I wonder if this is going to end up like Betamax?
For those of the YouTube generation for whom everything is digitally perfect, there were once these contraptions called videotapes. Admittedly large and clumsy compared with your iPods, iPads and iPhones, they were our generation's only choice when it came to recording our favourite moments. No, they weren't particularly convenient, but they were what we had when it came to storing our most cherished memories. Look deep in your father's sock drawer and you'll probably find samples of these ancient artefacts.
What you won't find, however, is one labeled Betamax. Betamax was Sony's version of the classic tape format and was actually introduced before VHS. It was also, by many accounts, superior to JVC's VHS format, thanks to superior picture quality and reliability (one thing the digital generation has never had to deal with is the frustration of your favourite tape tangling halfway through a movie). Yet in less than a decade, Beta had disappeared and VHS owned the market until those infernal DVDs came along. All manner of reasons were given for the ascendance of JVC's technology, the most common of which was superior editing and playback capabilities for professional videographers, though it may just have been a matter of VHS tapes offering three hours of recording time to the 60 minutes of a typical Betamax. Like Windows triumphing over Apple's far superior operating system, it remains that a more sophisticated technology lost out to an inferior one for reasons that had nothing to do with consumer satisfaction or preference.
I'm starting to get the same feeling about electric cars. Never mind that they will be, for the present and near future, as impractical as the Pony Express - useless in cold weather (and almost as bad in hot), limited in range and requiring frequent and prolonged resting/feeding breaks - drivers have taken up the siren call of supposedly emissions-free motoring and will not abide any questions of an electrified future. Never mind that the much-vaunted Better Place battery-swapping scheme seems like nothing more than a Machiavellian scheme to gain control of all automotive battery manufacturing and thus, in a Bill Gates-like monopoly, the entire automotive industry. Never mind that superior, longer-term technology like hydrogen fuel cells - that promise equally emissions-free yet far more practical motoring - have been put on the back burner thanks to our obsession with anything electric. Ignore, even, the fact that this recent fascination with battery-powered cars is nothing new; steam- and electric-powered cars competed with the internal combustion engine at the turn of the century (automotive battery swapping was even tried as early as 1897) and lost for the same reason that they are an inferior solution today. We are forging ahead as if consumers will welcome, Windows-like, another inferior technology that will make all our lives smaller and more complicated.
Google, for instance, recently added plug-in vehicle-charging station locations to its US mapping service (type in "EV charging station near …" and you'll be rewarded with the now-familiar little balloons showing the closest high-voltage outlet). Nissan still promises hundreds of thousands of Leafs despite a dreadfully slow start to sales/production roll-out. Fisker edges closer to giving us an overpriced luxury EV, all thanks to an incredibly generous half-a-billion-buck cash infusion from the US federal government.
Meanwhile, closer to my Canadian home, the Prince Edward Island provincial government has decommissioned two hydrogen=fueled buses that were part of the capitals' Charlottetown Transit for lack of federal subsidies. Sympatico.ca reports that fuel had to be trucked in from Quebec because local production, via wind turbines, was cut back for lack of funding. And in the US, President Barack Obama's 2010 budget cut development funds for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to US$68 million from US$169 million, a figure dwarfed by the money being doled out to EV manufacturers.
Indeed, hydrogen programmes are seemingly being cut back the world over. GM's once extensive fleet of hydrogen-powered Equinoxes hardly warrants a public relations' e-mail these days, BMW's once headline-seeking Hydrogen7 hydrogen-fueled V12 7 Series is nowhere to be found and Ballard Power Systems, once the darling of the ecoweenie set and proclaimed by many news outlets as the future of the hydrogen-powered car, is now completely out of the automotive business.
Though diminished, development does continue, however. Hyundai recently announced a Blue2 hydrogen-powered car at the Seoul motor show and Mercedes-Benz and Honda soldier on with significant fuel-cell development. Mercedes is conducting an around-the-world trek with its hydrogen-powered B-Class and Honda's FCX Clarity is being leased to high-profile intenders like actress Q'orianka Kilcher.
The big problem, like electric cars, is refuelling, with Los Angeles currently having only 10 hydrogen fill-up stations. It's worth noting, however, that while hydrogen-powered cars face tremendous obstacles - the need for onboard high-pressure storage tanks and (like EVs) a lack of refuelling infrastructure - both the Mercedes and Honda take less than five minutes to fill up compared with the hours it takes to recharge an electric vehicle.
So the question remains: will the auto industry evolve logically from gasoline/diesel-fuelled cars to electric extended-range vehicles and from there, on to hydrogen fuel cells that, with development time and money equal to what is being poured into trendy EVs, offer a more practical alternative to fossil fuels? Or will we all drink the Kool-Aid, rally to the electric vehicle's illusion of pluperfect motoring and then find ourselves one day hunting down outlet "scalpers", skulking outside downtown parking lots, furtively offering quicker charging stations for but a modest (read exorbitant) surcharge?
And wondering how the heck it all went so wrong.
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.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Book%20Details
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SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Company%20profile
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 424hp
Torque: 580 Nm
Price: From Dh399,000
On sale: Now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
