Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Ragging in Srilanka - New Perspective

Ragging is a verbal, physical or psychological abuse on newcomers to educational institutions. It is similar to the American phenomenon known as hazing. Sri Lanka is said to be its worst affected country in the world

(Wikimedia Foundation, Inc , 2010)

Bhavana Upades
© 2007 , Nilantha Hettige 
Oh now we know! LoL

Umbalakada - ( Editorial , Sinhala Boudaya - July 1911 )

Anagarika Dharmapala
© July 1911 - Editorial , Sinhala Boudaya 

Sunday, December 19, 2010

What and what not to keep!

Sherlock Holmes
© Made Up Media production , 2010

You see, I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out or at best is jumbled up with the lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it.

Now, the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes in to his brain attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work but of these he has a large assortment and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that, that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent.

Depend upon it. There comes a time when for every addition of knowledge, you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance therefore that not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones
Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet


I can not agree more. 
To add to this little bit more,  this erasing out of fats that one has known before does not occur with an average individual who might only have one or two interests in life. 
But when a person’s interest is in many varying and contradictory lines and when one is keen in narrowing down his horizon of ignorance by learning them, it becomes of a highest importance to filter out facts that he can grab from a text book in an instance notice and only to keep concepts and tools learned in orderly fashion in his brain attic.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Charles M. Schwab
© Wikipedia Org

Bumped upon an Audio book named "How to win friends and influence people" by Mr Dale Carnegie.

A great book for anyone who wants to develop people skills.
Among hundreds of equally beautiful ones, one quote in that i thought  is great sharing....

"I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.
There s nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticism from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my appreciation and lavish in my praise"

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Gava Ghathanaya - Ven Pannala Ganaloka

Dhamma Sermon by Madagoda Abetissa Panditha thero


Ven Madagoda Abeythissa

This nice Dhamma sermon ( See Link Below ) is by Madagoda Abetissa Panditha thero who appears regularly on Srilankan  electronic media.


Sermon was on 2nd November 2010 and is well suited for young children and students.

Overall a very nice, entertaining as well as informative sermon by this famous bhikku.
Enjoy....


Sunday, October 17, 2010

Australia , The Best



Image is copyrighted to : wordpress.com

Oh boy, today while hunting through the TV channels I happened to come across an Aussie TV show called New Inventors in Discovery Science Channel. Since then I have started missing Australia.

Well this is an old bug returning back I guess. When in Australia my dreams revolve around Sri Lanka and the always planned but never riped all India trip. Ironically when in Srilanka I missed the Australian relaxed culture, its simple and loving people (Well some) and the pleasant feelings it gives while being around them.  To be frank I don’t interact with anyone much when im there. But being among those pleasant people is only good enough for me to overfill with joy.

Maybe that’s why you always see me smiling in there.

Mind is a wicked B***h I guess.

Do I like Srilanka? Well sort of. If god can remove all Srilankans from here to a new island then I will love Srilanka for its beauty and its serenity.  Well im not a sociophobic physico. Yet I hate people down here for their arrogant stupidity, and the overall lack of Emotional intelligence.

There is a large gap in people’s mind for care and respect for others, obedience to low and order, respect for justice and good social practices. 
- When one drives according to road rules everyone turns and look at him as a wild animal on loose.
- When one stays in a queue, he/she is always at the end of the line... Mmmm I wonder why?
- When one shows respect, it’s considered as a weakness that must be exploited.
- Jealousy, greed and cunningness are overflowing in people.

and the list goes on and on

Well, Aren’t others such as Aussies are jealous and/or cunning?
Yes they are but Srilankan ways are way too crude and embarrassing to observe and to experience.

