Commodore 3.1 Linux Update

Commodore 3.1 Linux Update

It took a long time to for me to figure out how it works.

I could not install Gnome on top of the MATE desktop which was complete disappointment. 

Even getting to email and my blog post was big hassle. 

Nevertheless it a very good effort and desktop animations are interesting and better than Elive Linux. No hindering to my efforts.

 I generally do not try to manipulate configurations except adding Abiword, Bluefish, Gparted and Stacer and I accept what is given at install time. It look ugly but now it is OK.

Even getting VLC was a big issue.

However, I have got both Lmms, VLC and audacity working now.

My basic NUC does not have Audio but I stick a USB Audio and stick a earphones and listen yo music.

I am Listrning to David Both at Perl Conference. An excellent orator and a simple minded. Listen to comments from the audience patiently.

Thank YOU.

It has Synaptic Package Manager and first was AbiWord and second was Firefox. Next of course Audacity and Lmms.

Lmms did not return an icon to launch 

Audacity is already there and I go for Blender, now.

It is OK. 

To begin with it is a big Iso Image of nearly 10GB.

It needs at least 50GB of Hard Disk.

Debian did not recognize my old NTFS Partition due probably due to sanitary reasons and I could not access saved Isos and I decided to convert it to EXT4 to install Commodore OS.

I can type in some of my Commodore Commands of 1984. I had a Commodore 64 and its Power Input got busted and I could not find a replacement in CEYLON.

Thank You Commodore Linux for using AntiX and MXLinux 23.4 for reviving old game consoles.

I was looking for AntiX derivative.

All these would be on my book Linux Essentials.

It takes a long time to install and it is in final stages.

No User name or passed when installing but I guess it may be asking it at  boot time.

Hope it would not ruin my GRUB with 7 other operating systems.

Bodhi Linux is Pretty Good

 Bodhi Linux is Pretty Good 

As to make some reference to my book on Linux, I installed Bodhi Linux on my NUC. 

I thought it is Gentoo based but it is UBUNTU based.

It is minimal and with light weight Moksha Dedktop, which is a modified Enlightenment Desktop.

It is fitting, I installed it the day following the Wesak Poya. 

It has the Bo or pipal leaf as Desktop cover image.

By the way, there is a Total Linux guy like me, 3 years older than me called David Both who was fixing computers from the age of 18. 

 

He hates Windows just like me.

 

Reason for using Bodhi was simple logic. 

It is the smallest partition out of 17 in my system which Debian fills in no time.

 

It was made smaller to accommodate the MX Linux based Commodore 3.1Linux on my NUC.

It was the ugliest looking Linux Distribution using Liquorice Kernel. 

It could not configure the integrated Graphic Card of my NUC. 

However, after installing CachyOS which configured the hardware with correct firmware, the Desktop of Commodore 3.1 looked much elegant. 

These days, I never try to fine tune fearing ruining my NUC. 

 I gave it 55GB, 25GB more than my average allocation

It occupied 35GB on Installation but the 20GB extra space I cannot utilize to store DATA or Linux images since the modern Debian kernel does not identify it as a partition.

Bodhi Linux takes only 10GB.

I installed Debian Gnome which took 12.5GB and after installing the basic applications, there was no room for Blender.

It has Synaptic Package Manager and with all my requirements installed including Blender I have 3.3GB left out of 15GB /root partition.

AbiWord 

STACER 

BlueFish 

GIMP

VLC 

Audacity 

Gwentview

Blender 

Scribus 

Inkscape 

All installed with a few more browsers without Firefox.

 

By the way, I recommend Bodhi Linux ahead of Linux Lite that comes from New Zealand boasting as AI complimented Linux Distribution which is Ubuntu based but takes much more than 10GB on initial install. 

I believe Linux Lite needs at least 12GB. 

On that ground alone Bodhi Linux comes on top as the least resource hungry but VOID and NOID consume much less due to using Runit instead of SystemD.

 

Time Shift

There is Time Shift utility which I do not recommend or never used available in,  Bodhi  Linux and if one is using this Utility one needs more RAM and Space.

 

My recommendation is one to shift to rolling release of ARCH straightaway which do not need TimeShif if properly configured.

 

TiimeShifting is done in different ways by different File Systems.

For example Btrfs has Rollback and Restore options by having multiple copies of the Operating System in different locations stored for retrieval because of its redundancy capability. 

A separate partition is mandatory.

Whereas, in EXT4 file system which lacks redundancy has  Rsync utility to locate lost fragments.

 Rsync (Remote Sync) is a powerful, versatile Linux command line utility used for synchronizing and copying files and directories both locally and over a network. It is widely preferred for backups and mirroring because it transfers only the differences (delta) between files, making it extremely fast and bandwidth efficient

 

By the way, I understand the theory and since I have never used (no need with Debian) this Utility in practice and please do not take my words on how to use them.

320 GB SATA and 10 Operating Systems in One Place

Yes, it is true.

3KDE Dektops

1Enlightenment Desktop

1MATE

5 GNME Desktops

3 Game and Medis Desktops

3 Kerrnels

Debian GNOME 

Debian GNOME 

Reborn OS GNOME 

Storm or Arch OS KDE

Cachy OS GNOME 

BlueStar Linux KDE 

Commodore Linuc MATE

ELive Enlightenment Desktop

Modicia GNOME 

Ultimate Game Linux KDE

One nivht of toil to bet GRUB fully finctional.

Beautiful Mind

 Sunday, June 25, 201

This was posted nearly one year after my retirement. 

The Linux Power point presentation is in one of my SATA disks left in Ceylon. 

Beautiful Mind

Let me list, a few of our emotions and then see how we can avoid feeling bad or confused.

This is based on a power point presentation to undergraduates in their Preliminary Course in English. 

 

Seeing students of different faith I avoided the Buddhist Terminology but in fact expanded on the four Wrong Directions which young one’s, including individuals of different religious faiths, political ideology, racial orientation and above all teachers (ill conceived) create this hidden agenda.

1. Fear

2. Anger

3. Hate

4. Aggression

5. Resentment

6. Envy

7. Rejection

8. Guilt

9. Pride

10. Boredom

11. Loneliness

12. Jealousy (Green eyed Monster)

13. Paranoia

 

Why not

1. Hope

2. Happiness

3. Love and

4. Self Control

5. Tolerance

These were the same emotions which went through young minds of our generation 60 years ago.

