Wow...I found something that Dubai does not have the biggest of!!!!

Who needs the ocean anyway? This artificial lagoon and swimming pool in the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile is eight hectares in size and contains 250,000 cubic meters of water, equivalent in size to 6,000 standard domestic pools

But is it Art?

Paraglider is pleased to announce that several excerpts from his Paranormal Hotel blog have been republished in the inaugural issue of the literary e-zine The Chimaera. Thank you to all visitors from the UAE Community who have encouraged my ramblings.

How many people here are on Facebook?

Just wanted to know who is on facebook? It seems like the whole world is a memeber? even when I walk in cafe's I see people on facebook. Nearly everyone at work is on facebook and there are 2500 staff at my compnay.

Dubai does not Care

I'm so mad that I have to let off some steam here. The reason is this. So my school handed out these little booklets of vouchers that we have to sell for the Dubai Cares charity drive ( [link] ). Each voucher costs Dhs. 20. A bit much, but an amount a lot of people can do just fine without. My friend and I decided to go door to door and sell them.

I thought we could sell quite a few this way. Here are a few of the responses we got:

1. "This really isn't a good time."

2. "My son/daughter has one of those booklets." So you won't buy a voucher from us, but you expect people to buy one from your kid?

3. One guy opened his door a fraction of an inch and all we could see was an eye and his dog's nose. Before we could finish what we wanted to say, he just closed the door in our faces, at the risk of slicing his dog's nose off.

4. "I'm new to this area, so please, ok, hmm?" That isn't even a sentence! And how is that a valid reason?!

5. "No thank you."

6. "No."

The only people who bought vouchers from us were friends of my mother. And there was one other nice man as well who said he had bought a few the previous day, but didn't mind buying one more. After the door-to-door session we ended up with 4 sold vouchers between ourselves.

After this we went to a mall, thinking we'd be more successful there. We started asking random people. It wasn't as easy as we thought it would be, but we got used to it after a while. Here are some more responses:

1. "Oh, I can't hear you. I've got my music on." She keeps walking on after this, Starbucks coffee in one hand, and the other hand not bothering to yank out the earphones. I wish I had done it for her. "Yes, so what do you need?" We went through our routine sentence. "No, not interested, sorry." Aargh! If she can spend 20 bucks on coffee, why can't she do the same for charity?

2. "Sorry, maybe next time." Did they think we were regular fixtures in the mall?

3. "I can't understand what you're saying." I just think the words 'Dhs. 20' rang warning bells in their heads.

4. "Maybe next time."

5. "Can you wait till our manager comes back?"

6. "Maybe next time."

7. "My dear, I am looking for someone to donate some money to me." This came from a girl who was probably my age.

8. Two separate couples didn't turn back and just walked ahead when we tried to get their attention. We said "Excuse me" at least four times!

I don't remember the others, these are a few of the choicest examples. It was so infuriating how all these people, toting their Charles and Keith bags, were so stingy with their money when it came to donating just a tiny fraction of what they paid for those shoes, or bags, or whatever it is Mr. Charles and Mr. Keith sell, to uneducated, homeless little children! At the end we sold another 4 vouchers between ourselves.

Another thing. I think it's just hypocritical of schools to make their kids sell these vouchers when they themselves pay a pittance to the teachers they employ. Doesn't charity start at home?

However, I will say this. The people who did donate to the cause were extremely nice about it. One of them asked us if his name would appear in big letters on a donors list. He was joking, of course.

It is extremely saddening to think that people think twice before donating a small amount of money to a very worthy cause.

Would UAE support a GCC residency cap?

Gulf News

"To enforce a residency cap on unskilled workers of a maximum of six years will contribute to solving the problems associated with the influx of foreign workers and protect our identity," said Al Ka'abi, adding that he is hopeful that the proposal will be approved at the meeting.

I'm not sure what problem is being solved if the number of unskilled workers is not decreased through immigration controls. How is that the less transient you are the more you encroach on the identity of nationals?

Are truck drivers and cab drivers considered unskilled? If not, aren't we creating another problem? Would you think the longer you're here the better you know the road system and how to behave on the roads? Gulf News:

"Drivers' behaviour is a big problem. They come from different nationalities and different backgrounds and behave differently on the road. Campaigns for their education and awareness about traffic laws have also not been a big success because most of them neither read the newspaper nor watch television. Also, they speak different languages," said Al Siri.
...
"Some drivers on Dubai roads drive as if they are driving in the desert. We need to stop this practice. I have said many times that the RTA cannot make roads for 'drunk' drivers. Respect for traffic laws and good behaviour is important for road safety and the decrease in the number of accidents."

