Category Archives: Consumer

Meter Taxies Will Win

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Indi is asking: What kind of taxi do you usually take?

I think he is building some kind of social app for taxis. At the moment on his poll meter taxies are winning. Here is what I think about that.

I voted for meter taxies too. Its the obvious choice there. If you call for a car or van from a cab company you have to wait, they have to figure out where you are and you have to wait a bit more.

And when the car or van comes its usually in crap condition. The cab companies have ‘packaged’ out plans these days so if you don’t fall into a plan you pay more for less.

Meter tuks are almost everywhere now. So its the obvious choice. You don’t have to haggle on price and you get a decent service. You see what you are spending and there is no magic thug pricing when you reach your destination.

When you are in an unknown place if you had a choice between a meter tuk and a non-metered tuk I would bet you would take the metered one. That’s because even if you don’t know the guy the meter levels out the unknown.

My bet is meters will become the normal because its better.

Chicken and Egg Razor Problem

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I’ve been having this razor problem for a few months now. I don’t know about you but I’ve been to a few super markets with this same result.

Scenario 1: You can buy Gillette Mark 3 blades but no handles

I don’t own a Mark 3 handle. I don’t mind buying one but I can’t find one.

Scenario 2: You can buy Gillette Sensor 2 handles but no extra blades

I have a Sensor handle but no blades. :(

I’m using some disposables for the time being if anyone has a solution for this I’m eager to hear it :)

So Much for 2009

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Hope you enjoyed my moving to Australia posts, cause just after posting those I moved back to Sri Lanka. I won’t get into “moving back to Sri Lanka” cause its pretty painful and I’m sure no one will want to read it.

Why move back? Well although its a bit crappy here most of the time its home, and with the end of the war one can hope again. Here are a few first impressions of Sri Lanka for someone returning after a few years.

Driving has got worse and kind of easier. Before there were only a few idiots who drive bad, now everyone does, so you go with the flow and try not to hit anything.

Everything is more expensive. The quality of products are lower. A bar of soap has been carved in so many creative ways now its about half the weight at the old price.

There seems to be a few new local products trying to fill in the gaps of more expensive imports so that’s kicked off a bit of business.

Everyone seems to be doing more business than going to a 9 to 5 job.

2009 has been a decent year. I’m still working so I survived the recession. I thought coming down in time for the holidays would be a great idea, but this season was a bit damp and low-key. Not my kind of Christmas.

Most of the time I feel very few reads this. Since I got down I’ve spoken to a few people and it seems a few more do. So I’ll try to post a bit more often even if its not too technical.

By the way if anyone is hiring Java people drop me a line I know a decent J2ME developer looking for work.

Things to do on Earth Day and Beyond

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April 22 is Earth Day so I thought of spending my lazy Sunday morning looking at how to save the world! Here is what I came up with.

Lighting
Change to CFL bulbs for long running locations. I’ve noticed they bust sooner for short running lights like in the store room and bathroom. I’ve switched to 90% CFL. The units are down but the bill keeps going up (only in Sri Lanka).

Buy CFL’s at an electrical shop rather than a supermarket. They will advise you better on which ones are better and where they will fit.

Consider motion sensors and timing units for lighting where appropriate. I have a motion sensor spot light at a dark corner of the garden and an automatic water pump system. I’m waiting for LED home lighting but I guess it’ll be a while more till we get them down here.

Make use of daylight as much as possible. Move desks around knock down walls if needed. :)

Heating and cooling
That last point helps with ventilation and cuts down on running fans all day.

Look at overall air flow in the house, use an exhaust fan where needed. Consider running the exhaust fan on a solar panel directly. When the heat is up the sun is up, use the free energy falling from the sky.

If you need heated water consider solar heating. If you have a electric water heater turn it down to the bare minimum you need.

Water
If you have space and a garden look at rain water harvesting. At least to water the garden. You can also filter it and use it to flush the toilet.

In the bathroom change to a low-flow shower head and a dual flush toilet. Use faucet aerators for kitchen and bathroom taps.

Electronics
We love our gadgets, but do they have to be on all the time? Stand by power still uses some power. Turn it off from the wall if you are not using it.

According to this a LCD TV is better than a Plasma. My aging CRT is close to a LCD so it’ll do for the time being.

Reality
The cost of solar even CFL’s are not cheap. Living in a third world country some of these things are not available to buy even if you have money. But press on, do what you can. Influence local government, inspire business to notice these things.

Links

Got Rice?

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Went to a supermarket in the morning. There was a 3 kg rice purchase limit on each brand. My guess is its due to the distribution gap because of the new year holidays. Nothing is panic about.

Then again are we going to hit a rice shortage? I still have no idea but its a good time to look back at how we got here.

I’m no historian but I’ve heard my parents talk about bread queues and rice restrictions due to social and economic experiments conducted my previous administrations. Is this a result of another experiment gone wrong?

I know many guys around here that would rather drive a tuk than get down into a paddy field and grow rice.

I overheard an army guy in the early days of the ceasefire who had come home to help out on the fields. He is probably back on duty now.

Most of my family now are professionals or trying to be white collar workers. There are only 2 people in my family that farm. Should we go back to basics and start growing again?

Cause it doesn’t matter what you do or how much you make if there isn’t any food to buy.

Update: there seems to be a stand-off between a price fix by the gov and some traders. Don’t know more details yet. That means I have to check local news… yuk.

Sri Lanka EDITORIAL:: Rice crisis: Rise to the challenge!