Been All Over

Earth Hour? – Grape the Vine

Well talk about missing the boat.

via grapethevine.co.uk

Well talk about missing the boat. Earlier this week there was a global intiative aimed at saving energy and accentuating sustainability. Individuals, socities, landmarks and companies around the world joined the bid to turn out the lights. On the back of it all you can check out the "group pool" of photos which has amassed to a whopping 1,093 items just 5 days after the lights out.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned off their lights for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later, Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.

You can see before and after shots of some really cool locations as hundreds of thousands of people pitched in together to save the great battery.

Check out the pictures here. The diversity of the places and companies being represented in the album are staggering. Etihad airways made particular mention to the event:

Mr Baumgartner was one of the speakers at a seminar this week organised by Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) at ADAC headquarters to mark Earth Hour, which included an inspirational presentation from Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Ali Al Nuaimi of the ruling family of Ajman, popularly known as the "Green Sheikh" for his eco-friendly initiatives. The seminar was part of a host of initiatives launched by Etihad to promote awareness of Earth Hour and encourage long term commitment to environment-friendly lifestyle changes from its staff.

The airway is branching out services to provide flights to many different locations around the world. Flights to Bierut from Sydney, to Abu Dhabi from Bangkok and hundreds of destinations inbetween. For this size of company with this amount of coverage it's refreshing to see them taking reponsibility.

“At Etihad, we are committed to action when it comes to mitigating negative impacts of our operations on the environment, including minimising our fuel use and emissions, wisely using our power, water and other resources, and recycling wherever possible. This has led to us working closely with Masdar and other Abu Dhabi companies.”

Next time we'll make sure we've turned out the lights in our own office - just a couple of days too late. D'oh.

Bank Managers Gold - Grapethevine

I have a friend who came into a fair sum of money a few years ago. He sat down like a sensible soul and began to think about his options in terms of investments - there are a few guides on savings and investments on the Ulster savings homepage. He found himself somewhere in the middle of buying gold, or getting a mortgage: neither of which his bank manager liked the sound of.

After lengthy discussions with both sides of the coin: bank manager (who suggested a sensible option) and friends/family (frivalities rife, of course!) he decided in the end to go with some sort of bond. For me personally it would've been savings, but now that we're smack bang in the middle of a recession (despite all the powers-that-be INSISTING we're on our way out of it), it seems as though gold would'nt have been his best option! We did wonder though: would you be entitled to have a gold bar in your own property, or is it something you just "get the certificate" for?

Truth be told NOW is the time to be buying your gold. I've seen enough companies crawl out of the woodwork recently with an eye for buying your gold at knock-down prices whilst you're scraping around for what money you can get. When the recession does finally ease it's going to be up there with the best of them.

I'm still young when it comes to finances: and if you ask me, I'd have just done some more travelling!

What about you?

Grapthevine

Dubai Travellers #3 – Grape the Vine

Our Dubai Travellers series wouldn’t be complete without a look into the world of fuel-guzzling tarmac monsters. There are many different takes on cars out in Dubai, but there are a few bits in particular that have started to cause a stir…

via grapethevine.co.uk

State owned (as most companies have proven to be since we started our little research trail) Devlopement company Mubadala were going through a number of complicated sales and buy-outs to achieve what we think ended up being some sort of merger with the biggest car company in the world. VW – famously known for it’s vans – was the target of the formulaic share-shifting arrangements at the end of all the jiggery pokery.

And where there once were all sorts of complicated hand-overs and buy-outs there is now the simple question of just how fast one can shuttle those well monied business-types and their kin between Abu-Dhabi and Dubai.

The answer, although complicated in it’s design and creation, is simple. 250kmh…

And this thing looks absolutely immense...

