here i am, counting the last few seconds of the year 2005.. in a few minutes time, 2005 will be our history. all the memories of the past 365-days would be history.. we've nearly come to an end of another 365-day journey.. a journey that has brought a significant change to our lives!

the year began with sorrow.. tears were in everyone's eyes.. the whole country was in shock, was crying out for help, was in need of others hands.. yea! the destructive tsunami that hit the Maldives and some other countries.. nobody dared to celebrate the new year back then, we just had too much of losses.. may God bless the souls of the dead...

as for me, i'd say 2005 was quite a special year.. its like the year was a turning point in my life.. many memorable events had taken place, and many dreams had come true... when shedding some light at the not-very-pleasant events, i'l have to mention that some of my very close buddies had left abroad... but no worries, as i've made numerous new frends whom i consider "reliable".. when looking back at the events;

first, i finished my A/L studies (yay! no more schooling!) .. i'm quite happy about my input to it.. i did put in my best effort to prepare for the exams (results is another issue!).. although i was not able to meet all my targets, i guess i did a good job..

secondly, i turned nineteen.. yeah! i've started counting the last year of my teenage life! to sum up, i cud say my teenage life, so far, has been great! it has been full of fun and joy, ups and downs..

thirdly, i managed to lay myself in a job.. i've become a responsible person after all.. i've been assigned with responsibilities and duties (which i'm not very happy about).. no more am i able to sleep long hours, or stay awake at nites.. that life is now past.. buried memories..

finally, during the last week of December, a new rose has bloomed in the garden of my love life, another goal has been scored in the match of my life.. (excuse me if i sound crazy) heheh! its a brand new relationship for a new year.. new resolutions, new hopes, new dreams.. hope she would help me enlighten my life throughout the new year ahead, and make the world a better place for me...

the final countdown has begun...

three... two... one...

GOOD BYE 2005!

happy birthday to you!
happy birthday to you!
happy birthday dear "lobuvethi zaeem"!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! :p

I was in the loo when suddenly a paper-made-rocket appeared flying through the window and landed right on my hand. The first thing I noticed was a palm-print stamped on it! I unfolded the paper only to find the following piece of text written. I have censored the author’s name for national security purposes. Wondering how I could show it to everyone, I figured out publishing it here would be the best way. So, here I continue…

-----------------------------------------------------

It all began on Saturday morning, the 10th of December 2005… I was bored when the idea to write an imaginative story struck in my mind. I began typing in letters, one by one.. Titled it as “discovery by a script kiddie!”. It was based on nothing but my imagination. Never did I expect that my imagination would, for once, become a reality! But my expectation was proven to be wrong, by that one phone call I received.. the call from a mate. The moment I was told about the astonishing news, I froze in disbelief. And that was the moment that led to the birth of “dream” I had; the dream in which I make a phone call to Dhiraagu Customer Services, inquiring why I was facing difficulties to access their e-bill system.

I wasn’t satisfied with the explanations I got from them, and that was the sole reason why I decided to ring them up again after a few hours time. Hence, I dialed the Dhiraagu Customer Services. As usual, I waited five minutes for them to answer my call..

