'Simple Tricks' with Old Hardware

'Simple Tricks' with Old Hardware

I am dismantling old my computers, just to save on electricity.

I have come to the last two out of the 10 or more computers, I had with our little Network.

The last one had lightening striking through its UPS.

UPS was gone but the computer was resuscitated but its cooling (only 64 bit computer I had that was used to test Linux DVDs, boots with 500 MiB RAM, not sufficient to boot most of the modern Linux DVDs) was faulty and the alarm bell goes in half an hour of working time.

I tested it after about three months and it was not booting with its CMOSE battery dead.

I changed the little battery and tested its RAM, Graphic Card, cleaned it a bit and powered on and in seconds alarm bells went and burning smell was noted.

1. Old computers can catch fire.

2. Electric shocks are possible.

3. Hardwares with twisted wires can catch fire.

All the above, I have experienced during the last six months and I only work alone, when dismantling or repairing my computers with comfortable space around and no CHILDREN hovering nearby.

4. Lightening is a major hazard, with Telephone and Ethernet wires connected.

In fact our entire telephone system had to be re-wired recently after a major lightening episode.

Do not answer the land phone when there is lightening and one can go deaf.

So I quickly decided to rip through everything including the motherboard and removed the three fans to be donated to our bus driver (he boils himself in his driving seat) to fix them around him while driving as cooling fans.

5. I forgot to remove the DVD on the ROM.

When I was knew to hardware, I used to tear off the front door to take out a CD/DVD stuck there.

One does not need to do that.

There is a little hole in the front door.

Just shove in the needle and the door opens slightly and with the fingers one can open the door without breaking it.

I had six dismantled Roms and opened five of them but not the last one, the oldest model.

After few minutes of fiddling (it did not spring back) with the needle and my finger nails I opened it.

I found one DVD (Debian LXDE) in one of them.

The needle (one can use even a hairpin) is in all CD ROM boxes.

6. Three hard drives were my problem. I have run short of casings / enclaves for them but loaded them in plastic wrappers and put them in a plastic utility box to be erased when I Have time.

I have over 25 hard drives with no space to store.

7. So do not use your hard drives to save data.

Use them only for downloads and operating systems.

Transfer all the files to a Terra-Byte external disk or have a backup system.

I never use a back up system, simply because after using Linux I have not lost a single file for the last 15 years.

8 Booting problems.

My last computer is about to die but I will use it to its last breath.

Its boot record has gone berserk.

I use a live DVD to boot it.

In most of the Linux distribution there is option for live or from the hard drive boot.

I am using this method for the last four months since (I tried to modify the boot record but failed) any mistake from my part will kill it for good and I have to buy a new computer, which I am not inclined with my tablet and netbook still working well.

Soon I will be without a desktop but a cloud utility will take its place.

What a turnaround in my computer life.

I will have few bootable Flasdrives hanging around my neck with Multi-System booting utility.

Thrash-Reproduction

 Thrash-Reproduction

Here are 14 photos that capture the heartbreaking impact of worldwide pollution:

Stork trapped in a plastic bag.

Photo Credit: 

unknown

Click to enlarge.

Stork trapped in a plastic bag. Photo credit: Unknown

Albatross killed by excessive plastic ingestion in Midway Islands.

Photo Credit: 

Population Speak Out

Click to enlarge.

Albatross killed by excessive plastic ingestion in Midway Islands. Photo credit: Population Speak Out

A bird is coated in oil from a nearby spill.

Photo Credit: 

unknown

Click to enlarge.

A bird is coated in oil from a nearby spill. Photo credit: Unknown

Penguins covered in oil.

Photo Credit: 

John Hrusa

Click to enlarge.

Penguins covered in oil. Photo credit: John Hrusa

Surfing on a wave full of trash off the coast of Java, Indonesia.

Photo Credit: 

Population Speak Out

Click to enlarge.

Surfing on a wave full of trash off the coast of Java, Indonesia. Photo credit: Population Speak Out

A seal with his nose stuck on a piece of plastic.

