Tag Archives: Riyadh

September 12, 2024 · 06:18

The attention an idea gets

That was a little bit of a spark that the Middle East Monitor gave me last week. I wasn’t sure if and how to pick this up. The article (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240905-what-could-saudi-arabias-first-aaa-game-be-like-following-chinas-success/) starts with ‘What could Saudi Arabia’s first AAA game be like, following China’s success?’ The subtext that stopped me was “Within just three days, “Black Myth: Wukong” shattered records, selling over 10 million copies and reaching 18 million within two weeks, with lifetime sales projected to reach up to 30 million. The game also achieved a peak concurrent player count of 2.2 million worldwide and has overtaken “Cyberpunk 2077” as the most-played single-player game on the online distribution platform Steam.” It shows one part that I have been saying for a long time. You see, the people have basically had enough of a repetitive Ubisoft and their umpteenth version of Assassins Creed, FarCry, Watchdogs and so on. 

As such there are hundreds of thousands of gamers who will eagerly pick up an original feeling game and Black Myth: Wukong addressed that feeling. It is yet another side to what I claimed over the last two years when I put original IP on my blog for the eager developer. It was theirs to use. People want original games, a feeling of novel and new and I gave the (eager developing) audience a new system and the storyline to a new approach in gaming. Actually I did a little more than that and again I am seemingly proven correct (yet again). And when some developer takes the ideas I stated here and takes an interest in being original They could go to town on branders like Ubisoft and Bethesda. You see, Microsoft is playing it very careful now. If they push Bethesda too much they lose that brand as well. They first thought they had the bong of happiness with Redfall. At present the game is reviewed as “it faced poor to middling reviews and lost thousands of players in just three days. Currently, it’s one of Steam’s most poorly-rated games due to extremely buggy performance, incredibly stupid AI, lack of matchmaking (in a co-op game!), and a whole other host of issues” and this view was given whilst the game is out now for over a year. Microsoft knows that they banked too much on their arrogance and now they have only have Bethesda left (at present) with some credibility. And Bethesda earned this credibility. Skyrim released on 11.11.11 still holds up as one of the most engaging RPG games in the field. They lost a lot of credibility with Starfield (a 60% game) only for Microsoft systems and even as the people got news that things were coming, the game has been out for a year. We now get ‘While Some Players Are Still Finding Starfield’s Gameplay Frustrating, Others Are Taking Issue With What Fans Are Creating For The Game – And How Bethesda’s Handling It’ (source: ScreenRant) as such Bethesda has basically one arrow left at present. The elder Scrolls and Microsoft knows that this needs to be a hole in one. As we see “The Elder Scrolls 6 is expected to be released sometime during or after 2026”, this might speculatively become their own Swan Song. Not bad for a $7,500,000,000 investment (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk). Activision Blizzard is (as I see it) another decent failure. We get that the annual revenue in 2021 was $12.10B, all whilst Statista reported “In the second quarter of 2023, Activision Blizzard’s net income amounted to 587 million U.S. dollars” (one source gave me US$1.51 billion (2022) of net revenue), you might think this is good, but Microsoft acquired this baby for $69,000,000,000. As such the annual interest of a loan that big is more than the net revenue of that firm (I predicted this well over a year ago as much). This all has impact. At present Microsoft has an immense losing streak in gaming (I truly hope that I am contributing to that). As such I handed original IP to game developers making the hardship worse for Microsoft and now they merely have the one final arrow of Bethesda left, which is expected somewhere in 2026. As such these factors all have impact. You see Black Myth: Wukong is one part (I had absolutely nothing to do with that) for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, referred to in the article has options. There is Scheherazade’s 1001 nights. I put a few issues out in the open. The idea of an RPG all based on the Arabian life and challenges. There was an option I considered to use an RPG game to promote Islam (for all people) with teachings in the game. There could be an option to take another look at Peter Molyneux’s Magic Carpet now that the systems are a lot stronger than the first Playstation, as such you can increase more than graphics. The game play could be taken to a new stage and the intensity of the game could be set to 11 (as the saying goes). Those are merely a few mentions that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could entertain and I made reference to at least two more games in a relaunch/remaster and refitted vibe. All settings I made mention of over the last two years alone. 

But it is not all sunshine for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. You see it has an uphill battle as the Middle East Monitor states with “As a non-Western, non-Japanese contribution, the game faced extensive media scrutiny ahead of its launch, including “controversies” over alleged sexism within the development studio, government censorship on politics and feminist propaganda, and some technical issues upon release”, there are a few items. I will state that the accusation of “alleged sexism within the development studio” is pretty much bogus. All the development studios are dealing with these ‘kids on the block’ issues as the saying goes. And government censorship? I need to see this to make it count, but I state this as the Middle East Monitor did. 

I think that the biggest challenge for Saudi Arabia is to bring something unique. They have the area and the landmarks, but the other players (Japan, USA, Canada) have had the singular field of gaming, as such it is important to bring something unique. I believe that this is possible as Black Myth: Wukong made it happen. Still, it will be a challenging field. Making something look Arabian has been done and Ubisoft with AC: Mirage pulled it off. So it is just as important to have a unique Arabian voice, look and gameplay. Still, there is something to be said for a new Magic Carpet (from Bullfrog) now that the hardware is 3,500 times more powerful there is a lot of achievement open to the audience. There is an additional field with Arabian lore (which I explore in my created script ‘How to assassinate a politician’) and there is more to do. You see I still believe that RPG is the most true game environment. I have nothing against other modes. But the RPG field can be utilised or used to create another type of game, optionally based on this new RPG. 

