ALKHOBAR, 3 December 2002 — We are approaching Eid Al-Fitr and most folks are in a holiday mood. I know this because my inbox is packed with Eid greetings, spam and not much else. Today, I received just two e-mails that had anything to do with the business of doing business. The only places in the Kingdom where serious commerce is still ongoing are at the local souks and shopping malls.
I keep telling people that Saudi Arabia is like everywhere else on Earth, except that consumers get worse service here than anywhere else on the planet. Take this terrible example. I had my purse lifted at the local shopping mall. It took 30 terrible minutes on the telephone to cancel my credit cards and banking cards. During that time I was asked every possible question except what brand of toilet paper I used.
To make matters worse, now I have to go through the fun of getting replacement cards issued. I filled out forms for a new banking machine card at one Saudi bank, and then the manager told me sincerely to come back after the holiday to collect the card. When I objected to a 12-day wait for the new card I was given the excuse, “It’s Ramadan, you know.” I wonder what excuse I will be given next week when I complain about their poor service? I can guess. I presume I’ll hear, “It’s after Ramadan, you know.” At another Saudi bank I was told it would take at least three days for my credit cards to arrive at the branch. I haven’t seen them yet. So, since it seems that no one is in the mood to do business, let’s check out some other things.
Before we move on to the amusing stuff, I want to pass along some important information for the many folks out there who are diabetics. The charity, Diabetes UK (www.diabetesuk.co.uk), has two nice articles posted at its website. One article called, “Ramadan and Diabetes,” is interesting and at the bottom of the article is a link to purchase a book titled, “Diabetes: A Guide for South Asian People.” The guide is available in Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi, and would be a good reference for diabetics from South Asia to help them better manage their medical condition.
At the Diabetes UK site is also excellent information under an article called “Enjoying Yourself at Christmas.” The title could really be changed to “Enjoying Yourself at Eid,” because all the information applies to the upcoming Muslim holiday. It is a great resource telling diabetics how to survive parties and dinners where the meals will be loaded with sugar and fat. There is a section for modifying holiday recipes to better suit the dietary requirements of diabetics and there is also a section on healthful snacking. Actually the article is an insightful guide for anyone who doesn’t want to put on 10 kilos in the coming 10 days. Give it a read for good health.
Recently, I was introduced to the cutest website that I have seen all year — www.shoufy.com. This basic but delightful website was inspired by the book, “The Day Shoufy, the Cat, Started to Purr,” by Sharon Doenitz. The book tells the tale of a kitten, born in Riyadh, who was adopted by the Doenitz family living in Dhahran, and who eventually moved with them to Bahrain. The story teaches children many important points about caring for a kitten, it tells much about life in two Gulf Kingdoms — Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, plus it’s a great read.
Don and Sharon Doenitz came to the Middle East from the state of Oklahoma in the United States. After living and working in Saudi Arabia for several years, they relocated to Bahrain. They are inveterate cat lovers and brought their aging Siamese cat named Daisy with them to the Kingdom. After a long and happy life, Daisy passed away. That was when the Doenitz family adopted Shoufy and the book followed.
At shoufy.com children are invited to try lots of fun-filled activities inspired by the book. There is also information about Bahrain and some useful links. Last but not least there is posted information on how to have a copy of the book sent through the mail from an address in the United States.
I was really charmed by shoufy.com because it showed how two people with a simple idea could create a wonderful sharing environment for children. The site also gave a very nice view of life in Bahrain, a little geography lesson, and there was even an address provided so children could send e-mail to Shoufy.
It’s not grandiose. It’s not cutting edge. But shoufy.com is up, running and doing a good job of educating children about the Gulf. I haven’t seen many other sites with such a mission. It’s important to point out too that this is a private effort by two expatriates and the site is really showing a positive image of life in the Middle East. Often we feel that we can’t make a difference in this world. The Doenitz family is proving that it is possible to make a meaningful difference one child, one click at a time. I commend them.
So now you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy and you want to do something to make a difference in our world. Okay, how about participating in a project to determine if life exists on other worlds? No, this isn’t science fiction. This search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a demonstration of one of the uses of distributed computing. In this science, a large problem is solved by giving small parts of the problem to many computers to solve, and then combining the solutions for the parts into a solution for the problem. Recent distributed computing projects have been designed to use the computers of hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the world, via the Internet.
SETI@Home (setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/index.html) uses computers that are able to connect to the Internet to aid in the search for extraterrestrial life. Launched on May 13, 1999, the project employs a special screensaver that computer users can download from the SETI@home website. This screensaver is really special software that helps researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, evaluate the huge amounts of radio data received from the world’s largest radio dish, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
When the user allows it, the screensaver goes and gets a chunk of SETI@home data off the Internet, analyzes that data, and then reports the results back. When the computer is not being used the screensaver software is doing its work. When the computer is needed for its primary functions, the screensaver vanishes until the computer is free again. Users with DSL connections as well as those on dial-up are welcome to participate in SETI@home.
Computers all over the world have been volunteered to assist in the project. At the website there is a breakdown of contribution by country and individuals. Checking the country list, I saw that out of 226 countries participating in the SETI effort, Saudi Arabia ranked 99th in terms of the amount of participation. The UAE, Kuwait and even Afghanistan are putting in more processing time. I would like to see more parents in the Kingdom involving their children in the SETI effort. It is very difficult to find a global research project which welcomes the involvement and contribution of young people. SETI@home does. Participants in the SETI project may join as individuals or be grouped by school, company, club, etc.
When SETI@Home began, many people thought it wouldn’t work. However, the project has been very successful. As of yesterday, 4,120,045 registered users were participating in SETI@Home and they had analyzed material through a contribution of about 1,235,865 years of CPU time. A computer year is the equivalent of one computer working continuously for one year.
If you’re interested in participating in a distributed computing project, but looking for life in outer space isn’t a top priority for you, there are many other projects ongoing. Distributed computing can accelerate the discovery of important medical breakthroughs, genetic mapping and climate studies. Using distributed computing to aid mankind has launched an important concept called PC philanthropy or the giving of your PC’s processing power to benefit others. To find a distributed computing project that will suit you, peruse the lists at aspenleaf.com/distributed/distrib-projects.html. Help make our world a better place one bit at a time.
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