₦airaland Forum

neroysc: the only problem that bleeps up pes 2014 is still the same stupid commentators, John champion and Jim belgin, Since have been able to play the game, i was hoping that since they had to do a reboot of the pes series, they should have improved on their commentary, its still the same commentary from 2008 i still hear in pes 14. No wonder fifa has always been ontop not because of their gameplay but because of their commentary excellence which has caught many peoples attention, just imagine in fifa 13, martin tyler commenting on a married couple who came to watch a match while you are playing the game or calling the names of players who celebrated their birthdays when you play a match with a team whose player celebrated their bday that day or making quotes of the 1900s when football started and so many other crazy things.

That's true

Donsammi: hope it miqht come on ps2

It will

If you take a critical look at the situation you'll find out that they are not ready to go war, that's why the British parliament failed to grant approval to Cameron's proposal.

isaco: D only special feature of BB is gone, I hv to change my bb to an android fone so dat I ll be free frm battery problem.

The battery issue is also a downside for BB

Amid a dwindling revenue base and shrinking profit, the company’s chief executive, Thorsten Heins (in case you don’t know, he took over the management of the company in 2011 after its founders were ousted by angry and disappointed investors who were no longer confident in their leadership) announced some days back that the company intends to shed 4,500 of its staff in a bid to cut costs and channel resources into areas that are likely to rescue the company from the throes of a takeover or a fold up. It is a figure that represents nearly half of its global workforce and it is coming barely months after another wholesale layoff in which the company parted ways with a lot of workers.

Perhaps, one of the areas which Heins and co. intend to channel their resources into is their popular Blackberry Messenger service. On September 21, Blackberry Ltd. released its Blackberry Messenger service on iOS and Android platforms and within two days it had recorded over 1.1 million downloads worldwide. It was a last-ditch effort to salvage the troubled company with its flagship service. The warm reception to the move from the smartphone community shows that there is still life in the Blackberry franchise after all, but that did not come without its own glitches as they were forced to halt the roll-out after an unofficial version of the BBM for Android app was posted online.



In a period that has seen Finnish giants, Nokia, sell its phone manufacturing unit to USA’s Microsoft, one can only but wonder if Blackberry is doomed to go the “Nokia way” or fizzle out like Motorola before it.



But what happened to Blackberry? A lot of things went wrong with Blackberry, but it all boils down to three major things.


Blackberry Messenger

Blackberry Messenger was once upon a time Blackberry’s numero uno feature. Years (or even months) ago, if you didn’t have a BBM pin, you were either not buoyant enough to get yourself a Blackberry and rub shoulders with the business elite or you were simply not interested the whole smartphone craze.



But today, it has become a waterloo of sorts for the Waterloo, Ontario-based firm. Previously touted as the world’s most flexible and secure social networking platform for messaging (which was a top draw for the phone’s customers until late 2011 or early 2012), the emergence of Whatsapp and other instant messaging services has ensured that it is no longer “if it’s not BBM, then you must be joking”. Smartphones from other companies now come with their own messaging platforms and there are thousands of mobile messaging apps available for download on the internet.



The fact that BBM is now available on rival platforms, iOS and Android might just spell the end of the road for Blackberry as smartphone makers. They could as well now bid goodbye to the smartphone industry and focus on developing software for other companies to use.



No variety whatsoever:

Blackberry made no efforts to treat its customers with variety, which they say is the spice of life, until the recent release of the Blackberry Q10 which came rather too late. It’s astonishing how Blackberry failed to learn from the very mistake that made rivals, Nokia, go under. Blackberry releases new phones constantly, but the problem with that is that the phones are not quite new. They may be brand-new, but nothing is new about them beyond the model name and the price. One new release after the other, we ended up with basically the same phone over and over again with barely-noticeable differences here and there. It’s like a James Bond franchise with the same plot and characters over and over again. Why would I want to replace my old Blackberry with a new one if the new one has exactly the same features and looks as the old one, but costs nearly twice as much?



