Summer Heat

I have to note this day! 30th of April, 2008, the real beginning of summer.

The weather today was unbelievably hot. I arrived from school today and sweat was dripping off my forehead. I know it sounds nasty but that's how hot it was today.

I checked the weather forecast for today from the BBC website and found that the maximum temperature is 43 C. My grandfather's car showed 40 C. And the humidity is about 71%. The forescast also shows an increase of the temperature and humidity in the coming five days. This is something to worry about.

I heard rumors in the beginning of this year about a heatwave which will hit the Sultanate. I heard that the temperature may reach up to 50 C. I don't know how true that is but, I would appreciate any information you have regarding this.


Picture from http://www.smartpower.org

More publicity for KnowledgeOman

This time, again in the Khaleej Times. The article was put in a mini magazine inside the news paper. The magazine seemed like it was made especially for Oman and to promote COMEX.

Here is an image of that article. Please Click on the image for a better view.

Times of Oman makes it different

I know that this will seem like a weird post but you should know that about me by now, right?

Anyways, I follow the Times of Oman news feeds on, about, a daily bases. It costs less than buying the actual newspaper everyday and I don't have to drive to a store to get updated with the latest happening in the country.
If you follow their feeds, I don't know if you even noticed this but, their stories usually have no pictures. And naturally, the style of writing is very formal and very newspaper-like. I mention this because I've encountered a post which didn't follow the usual criteria.

What first came to my attention was the catchy title "An oasis of peace and tranquility" which seemed unusual for a website like the Times. Then I saw the writer's name which was Cariappa which made think that a fellow Blogger, Kishor Cariappa, was the one who wrote the post (was it you?).

I clicked on the link to read the full article and when I was directed to the website, an image was put there. For the first time, I see an image in the Times' website. I continued reading the article and was amazed by the way it was written. Very informal but in a good way. It's the kind of style that you would find in Blogs (is it you, Kishor?). There were two other pictures in the bottom of the article which looked good also.

Is it some kind of a policy not to put images on an official website like the Times of Oman? I mean, why don't they ever put images on their articles even if they surely have them? And if it's so, how come Cariappa was able to do so?

Omantel: The fastest in the region

I am sure most of you had already heard all the buzz about the new ADSL packages that Omantel had introduced to the press yesterday. Everybody has been talking about it and many came up with theories about how it works and how much it may cost.

Lots of website and Blogs talked about this service like this one, this on, this one and even this one by the Times of Oman but none gave out real information about the service. None until I encountered this website which has published an article about this today that I think you should all visit to get real information. Click HERE to go directly to the article.

I know I could have taken information from the website and make it sound like I got the info all on my own but, man! These guys deserve all the credit.

I would also like to point put that Omantel's website is now featuring the new service as opposed to yesterday when people were asking about it. One thing though, if all this information is now being publicized, why is it when I called the Omantel's Internet service to ask about this service and the costs, the operator told me that all of the information will be revealed on the 1st of May? Wasn't he told?

One of the things Omantel promised to do is increase the current ADSL speeds from 384 Kpbs to the new speed of 512 Kpbs. And let me tell you guys, it has happened!
My previous download speed was about 45 - 50 kb/s and now, its at an amazing sped of 75 - 80 kb/s.

This is really exciting for me and for many, I presume. I never expected Oman to be the country that leads the Internet game but I guess I was wrong. Well, lets give this some time and see where it goes. Hopefully all goes well and we stay on the lead.

PS. To all you Nawras users who rubbed that 3G modems on my face... ahhum.

"The Week" Features KnowledgeOman

Yep, in this weeks edition you'll find a big picture of KnowledgeOman's (kO!) full team along with a description of what kO! is all about. You will also find many quotes from Tariq Al Barwani himself, the founder and president of kO!.

Not much was said about the other members of the kO! Team but I guess it's great to see such progress in kO!'s publicity in the Omani press along with some publicity in the international press.

