₦airaland Forum

dustydee:
True. The most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life is an Indian girl in a shopping mall in 2012. I had to tell my wife, unfortunately I am not sure if she caught a glimpse of her.

Your wife must be a rare breed! Acknowledging that you saw someone more beautiful than her and she didn't make a fuss out of it

Akinwole007:
I plan migrating to Canada soon, though I plan on starting the process next year. I have been thinking of switching profession to IT here in nigeria to help in terms of work expedience before migrating.
Am considering two areas in IT Oracle Database Administator or Data Science/Big Data(The future of IT like it's been said). Which of these two will be the best career path in Canada?
Thanks

Big Data... But you would have to pick Python, R or both as a programming language.

einsteino:
lol no be say i be pastor or priest sef... mehn I just



Someone once recounted how her work colleagues(in Canada) were talking about getting someone to sleep with their wife while they watch. In truth, we all have one fantasy or the other, but in my eyes, theirs lean more to absurdities. Anyways, I have never had the crave to date white women. I just find African ladies way more attractive. In future I may meet a white whose personality may get me hooked on but as for looks, majority of them are bland. I know it may not make sense as most of our guys dream of dating even Asians.

wait sef, since them born me, I never ever see chinese babe wey go well, not even in movies! Jokes apart, bros rizin am, you don ever see chinese wey set?

Baba if you see Asian wey set, I promise you say she go over-set. I saw one while working with a Chinese firm. We were on lunch break when she arrived at the reception. Let's just say every guy in the reception didn't remain the same. We all looked at her more than twice.

I'm just discovering this thread after many years on Nairaland. I watch a lot of movies and series. Watched Jack Ryan some weeks ago; loved it. I've not been able to finish Narcos even though I really love it; Vikings sef dey there wey I never watch.

I guess rather than look for new series, I'll watch the ones I already have downloaded.

BTW; I usually don't follow more than 3 series simultaneously.

Laird:
Note that the largest country buyers of Benz was CHINA

Someone I know came back from China recently and told me that the Chinese are no longer communists but capitalists. When I asked why he said, "I have never seen that number of brand new BMWs on the road before".

AZeD1:
1) I never said people who went to school are not needed.
2) You do not need to go to school to learn compiler theory, you can learn that from YouTube.

My post talked about getting a job in Software Development /Web development and there are folks who are thinking of going back to school just to break into the software/web development industry.

My post was just to address that and like I said earlier, some folks learn better in formal settings and I encourage those people to go to school.

The thing about not being explicit in written communication is that a whole lot of people will interpret what you typed in ways that will surprise you. While you never said that people who went to school are not needed, the first impression people who don't know the ins and outs of the tech industry will have about a statement as broad as "Google, Facebook, Apple etc no longer require candidates to have college degrees" is almost the same as, "I can decide not to earn a college degree and still be hired to any job by these companies."

Nowhere in your posts about this topic did you state that you are only talking about software developers/development. And by reading the follow-up comments that initial post triggered, I think a lot of people were absolutely gobsmacked by that post because they couldn't fathom it. Your reply might have been to shokolo who wants to learn web development by enrolling in a school but you thought a whole lot of the people in this thread would automagically translate that context into your post; they did not.

I am not blaming you in any way for the misunderstanding, but please next time try to make things clear for people from the get-go so that these kinds of exchanges do not occur.

So guys, you can be a software developer without having a college degree or studying Computer Science in school. But there are still some jobs in tech that will be way off your reach without that college degree.

About the bolded, we both know that watching videos about compiler theory on Youtube is miles different from writing a compiler.

AZeD1

Yes, Google, Apple and some other companies have decided to stop requiring candidates to have a college degree but that does not mean people who go to school to study Computer Science, Maths and related engineering and technology degrees for the IT/Tech industry have suddenly become unneeded. I agree that there are plenty of jobs in the tech industry that you do not need a college degree for; but there are some jobs that you must have at least a college degree to even be able to function at or comprehend.

Heck, I know someone who just got hired by a Canadian firm through VanHack as a JavaScript developer and would be migrating to Canada from Nigeria. Now, that is the traditional example of the kind of job that you do not need a college degree for. But you can't, in all honesty, tell me this kind of person who doesn't have a deep theoretical knowledge of computer science and mathematics would go ahead and write a compiler or even invent a programming language or lead the research that would power the next generation of self-driving cars and artificial intelligence etc.

You should also be reminded that many big tech companies have R& units and departments that they use as tools to drive innovation and technology forward. Do you, in all honesty, believe someone can function as a researcher in these companies, pushing the limits of technology and attempting things that have never been done without a college degree? Would someone without a college degree invent that navigation system that Space X rockets use to land automatically, refill, then take off again to attach itself back to the shuttle before taking that final lap into space? Would someone without a college degree lead the research that would invent the next-gen microchip that Apple will use to power its products?

