₦airaland Forum

davidylan:
I understand your point . . . time is relative here and depends on what the presentation is for. To be honest, preparing for a thesis exam . . . you bet i spent at least 2 weeks on that presentation.

Yeah. I have such an exam coming up, and will be spending the better part of the next month preparing. It isn't just about knowing stuff, it is about organizing it properly so that others can understand it, understand its value and implications.

Would be nice if you could just copy and paste your papers into a slide, but unfortunately doing that usually leads to sh1tty talks.

Not really sure what academic fields you guys are or were in, but in math/statistics/engineering, it takes some time.

I just don't think it makes sense to assume he is a dumbass. There is a professor here I know that is literally one of the best in the world at what he does. But he gives absolutely TERRIBLE lectures. Stuttering all over the place, rambling, not putting things together in the appropriate manner or order. But he is a very smart guy. But if you cause him to pause and answer questions about something specific, he will answer them very well, and give you a lot of insight into how his mind things about certain problems.

I've never been to one of his academic talks, but supposedly he does those pretty poorly too. Some people just aren't good at public speaking. It is a flaw to be worked on and honed, but doesn't make one a dumbass.

Greg Oden microfracture surgery

A good off the cuff talk, on say a whiteboard? That is fine and easy, many people feel comfortable doing that. But giving a talk from powerpoint is very, very different (at least imo.)

Powerpoint talk is more like giving an academic lecture-style talk. Both require hours of careful preparation. I see the amount of time my own advisor puts into lectures he gives, the amounts of notes he makes.

An informal off the cuff talk is relatively easy to do, but quite different from a formal presentation.

That is not true at all. Even professors put in enormous amounts of time in preparing talks about stuff their own papers. I have no clue why you think people can just give GOOD talks on the fly without preparation. For an hour long talk, you probably need to put in 3-4 hours+ of preparation if you want to make it run smoothly. You'll give at least 1 or 2 practice talks, time yourself, check to make sure things flow and are coherent, etc.

Look, part of the point of a talk is not only to prove that you know something, but to TEACH it to others. Only trivial things can be taught properly without preparation.

Damn.

Alright, time for me to holla at Eva. Ms Longoria, where you at? 

davidylan:
Dapo i disagree with you. I know some professors that are not adept at presenting a talk but at least they are very knowledgeable on their subject matter. Its clear Prof Mark's problems were 2-fold - couldnt cope with newer technology and secondly he didnt have any clue what his topic of discussion was all about. Obviously the school was expecting him to give them an idea why they should be collaborating with his own school . . . they want facts, data . . . not history! The only reason they prodded him to use his slides must be because they assumed the info they needed would be there.

Err, when you think you are giving a talk on X, but have to give one on Y, then you'll usually get flustered. Add on his unfamiliarity with the technology, and the result was predictable.

Dunno how this implies that he doesn't know the subject matter, as you allege.

I still think this is overreacting. The best researchers are by no means the best at giving presentations. It is very rare to have someone who is great at both. Obviously he should have been better prepared, but a lot of this might just be miscommunication. Maybe he thought they wanted a general talk on subject X, and they really wanted one on Y. Or he misjudged his audience, etc.

^-- Err, what? Who prepares lecture notes on computer? That is way too time consuming. You usually write notes by hand.

^-- Are you on AIM? Tried to send you a message.

I'm a graduate student and am not taking any classes this semester. Since I'm also a night owl, my sleeping patterns tend to be very weird. . .

If I'm away I'm probably doing research, at the gym, watching basketball, or asleep

Pretty much all I do with my life on the weekdays.

Eh, lots of old professor types from the 70s aren't good at using powerpoint or giving presentations like this. Even in my own academic department, sadly enough.

Still, he should have been better prepared.

I dunno if this is a disgrace though, should have been better prepared, but stuff like this happens.

^-- rofl

Err, no, but physical attributes are really important. Some people like short, tall, etc, and won't be happy unless they find what they like.

