Taher El-Shafei

Taking it to the next step

2009-07-01T12:42:00.002+03:00

"The most complete terrain map of the Earth's surface has been published.

The data, comprising 1.3 million images, come from a collaboration between the US space agency Nasa and the Japanese trade ministry.

The images were taken by Japan's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (Aster) aboard the Terra satellite." BBC

A Nasa/Aster image of Death Valley

Obama and Islam

2009-06-24T18:32:00.006+03:00

I thought about writing this post just after Obama's speech - in Cairo University - on June 4th, about the American - Muslims relations. However, I got busy with a lot of stuff at work, but now after this video started spreading on facebook, which shows parts of Obama's speech, in AIPAC, last year when he was running for presidency. On the other hand there was this video that was spreading between the Israelis.
The first video is called "Obama, the other face" and of course people are sharing it with comments like "Obama - The Hypocrite", cause they believe it contradicts with what he said in Cairo.
So I just want to let everyone know that you have to set your expectations to be kind of logical; no US president can afford to do more than what Obama did and said.
No one persuaded Obama to come to Egypt and give us this speech. Well, I don't remember that this ever happened. And NO, we are NOT that powerful nor influential to get him or the Americans on their needs to ask for a new beginning.

From here I would like to ask the Arabs and Muslims, what do we want from the US?
I'm sure I will hear different answers, none of which, will make sense. I believe the right answer should be something like "a fair player that can push the peace process forward". Except that the "fair" word in the answer is controversial.
I just want to let everyone know that Obama represents a democratic country, so he HAS to reflect what his nation want.

Will it work?

2009-06-14T19:30:00.001+03:00

"Since the first stirrings of the Arab-Israeli peace process after the Yom Kippur war, America's relations with Israel have been characterized by a paradox. Those presidents regarded as the least friendly to the Jewish state have done it the most good. Its strong allies have proven much less helpful.

This history begins with Jimmy Carter, who threatened a cutoff of American aid to pressure Menachem Begin into returning all of Sinai to Egypt, which made possible the 1979 Camp David agreement. The other most meaningful U.S. contribution to Mideast peace came under the first President George Bush at the 1991 Madrid Conference. When the Israelis refused to participate, Secretary of State James Baker withheld loan guarantees and said that Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir should call him when he got interested in peace. At one point, Baker actually banned Benjamin Netanyahu, who was representing Shamir in Washington, from the State Department Building. Madrid led to a peace treaty with Jordan, the recognition of Israel by many other countries, and the first real face-to-face negotiations with Palestinians." ....

"Happily, President Obama seems poised to defy this old dichotomy."

Slate

Words that could heal wounds of centuries

2009-06-05T23:29:00.002+03:00

"But much of the truth was there, albeit softened to avoid hurting feelings in Israel. To deny the facts of the Jewish Holocaust was "baseless, ignorant and hateful", he said, a remark obviously aimed at Iran. And Israel deserved security and "Palestinians must abandon violence...
The United States demanded a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He told the Israelis there had to be a total end to their colonisation in the West Bank. "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.

The Palestinians had suffered without a homeland. "The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable," Obama said and the US would not turn its back on the "legitimate Palestinian aspiration for a state of their own". Israel had to take "concrete steps" to give the Palestinians progress in their daily lives as part of a road to peace. Israel needed to acknowledge Palestinian suffering and the Palestinian right to exist. Wow. Not for a generation has Israel had to take this kind of criticism from a US President. It sounded like the end of the Zionist dream. Did George Bush ever exist?" Fisk

Egypt and its Media

2009-06-01T19:08:00.001+03:00

While everyone is reporting about the catastrophe of Air France's A330 flight that has vanished earlier today, reporting that it has 228 people.
"Passenger jet carrying 228 people disappears off coast of Brazil, airline says" CNN
Egyptian Media as usual astonishes me, here is what Masrawy reported:
باريس (ا ف ب) - اكدت شركة الخطوط الجوية الفرنسية (اير فرانس) الاثنين فقدان طائرة قادمة من ريود دي جانيرو الى باريس وعلى متنها 216 راكبا.
Masrawy

Someone may notice the difference in numbers 228 (CNN) and the 216(Masrawy). This is not a mistake, its true that the flight carried only 216 passengers (that is what egypt would care about), but the crew of the flight is 12 (Apparently, those are not important enough to the Egyptian media).

This is not the first time I notice something like this.

Smoking in Egypt - 2009

2009-05-30T19:11:00.003+03:00

According to the Egyptian Authority for Statistics, number of smokers stand at 13 million in Egypt. We consume 80 billion cigarettes a year costing 8 billion pounds (1USD = 5.6 Egyptian Pounds). This represents almost 22% of their income.
Masrawy

Apple & the "iPad"

2009-04-30T19:42:00.002+03:00

"A recent Wall Street Journal article proclaimed that during his medical leave, CEO Steve Jobs has been working on that mid-sized mobile device, bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a MacBook.

