Saturday, January 20, 2018

The ME Indie Jukebox January 17, 2018

Every week I get to sit down with Adam and his pretty awesome mp3 player that is full of tunes by indie recording artists from the Middle East.

It is pretty hard to not break into song when Adam is in the room.


Adam on the other hand takes his selection of music very serious.

And not only do we have some great tunes but we also have some video this week.

Now that you have the videos loaded let us talk about the playlist this week which is pretty awesome.

Here we go.

Yasmine Hamdan - Beirut (Live for Beirut Jam Sessions) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B1JMNRw6sE
Carl & The Reda Mafia - Drown With Me ETYEN_Pon Malai Gurumiran_Man Who Sold Eldunya Safar - Other Lovers (Live for MUSIKRAUM)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxHljCT4TY0
Ÿuma - Nghir Alik ( Official Video ) The Bunny Tylers - It Seems It All Disappears






Grab the podcast.

Fix-it Radio January 17, 2018

So, ever thought you could fix the little issue with your taps or maybe you figured you had what it takes to adjust a door?  And how did you make out?

Maybe what you need is someone you can bounce your DIY and repair questions off.

Colin and Dan from wewillfixit sit with me and take calls and texts about your home issues.



This week we started the show talking about the things that people need to think about if you are going to move or renovate your place.

It was interesting to chat about who we hire to do our handy man tasks and the fact that the cheapest workers often hired people to do this work in their own country. Colin figures that 30% of the work wewillfixit gets is fixing the mishaps of others.

If you want to walk into Ace or Speedex like a pro then this is a show you don't want to miss for sure.




Grab the podcast.

Here is what we set out to talk about.


wewillfixit.com
800 fix
Colin Thomas


Daniel Garner


Ideas around this topic include:
  • To Move or to Renovate?- The age-old question especially given the current depressed rental prices that may tempt people to trade up.
    • Move-
      • Cost of Moving-
        • Expected- Removals (variation in cost & quality!!), DIY (painting, curtains, connection of appliances)
        • Hidden- DEWA- deposits timings (old & new property)
        • Lack of Property Knowledge- unknown faults (leaks, float valves, hardware etc.)., AC Servicing. Getting a property reliable. Landlord vs Tenant Relationship
      • Social- new neighbours versus old. Dog walking routes, traffic or recreation noise! Development Facilities- play areas, shops etc.
    • Stay & Renovate-
      • Amazing what some paint can do! Matt vs Silk, edging, time! Dubai walls (lots of repainting creates stipple effect, wall repairs, cracks, wall to ceiling edges).
      • New Room Layout- Close to a new home without moving!
      • Minor Quick Upgrades- USB Sockets, water heater timers, lights, garden. New furniture often cheaper than a move.
      • Limitations for rental properties & the need to ‘return to as found’ for landlords. However this usually needs to be done no matter what décor you have on the walls!
  • New Properties- What to look for:
    • Signs of leaks- water heaters, toilets- limits caused by lack of connected DEWA.
    • Landlord choice- Potential pitfalls of a bad landlord. What to expect from the landlord vs tenant relationship.
    • Good property for top rate or poor property for a cheap rent- RERA rent calculator. Rough costs to renovate. Why is it cheap? etc.
If this works for you, lets lock it in and lets ride this! See you at 8.30pm.


Upgrades, usb sockets, water heater timers


-removing nails from concrete and repairing the wall
-primer on concrete
-mat vs gloss
-AC maintenance what does that actually mean
-duct cleaning why and how

TechTalk January 16, 2018

WMC, CES, GITEX there are sure a lot of options to keep yourself up to date on the latest happenings in the world of tech.

I am pretty fortunate to be able to sit down with Andrew Thomas of Nexa, he may even be Dubai's own futurologist, and have a chat about what is interesting or cool or important in the world of tech today.


As you can see from that photo it is not just about the tech it is about having a bit of fun and learning some new things.

We licked off the show talking about the Fitbit Ionic, again, this is easily the best fitness tracker I have ever used and it really makes it easy to keep motivated.  I have had the opportunity to use a lot of trackers but the Fitbit is the only one I have stuck with and the dashboard to keep track of the data collected is super.  The funny thing is I am not using 1/2 of the features of the watch.





