just a beauty. But sometimes, it can be time and money consuming and you may not be able to reach out to them due to this.
At other times, you would like to talk to those at work or school.

Now, Facebook has been doing a lot of recent and with its F8 event last month, a lot has been talked about. From chatbots and all to other interesting features still to come. And just recently, Facebook hit 1.65billion users. Wow! Mark sure isn't showing down, even after his baby mama, Chan gave him his little girl, Maxima, he's even more fired up than ever.
WhatsApp users in Brazil were recently blocked in Brazil for a whole day by a Brazilian judge but was allowed operation again. The ban which was meant to last for 72 hours, was lifted after an appeal.

Well, Facebook Messenger's newest call feature helps you achieve this feat. It lets you hear the voices of your entire family, literally. All you need to do is to tap the Phone icon, and then you select which of the group chat members that you want included in your call and they’ll all receive a Messenger call. Cool! This way I can call my family and colleagues all at once. Whew! That's a relief. And if you miss the initial call and find that the call is still in progress, you simply tap the Phone icon in the group chat to join the call. At any time you can see who’s on the call and send another ping to anyone who hasn't joined. Amazing!

Users can start a group VoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol) audio call from any group chat. The number of participants per call, Facebook says is 50. This feature is free on Android and iOS platforms. A Messenger spokesperson said, "There are situations where typing isn't enough and when people prefer talking to one another." Facebook began offering VolP in 2013 and right now there is no feature that allows for group video calling, but I'm sure we see that in the near future you.

Last year, Messenger started allowing all Facebook users to chat with each other even if they are not friends. Sometimes, strangers pings can be hidden in the Filtered Message Requests section under 'Settings', under 'People', under 'Message Requests', in 'Filtered Requests' segment. Messenger looks to replace your phone number by giving you options to help you keep check on your contacts. Unlike phone numbers where you have little control once someone knows your number, Messenger allows you to easily block people. I know right. Those meddling callers who just can't let you be. Hmmm! You're not alone. The ability to message you can’t be sold. Thanks to Facebook’s spam detection systems, it’s not easy for someone to create a new Facebook account with which to you. Messenger could serve as a better replacement for Skype, and even let you set up easy conference calls with people whose numbers you don’t have. Interesting!

That would be really nice as Skype requires a person's number but if it works out as Facebook plans, Messenger would not require any number to make a live video call to anyone you know. All that would be needed would be for such a person to be among your friends list.
Really nice! Keep keeping it real.

Here Comes Jongla, A Light Messaging App

Just how light are messaging apps? Well Jongla, an instant messaging app in January of 2015, claimed to have the lightest Android instant messaging app in the world. With features that enable users send text messages, images, videos, push-to-talk messages, location info and stickers, one would swear that using it would be expensive due to the features. Not just that, users can create group chats with up to 100 members, and send a message to many users with a broadcast feature just like the WhatsApp. And after all of these features, it's just a 2.5MB in download size. Pretty light indeed.

Jongla is a Finland-based company founded by Arto Boman, located in Helsinki, with other offices in Jakarta, Indonesia. The service makes use of users mobile data plan, Wi-Fi networks, as well as 4G, 3G, GPRS, and EDGE.

Jongla announced last month, during the Mobile West Africa conference held in Lagos Nigeria, on the 20th and 21st of April, that it is launching its fast, open and lite instant messaging app in Africa. This it said, noting that cellular and data services in Africa are often unreliable and expensive, and this app would open up the world of free instant messaging to people in these parts.

Jongla uses innovative technology to reduce bandwidth usage, thereby helping people save their data plan, as well as their money. This makes it easy to use, more often, and in more places.

With Jongla, voice messaging is more fun as you can add fun filters to your voice messages to make them sound like you're someone else, and even like an animal. This is due to a unique embedded voice effects studio.
Push-to-talk voice messages of up to one minute in length can be recorded and shared with friends. Also, chatting with other Jongla users, as well as non-Jongla users, is possible. Jongla lets you chat with all your phone book contacts and if a contact does not have the app installed, they can chat via a web app for Jongla without downloading or registering. And it's absolutely free. Awesome stuff!
You can set a personal passcode lock, keeping your chats private.

