Category: Personal

This is the worst news ever and I can’t believe I just found out about it. A long time ago (like 6 years) before I started this blog I used to MoBlog. Basically I used to take pictures with my PDA, a Sony Clie UX-50 back then and upload them onto this site called TextAmerica. I had hundreds of pictures there ranging from my random lunches to interesting places around Kuwait. I actually preferred the pictures I had taken for my TextAmerica blog more than the ones I did later for my Miskan.com project because I felt they were more natural and random.

Just a few moments ago I went to my old Moblog usurp.textamerica.com and realized the whole site is gone. Turns out TextAmerica shutdown in December and I just found out now so i wasn’t able to back up my images and posts! This is depressing, soo many memories and moments which I had captured are now all gone.

After a very difficult decision I went ahead and purchased the Sony DSC-W300 digital camera. It was a difficult decision to make because the other camera options I was considering were all exceptionally good. I really wanted the Canon G9 for its SLR like features, the Ricoh GX100 for its strange look and the fact it took beautiful film like shots while the Sigma’s image quality alone was enough to tempt me to buy it. In the end though I REALLY needed a camera that I could carry around in my front pocket and I wouldn’t be able to do that with the three cameras I just mentioned. That brought down my choices to the Fuji F100fd, Nikon S600 and the Sony W300. The Fuji’s interface and usability I read would be a problem, the Nikon S600 lacked in certain features and I tried the S700 version at a Nikon dealer and didn’t like the feel of it so my final decision was to go with the Sony. I own two other Sony cameras at the moment, the Sony N1 and the Sony cult favorite the F717. Both cameras really exceeded my expectations and I never had problems with them so it only seemed fair I go with another Sony.

I purchased the camera from a store in Muthana Complex. The Sony dealer didn’t have the camera in stock and they were selling it for KD124.900, Carrefour also ran out of stock on the camera but they were selling it for KD123.900. But, I found a Sony reseller in Muthana who had the camera in stock and I managed to haggle my way and get the camera for KD118 with a 1GB Sony memory stick. The store if you are interested is located on the Mezzanine floor of Muthana between Andalus and the official Sony store.

First impressions so far is great. I’ve only taken shots in my office under the neon lights but the white balance did a good job. I also don’t need to turn on macro mode for macro shots, the camera automatically turns it on for me which is a nice little feature. I also shot inside at 1/30 with fairly shaky hands and the steady shot feature automatically came on to help keep my pictures sharp. The camera turns on and is ready to shoot in like under 2 seconds. Powering down takes around 3 which I actually find annoying since with my older Sony N1 I would hit the power off and then straight away put it into my pocket. Now I need to wait a second or two longer which means I have to change my habit. Other than that the only problem I can see at the moment is with the rear screen. With my Sony N1 the rear screen had a raised border around it which helped protect it from scratches, with the W300 the screen doesn’t have this border which makes it scratch friendly. This will only be an issue for me for the next week or two while the camera still has its “new smell” after that I won’t care much about it.

I will try to take a bunch of shots today in various conditions and post my second impressions. For now though I think I made the right decision. The camera has a ton of features and most importantly it fits into my pocket easily.

FYI: The reason I didn’t purchase the camera from Amazon was because after taxes it would cost me around KD100 then if you include shipping it would be around KD105 which isn’t a major saving. I would rather pay KD118 here, get the free memory stick, have a 1 year warranty and support a local store.

Update: This is a random shot I took outside on my way back from lunch. You can download the full untouched straight from the camera image by clicking [Here]. I shot this at the 8MP setting and not 13MP.

Update 2: Here is a shot of Nats MacBook Pro’s keyboard. It was shot at 13.6MP in macro mode using iso 1600. I am really impressed, keep in mind this is a P&S camera not a DSLR. The JPG is 4.38MB so its better if you right click and save as. [Picture 4.38MB]

My bakala finally got the new Lulu ice cream and I decided I would try it since I heard a lot of good things about it. My favorite ice cream is by far KDD Silver so thats obviously its main competition for me. Now that I tried the Chocolate Lulu its clear Silver is the better of the two. The Lulu ice cream although not bad was just too boring for me. It doesn’t have caramel but instead has nougat which some people might prefer since its less sweeter but not me.

