10 FACTS ABOUT ANDROID

Android is fast growing and u probably using it to view this post. But how do u know about Android? Below are some basic things you need to know:

1) The Android operating system wasn't actually made by Google. It was developed in 2003 by Android Inc., a company named apparently after its founder's nickname - given to him due to an obsession with robots.

Google had backed the company and bought it in 2005.

Android was originally developed by its makers as a platform for digital cameras, to weave apps into them.

But eventually they changed their focus to smartphones fearing the days of the digital camera were numbered thanks to mobile usage.

Smart move.

Delicious: The logo for KitKat Android

2) When Google bought Android Inc. a spokesman for the search engine giant said: "We acquired Android because of the talented engineers and great technology."

Little could they have known what that would bring. Android has now been activated on ONE BILLION devices, so it was announced in September.

And while analysts all have different views when it comes to market share between Android and iOS, recent figures from Kantar for the UK show Google as having 56% compared to Apple's 27.5.

3) It was back on November 5 2007 that Google first officially announced what was known as the Open Handset Alliance.

Its aim was to create an open platform - based on Linux - for mobile phones, enabling them to run Google's products.

That platform was Android and it heralded the headlines and rumours about the first Google Phone - dubbed the GPhone - to compete with Apple's iPhone.

But Android's creator Andy Rubin said at the time: "We hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today."

And, boy, was he right.

KitKat: Initially called the Key Lime Pie, before it was switched

4) The first ever mobile handset to run Android was the HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1 as UK users may remember it.

It featured a slide-up screen that revealed a keyboard and it appeared in late 2008.

In the US it was followed by the Motorola Droid, which came out a year later.

5) Google is famous for naming its Android OS updates after sweet treats.

The first was the 1.5 release in April 2009 dubbed Cupcake. This was followed by Donut (1.6) a few months later, and an upgrade to 2.0 - or Eclair - in October of the same year.

Eclair was a massive step forward and brought Google Maps Navigation to the software, allowing it to compete with dedicated sat-nav systems.

KitKat software: Printing options

6) Google did finally release its own mobile phone in 2010, although it was made by HTC. But the Google Nexus One wasn't so well received.

It came out in January of that year but had fairly basic specs compared to other Android phones on the market.

The likes of Samsung, Motorola and T-Mobile were all behind Android at this point.

7) Android's 2.2 edition was nicknamed Froyo - a US term for frozen yoghurt.

After its release in June 2010, Android took over market share in America from Apple iOS.

This was followed by 2.3 Gingerbread at the end of that year bringing Near Field Communication and a new Google Nexus S.

8) Android 3.0 was named Honeycomb and arrived in early 2011 and when it launched Android changed tack.

With its appearance came a renewed effort for Android-based tablets with more optimised features for larger screens and more apps.

The original Samsung Galaxy Tab, a seven inch screen device, had debuted in 2010 with Froyo, but in February 2011 came the bigger 10inch version running Honeycomb.

Later that year 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was launched.

It was all part of a move to counter problems faced by early Android tablets, which suffered from the lack of Android apps, compared to the sheer number being developed for Apple's iOS.

  
9) Google launched its own tablet - the Nexus 7 - in June 2012, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

This cheaper own-branded seven inch screen device was replaced by a second-generation earlier this year.

A 10inch version also appeared in late 2012 with a slightly updated version of Jelly Bean on it.

10) The launch of KitKat, which is 4.4 in the operating system series, is an interesting one.

It's the first to take a proper brand name, obviously named after the chocolate bar following a partnership with the wafer biscuit's maker.

Many had expected it to go up to a 5.0 version, named Key Lime Pie.

Jelly Bean currently makes up nearly 50% of the Android devices out there globally but amazingly, 28.5% are still running Gingerbread in some form or another, according to Google's own stats.

TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES IN GHANA

Best Universities in Ghana
10. Christian Service University College

Christian Service University College Ghana is located in Kumasi which is the second largest city in Ghana. The inception of the university was said to have been conceived in 1974 and since then, the institution seeks to be an internationally recognized academic centre of excellence for Teaching and Research in Theology, Information technology, Business and Liberal Arts, in an ecumenical and sound ethical environment to all persons of diverse backgrounds. This has secured Christian Service University College a spot in the list of best universities in Ghana.

