The Gaucho Grill

Imagine with me... The Gaucho Grill, Palms Club & Spa, dinner on candle lights, a group of civilized people all around you, comfy seats and great service. That is what I had imagined until I saw it myself. If you ever had to go there don't expect too much because that restaurant stands strongly on its overworked environment. The service is too slow, we got a couple of wrong dishes, and worst of all, their steaks were cold!

If it's about their food quality then it is high. The waiter brought out a small tray with every kind of steak they offer and he started to explain the differences between each and every piece. I ordered Bife Caudril which is 300gm of pure beef (no fat), medium-well and pepper sauce, while all my friends went for the extra fat beef (don't remember its name). The food was already cold when delivered and they made it even worse by giving us the wrong order so we had to wait for the other dishes to be delivered. It took around 20 minutes to get the starters, 45 minutes to deliver our main course, and another 15 minutes to get the rest of the order.

Now put all this aside and don't get struck like we did when we saw the check. Let's just say we could've had 10,000 falafil/potato sandwiches, 200 family coke bottles, and still saved some cash! We were 6 people btw.

Money was not an issue but I couldn't stop thinking of THIS. I felt ashamed for paying KD20+ on a cold poor meal while there are people out there who don't have anything to eat. I could've had given some of the money to charity and still have a warm fresh happy meal from McDonald's that would make me graceful. After all, everything will be flushed down the toilet.

Saddam Mubarak

Hmmm... That sounded awkward.

-2

*Wishing for -10*

LineForm | Vector Art Redefined

If you're sick of Adobe Illustrator complexity and want a simple vector based alternative then check out LineForm:-

"Lineform is a completely new drawing program. Winner of a 2006 Apple Design Award, it is the ideal tool for vector based diagrams and illustrations. Powerful features combine with a simple interface to create an intuitive artistic process."

Maki | *ugh*

Yesterday I had dinner at Maki and to be honest it wasn't good at all. I heard a lot about how delicious their food is but it turned out to be nothing close to what I've heard, in fact it was absolutely the contrary which is utterly disgusting! We've ordered a large variety of dishes but none of them was tasty to me, not even slightly. And the price is a whole another story; I think we paid for the stylish look of their "decorated" food and the calm environment of the restaurant, but not the taste of the food itself.

Now you don't want to take my words for granted because this counts as my first experience with Japanese food.

-1

*no comment*

ALL Techies | Please check in

I'm going to buy an LCD TV and I need some opinions. Now before I rush and buy what I have in mind (40" Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V2500), I want to know if there are any better alternatives. If you do recommend another TV, please give me a practical reason of why you see it's better.

I'm open for all suggestions just bear in mind that I won't go for anything less than 40" with full HD setup (1080p) and high contrast ratio. Price isn't an issue since I'll buy it by installments, however, it's preferable that it does not exceed 750KD in cash so profit won't rape my pocket.

Operation Redecoration | Phase Finale

IKEA BRAVUR watch reflecting my Mac.

- Fri., Dec. 1 | Paint the walls | (29KD) [1] [2]
- Sun., Dec. 3 | Install parquet floor | (136KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Wed., Dec. 6 | Receive the bed | (354KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive the desk | (65KD) [1] [2]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive TV/Stereo unit | (128KD) [1] [2]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Leather Carpet | (28KD) [1] [2]
- Update: Wed., Dec. 20 | Verosol Curtain | (55KD) [1] [2] [3]

Other stuff:-
- IKEA | BRAVUR wall watch | (15KD) [1] [2] [3]
- IKEA | Steel bulletin board (x2) | (7KD) [1] [2]
- TrueValue | Black leather trash box | (2KD) [1]

Operation overview:-

Duration | Almost one month.

Money $pent | Around 770KD.

Conclusion: Operation Redecoration is a success.

I've realized that my room looks more of a mixture between retro bedroom style and secretary office. More or less, pictures don't give the room its justice because it looks way better in real life and I'm happy for that. However, it's not really the end of O.R. since I still have one more thing in mind (Does BRAVIA ring any bells? ;P) but I'll leave that for next month. The only bad side is the room size, if it was a little bit bigger it would've looked a lot better.

