Search: “sti”

I noticed many bloggers are moving around lately either from blogger to WordPress or from Blogspot to a hosted blog. Well I found a link that can help you find free web hosting with no ads. There are a whole variety of hosts, some offering more web space, some offering more bandwidth but they nearly all allow you to setup your own domain. So if you are interested in moving to WordPress or off blogspot and need hosting, this link will help you find a free host. [Link]

Now in case you’re interested, here is a coupon for a $50 discount at my favorite web host DreamHost. Just use the code FIVEZEROOFF when checking out.

With iTunes 4.9 you can now browse, find, sample and subscribe to thousands of free podcasts — radio shows delivered over the Internet to your computer — then sync them to your iPod and listen anytime, anywhere. [Link]

Just found this via waxy, its very scary, you won’t believe it… [Link]

I was googling “Kuwait Blog” and to my surprise our (Rampurple, nibaq and mine) old blog qHate came out as a first result. So I decided to google a variety of words and checked how qHate ranks, below are the results:

Kuwait Blog (Rank 1)
Kuwait Blogs (Rank 10)
Kuwaiti Blogs (Rank 15)
Kuwaiti Bloggers (Rank 3)
Blogs from Kuwait (Rank 12)
Kuwait war blog (Rank 2)
Rampurple Blog (Rank 2)
Nibaq Blog (Rank 5)
Mark Blog (Rank not in top 500)
Wolf Blitzer suspicious of six foot one Arab males (Rank 1)

Someone in the office just told me that they recently have been busting in on pirates in Hawalli and they are broadcasting the busts live on TV. COPS style. Anyone know anything about this or seen it?

I decided to share with everyone the statistics of 2:48AM from the day 1 which was February 19th till the end of April. The list is displayed as Date followed by amount of unique visitors.

Feb 2005 557
Mar 2005 1961
Apr 2005 3144

To see how many visiters have been coming in day by day detail click on more below.

Question: What tips can you give mark regarding domain registration? in terms of url name, company, pricing, and so on..

Answer: I am gonna divide my answer into two parts, Domain Registration and Web Hosting.

Domain Registration
I get my domains from Directnic.com. I have been using them for a couple of years now since they first opened up. They offer domains for 15$ a year. There are other registrars like Joker.com who provide you with domains for $7 a year. I haven’t tried those registrars and I wouldn’t risk it also. There are some unspoken services which are offered and I don’t know if these other registrars offer it. For example with Directnic, incase you forget to renew your domain they will still hold the domain for you for up to 40 days. Then after the 40 days pass they will still hold the domain for you for another 30 days but you will have to pay an extra fee to get it back. Then after that they will let the domain go into public domain. With other registrars they might not hold the domain for you at all, some might even charge you an extra fee if you forget to renew it by 1 day.

Webhosting
There are thousands and thousands of providers to choose from but I will make it easy for you. If you register with Directnic, they provide you with free hosting for your domain but you will have their banner on your site. For a small yearly fee they can provide you with simple bannerless hosting. Now if you need something better then there are two ways you can go. Windows or Linux hosting. For Windows hosting I would recommend Fasthosts. I have a reseller account with them and have been using them for over 5 years now. They are VERY reliable with maybe only 1 down time in 5 years. They have excellent service, and their servers are very fast. I would also recommend Interland as a second option here. They also provide reliable Windows hosting for a decent price. For linux hosting you have a lot more cheaper options. If bandwidth isn’t an issue then I would recommend Interland here again. They are a good hosting provider for newbies. They have a very good “Help & Advice” section with lots of information for beginners. If bandwidth is something you need, then I would recommend Powweb. PowWeb offers 5GB of bandwidth a day for as little as 7$ a month. But the downside to Powweb is that their backdoor where you set your web settings and emails isn’t very easy to use at all. Other providers you might be interested in are: Addr, Dreamhost, Pair, iPowerWeb and LunarPages.

Today morning on my way to work I saw a funny bumper sticker on the car infront of me. Click here to see it.

I keep passing by this sign on my way to the office and I seem to be the only one who gets it. Fist for Security & Safety. Get it? Fist… like in fisting? Urgh.. nevermind…

Gardenia and Qout Market are back again this weekend. There’s also an art festival happening at the Mirror House, so if you haven’t been there before, this is a good opportunity. Check out all the events below.