I certainly want more than just physical attributes, though.

Main reason I asked this question is because in the past I really disliked (A). But an (A) has been starting to grow on me, a lot (unfortunately she is out of the country now for work stuff.)

Now my eyes have opened a bit more, and I'm starting to think (A) isn't that bad. . .

Girl A: An amazingly beautiful girl, tall and skinny, with perfect complexion but no booty and and no chest

Girl B: A plain looking girl, tall, a little overweight, phenomenal chest and butt


Which would you prefer, and why?

ogajim:
This Dapo dude has no idea what he is talking about!

Since the Patriot act was enacted in 2001, 50 or any other law enforcement can ask for proof of status if they wish and once you're found to be illegal, they're supposed to hold you for ICE.

Can you provide a reference for this claim? I read through this article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act,_Title_IV) and googled and didn't find anything saying that. But I could be mistaken, so would love to see a specific reference.

Why is your dad using an illegal Mexican to mow the lawn when you are there? You can't live at home for nothing now

Who said I still live in their home? Haven't lived there since I started college, been paying my own bills for a long time now 

oyb: I think this is a very delicate issue. So certain analogies and comparisons that one might make aren't quite the way to understand the rightness/wrongness of this. In particular, a comparison between 419 is not quite apt, imo.

I fully concede that immigrating illegally is wrong. But there are certain wrongs that you almost cannot blame someone for doing. Lying is wrong, correct? But what if someone will kill or maim you if you tell the truth? What if telling a lie is the only way you save your life? Will you then blame someone for telling a lie to prevent themselves or their family from suffering physical harm? Yes, technically they are wrong, but it is something almost everyone would do.

I'm not saying the above example is a perfect analogy. But I think it is likely to more accurately capture what is going on than comparing to 419.

Anyway, hopefully you see it is a nuanced issue. People don't immigrate illegally to become billionaires or to get ill-begotten wealth that requires no work. Oftentimes the hardest-working people in a country are illegal immigrants. They are there to work very hard and support their family, to give future generations of their family a better chance at life.

If such a person obeys all other laws of the land, works hard and contributes positively to society, shouldn't we balance the good they are doing against the small evil of immigrating illegally?

Nope, people truly do not learn from the past. History seems to repeat itself over and over again, people making the same mistakes every generation. It is kind of sad, really.

Wow. Harsh punishment. That is a lot of blood pouring from his head.

In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any illegal immigration. Everyone would just stay in their own country, happy. However, that is not the case. And given that the UK in particular had a direct hand in making Nigeria a cesspool, what right do they have to complain about illegal immigration from Nigeria?

Also, your court analogy doesn't quite capture the dynamic, imo.

Eh, whatever. I'm not looking for external justification or validation here on Nairaland. If you no gree, so be it. It is what it is.

I'm not even claiming that stealing is not wrong. But a thief cannot complain that someone is robbing him, really; that is hypocrisy.

I'm glad she called him out. Any rightminded Kwarans need to open their mouths and keep exposing Saraki for what he is. After all, why should a man from Mali rule Kwara State?

aisha2:
Excuse it all you want but truth is there is no excuse for breaking the laws. Simple. Am poor does not give me the excuse to steal, my boss ill treats me does not mean i should steal or change figures, a crime is a crime, the sooner we stop excusing it the faster we will sit up and build good and long lasting legacies. When someone steals a biro we excuse it tommorrow he will steal 10 billion, case study Ibori from stealing grocires to cement and building materials to stealing billions of dollors, one crime leads to a bigger and worse crime. My take,am entitled to it

Eh, Western world steals billions from Africa. They send crappy white engineers to work for these oil companies, who are not even the best in their companies (seriously, I talked to one of these white dudes working for Shell when I was in Port Harcourt, he was senile, lazy and incompetent.)

If you are going to steal from Nigeria and Africa more generally, don't whine and complain if Nigerians steal back.

Litigation with international courts? Surely then you can provide a reference