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Fathers, you may not realise it, but you matter more to your daughter yhan any other man. Why? because this is so important to her future. And how do you as a father take this crucial responsibility?

Some time ago my adult daughter wrote asking me to play what she called the "Dad Card." If you knew my free-spirited daughter, you would understand that this is not a common occurrence. She has grown up to be a confident young woman quite capable of managing her own life, no matter where she happens to be.

Later she confided that her confidence draws from the fact that she has the "Dad Card" up her sleeve that can be played in the unlikely event she might need it. John Miller

The "DAD CARD" Defined

The "Dad Card" symbolizes the strong relationship that should exist between every father and the daughter. A relationship that endows her with the sure knowledge that she can invoke her father's name and intrinsic authority to seek protection, comfort or security in time of threat or need.

It's a relationship that must be built over time; it's a relationship that will be tested during the stormy teenage years. Its strength is critical to her development and maturity because studies repeatedly show that "YOU" as a father matter more to your daughter than any other man.

How much importance do parents attach to parent-child relationship? How much is it valued? I think fathers shoul think deeply about this.

The prophet Malachi highlighted the importance of the father-child relationship in our time by prophesying that the "hearts of the fathers" must be turned "to the children" and the "hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6).

No loving father can look into the crib of his newborn daughter or gaze into her eyes in the years to come without feeling a sense of pride that awakens protective instincts deep within him.It can also arouse serious feelings of inadequacy at the daunting task at hand. Still, Dr. Meeker claims, and the Bible confirms, that it is a task that can be mastered-imperfectly prehaps but, even so, not without great positive influence.

10 SECRETS EVERY FATHER SHOULD KNOW

1. You are the most important person in her life.

2. You are her hero and role model.

3. You are her first love.

4. Teach her Humility.

5. Protect her and defend her.

6. Be the kind of man you want her to marry.

7. Teach her to fight for what is right.

8. Teach her to know who God is.

9. Teach and show her pragmatism and grit.

10. Keep her connected.

Play your dad card very well !!! Your daughter will be proud of you !!! ...

Calif. governor tells Leno he would run ‘without any doubt’ if he could

California's actor-turned-governor was born in Austria and the U.S. Constitution prevents foreign-born citizens from holding the nation's top job.

Jay Leno asked Schwarzenegger on "The Tonight Show" Thursday if he would make a White House run if the law was changed.

There are few people who knows the ins and outs of the web as well as Joe Hewitt 0pt ! important; max-height: 2000px; max-width: 2000px; min-width: 0px;min-height: 0px; padding: 1px 0pt 0pt; border: 0pt none; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: "trebuchetms",arial,helvetica,sans-serif; float: none; position: static;left: auto; top: auto; line-height: normal; background-image:url("http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/theme/silver/palette.gif";);background-color: transparent; visibility: visible; width: 14px;height: 12px; background-position: -1128px 0pt; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; display: inline;" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/t.gif">. For the past decade,he’s had his hands deep in everything from Netscape, to AOL, to Firefox,to Facebook (where he currently works). Hewitt also knows a thing ortwo about the iPhone. He’s the one who first built Facebook’s excellentiPhone web app (before there were native apps on the iPhone), and thenthe native app — which is one of the bestapps on the platform. So when he rants about something (as he doesfrom time-to-time),people listen. And today he went on one such rant.

Following Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ post min-height: 0px; padding: 1px 0pt 0pt; border: 0pt none; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: "trebuchetms",arial,helvetica,sans-serif; float: none; position: static;left: auto; top: auto; line-height: normal; background-image:url("http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/theme/silver/palette.gif";);background-color: transparent; visibility: visible; width: 14px;height: 12px; background-position: -1128px 0pt; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; display: inline;" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/t.gif"> about Flash thismorning, Hewitt went on Twitter 0pt ! important; max-height: 2000px; max-width: 2000px; min-width: 0px;min-height: 0px; padding: 1px 0pt 0pt; border: 0pt none; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: "trebuchetms",arial,helvetica,sans-serif; float: none; position: static;left: auto; top: auto; line-height: normal; background-image:url("http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/theme/silver/palette.gif";);background-color: transparent; visibility: visible; width: 14px;height: 12px; background-position: -1128px 0pt; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; display: inline;" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/t.gif"> and started going offwith some of this thoughts. I asked Hewitt if I could recap them; hisresponse, “sure, why not.” Hewitt, some may recall, quitiPhone development over his distaste for some App Store policies.Today, seeing a wave of anti-Flash talk on Twitter spurred by Jobs’post, Hewitt startedout min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; padding: 1px 0pt 0pt; border: 0pt none;font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: "trebuchetms",arial,helvetica,sans-serif; float: none; position: static;left: auto; top: auto; line-height: normal; background-image:url("http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/theme/silver/palette.gif";);background-color: transparent; visibility: visible; width: 14px;height: 12px; background-position: -1128px 0pt; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; display: inline;" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/t.gif">:

