Innovative car washing

An innovative water-free car wash service is slowly catching on in Doha. The convenient spray-and-wipe system cleans a car in just 15 minutes.

Launched recently, the waterless wax car wash, the first of its kind in the country, uses a natural product as against the chemicals and large quantity of water used by traditional car wash centres.

The “All Without Water Mobile Car Wash & Wax Service”, introduced by “Hi Wash Company”, is currently being offered in various malls, including Villaggio and Hyatt Plaza, besides LuLu Hypermarket. The company also offers its services on call at the location required by the customer.

Going by the traditional calculations of green groups, washing a vehicle with a standard garden hose can use up to 100 gallons of water in 10 minutes. Thus the new system saves a huge quantity of water. The service is expected to get a big boost in view of the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation’s (Kahramaa) standing orders prohibiting washing of vehicles at home using a hose.

“The immediate response to our service was really exciting. As of now, we have 500 permanent members and we get nearly 2,000 orders on a daily basis. We have also reputed corporate members like Qtel”, said Vincent Achimobosi, the mark-

eting executive of the company.

Achimobosi said the membership numbers is going up daily. The company charges QR15 for a single body wash. For the members, the service is offered for QR120 for two washes a week totalling eight washes a month.

The hard yellow-brown wax used by Hi Wash comes from the carnauba palm tree (Copernicea cerifera), which is found only in the northeast of Brazil in the states of Rio Grande do Nortem, Ceara and Piaui.

The wax is obtained from the film that coats the tree’s sword-shaped leaves to protect them from the severe climate of that region. The protective compounds in the wax bond to the car’s painted surface to create a high-gloss finish that protects the surface from sunlight, acid rain, bird droppings, grime and other environmental contaminants, Achimobosi said.

“The waterless wax washing gives your car natural shine and helps to protect the paint from the harsh environment. When applied, the wax forms a thin transparent layer over the car paint. This layer covers minor scratches, stone chips and other damage, making them less visible”, claimed Achimobosi.

New internet routers

Qtel has introduced a new wireless router - B560 3G, which enables multiple users to access high-speed Internet in homes and small offices.
Each device is encoded with a unique wireless ID and wireless password, to ensure security and a sense of comfort when surfing the web. It is also capable of utilising Qatar’s advanced HSDPA/HSUPA network, offering speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps download with diversity and 2 Mbps upload.
Qtel continues to add new broadband services and products to its portfolio as part of the ‘broadband nation’ strategy, which aims to make Qatar one of the most connected countries in the region, and ultimately the world.
The new wireless router is in addition to a range of USB modems, special broadband tariffs and ‘NetBook’ devices available from Qtel.
The Qtel B560 3G Wireless Router is available for QR899, and works best with the service provider’s ‘unlimited’ mobile broadband service, which provides unlimited access to the Internet for QR400 a month.
Strong demand is anticipated from home users and small businesses, particularly since the solution enables companies to add new desks to their offices, or encourage employees to work across different locations, through an easily-managed, highly-scalable solution.

Top IT honour for two Qatar residents

Two Qatar residents have been named to a list of the 10 most outstanding Information Technology managers in the region in 2009, for a second consecutive year.
Qatar University’s Information Technology Services director Mohamed Javeed and United Development Company’s ICT general manager G V Rao have been honoured by Arabian Computer News (ACN).
The selection was based on a range of criteria, including the overall impact the achievers have had on the regional IT community, as well as taking into account their experience with their organisations. The main criterion was their ability to align business and IT needs perfectly.
“In the middle of a global financial meltdown, they have defied conventional wisdom by maintaining considerable investment in technology,” ACN announced on www.arabianbusiness.com.
The top 10 IT managers have been credited with pursuing innovation, creating new means of working where possible and finding better ways of adapting the old technology.
Some have worked hard to bring the technology community closer together; others have taken age-old institutions and given them new life.
“Given that Qatar University is a publicly-funded institution, the challenges facing Javeed were enormous, but he’s proved himself up to the task at hand,” commended ACN, a leading technology and business magazine in the Middle East.
He replaced virtually every cable in the university campus with state-of-the-art technology and a 100% wireless network.
When Javeed joined QU in 2004, the IT department had less than 10 staff. Today, he runs a handpicked team of more than 75 professionals to handle the extensive needs of the school, all while successfully resisting the call to cut costs by outsourcing core functions.
“I try to make sure that my staff understands that it is in their best interest to improve their skills in order to be competitive in the market,” he said.
Now Javeed is preparing to roll out Windows 7 to the hundreds of desktops at QU.
Rao, the first-ever recipient of ACN’s Editor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement, is described as outspoken almost to a fault, frequently calling out his fellow CIOs for their lack of vision.
“He’s not afraid to work on projects that are notoriously difficult to pull off successfully such as Enterprise Resource Planning and indeed has become a well-known expert on the latter,” ACN has said.
At United Development Company Rao is engaged in building the network infrastructure for The Pearl Qatar’s mega-construction project.
He is highly experienced in different geographies having worked across the GCC in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others.
Commenting on his achievement, Javeed said that the honour reflects on the vision of Qatar University to provide state-of-the art facilities and products to its faculty, staff and students.

