Archive for 2012
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Today on the morning show we talked about the Olympics, namely China’s emerging dominance. For me the bigger question is India. Why does India suck so much? In 2008 the US won 110 medals, China won 100 and India won… 3. India has over a billion people, some economic clout and is by all counts an emerging superpower, but they suck at the Olympics. Why?
Posted in India, sport | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Janith has updated Kottu with rims and shit. Seriously, it looks pretty good. You could say the desktop look is cosmetic, but check out the mobile. Kottu now looks like an app with settings and menus and such. The biggest problem with K2 is me, ie, it now takes me up to a month to respond to emails. OMG I’m scared of my email. But Janith’s done this code and design update all by himself and it looks pretty good. Check it out. There was one bug with the previous page link. Lettuce know if there’s any more.
Posted in kottu, Tech | 7 Comments »
Monday, May 21st, 2012
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like seekingarrangement.com connects women to ‘sugar daddies’ already. I guess Miss Travel is just taking that trend international. Wait, I checked, it’s the same guy doing both.
Posted in Tech, travel, Video | Comment »
Monday, May 21st, 2012
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from Singer, ONLINE. I put the online in all caps because it’s pretty awesome. I ordered the thing in like 15 minutes on Saturday and they just delivered it today. It’s pretty awesome, this brave new world.
Posted in Business, shopping, Sri Lanka | 5 Comments »
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
There’s nothing wrong with pornography, but there’s a lot wrong with porn. Nothing wrong with watching people have sex, but too often that sex is brutal, senseless and coerced. I mean how many couples are coming on each others faces every day? Hence, philosopher king Alain de Botton – after calling for a new atheism, replete with temple – is now calling for a new pornography. One which is “fit for thoughtful, good human beings”. Good idea.
Posted in Art, Future | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 18th, 2012
Sri Lanka is going to start offer dual citizenship again, for people of Sri Lanka descent (ie, those who migrated or their kids). Which is good. Still not an actual immigration policy, but getting, well getting back to the status quo. I got dual citizenship years ago.
Posted in Law, Politics, Sri Lanka | 7 Comments »
Friday, May 18th, 2012
Avengers is blowing up worldwide. Even in Sri Lanka, the 3D cinema (Majestic) is booked for days in advance. I caught the film this Wednesday and here’s what I thought. Basically, it’s entertaining fare.
Posted in Video | 7 Comments »
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Arunoda Susiripala is a great geek. Here is on the MTV Sports morning show, which I happened to host. I am not great at TV but I think this is still an interesting interview. If you’re a developer or user or in the online scene, you must know Arunoda. He’s developed Yalu, which is the most popular (SMS) app on AppZone, and he’s made money doing it. Then, like any good entrepreneur, rather than leaving a ladder behind him he left an elevator. His online service kodeincloud lets anyone create similar apps through a drag-and-drop interface. It’s now responsible for around 60% of the new apps on AppZone.
Posted in Sri Lanka, Tech, Video | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
I recently wrote about gay marriage, which is not even on the radar in Sri Lanka. But we have another type of marriage discrimination here as well. Foreign marriage. If you marry someone non Sri Lankan, they can never become a citizen. Their lives and their rights to even be in the same country as their children are permanently unstable, and it’s patently unfair.
Posted in Law, Sex, Sri Lanka | 18 Comments »
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
When Obama announced his (legally unbinding) support for gay marriage, he cited gay people he knows – members of his staff, friends, families, neighbors, soldiers. When Joe Biden pre-announced his personal opinion, he cited Will And Grace. I’d say Modern Family. Both TV shows, humanizing gay families and bringing them into American homes. Which is how it happens. Exposure, basically. I think that’s how reconciliation and social justice ultimately happen.
Posted in Politics, Sex, USA | 3 Comments »