Klazart and Authonomy - Update

Harper Collins Publishers today published a statement on its authonomy book-review website concerning Vineet Bhalla ('Klazart') and the great voting debacle.

"48 hours ago none of us had heard of Starcraft. That was before Klazart posted his book on the site and started to invite support from the Starcraft community. His efforts were spectacularly successful and he has reaped the rewards of these newcomers’ support. We do not consider his actions to be breaching any site rules and his book will not be removed by us."

The statement goes on to say:

"We are willing to admit that the recent events have shown up real flaws in the algorithm behind the talent-spotter ranking. Some excellent suggestions have already been made and we’ll be considering these."

A number of writers have already left the site - a vast number have stayed but are grumbling away on the forums.

Meanwhile, the book's number 6 on authonomy with over 1200 votes. Some 2,000 new users joined the site over the weekend and have yet to vote for anything.

Is this most controversial of books any good? Will it get anywhere? See for yourself: it's here. What do YOU think?

Having a Chat

"The Conversation" is a blog that is developing quite nicely, thank you very much. It's an interesting read: two smart young Arab women, one based in London and one based in Dubai, just talking about the stuff that comes to mind, that engages them and happens around them.

I don't just like it because they're both friends but because it's an interesting read - a combination of opinions that spans the world and from two people whose common experience, culture, language and friendship ties them together as it finds them apart.

It's also interesting because both have native language English skills (I like to think enriched by some of my own additions to the old vocab) - Sarsour in particular suffering somewhat at the hands of her British colleagues as she works in London: “I would die if I thought you were correcting my English, I mean... You’re a foreigner!”

So this is a plug for that blog. It's here - do have a read and let me know what you think!

Gamers Break Authonomy

It's a remarkable old world, chaps and chapesses. Really.

Many of you will be all too familiar with my involvement in Harper Collins Publishers' authonomy, the peer-review writers' site that involves thousands of writers clambering up a greasy pole to get their work in front of an HC editor for review. Every month the top 5 books, voted by the 'community' get reviewed by an HC editor (or janitor, we can't quite be sure which sometimes). To date not one top 5 book has moved beyond a read and crit, apart from a suspected 'token full read' given to my mate Simon Forward. The crits have been of variable quality, that afforded my own first book, Space, a good example IMHO of the WTF quality of some of the crits that HC hands out.

(If you would like to read some quality stuff, try my second book Olives, BTW. I ain't 'plugging' that one, though - it's a serious book about the Middle East, while Space was a comedy about chickens and stuff.)

But that hasn't stopped thousands of new writers from posting their work up there and trying to climb that self-same slippery pole. It's hard, folks - you have to chivvy people to go and read your book by participating on the forums, plugging the book and generally shouting a lot. And then they have to like it enough to vote for it - vote enough times for it to beat out everyone else and rise to the top of the begrudging souffle that is the online slushpile. You need hundreds of votes.

But, rather brilliantly, uber-gamer Vineet Bhalla, 'Klazart' to his mates, posted a YouTube video urging fellow gamers to pop over to authonomy, log in and vote for his book. (It's here...)

In a marvellous demonstration of the sheer power of social media, hundreds of gaming fans (possibly thousands) have done just that - garnering Vineet's book over 700 votes in the past 48 hours and launching it up the authonomy charts by some 3,000 places to its current 17 - and rising.

The howls from the authonomy 'community' of writers, bilked by the brash 'gamers' who've suddenly appeared on the site, have been wonderous indeed - suddenly the place has come alive again and started to pop and splutter with action and life - from apopleptic authors ranting pompously about cheats and darn gamers to gamer punks telling them all to piss off as they scrawl on the walls and pour beer on the carpets. The gamers have a point - the authonomy 'rules' make it clear you're welcome to invite friends and family. HC can't have imagined that 'family' could include over 8,000 gaming fans who follow a popular gamer's YouTube space!

Authonomy's forums, which had settled down to a rather sedentary and boring repetition of every topic, from how you deal with POV (Point of View. If you don't know, don't bother. It's not critical to your life, believe me) to whether book titles that contain leopard testicles are saleable in today's market, have suddenly come alive and thrill to the sound of argument, contention and challenge - battle, even.

It's great. It's like an invasion of anarchists at an old people's home. Any half-decent anthropologist would get a thesis and at least two bacon sandwiches out of this lot.

But the influx of new voices has been too much for the site - authonomy has gone down, baby, a mere few thousand new readers has been enough to smack the servers for six and deny access to many, the site's up and down like a tart's knicks. (Well, it is Sunday and sysadmin Rik will be down the pub sinking a few nutty browns before dragging his weary arse into the laughter factory tomorrow morning.)

Meanwhile, I do heartily recommend nipping over and taking a look at the writers vs gamers debate - it takes me back to the late 1970s and, for me, that was a good time.

Oh what larks, Pip!

Enough!

Image by el7bara via the banned website Flickr thanks to the wonder that is RSS...