Dhiraagu: Assalaam Alaikum, Dhiraagu Customer Services!
Me: hello! ehcheh ahaalan vegen ingeythoa.
Me: e-bill ah access kuran ulhegen miadhu access eh nuvey....
Dhiraagu: ehenthoa?
Me: aadhe
Dhiraagu: miadhu eba ulhey ingeythoa e-bill.. alhugandu menge e-bill site inee down vefa!
Me: aadhe thiyeh noone ingeythoa aslu vaahaka akee.. adu ivunu gothuga ingeythoa flaw eh ulheythee..
Me: dhen meehaku buni ehcheh alhugandu ge ebill ves beleyene oa ehen meehunnah ves.. eyee thedhu vaahaka eh thoa?
Dhiraagu: hiyeh nuvey ingeythoa
Dhiraagu: evves possibility eh hiyeh nuvey onnaaneheneh e-bill ehen faraathakah beleyne kamuge
Dhiraagu: eyee hama fudhey varakah CONFIDENTIAL dhehthoa? dheefa innaanee kommme faraathakavves
Me: aadhe dhen confidentiality othas security rangalhu vaanethoa ey mihaaru? E suvaalu ufedheythee…
Me: eba kiyaa dhehthoa ehen meehunge bill thah beleyey, ehenve e olhun araathee CUSTOMER egge haisiyyathun suvaalu kollan vegen
Dhiraagu: ehenthoa?
Me: aadhe! ehen vedhaanethoa?
Dhiraagu: ehen nuvaane ingeythoa! evves possibility eh neenaane egothah vedhaane kamuge! eyee alhugandumen mikolhun username password ehchehi provide kohdheefa ves onnanee hama veri faraathun application form husha alhuvvaa egothah thaa dhehthoa. ehenveema hiyeh nuvey innaane heneh ehen belleveykasheh ehen faraathakah
Dhiraagu: haqeeqathuga ves eyah rangalhah access vegen noonee nueh vadheveyne
Me: ehenthoa? dhen e gothah vaahaka fethureythee alhgandu password change kuran vegen login kuran ulhegen nuvi, vahakaa akee site akah login eh nukurevuney..
Dhiraagu: aadhe miadhu site down vefa ineema dhehthoa? ekamu varah rangalhu vaane mee komme month aku effaharu kahala gothakah password badhalu kurevviyyaamu hama safety akah dhehthoa?
Me: umm.. kon irakunthoa up vaanee?
Dhiraagu: ehen neygey dhannavaakah ingeythoa?
Me: keevvegenthoa down vee?
Dhiraagu: eyeee mikolhuga dhehthoa alhugandu men ekkala.. mee iyyega ulhunu update nuve ulhumuge massalathakeh. iyye noon eyge kuree dhuvahuge haa thaanga, dhen ulhefa miadhu down vee...
Me: ehenveema ehen neygehthoa dhehthoa dhannavaakah kon irakun kameh up vaaneekee eh?
Dhiraagu: mee..... madu kollahvahchey...
Dhiraagu: monday ingeythoa rangalhuvaane kamah vanee
Me: eyee maadhamaa dhehthoa?
Dhiraagu: aadhe
Me: ok thank you ingeythoa varah bodah
Dhiraagu: welcome

That was it! Heck?! ALL LIES!! They never admitted there was a flaw in the e-bill system! They never admitted the flaw being the reason for their system downtime! They never admitted the possibility for users to view other users’ bills! But…

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE! Isn’t it? Wasn’t it? Obviously, that day, as time flew by, more and more people were becoming aware of the issue! How kind of Dhiraagu would it have been to admit the flaw in the first place and issue a press release regarding it? Or somehow make the public aware of the issue? Isn’t it a right of the customer to be informed about such issues? Why had Dhiraagu chosen to be silent?

They chose the wrong path! Paths that are completely opposite from what they had mentioned in the Customer Service Policy! Here’s a screenshot from their “Customer Service Policy” document! Take a peek at it!

Well.. It does state “You can expect us to: Treat your personal information in the strictest confidence”! hmm hmm! Think about this. If Dhiraagu had given importance for customer privacy, would it have been possible to easily view other users bills? According to the imaginative story I wrote, it didn’t take a super duper genius to figure out the flaw and access others’ bills! So Dhiraagu, implement your policies!

That’s all about the second (and last) phone call I made to Dhiraagu regarding the e-bill issue. After that, just like the others, I patiently waited for Dhiraagu to fix the bug and bring the system back online! Meanwhile I noticed, by then, Dhiraagu had put up a little notice in their e-bill site. Following is a screenshot of the notice:

“…down for maintenance”!! LOL! As you all already know, Dhiraagu issues press releases (or inform through their website) about their planned “maintenance” works, which may cause interruptions! So, why was this “maintenance” an exception? What exempts this maintenance from being informed prior to the scheduled date? Why was it silently buried? It doesn’t make sense when Dhiraagu informs the public of other maintenance works, and not this one! I wonder why…

I really think we shouldn’t tolerate a giant company like Dhiraagu to intentionally do tricks like this! We, customers, do have rights and we gotta fight for it! We shouldn’t let our service provider be so careless in securing our private information! Think about this! Do we want them to conduct a million-rufiya advertising campaign OR do we want them to spend a penny to secure our data? Isnt everyone’s answer the same? Dhiraagu, listen to us and consider our requests!

Finally, after two days, the e-bill system was brought back online! Yay! The flaw discovered earlier was fixed.. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone come up with another flaw in their system. Oh btw, here’s the error message I get when I try to implement the old trick I did to get others bills..

Anyways, since this matter has been raised, I’d like to reply to all those of you out there who’ve asked me this question! …

“Why do you bother about these issues? What benefit do you get from it? Mind your own business and get a life!”

