This happened to me this morning. You see, I was making my morning walk and I passed a man at a parking meter. It turned out to be that it ‘didn’t work’ because the parking meter would become active at 09:00 (it was 08:43) when paid parking is required. Why?
Not the paid parking, but the inconvenience given to the people. It took me less than 2 minutes to create a solution in my mind and parking meters are not really that sophisticated. If a parking tine is allocated, like from 09:00-19:00, at 19:05, the option of a prepay button appears and then just press the button prepay and select the time (example 2 hours). That mean that at 19:05 you have a ticket with the parking time from the next day 09:00 until 11:00. It took seconds to select that solution and without effort. So who instigated that system? Why was that not an option from day one? I walked a little more that morning and saw that none of these parking meters had that option. I would have had an excuse as I have no car, but the rest? They never used a parking meter? It takes little effort to think out off the box and select a solution that helps consumers. It took so little and as such I have to consider are these programmers just there to make money without the blame of going the extra mile? How silly of them and how silly for the communities that didn’t think the way some thing (in this case Burwood, Sydney, NSW) could be created.
The setting of thinking the space a little further takes so little. Perhaps a brainstorming session over coffee with the project manager, but likely he has too many projects. Does that excuse him (or her)? I don’t think so.
So what do you think? Doe parking meters in Toronto, Abu Dhabi, San Francisco, London, Paris or Munich have this option? If not why not? In a stage where so much is automated, is automated a mere excuse to not go the distance? That is the wrong kind of cost cutting. When we use ‘automation’ to do less and not better work, it isn’t automation, it is merely sloppy and lazy IT thinking.
We all have that at times. We do not know the impact one wants to make and it also happens to me. At times I miss the point that a writer wanted to make. That is not his/her fault but it comes down to the reader what they take away from the event. One particular case (for me) is the writer Harry Mulisch. I tried to get through his book ‘the discovery of heaven’ at least twice but to no avail. Yet when the movie came out in 2001, I decided to see it immediately and it was amazing. So Jeroen Krabbe gave me what I needed to get and even as it was a bit strange to see Stephen Fry in a Dutch movie, he pulled it off nicely.
So don’t dismay if someone does not get you, it comes with the territory. This intro is essential for what comes next. You see the Sydney Morning Herald (at https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/this-city-is-about-to-give-dubai-a-real-run-for-its-dirhams-20250110-p5l3fo.html) gives us ‘This city is about to give Dubai a real run for its dirhams’ at that moment I was pretty sure it is Abu Dhabi. But lets look on. The end of the article gives us “Little surprise, then, that Abu Dhabi made it onto the latest The New York Times’ prestigious “52 Places to Go” list. One can only wonder what Dubai will do in response.” Also the beginning gives us “Now in 2025, an always somewhat more restrained and refined Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is set to finally give its glitzier, more visited, neighbour, Dubai, a real run for its dirhams.” And in the middle?
We get a collection of fast rattled near facts. We see “Saadiyat Cultural District finally near completion with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi the next high-profile component of the almost 2.5-square-kilometre precinct following the Louvre’s 2017 opening” yet for a travel editor Anthony Dennis leaves a lot in the middle and does hit off with three images. So what is this about?
I haven’t seen Abu Dhabi in any other way than YouTube videos and several of them are awesome. As such I would have written:
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (not Dubai as some will think). Abu Dhabi has all kinds of great things to see and explore. For Families there is Yas Island. It has a huge mall and Ferrari World and within a short distance of that is Water World, Sea World, Warner Brothers World with the Warner Brothers hotel. It is not the only option as they are about to launch the Wizarding World expansion with expected Harry Potter and Co. as well as the world of Newt Scamander. Staying in the upper selection hotels has the benefit of free passes to any of the theme parks (one per day) but not to fret, Abu Dhabi has free busses going in circles to the mall and parks from anywhere on Yas Island. And Yas Island connects to anywhere in Abu Dhabi, including the airport. It is not the only place. There are renowned malls all over the place and to boot there its a lot more to do. Coming to a plot near there is the new Zayed National Museum. And in addition to that is a Natural History Museum also planned. Its centerpiece attraction is the world-famous skeleton of “Stan” the Tyrannosaurus rex, purchased by the museum in 2022 for almost $32 million. As you show your defining art side with the works of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the background. And there is more. There is even a mall that comes equipped with Prison Island Abu Dhabi, you might say that there is something for everyone.
