How to be 'smart' and safe while shopping online

Consumers should be mindful and cautious that they don't deal with unscrupulous merchants who promote duplicate goods.

It is the era of smart devices, which provide 'anywhere' communications, access to information and entertainment, as well as being indispensable tools. And not to forget the remarkable increase in the number of social networking channels has made complex activities like access to information, sharing information, online publicity of products, all a matter of a few clicks.

Such phenomenon, although has simplified and made life a tad easier, and the ones making the most of these 'smart' technologies are the traders who publicise and demonstrate their products and services online to reach the biggest number of consumers.

Social networking portal websites have become very important for marketing and demonstrating of services amid the competition among the traders, who do their utmost to provide the best services at best prices to largest category of the consumers. 

Despite all these privileges and facilities made available for consumers, they should be very careful that their rights are not encroached upon. 

The DED, entrusted with the responsibility to maintain highest standards in doing business economically, socially and culturally, in addition to making Dubai a highly advanced digital economy, advises consumers to avoid purchasing expensive products until they are sure about the trade licence of the firm selling it.

Also consumers are advised to always take a copy of the purchase bill or receipt as well as warranty of the product which serves as a shield for their rights.

Consumers should be mindful and cautious that they don't deal with unscrupulous merchants who promote duplicate goods, as these are illegal and punishable offences and not allowed by the DED.

The most important steps that precede buying items is ensuring the specifications of the product placed on its ad, and going through all the details before buying it. 

We advise consumers to avoid buying products related to like skin and body care, medicines among others which may cause allergies and harm one's health due to incorrect dosage or without a medical prescription.

The DED has urged consumers to benefit from these online and social networking channels in terms of comparing the prices and the specifications to choose the best product matching their needs.

The department is keen on doing away with any possible fake websites that breaches its laws.

This is done by appointing a number of DED inspectors to keep a watchful eye on the business accounts on the social networking websites to root out any fake or illegal practices that don't comply with DED rules.

DED calls all consumers to join it in eliminating any illegal practices by reporting any suspicious websites by dialing 600545555. To stamp out such channels is a national and social duty of each and every member in the society. - khaleejtimes

Electric car startup unveils Batmobile-style prototype

Faraday Future's employees include former executives from Apple, BMW, Google, NASA, Tesla and other prominent firms.

The mystery electric car startup Faraday Future, which seeks to "redefine mobility," unveiled its first prototype vehicle on Monday while offering few details on its ownership and structure.

The company called Faraday Future took the wraps off its Batmobile-style vehicle which is part of a plan to compete against the likes of Tesla and reshape the auto sector.

"We are embarking on a complete rethink of what mobility is," said the company's senior vice president of research and engineering, Nick Sampson, unveiling the "FFZERO1" prototype car on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sampson said Faraday intends to move "very fast" on its plans and has already announced a $1 billion factory to be built near Las Vegas.

In just 18 months since its founding, Faraday has 750 employees and intends to produce its first car within two years.

Faraday will move fast because it will act "more like a technology company than an automotive company," Sampson said.

At the event, Faraday confirmed a "strategic partnership" with China-based media and tech firm Letv, but did not elaborate on its ownership or even indicate who is its chief executive.

The company told AFP that Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting is among its investors.

Its employees include former executives from Apple, BMW, Google, NASA, Tesla and other prominent firms.

Sampson said Faraday has created a variable architecture platform to create multiple vehicles, and is using techniques such as virtual reality to speed up development.

He also said Faraday was exploring "new types of ownership" for the vehicles, but did not elaborate.

Based in California, Faraday Future announced its factory plans in early December, saying it would be a "first phase" for the new company, which is yet to get a vehicle on the road.

The facility is "something more than an ordinary 'assembly line,'" according to its announcement, and will include three million square feet (280,000 square meters) "for passionate creators and diligent visionaries, where new concepts will be refined and implemented."

It will create 4,500 jobs in the region. - AFP

China’s electric plane flies low to beat world rivals to market

The RX1E can fly 120km/h after just 90 minutes of charging, but will the first electric plane approved for commercial use really take off?

The government sees ‘strong market potential’ for the plane due to its environmental friendliness. But at 1 million yuan it’s not cheap. Photo: SCMP Pictures

China has given the green light to the production of the world’s first electric aircraft for commercial use, state media has reported.

The two-seat RX1E aircraft, powered by a lithium battery and an electric motor, had been approved for production by civil aviation authorities and the government expected “strong market potential” due to its environmental friendliness, Xinhua reported.

The aircraft can fly 120km/h after just 90 minutes of charging, and the manufacturer has received 28 orders so far. It can put out as many as 100 units a year.

But other specs might dampen some of the excitement. The battery drains out as soon as 45 minutes into flying, and the plane can’t climb above 3,000 metres above sea level due to power and safety constraints.

European helicopter-maker AgustaWestland's Project Zero, the world's first electric tilt-rotor aircraft, is shown in this 2013 file photo. Photo: Reuters

According to previous media reports, the project was started from scratch but with strong government backing in 2012 and received commercial flight certification earlier this year. Such rapid development has left most other rivals in the dust.

But it’s not cheap. Together with the battery pack, the plane costs about 1 million yuan (HK$1.2 million). That could buy a few Teslas.

