2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

A friend of mine passed me his two iPhones today to unlock. He purchased them around the same time I purchased my last iPhone except his arrived with the 1.1.1 firmware while mine luckily arrived with the 1.0.2 one. Yesterday an updated version of AnySIM got released which I posted about and which supposedly unlocked the 1.1.1 iPhones but I tried it and it didn’t work.

The steps to unlocking a 1.1.1 iPhone are fairly easy, its just one tiny extra step compared to unlocking the 1.0.2 phones.

1) I downloaded the latest version of INdependence
2) I ran it and clicked on the option to Enter DFU mode (this is the option that you didn’t have to do with 1.0.2)
3) I quit INdependence, ran iTunes and restored the phone to version 1.0.2
4) I quit iTunes and ran INdependence again
5) I clicked on Activate
6) I then clicked on Jailbreak
7) I then clicked on install SSH
8) I FTP’ed to the phone and copied AnySIM
9) I ran AnySIM

Thats all the steps required to activate and unlock the iPhone. I also installed AppTapp but that can be done later. Now my issue is everything went smoothly except for the AnySIM unlock. It ran and gave me an error at the end which is normal, but when I rebooted it still wouldn’t work with the local GSM network. I tried unlocking both iPhones and had the same issue. Everything else on the iPhone works except for the phone. I don’t know if this is happening with other people or if I missed a step somewhere but whatever the reason might be it’s too late at night to figure it out.

Did you know that you can purchase the waffle cones from Baskin Robbins without ordering ice cream? The regular sized waffle costs 100 fils while the large waffle cone costs 150 fils.

Quick Waffle Desert

Ingredients:
1 Large waffle cone
2 Bananas
Jar of Nutella

Instructions:
Chop up the bananas and place them in the cone.
Pour Nutella over them.
Eat.

So the new Max OS is available to pre-order from Amazon.com for $109. I placed my order but I wish they had it available as a download on the first day of release. Kinda like the Radiohead album. Actually, like the Radiohead album, it would also be cool if we could decide on the price ourselves, I would have paid $50 instead of $109. [Amazon Link]

Even their salad is fattening!

Hardees’ chicken salad — topped with onion rings and crispy chicken — has 1,100 calories and 83 grams of fat.

[Link]

AnySIM the free unlock for iPhones has been updated and now unlocks iPhones that come installed with the latest firmware version. I guess the iPhone buying spree will start again… [Link]

I’ve been waiting for decent pictures of the new Nissan GT-R for a very very long time and today some good pictures finally got leaked out. The car is looking like its going to be a killer. [Link]

I passed by McDonald’s today for a quick bite to eat and noticed they had spring rolls on the menu. I hadn’t had McDonald’s since before ramadan so I don’t know how long they’ve been serving them but I decided to give it a shot.

It’s very rare for a fast food place like McDonald’s, KFC, Hardees or Burger King to introduce an appetizer and have it succeed. The only successful appetizer I can think of is the popcorn chicken at KFC. With that in mind and with the fact that chinese food is the last thing I would think of finding at McDonald’s, I proceeded to order my spring rolls with caution.

I know this might sound crazy, I know that my taste buds can be screwy sometimes and I know the Chinese are going to hate me for saying this but… the spring rolls at McDonald’s weren’t bad at all. In fact they were pretty good. I’ve tried nearly everything that McDonald’s in Kuwait ever introduced to their menu and this is why I know to always expect the unexpected with them. When they introduced their Mushroom and Swiss burger I expected it to be the best burger they’ve ever created and it turned out to be the worst burger ever.

The spring rolls comes with a sweet chili sauce which is actually a big part of the reason the spring rolls are good. The price is also good, 550fils for 6 pieces. In the end, these spring rolls are not the best spring rolls in the world. They are not even close to being the best spring rolls in Kuwait but compared to what other fast food places are offering like the crappy Hot Rods at KFC or the overpriced cheese sticks at Burger King, these spring rolls are the best appetizers being offered at the moment and best value for money. I give them a 3.5 out of 5.

A few months back I noticed a new sports store was opening up in place of where Boushari was located in Salmiya. I was pretty excited because I thought it was a new franchise opening but then I found out it was just Sport Corner and I lost interest. Sports Corner was already open further down the street near Thuraya Complex and I didn’t like the place so I wasn’t expecting this new one to be better. I even got invited to the launch of the new store but I wasn’t interested.

Tonight though I decided to go in and it was pretty impressive. The store is 4 floors and although I don’t think the floor space is as big as GoSport, its still pretty packed with stuff especially in the basement. The ground floor is dedicated to Adidas, the second floor to Reebok, the third floor is Champions and the basement is packed with weight lifting, exercise equipment, bikes, punching bags, rackets and just a ton of stuff. The place is worth a visit if anything just so you know whats available in Kuwait in terms of sporting gear. GoSport still caters to a wider range of sports while I would say Sports Corner has a larger variety of weight lifting and exercise equipment.

