I don’t know why but I really do hate office phones and I came to the realization recently. I had to move offices recently and in my new office I didn’t have an office phone for over two weeks and I found that to be very relaxing, I really didn’t want a phone and I was enjoying the ability to get work done without something going off. Whoever needs me can find me on my cell phone, then they installed the phone from somewhere else in the company and gave me a number.

At that point I realized how much I hate office phones, and here are a few reasons:

• The phones are so damn ugly with no ergonomics what so ever.
• These phones get dirty so quickly and for some reason it doesn’t seem clean no matter what you do.
• The phones with LCD screens have the weirdest abbreviations for the functions which leaves me clueless of what the hell it might do.
• How many buttons does it take to reach the voice mail and the command rational for deleting makes no sense.
• I don’t use 90% of the features that the phone has, its nearly impossible to even do something simple such as storing a name in a phone or something of that nature. The simple tasks are made so difficult that you want to smash your phone.

Just like Office Space I want to take a bat to my phone. I hate office phones!

I was checking on my packages when they arrived in Kuwait on the 27th in the early morning based on the tracking system. I thought that is perfect, I would get all the products by the time I get back from my Dubai trip. I kept checking everyday for the delivery and I kept seeing the packages on hold which I found surprising, one package maybe but not all three packages since they are all electronic items and the same type available in Kuwait.

I tried all day calling Aramex but they didn’t answer, and then I asked a clearance guy I know to pass by since he was in the vicinity he called me from there to tell me I just need to pay 65KD for the whole amount. I said I would pay but I want my packages, when I asked them why customs stopped them the person the phone asked me to hold for a minute which I did, when she got back to me she told me that they weren’t on hold at customs but since they had a huge shipment come in they didn’t deliver a lot of items which I thought was a really bad excuse and misleading, I was ticked off and said I shouldn’t be paying that much if they aren’t going to deliver as soon as they receive it.

I’m just happy I got my electronics and I will be fitting them in the car after the weekend, so thats going to be a lot of fun.

Continue Reading…

I was looking for a DVD upscaler back in May since I puschased a screen capable of 1080p programs, and after looking around for what is available and what fits my needs I went with the Denon 3930. It has all the high end features which I require from the upcsaler, and it does an amazing job with old DVD movie, new DVD movies, and anime. A lot of these DVDs have different final quality of the movies and shows, but with this machine it shows them in near perfect format. From the capabilities of all machines in its range it had the best balance of features and price. Most DVD players at the time only upscaled to 1080i or 720p which wouldn’t take the full advantage of the screen. The only issue I had was that it was only available through Panasonic Al Yousifi which is overpriced, but its quite expensive online and only available from the UK. Its a heavy item so it wasn’t going to be cheaper if I bought it online.

Pros:

• Upscaling to 1080P
• Universal Player
• Delay Time adjustments for DVD-Video/Audio and SACD.
• Great video playback correction so if there any issues it almost fixes it without any issues.
• Different chips to handle deinterlacing and upscaling
• Divx 6 compatible
• Automated output based on screen capabilities (Smart Detection)

Cons:

• Its not a small dvd player, it takes up some space
• Price

Link: Denon
Price: 400 KD

Rating:

I went to Marina Mall yesterday to check out something at The One, and I was walking I decided to take a look at the Mac and More store to see what they might have. I was surprised they already had the iPod Touch, and they had a nice selection of other items. Whats good is that they have a large selection of accessories for the Apple Products and thats the best part of them.

Prices:

iPod Touch 16 GB: 145 KD
iPod Touch 8 GB: 115 KD
iPod Nano 8 GB: 75KD

Before placing my Vehicle Sound System order from Amazon I did the usual and searched the local market for what they might have and what they don’t have. I wasn’t really that surprised, but I did searches for all the serial numbers that I got for the different brands of Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, JBL, and a lot of other kinds I didn’t even know. I always go Shara’e Al Zeena in Shuweikh because that is where most of those places are together and I went shop to shop asking questions. I would ask a few questions about the products that they have then I ask detailed questions to test them, after a few days of searching I only managed to find one shop which is decent and has some quality products, I will be purchasing the high gauge wires locally as well as all the terminations.

