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Economics - game theory guru - Roger Myerson
2007-06-13 06:10:00
Game theory is a tool used to understand decisions made in situations involving several players. These situations range from wars to family relationships, from president election to bargaining in the black market. Businesses also use game theory to make strategic decisions One guru on game theory is Roger Myerson. He is a professor at the University of Chicago. I find the following pages on his website interesting- Academic papers marrying public policy and political decision-making with economics - Excel add-ins that add statistical functions for Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis. His tools supplement Excel’s weakness in probabilistic calculations. The add-ins allow users to generate Poisson, beta, gamma and log-normal distributions, as well as some other analytical features - Syllabus of graduate-level economics classes at the University of Chicago. Here I got a chance to learn what the teach in one of the world’s best school of economics - Roger Myerson&rsquo
Read more: Economics

Speed up travel at Kuwait Airport - Hala Services
2007-06-09 17:01:00
One of the most frustrating things that can happen to travelers is delay at the airport. The issue has been particularly serious in Kuwait for arriving visitors who’re non-GCC Nationals. There have been times when I had to wait more than 2 hours at the airport before being allowed to enter the country. So I decide to find out and share some tips to help other people save time. Hope this is useful for you The problem - lengthy visa procedure at Kuwait International Airport Kuwait has a visa process that is restrictive by international standard. Every non-GCC visitor has to apply for visa in advance before entering Kuwait. In 2004, the Ministry of Interior has adopted a policy to open up its borders. Nationals of the following countries can apply for visa at the airport USA. UK. France. Italy. Germany. Canada. Australia. New Zealand. Japan. The Netherlands. Belgium. Luxembourg. Switzerland. Austria. Sweden. Norway. Denmark. Portug
Read more: Speed , Services

Learning Arabic online
2007-06-04 12:00:00
To me, Arabic is a language that’s fun to learn. I’ve recently started learning it, and discovered many free resources online that teach Arabic to foreigners. Here are a few. I recommend Madinah Arabic, but that is just my personal preference. Other sites may suit your need better. Enjoy! Madinah Arabic Comprehensive site that offers 2 free courses, Arabic Reading Course and Arabic Language Course. Arabic Reading Course aims to help you learn the Arabic script, before learning the language itself. It suits me best because I want to learn reading, writing, speaking and listening. Also native Arabic speakers said that it’s much easier to learn conversational skills if I can read the script Gulf Arabic It teaches the Arabic dialect spoken by people in Gulf countries, i.e. UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Southern part of Iraq. The whole website is in Roman (English) characters. Therefore, even if you don’t want to learn Arabic script, you can still
Read more: Learning

World’s tallest architectual structures - Taipei now, Dubai later
2007-05-29 23:48:00
The tallest building in the the world, a title widely coveted, is being claimed by 3 cities, namely Kuala Lumpur Petronas TowersChicago Sears TowerTaipei Taipei 101 On measuring the height of a building, various definitions exist. Depending on which one you use, the answer is different 1. Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles). Taipei 1012. Height to the highest occupied floor. Taipei 1013. Height to the top of the roof. Taipei 1014. Height to the top of antenna. Sears Towers But Taipei 101 will not hold its record for too long. In Dubai , a structure is going to surpass all previous records, and can claim to be the tallest building in the world, without any doubt. It is still under construction. When completed, it will be about 800 meters tall with 160 floors. As of now, it is already one of the 5 tallest buildings in the world, set to climb up the ladder as construction goes on. Every time I drive b
Read more: World , later

Kuwait’s oil dependency
2007-05-28 11:39:00
Kuwait is a major oil exporting country, and it’s economy is highly dependent on the oil sector. Here is a piece of interesting statistic that I’d like to share. Below is a list of the 10 largest industrial and service sectors in Kuwait, and their contribution to GDP. Oil is the largest sector, bigger than all the 9 other top 10 sectors combined While the economy is booming now due to high oil price, this situation should not be taken for granted. If oil price plummets, the economy will face big problems. It should diversity its economy away from oil to better react to oil price fluctuations GDP contribution from each sector2005 figures, in USD millions 1. Energy, Mining and Quarrying (24)2. Public Administration, Sanitary and Personal Services (8)3. Business Services (3)4. Real Estate & Dwelling (2)5. Petroleum Refineries (2)6. Financial Institutions (2)7. Retail Trade (2)8. Wholesale Trade (1)9. Communications (1)10. Transportation & St
Read more: dependency

