CJ's Blog

What is SOPA?

2012-01-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of status updates on Facebook and tweets going on regarding SOPA Blackout. Even, I shared the Wikipedia SOPA Blackout page. Even though I shared that link, I didn't know what the SOPA was. ;)
To figure out that, I Googled and found this interesting article. I'm sharing this for knowledge of everyone who follows my blog.

What is SOPA?

SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act. It is one of two bills being considered by congress today. The other is the Protect-IP Act.

They are well-intentioned. They want to prevent piracy and copyright infringement. But they do so in an overly-aggressive, innovation-endangering way. They allow the entertainment industry to censor sites they feel "engage in, enable or facilitate" infringement.

The issues with SOPA:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes SOPA as the "blacklist bill" because it would "allow the U.S. government and private corporations to create a blacklist of censored websites, and cut many more off from their ad networks and payment providers."

That means the Attorney General would have the power to cut off select websites from search engines like Google. It could also cut off advertisers and payment processors like Visa from the sites. The Attorney General could essentially kill all of a site's traffic and revenue in a matter of days.

SOPA only allows targeted sites five days to submit an appeal. That doesn't leave much time for them to defend themselves before losing their site and their revenue altogether.

What tech companies and innovators are saying about SOPA:

The heavy regulation SOPA implies isn't sitting well with many of tech's best and brightest. People from AOL, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Zynga, and Facebook have all signed a letter to congress that opposes SOPA. The letter states:

"Since their enactment in 1998, the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions for online service providers have been a cornerstone of the U.S. Internet and technology industry’s growth and success. While we work together to find additional ways to target foreign 'rogue sites,' we should not jeopardize a foundational structure that has worked for content owners and Internet companies alike and provides certainty to innovators with new ideas for how people create, find, discuss and share information lawfully online.”

What is American Censorship Day?

The reason you're reading about SOPA so much is because congress is reviewing both acts today. As such, EFF, Public Knowledge, Free Software Foundation and Demand Progress have named today American Censorship Day. They're encouraging people all over the web to fight for "Internet freedom."

Source: "This Is SOPA, The Crazy Bill Everyone In Tech Is Worried About," businessinsider.com, January 18, 2011.

"Nai Doova"—Bolgoda Lake

2011-08-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

"Nai Doova" is a small island located in the Bolgoda Lake in Piliyandala, Sri Lanka. Nai Doova is one of the 8 islands in the lake. Other famous islands are Ruskin Island, San Michelle Island, and Picnic Island. This island is called as "Nai Doova"—Cobra Island in English—due to a historical reason.

"People lived around the area used to dump all the reptiles caught in their backyards into to this island, that's why they call it as Nai Doova" Mr. Nimal (who's managing a small restaurant) told me.

Bolgoda Lake is a tributary of Kalu Ganga which starts from Adams Peak. It is presumed to be the largest natural lake in Sri Lanka, covers almost two thirds of the Kalutara district, extending from Anguruwatota to Piliyandala. It is also the largest fresh water lake in Sri Lanka. The lake's depth is said to be in the range of 20–50 feet.

There are number of restaurants and hotels established around the area. They provide facilities for activities such as half day or full day Eco Tours for sight seeing and Bird watching, Sun Bathing, Pedal Boats, Motor Boats, Rowing, Sailing, Trawling, Angling, Jet Skiing etc.,

One can get to this place by traveling on Colombo–Horana road. After traveling about 0.5km from the Piliyandala town, there is a road on to the right-hand side—called "Madapatha Road." Drive about 2km–3km on the Madapatha road and come to the Madapatha junction. From the junction, drive straight about 1km to get to this place.

Read more: http://chaletbolgoda.com/bolgodaLake.html

Well done LIONS! I am still proud to be a Sri Lankan!

2011-04-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

I was planning to write something on my blog today with a winning mind ... It is interesting, even after seeing our boys get defeated by Indians in the Worldcup final 2011, still I can write something with a winning mind set.

I saw on the facebook, some Sri Lankans are criticizing our players who had been their champions and heros until they scored 275 by batting first in the final. Isn't it unfair?