So, while you can get a job without a college degree in the tech industry, there are jobs that you can't even comprehend just because you don't have that same college degree.

Shyee:
Thanks for taking time to respond, My findings revealed the same. I fear for Naija, reverse is the case(Personal Experience)

It takes time for things to trickle down to Nigeria. First things first, how many practicing data scientists and Machine Learning experts do we have in the country? If my memory serves me right, a guy who confounded a co-working space in Kaduna is the first Google Machine Learning Expert in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. Compare that to the number of Nigerians who are even Google Developer Experts and you'll see why the pay gap exists.

And don't think it has always been like this for developers too. Many that built the leading e-commerce solutions et al received peanuts as their salaries. Little wonder majority of them have relocated to Netherlands, US, Canada and co. It's because of the work of those guys that developers now earn what they do.

Shyee:
Greetings house.
Using Python for AI, ML, DL etc vs Android Development using Java, which has more prospect in Canada? This person asking the question seems a Jack of the 2 trades at the elementary level, but would like to hone a more relevant skill between the two. I've asked Google, indeed, and other Canadian job repos, I just need a more first hand view.
Anticipated Appreciation.

Compare the salaries of both jobs then make a decision. But I'd suggest you add Kotlin to your belt cos it's the new language on the block (if you're going with Android dev). But I think data scientists and ML guys currently earn more than android devs (I could be wrong though)

The most incredible thing in the world

Mandel knew that without 100% of the combinations secured, his strategy was reduced to a multi-million dollar game of chance. He was aware of other ill-fated attempts to game a US lottery by bulk-buying tickets: In a 1990, a Sacramento retiree bought 30k tickets with a diaper bag full of cash and walked away empty-handed; months later, a computer engineer known as “The Phantom” purchased 80k combinations at a Jacksonville, Florida bar and only won minor prizes. Even if Mandel were to win, there was the possibility of multiple winners — a scenario that could significantly dilute the jackpot. At 11:20 PM on February 15th, the numbers were drawn on live television. I nearby warehouse, Alex and his team frantically rifled through 5.5m physical copies of receipts, looking for the winning ticket. Then, piercing through the carnage, a victorious shout: They’d won.

“When the $27m ticket came up, everybody was 6 feet off the ground,” Alex later said. “It was the most incredible thing in the world.” Purchased at a Farm Fresh in Chesapeake, the ticket had been processed in the twilight hours. Alex’s diligence had paid off. From his home in Australia, Mandel sent out a short message to his 2,524 investors: “One of our target lotteries did jackpot to our required level,” he wrote. “We entered and won.” The $27,036,142 jackpot (and $900k in secondary prizes) was to be paid out in 20 annual installments of $1.03m. But Virginia’s lottery czars had other plans.

What would Thomas Jefferson say?

Although completely legal under both US and Virginia state law, the Australian group’s feat was interpreted as an effort “cheat” the traditional system. “We might remember Thomas Jefferson’s view of a lottery,” Virginia Lottery director Ken Thorson pled to the press. “It is an opportunity for the common man to spend a small sum for the possibility of a higher prize… We never anticipated a group trying to make such a large purchase.” Mandel was subjected to a 4-year legal crusade, in which he was personally investigated by 14 international agencies, including the CIA, FBI, IRS, National Crime Authority, and Australian Securities Commission.

In the end, neither Mandel nor the ILF was found guilty of any wrongdoing. “I will live to be 150,” he proclaimed. “I am not the type of person who lays down and dies because some glorified clerk doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Meanwhile, in his home country of Australia, he became something of a folk hero: A widely-circulated cartoon depicted him as a kangaroo hopping out of the US with a pouch full of cash — defiant, victorious, and full of life.

I want my money back

The future, however, was not bright for everyone. Four years after the Virginia win, Mandel’s investors were still looking for their “phenomenal returns.” The investors — small business owners, machine operators, housekeepers, and doctors — had been regaled with tales of riches, and promised participation in up to 9 lottos per year. Yet, they’d only received a $1.4k return on their $4k investment. Meanwhile, Mandel paid himself a one-time “consultant’s fee” of $1.7m, and purportedly sold the annuity on the 20-year payout to a US insurance company for a lump sum of $14m. After overhead fees ($5.5m for the tickets, and $500k in expenses), he was left with a princely sum.

Records show that he funneled this cash into the Pacific Basin Fund, a Hong Kong-based account managed by his brother-in-law. “What we calculated to be the reality has changed,” he wrote in a 1994 letter to investors. “It may not seem such a hot investment now.” After that, his investor updates went cold. After failed attempts at launching a life insurance company and a lottery system in the British territory of Gibraltar, Mandel declared bankruptcy in 1995. He then spent the next decade running various investment scams — one of which earned him a 20-month prison sentence in Israel.

And what became of the mastermind?

