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3D printers are a lot more common and accessible nowadays and I’m fascinated with the technology. As a huge Star Trek (TNG) nerd, a 3D printer to me is the first step towards a Replicator, a device that prints out whatever you want from food to gadgets. 3D printers are still a long way off to becoming a fully functioning Replicator, but we’re on the right track and they’re becoming more mainstream and affordable which brings me to the Micro 3D (M3D) printer. The local M3D dealer sent me a Micro 3D printer to review and I’ve been playing around with it for a few weeks now and figured it was about time I write about it.

The Micro 3D printer started off as a kickstarter project back in 2014, their goal was originally to get $50,000 worth of pledges but eventually ended up getting $3,401,361. It was a huge success and a year later they started shipping them out. So what is a 3D printer? It’s basically like your regular printer except instead of printing ink on paper, it uses plastic ink (filaments) to print out three dimensional objects. Over the course of the period I’ve had the printer I’ve printed random stuff like iPhone cable protectors (pictured below), a AA battery case, a Nintendo 3DS cartridge box, a small toy robot, a wrench for my Dremel (because I lost my original one) and a bunch of other random stuff. Even a new adapter for my Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Now all the items I printed were already 3D modeled since I don’t know how to use 3D software myself. The website with the largest library of 3D models is probably thingiverse.com. You can find anything you want there from car parts to the latest optical illusion that went viral last week. You just download the 3D model, load it up in your printer software and click print. Need a new iPhone cover? Just print one yourself, need a privacy shield for your iMac camera? Print one. A Pokemon ball? Print one. And if you do know how to use 3D software, then you could basically create anything you want.

The Micro 3D printer is a very compact device that doesn’t look intimidating at all. It comes in various colors and will sit nicely on any desk. There are no buttons on it, everything is controlled using the software so it has a very clean simple look to it. There is even an internal filament holder so that the ink stays hidden in the device but you could also mount the ink externally. One of the first things I printed was an external ink holder from the M3D website and it made swapping inks more practical. When it comes to the inks there are tons of colors to choose from and there are even two types, regular PLA ink and what M3D calls, the Tough Ink. I tried both types and prefer the Tough Ink since unlike the regular PLA, the Tough Ink has a rubber like feel to it and is flexible. Here is a video comparing the two [Video]. The disadvantage of Tough Ink is that it’s more expensive and a roll doesn’t last as long.

Over the few weeks I had the printer I did run into a bunch of issues, most of which aren’t printer specific. When your laser printer at home has a problem, it’s most likely a printer jam or you’ve run out of toner. With 3D printers there is so much more that can go wrong, for example here is a 3D printer troubleshooting page to give you an idea of all the various issues you might run into [Link]. Even something so minute as the room temperature can have an affect on the printing. It was frustrating at times but when you get everything working properly again you get a sense of reward, like you just cracked the Enigma code. Another issue is the amount of time it takes to print stuff out. The quickest thing I’ve printed took maybe 50 minutes while the longest took around 10 hours. I basically print stuff and go to sleep or leave the house. I’m not sure how much faster or slower other 3D printers are but it’s still something I wanted to point out in case you’re expecting to print stuff in a few minutes.

3D printers are still in their infancy but if you want to dabble in it then the M3D printer is a great way to start. The M3D printer costs KD155 while the regular PLA ink costs KD6 and the Tough Ink costs KD9. It’s one of the most affordable 3D printers on the market and I believe the most affordable one you can buy in Kuwait. It’s such a strange feeling to click print, go to sleep and then wake up to find a new object in your house that wasn’t there the night before. You’re essentially printing objects out of thin air and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this technology will evolve in the future.

If you’re interested in the M3D printer, the local dealer have a special deal right now for my readers, if you add the printer to your shopping cart and with it two regular PLA inks, use the promo code “248am” on check out and you’ll get the filaments for free. Here is the product page [Link]

Update: Here is a link to my collection of various 3D items that I’m interested in or already printed on [Thingiverse]

On my way to lunch I spotted a building under construction on fire in Salmiya. I didn’t head towards it or even take a photo, I was just so disinterested. Around an hour later a friend of mine sent me a video of the fire and I started to question if this is possibly an interesting post for the blog that I am missing out on. I was leaving lunch by then so I headed back towards the burning building. There were a ton of fire trucks, a guy on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance and a crowd gathered watching. Most of the roads around the building which is on Salem Mubarek Street were also blocked off and yet I still wasn’t interested. I snapped my one picture and drove home.

