Category: Interesting

Kuwaitism (yes he’s back) posted a BBC report he found on Kuwaiti entrepreneurs. It’s a very short piece which is disappointing since it’s a very interesting topic. I really couldn’t figure out what BBC was trying to say with this piece, all I understood was that the Kuwaiti government helps Kuwaitis set up their businesses, so why aren’t there more entrepreneurs? That’s fine as an intro but they spoke to just 2 entrepreneurs and one government official and we’re really left with no investigation or conclusion. For example I’m sure laziness isn’t the only reason for lack of entrepreneurship, what about the fact that the market is flooded with international chains? Maybe rents are too high as well? I’m not sure since I am just guessing here which is why I would have liked BBC to really dig into this subject. If you can’t see the video above for some reason here is the [Link]

Compared to our flashy yellow plastic ones I think theirs look a lot nicer.

I am not a huge fan of art unless it’s something really strange or different and I think this painting fits into that category easily. Kuwaiti artisit Nawaf Al-Hmeli has two oil paintings based on two Kuwaiti horrifying mythical creatures the Tantal and Hemarat Algayla. I honestly had never heard of these two creatures but this is what the artist says about them:

Hemarat Algayla (painting pictured above)
Half Woman/Half Donkey creature which hunts children and feeds on them “ONLY” at noon when the sun is blazing hot. It used to be the elders way of preventing children from wandering about at noon and keeping them safe so they’re not subject to neither heat strokes nor kidnapping.

Tantal
Tantal is a myth created by the elders in order to keep children from going out at night and ensuring their well-being. More like the Kuwaiti version of the Boogeyman if you like. The stories coincided with the disappearance of a young boy at that time who went out to sea at night and never came back. People immediately blamed it on Mr. Tantal here and the myth grew. 20 years later, this man comes along looking for his family and told everyone his story of how he was kidnapped and sold to a Persian man as a slave when he was a kid.

I really love the artist for bringing these two mythical creatures into focus since it allows me to share it with everyone. I’m not sure if there are any more myths but if there are would love to hear about them as well. I don’t have any information on the size of the paintings or if they are for sale but you can check out the artists deviantART page [Here], the Hmarat Algayla painting by clicking [Here] and Tantal by clicking [Here]

Thanks Safaa

A friend and colleague of mine who’s attending the Cannes Lions right now tweeted some pictures of Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa (Creator of The99) on stage presenting. I believe he’s the only Kuwaiti to ever take the stage at the Cannes Lions yet alone present.

The Cannes Lions is one of the largest and most prestigious advertising festivals in the world.

The North Korean airline, Air Koryo now flies in and out of Kuwait once a week. Supposedly this new route was opened to cater to the increase of North Korean workers coming to Kuwait which makes sense since North Korea isn’t really a blossoming touristic destination. What’s also interesting is this route is the first nonstop link between North Korea and Middle East. Make sure you visit the Air Kroyo website since it’s as outdated as their plane above. [Link]

Thanks Aws

I saw the camera above on Gizmodo today. It’s a digital camera that’s waterproof and costs just KD10. Seems like the perfect thing to take to the chalet on weekends and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. It’s a 1.3MP camera which doesn’t sound like much but it’s more than you need for Facebook or posting on a blog. It also shoots video but from what I read the quality isn’t that great. In case you drop it the camera floats on the water which is pretty cool as well.

Anyway here is the link to the camera on [Amazon]

Update: My friend just told me he got the Kodak camera above from Amazon for KD18. It’s 12MP and looks a lot cooler than the KD10 camera I originally posted. It also comes in 3 colors. Here it is on [Amazon]

All the shops that are located under the streets adjacent to Safat Square have now been closed down. The shops used to sell random items from counterfeit perfumes with funny names to cheap toys and clothes. I always thought the shops didn’t fit very nicely with the location and it looks like they’ve now been closed down as part of the renovation process Safat Square will be undergoing.

Safat Square is actually surrounded by fences at the moment which I thought were set up because the construction work was going to begin but turns out the fences are there because of the demonstrations that have been taking place.

I just found out an interesting fact. I originally thought that Google was the one that was adding more details to the Kuwait map like new streets and highways but it turns out it’s people around Kuwait who are doing the updates. The video above is a timelapse showing how Kuwait City originally used to be and how it’s become more and more detailed over time. The details are added using Map Maker and basically anyone can add updates but once they are added a moderator has to approve it and then it takes a month or two to show up. Interesting to know. [YouTube]

Thanks Yousef

Aramex Shop & Ship have now set up Chinese mailboxes for all their customers which sounds great but what exactly can we get from China and where do we order it from?