Today, Mandel spends his days at a beach house on a remote tropical island in Vanuatu, a country off the coast of Australia. He lives a quiet life and reports being “retired” from the lottery. Anithalee Alex, his one-time associate, also dropped off the grid, and keeps a low-profile life somewhere in Illinois. “You could not have written a script as good as this,” he reminisced, years later. “This is one time real life was better than fiction.” Though we were able to piece together the logistics of Mandel’s 20-year lottery career, he’s never revealed the minute details of his algorithm. As he told an enquiring AP reporter in 1992, “That would be like Coca-Cola revealing their recipe.”

His legacy lives on in US legislation: All 44 states that run lotteries have enacted laws preventing the profitable replication of Mandel’s strategy. In effect, this secures him a title as the first and last man to ever successfully game the lottery by buying every possible combination. Reflecting back on wilder times, he played off the riskiness of his gambit.

“I’m a man who takes risks, but in a calculated way,” he told the Romanian paper, Bursa. “Trimming my beard is a lottery: There is always the possibility that I’ll cut myself, get an infection in my blood, and die — but I do it anyway.” “The chances,” he concluded, “are in my favor.”

Source: https://thehustle.co/the-man-who-won-the-lottery-14-times

Virginia or bust

Using his profits, Mandel planted “scouts” all over North America (Montreal, Boston, Miami, Phoenix, Norfolk), and compiled a list of historical lotteries with jackpots that were at least 3x the total of all possible combinations. After considering Massachusetts ($37m jackpot to 9m combinations), and Arizona ($11m to 5.1m), he ultimately pinpointed the Virginia Lottery. Virginia’s lottery offered several advantages. It was fairly new, and allowed buyers to purchase tickets in unlimited quantities and print them at home. But most importantly, its numbers only ranged from 1 to 44 (other states went as high as 54). This meant that with 6 picks, there were “only” 7,059,052 possible combinations, compared to the usual 25m+.

Under the shell corporation Pacific Financial Resources, Mandel set up a trust called the International Lotto Fund (ILF) and convinced 2,524 investors to put at least $3k each in the pot. Given Mandel’s prior successes, the demand was hot: He raised more than $9m. In a Melbourne warehouse, he set up 30 computers and 12 laser printers, and hired 16 full-time employees to print 7m tickets pre-populated with every combination — a process that took 3 months. He then shipped the one-tonne of paper weight to a point-person in the US at a cost of $60k.

With the tickets secured in Virginia, Mandel had to wait until the jackpot hit a number that would make financial sense after taxes, overhead, and paying off investors. A state lottery prize typically begins in the low millions and increases every time a drawing goes by with no winner. (When you see those insane $758m jackpots, it means nobody has won in quite some time.) Mandel had to anticipate when to strike, and had to hope for the best that there wouldn’t be multiple winners to dilute the pot and ruin his margins. On February 12, 1992, the Virginia Lottery jackpot hit $27m. Mandel’s team on the ground was given a simple directive: Go. And nobody — not even Mandel — could’ve anticipated the the madness that would ensue.

As Mandel knew, the “buy all combinations” method of winning the lottery was more of a logistical than a financial challenge. The hard part was yet to come. Tickets could be legally printed at home, but they still had to be taken to an authorized lotto retailer in the US, paid for (at $1 each), and processed. Waltzing into a gas station with 7m tickets and a truckload of cash wasn’t an option.

Mandel hired the accounting firm Lowe Lippmann to transfer $7.1m in investor funds to Crestar Bank in Virginia, where it was cut into $10k cashier’s checks. He then lined up advance deals with Virginia-based retail chains to buy the tickets in bulk. All he needed was a point-person on the ground to orchestrate the mayhem.

For this task, Mandel turned to an esteemed associate by the name of Anithalee Alex. Perennially outfitted in a gold rolex and a safari suit, Alex was a sweet talker who could “make the world seem like a bed of roses.” An ex-paratrooper turned Rolls Royce salesman turned oil prospector, he could often be seen gallivanting around his small town of Teutopolis, Illinois, in a t-shirt that read: “Please Lord, let me prove to you that winning the lottery won’t spoil me.”

When his old pal, Mandel, rang, Alex was fresh out of bankruptcy court, with $400k in debt and 16 maxed-out credit cards. He was ready for action — any action. The job was harrowing: He was to coordinate the drop-off, payment, and processing of 7m lottery tickets at hundreds of stores all over Virginia. The jackpot hit $27m on a Wednesday; the next draw would be on Saturday. This meant that he and his team had just 72 hours to pull it off.

A logistical nightmare

On February 12, 1992 — 3 days before the draw — Alex checked into a Holiday Inn in Norfolk, Virginia and set up a “command center” at the Koger Center, a nearby business park. In the “88-acre “maze of buildings,” Alex assembled a team of 35 couriers (most of whom were certified accountants) and distributed cellophane-wrapped bundles of 10k tickets with stacks of $10k cashier’s checks. “Think of it like an office pool,” he reportedly told the CPAs, “except a larger office pool.”