8 years ago I’d be all over this fire so I could post about it on the blog. I would have parked me car, gone down and tried to take as many interesting photos as possible, maybe ask someone how the fire started.. you know like a wannabe reporter. But now I just don’t think a fire in a random building is interesting content anymore. Accident photos, fires, its more kuwaituptodate style of posts than mine, not unless it’s some important structure burning like the airport or something. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve gotten too picky with what I post and if thats a bad thing for the blog. I don’t think it is.

I’m thinking out loud here so bear with me. The blog has always been about curated content, actually maybe that’s not entirely accurate but it has evolved to being about curated content and the curation process has always revolved around me. It’s what I think is interesting at this very moment and usually related to my personal life experiences. So today I’m interested in Matcha, so I’ll post about Matcha, tomorrow I might be interested in I don’t know, staplers, so I’ll post about staplers. If a fire in a building doesn’t interest me then I think it’s fine I don’t post about it. It’s not like in the old days, I don’t feel the need anymore to post everything since there are tons of other places to get content today. I think what makes my blog content unique to other sources is the utter randomness of the topics, all of which in one way or another relate to me.

So there you have it, I think I needed to write this down for me more than for you. But basically I’m going to continue just posting about stuff that matters to me and not what I think might matter to other people. Like it’s always been.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about TV shows but since I’m watching a few really good ones at the moment I figured it was time I do. This isn’t a large list, it just a small one of shows I want to highlight.

UnREAL
The first show I would recommend is UnREAL. I binge watched the whole first season earlier this year in one go on the plane when I was on my way to Vegas and the second season is currently running now. The show takes place on the set of a reality dating show and gives you an insight on all the manipulation that takes place behind the scenes. It’s heartless, brutal and I love it. My favorite show on TV right now.

Billions
First season is already out and I binge watched half of it yesterday. The show stars Damian Lewis (from Homeland) as a billionaire hedge fund king and the extraordinary actor, Paul Giamatti as a U.S. Attorney who’s trying to take him down. It’s really entertain from the get-go with great acting by the two.

The Night Of
Only one episode of this new HBO show is out but I’m already hooked. It’s a crime drama that follows a Paskistani-American student who ends up in a middle of a murder investigation. I love crime dramas, especially ones that don’t try to solve a crime per episode. Speaking of which if you haven’t already, watch The Killing, the first season is probably the best thing you could ever watch on TV.

One to look out for…

Vice Principals
This show comes out today so I haven’t watched it yet but it stars Danny McBride (Kenny Powers) so it should (hopefully) be funny.

Finally…

Kill Tony
Ok this isn’t a TV show, it’s a podcast but instead of making a separate post for it I’ll just mention it here. Kill Tony is I guess a reality show comedy. The show is run by the hilarious comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and the audience members are all striving stand up comedians. Tony randomly selects a name of an audience member from a hat and they have to come up and do stand up for 60 seconds. Although many of the stand ups aren’t funny the show is actually incredibly funny since Tony and his guest celebrity comedians tend to roast the stand ups (while also giving them feedback and tips on how to improve).

Have a show you’re currently watching and like? Share it in the comments.

Kuwait has become the first state in the Gulf region to set a minimum wage for its estimated 600,000 domestic workers, most of whom are overseas workers from Asia.

The minimum wage is set at 60 dinars (roughly $200 USD) a month, according to a decree issued by Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Sabah.
Al Jazeera reported that the decree also promised other rights, including a weekly day off, guaranteed overtime pay, 12-hour working days with rest periods, 30 days of paid leave annually and an end-of-service benefit when the contract ends.

Kuwait becomes the first Gulf country to regulate the domestic work industry through legislation. Over 2.4 million domestic workers serve homes across the Gulf, and with the exception of those in Kuwait, they are not protected by labor legislation. [Full Article]

This news broke before the weekend but I didn’t want to post it until I got a bit more information. I was confused because from what I was aware of, the minimum wage in Kuwait was KD60 anyway so I didn’t understand why this was news now. But, according to Fajer the lawyer, it turns out the KD60 minimum wage was for the private sector workers and that domestic workers didn’t fall under that category. Now they do.

