Linus Torvalds

 Linus Torvalds

Below is a phrase cut out from real life history of Linus and his erstwhile  friend.

I won't tell you where it is posted but it is an inspirational piece of writing and how a young undergraduates feels about his/her life in the campus and his/her career accomplishment thereafter and how collaboration works and isolation ruins.

Go and find it yourself.

1. It is relevant here to state how the politicians (whatever the party affiliation that would be) should not ruin the minds of young entrants to the University by propaganda.

2. It is also relevant that a university computer student in early 1990 could not save money enough to buy a home computer. 

Then of course if you have time to read my latest dream and its interpretation and if you are a cricket fan (Indian or Ceylonese) the story is a good sleeping pill for you to drop to sleep standing or seated. 

The way Australians and Englishman disposing our titles in style, the other alternative to watch cricket is to dream. 

I of course switch on our match when I want to sleep on my arm chair (not for dreaming of course). 

I call it instant Sleep neither Instant Cricket (IPL type) nor Instant Coffee. 

You may fall to sleep halfway through my story too but that is an added advantage of visiting this blog post.

Caption

Our studies for the first year ended in May, and in June we both started the semi-mandatory military service but in different places.

I did not see Linus for the next year.

The Finnish army taught me to shut up, stop thinking, hurry up to wait, shoot people at a distance and collect dirty dishes in a restaurant.

My IQ dropped markedly during those nine months.

I did not enjoy the experience.

Caption ENDS 

and the story begins.

Now I always dream about going abroad or being abroad in an airport or in one of my friends home abroad alone while my friend is toiling in his or her office. This disease of going abroad in dreamy state, I acquired while on industrial action over 3 months period and there is no cure for except dreaming of a cure.

The Dream

I had gone to Denmark to visit a friend there who is a professor of Sociology. He is a fan of football and once Danish were the world champions in football  and he still dreams one day in the future they will become champions again. I tell him it is nice to dream when one is old and retired and does not have enough means to support oneself. 

It is all what old people have except of course politicians in power. 

I always tell my friend one should not become a politician young. 

Look at Obama and see how quickly he has become "old looking" in spite of American make up. 

One must become a politician at old age and have your bypass and all other medical conditions attended by the state and one does not need a Health Plan or Insurance then.  He tells me he does not like politics and rush off to work leaving behind an old computer for me to work with. Then he turns round and find me a push trolley to take the computer on my way out, if I decide to go out for a walk. He is scared I get a heart attack carrying a big computer on my outdoor activities knowing very well that computer is now an appendage of my body.

One thing he does not know is that I carry a Pendrive with Puppy Linux.

I was bored inside and loaded the computer into the trolley and was on my way to the railway station as a necessary precaution. In those countries where elderly should not come out at rush hour and old guy would be trampled to death. So with the trolley I get a headway and leeway at rush hour and rush points. Of course I get funny looks from bystanders, onlookers and  fellow beings of fairer skin as I progress along and towards my desired destination..

As I was going down the path to the station to park the trolley (one needs to pay), I met a lady I have known with her blind son and the daughter coming up. We got into conversation and the blind son was figuring to place me in his memory and I was telling him.

Can't you remember that I was talking to your mum over the  phone when your sister got lost in the supermarket and "I baby sat with you" till she alerted the security and the police to locate her and eventually find her.

This was 12 year ago I told him.

Then he came to me grabbed me with emotion and with that emotion, I was woken up. 

This was a nice dream and I was taken up by the big old computer and the lost child and helping to find her. But also annoyed why should one of my friends gives me a big old computer instead of a tablet on my short sojourns abroad?

I can understand a wheel chair but not a racketty old computer and immediately posted an email to Maha Brahma.

He responded quickly and with a saying "old time no see aahh". 

I told him we are back to work and doing some catch up work. 

I told him this cannot be me at the railway station with an old computer and I am now thinking of a telepathic computer chip in my forehead and not a racketty old computer as my companion and I am very futuristic computer-wise.

I may be old in age but my computer is going to be the latest even to my grave I told him.

Son don't be impatient.

It is futuristic, too.

Then I asked him why did you wake me up in the middle and  I would have liked to know all about the future politicians.

Do you want to die in prison?

Perhaps not?

Then he dished out the interpretation.

Interpretation

There are three involved.

