[AccessD] OT: Web Design

Stuart McLachlan stuart at lexacorp.com.pg
Fri Nov 21 21:07:09 CST 2008


There's a fairly high proportion of Phillipino and Indian/Sri Lankan expats as 
well as a lot of aussies, kiwis and brits.  

The most racist group would be the nationals, but it's not them against the 
expats, it's tribal/regional.    My missus is local - Southern Region Coastal and 
she really doesn't like Highlanders :-)

The country was very heavily influenced by missionaries over the last 100 
years, so churches are very strong - and in most of the country are the only 
ones providing decent health and education services.  

There's a small Islamic community, mainly ex-pat but a few converted 
nationals, there is aboslutely NO fundamentalism. 

Although everyone will tell you they are Christian, and a lot will go to church 
every Sunday, there is an almost universal  belief in socrcery, spirits, animism 
etc.   Religion is fairly new, the culture is thousands of years old - quite a few 
people are still killed every year in villages, especially in the Highlands, after 
being accused of sorcery.

It's a really fascinating country to study - over 800 languages and numerous 
totally different cultures - the Highlands and coastal regions where settled at 
different times by totally different people - highlands languages are totally 
different from coastal/island languages.  The Highlanders are more like 
Australian aboriginals, the coastal/islands are  more like polynesians.

