This deal means that the world’s richest person will own the world’s most influential social media platform. So what changes can we expect to see on Twitter?

Relaxing the rules to promote free speech

Musk, a free-speech “absolutist”, has criticized Twitter’s moderation and that is what first led him to buy a substantial chunk of the company in the first place. He wants Twitter’s algorithm for prioritizing tweets to be public and objects to giving too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.

Upon announcing the purchase Musk said, “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” He also argued in a Ted talk that comments that are offensive but legal should not be removed on the social media platform.

A huge fear with Musk’s approach is that it will give license to harassers, trolls and others who abuse the platform to target people. Twitter currently bans harassment, abuse and posts that wish physical harm to someone. Relaxing the rules exposes the platform to people looking to exploit it by spreading misinformation, or flat-out lies, about political events, government officials and matters related to public health and safety.

The ever-requested edit button

Twitter users have been for the longest time requesting an edit button. Other social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram allow people to edit their posts yet on Twitter, once one posts they cannot change it.

This tends to be frustrating because it means that if one wants to change anything they would have to delete the whole post and repost the edited version they want.

Musk has said he supports letting people change what their tweets say, a proposal that has stirred a heated debate among academics, journalists and other heavy users of the platform.

Although this might be a great idea, the adjustment could be weaponized by bad actors, who could use it to cover up abuse or harassment as if it never happened or to dupe or manipulate people. Yet Facebook and other social media platforms with the feature are functioning well and perhaps safeguards could be put in place like allowing people to see the unedited version.

Opening up the algorithm to the public

Musk believes that the software that determines what people are allowed to see should be cracked open. He supports placing Twitter’s algorithm on GitHub, a site popular with programmers for sharing computer code.

This sounds like a lot of chaos waiting to take place because Twitter processes billions of pieces of content every day and so far people view tweets according to their preferences, who they follow, where they stay and so on. Experts worry that Twitter is so dense and complex that the company’s own software engineers can be perplexed trying to understand its logic.

Get rid of advertisements

As Twitter goes private, it will no longer be under the same pressure from shareholders to grow advertising revenue. Although 90 per cent of Twitter’s revenue is made from advertising, they have not successfully managed to get many advertisers on the platform.

Musk has said it should move to a subscription model. Twitter has already taken some steps in that direction with the introduction last year of Twitter Blue, a premium service that cost $2.99 a month for additional features, like an undo button that allows for tweets to be recalled before they are sent.

Musk has said Twitter Blue should be cheaper, that if people are paying, they shouldn’t have to see advertisements and that the cryptocurrency that started as a joke, Dogecoin, should be an acceptable form of payment for a Twitter subscription.

Many people are on edge about the changes that will take place under the ownership of Elon Musk. Although he has shared some views that allow us to determine some of the changes, the practical implementation of these things will only be seen when they start to happen.

The post Elon Musk Buys Twitter For 44 Billion Dollars. What Next? appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The Guinness World Records recognised Ms Tanaka as the oldest person alive in 2019. In 2020 she became the oldest person in Japan at 117 and 261 days old.

Kane Tanaka enjoyed board games, solving maths problems, soda and chocolate. She married Hideo Tanaka a century ago in 1922 and they had four children and adopted a fifth.

Ms Tanaka’s daily routine was described at the time as including a 6:00 am wake-up, and afternoons spent studying mathematics and practising calligraphy.

Japan has the world’s most elderly population, according to World Bank data, with around 28 per cent aged 65 or over.

Most times it is difficult to document old people because many of them do not remember the year they were born and their births were not documented. So it wouldn’t be shocking to learn that there are people that are older than the late Kane Tanaka. In Zimbabwe, we have many old people but they mostly live in the rural areas

The post Oldest Living Person In the World Dies At 119 In Japan appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

Recently Elon Musk has been voicing concerns that Twitter is failing to adhere to free speech principles. On March 25, he conducted a poll on Twitter asking his followers if they believe that Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principle of free speech, adding that the consequences of the poll will be important.

70% of 2 million Twitter users voted “No,” and Musk alleged that Twitter was failing to adhere to free speech principles and undermining democracy in the process. He said Twitter was the “de facto public town square”.