UPDATE: "Why be nice when you can be a little naughty and spoil yourself?"
-- Just a teaser for Elijah ;P

Related topics:-
Operation "Redecoration"
Operation Redecoration | Update
Operation Redecoration | Phase 1
Operation Redecoration | Phase 2
Operation Redecoration | Phase 3
Operation Redecoration | Phase 4

Security Update 2006-008 (PPC)

New update:-

Security Update 2006-008 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:

Quartz Composer
QuickTime for Java

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798

Deutsche Polizei ging WÜTEND

Based on the world's fastest sedan, this elegant police car has the upper hand when it comes to pursuing speeders.



Known as Brabus Rocket, this CLS-based Mercedes-Benz S Rocket growls with 6.3 liter BiTurbo V12 engine capable of producing 730 hp and go up to the speed of 362 km/h.



Yet another reason to join the police force.

* via Autoblog.com

Web Designer Subscription | Active

I got this message earlier yesterday...

Dear Mr. 私の名前

I am writing to sincerely apologise about the delay in getting back to you. I have been looking into your problem and it seems your subscription is now on our system whereas before it wasn’t.

Could you please confirm if you have received any issues to date or any letters? Issue 125 was sent on the 25/11/2006 could you please confirm if this has got to you. If you haven’t received any issues, do you have an alternative address that we can get the issues sent to who will then divert them to you in Kuwait.

The address we have for you is –

******* 私のホームアドレス *********

Please confirm if this is correct.

If I could be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.


Kind Regards

Sade Tyler

Customer Service Advisor
www.devotailservices.com

That's a relief. Can't wait to get my first issue.

日本の文字はセクシーである !!!! xD


Update:

Dear 私の名前.

I can now confirm that issue number 125 was the first issue that was due to be sent out to you. We have now requested for this issue to be sent to you again please allow some time for this to arrive as of the Christmas post.

Also you will not be charged any more fees for shipping or handling.

Your subscription reference number is ******* please quote this if you have any further enquiries regarding your subscription.

I hope I have helped with your problem. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Sade Tyler

Customer Service Advisor
www.devotailservices.com

*fingers "Dual" crossed* xD

United Networks | Robust

United Networks are now running on fiber network, as I have mentioned earlier. I got a call from United Networks asking me to confirm if my connection went up from 256kbps to 320kbps so here it is.



Practically, that's barely noticeable but at least the connection doesn't lag as much as it used to.

All Terrain Robot

I find the way this thing walks pretty disturbing. :/




* Thanks to mebadguy of q8speed

I've been ROBBED!

Last October I have subscribed to Web Designer magazine, published by Imagine Publishing Ltd., and subscription fees (£80.00 = 45KD) were deducted from my Visa account. There was a disclaimer that international subscriptions may take around 28 days to be processed. However, I haven't collected any issue during November therefore I had contacted Web Designer magazine through emails. I was asked for proofs that money has been withdrawn from my Visa account and so I did, I have downloaded my Visa statement regarding that specific transfer from my bank's site and forwarded it. Then I got another email telling me that bank statement cannot be accepted because it's an Excel file and was asked to take a screen capture of that statement online and forward it, which I did, but I haven't gotten any reply yet. I called NBK and the guy told me to wait for a reply (email). WTH?! It's been almost two months and a half since I have subscribed and yet no issues were delivered neither this problem has been solved now you tell me to wait for a F-ing reply?

I will go check with NBK tomorrow and let them look into this subject themselves.

* Many thanks to moocherx for his seal of disapproval.

DivX 6.6 ++

A few weeks ago I have received an email from Steven Chien, DivX Inc. posse, thanking me for blogging about DivX, and had given me two serials for DivX Pro.

Personally, I should be the one thanking Steven and DivX team for such an outstanding application. Good luck to you guys and keep up the great work on bringing the best out of DivX.

Download DivX 6.6 for Mac: [link]

Also, my Mac Starters Guide post has been updated with Dashboard Widgets section. If you're a Mac user make sure to check it out.

Operation Redecoration | Phase 4

Closeup of the leather carpet from Midas.

