Programming, Online Community, Web 2.0 and Sri Lanka
Had a weird feeling this Monday morning when not many cars were out and about. Something was not right. Got some sms last night to be alert today. Never got those before. Was almost done getting through the day when we heard the blast in Dehiwala. It was faint and we didn't think much of it at the time. 5 minutes later we got the news.
Another sad day in Sri Lanka with no end in sight.
Actually I'm just selling my car. Its a 2006 Maruti (Suzuki) Zen. Its a pretty basic town car.
Here are some details.
I'm expecting 1.25 mil. Make me an offer.
Picasa Web Albums - Dilantha - Zen
I've been getting some requests for small PHP projects. At the moment I'm not taking on any projects. If you still think I should have a look email me a specification or the requirement and I will try to give some feedback or recommend another person who might be willing to take it on.
Freelance developers! Please contact me with a brief of your skills so I can contact you when I get requests like this.
April 22 is Earth Day so I thought of spending my lazy Sunday morning looking at how to save the world! Here is what I came up with.
Lighting
Change to CFL bulbs for long running locations. I've noticed they bust sooner for short running lights like in the store room and bathroom. I've switched to 90% CFL. The units are down but the bill keeps going up (only in Sri Lanka).
Buy CFL's at an electrical shop rather than a supermarket. They will advise you better on which ones are better and where they will fit.
Consider motion sensors and timing units for lighting where appropriate. I have a motion sensor spot light at a dark corner of the garden and an automatic water pump system. I'm waiting for LED home lighting but I guess it'll be a while more till we get them down here.
Make use of daylight as much as possible. Move desks around knock down walls if needed. 
Heating and cooling
That last point helps with ventilation and cuts down on running fans all day.
Look at overall air flow in the house, use an exhaust fan where needed. Consider running the exhaust fan on a solar panel directly. When the heat is up the sun is up, use the free energy falling from the sky.
If you need heated water consider solar heating. If you have a electric water heater turn it down to the bare minimum you need.
Water
If you have space and a garden look at rain water harvesting. At least to water the garden. You can also filter it and use it to flush the toilet.
In the bathroom change to a low-flow shower head and a dual flush toilet. Use faucet aerators for kitchen and bathroom taps.
Electronics
We love our gadgets, but do they have to be on all the time? Stand by power still uses some power. Turn it off from the wall if you are not using it.
According to this a LCD TV is better than a Plasma. My aging CRT is close to a LCD so it'll do for the time being.
Reality
The cost of solar even CFL's are not cheap. Living in a third world country some of these things are not available to buy even if you have money. But press on, do what you can. Influence local government, inspire business to notice these things.
Links
Went to a supermarket in the morning. There was a 3 kg rice purchase limit on each brand. My guess is its due to the distribution gap because of the new year holidays. Nothing is panic about.
Then again are we going to hit a rice shortage? I still have no idea but its a good time to look back at how we got here.
I'm no historian but I've heard my parents talk about bread queues and rice restrictions due to social and economic experiments conducted my previous administrations. Is this a result of another experiment gone wrong?
I know many guys around here that would rather drive a tuk than get down into a paddy field and grow rice.
I overheard an army guy in the early days of the ceasefire who had come home to help out on the fields. He is probably back on duty now.
Most of my family now are professionals or trying to be white collar workers. There are only 2 people in my family that farm. Should we go back to basics and start growing again?
Cause it doesn't matter what you do or how much you make if there isn't any food to buy.
Update: there seems to be a stand-off between a price fix by the gov and some traders. Don't know more details yet. That means I have to check local news... yuk.
Right on the eve of Sri Lankan new year celebrations we loose power. Gee thanks LECO and CEB, thanks for nothing.
We never fixed our power issues. We just pushed it around and now looks like we'll be importing power from India. We should look at alternative power more seriously. Solar, wind, mini hydro etc.
We have not considered the oil-less, food-less future we are going to hit. Take your holiday; light more crackers; be with family and talk to them about this future. When you come back fuel and food will hit new highs and you'll have lots more to worry about.
There is never a dull day in Sri Lanka. In the middle of pre new year traffic I saw this guy.
Here is a good call by Dialog TV Forum.
For those who do not want "CiTi HiTz" - get it deactivated or pay
The tiny red text at the bottom of the Dialog TV Tariff page sayings something like this.
* CitiHitz is activated for a monthly rental of Rs. 50/-
* Channel C is offered to all packages Free of charge until 31 May 2008
I don't really care about 50 LKR but on principal its wrong to shove down a paid channel without asking. I noticed this CitiHitz crap while channel surfing, its not worth 50 cents.
Thanks again to Dialog TV Forum.
Update: I have personally opted out of Citi Hitz.
Dropped by a strange shop yesterday. It used to be a rice only place but now they have diversified into a very Sri Lankan fusion supermarket.
Starting off there is no air conditioning inside. Its very tropical, sweaty and dusty blending well with the outdoor roadside atmosphere. There are simple plywood shelves and many helpers running around. No price tags on individual items, this gets interesting later.
The background music is pirith (buddhist chanting) which is calming and keeps you in check.
The most interesting thing I noticed is the bar code guy. They have a basic cash register and no tags on items. So there is this guy behind the cashier that knows all the item codes in the cash register. He translates any item you give him into a code and the number of kilos, and he is very fast. No more delays with smeared bar codes.
Did you know you can get SMS reminders from Google Calendar in Sri Lanka? Well you can if your on Dialog or Tigo. Here's how.
Now when you add an event add a SMS reminder and you are set.
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