So stay tuned, this year has a good case to make Abu Dhabi your tourist destination. It will be the great moment that couples, families and of course you on a solo cruise to see the fun you can have and spread the word on social media or your YouTube channel. And you can take another gander by taking the bus and see Dubai for yourself in about 4 hours, or even better add a few days to the trip and make Dubai the next destination (or the other way around). You get to see two world places in one trip and all within a mere 4 hours apart.
What is more satisfying to show yourself off in your new swim ware and show your world what an awesome time you had before you are back so that the queue at your desk is assured?
This is what I would have written, but then, I am no travel editor. So I cannot help but think what was that article actually about? That is the question I am facing. You see, it might be me (it usually is) and I don’t get it, why raise the fight between the two? We see “One can only wonder what Dubai will do in response.” I reckon that Dubai will remain Dubai and one could wonder how many more theme parks it needs, don’t get me wrong, as a tourist I would think that more is better, but what about the Emiratis? What about Sharjah? Just two thoughts that occupied my brains.
It might be a mere personal thought, yet have the deciders of the UAE considered a hyper loop between Dubai and Abu Dhabi? That might be a real people pleaser and a media coverage maker. The idea that you can travel between the two in less than 15 minutes might also call for more business, but that is me with a slightly limited view on the matter.
Try to have fun. I in the meantime need to find a hacker and take from him in the most gruesome way possible.
Yes, many have a tomorrow stage, yet in all fairness as I can see it, the UAE is jumping forward by leaps and bounds. Only today did I see the announcement that was given in April that Harry Potter is coming to Abu Dhabi. The capital of the United Arab Emirates as about to make a dent in tourism. It already was, but now there is even more to enjoy. It already had Waterworld, SeaWorld, Ferrari World, the Yas Mall but now it is enhancing and enlarging Warner Brothers world with the setting of Harry Potter. I don’t know when it will open, but I reckon that it should be ready before the summer will be making its announcement in 2025. For America it might become a nasty shock. Orlando has put a decent effort in making the enhancements to Universal a massive project. The Epic Universe will be five parks in one right next to the original Universal park. And there is enough for all, but it is the first time that the Harry Potter fans in the Arabian peninsula get handed this world to their front door. There is more, because Universal might be seen as more of the same (it is not). But Abu Dhabi is presenting itself as the family outing of choice. This is not merely done through advertisements. The many families and couples visiting these parks are all outspoken positive on their adventure. Not through influencers, simple people. A family from the UK with mom, dad and son show the world what an amazing time they had. An Australian couple (not the Hemsworth family) do exactly the same and YouTube is filled with people who visited these parks and are outspoken positive over the experience.
Now that Harry Potter is coming Abu Dhabi can be certain that thousands more visitors will be coming their way. In the us (2023) 1247 people were asked how they felt about Harry Potter. Only 3% was not a fan and 47% were avid fans. That implies that Abu Dhabi will be the place to be and with Yas Island where the parks are as well as some hotels are, the people would want to splurge in their 2025 vacation. With several parks in the vicinity (Waterworld and WB are neighbours) with the WB hotel between the two. And on the other side of the hotel is the Yas Mall with Ferrari world. OK, the hotel is 10 minutes from the Yas mall, but there are busses, and in all these places there are affordable food places. There is something for everyone. The United Arab Emirates seems to end the year on a high note and I reckon that there is plenty of fun to be had.
