Ashish Panjabi - Blogging sans Training Wheels

My Flash Mob Moment

2012-01-17T16:31:00.000+04:00

After spending the last week in Las Vegas, you probably should expect the unexpected and I honestly thought I was going to get one while shopping at a fashion store in Vegas.

What caused it? Well, it was a song.

Which song? "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train.

What did I think it would cause? A Flash Mob.

What is a Flash Mob? Check out the video link below from the movie "Friends with Benefits" to learn more.

What did I think was going to happen? The song played in the store and I heard at least three or four people react. There were either people singing or humming the song suddenly and being in Vegas, I thought they would break out into a Flash Mob moment.

What did happen? Everyone continued shopping and the humming stopped when the next song played.

What can you do now? Watch a Flash Mob video to "Hey, Soul Sister" I found on YouTube below.

My Experience with Booth Babes at CES

2012-01-17T13:14:00.000+04:00

While at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month, I got an e-mail from Stuart Wilson, who is part a part of DISTREE, that he had seen me on a BBC news report at CES.

This rather intrigued me as I hadn't spoken to any press while I was there except for a short phone interview I had done with Dubai Eye, so I wondered what I was doing in the BBC news report. Stuart was kind enough to send me a link and much to my amazement, I was indeed in a story the BBC had done in Vegas called "Booth Babes Stir Controversy at 2012 CES."

I know the old adage of "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" but the BBC could've blown my cover if I was indeed a part of the story. Sadly though, the image of me on camera was only a brief one as there is a shot of a female model at the Nikon booth at CES and there I am walking past her, looking at my phone, not realizing that I'm on camera (The link to the story can be seen by clicking here and fast forwarding to 2:18 mins into the story to see me).

This isn't the first time I've become a by-product of a scandalous story as I came on ESPN's website several years ago in a story called "Murder by Cricket" which was about the death of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's cricket coach during the ICC World Cup. I just happened to be staying at the same hotel as the journalist who wrote the story and I never knew he was doing a story on Bob Woolmer. I was just having a casual chat with him and he said he may use a few quotes for a story he was doing on cricket in general.

In any case, I learned my lesson. The next day at CES, I saw a camera crew from Sky News and I made it a point to walk around them and remain as far out of the camera's shot as possible as I think I had my fair share of would-be scandal for this year.

We are the World

2011-12-22T17:32:00.001+04:00

As we move into the festive period, take a moment to think of those less fortunate than ourselves. Christmas isn't all about Santa Claus so let's not forget that.

I've attached a link to the YouTube video from USA for Africa back in the 1980's when they sang "We are the World."

Remember, we're all a part of this world, so let's all do our part to make it a better place.

In the meantime, be safe and enjoy the festivities.

Making the Switch to the iPhone 4S

2011-12-17T12:09:00.000+04:00

It happened. The iPhone 4S was launched finally in the UAE yesterday and I've made the switch (off my Android device that is, I'll still continue to use a BlackBerry as a second device).

Initial thoughts: I love it.

I was using an iPhone earlier but I'd found Apple was behind the curve when Android 2.3 was released. All of a sudden, my phone seemed sluggish, I didn't like the notification system, the camera seemed out of date and the phone just didn't have the charm that an Apple product should have given the way the competition had been innovating.

The iPhone 4S in truth is Apple responding back and catching up with the competition. They haven't moved miles ahead but at least brought themselves back on par. However the difference with an Apple product is that when it is on par with the competition and you add in the Apps that Apple has as well as the overall interface of an Apple product, it moves itself ahead of the competition.

A few simple examples:

Keyboard - As much as I enjoyed the Android devices I used, I never found any of the keyboards to be quite as intuitive as an Apple keyboard. Even using SwiftKey, Go Keyboard or Swype were at best a compromise. The ease of use and comfort that you find with an Apple keyboard on a touchscreen device has meant fewer typing errors for me.
Multimedia Capabilities - I use iTunes on my computer and I've got virtually all my music on iTunes as well. I struggled to find a proper solution to play music off my Android devices. Nothing quite worked as seamlessly with iTunes and the end result used to be that I used to use my iPad in the car instead of connecting any of my smartphones to the car's stereo system. I'm happy that I can finally connect my iPhone to the car stereo again (or stream the content wirelessly to my Apple TV).
Apps - As many Apps as you have on Android, I've always been frustrated by the fact that you can't buy Apps in the UAE from Google Market and that any App developer still has Apple's iOS as their priority when developing new Apps. I was using several iOS Apps on my iPad but it's great to see how Apps like Zite and Flipboard have made the transition to the iPhone and I can use them on my iPhone as well. I'm also looking forward to using Apps like Instagram again as nothing really came close on Android to replicating the Instragram experience.
Email Interface - Seems like a strange one to mention considering I also carry around a BlackBerry but I've always preferred the e-mail client on the Apple devices over any of those I tried on Android or BlackBerry devices.

Some of you reading this may feel the reason I'm more comfortable on an iPhone is that I'm an Apple fanboy. That could be true, but also you've got to keep in mind I'm probably hooked onto the Apple ecosystem. I didn't mean to get so deeply entrenched but things just sort of worked out that way. The smartphone battles moved well beyond have shiny bells and whistleson a piece of hardware a long time ago so when a company like Apple or RIM come out with news devices, it's not surprising to see hordes of people migrate on their newer devices. The ecosystem battle is a much tougher one to win because to convert someone such as me totally out of Apple's ecosystem for example, is always going to be a lot more difficult than coming out with a shiny new handset on a rival operating system.

How long can Apple keep this up for? Who knows but till then, I think I'm firmly hooked...

Copyright laws, piracy and no iTunes in the Middle East

2011-12-13T14:43:00.000+04:00

There was a headline that grabbed my attention in The National this morning entitled "New copyright laws to curb film and music pirates." While piracy has been a major issue in this part of the world, it's also due to the fact that most content owners haven't given avenues to download or buy digital content legally.

Profits down the drain.
Image: www.mediafuturist.com

It was thus refreshing to turn a few pages into the newspaper and see another headline "Middle East iTunes 'could protect industry'." The writer, Marie-Louise Olson hit the nail on the head about the region by saying "consumers have to buy CDs in shops or - as almost 95 per cent of the world's population do - download tracks illegally."

The issue in this region is not more stringent legislation. It's about giving a solution first. Without a solution, there's really no point for legislation. We can't be expected to buy CD's, DVD's or paper books only in the future. There will be a lot of content that will be bought digitally and even though it may seem like a lot of work, content owners have to a responsibility to give us a solution or else, they shouldn't be complaining about piracy. Consumers want digital content. Either you provide it or they will find it from wherever they get it.

Don't watch Senna on Emirates Inflight

2011-12-13T09:10:00.000+04:00

Imagine being excited about something, being let down and then getting excited about it again.

That's what exactly what happened for me with the documentary recapping the life of Formula 1 great, Ayrton Senna. The documentary, simply titled "Senna" was released a few months ago and I'd seen various previews for the film on TV or online. As a sports enthusiast and someone who grew up watching the infamous Prost vs. Senna battles in the late 1980's and early 1990's, this was a film I simply had to watch.

So I was extremely excited when I was flying with Emirates last month and saw the film was available to watch on the inflight entertainment system. Before the flight could take off, I 'd plugged in my headsets and started the watching the documentary.

The excitement though didn't last. As I finished the film, I was left somewhat disappointed. The footage, the narratives, the battles versus Prost, the car and the F1 bosses were captured brilliantly. However, I felt like I literally missed something in translation. The problem with the movie as it was shown on Emirates Inflight was that the narratives from those interviewed or sound bytes that the documentary captured from the time were in various different languages. Some of it was in English but there were bits that were in French, Japanese and Portuguese. Courtesy of my GSCE French class, I could understand most of what was said in French but I was at a loss for what was said in Japanese and Portuguese. Considering that Senna was Brazilian, a lot of the sound bytes of Senna himself, his family or those in Brazil, was difficult to comprehend. While you have a sense of what is being said, you somehow feel you've understand about 40-50% of the dialogue.

I found it strange as to why a film maker would produce a movie that most people won't understand completely. Then a few weeks later while talking to another industry executive about the movie, I realized the problem was not with the film maker but with Emirates Inflight entertainment. It seems Emirates has shown a version of the movie without subtitles and if you watch the film on DVD, you've got subtitles to everything that was being said in French, Japanese and Portuguese. This same executive ended up lending me the DVD and I really loved the movie as a result of that. In fact, I was always a pro-Prost fan growing up but after watching the DVD, I realized I should've been supporting Senna all along. There was so much politics involved in F1 racing and I was perhaps too naive to understand it at the time.

If you haven't seen Senna yet and you're flying Emirates, avoid watching it. Download it or buy it on DVD if you have to. It's a great documentary, I highly recommend it but don't get yourself disappointed for no reason by watching it on Emirates.

Did the Kindle Fire Light my Fire?

2011-12-05T09:53:00.001+04:00

Back in early October, when Amazon announced they were throwing their hat into the tablet race, I rushed to Amazon.com and booked my Kindle Fire, with the anticipation that this was going to be one tablet that could actually stand up to Apple in the tablet business. In fact, in my mind, ever since Jeff Bezos announced the launch of the Kindle Fire, I've had a song stuck in my head that I thought would define the tablet. The song is from The Doors and is called "Light My Fire."

Image: longshutsblues.wordpress.com

Did I expect Amazon to overtake Apple? No. I did though think that Amazon had what it took to worry Apple because they had they had the following things going for them:

A rich media library (books, music, movies from most leading publishers)
An App Store (we all need our dose of Angry Birds)
A proven operating system (the Kindle Fire runs on Android, though Amazon have heavily customized the skin)
A track record with hardware (Amazon did of course champion the e-reader category with their Kindle readers)
A Cloud of their own (apart from Amazon's Cloud storage solution)
Infrastructure (Amazon has got their own hosting service and they manage the hosting requirements for many major websites)

Most of these points were what most tablet manufacturers that have tried to compete with Apple lacked and I was of the opinion that if someone were to rock the boat, it would be Amazon for just these reasons.

The Verdict?

I've been lost honestly since I got my Kindle Fire in the mail a few weeks ago. Did I love it or did I hate it? I wanted to really like it because I've had a Kindle e-reader for several months now and it's made reading so much more enjoyable for me. There was though, something missing for me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it and even though the Kindle Fire will sell well, I wasn't quite sure how to describe my feelings about it.

A lot of that changed though when I saw an article that appeared in All Things D over the weekend and a headline that read "Kindle Fire, the netbook of the tablet market?" It was as if the author has found the words I was looking for as this seems to me to be exactly where the Kindle Fire should be positioned.

What I like about the Kindle Fire

The 7" form factor is nice if you want to read a book
The integration with your Amazon account and the fact that you've got access to most of your Amazon content that can be synchronized is a major plus, especially if you're halfway through reading a book on another device, you can start where you left off on the Kindle Fire
The touch screen technology is well implemented. There were no major lags that I found and even the on-screen keyboard does the job. Not all touch screen keyboards are friendly on the fingers but Amazon seems to have found the right one here.
The E-mail client seems pretty functional as well. Though this is probably not what you associate the Kindle Fire with, the fact is a tablet vendor, Amazon had to cover most of their bases and they've done a decent job with this.
Web Browser - Amazon seems to have gotten a lot of grief for their browser but it worked fine for me.
Magazines - The one criticism of original Kindle was that it was terrible if you wanted to browse anything in colour or read a magazine on. The Kindle Fire is way better than the original Kindle e-reader for downloading your latest edition of Men's Health, Cosmopolitan or whatever else you plan to read.

What I didn't Like about the Kindle Fire

Apps - even though Amazon boasts a moderately sized app-store, you can't buy or download (even free apps) on the Kindle Fire if you're based outside of the United States and don't have a US-registered credit card. Amazon allows you to buy books from the Kindle bookstore but apps is a different story. I wrote to Amazon saying I had a US address registered and was out of the country for the moment but they responded back that until I did have a credit card with a US-address, buying or downloading Apps wasn't a possibility. The alternative Amazon gave was to use Android Market but this re-directed back to Amazon's App Store when I tried to access it.
Amazon Prime - Amazon's Prime service is supposed to be a money saver and when you buy the Kindle Fire, you get one month free access to Prime. This means that you have access to a media library of TV shows and movies that you can start watching off your tablet without any charge. While this is in theory great, in reality it's a problem if you live outside the United States. I found myself unable to access to stream anything inspite of testing this on various WIFI networks.
7" Form Factor - While this was great for reading, it seems a bit small to me when watching a movie or TV show. I much prefer the larger screen on the iPad. Without the ability to wirelessly broadcast to a larger screen (like you can using AirPlay on the iPad 2), you may find it difficult to watch a movie on this device with a partner.
Backlit Screen - Since my Kindle Fire has been largely restricted to reading books, I must say, I prefer the e-ink technology that's in the conventional Kindle e-readers over a backlit LCD display. It is much easier on the eyes using e-ink and since I have the Kindle App on my iPad, I can probably read on that where needed instead of carrying around the Kindle Fire especially.

Concluding Thoughts...

As much as I wanted to like the Kindle Fire, I find myself torn away from it. Had I lived in the United States or had Amazon worked out a solution for me to access content more readily outside the United States, I may have had a different opinion. The fact is, the Kindle Fire doesn't aim to replace an iPad. It doesn't need to because the fact of the matter is that not everyone needs an iPad. Since the Kindle Fire is priced at half the price of most iPad's, it's meant to serve a segment of the population that's only really looking for a multimedia device. I use my iPad for so many things but that's only I've got that sort of requirement. I look around and I see friends or family members who don't have that sort of demand from a tablet and probably for them, when the adequate services are available in the region, the Kindle Fire may be the perfect solution.

Having said that, every time I do think of the Kindle Fire or use it, I still can't get the voice of Jim Morrison out of my head and I still start humming to the tune of Light My Fire.

Happy Birthday Dear Blog

2011-12-04T12:08:00.000+04:00

It's happened. My blog turned one this week and I didn't even realize it.

Before starting this blog last December, I had a few thoughts flowing through my mind which were reasons I felt I shouldn't start a blog. They were:

I may not have anything interesting to say (which some could argue is still the case).
I didn't have a specific topic I felt I could write about all the time. Many blogs focus on specific domains such as technology, sports, fashion, politics, etc. but I didn't really feel I could justify an entire blog to just one topic.
I didn't think I would have the time to maintain a blog. This has still been my biggest challenge and there are some months where I've been posting regularly and some months where I seem to have disappeared. Apart from work commitments, it becomes a matter of how I choose to use my free time and many times I've willingly decided to spend time with the family instead of the blog.

Image: miahs-party-store.com

What has the blog meant to me?

Well, it is has been a good way of venting when I've been frustrated or sharing my views on topics I'm passionate about because as great as Facebook and Twitter are, there are times when you want to say much more. Starting this blog also gave me the confidence to start a second blog (which is mainly tech-related on http://blogs.jackys.com).

