Don Veto - Reviews and Words of Wisdom

I have a dream

2011-11-06T12:43:00.000+03:00

I dream of the day a chicken can cross the road without being questioned.

An Amazing Social Network

2011-11-05T20:14:00.000+03:00

How to Talk Like a Consultant and be paid $1000 plus daily

2011-11-03T09:44:00.001+03:00

If you want to be a consultant, you don't need any skills except maybe make a few powerpoint presentations. You also need to learn the lingo. Be sure to wear a suit and tie at all times and pepper your speech with these choice words and phrases:

Moving forward,
Righstizing,
Rationalize,
Touching base,
Syndicate,
First to market,
Synergy,
Think outside the box,
Ping,
Low hanging fruits,
Apples and Oranges,
Cloud,
Bandwidth,
Facetime,
Let's take this offline,
FTE,
Work smarter not harder,
Quick wins,
Efficiency,
Deliverables,
80 20 rule,
Leverage
Lever,
Core values,
Alignment,
sea change,
gentle reminder,

It does not matter if you don't know what these terms mean, the more you use them, the higher you can charge for your daily rate.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to think out of the box for some low hanging fruits that I need to synergize and syndicate for some quick wins.

Enough about SIRI, here is ARNI

2011-10-15T22:44:00.002+03:00

Thank you Steve

2011-10-06T08:18:00.000+03:00

Thank you

Full Service Pump

2011-10-03T23:18:00.000+03:00

Full service pumps are a great idea, you get to fill your car from either sides but why is the hose going round the cars to the wrong side ?Only in Kuwait.

Coffee: The Greatest Addiction Ever

2011-09-24T07:10:00.002+03:00

Exclusive - Exorcism Video and the Devil revealed

2011-09-23T13:42:00.001+03:00

Dirt Devil-The Exorcist from MrPrice2U on Vimeo.

Paco Raabane Perfume Pyramid

2011-09-16T23:10:00.000+03:00

Check out the latest and greatest in Kuwait, the Paco Raabane Perfume Pyramid now at the 360 Mall.

Notice the shoe throwing shield around it, to prevent any mischief from the delinquent kids.

Magic Trick - How to make your little brother disappear

2011-09-13T06:53:00.000+03:00

Cool right ?

OH NO

2011-09-09T09:06:00.004+03:00

Only in The United Arab Emirates

2011-09-03T07:17:00.000+03:00

Ford Raptor with 6 doors, can be found only in Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates.

The Rules of the Avenues

2011-08-26T14:08:00.001+03:00

Avenues have a new set of rules not allowing you to use their names for nefarious purposes.

Here is their announcement:

For those who can't read Arabic, allow me to translate it for you:

1st RULE: You do not talk about Avenues.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about Avenues.

3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the shopping is over.

4th RULE: Only two guys to a shop.

5th RULE: One shop at a time.

6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes, no entry.

7th RULE: Shopping will go on as long as they have to.

8th RULE: If this is your first night at Avenues, you HAVE to shop.

Kuwait: The class of 1990

2011-08-04T14:16:00.000+03:00

On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi army invaded the emirate of Kuwait, which Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, had declared Iraq's 19th province. At the end of the school year of 1990, students in an international school in Kuwait said their final farewells as they headed off for the summer holidays. Many of them would never meet again. Twenty years on, Al Jazeera's Nashwa Nasreldin returns to Kuwait to find out what happened to her friends and the school during the war that separated them.

It is 47:46 minutes long but very touching.

Japanese Girl Tells the Story of the Titanic

2011-07-28T22:20:00.002+03:00

I thought how she said it was better than the movie

How to Levitate

2011-07-27T11:52:00.001+03:00

How can you levitate and impress your friends and followers with your magic powers:

Wife Jumps Forward, Son Steps Back

2011-07-20T10:49:00.000+03:00

Rupert Murdoch while being interrogated concerning his involvement in Phone Hacking by the different media assets he owned was attacked by a foam pie wielding protestor.

What is interesting to see is how his son is startled and pushes away from his Father but his Chinese born, volleyball athlete wife, Wendi Deng, jumps ahead towards the protestor and smacks him right in the face.

Wife Scores,
Son Fails.

Kuwaiti TV Ads in the 1980s

2011-07-17T15:13:00.000+03:00

Here are a few TV ads that where constantly broadcast on Kuwait TV in the 80s.

Americana Cake

Pizza Italia

Dalal Oil

How to Write with Style by Kurt Vonnegut

2011-07-16T23:44:00.001+03:00

Here is a great piece from Kurt Vonnegut about writing, it has gems such as:

William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. "To be or not to be?" asks Shakespeare's Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long.

The whole article can be found here.

In summary, the key points made are:

1. Find a subject you care about.
2. Do not ramble, though
3. Keep it simple
4. Have guts to cut
5. Sound like yourself
6. Say what you mean
7. Pity the readers

And here is a little ad from Amazon with one of Kurt's well known book, Slaughterhouse Five

I love this - X Factor Promo

2011-07-16T11:25:00.002+03:00

Harry Potter is actually the Pokemon story

2011-06-29T23:54:00.000+03:00

Harry Potter is actually the Pokemon story

Stephen King and 6 Tools Every Writer Should Have in His ToolBox

2011-06-09T14:05:00.000+03:00

Here is a great article about what Stephen King reccommends for any budding writer.