- Fri., Dec. 1 | Paint the walls | (29KD) [1] [2]
- Sun., Dec. 3 | Install parquet floor | (136KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Wed., Dec. 6 | Receive the bed | (354KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive the desk | (65KD) [1] [2]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive TV/Stereo unit | (128KD) [1] [2]
- Update: Sat., Dec. 9 | Leather Carpet | (28KD) [1] [2]

Today I have received the computer desk and tv/stereo unit from IDdesign. To be honest I was kind of disappointed how they did not fit my room like I imagined but it is all good. I also went to Midas today and got a fake leather carpet. It doesn't look good in the pictures but it does look neat in reality. However, the room still needs some minor touches. I need a curtain, trash box, laundry basket, wall decorations, and best of all, which I don't know how it slipped my mind as you might have already noticed, I have forgotten to get some bed sheets! Which means I still have to sleep on the ground for a day or two. *sigh*

*goes to IKEA for them "minor touches"*

Porsche Cayenne | Refined

The second version of Porsche Cayenne has finally came out to reality. With some minor touches in both the front and back end of the car, you can easily distinguish it from its old successor.



This model stands out with sportier head lights, larger grill, unique fog lights, revamped back lights and exhaust tips, and best of all, the all new engine setups for each model range.

Now for me I didn't like the old Cayenne by looking at its pictures all over the net but until I saw it cruising around here in Kuwait I realized that it really looks amazingly atrocious in a great way. I rate it as the second best looking SUV there is. (1st place goes to Range Rover Sport, hands up). However, my love had been flushed down with the flood of them; seems like everyone has a Cayenne! But now with a new model coming out soon, I'm starting to like it once again. As long as it remains unique of course.

Update: I've just realized that this is post #100! (Yay! ;P)

Fun with Backlit keyboards

"iSpazz is a plugin for iTunes on OS X, controlling the MacBook Pro/PowerBook backlight keyboard and optionally the display backlight."

Watch iSpazz in action: [link]

PS: Use it at your own risk.

G&WD update | Free laptop recieved

Well, it's not really free since I'll be paying for it during the whole course. :/

Anyways... specs in a glitch:-

- Acer Aspire.
- AMD Turion 64 processor.
- 512MB RAM & 2MB cache.
- 60GB @ 5400RPM Hard disk.
- 64MB ATi graphics card.
- Super DVD writer (+/-).
- 15.4" glossy widescreen.

Status: Given to my sister.

Operation Redecoration | Phase 3

THE one® print on the double layer mattress.

- Fri., Dec. 1 | Paint the walls | (29KD) [1] [2]
- Sun., Dec. 3 | Install parquet floor | (136KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Wed., Dec. 6 | Receive the bed | (354KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive the desk | (65KD)
- UPDATE: Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive TV/Stereo unit | (128KD)

The bed arrived today and it looks damn fine! However, there's a downside, it's taking half the room! I didn't have that in mind when I bought it, not to mention there still are two objects to be delivered soon so I have no idea how I'll manage some space. I was looking for minimalistic looks but I guess that won't happen. If only the room was a bit bigger it would look perfect.

Aside from that downside; the double layer mattress is extremely comfortable and the bed is so slammed, xzibit would feature it on Pimp My Ride! ;P

Renegades Reference | Mac Starters Guide

This post is dedicated to Me7sin and all Windows renegades out there; congrats on your new Mac! Hope you find this useful.

Priorities:-

First thing to do is getting all available updates for your Mac by clicking on the Apple icon on your menubar (on the upper left corner) and select "Software Update". This will keep your Mac up-to-date so make sure you download them all.

Installing/Removing applications: Installing any application on Mac is a matter of Drag/Drop, just double click on the disk image (*.dmg) file extension, a removable disk icon will show on the desktop, open it and drag and drop the application icon into your "Applications" folder. If you want to remove an application simply drag that application icon and drop it in your Trash then empty it. If you want to remove every single relative file of that application, just search for the name of that application using Spotlight (on the upper right corner) and drag/drop all relative (*.plist) files into Trash then empty it.

System Preferences: Like Windows Control Panel; System Preferences is where you can control all preferences on your Mac. It doesn't take a computer scientist to figure it out so make sure you surf a little inside that menu to have an idea of what it contains.

