Targus Backpack

Zain Bahrain | Update

After calls and complaints I got my credit back.

No wonder why telecommunication companies always making profit. Some people ignore when the company sucks small amounts of their credit and that is so wrong. We should stand up against them.

Zain Bahrain | Blood Sucking *censored*

I would like to send out the longest, loudest and meanest curse upon Zain Bahrain for being such a *censored* in the @$$.

For seven months now I have had my Zain prepaid line working without Internet. Last week I tried to give it a shot and try their weekly subscription. When I asked about the service they said for 2BD I will have 1GB of data, and I will receive a message BEFORE the service expires telling me either it will be automatically renewed or the credit is insufficient and it gets turned off. I subscribed last saturday and it expired yesterday, Friday, while I had about 3.5BD credit. The service did not renew automatically, it simply expired without sending me a notice message.

I woke up today to find that my credit had vanished and the service is not renewed. When I called their customer service the guy said I will forward your complaint and they will get back to you soon. Few hours later I get a message "Dear Zainer, your subscription at the Data Bundle service failed to be renewed automatically, kindly check your balance and dial *555# to subscribe. Call 107 for more details." *censored*!

No wonder why my credit just vanished when I had my cellular data running with no subscription, but that is not my fault. They should either send the message before expiry or at least hold the subscription from sucking credit! Besides, my credit was more than sufficient. It should have been renewed normally without any problems.

So here's the thing, if this issue doesn't get resolved soon then it's war between me and Zain.

Gmail & Google+ Acting Up After Safari Update | Fix

My Gmail & Google+ pages look weird after Safari update. Gmail doesn't load emails and G+ aligns to the left with slow page loading.

UPDATE: Problem resolved. "Go to your applications folder, right click on safari, "get info" and uncheck the "32bits" option."

-Thanks- @Anonymous comment.

Vapiano

I've been wanting to post about this restaurant for ages but somehow it slipped off my "blogging agenda" so here it is, Vapiano. Those who have tried it abroad (Europe/US), Dubai, Lebanon or elsewhere know exactly what I mean when I say it is simply the best restaurant I have ever been to.

Vapiano is a German fast casual restaurant chain offering Italian food. The concept is a pizza and pasta bar, where food is made to order. Vapiano also serves made-to-order salads and dessert and has a bar with alcoholic beverages available. There are 97 restaurants all over the world, 45 of which are located in Germany.

Vapiano employs a unique interface for customers to order and pay for their food with. Each diner is provided an RFID chip card (even if dining together to avoid customers charging one card and waving another when exiting) that the customer waves in front of the counter when ordering food and drink. When the dinner is finished, the card is waved in front of the register and the bill appears on the screen. All dough and pasta are manufactured on-site in a glass room so that customers can watch while waiting in line. All of the herbs and salad greens are grown in an enclosed space in the dining area. It is commonly known as "The V".

Soon it will open in Bahrain City Centre mall but still no news if they're opening a branch in Kuwait or not. I sure wish to see it in Kuwait although I know it won't be as good as the one in Germany.

Aramex New Rates

Aramex have raised their rates again. This seems to be never ending. They know there's no alternative to some orders.

FAIL! | Wataniya Give Kuwait Campaign

Most of you are familiar with Wataniya Telecom."GiveKuwait" campaign and some of you, including myself, are participants. It saddens me to see this campaign failing because of unorganized planning.

It all started with the voting system. Most participants are well aware that the voting system in the website is a joke where anybody can cheat by giving thousands of fake votes to himself/herself by using proxies/VPNs. Lots of people complained to Wataniya asking them to find a solution. Wataniya came up with one solution... Reset ALL votes. How smart? What about the other people who earned their votes?

The second reason for this fail is their weekly winners announcements. It took them two weeks to announce first week winners which is probably caused by the flaw in the voting system yet there's no excuse for not announcing the other winners.

The third and final reason for this epic fail is the judges. I don't know about the other two but I know one thing, Mr. BahaAlden Al-Qazweni is very biased. I've seen him in so many events and know people who have close contact with him and they all agree. This is by no means pointed towards his personality rather than his actions. Let's just say if you have anything to do with Bayt Lothan then you get his vote blindfolded.

Submitting your files to that campaign means Wataniya has exclusive rights to use it whenever they want. It should be called "Give Wataniya". I'm not willing to share my photography knowing it's only a giveaway to Wataniya, no chance of winning. Now I know better not to contribute in a public event without knowing the consequences.