Disclaimer: People who have experienced my driving firsthand won’t ever relate me to the incidents given above I hope. LOL


Sunday, September 19, 2010

Biggest curse

n@m`\ vQw\wQ@yn\m , hp\p` ap`y ak\XrykQn\m @m|k ptn\ gw\w` kQyl iX\t @qi@y` @k`\p @v|q mn\q`. ew\ iwQn\ p#qE@rnEw\ bQmt vtQl in\n @m| g#w\wt un\n`n\@sl @k`\p @vl @m`n @kn\ @gdQyk\ @k`rn\nq a`i@b`vn\ ?

o|n\ blmE@k` iwQn\ m@g v#d|m ek ek`@g avln\ v#d vQv|c@ny @k`r @k`r in\n ekm@n.iwQn\ a#@q udt @vl o@h\ nQkn\ bkn\ nQl`n in\n a@w@r @m| apr\bn\s kl\pnv @m| g#w\w@g hQ@w\ phl un` @b`ln\. 

aq a@p\ @m| {r\mq\vWp@y phl @vl` wQ@yn @l`kOm hRnQym mk\kyQ ayQ@b`vn\? 


i@gn kQy`n in\n @klQ @k`lE kOr#t|@t` bw\ kn am|@br#@v` krn , un\@g hQw\ @p`j\@jt @m| wOn\ @l`\@km wQ@yn wrmk\ an vQn a#wOlE @k`rn , kBErl @gqr g`tn mQnQh a#qEm| glvn\@nw\ n#wOv a#s\ @gdQ @qk a@l`\@gn bl`n in\n , @gqr mQnQh@g , @k`l\@l` kOr#t|tn\@g @s\@r`\m v#d kk\kOs\sQyt q`l in\qQy`@v kOnE bk\kQ vlQn\ ahQqn\ a`pE j`gr vQgdn\ m`iyt adE n#wOv @pn\nn , a@p\ wr#N bRr# h#w\w @p`\y hrQ irQq` qvsktvw\ pn\slkt pl\lQykt @n`gOhQn\ @b`kO qQr`n`s\ bQbQ @g`j qm qm` mn\wQrQ kQrQk#t| bl`n hE@r\ q`n @m| hRnQyn\ @pt|tQy@n ayQ@b`vn\. 


a#@w\ wQ@yn pQc|cQy qWl e' mqQvt Nyw\ @vl` gw\w @m| hEnQy@mn\ g#l@vn\n nm| iwQn\ @m| atmgl pQ@qnQ wtEvk wQyl , kh vwOr n`vl, qEm|ml kWlk\ ghl lg wQyn wOn\mn\ hn\qQyk aw$@rl en ek wmyQ @b`lv| @k`rn\n wQ@yn\@n!
a@n\ anQcn\ kQv|vlE!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Google translate in Chrome

Its not often that I stumble upon a feature in a browser that makes me wipe my eyes in disbelief. Well I’m quite sure that this is an old feature and many have found out about it before ignorant me. But hey it was a great deal for me at least to discover this.

Google translate integrated in to the Chrome Browser does a pretty nifty job in translating foreign text on the fly in to English (or to any other language under the freaking sun  for that matter). You can switch between the translated text and the original or drag mouse over to get a tool tip of the foreign text. We can also set language preferences so that the browser will always automatically translate foreign texts on the fly.

Pretty cool indeed ….  which only seconds to the “Best Collection” Album set by Meiko Kaji that  was out on 24th March 2010. Almost 200 Dollars, I wish I had a better alternative.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Parabhava Dhamma - Conduct those results in downfall of a person



