For the heck of it

Chris Fernando Dot Net Launched!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:29:00 +0000

I have launched a new website - Chris Fernando Dot Net and so have moved this blog onto Wordpress and integrated it into my website. The entire archive has also been moved to the new website. You can visit the website here.

Is it Time to Head Back Home?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:46:00 +0000

GulfTalent.com, an online recruitment site, recently sent me a press release with a headline that screamed "UAE salaries rise by 10.7% - study". I think they forgot to add "Finally After 100 Years!" after the "UAE salaries rise by 10.7%" bit.

Let's face the truth - the salaries are still what people used to get paid probably when Dubai was a desert and when people used horse carts for transport. Here's an excerpt from the study:

Regional salaries increased by 9.0% in 2007 compared to 7.9% last year
Oman, UAE and Qatar lead the regional trend with pay hikes of 11.0%, 10.7% and 10.6% respectively
Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had pay increases of 8.1%, 7.9% and 7.7% respectively
Sectors enjoying the highest pay rise were construction and banking

The salary rise percentage is quite pathetic when compared to annual pay rises in a supposedly "third world country" like India. At least in India, I used to get a pay hike every year. The situation has worsened over the last few months, due to the slump in US Dollar, which has in turn affected the Dirham.

When I moved to Dubai 2.5 years ago, I used to get an exchange rate of about Rs. 11.75 for a dirham - there also used to be days when I used to get as much as Rs. 11.85 for a dirham. As of today, the exchange rate stands at Rs. 10.48 for a dirham, which is awfull. I have to now wait for days when there's a slight increase in the exchange rate, before I transfer funds to India.

Sure, there's no income tax in the Gulf countries - but then, there's a hidden agenda here. We pay an exorbitant amount (sometimes 70% of our salary) as our rent, which I feel is not justified at all. In fact, this place is overpriced for its standards. I can probably buy my own flat for the amount I spend as rent in a year.

Transportation within Dubai sucks. I used to work in Mumbai, which has one of the best transportation systems in the world. The train system in Mumbai is awesome, while the bus system, though not as stylish as those in Dubai, is efficient. Sure, you don't get to travel in air-conditioned Volvo and Mercedes buses, but at least there are buses every 2 minutes or less in Mumbai. In Dubai, there's a bus every 15 minutes to an an hour, depending on the traffic.

It's most frustrating when you want to hail a cab in Dubai. The cab drivers here, give you an attitude as if they are doing a favour by giving you a ride to your destination. Many of them even refuse to pick you up - they first want to interview you and if everything goes right, they will offer you a ride. Before These are some things that will happen, when you try to hail a cab - so be prepared:

Cab Driver: Kidhar Jana Hai? (Translation: Where To?)
Cab Driver: Kyon? (Translation: Why?) (huh?!! None of your business dumb ass!)
Cab Driver: Traffic Hoga Kya? (Translation: Will there be traffic?) (How do I know? Do I look like the traffic department to you?)
Cab Driver: Kya Yaar... Wahan Bahot Traffic Hai! (Translation: Lot of traffic on that road)
The Cab Driver sometimes won't stop - he might just speed off without even looking at you, or worse, point his finger in the direction he is driving to. (So, what am I supposed to understand from that??)

So, think twice before you accept an offer in the Gulf - it might not be your worthwhile at all.

Weekend at Jebel Hafeet

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:49:00 +0000

The climate in Dubai is cooling down a bit right now, with winter just around the corner. Well don’t say “Yay!!” yet. The temperature has been hovering around 26-30 degrees – usually it is well over 40! So, if you are in Dubai or anywhere in the UAE, now is the right time to visit places such as Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain, or better still… Jebel Hafee t. Why? Because according to a study, the Jebel Hafeet road has been awarded “the best road to drive in the world”! So, it was weekend for us, and we HAD to check it out.

The Road Going Towards Al Ain.

We (me and two of my roommates) took off at 3:00 pm on Friday (28^th September 2007). A drive to Jebel Hafeet takes around 1.5-2 hours. So we were planning on reaching Jebel Hafeet by 5 pm, because by 6 pm, it would start getting dark and hence we would miss the panoramas and the view of the winding roads from the hilltop. Since it is the holy month of Ramadan here, we figured it would be great if we could pack some munchies from some restaurant. McDonalds was the obvious choice. Then, we went to Spinney’s, grabbed a couple of water bottles, some snacks and candy bars.

My roommate's Peugeot 206.

For those ignorant enough, the holy month of Ramadan spans an entire month. During this month, many restaurants are shut during the day, and they only open at Iftar timings. Smoking, drinking or eating in public is prohibited by law in most countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and so on – so if you are caught doing any of these, you might end up in jail for up to 3 months, in the UAE. It might be worse in other countries such as Saudi Arabia. So, we were careful enough to not be seen eating in public.

The beautiful desert on both the sides of the road.

Here's one more view of the endless "sand land".

The introduction of Salik has been a pain in the ass and my roommate didn’t have a Salik tag on his Peugeot 206 – so taking Garhoud Bridge was out of our options. We hit the Business Bay Crossing, before coming on to Emirates Road, and driving towards Al Ain.

Inside Al Ain. Beautiful trees on both the sides of the road.

And we were on our way to Jebel Hafeet. It was amazing to see that on both the sides of the road, we could only see dunes and dunes of sand. We couldn’t resist stopping for a while to snap up some images.

