Partha Srinivasan: 11/14/10

Friday, November 19, 2010

My Experiences in Dubai

Since I have arrived here, things have been rather different from the life I led when I was in Mumbai.

Lets analyse the changes:

1. Change 1: the people

The people here are warm. Its very warm. Very international. Very surreal. Something I am not used to while I was in India. Being friends with someone is also different from how it is in India. I have not really socialised as much as I would, but I am still settling in!

2. Change 2: the food

Food is a far cry from what I am used to in India. For one thing, unless you cook or a die hard vegetarian, you can forget about trying to keep your weight down. The streets are over flowing with meat and it all tastes GOOD. It is also expensive unless you know where to look for the good deals!

3. Change 3: the attitudes

For the most bit, strangers don't bother you as long as you are not creepy with them. Most Indian's here look at other Indians with a fair amount of suspicion unless it is with regard to work. I dont like how the Filipino's are looked at / treated by the locals here. The country has some problems with regards to being clean (trust Asians who are not used to a clean country to make this their own!) but it has still not reached those levels. Driving attitude here makes Delhi drivers look like angels!

4. Change 4: the travel

Metro / Taxis / Cars - those are your options! Go figure!

5. Change 5: the adjustments

Cost of renting here is through the roof!! Try a third of your bloody salary!! Groceries are cheap. Travel can be reasonable depending on your fancy. This is what I have learnt the hard way. But it is well worth it.

6. Change 6: reality check!

CHECK! ;)

See you around for more details on my experiences in Dubai soon enough.

Cheers!

Partha Srinivasan

Public Relations and Social Media Consultant
Site: http://post.parthasrinivasan.com

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Microsoft - are they going soft in the head?

I would think so.

Its been 3 weeks since they launched Office 2011 for Mac but they took a little while to get it here to the Middle East. Turns out that this wait was not enough since they have still not got it ready for the Middle East! Reason: No Arabic Support!

Few things I noticed right off the shelf:

1. The interface is super cool - I like how it looks. Retaining the ribbon despite Mac OS' default menu bar staying there, is a good move. Adding Outlook to the scheme of things to replace Entourage as a business email solution is a stroke of genius. Making it compatible with Office for Windows. Now that is nice. (may consider getting myself a MacBook)

2. People using the MAC currently use either the inbuilt "Mail" program or MS Entourage for their office emails. Both of them are not compatible backwards to any version of Outlook. The translation from Mail to MS-Outlook for Windows (any version), and vice-versa,is a long and confusing ride. With MS-Office 2011 for Mac, they have not yet figured out a way for an Entourage user to migrate to Outlook - now why would they not think of this?

3. There is no Arabic support. Why is this important? Lets just say that Arabic is the language of the region. No pressure to understand this Microsoft!

I have no grudges against Microsoft. I mean despite their holier-than-thou attitude world-wide, they still have a good thing going with their products. They just don't plan these things well enough.

I just thought it was funny that Microsoft sent a non Mac user to launch Office for Mac who did not even have a Mac to demo the unit!

The evening was not a total blow out though!! We won an X-Box - the new one, the slim one!

Anyway - with the new MS Office for Mac 2011, it looks like more people will prefer a Mac to a PC even for their business needs.