Epilogue-Linux Revisited
There may be lot of missing items in this book.
I did not try to be comprehensive.
Then it becomes a Linux Bible.
I have avoided partitioning and hardware support deliberately.
Little is changed in partitioning skills except the partitioning type. My only warning is be careful when choosing the new partitioning types.
I tried to be bit narrative this time round instead of being analytical scientific. The analytical approach was necessary when the Linux was in early stage of development and the there was an activity hype.
Now it is on stable ground except where cutting edge changes are made to take the benefit of hardware and platform changes.
It is mature and robust now.
One has to make a choice depending on one’s needs.
I will summarize my subjective / objective selection for my use and the reader has to decide his own choices.
If you are using it as a hobby one need at least two computers (I had 10) or perhaps three one being a laptop/netbook.
One can be dedicated for testing.
Now I have gone down to only one computer, there will be less and less input from me in the immediate future even at web / Internet level.
If I do not put them in writing or digital form my time testing them would be a void. That is the very reason I am publishing this book for an entry level Linux user to browse before he//she start experimenting with Linux. Teething problems and pain is taken care of, for one who is without a proper Guru.
My choices are
1. General Use
Peppermint for Light Weight
Debian for all six desktops
2. Hobby
Puppy Linux
Knoppix
3. Education
Uberstudent
4. Scientific
Poseidon Linux
5. Technical Use
Dynabolic for Music
ArtistiX for Graphics
Debian for Programming
6. Kids and Games
Picaros Diego
7. Games
Steam OS with New 64 bit computer
If you analyze the above there glaring missing distribution.
That is Ubuntu.
The reason being I have never used it except for demonstration and Ubuntu was not in existence when I started Linux.
I cut my teeth in Linux with Redhat 7 and 8 and Fedora is a Redhat derivative. It is also not in the above list.
Hantana Linux is based on Fedora!
All the other distribution fall in between those above specifications. Any one can be used without a problem as long as there is no conflict with hardware compatibility.
If I am allowed only one choice I would go for Debian because it has vast repository.
I prefer light weight distributions since cloud computing is the way things are moving. I have minimal requirements and that is writing and for that also I find Abiword is just as robust as LibreOffice.
Its outstanding feature is its files are light weight and I can upload and download them quickly. There is another reason its format is dedicated to it so others, cannot steal or modify them from my cloud hosting base unless they have Abiword with them.
One thing that nobody can take away from you is if you master a skill using one utility or software that remains with you for a Life.
Skills I have learned having migrated from Microsoft to Linux is making my life easy and has expanded my horizon.
There is no limit to my exploration.
I feel free and not being subjected by exploitation.
That is a wonderful feeling.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
When One is troubled with Windows What one can do?
Reproduction Unedited!
When One is troubled with Windows What one can do?
It is strange that when one is troubled with Windows he or she goes into shell and blame oneself and not the operating system.
It is the opposite when one is troubled with Linux.
If he / she is a one who comes from the windows background without batting an eyelid he / she blames the distribution as if the whole hell has descended on him / her.
It is often a minor glitch he or she has overlooked to configure or may be downloading a suitable alternative package or worse come file a bug report to which a ready solution is available within 6 weeks.
If that does not help one can swap the distribution and select one that suits and download it.
(I have two books already available, not digital yet selecting a distribution and also the utilities and packages, if this blog entry is not adequate enough).
One problem with this approach is if one is not using a torrent download (even this can be painful if there is one seeder who has gone into hibernation at night-simply switched off the computer) it can be time consuming. The download time can be awfully long and and painful (I have enough of stories often due to failure of the Telecoms but now, never or do not complain because I download several at a time and I know one will be finished by morning when I am in deep sleep and dreaming some bizarre episode of Cloud Computing like star wars of yesteryear).
But once one has a CD (ideally D.V.D with almost everything one needs in one pack) the live session is breezy and installation is cakewalk if not catwalk.
Only thing Linux guys forget is to keep it running 24 hours (cron jobs at midnight are vital to get rid of the junk files that collect is one switches off the computer regularly; leave seeds for others to access) at least once or twice a week.
If you are lazy use a the sweeper or do it manually which I prefer now because of the frequent downloads.
Now come to Window guys/girls.
Steps
1. Do not blame yourself.
2. It is often the operating system at fault.
3. It can be due to a corrupt file or large macro sitting on the file and spying on you.
4. The pet devise to blame is the latest virus and I bet you you will not have a solution this side of 6 months.
With so many holes in the operating system which Microsoft will never able plug and then they will promise you the new version is very beautiful (but very slow to run unless you doubled up your RAM) and one should change and upgrade and works better (of course till the next ultra new version is ready for upgrade).
You are in this vicious cycle (V.C) and never get out of it.
If a guy of my age descends on me with a problem, I do not try to convert the guy to Linux fearing one gets a heart attack.
I ask a few questions.
If it it a pirated copy.
If the answer is yes, thrash the pirated copy and get a copyrighted version.
This is I am openly campaigning for the guy to remain with Microsoft.
Microsoft should be happy with my efforts now but I do not charge anything for this advice.
The poor guy has to pay through his nose anyway.
Do not forget the virus guard and that also will cost you some quids.
Get somebody to format and install, I won't do that for you unless he or wishes to have a Linux distribution dual booted.
He has to spend a half a day with me with food and beverages ready and ample.
This is Christmas time anyway.
If the guy has not got the money, then the scenario changes.
I ask what are the things that he uses computer for, regularly.
Invariably, the answer is that he uses the email and nothing else to be in contact with the family and friends.
Then I give him a breezy Live CD and ask the guy to use it till he himself try to find a remedy for the malady or ultimately ditch Microsoft and ask me to install the new distribution in his computer.
The last course, of course works well for Linux and I of course have to have two visits instead of one.
That of course keeps our friendship lasting and viable.
Who says Microsoft is bad.
It makes "my sphere of activity" to enlarge and expand.
When One is troubled with Windows What one can do?
It is strange that when one is troubled with Windows he or she goes into shell and blame oneself and not the operating system.
It is the opposite when one is troubled with Linux.
If he / she is a one who comes from the windows background without batting an eyelid he / she blames the distribution as if the whole hell has descended on him / her.
It is often a minor glitch he or she has overlooked to configure or may be downloading a suitable alternative package or worse come file a bug report to which a ready solution is available within 6 weeks.
If that does not help one can swap the distribution and select one that suits and download it.
(I have two books already available, not digital yet selecting a distribution and also the utilities and packages, if this blog entry is not adequate enough).
