App of the Week: Even lazy geeks can come to see the 'go green' light

The biggest mental block geeks have to overcome before they can obey the 21st century's moral imperative to "go green" is the whole "go" part.

Any profiler worth his salt would say that a typical techie leans towards a more sedentary lifestyle, averse not only to "going", but most action verbs in general.

Let's face it, when compared to an oak tree, many of us have about the same metabolic rate, and can post only slightly better times in a 5K run.

Fortunately, smartphone apps such as the ones featured here can, with little or no effort, nudge us in the right direction, making sure that as we move towards the light of progress, we're drawn to the version that has a more greenish hue.

Go Green

Did you know that laptops use five times less energy than desktop computers? I didn't until I downloaded this simple free app (iPhone, Android) that offers suggestions on how to reduce your carbon footprint.

Each time you open the app, a new tip appears, and the old tips go to "The Green List" for future reference.

GoodGuide

When it comes to safe, healthy and environmentally sustainable consumer products, high-fibre maple and brown sugar flavoured Quaker Instant Oatmeal scores 5.9 on a 10-point scale according to this free app (iPhone, Android).

GoodGuide is a treasure trove of information that helps shoppers put more than 70,000 products and companies in the right green perspective.

This multi-featured app includes a bar-code scanner, giving you instant in-store access to all relevant information before you buy not just groceries, but also clothes, appliances and most any other consumer goods.

greenMeter

Take this app (Dh22, iPhone) on the road to measure your car's eco-driving efficiency. It displays results in real time to help you save money and reduce your commuting carbon footprint. Once you input data that is specific to your vehicle, it displays myriad graphs and scales that help you see the effects of aerodynamic drag and acceleration, and allows you to see how you can achieve measurable differences with simple adjustments, such as maintaining a consistent speed or rolling up your windows.

Have some great personal finance apps that you want to share? Write to Curt Brandao at cbrandao@thenational.ae

To mark Earth Week, The National directs its focus on the environment with Green Issues, highlighting the need for education and attention to the needs of our planet.

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

Red Sparrow

Dir: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons

Three stars

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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.

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There would be no Alphonso Davies without open borders

Hard-hit Canada is springing back to life – or to the already cliched 'new normal'

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U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)

Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh

UAE squad:

Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith