Latest Publications
Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i DSLR
Canon has unveiled the EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i), the latest addition to its compact DSLR series. The upper-entry-level camera features a 15.1 MP APS-C CMOS sensor with 1080p HD video recording at 20fps. It also offers a 3.0 inch LCD with 920,000 dot resolution and an ISO sensitivity range expandable up to 12800 equivalent. It includes a faster Digic 4 processor offering better noise reduction at higher ISO’s and continuous shooting speeds of up to 3.4 fps delivering 170 large JPEG images in a single burst.
Airtel lanka GPRS Settings
Airtel lanka GPRS Settings
Make sure your GPRS is activated or else call 555 and activate it
Connection Name : Airtel
Data Bearer : Packet Data
Acess Point : Airtellive
user name :
Password :
Authentication : Normal
Home Page : http://wap.airtel.lk (optional)
Network Type : IPv4
Phone IP : automatic
Proxy server : 10.200.168.84
DNS : automatic
ProxyPort : 8080
Australia to Cut Skilled Visa Intake to Protect Jobs
Australia will reduce the number of visas issued to skilled migrants for the first time in 10 years to protect jobs in an economy teetering on recession.
The skilled visa intake will be cut by 18,500, or 14 percent, to 115,000 this year from 133,500 forecast in December as the global financial crisis puts pressure on the labor market, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said in an e-mailed statement.
“We don’t want people coming in who are going to compete with Australians for limited jobs,” Evans said in the statement today. The government will also remove builders, plumbers, carpenters and steel welders from the critical skills list.
Australia’s economy unexpectedly shrank 0.5 percent last quarter from the previous three months, the first decline since 2000. The jobless rate in February rose to 5.2 percent from 4.8 percent as companies fired full-time workers and the government forecasts the unemployment rate will reach 7 percent in the year ending June 30, 2010.
Pacific Brands Ltd., Australia’s biggest underwear maker, and raw material producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. are among companies firing workers as consumers cut spending and the global financial crisis deepens.
“Australia still needs to maintain a skilled migration program but one that is more targeted so that migrant workers are meeting skills shortages and not competing with locals for jobs,” Evans said.
Government Spending
To curb job losses, the government will spend A$42 billion ($28 billion) on cash handouts to households and on infrastructure. The central bank last month cut its benchmark lending rate to a 45-year low of 3.25 percent.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s package announced Feb. 3 aims to create 90,000 jobs in the next 18 months while a A$10.4 billion stimulus announced in October would create 70,000 jobs, according to the government’s Web site.
“The global financial crisis means the outlook for employment has changed dramatically,” Employment Minister Julia Gillard told parliament in Canberra. “Our visa scheme should meet skills shortages and not compete with locals for jobs.”
Source :Bloomberg
Irufushi Beach & Spa Resort in the Maldives to become a Hilton
A Hilton subsidiary has entered into an agreement with Sun Travels and Tours, to manage the Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa. A conversion hotel project, the property currently known as the Irufushi Beach & Spa Resort is scheduled to open as a Hilton Worldwide Resort in July 2009.
Martin Rinck, President Hilton Hotels Corporation – Asia Pacific, said, “The beauty of the Maldives, its pristine white beaches, turquoise waters and fascinating underwater world continues to entice yachting and diving enthusiasts, spa seekers and honeymooners looking for an island hideaway. This is one of the most exotic and idyllic island destinations in the world, and we are delighted to add the Hilton flag to the Conrad brand already present.”
Comprising 220 villas, the Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa will sprawl over 52 acres of powdery white sands and abundant tropical vegetation on Medhafushi which is nestled within the unspoiled Noonu Atoll.
The resort will offer a range of room options, from beach villas that open onto private shores and are surrounded by rich tropical foliage, to over-water villas with private whirlpools and sundecks from which guests can take in uninterrupted views across the Indian Ocean.
Four unique restaurants will enable guests to embark on an epicurean journey during their stay. From an alfresco restaurant with live stations and grills serving freshly caught seafood to a fine dining restaurant blending local and international flavours. A selection of distinctive bars and an over water wine cellar will allow guests to unwind with beverages and watch the famous Maldivian sunsets.
