Kandyan Dancer Orchid

These are Kandyan Dancer Orchids from our garden. This belongs to the genus Onicidium, which has more than 300 orchid species.
I could not find the exact species name of this orchid though.
These have been named after it's resemblance to Kandyan Dancers, a traditional form of upcountry dancing in Sri Lanka, where the dancers wear highly ornamented costumes.

< Kandyan Dancers in the Procession on my Wedding day

Also visit Oncidium to read more on this genus of Orchids

Birth time...

These are cut ends of two banana stems. As you can see, the middle part has grown a little bit. When I saw this, I remembered an ingenious method used by ancient Sri Lankans to calculate a new borns birth time (as most of the people did not have watches or clocks).

When a baby is about to be born, an elderly will go near a nearby banana tree. When he hears the first cry of the baby, he will cut the banana tree with a knife in one stroke. Then they will summon the village astrologer.
The astrologer will visit the place. He will measure the growth of the inner part of the cut end. Using this he will calculate the interval since baby was born & his arrival, thus calculating birth time of the baby.
Another difference can be seen in this ancient practice. Rather than taking the time when the child is delivered, they had considered the time at which the baby had taken the first breath as the birth time. But most of the time there is only a few seconds difference between these two.

New Arrival...

Gmail

ar

What is Gmail?
ItÂ’s GoogleÂ’s free webmail service, also known as Googlemail in UK & Germany due to copyright issues. Initially launched in April 1st, 2004.

Storage:
Initially launched with 1GB of free space & was increased to 2GB at its first anniversary. Now it provides over 2.7GB & counting at a rate of 0.000032470826991374936580416032470827 megabytes per second which is 1GB per year

Features:
Conversation View:
GoogleÂ’s innovative method of categorizing emails, where Gmail keeps related emails together, so all emails related to a single email are kept in a single stack. Gmail users can delete a whole conversation or individual emails from a collection of emails from a conversation.

Labels:
Gmail has labels rather than folders, where one email could have more than one label.

Integrated Search:
Gmail incorporates GoogleÂ’s powerful search capability, making finding an email sent or received very easy

Access:
Gmail allows web interface in addition to free automatic forwarding & POP3 access. For mobile access, point mobile phoneÂ’s web browser to http://m.gmail.com.

Spam Filtering:
Innovative Google Technology filters spam using sophisticated filters.

Virus Protection:
Gmail scans all attachments for viruses & tries to remove if found. Gmail does not allow attaching executable files, as they are the major source for distribution of viruses.

Relevant Text Ads:
Gmail displays only relevant text ads. No Pop-ups or Banner ads.

Auto-save:
Saves a draft copy of current message & saves any attachments, once per minute, to prevent loss of data.

Optional Dots:
The Gmail usernames must be of 6 to 30 characters comprising of letters, numbers or dots & cannot include hyphens(-) & underscores(_). But Gmail ignores dots when resolving addresses. So my.name@gmail.com is as same as myname@gmail.com & m.y.n.a.m.e@gmail.com. Also Gmail is case Insensitive.

Plus-addressing:
Gmail supports a tag to be added to your email address where it can be written as my.name+tag@gmail.com. This can be used to track email address provided to different services & people.

Customized ‘From’ Address:
Gmail can be customized to display as been sent from another of your addresses Eg: my.name@yahoo.com

Google Talk:
Gmail allows users to chat with Google Talk Network users with in Gmail window. So users can chat with their contacts if they are online.
Also it includes Contact pictures & auditory notification when new messages arrive. But voice calling is not supported by Gmail.

Google Calendar:
Gmail incorporates powerful Google Calendar where events can be added using natural language phrases & numerous more powerful features.

View as HTML:
Gmail allows attachments of Microsoft Office, OpenOffice & .pdf type files to be viewed as HTML pages rather than downloading the attachments or when in a hurry, using a mobile device or when the software needed to view the file is not installed.

and,
Vacation Auto Responder,
Contact Groups,
Filters,
Many Languages (even some left-to-right languages),
RSS Feeds,
Address & Package Tracking as Shortcuts,
Offline Access with Google Desktop,
Photo Upload to Gmail with Picasa,
Archiving Emails,
Spellchecker,
Gmail for Your Domain


Privacy Issue:
Some amount of Privacy concern is there regarding Gmail, mainly because all emails are automatically under go software-based scanning to determine relevant text advertisements.