Redirect your hatred of Flash to the W3C, whose embarrassingly slow pace forced devs to use a plugin because thestandards were so weak.

Also, I am looking at you, developers who bitch whenever a browser offers “non-standard” but .innovative APIs.

Browser makers need to go nuts with non-standard APIs and let the W3C standardize later. Waiting for the committee to innovate is suicide.

So basically, Hewitt’s take is that Flash (and all plug-ins) only exists because the W3C 0pt ! important; max-height: 2000px; max-width: 2000px; min-width: 0px;min-height: 0px; padding: 1px 0pt 0pt; border: 0pt none; font-style:normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: "trebuchetms",arial,helvetica,sans-serif; float: none; position: static;left: auto; top: auto; line-height: normal; background-image:url("http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/theme/silver/palette.gif";);background-color: transparent; visibility: visible; width: 14px;height: 12px; background-position: -1128px 0pt; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: top; display: inline;" src="http://i.ixnp.com/images/v6.28/t.gif"> (the governing body forweb standards) is too slow to formalize and approve innovative newtechnologies. He urges browser-makers to break away from the W3Cconstraints and start going crazy with new APIs.

He then comes in defense of Microsoft, the company that once all-but destroyed (through what just about everyone including the U.S.government thinks were unsavory means) the company Hewitt started hiscareer at (Netscape).

10 years ago we bullied Microsoft into stopping innovation on IE so the W3C could take over. How’d that work out?

For those too young to remember, IE was innovating like crazy from 4.0 -6.0, right up until the DOJ and web standards commies intervened.

@jeff_lamarche Oh c’mon. Aside from ActiveX, Microsoft moved the web forward faster from 96-00 than any other browser maker has.

I don’t know why MS abandoned IE, but I do know that web developers were begging them to stop innovating and just follow the committee.

Hewitt’s take here is that the antitrust action against Microsoft halted innovation in Internet Explorer. In 1996, when Hewitt says IEinnovation really started, that browser didn’t even have 10% share ofthe market, while Netscape had nearly 90%. As an underdog, IE had toinnovate. Until, of course, they took over the web, and then Microsoftinexplicably all-but abandoned the product.

Hewitt then turns to the rise of the app stores (including, yes, the App Store).

Why are app stores threatening the web and luring developers like me away from it? “Evil” proprietary tech is blowing theweb away.

I want desperately to be a web developer again, but if I have to wait until 2020 for browsers to do what Cocoa can do in 2010, I won’t wait.

The “‘Evil’ proprietary tech is blowing the web away” quote is pretty compelling (I’m still kicking myself for not using it in the headline).Again, Hewitt’s point here is that the web is nowhere near wherenon-web technologies like Cocoa are — and won’t be for a decade.

@KuraFire Did Microsoft patent their non-standard html/javascript/css extensions, preventing other browsers fromimplementing them?

@johnfoliot True, they [w3c] don’t dictate, but developers shame others who use non-standard APIs. That’s the problem.

He wonders here why some of Microsoft’s standards weren’t adopted by the W3C? Then blames the web developers for shaming other developers whouse tech not sanctioned by the governing body.

I am ranting because I want to drop Cocoa and go back to the web, but I am upset about how much power I have to give up to dothat.

How it should go: browsers innovate differently, users pick the best one, later W3C standardizes what users chose, losing browsers conform.

The core of Hewitt’s argument. Web technologies aren’t moving fast enough, and why should he have to use a less powerful language toconform to web standards? Again, he hopes that browsers will start toinnovate and force the W3C to conform to them.

