₦airaland Forum

Link ~> http://infolab.stanford.edu/~sergey/resume.html

Education

September 1993 - Present: Stanford University, Computer Science Department

Ph.D.: expected June 1997.
M.S.: received August 1995.
Advisor: Professor Hector Garcia-Molina.
September 1990 - May 1993: University of Maryland

B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science. Graduated with high honors in Mathematics and honors in Computer Science.
Publications

"Near Neighbor Search in Large Metric Spaces", S.Brin, Proceeding of Very Large Data Bases (VLDB) 1995. (html)
"Copy Detection Mechanisms for Digital Documents", S. Brin, J. Davis, H. Garcia-Molina, ACM SIGMOD 1995. (html)

Research Projects


GNAT's

This project involved indexing multidimensional data for near-neighbor searches. The kind of applications I envision are identity comparisons, information finding, molecular biology, ... A paper (html) appeared in VLDB '95. Different versions of the data structure were implemented using Mathematica, C, and finally C++.

COPS

I worked on a project with Hector Garcia-Molina involving automated detection of copyright violations. Together with James Davis (another Ph.D. student here), we developed COPS, the COpyright Protection System. The paper (html) appeared in SIGMOD '95.
Current Research Directions and Hacks


Movie Ratings

A new project I have just started is going to generate personalized movie ratings for users. The way it works is as follows. You rate the movies you have seen. Then the system finds other users with similar tastes to extrapolate how much the you will like some other movies. It is currently written entirely in Python.
LaTeX to HTML Converter

I've been hacking on a LaTeX to HTML converter which was used to generate the HTML versions of the papers above. It is unique in that it is in written mostly TeX and hence is a somewhat more elegant design than other converters. A small portion of it is written in Perl.
Work Experience

Summer 1993: Wolfram Research

I developed a code analysis and extraction tool for the Mathematica source code.
September 1992 - May 1993: University of Maryland Systems Design and Analysis Group

At SDAG, I developed algorithms for scheduling in real time systems. This involved finding approximations for NP-complete problems. Additionally, I worked on profiling tools for real time systems.
Summer 1991 and Summer 1992: General Electric Information Services

In 1991, I developed a macro language library which could be embedded into any application. This was important for GEIS because it demonstrated the use of C++ to them. The following summer I developed a graphical front end for a file transfer program using C++
December 1991 - June 1992: Mathematics Department

Dr. Goldman is in the Mathematics Dept. at the University of Maryland and works in the fields of geometry and topology. I worked with him to develop a portable C++ library for the visualization of objects in non-Euclidean geometries.
June 1990 - June 1991: University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

I developed and implemented of parallel algorithms for image processing. These included connected component analysis, image smoothing, and image enhancement. Additionally, I developed parallel 3-D graphics routines suitable for a flight simulator. Both projects were implemented using C/PARIS and C* (6.0+) on a Connection Machine 2 with 16384 processors.

Are there any other important Nigerian bloggers?

Iluv:
This is actually the first time i am seeing the advert rates...

Indeed with these kinda rates, she can be a billionaire. Fact is people are really patronizing her

Yeah that is alot for charging ads on your blog. Not even a website. Is she the richest Nigerian internet entrepreneur ever? Or just the richest Nigerian blogger?

Link ~> http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/02/meet-nigerias-n1billion-blogger/

The picture below shows Linda Ikeji's Advertising Rates!!!

VENTURES AFRICA – When Linda Ikeji started blogging in 2006, she never envisioned the amount of success it would become, neither had she the slightest hint that she will become a role model entrepreneur to a teaming amount of unemployed Nigerian youths. “I started blogging out of passion. Something I never thought I could make money from.” Linda has over the years, managed to carve a niche for herself as a blogger extraordinaire, and also enlightened Nigerians to the business of blogging. What started as a hobby for her is today valued to be worth N1.1Billion. Having been a model for eight years, Linda attempted a career in journalism, but this did little for her livelihood. Linda developed an interest for, and started blogging after reading a story of herself on BellaNaija, one of Nigeria’s most popular blogs. Like most start-up entrepreneurs, Linda faced common challenges in the birth of a business; her blog, www.lindaikeji..com, didn’t garner attention or profit until August 2010, when someone sent her a mail requesting for her advert rate. “I started blogging 2006, and I didn’t start getting that many readers until 2007. I ran the blog for like four years without making money, but August 2010, someone sent me a mail and said can I have your advert rates? And I was like what does that mean? I had to call another friend of mine who was a blogger and I asked him, what’s an advert rate?” she said during an interview on The Juice. Having acquired knowledge of what an advert rate is, Linda started off charging paltry sums for adverts broadcast on her blog until a company offered her a huge proposal for an advert. Then it dawned on her what great business opportunity lay in her hobby – blogging. Now she charges up to $8000 a month, for specific ad spaces on her blog, handling PR services to the most premium brands in Nigeria and even for government agencies. This is in recognition of the amount of followership her blog commands, both within Nigeria and the Diaspora.