Grab the podcast here.

We had a quick chat about the Google Arts & Culture's new selfie and art search feature, unfortunately it is not enabled here but it would be pretty cool.

Here is how you can grab a look at all we spoke about on the show.



OK this is cool Google does some crazy things to gather data and test stuff! ONLY IN USA! (https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/15/psa-googles-art-selfie-feature-is-us-only-for-now/?ncid=rss)






If you've ever wondered if there's a museum portrait somewhere that looks like you and you're ready to have your ego crushed, there's now an app for that. Google Arts & Culture's latest update now lets you take a selfie, and using image recognition, finds someone in its vast art collection that most resembles you. It will then present you and your fine art twin side-by-side, along with a percentage match, and let you share the results on social media, if you dare.


1 in 6 Americans own a smart speaker! Pretty cool!
About 7 percent of Americans reportedly bought at least one speaker between Black Friday (November 24th) and then end of 2017, with 4 percent of Americans having bought their very first speaker.
Not surprisingly, Amazon still rules this fledgling market. The study indicates that 11 percent of Americans have one of Amazon's Echo speakers, while 4 percent have a Google Home of some kind thanks to its relatively late arrival. Just how people use their speakers is more complicated. About 66 percent of buyers plan to entertain others by streaming music, asking questions or playing games, while 64 percent anticipate using theirs for smart home control.
These speakers aren't necessarily replacing the devices you'd expect, either. While 39 percent of owners say they're using radios less often, and 34 percent say the same for smartphones, you also see significant impacts on TV (30 percent), tablets (27 percent), PCs (26 percent) and even the printed word (23 percent). About 44 percent also said they increased use of voice assistants on their phones, which suggests that these speakers are raising awareness of these AI helpers -- no doubt what companies like Amazon and Google are hoping for.
Facebook activity




CES
Assistive Hearing is next




Cool smart kitchen!


Term Quiz!




Google win CES

The CarClinic January 16, 2018

How often have you heard your car making a crazy odd sound but you have nobody to talk to about it, mostly because you do not want to sound stupid asking the question.

And let's face it our friends our friends are great sources of information but they can also be pretty judgmental.

I have an answer for you, the CarClinic with Glenn from GT Auto Centre.

Every week, Glenn and I sit down in the studio and turn it into a car workshop.

This week was interesting because we had a message about a car that was at the end of its warranty, developed a problem just at the end of the period and because the owner missed several services the warranty was voided.

We also had a good chat about spending the 500dhs or so to have a car you may be interested in inspected by an independent workshop.


One thing is for sure when I get to sit down with Glenn you can never be too sure what you will learn and it is always a lot of fun.




Click to hear the podcast of the show.

If you are wondering what Glenn does when he is not hanging on the show check out his Instagram @glennthatcarguy.

Want to take a look at the show notes?

The CVT gearbox question was nice!

Tell us about the Rolls and the oil level gauges, a lot like the new cars today!


And let the questions begin.


  1. I asked this question last week and never got an answer


I have a 2008 s500 mercedes benz, 90000 km driven only,  my AC is acting funny, whenever i turn the car on the AC is steaming hot for at least two minutes, then it goes back to normal. What do u think is the  problem and how can i fix it.


2. Why does the lexus CT-H have such low power, I think 98 bhp. Is bhp supposed to be taken differently for hybrids?


3. What is a CVT gearbox and are there reasons to not want a car with one?


4. What should I be on guard about if I want to have underbody lighting installed?


5. Oil additives when I get the oil on the car changed do we need it?


6. Can a silencer be bought that is real from other than the dealer like is there a Speedy Muffler King in the UAE?


7. How hard is it to fix peeling clearcoat (me)


8. Service or non service battery which is better?


9. How often should the air filter be replaced and not just blown out, how do we know the air filter is finished?

GetFitRadio January 15, 2018

Look left, look right, turn on the radio, hit the magazine rack, surf the web and there is somebody talking fitness.

Not to toot my own horn but for over 7 years we have had a fantastic fitness show on Nightline and what makes the show one of the strongest fitness information and motivation programs anywhere is the continuity of it.