-- 
Stuart  

On 21 Nov 2008 at 17:31, Rocky Smolin at Beach Accesand many different


--
Stuart

> Dang!  Sounds nice. Oh, forgot to ask - race relations (most of the whites
> are going to be ex-pats. Yes?) and religion, everything peaceable? It would
> seem with almost 100% Christian.  In wiki
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Papua_New_Guinea no mention of
> Islam. So no Moslems?  Animism?
> 
> P.S.  I'll be 60 myself next month if everything goes according to plan.
> Late starter.  Kids are 12 and 18.
> 
> 
> Rocky Smolin
> Beach Access Software
> 858-259-4334
> www.e-z-mrp.com
> www.bchacc.com
>  
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Stuart McLachlan
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 5:19 PM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Web Design
> 
> Raised a family here in the late 80's - they're now grown up. 
> Not sure where that wife is now :-)
> 
> My current partner is PNGean and we have a six year old daughter (and I'll
> be 60 in 3 montsh time <g>)
> 
> The picture is the downtown area of Port Moresby - the rest of the country
> is very different!
> 
> There are good international schools in Port Moresby - they use an
> Australian curriculum and the students generally do *very* well in the
> Australian examinations!
> 
> Public healthcare is very primitve , but the private medical practitioners
> in Port Moresby are fairly good.
> 
> Government is fairly stable, but also fairly corrupt.  The economy went
> through a bad patch but is looking good - huge LNG prospects dveloping over
> the next few years will quadruple the countries GDP - business confidence is
> high and there is a lot of development going on.
> 
> We're actually better off at the moment that the rest of the world - PNG was
> not really exposed to the financial crisis and is a major exporter - even
> with the drop in commodity prices it's on track for budget surpluses even
> after failry large  infrastructure/development spending next year.
> 
> Law and Order is a bit of a problem - a lot of unemployment and crime in the
> urban centres, but it's not as bad as the Australian media tries to make it
> seem.
> 
> The big plus is the lifestyle:
> 
> Great social life, great climate and a lot of freedom to do your own thing.
>  
> No speed cameras or breath testing - get stopped at a road block on your way
> home after a night drinking at a club and the cop will probably as drunk as
> you are <g> 
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Stuart
> 
> 
>   On 21 Nov 2008 at 16:58, Rocky Smolin at Beach Access Software wrote:
> 
> > Interesting.  Further nosiness (and Mr Moderator - it IS OT Friday) - are
> > you married and/or have kids?  Can you raise a family there?   It looks
> > pretty moderne from the picture on the web site.  Decent infrastructure?
> > Healthcare? Stable government/economy/society?  
> > 
> > 
> > Rocky Smolin
> > Beach Access Software
> > 858-259-4334
> > www.e-z-mrp.com
> > www.bchacc.com
> >  
> >  
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Stuart
> McLachlan
> > Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 4:49 PM
> > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Web Design
> > 
> > It needs to load fast, a lot of potential clients in PNG are on dial up.
> > 
> > 
> > Since you ask:
> > I came to PNG in 1986, on a three year contract, to set up training and
> > testing systems with the PNG Police College.  They were looking for people
> > with disciplined forces and training backgrounds and I had  12 years as an
> > infantry officer in the New  Zealand Army including several postings as an
> > instructor in various areas.  
> > 
> > I'd been into computer since about 1980, both as a hobbyist and at work
> and
> > ended up developing student records and exam marking systems in Dataflex
> > (running on C/CPM on serial networked ICL Quattros - ah, those were the
> > days<g>)
> >   
> > Found that I liked the lifestyle here so I stayed.   Started developing
> all
> > sorts of Information 
> > Systems on the side for various people and ended up in 1993 going
> > independent full time, using Dataflex mainly, but about then I discovered
> MS
> > Access 1.1 and I've never looked back. ( although we only put the last
> > Dataflex system that I was involved with to sleep at the beginning of this
> > year!).
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Stuart
> > 
> > On 21 Nov 2008 at 15:49, Rocky Smolin at Beach Access  wrote:
> > 
> > > Lovely.  Loads fast. I like that.  
> > > 
> > > OK, I gotta ask - how'd you end up in PNG?  Or did you start there? 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Rocky Smolin
> > > Beach Access Software
> > > 858-259-4334
> > > www.e-z-mrp.com
> > > www.bchacc.com
> > >  
> > >  
> > > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> > > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Stuart 
> > > McLachlan
> > > Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 3:44 PM
> > > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> > > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Web Design
> > > 
> > > I've just updated my site at http://www.lexacorp.com.pg over the last 
> > > few days.
> > > 
> > > I built it using frames <bleuch> about 6 or 7 years ago and it was 
> > > looking very tired and old fashioned.
> > > 
> > > The new version uses Server Side Includes for a consistent layout
> > > 
> > > That way I just need a line
> > > <!--#include virtual="header.html" --> in each page rather than 
> > > repeating all the background, header image, menu code etc.
> > > I do the same for the footer. 
> > > 
> > > Incidentally, the menu is a straight lift from <quote>
> > > /***********************************************
> > > * CSS Horizontal List Menu- by JavaScript Kit (www.javascriptkit.com)
> > > * Menu interface credits:
> > > http://www.dynamicdrive.com/style/csslibrary/item/glossy-vertical-
> > > menu/
> > > * This notice must stay intact for usage
> > > * Visit JavaScript Kit at http://www.javascriptkit.com/ for this 
> > > script and 100s more ***********************************************/
> > > </quote>
> > > 
> > > Feel free  to steal any ideas you need for content.
> > > Rocky's site, build by  Karen Rosenstiel,  may give you a few ideas too.
> > > 
> > > Actually, I've never found a WYSIWYG site designer that I like - I've 
> > > ended up doing it hand with a text editor which understands HTML 
> > > syntax.  (I swap between Crimson Editor and
> > > NoteTab)
> > > 
> > > --
> > > Stuart
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On 21 Nov 2008 at 9:28, Tony Septav wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Hey All
> > > > After much research, I finally settled on looking at the trial 
> > > > version of WebEasy7.  I had to start somewhere, the more I 
> > > > researched the topic the more confusing it got, with all the pros 
> > > > and cons to different approaches. As I mentioned at the moment all I 
> > > > am concerned about  is getting a web page up and running, fancy will
> > come later.
> > > > Thought this would give you all a laugh (talk about naive). The part 
> > > > I am finding most difficult, is filling in 4 pages of information - 
> > > > Home, Products, About Us and Contact us.  I know from a marketing 
> > > > point of view you are supposed to be trying to sell the company, but 
> > > > I have always been known as an individual who keeps things short and 
> > > > to the point. I figured one page would do it , but looking at other 
> > > > sites I don't think that is a good marketing idea. So I guess I will 
> > > > have to "time trip" through my 20 years of developing applications 
> > > > and put together an overview of what I can provide.  Here I thought 
> > > > I could bang this thing together in a couple of days,  but now I see 
> > > > it is going to take me 2 or 3 weeks to just initially put it 
> > > > together and come up with a powerful presentation.  My hat is off to 
> > > > those of you that have web sites, I now realize the work you put 
> > > > into to getting  them up and
> > > running.
> > > >  
> > > > --
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> > > > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
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> > > > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
> > > 
> > > 
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