Cool Tool

For those who are dying to see an easier way of typing sinhala letters/words/sentences etc. here is a fun tool to get yourselves moving.

Real Time Unicode Converter, is a unicode translation service hosted by the Language Technology & Research Laboratory at University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC).

You just have to type the sinhala word as it is pronounced using English & the tool converts is to sinhala unicode real time.

This is how it is done.

The text you type - aayubowan! mei magei blog eka
Sinhala unicode converter output - ආයුබොවන්! මේ මගේ බ්ලොග් එක

Here's to seeing more sinhala letters on web pages!

Drive Smart - Save Loot

Driving in Sri Lankan roads is a nightmare at times! Heavy traffic, poor road conditions, little shopping malls on the pavements eating up one-third the road's width are a few of the many annoying things drivers have to run into. Of course driving comes at a cost, despite the comfort in travelling it brings. This little post is to tell y'all how to drive without burning too much deep a hole in your pockets.

Stay away from aggressive driving
I certainly could use this tip! ;-) I was like "oh-heck!", while reading an article about fuel efficient driving. Apparently, driving like a mad man & hard breaking eats up fuel as much as 40%. Plus it can also increase emission of greenhouse gasses by a considerable level. The right way of driving is to accelerate slowly & smoothly & hit the top gear as soon as possible. How feasible this is in SL roads remains a question though.

Stick to speed limits
Accelerating on highways always increases fuel consumption. It is reported that increasing your speed from 55mph(90 km/h) to 75mph(120km/h) can raise fuel consumption by as much as 20%. Driving at a constant 55mph can improve mileage by 10-15% under same conditions.

Avoid idling the vehicle
Not only does idling waste fuel, it also gets you no where & produces a lot of greenhouse gasses. If you are going to remain stationery for more than 30 seconds, except in traffic stop the vehicle.

Say no to poorly inflated tires
Make sure the tires are inflated properly. This prevents rolling resistance & in return can save fuel by as much as 6%. It is a good habit to check tire pressure at least once a month. Although it is not a good idea to inflate the tires to the "maximum allowed" level for that particular type of tire.

Drive in right gear
I think I am a little too lazy to change gears for some unknown reason. :-D. It is said that the best way to move about with stick driven vehicles is to accelerate smoothly & going up to the top gear as quickly as possible without accelerating too hard. Driving in a gear lower than you need wastes fuel; so does letting the engine labour in top gear on hills and corners.

Avoid the air-conditioner
Using the air-conditioner in a hot weather can increase fuel consumption by 10% in city driving. Rolling down shutters can help save fuel if you are driving at low speeds. But at high speeds driving with open windows may actually have an adverse effect due to the wind resistance.

Choose the right octane fuel
Most cars are designed for normal low octane fuel. Higher prices do not necessarily guarantee improved performance. Do not just blindly ask for higher-octane fuel unless you are certain that is indeed what your vehicle wants.

Service & Maintenance
Regular, timely service is indeed the way to go. A poorly tuned engine can use up to 50% more fuel and produces up to 50% more emissions than one that is running properly.

Turn off power accessories
Shutting off power consuming accessories, in your vehicle before turning off the ignition, can decrease the engine load the next time you start the vehicle up, hence saving fuel.

Park in the shade
Besides helping to keep your car cool, which reduces the need for air conditioning, parking in the shade also minimizes the loss of gas due to evaporation.

Tracking Tweets

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Oops! My Language Just Died!!!

The newest publication of UNESCO's Atlas of World Languages reads that about 6000 languages are facing some kind of threat that could eventually lead up to their extinction. 2500 of the 6000 languages are listed as endangered & 200 languages are completely dead & gone. The atlas ranks the 2,500 endangered languages by five levels of vitality: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct.

"199 languages have fewer than ten speakers and 178 others have 10 to 50. Among the languages that have recently become extinct, it mentions Manx (Isle of Man), which died out in 1974 when Ned Maddrell fell forever silent, Aasax (Tanzania), which disappeared in 1976, Ubykh (Turkey) in 1992 with the demise of Tevfik Esenc, and Eyak (Alaska, United States of America), in 2008"
- Quoted From The Publication

What are the dangers of a language becoming instinct?

• A language encodes local knowledge on a community's traditions, culture & ways of life. Death of a language will prevent those outside that community from being aware of diverse sociological behaviors.
• Medicinal secrets will also be veiled forever.
  
• Threat of losing valuable pieces of Literature, poetry & other aesthetics

Many organizations, following the UNESCO's initiative have joined hands together in preserving the endangered languages. Although the dead languages are beyond resurrection, there is still hope for those are in threat of disappearing from the face of the earth thanks to such concerned individuals.

To Standardize Or Not To Standardize

I recall the time I used to carry a pack of floppy disks with such pride, as if they were the world's most prized possession. A few years later I look back & stand in dismay wondering how "lame" I have been. Although I still have the floppy disks with my valuable files stored in them I am constantly worrying about being able to get the data when I need. Some of the modern day computing devices do not even have a floppy disk drive to read floppy disks.