One problem with this approach is if one is not using a torrent download (even this can be painful if there is one seeder who has gone into hibernation at night-simply switched off the computer) it can be time consuming. The download time can be awfully long and and painful (I have enough of stories often due to failure of the Telecoms but now, never or do not complain because I download several at a time and I know one will be finished by morning when I am in deep sleep and dreaming some bizarre episode of Cloud Computing like star wars of yesteryear).
But once one has a CD (ideally D.V.D with almost everything one needs in one pack) the live session is breezy and installation is cakewalk if not catwalk.
Only thing Linux guys forget is to keep it running 24 hours (cron jobs at midnight are vital to get rid of the junk files that collect is one switches off the computer regularly; leave seeds for others to access) at least once or twice a week.
If you are lazy use a the sweeper or do it manually which I prefer now because of the frequent downloads.
Now come to Window guys/girls.
Steps
1. Do not blame yourself.
2. It is often the operating system at fault.
3. It can be due to a corrupt file or large macro sitting on the file and spying on you.
4. The pet devise to blame is the latest virus and I bet you you will not have a solution this side of 6 months.
With so many holes in the operating system which Microsoft will never able plug and then they will promise you the new version is very beautiful (but very slow to run unless you doubled up your RAM) and one should change and upgrade and works better (of course till the next ultra new version is ready for upgrade).
You are in this vicious cycle (V.C) and never get out of it.
If a guy of my age descends on me with a problem, I do not try to convert the guy to Linux fearing one gets a heart attack.
I ask a few questions.
If it it a pirated copy.
If the answer is yes, thrash the pirated copy and get a copyrighted version.
This is I am openly campaigning for the guy to remain with Microsoft.
Microsoft should be happy with my efforts now but I do not charge anything for this advice.
The poor guy has to pay through his nose anyway.
Do not forget the virus guard and that also will cost you some quids.
Get somebody to format and install, I won't do that for you unless he or wishes to have a Linux distribution dual booted.
He has to spend a half a day with me with food and beverages ready and ample.
This is Christmas time anyway.
If the guy has not got the money, then the scenario changes.
I ask what are the things that he uses computer for, regularly.
Invariably, the answer is that he uses the email and nothing else to be in contact with the family and friends.
Then I give him a breezy Live CD and ask the guy to use it till he himself try to find a remedy for the malady or ultimately ditch Microsoft and ask me to install the new distribution in his computer.
The last course, of course works well for Linux and I of course have to have two visits instead of one.
That of course keeps our friendship lasting and viable.
Who says Microsoft is bad.
It makes "my sphere of activity" to enlarge and expand.
Linux Revisited
Linux Revisited
My endeavor here is bit of education and lot of choice.
Below is a a comment posted by a Linux user.
I accidentally stumbled upon while looking for now defunct Distromania.
“I used to think that the notion that there were too many Linux distros was overblown. Surely people could just pick one and use it. And, then there were all the horror stories of how difficult it was to install Linux. Not so, said I, installing Linux these days is just as easy – perhaps easier – than installing Windows. However, recently, I looked for a distro that would be suitable for a friend’s old XP-based machine. That was when my pre-existing notions about Linux began to change…
Perhaps I have been spoiled over the past few years by sticking to Ubuntu-type distros (Ubuntu with the Gnome Classic interface and, most recently, Mint with the Mate desktop). Typically, these install flawlessly, and work fairly well (although the raison d’être for this blog is essentially to document the fixes to problems that I encounter!).
However, the same cannot be said for all the distros out there.
My first foray into distro-world was Puppy Linux since this distro has a reputation for being a lightweight in terms of resource requirements, yet has a full slate of applications, and runs well on older hardware. What I couldn’t initially figure out was how to establish a grub menu to dual-boot XP and Puppy. It turns out that there is a separate installation process for grub; however, while the main installation routine is under Setup in the main menu, grub’s installer is under System!
Some even more challenging issues arose while trying a number of other distros. Macpup wouldn’t run because the hardware didn’t support PAE (Physical Address Extension) and Macpup no longer has a version with non-PAE kernel. Tiny Core Linux failed to install to the hard disk with the – unknown to Google – error message “Error mounting USB device”. A strange error since I was installing from a CD-ROM. Damn Small Linux installed to the hard drive, said that it had installed grub, but failed to boot into a grub menu and loaded Windows. VectorLinux had an incomprehensible (to me) requirement to specify “run levels” and “services”, and a very confusing set of selection buttons that seemed to be on when I thought they were off and vice-versa!
I could go on but, no doubt, you get the picture. For the non-Linux person – and even for some of us who know a little bit about Linux – finding, installing, and using an appropriate distro is not necessarily without its challenges.”
Let me expand on this guy who pressed the “panic button”, since I have used and tested more than 500 distributions.
His choices were pretty bad.
1. DML (Damn Small Linux) with only 50 MiB is only for the experts who work on terminals.
2. Vector Linux is a light weight dedicated Linux distribution for one who has some understanding about Linux programming.
It should be used alone in a single computer (like me who had 10 computers in a home network, running various Linux distributions. I have dismantled all but one to cut down on my electricity bill) and for a Linux fanatic (like me) not for an ordinary user.
I must say I did not like it very much.
It is in the same fold as Absolute Linux (which has Gambase programming Language) but less versatile.
Puppy Linux my favorite since it is in my front pocket as a Mini CD or around my neck as a Flash Drive or in my smart phone as a mini SD (pull out, shove it into the SD card bay or into a USB bay and use in an emergency) especially when I go abroad (but unable to boot from the smart phone).
I use the smart phone as a bay or storage space.
I use Puppy Linux to test a new computer, I may think of buying on a schedule abroad (give it as a present or use it myself) and is only for an expert and not a casual user.
Puppy used to be just 100 MiB.
It has many derivatives now.
I am currently downloading Simplicity which is 1.4 GiB.
It is becoming fat now but do not bother since Flash Drives are going up to 32 MiB now.
When I first used Puppy in a Flash Drive it was only 250 MiB Flash drive.
I currently recommend Knoppix 7.5 (first proper live CD in Linux World) which is the best for a Newbie.
The Linux Magazine is the only source one need if one wants to dig deeper.
The bonus you get is a Double sided DVD with the Magazine with at least two distributions to play with.
That is why I published a book called “Teeny Weeny Linux”.
So this guy is a spoiled guy trying to spoil another or scare another zombie.
My intention here is to make Linux “Fun and Game” and not a dreary exercise.
Mind you this site is called Linux-100 but I have briefly made comment on over 200 of the distributions, which you can peruse here.
The Last one I downloaded is a fabulous Linux distribution for kids.
Please use a torrent for downloading and become a seeder for at least 48 hours.
That is what I do to cut down on my electricity bill.
PicarOs Diego!
