eGovernment Portal Launched

After at least a year's delay, Oman's eGovernment Services Portal finally launched yesterday, 7th November 2009. The portal can be accessed on:

www.oman.om

I believe this portal is a very useful tool for all its target groups:

1. The Businesses
2. Citizens & Residents
3. The Visitors

I won't go into the details until I get the chance to browse through the website thoroughly, but I'd like to point out that at the end, this portal is just a platform for other government agencies to host their services.

Naturally, if government agencies fail to re-engineer their processes so that they are are completely automated, it will be very difficult for them to provide effective e-services. As a result, the eGovernment Portal's success would also be limited.

The portal is well architected and provides systematic mechanisms for other agencies to provide their services through the portal. It is clear from the portal that there are discrepancies between government agencies in terms of their IT capality. Some government agencies already provide decent e-services, while others simply have no presence on the portal or on their own websites.

One might question whether the whole nation is ready for such a platform? Whether Residents, visitors or businesses are ready? In fact, one might even question whether the IT industry in Oman is ready? Let us not forget, this portal was built, after all, by vendors from Singapore. Nonetheless, money have been spent on many petty things in the past. This, hopefully, will bring opportunities!

There is no harm is starting with semi-automated services like the Ministry of Housing did, but unless the complete process is automated, the service is bound to collapse on itself.

More on this later on. Subscribe to my feeds for updates!

Windows 7: Be Prepared This Time

Alright then, like myself, most of you, especially the IT geeks, are still using Windows XP after being disappointed by the much anticipated Windows Vista few years back.

Windows Vista was quite different than XP. It looked much more high-tech, it had security issues initially, it required more resources (hardware) to run, if it ran at all. Apart from the first reason, the rest were the reasons, among some others, why it failed.

Windows 7
I've not tested Windows 7 (beta release) yet, but I've read many reviews and talked to people who've had time to test it. It comes with some new features, but in layman's term, Windows 7 has the sleek look & feel of Vista and the stability, security and performance of XP.

Some of the new features of Windows 7, which did not exist in Vista or XP, include:

- Security Features and Flexible Safety Control Settings (no more forced and annoying safety prompts like Vista)
- Virtual XP Mode (in case things go wrong, or for worst case scenarios, you will be able to run XP, virtually);
- New Taskbar (I still use the basic Taskbar, with even XP's "grouping" feature disabled, this better be good);
- Improved Search
- Rich UI yet Fast!

Alternative Operating Systems
Vista was pain, if Windows 7 fails, I'd probably try other operating systems. I've been using XP for so many years now, its time one moves on and try new operating systems. Good substitutes include:

- Ubuntu - Free and most famous Linux OS version
- Mac OS X Leopard - Switching to Mac might not be a good idea for people in Middle East, but this OS is one of the best alternatives and you can run Microsoft Office and Windows XP within it!
- Linux Mandriva - Easy to use and feature-rich version of Linux.

Things NOT To Do
- Immediately replace your old computer(s);
- Buy new computers that only run Windows 7. Make sure drivers available for other OSs;
- Buy machine with wrong version of Windows 7. Same old stupid Vista versions for Windows 7, like Home, Professional or Ultimate still offered with Windows 7. Get the right one!
- Stick with XP; enough is enough, if this fails, its time we move on!

I intend to buy a new laptop, but I've delayed the decision until Windows 7 is at least 3 months old in the market; will share my reviews then!

Understand Contemporary Politics and the Myth of OBL

A short and enlightening documentary that explains Osama Bin Laden and Contemporary World Politics; a must watch for all, whether we have interest in politics or not. After all, contemporary politics affects us all, in a way or another:

Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 1


Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 2


Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 3


Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 4


Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 5


Our Own Private Bin Laden - PART 6


Watch it till end, it reveals very interesting facts!

Gaddafi UN Speech

I promised to share the video links if I manage to get hold of them, so here they are:

Arabic Part 1


Arabic Part 2


Arabic Part 3

Couldn't find the whole speech in Arabic. Trust me, as a bilingual, I can assure you that no live translation does justice to Gaddafi's speech. But here are the links:

English Part 1


English Part 2


English Part 3


English Part 4


English Part 5


English Part 6


English Part 7


English Part 8


English Part 9

The Western media has decided to concentrate on Gaddafi's speech's style rather then content, CNN even showed clips of it in a "light and funny" segment. He might not be the most orthodox politician or the brightest one out there, but I have not doubt at least he is honest.

Gaddafi Rocks UN General Assembly

I bet anybody who watched Libyan leader Al Gaddafi's lengthy speech at UN General Assembly would have a lot of comments and reactions, regardless of whether you like him or not.


Gaddafi - The Lovable Politician
Personally, I am not really a big fan of Mua'amar Al Gaddafi and I rarely follow his news. In spite of successfully leading Libya for over 40 years, I find him extremely offensive to represent any group of people. I am sure many would agree. I'd say his communication skills would need serious improvement for starters.

However, on a personal level, I've liked his attitude, personality and style; his character would help any Hollywood movie succeed at the box office!

Today, as I watched the second part of his prolonged speech, I managed to, for the first time, look beyond his style and gestures; I managed to appreciate his simple yet logical views. Rest assured, the man is painfully honest and straightforward. He manages to show the "other side" of every story or impasse.