And because I work with the kO! Team, you'll find my picture on that image too. For you who don't know how I look like, I am the second from the top right.

COMEX with kO!

President of Knowledge Oman (kO!), Tariq Al Barwani, is playing a role in this years COMEX exhibition.

COMEX the largest annual IT, Telecom & Technology show in the Sultanate of Oman, has gained the reputation of a leading platform showcasing the latest in technology and services to match the rising needs for telecommunication & information technology solutions in the region. COMEX carries great value for the country's fast growing industrial, corporate and consumer markets that are in continuous search of modern technology.

Here is an Image of today's Times of Oman news paper.

(Click Image to Read)

Times of Oman and Al Shabiba mPaper Edition

Times of Oman and Al Shabiba news papers has done an amazing thing, something that has never been done before in the Sultanate and hardly ever been done in many of the other GCC countries. They have launched website that is accessible through all WAP (wireless application protocol) enabled cell phones.

The Times of Oman's mobile website is all in English and the WAP address is wap.timeofoman.com and Al Shabiba's website is all in Arabic and the WAP address is wap.shabiba.com.

I tried out these websites and they are very easy to use and very useful. They have everything from the latest news to movie timings to prayer timings.

This is a short video that I took of myself navigating through the Times of Oman mPaper.

During this navigation, I spent about 35 bz, that is with the pictures enabled and naturally, it gets cheaper when you disable all pictures but then, it looks dull.

This is very useful for a person like me who is always around places looking for a story and still be able to check what's going on in newspapers without having to go buy one or go home to check my RSS feeds in my PC.

The world is developing towards mobile devices and we should see more such services.

BankDhofar's New Strategy

Bank Dohfar has come up with a new strategy that should help improve their staff's performance hence, improve their services towards their customers.
This strategy involves the bank’s stakeholders which will start with it's own employees.

I never heard of this strategy being implemented in any other company in Oman (let me know in the "comments" section), but a friend of mine once suggested this idea and told me that he might start it in his own company.
I thought that it was a great idea to start from your own employees as it gives them that feeling of responsibility towards the business because they know that they own part of it (theoretically speaking).

“The plan can only be successful if it is properly understood by all staff, and if they feel involved in it at a personal level. Authority and responsibility for every colleague in achieving their personal, departmental and organisation-level goals, is critical for the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan. It is vital that we ensure everyone knows how they fit and interact with the rest of the team, they understand and believe in their own objectives, and have the skills needed to fulfil them. That is what this national programme of workshops is all about.” said the acting CEO; Kris Babicci.

This proves what my friend and I were thinking and I personally think it's a great idea and a great initiative from Bank Dhofar.


For more information, visit the "Times of Oman" website.

OmanMobile Thinks We Are Stupid

To begin this post, I want you'll to listen to this. It is an audio file of an OmanMobile advertisement which is aired all over the radio channels here in Oman.

Now is it me or does this sound really wrong? I know that this is supposed to show how cheap OmanMobile calls are but the whole Indian desperate house wives thing... I don't think so!

OK, so I am sure you'll might be swearing at me for wasting 30 seconds of your life in listening to this ad and probably asking yourselves why OmanMobile thinks we are stupid, right? Well, let's go back to the audio file for a second and listen one more time...
I want you'll to shift your focus on the Hayyak offer. Sounds good, doesn't it? 19.5 bz for every 30 seconds after the first minute, not too bad, or is it?

This is the Ad which you may find in practically every newspaper in Oman. I am sure you've seen it before even though you haven't payed much attention to it, right? So based on all of that publicity, you might think that they have something really big and genuine going on, wouldn't you?


I want you to have a closer look at the table on the bottom right of the page which has the offer on it. Look at this image closely, why doesn't it feel right?


I hope you like Maths because we are going to do some right now.
In the first column which is "OFF PEAK HOURS (BZ)", you pay 39 bz in your first minute and after your first minute, you ONLY pay 19.5 bz for every 30 seconds. And in the second column which is "PEAK HOURS (BZ)" you pay 55 bz for your first minute and ONLY pay 27.5 for every 3o seconds.