Most of them ended up with “Reactive Depression” not “Endogenous Depression” but there was no counseling of any kind at disposal.

I think in this modern age of Digital Obsession, there is more expressed “Emotional Intolerance”.
In fact, digital media like Facebook, to some extent YouTube thrive on this malady.
I think politicians from China to Russia to Middle East (Israel and Palestine included) to importantly USA base their strategies on Hate, Anger and Resentment.
Emotions like relationships have various shades and connections.
We can shape our emotions, the way we want them to be (for good as well as bad intentions).

How can we progress?

In a way, according to Professor De Bono;

It is to have beautiful Mind or get rid of the wrong Directions and Intentions.

I did a survey on technical terms in psychology and found psychological terms easily outnumbered the technical terms in physics, mathematics and philosophy all put together.

The corollary of this is that Religious, Political and Racial Doctrines can thrive on these minor and major psychological maladies.

It is interesting that Buddha had crystallized the themes into four categories. 

During the talk on “Making Choice in Life”;

Ajahn Brahm taught the four considerations when face with making a decision.

Not for selfish reason

Not with ill-will

Not out of stupidity

With no Fear.

This is the Buddha’s teaching on four “Agati”, namely,

Chanda-gati, Dosa-gati, Moha-gati, Bhaya-gati, or the four kinds of corruption.

Chanda-gati, corruption induced by desire, is deviation from the right path in pursuit of bribes or for the sake of those one loves.

Dosa-gati is taking the wrong path to spite those against whom one bears ill will, and

Moha-gati is aberration due to ignorance.
 

Bhaya-gati
But perhaps the worst of the four is bhaya-gati, for not only does bhaya, fear, stifle and slowly destroy all sense of right and wrong, it so often lies at the root of the other three kinds of corruption.

Agati: the 4 'wrong Paths' are: the path of desire, the path of hate, the path of confusion, the path of fear bhaya. One who is freed from these evil impulses is no longer liable to take any wrong path.

Satara Agati -Four unprofitable directions

The term 'Agati' in Pali mean wrong course or going bad way.

There are four bad ways,

a) Chandā agati - the going a bad way through ill will

b) Dosā agati -the going a bad way through hate

c) Bhayā agati - the going a bad way through fear

d) Mohā agati - the going a bad way through ignorance or delusion

UPDATES on FACEBOOK a CIA Digital Agent

I have Facebook Lite on my Android. 

It does not interfere with my work. 

I downloaded the latest version on Google Application Play Store. 

The moment, I gave my cellphone number like a CIA Agent it accessed my camera folder. 

I immediately uninstalled the APP. 

It would not let me play Water Sort Gave for few minutes, it started sending Endless messages, some of them 2 years old. 

It is AI enabled and AI has no emotions or sense. 

That is why I HATE AI.

Even my WordPress blog site manager is sending me AI driven message. 

I posted a Title in, සිංහල and stopped posting there. 

There are over 675 posts already posted from 2010. 

It was Private and I made it Public. 

The Pages and Posts confuse me.

They are my Random Thoughts posted for posterity. 

WordPress is a big organization.

One can do CODE work but I prefer Joplin for CODE work if I do venture into coding again.

You Tube is no better than Facebook

 You Tube is no better than Facebook

 Good Bye to YouTube

YES, I am going to say Good Bye to YouTube.

It a took long effort for me to say, Good Bye to Facebook.

In fact, I requested them to de-register me but Facebook refused.

They still entice me but I delete any redirections.

This is true of Dropbox.

But I have lot of my photos in Dropbox especially all my water plants.

I think all my water plants in Ceylon are dead, now. 

I requested our domestic aid to take some of them away.

 

It was big job for her to take care of all of them.

 

She was given a key to the gate. 

She passed away recently just past 70. 

I think she had a long term kidney problem. 

My Guess was Nephrotic Syndrome. 

This speaks volumes about how bad the free Medical Services in Ceylon under NPP/ JVP.

 

Few of the Orchids I left on the rooftop garden may be already stolen by next door neighbor guy who used to climb to our roof, secretly. 

I caught him twice and once, a long time ago warned him never to do that.

 

I have no hard feeling leaving Ceylon.

 

There is an attempt to prove (may be true) that Buddha was born in Ceylon.

It is in full swing.

It does not matter to me but I would try to understand Lord Buddha's Teaching. 

Buddha is already gone and only his teaching is left us to sturdy.

 

Coming back to YouTube it sends me messages regularly to register.

I promptly delete the piece.

Why it entices me to register?

Nothing but greed for money.

After three months of my registration, it will ask for payments. 

I would not pay.

I do not bother if Google cancel my entries.

Google won't cancel my entries simply because CIA need some port hole to snoop on my activities. 

CIA does regular survey of all the YouTube entries.That is their game plan.

Just before, the election in Ceylon, it Google dished out lot of YouTube sites to our guys. Many of those guys, now cannot pay the monthly fee without patron contributions.

Only a very a few guys can survive on You Tube channel.

All my life I posted only one YouTube post. It was long time ago.

One one occasion, university videoed my presentation on Linux with the University Staff Audience in attendance.

None could understand my presentation.

No questions asked.

I made it fast and hard deliberately.

I was given a copy of my presentation.

I posted it on YouTube.

Nobody visited it.

 

Only about 34 guys were using Linux on PCs, then.

No wonder, no hits.

My goal was to promote Linux PC penetration to 10%.

It is fast approaching that target.

Then I will stop posting on Linux, too.

I am totally free, then.

 

Why I hate Face-Book?

 

Friday, August 2, 2013
Why I hate Face-Book?
Why I hate Face-Book?
About three years ago unwittingly,  I joined the Facebook and there is No Way I could opt out.

 

I am one who spends lot of time on the Web promoting Linux, Cloud Computing and Blogging for fun.

I have many connections including Dropbox, JoliOs-JoliDrive, Ubuntu One and WordPress in addition to Google.
 

None of the above providers insist that I use them obsessively and neurotically.

In fact, I have not used Dropbox for a long time and my password had expired but they did not remind me of that fact.

