₦airaland Forum

as the Bible says (paraphrasing) - "not all those who call me 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven". Personally, I am always iffy about those who wear their christianity on their sleeves. I blv the Bible also says we shouldn't blow our trumpets (again, paraphrasing). To me, you should let your christiainity show in the way you carry yourself and not in how many times you say "God bless you" or "By the grace of God"

Oh boy, I can't wait for those who will label me the anti-christ after this post

Back in the early days of the net, with Screens having poor resolutions, using web-safe colors was a big deal. I blv at the time screens could only display a certain range of colors. These days that is no longer the case, so I wdnt personally be concerned about using web-safe colors. Having said that, I am not promoting the abusive use of non-web-safe colors

As for wide vs fixed, I would say it depends on who you ask. I personally prefer fixed width: easier to manage, easier to code for. Yes, wide screen sites contract and expand with differing resolutions. However, if you don't implement the %s right, you end up with horizontal scrolling, which isn't good at all. It is especially tricky when you have a lot of images, with fixed dimensions, on your site. To summarize, you just have to pick your poison. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I however will still go with fixed width for some time to come.

Selling CMS? Shouldn't be too hard: "If I make the site static, I will have to be around for maintenance. This is because you probably don't know anything about maintaining an html file. This means you will have to pay me more in the long-run. With a CMS however, I set up the pages and all you have to do is enter content. You will probably not need me at all for this. So the choice is yours - more money invested upfront that pays off in the long-run, or you be cheap now and end up either making a mess trying to fix the site yourself/get Okoro, who knows nothing about websites to screw it up for you, or paying me each time you need help".

As for pricing, as na you dey Benin, you know what they can tolerate. Generally speaking though, a good site is worth paying for. As Nigerians (both at home and in the diaspora), we really need to start appreciating good work. As web developers/designers, the onus is on us to make clients understand why it is worth paying so much for a good site. Charging N10,000 per site wouldn't even buy me a bag of garri, not to mention paying for school fees. I wonder how most of these pple survive.

I hope this helps.

We are definitely employable. As far as acute job scarcity, I don't know about "acute" but I know it exists, but it is of our own doing, generally speaking. Reason(s):

- We are mostly a civil service nation. Compare that to the US where majority of the economy is carried by entrepreneurs.

- We, again generall speaking, don't want to do certain jobs because we have certain degrees. As Seun said above, one shouldn't say they won't do a job either cos it is demeaning or cos it pays little. At the end of the day, there should be nothing wrong with earning an honest day's pay from any job

- We are too "OYO". Rather than join hands to start a biz, we would rather do it on our own. I won't go into sec sch economics and bore you with y this isn't necessarily a good thing.

- We expect government to provide pretty much everything for us.

- Credit, it seems, may be hard to obtain. Perhaps cos most pple can't put up the collateral or cos they don't hv the "connections"

- (and this applies to all humans), for the most part, we want to make money the quick way and be like so and so, not knowing how so and so made their money.

These are just a few of my thoughts. I will rest for now

What I think:

At first sight, the white gutters came across to me as though the page were broken due to the incorrect use of images. I probably would have gone for a unified image with a gutter of similar color.

As for the "Clones" issue, I think it's the client's way of saying they want a template. In other words, they figure it is cheaper to have a site based on previous work cos it is cheaper than an outright new design. It is then up to you to use your sugar-coated mouth to convince them otherwise so as to maximise your naira levels

http://www.softwarebyrob.com/articles/Nine_Things_Developers_Want_More_Than_Money.aspx

Homework for the day: which of these are in tune with your way of thinking?

kambo, kambo:

on this forum: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-27972.0.html#msg688570 , you refer to the web designer/developer as "code monkeys", here you refer to them as "script kiddies". Can you at least hv the balls to b consistent?

I would like to see your research when it comes to the "developed countries" where this view is taken.

Granted, I am not in naija, I will stand up for my brothers/sisters worldwide

To add to what I have said at the link abv, I will say it all depends on how good your game (no, I am not referring to toastin girls ) is. Same applies to an A student and a D student interviewing for a job. The latter could sweet talk himself into a multi-million dollar contract while the former tries to wow/bore his potential employers with his knowledge and lingo.

