Only days after Batelco announce a successful trial of their 4G LTE network, Viva comes out with a bang announcing that they will be showing their LTE stuff on the 1st of January, 2012. The difference?
Batelco were secretive about it, testing it in their Hamala HQ. Viva are making it public, at the City Centre mall, where users can experience it.
Batelco announces it as a trial. Viva as a full blown launch.
Batelco only got an article about it in the GDN. Viva got an article and right next to it a full page ad!
Looks like Zain is going to miss the party…
So, what does this mean for Bahrain? We should (but unlikely?) be getting much faster connections (upto 100Mbps according to the relaxed ITU specs). Of course in the end it's all just marketing (check out my Viva 42Mbps review), I believe the majority of the phones sold here are not 4G enabled. The dongles and routers are probably going to cost a fortune. Regardless, Bahrain's telecoms companies are heading in the right direction.
You have probably seen Menatelecom announce 4G this and 4G that. I believe they have been using the term for marketing purposes. Menatelecom uses 802.16e (ratified 2005) while ITU considers 4G WiMAX from 802.16m (ratified 2011).
Many years ago (around 2008 to be exact) the Middle East and a large portion of Asia suffered a massive Internet outage. I remember not being able to access anything, get 20k pings in WoW, not to mention losing communications to anyone, even those in my own country (Internet routing in the ME is weird sometimes). I also recall people complaining, cursing the ISPs for using "cheap wires" rather than "uncuttable" satellite. Anyone familiar in communications knows that submarine cables (they are fiber optic cables by the way) offers the highest bandwidth, lowest latency and is cost effective compared to satellite. Therefore, it is obviously the best choice.
I have quite an interest in these things and previously I would rely mostly on Wikipedia or other sites to find what cables go where and how. However, I found a pretty cool website by the telecoms research company TeleGeography called Submarine Cable Map, that puts just about every cable in one place.
When you visit the site, the first thing you get is a nice overview of the cables, with the full list on the right of the page. They make use of Google Maps so you can go around zooming into places to get a clearer view of what crosses your neighborhood.
You can also click on one of the cables and it will show you the name, date it was lit (or will be lit), length and most importantly which countries (and cities) it lands in.
So there you have it, next time your Internet goes down because of a cable cut, you'll be able to know which one and where it was. And don't take these fragile "wires" for granted!
Let's face it, we are all humans, we do good we do bad and we are not perfect. We also all have habits. Good habits (in my case arriving early), in between habits (working under pressure, might not be healthy but needs to be done) and bad habits.
My worst habit is the all famous one known as "procrastination" which according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is "to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done". At some point, I can say with confidence, we all procrastinate somehow. Which reminds me, I used to hear the word "procrastinate" ever since I started to pick up English and at first I thought it was something to do with religion (don't ask me why!). Anyways (see what I did?), I've just started to realize how much I procrastinate.
Let's see what's on my to do list: finalize draft of a conference paper, work on a final year project and work on a math project. I have a week off to do all these things and I am someway through them progress wise. However, every morning I convince myself to finish them and enjoy my days off, but for some reason that never happens. What happens instead? At the time I "scheduled" to start I go online, check my emails, watch a bit of TV and worst of all, do nothing sometimes! Even my first Android app (update 2) suffered from delayed development (I thought about it for months, but only recently started to work on it!).
It's only recently that I realized what happens in mind during procrastination. You see, I see these things as tedious and boring and as a result I end up being lazy and putting it off. The result is whatever else I do is also boring (like doing nothing, watching TV, visiting the last page on the Internet). But I believe I have found the solution, it is simple, it is what they say you should do: just do it! If you got something to do, just do it, don't leave it regardless what your mind says.
I have applied "just do it" by scheduling right after I wake up (6am) what I need to do. I put down the time I will start (usually 10am), and until then I take my time with breakfast, play a bit of PS3, go online, basically have fun. Once the clock hits 10, I stop whatever I am doing, sit on my desk and start working. I let nothing interrupt me (I need the TV for the random noise, usually a news channel works). And for some reason, I end up enjoying whatever I am doing, surprisingly as it sounds.
