.co.za – Tech Warrior

International Literacy Day

Tech Warrior — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 11:45:00 +0000

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.
—B.B. King

IInternational Literacy Day marks the importance of communication. You are a formidable force when you have mastered the ability to communicate - be it in writing, speech and even thought.

According to the United Nations, more than 717 million people around the world, both children and adults, have a severe lack of literacy skills. This is both alarming, but also eye opening.

Imagine you're not able to understand a written instruction for your work, or to cook something as simple as spaghetti? Granted, through learned experience and over a period of time, one can learn how to make pasta al dente, but it doesn't change the fact that you can't order off a menu, understand which offramp to take, potentially how much something costs - the list seemingly just grows and grows.

Here in South Africa we have LITASA (The Literacy Association of South Africa), a volunteer-run member body with the primary purpose of promoting literacy. Through research, sharing of best practice and community collaboration, they aim to grow a strong literacy community.

Where possible, what can you do to make an impact and help nurture and guide future readers, thinkers and speakers to a world relieved of illiteracy - share them with us!

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No growth without change

Tech Warrior — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 12:25:08 +0000

Many a false step was made by standing still.
—Tim Ferriss

Following on from my previous article — another lesson which I've had trouble with is time management; be it related to a project or a daily task. Maybe I'll update my slogan to:

Adapt. Be open. Be clear. Be timeous.

It's not something that changes overnight. Developing good, healthy habits and setting yourself daily targets or goals is a good place to start though. I am fond of taking a process in my personal and professional life and optimising it, ultimately reducing the amount of time it takes to get it done.

In my personal life, I've grappled with sleep. I don't tend to get enough of it, either because I'm watching online lectures, or trying to watch every TEDed video available... However; in the last month I decided to pick up mountain biking again, and you need A LOT of sleep in the build up to and recover from the treks.

I have my first competition at the end of April. I have no doubt it will be a slog, but it has given me a short term goal to chip away at on a regular basis - in more ways than I can mention here - it has made me become more cognizant of how I use my time specifically around my training regime, when I train and how much time I spend training.

Professionally, over the last few weeks I have set myself the goal of generating eye catching graphic designs on a weekly basis. I have tried to create a minimum of 5 new designs per week; sometimes I manage, sometimes I don't - but what I am doing is honing my craft on a continual basis - optimising it through consistency. I'm no digital Monet or Picasso yet, but I know I'll be there by the end of the year.

Time management skills are something which can be developed. I've found that using 'Carrots and Sticks' motivates me best. Setting goals which are achievable, but still push me, harbour better results. The Pomodoro Technique has helped with my workflow during the day, helping again optimise my time management.

Lastly, the 5 minute journal has been a blessing. Essentially I set aside 5 minutes in the mornings and choose three things I’m thankful for; three things I would like to have happen during the day and a daily affirmation for myself. In the evenings I again set aside another 5 minutes and take stock of what made the day great overall and then I choose three things that I could have done to make the day more productive, more insightful or better in any way. Through 10 minutes of introspection, I am incrementally improving my daily habits and it pays great dividends.

As the header image indicates - there is no growth without change.

As we’re moving into autumn I believe it's the season for change!

Cheers

What do you think of the following Tech Warrior logo?

Should we have started using it 5 minutes ago or should we stick with our trusty shield?

Whichever you think is best, drop us an email share your thoughts with us!

The post No growth without change appeared first on Tech Warrior.

Lifting others as we rise

Tech Warrior — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 09:30:00 +0000

Ukusekela ukuzihlupha - translated from Zulu - means to support others and create self-sufficiency. This is what Ukusekela the Small Projects and Support Fund (SPSF) aims to achieve for local grassroot initiatives in the forms of NGOs, NPOs, CBOs and the like.

Stemming from The AIDS Foundation of South Africa, Ukusekela aims to empower communities by making its members participate in development and education actions. These are designed, implemented and owned by some of the community members themselves! Ukusekela seeks out female lead initiatives so as to drive female empowerment and minimise gender inequality.

Getting a community involved in its growth and development is paramount to its success. It creates a sense of pride, you want to show off what you've been able to achieve - Tech Warrior believes this is what Ukusekela aims for and consistently hits the mark.

It has been both eye opening and a privilege working with Snegugu and her team while creating Ukusekela's website. For future projects Tech Warrior will engage with its clients in a more meaningful way - be it through phone calls, WhatsApp messages or video calls.