That is why there are so many Live CD/DVDs to play with. Installing is a different ball game, especially dual booting which I have adequately dealt with my tiny book “Introduction to Linux".
I have now come to the conclusion that web is not the place to learn Linux and the web has become an easy portal to vent some steam and anger.
We used to call it the “Flame Wars” and it not the tradition of a smart Linux user or a developer.
It has become more academic and informative and the init and systemd are classic examples, I have made a little reference above.
The wrong way using the right thing.
Get it right the first time is the classic statement in “Quality Management”.
My endeavor here is bit of education and lot of choice.
Below is a a comment posted by a Linux user.
I accidentally stumbled upon while looking for now defunct Distromania.
“I used to think that the notion that there were too many Linux distros was overblown. Surely people could just pick one and use it. And, then there were all the horror stories of how difficult it was to install Linux. Not so, said I, installing Linux these days is just as easy – perhaps easier – than installing Windows. However, recently, I looked for a distro that would be suitable for a friend’s old XP-based machine. That was when my pre-existing notions about Linux began to change…
Perhaps I have been spoiled over the past few years by sticking to Ubuntu-type distros (Ubuntu with the Gnome Classic interface and, most recently, Mint with the Mate desktop). Typically, these install flawlessly, and work fairly well (although the raison d’être for this blog is essentially to document the fixes to problems that I encounter!).
However, the same cannot be said for all the distros out there.
My first foray into distro-world was Puppy Linux since this distro has a reputation for being a lightweight in terms of resource requirements, yet has a full slate of applications, and runs well on older hardware. What I couldn’t initially figure out was how to establish a grub menu to dual-boot XP and Puppy. It turns out that there is a separate installation process for grub; however, while the main installation routine is under Setup in the main menu, grub’s installer is under System!
Some even more challenging issues arose while trying a number of other distros. Macpup wouldn’t run because the hardware didn’t support PAE (Physical Address Extension) and Macpup no longer has a version with non-PAE kernel. Tiny Core Linux failed to install to the hard disk with the – unknown to Google – error message “Error mounting USB device”. A strange error since I was installing from a CD-ROM. Damn Small Linux installed to the hard drive, said that it had installed grub, but failed to boot into a grub menu and loaded Windows. VectorLinux had an incomprehensible (to me) requirement to specify “run levels” and “services”, and a very confusing set of selection buttons that seemed to be on when I thought they were off and vice-versa!
I could go on but, no doubt, you get the picture. For the non-Linux person – and even for some of us who know a little bit about Linux – finding, installing, and using an appropriate distro is not necessarily without its challenges.”
Let me expand on this guy who pressed the “panic button”, since I have used and tested more than 500 distributions.
His choices were pretty bad.
1. DML (Damn Small Linux) with only 50 MiB is only for the experts who work on terminals.
2. Vector Linux is a light weight dedicated Linux distribution for one who has some understanding about Linux programming.
It should be used alone in a single computer (like me who had 10 computers in a home network, running various Linux distributions. I have dismantled all but one to cut down on my electricity bill) and for a Linux fanatic (like me) not for an ordinary user.
I must say I did not like it very much.
It is in the same fold as Absolute Linux (which has Gambase programming Language) but less versatile.
Puppy Linux my favorite since it is in my front pocket as a Mini CD or around my neck as a Flash Drive or in my smart phone as a mini SD (pull out, shove it into the SD card bay or into a USB bay and use in an emergency) especially when I go abroad (but unable to boot from the smart phone).
I use the smart phone as a bay or storage space.
I use Puppy Linux to test a new computer, I may think of buying on a schedule abroad (give it as a present or use it myself) and is only for an expert and not a casual user.
Puppy used to be just 100 MiB.
It has many derivatives now.
I am currently downloading Simplicity which is 1.4 GiB.
It is becoming fat now but do not bother since Flash Drives are going up to 32 MiB now.
When I first used Puppy in a Flash Drive it was only 250 MiB Flash drive.
I currently recommend Knoppix 7.5 (first proper live CD in Linux World) which is the best for a Newbie.
The Linux Magazine is the only source one need if one wants to dig deeper.
The bonus you get is a Double sided DVD with the Magazine with at least two distributions to play with.
That is why I published a book called “Teeny Weeny Linux”.
So this guy is a spoiled guy trying to spoil another or scare another zombie.
My intention here is to make Linux “Fun and Game” and not a dreary exercise.
Mind you this site is called Linux-100 but I have briefly made comment on over 200 of the distributions, which you can peruse here.
The Last one I downloaded is a fabulous Linux distribution for kids.
Please use a torrent for downloading and become a seeder for at least 48 hours.
That is what I do to cut down on my electricity bill.
PicarOs Diego!
That is why there are so many Live CD/DVDs to play with. Installing is a different ball game, especially dual booting which I have adequately dealt with my tiny book “Introduction to Linux".
I have now come to the conclusion that web is not the place to learn Linux and the web has become an easy portal to vent some steam and anger.
We used to call it the “Flame Wars” and it not the tradition of a smart Linux user or a developer.
It has become more academic and informative and the init and systemd are classic examples, I have made a little reference above.
The wrong way using the right thing.
Get it right the first time is the classic statement in “Quality Management”.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
New Ubuntu
New Ubuntu
New Ubuntu is out.
I have not tested it.
I have stopped using it when Unity desktop was initiated.
Now I have gone to Ubuntu's Base Debian as my Role Model.
This is a piece of old writing.
Old Ubuntu
You may be wondering why am not writing anything on Ubuntu.
It is universally available and is the most popular download.
It is universally available and is the most popular download.
Since its life cycle is fast it is difficult to keep pace with it.
Only difficulty I have with it is that it does not give the administrator (standard of old Linux behaviour) function for the desktop version and the difficulty and the time it takes to download (because many are accessing it's download site).
In fact I downloaded the 10th version but when I tried the 9th version it broke down several times.
I had to resort to requesting a CD of version 9 from Canonical.
I did receive the CDs today.
Unlike SuSe and Mandriva the Canonical do a good job in marketing too.
Hats off to Canonical which is better than Redhat and Fedora.
It has many versions including a studio version, Kbuntu, Lubuntu and many more.
Kubuntu is impressive.
I will write on Super OS which is a derivative of it like Linux Mint.
Generally speaking what I am trying to do is to make one aware of the other distributions not backstabbing.
Ubuntu now has all the virtues.
Do not fear using it.
Configuring is bit slow but internet access is very easy and hardware detection is excellent.
Thanks to all at Ubuntu team even I use PCLinux most of the time.
My hard disk has many distributions and Ubuntu is one of them.
My hard disk has many distributions and Ubuntu is one of them.