9. Valley View University

Valley View University came into existence in 1979 as part of establishments made by the West African Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists towards improving the literacy and education levels in Ghana.

The university was fully accredited in 1997 by the National Accreditation Board of Ghana granted it national accreditation in 1997 thus allowing it to award her own degrees and by this, Valley View University was the first private university  in Ghana to be granted national accreditation. Due to it’s high standards of learning, it serves students from all over the world.

8. University for Development Studies

The University for Development Studies (UDS) despite the fact that it was established in May 1992, has been ranked as one of Ghana’s best Universities. With the aim to share Knowledge for Service” as well as its methodology of teaching, research and outreach programmes. In 1993, it began academic work in September 1993 and since then has always aimed to address and find solutions to the environmental problems and socio-economic deprivations that have characterized northern Ghana in particular and are also found in some rural areas throughout the rest of the country.

7. Presbyterian University College

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is responsible for establishing one of the top ranking universities in Ghana. Since its inception, the university has run with the vision to be an institution that blends and instils academic and professional excellence with an appreciation of cultural, environmental, technological, and globalisation trends in the men and women who pass through it and whose lives reflect Christian principles and values, including love and compassion, discipline, honesty, selflessness and humility”.

6. Regent University College of Science & Technology

The Regent University College of Science and Technology (also known as Regent-Ghana) is an Accra based institution of higher learning. Despite being a much recent university, Regent Ghana has had immeasurable success in academic excellence and records making it one of the best universities in Ghana. It was registered in September 2003 and was accreditated to operate as a tertiary institution in 2004, and in January 2005, it started its maiden lectures with about 30 pioneer students at its maiden campus. The institution has not failed in its mission to purpose-driven human resource committed to socio-economic and spiritual renewal,with science and technology expertise in a competitive global environment.

5. Ashesi University

Ashesi University started teaching students in at the end of first quarter of 2002 following its establishment with the aim to educate African leaders of exceptional integrity and professional ability. The institution quickly gained a reputation for innovation and quality education in Ghana.  Asheshi, in addition to high standards of learning it has achieved, the institution is also able to cultivate within their students, the critical thinking skills, the concern for others and the courage it will take to transform a continent.

4. University of Education Winneba

The University of Education is a Ghanaian higher institution of higher learning located at Winneba. It was established with the aim of training teachers and professional educators specifically for Ghanaian education system charged with the duty to spearhead a new national vision in Ghanaian education sector aimed at redirecting Ghana’s efforts along the path of rapid economic and social development. When it comes to academic research and web presence, the university is one of the best institutions in Ghana that encourages web publishing and research.

3. University of Cape Coast

The University of Cape Coast was established in October, 1962 and started off as a University College but attained the status of a full and independent institution, fully accredited with the authority to confer its own degrees, diplomas and certificates. It is one of the top ranking universities in Ghana established with the aim to generate highly skilled and qualified individuals in education who will offer good leadership and enlightenment to the people of Ghana and to meet the manpower needs of the country’s accelerated education programme. It is ranked one of the top 10 Ghanaian universities due to its track record in research, training and producing highly successful individuals across the globe.

2. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) was founded Kwame Nkrumah, and established in 1952 and since it started off as a University in Ghana, It has been on record as a first class University in Ghana.  KNUST is a globally recognized university for being the premier centre of excellence in Africa for teachings in Science and Technology, research and entrepreneurship training in Science and Technology for development of Ghana and Africa.

1. The University of Ghana

University of Ghana was established in 1948 when it was known as the University College of the Gold Coast and it is on record that the University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of Ghanaian universities and tertiary institutions. From the time it was established, the institution was officially made an affiliate college of the University of Londonwhich had its academic programmes supervised and degrees awarded. It was until 1961 that it gained full university status and since then has continued to pioneer academic excellence and research in Ghana. It has since expanded on its original emphasis on liberal arts, basic science, agriculture, social sciences and medicine to include more vocational and technology based courses. It is no surprise that University of Ghana is among the best universities in Ghana. Through its graduate school of nuclear and allied sciences at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, it offers academic programmes in nuclear sciences and is one of the very few to do so in Africa.

