Anu'z here

Food for Thought.....

2015-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars.

It’s where the rich use public transport"
I have heard this quote for so long, but I never knew the source of it. Recently, this came across and I was so curious to know the person who has said this because it turned upside down, my assumptions about a developed country. So I googled. Normally a developed country brings to our minds clean drinking water, great schools, reasonable jobs, lack of corruption, clean environment, fabulous infrastructure etc. But this single line takes us to a new horizon.

The genius mind behind this quote is Enrique Penalosa a former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. Though this is just single line there is so much of depth in it. It is not only about travelling or development he is talking there, but the benefit of sustainability. The rich use public transportation' means that physical infrastructure has to be so comfortable, efficient and accessible to all the sections of community that even the richest (who can easily afford luxury) are compelled to use it. Using less cars also indicate towards less fuel consumption, implying environment conscious citizens. Development is not about having tall buildings or extensive road networks. It has come to be defined as having zero energy buildings, and public transportation. Laying concrete on earth is not natural and not going to help environment.

Someday in the future, perhaps all the world’s countries will be “developed” and each human will own a classy car. Do we have enough fuel in this world to run the engines of all these cars? Do we have enough space to build all the highways, underpasses and roads? Consider for a moment, some of the world’s wealthiest cities — London, Paris, New York, Dubai, Singapore, Mumbai and their ways. The majority of the population travels through a massive public transport system of trains, metros, trams and buses. Owning a car maybe a point of pride but is often limited in its usage due to the difficulty car driving can be in choking traffic. It is of no surprise that the mass transportation systems of these mega cities are more than a matter of showing off the pride. They keep the cities efficient, fast and therefore growing.

Imagine how much time everybody saves when a 2 hour journey is cut down to 20 minutes.
Imagine how much space the city saves when 100 people fit into one coach instead of on 100 cars.
And imagine how much fuel that one coach saves compared to a 100 cars!

We all are runners of an endless race. No one knows what is the destination but we are all keep running. our goal is to have a sophisticated run as fast as possible. While running no one cares what is happening to others.The development also like the same, the technology is getting more and more advance everyday. Brand new concepts come to stores one after the other. We our the ultimate consumers with insatiable hearts to grasp whatever available out there. How we think is, bigger the quota ahead we are. But in the reality bigger the share bigger you lose.

So think wise, before using!!!

Wish type you are?

2015-04-16T10:32:00.001-07:00

‎What is a wish? What does that deliver?

There are many ways that man can wish for himself or someone. Wish, my belief is an act that expresses the desire of a soul for himself or others. Human mind is an amazing source of energy which has a huge effect of things that is happening and is yet to happen.

My attempt today is to discuss what are different ways of wishing and their effects.

Someone might wish himself or another party deep inside his soul yet will not express it.

In another scenario someone will have a wish ‎for himself for others and will express himself.

Other two types aroused with the development of technology, invention of social media. Where your PDA or reminder or profile notify you that it's the anniversary or a birthday of someone. People are not alike. They have different state of minds and memory power.

Someone might forget it and will do a genuine wish once you are enlighten with thanking to social media. It's only the reason that he couldn't recall the event. And then there's another party who might have to check the person's profile to recall who the person is and how he or she is related to him. But his or her wish will be the most glamorous which is not genuine.

So, where does the validity of true wish stand?

Justice and equality

2015-04-16T10:29:00.001-07:00

A controversial topic I would say. Equality is treating every aspect irrespective of its specialty. Treating every human being without any consideration like race, nationality, religion, skin color, cast or political perspectives would be equality. Yes, it is true that we are in a diverse environment with different types of people. Remember this does not mean that we have to discard those differences. But after realizing the diversity can we treat everyone equally ? The answer would be an obvious "No". Then the problem would be how to define the clearcuts, what to be considered, what to be ignored and whom should decide. Series of questions with no clear answers.

If we focus on justice keeping all the endless questions aside, Justice is simply everything treated properly in the proper order irrespective of what or who it is. So, does the diversity in the nature bring barriers to Justice? Do these justice and equality coincide?

I think this picture says it all.

Equality will not be the best option when it comes to some situations. But where to draw the line? Eliminating equality for justice is not where corrupted politicians roam freely or released on bail while a random citizen who stole few thousands is jailed for years. I think this is where the true wisdom comes to the play, we humans are the most intelligent species, if we have the power to recognize the diversity don't you think that God has not given us the ability to act? This where we all stumble. Social norms, culture, power, law and regulations all comes one over one. But if you can put humanity among all of them I think the answers would not be that far.