Flight timetable software
2007-05-22 14:04:00
For frequent fliers, finding the best route is a constant headache. People always want to find flights that Meet their time schedule- For those who travel during the week, flights departing 7 - 9pm are the best. Then you can work the whole day in one city, travel to another and start the next day Have the least number of stops, or ideally, non-stop Have the best timed connections- You don’t want to wait in Heathrow for 8 hours for your connecting flight. Examples of well-timed connection are flights from Taipei to Shanghai, via Jeju Island. Barring direct flights, this is the shortest route between Taiwan and Mainland China, with travel time just ~4 hours These are some tools that help you plan your trips. Using these programs, you can look at flights and find the route that best fits your need. An handy feature of these programs is that you can use them on the go, without the Internet. The timetables are downloaded automatically when you’re online, and are stored in your c
Read more: Flight

Volunteering for Beijing Olympics
2007-05-21 01:46:00
Beijing Olympics is coming in a year’s time. There’s one way to see your favorite sports star, free of charge! (This is not scam) The way is to become volunteer Applications are open to Chinese living inside and outside China, Taiwanese, and foreigners. Many types of positions are available, so you can either apply the skills learnt in your normal job in the Olympics, or acquire a new skill via volunteering Deadline for applications will be March 2008. But don’t miss the opportunity - so apply early! The official website isn’t a one-stop shop. People from different regions have to apply differently. Here’s a brief guidance on where you should go, depending on where you are. Hope it helps! Applicants from Taiwan: www.bjtx.orgApplicants from HK: www.hab.gov.hkApplicants from Macau: www.sport.gov.moOverseas Chinese: http://www.bjqb.gov.cnNon-Chinese volunteers: www.ebeijing.gov.cn More information about Beijing Olympics Site for volunteers of Beijing Olympics
Read more: Beijing

American soliders in Iraq - mental health survey
2007-05-19 17:18:00
The Pentagon has released a report on the mental health of American soldiers in Iraq . The results are worrying. My read on its findings Factors affecting soldiers‘ mental health, pretty logical, no surprise 1. Soldiers are more likely to have mental problems the longer they stay in Iraq 2. If they are actually engaged in combat, they get significantly higher stress levels 3. Marines and soldiers suffer equally (dismissing claims by many that marines are better, tougher fighters) Soldiers’ attitude towards treating non-combatants, reflecting their status of mental health. Alarming! 1. 41% of soldiers and 44% of marines believed that torture should be permitted if it would save the life of a fellow soldier or marine 2. 36% of soldiers and 39% of marines said torture should be allowed to extract important information about Iraqi insurgents 3. 47% of soldiers and 38% of marines felt that non-combatants should be treated with dignity and respect, as required by the Geneva Conven


Kuwait airport satisfaction, or dis-satisfaction?
2007-05-19 16:23:00
I have always had bad experience with Kuwait International Airport. Lately I’ve spent many hours just waiting for visa to be issued. They employ a lot of people, but they don’t seem to care about passengers. Rather, they just play with their phones, smoke, make fun of each others, in front of many disgruntled customers! The tip from me is to always have visas pre-arranged before you reach Kuwait soil. That’d save you 2 hours PER TRIP! To contribute to the world’s body of knowledge on airport satisfaction, or share some of your dissatisfactions with your fellow travelers, feel free to fill in this survey Alternatively, if you are impressed by the service that an airport has offered, you can nominate your airport of choice for the World Airport Award. In the past, the winners have been Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. Coincidentally, all of them used to be British colonies. If only Heathrow can match them in terms of waiting time, I’ll be 10 times happier


