The Final Countdown to Glory!!!

Finally, blogging after probably eons of weeks!! Lots has been happening in that period. Barcelona are the Champions of Europe (Beating Man Utd is so damm sweet!!!), Kaka and C Ronaldo are about to be the New Zidane and Figo. Probably the best news so far has been Sri Lanka have qualified for World Twenty20 Cup finals!!

So probably in about 3 hours at the time of this blog post the finals will kick-off. The team under the new leadership of Sanga have been truly remarkable on route to the final. Beating the Aussie’s and knocking them out in the earlier rounds bring so much satisfaction. Especially, since they denied us on that dreadful World Cup final two years ago.

SL have a good bowling line up when comparing it the last world cup. Malinga has always been the key, his IPL form has been carried forward to world cup. Added to his bowling armoury has been the slow swinging full toss that has made batsmen such as Brad Haddin, Shoaib Malik and a few others completely bemused, although his in-swinging toe crushing yorker his best weapon, its good to see the other bowling innovations.

Mendis and Murali, the twin smiling assassins have been both menacing and merciless to opposing batsmen. The two have been keeping the runs down as well as picking up crucial wickets. The mystery behind Mendis is still mind-boggling and Murali has just been himself, that is being almost unplayable (although the Pakistanis will try to prove this wrong in a few hours time!!).

The two surprise packages have been Udana and Matthews, both look like ordinary medium pacers who look likely to be hit around the ground at the pace they bowl. But, both have surprised the world in being successful, Mathews has swung the bowl in the early overs and Udana has used his variations to good effect to get batsmen to miss-time their shots.

Our batting has been good though as well, although is has been the top-order making all the runs, mostly thanks to Dilshan. The live wire fielder has been the highest runs scorer in the tournament, and they main talking point has been his amazing new shot that has been christened by the media as the ‘Dilscoop’.

So hopefully, King Sangha and his merry men can bring another trophy back home and this would be much sweeter, since it is away from the sub-continent. 

Hopefully, Sanga can yank that away from Younis Khan.

The Apps Store Rocks!!!

It’s been awhile, and I mean a long while since my last post!! Well, this would be my first post for 2009.

Lots has happened during the past one and a half months. The SL cricket team have both won abroad and got thrashed at home. Magical Mendis seems to be a shadow of his former self. The magic seems to have totally wiped out and his bowling seems a bit ordinary. Well, it will be a test for him this year since he will have to adapt to the tactics all batsmen are employing against him. Also, his discipline will have to stand out for him to bowl well.

The champions league has also begun and there’s gonna be a lot of exciting matches coming up in the next two weeks.

The most amazing thing that has happened recently was the discovery of wi-fi access in the department I work. Strangley, I have not noticed this before until recently I happened to use my iPod Touch and quite accidentally noticed I could surf by using wi-fi!! So what I did next was check out for more web related apps that are compatible with the touch. This is where I discovered a host of awesome apps including a twitter and a wordpress app.

So now I’m blogging via the iPod touch!!!! Although the touch screen gets a bit getting used to, I’m begining to the get the hang of it. Also, it has auto correction on so it helps in correcting all the typos instantly.

The Twitted app also as good as the desktop apps like Twhirl. Besides these apps there are tons of other apps such as IM and the must have Facebook app!! There are also some pretty cool games that have some awesome graphics and uses the Touch’s multi-touch and acclerometer feature to give a very unique experience.

Well, I hope Apple come out with more awesome apps as well as games. Now I just wish the Touch had 3G just like it’s cousin the iPhone.

Year End Post

Its definitely been almost 3 months since my last post. Damm, 2008 drawing to a close and so is my annual leave. Its back to work tomorrow and finally founds some time to blog before the year end. So let me review what has happened in 2008.

Eye of the Beholder

The year has gone by so quickly and it seemed like yesterday since I started this blog. Yes it was in January last year that fully got me into blogging after browsing the Sri Lankan blog sphere for sometime and checking out all the great blogs. Also, it good to see that I have passed the 1000 hits mark in less than a year. Maybe, its not that big but its something. So in 2009, will try and get it to the 3000 hit mark.