Google Jump started Linux Android
Like the Canonical's Unity Desktop, Google has jump stated on Linux base and it is time for Microsoft to re-engineer the wheel of IT technology.
Buying Skype may not solve its problems of insecurity and virus base.
Glossy front but ineffective back end would slow it down but it is wrong to say or think that Microsoft is finally dead due to poor mutation (genetically speaking) evolutionary wise of IT industry.
Cloning something is easy but when something is inherently faulty, the evolutionary process adapt the survival of the fittest strategy to chose the best for the current generation and Linux did not mastermind the change but it looks a successful business venture with its search engine has won the day.
Embracing Linux it has hit two bird with one stone.
I am not at all against business success of any company but when a company uses FUD psychology, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt as a strategy in evolution it is bound to fail in real world with real people.
This was what happened to Microsoft whereas Apple only focused on high end and remained there for its own worth.
That strategy also might change if we hit another financial crisis which we cannot avoid as the way things are developing.
Hunger may be the next wave that will take us by surprise if we get engrossed only in technology.
So cutting down cost and wastage are important.
Recycling and stability of a product to last at least a decade is important,
Disposable era might abruptly end when shortages (rare metal and even integrated circuits) hit the market.
Emerging signs are of that nature.
Google also uses cloud computing as its next line of defense.
If not for business strategy Linux also should look at business acumen of Google for its success without hampering its original goals and vision.
There should be some business plan for some of the successful Linux distributions and canonical taking UNITY forward should not be looked at with squinted eye.
Why aren't we looking with the same squinted eye when we look at Google?
That is my question for the intellectuals in the IT industry.
Success breeds success.
Failures (Linux included) leads to bigger failure.
This is a strategy applied in field of sports and in war games and terrorism,too.
Nobody talks about a failed team (cricket) or a failed army.
It is nice to see America is taking a cue from us and taking terrorism head on.
But they should not apply double standard like Microsoft and USA politics (and their ambassadors all over the world).
Duplicity never works.
It is not the old world order now.
It is a new world order now and everybody should be transparent not naked in their actions.
They should have realized it before the WiKiLeaks.
It is too late to repair the damage done.
Buying Skype may not solve its problems of insecurity and virus base.
Glossy front but ineffective back end would slow it down but it is wrong to say or think that Microsoft is finally dead due to poor mutation (genetically speaking) evolutionary wise of IT industry.
Cloning something is easy but when something is inherently faulty, the evolutionary process adapt the survival of the fittest strategy to chose the best for the current generation and Linux did not mastermind the change but it looks a successful business venture with its search engine has won the day.
Embracing Linux it has hit two bird with one stone.
I am not at all against business success of any company but when a company uses FUD psychology, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt as a strategy in evolution it is bound to fail in real world with real people.
This was what happened to Microsoft whereas Apple only focused on high end and remained there for its own worth.
That strategy also might change if we hit another financial crisis which we cannot avoid as the way things are developing.
Hunger may be the next wave that will take us by surprise if we get engrossed only in technology.
So cutting down cost and wastage are important.
Recycling and stability of a product to last at least a decade is important,
Disposable era might abruptly end when shortages (rare metal and even integrated circuits) hit the market.
Emerging signs are of that nature.
Google also uses cloud computing as its next line of defense.
If not for business strategy Linux also should look at business acumen of Google for its success without hampering its original goals and vision.
There should be some business plan for some of the successful Linux distributions and canonical taking UNITY forward should not be looked at with squinted eye.
Why aren't we looking with the same squinted eye when we look at Google?
That is my question for the intellectuals in the IT industry.
Success breeds success.
Failures (Linux included) leads to bigger failure.
This is a strategy applied in field of sports and in war games and terrorism,too.
Nobody talks about a failed team (cricket) or a failed army.
It is nice to see America is taking a cue from us and taking terrorism head on.
But they should not apply double standard like Microsoft and USA politics (and their ambassadors all over the world).
Duplicity never works.
It is not the old world order now.
It is a new world order now and everybody should be transparent not naked in their actions.
They should have realized it before the WiKiLeaks.
It is too late to repair the damage done.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Ten waterfalls in three days
Ten waterfalls in three days
In my time all this in six months while working busy as a doctor, using mainly the public transport or a jeep of one of my engineer friends, who drove it during the Mahaweli Program (before the accelerated program).
None of us had cars and our salary was less than Rs.500/= and a Pupil Teacher was paid Rs.100/=.
Out of those escapades, staying at Laxapana Electricity Board Bungalow was the best 14 days I had enjoyed without the hassle and bustle of the polluted city.
Now people do this in less than three days and make sure all these places are polluted with polythene.
They carry water bottles and we cannot drink water from a stream beginning in Adam’s Peak.
This we call the development (SICK).
We did not have polythene then.
Time is right for us to ban polythene totally.
I also want all traffic except public banned on roads (including Police and Politicians in their public vehicles - I do not think voter will miss anything) at least for a day, ideally on the Poya Day of the month.
Let the devotees try the public transport.
I vouch they cannot but we could do it in 1960s and early seventies.
We lost everything during the “Pan Polling Days of 1973“ and Middle East War.
These are few idea for the Coalition government running short of ideas.
One can plan a trek, starting from Gampola, Ulapane
But you will get run over by a politician with his entourage.
Please do not try if you want to live.
1. Ramboda Falls
Thawalatenna
Kalpitiya
Pundaluoya
Watagoda
2. St Clare’s Falls
Thalawakelle
3. Nanuoya Falls
Nuwera Eliya
Sita-Ela
Haputale
4. Bomburuwella Waterfall
Welimada
Hali Ela
Badulla
5. Dunhinda Falls
Passara
Pelwatta
Walawaya
6. Diyaluma Falls
Koslanda
Beragala
Haputale
Boralanda
Ohiya
7. Baker’s Fall
8. Bambarakanda Waterfall
Belihuloya
Ratnapura
8. Bopath Ella
Ehaliyagoda
Karawanella
Ginigathhena
Nawalapitiya
9. Kadiyallena Falls
10. Devons Falls
Nuwaraeliya
Kotagala
Hatton
Dickoya
Norwood
Maskeliya
Nalladandiya
11. Adam’s Peak
In my time all this in six months while working busy as a doctor, using mainly the public transport or a jeep of one of my engineer friends, who drove it during the Mahaweli Program (before the accelerated program).
None of us had cars and our salary was less than Rs.500/= and a Pupil Teacher was paid Rs.100/=.
Out of those escapades, staying at Laxapana Electricity Board Bungalow was the best 14 days I had enjoyed without the hassle and bustle of the polluted city.