Are We losing it??

2015-04-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

As we enjoy this festival season, I think this is the most appropriate time to have a glance at our festivals. Being a catholic, the most festive occasions for me are Christmas and Easter. Christmas being closer to the year end and being a marketable event as we all witness has become commercialized. From December first we can feel the christmas-phere in everything around us that is economical. Either it's a shop, television ad or any other Christmas has influenced the way of life commercially rather than spiritually which it supposed to be though Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Being a kid of 90s I do not know what Christmas should look like as we all are born to the era of open economy. We may think that giving away an extra T-shirt we have or give someone something to eat would be more than enough for the sake of spirituality. But still none of the actions will touch the greater depth of Christmas.

Comparing to that I guess for whatever the reason that Easter is saved still. The noble causes of the Easter is still untapped by the mercantilism world. But if we take Vesak to the consideration, though it is also a religious festival which observes the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha’s, it is sad to see that the true meaning of the festival has become obsolete. Only few of praiseworthy practices are still remaining within the society.

Now the question is Awurudda (Tamil and Sinhala New Year). I wonder how many people knows why the events 'Kana muttiya','Aliyata aha thabeema' exist, or the in depth of meaning of the games and rituals. New Year is a glamorous and memorable event for all Sinhalese and Hindus. The harmony, coexistence plays a vital role there. It is a season where we feels the warmth of bonds and families but the sadness is slowly I'm witnessing it being commercialized as well. Slowly but steadily.

Will our next generation see the Aluth Awurudda just like the way I saw commercialized Christmas or will it be preserved?

Social media or phobia

2015-04-05T10:19:00.002-07:00

Technology develops rapidly in every aspect we need. The one we get and heard today is outdated in a month. Development has effected a lot to habitual of human kind. It took so long to deliver a message to some one in the same village as either you have to walk all the way or a tangible object has to reach the destination from your point. But now the message is delivered to the other end of the world the moment you press enter in your keyboard or you are heard when words released from your mouth.

Technology developed and social media came into action as time for people to interact and communicate with each other as competition increased. We the WTF(whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook) generation uses this social media immensely. But the strange thing is the youth seems to work for social media. Not for the moment they live on. The status update, profile picture, cover photo, tweet have become more important than the companionship. Instead of living in the moment people now lives in the timeline.

Connecting the people is the motive of having social media, but what matters is not the quantity, no of relationships are not to be count but the time we can spend with them is. What if we loose the grip of real friendship and companionship while we are all busy with making friends online. What if we do not have time to look up and grasp the moment as we busy with looking at screens.

This life is very short, and it is very plain, it up-to us to paint it with memories and make it colorful. But better to be remember it does not mean a colorful timeline, but a colorful ad vibrant life indeed.

Atheist or not, still you need a some guidance...

2015-04-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

Human always tend to mend his life patterns in accordance to the nature he lives in. Unlike other creatures it is not merely escaping from death in a danger. Not only the fight for survival. As he has a brain, a power of imagination, an amazing memory and a brain that takes decision, he needs guidelines to have a scope or to transform his lifestyles or rather take a better decision which of course effects not only his but also his surroundings or may be the existence or coexistence of the whole universe.

From where does the guidelines come? Man should have morals and they are basically based on his surroundings. His or her family, relatives and most importantly his or her religion. May be the effects of culture or civilizations has lead to a situation where there are many religions where it seems the values are different but deep inside it's the same. But to explore to that level or to be enlightened up to that level a person needs to have a certain level of intelligence where we can't expect every human to posses. Many people therefore tend to assess the religion they follow. Making it superior to other religions where deep inside the story is the same.

Meantime some people believe that there's no need to follow a religion till you do good to others. But how do they define what is good or bad? They need a certain guidance till they set up there principles as well. Only religion can provide such guidance. After Eisenstein came up with one of his greatest discovery of the theory of relativity, we as humans try to apply it in every possible scenarios. But we have to understand that there is one scenario which cannot coverup with such theories, that is where the truth lies. Even as a linguistic practice we say "the" truth, because there can be only one truth exists. Finding this truth and live up to it is what religions try to do.

Recently I've heard that someone is saying that he is not believing in God, yet he believes that there is some kind of power around us. I believe that power is what the ultimate truth or the right doings which explains by the prophets of each religion. So simply the religion saves us from the hard part. we do not need to dig in deep to find the facts religions have done it for us.

