LebGeeks

pikatore

Member

hey everyone!

hey, I thought I'd introduce myself here.

first, quick background. i'm a 21 year old white Australian, my parents are retired here, they came here origionally because of property related market stuff.

i've just spent 3 years in england, doing freelance web design and other stuff. In the last 6 months I've developed a base of contacts and clients in England, and was confident enough to think that i could come back here and try something. I still do jobs comfortably (I have a seperate computer I use as a server so I don't use up the insanely low bandwidth limits here!), so it seems that so far I'm doing the right thing.

I have a starting point here, but basically, I wanted to just let everyone know I'm here and trying to break into the web design market here. Lebanon's a small country, and I understand the importance of just talking about myself and how far that can go.

I basically need people who are good graphic/web designers and who could be of use in that respect. Just a freelance, I'll call you if I need you kind of thing, UNLESS you have a more interesting proposal. Anything that lands more clients is usually a good thing! ;)

www.josh-pike.com is my site.

Anyway, advertising out of the way! I wanted to just say hi and happy new year, and let you know I'm here.

Thanks!

Last edited by pikatore (January 3 2010)

Ayman

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Pikatore, welcome to lebgeeks, and I am sure you will find help here and there are many graphic and web designers on this forums who are willing to help you. Everyone here is friendly, and is willing to share his ideas and help, welcome on board! Btw your website looks really neat, you have done a very good job keep up the good work and have good day, good luck and welcome to Lebanon :)

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

welcome josh ! you are 21 and venturing throe a new country for a job , and what a country !  if you need any help don't hesitate to ask for it , how is the internet treating you ? im guessing you are having a lot of trouble with demanding applications requiring "multimedia"...... welcome to Lebanon ! have fun ! rest be assured Lebanese would choose foreigners for a job rather than a Lebanese  so you will be doing just fine in my opinion :)

WizaRd

Member

Re: hey everyone!

rest be assured Lebanese would choose foreigners for a job rather than a Lebanese  so you will be doing just fine in my opinion :)

I wouldn't take that out as a fact since the current market is just looking for the cheapest offer to get the job done. If you could provide that, good for you, if not, oh well! Usually anything associated with 'foreigners' gives a false prejudgment that looks more like costly/expensive, you name it. However that is not always the case!

In all cases, heaps of warm welcomes to the forum!

P.S: Yes ! I know that word is Aussie ;)

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Yeah cheapened costs were the first thing I realised, and in fact, I'm a bit confused of where to begin with pricing here.

Then again, the cost of living is a LOT cheaper than England, so it all balances out for me.

I have Lebanese food, women, and lifestyle at my disposal, I'll shovel shit here for the rest of my life and still be smiling

Ayman

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Yeah cheapened costs were the first thing I realised, and in fact, I'm a bit confused of where to begin with pricing here.

Then again, the cost of living is a LOT cheaper than England, so it all balances out for me.

I have Lebanese food, women, and lifestyle at my disposal, I'll shovel shit here for the rest of my life and still be smiling

It's good to hear that you are enjoying it here. What about your transportation? I am sure that you are not using the bus system

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

lol! Yeah, since I have little pressure to be mobile right now, I get away with sharing my parent's car. I'm totally used to driving here, as I lived here in 2006 while attending AUB

Xsever

Member

Re: hey everyone!

I have Lebanese food, women, and lifestyle at my disposal, I'll shovel shit here for the rest of my life and still be smiling

You have simply made my day right now! I like this mentality where you do not need everything to be satisfied.

I wish you all luck !

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Im glad you love Lebanon :) although we consider this place a shit hole because we love it and want to improve it :)  Have fun !

battikh

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Welcome Pikatore (sorry, can't help reading it "pikaboo" )
Glad that you're liking it here...

Just a comment about your blog... actually about a small error in your post about Lebanon ("Lebanon: An Introduction"). You say in the post that we gained our independence in the 40s from Syria. It's France that we got our independence from...
Just thought you might want to rectify it.

Last edited by battikh (January 5 2010)

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Oh damn, I'll change that straight away. I'm new to blogging, maybe I should do a bit more reserach on what I'm saying in future.

battikh

Member

Re: hey everyone!

don't worry, lebanon's history is a bit confusing with all those different countries and empires that passed by...

rolf

Member

Re: hey everyone!

don't worry, lebanon's history is a bit confusing with all those different countries and empires that passed by...

He probably didnt go to school in Lebanon so he didnt study the history of the country.
To sum it up
- very very long time ago (like BC and stuff): phoenician cities
- then lebanon was part of the roman empire
- then it was part of the Ottoman (turkish) empire up to world war one, although "mount lebanon" which is beirut and the surrounding mountains had a special somewhat independant status.
- then french mandate until mid-to-late 40ies
- then independant country, until syrian army entered lebanon in 1976 (if im not mistaken, again)
- syrian army left in 2005 so now lebanon can be considered as independant

Last edited by rolf (January 5 2010)

battikh

Member

Re: hey everyone!

^^ you also have babylonians, assyrians, roamans, byzantine, crusaders, arabs, egyptians also gave it a shot (not sure if they just partially succeeded or if they completely failed, but they tries). and i'm probably still missing a few.

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

also israelis !
this only shows one thing ! that we are stupid , on the course of time all these wanted a piece of Lebanon , now Lebanon is ours and we are making it worst !

btw, i love your weblog/website ! gr8 design with facebook connect !

Last edited by jadberro (January 5 2010)

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Thanks a lot jad, and recieved your comment. Indeed, I have EXCELLENT visibility to the city, so a wireless connection would definetely be stable.

However, I have a friend up at Beit Meri who said that VISP can be unreliable. He also said he knows a guy who is a partner/owner in the business, and called him, and was told they upgraded recently in some form. I just want to know if it's the best bet before i spent money on the setup fee. Cause the only option I have from that is DSL, but with a max speed of 256kb (ugh)

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

in that case they will setup a link directly from their headquarters to the building you are in , so the speed would be only bottle necked by the wireless link , most probably they wont use a microwave link for a distance like this so you will have a pretty descent connection :)  visp in beit meri should have trouble ! notice the distance and various links until the link reaches beit meri ! and the increased probability of trouble , while in your case it should be significantly better , but you still need to do your research because i can just hold a bit of responsibility to what im saying :)

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

And if there is one thing I know about Lebanon, it's freaking old. The first ship in recorded history was apparently built here. That to me blows my mind.

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

Thanks for the tip jad. I just wonder if I should go headfirst into it and take the risk. I mean... 256 DSL will probably drive me insane within a week. And I'm sick of paying for pre-paid cards that give me horribly low download limits.

I wonder if VISP could send a guy over to check how good the connection is?

Last edited by pikatore (January 5 2010)

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

just checked with a friend who works there , he said a direct connection can be done , but they have gr8 coverage in dbaieh and specifically in Bsalim and Jal El Dib , he suggested you contact the sales
01 247373
you can setup everything with them as well as coverage , resellers or direct .

pikatore

Member

Re: hey everyone!

really? will they charge me extra if i insist on direct?

J4D

Member

Re: hey everyone!

i don't really have those details , i suggest you contact them or go to their office at dawra :) its located below the dawra bridge , in the building adjacent to the gas station ( as far as i know ) .