The top 5

Ramadan Kareem, my Muslim friends. Ramadan has commenced? How are you enjoying so far? Time to get closer to Allah spiritually and inspire peace and unity. 

For our non Muslim Friends, Ramadan takes place on a yearly basis. According to Wikipedia, Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief. Ramadan stems from one of the FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM ; Faith, Prayer, Charity, Fasting(in Ramadan), and Pilgrimage in Mecca. 

Some of us are not familiar with the customs and purpose of Ramadan, even though it takes place in the North and other parts of the country. So definitely it is wise to know a couple of things about it. Shall we?

So what is Ramadan?

It is believed that Ramadan is celebrated to appreciate and commemorate the time  God revealed the first chapters of the Quran, Islam’s sacred text, to the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that during this period, the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell are closed.The pre-dawn meal is called the suhoor, while the fast is broken at dusk with the iftar, starting with a few sips of water and some dates.

Abstinence during Ramadan isn’t just restricted to food and water, though. It extends to refraining from sexual activity, smoking, and even to jealousy, anger or other negative thoughts throughout the month. Muslims believe that following these practices during Ramadan will lead to self-purification, self-control and bring them closer to Allah. Many Muslims also attend special prayer services, read verses of the Quran and engage in charity.

During Ramadan, offices and schools in Islamic countries shut early. For instance, government offices in the United Arab Emirates will operate between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Some counties, such as Abu Dhabi, waive public parking fees near mosques during prayers. Many restaurants remain shut during daylight hours.

When is the Ramadan

The new moon was reportedly sighted Wednesday in some parts of the country including Demoroji in Isa District Sokoto, Bonny in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and  Borno State, Zamfara State. Following the development, Sultan Abubakar directed Muslims in the country to commence the Ramadan fasting which is one of the five pillars of Islam. This is in line with Saudi Arabia’s declaration yesterday and other parts of the world that Ramadan begins on Thursday. The beginning and end of Islamic months are determined by the sighting of the new moon. Addressing a press conference of print, broadcasting and online journalists at the Sultan’s Palace at about 8.15pm on Wednesday, the Sultan said : “Reliable reports of moon-sighting were received from Muslim leaders from across the country which were duly verified and the areas of sighting including Sokoto here, Borno, Zamfara, Bauchi, Rivers, etc. “Consequently, tomorrow Thursday the 17th day of May 2018 is Ramadan 1, 1439 AH. 

Subject to the above, Ramadan is currently commemorated in different part of country with diligence and vigor.

So to our Muslim friends…

 “Ramadan Kareem”, “Ramadan Mubarak” or “Happy Ramadan.”

CRUISE AFRICA

Oya join me! WHAT A MAN CAN DO, A WOMAN CAN DO BETTER! Thank you! Lol! But it’s true. They are a lot of professional sectors in which the dominance of men has been abrogated by the emergence of female presence. Is it the automobile industry, aviation, repairs and maintenance? You name it! The IT industry isn’t an exception. There are women who believe in the resounding effect Information Technology has in the modern lifestyle.

Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram or Facebook are becoming a must if you wish to start up a business promotion. Commercial websites showcase your products or services in a professional fashion. 60% of our society is involved in the Internet world and smart women are exploiting this trend. They make an income, add value and earn a decent living. Female web developers aren’t an exception. In fact, there are coders with a difference. Let’s list the Top 5 female web developers here in Nigeria. Shall we?

Ire Aderinokun

With degrees in Experimental Psychology and Law, Ire is adept at technical writing and breaking down complex concepts to be easily understood at all levels. Since starting her blog, bitsofcode, in 2015, she has written weekly articles on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. She has now contributed over 100 articles and video tutorials to the development community.

Ire is a huge advocate for open source and sharing within the development community. Wherever possible she contributes to open source projects and speaks at events to share her knowledge.

Mayinoluwa Adeyemi

Mayinoluwa Adeyemi is a creative person who is passionate about solving problems with technology. She builds Android applications and she’s constantly learning how to improve her skills. She enrolled in the Android Developer Nanodegree program developed by Udacity in partnership with Google to learn the current best practices in Android Development and  graduated in February 2016.

She enjoys sharing her knowledge at technical conferences. She has spoken at local and international developer events on topics such as Git, Material Design, Firebase, Kotlin and Android Development and a non-technical talk on how to manage university-based Google Developer Groups (GDGs).

Makinwa Olubukola 

Makinwa Olubukola is a JS or Ruby Developer and a lead facilitator at Andela. Formerly, a Lead Developer at Swap Space, reading her story on how she learnt to code 2 years back was nothing short of inspiring, sparking in me the urge to build games. She is currently ranked amongst the top developers in Nigeria by Github. 

Lynda Chiwetelu

Lynda is a Software developer, who is not about to fall out of love with writing meaningful code. She grew up mostly in the Northern States of Nigeria. No, She cannot speak any of the languages found there, yet. Some of the technologies she works well with are PHP, Javascript, HTML(5), CSS , JQUERY, Sphinx, MongoDB, NodeJS, AngularJS, Objective C, Linux Servers and Git -Version Control- in no particular order. In fact, her current favorite thing to do is create random iOS Apps in the hopes that she will end up with one she would like to publish to the App Store. If you wanted a list of all the programming languages/technologies she has written code in, you’ll have to add the following to the list:Java, C++, Python. 

