Category: Interesting

Most of this seasons TV shows have ended already and some (like Sopranos) are going to end in the upcoming week. I was curious to know when the new season would start again and I ended up finding this website that lists the new season premier date and time of a whole bunch of shows. I just found out the new season of Weeds is going to start in July which is really cool, some comedy to keep me occupied this summer while I try to catch up on 11 9 seasons of X-Files. [Link]

I have been looking for an alternative to Aramex Shop and Ship for a long time now and haven’t been able to find one. Don’t misunderstand me, there are other options to Aramex which I have even mentioned before, but none provided me with everything I needed. They were either cheap but slow or fast but expensive, or even lacked some of Aramex’s basic features like package tracking. Now though I think I found another better option and its called U Shop We Ship.

I found out about it from a user who commented on one of my older posts and I decided to check it out. The first thing I did was check out how much the shipping would cost for an item that weighed 1KG and I compared it to Aramex and they both turned out to be priced identical. I then started to read more about their service and it turns out not only do they have all the features of Aramex but they also have additional stuff. Here are my favorites:

You have the option to destroy unwanted mail
You know how sometimes you get a stupid envelope which is just a bill for some magazine and you end up paying like KD2.5 for it. Well with U Shop We Ship (USWS) if you find junk mail in your mailbox you can have them destroy it for you.

They offer immediate shipping
You can have them check your mailbox and mail you stuff either once a week, twice a month or once a month AND you also have an option to have an item shipped immediately no matter what your shipping frequency is by paying a certain fee. This could be worth it when ordering a big item like an ipod or laptop and you really want it as quickly as possible. Just to clear what this means is say you have your shipping frequency set to once a week and it turns out they check your mailbox every Monday but your item arrived to your mailbox on Tuesday, instead of waiting till next Monday to have them ship your item you can have them ship it right away on Tuesday.

You can pay for your packages online
This is the coolest feature, something I have been wishing Aramex would do. I hate carrying cash with me, I am a plastic type of guy and so I hate it when Aramex delivers a package and I need to have an unknown amount ready to pay the guy. With USWS you pay for your packages online using either Knet or Visa. This feature sold me instantly.

I just got my account setup with them and I am going to try it by buying the Philips Bodygroom and mailing it to my new mailbox. Oh and you can change the shipping frequency yourself from the prefrences menu once you login and you can also change your login password, two things you also can’t do with Aramex. Their Kuwait office number is 4724673 but you can only sign up from their website. [Link]

Note: You not only get a US mailbox but also a UK and UAE mailbox. They also use Skynet Worldwide Express to ship the packages.

update: BusyNow pointed out to me that in their FAQ they have a discount section which mentions a variety of ways of getting discounts on shipping, something which you would never get with Aramex. [FAQ]

I really want to get the new MacBooks but I am extremely worried about the overheating problems. If I lived in the States I would go ahead and get a MacBook because worse comes to worse if I have a problem I can always return it.

The problem here is that I am going to order the MacBook from Amazon and ship it all the way to Kuwait which means if something goes wrong I would either have to (a) deal with it (b) fix it with my own money (warranty doesn’t apply in Kuwait) (c) ship it all the way back to the US to get it fixed.

This is why if I order the MacBook I have to know I won’t have any issues and it currently looks like I will. I don’t think I could wait for revision B since that will be like in atleast 6 months and I am not going to wait that long. A guy in one of the Mac forums I visit took the screenshot above.. 91 degrees! A bit more and he could start boiling water…

Super, Unleaded and Diesel. [Link]

I have been waiting for the MacBook for what seems forever. My first laptop ever was an iBook (G3 700mhz) and I was really hoping the MacBook would be similar just better. So how much better is it really? Looking at this iBook vs MacBook comparison chart it seems by a lot. [Link]

I was at Marina Mall today and noticed that Foot Locker will be opening up where the Bear Factory used to be (Across from Tommy). It seems Alshaya got the franchise to Kuwait.

I want I want! [Link]

I don’t know if you guys heard about this, the news is a few days old but it just got more interesting today since I found a video for it.

