Emirates ID Card

Emirates ID Card registration has been a hot topic amongst the expats for the past few weeks. The local papers have recently reported that expats can register after 31 Dec 2008 without attracting any penalty. Click on this link to check the Emirate ID Registration Schedule.The plan is to use Emirates ID card to store info for the following cards/services: -

• Labor Card.
• Health Card and Health Insurance card.
• Electronic Portfolio.
• Commercial and Banking applications
• Driving License.
• Passport.

Few questions arise : -

¨ I hope this means in future as expats we don’s have to issue Labor Card, Driving License, Health cards etc ever again as we will renew Emirates ID every year.
¨ Will there be any major issues if one doesn’t register on time? Rumors are that you will not be allowed to stay in the country. Check out this link which explains the consequences of not registering for Emirate ID by 2010.

Easy steps on how to "register" for Emirate ID Card.

Google plans to pre-install Chrome on computers

Dear Friends,

The search giant looks at pre-installing Chrome on personal computers by probably doing distribution deals. Google wants to break the monopoly of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. You have to agree that both the companies are fighting a war in the virtual world even though they may not be officially accepting it. Google has tried to enter most of the markets where Microsoft has a strong hold. The VP of Product Mgmt at Google says, "Versions of Chrome should also be available of computers using Macintosh or Linux software in the first half of next year, allowing the browser to be used on almost 99 per cent of computers worldwide.” Google is trying to do a 360 degree sweep in the market. Chrome is still in its beta phase and once the perfect/enhanced version is launched they may give Microsoft run for its money. What Microsoft did to Netscape, will Chrome be able do to Microsoft? History may repeat itself. We'll have to watch out Google's strategy and product offering; hope it doesn't turn out to be a fake promise. IE's popularity remains strong and it will take time for Google to catch up with Microsoft on this front.

One Minute Answer....

Dear Friends,

Are you experiencing credit crises at your homes? We would like to hear from you..

Credit Crisis Hits UAE

We were almost getting into it but now it is too late to realize that we are already a part of it. Yes, global crises are definitely impacting all the countries in the world and UAE is no exception. The property boom is no longer there. I have come to know from my friends who work in the property industry that their sales figures are certainly down and targets are difficult to achieve. Many speculators are finding it difficult to put up their property for sale as there are no buyers in the market. The Financial and Property sector fears job losses. Some of the facts and rumors taking rounds in the market: -

1) Dubai based Damac Property has laid of more than 200+ staff
2) Lloyds has stopped loans for purchase of apartments and dropped its LTV ratio on villas in the UAE to 50 per cent.
3) HSBC has doubled its minimum salary requirement for a personal loan from Dh 10,000 to Dh20,000.
4) Most of the brokers and property developers are planning to lay off hundreds of staff as part of their cost cutting measures
5) Tatweer has had several job cuts
6) Emirates NBD has suspended retail credit to expatriate employees of few real estate firms
7) Most of the banks have frozen their recruitment drive
8) Most of the property developers have rescheduled their upcoming projects
9) Property prices may fall rock bottom
10) There is a speculation that most of the westerners who are loosing jobs may rush to the Middle East for job search; which will lead to further competition for the existing jobs.

Irrespective of these crises I believe UAE economy is strong and the government has taken measures to contain the crises. The impact is due to global recession and not due to the weak economy of UAE. UAE government has committed Dh 120 billion in liquidity to the banking system to ease the liquidity situation. Due to lack of transparency we don’t know if any bank has utilized these funds. Once again I believe it’s a mental game; if we all feel that nothing is going to go wrong and continue to live a normal life, we’ll successfully pass this phase.

How to become the President of USA

Essential requirements to become the President of USA: -

Officially you need to be a native born US citizen, you must be at least 35 years old, and you must have lived in US for at least 14 years. You may read more about this on About.com.
Post meeting the the above official requirements, the following needs to be done to produce an effective online campaign for the election in the present Web 2.0 boom: -

1) Run online campaigns to target various voter segments from young to old.

2) Ensure you have a some rich tycoons to support your campaign

3) Spend $ 8 million dollars online to promote yourself on the web - spend include $3.5 million on campaign at Google and $600k on Yahoo

4) Spend around half a million on social networking sites : -
a. $400k on Facebook
b. Run a campaign on Blackplanet.com & Bet.com (if you are a black candidate)
c. Spend remaining budgets on My Space and other networking sites

5) Ensure you have a profile on Linked in to attract the professionals

6) In-game advertising- place ads in Burnout Paradise one of the games produced by EA Games

7) Reach out to various ad networks like AOL's Advertising.com, Collective Media and online video networks like Broadband Enterprises, Tremor Media etc.

8) Ensure your ads are well targeted and pass the right message :-
a. Customize campaign for different states
b. Different tailored messages during the start of the elections
c. Just before the election run a campaign “Register to Vote for Change,"

Above all you need to be Barack Hussein Obama :)