Old consulting joke
2007-05-16 15:29:00
This is an ever-green joke that has been circulated among the email joke community for a long time, and I receive it again today. For the guys who laugh at it, I’m glad you understand the similarity between the two occupations. They are both showbiz Are you a prostitute or a consultant? You work very odd hours. You are paid a lot of money to keep your client happy. You are paid well but your pimp gets most of the money. You spend a majority of your time in a hotel room. You charge by the hour but your time can be extended for the right price. You are not proud of what you do. Creating fantasies for your clients is rewarded. It’s difficult to have a family. You have no job satisfaction. If a client beats you up, the pimp just sends you to another client. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do for a living. People ask you, “What do you do?” and you can’t explain it. Your family hardly recognizes you at reunions (at least the reunions you attend.) You


Kuwaiti and Croatian friends
2007-05-16 06:05:00
I’m extremely delighted to be able to spend time with two fine gentlemen, a Kuwaiti (Mr. K) and a Croatian (Mr. C). Because of them, I truely feel how fortunate I have been. Both of them have experienced wars first-hand. Mr. K with the First Gulf War and Mr. C with the Yogoslavian war in the early 90’s One of the conversations with Mr. K goes like this Me: What do you think about the US? Mr. K: Well, I can’t say that I agree with the US foreign policy. But I have to be thankful to them. Without America, there’s no Kuwaiti. By the way, our security depends on the US now. So we are friends Me: Do you feel happy being a friend of the US? Mr. K: I know their intentions. They didn’t help us because they really love Kuwaitis. But I was in Kuwait City during the whole duration of Iraqi occupation. Life was tough. When the Iraqis retreated, they took everyone they could see hostage. No matter how evil their intentions are, the outcome is that the US saved us Me: D


Triggers of development - Buj Al Arab in Dubai
2007-05-15 10:17:00
Although the fate of cities often may depend more on luck than meticulous planning, Governments often try to spearhead development by launching grand projects. Officials are perhaps inspired by the few success stories, and the glory that come with them One rare success story is the Buj Al Arab hotel in Dubai Before the hotel, Dubai was a small town in the Gulf. Without much oil, it was economically and politically unimportant than UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi. Completion of Buj Al Arab has marked Dubai’s transformation to a vibrant international city. Overnight, people have started flocking in. It gives hope, showing that nothing is impossible, if you have a dream. So the Dubai dream has attracted many international talents to work there. The city then enters a virtuous cycle. Everyday, new buildings are added and new grand schemes announced. It’s now one of the most dynamic cities to be in Architectually, the hotel is a masterpiece. It combines Dubai’s tradition, s
Read more: Triggers

Team room culture - long hours, low satisfaction
2007-05-13 14:50:00
There is one thing I absolutely hate about today’s working environment. On projects, I sometimes work in the so-called “team rooms” These creatures are usually 10 feet x 10 feet rooms without windows (although sometimes smaller), originally designed as storage. They have found another use - to host unwelcomed guests. Working conditions can be compared with those experienced by child laborers at the start of the industrial revolution. Usually 5 people cram into those boxes and labor for 16 hours a day They make my life less pleasant than they should be, and make my workdays 3 hours longer, on average. In my opinion, they are special structures designed to humiliate every worker, except for the manager. Managers like team rooms, because they can keep annoying each person, and shout to them whenever they want A much better setting is separate desks for work, and rooms designed for meetings only. That’d allow much better concentration and employees can work at their
Read more: culture

City design in East Asia vs. the Middle East
2007-05-13 14:49:00
Having spent many years in East Asia , cities in the Gulf are amazing to me. Highways are everywhere, everybody drives, the poorer people take taxis. I still miss being able to walk across the street and buy groceries, travel to work by subway, and going to remote tours by train Density in Gulf cities are a lot lower than in Asia. You’ll quickly notice this when looking at Google Earth, even without the help of official statistics. Zoom to the same scale, say, 5000 feet. East Asian cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and Taipei are full of buildings. In Doha, Kuwait City, and Abu Dhabi, it’s a yellow background punctuated by houses and grey highways This means- Gulf residents have to own cars to meet their daily needs- The poor, elderly and disabled are more disadvantaged because they’re unable to drive or afford a car- More roads are needed to move the same number of people Even though oil is cheap for them, perhaps the heads of the Dubais should think about more compact ci
Read more: design

