Thursday, July 24, 2008

Name THE place and THE species people must see in their lifetime

Our one and only planet has so many fantastic places and species that we're almost spoilt for choice.

And even though that choice is getting smaller...

...or in some cases the choices are disappearing (or more commonly referred to as going extinct)...

...there's still so much out there that stands out on this planet as amazing, astounding, and downright breathtaking...

So how do you Choose?
There's so much out there, how could you possibly choose 1 place and 1 species to recommend to someone else?

How about using these criteria:


1. What you are seeing makes your bottom jaw suddenly go slack and descend from your upper jaw by a couple of centimetres.
2. Your breath suddenly gets shorter.
3. There may be a camera in your hand but you also know that pictures alone are never even going to begin to convey the majesty of what' you're seeing with your own eyes...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The New Revolution: Open Source in the Enterprise

Open source technologies can be traced back to the late 1970s when Richard Stallman, a former programmer at MIT A1 Laboratories, launched the GNU Project and Free Software Foundation. The ultimate goal of the GNU project was to produce a free operating system. Since then there has been some significant GNU projects such as Apache (a www Server), Perl (interpreted program language) Mozilla (a www browser) and Linux open source operating systems supported by companies such as Redhat Corporation.

Today’s commercial information system architectures are complex in nature with many commercial vendors providing solutions in the areas of document management, company intranet portals, knowledge management, incident tracking, business intelligent reporting just to name a few. In many of these cases, you will be able to find open source equivalents that provide similar functionality.

There is several advantages in using open source solutions, these can be categorised into two major benefits (1) cost advantages (2) operational and functional advantages. Open source solutions to a large extent do not possess any significant license implications however you would be utilising a subscription based costing model thereby reducing upfront costs. From a operational and functional aspect these solutions are based on the LAMP application stack (Linux Apache MySQL and PHP) which are proven and stable/reliable platforms. Secondly, if an organisation is satisfied with the functionality of the open source solution, the upgrade path is determined by the organisation and not pushed by a third party vendor organisation. In most cases, the upgrade of commercial information system solutions is a expensive and taxing exercise which most small to medium (SME) business do not possess the time or money to undertake.

Over the last few years, there has been some key acquisitions of open source companies, including Sun Microsystems purchase of MySQL for a USD $1 Billion, Yahoo’s acquisition of Zimbra for USD $350 Million, Microsoft’s purchase of SpringSource for an undisclosed amount and Oracle Corporation’s purchase of Sleepycat. This trend is supported by a leading consultancy organisations Gartner who predict that by 2012, 80 percent of all commercial software will include elements of open source technology. Gartner conclude by saying that “Many open sourced technologies are mature, stable and well supported. They provide significant opportunities for vendors and users to lower their total cost of ownership and increase returns on investment” (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9863802-16.html).

Traditionally, one of the key barrier to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) adopting open source technology solutions has been due to the lack of support in implementing open source solutions. However, there are now many organisations which assist companies to translate their information technology landscape to utilise open source technology solutions. Open source technology solutions have also matured significantly during the last few years and can comfortably provide an effective alternative to commercial applications.

Open source technologies are particularly useful for companies that are seeking to re-structure their business processing. The advent of the internet has triggered the commercial market place for many companies to be global. Many SME’s are finding that with along with their global marketing exposure, certain business processes such as inventory management, product cataloguing accounting practices and logistics all require process improvement to compete in a competitive market. Open source solutions such as SugarCRM (open source customer relationship management application), OpenPro Inventory management software, and SQL Ledger (an double entry Enterprise Resource Planning software) provide solutions to improve these processes.

Any SME wishing to incorporate open-source technologies into their information system landscape should seek and partner with an open source solution vendor who can assist them in their open source journey.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Microsoft Tech·Ed SEA 2008 - Early Bird Promotion

Tech.Ed SEA, Microsoft’s premier and largest annual conference, is back with full force! Invite your customers to attend! This is the opportunity to experience and realize the full potential not only of the technology, but of their own! Early bird offer : Register before April 30, 2008 and save more than 45% on registration fee! To find out more, go to http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/techedsea2008/

Microsoft Searches Jump 15% After Live Cashback Launch

This isn’t enough data to declare Microsoft’s much derided Live Cashback search product a winner, but the first full month after it launched (June) shows a 15% gain in search volume v. the previous month, according to Comscore. This erases the previous month’s losses, bringing Microsoft up to 9.2% overall search share.

