Saman Darkan, the founder of MyMetroTalk, launched the online city guide this month. The Dubai-based portal aggregates hotel, restaurant, club and spa information. The 26-year-old British Iraqi talks about why he thinks his website will fly.
How is this portal different from other information aggregators?
It is a venue-listing site with several unique twists. You can see a video [of a venue] that would give the user an overall ambience of what that place has to offer. We also have quick response (QR) codes [or bar codes]. If you have a free QR application on your smartphone, you can scan the QR code of a particular venue from any of our listings' webpage, and save the contact details of the listing to your smartphone. We have a database of over 7,000 Dubai listings such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, spas and salons. We also adapted a restaurant's recommended dish module from the ratings users give it, and [an user] can see which dishes are the most popular.
Many of the categories do not have listed prices. Any plans for this?
Approximate dining prices for two is in place for restaurant listings. In terms of individual dishes, we have something interesting in the works.
What made you come up with the idea?
With all the new places opening up every day, with all the existing options, if you missed the marketing that follows with a venue, then you missed the news. The only way I am going to hear about it is through word of mouth or through my direct social circle. [Many of the locations] you would not find unless you are looking for it directly. [MyMetroTalk] keeps all the well-recommended places in one platform.
How confident were you that MyMetroTalk would get traction?
We launched it on January 8 and we have been getting 10,000 unique visitors a month.
How would you generate revenues?
Right now we are not generating any revenues. But we hope to start within a month. We have put together a platform that utilises community feedback and provides guidance when it comes to answering a popular question, "where do you feel like going?" It is answered by the Talk Finder Tool, [which] allows you to search the best community ranked places on our website by your mood, situation—whether you are single or with family, and environment, whether you feel like being on the beach or stay indoors. There will be an added feature in place where venues can utilise the exposure received by posting special offers or ads. On other parts of the website you can also sponsor listings to appear first in results.
How much did you invest? How many people are working on it?
Our initial investments and expenditures [are] over Dh500,000 [US$136,137]. [We expect] to turn a profit by the third year. There are eight people. I am the founding member, and there are three more people in the core team: Ranime Loutfi, Mohammed Mirza and Suzanne Darkan, my sister.
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name:Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder:Muhammad Khalid
Based:Abu Dhabi
Sector:Generative AI
Initial investment:Undisclosed
Investment stage:Series A
Investors:Core42
Current number of staff:47
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Need to know
When: October 17 until November 10
Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration
Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center
What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