Getting ready for a photo shoot.

We didn’t have any maps on us and this was our first time towards Jebel Hafeet. So, we had to follow each and every sign on the road – we couldn’t afford to miss one.

Yay! We found the desert!!

Luckily the signs were as easy as they could get. Every road sign had an entry such as “Tourist Destinations”. Need we say more? So we followed the “Tourist Destinations” sign, till we came across a sign that yelled “Jebel Hafeet” with an arrow pointing to the left. And we liked what we saw.

I can jump, too!

Though we weren’t yet on the Jebel Hafeet road, we could see a mountain in front of us with beautifully lit winding roads, all over it. It seemed as if the mountain was decorated with a bunch of twinkly lights! So we started to drive up the mountain – the roads were as smooth as butter. It was a piece of cake for my roommate’s hatchback.

The zigzag roads were amazing to drive on. The roads were clearly marked – two lanes going upwards and one lane coming down, with barricades on the edges. Finally we reached the top of Jebel Hafeet – it’s something like a table-top mountain, except that the “table-top” bit is man-made.

The Jebel Hafeet Table Top.

We got a really nice view of Al Ain below and the Oman road. By the time we reached the top, it was Iftar time already. We had a quick cuppa, before we started descending from the mountain and hitting our way back home.

Are You a Tour Guide?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 06:51:00 +0000

I got an e-mail, from VIAmigo.com. The web site is run by Jeff Goldsmith, a Photographer. The mail that was sent to me, asked me whether I knew of any tour guides in the Middle East, who might be interested in sigining up at VIAmigo.com as Tour Guides.

The mail also asked me to post the e-mail on my Blog, to spread the word around. Since I don't know any Tour Guide in the Middle East, I went for the "posting"part of the mail. ~~No, I don't know Jeff Goldsmith personally, and so, cannot vouch for the authenticity of this site. But if you are interested, read on.~~ So, Read on!!

We saw your blog on life in the United Arab Emirates and as a foreigner, we thought you might know interesting tour guides who might want to join http://viamigo.com/. A "tour" guide can be a professional deep sea fishing vessel captain - or a person who can get you past the velvet ropes of exclusive clubs.

We're interested in signing up both people who help travelers with common experience, like finding great boutiques,to unique idea, like bungie jumping in very remote spots. Both of these experieces are available on the site right now. If you feel this service is appropriate to announce on your blog, please do.

And if you want to pass our information on to people you know in the United Arab Emirates, that would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.
VIAmigo
http://viamigo.com/

This is what it says on its "About Us"page - VIAmigo.com helps global travelers find authentic, local experiences and insider adventures - by connecting them with personal tour guides from everywhere. We simply let independent tour guides tell everyone what travelers can see chez eux - and we let travelers rate guides. VIAmigo.com is, pardon the jargon, a one-to-one destination marketing platform. Go beyond the guidebook. Go everywhere. Get into everything. Pre-launch, VIAmigo signed up 1500 tour guides from every corner of the planet - with a great many more expected soon. Professional tourist guides to diving instructors to archeologist to connoisseurs of every sort, you name the adventure.

So, if you are interested, sign up here.

Saving is Sin. Spending is Virtue.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 06:01:00 +0000

Came across this piece of reasoning by one Professor Jagdish N Bhagwati, Department of Economics, Columbia University. It's titled "Saving is Sin. Spending is Virtue."

Japanese save a lot. They do not spend much. Also Japan exports far more than it imports. Has an annual trade surplus of over $100 billions. Yet Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing. Americans spend, save little. Also US import more than it exports. Has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the American economy is considered strong and trusted to get stronger.

But where from do Americans get money to spend? They borrow from Japan , China and even India . Virtually others save for the US to spend. Global savings are mostly invested in US, in dollars. India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billions in US securities. China has sunk over $160 billion in US securities. Japan 's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

Result: The US has taken over $5 trillion from the world. So, as the world saves for the US , Americans spend freely. Today, to keep the US consumption going, that is for the US economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter, which is $2 billion a day, to the US ! Otherwise the US economy would go for a six. So will the global economy. The result will be no different if US consumers begin consuming less.

A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, US in China , or China in US? The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in US. The same is the case with India . We have invested in US over $50 billion. But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India . So, why is the world after US?

The secret lies in the American spending, that they hardly save. In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income. That the US spends is what makes it attractive to export to the US . So US imports more than what it exports year after year.

The result: The world is dependent on US consumption for its growth. By its deepening culture of consumption, the US has habituated the world to feed on US consumption. But as the US needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money. It's like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop. If the customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him. The US is like the lucky customer.

And the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier. Who is America 's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan of course. Yet itʼs Japan which is regarded as weak. Modern economists complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow. To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted it self, reduced the savings rates, even charged the savers. Even then the Japanese did not spend (habits don't change, even with taxes, do they?).

Their traditional postal savings alone is over $1.2 trillions, about three times the Indian GDP. Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan , has become its pain. Hence, what is the lesson? That is, a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati, the famous Indian-born economist in the US , told Manmohan Singh that Indians wastefully save.

Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics! This will put India on a growth curve. "Saving is sin, and spending is virtue." Before you follow this neo economics, get some fools to save so that you can borrow from them and spend. This is what US has successfully done in last few decades.