Live Search CashBack gives advertisers the option of offering users a direct rebate for purchases made after searching on Microsoft. The product shifts search advertising from cost-per-click (CPC) to cost-per-action (CPA) and give a lot of the revenue back to users.

Live Search Cashback isn’t designed to grab a ton of market share away from Google and Yahoo, but Microsoft is hopeful that more users will come to them when doing searches around buying goods online. And those queries tend to bring in the lion’s share of advertising dollars

Web 2.0 developers rank MSN/Live higher than Google, Yahoo and Facebook

Web 2.0 software developers ranked Microsoft's MSN/Live Windows developer program higher than competing programs offered by Internet leaders Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Facebook and PayPal, according to results of an Evans Data Corp. report released today.

The "Users' Choice: Web 2.0 Developer Programs" report is based on the results of a survey of more than 400 developers, who rated developer programs from the seven companies in 13 categories, including API functionality, blogs, marketing assistance tools/SDKs, Web services, documentation, support and forums. The Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. programs were ranked right after Microsoft Corp.'s. While the recent opening of Facebook's development platform has garnered lots of attention for the social network, it ranked next to last among the seven Web 2.0 development programs included in the survey. Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. also ranked higher than Facebook, with all of them ahead of last place PayPal Inc.

Microsoft scored high in user satisfaction for its Web services, software development kits, documentation and forums. In the Web services category, Microsoft came in on top this year after ranking last in the year-earlier survey.

"As Microsoft moved from the relatively closed-in MSN portal to the more Web 2.0 savvy Windows Live collection of services, users have begun to recognize it as a provider of top-notch Web services," according to the survey.

Google ranked second among the surveyed developers by scoring high on API functionality, available marketing assistance for Web 2.0, a solutions directory and options for ongoing communications like RSS. Yahoo ranked third in overall developer programs, dropping from its second-place finish in last year's Evans survey. The researcher said that Yahoo benefited from what users called strong technical resources. EBay dropped from third to fourth place in this year's ranking, with lower grades for its Web services program. The online auctioneer did get strong marks for the functionality of its APIs, marketing assistance, forums and SDKs. Facebook ranked sixth out of the seven developer programs in its first year in the survey. The most highly ranked feature of the Facebook program is the functionality of its APIs.

"While the company's API functionality is rated very high by developers (placing third among the field of seven), Facebook lacks the support resources to help developers," the study said. "Facebook fares poorly among users of its APIs for the available documentation, marketing assistance and ongoing communications. While there is tremendous interest in the Facebook social networking platform, Facebook still has not capitalized on the buzz by providing the supporting information to continue driving developer interest."

The report went on to note that Microsoft and Google allow users to profit the most from the applications they develop, through their integration capabilities and lack of downtime. According to Evans, 26% of developers using Microsoft's MSN/Live programs said they have generated "significant" profits from it, while 23% said the same for PayPal, 15% for Amazon, 13% for Google and 10% for Facebook. Meanwhile, 38% of developers said they had not benefited financially from using eBay's developer program, while 36% said the same for Yahoo, 33% for Amazon, 27% for Google , 20% for PayPal and 9% for Microsoft.

Developers say they have had the most difficulty integrating their applications using the Facebook technologies -- 77% said they had experienced at least some degree of difficulty integrating Facebook technologies with their apps. Facebook was followed by eBay and Yahoo as the hardest to integrate. Only 40% of developers said that Amazon technologies are difficult to integrate, while 45% said the same of Google. The companies that developers said offer the strongest integration capabilities are Microsoft, Amazon and Google.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

New Memory Capacity on Cisco 2600XM Series Multiservice Router

Two new features are being introduced on all Cisco® 2600XM Series multiservice routers. The first is a new 128-MB synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) dual in-line memory module (DIMM) for use in all new and existing Cisco 2600XM Series multiservice routers. This new 128-MB DIMM offers higher-density memory, providing the ability to support memory increases to 256 MB of DRAM (with the correct ROM monitor [ROMmon]). All Cisco 2650XM Multiservice Router, Cisco 2651XM Multiservice Router, and Cisco 2600XM bundles and upgrades to 128 MB of DRAM are now shipping with one 128-MB SDRAM DIMM instead of two 64-MB SDRAM DIMMs. This allows for the second slot to remain open for future memory expansion up to 256 MB.