For you who may not know this, and obviously OmanMobile thinks we don't, you have 60 seconds in a minute. Why do I say this? Well, 19.5 + 19.5 = 39 and 27.5 + 27.5 = 55. Is there any more that needs to be said?

QUICK! Offer is only valid until 13th, May. "OmanMobile - connected with you"

Khaleej Times features KnowledgeOman

Here is some good news for the website KnowledgeOman.com. An article about them was featured in the Khaleej Times newspaper.

(click on image for better view)

These are the first signs of KnowlwdgeOman (kO!) going international which is a great thing for everyone to benefit from, a great thing for Oman to be able to put its name on the world's IT map and especially great for me because I am part of kO!. Besides, I was the one who took that picture of Tariq Al Barwani (sorry Tariq).

Let's all be part of this great revaluation. It's not about who is best, it's about how we can make a difference. In short, Join kO!

GHEDEX at OIEC

The Gulf Higher Education Show is being held at the moment at the Oman Internationa Exhibition Centre (OIEC). The 9th of its series, GHEDEX is the first exhibition in Oman to be awarded the accolade of an approved event of international stature by UFI (The Global Association for the Exhibition Industry).

This annual event is where all the major universities and colleges of the gulf come to exhibit their courses and offers for students to have a broad variety and choices in choosing their higher educations.

The event will last only three days and today is the second. I know I've announced this a little too late but you still have the chance to visit. To check for timings and making any other inquiries, call the OIEC on 968 24512100.

eGames Conference

I've attended yet another event where I interviewed people and asked them about it. This time, it's the eGames Conference which was held at KOM. Although, I didn't attend the actual event which was held in the morning but I attended the dinner which was held at Crown Plaza

I got a quick recap from the speakers themselves through my MP3 player so, it's pretty much like I didn't miss anything.

Oh yes, I interviewed them for KnoeledgeOman.com so you'll have to go there to actually listen to the interview, sorry.

Here is the direct link... Enjoy!

Let's Go Back for a Second...

In this post, I would just like to go back and talk about some of the previous posts and announcements that I've made.

I would like to start with the welcoming post for Isra' Al Lawati.
Ever since I've made that post and welcomed her to the team, I never heard from her one bit! I sent her lots of emails but with no use. Now, I don't know what happened to her because she sounded very exited and had much to say but she better be really badly injured or dead because what she did is, otherwise, inexcusable!

Moving on...

I came up with the idea of having pod casts on this Blog and the idea was a hit based on the 2 comments which I got and the 7 votes on the pole. I know that the numbers sound pathetic but I take these people's suggestions very seriously.
So, as you can see, the idea is not implemented yet on this Blog. That probably has to with the project that I am working on at KnowledgeOman.com. I will be interviewing many people there which should be equivalent, if not even better, than a pod casts. So make sure you listen to it there.

I made this post just to show you all that what I say here is taken seriously and not just for the sake of posting. I am sorry to disappoint you in some of the plans that I had coming but I will make sure to be more careful next time.

Knowledge Oman: My Post

I will be sharing with you from time to time parts of the posts which I contribute on the Knowledge Oman Home Page.


Here is a part this week's post:

"I had a chance, on behalf of the kO! team, to talk to students from the Sultan School. These students were featured in a few newspapers for the fact that they are behind running a business. The idea of having students behind a business, sounds new, different, fresh and it sells. That probably explains why they are sponsored by a few businesses like MB Patrolium, Al Khamis Trading and a few more..." (More...)

To listen to the actual interview and to read the rest of my comments on the interview, please visit KnowledgeOman.com.
I know this looks like dirty advertising, well, it is!

More posts like this will be made on a weekly bases so that you can stay updated. Another thing you can do is to just visit Knowledge Oman. It's all up to you, really.