Irrelevant Combinations

Dear Bashar Al Asad …

2011-08-15T01:05:00.002+04:00

Bashar,

On March 30 I published a post titled “My take on Syria” in which I said I’m against the demonstrations that are happening and that I would rather see Syria with you than without you.

I didn’t blog at all after that – been busy, mostly observing the horrendous massacres that you and your scum bags are carrying across my beloved country.

A few of weeks after I published my post, I realized that I made a mistake. I was so ashamed of what I said (even though I had reasons to believe in you) – I deleted the content of that post and kept observing.

I must say now, and I’m not afraid to say it, I can’t wait to see you and your mercenaries go into oblivion. No matter how people act or what they do, nothing gives you the right to murder and torture your people the way you are doing. Nothing gives you the right to destroy the country the way you are destroying it. I do not give a rat ass if it’s you, the army or your fucked up brother who is leading the operations. It would’ve been prudent if you stepped down to appear as a hero to the whole world, but you missed that chance. Instead, with all your arrogance, you decided to do what you are doing.

Bashar, there are countries that value animals more than you value your people. Syria, one of (if not THE) the greatest and oldest civilizations in the history of earth is a disaster because of you. I was blind not to see your conspicuous crimes, I was an idiot to believe that you were different. I for some reason forgot what you and your family have done to the country in the past 5 decades. You turned us from the proudest people, to the most ashamed. From the most educated, to the most ignorant. From the richest, to the poorest. From the brightest, to the dullest. From the most respected to the most despised.

When your brother Basel died in that car accident, I shed a tear for him, even though he had 5 billion dollars in his bank account that no one knew where he got them from. You are all a bunch of thieves, a bunch of cowards, a bunch of murderers. Enough with your fatuous speeches, enough with your failed policies, the situation cannot be rectified.

The whole world is against you, and you know you have neither the resources nor the heart to survive. Your clock is ticking.

Bashar, I cannot wait to see you fall, and when you do, the world is going to piss on your grave.

My take on Syria

2011-03-30T00:09:00.003+04:00

(update: April 23 2011 - I don't even know what's going on anymore. But I know 1 thing for sure - I'm with the mass ... and it looks like the mass want change)

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Relevant posts:

Bloody Syria

2011-03-20T21:13:00.001+04:00

Last week the wave of Middle East protests reached Syria. On day one, 300 got arrested and following that things got bloody and at least 5 were killed.

For those who don’t know, the Emergency Law in Syria has been in effect for the past 48 years. This means that civilians can get arrested, jailed or even executed without a trial and no one can ask questions.

As much as I would like change to come to Syria, I’m worried. I’m worried because unlike other countries in the Middle East, Syria is not really ruled by 1 person or 1 family. The situation in Syria is a bit different.

It may seem on the surface that Syria is in the hand of Bashar Al Assad, but in reality, there are other entities that run the show. Corruption in Syria is so severe, there will be many men fighting change. Those powerful men will fight change with weapons, and they have hundreds if not thousands of corrupt followers.

There is Al Assad family and its supporters. There are the supporters of Rifaat Al Assad, the brother who was expelled to Europe and tried several times to revolt through at least 50,000 followers in the military. There are the smugglers – a big force in Syria who control the boarders with Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. There is the Mukhabarat (Intelligence agents). There are the Republican Guards with their own leader and agendas. There is Abdul Halim Khaddam the ex vice president who was charged with treason and is now in exile. There is Rami Makhlouf, the most powerful businessman in Syria. There is also the military with loyalty to various heads who don’t necessary like each other.

In a nutshell, if shit hits the fan in Syria, people are screwed.The death toll will be high, protesters will not be attacked by men on horses and camels, they will be attacked with tanks. And unlike Libya where all militias are reporting to Gadaffi, in Syria, the militias after killing people may also be killing each other.

The above picture was taken in Hama in 1982, when the Muslim Brotherhood tried to revolt against the government. I guess a picture speaks a thousand words.

Thank you Egypt, I’m dreaming of unity

2011-02-12T13:41:00.002+04:00

2 years ago I was on vacation in the US and drove from Memphis Tennessee to Chi town Illinois, I think it was a 9 hours drive. I passed through 3 or 4 states (was pulled over twice for speeding, and didn’t get a ticket!).

Each state is bigger than the other. During my drive, all I was thinking was how great unity is. why can’t I, as an Arab, drive from Dubai to Damascus without a passport or a visa? We Arabs always had this dream of having 1 country, but the dictatorships that govern most of us have killed the dream. Instead of dreaming about unity we got busy dreaming about food, democracy, rights and Palestine. But not anymore. It seems, and I hope, that things are changing. We started with Tunis, then Egypt … I can see change in the horizon and for the first time since I was born, I feel optimistic. VERY optimistic.

In my head, our nations were puppets in an invisible hand (or maybe visible). They take us left and right as they wish. People are rising. And if we manage to fix ourselves from the inside, things will change.
Mauritania, Tunis, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Comoros, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen … I love you. I love you and your people from the bottom of my heart.

God I can’t believe Mubarak is gone. I just can’t believe it.

One beef negimaki, and a lawyer please

2011-01-31T23:14:00.000+04:00

So Benihana in Kuwait sued Mark for blogging about them negatively, I’m going to refrain from sharing my opinion about this, I don’t want to defame them.

Having said that, I can’t help but wonder, are we living in an age now where opinions or word of mouth can be controlled? Regardless of the rules and regulations that govern where we live, my question is about the effectiveness of such regulations. I’ve been tweeting about Egypt for the past 5 days in addition to thousands of other people. The immediate reaction of some supreme highnessness was to block twitter and other communication tools in order to contain the situation. But were they able to achieve any results? Did closing Al Jazeera’s offices in Tunisia or bombing their building in Afghanistan stop Al Jazeera from sharing with us what they wanted to share?

Let’s assume that you can stop 1 person or 1 entity from sharing their views, what about the others?

Regardless of the situation, the place or the rules that apply in it I do not think we are in an age that allows anybody to hide anything. It’s the wisdom of the crowd. No matter how hard we try to manipulate the truth or hide facts from people, we will fail. It’s inevitable. If they don’t know about it now, they will know about it later. This applies to everything from “bad service in restaurants” to “torturing citizens”. We need to fundamentally change the way we accept or share information, it’s all about honesty and transparency.

If I have something to hide, I should waste my energy fixing this thing rather hiding it.

I've linked the above screenshot to Benihana’s facebook page. Let’s see if they removed it .

I’m out.

Important times

2011-01-30T20:24:00.001+04:00

To all my readers, I apologize for not blogging in a month. The region is going through a lot and I haven’t had time to put together interesting posts. First Tunis, then Egypt … I’m online but micro-blogging through twitter.

Please follow me there and I promise you to be back here soon.

www.twitter.com/mzaher

New Year Chaos at Burj Khalifa

2011-01-01T12:59:00.001+04:00

I made a huge mistake yesterday by heading to Burj Khalifa for the new year celebrations. The crap that my self and my cousin had to go through was beyond imagination. We thought we’d “pass by”, watch the fireworks then do something else, Instead, we got stock there for 6 hours.

First, the metro coming from Discovery Gardens decided not to stop at the burj “due to over-crowding”. We got off at DIFC and walked all the way to the burj, there were no cabs, and even if there was, traffic wasn’t moving.

When we entered the mall, we realized the “over-crowding”. I remembered the movie Resident Evil. Some one told me, she heard on the news that in the area there was 600,000 people. I don’t doubt it. People were pushing each other, women and children crying, cars literally sank in people. I really hope that there wasn’t a situation where medics had to reach there.

When the stupid show finished (around 7 mins only), we walked back for 45 mins to the DIFC metro station. there was so much people, we couldn’t even enter the place. So we walked again for another 20 mins to the Emirates Towers station. There was a huge crowd there, but not as much as the first one so we managed to enter the station.

Inside, a group of 500 or so literally started a riot against the police. The police weren’t letting any one go beyond the check in point towards the metros because the metros towards Rashidya were packed. People for some reason couldn’t comprehend that so they started screaming together and pushing the police.

The metro heading to the gardens wasn’t busy at all, but the police couldn’t let us in because the gates were closed because of the crowd, and if they open the gates for those heading to the gardens, who are very few, the crazy crowd would break in. What happened? I managed to get to the barrier where the police are standing, I looked at the officer and told him that I’m going to jump over the barrier, I told him that so he won’t arrest me. He heard me, and turned his head away. I shouted saying, “Look at me, I’m climbing, I’m jumping”. He didn’t say anything. So I did it along with my cousin. We jumped, every one was looking at us in shock, we took the stairs and disappeared.

Our police here in Dubai is NOT prepared to deal with such huge crowds, riots or demonstrations. The city was a mess. I don’t usually go out on New Year’s, I don’t think I will ever go out again, not to a public place at least.

Enjoy the fireworks below. Happy 2011.

Sayed, My Poor Barber

2010-12-17T22:30:00.004+04:00

Update: 19 December 2010 - Today, the government announced that starting 2011, employees no longer need a No Objection Letter to change jobs. It seems that they read my blog post!
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Every Tuesday night I go to a proper Arabic barbershop where I get a clean shave and a clean haircut, a protocol that I maintained for 12 years because I don’t shave at home. When you see a barber repeatedly he opens up to you and starts telling you stories, many of them are sad.

Sayed, my latest barber, has a lot of interesting stories to tell and few of them are about his rude, unfair and disgusting sponsor.

3 months ago, Sayed came all the way from Egypt to Dubai with a dream. His dream is to save 10,000 dirhams (2,732 dollars) and go back to Egypt to open up his own small shop. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out to be as glamorous as he thought.

Since Sayed got to Dubai 3 months ago, he didn’t get paid. Sayed is married, and has a beautiful daughter in Egypt and he needs to send them money, but his boss didn’t pay him for the first 3 months because his boss had to pay 5 or 6 K for the government to issue him a work permit. According to UAE law, the Employer is supposed to cover all the costs of visas, work permits, labor cards etc. But some small companies and shops deduct that from their employees’ salaries illegally. Most employees are very new to UAE and don’t know the laws. Even if they do know, they ado not have the heart to file complaints.

first of all, Sayed didn’t have a day off in 3 months. What would he tell his boss if he wants to leave the shop? The boss knows that Sayed doesn’t have money, doesn’t have friends, and has no where else to go. So leaving the shop to file the complaint is kinna impossible.

Second, even if Sayed succeeds to file the complaint, what would happen? he will definitely get his money, but his boss still has the right to fire him and he will definitely do that.

Third, Sayed can’t even resign his job. If he does resign his job and find a better one he will not be able to get a new work permit because he will need a “No Objection Letter” from his sponsor. If he doesn’t get it, not only he won’t get a job, but he will be banned to work in UAE for 6 months!

It’s crazy. Few weeks ago Sayed was eating in the shop, there were no customers, his sponsor popped up and saw him and deducted 5 days from his salary. So if Sayed gets paid next month, it will be only for 3 weeks.

It’s a dilemma. Sayed is living on tips and they are not much. The shop is new, and hasn’t gathered momentum yet. He gets a maximum of 2 customers a day because there are 3 other barbers in the same shop and the shop is only receiving 8 customers a day. Oh, and his sponsor promised him a monthly salary of 2000 dirhams, but just told him it will be 1500 (547 dollars) because business is bad.

I saw his sponsor the other day and wanted to have a word with him, but I stopped my self because I don’t want to get Sayed deported. What to do? I really have no fucking clue.

Arrogance, the biggest threat to civilizations

2010-12-07T23:02:00.001+04:00

In 10 years the world will win the war on terror, and we will all live happily ever after. It doesn't sound right does it?

Americans and Arabs efforts to eradicate terrorism are like blowing in a punctured balloon (Arabic proverb!). All the money spent by the US in Afghanistan, and all the money spent by Arabic governments in the Middle East will never succeed in stopping terrorism, period.

Al Qaeda is indeed a group of people (latest figures say up to 1000 members), but those people are operating based on a set of beliefs, and some (not all) of their beliefs are shared among many Muslims world wide, plus many other non Muslims.

I’m not talking about beliefs like let’s kill Americans, let’s blow up Christians and let’s rebel against our governments. The beliefs that Al Qaeda share with many Muslims are related to two things: First, Western, and specifically American, policies in the Middle East. Second, the policies of the Arabic governments themselves. The difference between a “terrorist” Muslim and a non-terrorist one is that the terrorist chose violence to fix the problem. What did the non-terrorist choose? Nothing. A non-terrorist Muslim is nothing, we are less than dirt.

Arabs in the Middle East in most cases have absolutely no say when it comes to politics. We can’t vote. We can’t create policies. We cannot pressure our friends nor our foes. We can’t say what we really want to say. We can’t, we can’t …

Our political systems are a disaster, and although it’s not “written”, we all know our limits.

Let’s take the following example. Generally more crimes happen in poor neighborhoods around the world than in rich ones. If you spend all the money in the world, you will not be able to stop crime in such areas. Your strategy should be balanced, in addition to prosecuting criminals and thieves, you need to invest in analyzing their behavior and psychology and understanding their motives. The right way to stop theft for example is to prosecute thiefs, AND enhance standards of living.

It’s exactly the same situation with terrorism. We need to fight terrorists, prosecute them, but we also need to wake up and deal with the root of the problem. Why would a young man who was normal all his life, suddenly leave everything behind, kill him self and others?

Governments are in denial, and too arrogant to tell the truth. History taught us very well that arrogance is the biggest threat to civilizations. It’s arrogance that destroys nations, this will never change. If the world doesn’t wake up, tomorrow will never be better than today.

10 facts you may not know about Japan

2010-11-21T00:04:00.003+04:00

Japan and Japanese culture fascinate me, here is a list of 10 interesting facts you may not know about Japan or its people, gathered from various sources.

1- Japan is the ~~second~~ third biggest economy in the world

2- The average life expectancy of Japanese men is 79.6 years, for women it’s 83

3- On average, each person in Japan eats his body weight of fish every year! that’s more than 6 kilos a month

4- Tokyo consists of 23 wards, and has a population of approximately 35 million people

5- 10% of the world’s volcanoes are in Japan

6- Japan’s literacy rate is 100%

7- Slurping food in Japan is considered good manners. By slurping, you are appreciating the food and the chef

8- A Geisha is not allowed to marry. If a Geisha decides to get married, she automatically retires

9- Average annual income in Japan is almost 30,000 dollars, one of the highest in the world

10- It’s a big taboo to kiss in public in Japan or show any signs of affection

Is Obama the antichrist?

2010-11-10T21:52:00.001+04:00

A few months ago I published a post titled “Why do Arabs stink, and why is my poop green?”. It listed down some funny suggestions that pop up by Google when you start typing random keywords.

Today I was bored so I spent sometime trying new searches related to specific celebrities, thought I’d share them with you. It’s funny what people around the world search for.

Is Obama .. the antichrist?

Does Sarah Palin .. believe in Dinasours?

Is Justin Bieber .. a girl?

Is ladygaga a hermaphrodite?

Why does Jay Leno … have a big chin?

Is Larry King .. dead?

Why does McDonald’s target black people? (WTF?!)

does Oprah own oxygen?

and finally,

Is Mark Zuckerberh a douche?

Relevant posts:

Why do Arabs stink, and why is my poop green?

My skydiving experience

2010-11-06T21:15:00.002+04:00

Yes I did it. I jumped off a plane in Dubai, skydiving over the palm. 13,000 feet. It was the scariest, yet most exciting thing I have ever done. I was pissing myself. 3 hours later while writing this post, I can still feel the adrenaline. I was VERY nervous. But the second I jumped, I forgot everything.

All I can say is that it’s something you HAVE to do once in your life. It’s so amazing because the feeling is something your body, soul and mind cannot comprehend. The free fall is around 60 seconds. Then you spend 5 minutes gliding down when the parachute opens. The scene is amazing. The Palm, JBR, Burj Khalifa, crazy.

I was also very lucky to have the Hereditary Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan (Fazza) with us in the plane.

He was the first to jump, and of course jumped alone. (He’s the owner of center). What a great coincidence.

btw, if you’re claustrophobic, don’t even think about it. The plane is very small, and it’s very uncomfortable getting tied to another person!

Ahh I don’t know what else to say. got pics on this link. and the video is above.

The center is called Skydive Dubai. This is their phone number: +971 50 153 3222 .

Heels & Wheels … Can women drive?

