The Ten Commandments for bloggers

The Evangelical Alliance has come up with Ten Commandments for bloggers. These commandments which are built around the original Ten C’s, are supposed to provide guidance to bloggers. They have covered some interesting ground here..

1 You shall not put your blog before your integrity

2 You shall not make an idol of your blog

3 You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin

4 Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog

5 Honor your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes

6 You shall not murder someone else’s honor, reputation or feelings

7 You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind

8 You shall not steal another person’s content

9 You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger

10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s blog ranking. Be content with your own content

Agaila Golf

I went back to the Agaila Beach managed by the Touristic Enterprises Co. in the hope of finding the Miniature golf course attached to it, open. I had passed by that area and had seen it being built some time back.

It is a proper 18 hole uncomplicated miniature golf course. Adults are charged 3KD and kids above 10, 2KD. Tykes below 10 play for free. You get a putter and a colored golf ball, along with a score card and pencil. The course features sand traps, bridges, waterfalls and some landscaping. The golf course is situated right next to the Agaila Beach entrance but is totally cordoned off and disconnected from the beach. The golf course has its own open parking on the vast open ground next to it and the entrance is a ramp from the main road into this ground. The course was designed by John C Vitale who specializes in highly cost effective courses. This is the only known miniature golf course in Kuwait.

The course was empty today. It is well maintained and well lit. A great way to spend a day.  However, beware of the Pepsi and Aquafina vending machines….

Paul Newman

Paul Newman has passed away. Actor, Race car driver and team owner, owner of Newman’s Own line of premium food products.

Paul Newman acted in Cat on a hot tin roof, the Color of money for which he received an Oscar, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid and the Silent Movie. More recently he acted in the road to Perdition and provided the voice for Doc Hudson in Disney’s animation feature Cars.

Newman’s royalties from his food business were donated totally to charities and he had started the hall in the wall camps for children with life threatening diseases.

Unspoken truth

Legalize VOIP!

The Kuwaiti media recently announced that SKYPE would be blocked by the MOC. This is widely viewed as a mechanism to plug the millions that are being supposedly lost due to unauthorized VOIP call providers.

The population is made up of a large number of expatriates, who naturally have a need to communicate with their loved ones and others in their homeland. A bank guarantee of 500 KD or so is required from a subscriber who wishes to sign up for international calling facility. This is required mostly due to the huge arrears in unpaid bills and truant customers who use and just don’t pay. Local calls are free so that just doesn’t get affected.

One is often forced to think that this is just some ploy by the MOC-Cellular operator nexus to push international calling through prepaid and post paid cellular lines, which charge a premium but also have a better collection mechanism. But that’s just not feasible for the ordinary expat who hails from Asia.

The government has been tolerant so far, with the private use of VOIP…I guess all they are saying is you are not licensed so just don’t make money out of it.

The best thing to do would be to issue licenses for VOIP operators. They can have their own gateways and infrastructure, and offer international calls to the expatriate population at a fraction of the cost. This would reduce the cost to the customer and bring in legal revenues, pulling the rug from under the illegal operators. This could also probably explain the clean up that is in effect, once the shady operators are out, then you have official players who can offer services without leakages. There would be a mechanism where a customer could make a complaint in case the connection wasn’t good enough, and get their money back.