My Apologies

It's that time of the year again. The time when I have to stop Blogging for a while in order to put all my focus on my studies. Yes, I am afraid I won't be able to post anymore until the 25th of June starting tomorrow. This will also mean that I won't be replying to any comments. I will be completely inactive in the online world (hopefully).

If you are a regular reader, please know that I will be back on the 25th and this is only a temporary situation and I am sure you understand why, based on my Vlogs.
If you are a new comer, I will tell you this: This Blog is usually active but this is only temporary. I will be back with more on the 25th but for now, here are a list of the most recent links from this Blog that you might be interested in.

Cool Articles:
Driver's License (Part 1)
Driver's License (Part 2)


Most Popular:
A KnowledgeOman Video
"TheWeek" features KnowledgeOman

Event Coverage:
OriginOman 150KM Meal

Created Videos:
Link To Category

And of course there are much much more. Feel free to go through the archive to check them all out.
It's true that I won't be able to comment for the next 25 days but don't let that stop you from expressing your self in any post.

For now, I have to go and do what needs to be done. I won't be available for the coming 25 days but I will definitely come back stronger than ever since this is my final year in high school.
I will surely miss you all and I ask you to wish me all the best because this is considered a defining time in my life.


And now I will leave you all with this video and go continue studying. See you all at the 25th of June... bye!

'The Times' Talks Murder

I've just read an amazing news piece in the Times of Oman's website today. A story about an Indian woman who killed both of her kids and tried to commit suicide all here in Muscat!

In one of the rarest cases reported among the expatriate community here, a middle-aged Indian woman strangulated her two children to death and made a futile attempt to kill herself.

It is such a horrific event and it's definitely something that you might not hear about much here in the Sultanate.
I sympathize with the family involved and all but this is not the reason why I am writing about it.

I wanted to point out the story itself and say, that a story like this is very rarely put in newspapers and especially english newspapers. Not because things like these never happen but because of all the censorship that we are facing in the English media. The news that we read in our newspapers here are mostly ready-made news which are usually provided by the companies, industries, ministries or whatever story they are writing about. Most of the stories that papers write about here are not considered real journalism.

But look at this piece for instance:

The ‘Times’ did come across some missing links at the time of its enquiries, but eyewitnesses, including the caretakers of the buildings, pointed out that Priya had been taken into police custody between 8 and 8:30am, though the police had reached the spot approximately after 5am. Her dress was stained with blood while bruises were visible on the bodies of the children.

This gives me hope that maybe things could finally be changing in the local journalism aspect of the country. But I can't help it think: would they have reported this story if it had happened to an Omani family?

A Tariq Al Barwani Special: Cute Kid

Here is a cute video of a kid. Can anyone guess who this is? And if you think what I think you are thinking, then could this kid be the next big thing to hit the Sultanate?

The million dollar question: So, what do you think?

A Tariq Al Barwani Special: Hot Ride

Hey, ever wondered what car Tariq Al Barwani drives? Well guess what, he has created a video of it.

So? What do you think?

Origin Oman 150 Kilometer Meal

Origin Oman 's goal is to raise awareness on locally made goods. I've written about it in the past at this link. To learn more about it, visit their website at: originoman.om which I also have written about at this link.

The dinner was an invite-only and luckily, I got invited. The 150KM meal was held in the 26th and 27th of May at the tourism College at A'Seeb, near Golden Tulip Hotel, and the whole staff were students who are majored in that field. It was nice to see Omanis waitering for a change.

So, the 150KM meal is one of Origin Oman's many ways of promoting locally made goods. I've been hearing about this event for a while now and the dates have been changed a few times. The idea of this event is to have a dinner with ingredients sold in a radius of 150 kilometers around Muscat.

The menu was pretty interesting. You had to choose between two different menus that will serve as your starter, main course and dessert. Many of the guests and myself included went with the first menu which had Smoked Nizwani goat sausages for the main course. This isn't a traditional Omani meal by any means, it was the chef's creation and it was very good, most have enjoyed it.

The whole thing felt very classy and the people whom attended were mostly from the PEIE since they played a major role in it.The room was half full and it seemed like many had to cancel at the last moment since all the chairs were named.