You must be an atheist whom believes the non existence of the God, but no one can deny that there is an ultimate truth lies somewhere which we need to know to makes our lives better and as well as this whole world. We have n right to judge anything. But in simple terms loving each other making their lives beautiful should be always admire no matter what you worship. It will help you to find the truth we all are seeking.

That Love which saved us

2015-04-05T08:32:00.001-07:00

Good Friday, the day Catholics cherish the memories of sweet Jesus where he sacrificed his life on a cross in a way that is recognized ‎as how top class murderers are sentenced to death. All because of the sins of human kind as Catholics believe. The greatest sacrifice ever is remembered year after year, for sure till the end of the world. But is it only the love of Jesus that we have to take into our lives? As a catholic I'd like to mention few characters who went through a real lot for the salvation of mankind.

The first name comes to my mind is Mother Mary. Let's forget Mary being the m‎other of Jesus. A mom who searched for 3 days in church when her son was lost, a sweet girlfriend being pregnant before marriage and went through a lot of social drama, a mother giving birth to her first child in a manger, a wife traveling for days to save the life of Jesus and family seeing his child being crucified half naked. Yet she was unable to express her feelings. How much would she went through inside because of love?

The lady saved by Jesus when people were taking her to be killed as she was a prostitute. Her savior is taken away to be crucified but she is helpless. Managed only to give a relief to Jesus by wiping blood, dirt and sweat away from the holy face though for sure she wanted to do more. Even to save her guardian angel.

Apostles on the other hand are in a real dilemma. Their passionate leader is taken away. But they can't do anything. Master did not want to fight as well. Peter refused Jesus. Yes true. But realized it and then should be wondering what to do.

Even Pilate, tried his best to save Jesus but he couldn't manage.

The love we have for others can be expressed. And you will be loved back. But there are moments where you love the world but you are helpless that you can't show it. You even cannot let the other party who needs that love and compassion feel it no matter how much you are desired. Keep trying. Keep Loving. The love you have do not have to be heard or shown.

"Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine."

2015-03-25T02:16:00.002-07:00

How did complexity become the evil villain, simplicity a hero?

Complexity is not bad always. Even the world is complex and our tools must work in that world, so they must match it. People need complex tools, products, and services.

People does not want simplicity. How do I say? Because when offered a choice between something really simple and something that actually accomplishes things people wants done, even though more complex, they will chose complexity.

On the other hand we do not wish to be confused, puzzled, and frustrated by our tools as well. People misunderstand that complexity leads to confusion. No, it doesn't always. This is the role of good design to make complex things simple to understand and easy to use.

When we talk about simplicity, we need to ask how "simple" is being judged from what point of view. Elegant, special-purpose tools are always simpler than complex, multi-functional ones.

Why is it that the tools of the crafts worker always seem simple and elegant? Consider woodworking, gardening or sports such as camping, hiking, and mountain climbing. All of them have simple, straightforward tools. Then why must our electronic tools be so complicated? Now you can say the above comparison is misleading as it is not fair enough to compare such totally different domains.

But the real complexity does not lie in the tools, but in the task. Skilled workers have an array of tools, each carefully matched to a particular task requirement. It can take years to learn which tool goes with which task, and years to master the tools. The tool set is complicated because the task is complicated. Looking at the visual simplicity of the tool is misleading. The mark of the great designer is the ability to provide what people need without excessive complexity.

Make things understandable and they are perceived as being simple. It is the job of the designer to manage complexity with skill and grace, to ensure that complex things are understandable, usable, and enjoyable. The mark of the great designer is the ability to provide the complexity that people need in a manner that is understandable and elegant. Simplicity should never be the goal. Complex things will require complexity. It is the job of the designer to manage that complexity with skill and grace.

Simple can be a siren just as easily as it can be a signal. Good simplicity is less with leverage, not less with less. Good simplicity is complexity disguised, not complexity denied. Don't give in to stupidity when creating simplicity.

The Language is the Mainstream.....

2015-03-24T09:36:00.001-07:00

Who defines a country? Us...
Who defines a nation ? Us..
Who writes the anthem? Us..
Who defines the language? Us..

So if it all about us, Does it fair for us to say that this the right and this is wrong. where the validity lies then? Why we act like this? It is all due to our barbaric thoughts of racism. Some think comes as the ultimate output of the human evolution. It is for our own escapism we are saying like wise, and trying to build a rationale behind it.But it is all a myth.

