Dubai has got soul

Dubai has often been described as soulless. And for what reason - perception of what it was to be. It has been overhyped by the media. There is a debate on the Lonely Planet Forum. I like this one from one member of the Dubai Pro team:



Ok, it's not Rio de Janeiro. Nor is it London or Mumbai or Hong Kong. But it's certainly not soulless. Dubai is full of people who know how to have a good time (and most certainly do have a good time) and it's also full of people who prefer the quiet life. It's home to hundreds of nationalities and multiple income groups. Babies are born and elderly people die in Dubai every day. It's not a perfect city, but then again no place in the world is perfect. It's a real, living environment, and perhaps ironically, is filled with expatriates who came here from places that you probably think of having 'soul' because the money is good in Dubai, the streets are safe, crime is minimal, the city is spotlessly clean. Many of these expatriates cry when they have to return to their home countries.


Thorn tree

Arab Spring in the Dictionary

Last spring, an Arab Spring would have been a spring, that was manufactured in the Arab World - probably a bit like a slinky, but Arabised. This year the Arab Spring has made a real impact across the world. But how would you define it? According to a dictionary term - it is "a period in which Arab people seek democratic reforms" - yes, that happened this year. The longevity of the term will now be set in history. People are already referring to it in other contexts - for example will their be an equivalent of the Arab Spring in South East Asia. Either way - getting into the dictionary is a big deal. There was probably a lot of clicktivism going on during the Arab Spring. But can you guess what a mankle or a frape is?

Mumpreneur leads Collins English Dictionary entries

Unboxing the New Samsung Central Station

The thing about tackling new product launches is that some markets are afterthoughts. Samsung are smart and are looking at key influencing markets - and thus launch products in those market at launch. Case in point is the New Samsung Central Station which just launched. The video demo is hilarious:



What's the product? - it's a range of USB hub monitors, that help clear your desk of messy cables.They include a wireless USB 2.0 dongle that connects to a USB port on the portable computing device. The monitor then apparently ‘comes alive’ if your computer is within 3 feet of the ‘Central Station’ and what’s more is that you can plug desktop peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse into it.



The thing about it is that this is a global problem - everyone has wires that gets in the way - and thus Samsung are smart in targeting people - all people globally. Also, humour is global....

Samsung