Khaled rambles

جوعان و كسلان؟ إطلب بيتزا بـ “كبسة” زر – Hungry and Lazy? Press button to order Pizza

Khaled A. — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:57:39 +0000

من مطعم Red Tomato Pizza في دبي. جهاز بلوتوث صغير بضغطة زر يقوم بطلب بيتزا من الشركة و توصيلها إليك. الجهاز يستخدم البلوتوث عبر جوالك و طبعاً لا بد أن تحدد “طلبك المفضل” مسبقاً. الفيديو التالي يوضحها:

From Red Tomato Pizza in Dubai: “VIP” (Very Important Pizza). A bluetooth fridge magnet. Just press a button and a pizza delivery order will be made. Assuming you predefine your favorite order. Lazy? Brilliant? who knows and who cares. Here’s a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU0KYo8_9Zs

Gitex Dubai 2006 News

© Khaled A. for Khaled rambles, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cool, dubai, food, interesting, pizza, uae, video, youtube

Windows Phone Beats Android, Announces Official App Market for Saudi Arabia, UAE

Khaled A. — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:44:23 +0000

أعلنت مايكروسوفت رسمياً أنه سيتم إفتتاح متجر لتطبيقات ويندوز فون رسمي في المملكة العربية السعودية و عدد من الدول الشهر القادم! وينكم يا قوقل أعطونا وجه!

In a post on the Windows Phone Dev Blog, Joe Belfiore announced that in March Microsoft will launch an official app marketplace for customers in 23 countries, including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

The full 23 country list includes:

Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Saudi Arabia and UAE were ignored by Google’s Android Marketplace for a very long time, forcing users to root to enable purchasing of apps.

While Arabic isn’t officially supported on Windows Phone 7 it can read Arabic just fine unlike Android 2.3 devices. Don’t ask about ICS as it exists on only 2 phones.

Microsoft will launch the market in March 2012 and I should note that Apple launched the Saudi Arabia iTunes App Store in July 2008.

Thanks @mhmd!

[image credit: Nokia Lumia 610 at MWC 2012]

© Khaled A. for Khaled rambles, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: android, arabic, google, Microsoft, Saudi Arabia, windows phone 7

Google Celebrates Ibn Battuta قوقل و ابن بطوطة

Khaled A. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:51:07 +0000

قوقل غيرت صورتها اليوم لعرض عدد من الصور بمناسبة يوم ميلاد الرحالة ابن بطوطة.

Google’s Middle East home-pages are celebrating the birthday of Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta with a set of images:

What to do with Old Coffee Grounds

Khaled A. — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Don’t mind me, I’m just testing blogsy + sharing something I hope you find useful.

21 Ways To Use Old Coffee Grounds

by DIY Life Staff, Posted Dec 28th 2007 12:53PM

Photo: Flickr.com

Finding new uses for the old is a creative and fun way to live a little greener.

Have you ever wondered what other ways coffee grounds could be used after making that much needed morning pot of coffee. For all you java junkies, here are some tips for using coffee grounds.

Used coffee grounds get rid of cellulite. Here is the recipe we found at DIY Maven. “Mix 1/4 cup warm, used coffee grounds and one tablespoon of olive oil. While standing over an old towel or newspaper, apply the mixture to your problem areas. Next, wrap the areas with shrink wrap and leave on for several minutes. Unwind the wrap, brush loose grounds off your skin and then shower with warm water. For best results, it is recommended to repeat this procedure twice a week.”

Now, on to other tips for using old coffee grounds.