To understand why the idea of race is a biological myth requires a major paradigm shift. And for me, it's like seeing what it must have been like to understand that the world isn't flat. The world looks flat to our eyes. And perhaps I can invite you to a mountaintop or to a plain, and you can look out the window at the horizon, and see, "Oh, what I thought was flat I can see a curve in now." And that race is not based on biology, but race is rather an idea that we describe as an aspect of biology.

People see racism only with their cultural lens. The race is a cultural construction, that we really are fundamentally alike. It's our politics, it's an old ideology that tends to separate us out.

If we take kids as an example they always love to have some common humanity, they never discriminate, they always work together, play together as one. So why we adults, cannot smash down the walls between us and say no to racism.

So, my simple question is, do you still bother whether it should be in Sinhala or Tamil?

Aut vincere aut mori - Either conquer or die!!

2015-03-24T02:18:00.002-07:00

Just over a decade ago, Skype transformed the way we communicate. The Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) tool became so popular as people embrace the ability to video chat with friends and colleagues halfway across the world.Microsoft would have never put their money in the business if it is not about having millions of users all around.

Then, challenging the might of Skype, Google also launched a competitor called "Hangouts" in May 2013. It takes lots of courage to step in to the red ocean like that knowing there will be a high chance to be drowned. Yet, it is Google; the State of Art Company of future technology is what we are talking here. They never think twice when it comes to innovation. With a risk or not, they are the revolutionary generators of many disruptive inventions.

Why yo choose Google Hangouts over Skype?

You can keep on listing, but I think below two would be the ones which matter the most;

Its free. Now you may say “So is Skype.” But it is a Yes, and no. Because Skype is only free for one-on-one video conferencing, but for group video conferencing at least one member has to have the paid subscription. But Hangouts allows for up to 10 users to video conference at a time (15 if you are a google+ premium user).

Apps make it more easy. Google may have the edge on Skype when it comes to the apps that are available on Hangouts. The tool offers full integration with a wealth of other Google services, including YouTube, Google Docs, SlideShare and Google+ Games.

However Skype still remains a brilliant VoIP tool for doing what it has always done best: long-distance calls over the internet. Despite its once in a while poor video quality, installation is easy and people can communicate via desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone where Google Hangouts requires users to have a Google Plus account which, while free, is another layer of red tape for the occasional user.

Even though both offer impressive functionalists, Skype’s free service is too limited to consider as a business tool. That is why Google shines more in the corporate world.

But I believe Skype still has the chance to counter Hangouts ready made apps if Skype Translator proves good enough for people to communicate with foreign business heads.

But what Google Hangout teaches us is, never be afraid for giants and they will fall out have faith in you potential :)

Today's Marketing

2015-03-19T20:32:00.004-07:00

Today I thought to write something about how marketing was used to be and how it is now. Because, he approaches, the strategies have been evolved alot throughout the time.

Earlier days, main focus was Transactional marketing which was aimed at individual transations (or one-off sales), rather than at creating a long standing customer relationship. But now with the evolvement of marketing, organizations are more concern about Relationship Marketing.

What is Relationship Marketing?

In simple terms, without only focus on enhancing the product it gives the same priority to enhance the customer relationship as well. Keeping customer retention, building customer loyalty and maintaining a high level of customer service are some of the key highlights of Relationship Marketing.

In marketing books you can find about even four types of relationships. They are,

Alliance Relationship

Partnering Relationship

Transactional Relationship

Co-operative Relationship

If you ever think why the orientation have been changed, it is simply because of the competitiveness of the market. Everyday a cool product appears somewhere in the world. To being ahead of the business it is must to retain the existing customers rather trying to create new ones. To accomplish that, focusing on Relationship Marketing is vital.

Relationship Marketing, from the point of view of the supplier-customer dyad, is all about the supplier improving the quality of the customer experience. Although some customers still rate low price as the key factor in determining their satisfaction level, most of others rank service level. Specially since products become more and more similar in terms of their features and benefits, the differentiating factor between them would be the level of service accompanying the product.

To get the essence of Relationship marketing you have to directly communicate with the customers and ask them to respond in a tangible way. Only then you can look forward to fulfill the response and lead a prospect to a partner.

So, to win the race,

Try to obtain the loyalty earlier

Maintain the consistency

and

Commit to continual renewal!!

Once a Cricket fan always a Cricket fan....

2015-03-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Having a brother at home changes a girl’s life to upside down, if there are only you and he in the family, the affect is even more. When he is only 16 months older than you I would say that the impact would be doubled.

From the kindergarten itself you can have guy friends. You will reside on tress rather on earth, you will love t shirts and jeans than frocks and skirts, playing with Barbies and dolls can be just a nightmare. Simply you will never be the pink person rather you will be more blackish, brownish kind of.

