Posts filed under 'Sri Lanka'
Failed State my ass
This is old news, but a discussion on TV today got me thinking. So the Fund for Peace spat out a list of failed states and the Foreign Policy magazine published it. Incidentally, Sri Lanka is the 25th on that list.
One for Apache from Sri Lanka
Apache Axis2 1.0 released, comes the announcement from Dr. Sanjiva, a pioneer in promoting FOSS in Sri Lanka. Through LSF, and their latest venture WSO2, Sanjiva and his clan are leading the web service innovation.
Suicide Bombings in Colombo
Sri Lanka has had more than her fair share of terrorists. Yesterday, the LTTE, mother of all terrorist organizations (they are the inventors of modern day suicide attacks) tried to assassinate the SL Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, using a pregnant woman as the suicide bomber.
Street Artists
Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha is the avenue of Art in Colombo. The Public Library, Viharamahadevi Park, National Art Gallery, John De Silva Theatre and the National Theatre (still under construction) is on this short, shaded, beautiful road. On weekends, it is also the gallery for Colombo’s street artists.
Pragmatic Idealists
When you are from a third worlddeveloping country, most of the compromises are already made for you. For us web designers that translates as poor connectivity, immature markets, undervalued labour, and no SXSW or @media. Throw in an unstable economy and the odd war, and web standards seem invisible in the bigger picture. No wonder we don’t have Asian WaSPs (Japan doesn’t really count) - our standardistas are working hard to make ends meet.
Ideas? Yes. Actioned?
I do not want to appear critical, or worse, an antfucker, but the 330kb flash navigation menu on the website of the Government Internet Data Center does seem to reflect the sad plight of government websites in Sri Lanka. It looks as if the “poor” nature of connectivity of the country has been overlooked in an effort to make the site spiffy. Is the “pro-poor” idea not being actioned?
Nidahasa
In Sinhala, we use one word for both independence and freedom. Nidahasa.
How to make a Bamboo Cannon
The most popular search term that leads people to this site is Bamboo Cannon, and it’s only because of one random post. For the benefit of those inquisitive souls, and to celebrate the Independence Day of Sri Lanka which falls today, here is a concise guide to the making of this loud and risky* contraption.
Why Sri Lanka doesn’t have good web designers
Because there’s no design education. Not only for the specific avenue of web design (which is a unique profession in it’s own right, with knowledge on accessibility, usability, information architecture and web technologies all converging), but also for other design streams such as product design, we have a serious problem regarding proper education.
One Year Later
There are many things that can change your life - births, deaths, war, changes of government. In my two decades of living, I’ve experienced most of them. Nothing however changed my life the way the December 2004 Tsunami did.