@joseph_wanja I love what Cocoa can do, I just don’t like C-based languages for UI programming.

The reason why Hewitt doesn’t just stick with Cocoa if he finds it superior to web-based languages.

@eston Users might be aware of their choices if more developers wrote browser-specific sites. Developers really pick thewinner.

An urging for developers to take action to reverse the trend.

@JamesWatch IE6 was fucking amazing in 2000. It’s not fair to compare it to modern browsers.

A word of caution for those who bash IE6 — remember what it was like when it came out.

@joseph_wanja unfortunately I would recommend Cocoa [rather than web languages] at this point. Wish I didn’t have to saythat.

Cocoa, while not perfect, is better than web languages.

@michaelvillar So launch a different browser. Not a big deal. Know what is a big deal? Having to buy a different phone for eachapp store.

An interesting point. Hewitt is saying that while it may seem like a hassle to have the web coded for different browsers, it’s much more of ahassle to have apps coded for different phones.

@jjathman I’m not justifying ActiveX, but the html/css/javascript side of IE which at one time was state of the art.

Again, more defense of IE back in the day.

From here, Hewitt goes into a series of thoughts on web vs. native apps.

@ppk Yes, exactly. I’d rather developers had forced users to launch different browsers instead of making watered down x-browsersites.

@ppk That’s sort of what is happening with mobile web vs. native mobile apps, except app stores don’t extend the browser, they replaceit.

@slauriat “best viewed in X” was not as bad as “buy another phone”, which is what we got for letting the web go to shit so apps could rise.

@ppk As someone who has tried to do both cutting edge native and web iPhone apps, iPhone Safari is a joke compared to iPhone Cocoa.

App stores replace the web, simply because their languages are better, in Hewitt’s mind. And it’s our own fault for letting the web goto shit, and letting this happen. His last tweet is particularlypowerful: Hewitt does have a lot of experience on both sides, andconsiders iPhone Safari to be a “joke” compared to what you can donatively. This is a sentiment a lot of developers whisper about, butseldom say publicly.

Finally, Hewitt qualifies some of his statements a bit.

I’ve been hard on Flash, but we should all thank Macromedia/Adobe for 10 years of picking up the slack of the W3C,Microsoft, and Mozilla.

And really, how screwed would we be if the WebKit team weren’t so god damn competent? Ok, signing off now, thanks for listening. :)

Fair enough, plenty of juicy post-worthy comments for one day.

Editor's note: Pete Cashmore is founder and CEO of Mashable,a popular blog about social media. He writes a weekly column aboutsocial networking and technology for CNN.com.

London, England (CNN) -- Facebook dropped a bombshell on the tech industry last week in the form of a Web-wide"Like" button and the launchof the "Open Graph."

Using this new platform, Web sites can drive Web traffic from Facebook by including Like buttons on theirpages; every Like posts an update to that user's Facebook page.

What's more, any Web site can customize its experience for you, if you'relogged into Facebook: Suddenly CNN.com stories can be ranked not just byan editor but by your friends too.

Likes replace links?

Facebook announced Likes as a form of "social links" -- better than a link because it's related to a specific user. If Like buttons take off,that's really bad news for Google, since its algorithm uses linksbetween sites to determine their order in search results.

Facebook seeks to replace this open system of links between pages with the"social links" (or Likes) that it controls. Google and other searchengines won't have full access to all these Likes, so the company bestpositioned to rank the Web will be Facebook. No wonder the "open Web" advocates are sounding the alarm, concernedthat a single company will stockpile all of our personal informationand preferences.

Already there are calls to create an "OpenLike" standard that's accessible to all, reports Facebook watcher Nick O'Neill.

Facebook optimization?.

Can the measurement of an industry affect the output of that industry? If an Academy Award is the ultimate measure of a movie, dodirectors set out to create great films or Oscar-winning ones?

Appearing on the first page of Google results for your chosen search term isperhaps the online equivalent of an Oscar win.

As Google rose to become the barometer of all that's worthy on the Web, publishers rushedto change their sites to appease the Google god. "Search EngineOptimization" became a massive industry; a multitude of SEO consultantssprung up, offering to tweak your Web site to better fit Google'smeasure of the Web.