All you will ever need to know about writing from Kurt Vonnegut

2011-05-28T14:12:00.002+03:00

A Love Story

2011-05-23T21:06:00.001+03:00

A Love Story… In Milk from Catsnake on Vimeo.

Kurt Vonnegut explains drama

2011-05-09T23:42:00.000+03:00

Here is a great post about Kurt Vonnegut explaining drama with charts.

You can read it here.

The Girl With Many Eyes

2011-05-07T08:11:00.001+03:00

One day in the park
I had quite a surprise,
I met a girl
who had many eyes.
She was really quite pretty
(and also quite shocking!)
and I noticed she had a mouth
so we ended up talking.
We talked about flowers,
and her poetry classes,
and the problems she'd have
if she ever wore glasses.
It's great to know a girl
who has so many eyes,
but you really get wet
when she breaks down and cries.

I think this was written by Tim Burton

Lovely Ad from Google

2011-05-06T23:19:00.001+03:00

Kindle - I Want

2011-05-05T14:39:00.000+03:00

Whatever happened to free will?

2011-05-03T22:34:00.000+03:00

David Norris: Whatever happened to free will?

Thompson: We actually tried free will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman empire, we stepped back to see how you'd do on your own. You gave us the dark ages for five centuries until finally we decided we should come back in. The Chairman thought that maybe we just needed to do a better job with teaching you how to ride a bike before taking the training wheels off again. So we gave you raised hopes, enlightment, scientific revolution. For six hundred years we taught you to control your impulses with reason. Then in nineteen ten, we stepped back. Within fifty years you'd brought us world war one, the depression, fascism, the holocaust and capped it off by bringing the entire planet to the brink of destruction in the Cuba missile crisis. At that point the decision was taken to step back in again before you did something that even we couldn't fix.

Quote from The Adjustment Bureau

The Royal Wedding - Exclusive

2011-04-17T06:53:00.002+03:00

Here is the leaked video,

Storytelling

2011-04-15T00:55:00.000+03:00

Here are two links that talk about story structure, you can read them here:

Elements of Story Structure

Tension makes your story interesting.

Amazing Ad

2011-04-09T21:25:00.002+03:00

Great Basketball Shot

2011-04-02T11:06:00.000+03:00

Just watch it, amazing.

How to Write a Manifesto

2011-03-23T06:43:00.000+03:00

Today, we write a manifesto

Today, our second sentence starts with the first word of the first sentence.

We write a short sentence.

Then a shorter one.

Then a really long one that doesn't make any sense but is immediately followed by

One.

Word.

Sentences.

Then we make our point even more clearer

By using fragmented prepositional phrases.

By repeating that first preposition.

By doing it a total of three times.

And then we have a really long sentence that builds up excitement from our overarching concept that is summed up in a word that makes absolutely no sense.

Source.

Google Japan Person Finder

2011-03-11T23:30:00.002+03:00

If you lost someone in Japan, you might be able to find them using the Google person finder.

Hilarious Yemeni Revolt Rap

2011-03-09T18:32:00.001+03:00

Fearing the Mighty Mouse

2011-03-02T17:38:00.000+03:00

Inspirational Images

2011-02-28T23:27:00.000+03:00

Check out this inspirational images here.

I know, it's a short post, just like a tweet. Speaking of tweets, be sure to follow me on twitter @donveto.

Happy Kuwait Day

2011-02-26T12:53:00.000+03:00

Ok, it's not a day, its more like an extended weekend, but happy days anyway.

Fastelco New Ad

2011-02-22T13:59:00.000+03:00

The cool people at FASTtelco asked me what I thought about their new ad, so I am posting it here and want to know what you think:

How to Write a Novel in Twelve Weeks

2011-02-22T07:00:00.000+03:00

A great plan on How to Write a Novel in Twelve Weeks, can be found here.

Here is the text of the post, just in case it disappears:

PLAN TO SUCCEED. TEN STEPS TO SUCCESS. WRITE THAT NOVEL IN TWELVE WEEKS

There are times when writing your first novel can seem like trying to push an ocean uphill. But it doesn't have to be like that. Novelizations of TV shows and movies are often written in as little as twelve weeks or even less. So, how can these people bang out novels in such a short time when for everyone else writing one seems like all the labours of Hercules rolled into one?

The answer's all down to planning. And here's where I'm going to show you how you can use planing to turn novel writing into a far simpler task than you might have thought possible.

1. First decide on your genre.

2. Select your favourite book or movie from that genre.

3. Quickly scribble down a synopsis for that book or movie. Don't put any great care into it. Do three drafts, aiming to end up with a synopsis of half-a-page to a full-page in length.

4. Now have a sit down. Without putting too much thought into it, think of the main characters and settings in that synopsis and how you'd like to change them. Maybe you'd like to turn that island into a city, or that man into a woman, or that doctor into an astronaut. Go with your first instinct. When it comes to these things it's often right.

