If you have been having problems commenting the past week I think I fixed the problem. Try posting a comment now it should work. If it still doesn’t work [email me]
Commenting issues
Two Wheels
I can never get enough of watching Qataries drive their Patrols on two wheels. I need to learn how to do this with my Wrangler. [YouTube]
I need to get me one of those. [Link]
Edamame
Is there a supermarket in Kuwait that sells edamame?
Fasttelco glitches Google
Last week we wrote about the issue Fasttelco users were having with their private information being publicly available online. Cnet/News.com have published an article covering this subject and this is the result of the user (36o/Abdulaziz), who reported the issue on the forum and then passed on the details of the glitch to Google. Apparently, Google have contacted Fasttelco and offered their services to help resolve the issue.
Hopefully some good can come from this and Fasttelco will reevaluate their users security (a price cut and promised speeds would be do wonders too).
Cnet / News.com article [here]
Our original post [here]
Posted by K.
Thanks Abdulaziz
Even though I find the above video extremely disturbing, I have to say, the guy is pretty good. More videos [Here]
I just found out everyone is getting a salary increase, Kuwaitis will get KD120 while everyone else gets KD50. I guess now we can all afford to drink KDD milk again.
Update: everyone else = expats
update2: Here is more info from KUNA
The cabinet approved Thursday a monthly bonus of KD 120 for Kuwaitis employed in the public and private sectors, retirees and those receiving social assistance as of March 1, and KD 50 for expatriates working in the public sector, said Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shimali.
Speaking to reporters following the extraordinary cabinet meeting, he said a monthly bonus of KD 120 will be paid as of March 1, 2008 for Kuwaitis employed in both the public and private sectors. He explained that retired citizens would also be receiving this bonus, as well as all those receiving social assistance from the state. Moreover, Al-Shimali said expatriates employed in the public sector would also be getting KD 50 on a monthly basis.
Someone had told me before that the Chili’s in Kuwait was the largest in the world and a lot of people told me that wasn’t true. Well I emailed Chili’s last week asking them if the Kuwait branch was the largest and this is what they replied back:
Dear Mark:
Thank you for your email and interest in Chili’s.
Our Kuwait location is our largest Chili’s restaurant.
Again, thank you for your email.Sincerely,
Pharisa Smith-King
Guest Relations
I guess that settles it!
iPhone and iPod Touch wallpapers from a selection of designers and illustrators from around the world.
Poolga have the funkiest wallpapers I have seen so far, very tasteful artsy stuff. [Link]
Illuminating Prayer Rug
A lighted sajjadah or prayer rug comes from a Turkish designer, Soner Özenç. The Britain-based designer uses light as an integral element in his imaginative creations. This modern piece that he calls Sajjadah 1426 (1426 is the year 2005 in the Islamic calendar), combines technology and the Muslim culture.
Sajjadah 1426 is a piece of art and a great example of the electroluminescent phosphor printing technology. It is also quite practical. It assists the person who performs the divine service of prayers, called namaz, not just by creating an amazing atmosphere, but by actually finding the right direction to pray towards.
With the help of an embedded compass module, the lighted motifs of the rug turn brighter the closer the rug is turned toward the direction of Mecca.
I wonder if it uses rechargeable batteries or if it needs a power source. Also does it roll up? [Link]
Desert Fubuki©
Once again, the view from my office looks as if I am staring into an hourglass. I tried to take a picture of the weather outside but every picture ended up looking like this:
Nibaq explained it best:
Desert: A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.
Fubuki: Japanese for snow storm
Link [here]
-Posted by K.
Old Salmiya IS getting demolished
A large chunk of the old Salmiya souk is going to get demolished soon, its now official since signs are now located all over the building saying this. For the people who said that the building is going to be refurbished and expanded, thats not true, the whole building is going down. I wonder how much traffic will decrease after the building which houses a large chunk of the shops in the souk gets brought down.
I’ve posted previously about XBMC which is currently the best media center available on the market. The only problem is it runs on the old original xbox and it doesn’t support 720p or 1080p. Recently though a Mac version of the software got released and its turning out to be exactly like the Xbox version (which is a good thing) except that it plays 720p/1080p movies flawlessly. I’ve been playing around with it for two weeks now and the progress thats being made in such a short time is ridiculous. The fact that they manage to make XBMC even more responsive then the already fast xbox version is unbelievable and the specs needed to run it are very low. I am running it on my 1.8ghz core duo MacBook for example and streaming 720p movies over Wifi without a hitch.
If you have an Intel Mac download the software and try it. You just drag and drop the app onto your desktop and run it. Here is a link to the website. [Link]