Since I'm also celebrating my first year of the blog, I've decided to make a subtle change to the name of my blog. In February, I had re-christended my blog, "Blogging with Training Wheels" as I felt I still had a lot to learn and understand about maintaining a blog. I don't think by any means I'm perfect or fully understand yet what goes into making a blog really successful, but I think it's time I set free without the training wheels. Therefore, I've decided to rename the blog as "Blogging sans Training Wheels."

The best way to learn is from your mistakes. Without the training wheels, I'll surely fall over a few times but that should make the blog better in the long term. If you've got any inputs on what I can do better, please do share them and I'd be glad to hear them.

In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I've been doing and hopefully, you find a post or two interesting enough along the way.

You'll Never Walk Alone

2011-11-25T13:55:00.000+04:00

Whoever knows me, knows I like a few things. Good food, good music, gadgets to play with and football.

So it was too tempting an opportunity to not share this video link of the team I'm so passionate about. Elvis Presley singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." This is dedicated to all the Liverpool fans out there.

P.S. My two kids and I are all dressed in our Liverpool shirts today.

Eminem: This Generation's Dylan?

2011-11-15T09:55:00.000+04:00

Having just read Steve Jobs biography, one thing comes out as straight out obvious: Steve Jobs was truly and deeply inspired by Bob Dylan. There are numerous examples of this that the book's author, Walter Isaacson, mentions and this prompted me to actually buy Bob Dylan's greatest hits on iTunes over the weekend.

I can understand where people of the Steve Jobs generation found the sentiment of Bob Dylan's work inspiring but I don't think I've truly appreciated it mainly because I've grown up in a different age. Jobs quoted lyrics from Bob Dylan during various times in his career as he found a lot of what Bob Dylan said relevant to what was happening in the world around him.

For this generation, I think we see a lot of that in Eminem.

This may sound ridiculous but if you've ever sat down and paid attention to the lyrics and actually heard what Eminem has had to say in his music, you start to realize this man is a poet at heart. He may be a bit extreme, he may throw in more four-letter words that are required but that's also been because he's been so emotional about whatever he's rapped about.

In a day and age where you don't truly get a sense of a story in music these days, Eminem has been one of the few exceptions. Nearly every track of his highlights a journey he's gone through. As a father, you can hear the pain in his voice. As a husband who's done wrong, you can hear the anger he holds towards himself. He's represented himself in multiple personas at various times in his career because like most of us, he's also trying to figure out, which of those persona's is actually him. He's been open enough to talk about battles with race, drugs, depression, poverty and friendships. He doesn't paint a rosy picture because life isn't all roses but he does help paint the bigger picture.

I can't think of many other artists in this day and age who actually address as many social issues as Eminem does as a mainstream artist. I wouldn't expect Eminem to show up at too many events celebrating literary greatness like the Sharjah International Book Fair (starting this week from November 16 - 26, 2011 - click here for details of the event) but I think in years to come, hopefully his literary qualities will get appreciated much like we appreciate that of Bob Dylan today.

Whatever your biases are towards his music, keep it aside the next time you hear his music. Listen to the story in his lyrics and maybe you'll start to see where I'm coming from.

The Blog and I

2011-11-15T08:59:00.000+04:00

"What's happened to your blog?"

This is a question I've been asked quite a lot lately because it's obviously been a while since my last post. After I got this question again last night, I decided to respond this morning.

The blog exists though admittedly it hasn't been as active of late. I've had a busy few weeks with various events and travels which has meant very little screen time in front of my computer and increasingly I've been using my tablet for managing my e-mails, but haven't found it quite as comfortable when it has come to working on the blog.

I've also been a proponent of the fact that if you write something, it should be somewhat meaningful, even if it means you write less often but when you do write, it should be appreciated. I haven't had as much from a personal perspective to probably share of late hence I didn't see the need to rush in front of my computer and put out a post.

The good news is that I should be around in front of my computer a lot more often over the next few weeks so you will probably start seeing more posts from me (including one later today if I can complete it), so don't fret and thanks to everyone for their feedback, both positive and negative thus far. The blog will continue and hopefully my random ramblings continue to make sense occasionally. :)

Closure: Steve Jobs & Freddie Mercury's Queen

2011-10-06T09:18:00.000+04:00

I woke up this morning to the news of Steve Jobs' passing and wasn't quite sure how to react. A few minutes later, I could feel a few tears strolling down my cheek and then I realized, that even though I never knew the genius that was Steve Jobs personally, I was mourning for someone who felt near and dear to me.

Image Courtesy: apple.com

Without wanting to sound like an episode of Glee, I got in the car and instinctively had the urge to listen to a few songs from Queen this morning. Freddie Mercury was a genius in his own right and died fighting an illness that he'd kept hidden for years. Steve Jobs did the same. Different illnesses but the fighting spirit remained in both of them.

Listening to a few songs from Queen, it seemed like every song I was listening to related to Jobs. A few examples below.

A King of Magic - A classic from Queen was the first song that came to mind. What Jobs did was magical in so many ways, whether at Apple or at Pixar. He re-did what was already done and knocked our socks off. The lyrics from this song also seem apt (see below).

It's a kind of magic,
It's a kind of magic,
A kind of magic,
One dream, one soul, one prize,
One goal, one golden glance of what should be,
It's a kind of magic,
One flash of light that shows the way,
No mortal man can win this day,
It's a kind of magic,
The bell that rings inside your mind,
It's a challenging the doors of time,
The waiting seems eternity,
The day will dawn of sanity,
Is this a kind of magic,
There can be only one,
This rage that lasts a thousand years,
Will soon be gone,
This flame that burns inside of me,
I'm hearing secret harmonies
It's a kind of magic,
The bell that rings inside your mind,
Is challenging the doors of time,
It's a kind of magic,

We Will Rock You - Steve you did indeed rock our world. In the last couple of years, we've seen a World Economy and an Apple Economy. The Apple Economy has probably helped save the World Economy.

I Want it All - In the chorus, to the song, the words "I Want it All" are repeated three times and then Queen sang, "and I want it Now." This epitomizes what Steve Jobs believed in. He had a vision, a passion, a desire to get things done and to dominate the way it was done. What made him stand out though was the belief that it wasn't a product of the future but something that could be done today. It makes me think of the launch of Siri, the talking assistant that was demonstrated by Apple just the day before Jobs passed way during the iPhone 4S launch.

I Want to Break Free - May seem like an odd-choice for a song to remember Steve Jobs by but there are a few powerful lyrics in this song that summed up the passion Apple products created for a first time buyer that often stayed with them for life. The lyrics from the second verse are below and see if you agree with me.

I've fallen in love
I've fallen in love for the first time
And this time I know it's for real
I've fallen in love, yeah
God knows, God knows I've fallen in love

Radio Ga Ga - Seems ironic that the iPod may have killed radio at one time before Apple again revived it by spreading the concept of podcasts (that virtually most talk radio stations rely on today) and Apps to listen to your favourite stations on.

We are the Champions - Jobs came back to Apple when they were down and made them into one of the most enviable companies out there. The fact that he managed to defy the odds during a recession, made Jobs and Apple true champions. What's more, they've inspired another generation of champions along the way.

The Show Must Go On - Tim Cook and the rest of the team at Apple have been entrusted with the job of continuing where Jobs left off. The culture and the mindset has been instilled by Jobs but as most of us know, companies outlive individuals in many cases. Let's hope the same continues here with Apple.

I know there many be many other songs that may have been relevant and I grappled with whether I should include them in this post or not but felt these summed up the loss of Steve Jobs probably best.

Steve, you will be missed but the lessons you've left behind will inspire generations to come. Thank you.

Will Whitman Outwit the Competition?

2011-09-24T15:20:00.000+04:00

"Messenger Down! He's finally been shot!"

This is how I imagined the situation in the HP Board Room last week when it was confirmed that HP had just fired their CEO of less than one year, Leo Apotheker.

While I personally felt Apotheker was the wrong man for the job, it was shocking to see how HP's Board failed to take responsibility for actions that they were also responsible for. The last twelve months have been rocky for not only HP but the rest of the industry as they've all struggled to grow while Apple has moved ahead of the pack at record pace.

HP's Board missing in action when their CEO needed a hand

In firing Apotheker, HP's Board washed their hands of any responsibility of whatever's transpired for them since he took over, including their decision to exit the tablet & smartphone business, separate their PSG division and acquire Autonomy. Most of these were actions that we would've thought unthinkable a year ago before Apotheker took charge but for him to take these decisions as CEO, there must've been some consent or agreement on this direction from the Board at HP. It is inconceivable to think that all of this would've happened with Board endorsing it and as a result, it was in essence part of their strategy as well.

The way Apotheker managed these announcements had a left to be desired for and his ability to chart out a direction for HP seemed flawed in my opinion but to strictly put the blame on him is wrong. Having personally seen Mark Hurd speak previously, my guess is that had he been in the same position, he would've I'm sure been able to handle the situation a lot better. Hurd had a sense of charisma and respect that he gained which would've made you think that any decision being pushed through by him was well thought through.

With HP now deciding to appoint Meg Whitman, an HP Board Member, as CEO can be seen as positive step forward given her track record in the consumer space at eBay but what we have to remember is that she still is part of the Board that went ahead with Apotheker's strategy for changing HP.

Will Whitman outwit (sorry for the pun) everyone and bring HP back to the leadership position it deserves to be in by doing something revolutionary in HP or will she serve as a captain of a ship that's already set sail? We'll wait and see but whatever she does decide to do, I hope HP Board's learns their lesson as they next time around they can't ask why the CEO screwed up. It's been their own doing and they have to take responsibility for themselves going forward.

Please note all thoughts mentioned on this blog are personal views and not given by me in any official capacity. If quoting from this blog, please quote me in a personal capacity only and not in my official capacity.

Typing Centres: What's the Point?

2011-09-20T13:01:00.000+04:00

Anyone who's lived in the UAE knows the story about typing centres. For those not familiar with them, they are basically institutions that exist for the sole purpose of typing documentation for anyone requiring a government service.

While the UAE has been talking extensively about e-services, the job of a typing centre attendant has been thriving. I saw an example of this when I decided to renew my Emirates Identity Card (EIDA). With all the hoopla that's surrounded applying for EIDA (click here to read an earlier blog post on this), you'd think that renewing it would be easier as the powers that be would have everything they require from you from the first time you applied for the card.

How wrong I was. Apart from the obvious of supplying them with a photocopy of my passport, updated UAE visa and presenting them with a copy of my old EIDA card, I was told, this all had to be sent to a typing centre and re-typed onto a form and then it has to be re-submitted to them.

Why?

I have no idea. The bureaucracy that surrounds a simple step like renewing a document can actually serve more as a deterrent in the long term. Prior to coming to the UAE, I'd never lived in a country where I had to approach a typing centre to do anything for me. With advancements in technology, I'd always assumed the role of typing centers would diminish in the long term as most typewriters start to suffer from old age and rust. That though doesn't seem to be the case here in the UAE and if you're looking for a new business to start up, I'd suggest you enroll yourself in a secretarial course and get your typing speed up as you stand to rake in the dough.

P.S. In case you were born after 1990 and are wondering what a typewriter is, have a read through this Wikipedia link.

APPLE BUYS SONY...in my dreams

2011-08-28T18:35:00.000+04:00

APPLE BUYS SONY

Call me a dreamer, call me an idealist, call me crazy but this headline doesn't seem all that ridiculous to me.

On this very same day in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech and while I have no intention of ever comparing myself to Dr. King, I can't help but day dream about what an Apple-Sony marriage would look like.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.takdangaralin.com/english/oratorical-pieces/oratorical-piece-i-have-a-dream/

With the recent spate of mergers we've seen in the industry, the troubles that traditional Japanese manufacturers have faced and the threat of competition coming from non-traditional hardware players like Google, Amazon and Facebook, something drastic has to happen.

Why does Apple and Sony make sense?

1. DESIGN - Sony and Apple fundamentally both are companies that lend their origins to being on the cutting edge of design. It is hard to argue that Sony in its heyday had products that looked just fabulous and Apple is legendary for their design elements today.

2. WHAT NEXT? - Sony has had a troubling few years and various questions have been asked for Sony regarding what it can do to improve itself going forward. In a post Steve Jobs era, Apple will also have the same questions asked of them and combining their strengths like may mean they can be a formidable powerhouse going forward.

3. TELEVISION - Apple's attempts to make a foray into TV haven't exactly been what they expected. Apple TV has been demonstrated at various Apple events but somehow has never left anyone really excited. Sony at their core knows televisions but has lost their way with the onslaught that they're facing from various Korean (and possibly in future Chinese brands). An Apple television powered by Sony makes sense. With stories starting to circulate that Sony could look at moving out of the television business by even possibly selling this unit to a Chinese brand, it could be something for Apple to look at.

4. APPLE STORES - Apple has been the envy of the industry with their retail roll-out strategy. The experience of an Apple Store is unparalleled and although Sony has many of their own retail outlets, they could do with an Apple makeover. Further, Apple could definitely sell a lot more products from their own stores which are manufactured by Sony.

5. COOL FACTOR - This is something again that both brands share. Buying Sony was cool in the 1980's, 1990's and early 2000's. Buying Apple is today cooler.

6. THE CASH FACTOR - With the recent revelation that Apple has got more cash in its reserves than the US Government, we know that Apple can in true Jerry Maguire fashion, "show Sony the money."

7. SONY MUSIC & PICTURES - Apple is the largest seller of music in the world today through iTunes. Sony has a formidable music and movie library that could give Apple the edge over other competitors in the industry today.

8. ACCESS JAPAN - The desire of every American brand has been to make it big in Japan. Some could argue Apple has already done this but how much deeper could Apple entrench themselves in the Japanese domestic market by leveraging on the Sony relationship? Can Apple succeed where the American automobile industry failed?

9. WICKED PRODUCTS - One can only imagine what the combined R&D strengths of Apple and Sony could produce. Apple is creative, Sony can be creative. Together they could be a tag team that rips the competition to shreds.

10. SAMSUNG - Apple's biggest threat these days is Samsung. This is clear from all the legal juggernaut we've been seeing in the press. Sony's biggest threat in consumer electronics is also Samsung. If the cultural differences that divide Apple and Sony threatened to derail such a deal, the strength they could derive from each other in the battle against Samsung could neutralize any such differences.

11. GAMING - Apple has with the iPhone changed gaming. Sony had at one time changed gaming with the the PlayStation and PSP consoles that they had. If Apple and Sony can work out a way to combine this know-how, they could give the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Google, more sleepless nights going forward.

I know what I've just said is crazy. I just want to create a stir and make a thought provoking statement or two. With everything that's happened in the industry of late, you can't help but wonder what could happen next. Apple has made it a habit of keeping us guessing and with this write-up, may be I've got you guessing on what Apple could be next as well.

Please note all thoughts mentioned on this blog are personal views and not given by me in any official capacity. If quoting from this blog, please quote me in a personal capacity only and not in my official capacity.

No comment - Steve Jobs

2011-08-25T18:36:00.000+04:00

Image Source: http://thetweetermama-becausemamasaidso.blogspot.com

NO COMMENT

It was strange. The news of Steve Jobs stepping down as Apple CEO was all over the Internet and every social media network when I touched down in Dubai early this morning.