Our players played really well throughout the tournament and provided fantastic cricket entertainment to Sri Lankan cricket lovers. Check out the following records:

Dilshan is the No. 1 run scorer in this worldcup (500 runs in 9 matches, with an average of 62.5, and with a strike rate of 90.74)
Sangakkara and Tharanga holding 3rd and 5th position in that list scoring 465 and 395 respectively.
Do not forget, Mahela has scored more than 300 runs—304 to be exact—with the stunning inning he played in the final by scoring unbeaten 103.
Highest batting average of 93.00 hold by Sangakkara beating the "Man of the Series"—Yuvraj Signh.
Mehela, Dilshan, and Tharanga scored 2 centuries each while Sanga and Dilshan scoring 4 half centuries (50s) each during this tournament.
Dilshan scored the 3rd highest score (144), while Tharanga scoring the 5th highest score (133) in the tournament.
The legend Murali is in the 5th position by taking 15 wickets in the bowlers list. Do not forget the great commitment he showed even with having an injury.
Malinga holds the 2nd place of best bowling figures list by taking 6 wickets for 38 runs including a hat-trick.
The best wicket keeper in the tournament is Sangakkara. He has contributed in 14 dismissals by taking 10 catches and 4 stumping chances.
Most number of catches in the tournament has been taken by Mahela (9 catches).
Highest partnership of the tournament is 282 runs by Dilshan and Tharanga against Zimbabwe. Well, not only that, they even hold the 2nd place by scoring 231 against England with 2 unbeaten centuries.

I have a question for the guys who criticize the team in facebook. After reading all these records, are you guys still criticizing our players?

One would ask, don't you have a criticism against anyone? My answer is, "Yes I have ..."

That is against poor Chamara Silva. He played as a specialist batsman in the worldcup team. Following is his performance:

Against Canada - dnb; Pakistan - 57 runs 78 balls (SL lost); Kenya - dnb; Australia - dnb; Zimbabwe - 4 runs 2 balls; New Zealand - 3 runs 5 balls; Quarter Final - dnb; Semi final - 13 runs 25 balls
8 matches, 77 runs, 110 balls
Average 19.25 (4 innings)
Sangakkara took time until the final match to realize that there's no point of keeping him in the team anymore.

Other than that, it has been a wonderful overall performance by the Sri Lankan team.

I changed my status in facebook to "5 runs to loose the worldcup 2011 ... CONGRATULATIONS going out to India ... and for the LIONS of my country ... well played guys!!! Runners up!!!" when I realized that we're definitely going to loose the match today.

Right after loosing the match, I changed it to "Finally, Sanga's luck, Mahela's courage, Slingas of Maliga, and Dushra's from the legend Murali were not enough to bring the cup home ... but ... many congratulations to my team ... still I am proud to be a Sri Lankan :)."

Yes, I am still proud to be a Sri Lankan! Many CONGRATULATIONS to our Sri Lankan team and thank you guys for the great entertainment provided.

Regards,
CJ

China Passes U.S. As World's Top Car Market

2010-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

BEIJING—Automobile sales in China last year raced past the U.S. market for the first time to take the top spot, as Chinese government incentives helped sales surge 46% from a year earlier to 13.6 million vehicles amid a broader global slowdown.

December auto sales in China nearly doubled, increasing 92% from a year earlier to 1.41 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Monday.

Record sales in China last year coincided with the lowest sales total in the U.S. since 1982, as the credit crisis and the resulting slowdown in the economy prompted U.S. consumers to scale down ...

Source: http://online.wsj.com/

One of the Best Cricket Catches Ever

2009-12-23T23:24:00.001-08:00

Bill Gates on Sri Lanka

2009-07-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

To Get Rid of the Sad Feelings in My Mind

2009-06-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

My prediction of becoming world champions again under the captaincy of "Sanga" could have been true last night, if our team played at the same pace they used to play throughout the rest of the tournament. Anyway, I don’t want to criticize the captaincy or players by writing this note, because they brought wonderful entertainment by playing good cricket—I have few things to mention here to get rid of the sad feelings in my mind:

