Pirates ahoy!
For many people, the phrase maritime piracy evokes images of a one-eyed sailor drinking rum and singing obscene songs. For some younger people, piracy may bring to mind the picture of Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, wearing a headband in a scene from the film Pirates of the Caribbean.
The reality is very different - and decidedly unpleasant, and as pirates shift their operations, it seems there is a
a bumpy road to maritime security when combating piracy in West Africa.
On the labelling front, you will no longer see a nurturing mother feeding her happy baby a bottle of formula milk as an advertisement in any newspaper, magazine, on a website or on television. In fact, labelling of formula for babies
has gone bland with a vengeance.
On to cars, where
GMSA is continuing its drive for greener manufacturing and putting 'greener' cars on the road, thanks to significant reductions in the energy used to manufacture each vehicle.
Fancy your talent?
Application forms are now available for the Clover Aardklop National Arts Festival 2014. But don't delay - the deadline for applications for the Clover Aardklop National Arts Festival in Potchefstroom is Monday, 10 February 2014.
And to end... from all of us here at Bizcommunity.com to all of you... our Press Office holders, advertising clients, readers, contributors and subscribers, all the very best for the festive season and for a prosperous, successful and peaceful 2014... it's almost here!
Rod Baker, Content Director
Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your industry-specific news and event invitations to itnews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-it@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news". | |
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 | Ericsson has published its latest Networked Society City Index. The index ranks 31 cities and measures their ICT maturity in terms of leverage from ICT investments on economic, social and environmental development; the "triple bottom line" effect. Read more >>
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 | Mpho Sibanyoni As the trading of empowerment shares linked to MTN seems to be running on "African time", black investors are left wondering if they will be able to eventually sell their shares. Read more >>
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 | NETCB, one of Novell's mobility partners in Africa, has introduced a range of mobile solutions for the African market. This complete mobility solution for enterprises provides comprehensive mobile device management, ensures secure mobile productivity and delivers safe file sharing and mobile printing capabilities from any device. Read more >>
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 | Neal Bricker The importance of an internal communications network is difficult to overstate. Businesses require a comprehensive on-site infrastructure to function efficiently and improve productivity. Read more >>
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 | Tim Wyatt-Gunning Being a "good host" was definitely high up the list of what parents of middle-class spoilt brats, like me, expected from their children. Apart from learning to place many more pieces of cutlery on a table than were required, I think the answer to being a good host was, and still is, to provide a decent and handy location for a group of people to share vaguely similar interests and to start a few conversations and make sure there are no uncomfortable silences. And, for me, that location was usually around a dinner table. Now it's around a computer. Read more >>
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 | Affordable satellite internet to areas in the Free State where broadband is unavailable, unreliable or simply too expensive, is now available, as Maxwell Technology, a satellite-based internet and data solutions provider, extends its footprint. Read more >>
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 | The CommsMEA Awards took place at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai last week honouring those operators, vendors, regulators and professionals that stood out in the regional telecoms sector in the past year. Read more >>
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 | SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer posted an apology at the weekend for a "frustrating week" experienced by millions of its e-mail service users. Read more >>
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 | LYON, FRANCE: French entertainment industry bodies and major US film studios are seeking nearly €3m in damages from two French youths who ran an illegal downloading site. Read more >>
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 | NEW YORK, USA: Instagram on Thursday unveiled a new service, allowing its 150 million members to send private photo and video messages to friends and loved ones. Read more >>
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 | NEW YORK, USA: Spotify extended its free music streaming service to smartphones and tablets boosting its challenge to rivals such as Pandora. Read more >>
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 | SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: South Korean company Samsung lost its latest claim in a long-running global copyright battle against bitter rival Apple, a surprise blow to the electronics company in its home market. Read more >>
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 | TAIPEI, TAIWAN: US search engine company Google opened its first data centres in Taiwan and Singapore to cater for demand in Asia and said it would double its planned investment in Taiwan to US$600m. Read more >>
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