The second announcement is a new internal ROMmon on all Cisco 2600XM Series multiservice routers. This new ROMmon simply provides the "future ability" to upgrade the Cisco 2600XM Series to 256-MB DRAM. Currently the maximum memory used by Cisco IOS® Software is 128 MB. Some future Cisco IOS Software releases will use more than 128 MB of memory and will require this new ROMmon support to provide access to memory between 128 MB and 256 MB. Cisco IOS Software usage of more than 128 MB of SDRAM (in specific software images) is scheduled for October 2004 or sooner.

Changes are being made to address the following:

• Support for up to 256 MB of DRAM for future memory increases past Cisco IOS Software Release 12.3 Mainline

• Memory scalability for greater feature and service enhancements in Cisco IOS Software releases 12.4T and 12.5M

• Ability for customers to maximize memory capacity for future growth, without adding future service costs for adding memory at a later date.

• Commitment to Cisco 2600XM Series longevity

Cisco New Routers - Everything but the Kitchen Sink

It seems everyone is talking about Cisco’s new routers that were launched todayI just got off a phone briefing with Cisco to discuss their new routers.

Essentially, today Cisco introduced what they are terming the new "Cisco Integrated Services Router Portfolio". The basic aim of the new line of routers is “our goal is an integrated systems approach to embedded services speeds IP communications deployments, while reducing operating costs and complexity.”

It’s a Router, it’s an IP-PBX, and it’s Voicemail All Rolled In One…
The new router line features secure voice, call processing, voicemail, auto attendant, voice trunks, transcoding, and conferencing – all in one integrated platform. Cisco has thrown everthing but the kitchen sink into their new routers!

Indeed they have embedded and integrated functionality for deployment flexibility, including motherboard digital signal processing slots for voice/fax modules, Cisco CallManager Express call processing, Cisco Unity Express voicemail and auto attendant, voice module for increased analog & BRI densities, as well as voice signaling encryption via embedded Virtual Private Network (VPN) hardware. They’ve also added DSP flexibility by letter customers choose the number of DSPs they need. In addition, it now has support for the Cisco Communicator and the cool Cisco 7970 Color Phone, as seen here:




Further, I have learned that Cisco is preparing Linux-based cards to go with the new routers, allowing them to run applications not based on the company's Internetwork Operating System (IOS). To power all of this “included” functionality, Cisco has definitely added some “punch” to their new router line. The new line has 5X better voice density, 7X performance, and 4X memory - all while bringing down the price point to compete with Juniper Networks which recently acquired Netscreen Technologies. But here’s the key difference - while Juniper Networks does a good job of integrating firewall, VPN, intrusion detection, anti-virus, and other security mechanisms, there is one thing sorely lacking. Take a wild guess…. they’re lacking VoIP support. That’s a big piece of the puzzle that Cisco has neatly integrated into their product line. I for one cannot think of a single major router company other than Cisco that has advanced VoIP support!


Take a look at Cisco Call Manager Express v2.0 features which is installed on these new routers and enabled via license keys. It comes in two flavors:
Advanced Integration Module

14 hours of voice message storage (beginning with Release 2.0)

Up to 4 simultaneous sessions/ports

Shipping since April 2004

Supported on Cisco 2801, 2811, 2821, 2851 and 2691, 2600XM, 3700

Lower entry platform and price point

See what's new with Windows Live




With Windows Live, you'll get software and services that make what you can do on your PC and the Web just that much more amazing. Think of it as enhancing the power of the Windows experience combined with the limitless possibility of the Internet. The beauty of it is, everything works together so you can connect and share how and when you want.

Microsoft’s Annual Revenue Reaches $60 Billion


Fastest annual revenue growth since 1999 fuels 32% increase in earnings per share.


Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $15.84 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2008, an 18% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.68 billion and $0.46, representing growth of 42% and 48%, respectively, over the same period of the prior year.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, Microsoft announced revenue of $60.42 billion, an 18% increase over the prior year. Operating income and diluted earnings per share for the year were $22.49 billion and $1.87, representing yearly growth of 21% and 32%, respectively.

The growth rates for operating income and diluted earnings per share were impacted by a $1.1 billion charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007 related to the expansion of the company's Xbox 360 warranty coverage.

"Delivering $60 billion in annual revenue is an outstanding accomplishment and a testament to the powerful combination of great technology solutions and strong execution by our partners and global sales and marketing teams," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "The outlook for fiscal year 2009 is positive given the breadth of our impressive technology portfolio and the expanding collection of online services we are bringing to market."

This fiscal year marked the launch of Microsoft's flagship server products: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Revenue growth was primarily driven by continued customer demand for all products, including Windows Vista, which has sold over 180 million licenses since launch, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, server software, and Xbox 360 consoles and games.

