Search: “cop”

Usually I tend to find and share photos of Kuwait from the early days like the 50s and 60s but recently I came across a whole bunch of photos of Kuwait taken in 1980. What I find fascinating with these specific photos is that Kuwait usually tends to look really great in the really old photos I share but in these Kuwait just looks really gritty. I think the early 80s were a transitional period between old and new and based on the photos it’s as if all the beautiful old buildings were just starting to fall apart.

Photos taken from the MIT Libraries

Adidas is releasing new NMD’s tomorrow (August 18th) at their Adidas Originals stores worldwide. We don’t have an Adidas Original store in Kuwait so we’re not getting an in-store release. But, we do have an alternative option.

The NMD’s will be getting released on the Adidas Kuwait online store. They currently have countdown clocks on all the pairs that will be available and once the clocks hit zero they’ll be available to purchase. So if you’re hoping to cop a pair before they sell out, head to the Adidas website and search for NMD or just click this [Link]

Update: They went on sale and all got sold out right away.

I don’t know where to begin with this. Back to the Q82 is a Kuwaiti spoof of the Back to the Future movies or at least I’m guessing it’s a spoof. I just watched the trailer and although some parts kinda look like they might be funny, I’m more concerned with the fact they can’t agree on the name of the film.

The poster above calls the film “Back to the Q82”, the trailer title on youtube is “Back to Q82” but in the actual trailer it says “Back on Q82”. Guys, let me decide on your behalf, we’re going to call the film “Back to the Q82”. Also Q82 doesn’t work even though it’s a play on Q80 (Kuwaiti). They’re using 82 instead of 80 because thats the date they travel back in time to but it sounds really weird. Also you spelled trailer wrong on youtube and the car in the poster is different than the car in the movie. Urgh whatever, this is driving me nuts. The movie comes out in theaters on July 7 and I’ll sadly probably go watch it just out of curiosity.

Update: ummm I just realized we are in August, so either the movie already came out last month or they mean July 7.. 2017.

Update2: For some reason the video uploader made the video private. Anybody else have a copy?

Thanks Ahmad and Forzq8

The long awaited indie game ‘No Man’s Sky’ was supposed to come out in Kuwait yesterday but got held up at customs so I only was able to get my hands on it a few moments ago. The official worldwide release date is August 9th so Kuwait wins again with another early release date. If you want a copy, I got mine for KD19 from @q8_complex

Posted by Patrick

[YouTube]

The Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Causeway, a key project on the state national development plan, will be among the longest bridge worldwide. It is one track for completion in November 2018. The project, also known as the Subbiyah Causeway, aims to link south and north Kuwait, as well as coping with the increasing traffic jam over the coming three decades.

It consists of two parts: the Main Causeway that will link Kuwait City to the Subbiyah New Town area to the north, stretching 37.5 km, starting from the Ghazali Road intersection and ending at the Subbiyah highway. About 27km of it is a marine bridge structure. The second bridge, Doha Link, will be 12.4 km and will pass through the Kuwait Bay area towards the west, linking the Shuwaikh Port with the Doha motorway.

Up to 59 percent of the Main Causeway has been achieved, and 30 percent in the Doha Link, Assistant Undersecretary for Road Engineering at the Ministry of Public Works Eng. Ahmad Al­Hessan told KUNA. He added that the Doha link aims to end traffic jams in Shuwaikh, and on the Ghazali Road resulting from the trucks using the Port. The Sheikh Jaber Al­Ahmad Causeway also includes two artificial islands, the first to be built on a total area of 300,000 square meters near Kuwait city, and the second near Subbiyah New Town.

They will have government buildings, a marina and green spaces in addition to areas for future investment projects. [Source]

I’ve been watching their progress for awhile now since I can see a large chunk of the project from outside my window and they’ve been moving along pretty quickly. You can even see the bridge in earth view on [Google Maps].

