₦airaland Forum

Let the record show that on this forum, I have been preaching against 4, 8, 9 and 19 ever since I joined

I particularly like an excerpt from the final paragraph:

, the world is full of plenty so called “creative” people and they keep it interesting for the rest of us.

All I can say is "true dat". Make (some of) una hear am o!

Until it happens, I will b here waiting for the movie, "Black bras of Niger Valley"

To this day, I will drop just about anything to watch Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry and will continue to do so for as long as I live

Weeell,

I guess as they say, you learn something new every day and I have indeed learned one thing and fulfilled my daily quota

YARADUA'S FIRST MESSAGE TO NIGERIANS

Sank you, sank you, my pellow Naijurians por ze goodwill messages.

I want to sank you por not boting por me as fresident of ze Pederal
Refublic of Naijuria. But I received ze most imfortant botes prom
Fresident Obasanjo and INEC. Zis is why I have now been declared ze
winner of ze elections and ze fresident-elect of ze Pederal Refublic of
Naijuria. Nagode to Obasanjo and nagode to INEC, for zia beri beri
imfortant suffort.

Ze pirst task of my new gwament is to fray por feace and stability in
Naijuria. I will now ask all ze depeated fresidential candidates to join
me in a gwament of national unity. So I will bring back my priends like
Atiku, General Babangida and Buhari into my new gwament.

I sink Atiku will be good as ze new head of ze EFCC. Fresident Obasanjo
should not worry about my gwament frobing him, gaskiya, at least until
apter May 29. Babangida will be ze new minister por pinance, and Buhari
will be in charge of ze ministry of War Against Indiscifline.

My fipul, ze task bepore us is a great one, walahi talahi. I don't know
where to start, but I want to ashuwa you zat I will act in consultation
with all ze emirs and imams.

I am now going to Germany por treatment por exhaustion prom making zis
sfeech. I shall be back por ze swearing in ceremony, insha Allahu.

One Nigeria, one Fee-Di-Fee, Fower to ze fipul.

Umaru Yar'Adua
Fresident elect

CNN isn't CMS' and it is rolling on fine. I bet it gets millions of hits per day.

This is where what I said above comes into play - you need a sound architecture. Again, looking at CNN, you will notice that their articles are named by date and title (cnn.com/month/date/nairaland.rules.html, for instance). I hv "tempted" them by referencing a link I saved a year ago and the article still exists. If you don't determine how you will link to articles/archive them, trust me, you will get big time headache as the site gets larger.

Thatz right pazuzu.

Chances are that over time, you will make tons of money off of your website. Why not give just 5 or 10% of that to the developer as a maintenance fee. Besides, with him or someone else knowledgeable in the area doing it, you can not go wrong

Architecture first:
What sections will you have? What CMS package (if you want to go that route) will you use? Are you going to go with a web hoster or have your own server(s)? How many hits do you anticipate (which would determine the hosting package) per day/month? Will you allow bloggers? Can/should pple log in for special features? Will you have advertisements? If yes, what sizes/dimensions will you accept? Will you offer RSS feeds?

Content second:
Will you be uploading news items manually? Will it be CMS? Will it be from reporters, say, via XML feeds?

Design/Development last:
Once you have the first two, this part shouldn't take you much time at all.

In general, in my opinion, you should spend close to 80% on the first 2. A sound architecture is key here. If you don't get that down pat, your site could be a failure.

I hope this helps.

I think the sole purpose of such interviews (at least from a US context) is to see how you reason. In other words, there is no one true answer to such questions, or at least there shouldn't. For example, I could ask you to write me a program in JAVA for an elevator. While I wouldn't expect you to start cranking out code, I would expect you to think like so:

[list]
[li]"How many floors does the building have (if just one, then there's no need for an elevator )[/li]
[li]If more than one floor, is there an existing elevator currently?[/li]
[li]Are there any special features (accessibility for the disabled) you want the elevator to have?[/li]
[/list]

I would just be looking for your ability to think. Once you pass that step, then I could tempt you with a few JAVA code questions, after drilling you on the basics.

So in a nutshell: interview lasting more than one round/day is quite normal but making you write an actual program is something I am not familiar with. It almost seems as if they can't solve the problem and are looking for a cheap way to do so

fitinwell,

not to go off topic, but you are getting error 404 on http://www.bolajimedia.com/News_update.htm

also, on the contact us page, you didn't reference your email correctly - you forgot the "mailto" in your anchor tag.

