Microsoft Surface - New Era of Computing

I heard buzz about this Microsoft Surface computing for several days, but by chance found the Microsoft link for the Surface-computing web. I guess this is the change what we expect from the computing world; there are lots of hopes about new computers made up of neurons for fast response or use of optical technology for hasty data transfer. At least we have something new to try out soon. Surface computing!!! I’m wondering how it feels. When I first saw the new Apple iPhone which is going to be released on June 29th, there is a fundamental similarity between Microsoft Surface and Apple iPhone. Both of them actually trying to provide real time feeling actually touch , not touch of a button. Its like computers and techs we saw in Sci-Fi’s. New Era of technology.

Wanna know more about the Microsoft Surface.......

Microsoft Surface represents a fundamental change in the way we interact with digital content. With Surface, we can actually grab data with our hands, and move information between objects with natural gestures and touch. Surface features a 30-inch tabletop display whose unique abilities allow for several people to work independently or simultaneously. All without using a mouse or a keyboard.

While the first Microsoft Surface units won’t hit the market until winter 2007, over the coming months you’ll have opportunity to get hands on with surface at a host of events.

SIGGRAPH Conference, San Diego, CA August 5-9, 2007.

Read more?
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Apple iPhone - Available on June 29th, 2007

What will happened if I’m not using Tmobile and not in a situation of a 2 year contract for Tmobile plan, I wanna definitely buy this monstrous phone, Apple iPhone. The phone is expected to come out in June 29th 2007 in USA, Europe in the fourth QTR and Asia in 2008 and it will be available exclusively on Cingular for $499 on a two-year contract for the 4GB version and $599 for the 8GB version.

The Apple iPhone is not just a phone - it is a phone, music player, video player, internet device, and camera all in one. Like its Apple iPod Nano and iPod video cousins, the iPhone is slim and sleek at just 11.6mm thick, 2.4-inches wide, and 4.5-inches tall.

Steve Jobs has such confidence in the new iPhone that he has said he wants to sell over 10 million of them by 2008. I think he's setting his sights a little low, and project that Apple will sell over 10 million iPhones in less than 6 months. With the following that Apple has, and the fact that this device has been rumored about and anticipated for almost four years now, it shouldn't be too far out of the realm of possiblity.
iPod Features:
The Apple iPhone is a widescreen iPod that features touch screen controls that allow you to enjoy all your content, including audiobooks, music, TV shows, and movies. It features an amazing 3.5-inch widescreen display, and allows you to sync content from your iTunes library on your PC or Mac, making that content also accessible with just the touch of a finger.

iPhone users will be able to scroll through songs, artists, albums, and playlists with just a flick of a finger. One cool new feature of this function is the display of album artwork - you can now use Cover Flow to browse your music library by album artwork for the first time on an iPod.

Kyle XY - ABC Family Sci-Fi series

A few weeks ago, I saw a post at Indika's blog regarding an exciting dram series (I guess it is Sci-Fi) called "Roswell High". So I thought its better to mention another one, which is popular in US these days. One good thing about this is you can even watch it for free using the streaming. Its called Kyle XY and if u r at US, u can see it on every Monday at 7pm (I guess this is the correct time, check your local ABCFamily TV guide for more info) on ABC Family TV channel. If you wanna watch it online, here's the link for ABC Family watch site. Nim and me started with the "Kyle XY series one" I guess after the first episode. But I missed lot of episodes due to my working schedule, Nim never miss any :) Fortunately before the second series starts, ABC Family channel repeated the "series one" last Sunday, one after another.

So what is Kyle XY????

"A teenage boy is found wandering alone. He has no name. He has no past. As innocent as a newborn, he doesn't speak and he seems to look at the world as if for the first time. With no place else to take him, the police send him to juvenile hall where he's given the name Kyle. It's obvious that Kyle isn't like the other kids, but when it's discovered that he has no bellybutton, an administrator begins to realize just how different Kyle might be. He calls in Nicole Trager, a kind-hearted social worker, to help with the case. Sensing something special about Kyle, Nicole takes him home, much to the chagrin of her husband, teenage daughter and boisterous young son.

