Wela's Blog

Well! This is not about the movie. Just an idea.... We all know that Vista, Office 2007, IE 7 and Media Player 11 are in the pipe. Currently I'm using all 4 beta versions. Even though there are lots of bugs at the moment it really feels like these 4 are going to be a kick ass combination.

Vista: resource utilization is bit high though, but MS claims that it will run on any machine that can afford Windows XP, let’s wait and see. However I think people will pay that extra buck to go for a better PC and experience the kick ass glass stuff and many other cool things in Vista. Office 2007: What can I say? Over the past 10 years Office applications have changed the way we work in our day to day work. I think Office 2007 will take that to a new level of user experience. But for most of the users there will be a big learning curve. But I don’t think that will be a big issue. Exciting new UI will be the driving factor for them to put some extra effort to learn the things. IE 7: Compared to the previous version this is a big enhancement, but if compared with Opera Browser that has more features than IE. So it’s up to us to choose. Media Player 11: I think it’s too early to say anything about it. Beta released couple of days back looks only like a UI enhancement for the version 10.

What about the Resource Utilization? Memory, HDD etc?
If the same question was asked about 5 years back, I would definitely have given a different answer. May be something like... 'how on earth are we going to machines to run all these software' or 'looks like Microsoft has gone nuts, are they gonna give machines to run these'. BUT now things are in a level nobody bothers of spending couple of extra gigs to install an application.

I’m pretty damn sure that my machine can afford to run any of this stuff . Because it’s powered with 3.06 Ghz Processor, 4 Gig RAM, 256 MB VGA, altogether 660 Gig Disk Space, DVD Burner and a 17” LCD. Once a friend told that I’m nuts to have a machine like that. Another friend asked how I became that rich to afford something like that. Well! That’s a good question. Rich ... ME … naaaahhh! not even close to at least think about that; Secret is I have a ‘Wela’s Computer Renewal Fund’ which I allocate some money almost every month, and also a portion from all the freelanced projects I’m doing. So at the end of some time slot I have cash to get a new PC without any problem. And the next attraction is a Duel Core (may be quad), with 4 Gig RAM, couple of TB of Disk space, 1 Gig VGA (will be available when I’m going to buy the next machine), and most importantly a big ass screen … may be a 30”. What the hell am I going to do with a machine like that? Do coding, play games, of course Movies … and what the hell ... Enjoy the feeling.  Right at this moment I think only a half of the required funds are ready and I have more than 1 ½ Years to fill the rest. Anyways no clue about how the pricing will be. Hey! Any of you buddies want to contribute

Here’s some exciting news from your local .NET home. A very little while ago, the Sri Lanka Dot Net Forum’s user base hit a staggering 2000 and we consider this an important milestone for the Microsoft.NET journey in Sri Lanka.

Starting off with a small set of enthusiasts in the industry three years ago, we have been cruising in a very interesting path to reach where we are today and have achieved many feats both as an online resort for .NET technology as well as the events that we represent as a user group. We believe that www.dotnetforum.lk has been the other alternative to Google and MSN when it comes to .NET issues. If you are one of them, then you made the right choice.

Our community has also been able to produce many MVPs from Sri Lanka while also giving us the opportunity to identify the key contributors online and also at various activities carried out by us offline. We are confident that your enthusiasm and hard work will be a contributing factor to the potential of being rewarded in the days to come. Hats off to all you who contributed immensely and we look forward for your continuous support to the community with dedication and passion. It was always nice to have had you on our side.

Kudos to our founders and mentors, Ed Quek specially, and also Stanley Tan, who made this feat possible for us. Even though Ed maintains his humbleness saying that “it was just his job to help us and that all credit should go to the volunteering community”, we consider it a great move to have got things started at the right place and right time and backing us till this day to make this moment a reality.

We will not forget the support we received from Microsoft Sri Lanka in all our activities and especially the opportunity given to us, to be a part of all their events taking the limelight. Sriyan, Jinashri, Indica, the rest of the Microsoft team and very specially Alan deserve a great big “Thank you” for being there for us.

