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March 12, 2010
10:27
Markets in everything
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

NYT. Putting unemployed dogs to work sniffing for bed bugs:
Increasingly, real estate lawyers are urging buyers in contract to inspect apartments before they close, and in their advertising, many pest control companies exhort would-be tenants to “inspect before you rent.” And dogs like Cruiser can inspect a room in minutes, whereas lesser mammals like human beings need hours to conduct a visual inspection.

Bedbug-sniffing dogs, adorable yet stunningly accurate — entomology researchers at the University of Florida report that well-trained dogs can detect a single live bug or egg with 96 percent accuracy — are the new and furry front line in an escalating and confounding domestic war.

While experts cite a host of reasons for the upsurge, they agree on one thing: the bugs, which were mostly eradicated in this country at midcentury by now-banned pesticides like DDT but remained a constant scourge overseas, are finding their way back to the United States through an increase in global travel.
(Oh wait, wouldn't they "find their way back" because they were never fully eradicated to begin with?)
8:17
Toyota discriminates against the elderly
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Ted Frank as quoted by Marginal Revolution:
In the 24 cases where driver age was reported or readily inferred, the drivers included those of the ages 60, 61, 63, 66, 68, 71, 72, 72, 77, 79, 83, 85, 89—and I’m leaving out the son whose age wasn’t identified, but whose 94-year-old father died as a passenger.
This may just be evidence that Toyotas are popular with older drivers. Except there is evidence that older drivers have been known to confuse the gas and brake pedals. If this is true and if all cars were equally likely to have true sudden acceleration problems, then Toyota would have a higher rate of cases classified as sudden acceleration.
More in a commentary today in the New York Times,
It is interesting to note that unintended acceleration in the 1980s happened before the arrival of drive-by-wire controls and computerized engine-management systems.

Back then, many of us who worked in fields like ergonomics, human performance and psychology suspected that these unintended-acceleration events might have a human component. We noticed that the complaints were far more frequent among older drivers (in a General Motors study, 60-to-70-year-olds had about six times the rate of complaints as 20-to-30-year-olds), drivers who had little experience with the specific car involved (parking-lot attendants, car-wash workers, rental-car patrons) and people of relatively short stature.

Several researchers hypothesized how a driver, intending to apply the brake pedal to keep the car from creeping, would occasionally press the accelerator instead. Then, surprised that the car moved so much, he would try pressing harder. Of course, if his right foot was actually on the accelerator, the throttle would open and the car would move faster. This would then lead the driver to press the “brake” harder still, and to bring about even more acceleration. Eventually, the car would be at full throttle, until it crashed. The driver’s foot would be all the way to the floor, giving him the impression that the brakes had failed.

In the cases that went to court, jurors naturally asked, why would a driver with decades of driving experience suddenly mistake the accelerator for the brake? And why would the episode last so long — often 6 to 10 seconds or more? Wouldn’t that be ample time to shut off the ignition, shift to neutral or engage the parking brake?

First, in these situations, the driver does not really confuse the accelerator and the brake. Rather, the limbs do not do exactly what the brain tells them to. Noisy neuromuscular processes intervene to make the action slightly different from the one intended....
The author is Richard A. Schmidt, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Heh, in composing this post my finger did not do what my brain told it to do. I was inserting a hyperlink and mistakenly clicked the blockquote button. Ever do that?

March 11, 2010
4:14
The roastery mystery
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

Yesterday I was wondering about the use of the word roastery in the name of a shop that isn't a roastery.

That was Queen Palace Flowers Roastery.

A mistranslation, I wondered?

El Shalab told us that the Arabic said mahmasa, meaning, yes, roastery.

So it wasn't a mistranslation.

Dave told us he'd checked it in Yellow Pages and they're listed as '"trader of coffee, confectionary, chocolate, flowers, plants and nuts".

There's another one too:

I looked in and they sell flowers, pots and vases, wickerwork baskets, chocolates...

I'm still trying to work out why they call themselves 'roastery'.

Maybe because they roast the nuts and the coffee...?

March 10, 2010
17:26
The Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature - Food for the Intellect
» ‎ UAE community blog (uae)

The term book or reading is tragically fast becoming (if not already) synonymous with the moniker nerd, or even geek. Imagine then the tag assigned to an entire festival dedicated to the sole purpose of promoting literature.

The Emirates Airlines International Festival of Literature (EAIFL) was launched in 2009 to dispel that very prejudice; the notion that books are for ‘losers’ and reading for bores.

Following its successful advent the previous year, the second edition of the EAIFL was officially inaugurated this morning at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, in the presence of a full house of authors, dignitaries and bibliophiles.

Collaboratively sponsored for the second time around by Emirates Airlines and Magrudy’s, this Lit Fest has every intention of bringing back to life the dying practice of reading in the Dubai community.

Boasting a diverse line-up of more than 80 authors (including quite a few heavy weights of the business), this year’s event kicked off to a very promising start. Throngs of book-lovers marked their presence from the early hours of the morning until the end of the day’s sessions; keeping busy with the numerous discussions and ‘conversations’ scheduled for the day.

Favourites of Day 1 included the insightful Inspiration-Why We Write discourse featuring Bahaa Taher, Yann Martel and Imtiaz Dharker, The Book Club Phenomenon conversation with Chris Cleave, DJ Taylor, RJ Ellory and Rachel Hore, and the much-anticipated session with Martin Amis.

Also very well-received were the sessions with Robert Greene, Conn Iggulden and Youssef Ziedan.

Author sessions and workshops vary in price, and entry passes to each session can be either pre-booked online, or purchased at the venue itself (albeit with no guarantee of availability). Book signing sessions follow each discourse, and all titles of participating novelists (just in case you don’t have a copy in hand) can be bought at the makeshift (yet fully operative) Magrudy’s outlet at the venue.

The Lit Fest is scheduled to run from the 10^th-13^th of this month, so those eager to attend have 3 more days to get in on the action. The more anticipated discourses scheduled for the rest of the festival are the sessions by Marjane Satrapi, Jeffery Deaver, Alexander McCall Smith and William Dalrymple (to name a few).

To have a look at the entire schedule or for more information on session reservations, visit the EAIFL official website: www.emirateslitfest.com

For individual reviews of the festival’s sessions, visit www.moneymunot.com, www.shaahima.wordpress.com, [hishamwyne.wordpress.com] , and [ana-aqra2.blogspot.com]

7:45
Multi-vehicle pile up
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

One dead and up to forty injured when between twenty and thirty vehicles crashed this morning.

It happened on the Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road when a bus crashed into a truck, another truck crashed into the bus and the pile up began.

Police say tailgating and the fog were responsible.

I disagree. The fog was not responsible, irresponsible dangerous driving was responsible.

As a result, the driver of the bus is dead and four other people are seriously injured. A further eight have 'moderate' injuries, whatever that means.

Yesterday I said that on my early drive I didn't see bad or dangerous driving in the fog. It was a one-off, an abberation. Later in the morning I did see my share of morons.

This morning I was almost wiped out twice in five kilometres.

A Landcruiser coming straight into the roundabout I was on, the driver not aware because he was too busy chatting on his mobile phone.

