Nuwan Online - Nuwan Weerasinghe's Web Log

Firefox 3.0 localized for Sinhaleese

Administrator — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:11:01 +0000

The latest version of Firefox 3.0 has a localized version of Sinhaleese. This is still in beta. Download from here.

Gmail’s peculiar Operation Abort

Administrator — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:19:30 +0000

For couple of weeks now i am experiencing this problem from time to time. Loging into Gmail fails with a pop up saying ‘Operation Aborted’. I’m using IE 7.0.5730.11 version on Windows XP SP 2.

I cleared the cache twice and the problem still persists. This link suggests that its an IE issue.

For the time being the only fix available is to access the older version of gmail.

Sri Lanka Among the Top 10 In Google Summer of Code

Administrator — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:21:58 +0000

Amidst all negative publicity about Sri lanka, I saw this bit of information which brought a smile to me. Sri lanka has great potential in IT and this just goes to prove it.
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google will be working with several open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund several projects over a three month period.

More information is here.

City Of Angels

Administrator — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:43:32 +0000

I used to be humming a tune for sometime when ever i work or just move around in my office. It’s like ‘When everything’s made to be broken, i just want you to know who I am’……… At least this is all i could remeber from the chorus of the song by goo goo dolls called ‘Iris‘. I got the mp3 and i was in full swing…………..learned all the lyrics and was singing it loud and clear.

Then i got interested in the movie and was able to get a copy of ‘City Of Angels’ from a friend.

Saturday night….after some office work……..i started watching it, and it was worth. I am a fan of Nicolas Cage and felt he was briliant..but i loved the way a human (Dr Maggie Rice) fell in love with an Angel…………..i mean…….it was so natural……..

Apart from Iris by Goo goo dolls I also liked the track ‘Uninvited‘ by Alanis Morisette………which was played towards the end of the movie.

I suggest you read memorable quotes section in imdb to have an idea of what i am talking about and also listen to these songs, and hopefully watch the movie.

Social Networking - A double edged Sword ?

Administrator — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:10:33 +0000

Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Bebo has experienced exponential growths recently. Many including me is a member of some social networking tool. For me this is very humane indeed as we ‘Homo Sapiens’ are extremely social creatures. We love to talk - chat and engage with each other.

How many times have we felt like sharing our emotions, feelings with others. Social Networking just took these humane behavior to a next level with the help of technology.

Things have taken a new twist when we publish highly personal information on these places. Court cases are using these entries as evidence in cases now. So, just about posting anything on a social networkinig site could be disaster in disguise.

See this for more.

Microsoft Surface Computing Initiative

Administrator — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:26:18 +0000

Microsoft has launched a touch screen computer which could be used as a table. This is meant to improve customer interaction mainly in a self service scenario in places such as stores, hotels, casinos etc.

Say for instance, i purchase a bottle of wine from a store (whcih is bar coded) and i put it on this table, and the table would proceed to tell all information such as where the wine originates from, other similar wines, wine growing region, and other food items to accompany the wine etc.

Microsoft Call this ‘Microsoft Surface’ . The device is a 30 inch display (surface) which comes with some basic applications. But its programmable. One such unit right now costs around 10,000$.

More Info at

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

http://www.selfserviceworld.com/article.php?id=17997

How to enjoy a Software Development Career!

Administrator — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:26:30 +0000

Just like any other career, Software Development does have it’s pluses and minuses, but how to minimize the impact of those minuses and thrive on the pluses?

Well! it mostly depends on the individual and his/her attitude. For me the best reason to be in this profession is the sheer diversity of things. In a given day I get involved with many technologies and domains, fixing even a minor issue gives me great satisfaction. I’m someone who easily gets bored by doing repetitive stuff. So Software Engineering keeps my adrenaline flowing.

For those of you who needs some motivation to keep you going in this profession, here is some great advice.

Hope this will keep you in the right mood for the rest of 2008! Have a great year!…………………………..

Summing up of 2007

Administrator — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:52:03 +0000

2007 was promising with lot of things happening. I joined Zone at the Very beginning of 2007 and was able to buy my first car in August. Was also stationed in Canada in June just a week after my B’Day for three weeks. Three things which i would remember for some time. Also there were many dissapointments, but all in all I found to live through all these and still continue.

2008 is going to be the deciding year. The take it or break it year. Career wise i look forward to build up certain skills to be more competitive and it would be a high priority. I would’nt comment on my personal life as things are not quite sorted out as yet. 2008 should be a year where I’ll rediscover myself!

Life is a journey, Its not a destination!

My Favourite Internet Hot Spots for the past few weeks.

Administrator — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:59:19 +0000

I think I am melting down a bit now after a couple of quite hectic weeks. While working, i have this habit of suddenly wondering around the net. So if i remember correctly I have been to these places mostly in that order.

1. del.icio.us

2. Facebook

3. Twitter

It has become like switching TV channels now! From one to the other.

Using Microsoft Case Studies in Guiding your Solution

Administrator — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:42:22 +0000

During the last couple of weeks, I was involved in some work which in my opinion is highly interesting providing me with a wealth of knowledge and opportunity. Basically, it was about proposing Software solutions for Client RFPs. Having to put forward solutions in different business domains with varying complexities was challenging. Yet again i find myself in a similar situation and yet another new domain with quite complex business requirements.

So how do we go about proposing a solution for such a project? As a Microsoft Gold Certified Company we are always on the look out for better ways of doing things and naturally i started looking at Microsoft solutions to tackle the various problems head on. But yet again there is a problem! Microsoft being the company it is has a myriad of products to suit quite different technology scenarios!

So how do i know which products to look for! and more importantly what were the ROI on those products? How they were typically pieced together to provide the final enterprise solution? Are’nt these valuable questions!

I doubt even a Seasoned Software Architect would know all these various Microsoft Products at his/her disposal, and how they were applied across various domains successfully!

So if there is a typical one stop shop to get this information from! Bingo!!!!!

Microsoft Case studies is a must for anyone who is looking for better information on Microsoft Products and their usage. These are very well written summaries of Past Experinces from the global Microsoft Partner Community on Solutioning their client requirements using Microsoft Products.

Please visit here for over 300 case studies. This is a better tool to search for the same information according to various criteria. These are Canadian Case studies, I’m looking for other country case studies as well, which if found will be posted here.