Marcus Smith from Innerfight has been with the show since the start and together we bring great conversation, insight and inspiration to you!

As most are aware by now myself, Carlin Gerbich, DJ David Craig and Jay (PTDXB) part of the crew who did the Men's Health Transformation Challenge in Dubai last year are running the Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon.  The goal was maybe to do the 10k run and Marcus a couple of months ago said do the marathon I will coach you.

I have to confess I may have jumped the gun thinking this would be easy.  We have been training hard for 2 month and we are close.

At this point the longest run has been 26k, we are working on 3k splits with a bit of rest and that should get us to the finish line in a pretty epic time if all comes together.

I will be honest my ankles do feel a bit tender after 2 hours of running and we are looking at just under 5 as a finishing time.

I will be honest at the 2 hour point I am hungry, really hungry.

There is a lot to be said for having a plan and having a coach and Marcus has really stepped up.

And I am that person who in the past would have not gone with a coach and just did some runs.


After talking marathons we talked food and a we even got to a few questions from the listeners.

Have a fitness question get it to us at nightline@dubaieye1038.ae

 Ok, so why might you want to listen to Marcus and myself talk about fitness and more, becasue we have a unique insight into what people are thinking. Marcus is a gym creator and extreme athlete and I am a professor and guy trying to keep fit.




Click to garb the podcast.

And if you are interested in the show notes because yes we do come to this show with a plan they are below.


Looking forward to this show.


What is going on in the gym?


What was the most memorable question you had this week?


How is the cycling going and what was this week’s lesson?


The Retreat?

  1. The transformer boys, Carlin, DJ David Craig, Jay PTDXB and myself are locked and loaded for the marathon BUT there is questions about the distance the ‘head game’ and then there are some tender ankles.


-so like us others are getting ready what kind of finishing strategy is needed with pace?
-tender ankles what to consider
-nutrition and hydration? Used on my water on the 23k run the other day and was thinking crap I am thirsty
-blisters
-chaeffing
-what about tapering for race day


Tricks that ultra’s use!


2. Last week we talked hydration the other big issue people wrestle with is when to be eating, before a workout , and what to eat then or after you have the after burn of raised heart rate so is that a good time


3. cardio/strength/endurance how do we know, rule of thumb, how much to have of each in our workouts.


4.Love this quote!, read the article to get the prize at the end and it is what we all know, the issue is always how to not get distracted and sucked in by others.


When it comes to health and fitness goals, play the long game. Make small changes that over time will add up to something big. If you have specific goals you want to meet, don’t look for hacks or shortcuts, because they don’t have staying power. Consistency and small changes over time equal the biggest results.


One of the benefits of the fitness trackers we wear is that they give an enormous amount of data. Here are the fittest country


Why we need to stop talking weight… love the idea of recording images not weight
Thanks to regular training and a healthy, balanced diet, Lolas went from 149 lbs to 158 lbs over the course of her progress and realized that both the scale and the very concept of weight loss were lying to her.
"At first it was difficult," she said, when I asked her about her journey. "Instead of weighing myself every day, I started measuring my progress by taking pictures of myself and measuring the way I fit into my clothing, which was incredibly helpful."
Now, she’s a huge advocate of people—especially women—abandoning the scale and pursuing a healthy lifestyle without stressing about weight.
"Weight is not a direct reflection of someone’s health and fitness levels—these are the things we should be focusing on: feeling healthy, confident, and strong at whatever weight we may be," Lolas said.
In the end? "Remember to be kind to yourself," Lolas said. "You are enough."
As difficult as it may be, it’s important to realize that this journey is about more than a number on the scale. Try setting goals, focusing on what your body can do, and start small. Fitness needs to be about health, finding balance, and living your best life.


Alternatives to sled pushes! Some gyms may not have the equipment so what to do?
But if your gym doesn’t have sleds, try these alternatives:
  1. The treadmill. “Keep the power off and use the belt as your resistance,” Bishop says. Place palms on back of the deck, keeping chest angled slightly down and neck in a neutral position, then push the belt upward.
  2. Towel and weight plates. On a smooth surface, stack weights on top of the towels, and push them across floor.
  3. Isometric wall pushes. Wearing socks, stand in a doorway or next to a wall. “Hold arms out and drive with legs while keeping tension in your upper body and core,” Bishop says.
  4. Partner band sprints. Have a buddy hold a thick resistance band from behind and resist you while you run forward.