Twitter said Musk purchased around 73.4 million common shares in the social media platform in its regulatory filing. The disclosure has led to a 25% surge in Twitter’s share price in pre-market trading at 7:15 a.m. ET on Monday. The Financial Times notes that this acquisition would make Musk the company’s largest shareholder, nearly four times the size of founder Jack Dorsey’s 2.25% stake.

Elon Musk is yet to publicly acknowledge the acquisition but this move shows that money gives one the freedom to make a lot of decisions. Musk is currently the richest person in the world according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire’s List with a net worth of $287.6 billion.

The post Elon Musk Purchases Huge Stake In Twitter And Then Alleges The Platform Does Not Adhere To Free Speech Principles appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The sentences will be served concurrently (at the same time) meaning she will be behind bars for 5 years only.

Elsie Vambe was arrested on the 26^th of October after the Anti-Narcotics Bureau found 1.51kg of heroin and 503.70kg of cocaine that she had hidden in the toilets on an Air Seychelles flight from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Vambe appeared before Judge Mohan Burhan who noted that she is a first-time offender and she also pleaded guilty to all charges.

Vambe is the first foreign national to be sentenced on controlled drug charges in Seychelles this year.

Seychelles has a zero-tolerance drug policy and has recently put in place several measures to combat the trafficking of illicit drugs on its shores.

It is common for many Zimbabweans to migrate to other countries in search of greener pastures. Some are successful and manage to secure decent jobs that help them take care of family back home. some end up in vulnerable positions that take the forms of prostitution, poor jobs and sometimes human trafficking.

Vambe is the second Zimbabwean to make the headlines this week alone. We also recently shared the experience of a Zimbabwean woman that went to Kuwait hoping to work as a maid but ended up suffering at the hands of her employer.

The post Zimbabwean Woman To Serve 5 Years In Seychelles Jail For Drug Dealing appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

The young Zimbabwean man had been running a drug operation from a Swansea city hotel with another man who was also arrested a few hours before him. The police were alerted by the man’s strange behaviour they exhibited at the hotel where they would extend their stay a day at a time paying in cash.

The technique of paying cash by the day is apparently popular with so-called “county lines” gangs based in cities such as London and Liverpool, as it allows dealers and couriers to be flexible in coming and going from the target towns where they are working.

After arresting the first man, the police decided to investigate further and that is when they bumped into Dhlamini who immediately made a u-turn in an attempt to getaway. The hotel staff alerted the policemen that Dhlamini stayed in the same room as the man who had been arrested earlier. The police went after Dhlamini and detained him.

The police revealed that they discovered a cellphone in Dhlamini’s trouser pocket and a cigarette packet in his jacket pocket. The cigarette packet had 37 wraps of 87 per cent pure crack cocaine, and three wraps of lesser-purity heroin.

“Wraps” are drugs wrapped in plastic bags or condoms for ease of transport. When sold by street dealers, the drugs are typically packaged in tiny baggies in the amount of the drug that the buyer can afford.

Dhlamini refused to give a comment to the police and also refused to give up his pin number. The police accessed a notes file on his phone which appeared to be a dealer’s list of amounts of money owed and references to B – shorthand for “brown” or heroin – and W or “white” as cocaine is often called.

Dhlamini’s house in Greater Manchester was searched and no drugs were found but officers recovered 14 phone SIM cards. Dhlamini pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and to possession of heroin with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Dhlamini’s lawyer presented that Dhlamini had been left in Zimbabwe by his parents when he was two years old. The parents migrated to the UK and later sent for him at the age of 10 but Dhlamini suffered a lot of mental and physical abuse including daily beatings. He had to be taken into care at the age of 14 and that is when he got introduced to drugs. Dhlamini was sentenced to 30 months in prison half of which he must serve in custody before he can be released to serve the rest in the community.

Dlamini’s story is the story of many Zimbabweans who leave to seek greener pastures in countries all over the world but end up resorting to a life of crime. Some people live better lives beyond the borders but for many, life is more difficult and activities like drug dealing and prostitution are the better options available to them to get bigger amounts of money in a short space of time.

The post Zimbabwean Man Arrested For Drug Dealing In Wales appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

Bennett received the first of its kind procedure in January after he had been hospitalized for six weeks with a life-threatening arrhythmia and had been connected to a heart-lung bypass machine.