Xbox 360 Rocks!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:29:00 +0000

Yes, I know I am a bit too late in saying this, but I finally got my hands on an Xbox 360. While the gaming console launched in 2005, in the US, it took a little over 2 years for Microsoft to bring it to the Middle East. The gaming console finally launched after a few hiccups in April this year.
We then received the 360 pack at PC Magazine's office some time back from Microsoft. Not that we hadn't reviewed Xbox 360 - we had reviewed the console long time back. But I was hoping that Microsoft could deliver a sample review unit for use in our PC Magazine Labs. This is because, we recently extended our Gaming section in the magazine to a whopping eight pages.

And the console finally arrived. It's now set up at my bachelorpad, where me and my roomates spend hours battling the demons of darkness!! :)

Yes! We are playing "The Darkness" right now, and I agree that the graphics and audio quality is awesome. Expect a full-on review soon!

Free Speech? My A***

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:45:00 +0000

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know what Wikipedia is. It's THE best and FREE encyclopedia you can ever lay your hands on. It's the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the internet, and contains over 7 million articles in over 200 languages - which is still growing on everyday.

Virgil Griffith

Most of the content on Wikipedia is user generated - so you can imagine the size of its content database. Users log on to the web site to contribute new entries and edit and update existing entries, too. With power in the users' hands, it's no brainer that people who already have an entry on their name on Wikipedia, will jump on the editing bandwagon, to make themselves look good.

So, to identify these people, Virgil Griffith - a student and a hacker - created a software program called Wikipedia Scanner, which discovered that Wikipedia entry editors included giants such as Microsoft, Coca Cola, Apple, FBI and the Vatican. These entities altered text on Wikipedia, which showed them in bad light.

Wikipedia Scanner

This list shows some of the things, Griffith's software managed to find out:

Apple adds negative comments to entries about Microsoft.
The Vatican edits Irish Catholic and IRA leader politician Gerry Adams’ page.Exxon Mobil edits text that highlights environmental damage in the oil spillages article.
Scientology removes criticism and negative articles from the Scientology page.
Al Jazeera TV station adds that the foundation of Iraq was just as bad as the Holocaust.
Amnesty International removes negative comments about its working.
Social networking website MySpace removed paragraphs when their website was hacked.
MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page.
Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans.
Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals.

This is just the tip of an iceberg. To find out, who's been editing what, check out Wikipedia Scanner.

Finally A Home We Can Call Ours!! (I Hope)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:33:00 +0000

Everyone knows how it is to be single in Dubai. I can say it in one word - SAD!! No, it's not that the girls here aren't pretty (or hot!!). Neither do I intend to say that the night life sucks. It's just that there aren't many places in Dubai, which single people (bachelors and spinsters) can call home.

Take my case as an instance - me and three of my roommates used to live in this beautiful and huge studio in Karama happily for a year and a half. But that's until our lease contract expired. Taking the rising real estate prices in Dubai into consideration, we thought that our real estate agency would ask for more money to renew our contract. Instead, we were slapped with an eviction notice for no fault of ours. The contract read:

"This is to inform you that we do not wish to renew your tenancy contract for the next year. Hence, we give you a month's notice as required by our agreement, to vacate this flat by <> date. We thank you for your co-operation."

Co-operation?? My ass! Why the F*** do you need us to co-operate, when we can clearly see that you are asking us to vacate the flat for no reason!! For those ignorant enough ...you see, single people don't have enough say in anything in Dubai. Even if it's not their fault. And this is what we discovered when we asked for the reason for our eviction notice. Instantly came a reply, "You are bachelors. Bachelors are not allowed to stay in a building where families stay" in resounding "Mallu" English.

We have been renting this flat for about 6 years (I moved into the flat only 1.5 years ago, but the other guys staying there, had been there for six years). So all these years they didn't realise that we were bachelors - and then suddenly, one fine morning, they said to themselves - "Let's kick these stupid bachelors out. They won't agree to a 70 percent rent increase, when we renew their tenancy contract for the next year."

And so, we had to vacate the flat. After hunting for places around, I gave up. Then I enquired around, and I came across this real agent agent, who said that he might have a bedspace vacant in his two bedroom flat in Golden Sands area, in Bur Dubai. It was the building next to Golden Sands 10, behind Spinneys. I went to check out the bedspace - I was to share a room with three other guys.

Since I didn't have any other choice, I moved in. Everything was going on fine for three months - then suddenly another notice to vacate the flat. The same stupid "bachelor"reason was given. Our third accomodation hunt started. For about three weeks, we checked everything - from the classifieds in newspapers and web sites, to notice boards in Spinneys and Lulu Supermarket.

Then, one fine day, we came across this posting in the classifieds section in Gulf News, which read, "One room available for bachelors in Satwa." We immediately went to check it out and we were impressed. It was a huge room, which could easily accomodate four guys and the rent seemed nominal by Dubai standards. We signed the deal.

We moved in, and were just starting to continue with our lives, when we were served another notice. First we were shocked - it hd been just two months since we moved in. But we were pretty sure that it can't be the same "bachelor"problem. That was because the Dubai government had recently passed a ruling that bachelors around the city were free to live in flats, except for villas. And we were staying in a flat.

So we argued with the guy who had the sublet the room to us. He said that he had rented out the flat from the landlord for commercial purposes. However. he then started using the flat for residential purposes, which essentially breaches the contract. Hence, the landlord asked him to vacate the flat. We then asked him, why we weren't even informed that the flat was essentially a commercial one? Had we known that, we wouldn't have even agreed to move in. He had no answers.

