Ignoring Research In Motion CEO Mike Lazardis’s threat that this would lead to bigger things, the Saudi Arabian government went ahead and turned off the BlackBerry data services as of about 4am EST today (6pm AEST yesterday). This has not made citizens happy.
Bahrainian Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa chimes in on the BlackBerry bans set to happen tomorrow in Saudi Arabia and the UAE over worries of encryption. Via his Foreign Minister’s Twitter account, he’s quoted as calling the bans “Ignorant, short sighted and unenforceable.”
Following the lead of neighbours Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon’s government is reconsidering its own stance on BlackBerry devices amid regional privacy concerns. The Lebanese Telecoms Regulatory Authority is planning talks with RIM regarding its worries. [New York Times]
RIM’s CEO Mike Lazaridis spoke out ahead of tomorrow’s banning of BlackBerry services in Saudi Arabia, coolly pointing out that “everything on the internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue.” [WSJ]
Bad luck to those in Saudi Arabia who were planning on getting full use from the new BlackBerry Torch – they’ve hopped, skipped and jumped their way to the front of the BlackBerry data services ban, ruining BBMers’ lives from this Friday.
The United Arab Emirates keep building their Blade Runner-ish cities in the middle of the desert, with buildings like the Ras Al-Khaimah Gateway, a 2.9 million square feet hotel, conference and exhibition complex that looks like some kind of alien mothership from outer space. Construction will start later this year and Norwegian architects Snøhetta say they found their inspiration in the desert itself:
Even while I knew what was going to happen when I saw this video, it shocked me when I saw it exploding the way it did, with no warning whatsoever. To be honest, I don’t know if this Saudi fighter jet is a real fighter jet or not. It sounds like one, it looks like one, and it explodes like one, so it must be an aeroplane or a duck. But somehow, some people think it may be an RC model. Still, the idea of the plane just exploding like that reminds you how fragile our technological world is–says the guy taking a plane on Monday. What do you people think? Real or model?
Sure, the Burj Dubai tower looks amazingly tall, but it’s final height— currently projected to be 700 metres— is less than half that of a new building planned for Saudi Arabia. It’s going to be 1,600 metres high. Yup, that’s 1.6 kilometres tall: taller than anything under construction anywhere, and making it easily the world’s tallest building. Think they should stick a TV antenna on the top and go for that little bit extra? I sure do.