1. Soften and add shine to hair. When washing your hair, rub coffee grounds through wet hair and rinse. For brown hair, coffee grounds add highlights.
2. Use coffee grounds as an exfoliant for skin. Pat on skin, massage over skin, rinse.
3. Add coffee grounds to your skin mask beauty routine.
4. Make homemade tattoos (temporary) with henna and coffee grounds.
5. Fertilize plants. Old coffee grounds are nutrient-rich for plants that thrive in an acidic soil.
6. Add used coffee grounds to the pots of indoor plants.
7. Work used coffee grounds into your garden soil before seed planting. After your plants start to emerge, work in coffee grounds near the plants. Used coffee grounds are said to repel snails and slugs as well as adding nutrients to the soil.
8. Increase your carrot and radish harvest by mixing seeds with dry coffee grounds before planting the seeds.
9. Use coffee grounds to repel ants.
10. Keep cats from using your garden as a kitty box by spreading used coffee grounds and orange peels throughout flower beds.
11. Deodorize a freezer. Place a bowl with used coffee grounds in the freezer to remove unwanted odors. Add a few drops of vanilla to coffee grounds.
12. Rub coffee grounds on hands to get rid of smells from chopping or cutting up pungent foods.
13. Make a used coffee grounds sachet. Fill old nylons or cheescloth with dry used coffee grounds. Hang in closets to absorb odors.
14. When you need an abrasive cleaner, coffee grounds can be used. Be careful of any surfaces that might stain.
15. Remove furniture scratches with wet coffee grounds.
16. Got a fireplace? Sprinkle wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep from becoming engulfed in the plume of dust ashes create when you need to remove them.
17. Dye fabric, paper or Easter eggs. Simply add used coffee grounds to warm water and let sit a bit to create a dye.
18. After you give your dog a bath, rub coffee grounds through the coat of your pet. Coffee grounds are said to repel fleas.
19. Keep bait worms alive by mixing coffee grounds into the soil before you add worms.
20. Grow mushrooms on old coffee grounds.

Tags: coffee, coffee grounds, green living

مراجعة لجهاز سامسونج جالاكسي نوت

Khaled A. — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:04:32 +0000

هذه مراجعة رائع للجهاز الكبير Samsung Galaxy Note الجديد.

مميزات الجهاز عديدة و منها:

بديل للتلفاز:

فوائد رياضية:

مصدر للنور:

لمحبي الكتب:

[المصدر: Samsung’s super-sized Galaxy Note changed my life.]

دعاية مجانية للـ آيفون في السوبربول Free iPhone Ad in Super Bowl

Khaled A. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:59:51 +0000

أبل لم تكن بحاجة أن تدفع 3.5 مليون دولار للإعلان أثناء Super Bowl مثل سامسونج. فيكفيها الدعاية المجانية من لاعبي فريق NY Giants بسبب إستخدامهم للآيفون ككاميرا لتصوير الكأس.

Apple got their own free Super Bowl advert.

هذا فيديو:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zlH17GTdlg

و هذه بعض الصور:

[Via RavePubs.]

إعلان سامسونج جالاكسي نوت

Khaled A. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:23:32 +0000

إعلان جهاز Samsung Galaxy Note بعد التعديل عليه.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01kxeHC0eJg

[Via The Loop.]

list of #MobilySpam companies قائمة الشركات الرسائل المزعجة عبر شبكة موبايلي

Khaled A. — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:03:35 +0000

هذه قائمة متجددة بصور لرسائل الشركات التي ترسل رسائل مزعجة عبر الجوال SMS و تستخدم شبكة موبايلي. في العادة يتم نشرها في تويتر مع التاق #MobilySpam.

This will be an updated list of SMS spammers using Mobily’s network. Usually they are tagged on Twitter with #MobilySpam.

جامعة الملك سعود

اشعار: شركة العلم

مجهول

شارك رسائلك (مع صورة) في الردود!

Share your SMS with a screenshot in the comments!

© Khaled A. for Khaled rambles, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: mobily, MobilySpam, Saudi Arabia

Limited Offer: #Mobily offering “unlimited” Connect for 175 SR

Khaled A. — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:12:38 +0000

I will never understand why Mobily is charging regular phone users 350SR for “unlimited” Internet access while “Connect” owners (Data only SIM card) get to pay half that? Unlimited is subject to “fair use” policy, you will only get 1GB daily at full speed then you get throttled. Just like that.