Thank you Sne, for highlighting the value of the communications medium!

Read on below for Sne’s feedback:

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
—Nelson Mandela

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

Your approach on working with small projects and interactions with us during the initiation process.

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

Basically not having technical know-how, if you would understand our vision and bring it to life. I am very wary of technical projects especially in areas where I have no clue let alone expertise on.

3 - What were your highlights working with Tech Warrior?

Your patience and understanding

understanding the vision and bringing it to life and how you took initiative in some areas being the technically skilled team that you are

I always look forward to being led, listening to recommendations in areas where I am not strong on and this was received and felt with your dynamic and responsive team

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

Meet more to talk to ensure we are all aligned. Sometimes we miss the meaning in email communication and typing can be a bit time consuming than talking things through. I suppose it can vary on a client preference.

We had an awesome experience working with you guys and given the chance we would do it again.

Regards

Snegugu Vilakazi
Programme Coordinator

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A thrifty passion for bric-a-brac

Tech Warrior — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 16:10:16 +0000

Thrift, as defined by the Merriam-Webster english dictionary, is the careful management, especially of money. Thrifting then, is the action of spending a set amount of money to maximise the total amount of goods one will receive, similarly to someone who is frugal.

Thrifting is often associated to shopping, either for antiques, gently used clothing items, books and the like. The list goes on. It's the idea of reduce, recycle, repurpose that comes to mind and this is what Zoe at Still Life has a great enthusiasm, skill and passion for.

Nestled in and amongst other arty-crafty restaurants and shops in the Linden suburbs, Zoe has established for herself an attractive shop filled with all manner of wonderful bric-a-brac. If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind gift for either for yourself, a loved one or a work colleague there's a 110% chance Zoe can assist.

When Tech Warrior set out on this particular website journey the overriding desire was to create something that reflected the space Zoe had created. A vibrant, fresh and quirky shop which is open to all, and appreciated by many.

Bottling Zoe's creativity and mixing it with Tech Warrior's understanding has resulted in a website that is both energizing and practical. Thank you, Zoe, for choosing Tech Warrior to develop a website that is as charming as your store!

Read Zoe's feedback below:

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

Matthew and Tristan had previously designed and printed my business cards and they were delightful, so using Tech Warrior was an easy decision

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

The only hesitation was, possibly the price involved as I was on a tight budget

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

The professional approach to the brief and asking good, solid, questions

Showing me the different layouts for the website and in so doing it made the visual aspect easier for me to plan my story

Keeping me updated on the progress made and setting a date and time for work entailed

Regards

Zoe Leesam

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Finding certainty in uncertain times

Tech Warrior — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:26:49 +0000

The world of money, be it digital or physical, is a nebulous, living 'thing'. Like energy it moves around, it bounces between people and organisations. It can move from one country, state or province to another. It never sleeps. Much like opportunities which are waiting to be capitalised on.

When Tech Warrior first started this project, there was some learning that needed to be done. What is an arbitrage trade? How can you make an income out of it and more importantly how were we going to develop a website to help explain what this is all about.

Tech Warrior and the South African Bitcoin Arbitrage (SABCA) team first spent some time bouncing ideas off one another, learning more about what each organisation has achieved and hopes to achieve all the while focussing on the end goal - create a website that demystifies, enables and empowers its visitors around all things arbitrage related.

Thank you to the SABCA team for their continued engagement to create something marvelous, functional and educational.

Read the feedback from SABCA's founder, Chris Broekman, below:

Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.
—Marc Kenigsberg

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

I saw that you had built a website for Roman Cabanac's the Morning shot podcast.

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

Whether you had the technical ability to integrate my Json endpoint to the site.

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

Good communication

Affordable for a new and unproven business that is being "bootstrapped"

Talented developers.

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

For my site I really want it to sell my mailing list so that I can get a bigger audience. I feel like a bigger list of options for integrating MailChimp campaigns would be a big selling point. e.g. Pop ups when clients visit the site to sign up with the mailing list.

Thanks and regards.
Chris Broekman

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Pockets of excellence

Tech Warrior — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:52:58 +0000

To write or not to write, that is the question...

When one recalls similarly famous lines you are transported either into a high school English classroom or a theatre; I much prefer the latter!