Christmas

Christmas has also passed, probably the best time of the year for me, Damm.. didn’t do a Christmas post..  Anyway, was home for the last 2 weeks and it was great to be away from the hustle and bustle of work, although I did get at least 2 calls everyday from my colleagues pestering me about handling certain transactions. Kinda made me feel that I was missed at work. Overall, Christmas was good, although I couldn’t get anything big for myself this year (unlike last year where I bought myself an Ipod Touch!!!). My cash was low so had only enough to spend on relatives and my GF. Was eyeing a Nintendo DS Lite, but maybe get it later on.

Exams

So 2008 had a lots of ups and downs, did my banking exams, came down in a few and passed most of them, so much of 2009 will be to get through the remaining subjects.

2008 in Sports

In terms of the world of sports, Sri Lanka had a mixed 2008 with probably a 50 % success rate. But the definitely, the discovery of Ajantha Mendis (Splendid Mendis, as he has been nicknamed) has been the highlight. It just gives us a preview what the SL bowling attack will be once Malinga is back as well. Just imagine Vaas, Malinga, Maharoof, Murali & Mendis, the most destructive bowling combination in world cricket!!! Our batting is what really let us down the whole year, which would have resulted in better results.

In football, Italy had a bad Euro 2008, although they got knocked out of penalties in the quarters, they would need to rebuild next year before the world cup in 2010. AC Milan had a bad first half of the year, where the failed to qualify for the illustrious Champions League. In the summer, they finally bought Ronaldhino whose finally regaining his old form at Milan. Hopefully, him and Kaka would lethally combine in 2009. Milan also need to buy couple of good defenders in the Jan transfer window due to their injury crisis.

Movies & TV

Well, it was all Dark Knight this year, probably the movie of the year and Batman probably faced off with the most smartest villain yet. The Joker was absolutely brilliant, with his evil schemes and brilliance. The box office would have been better if Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released in November as scheduled, but due to Warner Bros. wanting to make money in 2009, the movie was postponed.

On TV, the latest episodes of Prison Break and Heroes were back. This resulted in me being hooked on Limewire through the weekdays downloading these shows as and when they were out. The mid-season break is on but these shows will be back in Jan-Feb plus with Season 5 of Lost also being released, will be spending more time on Limewire.

Tech & Computing

On the tech side, Firefox 3 was finally released, creating a new world record for most downloads in a single day (And yes I was part of it!!!!). The browser is definitely more faster than previous versions but will face stiff competition from Google’s Chrome browser.

The Apple app’s store was also launched which made owning an Ipod Touch more than just having a MP3 player. The new apps which included loads of games gave users tons of options and uses for their Ipod Touche’s or Iphone’s. There were some brilliant apps such as Zenbe Lists, which is a list taking app, especially when creating a Christmas gift list. Games such as Cuberunner, Tap Defence, Aurora Feint and Sudoku made the Touch more enjoyable to use.

So that’s what basically happened in 2008. Well, its looks like my next post will be in 2009 and so will hope to put in a post as soon on my take on Sports, Movies or Tech.

One more thing,

Happy New Year to You All!!!

 

Technorati Tags: 2008,Limewire,AC Milan,Mendis,Cricket,Football,Heroes,Prison Break,Lost

Year End Post

Its definitely been almost 3 months since my last post. Damm, 2008 drawing to a close and so is my annual leave. Its back to work tomorrow and finally founds some time to blog before the year end. So let me review what has happened in 2008.

Eye of the Beholder

The year has gone by so quickly and it seemed like yesterday since I started this blog. Yes it was in January last year that fully got me into blogging after browsing the Sri Lankan blog sphere for sometime and checking out all the great blogs. Also, it good to see that I have passed the 1000 hits mark in less than a year. Maybe, its not that big but its something. So in 2009, will try and get it to the 3000 hit mark.

Christmas

Christmas has also passed, probably the best time of the year for me, Damm.. didn’t do a Christmas post..  Anyway, was home for the last 2 weeks and it was great to be away from the hustle and bustle of work, although I did get at least 2 calls everyday from my colleagues pestering me about handling certain transactions. Kinda made me feel that I was missed at work. Overall, Christmas was good, although I couldn’t get anything big for myself this year (unlike last year where I bought myself an Ipod Touch!!!). My cash was low so had only enough to spend on relatives and my GF. Was eyeing a Nintendo DS Lite, but maybe get it later on.

