Gulf News

Gulf News are finally offering RSS feeds, I have just noticed, for all you aggregator freaks out there. If you don't know what RSS is all about, read the BBC Guide. Basically, you pull the news that you want to read from one area, essentially creating your own newspaper, with news and information from wherever, including blogs, podcasts, and anywhere else that provide feeds. If you are an information freak like me and you don't aggregate, now is the time to start. There are many different services out there, that you can access from your browser, the web, or through your operating system. I'd recommend Bloglines, Feeddemon or Newsgator, although there are many others out there. I currently subscribe to about 200 feeds most of which are free, although, I don't read em all - I'm getting especially good at skimming!

DIC and Travellers Lodge

The big news of the day is Dubai International Capital taking over Travelodge for $1.3bn. If you are unfamiliar with Travelodge, it is a UK based hotel chain, pitched at the budget traveller. DIC are smart to take up Travelodge, as the budget market lifts off, and with tourism always big in the UK, this is sure thing. Even more so, 2012 will be the Olympic year, and they can guarantee occupancy int he run up and as London is rejuvenated fr tourism. The other thing about the deal is brand. Travelodge has a reputation for quality at an affordable price. If you want a clean place to stay, without the bells and whistles, at an affordable price, Travelodge is the place. It's what you would pitch as an Ibis or a 'real' 3star. If DIC were smart they would look at rolling it out in the UAE, to compete with the current 3 star which falls well below par, and is associated with the underworld. There is huge potential with this, and DIC are well placed to develop this both in the UK, in the Middle East and overseas. Not everyone can afford the high end. In fact, not many can, and this is why this deal could give big returns.

DPW Numbers

Dubai Ports World in the news:

1. DPW seeking US Bids - Worth: $700m
2. DPW to set up terminal in Pakistan - Worth: $211m
3. DPW to set up Britain's Biggest Business Park - Worth $2.85bn

The last deal is huge in numbers, but also amazing as far as deal breakers go.

How fast?

How fast must a 4X4 be driving to throw a woman from her car (and kill her), if she was wearing a seat belt? When will these ignorant drivers ever learn? Another waste of life.

Dolphin City

In Abu Dhabi, the short term issues are being ignored for the long term goals. While the Dolphin City project will provide much needed resedential capability, the need now is for the mid range. The situation in Abu Dhabi is much like that of Dubai three to five years ago, where appartments were hard to find. This situation will deteriorate at a faster pace, simply because room space is not coming onto the market. The already steep hike in rents in Abu Dhabi will match and surpass those in Dubai, simply due to the lack of housing. And there is no need for the situation. Abu Dhabi is massive. All that needs to be considered is the commuter belt. Create areas, along the lines of Khalifa City, from where people can commute in, and the main problem will be solved. However, the focus seems to be on the coastal landmarks. Dolphin City will no doubt be a great area, but between now and then, there will be inflationary issues that will skyrocket and the quaintness for which Abu Dhabi is known will be lost.

The YouTube block in the UAE

The constant blocking of websites that are groundbreaking in the realm of Web 2.0 are a constant issue in the UAE. As the Internet advances, sites that, in the norm, meet the requirements of the moral, social, religious guidelines imposed by the authorities here, can be singled out due to small minority of content. Here's the official line:

“The decision to block websites is clearly based on whether they follow the guidelines based upon norms laid down by local authorities,” Al Shamsi added. “If a website’s content violates these norms, then it will not be unblocked. However, if the offending content can be singled out and blocked without impinging on the value of the rest of the content found on the site then the website could well be unblocked.”

Here's the thing. While pornography is a big business on the Internet, it is not something that YouTube want to be associated with, and while they do put some restrictions on non kid friendly material, it would be ridiculous if they tried to meet the restricion imposed by the UAE. With a population of over 4m, and an internet penetration rate of 35% or so, YouTube are hardly gong to bend over backwards to meet the requirements. To them it is small fry, and they will continue their growth in major markets. In such cases, it should be up to the authorities here to find a work around to the problem. Today youtube. Tomorrow, google.

The whole premise of the Internet is freedom of information, and looking at the long term strategy, with advances in modern net technology, the UAE will be held back by restricions put on information which, coupled with other factors, will make it a country that is construed as living in a conflict of forward versus backwards.