Granted we may b "code monkeys" and "script kiddies", we are highly sought after. If not, how can you explain the fact that the web just registered its 100millionth website (https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-29472.0.html)?

I will rest my fingers for now.

As always, my 2 cents

Kambo,

As a web developer, I take offense to the statements you have put forth, whether or not they are yours. The fact is that, be it a windows app or an online app, the business rules don't make a lick of sense if there is no interface associated with it. It's, as I tell people, like a plane. It can be tricked out 7 ways from sunday, but without a pilot, it is not getting off the ground (unless of course it is an unmanned aircraft, but that's not my point ).

Back to the issue at hand, based on what I have found out, I don't think naijans in naija are charging that much for a website, be it a regular site or an app. Prices I have heard (and blv me, I have asked lots ) range from N15,000 to N80,000 *on average*. Only a people or 2 have charged (assuming they were telling me the truth) N1million or more. Granted, there are those who have put the web developer/designer to shame, the same though can be said of the app developer who has written bloated code, crappy code, or code that hasn't been unit tested. I keep telling pple that there is a science to web development. The problem is that not all appreciate who pple do until they get to know it from a distance, not from a 15,000 mile perspective.

Back to the statements you have made (because I just can't resist when someone talks without thinking ), I will say this in conclusion: though the web designer/developer may be at the bottom of the food chain, without them, no web app would be what it is.

At the end of the day, when I go buying a book on amazon, all I care about is that the site downloads fast, I find the book I want, the purchasing/browsing process be pleasant and that the book gets to my doorstep. I could care less about the JAVA/PHP/JSP, etc that made it possible. Damn it, I just want the site to look good

As always, my 2 cents.

tommiekid,

I would love to, but according to some pple on this forum, they are nothing to write home about

I hate to say this but, unfortunately, in naija, the best person for the job doesnt always win

I am from Akwa Ibom and yet every time I visit home, I prefer to stay in Calabar and visit Akwa Ibom from there. Even though I don't know much about the state in the 13+ years I have been away from it, I will say that the few things I see (nice roads, clean streets, a sense of calm and tranquility, etc) have impressed me big time.

For some Akwa Ibomites to say that they would rather have him as their Governor, to me at least, says a lot.

However, and again I say this unfortunately, we all know how humans can be. Remember OBJ and how he said he was an ardent christian and that God kept him alive during his imprisonment for a purpose? I remember him coming to Atlanta right after election and preaching on end. Where is naija now? Even Bush sef. Came in as a "compassionate conservative" but yet is worst than the liberals he campaigns against.

Remember, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

FYI:

I am yet to see anyone "show off" anything o. I dey wait

aaaah! Vast difference and improvement. The other one would have made me think 3ce b4 signing up with you. This one will make me think 2ce

Y? Maybe it's just me, but I get heartburn everytime humans (as in the photo on your home page for one) on nigerian websites aren't at least black

Other than that, good job

wow, it's very hard for me to believe that there are so many websites out there today, and I have been around long enough to see one of the very first out there - coke.com

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/11/01/100millionwebsites/index.html

On another note, how many of those are either yours or one uv created? It's a rhetorical question by the way

Weeeell

Atimes it is necessary for the pple involved to be at the same location. Otherwise (and I speak based on my own personal experiences), you may be caught in a situation where something requires your presence at the remote location, usually when you least expect it. Now, being in, say, the US, this may not b a problem cos the employer (or self) usually pays for tickets and accomodation and writes it off during tax time. However in a country like Naija, it may or may not be possible for someone to dole out the money required for such travel. I specifically speak for situations where, as I hear, pple are charging as low as N50,000 for an entire site.

Again, I didn't say it isn't possible o! Am just saying, it all depends

Dude,

I didn't mention the AKS site as an apples-to-apples comparison but as an example to justify why testing in both browsers is absolutely essential for any serious developer/designer

so I am not accused of going into my regular diatribe , I will just point out one thing:

On http://www.silverbirdgroup.com/contact.html , you will notice that, most likely because you hv used a boatload of images to implement the site, "something" has caused the broken image, b/w the "contact" and "home, now showing, etc" sections. I am of course viewing the site (as should all web designers/developers ) in FireFox. In general though, you may want to minimize the use of Images in general. If the site is indeed "under construction", perhaps you shouldn't have your code on the live URL for the world to see. Consider developing locally before porting over.

