Firefox 1.5 Web Browser

I finally upgraded to Firefox 1.5 today. I downloaded firefox-1.5.tar.gz from the Firefox web site. I unzipped it by:

[lwinmoe@localhost Linux-software]$ tar -xvzf firefox-1.5.tar.gz

The above command created a folder called "firefox" and put everything in there. The executable is in that folder. I can run firefox by this command from firefox directory.

[lwinmoe@localhost firefox]$ ./firefox

I created an icon on my desktop so I can easily run it by a double-click.

I then installed java plugin from Sun. Since I already downloaded and installed JRE 5, all I needed to do was create a symbolic link in .mozilla/plugins/ in my home directory.

[lwinmoe@localhost plugins]$ ln -s /usr/java/jdk1.5.0_02/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

Blogs I have been reading these days

• Blog of Nyein Chan Yar
• Arloo
• Speaking Out Loud by Mady June
• Me, Myself and Mayvelous

I have to say I am glad to see many people from Burma blogging. Back in 1998 when I was in the States, there were not many web sites about Burma except by the activists, such as http://www.burmanet.org. Back then, the Internet was just starting to grow up. I remember using a very old version of Netscape to go online from my Alma Mater, Indian-Purdue University.

The Internet has come a long way since then. So are web sites from Burma. My web site has been up and running since May 1998 and I can't believe time flies whether you are having fun or not ;-)

My old web site was at the student web server from my school. It no longer existed because I am not a student there any more. http://www.student.ipfw.edu/~moel01

Dr. Than Tun, the great historian, died today

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5993

He is a great scholar. He came to MIT once to talk about how to do research on history. He commented about censorship. I am sorry we lost a great scholar of Burma.

Jokes sent to me by one of my friends

LITL, Jerry

It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started.

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the director, "We fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the director, "A normal person would pull the plug."

Do you want a room with or without a view?

Car Accident in Thailand

Fire broke out in Hlaing, Yangon

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5982

This picture was from the above web page.

Grassroot journalism in Burma is starting to spread. This blogger, Mady June from Yangon, Myanmar has a breaking news about the fire breakout on her blog. Good for Burma and the future of its journalism.

http://madyjune.blogspot.com

Screen shot of Mady June's blog about the fire in Yangon

Than Lwin Bridge from Motama (formerly known as Martaban) to Mawlamyine (formerly known as Moulmein)

I took this picture while I was going back to Mudon from Yangon. At that time, there was no sign saying "No pictures." This bridge put me into a train of thoughts. When my mother was a university student, when she went to Yangon (Rangoon) from Mawlamyine (Moulmein), she had to cross Than Lwin (Salween) river and Sit Taung river with boats.

However, when I became a university student, we had a bridge crossing Sit Taung river. No more boats at Sit Taung for our generation.

Now, my children (if I am going to have any ;-) in the future) don't need to cross Than Lwin and Sit Taung with boats. If a country does not develop that much in 3 generations, that is not a place to live. No need to brag. My government is boasting like they are building bridges left and right. It's normal developement. If a government can't do that much, it's failing its obligations to the people. The developement in Burma is not very fast like the New Light of Myanmar is bragging. If, in 3 generations, it does not have this much development, that country, honestly, is not a place to live.

I want Burma to develop more than this for my children and their children generations.

Some of my BARS students at the Ann Hasseltine Judson's memorial tomb in Kyaik Ka Me (formerly known as Amherst)

Bau La Doi, Lwin Moe and Gaw Thaw listening to the explanation about the tomb

A BARS religion student at the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery

Two BARS students at the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery

A BARS religion student at the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery

About the cemetery taken from this site:

http://www.cofepow.org.uk/remembrance/cemeteries/html/burma.htm

The Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery is situated in the village of Thanbyuzayat (which roughly translated means "a white iron resting hut") and is approximately 65 kilometres south of Moulein. It lies at the foothills that separate Burma from Thailand and is virtually inaccessible. The only road is driveable, but in a bad state of repair.

The first Prisoners of War arrived at Thanbyuzayat via Moulmein in September 1942 and established a POW base camp. There was also the base for a large hospital camp. It was here at Thanbyuzayat that the northern section of the pre-war rail line was connected to the newly laid rail line the prisoners constructed through Thailand. The southern end of the line was connected to the existing line at Nong Pladuk, west of Bangkok.

