The Pan Arab Web Awards Winners 2007

The Pan Arab Web Awards Winners 2007

http://www.panarabwebawards.org/index.php?page=winners07

COngartulation to MSM, Times of Oman, Aljazeera, Etihad Airwas, ,...so on.

Bye

Oman: Environmental protection requirements

The Government of Oman has updated its National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Legislation passed in December 2005 has been implemented, applicable to any company or organisation that may be vulnerable to oil spills and/or any other form of hydro-carbo contamination in the course of their business, whether it be on land or offshore. This is also enforced by article (1)0 - Pollution Control and Environmental protection Law - covered by Royal Drecree No (114/2001). The Government of Oman has signed an International Maritime Organization (IMO) document which stipulates that, from January 2007, Oman's Coastal Areas have 'special area status'. One of the conditions stipulated by the IMO to retain this 'special area status' is that Oman should upgrade its current in-country environmental protection from a Tier I to Tier II capability.

‘Modern Technology in Industries’ conference started

MUSCAT — Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry and chairman of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estate (PEIE) inaugurated the ‘Modern Technology in Industries’ conference yesterday at Crowne Plaza Hotel. Maqbool while inaugurating said that the concept of the conference is significant since it plays a definite role in the region including the Sultanate. The challenges of globalisation and major developments in technology, information, export, marketing and training are main issues dealt with by the conference. Maqbool said organising such conferences and gatherings will boost the medium and small scale industries and training the nationals to get a major role in productions and acquire modern information technology. Sultan bin Salem Al Habsi, chief executive officer, PEIE delivered a welcome speech. The two-day conference which concludes today will also see 41 experts working in IT sector from the Sultanate and Arab and Gulf states presenting their working papers and take part in the deliberations.

Google maps the Darfur crisis

Google is using its popular online mapping service to draw attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a joint effort with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Google has updated its Google Earth application (free download here) with high resolution satellite images and special icons to draw attention to destroyed villages, displaced people and refugee camps.
Google Earth allows users to focus on satellite images and maps of most of the world.
When users scan over the Darfur region, where the United Nations estimates that more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of carnage, Google Inc hopes to attract their gaze with icons. The icons represent destroyed villages with flames and refugee camps with tents. When users zoom in to a level of magnification that keeps most of Darfur on a computer screen, much of the region appears to be on fire.

Google faces brain drain

Web search giant looks for ways to retain its soon-to-be-wealthy workers.

By Mark Schwanhausser, Elise AckermanSAN JOSE MERCURY

Less than three years after going public, Google Inc. is confronting one of the more confounding consequences of its phenomenal success: a potential brain drain of its earliest — and richest — employees quit after earning the right to cash in the last of the stock options that made them millionaires.
Hundreds of the 2,300 Googlers hired before the Internet juggernaut's initial public offering in August 2004 are hitting their fourth anniversary. When they do, they'll be free to cash in the final portions of their pre-IPO options, collectively worth an estimated $2.6 billion before taxes.

So far, the exodus has been limited to a "handful of people," said Stacy Savides Sullivan, Google's chief culture officer and a 43-year-old pre-IPO millionaire herself. "We anticipated more because we think it would only be natural. We worry every day about this and hope we can stay ahead of it."
"This is what any of these companies struggles with," said Steve Patchel, a tech-industry pay consultant in the Santa Clara, Calif., office of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a human resources consulting firm. "There are all these moving parts. Nobody can ever get it perfect."
Google's story is also a case study of how companies must learn to manage overnight millionaires who think more like "volunteers" because they're no longer motivated primarily by pay and can quit at any moment.
Sullivan can relate. Hired when Google had only about 50 employees, her first stock options finished vesting in 2003, though she said she didn't mark the milestone because her husband handles their finances. People ask her all the time why she bothers to keep working.
"I know this sounds corny, but I still have fun here," Sullivan said, then adds a remark that cuts to the heart of Google's challenge.
"That's the only reason I stay. If it weren't enjoyable, I would leave."

