Monday, March 23, 2026
It Looks Like Nuclear Option of Israel is Muted- Is it true?
Puppy Linux
I just downloaded Easy OS (Puppy Linux) and installed it to a USB stick using Image writer.
Booted it.
Configured Wireless Network
Signed in with Gmail to my blog post.
Finished posting this piece in 5 minutes.
This was after I made a sore comment in www.distrowatch.com on Sparky Linux which comes from Poland.
Using the new version of Sparky Linux is a waste of time.
Thank you to all Puppy Linux Developers.
I have downloaded all active Puppy Linux distributions in less than 24 hours by torrent.
I am Puppy Linux Lover and I am in Australia currently.
Barry Kauler of Australia developed Puppy Linux, first.
It is cool, it has a small footprint and a classic Linux Utility (can be installed) and using the word a distribution to it is a misnomer.
Only Knoppix can beat it on the number of utilities but Knoppix is almost dormant from 2020.
Gnoppix is a welcome addition.
Easy OS has followings.
1. Container Folder
2. Data Folder
3. File Folder
4. Release Folder
5. sfs Folder
6. Initrd
7. vmlinux
Squash File
Squash may be a Linux term for compression when USB sticks were only 512MB. It opens up and expand in a Live Session.
I used a 512MB stick for my first Puppy Linux!
Squash File (I have forgotten the details) is a one long text file including boot instructions of legacy boot time.
Easy OS uses EFI file that requires only 528MB (much bigger than the boot file in legacy time).
Microsoft UEFI framework tried to destroy dual booting of Linux.
EFI is Linux solution to blatant interference of FREE Internet use by Bill Gate Clients who were working with dead Epstein (I believe he was murdered -Epstein).
SFS files use the SquashFS file system, which is compressed and pretty much only supported by Unix/Linux.
ISO files are much less standardized as well as uncompressed, so they can be used in a lot more ways, including as a generic file container.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia SquashFS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Squashfs
Squashfs is a compressed read-only file system for Linux.
Squashfs compresses files, inodes and directories, and supports block sizes from 4 KiB up to 1 MiB for greater compression. Several compression algorithms are supported. Squashfs is also the name of free software, licensed under the GPL, for accessing Squashfs filesystems.
Squashfs is intended for general read-only file-system use and in constrained block-device memory systems (e.g. embedded systems) where low overhead is needed.
Uses
Squashfs is used by the Live CD versions of Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo Linux, Linux Mint, openSUSE, Salix, Ubuntu, NixOS, Clonezilla, Kali Linux, KDE neon and on embedded distributions such as the OpenWrt and DD-WRT router firmware. It is also used in Chromecast, in Tiny Core Linux for packaging extensions, and for the system partitions of some Android releases (Android Nougat). It is often combined with a union mount filesystem, such as UnionFS, OverlayFS, or aufs, to provide a read-write environment for live Linux distributions. This takes advantage of both Squashfs's high-speed compression abilities and the ability to alter the distribution while running it from a live CD. Distributions such as Debian Live, Mandriva One, Puppy Linux, Salix Live and Slax use this combination. The AppImage project, which aims to create portable linux applications, uses squashfs for creating appimages. The Snappy package manager also uses squashfs for its ".snap file format".
Squashfs is also used by Linux Terminal Server Project and Splashtop. The tools unsquashfs and mksquashfs have been ported to Windows NT – Windows 8.1. 7-Zip also supports Squashfs.
History
Squashfs was initially maintained as an out-of-tree Linux patch. The initial version 1.0 was released on 23 October 2002.In 2009 Squashfs was merged into Linux mainline as part of Linux 2.6.29.In that process, the backward-compatibility code for older formats was removed. Since then the Squashfs kernel-space code has been maintained in the Linux mainline tree, while the user-space tools remain on the project's GitHub page.
The original version of Squashfs used gzip compression, although Linux kernel 2.6.34 added support for LZMA and LZO compression, Linux kernel 2.6.38 added support for LZMA2 compression (which is used by xz), Linux kernel 3.19 added support for LZ4 compression, and Linux kernel 4.14 added support for Zstandard compression.
Uses
Squashfs is used by the Live CD versions of Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo Linux, Linux Mint, openSUSE, Salix, Ubuntu, NixOS, Clonezilla, Kali Linux, KDE neon and on embedded distributions such as the OpenWrt[1] and DD-WRT router firmware. It is also used in Chromecast,[2] in Tiny Core Linux for packaging extensions, and for the system partitions of some Android releases (Android Nougat).[3] It is often combined with a union mount filesystem, such as UnionFS, OverlayFS, or aufs, to provide a read-write environment for live Linux distributions. This takes advantage of both Squashfs's high-speed compression abilities and the ability to alter the distribution while running it from a live CD. Distributions such as Debian Live, Mandriva One, Puppy Linux, Salix Live and Slax use this combination. The AppImage project, which aims to create portable linux applications, uses squashfs for creating appimages. The Snappy package manager also uses squashfs for its ".snap file format".
