Proud to be A Boubyan Bank Customer!

DudeGeneral, Kuwait, Review 2 Comments

Boubyan_Bank

Everyone of us has to deal with a Bank for Salaries, savings, loans, and life in general. I tried 2 other banks, NBK and KFH, but I can say that (in my own humble opinion) Boubyan bank now offers a better quality of service than the service I used to get at the previous banks, and I have taken loans, and have had credit cards issued at all the previous banks including Boubyan, the most customer oriented bank is now in my opinion Boubyan Bank, even when it comes to their customer service centers, I tend to forget my password every time I log in, and I give them a call at least once or twice a month!

Ok, lets forget all the basic features that a bank has to offer, and all the elite features you get if you’re a Gold, Tamayouz or Platinum customer, lets talk about the Value added services they provide, now Boubyan bank provide online Western Union transfers, for me it saves me a very boring trip to the money exchange/transfer offices every month, and I tried it today, it couldn’t be any easier! (I’ll discuss the transfer further down), I decided to write this post not only because of the Western Union transfer feature, but also because of the Card less withdrawal! It’s not major but the option is priceless, especially when I’m in Shuwaikh and I forgot my wallet at my house in Mangaf, simply locate the closest ATM (which I later found out was in a very peculiar location in their application!), and drove a short distance out of my route to Sultan Shuwaikh where there was a Boubyan Bank ATM and did the transfer procedure. Overall I only added 20 mins to my journey, including the time I needed to locate the closest ATM!

The goal of service providers is to provide a reliable, up-to-date and consistent service to the customer and to be able to differentiate with different products and services along the way, I would think the way it is operating it will grow to be one of the best banks in Kuwait and I hope I’ll stay proud I’m a Boubyan Bank customer!

Here’s how simple it is to do the transfer, just add a new Beneficiary, call the bank to validate, you’ll receive a sms within 30 minutes and simply enter the amount you need to transfer. The only thing I believe is missing is a printer friendly version of the transfer (or at least a formatted print option) as I’m used to storing the invoices in a file.

BoubyanWU

It’s also achievable directly through any iOs or android device with the Application!

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So what about the Cardless withdrawal, I’d usually call it “wallet gone missing” feature hehe, as I forgot my wallet in my gym bag at home this morning, you simply log on to the app on your phone or computer, click on the menu and select go to Cashless withdrawal as shown in the following image :

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Then simply choose which of your multi-million KD accounts you would like to withdraw from :  (There is a limit of Max 4 times a day and a total of 100 KD – I think ;p)

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Simply click next and you will get another authentication code on your registered mobile phone :

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 Then simply go to the ATM, select Cashless Withdrawal, and you will be prompted to enter the pass-code sent to your phone, then enter the password you chose in the application when setting up the amount you wanted to withdraw, and process, all within less than a minute!

Here are some other tools and features they Had on their app, I didn’t find out the branch locator except when I was writing this post, I feel i should have been labeled somewhere else as well, it didn’t come to my attention it would be under a tab called Apps.

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Overall As I said earlier, I like where they are going, and I hope that there will be more and more features to come!

 

Learning Something New from Lynda.com

DudeComputers & Electronics, Education, General, Review, Technology 1 Comment

Every once in a while I tend to get some free time, or when I have about 30 mins on the treadmill with nothing to do, therefore I decided to reactivate my Lynda.com subscription. Lynda is basically a huge repository of tutorials Made by professionals in their respective fields and you can access all of that for 25 USD, which is about what you would spend on dinner on a night out, I was taught that education and investments in education are priceless.

 

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Here is an example of new courses for photography as you can see they have different tutorial subjects for different levels of experience.

 

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Hers a continuation of the different new Courses that are available :

 

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I would really recommend you look into investing some of your time learning something new,  everything is built On a modular basis, currently I’m learning how to use Adobe illustrator CS 6 from scratch, and should get through the modules in 8.5 hrs. I will try to update you on my learning advancements on illustrator.

 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask 🙂

 

Here’s a quick example of a small tutorial :

 

 

The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado – A truck worth trying!

