The web for me is a hobby where standards and best practices are daily bread. Security is a concern that everybody must be aware of its details for IT in general, and the web in particular, to be a safer place. My life, on the other hand, is that of a regular Lebanese citizen where politics and social issues are discussed on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and make sure to drop me a comment about any topic you find interesting.

If you receive an email related to the suspension of your Standard Chartered account with a link to www.standardchartered.ae in it asking you to login in order to update your account settings, don't click on it.

Beware of it. This is a phishing email leading to a phishing website and has been reported as such. Just don't click the link in that email. The website it takes you to is: http://sinhwatech.com/V1/Standardbankae.html

I checked it again right now and Google is reporting it as a phishing website but it is good to note it here just in case you didn't have the Google bar installed.

Recently, I am noticing many individual walking around with huge lighters in hands and (barely) in pockets. Huge lighters (similar to the one shown in the picutre) are being considered as pretty cool these days by many. While I agree that such a thing is somehow cool, we must be aware of the many risks associated with this type of lighters especially when using them in crowded places (like restaurants) or when temperature is high (like the summer).

It is a well known fact that a small lighter (almost 1/8 the size of the huge lighter) can cause sever damage to the ears if it explodes. Small lighters usually explode under high temperatures only. If a small lighter falls down from a table, for example, it rarely explodes and, as such, you are usually safe carrying it into crowded places as long as you keep it away from direct contact with fire.

The huge lighter, however, does not share these same characteristics. The lighter that I bought as tall as a half-liter water bottle (check picture). While experimenting, it exploded from a height of 2 meters as soon as it touched the floor on its base. Another lighter exploded after 1 second from touching the fire.

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Today, I spent some time updating my blog with few stuff that should have been here a long time ago.

• AddThis is now active for you to share / bookmark articles
• A print button is finally there with an empty layout suitable for printing
• ReCaptcha is now implemented instead of the old AuthImage plugin
• Related articles are now displayed when you view an article
• Emails are required now when posting comments (so that I can reply to you at least)
• A mobile version is now available. To use it, simply go to www.victorsawma.com/mobile/

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.

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.