ABU DHABI // An electronic touch-screen kiosk at a major hotel was hacked to show an online video demonstrating humorous uses for condoms, prompting an investigation by tourism authorities.
The video appeared on a kiosk at the Souk Qaryat al Beri, adjacent to the Shangri-La Hotel and operated by Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority.
"The relevant ADTA department has launched an investigation into this situation, and the kiosk at the Shangri-La has been closed," said a spokesman for the authority.
ADTA said it would release more information when it became available.
Ways to hack into video kiosks are widely available online. The booths are said to be easy to manipulate and poorly guarded.
One website said people could gain information about the unique IP address and operating system of a kiosk by momentarily unplugging it.
Someone manipulated the kiosk at the Shangri-La to circumvent the visitor advice system and connected to YouTube via a web browser. The prankster appeared to have searched for the word "condom" on the video-sharing site, and the kiosk was displaying the result in full screen.
Abu Dhabi has 26 such kiosks since the authority began installing them in December 2008. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority routinely blocks internet users from accessing YouTube videos deemed to be obscene.
jgerson@thenational.ae
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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