The Guardian's been at it again. This time it's Simon "I saw the place two years ago through a plane window" Jenkins who has followed in a long and honourable line of Guardian writers who have lined up to give Lalaland an almost weekly kicking.

Simon's article, however, beats even Germainipops' whine for its inaccuracy and sheer noodle-headedness. He slags off Dubai for being super-planned, architect-designed and "bailed out by Bahrain and Dohar" (sic) among other things. As usual for The Guardian on Dubai, the article is so packed with untruth and unsustainable assertion that it simply does not stand up as a piece of professional writing.

It's amazing to me that one of the UK's leading and most respected quality newspapers continues to publish completely inaccurate rubbish about Dubai from people with no qualification whatsoever to be writing about the place - and I'd include actually visiting Dubai and speaking to some people here as qualification.

But the rubbish is popping up everywhere - not just The Guardian - to the extent where I'm finding myself, to my immense surprise, coming out of the Dubai corner boxing FOR the city.

I never thought that would happen!

Like many other residents who have commented on these articles, I've had enough, really. There are now so many articles packed with so much rubbish, from so many writers who have spent so little time here that you start to question whether you were right to believe in journalism in the first place.

Germaine did her research from a tour bus. Simon talks about looking out of a plane window. But the Sydney Morning Herald's Elizabeth Farrelly goes one better, starting her piece with the immortal words, "For longer than I can remember - six months at least - I've wanted to write on Dubai as a ruin. Not that I've been there..."

She goes on: "Dubai, the oilless emirate, was conceived as the business end of Abu Dhabi's more oleaginous cultural empire."

You don't have to believe me when I tell you that her article goes downhill from there - you can go and read it for yourself. I bet it makes you angry. And yet it's merely symptomatic of a whole outbreak of similar pieces, written by people that have never even visited the place they're so eager to vilify, never walked on the streets they accuse of being filled with prosecco swilling expats dazed with the crash around them.

Another excellent example of the genre is here, featuring yet another marvellous line: "So last week I spent an entire day reading newspaper articles and travel guides about Dubai and am now much better informed..."

There's plenty to accuse Dubai of - many of us posting to blogs here have had more than a few swipes at a whole range of issues. And there are plenty more, for sure.

But enough of this uninformed rubbish, really!

A Small Personal Hell

Image by Dave Delaney via Flickr

For a couple of weeks now, I have been getting the same joke appearing with increasing frequency in my 'Tweet Deck'.

Tweet Deck is a really cool application that lets you monitor several Twitter conversations or 'feeds' - you can search for, say, your company name and then you'll see any Tweet that mentions your company. It's pretty useful for taking a look at the conversation, both looking out for topics that engage you as well as for professional reasons such as reacting to customers or other stakeholders in your company/client company.

For what it's worth, many people I knew that could make no sense whatsoever of Twitter found that it all suddenly made sense when they used Tweet Deck.

But this damn joke was missing me. Every time I read it, I got more and more worried about my lack of a sense of humour. I just couldn't for the life of me see it. I know I'm dense, but that dense, really?

A couple of days ago I told someone about the joke that made no sense - and as I said it out loud, the clouds lifted and sunshine enveloped me. At last, I understood. But it's the most crap joke in the world and, because I have a Twitter feed set up for the UAE OR Dubai OR Abu Dhabi, every time anyone anywhere in the world tells this awful (and increasingly popular) joke on Twitter, I get to see it again. And again. And again...

Don't mention the Flintstones in the United Arab Emirates. Apparently those in Dubai dont get it, but those in Abu Dhabi do!!

It's like a small personal hell...

Relaxing the 30 Day Rule - Good and Bad?

It's funny how two journalists can listen to the same speech or panel session and get two completely different takes on what went down. I guess you'd put it down to 'finding the angle'.

Gulf News listened to Dubai's Department of Economic Development chief economist Raed Safadi and came away with a story that Dubai's strategic plan is under review and that 'Everything has been put on the table, the stimulus package and policies - with one aim, to safeguard jobs."

Nice.

The Kipp Report came out of the session with 'Dubai Government 'may' review 30 day cancellation policy'. They also quote Safadi as saying that everything is on the table, but add him saying 'nothing is taboo.'

If the 30 day rule is eased, a lot of people will breathe a significant sigh of relief and a great deal of experience and knowledge of this region could potentially be retained. A great deal of misery would be avoided for thousands of families.

Of course in this post-Klondike era the yahoo financial services types, the vendors of quack remedies, card sharps, good-time girls and real estate sharks would also get to stay on for longer, too.

But you can't have everything...

New Rules for a Decent Dubai?

Image via Wikipedia

Saturday's edition of the Dubai-owned Arabic language daily Emarat Al Youm carried on its front page a piece of news that, strangely, other newspapers didn't rush to file - although The National and Kipp have it today and AFP filed on it. I can't find it in 7Days, GN or KT. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

Below is an informal translation of the key elements of that article. Any errors in translation are regretted and will be corrected as soon as advised.