Or is this the problem: The longer we're here, the worse our driving becomes.

Apple has no plans to stop unofficial iPhone sales

An article in Emirates Today says that "Computer and music giant Apple has said it is powerless to prevent the unauthorised sale of its revolutionary iPhone in the UAE." The article continues, a spokesperson for Apple Europe says they are "aware of imported sales of the iPhone in countries other than the US but did not have plans to stop it."

It should be pointed out that any iPhone sold in the UAE is unofficial (gray market) and there is no service and support available. Since it has to be unlocked to be used as a phone here, the unlocking will void the warranty, Apple has confirmed.

More here.

That strange thing on Business Bay Crossing

Have any of your noticed this strange object placed on the side of the road as you come off Business Bay Bridge and on to Jadaff? It is a beige box that looks like a rubbish bin but position in a such a way as to seem that it is a radar.

Does anyone know if it is a functioning radar or not?

Headline: U.A.E.'s Drive for Emirati-Run Economy Is Thwarted by Handouts

Bloomberg.com: Europe

The handouts, based on traditions of royal patronage dating back centuries to Bedouin society, now discourage citizens from working, academics say. Expatriates outnumber Emiratis and dominate fields such as banking, law and technology. The quandary for Sheikh Mohammed is how to reduce the culture of dependence without alienating his people.

``The relationship between work and income is broken,'' says Kenneth Wilson, Dubai-based director of the Economic and Policy Research Unit at Zayed University, a school for Emirati women that opened in 1998. ``That's unlikely to change until the government starts trying to give incentives to work in the private or corporate sector.''

Thanks largely to the country's oil-fueled economic boom, the average male Emirati receives benefits worth about 204,000 dirhams ($55,500) a year, according to the university's research.
...
More significant steps to reduce privileges for Emiratis may be met with resistance, says Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the U.A.E. who lives in Dubai.

``I'm sure there would be a call from within the royal family to change the sheikh to one that provided the benefits if there was a move to remove them,'' Harris says. ``The social contract is that you get given things by the sheikh and in return you give the sheikh your allegiance.''

Do you agree that the prevailing attitude is that allegiance is paid for, and that this gets in the way of reforming the system such that greater incentives to work in the private sector are created?

Facebook - Graffiti wall application

Question: Did anyone notice the graffiti wall application on facebook is blocked by etisalat? I can see the wall but I can't draw anything. Is anyone else facing this problem?

Hep C - The Silent Killer

The situation is grave... 350-400 million people worldwide are infected with Hepatitis C (that's 1 in every 15 persons). The Hep C Virus (HCV) is the biggest challenge to human life.

There are no vaccines to protect us from HCV. The treatment available, at present, which is very expensive, doesn't guarantee 100% cure.

Most governments have turned to the private sector to find effective treatment/ drugs - which is a worrying development. Instead of declaring war against the virus, HCV is seen as the biggest commercial opportunities. With 7% of the world population helpless against the virus... the shylocks are rubbing their palms in glee. The situation cannot be termed unfortunate, it is a disaster.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc are ahead of the race for developing an effective treatment. It might be heartening to a few people, but the horror of profiteering cannot be brushed aside: in April 2005 - they were trading at $9.20 a share at the NASDAQ. Today it is trading at $39.00

I believe we should all ask this question, how did we defeat the smallpox virus? Smallpox virus killed almost half a billion people in the 20th century. Every government/ state contributed in defeating smallpox virus; the job was not outsourced to private companies like Halliburton or Blackwater.

HCV victims are a captive market for private pharma companies - a giant money-spinning wheel. Why would they ever want to eradicate HCV? There has to be a partnership between Governments and NGOs to win this battle.

Dubai Government's initiative, Dubai Cares, is a wonderful programme to help the needy. I can see hope in what His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum says:

"If we want to champion prosperity and progress, we cannot ignore poverty. We should therefore emphasize the role of education as the most powerful weapon in breaking the vicious circle of poverty."

I hope, Dubai will also take the leadership in the war against the Hepatitis C Virus. This is a battle we cannot ignore or afford to lose. We need to educate people and also find a cure for this dreadful disease.

I have been blogging http://www.hcvnews.blogspot.com/ - putting together news reports and other content since May 2006.