Its not often one can observe a drunkard swimming in the gutter and sleeping on the road in broad daylight. After observing him for a while it was hard for me to stop running my mind along a beautiful sutra by lord Buddha which describes the various ways of downfall of an individual.
Its not hard to see the beauty of Dhamma while looking at this person rolling on the street.
Consumption of alcohol/intoxicants
  • Destroy one’s body and its organs,
  • Destroy wealth
  • Looses one’s morality and shame
  • Get defamed
  • Looses control of one’s mind and body
  • Degrade this life as well as the life after been born in animal realm after death
For people who have no clue, here is a brief summary.
Parabhava Dhamma - Conducts those results in downfall of a person
1. Hatred towards kalyana Dhamma
Kalyana Dhammas are the conducts that has been praised by noble which does not bring any disgrace by doing.
2. Dislikes Kalyana Mithras and being fond of Papi friends. Adore papi dhama..
Kalyana Mithras are the noble friends who wishes one’s good.
  • Upakaraka – Friend who helps selflessly when needed, anytime
  • Samana Suka Dukka – Friend who share happiness as well as sadness
  • Artha kai - Friend who give advices for the success of both the worlds
  • Anukampaka – Friend who always has compassion
Papi friends ( Or people we consider friends but really are our enemies )
  • Annudattahara – Take only friend
  • Vachi Parama – Friend who treat only by words
  • Anupiya Bhani – Friend who agree on everything
  • Apaya Sahayak – Friend who helps to make your journey to hell easy and fast.
Papi Dharma’s are the conducts that bring shame/disgrace and ultimate suffering to the doer. Conducts that are condemned by noble.
3. Sleeping till late and dozing whole day. Fondness to gather in groups and talk day in and day out (Discussing topics that have no usefulness in any way … (बकवास)). Laziness and lack of courage. Quick temper, lack of sympathy
4. Not taking care of old and helpless parents when having full capability to do so.
5. Fooling or cheating any ascetic who has or in the process of eliminating defilements. Fooling or cheating any pitiable person.
6. Consuming riches with out sharing it among ones loved ones and/or people in need and/or around
In here riches means any material/possession that brings pleasure to any one or all of 5 senses of a being.
7. Being egoistic about ones nationality, Cast or wealth and putting down others who are less fortunate.
8. Fondness towards other’s women /prostitutes, consumption of alcohol and gambling makes what ever one earns drip through the fingers.
9. Having illicit relationships … leaving one’s married partner.
10. Having/marrying a partner who is far younger.
11. Placing a shameless, greedy, and irresponsible person on a respectable job/position makes that organization’s downfall along with that person.
12. While having less merits and wealth, if one aspire to rule having excessive greed for power, brings destruction to the country as well as to the person involved.
Even though there are many more causes for one’s downfall Lord Buddha stopped here.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Awe-inspiring example of pure inference used in Dhamma


It’s not easy to stop contemplating and comparing when faced with two different philosophical ideologies that many people stand by and guard in vicious rigor.

It’s hard to understand where the highly valued common sense and freedom of thought of humans goes and hide when it comes to religion. Why do highly educated and wise (in terms of normal daily matters) gulp down any concept throws at them and blindly believe and follow it with out thinking and analyzing what they devour?

These phrases of joy which came from Punna Arhath Bhikkuni gives us a clear insight in to the freedom of thought and highly analytical inference process apparent in Buddhist philosophy which makes it a much sought after and loved philosophies among wise.

These are the phrases of joy came from Punna Arhath Bhikkuni after she attain Nirvana. She used to be a maid servant for a rich Brahmin family.(Due to the poverty and the strictness in casting system servants were employed even from poor Brahmin families).

One winter day when she went to the river to bring water she saw an ascetic (brahmin) dipping in the icy river doing his daily morning rituals. Punna had a discussion with him and at the end of their discussion ascetic became a follower of Lord Buddha and Punna became a noble follower (Arya srawaka) who saw the nirvana from the first path.

Lets see how the discussion went.

I used to carry water in icy winters.
Always worked in water, shivering.
Did all work fearing punishments and scolding.
Always fearing that I will do something wrong

But, What are you fearing from dear Brahmin?
Dipped till the neck
Suffering and shivering in the icy cold water

Punna, You should know the purpose of this
Washing away my sins in this icy water
And collecting merits
Is what i'm doing here

Old or young who ever it is
If done any wrong
This is the only way to escape from his sins

Oh dear brahmin
Who is the unwise that doesn't know
The Karma and its results
Has advised you to do this way?

Think … If it is true,
All beings swimming in this water
Including frogs , tortoise , crocodiles and fish
Will go to heaven
With out any doubt

If it is true,
Beings who kill pigs, fish and cows
All thieves , murderers and other sinners
Only need to do is
Just take a dip , isn’t it?

If all sins you did
Got washed away in this water
Wont it wash away
Your merits as well?