2010-11-03T15:08:00.003+04:00

One of the reasons I LOVE living in UAE is the fact that there is always something cool and sexy happening. Today, a new campaign was launched on Facebook for a reality show, a web series called Heels and Wheels.

I’m pretty sure this is the first web based series in the region. The H&W team is recruiting a team of girls to participate in a 6 hours endurance race that is taking place in the Dubai Autodrome in January, the UAE Fun Cup.

This is going to be brilliant. Women cannot drive on the road (joke), I wonder what will happen on the race track – given the track will have over 100 cars.

Check it out, it’s pretty cool.

http://www.facebook.com/heelsandwheels

Update: MY COMMENT THAT WOMEN CAN'T DRIVE IS A JOKE. NO ONE HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR?!

Ratings, S**, and Orbit Showtime

2010-11-01T14:28:00.002+04:00

I was flipping between channels with my cousin on Friday and got to OSN Comedy, a channel that is part of the Orbit Showtime Family package, we were shocked to see a decent 2 minutes scene of a couple getting it on. Proper soft porn, on TV, on a family channel, in Dubai.

Both my cousin and I are VERY against censorship. But playing something like this at 11 pm on a weekend, on a channel that’s been categorized “Family” along with the Disney channel, Animal Planet and Nat Geo, and giving the show a rating of 13+ is totally unacceptable.

I really don’t understand how ignorant corporations can be in this part of the world. Many, if not most, families in this part of the world are NOT used to seeing f****** scenes. Call us conservative, call us idiots, we just think it’s wrong.

The least Orbit Showtime can do is put warnings before a show like this, or assign correct ratings to the show.

What’s the point of the channels guide?! 13+?!

A similar incident happened a while back, but it was on the movies channel which is part of the premium package. I wasn’t very angry about it because we all know that movies on the network are not censored. A family will not be watching a movie on OSN Movies HD with kids. But OSN Comedy?!

If a network is playing something inappropriate for children, the least I expect is to do it the right way.
Crazy.

I will be filing official complaints against the network.

Will keep you updated.
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Relevant posts:

Rated 18 in Dubai

The Perrier Mansion – Sex sells

2010-10-17T20:26:00.001+04:00

I’ve always been against using the “sex appeal” in advertising, not because I’m a saint but because it got really boring. Nothing interesting was coming up and companies were doing the same thing over and over again.

Now forget everything you know about sexy ads, this one is the most interesting one ever. Perrier in July (yes just saw that) launched “The Perrier Mansion” where they offer fans a combination of sexiness, interactivity and fun through their spokeswoman Dita Von Teese. It’s a short movie/game that you can control. The site is horribly slow due to the high quality graphics, but from the minute you enter, it grabs your attention. I’ve spent a good 15 minutes there.

I don’t think words can give it justice, if you like Perrier, women or advertising make sure you check it out.

http://www.perrierbydita.com/

anayou … Digital Arabia

2010-10-10T12:37:00.003+04:00

du’s Media Lab just launched the beta version of anayou (www.anayou.com) a social and entertainment network they’ve been working on for a long time. I’m usually skeptical about new social networks, oh and new search engines, because Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are generations ahead of anything else out there, but I believe there is still a market for Arabic services.

My first impression of anayou was “wtf, I’d rather stick to facebook”, but after playing with it for an hour I came across tons of features that are not available on Facebook.

anayou is not only a social network, it’s an entertainment portal. It offers news, music, games, reviews, photos, videos, lyrics, forums, trailers, online radio and a mobile tool that helps you synchronize all your social networks and contacts. There are MANY features, it's hard to explain, you have to try it.

There are 17 million active Facebook users in the Middle East, while internet users are above 63 million and the number keeps increasing. Old and new internet users do not only want to socialize, they also need content and I think the most important thing that will help push anayou is content. I’m listening to Elissa’s latest album as we speak!

Every one knows how poor Arabic content is on the web, Solid content portals are always welcome.
Try it out. I just booked the most unique URL on it, www.anayou.com/Mohammad :)
and don’t forget to play VROOOM: it’s an addictive cars game.

Visiting The “Terrorists” – Part 2

2010-10-07T21:41:00.002+04:00

On September 25 a dear friend of mine came back from a vacation in Yemen and posted a story through my blog about his trip titled “Meeting The “Terrorists”. The below is my take on it.

We cannot deny that journalism around the world is in most cases nothing but a tool used to communicate predetermined opinions, and political agendas. There is still honesty, subjectivity and reason, but that’s the exception, not the trend.

If you ask people, do you trust media, the majority will answer not really. Yet, we keep getting carried away with what they write.

The first thing that comes to our mind when hearing the word Yemen is danger, terrorism and probably a desert. Why do we think that? Yemen has around 600 murders every year. With a population of 23.5 million, that’s nothing. In the past 20 years, less than 70 people got kidnapped in Yemen, most of them were let go safely. Brazil is officially the kidnapping Capital of the world, yet, it gets to host the world’s most important and most crowded sports event.

Did you know that New York city in 2009 had over 43,000 assaults, 778 murders, 2500 rape cases, 28,000 robberies and 315,000 thefts? That’s one city in the land of dreams, opportunity and liberty.

In the past 20 years, lightening claimed over 7600 victims in the United States. This means that statistically, you are more likely to get struck by lightening in the United States than get kidnapped in Yemen.

I’m an Arab, and a Muslim, and I never in my life thought of going to Yemen because I had the wrong image about it. I am ashamed that my friend, a westerner, who’s been in the Middle East for 6 months witnessed that beautiful place before I did.

I hope I’m wrong, maybe I’m being emotional now, but unfortunately I strongly believe that western media hate us. They hated us long before our fucked up psychos started blowing shit up. Don’t get me wrong, there are still honest and reasonable reporters, but the majority are nothing but puppets.

What a world.

Note to visitors, don’t get all Einsteiny or statistical on me with your comments, you get my point.

Relevant posts:

Visiting The “Terrorists” – part 1

2010-09-25T17:46:00.005+04:00

My friend Igor just came back from a vacation in Yemen, the below is his account of the trip, he is publishing it through my blog as he doesn’t have one. At the bottom of the article, you will find more pictures. Don’t miss them.

I will follow this article with my opinion in a separate post next week.

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“I am writing this because I promised myself and many people I have met in Yemen, I promised that I will do every thing I could to fight the bad image this beautiful country has. I promised that I will share my experience with every body, whenever and however I can.

Despite the fact that many friends and colleagues had warned us and told us Yemen is a dangerous country, Marta and I decided to go and spend this year's Eid holiday in Yemen.

We find great joy in traveling to unusual places, places that people do not think of visiting. Of course, we prepare well for such trips- this involves extensive online research, acquiring a Lonely Planet guidebook, reading about the country's history and checking out recent news. The official news sources (like BBC, Al Jazeera and other reputable worldwide news agencies) depicts Yemen as a very dangerous, almost savage country, with lots of kidnappings, Al Qaeda, guns and killings. It basically tops the list of the "evil countries".

This common propaganda and PR couldn't be more further from the reality we personally experienced. The Yemenis we met in Sana'a and in rural areas around the capital of Yemen, were genuine, very welcoming to visitors and extremely hospitable. They give a special dimension to the country by their friendly behavior towards tourists and guests. Contrary to the common stereotype, we discovered that Yemenis are extremely sweet, truly interested in their guests. They are always asking questions and trying to have a conversation without ever trying to “sell” something. There are no hidden agendas: people are sincerely out there to make tourists feel at home and go a long way to do so. It's fantastic!

During our research we came across a fascinating story, a story about an American couple who were kidnapped in Yemen. Nothing at all happened to them, they were guests at the largest house in the village, stayed in one room and were fed fresh bread and orange juice. The kidnappers took them for a short trip to the nearby hill-top and gave the kidnapped man a Kalashnikov to shoot around and enjoy his time! Also the tribesmen performed traditional dances for them. 24 hours later they were released.

The tribe captured them for ransom and to attract attention to a specific problem they had in the village. To say this, no one has the right to restrict your free movement and threaten you under any circumstances. I am just saying this to demonstrate that even kidnapping in Yemen, is different than you'd imagine.
Most of the kidnappings in Yemen end up peacefully, and trust me, there isn’t a lot of them.

Yemen is full of beauty, friendly people and offers true relaxation, unfortunately people in the West would never think of it like that. Yemenis are so generous that they would invite you to their house even if they don’t know you at all. If there is something Yemenis kidnapped, it’s my heart.”

Thank you Igor.

Don't burn my holy book ...

2010-09-09T02:43:00.005+04:00

Today while browsing the web I was thinking about the “Burn the Koran day” that is due to take place on September 11, and came across an amazing 13 minutes short film that talked about great Muslim inventions and achievements that became the foundation of modern science. (1001 Inventions and The Library of Secrets – by Oscar winning legend Sir Ben Kingsley)

When the west was in the dark ages, the Muslim world was in its Golden Age and Islam was the epitome of tolerance and advancement.

“it’s all a matter of perspective” Sir Ben said.

The film put a smile on my face. It reminded me that we, Muslims, are not misunderstood by every body. There are those who respect us and those who hate us.

A non-Muslim friend of mine asked me: “why did the Muslim Pakistani cricket team cheat and gamble in their match against England a few days ago? isn’t gambling Haram? (against Islam) Isn’t cheating in Ramadan a sin?”

He is right, but let me explain one thing, the bad you may see in some Muslims today is not Islam, what many of us stand for today is not what we should be standing for.

Islam is one thing, and Muslims’ mistakes is another thing.

Last week the story of the Sri Lankan house maid who was tortured in Saudi Arabia was all over the news. The minute I read it I remembered a saying by Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him:

“A woman was doomed to enter the Fire because of a cat. She imprisoned the cat, neither fed it nor set it free to eat the rodents of the earth.”

This is what Muslims should stand for.

Terry Jones, don’t burn my holy book. Read it as whole, and understand it, it’s not evil. There is 1.6 billion of us Muslims, could we all be blind? And if you do burn it, I will never blame Christianity, Christians, the American constitution or the west for your actions.

Peace.
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Relevant posts:

Panda Intelligence

2010-08-27T22:49:00.001+04:00

I was watching a documentary on Animal Planet about an earth quake that happened in China near a panda reserve. (Untamed and Uncut) - The pandas in the park panicked as buildings around them collapsed.

Those two were helping each other escape the catastrophe. I have never in my life seen something like this. Unbelievable intelligence. I paused the show, and snapped a photo.

I’m wondering if they both are males or females. If one is male and the other is a female, who is helping the other?

Very touching.

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relevant posts:

North Korea: Tears of pride

360 Emirates – Breathtaking virtual tours of UAE

2010-08-26T22:55:00.002+04:00

Today, I saw an ad on Facebook about “Virtual tours of the Emirates”. I rarely click on ads, I clicked on that one, and it was the most interesting website I’ve seen in a long time.

A brilliant, well designed website offering virtual 3D tours of the United Arab Emirates. They’ve covered many key landmarks across UAE. Hotels, buildings, streets, restaurants, shops, all that.

Every now and then I ask my self, what’s next? It’s becoming extremely difficult to innovate, to create new products or new services. I’m happy to see this site. Very good stuff.

It’s been out for a while, I can’t believe I missed it.

Won’t bore you more with words, check it out. It’s worth it.

The haters, the sheep and the Ground Zero Mosque

2010-08-23T00:03:00.003+04:00

It’s all over the news. Americans protesting against the ground zero mosque in Manhattan.
The recent events made me contemplate Americans and how they respond to things, which made me conclude that there are 3 types of Americans. The haters, the idiots and the real.

The haters are a bunch of educated Americans who made up their mind years ago. They hate Islam. Actually not only that, those folks also hate colored people, they hate homosexuals, they despise poor people .. they have an agenda, they made up their mind about various issues long time ago. They’re extremely obstinate and responding to their fallacies is a waste of time.

The idiots are many, and they are uneducated Americans who do not have an agenda. They’ve been Foxed up, they follow the media left and right like sheep follow their Sheppard.
for the above I would like to say 3 things:

1-The mosque is being built 2 blocks away from ground zero
2-There were Muslims in the world trade center when the crime against humanity – September 11- took place
3-The imam leading the project, who you accuse of having ties to terrorist groups, worked extensively with the FBI in the war on terror.

The real. The real Americans are a huge group of educated and ordinary people who understand their country’s constitution, believe in freedom, and know that associating all Muslims with terrorism, all blacks with crime, or all Mexicans with laziness has no grounds whatsoever.

I came across a video today of a candid camera clip filmed by ABC news. In summary, a Muslim woman (acting) enters a shop in Texas to buy stuff. The man working in the shop (also acting) refuses to sell her stuff because she is a Muslim, he insults her heavily in front of people. Watch it and see the reactions of people in the shop. Some gave him a thumb up, others gave him a middle finger, and some just ignored the situation.

I’m really not sure what the objective of my blog is. Maybe I’m just telling you that not all Americans are the same. I’m also telling you that Muslims in the states have the right to build mosques wherever they want. Like Jon Stewart said, there is a mosque in the Pentagon for God’s sake!

Whatever. Watch this clip, Jon linking Fox News to Al Qaeda, it will help you get my point. (you can watch it all or skip to minute: 3:12.)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Week of 8/16/10

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

3 reasons why we will have Blackberry in October

2010-08-01T22:48:00.005+04:00

It’s in every newspaper, every news channel and on every website. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in UAE will suspend Blackberry services in October this year. Almost every one told me that TRA’s decision is fueled by its inability to monitor messages or decrypt them. Whatever the reason is, TRA took this decision because the blackberry services violate its regulations.

Will this decision affect us? I don’t think so, by October, something will happen. Here is why, 3 simple points:

1-Etisalat and du make a lot of money from blackberries, they will not accept this decision. I know they said they will, but I have this feeling that a lot is happening behind the scenes. Big people are going to be talking to big people. At the end of the day, our two operators need to make money. Mobile Internet is the future, and Blackberry is a serious player in the game.

2-If Etisalat and du, do not succeed in changing the TRA’s mind, I think RIM will give TRA what it wants. Whatever it is that makes the blackberry service violate the TRA’s regulations. RIM, the company that provide the blackberry service, will most probably give TRA what it wants. RIM makes hundreds of millions of dollars from Blackberry in the region. If UAE’s TRA gets stubborn, and suspends the service, Saudi’s TRA will follow, and if Saudi’s TRA follows, the rest will follow.

Research In Motion cannot afford that. They will find a solution that will satisfy every one.

3-World Trade Organization stuff. UAE is dead serious about its position as a moderate, advanced and wise state. In order for the UAE to maintain its reputation internationally, and enhance it, it needs to meet many obligations of international organizations, one of them is the WTO. If point 1 or 2 do not happen, the dispute will reach WTO, and once it reaches WTO, it becomes bigger, and when the dispute becomes bigger, it will most probably be resolved.

I’m not an expert. but this is my opinion, I may be right, I may be wrong. let’s wait and see.

CNN pulls my iPhone out of the garbage

2010-07-28T00:01:00.001+04:00

4 months ago I replaced my iPhone with a nexus one, and the only reason I kept the iPhone on a table next to my bed was a decent NY Times app that I checked regularly and wasn’t available on Android. Last week I came to know that the NY Times launched an android version of their app so I decided to get rid of my iPhone, but it seems that destiny doesn’t want that/

Today, I received a msg from a friend pointing out a new iPhone app for CNN International. Take it from a news junky, this app is the hottest, most exciting, thing out there. It is soooooo damn good, even though I don’t like CNN, I decided to keep my iPhone just so I can use it.

The app has a solid Video feature that shows news clips from any category you imagine, and it works perfectly. Companies often deprive us (Middle Easterns) form video features in apps. I was glad not to see the “Video feature is not available in your region” message.

I also liked the “My Cnn” feature, a customizable tab that shows news and weather information based on my location. It also retrieves news of interest based on topics I added through keywords.

And the big big killer about the app is the iReport. iReport is a news source that is based on the community. It allows any one to compose a short news article and submit it to CNN. Articles submitted get featured on the iReport section. I think the iReport function takes social media to a whole new level. But I wonder what will CNN do to verify that the submitted news are true.

The iReport also has an “Assignments” section where CNN requests the app users to contribute to certain topics. Some of the currently listed topics are Travel Snapshots, Views from Inside Africa and Reviews about the movie “Salt”.

The only thing I didn’t like about the app is the white-text/black-background theme. I find this theme extremely annoying for reading, it gives me headache especially on phones.

