2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Kuwait for Kenya is a LoYAC initiative made up of young Kuwaiti volunteers focusing on the overall youth development in Kenya. This year, Genan Dashti, Amna Hussein, Dala AlFuwaires, Sara AlDirbas, Faisal AlShawa, Willy Mathew, and Dari AlHuwail traveled to Mombasa and were able to achieve the following:

Child Development Center (CDC):
Installing and fitting a new kitchen and dining hall

Mombasa Youth Counseling Center (MYCC):
Upgrading the HIV laboratory and VCT center

Goodwill Academy:
Providing student’s desks and chairs

The above video is a summary of this years trip to Kenya. Their website which is still under construction is located [Here]. You can also find them on Facebook by clicking [Here]

I think its really great what they did and I hope they get all the support they need for future trips.

Just got to Beirut around an hour ago (midnight Beirut time). I am here for work and only staying for 5 nights. The airport in Kuwait was packed, the airport in Lebanon was packed, I hate traveling during the summer.

This retro looking Boombox looks pretty good and is selling for around KD38 on Amazon. I want the black one! [Amazon]

My home network is just a total mess. Everything could be working perfectly and then suddenly in a blink of an eye the whole network would crawl to a halt and crash. Just like that for no reason. I just spent the afternoon shifting from a wireless network to a wired one and what a headache that was. The hardest part was trying to find a 22 meter long black ethernet cable. I looked all over Hawalli walking from shop to shop and only found one place that had a black 20 meter long one and it was his last piece. Also picked up two Linksys 8-port switches and everything seems to be working fine for now.

The 20 meter cable cost me KD3 while the Linksys 8-port switches cost me KD6.750 each.

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.