Then one of those ridiculous huge Ford pickup trucks, speeding in the overtaking lane, the driver deciding at the last second to turn off right. That meant swerving across in front of me to do it. Another coat of paint and he'd have hit my front end.

Gulf News and The National are both carrying the story.
Gulf News.
The National.
4:36
The things you see...
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

A flowers roastery.

I'm obviously missing something, but I can't work out what it is.

A mistranslation perhaps?
March 09, 2010
3:37
Wet air
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

The humidity's kicked in again, making the roads even more dangerous than usual.

There wasn't much traffic on my 7.30 drive this morning and, apart from a black Land Rover Sport (what else!) that couldn't stay within the lane markers, the road etiquette was pretty good.

No hazard lights flashing, most vehicles with dimmed headlights on, I didn't see dangerous speeding and, remarkably, I didn't see any drivers on their mobile phone.

On another trip at 10.30am, with the fog just about gone, it was different. I saw several drivers on mobiles, one tailgater in my boot, speeding on Al Wasl Road and SZR.
March 08, 2010
1:13
This really makes me angry.
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

There was the worst kind of tragic event in Melbourne a few days ago when a three year old child was found dead, dumped at the roadside twenty kilometres from his home.

He was a little boy called Gurshan Singh, who happened to be Indian and who was on holiday in Oz with his parents. Dad went out, mum was in the shower and it's thought the little boy wandered out through the front door.

Police said he was fully clothed, there were no signs of injury. A post mortem didn't reveal a cause of death, toxicology and forensic tests were being done and the investigation continued.

In spite of that the screams of racism began immediately.

To see the extent of the utter stupidity and bigotry of so many people, look at just one newspaper, the UK's Daily Mail.

The paper headlined the story with a racism slant:

"Murder of Indian boy, 3, in Australia sparks diplomatic row after spate of racist attacks"

That had the brainless bigots rushing from under their rocks.

Remember, little Gurshan Singh's body had only just been found, no cause of death had been established, he had no injuries, police had just begun their investigation.

A selection of the comments to the Mail's story:

"Racists killing three year olds? Sick and deeply disturbing." Alan, Planet Reality

"This has been happening for the past year! I'm a British born Indian and every time there is a racist attack on an Indian Student it is widely reported on the Indian news channel

A few weeks ago another Indian student in Australia was burnt alive in a racist attack." shania, London.

(Actually Shania, an Indian couple has been charged with that murder. Don't let the facts get in the way of your bigotry though).

"How can someone's hatred of a race be so great as to kill an innocent 3 year old boy." Nat, London

"HOW can anyone do this? When will people realise we are essentially all the same. Skin colour? So what, there is just no excuse for racism these days" karen n, manchester

"Has Australia failed to embrace diversity more than any other country. Australia will have problems to attract visitors if these issues are not tackled promptly." Romi May, Handsworth

"I have always said Auustralia has concentrated racism." Mukeye, TO

"Perhaps the Aussies need to remember that they are in fact ALL immigrants!" Shorty, Suffolk

"Seriously , both America and Australia have massive problems related to self worth and hatred of ethnic minorities" john, China

"It never ceases to amaze me when I hear of racist attacks in these countries when the original inhabitants of those countries were blacks or dark skinned." ira, FL USA

People with more sense responded to the stupidity of such comments to say that the cause of death and, if it was murder, the motive had not been established.

So Shania came back screeching:

"To all of you saying this is isn't racist, YOU CLEARLY DO NOT KNOW THE FULL STORY!!!!!!!! I have been following the series of attacks this is just one of them. What about the attacks targeting Indians specifically from India??? you cannot say that is purely coincidence

I am not saying all Australians are racists but to dismiss this as not racism is noting but sheer ignorance." shania, London

Shania knows what's going on, she's absolutely positive. And anyone who doesn't agree with her is showing their sheer ignorance.

Right.

And another bigot, the oxymoronically named 'truthspeaker' from Newcastle has the answer to it all:

"When will the authorities just admit that this is what happens when you try and force people together from very different races."

None of them are prepared to wait for the facts to emerge before shouting their version of the truth. They're not interested in the facts because they may contradict their bigotry.

The police carried out their investigation. Here's today's news:

"Toddler's death: housemate charged

A 23-YEAR-OLD Indian national has been charged with manslaughter due to criminal negligence following the death of three-year-old Gurshan Singh Channa.

Gursewak Dhillon, a taxi driver who is in Australia on a student's visa, was refused bail in an out-of-sessions hearing.

Dhillon had made admissions to police that he had placed the child in the boot of a car while the youngster was unconscious and had driven him to Oaklands Junction near Melbourne Airport and placed him by the roadside."

In the light of that, Shania, Alan, Nat, Karen N, Romi May, Mukeye, Shorty, John, Ira and the rest of you, would you care to add to your original comments?

You'll find the Daily Mail stupidity here and today's report on the arrest of Gursewak Dhillon here.

And my 'racism' tag has some previous posts on the subject of attacks on Indians in Australia.
March 07, 2010
0:34
Melbourne looks like Sharjah...
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

Sharjah in particular was badly affected by the rain we had last week and there was plenty of criticism of the drainage system.

A bit unfair because floods from unusually heavy rain don't just happen here - back in Oz, Melbourne was under water from a summer storm yesterday.

The centre of the city looked like this:

Photo: Jay Town The Australian

And the main railway station:

Photo: Rob Leeson The Australian

The storm lasted about half an hour and included golf ball size hailstones. It basically brought the city to a halt.

Over the border in my home state the problem is a little different:

"There has been a spate of snake bites across NSW, with five people being taken to hospital in separate incidents."

All five were bitten by poisonous snakes but are in a stable condition after treatment.

I loved the final word from a NSW ambulance spokeswoman, who " warned people who come across a snake to leave it alone and walk away."

Too right.

Photos of the Melbourne storm are here.
Snakebite story is here.

March 06, 2010
18:18
Economist calls himself bizarre
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Paul Krugman disagrees with himself. Ad hominem style -- which is his style.

18:03
Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest. - Ashleigh Brilliant
» ‎ A revisionist autobiography (uae)

The authorities in the UAE are surely not thrilled by stories like this one about child camel jockeys. They have tried hard to claim there is no meaningful similarity between the incident in question and the problems of the past.

"I for one welcome our new Indian overlords." The future head of the International Cricket Council is trying hard not to ruffle feathers in India. I can't think of any other major sport so completely dominated by a single country. I speak only of financial and political dealings here; India's current cricket team may perhaps be the best it has ever fielded, but it is far from unbeatable.

District 9 was interesting, but I'm not sure it lived up to the hype surrounding it.

Madinat Jumeirah by night.

Let's pan right.

Then left.

And zoom in.

There's plenty more water in the area.

This stretch is full of restaurants.

I believe the buildings across the water are houses.

A closer look.

More from nearby.

A look towards one of the two hotels in the area.

A shop in the faux traditional market.

There are wind towers everywhere.

The roof in the oldest section of Wafi, Dubai's most upscale mall.

This is far newer.

From the roof of a corridor near the spa.

Atrium of the Raffles hotel.

8:30
Greece and Germany; Dubai and Abu Dhabi
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

What do you think? The Germans don't want to bail out profligate Greece. Is this anything like Abu Dhabi's reluctance to bail out Dubai? The logic of a bail out is that although it rewards behavior, the alternative of letting Greece, or Dubai -- or AIG to give an American example -- would be worse for both parties. Of course, Abu Dhabi was able to extract its pound of flesh.

Here's The Weekly Standard on Greece and Germany:
Opinion polls show that over two-thirds of Germans reject the idea of contributing to a Greek bailout, and the venom with which that opposition is expressed suggests that exasperation has drifted into contempt.

To give more money to the Greeks would be akin to giving schnapps to an alcoholic, argued Frank Schaeffler, deputy finance spokesman for the Free Democrats, the junior partner in Germany’s governing coalition. Focus magazine ran a cover story on “The Fraudster in the Euro-Family” (a reference to the more creative aspects of the Greek government’s accounting) and illustrated it with the Venus de Milo, one-armed and flipping the bird. The tabloid Bild raged at the “proud, cheating, profligate” Greeks. A writer for the rather more heavyweight Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked whether Germans should have to retire at 69 rather than 67 to pay for Greek workers striking against proposals to increase their retirement age from 61 to 63. The mood in Germany was not improved by Greece’s deputy prime minister. Stung by all the criticism of his country, he grumbled that, having made off with Greece’s gold during the war, the Germans were in no position to complain “about stealing and not being very specific about economic dealings.”
All of which reminds me. I don't recall the voters in Abu Dhabi complaining about a Dubai bailout.

Addendum. The first commenter says Greece hasn't defaulted, but Dubai has, so the comparison is a false to begin with. But, one of the reasons Greece has not defaulted is that it has continued to be able to borrow. Which raises the question, why? Is it because investors are more confident that Germany will save Greece from default than they were that Abu Dhabi would step in prevent the Dubai default? The commenter also mentions CDS rates -- i.e., the cost of insuring sovereign debt. This February 12th article about the high level of Greece's CDS also notes "the cost of insuring Dubai’s sovereign debt against default rose to its highest level since November as concerns resurfaced over the emirate’s large debt." Greek CDS rates have fallen with talk of an EU/German bailout. Is there similar talk that Abu Dhabi stands ready to continue to backstop Dubai?

5:11
Interesting paint job...
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

March 05, 2010
13:17
Tip For Your Supper
» ‎ UAE community blog (uae)

The newly enforced (and long overdue) ruling in Dubai against the levying of service tax at restaurants has turned the cards in our favour, for both expats and locals alike. For many a night out we’ve failed to take into account with how much weightage that 10% obligatory service charge is reflected on our tabs; especially at the more fancier eateries and watering holes. Quite the damper it was, yes.

And now that the days of the dreaded service tax have been put behind us, our meal bills are considerably less exorbitant and our wallets slightly lighter. What we fail to realize however, is that although the charge has ceased to exist, the kind folks who serve us our meals are still very much alive.

In fact, now there’s more a reason than any to actually tip our servers and busboys; for now we can be certain that this little gratuity from our end really does make it to their pockets and is not another addition to the sum total of the outlet’s logbook instead.

Just like we’re encouraged to give credit where credit is due, let’s also tip those who are clearly deserving of it. Pay that 10% anyway, just because your waitress delivered service with a smile. Exchange a ‘loaded’ handshake with the valet who retrieved your car, even though you’ve got the parking ticket stamped. Let your cabbie keep the change, and spare the gas attendant a few for having taken the trouble to wash your windows.

We’d all like an appreciative pat in the back at the end of a job well done. And in times like these, it’s best sometimes to let the money do the talking.

5:43
Twenty seven million flowers
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

Dubai Municipality say they planted twenty seven million flowering plants in the city last year.

Driving around you obviously see that a huge number of plants are put in and then pulled out as they die off, but an average of a million every couple of weeks is staggering.

It's generally reported that we in Dubai are amongst the world's highest users of water, but I wonder where we stand if the water used for irrigation is taken out of the equation.

My guess is that the total amount of water used is divided by the population number, and I can't find a breakdown of usage by sector. The relatively large amount of landscaping, parks, greenery, flowers across the city must take a large part of the total I would have thought.

Most of the flower beds have the efficient drip-watering system, but there's a lot of wastage with the sprinkler system used for the grassy areas - this morning Al Sufouh Road was awash with water from the grass sprinklers.

Perhaps we individual users aren't as wasteful as the reports suggest.

If you're in the business maybe you could give us some facts on the breakdown of usage...

I read the press release from DM this morning, when I also received an e-mail from our neighbour back in Oz which was also about landscaping.

It included a photograph of some of the flowering shrubs, or trees, in our back garden.

They're tibouchinas, which we put in when they were only about sixty centimetres tall about ten years ago.

Pretty aren't they.

March 04, 2010
4:57
Famous economics majors
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Name this famous economics major.

March 02, 2010
5:32
Media freedom and standards hit the wall
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

There's an outspoken column in Gulf News today about the state of the media in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Editor Abdullah Rasheed doesn't mince his words, giving a real serve to a whole range of people and organisations.

It's quite a piece.

The heading is "The ceiling of press freedom in UAE is falling"

The thrust of the column is that "Press freedom is deteriorating and freedom of expression is in increasing danger" and he points the finger at those he believes responsible.

He includes the Federal National Council, the National Media Council, which he says are both guilty of not protecting journalists, laws and government/official bodies are criticised, he's particularly harsh on media owners and managers, and he says that journalists are not doing their job.

Here's a flavour of what he says:

"At long last, the Federal National Council (FNC) will finally hold a session [today] to discuss the media, having postponed four consecutive sessions for no apparent reason.

It is no secret that one of the main obstacles facing the media and journalists is the total inability of the FNC to protect journalists from the mistreatment they face.

Our newspapers are hardly given the freedom to tackle most issues and bring to light social, political, economic and even sports stories.

There isn't enough protection provided to journalists and self-censorship is practised by our newspapers to avoid angering official bodies and to please the government.

Adding to their woes, journalists battle to get even the simplest information due to the non-co-operation of most official bodies which is another issue that the NMC did nothing about. On this issue, the NMC has taken the side of the government bodies, as if it is totally unconcerned with media affairs.

No official is ready to respond to a journalist, and no spokesperson provides information for any ministry or government body. The title of official spokesperson means nothing, because the spokesperson thinks he is a high-ranking official and that journalists are inferior to him, and accordingly declines to co-operate with them."

Newspapers aren't spared, from top to bottom:

"Journalists are no longer doing their duty, meaning that the press is no longer monitoring the performance of government.

Some newspapers even indulge in hypocrisy to please officials and the bodies they represent, and there is also full subordination to advertisers.

Mismanagement and confusion abound in most media outlets, as a result of the lack of experience of the people running them, from editors to editors-in-chief.

Some newspapers are run by people who care only about their own interests, at the expense of the public interest."

He talks about the pointlessness of it, given our access to the internet and all the news that it contains. And how in view of that we need a strong independent media here to discuss the issues facing the country. He also complains about the decreasing number of Emirati journalists.

It's by far the strongest piece I've seen on the standard of journalism, the incompetence of media companies, the lack of transparency from government, the lack of media freedom.

I'd be interested to know if anything similar is appearing in the Arabic media.

