The Keyboard is Here

Last week I mentioned that I got the Asus Transformer Prime Android tablet but the keyboard was still stuck in my Aramex’s mailbox back in the States. Yesterday, it arrived and I hooked the keyboard to the tablet which was a easy process and gained some extra functionality.

The device looks great as I mentioned in my tablet post, it is wonderfully built and designed, the keyboard dock fits perfectly into the overall design. Asus did an excellent job.

I still think that the software is a bit lagging. Android ICS 4.0 was just released but also to take into consideration that the physical keyboard form factor isn’t standard. So we’ll se if the developers make use of it.

I still have to test it out thoroughly before passing final judgment, that might take a couple of weeks.

The iPhone i+Case

A few days ago I got an Aramex package containing some iPhone cases the I ordered a couple of months ago via Kickstarter. The i+Case reminds me a lot of the Element Case’s Vapor case for the iPhone that I previously owned. But the i-Case is more compact and I can use 3rd party chargers, A problem I hated when I was using the Vapor.

I really loved the high quality of the compact screwdriver and the fact it has button extensions. But as it is with this type of cases, you can’t take it off unless you got the miniature screwdriver with you.

I also dislike the mute button extension, its not as firm and secure in its position as the rest of the case, I’m not sure if its only a problem with that particular case or if it is a design flaw.

There is also a signal  loss issue according to some users. They confirmed that but its not that serious and I haven’t  noticed it that much. Especially since the iPhone is not my main phone.

All in all, I really love the case so far and haven’t got any major issues with it during the 18 hours that I have had it installed.

A New Kuwaiti Landmark: Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice

Last Thursday, my wife was lucky enough to be invited for the opening of Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice. The place is amazing and is a wonderful accomplishment. This was the graduation project of Mrs. Alia Al-Ghunaim, Hats-off to her.

Under the umbrella of Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital, we started a home care team to provide palliative care for children with life-threatening conditions in 2006, and have since supported over 80 terminally ill children, and their families.

The playful, child-friendly principles of the architecture of Bayt Abdullah were followed through in the design of the interiors by NBBJ of Columbia, Ohio who are leaders in the field of children’s hospital design.

With guidance from our International Scientific Advisory Board, by learning from and collaborating with established Centres of Excellence such as Great Ormond Street Hospital and Children’s Hospitals of Minnesota…

Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice will provide pediatric palliative care for children in Kuwait with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.

A gymnasium and Hydrotherapy pool provide facilities for fun, games, rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Bayt Abdullah Theatre is professionally designed to accommodate different types of performances and entertainment and will also provide therapeutic activities such as Art, Music and Drama therapy.

… we have looked after made wishes to visit Disney Land but few could make the journey. Alia Al Ghunaim, the architect of Bayt Abdullah, decided to give all our children the opportunity to experience the thrills and fun of the fairground by incorporating a Ferris Wheel, Magic Carpet, Rooftop Walkway and Observation Tower in her design.

Eleven chalets give our families the opportunity to have short holidays away from home at a time when it may be difficult for them to travel.

Inpatient facilities are located on the first floor, above the library and cafeteria, overlooking the roofs of the chalets, and facing the sea. There are 6 mother and children suites and 4 mother and baby suites.

This is one of the most wonderful projects not just have been completed, but have been thought out in recent time. Its groundbreaking for Kuwait and the region.

It took 6 years for this project to become a reality while other major projects in the country are still in limbo.

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Cafe Bazza

I heard a lot about Cafe Bazza but I haven’t been able to give it a try until last weekend.

The reason I went there was I had a couple of friends visiting from the UAE and we thought that it would be a great idea to take them to a restaurant that served Kuwaiti food. I was reluctant at first because I haven’t tried it before, but it didn’t disappoint.

All the people I know only tried their breakfast and no one tried there rice dishes. But the food that we ordered was pretty good, complete with spicy condiments. We got to try “Shrimp Rice – مربين” and white rice with “Okra Stew – مرق بامية” a both were very good.

