Search: “ace”

Although I would think by now everyone knows what Ace Hardware is it seems it’s not as popular as I had imagined. Whenever I mention Ace on my blog a few people always comment asking what it was or where it was so I figured I would highlight the place.

Ace Hardware is one of my favorite stores in Kuwait. They’ve been open over a decade now and every year they just keep on improving. They sell everything from bedsheets, towels, sporting equipment, ATV’s, barbecue’s, gardening tools, car accessories, bathroom accessories, hardware tools, power tools, toys, paint, kitchenware, bulbs, pet supplies and the list goes on and on. Everything is arranged nicely, the place never gets too crowded, the staff are friendly and helpful and since they import a lot of items directly from the States, you find a lot of stuff you can’t find anywhere else. I use Ace mostly for the hardware tools section, the barbecue accessories and pet supplies but every now and then I would need something totally random and I would find it only at Ace.

They’re located in Al-Rai in the area between Avenues and the 4th Ring Road. I’ve drawn a map below of how to find the place, they’re open from 9AM to 10PM daily and their phone number is 24769100.

I passed by the Tamiya dealer after lunch since I heard they got a new shipment of cars and parts. While there I noticed their outdoor track was nearly finished, seems it will be ready to race on by next week. Since I had one of my cars with me I decided to try out their indoor track and luckily no one was around because it would have been very embarrassing if anyone saw how horribly I was driving.

So far I’ve spent most of my time playing with my cars in empty parking lots or open desert spaces but this was the first time I tried driving in a confined track. I was basically really glad most of the walls were covered with foam padding since my car spent most of the laps slamming from one wall to the next like a pinball. My last laps were definitely much better than my first few but by then it was too late since my car’s shell had already gotten pretty beat up. It now has a large chunk missing in the front but I guess that just gives me an excuse to pick up a new body.

Some more failures [Here]

Thanks NJ!

I am a huge fan of XBMC which I believe is the best media playing software out there. I first started using it on my original xbox, then I installed it on the AppleTV and now I just moved over onto the Acer AspireRevo. XBMC on AppleTV was great except for the fact it couldn’t play 720p and 1080p videos.

Two weeks back I found an article on Gizmodo about how XBMC installed on an AspireRevo could handle 720p and 1080p video files with great ease and best of all it cost only $199. So after failing to find one for sale in Kuwait I placed an order for one on Amazon and got it via Aramex.

Installing XBMC was super easy and after I set it up I copied all my settings from my AppleTV and started experimenting. I can’t believe how easily this thing plays HD files! I have trouble playing HD files on my Apple G5 yet this little thing which is slightly smaller than an AppleTV can play it without a hitch. It has HDMI out, its small, its super silent and streams HD movies from my server with great ease, I love it.

I ordered a remote control for it but it hasn’t arrived yet so I am using my browser or iPhone to control it. Shipping with Aramex cost me KD18, no tax since computers no longer get taxed.

If you want to get one here is the [Amazon Link]
If you don’t know what XBMC is click [Here]
Here is a guide to install XBMC on the Revo [Link]

Update: This is the remote control I bought for it [Amazon Link]

I had seen this video before as a silent movie but someone added the 2001 Space Odyssey music and just made 10 times better. [YouTube]

According to a report by nef (the new economics foundation), a UK-based independent think tank and research group, Kuwait ranked 128th on the Happy Planet Index out of 143 countries researched. The happiest country in the world is Costa Rica (surprisingly not Netherlands) while Saudi Arabia ranked 13th (?????) and Lebanon ranked 110.

Here is the link to the full list. [Image]
Here is a link to the full report. [PDF]

I am looking for a cheap commercial space to rent. Location doesn’t matter, size doesn’t matter it just has to be cheap. Anyone know where I need to look or ask?

Never mind, problem solved.

I am currently at work watching the inauguration live on CNN.com and for some reason Facebook is integrated into this mix. This is like the strangest team up, but I am watching the video feed live on the left side of the browser window with Facebook active on the right side.

