Torrid Weather and Birds

 

Torrid Weather and Birds

This is to correct some misconceptions about birds.

We think that by feeding them with left over rice we can support them during the dry weather.

The rice sucks water and fills the belly and make them prone to dehydration.

What we should feed them with is with fruits with seeds.

They scatter seeds helping the reforestation.

At least grow a paw paw tree in your garden and let them eat the ripe ones.

We think they can survive on insects.

No.

They dry weather inhibit abundance of insects.

So only way they can survive is with limited number of fruits.

The best is to grow a mulberry tree in your garden.

They have fruits even during the dry weather.

Birds need honey, too.

Flowering plants are essential for many tiny birds including humming birds.

Water is essential to keep the wings in trim condition.

There is an open water plant near our house.

Local Mynahs have a bath there and come for the mulberry fruits.

They love them.

They are the most jovial type even after a thunder storm.

Mynahs do eat fruits.

The insects are an additional source that helps to control pests of our food crops.

So keeping our bird population is vital for the foods crops.

Eating a few beans by parrots  should not be considered a menace.

They are the worse of birds hit by the torrid weather pattern.

Growing Bamboo Trees

Bamboo and the Windbreaks

Posted on January 29, 2011

This fastest growing plant rather a grass is one of the most vandalized plant in this country. Since it is growing fast we take for granted to destroy at every opportunity available and never care to plant any.

I have never seen a nursery for bamboo even though there are hundreds of varieties.
These plants are not seen in the temperate countries and in early as 18th century Americans took them from Asia and started growing them as ornamental plants.

While they do research on these plants we vandalize them.

Why?

We have plenty of them and we do not care for the mother nature.

If I write one plant a day and continue I may have to continue for years how we destroy our wealth of plants.

The plants going extinct were never recorded in our history and we have not even begun to take an inventory as a proactive exercise.

This is not to elaborate on that issue but to state how bamboo tree protects our river beds and roads that run along the rivers.

They do protect the embankments but what our guys do is to chop them at will since they are not protected by the local authorities.

River basin and embankment is nobody’s business in this country.

It also act as a windbreaks.

It cools the air on a warm day with with gentle air currents.

Not only that it reduces our CO2 foot prints.

None of these are taken into accounts since our guys who gets to the parliament have never studied any including social science and not at all pure science.

They use environment issues to form green parties but never practice what they preach once they get there.

If we want to do as little as possible for our mother nature grow a few bamboos around river path and the surrounds.

Like eating a banana a day (not poisoned by UREA) is healthy for our life growing a bamboo a day would protect our rivers, roads and environment (air) too.

That is my message.

Why I do not use a cell phone

Why I do not use a cell phone

Posted on January 8, 2011

I have more than 100 reasons why I do not have or use a cell phone
I will list them as they come to my mind but not in any order of priority,

As an intern I hated a call 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 t0 10 kids whose blood sugar and CSF sugar zero.

The government at that time told the public it was encephalitis and I proved them wrong without even my medical registration completed. 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 I decided to leave the Public Sector Health Service and I was glad I did that and if you read Dengue Dilemma elsewhere in my writings, one can easily guess it. 

They use the Dengue diagnosis to hide their mistakes without an alternative diagnosis.

It has deteriorated in quality even though it has expanded in number.

1. As a doctor I hated bad news on telephone. We rarely hear good news when on duty.                     
2. Later in life when cell phone came I believed in CPP (Calling Party Pays) and flatly refused a cell phone.                                                                      
3. It is a public nuisance
4. It is a nuisance when the cell phone owner has switched it off when you really needed him
5. When you travel on a public transport one cannot have a snooze to drown the inconvenience with frequent interruptions. I love silence in public places.
6. Even though I don’t use it I have to foot the bill (kids telephone bills)
7. No work get done in public officers. They are busy answering their private call of nature and it is more frequent than the real call of nature.
8. It is cheaper to redirect a message by email that should  end up as junk or gossip.
9. We use it for gossip not for creative work
10. It is private enemy one when you own the bank or telephone company a small sum in arrears and the reminders by them cost you more than you actually own them. I think you got the picture correct.
    
11. I think it is enough for today but I will add more on future date when I run short of a topic to write.

Majestic Elephants

Majestic Elephants

Posted on January 20, 2011

This is a country run with Mega Mania Memorabilia (3 Ms) but unable to look after our majestic elephants.

