2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I just read on Kuwaitism that the Brazil vs Kuwait soccer game got cancelled. Hopefully I will be able to get a refund on the tickets! [Link]

I just found a 12 page thread in a forum about new upcoming skyscrapers in Kuwait. A guy by the nickname of skoulikimou has 3D rendered images plus phone cam shots of the newest and under construction towers all over Kuwait City. Some interesting stuff, check all the pages. [Link]

A while back I posted about ffmpegx on the Mac and how you could use it to convert movies you download to a format the iPod could play. Well many people haven’t been able to setup ffmpegx correctly and the videos are coming out messed up. So here is my preset file with the right settings. [ipodvideo.ffx]

Yesterday I posted some highlights, here are more:

– Ferrari F1 car on display
– Ford GT on display
– New Jaguar XK on display
– Audi RS4 on display
– Carrera GT on display
– Mazda RX8 on display
– Audi Q7 SUV on display (hidden in private room)
– Eleanor on display (Gone in 60 Seconds)
– Porsche Cayman on display
– New Subaru Impreza STI (Not for sale)
– Mitsubishi Evolution IX
– Renautl Megane Turbo
– Hummer H3
– BMW M5

Pandora Version 2 was released today today. In addition to many new features (bookmarking, station editing, playlist improvements, etc.), Pandora v2.0 includes a free, ad-supported version. Listeners have the choice to subscribe and stay clear of ads, or use the free service, which will gradually incorporate advertising. What does this mean for you? You can now come back and listen to Pandora as much as you’d like for free–and all the stations you’ve created remain intact. [Link]

If you have an iPod Video and you don’t want to spend time converting your movies to work on the ipod then just download them in the iPod format via torrents. You could try search sites such as torrentspy and thepiratebay for ipod videos but an easier way would be to go to Podtropolis, a 100% pure iPod Video tracker. Its a bit quiet there now since its still new but it should start getting more popular soon. [Link]

Update: Here is more ipodvideotorrents.com and videoipodder.com

Fucking Åmål, Untergang Der, Ichi the Killer, 2046, Top Gun, History of the World Part 1, Shi mian mai fu, Blue Velvet, Coming to America, Raging Bull, Nochnoy Dozor and Last Days.

Choosing the right headphone is very difficult. I have never used the iPod ear buds because they suck really bad, instead I have used my iPods with the following: Technics DJ1200, Bang & Olufsen A8’s and the Shure E2’s. The Technics made my ears sweat and they hurt after long use. The B&O A8’s sounded terrible with a complete lack of low frequency response (ie no bass). The Shure E2’s are the best earphones I have owned so far. They are canal phones which basically means you stick them deep inside your ear. They provided excellent sound quality and provide amazing isolation from the outside world. If you have them on with music playing at a decent volume you won’t be able to hear anything around you. I once made Nat scream at the top of her lungs right in my face with my E2’s on and I didn’t hear her at all. The downside though is they take like a minute to put on and in a working environment with lots of interruptions, they weren’t practical at all.

So since I ordered my new iPod Video, I wanted to order new headphones. I did allot of research and I finally brought down my options to two headphones, The Grado SR60’s and the Sennheiser PX100. Both are open air speakers which means my neighbors would hear what I was listening to but that wasn’t a concern. What I was looking for was good sound, portability, comfort and practicality. The Grado SR60’s are one of the best quality headphones you could buy and for their price ($69) they are a steal. Many audiophiles compare their quality to much more expensive headphones costing hundreds of dollars more. The Grado’s are handmade in Brooklyn and they have a retro look which you will either love or hate. I was about to get them when I realized they didn’t fit the specs I wanted. They were not comfortable, they were not portable and because they came with a really long cable they weren’t very practical. So my only option was the PX100.

I just got my PX100 over an hour ago and here is my first impression. The headphone case is amazing, the PX100 fold down to a very compact size and which you can then shove into this cool plastic case it came with. Sound wise they sound really good at the moment with very decent bass and very clear highs and mids. According to forums the sound will also get better once I break the headphones in over the weekend with a continuous 48 hours of non stop music playing through them (to help speed up the break-in period). The cable length is perfect and so far the headphones are very comfortable, so comfortable that I can’t actually feel them on my head! The downside of the PX100 so far is that it looks pretty cheap, but that’s expected since it cost me only $49. So far I really like them, once I get my iPod on Saturday and I finish breaking in the headphones I will post another better review so check back.

Update: I have had my PX100 on for 3 hours now and I had totally forgot they were on until I just tried to scratch my head. My neighbor can hear the music I am listening to but I made a deal with her, she now can play music through her computer speakers if she wants to while I am listening to my headphones, that way I don’t bother her.

Was just talking to my sister Rampurple, she gave me some info on what to expect at the car show which starts today.
Here is the scoop so far:

– They have the Golf GTI and the new VW Passat on display
– They have the new Dodge Charger on display
– Eclipse is finally coming to Kuwait, new model on display
– Renault Megane convertible on display
– Nissan Tiida and Toyota Yaris on display
– Lots of vintage cars on display
– Renault has their F1 car on display
– Lexus has a concept car called the LFX on display
– New 2006 Nissan Pathfinder on display

There is a bakala I visit frequently since its located under my office. His pricing is weird though and I don’t know what to do about it. I usually take a large bottle of water and a bar of Twix. The problem is he sometimes charges me 300fils for the 2 items which is the regular price, but sometimes he also charges me 250fils which is a discounted price. Today though when I got the stuff he wanted to charge me 350fils until I asked him if they had increased the prices and then he was like oh yeah sorry here is your 50fils back. Its really weird, its never consistent.

Wired has a very cool and informative article on the worst software bugs in history. Some really interesting stuff. [Link]

A spoof site on why you should switch to FireFox. [Link]

Could this actually work? This diet suggests you eat every 3 hours. According to them if you eat every 3 hours you keep your metabolism constantly set in motion which in return means you will keep burning fat. Sounds a bit too good to be true but it doesn’t sound to far fetched either. [Link]

Torrent Finder is a Torrent Search Engine which searchs top torrent sites from one page. Very practical. [Link]

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I have been wanting to shoot with medium format film for like forever but I was never able to because the camera I wanted was too expensive. I wanted the Hasselblad 503CW which costs around KD1000 in Kuwait (like $3000) which is too much to pay for something I might end up not using that much. Even a second hand older Hasselblad 501 cost hundreds of dollars on eBay. So I put my dream of shooting 6×6 pictures aside until I found out about the Holga. The Holga I believe is the cheapest medium format camera you can buy, It is very cheaply built and takes 6×4.5cm or 6x6cm shots. The lens is made from cheap plastic the same way the whole camera body is also made of cheap plastic. There are also not allot of options on the camera either, it has a fixed shutter speed and a fixed aperture, the only thing you can control is the focus and even that has only 4 options. So how much does this camera cost? Believe it or not only $19 without flash and $29 with flash. Thats like super cheap. Now the coolest part of the Holga camera is the pictures. Because of the way the camera is cheaply built the effects you get on the pictures are amazing, they look like pictures that were shot by your parents back when Madonna was still a virgin and Michael Jackson still black. I already ordered mine from Amazon without flash of course since I don’t think I have ever used flash. Once I get it I will take a couple of pictures and post them on this site. Until then here are two galleries of pictures taken by the Holga camera.

Gallery 1 (Colored Shots)
Gallery 2 (Black & White Shots)

Click here to check out the Holga on Amazon