What if Facebook Likes take off? Or to use the proper jargon: What if the Open Graph becomes the measure of theWeb? Will publishers change their sites to appease our new overlord?

I'm already seeing it: Thousands of sites are adding Facebook's version of semantic data in preference to the open standards as Facebookbecomes the new kingmaker. In the week since launch, more than 50,000Web sites have added Facebook's "social plug-ins." All of which willmake it blissfully easy for Facebook to organize the Web:

Facebook Optimization may be the new SEO.

Open Web advocates have reason to be concerned. Privacy experts are also raisingred flags. No doubt they'll find an ally in Google: Without access tothe stitches that bind Web pages together, the search engine couldfalter.

WHAT IS IBB DOING AT AN AC RALLY ! ! !

The highly publicised ‘One man, One Vote’ rally organised by the Edo State government to promote democracy ran into trouble yesterday when Wole Soyinka, and leaders of the Action Congress, including Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, and party chairman, Bisi Akande, staged a public walkout.

The boycott was carried out to protest the presence of former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, and Senate President, David Mark, who were at the rally.

Earlier, the former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tunubu; National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress, Lai Muhammed; the party’s governorship candidates in Osun and Ogun States, Raufu Aregbesola, and Kayode Fayemi; and party secretary, Usman Bugaje had flown out of Lagos to the Benin rally around 10:00am while Mr Fashola and his team joined the event shortly after.

However, two hours after the plane that took Mr Fashola to Benin took off, it returned to the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, followed by a private jet with Mr Soyinka on board. The men had refused to remain at the rally grounds, thus shunning an event attended by the Edo State governor and AC member, Adams Oshiomhole; Bayelsa State governor and representative of the Acting President, Timpreye Sylva; Mr Babangida; and most of the governors of the South-south.

Explaining why they had to turn their back on the event, Mr Bugaje told journalists that participating in the rally would be tantamount to his party endorsing the presidential ambition of Mr Babangida, who is not an AC member.

He also said it was not possible for the party’s delegation to have remained in Benin to attend a rally with a senate president who destroyed the report of Mohammed Uwais’ electoral reforms panel.

“We went to Edo for a rally on “one man, one vote,” meaning a rally on electoral reform, so that we can press home the point that we cannot afford to continue with the kind of electoral system that we have seen. That we must have a free, fair, credible and transparent election. But when we went, we found out that a stage had been set for one of the presidential aspirants on a platform, which is not our party and we thought our participation will mean some kind of endorsement, which we were not prepare to do.

“Secondly, and perhaps much more importantly, the fact is that the guest of honour as we saw in one of the dailies inside the plane, was the Senate President, David Mark. This is the same senate president who literally supervised the destruction of the Uwais report that went to the National Assembly. In other words, this was the man who supervised the mutilation, and destruction of the hope that this country had for a better electoral system. We cannot see how such a man can be the special guest of honour in a rally, which is all about free, fair and credible election after he has destroyed the report that virtually provided for free, fair and credible election.

“So, with all these contradictions, we discovered that the place was not for us and, therefore, we withdrew, excused ourselves, we wished them well and see how things unfold and we will let you know what our views are.”

Mr Soyinka, in reply to reporters’ questions, said: “Let me just put it this way, this is the last straw (pointing to a newspaper ). I saw this and this is the last straw, the guest of honour (David Mark).

That is all I will say to you right now. I think the people that gave me a ride will have a lot more to say (referring to Mr Tinubu and the AC delegation). The special guest of honour, for me, is Oro pesi je, as they say.” (Oro pesi je’ literally means ‘the matter is beyond comments.’) Mr Bugaje said attending such an event was antithetical to the beliefs of his party..

“Nigerians are already wise enough to see through some of these tricks and gimmicks. I don’t think anybody will be deceived by that kind of crowd, that this is the kind of crowd that gathers for electoral reform,” he said. “Nearly all the dignitaries that are elected officers there were the very beneficiaries of this corrupt, mutilated electoral system that was supervised by Maurice Iwu and how can these people really be there in the forefront in a rally which is all about free, fair and credible election?”

Then Mr Ribadu the more popular of the two .

The former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nasir el-Rufai, will return to Nigeria on Saturday, NEXT can exclusively report.