Ace Hardware is one of the few places in Kuwait that has actually improved over time instead of getting worse. I pass by usually once a week either to pick up some treats for my dog or just to aimlessly wonder through the aisles checking out the totally random stuff they have. That’s my favorite part about Ace and its that they carry items that you don’t need until you really need it. I don’t know if that made any sense but in my case I’ve passed by items that I never imagined I had any use for or even knew what they were until one day while I’m working on a project I find out that I really need this one item and seeing it at Ace.

Abyat and Platform were both rumored to be competition for Ace Hardware but now that they’ve launched its obvious they aren’t. Although they carry hardware and home improvement items they don’t carry the wide range of smaller random items that Ace does. If you haven’t passed by Ace Hardware you should. They’re located in Al-Rai near the Pirelli and Dunlop dealership.

I think I want this more than the new MacBooks. I wonder how much shipping would cost? [Link]

via

Just found this interesting photoset on Flickr which contains photographs that were taken in Kuwait around 1950. All the pictures were scanned by David C. Foster from the photograph album of Francis Hadden Andrus. The picture above is of Yousef Ahmad Al-Ghanim on the left and Tom G. Mohney on the right. [Pictures]

Update: In case you missed it the shot below was featured on SomeContrast.com awhile back. Its a picture that dates back to 1956 and is of the first Porsche in Kuwait. The owner Murad Behbahani is sitting behind the wheel, and his brothers Mohammed and Redha Behbahani next to him. In a way it’s kinda similar to the shot above. [Link]

I am not a big fan of Eureka Electronics but this deal is just incredible not to mention. Eureka currently have a special offer on the Acer Aspire One and they are selling them for only KD59. Thats super cheap, thats cheaper than Amazon cheap. The Acer Aspire One is an ultra portable notebook computer that competes directly with the Asus Eee and MSI Wind. The KD59 deal is on the Acer with the following specs: Intel Atom 1.6ghz, 512MB RAM, 8GB HD and comes with Linux pre-installed. No idea on how many they have in stock but if you want one I am presuming you need to move fast.

Thanks Cajie

I passed by the Kuwait Regency Palace today and managed to take some pictures of the construction thats taking place there. Many of you might remember Kuwait Regency from before the Gulf War, it was one of the best hotels in Kuwait and most school graduation ceremonies used to be held there, I’ve had two graduations there personally. They were also known for their incredible indoor tennis courts and during the Iraqi invasion the hostages from the British Airways flight 149 were even held captive at the Kuwait Regency. Well the place is getting a huge makeover and as you can see from the picture above the tennis courts are currently being used as offices. The hotel should be soft launching by the end of the year with the proper launch by early next year. I took some more pictures which you can see by clicking on continue below.

I think its really great that the place is getting a renovation instead of being completely demolished and rebuilt. I also love the way the name has progressed in time, when it first launched it used to be part of the Hyatt group of hotels and it was called Hyatt Regency, it then became Kuwait Regency and now with the relaunch it will become just The Regency. Sadly the indoor tennis courts will no longer exist once the renovation is completed.

While I was in Thailand I spotted the Acer Aspire One at one of the electronic stores. The Aspire One was recently released to compete with the likes of the Eee PC and I think its got a pretty good shot at it. For one thing the Acer is around $150 cheaper, I just checked Amazon and the Aspire One is selling for KD100 which is pretty darn cheap. It also comes in different colors, the one I saw was navy blue but if I was going to get one I would probably get the white one pictured above.

Also today while I was at Carrefour I spotted the MSI Wind which is also competing in the same category. Carrefour had it priced at KD185 but its cheaper on Amazon although its currently out of stock. Here is the link to the Acer Aspire One on Amazon. [Amazon Link]

Imagine you’re in space with no spaceship, no space suit, just you versus the cold empty vacuum of space. How long you could survive? After answering the questions on the site it turns out I can last for 1 minute and 23 seconds. [Link]