Search: “sti”

I’ve had the car for a day now and so far its been surprising. Before I picked up the car I thought the thing I would like the most in the car would be the interior. I had checked the CTS website and I was really looking forward to the “Ambient Interior Lighting”. A lot of cars have it but the CTS has a unique version that uses LED’s that go along the dash from one end to the other. But, I quickly found out the version of the car I was reviewing didn’t have the ambient lighting, I don’t know if its not available as an option in Kuwait or if it just wasn’t an option in my car but I wasn’t able to experience it.

With one of the things I was looking forward to not available I had to find something else to take my interest and I quickly found it as soon as I hit the 5th Ring Road. The CTS has over 300hp and as soon as I slammed on the gas the engine let out a brutal grunt and took off. At high RPM’s the engine gets really loud and aggressive which is surprising because the car gives a civilized impression. Another thing that surprised me was the “Driver Shift Control” which allows me to manually change gears. Unlike most of the ones I have tried before the Cadillac’s transmission was pretty fast and responsive. I’ve been recently trying to cut down on my speeding and the CTS wasn’t helping.

Everything isn’t perfect and I do have my problems with the car. For one thing I found the audio and navigation system sluggish. Firstly the car I am driving only has the European map installed. I don’t know if a local map isn’t offered yet but without one the navigation system is useless. Going from menu to menu and raising and lowering the volume is also a hit and miss affair. Sometimes the system doesn’t respond to my commands or responds after a few seconds delay. After experiencing this issue a number of times I am convinced its a software issue and the system problem needs an update or a reboot. Another thing that I didn’t like was the location of the fire extinguisher, its located in the middle of the passenger side foot area. Nat didn’t know if she should put her feet on top of the extinguisher or stretch them out over it but it was really annoying and uncomfortable.

Those were the only negatives I could find in the car although I would also have liked a reverse cam since its become like a standard but other then that the car is fully loaded. There is a USB socket where you can plug in the iPod and the navigation system turns into a TV although I couldn’t catch any channels but thats a good thing since KTV sucks. The sunroof is amazing because the whole roof is a large glass panel which really brightens up the interior.

I have the car till tomorrow evening so I will still be driving it some more. The price of the car if anyone is interested is KD13,000 with the all wheel drive version costing slightly more.

I was flipping through a book on the history of Kuwait called “The voice of the Oud” when I found a photo of a kid who looked exactly like me. The book is full of amazing old photos of Kuwait and here I was in one of the pictures. I checked the date of the photo and it was 1983 and taken in Mubarakieh outside the carpet souk where I used to tag a long with my dad every Friday morning.

I scanned the photo and emailed it to my mum just to be sure that the picture was of me when i was a kid and she called me to confirm that it was. I think its pretty cool especially since the book has a ton of cool shots of old Kuwait. The girl in the picture was my neighbor who is no longer in Kuwait and I am also no longer chubby although I am still very white.

These photos were taken during the construction and commissioning of the Shuwaikh Water and Power Station. The pictures are from the 1950’s and much of what’s documented is still there and in use.

You can view all the pictures on flickr by clicking [Here]

Thanks Hriday!

The Emir Sheikh Jabir passed away two years ago on this day and a reader emailed me suggesting I share this song with everyone. The song is called “The prince of our hearts” and here is some information on it by its creators:

This song is dedicated to the late Prince Jabber. Also to Prince Saad, Prince Sabah, and Prince Nawaf. A mix of Arabic,R&B and Rap.

Although, Prince Jaber passed away on January 15 2006 “May He Rest in Peace”, he still remains firm in the hearts of Kuwaitis, arabs, and foreigners. This song was written, produced,and was sang by Luqman Sherriff A.K.A MiracaLz, Hany Baker A.K.A The_Kuwaiti_Don, and Salman A.K.A Morice. Combining R&B, Smooth Rap, and a new style of Arabic R&B.

I didn’t like the song but I don’t listen to this style of music anyway, you can download the mp3 and watch the video [Here]

The video embedded in the post above is a different song by Ahmad Al-Hajri which I just found on YouTube.