I reckon that with Dubai being a mere 90 minutes by bus away, there is every reason to have a vacation in both spots. Week one in one place and week 2 in the other place. People could end up having the vacation of a lifetime.
The one surprising thing for me was the UK couple where they also talk about the prices of the food places they visited. With the comparison of UK prices, the UK seems somewhat expensive in comparison.
I reckon that as soon as the HP experience comes closer the YouTube presentations will show that Orlando might have priced themselves out of this race. I don’t think that everyone will take the different destination, Epic Universe looks too good for that, but some will rethink where to go to in 2025 and some should at least consider that path. There is no reason to compare the two, but consider that Yas Island has a Wet’n’Wild (Australia) alternative next to Warner Brothers world and with SeaWorld the alternative to the one in San Antonio you see three parks close to one another. Not too many places can offer this, but one of them is Abu Dhabi. And there is much more on this island.
Off-course there is an alternative reason, as the UAE is a zero tax country, the combination for a new Apple or some other thingamajig on the really cheap side makes this an easy choice and with a mere 90 minutes between Dubai and Abu Dhabi the choice for most of you becomes really simple.
Have a great Thursday, for me it started 45 minutes ago.
I got a little surprise when I saw the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly23yknjy9o). The title ‘A fatal car crash in India sparks concerns over Google Maps’ Immediately two questions went through my brains. In the first there was How is Google involved? I like Google maps and I use it, but I do not rely on it. Too many dangers ahead of any trip and too many issues on how the data is made available. The second question came from the fact “three men died when their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell on to a riverbed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.” The issue I see is”
Were there no danger signs?
Was the driver asleep (or driving way too fast)
What assumptions were there to allow the thought “they believe that Google Maps led the group to take that route”.
As such we get to the first setting. An incomplete bridge sets the premise that there would be warnings all over the bridge and the road preceding the bridge. A little presumption from me, yet that setting has been a fact in many many countries. Signs like ‘incomplete bridge’, ‘hazard ahead’ and a few other signs like blinking lights.
Then we get to the driving. Was the driver paying attention. Were speed limits invoked. You can put all the signs you want, but if you go on an uncompleted bridge at 315KM/H there is the chance you might not find the breaks in time. The added setting of the driver paying attention to the road might also be a clear sign. Now to the Google Maps error. We presume it is an error, because if the road was assigned we would expect it to be completed. As such we get to the why it was in Google maps. This does not make Google responsible, but it would make sense that there people might have taken a wrongful turn. You can have any kind and level of tools aiding you, yet the setting becomes the driver and what he did. There is the thought the driver got Kristy Swanson’ed like Charlie Sheen did in the Chase (1994).
I would be a little distracted. Then there is the distracted driver everyone talks to while he is driving. All options that makes it not a Google issue. And there is the fact that Google was mentioned. Now, I cannot say which bridge it was (lack of clarity) but in Google maps I see
I cannot say whether it is this bridge, but the BBC didn’t bother with these details either, as such I can clearly see that THIS bridge is under construction. So did anyone get these details. And when we see the image the Hindustan Times gives us, I get back to the original presumption. Where were the danger signs? When you see the image of the bridge it would be the first I would think of, Google wouldn’t be in my mindset.
So as I see it Google has no blame here. It ties to give as best the information it is given and that is all it can do, the rest is with the Clowns thinking that they can blame Google at the drop of a hat, any hat.
So even as the Google people are cooperating, the first call should be the department responsible for the roadsigns, especially the fat whether the ‘Danger Warning’ was ever placed in the first place. And as we are given “Authorities have named four engineers from the state’s road department and an unnamed official from Google Maps in a police complaint on charges of culpable homicide.” I merely wonder if there was a mess up in India and the actual premise should have been “Authorities have named four engineers from the state’s road department in a police complaint on charges of culpable homicide.” Is this about the guilt, the responsibility or the setting that Google is asked to fork over 5.5 Rupee for the event.