1. A politician

2. His putative wife

3. A child under 5

Country origin of the three withheld by the advice of the Interpol (Not coconut pol)

Site A Middle East International Airport.

Modus Operandum

Human smuggling for transplant organs.

Screen action

1. This politician goes on a official visit.

2. His putative wife (real wife in his mother country) joins him with a child under five two days later.

3. Wife come back to airport with the child.

4. Embark for homeward journey without the child.

5. Report the missing child to the politician by phone before the take off.

6. Politician alert the local police.

7. Politician attend his his bogus function (underworld to be precise)

8. In the meantime missing child disappears without a trace from the airport.

9. Whisked away to a Private hospital for donor parts.

10. Money deposited on a Swiss bank in the name of the politician.

This is how the NGOs will operate in future.

See you soon and he disappeared from computer email radar.

About the politician carrying a computer on a trolley is the symptom of them living in the glory of the past who cannot change with modernity and still prefer ballot paper (which can be manipulated at the time of the election) instead of an electronic ballot. His and his retinue carry all the paraphernalia with them when traveling, often in a private jet. They prefer going abroad when things can be achieved with an electronic mail or phone call quite oblivious to the electorate who elected them.

The disappearance of the child is of course is human smuggling. 

Blind person is the symbol of lack and antipathy towards differently abled people who have to struggle for survival and often there is no access to disabled people in public places in spite of huge development plans.

They are taken away and incarcerated with minimal rights, in day to day living.

About Sleep and Dreams

 About Sleep and Dreams

I have taken sleep as a bit a routine and I did not write anything scientific or substantial. If you read the contents below it was always (with a bit of slant and satire attached)    not to the point but somewhat bizarre in attitude.

Simply because sleep was not a problem for me.

I can sleep standing in a bus plying to Colombo but awake quickly enough to grab a hand of a pickpocket. Equally, I can keep up awake with only coffee and tea in between for 48 hours.

I took a challenge and I won.

I kept up 48 hours without sleeping with the challengers watching me. Funnily enough, my watchers, could not keep up with me and they went into snooze mode while observing me. Then of course, I go into sleep mode immediately after and  I won’t wake up until I had recovered fully. The bottom line is nobody tries to wake me up (that includes my mother) while I am in sleep mode.

I dip into deep sleep without an intervention. Nutty things to do when one is young but I won’t recommend the above to any living soul. I can switch my wake and sleep cycle almost at will and I believed that others have the same ability.

I am proved wrong.

Let me expand.

1. I have never given a sleeping tablet to a patient for dropping to sleep except pre-medication for major surgery.

2. I am very liberal on pain relief (if one is not a drug addict). The practice of medicine relies solely on taking grief and pain factor away from patients.

3. Sleeping tablets are lethal and one gets addicted after 48 hours. The sleep one gets with these tablets is not normal and they upset the diurnal rhythm up to two weeks. It is the melatonin that keep our sleep cycle going on daily basis

4. One needs minimum of 4 hours of deep sleep.

Buddha was an example who slept only 4 hours and if not occupied, he was in meditative bliss and wide awake.

5. An average adult (children needs more sleep) needs about 8 hours of sleep, not necessarily continuous (one go).  

One can have it in two slots which is much better, if one can afford it.

6. The bottom line is how to get the most needed 4 hours of deep sleep.

The most important memory record of newly learnt material is laid down (where I do not know) in deep sleep.

7. Many does not have the ability to roll into this mode, simply because of the inhibitions that precedes the rest or the night cap.

8. Even if one is in bed for 10 hours and not got the required 4 hours of deep sleep, he/she feels sleepy during waking hours, the next day.

How to avoid it?

9. Few guide lines but none might work at the beginning but with perseverance one can achieve the target of 4 hours of deep sleep unless one’s physiology is deranged or has chronic painful illness. 

This advice is for one who has no other disability including major depressive illness or manic depression.

10. One should retire to bed only when the days work is finished and not before. 

Similarly, one should have a mental sketch of what has to be done the next day (not the next week).

11. Humans work on 24 to 28 hour cycles (unfortunately little longer than the earth cycle) not less.

This is why finishing the days major chores is of paramount importance. 

Do not leave the work for the weekends.

In other words “Moment Meditation” (my coining) in practice. 

Do the things as they ought to be, at the right time.

No procrastination.

