Attention!!

I have an important announcement to make. This announcement will affect the frequency of posts made on this Blog and maybe even the type of posts that will be posted from now onwards.

I am moving to the UAE very soon (if not already when you read this post) and since I won't be in Oman anymore, it doesn't exactly make sense to be posting on a Blog for Oman. And because of this, I have both great news and bad news.

Bad news is, I will not be able to post as much as I used to post on this Blog anymore. Since I am not in Oman, it would be difficult to make posts related to Oman. I might be posting on the Blog from time to time whenever I come over to Oman but it will be rare and maybe even different in style.

Great news, I've created a new Blog! The Blog is titled Muscat X Dubai which is read 'Muscat meets Dubai' or you may also call it MXD and you may visit it at www.muscatxdubai.com.
The idea for this Blog is to record my whole transition from Muscat to the big city - Dubai. I will be talking about the whole process of moving there and provide value to people who are thinking of moving there by providing facts from my own experience. Along with the record of the whole transition process, I will also Blog on general things about Dubai and I think I will be comparing many things in Dubai with what they are like in Muscat. I might even start talking about news related to Dubai or Muscat.

The beauty of this Blog is that it doesn't only focus on one country but two. Since I am an Omani, I will be talking about many Omani related things and since I am living in Dubai, I will also talk about Dubai a lot, obviously.

This is all great but it has a downside also. Since my new Blog allows me to talk about Oman, I won't need this Blog to talk about it anymore. I have a couple of ideas for this Blog by now but they will be shared later.
So don't forget, I am now at www.muscatxdubai.com. Visit the website and if you subscribed to this Blog's RSS feeds, make sure you subscribe to MXD's RSS feeds too in order to stay updated with what I am up to the big city.

See you there, people...

Bloggers' Meet

I remember the last time we had a Bloggers' meeting and we all announced it in our Blogs, set a date and everything. And two people from TheWeek came to cover the event only to find out that three Bloggers attended out of all who said that they will. It wasn't very good but we got a tiny piece in TheWeek and our names got mentioned, so that was good. But all in all, I had fun that day. Here is the article that I wrote about that event.

We are having another Bloggers' Meeting today but none of us have announced it on our Blogs until now. I don't know why nobody else did but I didn't because I didn't have the time to do so. Maybe we were subconsciously embarrassed to spread the word and have members of the press come only for the event to become a total bust when nobody attends. Another reason might be because we planned this a little late and it is only today that we have confirmed the time and location. Naaa, I like the first one better.

So far, Amjad, Blue Chi, Kishor Cariappa, a guest Qatari Blogger MMK080 and myself will be attending. That's 5 people in total. It should be very interesting meeting Oman's top Bloggers. This is going to be fun.

A Deadly Time to Drive

I have no problem driving in whatever time. You know how some people won't drive after it is dark outside, I am not one of those people. But, there is a time that I usually get tense and get extra careful when driving. When the sun starts to set.

That is the worse time for a couple of reasons. When it starts to get dark outside, many will turn their headlights on which is a natural thing to do but the problem is, not everyone turns on their headlights at the same time. So keeping in mind that it is slightly dark outside and there are some headlights that are on, you sometimes miss the cars that don't.

I don't know if you ever face this same problem but I always do when driving at that time. And to make matters worse, we often face the problem of having the street lights turned on when it is already too dark. I don't know whether this is an attempt to save up power or simply a miscalculation but it gets pretty dark on the main roads before they turn on the lights.
(The picture that you see at your right is a picture that I took with my cellphone during my drive home yesterday).

At least at that time, I have my guards on and pay much attention to this detail and try to spot every car that passes by but what is worse is when you have 98% of the cars with their lights on and a couple of drivers who were driving since before sunset that have forgotten about the lights.

And now you combine the fact that not all cars turn their lights on at the same time and the street lights' delay and you are left with a lethal combination.

This Weekend: Ironic

This coming weekend is kinda ironic and I am a fan of irony. But this irony... I am not too sure about.

This weekend is going to hold two of the hottest parties in one night. Sawadi is going to have its very famous 'Rain Dance' this Thursday. Some of you might be familiar with it but if not, the idea is simple. The event will be held outside where there will be a live band and water will be falling from above like rain ("Rain" dance) and the amount of water that falls changes like real rain. Let me tell you, in our current weather conditions, Rain Dance can get very refreshing. I attended once last year and it was.
And Later that evening, Rock Bottom, which is a night club at the Ramee Guestline Hotel, is going to bring you "the original House Night". If you like House music, then that would be a night for you. K-Klass DJ Andy Williams will perform, if you care to know.
And if you are a guy like me who likes to party then you will go to both.