Thanks Ricardas

There is an interesting discussion in the 248AM Community regarding internet latency in Kuwait. Internet latency is how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one point to another so for example, from your computer to the website you’re trying to access. When browsing the web though, latency isn’t that important, but when playing video games, latency can make a world of a the difference in gameplay. A FASTtelco employee left some information regarding local internet latency in the discussion which I thought would be interesting to share, so I’ve copied and pasted it below with some minor changes:

—————————————————

In order the get the best latency, first we have to understand the dependencies and the major elements which might effect your latency:

First, the ISP’s are contracted with international providers either by dry routes (land) or through the wet routes (sea). Sometimes it’s a direct IPLC to Europe, and sometime through other destinations. The major difference might result in higher latency, but at the present time, most of the international routes are optimized to provide the best routes, resulting in closer latency ms. So let’s put this factor on the side.

LTE:
Unfortunately, the mobile is a non guaranteed service. It always depends on the load within the closest cell tower and this changes with your geographic location. You will always be getting different ms (ping) depending on how many people are using the same cell tower and the time of day.

Fiber GPON:
This is the most guaranteed service in Kuwait. Usually the latency between the ONT box located in the house to the main point of the ISP is 10-15ms and that’s consider to be the least across all the other internet services. Another factor, we have CAT6 cables connecting between the ONT box and the main router which isn’t the situation in DSL areas (with few exceptions to DSL clients having upgraded their copper cables to CAT6 cabling from the MOC external point to inside the house). The GPON provides stability and FASTtelco does offer the gaming package on the GPON due to the reduction of error factors.

DSL:
The various ISP’s differ in local ms (ping) latency depending on the equipments they use, the different routes and the types of services they have with the MOC. The best way to compare is to test the local ms (between you and your ISP). This will indicate the exact latency which will assist you when conducting the comparison between the different local ISP’s.

When an ISP conducts a test on the clients house, they check the external point, and that’s what’s guaranteed. Meanwhile, the local building cable (copper) is out of the scope. Therefore, a proper cable needs to be in place. Today most of the DSL areas are over 30 years old and so we heavily recommend to replace those old copper cables with CAT6 cables in order to have a much more stable service.

The router also plays a major part with the service and is the last factor that can effect your internet latency.

Every year I try to put together the most comprehensive list possible, of restaurants in Kuwait that have either a Ramadan buffet or set menu. Below is this years list and like always I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. Check out the full list of places below:

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Forno
Set Menu Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 22214996 or 22283498

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+2.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price (Mangaf): KD11.950
Buffet Price (Shaab): KD14.950 (+2.000)
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD8
Telephone: 1844466 or 25381481

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: KD3.500 (+0.300) – min 4 people
Telephone: 25751081

Baker and Spice
Set Menu Price: KD8.750
Telephone: 22407707

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Cafe Blanc – The Avenues
Buffet Price: TBD (starts mid Ramadan)
Telephone: 22597568

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD13
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.050)
Telephone: 1848111

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD13.5
Telephone: 22275555

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.500
Telephone: 22256222

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD7.750 (+0.200)
Telephone: 22264503

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22455550

Katsuya
Set Menu Price: KD12.5 – serves up to 4 people
Telephone: 22283195/6 or 22214985

Kababji
Set Menu Price: KD5.5
Telephone: 1861616

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD7.50 (-2.250)
Telephone: 22251303

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Buffet Price: KD13
Telephone: 99052419

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD9.5 (+0.500) – min 5 people
Telephone: 22996414

Max Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD12 – serves up to 4 people
Telephone: 25750647

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+0.100)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22253100

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12.5 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22268666

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD8.9
Telephone: 67009575

Paul
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 22208204

Pop A Loop
Set Menu Prices: KD8 to KD14 (5 menus to choose from)
Telephone: 22271439

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD8.5
Telephone: 25711101

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25673000

Ruby Tuesday
Buffet Price: KD9.950 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22444454

Saladworks
Set Menu Price: KD5
Telephone: 22201888

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.250
Telephone: 22422055

Swiss BelHotel Plaza – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9
Telephone: 22436686

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD11 (-3.000)
Telephone: 25770000

Tallu Hbabna
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 22200325

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD5.550 (+0.600)
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12.450 (+0.450)
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD10 (-3.000)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

Zahr El Laymoun – 360 Mall
Buffet Price: TBD – starts next week
Telephone: 25309511

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Note: I’ve been adding restaurants to this list as I get emails about them so keep checking the above list for new additions.