Other than that, This is a great app that “puts rivals to shame” as PCWorld described it when launched in the US last year. But this International version is FREE.

I really hope to see a similar app from CNN on Android so I can finally get rid of my stupid iPhone.

My take on Niqab

2010-07-21T21:47:00.002+04:00

The banning of Niqab (Burqa) in France has been one of the most controversial topics in the media recently. Today I was reading some news and came to know that Syria just banned the Niqab in universities, I thought it’s probably time for me to voice my opinion about the topic.

Before getting into the banning of Niqab, I would like to share my opinion about Niqab. I think the Niqab comes out of tradition, not religion. Meaning, there isn't enough clear evidence in Islam that say women should cover their face. Actually, out of four major school of thoughts it's only Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal who believed Niqab is a must. My argument is simple from an Islamic point of view, If a woman’s face should be covered, God would have not made it forbidden for women to cover their faces during pilgrimage to Mecca.

However, there are a lot of women who cover their face, some do it because they follow the Ibn Hanbal school of thought, others do it because it’s a tradition, they grew up doing it, they like it, or simply got used to it. There are also some who do it because they are forced to do it, but this is a different topic.

Now moving to my opinion. If a woman CHOOSES to cover her face … she should have the right to do so. Religion/Traditions/Culture are very important to humanity, and more important than that is freedom.. Many many many people, if not most people, have certain beliefs, follow certain cultures and traditions. I think it’s absurd to pass laws that are against peoples cultures. No matter how secular a system is, it should be smart enough to absorb the people and present them with laws that facilitate their lifestyles. There are thousands of other security concerns that should be dealt with, a woman walking around with a covered face is the least we should worry about.

I don’t get upset if Syria, or any other Arab country bans the Niqab or even the Hijab. why? because Arab countries rarely respected the rights of the people … rarely gave their nations a choice. Arabs have to do what their leaders ask them to do, other wise, they get in trouble.
This is why Arabs and Muslims left their homes behind and ran away to the west. It was never only the money.

It’s sad that the west’s Islamophobia got so severe, it made them forget the true meaning of Freedom. It made them forget why those Muslims chose to be there. People should be able to say what they want, do what they want, and dress how they want, assuming their freedom doesn’t affect the freedom of others.

I hate tattoos. I don't think they are right. But I have many friends who CHOSE to have tattoos - I never think any less of those friends. It's their choice, and I respect it. I have aunts who wear the Niqab and believe it's not a must. They just feel more comfortable wearing it. I have an aunt who only wears it if she is in a very crowded place.

I respect everybody's choice as long as it's not affecting me directly.

Let us stop judging others, and start judging ourselves.

Why do Arabs stink, and why is my poop green?

2010-07-15T15:06:00.002+04:00

We are sitting in office trying out various combinations of search queries on Google, and as my colleague @jassim typed “Why do Arabs” Google suggested … “stink”.

Although some Arabs might find it very offensive, I actually find this extremely hilarious. Google’s suggestions on search is simply a reflection of what people world wide usually search for. It’s a great tool actually to get into the great brains that surf the web and to identify stereo types.

Have a play with it, it’s funny, and educating. and below some interesting suggestions by Google.
I have one …. testicle

Why do brits … have bad teeth

Why are Americans … so stupid

Why are jews … so cheap?

why do mexicans … stare?

Why is my …. poop green?

and actually one of my favorites (EXTREME STUPIDITY)
why do Australians … have and accent?

and finally …. Thank god for Google :)

Ask an Emirati

2010-07-07T20:00:00.001+04:00

I almost gave up on Facebook pages, there are just too many of them. Some are nice, some are boring. Today I received an invitation from a friend to join a page called “Ask an Emirati”. Brilliant page. Not sure who’s behind it (government?), but I know it’s amazing. The objective of the page is to answer questions people have about UAE, Emiratis, their culture or religion or whatever.

It’s a small community still, but I expect this thing to grow massively.

Below are some of the questions I noticed on the page, and were perfectly answered":

do the majority of emirati's originally come from iranian heritage?
Could you list all the Muslim holidays on here please?
Why is Islam against adoption?
I have a question, I was told that when you go to Paradise you can have bacon butties :) and that pork is haram as it can't be slaughtered in according with halal rules, is this true?

Good stuff guys. Keep it up.

Rated +18 in Dubai …

2010-06-20T00:23:00.000+04:00

A couple of weeks ago I sat to watch “The Bank Job” on OSN HD (Orbit Showtime). Before the movie started, OSN showed the movie’s rating, this one said it may not be suitable for those under 15 years old. A minute later, the movie starts with a few naked women swimming. The beach nudity was then followed by a sexual scene, 2 women and one guy in action. I was shocked.

I personally am 99% against censoring, I just wasn’t happy at all with this unjustifiable mistake by Orbit Showtime. I can’t understand how a professional TV network would make such a mistake.

Now let me tell you about my other experience.

This Thursday, I spoke to my brother in Malaysia and during the conversation he recommended a PS3 game to me. I went to the mall to buy the game but couldn’t find it. As I was leaving the mall I saw a small kiosk selling video games, asked him about it, he stared at me for seconds then disappeared. A minute later he came back with a plastic bag covering the game.

I honestly didn’t understand at first why he did that, so I asked him. He said “Sir it’s BANNED!”. Whatever.

I bought the game and after I got home I opened it, it was rated 18+ for “some sexual content”. The game is amazing, and through out it all it had one scene only with very minor nudity and a quickie.

This made me think about 2 things.

First of all, why is Orbit Showtime free to air movies as obscene as “Finding Bliss”, but video games like GTA4, Heavy Rain or Red Dead Redemption are banned?

A movie plays on TV, which means in principle, ANYONE can watch it. Even if it’s rated 18 or 15 or whatever. But selling +18 games can easily be controlled. Why are such games banned? Why ban a game that contains 50 hours of game play because of a 10 seconds scene that contains some boobs in 3D?

The second point is, why don’t the authorities, who ban those games, ban networks like Orbit Showtime from showing rated R movies without censoring them?

It’s all about control. I think all games should be allowed … as long as they are only sold to adults. And I think movies should not be censored on paid TV, as long as we loudly tell people if those movies contain inappropriate scenes.

Oh I also think that the Orbit Showtime people are idiots. I wouldn't be shocked if they play American Pie on the ShowMov Kids channel.

North Korea’s Tears of Pride

2010-06-16T22:32:00.004+04:00

To me, this was so far the most touching moment during this world cup. Jong Tae Se , North Korea’s striker was not crying, but weeping during his country’s national anthem before their game against Brazil yesterday. His tears touched me so much I actually got up and took a picture of the TV.

I was touched because I, personally, have never seen a football player cry (or maybe cry this much) during his country’s national anthem.

People cry when they win, when they lose, when they mess up, or when they score … there are tears of joy and tears of sadness … but his tears were neither. They were tears of pride. The second North Korea’s national anthem kicked off, Tae Se started weeping … he wept because he was proud, because he loves his country, because he felt this huge pressure that he must not disappoint it.

Fascinating.

@dutweets and du’s Scale of Importance

2010-06-16T21:14:00.003+04:00

I had an issue with du where I purchased a TV subscription based on a brochure their agent gave me. When my services got activated, I found out that a channel, which was the only reason I got that package, is not there. I called du’s customer service and they told me that the channel is no longer offered. They said I can’t cancel the subscription before I complete 3 months, and they said I cannot file a complaint! The solution they gave me was to email them at customer.care@du.ae .

I sent them a letter 16 days ago, followed by 3 reminders, no reply, knowing I received 4 “automatic” emails from them stating that I will be contacted within 48 hours.

This morning I thought why not complain to dutweets (du's twitter account). I tweeted my complaint at 1030 am, 3 hours later, du called me telling me that my issue got resolved. They canceled my subscription without any fines.

Despite the fact that I was extremely extremely impressed with @dutweets , I couldn’t help but think, why can’t du, and other companies, provide good customer service always, and regardless of the platform?
It’s obvious that @dutweets have a dedicated customer service team that gives twitter users and bloggers a much higher priority . I’m not sure what prevents “traditional” customer service channels/agents from providing services as impressive as @dutweets .

Businesses who give importance to social media are smart, they however need to remember that word of mouth doesn’t only generate online, it actually starts offline.

My issue was very very simple, I wasn't asking for my money back, all I needed was to cancel my subscription without paying a fine. The failure to resolve simple problems reflects how incompetent some customer service departments are.

anyways, dutweets is definitely the way to go. If you have a problem, tweet it, it will get resolved.

Relevant posts:

Brand Loyalty - a lesson for Etisalat
The most hilarious experience - Du Customer Service
Du Elite Plan, No kidding
Customer Service: Sling Bling

Speaking of Freedom Flotilla …

2010-06-01T00:08:00.003+04:00

For the past four years …

The blockade caused Gaza12 billion dollars in losses
5,500 Palestinians in Gaza were wounded because of Israeli military operations, and lack medical health care
Israel destroyed 22,000 homes in Gaza
They also demolished 1,500 shops and factories, 25 mosques and 31 government buildings
35,000 refuges in Gaza live in tents
Unemployment in the past 4 years rose to 80%
75% don’t eat enough
80% of their most essential needs come from tunnels between Egyptian and Palestinian Rafah, those tunnels are considered illegal by Israel!
1,7 million people in Gaza are 100% dependant on aids from UNRWA
In the 2008, Israel killed 1,417 Palestinians in 3 weeks (Operation Cast Lead) – vs 13 Israelis

In the past ten years, Hamas rockets killed less than 20 Israelis. Oh and the US gives Israel 8.2 million dollars every day.

Today’s incident, is only another proof of Israel’s brutality. Poor innocent humanitarian activists from around the world. Jews, Christians and Muslims. Those ships were not about Palestine, they were about Humanity.

I swear to God at certain points of my life I thought maybe Israel really wants peace. But now I’m sure they don’t. Their actions in the past 60 years prove otherwise. Israel doesn’t want peace. If Israel gets peace, it will not be able to do what it wants.

Arrogant nation. Why didn’t they send “negotiators” to the ships before sending soldiers?! Don’t police send a negotiator to the bad guy before they call the SWAT team?! Oh, and they sent those soldiers before the ships even entered Israeli waters.

Ahhhh, I can’t write any more, I don’t know what else to say.
-----------------
Relevant posts:

Brand Loyalty - a lesson for Etisalat

2010-04-27T12:25:00.002+04:00

Take a look below first to know what I’m talking about. Those are tweets about @EtisalatUAE:

Aabo0 Tweeple attack! RT @asatiir: @dutweets @etisalatuae don't give me that silent treatment I KNOW you guys are reading this.
manindigo So i had 13.67 Dhs credit. Cudnt make calls "U dnt hv enuf...." Now i check its 9dhs wheres the crdt gne? @EtisalatUAE
chiragnd @EtisalatUAE an entire working day because they acknowledged issue at 5 pm. So, seriously, I made a huge mistake asking for your help.
asatiir @dutweets @etisalatuae and don't give me that "inappropriate content" crap, it's just as much social networking as twitter or facebook
iyadtb anyone facing the worst Internet experience in Dubai using @etisalatUAE today?
kaippally @EtisalatUAE de 99/mnth offer is misleading, it's actually AED 692 for 4 months. So AED 173/month. U can't cancel before de end of 3 months
7-2S8 @EtisalatUAE Why do you copy paste the same thing to everyone at regular intervals? #JustAskin
mita56 RT @dobror: Can't say I'm surprised:) RT @DaddyBird: Spending the day waiting for Etisalat customer service. @EtisalatUAE MIA?
avidxb @nagham Let's see what excuse they come up with this time @EtisalatUAE
THE WINNER IS: 3lo0o @Etisalatuae , I'm gonna sue you and I'm gonna win the case! Btchufooooon

I feel bad for Etisalat, maybe not. Anyways, the minute they got on Twitter they entered a world they are not used to. When customers speak to them they speak with anger. It’s very sad, but true, that in the past years Etisalat have been following a policy of ignorance.

They were the only players in the market and their main objective was to make money. There was no long term strategy that builds brand loyalty. They forgot that one day more players will enter the market. du came, and many people now like du simply because they don’t like Etisalat. And soon we will have more operators, and the situation will start to get really ugly.

I would be very tempted to describe Etisalat as idiots, but I know they are not. I look at their operations in countries like Egypt and Saudi and I see a better Etisalat. I see better advertising campaigns, better promotions, better pricing strategies, better brand positioning, and even better customer service.

When Etisalat started their twitter account they probably didn’t know it won’t be an easy ride. Many people, including my self, targeted them with difficult questions and negative comments. Personally, I did this because a decent share of my monthly salary goes to them, I gave this company tens of thousands of dirhams and I never in my life felt any appreciation. My bad experiences are a lot, and I rarely received good support from their customer service center. As a matter of fact, my personal average waiting time when I call 101 is 20 minutes.

But nothing is impossible. They have time to polish their image and the solution doesn’t start with PR or Social Media. The solution needs to start with an extreme make over from the inside. They got the product, they need to build a proper team who really cares about the customer, this team should talk to the customer, listen to customer, and SOLVE the customer’s problems.

If you tell me now that there is a person in Etisalat who genuinely and passionately believes in customers and respects them, i won’t believe you.

Etisalat in my head is like an ugly monster who doesn’t give a damn. Something like Bush.

Relevant Posts:

21 Arabic cartoons from my childhood

2010-04-06T11:09:00.002+04:00

Every time I see my young sister watching TV I wonder what the hell happened to the cartoon industry. I remember when I was young I lived the cartoons I watched. There was a lot to them, no matter how silly they were they always stood for something.

They taught me a lot. Here in the Middle East all we got was TV. We never went to parks, we had no malls, all we had was cartoons.

Below are 20 Arabic cartoons (actually most of them are Japanese but dubbed Arabic) that will definitely remind you of your childhood and bring tears to your eyes!

1-Al Rajol Al Hadidi (الرجل الحديدي)

2-Jongar (جنغر)

3- Ghrandaizer ! (غرندايزر أو جرندايزر)

4- Adnan Wa Lina (عدنان و لينا)

5- Mimi (ميمي)

6-Lulu Al Sagheera (لولو الصغيرة)

7-Sally (سالي)

8-Al Laith Al Abiad (الليث الأبيض)

9-Sasookee (ساسوكي)

10-Ra’ad Al Imlaq (رعد العملاق)

11-Al Nisr Al Thahabi – Pippero ! (النسر الذهبي)

12-Jazora (جازورا)

13- Hekayat Alamyea (حكايات عالمية)

14-Sindbad (سندباد)

15- Mawklee (ماوكلي)

16-Al Shuj’aan Al Thalatha (الشجعان الثلاثة)

17-Al Sanafer (السنافر)

18-Al Shanakel (الشناكل)

19- Al Manahel (المناهل)

20-Captin Majid (كابتن ماجد)

21- Lady Lady (ليدي ليدي)

Great free android / nexus one apps

2010-04-04T15:13:00.002+04:00

If you live on earth then you probably already know that I bought a nexus one, because that’s all I’ve been talking about for the past 2 weeks. I feel like a 5 years old kid. I like.

So you just got the nexus and you are not sure what to install? below are the top 10.

1-Google Shopper. Brilliant little app to search for prices of books and DVDs using your camera. Take a pic or scan a barcode and it will get it. It works 99% of the time.

2-Mirsal. nexus one doesn’t support reading or writing Arabic text messages (SMS). Thanks to Aziz Huss for developing Mirsal. Very simple app that allows reading and writing text messages in Arabic and Persian.

3-Task Manager. Unlike the iPhone, the nexus allows you to run more than one app in the same time. multitasking is healthy. Task Manager will let you to view all running tasks/applications and give you the option to kill all or kill specific.

4-Shake Them All. This is a live wall paper. It’s cutest I ever used. Little droids as a background to your menu, they move with you as you move your phone. up and down. They are customizable as well. try em.

5- Mabilo Ringtones. This app will provide you with any ringtone you want, for free. a must have.

6- Network traffic counter. Very useful app that gives statistics regarding your data usage. It splits numbers between Cell and WiFi and it will tell you how many Mbs you downloaded per month, week or day.

7- OnlineRadio. This one playings MP3 , M3U, PLS , AAC and AACP. Ya3ni it will work on almost every radio channel you try. Free app, bugless, get it but remember that radio streaming consumes a lot of data.

8-Shazam ! You are in the car or in a bar and a nice song starts playing and you don’t know its name or who is singing it. Launch Shazam and in seconds it will get you all the information you need. You can even instantly order and download the song online through Amazon .