As I see it (and as Black Myth: Wukong proves) it is more about being original. There will always be some gamers that yearns for a certain game style, but the masses want originality. You see, a lack of choice only works for some time. In this an Arabian game could be good, but it is important that all the right characters are dotted and crossed (as in the I and T). That is a first essential need for any game to make it to the release stage. Then there is the music, here Saudi Arabia has an advantage. There is a lot unknown to us and as such there should be plenty of options. Then there is the additional idea. For example Saudi Arabian developers could use existing locations to create another setting. Whether this is a addition to a new Division game, or a Die Hard touch towards a shooting game. And another idea is to use Tahlia Street (aka Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Street) as the backdrop of a variation of ‘Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego’ But now a realtime challenge to find the person that is trying to evade capture. Your only aid is his/her digital trace that you have access to. That could actually be a multiplayer approach where the mouse (aka criminal) and the cats (aka authorities) and the cheese dealers (contenders for the mouse empire) have to capture this so called mouse. With the stage that capture the wrong person makes you a target for arrest and there is the ring race. The mouse is rated on time it took them to evade capture and the others on the this it took them. And with that location completely mapped out it becomes a nice rat race (for the mice involved). I don’t think this has ever been done before to this degree and there is the rub. I just took this thought to a new level as I was writing this. So why can’t some of the existing developers come up with this? Think about that and as you try to figure this out consider that this is an optional new world with over 150 million possible new gamers. You can become a copy of what is, or come with something new, some version of an old game but now in a way never done before. And I have done that before, I considered a new version of Murder on the Zinderneuf and I made it into a 3D version of the game with interactions as well as imbuing it with elements of Iron Helix (1993). So there is a world of new IP out there. Now consider how much new IP Microsoft got for their $70,500,000,000 and what you could use (from what I have written here) without spending a penny. And the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a lot more to offer, Lore, Myths and a few more challenges. All that could create the new generation of games and gaming. The crowds are hungry for original gaming IP and the current player have very little to offer. Feng Ji might have come here first as the new player, but that does not stop Saudi Arabia from heralding their own chapter of gaming to the world of gamers.

Have a great Thursday, The weekend is now one day away (plus an additional 8 hours of work).

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July 21, 2024 · 20:33

Credit where credit is due

I was in a setting where I had to look at YouTube videos of the Hogwarts theme parks in Orlando and Tokyo. I saw a lot more than that. I also saw some Disney World places (for different reasons) and it struck me that there is a lot that is the same. I do not men Hogwarts, I meant that the Universal sites all work on the same premise. Now, this is to be expected, however the Disney places and the Universal places are a lot alike, more alike than unalike. 

This is not any kind of critique, it just is the way it is. Then we get the Abu Dhabi Warner Brothers world. Now they are all excellent in their own way and if you are a Harry Potter fan as I am, an uneasy feeling comes over me. Don’t get me wrong, these places, there is nothing wrong with them. As I said, they are too much alike. It seems that we are all pushed in the same box (painted in some colour). 

It then struck me that I might be too spoiled. I grew up in the Netherlands. As I can see it, there is nothing like The Efteling, besides the Efteling. Yes, it too has rides others have, but the setting of the Efteling, with a lot of Anton Pieck favoured styles is basically unique. In this places like UAE (Abu Dhabi) or Saudi Arabia (Riyadh or Dammam) might be in need of an Efteling styled theme park and it does not need to be a copy. The Efteling has a fairy tale forest and in Europe they strike a chord with these fairy tales. But a desert place where we can see the fairy tales like they exist in the Arabic nations would have a national and international appeal. There are “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor”, “The Enchanted Horse” and many more. I think that most Arabic Fairy tales come from the 1001 nights book, but I could be wrong there. You see the world needs more that a Universal setting. The Efteling has earned its place amongst the theme parks with the highest awards. In 2020 they had more visitors than Disney Paris. I believe that the fairy tale forest gave the people something they had forgotten. In this I blame Disney, they fed us what to like and didn’t inquire what people would like (the cost of the park and the waiting times at rides might have been a contributing factor). So as we turn to the UAE (or Saudi Arabia) for what to seek, the international market might like an original fairy tale forest with unique stories. Optionally stories from other places like Indonesia as well. In this I feel that an Efteling approach might give people another way to look at things. There is still enough space for places like Warner Brothers, Universal or Disney. Yet consider the aging IP, as such a new park can be done in the ‘trend’ of Efteling, but need not be a copy. 

There could be stories that would be present in both, no doubt about it.

There is the Gardener and the Fakir, I saw this on my first visit in the 60’s, it never lost its appeal to me, not ever when I saw it again in the late 90’s. Then there is ‘het spook slot’ (the haunted castle).

It is now either already demolished or it in the process on demolition, to make space for something new. That place had been around since 1978, I saw it in its first year which was my birthday present. The attraction had remained active for over 40 years, the show shown there which lasted about 7 minutes took an estimated 800 people per hour. And this was based on technology we had at that point. As far as I can see, unique experiences and there is more to be seen. But in reality, who has actually read the book 1001 nights? Wouldn’t it be great if someone had a different theme park based on Arabic lore? 