Although he scored some runs, "Sanga" didn’t lead the team: I must say that World Cup final match is not the correct time to try new things out. I have few question here:
- How did Jehan Mubharak come in 3rd in the batting lineup? I heard the same question was raised by both international and local commentators during the match. One might ask "what if that worked?" I would say, "Ya, that’s true ... but, the final match is not the correct time to take that sort of a risk."
- Why was Isuru Udana placed before Angelo Mathews in the batting lineup? Angelo Mathews played some sensible cricket throughout the tournament. He played well even though he was sent to the field during the latter stages of the matches. More importantly he remained not out, like he did yesterday. International commentators mentioned that he is an active player who is always "in the game" and not switched off during play. Instead of just playing the game, he has a good idea about what’s happening around. I would like to predict one more thing here. I feel Angelo Mathews will make a good captain some day. He demonstrates good qualities of a captain.

Sri Lankan players batted without responsibility from my opinion. They should have been more responsible, since it was the final match. Dilshan failed for the second time in this tournament at a crucial time. However, no one can blame at him because you can’t rely on one player at all times:
- What did Mahela do? Didn’t he see that there was a slip fielder? As the former captain of the team, he should have played more responsibly.
- Why did Chamara Silva play in the final game? He didn’t play at least one good inning throughout the tournament. Wasn’t there a replacement for him? Thilan Thushara, an all-rounder should have been a good replacement. If they wanted a batsman there were players like Indika De Seram.

Anyway now it’s all done, and I would like to congratulate the Sri Lankan team for becoming the runners-up—and thank them for the wonderful cricket they played throughout the tournament. At the same time, I wish good luck to Sangakkara for his guidance in becoming the runner-up team.

If it was an ordinary match vs. Pakistan I would say they can take this as a lesson and do better in future. But, It was the final match of the ICC T-20 World Championship 2009!

Fantastic Fielding Effort ... Very Clever ...!

2009-06-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews saving a six at the boundary line, during the match vs. West Indies in ICC T20-Twenty World Championship.
Not only the awesome fielding effort, he hits the stumps directly with his throw. wow!

New Captain ... New Beginning ...!

2009-06-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sri Lankan team has begun a new journey to be world champions again with the new captain Kumar Sangakkara.

Congratulations Kumar ...!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Sri Lanka ...!

I am proud to be a Kandyan ... proud to be a Sri Lankan too.

Regards,
CJ

Sri Lanka Is the World's Best Performing Stock Market This Year !!!

2009-02-23T00:03:00.000-08:00

Got a Volkswagen Beetle .... I Really Love It !

2008-12-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

Make: Volkswagen
Model: 1300 Beetle
Year: 1972

Bionic hand makes inventions list

2008-11-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

The world's first commercially available bionic hand has beenrecognised as one of the top inventions of 2008.

The hand, developed by Livingston company Touch Bionics, was named alongside the Super Hadron Collider in Time magazine's top 50 innovations.

It came in at 14th place, beating competition from the latest Mars Rover, designed to explore the red planet.

The hand took 20 years to develop and has five separately working fingers.

This makes it more versatile than previous hands, which have often been hook-like and limited to simple opening and closing movements.

The i-limb hand has a much wider range of capabilities. It has a credit-card grip, for taking hold of narrow objects, and a power hold for larger objects such as mugs.

'Tremendous achievement'

It is made of high-strength plastics, and the fingers can easily be unscrewed from the hand, making it easy to service.

Other prosthetic hands have to be removed entirely if they break meaning amputees are sometimes left for weeks without a hand while they wait for a repair.

More than 400 patients have now been fitted with the i-limb hand since its launch.

Touch Bionics chief executive Stuart Mead hailed the recognition as a "tremendous achievement".

He said: "We are delighted to have been identified by Time as one of the inventions of the year, a real honour for any innovative company."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

World's Cricket New Spinning Sensation - "Mystery Spinner" - Ajantha Medis Sets a New World Record!

2008-08-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hi All Cricket Lovers,

As I kept writing on Ajantha Mendis from the debut of his international cricket, it's the best time to write another note on him. The reason is, Ajantha—who's called as "Mystery Spinner delivers Carom Balls," has broken a 62 years old world record established by Sir Alec Bedser, who was an English bowler. Sir Alec Bedser had established his record in 1946.
Ajantha broke the record by taking 25 wickets in his debut test series—Bedser had taken only 24 wickets. Ajantha took the wicket of one of the world's greatest batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar to set this new world record. He finished his debut test series by taking 26 wickets.
Sri Lanka won the test series against India by 2-1—Ajantha was named as the man of the series.