Oh Brahmin, Fear of sins driven you to this water
So then stop doing any wrong
Stop punishing yourself in this cold water

Oh Punna, I was misguided all throughout
You are the one freed me from this miserable water bathing
And placed me on the noble path
Please accept this linen from me

Brahman , keep your linen with you
I dont need any gifts
If you fear sorrow
If you dislike sorrow
In open or while hiding
Don’t do any wrong

If you do any sins now or future
How much ever you tried
You wont be able to escape from it.

If you fear sorrow
If you dislike sorrow
Take refuge of Lord Buddha
Noble Dhamma and Arya Sangha
which will help you till the end

Because I was born as a Brahmin
I was called Brahma-Bandu (Close Relative of Brahma the god)
But it was now I became a true Brahmin
Now I have attained Thri-Vidya*
Washed away my defilements and
Stepped in to Nirvana
With utmost joy

(Punna Arhath Bhikkuni - Theri Gatha - "Attempted" translation by Me )

*Thri-Vidyas described in Buddhism are listed below
1. Capability of seeing and analyzing previous lives of a being
2. Capability of seeing and analyzing future lives of a being
3. Knowledge of removing defilements from the mind



MCTS and Light bulbs

Finally, after about one week of preparation I went and sat on the exam chair to do the MCTS exam in I** Srilanka. Was quite nervous when started but it turned in to a panic when i passed first set of questions (about 10) with out answering and with out having any clue of knowing the correct answer.
Was biting my finger nails and looking at the watch nervously when a guy came in to the exam room and started pulling and messing with chairs looking up and down. It was a small room so there was no escape from this distraction. After making some noise he went out. He might have not heard my sigh while leaving and that explains the second visit of him after about 2 minutes.
This time it was worst. He pulled some chairs out , climbed on to the computer desks (yes one next to me as well) and started changing light bulbs. Jesus.. Wasn’t there any better time to do the maintenance work than this?
Anyways given time was enough to compensate for the distractions and i passed it with out much further drama. My first ever MCTS. Maybe Microsoft keeps/gives some extra time buffer to the candidates as "Exam reading time + Exam time + Extra Light bulb changing time"
Overall it was a good and somewhat peculiar experiance and hope to go back to do more.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Excom shuts its doors.


Its surprising to hear that Excom , one of the largest IT training providers in Australia with so many branches (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Singapore .. phew thats a mouthful ) founded by Paul Koukounaras and Graeme Newe shuts its doors on 25th August 2010.
Maybe the statement by Mr Lakin might provide us some insight in to the growing issue of declining International student numbers on Australian soil.
"Across all the learning agencies, whether they be tertiary, VET or vendor, there has been a general concern that the decline of international students has had a real effect on enrollments, We’ve got this skills shortage and we still haven't got a solution to address it.” - Australian Computer Society CEO, Bruce Lakin
Hmm I wonder what this news meant to the universities across Australia.
Anyways, all students (including international students) who are effected by the closure can enroll in courses provided by Dimension Data Learning Solutions (1800 853 276) with out any extra charge as they says. Well that’s a small relief!
Image is by : Mr Andrew Morison

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

No Words !






With or with out religion good people can do good and bad people can be evil.

But for good people to do evil … That takes Religion!

Steven Weinberg

Monday, July 19, 2010

Industrial age Vs Information age systems

Always saw, aged employees in various work places create hindrance to improving work flow, introducing new technology and streamlining the process. Many times they actively/furiously opposed new techniques to improve productivity.

R. Kiyosaki explains clearly why this happens. According to him many places are still using Industrial age practices and ethics that don’t suit Information age practices.

Industrial age system
- Job Security
- One job for life
- Defined benefit pension plans which employer is responsible of.
- Social security and Medicare benefits
- And most important of all : Seniority was an asset.
Which means older one got on the job more the value of him/her to the employer

Information age system
- Require financial security and independence
- People are free agents who can have many professions during their life time.
- Social security and Medicare is uncertain.
- Seniority is a liability because employers are always on the hunt for younger workers with more current technical skills who works for less.

Senior person might have better overall knowledge of how system works in a certain place. But as time passes his/her knowledge gets more and more out dated and he/she becomes less and less productive.
But business has to keep increasing their wages due to seniority. At a certain point senior worker will actively oppose a major process reengineering because it involves new skills/technologies that he/she is now not aware of.

