To really appreciate how much quicker is the 3G, I just loaded Party Rock Anthem YouTube video (6 minutes and 16 seconds long) in approximately 2 minutes.

Now let’s compare it with the 512K DSL connection on my desktop. After 5 minutes of loading, I was barely half way through.

Those are the results I got today. As I mentioned earlier, the download and upload rates are much lower than yesterday.

I am not sure if it’s the rain or because more test users are now logged on but that’s not very encouraging.

WTH is wrong with them? Do they even realize how dangerous is that?

Via @mohammadjouni

Here are the first Speedtest results I got using 3G on my iPhone. Pretty cool!

I finally received today an SMS from MTC Touch notifying me that the “3G will now be active on my phone for a 1 month trial period”.

I quickly put my MTC Touch SIM in my friend’s Nokia N8 and tried connecting but was unable to. I called MTC and they told me there are few settings needed to be done and told me to check my email in 10 minutes time. This was 6 hours ago and I didn’t receive anything yet until two minutes ago I received settings for iPhones!

The only reason I didn’t use the SIM on my iPhone yet is that I need to cut the SIM to be able to plug it in, (My original line which I am using on the iPhone is an Alfa line) so I will fix it at a nearby mobile store and attempt the 3G once again back at home.

If anyone already received the settings for a Nokia from MTC Touch, I would appreciate if you share them.

When I traveled two weeks ago, I had the chance to go wait in the VIP Cedar Lounge for a change instead of roaming around in the duty free stores.

The place was nicer than I expected and had free internet access as well as free access to an open buffet and bar. The food however wasn’t that great as it mainly consisted of cold sandwiches, croissants and a small table for desserts.

I had a 3 hours wait, so after I ate and had a drink, I took a walk around the lounge and found a Kids area. I am not sure why it is called a Kids area as PS3s, Wii and Arcade games are not just for children. Also, you don’t get “Kids Area” when you translate “Salle des jeux” or “Sallat Al Al3ab” to English.

Anyway, I went in to try out all the games since there was no one and I had 2 hours to kill but it turned out nothing was working for some reason. So I headed back to my couch, watched some TV and browsed the internet.

It is definitely much better than waiting like everyone else does as the couches are really comfortable and the place is not crowded and you have free internet, but it is not that fancy for a VIP lounge.

(Via Angie from NowLebanon Blogs)

Kteer 3ayisha our Prime Minister.

I’m currently in Saudi Arabia on business. I decided to try out a Lebanese restaurant which came highly recommended. Nothing like a good plate of crapleaves to hit the spot! Yummy! Crapleaves!!

As planned, the testing phase for the 3G technology started today and I was contacted, along with Mark & Chahe, by MTC Touch to take part in that testing.

I still did not receive any SMSes as the process might take few days, so we will have to wait before knowing how fast it is.

I was promised by a friend that he will activate the 3G feature on my Alfa line as well, which is great as I will have a chance to compare both.

Hani Nassar, a teacher, and his wife Barbara – who is battling bone cancer – and children Leonie and Leonard, 11 and 10-years-old, embarked on their journey on July 1 in Sidon and have since traveled across the country in a caravan painted as the Lebanese flag.

The aims of the journey, Hani Nassar said, were to show the coexistence of the Lebanese people; to reveal the beauty of the country and its people and finally to show the resilience of the human spirit. [DailyStar]

The Nassar family visited 1655 villages and towns in Lebanon and had every village or town’s mayor sign the Lebanese flag they plan to present to the President of the Republic Michel Sleiman.

The cool part is that they had planned to sleep in the caravan all 80 days, but instead only spent 15 nights in it as locals of most of the villages they visited welcomed them in their houses.

PS: I was just going through my Google reader and noticed I posted at almost the same time as Mustapha from the BeirutSpring did using the same title. Damn!

This is the 9th consecutive year that Roger Feghali wins the title. Rally of Lebanon is getting boring.

You can check the full results [Here].

After clinching the Francois Chalet prize at the Cannes Festival, Nadine Labaki’s new movie “Where do We go Now?” won the people’s choice award for best picture at the Toronto International Film Festival. [Link]

The release date in Lebanese theaters is on the 22nd of September. Looking forward to watching it.

The Internal Security Forces killed two accomplices of the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of seven Estonians during clashes in the area of al-Bireh in Rashaya at midnight, media reports said Tuesday. [Naharnet]

Better late than never.

Found this at the duty free on my way back to Beirut. Little Nutella plastic jars for everyday. I wanted to get more but they were priced at 12 Euros!!

I was looking for my gate at Roma’s airport a week ago when I spotted large crowds not standing in line and being very loud. That’s when I knew this was the plane to Beirut.