“تفضل” which roughly translates to “come in” is a short documentary on Rihab Complex that was released a couple of months back but I only got to watch it a couple of days ago. For those of you who’ve never been to Rihab Complex, it’s an old shopping complex in Hawalli filled with video game stores. The documentary gives a bit of a rundown on the on the complex as well as interviews some of the shop owners to get their story as well as explanations on why some games are expensive, while EU games are cheaper than US and other things. Sadly the video is in Arabic so if you can’t understand Arabic you’re not gonna get much out of it. [YouTube]

I’ve personally been going to Rihab since the late 90s (when the best gaming console ever the Dreamcast was released). But before Rihab, during my SNES and Game Gear days I used to get all my games from the shops in old Salmiya. There used to be a bunch of great shops in the building right next to mine, I don’t remember their names but I do remember there were three of them, two on the main street and one inside the complex. One of the ones outside used to have a 3DO in the display playing either the Night Trap demo or the original Need for Speed on loop while the store inside the center had a Neogeo on display playing mostly Samurai Showdown. You also had two computer shops upstairs, one called Computer World where I got my original copy of Windows 95 from and the other shop right next door where I used to buy my pirated games from. You’d buy a game and then have to wait for the guy to make copies of it and some games like Duke 3D for example used 13 floppy disks so you had to either go and come back or wait there patiently until he finished copying them. Then you had Burj Al Abyad (White Tower) further down the road which was the gaming center of Kuwait back then with most of the shops also housing arcade machines.

This post is really making me regret selling all my old gaming consoles. All I kept from the bunch are my Game & Watches.

If you really want to step back in time, back in the 80s there used to be a computer shop in Salhiya, I think it was on M1 or M2, it was right across the Korean restaurant that used to be there. I also got my Coleco in the mid 80s from a video game shop in Kuwait City that was located in the hexagon shaped blue glass tower. Kuwait was so different back then.

Not a lot of events taking place in terms of quantity, but quality wise this weekend has some pretty interesting ones taking place. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Exhibition: What’s Your Location?
Exhibition: Tensile Modulus By Omar Khouri
Movie & Dinner: Robocop
Dreams & Nightmares Illusion Show

Friday
Extreme Stunts Show
Summer Chamber Music
Dreams & Nightmares Illusion Show

Saturday
Extreme Stunts Show
Workshop: Building Your Comic Book World 101
Nutrition Talks
Korean Fan Calligraphy Event
The Last Brunch: A Charity Affair

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.

Doom was one of those games that I wasn’t allowed to play when I was a kid but I did anyways. It was dark, atmospheric and kind of scary. The games were unique at that time and basically laid the foundation for future first person shooters. Since then Id software tried to recapture that magic with various other games like Doom 3 and RAGE but were never really were able to reach the heights of Doom I and II…until now.

There was some hesitation from fans when the new Doom was announced since the market was oversaturated with first person shooters and it would take something special for the new Doom to make a dent. The development history of the game was troublesome, Id Software had completed a Doom game, didn’t like what they had created and then restarted the development process from the beginning. So there were a lot of questions that needed answering, would the new developers be able to design levels as good as John Romero and co.? Would the new developers be able to create the same fast-paced action that were present in those original games? Would they try to create a more immersive narrative even though those older games didn’t really rely on one? Even then, would a first person shooter with a reliance on gameplay over narrative even succeed nowadays when narrative seems important to the consumer and the players?

I was able to get my hands on Doom a few days before its official release and even though the multiplayer beta was disappointing, I was really looking forward to the single player campaign. As the games release date got closer, it was revealed that no review copies were sent out to any of the major websites so many people were expecting the worst. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I put the game in, I hoped for the best though. Thankfully what I got was nothing short of incredible. The game has incredible visuals and art direction, the environments look great, the monsters look extremely detailed and the animation is top notch. The music and the sound design are also fantastic and suit the game perfectly. Another aspect of the game that adds to its value is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The developers built a ridiculous and amusing lore surrounding Doom-guy. They took this generic guy and turned him into this legendary warrior that demons fear. He has a personality even though he doesn’t say a word, it’s all in his actions. The game plays fast, it’s brutal and the music accompanying the action is memorable. The way the game starts is brilliant and probably one of the most memorable introduction to any game I’ve played.