I have my thought on the mess and none of them involve Google. Oh and another thing. How can we be certain that the driver wasn’t using Bing Maps? Not blaming Microsoft here, because as I see it they would be equally not guilty in this setting. But what data did the police have that Google was involved in the first place?
Have a great day and watch out for crossing sharks today.
This happens. We are not always aware, but it pays off to check. It is an easy mistake to make in Europe and America, but there are rules and thinking that you are from a ‘free’ society does not mean you can ignore the rules another place has. As such we get to The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/20/london-18-year-old-arrested-in-dubai-for-sex-with-17-year-old). You see, there are strict rules in some places. Most of them involve drugs, criminal activities or sex. We are given “We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict. My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.” And there we see the first red flag. With “she was secretive with her family because they were strict” we get the problem. And with “Fakana was charged because the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures back in the UK.
It is understood the woman subsequently contacted police in Dubai and Fakana was arrested.” And with the premise of “Sex outside marriage is legal for tourists, but only if both parties are over 18.” We see an entire life getting squandered. I have no clear picture how the mother was about it all, but as she called the police in Dubai I can guess that she was not OK with it. And the bleeding heart stage of “Fakana’s family has called on the foreign secretary, David Lammy – their local MP – to intervene.” We get nothing. You see he broke the law and that is the real drive. The UAE sees crime and deals harshly with it. We can ‘break down’ the setting as much as we want and the Guardian does this in the byline with “Marcus Fakana could face two decades in jail for having sex with girl, also from London, while on holiday in UAE”, no the setting is much simpler. He had sex with an underage girl and the parents (at least the mother) of the girl are not OK with it. Don’t get me wrong, I was a teenager once (I think that was at the time of the Crusades) and I get the setting, but the law is the law. And he should be lucky. If he had smoked a joint afterwards he might hang in the real sense of the word. And he is lucky because the punishment in the UAE for rape of a minor is the firing squad. And if she maintains that she was not ready for that he gets to feel what many have felt before. That is the part we do not see here.
There is an abundance of party timers and as long as they party in Europe they tend to be fine. When the age difference is low (like in this case) many places have the Romeo and Juliet law. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia (mostly Muslim countries) do not. So the ‘excuse’ “has since turned 18” will not work. She was a minor in the eyes of the law. As such the sentence “Detained in Dubai, which campaigns to help people it says have suffered injustice in the UAE” does not work. He broke the law and she was still a minor. All that beside the point that the UAE has strict laws regarding sex outside marriage. And that should have been the first issue for the parents of Marcus Fakana. It pays to know the minimum of local laws. And do not blame Islamic law. In North Carolina and Virginia Oral Sex is a Felony, and that is regardless of the marital status. So, rejoice his life could have been blown after he was blown.
And the media is partly responsible for this mess (to a degree). The Independent gives us ‘Briton, 18, facing 20-year jail sentence in Dubai over holiday romance with 17-year-old girl’, no, he had sex with a minor. And the word minor is not given once in the article in the Independent. The Standard makes the same mistake. We are led to believe that it is so unfair. But the simplicity is that countries have laws and other countries have different laws and this is one law the parents should have made clear to their son. And as for the excuse ““The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time,” said Radha Stirling, the chief executive of Detained in Dubai” I get that she has a job to do and with that the second excuse should not hold water either, it is “This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.” Yes Dubai should. You see, she was a minor. Ignorance is not a valid defence. I personally believe that he should not serve 20 years, but there need to be consequences. The media handling of the issues is making that clear. Perhaps a month (at the most) and after that he becomes persona non grata. I reckon that he gets that in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other nations will deny him access to.
I am for the most a black letter law person. I do believe in the spirit of the law and for me (and many others) this is not a serious case, but for the parents of the girl it is. In islamic law the ‘spoiled’ woman is not a good one (sorry for that term). And it could have been prevented if Marcus would have been told of the laws of the land he visits.
So I am willing to blame the parents more than Marcus, but in the end he must face the music.
