If there’s one major gripe I can share during my brief tenure here in the United Arab Emirates, it’s that driving in the country is one of the most horrible and dangerous experiences I have ever had.

I can’t really say that I’m a prolific driver, which makes my unscientific assumption all the more unreliable, as the only thing I can really compare driving here to is the mean streets of Montreal. Its lassez faire attitude, single lane-ways and unmarked road lines makes driving there uncomfortable, slightly stressful but tolerable.

It’s a different story here in the UAE. While I admit I’m a pretty cautious and courteous driver, I can’t say the same for my counterparts on the road. Every time I venture out onto the road, it’s the same scenario – speeding trucks, taxis which never signal while changing lanes and countless SUV’s who liberally use high-beams, horns, and natural intimidation to literally force you to get out of their lane. Pedestrian right-of-way is a completely foreign concept here, making each trip across the street a highly risky real-life version of Frogger. My colleague, Jen Gerson, shares her own thoughts in a recent blog post.

Not only is it dangerous, but in a way, it’s commonly accepted that drivers here have an arrogant, if not unwieldy power while on the roads. While the reasons behind its prevalence could be a cultural issue, I also believe a large part of the community, notably Indian and Pakistani expatriates who make up a significant part of the driving population, have not received the same safety training programs that we have in North America. Instead of rigorous training sessions with one-on-one training, it often feels that people just grab a set of car keys and just learn “on the road”.

It is no surprise, then, that the UN’s World Health Organization have labelled UAE’s roads as some of the most dangerous in the world:

[The WHO used] 2007 figures to calculate that they account for 37.1 deaths for every 100,000 residents.

According to figures gathered by police in the UAE, there were 2,138 pedestrian/vehicle accidents in 2008 compared with 2,022 the year before. The high number of pedestrian fatalities contributes to the UAE’s high overall traffic death toll – 1,071 in 2008, up from 1,056 in 2007.

There were 26 pedestrians killed in Abu Dhabi during the first two and a half months of this year; 24 people died crossing roads in Dubai during the same period. There were 754 pedestrian/vehicle accidents in Dubai last year, compared with 665 the year before. Last year 663 pedestrians in Abu Dhabi were struck by cars, up from 583 in 2007.

To highlight the problem, The National (my employer), has begun a road safety campaign, a noble approach in attempting to fix this major problem. I have no inside information to what will be published, but I do get the impression this issue will be pushed very hard in the foreseeable future.

Will it fix the problem? I don’t know, although I hope it makes a big impression on the local community. However, I really hope one of the results of the campaign is pushing road safety education so every driver here follows the law, regardless of how fast you need to get to your destination.

Because, as the old cliche goes, one child’s death caused by reckless driving is one death too many.

Out of all the otherworldly stuff I’ve experience here in the Middle East so far, none has really left me both shaking my head in both amazement and confusion than the Burj Dubai.

As evidenced by the video I’ve posted above, the Burj Dubai is the tallest free-standing structure in the world, larger than my hometown’s beloved CN Tower.

The tower, estimated to be 890.7 metres high and its cranes are currently scheduled to be dismantled this August. But what the Burj Dubai will mean for the city is unknown. Although the Burj is almost completed, it still remains much of a mystery to the rest of the world. Its developer, Emaar Properties, is not doing any press for the building,

The CN Tower, a similiar towen that projects into the sky with the same wanton desire the Burj Dubai has, ultimately found itself in the hearts of Torontonians only several years after the criticism over its purpose died down. It was also built at a time where Toronto was experiencing a property boom of sorts, leading the charge for the SkyDome and a number of waterfront properties to be built around it.

Dubai, as a city, is in the middle of a fairly large-scale transformation as well. After spending years building residential and hotel condominiums across the city as well as a reputation for excess and luxury, the expatriate population is projected to dramatically fall this year, just under 20% by some estimates. The exodus has led some media outlets to begin writing off the city, plaguing it with bad press.

While I disagree with the majority of the negative publicity Dubai is getting, it still faces a lofty goal of coming to terms with what the city’s identity will look like, even though Dubai currently has the Burj Al Arab, another iconic building in the Emirate.Regardless, to me, Dubai serves as the perfect case study on how architecture can influence how the inhabitants of a city react to its environment.

I don’t know how the city, one with such a migrant expatriate population, will accept the Burj Dubai and influence the rest of the city. I also don’t think I’m the right person to answer that question. But at the very least, it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out over here.

And now a special treat, a video of the dancing fountains at the base of the Burj Dubai and right outside the Dubai Mall, an equally monstrous addition to the city’s skyline. Enjoy.

I had a recent feature article published in The National’s weekly magazine on the rise of design hobbyists who have begun creating three-dimensional buildings of Dubai and Abu Dhabi within the Google Earth sandbox.