Storing digital data is not so effortless as filing away a stack of papers. One has got to make sure that the format in which the data is available will supported by data processing devices in the years to come. Not only the unavailability of hardware & related software, but also data on storage devices are subject to corruption & decay. Hence the need of us being a little more proactive as far as long term data preservation is concerned.

Technology has come a long way since the days people wrote on stone slabs. Storing data on digital media is faster, economical and also saves paper! The need however is in establishing a standard in digital data formats just so that we can still dig out what we have buried 15 - 20 years afterward.

Kadir Speaks....

Kathiravelu Pradeeban Deviating from the typical technical blogs is the most attractive feature of your blog, I would say. It's nice to see you sharing the thoughts freely on the blog. It's like a one-to-one discussion. Thanks. I have had a really nice time, like moving through a fresher planet. I am happy to see more soon, in your collection...tc :)

Sachini Weerawardhana hey........wow....that was such a wonderful thing to say!! I have to say, it was indeed a pleasant surprise! I keep technical stuff away from my blog. I am not at all about bits & bytes although i wound up with a CS degree by some twist of fate ;) i have to admit i have a pretty poor collection of blog entries for someone who started blogging way back in 2006. But i am gonna pick that habit up from now onwards. Thanks Kadir! u should have ideally passed out the complement in the morning ;) at least i would have batted throughout the day with gusto had that been the case!!!

Kathiravelu Pradeeban Your blog is like a rainbow, with diverse ideas. I just enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it to my friends for a look.. :)

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I hope you won't mind my calling you Kadir! I thought of publishing this little conversation we have had through Facebook in tribute to all those who have read & commented on my blog.

Thanks you guys, for the perfect stimulant & the perfect sweetner

15 Things I Do Best

• 1) Waste time doing everything else but what must be done.

Yeah...for 26 long years I have been tormented with this great folly of mine. I find it extremely hard to concentrate on something for long enough to get it to a level that is termed as "satisfactory.

• 2) Getting myself into really awkward situations

Well...I would rather not elaborate on this point. This happens when the pimp inside me starts talking, more often than not. I go, commit something unexplainable in human terms, & sit around moping & musing over it for days.

• 3) Meeting new people

I believe myself to be a really easy person to make friends with. 15 minutes of conversation & if the second party's visions & ideas are in sync with mine, he or she is bound to get into a relationship they will not soon forget. No bragging! Now that I think about it, I can honestly say I have met the strangest people on earth, in my quest in making friends.

• 4)Music on the Move

I hate the radio I have in my car!! It is this silly Japanese model (as I have been told) that does not have frequencies above 90MHz. It so happens I love music. And I am so jealous of those who can play musical instruments. Something keeps telling me I am musically gifted. I am yet to find out how.

• 5) Forgiving & Not Forgetting

There are a few people who have wronged me in this little over 2 decades life of mine. Hmm....some of it self-inflicted actually. I of course believe that the best way to take revenge is by forgiving those who have wronged you. Therefore, if you are somebody who has tried to screw up my life, cast your fears away. You are fogiven! :-)

• 6) Feeling Inferior

Successful people, make me feel so uncertain of myself. I am never comfortable with such people, and I always end up looking silly & inapt! More often than not I have mistaken this to be jealousy; as in I am jealous of what they have accomplished. Much later in my life I realized that it was not a jealous attack! Just insecurity.

• 7) Lending my ears

Boy....this I have done countless times & still continue to do so. I am really proud of my pair of ears. Such capacity they have. Such stories they have heard. If only the ears had mouths of their own! Not only that would make me look like a complete freak, but also will have quite a few things to say to me about not adorning them with ear-rings.

• 8) Coffee

This is to all those who have accompanied me for coffee & also to all those who will be. Gracias!

• 9) Reading & Writing

Why did I not separate these two? Reading & Writing for me is like Ying & Yang! Each one complements the other & together they produce energy! I love reading & writing...although it took me an inspirational preso done by Samisa Abeysinghe - Director of Engineering WSO2 to start again on blogging after a 2 year layoff period.

• 10) Cutting Lectures

There is something sinister going on between my conscience & lectures I am taking. There is this little voice inside my head which beckons me to cut the lecture & go off wandering! If not for the 80% attendance threat looming over my head, I would have succumbed to the yearning a long time ago.

• 11) Falling Sick

For illnesses & diseases my life is a picnic! For so long I have been plagued by many a disease. I am not talking about fevers & colds & headaches! When I get it, the simple cold could turn into a couple of days at the hospital! Hospital food is nice. Only for the first two days though.

• 12) Sticking to the same wardrobe for an year

Not that I dont like clothes, I just hate shopping. I dont shop unless I see an absolute necessity for a new wardrobe. Usually mother yells & fusses. When her fussing gets too irritating I hit the town & shop till I drop. That usually shuts her up for a good one year.

• 13) Late night chats

Sumedha... This is for you ;-) . The latest I have chatted with you is until 2.45 am in the morning!

• 14) Cleaning Toilets

My bathroom is spic & span. And yes I have my own bathroom, which I let no one in! That little room is the cleanest place in the house!

• 15) Dreaming

My dreams are wild. Very Wild.