Supported Browsers:

Standard: Microsoft IE 5.5+ Netscape 7.1+ Mozilla 1.4+ Mozilla Firefox 0.8+ Safari 1.2.1+ Opera 6.03+	Standard with chat: Microsoft IE 6.0+ Mozilla Firefox 1.0+
	HTML view only: Microsoft IE 4.0+ Netscape 4.07+ Lynx

Deactivation of Account:
Gmail account is deactivated if not used for 9 months, which is far more than most of the other free webmail providers.

How to get a Gmail Account:
Gmail is still in Beta testing stage & opening a Gmail account is still by using an invitation

By Mobile Phone:
Mobile phone users from US, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Turkey can receive invitation code by filling form in Gmail website.

By Google Invitation:
If you own a .edu email address or Blogspot blogger, you may receive an invitation from Google. Occasionally in search page an invitation is provided on the top bar.

By a Friend:
Gmail users can send Invitations to their friends.

If you cannot get a Gmail Invitation, please feel free to ask for an invitation from me. Use the provided email form in the left Sidebar of this blog to send the request to me. Please remember to include your email address as well .

P.S.: I get so many requests, but few of the invitees do not seem to open the Gmail accounts. Please if you wish not to open a Gmail account, forward the invitation to one of your needy friends or back to me.
Also note that the Gmail invitations sent to other webmail services sometimes get categorized as Spam or Bulkmail. So please check those folders as well, if you requested for an invitation. Please be patient, If you requested for an invitation, I will definitely send you one.

Talents

Cover Designs of the Talents souvenire books		Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura is the youngest medical faculty of Sri Lanka established only in 1993. With the heavy burden of studies, medical students only rarely venture into performing arts. But with Variety stage show Talents, which commenced in 1995, the hidden talents of the medicos were exposed. Since then, with the blessing of the staff of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, this show is held each year entirely by Medical students. This variety show includes singing, dancing & drama. Proceedings of the show are utilized to fund projects which will enhance the students’ aesthetic & sporting skills. It is amazing how small dreams turn into major events. I joined the second Talents show as a first year student in 1997. In 1999 with Saliya we made a performance ‘Sri ape lankawe sinhalaya’, which is a hilarious song, based on the rapidly losing cultural values. In it we used a multimedia projection, where we projected a morph between a traditional dress to a short skirt, etc. It was a major success & we were commended by so many & we were asked to do a similar one next year too. But after seeing the video editing equipment at the faculty while we were editing videos for the previous one, I was dreaming of having a live coverage of the event projected to a giant screen. I never thought that it could be done with our meagre resources. I discussed about it with some of my friends & thought of giving it a try. Then we discussed with our Dean of the Faculty, who without a hesitation released the necessary equipment. After a dozen of sleepless nights, we could manage to get prepared, only by the eve of the event. Since then we are having a giant screen projection of the event edited live at the scene. This year it had come to a climax where the National Television Station of Sri Lanka (Rupavahini Cooperation) are covering the stage show & it will be telecasted tomorrow (22nd June) at 10.00pm.
^ Cover Design by Mahendra Ekanayaka	^ Cover Design by me
^ Cover Design by Kavinda Rajapakse
^ Cover Designed by Sangeeth

Pregnancy Due Date Calculator

Pregnancy Due Date Calculator or Expected delivery Date Calculator can be used calculate the approximate delivery date in a pregnant lady. This uses a standard calculation method, where it is considered that the period from last menstrual period to date of the deliery of the baby is a constant. This period can slightly vary in a small percentage of the women population. This only gives a approximate date & this date can vary due to various reasons.
For this calculator to be used, the woman should have regular menstrual periods.
The date that is entered is first date of the last menstrual period.

For the design of the above Calendar, Tom Duffy's Create an Object-Oriented JavaScript Calendar Using the Façade Design Pattern was used. Thanks Tom!

Be a Hero...