An invited competition was launched in 1960 for the construction of a museum in Kuwait City. Michel Ecochard won this project while his work was flourishing, especially in Lebanon. However, between the time of the project and its realisation, a long waiting period elapses. Michel Ecochard expressed doubts about the likelihood of this project being completed at all.

The Museum programme was based around several themes, including areas devoted to the oceans and to the field of culture, another to the oil industry, and a botanical garden. The first section relates to culture and administration; a space dedicated to archaeology, art, ethnography and folk traditions. Offices and storage areas extend into an outdoor exhibition area, with spaces reserved for temporary exhibitions and an auditorium. A separate building is reserved for displays on the theme of “Kuwait, today and tomorrow”, a dome-like structure, connected by a walkway to the main building. One can also gain access from the garden. A space with a high ceiling is able to house the machinery of oil chemistry; the second part of the second storey addresses the scientific and industrial applications of oil, and is covered by a dome structure that stands out from the rest. The main entrance is located between the two buildings.

It is interesting to note that the section of the Museum part devoted to traditional life partially recreates the organisation of the so-called traditional city, with a market for traditional crafts such as tanning, jewellery-making, pottery, weaving, and fishing. Buildings organised around a central patio reproduce forms of traditional habitat. In the area destined to house the zoological and botanical garden, an itinerary encouraging strolling, with the first floor transparent, is provided via ramps and walkways connecting the floors, allowing a view of the botanic garden and a large aquarium. The strength of the architectural design comes from the fact that each section is both independent and connected to everything else, both in the interior and exterior areas.

The architecture is resolutely modern with the use of concrete pillars and beams. The rhythmic façades are punctuated by areas with small rectangles made from work blocks. The architecture has been designed in response to the climate to avoid both the sun and sandstorms. It should be noted that the sun-shade was conceived as a way to create a microclimate and a variation of light according to the coverage needs. The idea is to create protection through a flat roof made of open, light, metal, a “microclimate” in which the museum and its immediate surroundings can function independently of the outside temperature. This is a huge shelter that is 28m high, with widely spaced pillars.

The museum was looted and burned during the 1990 Iraq invasion and it remained in that state until very recently. The museum is now currently under renovation.

All the images and text above were taken from Archnet [Link] They also have a scan of an interesting publication relating to the museum which you can read [Here]

In 2014 I visited the museum and took photos of the inside before renovation work had started, you can check those out [Here]

The picture above is of the previous Kuwait National Museum. It was also destroyed during the 1990 Iraq invasion.

Over Eid holiday Pokémon Go was officially released in the U.S. For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game, released both on iOS and Android. The point of the game is to walk around your environment to find and catch Pokémon. When you reach level 5, you’re able to fight at Pokémon gyms that are scattered across the country. The first time you do this you get to choose the faction you want to be a part of, Team Instinct (Yellow), Team Valor (Red) or Team Mystic (Blue). Once you choose a faction and beat the gym boss, that gym belongs to your faction. The game is a massive hit in the U.S. and is about to surpass Twitter in daily active users. It seems to be encouraging adults and kids alike to go outside and walk around, and in some cases make new friends. There are a lot of great stories coming out thanks to this game.

Sadly since we are in Kuwait we can’t really go out for long walks at the moment because it’s super hot outside. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t still play it. I’ve noticed that the game works in our malls and other places we spend a lot of time in. My wife was shopping and I decided to try out the app indoors and I ended up catching Jigglypuff and a few other great Pokémon while she was doing her thing. I’ve also used the app at traffic lights but please don’t use it while you’re actually driving unless you’re on a Pokémon date. Mark had a power cut at his apartment over the weekend so he was forced to leave the house and ended up killing time by walking around his neighborhood looking for Pokémon until the power came back on. Kuwait has loads of Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms scattered throughout so we aren’t missing out on anything really.

Here are some quick tips for first time users:

– In the bottom right side of the screen you’ll find icons of Pokémon that are in your vicinity. If you click on the icon you’ll find up to 3 little footprints under each Pokémon. 3 footprints means the Pokémon is in your area, but not close to where you are, while no footprint means the Pokémon is right next to you.

– When you try to catch a Pokémon you’ll find an AR slider on the top right. Switch this off to switch off your camera, which makes catching Pokémon easier.