For 2-straight days, the couriers methodically descended on 125 gas stations and supermarkets. At Farm Fresh, Miller Mart, and Tinee Giant locations throughout the region, flummoxed store clerks were asked to buy and process millions of algorithmically-generated lotto tickets. “We thought they were nuts,” Rick Miller, a local gas station proprietor, later admitted. “But if someone comes up and says they want to buy 700k lottery tickets, we’re not going to chase them away.”

A representative at Farm Fresh, who bought 2.4m of Mandel’s tickets, had a more spirited take: “For someone to try to do this ticket-by-ticket is a very chancy proposition,” he said. “But that’s what lotto’s all about.” By Saturday evening, the team was nearing completion. Then, disaster struck.

One of the chains who’d bought tickets in bulk got overwhelmed and quit in the final hours, leaving millions of combinations on the table. When the deadline for entry arrived, only 5.5m of Mandel’s 7m tickets (78%) had been processed. Mandel’s “fool proof” plan, which relied on securing every single possibility, was in jeopardy. Like a regular lottery, winning the jackpot would ultimately come down to luck.

Just after 11 PM on February 15, 1992, a janky ball machine at the Virginia State Lottery HQ spit out 6 winning numbers on live television: 8… 11… 13… 15… 19… 20. In the coming days, officials would find out that one “person” had secured not only the $27,036,142 jackpot, but 6 second prizes, 132 third prizes, and 135 minor prizes collectively worth another $900k.

What unfolded next was the strangest, most improbable lottery tale in history — one involving thousands of international investors, dozens of complex computer systems, and a mathematical savant who’d masterminded the entire operation from the other side of the world. This is the story of the man who “gamed” the lottery by buying every possible combination.

In the late 1960s, a young Romanian economist named Stefan Mandel was struggling to get by. At the time, Romania was under oppressive Communist rule, a period marred by poverty, job and food shortages, and “profound misery.” Mandel’s salary of 360 lei (US $88) a month was not enough to support his wife and two children, and, as he later told Planet Money, he needed a way to “get some serious money, quickly.” Many Romanians in Mandel’s predicament had, out of necessity, turned to lives of crime. But Mandel, a self-described “philosopher-mathematician,” saw another way out: The lottery.

Let’s take a step back here: What kind of idiot banks on winning the lottery? You’re literally more likely to win an Olympic gold medal, have identical quintuplets, or get crushed by a vending machine. Well, Mandel wasn’t just any guy — he was a natural with numbers who spent every spare minute analyzing theoretical probability papers written by the 13th-century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. And, after years of research, he wrote a “number-picking algorithm” based on a method he dubbed “combinatorial condensation.”

“I’m a weekend mathematician, an accountant without too much education,” he later told a Romanian magazine. “But mathematics properly applied can guarantee a fortune.” Using the algorithm, Mandel claimed he could accurately predict 5 of the 6 winning numbers, reducing the number of combinations in a lottery from millions to mere thousands. With a band of friends and acquaintances, he took a big risk and purchased large blocks of lottery tickets with the combinations his formula has deemed to be most likely. Miraculously (and with a lot of luck), he won the first prize of 78,783 lei (about US $19.3k). After expenses, he walked away with $4k, enough to bribe foreign ministry officials and flee Romania for a new life — and a bigger jackpot.

Turning lottery wins into a business

After 4 years of roaming around Europe, Mandel settled in Australia and he set out to game the lottery in a different way. In the typical lottery, a set of numbers within a certain range (say, 1-50) are randomly selected; if yours match in any order, you win the jackpot. The chances of winning are based on the number of possible combinations of these numbers, often in the millions. But Mandel caught on to something: In certain lottos, the total number of possible ticket combinations was significantly lower than the jackpot.

For example, let’s say a lottery required 6 picks of numbers between 1 and 40. This would yield 3,838,380 possible number combinations (calculator here). Now, let’s say that same lottery had a $10m jackpot. In theory, Mandel could buy a ticket for every single combination at $1 each and be guaranteed a win — and, after taxes, a decent profit. Mandel maintained that “any high school math student could calculate the combinations.” But this method came with some major logistical setbacks. How would he get the capital? And how could he possibly fill out hundreds of thousands of tickets, number by number?

Over a period of years, while working a day job as an insurance agent, Mandel convinced hundreds of investors to pool their money together and create a “lotto syndicate.” He then developed a full-fledged automation system: A room full of printers and computers running on an algorithm that pre-populated tickets with every combination. Computers revolutionized Mandel’s process. Before, he’d been limited to writing out millions of combinations by hand, where a single mistake could ruin 8 months’ worth of work; now, he could outsource the work to a machine.

