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I was invited by X-Cite and Sony to attend a preview of the Playstation Vita in Dubai. The even would give us an intro on their new portable gaming console as well as preview some games and more importantly allows to play with the device.

Introduction
The GM of Sony MENA, Robert Fisser stated that the Vita will have the strongest line up of launch games for a Sony console which is possible since the first party and third party games lined up for the Vita’s February 22nd launch is fairly strong.

When you purchase a Vita among the included items will be 56 WAAR (Wide-Area Augmented Reality) cards that you’ll be able to use with AR (augmented reality) games which you’ll be able to download for free from the PSN store. What differentiates these AR games from others is that these games will be a lot more advanced, sophisticated and use a big area for game play. There are also two social services that Sony are pushing in Vita called Party and Near. Party lets you voice chat with friends on the Vita at anytime, even if you’re playing different games while near lets you see all your Playstation Network friends status’s and what they’re playing (or have played). You will also be able to see if their are other Vita gamers in your proximity and invite them to play a game. Finally you can also unlock gifts, or give gifts to your PSN friends.

Another big feature Sony talked about was sharing save files between your Vita and the PS3 and cross-platform play which basically mean you’ll be able to play head-to-head between the Vita and PS3. They showed us a demonstration when one of their Wipeout 2048 game designer who was using a Vita raced against a producer who used a PS3.

There is a parking lot I pass through every so often where all the cars park behind each other so no car can leave with a bunch of cars having to be moved first. What I found interesting is the unspoken understanding among those drivers. Even though everyone parks on closes on everyone else they all leave their phone numbers on top of the dash board. Some are scribbled on paper, other are typed out nicely and maybe even laminated while others are made into stickers and stuck on the front windshield. This parking lot which could only hold a certain number of cars comfortably can now hold a lot more and best of all it’s community driven.

I spotted this picture near Safat Square showing how the new revamped square will look like once construction is completed. I can’t see any seating areas which I think would be a big mistake this time around. They should add benches all around the fountains and the places that used to sell fake perfumes and toys should be turned into cafe’s (Note: That does not mean shisha places).

Sony is holding a PlayStation Vita event tomorrow in Dubai where they will be previewing their new handheld gaming system to the media. I was invited to attend the event but since my brother is a bigger gamer and runs his own gaming blog he’ll be going instead.

The event schedule is going to be the following:

11:00am: Media arrive and are greeted by PS VITA event staff
11:45am: Media are taken around the different stations for a quick tour
12:00pm: Event staff offer light food and refreshments
12:30pm: Sony PlayStation ME representative welcomes everybody, explains a bit about the USP’s of VITA and introduces SCEE speaker and game developer
12:45pm: Presentation starts followed by panel discussion and Q&A with all speakers
1:45: Post presentations one on one interviews
1:45 – 4:00pm: Hands-on with Vita

Since he’ll be having an extensive hands-on session with the device and attending the Q&A session, if anyone has any questions about the PS Vita or is curious about something leave it in the comments below and he’ll try to get them answered for you.

Ok, the title is not true but more than once I’ve mislead Kuwait new comers into believing we were about to take the subway when walking down towards the Darwaza Abdul Razaq Tunnel in Kuwait City (pictured above). Even once you’re inside the tunnel and you realize it’s just a pedestrian tunnel, it’s still not hard to imagine a pair of escalators located in a corner that can take you further down below towards the trains. That’s why I always found that tunnel interesting and I don’t think there is anything else like it in Kuwait.

The Architecture of Kuwait blog has a bunch of pictures of this underground pedestrian tunnel and you can see them [Here]

kuwait tv – fillers presentation from infofillers© on Vimeo.

Looks good but if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?

I found out about Al-Sabih Marine from my twitter followers and I’m glad I did since I was planning to order a Pelican case from Amzon and it turned out to be cheaper to just buy it locally. .