Utilities: If you look around your Applications folder you'll find Utilities folder. This is where you can manage your Mac's utilities. The reason why I pointed this in priorities is because in Disk Utility you can mount/unmount, fix, remove, and repair disks & permissions. It is recommended that you repair disk permissions each time you install/remove applications or get new updates from the net.

Must-have Applications:-

Stuffit Expander: Stuffit expander will unpack almost all compressed files such as .sit, .sitx, .zip, .rar, and some others. Make sure you install it because you need it to uncompress some apps/files.

Real Player: To play Real media. (.rm/.ram)

Windows Media Player: To play Windows Media. (.wmv/.wma)

VLC -OR- Mplayer: Both are video players that can run almost any type of video (even .flv) except Real media. I personally prefer VLC over Mplayer. However, having them both won't hurt you.

Adium: Although there's a version of MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger for your Mac, they're not as good as Adium. Adium is by far the best instant messenger there is for your Mac because it can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more! The only downside is that it doesn't support voice/video yet, but that's not a big deal.

Roxio Toast: The mighty CD/DVD burner for all Macs.

Transmission: The ideal torrent client for your Mac. Also Vuse and xTorrent although the first is quite heavy and the latter is not for free.

Other useful Applications:-

DivX Player: For playing DivX videos.

Web Browsers: FireFox, Opera, Flock.

GraphicConverter: If you miss MS Paint then this is a better alternative.

Amadeus Pro & Sound Studio: For audio editing but they're not free.

Audio Hijack: Audio recorder that will come in handy if you want to record (convert) Real Audio into any other type.

Path Finder: An innovative file browser and manager with powerful tools. Not free though.

Pref Setter: Useful utility application for editing (.plist) files.

TinkerTool: Another useful utility application that can expand your Finder options such as viewing hidden files (files that begin with dot "." are hidden on Macs) and lots more.

HandBrake: Rip full DVD movies directly into iPod compatible .mp4 mode.

TubeSock: Downloads and converts .flv videos directly from YouTube. (ps: works only with YouTube).
For all other video sites simply follow these steps.

OmniDictionary: English to Multilingual (including Arabic) lexicons.

Dashboard; Useful Widgets:-

iStat Pro: The ultimate system monitoring widget, consisting of nine sections which can be minimized, expanded, or closed.

Amazon Album Art: Search for artwork for the currently playing track and import into iTunes with the click of a button.

Organized: Take care of the little jobs with Organized, a new widget from iSlayer featuring a calendar with events, world clocks, notes and to do’s.

ABD Indicator: Adult Body Mass Indicator; Are you overweight, obese or maybe under weight? Find out for yourself with this helpful widget. This version has a smaller footprint and you can enter your height in inches and feet rather than all inches. Also includes metric units.

Gmail & Blogger Widgets: Gmail inbox & quick posting on Blogger in two widgets.

Suduku: Play Suduku on your dashboard.

Mono Solitaire: Play Solitaire on your dashboard.

BubbleTrouble: Waste some time with this game.

The Holy Qur'an: Read and Search the Quran in Arabic, English, French and Spanish on your Dashboard!

ThinkFree Viewer: View ThinkFree or Microsoft Office word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation files without having any other office applications installed. After installing the appropriate Widget simply drag and drop files from your desktop, or copy and paste the Web URL into the ThinkFree Widget.

Web Translator: Web Translator is a little widget that lets you translate any web page to and from ten different languages using AltaVista's Babel Fish translator and/or Google's Translation service. So when you come across a page that's written in a different language, Web Translator is the widget you need.

Wikipedia Widget: A Dashboard widget for browsing the free, user-created encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Search for articles and view from the Dashboard, complete with pictures and links.

Utility Button: UtilityButton is a small widget that gives you easy access to Mac OS X utilities that you use sometimes, but don't want cluttering up your dock. All you do is click on the button, choose the utility, and it opens.

Tips & Hints:-

Get used to keyboard shortcuts. They're very useful.
Here are some of the most useful shortcuts:-

fn+F9: Expose ALL applications. (or F3 alone)

fn+F10: Expose all windows of the active application.

fn+F11: Show desktop.

fn+F12: Dashboard. (or F4 alone)

Commands+shift+3: Capture current screen.

Commands+shift+4: Capture selected area of the screen.