Throughout the 1980s, Mandel’s syndicate would wait until a jackpot ballooned to an amount higher than the total combinations, then “move to buy” thousands of tickets. They managed to win 12 lotteries (and rake in 400k smaller prizes) across Australia and the UK. “Everyone said to me: You can not, you will not succeed! ” Mandel told a Romanian newspaper at the time. “Now, the voices that have long [cast me as] a dreamer have been silenced.”

But Mandel’s system soon hit a wall. For one, the profits were relatively modest (in $1.3m 1987 win, he pocketed $97k after paying taxes and investors). His repeated wins also attracted the attention of Australian lottery authorities, who changed the law multiple times: by the end of the ‘80s, they’d outlawed both computer-printed tickets and bulk purchasing of tickets by an individual.

So, he set his sights on much bigger feat — one that would make international headlines and boggle the minds of lottery officials around the world.

CanadianEnginee:
Bros, thanks for your time. I really appreciate it. I'll do as adviced. I hope I can achieve a lot (both front end and back end languages) in the next 12 months.

Sure you can. And please build numerous projects along the way...

CanadianEnginee:
Hey guys, I have started to learn python programming and wish to even learn more languages like java script etc. I am a civil engineer but would like to delve into software development(Full Stack Developer). Do you think I need to go to school to study computer science or is self study/ experience just enough?

To be a full stack developer, you must be both a front-end and back-end developer. Even though most times full-stack developers are better at one than the other, it matters little. So you'd need to up your ante by learning HTML, CSS and JS. That is the starting point though. You'd need to know SASS or LESS (CSS pre-processors). And at least one JS framework (there are many but you might want to pick between React, Angular and Vue). You must also learn about Package Managers (NPM and Yarn are JavaScript's industry standard) and module bundlers (webpack, Rollup, SystemJS etc) even though webpack is the industry standard.

Since you're already learning Python, have a look at Django or Flask (python web development frameworks). Then there's the issue of Version Control and Testing.

So in order, I'd recommend that you do
a. HTML

b. CSS (please know the box model and flexbox well; without them, CSS doesn't make sense)

c. JS. Please start at the beginning. Loops, If, Arrays, Objects, DOM manipulation (DO NOT SKIP DOM no matter how boring it is), functions, events. Then move to ES2015. By the time you're comfortable with ES2015, transpiling with whichever tool you choose (Babel, Bublé, Sucrase etc) would flow naturally [though I'd advice you choose Babel]. Then look at least 1 framework.

d. Python Web framework. This will introduce you to OOP, version control and testing.

Don't be scared; you can achieve all these with self-learning. And please, take it step by step. Ciao

@CanadianEnginee I made some edits to the comment. Please take time to reread

Zsquare:
Web is demanding but first what programming language are you going to work with? Java, C, C#, Python and lots more are out there and each has different web framework to work with. Python in combination with Django can give you the best web development experience but it all comes to understanding of language of your choice.

Plus are you going to be a back-end developer or a front-end developer? Ask yourself different questions and when you find the right answers then you can make your choice!

A good web developer should have at least 75% knowledge on how to link his work with android, IOS or Windows.

Android apps pay much or pay less depending on the usability but web developers make their money whether you use the web or not because it's just a contract between them and the organization.

Check your interests, your talents, environment you want to work including the mentality of such people, marketing strategies on how to make yourself a brand and it's not necessary you learn different programming language.

Hope this will give you little guidance on your choice!

My dear, do you know how complicated mobile app development has become? Everyone here is giving the different languages that can be used to build web apps as if different languages cannot be used to build mobile apps.

Dear OP, even in the mobile programming world, different languages are used. If you want to develop cross-platform mobile apps, Ionic, React Native and Native Script are at your fingertips. React Native and Native Script are both JavaScript based. Even Vue.js now can now be used to develop native mobile applications.

There's also Dart and Flutter. Both languages are being pushed by Google as alternatives to React Native, Native Script and other languages that allow you to develop cross platform mobile applications.

If you want to do traditional native android development, I would advise you to go learn Kotlin. Developed by IntelliJ and adopted by Google, Kotlin is now the official android native programming language going forward due to the patent suit that Oracle filed against them sometime ago. So going forward, Kotlin is going to be the big man. Those telling you about Java still like in 2016.

So don't be deceived that mobile programming s just about learning Java and XML. These guys did not even mention XML as if it is not a language in itself.

Dear OP, do your research and make your decision; but let me warn you. If your only motivation to learn software development is money, you'll tap out of the race because you're going to be easily frustrated.

This is why a lot of people here don't take the programming section serious. I don't have the energy to type an epistle this morning, let me just go and read hacker news jejely

Stratnergy:
Good day house.

I have a question on compatibility of Nigerian phones with Canadian networks.

I attended a Planning for Canada event in Nigeria and was told that phones like Tecno and Infinix are not compatible with the network over there.

Is this in relation to double SIM phones or brand of phone? I'm using a Samsung double SIM phone and I don't want phone to be part of what I worry about when I get to Canada.