Located approximately 60 kilometres north of Malé International Airport, the resort is easily accessed by a 45-minute seaplane flight.
A spa sanctuary with 21 private spa pavilions will be complemented by a fitness centre, swimming pool, tennis courts and a range of water sport activities, while book lovers can curl up at the resort library and Internet cafe.
Famed for its beautiful and rare underwater reefs, warm water temperatures and high visibility, the Maldives enjoys a reputation as one of the best diving destinations in the world. The Hilton Maldives will have a diving centre on property to enable guests to learn to scuba dive with qualified trainers as well as enable dive enthusiasts to make the most of their experience of the house reef and crystal clear waters of Noonu Atoll. Over 30 dive sites are available to explore within an hour from the island, all with an abundance of marine life and a rich variety of colourful corals.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa to our portfolio,” said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president – Brand Management, Hilton Hotels & Resorts. “This beautiful location, coupled with our unique brand of Hilton hospitality is sure to make this hotel a favorite among the world’s travellers.”
The management contract will further enhance Hilton Hotels’ presence in the Maldivian archipelago, where the company will have several of its Hilton Family of Hotels Brands. The Hilton Maldives will build on the success of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island which opened in 1997 (originally as a Hilton hotel before being rebranded to the Conrad in 2007). The Doubletree by Hilton Malé is also scheduled to open in the Republic’s capital, Malé, in 2011.
Source: asiatraveltips
Tharunyata Hetak Namal Rajapaksa speach at Super Sports 2009
catch Mr.Namal Rajapaksa the Chairman of Tharunyata Hetak speech at Super Sports 2009!
Sri Lanka apparel sector going down
The latest survey on the apparel sector in Sri Lanka shows that the industry has been steadily shrinking since 2005.
The findings showed that from mid-2005 to now, 75 factories in seven provinces have closed down. From these, around 24 factories have shut in the past six months. These factories were mainly located in the Free Trade Zones of Katunayake, Biyagama, Koggala and Seethawaka.
The findings also show that many major foreign buyers of Sri Lankan garments have closed their offices in Sri Lanka within the past three years and taken their orders to other countries.
The main reason for this shift in business is the comparatively higher cost of production in Sri Lanka.
(Source: www.just-style.com – Latest News)
The 5 Hottest Hospitality Tech Trends – Microsoft
Hotel rooms that can access everything from your favorite food to your musical preferences- while running on technology that’s clever enough to repair itself-might sound like a page torn right out of a pulp sci-fi novel. It isn’t.
Hotels are doing it today, and many more are on the verge of implementing these innovative technologies. If you’re a guest at one of these forward-looking properties, get ready for a completely different kind of experience-one in which technology anticipates your every need and gives it to you without you ever having to ask.
And it isn’t just hotels that are leveraging these new tools to their advantage; so are theme parks, restaurants, and casinos. The overall effects of these new tools on the hospitality business promises to be far-reaching. From the perspective of a hotel, casino, or restaurant, these important advances have the potential to create more efficient and profitable businesses, and make your business more appealing to guests.
Here are the five biggest technology trends in the hospitality industry.
1. No more “20 questions” at check-in.
Remember all those queries when you pick up your room key, such as, What kind of newspaper do you prefer? Would you like a poolside or oceanside room? Asking such questions eats up hotel employees’ valuable time and, after a while, guests get tired of answering them. New customer relationship management (CRM) tools allow a hotel to gather guest preference information from various systems at property level and distribute them throughout the company. So your hotel knows what you like, right away.
For example, one hotel chain asks guests signing up for its loyalty program to fill out a preferences questionnaire that is entered into its CRM system at the property level. The information can be made available for any hotel in the chain that the guest checks in to, while the CRM system itself is still maintained locally, at the property level. (This is made possible by merging the property level CRM data with the larger CRM system held at the headquarters-level for the chain.)
When the day of arrival comes, the preference data is pushed to the property and generates an activity list to prepare the guest’s room. At the same time, historical transaction data about the guest is made available, which can help predict the behaviors and likely service consumption the guest will have. “If the guest typically orders room service shortly after checking in to their room, then you can proactively suggest-or offer-the in-room dining specials for that day, even take their order at the front desk to shorten the wait for their dinner” says Bill Frizzell, the industry technology strategist for the Microsoft Worldwide Hospitality Team.
