₦airaland Forum

Are there swimming competitions held among different areas of the Ijaw tribes? I would think that Ijaw kids with natural proclivity towards water and swimming can be easily trained to become a world class athlete. I’m guessing that the generations of Ijaw swimmers, through genetics, should have increased the lung capacity of the average Ijaw person, thus allowing them to take in more air while managing it more efficiently than the average person.

Having an Ijaw world class athlete can do wonders to the psyche of Ijaw kids and also show them a way out of their current poverty. The swimming competition can help identify the most talented kids that might give the Michael Phelps of tomorrow a run for his money.

Can you imagine trying to check the oil in this engine bay? Or even trying to determine what type of oil you can use to top it off? This is where manual will come in handy :-)

[quote author=George_D link=topic=770272.msg9251709#msg9251709 date=1317399796]wallie,
make it a matter of habit to always read your manuals irrespective of whether the equipment
looks simple or not and you'll have less issues to worry about.[/quote]True only if the "issues" worry me. If I can't figure it out, I'll read the manual but there's no way in this world I would read a manual before trying to operate it unless it has a big red sign that says, "DANGER: Do not plug in, RTFM!". Then I might quickly browse through the first few pages :-)

George, 80% or more of the functionality of anything designed for an “average” user can be figured out without reading the manual. It is only when you need the other esoteric 20% that you need the manual.

Did you read the FAQ on this site, assuming there's one, before posting?

[quote author=George_D link=topic=770272.msg9251391#msg9251391 date=1317397018]wallie,
reading the manual first hand gives you a general idea what to expect from your product.
in some cases i never even unwrap my electronics until after having read the manual
from page to page.

as for your experience with the car, i'd say that was a rather exceptionally poorly designed
car you got there! [/quote]With regards to the car, it is just a complex modern German car. Germans don’t do anything simple.

I know that you’re in Nigeria but have you ever test-driven a car that you intend to buy? Do you read the manual before test driving it? Right off the bat, there are few things that are different between Asian and German cars. For example, which direction is the reverse gear? How about the first gear? Of course not, but you do drive it anyway after noting what the obvious differences are.

Maybe I’m just an outlier. I remember as a kid, my parents bought a new Russian washing machine from some guys that imported it. It was a front-loading washing machine but I figured out how it worked even though every single word on the machine or user manual was in Russian and I had never seen a front-loading machine before then.

1. If you have a chronograph watch, did you read the manual before setting the time or did you just pull out the knobs and twisted it to see what moved?
2. Did you read the manual on your phone before inserting a simcard or making a phone call or even storing a number?
3. Did you read a manual before changing a flat tire assuming you knew where the jack points were?
4. Did you read a manual to figure out your remote control that came with your TV or DVD player the first time you got it?
5. How about before using a new iron?
6. Putting fuel in your car?
7. How about checking the oil in your car assuming that you don’t have one of the newer cars without a dipstick?

Certain things are meant to be intuitive and some people are just more cognitive than others. It is not a black or white thing and more of a continuum having different shades of gray. If it looks easy enough to figure out, skip the manual but if it was designed to be used by rocket scientist, by all means, crack open the manual.

[quote author=George_D link=topic=770272.msg9251067#msg9251067 date=1317394397]well, i must be one in a million then because i make it a point to read every manual that comes with my purchases-from electronics to cars.

last time i took over a week purring through my toyota highlander manual so much so that i was even the
one telling the car dealer a lot of things he never even knew existed in the car!  [/quote][quote author=George_D link=topic=770272.msg9251067#msg9251067 date=1317394397]well, i must be one in a million then because i make it a point to read every manual that comes with my purchases-from electronics to cars.

last time i took over a week purring through my toyota highlander manual so much so that i was even the
one telling the car dealer a lot of things he never even knew existed in the car! [/quote]That's great! But there are times when things would go wrong with your car and the manual will only tell you to take it to the nearest dealer.

For example, a few months ago, I needed to change the battery in my car because the battery died while I was listening to music in accessory mode. The first problem that I encountered was how to jump start the car. I couldn't figure out where to get a negative terminal (the battery in my car is hidden in the trunk) that works. I had to take out the manual to see how to jump start the car.