On the western edge of Johannesburg, in Ferreiras Dorp, is an organisation lending support to aspiring South African artists. Offering these talented artisans a platform to share their thoughts and passions to an audience as well as other accordant maestros.

The Tin Town Theatre venue and surrounds hold both historical and cultural significance. It was founded by Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) CEO, Marcus Desando and is currently run by the talented Tshepo Ratona with the aid of Phumeza Damane. The space offers both up and coming as well as established artists an opportunity to stage performances, learn and encourage collaborations.

Working with Tshepo on this website was fantastic. The shared insights taken from our respective professions allowed the melding of theatrical artistic vision and expression with the progressive drawing board of web development. Thank you, Tshepo, for choosing Tech Warrior to develop Tin Town's website.

Read on below to see Tshepo's feedback:

Thank you so very much for your talents and effort. We at The Tin Town Theatre NPC, truly appreciate.
—Tshepo Ratona
Producer
Tin Town Theatre

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

The moment I saw the Website from Johannesburg Opera, I knew I wanted to meet and have a great relationship with the company that designed it. Its beautiful, creative and well thought out, that is what made me want to work with Tech Warrior.

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

I had absolutely no hesitations, I made up my mind when I first saw your work.

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

The kind service, the openness and the effort to truly understand what the client needed and how you could possibly help them.

The turn around times and the constant communication to ensure that we remain in the same page.

The list of options that were basically the best and I had a heart time choosing what the project should look like in the end because all options were carefully created with an effort.

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

I got the best services I wouldn’t know what could possibly change.

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Moving, feeling and learning

Tech Warrior — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 15:36:11 +0000

Some, if not most people find it difficult to display emotion and express how they feel or bring to light undealt issues of the past. I'm sometimes a culprit of this. Drama and play therapy brings theatre processes into a space which encourages either groups or individuals to express and work through emotions and 'stuck' issues.

Welma de Beer has over thirty years worth of experience in working with children, adolescents and adults; be it as a drama therapist, lecturer, teacher or a drama practitioner. As a practice, drama therapy is found in many 'mainstream' institutions such as voluntary oragnisations and NPOs, mainstream and special needs schools, National Health Service institutions and private hospitals.

Working on this project with Welma was loads of fun from collaborating on the colour scheme to late night phone calls trying to decide where content should go or if there was enough content all together!

Thank you, Welma, for allowing Tech Warrior to play a role within your pocket of excellence. To learn more about what Welma has to offer head on over to her website!

"Play is a child's natural medium for self-expression."
—Virginia Axline

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

I decided to use Tech warrior because I knew the people to be kind, caring, truthful, honest and their work to be detailed and beautiful

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

I have no hesitations

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

The three things that I most liked were their: dedication even though I was difficult; their gentle approach; and their sense of aesthetics

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

No, not in my book

Welma de Beer

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Measuring the immeasurable

Tech Warrior — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:31:14 +0000

Architecture, like painting or sculpture, is an art form. The swell of emotions one experiences as they walk into a sunlit room or how the complexity of a historic building captures your intrigue and you can't help but wonder, "How did they manage that?".

Melville based firm, Nicholas-Whitcutt Architects, strives to instil such emotion in all of their designs while also managing to keep functionality and sustainability at the forefront of their work ethos.

With the above in mind Tech Warrior worked closely with one of the firm’s lead architects. Both architect and web developer fused their respective knowledge to produce an end product that speaks to the firm’s values.

From Tech Warrior’s perspective, working on this website was amazing from the word go. The engagement from the clients, the willingness to learn something foreign, for both developers and architects alike, resulted in a beautiful website.

Thank you to both Nicholas and Michaela for their enthusiasm throughout the process; and thank you for allowing Tech Warrior to become part of your firm's growth.

Read Nicholas' and Michaela's feedback below:

From being a jaded recipient of services offered by others, I rediscovered an enthusiasm for what we do by looking at it from the outside with
Tech Warrior through the website process. Thank you!

—Nicholas Whitcutt
Nicholas Whitcutt Architects

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

Micha, whilst exploring the NLP, spoke of your website as being one that appealed because it was strikingly more about what she was looking for than all about the people that hosted the site. So when it turned out that you had done this, and did websites too, it made perfect sense for us to work with you.

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

My only hesitation had nothing to do with Tech Warrier, only the thought of going down the website road again. We had spent an eternity developing our own website, and when it was finally ready it did nothing in terms of bringing work in. So we moved to someone else who immediately took it down while they transferred it onto a new platform, and the same work started again and went nowhere for a long time. I became angry and frustrated at the thought of starting again.