The Speech
If you thought Iran's President Ahmedinejad was controversial, hold your breath, you'll realize he is child play compared to Gaddafi! In a one-and-a-half hour speech (originally assigned 15 minutes) in New York on today, he pretty much covered every historic (last 5 decades) and contemporary political issue, as if he was the leader of world's super power; as if he was Obama.

He talked about Kashmir and said they should have their own state. He defended the Somalian pirates and accused the modern world of being the real pirates for ruining Somalian sea and its resources through shipping and dumping. He demanded investigation in mysterious murders of J. F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and other leaders. He also demanded full investigations in all massacred committed in Palestine, instead of political investigations on Hariri murder in order to pressurize Syrian.

He asked US and the world to leave Afghanistan for Afghanis and Iraq for Iraqis. he argued that its up to them whether they kill each other or become a religious state. "Didn't America have civil war? Isn't Vatican City a religious state?" He rhetorically asked! To add a bit of spice, he even threw booklets and tore documents.

On Israel and Palestine
Moreover, though he heavily criticized Israel and its inhumane and terrorist acts, he clarified that Arabs have historically helped Jews and never hated them. He accused, rightly in my view, the West of hating the Jews and mass murdering them throughout the history. On the same issue, he presented an alternative solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying there should be one state for all. One state with Arabs, Jews, Muslims and Christians all living side by side. He said you can't have two states if people and lands are intermingled. I strongly agree!

On US and UN
Obama or US, as expected, were not spared either. He demanded that UN investigate into the barbaric crimes that took place in American prisons, especially Abu Ghuraib in Iraq. He argued that its not acceptable for a member of security council with veto rights, also a world leader, to commit such inhumane acts that are unacceptable to any human!

On UN, he slammed the Security Council and the imbalance between large and small nations. He demanded reform so that the rights of poorer countries are protected and so that they have a say in UN. Gaddafi said the veto-wielding nations of the Security Council were ignoring the views of the full 192 members of the General Assembly and the principles of the UN charter.

Gaddafi for President
I think the Obama bubble has bust, especially for us in the East. In the Muslim world to be specific. the same bias and ineffectiveness in many Middle Eastern issues have shown. He might not wage new wars and cause millions of deaths, but he won't really fix anything.

If only Gaddafi was Obama, then I am pretty sure, with all of Americans Economic and Military might, the world would have seen actual Change!

The Coverage
I will post his videos if I find them online later on. Sadly, most news channels didn't cover his speech. I only got to watch it on Al Jazeera Arabic. English channels like CNN and BBC didn't bother show his speech, and chose to concentrate on how controversial he was and refreshed the Lockerbee Bomber news!

Sadly, although Al Jazeera English did broadcast his speech, the real-time translator was extremely incompetent!

Muscat Festival 2010 Canceled

Government has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on health care because of H1N1, now they have stopped an event that generates a lot of revenue each year.

I don't know, but I feel this is a bit of an over reaction, mainly because:

1. The severity of the virus is limited, lethal mostly to those already suffering from chronic diseases.
2. The virus has spread rapidly and continues to do so; you can't really stop it. Not in Oman, not elsewhere.
3. Government has already enhanced the capacity of health centers and hospitals to handle such cases.
4. Good media presence and publicity has been done to create awareness among all.

I wonder whether this had something to do with Salalah Festival. I had this theory that H1N1 infected so many because of Salalah Festival, where so many tourists drove and flew into Salalah via Muscat. Of course, the weather during that period was another factor.

Coming back to Muscat Festival 2010, which was canceled, I still wonder why? During Ramadhan, mosques are filled up by Muslims praying side by side. Medically speaking, this isn't a good exercise during an epidemic!

Anyhow, perhaps I am just confused. Perhaps, everybody is! At end, may God protect us all from all diseases, and have fun Pharmaceutical and other medical solution businesses.

9/9/09 - Metro Dubai Launched

Four years of planning, design and construction have resulted in the launch of the most advance metro systems in the world and the first in Middle East. The launch of the metro today, on 9th September 2009 - the date promised by Sheikh Muhammad Al Maktoum for launch of this project, should solve the traffic problems in Dubai and make the lives of so many commuters easy.

About Metro Dubai
Dubai Metro has 43 stops that serve both the local and tourist populations, stopping at both popular destinations for work and sight-seeing. With all of the stops available, the metro plans on transporting about 1.2 million passengers daily.




Metro Dubai, as we expect from Dubai projects, has many unique features and firsts in the world. The project was initially budgeted for AED 16 Billion but later went on to cost Dubai around AED 35 Billion. This was mostly due to the enhancements in design and additional requirements, especially that related to safety and hi-tech features.

In addition to the sleek design, comfortable stations and trains, one of the underground stations in Metro Dubai is the largest underworld station in the world!

The Visionary Man
I've always respected Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Rule of Dubai, for his vision and fearless attitude. Dubai has been hit hardly during 2008 and 2009, but projects such as this prove that Dubai is here to stay.

I was last there during April 2009 for a 1-day business meeting, but before that I traveled during January 2009 for a week long business event; metro was under construction then. Some pictures I took:



Congratulations to all those who worked on this prestigious project and to all Emiratis!