Being a hero is not something that can be achieved very easily.
But ofcourse I took a bold step today...
Yeah, became a volunteer blood donator. I always wanted to donate blood, but couldn't take that inaugural step.
Yesterday was the (14th of June) World Blood donor Day. So there is a special campaign going on in whole of Sri Lankan government hospitals to mark the event.
The Blood Donor system is a well functioning system in Sri Lanka where volunteer blood donors donate blood at regular intervals of four months. Every donor is registered & details of their illnesses, especially AIDS & Hepatitis B are tasted for in the donated blood & healthy donors are encouraged to donor regularly.
The aim of the National Blood Transfusion Service of Sri Lanka is to have all needed blood collected from volunteer donors.
At present patients undergoing routine surgeries are encouraged to get someone to volunteer to donate blood. This can be eliminated in the future. In Teaching Hospital - Kurunegala, where the National Thalassaemia Center is situated, so many units of blood are needed daily to be transfused to Thalassaemic children. All thee are collected from volunteer donors.
I am very happy to be able to be a donor & 'Blood saves lives...'

Also visit:

• WHO : World Blood Donor Day
• Official World Blood Donor Day website

Lethal Prayer - let this prayer be ignored...

When I returned to room after having dinner, I found an interesting creature in my room. It's a Praying Mantis, also called Praying Mantid, so called due to its positioning of fore limbs. Mantis means Prophet in Greek. But do not get misled by it's humble appearance. Its a carnivore.

It feeds on other mantises, Insects such as butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, flies & crickets. At the bottom of this post there is a link where you can see pictures of a mantis that has caught a hummingbird. It uses it's fore limbs equipped with razor sharp spines to deliver a fatal blow that will penetrate it's prey & it quickly bites the neck of the prey before starting to eat.
The one I saw was brownish in colour & they vary from Green to Pink & flower mantises are magnificently beautiful with flower like appearance. This is essential to it for it's survival as there are so many predators such as Birds & spiders that feed on them. Also Mantises use their camouflage to catch their prey, as unwary victims pass-by without noticing it.

The size ranges from 0.5 cm to 30cm in size. The specimen I found was a very small one, where I have taken a picture of it with a pen for size comparison.

The mantises are helpful in keeping the pest populations at control, but they eat friendly insects too without any discrimination.

Read more about Praying matises,

• Praying mantis (Wikepedia)
• Praying Mantis (Insecta Inspecta World)
• Praying Mantid Information
• Praying Mantis Makes Meal of a Hummer (with pictures)

Mount Lavinia Hotel

Almost one year ahead of our wedding day, we started to search for a venue for the occasion. It was a difficult task, as the venue should match all our requirements, including suitability to host a traditional wedding.
When I started to climb the stair case at Mount Lavinia Hotel, I knew this would be the ideal location for the big occasion, with its colonial architecture & picturesque surroundings.

Mount Lavinia Hotel celebrates its 200^th anniversary this year. There is an enchanting love story bound with this place. This mansion was built in 1806 by Sir Thomas Maitland, British governor of Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). He had fallen in love with a local dancing girl, Lovina Aponsuwa, which had made him name the mansion Mount Lavinia, which later on was used to call the surrounding area itself.

Due to the nature of his state, governor could not marry this village lass. He had a secret passageway leading to her house well, which he would use to meet her frequently.

He remained a bachelor, when he left the country to England & remained so through out rest of his life.
This mansion was used by several Governors who came to office subsequently (Sir Edward Barnes, Sir Robert Brownrig & Sir Edward Paget) & was converted to a hotel in 1877 & stays so to this date.

Mt Lavinia Hotel also has a unique asset, Master Chef Pabilis, who is an expert on local, rare-to-find delicacies. Also they offer exquisite western & oriental cuisines.

Visit Mount Lavinia Hotel web site, read about its history here & click here for reservations

Photos uploaded with

The culprit

After the Bulbul family left the nest, I removed the tar sheets covering the nest. I thought the predator bird would return (see Tragedy...) if it saw the nest & I didn't had to wait long to get results. It came right to the nest & was searching all over.
It was a magnificent bird with grey-blue coloured body & was very fast. I only managed to capture it's photo after it flew away to a distant tree.

This was a Shikra ('kurulugoya' in sinhala). A magnificently beautiful bird.