DudeCars, Entertainment, Review Leave a Comment

Last week I had the chance of testing the 2014 Silverado LT extended cab, which is now a double cab, as they stopped the suicide doors and opted for a 2 door style, which is both more practical and offers greater stiffness for the ride and better noise cancellation due to the rubber foam on the B-pillar  + now the rear passengers have a window they can open up offering you an extra amenity for the passengers sitting in the back. I currenlty drive the FJ cruiser, and I found that having doors to access the rear cabin area is a lot more practical, especially when putting your children in the car and when loading groceries in the rear seating area.

Silverado 1

The Silverado LT I test drove was equipped with the following :

 

  • EZ-Lift and Lower Tailgate
  • Driver Information Center with 4.2″ diagonal display
  • Cloth 40/20/40 front seating with locking under-seat storage
  • Leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio and cruise controls
  • 17″ machined aluminum wheels

 

and was powered by a 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine 2WD, the power the engine provided was more than enough to carry this big truck around and made you feel that you have more power than you’ll need and all you need to do is give it some gas. The ride quality was a little soft but very comfortable and really felt it had a good grip on the road, at 120 and 140 Km/h it felt safe and you felt in control even when braking suddenly from 100 km/h and taking longer corners. Once you get used to the length of the truck you’ll find it quite comfortable to drive, it made me feel I can’t wait to try the new Tahoe! Going around and getting errands done was simple, a little challenging with the length in the parking, but with the rear camera and sensor, I had no trouble at all parking the truck anywhere!

I wanted to use it instead of pulling my cart for Kayaking, but I had so much work to do I couldn’t manage to finish everything on time, and I had to go take a few photos of this cool truck!

The rear tailgate was easy to open and not heavy to close at all!

 

The Interior

 

I was amazed at the quality and design of the interior, it really felt nice, and the modern looking interior was quite impressive. The Mylink system was quite nice as well allowing you to navigate through the console using the touch screen. The AC was actually quite good!! It was also really cold at times, the remote start, means that you’ll always enter your car with the AC on and started, the thing I loved was the option to raise or lower the brake peddles, you can change the height depending on the shoes you are wearing.

The 4.2″ driver information system accesses the Cars systems and can show you all the information you would need to know about your car, one comment I hope GM would work on, if you are driving over-speed and have selected to display the spedometer, an announcement would popup saying you are over-speed and you wouldn’t know how much exactly over-speed and you have to click on dismiss for the message to go away, I would think having the speed showing and an overlay displayed would be a much better option. It reminded me of those annoying error messages you can get on a computer, a message is overlaying another more important piece of information. Maybe if you crossed the max speed limit the speedometer numbers can be displayed in red instead of white. That’s just my point of view.

 

Here, the center arm rest is decended and can be used as a cup holder and storage compartment, it also contains 2 USB inputs and and SD card slot which come in very handy, it also recognizes ipads and iphones upon plugging in.

 

Here the center console was raised giving you an extra front seat, the seat belt is adequately stored under the seat.

 

 

The rear seating area was in a 2/3 – 1/3 and the seats can be raised for storage under the seats.

 

 

 

At night the interior is lit up pretty well by LEDs.

 

The Exterior

 

The front grille was an an impressive upgrade, just when you though it couldn’t get better than the last design, it gives quite a bold statement and is quite pleasing.

Here’s a shot I took of the car at night, its so hot to photograph in the morning.

 

The single cab LT starts at 7777 KWD, you can choose between the 4×4 Z71 models and LTZ models, as well as the top of class High Country which comes fully loaded with all options!

For more information check out Alghanim Auto or Instagram @AlghanimAuto

Mac OSx Yosemite – What’s New ?

DudeAnnouncements, Apple, Computers & Electronics, General Leave a Comment

A Faster modern looking OSX, at last you feel an upgrade in the look and feel in a new OS.

In the key note they discussed some major updates to the basic Mail apps, and the transparency feature on the apps so that you have a contrast between your app and the current theme on your devices (was already there on Windows 8).