I know above all because it is pretty much of my case. Yes, I am the youngest of the family of two having one brother elder to me. I will never say that I regret or that I could have being much better than this. No nothing such, I love and enjoy each bit of it.

But among them all, do you know what is the Best thing that you could inherit from him? That is simply the love for CRICKET. Hardly any sister could not be a cricket lover after having such a crazy fan at home. My brother is like a walking statistician. He remembers every bit of cricket with exact dates and time.

When we won the world cup in 1996 I was in grade one, there were around 40 students in my class and I was the only one who was so excited as we won it. I was the only one who was talking about it even, I doubt whether others were even aware that such had happened. Similarly, when I was a teen I used to talk more about football and cricket rather than makeups and hairstyles. Even now it is pretty much the same.

That is how my love for Cricket has been build. All awe to my one and only brother. Without him I would never be a Cricket fan, I still remember how he used to scold me when I was asking thousands odd questions out of my curiosity to understand the game while the match is on. He always says, “Please nangi, ask anything after this over is over”. All these memories are precious and unforgettable.

But now you might wonder why I am all of the sudden shredding all these memories today.; because today is all about Cricket.

We lost the match.

We will not see dil scoops, Malinga’s dancing hair, Sanga’s perfect shots anymore at CWC 2015.

Moreover, we will never see Sanga and Mahela back in action in ODIs’ ever.

So how could I not talk about Cricket today. Since it South Africa who had won rather India, I can bear it and soothe myself to an extent. Still they is a huge void in the deep of my heart that nothing could ever fill in.

May be that is what called the True Fan-ship.

Hail Cricket!! Hail SriLanka!!

Sizes!!!

2015-03-17T20:27:00.002-07:00

If you have ever studied stat, there is no chance for you to miss correlation; it is one of the basics and one of the easiest. In simple terms, it shows the relatedness between things. Those things could be anything. It can be varied from simple things like Corruption vs MR to some complex things like Vimal vs his birthday. However the simple logic of correlation saves lots of lives of statisticians. It is such powerful tool. Anyway, this is not a lesson of Correlation, but at the end you will understand at where the correlation will fit in.

You might have already heard that the first computer is called ENIAC and it was created for the U.S. Army in 1946. Weighing more than 30 tons, ENIAC took up as much space as some houses (1,800 square feet). Then if you have searched about the smallest computer, it is called CuBox-I and it is just 2” x 2” x 2” in the size. From this what to be understand is bigger the technology smaller the size.

Yet, we can get a contradictory example from the from the technological arena itself . That is the mobile phones. when it comes to them, only the inverse of this is applicable. There the scenario would be like bigger the technology, bigger the phone. I really doubt in the near future Levis might have to redesign all their denims with new measurements comprising bigger pockets.

Simply if this trend continues further, I am pretty sure that there will be a time where we keep phones on desks and carry PCs’ in our pockets.

#3 Yes, It's your Fault

2015-03-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Since it is March and everyone talks about women's day, empowering women and all, thought to share something which makes you all think awhile.

Do you remember Nirbaya?

That 23 year old, innocent Indian girl, who was beaten, gang raped and fatally assaulted in a private bus by six barbarous men on 16 December 2012 in South Delhi. Not only India, whole world wept for her. Her story is not the only one with such a tragic ending. There are many more poor souls around the world whose suffer from the shades of this darkness.

I have never known Nirbaya, neither saw nor heard, but still somewhere deep inside my heart, keeps weeping over her helplessness.

It is hard to understand where have we actually got wrong, Does this rapid advancement of the technology make everyone so inhuman or is it because of something else.

Talking about this, weeping over, would not make any different, we have to take serious actions against rape. If not this will continue making it much more worse.

Spare a minute and watch this video.

It is a powerful campaign in India against rape called 'Ladies, It’s Your Fault’, which sarcastically blames women as the main cause of rape incidents, has gone viral on social media. The YouTube campaign is led by Bollywood actor Kalki Koechlin and video jockey (VJ) Juhi Pande who tell viewers that it is all women's fault to be be raped, because with whatever, men will be simply men. It is women's duty to be careful not to get raped by someone else.

As a girl guide, one of the best thing I've learnt is that " A guide is sister to every other guide". Yes, ladies, if we don't want to do anything for ourselves or our kind, do you think that men will bother. No, right. These two ladies did something for this out of their capabilities. Something very sarcastic,yet, something powerful and straightforward.