The Kuwait Flour Mills started producing a new type of burger bun. Or at least I think its new since I never spotted it before and its still not listed on their website. The new bun is similar to the buns used at places like Burger Boutique and Johnny Rockets and doesn’t come with sesame seeds on the top. By the way you have to check out the Kuwait Flour Mills website, its really strange. They have an online shop which doesn’t seem to work, they have a section called “Attractive Corner” and they have a weird flash intro. On the bright side, its cool they have a site. [Link]

Oscar Pistorius is a double amputee athlete who runs with the aid of carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs. I read about him in WIRED magazine but this is the first time I see him in action. [YouTube]

With the new redesign of the site I’ve also added three new minor features.

Print option
Say for one reason or another you want to print a post, there is now a little print icon at the end of every post (after you click on the post) which will take you to a printer friendly version of the article. You then have the option to print the post either with or without the user comments.

Email option
Again for one reason or another you want to share a post with someone you can now email it to them. There is a little email icon next to the print icon at the end of every plost (again after you click on the post).

Page navigation
At the bottom of the main page there is now a more advanced page navigation system. Before it was just “Previous” and “Next” now its a bit more than that. My favorite part is the “Last” button which will take you to my first posts on this blog.

Pepsi wins!

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — The long-standing rivalry between Coke and Pepsi took a physical turn Friday when a Pepsi deliveryman allegedly punched his Coke counterpart in the face at a western Pennsylvania Wal-Mart, state police said.

The two deliverymen were “apparently bickering back and forth” while unloading their wares at the Indiana County store, police said. When the Coke deliveryman left the store, his counterpart allegedly punched him in the face three times, breaking his nose and giving him a black eye, police said.

No charges have been filed, but police characterized the incident as a misdemeanor simple assault. [Source]

A reader in the forum reported seeing a meteor on the first day of Eid over Kuwait and managed to take some pictures. I’ve never seen one live before not even a shooting star so I am kinda pissed I missed out on this. You can see the rest of the pictures in the forum. [Link]

Update: And here is a video of it! [YouTube]

Thanks Fattboa and q8h2o

Reign Over Me
The movie was slow paced but it never got dull and the soundtrack and the whole mood of the movie was very indie which made it feel less mainstream and more artsy. I don’t usually like Adam Sandlers non-comedic roles but in Reign Over Me it suited him and Don Cheadle was also a great supporting actor.

The Good German
I love war movies and I was really looking forward to this one since it was filmed to look like an old black and white film. Problem is the story turned out to be weak. I still enjoyed watching it but not enough to recommend it. The movie stars George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. If you feel like watching a black and white movie get Vertigo.

Disturbia
A guy witnesses a murder and the killer finds out the guy saw him so he tries to kill the guy. A very cliché storyline and one that I hate.

Ocean’s Thirteen
This movie was wayyy better than the previous one. While Ocean’s Twelve was boring and starred Catherine Zeta-Jones, Thirteen stars Al Pacino and the whole story is based in fast paced Vegas. Lots of funny moments and the all star team of actors are all back minus the women thankfully.

The Bourne Ultimatum
Too many chase scenes, is that a problem? I know its weird but I found it exhausting to watch. I can’t imagine anyone but Matt Damon playing the role of Jason Bourne, he’s got this cold neutral robotic look that suits the part perfectly. On the other hand I could think of at least 20 other women who could play the part of Julia Stiles. Has anyone seen her in The Prince & Me? I have no clue why they couldn’t find anyone else…

Year of the Dog
How could they go wrong with a movie staring John C. Reilly???

Fast Track (originally The Ex)
Starring Zach Braff, Jason Bateman and Donal Logue, three very funny comedians from three different very funny shows (Scrubs, Arrested Development and Grounded for Life) so I was expecting this movie to be extremely funny. It wasn’t. The funniest parts I had already seen in the trailer and what was left wasn’t good enough. REALLY disappointing.

A few months ago I posted a video of two Kuwaiti sisters (twins) with amazing voices singing the US national athem. Well I got an email a few days ago with some new info. The two sisters Sharifa and Aishya Al-Zaabi now go by the name Odyssey. Seems they are now signed up with Young Hustle Records which are based in Texas. They have four songs available online which you can listen to by following the instructions below:

1) Go to www.soundclick.com/younghustlerecords
2) Click on the music tab on the right side
3) Look for the following songs; “Love Is Gone”, “I (Don’t Know)”, “Dance For You” and “Love Is”

If you click on the video tab you can also find some videos of them performing live, I’ve attached one of their videos to this post.

update: Seems they are NOT yet signed up with Young Hustle Records, they are just friends with the label.