The principle here is one should not detail more work than one can accomplish in day time hours.

Nothing pending at bed time.

If you practice this dropping to sleep is spontaneous.

More than likely you get to the deep sleep mode quickly. It is the mental anxiety that keeps you awake the first few moments in bed.

12. When you wake up (unless you are retired and nothing else to do (next morning) in the morning do not deliberate and stay in bed for few more minutes. 

Your sleep is already interrupted by normal biological rhythm or the alarm. 

You cannot go back to good sleep again.

Wake up and if you are bit early tidy up the morning work.

13. Mind you when you do not have a good sleep the first casualty is YOUR MEMORY.

You forget things.

14. Let me now dispense the factors that hinder your sleep.

Number one is excess of coffee.

No coffee at bedtime.

It is an addiction.

Number two is tea.

Both items impair your sleep and more importantly dropping to sleep is delayed. 

Others includes heavy rice meal or alcohol. 

Both items cause mid night hyopglycaemia and interrupt your sleep when deep sleep is about to commence.    

In our set up rice and alcohol are culprits of breaking the sleep pattern. 

Not only that both items cause regurgitation of stomach contents while flat on bed. They cause acid irritation, since starch and alcohol cannot neutralize acid secretions.

Light beefy (not necessarily beef but soya meat, egg omelette would do) meal and milk are the antidotes not tea or coffee. 

If tea is desired add lot of MILK.

Adding milk has no effect on coffee.

So take the mental and physical hindrances to your sleep as sleep deprivers or cardinal sins.

15. I have not talked about the bed, the room, the temperature, humidity and lightnings (they are individual variables) BUT your cellphone is the nasty invention of modern times.

Switch it off FIRST, before any preparation (for sleep).

I do not have one. I am fully retired.

16. Watching TV (passive attention) late at night (unless the next morning is an off day or holiday) is another reason for interrupted sleep and bizarre dreams. Unlike natural vision digital flashes of memory of TV irritate your brain. 

What one need is brain getting ready to relax and then sleep mode eventually.

It is not good for your health.

17. Computer (not cellphone) with a keyboard (you can hit the keys as they were made of steel) is a good anxiety reliever before bedtime. My routine is to look at the emails and deleting the junk. That routine start always after mid night.

Looking at your email is the most boring activity. 

So boring YOU feel like dropping to sleep on your keyboard.

The advantage is that you save lot of TIME, the next morning. Nobody expects (only paranoid person would take emails seriously NOW) YOU to answer emails as they come.

You must be liberal with DELETE action.

It should be like “the knee jerk reaction”.

This is why I prefer blogging (hate Facebook and social media) to social media.

Who cares if you had million hits?

Is it like an orgasm?

I doubt it has any impact.

18. Dreams are vital ingredients of your sleep and I will enlarge upon them with my own dreams.

Or you read my books on Dreams available at Amazon’s.

My recommendation of Sleep and Dream habits for Married Couples. 

This applies only to married couples. The young lovers should do whatever dreaming they do at lib and they should not read this article which is very obnoxious when infatuated.

I’ll try to be as brief as possible since married people have no time for heavy reading but reflex action only.

My advice to a young couple on sleep and never on dreams (since they are in a dream world which is going to end soon after the honeymoon) in good old days was one should match a couple with synchronized sleep.

Night sleeper who gets up early, late or indifferent.

Day time napper or of 8 hour 10 or 6 hour sleeper.

Idea was when two of them sleep which is synchronized, they get up together and the home and office work is synchronized. 

The advantage is only to the employer and not to the married couple any way. 

That is my new finding not disclosed.

My old advice do not stand to reality of married life.

One should have two erratic sleepers so that when one dreams other one is up and doing home or office chores.

Married life is 24/7 schedule and never 9 to 5.

One has to be working while the other is having a nap unlike in office life where everybody has to work whether enough work is there or not. 

My recent but not published or disclosed data suggest the only time married people have a respite is in their real dream world.

So enjoy them even they are bitter to the opposite sex.

After all they are dreams.

Have you ever seen a couple who relate their dreams when woken up to the opposite spouse.

In my experience never.

The reality is that the dream is heavily edited to satisfy the opposite spouse. Usually all the dreams are if not majority are obnoxious ones which even in reality extend from blue murder or downright slanderous. 

