Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights.[1] Following Sydney’s lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008.[2][3] Earth Hour 2010 will take place on March 27, 2010 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., local time.

So are you participating in this world event ?

• 81% of total participants access the internet from home while 41% access it from work.
• 45% of total participants do own a computer of their own today while 39% have a shared computer with family members.
• 24% of total respondents consider themselves internet experts.
• 49% of total respondents consider themselves “internet” knowledgeable but do sometimes require help.
• Top reasons for total respondents to use the internet are: e-mailing friends at 83%, reading news at 78% and searching for job opportunities at 77%.
• 87% of total respondents state the internet has replaced print for political news.
• 90% of respondents state the internet had now become their main source for business news coverage.
• 45% of total respondents are comfortable making them while 55% are not comfortable- to varying extents.
• 70% of total respondents feel that virtual contact has sidelined personal social interaction.
• 53% of total respondents feel there is too much information available on the internet.
• 65% of total respondents would be interested in pursuing online education in the future.

It is also nice to know on how other think with regards to the internet. Middle east is also known place where lots of Filipino stay and work. So any comments ? This kind of information might be a source of strategy that an internet entrepreneur could use. There are only few known English site in Middle East compared to USA or any other part of the world since mainly they use Arabic language on their site.

Source : Bayt.com

What is an eGate card?

eGate Card is an electronic card that can be used to enter and exit the Kingdom very easily and in no time using the latest technology and registration of biometric features.

eGate has recently been applied at airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

eGate card advantages

If Time = Money, then Saving Time = Saving Money

· No need to stand in line to stamp your Passport by the Passport Control Employee

· No need to have your ID checked by the Passport Control Employee

· Speedy procedure for entering or exiting the country

· Safety

· Speed

· Simplicity

How much does eGate cost me?

Subscription Type

New ( SAR 300 for  1 Year ,  SAR 550 for 2 Years )

Renew ( SAR 270 for 1 Year , 2 Years for SAR 540 )

Where can I get the eGate card?

Currently the card is available Gate#2 at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh.

How can I get it?

1. Simply go to the Registration Center at the King Khaled Airport.

2. Passport employee will check your ID and will enter your biometric features (fingerprint and eye print) to the system.

3. The eGate Card will be issued to you along with your picture.

This new system if implemented in Saudi Arabia will help lots of frequent travel in the Kingdom, Las time when I visit Dubai it took me an hour falling  in line in Immigration due to numerous people being serve at that time. It will be more advanced if they linked the eGate card to our Iqama ( Saudi National ID ) and use the iqama as the eGate Card, since our iqama is now machine readable.

This is really a nice technological advancement in Saudi Arabia. Will it be possible to be implemented in Philippine as well ?

Update : Upon searching the internet I saw this site

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