Here are two slide shows of the event:
Note: The slide show may take a few moments to load

Vlog - Study Problem - Follow Up 27/05

The idea is simple. If you've ever came across a Blog which communicates with its audience through videos, that's called a Vlog which is short for Video-Blog and this is what it is.

Better quality, right? Please help me on this guys, I would really appreciate it.

Text Message from Muscat Municipality

I once parked in a metered parking lot but was not able to pay for the ticket. Whenever I put a coin into the meter, the coin comes back out. I've noticed others facing the same problem. I assumed that it was free for the day for, maybe, some kind of an occasion. Luckily, I got back to my car without getting a fine, which I have noticed on other's windshields.

I have just recieved this text message a few minutes back from Muscat Municipality.

Parking meters do not accept the new coins of 50Bz issued in 2008. Muscat Municipality

May somebody please help me understand why?

Driver's License 2008 (Part Two)

In Part One I talked about me finally passing the test and how difficult it is to get your license these days. I talked about the difference in the system today from what it was a few months back and the disadvantages of it. I also talked about the sponsors that were put on the ticket which I later found out that they were not actually sponsors but only Bank Muscat's logo because the Royal Oman Police (ROP) deals with them financially.

I promised to talk more about this in terms of the media coverage and the difference between the Arabic and English coverage.
I don't have much documentations and images to prove what I am saying but many who live here in Oman will confirm that what I am saying is true. So, you'll have to take my word for it.

In the past few months we've noticed that this issue has become more and more out to the open. More people are aware about it and talking about it. The media has played a major role in this and to be fair, the Arabic media played a bigger role.
One media source which really caught my attention and really brought this issue out to the open were the Arabic radio stations. One station in particular which gives people the chance to call and report a problem that they are facing with the country's official sectors is Shabab FM.
Every Morning (on week days I think) people call with problems that they are facing and give their complaints. Their complaints are recorded and kept for an official from that sector to call back on a later time live on the radio to answer these problems and take action.
I've encountered people calling many times to complain about the license situation but the officials almost always deny the problem and say that they give the license to who deserves it which is pretty much what they told me when I called last year.

At least the Arabic media is talking about this problem. The English media, on the other hand, never talks about it. You can never call the English radio stations with serious problems like these and their newspapers always tries to avoid the problem.
Last year in September 2007, there was an article written in TheWeek weekly newspaper about this problem. It was a front-page story and I was really excited to read what they had to say about it.
After reading it, I was really disappointed. I thought they were finally raising awareness on this hornets' nest but no, instead they put all the blame on the instructor. Now, I won't sit here and say that the instructor has nothing to do with this and that all blame goes to the ROP but they haven't mentioned the ROP not even once.
Here is a direct download link to the PDF file of the article.

I don't know why this is the case with the English media. If the Arabic media is aloud to talk about it, why can't the English media do the same? What is the difference? If it's illegal here, shouldn't it be illegal there too?

Vlog - Study Problem - The Introduction

The idea is simple. If you've ever came across a Blog which communicates with its audience through videos, that's called a Vlog which is short for Video-Blog and this is what it is.

I am going to attempt to communicate with you - my audience - via video on my finale-year-in-high-school study problem. If you like the idea and think that you may actually be interested in coming every other day or so to check up on it, please let me know in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

In todays video, I talk about the problem and ask you for help on it. I know that the quality is not too good but that's the fastest way of getting the video online as I don't want to add on to my already existing problem. You will get it all after watching the video. Enjoy...

Now that you watched the video and know my problem, I would really like to hear what advice you have in store for me.
Please comment if you have anything to say about this and if you don't have anything to say but know someone who does, please bring them here and let them help me. You will not only be helping me, but helping every other high school student who is facing the very same problem by referring this post to them after all help of your advice are added.

Thanks

Arabic Section of KnowledgeOman Launched

KnowledgeOman.com (KO), the first online portal focused on developing the ICT sector in Oman, has finally launched it's Arabic section which could be accessed through this web address: www.knowledgeoman.com/arabic.


"We have a new dedicated team specifically created for the Arabic KO" said the president of KO, Tariq bin Hilal Al Barwani. The team is being managed by Maryam Al Tamami, being the project manager of the Arabic KO. "Maryam and I have been working closely for the past month to bring the website up and running. Now it is full under her turf, with close supervision from my side" added Tariq.