If they truly relate these dreams the marriage won’t last even three months. Most of the breakup are due to recurrent incidences of these obnoxious dreams.

One should never go to hypnotherapist for help and they (are the worse) will record them and use them to blackmail when his/her income is dwindling or volunteer to supply the information secretly to the defense lawyer of the other side for inappropriate black income.

This specially happens in Ceylon.

If these dreams recur it is alright to go to a divorce lawyer but never to a hypnotherapist.

Who knows one may take undue advantage.

One has to bear them, bite the teeth and boldly take them in, one go at a time, like a true and mature married man or woman. One should not give this information to doctors since they will give you a sleeping pill and inadvertently stop the only entertainment one has at his/her leisure time activity.

That is simply disaster.

If you want to prolong and succeed in marriage one has to edit every dream to suit the partner and occasionally relate them saying. I had a lovely dream about You KNOW with all the blah blah.

This has worked for me and I do not know about my wife. 

All bad dreams are censored by default. 

Now I write about dreams, nobody trust my dreams except Maha Brahma who never dreams in real life.

 His hobby is to listen to my ones and interpret them with wisdom. If you have any bad dream about your spouse (not your secret lover) please post them under comments.

I may consider sending them to Maha’s perusal and interpretation. 

I assure you he never keeps any record of them since I am the virtual registrar.

Futuristic Dream

 

Futuristic Dream

Latest dream as far as I am concerned was futuristic.

Reasons I will give below.

It goes on like this.

We had a long drawn out industrial action, this time students on strike (like in 1988-1989), I was getting bored and decided to quit for good from the University (which I did).

After 6 months of struggling, I managed to get part of the Provident Fund (half of which was frozen for administration of unknown intellectual assets and authorities did not wish to part with the balance thinking, if I die before the release of the funds, it is gross government saving, wished I could be dead by natural causes) and I wanted to buy a car for my retirement, now that even walking a few paces was a struggle.

This is al about Government Duty Free Car allowed. 

I went with somebody which I cannot remember probably an in law to drive me home. We cleared everything and all of them got into the car and left leaving me behind with a heavy suitcase. I thought now that I had signed the papers, they went for a test drive.

I could not leave my heavy luggage for safe keeping and after few minutes of waiting I decided to stroll down the alleyway. The luggage was too heavy after few minutes I sat down under a tree panting and cursing myself, had I some money I would have hired a three wheeler.

Then after about half and hour they realized I wasn't in and came in search of me. By that time I had gone bananas and with that commotion, I was woken up.

I must tell you why I was happy.

My present Provident Fund saving is not enough to buy even a three wheeler. I was visibly annoyed with myself for waking up lest I had gone to Anuradhapura in pilgrimage in this new car with total happiness, I may have even attained some path of freedom (Sovan) in my dream.

That is the long and short of my dream but I was intrigued by the heavy luggage.

I sent an email to Maha and this time there was a long silence before his chat appearance.

I wasn't least pleased with his attitude to my latest dream. I asked him was he busy to which he gave negative response. Then again he was dragging his feet and asked me, how the industrial action was taking shape. I told him we are having deliberations in the courts and I am not allowed to divulge anything. Then he summoned his courage and said that this dream is not futuristic and dull and no point of discussing or interpreting. 

I felt something fishy and asked him this dream is about me, isn't it?

He paused and said how did you guess?

Do you really need some interpretation?

Why not, we earthling are going from pillar to post looking for godforsaken astrologers who take us for a ride. We love to hear of our future, even if it is our funeral and specially the salary increment we are going to get.

This one is little bad.

You mean to say we won't get any increment?

No fool it is your final farewell?

Farewell for leaving the University?

No fool your ultimate farewell from this planet.

Or I see.

You were waiting for the people to come and dump you and push the electric button and they were late and you were watching from above.

Heaven, I believe.

Can't tell you that now.

In that case can you tell me what was that heavy luggage in the suitcase.

That was your Kusal-Akusala Kamma Load.

Which is more?

Can't tell that, too.

Can you tell me at least the Ahosi Kammas.

You have finished all your Ahosi Kamma by blogging and all in the suitcase were viable Kammas.

That means no Sovan for me, isn't it?

Can't tell you that, too.

You must stop all blogging and stop doing any Kusala or Akulsala Kamma.

Why?

