Writing for Souk Weekly
Priya Chen
Technology correspondent. Ex-infrastructure engineer who writes about AI and semiconductors by asking the unglamorous question: what does this cost to run?
50 published pieces
Lock Down In-Game Purchases Before the Long Holiday
More hours at home mean more prompts to buy coins, skins, and season passes. Purchase controls work better than arguments after the bill.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
Treat Hotel Wi-Fi Like a Public Place
Holiday networks are convenient and unknown at the same time. A few habits keep banking and documents out of the wrong hands.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
One Shared Album Beats a Thousand Chat Photos
Trip photos scattered across chats are effectively lost. A shared album collects them once, in full quality, for everyone.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
Sort Out Your Two-Factor Codes Before You Travel
The security that protects you at home can lock you out abroad. Text codes, authenticator apps, and backups deserve a pre-trip check.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
Your Phone Hates the Gulf Summer More Than You Do
Heat ages batteries and kills phones left in cars. A few parking-lot habits protect the device and everything on it.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
Spend Ten Minutes in Your Banking App's Settings
The security menu is the most valuable screen you never open. Limits, alerts, and card freezes do their work before anything goes wrong.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
Pick Two Learning Apps and Ignore the Rest
Every subject now has ten subscription apps. Kids learn more from two well-used tools than from a folder of guilty trials.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 3
The Doorstep Courier Scam Works Because You Are Busy
Fake delivery fees, surprise code requests, and cash switches rely on a distracted moment. The counter is a ten-second pause.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 2
Free Phone Storage Without Panicking Over Photos
A full phone usually needs sorting, not sacrifice. Backups, duplicates, downloads, and chats are where the space hides.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 2
A Household Password Manager Is Less Annoying Than Password Chaos
Shared logins, forgotten accounts, and emergency access get easier when the family has one sane system.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 2
Fix Slow Home Wi-Fi Before Paying for a Bigger Plan
A faster package will not fix a bad router position, crowded channel, weak device, or overloaded evening routine.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 2
A Family WhatsApp Scam Checklist That Actually Works
Scams rely on speed, fear, and embarrassment. A shared family rule slows the moment down.
By Priya Chen
OpinionJul 2
Fewer Apps Can Mean a Better Life
Every app promises convenience. Too many turn the phone into a noisy filing cabinet.
By Priya Chen
PoliticsJul 1
The Quiet Persistence of Who You Know
The old currency of connection still moves quietly beneath the region's gleaming meritocratic ambitions
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJul 1
The Race to Build Arabic Intelligence
New models trained to truly understand Arabic promise a technology that finally speaks the region's language
By Priya Chen
BusinessJul 1
The Quiet Scaling of the Halal Economy
Far beyond food, an ethics-driven economy of finance, travel and goods is maturing into a global market
By Priya Chen
OpinionJul 1
The Quiet Vanishing of the Calligrapher's Hand
As screens replace the pen, the region risks losing an art that was once a form of devotion
By Priya Chen
OpinionJun 30
The Courtyard Was Always Social Technology
Before air conditioning and apps, the humble courtyard quietly solved heat, privacy, and the problem of living together
By Priya Chen
PoliticsJun 30
The Majlis Is Still Where Things Get Decided
Behind the glass towers, the Gulf's oldest institution still decides who is heard and what gets done
By Priya Chen
BusinessJun 30
The Hidden Economy of the Pilgrimage Road
Around the great seasonal journeys has grown a sophisticated economy of hospitality, transport, and trust
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 30
How the Super App Ate Daily Life
In much of the region a single app now carries payments, rides, food and bills, quietly rearranging the shape of a day
By Priya Chen
PoliticsJun 29
The Region's Youth Bulge Is a Political Clock
A young population is an opportunity and a deadline at once, and the math of jobs and time is unforgiving
By Priya Chen
BusinessJun 29
The Spice Trade Never Ended. It Just Changed Hands.