Settling into the Trager's busy household isn't easy. There is so much Kyle doesn't know, and yet he demonstrates amazing abilities no one can explain. His talents are just the tip of the mystery, and the questions are just starting to grow: Who is Kyle? Where did he come from? Who is the man watching him?

Every day, Kyle encounters something new.....music, a pretty neighbor, a wild party, danger, lies, jealousy, humor, touch, trust, love. And each day, the Tragers think they are getting to know him. But the mystery surrounding Kyle is just beginning."

Wanna read more about Kyle XY?

Money, Others, and Me

Today I just thought, why we earn (and specially save) money? Whether it is Sri Lankan rupees, US Dollars, Euros, Yens.......whatever, I guess this is what I think about it (say my perspective)

For happiness?
Extra lavishness?
For upcoming success?
Outdo the others! (Relations or friends)
Feel the comfort?
Life along peace & harmony (except happiness)
Healthier life (why money for this? I guess just to pay the bills. Simple it is)
Give helping hands (first we need to be stand to give others hand)
To be stand with less helping hands
See the unseen (purely to visit the places we never did so, nothing else!)
Be on the safer side (no worries)
Feel protected
Reach un-reached (goals)
Realize dreams

But what others think (and say) about it?
Selfishness
That's what the others think. I'm speechless

Prof. V.K. Samaranayake passes away – this salute is for you professor

Well-known Emeritus Professor of Computer Science, V.K. Samaranayake has passed away on the night of 6th June 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden.

This is shocking news; he was the founder of the BIT (Bachelor of Information Technology- External) program at the University of Colombo (UCSC). Thanks to him lots of people, including me got the opportunity to step into the IT world. Specially because of the knowledge I gained from the BIT let me to perform exceptionally in my internal undergraduate program at the University of peradeniya to get the exclusive computer science special entrance (just a 13 computer specials students out of 100+ computer students from the faculty)
Prof. V.K. Samaranayake, was the founder Director, University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) of the University of Colombo, and Chairman of Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka,
Late Prof. V.K. Samaranayake was a Fellow of the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project and the National Center for Digital Government of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is also a Post Graduate holder of the University of Kalaniya.
In the field of IT he has pioneered work on IT Policy, Legal Infrastructure, EDI/E-Commerce, Security, Internet Technology, Computer Awareness and IT Education. He was actively involved in the formulation of the ISO 10646 standard for Sinhalese Characters and in the development of multilingual web sites. He has also been instrumental in helping to apply computers in many areas of governance, including in national elections. He also actively extended his contribution in implementing the 'Nanasala' concept in to a reality.
The Government of Sri Lanka has honoured Prof. Samaranayake for his contribution towards IT by the award of Vidya Prasadini in 1997 and the national honour Vidya Jyothi in 1998. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has presented its President's Award for International Cooperation to Prof. Samaranayake in 1996 in recognition of his contribution.
His remains will be brought to Sri Lanka and funeral arrangements will take place in Colombo

Special Note: Here's pic of the BIT batch photo, at the front seated Prof V.K Samaranayake, and me at the 3rd row standing in the middle (rounded circle marked)

LTTE bunkers made up of sacks of rice - Vedio

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley gained exclusive
access with the Sri Lankan military

Texas Driver - Cheers sam!

