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January 05, 2009
23:42
ALIPR | Automatic Photo Tagging
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Out of curiosity I went browsing for an answer on how color pickers can retrieve color related pictures, which I guess depends on photographic histograms, I stumbled upon ALIPR (Automatic Linguistic Indexing of Pictures in Real-Time), the NOT so smart photo tagging/search engine.

It is supposed to be a smart photo search engine that knows exactly what you're looking for.

According to Gizmodo.com:
"An amazing innovation in the software world today: ALIPR (Automatic Linguistic Indexing of Pictures) is a program that takes a look at digital images, applies some fancy math and then spits out a list of appropriate tags for the picture. It isn't perfect, but the designers claim it has a 98 percent accuracy rate. They've been letting it dig through Flickr and the software has matched at least one user-defined tag almost every time." – Karson Thompson
The truth is, it's Far from smart. Even the messed up Ask.com returns better results than this crazy search engine. The only query that got me related results were "landscape historical desert", it returned two pictures of the Pyramids.

Note to self: Stick to Google, shut up and forget how experimental apps such as that color picker work.
January 04, 2009
5:49
Brrr
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Yes, it is that cold outside. Not just a digit.
January 03, 2009
13:24
R.I.P. | Q8speed.com
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Q8speed.com is dead and gone.
I have nothing to add. [link]
January 02, 2009
12:43
The Dome?
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Anyone knows what's that building?
It's close to the airport.
January 01, 2009
19:20
2009
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

I have never had new year resolutions but this year I have one, and it's "Keep on without Shesha". Yes, I didn't mention this before but I have managed to quit shesha two months ago even without another Operation Rehab and now I am determined to keep it this way.

Now I'll leave you with some random pics before deleting them from my hard drive...

Busted: M.O.I. cameras spying on Messila houses.

"Al-Tab'ana" (الطبعانة) - "The Sunk"
Very well known fishing spot in Kuwait. Beautiful scenery.

Donate your "Old Eyeglasses"... Not your Money!

*no comment*! xD

Happy New Year to you all.

x2 = 29
December 27, 2008
22:28
"Our Ripper, who art on Mininova, aXXo be thy name"
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.
December 23, 2008
16:31
iTeach #002
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.
December 22, 2008
14:13
Airport Graveyard?
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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]
December 19, 2008
23:54
Review | Booq Taipan Slimcase M
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.
December 18, 2008
23:55
Zain eGo driver for Mac
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.

UPDATE: Thanks to Alshahbandar, you guys can find detailed instructions on how to install the driver on Mac. [link]
December 16, 2008
16:22
Last Friday Moon
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

I took a lot of pictures of the moon that day.
All shots were the same except this one.
December 14, 2008
18:16
Laptop Bags
» ‎ MacaholiQ8
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.
December 12, 2008
1:36
Please Fix The iPhone!
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.
December 08, 2008
20:36
Regarding Mustang Police Patrol
» ‎ MacaholiQ8
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.
December 04, 2008
23:41
Injured
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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.
December 02, 2008
19:36
Joost
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

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."
15:43
Science reassures
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

"Art is meant to disturb. Science reassures."
- Georges Braque
November 30, 2008
22:22
MacBook Pro
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Finally, after more than five months without Mac I have finally managed to get my hands on the latest MacBook Pro.

Unpacking brand new gadgets is always fun and in this particular case Apple have made it even better with their artistic and unique designs inside and out. The box is wrapped up with a plastic bag that looks like a sports bag with two strings on the side, the box itself looks great and the parts are well organized inside with the unibody MacBook Pro lying on top.

So it looks good from the outside, what's good on the inside? And what makes it better than it's smaller, yet very identical looking, brother the Macbook?

For starters this true wide-screen 15" monitor is mind-blowingly clear. Performance-wise the MacBook Pro is the best there is for portable Macs. This one has a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 6MB cache, accessible 320GB hard drive (easy to replace/change), two NVIDIA GeForce chipsets (9400M and 9600M GT) reaching 512MB VRAM for video output; gamers and designers dream machine on the go. Internal speakers are now much louder. New big button-less trackpad is made of glass for silk smooth tracking with up to four fingers gestures.

The downside however is limited to high-gloss screen which may appeal to some people while others would do anything to get rid of it. Although there still is a FireWire 800 port, the loss of FireWire 400 port is without doubt a setback. Button-less trackpad is awkward and needs a lot of work to get used to.

Bottom line:
The new MacBook Pro is the Porsche of portable computers. It's fast with great performance specs, agile with its relatively light weight compared to other laptops of its league, unique with its aluminum unibody design, and in my case very price worthy (no shipping fees + VAT refund = way cheaper than what it costs here in Kuwait).