Basically what happened was BBC interviewed the wrong person live on TV, they were supposed to get this technology expert to come in and talk about the legal battle between Beatles’ Apple Corps and Apple Computers but somehow they messed up and they ended up bringing a taxi driver on the show instead and they interviewed him thinking he was the technology expert. Anyway I found a site now that not only has an article on this incident but actually has a video of the interview. Its really funny. [Link]

Note: Notice the guys face when the BBC chick introduces him

Just had my second video call ever and it was with K.thekuwaiti again. I have to say its really weird video calling but I think I could get used to it. I watched him give me a tour of his office and he watched me eat my icecream. Everyone in my department wants to video call now and luckily I found another guy with a 3G phone and an MTC phoneline so we set up video calling on his phone and gave everyone a demonstration on how it works. People were expecting the video to be all choppy and slow so they were surprised when they saw how fluid and clear the picture was. The coolest thing is all these video calls are for free at the moment..

I was expecting to be wayyyy more expensive but they really aren’t. Compared to what some celebrities in Hollywood pay for their homes and apartments, these castles look like a steal.. [Link]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my “I need a new phone” post. I decided to go for the Motorola V3x.

Yesterday while I was at the airport with Nat I saw a dark blue Motorolla Razr. I didn’t know what it was, it looked a bit thicker then the regular Motorola’s but it looked way cooler and it cost KD145. I didn’t think of it much until today while I was researching the V3i on Amazon and I found the V3x and recognized it as the phone I saw yesterday.

The V3x is a cool looking phone and I am getting the dark blue version since blue is my favorite color. It has a 2MP camera on the outside and a second camera on the inside for video calling since the phone also supports 3G. The resolution of the internal screen is 320 x 240 which is also pretty nice. I have only had one flip phone before in my life so it should be a nice change to own one now.

I just ordered the phone from Amazon since its around KD30 cheaper and it doesn’t come with the arabic keypad which I think makes the phone look ugly. Once I get it I will post a proper review of it.

I was at Marina Crescent yesterday with Geo when I noticed a guy setting up a large telescope. I then remembered Astronaut Girl’s post on Astronomy Day at Marina Crescent. They had two large telescopes located at Marina Crescent and passerby’s were encouraged to look through it. I wasn’t able to since I was with Geo and I didn’t want to bother the crowd but most of the reactions from people who tried it was of amazement. I would have posted about the event before it happened but it had totally slipped my mind…

Update: Tonight at Ujeri Observatory, Science Club there will be some presentations by Ujri himself, amateur astronomers, and Astronaut Girl. Astronaut Girl will be giving a presentation about Space Science and the opening of the new branch of Space at the Science Club. Visitors will also be able to observe the sky with the big telescope. Time: 7:00PM to 10:00PM

TivoGuy passed by zMacShop yesterday because he was interested in the MacBook Pro. He was expecting the prices to be a bit more expensive then the States but it turns out they were selling it for KD890 which is KD160 more expensive! This is for the 15.4″ 2.0Ghz with 1GB RAM and 100GB HD. So I phoned a couple of other Mac stores in Kuwait to see how much they were all charging for the same laptop and this is what I found:

Mac & More
Tel: 5735815
Price: KD 980

Integrated Office Co (IOC)
Tel: 6275734
Price: KD 980

Mac City
Tel: 4911112
Price: KD 970

Kamal Al Sultan Co
Tel: 4815533
Price: KD 965

zMacShop
Tel: 2617575
Price: KD 890

Solize
Tel: 7215945
Price: KD 850

Turns out zMacShop is actually a lot cheaper then the other Mac stores in Kuwait but surprisingly not the cheapest. The cheapest store turned to be Solize and by KD40 which is a nice chunk of change. The price on Amazon is KD730 for your information.

An anonymous reader posted the following comment under the Hardees ThickBurger post:

According to customer polls and sales in the US, the big patty is what everyone wants, more meat for less money! So Hardees decided to change sizes. Its comparatively cheaper to get a bigger burger in the US. Blame the high prices on the franchisee here! If the fries in hardees taste different its because they have changed cooking oil, its local cooking oil now. BTW, Americana has bought out Texas Chicken, so say goodbye to it!

So for those of you complaining about the weird tasting fries at Hardees you have your answer. I am surprised by the last part that Americana bought out Texas Chicken. That sucks, Texas Chicken must have been hurting KFC’s business badly or else I don’t see why Americana would buy them out. Does this mean Americana will shut down Texas Chicken? I don’t think so but they might mess it up…

If you are interested in modeling and making some quick easy money then follow the link and sign up (you must be in Kuwait). You don’t have to be a super model or a certain age or gender and most of the modeling is for advertising. You have nothing to lose, try it. [Link]

Update: It seems Romeo fixed the spelling mistake under the client section and also posted the following message:

Hey Guys Take it easy on us with your blogs we are still under construction…. But I got five model applications because of you so thanks for free advertising …. (LOL)

Funny stuff 🙂