“This has been a long sought-after capability for the industry,” he adds. “Defining a single view of the guest, without duplicate stores of information, is the key to understanding their habits, trends, and behaviors.”
Cutting-edge CRM solutions leverage the latest Microsoft technology, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM and BizTalk Server 2006.
2. TVs that deliver music, movies-and much more.
Today’s leading-edge hotels have in-room systems that do far more than allow guests to watch their favorite first-run movie. They can also control in-room music, provide gaming options, display your bill-even control the thermostat and lights.
The Hotel 1000 in Seattle, Wash., for instance, has centered the room around the availability of favorite media and services on a number of widescreen plasma monitors located throughout its rooms and suites. You can control content, multi-area volume of the sound system, and interact with your profile through these devices. And because it’s a multi-use property-part residence, part hotel-the same entertainment offerings are available for their property owners. That lessens the typical multi-use management burden of maintaining multiple service offerings per type of area on the property.
State-of-the-art media and services delivery are offered today through the Microsoft Media Center by using plug-ins. See some of the latest plug-ins to MediaCenter at Windows Marketplace. For more on direct media delivery for in-room services and entertainment, see the latest on Microsoft IPTV.
3. Find yourself (and pay for lunch).
People in the hospitality industry have found a variety of uses for new radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-from helping guests find each other at a ski resort to allowing them to pay for a meal. That’s because, increasingly, this technology is gaining traction with hotels and resorts in the form of cashless payment systems that can be used on-property and, more and more often, off-property as well.
For example, at Wild Rivers, a water theme park in Irvine, Calif., RFID locator bracelets can be preloaded and used to pay for food and beverages (which is especially useful when everyone’s wearing a bathing suit). The RFID systems, developed by Guest Technologies, have yielded an almost immediate return on investment. After the system was introduced at Wild Rivers, guest spending quadrupled, with the average family of four spending twice their normal amount on meals.
Another key capability of this offering is location-based services, where groups of individuals can be instantly found at the property, simultaneously allowing for more freedom and security in these safety-conscious times. “Imagine taking a group of seven 12 year-olds to a water park for a birthday party,” says Frizzell. “You can go to any information kiosk in the park and instantly find where all of the kids you are responsible for are, and what activities and payments they have made, using their RFID bracelet. All of this is enabled through the implementation RFID and location-based services, using Microsoft technologies and Microsoft MapPoint Location Server.”
For more information on RFID technologies in the hospitality industry, please see this Guest Technologies article. .
The Guest Technologies product is developed in the Microsoft Visual Studio development system with the Microsoft .NET Framework. It also relies on Microsoft BizTalk Server to help integrate applications and technologies from disparate systems, and Microsoft’s MapPoint Location Server for location-based services.
4. Back-office systems that are actually on speaking terms.
Hotel guests might not have noticed this (and if it was done right, they shouldn’t have), but applications that handled property management, food and beverage, and sales and catering functions often couldn’t communicate with one another easily. Now they can.
A large, multi-property hotel chain in Las Vegas is currently integrating systems and platforms that were in application silos-meaning that they were running as stand-alone applications, not intended to share their information with other applications-to better integrate each other’s data. Through this interchange of data, they are better able to implement efficient business processes that rely on the delivery of data between these systems that were previously separated. For example, if you dine on-property the morning you intend to check out, you can get a final bill that is inclusive of your full folio of charges-even the breakfast you had five minutes ago. That’s because there’s no more “batching” of data to be sent to the property management system for posting to your guest folio. Instead, the interchange of your transaction to your folio is now happening at the time you make it.
“To achieve this level of integration between property-level systems, hospitality organizations had to create specific interfaces between them,” says Frizzell. “But these interfaces are not typically designed with flexibility and scaling of processes in mind, which had the unfortunate side effect of making the interfaces very brittle in use.”
Think of it this way: If you have 10 on-property systems that all needed to share the same base set of guest transaction data, it would result in 90 separate interfaces being built to accommodate the integration. Considering the inflexible nature of these point-in-time interfaces, keeping them running and orchestrated to perform the simple task of sharing data can easily become a huge financial and management burden.