– As you’re trying to catch Pokémon, hold the Pokéball and twirl it on screen to add a curve to it which will give you more experience points if you’re successful at catching the Pokémon.

– If you have duplicate Pokémon, click on the ones you don’t want and transfer them over to the Professor to get items necessary to make your Pokémon stronger.

So how is the quality of the Pokémon Go app itself? Well, to be honest, average. The UI is badly designed and the game is known to crash for a few users. The “game” itself is pretty thin, besides walking around and trying to catch Pokémon, there isn’t much else to do. The only time you ever battle is when you find a gym. There is no way to interact with friends, no way to trade Pokémon and no way to challenge a friend to a battle. But ultimately, the quality of the app itself means little when the experience of using the app is making people happy. At the end of the day, Niantich can update the app some time in the future to add the features that are still missing from this game.

If you’re interested in trying out the game it’s available to download in the U.S. iOS App Store and Android devices. You won’t find it in the Kuwait store since it hasn’t officially launched worldwide.

Posted by Patrick

Yesterday while at my mechanic getting some work done on my Datsun I decided to kill time by exploring the area a bit. For some odd reason there are around a dozen scuba diving shops near my mechanic and in between them was this one store called Alazame that sold outdoor gear. I decided to walk in and check their products out when I noticed they sold NiteCore flashlights. I’ve been wanting to get a new flashlight for awhile now since the one I have I now keep in my Datsun. I had researched a few and had decided on ordering a NiteCore one off Amazon and luckily I hadn’t placed the order yet. Alazame turned out to be the local dealer for the NiteCore brand and their prices are exactly like on Amazon. The two flashlights I had my eye on were the P12 and the MH12, the P12 sells for KD18 and the MH12 for KD24, which are their prices on Amazon not including tax or shipping. I ended up picking up the MH12 and figured I’d post about the place in case anyone is ever googling looking for one of their brands in Kuwait.

Alazame are the dealers for the following popular brands:

Leatherman
Gerber
NiteCore
Jack Wolfskin
Buck Knives
SOG Specialty Knives
Buff Headwear

They have an online store with some of their products and brands which you can order from although it’s not very accurate, the NiteCore P12 for example shows as out of stock but they actually did have it in stock. Still its a good source to check prices out and if it’s something you really want you could always call them and check if they have it in the store. Their website is alazame.com and their phone number is 66322666. If you want to pass by their store then here is their location on [Google Maps]

I’ve been curious for the past couple of years to why Kuwait is so popular with international bodybuilders. I mean I’ve heard of a number of current and previous bodybuilding champions who are currently coaching at some of the gyms in Kuwait and I never understood why. Carter, a British bodybuilder has an interesting theory to why that is the case and I think he makes a good point.

Carter suggests that there are certain PED’s (performance-enhancing drugs) only available locally that are attracting all the big name athletes. It’s an interesting theory and one I could believe being possible along with the fact that we have some great bodybuilding gyms here and the coaches probably get a good salary as well. Check out the video above. [YouTube]

Note: Trying to be Fahad posted about HGH (human growth hormone) a few years ago and he mentioned it being dirt cheap and that you could the absolute best brand for next to nothing [Link]

Abdullah Alshalabi, one of the cofounders behind the local startup FishFishMe has published an article on his blog on how Kuwaitis should go about investing in startups. He shared his own investment theory along with an investment cheat sheet, so if startups interest you, check out his post [Here]

Found these two photos on @domestic_arch_kw which I hadn’t seen before. The one above is obviously the Kuwait Towers while the one below is the Fatma Mosque.

Here’s my situation: I’m a 22 years old guy from Kuwait. I ran away from home because i got in a heated argument with my father one day which hinted that I wasnt as straight as he thinks i am and that i didnt believe in islam (the religion of my family & my country) so I woke up the next morning to him on top of me trying to strangle me since I committed two things that are punishable in Islam by death (1-being homosexual. 2-leaving islam) but I was able to break free and leave the house and never come back.

…

I lived in public parks for 6 months. Tried to clean up once every while and apply anywhere I can and got a job . Later I was able to afford a car but not a place to rent …weird? I know. But in here nobody will rent you a place unless you’re married because everyone is so concerned that single people will use those apartments to have sex and host parties where alcohol would be involved (which are all illegal, yeah.. the pre-marriage sex the alcohol and the parties).