CONGRATULATIONS Ajantha! All Sri Lankans are proud of you.

Read my previous posts on Ajantha Mendis:

Cheers
CJ

Introduction to Blogging—What is a "blog"?

2008-07-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Few people asked me questions like "what is a blog?" "What's the difference between normal website and a blog?" Here in this article I found a great answer for all the questions.
After reading this introduction, if you like to learn more on blogging, please refer to the link below.

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.
Many blogs focus on a particular topic, such as web design, home staging, sports, or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of other sites. And others are more like personal journals, presenting the author's daily life and thoughts.
Generally speaking (although there are exceptions), blogs tend to have a few things in common:

A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are organized into categories.
An archive of older articles.
A way for people to leave comments about the articles.
A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "blogroll".
One or more "feeds" like RSS, Atom or RDF files.

Some blogs may have additional features beyond these.

Learn more on blogging: Wordpress.org

Regards,
CJ

Proud to Be a Kandyan!

2008-07-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hi All, Here's the point table of Caltex-Leage Rugby tournament - 2008 as at Monday, July 21, 2008.

As at today, Kandy Sports Club is at the top of the table. Have a look.

Cheers!
Cj

A Star Is Born to the World of Cricket !

2008-07-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

According to the commentators of Asia Cup 2008 - Final cricket match "A New Star Is Born to the World of Cricket."
Can you guess who is that? None other than—my favorite—Mystery Spinner—AJANTHA MENDIS.
By the time I'm writing down this happy note, Sri Lankan Cricket team has won the Asia Cup -2008, with an outstanding performance by all the players. It was a fantastic cricket match to watch. Throughout all the performances, there are two things to mention specially.

"Master Blaster" still fires: It was another stunning inning of champion left-handed batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 125 runs facing only 114 balls. "Sana" is 39 years of age now. Still Sri Lankan team can't find a solution without him. When he gets going, no one can stop him. CONGRATULATIONS! "Sana." I am so proud of you as a Sri Lankan.
Second thing is very special for all the Sri Lankan cricket lovers. If I say this in one of the commentators words, "Sri Lanka has found another Murali." It was fantastic to watch. New youngster, Ajantha Mendis performed his career-best, which is 6 for 13 as India were bowled out for 173 to hand Sri Lanka the Asia Cup in Karachi. Sri Lanka won the match by 100 runs.

None of the Indian Batsmen could read the Mystery of Magician Ajantha Mendis. He has his unique techniques of balling, which is now called as "Carom Ball." It is because, he uses his middle finger to create this magic, which is used to strike at the Carom disc.
Ajantha Mendis won "Man of the Match," as well as "Man of the Series" award, showing his consistency of great performance.
He took 17 wickets in this Asia Cup cricket tournament. He performed his carrier best, as well as he is the holder of 9th best balling performance in the One-day cricket history now.

I would like to request from all the Sri Lankan cricket lovers to join with me wishing our new "Star of the Cricket World" all the success, all the courage to keep our mother lands flag up, everywhere in the world, by putting a comment on this post.

Dear Ajantha, CONGRATULATIONS on your outstanding performance. Keep it up!

Cheers,
CJ

Best PowerPoint presentation I've Ever Seen :)

2008-07-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Here's the best PowerPoint presentation I've ever seen. Put on your head sets. Have fun!

You can download the PowerPoint version here. If you want to have a look at the technical papers version being used please click here.

Cheers!

CJ

The Next Murali? | Ajantha Mendis

2008-07-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

Listen to what Colin Croft—West Indies (1977–1982), has to say about Ajantha Mendis.

23 Years Old Mystery Spinner—Ajantha Mendis

2008-06-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Full name: Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslo Mendis

Born: March 11th, 1985 Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Age: 23 years

Debut: Against West Indies, 1st ODI, Sri Lanka in West Indies 2007/08, Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, West Indies (on Apr 10, 2008)
Profile: Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Ajantha Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is. Mendis was a prolific wicket-taker for Sri Lanka Army in the 2007-08 season and had taken 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches. His performances did not go unnoticed for Mendis was called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of West Indies in April 2008.