Read the full column here.

5:02
March New Month Open Thread
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

We're still alive, if not necessarily kicking. Cast your pearls of wisdom below.

3:28
Ibn Battuta Water Park
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

The last couple of days have given us a look as far from the popular image of a desert city you can imagine.

Just a word of warning - I had to go into Ibn Battuta Mall earlier and there's an awful lot of water around.

It's not impassable but there's plenty of evidence of the amount of rain we've had overnight and through the morning and you need to take extra care driving.

Tankers and pumps are working on it and it looks as though the rain may be easing off so I guess they'll have it clear before too long.

Inside the car park there's a few centimetre of water to wade though so don't wear your best shoes if you're going there today.

1:25
Brothel or Business Hub
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)

Lately Dubai has emerged as brothel of Middle East females from age group 19 to 30 of asia pacific, uzbik, russian, pakistani, indian are landing under the cover of beauticians, gym assistants, massage specialists.

despite the blockage of websites like expatriates.com, gulf adultfriendfinders etc etc plenty of websites under blog names are offering companionship and sexual time out.

seems like dubai police is hoodwinking as this blogger has interviewed many many local families and expat families. They are moving to Sharjah prime reason of safety & privacy within the residential complexes in Dubai.

Off late, the Sex worker ladies are landing from countries which are under VISA on Arrival rule, in Dubai for making money.

Authorities need to check…..!…. before Dubai is painted RED District of Middle East

Where there is demand there is always ways of supplies
March 01, 2010
3:06
Nature Call
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)

It started on Friday, continued till Saturday. Saturday & Sunday was a HAVOC for those who dare to drive between Dubai & Sharjah

The Dubai Police’s Operations Room reported 170 road accidents during the first hours of the heavy rains that lashed the country on Saturday night.

Colonel Omar Al Shamsi, Director of
Dubai Police’s Command and Control Room, said there were 21 serious road accidents, 16 moderate accidents and 133 minor accidents. Colonel Al Shamsi said the control room also received 3,415 phone calls for help.

It will be a while before conditions return to normalcy.

1:08
Not all was what we needed
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

I said yesterday that the rain was just what we needed.

Not all the results of it were what we needed though.

It certainly cleared the dust from the air and washed the place down, but it also had some tragic effects.

At Global Village a woman was killed and a man badly injured by a falling sign at the Indian Pavilion. And in Sharjah three men were electrocuted, one who touched a metal pole on the side of a flooded road and two others by coming into contact with water charged with electricity.

There was plenty of chaos on the roads, especially in and to Sharjah, which seems to have been the worst hit emirate. A colleague of Mrs Seabee left work in Dubai at 6pm and didn't arrive home in Sharjah until five hours later.

Dubai police say there were 170 road accidents during the first hours of the heavy rains that lashed the country on Saturday night. There were 21 classified as serious, 16 moderate and 133 minor accidents. The Command & Control room apparently received 3,415 phone calls, presumably most not about traffic problems.

Talking of the weather, parts of western Europe have also been hit by wild storms. At least thirteen people are reported dead, most from drowning.

We get these problems in Oz too. A couple of times falling branches have brought a power line down outside our house, leaving the live cable lying across the road. People act quickly, whoever spots it first sets up a warning of some sort and alerts all the neighbours. State Emergency Service crews are quick on the scene and fortunately there hasn't been a tragedy.

We had a tsunami alert there for the east coast as a result of the Chile earthquake, as did the whole Pacific rim. Beaches were cleared but the surge came a little later than predicted and met the outgoing tide. That took the sting out of the incoming water so the tsunami fizzled out.

Sea levels did rise and there was a small tsunami wave, and now the oceanographers are coming under attack for overstating the danger. I have to agree with the comment from the Hawaii Tsunami Warning Centre though:

" It's a key point to remember that we cannot under-warn. Failure to warn is not an option for us. We cannot have a situation that we thought was no problem and then it's devastating."

Looking out of my window now it's sunny and calm with the leaves not moving on the trees. However, the weather bureau says we can expect unsettled weather with gusty winds and heavy rain for the next couple of days.

Reports I've referred to:

Results of UAE weather.
Tsunami alert.
February 28, 2010
4:20
Just what we needed
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

After a few days of strong winds everything was covered with a layer of dust and sand and the air was heavy with it.

Last night we got what we needed...

Thunder, lightning, plenty of heavy rain.

Apart from the usual flooded spots it's been good news. The trees and plants are looking green instead of gray, the streets, footpaths and buildings have been washed.

Plenty of water came down, but on Sheikh Zayed Road's Interchange 5 it's being added to by water coming up...

February 27, 2010
11:27
Latest Wall Street binge: Curling
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

And, no, it's nothing like a hedge, a straddle, or a stripped mortage-backed security:

NYT:
This slow-poke game, which originated in 16th-century Scotland, has captivated the Type-A world of Wall Street almost by accident. CNBC, whose market chatter is the background music on trading floors, switches to curling from Vancouver shortly after the closing bell.
And so, after a day of braying for money in the markets, traders are winding down with curling. It is, fans say, a bit of after-market therapy. Curling is so slow and drawn out that it becomes mesmerizing.
...
Curling is like chess on ice, and that, Wall Streeters say, it part of its quiet appeal.
Slate explores parts of the allure that the New York Times seems to have missed:
Scales dropping from its eyes, a popular audience has begun to dig curling's mesmeric pace, soothing rhythms, and alluring intimacy. What other sport allows the home viewer so much time to study players' unguarded faces as they focus, fret, and scheme? It is possible to appreciate the sport's charms even while being ignorant of its intricacies, T.S. Eliot having articulated a truth: Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
Four years ago, discussing the Torino games with me, Seth Stevenson neatly defined curling's appeal: "It features the collision physics of billiards mixed with the spin-heavy, long-distance shot-making of golf." Further, he and I bonded in crushing on its ice princesses. The ranks of the besotted grow daily: NBC has ogled the curling-stone tattoo on Nicole Joraanstad's lower belly. John Doyle, a TV critic at The Globe and Mail, is taking heat for deeming the women's game "the sexiest thing at the Olympics." And then there is the fact that, in the matter of exhibitionism, the curl girls make Lindsey Vonn look like an Amish agoraphobe. Once again, Ana Arce—a photographer and a former member of the Andorran team—has shot a calendar that captures these lovely and talented women in poses ranging from the artistic to the sultry to the very sultry to the not at all safe for work in a Helmut Newton kind of way. Is it self-exploitative? Is it self-empowering? Are those categories mutually exclusive? Isn't it good for the sport that the curling stone has gathered some gloss?
Videos: Which way do curling stones curl?; How curling stones are made;
Bikini curling

6:42
Our worst kind of weather
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

Summer is very hot, 50C, very humid, 98%, very uncomfortable.

Winter rains cause flooded roads, crashes, flooded car parks, leaking roofs.

But what we've had the last couple of days is the worst of all in my opinion. Strong winds thick with sand and dust.

Who'd want to swap jobs with the poor guys who have to work out in it all day, wrapped up as best they can to keep the dust out.

Not much job satisfaction either - as he sweeps it up even more replaces it.