According to Emarat Al Youm, a new set of decency guidelines has been promulgated by the Dubai Executive Council and, according to the paper, these have been shared with government and private sector organisations.

• People are requested to respect the history, culture and traditions of the United Arab Emirates and to avoid improper behaviour in Dubai.
• Residents are asked to show respect to the authorities, flag and national emblems of the UAE, including its rulers. Insulting these is considered a punishable crime.
• Appropriate, modest, dress should be worn in public - particularly in government offices and public areas. Trousers and skirts should be of proper length and not reveal the body improperly. This includes not wearing 'bad' logos or photographs on t-shirts etc that could be seen as offensive to any element of society.
• Beachware should be appropriate and worn at the beach only. Nudity is absolutely prohibited and is punishable by law.
  
• Public displays of affection should be appropriate. Only a husband and wife can hold hands in public. No kissing or other displays of affection such as hugging in public are permitted. Sexual harassment and the making of sexual overtures to women are not permitted.
• The taking of drugs and alcohol are prohibited in Islam. Because of the diversity of society in Dubai, the taking of alcohol is permitted. However, anyone caught under the influence of alcohol outside of places where the sale and consumption of alcohol is permitted are subject to fines or imprisonment. Medicines that contain drugs not allowed legally in the UAE should not be taken.
• Drink driving will not be tolerated.
• Drivers are obligated to wear seatbelts, ensure children sit on the back seat, not use mobile phones when driving, give way to civil defence personnel, not slow to watch accidents and park only in designated areas.
• Smoking is not permitted in government offices or shopping malls by law.
• People are asked to refrain from playing loud music in public places such as parks, beaches and residential areas. Dancing and music are permitted in licensed venues.
• Music should not be played in public places or cars near mosques, particularly during the Azan (call to prayer). Smoking, eating and drinking in public are not permitted during Ramadan.
• The holding of any religious activity in public, whether Islamic or otherwise, should only take place with appropriate permissions.
• Recognising people's need to co-exist in peace, giving offense with insulting and aggressive gestures are subject to punishment by fine and jail. The guidelines ask for priority to be given to the elderly, pregnant women and people with special needs. People are also asked to avoid loud conversations, laughter or whistling in public.
• The guidelines do specify that spreading malicious rumours that can harm the public good will be punishable by law.
• People should take care in taking photographs and taking photographs of families and women in Dubai is not pemitted.

The above guidelines, in my personal view, are a welcome clarification, for visitors and residents alike, of what is and is not appropriate behaviour in the UAE. Ever since I first came to this country in the 1980s, I have been aware of the above, as have many people who have lived here for some time.

This is nothing new, people. It has always been this way in the UAE. All of it, including the holding hands thing.

It's good that now, better late than never, it's down in black and white and people can be quite sure of where they stand. But let us be very clear this is a restatement of what has always been the case here. It's not a 'new crackdown' or a new 'tightening' or any other such tosh. It's the way things are and always have been here. Just because people have got into the habit of disrespecting those norms does not mean that reaffirming them is any form of restriction or clampdown.

And if you don't like it, yes, you do know what to do!!! :)

Iraqi Shoe Thrower Sentenced

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Iraqi journalist Muntadhar Al Zeidi has been sentenced to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at former US President George W. Bush ('Thickie' to his friends), reports Associated Press.

Al Zeidi pled innocent: "What I did was a natural response to the occupation," he said.

He could have been sentenced to up to 15 years, so some have talked of leniency. Others point out that many of us would pay good money to a) have done it ourselves b) see it done again or c) have a range of other objects thrown at Thickie.

Anyway, Spot On PR is hosting a poll on the affair and so you can goto this link here and vote on whether you think the sentence is barking or not.

Have a lovely weekend!

International Anti-Cybercensorship Day

12 mars - Journée mondiale contre la cybercensure
Uploaded by rsf_internet

Today, the 12th March, is International Anti-Cybercensorship day.

Dubai Sharjah Block Offical

The RTA has finally officially owned up to blocking the rush hour short cut through the desert between Sharjah and Dubai in today's Emarat Al Youm, which carries a story on the blocks.

Many of you will by now know this as 'the snicket' having read about it here. Oh! And here and here and here, too! Let alone here, here or here! In fact, I realise that I've been writing about the snicket since here back in May 2007!

Well, now they've apparently told Emarat Al Youm that they've blocked the desert because of the large volume of traffic that used the snicket. I must have missed those large volumes clogging up the roads because I never once saw the snicket causing a jam or any other disruption to the traffic until they started blocking it - apart from some tailbacks caused by some ill-considered temporary speedbumps that had been placed before the roadworks on the Dubai side which are now, in any case, complete.

According to the official quoted by EAY, they've done it for our own safety.

That's interesting, because the only explanation I had heard for the move before was some flibble about buried electrical cables.

I didn't see a single accident on the snicket until I started seeing cars that had smashed into the concrete blocks they had put just over the other side of sandy hillocks or that had torn off bumpers or caused other damage trying to get through the blocks.

But it's nice to know we're safer now, anyway...