5. Go back to the synopsis you wrote, replacing the original settings and characters with the settings and characters you've decided to use. You should find the story immediately starts to become a noticeably different beast when you do this. Again, take no great time or care over it. Again, do three drafts. Again, you're looking for a synopsis of around a page.

6. Armed with this new synopsis, devote more thought to the main characters, writing a short biography for each of them. Who are they? Where are they from? What do they do for a living? What have they done in the past to get to where they are when we first meet them? Why are they unhappy? What do they want, both in life in general and in the story? What obstacles stand in their way? How do they get on with the people around them? Imagine them talking to people, dealing with things, just living their lives. Also write a potted history for the main settings, so you have a sense of the book's background.

7. Now that you have a clear idea as to what your characters and settings are about, have a lie down, close your eyes and run through the story in your head, as though you're watching it on a cinema screen. Don't go into too much detail - or you'll be at it forever - but enough to develop a firm idea of what happens. Do this three times, scribbling down notes as you go along of anything you might forget.

8. Get yourself a pack of standard size index cards from any stationers. On the cards, scribble a one or two sentence summary of every scene in the book, using one card per scene. Once you've done this, read through what you've written, adding any extra scenes that occur to you, chopping out any you no longer need and changing their order if necessary. Three or four run-throughs should be enough to have the whole of the main story planned out.

Now you've got the main story planned out, think about what the other characters are getting up to when your central character isn't around. Use index cards to plan out their scenes and insert them into the main story where they're needed.

Read through your pile of index cards to make sure the story all fits together and, if it does, you now have everything you need to start writing your novel.

9. Start to write the novel but don't start at the beginning. That's the most complicated part of the book, where you're having to juggle several balls to introduce the characters and the set-up. Therefore leave it till you've written the rest of the novel. The same with the ending. Leave that till last, so you have something to look forward to. Start at the point where the characters have already been introduced, and use the index cards to guide you. Stick to that plan like glue, only changing any plot points if you really have to. Remember, it's changing the plot that eats up writing time.

Don't write the whole book before revising anything. Instead, do three drafts of each scene before moving on to the next one because things are much easier to do if you break them down into bite-sized chunks. Aim to write a thousand words a day. Write the first draft of each scene with the idea in your head that it's going to be the one you show the world. It isn't but it does focus the mind wonderfully on what you're doing.

10. Now that the novel's written, go through it one more time to tidy it all up, and then start to look for a publisher.

Sand Art - Arabs versus Ukraine

2011-02-12T07:49:00.000+03:00

If you follow Arabs got talent, you all saw Shayma from Oman do some very nice sand art and got voted and applauded by the judges.

I liked her art, but have a look at Kseniya Simonova from Ukraine got Talent and her Sand Art attempts here:

Now that is amazing.

I Hate Friendoors

2011-01-30T20:15:00.002+03:00

Arabs Got Talent Tonight

2011-01-21T17:03:00.000+03:00

Arabs got Talent is a new show on MBC 4, tongiht at 9pm Kuwait time. Today is the second episode. I really enjoyed the show last time and am going to watch it tonight.

I especially liked watchnig and tweeting about it and reading other people's tweets.

Arabs got talent is on twitter too and you can follow them on @got_talent_ar

YOu can also follow me on twitter here @donveto

See you tonight, same time, same place.

Learning to Fly

2011-01-19T22:49:00.002+03:00

Hezarfen from Hezarfen on Vimeo.

Hezarfen is a historical Turkish character.
The story takes place in 1632 in Istanbul, where he will attempt the first flight of the human being.

1.5 Tons of Gold

2011-01-17T18:39:00.002+03:00

How much is 1.5 tons of gold worth ? Well according to Wolfram Alpha, it is worth almost 17 million KD, $59.53 Million USD.

Why am I curious about Gold? Because this is the exact same amount that Madame Ex President Wife of Tunisia Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, or retired Hairdresser Ms. Leïla Trabelsi, took with her just before she left Tunis, according to Le Monde Paper and here is another article from Business Insider.

Where do I sign to get a retirement plan like that ?

Arabs got Talent - Episode 1

2011-01-15T08:25:00.000+03:00

In case you missed it, here is Arabs got Talent on youtube

Breathtaking Aerial Photos

2011-01-14T23:47:00.000+03:00

Lovely Pictures

Dance - Its the Weekend

2011-01-13T19:12:00.000+03:00

Zorba's Dance

Earth must prepare for close encounter with Aliens, says scientists

2011-01-10T11:00:00.001+03:00

Recent headlines from different web sites and newspapers stated that

100 tons of dead sardines were found in Brazil over the weekend.

500 small birds dropped to their deaths in Baton Rouge.

3,000 red-winged blackbirds died in Arkansas

and many more, there is even a map for it

View Mass Animal Deaths in a larger map

now this news item from the Guardian themselves saying that Earth must prepare for close encounter with Aliens.

They go on to say:

World governments should prepare a coordinated action plan in case Earth is contacted by aliens, according to scientists.

They argue that a branch of the UN must be given responsibility for "supra-Earth affairs" and formulate a plan for how to deal with extraterrestrials, should they appear.

I think you can see the how these events are connected.

More on the Alfockalypse of 2011.

Fire Explained

2011-01-09T22:27:00.000+03:00

By the incomparable Richard Feynman.

Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher

Vote for Lujain

2010-12-30T09:05:00.000+03:00

Lujian for parliament, oh wait, she's too young, maybe more competent but not old enough yet.

Ok, seriously, vote for Lujain here on the I love Kuwait competition on P0ach's blog.

Reasons to vote for Lujain.

She is the most articulate.
She has the best points.
Her sister told me to.
And last but not least, how can you not vote for someone so adorable.

vote for Lujain.

Jingle Bells Punjabi Style

2010-12-26T07:20:00.000+03:00

It's been a while

2010-12-14T23:36:00.002+03:00

I know its been a long time since I last posted here, I Will soon.

The 15 Best Things Warren Buffett Has Ever Said About Investing

2010-08-26T20:13:00.000+03:00

These points where taken from businessinsider.com , instead of flipping through 15 pages to see them ,you get them all on one page here:

"Rule No. 1: never lose money; rule No. 2: don't forget rule No. 1"

"I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am no investor."

"You can sell it to Berkshire, and we'll put it in the Metropolitan Museum; it'll have a wing all by itself; it'll be there forever. Or you can sell it to some porn shop operator, and he'll take the painting and he'll make the boobs a little bigger and he'll stick it up in the window, and some other guy will come along in a raincoat, and he'll buy it." - On what makes people sell to him

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ."

"Long ago, Sir Isaac Newton gave us three laws of motion, which were the work of genius. But Sir Isaac’s talents didn’t extend to investing: He lost a bundle in the South Sea Bubble, explaining later, “I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men.” If he had not been traumatized by this loss, Sir Isaac might well have gone on to discover the Fourth Law of Motion: For investors as a whole, returns decrease as motion

"Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre."

"After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."

"Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful."

"When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."

"The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at everything--you can wait for your pitch. The problem when you're a money manager is that your fans keep yelling, 'Swing, you bum!'"

"Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that 'Price is what you pay; value is what you get.' Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."

" Our approach is very much profiting from lack of change rather than from change. With Wrigley chewing gum, it's the lack of change that appeals to me. I don't think it is going to be hurt by the Internet. That's the kind of business I like."

"The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble...We want to buy them when they're on the operating table."

" I have pledged – to you, the rating agencies and myself – to always run Berkshire with more than ample cash. We never want to count on the kindness of strangers in order to meet tomorrow’s obligations. When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits."

Where are all the Kuwaitis?

2010-07-30T22:33:00.000+03:00

Here is a simple chart to tell you where all the Kuwaitis are:

Infraction People Have an Infraction

2010-07-09T23:39:00.000+03:00

fThere is a group of dedicated Government employees that monitor the different houses and see if they are violating any rules set by them.

These rules include blocking the view of the road with vegetation such as the one below:

When this happens, they send their trusted bulldozer driver to remove the infraction.

These rules are very strict, no exception to anyone, except maybe if it is Taadeyat own base of operation which can be found here.

View Larger Map

Taking a closer look, what do you see ?

There is a long line of greenery blocking the view of the road. Now I wonder, will they send their bulldozers for their own infraction ?

Computers in Movies

2010-07-09T00:47:00.000+03:00

I was watching this movie about this black ops military team that do an operation then things go wrong and now they want revenge, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, the point is, they have this super secret encrypted hard drive, and they had to steal the decryption algorithm from this mega-corporation. So now this team are sitting in their room, and using a netbook, the geek from the team types a few commands and decrypts the hard drive in a matter of seconds. First point, you cant decrypt a complete hard drive using a slow netbook with the press of a button, you need to wait at least 20 minutes or more. Second point, I wanted to see what super high tech command he used, and here it is:

He used traceroute! HE USED TRACEROUTE! You don't use traceroute to decrypt a drive. I know this is just a movie, but please Mr. Producer, have a little imagination.

Kuwait House Blues

2010-07-05T00:11:00.000+03:00

Once upon a time, I bought a house in Kuwait. There where no roads to this house and it was built in the middle of the desert. There where other houses around also built in the middle of the desert.

The house was sitting on a pile of sandy road.

The nice people of the Kuwait government decided to build a road in front of my new house and I was ever so grateful. A road is much better for the car and for not getting sand in my sandals.

Unfortunately the freshly made road, was much lower than than the level of my house by almost two meters so I could not get into my house. So instead of complaining, I built a nice staircase going all the way down to the road.

All was well, I could get into my house, I had my nice government built road and it was a happy house.
Four years later, something shocking happened.

I come home and find a big yellow sticker stuck to my house, saying that I am taking land from the government and I should only extend my stair case by one and a half meters. If I don't, the government is going to come over with a bulldozer and scrape away my staircase.

That made me sad, my house was almost two meters above street level, and If I was only to use one and half meter extension for the stairs, no one could possible climb those stairs. It was a dilemma.

This story is not over yet, I heard that I am not the only one with that problem and that the nice people in the government are going to reconsider and let us keep our staircases so we can get into our houses.

Let us hope for the best, otherwise I don't know what can be done.

Kuwait in 1795

2010-07-01T20:06:00.001+03:00

Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully: in Ten Minutes

2010-06-30T20:30:00.002+03:00

I will not claim to know everything aobut writing, but I will let the bestselling autor Stephen King tell you. The secret can be found here.