Exams

So 2008 had a lots of ups and downs, did my banking exams, came down in a few and passed most of them, so much of 2009 will be to get through the remaining subjects.

2008 in Sports

In terms of the world of sports, Sri Lanka had a mixed 2008 with probably a 50 % success rate. But the definitely, the discovery of Ajantha Mendis (Splendid Mendis, as he has been nicknamed) has been the highlight. It just gives us a preview what the SL bowling attack will be once Malinga is back as well. Just imagine Vaas, Malinga, Maharoof, Murali & Mendis, the most destructive bowling combination in world cricket!!! Our batting is what really let us down the whole year, which would have resulted in better results.

In football, Italy had a bad Euro 2008, although they got knocked out of penalties in the quarters, they would need to rebuild next year before the world cup in 2010. AC Milan had a bad first half of the year, where the failed to qualify for the illustrious Champions League. In the summer, they finally bought Ronaldhino whose finally regaining his old form at Milan. Hopefully, him and Kaka would lethally combine in 2009. Milan also need to buy couple of good defenders in the Jan transfer window due to their injury crisis.

Movies & TV

Well, it was all Dark Knight this year, probably the movie of the year and Batman probably faced off with the most smartest villain yet. The Joker was absolutely brilliant, with his evil schemes and brilliance. The box office would have been better if Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released in November as scheduled, but due to Warner Bros. wanting to make money in 2009, the movie was postponed.

On TV, the latest episodes of Prison Break and Heroes were back. This resulted in me being hooked on Limewire through the weekdays downloading these shows as and when they were out. The mid-season break is on but these shows will be back in Jan-Feb plus with Season 5 of Lost also being released, will be spending more time on Limewire.

Tech & Computing

On the tech side, Firefox 3 was finally released, creating a new world record for most downloads in a single day (And yes I was part of it!!!!). The browser is definitely more faster than previous versions but will face stiff competition from Google’s Chrome browser.

The Apple app’s store was also launched which made owning an Ipod Touch more than just having a MP3 player. The new apps which included loads of games gave users tons of options and uses for their Ipod Touche’s or Iphone’s. There were some brilliant apps such as Zenbe Lists, which is a list taking app, especially when creating a Christmas gift list. Games such as Cuberunner, Tap Defence, Aurora Feint and Sudoku made the Touch more enjoyable to use.

So that’s what basically happened in 2008. Well, its looks like my next post will be in 2009 and so will hope to put in a post as soon on my take on Sports, Movies or Tech.

One more thing,

Happy New Year to You All!!!

 

Technorati Tags: 2008,Limewire,AC Milan,Mendis,Cricket,Football,Heroes,Prison Break,Lost

Prison Break & Heroes

Its been a few weeks since the new seasons of both Prison Break and Heroes have been aired. So been busy every Wednesday downloading the new episodes once they finish airing in the US, where the air every Monday night. Must thank all those who take the time and effort of illegally uploading these episodes on Limewire or on torrents.

So the new episodes have been tantalising to say the most. New discoveries like Peter and Sylar being brothers on Heroes and that Sarah is alive in Prison Break.

The best bit about watching Prison Break this time around is to see them break into a place and how former enemies now working together to break into the company.

On Heroes the plot is full set out yet all though the first volume indicates that this is mainly focused on the Villains. After seeing the last episode I do hope that Sylar become a good guy, although the story would now need a new super villain.

Away from the Sitcoms, SL are currently playing in a quadrangular series in Canada. They beat Zimbabwe in the opening match whilst losing to Pakistan yesterday. Will be playing Canada today for a place in the final tomorrow, which would be against Pakistan.

Anyway pretty bored at home although I have a loads of movies that I got recently to finish watching. So must head back to my DVD collection now. Hope to blog again soon.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Heroes,Prison Break,Sri Lanka,Limewire,Torrents,Peter,Sylar

A Long Awaited Post..