I hope this helps.

(Just in case) I didn't code the site. I was just doing some googling and found it there

As per where I have been, I am working on something for my employers that is due june 8. Granted, that date may seem a long time away, I don't like working at the last minute and so I am coding as though it were due tomorrow. That means no YIM and, except where time permits (like now ), little or no NLing, surfing, etc.

I should be back on fulltime by mid next week sha.

Later

I don't stoop to the low level of "being game" to anything bros. I don't argue emotionally either. However, I must answer your questions:

Please correct that bad English there. You should know better than that. Based in New York for where Huh Did you not observe my location? Are you as well that deluded not to know any bettter?

Read my post again. I am sure if you light a candle "under the rock" you will note that I mentioned Olumo Rock (which, the last time I checked was in Ogun state (or at least the former ogun state) )

Did you bother to read the link that Telly B gave above, showing how one of your Muslim brothers called Yusuf Ali and the rest deluded Authors, which I clearly stated? Please try to reason better next time and stop being mawkish.

1) If you meant that literally, then, I am not muslim. That doesn't stop me from reading about them or any other religion for that matter. By reading about other religions, I can better argue intellectually (not emotionally) based on what I know and not what I have been indoctrinated on.

2) you can't say that just cos there may be 1 million "deluded" authors, that the others are deluded as well.

Good for you, but next time think it twice before you move up to my level!

Which level be that? "Under the rock" levels?

My dislike of flashterbation aside, I think this is a pretty cool website. Now, if only all the links would work

http://www.yankarigamereserve.com/

Mr. Pataki, I guess the asbestos that was in the air on 9/11 has somehow gotten through your blood system and is wreaking havoc on your brain cells for you to be replying based on emotions on not intellect. Or are you actually not in New York (based on your username) and actually under Olumo Rock?

Are there bad authors? sure. But there are good ones as well. The one I am actually talking about is a muslim. So I am wondering why he would lie. Hmmmmm. Some stuff granted, can be ridiculous. You should be mature enough to not be gullible but to read from all angles and take out the pieces that make sense to you. Most importantly, you shouldn't take anything anyone says (including myself ) until you have verified it to be true for yourself. I took the author to task and I indeed verified for myself that it is true. Sorry. Strike 1.

I am not the stereotypical poster on NL that you may have in mind. Anything I post on here is based on fact. But once again, don't take anything I say to be true unless you verify it for yourself to be indeed true. That of course means you should actually do some research instead of making blanket emotionaly statements.

to give a little history, based on books I have read:

back in the day when Islam and Christianity co-existed peacefully, both religions prayed in Jerusalem. Somewhere along the line (sorry, my memory gets a little fuzzy here as to the reasons), there was a conflict and from that point henceforth, muslims left Jerusalem and in addition started facing the east towards Mecca.

The book is on my bookshelf somewhere. I just have to find it. Trust me though, that's what's in there and the book was written by a credible author

I come to your office with this question. Can you help?

I represent the pple of Akwa Ibom State. Our general hospitals still fill out papers. This takes time and atimes information gets lost. Also, since everything is paper-based, if I visit one hospital, I can't transfer my records to another hospital, in the same state. It is also very painful for our nurses who have to comb through cartons of medical records, many of which have been destroyed by rain, mold and cockroaches (make una no laff now. Just bear with me here ).

we are looking for someone who can implement a software solution for our general hospital network. It must have the following at the barest minimum:

1) Must be able to store patient personal information (medical history, address, etc)

2) Must be able to keep track of inventory (syringes, etc) and alert personnel when supplies are low

3) Must be able to store employee information (address, salary, etc)

4) The solution must be "networkable" so that even if I last visited a hospital in Uyo, those in Eket cd still access my info.

5) The db has to be robust and redundant.

6) Must keep record of expenses and income for financial purposes

7) We would like for the system to hv a card reader. Once a card is swipe, patient's info is displayed on a screen, together with a photo to prevent identity theft. This should save both the patient and the nurses/doctors time.

Are you the man for the job?

When in college, one of my professors told us that by the end of the semester, he wanted us to be "anal-retentive, paranoid-delusional" coders. By that he meant that if you are in your car and you step on the brake, you want the car to come to a complete halt. In other words, you are not hoping that the brakes work. They must work.