Dubai Travellers #2 – Grape the Vine

With expensive capabilities come expensive tastes, and sea-travel is high on the list in Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed Al Junaibi, CEO, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, said:

“The MoU creates exciting business opportunities for Abu Dhabi Ship Building and DeBirs Yachts as we leverage our respective core expertise to develop distinctive luxury yachts and boats that cater to a high-growth niche market in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi Ship Building already has a formidable portfolio in the commercial shipbuilding market and we believe that this partnership will enable us to provide an even wider range of choices and more value-added offerings to our clients.”

With a merger of this magnitude the already booming boating industry of the Middle East is liable to push itself onto the field of play as one of the leading providers.

Rady W. Fahmy, Senior Director & Board Member, DeBirs Yachts added:

“Abu Dhabi Ship Building has an impeccable record being a leading shipbuilder in the Middle East and we are therefore pleased to establish a strategic partnership with them. With Abu Dhabi Ship Building’s world-class facilities and expertise and wide-reaching presence in the regional market, we are confident that we will be able to build a strong and lasting brand image in the luxury yacht and boat segment.”

synfo.com

The upcoming yacht show of 2011, which is set to take place in Abu Dhabi, will play host to superyachts from around the world. That’s right, as if  yachts weren’t luxurious enough, this will be the biggest event on any sea-farers calendar as superyachts reaching up to 42.5m will put in at Yas Marina for all to see.

ADYS is considered to be one of the best targeted shows in the region for the superyacht sector, offering yacht brokers, charterers and builders the opportunity to engage with a high calibre of interested visitors.”

sports-news-now.com

And it’s not only boat enthusiasts that ought to take note as the show will run alongside the season opening of the FIA GT1 World Championship, and with motoring enthusiasts will come all number of fans, opportunists and business men. Just one more reason that Abu Dhabi will be getting some attention this year.

The show takes place between the 24th and 26th March, and it’s set to go off with a bang.

via grapethevine.co.uk

Dubai Travellers #1 – Grape the Vine

The United Arab Emirates is a place well known for it’s surge in business recently and the implications for it’s economy are endless. The first few meteorites of cash have seen entertainment complexes spring up out of the desert sand, sports arenas playing host to tournaments and academies, shopping centres filling to the brim and streets weighing heavy under the pounding of hundreds upon thousands of tourists. Money follows money, and there’s no question that hard-hitters in any business will be finding a reason to make their way to the Middle East in the short term if they haven’t done so already.

The most obvious change in the travel industry in the UAE is air-travel. Many people had no idea where or even what it was a matter of years ago, so flights were few and far between; now that the National Airline of UAE has taken the bit between its teeth you’ll find it hard to come across an airport that won’t provide flights to Abu Dhabi.

via grapethevine.co.uk

To follow up on this story from the weekend there's been an uncovering of a new plan for a multi-billion dollar airport. Etihad airways will find themselves rehomed in "one of the world's largest" buildings with an "initial [expected] capacity of 27 to 30 million passengers per year".

The plan has been in the works for a little while; the last time the money was arranged and stacked ready to go was in 2008, but there were difficulties in the tender due to it's structuring. Originally there were to be a number of contractors and partnerships, but after an initial shake of the head from the Airports Company (the governing body in this instance), things have started looking up thanks to the arrangement of a "traditional construction contract".

The entire midfield terminal project is estimated to cost between Dh20 billion (US$5.4bn) to Dh30bn, and is scheduled for completion in 2016 or 2015.

In the meantime, ADAC is planning a number of enhancements at Abu Dhabi airport to create additional capacity to handle the growth of Etihad Airways, one of the world's fastest growing carriers.

via thenational.ae

With it's growth the company is arranging routes all over the world. Number one for flights to Dubai and an ever growing amount of other destinations. The economy is morphing and the world in turn is having to keep up. First aeroplanes, next sit-coms!!

Travel Expenses

It looks as though life is about to get harder for those of us that spend our time in the skies. After the recent faff with Mt Eyjafjallajoekull (which I managed to avoid, incidentally) airline companies are having to recoup costs by ramping up the price of tickets over the next couple of months.