We were too stuffed to try any of the deserts they had.

The atmosphere is very good and loved the decoration and the posters that they had up of old Kuwaiti proverbs.

Gulf Run 7 Car Show

Yesterday, I barely managed to pass by 360 mall to catch a glimpse of the Gulf Run 7 car show. The event gets bigger and bigger every year. The place was packed like people needed another reason to go to 360 mall. Some lucky winner managed to go home on a Vespa as a result of being the raffle winner.

They also managed to raise more than 7000KD for Hayat cancer foundation which is great.

The display inside the mall was also great with a 8 really cool cars being displayed like the Mercedes SLS, Audi R8 and a beautiful Backdraft AC Cobra.

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The Asus EeePad Transformer Prime

I managed to get one of those elusive Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime more than a week ago but was too lazy/busy to even get it out of the box and play around with it.

As soon as I read that ICS upgrade was made available for the Transformer Prime (it ships with Honeycomb 3.2) I decided its time to test it out.

Asus did a great job with the Transformer Prime continuing what they did with the Asus Transformer. But this time around they made a much sleeker device. Weighing just 586 grams lighter compared to the iPad 2′s 601 grams (not that you’ll notice it) and is a hair thinner, The transformer prime is a great piece of hardware.

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Gulf Run 7 At Al-Falah Car Wash

I’m a few days late posting about this but I have been really busy the past couple of days. Last Thursday evening all the cars that are participating in the 7th annual gulf run had to go freshen up at Al-Flah Car Wash as they do every year. I arrived a little late and most of the cars were already done.

The cars usually go there to get washed, polished and get the stickers on. DJ had the music pumpin’ and it was a another great chance to mingle with the drivers, fellow bloggers and organizers.

I also managed to pass by the Car Show at 360 Mall and will be posting about it later.

More pics after the break.

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I Caved

After mentioning time and time again that I won’t be getting the new MMO game Star Wars: The Old Republic, I finally gave in and purchased the game a couple of days ago. Ever since I got the game working (I had to download the whole 12 GB’s twice due to and installation error) I couldn’t stop playing the game. This is my first MMO since the City of Heroes 7 years ago. The game is huge and I couldn’t comprehend the vastness and the effort that went into the voice acting until I started playing the game. This game is going to screw up my schedule in the coming months.

Taking A Boat Trip

Last Saturday, Me and my kids went to Sharq Market “سوق شرق” to get some stuff from Sultan Center. But while we were there, my wife suggested that we take a quick boat ride that I didn’t even know existed. It turns out that it is possible pay KD1 and get 15 minutes at sea (anyone under 2 years rides for free). The kids were super excited and had a blast.

The boat is docked right behind Debenhams and the play area in Sharq.

Macbook Pro SSD Upgrade

After having the problem with my SSD in my PC build a few weeks ago and having to order a new one. I kept experimenting with my “faulty” SSD and see if I missed something. After playing around with it for a few days  discovered that it ran fine as a data drive (opposed to a boot disk). So I thought I might as well try sticking it in my Macbook Pro.

I’ve opened up every computer I’ve owned but still I had to research the matter before diving into it. After a quick read it was confirmed that it was pretty straight forward and that I had all the tools necessary for the job.

After unscrewing the bottom of the Macbook Pro (I have the unibody 2010 edition) and popping it open, you can see the HDD in the bottom right secured by a latch. removing the latch and the SATA connector completely releases the HDD. And from there its just a matter of replacing the HDD and putting everything back together.

There are a number of benefits to having a SSD such as:

• Speed: boot time is 18 seconds from pressing the power button to read use and having 3 programs running (Pixelmator, Safari and MarsEdit).
• Silent: Because SSD has no moving pars it is virtually silent and also there is no vibrations.
• Slightly better battery life.

The 2 major and only disadvantages that SSD have in my opening are price and capacity. but in time we “should” get there.

This is the first day of using the MBP after the upgrade so I’ll be watching if it acts up.