Photo Credit: 

unknown

Click to enlarge.

A seal with his nose stuck on a piece of plastic. Photo credit: Unknown

This boy spends each morning looking for recyclable plastic to sell to help support his family.

Photo Credit: 

George Steinmetz

Click to enlarge.

This boy spends each morning looking for recyclable plastic to sell to help support his family. Photo credit: George Steinmetz

Landscape full of trash in Bangladesh.

Photo Credit: 

Population Speak Out

Click to enlarge.

Landscape full of trash in Bangladesh. Photo credit: Population Speak Out

Boy swims in polluted water in India.

Photo Credit: 

Green Atom

Click to enlarge.

Boy swims in polluted water in India. Photo credit: Green Atom

Fake Hong Kong skyline for tourists because the actual one is so polluted.

Photo Credit: 

Molly Smith

Click to enlarge.

Fake Hong Kong skyline for tourists because the actual one is so polluted. Photo credit: Molly Smith

A seal’s neck was sliced by trash.

Photo Credit: 

Ares Caius

Click to enlarge.

A seal’s neck was sliced by trash. Photo credit: Ares Caius

A bird is covered from an oil spill.

Photo Credit: 

Charlie Riedel

Click to enlarge.

A bird is covered from an oil spill. Photo credit: Charlie Riedel

A turtle is stuck in a piece of plastic.

Photo Credit: 

unknown

Click to enlarge.

A turtle is stuck in a piece of plastic. Photo credit: Unknown

A tortoise is trapped by a piece of plastic. Photo credit: Unknown

Photo Credit: 

unknown

Click to enlarge.

A tortoise is trapped by a piece of plastic. Photo credit: Unknown

Let's Look at 5 Ways That You Might be Sharing Your Location Information Without Even Realizing It.

Reproduction-A Good One to Share

Just about every smart phone out there, except for a few dinosaurs used by a grandparent or two, has GPS-based location services built into them.
Our cell phones can pinpoint our locations, record and track our location history, and relay location data to apps for many different purposes. Some of the ways our location information is shared is obvious to us, but sometimes we may not even realize that we are providing this information.

Let's Look at 5 Ways That You Might be Sharing Your Location Information Without Even Realizing It.

1. Geotagged Pictures
When you first set up your phone, your camera app probably asked if it was ok to record the location of the pictures you took with the app, you probably said yes and moved on. The setting was made and ever since then, the camera app has been recording your GPS location in the metadata of the pictures you take.
We often forget that this data is recorded because it doesn't actually show up in the picture itself, but is part of the picture file in the form of metadata that can be read and extracted by apps such as Facebook to help with location tagging and other features that rely on geotags. You can also view this data with a EXIF metadata reader app (bad guys can do this as well.
Obviously geotags have privacy issues, learn more about them in our article: Why Stalkers Love Your Geotags

2. Facebook
Facebook has many features that leverage location data to make them work. One of the newer features called "Nearby Friends" can relay your location to your friends to help them locate you when you're out and about in the real world.
You can choose to share your location with someone for an hour, a day, or even indefinitely.
Facebook also may share your location when you tag yourself at different places, such as in a status update or a photo tag. When others tag you in a post, they could inadvertently be giving out, not only their location, but yours as well. This could be dangerous depending on the audience of the post. You might not want everyone in the world to know that you are with a friend on vacation as thieves might use this knowledge to their advantage and come rob your home while you are away.

3. Twitter
Depending on how you set up your twitter account, there is a chance you could be tweeting your location when you post a tweet. If you ever used the Tweet location feature in the past, then subsequent tweets you made could still be relaying your location, unless you shut the feature off. Learn more about this in the Twitter FAQ On Sharing Your Location With Your Tweets.

4. iMessage and Other Messaging Apps
Message apps such as iMessage might also be relaying your location when you send a message.
It's possible that if someone got a hold of your phone without you knowing it, they could have added themselves to the share location feature and set it to "share indefinitely" thus putting you on a digital leash, allowing them to know your location full time.