"According to numbers from Kelkoo, produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, travellers can expect to pay on average £48 more on their plane tickets. This equates to an increase of around five per cent."

-- http://www.fhr-net.co.uk

The price of oil is supposed to be a factor in the whole bit, aswell: so look out for the cheapest deals you can find! Any financial investments in the flight-market could be about to drop off the back of their own mountain.

I suppose it's about fitting that massive companies we rely on to get from place to place will tighten the noose at every opportunity: who says we're in an economic crisis? It's all sorted isn't it? You say Tomatoe, I say Tomaeto, you Volcano, I say Ka-ching!

Wish you were here

Here's hoping the boys at the top have got one of those new fangled instant access savings accounts.

Come fly with me, come fly, let's fly awa-ay..

 

Of All The People In All The World – Grape the Vine

A pretty effective use of grains of rice. This is an artwork entitled “Of All The People In All The World” and unfortunately you won’t be able to see it up close and personal as the show stopped touring late last year, but this is something that I’ve had stashed away in a link-drawer somewhere, and I really wanted to share it.

via grapethevine.co.uk

A pretty effective use of grains of rice. This is an artwork entitled “Of All The People In All The World” and unfortunately you won’t be able to see it up close and personal as the show stopped touring late last year, but this is something that I’ve had stashed away in a link-drawer somewhere, and I really wanted to share it.

The premise is that every single grain of rice represents a person, and the images that are conjured are spellbinding. Have a look!

USA:

Moonwalkers:

We grabbed our pictures from here, but you can see the artists (Stan’s Cafe) homepage here, where there is a load more information and a couple of videos.

This is about as “simple but effective” as it gets.

Grape the Vine - Charity expanded

Another chunk taken from grapethevine.co.uk:

Charity donations are made up, in part, by donations made without prompting from the charities themselves. There are those that might have run into a larger amount of cash than they’re used to dealing with, or those that have suffered a loss or fallen on terbulent times and come out fortunately that will be willing to give up some of their cold, hard cash to ease the suffering of others. In the most part, though, it is down to the voice of the individual charities to create enough of a buzz that we hear it through the white noise of profiteering organisations that would have us believe that our lives would improve for whatever reason should they recieve our money. It seems wrong that the “responsibility” should rest on those that are already doing the most for the needy, but that is no more than an afterthought in the day-to-day life of the individual who will be dealing with his/her own difficulties. This is why there is such a struggle for those responsible for changing the way we think about charity and how we can donate. Companies like oxfam rely on charity to keep on going, so it goes without saying that they’ll strive to keep up the advertising drive, despite announced cuts from the government. It said: “For Government and policy-makers, levels of individual giving are one indicator of involvement in building the Big Society, and of increasing importance as a source of support for voluntary and community organisations at a time when statutory funding is being cut back.” With the government taking on more reponsibility for the cause despite telling individual organisations that they’re out in the cold, we are expecting some interesting concepts to come to the fore..

via grapethevine.co.uk

The classic tactic for charities in the modern sense is awareness on the highstreet. It has become normal by now to react with an instinctual shake of the head or a grunt, but it could be a dying art. According to the BBC there are movements towards removing this type of advertisement from our high-streets.

It's something that has only been around since the early 90s, but only recently have councils started to recieve an out-pouring of resentment for the would-be earners. Whether it's something to do with our new-found addiction to shopping (and donating?) on the internet, or just a hardening to the high-vis-jacketed workers, we're definitely finding it more difficult to accept it as a strategy.

PFRA chief executive Mick Aldridge insists that face-to-face fundraising is practised professionally according to the body's code of practice. He observes that only 0.6% of those signed up this way go on to make a complaint. It is true, he acknowledges, that face-to-face fundraising has remained steady during the downturn and its aftermath despite direct main and telephone-generated income for charities having dropped off.