A few years ago one of the tuskers was dead due to negligence and dehydration after a so called majestic pageant that paraded the hill country.

Then recently a giant tusker was dead in captivity and the popular story circulating round is he was let to die to get the tusks for ornamentation in high office.

Then comes the floods in the East.

A young dead elephant is trapped in a tree. 

First of a kind of news item and quite relevant in context.

That tells the sorry story of our majestic heritage and how we care.
It is an eye opener for the world if not for this blessed country.

We had 90% forest cover at the beginning of the last century and had over 60,000 elephants.

By mid last century the estimate was 6000 in the wild.

I do not believe we have 600 left in the wild now and the the forest cover is less that 20% now not enough to sustain vegetation let alone elephants.

We are going to commission two mega coal power units in the near future.

The forest cover will be reduced to 10% within a decade of their operation due to acid rain and the environmentalist are hiding behind the saffron clothed M.P.s.

Very soon we won’t have a place in the jungle to meditate in quiet solitude.

Mega Mania development will sacrifice the rest of the trees in the name of development efforts.

Very soon we have to import coconut timber with coconuts on top.
Last tsunami a few people survived by climbing on top of coconut trees.

We have mega floods after 53 years in the East and there are no coconut (palms) trees grown for 6 years after the tsunami to climb onto.

But we have election after election to elect representative who ruin this country.

Mega Mania Memorabilia at its best!

Making an Elephant Laugh

Making an Elephant Laugh

Posted on January 6, 2011

 

Making an elephant laugh is no easy task but this is a tiny attempt with the help of a tiny animal.

This sketch is overdue and is to record the 1st death anniversary of an unfortunate (first in the history of Esala Perahera) Majestic Pachyderm at the hands of the all too important Diyawadana Nilame.

Before that I must (this is also in the same spirit) rectify some of my own lapses and some incisive comments on an attempt by local Microsoft cronies and goons to vandalize our emails (I have many emails but intrusion to my privacy is violation of Fundamental Right of any living and dead soul.

I have already rectified one lapse by switching to Linux completely.

I have dedicated this year for Linux and have already accomplished all what I wanted, well in advance (thought it might drag on till December holidays) and have enough time for my resumes, now.

Second lapse that I rectify now is that the finding a name (word) for (see Katha on Kadde) Kadde.

The boy who raised this question is now growing up fast physically and in English.

This is long overdue, may be by over three years. because of the vandalizing attempt by some living paranoid soul breathing air I exhale.
I started looking at some of my old writing to see whether any one has been defamed or deframed and suddenly found one not edited on time with new / old discovery.
This I give credit to a Burger Gentleman with Irish descent who inherited it from his mother. (Edited today-He is now no more with us in Kandy and has gone back to his base to look after his aging mum giving up his job in Kandy)

The word is Pingo Man.

I make it Ping Pong Man since when he walks with Pingo on his shoulder, he reminds me of a dancing Ping Pong ball.

The Pingo part may have come from either Vietnam or China, this a traditional way of carrying things on shoulder in South Wast Asia. In any case it sounds Chinese to me, and with the ascent of the Chinese Tiger in the East due credit should go to China if it has any connection to the birth of this word like Ying and Yang.
Coming back to the pachyderm, the treatment it gets from the mahout and the tourists, local and foreign is less than desirable, to say the least.
I can remember once I had a not so healthy argument with a Lady Doctor from UK who was voicing the concern I raised now 25 years ago. 

She said that it is a violation of Animal Rights and using them for long hours without due concern is inhuman which I fully endorse without reservation, now.
These animals are ill treated during Perehara time to please tourists!
I still have picture of this lady on an Elephant at Elephant Bath (now non existent) and I have never climbed an elephant in my life. There was another dispute I had with this lady some days later.
I said, I admire this majestic animal so much that I cannot think (not fear) of climbing on one of them and pretend that I (the man) am big or bigger than my size (she of course did not have an answer to my unexpected impromptu) but she of course enjoyed the ride thoroughly.
Coming back to making an elephant laugh none in the list below can do that.

1. Diyawadana Nilame is out on the first count. He goes on to record (in history) for the first death of an elephant who participated in this annual event.

