If you beam it, they will come. A pastry shop in the capital gets a bright new marketing tool. One morning almost a month ago, Mohammed al Amer woke up in Abu Dhabi, drove to Dubai, and paid Dh1,700 for a 3000 watt spotlight. That evening he drove back to Abu Dhabi and stowed the light in a back room at Ya Zaein, the small restaurant he manages. On February 22 he consulted the restaurant's owner, and they decided it was time. At 7.50pm that night al Amer wheeled the light (it has wheels) out of Ya Zaein's front door, plugged it into a free socket, pointed it toward the sky above Airport Road, set a 45 degree sweep and switched it on.
At first he was disappointed. "The man who sold it to me said the range was 10 kilometres," he recalls. "But it goes something like one kilometre." Still, the beam was impressive: people could see it from blocks away. Al Amer let it run for three hours, gave it a one hour rest, then turned it on for another hour before going home. He's done the same every night since. "It's a special publicity thing," he explains. "We don't really need to advertise normally. Sometimes we put something on the radio or in Al Ittihad, but everyone already knows about us. We're just trying to make our special mark on the area." (Along these lines, Ya Zaein also has a machine that projects laser-light displays on an exterior wall - and has outfitted its outdoor seating area with a small tiled pond that houses goldfish and a live turtle.)
Al Amer and Ya Zaein's owner thought of the idea together, and they have not decided how long they will keep shining the light. "We might get rid of it in two days or two weeks or two years," al Amer says. "But I really don't see why we would remove it." As for the power bill: "We don't care what it is. We'll pay." The bulb had 600 hours of life when new, so the light will probably keep probing the night skies for at least three more months.
So, is it working? Are people noticing the light, walking towards it, reaching Ya Zaein and realising: "hey, I'd like some manakeesh"? Al Amer says it's too early tell, though it has been easier to give night-time customers driving directions over the telephone. He's also been getting a lot of remarks from regulars - some of whom are so used to breezing through the front door that they don't notice the light when they walk in.
"Some people come in and say: 'Maybe the light is coming from a military base,' even though it is right there," al Amer notes, chuckling. A quick poll of people walking around the neighbourhood on a recent evening revealed several competing theories of the light's origin, including: the house of a rich man, the birthday party of a rich child, a big store with a sale, a new restaurant, a military base.
Back at Ya Zaein, Rex Velasco, a waiter, was dusting off the light while its beam cut through the air, revealing bits of sand still swirling from the weekend's storm. Al Amer watched from his usual perch, a counter-height chair behind the cash register, with a mix of pride, bemusement and slight buyer's remorse. "I really would like 10 kilometres," he sighed. "But it's just not the case, is it?" * Peter C Baker
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
THREE
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
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Company%20Profile
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RESULTS
Main card
Bantamweight 56.4kg: Mehdi Eljamari (MAR) beat Abrorbek Madiminbekov (UZB), Split points decision
Super heavyweight 94 kg: Adnan Mohammad (IRN) beat Mohammed Ajaraam (MAR), Split points decision
Lightweight 60kg: Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Faridoon Alik Zai (AFG), RSC round 3
Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Taha Marrouni (MAR) beat Mahmood Amin (EGY), Unanimous points decision
Light welterweight 64.5kg: Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE), Unanimous points decision
Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Haroun Baka (ALG), KO second round
The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