Aisha Bello

A champion for the Python programming language, Aisha currently is the organizer of Django Girls (a developer workshop for girls learning and proficient in the use of Python and Django). She talks on all things Tech and Python related. She is also an Associate Systems Engineer at Cisco.

So girls if you are interested in the world of Tech, particularly programming, you have a lot of motivation to pool from these ladies aforementioned. Front end development, UI Design, UX. Whatever it is you want to specialize on. Make a choice! Choose a career. Cruise Africa!

1. Coffees are PRODUCTIVITY enhancers

2. Coffee fights ADENOSINE

3. Coffee is CULTURE

4. Coffee can be a TRADEMARK 

Bros, you have a laptop where you watch the latest action movies and play the most dope games online.
Babe, you  love snapchatting and scrolling through the pictures of your favorite celebrities on Instagram. 
But is that all? What next? You have two options.

Option A) you continue watching the latest episodes of Game of Thrones and the likes.

Option B) you continue to take time increasing the number of followers you have on Twitter and Instagram

Option C) you become a boss of your own and create social media platforms or websites that are as big as the ones mentioned above and make money out of it.

So what is your option?


Thought so! Option C) Now where is the best school to achieve Option c) 
I’ve got two key words – Code Academy. 
If you are passionate about computer skills like web design and development or want to create mobile application, Code Academy is knocking at your door. Here the coordinators train students on how to build web, mobile and desktop applications in a learning environment. Check out what you need to learn to become a sought –after web and mobile developer:

• HTML• CSS• BOOTSTRAP• JAVASCRIPT• PHP/MYSQL• NODE .JS/EXPRESS• IONIC• ADROID/IOS• WORDPRESS WEB DEVELOPMENT

After training, you get to put your skills to the test and work on projects in small engineering teams. Some projects will be freelance projects sourced from startups. High performers may have the opportunity to work with companies directly. Are you excited?

Code Academy is a Computer Training Institute owned and managed by SARU TECH- a well-known enterprise that has satisfied numerous clients by building mind-blowing websites, Mobile Apps and Softwares. So you are definitely in good hands. 
Techpreneurs like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg are well- known for their projects and till today they are  super rich due to the platforms you and I are using.



So if you want to be the next Web developer to make an impact in Nigeria and beyond…. Just scroll down to 84, Mission Road in  Benin City, Edo State. Or call 08098119811.



CODE ACADEMY – Your future,  their priority.

Hey guys! What’s up? I scrolled through the previous posts of Cruise Africa, and I realized that I haven’t unveiled what I do for a living aside blogging. Or at least the skill I am acquiring. I am a Web designer and developer. YEAH! You know, the number of guys immersing into the profession is overriding the number of women in tech. So, that memorable fact makes me feel unique.
So the issue I want to address today is pretty peculiar. I have noticed that Web developers usually listen to music while they code. Whatever that music genre is, you could easily picture a programmer with a headphone and a laptop.

 I mean, usually, in business enterprises that have nothing to do with music production, silence is preferred to avoid unnecessary deviations from giving your best to your work. But in the world of PHP, JAVASCRIPT and the likes, the case is different. I was disturbed about this particular feature, until I caught myself listening to trap music while coding. HAHAHA! This development propelled me to make a research and inform us about this trend. Clap for me! Ready? GO!

My research made me realize that this boils down to the developer’s psychology. Yeah! It ain’t that simple. According to Sam Howard- a blogger and researcher, It seems that music has an auspicious effect on the efficiency you deliver while programming. So let’s analyze those factors one after the other. 

4 reasons for listening to music while you code

1. As simple as it sounds, music can have a great motivational impact on your performance. A music genre of your choice can assist in completing your project sooner than expected because of the mental ambiance your music creates.


2. Programming ain’t easy at times. The software you are trying to develop serves as a solution to the need of a client. While you are on the business of doing that, debugging problems may have to take place. Now that is very tedious and time consuming. It might deplete your self-motivation. So music keeps you on track and makes you stay focused no matter what. 

3. If you aren’t a freelancer, headphones are having impact on your colleagues too. How? Let’s see. Suppose you are on the bus putting on your headphone. People would scarcely meet you to start up a chit chat. The same goes with programming. As a web developers you might have a deadline to meet up and the restricting time allotted to you is all you‘ve got to make this work. Headphones are the most diplomatic way to save yourself from conversations or annoying co-workers.


4. Now I agree with this last point. Programming as the name implies, is devoid emotional turmoil, tiredness or stress. You have to be 100% concentrated on your project to keep your clientele satisfied. Music soothes the nerves and helps in setting aside problems irrelevant to the killer website you might be designing.

So that’s it folks. Music is vital for the mental welfare of a programmer. No matter the genre, just give it a try and note down the difference in terms of speed and mood while coding. Emm… I have this feeling that I would post a couple of more lifestyle related blog posts for web developers. So programmers, sit back and relax. Cruise Africa is gonna shout out to the world about ….YOU. Aren’t you feeling special already?