After desperate 3rd attempt, finally I got my Drivers License from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) San Marcos, Texas. In my whole 27yers of short lifetime, I never failed an exam more than once, but see what happened; here the local DPS lady examiners failed me twice (actually 3 times but 1st fail b'se of the inspection tag expiration of the vehicle I took for the test). Lots of my friends advised me not to go for San Marcos DPS, b'se the lady examiners are too picky on the driving test. But there was no option than the San Marcos, it's the nearest! If I went to Seguin (40miles from San Marcos) or New Braunfels (20 miles from San Marcos) DPS, there was a fair amount of chance of getting it done so soon. But it was almost impossible; I didn't have a vehicle, still the same :) and had to ask my friends to come with me for the driving test.
I still remember how was my first driving test at Sri Lanka. It was nothing actually. I was the first of the raw at that day. And the examiner asked few maneuvers like backing on a small road rise (just to check the cluck balance I guess), then he asked to get on to the road (I still remember the place, it was the front road of the Sri John Kothalawala college Krunegala) after 20 meters he asked me to get off the van and that's all about my driving test experience. I still think I'm a good driver according to the conditions at Sri Lanka. I used to drive when I was almost 13 years of age. My father was an Inspector of Police and no problem on driving underage (that's how the Asia) In my whole driving experience only one major accident and that also not because of my fault.
Here at Texas State the situation is totally strange. Actually I took it so easy and didn't care about the test. But when I think about it again, its bit of a tough job, what we need is some practice and techniques. Examiners test all the maneuvers listed on the driving test leaflet. For my first test (May 14th) I took Mr. AL's car it's a Toyota corolla (AL Nanji). His wife Shenise was there to take me to the test. At the time of the vehicle inspection, the examiner said the inspection tag was expired. Here at USA, vehicle must have registration tag as well as an inspection tag that is to verify the vehicle condition is suited for the road (like emissions tests, signal lights, break, windscreen etc). So they asked me to bring another vehicle or bring the same with new inspection tag. That's my first fail. Next day (May 15th) I took Mr. AL's other vehicle, it's a Honda van. It was much more comfortable to drive b'se I used to drive a Nissan Serena van at Sri Lanka. If you wanna look at the test leaflet here it is.
I'll just explain the testing situation for the driving test at San Marcos. First the examiner asked to bring the van to the back of the DPS office in order to check the inspection , registration and insurance. Then she checked the signals, and the break lights. Then she sat beside me and explained the testing procedure. Normally they asked to start the vehicle and when we feel comfortable we can run it. Then the parallel parking, the hardest maneuver of all. We have to park the vehicle between two posts. If success then we have to move to the next testing place, backing on a straight line. Then the road test. It's a one-way road with 3 lanes. The examiner asked me to bring the vehicle to the left most lane, and I started signaling and try to make the lane change, see how unlucky I was at that time, there were 5 or 6 vehicles on the lanes one just behind my back. I hesitate to do so, and stayed at the same right most lane. Then the examiner asked to right turn on the next intersection and bring it back to DPS office. Then she said I failed the test b'se not following the instructions. Then she explained what I did wrong. Lots of errors in signaling. Especially at the parallel parking, moving, lane change we have to make sure to signal. So I missed lots of points due to that and failed the exam not following the instructions.

Then I went for my 3rd attempt on the same vehicle on May 17th. The same lady examiner was there and asked me to bring the vehicle to back for inspection but when I went, there was a different lady examiner to test me (I'll explain why this happened later) She took me for the driving test and this time I was extra cautious on the signaling, and managed to go over whole testing route. After we came back to DPS she explained the situation and errors I made. I lost almost 41 points. Further I went for the test around 3.00pm without making any appointments, she said next time I needs to come early to make an appointment. If we lost greater than 30 points then we fail the driving test. For each maneuvers they check for Control, observation, position and signaling. Say parallel parking, they check all 4 whether it's bad, fair or good. If bad, then we get minus points. Here's the actual testing leaflet marked by the examiner.
I was frustrated and that was my 3rd time and the examiner said I have only one chance for the driving test, otherwise I have to retake the written computer based test again and needs to pay $25 application fee.

