Alexander McNabb

Surely Some Mistake? Dubai Runs Out Of Petrol

Surely Some Mistake? Dubai Runs Out Of Petrol

ALEXANDER MCNABB: You couldn’t make it up, could you? Dubai, part of major oil producing nation the United Arab Emirates, has run out of fuel. Seriously.

 Alexander McNabb

Books are Best: A Luddite’s View of the Kindle

Books are Best: A Luddite’s View of the Kindle

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I am a huge fan of the Kindle but, in the spirit of intellectual freedom, I am prepared to consider the merits of the book. Briefly.

 Alexander McNabb

Ambition, Inspiration a Heady Scent at ArabNet

Ambition, Inspiration a Heady Scent at ArabNet

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I went to the event with high expectations and they were, in the main, met, matched and knocked out of the field. This is now a crucial regional event.

 Alexander McNabb

The UAE’s Ghost Town, Jazirat Al Hamra: Beware The Djinn

The UAE’s Ghost Town, Jazirat Al Hamra: Beware The Djinn

ALEXANDER MCNABB: “…Locals would tell spine-chilling stories, goading each other into a state of fear…”

 Alexander McNabb

Title Irony: Why Journalists like to do PR on PRs

Title Irony: Why Journalists like to do PR on PRs

ALEXANDER MCNABB: It infuriates me because I know how very dishonest the practice is – from a media that insists on telling us that it is the only trustworthy source.

 Alexander McNabb

An Inflection Point for Arab Entrepreneurialism

An Inflection Point for Arab Entrepreneurialism

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Seeing this level of digital entrepreneurialism in the region is a delight and, rightly or wrongly, I see ArabNet as an inflection point.

 Alexander McNabb

Google and Ghonim: The Horns of a Dilemma

Google and Ghonim: The Horns of a Dilemma

ALEXANDER MCNABB: The best outcome for the corporate people at Google would probably be a quiet resignation and a few public words thanking Google and exonerating it of involvement.

 Alexander McNabb

Why Words Should Not be Allowed To Lose Power

Why Words Should Not be Allowed To Lose Power

ALEXANDER MCNABB: If a Kit-Kat is awesome, what then is the sight of two million Egyptians gathered in brotherhood in Cairo’s Tahrir Square?

 Alexander McNabb

The Day the Egyptians Stopped Seeing the Joke

The Day the Egyptians Stopped Seeing the Joke

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Every time elections would come around, Egyptians would laugh about how this time he was going to lose. It struck me the other day the laughing had stopped.

 Alexander McNabb

Egypt’s Uncontrolled and Uncontainable Tweets of Rage

Egypt’s Uncontrolled and Uncontainable Tweets of Rage

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Blocking Twitter won’t stop word getting out. You’re as well to try and stop grains of sand falling through marbles.

 Alexander McNabb

Torches: Understanding Mohammed Bouazizi

Torches: Understanding Mohammed Bouazizi

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I find it hard to even think about what would drive a man to contemplate the act – the acrid stink of petrol, vapour shimmering, a scratch and whiff of phosphorous.

 Alexander McNabb

Reading Matters: The Medium and the Word

Reading Matters: The Medium and the Word

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I honestly had my doubts about the whole Kindle thing before I took the plunge – and now I’d recommend it to anyone.

 Alexander McNabb

The BMW Slogan – Consume its Corpse, Please…

The BMW Slogan – Consume its Corpse, Please…

ALEXANDER MCNABB: There’s a tremendous power to slogans, a way of condensing and simplifying thoughts that can become catchy, even thought-provoking.

 Alexander McNabb

Etisalat Plans – Mickey Mouse, but less Friendly

Etisalat Plans – Mickey Mouse, but less Friendly

ALEXANDER MCNABB: My plan? What plan? It was called ‘Mubashir’ because nobody knew what 3G was (“I don’t understand what 3G is!” “No problem, take this! It’s called Mubashir!” “What is it?” “3G”).

 Alexander McNabb

Snow Joke: How to To Combat Travel Chaos

Snow Joke: How to To Combat Travel Chaos

ALEXANDER MCNABB: It’s mad to have people looking at screens talking to customers when those customers could be looking at the screens themselves.

 Alexander McNabb

Total Confusion: The UAE National Identity Card

Total Confusion: The UAE National Identity Card

ALEXANDER MCNABB: The ‘application application’ has been removed. Typing centres have been closed. And the clock is ticking towards the end of year deadline.

 Alexander McNabb

There are Bad Days, and then there are…

There are Bad Days, and then there are…

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Adding to that, we have finally had it confirmed that, in the UAE, ‘freehold’ actually means ‘usufruct’. What the hell is ‘usufruct’..?

 Alexander McNabb

The Future’s Coming, Please Tell the UAE’s Telcos

The Future’s Coming, Please Tell the UAE’s Telcos

ALEXANDER MCNABB – Technology has allowed us to speak to each other in ways unimaginable five years ago. The telco operators in the Middle East, however, don’t appear to have caught on yet.

 Alexander McNabb

An Incredible Journey behind the UAE’s 39th National Day

An Incredible Journey behind the UAE’s 39th National Day

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I have some old video footage of Sheikh Rashid, a man that used to take 5am tours around his city as it was being built, in true Arabian Nights style…

 Alexander McNabb

Strange Searches leading to Plastic Destination

Strange Searches leading to Plastic Destination

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Fake Plastic Whore Face, Tantalise your tastebuds, mish mushkila ya habibi meaning, what is mineralised water and the Nipple souk… Fake Plastic Souks is the expert on them all…