Given all that we've seen in tech sphere in the last two weeks and the fact that I've been responding pretty quickly with a blog post on either my personal or work blog, I thought it would be no different this time.

Then I saw the flood of Steve Jobs stories flooding my Twitter timeline and decided against writing anything. Anything more I would say would only be repeating something that was already said a few hundred thousand times over.

I therefore decided in true Apple fashion, to keep it simple and say nothing.

HP: Where does the ink spill next?

2011-08-22T18:26:00.001+04:00

In the last week, we've seen a series of announcements in the IT and mobile industry that were earth shattering but what we've not heard about is what still makes me curious.

First let's take stock of what was announced and what is left to speculation:

Google-Motorola - Is this a marriage of convenience (for patents) or is Google going to start rolling out their own branded stock Android devices? Will Samsung, HTC and LG get short-changed in the process?
HP-WebOS - HP has shut down all efforts for developing their own smartphone and tablet devices after a number of failures over the years. Even buying Palm didn't help them.
HP-PSG - HP wants to separate their PC business from the mothership. Will they spin it off, sell it or look at a management buyout? No one knows. Who could align with this is still speculation.
HTC-Beats - This was the first announcement that came out last week and sadly for HTC, it was forgotten because of everything else that was announced. In case you didn't hear, Dr. Dre sold a portion of his company to HTC. Do we need to prepare for an HTC device with a Justin Bieber ring tone standard or a Lady Gaga-esque crazy smartphone?

So next we expect to hear something from Dell and Samsung as they've obviously got an eye on Apple, HP and Google. HTC's announcement seems inconsequential in the grander scheme of things so maybe they may think of something. Will Acer continue it's tablet / smartphone strategy? Where does Microsoft fit in with everything going forward?

Will HP compare the consumer IPG business to 1990's
boy band "Color Me Badd?"

What seems to have slipped under the radar though is the future of HP's IPG division. The IPG division is the portion of HP that's responsible for the printers that HP markets and the lucrative ink / toner business. It's known that a printer manufacturer like HP makes most of their profits from consumables. However, at the low end of the market, profits on printers can be difficult because of the number of third-party ink solutions available. Many brands have withdrawn from this and decided to focus on the enterprise or corporate market (think Xerox, Lexmark and Brother).

With HP saying consumer grade PC's are very low profit, could they say the same for their consumer IPG products and focus then on the high-end market where there is less competition on consumables? If they did, who would be able to fill the vacuum left in that segment of the market?

Of course, what I'm talking about is all based on speculation and a creative mind. I don't have any insight or inside knowledge on this but when you hear announcements of this sort from HP, you have to think, where does the buck stop?

DJ, Play that funky music

2011-08-12T10:21:00.001+04:00

From the title of this post, you can tell that I seem to have been inspired by the music listening to when it comes to blogging. Music has always been a good way to express yourself or convey your sentiments but also powerful in that it can transcend age groups, gender and cultures.

My question then is, why are we so restricted in Dubai in terms of the type of music we get to listen to?

I'm talking specifically about the English language radio stations here in the UAE. We have one talk radio station, two which play adult contemporary and the rest all seem to focus on Top 40, R&B / hip-hop and pop. Even two adult contemporary stations seem to play the same sort of the music as the other mainstream stations except they probably stuff that's been off the playlist at the other stations for a couple of months or years.

When did you last hear Metallica on the radio here?

There are so many other types of music that one forgets about when living in the UAE and it's only when you randomly hear a station suddenly playing rock, metal, classical, soul, jazz, reggae, folk, country or just simple chill-out music that you remember there are other things we could be listening to.

I'm not saying that every station should focus on one type of music only but at least if they've got a couple of shows during the week that focus on these different genres, it would make for a pleasant change and even though you may not be a fan of every genre, I'm sure many would learn to appreciate it for what it is.

It's sad but we have some brilliant events that happen in Dubai like the Jazz Festival but honestly they're under-appreciated because most people here have never heard of the artists who perform. The only way the organizers can make these events a success is by bringing a headline act who barely qualifies as a jazz singer or musician but is in many cases better known as a hip-hop or R&B act just to get the crowds in.

Paul Taylor is currently on top of the Billboard Jazz Song
charts but chances are, no one in the UAE has ever heard
of him.

Radio stations have to realize that ever since the invention of the iPod, iPod transmitters and audio jacks in our cars, people have started listening to the music that they want. If you can provide them the same choice, they may listen more to you. I know radio has been booming here in the Emirates from an advertising revenue point of view but there is so much more revenue that could be gained if radio stations did something different. Internet radio is a trend that is catching up in the United States where you have stations that play all sorts of music, some of it so obscure, you'd probably never come across it even if you tried to search for it, that it could just be a matter of time until we see it emerge here. Why would it do well? Only because it would differentiate itself from the usual Katy Perry and Lady Gaga type music we hear here normally.

There was a time when radio in the Emirates had shows that focused on specific genres but that seems to have disappeared. I do hope the guys who run the radio stations read this and do start changing up their playlists with shows that embrace the diversity of genres that are out there. I for one would be grateful and I'm sure there would be many more out there who would agree with me.

Imagine, do we really have to?

2011-08-11T09:32:00.000+04:00

While driving into work this morning listening to The Dave Matthews Band, a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" that I'd forgotten I'd uploaded onto my iTunes playlist started playing.

Even though Lennon recorded and released this song 40 years ago, the lyrics and sentiments are just as true today as they were then. The vision he had still seems like a fallacy unfortunately.

Looking at all that's happening in the world today. Somalia's famine, London's riots, Libya's ruthlessness, Syria's atrocities, Japan's tsunami, Haiti's devastating earthquake. The list could go on for pages and pages and we still wouldn't do justice to it.

Lennon was a visionary, an idealist and as we started to grow numb to everything that's been happening in the world around us, read his lyrics below from Imagine or listen to the cover version recorded by the Dave Matthews Band in the video below and let's hope we don't need to imagine this in the long term.

Imagine, John Lennon
Imagine there's no heavenwonder you can
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
It`s easy if you try
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Google+, Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre

2011-08-09T18:00:00.000+04:00

BBM.
SMS.
WhatsApp.
Twitter.
Email.
Facebook.
Blogger.
Tumblr.
LinkedIn.
Quora.
Instagram.

I'm sure there are a few more I've forgotten but last month I added Google's G+ to the list of mediums I'm on. I've listed out the different mediums in priority of how I access them. My problem a month ago as it is till now is where I do place G+.

I've had this conversation with a number of people, whether it be on Twitter, G+ or in person and I'm still finding it difficult to justify moving G+ up the rankings. Moving it up means moving something down or off the list.

On the list I mentioned, everything after Facebook has started to take a back seat (yes, including this blog though I'm trying to keep it active). Apart from the fact that you need the time to manage all of this and do justice to it, you also need to see what can be managed most efficiently. Twitter is easy, you can do it off a smartphone. Facebook became easier once I started Flipboard on the iPad. LinkedIn is slowly moving onto that list as far as reading information but actively engaging in conversation on there, it hasn't quite roped me in.

For me, G+ will only really become entirely relevant when a common aggregating tool can be used to manage it efficiently. I can use various tools to manage multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook and LinkedIn from one application or screen but this isn't the case yet for G+. For now, TweetDeck, HootSuite and Flipboard have no G+ integration capabilities. I'm sure this'll come in time but until then, whenever I keep hearing G+, my keeps wandering over to the early days of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Dre and Snoop have done well for themselves in the long term and I hope for Google's sake, the same is true for G+.

It's like this and like that and like this and uh
It's like this and like that and like this and uh
It's like this and like that and like this and uh
- Lyrics from "Nuthin but a G Thang" Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg

News Corp & WikiLeaks: What's the Difference?

2011-07-18T18:23:00.000+04:00

I'll admit it, I haven't been playing particularly close attention to News Corp story that's been plastered all over the press but while chatting about it last night with a friend, it got me thinking, what's really the difference between what News Corp has been involved in and WikiLeaks?

Who's inspired who?

News Corp's publications like News of The World have admitted to various wrong-doings which ultimately led to the demise of the publications and lots of heads rolling whether it be in the newspaper, in Rupert Murdoch's empire or even within the UK police. What News Corp did was wrong. There's no two ways of looking at it. Morally, ethically, socially, they've been in the wrong here.

However, how was WikiLeaks much different?

Keeping aside the secrets that WikiLeaks uncovered, their methodology is dodgy. Most likely they've been uncovering the information they have through a series of underhanded techniques, utilizing technology exploits that exist today or enticing people at the right places to get the information they want. The end result though is WikiLeaks has been lauded (by many except the governments they've embarrassed).

It could indeed be argued that the methodology of the News of The World was indeed no different to that of WikiLeaks. We don't know who else's privacy WikiLeaks has intruded upon and while all the uproar is about who News Corp and NOTW targeted, we don't know really know who else WikiLeaks may have been going after int heir quest to uncover the "truth."

Like I said, I haven't been following this story closely enough to know whether there are indeed differences in WikiLeaks and News Corp, but if there are, please do educate me.

Humanizing the Petrol Crisis

2011-06-28T09:39:00.000+04:00

With the silence continuing over the petrol crisis in Sharjah and Northern Emirates, the statement that appeared in Gulf News today by an ENOC spokesperson is a real classic. The quote from Gulf News, the person literally said:

"I cannot give a statement now, don't ask me questions I cannot answer," he said. "I agree that we should be more transparent, I agree 150 per cent, but we have directives not to talk about this issue now."

Pressed for answers, he made casual comments on the weather to change the subject.

Enoc's silent spell lasted for about two weeks while the spokesperson was on holiday after the trouble started. Repeated attempts by Gulf News to contact the company were unanswered.

Get the last drop while you can.

Inspite of everything that's transpired in the last one month, ENOC make it seem like a non-issue and it really undermines the pain and suffering that those who've been stuck without petrol have had to live through.

I know personally of a case where a mother and an infant were stuck in a car in the blistering heat outside a petrol station for hours because it ran out of fuel. Their son was at a birthday party and the father drove in from Sharjah, picked up the son and then went on rescue the mother and baby. What type of city are we living in? I'm sure are thousands of such stories but we don't hear about them unfortunately. The press won't cover such this in this part of the world so the officials who govern policy sit around twiddling their thumbs and act as if its business as usual.

There is a human element to this story which the country has to be made aware of. Had the human element been highlighted much earlier during this crisis, I believe we would've seen possibly some answers or a solution transpire much quicker. Now to sit around and wait till someone fixes the problem in Ramadan leaves us with a sense of hope but as is the case often, it's a a chance of hope that we take with a pinch of salt as promises have been made earlier as well as the residents of Sharjah know only too well which didn't quite pan out.

With the summer holidays coming, one can only hope a lot of families will be away from the torturous summer period and many parents won't have the school pick-up and drop-off's to worry about, but even then, how long can they stay indoor and do nothing until this crisis is resolved?

To read the whole story in Gulf News, click here. Local blogger, Alexander McNabb has also been writing extensively on this crisis and I'd encourage to have a read at his blog here as well.

The Hangover, ENOC and Abu Dhabi

2011-06-25T20:44:00.001+04:00

With everything that's been happening in Sharjah and Northern Emirates in the last few weeks with the petrol shortage and the announcement yesterday that Sharjah was shutting down all branches of ENOC / EPPCO for good, it got me thinking about how Abu Dhabi had come to the rescue again.

ADNOC had said they would fill the void left by ENOC in Sharjah earlier in the week which was in itself an admission by Dubai that Abu Dhabi was again fixing a problem that was essentially Dubai's.

Then this morning there was a series of Tweets by Dubai-based journalist, Tom Gara (@tomgara on Twitter), who is one of the most hilarious journalists out there on Twitter. He started sending out Tweets about how different the movie, The Hangover, could have been if shot in different locations in the Middle East (click here to read a summary of his Tweets). He was of course pulling reference to the fact that the original Hangover, which was based in Las Vegas and the sequel, which was shot in Bangkok, was essentially the same movie but based in different cities.

Well, the story of ENOC in Sharjah sounds like the one of Dubai World and their debt repayment. As different as they make the plot, the end result has been that Abu Dhabi has come to save the day.

As much as we say it shouldn't set the precedent going forward, you can't help but think it has in fact been what we've come to expect. Hopefully The Hangover III has a different story line and those of in Dubai will hang on to a thread of hope that the next time around, we see Dubai as the superhero that comes to the rescue.

Double Standards: Petrol & Consumer Rights

2011-06-15T08:52:00.001+04:00

While reading this morning's Gulf News Business section, I saw a photo caption on the continuing fuel shortage in Dubai and Northern Emirates which said "The fuel crisis in Sharjah continues as Emarat, Enoc and Eppco petrol stations faced shortages yesterday...Representatives of petrol retailers were unavailable for comment when contacted yesterday."

On the page facing this, there's a huge headline that reads "Consumer rights on DED radar."

Just look at it these two statements and you see clearly the double standards that exist. The Department of Economic Department (DED) is quite rightly promoting their consumer rights campaign and ensuring all retailers adhere to a set of standards with regards to exchange policies, etc. for consumers and to also act a policing body when there are consumer disputes. However, when major petrol retailers refuse to comment or give any sort of clarity, there is silence and we're supposed to accept that as the norm.

Image courtesy: nonprofituniversityblog.org

Something is seriously wrong here and if as expatriates we are to feel comfortable or if Dubai as an Emirate hopes to rope in more international investment, there has to be a certain sense of transparency. Such headlines and lines outside petrol stations send the wrong message to potential investors in the country and despite all the progress that the country has made, a few negative headlines like this, tarnish the reputation of Dubai and the UAE internationally. Lines outside petrol stations is something that you expect to see in third world countries and the UAE is definitely not a third world country.

There needs to be an end to the double standards that exist. If as consumer we are to have rights, then we have the right to demand an explanation from the petrol companies. If the existing petrol companies can't operate profitably, then open the market to competition and let petrol retailers enter the market and let market forces operate. At the moment we're seeing clearly that protectionist policies aren't working. This protectionism seems to be a lose-lose game at the moment. Changing all of this is something that can happen in the long term but in the short-term, please open up, make a statement and stop acting as if it is business as usual.

Why ban what's already not allowed?

2011-06-06T20:43:00.000+04:00

There have been a flood of headlines that came through my Twitter feed today such as that in The National, which read "Shops banned from stinging customers with credit card surcharge."

This was a message which came through the Dubai Media Office as a directive that was passed down which said retailers can't charge a surcharge if you decide to pay by credit card. This may sound like a victory for consumer rights advocates but as per the merchant agreements that major credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard have with retailers, they don't allow you to impose a surcharge anyway. As a result, this practice has been under control for years and anyone caught doing this, risks having their credit card machine being yanked away by the merchant banks that represent Visa and MasterCard.

This is the reason the petrol stations stopped accepting credit cards a few years ago as they got into a dispute with the credit card companies as they said they couldn't sustain the commission that had to be paid for accepting credit cards and knowing they'd be in violation of their merchant agreements if they charged a premium, they decided against accepting credit cards going forward (click here to see a Gulf News report on this in 2007).