Our fourth hunt for home started. We searched the entire Dubai for a place, where could stay peacefully, without anyone bullying us to leave, just because we were bachelors. After a week of careful searching, we finally found a room in a two bedroom flat, in Old Pakistani Consulate area of Bur Dubai. It's an amazing room, with a view of the Deira creek.

The view from our new home.

We move on Thursday. I just hope, nobody asks us to vacate again, because we are bachelors!

Fake iPhones in Dubai

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:52:00 +0000

Chinese-made fake iPhones are flooding the Dubai market, reports Gulf News. According to the news report, a mobile phone store in Bani Yas Square, is selling a fake version of the phone (made in China), parading it as a genuine Apple product.

The Real iPhone

The imitation retails for AED1,400 ($381) and no warranty is on offer. The news report also claims that the salespeople selling the fake phone are telling customers that no refund or exchange is possible, once brought. The iPhone costs $500 (about Dh1,836) or $600 (about Dh2,203) in the United States, depending on the phone's capacity.

The imitation available in Dubai, runs a version of a Linux operating system that is commonly found on Motorola phones. Once you turn on the phone, Apple's logo is followed by a background image of fish and coral, similar to the one seen in iPhone commercials, on the screen. Check this video out - it's again a fake Apple iPhone.

EnGadget meanwhile claims that there are a hell lot of fake iPhones, currently doing rounds on the market. However, if you are one of those, who look at their current phones and think: "I wish I could have an iPhone. Those iPhones, I've heard, are darn pretty hot," you have two options. Either buy the real thing, or you can try software applications that can enable many phones with some, if not all, of the features that Steve Jobs has shown on his fancy magic slab.

How I Kicked a Virus on its Butt, When it Said "I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE..."

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:57:00 +0000

I got home from work yesterday and switched on my laptop. I wanted to check a few mails and so connected to the Internet. I double-clicked on the Firefox icon on my desktop to open my favourite web browser. Firefox opened for a second and then closed abruptly, displaying a message in my face, which said "I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE...".

And it just had an OK button. I tried again, and the same thing happened twice, but this time with different messages - "Orkut is banned you fool, The administrators didnt write this program guess who did?? MUHAHAHA!!" and "YouTube is banned you fool, The administrators didnt write this program guess who did?? MUHAHAHA!!"

So this was a serious issue. I opened IE and immediately Googled out a solution to this problem. It turns out that this virus called w32.USBWorm, spreads through USB flash drives. I remember plugging my roommate's USB drive into my laptop, because he wanted me to copy some of its contents on my laptop. Apparently, he wasn't able to browse through the USB drive's contents simply because when he double-clicked on the USB drive in My Computer, nothing happened. I tried opening the USB drive on my laptop and the same thing happened.

My antivirus (AVG) was unable to detect the virus. I am told that most antiviruses don't detect it. So, you will need to manually remove the virus from your PC. The following steps will help you to remove w32.USBworm completely from your system. First you need to see all the running processes on your system, for that you need to press Alt+Ctrl+Del. This will launch 'Task Manager' then click on Process tab to see all the running processes. Then you need to manually search for 'svchost.exe' (you will find many but you need to carefully select the one which is having 'User Name' as your Windows login name).

After finding the process, right click on the process and click 'End Process Tree', and then click on OK. This will kill the running virus on your system. To remove the worm completely from your computer, you need to remove Registry keys written by the worm

Press "Window key" + "r" or go to Start-->Run, then type "regedit" (without quotes).

You need to navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\Advanced\ Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL, checkedvalue" And reset the “CheckedValue” key back to 1. This is to show all the hidden files.

Then navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\Run " and delete the "winlogon" key. --- This will stop the worm installing at the start up.

Now you need to search for the worm which is located on your hard disk. For that you need to use the windows search and search for svchost.exe in your hard disk drives. Delete the file, which looks like the one below:

Also, once you are done, you might want to format the USB drive to reuse it. I for one, will always scan everything I plug into my laptop hereon, before opening them!

Freelance Writing: Always Ensure That You Get Paid for Your Services

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 10:24:00 +0000

Though I have a full-time, I have also been into a freelance writing gig for quite sometime now. Three good reasons for doing so:

Extra income does help. I can earn more by using my free time (including weekends).
I don't have to limit myself to writing about technology. I can try my hands on different styles of writing: lifestyle, trade, industry, travel, case studies, press releases, and so on.
I can build my portfolio and my contact list, which will be of help when I plan to switch companies.

Though the money has been good so far, I have also learned one thing. Every freelance gig comes with its share of risks. While most companies I have freelanced for, have been good paymasters, there are some shameless firms, who have either refused to pay me (even though they have used / published content developed by me), or haven't paid me for months (they keep telling me that my cheque has been sent to the head office for approval).

Then there are some who want me to write a sample article for FREE. They say, "Can you write a sample article for us? If we like it, we will publish it and then you can start writing for us regularly for a fee." I have been here too. Some months ago, I sent a FREE article to one of these magazines. I was hoping that if my article got published, they would send me requests for paid articles. Well, turns out that my article did get published, and I haven't heard from them since.

And there are some who say, "This a low paying job. But if we like what you write, we will double the money on the next assignment." While there are some publishers who have such a plan in place, there are many who don't and won't.