The today view in the notification area which allows you to look at all your calendar entries, and what more is that you can assign specific apps widgets to run in the today column for them to be right on hand when you need them.

Updates to safari include a built in favorites in the search bar and frequently visited sites, as well as direct integration and share functionality for images on websites, where you simply choose and share an image directly.

Safari also allows you to subscribe directly to RSS feeds from within the browser as well as sharing links and images.

Spotlight has been upgraded to allow you to search files and based on the application used, is more intuitive and allows you to do some operations such as changing units or calculating different values, also linking spotlight to internet sources such as wikipedia and different internet sources.

Mail has seen some major upgrades including the ability to annotate different image attachments

and sign pdf documents right from within the main app, the transparency effect on the sidebar and half of the app, and overall stability and speed updates so that swapping from one mailbox to another would be fast.

Mail Drop: A feature that will allow you to send attachments of up to 5 GB’s to your recipients. Its similar to uploading and sending a link through drop box, but everything integrated from within the mail app.

Icloud Drive: Now A built in drop box-like app from apple within the OSX.

New updates to the Message app in Yosemite, include SMS and Call support, where you can simultaneously link between your phone and your computer, and use your computer as a speakerphone and connect to all your contacts simultaneously even if your phone was in the other side of the room.

One of the strongest features in Yosemite which is pretty neat, but not entirely new is the “Continuity” feature where you’re able to resume working on documents and emails from your computer to your phone and vice versa. The app you’re working on on the computer will show on your phone and you can click to continue using this on your phone.

Air drop : Air drop was only on iOs, now its on OSx and iOs, where you can share files between your mac and idevices by simple drag and drop operations.

Starting the Hotspot from your phone directly from your apple computer without needing to touch your handset.

These were some of the major points that are on my mind from after watching the keynote. Now we need to wait for a new macbook pro to get with this new iOs 😀

 

Non Stop – A Movie that will keep you on your feet!

DudeEntertainment, MOVIE, Movies 2 Comments

 

Non

 

Yesterday I watched Liam Neeson’s new movie called “Non Stop” an amazing story, even greater acting. Although all the movie takes place on a plane i never felt bored and it kept me trying to guess who the perpetrators were! There isn’t a lot of science fiction and it’s all nearly stuff that can really happen, quite interesting though, I dont’ want to write any more as I don’t want to spoil the movie for you.

Here’s the trailer :

 http://youtu.be/jiHDJ19A3dk

A highly recommended watch! Great movie!

 

 

The Cadillac SRX – The Luxury Crossover

DudeCars, General, Technology 3 Comments

I really didn’t know how to start off with this post, i’ll talk about what I liked the most, although it looks small on the outside, when you’re inside you notice its long and quite spacious! Especially coming from my FJ cruiser you will notice its doesn’t take up as much space in the parking lot its noticeably narrower, but then inside the car it feels a lot more spacious. The remote start function is another thing I really loved about the car and i’m sure is available on most Cadillac’s now, unless you have a car with remote start you won’t really understand how it can save you time, and what it feels like to get into a car with the AC on before you arrive. I really enjoyed starting the car a couple of minutes before I left the house, I could move as soon as I got in. Reversing into the parking was also made easier especially if you come from a smaller car with the sensors and rear view camera.

From it  exterior features you can tell its clearly a crossover, not an SUV and not a saloon, but unlike some other cars its closer to an SUV which makes it look a little more sportier.

With regards to power the SRX4 is an all wheel drive car and  is powered by a 308 Horsepower V6 that provides this car with ample strength, and gets this car going quite comfortably on the road. At high speeds the car is handles great and makes you feel secure and in full control, breaking is also good especially on our roads where people sometimes suddenly brake for no good reason. I can see myself travelling around the middle east in the car quite comfortably. The fuel economy was also great! The AC isn’t comparable to the FJ’s and for me it did feel like I wanted more cooling, but I guess with with our weather all you need is to tint your windows and windshield and you’ll be set.

The grille and exterior lights remind me of the Escalade which gives a sense of elegance.

Dual Exhausts on the rear give you that sporty look.