Silver is still my favorite and I don’t think I will be trying Lulu again since there is no reason to. I don’t know why they created a new line for cones, they should have just called the Lulu Bronze or Plastic, something lame like that. The Lulu costs 250 fils while Silver costs 200.

I enjoy photography a lot and I have a whole range of cameras each serving a different purpose. The problem with most of my cameras is that they are just too big to carry around all the time. While in Munich although I had a lot of fun shooting with my old Nikon FE the fact remains it weighed a ton and I had to carry it around in a shoulder bag.

I currently have two small point & shoot cameras but they’re pretty outdated. I have a cheap Canon A530 camera which I keep in the car and then I have a Sony N1 which I am currently taking when I’m traveling. Problem with the two is that A530 doesn’t fit into my pocket and the Sony N1 doesn’t do well in dim lit situations. Thats why I’ve decided to search for a replacement. What I would like to have in my perfect camera is the following:

– Small size
– 6MP and up
– Bright lens
– RAW capabilities
– Great battery life
– Great image quality
– Great high iso performance
– Camera controls on top (like SLR’s)
– Character
– Metal body
– Needs to look good
– No budget (ok not Leica M8 budget)

If I was going to get a large DSLR camera I would get the Nikon D300 in a heart beat. Its a very easy decision since there aren’t that many high end DSLR’s to choose from. With a point & shoot camera its a different story, there are like a hundred different cameras to decide from and each has a different advantage. I’ve been doing a lot of research the past few days and so far the following are the cameras I am deciding between:

Canon G9
Great camera, shoots RAW, solid build but has decent high iso performance and I don’t think the camera fits into my pocket so it kinda kills the point.

Ricoh GX100
Its got a retro look, very solid build, shoots RAW, bright lens and great image quality. Problem is RAW shots take 5 seconds to save and has poor high iso performance which is a killer for me.

Sigma DP-1
This camera also has a retro look and also has a solid build. It uses the same image sensor as larger DSLR’s which means the image quality is fantastic. It has great high iso performance but the camera costs more than double the price of all the other cameras I am checking out and it only has a fixed 28mm lens which although I am a fan of isn’t really practical for my purpose.

Fuji Finepix F100fd
Not really a Fuji fan but this camera has excellent low light capabilities. Iso goes up to 3200 and the 1600 iso is pretty usable judging by the pictures online. But, I think this camera is really ugly, lacks character and many people have complained about its interface.

Sony W300
This camera and the next one below are fairly conservative choices. The W300 is a great size, looks good and has a durable black titanium body. It also has a pretty decent high iso performance and was the camera I was going to get except for the fact many users have complained about poor image quality.

Nikon S600
The cheapest camera from the bunch. Has excellent image quality, great size and looks plus a very fast start up time. Main problem with this camera is the shutter lag and no manual option.

Which camera am I going to go with? I have no clue at the moment. Its a tough choice and each camera has its advantage, I will probably do a bit more research and then decide what to get but so far I think I am leaning towards the Ricoh GX100. Once I decide I will post again here.

Update: Ok, the Ricoh GX100 which I had my mind set on will NOT fit into a jeans pocket [Picture]. I thought it was smaller than that. So now the G9, GX100 and Sigma DP1 are out of the picture. The Ricoh though looks like a great camera made for photographers. I was flipping through pictures taken by the GX100 on Flickr and all the pictures feel very film like. [Flickr Pictures]

There are advantages to the weather we are having at the moment. The first positive thing is that it isn’t getting that hot. Since there is no sun the weather is cooler than usual which is great. The other positive thing is I think it adds character to Kuwait. London is known for the rain, Dubai for the humidity and now Kuwait for the dust!

I am not a big fan of diet drinks but I have them every now and then to help ease the guilt, like when I am having the 2,400 calorie spaghetti and meatballs at Macaroni Grill, I feel more comfortable eating it when I am drinking a diet coke. The problem with Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi is that they taste like crap. I tried Pepsi Max when that came out and I also really hated it since it tasted worse than the diet versions. A week ago though I decided to try Coca Cola Zero since it looked cool and now its the only Coke I’ve been drinking. I don’t know what the advantages are, I don’t know how many callories it has or whatever, I just know it has no sugar and that has to be better than the regular coke. Now best part is that it tastes like the regular coke if not better. They might as well have replaced the regular coke with zero and I doubt anyone would have noticed.