Review | Saso Restolounge

I should have reviewed this restaurant long ago but I forgot about it and now after having yet another bad experience I am going to give my honest opinion about it.

They say "Don't judge a book by its cover". In Saso's case this should be literally converted to "Don't judge a restaurant by its decoration".

Saso Restolounge stands sheerly on its environment. Cosy lighting, comfy seats, fairly good service and best of all pretty much well priced. So what's the matter? Isn't that good enough to make the "book's cover" embellished? The answer is a big NO.

People go to restaurants to eat. Whether they're in for a large meal or a small plate of dessert, food is what really matters. Saso's food might be well presented but it's nowhere near tasty. The menu is full of vapid choices including cheap sushi made from Al-Wazan rice and Mazolla mayo. Tasteless pre-made soup with a pH value of 6. Chewing on their steak is like chomping on a cow's feet. Word of advice, sushi and mayo don't mix up, Maki's style is overrated.

Further more their bill was decently priced but I have no idea how they came up with "**.013 fils"! Imagine having to pay those 13 fils in cash.

Eating there is one thing and getting there is something else. I don't know what's up with that restaurant and smelly places. In all three places that you can find Saso you can smell rotten eggs. It's more like a vapor cloud flying over the restaurant wherever it opens.

You probably think I'm exaggerating. Well I'm not. On my scale from 10 Saso respectively comes second from bottom, right above Munch. Go there and try it yourself. Just don't forget to wear a gas mask before going in.

Apple, Inc. Will Inherit the World

If you're familiar with video games then you know Umbrella Corp. from Resident Evil series and how it controlled the virtual world of the game. If you have watched Wall-E you know how Buy n Large (BnL) mega corp. dominated the virtual world of the movie and space too. In our world Apple Inc. is becoming the real world Umbrella / Buy n Large. Why?

For the past quarter century Apple have evolved from computer hardware and software development to portable gadgets and all the way to mobile cellphones, initially changing their brand name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. to invade the latter market (portables market) with new innovations and not to be stuck with computers only. In stock market Apple (AAPL) is always on a rising tide. No matter how it gets knocked down it gets back up again and at some point exceed expectations.

AAPL stock chart through the past 25 years

So what makes Apple so special? Apple simply makes unique things we crave, things barely 10~15 years ago we could only dream of. Apple may not be the first or the only company making these gadgets but they sure know how to make a stunning product. They are making unique stuff that other companies can't, or let's just say don't dare, to produce.

Ok, that's interesting, but what will make it inherit the world?

If you look closely nowadays, not a day goes by without hearing, reading, or seeing something that has to do with Apple. You have a Mac, your sibling has an iPhone, your cousin has an iPod, your neighbor has an Apple logo sticker on his car. It's everywhere.

Unlike other brands Apple has products available for all consumers. No age limit, no profession limit, and gender-neutral. You see a 3-year old kid solving puzzles on his iPod touch. You see 80-years old lady reading Bible/Qur'an on her iPad. Regular teenager on her iPhone, businessman on his MacBook. Even governments / presidents use Apple products. [link]

People started to refer to their Apple products as if they invented them. "My iPhone does this. - My Mac has that... etc". They start to brag and boast as if they were the ones who built it from scratch. It's become part of their lifestyle and worst of all part of their ego. What Apple earned from this is an army of devoted consumers and heap marketing for free.

Apple has two major propellers to their success aside to their diehard fans...

• They know how to attract more customers and best of all how to make older customers in their need. No matter how perfect their products are they always have something to spoil the fun and make you want to upgrade your product or buy a newer model, hence getting back to the mighty Apple.
• Two of the world major great powers have their back. United States where their designs and planning is done, and China where their products get built. Having two great powers on your side makes you a super power.

They have dominated the Music market on the internet and working their way on dominating the Movies market as well. There are rumors of Apple flat panel TVs to compete in the market someday in the near future.

In the next 25 years we'd see Apple make microwaves, refrigerators, blenders, all the way to cars, trains, or even spaceships for all I know, but whether hated or loved, Apple Inc. is dominating our surroundings and eventually will inherit the world.

MacBook Pro Battery Defect

My MacBook Pro battery (model: A1281) gained extra weight today due to unknown circumstances.