There are many ways to do this. I still believe that ride like pirates of the Caribbean with the boats, but they take you on a show though several fairy tales, narrated by Sheherezade. The ride would be about 15 minutes, taking you to the next stage which would be on foot showing you more fairy tales with rest rooms and snack sites, after that another boat ride of the same length and that is one side of the tracks. Then we could do more walking and see places like the Gardener and the Fakir and other places. The problem is a lot needs to be ‘in house’. These two places are just too warm in summer. In a previous article. I discussed part of this in Ratatouille (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/11/20/ratatouille/) I had some ideas based on droomvlucht (Dream Flight) but now set on a magic carpet like a real Aladdin. An expansion for the Warner Brothers park, but it could become its own place, with new attractions and a wholesome dive into Arabic fairy tales and It could be in Saudi Arabia for pretty much the same reason. You see, the lesson that places like Disney never learned was that there is something like saturation. ‘More’ at some point becomes ‘too much’ and infrastructures tend to collapse when we reach the ‘too much’ point. I cannot speculate here, it requires an econometrist with serious skills to make a better estimate. I perceive it to be a setting of balance. If the theme park is in the left hand, you need something another kind of fun in the right hand, so that balance can be reached. What that is? Not sure, but I imagine that Abu Dhabi with its waterpark, zoo and Warner Brothers has a seemingly good grasp of this balance. So is that the right place for this new park? I cannot tell, but it seems so sad that they are all copying Disney and Universal and the idea of another Efteling with its own unique features and a dozen global awards is largely ignored and thy aren’t just any awards. They won in 1972 the Pomme d’Or and in 2018 the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) award. Disney lost out on both that is one hell of an achievement. Especially as the Efteling has nowhere near the cash Disney has. 

But that is merely my point of view in this matter, enjoy the day, Monday is a mere 3 hours away for me.

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July 14, 2024 · 07:21

The Iranian ploy

I saw the article (at https://www.newarab.com/news/houthis-threaten-riyadh-aerial-footage-key-airports) stating ‘Yemen’s Houthis threaten Saudi Arabia with aerial footage of key airports’, the New Arab with the text “The video, titled “Just try it”, contained images of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, King Fahd International Airport in Damman as well as the ports in Ras Tanura, Jizan and Jeddah” is a possible ploy. I do not doubt that the Houthi’s (with generous support from Iran) is adding a ploy of threats to their limited tactics. It is clear that Houthi forces can bring something to the table, but I believe that this is nothing more than a ploy. A ploy that could have teeth, but I do not have the required contacts or information to see how serious this is. We see an additional setting with “The threat to Saudi Arabia by the Houthis comes amid reports that the government and Houthis failed to strike a fresh prisoner exchange deal”, which is fun because this was a deal between Houthis and the legitimate Yemen government. So this is all about posturing, or is it?

You see, a few hours later I was given through Arab News (at https://arab.news/6p5tn) ‘Iran’s new president vows balance with all countries, warns US his country won’t be pressured’ where Iran apparently made the claim “He looks forward to engaging in constructive dialogue with European countries”, so there is the carrot. Iran needs Saudi Arabia in a holding pattern, whilst Iran ‘appeases’ European nations. So as I see it Houthi forces are still the barking dogs of Iran and Iran needs this, because their support of Hamas will have secondary contemplations by any nation thinking that talking with Iran is a good idea. It has not now or yesterday worked and it will not work tomorrow either. 

As Iran is hiding their hands behind terrorist organisations like Hamas or Houthi forces, we need to be weary that stability in the Middle East requires both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, they have the growing economies, the larger setting for tourism and the options of uniting Arab nations. The problem is that Iran is a problem. They are crying like little girls as they are denied a larger seat at the Arab table. The only small friend that Iran can rely on is Qatar and they have growing issues with Hamas. How that plays out is beyond me but in this setting we have Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Iraq. They are all playing nice and as I see it, there is not to much love for Iran in this. Qatar is the one successful nation that has been playing a dangerous game, so what happens with them is up in the air. I reckon that the Houthi’s are set to the threat to Saudi Arabia. In this my feelings are that if one attack on a civilian target is done, the might of the Saudi forces will bluntly retaliate against Houthi forces. This has the one complication that Iran has to either commit or desert Houthi forces. This is the ploy as I see it. Iran cries loudly towards Europeans that they are so willing to discuss peace, but they are under the hammer. It will be something like that. So the Iranian ploy is unlikely to work. Europe has enough problems with Russia and Russia could be of little use to Iran. Russia has only one carrier left and they need it in their Ukrainian tactics. But this is about Iran. They are losing ‘useful’ friends a lot faster than they are happy with. It is in that setting that the Houthi threat is (as I personally see it) an Iranian tactic. 

They have to play nice with some people because they are about to learn the lesson Hector Malot taught us with ‘Sans Famille’ and Iran is rightfully worried. You see when the coins come down Iran will have to put up or shut up and they will lose a lot of face in the entire Middle East, sitting at a table where the stabilising points come from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. That is why (my personal point of view) Iran need Houthi, Hamas and any other player that Iran can place in the field with deniability. It is why I said that whatever Palestine comes through, it will require the eradication of Hamas. Because it will be them who will terrorise the building projects in Saudi Arabia. 