Riku Salminen, the CEO of Jongla said that the company has made instant messaging possible for people who don't have high-end smartphones and live and work in areas where access to mobile broadband is limited.
In his words, he says, "We chose Nigeria to launch Jongla in Africa because we know that many people are frustrated with the present user experience that most of the IM apps offer. We have been able to solve various technical challenges without needing to compromise on functionality."
Yes indeed, we are frustrated with user experiences in these parts. 'Data Exhausting'. That's the word.

"Users want something more fun and personal than just basic messaging to connect with friends and family," Riku says. "We believe in a world where everyone can communicate instantly, freely and securely from anywhere and with anyone regardless of where they live, which phone they have and which network they can access," Riku said.

The Jongla team is working on the addition of new social and collaborative features to Jongla that will exceed conventional messaging. It intends to launch these features in a few months from now.

Am I not downloading my version right now already? You bet I am. Right away. Jongla On! Hmmm! This music is really good. Wait, what? Never mind. Shopping on the store. The way we roll in the Tech Age. 😜

Isono Health Is Getting You A Breast Cancer Scanner At Home

Breast cancer is a seeming menace to lots of women around the globe today and has attracted quite a lot of attention with several support programs for ex-breast cancer patients and awareness campaigns about the existence, symptoms, extent of damage, check, prevention.
Breast cancer can be controlled by regular checks which help women in knowing if they have it or not.

That is what iSono Health, a new startup wants to help you with. Isono Health wants to make it easier for women to screen their breasts for cancer, from the comfort of their own home.
Now we know that breast cancer can be checked by the conventional method which is pressing on the breasts, observing, checking for lumps and bumps and pains, and if any then if any, they have to pay a visit to the doctor, who then screens their breast for any cancer. 

Well, iSono Health wants to do just that, but intends to skip the part where you have to go for scans or see the doctor to observe or screen your "girls". It will do this by creating a 3D ultrasound that attaches to a wearable (bra-like) for automatic and repeatable imaging at home. And guess what? It takes only 2 minutes to do it. It's also radiation-free and women can do it monthly to detect and track any changes. This is a safe and convenient method. It allows for regular and convenient breast health monitoring at home. It would make things a whole lot easier for the ladies. 

The wearable is like a bra accessory. There's the iSono app which works with something called "CoCo scanner. The CoCo scanner is kind of like a cone shape with its tip removed, like what is known as a" frustum" in geometry. The bra (which is what I refer to as the wearable) has two circular openings or rings, just about the size of the circular-patched, nipple area on the breast (ladies you know better). The CoCo device fits into the ring with the smaller end pressing gently on the breast. 

First of all, you comfortably wear the accessory, then gently attach the CoCo scanner to any of the rings. Open the iSono app and press "scan". The app works with the CoCo device to scan the breast for any changes or abnormalities. The scan is completed in about one minute. Then you repeat the same process for the other breast. The scan completes and the software will process the results and tag any changes. Now this is where your doctor comes in. You send the images from your scan to your doctor who analyzes and sends you a feedback via the app. And just like that, you've done your monthly breast cancer check with ease, from the comfort of your home. 

Now I know you're wondering, what's the CoCo device made of that makes it a scanner? Beats me. But the CoCo device has a base which is used in charging it, so at least we know it works with a charge and electricity. The app notifies you to schedule your next scan in one month, so as to keep you constantly on check. I think this technology is helpful and though I may not understand what you ladies go through, I think this is a welcome technology. It's cool. Good for you. Okay that's enough hype and bonding, thank you very much. 

Just so you know, Maryam Ziaei, is the CEO and co-founder of iSono Health, while Shadi Saberi is the CTO and co-founder as well. All ladies. Typical indeed. That's why they're so passionate about this. Maryam is passionate about connected medical devices and digital health platforms, and has a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. Shadi loves solving problems in health care and has a Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon. 

Wooo! Rock On Ladies! ✌

Health Tech: At-Home Blood Test Startup By Former Apple Exec

Have you heard of Bob Messerschmidt? Probably. Probably not. I hadn't until now. But you certainly have heard about Apple Inc. Yeah? Well, Bob happens to be a former Apple executive who spent three years of his time there, helping to design the Apple Watch platform after Apple acquired his spectroscopy company, Rare Light. The acquisition was in 2010.
Bob knew when he left Apple that the new company he was founding would again involve smartphones, considering the fact that smartphones are beginning to help us put a check on our general wellness and responses to medicine and other treatments.