Here are some things you need to take note of, before taking up a freelance gig:

Writing an article involves time and effort. So, ensure that you are getting paid for the your time and effort invested.
Never respond to queries such as "Write an article for us and we will pay you if it gets published." Usually, these companies collect as many samples as possible, sell it to publishing companies and make money.
Don't fall for schemes such as "Low paying job. Will increase money on the next assignment." If the company likes your article, there isn't any reason why you shouldn't be demanding the right price for it.
Follow up on your payments. If you don't, the content buyer might just take you for a ride.
Insist everything in writing. Don't rely on verbal contracts. It's better if you can convince the content buyer to provide you a small percentage (usually 30%) of the agreed number as an advance, with the remaining amount being paid on completion of the project.

Remember - you aren't investing your time, skills and efforts for charity.

Slim and Trim

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:12:00 +0000

Samsung has unveiled its smart and stylish designed external slim slot-in drive. The model, named SE-T084L is a slot-in type DVD writer with USB connection for both Lap-top and desktop users. With easy insert and eject function that slot-in drives give (just push the disc to insert), this drive has special features that sets apart it from other external slim or slot type drives is the point that this drive supports disc burning from USB BUS power.

While most of drives in the market support USB BUS power reading, SAMSUNG supports both reading and writing media, unleashing you from heavy carriage. It means that you don’t have to carry AC adaptor (which is as heavy as the drive itself) with you. 8cm disc support is another attractive point that only SAMSUNG ODD presents.SE-T084L supports 8cm disc reading and writing so that you can have much compatibility with your Disc Camcorder which uses 8cm disc inside.

In case of black out or damaged PC, or in case you turned off the DVD writer forgot to take the disc out SAMSUNG slot-in DVD writer suggests an easy and simple way. You can pull the disc out by just tipping the emergency hole with included pin. No need to connect the drive to PC or AC adaptor again. The drive reads and writes DVD+R and DVD-R at 8X speed and DVD-RAM at 5X. It reads DVD+R Dual Layer at 8x and write at 6X, about DVD-R Dual Layer reading and writing speed is 8X and 4X each.

Nokia's N800 Internet Tablet Arrives in the Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 10:02:00 +0000

Emirates Computers has announced the launch of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet in the UAE. The sleek, widescreen Nokia N800 Internet Tablet combines seamless wireless connectivity with a host of advanced features, for anytime, anywhere internet access. The N800 represents the ultimate portability, integrating the internet into daily life for a new level of connectivity.

The ultra-sensitive touch-screen and handwriting recognition features provide an intuitive user interface. Users can enjoy an extraordinary multimedia experience thanks to the integrated multimedia capabilities, high-resolution display and high audio quality speakers. The device comes with a host of free, built-in applications that provide easy access to everything from internet radio and instant messaging to web browsing and email. Users can also take advantage of internet calling with video or conduct video conferences with the integrated web camera.

A wide variety of freely downloadable open-source applications further enhance this Linux-based device, such as the Maemo Mapper, a free GPS software that allows it to be used as a convenient personal navigation system. Other applications include Orb, which lets users instantly enjoy digital media providing total connectivity to stream photos, music, video and TV.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers ‘Power of Mobility’ Hits the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:14:00 +0000

Fujitsu Siemens Computers has announced the launch of its ‘Power of Mobility’ project. This sees a series of high-profile individuals, heavily reliant on mobile technology push Fujitsu Siemens Computers’ mobile products to the absolute limit. Fujitsu Siemens Computers has one of the broadest mobile product ranges from handhelds to notebooks and tablet PCs, from entry level to the very high end.

In a bid to demonstrate the level of efficiency that its mobility products exude, the company is giving its mobile devices to a number of people to use on their travels. They will submit pictures and maintain an online diary of their experience. The project started with accomplished mountaineer Sorin Nistor and extreme road warrior Richard Bron. Both are proficient in putting a device through its paces, and will be looking for the very best in connectivity, reliability and durability.

They recorded their experiences twice a week through regular on-the-road reports that are available at http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/aboutus/testimonial/mobility-experience.html Sorin Nistor has accumulated 40 years of mountaineering experience and taken part in six expeditions. He took the LIFEBOOK P7230 on his latest expedition of the Himalayan Gasherbrum 2 – at 8,000 metres it’s the 13th largest mountain in the world.

He tested the notebook’s embedded connectivity and integrated video camera in some punishing mountain conditions, including ice, snow, high winds and high temperatures. Richard Bron is CEO of digital media company Blueprint Digital. His customers include Hollywood movie producers, and some of the world’s largest retailers and recording artists including Robbie Williams. In a typical month he crosses three continents, so connectivity is crucial for keeping in touch with customers and associates around the globe, as well as his family in London.

Richard trialed the LIFEBOOK T4215 convertible notebook with integrated UMTS and the Pocket LOOX N110 mobile navigator. “No other vendor on the market can match the diversity, design and depth of our mobility offering,” said Louis Jouanny, Head of Mobility Marketing at Fujitsu Siemens Computers. “Our broad portfolio of devices with embedded UMTS meets today’s growing need for ubiquitous connectivity, and we pride ourselves on having a mobile device for every scenario.”

Bambaiya Lingo

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:28:00 +0000

Was reading through an article at Mid-Day.com. The article suggested some Mumbaiya (Bambaiya) Lingo. Here they go...

