ajeeb rules in dubai

Dubai is a city of economic prosperity. It is powered by its diverse expatriate community, who come here to work, earn money and contribute to this thriving economy. The Dubai Internet City, Media City and Knowledge Village (centers of 'excellence' that Dubai is proud of) are filled with youths from across the world who work day-in-day-out. Making salaries of 7,000-10,000 dirhams a month, these 'executive bachelors' (as they are classified in classifieds for 'bachelor accommodation'), can hardly afford to rent houses by themselves. The cheapest one bedroom apartment available in the emirate (in International City) costs around 5,000 dirhams a month (rental + bills); and that too, 45 minutes drive away from work. A decent one bedroom apartment closer to work costs at least 7,600 dirhams a month.

With an acute shortage of mid-income accommodation in Dubai (which is not going away for another year at least), majority of these bachelors are forced to share accommodation, living under one roof with friends or strangers, sharing kitchens, bathrooms, and even bedrooms. These youngsters who are more educated than the majority of the population in the country, work longer hours than most of the other expatriates around, have been made to live in such inhumane circumstances; the reasons for which are hard to explain.
And now the municipality has started its campaign to rid all villas of bachelors. I'm not sure if there is a counter part of racism, for describing discrimination against a certain age group. But this is exactly what has started happening here. There is no legal, working model in the emirate to allow for temporary short-term accommodation for bachelors. Treating these young, talented and hardworking boys and girls with such disdain isn't just impolite, it is brutal. The powers-to-be should come up with alternative solutions before starting to kick them out of these villas.
Neither do their employers, nor do the bachelors themselves want to leave Dubai; but as the claws of law snatch them at their necks stronger and tighter, without providing these respectable citizens an honorable quality of life, they are being slowly driven out of Dubai. Fortunately or unfortunately there are more opportunities for these youngsters; they will go back to their home countries, or other greener pastures where they can live a decent life, and participate in other thriving economies.
They say that pigeons come in one-at-a-time, but fly away in a group. With the inflation going through the roof, the rents skyrocketing, and the weird laws being enforced, let's hope that all these pigeons don't fly away at once. It will be Dubai's loss...

shared feeds

In case you're wondering, the list of links to the right titled 'worthless' is a feed of my Google Reader's Shared Items. I read all my news, technology, blogs and more through Google Reader; and whenever I find something interesting I click the small 'Share' link on the item, and it shows up in my shared items feed.
If you're interested here's the link to my shared items feed; you can subscribe to it using any feeds reader. Or if you just want to visit the web page, it can be found here.

The Pakistani language of terror

In her latest article in The News, Fatima Bhutto talks about the buzz words of the Pakistani rulers:
1. terrorist/insurgent
2. collateral damage/friendly fire
3. development projects
4. Enlightened moderation
5. operation/dispersed/operated upon
6. independent judiciary
7. democracy

I love how she ends the article:

Mr Sharif and Mrs Zardari are not democrats, they are demodictators -- sheeps in designer wolves clothing. Tonight, while you ponder the excitement of all this latest deal making and 'democracy', do me a favour -- do a Google search or a newspaper archive search of the years 1988-1999 and tell me if that's the 'democracy' and the 'leaders' you want to return to. We are a nation 165 million people strong; we have more than three choices.

Source: The Pakistani language of terror

[Video] Flight of the Conchords - Jenni

Video: Holographic display closer to reality

Just wait for the last few seconds. They're the best!




Details: http://gl.ict.usc.edu/Research/3DDisplay/