It was a very fun story to work on but the online story missed a few important elements for readers who would want to try their hand what Google Earth has to offer.

First of all, images like you see above and in the story may not contain the entire library of buildings available to Google Earth users. This is understandable given that the 3D Buildings layer in GE contains buildings which Google itself deems has met their standards

To find those buildings, users have to download the KML file from Google Earth’s 3D Buildings Warehouse file suppository where you can search for buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, respectively.

Furthermore, you can search for the buildings built by Chris Bence and Anis Tumallah, the two guys I profiled in the story. Chris’ version of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque can be found here.

Some personal notes on the story: I know I briefly mentioned this at the end of the story, but the potential for Google Earth to boost sagging tourism revenue is enormous. Dubai may be under the media’s microscope right now as it struggles to maintain its glitzy position as one of the world’s foremost tourism destinations, but if I had a chance to offer a suggestion to the emirate’s toursim heads, it would be to get your city mapped out on Google Earth immediately. I remember the crown of coworkers gathering as I zoomed through the buildings I downloaded littering Sheikh Zayed Road. And the city has only a fraction of its skyline designed, mostly by amateurs. Imagine what it would look like if a design company – or a group of design students – were given a decent budget and a mandate to build out the rest of the city.

Another comment I’d like to make is just how extremely easy it is to make these buildings. Although Chris Bence has a background in design and Photoshop, once you get the hang of Google Sketchup, building something you actually can see in real life and then make for the rest of the world to see themselves is addicting. I haven’t made anything worth uploading yet, but it doesn’t take much effort to digitally erect a structure in Google Earth.

All in all, it was fun to meet some of the people who get to build UAE digitally, emulating in a way the country’s propensity in building soaring skyscrapers brick by brick.

Photo courtesy of Crane Country, as I’m in Beirut right now and don’t really have access to my own stockpile of Google Earth 3D buildings.

There’s an interesting debate going on between the New York Times and the tech blogs over how the journalism produced by bloggers are fueled by rumours, sometime nonfactual, compared to the bastions of the industry, which would be the physical newspaper.

The debate stemmed from this NYT article which provides a few examples which Techcrunch and Gawker have posted rumours, correcting them by updates, and links the practice to ‘yellow journalism’, the jargon-y name which was coined during W. Randolph Heart’s reign at the New York Journal and its coverage of the Spanish War in the early 20th century. (A quick aside, Ken Whyte’s book on Hearst is a highly recommended read)

Neither story was true. Not that it mattered to the authors of the posts. They suspected the rumor was groundless when they wrote the items. TechCrunch noted, 133 words into its story, that, “The trouble is we’ve checked with other sources who claim to know nothing about any Apple negotiations.”

But they reported it anyway. “I don’t ever want to lose the rawness of blogging,” said Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch and the author of the post.

Arrington was understandably upset at the NYT’s charges. In a Techcrunch post, he responds to the NYT, quite angrily, I might add, and defends his craft.

But anyway, media outlets like the NYTimes think that having to update a story is a sign of weakness. I believe the opposite, that it’s a sign of transparency and a promise to our readers to continue to give them the best information we have. Corrections and updates are made constantly to big news posts.

Journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do (again, another excellent book) Jeff Jarvis also argues that the New York Times is in no position to set journalism standards for the rest of the industry, no matter how high its reputation could be.

The problem with this tiresome, never-ending alleged war of blogs vs. MSM (Arrington attacks The Times) and MSM vs. blogs (The Times attacks Arrington) – (Mark Glaser scolded me for rising to The Times’ bait – is that it blinds each tribe from learning from the other. Yes, there are standards worth saluting from classical journalism. But there are also new methods and opportunities to be learned online. No one owns journalists or its methods or standards.

As much as I disagree with Jarvis’s insistence that online news cannot/should not be free, he is absolutely correct in this instance. Whether we like it or not, we’re in a new period of journalism, indeed, all of it is in a ‘beta’ version, with necessary updates needed to move the story further. Elias Bizannes just nails it: technology is enabling us to evolve our ability to communicate a.

A good example: as I type this, the Breaking News Online Twitter account immediately corrected itself after published a message the other day that the President of Gabon has died. It may be impossible to verify such news reports during the noise and confusion of a major event, but once the news got out, it was important that they got the story right.

Furthermore, at my old job at the Financial Post, I’ve made a couple errors in some of my reporting, but I was always quick to correct my copy and update it with full transparency. That’s just the type of environment we, as journalists, should be used to, and more importantly, it’s one that are readers are already used to. In times like these, we can’t afford to let blogs dictate where the industry should go nor should newspapers carry its weight around and tell the industry what to do – the on-going first draft of history will be one that will always be in a constant state of editing and updating, corrections be damned.

