Nigeria: Direct Your Protests At Boko Haram, Not At Me, Jonathan Tells #BringBackOurGirls Protesters

President Goodluck Jonathan has asked Nigeria's #BringBackOurGirls campaigners to direct their protests to the extremist Boko Haram sect who abducted the missing over 250 schoolgirls from their dormitories in Chibok, Borno State over a month ago.

Speaking through the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, Mr. Jonathan told the protesters, who had planned to march on Aso Rock, that their anger should be directed at the terrorists holding the girls and not at the government he leads.

"Government believes that we all must come together to fight terrorism and that protests should be directed at the terrorists who have abducted our innocent daughters and deprived them of a place at the fountain of freedom in our country," Mr. Jonathan said.

The president also warned the protesters against politicizing the Boko Haram insurgency in the government, saying government does not deserve the kind of blame being heaped on it.

Mr. Jonathan said, "We must be careful not to politicize the campaign against terrorism. When a bomb goes off in Kabul, Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan do not blame the government, they blame the terrorists.

"When a bomb goes off in Baghdad, Iraq, the people of Iraq do not blame the government, they blame the terrorists. When a bomb goes off in Islamabad, Pakistan, the people of Pakistan do not blame the government, they blame the terrorists. When a bomb goes off in Nigeria, we must all unite to fight the terrorists.

"This is the task of this generation. Our daughters must be freed to come home to their parents and loved ones."

Read full statement read to protesters on behalf of President Jonathan by Minister Akinjide on Thursday

Address by The Hon. Minister of State, FCT

On the Occasion of Visit by #Bring Back Our Girls Campaigners

Facebook takes aim at Twitter with latest feature

Facebook will add technology to its mobile apps that recognises the music, movies or television shows its users are enjoying, in the company's latest move to give prominence to media and entertainment on its social network.

The new feature, which must be activated by the user and is off by default, would create a status update on Facebook that identifies the song a user is listening to and provide a 30-second preview of it that's available to the user's friends.

Facebook, which announced the move in a post on its official blog on Wednesday, is working with streaming music services Spotify, Rdio and Deezer to offer the music previews.

If a television show is detected, Facebook would highlight the specific season and episode that the user is watching and share it in their news feed.

The new tool comes as Facebook is increasingly competing with Twitter Inc to become the main online venue where consumers discuss television shows, sports and other entertainment in real time.

The new feature activates the microphone on a smartphone and detects the music, movie or television show playing in the background, similar to the way the popular Shazam app works.

Once users activate the feature, the technology attempts to recognize the music or video playing in the background any time a Facebook user composes a status update.

Facebook said only songs or videos would be identified and the feature, which recognizes "millions" of songs, wouldn't store sounds in the background.

The new feature will be available on the Android and iOS versions of its app in the U.S. in the coming weeks, the company said

Tim Hortons rolls out mobile barcode payments across Canada and USA

EXPANSION: Barcode technology provides a secure, quick and easy scan-to-pay option

Canada-based coffee chain Tim Hortons has expanded its mobile payments service, first launched using host card emulation (HCE) technology in December 2013, with the introduction of barcode-based mobile payments across its outlets in the USA and Canada.

The mobile barcode service is available for both iOS and Android users while HCE-based NFC payments are available to users of BlackBerry 10 devices. The iOS version of the TimmyMe appalso includes support for Apple’s Passbook mobile wallet.

“The barcode technology provides a secure, quick and easy scan-to-pay option at participating Tim Hortons once a prepaid Tim Card is registered on the company’s popular TimmyMe app,” the company says.

“Enhancing our technology so that guests can store their digital Tim Card in their phone for quick and easy payments is an added convenience we know customers will enjoy,” says David Clanachan, Tim Hortons’ chief operating officer.

As well as making mobile payments in stores, the TimmyMe App also lets customers find their closest Tim Hortons location, see nutritional information on menu items and reload their Tim Card from their mobile device