So to answer your question, you have to think logically and of all possible conditions to a problem (even in your everyday conversation, not just coding - for example, "if i wake up at 5am, then i have 1 hr to get ready for work and can take the train. Else, I have to drive. If I drive, then i spend money on fuel whereas if I am on the train, I could read, sleep or chat up someone, etc etc)

programming is all about logic. Once you are able to reason logically, it is only a matter of what language you choose to pick up at that particular time. In other words, you can have a degree in fine arts and still be able to crank out quality code.

I hope this helps.

feyisara,

r those figures quoted on there actually in dollars? Woooooooow

not to sound pessimistic o! hopefully pple r actually paying sha.

borrado,

yes, this embodies all my web dev principles. I actually was honored to perhaps be the first person, besides the client, to see the site before it was broadcast here so I have communicated my feedback to Afam

All in all, it's a winner in my books. When I saw that guy lying on the floor (so clean), u for c d way wey I triiiip

abhosts,

sorry for not making it clear. I am actually referring to various web services (hosting, development, etc) and not just hosting.

Even if I was referring to just hosting, still, N1,800 doesn't go far. It would if they had say, 100,000 customers but I doubt such companies even have 30% of that.

WTF, WTH!! LMAO

Is the second photo a photoshop'd carbon copy of the guy?

For the first time, since I started watching nollywood films, I must confess that I am impressed: Just watched Strange Love 1 and 2 in under 3 hours!!

Usually, I have to clear my calendar for 6 hours in order to watch parts 1 and 2 of a movie comprising 2 discs per part. This one combined discs A and B onto one disc.

this is definitely a kodak moment for me I mean, I was almost getting depressed when I looked at the clock and it wasn't even 4 hours when I had watched both parts. I almost wanted to book a therapist LOL

Any other movies like Strange Love out there?

sege,

so, many people have contacted me regarding not being able to log in. So much so that i sent out a special email about this. Becoming a WOA member is not the same as registering as a member. To register for the "members only" section, you need to use your email address and a password (whereas to "become a member", you didn't need a password).

I wouldn't say I am criticizing others' sites but rather, I am critiquing. Besides, they asked for it . When I do critique, it is based on my 8 yrs of experience in the field. As for WOA design-wise, it is meant to be an informational, search site. So, I wanted to emphasize the functionality and not wow anyone with design. Besides, as you may know from my posts, I emphasize, "simple, yet elegant". With respect to the bank sites so far, Zenith is basically what I preach.

Back to WOA. Sorry for the confusion. Do try again. Others who did have told me they were able to register without problems. When you do sign in, if you are like the others, you will say there is nothing special about being registered. That is only for now - I have a lot of features turned off. Once I visit naija and do advertising (which is when many, who are sitting on the fence with bad belle, will want to join ), I will start charging members who join at that time. Also, at that time, I will turn on certain features depending on how much you pay. I intended to keep this secret, but I guess you got it out of me

Word to the wise: Join now for free. Look for the black he-goat while the sun still shines.

nero,

based on the 4 or so that have been posted on this thread, I will have to agree - very simple, neat and easy to navigate. Again, yet another example of a simple design that satisfies my user experience.

I couldn't pull up unity's site but here are my comments on the other 2:

1) ecobank: I had to pinch myself to remember that the site had to do with banking and not flash art galleries. Animations were everywhere!!

2) diamond: decent

The worst in my opinion, though better than ecobank's, is Union bank http://www.unionbankng.com/ - how many horses do they have in that animation? Or is it just one horse running around all the time? if the latter, shouldn't the bank get someone to give it some water and food as I bet the horse is getting tired by now?

why the deplorable designs, in general?

1) Jobs given based on who-knows-who as opposed to who-has-talent

2) you get what you pay for and based on what I see/hear about website charges (N30K - N40K on average), I am not surprised. The seasoned developers, who charge more, will probably not land many jobs. Yet these are the ones who are most qualified for the jobs

3) Lack of proper training - too many people, and I get this from reading posts on this forum (which to me gives a pretty good "state of affairs" with respect to web development at home), google for ebooks, read "how to, so so and so, in 24 hours" and come out 2 weeks later claiming to be "webmasters". Sure you can slap together stuff here and there but does that necessarily make you a "webmaster"?