And just this week, BusinessWeek reported that Apple is developing a "media pad" that would let users watch videos on a larger screen than an iPod Touch or Amazon Kindle, but on a device that's more portable than notebooks and lacks a keyboard." CNN

Mobile/GSM Providers replacing banks

2009-04-16T10:25:00.004+02:00

I had this thought 4 or 5 years ago, thinking about an easy way that Egyptians can trust for making non-cash transactions. Where they can transfer their cash via mobile phone lines, something that they really trust and makes a lot of sense when it comes to small amount of money.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/04/15/mckenzie.kenya.mobile.money.cnn
This video describes how successful the model is in Kenya.
Vodafone Egypt started a similar, however a lot smaller, service two years ago that i don't see as successful.
Orascom Telecom should start doing so right a way in their operations in North Korea, where they started their operations their late last year. I remember reading something about them, starting a bank there too. Maybe this is what Sawiris has in mind:)

Nefertiti competes with the Mona Lisa!!!

2009-04-02T13:13:00.004+02:00

"CT scan reveals hidden face under Nefertiti bust"

That's just the beginning!

2009-04-01T17:00:00.001+02:00

Israel's new ultra-nationalist foreign minister has said it is not bound by a US-sponsored 2007 agreement to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

"The Annapolis conference, it has no validity," Avigdor Lieberman said. BBC

Business is tough!

2009-04-01T12:40:00.001+02:00

"What we’ve worked for, for 25 years, can be gone in 25 days, basically. That’s how fast this is moving."
BOB VISTINAR, G.M. worker, on the company’s efforts to reconcile its restructuring with union contracts

Its not a good day for the Automotive CEOs

2009-03-30T11:57:00.003+02:00

As I read the news today, I find two pieces about executives of automaker companies resigning.

First is about GM's CEO resigning as part of a bailout deal (I don't understand why are they fighting to let GM survive, it died a long time ago, let the market dectate the rules). The second is about Peugeot's current CEO whom got fired earlier today.

A lot of restructuring has to happen to the industry all over the world. These giant old companies have to be able to manuever this crisis in a better way. There is no place for ill ones.

How to do Paris with less than a 150 Euros ($200)

2009-03-17T03:30:00.002+02:00

After a business trip to Hanover - Germany and as per my itenirary, I had 3 nights to spend in Paris. I was in a situation where I had only 150 euros in cash and my credit cards were blocked by the bank.

I arrive to Charles De Gaulle (the messiest airport ever), with those 150 euros in my pocket. I need to reach Paris, find a place to stay, get to the Louvre of course, and for me it was really important to get on top of Eiffel Tower.

I start doing the math.

1. Train to Paris (RER) costs 8.4 Euros, you need to make sure that you have enough money to get back to the airport, another 8.4 Euros. That's around 17 Euros total.

2. Find a cheap ass hostel (Aloha, 20 minutes walk from Eiffel Tower and 3 minutes walk from the metro station) that can take me for 21 Euros/night, a total of 63 Euros for three nights(I had to pay 1 euro to insure that I'll return back the key for the room).

3. Need to eat and drink, I allocate 10 euros per day for this (Go to Quartier Latin, lots of cheap places to have food, don't get a coffee after 9pm, it costs 7.7 Euros without tipping the waiter).

So far that's a 110 Euros.

4. Buy 10 Metro tickets for 11.5 Euros, that's what I did and I used them for the whole trip. If you think you'll do more than 5 Metro trips a day, buy the daily Metro ticket for 6 Euros.

5. You need a 9 Euro ticket to get to the Louvre and a 12 Euros ticket to get on top of Eiffel Tower.

Get yourself a free map for Paris, whether from the airport or from the hostel, and walk around the city, try to look for the places of attraction on the map. I loved walking the streets, amazing sight seeing and amazing buildings.

Hannover!

2009-03-03T16:07:00.002+02:00

Germany!

Was never on my list of countries to vist, but here I am on a business trip to promote SilverKey.

Wish me luck

Fishy

2008-09-03T01:34:00.003+02:00

I received the news about the Egyptian businessman, Hisham Talaat Mostafa, in deep sorrow. He was referred to the Cairo Criminal Court in connection to the murder of the Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim.

I believe that there is something fishy about the whole story, the murder happened a month ago, they identified the murderer 3 weeks ago, and rumors started surfacing that Hisham is connected to the murder.

The fishy thing is that if you want to murder someone, you don't send someone, that officially works for you, to Dubai on an issued visa sent from your office to kill a celebrity and steel nothing.