Most importantly, we extend our sincere gratitude to all the members who have banked on the forum. Even though, many of you didn’t have the opportunity to contribute, you made it possible for our forum to be a part of one of the most lively, truly global, technical communities driven by Microsoft with the intention of taking the development world to greater heights.

Best Regards,
Sri Lanka MVP Team
(Merill, Manzi, Jinath, Ruwan, Pras, Buddhike, Dinesh and Wela)

Extracted from the .NET Forum Mailer

ImagineCup 2006 Sri Lanka final round competitors are preparing for the big day in a rush. To help them Microsoft Sri Lanka has organized a mock-up round of presentations today. There will be no judging happening on this.

Whole idea is to give them the feeling of doing the presentation to a big audience. Well! Today's audience will be only MVPs and MS SL team.

See ya all there guys ...

Well! A situation like that is not at all a happy one. I know that for sure because a long time back I have worked under a BOSS like that. Ultimately things ended up pretty bad. I still remember a very good example. Boss who I'm talking about was a great guy in shipping industry related stuff, and so he was very much familiar with this document called CUSDEC I & II. Problems started When we got a project to automate the process of filling and printing the CUSDEC. This is a pretty complex document with about couple hundred small boxes to be filled and hundreds of calculations etc. Also printing it on the pre-printed official document is a nightmare. Guys who have worked in a similar projects knows what i'm talking. When the development team presented the time plan to code the things, our boss fired back saying 'my guys in the shipping company takes only half a day fill a CUSDEC, so why the hell you guys need so many weeks to code it'. What can IT guys say in a situation like this except saying to f*** o**. We tried to explain the situation and later we gave up, because it was hopeless. Finally everything about that company ended.

Just thought about writing about it because I know there are lot of guys who are working under similar situations. So, what can u do if you are in a similar situation. Well! there are couple of options as I see it. First is to explain the reality, good if he understands, everyone will be happy at the end. However as I see final solution will be you'll have to find your self a new job, (or may be your boss should).

But on the other hand there are very successful companies in the world where the Big-Boss don't know much about IT. I wonder how that is.

Was too tired of working and was really planning to spend today, tomorrow and day after with a light cool schedule @ home. Well! today morning was a stressful one due some problems, and tomorrow and day after holiday plan seems like going to be a fucked up one due to have to head to office in the morning .. to settle some urgent stuff. So much for my holiday plans.

I wonder when I'll be able to take a true leave for couple of days ... may be never ... or may be soon ??????????????????

Saw this while checking Gizmodo, and I couldn't believe it and it seems like true. Because many sites confirms the news.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4962466.stm
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31391
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/ebay/man-wants-refund-on-jet-he-bought-on-ebay-172753.php
http://english.pravda.ru/fun/2002/11/12/39416.html

I wonder what eBay is up to. Well! everybody knows that anybody can sell anything in eBay ... including any crap ... hell! if you want you can sell you old shoes on eBay, there will be a buyer for sure.

BUT, a MIG-21 Fighter Jet in working condition on eBay &#*#*!)@#&(*@#!@#& ... where the hell are the security, policies, rules etc etc. Never mind, someday very soon some crazy guy will sell a nuclear bomb on eBay ... or may be it is already available ... check check check !!!

Sri Lanka is down another MVP. Well! not yet 100% official I guess. We were happy when Imran was selected because the MVP pool went up by another one. But he didn't get a chance to enjoy the privileges of MVP due to he lost the title because he joined Microsoft Sri Lanka. Anyways, this time it's not him, It's Ruwan ... Last week he moved to Singapore, for one year I guess. According to the info gathered while talking with him he is going to be listed under Singapore MVP List. So we really are going to miss you bro. Wish ya all da best

So now it is my self, Merill, Manzi, Pras, Jinath, Buddhike and Dinesh.

Biggest problem is what will happen to Tech2Guys? Last Thursday we were suppose to have the May IT Pro User Group Meeting. But couldn't. I received several calls regarding the meeting, which means there are many enthusiasts. We'll see what's gonna happen to the user group meting. However online form will go on.