Mr. El-Rufai has been on a self-imposed exile since November 2009, and even though he had announced that he would return to the country in December, he released a statement, five days to his planned arrival, saying he had postponed his return for security reasons.

At the time, his lawyer Bamidele Aturu, in an interview with NEXT, said that “in the light of the uncertainty surrounding the exercise of public power in Nigeria in general, and security matters in particular, it would be decidedly unguarded for Mallam El-Rufai to return to Nigeria on 27 December 2009.”.

Since then, a lot has changed on Nigeria’s political scene, with the former Vice President stepping into the shoes of ailing President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It is still not clear if this has a bearing on Mr. El-Rufai’s decision to return, but sources close to him told NEXT that his flight is booked and he will be arriving at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on Saturday, aboard a British Airways flight BA0083.

It is also unclear what Mr. El-Rufai’s plans are once he returns to Nigeria, or what he intends to do about the two arrest warrants issued against him. The first warrant accused Mr. El-Rufai of conducting treasonable activities abroad. While the second, issued on November 5, described Mr. El-Rufai as wanted “for acts contrary to Sections 96, 120, 123 and 124 CAP 532 laws of the federation of Nigeria” as well as “some provisions of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act (of) 2000.” Former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa, had also announced the commencement of extradition proceedings on Mr. El-Rufai, based on the Senate Committee on FCT’s report, which also allegedly indicted the ex-minister.

Mr. El-Rufai is also being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to account for almost $250 million spent during his tenure as Minister of the FCT. He, however, in a terse email letter to the anti-graft agency, ahead of his planned return last year, stated that “for the avoidance of any doubt, I am returning to Nigeria on the 27th of December, 2009. I will never be afraid to face a bunch of lackeys like you.”

He is facing an eight-count charge for criminal conspiracy and abuse of office while he served as minister along with Altine Jubrin, a former director general, Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), and Ismaila Iro, former general manager of the same organisation.

As of the time we went to press, neither Mr. El-Rufai nor his lawyer Mr. Aturu could be reached for comments.

Mr. El-Rufai’s return might add to the complications and internal crises presently experienced within the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He is a card carrying member of the PDP, although it is not clear which of the factions in the party he belongs to.

A balancing act says Judge .An Eye for An Eye.

The court heard that trouble started when Ajikere, his brother and two girls boarded an unpainted taxi cab operated by Fabiyi, who was in plainclothes. The group had to alight from the cab following disagreement on the fare charged by the driver.

Fabiyi was angered by the group’s decision to abandon his taxi in preference for another and made his resentment known to the group, following an exchange of uncomplimentary words between both parties.

Bent on getting his pound of flesh, Fabiyi trailed the group to a mobile police check-point close to a five-star hotel along GRA and hurriedly lied to the policemen that the occupants of the other cab were criminals and should be dealt with.

Testifying at the trial, the younger brother of murdered Ajikere said the group was ordered out of the cab and frog-jumped, beaten black and blue and ordered to lay face-down on the tarred road. This was even as the policemen refused to listen to their own side of the story.

Photo:instance of police brutality

Unable to bear the torture any longer, he said, Ajikere tried to stand up and was shot at point-blank range by Cpl. Aminu. His life could not be saved as he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital that said Ajikere died of excessive bleeding.

Delivering judgment after sentencing the men to death by hanging, Monday, Justice Boma Diepreyi said the sentence would serve as a deterrent to other uniformed men “whose stock-in-trade is to kill innocent citizens under the guise of accidental discharge.”

Diepreyi said it would be unfair to take the plea of both Fabiyi and Aminu for mercy, adding: “In as much as I sympathize with them, there is the blood of the young Nnamdi Ajikere, the deceased 20 year-old final year student of University of Port Harcourt crying for vengeance.

“Justice is a balancing act and the only way to a balanced justice in this case is to make the accused persons face the consequences of their reckless act and hope that this will serve as a deterrent to those who may want to emulate their terrible example.”

Meantime, in preparation for the 2011 elections, the Nigeria Police Force has warned its officers to steer clear of inducements by politicians or their agents during the elections stressing that officers found culpable may be dismissed from service and jailed.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. John Hamza Ahmadu, who gave the warning, Tuesday, while addressing the officers at the state command headquarters in Ilorin, also announced that N2billion has been released for the housing projects for officers nationwide.