Prisoners who died in the camps in the north of Thailand - from Nikke going north to Moulmein in Burma - were initially buried in small cemeteries located close to the camps in which they had died, but after the war the Army Graves Service located most of the deceased from the camps between Nikke and Moulmein and they were moved to the War Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat.

The total number of graves in Thanbyuzayat is 3,771, of which 1,588 were British including 27 unknown graves. 1,335 were Australian and 621 were Dutch and numerous others.

The cemetery is set out in a semi-circle with the main aisle running through the centre with the Cross of Sacrifice standing at the end. On either side of this cross are clusters of large white flowering trees and small flowering shrubs are in abundance throughout. Most of the War Cemeteries in the Far East flaunt an abundance of lush green grass due to the constant water sprinklers; however, the grass at Thanbyuzayat is yellow and dry due to the lack of piped water in the area. This by no means detracts from the overall beautiful appearance and serenity of this remote cemetery but when the rainy season comes it quickly returns to a carpet of luxuriant grass.

A refugee's house near Songkhla, Southern Thailand, near the Thai-Burma border

You should visit these places in Thailand and the border area so you know how people are really living there.

Kwai River Christian Hospital in Songkhlaburi, Thailand

Today's quote

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5969

"If you become a human being, you can't avoid politics. If you do so, you will become an ox. Not even a normal one, but the one bred for meat,"said Thant Tint.

Are we lagging behind our neighbor countries?

The following excerpt is from a tour company web site.

http://www.myanmarvisaonline.com/packagetour.html

Totally no use of credit cards, ATM cards, travellers cheque, bank or wire transfers or your cell phones here in Myanmar since July 2003. You can officially bring in US $ 2000 per person preferably in new $ 100 notes issued in or after 1996 with no torn edges or corners & the serial number heading of each note must not start with " CB " ( CBxxxxx--- ).

Concerning the move to Nay Pyi Daw, new city near Pyin Ma Na

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GK23Ae01.html

"Nobody agreed to this move, I don't think even Gen Maung Aye [slated to succeed Than Shwe] [knew] but we all just shut our mouths," a senior military officer said.

Scary to drive a bus in Burma? :-)

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5955

An air-conditioned and gas-driven bus exploded at Htawli corner, Ahlon Township in downtown Rangoon, seriously wounding the driver and a ticket collector on 16 November.

Irrawaddy has an article which describes this info.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=5201&z=153

According to a poll carried out in 2003, about 30 per cent of radio listeners tune in to the BBC and VOA.

Most people in Burma listend to those stations because Burmese TV and radio news are useless. It only has things like General so and so did this and did that today. No useful news. :-) People in Yangon rely on weekly journals for their news. Those in remote villages rely on radios for theirs.

I am honestly very happy to be in Thailand so I don't have to watch MRTV (Myanmar Radio and Television) which is good only for Korean soaps.

The joke I read today :-)

Smile because life is short.

Chapter Eleven

Two old friends met one day after many years. One attended college, and now was very successful. The other had not attended college and never had much ambition.

The successful one said, "How has everything been going with you?"

"Well, one day I opened the Bible at random, and dropped my finger on a word and it was oil. So, I invested in oil, and boy, did the oil wells gush. Then another day I dropped my finger on another word and it was gold. So, I invested in gold and those mines really produced. Now, I'm as rich as Rockefeller."

The successful friend was so impressed that he rushed to his hotel, grabbed a Gideon Bible, flipped it open, and dropped his finger on a page. He opened his eyes and his finger rested on the words, "Chapter Eleven."

Your Daughter is Pregnant

A mother took her daughter to the doctor and asked him to give her an examination to determine the cause of the daughter's swollen abdomen.

It only took the doctor about 2 seconds to say, "Gimme a break, lady! Your daughter is pregnant!"

The mother turn red with fury, and she argued with the doctor that *her* daughter was a good girl, and would *never* compromise her reputation by having sex with a boy.

The doctor faced the window and silently watched the horizon.

The mother became enraged and screamed, "Quit looking out the window! Aren't you paying attention to me?"