The doctors of Maryland Medical Center did not disclose if the death has been caused by complications due to the transplant. They said in a statement that Bennett had “began deteriorating several days ago”

“After it became clear that he would not recover, he was given compassionate palliative care,” the hospital said. “He was able to communicate with his family during his final hours.”

Bennett’s son David Bennett thanked his father’s doctors in a statement released through the hospital.

“Their exhaustive efforts and energy, paired with my dad’s insatiable will to live, created a hopeful environment during an uphill climb,” he said.

Up until the end, my father wanted to continue fighting to preserve his life and spend more time with his beloved family, including his two sisters, his two children, and his five grandchildren, and his cherished dog Lucky. We were able to spend some precious weeks together while he recovered from the transplant surgery, weeks we would not have had without this miraculous effort.”

One may wonder why the heart of a pig? The heart transplant was a milestone in the field of xenotransplantation, the sourcing of animal organs to address the human organ supply crisis. In order for someone to get an organ, another person has to die and although people die every day, not all of them are organ donors. This is the reason why there is a long waiting list when it comes to organ transplants.

The scarcity of human organs for transplants has also given rise to criminal activities like the unlawful harvesting of human organs to sell on the black market. If doctors have more successful cases like Bennett’s then such criminal activities will lessen. The fact that he manage to live for two months after the transplant shows that there could be hope for those who have a need for organ transplant surgery but have no donor.

The post Man Dies Two Months After Getting Heart Transplant From Genetically Modified Pig appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

News reports say that explosions have been heard in Ukraine and pictures of army tanks and hurt civilians have been posted as well.  In her post, the Zimbabwean woman (named mellisa_charuvira on Instagram) said that some other Zimbabweans with her had been hurt. Mellisa also said she is a student in Ukraine and she pleaded for fellow Zimbabweans and the government to find a means to intervene and help them flee the country.

It is unknown how Mellisa and the fellow Zimbabweans with her failed to leave Ukraine amid warnings. A few weeks ago more than a dozen nations urged their citizens to leave Ukraine due to warnings from western powers of an imminent invasion. If Mellisa and other Zimbabwean students did not have the means to leave, that would have been the time to reach out for help.

Reports say Putin has warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences they have never seen”. Russia’s military said it had targeted Ukrainian air bases and other military assets. Explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, as well as Odesa and Kharkiv. We hope Mellisa and fellow Zimbabweans make it home safe.

The post Zimbabwean Woman In Ukraine Cries For Help As Russia Declares War appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

So far, Kurt has had to pay a £250,000 fine to his club and his cats have been seized by the RSPCA. He could also potentially face four years in jail. There is also a petition online with almost 300,000 signatures which asks ‘the Metropolitan Police and RSPCA carry out an urgent investigation and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act’

Adidas has since cancelled his contract worth £100,000 a year. At this point a lot of people feel he has had too many penalties on his head and they have taken to twitter to start a #boycottadidas movement. Many other fans have also added he phrase “I stand with Kurt”.

Adidas has sponsored many athletes over the years including footballers like Paul Pogba, Toni Kroos, Leo Messi and Mo Salah. in the USA, Adidas has built much of its name though associating with black superstars. Popular black athletes and entertainers like James Harden, Candace Parker and Kanye West endorse its products. Adidas also has a partnership with Beyonce Knowles.

Although Adidas publicly supports black superstars, some of its black workers spoke out to The New York Times about the unfriendly work environment. Black employees at the company’s North American headquarters in Portland describe a workplace culture that contradicts the brand’s image. Workers described feeling marginalized and sometimes discriminated against.

By boycotting Adidas, people aim to show their disgruntlement with the sportswear manufacturing giant. Although it may seem like Kurt is being penalized for the actions in his video, bigger forces are at play. Racism continues to penetrate through societies despite efforts made to raise awareness and educate the general public. And it is something that Kurt and many other superstars  put up with throughout their careers.

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Animal cruelty activists in France are outraged at Kurt Zouma following videos posted on social media by his young brother. One of the videos show Kurt kicking and slapping his cat at his 2 million pound mansion. He later throws a pair of designer shoes at the cat in another video.

Zouma spoke on the video and tried to give context by explaining that the cat had broken a vase and made a mess of his home. He went on to express that the cat is a loved member of the family and that this was an isolated incident that happened to be caught on camera with no malicious intent.