2. President Rajapaksa cannot achieve this because he is making the elephants (two legged) under his fold crying for posts (latest is Mr. Milinda Moragoda).

3. Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe cannot achieve this because he is making all elephants (past and present) cry in vain.

4. I cannot do that since when I go near any one of them garbed with surgical gear even a tame animal gets angry (All Sri-Lankan Doctors are a very arrogant species).

5. A gecko cannot.

6. A chameleon cannot.

7. So who can do that?

I have found one by accident.
This was an ant.
He happened to be on my cup of tea. I asked the fellow what on earth you are doing in my cup of tea.

He looked at me and said, look guy I may be small but I have made an elephant laugh.

That made me to open my eyes wide.
I’ll give you a Palawatta Sugar Grain for the information you give, please tell me the secret.
He took a meditative breath and with a smiling face told me.
It is easy.
I did that to the Majestic Elephant who died a year ago during Perehara.
My gray matter started working with new gush of pure blood not polluted by Americans and their Autos.
How come?
He said when the Kandy Veterinary Surgeon was attending to him, he hid inside the nose (with his poking the elephant was crying) and when he was gone came out from his hiding (in the night) place to inquire why he was crying.
He said to the ant in his slumber, these guys (doctors) even do not let  me sleep my last nap (sleep) with poking and probing.
Suddenly the ant realized, he is having his last conversation with this majestic guy.
He (ant) whispered to the elephant, buck up you guy, if they take you to the Intensive Care Unit, I’ll give all my blood and save you, OK.
To this the elephant could not stop laughing.
He took his last breath laughing and ended up in heaven.
The moral of this story is when one is dying only the little ones are near you.
Little things can make one happy but not doctors (plenty in white garb) without humour.
For the two legged elephants, the little ones (grass root citizens and not those who are at Diyawaanawa) are the ones that matter most.
Not foreign tours.
Small is beautiful!
P.S. The real reason for the Elephant’s death was dehydration (negligence) and poor care and not old age as stated by those who were in authority.
22th July, 2009

Why I cannot Make Wine In Kandy?

Why I cannot Make Wine In Kandy?

 

Posted on April 23, 2011

This I have to post very quickly before the ordination of young ones by next Poya.

Then this country will be (alcohol free except in the parliament), smoke free (except smog from coal power plants and the variety of luxury vehicles imported for our representatives after elections and driving on our motorways built and will be newly built) and Buruwas free (except National Lottery and Lotto)  the National and Awrudu Game including Polburuwas watching our TVs for another 5 years (i.e the voter in peace).

 

These Buddhist monks first Kariya or the duty would be to get rid of the above three (alcohol,smoke and games) and disregard any excesses of other kinds that are not permitted to Dasa Sil Mathwas on a Poya Day.

But my real reason for not been able to Make wine is more of a scientific nature and is not in my control.

Making wine is simple process but this betel chewing (no taste for wine) and arecanut cracking (inhibit taste for wine but not for arrack) nation would not experiment on new varieties of taste except what the government wants them to be.

In wine making one needs five to six ingredients. 1. Sugar 2. Yeast, living organism 3. Water 4. Flavour 5. Time and Temperature
We have five of them in abundance but only one is missing.
Guess what it is?
Even in Kandy I cannot provide it, the most important for correct brewing.
Well it is the temperature that is missing which has to be correct, precise and ideal.
1. Above 38 C (100 F) yeast will be dead. 2. Primary or the start up fermentation should start at 21 c (70 F) 3. Secondary or the slow phase fermentation should be at 16 C (65 F) 4. Finish product should be kept at 10 to 15 C (50 to 55 C) 5. Ideal requirement are 20, 15, 10 C (70, 60, 50) and very simple in arithmetic but never achieved in Kandy or suburbs.
That is the reason I cannot make wine in Kandy and the global warming has taken the toll.
I hope after Wesak Poya, the temperature should hover round 100 F (38 and above) and the newly ordained monks should meditate on this so that they do not have to worry about one of the three mentioned above for certain (that is the ideal way to kill yeast) but the mosquito menace and the music accompanied with will hinder their meditative path.

In my case I cannot think of Pani Waraka Wine Passion Fruit Wine Banana Wine Keeri Samaba Wine Mangustine Wine Belly wine Diwul Wine or any fruit cocktail Wine for certain.
I have to think of getting them only in heavenly abode and probably after my death.