Thanks Zaid

My car speakers and multi-amp wiring harness arrived today. I now have everything I need to start the installation except for the RCA and speaker cables. I will get those from Mr System in Shuwaikh sometime this week. Yesterday I passed by Ace Hardware to get some pollyfill which everyone online advises to use to fill in the enclosure behind the speaker. Surprisingly they didn’t have any which is weird because they have everything. If you haven’t been to Ace Hardware recently you should because they’ve rearranged sections, canceled some unimportant ones and added new ones with more useful stuff. I really love the place. So after Ace I passed by Barakat in Salmiya which is a sewing store, I ended up finding pollyfill there which is basically pillow stuffing. 250grams for 750fils.

I also got a call from Cadillac today, I am going to be test driving the new 2008 CTS over the weekend. I checked out some pictures of the car online and it looks pretty interesting so I am looking forward to it. [Cadillac CTS]

I have an old PIII 500 with 256MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive lying around which I wanted to give to someone. I didn’t want to install Windows on it since the person isn’t very good with computers and always ends up getting viruses and trojans installed on his system. The computer was going to be used for Internet browsing, chatting on MSN and Yahoo and copying and view pictures from his digital camera. I decided to install a Linux OS.

The first Linux OS I installed was the latest version of gOS which was released two days ago. From the screen shots it looked like a really friendly and easy to us version of Linux and thats what I was looking for. After installing it I realized that the operating system was running very sluggishly on this really old computer, it wasn’t going to work.

I then remember I had bookmarked a website from Digg which had a list of Linux distros that were meant to be run on really old computers. I went through the list, did some research and in the end decided to try two different ones, TinyFlux and Wolvix.

I tried TinyFlux first and although it ran really well the user interface wasn’t very friendly. I then decided to try Wolvix and not only did it perform really well but the interface was fairly friendly looking with a Mac like dock at the bottom and large friendly icons everywhere. I decided to stick with Wolvix and after playing with it for an hour I think its pretty impressive for an OS thats under 250MB in size. It has Firefox, a music player, video player, photo viewer, and a whole bunch of other softwares all included and there is a ton more I can download all for free.

This is actually the best part of Linux, its free and the majority of the software for it is free. Another good thing is you can try out the OS without installing it, you just run it straight from the CD and if you like it you can install it if not you just eject the cd, reboot and you are back to your old operating system.

If you want to check out the list of Linux distros for old computer click [Here]
For gOS click [Here]
and for Wolvix click [Here]

On Saturday from 11am to 4pm there will be a car boot sale at the AUK parking lot. A car boot sale is basically when people come together and sell stuff they don’t need anymore. It should prove to be interesting. [Link]

I was going to add this note to my Aramex post below as an update but I decided not to hijack it and instead post this separately.

On January 3rd my car amp arrived to my U Shop We Ship address.
On January 4th my car amp was shipped from my mailbox to Kuwait.
Today, January 6th, I just got my car amp delivered to my office.

This has to be the fastest I have EVER received a package.

On Friday the 25th of January, Animal Friends League in Kuwait will be hosting a paint ball tournament on their farm in Wafra. The tournament will be comprised of five teams of five players each.

The entry fee is 20KD per player which includes:
Gun, face mask, body armor, CO2 canister, 200 paint balls and food.
Each additional 200 paintballs can be purchased for 5KD.
Each additional CO2 canisters can be purchased for 4KD.
Spectators are encouraged to attend for 3KD which includes food.

Teams need to register by January 20th by e-mail with a list of team players and a team name. Players must be over the age of 18.

For more information visit their website. [Link]

This is a message from 3 Angels Power, the group that brought to you “Come to Kuwait and feel the heat of paradise“:

Attention All Fans, Investors & Sponsors OVERSEAS (KUWAIT, Emirates). This is an open invitation. Watch this exclusive footage of Legends, and Superstars from the wrestling world who truly desire to visit Kuwait. Here’s your chance to make history by investing or sponsoring this upcoming tour. Help 3 Angels Power Film Production INC BRING back wrestling to KUWAIT. For more information on booking this tour call/fax: (613) 930-9867 Email: [email protected] And if you’re a true fan let us hear your thoughts. Leave us a comment or even a question about this possible tour.