I went again for the test, this time early in the morning around 8.15am to the DPS San Marcos Office. Same lady examiner was there and surprisingly she refused to go with me for the test. Believe me, she refused to test me. Can you guess why? she said on my 2nd attempt I didn't respond due to the lack of understanding of what she told me. She said between us, the communication is difficult and asked me to take the other lady examiner for the test. For my bad, that examiner was off that day (May 22nd) and I have to wait till next day for the test. Then there was another problem of finding someone to come with me for the test, b'se Mr. AL was on summer break on May 23rd he went to Washington for a break. I was so worried, me and Nim on desperate situation on finding someone for the driving test. We contact sunny, one of Nims friend and he agreed to come with us. And also we contact Terry from Texas Watch (Nims office coordinator) and finally we decided to go with Terry b'se she agreed to come early in the morning. She was having a Honda CR-V and that was the first time I drove a small SUV, though I feel comfortable with it. We went for the test around 8.00am on May 23rd. I got the appointment at 9.00am. Same lady examiner on my last test was there for the test and you know what she mentioned at the time of the test? She said that's my last chance and if I apply for an instruction permit now before doing the test, even if I failed the test I don't have to re-sit for the written test and I can do the driving test as long as 2 years with that permit. It was kind of a challenge. I asked her whether its possible to do the driving test today if I get my instruction permit now. Then she said NO; I have to wait another 72hrs for a driving test. 72 hrs??? Again, No way, I said to my self. Then I told the examiner that I want to try this time. Here the test leaflet for my final test,
Who knows, I did well on the test. I got 16 negative points, compared to previous 41 points, its nothing. Actually the examiner was impressed and she said I did a good job. Finally I got my license to drive at Texas. Thanx Nim for ur continues encouragement, and also I wanna thank Mr. AL and Terry Wedland for helping me out for my driving test.

First ever 'A' grade at US

My end term started last week, 2 exams from my 3 subjects already ended. One to go. I'm pleased with my performance at the Math 5358. Its good to have, 'A' grade for first ever exam at USA. Here exam results are extremely difficulty to obtain not like in Sri Lanka. The grading is so stupid, I don't know why. We need to get 91 to obtain A grade and 81 to obtain B grade. Nothing in between A and B. But when I was there at University of Peradeniya, we had lots of grading stars at A+ to F.......A+, A, B+, B, B-, C+, C. And also its not a problem to get A for a subject. If we can stay at the top of the class or at least top 5 or 6 then there is no problem with getting A+ for it. The bell curve will decide who gets A+ and who gets F. At least lots of people will get B+ which is 3.3 in the GPA points. Here the same GPA points for A , which is 4.0 and B 3.0. This makes kind of a hard to stay at least at 3.0 margin. Hope my A grade will do help for it. B'se I'm not sure about my other 2 exams. The final grades are yet to release. One good thing is, now I know how to tackle this system. My target is next Fall semester. A's for all the subjects and 4.0 GPA. We'll see. Hurrah for my First Ever 'A' at Texas State University.

Happy Sinhala New Year

My Virtual pet !!!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Talking Parrot

check this out...a talking parrot. freaking awesome

world cup Cricket watch for Free

Cant believe how much people love to talk about ICC world cup (though they are out of country). When I'm on the University shuttle bus after my work at International Office, when I get on to it, Driver asked me "where u from?" I said Sri Lanka. So he was really happy and get started talking abt ICC world cup. I was shocked, American talking abt Cricket ? na .......not possible. Guess what, he is from West Indies and then there was another girl, she said she is from South African......suddenly we felt like a family bond by Cricket, talking with each other while the guy was driving ;) what a nice time. Just a 5 minutes ride to my apartments but feels like actually watching a Cricket match. Girl was really upset and said better if she can buy a channel to watch the entire world cup. And I just said we have some free online streaming sites to watch. They cant belive, specially the bus driver was so anxious to know the site. I know all my readers also wanna know this. How to watch ICC world cup live.....and for free with a good quality picture without any introuption. In my previous post I mentioned all the information regarding this. I wanna state it again due to heavy traffic on my site too.

This is the link ICC world Cup Live Streaming . This link is Courtsey of Rahul Reghunathan and all it needs is Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer to stream live cricket matches. Streaming is really good for a free service.

I watched 2 games on this link, quality is really really good........and no interruption at all, like satellite picture on television. Cant believe this much of achievement on this. I know what the streaming is when I checked the other links. But this one is truly exceptional.....so here's my gratitude again for the link and for the author Rahul.

