2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Someone needs to make and sell these in Kuwait. [Link]

Now that I finally have an iPhone with a 3G connection I can finally do what a lot of other people are doing and that is listen to satellite radio and other international stations in the car. All you need is a 3G capable iPhone, an iPhone radio app and a way of connecting the iPhone to the car stereo.

My setup is an iPhone 3GS with the WunderRadio app and an Alpine iDA-X001 head unit with which my iPhone connects to using the dock connector. If you aren’t as lucky you could use an FM Transmitter or RCA inputs. With WunderRadio you can connect to XM and SIRIUS stations in addition to thousands of other stations from around the world. For example I can listen to Lebanese radio stations like Radio one or Mix FM if I want to. Its not perfect since sometimes the connection disrupts for a few seconds every now and then but thats mostly only with the XM and SIRIUS stations, haven’t had trouble with the rest.

[YouTube]

These commercials are a couple of years old but they still make me laugh every time I watch them. The one above is my favorite but here are two other executions which are also very funny. [First] and [Second]

Really cool looking Air Force 1’s with a really long name and sadly only one pair made. [Link]

The Kuwait Bookshop has been around for a pretty long time and although its not a Barnes & Noble it does have a pretty decent collection of books and magazines. If I am not mistaken I think it actually has the largest collection of books and magazines in Kuwait. Because its an old bookshop they have a lot of older books that sometimes can be pretty interesting. The bookshop is located in the basement of Muthana Complex and its a very quiet and cozy place with friendly and informed staff. There is a lot of parking which is a plus. Their phone number is 22423876 in case you need to ask about a book.

That’s me in the suit hanging out with Donald Draper! If you’re a Mad Men fan you can “Mad Men Yourself” by clicking [Here]

Update: Here is Nat chatting with the secretary.

via

I was surfing the web on my MacBook in bed when suddenly I heard a loud *POP* sound and I started smelling something strange. So I turn on the lights and realized it was my iPhone charger! I was charging my iPhone 3GS with my 2G iPhone’s power adapter like I did last night except tonight the thing exploded. Luckily nothing caught on fire but this is seriously messed up. My iPhone 3GS is fine and is currently being charged on my PowerMac but I am still pissed.

Too bad its starring Johnny Depp. Last good movie he did was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. [YouTube]

According to a reader Saied, the whale shark thats been stranded at Marina Crescent for a week now was saved. They were able to place the whale shark onto a marine parachute bed like device and then pull the whale shark out to sea where it was then set free. Around 15 divers took park in this rescue which lasted around 9 hours. Saied will be sending me pictures and once I get them will post them here.

Update: Got the pictures, check them out below. Thanks Saied!

Not a big salad fan myself but here is a link to 101 easy to prepare simple salads. Very minimalistic. [Link]

My iPhone 3GS arrived today from Australia and I’ve been playing with it for over an hour now. I am upgrading from the original (2G) iPhone since I never saw a reason to upgrade to the 3G. The 3GS on the other hand had a decent amount of improvements that was worth upgrading to. Here are my impressions so far:

– It is literally twice as fast compared to my previous iPhone. My favorite game Fast Food boots up much much quicker than before

– Love the new smudge proof screen

– I got internet tethering working which means I can use my iPhone like an eGO

– Can’t get MMS to work (never mind just work, APN, username and pass should be pps)

– Voice command surprisingly easy and fun to use. I just talk to my iphone as if its my secretary and it understands commands like cancel or what band is this? when music is playing

– I don’t like the plastic back of the new iphones, I prefer the older aluminum

– 3G is faster than edge, finally I can browse at decent speeds. The BBC low graphics site now loads instantly and every link I click loads in under a second

So basically the new iPhone 3GS is a great step up from the original one. The OS speed difference, the 3G, GPS and the tethering were all worthy enough reasons for me to upgrade.

I just got the new copy of Thouq magazine today and it turns out they have a small write up on my blog. I also noticed the magazine is now like 6 to 8 times bigger in size, not page wise but actual physical size. Its huge and you can see in the picture below how big it is compared to the iPhone. I wonder if all their issues are going to be this big or if its just this one. Its definitely more interesting and I love the paper they used to print on.

I needed some small speakers for my desktop computer which I use every now and then when I want to copy mp3s to my iPod. The computer has a tiny built in speaker but its too weak and you can barely hear anything so I wanted some affordable external speakers I could connect to it so I could hear some of the songs before I move them to my iPod. I looked at some bookshelf stereo speakers but after some research I ended up getting the Logitech X-230.

The X-230 is made up of two small speakers and a sub that fits under the desk. I read a lot of positive feedback on them online and a friend of mine who has the smaller X-210 told me his speakers sounded really good so I imagined the the larger X-230 sounded even better. They did.

I am currently sitting on my desktop computer typing this post while I am listening to some music coming out of the speakers. Its really hard to believe these speakers cost me only KD15. The sound is pretty balanced and there is some proper bass being pumped out by the sub although it gets a bit boomy every now and then but hey, they are KD15 speakers. Everything is sounding pretty good coming out of these speakers and for the price I paid I think they are a steal.

So if you’re looking for speakers I would highly recommend the Logitech X-230. You can get them from the local Logitech website for KD14 with delivery but I ended up getting them from Hawalli for KD15.

I was on the 4th Ring Road on my way to Avenues for lunch today when I spotted a large cloud of smoke in the distance. I kept driving towards it past Al-Rai until just before the roundabout at the end of the 4th Ring Road I spotted the source of the smoke. There was a large fire at a construction site. I parked my car on the side and managed to shoot a video of it with my BlackBerry which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Now later in the day around 4:30pm I was on my way to Bin Khaldoun street in Hawalli to buy some computer speakers (which I will post about later) when I spotted another fire. There was a black parked Jeep that caught fire and then the two cars parked next to it also caught fire. I was there before the fire trucks came and was able to capture all of it on my Sony camera. I would have gotten closer but I’ve watched too many movies and a car on fire always ends up in a large explosion so I kept my distance. Its a good quality video and you can watch that above. Below is a picture showing how the fire damaged the three cars. [YouTube]

I bought my 160GB Archos 7 in March for $399. Its now selling on Amazon for just $272 while the 320GB is selling for $412. If you don’t know what the Archos 7 is I’ve posted about it before [Here], [Here] and [Here]

Basically, its a video player that is a perfect travel companion. It has a large hard drive, a large 7inch touch screen, plays practically any video format and best of all a battery life of over 10 hours.

160GB Archos 7 is for $272. [Amazon Link]
320GB Archos 7 is for $412. [Amazon Link]