9-Ringdroid. This is a sound editing software. It allows your to cut and edit tracks from your library. Great for creating ringtones.

10- Tube Download. Yes just what you thought. Download any Youtube video to your phone using this invention.

and below is a nice video about Shake Them All !

Book Review: Palestine – Peace not Apartheid

2010-04-03T13:19:00.001+04:00

“The blood of Abraham, God's father of the chosen, still flows in the veins of Arab, Jew, and Christian, and too much of it has been spilled in grasping for the inheritance of the revered patriarch in the Middle East. The spilled blood in the Holy Land still cries out to God -- an anguished cry for peace.” – Jimmy Carter

Palestine, Israel, militants, terrorists, settlements, Hamas, boarders … Jimmy Carter’s book on the Middle East is the simplest, yet most credible book out there. It discusses the history of the conflict, and proposes a solution to stop the bloodshed.

The book starts with a historical chronology since Prophet Abraham journeyed to Canaan in 1900 BC until the day Ehud Olmert became Israel’s prime minister in 2006. Pretty interesting. How was Israel founded? What happened to the Arabs on that land? What about the 1967 war? Where and why Israel is building settlements? What are UN resolutions 242 and 338? Is Israel really a democracy? What is the biggest obstacle to peace? How bad is the situation Gaza? What about the Wall?

The situation in Palestine is serious. Some one asked me recently if I get bored reading about this topic. I don’t. I’m far from the problems Palestinians face, so the least I can do is connect emotionally.

The book is very educational, it will tell you every thing you need to know about Israel, its neighboring countries and the history of the region. I have so much respect and love for Jimmy Carter and I think he was one of America’s best presidents. He was extremely honest in the book, unbiased, and based his statements and solutions on facts.

Like some one said, “Carter’s book will finally open up the debate that needs to be had in the US about Israel.”

Review: nexus one / The Google Phone

2010-03-23T12:35:00.002+04:00

I’ve been a loyal iPhone user for the past 2 years. Not anymore. This week marks my jump to a whole new world, the world of Android … the world of nexus one.

There is a whole new dimension to the nexus below are answers to some questions I received from friends about my experience with the it.

Is it as good as the iPhone?

When people ask this, they are referring to the touch screen. The answer is yes. The nexus one’s touch screen is as good as the iPhone’s. it’s responsive, smooth, it’s perfect. HTC did a great job there.

What’s so special about it?

Speed: This is the fastest phone I have ever seen. The formula of success is a combination of hardware and OS. Web pages on the nexus load faster than any other phone you’ve seen. Installing and uninstalling apps is as lightening fast. Loading the phone, restarting it, opening files, zooming, pretty much every thing is super fast.

But the iPhone has the iTunes store, there are thousands of apps there!

The nexus one packs a set of insanely sexy apps, and there are much more on the Android Market. Almost every app you will come across in the Android Market is free. This is the power of open source communities. And personally, all apps I used to enjoy on the iPhone are available on the Android market, for free.
I fell in love with Google Goggles. An app that allows you to search Google using images you take on your phone. For example, you take a picture of a ketchup bottle and Google Goggles will search Google as if you typed “ketchup” or “Heinz”.

Google Shopper is another brilliant product which works almost flawlessly. Point your camera in a shop at a DVD or a Book, or scan its barcode, and Shopper will instantly come back to you with prices and stores choices to buy the product online and save money.
Mabilo ringtones is another app I adore. This app will provide you with any song you want, the actual song, for your ringtones library.

What else does it offer that’s not on the iPhone?

Details: There is great attention to details in the nexus one. Wallpapers on the menu are interactive (in addition to the icons). If you move your phone, details in a background would move. The home screen is highly customizable. The camera, focus and flash are brilliant.

There is a track ball for those used to it on blackberries. The phone also takes memory cards and its battery is not fixed. If your iPhone battery is damaged or over used, you have to get a new iPhone. Not the case here.

How can I connect it to internet in UAE? (Nexus One Etisalat Settings)

This is simple. You can get a 1 GB data package with Etisalat at 149 dirhams a month (call 101). When it’s activated, Under settings – Wireless & networks – Mobile networks – you have to create a new APN. All fields in the APN should be blank except the first one and the second one. Write Etisalat.ae in both.
I strongly recommend you monitor your data usagae the first week, very closely. Sometimes Etisalat would charge you for data even though you have a plan. Each 1 Mb will cost 20 dirhams. You wouldn’t want that! You can monitor your usage through www.e4me.ae Monitor your usage and make sure you are using your data plan to browse. If you face any problems, stop using your phone until your issues are sorted.

What don't I like about the nexus one?

The phone has a horrendous battery. The fact that it's always connected, and the visually stunning display makes it consume a lot of power. My nexus is pretty much connected to a charger all day in office and whenever I'm driving.

I also don't like the fact that it doesn't support Arabic. You will not be able to read or type Arabic on your nexus. Not even text messages. There is an app on the Android Market that adds Arabic support, but it's full of bugs and I do not recommend installing it.

The option to stop all background internet activity doesn't always work. Just like the iPhone, some apps some how manage to access the internet in the background. It wasn't nice also that not all apps had this option built within them.

Email me if you have any more questions.

Below is a series of films documenting the making of the nexus one.
There are also many videos about the nexus one on its YouTube channel.

I hate Dubai, I hate it’s laws.

2010-03-15T13:06:00.000+04:00

The story about the couples “awaiting ruling on public kissing appeal” was all over the news yesterday and today. And again, emotions kick in and western media start attacking the city and its culture blindly. Fine. But what really gets me very angry is how “anonymous” Dubains start saying shit online about "reconsidering living here”, “wanting to leave soon and never come back”, and insulting the legal system.

There are a few points I would like raise.

1-We don’t know what really happened. Every one got angry about how the two British Citizens got treated. But did they really just kiss? on the cheek? or a quick one on the lip? or were they heavily making out? Or were they rubbing each other?

we don’t know. They were both drunk. and we don't know what did the one exactly say in her testimonies.

maybe the witness is a racist Arab who hates UK citizens and she is lying, and they actually weren’t doing anything. we do not know.

2-Respect the culture. When you decide to move to the Middle East, you need to keep in mind that what’s right here may be wrong where you came from and vice versa. It’s really simple. Laws are not difficult, they are not blurry in Dubai. Do your thing, you are free, but your freedom ends where other people’s freedom starts.

Couples kiss (heavily) in Dubai bars and clubs, we never heard about some one sent to court for doing that. But at public restaurants, it’s different. There are children, there are conservatives, there are families. A quick kiss in a restaurant or a mall is not a problem. I see it all the time. Making out is. It’s extremely easy to come to Dubai, live happily and respect it’s culture. Don’t make it sound like there are rules all over the place and that your sexual freedom is violated.

Show respect.

3-Ungratefulness. Some people come here and spend the best time of their life. they make money, they live in nice homes, they party their ass off every week and then sit down and slag off the city, it’s rulers and its culture. If you don’t like it, then move to vegas.

4-Remember that despite the astronomical differences in culture between the east and the west, Dubai managed to create an environment that attracted westerners. and most of them are actually very happy. Give it some credit.

It’s sad how we exaggerate things.

Related posts:
Rod Liddle, Dubai may be shit. but you have a problem.

Dubai posts

The National launches iPhone app

2010-03-10T14:37:00.001+04:00

I Was checking the Apple Store today on my iPhone and was shocked to see an application for The National, one of UAE’s daily newspapers. I’m pretty sure this is new. I’m glad some media in the middle east realize the importance of getting online, and are not hesitant to invest on on the web. I think The National is the first newspaper in the middle east to take such a step.

The app is wonderful. It’s fast, organized and it looks great. It also offers a “Share” button allowing the reader to share articles on Facebook, Twitter or via email. News are categorized into “The World”, “Business”, “Sports”, etc.

I’m happy. Head to apple’s store on your iphone and type TheNational.

I’m really happy.

Relevant post: The Death of Print Media

Chat Roulette, it won’t make it unless …

2010-03-10T02:32:00.000+04:00

Today when I was playing around on the new Chat Roulette website, I was connected to a group of guys, when one of them saw me on on his screen he shouted to his friends “DUDE! I FOUND OSAMA!”. Racist bastard I know, but I actually pissed my self laughing. whatever.

Every now and then a great innovation comes out and I think to my self that no one is going to invent something cooler. But then, again, some one somewhere comes up with something new.

If you are not familiar with Chat Roulette, it’s a simple video chatting service where you log in while it randomly connects you to a stranger from around the world. It’s a pretty cool idea, it’s nice to talk to random people around the world about random things. Unfortunately, most of the users on the Roulette do not appreciate the service and instead choose to use it to display inappropriate parts of their body.

I expect the website to be blocked here in Dubai in a week. so hurry up and try it before Etisalat and Du do the usual.

The developers of the website have kindly added a “Report” button, but trust me you won’t be able to use it. First of all, (in my case) most of the masturbators clicked “next” when they saw my face before I could report them. They are interested in boobies. Second, people use the service without a username so reporting them won’t really stop them from coming back.

It’s like the rules of Russian roulette, in reverse.

I think the best way to make this idea work is to convert it into a Facebook application. On Facebook, most people won’t risk losing their accounts, Facebook is more likely to help the idea work.

Pierre Cardin… 70% lies.

2010-03-10T02:31:00.000+04:00

Have you visited a Pierre Cardin store in Dubai lately? Their shops have been on Sale for the past 3 or 4 years and they treat customers like idiots. “Oh check out this suit, it was for 4500 dirhams but now it will cost you 350 dirhams only”. REALLY?

Don’t you hate it when shops fake sale, they print unrealistic prices on their products and tell you those were the old prices? Like I just got to earth from mars?

It’s 2010. People know marketing, know sale, know business, companies should focus on creating a unique product, winning the customer’s heart, and giving them something extra. There is real competition out there.
70% sale is a lie. Do not lie to me. I know how much your products cost you, I know how much you’ve been selling them for. Do not waste your money printing fake price tags to convince me that your sale is real. There is no way on earth you are going to drop the price of a suit from 4500 to 350. I also don’t remember that you ever sold a suit for 4500 anyways.

also, What’s with hiding the good products? Debenhams and Next do that a lot. Whenever there is sale, they take out all the good and nice clothes, so they don’t have to include them in the price cuts, and leave us with the old ones.

I’m a very angry consumer. but who gives a damn.

Poor old Toyota

2010-02-28T02:32:00.003+04:00

UPDATE (11-March-2010): I'm now convinced that this whole attack on Toyota is a dirty game by the US government. They now own the majority of GM and it makes sense that they do whatever they can to pull back Toyota's sales. They destroyed countries before for no legitimate reason, why not destroy a company.

------

It’s really sad how vicious the media can be. Toyota has been making reliable cars since 1937 and now suddenly we transformed it into a lying, unreliable and evil automobile maker. What really gets on my nerves is how suddenly people lose all sense of reality and start making judgments based on headlines.

In the past 10 years, only 37 acceleration incidents were reported. Do you know how many Toyotas are there in the world? I don’t. But I do know that since 1988, in the US and Japan alone, Toyota has sold, on average, 3 million vehicles every single year.

Let’s ridiculously assume that there are 50 million Toyota cars on earth (of course the number is higher), this means that there is a 0.00000074% chance your Toyota will go mental. This also means that you are more likely to die from a shark attack than to die because your Toyota suddenly decided to accelerate!

This is how I look at it. Most of the problems occurred because a floor mat was pushed on an accelerator. There isn’t really anything mechanic or electronic about that. I acknowledge that other incidents included failure in the breaking or/and the acceleration systems, but shit happens. People make mistakes, we hear about failures in planes carrying hundreds of people but we never see a unified attack against planes manufacturers.

Media need to chill.

Whatever. I agree with Jillian Bandes, we should blame George W. Bush. In 2004, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Association sent Bush a report addressing safety concerns relevant to rapid acceleration because of floor mats in Toyota cars, Bush ignored it. Bastard.

Gulf Food – Don’t steal

2010-02-25T13:17:00.001+04:00

I participated in exhibitions in Dubai World Trade Centre over 12 times, mostly in GITEX, but I’ve never seen as much people as I saw in Gulf Food. In my own ignorant head I thought nothing is bigger than technology.

There is absolutely no doubt that Gulf Food 2010 is the most successful exhibition that happened in Dubai in the past 18 months.

I was glad I didn’t eat on my way to the exhibition because every stand there was sampling. I ate so much that day I think I gained 2 kilos in a few hours. Juices, chips, sodas, fries, cakes, nuts, buns, biscuits .. anything you can imagine. All free. And companies were extremely generous, you wouldn’t pass by a stand without getting a box of something.

I was thinking to my self, next year I will come with a big bag to go back home with a month’s supply of ass fat. On the way out from the the exhibition, I was shocked to see security officers searching people’s bags – apparently no one was allowed to take anything home. Unless it was a can of coke or a small chocolate bar, things had to stay there.

You can travel the world and you will only see such stupidity in Dubai. I TOTALLY agree that coming to the exhibition to fill a bag of samples for personal reasons is inappropriate (people were actually doing that), but it’s a FOOD exhibition. You as a visitor didn’t steal anything. As you walk around the exhibition promoters were giving away samples, so do we take the sample and make sure we eat EVERYTHING in the hall before we leave? I think that was absurd. The Trade Center’s security caused bad traffic on the way out, they caused embarrassment to a lot of people who actually didn’t do anything wrong. My cousin is a food distributor visiting from a foreign country, he needed a bag of samples, to evaluate each product and show it to his partners but couldn’t take anything out.

meh.

I was walking around the halls, I noticed a drink with a funny logo, it was called t-blow. I asked the man if it was a new energy drink. “NO!. This is a stimulation drink.” he said. The drink has a bit of cocaine in it. Very interesting. I had a glass, and went straight to the first hot promoter I saw, but unfortunately, she didn’t get stimulated when she saw me.

Disposable Agents …

2010-02-21T17:38:00.001+04:00

First I would like to show my respect to Dubai police and their great efforts in identifying the killers of Hamas’ Al Mabhouh.

Some said MOSAD cannot be behind the assassination because of “obvious” mistakes and evidence the killers left behind them. I think the operation was extremely smooth and and professional, the killers weren’t identified because they were stupid, they just underestimated the power and technology that Dubai police has.
I believe the most impressive aspect in the case is how Dubai was able to identify the suspects entering the airport, and how their faces were linked to faces captured on other cameras in malls and hotels. I would love to see this Face Recognition technology that was employed. it’s not only that though, it’s also dedication and a great team of highly trained professionals. Dubai is an open city and the government here cannot allow it to become an assassinations yard.

any ways, a lot of jobs are going to be lost following the failure of this operation. Let me first establish something. The only party that benefits from Al Mabhouh’s death is Israel. The only entity who is able to get fake European passports that look exactly like originals is Israel. The only entity that had previously assassinated Palestinian officials is Israel.

Now let me tell you why a lot jobs are going to be lost. MOSAD doesn’t just send random people to execute missions, MOSAD sends highly trained agents that cost millions of dollars to prepare. Intelligence units do not invest money in an agent to only use him/her once. there should be a high ROI. In our case now, 11 pictures of agents are all over the news and the internet, those agents, will not be able to go any where now for the rest of their life. that’s it. game over. Plastic surgery? and new fake passports? maybe.

Israel is like a hemroid in the ass of the world.

My take on Buzz

2010-02-14T14:58:00.000+04:00

Google Buzz is like the retarded child that came to life when Facebook got drunk and had sex with Twitter. But this is not my point.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with launching new products constantly, I respect Google for that and I think the more products a company innovates the more successful it is, or it will become. But Google needs to be a little bit more careful.

Have you seen Buzz? I’m just not happy that people I’ve emailed once in my life are suddenly “following me”, some news from my Google reader that I shared with friends are now “Public”, and conversations I thought I had in private inside my personal email are suddenly on my Google Profile page.

I also have no clue how to disable it. whatever.

Starting off bad makes it very difficult on consumers/users to adopt to new products. We currently have a good amount of brilliant social media networks and tools and it’s difficult to start using something new which makes it even more difficult to use products with major privacy faults.

Second, Google also needs to start creating the right buzz around the right products. There was so much buzz around Wave, it actually got hurt because of it. But did you hear about Google’s Sidewiki? maybe not. Sidewiki is in my opinion the best invention of 2009. What about Google Profile? many people didn’t know it until Buzz was launched.