Vietnam economic development
2007-05-13 10:47:00
From the Economist magazine, I learnt about an opportunity to do meaningful work in Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia. Some donor governments have set up an agency to develop economies in the so-called Indochina region. They need a team of people from overseas to kick start the project The Indonchina region has so far bypassed the economic miracle enjoyed by other Southeast Asian countries. They have lots of natural resources and a young labor force. Right now, they’re a big exporter of drugs and prostitutes Their people deserve better


Security in Iraq - opportunity for Kuwait?
2007-05-11 02:40:00
Recently, I’ve heard comments that Kuwait is well positioned to become a major logistics hub in the Middle East. This is because Kuwait can serve as a gateway connecting Iraq and the world for imports and exports. Sounds like the Singapore-Malaysia and Hong Kong-China relationships in the past. But is it realistic? Some logistics companies on the ground say it’s difficult, as it’s still dangerous to transport goods in Iraq. Some of their drivers, who were brave enough to transport supplies into Iraq, got kidnapped on the way. Their bosses had to pay ransoms. Now who wants to be the drivers if he may be kidnapped? Sounds like until Iraq’s security situation improves, Kuwait’s role as a logistics hub remains limited


United Arab Emirates (UAE) / Dubai Internet censorship
2007-05-10 14:05:00
Despite all the fun we have in Dubai , there’s one thing in common that most people are annoyed by - Internet censorship If you travel to the United Arab Emirates , you’d probably find that some of the sites you like suddenly go down. In fact, the dominant ISP, Etisalat, use proxy server blocks certain websites that they deem inappropriate to be viewed. An exact account of what sites they block is not publicly available, but hearsays suggest sites are blocked for the following reasons 1. Political- Sites related to Israel or Jihadism- Terrist organizations- Sites on how to bypass censorship 2. Social- Homosexual behavior, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society- Online casinos- Pornography- Certain online dating websites3. Economical- Internet phone services such as Skype. As Etisalat is also the incumbant telecom operator in the UAE, things that can put its revenues at risk are banned A site called hrw.org contains more information on censorship in the UAE Whenever there&rs


Frequent Flyer Program - 2
2007-05-10 04:18:00
1. Enrol in EXACTLY 3 frequent flyer programs, no more, no less Rationale for doing itThere are 3 global airline alliances, Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and OneWorld. They cover most of the routes in the world. If you choose 3 airlines and each belong to one of the alliances, you can travel anywhere with mileage pocketed Problem if you don’t do itSome people take flights that don’t fit their schedule well just to earn miles in their preferred airlines. One of my friends, who’s a Cathay Pacific member, picked a flight very early in the morning just for the Miles. Enroling in 3 programs avoids this unncessary compromise. If he is also a Singapore Airline member, he could have gotten a much better schedule between Singapore and Hong Kong Exmaple of how this is done - Hong Kong as base city, with lots of traveling (>50 sectors a year) within Asia and moderate traveling (10 - 20 sectors a year) outside Asia Preferred options depending on your routing. They should be complimenta
Read more: Flyer , Program

Frequent Flyer Program - 1
2007-05-09 13:13:00
Many people I know are heavy travelers who take 20 - 200 trips a year. Yet they haven’t found out how to utilize their frequent flyer programs to their maximum potential. Here’re some tips I’ve learnt 1. Enrol in EXACTLY 3 frequent flyer programs, no more, no less 2. Bank your miles in 1 program unless you have to split them 3. Always check prices before redeeming your miles
Read more: Flyer , Program