The Arab News gave me an article that made me shiver. No, this is not some BBC article or a similar article by the Guardian. The article (at https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2579777/world) gives us ‘Emergency declared in New Delhi as smog hits highest level this year’. This is not some article about luxury jets. We are given “Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.” It comes with an added “Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended levels.” That is not nothing. 138.4 times higher. Or as they might say 13840% of the recommended levels. We see Reuters, AP News, not the BBC and not the Guardian. I reckon that it doesn’t involve jets from the ultra rich. We are given that “Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at forecast company Skymet Weather, said people in the capital region are faced with serious health risks.” This is a frightening revelation. I keep on wondering how it could have gotten this bad. I have experienced smog in Europe, but I reckon that the Indians see that as a cool summer breeze compared to what they face. I wonder if there is a to the point card with up to date information (per day) how the rest of the world would react. I also wonder who will get the blame for this. I do believe that there would be enough blame to go around in the Indian political structure. Yet there is in me a realisation that New Delhi needs to do something about the population. As of 2024, the population of New Delhi, the capital of India, is over 33 million people. This is a 2.63% increase from the previous year. So at what point does the setting of ‘full’ apply? Consider that New Delhi has 30% more people than the entirety of Australia (or 90% of Canada for that matter). We at least have a decent amount of land to spread that population around, as does Canada, India seemingly has not.
So whilst we get “On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.” And the levels in New Delhi are 50% higher than dangerous. So when will we see the Guardian or the BBC offer ‘solutions’.
Have a healthy day, optionally with a decent amount of fresh air.
As I see it, Georgina Rannard from the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2lvq4el5vo) needs a little education. It started my (somewhat) raging nature when I saw ‘Ultra-rich using jets like taxis, climate scientists warn’ I was ‘set off’ in a light of day that is somewhat darker then blue. You see there are around 24,270 private jets, two thirds are registered in the US and many of them, are corporate jets. You know these ‘scoundrels’ employed by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and alike. There is a fair amount of jets used by the ‘ultra-rich’ but the the numbers fade in to the corporate world. And she gets assistance from Prof Gossling (not the brightest professor in the land). I feel repetitive, as I wrote on December 10th 2020 in the article (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/12/10/uniform-nameless-entitlement-perforation/) where I wrote ‘Uniform Nameless Entitlement Perforation’, where Tim McGrath made equally mindless accusations. As I see it in 4 years they didn’t learn anything, they just used a new vessel to spout there nonsense. You see, the fallback in 2023, the 13th to be exact. I wrote ‘The Guardian just won’t learn’ I added a few details there, details that was available to the press for obvious reasons. There I wrote “ignoring the fact that over 15 years 41,000 flights a day have been added and we do not get to see how much pollution that brings” each year 1,000,000 were added bringing to the total of 41,000 flights a day, every day. At this time (as far as I was able to check) was the fact that per 2021 there were 151,435 daily flights in the air. All whilst in 2019 there were 106,849 flights. I think that the stupidity of Georgina Rannard and Prof Gossling is clearly shown here. In addition to this is the fact that these jet are a lot more fuel efficient. It is just another example where leftist idiots put a little more blame on the ‘ultra-rich’ and I have no hidden agenda. I will never be ultra-rich, I have no intent to being ultra rich. Just rich would do, rich enough to have a nice place to live in and a nice retirement, but I reckon I am no different than 80% of us who all share that same wish.
