Search: “ace”

Seems like an interesting idea. Its located in the alleyway in front of Palm Palace near Marina Mall. Looks like its opening soon.

The iPod that I won from itoot just arrived to my US mailbox. Because it took them a while to send it they also sent a sleeve with it to make up for the delay.

I think I finally found a replacement for TextEdit and its called WriteRoom. This is how the creators describe it:

For Mac users who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter, but live in the digital world. WriteRoom is a full screen, distraction free, writing environment. Unlike standard word processors that focus on features, WriteRoom is just about you and your text.

You set the software to full screen and thats it, you are suddenly in a different place. You could also change the background color to blue and the text to white and pretend you are Doogie Howser. Whatever colors you go with, the most important thing is this software is free! [Link]

Its so easy to order from Hardees on the phone.

Me: Hello
Hardees: Hi
Me: I would like to place an order
Hardees: Is this Mark?
Me: Yes, I want the same order like last time
Hardees: Roast beef N Chedder combo with crispy fries, Chili hot dog sandwich and a cookie?
Me: Yes
Hardees: Total is KD2.350 and he will be there in 35 minutes
Me: Thanks bye

I don’t usually have postive things to say about Mac & More but today I passed by them and turned out they had 2 Black MacBooks. They were already sold to clients and they were busy installing software on them but atleast Nat was able to see in person how the black MacBook looked like. She told her PowerBook and was considering either the 2ghz white MacBook, the 2ghz black Macbook or the 1.8ghz MacBook Pro. The prices between the three were very close, $1300, $1500 and $1800.

Well the blackbook turned out to be pretty boring. It just looks like an ordinary computer which wasn’t very exciting. This instantly took the black book out of the picture and Nats options were either the 2ghz $1300 white MacBook or the $1800 1.8ghz MacBook Pro. $500 difference for a larger screen… not worth it. So I just placed an order for the white book.

Something funny happened while at the Mac store. One employee saw me taking a picture of the black book and he asked me if I had a problem. I thought that was weird cuz the correct question would have been why are you taking a picture? Anyway I replied back asking him if he had a problem. He was like no he was wondering if I had a problem because I was taking pictures. I asked him why is that a problem? He was like no. I was like o..k.. weird.

I have had the MacBook for around a week now and I have decided to write about my experience so far. This isn’t a review because it wouldn’t be fair. I have always had a thing for ibooks and I had already given the MacBook a 5 star even before I got it. So this isn’t a review, its just what I experienced.

When I first got the Mac it had around 30GB of empty space from a total of 60GB. Thats because the MacBook came installed with everything including trial runs of Microsoft Office, Pages, Keynote and a couple of other softwares plus the whole iLife package was installed. I ofcourse didn’t need most of these so first thing I did was format the Mac and reinstall it with the softwares I needed… iMovie, iTunes and iPhoto. This resulted in over 46GB of space being free which is a big difference. The MacBook came with a small remote control and its still in the plastic wrapping in the box. I don’t like FrontRow (XBMC spoiled me) so no need for the remote. Another thing that I will probably never use is the built in iSight. I tried it a bit and I can imagine it being very handy but its not for me.

Anyway, the MacBook is incredible. Its super fast and I just have 512MB of RAM installed. FireFox launches in 1 second, System Preferences in less then a second and iPhoto in 2. The wifi reception is also unbelievable. Suddenly all these wifi hotspots started appearing while sitting on my living room couch, hotspots I hadn’t seen before. Its like where did all these come from??

So far in the week I have been using the Mac it only gotten REALLY hot once when I was busy installing Adobe CS, browsing the web and downloading software updates all at the same time. The MacBook just got really hot, but it didn’t crash or anything. Currently I have been surfing the web for over 3 hours and the MacBook feels warm but not hot at all. The battery life is really good, it easily lasts me 4 hours and even more if I lower the screens brightness. Speaking of the screen, its really really bright, like blinding bright. I have to decrease the brightness most of the time since I would be watching TV and the MacBook’s screen would be brighter which is distracting. Its even brighter then my Lacie CRT at work!