Third, Google is the hottest, and most popular singer on earth now and every one is watching her. When you are the sexiest, you cannot keep acting the same way you acted when you were becoming a celebrity. Once eyes are on you people start having high expectations and if those expectations are not met you can hurt your image.

Bottom line, Google, keep launching new products, good and boring ones, but you shouldn’t make the same mistakes other companies made in the past.

Globalization my ass

2010-02-01T16:43:00.000+04:00

This is not new, but now it’s really getting on my nerves. I go on YouTube to watch a video only to get a message telling me it’s not available in my country. It seems that Google forgot their mission -“to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful”.

I do blame Google for agreeing to block certain content from certain users, but I can’t ignore that such stupidity is coming from publishers as well. What I can’t understand though is why would some one not want me or my people, or any people, from getting access to information? I thought we are living and promoting a globalized world, where every one gets access to everything, every where, any time.

I’m really angry. I was happy I didn’t need visa to fucking travel online. It seems that problems caused by where I come from are now chasing me on the interwebz.

Book Review: Robert Fisk’s Age of The Warrior

2010-01-13T17:59:00.001+04:00

Honestly, I’m amazed how Robert Fisk managed to survive in the Middle East for over 30 years without being assassinated by Israel, or the CIA (now my blog is officially on the monitoring list).

The Age of The Warrior is a collection of articles written by Bob and published in The Independent between 1998 and 2008. The book goes over the “War on Terror” and the Policies adopted by the west in the Middle East. It highlights the western double standards from a policy, opinion, and journalistic point of view. At certain points while reading the book I cried, at others I laughed. It’s a journey through 100 years of war crimes, atrocities with hundreds questions, some of them answered and most of them not.

Why did Sharon get away with the Sabra and Shatila massacre although he was officially held responsible for it by the Israeli government? How come Rifaat Al Asad is safe in Europe doing business while the whole world knows about his war crimes in Hama, Syria? Why is it when Arabs kill a western soldier in the Middle East they are called terrorists while when Israel liquidates a Palestinian leader it’s called “Targeted killing”? Why did France create Lebanon out of Syria in 1918? What was the first Holocaust in history? Why did the US invade Iraq? Why does the west keep talking about democracy in the Middle East only in certain countries? How did the US support Saddam in the 80s? How did they support Bin Ladin against the Soviet Union? Why did the crimes against humanity of 9/11 happen? How do British and American officials or soldiers torture people in Iraq? Why did Al Qaeda blow up the tube in the UK and not in Sweden or Germany?

It’s a beautiful book. That’s all I have to say. Fisk is an honest journalist, he saw things happen in the Middle East in his own eyes.

If you are interested in terrorism, the Gulf Wars, I-Raq, Nazis, Democracy, Israel, Great Britain, America, Arabs, Policy, Love, Hate, Journalism, the Middle East, Peace, Human Rights or even Shakespeare make sure you get The Age of The Warrior. This book should be taught in every policy or history school around the world.

When will terrorism end?

2009-12-29T09:55:00.000+04:00

I’m really tired of terrorists, and I hope they all die. Their actions are affecting my image and my rights as a Muslim. I’m glad that Detroit’s Christmas bombing attempt didn’t go as planned, and I hope no harm happens to anyone around the world because of those psychos.

I was watching news this morning, all American channels were discussing “measures” that should be taken to prevent future terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, measures I came across were mostly airport related, visas related and a few were about increasing CIA operations in Yemen.

What upsets me is that non of the shows actually discussed motives behind the terrorist plot, motives are rarely discussed when it comes to such crimes. Terrorists believe that - because the US killed over half a million civilians in Iraq since 2001, and 5 million kids in Iraq (because of Sanctions) before 2001, because they killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, because Israel killed and tortured hundreds of thousands in Palestine and Lebanon and continue to take Arab lands and build settlements– there is a war between Islam and the west and they(terrorists) as Muslims have the right to take action and fight western governments using any means necessary. They believe they are at war because our (Muslim) governments are not doing anything about the injustice caused by the US around the world.

The US government is in denial. The British government is in denial. Our (Muslim) governments are in denial. Fighting terrorism is a mission that should be carried by both ends, our end (Muslims) and the western end.
We have to internally fight terrorism by educating our youth (from a religious point of view) about the unrighteousness of killing the innocent. Remind them that this is not Islamic. Our governments also have a great burden on their shoulder, they need to "politically” fight for our rights as Muslims, they need to stand up against US policies in the Middle East, they need to say no and keep saying no and do everything possible (other than war) to show us that they care. If governments show serious work, terrorists are less likely to convince new recruits to join.

Many terrorist recruits are actually very educated young men brainwashed by Al Qaeda. It will be more difficult to brainwash those young men if they are given an opportunity to express their selves, and engage in politics to peacefully oppose the US policies and peacefully try and change them.

Now this is only part of the equation. The other part is the motive. Motives, motives, motives. Throughout history, the law always wondered about the motive behind a crime. The US needs to address the motives behind those terrorist attempts.

Why on earth would a young man blow himself up? What is going on in his head? How angry/frustrated is he? I’m not justifying here what terrorists do, I’m only saying that as a responsible law maker or government I always need to examine the motives behind any crime, address them, and take necessary measures to prevent similar crimes in the future. If I catch a criminal, I don’t only ask him Where, What, Who and How, I should also ask him Why. Poverty have been a motive behind a lot of crimes, abuse, hunger, danger, jealousy, all those can be motives behind crimes. “Because they hate democracy” as Bush put it, is not a motive behind terrorism.

It’s a mess, and I’m scared. I’m scared because I know for fact that terrorism will not stop unless both ends (our governments, and the west) act properly … and I know neither of them is going to do the right thing.

The Death Sentence

2009-12-27T03:35:00.000+04:00

3 days ago my 14 years old sister entered the room with a newspaper, she sat down with full focus reading the front page for 15 minutes while I’m enjoying Hardball with Chris Mathews. She left the living room to the kitchen saying “I think they should kill him”.

I took the paper off the couch to see what the hell she’s talking about, the headline said in Arabic “Trial starts for a rapist of a mentally challenged boy”. Very quick summary: A man kidnapped a mentally challenged young boy, rapped him and beat him up. Luckily the boy survived the assault.

The next day, another rapist is charged with raping a 4 years old and chocking him to death. Both “could be” sentenced to death. I hope they will.

I believe that countries who dropped the Capital Punishment made a big mistake, and countries who do not use it as often as they should, are making big mistakes.

Thousands of innocent civilians are killed every year by “governments” in wars, innocents die every day, I can’t understand why killing a rapist, a terrorist or a killer is suddenly not humane.

I’m a big supporter of the death sentence because it cleans communities, it scares other psychos off and most importantly helps families of victims heal faster. If my son is raped and killed, I would never be able to get over the fact that his killer is playing cards and working out in jail cell.

Mass murderers, rapists, terrorists, killers, torturers, war criminals and even high profile drug dealers (because they indirectly kill a lot of people) should definitely be sentenced to death. I think my little sister was right, “they should kill” that motherfucker.

Pollution in Beirut, Lebanon

2009-12-22T02:40:00.000+04:00

Some one told me that most of Beirut’s sewage gets dumped in the Mediterranean. I didn’t believe her, but thought if this is true I will definitely be able to see it from the airplane when we take off. And I did. The scene was horrendous. My intention with this post is to warn you should you ever decide to go to Beirut in summer to enjoy the beach. You need to watch where you jump. I found the below map on a blog highlighting the areas with high levels of pollution, you might wanna check it out. No wonder a fisherman I had a chat with told me he hasn’t been catching a lot of fish lately.

Below are the pictures I took from the airplane.

Middle Eastern Feast

2009-12-21T14:42:00.000+04:00

I just came back from Beirut, I cannot sleep and all what’s on my mind is war.

Knowing my interest in drama my friend felt obliged to show it to me before taking me on a tourist tour downtown. Out of my hotel, we headed directly to the southern Dahieh, the part of Beirut that is controlled by Hizbollah. It was a cultural shock. I’ve seen a lot of it on TV but seeing it in reality brought chills through my spine. No police, no government presence. It’s all controlled by Hizbollah. It’s a city, inside a city, over a city. Unarmed guards spread around monitoring all cars that pass by. They know who’s from there and who’s not. It’s brilliant. They manage every thing. They are real.

We drove out of El Dahieh and passed by a couple of Palestinian camps. I cried. There are no people in history who suffered and still suffer like Palestinians. No electricity or water in the camps. tens of thousands of people jammed into small areas, I’m sure most of them prefer prison or death over such circumstances.

We continued the tour … I saw destroyed buildings here and there around Beirut from the 2006 war. Middle Easterns brought nothing but civilization to the world, I’m not sure what we did to deserve Israel, the war on Iraq and all the forgotten massacres committed by French and Italians in North Africa. For the past 150 years the region has been on fire. But I’m proud. I’m very proud that although every one is feasting on them, Middle Easterners seem to know how to move on.

On 18 January 2003, Rober Fisk wrote in the Independent “I was sitting on the floor of an old concrete house in the suburbs of Amman … The elderly, bearded, robed men from Maan – the most Islamist and disobedient city in Jordan – sat around me, … urging me to eat more and more of the great pile until I felt constrained to point out that we Brits had eaten so much of the Middle East these past 100 years that we were no longer hungry.”

I wonder if Israel is ever going to get full. It’s scary. I wonder how Palestine, Lebanon, Syria or Iraq is going to look like in 50 years. But I’m optimistic. History taught us that super powers fall into oblivion when injustice becomes the norm … no matter how hard we try to avoid that, it will happen.

A stranger in my home

2009-12-03T13:03:00.000+04:00

A few weeks ago I resigned my job and took a decision that I will not take a new job until I have a couple of months off. I need that to spend some time with my family and sort out some personal issues. As I resigned my job, my employer canceled my work permit and now I have to leave the country within 30 days (4 days left).

I’ve always thought about this situation but never imagined I will have to go through it. I mean I lived in UAE all my life. How long does a person have to live in place before it can be called home? I won’t lie to you and act tough, I’m deeply hurt. I saluted the flag every morning for 12 years in school. I even wanted to join the Army when I graduated but couldn’t because I’m not a local. I’m willing to die now for this country if God forbids something happens to it. I love UAE, it’s my home.

I can’t keep but wondering, what’s next for me? Am I going to spend my whole life a stranger?

Anyways, I'm not going anywhere. I will be exiting the country, but coming back the same day on a visit visa. Will stay a tourist in Dubai until I find a job.

Life.

Relevant posts: and I thought I should be a citizen ...

Google, Michelle Obama’s Picture & Freedom of Expression

2009-11-29T16:45:00.001+04:00

If you type Michelle Obama in Google Images you would probably see an altered picture of the first lady resembling her as a monkey. Google refused to remove the racist picture of course but not because it agrees with the idea. Google is not a content provider, it’s a content organizer. There are billions of pages on the web and it’s literally impossible to monitor all of them for such sensitivities.

Google’s algorithms scan the web creating a huge index, and then returns results based on relevancy and tons of other factors. Its job is to provide us with results, organize those results for us, not filter them. Imagine what happens to the world if Google had removed Michelle’s picture, every time some one puts an offensive picture a person would contact Google asking them to remove it. This cannot happen.

The case is similar when it comes to YouTube. Every minute, around 23 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. That’s 33120 hours of video a day, if employees work 8 hours a day, Google will need 4140 people whose job is to do nothing but watch videos. (that’s why instead of doing that Google relies on it’s community to flag content). Maybe Google needs to add a “flag picture” functionality like the one we see on YouTube. anyways …

See the problem we have actually is not with Google, it’s with the freedom of expression laws. I am indeed for freedom of expression, but to a certain limit. I think there is a line between freedom of expression and assaults, insults, and disrespect.

It’s ok to share our views and opinions about anything given our views are governed by solid facts, research, intellect and respect. Altering a picture of a person to make him/her look like a monkey is not freedom of expression, to me this is a hate crime and hate crimes like that should be illegal.

There is no doubt that a verbal assault can be as serious as a physical assault. Both cause a lot of pain and can majorly hurt a person. I think if my words are likely to cause big emotional damage to a person, an entity or a people then they are considered unethical and hence should be illegal.

People should not racially insult each other or attack each other like that using freedom of expression as an excuse.

I’ve blogged before about Ethics, it’s philosophical, but it can make you understand the bigger picture regarding what’s right and what’s wrong. We need to balance our emotions, desire and intellect.

What a shame.

Internet Explorer Vs. PS3!

2009-11-23T19:58:00.003+04:00

On the 14th of March 2009 I published a blog post highlighting the most popular browsers, my users sample (around 6000 users) was taken from people who visit my blog.
Today I was checking the browsers statistics and was shocked to see a significant shift in trends. Let me summarize it for you ...
8 months ago, the statistics looked like this:

51.92% – Internet Explorer
26.92% – Firefox
14.42% – Chrome
5.77% - Safari
0.96% – Blackberry
0.1% - Others

The new statistics are:

43% – Internet Explorer
26.8% – Firefox
19% – Chrome
7% – Safari
3% – iPhone
0.8% – Blackberry
0.4% – Sony PS3 !!!!!

Now don’t tell me this is not the sexiest thing you’ve seen in a million years! Internet Explorer is down, Firefox is almost constant, Chrome is up, iPhone is 3% and PS3?! who on earth is reading my blog from a PS3?

The statistics make a lot of sense. I mean they are a great proof that Chrome is getting there, more people are buying Macs and more people are accessing the web from their iPhones.
It’s just great to be able to see what browsers people use.
I still remember when IE had a 90% market share. Life is tough ain’t it.

Shame on you Football Fans.

2009-11-21T12:01:00.000+04:00

The only football event I usually follow is the World Cup, so you can say that I’m a fan of the game once every 4 years. Recently, Algeria and Egypt were competing to qualify for the World Cup and if you follow politics or sports I assume you already heard about the ridiculous, aggressive and juvenile behavior of their fans in the last 2 weeks.

It’s not the first time fans get aggressive against each other around football matches. It happens all over the world, but this time it really got to me because the stupidity is coming from two countries I love. I’m pretty “old skool” when I’m cheering in sports, and I get quite aggressive swearing and cussing at players on TV, but I cannot understand when cheering escalates to physical assaults, or even organized crime. This crime could be real or virtual. whatever.

I think if a person’s biggest concern in life is that his team should win, and he is willing to do everything (literally everything) to achieve this then this person in my opinion is unworthy of being a human being. A human is about building, loving, learning, achieving … if I reach a level where sports make me not sleep at night, or hate a country or a group of people then I really need to reevaluate my priorities.

Competition is what makes us shine and innovate, competition is essential for our survival as a species. But if we do not draw a line between competition and hate that’s when we self destruct.
Shame on you fans, shame on you wherever you are.

BORDERLANDS REVIEW– Mind Blowing Insanity

2009-11-16T17:56:00.001+04:00

I honestly cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a game this much.
Borderlands is a creative blend of RPG and FPS, it’s not a 5 hours game, and every thing about it just feels right. When I started off playing it I felt a bit confused, there is a lot to learn but this is the case with all RPGs. One of the amazing things about Borderlands is the colors. I know Fallout and Oblivion produce much better graphics than this one, but Borderlands’ graphics are very colorful. It’s nice to see an open world with a lot of fascinating colors.
I always avoid spoiling a game in my reviews, so below is a simple list of reasons regarding why you should get Borderlands immediately:

Value for money: This is not a short game and there is a good 20+ hours of fun in it.

Graphics: The game looks amazing. I’m playing it on the PS3, not the 360, there are few frame drops here and there but given the big world you are running in, you will most probably not notice them.

Just about right: The game is not easy, and not difficult. What’s nice about it is that missions of certain levels open before you actually advance to those levels. I mean you could be level 9, and play a mission that is level 13. If you choose to do so, level 13 becomes really tough but if you wait to gain more skills then the level becomes easier.

Weapons: Guns, guns and more guns: It’s just difficult to run out of bullets, and there are dozens of different guns in the game. Rifles, snipers, revolvers, shotguns, you name it.

Diverse: in Borderlands, you are not only walking around shooting people, you get to talk to characters, buy and sell weapons, ride vehicles, and the map is so large you will still get lost in it 10 hours after you start playing the game. You also get to play the campaign with 4 different characters, each with a unique set of skills.