The Arabic KO is considered an extension of the English one but they are under two different managements, the Arabic managed by Maryam and English by Muddasir, with reports directly to the President.

What do you think of this initiative from KO's side? Will the Arabic section come to be as successful and as big as the English section is? And most importantly, how could they make it easier for the users to know that there are two different sections available in KO when they enter their website on www.knowledgeoman.com? Anything else you want to add on this subject?

"Y" Magazine's slip-up

I originally read this story on one of the threads of KnowledgeOman.com and wanted to add my scoop on it.

"Y" Magazine has published an article in its Vol.1 Issue 21 Tuesday May 20 about the the launch of ITS's new website during COMEX 2008. The whole article talked about the process of the launch and what the website aims on doing.

So what's the problem?

Look at the image of the article below which was provided by Dr Alban from knowledgeOman and tell me for yourself.

If you read the whole article you will find that the it hasn't spoken about Tariq Al Barwani, president of KnowledgeOman, who his picture was added in the article. Shouldn't the Head and CEO of ITA's picture be there?

How can they make a mistake like this? I mean, it's not like they mis-wrote something, they added a picture which had nothing to do with the topic at all. I would like to know what you guys think on how a mistake like this could be made.

Driver's License 2008 (Part One)

I've spoken about this earlier last year and I've even called the police department in charge of this matter because of the constant failing of students who may have done very well in their test. Here is a link back to that post (link).
I am going to speak about this matter again because this matter has become very clear to the public and much more known amongst people from the older generation when getting a license was a fairly normal thing.

I've made it my new year's resolution to get my license this year. I've been trying to get my license since July of 2007. And finally, after 9 tries and over RO 300, I got my license yesterday on the 19th of May, 2008.
Sure, I am insanely happy and achieved what I thought many times to be impossible but, I've noticed some changes since last year when I first started and I can strongly say that things are still as bad, if not worse, than what they used to be.

Last year, the tests were a week apart but now, it varies. If you are lucky, you may get tested a month later but the most common time gap is 45 days. And if you think this setup increases your chances of passing, you are wrong.
Something which really caught my attention was the receipts that I receive after paying for my tests since the last few months.
If you noticed the pictures of the receipt on the right, you'll see that there are actual sponsors on them, sponsors which weren't there before.
Bank Muscat, Master Card, American express and many more.
I am not sure why they were put there and why is it that they are only bank related companies but if I had to guess I would say that they see the profit in this business and decided to have a piece of it. And if that's true, that would also mean that they don't see any improvements for the future in the testing system.
And again, these are only my personal theories and they may not be true but I would like to get deeper in to this issue and would welcome anybody else's inputs on it by commenting.

After passing the test, IF you pass the test, you go to a certain department where you fill out a form and pay RO 20 to get your license. What I've come to find out is that you can only pay the RO 20 using a card and not cash. Now again, I don't know why this is but I suspect that it has to do with the whole receipt thing and all the sponsors.

I will come with more about this issue in terms of the media coverages and the difference in how it is covered between the Arabic and English media in part two. For now, feel free to share you experiences with the system and even your thoughts and ideas about it.

UPDATE: (Part Two)

School Art Gallery

I've initially created this video as my arts project because my art teacher is such a tight-ass in giving out grades.
Before watching the video, I think you should know that I study in a government school and it's an all boys school from grade 10 to 12. Another thing you should know is that because this video was my school project, it is in Arabic.



And as to the teacher's opinion about this video, they loved it and I got a full grade. And I also got very good reviews from my principle who also let my parents know about it which is very rarely done.

I would like to hear your opinion about the video, that is, if you were capable of understanding a thing.

A KnowledgeOman Video

This is a video which KnowledgeOman.com has created to show the variety of its users.



What do you think?

Ask Microsoft Oman

Ever had questions related to Microsoft and always wanted to ask the people who are directly in charge of it, in the Sultanate at least? Wouldn't it just be great if you could get quick and accurate answers from the source? Now, this is possible.