Calderon is new coach of Oman

MUSCAT: Argentinean coach Gabriel Calderon arrived in Oman on Friday as he prepares to lead the national team in next summer's Asian Cup finals in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, the Oman Football Association have announced.
The former Saudi Arabia coach will succeed Czech coach Milan Macala.
Calderon, 47, coached Saudi Arabia in 2004 and led them to the 2006 World Cup before he was axed by Saudi Arabia Football Association in December 2005.
"I have big ambitions to do something for Omani football," said Calderon. "I have a good perception of the Oman national team which is one of the best teams in the region," he said.
"I will prepare the Omani players well especially considering how difficult Oman's group in the Asian Cup is."
"The campaign needs our full concentration and a lot of effort, especially in the first match against Australia," said Calderon.
Oman are in Group 'A' for the Asian Cup with hosts Thailand, newcomers Australia and 2004 quarter-finalists Iraq.

Google apologizes to China's Sohu.com

By Reuters

Google, which is seeking to broaden its presence in China, on Monday apologized to Sohu.com, one of the country's major Web portals, for using third-party technology in its latest product launch.
Sohu said an investigation by its technicians found a method of typing in Chinese characters released by Google in China last week had copied a product by Sohu.
In response, Google said that the product had in its initial R&D stage been built "leveraging some non-Google database resources" but that Google had since upgraded the system.
"We are willing to face this issue of ours. While we apologize for the inconvenience this may have incurred to users and Sohu, we have also adopted immediate actions," Google said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.

Oman's top construction firm celebrates 35th anniversary

FROM very humble beginnings three-and-a-half decades ago to the biggest construction firm in the country and the largest private sector employer of nationals — Galfar Engineering and Contracting Company has indeed every reason to be proud of its accomplishments.
And it celebrated its 35 years of existence in style last week with a gala ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the presence of a gathering of some 400 high-profile dignitaries, including ministers, under-secretaries, senior government officials, diplomats and leaders of the business community.
The guest of honour was senior Royal Family member and Minister of Heritage and Culture Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said. “We at Galfar decided on the very first day that we will be one of the premier companies in construction and a contributor to the economic development in this blessed country,” Chairman Shaikh Salim bin Saeed al Araimi said addressing the audience. The company has more than kept its pledge. It is now the Sultanate's premier construction and engineering firm with an annual turnover of more than RO300 million that is expected to cross the RO400-million-mark by the end of this year. Out of the 18,500-plus employees, 4,500 are Omanis, whose number is expected to top 5,000 in the coming months of 2007.
“We have given the utmost importance in developing our human resources and we are proud of our achievements in Omanisation,” Shaikh Salim underlined. Galfar was launched as a small civil construction company in Muscat in 1972 by Shaikh Salim with a handful of employees, including a young Indian manager, P Mohammed Ali, now the Managing Director. Its first project was the Wali's villa in Sur. It has not looked back since.
The company, which has left an indelible mark in every sector it operates — oil and gas, roads and bridges, environment and building and construction — has carried out or been associated with many of the prestigious projects executed in Oman. Several more are under various stages of implementation by the company. It has also made a significant contribution towards the country's educational development with the establishment of two institutions of international standards — the Caledonian College of Engineering, affiliated to the Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, and the Oman Medical College, which is affiliated to the West Virginia University, USA.
Araimi said the company, which now also operates in several other countries including Brunei, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, had always stuck to its commitment to quality, completing projects on time, safety of its employees and ‘above all, honesty and integrity in our profession.’
It is now in the process of going public. “In view of these achievements, we as Galfar owners think that a company of this size should be owned by more Omani nationals,” Araimi said, adding: “So we have decided to transform Galfar into a public limited company. We have started the initial steps in this regard. Insha Allah within this year Omani nationals will have the opportunity to own shares of Galfar.”

Sakhr Software in final stages of completion for Oman's biggest E-Government educational portal project

Sakhr Software, dedicated to provide Arab users with state-of-the-art intelligent solutions is currently handling the biggest E-Government project in Oman that is focused around an electronic educational portal for the Omani Ministry Of Education.

