Blackberry -- The Comeback

I guess, October 11 will be considered the 'Death of Blackberry Messaging or commonly known as BBM' or maybe not. 

A lot of people were worried about what will happen after October 11. Some had to vent their anger and post frustrated statuses on their Facebook and Twitter, the popular social networking sites to date. 

According to Yahoo's Maktoob Business, UAE ambassadors had a positive meeting with Research in Motion (RIM) team. 

Maktoob Business

Prior to this news, the team has allowed Saudi Arabia to monitor the activity of BBM users in the country. 

I guess with a further meeting to take place, RIM team and UAE's ambassadors will come up with the best solution on how to tackle this problem. Being the Gulf's largest mobile phone user, I am sure that RIM team and Blackberry will not allow to lose this country on their top-ranking users. 

This is a relief that we, as humans, still have a right to dictate when we think technology is dominating our lives. A few years back, no one was THAT glued to the internet to check daily feeds about their friend's whereabouts or feed their virtual pets or playing video games for that matter.

 

Blackberry being suspended due to security threat

It caused a lot of boos in the mobile world - most especially to those people who are so attached to their Blackberry phones that the UAE is officially banning the BBM or Blackberry Messenger from operating in the UAE. 

After the declaration, a few countries followed the lead - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and India to name a few. 

click on this link to read more about this article

In our office, we do have a few BBM fanatics and were sad. They have used BBM to keep in touch with friends who are also users of the ever-popular Blackberry phones. As I am now part of the tech department in our office, speculations were made about why they are banning the service. 

Mentions of national security being threatened, BB users exchanging information that could and potentially harm a country (hence the national security threat), a person (not being able to follow a lead in case a murder / rape was planned via BBM) or culture (the Y generation having more freedom in expressing their thoughts without their relatives having a chance to intervene). 

Though the national security part is the most important issue at the moment because the only keeper of the BBM encryption can be found in the United States. 

I think control is important in order for each one of us to function accordingly. Let's use our companies as an example. In our companies, we have a set of rules and regulations to follow.We need to have these set of rules so that people are aware of the boundaries. Not doing this at all will cause chaos. 

This is also one of the main reasons we have rulers / presidents in each of our countries where they implement laws and decrees for people to follow. 

I guess this goes the same with BB phones. 

I believe that this will be resolved soon - depending on how the BB manufacturers will cooperate with the country's demands.  

For now, we can only wait and see. 

*Image courtesy of Yahoo! Maktoob Business (clicking on the link can also give you a history of news regarding the BBB (Blackberry Ban)

Weddings

from http://www.fineprints.ca/

is a favorite topic by ladies and well.... not so much by men. 

With this in the conversation, women, friends or not, can unite and talk about how theirs went and how they want their children (or sometimes) and grandchildren should have their weddings done. 

When I got married, there was no major fuss. First because my marriage was only in a judge's office and second, I just wanted my family to be there and share the moment with us. 

I guess time has changed differently now as a lot of brides and grooms-to-be want to have a last hurrah before they actually tie the knot.

According to this news article from Maktoob Business, a lot of hen and stag parties are being held in Las Vegas, Mexico and the Bahamas. Though some opt to do it where they plan to have their wedding - so if it's a beach wedding, the couples including their entourage hops into one airplane and when they reach the land of promise, they go their separate ways and party like there's no tomorrow. 

I guess this is a good idea so that you do not end up like the movie, The Hangover, where the bachelor's friends lost their groom-to-be that they tried to look for him all over Las Vegas. 

Another convenience about this type of trip is that the wedding planners of the event do not have to worry about bringing / monitoring the bride and groom together because they will all just be in one area. 

I guess this is another way for the travel coordinators, wedding planners and hotelier's scheme of having business in their sleeves which is a good thing - that they can still come up with good sales pitches for their customers despite and in spite of the recession period.