michelin, b4 u start flying the femi-nazi flag, go bck and read my post again

Did i say anything about childhood friend? I am married but not to my childhood sweetheart. I am sure others are as well. In fact, I don't even think that is realistic as the dynamics of society has changed over the years.

I am only going by what you said. You said:

you can't tell me, a hard working woman to subject myself to someone who I hadn't known from adam in the name of marriage.

Begging to digress my question is: why would you marry someone you don't know from adam? No offense, but do you know what you just said means? Before you say, "I do", you have to know the person. I want to believe (and I know cos it didn't happen to me) for the most part (not, "for the most part" arranged marriages aren't the norm. Even if they are, I want to believe that the parties involved at least have a chance to know each other and can say no (I know of pple who have) if they don't want to proceed.

michelin, therein lies the problem.

again, if u r a christian, as in not going to church 2ce a year or expecting to go to heaven by virtue of the fact that your parents are christians, but are actually baptized and believe in what the Bible says, good or bad, then the man is the head of the family.

Now, of course the Bible is a 2-way street. So, in return for the woman being submissive, the man has to love his wife just as Christ loves the church. Again, if u r a christian (as defined above), u can't pick and choose God's word. You have to look at the context and follow it.

You mention 2 concerning things (at least to me): "subject" and "dont know from adam". Firstly, subject is different from being submissive. Secondly, if you dont know the man from adam, then why date/marry him?

Some things don't change over time. One of those things is God's word.

Afam,

I actually didn't read it. I just was trying for a diplomatic way to blow away the steam from the pot that has been simmering with respect to this post

efuah, i actually read the post front, back and center

I am replying as a blanket statement. I won't and don't make assumptions or draw conclusions. I only try in my posts to go a step ahead of the conversation cos sooner or later, if you know humans well, it will go down that route.

So to reinforce my answer, I say an emphatic "Yes", he is still the head of his family under the condition that he and the wife are christian. I stress the condition as I don't know enough about other religions to speak for them.

If he is a christian (as in, not born into a christian family or goes to church every sunday, but actually is baptized), then yes, despite all wrong-doing, he is the head of his family. Of course, the Bible says (paraphrasing) that he who doesn't go to work to earn money/food for his family is worse than an infidel. That however doesn't take away from being the head of his family.

When christians get married, there is always the, "for better or for worse" part of the ceremony. It is not to be taken lightly. That means if you could get married today and fall into a problem within hours of kissing the bride/bridegroom (note to femi-nazis: I am referring to both sides of the equation), both spouses are still to support each other.

Finally, I am sure the lazy trends didn't just show itself. Your success/failure is a sum of what you have done over a period of time to get to that situation. I am pretty sure (if this lady will care to admit) that it was there from the get-go but she chose for whatever reason (good sex, good looks, good money at the time, etc) to ignore it. Now, it has come back to haunt her. I want to believe that in Nigeria, we still "investigate" families before we enter into marriage. I know, to the "enlightened" amongst us this may seem backwards but in my opinion, it makes total sense. If it was thorough, I bet it would have come out sooner or later. Nothing is hidden under the sun.

Bottomline: Is it wrong for the man to be lazy? Yes. Is he still the head of his family regardless? You bet. He still deserves respect regardless. Why? 'cos no one knows tomorrow. You can be in a similar situation and then you will find that his situation was not even as bad.

Remember: Leave vengeance to the Lord. No condition is permanent. Rather than criticize him, we need to pray for him. Even Satan dey fear God. How much more this man?

As always, my 2 cents.

Based on this article, Nigeria may be officially adopting this measure

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/business/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=170108&ptitle=Nigeria%20moves%20to%20become%20ICT%20outsourcing%20destination

good for you fizo!

Time is money. The minute you transported yourself from your office to theirs, in my opinion, the money clock started ticking and they should be charged for it, directly or indirectly. You also did well diplomatically turning them down as you never know who they know. They may have been disappointed but I guarantee you, you earned their respect.

You are not in the business of developing websites but in the business of helping your client(s) make money. If they stand to make money off of the site, then you should stand to make money off the developing of the site.

Sometime last year, someone from Nairaland contacted me regarding redesigning his site. When I told him how much I would charge, he said it was too high but respected my price. He had at the time just paid a "webmaster" N20K (wow, what a coincidence! ) for his site and after he paid the guy, the guy disappeared, leaving him with what even the client admitted was crappy. Based on his professionalism, I offered to make a few changes to his site for free and he gave me FTP access. I find it funny how some people will admit that a site is crap but yet aren't ready to pay for a better site.

I know there are those who would argue that pricing is relative and that if the webmaster wants, they can even code the site for free. I beg to differ. I have accumulated a lot of knowledge over time and acquiring that knowledge didn't come cheap, both in time and money. I know what I am worth however, depending on how you approach me, as in your case, I am willing to go down to a certain extent.

So keep up the fight bro! I (and maybe like you) would rather develop 2 high-paying sites a year than 100 low-paying ones. The addage, "penny smart and pound foolish" doesn't apply here in my opinion. Unfortunately, because of high unemployment, some people think they can take advantage to the point of insulting you.