Al-Sabih Marine is located behind Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh and as soon I walked into the place I spotted their Pelican collection. I was looking for the 1200 model in black but spotted a yellow one on display for KD23. The same case costs around KD10 on Amazon so I asked the salesman if they had any discounts and he told me they did and that the final price would be KD19.5. It also turned out they had it in black which was great. KD19.5 isn’t cheaper than Amazon but it was going to cost me at least KD10 to ship it with Aramex so even though I was paying double the price of Amazon I was still saving money. While I was there I also noted down the prices of the other sized cases just for reference. These prices below are without the discount which I am assuming is a standard 15%:

Pelican 1200 – KD23
Pelican 1300 – KD27
Pelican 1400 – KD38
Pelican 1450 – KD45
Pelican 1490 – KD65
Pelican 1500 – KD52
Pelican 1510 – KD72
Pelican 1550 – KD68
Pelican 1550 DIV – KD99
Pelican 1560 – KD80
Pelican 1600 – KD84

If you’re interested in getting a Pelican case I’m not aware of any other place in Kuwait that sells them for cheaper. Here is a link to their website [Link]

If you don’t know what Pelican cases are just watch the video below.

[YouTube]

You’ve probably passed by this building a number of times but not really known what it was or what’s inside. It’s currently getting demolished which is why I thought I would share some pictures I took back in 2003. Back then the building was still open and me and my friend decided to explore it and take some pictures. Most of the shots I had taken were abstract (it was a phase I went through) but I did find some shots that actually showed some of the interior which I posted below. We found a room full of files that contained dates and times of ships passing through some dating back to the 70s and I’m sure there might have been some even older. I kinda regret not taking more photos and flipping through more files but this is still better than nothing.

If you’re heading towards the Sheraton Roundabout the First Ring Road is now open. It’s important to note that the road no longer gets you to the roundabout but passes underneath it. The 1st Ring Road now ends at the Justice Palace.

Interior Ministry announced on Monday that it has asked the Ministry of Communications to suspend all anonymous accounts on the social networking site (Twitter).

The ministry said in a press statement that such measure comes in order to preserve the rights of citizens and residents of people who were used to slander them and their families under fake names, saying that such is a crime punishable by law.

It confirmed that all public have the freedom of expression guaranteed to them by the Constitution as long as those practices are going according to the law, especially with regard to using the (Twitter) site.

It explained that this step comes within the context of the ministry’s keenness to preserve community values and respect for the law. [Source]

That’s technically not possible. Kuwait’s Ministry of Communication can’t suspend twitter accounts. Sounds like a request from a department that doesn’t understand how twitter (and possibly the internet) works. I’m sure the MOC know that’s not possible and probably just replied to them with “enshallah”.

The weather is pretty cozy right now with it not being too cold yet so it’s still a great time to catch the Cinemagic screenings next month. I’ve watched two of the movies they’re going to be showing, American Splendor and of course Akira. Both of them were really great and Akira honestly is a classic and a must watch if you haven’t already. Embarrassingly I’ve never watched Grease although I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. Here is the January movie screenings list:

Thursday, January 5th at 7:30pm
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Saturday, January 7th at 7:30pm
DON’T LOOK BACK
Documentary covering Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England, which includes appearances by Joan Baez and Donovan.

Thursday, January 12th at 7:30pm
THE DINNER GAME
Each week, Pierre and his friends organize what is called as “un dîner de cons”. Everyone brings the dumbest guy he could find as a guest. Pierre thinks his champ -François Pignon- will steal the show.

Saturday, January 14th at 7:30pm
THE GREAT DICTATOR
In Chaplin’s satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double… a poor Jewish barber… who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.

Thursday, January 19th at 7:30pm
THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED
Should Tom (Duris) make like his thuggish father or pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?

Saturday, January 21st at 7:30pm
THRONE OF BLOOD
A ruthlessly ambitious lord, egged on by his wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become Emperor.

Thursday, January 26th at 7:30pm
GREASE
Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they’re now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

Saturday, January 28th at 7:30pm
AKIRA
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psionic psychopath that only two kids and a group of psionics can stop.