Can someone PLEASE email me a copy of the really funny/lame radio commercial for anti talking on the phone while driving, the one with the screeching sound of a car braking and the daughter screaming. If you can get it or record it for me send it to [email protected]

My Wrangler’s battery died today while trying to leave the Avenues. Its not the first time this has happened, the first time was two years ago when I was trying to leave Souk Sharq. That same day I posted about it on my blog on how Jeep’s Road Assist was amazing, that was on June 4, 2006. Thats nearly exactly two years later (off by just two days) except this time Jeep’s Road Assist wasn’t there to save me. The Road Assist number wouldn’t connect me to anyone, I would call and it would ring twice then I would get a beep and the line would die. I tried over and over and it wouldn’t work.

I didn’t even have jumper cables so I just walked back into Avenues and headed to Carrefour and bought some cheap ass cables for like KD1.300 (they sucked, need to get a better pair). When I got back to the car I asked the parking security if they had a plan for a situation like this, I figured they might have a tow truck number or maybe an emergency jump starter kit but turned out they didn’t have anything of that sort. Instead the security guard was kind enough to help me find a car that was willing to help me jump start my Jeep.

After jump starting the car it turned out if I removed my foot from the gas pedal the car would die on me instantly so after restarting the car again I had to drive with two feet, one on the brakes and the other constantly holding down the throttle. Luckily I didn’t have to drive too far, I was planning on taking my Jeep to service it at the dealer tomorrow so I just drove the car to the garage which was just 5 minutes away. Once I parked the Jeep outside and removed my foot of the gas pedal the car died again, perfect timing. I found a cab passing by and just took it back home. Tomorrow will pass by the dealer and have them replaced my battery. I am kinda glad I purchased the extended warranty back then. What I now regret is not actually going ahead and purchasing the Emergency Jumper Starter which I posted about in March!

I was just checking Alexa.com and I realized my site is now ranked the 315th most popular site visited in all of Kuwait. This means from all the sites people in Kuwait visit like Google, Flickr, NBK.com, whatever.. my site ranks 315th behind them which is pretty high up. I hit the top 500 mark back in March and since then have being climbing in popularity and hopefully will continue to climb until I hit the top 100. Anyway you can check my Alexa stats by clicking [Here] and if you want to see what are the top 100 most visited sites by Internet users in Kuwait click [Here]

My Asus Eee 900 arrived today from the States and its amazing. I had seen the previous version of the Eee with the smaller screen but the new 8.9inch screen with the higher resolution is wayyyy better. Like most Eee users have mentioned before, the keyboard is tiny which is going to take time to get used to. Currently I am touch typing this post from my Eee and I am doing fine except every few words I hit a wrong letter or two.

The size of the actual laptop is really tiny as you can tell from the picture above. Its a one lap laptop! I have the 20GB version of the Eee that comes installed with a custom Linux OS and I think its really cool so far. Boot time is like under 30 seconds and FireFox is runs great. I am really loving the Eee.

The Eee cost me KD140 and you can purchase it from Amazon:
Asus Eee 900 with Windows [Link]
Asus Eee 900 with Linux [Link]

I’ve been hearing a lot of positive stuff about Aramex’s Shop & Ship service lately. K.thekuwaiti keeps telling me how he keeps getting everything really quickly and SomeContrast posted the other day that you can now even pay with Knet on delivery. I had a lot of problems with Aramex before which I made very clear on this blog but it seems they’ve improved a lot since then so I’ve decided to try them out again.

So far the experience has been positive. I called Aramex up on the new hotline number and I was instantly able to get a hold of customer service, something that was impossible to do when I last used them since their lines used to be always busy. I will try them out for my next few shipments and post my experience with them here on the blog. Looks promising so far.

I am taking off to Munich tonight, will be back next Sunday. I am taking my Nikon FE camera pictured above. The camera originally belonged to my parents and when they went to Munich in the late 70’s they took the camera with them. Now thirty years later I am going back with the exact same camera, thats quality!