Just as good to illustrate the difference between a service of a professional cloud server (Dropbox) and a social media (Facebook) with very little relevance to my day to day work.

To illustrate the point I get an invitation from some unknown baby (under two years) Deelip Kalum to join his page (these parents do not understand the principle of privacy and little kid’s rights).
 

I stopped them by writing a stinker bud I did the same to two of my friends to get the message across to all and sundry.
 
The Message went like this,
 

I rarely use Facebook.

Fortunately, I have given very little information about me on the page.

In fact, I hate it since I cannot opt out or log out.

It is like the a “Pissige Pala Malla”, literally means the “mad woman’s belongings", life jacket of survival of the illiterate- and I just keep it running by default for my friends to realize that I do exist in this sea of Junk World.

After hour an half of searching I could not sign off or opt out.
 

I am really hooked to my grave with Facebook.
 

Will you be sending some “Flowers or Wreath"?
 

Thanks a lot social media.
 

What are going to do when I am dead?

Will you be willing to join me in Hell             (Apaya).

At the moment I am in connection with the Apaya Computer Administrator to sort this out before my departure..

His administration of my Facebook from Hell will be Handy with Gory Pictures, from Hell.

Please note that individuals are not allowed to communicate in Apaya by email.

 
I have already figured out a way to deal with my email (dead email) after my death but not FACEBOOK.

 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Why it is so painful to cancel an account in a Social Media

This time Hi5

Why it is so painful to cancel an account in a Social Media

This time Hi5
 
I still wonder why social media are behaving like leeches.
They are hell bent on increasing their share in the open but dirty market

1. They start by offering you a free account.
That is the final bait.
In this consumerist world who will offer a free lunch?

2. Then they get every bit of your personnel data which even (probably) government agencies are not interested in.
 

The governments want to know you are not a security risk and or a xenophobic.
If you are an average criminal, they are not worried about.
It is a civil matter.
They only want big fish.

In this country of ours, some government agencies actually promote average tricksters and they take them into their fold, get the dirty work done and dispose them unceremoniously like a pulp when it is a liability (we have a police ex-chief and a Sanganayaka involved in plundering archaeological artifacts) to the beholders.
 

Guys / Girls include those who steal our ballot paper for election rigging.
Some of them steal even the vote of old people in "Incarcerated Homes''
 
They (the criminals) are a wanted commodity come elections.

3. These social media know that the governments steal their data whenever and wherever possible.
Earlier it was done at the airport.
Now they scan you in your kitchen doing daily chores.

They do not have to be on the beat but remain in air conditioned cubicles.
 
What a luxury?

4. The government in power and the paranoia to remain in absolute power has now infiltrated the social media.

They fear a bubble like in the credit crunch.
They fear the  credit crisis.
 
Their profit margin that come free due to technology and they infiltrates into every nook and corner, one does not have to sweat for service or one's task or duty.

With AI coming to fore this digital penetration is a total menace.

Luckily we have 10% Internet Penetration (email, dropbox) but it is steadily growing.

These guys also live in air-conditioned living rooms and sit in front of the computer and do not have to travel like the ordinary guys and girls who toil, every day of the week.
 
They have cushy IT jobs.
The network of computers and various search engines do the talk.

They talk tall!

5. Invariably they become the worst pests of this century and of any country

So they fear when an old guy like me wants to opt out of their site for an ornamental coffin for the eternal peace, six feet under.
 
They make de-registration, the most difficult job on this planet.
Why?
I do not know.

As a doctor, I can say it is an early sign of serious pathological entity not yet defined by the medical fraternity.

I coin the word Digital Mafia that metamorphoses to Digital Morphea
 
Getting out of Hi5 was as difficult as with Facebook.

The details are hidden in the Full Site out of reach of the folks.
 
You have to contact them by email and tag with another entity and a token obtained for one to see the Full Site.

Even after getting there they will ask you various (FUD, Fear Uncertainty, and Doubt) silly questions.

Now they try to keep the data in their server and promote a reactivation scheme.
 
I don't think I can reactivate it from my coffin unless, I take a Tablet with Wireless connection to my final resting (rights) site, the TOMB.
 
Rest in Piece Social Media.

I have raised this many moons ago

Coming to Steam Deck and Dock

Now all game boxes including Steam OS contribute directly and indirectly to Global Warming.

Linux was way behind the XBox of Microsoft in games.

Microsoft killed the innovations by enticing young with imaginary games in the trend of Star Wars.

Visual Basics without no line of Code for creative work, while Linux has grown into 128 million lines in Code in current Linux 5 Kernel.

Steam OS probably has used this kernel for Steam Deck and Dock outsmarting Microsoft. It would not win the never ending battle of Wits and Wisdom.

It is cheap and under $400/=.

ASUS Tablet with more punch is $3000/=

ACER is little below $1500/=

Mind you, Steam Deck is a Standalone PC with a Game Pack.

Incredible price and I hope the RDNA GPU supplies come good by December, if not the ZEN CPU.

I would recommend  you to buy the next level of $500/= odd version for connectivity to NVMe external drives instead of SATA, SSD and eMMC disks.

SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment which is relatively slow.

All serial as opposed to parallel devices are slow by nature and draw power from the computer (no power jack is necessary).

All my external devices which I paid a fortune including Imation needed separate power supply.

Companies that produce them are:

1. Western Digital
2.  Seagate
3. Samsung
4. Toshiba
5. Adata
6. Sandisk
7. Imation (gone bust I believe)
8. Hitachi

All my hard disks are working OK except one portable Scandisk which I paid a fortine in Singspore. Its internal connection to USB3 broke. There was a bad metal connection inside it that connects to the USB3 and then to the PC. 

I lost all my portable DATA. I do not recommend Scamdisk for DATA storage.

Having used  many a times, to boot Linux and for Data and I have erased them many a times in that process using Gparted of Linux these SATA hard disk work tirelessly.

SSD stands for Solid Sate Device with no moving parts for flash memory.

NVMe stands for Non Volatile Memory Express only for PC with PCIe slot in the mother board.

I think MMe means multimedia multiplexing environment. It is not a hard disk type.

This slot in the motherboard is used in earlier designs of computers for graphic cards to support faster data transfer but now is used by NVMe.

In old computers the RAM was limited to 1 GB RAM (32 bit computers) and graphic was dedicated to a graphic cards to save RAM memory.