Accept nothing less than this piece of art.
November 28, 2008
22:34
Simple Man
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Shinedown - Simple Man
Originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Soothing words, calm acoustics, and amazing vocals.
I cannot get this song off my head.
November 24, 2008
14:36
Official 2009 Nissan 370z Pictures
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

And officially it sucks exterior-wise.

UPDATE: And I thought the Z looks ugly.
Wait till you see the new Porsche Panamera. [link]
It makes the new Z look like a beauty pageant contestant.
November 22, 2008
23:01
Review | MacBook Air
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

I have been using it for the past month and before I give it back to my bro I will highlight what's hot and what's not. Note that this review is based on first generation MacBook Air with 1.8GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD.

MacBook Air is without any doubt one of the most desirable laptops in the market. It looks sleek with it's brushed aluminum casing, ultra-bright wide screen monitor, backlit keyboard, long-life battery, and of course its light weight. But what makes the MacBook Air cool other than its looks and weight? The answer is almost nothing.

MacBook Air is a quick task handler which an Asus EeePC or even recent smartphones and PDAs can provide for less expenses. If you want to connect on the run it's there for you, if you want to listen to music and handle your photo and music libraries it's there for you, if you want to type or read for 6 consecutive hours running only on battery it's the perfect choice for you. And with SSD rest assured that it won't take more than 30 seconds to launch and 5-10 seconds to shutdown.

However, if you want to use it for editing high-resolution photography, photo-manipulation, video editing, motion graphics (After Effects & Flash), extreme gaming, load it with a bit of anything and everything then this is the spot where it starts to cough it's performance. It can barely withstand any of these actions. In other words it is not made for intense use.

Poor sound quality (one speaker hidden somewhere underneath the right side of the keyboard). Limited to one USB 2.0 port and no internal SuperDrive. Cooling fan barely cools it (all you can hear is its sound).

Conclusion:
Simply like a Ferrari; MacBook Air is the most desirable but not for everyday use. It has set new standards to portable computing but it doesn't come in a full package where you can rely on it. I am not going to say it fails to satisfy its users, it does so in a unique way, but it has limitations that it might make some users feel cornered when they really need to finish the job.
November 21, 2008
21:46
iPhone Firmware 2.2
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

Long story short...

- No bidirectional languages (Arabic) support yet.
- New region settings including Kuwait.*
- Smoother page transition?

* Choosing Kuwait region will fix incoming SMS contact details but will change Calender, Weather, Stocks, and some other apps interface into reversed arabic (days/months) and arabic digits for time and date.
November 15, 2008
1:04
Living Room Lounge | Review
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

One word... Perfect.

I haven't had shisha for the past two weeks and hopefully will keep it this way (wasn't gonna say anything about it since my last "Operation Rehab" failed miserably) and by not going to the shisha place I have most my day free, either sitting at home watching a bunch of movies or hanging out with friends away from smoking.

This time a couple of friends wanted to go climbing in Marina Waves so I joined them just to watch and waste time. That's when I saw Living Room Lounge right underneath Maki next to the climbing wall.

I took a seat watching my friends swing like monkeys waiting for them to finish. The place looks cosy inside, very calm outside with beachside tables, and with this amazing weather this place is the perfect place to hang out. Their menu is limited but it has a nice variety of drinks, salads, and light stuff to keep you going.

Prices are reasonably high noting the fact that it's in Marina Waves ($$$ rental), the food quality is good, and the service is good too plus free WiFi accessibility.

This place respectfully earns the first positive review of all food related reviews in my blog. However, it's still no match for badr el bdoor.
November 10, 2008
17:55
iPhone 3G soon in Egypt
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

According to Q8mug Apple iPhone 3G is available for pre-order in Egypt. [link]

Still no info if it will be officially unlocked or exclusive to both Vodafone and Mobinil (Egyptian cellphone carriers). After further investigation looks like it will be exclusive.

This means there's a great chance that the iPhone will finally have factory support for Arabic.

Update: (Nov. 12 2008)
Looks like it's true. iPhone 2.2 firmware is due in a few weeks and it will have new languages support. Most expectations say it will finally support Bidirectional languages including Arabic and Hebrew. [more info]
7:09
2009 Nissan 370z
» ‎ MacaholiQ8

The new Nissan 370z. Ugly from the outside and astonishing from the inside.

350z will keep holding its ground against this one looks-wise, but engine-wise... Let's see what the VQ37VHR engine has to offer. The 370z chassis is shorter than the 350z meaning we could see some engine swaps here and there.

Source with more pictures: [link]

Happy my car will have some dignity left for it. :)

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