There has to be a major drive to educate people about Hepatitis C, especially in a country like UAE. If anyone from the UAE Blogging Community would like to participate as a volunteer blogger - in the HCV News blog

"Millions of expats could be kicked out of Gulf"

In this Arabian Business article (Oct 1, 2007), Bahrain mentions its new plans. Hopefully it won't be approved in the GCC Summit and hopefully, it won't be adopted by other GCC countries. Seriously, how do they come up with these 'solutions' to the culture erosion?

Millions of expatriate workers could face being kicked out of the Gulf if plans proposed by Bahrain are passed at the next GCC summit in December.

The kingdom will put forward a motion...to place a six-year residency cap on all expatriates working in the region in an effort to stop what it sees as the erosion of local culture and to stem soaring unemployment among nationals.

The cap could force many of the 13 million or so expatriates currently living in the GCC to return home, a significant proportion of whom have brought up families in the Gulf and now consider the region their home.

“In some areas of the Gulf, you can’t tell whether you are in an Arab Muslim country or in an Asian district. We can’t call this diversity and no nation on earth could accept the erosion of its culture on its own land,” [said said Bahrain Labour Minister Majeed Al-Alawi].

Director of "The Kingdom" talks about the UAE

Peter Berg, director of the new movie "The Kingdom" (partial filmed here in the UAE), which is due to open on the 11th, was interviewed on Hardball last Friday, and had a few comments about his experiences interacting with people in the UAE and Saudi Arabia:

I have met very few Saudis that have anything nice to say about any Iraqis. I haven‘t met anyone—there‘s so much competition in the Middle East...

The Kuwaitis don‘t like the Iraqis. The Saudis don‘t like the Iraqis. The UAE doesn‘t like anyone. Everyone hates Iran.

...people ask me, coming back from the Middle East, what—you know, what I observed and what—what my takeaway is, in terms of what—what can help. And—and the only thing that I consistently go back to is, by far, the—the country in the Middle East that seems to be functioning as peacefully as—as possible is the UAE.

It‘s cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where capitalism has taken ahold, and there‘s such investment and growth going on in those cities, that they police themselves. And I had dinner with Sheikh Mohammed of—of Dubai. And I asked him, you know, why there had been no attacks in his country, a country which has alcohol, which has a—women are allowed to wear bikinis, and there‘s a much more Western lifestyle.

And he just, quite simply, pointed to the Burj Hotel and said, we won‘t let it happen.

The whole transcript is here (you have to scroll down to after the commercial break) and the video is here.

UAE MoL to Issue Temporary Work Permits

"All companies in the country can now seek temporary work permits to facilitate the process of recruiting foreign manpower, said Assistant Under-secretary in the Ministry of Labour Obaid Rashid Al Zahmi.

He said the Work Permit Department in the MoL will today begin issuing temporary work permits to companies in different fields to give them an opportunity to place the new workers in a probation period. In the past, such permits were issued only to oil and energy companies. More.. "

This permit was also announced a couple of months earlier but then nothing happened. Now after the amnesty and the crackdown on illegal workforce most of the businesses are suffering. If such a step is implemented it will ease out the building HR pressure but I am pretty sure the unskilled and semi-skilled workforce won't qualify for these permits. Maybe somebody here can enlighten us.

facebook is not blocked

Facebook is not blocked at the moment, nor has it been for the past 24 hours.

There are several people consistently commenting on here claiming it is blocked; do you see a block screen? No. Therefore it isn't blocked (this isn't skype we're talking about).

It has been working perfectly fine on my setup and all I can do is suggest you check your settings...

If in Internet Explorer click Tools>internet options and then click the 'connections' tab, and the click the 'lan settings' button.

If "use a proxy server" is enabled, ensure it is proxy1.emirates.net.ae with the port being 8080; if it already is enabled and correctly entered, try disabling the proxy (though some sites may not work properly with it enabled or disabled, etisalat sucks)

Facebook, oh Facebook

Well well, facebook was working fine yesterday morning, but when I tried again at 5:00pm, connections to facebook were timing out.

At first I thought facebook's servers were down. But it was working fine in other parts of the world, and I could view http://static.facebook.com (but not login from there).

Does this mean it is blocked ? This is not the first time a site would be without the standard 'Site Is blocked' message. If you remember, skype.com used to be blocked like this a few years ago.

On the other hand, it could also mean that facebook's servers that serve the middle east are down - but that is unlikely ...

A little bird I know tells me an anti-islamic group on facebook has caused the offence - but this is strictly a _rumor_

I look forward to more news about this... Hopefully, Etisalat and the TRA will shed more light on this ...

EDIT: It's up ! It's up ! It's up now ....
EDIT: It's down ! Its down ! Its down again ... but at least we know it can't have been blocked.