The scientific name is Accipiter badius.

It's a bird of prey. It's a small bird with short broad wings & long tail. It's found in South Asia & sub-Saharan Africa. It's prey include lizards, dragonflies, small birds & mammals.

Further readings:

• Shikra (Wikipedia)
• Shikra - BirdLife Species Factsheet
• Shikra (nice picture - must see)

Also see my other post on Bulbul nest:

• New life...
• Red vented Bulbul
• Tragedy...
• Flying lessons

Images posted with

Flying lessons

Bulbul parent showing how to fly

Today was a special day & especially to the bulbul birdling. I could witness the first flight of the birdling.
The bulbul parents were bringing food near & would take it away compelling the birdling to come out of the nest & it jumped out of the nest readily. I always stayed around, as I did not wanted it to end in our cats stomach. It seems they didn't mind me sitting around. Even I examined the birdling for injuries few times when it fell from above during the process.
It was a nice thing to see. The parents brought food near it & flew away as birdling approached. Parents flapped wings to show the young one how to fly. Soon the small one started flapping wings & off it went few yards. I was amazed to see it & was very happy too. After few more flights, three of them flew away to distant.
Then only I felt sad, as I missed them...

It seems this brings an end to the 'Tale of the Bulbul family'
To read from the bigining please read,

• New life...
• Red vented Bulbul
• Tragedy...
  

• Parents bringing food near the birdling to force it out of th nest.

  Birdling on the ground, after it jumped out of the nest

  Rewards for getting out of the nest

  Here we go...

  Quick... can anybody tell me how to land???

  
  
  Images published with

Tragedy...

The fallen Bulbul birdling. The only survivor...

I was watching a cricket match when I heard the screams of the Bulbuls. I thought it was a cat who had attacked their nest & I went quickly to see whats happening. I saw a large bird fly away & it dropped something & it was one from the nest. I was there in time to save only one bulbul birdling.I returned it to the nest.

Other two birdlings were not to be seen. May be the predator bird had had them. I could not see the predator bird as it flew away. But it is sure to return. So I placed two tar-sheets over the nest & Bulbul parent could get into the nest from the side.

The Bulbul parents were watching from a distance. They did not return to the nest even at that nite. But next day morning it flew away as I came near the nest. During past few weeks the bulbul parents were so acoustemed to us, we could go near them without alarming them. But now because of this incidence they even seem to suspect us.

Birdling alone in nest (seen from below)

The only survived birdling in the nest, alone at night

Tar coat on top of the nest. Bulbul parent also seen coming out of the nest

Red vented Bulbul

	The scientific name is Pycnonotus cafer. It gets its name from the reddish area found at the vent. This can be seen very clearly in the lower photograph. Generally it is dark in colour with white breast & rump. It has a crest & called in Sri Lanka as 'Kondaya' meaning 'haired' because of it. They consume fruits (eg: plantain & papaya), insects, flower nectar, seeds & buds. They build a cup shaped nest where they lay 2 to 3 eggs. This is native to parts of Asia ranging from Pakistan, India & Sri Lanka to southwest China & also some pacific islands where it was introduced later. It had been nominated to be among '100 of worlds worst invaders'. Further readings: Ecology of Pycnonotus cafer Red-vented_Bulbul (Wikipedia) Hawaii Biological Survey's - Red-Vented Bulbul Red vented Bulbul (nice pictures!) also see my other post on Bulbul nest: New life...

New life...

	When I was getting ready to go to work today morning, I heard some noise & was amazed to see three birdlings huddled together in a small nest. I couldn't investigate further as I was getting late for work. On returning from work, first thing I did was to check the nest & it was of Red Vented Bulbul. The parents were busy feeding the hungry birdlings & they took turns in feeding them. The nest was well camouflaged among the grapevine leaves & before the Bulbul parents returned to the nest they would check the surrounding for a while. Initially they hesitated to come to nest when we were around , but eventually they got used to us & we were free to take close pictures of them. In the night on of the parents slept on top of the birdlings.
Three Bulbul birdlings
Bulbul parent returning from nest after feeding. The nest is in the bush of leaves just beyond the bird.
Red Vented Bulbul
Adult bird sleeping on top of birdlings in the night.