When do we expect part 2?

Littered because its my view

I, and I am sure others, know that already

where is your research, i made mine and aired it

I don't have any. Why? because I am not the one trying to prove/disprove anything. I am here to learn but I certainly won't take anyone's word on anything just because they say so.

I like that, you used the word "I" because thats your view

It sure is

when talking of desktop apps you can say java is richer, better, this and that than PHP-GTK
but when it comes to web. I tell you, JSP is not the answer. thats what i mean by "you use the tool that fits right for the task at hand."

You are probably correct, but again, where are the facts to prove it? Now, if you say something like, "from my experience (as in the case of your yahoo mail above)" then I am in your corner. Right now, no offense, I can't sway one way or the other based on "views".

i am sure you haven't used your Google(TM)

You got that right, and guess what? I don't intend to either. why? because I am on the fence on this topic.

This is my view

I am glad you clarified. Why? Well your quote below pretty much sums it up.

You use the tool that fits right for the task at hand. For my purposes, small and lean apps, I prefer PHP, an easy to use scripting language that is flexible, well supported and well documented.

If so, then IMHO, you have defeated the purpose of this thread.

the good news is that hosting your php files is cheaper with all hosting companies.

I am with you here.

Finally, you notice how your post is littered with "I" as opposed to say, "research shows"? Just curious. At the end of the day, 99/100 responders to this post could be in favor of one language over the other. However, this wouldn't take away from proven facts as laid out by research.

Above all, PHP is many times faster than jsp. (don't ask me why, google it)

The kind of research I am talking about . In the end, no one should believe anything anyone says until they are able to prove it to be true or otherwise for themselves.

Which of these 2 languages am I in favor of? Neither. As you said above, "you use the tool that fits right for the task at hand."

As always, my 2 cents.

i guarantee u won't be confused after you post your code. So post it!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/10/60minutes/main3697442.shtml

Enjoy!

dezzi,

it might depend on the version of IE u r using - I couldn't see it in IE6 but I could in IE7 (at least on the version I currently use).

tunde ati smart,

what does this "be eni, be eko" back and forth have to do with this well-written and interest-generating thread?

If una do am again, ma sho wa ni pepper o. u go fear fear o

I have to disagree with my2cents about implementing the site in flash. Flash is too heavy, and nowadays, there are many ohter ways to artfully display a picture site without the use of Flash. eg. shutterchance.com

Ony, that is true, generally speaking. However (you knew I was going to go there ), if carefully architected and implemented (using fewer frames, using objects, using high quality yet web optimized images, etc), it doesn't have to be heavy.

Having said that, I do prefer the shutterchances, lightboxes and mootools of the world. They have made flash-illiterate people like me look very professional

To all Akwa Ibomites:

Do you yearn for Akwa Ibom (AKS) news online and are tired of going through the 20 or so Nigerian news sites only to find perhaps 3 or so articles on AKS?

Look no more. As a proof of concept, I put up this website that captures the goings-on in AKS and presents it to you in one place: http://www.akwaibomnewsonline.com/

You can also read archives, get free downloads, check local weather, post/submit articles and commentary as well.

What are you waiting for? visit http://www.akwaibomnewsonline.com/ , spread the word and let me know what you think.

I don't know what it looked like before. However, now it looks (no offense) just like any other forum. Like blogs, I don't give feedback on forums cos for the most part, it is based on an existing template.

If you are trying to get me to join, tell me (and others) why I would leave Nairaland for your forum? Choose your next words wisely

who will u report to?

I don't know what, "I want to build this web application at no cost from the ministry" means but as for charging users per transaction, I believe you can use Interswitch for that. From what I hear though, you need like N150K as a deposit to open an account with them (if I am wrong, I stand corrected).

As for how to present in proposal, you could say something like, "it is the intent of xyz company to put these services online so as to reduce, if not totally eliminate, overhead associated with applying for such services by hand/costs associated with hiring pple to do it. In the end, these online services will make for a very efficient process" or something like that.

With respect to the last part of the paragraph above, you might have a problem with your local civil servants union in which case, you would be strictly OYO, but hey, that's the price to pay

although that propability is low , i have created another background pic on that inset so that it wont be blank when javascript is turned off

A coder after my own heart (anal retentive and paranoid delusional ). Keep it up golden

folks,

letz not forget, as it has been alluded to up top - joining the armed forces is not a job, its a service for one's country. U do it for the love of your country and not because you hope to get promoted through the ranks. Look at it this way, you could join today, get sent to say, darfur and be dead in a week. Seriously.

I live in the US and have watched TV specials showing military families lining up for free food as the government doesn't pay enough (I believe it's $20K to start but pls don't convert to naira as in $$, that isn't enough money). I have also watched another special showing russian soldiers begging for food on the streets. Yet, these are soldiers in the best armies in the world. Sorry to say, but if it is bad with them, why would a Nigerian soldier be any better?

If you want to join the military because you are probably unemployed and are frustrated with your life, I say you are better off hawking oranges. Remember this dictum, "do a job you love and you will never work a day in your life".

