2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

re:kuwait have a good idea which I hope someone reads and decides to implement. A lot of people have phones with built in cameras which can also geo-tag photos. That means you can take a picture and the exact location of where that picture was taken would be stored in the picture. What re:kuwait are suggesting is this:

What if some government entity creates a website where people can upload photos they take of things they feel are broken or wrong, such as graffiti, broken lamps, potholes, whatever. These photos are uploaded to the website by a few people wanting to do good for their community.

The government can then prioritize what needs to be fixed for example and find the location of the problem with the geo-tag. I think that would be an amazing idea. Here is a link to their [Post]

Don’t have any plans this Saturday? Here’s something you can do, clean up the beach. You get to meet new people while also making a statement. This beach clean up is happening alongside the 350.org international campaign where people all around the world come together on the same day to perform a good earth deed. This year that day is 10/10/10 but due to the fact that would be a Sunday in Kuwait, a work/school day, the event in Kuwait will be taking place on 9/10/10 instead.

Location: The beach between KFC and Fridays on the Gulf Road
Time: Saturday, October 9 · 3:00pm – 6:00pm
Activity Website: Facebook

I saw this on 4thringroad and thought it was pretty cool. The ministry of public works have setup a live stream of the new Jaber Hospital that’s being built. I know there is nothing exciting about watching a hospital being constructed but if you look at the bigger picture here this actually could be a start to something bigger.

If the ministry can stream live footage of a hospital being built then they can easily start streaming live footage of traffic on highways. Imagine being able to check out the traffic on the 5th Ring Road before heading out or checking live footage of multiple roads and then deciding which one to take. I think that would be very cool and extremely useful so hopefully this live stream of the hospital is just a start to something a lot bigger. Here is the link if you want to watch the hospital being built. [Video Stream]

If you’ve got a Kuwaiti passport you’re lucky since according to recent data, a Kuwaiti passport allows you visa-free entry into 71 countries topping out all the other Arab countries. Lebanon on the other hand ranks at the bottom with the likes of Iran, Yemen and Syria ranking higher. Here is the list of Arabic countries rankings:

1- Kuwait 71
2- Bahrain 67
3- Qatar 66
4- UAE 64
5- Oman 61
6- Saudi Arabia 57
7- Egypt 43
8- Jordan 39
9- Syria 39
10- Yemen 38
11- Iran 34
12- Lebanon 32
13- Iraq 27

On the other hand the British passport topped the whole list allowing visa-free entry into 166 countries. Here is the link to the full article [Link]

Picture from zDistrict

A reader emailed me to tell me that Kaifan Co-op recently installed Cash Guard machines. I’ve seen them before I think at the Shamiya Co-op and thought they were pretty cool. Basically it’s connected to the cash register and once your total is tallied up you pay the cashier and they place the money into the machine which then spits out the change if any.

Now I’m curious to know how much money was actually going missing from the regular cash registers that the Co-ops had to resort to installing these what I am guessing expensive machines? I found a video on YouTube on how they work which you can watch below.

[YouTube]

Thanks Laila

It was very strange walking into this store since it was mostly made up of cassette tapes with few CDs laid out in the middle. It reminded me of the early 90s when the market was just starting to get introduced to CDs and so I suddenly felt the urge to pick up a Vanilla Ice cassette.

What helped with this early 90s flashback was the fact that the majority of the tapes were from that era, Color Me Bad, Culture Beat, Dr Alban, you name it and they were all “Thomsun Original” branded tapes similar to the one’s Bells and Swan Lake used to sell for those who still remember. At KD1 for 3 tapes that’s a lot cheaper than the KD1.750 we used to pay for a single tape. Ah, the good old days of The Video Club…

The store is located on the first floor of the parking lot building behind Johnny Rockets Salhiya.

This is chicken.

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made from—things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve—bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

[Source]

Thanks Fahad

That’s some pretty weird shit. [YouTube]

Thanks Ziad

I spotted this funny lost in translation sign while apartment shopping for a friend.