No idea if this is real or made up but it’s an interesting read nevertheless. [Link]

A small shop in Souq Al-Manakh, the marketplace for stock and real estate trading back in the day, would’ve easily sold for KD20 million in the late 70’s and early 80’s. That’s around KD2 million per square meter. Why? Because you could only trade if you had a spot there. Excessive but when small traders were making millions a month, you can see why the amount sounds like a catch. Today, you can easily find shops in major malls being offered for anywhere from KD50,000 – KD500,000 just for key money alone. So when everyone is technically renting the space, why do we have key money in the first place?

The first clue is in the name. I’ll hand over the key of my shop to you for a certain amount. So it’s not about you buying the place as much as it’s for me leaving it, and to you specifically, of course. You could say it started as a form of incentive and a nice way out. But as new and hot places are always in demand, people started to jump on them as a way of making money. For example, it’s quite common to find a shop in a new mall opening only to shut down in nine or twelve months to be sold to someone else for a good hefty profit simply because all spaces are occupied and other businesses want to be in that mall. While that first business may look like a failure to consumers, in reality, the whole thing was just a pop-up shop waiting for the next buyer.

Sometimes, because the buyer is emotionally attached to that location they offer a lot of key money to put their hands on a place believing that when they are ready to leave, they will get their money back and more, which beats putting it in the bank these days. Of course, there’s always the risk of not being able to sell it when you need to, but as with any business there’s always a risk. Sometimes, it’s a personal vendetta. If I don’t want someone from a specific family to have that shop I’ll pay whatever it takes not to give them a chance. Let’s not forget, we are in a tribal society. There are many other reasons why companies and entrepreneurs lean towards paying key money. There are also many policies put in place by some developers to encourage and others to discourage the exchange of key money.

So what should you do if you can’t afford to pay KD300,000 key money for your small café business? Well, you could always focus on a different set of customers that exist somewhere else more affordable. For example, having your café somewhere dead but behind some office buildings and sell to them directly through delivery. Maybe you could encourage complimentary businesses to join you in a new place where you can start a new trend in that area. Alternatively, you could start another business you’re passionate about that’s more cost effective to start. In this case, key money was your ‘barrier to entry’ in marketing terms. Tip: Taking a loan to secure key money is not something I would recommend as you’ll needlessly give yourself sleepless nights and probably a stomach ulcer thinking about all the ‘what ifs.’

Post by Loaay Ahmed, a strategic business therapist since 1995. He currently lives and works in London, UK, while earning his master’s in Service Design and Innovation, and managing knightscapital in Kuwait. For Loaay’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to [email protected]. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.

Back in the 90s, White Tower in Salmiya used to be similar to Rihab Complex, the whole top floor was full of video game stores but there were also a bunch of arcade shops. It was the place to go to if you wanted to play fighting games against other people but also if you wanted to play now classic games like Metal Slug. Oh the amount of money I spent on Metal Slug…

Anyway, I passed by White Tower a couple of days ago to see if anything was still open and to my surprise there was still one arcade shop still standing. It wasn’t in the best of state but they did have recent games. Some of the games they had were the following:

Street Fighter V
Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
King of Fighters (all of them)
Marvel vs Capcom

And if I understood correctly they had a bunch of NeoGeo games as well. Best part is it still costs exactly the same as it did back in the 90s to play a round, just 100fils. If you win you keep playing for free of course. If you don’t know where White Towers is, here it is on [Google Maps]

Not a big list this weekend but there are some interesting things taking place. Over the course of this weekend the Human Rights Film Festival is taking place at Al Shaheed Park. The festival if three days and features different short films as well as different speakers for panel discussions every day. The other interesting event taking place is the JU.MO interactive experience where film photographers and illustrators will be curating an interactive experience while celebrating the launch of a new coffee concept called Jumo. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Eighty Percent Women’s Football Tournament
Red Bull Art of Can
Ramadan Bootcamp by Diet Care
Human Rights Film Festival

Friday
Eighty Percent Women’s Football Tournament
Red Bull Art of Can
Human Rights Film Festival
Yoga Flow with Rosy
JU.MO – An Interactive Experience

Saturday
Red Bull Art of Can
Ramadan Bootcamp by Diet Care
Human Rights Film Festival
Yoga at the Park (Hatha Yoga)

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.

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.