You are then in Kriya Mode and then only you get to dream good futuristic dreams, not related to your life.

Or I see.

Less Kusala and Akusala in your suitcase and more I get to hear god futuristic dreams, from you.

How long?

That is left to you.

In that case, I have to go on indefinite industrial action.

You won't have any problem with that since the case is in Sri-Lankan courts.

Happy dreaming.

See you soon.

Cobra Dream and its interpretation from Heaven

  This is one of my Real Dreams and Maha Brahma has a futuristic vision about this World, especially America. 

He does not lie. This is a little respite for Ceylonese voters who are fed up with Political Lies. Enjoy the dream interpretation.

Cobra Dream and its interpretation from Heaven

            This dream was not exciting to say the least but it's interpretation by Maha Brahma was exciting.

           We were going on a trip to Anuradhapura in a bus load of devotees and I was the bus driver.

We alighted ourselves from the bus for some ripe mangoes along the road side and everybody was busy eating mangoes. When we returned one had a slight headache and the conductor open the First Aid Box for Panadol and to his surprise there was a little cobra inside the box. Then we looked around to see there were many little cobras in the bus and a slight commotion ensued and I was woken up.

Woken up, I looked under my bed and I found my dog sleeping and no cobras. The I remember, the day before there was a little cobra (second time I saw it) in the hospital premises and everybody was blocking its exit route. I told them even though it is a small guy, the poison is the same let it ease itself to his own safety from the humans and went on my business.

So this was nothing exciting and there was an antecedent incident but I was puzzled, how come inside a First Aid Box and the setting was pious devotional expedition with mango tasting (Mango Friends -Ammba Yahaluwas).

In any case worth an interpretation of high order.

Posted it by email and I got a audio alert from AOL (Any Old Lady) with Maha himself calling. I do not know how AOL got Maha's voice (really his Assistant's and Maha is still on a not-American holiday) but true to American discoveries of the universe and beyond, it is humanly possible and I too, got excited.

Then I discovered Maha was more excited than me having received my email. I asked him why the hell or heaven he has given his voice to AOL. He said he did not give it but American Secret Service has cracked the Heavenly CODE and he is aware of it but no damage done to heaven since no American in the current century including Secret Service will get to heaven, the the way they are bombing the Middle East and there is some agreement with Hell to make a special American Cell in an island like where Srauss Khan was incarcerated for his pleasures on Earth.

Then he got to his business.

Interpretation

He said this was a good one.

Why?

In time to come cobras are going to be priceless animals and anybody breeding them get an American Scholarship.

To make anti-venom I believe?

No Stupid.

In time to come Americans will be like the Old Wild West again and everybody who is somebody is a Bank Robber, not with guns but with plastic cards.

I don't get your point.

The Linux Hackers in America have perfected a card that can break any PIN number in ten seconds.

It is like a master key you know?

The card has a microchip with wireless connection to a server and the server in ten seconds cracks a PIN number at random and the robber get away with money or a free transaction to Libya instantly.

Libya?

Yes now Libya is American.

Don't you realize this is futuristic?

Or I see your point.

There is no connection with any cobra there.

Wait. wait, till I come to that point.

If the transaction is not completed in another 5 seconds, a cobra comes and sting the robber.

From where does the cobra come from?

From the till and one can put only two fingers to collect the dollars and no gloves allowed and when you fiddle you actually tickle the cobra's hood.

He has no option but to sting.

That is not a problem, no.

You go to the nearest American hospital and get the anti-venom saying the sting was from his or her pet cobra.

No it is not that easy to get cobra anti-venom.

There is a hospital protocol

1. First you have to get Visa Clearance.

2. Then you have to get FIB Clearance

3. Then you have to get Bank Clearance

4. Doctors Clearance

5. Pharmacist Clearance

6. Allergy Clearance

7. Nurses (qualified to give anti venom) Clearance

8. Repeat and repeat of Bank Clearance or Insurance Clearance, whether able to pay the hospital bill.

My goodness this takes time and by that time he will be in deep coma!

Yes, Yes.

Then only the hospital can claim benefits for the Emergency Treatment from Obama Health Package Revisited.

What is the price of anti-venom?

It is like liquid gold and only a rich American can buy not a bank robber.

Oh, I see.

I got to go.

See you soon with my next dream probably not winning the industrial action and I will be seeing day dreams, anyway.