They did not heat up when running.

Please do not accept a 32 bit computer even, if it is given free. They are Energy Vultures and consume lot of electricity.

GPU means Graphic Processing Unit.

In old computers only the CPU was running hot and needed a heat sink and fans running, all the time to cool the computer.

When I was running 13 computers (32 bit) in our home network, three of them caught fire when the temperature was hovering around 85 to 90 Fahrenheit.

Of course a few of the Cathode Ray Tubes of TVs caught fire,too.

When these things happened, I started using thermometers for my pet fish tanks outside. They die at 84 Fahrenheit.

I stopped keeping fish in fish tanks altogether.

Wild fires in Canada and Australia are natural outcomes which Oil Ministers, all over the Globe ignored for over 70 years.

The new CPUs and GPUs are all integrated in thin wafer circuits, all into one motherboard and they consume more energy than old PCs. 

Without heat sinking measures, they are too hot to handle.

In cold countries with heating bills going up playing a game in a box is a quick way to go to sleep with warmth (heat) voming grom hame box to cushion you.

My PC has only PCI slots.

eMMC means embedded Multi Media Card and the controller system.

All the gadgets in this world contribute to global warming from production line to the user base at home.

Blaming only cars and vehicles is barking at the wrong tree.

The vehicles at least deliver goods.

What is the contribution of computers to the alleviation of hunger and poverty in the Globe?

The Coronavirus exposed us to the Reality.

Coming to Steam Deck and Dock.

I have to make a few early observations to counteract, mostly negative remarks.

I played my first game with kids with Atari.

Coming from a generation where children's toys were baby dolls and motorized cars, with hard to manipulate remote controllers, DOS video games were master stroke in history of children games.

I must say, I and my adult friends played them more than the kids.

For kids the games were passing stage of their childhood development.

But Disney Game on Lion King had a lasting impact.

Lion king was a classic film for kids and adults.

Playing golf was painful in.Atari.

Myself a good snooker and billiard player playing a billiard game on the cellphone is very painful to say the least.

One needs applied mathematical  brain to workout the game strategy and a lot of skill and practice to go with it, to pot a billiard ball into the pot. Not like pools.

I used to beat British guys in UK and they see this little guy from Ceylon humble them in billiards and snooker. Mind you I did not play with professional guys or in clubs.

Actually I won my post (out of 60 odd candidates) in a selection interview by asking the interview board, is there a snooker table in the hospital.

If they ask why, my ready made answer is I could practice playing snooker while I wait for a patient to arrive from a distance or kill my time practising alone till midnight.

Waking up from sleep to answer a call is very annoying and miserable thing.

But I was good at cat naps.

Watching TV or sipping beer was not my way and I never sipped a drink when on call and absolute concentration is necessary in critical care.

With that background playing games with Play Station with only two games with the first buy was sucking dollars and pounds from poor parents.

My son stop playing PlayStation in less than two months.

My daughter loved reading and that also fiction.

Me is a reader in Science and Technology.

I cannot find four partners to play Bridge now but I play Bridge using a cellphone.

I try to improve my game.

Bottom line is boys love playing video games but only a few girls play video games.

The Coronavirus has made girls to join the Band Wagon of video games.

That is a good thing but ignore their comments about Steam Deck and Dock.

Mind you, these guys come from Windows and Apple background and they do not know what is Linux.

The current Linux 5 Kernel can handle many graphic cards, if the O.E.M. guys volunteer their specifications to the Linux developers.

Equally they have some game boxes from childhood that they have Pathological Attachment (term pathology has disease connotation here) to those devices.They are all biased in their opinions and they are not comparative or balanced.

I see Steam Deck 2 coming in the future since old guys like me have visual problems to counter, I prefer a very BIG Display.

Coronavirus has added lot of grannies and grand dads playing Steam Games.

The joystick and touch pads will improve coordination problems, especially after mild form of stroke and if, I am one of the directors of the hospital, I would order some Steam Deck and Dock items for both children and geriatric patients.

So if you are philanthropist please keep my above observation as a reference point.

Steam should focus the global nature of games.

If we can cut down on the pills and if Steam contributes to that goal, even a little childhood fancy game played by a sick  adult is a bonus to recovery.

It is very big thing.

Back to home for recuperation.

It has a relatively big display screen which is touch sensitive.

This display is not BIG enough for my age.

It has both touch pad and two joysticks.

It has SD card ports to upgrade capacity but playing with SD card is not an option.

SD card  slows the system.

It has Linux OS (Steam OS 3) and probably  latest  KDE plasma, I guess.

Mind you it is coming in December and book now.

There is no crowd sourcing and it has got capital from Steam Machine sales in the years gone by.

Steam Valve is the operating company.

It is a standalone PC for a work desk.

Since it is a PC one can install

1. Windows 10 or 11 with Steam running on top of Windows.

2. It can run on any Linux distribution that supports Steam.

Since Steam is Linux almost all Linux distributions support it but one has to purchase Steam games.

3. Why not run on its own Steam OS 3 and enjoy 50,000 games you will never finish in a life time?

It has Photon which is modified Wine that runs Windows games on Linux box.

It is a Three In One Game Box.

It has AMD CPU  Zen and AMD RDNA GPU.

What a nice combination to beat Intel architecture owned by Lenova in China.

It beats, IBM based of Lenova in China  by a big margin.

It has ports in the dock for all the connectivity.

WiFi connection off the dock.

No need of PS5 of Sony and XBox of Microsoft.

Linux is the winner after all.

The best buy in the market today.

I have a Console  of a Cheap Chinese made Copycat in which I could not not play a single game. I paid a big sum in Rupees.

It's keyboard could not type my 18 digit alpha numeric password for WiFi connectivity to download new games.

I tried even in French Keyboard but failed.

So do not buy cheap Chinese stuff.

Chinese alphabet is a graphic design not alphanumeric like the English Keyboard.

Luckily the computer software and hardware are based on the English keyboard for instructions. They can be hacked but not easily duplicated in China.

That is why they are developing Kline OP in China.

These Chinese guys are very bad in typing  English and  Linux Code.

If not for American's base in Taiwan and British in Honk Kong Chinese ambition to go to Mars bypassing the Van Allen Belt is only a day dream.

