₦airaland Forum

The Nigerian market is obviously different. On this end, Java/J2EE (Struts, hibernate, servlets, JSP, etc.) is used for developing enterprise level web applications. Actually, I just found out in a meeting yesterday that the I will need to utilize the "spring framework" with the current app. I have already printed out a few docs that I will read on the train ride home. Even though Java/J2EE may not be used that much in Nigeria at the moment, It will probably catch up as major corporations start to build "real" scalable webapps.

Not at all. Not all Nigerians believe they must marry a Niger or go home to do so. People used to think the a Niger to Niger marriage is the only one that will work, the very high divorce rate (I read that is about 50%) among Nigerian couples abroad, be it UK, US, etc. has definitely put a dent in that belief. What really matters is love and understanding. And, that can be shared between people of any race, culture, or what have you.

I saw a post above that mentioned pidgin English. I just want to mention that it's not ONLY spoken by Nigerians. Almost every West African country has some form of Pidgin. So, pretty much anyone from those countries will understand and be able to speak it just like we do.

Since you have already developed a good relationship with this customer, he has paid for his previous orders, so it's easy to develop trust. I would say, give it some time and see if you hear from him How long has it been? Have you tried all contact info you have on him.  Well, he paid for 66% of his order. He may not have disappeared on purpose though. There is always some level of risk involved, especially when dealing with an international buyer. Personally, I would not have shipped anything that has not been paid for in full.

I agree, the main customers are people that have contacts in London and they want these contacts to be able to reach them at a local UK number. But, I seriously doubt if it's totally free. I just do not think the call can be routed/forwarded outside the UK (even to UK mobiles) for free. Someone has to pay for that forwarding somehow.

What is your background? D you think you like solving problems/programing or do you like to like networking? You should at leats know what you like do do or where your strengths lie. Do not go into a field because it's high paying. Do it because you like it and if it happens to be high paying, it's a plus. Application development, DB admin, and Networking are good areas of IT to look into. But, you should at least have an Idea of which one you like to do.

Assuming we are not talking about places in Nigeria, I like to take a cruise to he Caribbean. It's now a yearly thing for me and the family. Taking a cruise is just a different thing to do, and it also gives you an opportunity to visit several different countries at once. So far, I have taken 3 cruises in total and have visited 10 different Caribbean and South American countries in the process. An all inclusive cruise is just awesome!

You will definitely be charged for data (GPRS) usage.

Post more info man, it all depends on what you plan on using it for and how much it is. It's definitely a low-end lappy, but it might suffice for your needs. If will be a task to find a lappy with that basic config on this end these days. Just make sure you do not overpay for it. About $100 or so is okay.

That was going to be my next queston, you already have that taken care of. You may want to try posting to the portal/portlet forum at javaranch.

http://saloon.javaranch.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=85

wilkanah:
i have liferay portal set up. i've deployed sample portlets (just to test ) on it and its fine. I need CRM and HR portlets because,

this link would take u to a portlet vendor but they don't have what i'm looking for.

http://www.adenin.com/PortletCatalog.asp

Every country has its good and bad.  The abundance of opportunities here, and the fact that anyone (from anywhere) can make it here as long as you can work hard and are focussed, and can realize the american dream, makes it a unique country on its own.  It's true that American's are probably not well informed about other countries. And, its massive size is partly to blame for that. This is a freaking big country! Heck! There is a 3 hour timezone difference between the east coast and the west coast. A cross-country (east to west coast) flight is about 6 hours. So, there is a whole to worry about within the country, than to worry about what's going on in other countries.  Also, the american media probably plays a role in their lack of knowledge about other places

The negativities aside, this is a very well structured country. You do not have to be educated, or know the president to realize the american dream An ordinary layman, carpentar, mechanic, etc. can become anything and live whereever they want to live. This is very unlikely in a lot of other countries.  It's a pretty diverse country too. Not that ti does not have it's own racism problems like a lot of other western countries. But, at least blacks (and other races) stand a better chance of making it here compared to some other countries.

You have to be specific. To you have a particular programming language in mind? Are you talking about "hard Core" application development or just web development? Either way, to get the fundamentals down, get a hold of some books, get the appropriate software you need, you Will also definitely need your own PC or easy access to a PC. Then read and practice. The more reading and practicing you do, the better.

Contact the provider of the phone (voda UK or so) for the unlock code. This phone cannot be unlocked by 3rd party yet. Without that, it's just a paper weight. Whoever gave it to you should be able to get the unlock code for a fee, assuming they got the phone legitimately. Short of that, you are so Outta luck!

Just google for the thing! Here,

http://steeev.f2o.org/mt/2005/01/download_nec_e616v_drivers_and_file_transfer_application_software.html

As far as I have heard, NY has the most number of Nigerians then Houston and Chicago is #3.  The Baltimore/DC area is 4th. Not surprising, these are well known large cities. NY being the largest city, Chicago being the 3rd largest (LA is 2nd), and Houston being the 4th.   Houston's weather is probably a factor, even though both NY and Chicago have are much more of a metropolitan area than Houston. Heck! Chicago's winters can be brutal. The last few days the temperature has been below freezing. For example this morning, it was 0 degrees F (-18 C). That's freaking 32 degrees below freezing.