India and Pakistan, the giants in world cricket world, OUT from the second round. Can't believe. This salute for youngsters, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva and Dilshan, in the Sri Lankan team, thanx guys and hope u can continue ur form for the rest of the matches......specially with the # 01 South African and Auzis........Beware of Sri Lanka. I'm still not sure about the selection of the Dilhara Fernando?? Though he got the fantastic Sachin Thendulkars wicket, he's not in a good shape to face for good teams specially Auzis and South Africa. These teams are pretty good on fast bowling especially if you are not in good line and length. So I doubt selecting Dihara instead of Atapattu or Maharoof. We need someone like Maharoof to tackle the back of the innings specially we need some big sloggers like Sanath, Vass or Murali (scared on fast bowlers though)
Currently Sri Lanka is on the top with highest run rate hope they can maintain this through out the super 8 round. There is no advantage on the bonus points b'se all the others have similar advantage on playing with Bangladesh and earn some extra points. We have Ireland OK.....but need to get rid of West Indies and England from the list. Here is my semi finalists

1. Sri Lanka
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
4. West Indies

Most probably we are having the semi final with West Indies and Finals (if everything happened for the best) with New Zealand.

So here’s my big prediction…..World Cup Final

"Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand"

Convocation List, Absentia - Sampath Jayarathna

Oh....My undergrad convocation.....After 4 years of total commitment, I missed my graduation. Now only hope is my postgrad convocation, after how many years???? 5....6.....

General Convocation of the University of Peradeniya was held on 08th March,2007 at the University Gymnasium. 2850 graduands from the Faculties of Agriculture, Arts, Dental Science, Engineering, Medicine, Science and Veterinary Medicine & Animal Science were conferred degrees in person at this convocation.

Check the list here. Im in the Absentia list 2nd person. I cant remember who is Anusha sirimanna. I know the other guy Thushara(Rauma), he is also at US doing his MBA. He phoned me couple of times........

I missed all my computer special batch buddies.......still remember how we wait hours at the New common door step for Dr. Bandara's lectures. Hope guys remember how fun it was. Still remember all the funny stories.......anxiously waiting for a call from Dr. Bandara "Sampath, today I have very important meeting, wont be able to come, inform others. We'll have a lecture on Staturday 8 to 4 flat". And remember how the 8 to 4 flat starts at 1pm and end at 1.45pm .....how funny it was. Remember we went to Akbar Hall to have some tea and back to the lecture ready for 2 to 5 flat 3 hour lecture and finish it within 15 minutes!!! How much fun we had.....when our Fuzzy End exam postponed.......Me, diga and dewa got the news early .....but we deliberately made it late informing others and have much fun on how guys worked and crammed for the exam which was already postponed. Story abt my phone having a CLI picture for Dr. Bandara, hope guys remember, with that, before answering the phone hoping to have an idea Dr. Bandara is calling to postponed the lecture. Dr. Saluka's lecture at the laboratory. Sudu malli was the only one listening to the lecture. All the others surfing the net. Specially me. Not even listened to a word......totally at the net for whole 2 hours and still got A's for Patterns and Distributed. How we crammed for Distributed exam. Specially Dewa and me. After finishing 400 power point slides......again Mullu came with another set of power point slides on the morning of the exam day. How we made Class diagrams for the Patterns......remember from the reverse engineering, code to class diagram......Dewa with total 12 page big map size class digram.....me with 6 pages and diga with 4 pages......how funny it was......And sudu Malli came with 1 page class diagram for his program......still remember how Dr. Saluka opened the class diagram for Dewaniya's program.......Chora katta potha.....lots of chora katta from Diga.....after that he stopped telling anything.....im wondering where we put that book.....there were very interesting stories abt keki .....and some other girls.....A party out to Kandy......with all the batch guys.....specially Katta and his fried rice.....one who start eating stops everything b'se of a stomachache. After that asked "can I have one pack to bring it to home???" Sudu mlli broke his leg b'se of our continuous fun on him.

Lots of stories.....no end.......Will be in mind forever....

Hoping to meet u guys, next December, till then ...........