Ahmadu charged the officers not to compromise their professional ethics and destroy their career because of what he described as chicken fees from politicians assured them that all their allowances would be paid before the elections.

He also urged politicians to warn their supporters to restrict their campaigns to their manifestos and play the game according to the rules adding that those who foment trouble will be dealth with.

Military medics hope the experiments on Prahlad Jani can help soldiers develop their survival strategies.

The long-haired and bearded yogi is under 24-hour observation by a team of 30 doctors during three weeks of tests at a hospital in the western city of Ahmedabad.

Two cameras have been set up in his room, while a mobile camera films him when he goes outside, guaranteeing round-the-clock observation.

His body will be scanned and his brain and heart activity measured with electrodes.

"The observation from this study may throw light on human survival without food and water," said Dr G. Ilavazahagan, who is directing the research.

"This may help in working out strategies for survival during natural calamities, extreme stressful conditions and extra-terrestrial explorations like future missions to the Moon and Mars by the human race."

Since the experiment began on April 22, Jani has neither eaten nor drunk and has not been to the toilet.

"The exercise of taking this yogi under the medical scanner is to understand what energy supports his existence," Dr Ilavazahagan added.

"Jani says he meditates to get energy. Our soldiers will not be able to meditate, but we would still like to find out more about the man and his body."

Jani, who dresses in red and wears a nose ring, grew up in Charod village in the Mehsana district in Gujarat.

He claims to have been blessed by a goddess when he was aged eight, which has enabled him to survive without sustenance.

(CNN) -- At least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China on Thursday morning, state media said.

Most of the victims were four-year-olds, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Three of the children were in critical condition.

Police said they have arrested a 47-year-old suspect.

The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.

It comes a day after a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.

It was not immediately known how many people were injured or whether there were any fatalities Wednesday. The man, described as being in his 40s, entered Leicheng First Primary School Wednesday afternoon and committed the attack before he was seized by police, Xinhua reported.

A man who stabbed eight children to death and wounded five others at an elementary school in eastern China last month was executed Wednesday, Xinhua said. Zheng Minsheng, 42, was shot in Nanping City for the March 23 attack..

Authorities said he carried out the attack because he was frustrated at "failures in his romantic life," Xinhua said.

The five-year reign of Maurice Iwu as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission came to a sudden end yesterday when the Acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, ordered him to proceed on a pre-disengagement leave, with immediate effect.

Mr Jonathan’s directive was given in a terse statement signed by his spokesman, Ima Niboro and released to journalists in Abuja. “The Acting President’s directive is in consonance with Section 155(1) (c), which stipulates that the Chairman and members of the Independent Electoral Commission shall hold office for a period of five years,” the statement said.

“He has also been directed to hand over to the most senior National Commissioner, who shall oversee the activities of the commission pending the appointment of a substantive chairman”.

Mr Iwu’s tenure expires on 13th June, 2010 and he had actively lobbied for an extension of his service. But most Nigerians blame him for the controversial general election held in 2007 which produced the incumbent administration, and one of the early promises of the Yar’Adua administration was that it would reform the electoral process.

Many local and international agencies and governments have specifically asked Mr Jonathan to sack Mr Iwu if he desired a credible election next year. The acting president demurred from making any categorical statement regarding the fate of Mr Iwu until yesterday..

Wishing him success

Three weeks ago, Mr Jonathan was pointedly asked by Christianne Amanpour on a CNN programme if he was going to retain Mr Iwu. He said recent elections in Anambra and Abuja have shown that the man could organise credible polls if given the right tools.

Some civil society groups, including the Save Nigeria Group, have also organized rallies to press for the removal of Mr Iwu, although counter rallies were also organized in his favour -including a well reported one led by maverick artiste, Charles Oputa, also known as Charley Boy.

A number of senior positions will soon be vacant at the electoral commission and this gives Mr Jonathan the opportunity to nominate a new crop of Nigerians into the commission, as he told an audience in the US during his last trip.

The Acting President, in the letter announcing Mr Iwu’s disengagement, thanked the outgoing chairman for his service to the nation and wished him success in his future endeavours.

From Microsoft line of communication devices are the all new Microsoft Kin One and Two phones. The dual phones have been designed specifically to enable people actively engage and navigate their social lives..