Tecno, Samsung, Apple and others:

The emergence of the Hong Kong-based Tecno as major players in the budget smartphone niche has really put BB out of its element. Blackberry’s share of the smartphone market it once dominated is on an ever-increasing slide. In emerging markets, it is on a losing battle with budget smartphone makers Tecno (Africa) and Samsung (Asia). In developed markets, it is battling with high-end products from Samsung (again) and, of course, Apple. The acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone manufacturing unit by Microsoft piles further misery on the Canadian company as it could slide further down from its position (behind Samsung and Apple) to somewhere behind Microsoft-Nokia. Other companies like Huawei, LG, ZTE and Sony are lurking in the shadows and they are not far behind in the race.

http://observerreports.com/2013/09/what-went-wrong-with-blackberry/

That's very interesting, Barca scoring 4 goals without Messi being involved in any of them.

Mikel scores For Chelsea!

If you know who Mikel John Obi is, then you’ll probably know that his name is a near antonym for the word “goal.” It took him 185 matches from his debut in Jose Mourinho’s 2006 Chelsea to do so. This unenviable deadlock was finally broken in last Saturday’s English Premier League game with Fulham, in front of a stunned home crowd who failed to believe that it was him that scored the goal until it was announced by the match officials.



Barcelona loses the possession game for the first time in 317 matches!

May 2008 was the last time Barcelona were dominated in terms of possession by an opponent in a match. Barca outclassed Rayo Vallecano 4-0 on Saturday, but had less than 50 percent of the ball for the first time since their 4-1 loss to Real Madrid in the 2008 Classico. They had 49 percent to Vallecano’s 51 percent over the course of 90 minutes!

“To beat Barca in possession fills me with great satisfaction,” Rayo coach, Jemez, confessed after the match, despite the crushing details of the scoreline. So formidable has Barca’s skills in retaining possession been that bettering them to it has become an accomplishment worthy of praise and celebration in itself.

Mario Balotelli misses a penalty

He was formerly Mr. Invincible from the spot, but all that is now history. The bad boy of Italian football had converted all 21 of his previous penalties, but he watched despondently and helplessly as on-loan Liverpool goalie, Pepe Reina, dived low to his right to keep out his spot kick in AC Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Napoli. However, he made amends later on in the match when he scored AC Milan’s consolation goal, but it was not from the spot.

Arsenal are on top of the EPL table!

Arsenal? Yes, the Gunners are on top of the table – the English Premier League table! All thanks goes to Mesut Ozil, and to Arsene Wenger for splashing a club-record 50 million euros for his services. Since his arrival early this month, Arsenal has scored 8 times in three matches and he has been directly involved in a good number of them. If his impressive form continues, he’s on course to become the signing of the season.

Victor Valdes is the best goalkeeper in the world!

It is not often that you call him “exceptional”, but that was just how Barcelona manager, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, described his keeper after another superlative performance between the sticks. Valdes has helped Barca keep another clean sheet and — surprisingly enough — he has parried two consecutive penalties! Way to go Valdes! But, someone who will not be too impressed with his recent form is Real Madrid’s icon (and outcast) and Spain captain, Iker Casillas; not only is his Real Madrid place in doubt, but his position as the Spanish national team’s undisputed number one is also in danger. Usurped by Diego Lopez in Real, he is now threatened by Victor Valdes and Pepe Reina in the national team.

Roman Abramovich fails to sack a coach after three consecutive losses!

The trigger-happy oligarch must have either turned a new leaf or he’s been in a good mood of late. Jose Mourinho saw his Chelsea side lose three times in a row to Bayern Munich, Everton and FC Basel of Switzerland on neutral, away and home grounds respectively, yet he’s still the Chelsea boss. The Blues were on a 4-match winless run until Saturday evening’s 2-0 victory over West London rivals, Fulham, courtesy of goals from Emboaba Oscar and John Mikel Obi.

Aaron Ramsey is the new Pele!

Whoever said that it was Neymar probably hasn’t seen Arsenal’s Ramsey play in recent weeks. So prolific has his form become that the Welshman has netted 7 times in all competitions this season! His free-scoring form has helped Arsenal record 5 consecutive victories in all competitions this season.

http://observerreports.com/2013/09/7-unusual-things-that-happened-in-football-last-weekend/

Hahahahahahahaha

Blackberry has announced it is planning to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its worldwide workforce, in an attempt to staunch huge losses.