So if you suffer from procrastination, try "just do it" and see if it works with you. It's sad I decided to try this out now after almost a 1/3 of the average lifespan of humans passing by…
Mobile apps development is a multi-phase complex process that changes according to the development platform and project requirements. Developing a mobile application is a costly process as the technology is fairly new and there are not many skilled developers available for it. However, clients can take the help of an offshore web development company for acquiring reliable and cost effective mobile solutions. Identifying and listing all the phases of mobile apps development is a very difficult task and it will change from application to application. Mentioned below are 5 most essential phases of mobile apps development that are followed by every web development company irrespective of the platform or the app.
Google are well known for the doodles they place on special occassions, funny April fool's pranks (TiSP – Toilet ISP anyone, which is actually used these days) and easter eggs (type in "let it snow" in Google and see what happens). I just happened to come across another neat easter egg (through WHT) in Google Maps.
1. Visit Google Maps: http://maps.google.com
2. Click on "Get directions".
3. Choose walking, it's the human walking button, right above location A.
4. In location A, type in: "The Shire".
5. In location B, type in: "Mordor".
6. Click "GET DIRECTIONS".
7. Notice the warning 
?
If you didn't notice, the warning is:
Here is yet another one of those list like posts you find in almost every other blog or website! Here are just a few of the things I am waiting for this coming year 2012.
1. Year 2012
This is more like two-in-one thing. I am waiting for 2012 to come, lately I have been thinking about life and stuff at a deeper level and the thought of someone being alive today and dead tomorrow (or the next second). Life is something many take for granted, until you tell them you have only one chance at it . I am also waiting to see what happens on, specifically, December 21, 2012. It has been over hyped, I would love to see the looks on people's faces when it turns out to be just another day on this lovely planet.
2. Getting my hands on a tablet
I am eagerly waiting to get a tablet (the computer kind, not in pills form). But not any tablet, not the "OMG iPad2" (or 3?). Instead I have my eyes on the Asus Transformer Prime. Although it will be out in just a few days, no one is taking pre-orders anymore due to demand and problems with WiFi on some units. I think I will wait until next year until they clear out hardware bugs.
3. The big thing of 2012
Year 2011 was the year marked by protests, revolutions, overthrowing of leaders, political leaks and other things not seen in recent years. I wonder what will be next? The cure for AIDS? A bit doubtful. Another war? By the looks of things (especially all these revolutions) that might be a possibility. Will it be between the 2Is (two-eyes), I certainly hope not, given how close I live to one of them!
4. What will be of me?
I am on my last semester in university, I have no idea what things will be like once I'm out. Will I be self-employed? Or am I going to be looking for a job in the market? I consider myself very fortunate for my accomplishments this past year, no matter how small they may be. I guess only time will tell…
5. There is no 5
So many things, yet number 4 what I'm really looking forward to seeing (and probably experiencing). I'm really craving for some toast right now…
Let me start by saying that I love the winter, but I also hate it. I love the weather (compared to the summer), I like the warmth and coziness of the electric heater in my room and that sense of security you get when you are covered with all those covers in bed. But, for some reason the winter turns out to be the most depressing season. The days are way much shorter: if you need to wake early its still dark outside, if you need to go somewhere just after five in the evening, its already dark.
Two words popped in my head, winter blues. I thought, why not search for it online? Bam, first result on Wikipedia. The doctors, as usual, enjoy scaring the hell out of you by using scary words: Seasonal Affective Disorder. At least they are funny enough to chose the words that form the acronym "SAD" which is probably how you might feel when you have it. I decided to read further, specifically the "Symptoms" section. Wow I told myself, I've got more than few of those symptoms! Oddly, people can also suffer from it during the summer :-S.
Apparently one of the treatments is exposure to light. Looks like I'm going to be sunbathing in winter !
© 2013 Elyas Thinks.... All Rights Reserved.
Precisio theme by Theme4Press 
Powered by 