Your advice pls.

God bless

This is not at all related to the number of sim cards et al but about the network bands present in the phone. Every country sells network bands to Telco network companies and these bands vary from country to country. So when a manufacturer says a phone is an "International version" what they mean is that its 2G/3G and sometimes 4G networks will work in most if not all countries of the world.

If you visit websites that list the technical specifications of a phone like GSMArena [the attached link is to Samsung S8] (https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php) and you expand its network tab, you'd see a list of all the frequency bands that the phone supports. If you dig around google very well, you'd get a list of the particular frequency band that a Telco company (regardless of its country) uses for its GSM, 3G and 4G networks. If any of those bands match the one listed by the phone manufacturer, then you are 90% guaranteed that the phone will work with that particular operator.

What makes this somewhat complicated is that in countries like Canada and US, phones are manufactured specifically for Telecoms network operators and the frequency bands of other competitors are locked. Also, such phones have limited network bands they can operate on. That is why you'll hear that phones locked to X company in the US doesn't recognize the sim cards of Y company in Nigeria. It is simply a technical issue.

To be on the safe side, be sure that you are using the international version of any phone you have (Apple, Samsung, HTC, Motorola etc) as all brand new phones sold in dealerships across Nigeria are international versions by default except for those brand new unlocked phone people are selling upandan.

einsteino I see you are a Telecoms person! Howdy?

jossey94:
I agree that Kratos is insanely strong. However, i think the fun in the game is using that strength to tear through hordes and hordes of assailants. The mini bosses are also tough to get through, with each one needing to be defeated in different ways.
That said, I think the challenge in GOW is not in fighting the bosses, but actually getting through the puzzles and mazes that Kratos routinely find himself involved in.

GOW is not a game of strength but one of technique. Most people saying Kratos is too strong have only ever played GOW in easy mode. Anything outside that is real war.

And I found it harder beating the Sisters of fate than Zeus; so your point about the smaller enemies being tougher is on point.

Caseless:
lahm isn't a natural defender. He's a right foot too, but was used as a left back. The idea of a "right back or left back" started with lahm. What we used to have was permanent 2 or 3 as defenders.

Bros, if you say the idea of a right back or left back started with Lahm, where did you put Cafu and Roberto Carlos of Brazil?

Lahm was a left footer who used to play as a right back then later became a left back. Shikena.

Saying that the idea of right or left back started with him is a disrespect to people like Carlos, Cafu, Ramos (who started his career as a right back), Puyol (he too used to be a right back before becoming a central defender), Lizarazu, Thuram, and even Babayaro plus a host of other players I can't remember right now.

All these players I mentioned were defenders and also threats going forward. Lahm was not the first; there were many before him.

salford1:
Unfortunately, not everyone knows economics indept.

From late last year till present, there have been many reports about how unemployment claims fall to the lowest in 40 years, US employment rate falls to lowest in 10 years, US employment rate falls to lowest since 2000 etc....
This is the news people are being bormbarded with in the US and Canada.

There are truths and there are half truths. Those headlines are click baits; because news must be packaged to make the viewer want to watch.

I have followed the Trump administration well and watched a lot of interviews by people in the economic or media team. Most of them become speechless or tongue tied when confronted with the hard facts about the economy under Trump's admin viz-a-viz the economy under the Obama admin.

The truth that they would not admit publicly is that the Obama administration did a fantastic job on the economy. He may not have been great at foreign policies but when it comes to the economy, Obama was A+.

And we all know that the full blown effects of policies don't manifest in 12 calendar months. Well, I guess being in the US or Canada is not an antidote to ignorance and misinformation

princevih:
y is evry1 nt saying anytin. Pls every1 who has an experience wit dis suv's or who has used any1 of dem shud pls share their views. If my dear relative happens 2 buy d acura which i assume dat its maintenance wil cost more i wil nt b happy cus it wil affect my pocket money pls help a broda wit useful advice cus i wil show him dis thread 2 convince him thanks as u help sustain my pocket money

So in short, you're fighting for your pocket money... Badoo

salford1:
Some people myself inclusive dislike trump but cant deny the fact that the man is creating jobs and lots of it in the US. I won't be shocked if he gets re-elected.

The Liberal are almost not existent in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Albertans can hardly wait to kick the Notley and the NDP out next May. Manitoba is Conservative too. With the addition of Ontario, that is four solid provinces in the pocket of the Conservatives. The Animosity grew with the Federal Liberal's handling of the refugee crisis, high taxes to fund social services, carbon tax etc. It also kind of smeared their reputation across provinces to an extent.

Even the millenials are turning away from the liberal party. Trudeur's fine boy charm no longer works like it used to. If the conservatives get into federal power, they would definitely reduce the number of all classes of immigrants, so anyone thinking of migrating should do so asap. The result from Ontario's election is highly embarrassing for the Liberal party. It was a tsunami.

