2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Talk about cheap, Jazeera Airways has an offer where you can buy tickets from Kuwait to either Beirut, Dubai or Bahrain for just KD1. Even when you add the taxes thats still really cheap. [Link]
Update: For the non believers, here is proof you can find tickets for KD1
Best Buy Kuwait, the fake Best Buy in Hawalli have the tiny Asus Eee laptops for sale and they are being sold for KD159 which is KD50 more expensive than Amazon. Its really sad how they’ve blatantly copied Best Buy’s logo and name. If it was a crappy shop I could care less but they do actually have a decent collection of stuff so they should also put the effort in coming up with a better name for the place.
First the Spice Girls and now this. According to People magazine NKOTB are going to make a comeback 15 years after they split up. I guess Take That is next. [Link]
As promised, here is the breakdown of current DSL speeds/prices (as of InfoConnect 2008):
If you are looking speeds of 2mb or higher .. you can’t beat Qnets pricing (infoconnect special). And in addition to a free wireless router you also get a scratch (instant prize) and raffle (Mini) coupons for every 20kd spent. I upgraded my connection to 4mb and ‘won’ a extra couple of weeks on my subscription through the scratch coupons.
For those interested in speeds of 1mb or lower; Zajil is the clear choice with their aggressive pricing structure with 1mb at 300 KWD (almost 1/3 the price of last year).
Apparently, there is a new DSL company called Wasel, which has recently been placing advertisements in the newspapers. And while they might be advertising offering DSL, they don’t have a booth at InfoConnect or even a website; We don’t have much information on their offers.
-Posted by K.
*Prices listed are collected from Brochures, Official Websites and Sales Representatives .. prices displayed are for yearly subscriptions.
Marzouq and I had a chance to check out InfoConnect before the doors open to public tomorrow:
The good:
Qualitynet is offering huge price cuts in addition to ‘extras’ that will only be offered when you subscribe/renew at InfoConnect. In addition to a ‘Sky DSL’ service which possibly means two way satellite service (as UCC). They also are offering a raffle for a Mini (might be one of the ‘extras’) with Al-Ghanim.
TechSys has a ton of new products from Planet and Silverstone, from HTPC/High-End cases, quiet/ultra-powerful power supplies to affordable networking products like smart switches and ip-cameras.
Lastly, E-Government is in full effect this year; Bahrain and Oman’s governments showing off their e-capabilities alongside Kuwait’s MOI, MOC and PACI. There are Several Kiosks, payment devices and even a decked out BMW Police Car on display.
The bad:
No Zain (they have their own event in April?), No Zajil, No Fasttelco, and not even Wasel (new Internet Company). For those looking to get a new deal on their EGO or DSL lines… You might be out of luck with the big players sitting it out. However, Zajil has already slashed prices with 3mb going for less than 850kd for a year’s subscription.
The ugly:
Aside from the cheaper yet still over-inflated pricing on the same old items… There is not much that InfoConnect has to offer. Without the Internet companies using February as a time to introduce their new offerings… you might as well take a stroll down any Ibn Khaldoun for the same experience.
The reality is that InfoConnect is a second rate bazaar with local stores trying to unload the remaining stock from their warehouse. Everyone from ElectroZan, Yousifi, Al-Ghanim Electronics and Sony are busy selling Televisions and DVD players than showing off new technology.
On the bright side, this might be a good chance to pick up that TV you have been thinking about. In addition to the electronics… there is an endless supply of Phone stores, two bit computer shops and Chinese stands selling items which can probably be found for cheaper in Hawalli.
I put up some pictures on my Flickr page [here].
-Posted by K
I will be posting tomorrow the ISP cost comparison.
Info & Connect 2008 will start from tomorrow the 3rd of February and last until the 9th. If you are planning on renewing or getting a new Internet connection this would be the best type time since all the ISP’s usually have offers at this exhibit. I tried checking the Info & Connect website for more details but its currently not working which is ironic. Location for the exhibit is Mishref Fairground Hall 4. [Link]
I thought I needed an hour more work today but it ended up taking like three. I was experiencing some vibration sounds yesterday so today I removed the 4 speakers and stuff the area behind them with a lot more pollyfill (pillow stuffing). This ended up improving the sound quality and killing any vibrations I was hearing. I also cleaned up the wires in the rear, and fastened my amp and subwoofer into the trunk.
Even though I have the amp and sub installed in the trunk, when the rear seat is folded up there is still a lot of room for Geo to get in, sit and walk around. When the rear seat is down the amp is hidden and there is still some room next to the sub for some grocery bags.
I tuned the sound system a bit but will wait two more weeks for all the speakers to break in before I spend more time tuning things. Although it was really exhausting work it was a good learning experience. Next project I am probably going to try is to install is a suspension lift by myself. I already have the step by step instructions just need to get the right tools.
I woke up at 9AM today morning so I could start work on the installation of my Alpine sound system in the Wrangler. First thing I did was pass by Sultan Center and pick up a cutter and extra batteries for my MagLite. From 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening I was working on the installation non stop without lunch just 2 small bottles of water and gum. I got a lot of surprises, most of the stuff I was expecting to be difficult turned out easy and what I was expecting to be easy turned out to be difficult. My fingers are killing me now and I have a ton of tiny scratches all over my hands from all the work I did under the dashboard trying to get all the cables neatly through.
I am not done yet, I still have around an hour of work work which I will do tomorrow. I still need to fasten the amp and the sub to the car, I already drilled the holes just need to screw them in. I also need to fine tune the sound, currently I got a lot of highs and a lot of lows with no midrange. Also the front speakers are slightly louder then the rear so I can still tell which direction the sound is coming from but thats also an easy fix. I think I did a pretty good job of the install, there were a few moments where I thought I was fucked but those quickly got worked out. Only thing I need to improve on is my soldering technique.
This is a pretty cool idea, its a cake mold that creates 15 different sized portions of cake. Can’t find any info on the price though. [Link]
The Fail Blog is the new icanhascheezburger. [Link]
Just wanted to also point that out.
Nothing more to say on this.
If you were wondering why you have been unable to access the internet, its due to the SMW4 (South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4) SEG-4 link between Alexandria and Marseille has being cut (not good). Calls to the helpdesk won’t resolve much, as this is something beyond the repair of our local ISPs (it is affecting the whole region).
Status:
January 30th – 2.30pm : There is no Estimated Time of Repair.
January 30th – 10:00pm: A cable-ship has been dispatched from Italy; repair may take up to two weeks.
More about the SMW4 Link: Wikipedia / Official Website
-Posted by K
(Psst M.O.C .. It might be time to re-evaluate our backbone links.)
The final item in my car sound system build finally arrived, the Infinity BassLink II. I am not a big fan of Infinity and would rather not have used them in my build but I didn’t have any other option. I was looking for a powered subwoofer that would not take up that much trunk space yet still give me hard pounding bass. The BassLink II has a 10″ subwoofer and 10″ passive radiator inside and is powered by an internal 250watt RMS amp so it should pound fairly well. I will finally start installing everything this Friday and it should take me all day probably since I will be doing the installation myself.
Here are my previous posts on my sound system install if anyone is interested:
My new car stereo
Do it yourself car sound system
Nearly There
