• Facebook announced to it’s developers that starting from October 1st, all apps must migrate to OAuth 2.0 for authentication and obtain a SSL certificate for use. Or else the apps would get disabled. Read more detailed explanation in the Facebook Developer Roadmap.
• Now this applies to Sri Lanka only. I got this SMS from Ada Derana today morning which has been the buzz for sometime. “Fastening of seat belts in front seats of all cars & dual purpose vehicles with English number plates is compulsory from tomorrow”. It’s a good move to make it compulsory, but I doubt for how long this will be enforced.
• Now into Cricket. As has always been the practice, changes to the playing conditions for Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) take effect from Saturday 1 October, the ICC has confirmed. Read More..

So what’s the deal with October 1st. Any other changes I might have missed?

For most photography is a passion. Among them there is a bunch of individuals who have committed themselves and do it as profession. It’s a tough choice when it comes to our part of the world where choosing photography over another profession might not get the nod. But success remains by doing what you love the most. Over the past decade I have come across quite a few of my friends who had a passion for photography alongside with their day job. Though they influenced me a lot, I never upgraded my self. Isuru, CJ and Chamil are three IT professionals whom I know for over a decade now. Though they were highly capable individuals in their profession, they committed them selves to their inner passion for photography and took it to the next level. It amazes me how they have grown over the years. Another guy with a strong IT background is Malinthe, whom I got to know few years back. I’m just amazed by his recent set of photos.

Unfortunately for me, photography remains a hobby. I still love shooting photos with my pocket sized point and shoot camera. Not a pro, but I love what I do. Here is a small collection of photos which I took recently with my recently acquired Sony Cybershot W380. Throw in your comments. Tell me what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong. Just a self evaluation..

The idea of using Twitter to share Traffic updates just spurred when @induNan posted this on Twitter:
“So.. Does anyone know? Is there a traffic update/alert #Twitter a/c or hashtag for Colombo or Srilanka??”.

I’m one of those daily victims of heavy traffic, so I was quite excited about it. “If there isn’t one, why don’t we determine one?”, chipped in @mack005. After a bit of tweeting among the rest of the tweeps, it has been decided that #TrafficSL hashtag will be used to update and track tweets related to the traffic situation around Sri Lanka, specially around Colombo.

I personally believe that this will benefit most of us despite where we are. We have a good Twitter community in Sri Lanka and TweetupSL was a clear indication of that. If we join hands and tweet whenever there is a traffic situation, everyone will benefit out of it.

If you are traveling on a bus, your tweets might not divert the bus, but will definitely help someone taking the same route. Same applies if you are even taking a walk. There will always be a time that you will divert your route coz someone tweeted about it. A word of caution though if you are driving. Using a Mobile Phone while driving is a serious offense. So you have to be extremely careful before you tweet. If its heavy traffic, make sure to tweet only while you are stopped in traffic. If you make your way out of the traffic and want to tweet about it make sure to stop on the side of the road and then tweet about it. It’s always your safety first, which also means the safety of others as well.

Traffic updates have been coming in already.. Most of the tweets are about spreading the word, but I saw few tweeting about the traffic status in their area. A search for #TrafficSL will give you all the updates. There will be a special segment about #TrafficSL in our next meetup of Refresh Colombo.

If you are new to Twitter or haven’t activated Twitter on your Mobile, you can read the post “Tweets via SMS: Now active for Sri Lanka” which I published some time back.

Tarffic updates on Radio

I listen to Yes FM Morning Show on my way to work, coz of the ‘Traffic Updates’ segment. Listeners send in their traffic updates via SMS to Yes FM. The RJs (Shaq and Shey) will read through them (obviously the ones that make more sense) during their show so that the listeners in that area can take alternate routes. It actually helps. But lately I have seen it fading away and there are hardly any updates flowing in.

My long story short

Colombo Traffic on Nazly's Photostream

I have a 15 KM drive home, and the traffic is worst as it can get. Without traffic I can get home in 20 mins. But if its during peak hours it takes about 1 hour and 15 mins average. There are about 3-4 main routes I could use. The best is always jammed and the less jammed are always long and bumpy. When I hit a traffic jam, I try to squeeze my way through by-roads to avoid traffic. It can pay off well but at the same time it can lead you to more trouble. It can always be better if I knew the situation before hand so that I can take the best possible route.

Recently a company here in Sri Lanka launched a GPS Satellite Navigation System at a very affordable cost. I was very much interested in it. It has most of the roads around Sri Lanka mapped and gives us directions while driving. The product is good. While it also suggested alternate routes, it didn’t have the feature I was looking for, traffic updates. Most of us know the roads and alternate routes. If we go to a totally new place, still we manage to roam around and ask a random bloke whether we are on the right track. So the solution we require is not static. It’s dynamic and requires real-time information.

Lets hope the Twitter community will contribute their tweets to a worthy cause which will save most of our time we spend on the road. Keep tweeting your traffic updates.. Don’t forget to add #TrafficSL

Covered Kithulgala, Hatton, Nuwara Eliya, Haggala and Ambewela within three days. It was fun. I miss White Water Rafting at Kithulgala the most and had to settle with Flat Water Rafting this time since my kid was on board.. I seriously miss the days where I used to go on annual trips with my colleagues every three months. Yeah, that what we tell the management

Let the photos do the talking…

Finally as usual it asks you to forward the email. But what did I do? I posted in on my blog instead. How stupid am I?

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

The cartoon reads, "I don't have a problem in my car. It's cheaper for me to pay these two than pumping fuel"

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when…

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the Screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60 years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

I was so curious to tryout the Paper Thosai 0.91 rc1 which Mahangu had a go at it and was kind enough to post it on his blog. That post really made me salivate. Infact I opted for the Paper Masala Thosai which is one of the great dishes of its kind considering the rest of the eateries in Colombo. The Ulundu Vadai too was by far the best. Big thanks to Mahangu. So by now Rehan would have got the URL of the referer . For South Indian food I used to visit Hotel Abhirami in Bamba (next to ABS) which serves some great dishes but now I guess NMC is top in my list. Infact I visited the North Indian Spot (upstairs of NMC) For take away once which Mahangu mentioned in his post. I took Naan that day and it was OK…

But my favourite spot is Raheemas(infront of Thurstan), where Charith and myself used to hit very often. I have my lunch atleast 3-4 times a week there. But Charith and myself visit for a pre-dinner meal between 18:00-19:00. Parata is by far the best and I also don't miss out on the egg hoppers.

Its amazing how these blogs impact in our day to day lives. Infact I wonder how many will visit these eateries after reading these posts. On the other hand these eateries get free promotion. So much to offer them for their great dishes. BTW is there any way to track these visitors? Just to keep in track..