Cricket World Cup Watch Live

This is specially for Cricket lovers....After desparate effort, finally i found a link to watch Online cricket Streaming for ICC world Cup 2007. There are lots of options, if you try searching in yahoo...specially in yahoo answers.
This is the link ICC world Cup Live Streaming . This link is Courtsey of Rahul Reghunathan and all it needs is Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer to stream live cricket matches. Streaming is really good for a free service.

My indian friends got a cable connection by paying $200, but the thing is I dont have time to go with them to watch it....also i dont think they wanna watch Sri lankan matches only if the match is between Sri Lanka and India. Definetly if Sri Lanka selected for semi finals (No doubt) I wanna see it on the cable TV.

U can see more options on this link...there are over 25 ONLINE steraming links listed in this site ICC Online steaming 25 links. In yahoo answers you can find more options for Online streaming.
Hope u'll enjoy the Cricket Summer........b my guest........

cheers Sri Lankan Cricket...........

2000 bloggers - See who's there

Thanx for Kottu blog archive, i found this cool site 2000 bloggers, cant remember from whom i got this. But surely its a kottu blog archive member. So thanx whoever, for introducing these kind of global events........ This goes to the person who post abt 2000 bloggers at Kottu. This is just abt 2000 bloggers, ppl who dont know and wanna know what is it?

Tino the author of this site defines it in this way

55 million blogs......I'd like to showcase all of them, but I've settled on just 2000 bloggers.Bloggers come from all walks of life! Some are SEO experts. Some are writers. Some are sports enthusiasts. Some are affiliate marketers. Some are business professionals. Some are political. ALL HAVE OPINIONS!!!.....Two requirements, though:
1. You must have a photo of yourself somewhere on your blog, and
2. Your blog must have been created prior to January 1st of this year

So thats kind of an idea isnt it. I tried sending a comment to join the group. Hurra......i got my face on it yesterday. But thats not the coolest thing...........I'm featuring on the home page of the site too.........If u can't belive just look at this..........2000 bloggers home. One of my post abt valentines day is featuring at the site first page. Kind of a previlage. Thanx Tino!

This is for the ppl who wanna share there blogs at 2000 bloggers site. Check this link and send a comment including ur blog url and photo page url (photo should be included in ur blog). Thats all. If u r lucky enough.....who knows u will be at the 2000 bloggers site too. So hurry up......there are only few more slots available as i guess, b'se im at somewhere in the 1800 place so hurry up guys and girls..............see ya at 2000 bloggers...............cheers

Happy Valentine (Birth) Day

What is this Valentine (Birth) Day? Is this about the birth of the Valentine's day ? or is it about the birthday of the person so called Mr. Valentine ? or else what ? Guess what, its my 27th Birth Day. Believe me.......27th !!! I'm look younger than that ne......feels like 16. Time flies. Non stop, second by second....... year by year. Cant believe im this much old :)

Now time is for the valentines day. Don't wanna say anything just look at this quote. U can understand everything..........I love u Nim

The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is sort of a Divine accident.

Cracked Pots - who? me or you?

Yesterday I found this story laid in my inbox. Really touching and worth to mention. Check whether you can feel the same...............

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the House, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments,perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot wasashamed of it's own imperfection. And miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able todeliver only half my load because this crack in my side causeswater to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of myflaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. So Iplanted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house? "

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life.

Independence Day - Sri Lanka

Today (Sunday the 4th of February), Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka celebrates her 59th anniversary of regaining independence from the British Colonial rule which began in 1815.

Sri Lanka has been known, from ancient times, to several civilisations of the world by a variety of the words by a variety of names. The Greeks called her "Tabrobane", the Arabs named her "Serendib", and the old colonial powers of Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain, called her "Ceilao", Zeylan" and "Ceylon" respectively. Sri Lanka is an ancient indigenous name, meaning the "resplendent island".

During the post-independence period, sri Lanka developed into a state with strong foundations, whose standards of literacy (89 per cent), education, health (life expectancy 72 years for females and 69 years for males) and nutrition, are among the best in the developing world. UNDP and UNICEF rate Sri Lanka as one of the best among developing countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) basis.