Commands+Q: Quit application.

Commands+W: Close active window.

Commands+alt+esc: Force quit.

Commands+ "," (comma): Application preferences.

Commands+I: Show file information.

Commands+shift+B: Send file via Bluetooth.

Commands+alt+ctrl+8: Invert screen colors.

Commands+alt+8: Turn on magnification.
----> Commands + (+/-) = zoom in/out.

Commands+Tab: Swap between active applications.

Commands+shift+N: New Folder

Commands+shift+A: Opens Applications folder.

& some quick hints:-

Trackpad Gestures: Get used to those gestures. They will save you a lot of time once mastered.

- One finger: Move cursor.

- Two fingers: Scroll up/down, Zoom in/out.

- Three fingers: Next/previous document pages, Back/next browser page.

- Four fingers:
Up > Desktop, Down > Expose,
Left/Right > Active Applications..

Right-click menu: To get the right-click drop-down menu in a one button mouse or trackpad just hold down Control "ctrl" and click your mouse/trackpad button.
In recent Apple laptops (Intel Based) you can configure your trackpad to have a Right-click by placing two fingers on your trackpad + click or tap your trackpad with two fingers. This can be enabled/disabled in "System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse"

Scrolling using trackpad: Some new Mac users don't know this feature or were used to scrolling by moving one finger around the edges of their Windows laptop's trackpad. Simply place two fingers on the trackpad and scroll/move in your desired direction.

Setting default Applications for specific files: Say you have a Windows Media movie file and you want it to be opened using VLC permanently. Select the file and click "Commands+I" to show its pereferences (file info) then from "Open With" tab, select the desired program and close file info.

-------------------------

And that's about all you need for a start. Hope it's helpful.

Enjoy your new Mac!

PS: I'll be updating this post frequently whenever there's new stuff to add.
Latest update: February 7, 2009.

*shivers* x3

*Still hoping it will reach -X°c*

Operation Redecoration | Phase 2

Parquet floor halfway done.

- Fri., Dec. 1 | Paint the walls | (29KD) [1] [2]
- Sun., Dec. 3 | Install parquet floor | (136KD) [1] [2] [3]
- Wed., Dec. 6 | Receive the bed | (354KD)
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive the desk | (65KD)
- UPDATE: Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive TV/Stereo unit | (128KD)

I never thought those silver side pads would look good. Fortunately they do look great! The room looks Much better in real life so I'm quite satisfied yet I still have to make sure if this setup would match the furniture or not. *fingers double crossed*

Deutsches Polizei

I know this is kind of outdated but anyways...

An edited version of 3baid's and Marzouq's Lamborghini police patrol post; I represent to you the ideal police car (to me that is),

-- Porsche 997 Polizei --
Based on 997 Carrera S model and fully modified by TechART.




I swear I would join the police force for the rank of "?chassis?" (Does it stand for the same thing in English? lol) if that car was available for our local force. ;P

Hot widget | ThinkFree

"View ThinkFree or Microsoft Office word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation files without having any other office applications installed. After installing the appropriate Widget simply drag and drop files from your desktop, or copy and paste the Web URL into the ThinkFree Widget." *

* ThinkFree homepage [link]
----- Officially posted on TUAW

Operation Redecoration | Phase 1

Color sample from palette #161

- Fri., Dec. 1 | Paint the walls | (29KD) [1] [2]
- Sun., Dec. 3 | Install parquet floor | (136KD)
- Wed., Dec. 6 | Receive the bed | (354KD)
- Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive the desk | (65KD)
- UPDATE: Sat., Dec. 9 | Receive TV/Stereo unit | (128KD)

At first I was very, Very, disappointed when the painter was halfway finishing the room because it didn't look good at all. However, after the whole room got its new color(s) it looks good. But why "good" not "great"? Because I still don't know if it will match the furniture and floor or not. :/

Apple Security Update 2006-007

New Security Update (1.0) for all Macs (PPCs & Intels)

" Security Update 2006-007 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:

AirPort
ATS
CFNetwork
Finder
Font Book
Font Importer
Installer
OpenSSL
PHP
PPP
Samba
Security Framework
VPN
WebKit
gnuzip
perl

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798 "