As always, my 2 cents.

it looks like eseaba is going into it hoping there will be a coup soon (I, lieutenant eseaba, etc etc)

Personally, I like it design-wise. It's definitely a beauty. From a usability standpoint, consider the following:

1) Search: It jumped to google's site, in another window. If you are using google's search tool, firstly you might want to include both radio buttons (I think it is part of the terms and conditions - this assumes you have an account with them ). Secondly, in your adsense set up, you can specify whether you want the results to show up on google's site or within a page on your site (like a "search results" page). I would look at implementing the latter if I were you Look at how Nairaland has implemented the latter for pointers.

2) I filled out your "contact" form. It's cool you are validating email addresses but y not phone numbers? I put in alphabets and the form accepted it. Also, your "thanks for completing this form" page was blank. I didn't bother testing the "order" form which might have the same issues. Also what happens if the user has javascript turned off?

3) Your title bar isn't reflecting what page you are on.

4) It probably wouldn't hurt to have a slideshow on your site showcasing what you've done so far.

I hope these help.

astron,

After some thinking and observation of your posts here (which I find to be very civil and mature, unlike some of mine, but I digress ), I decided there was no sense in maintaining 2 separate articles (on www.webmastersofafrica.com and on your site). To this effect, if you deem it fit, I grant you permission (including editing, where necessary) to publish the commentary (including archives) I publish on my site at any time. All I require of you is that you give credit to the source (www.webmastersofafrica.com). E nu go?

Here are the URLs:
http://www.webmastersofafrica.com/webmasters-of-africa-commentary/

http://www.webmastersofafrica.com/webmasters-of-africa-commentary/archives/index.php

Good luck to you and your venture(s). Let me know how it goes and if you need anything else.

post your code (both front and back end) here so we can have a better understanding. When a blind man is guided by a blind man, what happens?

try my buddies at Just Web Services: http://www.justwebservices.com/contact_jws.php

my point is this:

As developers we need to look beyond, "I can deliver a top quality site for you" and focus on other arenas like testing, usability, accessibility, SEO, web standards, etc.

Just because you can personally code the next eBay doesn't give you the right to put up crap. If they had taken the time to test, including testing across multiple browsers, there would be no broken images, links, break-dancing flash movies, etc. Testing is a big deal. Granted it may not be fully appreciated in Nigeria, I know of a few testers in the US who make, if not more than, what a developer makes. It may seem like all they do is run test scripts all day long but what they do is very technical.

shey be you grab?

So, I recently visited the AKSG website: http://www.akwaibomstategov.com/ and noticed it went through a re-design. No ya wa, nothing spoil. It actually looks much cleaner than what was there before (I am bolding this sentence for the "holier than thou" crowd who will probably come back to say, "my2cents, show me any design of yours that is better than theirs. " Please note, this isn't about design but usability). Having said that, I am afraid to say that they still don't get it:

1) The site still falls apart in FF

2) The redesign only applies to the home page - lack of uniformity

3) Even with the re-design, there are still broken images/links

4) Hovering over the top nav menu such that your cursor's index finger is just below the items causes the flash to "break dance"

5) The news section hasn't been updated since Dec 18. In other words, even my own site http://www.akwaibomnewsonline.com is more up-to-date

Apparently, testing (especially for cross-browser compatibility) isn't part of their forte.

Do I hear someone say, "my2cents, stop whining. Ask not what your government/people can do for you but what you can do for your government/people". I am happy you said that - During my last visit I met with some folks and even turned in a couple of proposals. I hear the person in charge is pretty powerful and won't let anyone near that site with a 10-foot pole, but I no send am.

If in the end, she takes my proposal and presents it as hers, nothing spoil. I just want that site to look good and be better than any other state government website out there, period.

leo,

Listen to Kobo. He spoke very well. There's nothing more I can add to that masterpiece

Does anyone on here know anyone who works at Vanguard? Could that person tell them to get rid of that "Mr and Mrs" cartoon that automatically floats down on to the home page when I go to their website each morning (http://www.vanguardngr.com/)?

Nothing against the cartoon. I just think we should be given an option to read it or not. It is quite annoying for me (and perhaps others) when I am trying to read a news story and the layer "flies" in to place. If it were an ad, I would probably (big "probably" understand but not the cartoon. Not everyone who visits a site wants to read cartoons.

Again, nothing against the cartoon. At best, they should give the visitor an option to check it out and not force it upon them

Did I hear someone ask, "but my2cents, you have a choice. If you don't like the cartoon, stop visiting the site" to which I humbly respond, "sure, but I do see a lot of crap on NL but that hasn't stopped me from visiting NL has it?" It's called addiction

Thanks,

leoleo,

how wd u know if they will buy if u dont ask? u want those of us abroad to borrow money, fly down to Nigeria and come and do things for you? Is that what you mean when you say, "you guys abroad should come back home and contribute"?

Seriously though, try to live by these 2 mottos: "Impossible is Nothing (adidas)", "Just do it (nike)" and "it is better to try and fail than not to try at all". Give it a try (instead of asking to try), you never know. Isn't that the purpose of your proposal/feasibility study?

phantom,

haba! March too long now.

cool,

I look forward to the launch. Hopefully, there will be some Gordon Spark there