The first thing that comes into my mind is buying stuff from Hong Kong sellers on eBay. A lot of times when I am looking for Tamiya parts and cars on eBay, the sellers with the good stuff are based in Hong Kong. Another thing I can think of but still hobby related is websites like HobbyKing.com who have most of their stock based in Hong Kong as well. You can now order stuff from there HongKong warehouse and have them ship the items by EMS to your Chinese mailbox.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Did you know there is a Chinese Amazon?

Note: If the Chinese mailbox hasn’t shown up in your shopandship.com page be patient, they’re currently in the process of generating accounts for all their clients in all 26 Shop & Ship countries.

[YouTube]

Ali Taqi, a student at AUK emailed to tell me about their performance in the Microsoft Imagine Cup that was recently held in our region. The Imagine Cup is a student technology competition where the aim is to create technology that will help solve the worlds toughest problems. The AUK students came first in Kuwait and second in the GCC and have now qualified to the next level which is to compete on an international level in New York. Their idea is very simple and according to them was inspired from the blog.

The students saw how when I took a picture of a problem and posted it on the blog the proper authorities would find out about the problem and get it fixed. So the students came up with the idea of creating a software which would be set up with a variety of different authorities (emergency services, garbage collection, health ministry etc..). They then would create a phone application for people so that when they find a problem, they can just snap a picture of it and then have the application send it to the proper authorities along with a geotag so that the location of the problem can be located quickly. They’ve called their idea the Revolutionary Reporting System or RRS for short.

In the video above for example they’re showing you how this software can be used to report an accident. Usually you would waste time trying to get a hold of the emergency call center and then trying to tell them what the problem is and where the problem happened. With this software they created things would be a lot easier.

I wish the guys involved in this project the best of luck (Ali Taqi, Bader Al Mohammed Ali, and Eissa Al Qadeeri). It’s a great idea and I for one would use it all the time. I do think they need to work a bit more on the video presentation before the New York event so maybe a local film maker can volunteer to help them out with this.

You can read more on this project by visiting the AUK website [Here]

I was reading on Me Blogging about her visit to the Swatch exhibition in Geneva where they had on display all the Swatch watches ever produced from 1983 up till today. That made me want to dig out my first Swatch watch which is the one above. I purchased it back in the 80’s from Fay in Salmiya. You could try finding your first Swatch by clicking [Here]

A reader emailed me to tell me that Google sent him a note saying they’ve updated the maps for Kuwait. So I just checked it out now and it turns out its true, the maps did get updated and are now much more sharper than before. Above for example is the latest shot of Kuwait Towers on Google Maps while below is an old shot I had posted on the blog ages ago. As you can see specially from the sea and land edges, the new updated images are very sharp and very clear. But, it looks like their satellite passed over and took pictures in the middle of a dust storm or something since the new shots are all very gloomy and dark. That’s really too bad since on a bright sunny day the shots of Kuwait could have turned out amazing.

If you want to check out Kuwait on Google Maps click [Here]

I was leaving Sultan Center a few minutes ago when I spotted a fire that had just started at Al Fanar Complex. I believe it’s River Island. [YouTube]

Update: They evacuated the whole mall. When I was there it was filling up with smoke really quickly and I was just checking twitter and people posted about being evacuated from the movie theaters via the fire escape:

@msallam88: Reporting live fron fanar cinema exiting through the fire exit cuz there’s a fire

@A_alshahry: 7areeeeeja bil fanar kaaaak & got kicked out the film

Also @A_ALTuwaijri uploaded the photo below, looks like it’s gotten worst since I was there.

Update2: Here is another picture this one taken by blackfoxx5, looks like the fire has spread to the adjacent stores…

Update3: Looks like the fire has been extinguished. Picture below by AzizohStix

Update4: The blogger spunkmania managed to take pictures showing the aftermath of the fire. Below is one of the pictures but he has more [Here]. I’m pretty impressed on how the fire managed to remain contained and not spread to the rest of the shop or the adjacent ones.

A friend of mine was at Kinko’s in Salmiya awhile ago and it turns out they were robbed last night. Someone broke into the shop and the photo studio next door last night and stole the money drawers. They broke into the shops by breaking the tiles under the door which has the lock.

Thanks Patrick

[YouTube]

I was having lunch at Discovery Mall when I noticed a new shop called Del-Sol had opened. Turns out they sell items that change color when exposed to the sun (UV light). They had tshirts, sun glasses, flip flops and a bunch of other items that are white but once they see UV light they become colorful. When you get back into the shade they turn white again. I had the salesman demonstrate it for me in the video above.

Not sure how useful this is but it reminded me of two things, Hot Wheels color shifter cars which I had when I was a kid and also Hypercolor t-shirts which some of you might remember the Sultan sports shop in Zahra Complex used to sell.