Cor is the startup that helps you measure heart health, all with just a tiny drop of blood. You could have heard of Theranos and what the company does, but don't think Cor is like it. Cor allows people to test themselves in their own homes, using an appliance that is the size of an electric toothbrush and disposable cartridges.

The blood chemistry of the individual is then sent into the cloud, analyzed and then the results sent back to users within few minutes, about five, along with useful tips on how to make it better. Note that Cor is not trying to tell its users anything definitive. Theranos on the other hand, tries to provide diagnostic numbers.

"We're not a medical device company. We're providing lifestyle guidance. Theranos is trying to provide diagnostic numbers" says Bob.
The company is trying to be as transparent as possible. Cor's product has validated the model and methods in a clinical trial run by a third-party clinical research organization. Cor is now publishing those results in order to allow peer review and promote understanding of its approach. Interesting!

The device goes for $299, plus another $10 per month for cartridges. Now, the question is, how often would I check, or want to check my state of wellness and how willing would I be to draw blood on a weekly or monthly basis? It requires a certain level of commitment.
Cor's product features a very fine needle that gets poked in one's arm, and Bob says it's similar to what is used for glucose testing. It doesn't hurt at all.

Bob admits that there's an issue of uncertainty of some persons about their health, but for those who wish to keep at it and want to know their health status, the company provides support. That support includes feedback of Cor's customers who will be asked to answer occasional survey questions about their results and ways they are improving on them. Such insights provided, would then be used to help inform the lifestyle choices of its other users.

Customers would make use of this device for purposes ranging from, those who would want to keep track of signs of heart disease, especially for those who may have early signs of such, to those must-stay-fit kinda people who want to derive as much performance from themselves as possible.

Cor gives users a fibrinogen number. A fibrinogen is a protein produced by the liver, which helps stop bleeding by means of formation of blood clots. Fibrinogen only helps in blood clots but is not what causes the blood to clot. A blood test therefore, can be done in order to inform an individual on the amount of fibrinogen available in his or her blood. The normal range of fibrinogen presence in the blood is about 200 to 400 mg/dL.
Cor, however does not reveal this number to users but gives them insight based on its analysis, so as to enable them make better choices in terms of diet and exercise.

Cor also processes the HDL and LDL (good and bad) cholesterol levels.
Works for me. This way one can have an idea of how much our health is affected by our lifestyle choices, and what changes to make in order to lead healthier lifestyles.
Life In A Jet Age is easier. *loving this age*.

Boom Wants To Build Us Supersonic Planes

Boom is looking to transform the way air travels will be done in the near future by building airplanes that are literally 2.6 times faster than the usual airliners (at least that's what it's saying).
You can take trips to distant places and back, same day. For instance, it takes about 6hrs 45 minutes from Lagos to London, but with Boom's Supersonic airplanes you can get to London In a mere 3hrs or there about. Also, it takes about 7hrs to go from New York to London, but Boom makes the journey in about 3.4hrs, saving 3.6hrs in travel time. Now that's really fast.

It sounds like something out of a Sci-fi movie. But if and when it becomes a reality, it would revolutionize air travel. I must confess, I'm kinda skeptical about it. Like the planes we have today aren't fast enough already.
I do believe it's possible, cos I'm a believer, and anything is possible, especially with God. Who believed man would someday fly in the sky before the Wright brothers? The mere thought of it at that time was scary, stupid, insane,  and downright impossible. But Orville and Wilbur did it anyway. I guess it's okay when people call you crazy because of your dreams and goals you set to achieve. At the end of the day, a big dream, A God-given dream is one that doesn't make sense to the ordinary folk. 

The Supersonic passenger plane, MACH 2.2, it is said will move 2.2 times the speed of sound. Sounds crazy right? Boom is a new startup funded by some companies like Y-Combinator, Seraph Group, and other 'angels'. The startup is working on its first prototype, and hopes to fly it late in 2017. Working hard on the project is a team of very talented individuals, 11 in number, who have collectively contributed to over 30 aircrafts. They have worked on autopilot system on the 787, fighter plane engines, and flight dynamics on Spaceship Two. Some of them are ex-NASA, ex-Lockheed, or ex-Boeing. Talk about the big-NAUTICS! And one big name attached to this project is Virgin. You know, the Virgin Group? Richard Branson? Yeah? Yeah! That big name (nodding). 

