With all the updates going on at ILQ, I thought it was about time we tweaked the blog a bit.

On the right hand side, you’ll now notice a few changes. 1) There’s a tag cloud so you can find the most common tagged terms, there’s my twitter feed, and there’s the Qatar Events twitter feed.

For those who don’t know there are a few great ILQ powered Twitter channels.

QatarEvents – http://www.twitter.com/qatarevents

It’s updated with the latest events and happenings in Qatar.

QatarNews – http://www.twitter.com/qatarnews

Grab important news from a variety of sources related to Qatar.

I just thought that I’d share this URL with everyone http://www1.internationalliving.com/qofl2010/

Give it a peek. It’s the International Living standards database. They rate the final score based on cost of living, leisure & culture, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, risk &safety and climate.

Long story short: Qatar is ranked 130. A few countries that ranked HIGHER include, Nepal, Namibia, India, China, Ghana, and Vietnam.

Where Qatar’s rank was pulled down was in Climate, Infrastructure, and Freedom.

What do you all think? Should Qatar really be ranked that low. (I personally agree that the three they ranked low on were correct.)

Two tweaks have been implemented onto ILQ recently and I just wanted to share them.

1) The menu bar on the left is now compact! We’ve added a cool accordian menu style that shrinks after 2-3 seconds of being expanded. If it detects that you like clicking around on links that are usually hidden, it’ll stay expanded. What’s better? iPhone friendly!

2) We’ve added a new list on the main page that shows you what the current events, latest news, latest threads, and guides are in Qatar! Now you can go clickity click and you’re there in a …. click..

If you’ve got your own ideas, share them with me! Now get going to http://www.iloveqatar.net

And here you go! iLoveQatar.net’s teamed up with Vodafone for another fun event to make Qatar a happier place. What better a team than two companies who just want to make Qatar a better place! In fact, I think it’s quite suitable for me to use this japanese smiley face —>   ^_^

So for today, at the W hotel and Marriott, all guests will be greeted with a rose and a message from our hearts. On the 18th of February you’ll find ILQ and VF on the Corniche and at the Pearl. So come and claim your rose!

I wonder how many people will be able to take some awesome shots since there are so many photographers in Qatar.

iLoveQatar.net – Live Love.

Part 1: The iPad. It’s finally announced. Silence.

Let’s use a visual. Imagine you’re a person who’s decided to go bungie jumping. You stand on the edge of a bridge. Your heart is racing; it actually almost feels like it’s going to burst out of your chest until you finally take that jump. Serenity. After the first few seconds after that leap everything is quiet. You hear the wind going past your ears and for a moment, you start to think “this kind of feels nice, I wish I could keep falli-” YANK, the cord’s extended and your finally shocked back (somewhat unpleasantly) into reality.

That’s what Apple did here. iPad, OMG WTF BBQ!!!11!ONE!! Some people shouted. Looking around twitter I saw that people were more concerned with the fact that they thought it was funny it was named after a tampon. I’m sorry… what?? Notepad wasn’t funny… rappers say “Pen and a Pad”… it’s only one letter different from iPod! (ok that sounds like a G.W. Bush argument).

Point is, to me, it’s near perfect for my needs. Why? I want something thin, light, and can do the basics. I love the fact that it’ll make my life so much more easier when it comes to management. Have you seen the email client? It’s amazing! I’m working all the time and I’d love to have a device which I could pick up, throw in a breifcase or backpack and just use

The biggest scream seems to be that people aren’t happy that there is no flash support. Who cares about flash! Even YouTube is moving over to HTML5 which is much efficient. Have you heard your fan speed up whenever a flash video is playing?

Potential:

There’s just so much potential to this device. It could be used as a great DJing app, a simulator, store management device, home control unit, a project management app, and so much more. I think it’s more exciting to see what the developers are going to be bringing to this device. Having said that, THAT is what makes this a great device. It’ll always be updated.

Marketing:

I think it’s fair to say that the iPad is useful for people who know what they’re looking for.

• It’s an eBook reader, with MORE functionality and a color screen.
• It’s a management tool, with an intuitive interface
• It’s a great browser, with a media player built in
• It’s a Video player, with an option to do something else
• Photo manager, with iWork inside.
• etc….

What I’m trying to come to is that the iPad isn’t this one great fantastic device that does everything amazingly. It’s a device that does just simplifies necessities. It’s got to have at least ONE thing that’s useful to you and the rest are bonuses

What I hate:

• The bezel is too big. I don’t like how it makes the device look so square and closer to a digital picture frame.
• No camera…. No not one for snaps, but for video calls. Would be a great conferencing tool.
• Micro-sim… WHY?! I’m still trying to figure out whether I can just ‘cut’ a regular sim card or not.
• The homescreen is… empty… why?! This should be used with valuable information like how LockInfo provides to the iPhone….
• No multi-tasking is a disappointment
• No ‘linking’ or ‘syncing’ with iPhone via Bluetooth

On a side note, is it an oleophobic screen like the 3GS? I hope it will be so I can wipe off fingerprints easily.