No Petrol if you pay by credit card.
Image from gulfnews.com

With a statement like this being issued by the Dubai Media Office, you then have to wonder, what was the point of it?

It sounds like positive PR that's supposed to leave you feeling warm and tingly inside. If you don't feel warm and tingly now, I suggest you write back to The National, Gulf News and anyone else who carries this story in the newspapers tomorrow morning to tell them just that. Their column inches could be better used to tell us something that is more newsworthy.

Was FIFA inspired by WWE Wrestling?

2011-06-04T11:34:00.000+04:00

After writing my last post on Dictatorships & Sports: FIFA & F1, I got to thinking if there can indeed ever be a clean sport if the administrators who run them seem to be corrupt.

Sepp Blatter preaching Fair Play. Who is he kidding?

We've seen or heard stories of matches being fixed or results being pre-determined by bookies in sports like cricket, tennis and football for years now. There have been all sorts of enquiries made into these allegations over the years and occasionally you find a player or two suspended but that's about it.

Did Vince McMahon and the WWE set the trend for how
sports should be run?

With corruption at the top level of these sports becoming increasingly more evident, you have to wonder how much of this roots down from them to the playing field. Could they be encouraging this? If the people who conduct the enquiries into match-fixing are also the same people appointed by the same set of corrupt administrators, is there really any true independent enquiry into match-fixing?

I don't know about you, but I've gotten more disillusioned with sports in general in the last couple of years. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my sports but somehow at the end of the day you have to wonder if it was entertainment or sports. WWE Wrestling may have set the precedent for the rest of the sporting world to turn around and say it's OK to fix the results and call it "entertainment" instead of "sport."

Dictatorships & Sports: F1 and FIFA

2011-06-03T21:39:00.000+04:00

At a time when dictatorships around the region have been questioned and shaken to their roots, a funny sort of dictatorship has been challenged; that is one in the sports world.

The Sepp Blatter Comedy of Errors still continues.
Picture courtesy: cdn.worldcupblog.org

With the cartoon show that was FIFA's re-election of Sepp Blatter or the re-instatement of the F1 race in Bahrain, it's clear to see that despite these organizations are being run like dictatorships no matter how they may appear otherwise.

Enough has been said of the FIFA saga this week so I won't delve further into that but the F1 race coming back on the calendar in Bahrain is a joke.

Yesterday, The Guardian ran a story about how teams would be blackmailed into accepting a decision to have the F1 race in Bahrain go ahead, even if it meant extending the season and cutting the break that teams and drivers get in the close season (click here to read this story).

To quote from The Guardian, they said: "The main reason for that will be financial, given the existence of severe penalties for non-attendance. Bahrain paid £40m for the right to stage the first grand prix of this season, a sum which is split between the teams and the commercial rights holder at 45% (£18m) each. The responsibility for that money would be added to by potential penalties for breaking contracts."

So money talks basically?

Democracy in F1? Dream on.
Image courtesy: overdrivetv.co.za

However, the fact that Bahrain paid a huge sum of money to host the race and the teams benefitted is fine but is it right to blackmail the teams now and threaten them for a breach of contract when Bahrain originally was the one that forced the postponement of the race earlier this year? Racing calendars, logistics and everything that's involved in F1 is planned well in advance so when a race like this doesn't go ahead, it disrupts all the planning that the teams undergo.

I'm not debating here whether the morality, political situation or human rights record during and after the protests in Bahrain should play a part in determining whether the race happens or not. That's not for me to decide but to come back and claim a breach of contract against the racing teams when an event is cancelled at the last minute is just wrong. I'm sure the racing teams would've spent money in anticipation of Bahrain that they lost when the race didn't happen.

F1 racing has always been a sport where the decisions have been in the hands of an elite few. The same is true of many other sporting organizations and sadly, attempts to break such monopolies have often failed. Examples of this can be seen in the world of cricket (the ICL was the forerunner of the IPL which wasn't recognized by major cricket boards or the International Cricket Council), rugby (where Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer had a stand-off to control the sport) or even in F1 itself (when a bunch of teams attempted to start their own rebel sport and failed).

Sepp Blatter says we must respect it. He forgets, it has to be earned.
Image courtesy: www.guardian.co.uk

The difference that now comes in political dictatorships and those in sports is that in a political dictatorship, you can go out on the streets and revolt. In a sporting dictatorship, sadly, the same isn't true. Standing and demonstrating in Tahrir Square in Cairo isn't going to make Sepp Blatter lose any sleep. Eventually, money talks, member countries are shut up and everything stays as it is.

How long will this continue for? Who knows. In the meantime, the credibility of these sports may suffer in the short term but after an exciting race or a stunning exhibition of the beautiful game (a la Barcelona), we move on and accept it. Is it right? No. However, until a way is worked out to rebel in the sporting world, little will change.

Gagging Gaga - Why can't we download music legally?

2011-05-26T09:54:00.000+04:00

I saw a story this morning that has really bugged me (click here to read it). Amazon and Apple have been battling it out in world of MP3 music downloads and seeing stories like this really bugs me.

Living in the Middle East, we don't have any real sources to download music from legally and I don't see when we can expect this either.

Gaga with a Gag order in the Middle East

As much as we talk about progress in the Middle East, we seem to be moving backwards as far as progress in music publishing rights go, which as a result only encourages music piracy. Creating a source for legal downloads would eliminate go some way to eliminating the problems that the big record companies complain about. If record companies want to complain about piracy, they should first give us an avenue for downloading music legally in this region as asking us to buy CD's from our local record store isn't the solution.

I'm not saying all of this because I didn't get to take advantage of Lady Gaga's US$ 0.99 download promotion offer for her latest album but as much as I like my gadgets, I'd like to see the content available for us to enjoy it.

End of rant.

Like a Kindle the Wind

2011-05-22T11:08:00.000+04:00

Amazon's announcement this week that it's sold more e-books for its Kindle platform than it did regular paper books is nothing short of amazing (Amazon's official PR can be seen by clicking here).

Are paper books gone with the wind?

The winds have changed course and its blowing in the direction of e-books. Despite the fact that e-book readers are still a rarity in the UAE and that there aren't many avenues to download e-books, the fact is that once an Amazon (or any other reputable bookseller can get a e-store up and running here), we should start to see the adoption of more e-books.

Having bought my Kindle a few weeks ago, I have to say I've loved it (I've written more about this in a previous blog post).

Show me the Money!

More significantly though, this probably means there's going to be a significant change in the margin structures the publishing industry works on. Till now, when we bought paper books, there was always a cost of printing, cost of shipping and cost of selling that probably ate up a significant portion of the costs. Then there would also be cases of obsolete and damaged stocks that traditional booksellers have to manage as well.

In the virtual world that Amazon lives in, most of these costs are variable or don't exist. The cost of publishing disappears, there is no shipping cost as such, the selling costs are minimal (no landlords or staff salaries to look after) and no excess inventory to manage. Even if Amazon charges a few dollars less for each Kindle book, it does mean bigger margins for them and significantly more margins than a traditional bookseller can hope to achieve.

Struggling Authors Welcome

For those aspiring authors, the move to e-books could also now make their chances of being published that much more easier as well. By virtue of the fact that a publisher may not having to think as much of all the prohibitive fixed costs that existed in the traditional publishing sector could mean they go out on a limb more often to promote an up and coming author.

At a time when we've been hearing about the troubles Borders has been having in the United States, it comes as a little surprise that traditional book retailers are finding it difficult. This is not to say that they'll disappear altogether but the ones that survive are the one's who'll find a way to still engage us going forward. How they do that, I'm not quite sure but whichever they do work out, I do hope to still see some of them around in my local community mall. Let's just hope paper books are not gone with the wind.

P.S. Just as I was putting the final touches onto this blog post, I saw fellow blogger Alexander McNabb also put out his post on e-books earlier this morning, which is worth a read (click here to read it)

To tumbl or not?

2011-05-17T12:11:00.000+04:00

I've set up a tumblr account today (http://apanjabi.tumblr.com) and I'm still not sure what I should be doing with it, whether I should pursue having a second blog account or not and whether I still quite understand what is the point of tumblr.

For now, it's set up. Whether it's updated regularly is another point but let's see what happens with it.

Any feedback on tumblr, I'd be happy to hear it.

Buyer Beware!

2011-05-11T06:38:00.000+04:00

I got an e-mail last night from Akanksha Goel of Socialize, an up and coming social media house in the UAE which carried a link to a story on their official blog, in which they spoke about the recent Apple location-gate scandal, the Sony PSN hacking incident and an example of when Amazon's cloud hosting services had crashed recently, brining down various other web services such as Quora and HootSuite.

I got tempted into answering this as the press has been playing this mainly as a case of a corporations behaving badly but what responsibility do we as consumers have? What happened to Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)?

In the age of one-click convenience, we choose to ignore many of these risks and can't shift the entire responsibility onto these corporations without first accepting some blame ourselves.

Read about this further on the Socialize Blog by clicking here and you can see my comments on there as well.

Read On - My Kindle experience

2011-05-08T14:45:00.001+04:00

The 3rd Generation Amazon Kindle

I’ve been traveling a lot of late and I’ve found a revelation. The Kindle. It’s not a new or revolutionary device but it’s changed the way I read. I may be late to the party but it’s never too late to start reading.

I tend to generally read more when I travel and it was always been an issue to lug around a book or two in my hand luggage or to find myself frustrated when I’m on a plane and I’ve finished my book and there’s been nothing decent on the inflight entertainment to watch.

With the Kindle though, it’s as if I’ve discovered the joys of reading again.

One reason why I’ve avoided e-readers till now was that I didn’t like the idea of reading off a screen, much preferring the paper editions. I somehow never felt comfortable when was I reading off a screen for an extended period of time however with the Kindle’s e-ink technology, it’s surprisingly soothing on the eyes. You can read it for hours and not feel the strain on your eyes as you would on an LCD-based device.

The other advantage of the Kindle has been that you can multiple books stored on one lightweight, featherweight device. Reading two or even three books simultaneously has all of a sudden become a possibility.

Looks like I don't need another bookshelf
in my office after buying the Kindle

Comparatively, you could read e-books off the Kindle App on the iPad, iPhone or other similar devices but holding an iPad in your hand for hours on end, isn’t practical because of its weight and screen technology. It eventually weighs you down whereas with the Kindle, it’s light enough to hold onto for hours. The advantage of the iPad App though is that if you start a book on your Kindle device, you can start off where you left off on your iPad because it synchronizes your progress across the different devices you’re reading on.

There are two versions of the Kindle available, a WIFI model and a 3G version. I opted for the WIFI model but the 3G model is unique in that it doesn't require you to get a data plan. It works in most countries and any data costs related to downloading a book on the Kindle are borne by Amazon.

Sharing a book isn’t the same though. For those traditionalists who enjoy buying a book and then lending it onto a few friends, this is something that you can’t do on the Kindle.

Visiting a bookstore is a different experience as well. While I love going to bookstores, I’ve found it different since I got the Kindle. I now see myself as a traitor in a bookstore. I’m in there to browse through a few books and getting ideas for what I can download from the Amazon Kindle store.

With the Kindle, I’ve also found myself reading at home, which is something I wasn’t doing as often. Whether this is just a passing fad or a habit that I pick up for life, I’m not sure, but I hope to keep it up for as long as I can.

If you haven’t used a Kindle yet, try it out. I’m sure it’s bound to change the way you read as well. With so many distractions and attention spans getting shorter, I’m glad I found something that keeps my attention for more than five minutes at a time.

Benihana loses, Blogger wins - is this the precedent?

2011-04-27T09:14:00.001+04:00

For blogger Mark or @mark248am (that's his Twitter handle), yesterday was the day things finally went right and justice was dished out. Mark, was being sued by Benihana in Kuwait for a post he'd put on his blog that they didn't quite like (Mark talks about it in more detail here) was told yesterday he'd won his case for stating his opinion.

While this is no doubt great news for bloggers across the region, who've certainly come in the spotlight of late with the sea of revolutions we've seen across the Middle East and North Africa, this was a little more interesting because this wasn't a case of blogger vs. government but rather of blogger vs. private enterprise.

The grounds on which the lawsuit commenced itself was bizarre and left many to wonder why would a franchisee of a major brand like Benihana be willing to jeapordize his reputation like that. After all, bad or negative feedback spreads like wildfire but good feedback doesn't often get spoken about enough. I'm pretty sure that what happened in Benihana in Kuwait probably had a knock-on effect of sorts on Benihana in the UAE, even though the franchisee is different. I know at least when I hear the name Benihana, I cringe. I liked their food and the experience always here in Dubai but somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder if I want to dine there anymore.

Why didn't Benihana manage the damage much earlier? Why did it reach to the point where they were making racist remarks by asking Mark if he was Lebanese (as if that makes any difference)? Why weren't they just willing to sit down with Mark and ask him why he didn't like his experience there so they could see if they could constructively incorporate his comments into his experience there? These are answers we probably won't ever get. What Benihana probably underestimated was that even though the blogging community is small, they are vocal. Their opinions do get heard and with so many journalists and PR-folk on social media across the region, these stories can be picked up very quickly by the mainstream press.

What I am more interested about though is that if this sets a precedent? The legal system in the region can be erratic but a victory like this could be a reference point for others. However, what this does not mean you can defame or be libelous. There is still a fine line as a blogger you have to take. Opinion is fine, making up facts, figures and being racist isn't.

So while I'm thrilled to see Mark win, I'm just worried this sends the wrong message to other bloggers in this part of the world who think they can say anything and get away with it. There is still a code of ethics we have to live with as bloggers and while it's good to have multiple mouthpieces open during this era of citizen journalism, let's make sure to respect the boundaries. If you want to be treated with respect, you also need to respect those around you, whether it be on social media or in real life.

As someone who's in the field of providing customer service myself, I know it's impossible to provide 100% customer satisfaction as much as we want but the basic principles of listening, understanding and acknowledging have never changed, whether it happens in person, over e-mail, phone calls or on social media. I'm sure Benihana have learned a lesson but I sincerely hope other businesses in the region also do as well .

For Mark's comments on winning his court case, you can read this here on his blog. My blog posts on Benihana Kuwait can be seen with the label of (BenihanaKUW) or by clicking here.

My weekend with Android

2011-04-15T22:57:00.000+04:00

About two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to play with a new toy. It was an Android smartphone and since I use an Apple iPhone (3GS) and a BlackBerry Bold 9780 as my primary devices, I was excited at the prospect of using an Android device, particularly since this was running on the latest version of Android, version 2.3, which has also is also popularly known as Gingerbread. Since I haven't upgraded my iPhone to the iPhone 4, I was contemplating moving to an Android device and to see if I should wait it out till the iPhone 5 comes out.

Before I talk about my experience, I want to say, I'm not going to mention to brand or the model I used. I don't want to this to come out like a paid promo for a device or a brand and given my professional background, it could very easily be interpreted that way. This is also why I decided to post this on my personal blog instead of the corporate blog that I often write about technology topics on.

