2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

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.

The collection is made up of 3 million records and 300,000 CDs containing more than 6 million song titles. Currently the collection is up for sale on eBay for US $3,000,000.00! [Link]

via

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]

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]

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.

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]

Check out the video. [YouTube]

via

Its cool how the two air marshals remained calm and collected during the whole ordeal. [YouTube]

Thanks Erzulie

Now that I finished with the audio install in my Wrangler the next thing I am going to do is get a lift so I could install 33″ tires. After scouring the Jeep Forum and doing a lot of research I decided to go with the DPG Ultimate Trailgunner Suspension System which is a kit put together by DPG for Jeep Wranglers and consists of a 2.5″ Old Man Emu suspension system combined with DPG springs, a 1.25″ JKS body lift and a bunch of other parts which I need for the Wrangler install like adjustable track bars, quick disconnects and bump stops, etc.. basically all the parts I need to get 33″ tires installed on my Wrangler. You can check it out [Here]

Now as usual I always try to purchase stuff from Kuwait first but also as usual I get put off by the prices. I found the Old Man Emu dealer in Kuwait which is Naser Al-Sayer (Tel: 4747137) but their prices were more than double that of the US. Even with shipping it would be a lot cheaper and more reliable to order the parts from a specialized place like DPG in the States.

So now that I solved my suspension lift issue I have another problem with the tires and wheels. My current setup is 31″ tires with 15×7 wheels, for my 33″ setup I need to get 15×8 wheels and 33×12.5xR15 tires. I found some really nice American Racing wheels (black steelies) for KD16 per wheel but they will cost me an arm and a leg to ship to Kuwait. So I decided to pass by the American Racing dealer in Kuwait who are Silicon Valley Group (Tel: 4826723) to see how much the wheel cost here. The visit was pretty disappointing, they barely had anything in stock, they had nothing that fits the Wrangler and the employee there really had no clue about anything. They are even the local dealers for Mickey Thompson tires yet they only had one model from the size I wanted 33×12.5xR15 and even worse they only had one tire in stock. The guy told me I could place an order for anything I wanted but that it would get here by August/September. Very disappointing.

For tires I wanted BF Goodrich AT/KO but I couldn’t find a local dealer so I started calling other places to see what they had and this is what I found:

Goodyear Wrangler MT/R
33×12.5R15
KD80 per tire (slow shipping, 2 months to arrive)
KD110-120 per tire (fast shipping, 2 weeks to arrive)
Tel: 884737

Mickey Thompson Desert King
33×10.5R15
KD90 (1 tire in stock)
Tel: 4826723

Maxxis MT762 Bighorn
33×12.5R15
KD42
Tel: 4824256

Hankook Dynapro MT RT03
33×12.5R15
KD37 (6 tires in stock)
Tel: 884737

I also tried Dunlop, Toyo and Yokohama but they didn’t have any in stock or in Toyo’s case no one ever answered the phone. I am extremely disappointed with the state of some of the dealerships in Kuwait. Prices are expensive, they don’t have a large stock and ordering stuff with them takes ages. Gives me less and less reason to buy stuff from Kuwait.

Update: A friend gave me a link to a website of shop in Dubai called Icon Auto who sell and install lifts for the Wrangler. Their price is very competitive compared to the US. For example a 2.5″ suspension lift costs $659 in the States, $800 in Dubai and $1100 in Kuwait. How come we don’t have a place like Icon Auto in Kuwait?? [Link]

Since its Kuwait’s National Day next week I decided to post some of my favorite songs I used to hear when I was a kid. They are all available on YouTube and you can check them out below. By the way is it just me or does Kuwait in general seem less decorated than the previous years? Usually the majority of the buildings in Kuwait City would be covered with lights and flags but other then the KTV building nothing has grabbed my attention this year. Strange…

عيدي يا بلاد
امبارك عليك العيد يا بلاد
كاسروه دله
كلما زادت المحن
كويت والعرب

The Rolls-Royce Phantom is probably one of the sexiest cars on the market and yesterday a two door version got released and it looks even better. [Link]

Some readers in the forum have been experiencing account access issues when using Fasttelco. When you login into a website (FaceBook, Gmail, Forum), it informs you that you have been logged out and then you have access to someone else’s account (and vice versa). There are screenshots in the forum of a user being redirected to several different gmail accounts and even gaining access to post under different user-names.

If you are unable to use another ISP to access your sensitive information, I suggest using a proxy, vpn or anonymizer (such as Tor) to bypass the Fasttelco cache server. For those who already logged into sensitive websites; login using a different ISP (or the methods suggested) and change your password.

This is most likely due to the Fasttelco cache server (which stores information locally to speed/conserve bandwidth) incorrectly passing data. If you are a user of Fasttelco, call up the help desk and demand that the cache server be disabled until they can fix it.

Link to the topics [here] [here] [here]

Thanks 36o!

-Posted by K.