Alcohol in Kuwait
2007-05-09 02:03:00
In some Muslim countries, it is illegal to drink Kuwait is one example. But as with many other restrictions, people can always find ways to circumvent them. Here’s one scene that I’ve observed At the Dubai airport, there are shops selling pocket-sized spirits. People would buy them, and slip them into their suit’s inner pockets. The medal detector do not detect liquids, so they can pass through Dubai security safely. At Kuwait arrival, customs search people’s luggage, not their jackets. Here you go - a small bottle of spirit has been transported into Kuwait Hidden inside
Read more: Alcohol

Google Analytics
2007-05-08 09:04:00
Testing Google Analytics . Sounds like a powerful tool that tracks a lot of information. It reports who visit your website at what time. Here’s a page that shows how you can set up the tool. It’s handy
Read more: Google Analytics

Silk Road revisited
2007-05-08 09:00:00
More than 1,000 years ago, merchants marched through nations in the Euope-Asia continent. Silk Road brief explanation Now, my journey has begun to experience a bit of this. It’s much more comfortable - travelling by planes instead of camels and staying in hotels instead of tents. Still, the excitment and bewilderness are immense


How to get pass Dubai immigration quickly - e-Gate
2007-06-30 16:33:08
Have you experienced standing in queues at the Dubai airport waiting to get through immigration? Something called e-Gate will save you from that hassle every time you get through Dubai immigration What is e-gate and why you should use it? You probably have noticed some part of the immigration look like a subway station - instead of going to see customs officers, passengers walk pass a row of automatic gates after scanning their cards This is the power of e-Gate and its smart card. It helps you save time and preserve your dignity Time - My personal experience tells me it saves 20 minutes from waiting at the super-crowded Economy class departure hall. On arrival, it saves 20 minutes Risks of being delayed - I have been delayed by immigration officers, perhaps because they see stamps from countries that’d suggest suspicious behavior. The e-Gate will solve this problem because you don’t have to show your passport Passport space - Not having to show your passport will save you
Read more: quickly

Kuwait dentist - Gulf Clinic is good
2007-07-05 05:58:27
I dread going to the dentist , especially the lying on the dentist chair watching scalpels moving in and out of my mouth. I know it is a necessary evil, but at least I want to lessen the pain Visiting the dentist in Kuwait - Summary I have recently visited the Gulf Clinic in Kuwait City. It’s the least painful dental visit I’ve had in the Gulf. For an business traveler in need of dental help, I believe this is as good as one can get Dentist Dr. Aneesa, a Kuwaiti national, did the major operation (I don’t want to go into details…). She patiently explained what she’s about to do before working on it, which helps Nurses Initially, a junior nurse was trying to help. Apparently she didn’t know how to operate the machine. That made me feel nervous. Later on a senior nurse came by and took over. The pain was still there when they’re cleaning the gum. Just that their friendly attitute made me feel less nervous Prices KD 85 (~USD 300) for the whole thi


How this blog (Borders Crossed) started
2007-07-07 10:09:44
I have always wanted to travel to the less well-known places, places that are not popular tourist destinations. In a globalizing world, the opportunity to travel will only increase The challenges in living in a foreign culture are enormous. So why not share some lessons leant? Idea of making a blog To share information with a group of people living in different parts of the world, I was looking for a medium that is easy to use and is interactive. As I’m not a technical person, an ordinary website will be too hard for me. Blog is then the natural platform Idea translated into action Initially, I didn’t know how to start, until a friend recommended the Blogger’s online blog platform. I have my old blog there, at http://bordercrossed.blogspot.com. After a while, I realized I wanted to make it better, and started researching on how to do it I came across a 50-page pdf guide on how to make a better blog, the Blog Profits Blueprint (affiliate link) by Yaro Starak. There I l
Read more: Borders