But by implementing an “Information Hub” at the property level, all systems and applications that need to share data report that data in an open format, based on industry standards, to the hub. The hub is then responsible for routing the information to the various systems and orchestrating the intended business processes. In effect, the hub streamlines the exchange of data, reducing the number of integration interfaces from 90 to 10.
For more information on how the Information Hub can help you realize the value of coordinated integration activities at your property, see the corresponding information at the Microsoft Hospitality site. The Information Hub is powered by Microsoft BizTalk Server.
5. Self-healing hotel technology.
A hotel’s information technology (IT) systems are typically managed in a reactive way, which is to say that when something breaks down an IT person is called upon to fix it. But bringing systems offline to repair them can affect the whole operation-think of the long check-in lines when the credit-card systems aren’t working. The solution? A dynamic platform that constantly monitors a hotel’s systems for problems and fixes them before they affect the whole property.
A large multi-concept fine dining chain has added a system to keep an eye on its restaurant-level systems and enterprise servers. This system controls everything from the deployment of operating systems to the handheld devices the company’s employees use. System problems and failures are reported to the IT help desk as they occur, minimizing the time it takes to get mission-critical systems back online.
For more information on enabling automated management and monitoring, see the Microsoft System Center site (http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/default.mspx). For specific information on system management, visit the Microsoft Systems Management Server site. And for specific information on monitoring systems, please refer to the Microsoft Operations Manager site.
So whether you’re trying to make your hotel guests feel more at home or making your back-office systems more reliable and productive, there are new technology tools that can help make these processes a snap. Best of all, these applications are being tested and implemented right now, using proven Microsoft technologies and platforms.
Source : Hotel Tech Resource
Hotel Website Design
Hotel website design is one of the most subjective issues that hotel marketeers face. Here are some guidelines for briefing your hotel website designer.
So, you have finally read one too many articles about how 30.0% plus of your revenues should be arriving via the internet and that a further 30.0% are influenced by what they discover online about your hotel from your website…and the end of month reports show you are way short of those numbers.
You have taken an objective look at your website and you have decided its time to act…you need a new website for your hotel. You want to get it right this time but where do you start?
For the sake of this article, I’m going to assume, rightly or wrongly, that you have prepared and written an online strategy for your hotel that you will also share with your chosen website designer; you now need to provide them with some design guidelines…a briefing document that is both tactical as well as creative. Our focus here is more on the “look and feel” of your site…I have penned many other articles on hotel website search engine optimisation; Google me for the SEO stuff.
What I am about to share with you has to be taken in context…these recommendations are meant to provide you with a starting point, a foundation upon which to build your online presence… but they are not set in stone. We know that these principals work…and by following these guidelines you will end up with a hotel website that:
* has a good chance of turning up on the first couple of pages of the Search Engines
* will be attractive and engage visitors to your hotel website
* will convert a high percentage of visitors into online revenues
However, once you have prepared a brief, it is important to let your designers…well…design. Don’t restrict their creativity because that is really what you are paying for. You should expect at least two and maybe three alternatives to review, refining these through a series of iterations until you have a design that is both visually appealing as well as Search Engine-friendly.
Layout – work in a grid, usually in thirds (navigation, text, call-to-action buttons or images, usually on the right) or quarters. See that your website designers align the core elements both vertically and horizontally using the grid as a basis for allocating space. We get our best online results where vertically, one third is navigation (left or right) and two thirds body or text. Horizontally we like to see half of the screen as your header/brand and including a dominant image. The lower half of the screen should show visitors a headline including the keywords they were searching for, text and the start of the navigation, all without them having to scroll…you can have long pages but visitors shouldn’t have to scroll initially to get the idea of what the page is all about.
Navigation – even experienced web searchers don’t want to learn how to navigate through your site – they need to quickly know how to get to your accommodation, special offers, room rates and web booking engine. Consequently, we recommend vertical navigation bars…people are used to this, it allows easy drill-down to sub-pages and you can see where you are at any time…none of those pretty but painful horizontal “drop down” menus that keep disappearing and getting you lost and frustrated when they keeping folding up again.
