Ken had trip in January to this benighted spot with Karim of BTS, who has a wonderful way with taxis. Superficially, an attractive, Californian-style city with much good architecture, the absence of bars & nightclubs (as expected) but also cinemas, theatres & concert halls shows what enforced Islam is really like. Ken fixed a trivial problem at National Commercial Bank & installed Dealing 2000 at Saudi Cairo Bank. Banks have separate 'Ladies' branches, staffed by women & SCB told me that the ladies provide feedback: their problems & how they overcome them plus suggestions for system enhancements. Nothing from the men. An Indian programmer warned Ken that Saudi taxi drivers tape your conversations & sell the tapes to the police. 'Politics' is an illegal word & the place is full of police informers. He fingered the one Ken was working with. Photos? They are illegal, too.

...at last in March. Reuters had a non-documented feature which made what we wanted to do impossible. Fortunately, Ken had anticipated this & had a quick fix which worked a treat. Acceptance testing was proceeding in the Autumn & we had hopes of getting at least our up-front payment soon.