As such I have questions, how was this “The 46% increase in emissions by private jets is probably due to rising demand and the limitations on commercial travel caused by the Covid pandemic” determined? The 15,000,000 flights from 1995-2010 would diminish these numbers. The other side is that the ultra rich would not fly them all the time, so where did these two dodo’s get the numbers? Then we get “The group is estimated to comprise about 256,000 people, 0.003% of the global adult population, each owning an average of $123m (£95m), according to the scientists.” So are they all sharing the 24,270 private jets? Then we get “One travelled by private jet 169 times in 2023, emitting an estimated 2,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of driving 571 petrol cars throughout the year.” So who was that? Was that a Google (or Microsoft or Shell) plane transporting staff members? There is an amount of data (possibly fictive) that we are exposed to, and one case in 24,270? How random is that? As such we get the statement “The scientists chose not to name individuals, making clear they did not wish to point the finger at any one person.” Makes sense, but it also makes there data debatable. Because if there was clear evidence (like a thousand planes) we would get a really nice sentiment. And in response to this, I get back to the previous article ‘Uniform Nameless Entitlement Perforation’ from 2020 where we see that 50% of the environmental damage came from 147 facilities in Europe.
The EEA report (also in that document) gives a clear perspective, as such are Georgina Rannard and Prof Gossling anything else but a joke? The EEA gave us a clear report that 147 facilities were responsible for 50% of the damage, so why aren’t the BBC and the Guardian digging into that? They had the report for over 4 years. The media had that report and decided to ignore the report. So how blatantly stupid (and optionally corrupt) are they? A simple question and it gets worse from there. How many empty planes are flying? You see 41,000 implies well over 100,000 people. How many non-tourists are flying? I was in a plane from Amsterdam international to Budapest (Hungary) and we had a 767 plane to ourselves. Less than 25 people were in that flight. How much damage was caused? I reckon that at least 10% of the flights could be cancelled. But then we get economic issues like reserved (but unused) seats come into play and that is the larger extent. You can’t have it both ways. And I think the BBC knows that.
Sorry for the rant, but these leftists accusing dodo’s get the hairs in the back of my neck up and there is enough evidence to do just that at present. Enjoy your day today.
This question bothered me a lot lately. Not some message about an orange menace, or some Kardashian piece of jewellery that once belonged to royalty. No that doesn’t wake me up (or interest me). But in this light we have two articles. In the first we get the main event. Arab News informs us (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2578351) ‘Saudi Arabia’s aid arrives in northern Gaza to assist Palestinians’ and the issue is none of the western media as far as I can tell have this news, and it is news.
Source: Arab News
We are given (with images) that “Several trucks with aid, provided by Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian agency KSrelief, have arrived in the northern Gaza Strip via Jordan.” We are also given “The aid was scheduled to be distributed through the Saudi Center for Culture and Heritage, which serves as the executive partner of KSrelief in the area.” As well as “The campaign to assist Palestinians, initiated by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has raised over $186.3 million from over 2 million donors” the idea that 2 million Saudi’s create a wealth setting for humanitarian relief to the amount of nearly 200 million dollars giving us that the average donation by Saudis comes down to nearly $100 dollars and it isn’t just a trickle, this comes down to a little over 5% of the entire nation’s population. When did we see in the west that amount of humanitarian aid? When we see this numbers the entire western media should have stood up applauding this effort. I have a tainted view of Gaza (and I have been there in 1982), so there is premise to my point of view. What I fail to see is how the media is so tainted that news is filtered out (I personally refer to that stage as corrupt).
Even I (with my own clear bundle of personal issues) pause to stop and realise that this is a monumental setting. We already saw that the UAE is dealing with shortages in Lebanon (vie the Khaleej Times) and now this? And the western media is currently too tainted to be of any informative acts. No the Guardian is simply washing this over by giving us (at https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/07/chris-hemsworth-criticised-abu-dhabi-tourism-ad-uae-ntwnfb) ‘Chris Hemsworth criticised over tourism ad promoting Abu Dhabi despite ‘notorious’ human rights violations’ and the Guardian (other news outlets too) are always seeking the Human rights violations. It is never about just the acts of influencers showing the world that there is a lot more to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. In this setting it is about Abu Dhabi, which my meagre self calls the domain of ADNOC and the Abu Dhabi Scorpions (a previous hockey team for the uninformed). Abu Dhabi also has Ferrari World, Warner Brothers World, Yas Water World, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, Prison Island Abu Dhabi and a few other ways to spend your hard earned free times. Like shopping in the Yas Mall with 235,000 m2 (2.5 million sq ft) of shopping spanning over 400 shops. As such Abu Dhabi might not be Dubai, but it has plenty to offer and they called the assistance of Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky to help out (Luke Hemsworth is probably still too young). So when we get to “The international non-governmental advocacy organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said the UAE “invests in a strategy to paint the country as progressive, tolerant, and rights-respecting while carrying out repression against dissent”.” Personally I would advice the HRW to go and f**k a camel but that would be inappropriate towards the camel.