The following day, I went to the store to get a battery to replace the dying battery but I couldn't find it in the trunk. The manual only states that I should take it to the dealer for replacement. So I went online, and eventually found out that the battery was hidden under the spare tire and covered by a huge suspension leveling sensor that has to be unbolted from the floor of the trunk to expose the battery.

Bottom line is that you will learn way more than most “regular” Toyota technicians, even American ones, by reading more about your car on internet forums. Most forums have Master technicians posting comments about issues owners are facing.

maclatunji:
I have noticed that people try to defend their acts when someone points out that it might be flawed.

The operative word in your sentence is “might”. I have one word in response: “usability.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability

See the extent Industrial Engineers/Designers go through to make a product intuitive so that you won’t need to carry a user manual in your back pocket.

Also, not reading a manual is not ignorance. If the designers of the appliance really did their job, 80% of the functionality should be obvious. The goal of any designer is to design something that’s intuitive and they even put clues on the appliance to guide your actions.

Any appliance or “thing” that requires you to read a manual to perform the most basic function will not be a mainstream item. If you’re trying to use advanced features of the “thing” then you probably need to read the manual.

I see manuals more as a reference document that you consult when you can’t figure things out or get stomped. For example, I was in my friend’s Accord when he flicked on his headlight and to my surprise, a symbol lit up on the instrument cluster. My first reaction was that his headlight was out but he said the symbol actually alerts him to the fact that his headlight is on. I immediately pulled out his user manual to confirm his statement, which was true.

Why do people think this is a Nigerian thing? Most people everywhere don’t read manuals except for the very cautious anal ones.

I don’t read manuals and I take pride in figuring things out and only resort to manuals when I get stomped. I believe any appliance, instrument, software, hardware, or vehicle built and configured for the “average” consumer can be mostly (~85%) figured out without reading the manual. To figure out the remaining 15% which are probably esoteric functions that you would rarely use might require digging into the manual.

You actually sit down and read a manual before putting stuff together? At most, I might give a cursory look at diagrams but I’ll die of boredom reading stuff that an 8 year old can figure out without reading.

Kolababa:
Sentiment apart, this what we are telling GEJ. Before he remove fuel subsidy that will raise the transportation cost, he should first of all solve the infrastructural problem like building and encouraging state governments to build the same. In countries where they are using this light rail, the fuel price is not their concern. If you like make petrol five hundred naira per litre, common man will not feel it because rail is there to take and there is constant elecricity in which my "I better pass my neighbour" would have be given an indefinite holiday."I better pass my neighbour" would have be given an indefinite holiday.

+1

Being the federal government, his government should foot 60-70% of the infrastructure bill and the state governments should pay for the remaining 40-30% plus the cost of acquiring the rail cars. The state can follow a similar model like Lagos' PPP and pass the cost of the rail cars to private companies.

freezy:
Is the concession country Nigerian? Maybe they do not have the pedigree to handle such projects yet.

Japan has been known to grant home loans as much as 40 years and there has been tal of loans that go as much as a hundred years. Errr, what is the average tenure of Morgages in the UK these days?   Well, a school of thought says those are morgages anyway

In granting loans, the higher the risk, the shorter the tenure. African countries are high risk, thus the short tenure.

Exactly my point!! Most of Africa is too unstable for any investor to wait a long period of time for ROI on a fixed asset. With airplanes, you can always repo or sell it for scraps when things don't go your way. The companies handling the project include investment companies. I also doubt that they have the experience to run such project without hiring the necessary experts.

@freezy

With regards to giving the investors longer concessions, in my cursory search, I’ve not seen any infrastructure loan with a period of more than 15 years. Do you know of any bank in the world that gives out infrastructure loans for a period greater than 20 years, especially to African countries?

freezy:
@ Wallie. My apologies. I take it back.