How to be a world arm wrestler!


Question.
What's the difference between free weights and resistance machines, and which should I be using?


Is walking or running better for fat loss?


How long should I rest between workouts?


If I stop training will my muscles turn to fat?

CarTalk January 15, 2017

Every week this segment of what is easily the best talk radio program on the airwaves at 9pm in the UAE, maybe the world, turns into a car showroom.

What do you know about cars and what do you want to know about cars?

The guys over at www.motoringme.com join us to help you make sense of what is hot and what is not.

With out a doubt there is a lot of entertainment here.

There was a nice conversation about the Bolt or was it the Volt, well all the same it was electric cars and the fact that the guys are going on an electric car road trip.  I thought it was interesting that when asked what about charge breaks there was a big shrug of the shoulders and an expectation that the organisers have that sorted.

We also had a nice Land Cruiser or Patrol as an older car talk.

The Avalon came up in the conversation and it was all about how the front has changed, do you like it?

And the new RAM is coming, does it still look like a RAM?

So, there is a lot to talk about and you will want to catch the entire podcast.




Click for the podcast.

And here are the show notes!

-had a chance to write up the Velar, after the hype, the write and the comments what are you thinking?

DETROIT
-G-Class I thought these were going away?
-Volt class 3 autonomous (hit podcasts on Business Breakfast)
-2019 Ford Bullitt Mustanget's start with the good stuff: the engine. The 5.0-liter V8 has been retuned to make "at least" 475 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. The hedging is because there may be a final adjustment to that number later, but don't expect a massive increase in either number. Think plus or minus 5 ponies. If these are the final numbers, that's a bump of 15 horsepower over the 2018 Mustang GT.

New RAM 1500
a 3.6-liter V6 and a 5.7-liter V8. An eTorque system will add an extra 90 pound-feet of torque in the V6 and 130 in the V8. And it will get a massive 12-inch touchscreen. For more coverage of the NAIAS 2018 head over to https://www.autoblog.com/detroit-auto-show/

Well, a new Ram 1500 is finally here, and it's lighter, stronger and better equipped than ever before to take on the Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado. In addition to new styling and a hugely versatile interior, both the V6 and V8 Ram 1500 are available with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

Despite looking similar to the current Ram, this isn't merely an update. The truck is all new inside and out, improving on what worked and fixing what was aging. Overall weight is down 225 pounds, with 120 of those coming from the chassis and frame. And 98 percent of the frame is made from high-strength steel, with aluminum making up a small amount in parts like the transmission crossmember and engine mounts. The Ram 1500 also gets an aluminum hood and tailgate.

The weight may be down, but the 2019 Ram 1500 is longer and wider than before. The bed height, too, has increased. Visually, it's difficult to notice the increased size. The overall design is an evolution of what Ram has offered for decades. The most obvious change is the lack of a crosshair grille, a staple since 1994. The new "RAM" grille started as an option but now carries over to every single model. It's not going to be popular with everyone, but we're sure Mopar or some other parts supplier can fill your t-shaped void.

The drop fender that also debuted on the '94 Ram has been lifted, giving the front a far more upright face. There are two different headlight designs, depending on the trim and options. The top-tier LED units are wide and slim, while the standard lighting looks similar to what we have now. The front bumper can be chrome or paint, while the chrome accents carry around to parts like the new 1500 badge on the hood. Tow hooks are lower and further apart than before, while the parking sensors have been better integrated into the design.

Like the headlights, the taillights are an evolution of the current shape. Both halogen and LED units are available. The full-width steel rear bumper can be had in either chrome or body color. As for paint, there are 12 colors in total, with three two-tone variants. If that's not enough variety, there are 16 new (six-lug!) wheel designs to choose from, ranging from 18 to 22 inches.


New 2019 Jetta


New Avalon, WOW




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