The project, which will cover in its first phase two educational zones, involves 200 Schools and 116,000 Students. Work on the project started in the middle of 2006 to provide via the portal several e-government services for parents, student admission and registrations, student transfer, issue certificates, and much more. In addition to providing the SMS (School Management System), the project aims to provide two other major services: e-learning and an Internet Portal System which will establish communication between students, teachers, parents, zone administrations and everyone else involved in the educational process. Mr. Fahad M. Al Sharikh, Sakhr Software CEO said,

'We are delighted to be given the opportunity to build this very advanced and progressive e-Education portal for the Oman Ministry of Education. We would be providing the mechanism to transfer the educational data to electronic form so that it is easily accessible to all relevant educational departments.'

According to Yahya bin Saud Al Sulaimi, Minister for Ministry of Education, Oman, 'The e-Education initiative would help the flow of information between parents, students, teachers and the Ministry and is certainly a step in the right direction in shifting the existing education system to a more advanced level.'

Sakhr Software team members have successfully completed all stages of development for this project recently and the portal will be activated in the next academic year 2007/2008.

Currently Sakhr has a team of project managers, team leaders, software designers, developers and quality control engineers proceeding to the deployment and training phase. To provide a tailor-made solution for the client, the Sakhr team members were relocated to Muscat to execute the project in the Ministry Of Education premises.

The project is the biggest of its kind in the GCC area and it is expected to roll out to all schools in Oman (1000 Schools) in less than five years. Sakhr has also been serving the Omani Ministry Of Education since 1996 using the IT school management system which is running in more than 800 schools successfully.

Microsoft, SQU, MECIT empower students with .Net Club

Oman Daily Observer

By A Staff ReporterMUSCAT — Microsoft and two leading universities in Oman have launched the .Net Club initiative. Open to all students at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Middle East College of Information Technology, the scheme will provide students with access to the latest technology, training and software. Microsoft .NET clubs have been established in universities and colleges around the Gulf with the aim of creating a community that helps students to build bridges with the IT industry and to develop their own interest in technology and software development.

Students at these higher education institutions in Oman who join the Club will be able to access the Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance, which gives them free access to the latest development tools, operating systems, server software, documentation and technical references. “Many students leave university with minimal experience of the work experience and the challenges their chosen industry faces,” explained Khaled Salman Abdul Rahim al Belushi, .Net Club Chairman, SQU. “We are offering them, through this partnership with Microsoft, a chance to realise their full potential through a club that will give them access to the IT industry, major players within it and the chance to learn from them and their peers.”

The students will join a regional and international community of .NET clubs that exchange experience and knowledge online, and will also be able to leverage Microsoft’s support for working on .NET related projects and arranging and participating in industry events. “Fostering talent and enabling our student to reach their full potential is our main goal” explained Ahmed Saleh al Najashi, .Net Club Chairman, MECIT College. “The opportunity we are giving to our students through this launch is life-altering and I look forward to witnessing the effect such access to the IT industry has on the club members.”

An internship programme attached to the .Net Club enables Microsoft to help graduate students find employment and fit into the workplace with ease. Similarly members will benefit from participation in summer training courses and entrance into the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. “Microsoft’s vision is of a campus presence where students from different backgrounds and interests, connected by a love of innovation and technology, interact on topics that are relevant to their lives and the realisation of their own potential,” commented Abdullah Lootah, Country Manager, Microsoft Oman.

“As a company we are committed to the growth of skills within our future generation and equipping them with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed. Our partnership with both these universities has provided us with another platform from which to achieve this goal.” Microsoft launched the first .Net Club with Dubai Women’s College (DWC) in April 2006 and currently runs 17 across the region.