The Virgin Group optioned 10 planes and an additional 15 planes to a European carrier, bringing total value of planes optioned to 5 billion dollars. Now what this means is not that Virgin has bought the planes (I mean that's probably too early), but that they have signed a letter of intent meaning that, they intend to buy 10 planes if everything comes together as planned, having viewed the companies plans on moving forward and achieving its goals. 

Boom founder, Blake Scholl says that Virgin Galactic's space division, The Spaceship Company, has committed to help in building and testing the plane, which includes the Supersonic testing. A spokeswoman for the Virgin Group confirmed their plans to assist Boom when the time comes. She said that the company confirmed that, The Spaceship Company will provide engineering, design and manufacturing services, flight tests and operations and that they have an option on the first 10 airframes. 

Building stuff is a lot of hard work, but then building a passenger plane that moves faster than any other today, is a whole new level. I mean we're talking about a plane that could get you home, literally a day earlier than usual. Again, crazy! But they doing it anyways. Combining jet engines and carbon fiber, advanced design software and wind tunnel tests, all at their Boom hangar in Denver. First test flights will occur at centennial airport, with supersonic testing near Edwards Air Force Base in California. 

It gives me the chills, but that's what this technology, like any other awesome technology does to you. Part of the "Thrills" of living Life In A Jet Age. #Awesome. 

Tech For Thought

Technology is in, virtually all we do and work  with today. It's interwoven, so to speak, into the lifestyle of people in our world today. From business and finance, to fashion, from health and fitness to transportation, and a whole lot more. Today, we can use smartphones to know how healthy we are, or what changes we need to make to lead healthier lifestyles. There are apps that help one organize and plan . There are Smart-Homes; Smart-wardrobes, Smart-Kitchens, 'Smart Everything.'

The use and relevance of technology in our world today cannot be overemphasized. Sometimes I wonder if one could live without some of these technologies available to us today (just saying).
The health sector today has had so many advancements in technology and is yet to have even a lot more in this regard. Simply put, it's just getting started. Knowing your health status is getting easier, more accessible and more affordable for the average individual than ever before.

Technology, which simply is a method of doing things dates back to the beginning of time and creation, and how that God created the world and everything there is in 7 days with His "spoken words." I say that is the first method of achieving creations, by spoken words and I know it may sound crazy to some persons but it's true. That, of course, is when you speak the right words and back it up with the right actions.

Today we have all kinds of technologies and improvements on those technologies as well, which have all grown and undergone changes over the centuries. The human mind can be used to create and recreate things and that's why we have subject matters like Telekinesis which is associated with movement of things with ones mind, thoughts. But besides that the mind powerful and can be used by anyone to recreate their world by harnessing the mind. Of course, there are cases of those who abuse it (abnormal use). The mind is indeed a powerful tool in creation.

In our world today, we have a myriad of technologies available to us and used in countless things. We have vehicles that move both on land and in water, and did we forget to mention the auto-pilot (self-driving) cars that are being developed today, with voice commands and motion-sensor features. Houses which run on software programs; voice recognition, and more, having different functionalities, apps that help you organize your wardrobe and others that help you keep an eye on your kitchen inventory.

Talking about apps, there are apps for literally any and everything you can possibly think of. They are an essential part of living life in our jet age today and still, there are lots of people especially in third-world countries that do not have access to a large sum of these technologies. Pitiful or Pretty cool? Just asking, considering the fact that some persons, especially in third-world nations, who see some technologies as intrusive and somewhat harmful. And who would blame them? After all there's really no hiding place for anyone on the Internet or social media. Now don't get me wrong, technology is beautiful but not all human minds are (just saying).

There are cases where we face technological ills like cyber crimes, identity theft and all that stuff. But the benefits outweigh the detriments. I guess it's more a question of 'who' is using the technology, than 'why' the technology. Most technologies and technological ideas, are inspirational and are intended for inspiration and good.

Use technology wisely to create and inspire and help others, just like we are doing now by reading and writing this post. 😁 Ciao!