Now people do this in less than three days and make sure all these places are polluted with polythene.
They carry water bottles and we cannot drink water from a stream beginning in Adam’s Peak.
This we call the development (SICK).
We did not have polythene then.
Time is right for us to ban polythene totally.
I also want all traffic except public banned on roads (including Police and Politicians in their public vehicles - I do not think voter will miss anything) at least for a day, ideally on the Poya Day of the month.
Let the devotees try the public transport.
I vouch they cannot but we could do it in 1960s and early seventies.
We lost everything during the “Pan Polling Days of 1973“ and Middle East War.
These are few idea for the Coalition government running short of ideas.
One can plan a trek, starting from Gampola, Ulapane
But you will get run over by a politician with his entourage.
Please do not try if you want to live.
1. Ramboda Falls
Thawalatenna
Kalpitiya
Pundaluoya
Watagoda
2. St Clare’s Falls
Thalawakelle
3. Nanuoya Falls
Nuwera Eliya
Sita-Ela
Haputale
4. Bomburuwella Waterfall
Welimada
Hali Ela
Badulla
5. Dunhinda Falls
Passara
Pelwatta
Walawaya
6. Diyaluma Falls
Koslanda
Beragala
Haputale
Boralanda
Ohiya
7. Baker’s Fall
8. Bambarakanda Waterfall
Belihuloya
Ratnapura
8. Bopath Ella
Ehaliyagoda
Karawanella
Ginigathhena
Nawalapitiya
9. Kadiyallena Falls
10. Devons Falls
Nuwaraeliya
Kotagala
Hatton
Dickoya
Norwood
Maskeliya
Nalladandiya
11. Adam’s Peak
Friday, October 23, 2015
Beauty and the Beast (of our Rivers)
Epilogue
When I planned this book I wanted to be comprehensive, scientific and exploratory but events and the time it took made me to change my initiative, just like river takes its course through difficult parts as falls and meander through the plains and winding up with or without a delta to the ocean bed.
I think I have accomplished only the toddler milestones and never grew up beyond that point.
Such is the vastness of the rivers that span out from the hill country.
It is an amazingly beautiful country where no two places look alike, even though, we have divided it to natural zones called wet zone, dry zone and arid zones.
The mountain range has an extra beauty and none of the mountains is beyond man’s exploration.
The waterfalls are my fascination.
One can gaze at them for hours on end, in a meditative trance.
Each one is different from the other.
Yet we tend to be imprisoned in big cities with skyscrapers.
Why I do not know?
Why pipe borne water if we can drink it from a pristine source.
I have been obsessed and appalled by the shear neglect of our natural resources.
We dump all our refuse to the streams around us and then at a lower point have a water purification plant.
We have denuded our forest that is necessary for regeneration of the rivers at its source.
We have deprived our poor elephants a place to live and driving them almost to extinction.
Our ground water is polluted with pesticides and heavy metals and we go to world health organization for help for kidney diseases.
It is the WHO which polluted this country with DDT in the first instance.
Then the plunder of the virgin forest (to grow hashish) and introduction of bizarre array of poisonous chemicals was taken over by the Ministers of Agriculture without proper scientific knowledge.
Our engineers brought some semblance of sanity but the Mega project are poorly maintained.
We need to protect our rivers, if not one by one they will dry out and disappear.
A New Dubai is possible and is currently been shaped up and designed by corrupt individuals with no heart or brain both inside and outside of politics.
In my belief within next the 50 years with global warming taking its toll most of the rivers will run dry.
When I planned this book I wanted to be comprehensive, scientific and exploratory but events and the time it took made me to change my initiative, just like river takes its course through difficult parts as falls and meander through the plains and winding up with or without a delta to the ocean bed.
I think I have accomplished only the toddler milestones and never grew up beyond that point.
Such is the vastness of the rivers that span out from the hill country.
It is an amazingly beautiful country where no two places look alike, even though, we have divided it to natural zones called wet zone, dry zone and arid zones.
The mountain range has an extra beauty and none of the mountains is beyond man’s exploration.
The waterfalls are my fascination.
One can gaze at them for hours on end, in a meditative trance.
Each one is different from the other.
Yet we tend to be imprisoned in big cities with skyscrapers.
Why I do not know?
Why pipe borne water if we can drink it from a pristine source.
I have been obsessed and appalled by the shear neglect of our natural resources.
We dump all our refuse to the streams around us and then at a lower point have a water purification plant.
We have denuded our forest that is necessary for regeneration of the rivers at its source.
We have deprived our poor elephants a place to live and driving them almost to extinction.
Our ground water is polluted with pesticides and heavy metals and we go to world health organization for help for kidney diseases.
It is the WHO which polluted this country with DDT in the first instance.
Then the plunder of the virgin forest (to grow hashish) and introduction of bizarre array of poisonous chemicals was taken over by the Ministers of Agriculture without proper scientific knowledge.
Our engineers brought some semblance of sanity but the Mega project are poorly maintained.
We need to protect our rivers, if not one by one they will dry out and disappear.
A New Dubai is possible and is currently been shaped up and designed by corrupt individuals with no heart or brain both inside and outside of politics.
In my belief within next the 50 years with global warming taking its toll most of the rivers will run dry.
Glimpse of Rivers and Waterfalls of Sri-Lanka
Prologue
Writing about Sri-Lankan rivers is a colossal task.
It takes years of devotion and scientific inquiry.
I am not sure why I delved into this, since I knew it is not a task a single person can do alone, especially one being not a specialist in the subject, to begin with.
Probably, our ancient irrigation history has a bearing, especially the last stage of the Kandyan Kingdom, for me to dig in a bit of forgotten history of ours.
The Dumbara Valley is one of the most beautiful places one can visit. I was fortunate to have visited this valley when things were neglected and the people were poor and in remote places with bear minimum to survive.This fact, is still the same in some of these places and they are very infrequently visited by our public servants (teachers in particular) and politicians come only during pre-election campaign.
In my early bachelor days, I had the company of my engineer friends doing hard work to prove, what was considered to be an impossible (30 year program) program and bring into its successful completion from surveying to planning to construction.
Its name is Accelerated Mahaweli Program.
Sure they did it and were the pride of this country.
They were a dedicated lot.
None of them are now here in this country. They were poorly paid and had the talent far exceeding what was paid to them when they were young.
Surly they were bought up by the rich countries.
If any of them read this, first of all “hats off to them”.
If any of them visit here on holidays, I request them to visit those sites they were part of it. They are currently very poorly maintained under politicians who do not have even 8th grade pass.
The farmers are poorly looked after and the water management is a subject of sale to multinationals. It has been hushed up and then put under the carpet, till the heat dies down.
