For decades, the "Middle East crisis" was a headline about crude oil, tankers, and the price at the pump. But as of March 2026, the stakes have shifted from the engine to the motherboard. While the world watches drone strikes over Isfahan and naval skirmishes in the Persian Gulf, a more quiet, more lethal war is being fought over the very building blocks of the 21st century: semiconductors. The "Digital Iron Curtain" is falling, and it isn't just dividing East and West—it’s threatening to starve the global AI revolution of its most basic needs. The Helium Hostage: Why the Strait of Hormuz is the New Silicon Valley We’ve long been told that the South China Sea is the "front line" of the chip war because of Taiwan’s dominance in fabrication. But the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran has revealed a terrifying bottleneck: The Middle East is the lungs of the semiconductor industry. To make the world’s most advanced 3nm chips, you don’t just need engineers;...
If you login to Google+ you're going to see a new tab on the left hand column. It is called Local and the icon is of a person and a map pointer. Google Local now integrates Zegat ratings, from the site that used to charge $25 annually for access to its diners ratings of restaurants from across the globe. Google+ Local now has these ratings available for free when you search for places located close to you. Once you find a place and want to review it you can do so by using the 'Write a review' icon. Your ratings are then also available in Zegat reviews. So posting to Google + Local will also show up in Zegat. Both the services are now tied together after Google bought Zegat for in Sep 2011 with reports saying that Google paid 150 million dollars. Google is now expected to build a powerful competitor against yelp.com - which refused a 500 million buy out from Google.
Google+ Local: How does it work
Once you click on Google+ local you get two bars one to enter the service you want to find and the other for the city you want to find it in. Once you enter a search term you get to see if any of your contacts from within your circles have reviewed any of these places and services. You can then write a review and to do this click on the pencil icon. You then get a pop-up with the Zegat 30 point rating system. To rate and review, if the default labels are not related to your review you can change the labels by clicking on wrong labels. This can happen when you want to review a park for restaurant labels appear. Once you write a review your review is posted under your name and no alias is allowed. This review will also get cross posted to Zegat. You can also find reviews from top reviewers or people from your circles.
If you're wondering what the 30 point rating system of Zegat is:
26 - 30Extraordinary to Perfection
21 - 25Very Good to Excellent
16 - 20Good to Very Good
11 - 15Fair to Good
0 - 10Poor to Fair
Google+ Local for mobile available here.
Learn more about Google+ local here.
With Google+ local you can share photos from your favorite places, write and share reviews of the places you like to eat at, stay at, play at, dance at or have fun at.
Google+ is a simple and easy way for you to find great restaurants and places in your city. Also lets you research cities you might be visiting and find great places and services there too. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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