Update: Should be finished now, although there may be some parts that I’ve missed.

I’ve now added some features to show maps of where I’ve been writing from recently, courtesy of the GeoPress plugin and Google Maps. I can also easily insert a map showing the location of individual posts.

Actually the plugin only worked erratically and eventually completely gave up.

That picture ended up in Google image search among others and lots of non-technical bloggers seem to have chosen to use it if they want a picture from Barcelona. The only problem is that they don’t save it to their own website, they link to the copy on my site.

To make matters worse they usually display it at thumbnail size by telling the browser to resize it. So what happens is that the end-user’s browser downloads a huge picture and then resizes it to show it on the screen. This download comes from my web host and uses up bandwidth, which is a finite resource and costs money if I use too much.

OK, non-technical people might not realise the problem, so I usually try to contact them and suggest that they use the thumbnail-size version instead. Most of them ignore me.

What is really annoying and has nothing to do with technical knowledge is that most of them don’t even credit me. They use my picture and then effectively pass it off as their own. On the right-hand side of these pages is a little copyright notice. In general I’m happy for people to use my pictures but you must ask me or you’re breaking copyright law.

This means that I’m temporarily without access to my saved emails and most of the rest of my personal stuff. I’m hoping the hard disk is still OK and I can get all the useful data off it but until then I won’t be checking my email very often.

Looks like it’s just as well I’m taking a holiday back to the UK in April, the laptop is still under warranty and I’d rather have IBM/Lenovo’s UK people deal with it than send my laptop to the “service provider” in Lagos.

I was getting huge numbers of junk comments, people thinking that the links they typed in would appear on the site. That’s not the case, it just annoyed me. I’ve now adjusted the way the “Contact me” form works, it should allow real people to use it but block computer programs.

• RSS: this is part of most modern browsers (even Internet Explorer if you have version 7), the browser will automatically check for site updates and give you an excerpt and a link to the full post. The address should be automatically detected, you’ll see an orange icon in the address bar that you can click on to subscribe. For manual configuration the address is http://www.caboose.org.uk/feed/
• Mailing list: when I add some significant updates to the site I usually send an email to my kevinnigeria mailing list. To subscribe send an email to:

  kevinnigeria-subscribe at caboose.org.uk

  Don’t worry, you wont be bombarded with email, it’s usually one or two a month.

Update (18 January): The problems were due to another bit of software (EzStatic), I contacted the author and he had an updated version of it ready in about four hours. Well done! As a result the “Contact me” links should be working again and the other static pages, such as the Nigerian glossary don’t look odd.

Sunday 18th – Abuja to Calabar
Monday 19th – get Cameroon visa from the consulate in Calabar
Tuesday 20th – travel to Limbe, Cameroon, probably by boat
Sunday 25th – spend Christmas on the beach at Limbe
Monday 26th – head for Buea and Mount Cameroon
Friday 30th – return to Nigeria
Sunday 1st – in Opobo for New Year

I probably won’t be checking email or updating this site much while I’m there, you’ll have to wait until I get back to Abuja, around the 4th of January.

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by arcalad@yahoo.com (Peter) on Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 02:35:04.
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Name: Peter

email: arcalad@yahoo.com

Page title: Parents’ visit

Comments: Hi,

I have been going through your blog for a while now,and i guess you are not in any way enjoying your stay in Nigeria.Your comments and observations actually show this.You seems to complain too much about the situation at hand,and i guess you dont like virtually everything you see in the country from the people,culture down to the foods.You forget this is a developing country and i think you didnt do your research very well before coming over on what to expect.
Please try and post some good things about the country you discover to give a more balance look to your blog..i wish you will open up and have a relax mind while you enjoy your stay in Nigeria.
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Hi Peter,

what makes you think I’m not enjoying my stay in Nigeria?

I think if you had actually read or been following my site then you would know that. I’ve had a few emails like yours, from people who obviously hadn’t read what I’ve written but just assume I’m being negative because I mention one or two bad things about Nigeria.

What I write reflects my experience of the country, both good and bad things. The people of Nigeria are very friendly and welcoming, I like the food (especially pounded yam) and the weather is certainly an improvement on the UK. However the country’s infrastructure is appalling and local politicians still seem disinclined to do anything except continue to line their own pockets.

As this is my own website I can say what I want, it doesn’t have to be “balanced”. I’m not trying to write an American newspaper article here, just writing about my experiences, mainly for my friends and family at home. If you don’t like what I write then get off your backside and write something “balanced” yourself. I think you may be confusing balance with propaganda.

I’m copying your message and this reply to my site so that other people can read your opinion.

Kevin