I want them to revisit the past and make contributions for the future sustenance of these Mega Projects.
They also should visit the spectacular waterfalls and ancient tanks and relax with the mind that they had kept the genetic link alive with our ancient civilization.
In the meantime Suriyawewa is a cricket ground and people in the north have no water for drinking leave alone for cultivation. The project was biased towards a segment of the people and another segment was neglected.
In this book brief survey of the project was made. That was not the intention anyway. While the development were focused on few major rivers others were totally neglected and people do sand mining and gemming and do lot of harm not seen centuries ago.
So I take the reader in a narrative glimpse to make him feel part of the civilization based on water gods and water cutting ceremonies.
A foreign reader might not only see the plight of our neglected majestic elephants but also the urge to become a visitor not once but several times and witness the shear natural beauty.
Writing about Sri-Lankan rivers is a colossal task.
It takes years of devotion and scientific inquiry.
I am not sure why I delved into this, since I knew it is not a task a single person can do alone, especially one being not a specialist in the subject, to begin with.
Probably, our ancient irrigation history has a bearing, especially the last stage of the Kandyan Kingdom, for me to dig in a bit of forgotten history of ours.
The Dumbara Valley is one of the most beautiful places one can visit. I was fortunate to have visited this valley when things were neglected and the people were poor and in remote places with bear minimum to survive.This fact, is still the same in some of these places and they are very infrequently visited by our public servants (teachers in particular) and politicians come only during pre-election campaign.
In my early bachelor days, I had the company of my engineer friends doing hard work to prove, what was considered to be an impossible (30 year program) program and bring into its successful completion from surveying to planning to construction.
Its name is Accelerated Mahaweli Program.
Sure they did it and were the pride of this country.
They were a dedicated lot.
None of them are now here in this country. They were poorly paid and had the talent far exceeding what was paid to them when they were young.
Surly they were bought up by the rich countries.
If any of them read this, first of all “hats off to them”.
If any of them visit here on holidays, I request them to visit those sites they were part of it. They are currently very poorly maintained under politicians who do not have even 8th grade pass.
The farmers are poorly looked after and the water management is a subject of sale to multinationals. It has been hushed up and then put under the carpet, till the heat dies down.
I want them to revisit the past and make contributions for the future sustenance of these Mega Projects.
They also should visit the spectacular waterfalls and ancient tanks and relax with the mind that they had kept the genetic link alive with our ancient civilization.
In the meantime Suriyawewa is a cricket ground and people in the north have no water for drinking leave alone for cultivation. The project was biased towards a segment of the people and another segment was neglected.
In this book brief survey of the project was made. That was not the intention anyway. While the development were focused on few major rivers others were totally neglected and people do sand mining and gemming and do lot of harm not seen centuries ago.
So I take the reader in a narrative glimpse to make him feel part of the civilization based on water gods and water cutting ceremonies.
A foreign reader might not only see the plight of our neglected majestic elephants but also the urge to become a visitor not once but several times and witness the shear natural beauty.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Lightweight Browser
Lightweight Browser
With Cloud Computing taking bull or the bulk work and Mobiles taking over tablets. a lightweight browser is all one one needs.
I am slow to adopt and adapt myself to hanging needs.
I saw a little clip on the lightening browser Linux Magazine, in an article talking about alternative to Andoid ((See F-Droid elsewhere in this blog site).
Since I have not tested them myself, I have decided to reproduce few notes.
I expected Silk to be available open source, apparently it is not.
Many moons ago I wrote something about SILK but I cannot remember the details.
Second part is my own writing when I searched for a lightweight browser.
It is nice all the developers give a breakdown of the Download size and the Install size, whether cookie free or using cloud source augment the speed of web searching.
Pardon me for my bias on Linux browsers.
There ought to be many other browsers for Apple and Windows.
ReproductionAmazon Silk
Amazon Silk is a web browser developed by Amazon for Kindle Fire line of tablets and Fire Phone.
It uses a split architecture whereby some of the processing is performed on Amazon's servers to improve webpage loading performance.
It is based on the open source Chromium project.
Today in New York, Amazon introduced Silk, an all-new web browser powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and available exclusively on the just announced Kindle Fire.
You might be asking, “A browser?
Do we really need another one?”
Silk isn’t just another browser.
We sought from the start to tap into the power and capabilities of the AWS infrastructure to overcome the limitations of typical mobile browsers. Instead of a device-siloed software application, Amazon Silk deploys a split-architecture.
All of the browser subsystems are present on your Kindle Fire as well as on the AWS cloud computing platform.
Each time you load a web page, Silk makes a dynamic decision about which of these subsystems will run locally and which will execute remotely.
In short, Amazon Silk extends the boundaries of the browser, coupling the capabilities and interactivity of your local device with the massive computing power, memory, and network connectivity of our cloud.Puffin
Puffin claims superlative speed, achieved through “proprietary” cloud computing and JavaScript rendering technology. It also purports to have the fastest JavaScript benchmark scores out of all browsers. Puffin pre-processes the websites that you visit on its own servers, before sending it back to you in an easier to load form. Theoretically, this method should increase browsing speeds.
Lightning
Lightning was developed by an XDA developer to compensate for the lack of lightweight, tablet-optimized browsers available. It functions similarly to Naked Browser in that it strips away all the browser bloat. It renders using the WebKit engine inside of the Android operating system, which saves on its total installed size.
UC Browser HD
UC claims to be the fastest running browser on the Internet. It offers a number of novel features, such as the ability to load a light version of a webpage. It can also preload the next page on a multipage site, improving load times.
I have used this on a mobile phone but it has so many links that make it slow on a mobile with low RAM.
Maxthon HD
Maxthon browser uses a “cloud engine”, meaning it offloads a great deal of activity to its own servers. Additionally, it syncs users’ data across devices. To read more about Maxthon, check out Jessica’s great review of it.
Gecko of FIREFOX
Gecko and his territory
I wanted to write about the Gecko, the Firefoxe's background engine thinking it is a little browser.
It is not.
It is a layout engine for multiple browsers that originated in the fold of Linux background.
It takes the content and formatting information and displays on the browsers bland screen.
Gecko has been known previously by the code names "Raptor"
I have decided to support the lightest browser in the line of Abiword as the lightest but a very powerful word processor.
I faintly remembered about its Linux origin.
Currently I favour Midori, IceApe, Dillo and SeaMonkey and not Firefox.