February 26, 2010

21:45

IMF report on UAE is out

» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

February 18, 2010 --Transcript of a Press Briefing on the 2009 Article IV Consultation with the United Arab Emirates by Masood Ahmed, Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia Department

February 18, 2010 -- United Arab Emirates: 2009 Article IV Consultation - Staff Report; Public Information Notice; and Statement by the Executive Director for United Arab Emirates
Series: Country Report No. 10/42

February 17, 2010 -- Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2009 Article IV Consultation with United Arab Emirates
Each Public Information Notice contains a background section, a table of selected economic indicators, and an Executive Board assessment.

There's plenty to read. Here's something from the Staff Report:

While there are widely accepted principles for sovereign and corporate debt restructurings, specific best practices for the restructuring of state-owned entities are less clear. Nonetheless, an over-arching principle is that such entities should be subject to the regular corporate insolvency law as far as possible.

And, then later:

Neither DW nor Dubai Inc. discloses consolidated balance sheet or debt information. There are no official statistics, and it is difficult to build them from company financials because the majority of Dubai Inc. entities do not disclose financials, except to their bankers. Documentation in the public domain covers only syndicated loans and bonds as captured by various data providers, and analysts’ estimates are based on these sources. As such, the estimates are of publicly-held debt and therefore exclude (i) syndicated loans for which documentation is incomplete; (ii) bilateral loans (from global or local banks); (iii) accounts payables/suppliers’ credits; and (iv) derivatives, credit commitments, and other liabilities.

Finally, from the Public Information Notice assessment:

Directors stressed the need for increased transparency of economic and financial data, including financial accounts and business strategies for GREs. Together with improved corporate governance, Directors concluded that these steps would contribute to facilitating access of viable GREs to capital markets.

Directors viewed the adoption of the Federal Statistics Law and the establishment of the National Bureau of Statistics as important steps toward developing capacity at the federal level. They stressed the need to develop an action plan including the issuance of implementing regulations and a strengthening of the Board’s operational independence. Directors also welcomed the authorities’ efforts to compile consolidated fiscal statistics and encouraged them to pursue plans to develop leading indicators and the U.A.E’s international investment position, in line with initiatives under the General Data Dissemination System.

The message is clear: the UAE may be modern in many ways, but not in terms of government data collection.

Previous IMF reports can be found at its UAE page.

18:54
Emergency shipment of condoms headed to Olympic athletes - Post Sports
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Vancouver Now - Emergency shipment of condoms headed to Olympic athletes - Post Sports
16:45
Lights out for Chávez
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Hugo Chavez has a power failure:
Power failures have become a fact of life in Venezuela, but the energy problems have not affected the presidential palace - until now.

President Hugo Chavez was giving a televised address Thursday when the broadcast on state TV was suddenly interrupted. TV screens went fuzzy for a couple of seconds, then the channel switched to a spot urging Venezuelans to save electricity.
Chavez is known for giving long speeches. In his Sunday program, "Hello President", he speaks for four to six hours.

He has banned singing in the shower:
Despite its huge crude oil reserves, Venezuela relies on hydroelectricity for 70 percent of its power, and a drought has affected power supplies since late last year. “We are ready to decree the electricity emergency because it really is an emergency,” Mr. Chávez said in the first edition of “Suddenly Chávez,” on state radio.

With electricity cuts weighing on Mr. Chávez’s popularity and important legislative elections scheduled for September, the government says the shortages are a result of the drought and soaring demand during years of economic growth, until 2008.

But critics say poor management and underinvestment were responsible for undermining the power grid, and they contend that this has exposed the failings of Mr. Chávez’s policies during his 11 years in office.
Addendum:
President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that Venezuela should boycott the Organization of American States' human rights body, saying the panel wrongly accused his government of political repression.

Chavez took issue with a report issued this week by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which cited widespread human rights violations in Venezuela. The socialist leader called the 300-page report ''pure garbage'' and described the commission's president, Santiago Canton, as ''excrement.''

''We should prepare to denounce the agreement in which Venezuela joined ... this terrible Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and leave it,'' Chavez said during a televised address.
12:31
Markets in everything
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

What happens to those pre-printed t-shirts for championship games, the ones where the team loses?
Our job on Saturday was to pack boxes for the Haitian relief effort – boxes of hats and shirts. We were all arrayed at our folding and packing tables, staring at a seeming mountain of broken-down boxes spewing these articles of clothing. And for some reason lost on us, every single box was labeled in huge block letters with “LOSER”.

You see – these boxes were all full of t-shirts and hats printed for major championship sporting events of the past few years. And at every one of those events, both teams are presented with boxes and boxes of celebratory gear before the game – gear proclaiming them the champions so they can wear them for television as soon as the game ends. I guess I’d never thought about all of those boxes of paraphernalia with the wrong winning team on them. It turns out they get donated to charity – like the mountain of clothing we were about to ship to Haiti.

As I worked on preparing all of this stuff, my mind wandered all over the place. I folded t-shirts proclaiming the Texas Longhorns the NCAA Football champs from the recent game in the Rose Bowl – and wondered again if the Horns would have beat Alabama if Colt McCoy could have played that whole game.

11:56
Job Questions (in UAE)- Top 50
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)

Top Questions

1. Does managing in the Middle East differ from managing elsewhere?

2. In what countries have you worked – what were the differences?

3. Have you managed a multicultural team before?

4. What were the challenges of running a multicultural team?

5. Give me an overview of who you are/your experience?

6. What’s your greatest strength?

7. What’s your greatest weakness?

8. How have you managed a difficult situation and brought out a positive outcome?

9. When have you failed? What did you learn from it?

10. What is your proudest achievement?

11. Describe your management style?

12. How do you like to be managed?

13. Why should we hire you?

14. What would your employees say about you?

15. Why do you want to work for us?

16. Who else are you talking to?

17. Describe the perfect job?

18. What are you earning now?

19. What salary do you expect?

20. What would you do in the first month of this job?

21. Have you ever fired anyone before? How did it feel?

22. How would you build confidence in your manager?

23. How would you get your team’s trust?

24. What’s your favourite book/film – why?

25. When were you last seen to fail? How did you handle the criticism?

26. Do you live to work or work to live?

27. Which boss/leader have you/do you most admire – and why?

28. Do you have any questions?

29. When can you start?

30. Why are you leaving your present job?

31. Why did you leave?

32. What did you rate your previous boss?

33. What technical/personal training do you need?

34. Describe the type of people you like to work for?

35. When have you been the happiest?

36. How would you fire someone – describe the meeting?

37. Where do you see yourself in 18 months?

38. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

39. You win the lottery – what do you do?

40. Describe yourself in five words?

41. What do you think you can bring to this job?

42. What questions should I have asked you, but have not?

43. How has this interview been handled?

44. How would you judge my performance in this interview?

45. What do you think of this city?

46. How long have you lived here? How long do you think you will want to live here?

47. Are you willing to relocate?

48. If you were asked by your company to do something that broke the law, would you?

49. What is your greatest fear?

50. Name three positive traits you don’t have?

11:17
Pigeon beats man....
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

...in the Monty Hall Problem:
Are birds smarter than mathematicians? Pigeons (Columba livia) perform optimally on a version of the Monty Hall Dilemma

Walter Herbranson & Julia Schroeder
Journal of Comparative Psychology, February 2010, Pages 1-13

Abstract: The “Monty Hall Dilemma” (MHD) is a well known probability puzzle in which a player tries to guess which of three doors conceals a desirable prize. After an initial choice is made, one of the remaining doors is opened, revealing no prize. The player is then given the option of staying with their initial guess or switching to the other unopened door. Most people opt to stay with their initial guess, despite the fact that switching doubles the probability of winning. A series of experiments investigated whether pigeons (Columba livia), like most humans, would fail to maximize their expected winnings in a version of the MHD. Birds completed multiple trials of a standard MHD, with the three response keys in an operant chamber serving as the three doors and access to mixed grain as the prize. Across experiments, the probability of gaining reinforcement for switching and staying was manipulated, and birds adjusted their probability of switching and staying to approximate the optimal strategy. Replication of the procedure with human participants showed that humans failed to adopt optimal strategies, even with extensive training.
For more see our previous posts on the Monty Hall problem.