"Yes, of course I am paying attention, ma'am. It's just that the last time this happened, a star appeared in the east, and three wise men came. I was hoping they'd show up again, and help me figure out who got your daughter pregnant!"

My friend, Kyaw Myo Lwin graduated from Harvard School of Public Health with a Master in Public Health.

Just finished watching a French movie. It was a good one. Here is some info about it.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dead_tired/about.html

SYNOPSIS

French movie star Michel Blanc learns that a look-alike is trying to cash in on his celebrity. The double worms his way into a star's hotel room at the Cannes Film Festival, where he seduces young actresses and generally cheapens the reputation of the real Mr. Blanc. So Michel enlists the aid of his best friend, the beautiful model/actress Carole Bouquet, in tracking down the rogue impostor.

Burma with no future?

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=5195&z=151

Kyaw Zwa Moe has a point in this article: "While the World Talks."

Burma's situation is weird. I sure don't want to live in Burma because of lack of freedom. But we need a lot of activitists to change Burma. The change has to come from within. More people need to speak out and address such issues as economic and social problems. They have to be inside of the country. International community can talk and talk. Yet nothing will happen inside Burma.

Proxies that are still accessible from Burma

Recently, BaganNet, the only ISP in Burma, has updated its filtering software and many proxies that have been used by young folks in Burma have been banned. Here are some that are still openly accessible for you to enjoy.

http://www.guardster.com/subscription/proxy_free.html

http://www.surfshield.net

http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/anonymous.shtml

Unhappy people in Burma?

It seems everybody is not happy with the government in Burma. A student snatches a gun from a soldier in Rangoon? It is weird.

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5939

A 25-year old student snatched a gun from a Burmese soldier who was on patrol in downtown Rangoon at the corner of Theinbyu Road and Daw Thein Tin Street on the evening on 8 November.

Renowned Burmese Mon lawyer Nai Ngwe Ya passed away

http://english.dvb.no/news.html?id=5937

Renowned Burmese Mon lawyer Nai Ngwe Ya who had been helping people who sued the authorities over forced labour practices and defending those who were arrested and detained by the authorities, died at his home in Rangoon Thaketa Township on 16 November.

New ISP in Burma? or False hope again? :-)

Here is the news from BaganNet web site:

http://www.bagan.net.mm/news/new_detail_1.asp?news_no=2904

OpenDocument Format

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Office_XML#Format_internals

I have downloaded OpenOffice 2.0 and have been playing with it.

Like this article, http://osnews.com/story.html?news_id=12685 suggests, if the browsers can display OpenDocument, which is really just XML format, then it would be so cool for the future.

Hacking the Open Document Format

http://is.sfsu.edu/node/55/print

Rename the opendocument file .odt into .zip and open it using any unzip programs. You can see a bunch of XML files, and image files that make a document. It's really cool.

Maybe we should start working on Burmese and other minority languages support in OpenOffice. It will be so cool to be able to use Unicode Burmese and other minority languages from Burma in OpenOffice.

How to turn off autocorrect feature

Unmark

Format >Autoformat > WhileTyping

Installed OpenOffice 2.0 on my Fedora Core 3 system

I uninstalled the old version first by the following command.

rpm -qa | grep openoffice\* | xargs rpm -e --nodeps

Install a new one by rpm -ivh *.rpm

I was able to run as root. However as a user, here is the error

*** glibc detected *** free(): invalid pointer: 0x00379fb4 ***
/etc/openoffice.org-2.0/program/soffice: line 226:  4877 Aborted "$sd_prog/$sd_binary" "$@"

I had to change /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration. Group 0 is changed to Group "users". OpenOffice uses Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI).

Section "DRI"
	# Group	0
	Group	"users"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

Concerning the move to Pyinmana by Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, Information Minister

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bbe8f738-557c-11da-8a74-00000e25118c.html

"They can make contact with Pyinmana through fax, phone, e-government and all the modern facilities," he said.

As if everybody has all the modern facilities :-)

Mon flag (picture taken from the Irrawaddy)

I arrived in Bangkok today. I started surfing the Internet with free and high-speed access. No more proxy services needed to read the Irrawaddy. Isn't freedom of information a great thing? We sure need that in Burma.

MIT Christmas card photo

ALOHA 25