The Disparity of Labor

2010-06-17T23:39:00.000+03:00

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr

Best Way to Watch a Movie on an iPad

2010-05-20T22:27:00.000+03:00

I downloaded a movie on my iPad and was looking for the most comfortable way to watch.
I tried sitting down with my iPad flat on the table but my back got bent worse than the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Next I tried sitting on the bed, but again I was crouching forward, and almost fell forward especially during the boring parts of the movie and my arms got tired holding the iPad.

Finally I found the perfect position.

Rest your head on the pillow, your legs bent, iPad resting on your legs and your hands holding it steady. Careful not to doze off.

Lightbulb Manual Page

2010-04-20T16:26:00.000+03:00

lightbulb(1)                                             lightbulb(1)

NAME
     lightbulb - Convert electrons to photons

SYNOPSIS
     lightbulb [-wattage number]

DESCRIPTION
     lightbulb reads a stream of electrons from standard input and
     produces photons on standard output.
     Thus

         lightbulb <110_volts_ac >light

     The following options apply to lightbulb:

     -wattage  Sets the rate at which electrons are converted
               to photons.

FILES
     None

SEE ALSO
     xmas_tree_lights(1), streetlamp(1), led(2)

KNOWN BUGS
     lightbulb is known to fail unexpectedly after some unknown
     number of applications. Repeated complaints to the authors
     of lightbulb have failed to come up with a fix for this
     bug. The only known workaround for a crashed lightbulb is
     re-installation from a fresh copy of the source media.

NOTES
     I believe M$ Windows is based on lighbulb because they
     share the same bug - and the same workaround.

     It is important to ensure that the input stream is correctly
     formatted or the lightbulb may crash unexpectedly and with
     undefined results.

     Do not attempt to apply lightbulb's input files to other
     UNIX tools (esp. 'finger(1)'), however, lightbulb's output
     stream is fairly compatible with most other devices.

INSTALLATION
     Consult a hardware engineer.

PREREQUISITES
     Your operating system must support sockets and switches.

The Next iPhone

2010-04-19T19:07:00.000+03:00

Gizmodo scoops the next iPhone, it comes with a front camera, higher resoltion display, bigger battery and looks better than the older iPhone 3GS.

More information here.

10 Things You should know about Starbucks

2010-03-31T14:50:00.000+03:00

Here is a very interesting article about Starbucks. I will give the author credit so you can read the full article here.

Lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on Writing

2010-03-30T14:35:00.000+03:00

Here is a great lecture from Kurt Vonnegut where he dissects the different ways of writing with blackboard illustration. You can find it here.

Cool Arabic Search Engine - yamli.com

2010-03-19T11:19:00.001+03:00

I found this very cool arabic search engine called yamli.com , what it does is take your english text and transliterates it to arabic. This lets you search for arabic sites without needing an arabic keyboard. I dont know how new this is, but I like it a lot. Check it out.

According to my twitter buddy G_E, yamli is not really new, its only new to me. Thanks for the heads up G_E.

Kindle for Mac Now Available for Download, or rather not.

2010-03-18T08:47:00.001+03:00

I was going to announce that kindle for Mac was available from Amazon, then as I went to the webpage, I was told that it is not available for Kuwait, and I had to move to a new country. I know I could lie and say I moved to the States or some other country where it will let me download Kindle, but why should I do that? Its an application, just let me download it and sell me the ebooks. My money is just as good as anyone else's.

I tried to do the right thing, now let me go back to downloading torrents, its easier and available in Kuwait.

Here is a great book from Amazon to tell you just how you can download stuff also, BitTorrent For Dummies

I am not gone, I just discovered tumblr

2010-03-16T18:58:00.000+03:00

Ok, I did not really discover it. Tumblr was there a long time before I found out about it, but it makes blogging so easy and fast and allows me to post a lot of ~~nonsense~~ inspirations very quickly. It is like twitter and blogger got married and their newborn was tumblr. You can find me on tumblr at donveto.tumblr.com .

I am not quitting blogger, just will be posting both here and at tumblr. See you all there, all three of you.

Love and Hate According to Google

2010-03-07T13:23:00.000+03:00

According to google results found, here are some love hate statistics for different Arab countries. Bahrain and Oman come out first according to the love hate ratio and Kuwait is fifth.

	Love	Hate	Hate/Love Ratio
Bahrain	14,300,000	1,800,000	89%
Oman	13,800,000	1,760,000	89%
Qatar	16,700,000	2,820,000	86%
Lebanon	32,500,000	5,870,000	85%
Kuwait	25,100,000	4,560,000	85%
Yemen	17,300,000	3,910,000	82%
Jordan	74,900,000	17,300,000	81%
Saudi	40,500,000	11,500,000	78%
Egypt	30,500,000	9,470,000	76%
UAE	5,600,000	1,810,000	76%
Syria	10,400,000	4,090,000	72%
Iraq	83,000,000	46,100,000	64%

Note to all the statisticians, this is not an accurate report, just a compilation of google results made just for fun.

Airplane Security

2010-03-01T16:30:00.001+03:00

Click Image to Enlarge

Pong Clock

2010-02-27T22:27:00.000+03:00

Now thats a clock I'd love to have.