The 175SR/month is a *limited time* offer available from Jan 28th to Feb 27th. I should also clarify that the price will go back to 350SR most likely. However I’ll still pay 200SR for 5GB while Connect owners will pay 100SR only.

Here is Mobily’s Arabic press release:

خفضت شركة اتحاد اتصالات (موبايلي) من قيمة الاشتراك الشهري لباقات (الكنكت) المسبقة الدفع والمفوترة للمشتركين الجدد إلى النصف، وذلك في عرض خاص طرحته الشركة ابتداء من يوم السبت الماضي 28 يناير 2012م ويستمر حتى 27 فبراير من هذا الشهر.

وقالت “موبايلي” أن قيمة الاشتراك الشهري في باقة 5 جيجابايت قد انخفضت إلى 50 ريال فيما انخفضت قيمة الاشتراك الشهري في باقة الاستخدام اللامحدود إلى 175 ريال، فيما شمل العرض باقات (كنكت) لاب توب والتي توفر العديد من الخيارات للمشتركين للاتصال بشبكة الإنترنت ابتداء من سرعة 7.2 ميجابت بالثانية و 21.6 ميجابت بالثانية بالإضافة إلى سرعة 42 ميجابت بالثانية والتي تعمل على شبكة HSPA+ ذروة الجيل الثالث المطور.

وأشارت “موبايلي” إلى أنها أتاحت هذا العرض المميز في جميع فروعها المنتشرة في جميع مناطق المملكة، مما سهل على الراغبين في الاستفادة منه الحصول عليه، ومتابعة أعمالهم من خلال أحدث شبكة اتصالات في المنطقة.

وتعمد “موبايلي” بين وقت وآخر على إثراء حياة مشتركيها بالعروض المميزة على جميع الخدمات التي تقدمها، ومن ضمنها باقات (الكنكت)، مما أبقاهم على اتصال دائم بالانترنت من خلال أفضل الأسعار.

وتعد “موبايلي” اليوم رائدة النطاق العريض بشقيه الثابت والمتحرك في المنطقة، وعززت من ريادتها امتلاكها لأكبر بنية تحتية تحتوي على أحدث ما توصلت إليه التقنية في العالم، مما ضمن لها تقديم خدماتها بجودة واعتمادية عاليه، كما وضعت “موبايلي” اسمها على قائمة الشركات التي تمتلك أكبر شبكة للجيل الثالث المطور في المنطقة بتغطيتها 94% من مناطق المأهولة بالسكان، وقد حظيت بنية “موبايلي” التحتية المتطورة باهتمام الشركات العالمية التي رأت فيها نموذج يضيف لها قراءة واقعية لمستقبل قطاع الاتصالات.

I managed to find one spot in Riyadh where HSPA+ speed reached 9mbps. Anyone managed to find a location with speeds up to 42mbps?

10 Steps for Better Blogging

Khaled A. — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:28 +0000

I’m posting them here, partially so I have a place to quickly find them if I need to, partially to force me to hold to them, partially out of commitment to transparency, and partially in case they’re of interest or use to anyone else.

10 steps to better blogging.

Good steps that all bloggers should implement.

Useful Google Extensions

Khaled A. — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:59:11 +0000

From HyperText:

