Samsung Galaxy Note 7 WILL Launch on August 2

According to ALL the rumours the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will be an absolute BEAST with 6GB of RAM, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor, a brand new high-end camera and a shed-load of new software tweaks to make the whole S-Pen stylus experience and multitasking on the big screen better than EVER. On top of that, rumours are now consistently saying the the Galaxy Note 7 will feature a 5.8in QHD Super AMOLED EDGE display with the signature curved screen edges seen on the Galaxy S7 edge. Unlike the Galaxy S7 series, however, this will be the sole model rather than having two variants.

Other rumours point to new software for S-Pen, a potential 500+ GB of storage with a microSD card, a complete redesign of the chassis, market-leading 10nm memory and a bunch more besides. Samsung will want to hit the ground running with the Galaxy Note 7, as it is the company’s last line of defence against Apple’s iPhone 7.

And like many people in the industry, Samsung likely knows that Apple’s next update could well be quite dull, resembling last year’s model with a few internal tweaks. For this reason, Samsung will push very hard in order to build on the momentum established by the AWESOME Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 EDGE.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Release Date & Launch

Samsung has now confirmed the Galaxy Note 7 will launch on August 2 in New York, confirming previous rumours about the launch date. Samsung confirmed the news in a blog post and provided the world with its usual vague poster — this one features the S-Pen, as you can see below:

As for what this means for a release date, well, it’s anyone’s guess. Samsung could hit the ground running and confirm a release date immediately after launch or, more likely, it could wait a few weeks before unleashing the handset to retailers.

Samsung will almost certainly try and get the Galaxy Note 7 out before the release of the iPhone 7; no one wants that kind of heat accompanying the release of a new phone, regardless of its capabilities. This means we should, in all likelihood, expect to see the Galaxy Note 7 released before the end of August at the very latest.

Top 10 Influential People Who Never Lived

We have done numerous lists of people and things that have had a great influence on man and they are always popular, so today we are presenting another list of influential people – but this time, they are people who never existed. There were hundreds of people to choose from, so this has been a fun list to compile. We hope you agree with our choices, but if you don’t, feel free to use the comments to tell us who you would have put here instead.

Santa Claus

What child has not been frightened into behaving thanks to the ever-present youthful fear of Santa not providing come Christmas? Almost all western children were told by their parents that Santa would leave them nothing if they misbehaved. I speak from experience when I say that it was one of the most effective methods of stopping tantrums! Funnily enough, though, the fear always dissipates on Christmas Eve as you just know that Santa will be coming – even if you did slip up a few times.

Barbie

As Barbie has progressed from a pretty young woman to whom all girls could aspire, to something often verging on the likeness of a harlot, one can wonder whether it was Barbie influencing children, or children influencing Barbie. There are certainly many similarities. Barbie has depicted almost every possible female lifestyle choice and I think there can be no doubt that she has been at the start of the path many women have taken in life.

Robin Hood

This could potentially lead to a debate about whether Hood existed or not, but I am of the opinion that he did not. Therefore, he is listed as my number eight on the list. I am sure we have all heard someone justifying theft because the victim is wealthy – and where did this justification come from? Not just the principles of redistribution of wealth that many of us live under in Western Society (read envy taxes) but the fact that to this day, we are all raised believing Robin Hood was a hero – when, in fact, he was a thief. Stealing is almost always wrong, and just because Robin Hood gave the proceeds of his crimes to poor people, it is not a valid justification. As for the previously mentioned taxes, there is every reason for us to believe that the majority of people accept these taxes because of their prior belief in the false morality of the Robin Hood story.

Cowboys

This is one for the boys obviously! Even in remote New Zealand where I grew up, all the boys played “Cowboys and Indians”. The cowboy was a great hero with a shining gun who represented the morality of Western ideals: manliness, defense of justice, protection of women and children. No doubt many now cringe at the lack of political correctness involved in the game and stereotype, but kids aren’t politically correct (thank God) and certainly won’t be hindered because of it. The influence of the Cowboy movie genre is indisputable an immense one. Oh – and for those who say “but cowboys are real!” – yes – but this is about the concept – not about a specific person – just as we might say Santa existed as St Nicholas, the concept is bigger than any one person.

The Marlboro Man

How many men reading this list who smoke, are smoking cigarettes with filters? Venturing a guess I would say all of them. Before the Marlboro Man campaign began, “real men” didn’t smoke cigarettes with filters – they were for women. The aim of the Marlboro Man campaign was primarily to get men smoking filtered marlboro cigarettes. The influence of the campaign is abundantly clear today. The campaign is considered to be one of the best in all history. According to Wikipedia, it transformed a feminine campaign, with the slogan ‘Mild as May’, into one that was masculine, in a matter of months.

Rosie the Riveter

And now another for the girls! Rosie the Riveter may not be a familiar name, but her picture certainly is. Rosie the Riveter told women that they can do anything – and they did! Rosie managed to motivate an entire generation of working-age women to get out of the home and in to factories to help the war effort. This is probably one of the most influential events of the Second World War. Once the floodgates of women working were open, they would never be closed again. All women working in traditional male jobs have Rosie to thank.