5. Dating Apps
Dating apps such as OKCupid, Tinder, and Plenty of Fish rely on location information in order to help find matches in your local area. Some of these apps may even provide frequent or near real-time location updates. This could be risky, consider turning off location services for these apps unless you are willing to accept the potential risks.

Steam Os is out.

Steam  Os is out.
It is for  64 bits computer.
Install only not live.
Enjoy Linux games with it.
Games was the only area Linux was behind in computing and now it can relax a bit.
Thank you guys and girls at STEAM OS.

Ubuntu Studio 15.02=Pretty Good

Ubuntu Studio 15.02
Ubuntu Studio is for creative Linux guys and girls.

It is XFCE and boots fast enough.
It also has Open Office and Calligra.
What is not their can be downloaded from Synaptic package manager.
This is one distribution which has 95% of the applications and takes the downloading extra packages redundant.
I tried Ubuntu Gnome but it did not boot.
Why I do not know.
I have an old IBM.
But all Debian distributions booted well.
So better option for a beginner is Ubuntu Studio but for guy who is adept at Linux should also try Debian.
Mind you one can have both (dual boot) distributions in one computer or hard disk.
Thank YOU guys and Girls of Ubuntu Studio for having a version for 36 bit computers.
Debian on the other hand has PAE (both 32 and 64 bits in one image).
That is the better solution which most distributions with 64 bits do not care.

Debian 8 is out with many flavours

Debian 8 is out with many flavours.
I downloaded Mate, Cinnamon and Gnome (PAE-32 and 64 bit Edition) and I tested all three.
For Me
1. Gnome comes first
2.Cinnamon Second
and Mate distsnt third
They are fabulous.
Download what ever you like and enjoy Linux.
Big Thank YOU guys and Girls at Debian, you are doing a wonderful stuff when Android with tiny applications of poor functionality is ruling the WEB.

Nepal Earth Quake

Nepal Earth Quake

 

I was in the bus and heard a news item.

I could not stop laughing.

The news said that our foreign service have already sent a fax to Nepal to investigate the Sri-Lankans there.

True none of us had experienced a major earth quake but what follows after a major earth quake is devastating.

I have experienced one major earth quake and I could not sleep for six weeks with every after-tremor waking me up terrified if not in 'pouring' sweat.

Electricity, water, Telecoms comes to a standstill and become disrupted.

The Disaster Teams, first objective is to gets the hospitals running for the injured.

I was off, the day this happened but was on call for emergency services.

I had also experienced a major cyclone in UK.

It blew off the brick wall of my house.

Without known there going to be a cyclone, I had pushed few heavy objects (Fridge, Freezer) against the back door, to ward off the wind and slept through it, in broad day light.
My neighbour's roof was blown off by the wind that went through his back door.

When I woke up, there was no gas, no electricity and little water.

I was again on call. 
It took 10 days to get everything back but the hospital was operating fully in 10 hours.

They, used to tease me saying; 'Here is the guy who slept through a major cyclone'

I used to say 'I am addicted to sleep'.

That is only thing I could do well in UK.

I laugh at Britishers who politely request for a sleeping pill.

I used to say, you must come to Sri-Lanka, all our office workers snooze after lunch.

Coming back to the news item this guy in the foreign service should be recommended for promotion immediately for his astute knowledge.

Now to Nepal.

It is a land locked country and we should help them by any means we can.

I had three Nepali postgraduate students under me and I wish they, are safe, if they read this piece.

I believe the Indian Tectonic Plate did not have a crack in 1960s.

I was aware of a earth tremor in early 1970s, which even Sri-Lanka felt and it was 400 to 800 hundred miles offshore.

This was the first time scientific people were taking about a crack in the Indian plate.

How come?

My answer is simple.

This was the period, US, France (in the Pacific), China, Soviet Union, India, Pakistan and all the nuclear capable countries, testing underground nuclear tests.

India, China, Russia and Pakistan should pay this small country Nepal heavily for cracking the Indian Plate.

France should pay for what is happening in Indonesia.