This way, you're basically commiting suicide, what about a tycoon like Hisham Talaat Mostafa, who has more than 23 companies, employing more than 10,000 people and has a 10 digit fortune.

What makes it even more fishy, is that the murderer confessed right away, making the connection to Mr. Hisham. The way the news surfaced today about his referral makes it even more fishy.

LA Times summarizes it in one sentence, "The arrest of such a high-profile politician was unusual in Egypt".

I really hope that if he is innocent (which i believe), that these news will surface quickly.

The Five Most Important Lessons...

2008-08-27T00:49:00.002+03:00

I came across this blogpost last night by Guy Kawasaki about entrepreneurship which I totally agree with, you can read the full article here....

Spotlight on Egypt's marriage crisis

2008-08-13T02:39:00.001+03:00

"People who go for a picnic need to know each other a little longer than that - let alone make a lifelong commitment." Ghada Abdelaal, BBC

Big Mac Price Index

2008-08-05T02:47:00.003+03:00

Economist Big Mac's Price Index, thanks to Dody.

China's Web users top U.S. at 253 million

2008-07-26T15:02:00.002+03:00

China's booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday. MSNBC
At the same time Google revealed that its index has reached ONE TRILLION unique URLs.
"The first Google index in 1998 already had 26 million pages, and by 2000 the Google index reached the one billion mark. Over the last eight years, we've seen a lot of big numbers about how much content is really out there. To keep up with this volume of information, our systems have come a long way since the first set of web data Google processed to answer queries. Back then, we did everything in batches: one workstation could compute the PageRank graph on 26 million pages in a couple of hours, and that set of pages would be used as Google's index for a fixed period of time. Today, Google downloads the web continuously, collecting updated page information and re-processing the entire web-link graph several times per day." Check here...
Wowww!!! The growth of the internet is unbelievable, the era is just about to start...

1 Million iPhones Sold in First 3 Days

2008-07-15T22:02:00.002+03:00

Apple is continuing to prove that it is THE organization to respect and admire. They sold 1 million iPhones in only 3 days after the new release of the iPhone 3G. This is almost 4 times more than what they sold when they released the first iPhone.
This proves two things; first, is that the global presence really matters; they are selling iPhone in 21 countries this time compared only to the US last year. Secondly, is that they have this ability to drastically improve their products in a way that makes people queue for each release of a product.

Gulf & Oil

2008-07-14T21:48:00.003+03:00

According to a report, GCC states will increase by 75% in 2008 to reach $636 billion dollars! The report also projects that GCC's aggregate oil revenue for 2008 and 2009 to close $1.3 trillion dollars.
Good Money:)

Re-examined!!!

2008-07-10T01:59:00.002+03:00

A few months ago EADS (European Group) were awarded a $35bn contract ti supply the US Air Force with refuelling tankers, where Boeing (American) lost the contract. However, it was reported today that the contract was reopened and Boieng will be allowed to bid again. BBC...
This happened after Boeing and few senators campaigned to reopen the contract.
This kind-of remind of what happened with Dubai Ports World controversy back on 2006. It shows how Americans are getting more sensitive with awarding contracts to foreign companies.

Power of the internet (2)

2008-07-07T15:30:00.000+03:00

"The campaign’s new-media strategy, inspired by popular social networks like MySpace and Facebook, has revolutionized the use of the Web as a political tool, helping the candidate raise more than two million donations of less than $200 each and swiftly mobilize hundreds of thousands of supporters before various primaries."
“One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “And there’s no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet.”
More...

Minimum Standard of living

2008-07-02T02:49:00.002+03:00

While checking the news tonight i came across this report.
"A single person in Britain needs to earn at least £13,400 a year for a minimum standard of living, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has claimed" BBC...
£13,400!!! That's around $26,700!
Comparing this with Egypt just blew my mind.
Around 25% of the Egyptian Population (that around 20 million people) lives on less than $1 a day ($365 a year), Labor union has been fighting (with no success yet) to raise the minimum worker wage to a $100/month ($1200 a year).
God Bless Egypt...

Millionaires club

2008-06-25T10:25:00.002+03:00

"The number of people around the world with at least $1 million in assets passed 10 million for the first time last year, according to a report. And their bank accounts are growing even faster.

The combined wealth of the globe's millionaires grew to nearly $41 trillion last year, an increase of 9 percent from a year before, Merrill Lynch & Co. and consulting firm Capgemini Group said Tuesday."

"The ranks of the wealthy are growing fastest in the developing economies of India, China and Brazil. The number of millionaires in India grew by about 23 percent." CNN

Its very interesting how BRIC economies were performing in the past decade.

"The economies of the BRICs are rapidly developing and by 2050 will eclipse most of the current richest countries of the world." Goldman Sachs thesis said.