Campus safety

The Clery annual report makes Qatar Foundation’s Education City the world’s safest place to seek higher education
By Sarmad Qazi
Staff Reporter

Judging by the recently released figures on campus safety, Qatar Foundation’s Education City could very well be the world’s safest place to seek higher education.
US colleges and universities (including the offshore ones) are required to publish an annual report containing information about campus crime and security policies as part of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).
US universities at the Education City, Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and Northwestern University treat the 25,000-hectare gated Education City as one campus and figures are shared.
Other colleges and academic institutions at the Education City do not require such a disclosure.
The standard chart includes such offences as murder/non-negligent homicide, negligent manslaughter, sex offences (forcible and non-forcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary of structure, motor vehicle theft, arson, hate crimes, illegal weapons possession; violations referred for disciplinary action, drug law arrest; drug law violations referred for disciplinary action, liquor law arrests, and liquor law violations resulting in disciplinary action.
The crimes are listed under On-Campus Property, Residential Facilities, Non-Campus Property, and Public Property.
The 2008 figures, the latest available, show only one offence; burglary of a structure, under the Non-Campus Property category.
During the previous year (2007), there was one incident of illegal weapons possession leading to arrest (On-Campus), while another of liquor law arrest and two liquor law violations that were referred for disciplinary action, also under the On-Campus Property category.
An official at the Qatar Foundation’s Health, Safety and Environment Directorate yesterday said: “I document these incidents and include them in the Clery chart. Other than what is reported in the mandatory Clery annual report, there are only very minor incidents that do not require disclosure.”

Nurse dies

A Qatari female nurse who had suffered serious injuries in a power transformer explosion in a school health club recently, has succumbed to her injuries and her husband has threatened to sue those responsible for carrying out the maintenance of the transformer.

According to a local Arabic daily, the husband of the deceased, Mohamed Al Haddad, is furious and blames those responsible for carrying out the maintenance of the transformer for negligence.

“I am going to sue these people. I want compensation,” Al Haddad was quoted as saying. The school health club is located in Old Ghanim area of Doha.

Al Haddad who has a young son said he had every right to know the cause of the explosion but added that so far he had not been officially informed of it.

“I have only been reading about the explosion and its causes in the newspapers. I have not been officially told anything,” he told the Arabic daily.

Fire destroys five new cars

Five brand new Toyota cars waiting to be delivered to the public transport company, Mowasalat, were gutted when a fire broke out in the huge car park behind the Toyota Tower, near Al Mana traffic intersection, yesterday.

No casualties were reported. The Civil Defence Department, while confirming the incident, said no one suffered any injuries.

A senior Civil Defence official told The Peninsula last evening that the blaze broke out at 12.34pm and timely intervention by his department prevented the flames from spreading to other vehicles.

An estimated 100 vehicles are believed to have been parked in the sprawling parking lot behind the Toyota showroom at the time. Most of these cars belonged to people staying nearby as there are densely populated residential areas around the place.

“Firefighters rushed to the site as soon as information about the fire was received and they could contain it, or it would have easily spread,” the Civil Defence official said.

Asked about the cause of the fire, he said the incident was still under investigation.

Eyewitnesses said they heard explosions a little after noon. “It was not a powerful explosion but I could hear it from at least half-a-kilometre away, where I stay,” said an eyewitness not wanting his name in print.

Another eyewitness said he was driving on the C Ring Road near the Al Mana intersection a little after 12.30pm and he could see thick clouds of smoke billowing from the parking lot behind the Toyota showroom.

“I was bringing my daughter back from tuitions at the time and saw thick clouds of smoke billowing over the car park. I immediately knew there was something wrong,” the eyewitness said.

No one had a clue as to what triggered the blaze but it is suspected that a spark from the battery of any of the five affected cars could have ignited it.

All the five Camry cars that were burnt down were brand new and parked together and were to be delivered to Mowasalat, the Civil Defence official who confirmed the incident, added.

Neither Karwa nor Toyota showroom officials could be immediately contacted for comment

TOP WEIGHT LOSS FOOD FOR 2010

If you're like most Americans, you've gained about 5 pounds since Thanksgiving. Each small holiday-season indulgence may have seemed like no big deal at the time, but added all together, they created the perfect storm for a juggernaut of jiggle. Don't believe us? Consider the caloric damage of typical holiday activities—weekly parties, with buffet tables lined with goodies and treats; cookies and cakes delivered by your well-intentioned neighbors; and seasonal beverages, from holiday lagers to rum-spiked eggnogs, that had you washing down those hundreds of extra calories with, well, hundreds of extrea calories. It’s no wonder Baby New Year always makes her debut toting a gargantuan gut!