FireFox is light on its own but easily get bloated over 100 MiB with cookies.IceApe
Download size: 10,27 MB
Installed size: 29,44 MB
Package filename: iceape-browser_2.0.11-5_i386.deb
Source package: iceape SeaMonkey
Download size: 19,65 MB
Installed size: 48,37 MB
Package filename: seamonkey-2.4-1.el6.x86_64.rpm
Source package: seamonkey-2.4-1.el6.src.rpm
Dillo
Download size: 441,81 KB
Installed size: 1,04 MB
Package filename: dillo-2.1.1-1.ssl.i386.rpm
Source package: dillo-2.1.1-1.ssl.src.rpm
wget
Download size: 480,73 KB
Installed size: 1,79 MB
Package filename: wget-1.12-1.4.el6.i686.rpm
Source package: wget-1.12-1.4.el6.src.rpm Lynx
Download size: 1,38 MB
Installed size: 5,15 MB
Package filename: lynx-2.8.7-7.fc16.x86_64.rpm
Source package: lynx-2.8.7-7.fc16.src.rpm Links
Download size: 1,81 MB
Installed size: 2,87 MB
Package filename: links-2.2-13.fc15.i686.rpm
Source package: links-2.2-13.fc15.src.rpm Midori
Download size: 53,20 KB
Installed size: 599,80 KB
Package filename: midori-devel-0.3.6-1.fc15.x86_64.rpm
Source package: midori-0.3.6-1.fc15.src.rpm
I could not find a single article in the web stating their download size (compressed) and installed size.
With Cloud Computing taking bull or the bulk work and Mobiles taking over tablets. a lightweight browser is all one one needs.
I am slow to adopt and adapt myself to hanging needs.
I saw a little clip on the lightening browser Linux Magazine, in an article talking about alternative to Andoid ((See F-Droid elsewhere in this blog site).
Since I have not tested them myself, I have decided to reproduce few notes.
I expected Silk to be available open source, apparently it is not.
Many moons ago I wrote something about SILK but I cannot remember the details.
Second part is my own writing when I searched for a lightweight browser.
It is nice all the developers give a breakdown of the Download size and the Install size, whether cookie free or using cloud source augment the speed of web searching.
Pardon me for my bias on Linux browsers.
There ought to be many other browsers for Apple and Windows.
ReproductionAmazon Silk
Amazon Silk is a web browser developed by Amazon for Kindle Fire line of tablets and Fire Phone.
It uses a split architecture whereby some of the processing is performed on Amazon's servers to improve webpage loading performance.
It is based on the open source Chromium project.
Today in New York, Amazon introduced Silk, an all-new web browser powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and available exclusively on the just announced Kindle Fire.
You might be asking, “A browser?
Do we really need another one?”
Silk isn’t just another browser.
We sought from the start to tap into the power and capabilities of the AWS infrastructure to overcome the limitations of typical mobile browsers. Instead of a device-siloed software application, Amazon Silk deploys a split-architecture.
All of the browser subsystems are present on your Kindle Fire as well as on the AWS cloud computing platform.
Each time you load a web page, Silk makes a dynamic decision about which of these subsystems will run locally and which will execute remotely.
In short, Amazon Silk extends the boundaries of the browser, coupling the capabilities and interactivity of your local device with the massive computing power, memory, and network connectivity of our cloud.Puffin
Puffin claims superlative speed, achieved through “proprietary” cloud computing and JavaScript rendering technology. It also purports to have the fastest JavaScript benchmark scores out of all browsers. Puffin pre-processes the websites that you visit on its own servers, before sending it back to you in an easier to load form. Theoretically, this method should increase browsing speeds.
Lightning
Lightning was developed by an XDA developer to compensate for the lack of lightweight, tablet-optimized browsers available. It functions similarly to Naked Browser in that it strips away all the browser bloat. It renders using the WebKit engine inside of the Android operating system, which saves on its total installed size.
UC Browser HD
UC claims to be the fastest running browser on the Internet. It offers a number of novel features, such as the ability to load a light version of a webpage. It can also preload the next page on a multipage site, improving load times.
I have used this on a mobile phone but it has so many links that make it slow on a mobile with low RAM.
Maxthon HD
Maxthon browser uses a “cloud engine”, meaning it offloads a great deal of activity to its own servers. Additionally, it syncs users’ data across devices. To read more about Maxthon, check out Jessica’s great review of it.
Gecko of FIREFOX
Gecko and his territory
I wanted to write about the Gecko, the Firefoxe's background engine thinking it is a little browser.
It is not.
It is a layout engine for multiple browsers that originated in the fold of Linux background.
It takes the content and formatting information and displays on the browsers bland screen.
Gecko has been known previously by the code names "Raptor"
I have decided to support the lightest browser in the line of Abiword as the lightest but a very powerful word processor.
I faintly remembered about its Linux origin.
Currently I favour Midori, IceApe, Dillo and SeaMonkey and not Firefox.
FireFox is light on its own but easily get bloated over 100 MiB with cookies.IceApe
Download size: 10,27 MB
Installed size: 29,44 MB
Package filename: iceape-browser_2.0.11-5_i386.deb
Source package: iceape SeaMonkey
Download size: 19,65 MB
Installed size: 48,37 MB
Package filename: seamonkey-2.4-1.el6.x86_64.rpm
Source package: seamonkey-2.4-1.el6.src.rpm
Dillo
Download size: 441,81 KB
Installed size: 1,04 MB
Package filename: dillo-2.1.1-1.ssl.i386.rpm
Source package: dillo-2.1.1-1.ssl.src.rpm
wget
Download size: 480,73 KB
Installed size: 1,79 MB
Package filename: wget-1.12-1.4.el6.i686.rpm
Source package: wget-1.12-1.4.el6.src.rpm Lynx
Download size: 1,38 MB
Installed size: 5,15 MB
Package filename: lynx-2.8.7-7.fc16.x86_64.rpm
Source package: lynx-2.8.7-7.fc16.src.rpm Links
Download size: 1,81 MB
Installed size: 2,87 MB
Package filename: links-2.2-13.fc15.i686.rpm
Source package: links-2.2-13.fc15.src.rpm Midori
Download size: 53,20 KB
Installed size: 599,80 KB
Package filename: midori-devel-0.3.6-1.fc15.x86_64.rpm
Source package: midori-0.3.6-1.fc15.src.rpm
I could not find a single article in the web stating their download size (compressed) and installed size.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
F-Droid and Mobiles
F-Droid and Mobiles
I
seem to look like I have missed the bus as regard to the world.
There
is a reason for it.
Coming
from Linux base, I even did not like Android since it was
proprietary.
Like
Microsoft it flooded the market leaving behind alternative Linux Os
far behind.
Ubuntu
failed in its crowd finding of the Mobile Phone but it has put out
Ubuntu Touch which the next best alternative OS, currently.
I
was hopeful on Firefox Os and its phone but it is going through the
teething phase.