Speed

First off, I found the said device to be quick, snappy and it had a brilliant display. Considering the fact that I'm still using the iPhone 3GS, I found this to be refreshing as the 3GS is starting to feel sluggish these days and in comparison, the screen on the 3GS is just plain old dull. I know if I upgraded to the iPhone 4, most of this wouldn't be an issue but since I have the 3GS, any new device these days would fair better in terms of processor speed and display technology. The BlackBerry Bold is a much smaller screen and isn't a touch-screen device so you can't really make a comparison here. However as compared to the BlackBerry OS 6.0, I found skinned version of Gingerbread that this manufacturer uses to be much faster than OS 6.0.

Home Screen, Menus & Widgets

Another refreshing change on the device was the widgets on the home screen. This is something I remember seeing in the earlier versions of BlackBerry devices but disappeared somewhere along the process. On the iPhone, this sadly lacks and there is little customization possible on the home screen.

Social media integration is also something that virtually every Android skin seems to be working on. On the iPhone the notification system is still weak. On the BlackBerry it's improved and with OS 6.0, RIM have tried to include their Social Feeds App but you're still better of using UberSocial and the Facebook App. On this device though, it seemed seamlessly integrated. Considering more of how we communicate these days is via social networking, this was a real plus point for this device.

The camera on this device was decent. Whether it was video or still photographs, I found this to do the job just fine. How good a camera is though depends so much on individual models and manufacturers so you can't really credit Android for this.

As far as the menu's go, I found it more difficult to navigate through the Android device as compared to my BlackBerry and iPhone. The main reason was the lack of folders. I didn't like the fact that I had to scroll through five screens to find an App whereas on my iPhone I know I can limit everything to three screens if I need to and have them sorted the way I like them. On the BlackBerry it isn't as much of an issue either just because you don't tend to end up with as many Apps as you would on an iOS or Android device.

App Away!

What I did like on the Android device was the number of Apps that were available. While there aren't as many Apps available as you would have in the iTunes App store for Apple devices (and don't bother trying to compare with BlackBerry's AppWorld), you tended to find most of the important Apps that you'd use on a regular basis (i.e. games like Angry Birds, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or Twicca on Android, Skype, Tango, sports & news Apps etc.).

What I did find frustrating though was navigating through Google Market. I somehow still find the iTunes App store much easier to use and the overall user experience is still stronger on this. I did however try using Google Market on my laptop and it was great to see Apps loaded over the air directly onto my device. No cables, no connecting to my laptop, no worries.

What I did find cumbersome was trying to move or delete Apps. It doesn't seem as straightforward as the iPhone where you get to the wobble screen and just press on the little "X" button that appears on top of each App or on the BlackBerry where you press the menu button and just select Delete. On this device, there was a lot more work to be done and you just wish it was a one or two step process. Maybe it could've been done easier and I totally missed this but I didn't see it.

This also brought to me to another issue that bugged me: the lack of help. With so many Android devices and so many versions running on different skins, finding help online was more difficult. What works on one device with one skin, may not work on another one. Comparatively finding support online for Apple's iOS is relatively simple as there is really only two devices that are being used and very fewer versions of iOS than Android.

Having said that, one novel App I liked which came standard on this particular device a flashlight or torch function. It seems simple enough and I did indeed end up using it once because I needed some light and switching on the flash did certainly help. I know you can get this on other devices and operating systems now as well but I liked the fact that this came standard.

Gmail, Surfing and Migrating Contacts

Being an OS owned by Google, Gmail integration is surely one of their strengths here. The Gmail App on the BlackBerry is a pain to use and I haven't even bothered trying to connect my Gmail account on my iPhone but this was a joy to use.

The browser on this device was also fabulous. The BlackBerry browser is rather more difficult to use and because of the smaller screen size, you don't quite the same web experience. The iPhone is nice but I found this device just better overall. What I did find on this particular device though was that it had a relatively poor Wifi range. I've thus far found the BlackBerry to be the best, followed by my iPhone but this device just didn't cut it.

Moving contacts was probably one of the easiest operations I've seen on a smartphone. I've moved contacts from one BlackBerry to another or from the BlackBerry to the iPhone, but it always required that I had to connect to my laptop to do it. Here it was done wirelessly using Bluetooth and I've never seen all my contacts migrate from one device to another that quickly. Everything moved perfectly and I just wished all manufacturers and OS platforms were this easy.

Connectivity to a PC / Mac

If there was one major gripe I had with this device it was connectivity to a PC or Mac. The synchronization process when it connected to my PC wasn't as smooth and was terribly slow. Once you've connected your BlackBerry to the Desktop Manager or had your iPhone connect to iTunes, you find things just happen. This sadly wasn't the case here.

Trying to connect this device to my iTunes library to copy some music on to it also was a multi-step process which I don't think I would be prepared for everything I wanted to sync or update my playlist. Moving a podcast was even more complicated and I eventually gave up trying to do this. When I did copy music onto the device though, the output was great and I had no complaints on this.

Even worse was though was trying to connect this Android device to my Mac. It just wasn't going to happen and I found the support for Macbooks to be extremely poor. The BlackBerry connectivity on a Mac isn't great either but it's much better than this.

What did I choose to do finally?

When Sunday morning came around and it was time for me to head off to work, I had a choice to make. Which phone did I want to use, the iPhone or the Android device? As much as I liked the whole Android experience, I just missed iOS too much. Out came the SIM card and straight into the SIM tray of the iPhone it went.

Had I not used an iPhone, I would've probably stuck to this device but with Gingerbread looking as good as it is, I do certainly hope the future versions of Android operating systems move forwards from here and close the gap on iOS. Fragmentation within the Android environment is a major issue at the moment and with the experience being so different from device to device due to manufacturer skins and so many different versions of Android OS floating around, it is going to be a challenge that Google hopefully addresses.

Where is the Android device in the meantime? Don't worry, it found a good home and is currently being used by wife and since it's the first touch screen device she's used, she may end up keeping it longer than the one weekend I had this device for.

If you pay for content, you know its true

2011-03-29T20:07:00.000+04:00

Following my blog post yesterday on The New York Times and its decision to start charging for online content (click here for the blog post), I got an interesting comment through Facebook from one of my friends, Gulshan. He raised a very brief but valid point when he said "If news is charged hopefully then its all true."

This is indeed a good point because with everything and anything being accessible on the Internet as was pointed out by Alan Devereux, one of the people who commented on my original blog post, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe everything you read about on the Internet (Alan incidentally also wrote about paywalls on his blog as well, which you can read here).

Case in point: today's rumour mill was buzzing with stories of Jackie Chan's death, which it turned out to wasn't true.

If you pay for content, you therefore expect it to be authentic, verified and to the standards that you would expect to find in any respectable broadsheet publication.

Having said all that, would you be willing to start paying for content one day?

The New York Times & its Paywall

2011-03-29T13:11:00.002+04:00

This week, The New York Times (NYT), a reputed and well-known publication attempts to change the way digital journalism works by implementing a paywall. What is a paywall and why is this significant? Basically, in a nutshell, NYT is saying start paying for content online if you want to access it because we can't afford to keep giving it away for free.

In a traditional newsprint environment, publishers know that they can make money from one of two ways - either from subscription income or through advertising revenue. The lion's share of the revenue is probably from advertising I'd assume. In the traditional environment, you'd have the costs associated with printing and distribution that don't exist in a digital environment.

So why are publishers now talking about implementing paywalls?

Firstly, they need the revenue. The advertising revenue that publishers get for traditional newsprint doesn't exist online because you can't guarantee in a digital environment that a reader will click through three or four stories till he see's you advertisement but in traditional newsprint, you can be assured that even if your advertisement is on page 32, it'll be seen by thousands, if not millions of people.

Secondly, most of access news through various digital means and the function the newspaper has itself changed significantly. Traditional newspapers don't exist to break the news - that's what social media is for these days. Traditional newspapers provide more of an editorial or indepth analysis or commentary of a story. Some newspapers have understood this and are adapting themselves accordingly. Others have failed to see the writing on the wall and represent a deer staring at the headlights of a car that's about to hit them (I've written about this in a blog post several months earlier, that you can read here).

With this being the situation, publishers have seen that the advertising revenue isn't quite cutting it and the other revenue source that they have, subscriptions, has to come into play if they have to survive. We're in an era of citizen journalism where anyone can say they provide news. This has been glorified in the era of blogs, YouTube or CNN's i-Report. There is though still a market for true journalism to prosper going forward and to pay for journalists, the revenue streams need to exist.

How will the NYT paywall work?

What NYT has proposed is to say that you can access twenty articles free of charge a month. If you want more than that, either get a subscription to the printed newspaper or get a digital subscription and you can start to access all the other content on their website (A letter from the publisher is here and details on subscription plans can be seen clicking on this link).

Interestingly, NYT have said that if you access their website through social media or search engine links, you can read articles for free, as that I assume is good way to drive advertising revenue.

Experiment or Reality?

A few questions now exist in this situation. Firstly, will people agree to pay for this content or will they switch off and look at alternative news sources online? Secondly, in a traditional newsprint environment, a newspaper may be read by multiple people within a household or workplace, in the proposition that NYT is proposing, they've said they'll give only one digital subscription free if you subscribe to the newsprint edition of their publication. Isn't this then unfair as how can you ask a husband, wife and their two kids to each get a digital subscription account because grandpa has used the only one that they get for free whereas they all benefit from reading the traditional printed edition of the NYT?

There are lots of questions and answers that are yet to emerge from this. It's now moved from being an experiment to becoming a reality and somewhere in the world, Rupert Murdoch is I'm sure thrilled at the thought that he doesn't need to give away free content. Murdoch himself started a tablet newspaper for the iPad which I've written about earlier (and can be accessed by clicking here).

For more insight on paywalls, you can have a read through this story on the NYT paywall.

I was also hoping to put up a link to a conversation that took place between Jessica Swann, Alexander McNabb and Tom Gara that took place on Dubai Eye's Dubai Today show recently where Tom spoke about paywalls at length since he currently works for FT Tilt, a paywall provider themselves but it seems Dubai Eye hasn't posted this podcast on their website and I can't therefore share it. Do follow Tom on Twitter where his handle is @tomgara or follow Alexander McNabb at @AlexanderMcNabb.

Pierre Cardin Hotel: Dubai, make it happen!

2011-03-26T14:05:00.000+04:00

With Dubai's quest for making things the biggest, the best and having it here first, I got to thinking about how long it would be until Dubai has a Pierre Cardin Hotel, the world's first.

We've already seen the Armani Hotel setup shop here and with the Versace project next to the Business Bay Bridge in full swing, Dubai's obsession with labels still seems to hold up despite the fact that we've been going through a recession.

So what would the Pierre Cardin Hotel offer?
Everything you can imagine would be in Pierre Cardin here, right from the uniforms the staff wear, to the furniture and the linens all over the hotel. Look out for the funky Pierre Cardin logo sewn onto everything. They'll try and convince you everything is European but don't get conned.

Will it cost me an arm and a leg?
Room rates that were 70% off throughout the year would be a starter. If the Armani Deluxe rooms goes for Dhs. 2,400 on their website, this would mean the Pierre Cardin Deluxe room should cost you about Dhs. 720 per night. The rooms would also be 30% the size of a room in the Armani Hotel so be prepared to hold your stomach in if you need to move in your room as a bit of a beer belly could mean you're instantly stuck in between the furniture. If you like 100% Egyptian Cotton bedsheets, forget it, you'll only 30% Egyptian Cotton here. Same goes for the the rest of the amenities, bathtub, bath gown, etc.

What if I'm hungry at the Pierre Cardin Hotel?
The restaurants, bars and nightclubs in the Pierre Cardin Hotel would naturally also have the have 70% off offers. How much does 70% off the price of the food reflect on the size of the portion you're getting is still out for the jury to decide on. The same goes with the quality of liquor you can expect. Grey Goose could be a bit of a stretch so expect a vodka from the outskirts of Siberia that's packaged fancily but which you've never heard of.

What? No discount at the Spa?
The spa in the Pierre Cardin Hotel would probably be the only part of the hotel that doesn't offer a discount but will give you 70% more time free of charge, meaning that if they charged Dhs. 1,500 for their ultimate Pierre Cardin body package that otherwise lasted 18 minutes, they would round it off to the whole hour and give you 42 minutes for free.

Pierre Cardin TV, day and night.

In-Room Entertainment?
Forget Fashion TV, all you're going to get here is a Pierre Cardin fashion show on every channel. If you have a portable DVD-player, iPad or laptop with movies on them, bring it with you.

Check to see the car's condition before you sit down.

Airport Pickup
Not a problem, with their fleet of Mercedes Benz cars from the early 1990's, you'll have an interesting ride back to your hotel. The air-conditioning may not always work, the seats may be worn out, but you can't deny the fact that they picked you up in a Mercedes-Benz. Be careful also about drinking the water that's kept int he car because even though the water bottles have the Pierre Cardin logo on them, they do smell a lot like Dubai tap water.

Where would the Pierre Cardin Hotel be located?
Chances are, everywhere. They would open up a chain of hotels and a Pierre Cardin Hotel would pop up attached to every mall in Dubai before invading Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Shajah and Ajman, before eventually finding their way up north to Ras Al Khaimah which'll probably have the first Pierre Cardin Luxury Beach Resort.

First Mover Advantage?
The Pierre Cardin Hotel would have the first mover advantage knowing that a series of Ted Lapidus and Daniel Hechter could open up at any time and eat into their 70% throughout the year market.

Moral of the Story
The next time you're at a Dubai hotel and feel you're getting ripped off, know in your mind, you could always end up at a Pierre Cardin Hotel instead. Be happy where you are, put up with their attitude, burn a hole in your pocket and thank yourself you aren't in a Pierre Cardin Hotel.

Adult Supervision: Not Required Anymore

2011-03-21T14:34:00.000+04:00

I came across a fascinating story in Wired magazine today about Google's decision to let co-founder, Larry Page take over as CEO of Google.

Good luck Larry, hope you keep Google stuck to
it's core values.

What really struck a chord for me in the story was that this eccentric nature to do what you like when you like is something the author managed to pin down to the education system that Larry Page and Sergey Brin had, which followed a Monetessori curriculum. This meant, at school, they were encouraged to do what they wanted, when they wanted and this is something that's been put into the DNA of Google today.

All the stories about Google being one of the best places to work and the fact that their offices resemble an amusement park more than an office is testament to this.

The other thing that stood out was the obsession with speed that Page has. Everything has to be quick and functional, which is evident in the way their browser or Android OS works. However, this also translates down into how decision happens at Google or how Page is constantly fighting bureaucracy. How he manages to do in this battle within the organization is something I'd like to see but good luck to Larry when he takes over the reins from Eric Schmidt as CEO.

To read the story in Wired, click here.

Cha-Ching...Twitter's looking to make money

2011-03-20T22:27:00.000+04:00

Just when we thought we were heading into another tech bubble, some companies decide they want to think about revenue.

At least this is what I understood from Twitter's announcement about API's last week (click here for details).

