Category: Information

I spotted new speed cameras on the First Ring Road. I think they measure your average speed because there are two cameras located at the start of the First Ring Road and two more located at the end. The first pair is located right after the highway 50 bridge if you’re heading from the Sheraton roundabout towards the Gulf Road. The road is only two lanes at that point and there is a camera pointing at each lane. The second pair is located right after the Istiqlal Highway bridge (road 30) when the multi-lane road becomes two lanes again.

The way these speed cameras work is they take a picture of your license plate at the first camera and then take a picture of your license plate after the second camera. It calculates the time it took from Camera A to Camera B and then calculates your average speed, if it’s higher than the maximum speed limit then you’re fined.

I know being 40 isn’t like being #1 or in the top 10 or top 20 but it’s still an accomplishment since Kuwait according to Newsweek is the best Arab country in the world. The results were based on Education, Health, Quality of Life, Economic Dynamism and Political Environment. Kuwait came in 24th place for Quality of Life while it loss mostly in the Education category coming in 76th place. That’s not good news. Lebanon on the other hand didn’t even make the list! Now that’s embarrassing. [Link]

Thanks Ahmed

Most of you probably already know what a Dreambox is, if you don’t then simply put, it’s a satellite receiver that allows you to watch all the encrypted channels like OSN, HBO, ART, Canal+, Nova etc.. for a flat fee of around KD15 every 6 months. It’s illegal of course since a regular subscription to OSN alone costs around KD20 a month. Well recently OSN have started swapping out receivers and one of the reasons is that they’re changing their encryption from Irdeto to Betacrypt. Once they move over from Irdeto to Betacrypt the Dreambox will no longer be able to decrypt their signal anymore and so you won’t be able to watch OSN. Personally think this is just temporary since everything is crackable but for now looks like the only way you’ll be able to watch OSN is by subscribing through them.

Qaiss from io81 has a great post on a small start up juice company here in Kuwait. The post talks about the basic structure of the company, how it works and how much it makes. He also highlights an important point at the end:

There is a market out there and huge potential for many business idea’s other than cupcakes

He is absolutely right. There are a lot of people that bake and cook food and then set up a Facebook page and start selling their goods. Other than the fact that its probably illegal to sell food from your home (since there is no way to guarantee the cleanliness) why don’t people actually setup a proper business? Why not open up a little bakery or a small delivery restaurant. What about ideas beyond food? Check out his post [Here]

A reader emailed me to tell me that Kuwait was featured in the most recent issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine (Oct 2010). A cool thing of course if it wasn’t for the fact that the article was very superficial and spoke mostly about shopping at The Avenues. I’m serious.

Outside The Avenues, the 125°(F) desert air is rising in waves from a sea of luxury cars in the mall parking lot—Land Rovers, Mercedes-Benzes, and Hummers, with a Ferrari or two thrown in. Inside, I’m swept along the marbled concourse by a tide of men in dark sunglasses and ankle-length white robes. Nearby are wives, sisters, and daughters, some in headscarves and designer jeans, others cloaked head-to-toe in flowing black garments, or abayas, and some walled behind face masks . Housemaids and nannies trail behind—domestic servants imported from the Philippines, China, and elsewhere—lugging the day’s boxes and bags.

Understanding the Kuwaiti passion for retail requires a brief civics lesson. Kuwaiti citizens—who make up only one-third of the country’s expat-heavy population of three million—benefit from a lavish package of petro benefits, including plush government jobs. “People get paid for doing relatively little, or nothing at all, and they get paid extremely well,” says Mary Ann Tetreault, a professor and specialist in Gulf affairs. “Shopping is really the only way to distinguish oneself from one’s peers.”

You can check out the full article on the readers blog located at [read-my-blog.com]

I’ve been meaning to post an update regarding the photographer for a few days now but haven’t had the chance. After my last post a very kind reader contacted me and told me she would be willing to finance the whole trip to the Hajj for the old man. She ended up passing by and meeting the old photographer and was able to get all his paper work and pass it on to a hamla who are currently processing them. Hopefully there aren’t going to be any issues and everything works out. Thank you to everyone who offered to help and a huge thank you to the reader who is making this old mans last wish come true.

A short video featuring Hasan Bomejdad, a player in the Kuwaiti national table tennis team on the hardships disabled people go through in Kuwait. The video focuses specifically on the lack of proper parking facilities or the fact that people don’t respect the disabled parking spots. [YouTube]

I get a lot of emails from people who want to setup their own blog under their own domain name and want to know where they can get a domain name from and hosting as well. Although I am sure I’ve posted this information before I figured I would do a quick refresh post about this.

Domain Names
I’ve tried a few domain name providers including DIrectNic and GoDaddy but my favorite is NameCheap. Their prices are decent and their admin interface is great and easy to use. Unlike GoDaddy (which I couldn’t stand) they don’t try and sell you services you don’t need every time you want to do something. www.namecheap.com

Web Hosting
My blog is currently hosted on Rackspace which you really don’t need if you’re just starting out. I originally started using Dreamhost and still use them to host some of my other sites. The biggest advantage to Dreamhost is the fact you can install WordPress (the software that runs this blog) with just a click of a button. Makes it perfect for a beginner to start blogging and they also have a free trial so you could try them out first before you sign up. I also think they give you a domain name for free when you first start or at least they used to when I joined up. www.dreamhost.com

I’ve got the following 5 Dreamhost codes that give $15 off a 1 year sign up and $100 off a 2 year sign up. These codes only work once and I only have 5 so if you try one code and it says it’s used try the second one. If all 5 don’t work it means they’ve been used up already sorry…

794847165544
910624757385
912484430318
915566572416
235249317682

Use the 12-digit code in the “promo code” field.

