For all the fuss and poetry and conversation, the few things that people across cultures can understand is sex and violence. We can fuck and we can kill each other. If you’re looking for a rule-set that governs humanity, the two biological constants are reproduction and death. If you think about all the social functions that you get off your ass to go two, the two big ones are weddings and funerals. You don’t (at least I don’t) even understand why you’re there, but you go. People spend hideous amounts of money with no measurable return. Why? I’ve been going to a bit of weddings and funerals and I do wonder. What I wonder more than anything is why nobody else seems to wonder. Like, how do people just know that these things are important?

In Sri Lanka I always hear that computers are too expensive to reach average people. Which is bullshit. The point of computing is that it’s actually cheaper than physical options. It’s much cheaper to provide Internet to a village than to build a library, print newspapers, run mail services, and provide adequate transportation to work. The Net can also make Trade, Government, Medicine and Education cheaper. The problem isn’t that computers are expensive, it’s that they suck. The average computer user wants to check their email and maybe type a document. The new cheap-ass laptops from Encore can do that without the bloat.

Blah blah blah, I finally got the computer running and got some work done. One of the bright network kids was watching me edit HTML and learning and that was cool. We worked till 1 AM and then I went to bed in the hostel. Now the planning document is online and people have seen it and we probably raised some money. I woke up, meditated a little to clear some of the bile out of my system and went back to work.

But the computer was gone. Someone had physically unplugged the computer and taken it somewhere else. That would be weird, but this is also the 9th time that my computer has either been moved or completely erased. I got pissed but I didn’t say anything stupid. I just got up and went home. I sent an email saying that I would work from home until I could get a stable workspace.

This is a geeky thing, but I take a lot of code from the Wordpress community and since I cobbled together a crappy solution I figured that I might as well share it. The Wordpress upload screen has always annoyed me cause in order to use it I have to leave the post I’m writing. This hack provides a pop-up link to the upload screen. Installation involves uploading 5 files to your server. I have it working on 2 sites but I’m not sure if I packaged it right. This is a read-me of sorts:

This is about a web browser, so it may be boring, but it does have pictures. You can download Firefox here. These extension let me do stuff like search by thumbnails, search all the Google services from my browser, get notified of new mail, and backup entire webpages with images and all. These are my favorite Firefox extensions.

I’ve been shopping online as research for a Leisure Times article. This is a loose draft for the Tech Christmas guide. These are some article notes covering the portable Playstation, Flash Disks, a DVD Burner, and a Sony-Ericsson metrosexual phone.

A day without Internet. I finally left the house to finish up my shopping research for the Leisure Times article. Today I went to Unity Plaza which – though also a bazaar -sucks less than Majestic City. The west side smells like pee-pee but I can deal with that. I went looking for a mythical iPod near Galle Face and on the way back Amma called Susantha on his cell-phone. Some cops saw and gave him a ticket, which this is a photo of. I also took a photo of the trishaws at Unity Plaza

Today I went shop for Xmas Tech Gift Ideas at Crescat Mall, which is actually a real mall, as opposed to the glorified bazaar I visited yesterday. I found the Ericcson Z200 phone I was looking for, and a potentially good store. I also spent an inordinate amount looking at greeting cards and India Barbie with my cousins, Eran (9) and Senuri (7). The photo is of Eran running up the down escalator.

I think waiting 2 weeks for delivery from Singapore is a better use of my time than spending five minutes with the vapid service in Colombo. Today I went shopping for some Christmas Gadgets to recommend in the next Leisure Times, but before I get into that I would like to give a little constructive feedback to Sri Lankan customer service. For example, Stop staring at me, and Do not display imaginary products. Graphics from The Leisure Times”

I’ve been shopping online as research for a Leisure Times article. Tomorrow I’ll leave the house to see what’s actually trickled down to the Third World. This is Deshan’s assignment: “xmas tech gift article”. These are some article notes covering the portable Playstation, Airport Express, a Hyundai MP3 player, and a Sony-Ericsson metrosexual phone. (this image is a rollover)