How to solve:

1) The good developers amongst us need to do a better job advertising themselves. From my experience in business, empty vessels make the most noise and it is such people I personally avoid at all cost. Even coca-cola, with its reputation worldwide, does advertise itself from time to time.

2) Perhaps there needs to be some sort of certification with the board offering this certification advertising its members to the Nigerian community. This board/certification should be in place till better sites surface.

3) A properly developed (as opposed to "designed" site shouldn't be rushed into production in 5 days. I read a lot of posts on here that claim "I can put up a website in 3 days". Granted it shouldn't take 6 months, at the same time, a well developed site should involve planning and research. Even if you copy the design of another site, just don't do a view source and copy and paste (I know some people on here do that ). Take time to dissect the code, understand it, and make additions to make the code better.

I will stop here as I don't want to takeover the post. I will let others comment. Okay, let me return to union bank's website. Last I checked, that horse ran back and forth 200 times already LMAO

Thanks,

Woooow,

Upon all the oil revenue Bayelsa state makes, they let themselves get bamboozled by a "webmaster" who came up with this "piece of art": http://www.bayelsagov.com/

One huge flash image. The only text on there (and I wonder why they even bothered) is the "resources" section on the right hand side, below the photo of the governor.

I wonder how much the people of Bayelsa were charged for this site.

As I said in the title of my post, "Kudos" to the webmaster

To whom it may concern:

As a company/individual, how do you make money charging as low as N1,800 for various services? I ask this question based on the information I have gleaned from various sites advertised on this forum. I am not in naija and perhaps there is something I am missing here.

At the end of the day, saving the customer money and eliminating the competition are good things but as a business, the ultimate aim is to make a profit. Again, I am not there and so I don't want to make assumptions, but N1,800, the last I was there, doesn't buy much and I doubt covers the overhead.

Thanks in advance for your responses

fromuk (with love ),

the only way China can win is conventionally. with 1 billion pple, they can afford to lose 300million (US population) and still hv two-thirds of their population left. Having said that, it ain't happening. The war would most definitely have to be nuclear and the US would win hands down. However, with mutual destruction, neither party will dare spill first blood.

we are wat we make of ourselves. If we submit ourselves to the west, then they will make us their slaves. it's that simple. If everytime u see oyibo in naija, say, on a bus, and you give up your seat for them (as I hv seen many times over), you have sold your soul to them. However, if you take them as a fellow human being, you gain their respect.

2 words - bad belle: we don't think of the bigger picture (we want to chop it now and forget the future) and want it all to ourselves.

Uhmmm, viee,

I was actually referring to tornadoz

In any event, Nigeria can't afford to ignore China either - chinese restaurants everywhere, oil blocs, Foreign investments, walmart at tinapa (calabar).

Don't worry, chinese products are already entering naija too. I look forward to you starting another thread with the heading, "What has China done to us o" or something like that

As for fraternizing with the west, na una brothers you go ask. Everytime I come home, I am being made fun of. I am told I don't dress like an american, I don't talk like an american and I don't behave like an american. I am even laughed at for taking okada as opposed to chartering a car. If we had just 100 million pple just like me, america would be copying from us.

Tornadoz,

Nice to see that you are current on your economics lessons. I like to have intellectual, as opposed to emotional, arguments

What you have said is very true, but you have to realize that either way you look at it, it's a slippery slope. Sure, China et al (who are financing 60% of the US debt. See, I know a thing or two about the situation as well ), could decide to cash in on their securities/bonds but on the other hand, the US could say, "hey, if you wanna do that, then we will pack up and leave your country and who else would buy as much as we do from you?". And guess what? China knows this as well.

Besides, if you have read the latest news, you will see that US tax revenues is up, I believe, $70billion over the same period last year. the US problem isn't that of money cos they have plenty. It's an issue of how the money is being spent. Right now, as you know, it is being wasted in the middle east.

to all those who think that China will be the next greatest thing since sliced bread in 15 years or sooner, think again. Sure, I believe they will be the next superpower but in my opinion, we are looking at 50 - 100 years. There is too much at stake now. Among others, IMHO:

- They still rely on america to buy their goods and if the US stops, their economy tanks.
- Granted they have 1billion pple, they are yet to have the military strength of the US
- Until they can take over Taiwan and US can't do a thing, the US will be the dominant power
- If Democracy takes root in China, China becomes the new Russia.

So bite your lip and accept the fact that as much as you hate the US, it is still going to be the superpower for many yrs to come