With valuations for companies like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter on the rise, little has been known about their revenue models and looking at Twitter's tantrums of late, you can start to understand what all the fuss is about. Twitter has grown wildly popular because of the fact they had a fairly open API model which resulted in lots of Apps being developed with Twitter connectivity.

In fact, it's been so open that some of the best Apps are in fact Twitter clients themselves like Tweetie (which was later acquired by Twitter and became Twitter for iPhone / Blackberry), UberTwitter (which is now called UberSocial), TweetDeck, EchoFon, Seesmic, etc.

Image courtesy: epiclaunch.com

With Twitter now saying they don't want to see any more third party Twitter clients in existence in the long-term, they've essentially cut the playing field down to a size where they can start to dominate again. How? By making more people use their official Twitter clients.

This then raised the question as to who they'd be targeting. The average Joe is probably not the person they want (except for the advertising revenue they could get by him using their official client) but most likely they're after the corporate clients. After hooking up businesses, large and small, Twitter has recognized that for most companies, there is more than one person who manages a corporate Twitter ID. In such cases, third party clients like HootSuite or CoTweet have been used as you can track easily who's responded to what Tweet or who to assign a Tweet to. Furthermore, the statistics that both can provide, helps any company on Twitter go someway towards justifying their investment in social media.

However, with HootSuite now charging companies that want to have multiple users on one Twitter account, it's left CoTweet to sweep whatever is left, or that is until Twitter cuts off their pipe. I won't be surprised to see Twitter turnaround and launch "Twitter for Business" where they start to charge companies for doing a lot of what HootSuite and CoTweet do for them today. This would not only please investors who'd like to see big-name clients now using Twitter official Apps, it would also bring in a revenue-base that isn't solely dependent on advertising and which is by most means stable, monthly income.

Let's see how it goes but I'm guessing we're going to be seeing a lot more from Twitter and get ready to wake up one day to find your favourite Twitter client cut off from it's life support system by Dr. Twitter.

I've not given up...the blog continues

2011-03-15T14:48:00.000+04:00

Just in case you were wondering (not that I expect anyone to), but the blog does continue even though I haven't posted as much as I'd like to of late.

Maintaining a blog on the professional side, coupled with the fact that I haven't had much interesting to say of late and that I've been fairly tied up has meant that there simply haven't been any new posts on this blog.

Don't fret, the blog posts will come again and I will ensure this blog continues.

Until then, I'm keeping the training wheels on and hoping I maintain my balance.

Murder by Cricket: Part 2? I hope not.

2011-03-07T10:40:00.000+04:00

It was surprising to see this week during the ICC Cricket World Cup that the West Indies team bus was attacked by angry fans who were throwing stones and "pebbles" at them after they convincingly defeated Bangladesh on their home turf (story as reported by AFP here).

For the Windies, it is unfortunate since they weren't the intended target of this rage but rather it was directed towards the Bangladeshi team which was bowled out for a paltry 58 runs. However, I'm guessing since all buses look alike for the teams competing in the World Cup, Bangaldeshi fans didn't realize they were attacking the wrong team.

Stories of players heading to the ground of the bus and windows shattering would've defiantly scared the living daylights out of those on the bus, particularly given the fact they wouldn't have understood what was being said by the angry fans.

What is more shocking though is how this was allowed to happen.

I would've thought that the cricket world would've learned a lesson or two, especially after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore several years ago (click here for story). At that time, armed gunmen with malicious intent shot at the team and caused several injuries to players. A few civilians ad security personnel also lost their lives at that time. This time, it was more a case of angry fans upset with their team, who probably didn't want to hurt anyone but just vent out their anger.

However, it raises the question that if someone wanted to attack the team bus, it was quite possible. Also keep in mind it was during the last Cricket World Cup hosted in the West Indies where Bob Woolmer, the coach of Pakistan was murdered (which I was incidentally interviewed for by ESPN when I was in the West Indies - click here for the interview). How was security so lax, especially considering this is a World Cup event? What standards has the ICC set for host nations as far as protecting the players and their teams go?

My picture as it appeared in the ESPN interview
during the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC Chief, Haroon Lorgat has talked down the incident much to the anger of the West Indies cricketers by saying a "few pebbles" were thrown and a "few arrests" were made. He doesn't hold anyone accountable or say it is something that shouldn't have happened to begin with (click here for an audio interview he gave the BBC).

Whatever happens, let's hope the rest of the World Cup goes off without any incident. It was supposed to be a tournament with four co-hosts and with Pakistan being dropped following those attacks against the Sri Lankan players in Lahore, let's hope cricket in the subcontinent stays vibrant and doesn't become a victim to poor planning and lax security.

Eating out in Dubai: Is the attitude worth it?

2011-02-21T13:37:00.000+04:00

Anyone who's been in Dubai for a number of years has seen it. The number of places to eat out has mushroomed (no pun intended). There is more choice. There are more cuisines. There are more locations. They've generally all become a lot more expensive. There is a lot more attitude.

The last point is one that always rattles me up the most. I don't mind paying more if I get my money's worth but don't charge a premium and make it seem like you're doing me a favour. A lot of the "hot" spots to eat in Dubai (again, no pun intended), really end either giving you close to no service or make you feel unwelcome, that you have to think why do you spend this money on them?

More and more, I've found myself going back to the older, trusted establishments in Dubai. They still know you. They've in many cases maintained the quality of their offering. They're more expensive than they once were but you know what you can expect in terms of food, ambience and service. They're more flexible to listen to you. They make you feel welcome. They will be in business years after those restaurants with attitude shut down.

One recent example was at Vintage in Wafi City. Like most of the restaurants in the Wafi Pyramids, Vintage has been around for a while and even though it's not the busiest place in town, they've managed to maintain their quality and their professionalism. On a recent visit there, my wife and I had ordered a fondue which took its own sweet time to make its way to our table. When we did get it, I dug in straight away, however, my wife felt it didn't taste the same. A few minutes later, the manager came over, asked us how things were and then apologized immediately. I wasn't at first sure what he was apologizing for but he said he'd been told by our server that our fondue had taken a lot longer to be delivered to us than it usually does and the reason was the the chef didn't have right ingredients that day. He had compromised and made sure he got us a fondue but wasn't fully satisfied with it (though I had no complaints with it). As a result, our fondue was on the house.

While the taste may not have been the same, the fact is, I still found it pretty good and enjoyed it nonetheless. We made sure there wasn't a trace of it left (despite the fact that she found it tasted different), but it just goes to show, that despite the fact that we wouldn't have complained and were overall satisfied with our experience at Vintage, the restaurant wasn't and didn't felt it was right to charge us for something they didn't think was right.

It's not often you see this or hear of this. Where will you find your experiences normally at their best is still in the same tried and tested establishments.

I do hope certain over-priced Asian-food restaurants in fancy surroundings in a local financial centre understand this as do the many new restaurants that have opened and still feel they're doing me a favour by feeding me. I do have a choice and I can choose to eat elsewhere.

Would Egypt's People Power Revolution have succeed in the Bush Era?

2011-02-13T16:21:00.001+04:00

I don't often get political in public but with the events of the last week in Egypt, most of the world was probably stunned to see how people power caused a revolution in Egypt. While the actions of the protestors were largely peaceful and restrained (considering how it could've escalated and become much more gruesome), it left me wondering, at another time, with another leader in command of the United States, would things have been different?

I don't know if the reason we didn't see a reaction from Barack Obama was because he was indecisive or whether he really wanted people power to sort itself out, but with his predecesor, George W. Bush, things may have taken a very different turn.

Would Bush have sent in the troops?
Would he be talking of "liberating" the Egyptian people?
Would he have gone to war against 80 million people?
Would he cause more ripples in the Arab world than there already is?
Would he have used it as an excuse to go after Libya, Syria, Sudan, Yemen or Iran?

The honest answer is I don't know.

The only thing I do know though is that I'm more comfortable in knowing he wasn't in The White House when these events unfolded because it's too scary to think what if...

Pictures courtesy http://www.sobriquetmagazine.com/

Has Quora lost it's stickiness factor?

2011-02-10T21:56:00.000+04:00

January 2011.

It was the start of a new year and in a way I was glad December 2010 was over, not because of anything else but the fact that for the entire month of December, everywhere you turned, you kept hearing about "The Best of 2010" or "It happened in 2010."

For those with short attention spans, reminding them what happened in 2010 may be important but I just somehow saw a little too much of it this year so when 2011 rolled around, I was eager to see what the year will bring.

One of the first things everyone on the social media networks was talking about in the first week of January was Quora. Quora for those who aren't aware of what it is, is basically a question and answer site but what made it even more intriguing was the fact that you could join Quora by "invitation only." (Click here to learn more about Quora).

Before you knew it, in the first two weeks of January, everyone was talking about Quora. I was reading people's questions and answers on Quora, but alas, I couldn't join Quora because I wasn't "invited." Even my friend David George-Cosh from The National, started using answers from Quora in his stories.

I felt like I was standing outside a popular nightclub in Dubai without any wasta or connections. You wait behind the velvet rope while the bouncer tells you the club is full and a minute later, you see him lift that same velvet rope and in goes someone who's obviously got enough influence to get his way in. All of a sudden, Quora was the place to be and if you weren't on Quora, you weren't "in."

Not knowing what to do and too embarassed to admit I hadn't been invited by anyone, I turned to a fellow social networker and sent her a DM (Direct Message) on Twitter to see if she could invite me. It was just my luck, that even with her brilliant connections, she wasn't on Quora yet. However, being as resourceful as she was, she shamelessly asked on Twitter for someone to invite her, bagged an invite for herself and then went on to invite me.

Finally I was on Quora!

Initially I loved Quora. It seemed to be full of intellectuals and I was reading up on many great questions, answering questions and in all honestly seeing this as the way forward in educating myself. I would logon to Quora without fail a few times a day and struggled to keep up with all the topics on Quora as I kept realizing there was no end to what you could learn or contribute on Quora.

Then I started to see the pool dry up. The same questions appeared, some of the intellect seemed to disappear and as I started going days without finding a decent question to answer, I found myself answering questions that were honestly downright silly.

Then it dawned me earlier this week when I saw a question on Quora that asked "Are you using Quora as much as you did in January 2011?" I looked at it and reflected, before answering. Was the honeymoon with Quora over? Was this the nightclub that suddenly lost its charm? Had the in-crowd moved somewhere else? Despite the appearance of a chunky bouncer with a velvet rope, was this the nightclub that people went to in the hopes of transacting business (like many of Dubai's shadier establishments)?

I still make it to a point to log onto Quora. I may not have the sense of excitement on there, I've probably lowered my expecations but I do hope it bounces back. In a world where social media and networks dominate the way we interact with each other, Quora has been a breath of fresh air. You may hesitate answering random questions on Twitter or Facebook from people you don't know, but somehow on Quora, it seemed a lot more natural. To see your questions voted up or acknowledged by absolute strangers does give you a sense of satisfaction in knowing you've shared your knowledge and it's been appreciated.

As much as I love the 140 character format of Twitter, the widespread appeal within Facebook or the random thoughts I put more extensively onto the blogs that I manage, Quora is special because it allows you talk about things you wouldn't talk about normally or read about things you wouldn't think of reading. I know friends or colleagues of mine, who have directly or indirectly benefitted from Quora because I've shared some knowledge I gained on there with them.

As much as the month of February has been a challenge for Quora, I hope it finds it legs and continues to bring us much more in 2011.

On come the training wheels

2011-02-05T18:58:00.000+04:00

After starting my blog a little over two months ago, I've gone past the stage where I was wondered if I was indeed committed to blogging (My first post was called Yikes! I'm trying to Blog...).

I can see this blog developing and with so many supportive comments received along the way, it's something I will pursue in the longer term. Having said that, it is still in its infancy and I'm still learning the ropes hence you'll find a whole host of funny colour combinations and layouts till date. I can't promise this won't stop, hence I decided to rename the blog "Blogging with Training Wheels" as this is actually how it feels right now.

To those who've given me some constructive feedback over the period, thanks for that. For those who found the previous colour schemes unreadable, I hope this is better. For those who don't understand why I blog, please stop reading it, no one's forcing you (sorry to be blunt). To anyone aspiring to start a blog, go for it!

Qatar - please learn from your mistakes

2011-02-03T16:03:00.001+04:00

I was rather amused to see this story on ArabianBusiness today about fans not being able to attend the finals of the Asian Cup football because of a security detail that took place on the day of the final.

Apart from the fact that Qatar is now trying to compensate those locked out of the final by offering them a refund, what really amused me was the fact that this isn't the first time this has happened in Qatar.

In 2006, when Qatar was hosting the Asian Games, I was there and was to attend the final of the ladies tennis event, the football final and the closing ceremony. All three were at different venues and I was to attend this over a period of two days, with the football and closing ceremony being on the second day.

On the day of the football final, the authorities in Qatar decided to switch venues to a stadium closer to where the closing ceremony would take place because Qatar had qualified for the final of the football (against Iraq) and certain dignitaries wanted to attend both events.

Anyone who's involved even the smallest event knows that you can't change venues at the last minute like this as events like this are planned months, if not years in advance. In any case, Qatar did what Qatar wants and moved the final to a stadium that had a smaller capacity than the one where the final was to be held.

I was at the Asian Games with a platinum sponsor of the event and they had VIP tickets for the final. However, much to their embarrassment, we were made to stand outside the stadium for nearly 40 mins until we got in as they didn't know where to seat us or where seats were still available. It really made you wonder how things could be planned like this for a major event like the Asian Games.

At the very least, I thought this would've been a learning experience for Qatar but five years later, you still see the same issue arise. There is no way you can end up enjoying a final of a tournament if you've missed a good portion of it or not seen it at all. A refund may help pocket but it still leaves a very bitter taste in your mouth.

Qatar - please learn from your mistakes as the world will be watching you in 2022 and I don't think they'll be quite as accommodating that time around.

Hints, Tips, Reviews - How will Benihana keep track of them?

2011-02-02T14:42:00.002+04:00

With so much being said of the Benihana fiasco in Kuwait this week, one more thought that came to mind yesterday was how do businesses like Benihana start to keep track of what people are writing about them?

In the days of traditional print media, you knew typically which newspapers or magazines had restaurant reviews and you could scan them each day to see what was being said about you (or your competitors!). As blog sites started appearing, it started becoming a bit more challenging but still to some degree could be managed if you set up Google Alerts to track what was being said on the Web.

Today though, things have moved on. Some of the most effective referrals or recommendations people rely on are peer-to-peer reviews. While blogs may have been where we saw peer-to-peer reviews initially pop-up, they've started coming on social networking sites like Facebook in the form of status updates or on Twitter. More recently location-based Apps like Foursquare, Facebook Places and even our region's own me360 came on the scene where people start leaving tips, tricks, reviews and hints about places visited or frequented. The idea is that you're more likely to rely on advice given from someone you know than a reviewer who works for a magazine or newspaper (who you've never met and may have their own sets of biases).

Word of mouth has always been effective and now we're spreading this virally through social media networks or location-based Apps. We've already seen peer-to-peer journalism in action where even big networks like CNN have embraced it with their iReport segments.