Linda’s blog has become a one-stop for many Nigerians to get first-hand information, as well as a content provider for other blogs. Through her Blog, she has become a voice for social change, making impact to the lives of several Nigerians and Africans in General. In 2012, she published a story of a 19-year-old girl, Blessing Effiong, who was unlawfully detained for four years. Linda also went ahead to get Miss Effiong out of prison, with the help of a few influential friends. As an activist, Linda has consistently called for justice on the case of the gruesome ‘ALUU4’ murder, a tragic case of the brutal killing of four undergraduate students of the University of Port-Harcourt. The young men were killed on the 5th of October 2012, by a mob of villagers and local vigilante over an alleged theft case. On the 5th day of every month, Linda puts up a reminder on her blog that Justice is yet to be served for the death of those young men. Her latest post on the 5th of February reads, “RIP to the sons, brothers and friends we lost on October 5, 2012, in the Aluu community of Rivers state. Still no justice! Still we wait!” Linda is also involved in several philanthropic activities. Last year, she donated the sum of N1Million at the Future Awards, to fight the Ebola disease which ravaged some West-African countries for most of the second half of last year. In her words, “I want to give back to the society. I feel like I am 10 per cent done, I haven’t done 90 per cent. That’s the way I feel. Hopefully in another 2 years, I will accomplish another 40 to 60 per cent. Before I turn 40, ultimately I would have accomplished 100 per cent,” she said in a recent interview. Kind and generous, her spontaneous Linda Ikeji Blog (LIB) Giveaway, where she doles out cash and other gift items to her teaming fans, is something her visitors look forward to. Linda is dubbed the ‘Queen of controversy’, since her business thrives on the broadcast of controversial stories. She has had run-ins with celebrities, and the law. Not too long ago, her blog was shut down by Google on a report of Intellectual Property Theft and Plagiarism. When contacted on the deletion of the blog, Google’s Communication and Public Affairs Manager for Anglo-West Africa, Kola Ogunlade, released a statement at the time, saying “Google is dedicated to offering users the best possible experience across our products. We take violations of policies very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users. When we are notified of the existence of content that may violate our Terms of Service, we act quickly to review it and determine whether it actually violates our policies. If we determine that it does, we remove it immediately.” Though her blog has since been restored, the infamous shutdown served as an indicator of how much influence Linda wields and how much her blog meant to the average Nigerian and African. While it felt like good news to her rivals who saw the incident as an opportunity to dethrone the queen of Nigeria’s information cyberspace, she also had a large number of supporters who stood solidly behind her through that trying time. Linda got back on cyberspace, bigger and better. Learning from the unfortunate incident, she has employed professional hands, owing to the visible changes on how posts are updated on the blog. And the attention paid to the authenticity of stories, as well as giving due credits to outsourced information. Today her blog is number one news content blog in Nigeria; it is ranked at the 13th position on Alexa.com. Through a combination of hard-work, consistency, innovative thinking, and creativity, Linda has over the years been able to prove that there are viable business opportunities around us. She is a member of the prestigious Future Awards Alumni. In 2012, she won the award for Young Personality of the Year, and in 2014, she copped a double as Outstanding Blogger of The Year and Best Gossip & Gist Blog at the Media Broad Awards.

dpuzo:
Iweorin is basically a music lyrics website and app, but it just doesn't give you lyrics to popular songs it also gives translations which are provided by you and me. Any body can upload and edit any content he/she wants with no restriction, you only have to be on facebook and you'll be giving due recognition for your effort. You can also choose to post to your wall (If you are using an android phone just download the app because the website is not very responsive, I'm still working on it) so try it out now.

