A Web Designer's View – Port Elizabeth, St Francis Bay, South Africa

I found this really funny article the other day, http://boagworld.com/design/10-things-a-web-designer-would-never-tell-you. Being in the web design industry myself, I found this to be totally hilarious. Very witty. We get some strange requests sometimes. This article just highlights all the things we need to explain to our clients prior to starting any development.

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I don’t know what it is like in other parts of South Africa, or even the world, but here in Port Elizabeth it seems people have no idea how a traffic circle works.

People this is not a 4 way stop! It does not work like a traffic light either. And NO, it is not first come first serve, neither was it designed for people to show how polite they are by letting other people go first. (more…)

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The Herald reported this morning that a vehicle marked with a Google Maps sign and a large metal frame with camera mounted on it’s roof has been spotted driving around Port Elizabeth.
Google has been creating panoramic imagery taken at street level of major cities around the world. So far more than 100 metropolitan areas worldwide has been mapped this way.

With the 2010 World Cup fever mounting, Google has started mapping the major cities in South Africa. People have been showing interest in experiencing some South African culture first-hand.

So when you come across this vehicle, don’t forget to put on your best smile!

Related article: Google Maps Street View – Port Elizabeth

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The 11th Annual Conference on World Wide Web Applications (ZA-WWW) is to be hosted by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University this year from 2-4 September 2009.
I got the following article on MyPE:

The number of “foreign” language sites, the politics of the web, search engines and search techniques, cyber ethics, e-learning and e-commerce are but some of the topics of the 11th Annual Conference on World Wide Web Applications (ZA-WWW) to be hosted by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University from 2 to 4 September 2009. (more…)

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What constitutes a 6.5 million rand website? Curious? Well so am I! Recently Durban (South Africa) spent R6.5 million for the development of it’s 2010 website which will showcase the country’s FIFA World Cup developments to the country and its visitors.

According to IT news website, ITWeb (article here), the website www.fifaworldcup.durban.gov.za, will have features such as a live webcam of the stadium as well as interactive postcards and galleries.

After scrutinizing the website myself, I am unable to figure out where the high costs come into play. As a web designer, I can’t help but be critical about the site. The design is definitely nothing to write home about and looking at some of the code on the site, it was built using outdated coding standards, such as tables. Even though the site was built using ASP, it is not any different from any open source content management systems I have seen before. In fact, I know of far more advanced CMS’s than what I see on that site. (more…)

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This past Saturday we attended a trance party at Glendore Arms in Port Elizabeth (PE). The party was organised by a group calling themselves, Stress Free Outdoor Clubbing. They have a group on Facebook, join them here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71411733274&ref=ts. It was awesome and I’d like to help these guys get the word out there as they are talking about having these parties every second week.
The DJ line-up was great. They are all professionals and have a real wide variety of music. Their music is exciting and fresh. Not like some of these parties you go to where you just hear the same tunes you heard at last weeks party. (more…)

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Having your own personalised email address is not as expensive as you might think. All internet service providers offer their clients free email addresses. But these aren’t very brand orientated.

You do not have to have a website in order to own your own domain name. Domains are not expensive and neither are hosting accounts, especially if you only use it for email.

I recently noticed that there is some confusion about this and decided to make it more clear to my clients on my website. Having an address like, yourname@yourcompany.com is much more professional than the alternative.

How many emails do you send out everyday? Do they reflect your company or brand? This is a very cheap way of getting your brand across.

Find out more on my company’s website, personalised email.

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My site has been long overdue for an update. So not too long ago I started working on it in-between projects. You can view it here, Web Designer in Port Elizabeth.
On the new site I also added a feed to this blog for SEO (search engine optimisation) purposes. I also wanted the site to be more clear about what it is I do, now directly from the frontpage you can click right through to where it is you want to go.
I also adjusted the urls to be more search engine fiendly. One thing about being a web designer, your own site is always lacking and you can never quite be happy with it. It’s like the age old saying, ‘a mechanics car is always broken’.
So just in case you missed that link, Port Elizabeth (PE) Web Designer. Check it out!

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All over the world residents, companies and governments are turning out their lights to highlight the threat of climate change.
For 1 hour on Saturday, 28 March 2009, starting at 8:30pm, the world will turn out the lights.

Watch the planet go dark one time zone at a time as satellite pictures
capture the beauty of darkness and energy conservation across the
globe. (more…)

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Recently Liquid, a pub in St Francis Bay, was re-opened by one of the locals. It is a great place to hang out and offers a wide variety of entertainment, including a pool table, live acts and cocktails.

Unfortunately even a place like St Francis Bay has its bad elements. Liquid also has (had) one of those coin operated touch screens that offers a variety of games. Recently someone thought it would be funny to steal this machine.

There is a reward on offer for the return of this machine. NO questions asked. If anyone has any information, please contact me via the contact page on this site.

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