Sub-pages and “landing” pages – many hoteliers do not realise that with a well constructed site, nearly half your visitors will “land” on a sub-page first rather than all arriving via the “home” page. This is why you must include your address and contact details in the footer of every page. As much attention should be given to the design of lower level pages as the home page so make sure during the initial design stage that you get to see examples of what your sub-pages will look like.
There are two broad design principles we prefer for sub-pages. A single dominant image “floating” in space draws the eye of visitors and captures their interest…it becomes extremely memorable, especially if the image is striking. Alternatively, use multiple images on a page and keep them the same size, or the same proportion; repetition creates a feeling of consistency and quality.
When it comes to colours, keep it simple…choose one dominant colour and use variations or tones of that base colour as highlights. Unless you have a particularly funky property, stay on the conservative side in your colour selection…blues, greens or beige/parchment can be a great palette to develop a quality theme from.
Don’t be afraid of open or white space…this is ideal for creating an uncluttered combination of imagery and text. Your website needs to capture the hearts and minds of your visitors once they arrive at your site as well as being very Search Engine-friendly and open space is a great way to carry this off. Even a small image, placed in open space, can work wonders on creating the unique nature of your property. Use “drop shadow” effects to create a three dimensional or embossed look.
You need buttons too…we call them “call to action” buttons to be precise…graphics that prompt visitors to act…”make a reservation”, “check availability” or “make an online enquiry” are just a few examples. Every page should have at least one button, designed to stand out but not overpower the overall design and that complements the base navigation.
Copy writing – not just the facts…write stories, create experiences, develop an emotional connection with your visitors. Tell them about the romance of your packages, the professional efficiency of your business centre team or those small touches that make your hotel stand out from the crowd. And remember that online visitors scan rather than read verbatim so use headlines, bold, italics and bullet points to create visual “hooks” for their eyes to pause on. Write enough to keep your visitors interest but not so much that you bore them.
We also like guest testimonials (yes, I know that no one has ever published a poor testimonial on their website)…apart from the visual impact, these are an implied third party endorsement that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Don’t forget that Search Engines can only read text and design code…they can’t see images so you need your design to allow for at least 200 words on each page, within which you can insert the keywords that you are targeting…in the headlines, the main copy and emphasised elements like bolding, as well as in the meta data and title tags.
Fonts should be simple, san serif (no curly bits or heavy styling) and easy on the eye. Use a dark grey or dark tone of your base colour for page font as black can be too “in your face” on screen. Where appropriate, reversing text in white from a darker background can evoke the feeling of confidence and security…but use this cautiously as it can also be very overpowering.
And as a final hint, use your common sense…you hotel website must be easy to build, easy to maintain or add to and compelling to visitors. If your website designer wants to take three months or more to design the “front end” and build the “back end” for your mid-size property, they are probably over-engineering it…from acceptance of design it should take no longer than a month to complete. Nowadays, they should be providing you with a website based on a Content Management System which will allow you to edit or add pages in-house quickly and easily…this will also reduce your ongoing costs. Finally, your website should indeed look smart and stylish…simple, fresh and not too busy…enough to capture visitors imagination without trying to do too much.
Use the above guidelines wisely (and remember these are guidelines, not gospel) when you document your hotel website design brief…then let your designers design…and both you, and your website designer, will have a sound foundation upon which to design and build a great website that sells more rooms…after all, that is why you are making this investment, and this time you definitely want to get it right.
© Keith Paulin
How to install Java Games Apps to Motorola Razor V3i
After 3 years with Windows mobile i picked a motorola V3i for backup till i get an iPhone. its so easy to install apps with windows mobile but with Motorola PC suite i cant find a direct link, over the web its easy to install but with computer have to do it this way.
1. Collect all the java games/Apps into your computer
(java games are files with the extension .jar)
2. Connect V3i With Computer using USB Connection
(Phone should be switched on when u connect it to the pc, the pc will recognize the cell phone as a mass storage device(Hard Disk Partition in My Computer),Open the New drive and you will see a filder call ” Mobile ”
open mobile,next open the kjava folder inside,paste the game files u downloaded on your pc into this folder)
3. Now unplug Mobile
4. open the cell phone-> open menu -> go to games & applications ->hit the menu key,and switch storage device to Memory card ->scroll down and select the option install new ->the games you copied will be listed there
Enjoy!