There
is Replicant of Gnome base that is making giant strides.
What
is interesting in Replicant it is able crack a proprietary phone and
install it instead.
It
took a long time for the CyanogenMod come to roost.
Replicant
is CyanogenMod minus proprietary components. There is Sailfish but
none of them could match the Android currently.
Using
a Rootkit to crack a proprietary phone may be costly and one loses
the warranty.
Until
then we have F-Droid, F stand for freedom dishing out over 1500 open
source packages that work on Androids.
As
at present, the mobile is a mini computer.
One
should have the freedom to use the way one uses a computer.
I
consider the mobile phone as a cloud client, almost all the Androids
can be hacked and vulnerable.
So
vulnerability can be eliminated by using the cloud.
Mind
you cloud also can be attacked.
To
use the mobile as a cloud client we need a light weight browser.
I am
glad to say there is one open source browser called Lightening which
is faster than any currently available browsers.
I am
bit rusty on all these issues but Linux Magazine is doing a great job
by having very illuminating articles.
I
hope they would do a magazine dedicated to Mobiles by December.
That
is the time everybody thinks of a new mobile or or a spare one or a
Tablet.
If
you do so please make sure or demand them to provide you security
packages / virus guards.
I am
writing a book (not related to mobiles and Linux) and I won't be
doing any in depth study, till I finish it.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Our Rivers
Some years ago I remember walking around the campus and finding all the bridges were badly maintained including the Railway Bridge in Peradinya and Panideniya.
I decided to write up something on river basin management.
If I remember correct I send a draft to a English National Daily but they never bother to publish it or publish a similar article highlighting how Kandy as a district was neglected by politicians for the last 35 years or so.
The politicians past and present once they assume duties come to Kandy as a routine pilgrimage in a motorcade (now in helicopters) over these dilapidated bridges and do sweet nothing afterward. This cycle goes on ritualistically since they never get out of their cars or from their air conditioned rooms except for choreographed editions of their meeting of the electorate.
So I decided to publish them in the open, that means in the web.
Three years after that a shoddy job was done at Peradeniya Motor Bridge (nothing probably for Railway Bridge) and still the Peradeniya town is under threat due to earth slips. Most of these damages were initialed by heavy construction undertaken to construct telecommunication towers and some name boards in the hill above the Peradeniya town.
If one walks along the river side of botanical gardens cracks were visible on the road for decades but nobody took notice of all these symptoms and signs and the negligence by successive governments went on unabated. They provide lip service come elections and after that they move to Colombo and never come to Kandy even on December holidays.
Kandy had been a neglected city after the British left for good.
I have stated these observations based on my limited sphere of activity and everybody who is somebody should observe what is neglected in his or her sphere of activity and record and report them for the local government to act upon them.
But I cannot remember anybody acceding to my requests and comments.
However, I did not go into details of landslide since my understanding about is limited but my experience of it from childhood is enough to say the least.
I have seen part of the massive Ampitiya Uduwela landslide more than 50 years ago when many people left that village for elsewhere in fear.
Now in Kandy no place is safe.
In addition, during the Mahaveli Development the land reserves were divided among some of the kith and kin in public service and politics for a pittance and that also had encroached upon the river basin.
The management of the river basin was left to mother nature.
In addition heavy equipment used and detonation used over the past 30 years have even compromised heavy tension wire installations. They even remove the wires and reinforcement used to anchor the pillars. Enough damage is done one day high tension wires might even fall on our head nobody would give a damn.
Roughly a year ago Kandy train could not go past beyond Panideniya for three days due to stretch of the track above collapsing on to the drain. This part is still not fully serviced and the trains do go pass that point to Kandy daily.
I have decided to stop going by this train since one is not sure whether one would return safely home the same evening.
It is time we forget about Mega Projects and divert our attention at least to refurbished the existing infrastructure before they fall apart completely. This is how the public service is managed and it is getting worse by the season. There are so many ministries and there is no coordination to say the least.
The events that are unfolding in Kandy and around are due to lack of foresight and negligence by the authorities holding high posts.
This cycle will repeat ad lib!
I decided to write up something on river basin management.
If I remember correct I send a draft to a English National Daily but they never bother to publish it or publish a similar article highlighting how Kandy as a district was neglected by politicians for the last 35 years or so.
The politicians past and present once they assume duties come to Kandy as a routine pilgrimage in a motorcade (now in helicopters) over these dilapidated bridges and do sweet nothing afterward. This cycle goes on ritualistically since they never get out of their cars or from their air conditioned rooms except for choreographed editions of their meeting of the electorate.
So I decided to publish them in the open, that means in the web.
Three years after that a shoddy job was done at Peradeniya Motor Bridge (nothing probably for Railway Bridge) and still the Peradeniya town is under threat due to earth slips. Most of these damages were initialed by heavy construction undertaken to construct telecommunication towers and some name boards in the hill above the Peradeniya town.
If one walks along the river side of botanical gardens cracks were visible on the road for decades but nobody took notice of all these symptoms and signs and the negligence by successive governments went on unabated. They provide lip service come elections and after that they move to Colombo and never come to Kandy even on December holidays.
Kandy had been a neglected city after the British left for good.
I have stated these observations based on my limited sphere of activity and everybody who is somebody should observe what is neglected in his or her sphere of activity and record and report them for the local government to act upon them.
But I cannot remember anybody acceding to my requests and comments.
However, I did not go into details of landslide since my understanding about is limited but my experience of it from childhood is enough to say the least.
I have seen part of the massive Ampitiya Uduwela landslide more than 50 years ago when many people left that village for elsewhere in fear.
Now in Kandy no place is safe.
In addition, during the Mahaveli Development the land reserves were divided among some of the kith and kin in public service and politics for a pittance and that also had encroached upon the river basin.
The management of the river basin was left to mother nature.
In addition heavy equipment used and detonation used over the past 30 years have even compromised heavy tension wire installations. They even remove the wires and reinforcement used to anchor the pillars. Enough damage is done one day high tension wires might even fall on our head nobody would give a damn.
Roughly a year ago Kandy train could not go past beyond Panideniya for three days due to stretch of the track above collapsing on to the drain. This part is still not fully serviced and the trains do go pass that point to Kandy daily.
I have decided to stop going by this train since one is not sure whether one would return safely home the same evening.
It is time we forget about Mega Projects and divert our attention at least to refurbished the existing infrastructure before they fall apart completely. This is how the public service is managed and it is getting worse by the season. There are so many ministries and there is no coordination to say the least.
The events that are unfolding in Kandy and around are due to lack of foresight and negligence by the authorities holding high posts.
This cycle will repeat ad lib!
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