5 Feb, 2010
NetDesignPlus in Kuwait
In December 2009, NetDesignPlus officially opened its newest branch in Shuwaikh, Kuwait. With this opening, we will be able to better serve our Kuwait clients by being closer and in direct contact with them regarding our online services including web development, design, hosting and consultancy.
4 Feb, 2010
Hidden Fees with Malev Hungarian Airlines Online Booking System
Yesterday, I booked my first ticket online with Malev Hungarian Airlines. My trip is from Beirut to Gotenburg on July 2010.
The total fare to be charged "as per the website" was 567 USD for the roundtrip. The confirmation email (and yes I still have it and is attached below) confirms that the total charges should 567 USD. Yet, my credit card was charged 609 USD.
Being pretty familiar with Credit Card charges, I decided that this should be some sort of conversion between USD / Euro while processing the payment through their payment gateway. Thus, I gently sent them an email asking them to refund the difference.
Today, I received a reply back from them asking me to contact client service on a Hungarian phone number. I did. The woman on the other side simply checked, confirmed the price (567 USD) and said that everything is OK lol
I told her that the card was charged 609 USD. She was surprised first but, then, she remembered (surprisingly she did) that there is something that they call a "Service Fee" that is worth 30 Euros for the Lebanon region and that changes from region to region. What a joke!
She couldn't even confirm that the service fee is 30 Euros. She said that it should be around 30 Euros but there is no way for her to know the exact figure.
The worse part is that she is admitting that they have hidden fees.
The worst part is that she cannot now what the exact fee should be.
No comment from me on this. I know that this will be my last time to book with them online unless some magic occurs and someone points how something so unprofessional can happen with an airline reservation system.
13 Dec, 2009
IEEE High Availability Database Workshop
Today, I guided a workshop about high-availability database solutions at NDU. The workshop went for 6 straight hours (from 9:30 till 15:30) and was attended by more than 50 students from various universities in Lebanon. The workshop was organized by the NDU IEEE branch in collaboration with the Computer Science Club.
5 Dec, 2009
Halloween 2009
This year's halloween gathering was exceptional with the large number of babies present lol Enjoy the pictures ;)
[Visit this halloween's album]
16 Nov, 2009
One-Million Dolar Picture
The creator of this picture won a million dollar in Van cogh' talents competition which took place in Italy. Please take a closer look at the picture.
30 Sep, 2009
Google Wave: Social Networking or Cloud Computing?
What will Google Wave's primary power be in? Will it be Social Networking and thus competing with Facebook or will it be Cloud Computing and thus computing with Microsoft Live and Yahoo? Just a note for anyone reading this and willing to give his / her opinion.
To get more information about Google's Wave, visit the URL below:
https://wave.google.com/wave
25 Sep, 2009
How To Recover Your Hotmail / MSN / Live Passport Account?
Did you lose access to your Hotmail / MSN / Live account and cannot reset your password using normal techniques (like Secret Question / Answer or Alternate Email)?
If yes, here is the link that allows you to "try" to recover your account by contacting Microsoft directly.
https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlidvalidation&ct=eformcs
Click on the link above and fill in as much information as possible. Make sure you use an email address that you have access to. The more information you provide (contacts in your address book, folders, email activity, etc.) the more convincing your request will be for the staff member who will be reviewing your request.
Normally, if convinced, Microsoft will simply reset your account password and send it over to the email address that you provide. Pay attention not to get confused between the stolen account email address and the email address that you want to receive the recovered password on.