A for Aila
A Marathi exclamation made famous by Sachin Tendulkar in a Pepsi ad when he says ‘Aila, plane’

B for Bhendi
A mild expletive or abuse. The ignorant might think this is local lingo for a vegetable (okra). The tapori knows better

C for Chindi
Some say it means insignificant. For others it denotes tight-fistedness. Eg: ‘Bindi is chindi. She won’t even pay for the trip.’

Arshad Warsi played a tapori in the film Munnabhai MBBS.

D for Dhasu
It means great or fabulous. Like what a ‘dhasu’ idea it is to read this tapori talk

E for Ekdum
Not that hard to figure out. Ekdum means absolutely. So ekdum bekaar means absolutely useless

F for Fadoo
Good, fabulous or beautiful quite in the same vein as Dhasu. A fabulous broom might be explained as a ‘fadoo of a jhadoo’

G for Ghanta
Means rubbish or nonsense. If a politician claims: ‘I will eradicate corruption’, the janta comprising Santa-Banta might say Ghanta

H for Hatke
Hatke actually means original or slightly different. Not to be confused with ‘hat gayi hai’, which means he’s lost his marbles

I for Item
Used to refer to a sexy girl — Kya item hai. These days girls also use the word to describe a handsome man

J for Jhol
A common word for a scam or a bungle. Examples: What Jhol is all this?; Sounds like some jhol to me, yaar; Solid jhol in this poll

K for Kalti
This means to give somebody the slip or not keep a promise. It may also mean a turnaround. Example: Usne aaj kalti diya

L for Lafda
Fairly common usage for a squabble. The lafda can also have sexual connotation — Are they having a lafda (affair)?

M for Maal
Dial M for money. That is what maal stands for. It’s also a derogatory slang for a woman — Kya maal hai!

N for Nastar
The taporis tell me this means bad omen or what is more commonly known as ‘panvati’. Another says, it means atheist

O for Ookhad
The word is used rather combatively. Two men in a skirmish might growl at one another: ‘Ookhad kar phek doonga’

P for Punter
It means source or informant. Yeh dekh punter aaya, is the way it is said

Q for Qeeda
This rather strange word means a person who is always up to something, some mischief or is posing as a major irritant

R for Rapchick
More commonly pronounced as ‘raaapchick’, it is used to refer to a sexy, curvaceous woman

S for Sumbdi
This stands for a rather secretive person or somebody who is clever enough not to reveal all. Not to be confused with shy or reticent

T for Tapori
These are roadside rowdies. Tapori talk is becoming more mainstream and losing its stigma

U for Ungli
A rather obvious obscene interpretation. It also means to bait or rile a person and try to get a rise out of them

V for Vaat
Means this is the end of you today. It all means the end, khatam, finito — Aaj toh vaat lag jayega

W for Wohich
It simply means him and him only — Wohich hai, aur doosra kohich nahi

X for Xhun
Xhun is used to describe the sound of a slap. Crack. Xhun se laafa maara

Y for Yeda
Also known as veda in Marathi. It means mad and used in a derogatory tone

Z for Zandu
Zandu stands for Lallu (not Prasad Yadav) or Mamu, one who is spineless. Apologies to Zandu Chawanprash

via Mid-Day.com

Smells Like...

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:15:00 +0000

Microdia has launched a series of flash drives called Flash-key Fruit-A-Roma. The company has added fruity scents and colours to these new flash drives.

According to the company, "Fruit-A-Roma USB drives are the first of their kind to offer fresh fruit flavours that you can actually smell." The Fruit-A-Roma flash drives are currently available in four different fruity scents - Orange, Strawberry, Grape and Green Apple.

HP Launches a Range of Accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:28:00 +0000

HP Middle East has announced the launch of its new range of accessories for its latest notebook and desktop PCs that have been designed to ensure users get the most from their PC. Whether it’s increased data storage or easy docking, they are intelligently designed to enhance performance and increase convenience. HP claims that with its Notebook QuickDock, users can plug in their HP notebook and instantly gain access to all their connected peripherals. Alternatively consumers can integrate their notebook into their home entertainment solution with ease.

With one quick and simple connection, consumers can seamlessly maximize their mobile lifestyle, taking advantage of peripherals such as a widescreen monitor, internet connection and printers or connecting to their television and audio system. Elena Danici, the Consumer Products Category Manager for PSG at HP Middle East, said, “HP aims to provide its customer with stylish accessories to make the most of their computing experience, whether at home, in the office or on the move. HP’s entire range of accessories is optimized to enhance the user experience, enabling consumers to store more, share more and achieve more.”

The HP xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base is a solution for comfort and organisation in the home or office. With an ergonomic design, users can elevate and angle their notebook to an optimum viewing position, whether working on presentations or viewing movies and photographs with friends. Compact in size and with a single cable, the expansion base maintains connection to the internet, networks, power sources and peripherals whilst simultaneously saving space and minimising desktop clutter.

With a sleek high-gloss silver exterior, the expansion base is purposefully designed to compliment the new HP Imprint notebook line-up and look just as great in the home as it does in the office. The integrated Altec Lansing speakers produce immersive stereo sound, perfect for enjoying movies and music from HP’s latest entertainment notebook PCs, such as the HP Pavilion dv9500 Entertainment Notebook PC. In addition, a wireless keyboard and mouse (sold separately) provides increased convenience and maintains the sleek appearance of a notebook PC.