Web - https://iweorin.com

App - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iweorin

I love it. Please continue the good work and inspiration. I am very proud of you.

ClintonNzedimma:
The Nigerian market doesnt really favour local social networking brands and start ups....its really bad.
Thats why we have more blogs than innovative apps and websites

Y doesnt the Nigerian market favour local social networking brands and startups? What is the problem?

An App that is sort of like 'Uber For Generators'. When u need a generator (after NEPA has taken the light), u can rent one from somebody. How about that?

cyrielo:
I'm not trying to bring you down or be negative, but I think it's nearly impossible. The internet rely on radio waves to transmit data from remote locations, your device constantly have access to this wave and thus have the ability to browse the internet unlimited forever, but your network service provider needs to make $$ so they capped it and charge you based on the amount of data you transfer. so you see creating an app that transfer data to remote locations is like reinventing your own internet except that you're making it free. which is nearly impossible except if you're a multi-billionaire. $$$

Ever heard of mesh networks? ~> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking
Ever head of Firechat? ~> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireChat

It is possible.

Link ~> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.howfar

A new challenger is entering the arena of instant messaging. A space already all but saturated with frontline IM platforms such as the BlackBerry messenger, SnapChat, WeChat and Whatsapp.

The new challenger? HowFar.

Howfar integrates a good number of features from other instant messaging platforms but doesn’t seem to make any significant improvement to them. For example, Howfar incorporates the user’s telephone number, just like Whatsapp.

With the Howfar’s hunter green UI, different only in shades from Whatsapp’s lime green, one is inclined to think it’s a local knockoff of the facebook owned IM. That’s not where the similarities stop, however. “How far?” is simply how you say “Whats up?” in the local Nigerian context where the app was developed. So, Howfar, Whatsapp. It sure smells like a matchup.



It does seem that’s how far the similarities go. Howfar, unlike Whatapp, is a location-based instant messaging app. Meaning, it allows users search people nearby via the GPS/location feature, and interact with them. You basically meetup with all these random people around your immediate location.

Just like Whatsapp, it requires the users’ cell phone number to be uploaded on the apps’ server in other to exchange messages and also syncs the user’s contact and indicate those who are on the app and provides the option to chat or view broadcast messages.

Considering the fact that Howfar draws copiously from Whatsapp, the app’s features are comparatively not as robust to excite a challenge. Some of the drawbacks include users’ limitation to texts and images, with no option to send audio and video files, on top of a UI that, though smart looking, is marred by a sea of icons that are almost impossible to navigate.

There are more, images shared via the platform take forever to load, when they load at all.

We can safely assume these are expected quirks of version 2.0, but coming into a market that appears to be already saturated with the more popular instant messaging platforms one wonders what edge Howfar will have over these platforms. It’s hard to see any, but going by the number of downloads indicated on the Play Store – more than 10, 000, the app might be a better alternative to a similar platform like 2go.

If you are looking for the ultimate user experience in the instant messaging universe, Howfar may not be your prime spot, but if meeting random people on a daily basis is your thing, then check out Howfar. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also free.

Howfar is available on Google’s Play Store for Android devices and on the App Store for iOS devices.

Lulu Fadoju contributed to this report.

Link ~> http://techcabal.com/2015/02/16/howfar-not-whatsapp/

PenSoftCorp:
i had this idea of a mobile newspaper app

Please speak more, Im interested.

What about a mobile app that allows people to use Nairaland without the internet? How do u feel about that?

sollex:
Good innovation I will say.however, it will take time to really gain prominence the way the others have done. My concerns is how safe is the application for now.

Yeah, Im really proud and happy that Nigerians are taking advantage of their skills and talent and doing their thing. They need to make their own version of Facebook, Google, YouTube and others.

Link ~> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.howfar

A new challenger is entering the arena of instant messaging. A space already all but saturated with frontline IM platforms such as the BlackBerry messenger, SnapChat, WeChat and Whatsapp.

The new challenger? HowFar.

Howfar integrates a good number of features from other instant messaging platforms but doesn’t seem to make any significant improvement to them. For example, Howfar incorporates the user’s telephone number, just like Whatsapp.