The developers were successful at modernizing Doom in a couple of ways. First off is you can now upgrade your weapons, thankfully it’s not convoluted. Each weapon has two upgrade paths and the manner in which they’re presented is simple and straight forward. Your armor can be upgraded as well and like your weapons, the process is simple. You can also upgrade the amount of health, armor and ammo you can carry. You’ll also come across demonic runes that present a challenge and if you complete the challenge you’ll unlock a rune that you can equip that will also help you out in some way.

Other ways the developers were able to modernize Doom is the games level design. The original Doom games had complex level designs that were maze like and contained plenty of secrets to discover. The developers were able to take that feel and successfully modernize it. Levels have a lot of verticality to them and you’ll be jumping around quite a bit. It sort of feels like a Metroidvania kind of game in some ways. You’ll get lost in the levels the same way players did in the original game. The levels have secrets and even when you know where they’re located, some secrets are still tricky and challenging to get to.

The game also features two other modes besides the single player campaign mode which are multiplayer and Snapmap modes. Multiplayer is self-explanatory and I haven’t really touched it since release because I’ve been spending all my time playing through the campaign while the Snapmap mode is where all the user-created content will be. Snapmap lets you create and share your own levels and challenges. I’m actually impressed by how much content Doom has to offer.

Its been a while since I’ve enjoyed a first person shooter as much as I’ve enjoyed Doom. It might just be the best single player first person shooter I’ve played. It’s memorable, it’s fun and it’s very violent. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast-paced action game that doesn’t take itself very seriously. I’m relieved it turned out this good since I chose to play Doom before Uncharted 4. I don’t like giving out perfect scores (I’ve only given 5 games perfect scores), but Doom deserves it.

Score: ★★★★★

Post by Patrick

Last year I posted about a frame shop in Shuwaikh which I used to customize a frame for one of my prints. Since then I’ve used two other shops as well, not because the original one I posted about wasn’t good enough, but mostly because I didn’t feel like going to Shuwaikh every time I needed a frame done.

Boushahri Group Photography And Graphic Arts
Most of you know Boushahri from back in the days when you needed to get your portrait photo taken for passports or civil IDs. Nowadays they’re a pretty tiny setup mostly just printing your digital photos and picture framing. I had a large black and white photo I needed framed along with a white mount so I decided to try Boushahri since they’re really close to my house. Their frame shop is located behind their photography shop and they had a large variety of frames to choose from as well as different colored mounts. I briefed them on the job, got a quote on the spot for KD15 which was really reasonable and was told the frame would be done in a couple of days. The next day they called me up and told me my frame was ready to pick up. Good service and a great price. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Elegant Frame & Art (Mashmoom)
I had been trying to get a hold of the Michael Kagan print above since end of 2013 and I finally managed to get a copy only a couple of months ago (long story involving lots of drama with the artist). Because of the importance of this print to me and the way I wanted it framed, I didn’t think my Shuwaikh guy would be able to do it. Although I’m sure Boushahri could, I figured I’d take it to a place that had more experience. There used to be a store near Salhiya called Elegant Frame & Art, I say used to be because when I passed by the location it turned out they had moved. I posted on twitter asking if anyone knew where they moved to and someone from Elegant Frame & Art contacted me telling me they moved to Sun City inside a store called Mashmoom. So I headed there, met with the specialist, briefed him on what I wanted and left. I had two prints by Michael, the one pictured above and another one thats roughly twice as tall. They told me they would need around a week to get it done and they’d let me know how much it would cost. Two days later they messaged me to tell me it would cost KD40… per frame! I thought that was too expensive but I honestly didn’t want to drive back to Sun City in Shuwaikh to pick up the prints nor was I in the mood to brief someone else on the job. So I ended up haggling and managed to drop the price down to KD60 for both. Five days later the frames were ready to pick up. They ended up framing the prints exactly like how I wanted them framed and it was pretty much a perfect job except for two things. One of the frames has what looks like a bit of glue/dirt on the inside of the glass, luckily it’s over a colorful spot so doesn’t really show, there was also a bit of glue/dirt on the white frame which I managed to clean up myself. The other issue is with the frame border, I had originally briefed them that I wanted the thickness to be 2.5cm but when I gave them the go ahead on the job I told them I wanted it changed to 2cm instead. They kept it 2.5cm. On the positive side, they stuck like little cork bumpers on the back corners of the frame so not to damage the wall you’d be mounting on. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

So overall my experience was fairly positive but if I had to choose between the two I’d definitely go back to Boushahri. They’re more conveniently located, their prices were pretty good and the finishing of the frame was great. I think they’re going to be my go to place from now on instead of the Shuwaikh guy just because they’re located down the road from me.