Fascinating... yet has seen more than once.

Monday, June 14, 2010

අන්තරේ කැඳවුම්කරු ඇතුළු සිසු පිරිසකටයාපනේ සරසවි සිසුහු පහර දී පළවා හරිති.

යාපනේ සරසවි සිසුන්ට දේශපාලනය අවශ්‍ය නෑ - මවිපිය පිරිසක්‌

යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සිසුන් සිය දේශපාලන කටයුතු වලට සම්බන්ධ කර ගැනීමට ගිය අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය මහා ශිෂ්‍ය සංගමයේ කැඳවුම්කරු ඇතුළු දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිසකට යාපනය සරසවියේ සිසුන් විසින් ගල්මුල් වලින් පහර දී පන්නා දමා ඇත.අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය ශිෂ්‍ය බල මණ්‌ඩලයේ කැඳවුම්කරු උදුල ප්‍රේමරත්න ඇතුළු දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් 70 ක පමණ පිරිසකට පෙරේදා (12 වැනිදා) සවස මෙම ප්‍රහාරය එල්ල වී ඇත. අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය මහා ශිෂ්‍ය සංගමයේ නියෝජිත සරසවි සිසුන් අතර භික්‍ෂූන් වහන්සේලා 06 නමක්‌ සහ සරසවි සිසුවියන් කීපදෙනකු සිට ඇත.මෙම පිරිස යාපනය සරසවි සිසුන් වෙත ගොස්‌ ඔවුන් තම සංගමයට බඳවා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ දරමින් සිටියදී ඊට විරෝධය පෑ යාපනයේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිසක්‌ මෙසේ ගල්මුල් වලින් පහර දී දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් පිරිස පළවා හැර ඇත.ඉන් අනතුරුව ඊයේ (13 දා) උදේ දකුණේ සරසවි සිසුන් වෙත ගිය යාපනය සරසවි සිසුන්ගේ දෙමවුපියන් සහ ශිෂ්‍යයන් පිරිසක්‌ යාපනයේ සරසවියේ කටයුතු සඳහා දේශපාලන ශිෂ්‍ය සංගම්වල සහයෝගයක්‌ හෝ මැදිහත්වීමක්‌ අවශ්‍ය නැති බව පවසා වහාම යාපනයෙන් පිටවී යන ලෙසට තර්ජනය කර ඇත.තමන්ට රජය සහ හමුදාව සහාය ලබාදෙන බැවින් ඒ කෙරෙහි පූර්ණ විශ්වාසය තබා ඇති බවත්, වසර ගණනාවක්‌ එල්. ටී. ටී. ඊ. ත්‍රස්‌තවාදයෙන් පීඩාවට පත්වී අඩපණව තිබූ අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු දැන් සාර්ථකව සිදුකරගෙන යන අවස්‌ථාවේදී පටු දේශපාලනය ඊට රිංගවා තම දරුවන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපනය නැවත අඩාල කිරීමට ඉඩ නොතබන බවත් දෙමවුපියෝ වැඩිදුරටත් පවසා ඇත.
(සිරිමෙවන් කස්‌තුරිආරච්චි - Divaina 14/06/2010)

Well Done!. That’s how it shold be in every university in Srilanka. "Anthere" backed by opportunistic JVP is creating havoc in Srilankan university system since years now, using brutal methods to suppress the opposite views.
Well done again for all Jaffna students and parents for this wise act.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Amba Vidamana (අඹ විදමන) - Gammadu Poojothsavaya



On last Friday night (23 April 2010) had a chance to see a gam-madu held in Piliyandala temple.
As many people have mentioned (and I was eavesdropping) , this one was the best they have seen in their whole life. It was a massive function and really well done.
It started around 10.00 PM and went on continuously till next day 5.00 PM.
Amba vidamana is a item started around 9.00 AM next day and went on for about 2 hours.

Following is a small description of it taken from elakiri.com.

