Mario's World

Google Maps now has Traffic enabled for Kuwait. This is going to become the most handy tool for drivers in Kuwait. With the  highest road accident rates in the world, most traffic jams seem to be accident related.

I’ll be checking on this tool almost every time I head out. I’ve discontinued my mobile internet subscription but those who have it could benefit even  more with real-time data and directions.

And in case you are wondering where Google gets all this info from, here is a statement from them:

“We anonymously combine speed and location information of GPS-enabled devices currently traveling on the road. This, combined with historic traffic data, helps us determine the traffic time estimate. IF you’d like to help make our estimates better through crowdsourcing and have a GPS-enabled phone, try using Google Maps for mobile the next time you’re in traffic.”

So all you people out there with internet and GPS enabled phones, please leave them on while driving. I could benefit the most.

BTW, Kuwait & Jeddah are the only places in the GCC with Traffic data.

The Bureaucrat is a brilliant political satire by Rahul da Cunha. Ro and I got a chance to see the play a few days ago. It was organized by Al Mulla and took place at the American International School. This is the second play I got to see after “Class of 84″ a few months ago.

You can read a full review of the play at the Mumbai Theatre Guide.

The play was great. My favorite role was the Home Minister’s secretary, who was really hilarious. Her accent and dumb/innocent actions and replies kept me laughing. Besides her, DJ Dishoom and his “Kapde Utaro” (take off your clothes) campaign for the French PM, the Home Minister and his corrupt dealings and of course Dr. Gupta played as himself in the present day and himself when he was younger.

I highly recommend this play and hope we’ll get some more showing in Kuwait soon!

Spotted this at the Indian Embassy in Kuwait.

Someone changed the tap to a manual one but forgot to take down the sign.

I wonder what the longest wait would have been for the poor saps waiting for the water to come on its own!

I was at the signal near City Center Shuwaikh when I saw this.

Besides the center span, the rest of the fly over is missing. I’ve been here a few times recently but never noticed this. Did it happen over night? It was kind of a shocker to see almost the entire bridge missing!

I think almost everyone eventually starts to complain about how slow their computers are, especially how long it takes to boot up and then get ready for use.  Manually fiddling with the windows registry and other start up options got to be a habit till I decided to give Soluto a try.

Soluto is actually designed to enable the techie family members to help out the non-techie ones over the web. The free account supports up to 5 machines. Now this could also be used by the big corporate type companies but normally they don’t allow users to fiddle with system software in the first place. Even so it could be a great tool.

After you install the Soluto software, you can access the machine dashboard through their web-based interface. It’s a great little tool. I gives you options to install recommended apps, view your system performance and tune various common settings like your browser, homepage, etc.

My favorite option is the background apps tool. It shows you which apps are delaying your boot time and give you more info on them. You can even choose to not start them at boot time or just delay them till after you are able to start working on the machine. I rarely reboot my machine, but when I do, it’s good to know it won’t take forever to start up.

Soluto also monitors your system during use. I guess this part is still a work in progress. On my laptop I got a battery crashed message but it seems there was “No Solution Yet”. I guess a simple “Get a New One” would have looked good.

I think this tool is real easy even for non-techie people. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Came across this clip on ABC Australia. It does have some graphic content.

Seems Australia has banned export of their sheep to Kuwait due to cruel slaughtering practices at the Al Rai meat market. However the ban hasn’t stopped the exporters and importers from bringing them in by the ship loads and continuing the torture.:)

Just something to think about the next time we order mutton.

Nitin Mirani is coming back to Kuwait on 28th September as a part of “The Punch Line”. Last time he was here with the Ambassadors of Comedy and it was a great show. This time he will host the show as well. I was just told by the organizers that Ashfaq won’t make an on-stage appearance like last time but he’ll be around and it will be a fantastic show.

Three other performers, Manheep Singh, Imran Aradi & Lamya Tawfik, should help to bring the tent down.  Yes, tent, cause it will be hosted at the Pearl Tent at Safir. Get in touch with Murtaza or Minhaj below for a sweet deal on your tickets; tell em Mario sent you; and better grab them ASAP cause last time they sold pretty fast.

Mutaza: 66763786
Minhaj: 99710242

Took that photo at Daiso the other evening. Disposable “panties” for men.

Do any men buy those? And this was written across the package…

“We’re just a heart beat away. One touch could make it happen. We can reach the other side if we hold on to the passion.”

I have no idea what to make of it but we couldn’t stop laughing.

The little green creatures caught my attention at the Jawazat round about in Salmiya. Looked like the Martians decided to visit us too.

The new mound of sand looks like a space ship crashed there. Those people dressed in green from head to toe are actually taking care of the landscaping.

There is a very interesting feature in the Travel section at Arabian Business… Best value Ramadan getaways! They have priced trips from Riyad, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha & Kuwait to Beirut, London, Kochi, Bangkok, Manila & New York.

Now except Beirut, all the other places have rainy weather, mostly heavy thunderstorms. I know its really hot here, but why would you escape to a rainy place?

What caught my attention was the trip from Riyad (in Saudi Arabia) to Beirut on the first page. The image advertises barely clad women and booze and that too during Ramadan. Guess the editor was on his getaway.