Full ITP article

Single Brown Male

Racial profiling has taken another sordid turn. You know what they're calling it now - terror profiling. September 11th caused issues worldwide. The shift saw the serious risk issue move from Black to Brown and the lyrics from Big Bill Brooonzy to bootleg Beatles. A "brother" will only cause issues if he has links with a Muslim country. But now, if you're sikh, you're linked in. No turbans allowed, my friend. The French don't like the headscarf. Goodness knows what they will do in Lebanon. If you're a single brown male, you're in trouble, especially if you're a britmuz, generally from the Middle East, come from the "stans", especially from Pakistan. Hell, if you're from Russia, you must have something to do with those Muslim terrorists in Bezlan. If you're white, you're pretty much alright, if you're of the yellow, you're more risk of being a people smuggler, or of counterfeit goods, but I pity the Single Brown Male. Please remove your shoes, Sir. Why did you go to Dubai, Sir? Please step aside one moment, Sir. Based on your profile, you're disenfranchised.

That UAE Cinema Feeling

The CyberSheikh?

Is our beloved Sheikh Mohamed really known as the Cybershiekh? The BBC seems to think so:

Thousands of workers, mainly from Asia, work relentlessly day and night to fulfil Sheikh Muhammad's ambitious vision of his city as world capital by 2010. The cybersheikh, as he is known, is well aware that his oil resources are limited.

I thought the cybershake was an internet dance. Ahem.

Shariah Compliant Indexing

With the prominence of Islamic Finance, it was only matter of time before it happened. The stocks focus on Kuwait and Qatari Stocks:

Both indices cover stocks that are open to all investors, whether domestic, GCC or international. The constituents in these indices are screened by a panel of Shariah scholars. This screening is undertaken by Yasaar Research.

I think the next move has to be cross nation industry specific index, for example, the shariah finance index, covering banking related companies. And then, the Super Shariah Index, for those stocks that have proven records, are high value and regularly traded. Only then will it be possible to compare Islamic Finance versus traditional and determine whether shared risk type products lead to overall better returns in the long run. As it is, these indices only provide small snapshots in what really are small markets.

Potemkin City

Potemkin City (part I, part II) from Transcity shows the billboards in place, where Bawadi will feature:



For now, billboards made of scaffolding and plywood are in place, but the destination hotel that they are advertising will still have a hard time outdoing them. They are on the road to Bab Al Shams, in the middle of the desert.
Potemkin villages were, purportedly, fake settlements on canvases erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigori Potemkin to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787. This was to impress the monarch and her travel party with the value of her new conquests, thus enhancing his standing in the empress’s eyes.

Top of the Shops

With the UAE playing the tourism game, highlighting shopping as a major attraction and pastime, and with all the malls in place, it comes as no surprise that the UAE shoppers ranked second in global ACNielsen survey on recreational shopping

According to the ACNielsen Online Consumer Confidence Survey conducted in 42 markets, 30 per cent of consumers in the UAE go shopping ‘at least once a week’. This figure was only second to Hong Kong which stands at 36 per cent. To further emphasize the UAE’S love of shopping for entertainment, the combined UAE percentage of respondents who shop for ‘something to do’ either ‘twice a week or more’, ‘once a week’, ‘once a month’, or ‘less than once a month’ was recorded among the top 10 worldwide, at 84 per cent.

I won't be surprised if the UAE jumps past Hong Kong to number 1 next year.

Songs, Associations, and Sting

My memories of the desert are in a 4X4 listening to Desert Rose by Sting, and I will always associate it to dusk dune bashing whenever I hear that song. And while I associate a diverse selection of both Arabic and English tracks to my time in the UAE, my most played CD of my time in the UAE is Sacred Love by Sting.



It would seem fitting, therefore, that as I leave, a new record is announced. Songs from the Labyrinth will be released in October of this year. I'll be one of the first to download it from iTunes!

In a tribute, here are the lyrics to Desert Rose:

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of fire
Those dreams that tie two hearts that will never die
And near the flames
The shadows play in the shape of the mans desire

This desert rose
Whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume that would torture you more than this

And now she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothings as it seems

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of rain
I lift my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
The rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of love

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

Sweet desert rose
Whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume that would torture you more than this

Sweet desert rose
This memory of hidden hearts and souls
This desert flower
This rare perfurme is the sweet intoxication of love

Memories of the 2001 s-type Jaguar advert, anyone?