No. I am not laying blame. I said with proper planning, brand new cars can be bought without much ado.
If the private guys are coming up with the funds for purchase of the cars, why not mandate them to buy new ones and be given a consession for a longer amount of time?
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transport Authority (MARTA www.itsmarta.com) refurbished each train car in 2009 at a cost of about $250k. However, those cars will do a maximum of 15 active years, with a lot more maintenance than new ones will ever require.

As per links to cost for an aircraft, simply type cost of an airbus on www.google.com search and you'll see them costs.

My car? Lets not go there. There is no need to show off. I'll just say God has been kind to me concerning that aspect

Apology accepted.

Private guys are not mandated to buy new rail cars because their business model won’t support it. You also have to realize that the private individuals involved are responsible for maintaining the rail cars.

With regards to MARTA, I’m also certain that their facts are different. For example, you can refurbish a 1985 Honda Accord or refurbish a 2002 Honda Accord, but each of them will have a different life span. I’m not saying the Toronto trains are newer but I don’t know if they’re not and they may even be a different brand entirely.

I wasn’t talking about the aircraft as you only used that to buttress your point. And I wasn’t literally talking about your cars; I only used it to explain a metaphor. For example, why not just buy your own private jet on your own private island instead of taking a commercial airplane? Surely, your private jet will allow you to better manage your time.

freezy:
Mediocrity. At its peak.

Learn not to settle for second best. Always settle for the best.
Note that I am not complaining. I am putting that here for record purposes. I only said we could have done much better. Refurbished trains according to research have a lifespan of about 15 years. New ones do have more than 50.

Of course new trains are better but so also is owning 7 different luxury cars for each day of the week. How are you going to generate the required ROI on new trains? Are you, as a customer, ready to pay the extra surcharge for brand new trains?

@Freezy

I also didn't just pull a number out of the thin air. Can you back up your assertions? Simple links will do.

freezy:
^^^
Arrant nonsense.
A single Tokunbo Airbus costs as much $100m. Some single individuals have no qualms in aquiring  large number of such machines with the intention of owning an airline. Some already do. Some are about to.
And who on earth says the payments for such are to be made at a single go? The cost of the attendant infrastructure is the same, either new or Tokunbo. Why not buy new cars?
Proper arrangements with manufacturing companies wil make BRAND NEW TRAINS available in no time.
You buy in Canada, refurbish in USA and Ship into Naija. I'll keep this figures and we'll compare to figures declared spent when operations begin. If resources are properly allocated for the past God know how many years of misappropriation, we'd have more than enough to buy new trains all over again.

While I am not running down Governor Fashola's attempts, Tokunbo train cars are not our Uhuru. The old saying goes. . . "Anything worth doing AT ALL is worth doing well".
We are so used to being troden over that we have begun celebrating forms of mediocrity.

I’ll ignore the first sentence.

In your haste to lay blame, you forgot to realize that this is a private-public partnership and the government is only providing the infrastructure at a cost of $400m. Private companies are providing the rail cars in exchange for a 25 year concession.

Also, may I ask the model year of your car and make? If you did not buy new and driving anything other than a luxury car, why didn’t you buy new? I just saw a post on the home page about banks giving out car loans. Your answer is the same reason Lagos is not buying new.

afam4eva:
, About Fashola becoming Nigeria's next president. I'm indifferent about that. There are way better leaders than him in Nigeria eg Aunty Ngozi, Pat Utomi, Oby Ezekwesilli, Soludo, Sanusi etc. It's just that he had the opportunity to show his talent.

Not disagreeing with you but how do you know the people you listed are better "leaders" except maybe Ngozi?

To people complaining about the trains being Tokunbo, do you think Nigeria (not even Lagos) can afford new trains? Look at the cost of the trains attached below. Each new train will probably cost between $3m-$4m and about 250 are needed, which will bring the overall cost of just the trains to $750m - $1 Billion.

Then add in the cost of about $9 million per Kilometer for the infrastructure.

http://www.railway-technical.com/finance.shtml

I pray for the day Nigeria will have an independent judiciary and someone like Ribadu at the helms of EFCC!!!

There's nothing wrong in seeking restitution from thieving political officers but it needs to be made public and there should be punitive damages assessed.