For securely backing up, storing and transferring media and other files, the HP Pocket Media Drive offers up to 160GB of additional storage. Users can share entire photo albums and digital videos with friends or family by simply saving them to the drive and conveniently transferring it to another PC. Small and slimline, at just 1.6 cm in height and 13.6 cm wide, this device fits in the pocket, connects via USB to any desktop or notebook PC and docks in a select range of HP Pavilion PCs.

EA Announces Medal of Honor Heroes 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:00:00 +0000

Electronic Arts has announced Medal of Honor Heroes 2, a new game from the Medal of Honor franchise, designed completely for the Wii from Nintendo and the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system. On both the Wii and PSP system, players have the option to tackle all-new missions in traditional single player campaign or engage in massive, 32-player online, continuous-joining multiplayer battles where they could jump into the battle at any time. The Wii version features full support of the Wii Zapper allowing for a more immersive experience than ever, claims EA.

In addition to a fully-fledged single player campaign, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 also features an all-new mode designed specifically for the Wii that simplifies gameplay for players of all skill levels, for easy pick-up-and-play action. This mode plays like an old-school rail shooter — the Wii moves you around, while you do your part—taking enemies out and achieving objectives. According to EA, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for the PSP will deliver the most comprehensive shooter experience to date, with robust single player campaign and on-the-go 32-player multiplayer capability that’ll allow players to battle it out, anytime and anywhere. From the same team that brought Medal of Honor Heroes for the PSP in 2006 (EA Canada), Medal of Honor Heroes 2 will be available this year for the Wii and PSP.

Absolute Nirvana - Creative's Aurvana DJ Headphones

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:26:00 +0000

Creative has announced the Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones. Sophistically designed with brushed metal and diamond-cut finishing, these powerful headphones offer precise audio reproduction for discerning music listeners, DJ mixes and home studio monitoring use. Built for ultra-comfort using high-grade acoustic components, the Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones are ideal companion products for any MP3 or portable media players with a regular headphone jack.

It also perfectly complements Creative's latest range of X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio systems, offering a truly remarkable listening experience. The Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones follow after the launch of our award-winning Creative Aurvana In-Ear Earphones to bring forth Creative's leadership in offering premium performance personal audio products to complement the demands of today's digital music. The Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones are designed with high performance and optimal comfort in mind.

The powerful yet lightweight Neodymium drivers with Copper-Clad Aluminium Wire voice coils allow the headphones to accurately reproduce music or sound from any media source. The plush leatherette earpads significantly reduce ambient noise, making the headphones ideal for use in a noisy club environment or in the quiet comfort of your home. Key Features and Benefits of Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones Acoustically-tuned 40mm Neodymium drivers with Copper-Clad Aluminum Wire (CCAW) voice coils for accurate and linear response.

Angled earcups optimally direct sound into the ear canal. The Circum-Aural closed-back design with comfortable leatherette ear-pads ensures excellent noise isolation. The Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones can be paired with the high-fidelity Creative X-Fi audio solutions such as Creative Xmod, Creative X-Fi Sound System Z600 and any MP3 or portable media players with a regular headphone jack, including Creative's latest ZEN series of MP3 players such as the Creative ZEN Vision W, Creative ZEN Vision:M and Creative ZEN V Plus. The Creative Aurvana DJ Headphones are now available in retail stores in the UAE at a suggested retail price of AED379 ($103).

Speed, Style and the Ducati Name - But its not a Motorcycle!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:19:00 +0000

Inspired by Ducati’s legendary racing motorcycles, Sandisk has launched its new flash drive - the sleek Sandisk Extreme Ducati Edition. A tribute to Ducati’s distinctive Italian design and engineering, the new drive has the same glossy red chassis and black trim as the Ducati Corse team motorcycles now racking up victories on the MotoGP circuit.

The true “Ducatisti,” as aficionados of Ducati motorcycles call themselves, will appreciate the attention to detail in the Sandisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive, including the Ducati Corse logo on top of the drive and the red tail light that illuminates whenever the drive is inserted into the USB port of a computer.

On the inside, the drive offers a generous 4 gigabytes (GB) of capacity and front-of-the-pack read and write speeds of 20 megabytes per second - the fastest of the Sandisk portfolio of consumer USB drives. In other words, there isn’t a long wait to fill the drive’s big fuel tank with documents, photos, music and other digital data.

The Sandisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive comes with a custom lanyard, as well as Sandisk’s RescuePRO Deluxe software for recovering data that is accidentally deleted. The drive is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and versions 10.1.2 or better of the Mac operating system.

The drive has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $124.99 in the United States. It is expected to be available in North America and Europe in August, and worldwide in September. The drive will be sold through high-end niche retailers, high-end department stores, Ducati network shops and other outlets, including on-line. It is also available for pre-order on Sandisk's web site at www.sandisk.com/ducati.

LG Redefines TV Design with its Latest LB9 Series

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:55:00 +0000

LG Electronics has announced the launch of its latest LB9 LCD TV range, the first in the company’s Design Art series. With tempting black pearl-inspired LCD TVs, LG hopes to build its reputation for design-focused TVs with quality to match. A unique ring-shaped stand is the key feature of the LB9 series. The ring, available in red and black, is utilitarian as well as stylish. Perched atop a ring, the LB9 series incorporates the high glossy piano black frame and a wave-design at the bottom of the panel.

The LB9 series offers viewers a vivid and lifelike viewing experience with LG’s exclusive XD Engine and enhanced 10,000:1 contrast ratio, which creates deeper black levels and provide a fuller range of colours. The LB9 series incorporates LG’s intelligent Eye technology to optimise brightness and contrast, accounting for ambient light.