5:33
Did 'Dubai' do it?
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

I've been reading some of the reports around the world about the leak at Dubai Aquarium.

They often add the the old property crash/debt crisis/Burj Khalifa lift problem stuff, so they become very negative about Dubai. And of course it encourages the real Dubai/Arab/Muslim bashers to jump in with their comments.

Here's a classic from the Huffington Post for example:

"Coool! Dubai is the farce of modern society. They have everything.... but it's built with our oil money ..... they are NOT a modern society... they are the oppose. People still get flogged for kissing in public, jailed for infidelity, and any other horrific thing you may hav heard about; men whip women on the beach in bikinis, spit on them...and that's just the tip of the sand dune."

Anyone in Dubai recognise the place from that?

But I did enjoy a couple of the other comments:

"It was probably caused by a stray bullet from the not-so-secret Mossad hit squad.

Boy! When things go wrong..."

And:

"Dubai has a lot of problems,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i.e. bankruptcy; closure of their new tower; this.

Is it possible that they themselves staged the hit on the Palestinian murderer to take attention away from its own problems?"

Anyway, that was really an aside, I distracted myself.

What I was going to post about was that while 'Dubai' is taking all the flak there's an important part of the story that isn't included.

'Dubai' didn't make the huge acrylic window, 'Dubai' didn't design the aquarium and 'Dubai' doesn't operate it.

The difference in reporting is interesting.

Buildings collapse in other cities but the stories aren't negative about the city itself.

Toyota has major problems and the negative stories are about Toyota. Not about 'Japan'.

But with the aquarium leak, and other stories about problems in Dubai, it's 'Dubai' itself which takes the hits. In fact, the aquarium problem must surely relate to either the designer and operator, Oceanis Australia Group, or to Emaar.

The viewing panel, which leaked, was commissioned under the supervision of Oceanis Australia Group. I can't find the name of the manufacturer, although there seem to be only three companies in the world capable of producing it. It's the world's largest acrylic panel, 32.8 meters wide, 8.3 metres high, 750 mm thick and weighs 245,614 kg.

When it was commissioned it was, according to Emaar's press release:

"...at the limit of production abilities by major acrylic manufacturers..."

It isn't in one piece though. If you stand at an angle to it you can see where the panels are joined. The panels are apparently fused with acrylic-soluble cement. From what I can gather from the stories it was a joint that was the problem, although the information is vague as usual and I could well be wrong.

I assume the panels were joined in the specialist factory, in Japan or wherever, which built it. Or could it be that the panels were joined here? That might be something that could be (but won't be) clarified by Emaar's PR people.

It would be good to hear from Oceanis Australia Group and from the manufacturer of the window about what happened and why.

I wonder if the PR people from the three organisations are talking to each other and getting factual information together that would stop the speculation...

Huffington Post story is here.

Emaar's original press release is here.

1:35
Aquarium Leak
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)
1:33
Dubai Mall – Aquarium Leak Alert
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)

February 25, 2010
9:00
Now Dubai Aquarium has a problem
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

Following closely on the malfunctioning lifts in Burj Khalifa creating bad international publicity for Brand Dubai we have another bad story.

The huge aquarium in Dubai Mall has sprung a leak, causing an area of about 100 shops to be cordoned off with people told to leave the area.

The Wall Street Journal heads the story "Leak at Dubai Mall Aquarium Forces Evacuation"

It notes that it's: "the latest mishap to hit one of Emaar's prestigious projects. The company was forced this month to close the viewing deck in the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, in the center of Dubai."

A visitor from the US is quoted as saying: "It seems that as they're building things here, they're crumbling at the same time."

And the head of Middle East research at UBS AG told the WSJ: "Emaar has always been known as a quality developer, but they've been under pressure to finish Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. I'm not surprised that they've had maintenance issues. They've definitely put into question their quality and are compromising their quality over volume."

The news wires have put the story out, it's starting to appear in the media all over the world and the reports use words like 'evacuation' and 'shark tank' to add to the drama.

The Chicago Tribune headlines the story "Dubai's latest blooper".

Even the usually restrained BBC runs the headline "Huge shark-filled aquarium in Dubai cracks open".

Apart from the more serious media I always like to check out what the tabloids are saying, because they have the most readers and so shape much more opinion, sadly.

Predictably, the UK tabloid The Sun screams: "Terror as mall shark tank cracks". It goes on to tell its several million readers: "Shoppers at the Dubai Mall fled in terror fearing that they about to be engulfed by 10 million gallons of water holding 33,000 sea creatures...Mall security men donned life jackets"

And inevitably, according to The Sun: ...anyone with photos of the drama were ordered by cops to delete them."

Too late, the paper has a photo of water gushing from the crack.

Naturally, most of the stories also refer back to the lift problem in Burj Khalifa and to Dubai's debt problems.

It's all doing huge damage to Dubai's reputation and it's becoming a PR man's nightmare.

The Wall Street Journal story is here.

The Chicago Tribune is here.

The BBC has the story here.

The Sun story is here.

8:52
Leak at Dubai Mall Aquarium Forces Evacuation
» ‎ UAE community blog (uae)

That's the headline in the Wall Street Journal. I've also seen the story on Sky News.

There's a statement from Emaar:

"A leakage was noticed at one of the panel joints of the Dubai Aquarium at The Dubai Mall and was immediately fixed by the aquarium's maintenance team," the emailed statement said. "The leakage did not impact the aquarium environment or the safety of the aquatic animals."

An area is cordoned off and shops closed.

While there may not be a safety problem it's another blow to Brand Dubai. A visitor is reported by the WSJ as saying : "It seems that as they're building things here, they're crumbling at the same time."

The WSJ story is here.

0:54
Racism again
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

How irresponsible it is for people who influence opinion to immediately claim that any violent assault on a non-caucasian is racially motivated.

Before there's a police investigation, before the perpetrators and motives have been established, the accusations that it was racially motivated have started.

Australia has been getting a lot of criticism lately, particularly about attacks in Melbourne on Indian students. There's no doubt that some were racially motivated, and my guess is that a lot of those are copycat attacks by neanderthal youths who brag to their friends about it.

However, many are simply muggings and some are by people of the same ethnicity as the victim, as I've pointed out in previous posts (just hit the 'racism' label to go to the earlier posts if you're interested).