USA and Russia should pay these country for starting the cold war.

That is my verdict.

But Banki Moon will SIT on it but put the finger only towards Iran.

That is the high level of UNO hypocrisy.

It is high time we elect a neutral Secretary General.

T-Busts

T-Busts  
(Mind you T-Busts is also a legend / slogan and I hold copyright for it)

I believe New Yokers lack the gift of the gab and the jab, if not the humor.

These are my selection of  T-busts

I changed the slogan on a T-bust of a teenager.

'Love Arts'

Art of Loving is bouncy busts and or butts

 from New York
1. FBI:
Stands for Female Body Inspector

2. Bad Cop, No Donut

3. I'm in Shape:
Round Is a Shape


4. I Wish These Were Brains (on a bust)

Wouldn't it be cool if hot, dumb girls would "own" their hot dumbness like fat guys do their fatness? Great news: some do!

5.I Shaved My Balls for This?

6. The Man, The Legend (Man at head end and the legend at butt end)

In case the limerick shirt was a little too clever for your friends, this one should let them know that you really do find your penis quite impressive. Always good for laughs.

I believe New Yokers lack the gift of the gab and the jab, if not the humour.
Here is one from me.

These one of my T-busts
I changed the slogan on a T-bust of a teenager.
 'Love Arts'
Art of Loving is bouncy busts and or butts

Facts and Fiction in Politics.

What these gullible politicians, especially, their sons deliver is fiction not facts.

Mrs. Bandaranayake and T,B Illangaratne have done more than the other two ministers combined (depicted below.)

Other two joined (Viplawa Karaya included)the UNP for survival.

Philip should be credited for procreating a son who has an economic degree but cannot calculate the price of five loaves of bread, at current rate.

In my calculation a slice of bread is now vary from Rs.10 to 50 but if it is a sandwich, it costs more, even one makes the sandwich at home.

So in our New Year party bread was a tabooed item.

T. B. Ilangaratne

Tikiri Bandara Ilangaratne (February 27, 1913 - May 21, 1992) was a Sri Lankan politician, author, dramatist, and theater actor he was Member of Parliament for Kandy, Galaha, Hewaheta and Kolonnawa in Colombo district. 

He served as the Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Labour, Housing,Social Services, Finance,Commerce, Food, Trade and Shipping and in other government positions in a career spanning three decades. 

He was the mastermind behind;

1. The Employees' Provident Fund, 

2. Petroleum corporation 

3. Insurance corporations 

4. The People's Bank in Sri-Lanka

5. Labor day in Sri Lanka

6. He also contributed immensely to CWE and Cooperative movement

As a writer, Ilangaratne is best known for writing Amba Yahaluwo (1957), a popular children's novel.

In 1947, Ilangaratne left his post as clerical officer and ran successfully as an independent socialist candidate for the Kandy Parliament.

While in office, Ilangaratne helped create the Employee's Provident Fund, the National Bank, and Labor day in Sri Lanka among other things.

He retired at the age of 73 years from politics on April 12, 1986 but lived a quiet and simple life, for almost a century.

Charles Percival de Silva (April 16, 1912 – October 

09, 1972) was a leading Sri Lankan politician and civil servant. He was a Minister of Lands, Land Development and Agriculture.

In 1964, he crossed over to the United National Party (UNP). The government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike lost the throne speech and the UNP won the general elections in 1965, after which de Silva was appointed Minister of Lands, Irrigation and Power.

Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) introduced Trotskyism to Sri Lanka, where he is a national hero, known as 'the Father of Socialism' and as 'the Lion of Boralugoda'

He is remembered as the architect of the Paddy Lands Bills which brought relief to the tenant cultivator and spearheaded the Port & Bus nationalization.

Paddy land bill was a curse for the small holders, (especially in upcountry.)

Subsequently, Gunawardena served in the National Government of Mr.Dudley Senanayake, 1965–1970, as the Cabinet Minister of Industries and Fisheries.

(Introduction of Multipurpose Co-operatives movement and establishing of the People's Bank (NO), were attributed to him in Wikipedia but I have deleted them).