Its been well over a month and half since I last blogged. With sudden break down of my PC and also the late tiring hours of work has seriously limited my time on the net.

First of all, somewhere around the first week of August my beloved PC decided to suddenly go into a coma where I had to wait for a month till I got it back thankfully with my hard drive recovered and in the same state as it was before it decided to go to sleep. Then the tiresome days at work coupled with the very slow and tiresome public transport has seriously added to the tiredness levels. Just wished that we had some sort of futuristic technology where we could teleport ourselves where ever we go, just like in ‘Star Trek’.

Anyway’s lots has happened during this void, the Olympics have come and gone. Sri Lanka have a won a Test Series and also at the same time lost a one-day series against India. The Dark Knight has been released, still have to go watch that one, probably the biggest blockbuster of the year!! Also, Prison Break season 4 has also hit the airs.

So actually managed to download the first 3 episodes of the new season of PB and its great so far. The series begins itself with a big twist and it’ll be great to see how it goes. Also, Heroes: Villains will be out on the 22nd of Sept so another great series will also be on air. Most probably will downloading both on Limewire.

At the moment just downloaded a clip of Usain Bolt’s 3 races at the Olympics via Utorrent, it was almost impossible to find this video, as all Olympic events were deleted of YouTube and other similar sites.

Exams are also coming up in a weeks time and it so hard to concentrate. Its past 2 in the morning now and I’m

Technorati Tags: Sri Lanka,Exams,Usain Bolt,Prison Break,Heroes,Limewire,Utorrent

probably one of the few people right now in SL who are blogging at this wee hour.

So hope to blog again soon, maybe after my exams.

Cricinfo Latest Photos

ITunes App’s Store Launches

Well last week after months of anticipation Apple launched the App’s store on ITunes. The App’s store primarily focuses on applications for the Apple IPhone and IPod Touch. Their is also a wide range of app’s from various categories including a section for games.

Also for the first time Sri Lanka is included in the regions of downloading content from ITunes although is only restricted to the app’s store and not other content such as music and videos (we anyway have limewire know!!!).

Before purchasing the app’s the latest version of ITunes needs to be downloaded and as well as upgrading the software for the IPhone or the IPod Touch. The upgrade cost USD9.95 but its truly worth it for the number of app’s available.

Although app’s come at a price, there are plenty of free content that would keep anyone entertained. Managed to download about 5-6 games and some useful app’s such as Zenbe Lists and entertaining app called scratch which lets you scratch a record like a DJ.

From the free games that I managed to download, Cube Runner is pretty cool, since you have to navigate through obstacles by moving your IPod in your hand. Another really good game would be be Tap Tap, which is sort of a guitar hero type game for the IPod and also Aurora Feint which is an excellent puzzle game.

Anyway’s I’m going back to fooling around with my IPod!!!

Check out the picture of the new App’s Store and my downloaded app’s below.

 

Technorati Tags: IPhone,Ipod Touch,ITunes,Apps Store

Mendis Magic

Was it a cricket match or a magic show as Ajantha Mendis perplexed the in-form Indian batting line with his bag of tricks. The ball was spinning in both directions and even some of his straighter ball’s were bowled with a tinge of swing in them.

Well, do not need to say more, just have a look at the video of all the wickets that fell to Mendis.

 

Technorati Tags: Ajantha Mendis,Asia Cup Final,Sri Lanka,India

Naturally Disappointed

Well since Euro 2008 did not go exactly to plan as per my predictions it was a pretty impressive interesting tournament. The irony of placing no hopes on Spain seriously backfired since they were the eventual champions. Even did not bet on Germany making it to the finals!!!

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup has kicked off and the tournament happened so fast that the final is a few hours away.

The great thing about this tournament was seeing Ajantha Mendis bowl. Although in the initial overs he was picked off, he came back well in the latter overs and got wickets as well. The match against Pakistan was where he was really tested and it was great to see him come out in flying colours. I think it was 4-47 in that match. Well, hopefully he would deliver in the final, by bamboozling the Indian batsmen with his bag of tricks.

Anyway, this his the YouTube clip of his 4 wicket haul, Yousuf, Malik and Misbah  did not know what hit’ em.