I also installed Windows XP on my MacBook using Apple’s Bootcamp. I don’t have a major need for it but its only occupying 5GB of space and I am going to install Red Alert 95 on it plus the Dos version of DopeWars. Its cool to have since when I play around with the sites template for example I always want to see how it would look like on a PC. Plus it has a “wow effect” when I show my PC friends that my Mac can now run Windows.

Other then that I don’t know what else I can talk about. If anyone has any questions I could answer them in the comments below. I am very pleased with my MacBook and I am very happy I got it over the MacBook Pro. Nat on the other hand doesn’t like the plasticness of the MacBook and so is going to get the Pro version. This I realized might be true for other people also. The plastic feel could put off people who are looking for a serious looking laptop. The MacBook is more funky and trendy then serious. It will grab a lot of attention if you are surrounded by ordinary looking Dell and Toshiba laptops, attention you might not want. But, I still believe this is a better built laptop then the Pro version and I believe this one can take a beating while the Pro version can’t. Everyone to his own though..

When I first found out about the movie the first thing I read was that it was the same style as the movie Crash (not David Cronenbergs CRASH). The movie talks about guns in America and their effects on people and since Crash was a good movie I was looking forward to watching American Gun.

I watched the movie last night and the best thing about the movie is Donald Sutherland. If you use a bit of your imagination and squint your eyes a bit you could pretend Donald Sutherland was Jack Bauer pretending to be an old guy trying to infiltrate a terrorist group. Thats the only thing that kept me going till the end of the movie. It started off slow but I was cool with that, nothing happened in the middle, I was cool with that too, but then the movie finished and nothing had happened. I was expecting for all the different stories in the movie to interweave for a big final but they didn’t. From the couple of stories that were taking place only one of them had something happen. It was extremely disappointing since they build you up for nothing.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone watch this movie, and I am scoring it a 2 out of 5. I would have given it a 1 but because Donald Sutherland had a role in bringing Jack Bauer to life he gets an extra star.

One of the best customer service in Kuwait can be found at International Optics. The employees there are always extremely friendly and professional.

The other day we passed by them because Geo had chewed up Nats glasses after she accidentally left them on the table and they were completely destroyed. The frames plastic was bent, the metal thing on the side was scratched like crazy and he had chewed one of the glasses. She was about to throw them away when I told her they might be saved. So we went to the International Optics branch in Central Plaza and showed it to this one guy. He asked what had happened to it and I told him my dog chewed it. He of course found that funny and shared it with his fellow employees. He told me to come back the next day at the same time and we left.

Next day we went back and I realized I should have taken a before and after shot because what they did was incredible. They actually bent the frame (plastic and all) back to the right shape, they polished the front to remove all the scratches and the side metal was repainted. It was hard to believe this was the same glasses. If they had come and told me we threw your glasses away because they were unfixable I would have said ok but instead they fixed the glasses and they only charged us KD10 to replace the one scratched glass.

This is not the first time they were this helpful, I have had problems with my other shades and they always took care it. Anyway I figured I would talk about a company would good service since I mentioned Showtime’s bad service in the previous post.

The Kuwait Cinemagic & The Royal Film Commission invite everyone to attend a Jordanian Short Film Screening event which will take place at Al Sha’ab Theatre on the evening of June 22nd, at 7:30 p.m.

They will be screening around 10 short films made by young Jordanian filmmakers, some of whom will be attending the event and discussing their work.

It promises to be a fun evening, and you can bring as many people as you like just as long as you come early, as the seating is free and will be on a first come first served basis. Here is the flyer for the event.

Ok, so I am like 1 position away from an iPod nano. The Toot design competition is going to end on the 15th and I am currently in like 3rd place. I need to be in 2nd place to get that nano so take a second and go vote for me. In return, Nat will pose naked with the Nano. Sounds like a good deal? Nat doesn’t seem to think so… Ok seriously now if I win the $50 voucher I will probably put it towards the purchase of these Campers shoes I have had my eyes on. If I get the nano Nat will probably take it since her iPod shuffle is busted. Hmmm maybe its actually better I win the voucher.. (Nat made me delete this).