Promote a country on the Internet - what governments in the Middle East can do
2007-07-14 16:26:17
In an earlier article Votes from the Internet - the Most popular Middle Eastern Gulf country, I talked about the popularity of different Gulf countries using a keyword research tool. Dubai is the clear top choice. To push the idea forward, here I’d like to talk about what governments can do to promote their country on the Internet Why should governments care about online promotion? It is important from Nationals identity perspective! The Middle East gives a not-so-good impression to foreigners. Let’s look at the numbers Top keywords associated with the Middle East or Africa or Iraq It is a pity that all the top 10 keywords related to the Middle East, Africa and Iraq are negative associations. Because of sampling methodology, this may not represent the views of most Internet users, but it does reflect the views of a large number of Internet users. To change how their countries are perceived by foreigners, governments in the Middle East should act Other benefits from promoti
Read more: Promote

Votes from the Internet - the Most popular Middle Eastern Gulf country
2007-07-13 07:39:38
Which is the most popular country among the 6 Middle Eastern Gulf states? Bahrain? Kuwait? Oman? Qatar? Saudi Arabia? Or the United Arab Emirates? Everybody has a different answer in their mind. I did a little keyword research to find out what Internet users think. Here are the results generated by a tool called Wordtracker Free Keyword Suggestion Tool Voice of the Internet - Dubai, Dubai, Dubai Surprising? Dubai, which is a small emirate (not even a nation), attracts almost as much traffic of all other countries combined. Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other country in the world, is far behind. Another noteworthy observation is that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country in which Dubai belongs to, attracts only 1/10 of the attention that Dubai does Note that the Wordtracker network only captures a small portion of web searches, so the absolute number of daily searches is probably much higher. Relative to each other, the ranking tells a good story about popularity
Read more: Votes

How this blog (BorderCrossed.com) started
2007-07-07 10:09:44
I have always wanted to travel to the less well-known places, places that are not popular tourist destinations. In a globalizing world, the opportunity to travel will only increase The challenges in living in a foreign culture are enormous. So why not share some lessons leant? Idea of making a blog To share information with a group of people living in different parts of the world, I was looking for a medium that is easy to use and is interactive. As I’m not a technical person, an ordinary website will be too hard for me. Blog is then the natural platform Idea translated into action Initially, I didn’t know how to start, until a friend recommended the Blogger’s online blog platform. I have my old blog there, at http://bordercrossed.blogspot.com. After a while, I realized I wanted to make it better, and started researching on how to do it I came across a 50-page pdf guide on how to make a better blog, the Blog Profits Blueprint (affiliate link) by Yaro Starak. There I l


Kuwait dentist - Gulf Clinic is good
2007-07-05 05:58:27
I dread going to the dentist , especially the lying on the dentist chair watching scalpels moving in and out of my mouth. I know it is a necessary evil, but at least I want to lessen the pain Visiting the dentist in Kuwait - Summary I have recently visited the Gulf Clinic in Kuwait City. It’s the least painful dental visit I’ve had in the Gulf. For an business traveler in need of dental help, I believe this is as good as one can get Dentist Dr. Aneesa, a Kuwaiti national, did the major operation (I don’t want to go into details…). She patiently explained what she’s about to do before working on it, which helps Nurses Initially, a junior nurse was trying to help. Apparently she didn’t know how to operate the machine. That made me feel nervous. Later on a senior nurse came by and took over. The pain was still there when they’re cleaning the gum. Just that their friendly attitute made me feel less nervous Prices KD 85 (~USD 300) for the whole thi


How to get pass Dubai immigration quickly - e-Gate
2007-06-30 16:33:08
Have you experienced standing in queues at the Dubai airport waiting to get through immigration? Something called e-Gate will save you from that hassle every time you get through Dubai immigration What is e-gate and why you should use it? You probably have noticed some part of the immigration look like a subway station - instead of going to see customs officers, passengers walk pass a row of automatic gates after scanning their cards This is the power of e-Gate and its smart card. It helps you save time and preserve your dignity Time - My personal experience tells me it saves 20 minutes from waiting at the super-crowded Economy class departure hall. On arrival, it saves 20 minutes Risks of being delayed - I have been delayed by immigration officers, perhaps because they see stamps from countries that’d suggest suspicious behavior. The e-Gate will solve this problem because you don’t have to show your passport Passport space - Not having to show your passport will save you
Read more: quickly

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