I found some interesting information, most of the audio products that we have in Kuwait are from Hong Kong and Australian standards, nothing was from the US Markets except for a few stores which brought them as one off pieces for show. They only have the low end products all priced from 10 KD up to 45 KD, nothing was more then that. The reason for this is that most customers in Kuwait go for low quality items and they want the cheapest combination possible. Those who do want quality items tend to order from outside of Kuwait because of the lack of availability i Kuwait. The vehicle modification market is a huge market, but because of the lack of quality it isn’t being capitalized on, and since the products are cheap the quality of service will remain low.

When it comes to Home Theaters there is a fine line between regular commercial speakers and high end speakers to satisfy the tastes of audiophiles. The 802Ds were developed with the pure performance in mind, yet they are still reasonably priced for speakers with its capability. They can be used for front or rear speakers, it houses two 200mm bass drivers with diamond domed tweeters and Kevlar coned mid-range drivers. With music and movies these speakers are able to crack any vase in the room, as a pair they can handle sounds of normal 5.1 systems and as a full system they surpass any ready made 5.1 surround system available. For those with an open pocket for the home theater system no other speaker will do other then these beauties.

Price: $12’000

Link: SoundStage

After some research into what sound I am looking I think I have found exactly what I am looking for in the sound system. Also I was debating where to purchase them from, but Amazon won by a landslide. This is the basic setup that I am going for, and I’m getting all the components to hook them up as well. The only issue I have is the in-dash installation kit I will have to find in Kuwait which I know is available since I have seen a lot of Landcruisers with modified sound systems so it will probably be available locally. I did a lot of research on Crutchfield because they do have a lot of opinions, but that can’t justify their prices. End result is I want clear sound, and I can enjoy at any volume without breaks at high volumes or deep bass.

HeadUnit:

• Kenwood DDX-8019

Speakers (Front and Rear)

• Boston Acoustic Pro60

Amplifier

• JBL PX300.4

And some wiring from Streetwires to complete the whole kit.

Purchasing from:

Crutchfield: $2699
Amazon: $1780

This has been the phone a lot of people have been waiting for, the 5 megapixel phone camera from Sony Ericsson. I have been thinking about upgrading the main phone for a little while now and the K850i and W960 are the main contenders. It packs a lot of features, but its lacking Wifi which I was looking into for a bit, but supports pretty much everything else.

Features:

• 5 MP autofocus camera with automatic lens cap and three dedicated hardware keys
• Tri-band HSDPA (3.6 Mb), EDGE.
• New Media Center, smart search, Manage Messages application
• Monolith body with digicam-like battery cover
• Brand new three soft keys
• Innovative D-pad layout
• Dedicated call and end keys
• Large crystal-clear 2.2″ display
• Memory card slot with dual card support and hot swap functionality
• FM radio with RDS
• Bluetooth (with A2DP)
• Multi-tasking support

Price: 210 KD

This is probably the funniest accessory I have seen yet, it is the Google Vanity Ring. You can show off the number of hits your name gets from Google and it is automatically updated into the ring when you plug it back in. So if Jessica Alba had this ring she would have millions of hits on that ring.

Link: OhGhizmo

Spam is following us everywhere, and you can deal with it to a certain degree online. But I have only expereinced SMS Spam in Kuwait, and it is driving me nuts. I’m getting SMSs from MTC, Banks, Financial Institutions, Clothing Stores , and a lot of random places for things that I never subscribed too and its really getting on my nerves. There has to be a clause which requires the telecom company to keep our information private.

Whats happening with the wireless providers is that they sell SMSs by the bulk to people paying for advertising and then they flood our phones with these stupid ads. I wish I could sue them for telemarketing crap and then they would learn from that, too bad going to court means a 5 year get your case heard and another 10 to get it resolved.