I always keep my laptop running on power source without removing the battery even when it's fully charged. I don't shut down the system, I just close the screen and leave it on sleep mode. Yesterday though I left it downloading Apple Software Updates and went to sleep. When I woke up today I found the cooling system working pretty hard and the whole laptop unibody was quite hot but what made me certain there's a problem is the trackpad. Those who are familiar with Apple's buttonless trackpad know how it feels when you click anywhere on it, it simply clicks, but mine did not click no matter where I press. At first I thought there's a problem with the trackpad itself but then I saw the bottom of the laptop to see the battery cover slightly curved. I opened the latch and the battery popped out of its place. Turns out it got deformed and swollen in the middle pressing against the trackpad from the bottom.

Curved battery cover


Battery cover with latch closed


Battery cover should align horizontally over the battery

I have no idea what caused this problem. I'm just thankful I noticed this problem before it got worse.

Even with this defect the battery's running good with only 120 cycles and over two and a half hours lifespan.

Bully Beatdown

If you're familiar with MTV shows you might have heard of this show. If you get thrilled with UFC and follow MMA fighters news then you ought to watch Bully Beatdown.

Personally I hate wrestling, UFC, KOTC or any other fighting shows for that matter but this show is something else. Not only it makes me feel good to see bullies take fists and kicks by top fighters but also extremely hilarious thanks to it's host Jason "Mayhem" Miller. This guy is so awesome regardless of his hyper insanity. He also looks somewhat like German football player and Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

There are only two seasons with 16 episodes so far (8 episodes each) but I read that season 3 is still cooking... I can't wait.

Amazon.CO.UK SUCKS!

I received a wrong order from AMAZON UK today and it's not the first time.

I ordered Converse All Star Chuck Taylor slim leather low in WHITE [link] but I received it in BLACK! It says WHITE in the product page, it even says WHITE on the box too!





How convenient... B@stards.

Define "Obsession"

Two words... Angry Birds. If you have an iPhone, iPod, or even Nokia N900 you probably have heard about this addictive game. If you haven't then you have no idea what you're missing.

Angry Birds is a funny challenging logic game involving lots of destruction. With cartoon-like graphics, unique gameplay, perfectly composed soundtracks and hilarious sound effects this outstanding game is definitely the best of the best on the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong I am not promoting the game I'm just admitting how good it is. I also want to brag about it too. Yes you read right, BRAG! I've succeeded in becoming number one on Kuwait leader board managing three stars in all levels and completing the game %100.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast. But I'm like hot butter on your breakfast toast." -Someone.

Now that I have documented my success and got that competitive obsession out of me feel free to knock my off the leader board because I quit. :)

Kuwait Postal Service & Airport Cargo

This shows how convenient^-1 Kuwait postal service and airport cargo are...


Lately I started ordering directly to Kuwait without having Aramex ripping my pockets off. It takes less time to get my packages delivered and in most times it costs even less but that's limited to my options on the seller's site. Though on this unique occasion I had ordered two packages separately, one was posted on 19/2/2010 and the other was on 1/3/2010. Both packages were carried by UK Royal Mail and been forwarded overseas to Kuwait Postal Service for delivery.

The funny part is, the second package that was shipped almost two weeks later than the first one had been delivered on March 5 2010 while the first package whereabouts is still unknown. I went to KPS at Keifan, gave them the reference number and after 20 minutes the guy came back telling me they haven't received it yet, "It might still be at airport cargo or your local postal service office" he said.

All in good will I went to airport cargo asking around about my package only to find out that they have no way of knowing whether it has been collected by KPS or not. I realized I've wasted two and a half hours of my life and half a tank of gas through traffic jam on absolutely nothing.

If anyone knows how to track shipments forwarded to Kuwait postal service please enlighten me on how to understand this mess.

Review | Munch

Tasteless |ˈtāstlis|
adjective
1 lacking flavor.
2 considered to be lacking in aesthetic judgment or to offend against what is regarded as appropriate behavior : a tasteless joke.

After my bad experience with Japanese food I thought I'd never have anything worse than that but then came Munch.

The best word to describe my experience with Munch is "Tasteless". In fact if you look closely in the dictionary for synonyms of the word tasteless you'd fine "Munch" listed.

This restaurant stands solely on it's hyped decoration and food presentation. Other than that, nothing at all. The service is inadequate, the menu is unreadable, the drinks are made from Sunquick concentrated juice with some add-ons, their fries can be found in City Centre market, their kitchen ventilation system is so noisy you'd think you're in a heavy industry plant, and the food is another story... The food tastes like mud. Yes, Mud! The salads, pasta, burger... No salt at all! Seems their cook has some blood pressure issues.