A Malaysian-born Australian was killed in Sydney on Sunday. In Australia we had the headline "Race-hate fears over fatal bashing".

Malaysia's New Straits Times had "Road rage or hate crime?" The story went on to emphasise the race angle:

"Australian police should work quickly to ascertain the motive behind the murder of Malaysian-born Mohd Shah Saemin who was brutally attacked by two men in Sydney on Sunday night.

Police there linked the attack to a possible road rage incident but Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, while offering his condolences to the victim's family, asked if the incident was a race-based hate crime.

In a statement released on Monday night, Anifah urged the Australian authorities to "thoroughly investigate the case to ensure that the incident is a genuine road rage case and not a case of race-based hate crime".

Australia was rocked recently by a series of attacks against Indian nationals and students living there.

There have now been arrests.

Guess what. Race isn't remotely involved.

"Love triangle behind murder of consulate employee Mohd Shah Saemin" says the headline.

"THE wife of a Sydney taxi driver accused of murdering her alleged lover is due to face court today.

Nita Eriza Iskandar, 46, was yesterday arrested in Leichhardt and charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, and hindering a police investigation.

Her husband, taxi driver Hazairin Iskandar, 55, was arrested at his Croydon home on Tuesday night. He was charged with murder and will appear in court again in April.

The couple's 20-year-old son was arrested in Singapore, and NSW detectives will seek his extradition today."

I don't pretend that race crimes don't happen, and when they do they should be exposed as such. But politicians playing to their voters and the media looking for sensationalism by immediately screeching 'racism' at every opportunity do nothing but irresponsibly add to tensions.

Road rage or hate crime.
Love triangle behind murder.
February 24, 2010
4:31
Getting back to basics
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

People say that Dubai has no culture. I think it has, and that culture is working.

Trading. Doing business. Wheeling and dealing.

Location has always been a key. Added to that has been access and infrastructure. Dubai has always led the region in all three.

It's very much a working city. People come here to work, they work long and hard hours. It's all about working. Working is Dubai's DNA.

It's something I've talked about it in several previous posts, recently in response to gleeful 'Dubai crash' stories.

The fact is that Dubai always has been and always will be a trading centre, but that was all but forgotten in the mad property scramble.

It was madness.

Billions of dollars changed hands in spite of there being no laws governing the sector.

Speculators were allowed to flip properties, even without having made one payment, and made millions doing so. For the first two or three years it was all done not only with no laws in place but with no properties actually built.

Caught up in the madness too many senior executives went on huge ego trips. They announced more and more outlandish developments and they borrowed short term money to buy companies which would produce only long term returns.

Then the world hit the wall. Dubai is part of the world so we hit the wall too.

Not a bad thing, it was a runaway train out of control.

Huge, badly thought out developments have been halted. Many of the incompetent senior executives have gone.

But behind all that madness, unnoticed, was the trading Dubai. From the big merchant family conglomerates to the small and medium business which are so important to the economy, the trading went on. The world didn't comment because it didn't notice.

It's why the 'Dubai doomed' stories, the 'ghost town' predictions are wrong. The people writing them don't know Dubai's history. They think, indeed they say, that the city sprouted from the desert ten years ago. Before that it was just a small village they say. They think that property is what Dubai is all about.

They couldn't be more wrong.

Today's Gulf News has some stories talking about the real economy.

The lead story is that Dubai's non-oil direct exports jumped 23% in 2009 over 2008. The value of exports through Dubai Customs exit points in 2009 was Dh52.4 billion (US$14.25 billion).

The major product categories were valuable metals and products made from them, processed food products, plastics, rubber and natural metal products.

The top export markets were India, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran.

Another front page story says that passenger and cargo business at Dubai International Airport were way up in January over January last year. Passenger traffic was up 17% at 3.38 million, which was also a monthly record, beating the previous best of 3.81 million of December 2009.

Freight volume was up 31.5% over last January, at 171,453 tonnes.

The airport is now the world's fourth busiest for passenger traffic and fifth busiest for freight. Last year 40.9 million passengers used the airport.

A fourth Chinese airline, China Eastern from Yunan, also began flying into Dubai this week, so trade with the world's third largest economy should grow.

The new cruise ship terminal was also opened yesterday, in a joint inauguration with the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa.

The terminal, which can handle four ships simultaneously, is currently used by Costa Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Aida cruises. Last year there were eighty cruise ship calls to Port Rashid, bringing 263,000 passengers.

So there's plenty going on in the real world of Dubai's economy, as it always has.

Let's hope that lessons have been learned and in future the focus will be on Dubai's strengths.

The full stories:

Exports.
Airport.
Chinese airline
Cruise terminal.

February 23, 2010
7:27
Isn't this a good signal, not a bad one?
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Q : I WENT OUT FOR DINNER WITH THIS GUY, and it was great — we got along well, and there was a definite spark. But when it came time to pay, he pulled out a coupon. I'm hardly a princess, but that totally killed it for me. Am I being too hard on him?
A: Here's my little theory. It's a good signal if you're interested in a committed relationship and you want someone who is financially responsible. It's a bad signal if you want someone to pamper you and you're not looking to join your life and back accounts.
February 22, 2010
10:54
Sentence of the day
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Inherited family-owned firms who appoint a family member (especially the eldest son) as chief executive officer are very badly managed on average.
That's Robin Hanson summarizing some conclusions from the paper "Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries?" by Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen.

5:20
Priceless
» ‎ Metroblogging Dubai (uae)

Fines or Parking ticket – the picture has 1000 words in it

February 21, 2010
21:02
Drone on
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Israeli drone airplane can reach Gulf.

I guess it doesn't matter if it can fly back.

2:48
Metro completion delayed again
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

While it's clear that work has been continuing on the Metro, you can see workers on the stations and bridges along the Red Line, it's obvious that they're way behind with completion.

Now the official word is that the opening of the remaining eighteen stations has been put back, with seven due to open on April 25 and the final eleven opening 'in phases' on unspecified dates.

I think most of the seven new stations will encourage more people to use the Metro because of their convenient locations. They're at Ibn Battutu, Dubai Marina, World Trade Centre, Karama and Terminal 1 at the airport, plus the stupidly named GGICO Station (Al Garhoud) and Emirates Station (which people will confuse with Termnal 3 I'm sure).

Mrs Seabee had to go to Terminal 3 last week at peak traffic time so she decided to take her first trip on the Metro. Taxi to MoE station from her office in Knowledge Village, Metro from there right into the terminal. Quicker, easier, less stressful than driving, quicker and cheaper than a taxi all the way so she gave it a thumbs up.

As for the Green Line opening, that's been put back yet again, this time to August 2011.

Gulf News has the story here.

February 20, 2010
22:26
Markets in everything
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Google makes 1/2 billion dollars a years off of your typos. A typosquatter might register "emiratseconomist.com" in the hope of getting visits from people who meant to type "emirateseconomist.com".
Moore and Edelman started by using common spelling mistakes to create a list of possible typo domains for the 3264 most popular .com websites, as determined by Alexa.com rankings. They estimate that each of the 3264 top sites is targeted by around 280 typo domains.

