Friday, March 31, 2006

IT Times - Review

This is the first computer related magazine in English, published in Sri Lanka. The first issue was released in April 2005, and soon it became a hit among many computer enthusiasts and information seekers.

I've collected all of the issues released up to now, and the review will be based on the last few issues.

The magazine improved very much from what it was in the early issues in every way. Presentation and layout is very impressive. Much more homely for a geek I must say. The content inside is unmatched by any other computer magazine published in Sri Lanka.

I think many PC lovers have tried the 'Wijaya Pariganaka', the computer magazine published in Sinhala. Now it repeats what was published years ago, which I stopped reading. And comparing the two magazines, IT Times is 500% better than that.

The IT Times covers many important aspects of today’s computer needs. For example the magazine covers dot NET (.NET), x-HTML programming, using Linux etc. Also it gives us much info about the latest developments and trends such as the one I'm using right now - blogging. What the people in our country need is info like these, not MS Excel or Word. There are enough books that teach us these at a low price.

So the young team has focused on the right things at right time. I really appreciate the lack of interviews the magazine has, because nobody really reads them unless it is a must. Many people I know skips the interview part. But sadly I must say that the magazine has started to do the same as the early issues.

The magazine began several good articles but now only a few flows like a river. Commenting on articles, the article on dot NET is only understandable to someone who has a prior knowledge on dot NET. I'm saying this because I've a good knowledge about VB 6 but I don't get a single thing what that article says. Also the article on 3D-MAX, it’s an utter confusion to a beginner, and when reading the article you feel that the writer is in some sort of a rush. Teaching in that manner is unsuccessful. The articles on other stuff are much better.

The best articles I've read so far are the ones on Google, Google vs. Yahoo, blogging, Ubuntu Linux and several others more.

The one thing that this magazine annoys me is it’s never on time. Most of the time it’s late about a month, in Kandy. I still haven't been able to find the March issue (today is 29th of March)

If anyone wants to polish their computer skills this is right magazine at the right price. And unlike any other magazine, this even looks professional. So what are you waiting for, go and get your copy now. I'll guarantee that you'll be satisfied with what you have.





Cover Pages, Article Layout &Index Layout of the magazine

Nokia 6021 - Review

This is a great phone to work with. Very hard build, high durability and a great looker. The design is similar to the Nokia 6020.
This model has many wonderful features like Bluetooth, IR, polyphonic ring tones, built in PTT, e-mail and chat (like yahoo chat) facilities etc.

This is a triband GSM phone and works on most networks. Uses a BL-4C battery and has great lifetime. Talk time is about 3-4hrs and standby time is approx. 10 days. The screen is 128x128px which gives only a limited vision. The phone runs on the old Symbian S40 OS which is another drawback for a late 2005 model. And this has only a limited built in memory of 2.3MB.

Connecting with other devices is a hassle free task because this has all the popular interfaces. IR & Bluetooth will give unlimited access and functionality. And cable method to connect to a PC. Easy plug n play function and once the phone is connected to the PC via cable or Bluetooth the PC Suite automatically detects and sets the necessary settings for the phone.

Talking about the multimedia side, this aint the greatest one for the price. This only supports MIDI - 16 channel output and AMR formats only. Audio reproduction is quite ok, but should have made it better. The voice recorder lets you to record any conversation up to 5 minuets at a time. Other than that the recorder is no good because the recording quality is so very low.

The audio level for ringing is not enough if you're in a high noise area. plus the vibrator is no good if you're on the move. Also, wav files and large MIDI files are unsupported.

A phone of this type misses two vital components, a camera (that’s right people this doesn't have a camera) and the radio. Even without the camera I’d love if there was a radio.

The standard features that Nokia offers are here except one. The famous Snake game isn't anywhere near to be found. All the other features like the calendar, notes etc. are still available.

The conclusion -
A great phone for the value, very durable and a very stable one. Has a few drawbacks compared with other brands, but hey, it’s Nokia. That’s a go for it.

ET - Exceptional Talents

ET - one of the best college shows in Kandy. It's all about raw talent that Trinitians have. That’s right people; all who perform here are Trinitians. The show contains dramas, skits, and lots of musicals. The musicals vary from everyday songs to never heard rock songs (sometimes heavy metal) to original tracks composed by our own guys. ET started last year as a "Tsunami Relief" fund raiser, and this is the second installment to the name.

The bands that should perform are carefully selected among many others by each and everyone going through an audition. The selected few are the best of all. Last year's episode had two major bands performing, Realive (aka Haritha) and Blend. Both of these bands became 1st runners up in the 2004 Talent Search competition.

Last year's show was a hit among the boys but the ladies kinda hate it (That's natural and that's what us Trinitians are good for). Anyways the second ET went public on Saturday 25th March, from 6pm onwards. The show was a success except for one small glitch. Many ladies stayed at home to watch the final round of the Sirasa Superstar. So the crowd was a bit less than usual. Except for that everything went like clockwork. The show came to an end at about 10.15pm and everyone had a satisfying evening.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

One Minuite A/L Paper


Click on the above picture to enlarge it.
Well, why don't you try this. If you can't figure out the answers click HERE.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Trinity vs St.Anthony's One Day Match

TCK vs SACK one day match came to an end by TCK losing to SACK. The crowd was astonished when SACK took the victory from the previous week victors. SACK scored 150 odd runs when all of the last wicket fell. But in return TCK was only able to score 120 odd runs before their last wicket fell, making SACK the winners. As many viewers say TCK took too easy on the opponents. This is clearly seen when SACK bowlers gave TCK 33 odd extras to their inning. More details of this match will be updated shortly.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Gayani's Blog

Gayani's Blog

A place that you'll find some interesting codes and snippets. nice to see something like that.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Trinity vs. St. Anthony’s Big Match

Trinity vs. St. Anthony’s 90th annual Big Match started on the 10th with Trinity batting first. At the end of the days play TCK scored 242runs for 9 wickets and declared. SACK in return scored 111 all out for their 1st innings on the 11th Little while after the 2nd innings started, rainfall made the damage and the play was stopped.

The scores are as follows:
1st Innings
TCK 242/9 dec.
SACK 111 all out.

Bowling:
Sachith Pathirana 6/42
Charitha Dumbarange 2/33.

2nd innings.
SACK 16/0 in 2.3ovrs

The match came to a conclution at this point due to rainfall.

Sri Lankan A/L's

The A/L’s now have a fixed date. 22nd May, is the officially announced day. Rumor has it that though the date is fixed there’s chance for it to get delayed.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Current Events in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan A/L exams are postponed by 4 weeks. They will start in 3rd week of May as the officials say, but the chances are it’ll go back till the 1st week of June. Many institutes have yet cover the syllabus, and this is something welcoming to them.


The annual “Sarvarathrika Pirith” and the almsgiving conducted by the BSM students of Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka, will begin at around 8.30pm (local time) today.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Hello Everyone

This is still under construction. I'm sum1 new 2 this field, so it takes some time to go with it. Also I'm havin my A/L's this June, so untill it's finished, it's a real slow process. Any comments n posts are welcomed.

Gayan Gunasekara