Archive | Random

60 Years Old Fisherman From Tripoli Is The New Loto Billionaire

This is definitely not the first time someone claims the grand prize in Lebanese lottery and I bet we all feel some envy every time someone does. But in the case of this man, Ahmad Dandash, I guess that you can’t but feel delighted it went for someone who really deserves it.

The 60 years old fisherman seems to have been going through some difficult times and was unable to afford helping any of his kids get an apartment until he scored the loto. Feel free to call it fixed or arranged, but the video and the whole thing is heartwarming.

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Meet Mirna El Chalouhi

I personally have passed countless times by the Mina El Chalouhi commercial center and highway (spanning from Sin El fil to Nahr El Mot), and until I saw the below report by Al-Jadeed, I have always thought they were named after a late figure who must have deserved it for the good deeds she might have done in the past.

Turned out Mirna El Chalouhi is a young woman who simply had a commercial center named after her in the seventies by her late father, and people eventually started referring to the highway by the same name. I’m not sure though if the municipality there has the same official name for it.

I guess it’s fair to say we can call this the revelation of the day!

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13 Year Old Boy Defeats Security Controls at Beirut Airport

beirut airport

This is definitely one of the weirdest news stories lately. Walid Shabti, A 13 year old Palestinian refugee from Bourj Al-Barajneh, was apparently fed up with his living conditions here and simply decided to escape the country. He somehow managed to get on board an airplane going to Istanbul after bypassing all security checkpoints at Beirut airport, but was later busted and departed back to Beirut.

Knowing that airport security is supposed to be tightened these days, this boy must have been either extremely smart or extra lucky to bypass all the controls. I mean there are around 4 checkpoints where you will be asked to show your passport/ticket before you are allowed on board and he still made it.

Out of all this though, I guess the best thing is that he has one hell of an adventure to tell his friends about now!

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Generator Provider in Chiyah Offers Free Electricity During Ramadan

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While the owners of private generators are generally hated in Lebanon for forming cartels and making illogical profits sometimes from the government’s failure, you can’t but respect Ishtirak Al Nour’s gesture to provide free 5 Amperes electricity during the month of Ramadan for the people in Chiyah. He also has no problem if someone wants to subscribe for free during this month only.

Many poor families cannot afford paying for a generator subscription and will definitely appreciate being able to keep a fan turned on during the day to make Ramadan a bit easier for them.

Hat tip to you sir, whoever you are!

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The 2015 New Year Fireworks Show in Dubai

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I wish this was about some cool fireworks show in Beirut, but it was the same boring scene here with stupid people firing rounds of bullets at midnight.

On the other hand, Dubai dazzled the world once more with amazing fireworks that lit up Burj Khalifa. And while they’re at it, they broke a Guinness world record by covering the tower with the largest LED display consisting of 70,000 LED bulbs.

You can also watch a behind the scenes video here on how EMAAR made it all happen.

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A smart phone decision!

smartphones

If you’re on the market looking to upgrade your smartphone, you might get lost looking at all the offerings currently available. Since all current smartphones are more than capable of handling whatever you throw at them, i will refrain from going through detailed spec sheets. Instead, I’ll try to focus on specific features that are offered by the various manufacturers that would make you choose their handset over others.

LG: The current flagship smartphone from LG is the G3. Having a 5.5″ QHD screen, the G3 holds the highest pixel density among all phones to be highlighted in this article. What’s more impressive however, is it’s compactness a.k.a. screen to phone size ratio which stands at spectacular 76.4%. To get a better idea of what I’m talking about here, check the picture below comparing it to the 5.5″ screened iPhone 6 plus (note that when bent, the iPhone 6 plus is actually the shorter phone). Another highlight feature of the G3 is laser focus, which LG says improves the camera’s auto-focus time.

Ip6 M8 .

HTC: The HTC one (M8) is undoubtedly the most premium android phone on the market offering an impeccable build quality surpassing that of any other phone maker (we’re looking at you apple). The aluminum-clad 5″ screened M8 offers dual speakers but a so-so camera. Also, having been on the market for a while now, its price is easily accessible. Note that the same applies to the G3.

M8

SONY: The Z3 is the latest entry in Sony’s Xperia line of smartphones. Building on the features of the Xperia Z2, the Z3 offers a 5.2″ screen, dual speakers, a 20.7 Mp camera with a larger than standard camera sensor, noise cancellation and high-resolution audio, all tucked inside a water-proof glass body with aluminum edges. An impressive feature that will grab gamers attention is ‘PS4 remote play’ that allows you to stream PS4 games using your wifi network to the phone. In regards to build quality, The Z3 just falls short of beating that of the M8 but comes very close. Note that Sony offers a compact version of the Z3 called Z3 compact (duh!) providing the same experience in a smaller (4.6″) more ‘pocketable’ device. Both phones are promised to provide a 2-day battery life.

Z3

SAMSUNG: The Korean manufacturer is infamous for flooding the market with endless iterations of its Galaxy lineup. The Galaxy S5 is its current flagship offering a 5.1″ super saturated screen, a solid camera, a heart-rate sensor and a fingerprint sensor (a la iPhone 5s/6/6 plus) tucked in a water-resistant plastic body. The S5 is the least premium-feeling device among all android flagships. Samsung also recently released the Galaxy Alpha (aimed at competing with the iPhone 6) offering a 4.7″ screen in a plastic, metal-framed body.

S5

APPLE: The iPhone 6 and 6 plus are Apple’s latest gadgets. Having a respective 4.7″ and 5.5″ screen, both phones provide the usual simplicity and ease use of iOS while offering a fingerprint scanner and an enhanced yet protruding 8 Mp camera with improved auto-focus in premium looking devices. On a subjective side note, I hate how the back of both phones look and much prefer the 5/5s in that perspective.

iPhone

When looking to purchase a new smartphone, my advice is to look for the one that provides you with the features you need or might need in the future, and of course all while considering its price.

For example, photography oriented users might lean more towards the Z3 or even the S5. Others looking for the most premium looking device would go for the M8 and iPhone siblings. If you consume lots of multimedia the choice would definitely be the M8 and Z3 for their dual speakers (and the Z3’s audio capabilities). Looking for a smartphone that’s not afraid to get wet you got the water-resistant S5 and the water-proof Z3.

photos via phonearena using their phone size comparison tool.

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New Year celebrations around the world

While most of the world cities celebrated New Year with some spectacular fireworks display, Dubai chose take it a bit further this year and succeeded in breaking the world record for the largest fireworks display. They crushed the record previously set by Kuwait by firing more than 400,000 shots in around six minutes!

Meanwhile in Lebanon, assassinations right before the new year’s eve, explosions everywhere in the country, stupid clashes every now and then, and of course, douchebags here can’t but celebrate with firearms. Yet, we’re excellent at pulling jokes at the Khaleejis. OK.

Anyway, make sure to check this article on BuzzFeed for a glimpse of how the rest of the world celebrated last night.

paris
Paris

copacabana
Copacabana

times square
New York

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RIP Yassine Bakkouch

Yassine Bakkouch

The great Syrian comedian was killed after his car was targeted in Damascus last night.

We all watched him along with Duraid Lahham in Ghawar El Tocheh and Hotel Sah El Nom when we were kids, and it’s sad to see people like him go like that. May he rest in peace.

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