MONOCHRON - open source retro clock from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Too bad they sell it in Kit form and you need to solder bits together, more from their site here.

I Want The Love Marriage

2010-02-27T09:58:00.002+03:00

The next greatest hit, I hope.

How to write an incendiary blog post

2010-02-20T20:13:00.000+03:00

Perfect formula to writing an explosive blog post from the Boston Globe. Article is here.

Now sharpen your pencils, or rather flex your typing fingers and start shocking people.

Buzz - What is it good for?

2010-02-18T21:44:00.001+03:00

Sung to the tune of War:

Buzz, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
Buzz, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

Buzz, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Ohhh, Buzz, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives

Buzz means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their email contacts are exposed
And lose their lives

I said, Buzz, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

Buzz, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Buzz, it ain't nothing
But a heartbreaker
Buzz, friend only to the stalker
Ooooh, Buzz
It's an enemy to all mankind
The point of Buzz blows my mind
Buzz has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, Buzz-huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it

Buzz, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

If you dont know the song, here it is covered by Bruce Springsteen

French Spiderman Climbs Burj Khalifa

2010-02-03T20:08:00.000+03:00

So Alain Robert aka The French Spider Man decided one day to climb Burj Khalifa, and he did.

iPad Addons I want to see

2010-01-30T10:30:00.001+03:00

The iPad is out. I wont repeat all its lovely features, you can always check them out at the Apple web site. I personally like it, a lot of grumbling is going on about how closed it is. Gadget geeks compare it to a laptop which it isn't and complain about its closedness and no multitasking. These critics are missing the point, the iPad is an appliance, that does all the functions it offers in an intuitive seamless simple way. When you buy a TV, you don't expect to hack it. The same applies to a washing machine, you don't want to tweak its spin cycle. The iPad will apeal to the greater non technical masses and I feel it will be a big success especially at the very reasonable price point of around $500.

There are some add ons that I would love to see on the iPad, among them are powerful but tiny speakers, the sort Bose excels at. The speakers in Apple laptops are ok, but I need a powerful bass and high decibels of sound for my music.

It would be great if my iPad can act as my master remote, I got my TV remote, receiver remote, DVD system remote, satellite receiver remote all lying next to me. I want to get rid of these and just have my iPad be my remote with a simple interface and some TV programs pulled of the web to not only select the channel I want to view but which programs I want to see.

A high powered projector would be awesome too, I can display the movies I play on the wall with the high powered speakers blasting away in 5.1 emulated surround sound.

I want a printer on the iPad. I even figured out a way of putting one on it. You place your specially treated sheet of paper on the screen, and then the screen blasts the paper with laser or ultraviolet and it imprints on the paper. Voila, instant software printer. (If anyone takes this idea and makes it a product, I want my cut)

I want a scanner on my iPad. Again the concept is simple, just place your paper on the screen and the paper is scanned in your iPad. Now how to do it is slightly tricky, but I am sure the geniuses at Apple can figure it out.

Put in a Camera for all the Internet geeks complaining and crying for one. I personally can't see myself or other taking the iPad and pointing it at something or someone to take a picture, it would look very silly, but the masses have spoken so give them a camera.

One thing I do want is the iPad to be waterproof, so I can read it while floating in my swimming pool, or in my bathtub. I also need the iPad to be buoyant, so in case I let go of it, I don't want it to sink to the bottom of the pool and have me diving for it.

Problems With Google Reader

2010-01-22T23:09:00.000+03:00

I am having problems with Google Reader, some of the feeds that I subscribe to dont appear and I get the message "You don't have permission to view this feed."

I looked around and found a solution. instead of using http://reader.google.com, use https://reader.google.com

You are welcome :)

Age is Just a Number

2010-01-20T22:42:00.000+03:00

A lovely video, just watch

People In Order: 1. Age from James Price on Vimeo.

New Kuwaiti Traffic Fines and item 7

2010-01-17T13:48:00.000+03:00

Here are the new Kuwait traffic fines.

I am sure you have all seen them before since, just like me, I got them in an email forward. Did any of you notice item 7 ? Very strange. I took a pic of it here, just in case they fix it:

Questions that need answers

2010-01-09T11:36:00.000+03:00

Here are some questions that need answers:

Why do people jump up as soon as the plane lands and is still moving towards the airport, standing up and grabbing their bags and squeezing together like sheep? It takes almost 10-15 minutes before the doors are even open after landing.
When there is an awkward silence, someone must check his / her cell phone although it did not beep or ring or shake or flash.
You rush into a room in your place, then you stand in the middle of the room not knowing why you where in such a hurry to go there.
When you trip and fall flat on your face, the first thing you do is quickly look around to see if anyone saw you fall on your face, instead of checking any damage to yourself.
Why do we drink vile disgusting tasting stuff like Grapefruit juice or Green tea religiously just because someone somewhere said it was good for us?
This raises another question, why do things good for us taste vile and disgusting, why isn't milk shake and an extra everything quarter pounder burger not good for us?
Ever sleep in the afternoon and wake up when it is dark and you don't know what day it is ?
Why do we walk around the house when we are talking on our mobile, although we where sitting down just before the mobile rang ?
Why is it when we are greeted by someone and we don't recognize them, we pretend to know them and become Sherlock Holmes trying to pick up clues in what they are saying to remember who they are ?
Why do people ask about your family and how they are when they don't even know them or even care ?
Why does a phone ringing take first priority over a room full of people you are talking to right in front of you?