Thursday, January 15
Gardenia Pop-up
Kidspo Village at Al-Assima Mall
Drifting Championship

Friday, January 16
Gardenia Pop-up
Salt Movies: Matilda
Roll Race Championship
Kidspo Village at Al-Assima Mall
Stargazing Trip
Burning Soles First Run

Saturday, January 17
Gardenia Pop-up
Qout Market
DAI Storytime at Amricani
Mirror House 13th Art Festival
Kidspo Village at Al-Assima Mall
Sama’a Community Wellness Day
Walk with the Barefoot Guy

Yesterday, Henley & Partners released their 2026 Passport Index, marking two decades since they first started sharing this list. Henley releases the list every year, and they rank passports based on how many countries holders can enter without a visa.

For 2026, Kuwait ranked 50 on the list with 96 visa-free destinations. Interestingly, it used to be 102 visa-free destinations back in 2024, so I’m curious to know which countries Kuwait had a falling out with.

Compared to neighboring GCC countries, Kuwait has the third best passport, coming in behind the UAE and Qatar. Singapore had the most powerful passport, while Afghanistan had the weakest.

Here are how some other countries ranked compared to Kuwait:

1 – Singapore
5 – United Arab Emirates
7 – United Kingdom
8 – Canada
10 – United States
46 – Turkey / Russia
47 – Qatar
50 – Kuwait
54 – Saudi Arabia
55 – Bahrain
57 – Oman
73 – Philippines
80 – India
85 – Egypt
90 – Lebanon
101 – Afghanistan

If you want to check out the full list, click here.

La Petite Maison Abu Dhabi is hosting a 50 Best Signature Session in collaboration with MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants, and they’ve invited a Kuwaiti chef to take part in the event.

Chef Basmah Marouf, best known for her concept Cantina, will be collaborating with an international chef on a one night only dinner on February 5. The evening will feature an exclusive four course set menu created especially for the event.

Being invited to take part in a 50 Best Signature Session is a pretty big deal, and since the event is being promoted by 50 Best, it does make me wonder if Cantina might have made it onto their Top 50 Best Restaurants list. We’ll find out for sure when the winners are announced on February 3.

For more info on the dinner, head to @lpmabudhabi. To find out next month if Cantina made it onto MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants, keep an eye on @menas50best.

This past weekend, the second round of the GR Yaris Cup took place at Kuwait Motor Town. The GR Yaris Cup is a racing series by Toyota AlSayer, where 12 drivers compete against each other across multiple races. I previously posted about the first round, and with this weekend’s race done, there are now three more rounds to go.

I personally knew 3 of the 12 drivers competing, but even if you don’t know any of them, it’s still easy to pick a favorite team. Each car is sponsored by a brand, so if you’re a Gulf Bank customer or a Caribou Coffee fan, you can follow their driver. Or you can just watch and cheer for everyone, there are no rules.

All the races are free to watch at the track, and there are usually other activities taking place as well, like food trucks, simulators, and passenger rides around the circuit. The next round is in February, so if you want to stay updated on upcoming races, head over to @toyotakw or @gazooracingkw or their website.

Last June, I posted that Alghanim Industries had launched the brand Sama X and had become the official distributors of Starlink’s satellite internet in Kuwait. The service was meant to launch last year, but when I reached out to them in September, they said licensing and regulatory approvals were taking longer than expected. They were hoping to finalize everything by the end of last year, but according to a contact of mine at CITRA, those issues still haven’t been fully resolved.

Starlink internet works through satellites, making it perfect for places where regular internet can be spotty or completely unavailable. I spent Christmas in Lebanon where the internet was incredibly slow and unreliable, and I told myself that next time I go back, I’d bring my own Starlink with me. Starlink has a small portable unit with roaming packages, which would be perfect for a trip like that. But since there’s still no confirmed timeline for when Starlink will go live in Kuwait, I’ll either have to wait a bit longer or buy an imported unit and pay a premium.

If you want to stay posted on the launch, their website is Sama X

A couple of years ago, I posted photos of an old mosque I came across while browsing the Tareq Rajab Museum’s private photography archive. The photos were taken sometime in the 1970s, and with the help of my Twitter followers, we were able to track down the mosque, which turned out to still be standing in the city.

The mosque was identified as the Ahmad Abdullah Mosque, built in 1915, and located in the area behind the Dickson House. When I passed by, it was in terrible condition and looked like it could collapse at any moment. Someone must have seen my post because restoration work started last summer and was recently completed.

I’m not sure how authentic the restoration was, but the important thing is the mosque wasn’t demolished or left to crumble. It’s now fenced off, and no one is allowed to access the area around it. I’m not sure what the plan is, but they might be keeping is closed until the old city project surrounding it is eventually completed.

If you want to check out my previous post with the old photos, click here.