Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week.
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. There’s many cool events going around town so make your choices wisely!
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. Needless to say, Fête de la Musique is the biggest this happening this week, and you can check the full program for the list of venues where artists will be performing.
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
The Ministry of Public Health released their new website and mobile app a few days ago, and among the new services they now offer is a listing of the available drugs in Lebanon along with their official prices so you can compare them with the prices set by your local pharmacy and know if you’re being overcharged, in addition to the ability to compare a certain drug to its available alternatives having the same formula.
This is definitely a good step forward by the ministry to identify the pharmacies that do not abide by the set prices, and ensure that consumers are getting their medicine at a fair price.
The drugs price list is available both on the ministry’s website and the mobile app for iOS and Android.
A group of scientists from the University of Otago and the Lebanese American University have recently succeeded at sequencing and analyzing the DNA obtained from the remaining of a 2500-year-old Phoenician called “The Young Man of Byrsa”. Their work is of good importance because we know less information about the Phoenicians than other populations, and this analysis will help uncover more about their culture and origins.
You can check the research details along with the results the scientists obtained here. What caught my attention the most though was the conclusion that modern Lebanese (47 of them to be precise) are not related to the Phoenicians! It is quite weird to be honest given how we pride ourselves with the Phoenicians being our ancestors, and the fact that they’re thought to have originated from here and expanded to the west.
I hope some other research soon reveals we also have no relation with the Arab world so we can dissociate ourselves from all the chaos around us!
photo via Modern Readers
I’ve been using an iPhone 5 for exactly 3 years now and recently started looking for an alternative. Among the current flagship mobile phones I was basically tempted to either get a 64GB iPhone 6s or a Samsung S7 Edge, still having never owned an Android mobile before, I didn’t want to get the S7 Edge and end up regretting it, so I thought of asking Samsung for a test unit and they were kind enough to send me one along with a Gear VR.
Long story short I’ve been using the S7 Edge for a couple of weeks now and totally loving it! In this review I won’t go all techy on you with specs and stuff, but rather describe how I found the S7 Edge fitting my needs as a blogger and someone who uses the phone camera very frequently.
Plastic covers on older models of the Samsung S phones were the main reason that made me avoid them, they just made the handsets look cheap. This however has changed with the S6 and its rear glass which made it look more elegant, while the S7 Edge is a further enhancement with beautiful curves. The unit I got looked premium with the gold color on it.
The S7 Edge is also considered a compact phone. It is almost the same size of an iPhone 6s but has a larger display (5.5″ vs 4.7″), and this was made possible by minimizing the amount of bezel above and below the screen which increased the screen-to-body ratio by a great deal.
The QHD display on the S7 Edge is absolutely gorgeous! A friend of mine always bugs me with how good AMOLED screens are, but I honestly didn’t know they were THAT good. Colors looked much more vibrant and made it hard for me to go back to watching media on an LCD screen.
Still, and even though it isn’t a deal breaker, the screen was a bit reflective for me when I was using it outdoors.
Having a 3 year old kid I always find myself using my phone camera whenever he’s fooling around. And for that, I really appreciated how quick is the autofocus in the S7 Edge camera. It also performs pretty well in low light.
Here are a sample of unedited photos I recently took. (Click on each photo for the original size)
It’s not a secret Android wasn’t the friendliest mobile operating system. And being a longtime iPhone user, I really hate to say it but Android has come a long way in being much more user friendly. In fact, I found it easier for me to write a blog post on the S7 Edge than on my wife’s iPhone 6s.
Moreover, since Android is a more open platform, I found it much easier for me to deal with some files I usually need to upload to my server from time to time. All in all, Android is indeed more flexible if you’re a tech person.
I’ve never used a virtual reality headset other than Samsung’s, so I really cannot compare the Gear VR to other products.
I personally found the Gear VR very easy to setup, and the available 360 videos and images were quite entertaining. I was mostly interested in travel videos showing places from exotic parts of the world and I really enjoyed them, it was cool sitting on my couch and feeling like I was somewhere totally different.
The headset however felt bulky on me after 20 or 30 minutes of usage, so watching full length movies on it wasn’t my thing.
With a cool design, a stunning camera, and a sharp display, I really can’t ask for more. In fact, I’m honestly having a hard time returning the test unit! 😛
If you’re interested in buying the S7 Edge along with the Gear VR, the guy I usually get my handsets from is offering them both for $690. (Note that his prices differ from day to day)
Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. The opening week at The Backyard Hazmieh is absolutely not not be missed, I passed by the place two days ago and really loved the atmosphere. The Euro Cup combo at Caffe Mondo Phoenicia Hotel is also both cool and affordable for football fans!
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
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!
Roadster Diner are apparently refreshing their brand, and have gotten a new logo and motto in the process, “Fresh.Casual.Yours”.
I didn’t really get the meaning of the lozenge in the new logo (I’m pretty sure it should mean something!) but it only reminded me of Renault’s old one as soon I saw it!
Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. Make sure not to miss the Burger Festival happening on Saturday at Saifi village, in addition to the two film festivals taking place in Beirut Souks and at St. Nicolas Stairs.
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