The old routes that built the region's wealth still run, now wearing the clothes of containers and commodity desks
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 29
The QR Code Quietly Became the Region's Universal Interface
From menus to mosques to money, the little square has become the default handshake between the physical and the digital
By Priya Chen
OpinionJun 29
The Rooftop Is the Region's Forgotten Room
Before the air conditioner closed us indoors, the roof was where the family lived in the cool of the evening; a plea to climb back up
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 28
Super-Apps and the Regional Bet on the Everything Platform
Why regional players are racing to fold rides, payments, and shopping into one app, and whether anyone asked for it
By Priya Chen
BusinessJun 28
Free Zones and the Architecture of Ambition
How the special economic zone became the region's signature instrument for importing growth, and where it quietly runs out of road
By Priya Chen
OpinionJun 28
The Weekly Magazine in an Age of the Endless Feed
A case for the edited, finite weekly as an antidote to the infinite scroll
By Priya Chen
PoliticsJun 28
Passport Rankings and the New Geography of Belonging
How the strength of a travel document quietly sorts the world's people into tiers
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 24
Family Group Chats Need Better Travel Planning
The same chat that shares jokes can become useless when passports, flights and pickup times are buried in hundreds of messages.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 24
Keep Kids' Devices Ready for School
A school laptop or tablet needs more than a charger on the first morning back.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 24
The Phone Settings That Quietly Save Battery
A hot phone with a falling battery is often a settings problem before it is a hardware problem.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 24
How to Set Up Mobile and Home Internet
Connectivity setup is smoother when coverage, contract length, router placement and cancellation rules are checked early.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 23
Get Your Home Ready for Late-Night World Cup Streaming
Late kickoffs reward a setup that simply works: a stable connection, the right screen and sound that will not wake the whole house.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 23
Free Up Phone Storage Without Deleting Memories
A full phone does not mean choosing between space and your photos. A few steps clear room while keeping what matters.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 22
Set Up Parental Controls Before the Long Holiday
Screen time climbs when school stops. A few settings, agreed in advance, prevent a summer of daily arguments.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 21
Clean Up Your Cloud Storage Before It Fills Up
A full cloud account stops backing up your phone at the worst moment. A short cleanup keeps the safety net working.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 20
Spot a Phishing Message Before You Tap
Scam messages rely on urgency and a single careless tap. A few habits make them far easier to catch.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 19
Back Up Your Phone Before You Travel This Summer
A lost or broken phone abroad is stressful enough without losing the photos, documents and access that live on it.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 18
Check the Seller Before the Online Deal
Reviews, return rules, warranty language and payment method matter more than a low price from an unknown shop.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 17
Do Not Buy a Student Laptop by Sticker Price Alone
Battery life, repair support, weight, warranty and software requirements matter more than a headline discount.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 16
Roaming or eSIM? Decide Before the Airport
The cheapest data plan is not always the best one if activation, hotspot rules or support fail when you land.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 15
The Used-Phone Checklist That Prevents Expensive Regret
Battery health, warranty status, repair history and account locks matter more than the discount printed in the listing.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 14
Grocery Apps Are Convenient. They Are Not Always Cheaper.
Delivery fees are only the obvious cost. Basket creep, substitutions and promotion design can make the app shop more expensive than it looks.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 13
Smart-Home Gadgets That Actually Help in Summer
The useful devices are not always flashy. Timers, sensors and simple plugs can cut waste before a bigger automation project makes sense.
By Priya Chen
WorldJun 12
Geneva Is Not the Gulf, But It May Decide the Weekend
A possible signing ceremony, Pakistan's mediator role and the G7 calendar have turned European diplomacy into the Gulf's weather forecast.
By Priya Chen
WorldJun 11
The Strait of Hormuz: The World's Most Important Gap
A stretch of water you could cross in an afternoon carries a fifth of the planet's oil. This week, everyone remembered why it matters.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 9
How to Update the Mobile Number Linked to Emirates ID
The mobile number linked to identity services can affect OTPs, government logins, visa updates, banking, and delivery messages. Update it before losing access to the old number.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 9
How to Keep Digital Copies of UAE Documents Safely
Residents should keep encrypted copies of passports, visas, Emirates IDs, tenancy records, insurance cards, school records, certificates, and key receipts. Access matters during renewals and emergencies.
By Priya Chen
TechnologyJun 9
How to Use UAE Pass for Government Services
UAE Pass is the key login and signature layer for many digital services. Setting it up early makes visa, tenancy, banking, telecom, and government tasks easier to complete online.
By Priya Chen