අඹ විදමන

කවි ගායනා කරමින් නාට්‍යාකාරයෙන් රඟ දක්වන මෙම අංගය තුළ, දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ පඬි රජුගේ උයනේ හටගත් අරුම පුදුම අඹ ගෙඩියක් විද, බිම හෙළීම විදහා දැක්වෙන සේ අඹ විදමන සකස් කර ඇත. ශක්‍රයා මහල්ලෙකුගේ වේශයෙන් පැමිණ අඹ ගෙඩිය විදීමේ සිද්ධිය පාදක කරගත් මෙම අවස්ථාවේ, කෝලම් නර්තන සම්ප්‍රදායයේ එන අණබෙර කෝලමේ මුහුණ භාවිතයට ගනී. එහි මහලූ වේශයක් දැක්වෙන අතර, ගම්මඩුව ශාන්තිකර්මය සඳහා වෙනත් ශාන්තිකර්මයන්හි ලත් ආභාසය ද ඉන් නිරූපණය වේ. මහල්ලා බෙර වාදකයින් සමඟ දීර්ඝ සංවාදයක යෙදෙන අතර දෙපැත්ත කැපෙන්නා වූ ද, අසභ්‍ය වූ ද වදනින් තත්කාලීන රූපවාහිනී වෙළඳ දැන්වීම්වල වදන්වලින් ද එය සමන්විත වෙයි. ප්‍රේක‍ෂකයාගේ මනසට ඉතා පහසුවෙන් සමීප විය හැකි ආකාරයෙන් පෙළ ගස්සවා ඇති මේවා මගින් හාස්‍යය උත්පාදනය කරයි. එනම් මෙම ශාන්තිකර්ම අතීතය ප්‍රතිනිර්මාණය කරනවා පමණක් නොව, වර්තමානය ද යාතුකර්මයට සමීප කර රෝග නිවාරණ කාර්යයක යෙදෙන බව පැහැදිලි වේ. මෙම නර්තනාංගය අවසානයේ පත්තිනි දේවියගේ අඹෙන් වූ උපත සඳහන් කර පත්තිනි දේවියගේ ආශීර්වාදය ආතුරයන්ට ලබා දෙති.


‘අහස් ගැබේ වැඩවූ සබේ එරන් අඹේ පිළිසිඳ තෙද පැමිණ
දහස් සබේ මැද එ සුබේ පාපු ලොවේ පඬියා නෙත මකමින
යසස් ඔබේ ගුණ නිළඹේ සිරුරු ගැබේ පණ ගෙන්නූ විගසින
දෑත් ගොබේ දොස නොතිබේ මිනිස් ලබේ තෙද අනුහස් වැයෙන’

Ref: (Sadun Thilaka)http://www.elakiri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-470951.html

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Mobitel's world class browsing pain.


Thinking that “Siya-rata De Siri Sapa De” I bought Mobitel ‘s Wireless internet Key and a 4 GB Package about 2 weeks back.
Since the day one the service has been a world-class pain.
It's promised speed is 1 MBps which is about 120 Kbp. But this bullock cart hardly does 20-30 Kbps and DNS lookup time take sometimes more than 5-8 Seconds. ( I see from my stupid brain ..... mmmmm sluggish DNS servers and a QOS issue and a fat bellied commiss crow).
On which planet does Google's home page get timed out while resolving its IP address???? . Well theres one country !
While digging a bundle of past news papers , I found the reason and the solution for at least part of the problem. This paper reveals some government tender scam in purchasing IT equipments to a Government telecom network.

Well I don’t know whether it’s true or not. (By the way they had put all relevant documents related to the scam in there ). But observing the slowness in Mobitel's DNS servers(?) I have no doubt that they are running on Celeron Desktop PCs.
Well I have no solution to the snail class line speed provided by Mobitel. But to cut out at least 5-8 seconds of DNS lookup time and to make browsing less annoying you can use googles' public DNS servers.
These are their IP addresses as on 6/4/2010:
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
You can get more info from:
http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/
Last advise:
Avoid Mobitel HSDPA network as it got Bubonic Plague. Go with Dialog Wireless network. Last year I used it and the service and the customer service was 10/10.