Google Responds to Yahoo by Increasing Gmail Storage to Infinity Plus One

From BBspot

Mountain View, CA – Google announced today that soon customers of their Gmail service will have their storage size increased to "infinity plus one." The announcement comes shortly after Yahoo's announcement that their Yahoo mail customers would be given unlimited storage.
Greg Tomkins, an engineer at Google, is credited with coming up with the "infinity plus one" idea. "I was out in the yard when my kids ran up to me yelling at each other. My son said to my daughter, 'I hate you to infinity.' She replied, 'I hate you to infinity plus one.' And right then I knew I had the solution to competing with unlimited storage," said Tomkins.
He continued saying that his son's idea about putting "dragons and Pokémon" on the Gmail pages didn't go over as well with management.
Tomkins also said that they would be using new RAID technologies which allow them to store copies of e-mail in parallel universes. This means that if their servers crash they will be able to recover your data from another universe where they haven't.
"Once your Yahoo e-mail box is full, you'll be able to transfer it to Gmail and add one more message," said Tomkins. "Those Yahoos will have a hard time beating that."
Related News

When contacted about the Google announcement, a Yahoo representative said, "We will be making an announcement shortly about our million-trillion-billion infinity storage," and added, "Neener, neener, neener."
Not to be left out of the storage bonanza, a Hotmail representative said that while they "can't offer unlimited storage, they can delete all your e-mail at random intervals in conjunction with their Live OneCare service, to make sure you never run out of space."

Cellucom Oman Shows the Excellence in COMEX 2007

Cellucom Oman won the best Mobile Retailer of COMEX 2007

ClickPress

Cellucom, one of the fastest growing distributors and retailer of mobile communication devices and accessories in the Middle East, came out on top at this year’s Best Mobile Retailer Award of COMEX 2007. Sajith Pillai ,Country Manager Cellucom Oman received the Award by Dr.Salim Sultan Al-Ruzaiqi CEO of ITA.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Isa Al Harthy, minister of transport and communications, opened the 17th edition of Telecommunications and Information Technology Exhibition — Comex 2007 — at Oman International Exhibition Centre.

The mega event, organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and Information Technology Authority (ITA), is bringing together technological excellence of the international telecom community. Comex continues to grow serving as a hub for discussions between attendees and organisations.

The five-day event is an important platform for Oman's economy as it facilitates knowledge and information exchange along with introduction of new products and services into all industries, sectors and households. The event is structured with two sections, one for 'business' and the other for 'shopper'.

Accepting the award on behalf of Cellucom, Sajith Pillai, Country Manager, said, "It is very encouraging to see the Team Cellucom being recognised on their journey towards providing best Mobility products and high quality service . We are rapidly spreading our wings and this accelerated growth and reach will create more happy customers.

“Although we are 18 month old to the mobile market in Oman, we are very optimistic about our success and growth here,” Sajith Pillai, Country manager, Cellucom Oman. “We foresee a huge potential in the mobile phone industry in Oman, with the steady increase in mobile penetration over the recent years. We look forward to catering to the changing demands of consumers in the Sultanate of Oman by offering our range of cell phones and accessories and ensuring high quality service.”

Cellucom, the premier distributors and retailers of mobility products and one of the fastest growing retail chains in the GCC region has accelerated its growth in Oman, with the opening of its two new showroom in Sohar on 1st March 2007 and Salalah on 22nd March 2007 .

The telecommunications sector in Oman is poised for dynamic growth over the next few years. The presence and strategic expansion of Cellucom in Oman, coupled with our focus on providing value added services and attractive content will further spur the growth of Oman’s telecommunications sector,' added Sajith Pillai.

Cellucom has adopted a two-pronged approach for its plans in the region by focusing on both its retail outlet and product portfolio expansion. The company is broadening its product line by placing greater emphasis on its concept of 'MOBILITY' to its customers.

Oman's first e-payment gateway

Khaleej Times correspondent

MUSCAT — Plans to launch Oman's first 'e-payment gateway' (ePG) have been unveiled here, opening up new channels and modes of payment for the public.
An ePG is a system that authorises and processes payments by accepting payment information through different channels such as the Internet, mobile and kiosks, providing greater convenience to citizens. Users will be able to make payments using their credit card, debit card, or direct bank transfer. The facility does not at present exist in Oman.