Daedalus and Icarus

In a short 24 hours, you can fly from one side of the planet to another. This (one of man’s greatest achievements) may never have happened if it had not been for the mythological characters Daedalus and Icarus. The story tells of Daedalus building mechanical wings for his son Icarus and ever since the tale was told, man has lusted after the ability to take the sky and fly. This eventually came true and the entire planet is a changed place as a consequence of it.

The Little Engine That Could

The moral of this children’s tale is that self-belief, optimism, and hard work result in achievement – of even the most difficult tasks. The book first appeared in a slightly different version to today, in 1906. It has been regarded by many as a metaphor for the “American Dream”. The popularity of this book may also be a contributing factor to the huge number of self-help and “positive thinking” seminars and books that we see today.

Big Brother

A relatively modern addition to this list, Big Brother has been a influence in so many social protests that he has to be included here. His name comes up every time a government passes a restrictive law or a law which seems to remove aspects of our eternal freedoms. Everyone recognizes his face, everyone knows what he stands for, and everyone is terrified of the potential for our own lives to be governed by our own version of the fictional character. Big Brother was, of course, created by George Orwell for his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Romeo and Juliet

Not only can Romeo and Juliet be blamed for much of our ideas of the “perfect relationship” – I think it can also be blamed for a high percentage of divorces. Couples going in to marriage seek the ideal of a relationship based entirely on passion and romance, and when that romance dims (as so often is the case) they feel cheated and believe the marriage has failed. When in reality, passionate romance is not required for a healthy marriage – while respect, love, and charity is. Romeo and Juliet have much to answer for!

Beyoncé Packs on PDA With Jay Z, Slays in a One-Piece on Trip to Hawaii

EXCLUSIVE! Here is Beyoncé’s previously unseen to-do list from her trip to Hawaii:

1. Kiss Jay Z because it’s all love in a post-“Lemonade” world.

2. Learn some sickening new choreo from Blue Ivy.

3. Slay. All day. We gon’ slay. Okay okay okay OKAY! OKAY, LADIES!

Check. Check. And CHEQUE. Queen Bey spent the weekend on an island getaway with her husband and 4-year-old daughter and it was all extensively documented on her website – mostly via someone taking pictures of Beyoncé taking pictures of her family.

Here is a picture of B taking a picture of Blue and Jay dancing, which is undeniably cute, sure.

But we actually assume this was Blue Ivy original choreography and she was making sure her mom could hit the marks before it debuts on the upcoming European leg of her Formation World Tour. And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4!

When she wasn’t busy snapping pics for the Gram – or whatever Beyoncé does with her pics, since she primarily shares the professional ones – the “All Night” singer was kissing up and rubbing up and feeling up on her man.

Becky, who?

Africa's Richest Man Aliko Dangote Suspends Production Of Tomato Paste

Dangote Tomato Processing Factory, a newly commissioned company owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has suspended its operations due to the unavailability of its most important raw material – fresh tomatoes.

The Managing Director of the factory, Abdulkadir Kaita, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday that several tomato farms in in Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Katsina and Kaduna states (all located in Nigeria’s northern region), were affected by Tuta Absoluta, a leaf mining moth and common tomato pest, which destroyed all the tomato farms – a situation that has resulted in scarcity and higher prices for the commodity.

Kaita however said that production would resume during the next irrigation season.

Dangote Group, the Nigerian conglomerate owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, launched the $20 million tomato processing facility in Kano state, northern Nigeria earlier this year. The tomato processing plant has a daily production capacity of 1,200 metric tones per day, and will primarily buy tomatoes from farmers in the Kadawa Valley in Kano state and will pay them a guaranteed price of about $700 per ton of tomatoes.

Nigerian Oilman Kola Aluko Sells His Bel-Air Mansion For $21.5 Million

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Kola Aluko, a controversial Nigerian oil tycoon, has sold his Bel-Air, Los Angeles mansion, as Nigerian and European authorities investigate him for a series of money-laundering and fraud-related crimes.

Kola Aluko sold the home last week for $21.5 million, taking a $3 million loss after purchasing the sprawling residence in 2012 for $24.5 million. Aluko, 46, apparently sold the residence in an off-market transaction using a limited-liability company. An off-market sale in real estate refers to a property that is sold without any form of public advertising.

Aluko’s former home- a contemporary-style showplace in the 700 block of Sarbonne Road, Los Angeles, was designed by architect Paul McClean and built in 2011. The property sits on more than an acre, has a gated entrance, a subterranean garage and a 132-square-foot infinity-edge swimming pool among other features.