In this case then, how do businesses like Benihana start keeping track of what is being said? I'm sure this is the million-dollar (or KD) question for team at Benihana Kuwait is waiting to answer as they start sniffing out where they can launch their next lawsuit.

Remember your fundamentals & media training skills: The Benihana Debacle

2011-02-01T15:49:00.002+04:00

With everything that's gone on with Benihana in Kuwait for the last few days, it brings to light the fact that such situations could be avoided if more executives in this region had some sort of media training or didn't lost sight of some basic business fundamentals in customer care.

While I have no way of knowing the background or experience that the team at Benihana has had, I do know for a fact that many senior executives who are responsible for talking to the press or media in this region have never had any media training.

The lack of any media training means that many companies and their executives are left totally exposed when faced with a crisis. As we've seen in the last couple of years when the region has been through more downs than ups and the solution most companies resort to at a time of crisis is to stay silent. While silence is said to be golden, not saying anything during a crisis only makes the situation worse.

What more companies need to realize is that thoughts, emotions and opinions can't be censored or ignored. We need to listen, we need to acknowledge them and we need to discuss.

While I've admittedly not had any formal media training, I've probably over the period learned a lot through experience whether it be dealing with print media, radio, TV and social media. If given the chance to undergo formal media training, I would do it immediately. As a person who is responsible to speak to the press, it is vital that you take upon yourself the responsibility of being able to manage your company's image in the press.

The fact that Benihana let their lawyer's speak first only highlights this because once you involve your lawyer, then everything has to be funneled through them. Lawyers by nature will always be very safe and conservative in terms of what they'll let you do or say (which is what they're paid to do), but lawyers should be brought in if there is no other way to move forward.

While a lot of what is happening in the Benihana case is billed as a social media or blogger community versus big business, it's also about basic fundamentals in customer service, which have not changed in decades. Social media or blogging is a means of communication but the fact is the fundamentals we work by don't change. If the same comments were written on the back of a comments card in the restaurant, it would've been read and possibly, Mark, the blogger, would've been contacted or the Chef would've received some stick for under-cooking the chicken in his meal.

The bottomline is, we need to see more executives media trained in this region if we want to see more companies respond proactively and we also need to understand how to adapt social media policies into the fundamentals that a company operates on. When this starts to happen, I'm pretty sure we'll start to see an improvement of how crisis situations like this are handled.

Why fear customer conversation? Benihana, please listen up.

2011-01-31T20:35:00.003+04:00

This has been a week full of mixed emotions with Liverpool on the verge of losing Fernando Torres, Egypt fighting for a revolution and the blogger / Twitter community standing united behind a Kuwaiti blogger, TWOFOURTYEIGHTAM, in his fight against Benihana.

For many of you, you may be wondering where did Benihana and a Kuwaiti blogger enter the picture from? Basically, one half of the blogging team, Mark, had made a visit to Behihana in Kuwait when it opened there recently and did a food review on it. For the many nice comments he had, there were a few aspects that weren't to his satisfaction which he wrote about on his blog. In short, Benihana responded by issuing a lawsuit against TWOFOURTYEIGHTAM and the bloggers are now being sued. (More details of this can be seen on Alexander McNabb's blog here).

This really makes you wonder why as a brand, franchise or retailer, would you sue someone for voicing their opinion? With my day job being in managing a retail business, I know that the most critical part of my job is to ensure as an organization we remain a part of the customer conversation. This conversation takes place on the shop floor, in our marketing, our PR and also in our social media activities. For us to be engaged in a true conversation, it requires two people to be involved, a customer and us. Dictatorial rants are old school and won't gain you any respect. A conversation is essentially a dialogue that must happen if you want to retain a customer. The days of expecting customer loyalty are history. No one is loyal today. If you want a customer to remain with you, you need to engage in customer conversation.

Customer conversation happens at different times, whether it be pre-sales, during the selling process or post-sales when returns or service issues may arise.

One thing I've learned though, no matter how good a job you're doing, there is someone doing it better and there is someone you're inevitably going to upset along the way. This is where being a part of the customer conversation is essential, as you need to listen, improve and move on. There will be times where you fail to meet a customer's expectations. Take the positives out of it, acknowledge it, work improve on it and in return, you will be appreciated for taking the initiative.

No one expects us to be perfect but they expect us to treat each other with respect. In the case of Benihana, this has clearly not been the case and the bottom line is Benihana has probably lost an entire segment of customers who might've otherwise visited their establishment had they listened, acknowledged, improved and moved on with wanting to do a better job.

Unfortunately for Benihana, there are not many ways to make up for what they've done but even now, at the very least, they should own up and admit that they've over-reacted and maybe hope they can redeem themselves by engaging themselves more with the community that exists on social media. As the saying goes, the customer is king, so please Benihana, start listening to your customers.

What does an Internet blackout achieve?

2011-01-29T15:40:00.000+04:00

The events of the last couple of days in Egypt have certainly kept us glued to our seats as what looks set to be a revolution in the making unfolds before us. What direction it'll take, how it will happen and who will take charge next are still questions we don't know the answers to but just as we saw the Iron Curtain collapse two decades ago, the same could happen in and around the Middle East.

In this day and age when most of us have taken our mobile phones and Internet connections for granted, we saw Egypt turn back the clock this week by blocking off services systematically. While there has been outrage over this decision from most people outside the country (and I'm sure within the country as well), it makes you wonder what the government thought they'd achieve?

When a crisis like this unfolds, what is needed most is communication. When clear and open channels for discussion can exist, then there can be hope that a resolution is reached by dialogue. When communication channels are blocked, it leads to more frustration and a disconnect between the opposing sides. Any attempt to block off or avoid communication is seen as a sign of weakness of the regime.

Despite all of this, the Egyptians moved on with their protests yesterday, the world heard their story and the attempted blackout achieved little. There was a means of communication before the Internet took rise and we all equipped ourselves with Blackberry's or iPhone's. The past few days have shown this and despite the social media channels being flooded with chatter about what's happening in Egypt, it has been the resilience of the Egyptians to find any means necessary to get their message out. By blocking television signals, mobile phone signals and Internet connections, it only created more reason to be out on the streets protesting.

As the situation unfolds, we'll wait and see what shape things take but what is for sure, the Egyptians have shown the world that despite the best attempts of the government to cut off access to the rest of the world, they will be heard.

Watch out: Your Starbucks coffee is making you fat!

2011-01-19T17:28:00.001+04:00

It's been rather amusing of late to see all the news about Starbucks that's been circulating. Being the best known coffee shop chain out there, Starbucks is always used an example whether they like it or not but really, the news coming out of guys in Seattle has only been setting themselves up for more egg on their face.

Firstly, Starbucks announcing their new logo where they're dropping the name "Starbucks Coffee" has been received adversely overall because Starbucks has become synonymous with coffee worldwide. You could understand if just the "coffee" was dropped as Starbucks looks to diversify into other beverage and food categories. However just having their siren / mermaid means that this logo will most likely not be allowed in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Starbucks new Siren only logo

However, to take the cake, Starbucks this week announced the launch of their "Trenta" sized coffee (more details on Trenta here). Trenta, is a 31-oz or approximately 900ml cup of coffee. According to stories making their rounds on the Internet right now, a cup that size is slightly larger than the size of the average human's stomach. If that doesn't make you run to the loo, I don't know what will...

Doesn't this make you think of King Kong - does size really matter?

What got me thinking more though was how many calories would the average Trenta cup have. Again, just browsing through the Internet, I came across a website that actually shows how many calories existing Starbucks coffees have. Based on this, I calculated the calories that a Trenta-sized cup would have and the results were shocking:

Cappuccino with low fat milk - 271 calories
Cappuccino with full fat milk - 349 calories
Latte with skim fat milk - 266 calories
Latte with full fat milk - 455 calories
Hot Chocolate with skim milk and no whipped cream - 503 calories
Hot Chocolate with full fat milk and no whipped cream - 676 calories
White Hot Chocolate with full fat milk and no whipped cream - 895 calories
Caramel Macchiato with low fat milk - 436 calories
Caramel Macchiato with full fat milk - 484 calories
Caramel Frappuccino - 678 calories
Coffee Frappuccino - 431 calories

If you're like me, your jaw must be dropping right now to know that there are people who are willing to consume close to a quarter of their day's caloric intake or more on a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Chances are, once you know, you probably won't want to try the Trente cup if and when it comes to our part of the world, but spread the word to those you care about, because no one should be drinking this much coffee without realizing the consequences.

Is King Kenny enough to make the difference at Anfield?

2011-01-10T21:21:00.001+04:00

As a Liverpool fan, this has indeed been one of the most uplifting weeks in a long time with news that Liverpool legend, Kenny Dalglish was back as Liverpool manager till the end of the season.

While King Kenny's return is a welcome relief given the calamity that was Rafael Benitez last season and the ineffectiveness of Roy Hodgson to make things happen thus far this season, you have to wonder if Liverpool are setting themselves up for disappointment again.

Kenny Daglish was an inspiration as a player, captain and manager in his heyday. In the time that he stopped managing Liverpool, they've seen the likes of Roy Evans, Graeme Souness, Gerrard Houllier, Rafael Benitez and Roy Hodgson installed as Liverpool manager. Each one has gone to fail miserably after leaving Liverpool's managerial post and it makes you wonder if the position of Liverpool manager is somehow cursed since teams like Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal started winning the Premier League.

When Dalglish had last managed Liverpool, the number of foreign players in the English game was minimal, long-ball football was British football and the focus to do well in the FA Cup and league was paramount (as English teams were banned for Europe for several years in the 1980's). Today priorities seem to have changed, the style of football has changed, the money in football has changed, the patience to drive out results no longer exists and the team spirit that once existed has changed.

Six months is too short a period for a manager to make his mark on the team but this is what Kenny Dalglish has got at the moment as the owner's have made it very clear that they will consider other managerial options this summer. What can Dalglish aim to achieve then in six months? The focus in my opinion would have to be to get the confidence back in his players. At the moment, they're out their on the field but they're lost. The fear they put into their opposition is waning away and every game for Liverpool has to be like a Cup Final between now and the end of the season. They need to go in with a determination to win. The body language needs to instill the spirit of champions. What do champions feel like? King Kenny knows this all too well and this could perhaps be his biggest contribution on the team.

He's brought in Steve Clarke who's an experienced veteran of the game as first team coach. That is fine for managing the team tactically but Kenny Dalglish if he is to leave his mark, has to bring back that killer instinct that was once within Liverpool. Torres needs to have that fire back in his eyes, Gerrard needs to take control of the centre of the park and the defence needs to start looking rock solid again. Assembling great players doesn't make a team. Having the confidence to work as a unit makes a great team. Roy Hodgson showed us how this was possible at Fulham last year and that could perhaps what his greatest failing could've been. Liverpool is not Fulham and maybe his techniques for turning Fulham into a unit weren't what was going to work at Liverpool.

Let's hope Liverpool live to tell another tale under Kenny Dalglish. In the meantime, remember Liverpool fans, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Inspiration, Obesity and Making a Difference

2011-01-07T20:55:00.001+04:00

I've been inspired!

How? Why? What?

Being a weekend, a time that I normally enjoy spending with my kids, I came across a video presentation by Jamie Oliver that he gave during the TED conference in 2010 (Click Here for Video). This man is as old as me and has been working hit butt off to make a difference.

In his 20 minute presentation, Oliver spoke of a topic that seems to hit everyone's heart strings and that is the health of our kids, our family, our community and ourselves. At the heart of it was the effects of obesity. Obesity is nothing new but it was shocking to see how naive some people were.

To sit and watch a video of how much junk food an American family was stuffing themselves with every week because they didn't cook at home or to see how much sugar is in the chocolate milk our kids drink, shows how we can take responsibility for the situation.

As difficult and complicated as we make it seem, the answer is simple. It comes down to basic education. The more we educate ourselves, our kids, our families and our communities, the quicker they will realize how things can improve.

I can see and feel the change happening already. What Oliver rightly points out in his presentation is that there has been a couple of generations where the value on diet and exercise was diminished and a lot of the illnesses we see today started persisting. Coincidentally, about ten days ago, while day-dreaming, I sort of realized the same thing as well. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents probably didn't realize the harm the food they were eating was doing to them or that the lack of exercise they had was inviting all the health problems they ended up suffering. Being of Indian origin, I know I've seen more share of fried foods, oil and spices to see how bad the Indian diet can be. I've also seen the culture of the afternoon siesta after a heavy meal that is and used to be much more prevalent in the Gulf.

In my generation though, I've seen most of us have mid-way through this period, learned and realized we need to change our lifestyle. More of us have in the last decade or so started improving our dietary habits and started going to the gym or doing yoga, etc. We can't change what we may have done in the last 20-30 years or so to our bodies but at least going forward we can ensure we look after it better.

The generation that follows us will and should be better informed than us. The right diet should be a part of their upbringing. Getting enough exercise should be part of their regime. Educating themselves and those around them will come more naturally to them. All this can happen and will happen provided we do our bit now to set them right.

In the presentation that Jamie Oliver gave, it is shocking to see how many kids in an elementary school didn't even recognize vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, eggplant, etc. I know my older daughter knows her fruits and vegetables quite well from all her trips to the supermarket with me. She's been learning about the benefits of these fruits and vegetables at home and in school. I can only hope she stays concious and aware of this for all her life.

Education ain't difficult. It is small steps to moving to the right path that can take you a long way. I am by no means fit but I am fitter than I used to be. If being fitter means I've added a couple of years onto my life expectancy or reduced partially my chances of getting a health condition, then I'm that much better off. The same should be what we teach those who we care for. It is intimidating to step into a gym if you are obese. I know it. I've gone through it. However, you realize, once you start, there isn't any laughing or snickering behind your back. We're all in it together and rather those who see you, appreciate the fact that you've started and you're trying.

There is no other sense of motivation other than self-motivation that can make you change yourself. Don't force change onto people, let them realize what they're doing and the biggest satisfaction you can get is when you see them driving a change in themselves.

I know this post has seen a lot of me rambling on but if you're passionate about something, you tend to do that.

Take care, be good and make a difference!

How EIDA could've been better implemented

2010-12-27T12:09:00.000+04:00

For those of you living in the UAE, you would've seen the whole mess that has been associated with the implementation of the National ID card (EIDA) that the government's been trying to implement. The horror stories regarding queues of people trying to apple for their EIDA card, deadlines being shifted and passports being retained by typing centres show just how and where the implementors of this scheme failed to have proper foresight in launching this.

The idea of an ID card is not something revolutionary and definitely carries along with it many advantages (though those who feel it violates it civil rights may feel otherwise). EIDA, when fully implemented would be good as it saves you from having to carry your passport around when at a government office, applying for a telephone connection, opening a bank account or carrying a separate e-Gate card around with you at immigration.

Having grown up in Hong Kong and being a Hong Kong ID card holder, I've seen how the whole process works and it is much less painful than what the UAE's going through right now. A recent example that most people from Hong Kong would be aware of is when the government in Hong Kong decided to effectively upgrade their ID cards in 2003 and issue everyone a "Smart" ID card. Hong Kong may be a small place but with a population of over 7,000,000 people, it's certainly had a greater challenge than the UAE in implementing such a scheme.