Illustration courtesy of Jeff Jarvis

By now, the world is reverberating following the historic speech given by US president Barack Obama in Cairo, Egypt today. Watching the speech in the newsroom, I couldn’t help but think that Obama was consistently on the right track in mending his country’s reputation with the Muslim world. I’m not going to get into it too much, but his remarks of the need for peace, recognition of the need for a Israeli-Palestinian solution and women’s rights were spot on. Obama’s comments, some forceful, some more respectful of the situation, has come at a crucial time for the US as it attempts to navigate through these extraordinary times.

However, as nice it was for Obama to make promises on withdrawing the US troops the time lines he specified in Iraq and Afghanistan, those moves need to actually happen during those given dates for anyone to take his attempts to reach out seriously. That said, I look forward to what Middle Eastern leaders will say about Obama’s rhetoric and whether they are willing to discuss issues without any preconditions.

Above: I’ve created a Wordle using the text in Obama’s speech (You can click the link to go directly to the page hosted on Wordle). For the uninitiated, Wordle is a free online program creates a tag cloud – similar to the one found on my blog  – the displays the size of a word depending on the amount it was used in a block of text. The result is a fascinating display of Obama’s emphasis on the Muslim world and bridging the gap within the larger global community.

Some links regarding the speech to share: (more…)

For some unknown reason, Paris Hilton – the Los Angeles socialite whose career has appears to have been solely based on the sheer ability to look vapid and ignorant in front of cameras – is looking for her new BFF in the Middle East, smack dab right in Dubai, of all places.

The reality show, her third as her previous attempts to secure a new best friend, is said to be filmed in the emirate state over 17 days in July. She’s apparently going to be bringing the guy she’ll be dating around that time and will likely be the usual reality show fare: competitions, rewards ceremonies, a “You’re Fired” eviction and eventually someone gets a rose or $1 million, whatever the final reward really is.

Here’s a good snapshot of what Heckler Spray has to say about all this:

But anyway, now that Paris Hilton has found idiots willing to be her BFF in America and the UK, it’s now time for her to set her sights on a place that she’s almost comically unsuited to – Dubai.

Here’s a better descriptionof the show from Variety (must have been a slow news day for Variety, of all publications, to cover this):

But given Middle East sensibilities, Hirschorn said the Dubai production won’t be quite as racy as the U.S. or U.K. editions.

That means, for example, alcohol — normally a reality TV staple — won’t play a role on this version. And the production has promised to adhere to local cultural sensitivities. Swearing, sexually explicit conversation or risque clothing will be kept to a minimum.

The production had to receive several layers of approval before moving forward; even Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, had to give his blessing.

According to Hirschorn’s partner, Stella Stolper, Hilton has never been to Dubai before — so part of the show will include her initial reactions to her first trip to the United Arab Emirates.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and bet a few dirhams that her first reaction will be on how extremely hot it will be when she decides to go outside. Look, if its 45 degrees Celsius in the middle of May, it’s not going to get any cooler in July.

Furthermore, by adhering to the area’s cultural sensitives, I’ll be interested to know what exactly she’ll exactly do once she’s here. The middle of the summer is traditionally a period in which the UAE population vacates the region for much more moderate weather, leaving a bevy of empty shopping malls and hotel rooms in their wake.

I normally wouldn’t care or write a blog post about Hilton, but as it happens, I was in the Dubai Festival City mall yesterday and stumbled upon the Paris Hitlon handbag store, a picture of which you can see at the top of this post (Note: this store could have been re-branded for the show, as “Nicky Hilton” is the only store that shows up in the shopping directory). The UAE’s shopping malls aren’t that much different than the one’s we’ve got at home, but a dedicated Paris Hilton-branded store? You definitely don’t see that everyday.

Obviously, I will watch this show. But not because I will desperately want this person to gain a good friend through the eyes of a competitive reality TV show, but because I’m absolutely stunned that this person continues to keep herself in the public eye.

It is arguable that we’ve already begun to see the end of Hilton’s career in the spotlight, and her show in Dubai will only add another nail to that coffin. In her heyday, she was celebrated and widely-mocked for her style and excess, during which the world’s economy soared and grew on the backs of credit. Today is a different story, one in which excess is not only frowned upon, but almost shunned completely. After all, who cares about the girl with a new diamond ring or designer dress when millions of people are suddenly finding themselves in a rare position of struggling to make ends meet.

Of course, its those types of situations that would force people to do things they wouldn’t normally do for a buck. Like entering a reality TV contest to become Paris Hilton’s “best friend.”

It’s been some time now since I found myself the subject of a wide variety of  commentary about a situation in which I was part of  a brief, expletive-laden outburst on Twitter. Much to my chagrin, if you Google my name you can figure out what I’m talking about.