The smartphone maker said it anticipated a loss of as much as $995m (£621m) when it reports its second-quarter earnings next week.

Shares in the firm closed down 17% after briefly being halted following the announcement.

In August, the Canadian company said it was evaluating a possible sale.

In a statement on Friday, Blackberry's chief executive Thorstein Heins said: "We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability."

"Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user."
'Off a cliff'

The company said the losses were primarily attributable to disappointing sales of its new Z10 model smartphone.

Released in January to much fanfare after many delays, the phone has failed to enthuse consumers.

In June, Mr Heins said that the company had shipped only 2.7 million Z10 phones out of 6.8 million total. Many Blackberry users had instead opted to stick with earlier models.

Over the summer, word trickled out the company had hired a series of advisors to help it explore options.

In August, board member Timothy Dattels was appointed to a committee that would consider different business models, including a potential sale.

"We believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," said Mr Dattels at the time.

Analysts have long indicated that Blackberry's trove of patents could be attractive to potential buyers, but none of the large technology companies have publicly indicated interest.


"This is the quarter where Blackberry as you used to know it is no longer."

Mr Gillis said the job cuts and losses today could dampen the enthusiasm of potential buyers and might indicate the company could not find any interested parties.

This week, the company released a new version of its handset, the Z30, which was praised by observers but was nonetheless overshadowed by Apple's launch of its new smartphone products.

"It's not a bad phone," said Mr Gillis.

"I'm sure they'll sell at least one."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24182038

A four-megaton nuclear bomb was one switch away from exploding over the US in 1961, a newly declassified US document confirms.

Two bombs were on board a B-52 plane that went into an uncontrolled spin over North Carolina - both bombs fell and one began the detonation process.

The document was first published in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

The US government has acknowledged the accident before, but never made public how close the bomb came to detonating.

The document was obtained by journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act.

Schlosser told the BBC such an explosion would have "changed literally the course of history".

The plane was on a routine flight when it began to break up over North Carolina on 23 January 1961.

As it was breaking apart, a control inside the cockpit released the two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs over Goldsboro.

One fell to the ground unarmed. But the second "assumed it was being deliberately released over an enemy target - and went through all its arming mechanisms save one, and very nearly detonated over North Carolina," Mr Schlosser told the BBC's Katty Kay.

Only the failure of a single low-voltage switch prevented disaster, he said.

The bomb was almost 260 times more powerful than the bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The accident occurred during the height of the Cold War between US and Russia, just over a year before the Cuban missile crisis brought nuclear fears to the US's front door.

There has been ongoing speculation ever since, including a 1961 book by former government scientist Dr Ralph Lapp.

The newly declassified document was written eight years after the incident by US government scientist Parker Jones - who was responsible for mechanical safety of nuclear devices.

In it, he comments on and corrects Lapp's narrative of the accident, including listing that three out of the four fail safe mechanisms failed, not five out of six as originally thought by Lapp.

"One set off by the fall. Two rendered ineffective by aircraft breakup," Mr Jones writes. "It would have been bad news in spades."

"One simple dynamo-technology low voltage switch stood between the United States and a major catastrophe."

There has been no official comment to the newly declassified details.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24183879

1MCN: Let's hope this is also how the key actors are analysing the situation

The situation is already under control. Syria has submitted details of its chemical weapons to the United Nations

Chelsea is going to win this one, for sure. Who wants to bet against it?

Chelsea will be desperate to end their four-match run without a win when they host Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Meetings between the two west London sides are normally tight affairs, and Chelsea have won just one of their last five league fixtures against Martin Jol's men.

And the match takes on extra significance for the Europa League holders given their slow start to the season which was capped on Wednesday with a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Basel in the Champions League.

New signing Samuel Eto'o has failed to impress in his first two matches for the club after joining from Anzhi Makhachkala, while fellow striker Fernando Torres is still short of form.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill is aware that the club's record this term has been poor, but stopped short of calling it a crisis.