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. Entrance is free of charge and includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

A reader emailed me yesterday warning me of the following:

Three employees from XXXXX admitted with contagious Bacterial Meningitis in the last 4 days. Today, another patient was admitted. I was in XXXXX 3 days ago. I went for a vaccine update and took prophylactic antibiotics. I am a surgeon in Adan. I recommend anyone who has been to XXXXX in the last week to go get a meningococcal vaccination and possibly rifampin or ciprofloxacin antibiotic.

Now I’ve replaced the name of the place with XXXXX since I can’t confirm if the information ir true or not but I just saw the article below on Arab Times:

Rumours rife as famous market worker falls dead, 6 sent to ICU
An employee of a well known shopping complex in Al-Rai area died and six others were referred to the Intensive Care Unit of Farwaniya Hospital after complaining of severe pain in the chest and cough.

The cause of the death could not be ascertained through preliminary tests, but some said the victim died of meningitis, while others said it was a swine flu case.

Co-workers of the deceased, who worked in the vegetables section of the hypermarket, said he suddenly felt severe pain in the chest which was accompanied with a bout of cough. The man fell down shortly afterwards and died. This spread terror among other employees and six individuals who complained of similar symptoms were rushed to the ICU.
Sources said the hypermarket’s administration sent employees for vaccination at Kuwait Clinic in groups to keep work going at the shopping center.

Senior officials at the Health Ministry have refused to confirm or refute the incident. Manager of Infectious Diseases Hospital Dr Jamal Al-Duaij, however, said they did not receive any such case and added that the ministry had earlier instructed that all infectious cases be sent to hospitals in the victims’ area of residence. He said he did not receive any call from the ministry on any emergency and added that it did not announce anything about meningitis. [Source]

Picture taken from the Arab Times article.

Update: For those of you posting the name of the shop in the comments I am not allowing it. If you think you know the shop that’s great, just don’t post it in the comments below.

Update2: Arab Times posted an update to the story, looks like it was a false alarm…

“I wish to state categorically that claims about widespread infection in Kuwait are a bundle of lies and rumor by mischievous personalities. I repeat that the ministry only recorded two of such cases”, the health director reiterated. [Source]

inister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar stressd here on Monday the need to take the necessary requirements and regulations to prohibit smoking and the hubbly bubbly, known as “shisha,” in public places, restaurants and cafes.

The minister told KUNA while attending the 12th meeting of the Higher Committee for planning in Kuwait Municipality that smoking and shisha constitute negative aspects of civilization and harmful to public health.

For his part, head of the follow-up office of the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdul Karim Al-Zaid said that the committee commissioned the Technical Office of the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs to study the possibility of banning shisha at once.

He said the High Commission had reviewed and discussed the report and recommended a joint coordination between the Technical Office and the Legal Department for taking necessary action and to stiffen sanctions on such phenomenon. [Source]

I’m not sure if they’re talking about a complete ban on shishas or what exactly. The article says they want to ban shishas in “public places, restaurants and cafes” and to me that sounds like a complete ban which I think would be a bit extreme. On the other hand it would make a lot more sense if they want to ban shishas from “indoor” public places, restaurants and cafes. Personally I would rather they focus on banning indoor smoking first since to me that’s a bigger issue and in any case, by banning indoor smoking it would basically also ban indoor shishas.

According to K’S PATH, thats a picture of Sulaibikhat beach here in Kuwait, home to mangroves, flamingoes and many bird species. Sucks. [Link]

via LWDLIK

Update: Below are before and after pictures. According to K’s PATH they manually collected approximately 2 tonnes waste from this stretch itself in a single clean-up operation of 4 hours. There’s still lots to do to protect this fragile habitat and they’ll be back at Sulaibikhat to clean it up on Fri Jan 6th, Fri Jan 13th and Fri Jan 20th. For more information or if you’re interested in volunteering, click [Here]

The only camera I have with me right now on my vacation is the iPhone 4S and so far it’s been pretty great. One advantage the iPhone (or any phone cam) has over a regular camera is the fact you can share the photos instantly, kinda like Polaroid’s. I’ve been posting a lot of photos on Instagram and I just found a way to share them with none Instragam users using a site called Extragram. So if you want to check out the photos I’ve been taking on my trip just click [Here]