Take a look at the promo. [YouTube]

I am not a big fan of zombie flicks and horrors but I end up watching a lot of them because Nat is a huge horror buff. I Am Legend is a movie I wasn’t too interested to watch, first because it starred Will Smith who I don’t really like and second because I had just recently watched Fido and Resident Evil: Extinction, both zombie flicks and both turned out to be crap so I wasn’t too excited to watch anything else similar. Luckily, I Am Legend is nothing like them.

A plague takes over the world and the only person still left alive is Will Smith, a scientist living in whats left of New York. He spends everyday living the exact same routine, hunting for food, watching DVDs and trying to find a cure for the plague that has turned everyone into zombies. The movie isn’t fast passed, it’s also not the regular cliché story where a group of people are trying to run away from zombies. The movie is much deeper than that with a story to tell. It actually reminded me a lot of Waterworld (which I loved) where Kevin Costner explores the vast underwater cities alone, except here its Will Smith exploring a completely abandoned New York City thats being overrun by wilderness. I completely wasn’t expecting the movie to turn out this way.

The zombies in this movie have to be the freakiest ones I have seen so far. Usually they are either slow or clumsy but the ones in this movie are extremely fast and agile. For me this is also the best Will Smith movie I have seen and his acting really is on display here since the majority of time its just him we’re watcing. Overall the movie was very captivating and there wasn’t a moment where I got bored. My biggest problem with the movie is the fact I would have wanted to see Will Smith explore the city more, I kept wishing the movie was longer and we would get to see more of the beautifully created abandoned New York. I guess once this movie started I wanted it to turn into an adventure. Final score a 4 out of 5.

Note: Movie gets released on January 10th here in Kuwait

Before you get too excited this isn’t in Kuwait, its in Dubai. But, with cheap Jazeera tickets it still comes out to be pretty affordable. You could probably fly out in the morning, skydive and come back in the evening. The video above is of some guy skydiving and here is the link with more info and prices. [Link]

I really really really hate Aramex. I stopped using them for my important packages ages ago and instead started using U Shop We Ship who are much better. I now only use my Aramex account for my magazine subscriptions and it seems I can’t even trust them with that anymore. Today I got a package after not getting anything for 2 months and it turns out I have 2 months worth of magazines missing! I have been trying to call them since morning to try and see what happened but their lines are all busy, ALL THE TIME! I can’t understand why people still use Aramex, USWS isn’t perfect, they have their own issues but at least packages get shipped promptly from the US and do arrive in Kuwait on time. Where are my magazines???

As I mentioned before I am currently upgrading the sound system in my Wrangler. I already received and installed the head unit which I have to say is incredible. I installed the Alpine iDA-X001 which is made for the iPod and its extremely practical and easy to use. I am really glad I went for it, absolutely no regrets and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new head unit.

For the speakers and amp I was planning on going with JL Audio but I wasn’t able to find a combination that fit my budget. Also the JL Audio amps are pretty big and I wanted something I could fit under the drivers seat. In the end I decided to go with Boston Acoustics SX55 for the front and rear with an Alpine MRP-F250 amp under my drivers seat. I already ordered these items and I should be getting them next week.

For the subwoofer I decided to go with an Infinity BassLink II. I use the trunk of the Wrangler for my dog every time I take him out so I don’t have room for a large sub enclosure neither do I have room to install an amp. I decided to go with the BassLink II since as you can see in the picture above, it won’t take up much room in the trunk and it has a built in 250watt RMS amp which makes it all very compact. I could get my dog in and out of the Wrangler without even having to remove the sub which is really practical.

All thats left now is the installation which I have decided to do myself. I already have a step by step guide with pictures on what I need to do and so far the only hard part seems to be the removal of the drivers seat so I could install the amp under it. The reason I want to do the installation myself is because I want to learn how to do it plus the fact that it should be fun. I will be sure to post pictures of the installation once I am done.

AOL just announced that they will be killing the Netscape Navigator browser on February 1st 2008. Its hard to understand how AOL were able to run an extremely popular browser like Navigator into the ground while less popular browsers like Opera and OmniWeb are still surviving. Anyway if you feel nostalgic here is a link to nearly all the versions of Netscape Navigator ever made for any system starting all the way from version 0.4. [Link]

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