Granted, 80% of the world or so uses IE, you should at least code for FF1.5.0.7. As at last count at my employers, those using FF to visit our site have gone up from 8% to 15% in one year alone.

Another horrible example of a site not tested for cross-browser compliance is www.akwaibomstategov.com . Everytime I visit the site in FF, my blood pressure goes up a few points

I hope this helps.

Naijafan, again, referring to my analogy above:

At the end of the day, Garri and Semovita can both be dipped in soup, swallowed, digested and egested. They serve the same purpose but can't be compared. For one, the texture of Garri is much more coarse than that of Semovita. Also, I can put Garri in cold water; add groundnut, bournvita, nido and cabin biscuit; and have a "Conc solu" (no do make i remember sec sch days o ). One man's meat is another's poison. I personally prefer Garri sha

As far as your comments regarding borrado, I am sorry you didn't catch the sarcasm (I am known, but mostly not understood) for that

LOL,

The Igbo accents on the film are awesome LMAO!!!

As prodgal has said above (and I see this a lot on the programmer and webmaster sections), comparing any proprietary language/software to an open source one is like comparing Garri and Semovita. The 2 don't mix at all

they are FACTS which i can prove and i stand to be corrected

Hmmm, borrado, how can you say they are facts yet stand to be corrected? Okay, I know it is about 630am in Atlanta and I just got into work, which means I might be seeing double, but I think I am a bit confused by your comments above. Then again, I stand to be corrected

Stake your claim to a piece of Nigeria!! Be a landowner today!!!

Plots of land are available for sale in Uyo and Calabar. Houses are on sale also.

If you are interested, send me an email to itoro@bellsouth.net with the subject saying "Land/House".

Get your plots/houses while supplies last. In this case, the patient dog won't eat the fattest bone

Thanks,

Disclaimer: Again, I am not a JAVA coder, however, I work hand-in-hand with them and dare say I know a thing or two about it

I work for a company that is presently worth $500million. Now before you conclude that of course we can afford to spend money however we deem fit, let me quickly add that we also have a knack for spending the least amount of dollars possible. You can call us misers, in essence.

In January, by demand, the company did some research when it came to IDEs. After a while, they came back with 3 top contenders: IntelliJ, Eclipse and one other one I can't remember. Now, the last 2 were free and top contenders. However, after careful consideration, IntelliJ was picked and that is what we will be using, all 50 of us, come January 2007. It came so highly recommended that our CIO decided it was worth the cost, when it came to licenses (I believe $2000 per license).

For what I do, I probably won't really get to appreciate IntelliJ. After all, I use HomeSite presently. Having said that, when someone or some company invests in the research and though the results conclude what goes against the policy of that company/person but they go for it anyway, then that says a lot.

Of course, it all depends on where you are as a business. If you are a small outfit, IntelliJ may be too expensive for what you need to do. At the end of the day, one man's meat is another's poison.

As always (and I haven't said this in a while ), my 2 cents.

I am not a JAVA coder but those I know who are, swear by IntelliJ. My assumption is that it probably isn't that popular cos it has to be purchased, as opposed to Eclipse, say, which is basically free (well, unless you want to dabble with myEclipse )

Much better than the other one, but as others have said, still a few bricks short of a truckload.

I noticed the site has a lot to do with Web dev/design tutorials. Perhaps you could apply the very lessons your site aims to provide the public, to your own very site?

Good luck!

Do I support the declaration? Yes and No

No - I think it is a little extreme. Regardless of what the constitution says, the pple of Ekiti elected that governor and I feel only they should have a say in terms of how the state should be run, via their elected (dare I say, rigged? ) officials. It shouldn't be dictated to them from the federal government.

Yes - Perhaps it will serve as a warning to other states, making them think twice before considering impeachment, no matter how grave the crime. Perhaps, knowing he can't run for a 3rd term, he decided to milk the state's finances dry.

Regardless, again my opinion, with primaries and elections coming up very soon, there should be no reason for an impeachment. Censure or resignation, maybe, but not impeachment. It's a damn shame

I find it quite ironical that OBJ is using the constitution to justify his declaring a state of emergency in Ekiti state. I wonder where that same constitution was when he decided to run for a 3rd term

Call me weird, but when something smells like a rat, by golly, it most likely is a rat

So now that those of us on this post seem to know what's up, who will be the first to send in their photo to prove to Sun that there are girl's who look much better?