Who is a Doctor and who can hold the Title Dr.?

Who is a Doctor and who can hold the Title Dr.?

Posted on October 12, 2011

This is a reproduction from New York Times

Being myself a Medical Person D.P.T.O (Do not Practice and Teach Only) who can use this two letters and the dot for many reasons, avoid using it, doctor part in my life for the last 10 years and it has made my life very easy and simple.

In fact on of my neighbors asked me are you really a doctor to which I smiled and did not give an answer, making him more confused.

Most of the guys/girls who know me come for second opinion, I am more than willing to oblige.

But free of charge and they do get better with simple remedies.

I have few emergency tablets in my purse always for such and eventuality, just in case.

I totally agree with this gentleman and I am more than grateful to him for bringing to notice what ever the PhD one holds if it is not relevant to the (if it is not germane to the holder’s primary current occupation) post currently holding it should not be used as a label of distinction.

After all the PhD may be 30 years old and disproved by at least three times  over that period of time  if it was a good one to tag one’s own thesis.

I am in fact currently finishing a book (which actually was a 10 year research work ) and I have decided  not to put that for PhD referral or title and would share it with the general public.

If somebody gives a PhD posthumously for this creative work , the funeral director can put a single copy in my coffin before cremation so that it goes to heaven or hell with me.

Who’s a Dr.?

Our continued use of courtesy titles — increasingly rare in the news media — prompts many questions. Rules on the use of “Dr.” in particular can lead to confusion, for readers and unfortunately sometimes for our writers. Here’s our style book entry:

Dr. should be used in all references for physicians and dentists whose practice is their primary current occupation, or who work in a closely related field, like medical writing, research or pharmaceutical manufacturing: Dr. Alex E. Baranek; Dr. Baranek; the doctor. (Those who practice only incidentally, or not at all, should be called Mr., Ms., Miss or Mrs.) Anyone else with an earned doctorate, like a Ph.D. degree, may request the title, but only if it is germane to the holder’s primary current occupation (academic, for example, or laboratory research).
For a Ph.D., the title should appear only in second and later references. The holder of a Ph.D. or equivalent degree may also choose not to use the title.
Do not use the title for someone whose doctorate is honorary.

UnetBootIn Utility

UnetBootIn an Update

1. Please note that Unetbootin works only on 32 bits ( I may be wrong).

2. It does not work on 64 bit computers.

3. I used AVLinux for preparing a USB Stick

4. Below are few of my OLD posts

 

Using Vinux booted Ping Eee on USB

Posted on August 5, 2011

I am posting this with Ping Eee booted from USB.
How I did it.
Steps.
1. Booted Vinux from my laptop (It has Pinguy with UnetBootIn, too).
2. Clicked UnetBootIn
3. Selected Ubuntu for Booting from Menu
4. Attached the Hard Disk mounted on USB enclosure (this was the hard disk I removed the other day when I upgraded my laptop with a 500 GiB SATA).
The partitions were formatted with Gparted with Knoppix Live On booted and the USB enclosure attached.
5. Loaded the DVD with multiple Linux images (copied previously)
6. Give the path for the image (Ping Eee on this occasion) in the DVD.
7. Selected Ping Eee and clicked OK after selecting the partition in hard disk where the live image should be installed, mounted on a tray/bay USB enclosure.
Partition used was not FAT but Ext 4.
8. Waited 10 Minutes for automatic installation of the Live Script.
9. Shut down Vinux and Restart with Internet cable attached.
10.Ping Eee up and running and Firefox activated and my fingers doing the rest.
I will Install Ping Eee if the laptop has a free partition but remember I stated above that I have already installed Pinguy (Not Ping Eee).
This post is to put the record straight and my previous post on UnetBootIn is now no longer valid and redundant.
The UnetBootIn has fixed most of the problems which I had when I booted PClinux on a Pendrive 3 months ago.
Thanks guys and girls who updated UnetBootIn and Vinux and Pinguy/Ping Eee for including UnetBootIn in the distribution.
I will load few more distributions in my USB hard disk for future installations On the move / On the fly.
It is cool and cute way Linux works for me.
Can Apple Mac match this feet?

UNetBootIn, How I did it?