Well.. I’m really fedup with Dhiraagu due to the dirty monopoly game they had played in the past! I haven’t forgotten how they had taken advantage from the customers! They had abused the power of monopoly! Charging extremely high prices and saying “our prices aren’t high compared to other telecom providers in this region” never brought a smile to my face, and I bet neither did it to anybody else’s face! But anyways, I really am not trying to spoil the “good” name Dhiraagu has (I wonder if there’s any room to spoil it further!), nor am I aiming to beat them up in anyway… I’m doing this “ikhlaastheri kamaa eku” on a very “mathiveri maaiy magsadhu” :p

And that is… to demand for new and improved, better and safer services, that we (as customers) have the right to get! Its our right! We gotta fight for it! I salute jaa and Digital Squid for the commitment, effort and courage to (positively) criticize Dhiraagu and make the public aware of issues related to them. It is doubtless that it would lead to nothing but improvement to Dhiraagu’s services.

hope I’ve said enough regarding this e-bill issue. this will be my last and final post regarding it. So, Dhiraagu: sue me if you want, but remember the truth is out there! :p

Cheers! :)

I was surfing through the blogger.com website few days back, and came across this add-in for Microsoft^® Word. Named as "Blogger for Word", the add-in basically lets you open, edit, publish existing and new posts, to and from your blog. Of course, this works only for registered bloggers in blogger.com!

I've used this little add-in and found it quite useful as drafting, error-checking, finalising and publishing can be done within Microsoft^® Word itself, without using a browser. Apart from the mentioned, the add-in is equipped with more features and functions!

Why not try out this FREE add-in? Yea? Download it here!

Enjoy!

it was last sunday afternoon. I was quite busy at the office, when i recieved a phone call from a fellow frend. from the way she greeted i knew something exciting had happened.. so i asked her what she was upto and she burst out laughing, she said "hahaa! you and your dhiraagu!".. i grinned and asked what made her say that.. she then began talking about the "imaginative story" i posted in my blog, in which i discover a lame flaw in the dhiraagu e-bill system, that let me view users' e-bill statements.

it was from her i came to know that the "imaginative story" had turned out to be a reality! i was kinda shocked and felt ashamed for being a Dhiraagu customer as well.. cos if it were to be a reality, it was doubtless that any e-bill user cud view other e-bill users' bill details.. and obviously, i dont want anyone to monitor my call details.. that was it! she hung up! i stood on my spot, speechless... with a thousand questions in mind..

i was lost.. curious about the news i just got, i rang to 123 Dhiraagu Helpdesk.. just as i had expected, the Dhiraagu music clip began playing.. it kept on playing repeatedly.. a minute passed by... i was still listening to it, waiting for one of their staff to attend my call.. minute by minute passed.. two, three, four... and during half-way through the fifth minute, i lost consciousness, and fell asleep...

Dhiraagu: Assalaam Alaikum, Dhiraagu Customer Services!
Me: hello! mee mauloomaatheh saafu kollan ingeythoa!
Me: e-bill system ah access nukurevigen miulhenee?!
Dhiraagu: e-bill ga eba ulhey ingeythoa... alhugandumennah faahaga kurevifa othee ehen vaakan...
Dhiraagu: dhen mihaaru mikolhun check kuramun gendhanee!
Dhiraagu: aslu vaagothakee Dhivehiraajje akun noon e check kuramun gendhaneekee.. LONDON in check kuramun gedhanee.. dhen miadhu Sunday veema bandhu dhuvahakah dhehthoa vaanee...
Me: aadhe!
Dhiraagu: ehenveema thankolheh lasvanee ingeythoa e!
Me: eheneveema vaahaka akee, thikolhuge massala ekey dhehthoa.. alhugandhuge eh noon dhehthoa?
Dhiraagu: aadhe! aadhe! thikolhu ge massala eh noon!
Me: kihaa thaakuthoa eythi up vaanee?
Dhiraagu: alhugandakah hiyeh nuvey miadhu vaane heneh Sunday veema, maadhamaa ge vaguthegga check kollavvaa ingeythoa!
Me: aaah ok! thank you!
Dhiraagu: welcome!

at that moment, my conscience came back into play... i was awakened. i began to think abt what just had happened.. why wud Dhiraagu just stay cool while regular users of e-bill are waiting impatiently for the system to be back online.. why cudnt have they issued a press release about the downtime of the system? why cudnt have they given a more specific answer about what had really happened? no wonder hundreds of ppl wud have known about the flaw in their system by then?! i... i.... i..... zzZ!