They are number one Copycats on this planet.

Mobility and Technolgy

 According to AI

Here are the specific details of what the CIA built:

 The Device: The CIA's system was code named Discus. It was a massive upgrade from their earlier, clunkier 1970s prototype, "Buster," which required a shoe-box-sized base station.

Capabilities: Discus consisted of two handheld terminals small enough to fit in a coat pocket. It featured a built-in keyboard and automatically encrypted cipher messages. It could transmit text data to a second receiving unit (held by a case officer) from hundreds of feet away. 

 Historical Context: While Discus was a major leap forward for intelligence tradecraft, it was entirely distinct from the cellular networks consumers know today. The very first true handheld cell phone network and cellular calls were independently pioneered by Motorola and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) between 1973 and 1979.

Sunday, November 17, 2024 

 Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I do not use a Mobile
 
Mind you I have a land phone.

Read this in tandem with attention deficit (new syndrome defined by me) below.
 
This is something I posted elsewhere.

I have 100 or more reasons why I do not have or use a cellphone.

I will list them as they come to my mind but not in any order of priority.
 
As an intern, I hated all calls mobile included since it meant, a batch of new arrival of small kids who have arrived in absolutely appalling condition.

Some of them fitting due to low blood sugar nearing zero.
 
In fact, I had 8 to 10 kids whose blood sugar and CSF sugar levels were down to zero.
 
The government at that time told the public it was due to encephalitis and I proved them wrong even before my medical registration completed.
I used to take blood samples to Medical Research Laboratory in Borella and come the next week to collect the reports.

This is during Sirima and NM and Covinn time.

Then in 6 months later when I went to collect my own data they had disappeared mysteriously from, medical records.
 
Then, what I did subsequently, I have to pen down on a latter date of my life, nearing my death.

One thing was sure, leaving this messy Health Service and I decided to leave the Public Health Service for good and I was glad I did that and if you read Dengue Dilemma elsewhere, in my writings, one can easily guess it.
 
It has deteriorated in quality even though, it has expanded.
 
As a doctor, I hated bad news by telephone.
 
We rarely hear good news when on duty.
 
Later in life when cellphone came, I believed in CPP (Calling Party Pays) and flatly refused a cellphone.

It is a public nuisance.
 
It is a nuisance when the cellphone owner has switched it off when one really need him / her.
 
When you travel on a public transport one cannot have a snooze to drown the inconvenience with frequent telephone interruptions.
 
I love silence in public places.
 
Even though, I don’t use it, I have to foot the bill (kid's telephone bills).
 

No work get done in public officers.
 
They are busy answering their private calls of nature and it is more frequent than the real call of nature.
 
It is cheaper to redirect a message by email that should end up as a junk or a piece of gossip.
 
We use it for gossip not for creative work.
 
It is private enemy number one when you own a debt the bank or telephone company a small sum in arrears and the reminders by them costs more than the amount you actually own them.

I think you got the picture correct.

I think it is enough for today but I will add more on future date when I run short of a topic to write.
 
Memory and Gadgets
Attention Deficit Related (Mundane gadgets like tablets) to Technology Addiction.

Many years ago, I posted an article on the web regarding memory specially in reference to Buddhist Monks of yesteryear (not today´s TV acting Maha Mewna Type) and all the points except my assertion on Mediation Practice (focused attention on the present moment) was copied by an Author of the Scientific American Publication and most recently by another author.

This is one reason, I thought of writing a few books before my memory fails by default and due to old age.

It is rather loss of short term memory and now I have coined a fancy Medical Term.

Few years ago (I still do not take a note or reminder but devised a 24 hour simple protocol to enhance day to day activity), I noticed lapses in my memory and got activated.

1. I won´t use the telephone but buy the  cheapest cellphone when I go abroad and drop it to a bin at the airport (this is the biggest handicap and in the middle of your work, one may give a call with a low priority-gossip related call).

When I tried to do that long time ago, one of my relatives in Singapore asked for it and duly obliged. Another one I used for sometime gave it free to a classmate of mine.
His son had lost his expensive cellphone when traveling to Colombo by bus.

Who Cares for an expensive cellphone.

Thank God, one can switch off the cell, then what is the use of a telephone, if it is not doing it's job, simply transfer a message.

I use my land phone at my discretion since I pay the bill.
Not even the Telecom (delay in payment) or the a bank officer can break that law and break into my freedom.
 
2. Won´t sit in front of the TV and watch web videos unless it is related to animals, especially Elephants.

One Baby Elephant dead was trapped in a tree in this country.

There is a video of an elephant mum protecting its young baby from hyenas (we have to protect the young one's from political hyenas and some rabid monks in saffron cloth).

3. I live with living things, the dog, fish, and plants, including water plants.

All three will die if I do not have some simple protocol, not so rigid but to remind me that there are other life forms on this planet, in relation to me.

Fortunately fish can go on for 10 days without food.

If neglected any longer toxic algae will kill them.

A dog will die within three days without water, if there is no care giver.

Believe it or not Dogs never use telephones even in an emergency.
 

They only BARK.

My dog in particular will start barking for no reason when I am on the phone.
 
He wants me to stop talking quickly and he has not got a degree in economics but he knows how to cut my telephone bill.
 
The garden will go to wilderness in no time.

All these little things one has to be mindful, however busy one is in day to day life, even if one has servants to look after these odd jobs.

They will never do them right in my experience.
 
4. Use the computer and the email productively.

5. Keep in touch with family and family friends in person.
When one sees a friend, just stop for a few minutes and greet them and have some empathy. You may not see them again could even be run over by a vehicle driven by a fast track lumpen with a cellphone in hand.
 
I am predicting now with Facebook and low priority web videos, the present young generation will hit a very low point, in their middle age with Attention Deficit and I am going to coin the Medical Term, Attention Deficit Related to (Mundane gadgets like tablets) Technology Addiction (AD-R-TA- RTA stands for Road Traffic Accidents and some of these gadgets may trigger an accident on the road too).

Linux and Cellphone, Technology

Sunday, November 17, 2024 

 Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I do not use a Mobile
 
Mind you I have a land phone.

Read this in tandem with attention deficit (new syndrome defined by me) below.
 
This is something I posted elsewhere.

I have 100 or more reasons why I do not have or use a cellphone.