But wait, there is a twist! Conveniently, Thursday and Friday is a holiday for both government and private sectors. Great, right? Well, not really. Because the holiday is actually a "holly" day. The holidays (Wednesday to Saturday for the government sectors and Thursday to Saturday for the private) are because of a religious event, Isra and Mi'raj, which is a big day in the Muslim calender.

Hottest parties, big religious event. Ironic, right?

KnowledgeOman.com's Behind The Scenes

"KnowledgeOman.com's behind the scenes" is a weekly series that will be published every Saturday on this Blog.
Since I am an active member of the KnowledgeOman.com (KO) executive team and a contributor of KO's Home Page Articles and since KO updates its Home Page every Saturday, I will be giving you the latest scoops on the work that goes into creating KO's content and some other related materials on this Blog every Saturday so you can look into how KO really works.


I only made this post this week to let you know that I was not active on the Home Page. If you have read my previous posts on this Blog you might know why. I had to go for a trip to Dubai for some college related stuff.

But I am going to give you a quick summary of what went on the Home Page based on my observation. It is not as exciting as being part of it but at least you will be getting it from a person who is "usually" part of it.

In the top of the page this week, you will find the 'Knowledge Lebre' segment instead of the usual "Hot News" segment which is managed by Timami which was also absent for the last two weeks. Last week, my segment, 'CityTalks', was on the top. Qusai (in charge of 'Knowledge Lebre') has continued with his series on copyleft. This time, it's on visual arts.

Second article that comes under 'Knowledge Lebre' is a little different than usual because it is written by someone who doesn't usually write for the Home Page. Sahara, who is also very active in the forum, has written about Robots. She shows the pros and cons of having robots and what things would be like with or without them. I found it very interesting because there are two sides of what robots can do for humanity and so, I predict a good discussion will be going on that topic.
I hope Sahara will write more for the Home Page because she has just proven that she is very capable.

Last but not least, the very famous 'Product Review' by our very own Tommy Bosco.
He writes in this week about a gadget that every youth would dream to have put in their car, a CD player with a full 7" LCD touch screen that comes out once you press the open button.
I don't want to give out much because, naturally, I want you to go over there and read it yourself. It is worth reading through because the information presented there is not only the specs and pros & cons of the gadget which you can even find anywhere else on the internet but also the local pricing of it and where it could be found. All up-to-date information for every local who is looking to get his/her car a little pimpin'.

That's it for this week's series. I hope to make it on the Home Page next week and write more about it but I can't promise anything yet since things are still a little hectic at the moment.
But no worries, I will still be talking about it again next week so, keep on coming back.

Back from Dubai, New Banner

Weird title? Well, not really. The idea is to talk about two different topics in one post. Makes sense now?

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I am back from Dubai after going there to complete my college registration (like mentioned in the previous post). I would like to say that everything is complete and I am officially a student of the University of Wollongong in Dubai. I am scheduled to start on September.

Yesterday was also my Birthday but I spent it on the road. Nothing special has been done but I couldn't complain because I got really amazing gifts the days before and was invited to a dinner the day before we left. All in all, it was good and at least I got to drive to Dubai for the first time. I always enjoy new experiences, no matter how tiring they are.

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If you haven't noticed yet, BeInOman.com has a new banner. If you can't see it then, press on (ctrl+F5) to insure that you are looking at the latest update on the page.
This banner has been sent to me by email from a member of KnowledgeOman.com (Arabic Section), named Talal Al-Farsi, as a gift. I don't know why exactly but I am very thankful to that. I really liked the banner, it really fits with the whole BeInOman.com theme, doesn't it? What do you guys say?

Thank you Talal for the thoughtful gift.

Renaissance Day

Renaissance day has always held a special meaning to me. And not only because it's the day when his majesty ruled the Sultanate of Oman, although that is a major reason, but also because it happens to be my birthday!

I was born at about 12:10am on this day, which means, 10 minutes earlier and I would not have been a part of this tremendous day which I am very proud of indeed. And on that note, I would like to congratulate all of Oman and his majesty the Sultan Qaboos who has done an amazing job in bringing Oman to where it is today from where it was before.

I am sorry but, I won't be talking about the whole history behind this because I am not qualified although, I attempted to do that last year. If you need more information on it, do what everybody else does, Google it.

So, for the people who know me or even care about what I will be doing today, well... I have just got my letter of acceptance from the University that I applied for in Dubai last night and so, I am headed to Dubai in about an hour to complete everything. It is pretty exciting and I really don't mind not having to spend time with my friends and family today. I do that a lot anyway but I never got accepted to college before.
It sounds bad doesn't it? The fact that it is Renaissance day and my birthday and what do I do about it...? I go to a different country. O well...

So I would like to say it one more time. Congratulations everyone on this glorious and huge day, the 23rd of July, my birthday! Oops, I mean Renaissance day... ahhum..