In 2010, vow to eat better—not less, just better. Add these 9 best foods for weight loss to your daily (or weekly) diet, and watch as the pounds melt away. The best-selling weight loss series Eat This, Not That! shows you how to make a weight-loss resolution worth sticking to.




Full-Fat Cheese
This dairy product is an excellent source of casein protein-- one of the best muscle-building nutrients you can eat. What's more, Danish researchers found that even when men ate 10 ounces of full-fat cheese daily for 3 weeks, their LDL ("bad") cholesterol didn't budge.


Bonus tip: See which cheese won the distinction of “best” in the annual 125 Best Supermarket Food Awards.




Pork Chops
Per gram of protein, pork chops contain almost five times the selenium--an essential mineral that's linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer--of beef, and twice that of chicken. And Purdue researchers found that a 6-ounce serving daily helped people preserve their muscle while losing weight.




Ice Coffee
Coffee reduces your appetite, increases your metabolism, and gives you a shot of antioxidants. A study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior found that the average metabolic rate of people who drink caffeinated coffee is 16 percent higher than that of those who drink decaf. Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system by increasing your heart rate and breathing. Honestly, could there be a more perfect beverage? Plus, frequent mini servings of caffeine (8 ounces of coffee or less) keep you awake, alert, and focused for longer than a single jumbo one would, according to sleep experts. When you quickly drink a large coffee, the caffeine peaks in your bloodstream much sooner than if you spread it out over time. Start your day with an 8 ounce coffee (the "short" size is available by request at Starbucks). Or, ask for a large half caf. Then keep the caffeine lightly flowing with a lunchtime cappuccino (it's got only 75 mg, which is about one quarter of what you'd get in a 16 ounce coffee).


Bonus tip: Don't derail your diet. See our indespensible list of the 20 Worst Drinks in America.




Grapefruit
In a recent study, Louisiana State University scientists discovered that people who ate half a grapefruit three times a day lost 4 pounds in 12 weeks, even though they hadn’t deliberately altered any other part of their diets. Although the mechanism isn’t clear, the researchers speculate that grapefruit’s acidity may slow your rate of digestion, helping keep you full longer.




Apple
Turns out, an apple a day may also keep the extra weight away. Penn State researchers discovered that people who ate a large apple 15 minutes before lunch took in 187 fewer calories during lunch than those who didn’t snack beforehand. (The apples had around 128 calories.) What’s more, they reported feeling fuller afterward, too. Sure, the fruit is loaded with belly-filling fiber, but there’s another reason apples help you feel full: They require lots of chewing, which can make you think you’re eating more than you really are, says study author Julie Obbagy, Ph.D.



Eggs
Skip the cold cereal: Eating eggs and bacon in the morning can help you control your hunger later in the day. Indiana University scientists determined that dieters who consumed their biggest dose of daily protein at breakfast felt full longer than those who ate more of the nutrient at lunch or dinner. The upshot: “They were less likely to overeat the rest of the day,” says study author Heather Leidy, Ph.D. To fend off hunger, shoot for at least 20 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast.


Bonus tip: Just because it’s made with eggs doesn’t make it good for you—see our worst omelet in the list of 20 Worst Restaurant Foods in America 2009.




Beans
If you're not a legume lover, consider this: In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, scientists found that people who consumed beans were 23 percent less likely to have large waists than those who said they never ate them. The bean eaters in the survey also tended to have lower systolic blood-pressure measurements, says research Victor Fulgoni III, Ph.D. Legumes are rich in belly-filling fiber as well as potassium, which helps fight hypertension. Aim for half a cup of cooked beans 3 or 4 days a week.




Salmon
Fish isn't just good for your heart; it's good for your gut, too. That's because omega-3 fatty acids help you feel full longer, report scientists from Iceland. In the study, dieters who ate salmon felt fuller 2 hours later than those who either didn't eat seafood or had cod, a fish with little fat. The researchers found that eating foods high in omega-3s (like the ones to the left) increased blood levels of leptin, a hormone that promotes satiety. Hate fish? Take a fish-oil capsule every day - one that has 500 milligrams of the omega-3s DHA and EPA. It offers the same benefits as salmon.




Milk
Instead of fruit juice, reach for moo juice in the morning. Drinking milk at breakfast can help you eat less at lunch, Australian scientists say. In their study, overweight people who downed about 2 1/2 cups of skim milk in the morning consumed 8.5 percent fewer calories at an all-you-can-eat lunch spread than people who drank the same amount of fruit juice. Both beverages had an equal number of calories, but the milk contained 25 grams of protein while the fruit juice had virtually no protein and 63 grams of sugar. Those may be big servings, but the principle remains: Protein helps you feel fuller throughout the morning.


For thousands of great tips like these, be sure to download the Eat This, Not That! iPhone app—it’s like having your own personal nutritionist always at your fingertips!