Definitely the last time I take internet marketing for granted. Oh and a word of advice... Stay away from Bang Bang Chicken salad. Unless you want to vee.o.em.eye.tee.

Snow Leopard | Review

Before I start with Snow Leopard I'd like to point out one simple reason why I think OS X is far more superior than Windows... OS X is easier to handle and a lot more user friendly than Windows. In other words "It Just Works!".

I did not anticipate much from this version and I think I was right. There's nothing much to it other than small touch-ups here and there including QuickTime X, Expose, Stacks, and best of all becoming 64-bits standard although we still cannot have full benefits of it yet.

As for the negative part my MacBook Pro started to overheat. The fans used to idle at 2000rpm, now they're running at 2750rpm when idle and have the tendency to reach up to 6200rpm in extreme cases. I'm not sure what could be the case as I was discussing this issue with my friend Bu Yousef the other day but Snow Leopard wasn't involved. My guess is 64-bits is squeezing every spot available in the processor/memory hence it overheats. It's all good as long as my Mac keeps running fine.

To conclude I think this version is quite stable and can be safely installed without any concerns.

Schlotzsky's

How bad can a sandwich be? If you'd like to know just pay a visit to Schlotzsky's, by far the worst restaurant I have ever been to.

Their caesar salad comes with sour brown dressing, their bread is rock solid dry wheat, their chicken breast sandwich was as cold as ice, and the environment and lighting is bad Bad BAD! No wonder why we were the only customers.

Officially the worst restaurant ever. Save yourself the hassle and head directly to Badr Albudor.

New Reason to Love Apple Mail

For years I've been using Mac I never found a use for Apple Mail application (Microsoft didn't support this service for free and Gmail is just too simple and unique making you don't need to use it with any application).

Few months ago I found a tweak to run and import Windows Live mail directly to Apple Mail which made me use it frequently, though it has some flaws. It won't update your actual account (deleting an email won't remove it from your account in Windows Live server).

However, looks like Microsoft finally decided to follow the herd and bring that service up for free with POP3. It's very useful as I only have to check emails without having to wait for the attachments to load/download (it downloads everything simultaneously) though there's still no effect on the server itself when managing emails.

Setting up your Windows Live email with this method is quite easy...

1. Open Apple Mail and go to Preferences then go to accounts.


2. Add a new account "+".
   Type your name, email, password and click "Create".


3. Incoming server (POP): pop3.live.com
   Your username must be your email as username@hotmail.com


4. Outgoing Server: smtp.live.com
   Use your email as username and type your password in authentication box.

Now your email is configured. All you have to do is wait for Mail to import all your emails (takes a while depending on how many emails you have) then select them all and mark them as read or simply remove them and keep mail running to check for new emails.

iPhone MMS Issues

Ok so the recent iPhone OS 3.0 update has a lot of features but the biggest hype about it can be concluded in four points...

• Bidirectional languages support


• Message forwarding


• Copy / Cut / Paste


• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

The first three work fine but MMS doesn't work every time. Turns out the MMS APN setting gets reset after a while.

Now I'm not sure whether it's a bug in OS 3.0 or if there's anything causing the problem but what I know for sure is that it just won't remain there; it simply disappears without any reasonable cause.

I tried everything to store the APN (mms.wataniya.com) but it just won't happen. Everytime I do I go back to network settings to find out it's not there anymore.

The only method I found out to keep it working is to restart the iPhone, go to Settings > General > Networking > Cellular Data Network and re-enter the APN again and NEVER connect the iPhone to anything, neither a computer nor WiFi network!

Anyone having the same problem?

UPDATE: Problem resolved...

To avoid this problem you need to enter the APN for both Cellular Data and MMS.

Safari 4 | Unleashed

Nothing outstanding about the release of Safari 4 so I'll just get through it quickly...

Browsing is fast. I mean really fast to the point that I thought for a second I had 2MB broadband connectivity instead of my actual 1MB. That's about the only exceptional thing.

As for other stuff you got Chrome-style Top Sites listing your bookmarks and favorite / most visited sites all in one window. Coverflow-style history search and bookmarks, new tab button on the upper right corner, smooth scroll using command+direction buttons, and fast launch time than before.

One of the things that had been available with the last beta version of Safari 4 is overhead tabs (like Chrome, tabs were on top of the browser's frame) but it has been removed. That was stupid and a bit irritating to handle. Removing it from this full version is certainly a relief.

= 30 !