I will list them as they come to my mind but not in any order of priority.
 
As an intern I hated all calls mobile included since it meant, a batch of new arrival of small kids who have arrived in absolutely appalling condition.

Some of them fitting due to low blood sugar nearing zero.
 
In fact, I had 8 to 10 kids whose blood sugar and CSF sugar levels were down to zero.
 
The government at that time told the public it was due to encephalitis and I proved them wrong even without my medical registration completed.
I used to take blood samples to Medical Reaserch Laboratory in Borella and come the next week to collect the reports.

This is during Sirima and NM and Covinn time.

Then in 6 months later when I went to collect my own data they had disappeared mysteriously from, medical records.
 
Then, what I did subsequently, I have to pen down on a latter date of my life, nearing my death.

One thing was sure, leaving this messy Health Service and I decided to leave the Public Health Service for good and I was glad I did that and if you read Dengue Dilemma elsewhere, in my writings, one can easily guess it.
 
It has deteriorated in quality even though, it has expanded.
 
As a doctor, I hated bad news by telephone.
 
We rarely hear good news when on duty.
 
Later in life when cellphone came, I believed in CPP (Calling Party Pays) and flatly refused a cellphone.

It is a public nuisance.
 
It is a nuisance when the cellphone owner has switched it off when one really need him / her.
 
When you travel on a public transport one cannot have a snooze to drown the inconvenience with frequent telephone interruptions.
 
I love silence in public places.
 
Even though, I don’t use it, I have to foot the bill (kid's telephone bills).
 
 No work get done in public officers.
 
They are busy answering their private calls of nature and it is more frequent than the real call of nature.
 
It is cheaper to redirect a message by email that should end up as a junk or a piece of gossip.
 
We use it for gossip not for creative work.
 
It is private enemy number one when you own the bank or telephone company a small sum in arrears and the reminders by them costs more than the amount you actually own them.

I think you got the picture correct.

I think it is enough for today but I will add more on future date when I run short of a topic to write.
 
Memory and Gadgets
Attention Deficit Related (Mundane gadgets like tablets) to Technology Addiction.

Many years ago, I posted an article on the web regarding memory specially in reference to Buddhist Monks of yesteryear (not today´s TV acting MahaMewna Type) and all the points except my assertion on Mediation Practice (focused attention on the present moment) was copied by an Author of the Scientific American Publication and most recently by another author.

This is one reason, I thought of writing a few books before my memory fails by default and due to old age.

It is rather loss of short term memory and now I have coined a fancy Medical Term.

Few years ago (I still do not take a note or reminder but devised a 24 hour simple protocol to enhance day to day activity), I noticed lapses in my memory and got activated.

1. I won´t use the telephone but buy a cheapest cellphone when I go abroad and drop it to a bin at the airport (this is the biggest handicap and in the middle of your work, one may give a call with a low priority-gossip related call).

When I tried to do that long time ago, one of my relatives in Singapore asked for it and duly obliged. Another one I used for sometime gave it free to a classmate of mine.
His son had lost his expensive cellphone when travelling to Colombo by bus.

Who Cares for an expensive cellphone.

Thank God, one can switch off the cell, then what is the use of a telephone, if it is not doing it's job, simply transfer a message.

I use my land phone at my discretion since I pay the bill.
Not even the Telecom (delay in payment) or the a bank officer can break that law and break into my freedom.
 
2. Won´t sit in front of the TV and watch web videos unless it is related to animals, especially Elephants.

One Baby Elephant dead was trapped in a tree in this country.

There is a video of an elephant mum protecting its young baby from hyenas (we have to protect the young one's from political hyenas and some rabid monks in saffron cloth).

3. I live with living things, the dog, fish, and plants, including water plants.

All three will die if I do not have some simple protocol, not so rigid but to remind me that there are other lifes on this planet, in relation to me.

Fortunately fish can go on for 10 days without food.

If neglected any longer toxic algae will kill them.

A dog will die within three days without water, if there is no care giver.

Believe it or not Dogs never use telephones even in an emergency.
They only BARK.

My dog in particular will start barking for no reason when I am on the phone.
 
He wants me to stop talking quickly and he has not got a degree in economics but he knows how to cut my telephone bill.
 
The garden will go to wilderness in no time.

All these little things one has to be mindful, however busy one is in day to day life, even if one has servants to look after these odd jobs.

They will never do them right in my experience.
 
4. Use the computer and the email productively.

5. Keep in touch with family and family friends in person.
When one sees a friend, just stop for a few minutes and greet them and have some empathy.
You may not see them again could even be run over by a vehicle driven by a fast track lumpen with a cellphone in hand.
 
I am predicting now with Facebook and low priority web videos, the present young generation will hit a very low point, in their middle age with Attention Deficit and I am going to coin the Medical Term, Attention Deficit Related to (Mundane gadgets like tablets) Technology Addiction (AD-R-TA- RTA stands for Road Traffic Accidents and some of these gadgets may trigger an accident on the road too).

Cellphone, Technology, Linux, Cryptocurrency, Politics and Global Warming

17.07.2021

What Arthur Scargill did was as bad as what Margaret Thatcher did by cancelling the right to Union Action or Association with Unions at the behest of Ronald Reagan. 

He took the money and disappeared. 

He should have refunded the money to its active members. 

I did not pay a lot but I stopped association with any Union except Medical Protection Union in UK.

 

In this regard Internet Banking is also included.

Cellphone, Technology, Linux, Cryptocurrency, Politics and Global Warming

This is not a gossip column like, Facebook, Twitter and Freedom Platform.

One might not see the connections, if one does not understand the basic physics.

If you do not understand how physics works in real world, do not read this beyond this point.

This is a scientific exegesis not a bizarre meditation session with delusion and illusion revisited.

First of all thanks to Donald Trump and his extreme Ultra Right Wing for using Freedom OS which is a derivative of Lineage OS.

I supported the Lineage OS, Linux Magazine and Linux Voice but stopped subscribing to the Magazine (reading scientific stuff is in my genes) due to poor supply of Dollars from abroad.

To dispense with money matters and currency first, I hate single currency of EU for a very good reason.

It comes from a small  city called (Equivalent of Singapore in Europe ) Belgium where the King plundered West Africa for centuries and was helpful in spreading AIDS (equivalent of bat fever or Coronavirus of mainland China) globally.