10 Fabulous Facts About the Female Body

1.The Clitoris Is Pure in Purpose
Did you know that the clitoris is the only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure? The clitoris has a higher concentration of nerve fibers than is found anywhere else on the body—800, to be exact, twice the number found in the penis.
2. The Hymen Is Overrated
The hymen is a small membrane that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It can tear upon first penetration, or it can stretch. In other words, the presence or absence of a hymen says nothing about a female’s virginity.
3. Knowing If You’re Pregnant Isn’t So Simple
Since most of us don’t know the exact day we ovulate, much less the day we conceive, doctor’s measure pregnancy starting from the first day of the last menstrual period. That’s why at-home pregnancy tests aren’t very accurate until a week after a missed period.

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Entertainment
 ...Tell The President To Call Me – Actress Lydia Forson
The irregular and unreliable rationing of electric power supply in Ghana is frustrating to an extent that it has gotten actress Lydia Forson talking politics and asking the President of Ghana, John Mahama, to give her a phone call for solutions to the crisis.

For endless years, Ghanaians have lived in utmost frustration as they do not get stable power supply.
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Miss World 2014: Nadia confident of her chances + hot new photos

It turns out Ghana’s representative at the 2014 Miss World event is quite the ‘prayer warrior’.
Nadia Ntanu, Ghana’s reigning Queen, told Starr Entertainment she has worked really hard at keeping herself fit and preparing an excellent talent presentation for the contest but believes it is her prayers that would sail her through safely.

READ MORE 

 BRIEF FACTS ABOUT GHANA

 

 

 

 

 

Geography

A West African country bordering on the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana is bounded by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It compares in size to Oregon, and its largest river is the Volta.

Governance

Constitutional democracy.

History

Several major civilizations flourished in the general region of what is now Ghana. The ancient empire of Ghana (located 500 mi northwest of the contemporary state) reigned until the 13th century. The Akan peoples established the next major civilization, beginning in the 13th century, and then the Ashanti empire flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Called the Gold Coast, the area was first seen by Portuguese traders in 1470. They were followed by the English (1553), the Dutch (1595), and the Swedes (1640). British rule over the Gold Coast began in 1820, but it was not until after quelling the severe resistance of the Ashanti in 1901 that it was firmly established. British Togoland, formerly a colony of Germany, was incorporated into Ghana by referendum in 1956. Created as an independent country on March 6, 1957, Ghana, as the result of a plebiscite, became a republic on July 1, 1960.

Premier Kwame Nkrumah attempted to take leadership of the Pan-African Movement, holding the All-African People's Congress in his capital, Accra, in 1958 and organizing the Union of African States with Guinea and Mali in 1961. But he oriented his country toward the Soviet Union and China and built an autocratic rule over all aspects of Ghanaian life. In Feb. 1966, while Nkrumah was visiting Beijing and Hanoi, he was deposed by a military coup led by Gen. Emmanuel K. Kotoka.

Military Rule Gives Way to Civilian Government and Stability

A series of military coups followed, and on June 4, 1979, Flight Lt. Jerry Rawlings overthrew Lt. Gen. Frederick Akuffo's military rule. Rawlings permitted the election of a civilian president to go ahead as scheduled the following month, and Hilla Limann, candidate of the People's National Party, took office. Rawlings's three-month rule was one of Ghana's bloodiest periods, with executions of numerous government officials and business leaders. Two years later Rawlings staged another coup, charging the civilian government with corruption. As chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council, Rawlings scrapped the constitution, instituted an austerity program, and reduced budget deficits over the next decade. He then returned the country to civilian rule and won the presidency in multiparty elections in 1992 and again in 1996. Since then, Ghana has been widely viewed as one of Africa's most stable democracies. In Jan. 2001, John Agyekum Kufuor was elected president. In 2002, he set up a National Reconciliation Commission to review human rights abuses during the country's military rule. He was reelected in Dec. 2004.