So how can I prove any of this? Well the history of Iran is one. Their actions towards Houthi forces is another and the Iranian actions are right after the threats from Houthi forces. I feel that one ploy is enabling other actions. 

But for the most in this, I am merely speculating. So enjoy this Sunday.

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January 27, 2024 · 22:48

That one sided conversation

We all have them, we tend to have them with ourselves. We see things, at time we extrapolate and we come to singular conclusions. I did too. You see, ever since we have been treated to Pretty Woman (1990) we al wanted to see Rodeo drive, we wanted to see the shops and during the first covid we all took that option and had a look. However, most of us felt slightly betrayed. The view was not what we expected and today I looked at three other YouTube videos. The bulk is concentrated on the block surrounded the via Rodeo. The shops seem empty, some shops show nothing outside (or very little) and Rodeo drive is diminished to a crowd of tourists and vloggers with here and there a person quickly walking to or from their jobs. The other side is that Dubai has the mall of the emirates, the Nakheel mall that are on par with Rodeo drive and the Dubai Mall outshines Rodeo drive by a lot. And you might wonder why Dubai is such a sought after destination? The Americans let things slip all over the place and the turning point is just about here. I reckon it is already here for Las Vegas and as we see what tranquility, cleanliness and amazing views we get from these malls, as well as malls in Riyadh and you wonder why. London might have Harrods and it is amazing, but London is showing additional issues making Harrods and the streets surrounding it unsafe for tourists and shoppers. The downfall will be harsh and it is getting worse. The malls in the UAE and KSA have options towards driving engagement, making these places even more appealing. Places like Rodeo Drive and London have waited too long and there is a clear indication that their revenues cannot be maintained and the solution was online (my blog) well over two years ago. It was creating engagement. Engagement is only working if you have a population that you can serve and that is missing outside the middle east. Where was the Rodeo drive diner, preferably filled with people? Where were the real shoppers? They might show revenue for now, but when did we see a real stage of physical versus online revenue? In the Dubai mall I see shops and well over 75% show shopping and buying people during the YouTube pass. People eating, people drinking, people walking (not vlogging) dozens of eateries and many of them filled with people. The vlogging and posing women on via rodeo aren’t showing too much shopping, are they? Now, lets be clear. I could be wrong, but I feel certain I am not. I warned about creating engagement, they did nothing. I warned about creating awareness and too little was done. Now we see things changing. Even the Eaton Centre Mall in Toronto shows more live and living shoppers than Rodeo drive does, so how’s that for leaving it in the middle east? I get the distinct feeling that should Riyadh and Dubai embrace engagement, the impact on London, Paris, Amsterdam, New York and Los Angeles will be felt to a much larger degree. The equation was not a mystery, it was simple and it has been simple for over a decade. The customers expect more and too many places aren’t showing any. Engagement was key in this and it was ignored. The moment some of the jewellers in Dubai show the engagement solutions I had thought up the change will be close to immediate a race in time will happen. Oh, I almost forgot about Monaco. They are good for now, but they too need to embrace an engaging nature. They recorded 218,400 tourists and they are not doing bad, but the idea is to address this before it turns bad and so far they (seemingly) haven’t done enough. The dozen of hot women and fast cars videos seem nice, but one video tells it nearly all. Monaco has a lot more to offer and videos clearly show this, but when the  numbers dwindle the act of engagement is shoddy and optionally too late. These solutions tend to work when there is too much to see, too much to do and too many places left that alone for too long. Optionally they relied on the wrong numbers and the wrong stories, but this is pure speculation from my side.

Consider that the Dubai Mall has all the best brands of the world, all the sought after brands and articles for purchase and they are a zero tax nation. You still think that my feel is wrong? Some people travel to Dubai just to get the new iPhone at 0% taxation. If you are willing to do that, the rest seems easy to place and engaging your customers becomes a dream ride to keep revenues up. Oh, and here (unlike in London) you can buy a watch and walk safely home. So this might be one sided, but I am leaving you with enough pointers that you can verify for yourself.

In a one sided conversation, the best you can hope for is for someone else to listen (or read), I leave it up to you to decide.

75 minutes to Sunday for me. Have fun.

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January 25, 2024 · 18:42

Those happy dreams

We all have them and I just had mine (not the one with Laura Vandervoort). The dream started with me attending some gameshow with Amazon bigwigs. I personally handed Phil Spencer a gold inlaid wooden spoon with the message that I try to keep my word. That morning Amazon with the Luna surpassed 75 million consoles (plus subscriptions) sold, Microsoft is now deal last in the gaming industry (nice achievement for the strongest console in the world), apparently big hardware isn’t everything. But the dream moved on, I was talking to His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of tourism for Saudi Arabia. 