Posted on April 21, 2011

If you have an old computer which does not boot from USB Flash Drive I have a solution for you. This applies to the third world and perhaps to the guys and girls of the developed world who are going through rough times and cannot afford a USB booting netbook or laptop or desktop. If you have a device which boots with USB, most of what of I state below may not apply to you except the principles. If you are buying anything new do not buy ones without USB booting.
I of course use old gadgets and my 233 speed with 128 RAM and 4 MB graphic is still working but painfully slow.
Also for the guys and girls of the developing world who have gone abroad looking for better pastures with all your parents’ saving and the parent no longer can support you on the second or third years.
All what you need is a Flash Drive and if you cannot afford that it is better you start looking for a menial job and rough out till times get better or they chase you out without extending the visa.
Once those universities sap all your money they have no use of you and start recruiting new batch for their own survival.
Education is money and money is education now in the developed world.
However world has not got better but worse with plenty of geeky gadgets around you, even I cannot afford them in my retirement age.
That is why I am turning to bare bones of computing and Linux utilities are there to get expensive work done with minimum of expenditure but lot of learning to do.
One must get out of the Microsoft plug and play mentality (i.e. even monkeys and dogs can be trained).
And nothing is plug and play even for Microsoft with so many new gadgets hitting the market and D.I.Y is one of the best ways to put your neck and nose ahead in the game of computing world.
Lot of time is necessary and risk taking is essential and above all experimenting. At worse you may ruin the partition table of the Flash drive which I have done.

Linux guys and girls are not there to spoon feed you and they are mostly doing it as a hobby with lot of work and midnight oil burning for their own survival.

But there are few professionals not many of course who are out there willing to help.

I am not a GuRu but an ardent supporter of Linux and a daily user of few outstanding Linux utilities.

UnetBootIn in one of them even though it has lot of teething problems.

For two years I have not looked at my Flash Drives with Live Linux distributions which were booting with my laptop but with none of my computers without USB booting facility.

Since my old IBM is ready for junkyard and power pack and mother board needing a rest period before the junkyard experience I went and bought a secondhand IBM in good working order with little amount of USB support but SATA hard disks.

As the testing period was over and it is doing my daily work and downloading at night, with the extended New year holidays I decided to go for the Acid Test of USB booting while doing lot of other things around the household.

This is my Final Report on UnetBootIn, may not be comprehensive but how I got it to do my work and used all my Flash drives for USB booting with or without USB booting facility of the other computers I have.

Ignore the top preamble and concentrate now.

I have no idea of how it works but this is how I figured it out with some basic idea about Linux booting practice with GRUB.

How I did it.
  1. Its kernel is less than one MiB  
2. Its init file is the biggest which is less than fifty MiB  
3. It has ID file
4. It has GRUB Menu (slash.msg for Pendrive Linux) 5. System configuration file  
6. Two text files names ubnfilel and ubpathl  
These seven files are necessary for its booting.

Rest of the files are distribution specific out of which livecd.sqfs file is the heaviest and the most important that boots up after initial GRUB sequence.

It has a boot folder and isolinux folder which are basic essentials for Linux booting.

Process has 3 essential steps.  
1. Downloading  
2, Extraction  
3, Booting (grub) sequence.

Most painful part is the downloading which can break at any moment because of the poor downloading here.

So I choose DSL my yesteryear favorite (50 MiB), Puppy 4.2 my very first USB Linux and parted Magic (158 MiB). Unfortunately gnome’s Gparted one of my favorite utility is not there in the listed distributions. I hope gnome will come out with Gparted enhanced with UnetBotIn in it’s 128 MiB distribution in the next revision.