If you're caught stealing and you plead guilty, you should be made to pay back the amount X10 and be barred, along with your nuclear family, for life from taking part in any political office or gathering. If you’re caught taking part in politics, your probation gets revoked and it is an automatic 20 years in jail with no possibility of parole.

I’m a Patent Attorney in the US and my answers only apply to the US BUT patent laws in Europe and the US are substantively the same. There are some minor procedural differences but probably doesn’t apply to what you need.

1. You cannot patent an idea and you sure as hell cannot copyright anything but literary and artistic works.

2. You cannot patent an idea and an idea is NOT an invention. For it to be an invention, you need to disclose “how” it is done so that a person in the same field can build the same based on what you disclosed.

3. Even copyright does not protect what’s in your head. It has to be in a tangible form (written on some medium).

4. To disclose an idea to a company, about the only option you have is to have them sign a Non-disclosure agreement (NDA). BUT why would they sign it? Put yourself in their shoes. Someone comes in off the street and hands them a paper to sign saying he has something important to tell them! How are they going to take you seriously? More importantly, how do they know that you’re not going to tell them something they already know or are planning to do?


Your only realistic option is to seek legal protection before disclosure. If what you want to disclose is more than an idea, then try to get a patent but start with a Provisional Utility Patent. Without getting into too much detail, a provisional patent can be thought of as a placeholder for a year and it cost thousands of dollars less than a full utility patent (~$5k just to file). During the year of your provisional patent (valid for 1 year before the need to file a full patent), you can then approach the company in question with your provisional patent.

If your idea is an ornamental design of a product, then you have to get a design patent which is way cheaper. If it some literary or artistic work, then write it down with proof of the date of conception. Mailing it to yourself in a sealed envelope can do the trick.

Ask specific questions and I’ll try to answer anything that does not take too much of my time.

What is site "flipping” that you guys keep talking about? Are you referring to affiliate marketing? You get a commission when someone buys a linked product on your site? And then you eventually sell the site based on the number of hits and/or Google ranking?

While the toy soldiers are busy fighting over religion and tribal politics, their elected officials are colluding with each other while laughing their way to the bank. That’s right; your money is shared amongst Christians, Muslims, Igbos, Yorubas, Niger Deltans, voodoo priests etc. The only thing that matters to the politicians is finding the right person that that they can trust who can also get the “job” done!

Let me try to clarify what people are saying. There are 2 components to the issues raised above (1) El Rufai, and (2) the issues raised and presented as facts. How you feel about issue #1 should not affect issue #2 as long as issue #2 are not based on opinions.

Forget issue number 1 and let’s focus on issue #2, the issues raised.

Times are tough especially in Nigeria but a guy should only spend on a girl that’s his. If you and your girl are in a serious committed relationship, then there’s nothing wrong in solving her financial problems if you’re capable of doing so.

I believe in having your wifey represent you whenever she’s outside. By “represent”, I mean that she should give every woman something to be jealous of – her clothing, hair, jewelry, car and bag should make other women talk:-) It ain’t trickin if you got it! But she has to be your wifey because a relationship with a girlfriend might not last long enough to recoup your investments.

Even when you’re not in a relationship with someone, there’s nothing wrong in picking up a restaurant bill but, at the very least, she should pretend to want to pay half herself.

I’ve received calls from an old friend that wants me to buy her an $800 bag because she has a party coming up. She even sent me the link to the website! I just couldn't understand why someone without a verifiable source of income would want to carry an $800 bag!

Women cheating on men ----- thought of cheating is the end
Men cheating on women ------ twice because the first time could have been a mistake:-)

I know that I will be castigated for this but I don’t think that men and women cheat with the same level of emotional attachment. A guy can have meaningless contact with a woman but the converse is rarely true. For women, feelings are usually involved.

The truth is that even if your woman forgives you, you will never hear the end of it!

Online gamers have achieved a feat beyond the realm of Second Life or Dungeons and Dragons: they have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade.


The exploit is published on Sunday in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where -- exceptionally in scientific publishing -- both gamers and researchers are honoured as co-authors.

Their target was a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses, a family that includes HIV.