Multiplayer: It’s fun to have 4 friends in one campaign running around. Gamespot.com say that the multiplayer mode on the Xbox360 is better than the PS3, more stable. I have both consoles, but I got the game on the PS3 because my online subscription for the 360 expired. I haven’t faced any problems with the PS3 version, just make sure you install the update when asked to.

If you like shooting, if open worlds turn you on, if you are looking for long games, if you are into multiplayer fun, make sure you play Borderlands. I’m off now to start Dragon Age Origins, can’t wait.

Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix Pictures

2009-11-10T00:30:00.000+04:00

If I regret one thing this year, it’s not attending the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix. I had signed up last year to be one of the ushers on the circuit but unfortunately I couldn’t pursue that because of a very busy schedule. I just received the below pictures in a forward on email, I don’t know who took them or what there origin is, but I thought I have to share them with you.
enjoy!

A BMW mechanic holds out his hand as BMW-Sauber Formula One driver Robert Kubica of Poland drives in for a pit stop during the race.

A photographer takes pictures at the newly built Yas Marina circuit

BMW's mechanics rehearse their pit stop routine in the pits of the Yas Marina Circuit

Brawn Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain arrives with his girlfriend Japanese model Jessica Michibata at the Yas Marina.

Brawn GP driver Jenson Butto.

Brawn GP Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain drive during the qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

Brawn GP Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain drives during the qualifying session of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix

Brawn GP mechanics push the car of Jenson Button of Britain through the pit lane at the Yas Marina racetrack

Brawn GP's Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

Brawn GP's Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello salutes people in the pits of the Yas Marina Circuit

Brawn GP's British driver Jenson Button

British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes steers his car during the Formula One third practice session

Ferrari Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy drives during third practice at the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at the Yas.

Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland

Ferrari supporters relax on a boat inside the Yas Marina racetrack

Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen leaves the pits of the Yas Marina Circuit

Flight attendants talk in the pit area during the first free practice session at the Yas Marina racetrack

German driver Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing team

Jenson Button

Jenson Button of Britain steers his car during the first free practice session

Jessica Michibata, the girlfriend of Brawn GP Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain

McLaren Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

McLaren Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton enters in the pits

Partial view of the Yas Marina Circuit

Red Bull's German driver Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull's German driver Sebastian Vettel goes straight on a chicane at the Yas Marina Circuit

Scores of Ferrari cars drive along the highway from Dubai to Abu Dhabi

Toyota's Italian driver Jarno Trulli drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

Toyota's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi drives at the Yas Marina Circuit

US singer Nicole Scherzinger at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi

walk at the Yas Marina racetrack

Women spectators watch the second free practice session at Yas

Yas Marina

Yas Marina hotel marina is seen at the Yas Marina F1 complex about 20 km north of Abu Dhabi

The End of The World

2009-11-09T19:16:00.000+04:00

Today, at 14:03 I started drafting a blog post offline, after finishing the post I couldn’t publish it because of problems in Blogger. I ran Tweetdeck immediately to tweet about the incident, but Tweetdeck wasn’t working either. I felt paralyzed, I remembered when Gmail was down once, I remembered when Facebook and MSN were down. A couple of days ago I installed an app on my Blackberry that messed it up, I stayed awake till 530 am fixing it. I couldn’t accept leaving the house in the morning without it. Last week, the internet was not working on my iPhone, I called the ISP 3 times, waiting for 20 minutes on hold every time until I got an answer. This is not a joke. I just realized how dependent I became on technology.

Let me put it like this, I cannot live without my bb, iphone, gmail, facebook or twitter. Each of them fulfills a gap in my life. If one goes, I become unbalanced. Do I have a choice? I don’t think I do. To me the internet is like drugs, you either use it, or you don’t. If you do you get addicted to it and you only realize how bad your addiction is when you do not have access.

Just checked if Blogger is back online, the whole internet is not working here. I hope no cables got cut. Last time it happened I was downloading at 50 Kb/s for a week. I wonder what happens to the world if an online tragedy occurs, I hope this never happen because if it does I’m sure it will be the end, the end for me at least.

How to transfer contacts from Nokia to Blackberry

2009-11-09T19:12:00.001+04:00

Ok, believe it or not there isn’t a perfect way to copy your contacts from a Nokia phone to a Blackberry. There are ways around it though, but they don’t all work always.

Method one: Copy your contacts to your Sim card from your Nokia, then from the Sim card to the Blackberry. This method loses formats of contacts like pictures, it also doesn’t work if you have more than one number under one name, and it doesn’t work if you have a lot of contacts. I have over 1300 contacts, and my old sim card can save only 100.

Method two: Synchronize your Nokia with Outlook, then synchronize your Outlook with your BB. This method is actually the best, when I did it, I lost some numbers, but it’s still the best available method. Basically you lose numbers if you have for example 2 numbers saved for Nancy, and each are saved under the field (Mobile). Also, there are fields on Nokia like (Home2) that are not compatible with Outlook. If your contact list is simple, this method is good. The big disadvantage of this method is that not every one owns or uses outlook. I used to have Outlook in my old job, but now I don’t.

Method three: Exporting your list to ASCI file, then importing the file from your BB.
Connect your Nokia phone to Nokia PC Suite, and go to Contacts. then highlight all your contacts, then click on File, go to Export and export the list to a file saved on your desktop. Pictures below:

Then start BlackBerry Desktop Manager:

Go to Synchronize, then click on Configure and click on Reset Configuration. After that click on Synchronization:

choose Address Book, a screen like this will pop up, choose ASCII Importer, then choose the direction of Synchronization, it can be one way to the device, or both ways, to the device, and from the device to the file.

After that, browse for the file you saved on your Desktop, and click next.

This will Copy all the contacts to your Blackberry, but again, here you will face a lot of problems IF your contact list on your Nokia is complex. You will lose all the pictures, possibly some emails, fax numbers, or numbers that are saved under fields not compatible with your BB.

Method 4: I really like this method, it’s Synchronizing your Nokia contacts with Gmail, then using Google Sync again to synchronize them back to your Blackberry.

In order to do this, you will need to download Google Mobile App to both phones. Once you install the app, Google nicely explain how to execute the task on this website. This method is brilliant, but like previous methods it is not flawless. Although it transfers pictures, it can lose some numbers. I also noticed that some names were transferred without numbers!

I hope the above is helpful. If your address book on your Nokia is simple, then use any of the above. If it’s complex, try all and see which one gives you the best result!

Oh yeah it’s been a while

2009-11-02T01:07:00.002+04:00

I haven’t blogged since 21st of September, been really busy with a few things.

A lot happened in my absence from the blogging scene, interesting stuff that I wanted to blog about but couldn’t because I was very busy.

Obama spoke to gays stressing that a gay family should have the same rights as a normal, sorry I meant non-gay, family. I’m not discussing here my point of view regarding homosexuality, but what I would like to remind Obama is that a straight family contributes to the existence of humanity. It produces more people. A gay family doesn’t. This what makes me believe that a straight family is way more important than a gay one, and hence, they are not equal. It’s math.

Obama also won the Nobel prize, like Newsweek put it, he got it because he’s not Bush. Well regardless, I think he should’ve not accepted it. Accepting a reward for something one didn’t do is plain stupid, especially if the winner is the most important president in modern history.

Another thing happened that I really wanted to discuss. David Rohde, a journalist from the Times escaped Taliban after 7 months in captivity. Make sure you read what he wrote, 5 parts, each around 4 pages. I think he is a hero, he worked hard and took risk with the intention to provide the world with the other side of the story. I’m extremely happy he escaped safe and sound, and I wish death and suffering to every one with Al Qaeda mentality.

I got an invite to Google Wave, unfortunately I didn’t have the time to review the product. But I will in the coming few days. I looked at it briefly, and I have no clue what it does or why it does it.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix took place in Abu Dhabi this weekend, I heard it was amazing and I’m very sad I missed it. I think Abu Dhabi is in the right direction, I mean sports, green research, nuclear plants, metros, universities, they are working smart.

That’s it for now, I need to go to bed, I received an SMS from Dubai Police today asking me to show up to the nearest police station soon because I parked on the pavement 4 days ago. I hope it goes well.

Creative Anti-smoking Ads

2009-09-21T00:23:00.007+04:00

I just received the below print ads on email. Fascinating advertisement against smoking. Isn’t Tobacco the most evil industry on earth? enjoy.

Ethics is Happiness

2009-09-13T23:37:00.005+04:00

This blog post is a response to an article I read on Middle Eastern Poles, a blog I’ve been following.

Thousands of years ago, Plato was trying to analyze the human Soul in order to understand human ethics, he then realized that he can't directly understand it because it's intangible. So in order to solve this dilemma, he looked at the society. Society in his opinion is a representation of human soul, because it represents a group of people and so is a reflection of different types of souls. Those souls group together naturally to form society. Plato split the society into 3 categories (he called them Faculties). 1 is the Faculty of workers, the second is the Faculty of soldiers and the 3rd is the Faculty of leaders.

Plato said that the faculty of workers represent desire. Desire is a very important characteristic of human soul. Workers mostly represent desire because they work really hard to achieve something, to be something, to fulfill their desires. They work hard in order to get what they can’t get easily. For workers, it’s all about staying alive, it’s all about the desire to live and the need to create or achieve.

The second faculty, soldiers, is a representation of emotions. Soldiers exist (in a perfect society) because of the need to protect home and land from the enemy. In big societies, there must be soldiers (naturally) and their dedication and persistence and willingness to fight and even die for the sake of home stems from emotions.

The third faculty Plato referred to was leaders. Leaders are a representation of intellect. In a perfect society, leaders are there to organize soldiers and workers and push both to be better, They stress on education because it elevates the society and makes it a better place.

Now pay attention to the below to understand Plato’s point of view about the human soul.

Society is workers + soldiers + leaders. This means soul is desire + emotions + intellect. Their presence together is perfection, is natural ethics.

If you want a perfect society, then desire, emotions and intellect should coexist in harmony. You cannot have a perfectly functioning society if one of the above characteristics overtakes the other. Portions of the 3 need to be equal. The minute we see in a society (or a soul) more intellect than emotions and desires, or more emotions than desires and intellect, or more desires than intellect and emotions then we have a problem.

This is society. This is human soul.

We as human beings are bound to live with each other, love each other and function with each other.
We are a society. This applies to any group of people, to any family or in other words any relationship.
Love alone (this is my conclusion) is pure emotions and if not controlled by desires and intellect together, it creates problems.

In order to have a healthy family or friendship or relationship with others, or a healthy society, we need a healthy soul. A healthy soul is equally 1 third desires, 1 third emotions and 1 third intellect.

If you have this, you have happiness. If you try to maintain those 3 characteristics in harmony, you have happiness.

21 Favorite Quotes

2009-09-11T22:50:00.004+04:00

I’ve been keeping an eye out for quotes. I try to memorize a lot of them when I read, I also have an amazing quotes app on my iPhone which gives me a quote randomly every time I unlock the phone. Quotes inspire me, they make me think and remind me of great people. It’s not easy to say something that the world will remember forever. Anyways, below are the top 21 quotes I came across in the past 8 weeks:

"It's better to be quotable than to be honest." - Tom Stoppard
"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." - Last words of Pancho Villa
"I have often regretted my speech, never my silence" - Xenocrates
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today" - James Dean
"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." -George Bernard Shaw
"I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice." - Albert Einstein
"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance" - Will Durant
"Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder." - Laurence J. Peter
"Wit is educated insolence." – Aristotle
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." John F. Kennedy
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education" - Mark Twain
"This isn't right, this isn't even wrong." Wolfgang Paull
"Man cannot live by bread alone. He must have peanut butter" - Bill Cosby
"Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives" – Abba Eban
"Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down" - Jimmy Durante
"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known." - Walt Disney
"I begin by talking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right." - Frederick II The Great
"My digital detox has lasted 2 hours. Damn you Steve Jobs." - Chuma Goodwin (No one famous, my old boss and a great friend!)
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.” - James Branch Cabell
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Jesus Christ
“Righteousness is good character, and sin is that which revolves in your heart and which you do not want people to know.” – Prophet Mohammad

Google launches Ejabat – an Arabic Q&A service

2009-09-08T17:35:00.007+04:00

I just came back from a Google event here in Dubai, where they announced Ejabat, a question and answer service to help people share information. Google Ejabat or (Egabat) is pretty much like Yahoo! Answers and the extinct Ask Jeeves, except that Ejabat is in Arabic. Ejabat is also more organized and easier to navigate than Yahoo! Answers. The product hasn’t been launched in English yet and Google didn’t confirm if they will launch it in English.

I took a look at the website and it’s amazing, simply because Arabic content online is really poor and this product will help increase it. There are questions like “What’s the best car”, “what is the secret behind the beauty of women” and “which European country doesn’t have an army”?, it’s clear there have been a big team populating the service with questions and answers for a while.

All the above are real-life examples of search queries that people write into Google every day, now such queries will return to users various answers that could make more sense than a normal website.

The way it works is pretty simple, you log in, give your self a nick name (in case you don’t want your Gmail ID visible), and then all you have to do is post questions or answer questions.

It’s a growing market over here, and this is why Google have been working hard for the past 3 years. This is also why Yahoo! acquired Maktoob. Yahoo! need to catch up, many others need to.

I had a quick chat today with Wael Ghonim, the regional marketing manager for Google at MENA and he assured to me that the Arabic market is extremely important for them. He added that they are launching some products in Arabic before they launch it in any other language. Example is today’s Ejabat and Google Ta3reeb. Wael was the project lead for Ejabat, and he said that “they will continue to innovate, they will continue to produce products that fulfill the needs of users in the Middle East, and world wide".”

Between Ejabat, Google Translation, Knol, Blogger, iGoogle, Ta3reeb and Gmail I think Google have it covered, almost. YouTube is definitely a service they need to Arabise as well.

Worth mentioning as well that Google today also launched the Arabic version of Google Sites, a service that allows any 1 to create web sites and collaborative pages. Perfect for SMBs and normal consumers.

I'm happy the service is given an Arabic name. I don't like that Arabic blogger is called "blogger" and Knol is literally spelled out "Knol" in Arabic. Companies need to give products names that are relevant to the language, names that make sense. Google are starting to see that.

On a final note, I’m extremely honored for being invited to this event. I’m not a journalist, I’m a blogger, I'm a consumer, and apparently Google consider us pretty important.

Sorry Philips, I don't like your webcams

2009-08-31T23:52:00.003+04:00

Sorry Philips, I love your brand, you make great electronics, but not webcams.
My young brother went to Malaysia to study and train for a Commercial Pilot License, so I decided to buy a webcam to chat with him every now and then.
Having worked with PC Magazine as a reviewer 4 years ago, I know I always have to read reviews before buying any electronics. For some reason, I didn’t this time. I thought to my self it’s only a webcam! I went to the mall like an average shopper, looked around, saw a lot of interesting Logitechs, but they were either cheap or crazy expensive. (10 dollars, or 130 dollars!). I wanted something midrange, and found a good looking Philips, the SPC630NC.
I used it for 2 hours, then returned it. Thank you Geant for giving me a refund.
Why didn’t I like it? .

Although the Camera is mid level (around 40 dollars), the video quality is bad. It’s really bad. I thought I have good lighting in my house, but still, the picture (1.3 pixels) was poor and dim
The “face tracking” feature offered by the webcam is extremely poor. I moved around trying to see if it will still detect my face, it zoomed onto my chest many times and just got stuck there
It doesn’t work with Google chat, neither on Gtalk nor the web-based one
It offered a feature that “replaces your background”. Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t work well. I was barely visible.

Some companies decide to make things, just for the heck of it. Just to be there. They don’t really invest in quality, they simply hire and OEM to make the product for them. It’s like HP and their stone age iPaqs.
I think I’m going to wait a little bit, and get a high-end Logitech webcam. I reviewed those before, they are literally perfect.

Impressive High Tech, Impressive Marketing

2009-08-31T23:24:00.004+04:00

A friend of mine is interested in continuing his education, he called me for a quick chat and I recommended the University Of Wollongong, a renowned university in Australia that has a campus here in Dubai (this is where I got my Master).

I got on the website to collect some information for my friend, and as I entered the website and started browsing, a window popped up. This window was a customer service representative chatting with me, asking me if I found every thing I need on the website. I never experienced something like that before, it was fascinating. The idea of having a team 24/7 monitoring visitors on a website and offering real-time help is unprecedented. I had a chat with Nate, the university agent, and he was more than great. It’s amazing how little things like that can make a difference. When you enter a shop in a mall, it’s very normal to get approached by a sales person, why not have this online?