"It's not a disaster but it's not ideal. A club like this wants to win the majority of games it plays," Cahill told the club's official website.

"That's the expectation. It's a blow but it's not the be all and end all.

"We need to win our next game now, as simple as that. The manager will stress that."

Jose Mourinho's unbeaten record in Premier League fixtures at Stamford Bridge is a staggering 62 matches and although Chelsea's struggles will give Fulham a boost, Jol's side are in poor form themselves.



After a 1-0 triumph at Sunderland on the opening day, Fulham have failed to win in the league, leaving them in 14th position in the table.

Fulham looked set for all three points at Craven Cottage last Saturday against struggling West Brom, but conceded in injury time, as Gareth McAuley's header salvaged a point for the visitors in a 1-1 draw.

Dimitar Berbatov has failed to score in his four Premier League fixtures this season, while loan signing Darren Bent has started just once.

Bent is likely to return from a hamstring injury for the match, while Berbatov – who limped off against West Brom with a hamstring problem of his own – is a doubt.

Attacker Bryan Ruiz (ankle) was also substituted against West Brom and is likely to miss out, while goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg (shoulder) and defenders Aaron Hughes (thigh) and Matthew Briggs (hernia) will not feature.

Chelsea have a clean bill of health and will be hopeful of extending their 14-match unbeaten league run against Fulham.

hmmm

I’m strongly of the opinion that none of the parties involved in this Syrian en-passe are really willing to go to war or are in support of the proposed US strikes in Syria. Obama probably understands the cost of warbetter than anyone else out there, especially with the fragile economic situation in the US. America’s allies (who will be expected to move in with the US should a war break out) are not left out in this as their economies are not faring any better. A war comes with its costs – financially, psychologically and physically – and each of them might be too great to bear.

Secondly, if the US launches an attack in Syria, the latter and its allies are most likely going to retaliate.Bashar al-Assad had already given the West a clear and stern warning of what is to come if the rockets start exploding in any part of the Syrian territory. As it’s to be expected, Syria and its Middle East allies will target and strike Israel (the US’s most strategic ally in the region) as well as US installments in and around the region.

Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have always been spoiling for war with Israel and they might see this as the opportune moment to strike and, in ex-Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s words, “erase the State of Israel from the world map”. Add Russia and China (who are eager to stake a claim as co-superpowers along with the US and flaunt their military might) to the equation and things become even edgier. Of course, if Israel is attacked by their Middle East foes, they will reply in three folds and that will mean a total annihilation of estranged neighbours, Lebanon, and the Syrian capital of Damascus.

But even the warmongering Iran won’t jump at the opportunity of going to war. New president Hassan Rouhani will be cautious of doing that. His priority now would be to stabilize the country and strengthen his grip on power and not to throw it into the chaos and uncertainties of a full-blown war just months into his administration.

The US, on its part, does not actually want to go to war; they would be stupid and very foolish to endorse the military action that Obama is clamouring for. They are fully aware of the devastating chain reaction it will initiate and its implications for the whole world. The idea is to mount pressure on Assad and make him ill at ease so that he can give in to their conditions. They are also looking for a way to give the rebels an upper hand since it has become clear that he (Assad) has proven too strong for them (the rebels) in the ongoing civil war.

The fact is that there are far too many powerful parties involved. These are no pushovers and going to war will be tantamount to Obama declaring War World III, bearing in mind that all the major actors in this game (Russia, Syria, China, Israel, the US, Hezbollah, Iran, Britain and France) are reputed to possess nuclear weapons. If a full-scale war breaks out, there is no guarantee that any of them won’t resort to unconventional methods of engagement to gain an upper hand and be in the driving seat. After all, all is fair in love and war and this is definitely not a love affair.

http://observerreports.com/2013/09/why-a-military-action-in-syria-is-unlikely/

[b]"Reasons why" Sounds like a grammatical error to me
By the way, I strongly believe that none of the parties are really willing to go to war. Obama probably knows the cost of war more than anybody out there, especially with the fragile economy of the US. Secondly, if the US launches an attack in Syria, the latter and its allies are likely to retaliate. They'll most definitely strike Israel as well as US installments in the region. Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah have always been spoiling for war with Israel and they might see this as the opportune moment to strike. Add Russia and China to the equation and things become even edgier. Of course, if Israel is attacked, they will reply in three folds and that will mean a total annihilation of Lebanon and Damascus.