"We had a strong finish in the fourth quarter, which capped off an impressive year for the company. We grew revenue 18% for the year with earnings per share significantly outpacing that," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "Looking forward, despite difficult economic conditions, we will build upon the momentum exiting fiscal year 2008 and expect to deliver another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth in fiscal year 2009."

Business Outlook

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending September 30, 2008:

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $14.7 billion to $14.9 billion.

Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.0 billion.

Diluted earnings per share are expected to be $0.47 or $0.48.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2009:

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $67.3 billion to $68.1 billion.

Operating income is expected to be in the range of $26.3 billion to $26.9 billion.

Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.12 to $2.18.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Does Astrology Have A Rational, Scientific Basis?




Is there any conceivable way that the celestial location of stars, planets, and nebulae at the time of one’s birth could influence an individual’s personality, career, health, marriage and a host of other personal events?

The origin of astrology lies in pagan superstition. But does it work? Until the sixteenth century, the earth was believed to be the center of the universe, with the sun, moon, planets and stars revolving around this all-important center of activity.

But the heliocentric universe of Copernicus (1543) dethroned the earth. And since then, the advance of astronomical knowledge has relentlessly pushed the earth farther and farther from any privileged position in the cosmos. The sun too, has been demoted to an inconspicuous suburb in a rather unexceptional galaxy, in a relatively small group of galaxies, in a universe of uncounted billions of stars.

In such a universe, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe the heavens were created to have some sort of special influence on the earth and on individual humans in particular. How could such an influence occur? Through gravity? Radiation?

The immense distances encountered in the universe - usually measured in light years - rule out any such influences. The gravitational attraction of the doctor standing at the delivery table would be far greater than the gravitational influence of any star or galaxy, on a new-born baby.

And the radiation form even the brightest star would be thousands of times weaker than a single light bulb in the delivery room.

The conclusion seems inescapable: No known force emanating from the constellations of the heavens could be expected to exert a unique, life-long influence on anyone.

Even if the stars did exert an ever so subtle influence at the time of an individual’s birth, can anyone seriously believe their influence is important when compared to the multitude of much stronger environmental forces on earth that directly affect our lives?

All life on earth is affected by periodic changes in the environment. Such cyclic variations are often the basis for natural rhythms called biological clocks. The most obvious example is the rising and setting of the sun; a daily cycle of light and dark which directly affects the activities of virtually all pants and animals.

The seasons, caused by the earth’s revolution around the sun, also have a marked annual influence on living things. Similarly, the tides, driven primarily by the gravitational attraction of the moon, affect countless creatures in the sea on roughly a 12-hour basis.

Research has demonstrated that man too may be perceptibly influenced by lunar and solar radiation and/or gravitational attraction. However, such celestial cycles operate on all men, regardless of when or where they were born. Indeed, the readjustment of one’s biological clock after a change in environment - as occurs in “jet-lag” - proves that such biological cycles are not immutably fixed. Rather, each persons bio-clock can be revised and reset numerous times throughout one’s life as the environment changes.

There’s no question that biological rhythms and clocks are often linked tot he motions of the sun and moon. But this in no way justifies the belief that astrological signs and the position of the stars, planets, sun or moon at the time of birth can be used to predict one’s future.

The Bible labels the worship of the heavens as idolatry (Deut. 4:15, 19, RSV). Of course, astrology buffs can always claim that they are not really worshipping the heavens; just relying on them for certain “important’ information. Yet the fact remains that astrology has no scientific basis.

The prophet Daniel encountered astrologers in Nebuchadnezzar’s court: “Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them: but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof” (Dan.4:7). Daniel found the astrologers totally ineffective. And so have modern-day scientific studies.

“The astrologer is often better able to read his clients wishes than to predict the alleged destiny implicit in the celestial bodies,” said professor of philosophy, Paul Kurtz. “Yet the true believer still insists that astrology is basically true in some mysterious way.”

“There are obviously millions of people who believe this astrology stuff,” said Dr. Linus Pauling, twice a Nobel Prize winner, “and I think it is worthwhile to explain that it has nothing whatever to do with scientific fact.”

In the final analysis, the overwhelming evidence is that astrology is little more than an entertaining form of pseudo-sophisticated superstition.