So see the articles and consider what else we are missing (apart from the budget to go see Abu Dhabi in person). Within the last week (might have ben two) I showed two cases of astounding humanitarian aid (the HRW missed that part I reckon). Are nations innocent? Well I doubt it, the discriminations that we saw in Florida against the LGTBQ population is one, but the HRW seemingly missed that part too. We have flaws, we all do, but the black washing (the opposite of white washing) of the media is as I see it now getting out of hand.
As such I wonder what people tend to see and I am curious about the Hemsworth advertisement, perhaps it is on YouTube?
In a time where we disregard and mistrust nearly everything, it is time that the people in the western world regard the Arabian media (namely Arab News, Al Arabiya and the Khaleej Times). There is something seriously wrong in media world and it is time that we take away our view from them and the digital dollars they are whoring for.
On a personal note, this morning I completed the virtual challenge of walking from Florence to Rome, the walk Saint Francis of Assisi did a few hundred years ago. The challenge was virtual, but the walk (503 km) was very real.
That happens. We all have (at times) the idea that you wonder why no one else had thought of it. It might have been so, but in the meantime I just wonder what happened to the idea. You see, retail is all about making a splash, yet the larger setting is that they never tend to think long term and that what gave me the idea. I was looking at a YouTube video by some lady who is stark raving bonkers about the Disney and Universal theme parks. In this bonkers is not a negative term. She goes on and on about the great options that these places have. Like for one the monorail that goes around all the parks. I never knew that and today about easter eggs all over the Universal theme park. At some point she was showing some stuff and I started to wonder a few things. You see, we all observe and take delight in (some of us do) the Halloween and Christmas settings of these places. Yet no one considered the creative vibes that kids have. Now consider any Disney or Universal stage and in this stage we use fridge magnets. A simple enough setting. Yet the larger stage is ignored. What if there is a range of A3 based stage screens (like a piece of paper), but these are not merely pieces of paper, they are coated stage screens (like the ship of Captain Hook) and on this we place the magnets, like Peter Pan, Goofy, Tiktok (the crocodile), Mickey and a whole range of other options. Now that we have a set these people (mostly kids) can make their own version of stop animation with a mobile, or merely hand operated movements. Universal has its own pieces (like Hogwarts and the people there) or perhaps Trolls, Minions or Popeye. Now consider that these people can cross match any story with their magnets and create their own story. Soon we will see that Universal and Disney will grow their own kind of Youtube/Tiktok settings where the makers can create their own story and share them with others. They optionally learn about stop animation and as such they all grow in creativity.
There is no need to grow a massive battery of merchandise. Each season (Easter, Summer, Halloween, Christmas) they would release 1-2 stage placemats, optionally they would be placemats that get a secondary function and as such these makers have more stages to work with. They would also introduce fridge magnets to characters and every season a few more. This doesn’t happen overnight but with a start we optionally see more creativity from the visitors (or people visiting any store globally). That gives us a new focus and the parents will like the idea of a not so expensive hobby to exploit creativity with.