Knoppix is not there but it is a different kettle of fish altogether with nearly 4 GiB of compressed files and the best heavy weight category and I am here with the light weight category, for now.
All three worked in the first instance but not PCLinux and Mepis. Then I wanted to try PCLinux (could not get it because all iso files are now torrents at Linuxtracker) and Mepis (broke at once at 200 and the second time at 850 MiB out of 925 MiB). Tried PCLinux from my hard drive but some important boot files were missing.
Failures on several occasions, I went into the experimental mode.
Prepare DSL for booting as usual or copy the files listed above to the intended Flash Drive.
Then go to the graphic item and distribution source and give the path for the file in my hard disk and click OK. Before that one should delete the sqfs file of DSL or Puppy (or overwrite only this file when prompted).
Then say NO to overwrite for all the files except the sqfs file.
Before booting it is better to see whether all the files I mentioned above are copied correctly to the Pendrive.
If so shutdown the computer and reboot and the live CD is now in your Pendrive and you do not need to have a CD or DVD to boot your favorite Linux distribution onto the RAM. 
With this Pendrive you can install Linux to any worthwhile computer without a CD or DVD you may have.
In my case I did install PCLinux-2010 from the Pendrive I prepared on my laptop which I formatted to install Knoppix and record World Cup Cricket (quality of the USB TV card was poor).
Now I am looking for a netbook (my daughter would not oblige) to try my wizardry like wizard of OZ.
Only downside was that one cannot boot the DSL (you have overwritten or deleted in the process).
If you have brains you may even install another sqfs file and edit the boot menu and boot the second one too. I have no time to try it but I hope UnetBootIn will add that facility in future and access to iso files in my hard disk so that I can bypass the downloading bit and boot any of the 100 odd Linux live CD /DVDs I have.
PCLinux USB creator was hopeless to say the least and it does not do the job properly like UnetBootIn and also needs Linux partition and not fat partitions.
Go and enjoy Pendrive freedom that come from Linux Developers of repute.
I must say special thanks to MCN (Mandriva) group which started the ball rolling in 2007 with the first Penndrive Version I got to work on a Pendrive in Singapore in 2009.
However Singaporeans have no clue about Pendrive Linux or Linux in general.
This is something Indians would have invested (prepare LIVE PENDRIVES for sale) during World Cup but missed it in toto and now doing IPL cricket instead. Anybody can come to me but I charge for the time especially the download time which is painfully slow and I value my free time which is devoted for rants like this.
Edited on the 20th How to get new Puppy into your Pendrive (It is easy as eating cheese cake and dogs love cheese)
Easiest method is to is to boot the Live CD and used it as a base to make a Live Pendrive. This was how I made my first Live USB long before Pendrive Linux and at a time when I did not have a computer with USB booting facility.
Puppy was my entry into Light Weight Distribution Version and I have not looked back on that experience.
Then I went into PCLinux and its many versions including PCLinux Mini Me. I am not impressed with the record of USB booting with PCLinux even now and that was the one that took the longest time and method (Thanks to UnetBootIn) how to figure out making a USB drive. It failed miserably with my USB hard drive in spite of me getting it into a Linux partition and I finally gave up because I do not fancy carrying a heavy SATA disk in my front pocket.
I prefer a Pendrive around my neck instead of a hard drive. Mind you I use the hard drive to carry all my favorite iso images some of which are 4.4 GiB and Supreme Games Linux is almost 8 GiB.
Getting Puppy into a Pendrive was the easiest with UNetbootIn but with a problem. It only downloads the 4.2 version (the first version I used before Dingo-most number of Live CD I have is with Puppy) from the internet.
So I set about to get a copy of Puppy lupu from my hard disk to Pendrive.
1. Plug in the Pendrive with Puppy 4.2 2. Start UnetBootIn and selected Puppy for install rather copy 3. From dialog box gave the path to my lupu already downloaded and click OK 4. Said NO to all overwrite messages 5. Check the Flash Drive to see production OK. Both Puppy 4.2 and and lupu 525 sqfs files were there with only 250 of the 14oo Mib used. 6. Booted the Flash drive to see it only boots the 4.2. Could not get F2 to change boot option since it configures the keyboard in later stages (Puppy bypasses even the BIOS) of booting. 7. Mounted Flash on my desktop and changed the 420 to 422 and lupu 525 to 420. 8. Booted again and got the kernel panic message (in early days when I get this message I go into panic mode, almost a heart attack but now wait for a few seconds and switch off the computer making sure RAM is not in freeze mode and fully flushed like toilet bowl after a wee, wee. (I get a message from South Africa where water scarcity is a serious problem and asking me to put bricks on the cistern to reduce the capacity and fill it with waste or used water. I think they way we are chopping trees and the Coal Power Plant functioning at full speed we will be near that fate before India. Please excuse me on this diversion if I blog this separately nobody will read it and hence the inclusion here) 9. Booted again but again kernel panic mode 10. UnetBootIn again and and copied lupu 525 and this time said yes to all overwrite messages including uninit and unkernel. 11. Booted again presto the lupu was running.
Summary in 4 steps
1. Format the Pendrive with FAT 32 partition 2. Install Puppy 4.2 using UNetBootIn and check booting of the Pendrive. 3. Download any of the latest Puppy, lupu, quirky or wary (you can rename the iso image with your dog’s name if you are a dog lover. I believe Barry Kauler an Australian is a Dog Lover. Note, unlike cricketers Australian are nice and normal guys). 4. Repeat Step 2 to with overwrite mode on (manually) and boot it up.
I think I have said enough of UnetBootIn. I hope the Developers got the message and in its next update of UnetBootIn it is sweet as honey. Thanks Guys and Girls you are doing some excellent work, you should make sure that you have some rest in between and play some Linux Games like me .
Postscript I get a message from WiN 7 guys that they also have developed a Pendrive utility but it is painfully slow and need a huge Flash Drive with all the viruses included in the processing. So before any one using it do a virus scan first using a Linux Utility called Medi Linux!