Just like in the UAE, there were special application centres that were setup all over Hong Kong which were put in place to handle the throngs of applicants that the government expected to receive. However, where the real difference came was in the way these centres were used.

In the UAE we've literally seen a free for all at times when we've had everyone rushing to apple for their EIDA card everytime a deadline looms. The special centres setup are overloaded and simply can't handle the load. These has led to rather ugly scenes at times and if you look at the accumulated value of productive time of people wasted, you realize the UAE economy would've been much better off having these people at work instead of worrying about waiting in a line at a typing centre or EIDA application centre.

In Hong Kong, they did things rather differently and intelligently. They spread out the process over a period of four years and within this setup mini-deadlines. Each mini-deadline was based on the year a person was born and if you then knew when to apply based on when you were born. This avoided immediately the big rush that you see in the UAE. By knowing also how many people are in each age group, the government knew also how long to keep the window open for each age group to apply.

Communication of these mini-deadlines was also very clear and everyone knew exactly what the process involved. Even if you weren't sure when it was your time to apply, there were more than enough available resources at the time there to guide you. If you missed it (as I did), not a problem, there was an efficient process to manage this as well. The end result was that I applied for HK ID card in 20 minutes.

I was lucky enough to apply for my EIDA card a few years ago now and I had gone to Fujairah to apply for this. Apart from the two hour drive there and back, I found the process to be very efficient. There were two people applying for their EIDA card on the morning I was there and I was done in less then 30 minutes. The people who worked there were very nice and even suggested I recommend more people come to Fujairah to apply as they were not fully occupied there at that time.

This then makes you think. EIDA applications started now about two years ago and the government has certainly spent money in having EIDA centres setup all over the country, they've got well-trained people working there but had they found a more effective mechanism of implementing this scheme, we wouldn't have seen the ugliness of applying for it as we're seeing today.

Furthermore, the communication of this has been confusing to say the least. Multiple spokespeople, multiple government departments and multiple interpretations have only gone on to confuse people further.

Sure, things can't always be compared with Hong Kong but if the UAE wants to increase productivity and make life easier here for people, they have to re-think how they go about implementing such programs in the future.

Why are we so stubborn and why can't we just accept things the way they're meant to be?

2010-12-26T14:48:00.000+04:00

As a loyal Liverpool fan for the greater part of my life, I've understood frustration. Frustration at watching the likes of Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea leapfrog above Liverpool in the last two decades, frustration at this season watching Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City do better than Liverpool and frustration at seeing lowly-ranked teams, week after week hold Liverpool to a draw or worse still, beat Liverpool.

Nothing though frustrated me more as a Liverpool fan than having Rafael Benitez as Liverpool manager in the last few seasons. So when Inter Milan decided to sack him last week, I can emphasize with Inter's fans and understand the sense of relief they must be feeling after watching how Benitez completely destroyed any sense of team morale and spirit in what was an otherwise successful team under Jose Mourinho.

At the heart of the issue though was one issue that has consistently dogged Rafael Benitez in the last couple of years and that is stubbornness. Being stubborn is human nature, I can understand that. There is a sense of insecurity that everyone has from time to time but when you're in the public spotlight, surely there has to be a time when you need to suck up your pride and understand that things have to change.

However, like Rafael Benitez, we've seen too many examples lately of people, companies and governments just been too damn stubborn. Whether it be policies related to the "War on Terror" which have at times gone woefully wrong, the handling of the economic crisis whether in the US or even in this region or the outrage that the current WikiLeaks scandal is causing, there is a sense of stubbornness that seems to be underlying in the policies that dictate what's happening.

All too often, we tend to forget that the best way to move forward is to accept the situation at hand. There are some things we can influence and control but there are many things we can't. Accepting the situation the way it is, then moving forward has always proved to be the more successful route forward. The refusal to accept a situation or scenario then leads us as mankind to want to make everyone else around us perceive the situation differently and this is where the problem starts.

The moment you start trying to influence everyone else's thinking into what everyone knows is obviously the wrong route down, you start to lose support of those who you really need backing you. To quote an example of this from Rafa Benitez's time at Liverpool, you saw his unwillingness to accept the fact that he never managed to actually manage the situation with Xabi Alonso when he tried to sell him a few seasons ago or to admit he had failed to effectively replace Alonso when he did eventually leave Liverpool. The list of Rafa's gaffe's can go one for pages (remember the whole Harry Kewell signing and then leaving in six months for a huge loss!). Had Rafael Benitez only accepted the pickle he was in, he would've probably been much more successful as a Liverpool manager. Instead he went on to destroy any sense of team spirit or unity that existed, much like he was doing at Inter Milan. Liverpool were lucky enough to have strong characters like Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina and Jaime Carragher to carry over the situation, else who knows where Liverpool may have ended up.

The next time you get yourself into a jam, take a deep breath, take stock of the situation, accept it and I'm pretty sure you'll find yourself better off. Try it and hopefully it works for you, the way it does for me.

Will our kids one day turn around and ask us "What's a newspaper?"

2010-12-18T20:32:00.000+04:00

Typing this Blog entry, I know I'm making myself feel old by asking this question. My kids will probably still know what a newspaper is knowing that I'm a keen fan of the printed newspapers that come to my doorstep every morning but it's a thought that troubles me somewhat.

Having already had to explain to my older daughter what the audio cassette slot in an old stereo she had come across was for, I know the time will come when she will be wondering if I'm still senile as I start talking about the days I used a 5-1/4 inch floppy disk or when I used to go to a music store to buy a CD (as opposed to downloading or streaming it online).

While there is no shortage of information online and I probably get most of my most immediate news updates online via Twitter, Facebook or e-newsletters that I subscribe to, I still find a satisfaction in reading my newspaper in the print edition that I get every morning. There has been a lot of talk about the death of newspapers in many parts of the world and renowned publications like the Boston Globe or locally the likes of Emirates Business 24/7 have had their share of trouble in recent years but it makes you wonder if newspaper publishers have actually realized we still want our newspapers but instead of focusing on trying to give us "news," they should probably focus on giving us more depth than they would otherwise provide by talking about the bigger picture instead of the just the news angle that we most likely got through other sources online.

While most journalists probably get a thrill over splashing out their headline, newspapers today have become more than headlines. The glitzy headlines are for the online publications. Newspapers for me are about the content. A well-written, detailed story that actually digs into the guts and glory means a lot more for me. Given the fact that when you read a story online, whether it be on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, you're most likely to be in an environment where you're more distracted, you find reading off a newspaper is a much more focused exercise. It actually gets you concentrating on matters on hand. You often see the same when you read a document on your computer screen or if you print it out, you start to see things in the printed document that you missed when reading it off your screen.

I may be old-fashioned, but I do hope newspapers will be around and that most publishers learn to re-invent themselves and evolve with the times. Most newspapers will have to understand the different content distribution models that exist and hopefully somewhere in the mix, the conventional newspaper will still live on.

Barcelona's Shirt Sponsorship Deal. Is renaming their stadium the next step?

2010-12-14T12:56:00.001+04:00

Barcelona fan's this week were left incensed by news that Barca, for the first time in the 111-year old history have decided to sign a shirt-sponsorship deal with Qatar Foundation. The only exception to this to people who weren't upset was probably Barcelona fans who live, have lived or are connected with Qatar and those who don't realize Barcelona is the pride of the Catalan's.

While Barcelona have been noble enough to carry the Unicef sponsorship on their football strip for the last couple of years, they are certainly not breaking any boundaries in footballing terms by signing a shirt sponsorship deal. Rather it is surprising why it has taken them this long as the economics of the game and the mounting levels of debt that football has seen in general has meant that sponsorship revenue is vital.

When I heard of the uproar this created and based from my experiences of seeing Catalan's being extremely proud to preserve their culture, it made me wonder, would there been as big a fuss created if Barcelona had signed a sponsorship deal with a bank, electronics company, FMCG brand, etc? Is signing with Qatar the issue here? Has nationalistic pride been hurt or compromised by signing with Qatar?

Qatar from their part certainly want to enjoy some level of visibility having recently won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar as such has not been big in footballing terms as far as visibility has gone whereas neighbours Dubai have been everywhere with Emirates sponsoring the likes of Arsenal, AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain and Hamburg. Apart from this, Emirates is also an official sponsor of FIFA-events. Etihad in the meantime are the shirt-sponsors of Manchester City (which is of course owned by Abu Dhabi).

For what it's worth, Barcelona have said they will handle the placement of the logo tastefully and will still maintain the Unicef logo on their shirts. However, it makes you wonder, what sort of uproar we may have seen if Barcelona had also announced they'd renamed the famous Nou Camp to Camp Doha as well. It may never happen but it doesn't hurt to let your mind wander at times, does it? :)

China: The Monk who can now afford a Ferrari

2010-12-11T18:55:00.000+04:00

Having just spent a few really hectic days in China, you can't help but be in awe for all that's happening there.

No matter how many times you visit China, how often you visit or where you visit, you have to be impressed.

Case in point, I was in Hangzhou for a couple of hours this week. Hangzhou is a city on the outskirts of Shanghai which is home to a lot of industry and agriculture. While driving around here, one thing that absolutely dumfounded me was the sight of Ferrari and Aston Martin dealerships.

Seeing Ferrari and Aston Martin dealership in the big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou is fine but considering Hangzhou is only two and a half hours away from Shanghai, you don't quite expect to see these dealerships there. For those familiar with India, it's like expecting to see a Ferrari dealership in a place like Nasik (you'd expect one in Mumbai but not quite yet in Nasik).

Whereas Robin Sharma famously sold his Ferrari in his book, in China, you suspect the monks can quite literally own their own Ferrari's now.

The overall volume of wealth in China is simply incredible and China's ability to stage world class events like the Beijing Olympics, Shanghai Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games is a testament to this.

Where China has been a big exporter of products, I hope China evolves into being a major exporter of know-how as the rest of the World certainly has a lot to learn from China. Just think about any part of the World and I'm sure you'll find some way Chinese knowledge can help improve it.

Also, on a lighter note, in case you do ever visit China, the going rate for Mont Blanc pens is now 20 pens for RMB 100 (approx. USD 15). No, I didn't buy any but in case you're ever there, you now have a place to start negotiating from.

An Attempt to Mislead - Apple iPad vs. Galaxy Tab

2010-12-02T22:03:00.001+04:00

A new consumer poll pitting the Samsung Galaxy Tab against the iPad discovered that an overwhelming majority -- 85 percent -- prefer Apple's touchscreen tablet.

It's always a bit of a concern when you see a headline like this.

To say Apple's iPad is preferred by 85% of consumers over the Samsung Galaxy Tab seems to be a bit of a surprise and an attempt to mislead.

Reasons for this are:

The Galaxy Tab was released towards the end of September / early October in most markets and effectively, we saw stocks rolling out towards the end of October and early November in most markets with any sort of volumes that would excite us. Even today, there is a severe shortage of Galaxy Tab stocks and you're lucky if you can get one. Effectively, you can consider that the Galaxy Tab has only really been out for 45 days or so.
The Apple iPad has been out now for about 7-8 months. Most people have seen it, touched it and played with it. Most people have probably still not seen the Galaxy Tab because of their own supply issues and the fact that it is still so new.
Given Apple's first-mover advantage, App developer's have had the advantage of developing thousands of more Apps for the iPad before the Galaxy Tab was even launched. The Android-based Galaxy Tab has by comparison much fewer Apps available because it was released that much later. It may not eventually have as many Apps as Apple's iPad but as we all know, without Apps, your tablet is useless.

I'm not doubting that the iPad is probably still the unprecedented leader in the tablet space but I don't think it is fair to make a comparison at this early stage on consumer preferences when most consumers haven't seen it yet. A few months from now, we could see a different story but I don't know if those behind these headlines would publish this story at that time.

P.S. For the record, I'm an iPad fan. I've played and tried using the Galaxy Tab but my personal preference still is the iPad.

How the Balance of Power shifted in the Football World

2010-12-02T20:15:00.000+04:00

After seeing South Africa host Africa's first World Cup competition, FIFA have stayed on track to move the tournament around as much as possible by awarding the 2018 competition to Russia to host and Qatar for 2022.

With Russia hosting the 2018 edition of the tournament, we'll see the first time any country from Eastern Europe has hosted what is arguably the most popular tournament in the world. The fact that Russia failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup didn't hamper their bid much to England's disappointment. The charisma of England's diva, David Beckham is not impressing anyone anymore and it probably would've been better for England to drop him from the bid team this year.

The 2022 World Cup coming to Qatar is also a shocker. Thought I live in the Middle East and Qatar was being touted in the regional press as the odds-on favourite, I had my apprehensions. The first of course being the climate in this part of the world during peak summer which doesn't naturally suit the game. Even though Qatar spoke of air-conditioned stadiums, you can't completely eliminate the 40 degree plus temperatures for those visiting the country during that time. FIFA is also intent on the fact that the dates of the tournament have to be in the summer and we'll all be waiting with much anticipation as to how Qatar pulls this off.

The other reason I was somewhat surprised was that I was in Qatar during the Asian Games in 2006 and frankly, it was a mess. While Qatar had superb stadiums in place, the overall organization of the event had much to be desired for. Many of the hotels and infrastructure projects were delayed and didn't even open in time for the Asian Games. Having been the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006, I know Qatar will have to really get their act together to make it the success we all hope it will be.

Overall though, today's announcements mark an interesting turning point. South Korea-Japan in 2002, Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. When you look at this list of host countries, it just shows you how the balance of power in the footballing world has shifted. The old guard who normally hosted such tournaments have largely been left out in the cold (except for Germany in 2006), so who knows now when England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, etc. will ever host a World Cup again. The fact that Western Europe may have to wait till at least 2026 to host the World Cup again is a thought I don't think would've ever been conceivable a few years ago but has become a reality.

My only thoughts on this are whether England will get to host the 2026 edition of the World Cup or will China pip them to it and ensure that the balance of powers in football is forever changed. In any case, we can expect to still hear stories of England in 1966 for another 16 years to come...

Yikes! I'm trying to Blog...

2010-12-02T16:49:00.000+04:00

Am I too late to join the party? Am I committed enough? Is this for me? Do I have enough interesting things to talk about?

These are all questions that have gone through my mind every time I've ever thought about starting a blog through the years. I've always thought I wouldn't have enough to say or the time to maintain a blog but I guess you never know until you don't start so here goes.

Today is a rather convenient day to start with it being a public holiday here in the UAE and the country celebrating it's 39th anniversary. While most people aren't citizens here, there is a sense of pride we all share whether we be expats or Emirati's. The achievements of UAE have been remarkable in such a short period of time and even though the challenges of the last couple of years has proved to difficult, it has been good to see everyone so proud of the country.

As proud as I am to have been here, I'm also smart enough to now know through years of experience you should be nowhere near Beach Road today. Unless like you like sitting in a car for hours on end, it's a "No Go Zone."

So go ahead, enjoy yourself today, have a great weekend and make the most of the fantastic weather out there.