LG’s proprietary Simple Link technology allows greater control of other compatible equipment such as DVD players and home theatre systems. Also incorporated into the LB9 series televisions are LG’s Dimple Speakers, which create a complete movie watching experience by providing dynamic and powerful sound through minimised air flow turbulence, without disrupting the television’s sleek aesthetics. The LB9 series is currently available in 32-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch models.

After JAM, KJAM and a Hundred Words Funny, Imate Launches JAMA

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:23:00 +0000

i-mate has announced the arrival of its latest Pocket PC for people who want to be instantly mobile without all the fuss of complicated technology. The i-mate JAMA perfectly combines ease-of-use with a very light and extremely compact design and the Instant Messenger Mobile allows you to stay in touch all day with your friends and colleagues while on the move.

Heavily packed with Windows Mobile features, the conveniently priced JAMA has proven to be a hit with customers and will be soon available in stores in UAE, Egypt, Jordon, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. JAMA has an attractive, 15.6mm slim and a stylish form that allows for a rich multi-media experience with a high quality 2.4-inch touch screen for easy navigation and a 2 MP effect-digital camera.

It is also equipped with Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC giving the user the familiar benefits of all Microsoft Office Mobile applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, Direct Push e-mail via Outlook Mobile and Media Player 10 Mobile. The JAMA comes with three useful i-mate applications to enhance the user experience such as i-mate Profile Controller for easy profile and ringtone management.

i-mate Media Controller is a handy application that allows you control your Windows Media Player content with one easy tap on your homescreen. The i-mate Configurator is a utility that automatically sets your GSM, GPRS, Web, MMS and WAP service for many countries, making it out-of-box ready to use.

Samsung Launches the U3

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:53:00 +0000

Samsung Electronics has announced the launch of its latest in its range of MP3 player, the Samsung U3. Samsung U3 is driven by flash memory and equipped with USB that weighs only 22.8-gms. The U3 is available in five colours such as white, black, green, pink and blue, with colour-matched EP360 earphones and reel. Models range from 1GB to 4GB with 12 preset equaliser settings to suit the users’ tunes or customise their own settings.

Samsung claims that its U3 has removed the need for cables, cords or docks, or the need to install programs. Its USB allows easy charging and managing of music files by simply dragging and dropping them to the player. The U3’s Samsung Media Studio (SMS) provides Automatic Mood Playlist that enables songs to be organized according to the users’ mood. Other features included in the MP3 players are voice recorder and flash drive with up to 15 hours of playtime on a single charge. The U3 is available in all major electronics outlets and is retailed at $199 for 1GB, $299 for 2GB and $399 for 4GB.

EA to Launch Crysis Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:33:00 +0000

Crysis is a next-generation PC first-person shooter from Crytek, the award-winning developers of Far Cry. A stunning technical achievement, Crysis combines incredible visuals, cunning gameplay and an epic story that challenges gamers to adapt to survive.

Global tensions have reached boiling point as the US and North Korea square off in the South China Sea. At stake: a mysterious artifact uncovered by a team of US archeologists. The North Korean government quickly seizes the area, prompting the U.S. to dispatch an elite team of Special Forces operatives on a rescue mission.

During the siege the true nature of the artifact quickly emerges, pointing to the existence of an alien presence on Earth, and ultimately the trigger for a massive-scale alien invasion. The battle to save Earth begins as the aliens’ flash freeze the tropics into a ghostly-white frozen landscape.

As gamers take up arms against the aliens, they will be outfitted with customizable weapons and a high tech Nanosuit, allowing them to adapt their tactics and abilities to a hostile, ever-changing environment and a mysterious enemy.

Powered by CryENGINE 2, Crysis delivers the ultimate DX10 gaming experience for the PC, including unparalleled graphics, special effects and artificial intelligence. The game is also scaleable to deliver a breath-taking FPS experience for older DX9 PCs.

i2 Opens its First Café and Flagship Digital Store in Dubai

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Fernando) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:20:00 +0000

i2, one of the region’s largest and most diverse mobile providers, has launched its first café and flagship digital store in Dubai, at BurJuman Shopping Centre. The latest addition to i2’s retail portfolio is located on the third floor of the popular shopping destination.

This is the first time the company has introduced the café concept in the UAE. First launched in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia almost a year ago, the i2 café is distinguished by its futuristic green and blue décor, and optimal use of wireless technology. Customers, for instance, can place their orders via mobile phones provided on each table.

1000 gift vouchers worth AED 250, 000 in presents given away as part of launch day special promotion “Freebies Frenzy”

They may also enjoy access to mobile services, free internet connection, as well as up-to-the-minute news and information on mobile devices and accessories. Aside from enjoying the trendy café, customers can also take pleasure in a unique shopping experience at the company’s 1500 sq.feet flagship store adjacent to it. The store displays a wide range of IT products alongside mobile devices and accessories from brands such as Nokia, LG, Samsung and Motorola.

As part of the gala launch event, i2 also hosted a special promotion, the ‘Freebies Frenzy’, providing customers with attractive gifts like mobile phones and accessories. Free vouchers were given to the first one thousand customers who redeemed it for gifts worth AED 250, 000 ($68000) in total. Many gathered to take part in the promotion, which created an atmosphere of excitement and fun.