AIDS came from a tiny tree monkey in Africa whom they used for animal experimentation.

We have not discovered a treatment for AIDS or for that matter Malaria from which millions of Children still die every year in Africa.

The simple reason for objecting to single currency is:

It would dilute the stupidity of all our Finance Ministers after independence.

Mind you, British left us surplus of money in our coffers and the Air Ceylon to fly (for the politicians to plunder later).

This even Victor Ivan understands.

Mind you, I have a chapter on Victor in my book "Politics Revisited at Amazon" for young ones to read how we plundered money and freedom and we have now geared for a military government which is failing by the day.

I prudently, stopped writing my Political Vision dead at 2010.

This vision, Ma Ra and Si Ra combination erased from our history.

Any opportunity for recovery in a sensible redirection was lost.

I think, "The Third Force"  can emerge from the proverbial ashes of Phoenix.

A victory path from the prison.

Mr. Ranjan Ramanayake should steer it from the prison cell provided a bright guy writes a book on his behalf and in his name (one should get ideas from him and put in legible Sinhala and not in Amu Sinhala or Kunu Harupa).

All good revolutions started from long incarceration, in the history of mankind.

Longer he stays in prison better for him because more and more blunders will accumulate like the way Coronavirus spreads, in spite of so called robust vaccination programs.

Mandela is a good example but White South Africans by covert design muted it.

Coming to Linux and cryptocurrency.

The Alt Right is based in Austria where cryptocurrency has one of it's bases where illegal money is invested globally, with robust farm of computers.

These computers need graphic cards, the reason I do not understand but guess they use PDF photo-proof for blockchain transactions which are invisible to the banking systems.

I now know unlike the CPU, the Graphic Card layout which is in multiples can do trillions of calculations per second.

However they consume lot of energy and need a robust heat sink to cool the system.

PDF means portable document Format.

These computers consume large amounts of electricity which even Nuclear Energy cannot cope with.

Electricity does not come cheap.

All digital gadgets needs electricity and the rechargeable batteries need electricity for recharging.

They need compact circuits and every circuit including your cellphone contributes to the Global Warming which is the bottom line.

That is my bone of contention.

So only way to mitigate is to stop using Internet, me posting here (soon be terminated, could not keep that promise but would be soon) a blog post included and every email adds to the global warming and there is no end in sight.

You switching to CFL  Lights and LED won't mitigate it.

The game box or the cellphone off the hook running on batteries may not contribute to much heat but the uploading, downloading and playing games over the Internet, Yes the Internet is driving the  World to Global Warming.

With  3G and 4G upgraded to 5G every living soul (including grannies and grand dads) playing video games, video conferencing and video on demand or virtual class rooms popping up everywhere  (due to Coronavirus) may encourage global warming as the final end product.

The photosynthesis converts only 1 to 3% of light energy to biological energy.

The plants leaves by transpiration cools the planet (this is kids science which the current president does not understand).

The trees contribute to cloud formation and rain.

The the Tank, the Dagaba (where the soil was mounted and there is no religious connotation here) and the Forest were our ancient concepts of self preservation and not done by borrowed money from China.

China has to learn lot more from our history than us learning from them and they are the leaders in pollution and global warming.

India only comes second in contribution to global.warming, population dynamics and emerging economics of the world today.

We importing cheap cellphones and even rice in 1952 are classic examples of our impotence in real politics.

Coming to chip production I think Taiwan comes first not the mainland China.

1. Taiwan

2.  Korea

3.  Japan for old American and the new Apple type industry.

4. China fourth

India nowhere and Ceylon with (rubber industry in doldrums) all the rare metals and pure sand available, which China is mining secretly (in the camouflage hotel industry operation concept) in the East and in the West Coast of Ceylon.

We cannot make a simple chip or circuit here but import large discarded computers from the West which need Water Cooling Systems to run them in a 24/7 cycle.

We become suckers to Communist China and they started with only erecting a massive Auditorium in Colombo to utter empty rhetoric which "Nelum Pokuna" can never match in spite of its height or the elevation.

Our aspirations have vanished to thin air.

But our debt is mounting.

What a paradox?

We do not have even Nalum Ala (the rhizome) with poisons in them to eat, now.

I will finish this with the  Steam OS.

Now all game boxes including Steam OS contribute directly and indirectly to Global Warming.

Linux was way behind the XBox of Microsoft in games.

Microsoft killed the innovations by enticing young with imaginary games in the trend of Star Wars and Visual Basics and no line of Code for creative work, while Linux has grown into 128 million lines in Code in current Linux 5 Kernel.

Steam OS probably has used this kernel for Steam Deck and Dock outsmarting Microsoft (would not win the never ending battle of Wits and Wisdom or even a rematch).

It is cheap and under $400/=.

ASUS Tablet with more punch is $3000/=

ACER is little below $1500/=

Mind you, this is a Standalone PC with a Game Pack.

Incredible price and I hope the RDNA GPU supplies come good by December, if not the ZEN CPU.

I would recommend  you to buy the next level of $500/= odd version for connectivity to NVMe external drives instead of SATA, SSD and eMMC disks.

SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment which is relatively slow.

All serial as opposed to parallel devices are slow by nature and draw power from the computer (no power jack is necessary).

All my external devices which I paid a fortune including to Imation needed separate power supply.

Companies that produce them are:

1. Western Digital
2.  Seagate
3. Samsung
4. Toshiba
5. Adata
6. Sandisk
7. Imation (gone bust I believe)
8. Hitachi

All my hard disks are working (having used  many a times, to boot Linux and for Data and erased many a times in that process using Gparted of Linux) except one portable Sandisk which I paid a lot. Sandisk's internal connection to USB 3 broke. There was bad metal connection inside it (with all my portable data Lost), that connects to the USB 3 connection wire (and then to the PC).

I do not recommend it.

SSD stands for Solid Sate Device with no moving parts for flash memory.

NVMe stands for Non Volatile Memory Express only for PC with PCIe slot in the mother board.

I think MMe means multimedia multiplexing environment and not a hard disk type.

This slot in the motherboard is used in earlier designs of computers for graphic cards to support faster data transfer but now is used by NVMe.