Figuring out the structure of proteins is vital for understanding the causes of many diseases and developing drugs to block them.

But a microscope gives only a flat image of what to the outsider looks like a plate of one-dimensional scrunched-up spaghetti. Pharmacologists, though, need a 3-D picture that "unfolds" the molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs.

This is where Foldit comes in.
Developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, it is a fun-for-purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups, compete to unfold chains of amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- using a set of online tools.

To the astonishment of the scientists, the gamers produced an accurate model of the enzyme in just three weeks.
Cracking the enzyme "provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs," says the study, referring to the lifeline medication against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem.
"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the university's biochemistry lab said in a press release. "The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."

One of Foldit's creators, Seth Cooper, explained why gamers had succeeded where computers had failed.
"People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at," he said.

"Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans. The results in this week's paper show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before."

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puzzle-161920724.html

Evil Brain:
Google is your friend.

American school age children routinely test well below their peers in other developed countries in reading, comprehension and maths skills. Nobody measures educational development using the tertiary level. The vast majority of people don't go to college.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html

Best has many meanings. They may have the best machines and the most expensive equipment but when tens of millions cannot afford even basic preventative care, its a bit difficult to claim that they're the best. Also, the bolded above is a barefaced lie. Stop watching Fox News.

Their life expectancy is 78.3 according to Wikipedia. They are 36th in the world right behind Cuba, a third world country. Macau is actually 27 places above them! I said that they had the lowest life expectancy in the developed world but it turns out that Portugal's is slightly worse, my bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

I usually stay out of threads like this but like politicians people seem to quote things out of context to suite their purpose.

Since you quoted Wiki, you might like to know one of the actual criterions used to determine a developed nation and how the US actually ranks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide.

Also, read the link below to see that there are no accepted established criteria for ranking "developed" countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country

So how does the US rate when you use GDP, the market value of goods and services?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

In summary, the US is one of the most developed countries in the world and its ranking depends on the criterion used. What you fail to realize is that the US has over 312,000,000 (312 million) people and there's no way that there won't be sections of the country, especially in underprivileged areas, doing "bad". Most of the countries you are comparing with the US only has about 1/10 its population! Cuba’s population is only 11 million, which is the size of a city.

Here's a listing of countries by population:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

This can spell trouble for Nigeria in the long run. What’s to stop other States from retaliating in different sectors of their State’s economy?

For example, if people from Imo bear the brunt of such action, what’s to stop the Imo govt from expelling Abians or other indigenes from key sectors of their economy because they now have an influx of recently unemployed people looking for any type of job? Why should the Imo govt only retaliate in the State public sector? Here’s a scenario, if Imo doesn’t have a high number of Abians in their State’s economy but do have a lot of rich Abians owning real properties in a desirable area of the State, as the governor/legislature of Imo, I would increase the taxes on properties by 1000% and give everybody a waiver except Abians.

If I’m to retaliate, my goal will be to hit where it hurts and nowhere is off limits since you hit me first!

With regards to Kpac’s comments, I can’t seem to get past the way most Nigerians think! Most seem to think that it is ok to let a current “looter” from their tribe go free because other notable Nigerians from other tribes are getting away with looting. My question then is, don’t we have to start from somewhere? Since when is a thief not a thief?

The truth is that almost everybody will break the law if given the opportunity and a guarantee, whether real or perceived, not to be prosecuted. Do I want to stop paying taxes, run red lights when I’m in a hurry, claim personal expenses as a business expense? Yes but I won’t because I’m not ready to face the consequences when I get caught. And it is more likely than not that I will get caught!

In Nigeria on the other hand, chances of you getting caught especially when you “settle” everybody is almost zero. Even if the unthinkable happens and you do get caught, chances that the punishment will be a life changing event is zero!

Here’s a very simple question. Would you risk 1 year jail term to steal $100 million if the chance of getting caught is less than 5%?

Also, I get sick to my stomach when people resort to injecting punishment by God as a reason to let someone go free! If I know that the consequences of my actions only lies with God, what’s stopping me from looting then sincerely asking God for forgiveness?