So, Ladies, it is time for actions, Speak up and Stand against Rape!!

#2 It is not a Virus it is Viral

2015-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

When you see this, I am pretty sure that you might feel like throwing up to your screen, Please Don't because I am not going to ask that same stupid question again, whether it is blue and black or white and gold :) But did not this make any flashbacks in your minds?

Scroll down...

Nobody could escape from the tune after hearing Koleveri- Di (it still haunts).

All the dancing floors were taken over by Psy's crazy hop.

All of a sudden Harlem Shake made everyone looks like some insane retards.

ALS Ice Bucket challenge even made Obama to pour out a bucket.

Well, let's not talk about Kim Kardashian's heavenly gifted assets here :)

These are some of the recent breaking stories in internet. How much old we could be, still we will remember all of them. Even though, none of the above is business related, just imagine how much publicity such could bring if it is business related.

That is why in marketing we can find something called, "Viral Marketing". Viral Marketing is referring to a marketing technique that use pre-existing social networking services and other technologies to try to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses.

Some companies have used this technique and gain lot of attraction and attention. One of the best examples would be this. Hope you remember.

The tune was first featured partly in Idea Celluar's latest TV and Jingle that is also available as ringtone. This has created a big social media buzz, which of course a very effective way of promoting products.

In case you might have noticed, all these viral stories have one unique flavor, that is its simplicity. Gangnam Style, Harlem Shake, Honey Bunny all are very simple to follow. (Though, Ms.Kardashian's story is bit different ) Simplicity always leads to wider reach. Another thing is it should be something very exciting and unique to be remembered easily.

So if you can come up with something creative with all of these tastes, Believe me, you are ahead of the race, winning the crowd will be just a matter of minutes.

#1 Say Cheese

2015-03-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Photography is my all time favorite. But I was with no camera in hand for long time because my dada does not want to invest on another as I have already lost two of them. Still my undying urge always makes myself want a camera. And finally making an end to that looooooong waited days, I've bought a DSLR Camera.

Nowadays, everyone is after DSLR, the digital cameras which were happened to be very handy those days, now no one even bother to have at all. Itt is so amazing to see, how this super fast technology advancement changes everything overnight. So, since everybody is having this DSLR mania, thought to give you some facts which will be useful for you to decide on.

The VERY FIRST question comes to anyone whose going to buy a DSLR is whether it is a Nikon or Cannon :)

Well, it is a tough thing to answer, both have many models and each has their own pros and cons. What I will says is it is all about your Brand Preference. I am a Nikon lover, I dont know why, from the very first I fell for it. Without a flip screen or not, I'll always go for a Nikon (Nikon does not have a flip screen, where all the Cannon do have, as we are in the selfie era most of people love to have one, which I am not bothered much)

After deciding on the brand, then comes the which-model-to-buy question. Here what you need to focus is about your Purpose of buying a camera. Whether it is to be a professional, or because your a heavy traveler, or to cover up the special moments in your life etc. Since I am more aware about Nikon, I'll explain it bit more from Nikon.

When it come to Nikon they have different ranges according to our purpose. So it is easy to decide on which to purchase.

High-end (Professional - Intended for professional use, heavy duty and weather resistance)
High-end (Prosumer - Intended for pro-consumers who want the main mechanical/weather resistance and electronic features of the professional line but don't need the same heavy duty)
Midrange and professional usage cameras
Upper-entry-level (Consumer)
Entry-level (Consumer)

Canon also has such ranges, you can find out more if you are interested.

Finally, what you have to decide is from where to buy. It is always advised that to buy from a authorized dealer. Because many mishaps are happening when it comes to the digital devices markets.

So, if you carefully focus on these matters, I won't think that shop for a DSLR will be that hard :) Happy Clicking!!!

New mission- 100 days!!

2015-03-03T15:37:00.002-08:00

The election was over, but still the good governance and 100 days are hovering around everywhere. Nobody knows what will happen, because it is all politics and promises are meant to be so fragile there.

Anyway,I am not here to talk about politics, but for the first time in my life politics itself has inspired me. Now you may wandering, How?

It is like this. I thought to gear up another new 100 days mission. A mission of #100 blog posts about still-unknown interesting stories.
So, from tomorrow onwards, I am going to tell you about 100 interesting stories in a row, without missing a day. This will not like another never-keeping political promise.
So stay tuned!!!! You'll be glad...... :)

Papa Francis, We Love you....

2015-02-24T01:16:00.000-08:00

We, SriLankans were indeed blessed to meet of our loving father, Pope Francis. I have seen three popes in my life so far, but noone else was more adorable and loving like Papa Francis...