Read more........at High commission of Sri Lanka

New job and a brand new life.........

Today is a milestone in my life, gonna start my new job at the International office Texas State University. I still can't believe I got this and it's completely a surprised for me. Last 22nd I got my change of status to adjust to the full time academic status and it's a dream come true.
I wanna mention and let my appreciation to the Director of the International Office Dr. Bob Seese, who helped me lot on this. When I talked with him somewhere in November regarding my adjustments, it seemed to be almost impossible to get the status soon as this. Still he encouraged me to file the case even though the odds are limited. We discussed the situation almost 2 hours and decided to go for it. At that time Dr. Bob asked me regarding my financial, it was unstable as usual. There was just a bank statement from Sri Lanka. So he strongly advised not to send the documents unless a proper financial verification provided. That made me to delay the filing for another 2 weeks till I obtain all necessary documents and bank stubs from Sri Lanka. Normally for the processing through the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service), takes at least 2 complete months and I was already in a risk of not getting the status before my class starts. University was scheduled to start on January 16th, and I managed to file the case on December 04th. So the difference is just 10 days less than 2 months processing requirement. I was desperate on starting my studies on 16th and with the current status it seems to be not working. So I thought to give a try as a part time student and after some arguments with my graduate advisor Professor Kaikhah Khosrow and again with Dr. Bob finally they agreed that I have the sole responsibility whatsoever for the registering. Only problem with the part time status was I cant legally work in US, especially on campus. Because I cannot obtain my SSN (Social Security Number) that we must have in order to work at US. It made me No Driving License or a Texas State ID and only a Texas State University Student ID.
I still believe I'm the luckiest person in the whole world. Normally a winter season is a headache to all, its cold, slippery with ice and stuff no one can say it's a blessing to someone. But that winter storms in the mid January change my life completely. Guess how???? Due to the winter storm the university postponed its starting and it reopened in January 19th. And the courses add drop deadline was also changed to 23rd. I got my change of status on 22nd and just managed to add another course to obtain full time academic status. Its like a miracle, because when I checked the USCIS web, they were working on the cases filed on October 15th. But I got my status changed almost within 1 ½ month it was really unusual to be happened.
The other miracle happened when I was there for the F1 student check-In at the International office. I was desperate on finding a job otherwise I have to wait till summer I to get a job from the Computer department. I sent emails to several professors by requesting opportunities to work as a graduate assistant or at least as a student worker. Here at Texas State University, it's so hard to find a graduate assistantship and they are almost competitive because of the limited availability. I got a positive response from Professor Xiao Chen in the computer department and planned to meet her last Monday. So I worked on my CV and got ready for it and she asked me to come at about 3pm. Previously I scheduled my International check-in on the same day at 2pm. On the day, I finished my check-in with the international office staff and also thanked Dr. Bob regarding his help on my case. When I’m on my way to meet professor chen, I got a phone call from the International office and let me that they have a Graduate Assistantship and if I'm interested, I can come for an interview with them. It was a rare opportunity and I said OK and rushed back to the international office again. After kind of an informal interview they let me that there are 2 other potential candidates and they promised to let me know the situation by the end of this week. But I knew at that time I already got the position, because of my hands on experiences in the web development. Ha, I forgot to mention the job, it is for web development. Just after I finished the interview and at the library I got a phone call again from the International office and they let me that I got the position. Hurrah......they asked me to come today for the necessary paper work and hope I can start working on the February onward. It was the second best miracle..... (Hey Nim, you are my utmost miracle and don’t worry these miracles are something else)
I know how I got this opportunity, specially effective communication and my works on the web development......specially My Open Maze blog and University of Peradeniya Special student web. At this time I wanna remind who inspired me and encouraged me on this blogging. Suranga (Mano) thanx for ur help and positive encouragement. Lately the encouragement from charith (pola) and Indika (dewaniya). Thanx guys and thanx blogger.

Iccccccccccccce..........Ohh Nooooo