For a long time, Aluko had been linked as a business associate of Nigeria’s former Petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is also currently under investigation by Nigerian and British authorities for money laundering and embezzlement. Shortly after she became oil minister in 2010, Alison-Madueke awarded Atlantic Energy- an unknown start-up co-founded by Aluko, a very lucrative contract to fund NNPC’s (the state oil company) operational costs in four lucrative oil blocks in which the NNPC owned a stake. In return for providing funding to the NNPC, Atlantic Energy was to lift the crude produced from the oil blocks, sell it, and thereafter pay the state-owned oil firm its share of profits. But there is an allegation and considerable proof that Atlantic Energy did not make any upfront funding but lifted crude and that a huge chunk of the proceeds from the sale of the crude oil did not make it to NNPC’s coffers and, by extension, the Nigerian treasury.

An email to Kola Aluko to confirm the sale of his Bel-Air property was not responded to as at the time of this post.

6- and 7-Year-Olds Couldn't Solve This Math Test Question, and We're Not Surprised

The internet is having a field day figuring out what the real answer is to a simple math problem. Twitter user Louise Bloxham shared a math problem from a Year 2 (equivalent to the first grade in the US) workbook that asked, "There were some people on a train. 19 people get off the train at the first stop. 17 people get on the train. Now there are 63 people on the train. How many people were on the train to begin with?"

@MichaelRosenYes Have you seen this one? Year 2!!pic.twitter.com/TDVjccH8U4

— Louise Bloxham (@LouiseBloxham) May 7, 2016

If you try solving it yourself, you'll probably get this setup: X - 19 + 17 = 63. All you have to do is solve for x, which gives you 65 as the answer:

@rachelrossiter @LouiseBloxham @MichaelRosenYes It is 65. x - 19 + 17 = 63
Therefore x -2 = 63 ...x = 65. Algebraic solution for a y2 Q.

— Robyn Duckworth (@DuckworthRobyn) May 8, 2016

But if you look further into the comments, users start arguing that the answer is 46, not 65.

@teach_well @carveresque on a teacher's FB group a teacher said it was on the mark scheme as Being 46

— Louise Bloxham (@LouiseBloxham) May 8, 2016

Someone even drew a detailed illustration of how they came to that number:

@LouiseBloxham @MichaelRosenYes pic.twitter.com/OqhMnG7Wwq

— かな、かな@困惑中 (@kanaoyudu) May 10, 2016

Other commentators became philosophical and said that the math problem fails to factor in the train driver and inspector:

@PotMoss @MichaelRosenYes @LouiseBloxham Husband says "66, because we've forgotten train driver". But that doesn't factor in inspector...

— Mrs Davison (@Mrs_Dav_I_Son) May 8, 2016

The situation apparently became too much for one person, who said that everyone was "looking at it algebraically for proof purposes," when it was really just a simple equation.

@LouiseBloxham @MichaelRosenYes Question is perfectly fine. We are looking at it algebraically for proof purposes but it's simple add + sub.

— Olachi Akin (@ixXAkinXxi) May 9, 2016

Although the math question has stumped some parents and young children, the main concern here is not whether or not it can be solved, but if 6- and 7-year-olds should've been asked it. That answer to that question is simple: if there's this much debate about it with adults, then it's not suitable for children.

Nigerian Billionaire Femi Otedola Loses $400 Million In 9 Weeks

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has lost more than $400 million of his personal fortune over the last 9 weeks as the stock price of Forte Oil, the Nigerian-listed energy behemoth he controls, shed off 43.5% in value within that period.

In late February the share price of Forte Oil hit an all-time high of N342 per share after the Lagos-based utilities and petroleum marketing company released its impressive 2015 FY results and declared an attractive dividend of N3.45 per share. However, as at close of trading today (Tuesday), its share price has dropped to N193.46 after recording consistent daily losses over the past few weeks. Otedola, who is the company’s controlling shareholder, has seen his paper net worth drop from $1.6 billion when FORBES published its annual ranking of the World’s Billionaires in March, to $1.2 billion today, according to the FORBES’ real-time billionaire scorecard.

A source at Forte Oil says that the drop in the company’s share price is not unconnected to massive sell-offs of bonus shares from some of the company’s retail investors. Last year, Forte Oil offered investors a bonus of 1 new share for every 5 ordinary shares they held. In total, Forte Oil declared roughly 216 million bonus shares for the 2014 business year. The bonus shares were only issued to investors a couple of weeks ago and they have been scrabbling to sell off their bonus shares on the market to cash in. This mass sell-off has precipitated the drop in the share price.

“This is only temporary. As you’ll see, even though investors are selling off their bonus shares, there are institutional investors who are buying up all the shares on offer as evidenced by the volume of the transactions in the last few days. When all those bonus shares are cleared up by institutional investors, you’ll see the share price rising again,” the source said.

Of the 216 million bonus shares which have been issued, Femi Otedola received approximately 170 million.

Forte Oil PLC is primarily engaged in the distribution of petroleum products such as diesel, aviation fuel and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). The company has over 500 company-owned, dealer-assisted and dealer-developed gas stations spread across the country, oil storage depots in Lagos and Rivers states, a Power plant and a Joint User Hydrant Installation facility in Lagos. The company also sells its own range of automobile lubricants. In 2014 the company was included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Frontier Market 100 Index.