In old computers the RAM was limited to 1 GB RAM (32 bit computers) and graphic was dedicated to a graphic cards to save RAM memory and did not heat up when running.

Please do not accept a 32 bit computer even, if it is given free.

They are Energy Vultures and consume lot of electricity.

GPU means Graphic Processing Unit.

In old computers only the CPU was running hot and needed a heat sink and fans running, all the time to cool the computer.

When I was running 13 computers (32 bit) in our home network, three of them caught fire when the temperature was hovering around 85 to 90 Fahrenheit.

Of course few of the Cathode Ray Tubes of TVs caught fire,too.

When these things happened, I started using thermometers for my pet fish tanks outside and they die at 84 Fahrenheit.

I stopped keeping fish in fish tanks altogether.

Wild fires in Canada and Australia are natural outcomes which Oil Ministers all over the globe ignored for over 70 years.

The new CPUs and GPUs are all integrated in thin wafer circuits all into one motherboard and they consume more energy than old PCs and without heat sinking measures, they are too hot to handle.

In cold countries with heating bills going up playing a game in a box is a quick way to go to sleep with warmth (heat) to cushion you.

My PC has only PCI slots.

eMMC means embedded Multi Media Card and the controller system.

All the gadgets in this world contribute to global warming from production line to the user base at home.

Blaming only cars and vehicles is barking at the wrong tree.

The vehicles at least deliver goods.

What is the contribution of computers to the alleviation of hunger and poverty in the Globe (that Coronavirus has exposed us)?

Coming to Steam Deck and Dock.

I have to make a few early observations to counteract, mostly negative remarks.

I played my first game with kids with Atari.

Coming from a generation where children's toys were baby dolls and motorized cars with hard to manipulate remote controllers, DOS video games were master stroke in history of children games.

I must say I and my adult friends played them more  than the kids.

For kids the games were passing stage of their childhood development.

But Disney Game on Lion King had a lasting impact.

Lion king was a classic film for kids and adults.

Playing golf was painful in.Atari.

Myself a good snooker and billiard player playing a billiard game on cellphone is very painful to say the least.

One needs applied mathematics brain to workout the game strategy and lot of skill and practice to go with it, to pot a billiard ball (not pools).

I used to beat British guys in UK and they see this little guy from Ceylon humble them in billiards and snooker (mind you I did not play with professional guys or in clubs).

Actually I win my post (out of 60 odd candidates) in a selection interview by asking the interview board, is there a snooker table in the hospital.

If they ask why, my ready made answer is I could practice playing snooker while I wait for a patient to arrive from a distance or kill my time practising alone till midnight.

Waking up from sleep to answer a call is very annoying and miserable thing.

But I was good at cat naps.

Watching TV or sipping beer was not my way and I never sip a drink when on call and absolute concentration is necessary in critical care.

With that background playing games with PlayStation with only two games with the first buy was sucking dollars and pounds from poor parents.

My son stop playing PlayStation in less than two months.

My daughter loved reading and that also fiction.

Me a reader in Science and Technology.

I cannot find four partners to play Bridge now but I play Bridge using a cellphone.

I try to improve my game.

Bottom line is boys love playing video games but only a few girls play video games.

The Coronavirus has made girls to join the Band Wagon of video games.

That is a good thing but ignore their comments about Steam Deck and Dock.

Mind you, these guys come from Windows and Apple background and does not know what is Linux.

The current Linux 5 Kernel can handle many graphic cards, if the O.E.M. guys volunteer their specifications to the Linux developers.

Equally they have some game boxes from childhood that they have Pathological Attachment (term pathology has disease connotation here) to those devices.They are all biased in their opinions and they are not comparative or balanced.

I see Steam Deck 2 coming in the future since old guys like me have visual problems to counter and I prefer a very BIG Display.

Coronavirus has added lot of grannies and grand dads playing Steam Games.

The joystick and touch pads will improve coordination problems, especially after mild form of stroke and if, I am one of the directors of the hospital, I would order some Steam Deck and Dock items for both children and geriatric patients.

So if you are philanthropist please keep my above observation as a reference point.

Steam should focus the global nature of games.

If we can cut down on the pills and if Steam contributes to that goal, even a little childhood fancy game played by a sick  adult is a bonus to recovery.

It is very big thing!

Back to home for recuperation.

It has a relatively big display screen which is touch sensitive.

This display is not BIG enough for my age.

It has both touch pad and two joysticks.

It has SD card ports to upgrade capacity but playing with SD card is not an option.

SD card  slows the system.

It has Linux OS (Steam OS 3) and probably  latest  KDE plasma, I guess.

Mind you it is coming in December and book now.

There is no crowd sourcing and it has got capital from Steam Machine sales in the years gone by.

Steam Valve is the operating company.

It is a standalone PC for a work desk.

Since it is a PC one can install

1. Windows 10 or 11 with Steam running on top of Windows.

2. It can run on any Linux distribution that supports Steam (since Steam is Linux almost all Linux distributions support it but one has to purchase Steam games).

3. Why not run on its own Steam OS 3 and enjoy 50,000 games you will never finish in a life time?

It has Photon which is modified Wine that runs Windows games on Linux box.

It is a Three In One Game Box.

It has AMD CPU  Zen and AMD RDNA GPU.

What a nice combination to beat Intel architecture owned by Lenova in China.

It beats, IBM based of Lenova in China  by a big margin.

It has ports in the dock for all the connectivity and WiFi connection off the dock.

No need of PS5 of Sony and XBox of Microsoft.

Linux is the winner after all.

The best buy in the market today.

I have a Console  of a Cheap Chinese made Copycat in which I could not not play a single game. I paid a big sum in Rupees.

It's keyboard could not type my 18 digit alpha numeric password for WiFi connectivity to download new games.

I tried even in French Keyboard but failed.

So do not buy cheap Chinese stuff.

Chinese alphabet is a graphic design not alphanumeric like the English Keyboard.

Luckily the computer software and hardware are based on the English keyboard for instructions.

It can be hacked but not easily duplicated in China.

That is why they are developing Kline OP in China.

The Chinese are very bad in typing  English and  Linux Code.

If not for American's base in Taiwan and British in Honk Kong Chinese ambition to go to Mars bypassing the Van Allen Belt is only a daydream.

They are number one Copycats on this planet.