Update on UNetBootIn and PCLinux / SuSe Flash Drive Creator

Posted on April 16, 2011

Other reason is that live file is on a folder unlike in UNetBootIn files which are out in the open in the fat partition.

I wanted to cut and paste these files into the USB but tried a different method which did the trick.
For parted magic which was a zip file I had to cut and paste those files and that also did the trick but one has to have one Flash Drive prepared by downloading the full quota of files and kernels to copy later to another Pendrive.

What I did was to install DSL which is 50 MiB first (took half an hour of downloading) and tested it to see whether it was booting.

It did boot and then installed PCLinux from my hard disk to save time of the download of PCLinux.

When it asked whether to overwrite the files already there, I chose no to all, so that init and kernel files were not erased.

Menu file was also left intact.
I did this because PCLinux USB Creator install its image on a ext file partition and not on fat partition.
My BIOS does not read ext files at boot time which I tried several times. It is usual for the BIOS to read DOS files or GRUB and not other formats.
So I got PCLinux on FAT partition and it booted OK. The down side was I could not boot DSL and that was the price I have to pay for fiddling with UNetBootIn.
The problem with UNetBootIn is when I copy it from my hard disk it omits two files.
I hope in its future version it will rectify this minor anomaly and verify before exiting that both uninit and unkernel are there for it to boot when an image is copied from the hard disk.
I have to do this to save time of the downloading of the Iso (I have all the Isos I downloaded over the last two years).
For the time being if you want it to boot do not skip or try shortcuts like what I did. Longer method of course work but do not overwrite the files written on the first run. I have tried to install from the downloaded (by UnetBootIn) temporary image but that time also the the two booting files were missing. I have to pen this since part magic I am downloading takes a long time even though it is 156 MiB.

UNetBootIn-Must Have Utility in a Standard Distribution that one can carries in a Pendrive-06

Posted on April 15, 2011

UNetBootIn-Must Have Utility in a Standard Distribution that one can carries in a Pendrive-06

It is easy as plugging a Flash Drive to boot a Pendrive with Linux utlity called UNetbootIn. It does the job in four steps and the it is a graphic and not command line utility.

1. download the Iso image 2. Extract and copy iso file 3. Install the boot loader called GRUB 4. Reboot and enjoy
Only a few Linux distributions are supported by this utility as at present and I use Puppy (100 MiB) for my work.
Remember DSL, Backtrack, PCLinux (not Knoppix) and a host of Linux distribution now can be mounted on a Pendrive.
This is just to let you know that I have booted Puppy Linux 4.2, the first of all the Puppies I used (now it is Puppy Lupu 5.2.5) on a Flash Drive and configured the internet and edited this page on seamonkey (while I am doing this see monkey is telling me a new version is available) web browser.
Puppy and UnetBootIn rocks the Linux World which is 20 years young.

Debt Collectors and the Pain they cause US.

Debt Collectors and the Pain they cause US.

How to Stop Calls-The American Way.

Phone calls are one of collectors’ most powerful weapons.

But under federal law, repeated calls, obscene language, threats of arrest and threats of violence are all illegal.

Consumers need only to send a collector a written letter asking the collector to stop contacting them, and the collector must comply.