Electric planes have been around for a while. The first buzzed off in Western Germany in the 1970s, and by now more than a dozen test models have been announced by various companies, from high-tech startups to aviation giants such as Airbus.

But Beijing seemed more eager than other countries to take the green planes to the sky. Part of the reason is the number of pilots. The mainland has more than 1,700 planes registered for general aviation but fewer than 700 pilots are available. The government expects more than 100,000 new pilots will be needed in the coming decade.

A German Elektra One, developed by Calin Gologan of PC-Aero, is shown on its first test flight in 2011. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The RX1E can help increase the size of the pool. Training a pilot on an electric plane is expected to cost only 120,000 yuan, several times less than the cost of conventional training, according to the manufacturer, Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation based in Shenyang city, Liaoning province.

The company claims the project is supported by government agencies and state owned companies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Civil Aviation Administration and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, which built one of China’s new stealth fighter jets.

The plane also met stringent quality standards, Ruixiang General Aviation said.

It has passed all the test categories required by the American Society for Testing and Materials International under the supervision of Chinese aviation authorities, Ruixiang General Aviation said on its website.

In addition to pilot training, the RX1E could be used in a wide range of sectors including agriculture, forestry and livestock management, the company said. - scmp

Belgium Cancels New Year Fireworks Over Terrorism Fears

New Year’s fireworks and other public celebrations have been canceled in Belgium’s capital city Brussels due to a suspected terrorist threat, authorities said Wednesday.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the national and local governments made the decision to belay festivities “given information we have received,” the BBC reported.

The cancellation comes days after two men were detained for allegedly planning attacks on “symbolic targets” across Brussels on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Another two were arrested on Wednesday in Turkey over suspected links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and plans to carry out suicide attacks during New Year celebrations in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Belgium has been on high alert since last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris that killed nearly 130 people, with alleged mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud and several other suspects having resided in the small European nation.

INSIDE THE BELGIAN TOWN AT THE CENTER OF THE PARIS ATTACKS INVESTIGATION

                         

A policewomen searching for evidence in Molenbeek, a heavily immigrant district in Brussels, Belgium. Feb. 2011

-time

Huge fire engulfs Dubai skyscraper on New Year's Eve

Nearly all of the 63-story Address Hotel caught fire with hundreds of bystanders fleeing smoke and falling debris.

A fire consumes the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on New Year's Eve [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters]

Dubai, UAE - A huge fire engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on Thursday just hours before New Year's celebrations with a number of explosions heard in and around the building.

The massive blaze quickly shot up the 63-story Address Hotel in the downtown area of the Gulf metropolis, covering nearly the entire structure and sending hundreds of people fleeing for safety.

"The left side of the hotel is completely gone," Al Jazeera's Diana al-Rifai reported from the scene. "There was a minor stampede - panic set in and people ran away."

The government of Dubai's media office said on Twitter that 14 people had been injured, including a person who suffered a heart attack while trying to run away. One news report said that person had died, but there was no official confirmation.

By 21.00 GMT, authorities said the fire had largely been brought under control. 

The blaze started on the 20th floor of the building and only affected the outside of the structure, Dubai's media office said.

Rifai said big pieces of the building fell from the sky and thick black smoke blanketed the entire city. Helicopters hovered around the blaze, she said.

"Apparently the fire has been put out at the top of the hotel, but lower levels are still burning. I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Rifai.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which ran up dozens of stories of the building near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 metres.

Despite the massive fire, the New Year's Eve fireworks show nearby at the Burj went ahead as planned.

People run away as a fire engulfs the nearby Address Hotel in Dubai on New Year's Eve [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters]

aljazeera

Solar Storm Expected to Light Up the Sky on New Year's Eve

The magnetic solar storm arranged a colorful show of aurora borealis in the night skies of Hyvinka in Southern Finland early morning on October 31, 2003. (Photo credit Pekka Sakki/AFP/Getty Images)

Typically, the new year is met with fireworks lighting up the sky, but this year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said a powerful solar storm, set to hit earth today, will make for "stunning views of the Northern Lights just before New Year's Eve," ABC News reports.

On a scale from one to five, the NOAA is classifying the solar storm as a G3 event — powerful enough for the Northern Lights to dip as far south as Oregon and Illinois.

According to ABC News, the projected storm is the product of a coronal mass ejection — a flare of charged protons and electrons — that burst from the sun earlier this week. As the particles from the sun interact with the Earth's magnetic field, the NOAA says that the result is a beautifully lit sky with stunning colors.

Despite its beauty, the ABC News reports that the strong storm could "cause fluctuations in some power grids, intermittent radio blackouts in higher latitudes and possible GPS issues." - AFP

BBC says website knocked down due to apparent attack

LONDON (AP) — BBC says its main news website and other sites were knocked offline due to an attack.

Service was out for more than three hours Thursday. Users received an error message and the broadcaster said on Twitter the outage was due to technical problems.

BBC later apologized for the outage. A news story posted on the website said it had been due to a “distributed denial of service” attack in which a website is swamped with more traffic than it can handle.

This is a relatively common way to target a website and temporarily make it inaccessible.

The reported attack hit a wide range of BBC websites and also affected the iPlayer and iPlayer Radio services.

The corporation’s televised news service and live radio services remained on the air.