I would think they are. Anything can be found at Computer village. If not, you can just import it. Most of the charges these days are universal, so all that's need is just an adapter if you are just trying to make sure a charger will work in Nigeria.

You need a data cable and a software like Motorola Phone Tools (MPT)

I would suggest you get a laptop/PC if you do not have one. Get the required software from computer village or a friend that has it, get some books and practice. I would not advice you to waste money on any school or training program.

It's probably a bad copy/burn. My inspiron E1705 refused to play a number of Nigerian movies. It does play some without problems though. Most likely you just have a bad DVD.

windows 2000? See if installing XP will make a difference.

The code that will unlock your phone is specific to the IMEI number of your phone. Either take it to computer village as already suggested, or have the person that sent it to you get the unlock code from whatever provider the phone is locked to.

There is nothing like a good easy programming language that has good income. If there was everyone will be doing it. Do not choose a language or go into the computer field because you think it's easy and you can make money doing it. Programmers are paid well (at least on this end) because it's a very challenging task. Take it slowly, take one language and mester it. read about ti as much as possible, tackle programming samples,a nd then seek help if you need it. That's the only way to really master this thing. Once that is done, then the 'good money" part will start falling in place slowly.

It's very challenging, but it's also very rewarding. If your logic and problem solving skills are very strong you should have no problems.

This is a very dynamic environment. We just have to keep learning the new technology/tools. What really matters is the core development, Logic and problem solving skills. The rest are just a way help get the job done, and they can be picked up on the job as you go.  As an enterprise Java developer, I can tell you that I learn something new almost every day. That's just the nature of the game. There is always an article/chapter for me to read on the train ride in and out.  For example, at this current client, I started out writing a web app using Java servlets/JSP/struts, etc. Once that project ended, I was shifted to another team that needed someone to write a webservice. Heck! I have never written a webservice, I have only heard and read a little about the darn thing!  I got stuff off the net and read as much as I could, and still learning. So far, the project is moving along smoothly.  The good thing about is that, it's one more thing for me to add to my Resume. And, hence more money I can command in the market.  It's not easy, but it's very rewarding.

Check operation service/check info service. It's not necesarily a problem. This can happen when you lose/receive signal, come into signal range, etc. it's just an informational message. You should be able to turn it off though. Check yoir phone's settings if you want to deactivate it.

Any good beginners Java book should be able to teach you the fundamentals of Java. So, if the ones you are seeing are not doing that, there are a number of books on-line that you can try to download. As I posted somewhere in the thread. One of the best books out there that is free is Bruce Eckels Thinking in Java. I have been doing Java for a while and I still consult this book regularly. You can download both the HTML and word version of this excellent book at the link below. There may even be a PDF version out there. Personally, I use the HTML version.

http://www.mindviewinc.com/

gbengaijot:
@mimohmi and SBU, i have been a very slow java learner, but at least i am not stading sstill nor moving backward. I was trying to check my local library for java books and the only ones i saw was for web application. I am more interested in standalone application(at least for now) than web application. can i still learn java with those books?,

or should i just make use of resources i find on the web.

Hands on experience is very critical in the IT field. Be it application development, DB admin, or network admin. Unfortunately, it seems like it's almost impossible to get the hands on experience in Nigeria. So, as most others have posted, the route to go is to practice as much as possible by doing personal projects. Sometimes another way to get the experience is to look for volunteer projects.

Generally, application development is a male dominated field. But you still see quite a lot of women in the field, at least here in the states. Now, if we are talking about just plain web designers, there may be quite a few women, I just don't know. The term web designer is really not common on this end. Assuming we are talking about people that just design web pages and do not do any kind of programming, they are usually considered graphic designers/artists or so.

I guess we just need to clarify if we are talking about web application development (Java/VB, JSP, Servlets, J2EE, struts). or just web designing using HTML, web tools, etc. Obviously for the former you need knowledge of hard-core programming, while you don't for the latter.

Opera mini is a java based application (It's written in Java). I am sure that's what naoteny was saying. It's a java app, period!

Why don't you post what you have done and let us know exactly where you are having problems. It will not help you at all if someone just gives you the solution. Programming is not like a lot of other careers where you can just get by without knowing it. This is a hands-on career and you will need to prove yourself in the "real world" (at least here in the US) So, I'd suggest you take a stab at it first, and try to solve it. To survive in this field you need to be able to think logically and be able to analyze and solve problems. As already posted, take ti one at a time and think deeply about what they are asking you to do, after doing that you should be able to identify the key steps/flows that will help on solving this problem.

I agree. I'd say you go ahead and let her know that you are the one she has been corresponding with. After all, I do not see anything in what you said she posted that would indicate something is or ever went wrong between them. Seems like your hubby is an old friend she can communicate and relate to and tha's all she wanted to do. Also, you should inform your hubby about what's been going on.