His love for poor, shows he is a doer,
His lovely smile, makes us forget our tears for a while
His kind heart, never make us depart
And his Holiness, always leads to the wholeness.....
Following is a speech made by the Holy father, to brings out simple yet deep lessons of Jesus.

"We need saints without veil or cassock.
We need saints who wear jeans and sneakers.
We need saints who go to the movies, listen to music and hang out with friends.
We need saints who put God in first place, but who let go of their power.

We need saints who have time everyday to pray and who know how to date in purity and chastity,
or who consecrate their chastity.
We need modern saints, Saints of the 21st century with a spirituality that is part of our time.

We need saints committed to the poor and the necessary social changes.
We need saints who live in the world and who are sanctified in the world, who are not afraid to live in the world.

We need saints who drink Coke and eat hot dogs, who wear jeans, who are Internet-savvy, who listen to CDs.
We need saints who passionately love the Eucharist and who are not ashamed to drink a soda
or eat pizza on weekends with friends.
We need saints who like movies, the theater, music, dance, sports.

We need saints who are social, open, normal, friendly, happy and who are good companions.
We need saints who are in the world and know how to taste the pure and nice things of the world but who aren’t of the world."

With Love, to the Place I love most.....

2015-02-19T18:17:00.001-08:00

Hail! Holy Cross! The crown and the pride

Of the hearts who reigh with dignity and pride

Lord may grant you more laurels of pride

Yours is the trimph, the victory and the pride

Carmel : the beauty treads by your side

Radiant with glory and splendor so wide

Open heaven! In you we confide

Stretch out your hands to Crossians : your pride

Shade of your love with us will abide

Candle of the Lord! Bright with the light

Of the Cross where His might

Loyalty were in sight

Love and your care make our worlds bright

Enlightening us the paths to justice and right

God may ever bless you and keep you at the' best' height

Ever and forever may your banner gleam bright!

Good to Great.....!!

2015-02-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

These days I'm spending time with so much of Steve Jobs related stuff. Now don't misunderstand it is not like that I got a i phone or Mac pro for the valentine :P

I'm just going through many of his inspirational stuff for some office work. I've read Steve Jobs biography and also have watched the movie before. From all what I've understood is, as a person he might not be the best, but as a innovator or as a dreamer, Yes!! he is one of the best of kind.

He challenged the ordinary, he never dared to dream BIG. He had proven that nothing is impossible. He created new paths for others to follow. The thing behind his success is his perseverance, he never gave up, once he determined to do something he never looses its grip. He holds it tight until it finish. He knew where to be firm an when to be ease.

Back in those days, both the co-founders of Apple, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were pretty certain of how improbable were their chances of success. "We won't see the money we've invested in back," said Wozniak. Jobs replied: "Yeah, we'll lose our money, but at least we will be able to say we had a company." This simply shows how passionate he was as an entrepreneur and how he always loved the work he does.

We know another Steve Jobs will never born, he is an amazingly unique piece but still we can learn LOT from him and drive ourselves from good to great..........

THANK YOU SIR FOR ALL WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN TO US.....

No Mountain is too high, No Sea is wide enough

2015-02-12T17:09:00.001-08:00

Yes, one day your life will expire
but never your potential
It is limitless and boundless....

Life is just a journey
to discover that unbounded space
Which is awesome and flawless...

So, Feel it and Enjoy it,
Because,
the greatest joy is
the feeling you get
once you have discovered yourself....

Until you try,
Noone ever knows,
how far you can go
and how well you can do...

So try, Try hard as much as you can
One day you can smile,
because you have really done something,
which is even unknown to you in the first place........

Think awhile......

2015-02-11T17:18:00.002-08:00

It's February and it is the month of Love. To be honest I am not a big fan of whole valentine day thing. Still, I think it is good to have at least a day per year to sit back and think what is true love.

We all are just running a race, we do not have time to halt and think, we just run all the time. In this race only thing matters is how fast you are, you might be very far from others even from your loved ones, but it never counts. your lead is your strength, but not the people who love you or not the people who support you.

But one day for sure, I do not know when, we all will collapse. We cannot run this race forever. We, humans are not that strong enough. And that day, the ones who going to lift you up is that bunch, who loves you and the very same ones you've forgotten, you've left out.....

So, stop a while and think, where you are heading, because sometimes you might be the only one running the race while others get together and step together.