Here are the Doors, telling us "People are Strange"

Happy New 2010

2009-12-31T21:48:00.000+03:00

Terrorism Gone Wrong

2009-12-28T16:58:00.006+03:00

The world is abuzz about the attempted bombing of a Detroit bound flight by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national. It seems that Umar had explosive sewn in his tidy whities that he got from Yemen. (Note to self: Don't buy undies made in Yemen). He tried to light them up in the plane but did not manage to have them detonate, just a small fire and lots of smoke. Passengers also jumped on him and managed to subdue him before he could do any damage. He is suffering from burns and has now changed his name to Nadia because he is no longer a man.

It seems that he was on the US, UK, and other watchlists. His own father called the US embassy and told them his son was acting weird and could be a potential terrorist.

Now, there are new regulations put in place that will not allow you to carry any electronics on your flight. In the last hour before the plane lands, no one is allowed to go to the loo, and more patdown for passengers and dogs sniffing at you before you get to board the plane.

These steps are useless. The real problem was that the security authorities where sleeping on the job. They should have checked their database and caught him on the ground before he could do any damage by boarding a plane. Maybe if they transferred their database to Facebook, then they would have found out that Umar was friends with BinLaden.

My advice is to put new regulations for the security people instead of harassing us peaceful passengers, and if anyone of the security people fails at their job then they would get a pair of made in Yemen undies that might or might not explode on them.

Google Logo Designer with Issues

2009-12-27T09:24:00.001+03:00

~~Stolen~~ Borrowed from here

How to Cheat on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

2009-12-25T22:13:00.007+03:00

I am not encouraging cheating but these guys found a way of cheating on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If you dont want to watch all 8 videos, the answer of how they cheated is written at the end of this post.

Check out Part 1:

and Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7:

Part 8:

The way they did it was by the contestant reading out the answers listed as if he was thinking out loud. His partners in crime would cough when the right answer was said.

Today this might not work because with Swine Flu and Sheep flu and bird flu floating around and more flues appearing, everyone in the audience would be coughing.

Hee is a synopsis from the BBC about the cheating and the eventual trial.

Nefertiti Denied

2009-12-23T13:56:00.001+03:00

The BBC states that "German officials have ruled out returning an ancient bust of Queen Nefertiti to Egypt - saying it is too fragile to be transported". The bust was stolen and smuggled out of Egypt and Germany states that it acquired it legally.

Let us turn the tables around here, let us say a few hundred Mercedes cars where stolen from the German streets and smuggled out of Germany to Egypt and sold at a nice discount in Cairo. I don't think the Germans would mind. They are keeping Nefertiti and saying it is legal, so this would be cool with them.

About this excuse of the bust being too fragile and not being able to move it, the Germans allegedly built the safest cars in the world being able to withstand collisions of 100 km per hour or more. I'm sure your engineers can put the Nefertiti statue inside one of those cars and ship it over to Egypt with an apology for not returning it sooner.

Happy Holidays from Google

2009-12-22T23:38:00.000+03:00

Google wished me Happy Holidays by email,

In the e-card was a link, I clicked on it and was pleasantly surprised, check it out here.

Sea of Love

2009-12-21T02:04:00.000+03:00

I live alone within myself,
like a hut within the woods;
I keep my heart high upon the shelf,
barren of other goods;
I need another's arms to reach for it,
and place it where it belongs.
I need another's touch and smile,
to fill my hut with songs.

Missile Command

2009-12-18T10:29:00.000+03:00

This is the best video game ever.

I spent so much money on this, I could have financed my own missile base.

Iran's Missile Range

2009-12-16T16:29:00.001+03:00

Iran test launched missile recently. The range of the missile is shown below:

We are all within range, I'm moving to Cairo. Oh wait! Cairo is within range, I'm moving to Algeria.

More here from the BBC

The Simpsons - The People Behind the Voices

2009-12-14T23:23:00.002+03:00

The Actor's Studio interviews the Simpsons featuring the people behind the voices. Awesomeness.

Dubai Government Statement on Restructuring Aid

2009-12-14T17:49:00.000+03:00

We interrupt our regular blogging to bring you this announcement regarding Dubai:

STATEMENT FROM HH SHEIKH AHMAD BIN SAEED AL MAKTOUM,

Chairman Of The Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee

Dubai - 14 December 2009: The Government of Dubai, acting through the Supreme Fiscal Committee ("SFC"), today announces a set of actions in relation to Dubai World:

HH Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee said:

"Like other global financial centers, Dubai has faced recent market challenges driven by the global economic slowdown and a severe real estate market correction.

"Recently, Dubai World announced that it might not be able to commercially support its obligations. Since that time, the Government of Dubai has worked closely with the Abu Dhabi Government and the UAE Central Bank in addressing and assessing the impact of Dubai World on the UAE economy, banking system and investor confidence.