Awhile ago I passed by Boushahri to pick up some Fuji Reala and Velvia film and it turns out they don’t carry them anymore. So I ended up picking up some Fuji Pro 160’s which I’ve never tried before but I guess I was lucky to actually find any Fuji 35mm film. Sucks. So anyway, once I get back will develop the film and post some pictures up, should be interesting.

Yesterday I posted about the HP 2133 and just awhile ago my partner at work brought his friends HP 2133 into the office. First impressions, its a lot bigger and heavier than I expected. The Asus Eee feels tiny and very light compared to the HP. Windows XP was installed on the HP which was running pretty smoothly. I wasn’t able to test out videos but XP booted up at a decent speed and all the applications seem to open instantaneously. The system I had was the 1.6ghz with 1.75GB of RAM, this version I think costs like $800 which isn’t cheap.

The screen is really great and the keyboard felt like a regular laptop keyboard, big keys and all spaced out nicely. But, the size and weight of this thing has really pushed me towards the Asus Eee 900.

Update: I forgot to mention, the trackpad with the trackpad buttons are the worst I have ever used.

Since my MacBook died on me I have been having a dilemma, what laptop should I get? Here are laptops I am currently considering:

MacBook
I love the MacBook’s and even though mine died I do want to get another one. Problem is there are rumors that a new MacBook will be released in the next few months that will be a significant upgrade from the current ones. Knowing that I can’t possibly get a MacBook now. [Amazon Link]

MacBook Pro
I’ve never been a fan of the aluminum Mac’s. I never liked the PowerBook’s and I don’t like the new MacBook Pro’s. But, I am typing this post out on Nat’s MacBook Pro and I have to admit I do love the screen resolution and the fact that the speakers are loud, two things I had problems with on my old MacBook. But, its huge, I find the 13″ MacBook big so imagine what I think of this 15″ MacBook Pro. I’ve also heard a lot of rumors about a completely redesigned MacBook Pro, one that will incorporate the look of the MacBook Air so I will wait and see what happens with that. [Amazon Link]

MacBook Air
Gorgeous but slow and expensive. I wouldn’t mind paying $2000 if it was at least faster than the cheapest MacBook which costs $1099. [Amazon Link]

So basically with my Mac options I am just going to wait for the next updates and then decide what to get. Until the new Mac’s come out I am considering getting one of those new ultra portable laptops. I figured even if I do get a Mac later I would still have use for one of these, I could for example get a 15″ MacBook Pro and have one of these tiny laptops for when I am on the move:

Asus Eee 900
The original Asus Eee was released awhile back but the new ones come with a larger 8.9″ screen which makes the Eee more practical. The reason I haven’t already ordered the Eee which costs $549 is the HP 2133. [Amazon Link]

HP 2133 mini-notebook
This is the laptop that Apple should have released. It looks like the old 12″ PowerBooks except its even tinier. The screen although only 8.9″ has a resolution of 1280 x 768 which is pretty high. The reason I haven’t already ordered this is because I am still reading reviews on it. Most say its pretty slow but all those reviews had Vista installed on the HP. I want to know how well it performs with Linux or Windows XP. Price for this is $589. [Amazon Link]

Update: After doing a lot of research I’ve decided to go with an Asus 900 for now over the HP 2133. Although the HP looks really pretty its a lot slow than the Asus, A LOT slower. So whats going to happen is Asus for now and once the MacBooks or MacBook Pro’s get revised later in the summer will get one of them.

I signed up for the Cinemizer newsletter early in the year and I just got an email from them now telling me that the Cinemizer is now on sale in Germany.

The Cinemizer for those of you who don’t know is a wearable video display. According to Carl Zeiss the creators, watching movies on the Cinemizer is like sitting in front of a 46″ TV from 6 feet away. What interested me the most in the Cinemizer is the fact that it works with my iPod Video which would make it perfect for watching movies and TV shows while on the plane. Also, if I am lucky I could be mistaken for a blind person and get special treatment from the stewardess since the glasses wouldn’t look out of place on Ray Charles.

Since I am going to be in Germany next week I am going to try and see if I could test the device out before I purchase it. For more info on the Cinemizer click [Here]