Both were dead (Philip and CP) by 1972 and have not contributed much to cooperative movement nor to the People Bank.

 CP was known for dragging his feet on Mahaweli (including NM) development until Mrs. Bandaranayake and Gamine Dissanayake stepped in.

Mahaveli Project.

Execution of Project I of Phase I was commenced in 1970 and completed in 1977. 

 

This was done under Mrs. Bandaranayake.

It comprises of a barrage across the Mahaweli Ganga at Polgolla to divert water through a 5 mile long pressure tunnel to a power plant installed adjacent to Amban Ganga basin.

The tail race water flows down a tributary of the Amban Ganga to the reservoir at Bowatenna formed by a concrete dam across the river, which diverts part of the flows into Kala Oya basin, through a 4 Mile long tunnel and a Tran basin canal into Kalawewa and Kandalama reservoirs.

The excess water run along with the natural flow of the Amban Ganga is diverted to existing Elahera and Angamedilla streams and existing conveyance canals.

Cooperative Movement

The history of the co-operative movement in Sri Lanka can be traced back to 1904 when the Agriculture Credit Society in Manikinna was

started.

The first co-operative society was established as Co-operative Credit Society under the Co-operative Society Act No. 07 of 1911.

Since 1911 the co-operative sector in Sri Lanka has played a major role at various stages, and there have been changes in its organizational structure with relevant legislations.

Before 1983, co-operative societies were registered under the Cooperative Societies Act No. 05 1972 and this was again amended in 1983 and later in 1992 as the Co-operative Societies (Amended) Act No. 11 of 1992.

The management structure of the cooperative societies was established under the Cooperative Employees Act No. 12 of 1972, and this was amended as Co-operative Employees (Amended) Act No. 51 of 1992.

Slogans

Slogans

1. Share your spirits (on a bust of a teenager) but not my bust.

2. If you cannot sleep (in a slowly plying Sri-Lankan bus) on a bus you sure will die of boredom.

3. Clown and Jokers are abundant in Sri-Lankan politics but the real difficulty is one cannot reckon whether they are on the left or on the right.

3. Doctor without laughter is ready for his funeral.

4. A man without laughter is sitting on his grave.

5. Neat hair cut brings the bad memories back, so don't cut your hair!

6. Good head massage brings the good times back, so don't be stingy when paying for one.

7. Long hair is useful when one wants to hang on.

8. Sure way to shrink one's brain is to wear a hat since the hat is always bigger than the brain.

9. One who has a shrinking brain should take up politics immediately as a profession, since there is enough room for another mad hatter.

10. 'Reentry or rear entry in politics', akin to reborn twice in one life, just like two birth certificates for the price of one.

Dudley and his Nephew

 Dudley and his Nephew

Book published in 2010 by Ranil Senanayake

The book is titled appropriately 'Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right and I am stuck in the middle again'

This should be translated into Sinhala and Tamil, and should be given to all grand children, if you have any.

Epilogue

2008!

Thirty years after I first began to comment on our national preoccupation with mindless consumption as 'development', stand before a country addicted to fossil fuels for our existence. The creation of more ans more fossil plants is being shown as a the way forward. Our agriculture has been transformed into a system that cannot produce without heavy input of artificial fertilizers. Our forestry is reduced to the plantation of even aged monocultures of exotics and the destruction of existing patches of native forest (to grow banana for Americans to treat their constipation). Our endemic value system and the culture reduced to a political tyranny (coming as Mahinda Mama- should add another M in front but I would not be expressive - reader is entitled to substitute his own interpretation) that demonstrate the worst aspect of corruption and subverting social values. The fear of nepotism that my uncle Dudley had in rejecting my application to the Zoological Gardens seems like some silly little emotion today-nepotism has become the way of power.

Time, Universe, Infinity and the Movement our Astrologers cannot Comprehend

Time, Universe, Infinity and the Movement our Astrologers cannot Comprehend
It is very difficult to comprehend entirety of the universe.