I’ve long been a huge fan of Chrome/Chromium and have been asked more than a few times for a list of the extensions I use, and so I thought I’d whip up a quick post to list and discuss them (where necessary). (The italicized text after the name of each extension is the copy provided by the respective developer.) Note that this list does not include the bookmarklets I use; I’ll discuss those in a separate post.
Though it probably is obvious, there likely is some overlap between certain of the “privacy” extensions, and I’m OK with that. Relatedly, I also whitelist cookies on Chrome (an awesome browser feature). Basically, this means that I have to give a site explicit permission before it can set cookies. It’s great, though not without its annoyances; for example, sometimes some snooping is required to get certain websites working. (It’d be nice if Chrome let us enable cookies for a particular site, and then automatically deleted those cookies as soon as the tab in which they were created was closed. If you’re aware of an extension that will do this, please let me know.)
Send to Kindle Push web articles to your Kindle. I use this extension a lot; if, for whatever reason, it fails, I fall back on Instapaper’s “Send to Kindle” bookmarklet (which, I’m guessing, most people don’t even know about).
Instachrome Save your URLs to Instapaper. I use this instead of the bookmarklet(s) because it automatically closes the tab after the link has been saved, something I’ve written about (and “fixed”) before. I hope that future versions allow us to target specific folders.
Posthoc Adds pages to the Read it Later online service. This is a must-have for me because I use both Instapaper and Read It Later, and like Instachrome, this too closes the tab after the link is saved.
Tabs Counter A visual candy — always know the number of opened tabs. This is the kind of stat I love knowing at all times. I kind of wish it would display the tab count for the current window and the combined tab count for all of the open windows; currently, it shows the tab count of just the current window.
AdBlock The most popular Chrome extension, with over 2 million users! Blocks ads all over the web.
Chrome Cookies Button Provides quick icon access to manage your Chrome cookies.
Chromeblock Stop secret tracking of your web browsing. (UPDATE: This extension is no longer available for download; I’m not sure why.)
1Password Beta Password and identity manager for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.
Disconnect Stop third parties and search engines from tracking the webpages you go to and searches you do.
Ghostery Protect your privacy. See who’s tracking your web browsing with Ghostery.
YSlow Make your pages faster with Yahoo!’s page performance tool.
Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on Tells the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) not to send information to Google Analytics.
Page One — Banish Multipage Articles Always display the single-page version of articles at popular news sites.
SelectOut Tracking Opt-Out Be in control of who tracks you online.
Sheepish Protect your privacy. See who’s tracking you. Are you sheepish? (UPDATE: This extension is no longer available for download.)
You should follow me on Twitter here

Track your shipments using Twitter

Build your own Time Capsule with Debian, Netatalk

Khaled A. — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:28:31 +0000

Maybe I can make a small home backup server with these steps.

Build your own Time Capsule with Debian, Netatalk:

(...)
Read the rest of Build your own Time Capsule with Debian, Netatalk (234 words)

Attribution on the web

Khaled A. — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:11:51 +0000

File this under: Good to know.

Attribution on the web:

My Internet Friend Stephen Hackett recently wrote about attribution on the web. Specifically, citing a story’s source and “via” link, or method by which you became aware of the story. He and I pretty much have the same policy.

First, an explanation. The source in this case is just that: a story’s origin. For example, in this post I published earlier today about 3 billion iPad app downloads, the source is ABI’s report.

The reference, or “via,” identifies the outlet that first made me aware of the story. In this case, it was The Loop. As a result, The Loop gets a “via” link at the foot of the post. ¹

Of course, it isn’t always that cut and dry. Let’s say that Jim had a “Via SiteX” on his post. I’d visit that link and look around. If there’s no additional link, I’ll consider SiteX the referential site and give it the via on my site, too.

Sometimes I’ll find a story on my own. For example, this article comparing Steve Jobs and Charles Eames. I found Om Malik’s article on my own this morning, so there’s no via link.

Other times a story will be so big that everyone and their brother is posting about it. In that case, I avoid a via link all together because, like I said, everyone has it. For example, this post about the pending international launch of the iPhone 4S. Apple issued a press release, everyone re-blogged it, so there’s no via necessary.

Like Stephen, if I find something on a big site like Engadget, CNN, etc. that everyone else will obviously see, there’s no via necessary.

Finally, regarding sources. They always get a link in the opening paragraph, and hopefully in the first sentence.

That’s my policy on using the via link. What’s yours?

I always put via links at the foot of a post in brackets. ↩

(Via 52 Tiger)

No related posts.