I am conscious that addressing this now may not be in my best interest, but after some long thought, I have declined to speak a little bit about what happened. As someone that works in the newspaper industry, one that I truly love being a part of, and ever-so mindful of how keeping quiet could affect my career in this business, I felt that I should at least offer my perspective on what happened. (more…)

Ask any music-lover what albums they’d bring to a deserted island and be prepared to experience an onslaught of varied sonic opinions and genres. Ask any music-lover what music they could hear in the desert and be prepared to be disappointed.

Okay, maybe “being disappointed” is a bit too harsh – lovers of Arabic and Indian music are in for a treat here in Abu Dhabi – but for an expat who grew up with fond memories of breathing in Beatles on vinyl, wearing up several dozen Walkman’s, CD players and MP3 gadgets and a brief stint in a band (I sang; don’t ask), the music scene here is hard to swallow.

There’s roughly a half-dozen English-language radio stations here – Virgin Radio, Dubai One, Dubai 92 etc. – on the dial. None of them offer any of the indie, classic or less-mainstream rock music I grew up on and subsequently, wish to continue seeking out. I don’t know if DJs truly like this or whether they’re forced to play this but instead, we are greeted to the latest Top 40 mainstream pop hits – mostly Britney/Akon-styled fluff. If there are any songs with what I call ” distorted guitars”, they’re likely to fall under the Nickelback or Daughtery. Far from what you’d classify as an enjoyable listening experience, eh?

Indeed, there are some saving graces – several bars inside hotels offer cover bands  performing “today’s hits and yesterday’s classic” but most are profoundly comical. I often joke that any cover band I see often had dreams of “making it” one day and now are relegated to playing other people’s songs for bemused expats. This is, of course, if you can find a venue that isn’t blasting inane dance-electronica beeps and bloops over a ear-bleeding obnoxiously loud volume. Find me a place here that features mashups, remixes, and new releases – while mixing in some old favourites – without relying on techno to draw the crowds and I’ll go tomorrow.

There was also the recent Womad music festival which I admit I had a great time at, largely in part to Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant headlining the event. Coldplay also performed at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace, but being not much of a fan, I didn’t attend. The same could have been said for Bon Jovi, who played here sometime last year. I also missed the Desert Rock Festival in March, an event which hosted the likes of Motorhead and Opeth, but it felt kinda short on some audible talent. An Al Jazeera documentary on Middle Eastern metal can be found on Youtube here and here.

So, instead of being spoiled by a various cacophony of tunes literally at my Toronto doorsteps, I find myself plugging in my iPhone to my car radio to listen to downloaded tunes and letting myself become surprised whenever a a cover band plays something decent. But I still haven’t come across some indie, punk, metal or hard rock in this area – even a tinge or two would be a welcome relief.

Maybe I haven’t found it yet – there’s many rocks around here in which I have yet to look under. And therein lies an opportunity for such like-minded folks to organize and publicize the heck out of these events. The UAE shouldn’t be a place that only fosters fluffly, mindless pop music – only genres should be allowed to bloom as well.

There’s a great article on ReadWriteWeb discussing how one of Facebook’s main rivals is, in fact the Mozilla Firefox browser. I’d recommend that you click the link to get the entire context of the article but it cites Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang’s  The Future of the Social Web report to summarize its main point:

“… in a bid to extend the reach of its new browser, Chrome, we expect Google to build OpenID and its associated friend connections into the browser; look for Firefox and eventually Internet Explorer to copy this feature. Facebook and MySpace will also likely build a way for users to surf the Web within the Facebook experience, retaining the social functionality. These connections won’t be perfect, but they’ll allow social networks to colonize communities and other parts of the Web, extending their experience out to other sites through the shared ID. As a result, in two years, portable identities will become a ubiquitous part of the online experience as they reach maturity.”

Interesting, no? Now, in the ongoing attempt to throw more ideas at the Newspaper Industry Survival (NIS) wall, I’m just going to put this out there – if Firefox or Internet Explorer web browsers will be able to help bridge social connections in their own communities, what’s stopping newspapers such as the Globe and Mail or The New York Times from doing the same? (more…)

The following column was originally published in The National in the Business section, May 1, 2009:

Apple’s iPhone may be popular with consumers, but for software developers it has been a dream come true.

Nine months after Apple began to sell applications to iPhone and iPod Touch users through its iTunes App Store, the company announced that it surpassed the one billion download mark last week.

While it is unlikely the 13-year-old from a small town in Connecticut, who has been announced as the lucky billionth downloader, fully appreciates the significance of the honour, the accomplishment confirms what many -analysts have been saying for the past few years: the mobile phone market has made the device the computing platform of the future. (more…)