He has been playing for Sri Lankan cricket team only 2 months and 20 days now. International cricket commentators calling him as, "Mystery Spinner" now—because of the variety of deliveries he has.

We were thinking that what would be the replacement for Muttiah Muralitharan, when Sri Lankan cricket team couldn't find a replacement for Sanath Jayasuriya, by the time he got retired from test cricket.
In fact, "Murali" and "Sanath" are champion players, who can't be replaced. But now, we have a new expectation about the future of Sri Lankan Cricket. That is with the promising new comer—"Mystery Spinner"—Ajantha Mendis.
Read the following articles on Ajantha Mendis. That will tell you the story.

Mendis joins Kolkata Knight Riders (May 18, 2008)
The future of Sri Lankan spin (Apr 28, 2008)
International men of mystery (Apr 28, 2008)
Mystery spinner (Apr 17, 2008)
We need to make a plan against Mendis: Bravo (Apr 12, 2008)

As Sri Lankans, please join with me to wish this promising new comer, all the success in his carrier.

Dear Ajantha, Keep up your great performance !!!

Cheers,
CJ

I Have My Own Domain Now ... Yeah!

2008-06-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am so happy to tell you that I have my own domain now. Which is www.chathuraj.com.
I integrated "Google Apps" by Google™ with Chathuraj.com.

So, I would like to introduce few of the Google Apps that I've integrated with my domain.

My own search page http://search.chathuraj.com
This runs on our favorite Google search. I can customize my search page in the way I want using number of gadgets provided by Google Apps.
Standalone e-mail server:
I can create number of user accounts (email IDs) for all my friends, which include my domain name. (e.g., yourname@chathuraj.com). Users can log-in to there email account using the link on http://search.chathuraj.com
As well as, using http://mail.chathuraj.com
Users of my email accounts can chat in Google™ Talk using their email IDs like "user@chathuraj.com."
They are provided with "Google™ Docs," "Google™ Calendar," "Google™ Sites," and many more.

My ultimate target is to collect all my good friends from my young ages, in to one place, since most of them have lost contacts with each other.

Please help me to get this success.

Feel free to email your thoughts at "chathuraj@gmail.com" or "thoughts@chathuraj.com."

Finally, I am glad to say a big "CHEERS" to Google™ for their excellent Google Apps.

Regards,
CJ

Web Content Administrator Vacancy @ Aranxa

2008-06-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Aranxa Software (Pte) Ltd., is a Software Products and Services delivery company in Nawam Mawatha, Colombo 02. Our development team requires the following skilled Web Content Administrator to support our on-going development projects.

REQUIRED SKILLS;

Upload new content, and update existing content on websites when needed, using mainly the Content Management System.
Quality check texts to be published on the web.
Contribute to optimizing content for web publishing.
Manage the Webmaster mailbox and follow up issues raised in incoming mails.
Provide support to web quality assurance, control and perform functional tests on websites.
Ensuring the proper functioning of websites and making sure that the links are correct.

RANGE OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS;

Experience of using a Web Content Management Systems.
Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and SQL.
High general IT skills, including professional experience of MS Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access).
Ability to understand and manage Database applications.
Experience of format conversions, production of PDF files and graphic manipulation.
Good communication skills.
Fluent in spoken & written English.
Team player.

Candidate should be prepared to travel overseas on project related work for short period of time.

Please send in your applications to naresh@aranxa.com with the mail subject line indicating clearly which position you are applying for. If there is a match between your profile and the requirements of this position, we will contact you for an interview.

Regards,

New Look to My Personal Website ...

2008-06-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I've given a new attractive look to my personal website. Still it's under construction though :)

please visit http://chathuraj.99k.org

I would like to have your thoughts. Please write down a comment on this post or email me chathura1922@gmail.com

Cheers!
CJ

Here I Am ...

2008-06-20T00:19:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

I just created my new blog account. I would like to say "Hi" to whole blogging community.

Keep in Touch!

Cheers,
CJ