Donald Trump is doing well but not as well as he thinks he is doing. Obama's worst year throughout his Presidency was the first year and that was because the economy was in a recession. Over his next 7 years, the man practically shined.
When people say Trump is creating jobs, it has to be put into context. From experience, I know that data at first glance does not reveal hidden truths until it is critically examined and put into context.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/12/14/comparing-the-trump-economy-to-the-obama-economy/?utm_term=.f4a69e811efe

For instance, Trump has largely taken credit for the rise in the stock market but people who observe the market know that once the big guys (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon) and co declare their quarterly earnings and surpass their earning projections, then the market reacts.
Recall that Apple declared profits shy of its estimation last year and it's stock price took a hit. I really wished I was in the US during that time. If I was, I would have bought a lot of Apple stock. That same Apple stock that took a hit less than a year ago had now bounced back when Apple declared it's annual earnings.

Do you know that the Department of Homeland Security cancelled the Entrepreneurship visa policy of the Obama administration last week? That announcement also introduced more stringent rules to people who have class L and M visas?

Trump getting re-elected is a long shot as Democrats have been winning most of the elections in most states (even the so-called Republican states) since Trump became President.

America is experiencing its wave of populism and I guess most Americans are tired of it already. It's kinda similar to the Britons who voted in favor of Brexit but are now realizing what it truly means for them.

galaciousbabe:
Good evening please how do i access access bank at lekki oniru towards shop rite in vi. I am coming from cms.

From CMS, board a bus to Jakande Ajah. Alight at Sandfill bus stop. Immediately you alight, you'd be facing or backing Four Points Hotel by Sheraton. Walk in the direction of Four Point. At the junction just before Four Point, you'd see Keke and bike going to Shop Rite. Tell them you're going to Access Bank. The distance is very trekkable too

Unlimited22:
Programming gurus in the house, since I no get system I decided to go with sololearn instead of marking time. How una see am?

Solo learn is good. But I would really urge you to get a laptop. It's not compulsory to buy a new one. With 60k, you'd get a decent fairly used laptop that will last you a number of years.

codebrew85:
Since you are more inclined towards programming, look for a coding bootcamp and enrol.

The question is can he afford 10k dollars for a coding bootcamp?

chrisbaxtian:
I bet you, the hungry ones will

Which software developer who knows his or her onions is hungry? With just Php + Laravel + JS + JQuery + React or Vue or Angular + Git + TDD, I won't go hungry.

Why will I now apply for a job that requires C++ (that developers now run from), Java, Php, Python + TDD and would require me to do Pen testing and IT support? I'm I mad?

Why didn't they kukuma add Erlang, Haskell, Scala and Go so that we know they don't know what they want?

There is no developer who meets all the language requirements that is hungry anywhere in the world even if the person is in a hole in the ground. The vacancy itself gives a potential applicant a peep into the kind of structure such a firm has in place -- none

czaratwork

I never expected you to answer my questions. I asked them in order for you to introspect and make decisions. I don't force interests on people; because I believe everyone should be able to pick what suits them. Programming is not for everybody; the way football is not for all. If it's not working for you, then find something else. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

A lot of things motivate us and keep us in the mood to learn. At a time, I was spending 1k naira everyday to go to the Unilag post graduate library to go and watch video tutorials and code. I found out that the environment encouraged me and kept me from sleeping.

A friend of mine is currently on a Cisco scholarship course. He does overnight at work anytime he wants to watch the videos and practice partly because his job does not have strict opening and closing time (he can waltz in at 10am and close by 8pm if he so chooses).

I also find it hard to learn or concentrate when I'm broke. The thing no go just enter head. So you have to minimize the noise or find ways to escape it so that you can achieve your goal.

TheCongo2, this is for you:

The online education industry can be likened to the car manufacturing industry: there are the Toyotas, Hondas, Benzes, Audis, Porsches and the Rolls Royces. All these cars are made for people but with different target markets and of course different price points. Why buy a $500,000 Rolls Royce to move from point A - B when a $30,000 Toyota Camry would do the same thing?

That is why you should know that Lynda, Udacity, Pluralsight, Treehouse (would henceforth be called the Big 4 for the sake of this discussion) and co cannot be compared to Udemy.

Udemy is a marketplace; it brings learners and teachers together on its platform. Therefore, I can also package a course and put it on Udemy for sale; you can too. So Udemy as a company does not handle the production of its courses; that is left for the teacher. All Udemy wants is that you bring your course, market it yourself and they take a cut from every purchase. This model is entirely different from that of the Big 4 who in most (if not all) cases manage the production of their courses, market them and somehow pay the teachers a percentage of whatever comes in.

This seemingly small difference matters a lot when you think about it.

1. Visit the websites of any of the Big 4, preview any course and compare side-by-side with an Udemy equivalent course teaching the same topic or concept and 9 out of 10 times, the production quality of the courses of the Big 4 would beat that of the Udemy course.