Final question? When will the iPad arrive in Qatar? (it’ll take 2 months for the wifi version and 3 months for the 3G enabled in the US, I’m sure we’ll see imports but 3 months is enough to make me lose the excitement )

Update: So you’re looking for an iPad in Qatar? I helped set up http://www.shipmypad.com ! So go ahead and grab yours now for 1,500-2000 QR CHEAPER than the rest.

I was surprised that a blog like Engadget didn’t cover this yet.

Geoff from the office sent me over this http://blog.flurry.com/

Using Flurry Analytics, the company identified approximately 50 devices that match the characteristics of Apple’s rumored tablet device. Because Flurry could reliably “place” these devices geographically on Apple’s Cupertino campus, we have a fair level of confidence that we are observing a group of pre-release tablets in testing. Testing of this device increased dramatically in January, with observed signs of life as early as October of last year. Apple appears to be going through its cycle of testing and polish, which is expected from any hardware or software company as it nears launch.

Read more on that post to find out what they discovered about the apps that are on the device itself. Seems like there’s plenty of games! So go on, click the link above!

I miss Palm Tree Island. I remember paying QR 10 for a Dhow trip from the corniche over to the island and even getting a bag of chips and a coke!

Ah how it was easy to please me. I remember hanging out, seeing children playing in the public pools, families chilaxing on the beach, and eating at a Pizza Hut that was open while seeing the ‘adults’ enjoying themselves at a coffee shop. It wasn’t big at all. To me , it was a perfect little island. I wish I owned it now in fact! I’ve got this perfect project!

Where IS Palm Tree Island you ask? Alas, ’tis no more. It’s the island with the lone tree on it in the center of the corniche. Although it used to be add to the view, its now just a place for stupid Tennis marketing and launching fireworks.

Why was it torn down? There’s a number of stories going around. The one I hear most often is that it was supposed to be the spot of the ‘World’s Largest Water Fountain’ and it was supposed to have been created for the Asian Games. Well the Asian Games were in 2006 so I think we can pretty much say that’s not going to happen.

What makes me sad is the fact that they didn’t even have a plan in place before getting rid of it. Why not raze it once you KNOW something’s going to happen.

Ah well…. enjoy some piccies I found from around the internets. (Various sources, Getty images, Qatar embassy, and Mary Steel)

Well I’m back! I wonder how many people missed my posts!

I have to admit that HongKong wasn’t as great as people made it out to be. I had a number of issues; a few of which were poor service and rudeness in shops. (I met some wonderful people too of course).

I had passed by Macau as well and stayed at the Wynn and to make a long story short, the lock in my room didn’t work, they had to fix the lock, the lock’s problem turned out to be bigger than they thought, I had to change my room, the room I was changed to was smaller, the lights stopped working at night, the ‘Tree of propserity” (which is one of the reasons I booked the Wynn), was down for maintanence, staff in the hotel were amazingly rude, and all I got at first was an apology and a bowl of fruit (two apples, an orange, a banana, and a guava….).

I told them that an apology means nothing and that I was going to write a letter to the management in US. After going out and coming back in, service was tremendously great… I was upgraded to an apartment suite, and even the managers carried my bags….  I was grateful… but still….

Having been upgraded on the final night pissed me off since all I got to enjoy was… well nothing much really since I went straight to bed.

HOWEVER, I have to say that the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in in my life is called The Mira. It’s amazing. Staff are fantastic and the design is gorgeous. It’s like the W Hotel, but it’s more stylish and you feel more personal. The staff go out of their way to make you feel at home. I wish we had a Mira in Qatar.

Anyway, going back go to Hong Kong. I had wanted to view some great fireworks and enjoy the new years, but sadly Hong Kong isn’t the place to go for new years. They don’t really have that much going on despite what some sites say. I’ve had first had experience (and so did a few others last year), and it’s nothing special. There are three places that have anything going on 1) The Harbour 2) TImes Square, and 3) Some park I forgot the name of.

The place to see fireworks is the harbour, so I went there to check it out. So I went ‘two hours’ in advance to get a good spot and the roads were already packed. As I was trying to pass through a mall entrance, staff stopped me and told me that I needed tickets… I asked how much and he told me $1,500. What?! No way! Then he told me they were sold out. “Screw that” I thought, and I decided to take another route. I asked a police man (from the many police there creating blockades) what was going to happen. He mentioned there would be a fireworks show that goes on for 4 minutes…..

Wait… 4 minutes… $1,500 dollars for 4 minutes. When I asked if I could go through, he said no because people have to pay. I was disappointed that it seemed that new years in HK was only for those willing to throw away money. New Years should be for everyone to rejoice…

“Screw that”, I thought again, I’m going to find another view since I don’t need to be so close to see the fireworks. Nope…. I was wrong.. Police had blocked every area where people could get a view of the fireworks. The streets were packed and full. It was an amazing sight. However many of them were very angry and I was worried for a moment there would be some sort of rebellion.

My lesson? HK is the last place to go for a New Year in Asia…

All in all though, I had a good time.