The videos led to lawyers for the 30 Million Friends Foundation ( La Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis ), the largest animal rights group in France, contacting prosecutors. The footballer faces up to four years in prison, if found guilty under tough new animal protection laws in his native France, for kicking and slapping his cat.

A spokesman for the Foundation said: ‘We condemn this heinous act, and have asked that the player be suspended from the France team, and filed a legal complaint against him.’ Tough new animal protection laws were introduced in France in 2021, meaning that the ‘mistreatment of animals’ is now punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine equivalent to £50,000. Yet the football club has already fined Kurt £250,000.

Zouma’s cats (he had two), have now been seized by the RSCPA after thousands of people lodged complaints. When a celebrity does something the society deems unacceptable it always seems that people root for the worst penalty ever. Sometimes the extreme efforts are misdirected and depend on who commits the crime. For instance, if this crime had been committed by a white football player it probably wouldn’t have been blown out of proportion.

Children are posted every time on the internet playing with animals in what may be perceived at a “rough” manner. They pull their tails, throw them in the air (particularly cats) to see if they will land on their feet, they throw animals in water and do all sorts of things. Most time people laugh and call it cute. But because it’s Kurt Zouma and he’s a black football star, the rules have been switched up.

There hasn’t been enough time to gather any more information like talking to other people that know him to find out if it’s a common occurrence. Or even medically examining the animal to see if it bears any signs of abuse (which is what they do when they try to prolong cases of abuse victims). He has been quickly ostracized under the guise of animal cruelty. These measures feel more like cancelling a black football player from the game than cautioning him and teaching him to be kinder to animals.

There have been many instances where key figures in football have been racist but those issues are not met with as much vigor. Kurt Zouma has been on the receiving end of racism and yet authorities are quick to act because he “kicked a cat”. What is of more importance racism or kicking a cat? There are sports like horse racing where horses are smacked on the back with a whip by jockeys to run faster? Are the jockeys exhibiting animal cruelty?

Sometimes it is important to look at such issues in context. If he may be attached the animal with a weapon and with an intention to harm or kill (like people who eat cats do) then we could call it cruelty. In this case the owner of the cat expressed that his efforts were to reprimand and not harm.

Below is a link to the video of Kurt Zouma

The post Kurt Zouma Justice Or Racism? appeared first on Provoker Magazine.

For those who do not use iPhones Face ID is a feature available on some Apple products that allows users to unlock their phones using their- you guessed it- face. This security feature can also be used to authorize purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and Book Store, payments with Apple Pay, and more.

That’s all changing with the release of iOS 15.4.The software was released on 27 January 2022. iOS 15.4 adds Face ID with a Mask, letting you unlock your iPhone with Face ID even when your face is covered, so Face ID is as convenient with a mask as it is without one.

With the lower half of your face covered by a mask, Face ID scans your eye area to authenticate your identity. According to Apple, Face ID with a mask recognizes the “unique features” around the eye area rather than looking at the entire face when you’re wearing a mask.

Face ID when wearing a mask also works interchangeably with standard Face ID, so your phone works in the same way when you’re wearing a mask and when you’re not.

What you can and cannot do with the update

There are also a few more limitations with unlocking angles because Face ID with a Mask needs to clearly see your eyes before it unlocks. If you wear glasses, you’ll need to go through a secondary setup process. Face ID with a Mask uses a scan of the eye area, so glasses that you wear need to be added on an individual basis. If you wear multiple pairs of glasses, you’ll need to do a scan for each one.

While standard Face ID works when you’re wearing most sunglasses, that’s not the case with Face ID with a Mask. Face ID with a Mask requires direct eye contact to work, and sunglasses obscure the eyes.

Face ID with a Mask is only available on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models. It’s compatible with the ‌iPhone 12‌, iPhone 12 mini, ‌iPhone 12‌ Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, ‌iPhone 13‌, ‌iPhone 13‌ mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and ‌iPhone 13 Pro‌ Max.

This feature does not work with earlier iPhones and it does not work with iPads. Apple has not made it clear if there is a hardware limitation that prevents the Face ID mask unlock from working with earlier versions of the ‌iPhone‌.

These are some pretty interesting updates by Apple although they will not be available for some models. The Covid 19 pandemic has necessitated some new norms. And it seems masks will be around for a long time. This is definitely a welcome feature in the Apple community.

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