Great work UOW. Keep it up.

Nate, thank you for your help, you were amazing.

Yahoo! acquires Maktoob for peanuts

2009-08-26T23:05:00.003+04:00

Google bought Applied Semantics for 102 million dollars in 2003, they took GrandCentral (VoIP company) for 45 million, they acquired Current Communications Group for 100 million dollars in 2005, Postini for 325 million dollars, their share in AOL for 1 billion dollars, FeedBurner for 100 million in 2007, YouTube for 1.6 billion, DoubleClick for 3.1 billion, they even recently bought a bloody video compression company (On2) for 106 million dollars.
well, I know absolutely nothing about acquisitions, I do not understand stocks, and I use my iPhone to track my eating habits, but I do know for fact that the only proper Arabic portal is not worth 85 million dollars … it’s worth waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more. I mean some villas in UAE were sold for this amount of money.
Look at the numbers, they said it, putting UAE aside, internet penetration in the region is low, BUT, the number of internet users grew by almost a 1000% in the middle east in the past 10 years. There is a lot of potential here. Yahoo! didn’t disclose the amount it paid to buy Maktoob, but every one is saying it’s between 85 and 100 million dollars. I hope to GOD this is not true.
I’d like to think of Maktoob as a young beautiful woman who saved her self for a a long time waiting for “the one”, and then, got RAPED!
But you know, maybe I shouldn’t blame Maktoob for selling itself so cheap. I think it’s the fault of stupid Arab investors who prefer to put their money in music TV channels rather than in a proper company like Maktoob.
Google is way ahead of Maktoob now, but if Yahoo really invests in Maktoob, the new Yakhtoob! will not be an easy meal for Google. I tried to get a statement from Google about this, but they didn’t have anything to say.
Anyways, young Arab startups, do your thing, do it smart, you still have a chance to get acquired.

Everybody Loves Raymond

2009-08-24T23:41:00.003+04:00

8 months ago, I bought the full series of Everybody Loves Raymond. It’s a show I watched before many times, this didn’t stop me from watching all episodes again back to back. 9 seasons. 213 episodes, each one is funnier than the other. Some one asked me once why do I love this show, I love it because it’s very real. I love it because it reminds me of values, family, love, modesty, honesty, it’s very real. The Barones are every where, you find them in the west, in the east, regardless of your religion or your culture or ethnicity, If you are not a Barone, your neighbors are.

I was very upset when I watched the last episode. I lived the show for 8 months, and before for 10 years, I watched the last episode knowing I’m saying good bye to good comedy. This is over, Frasier is over, Friends is over. I don’t think there will ever be something as good as those.

Check out this series official website, it’s really good. they got quizzes, images, videos, games, history, quotes, bios and a lot goodies.

Google Code Jam 2009

2009-08-18T19:44:00.003+04:00

If you are a computer scientist with excellent programming skills, this is the marathon you should not miss.
Google Code Jam is an annual contest where programmers from around the world compete for reputation. There are prizes starting with 10,000 dollars for top winners, but I think the invaluable prize is the experience and exposure participants will get.
You can code in the language of your choice, participants will be solving complex algorithms. The quicker an algorithm is solved and the more efficient the solution is, the higher the programmers’ rank will be.
Top 500 will be sent to compete in Google offices around the world, then the top 100 will get to fly to geeks’ heaven: Google’s office in Mountain View California.
For more information, I recommend you visit their website. There you can register, find FAQs and even practice.
You can also get more information from the competition’s twitter account or its Facebook Fan Page.

Forgive me sweetheart, it was only a booty call

2009-08-13T18:17:00.005+04:00

You know how much I love you, how much you mean to me. I have never ever imagined I would cheat on you love. You are always there for me when I’m lonely, you made me laugh, cry, you kept my life busy. It was a mistake gorgeous. Her glamour fooled me, I was in the mall, all the lighting blinded me. It was a moment of weakness. I thought why not try something different, something new. I looked at her for 5 minutes thinking about you before I made my move. I’m not going to lie, I was very excited about her when we were going back to my apartment, her shiny body and popularity made me forget how important the inside is. I opened the door, threw her on the bed and gently got her ready for me, the minute I plugged it in I realized I made the biggest mistake of my life. I now know for sure that you are on another level, that you will be my one and only love.

I really don’t see what people see in the Playstation 3. I’ve always believed that the Xbox 360 was years ahead. Now I know that I was always right. I bought the PS3 because I needed a bluray player, I thought I can spend 150$ extra and get another console. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to enjoy it. Horrible horrible horrible loading times. I went on Gamespot to check the “Top Games” for PS3, there are some good titles but much less than the Xbox 360. I blogged before about why the 360 kicks the PS3’s ass, you can read my blog post here, but I’m more than happy to summarize it for you again:

1-The PS3 is slow. It’s not my opinion, it’s a fact.

2-The PS3 doesn’t have as much titles as the Xbox 360, it also doesn’t have as much high rated titles as the Xbox 360.

3-Expensive. add to that, who the hell sells a HD console without an HDMI cable?!!

4- Online gaming on PS3 might be free, but you have no idea how much more stuff you get on the Xbox Marketplace.

I just wasted 600 dollars to play 3 games.

Another Googly Surprise - Google Palestine!

2009-08-13T11:25:00.008+04:00

Now this is brilliant! labeled "Google Palestinian Territories", a Palestinian domain, I think it's the most interesting announcement I heard in a long time!

Internet users in Palestine will have access to www.google.ps , a domain which helps them get more "relevant" search results.

It's really nice to see a multinational giant like Google recognizing Palestinians' right to have customized products like any other people. The palastinian state hasn't been very stable lately, but this doesn't mean the people shouldn't have access like everyone else.

Good work Google. Keep it up.

here is a blog post by Google in Arabic & English announcing this.

Evil Moscow

2009-08-05T21:16:00.002+04:00

I just love it how American media sometimes magnify things.

I just read a story on MSNBC (one of my favorite TV channels) titled “Russian attack subs patrol off U.S. coast”. The story starts with the previous scary line, but ends with:

"We have been monitoring them during transit and recognize the right of all nations to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters according to international law."

I mean if you really come to think about it, there is no story actually. Americans patrol international waters all the time, they even patrol national waters of other nations. China is patrolling international waters as well, the UK is, even poor New Zealand.

I really don’t know why this specific “incident raises eyebrows”. Russia is far from an “aggressive military agenda”. They are just enjoying their rights as a nation. I think such media articles actually contribute to increasing the tension.

“Officials said they became aware of the most recent submarine activity off the East Coast early on through intelligence sources and were not notified by Moscow in advance of the patrols”

Why on earth would Russia notify the US in advance? You just said they are in international waters.

I love Americans, God is my witness I'm not being sarcastic.

Clothing Bank for Africa

2009-08-04T19:44:00.003+04:00

On the 23rd of July, I saw a huge box near my house in Discovery Gardens in Dubai with a label that says “Clothing Bank”. I was immediately impressed, as a human, I’m a big supporter of helping the needy.

As I was walking to my building today I noticed that there was no reference to donations anywhere on the box, instead, it said “Recycle Reuse”. I freaked out to be honest because I had put my clothes in the box last week assuming they are going for donations, not recycling.

I called the number on the box (A company called: Liberties Textiles):

Me: “Hello”

Clothing Bank: “Hi”

Me: “I saw your number on the clothing bank, I have a question please, are those clothes going for donations or recycling?”

Clothing Bank: “They are for Africa sir”

Me: “so they are going to be donated?”

Clothing Bank: “Yes sir”

Me: “Why does it not say on the box that the clothes are going for donation? it says recycling”

Clothing Bank: “Yes Sir, they are going for donations in Africa. by recycling we mean donations.”

Me: “!!! are you sure?”

Clothing Bank: “Yes sir.”

Me: “Ok thank you.”

Clothing Bank: “Where did you get my number from?”

Me: “I got it off the box!”

Clothing Bank: “Yes Sir, but which area?”

Me: “Discovery Gardens”

Clothing Bank: “Thank you sir. we also have boxes in International City.”

Me: “Great. Thanks.”

I never heard of the company that is running the campaign, but I’m going to have to believe that those people are legit as it says on the box that the initiative is supported by big companies like Emaar, EMARAT and Nakheel.

I deeply congratulate “Liberties Textiles” for this initiative. There are similar boxes all over discovery gardens and international city. I urge you to put your unwanted clothes in those boxes. Never throw your clothes, especially if they are in a good state. There are always people who would love to have them.

Happy Employees

2009-08-03T21:37:00.003+04:00

Today we had an all employees meeting in the resort, maybe 2000 of our employees showed up. There was bartenders, cooks, housekeepers, lifeguards, managers, directors, security officers, and Alan Leibman, the President of Atlantis, The Palm.

I really have never seen a president like Alan, or attended a meeting like this. Employees were all gathered in the big ballroom, and Alan was walking between us thanking every one for a great quarter we had. What really impressed me was the way Alan was running the meeting, he was very engaging. As he was walking around, he’d call for a specific person to know where that person is sitting, Alan then walks up to that person, takes money out of his pocket, gives it to the employee in front of every one and thank him for something he did. Cleaners, receptionists and chefs got very surprised as they never thought Alan knows anything about them. There was happy faces all over the ballroom, beautiful.

He also asked us all to check under our seats for something, there were envelops with telephone cards hidden under random chairs, he asked those who got lucky to use the card to call their family and tell them they are doing great. Simple, but creative. If he had distributed some cards by hand, I’m sure no one would have been impressed.

Not all presidents of companies employing thousands of people do that. A manager made a mistake a week before the meeting, instead of blaming it on others or trying to get out of it he went to the president’s office and apologized directly. Alan today told the story and gave him two free tickets back home in appreciation to his honesty and sense of responsibility. Not every one has the heart to take responsibility for a mistake, especially when dealing with the most senior person in a company, but not all managers make employees feel this confident and this comfortable. Alan today asked a new joiner what he does, the new employee replied “I’m just a waiter Sir”, Alan replied “What do you mean you’re just a waiter? You are as important to us as every one else”.

Recognition is extremely vital to maintaining and improving employees productivity. When an employee as simple as a cleaner knows that his exceptional dedication and hard work are being reported to the CEO, he will definitely maintain that and inspire others to do the same.

I really think that managers in general need to be more creative in the way they thank their employees, creating a unique and exciting culture in a company makes a huge difference.

There are many companies out there who work hard to keep their employees happy, but there are many more who take their employees for granted. They get very busy focusing on the business, they forget the only thing that is actually keeping the business together.

Rex.ae – Online, Only for Men

2009-07-29T22:11:00.003+04:00

I really don’t remember the last time I saw a new website that immediately captured me. Just today I came across Rex.ae, a new online magazine targeting men in the Middle East. This is exactly what we need here. There are a lot of men magazines in Middle East, and specially in Dubai, but non of them are online. (some think they are)

It’s nice to see that despite the financial crisis, some people out there are working hard to make sure they introduce the right product. We are all online, no one is reading as much print as they used to, especially the youth.

I took a quick tour over Rex’s website, it’s just marvelous. Hot girls, video games, cars, competitions, what more do we want? The design is amazing, the branding is beautiful, cool categories, I love it.

I really wish the creators all the best and I hope they are patient, success doesn’t come easy.

Need to find out tomorrow who is behind it.

check it out, it’s www.rex.ae

Smart phones are not taking over

2009-07-29T20:36:00.003+04:00

Last week I moved to another house so I had to stay without internet for 3 days which gave me the opportunity to try and live using only my iPhone.
I read recently many articles predicting the end of the PC era and claiming that soon, mobile phones will take over. I even thought so my self, but during those 3 days without a PC I realized that PCs will actually never die as a concept because of 5 simple facts:

Speed: No matter how fast mobile connectivity gets, wired will always be faster.
YouTube: YouTube is becoming as important as normal TV and the introduction of YouTube HD is making it even more addictive and more enjoyable. There are a lot of websites that cannot be fully enjoyed, or fully utilized, without a PC and a big screen. Even Facebook is not as fun on phones as it is on a PC.
Multitasking: With a PC, it’s much easier to multi task, we can read emails and listen to music and browse several websites simultaneously.
Convenience: PC means a big keyboard, big screen, big speakers, big mouse, big memory, it’s just convenient.
Affordability: A nice PC, with a 32 inch LCD TV, and a broadband internet connection, will cost you almost as much as an iPhone, and even cheaper in some countries.

I think smart phones indeed help us stay connected, but I don’t see them ever taking over from traditional PCs. I don’t even see laptops taking over from PCs. A lot of Bluray players now come supporting YouTube, and a lot of receivers support internet browsing, what we will see in the future is a marriage between TVs and the internet in every house. Complete entertainment systems. I think mobile phones will never take over.

Rod Liddle, Dubai may be shit, but you have a problem.

2009-07-20T18:01:00.005+04:00

I just finished reading your latest attempts on investigative journalism and it’s pretty clear that you have a problem, a hate problem. I have to say Rod, I agree with some points you mentioned in your article, it kills me to see labourers get paid like that, and get treated like that, it kills me that I’ve lived in Dubai all my life and I have no social security, it bothers that some one could get a jail sentence for flipping some one off, but I do know for fact that each city has its problems and that I’m blessed as an immigrant here. Just like many others.

You are making it seem that if we get rid of Dubai, our problems get solved.

I do not mind you coming to Dubai and “exposing” the city’s faults, but don’t make it seem like Dubai is the centre of evil and materialism and forget the rest of the world. Don’t talk about it with hate and forget the opportunities it offered to the world.

Dubai is a city in the making, it’s 10 years old Rod, only 10 years old. Show me a place in history that was built like that in 10 years. When you do things quickly, you make mistakes, it’s only natural. But in those ten years, every single “immigrant” to Dubai made a better living than where he/she came from. Even those poor labourers with their shameful salaries. India is not silent because it’s scared of a Muslim country, India is silent because Dubai is contributing to employing hundreds of thousands of its people.

You talk about prostitution in Dubai like there are no sluts where you come from. You talk about problems in the Law like you live in paradise. You talk about bad locals like you are the chosen ones. My intention is not to “expose” the west like you “exposed” Dubai because I know that any human being with a basic level of intelligence and logic knows that no city, no government and no culture is perfect.

Rod there are thousands of stories about criminals who ran away because of holes in your laws, this doesn’t give me the right to say that you are bad law makers. I know thousands of stories of people who suffered and still suffer around the world because of the west, this doesn’t make me hate the west.

I don’t hate you or your cities because I know that we live in a globalized world, you need us as much as we need you, we all need each other and this is how we should tackle problems. Governments could be messed up in some cities, but at the end of the day this has been the case always wherever you go.

I liked one of the comments that was made on your article by a British man , he said “the same article can be written about the UK”. I would like to add that the same article can be written about Dublin, Paris, Damascus, New Delhi, Tokyo or even Beverly Hills. Pretty much about any city, any place. Greed is a human trait, it’s not associated with a certain place Rod. Materialism runs in our blood, it’s everywhere. Isn’t western greed what pushed the whole world recently into this financial crisis?

If you are upset about the lack of democracy here, why didn’t you discuss democracy in the whole region or why didn’t you only discuss democracy? If you are upset about Gay rights, you could’ve easily written an international piece. If you are not happy with the way the economy is driven, you could have enlightened us with an article about building and managing big cities in short periods of times. If you were hurt by the “injustice” in UAE Law, you could have analyzed this separately. I really don’t see how insulting a whole city with 2 million people, insulting cultures, playing with facts and just firing like that can serve any purpose.

Taxi drivers not picking up Emiratis? I would have welcomed your thoughts if they were focused and fair. I would have loved to hear your opinion if it was driven by care and consideration rather than apparent hate and obvious racism. You ran an amazing investigation, and simply disconnected your findings from the rest of the world then ruined true observations with preposterous lies.

I see a lot of problems in the world Rod, the whole world, this doesn’t make me hate a city or its people. Your whole article is confusing, Dubai is shit, but what does halted construction and a man looking for a job in a Porsche have to do with it? Emiratis barking? Iliana not shagging Arabs and Blacks? Catholic Bartenders? Puffed up medieval police officials?

Sherlock Holmes, you really need to seek consultation.