One of my children’s favorites : The fully Panoramic roof top, really changes the mood and amount of light in the car.

Now for Caillac’s entertainment system, the Cue system. Beautifully made, touch screen with heptic feedback was impressive, as well as the screen clarity and resolution. Its quite an impressive investment from Cadillac, and really provides something that’s ahead of some other major car manufacturer’s in the market. The whole center console is basically touch sensitive there are no push type buttons like on other cars, sometimes its ok sometimes you don’t really know if you pressed a button or not, but with the heptic feedback it slightly vibrates when a switch is clicked. The instrument cluseter was also digital and quite modern.

The boot lid opens via a button, remote control and can also be opened manually and adjusted to specific height settings, its quite spacious, with a very interesting divider that I would like to implement on my car hehe.

Here’s another shot of the inside of the car from the rear!

The rear passengers have quite ample leg room, and are air conditioned by the center console’s ac vents.

The front passenger seats are fully electrical and fully adjustable. Even the brake and petrol pedals are adjustable via a button and they can be brought forward or backwards to suit your requirements.

Here’s a front view of the comfortable leather seats.

Here’s another view of the open boot area.

The steering wheel controls the onboard computer and on screen display as well as everything from the radio to cruise control and Bluetooth phone controls with that iconic Cadillac Logo.

Here’s a top view with the sun roof open  :

That Iconic logo.. I can stare into that logo all day long…

The Sacoor Brothers Experience

DudeEvents, Fashion, General, Kuwait, Review Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago we were invited to have a look at Sacoor Brothers Kuwait, It’s been a while since i’ve gone to 360 or just going shopping anywhere to be honest! I’ve been to Sacoor in London and the one in Dubai, but It was my first time to visit the store in Kuwait, and they had a very similar collection to what they had in Dubai in addition to a nice shoes collection (with a buy 1 get 1 offer – really worth it) which I didn’ t see there when I last visited. They’ve got everything from Casual to full suits, kids wear, men’s and women’s wear, they’ve got somthing for everyone!

 

This is what the store looks like from the outside (its located on the 1st floor.

Here’s a collection of Sacoor’s Best Selling Polo Shirts :

Let’s talk shoes : (NB: They have a buy one get one offer going on – Don’t know till when but worth it) I personally tried their shoes and they are more comfortable for a full day at work than some other shoes that are 3 times their price (hint hint).

The plain signature Sacoor Polo shirts come in a lot of different colors

A fresh set of belts that just arrived to the show room a couple of days before something for everyone (can also be paired with shoes)

I like suits and I like trying out different ties, only our weather is too much for a full suit for work.

Here’s the kids section, quite a wide collection  :

If it were only a little cooler in Kuwait !

and for the women section I took a close up of the shoes hehe.. You should visit them at 360 to have a look at their collection !

For More information Check out their website at : www.sacoorbrothers.com or visit them @SacoorBrothersME on instargram

How’s the BlackBerry Z30 Doing?

DudeBlackBerry, Bloggers, General, Internet, Technology, Telecomm 4 Comments

Its been over 2 months now i’ve been using the Z30 as my primary phone, I use my iPad for iOs programs and apps and my Note 3 for my instagram business.

BlackBerry Z30

BlackBerry Z30

 

Programs I Use on the Z30 :

Whatsapp (Native)

BBM (Native)

Instagram (Ported)

Dropbox (Native)

Quran (Ported)

Kindle (Ported)

Skype (native)

WordPress (Native)

Viber (Native – Isn’t stable at all and I decided to stop using it completely)

IGrann (Native Instagram App) – Very very useful!

Anghami (Native)

MuslimPro (Native)

 

Why I’m still using a Blackberry ?

It’s the only phone where I can get all my emails synced  in one location without using different apps and being able to access all the attachments and files, I have at least a dozen emails setup on the phone each for a different purpose. I can guarantee I wont miss a text or email on a Blackberry but I cannot guaratnee that on an andoird and the iphone’s battery would die out on you half way through the day.

 

What I like best about it ?

Bedside mode : Where you simply swipe down, set your alarm and go to bed.