I was explaining to him (and to myself) a new approach to customer service solutions and I called it the Complete Customer Service Solution System (C2S3 for short). The image is more for myself so I can recall it later. A complete system based on foundations of Nice CX One but with a massive difference, the organisations were no longer central here, they are still the centre or axial in it all, but the central setting becomes the tourist. A system no one ever considered (or off hand rejected), but in 2025-2030 the tourist, the customer needs to be the central hub in everything. Places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE need an evolved customer solution system because that is how they remain top player. The larger players (like Hilton and Marriott) will get on board fast, because they will see the benefit there, then the them parks and soon thereafter they all want to join such a system and in the cloud you can find a person fast. You see, the biggest drain on any vacation is time loss, people take it for granted, but what happens when one or two players throw that overboard and redo the whole thing? What happens when the total vacation has 0.1% logistics at best? You go through the mill in the Airport, at the hotel, at attractions, at resorts. So what if the airport is the start, but it is replicated to other places as soon as you go through gate one? What happens when you are in a new place and you do not get lost, because the tag you have tells you where you are and where you are supposed to go? Now consider that around the world, it is estimated that over one million young people are reported missing every year. Don’t be afraid, will over 95% is found within a day. Now consider this new system where a child is found within the hour, optionally quicker. The loss of stress in almost unimaginable. And it is not merely loss that is removed. It is that places will hand out badges with RFID, the RFID records your achievements and records what you have done, so the tourist will have a record on him that he can look at. 2 days of skiing, 12 slopes, they keep a progression record and a record of places. In Japan they have a booklet where you can stamp where you have been and every place has its own stamp. Now consider that digital record, connect that to a digital library and the tourist can make a small photo album with their own images and insert their digital records of places they have visited. They can make it anywhere in the world and it can remain private. A system where the foundation is Arrival and Departure, it does not matter where you go from there. You could visit as a family the Almasaa Cafe in Riyadh, wouldn’t it be nice to insert a digital sticker in your album when you were there with personal pictures? The list goes on and a system like that isn’t build overnight, but it has the merit that for once the tourist is the centrepiece of it all (some claim that, but it is their sales system). A setting where the customer solution is build and designed around the customer. In 43 years I have never seen such a system, have you? 

Now that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are about to be the pole position players in tourism, such a system would solve several items. They would also imply that they are about to stay at the top position until others catch on, and after the SEC blunder I saw yesterday some players will be behind these two players for years to come. 

Just a thought, enjoy Friday in 24 hours.

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December 19, 2023 · 23:03

Who wrote what for whom?

That was the very first question in my mind when I read the article in the Foreign Policy called ‘How Saudi Arabia Could Use Its Leverage in Gaza’ (at https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/18/saudi-arabia-israel-gaza-mbs-leverage/) there are a few settings I had an issue with, so let’s go.

The first part is seen with “While some observers may be surprised by Hamas’s heinous Oct. 7 attacks and the eruption of a major war, others had long dreaded such an outbreak of violence. Due to the desperate desire of both Israel and the United States to see a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia, the unresolved and simmering Palestinian issue was largely ignored.” Is that so? Several governments as well as the United Nations have been eager to ignore the events of October 7th. The United Nations took that vicious cowardly attack from all considerations, others merely painted over that event like it was an undesired breakfast. It was what set rage in the hearts of Israel. The word Hamas is mentioned in this brief twice, one you saw above. So that is the second setting in all this. We can understand and to some degree agree with “Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan is leading a diplomatic committee mandated by the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to tour various international capitals and argue for an immediate cease-fire.” As an observer I understand that Saudi actions is driven by the need to protect Muslim lives, nothing wrong with that. Yet the biggest problem in all this remains Hamas, and as one source told me “until someone stops Hamas effing around, there is no stopping the IDF” a very valid argument from the other side and as I see it the largest issue is right there. Hamas must be stopped. They opened the door with 1,413+ kills, 8,745+ wounded and 248+ captured or abducted. The IDF hit back and in Gaza we are told the damage is 19,453+ killed, 52,286+ wounded and 7,000+ missing. The problem here is that Hamas is hiding in-between the civilians giving us a one sided reported issue. We see too little reporting on events like “the video, which has been replayed by dozens of news outlets, seems to confirm what Israel has long claimed that Hamas uses innocent Palestinians as barricades by installing their headquarters and arsenals beneath schools, hospitals and other public institutions in a vast complex of subterranean tunnels.” The Washington Post did not keep silent and for reference, the dozen news outlets should alert you. For reference, in America alone there are 204 counties in the United States with no news outlets. There are 1,562 counties with only one and a global total of ‘dozens’ mentions of that event? This should and needs to be a wake up call, especially when we collect the number of European news outlets as well, ‘dozens’ is an outrage and that is also part of the equation.

So now we get to “The Saudis are also using an overlooked diplomatic tool: silence. Their outright refusal of any political discussion before a cease-fire is also generating pressure by disallowing Israel a clear political horizon after the campaign. As the Saudi foreign minister said last month: “What future is there to talk about when Gaza is being destroyed.”” Here we can agree or disagree, but silence is a valid tool and Saudi Arabia is doing what it feels to be best for Muslim lives, no one can deny that, what does matters is that the west is equally in silence by gives no explanation on why it does so and ignoring the October 7th events does not happen. For reference Al Jazeera covered the October 7 events, many news outlets trivialised those events.

So when we are given “It does not want to allow itself to be politicised for Israeli political ends. In other words, the Saudi ruling elites want to avoid being “spun.”” I can accept and get behind that, because in any war there are at least two sides and they both want to spin to accentuate THEIR view. I can get behind that train of thought of not getting spun. 

