"Our Ripper, who art on Mininova, aXXo be thy name"

Today I read an interesting article on Bazaar magazine by Josh Levin. It was about aXXo, the most famous online torrent uploader who is best known for high quality DVD movie rips.

The article was very well written and full of information but that's not my subject.

He's not doing something legal, we all agree on that, but in terms of doing it right, well, no one can do a better job. He fired up competition where other uploaders try their best to match his quality uploads. New Torrent websites crave to have him on board, and if not, they would look-up his uploads, download them and upload them back again on their sites. He has set new standards to the term "Pirated" or "Illegal copy" where even the MOB looks unorganized.

Being part of the "Leechers" community taught me to "Take & Leave" but after seeing aXXo's contributions I was very impressed by the number of "Seeders" and how his movies remain on top with thousands of seeders that will never make these files go to waste. Hence I started to "Share" my downloads and keep them seeding until they reach twice the ratio, then, and only then, I can remove them from my torrent client.

aXXo is not only a devoted uploader but also an idol.

iTeach #002

School activities & P.E. competitions...

We ended our competitions semester ranking 5th overall (out of +10 schools) which is not so bad since the top three schools had quite a bunch of young athletes.

My boys won three medals in Track & Field (Shot Put: silver, 300m Sprint: bronze, 800m: bronze) and three more medals in Fitness Exercises & Testing (Standing Broad Jump: silver, 50m Sprint: bronze, Crunches: bronze).

Our Gymnastics team had a great chance of winning the competition but seems "wasta" can change the judges scores. My colleague argued with them to no avail and we went out empty handed. I'm sorry for the kids because they did so well yet they didn't win any place.

Knock-out games standings...

Football: Lost in semi final.
Basketball: Lost in semi final.
Handball: Lost second game.
Volleyball: Lost first game.
Table tennis: Lost first game.

Airport Graveyard?

Here's a pitiful scene from Kuwait airport parking lot. Looks like airport authorities finally decided to get rid of "prolonged" Long Term Parking junk and, instead of towing them out of the parking, they disposed them on the top floor of the parking building. So much for logistics.

Strictly coincidence, fellow blogger Hitman1 posted something related today as well. [link]

Review | Booq Taipan Slimcase M

I ordered Booq Taipan Slimcase M compact laptop bag for my MacBook Pro and it arrived yesterday. It looks and feels great.

It has seven pockets, cushioned/plush laptop compartment with tuck-away handles and removable strap. The exterior is made of waterproof synthetic material which is good for those who tend to spill drinks. *cough*

The coolest part (and probably an unnecessary feature) is that every Booq bag comes with a Terralinq serial number and barcode. When registered, this number allows them to contact the owner of the bag once it's lost and found.

All in all it's great and made with quality.

Zain eGo driver for Mac

Turns out Zain is not so "Zain" after all.

A lot of Mac users have complained that the built-in Mac support on their new Zain eGo HSPA/UMTS stick (Huawei E180) doesn't work and when they contact Zain support they tell them to take their Mac to some store to install the driver, not for free of course.

I managed to find the driver for Mac on an Italian site and they claim it works for all carriers though citation needed and feedback on whether if it's working or not is very welcome.

- Huawei E180 HSPA/UMTS firmware for Mac [download]

The file ".sitx" is hosted on Rapidshare, it might get removed without notice. If it's no longer available contact me and I will send it by email.

Last Friday Moon

I took a lot of pictures of the moon that day.
All shots were the same except this one.

Laptop Bags

Since I got my new MacBook Pro a few weeks ago I've been looking for a laptop bag that suits it best so I did my search and found some quality bags and sleeves and made up my choice but just for reference to you all I will list links of the best brands I've come across.

• Acme Made (Quality bags)


• AirMail (MacBook Air only)


• Built (Sleeve-like bags)


• Belkin


• Brenthaven


• Booq (Quality bags)


• Case Logic


• Crumpler


• Delsey


• Eastpak


• foof (Sleeves only)


• Higher Ground


• Hlaska (High End bags)


• Incase (Quality bags)


• Jack Spade


• JanSport


• Jost (Quality bags)


• Knomo (High End bags)


• LowePro


• Malcolm Fontier (High End bags)


• Oakley


• Pakuma (Quality bags)


• RadTech (Various brands)


• Spire (Quality bags)


• Sumo (Quality bags)


• Skooba


• STM(Quality bags)


• Silent Revolution (Quality bags)


• SF Bags (aka WaterField designs) (Quality bags)


• Tucano (Quality bags)


• Targus


• Timbuk2


• Zero Halliburton (High End bags)

Personally I like Brenthaven and Booq the most.
Malcolm Fontier OWNS ALL.

If you have something to add let me know.

Update: Thanks to all for the recommendations and tips.

Please Fix The iPhone!

Yep, you heard me... Please Fix The iPhone!

When I landed on this site I couldn't help but to laugh. I mean look how desperate we, iPhone owners, are!

The iPhone is an amazing device and there's no doubt about it but the fact that it's not perfect makes us always looking forward to the next firmware update which is very irritating.

I can only plead...

If you are checking the link above,
Please vote on #7!!!
For some reason Arabic language support was at #7 with +20,000 votes and now at #11 with +12,000 votes. So if you go there just search for "Arabic" in the search bar and cast your vote.

Regarding Mustang Police Patrol

Everybody knows by now that we might get* Mustang police patrols here in Kuwait alongside the Charger patrols in Q1 2009.

Recently there has been a lot of encounters with the car and media revolving around the blogsphere from youtube videos to forum photo-entries made it somehow exciting.

To me though, it's sheer madness and a stupid move by MOI. Why?

• We rarely have police pursuits, the BMW and Charger would do just fine in those rare occasions.


• The car comes modified with a twin-screw Whipple supercharger. I don't think any of our patrol cops have the ability to handle such a beast in a pursuit.


• Most our patrol cops are reckless and arrogant and would probably abuse this car. Their actions and stupid accidents speak for themselves.


• This will make some thoughtless sport car drivers and bikers more reckless hoping to encounter the patrol car and actually outrun it.


• (UPDATE)*: Our police patrols are not allowed to pursuit motorbikes and buggies, the maniac masters of law-breaking. This law was enforced a few years back to prevent road rage and chaotic situations.

That's my perspective. I don't think there's a single good to this deal.

Videos of the car: Cruising - Parked (interior shots)

* Still under testing, not official to join the fleet just like the Audi A6.
* Thanks to Bashar for reminding me of that point.

Injured

As if being sick with the cold wasn't enough... I played football (soccer) and had to quit the game 10 minutes from the start with a black eye and bruised nose bridge thanks to a genuine adidas boot right in the face.

Looks like I'm going to Eid gathering with sunglasses.

Joost

Tired of YouTube? Try Joost!

"What's Joost? It's a way to watch videos – music, TV, movies and more – over the Internet. We could just call it a website ... with videos ... but that's not the whole story.

We're giving you new ways to find what you'd like to watch. You can search in "traditional" ways – by title or category – or you can find suggestions from other people on Joost. They may be your friends, or they may just be people who have something in common with you – but either way, they can direct you to great things to watch."

Science reassures

"Art is meant to disturb. Science reassures."
- Georges Braque