With the Howfar’s hunter green UI, different only in shades from Whatsapp’s lime green, one is inclined to think it’s a local knockoff of the facebook owned IM. That’s not where the similarities stop, however. “How far?” is simply how you say “Whats up?” in the local Nigerian context where the app was developed. So, Howfar, Whatsapp. It sure smells like a matchup.



It does seem that’s how far the similarities go. Howfar, unlike Whatapp, is a location-based instant messaging app. Meaning, it allows users search people nearby via the GPS/location feature, and interact with them. You basically meetup with all these random people around your immediate location.

Just like Whatsapp, it requires the users’ cell phone number to be uploaded on the apps’ server in other to exchange messages and also syncs the user’s contact and indicate those who are on the app and provides the option to chat or view broadcast messages.

Considering the fact that Howfar draws copiously from Whatsapp, the app’s features are comparatively not as robust to excite a challenge. Some of the drawbacks include users’ limitation to texts and images, with no option to send audio and video files, on top of a UI that, though smart looking, is marred by a sea of icons that are almost impossible to navigate.

There are more, images shared via the platform take forever to load, when they load at all.

We can safely assume these are expected quirks of version 2.0, but coming into a market that appears to be already saturated with the more popular instant messaging platforms one wonders what edge Howfar will have over these platforms. It’s hard to see any, but going by the number of downloads indicated on the Play Store – more than 10, 000, the app might be a better alternative to a similar platform like 2go.

If you are looking for the ultimate user experience in the instant messaging universe, Howfar may not be your prime spot, but if meeting random people on a daily basis is your thing, then check out Howfar. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also free.

Howfar is available on Google’s Play Store for Android devices and on the App Store for iOS devices.

Lulu Fadoju contributed to this report.

Link ~> http://techcabal.com/2015/02/16/howfar-not-whatsapp/

dhtml18:
^^^That boy no dey listen to advice, so i am not really surprised at the downward trend.

lwkmd.

@dhtml18, Good Evening & Happy Monday. I didn't see any of your knowledge or wisdom on ~> "https://www.nairaland.com/2135441/linda-ikeji-blog-overtakes-nairaland". Y is that? I was waiting to read an input from you.

Personally I love the idea. OP, can you please explain more of what features this app may have? Im in.

Im looking for freelance or remote app/software/web designers/developers/engineers/programmers to work with on different projects. For those interested, can you please list your username, hours per day you can put in for freelance/remote work and skills in the following order:

Username: toshodei
How many hours you have per day for freelance/remote work: 14
Skills: Android, HTML, CSS, Java, Python & JavaScript

Please can other people (who are interested in getting freelance jobs or working remotely, please do as I have done? Thanks and Happy Tuesday to all.

Im looking for freelance or remote app/software/web designers/developers/engineers/programmers to work with on different projects. For those interested, can you please list your username, hours per day you can put in for freelance/remote work and skills in the following order:

Username: toshodei
How many hours you have per day for freelance/remote work: 14
Skills: Android, HTML, CSS, Java, Python & JavaScript

Please can other people (who are interested in getting freelance jobs or working remotely, please do as I have done? Thanks and Happy Tuesday to all.

Rockyfancino:
I was wondering if you all out there can become a successful millionaire, if you had N40,000 as a capital. Most people will say 1million isn't enough to start anything, but a real business person had wild ideas. I want to know what your ideas are in your head. Please share what you can do with 40k.

@Rockyfancino it depends on 1 thing. Do u plan on going in business alone? Or with partners?

The C# Developer must be experienced in the following 3 things:

- Multitasking / multithread (this is most important)
- scraping ajaxified website
- data fetching

pureguide:
u are asking for a portal not a website. Anyways I can do it.

Okay thanks. Will 28,000 be okay for you? Also how long do u think it will take you to get the job done? Do u have skype or gchat?

bigtt76:
This na portal you de look for naaa not website. 28k na for 2 page website o

Huh? I don't get you. Please elaborate.

The C# Developer must be experienced in the following 3 things:

- Multitasking / multithread (this is most important)
- scraping ajaxified website
- data fetching

What also will be needed is a frontend interface for normal users, an admin panel for business providers and a superadmin panel.