Then we get to an actual truth that matters “Israel will never match the financial capacity of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Its economy is struggling, and according to a recent report by the Bank of Israel, it is losing $600 million a week during this campaign. The Israeli central bank has also suggested that the war costs from 2023 to 2025 will amount to some $53 billion.” What is equally missing is that America as well as the EU neither have these funds. One source (allegedly Vanity Fair ;0) has stated that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has spend well over $53B during dinner in the past, as such the KSA has the funds. 

As we add the one reality that should have been number one from the get go “Nowadays, nothing in Saudi Arabia is spent unless it is deemed to be serving the kingdom’s interest; “Saudi Arabia first” is the principle that Saudi’s foreign policy is based on.” I personally believe that this is the only stance that should matter to the KSA and that is the setting. Then we get to the real meat. The statement “The truth is that Saudi Arabia has always had a leading role in this conflict, but it preferred a leading-from-behind approach. This approach allowed it to use its diplomatic and symbolic weight without being on the political front line and potentially risking its strategic interests. The Saudi ruling elites came to the conclusion that they had mustered a great deal of political effort for a fruitless process and thus have never injected themselves into the intricacies of the Palestinian-Israeli final status negotiations.” Is a real deal. You see Americans want to talk about everything and produce nothing, members of the KSA merely want to achieve what is best for the KSA and according to Islam is best to Muslims, that is what is here and that is why the case of Hamas is a tough one. You see Hamas is all Muslim, it merely works towards selfish reasons and the events we see in Gaza shows that. The one truth no one is entertaining is how much better Palestinians are better off without Hamas. One example is Tawhid al-Jihad, so where was Hamas when these new players were unfolding all over the West Bank around 10 years ago?

As I personally see it there are several players and most of them serve self interests. In this KSA is perhaps the only one who does not. And as I see it all parties ned to realise that Hamas is the one selfish voice in there. The events regarding al-Shifa should be taken as clear evidence in this. With only a few exceptions nearly all civilised nations have agreed that Hospitals and schools are not to be considered military outlets, especially with all the civilians in place.  A reality too many news outlets are ignoring.

The article in Foreign Policy ends with “Before Riyadh steps up and shows greater assertiveness on this issue, the Saudi ruling elites need to see a clear political horizon and an improved structure to the peace process. At that point, they might use their considerable financial leverage to shape the outcome.” You see, my issue here is that this sounds like American policies on the Middle East, so who was the source? An American political player, a stakeholder, or something else? In my (oversimplified) view, the stance most governments needs to take is that the one self-serving player here is Hamas, they are the actual danger and the actual threat. This all started as Saudi relations with Israel were normalising and I personally believe that the message on wrecking that came from Qatar, It is either Ismail Haniyeh directly or someone in his office that pushed those buttons. But that is merely my view and what do I know? 

What matters is that one could argue that Hamas is openly acting against the needs for Saudi stabilising matters in the middle east, Israel was a first step and there is seemingly not much left of that now is there?

Enjoy today, I am now 65 minutes from Midweek.

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December 4, 2023 · 23:05

Dominoes

That is the game, well it is not THAT game exactly, but the expression should be noted with you all. When things go wrong (and at times that will happen) the events fall like domino stones. One starts the next and so on.

It is here that I found myself after seeing ‘Saudi Arabia Pumps Another $100M Into Aviation As It Targets 250 Destinations By 2030’ (at https://simpleflying.com/saudi-arabia-aviation-investment-december-2023/). You see, this is all connected to a much bigger frame. Gaming, the Line, the Cube, the winter sports and so on. They have put up and they have put up the better part of well over a trillion. But the customer care person in me (did that for well over two decades) is looking beyond the frame.

If there is one software company well versed in support and customer care than it is NICE CX software solutions. It is the most complete solution I have EVER seen and there is one hitch. It is Israeli. Now, that doesn’t make it a deal breaker, but it might require Saudi Arabia to make adjustments (like with any other software solution). It needs to become Arabic (it might already be) and it needs to cover several areas and there is a bigger hitch. It needs to survive and offer multiple settings towards deployment and customer service. 

So why now?
The simple setting is that something that big will need time and testing. Adherence to a larger station a well as a larger setting in more fields. Hotels, locations, trade shows, events, airports and so on, that list will not stop for some time and setting this up will take well over a year. Beyond that the creation of a book of ceremonies to capture even more, include even more will have certain settings. Settings for telephone, fax (some still rely on that), internet, CAPI, CATI, form scanning and collecting and verifying data is a much larger issue than most realise and now it is in one hand, in one organisation. I reckon before we get to that setting places like Aramco and SAMI will see additional benefits as well. And if goes well, a lot of it will be complete by 2028, with 2 years of testing before the larger corporations like Saudi Airlines and hotels are connected to that solution. 

Time is an awesome partner when you have this. When this is started in 2029 it will be too late and Saudi Arabia will be cleaning house and answering complaints for well over a year AFTER the solutions are deployed and in that case I always go with, being early is essential, especially with customer care issues. You can only make a first impression once. The rest becomes repair and catering to a howling mess of complaints and that never has ever gone well.