I personally feel that though a military coup is possible and indeed could happen, it would fail - After June 12 and 8 years of democracy (as bad as it may be) - I don't see the pple going along with it.

If the military attempts to do so, I unfortunately predict a backlash in the form of a bloody revolution. Our eyes don open pass wetin e be for 2nd republic. Either way, coup or not, Nigeria is sadly in need of mass cleansing of some sort. We can't keep putting new wine into old bottles.

I have made similar observations in the past but thought I was the only one who thought that way. I personally think it is Political Correctness gone awry.

In the case of the girl at the link provided above, it looks more like a photoshop'd picture. It looks so fake

kheme, kheme, kheme

Like North Korea, you are taking style to look for trouble in an attempt to draw me out of my hole. Okay now. Make we roll

I have (never)^3 claimed to be a deal, not to mention "much of a deal". I am a web developer/architect, not a web designer. That means I don't design web graphics. I take what a graphics designers gives me and implement it in a way that gives the user an efficient (fast loading), user-friendly experience. My job is to set up a website's infrastructure such that it takes advantage of web standards. I have never and will never claim to be a web designer.

Not everyone thinks like you, otherwise how would you explain people asking me to have anything to do with their websites? I even charge more than what those in naija charge and yet still, they pay without complaint. Professionally, I work for a $500million a year company - www.autotrader.com , and no, we don't sell cars.

Back to the "I am not a web designer" bit. I have coded (note I said "coded" as opposed to "designed" many sites both for people in the US and Naija. Here are a few:

http://www.mississippi.gov/index.jsp - this site won "Best Web Award 2001 (I blv in 2001, your web nose, so to speak, was still being wiped by you know who. Your nose resemble sponge )

http://www.wwe.com/ , http://www.tbs.com/ , http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/eFiling.htm - not the site, but the web app that enables you to fill out certain forms online. Work permit being one of them (hint, hint: it might be time to lv North Cyprus as I know some people )

I don't blame you sha. Some kids of nowadays. You grew up watching Channel O. Next thing u c rap beef b/w lil bow wow and lil Romeo and want to do same in the web realm. By the time this is over, Tupac vs Biggie won't even begin to compare. It must be the snuff you take. The nose I see at http://www.khemeonline.tk/ no b small o It is taking up the entire photo there. It reminds me for whatever reason of amoeba.

Now to your sites which are "much of a deal":

Wow, I bet you have razzled North Cypriot girls hearts with this PHP coding prowess. Even my 16-month old baby slapped me thinking, I guess, I coded (dare I say that word?) the site. Tufia!! - http://www.excaliburbeninhotel.com/index2.php

http://www.royalmarblehotel.com/ - I will give this one 2.5 (the .5 was hard for me to give) out of 10 sha

http://www.agapeforceng.org/ - 404 error. Then again, you look like you eat dog, so I assume it's on purpose

http://www.xdavia.com/selfesteem/ - abi d guy dey pass gas?

http://www.nsp.org.ng/ - y is that table border turned on and others aren't? Inconsistent.

I can see you were born with tables up where the sun doesn't shine (meaning your ass). If I had N10,000 for every time I saw an embedded table in your code, I would have built at least 5 storey buildings on Allen Avenue by now. Perhaps it's the commandaria wine. It is a pity that we are introducing ourselves this way. Then again, you started it. Again, I am not like the US. If I say "nuclear bomb testing will be met with dire consequences", I mean it.

I will rest my fingers for now. Let me see what you will say next. Consider this post a warning.

What's up with some folks showing us sites they have designed best which are no longer online 2 wks after telling us about it?

Guys, you know yourselves. On behalf of others, I demand you modify your posts accordingly

Geez,

At $1 a site, some people wonder why web developers can't afford to put food on the table. Economics gone awry! It's George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm put together. Even Milton Friedman would order a pyschiatric evaluation

tufia!!

LOL timmy

I only sell my ice cream within the borders of the contiguous United States. Besides, frequenting various food joints in Naija, I have actually seen and bought the very Ice Cream I sell, atimes at a much higher rate (in Naira)