Here, I like to give you all the best definition ever that anyone can get about True Love. Nothing else is more purer and more deeper. It is from the Bible,

Love does never envious or boasts,

Love is not arrogant with pride.

Nor is she conceited and she is never rude

She never thinks just of herself or ever get annoyed.

She never is resentful

Love is never glad with sin,

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.

There are always three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is Love.

_ 1 Corinthians 13:15 _

He Loves Us

2015-01-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

In the Blue Sky
Through the valley by
Blowing wind says,
GOD loves us......

Birds Lullaby,
Early Sunrise,
Sweet Butterfly,
Spreads GOD WILL....

Desperation,
Heartbroken,
Crying soul can,
soothe byhim.......

He listens us
He Guides us
He's the GOD
all around us.........

An aggregated platform for social media?

2015-01-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Nearly a decade ago there were only few information sources for people. People used to read more newspapers and watch television in order to stay updated. But with technological advancement internet have become a powerful alternative way of acquiring information and sharing information.

But in recent years we can see a transformation in the type of content available on the web. From early 2000s, user-generated content has become increasingly popular on the web; more and more users participate in content creation, rather than just consumption. Popular user generated content (or social media) domains include blogs and web forums, social bookmarking sites, photo and video sharing communities, as well as social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, which offers a combination of all of these with an emphasis on the relationships among the users of the community.

Also nowadays social media streams are becoming a conventional model for both distribution and consumption of information. People moreover explore social media to get latest news about a specific product or a new technology or a gossip or a trend.

But do you know that the average daily information dumped on a social network user is 54,000 words, equivalent to the length of the average novel. That textual content is only 63 percent of the information dumped on every social network user on a daily basis. The Information overload has become a huge headache for social media.

Similarly, it might ultimately leads to information flooding where same information comes to user from various information sources. This repetition is a terrible mess, knowing the actual information only once would be totally enough for the users. Since various information sources describe the same information in a different point of view or redistribute it by adding or reducing information sometimes people might have to re read them all to get the exact idea.

Social noise is another issue to be addressed which means the phenomena of losing information due to unbearable information load. Because of this very important and highly interested information can be missed from users.

But what if a system can understand specifically an user’s interests and classify, group & summarize the information accordingly.

No doubts, then our lives would be more and more easy.
Stay tuned, I will show you how :)

A Moment of silence.....

2015-01-22T12:46:00.001-08:00

Time: 18:10
Venue: Railway Bridge, Jaela....

I left the office bit early today, so I can catch the the express train which I normally miss everyday. Since I was early amma and thaththa were also waiting to pick me up. But my uncle is going abroad tomorrow (apparently today as I'm writing this 1.16 am :) ) I thought to bid farewell him. So I told my parents to meet me there and I got down from Jaela and took the shortcut along the railway. In the middle there is a railway bridge, a separate footbridge also there for people to cross over.

Aaaand now you should know where I am heading :)
Yes, it is obvious I chose the railway bridge.

Slipping to the river is not the worst thing would happen. A train might come to your face anytime. Literally there is nowhere to go even. Yet, there are some bars upon which the bridge is built on, so ONLY possible thing that you could try on is to stand by the edges of them.

Hush...... Now don't look at me like that. It is not like that I blindly took the decision, I remember the train schedule so I knew that there was no chance for a train to come.

I was SLOWLY walking on railway sleepers taking one sleeper at a time.

Then I heard that bloody horn.
There I saw a train coming towards me which was supposed to go twenty minutes ago. CGR sucks!!!

Holy shit what I am gonna do now, How stupid I am...
I neither can run on sleepers, I am not that good. Going to that bar is the only choice, but yet I was bit far away from a one.

I was BLANK, TOTALLY BLANK and the Train was getting nearer.

An uncle was standing like 20 feets ahead from me, he turned and told no to panic. Actually I was not panic, I was dread. I was trembling inside, I should started to walk but my legs were pulling me away.

Anyway I was left with no choice, with sweating all over I started to walk. Those never ending 20 feets were like thousands of mile to me.

At last I was there, When the train just passed by on the very moment of my reach, I almost had a heart attack.

OMG My heart was thumping and thumping. I was holding my breath, looking shockingly.

For a while I could not move an inch. I was standing still. That uncle came to me and patted me . (luckily he did not blame for not taking the footbridge). Indeed God must have sent him. Really caring he was.

Yeah, for a minute I was dead and reborn............

MORAL of the STORY: You may love adventures, but do not take the risk,
Because in SriLanka, Trains never come on time!!!!!!

P.S: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, keep this as a secret, nobody knows ;)