Upgrade your iPhone 2G to OS 3.0 , and unlock it for free in 10 steps

2009-07-20T00:25:00.004+04:00

If you have an unclocked/jailbreaked (or jailbroken?!) iPhone 2G running the old OS, upgrading it to the new OS 3.0 will lock it and you will not be able to use your phone again.
How do you upgrade to the new OS and unlock your phone again? it’s very easy, and free. you don’t need to buy anything online or take it to a hackers phones shop. Below are the steps, follow them letter by letter:
1- download the below files:

Bootloader 3.9 and Bootloader 4.5 Click Here. If the link gets removed, just google the files, they are all over the web. (You need a torrent client to download this, use uTorrent.)
Download the iPhone 2G 3.0 OS. It’s available here
Get the Redsn0w program from here (You need a torrent client to download this, use uTorrent.)

Now that you have all the files:
2-Place all the files and extract them in 1 folder on your desktop
3-Remove your Sim card from the phone then plug in your phone and start iTunes
4-Press the Menu button (the one in the middle) on your iPhone along with the Power button(up in the right cornet), when the screen goes back take your finger off the Power button but keep the Menu button pressed.
5-You will get a message from iTunes that says “iTunes has detected some an iPhone in recovery mode. Click Shift on the keyboard, then click restore. A window will pop up for you to choose the correct firmware, click browse then choose the firmware you downloaded above. (iPhone1,2_3.0_5G77_Restore.ipsw)
6-Once this process is over, your phone will reboot 2 or 3 times, extract the redsn0w-win_0.8.zip into the folder you created on your desktop, then run the file.
7-Click on browse, then choose the iPhone1,2_3.0_5G77_Restore.ipsw again, click Next then wait until the program verifies the software.
8-Choose both Unlock, and Install Cydia then click Next
9-Browse for the Bootloader files you saved in the folder on your desktop, then click Next.
10- After that, make sure you follow the instructions displayed word by word:

Switch off your phone
Click Next Again
Click on the power button on your iPhone for 2 seconds, without releasing that, press the Menu button and keep both pressed for 10 seconds
WITHOUT releasing the Menu button, release the Power button and wait for 30 seconds
Your iPhone will reboot, click next or finish and the device will be ready!

Enjoy.

Brilliant MSNBC App for iPhone

2009-07-19T17:28:00.004+04:00

I usually read the New York Times on my iPhone, very smooth app they got. I upgraded my iPhone yesterday to OS 3.0 and I was going over the Apple store to install the apps I used to have and came across a news app for MSNBC. MSNBC is one of my favorite TV channels, but I never actually read their news online. I installed their app, and I’m in love with it. It’s got the best user interface a news app has, it’s extremely creative.

The app has a feature I haven’t seen on other news applications for iPhone, this feature allows you to connect it to twitter and directly share stories you read. It also has a feature called “Flow” that scrolls down the news titles automatically if you want to read through headlines quickly. you can also adjust the “Flow” speed.

Like every other news app, you can browse news per category like Top Stories, US News, Tech or World News. But what’s also nice about it is 3 more tabs, 1 for information about their TV shows, one for blog posts and a brilliant one called "Twitter”.

If you click on the Twitter one, you see a list of MSNBC related twitter accounts like Meet The Press, Ann Curry or my very very very favorite the great Rachel Maddow, choose one and the app becomes a twitter client displaying the latest tweets. Fascinating.

UAE’s New Currency: Chiclets

2009-07-01T09:31:00.002+04:00

Every morning on my way to work I stop by a gas station to buy something to eat or drink, I pay the cashier and instead of getting my change back (25 fils or 50 fils) they give me Chiclets. This is not a new phenomena, it’s been happening with me for the past 3 years in various gas stations across the country. Once they gave me even 4 gums (1 Dirham).

It’s not the quarter, it’s the principle. I will not allow ENOC and EPCO to make more money, using my well-earned quarters.

But have you ever thought about the reason behind this trend? When petrol prices were increased in UAE over 3 years ago and the cash-only policy was introduced, they also increased the prices of the products in the minimarts.

A chocolate bar which costs 1.5 dirhams is sold in the gas station at 2.25 dirhams. A pack of chips which should be 1 dirham is sold at 1.25 or even up to 1.75 dirhams. a gum (good gum) costs 2.25 … wait a minute, can you notice the .25s here and there? Because they decided to raise prices by 25 to 75 %, they ended up having to give out a lot of quarters, and you know there aren’t a lot of quarters usually. Now, they are substituting the quarters with 25 fils gum, which cost them maybe 15 fils and they make a good 60% profit on it.

How much is my croissant please?

Cashier: “It’s 2.75 sirrrrrrr” …

Sorry I don’t have that, but here you go, 11 Chiclets for you.I'm sure you need change.

Much needed Twitter function: Report Spam

2009-06-30T20:58:00.003+04:00

It’s unbelievable how sad and desperate spammers are. Just like they’re flooding emails with shit, they are now all over Twitter. I get at least 4 spam followers every day, I block them directly. But what I think we need immediately is a “Report Spam” function on Twitter. I don’t see why such functionality is not available yet. If the twitter team cannot afford to hire account reviewers at the moment (people who approve accounts) it can be an automatic algorithm such that if an account is reported 30 or 40 times for exapmle, it gets deleted or suspended. Really simple.

Watch out for those spammers guys, don’t follow suspicious users and do not click on suspicious links.

Relevant posts:

I’m Sick of Twitter Spammers

Twayhem on Twitter

What the hell is twitter and what’s the point of it?

The Future of Alternative Energy

2009-06-24T20:42:00.002+04:00

I haven’t blogged for a week but I’m really not upset about that, I was extremely busy getting to know a new facinating client that I will be working with. Read on, I don’t usually include work related posts on this personal blog, but trust me this one is worth it.

Masdar is an initiative by the government of Abu Dhabi to solve the world’s energy problems, and position the capital as a leader in Alternative Energy solutions.

They are doing many things like building a green city, conducting and supporting research, and preparing engineers for the future through their Masdar Institute of Science & Technology.

It’s a cooperative program with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It’s the first university that is specialized in Future Energy, and it’s non-profit, and free to join.

If you think you have the ambition, dedication and brainpower to get a post graduate degree in the field of Future Energy, apply, wherever you are. If you get admitted, Masdar will cover all your costs including tuition and accommodation in Abu Dhabi.

We are accepting 100 students every year, 2009 is already full so get your papers ready if you want to join the next batch.

The institute is also looking to hire faculty, so check their website, apply, and join us in creating the future.

Etisalat and its annoying ad on facebook

2009-06-17T03:23:00.006+04:00

I really don’t know who to blame, Etisalat, their ad agency or Facebook and YouTube. If you live in UAE and you use facebook or youtube I’m sure you recently noticed the annoying ad Etisalat have been showing. Why is it annoying? because it’s intrusive. As long as you are on the page, the ad keeps beeping like “hey you notice me"!
We may have the choice to look at ads or ignore them, but we don’t have the choice to stop hearing the sounds and the beeping. What’s really funny also about the ad is the “Replay” button, the ad keeps playing that annoying sound regardless if you hit the replay or not. I think we reached a very mature level in advertising sciences, companies now should know damn well that being creative is something and being annoying is something else.
P.S: I saw this ad tens of times, just blogged about it, and realized that I never actually read what’s on it.
P.S2: I just looked at the ad. ETISALAT ... WHY THE HELL WOULD I PAY YOU TO CHAT IF I CAN CHAT FOR FREE USING GTALK OR FACEBOOK OR MSN?!!!

Bull Fighting in Fujairah

2009-06-13T04:18:00.002+04:00

I passed by the bull fighting area in Fujairah many times but I never stopped, today I drove to Fujairah for 2 and half hours especially to see that. I can’t believe that I’ve been in UAE all my life, and I never actually witnessed this brilliant tradition. Bull fighting in Fujairah has been going on for hundreds of years, some say it was brought to Fujairah by the Portuguese settlers in the 17th century, which makes sense, because I’m not familiar with any other Arabic sports that involve animal fighting.

The tradition may seem a bit barbaric, but actually it’s not at all. It’s two bulls butting each other, no one gets hurt. A match is around 8 minute where getting the bulls in the ring takes 7 minutes but the actually butting wouldn’t last more than 1 minute. It’s more of pushing actually rather than butting. The second a bull falls, the locals rush to the scene to separate the bulls before the winner bull butts the other one in the flesh and hurt him. It’s just amazing.

The fights happen every Friday at 4 pm. We went there at 4 but no one was there, so I asked one of the locals when the bulls will arrive and he told me there was no fighting today because some one passed away. (may he rest in peace). I drove around with my friends watching Fujairah and on the way back we saw some bulls arriving! change in plans. In 15 mins, there were a lot of people, and a lot of bulls. Maybe 40 bulls, and each of them had a name which was really cute. I remember “Spark”, “Lion”, “Star”, “Son of Whale”, “Son of Gandhi”, “Scorpion” and “The Bagdadi”!

It was really hot today, but we still enjoyed it. I’m definitely going again when the weather gets nicer. They said today that the activity will stop until the 24th of July.

You gotta visit Fujairah and check this out, it’s worth it.

Google Translator Toolkit: A human touch to machines

2009-06-11T10:16:00.008+04:00

Google just launched the Google Translator Toolkit, it's an editor that helps translators quickly and easily create Arabic (or 40+ other languages) versions of English web pages.

The Toolkit works by providing the user with a automatically translated version of any page; the translator can then correct and improve the translation, check corrections with Google's online dictionary, and publish new web pages to quickly produce Arabic-language versions of web content.

The translations suggested by the Toolkit will also improve over time, as it learns from translators' improvements.

The Toolkit is integrated into Wikipedia as well as Knol, Google's platform for internet users to write articles on specific subjects. Users can also enter all kinds of web content into the Toolkit and easily publish translated web pages. For some time, one of Google's priorities has been to help promote the creation and translation of more content on the web in Arabic, and the Google Translator Toolkit provides a powerful, simple-to-use way for Arabic speakers to contribute to this effort.

Yes, we are getting ripped off

2009-06-09T21:06:00.002+04:00

I read a post today on the official blog of the popular UAE daily The National titled “Are we getting ripped off?”, discussing a report published by ARGNET about the average telecoms prices in the region in comparison to the rest of the world. The research concluded that we are getting ripped off here, I really don’t know why did the ARGNET decide to pay money to come to this conclusion. it’s simple. I pay 96 dollars a month for a 2 MB connection, while a 30 MB connection in the UK costs 42 dollars.

a 12 MB or 16 MB connection here in UAE costs around 250 dollars a month.

The blackberry in UAE costs 820 dollars, PLUS 50 dollars a month for the plan (local only, and doesn’t include any minutes!). In the US, you can get the bold for 199 dollars only, and an UNLIMITED plan would cost you 100 dollars a month. by unlimited, I mean unlimited internet PLUS unlimited calls PLUS unlimited texts.

I said before, greed brought down GM, it brought down the economy, greed kills. I really hope Etisalat realizes that one day the market will be open completely, and that’s when many people will choose new carriers simply because Etisalat ripped them off in the past. This applies to every SP in the middle east. (Du, you just started, I won’t blame you).

An amazing day with YouTube

2009-06-09T20:25:00.004+04:00

Today I watched many videos on YouTube and came across some really good ones that deserve to be put together on blog post!
The below are two ads by Fedex about their Golf Cup, really worth watching.

The below is an ad for a recruitment company which I think is the most creative recruitment ad out there.

This is a video about Twitter by Hitler, I can’t believe the video has been out since July 2008.

and below is the most amazing driving skills video in history.

I love YouTube. I have my PC connected now to my HD TV and I watch YouTube HD all the time, it’s fascinating, make sure you check it out if you have a fast internet connection.

Terrorism in Obama’s speech

2009-06-07T20:48:00.002+04:00

I watched yesterday the speech president Obama gave in Egypt to the Muslim world, and realized that president Obama didn’t use the word “terrorism” at all through out the whole speech. There was no “terrorism” nor “terrorist” anywhere in his lecture. Instead he chose to refer to “them” as “violent extremists”. He used the words extremists/extremism only 11 times in a 54 minutes talk. If this is not change, then tell me what change is.

I don’t have the powers to foresee the future, I can only talk about what I see in front of me now. I see an educated president, a president who knows how to choose his words carefully and knows how to say them. a president who is talking to each nation in its own language. Obama referred to verses from the Holy Koran (Quran) 3 times in his speech, he mentioned the Children of Abraham (Jews, Christians, Muslims), he showed gratitude and appreciation to the Islamic contributions to science, he spoke about Andalusia and the story of Isra, he acknowledged the humiliation "that comes with occupation” in Gaza and greeted us in our own language.

When did a president of the united states ever do that? When did a president of any country in the past 100 years win the hearts of people from different nations? I’m an optimistic person, and I don’t like to waste my energy doubting individuals. This is not about Obama Vs. Bush, this is about Obama Vs. all western presidents, of the 20th century. Some one told me not to be fooled by Obama, he said “they are all the same”, but I refuse to be negative, I’m tired of thinking every one is bad.

I hope Obama turns out to be as good as he seems and sounds. May God protect him from all harm and evil.

You can watch his speech in high quality below.

Beware! fake UAE money

2009-06-07T12:54:00.002+04:00

I just received a forward warning of fake AED100 bills. The forward highlights the key difference between the authentic 100 dirham bill and the counterfeit one (image below).

I’m not sure if the email I received is true but I do know that UAE police seized 17 million dirham in fake banknotes very recently, so I’m going to be careful.

People it’s very simple to tell if the bill you have is real or fake. Fake money just feels different, it’s doesn’t feel like money. Watch out, especially when you get 100, 500 or 1000 bills. Take a quick look at the money returned to you by cashiers before you leave the shop.

Xbox 360 full body motion sensor: Project Natal

2009-06-03T12:31:00.004+04:00

It’s official. Microsoft started the tease. There were a lot of rumors in the air about their new innovation for the Xbox 360, now we know it’s not a gamepad like the wii’s, it’s a full body motion sensor. They call it Project Natal. I’m a BIG BIG fan of the Xbox 360, It’s a 10000 times better than the PS3, and now I know for fact that I will never buy a PS3. Can’t wait to buy this Natal thing when they launch it.

Microsoft, you have my full respect for winning this consoles game. I’m very emotional now. I have to go. Enjoy the video.

Google Survey in UAE, and an Agency Day

2009-06-02T10:06:00.004+04:00

Google hosted a day for the top agencies in UAE, in an initiative to point businesses to the hotspots in online media. The event consisted of a two day session, attended by Google’s AdWords team in UAE and over 100 digital media specialists representing the leading local and multinational advertising agencies.
In preparation for the Agency Day, Google surveyed 1,410 consumers in UAE about their purchasing behavior, and was able to build an accurate picture of online/offline research/purchase segmentation, use of search engines and attitudes to online shopping in UAE in 2009.
The data gathered from the survey was revealed to the agencies as part of the training, aiming to stress on the importance of getting online. The results reflected the increasing sophistication of consumers in purchasing behaviors and the need for businesses to update their online presence to capture this market.
The main highlights from the UAE report are:

More than 69% of respondents have bought something online.
Amongst UAE residents, the Internet is the ‘information tool’ used most often when researching possible purchases across a range of categories including digital cameras/camcorders, mobile phones, cars as well as hotel reservations.
Search engines are the most used source of online research information (81% of respondents). Manufacturer websites (49%), Directories and local listings (27%), retailer websites (26%), and online auction websites (25%) are also very popular.
Search engines are used most for research in relation to technology (67%) and travel (48%) products.
Google is the preferred search engine in the UAE with (58% preferring google.com and 38% preferring google.ae)
In general, as a mean average across the 20 products listed in the survey, 11% of all product purchases were researched and purchased online; 28% were researched online but purchased offline; 5% were researched offline but purchased online; and 56% were researched and purchased offline.
Credit/debit cards (64% of respondents) are the most common payment method when making online purchases
74% of the UAE online users notice sponsored links, and of those who do notice them 7% almost always, 6% regularly, 45% sometimes and 22% seldomly click on them.
While one third of UAE respondents say the current economic crisis has not changed their shopping habits, an almost equal proportion say the recent financial turmoil has led to less of their shopping being done online. This may be related to the fact that many of their online purchases may have fallen more into the ‘non-essential/leisure’ categories (i.e. travel and event tickets) which people choose to cut out during difficult economic times
In the UAE, English (76% of respondents) is by far the most popular ‘search’ language (likely to be related to the highly multinational nature of UAE society) vs. 23% preferring to search in Arabic.