The Kuwait Child Rights Society Ministry of Health have launched a new national child protection hotline as part of the Kuwait National Child Protection Program. The number is 147 and you should call it if you know of a child that is being abused, if you’d like to help and protect a child or if you have any questions related to child abuse.

There is a child that I’ve spotted a few times in the evening selling tissues at the traffic light on the Gulf Road that takes you to the second ring road. I might give them a call the next time I see him there. I mean there are always cops there at that traffic light, but they never seem to care that there is a young kid under 10 years old working at 9PM selling tissue packets at a busy intersection.

Is that a cop just standing there chilling and watching the fight? [YouTube]

Todays the last day for the REUSE event. I passed by yesterday and my favorite installations were mostly local ones. The one pictured above is a collab by my friends supersoulxxx + kickstq. The installation was called YEEZY-NOMICS and they had every Yeezey sneaker ever released from the LV’s to Nikes to Adidas on display along with their current market prices.

My other favorite installation was also by two friends of mine who are launching a storytelling platform in Kuwait called Hababa. It was a cute installation where people could go in and record their stories.

Another installation I really liked was by the Dutch artist Maurice Mikkers who combines art with science by collecting tears from people and then magnifying them under a microscope. Really fascinating stuff.

So if you haven’t passed by yet do so, it’s at DAI Yarmouk and it’s free. For more details click [Here]

The Division has been out for quite some time now and it’s taken me this long to write about it because I wanted to make sure my opinions didn’t change the longer I played the game. The game has generally been received well by critics, but as always that doesn’t reveal the extent of a games quality. If you don’t know what the Division is, it’s a cover based shooter with RPG mechanics, that’s a quasi MMO. Think of Destiny, yeah. It’s sort of like that.

The set up for the Division is simple. A lethal virus breaks out during Black Friday and spreads across New York City, ravaging the city and killing thousands. Manhattan is quarantined and the US Government activates sleeper agents known as the Division to assist emergency responders to bring stability and order to the city.

The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed Division agent. You create your character and you’re forced into action. After a few missions you unlock your base which is split into 4 distinct sections. You have the general area where the stores and your stash are located. You have the medical, the security and a tech area. Whenever you upgrade each section you’ll see your base grow, with more personal and more people populating the base. It’s a great thing to see and very satisfying to observe. Each base upgrade also helps your character by adding perks or abilities. So you have more then one reason to upgrade your base. It also makes you think about what upgrade to choose first. Think of these three sections and the abilities they unlock as different play styles: If you focus on the medical section you should consider yourself a healer, if you focus on the tech, a rogue and if you focus on security a tank. Obviously you can mix and match, but generally this is how I thought of it.

I enjoy enemy A.I. that is dynamic and that are smart. Bar some inconsistent moments the A.I. in this game is that. The enemies will try to outflank you so seeking cover in one place isn’t going to guarantee you safety. Your best bet is to shoot, cover and move. Staying out in the open will most likely lead to your death. The game features different groups of gangs that each offer different challenges. Within these gangs you’ll come to be familiar with the different types of enemies you’ll face. There are your melee enemies, who are probably the dumbest of all enemy types. They’ll just run up to you and try to hit you with a bat. They’re easy to kill, but if they do end up hitting you, they’ll deal a lot of damage. Then you have the other typical enemy types: a sniper, a shotgun, and regular grunt who uses automatic rifles. Depending on what gang you’re facing you’ll face more types of enemies. For example there is a gang called the Cleaners. They usually come equipped with flame-throwers and will burn anything that comes close to them. Then you have the boss-type characters who have a ton of armor and take some time to kill. Sometimes you’ll have to fight more than one and these fights can be pretty intense.