What is beyond  this universe is another matter for conjecture and wild imagination. 

Only a mind running wild can abstract these thoughts. It is not the matter that determines the outcome buts the mind’s ability to conceptualize outer limits and boundaries of existence, whether it is matter or antimatter.

I am one who believe that there is the possibility of anti-universe and antimatter. 

At what point this transition occurs is also a debatable existence.

The postulation is when the matter meets antimatter there is enormous discharge of energy that repel each other to their limits  (limit of the universe) of existence and the matter will never have a chance to cross its constrained boundaries.

The converse is true for the antimatter and it would never get a chance to cross its limited boundaries, in the same stretch of imagination.

Even though, we imagine universe is as limitless on simple hypothesis, there is a limit to the universe, if antimatter is there at its boundaries.

Then what is beyond the antimatter and anti-universe.

Is it only the universe?
 
I do not think so.

There got to be other possibilities.

Like planets and solar systems, there are other modes of multiple universes like anti-anti universe that is not a universe or anti-universe.

At this level three dimensional thinking has to give into four, five or six, or more dimensions.

The three dimensional thinking is possible when there is movement in relation to another moving body.

If the movement cannot be perceived as in the blackholes, where energy is sucked in by the presumed default concept, our theories of relativity has no logic there.

Under these conditions saying sun (sun actually moves in relation to its position in the universe) moves around the earth was the best our prehistoric human mind could grasp over the last 3000 years.
It is time for us to drop these concepts like orbits and orbital segments (12 Rashies - there are more dimensions to the universe) from our vocabulary and study science, rather physics, in its real conceptual framework. 

But blackhole physics is something we are still to comprehend and it shows the limit of our scientific thinking, that suits only this planetary and solar system.

But the real contention is not physics but biophysics (my coining of a simple nano-level biology concept).

This is the only planet we know we can live in comfort. There is no place or other planet where we can survive over prolong period of time.
But we are destroying this planet by human activity including nuclear physics.

We are going through a vicious cycle.

It is sure the man (only a few will be enough) will destroy this planet, come the next century.
If not a potent virus would do that before that time.
But strangely viruses have 3 to 5 million year cycles not 100 year cycles that effect the very nature of evolution.
Man is the only one who believes, this planet runs in 100 year cycles.
Of this 100 year cycles, one human generation can do enormous damage which this earth planet cannot sustain. 

The irony is each subsequent generation is worse than the previous generation that preceded it.

Beware!

There is impending catastrophe, if man does not give heed to the biophysics.

Now the insects!

Now the insects!

After 15 years I noticed a single bee, must have traveled a long distance to venture into my domain.

The tiny black bee is below our Electricity meter.

Colony is big and healthy.

Butterflies were three in number, brown, yellow, and tiny black and white.

Dragon flies were mostly two, the regular blue visitor and a yellow brown one and possibly a brown one which I have missed.

Plenty of tiny and big spiders and today I noticed a exotic one.

Where the hell he had come from.

A two tiny multipede in our bathroom.

A brown Katussa and a lizard as predators but not a single chameleon this time.

Many birds droppings including in our veranda.

So the eco-system is thriving after 15 years of endurance.

But if I take three months of leave and come home all will be dead since this was all a Single Man Made (SMM for short) environment.

My desire is for it to be Multiple Man Made (3M for short) endeavour.

That is my Political Theory for the Mother Nature and this Planet but not a can of Baygon spray which I hate.

We do not have a single environment (green) party but one minor party (not in the blue camp but is trying to piggyback on it-one is a monk, the other is co-defender up with arms since a stupid astrologer-that is what the national papers won't say- has predicted that he would become a next president after the current Maithree term is torpedoed) is hijacking this theory for its leader to come in to power.

So much for the constitutional changes that would be torpedoed.

Reader, especially foreign one, should excuse me for insinuating subtle political buzz.

In any case it good for them to know the bottom line if they decide to come for a holiday.

But please avoid our April New Year, since for about a month and after that election campaign will be hot on the foot of a traveler.