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

The philosophy that it is not about us, but the people who are looking for us; the detailed briefing process and prompts/questions to follow (i.e. guidance) and the creative enthusiasm around evolving an identity that not only reflected what we understood but also brought something over and above.

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

NO!

Nicholas Whitcutt

For someone like myself who had tackled my own websites in the past and a bit of designer background I always believed we didn't need anyone to design a website for us.

I'm amazed at how wrong I was! What we had done before compared to what Tech Warrior can do is like chalk and cheese. In this case I even enjoy being humbled because we got a super website from the Tech Warrior team!

—Michaela Rothaug
Nicholas Whitcutt Architects

1 - What made you choose to work with Tech Warrior?

I have seen your 5th Place website and really loved it! It;s so well structured and looks so professional. It also seems that there is not a word too much on it, it's well balanced.

2 - If you had any hesitation about using Tech Warrior, what was it?

It looked expensive, I doubted we can do it (well, you had obviously suggested a barter, but apart from that I would have worried about affordability)

3 - What were the three things you liked most about working with Tech Warrior?

Great guidance (from first meeting to the pages you send out to fill in, to gentle reminders to send stuff, haha), great quality of the resulting website (it looks so professional!), good insights of how to best begin ("look through the eyes of your client when you write stuff" etc.

4 - Is there anything that Tech Warrior could do better?

I have no idea what you could do better. It was pretty good, no? In our case maybe go back to initial though of more and bigger pictures at the beginning, but that's quite specific. Generally I see nothing you guys could do better.

Michaela Rothaug

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TA-DA! Tech Warrior now has a help desk!

Tristan Green — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 13:27:46 +0000

We've been hard at work developing a more formalised way of answering your questions, changes and support related concerns.

That's why we're sending you this email, Tech Warrior now officially has a help desk. All you have to do is send an email to help@techwarrior.co.za and briefly explain your problem or requirement.

It works like any ticketing system, you explain what the issue is you're having and send the email. The help desk system assigns a ticket number to you. Then we'll do our best to get it resolved ASAP! And you can always visit the help desk to check the status of your request.

Whatever you need help with - changes made to your website, have an email problem, want a new website or something else, help is now just an email away!

We're thrilled about our latest achievement, and we can't wait to continue supporting you and your business for the years to come!

Visit our learning hub for more articles

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What are your services?

Tristan Green — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 00:30:00 +0000

Something for everyone

Tech Warrior offers a range of services stretching from print design through to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO); however our primary service offering lies in web development and design.

Purchasing domain names carefully is a very important aspect of owning a website. Having a website is an important part of running a business. Make sure you are the rightful registered owner of your domain name.

Graphic design

If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit and want to start your own business but you have no idea where to begin, start with a logo. Something simple or over the top and ornate, either way, Tech Warrior can assist in that process. You’ll probably need business cards to go with that slick new company logo, something sophisticated, legible and eye catching; one of our designers can assist in that process.

Apart from the normal print designs like flyers, business cards, invitations and end of year annuals, Tech Warrior also offers an array of digital marketing pieces. The digital designs don’t all have to be graphics, they can be Google Ads with topic-specific excerpts and keyphrases. To get a better idea of the kind of work Tech Warrior has been involved with head over to this page.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
—Warren Buffett

Web development

We build websites. We build really nice, affordable websites for small businesses and their owners. We’re a small business and we understand the difficulties when it comes to managing expenses or client expectations and deadlines. Which is why we use an online collaborative document, so neither our developers nor our clients ever feel like they’ve been “left in the dark”.

In one of our previous articles we explained why we offer limited customisation to our Small Business Websites. If you are looking for a custom, bespoke website Tech Warrior will happily facilitate that process, however the overall cost of the website will increase beyond the scope and pricing of our Small Business Website packages.

Coupled with web development we offer a website security service called Website Armour. This is essentially an antivirus for your website where we initiate backups four times a month and run regular updates to ensure nothing and no one can tamper with your site.

In closing, Tech Warrior can be a one-stop-shop for everything related to the print or digital design world; because we design professional websites and an affordable price is an added bonus. Let’s collaborate and make your small business known.

Further reading

What is SEO

I need a website for my small business. Where do I start?

Visit our learning hub for more articles

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