One day night








You changed my world with a blink of an eye
That is something that I can not deny
You put my soul from worst to best
That is why I treasure you my dearest Marites

You just don't know what you have done for me
You even pushed me to the best that I can be
You really are an angel sent from above
To take care of me and shower with love

When I'm with you I will not cry even a single a tear
And your touch have chased away all of my fear
You have given me a life that I could live worthwhile
It is even better everytime you smile

It so magical those things you've made
To bring back my faith that almost fade
Now my life is a dream come true
It all began when I was loved by you

Now I have found what I am looking for
It's you and your love and nothing more
Co'z you have given me this feeling of contentment
In my life something I've never felt

I wish I could talk 'til the end of day
But now I'm running out of things to say
So I'll end by the line you already know
"I LOVE YOU" more than what I could show

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

$500 Oil, are the Liberals happy?

Williem Buiter paints a gloomy picture about a world with $500 oil. He thinks when it comes to Oil prices, "sky is the limit". With ever increasing demand from places like India and China, he thinks Oil prices will continue to rise in spite of a global economic slowdown, all of which he thinks will adversely affect the poor.

I find that plausible. High oil prices may not be the driving factor behind Sri Lanka's inflation, but it does have a say in everyone's cost of living.

This reminds me of an exchange between me and friend , where he (and a surprising number of my liberal tree-hugging friends, I might add) think that this high oil prices is actually a "good thing". Their argument is that high oil prices will lead to behavioral changes towards less energy use and incentivise alternative energy use I certainly agree but I don't think that's is enough to call high oil prices a "good thing". You will have to consider adverse consequences on the poor and commerce in general before coming into such conclusions. Forgetting all of that is succumbing into the church-of-gore global warming hysteria, which by the way, Idon't think of as being "hippie" but simply, elitist. American-liberals shouldn't impose their values to people who cannot afford them. The same goes for democrat obsession about imposing environmental and labor standards in trade agreements for countries which can barely afford them.

For my part, I don't think of high oil as being either good or bad, high prices just are. In some ways, we should be happy about it. This means that millions of Indians, Chinese (and even some Sri Lankans) are climbing out of poverty and able to afford automobiles and in general, more quality of life. For some reason, this part of the story is often neglected.

However, I'm not as optimistic about the benefits of high oil rise, particularly for developing countries. There are several reasons for this,

First, thanks to high taxes and inefficient refinery, we already have higher gasoline prices at the pump, compared to the U.S. even without considering the heavy subsidies given to cover the daily losses of the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

Secondly, any breakthrough from alternative-energy research is unlikely to be spawned by places like Sri Lanka, although my Indian friends might beg to differ. So while global price rise may indeed help incentivise alternative energy research and adaptation, it doesn't justify high taxes in places like Sri Lanka.

Thirdly, behavioral changes in the magnitude that we are seeing in the U.S. and other developed countries are unlikely to be seen in places like Sri Lanka. This is because, high consumption of gasoline in the U.S. is partly due to exuberance -- air travel, SUVs, long trips, so on. and when gas prices rise, Americans change their behavior. So SUV sales are down and Americans are driving less. But consumption of gasoline in places like Sri Lanka has more to do with necessity. Most Sri Lankans use public transport, which doesn't have good alternatives. As for people who are used to driving cars, public transport won't be appealing, given it's poor quality. So even if behavioral changes come (and it will) they will be smaller compared to the U.S. and at a greater cost in terms of living standards of average Sri Lankans.

So no, I don't think high oil prices are a good thing.

But I do have faith in human ingenuity, that when price of oil becomes unsustainable we will find alternatives. I don't know what that alternative is, I don't know whether it's solar, wind or nuclear. I don't know whether we will drive electric cars, or cars which runs on water or hydrogen. But what I do know is we will keep on driving.

For much of human existence, petroleum was a useless, gooey, waste product, until we figured out we can use it for energy. Similarly, we will find something else which can serve the same purpose. Humankind got out of the stone age, not because we ran out of stone, but because we found out new and better things. Similarly, we will come out of the oil-age, with something new and better. But in the meantime, let's be rational about the benefits of high priced oil.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Obama new poster

Despite vowing to oppose unauthorized wiretapping legislation, senator Obama decided to flip-flop on the issue and support wiretapping bill anyway. This is now one of many 'policy shifts' by Obama scrambling to center of the spectrum after taking a ride on to the left to get not-so-well-off democrat votes to win the primaries. So much for "Hope" and "change" the way washington does business. See This NY Times editorial and the economist article for more of Obama's centrism. This doesn't come as a suprise for me, but Obama it should be clear to everyone there is a huge difference between the real and the imaginary Obama.

Hey wt do you think that person??



Using water (3L) run 80 km.Wt a amazing revolution?? Our president also help for him..Please join with him and help him...

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