Site FAQ
What this is
- Bits of information that I want to share with other people are published here.
- Content can range from useless bits of personal information to not so useless (?) items related to
- Sometimes I jot down my computer programming experiences that are related to my work or hobbies.
What this is NOT
- A complete work: I write this whenever I have free time. Not based on any plan or framework. I create links first, and may complete the target article later, if ever. So, if there are links in RED, don't follow and more importantly, don't keep your fingers crossed -- it might never be written.
- Serious work: Well... at lest most of the stuff appear here are not to be taken too seriously. Read the copyright notice if you are so inclined -- but I'll state it here anyway: Most of the content may be useless.
Why bother
Let me explain it this way. I was creating web based dynamic systems back in late nineties, when such things were quite hard. There were not many standard tools for linking databases, other applications and web seamlessly. I spent almost an year writing code for a database-backed, multi-user hydrological analysis system using Oracle's PL/SQL. It worked and I was happy. Then I moved away from the area for a several years before started reading about the subject again. Then I was in for a sort of 'Culture shock'. What we have thought as work has become play and anyone with half a day to spare and a old computer could have a nice dynamic web system going! For an old-timer like me, this is simply magic!
So by doing this, I am sort of enjoying that magic!
Why bother II (a bit serious)
In this site, I may include several kinds of information
- The part of personal information that I believe is useful for me to share with the world.
- Various information that I need to disseminate to my associates (e.g. Students that I teach and supervise).
- Knowledge I collected from doing various things (mostly related to computers, as a hobby) I believe to be useful for others.
E-mail contact
What is this strange e-mail address?
You may have seen the following:
Please use this e-mail address 3tv-assela@pathirana.net to contact me, if needed.
and may be wondering why I am using this strange e-mail address. Well.. this is how it works.
- I have created a 'disposible' e-mail adress to be used in this site. All the mail that is sent to it are automatically forwarded to my regular e-mail account.
- Having your e-mail address on the web is the best way to get spammers to gain access to your address and misuse it.
- So, I periodically change the above address to something else.
- That way, I will be able to get any message someone will be sending related to stuff on this site. Meanwhile, I always have the chance of removing a 'polluted' address and replace with a new one.
Should I keep this address in my address book?
Please don't. See the above answer. It is not meant to be a channel for regular contact. It is just for the first time contact.
Hosting
How do you host your site
- I pay for hosing, albiet a measly amount and get a mediocre service. Please read this article for a bit of information about current hosting situation. Of course there are better solutions if one pays around US$ 20-30 per month, but for me this is a hobby and it does not earn anything!
Site uptime
The current uptime can be checked from this link] (Note: This opens an external site.)