I am curious what could be done and when we get to connect these systems and see how we can serve the customer consider that any international visitor to the The Mukaab, that person flew there, that person is in a hotel and that person could be visiting Trojena as well. Three options to possibly fix something, or to make the visit of that person even more amazing and now multiply that by 100,000,000,000 visitors. Also consider that Riyadh Expo 2030 will be then. When you consider all this, is there any doubt that such a system will be required to keep events in line? There is a second issue. I doubt if Saudi Arabia ever faced events to this amount and to that amount of visitors ever before, but that could merely be me.

Enjoy the day, for most it is about to become Monday, I have completed that day already.

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November 11, 2023 · 13:27

Wandering thoughts

We all have them, and I am no different. As I was contemplating more sides to yesterday’s story. As I was thinking through new levels of intelligence (machine learning) on grouping impact of NPC characters I saw the article in the Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/travel/saudi-e-visa-demand-for-umrah-from-uae-soars-trips-start-from-dh600) where we see ‘Umrah demand in UAE soars; trips start at Dh600’ As such I wondered about a few things. You see, Saudi Arabia is busy increasing its tourism footprint. Then I learned that there is no train connection between Dubai and Riyadh. Consider these 1050 Km and tell me which tourist, religious or not wouldn’t consider doing that trip by train. From there we see two new options. The train from Riyadh to Mecca which does exist, as does the train ride from Riyadh to Medina. But the train trip from Medina to the Line does not yet exist. So now we have more than merely a religious trip. The Line – Medina – Riyadh and Dubai. A new way for tourists, Muslim and non-Muslims to see the nation of Saudi Arabia. People who can see that land without checking in and out of airports, see the lands of Saudi Arabia, its deserts and much more. A new tourist attraction if you will and a new way, one not blemished by western exploitation to see and learn about Islam. 

And even as these are mere thoughts, when we see “These budget-friendly packages start at just Dh600 per person and are not only economical but also convenient, as they are designed for travel by bus. DoJoin App is offering this 10-day package with travel by bus and is for residents who already possess the 1-year Umrah e-visa.” The small upgrade from $163 (Dh600) to Dh750-Dh999 might have the right appeal for a lot of people to take the train, optionally seeing Medina and the Line, two stops they might never have considered before, all whilst growing tourism in several directions. I reckon that I am not stating anything new, I feel certain that both the United Arab Emirates as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are working on this and with Saudi Arabia working on Hyperloop technology, we might see a lot more options in the coming years. I reckon that once Emaar and Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO) crunch the numbers, the line that comes after Riyadh – Jeddah will possibly include Medina and the Line giving Saudi Arabia, a new achievement and a worlds first. That will be the 3rd or 4th time they surpassed any expectation and that is another setting where we see that America as well as the European Union has politicised themselves out of the game. In 2019 we were given the quote “MEMBERS of the European Parliament spend £60 million of taxpayers’ cash on gravy train, plane and taxi services getting to and from work” and another source gave us ““This is not value for money and, as the second largest contributor to the EU gravy train we should get a grip on reality, pull the plug and pull out of the European Union” it is not the reason that I see is reason to disband the EU, but what is happening is that non-EU members are creating a real train ride that is very much value for money, whether it is the current train technology or the coming Hyperloop, others are showing that there is plenty value for money and that is weirdly enough one of the first things a tourist is looking for. Well over 90% of the population gets to spend their vacation money only once a year, so they try to make it count and there is plenty to see in Saudi Arabia (in the UAE too), even as too many media has been trivialising that for way too long.

Just my thought in the weekend, still 35 hours to go in this weekend, whatever will I think of next.

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October 30, 2023 · 22:29

Out of two issues

I am confronted with 2 issues. The first one passed my eyes a few days ago. It came from Arab News (at https://arab.news/946db) where we are given ‘Saudi authorities seize 3.8 million amphetamine tablets in Riyadh’. This is the second event in a year and my doubts are increasing. Not on the Saudi government. What drug dealer ships in one go enough tablets to make over 10% of a population an addict? Weirdly apart from having no knowledge in this, the little knowledge I have comes from a video game named Elite. There we could ‘smuggle’ decently safe 2% of the cargo as narcotics. As such you could ‘decently’ safe smuggle up to 500Kg in a 20 ton carbo haul. There is another matter. This is either done by a really stupid Saudi (with a lot more money than common sense) or this is something else. I personally belief that this is something else. We see the ‘market’ value, but the people with other interests will merely have the manufacturing costs as an expense. 

You see, if this was a real exercise, it would have made sense to merely smuggle 0.1% of that haul per shipping and it would most likely go right, as such I personally feel that these people were always going to get caught, especially in a nation like Saudi Arabia, a nation with zero tolerance towards narcotics. 

Then the quote “Eleven defendants involved in these activities were arrested. They include seven residents of Syrian nationality, one resident of Nepalese nationality, and three citizens in Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail and Al-Jawf.” My personal belief is that a government hostile to Saudi Arabia is trying to make Saudi Arabia look bad. This might account for the 7 Syrians and one Nepalese. At that point I wonder how the remaining three were EXACTLY involved. Consider that this is a highly volatile situation. Would YOU trust foreigners to make you run such a risk on you? This is not about foreigners, but lets face it, Saudi’s are for all the right reasons not the most trusting in the world and I expect that the Nepalese person might not be Islamic. Too many red flags are going up and I cannot shake them. 