The hub, you have to use it to believe how useful it would be, especially with tons of emails and whatsapp messages.

BBM although its a lost cause, but If you use it you’ll get better quality for sure than viber and whatsapp, but you have to try it to believe it! It needs a little push to get back on the main stream.

The size of the device is just right, its not too big or too small and the screen resolution is great.

 

What can be improved ?

As I said earlier, the camera, the bubble that is used when you want to move the cursor between letters is just so hard to use on the BB Z30, I almost always tend to erase and re-write. An updated interface would be nice, as a change, as its been a while on this dark theme, maybe more accessories, its soo difficult to find screen protectors and cases for this phone that I gave up. It does everything you might think that is needed in a phone.

It lacks speed, you can feel the device freeze under load sometimes which isn’t pleasant as you have to restart the device for it to work. However that doesn’t happen a lot. It lacks a fast camera, its ok but its not the best and can certainly be a lot better!

 

Do I think there will be a chance for BB in the future ?

I wish from the bottom of my heart that they will thrive, its a true business phone that you can rely on, its not another phone that you’ll want to replace at the end of the year and the update rate isn’t every year which degrades the value of the handset pretty rapidly.

 

 

The SLK 350 – The Fun Daily Driver

DudeCars, General, Sports 1 Comment

I tried the SLK 350 a couple of weeks ago when the weather was still convertible friendly! Its such an amazing and fun car to drive, it makes you want to live on the edge and really want drive around all day!

Powered by a V6 that’s capable of going to 100 in Sub 5.6 seconds. It had an electronic controlled panoramic glass roof which you can make transparentat the push of a button. Fast, fun and small a great daily driver and an even greater car for every day use.

I always thought it would be smaller inside, but the 172 model (after 2011) is a little more spacious than its predecessor and has looks similar to its big brother the SL series Mercedes Benz which means it has that mean front end and a sporty backend.

Again the great lighting with the Bi-Xenon headlamps from Mercedes.

The interior was modern, it was equipped with GPS and had leather seats, the color was light as to reflect the heat when the roof is open.

The AC was amazing, I actually caught a cold after reviewing the car, but then it might have been to the open roof. The exhaust needed a little more sound to it, you can hear it great in the car but its not so loud on the outside. The power to weight ratio was also great and you never feel the car is under powered, it actually makes it very maneuverable and makes you do things you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing on larger cars, and bypassing cars is even easier and smoother.

The interior had nice LED accents which you can see at night, and you can increase and reduce the intensity as you please. I had to use a stand and wait till it was dark to take the following photos, they look even better in real life!

The AC vents were like the ones we found on the A250 only without the red accents, the break pedals and accelertor were comforable and spaced right, boot space was ok-ish when the hard top is closed, however when its retracted you loose about 40 % of your boot lid space.

Overall it was a Spacious, fast, comfortable, good ac, good price, the only thing I might want on it is a louder exhaust which I guess I would be able to find on the SLK55 (which I would love to try).

Ronaldo’s Visit To Zain Kuwait

DudeEntertainment, Events, General, Kuwait, Sports Leave a Comment

Last Week football legend Ronaldo  had his first visit to Kuwait for a two day event that was sponsored by Zain Kuwait and organized by Brite Events. A lot of action took place on instagram on the day Ronaldo was at Nino’s. The next day I was at the small meeting event that took place in Zain Kuwait, where Ronaldo had a chance to meet Zain Kuwait’s CEO, and  took a tour around different departments, as well as taking photographs with some of the Zain Staff and their children. A major surprise was giving the winners of the WC championship a chance to meet and photograph with Ronaldo!

 

“During his visit to Kuwait, Ronaldo attended a football tournament featuring various football academies from Kuwait and Kuwait-based European football fan clubs, as well as making an iconic appearance at 360 Mall, where professional Kuwaiti footballers engaged in a penalty kicks activity with the famous playmaker in an exciting atmosphere. The two events witnessed the participation of massive enthusiastic local football fans who were eager to meet the famous player and take photographs with him.” Arab Times