In an echo to the original post, donating to charity is set to become one of the front-runners in innovative advertising. It's only a matter of time before the cross-roads are laid out infront of us, the companies, and those that reply on our careful giving. Do or die.

Redesigning for the needs of the user

Can you tell what these are? Obviously you can see that we're looking at a set of spannesr, and some sort of pads on the left - I can tell you that the thing in the centre is a "brand redesign" for the classic bottle of car oil. You know the original well - the chunky green thing that lasts through generations despite it's sticky viscous beard of oil - well this is the new age.

In our futuristic era of bright-white gadgets and blue flashing LEDs there are some designers out there who assume our travel needs run as deeply as aesthetic value. A fairly blinkered view on the matter has drawn an equally closed minded from myself on grapethevine.co.uk. Highlights:

I’m sorry, but there is no more appeal to a box of spanners based on a re-design of it’s packaging. Sorry, that’s ridiculous – of course there is more appeal – the function of packaging design is a multi-billion pound industry, it’d be ignorant of me to dismiss it, but there’s something to be said for the fact that if a woman is going out to buy something for her car, she will be doing so. Putting googley eyes on a screw-driver isn’t going to make anyone more likely to buy it if they weren’t looking for a screwdriver in the first place, regardless of sex!

This Ezine article from late last year shows you just how much women are over-running the driving scene. Insurance is cheaper because they’re expected to be safer [note: better] drivers. Another article makes note of the influx in female van drivers that are hitting the roads. There is no longer a need for driving derision towards females, and there is certainly no need to make things that are DESIGNED FOR EASE OF USE ALONE more aesthetically pleasing. I think I’ll go and engrave some words of encouragement on my saw to make a point. “Keep going sweetheart, you can do it!”.

If you’d like to see the original story, it’s here.

Source.

Switching Accounts

The BBC has covered switching bank accounts here, which I consider to be a topic close to the travellers heart.

If you're looking at going away for a while, or even for a short period of time you'd do well to take possible savings into account. It might not seem like something worth the consideration, but helpful banking can actually make or break a trip, in my experience.

How to switch your bank account

Switching bank accounts has a bad reputation for being a lengthy and painstaking process but in reality it is much easier than you think and should take only about eight weeks.

Banks and building societies are required to follow strict guidelines that make switching accounts faster and more efficient. Your new bank has 10 working days to open an account once your application has been approved and your old bank has three working days to pass information such as the details of all your direct debits and standing orders along with your credit history.

Previously, switching was often delayed by direct debit/standing order originators such as utility companies and mobile phone providers dragging their heels in passing on information. But they have improved.

However, many accounts now offer an automatic switching service which means that your new bank is responsible for switching over all your direct debits and standing orders when you open a new account with them.

 

You'll also find that a bank taking a switch will be as welcoming and useful as possible to guarantee your use of their product. Shop around and make sure you get the most out of it. Walking away to feign lack of interest is the best way to get a deal as staff pull out all of the stops to keep you with them.

How to do it

The main reason people switch accounts is to take advantage of better interest rates or better service. While many people are still reluctant to switch, it should take only a few minutes to fill out the application and can be worthwhile.

Generally, you will need to complete an application form and a transfer form and then the rest of the process will be taken care of by your bank.
To be on the safe side, always ensure that your new bank will offer an interest-free 'switcher' overdraft which covers direct debits and standing orders that go through before money is paid into the new account.

How to chose the best account

When you are looking for a new account, make sure you shop around for the most competitive rates. Or with paltry rates becoming the norm, it is worth considering overdraft charges and other services such as free travel insurance and car breakdown cover.

Bear in mind that there may be a catch on these offers, such as a monthly charges of as much as £15 or a stipulation that you must pay in a minimum amount each month, so it is crucial to read the small print.

So next time you start looking for your passport and visas remember that your bank could be much more of a problem than anything else you find on your way!

Cheers.