2. The Big 4 usually follow specific guidelines in their courses that beginners most times are not aware of. This is why they all have learning tracks or nanodegrees that aim to take anyone without prior knowledge of a topic to at least junior developer level. A learning track by definition is a combination of courses centred around a particular topic. Though each course can be taken independently, they usually build on knowledge gained in previous courses. Udemy does not have learning tracks or nanodegrees.

Let's consider the case of someone who wants to become an android developer. The Android developer track on Lynda contains a total of 19 courses. Udacity have an Android developer nanodegree that costs ~ $1,000. Without any prior knowledge of programming, enrolling in any of these tracks/nanodegree would take you from zero knowledge to at least Junior developer level. If you want to become at least a Junior Android developer following Udemy route, you will have to handpick the courses you're going to take on the platform from the numerous courses they have available. Believe me, this process is cumbersome especially for a beginner who has not carried out extensive research and does not know what a Junior Android developer should know. In case you are curious, a junior android developer should know be proficient in all the skills that Google outlines here https://developers.google.com/training/certification/associate-android-developer/.

Now, you may be wondering why Udacity/Treehouse would offer nanodegrees for ~ $1,000 when you can handpick 20 courses on Udemy that cost between $15 - $20 and still save a lot! Well, Udemy teachers give assignments but don't ask you to submit; Udacity and Treehouse do. In fact, real people mark your assignments and give you feedback on your coding style, how to improve your code etc. These guys also have Q&A forums where learners ask questions and get answers. The certificate of completion from these guys are also industry recognized. Sometimes, they even help with job search. And last but not the least, they force you to use version control for your assignments which is a skill that you as a beginner didn't even knew you were going to need.

To cut the long story short; you are not just paying for a course or set of courses. Now think about the Rolls Royce vs Toyota comparison and you should get what I mean.

3. If you don't want the learning track/nanodegree option, the Big 4 are subscription based. Pluralsight and Lynda cost $30 per month; I'm not sure the price of Treehouse and Udacity. And there is a difference between buying one course and subscribing to the whole course library. The former gives you access to just one course on the platform; the latter gives you access to all courses on that platform.

So you want to be a web developer? You buy one web development course on Udemy that says it's going to teach you HTML, CSS and JS. Then you download it for offline access. Clap for yourself . On the other hand, I use $30 to subscribe for one month access to the Lynda library. I will download 2 HTML courses, 3 CSS courses and 5 JS courses all in the same one month! Now compare and contrast, who got the better deal?

Well just so you know, using my LinkedIn premium free trial option, I used Internet Download Manager to download the Become a Google associate developer learning track which contains 19 courses on Lynda/LinkedIn learning. Then I also downloaded 16 Php courses and loads of other courses. Free trial o!

czaratwork one thing developers know is that there is no single source of truth for learning. Over time, we usually know where to go for the best in a particular topic. Lynda, Treehouse, Udemy etc are great places to learn Php! But to learn Laravel (a Php framework) and generally be a better Php developer (mastering text editors, IDEs, asking questions and getting replies), everyone knows that laracasts.com is the place to go. There is a free plan but its subscription is $15/month. Even though Jefferey Way (the owner of Laracasts) is an extremely good teacher, if you ever want to set up authentication for multiple users in a Laravel project (say your project is going to have users, admins, super admins etc like Nairaland), the multi-auth tutorial by devmarketer on youtube is what you should be watching. We know these things because subconsciously, we have learnt how to learn. This in itself is a skill everyone should master. So as a person, do you learn well with videos? What kind of videos keep you engaged? Or do you learn best with books? These are questions you need to answer.

AZeD1 YouTube is great only if you know what you are searching for. There are people who know their onions, teach well, pay attention to their production and also best practices in programming but there are those don't. There is a high chance that you will fall into the hands of the latter at least once when using YouTube. For an experienced person, this is not an issue but for a beginner, you will not know when you are being taught rubbish. In fact, I can forgive someone whose tutorial production is bad; I won't forgive anyone that teaches me to use mysql instead of mysqli for Php database access in 2018 (this is an example of best practice in Php). I will downvote the video too and leave comments to warn others not to take the person serious.

And that is how I ended up typing an epistle

As far as I am concerned, this is not overboard. If you don't hear cases of willful deception in marriages, only then would you not support this.

Some months ago, I heard the case of a brother who got married to a sister on the recommendation of a woman of God. After marriage, sister no gree make brother see her unclothedness. Brother didn't make a fuss but went ahead to install CCTV cameras in the house.

He found out that sister had no breasts!!!! They had been cut off because she had battled cancer about a year before he met her. Brother later found out that the woman of God who recommended the sister to him knew about it all along!

You don't need a prophet to tell you that that marriage has been dissolved. So if this step will prevent occurrences like that, then I am in total support of it!