#cversed

One of my favourite artists of all time, and an artist in every sense of the word. Comedian, Musician, Actor, etc. This guy is just super talented and always makes me laugh, even if it’s the 100th time I’ve watched a clip of him in action.

This was from back in the day, dealing with subject matter before my time but I still find it simultaneously hilarious and musically incredible. The jokes? so so funny. The voice? great. The piano playing? Wonderful.

Allen Stone / Love where you’re at (Acoustic)

Continuing with the Allen Stone campaign, comes an acoustic rendition of a single off the upcoming album. I’ve had this on repeat for the last few days. 

It’s easy to just admire the melody or that piano solo in this clip, but today I noticed the lyrics and they made me stop and wonder. We live in a world where we are totally immersed in social media, where it’s so easy to get caught up about the perception others have of you. I personally think it’s a big problem for todays young generation, potentially leading to all sorts of mental health issues, and god only knows how the progression of technology will affect future generations. Three years olds posting squash & digestive nursery #tbt pics?  Worrying. 

We don’t have enough of these types of songs; it’s always refreshing to hear great music reflecting important, often neglected, social subject matter. I like.

But yeah, don’t be so hard on yourself! In the words of Allen... 

Graham Candy / Worth it All

England Matters / Tom Cleverly x Daniel Welbeck

This is the 2nd instalment to Nike's 'England Matters' footy series. This brief clip follows Man Utd duo Tom Cleverly and Daniel Welbeck, as they describe how it feels to represent England at senior level, building up the world cup in Rio next year. 

Both are quality players, capable of becoming mainstays in the team, but have to elevate their game to the next level in order to do so. Here's to hoping that can be realised in the not so distant future. 

 Computer giant Microsoft today announced a deal to acquire Nokia’s mobile phone business. It is thought the deal is to be worth in excess of $7 billion and includes both their mobile phone manufacturing unit and licensing on their patents.

Over the past few years the iconic Finnish company have experienced financial difficulty, in stark contrast to just over a decade ago where they were the monopoly in the handheld telephone industry.  To put their plummet into context their market share in 2007 was almost 50%, yet in the first half of this year it was a measly 3%. Many have cited different reasons for this decline varying from complacency, poor development of their operating system, to the incredible work and impact of Steve Jobs at Apple and the rapid emergence of Samsung.  It’s a pretty sad story for a firm that not so long ago produced a good that was found nestled in the trouser pockets / handbags of millions of people around the globe. It’s even worse for shareholders in the Finnish firm who have seen the share price drop 93% since its 2000 level, albeit seeing a 40% rise in recent days in response to this news.

Here are some finer details of the deal:

In total, the deal is rumoured to be worth around $7.2 billion, to be completed in early 2014

 It is said 32,000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft

 Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop, who previously served as an executive at Microsoft, will once again join the software giant, heading up the phone-making division that Microsoft just bought.

Nokia will retain its patent portfolio, but will give Microsoft a 10-year license to its patents at the time of the deal closing.

I personally think this is good deal that will potentially, and hopefully, shake up the mobile phone market. Saying that, both Microsoft and Nokia have struggled to make an impact individually with Google, Apple and Samsung dictating the industry of late, and there are no guarantees this acquisition will change anything to challenge this stronghold.

Those at Nokia state that this deal will allow them to explore other tech ventures and to expand their presence in these fields. On the other hand, in acquiring Nokia, Microsoft can now gain valuable insight into mobile phone production as opposed to specialising in just operating software.  The deal will allow Microsoft to tap into Nokia’s specialist product managers, as well as providing them with the ownership of their patents for the distant future. Economies if scale produced by factors such as this should see more cost efficient and technologically advanced products being launched into the market. As a consumer, one can only hope this will lead to more competitive prices and better quality products across the board.

Bloomberg Data:

Projected GDP Growth 2013-2017 : 31.3%

Inflation Rate : 5.3%

Gov. debt as a % of GDP : 28.8

Ease of doing business : ranked 94

Total score : 43.0

So this small country, with a population of just 2.3 million people, finds itself as the most promising African economy according to to Bloomberg. Again, good political and business leadership has had a huge part to play - particularly in attracting forging direct investment. However, there is another reason why Namibia is hot topic today. Oil. Research suggests that offshore geology around the region harbours potentially one of the greatest oil reserves that could be uncovered, compared to recent times. Brazil's HRT has invested $250m to search for this oil, and officials have been very complimentary to how Namibia has welcomed them as a foreign firm. "Very professional, very capable and reacted very quickly to all our requests". Similar glowing references will bode well, in terms of attracting future FDI. 

Namibia's economy, though, is quite diverse with growing tourism and agricultural industries. With a growing market economy, improving infrastructure, macro stability and low levels of government debt/notes, investors will be attracted to Namibia.

Problems are existent here, with wealth inequality being the main. GDP per capita remains respectable at $5,635 however with a population of just 2.3 million that would explain why. Around half of the population still find themselves living on under $2 a day, and this is a major issue for the Namibian government to resolve. Perhaps investment could be a way to provide jobs, higher wages and a ultimately a better living standard for the Namibian people.