I seen some fridge magnets, but I haven’t seen anyone taking that to the next level. And in this day and age, any loyalty created tends to have a long term impact. So why wasn’t this done? Perhaps it was done in the past but with mobiles the way they are now, no one seems to have revisited that idea. There is even an options that Universal could use that certain items are only there on Halloween (optionally bought online as well, but for the term of the Halloween dates). I think that this has options. Consider that fridge magnets are already there. There is no reason to think that they cannot be used with another setting. And consider the placemat, get a negative sheet below this and it could have serious revenue options for either and that is not merely the end of it. The Dutch have the Efteling and they to could profit from their own setting. If awareness drives revenue, then this awareness have been ignored for the longest of times. That is what I think and believe. By the way the Dutch (perhaps the Belgiums too) have the feast of St. Nicholas (December 5th), another stage where we might see global appeal. Disney has a lot more options when it comes to characters, and they could have an annual focus (like Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians and so on). I saw several Hero 6 magnets and no one took this to that next level, why not? Then there is the option that both (Universal and Disney) could invite an animator once a year to make a video that all could download and take learning from that. A setting that might work (no guarantees), but in this day and age where everyone is so obsessed with revenue that this long term path is ignored? Consider that thousands of creators give voice to creativity and no one drills into that well? Perhaps I am wrong, but I believe that to get something you need to relinquish something and that idea sprouts revenue in all kids of ways, and here there is no “I come first”, the buyer will see through that and a shared setting is a setting all with enjoy when the results are harvested. That is just my view one the matter.
So, lets get these makers get working so that we see creators creating.
That is at times the question. What one sees is not seen by all, there is no blame or shame in this. We can’t be looking in all directions, the simplest of reasons is that life is in front of you and we tend to look at life (for most of the time). As such I saw two articles pass by, well one actually (it makes sense soon enough).
The first one was the New Arab (at https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-arabia-starts-work-huge-gold-kaaba-style-structure) handing us ‘Saudi Arabia starts work on massive gold ‘Kaaba’ style structure despite criticism’, my first setting was the word criticism. The word comes through 5 times including the title and three times it gives us “amid criticism that it resembles the Kaaba holy site in Mecca”, which is incorrect.
The Kaaba (as the pictures show me) is not an actual cube, I could be wrong as I have never been to Mecca for I am not a Muslim. The second setting is that the dimensions are off by a mile. This building will be 400 by 400 by 400 meters. I will hazard a guess that this structure could be seen from space, one of the few. The other part is that this would be a monumental achievement. As for the critique from social media, I let that be. I didn’t look into it and I reckon it will serve no purpose. The important setting for me (and initial worry) is seen with “The development will have retail, hospitality, leisure and office space facilities and is believed to be big enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings in it when complete, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said.” You see, filling up 20 empire state building takes time and resources. That is beside the infrastructure needed. As my abacus dictates to me, that building alone would need to be fuelled and that takes at least a small nuclear reactor to do so. As I saw it there is an option if the outer walls have a second inner layer comprised of solar panels you will alleviate a lot of power requirements and even fuel more power to the city. I reckon someone looked at this at present, but it is the initial worry I see. That and getting water pumped to +400 meters. There are a few things, but the designers would have worked out these elements long before now. My mind is merely struggling with a building comprised of 64 million cubic metres. What is a fact is the massive achievements that Saudi engineers will make. A true world marvel. The previous achievement from that region was a near 5000 years ago (yes, they were the pyramids). That and the Neom structures will show the world that Saudi Arabia has made its match to anything else that was built on this planet.
I see a few other issues, but I will hold them. Not to sound stupid, but it might sound me anti-achievement and I refuse to be one of those negative people.
I wonder how spacious it will be on the inside. You see we think in (mostly) western dimensions and from the last 10 years we have seen buildings with a different approach. As such are all floors 18 feet high? There is a lot not known and I to some extent fear knowing to much in advance, but I am still curious. The other thing I wonder about is the impact it will have. Not impact as a social need, but the houses around the Mukaab. Depending on the position of their house, the Mukaab could now shield it from the blazing sun for at least part of the day. I wonder what will happen to these places. For now, we will watch (in awe) and see over the next 5 years how that building comes together. The other article comes later today.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 