The KIN has been designed as the phone to provide an ultimate and never before social web experience and excitement with sites like facebook,Twitter, YouTube etc.

“We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

The home screen of the KIN (called the Loop) has been designed such that it always keeps users informed with events within their social world via notifications and beeps. It also automatically collates feeds from social sites like facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc, making it easier to always stay connected 24 hours.

Design

The KIN One and the KIN Two phones both come in different designs and also both have a fun and simple interface. Social networking has been built as the core platform for the Microsoft KIN phones.

The KIN one and Two phones both feature capacitive touch screen, with slide-out keyboard style. The KIN One is compact and smaller in size to the KIN Two. The Two features a larger screen size with higher resolution. It also records high definition video.

The KIN one phone has a screen size of 2.6 inch and 320 x 240 pixel resolutions while the KIN Two has a screen size of 3.4 inch with a resolution screen of 480 x320.

Both phones feature single silver home buttons with glossy black bezel and have tactile QWERTY keyboards.

Specifications

The two major features on the KIN phones are the Spot and Loop. With the Loop, social contents (facebook, twitter etc) are collated in an order of priority by how they are sorted. The Spot which works more like an attach button, enables users drag and share different contents like maps, images, videos, status updates and share among friends.

Both devices are powered by 600 MHz processors and packs 256 MB RAM. The KIN One and KIN Two have 4GB and 8GB internal storage respectively .They also both come with rear facing cameras,a 5 megapixel camera in the KIN One and an 8 megapixel Camera in the KIN Two. The Camera has metallic shutter buttons and LED flash.

The phones also integrate with the Zune experience- providing music, FM radio, podcast playback and video, which can all be accessed on online store via a Zune Pass subscription from Zune Marketplace.

The devices come with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Micro USB port, Wi-Fi and 2.1 Bluetooth. Both phones also come with a tiny 5V USB adaptor and have batteries of 1240mAh and 1390mAh respectively for the KIN One and KIN Two phones.

Price

Pricing of the phones have not yet been disclosed, but they would be available as from May 2010.

CNN) -- If you plan on going to Kure Beach, North Carolina, bring your sunscreen and shades, but please leave your thong behind.

The seaside community has adopted a zero tolerance policy on anyone wearing the barely-there bikini by the shore on their part of North Carolina's Pleasure Island, just south of Wilmington.

"You can do what you want to in your own space," said Mayor Dean Lambeth, "but for public decency, keep it off the public beach."

Lambeth told CNN he and the town supervisors last week unanimously approved the ordinance banning the skimpy bathing wear.

"Everything we do is family oriented. We like the small town atmosphere," he said..

The decision to forbid thongs was triggered by a couple's recent inquiry about spending their honeymoon in Kure Beach, Lambeth said.

According to the mayor, the couple wanted to know if they could wear thongs. The man thought the town's policy on the matter was ambiguous, Lambeth said. After consulting with the police chief, he determined the ordinance should be amended to better address the issue.

Section 12-32 of the Code of the Town of Kure Beach, which was adopted on April 22, makes it illegal "for any person being naked or insufficiently clothed ... to bathe or swim in the Atlantic Ocean" or any other area within the town's jurisdiction. Sun-bathing "naked or insufficiently clothed" is also banned.

"Thong bathing suits or similar attire are specifically prohibited," the code says.

Anyone wearing a thong on the beach will be fined $25.

Lambeth said reaction to the no-thong policy has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I have gotten probably 100 e-mails from all over the U.S. supporting our stance," he told CNN. "I'm getting calls from New York, California that they are glad somebody is finally taking a stand for public decency."

Lambeth, who said Kure Beach's population swells from 2,500 to 11,000 in the summer, described the town as "nice, slow-mo and conservative."

"We're just a small southern community, and that's how we're going to keep it," he said.

He also suspected the decision on the thongs could end up in court and blamed liberals for that.

"You can file a suit -- the way this country is leaning so far left, it wouldn't surprise me," he said. "They want to challenge it? They want to spend the money? Go for it."

Lambeth said people can wear thongs in their homes and backyards. And with his policy in place, he told CNN he's content.

"I'm sitting out here looking at the ocean and don't see a damn thong in sight.