The US does not actually want to go to war, they are doing this in order to mount pressure on Assad to make him give in to their conditions and also give the rebels an upper hand, because he (Assad) has proven too strong for them. The fact is that there are many parties involved and going to war will be tantamount to Obama declaring War World III, bearing in mind that all the major actors in this game (Russia, Syria, China, Israel, the US, Hezbollah, Iran, Britain and France) possess nuclear weapons.[/b]

[quote author=piaget+skinner]Nice one bro!....is it correct to use this sentence "the doctor with whom I was referred to you by, said...."[/quote]I don't understand the example you gave. You can say, "The doctor, who referred me to you, said..." It is "who", not "whom" (in the example that I gave), because "the doctor" was the first person that was mentioned in the sentence and he's the one the sentence was built around; I was reporting what the doctor said.

[quote author=d_myke]Some other common errors:
Excuse, could you ... (Excuse me, could you ...)

He has not been opportuned to ... (He has not got an opportune moment to ...) opportuned is NOT a word!

He is enjoying. (He is enjoying himself/it) enjoy, just like resemble, is a transitive verb and must be used with an object.

She is a talkative. (She is talkative/ she is a talkative girl).

He asked a favour from me. (He asked a favour of me)

Repent from your sins. (Repent of your sins)[/quote]Nice one there

[quote author=d_myke]Actually, "have" is used with the past participle and not the simple past. In the construction: Have you brushed ... "brushed" is actually the past participle form of "brush" and not the simple past form of the word.[/quote]Yep

laplace19: Thanks,bro....but one more thing

Since "have you" goes with a past verb,can one say "Have you ate"?

The sentence does not even sound well,but "Have you eaten"? Sounds correct.

"Eaten" is a past participle.... With this now,I think "have you" should go with past participle form of verbs,and for those verbs that do not have their past participle,the "have you" should then go with their past verbs.

Do you agree with me,sir?

Yeah, you are very correct, that was what I had in mind, but ended up typing another thing. You know how these things are, when you are trying to answer a lot of questions. It should be past participle. "Brushed" is the past tense of brush and also its past participle. There is nothing like "brushen".

My unscientific prediction based on wishful thinking: Man Utd 1 v. Leverkusen 1

babakol: i'd pick PAUL SCHOLES anyday....labelled as the greatest mid-fielder of his generation. Called the best he'd seen for more than 2 decades by XAVI. respected by the mid-field maestro, ZIZOU...take away Frank lampard's goals and he's nothing...and GERRARD? behind these two

How can you take away Lampard's goals? Is that how to analyze football? Take away Messi's goals and what is he? Take away Pele's goals and what is he? Please when you are analyzing something you have to be rational. Everyone has his or her own style.
http://observerreports.com/2013/09/england-celebrate-hero-frank-lampard-veteran-earns-100th-cap-tuesday/

Log on here for more analysis
http://observerreports.com/2013/09/2013-14-uefa-champions-league-gets-underway-7-teams-to-follow-closely/

I'm interested, but I don't know much about fantasy football.

[quote author=Mazi_Omenuko]Each "Like" you click is a shot on target for Manutd.[/quote]Yea, a shot on target to your face

I know Dr. Ogba will do something magical tonight.

JMOI: Fynestboi, I hope this topic is educative enough for you to send it to the frontpage
https://www.nairaland.com/1440661/most-annoying-common-grammatical-errors#18153014

Thanks for the favour, Fynestboi.

Timijo: I have read everything from page one to page five, and I have learnt more things in english language. I still desire to learn more.

It's good to hear that.

[quote author=Occurstæm]May God be pleased with you @Ops,thanks and God bless you.Let these keep coming.[/quote]Thanks for that. And thanks for explaining to exago what I meant.