2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I’ve been thinking about swapping my halogen bulbs with LED versions and so after a bit of research I found two bulbs that were reasonably priced and highly recommended. Since I couldn’t find the specific bulbs I wanted locally I decided to order them from Amazon UK.

I got the bulbs, I tried them out and I’m disappointed.

The major benefit of LED bulbs is energy saving. Halogens are usually 35w or 50w while the LED replacements are either 3w or 6w. The 3w is supposed to be comparable in output to the 35 and the 6 to the 50. The bulbs I ordered were 6w and compared to the 35w halogens they replaced the 6w were considerably brighter.

As you can see in the picture above I ordered two different style of bulbs. The one on the left contains 3 LEDs with each one being 2w in strength. The one on the right is made up of 80 lower powered LEDs. The two bulbs turned out to be very different, the one on the left for example takes a second to light up once you turn the switch on and the beam of light it gives out is concentrated like a spot light. The one on the right on the other hand comes on instantly with a light beam that’s much wider. Both bulbs can not be dimmed.

Now what I hate about both bulbs is the color of the light. Halogens are pretty warm and even though I ordered these two bulbs as warm they turned out to be much cooler in color. By cooler I mean when compared to regular halogens, both these LED bulbs were more bluish than yellowish. They really don’t light up the room nicely which is why I found them very disappointing.

Who should buy LED bulbs? They’re for people who want to make the world a better place by consuming less electricity. Personally I wanted to try them out for my apartment in Lebanon. We don’t have 24/7 electricity in Lebanon so when the power goes off the backup generators come on and with the generators you have a limit to how much power you can consume. For the power of one 50w light bulb I could power eight LED bulbs of similar strength and still save electricity. That’s a big difference.

Here are the prices and models if you’re interested
Left: EDISON 6W LED GU10 – KD6.200
Right: 6W 80LED GU10 – KD6.000

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

I was at Al Bader Stationary randomly walking around when I noticed some amazingly designed Lyra brand coloring pencils called ColorStripe. I know it sounds strange.. what the hell is an amazingly designed coloring pencil? Well that’s what I thought was the best part about it, someone actually decided to redesign the coloring pencil as we know it and did such an incredible job the coloring pencils won a gold in the iF product design awards as well as a reddot design award for best of the best. These are simple coloring pencils we’re talking about here.

They look like no other pencil I had ever seen before and that’s probably because these are how coloring pencils would look like in the future except they’re here right now. I of course picked up a box right away along with a matching sharpener. Not sure what I am going to do with them but I just couldn’t resist not getting them, if anything just to say thank you to Lyra for creating something so beautiful. The box of 8 coloring pencils cost me KD2.750 while the sharpener cost me 900fils. [Link]

A friend of mine shot the picture above while he was at the Lego store in New York. Cute. [Link]

I was passing through Zahra Complex the other day and noticed a bunch of No Smoking signs. Not sure if they smoking ban is being enforced but at least they sound serious about it.

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]

The Arabic says “Food for dieting”. Not sure what kind of diet that is but if you’re reading this Fahad, that’s the diet I want to be on!

Just an FYI to anyone planning to order the iPad Arcade Cabinet from Think Geek. Mine shipped a few days ago and according to UPS it weighs over 10lb’s, that means it’s going to cost around KD30 to ship from New York using Aramex! So just a warning to anyone planning on getting it, the thing is really heavy. [Link]

A reader posted in the forum asking here he could find Matabbag in Kuwait. I hadn’t heard of it before but it looks and sounds pretty good so now I’m curious to try it. Where can I find Matabbag in Kuwait?

Note: According to the reader, Matabbag is very popular in Saudi Arabia, it’s made using thin bread dough and contains a mix of minced meat, egg and spices inside.

The Ahmadi Music Group has an upcoming show which you guys might be interested in called The Desert Song:

The Ahmadi Music Group, directed by Richard Bushman, is delighted to announce the forthcoming production of The Desert Song by Siegmund Romberg. Fully-staged, with costumes, dancing, professional soloists, a cast of around fifty people and a full symphony orchestra, this will be a wonderful opportunity to experience an evening of musical theatre in the stunning new Performing Arts Centre at The English School Salmiya.

The Desert Song is one of very few operas in existence set in the Arab world. It tells the story of the efforts of the French in Morocco, in about 1910, to suppress rebellion by a band of desert outlaws, the Riffs. The stern General Birabeau is sent from France to be in charge of the combat; he is impatient that his son Pierre is not interested in soldiery. Only at the end does he discover that Pierre is secretly the dashing Red Shadow, leader of the Riffs. The production includes comedy, romance, warfare, and more romance.

Desert Song is not well known nowadays, but in the first half of the 20th Century, its songs were performed by every major singer and orchestra and dominated the charts. Most tellingly, it has been made into a full Hollywood film three times, making it one of the most sought-after theatre properties ever created. In 1929, it was the first all-talking Hollywood musical ever made.

Date: Tuesday May 31st, 2011
Type: Preview Performance for students
Tickets: KD4

Date: Wednesday June 1st, 2011
Type: Black-tie Gala opening performance followed by buffet supper
Tickets: KD10

Date: Thursday June 2nd, 2011
Type: Performance
Tickets: KD8 for adults and KD4 for children under 12

Date: Friday June 3rd, 2011
Type: Performance
Tickets: KD8 for adults and KD4 for children under 12

All performances start at 7pm at The English School, Salmiya.
For more information and booking visit their 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 finished building my 808e around 2 or 3 weeks back but was waiting for the motor and speed controller to arrive plus the batteries. Once they arrived I took the stuff to Pro Hobbies to have them professionally solder the wires together for me as well as setup the buggy for me. It’s now ready to take to the track which is what I am going to this next weekend. So far it kicks ass!

Here are the parts I installed if anyone’s interested:
– Tekin RX8 Competition Brushless System
– Tekin T8 1900kv Motor
– Savox 1258TG Servo
– Turnigy 4500mAh 4S 30C hard case battery

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.