Please note the options above are not your only options. There are tons of domain name providers and even more hosting providers but the ones above are the ones I use and trust. If you have any questions just post it in the comments below and I will try to answer it.

Update: You can also use the code FIVEZEROOFF when checking out for a $50 discount.

One of the biggest events of the year is back with Kuwait Stock 2010. This year’s music line up includes a lot of great talent, here are the bands participating:

The Feeling
The Rebs
Revolution
The Juice
Dead Electrics
Jelly Shot

Location: British Embassy
Date: October 15th
Tickets/invitation inquiries: [email protected]
Website: www.kuwaitstock.info

Thanks Mahmood

Update: Just emailed asking about ticket prices and got the following

Thank you for your interest in KuwaitStock. The event is by invitation only. If you are known to a KuwaitStock sponsor and they invite you, they will let you know about what to do.

Please note that an invitation is not transferable.

Hope to see you soon

KuwaitStock Committee 2010

Girl’s, you’ve let us down. I don’t understand how Bahrain could beat us?! [Link]

Thanks FYI

I spotted this new air conditioned bus stop today in Kuwait City. It’s pretty spacious on the inside with one split unit providing the cold air and a long bench for seating. What’s interesting is the no smoking or you will be fined KD15 warning plastered inside. I wish they would apply that to malls and restaurants and not just bus stops.

Before I started 248AM I had another blog called Miskan. Before Miskan I had a photo blog (that sadly doesn’t exist anymore) called Moblogging in Kuwait. Before Moblogging in Kuwait I started off blogging at qHate.com back when the only bloggers around were just me, Nibaq and Zaydoun from Kuwait Unplugged. Thing is I’ve posted about so much stuff in the past 7 years that I’ve completely lost track of what I’ve posted about and what I haven’t. For example it recently came into my attention that I haven’t posted about Q8Books or the original Kuwait Bookshop although I could swear I’ve posted about them before. Turns out I discovered both those places back during my Moblogging from Kuwait project in 2004 but only mentioned it briefly on Miskan and with a picture on Moblogging from Kuwait (actually called Nat my girl friend in that post back then!) yet I thought I had done a proper post about it here on 248AM. Anyway since I haven’t I figured I would do so now.

Q8 Books
Q8 Books is the only used books shop I am aware of in Kuwait. There actually aren’t that many places that sell used anything here in Kuwait which makes Q8 Books even more special. The place is filled to the brim with a ton of used books ranging from novels, kids books to cooking books and more. The owner of the place is a great guy who opened the place and runs it out of passion. They even have a website that contains all the books they have in the shop, how cool is that? The store is located on the mezzanine floor of the shopping center behind Johnny Rockets Salhiya. For store opening hours and to check out their collection of books you can visit their website www.q8books.com

The Kuwait Bookshop
Everyone knows the large Kuwait Bookshop located in the basement of Muthana Complex in Kuwait City but very few people know about their first and original store located a few hundred meters away. The original Kuwait Bookshop location was the first English bookshop to open up in Kuwait (so I was told) and the location is still open and active. Although the Muthana branch is pretty cozy the original branch is even cozier. The store is two stories with the top floor being my favorite since it feels like it contains hidden treasures. I’ve been there a few times and never seen anyone in the shop but the employees tell me they do get a lot of customers. The original Kuwait Bookshop is located near Restaurant 99 on the Sheraton Roundabout.

Note: Off topic but I think Moblogging from Kuwait was my best blog so far. Sadly it was hosted on textamerica.com which shutdown and took my blog with it. Luckily most of it is still archived on web.archive.org although 99% of the pictures aren’t. It’s still fun to flip through and read my old posts there. I used to post from my Sony Clie UX-40. To read my old posts, follow [this link] click on the first image and then keep clicking next.

Seems a huge fight broke out at the Avenues last night. According to one manager working at the Avenues the fight involved around 80 people and started at Gant next to Pinkberry. According to him a lot of people were injured and there was blood on the floor. [YouTube]

Thanks Miguel

Note: Video is from Hi Kuwait

According to a survey by EuroCost International, Beirut is now the most expensive city in the Middle East and 10th world wide when it comes to housing. Beirut, “the Paris of the Middle East” is ironically more expensive to live in than the real Paris. Second place is Abu Dhabi coming in at 12. Dubai this year is off the Top 20 list. [Link]

via BlogBaladi

Last month I posted about Aysha, the Bahraini blogger who found out Al-Qabas newspaper had stolen a picture of her and published it in the newspaper without permission. Well Al-Qabas posted an apology a couple of days back… and posted her picture again.

If you remember, my whole issue was that the newspaper took a picture, my picture, from my blog without my permission. So, when I was informed that there would be a published apology on their site and the newspaper I never, ever imagined that they would actually REPRINT my image. Are they kidding? Are they seriously that naive or genuinely apologizing? My whole issue to begin with was having MY image plastered/printed in the bloody paper to begin with. They must be joking right? A cruel, pathetic joke!

You can check out her full post on her blog [Here]