After receiving such a letter, collectors are allowed to contact the consumer only to state that there will be no further contact, or to let the consumer know they plan to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit.

Putting an end to the phone calls doesn’t erase the debt, “but it at least gives you some breathing room,” to the painful encounter.

 

If the firm ignores the letter and keeps calling, consumers can file a complaint with the FTC and their state attorney general.

They may also be able to sue: Generally, if a collector is found to have violated the federal law, the consumer could be awarded $1,000 in statutory damages, plus legal fees.

Above does not apply to US only US and we have no instruments or mechanism to avoid harassing by debt collectors whether they are government, commercial institutes including banks and private Mudalalies.

 

How to Stop Calls-The Sri-Lankan Way.

1. If you have a cell phone put it in the deep freezer till the debt is settled or recovered by legal means.

 

2. Simplest way is to not to answer the call. Let it ring till cows come home.

 

3. Surest way is to pull the jack out and then one can sleep.

 

4. Raise a guard dog.

 

5. Have good crowbar in case they come home.

If your mother or father is in the nursing home and you have defaulted paying the money and the dependent is demented, your best bet is to not have a telephone or better still go abroad until your mum or dad is deceased and get your bank to pay (as a standing order).

 

Then one can concentrate on the work and earn some money to pay the debts.

 

Unfortunately government institutions and their agents also act as debt collectors in this country.

Our legislators (both present and past) have pawned us for 100 years (our national debt)  and nobody gives a call and reminds them that they ought and should pull their act together.

 

Why only ask us to pull our socks?

Ten (10) or more reasons why I do not use a cellphone

Ten (10) or more reasons why I do not use a cellphone

Now that WHO has released the warning for radiation and cancer PHOBIA, I should state why I hate using cellphone.

Some of what I say below are scientific in nature and nobody has done adequate studies. This is based on the premise animals have more evolved senses for their protection and navigation especially at night. For example some snakes (who do not have ears) infrared sensors to to detect their prey namely rats. Hearing is not essential for some animals and mosquitoes probably have thermal as well as olfactory (smell) sensors to feed us at night.
  What it means is that whole energy spectrum is used to various degrees by various beings including insects.  
They all originate from sun rays and most of them even do not reach us and reflected in the stratosphere.  
Any artificial high intensity laser included have adverse effect on life on earth especially the animal species.

1. There is scientific evidence emerging telecommunication signals effect navigation of bees. Apart from the suspected virus infection, I believe the microwave and Telecom signals are the one that effecting the bees. whole chain of events and food cycle will be effected by this impact.  
Instead of wasting time on cancers WHO and WFO should investigate this context seriously.  
We know the bees are diminishing. Why?

2. These energy waves and other waves generated also effect birds. Birds who carry seeds around the world also will impact food scenario of other wild animals. Bird population is diminishing and we do not know how these energy sources affect eggs when they are hatching. We know that most of the agricultural pesticides concentrate on eggs and their shell and diminish fertility of birds.

3. When birds are diminished, alarming rise of parasite on domesticated animals will rise. For example ticks which infect cattle and dogs.

4. We do not know what other animals wild and domesticated affected by these artificial energy and bizarre propagation. We do not know even how it affects dogs who have powerful hearing senses.

5. It takes generally 20 years to discover facts and by that time (brain tumours) one generation is affected by the ill effect.

Those are scientific speculations but what about day to day effects.

6. I am one who believe talking reduces of working capacity. I hate when the telephone ring when I am engaged in some intellectual activity. Even the mosquito is enough to disturb my activity. 
Imagine I am or a meditator deeply engaged in Ana Pana Sati insight meditation and one mosquito is enough to distract the attention.

7. I prefer both my hands free when on holiday and hate somebody send a SMS on the road crossing highway.

8. Cellphone contributes to road traffic accidents.

9. Imaging I am engaged in a group activity or suturing a coronary artery bypass and the cellphone rings.

10. Many use this as a ploy to get out of a important meeting to make decisions. Politicians are good at this and they slip away leaving a mediocre guy to listen to trade union guys.
Cell phone takes the thinking capacity and concentration away and few years from now research will indicate it was the most bizarre invention of ours.
Enjoy it now and very soon there will be legislature controlling use of cellphones. Remember I said it.