KnowledgeOman.com has started a new forum that is titled "Ask Microsoft Oman" where anybody can go and ask Microsoft related questions and get answers from the people from Microsoft themselves. That's right, you can finally go there and ask them those questions which you always wanted to ask like what were they thinking by coming up with Vista and what are they thinking with not supporting XP anymore. You can also more specific questions.
The point is, you may finally get answers which only people who work for Microsoft can provide.

It is easy, all you got to do is become a member of KnowledgeOman.com, go to the forums and find the "Ask Microsoft Oman" forum. Create a new thread with your question and you should get your answer soon. Here is the direct link to the Microsoft forum.

KnowledgeOman always tries to insure that they connect the people to the major industries in Oman. If you have any suggestion or any ideas that you would like to offer to KnowledgeOman, join , go to the "Suggestion Box" forum and create a new thread with your ideas and suggestions.

Best ICT Professional Award

Tariq Al Barwani was honored with the best ICT Professional Award at COMEX.

Look at the news clip below for more information about the award.

KnowledgeOman featured in "Al Usbo'a"

They did it again! KnowledgeOman (kO!) is in this week's edition of the Arabic edition of "The Week" newspaper (Al Usbo'a). The article naturally talked about kO! and its president, Tariq Al Barwani.

Although I was happy for the fact that they were, yet again, talked about in a popular weekly newspaper, the article had some mistakes and failed to mention a really important information.

First, it's true that Tariq is our president and sure, he will be mentioned the most, other than the fact that he is a local celebrity of course but the person who mostly spoke to the reporter was Maryam Al-Tamami who her name was only mentioned once at the end of the article along with everybody else's names from our team.
I think that it's not fair to her and that she deserves but I spoke to her and she was really happy about the article.

Secondly, they wrote one of the member's name wrong. Instead of writing Muddasir, they wrote Nasar. Man, that's not even close!

And last but not least, the biggest of them all, the whole purpose of publishing the article in the first place... they forgot to write the URL to kO! Yes, you read that right, they forgot!

I understand that even newspapers make mistakes but isn't this the kind of thing that you look into thoroughly?

(Article has been updated. Please look in comments for more detail)

We Are Mobile!

Congratulations everyone, you can now access BeInOman.com via your mobile phone through this address: m.beinoman.com.

There are many Blogs which I always wanted to read when I am bored at school, waiting for someone in a coffee shop, waiting for the ushers to let me in the movie theater or lots of other situations but never knew how to do so. I thought to myself: "if only I could read that Blog now using my GSM..." but I also knew that it wasn't possible because no Blog which I know of support mobile browsing.
That's when I came with the idea of starting this myself. I started researching the possibilities and found that it was very possible. And so, it was created.

The idea of the mobile version is very simple. All it does is take RSS Feeds from this Blog and puts them there. The 'Blog" page on the mobile version will show only headlines of the posts which will enable you to choose the posts that you are interested in without having to pay more for viewing the full content. Clicking on the post title will give you the full content.

I chose "m" as the sub-domain because the "m" stands for mobile and it's easier to type on your mobile phone than the whole word. Plus, "m" is used by many other mobile Websites and it is becoming more and more common therefor, the chances of somebody guessing that the mobile version of beinoman.com is m.beinoman.com are higher.

So, do you think that this is a good idea? Will you be using this service? Please visit the mobile version of beinoman.com through m.beinoman.com and give me your feedback on it.


Picture from www.esafebusiness.co.uk

Update: Summer Heat

I would like to update you on yesterday's post, "Summer Heat" with today's numbers and what is being said about the heat.

Hot water! Yep, it has started already. Now we have no more cold water to have a shower with or to even wash our hands. The heat has gotten so bad the blue tap should be also made red.
Today's temperature show 45C in the BBC website. I don't know how much the temperature outside really is but 45C is not hard to believe. Although the temperature today is higher than what it was yesterday, the humidity today is less which makes it much more comfortable.

I read this articled from a website called Gulfnews that also talks about the heat. And funny enough, that article was also published yesterday, the same day I published my "Summer Heat" article. The article in Gulfnews talks about heat that we are witnessing, the temperatures in the past compared to today and they also ask a few people about the weather and all.
I came to hear about this website from Blogger Kishor Cariappa (just thought I should mention).

Yes people, be prepared, Summer is here and it's showing strong presence. What are you going to do about it?


Picture from http://www.smartpower.org