They then used software to crawl 285,000 of these 900,000-odd sites to determine what revenue the typo domains might be generating.

If the top 100,000 websites suffer the same typosquatting rate as the sites Moore and Edelman studied, up to 68 million people a day could visit a typo site, they say. They estimate that almost 60 per cent of typo sites could have adverts supplied by Google.

If the company earns as much per visitor from ads on typo sites as it reportedly does from ads alongside search results, it could potentially earn $497 million a year in revenue from typo domains, they conclude.
Moore and Edelman's papers Measuring the Perpetrators and Funders of Typosquatting and Measuring the Perpetrators and Funders of Typosquatting.

15:12
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! - Ronald Reagan
» ‎ A revisionist autobiography (uae)

I was facinated by rfmcdpei's link about the last man in East Germany.

It was homais who first brought to my attention the Saudi religious policeman convicted of having six wives, rather than the permitted four.

I can't say I approve of this Ugandan preacher.

In 2009, Dubai's government realized the hard way that denying an Israeli tennis player a visa for a professional tourament could lead to problems on the international stage. So they've let her in this year, but put her on an outside court where relatively few people can watch her.

Given stories like this, I am glad Emiratis are now discussing the prospect of giving expatriates more room to discreetly engage in behavior acceptable in their home countries. The gap between what you can generally get away with and what you are legally permitted has often led to avoidable problems.

By my count, the latest round of delays for the Dubai metro are the fifth for the red line and at least the third for the green line.

The American University of Sharjah has a gorgeous campus.

This is the Main Building, seen from the front.

You may have noticed a minaret next to it.

Let us stroll through the date palms in that direction.

I think we can get closer.

Okay, that's plenty close.

Stop already!

Look up!

Admire the details.

We can move to one end.

And then out.

Don't worry, there's plenty more to see.

Let's head past one side of the building.

And look back.

We're now at a plaza behind the library.

As you can see, there are views of more neat buildings to be had here.

Inside, you can find this skylight.

This is the view towards the rear of the university from the library; try as I might, I couldn't get rid of the glare from the window.

Let's take a peek at the rest of the campus.

This is an outdoor corridor connecting three academic buildings.

One window along it.

Underneath a dome within one of the aforementioned buildings.

I love the wing-like feature on top of these showrooms on Sheikh Zayed Road.

This one's not taken from the metro.

There is an identical cluster of three buildings just up the road.

February 19, 2010
19:30
The financial bubble burst, but the infrastructure is still there.
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

Dubai has built the infrastructure investments that many developing countries so desperately need–a well-maintained network of roads, a large air terminal with another under construction, and a port that is among the best in the world. Along with the skilled labor that it attracts from all corners of the world, Dubai has positioned itself as a global leader in trans-shipment, services and logistics systems. Will these investments will be enough to offset its current woes? Whatever the answer, there is no doubt that Dubai’s infrastructure investments are a key ingredient to future growth, not just in the Emirate but in the wider region in which it is located.
That's Vijaya Ramachandran's postcard from Dubai. Ramachandran is an expert at the Center for Global Development.
16:18
Paragraph of the day
» ‎ The Emirates Economist (uae)

I was thinking about close-knit communities built on trust and how they are prone to abuse. Think of the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church for example. Or how Bernie Madoff was able to so easily manipulate the Jewish community. So I went look for some research that I thought be out there. Instead I found this:
The full toll that Madoff took on golf may never be known. The tally so far registers in grim estates: a staggering $1 billion-plus purportedly swindled from the membership of Palm Beach CC; a reported $100 million from those at Hillcrest and Oak Ridge country clubs in Minnesota; and on. But the damage to the game can't be measured in dollars alone. In his wide-ranging betrayal, Madoff not only stole a fortune, he frayed the social fabric from which golf is stitched. His still-unraveling scheme has left some players questioning the sense of trust supposedly inherent among golfers, and others contemplating the cruel irony of having joined clubs that were built to keep the riffraff out, only to discover that the worst kind of riffraff was already in.
Read more: Golf.com

6:00
Photo mix
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

I was sorting out my recent batch of photos and thought this random selection might be of interest.

We're used to seeing Dubai police in BMWs and 4x4s, but at Dubai Marina/JBR they have a whole different kind of fleet, hardly hot pursuit vehicles:

There's some appropriate topiary in that area too:

A bit further on, Ibn Battuta Gate is looking good:

Also looking good is the bouganvillea around town, coming towards its best at this time of year:

And at JBR, a Russian bear has appeared. It's in a restaurant we tried the other evening, called Suvoroff. I'm no expert on Russian food but I thought it was pretty good. The menu has a big variety, with very different dishes from the usual things we're offered.

February 17, 2010
13:52
Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel. - Jimi Hendrix
» ‎ A revisionist autobiography (uae)

Sita Sings the Blues was fun. I'm pretty sure rparvaaz in particular would want to take a look, but mrputter and fugney might also find the concept interesting.

If you can put WiFi on a school bus, you should be able to roll it out on mass transit systems everywhere.

For the second year in a row, the organizers of Twenty20 cricket in India are having a hard time organizing games such that teams all play in their home cities. Last year, the entire tournament had to be shifted to South Africa owing to security fears. This year, political problems in south India are hampering one team, while another in the west has only just emerged from under the shadow of threats from a regional politician. On a related note, you probably have to know a thing or two about Indian politics to realize why this comparison is hilariously awesome.

Urban planning aficionados may already be familiar with the story of Curitiba.

Every time you think Silvio Berlusconi can't sink any lower, he surprises you.

Saudi campaigners are urging a boycott of the Kingdom's lingerie stores, which are staffed by men.

Two prominent UAE nationals have called for expatriates with longstanding ties to the country to be given permanent residency. It will be interesting to see if the proposal gathers substance or momentum in the future. Citizenship remains out of the question, however.

An amaetur photographer was put into jail because he was photographing facilities that turned out to be of military importance. Not that there was a sign warning him about this or anything. It's scary because this could so easily have been me. The area he was in has great views of downtown Abu Dhabi; I've just never had the opportunity to stop and pull out a camera.

These are some pictures I got of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It wasn't open for the day yet, so I could only shoot from one side of the outside while the light faced exactly the wrong way, using an old camera whose batteries died when I was halfway done taking pictures. Until I get to make a real visit, you will have to just take my word for it that the building is even better looking than it appears here.

I got to the mosque shortly after first light.

The marble floors inside were being cleaned, but a friendly guard allowed me to walk along the periphery.

As you may have noticed, it has no shortage of domes - 57, according to Wikipedia.

The four minarets seem to have a slightly different architectural style.

But they still go well together with the domes.

There are shallow pools along the length of the mosque.

As you walk alongside them, you can see different parts of the mosque reflected.

As you might guess, I'm a fan.

Everything's so clean even the water seems shiny.

A more blurry shot.

It's not hard to see why the mosque cost a fortune to build.

Painstaking work has gone into making sure each detail is top class.

A look towards the central courtyard.

This dome faces the open space there.

A corridor running down the width of the mosque.

Rest assured, I plan to return as soon as I can.

The two Address hotels near Burj Dubai.

8:00
Spiderman at JBR
» ‎ Life in Dubai (uae)

I'm told they do it for fun. I'd die of fright.

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