The Ministry of Interior have redesigned their website (for the worse in my opinion) and with it have removed an English version. You can’t view an English version of the site which means expats will have a much more difficult time trying to check and see if they have any speeding fines and other online services. Luckily they still haven’t deleted the old English site yet and it can still be accessed by manually replacing the word arabic in the url with the word english.

Arabic site: https://moi.gov.kw/portal/varabic/
English site: https://moi.gov.kw/portal/venglish/

Thanks Avay

I’ve been using a trackball for nearly 6 years now. I used to use a regular mouse before but due to the amount of hours I sit in front of a computer my wrists started to hurt a lot and so I decided to do something about it. I ended up purchasing the Kensington Orbit Optical Mouse back in 2004 which I’ve posted about on this blog before and given it high marks. From day one my wrist issues got fixed and I became a big fan of trackballs. I’ve purchased 3 Orbit trackballs over the years, they never broke down just started looking old and so I would swap them out. But, I’ve always had my eye on the Orbit’s bigger, beefier and more expensive older brother, the Kensington Expert trackball which is pictured above.

While in New York a few months back I got to try the Expert trackball and decided I definitely wanted it. The Expert trackball has 4 buttons, a huge ass ball, a scroll ring and a comfy detachable wrist support. It looks good, I love using it and it makes my old smaller Orbit trackball look like a child’s toy.

I really don’t have anything negative to say about it. You can program the 4 buttons to do a variety of things and the way I’ve set them up, the left two buttons are a left click while the right two buttons are a right click. I’ve then set it up so that while in Firefox if I click the two top buttons or the two bottom buttons together at the same time then it flip between my open tabs. Pretty useful. The problem though is the way I use the trackball I actually only use the bottom left and the top right buttons since these are the two buttons that are under my fingers while using the trackball. I find it uncomfortable to use the other two buttons without changing my hand position so I don’t use them that much. The scroll ring is great and I love flicking it quickly when I want to scroll down a page in a hurry.

Price wise the Kensington Expert Trackball cost’s $79 which isn’t cheap considering it’s younger brother the Orbit costs around $22. But I have to say it’s worth the extra cash since you get what you pay for. For anyone with wrist problems I highly recommend trackballs… any trackballs not just the two I’ve used. They really make a difference.

Kensington Orbit Trackball on Amazon
Kensington Expert Trackball on Amazon

A reader called Ahmad emailed me some pictures showing how his neighbor installed telecom transceivers on his roof (above) and then covered them up to look like tacky decorations (below). I’ve seen telecom towers made to look like gigantic palm trees but never seen something like this before.

The reader already emailed the baladieh on two different occasions but nothing has happened yet. According to the reader:

These are very close to the other houses including my house and it is hazardous to the health. The house owner actually doesn’t live in this house but he is renting the whole house for different families.

I’m curious to see how this issue gets solved, hopefully Ahmad will keep us posted on the outcome of his complaints.

Awhile ago I found out the Lexus IS F is now officially available at the dealer here in Kuwait. Previously the only way to get an ISF was to import one usually from the US where it launched back in 2008. Sadly the local dealer is selling it for KD25,000 which is nearly KD10,000 more expensive than in the US so it’s still cheaper to import one.

I think I’m going to try and pass by after lunch tomorrow and take some pictures. I haven’t taken sport shots before and a rugby match seems like a good way to start:

The Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Club (formally the Nomads) start their 2010/2011 season this Friday (1st Oct) with a home match against Muscat RFC. Pre-season training has been well attended and with the recent league reconstruction, the Scorpions are looking to have a successful season both home and away.

Come and support your local team against the might of Muscat!!

Kick Off is at 3pm at the Ahmadi ‘Sandpit’

For directions and further details of KSRFC, please go to www.q8scorpions.com

Thanks Akbar

I just got an email from someone telling me he’s been getting lots of phone calls regarding my post about Sidekick Academy. It seems by mistake I typed the wrong number in and people have been calling him all day. The correct number for Sidekick Academy is 99975562.

Sorry about that!