You can vote by clicking [Here]

My agency is looking for freelance and full time designers. If you are a graphic designer and are looking for a job or thinking of moving from your current place then send me your CV. We are looking for freelance designers and full time designers. If you are in Kuwait it makes things a lot easier. If you are not in Kuwait but interested in moving here you can also apply.
Send your CV to EMAIL REMOVED

I always complain about crappy service in Kuwait but this time I am going to talk about amazing service in Kuwait.

I was leaving Souk Sharq today after lunch when my Jeep Wrangler wouldn’t start… my battery was dead. So I called up the Jeep Road Assist which I got for free when I purchased the car last year. The woman on the line took my info and told me she would call me back right away. I hang-up and she calls back from a +974 number. She told me to hold and then put me on a conference call with a tow truck guy here in Kuwait. I told him where I was located and he told me he would be there in 20 minutes. 15 minutes later he arrives and starts my car for me. I then drive to the Jeep quick service garage on the Gulf Road with my AC off and the windows open because Road Assist guy told me to do this so I don’t risk shutting down the car. The drive to the garage felt like driving through hell as you can imagine.

With the burning wind cooking my ears I was thinking on my way how I was going to cause a large scene at the garage cuz the battery wasn’t just dead it was like all oxidized and shit like it was 100 years old. That shouldn’t happen to a 1 year old car and I wasn’t going to pay for it. Anyway I get to the garage and I explain to the service manager my Jeep battery was dead and that I also wanted to do the 20K service, he quickly calls another guy over and tells him to get someone from the Jeep parts so he could see the battery and then replace it under warranty. I stood there shocked, I didn’t even mention to the guy that I was pissed about the battery and that I wasn’t going to pay for it. I was all ready to argue, fight and send emails out to every Jeep board member complaining about how I got stiffed but the manager didn’t give me a chance to get pissed. He told me not to worry they would take care of everything and service my car and have it ready for me to pick up tomorrow. I thanked the manager a lot and told him their excellent service never stops to amaze met.

On my way back to work in the cab I get a phone call from a +973 number, some guy in a weird accent tells me he is with Jeep and was wondering if everything is ok and if someone came to help me out. I told him yeah everything is great and I dropped my car off at the garage. He asked me what time the tow truck came, I told him he came 15 minutes after I spoke to him. He thanked me and I thanked him and hung up the phone.

This is not the first time the Jeep dealers have been great to me. Since the day I purchased the car I had the salesman call me to make sure I had no problems, I had the showroom manager call to check up on my car and every 6 months I get a call from a +974 number asking me if I have had any kind of problem. Its hard to believe there is a company that provides service this good here in Kuwait or anywhere else for that matter. They are just superb.

Toot are having a design competition for the best designed blog and I want to win either second or third place. The first place prize doesn’t interest me since I already have more cameras then I need but I could definitely find a use for the iPod nano (second place) or the $50 gift voucher from Amazon (third place). So help me win second or third place by voting for my blog. Click the link to go to the voting page, it will just take you a second. [Link]

The Legend of The 99 begins at the Virgin Megastore in Kuwait’s Marina Mall on the 1st of June. Aside from the press conference that will be held at 11am, The 99 premiere itself will take place from 2 pm to 6 pm.

Everyone who attends this event will receive a special, collectible preview of The 99, free commemorative giveaways as well as a chance to win subscriptions to Teshkeel’s comics and magazines! [Link]

Here is a full list of how all the TV shows ranked this season. I have no fucking clue how LOST is in 14th place while 24 is in 23rd place and Prison Break in 55th. Season 2 of lost was the most boring show on television filled with nothing that made season 1 (and early season 2) exciting to watch. Sure they fixed it with the season finale but thats too little too late. [Link]

update: I just noticed Arrested Development is like in position 123 so now I know the list means nothing.