I wonder what deep investigations with something like Palantir Gotham (if it is still called that) would uncover. My thoughts go towards the manufacturer, 3.8 million tablets is (according to some) set to a manufacturing cost of $3 per tablet. So someone handed over $12 million with a 99% certainty to get caught. It does not make sense, $12,000,000 leaves a trail. There is close to no way that it remains invisible, as such Palantir Gotham is one solution to get somewhere. The reason for thinking in this direction is that this is the second catch within a year. Someone has too much money and someone else acquired a lot of money, way more than some hauls. The largest bust in America was a year ago and involved a little over 650,000 pills. That in a nation with over 300,000,000 people makes ‘sense’, still it was a lot, so to see over 600% in a nation with only 10% of that population makes absolutely no sense at all to me. So, I am in a setting where I believe that someone is out there making Saudi Arabia look bad. I have no idea who, or why. My blinkers make me think the only direct (former) enemy is Iran, but that has no foundation in evidence of any kind, merely a gut feeling. But someone was willing to spend well over 10 million twice over to get that done, it is more than I will ever make in a lifetime (unless Amazon, Kingdom Holdings or Tencent Technologies buys my IP). And all this is based on the purity being average, if these pills were more pure, the price tag changes a lot. 

Enjoy the day before Halloween.

 

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September 27, 2023 · 23:54

As the belt tightens

We have seen the expression, but did we consider the impact against the long game? Today two articles passed me by. The first one comes from Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2380901/saudi-arabia) where we see ‘Saudi Arabia granted China’s Approved Destination Status’ with the added “Saudi Arabia was officially granted Approved Destination Status by China on Tuesday, allowing Chinese citizens to travel to the Kingdom on group tours, the Saudi Press Agency reported.” You might think ‘So what?’ and that is fine. Yet consider that Chinese tourists “made 155 million outbound trips, and spent a cumulative $245 billion on outbound tourism”, now this is on their global trips. Yet 5 years ago Saudi Arabia was not even a blip on the tourism radar. So, now we see the setting where it might start at a mere 10%, but this could grow a lot further. Consider that tourism suffers a $24,500,000,000 reduced income. That puts several players in hot water. Some are still recuperating from the Covid issue. Some will drown. Then we get the impact of lessened tourism all over Europe. I reckon that London will have no trouble, as does Paris. Yet several locations will feel that impact, as will some places in the US and in light of the BRICS setting, certain group travel organisations in China will undoubtedly promote Saudi Arabia as the destination to go to in 2024 and 2025. I reckon (pure speculation) that the rest of the world will lose at least 20% in the first two years and if you read up on some of the media, that is not good news. The second article comes from design boom (at https://www.designboom.com/architecture/marriott-first-w-hotel-saudi-arabia-neom-trojena-09-26-2023/). There we see ‘Marriott’s first W hotel in Saudi Arabia to debut within NEOM trojena’s futuristic ski resort’ that implies that larger players see this as the new tourist place and they want in. So consider that this happens 5 years in advance. The setting gives us the idea that this will not be a small hotel, or a simple cheap one. Saudi Arabia is setting its goals on being the hub for a lot of places and reasons and now tourism is added to their arsenal. You still think I was wrong all those years? As things go, when this gets off the ground, we see a new setting where Saudi Arabia is a possible contender for the Winter Olympics in 2040, I do not think they will have won over enough hearts for 2036, but 2040 is a decent time when the winter olympics could come to Saudi Arabia. The one place where the Winter Olympics would never have gotten to is now the place where it might end. As such how much more revenue is lost by all others? The long play is seemingly panning out perfectly for Saudi Arabia. 

Could I be wrong?
Of course I could, but consider the players vying to get in there, consider the timeline that Saudi Arabia so far has maintained and consider the losses that the US and the EU have had in the last two years alone and the losses they stand to get slapped with over the next three years. When you add it all up it implies that the EU and US will have to tighten the belt by a lot merely to get by and that is before you realise that the US will have budget problems nearly every year for the next 5 years, from that point it will continue on a non-stop trip from bad to worse year after year. We have been given the following quote for some time now “The kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals include enhancing the Saudi private sector to create a vibrant society, establishing a thriving economy via diversification, and investing in ways to position Saudi Arabia for global trade and competition.” And that is exactly what is happening in many fields including tourism. Before you listen to the other people making claims that it is a small hiccup at best. Consider your OWN position. How many holidays have you had? How many trips could you afford? For a lot of us once a year is as good as it gets and that is the same for China, as such a large group will sign up for a Saudi Trip, of that I have no doubt and in that stage as billions go towards Saudi Arabia, they will not go to either Europe or America. I reckon that the moment Saudi Arabia starts its own version of Las Vegas the tourism pain will set in in America and the revenue streams go down even furthers. And that is before you consider that there is every chance that  China will offer a group setting for the Saudi options and add 1-2 days in Dubai as well. I reckon that over the next 3 years that belt will tighten more and more and it will end plenty of businesses all over the US and Europe. I reckon that Australia will feel that pinch too. We are given “Chinese tourists spent $12.4 billion while in Australia. 677,000 visitors came to Australia for holiday purposes.” It might be a mere 10%, but that already means that Australia will miss out on well over a billion in revenue. So how many in places like Sydney will feel the pinch then? Sydney might be decently safe, but a speculated loss of 10% (if it is that small) will impact Australian lives all over the place.

Enjoy the day and consider where you were going next year for the holidays. 

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