In presidential elections in December 2008, Nana Akufo-Addo, of the governing New Patriotic Party, won just over 49% of the vote, and John Atta Mills, of the main opposition party, National Democratic Congress, took almost 48%. In the runoff election, necessary because neither candidate received 50% of the vote, Atta Mills eked out victory, with 50.23%. It was the closest election in Ghana's history.
President Atta died in July 2012. His four years in office were marked by stability and an increase in oil production. Vice President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in shortly after Atta's death. Mahama won the presidential election held in December, taking 50.7% of the vote. He prevailed over Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party.

H.E. John Dramani Mahama is the current president of Ghana. He has tried his best to stabilize the economy of Ghana since he became president but, the economy has been doing very great, we hope the rest of his 4 years term will be able to stabilize the economy.


Quick Facts about Ghana
Source: Fact Monster

 40 Interesting and Fun Facts about Fashion

1.   The word ‘jeans’ comes from the cotton pants worn by “Genes,” the local term for Genoan sailors.

2.   The average American owns 7 pairs of blue jeans.

3.   Initially, both men and women wore togas in Rome, but after the 2nd century BC, respectable women wore stolas and prostitutes were required to wear a toga.

4.   The Ancient Greeks exercised naked.  In fact, this is where our word “gymnasium” comes from; γυμνός (gymnos) means naked in Ancient and Modern Greek.

5.   The four major fashion capitals of the world are New York, London, Milan, and Paris.  Each city holds fashion shows twice, in February and September.

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GETTING TO KNOW AFRICA

There are 54 countries and one “non-self governing territory”, the Western Sahara, in Africa.
All of Africa was colonized by foreign powers during the “scramble for Africa”, except Ethiopia and Liberia.
Before colonial rule Africa comprised up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs.
The Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt is one of the world’s oldest and longest-lasting civilizations.
African continent is the world’s oldest populated area.
Arabic is spoken by 170 million people on the continent, followed in popularity by English (130 million), Swahili (100), French (115), Berber (50), Hausa (50), Portuguese (20) and Spanish (10).
Over 25% all languages are spoken only in Africa with over 2,000 recognised languages spoken on the continent.
Africa is the second most populous continent with about 1.1 billion people or 16% of the world’s population. Over 50% of Africans are under the age of 25.
The continent’s population will more than double to 2.3 billion people by 2050.
Africa is the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped continent with a continental GDP that accounts for just 2.4% of global GDP.
Almost 40% of adults in Africa are illiterate – two-thirds are women. Adult literacy rates are below 50% in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Over 25 million people are HIV-positive on the continent and over 17 million have died of the disease already.
The Second Congo War claimed over 5.4 million lives and is the deadliest worldwide conflict since World War II.
There are fewer people with internet connections in Africa than there are in just New York City.
Approximately 90% of all cases of malaria worldwide occur in Africa, accounting for 24% of all child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

THE PUZZLE OF HIV/AIDS

Where did HIV come from?

Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world.
The earliest known case of infection with HIV-1 in a human was detected in a blood sample collected in 1959 from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (How he became infected is not known.) Genetic analysis of this blood sample suggested that HIV-1 may have stemmed from a single virus in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid- to late 1970s. From 1979–1981 rare types of pneumonia, cancer, and other illnesses were being reported by doctors in Los Angeles and New York among a number of male patients who had sex with other men. These were conditions not usually found in people with healthy immune systems.

In 1982 public health officials began to use the term "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome," or AIDS, to describe the occurrences of opportunistic infections, Kaposi's sarcoma (a kind of cancer), and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in previously healthy people. Formal tracking (surveillance) of AIDS cases began that year in the United States.
In 1983, scientists discovered the virus that causes AIDS. The virus was at first named HTLV-III/LAV (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by an international scientific committee. This name was later changed to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).
For many years scientists theorized as to the origins of HIV and how it appeared in the human population, most believing that HIV originated in other primates. Then in 1999, an international team of researchers reported that they had discovered the origins of HIV-1, the predominant strain of HIV in the developed world. A subspecies of chimpanzees native to west equatorial Africa had been identified as the original source of the virus. The researchers believe that HIV-1 was introduced into the human population when hunters became exposed to infected blood.

SOURCE: THE AIDS INSTITUTE