"The following provides a comprehensive set of actions:

"First, the Government of Abu Dhabi and the UAE Central Bank have agreed to provide important support.

"Specifically, the Government of Abu Dhabi has agreed to fund $10 billion to the Dubai Financial Support Fund that will be used to satisfy a series of upcoming obligations on Dubai World.

"As a first action for the new fund, the Government of Dubai has authorized $4.1 billion to be used to pay the sukuk obligations that are due today.

"The remaining funds would also provide for interest expenses and company working capital through April 30, 2010 - conditioned on the company being successful in negotiating a standstill as previously announced.

"In addition, the Government of Dubai is particularly focused on addressing the concerns of Dubai World trade creditors within the Emirate of Dubai. To help address these concerns, today the Government of Dubai is announcing that the remainder of the funds provided will be used for the satisfaction of obligations to existing trade creditors and contractors. Discussions with affected contractors will begin in short order.

"Next, the Central Bank is also prepared to provide support to local UAE banks.

"Finally, today the Government of Dubai will announce a comprehensive reorganization law, a framework that is based upon internationally accepted standards for transparency and creditor protection. This law will be available should Dubai World and its subsidiaries be unable to achieve an acceptable restructuring of its remaining obligations.

"Today's actions, taken together, demonstrate our strong commitment as a global financial leader to transparency, good governance, and market principles. There will certainly be challenges periodically, just as there are challenges in other major financial centers around the globe. We believe today's actions will best serve the interests of all stakeholders.

"We are here today to reassure investors, financial and trade creditors, employees, and our citizens that our government will act at all times in accordance with market principles and internationally accepted business practices. Dubai is, and will continue to be, a strong and vibrant global financial center. Our best days are yet to come.

"The Government of Dubai remains committed to its high standards and its obligations. We are confident in our economic model, and we are confident in the long-term health and outlook for our economy.

"The actions taken today are consistent with our market development, and we believe they are the actions that will best serve the interests of all stakeholders."

Reasons to hate Rain

2009-12-13T18:21:00.000+03:00

There are so many reasons to hate rain, let me list ten of them:

People are not vegetables, like carrots or potatoes, and don't need water falling from the sky to make them grow. Water in bottles labeled Evian or Perrier is a better alternative.
I don't enjoy driving my car in 1 meter of water because the road is flooded.
I don't appreciate traffic caused by cars slowing down for puddles of water.
People drive worse than they usually do when it rains.
The sky gets grey and depressing when it is raining.
You can ruin an expensive suit if it rains when you are outside.
Perfectly good shoes get crap stuck on them because of the rain.
You can get pneumonia or other nasty winter disease if you get caught in the rain outside.
Houses start leaking when it rains.
Cars get dirty when it rains.

I hope you share my hate for rain, and wishing everyone a bright sunny day.

President Hariri - LOL

2009-12-11T17:10:00.000+03:00

No Comment other than LOOOOOOOOOL

Smart School Kid

2009-12-10T22:00:00.000+03:00

A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students The teacher asked, 'Harry, what's your problem?'

Harry answered, 'I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the 3rd grade too!'

Ms. Brooks had had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.

While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told Ms. Brooks he would give the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.

Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test.

Principal: 'What is 3 x 3?'

Harry: '9.'

Principal: 'What is 6 x 6?'

Harry: '36.'

And so it went with every question the principal thought a 3rd grader should know.

The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, 'I think Harry can go to the 3rd grade.'

Ms. Brooks says to the principal, 'Let me ask him some questions.'

The principal and Harry both agreed.

Ms. Brooks asks, 'What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?'

Harry, after a moment: 'Legs.'

Ms Brooks: 'What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?'

The principal wondered why would she ask such a question!

Harry replied: 'Pockets.'

Ms. Brooks: 'What does a dog do that a man steps into?'

Harry: 'Pants.'

Ms. Brooks: What starts with a C, ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin, whitish liquid?'

Harry: 'Coconut.'

The principal sat forward with his mouth hanging open.

Ms. Brooks: 'What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky?'

The principal's eyes opened really wide and before he could stop the answer, Harry replied, 'Bubble gum.'

Ms. Brooks: 'What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog
does on three legs?'

Harry: 'Shake hands.'

The principal was trembling.

Ms. Brooks: 'What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' that means a lot of heat and excitement?'

Harry: 'Firetruck.'

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and told the teacher, 'Put Harry in the fifth-grade, I got the last seven questions wrong.....'

More fun stuff can be found here.

Some Very Clever and Funny Ads

2009-12-10T16:56:00.001+03:00

Queen Elizabeth II from Nixon to Clinton

2009-12-03T21:54:00.000+03:00

Queen Elizabeth II with President Nixon

Queen Elizabeth II with President Clinton

And last but not least, the same handbag. Now that is being economically minded.

Evolution of Storage

2009-11-30T13:05:00.000+03:00

This graphics shows the evolution of storage, very impressive, for the bigger picture showing storage for data, music and photos, go here.

Cruel Prank

2009-11-29T11:40:00.000+03:00

There is funny, and there is plain cruel. This Japanese guy thinks he is being attacked by snipers and is panic-stricken, but still funny.