#noshaya: Demanding a better return policy

Khaled A. — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:46:26 +0000

If you bought something you didn’t like you get to return it to most stores for a replacement or refund. In Saudi Arabia we have the “البضاعة المباعة لا ترد و لا تستبدل” policy, sold items cannot be returned nor replaced. It’s thanks to the lack of any real consumer protection.

“Alshaya” is a well-know retailer in the region with many franchises such as Starbucks. Alshaya’s previous return policy allowed for return or replace (limited though). They have changed it to be strictly “no refund” and if you want to return an item you will be given “store credit”. People are upset and I simply can’t blame them. Why? Let’s compare with how “major” brands deal with “product returns” around the world:

Walmart:

Most store items can be exchanged or refunded with a receipt within 90 days of purchase

Amazon has an extensive policy page

Home Depot, not related to Office Depot:

If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, please follow the guidelines detailed below and we will be happy to help you to return your purchase.

Staples:

If you’re not 100% satisfied with your Staples purchase, return it for any reason.

I love this bit:

No matter when you made your purchase, you can return office supplies to us for a full refund, including Staples® brand office products.

Kmart

Just search google for “return policy” for many examples.

There is a movement on twitter to boycott alshaya, simply search for this hash tag: #noshaya.

Alshaya “brands” are:

debenhams mothercare next Bhs H&M Topshop Topman River Island Oasis Coast Oltre Motivi Claire’s Limited Too Evans Dorothy Perkins

Update: Sorry about the repeating text. I blame STC.

Stupid MS Office ad in Arabic

New TV Shows (September 2011)

Khaled A. — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:54:24 +0000

Here are the new pilots airing this month, with trailers and a quick note:

Ringer S01E01 – Wed, 14 Sep 2011
Free Agents (US) S01E01 – Thu, 15 Sep 2011
The Secret Circle S01E01 – Fri, 16 Sep 2011 another witch show, seriously?
New Girl S01E01 – Wed, 21 Sep 2011 will be Foxed
Unforgettable S01E01 – Wed, 21 Sep 2011
Revenge S01E01 – Thu, 22 Sep 2011
Charlie’s Angels S01E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011. More remakes?
Person of Interest S01E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011 JJ Abrams, Michael Emerson! Must watch.
Prime Suspect (US) S01E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011
A Gifted Man S01E01 – Sat, 24 Sep 2011
Pan Am S01E01 – Mon, 26 Sep 2011
Terra Nova S01E01 – Tue, 27 Sep 2011 lost world? will probably be foxed.
Hart Of Dixie S01E01 – Tue, 27 Sep 2011 meh
Suburgatory S01E01 – Thu, 29 Sep 2011 meh
How To Be A Gentleman S0E01 – Fri, 30 Sep 2011 another one season CBS comedy
Grimm S01E01 – Sat, 22 Oct 2011 interesting idea

Any new show you’re interested in?

And now returning shows that I watch and by watch I mean care about queuing them up as I am still behind on some of them.

Archer S03E01 – Fri, 16 Sep 2011
The Clone Wars S04E01 – Sat, 17 Sep 2011
How I Met Your Mother S07E01 – Tue, 20 Sep 2011
Two and a Half Men S09E01 – Tue, 20 Sep 2011
Castle S04E01 – Tue, 20 Sep 2011
Hawaii Five-0 S02E01 – Tue, 20 Sep 2011
Body of Proof S02E01 – Wed, 21 Sep 2011
Modern Family S03E01 – Thu, 22 Sep 2011
The Big Bang Theory S05E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011
Community S03E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011
Greys Anatomy S08E01 – Fri, 23 Sep 2011 (sue me)
Fringe S04E01 – Sat, 24 Sep 2011
Rules of Engagement S06E01 – Sun, 25 Sep 2011
The Simpsons S23E01 – Mon, 26 Sep 2011
Family Guy S10E01 – Mon, 26 Sep 2011
The Cleveland S03E01 – Mon, 26 Sep 2011
Mike & Molly S02E01 – Tue, 27 Sep 2011