Squashfs is also used by Linux Terminal Server Project and Splashtop. The tools unsquashfs and mksquashfs have been ported to Windows NT[4] – Windows 8.1.[5] 7-Zip also supports Squashfs.[6]
History
Squashfs was initially maintained as an out-of-tree Linux patch. The initial version 1.0 was released on 23 October 2002.[7] In 2009 Squashfs was merged into Linux mainline as part of Linux 2.6.29.[8][9] In that process, the backward-compatibility code for older formats was removed. Since then the Squashfs kernel-space code has been maintained in the Linux mainline tree, while the user-space tools remain on the project's GitHub page.[10]
The original version of Squashfs used gzip compression, although Linux kernel 2.6.34 added support for LZMA[11] and LZO compression,[12] Linux kernel 2.6.38 added support for LZMA2 compression (which is used by xz),[13] Linux kernel 3.19 added support for LZ4 compression,[14] and Linux kernel 4.14 added support for Zstandard compression.[15]
Linux kernel 2.6.35 added support for extended file attributes.
Buying a Mini PC NUC
Buying a Mini PC NUC
1. The second hand value of a NUC is below 100 dollars.
I come to this in detail.
2. Bare bone NUC is not for Gamers.
3. A good Gamer NUC with DDR 5 costs over 2500 dollars.
4. I bought a bare bone NUC with 8GB RAM two years ago for my work in Ceylon with a huge sum in Rupees (taxes added on top of it).
It has no Audio output which suits my writing style with no interference even with little background music.
I have a Smart Speaker with analogue radio with Bluetooth functionality, which is not compatible with my bare bone NUC.
It has 4 USB slots two gone for mouse and keyboard and other two can be used for Audio link to watch an old film.
I used to watch 3 films a day in my retirement but stopped seeing films for the last 6 months.
Stopped writing books for 18 months.
Mind you, I am in total retirement and sleep very well (did not sleep well in my active life).
Coming to the NUC it uses only 8 Watts when I am writing a book.
It has a small Carbon Foot Print.
That was my Goal and I continue to promote it.
5. If you play a digital game it costs a lot in Carbon Foot Print.
If you go out and play a game of your choice for 90 minutes it is good for your long term health and the amount of Carbon Dioxide you exhale can be mitigated by running a small garden with some mint plants or better still a few coriander plants with lovely aromatic smell.
6. Sitting in front of the TV screen, you become a Living Potato!
7. Coming to NUC if you play games you need 16GB RAM and better still 32GB and the RAM costs a lot.
My minimum is 8GB RAM (with two slots for 16GB RAM).
Mind you computer runs on RAM and 2GB RAM was my minimum a decade ago!
Mind you, I started with 128MB RAM 30 years ago and only played DOS games.
Coming to Linux unlike windows its resource share capability is excellent and I do not use Microsoft Words for nearly 25 years.
8. So if you bought a NUC with 2GB RAM it has no second hand value since upgrading to 8GB RAM is going to be a costly affair.
9. I have several SATA disks varying from 320 to I Terabyte.
1 Terabyte is at home in Ceylon in its original box with all my important files of 30 years (copied from my Desktop Computer) stored.
The 500GB one has old Linux distributions installed and Old Linux Iso files stored for a rainy day.
The third with 320GB, I bought to Australia inside my NUC.
It has now Ubuntu 23.10, Debian 12.4.0 and Emmabantus Debian 5 with only two blog files.
10. All my important files including "Coronavirus Saga" are posted, is in my Google Blog post ready to be cut and paste to a chapter in any of my future books.
My files are not private (except political ones, most of them, I have removed. I am not a politician fearing a backlash).
11. If you have a NUC, with NVMe slots, it costs a lot to buy DATA storage in Terabytes.
12. Exchange of DATA inside a NUC leads to a heatwave inside the NUC and without a fan and a heat-sink, it will catch fire especially in Australia.
Besides 60 to 100 Watts output is not conducive for indoor living.
It is like a hot (blowing camp fire) lamp in front of you.
I'll stop at that, and if you invest money invest prudently and the gadget you bought should last for at least 5 years.
If not you have to dish it to a gullible guy or girl, short of cash for only 100 to 200 dollars.
A waste of resources!
Sleep Cycle
I have left my books in Ceylon and sometimes I make mistakes (going by my memory which is slowly failing), in my blog posts.
Here is the summary of the Sleep Cycle.
A book on Sleep and Dreams is coming only after the end of the war.
My gut feeling and understanding is that the war would come to an end within 3 months and not in weeks.
Sleep Cycle
We sleep in cycles.
Each cycle is 90 to 120 minutes.
Three (3) NREM (N1, N2 and N3) phases and 1 REM phase make a full sleep cycle.
N1 Stage 1, also called N1, is essentially when a person first falls asleep. This stage normally lasts just one to seven minutes. During N1 sleep, the body has not fully relaxed, though the body and brain activities start to slow with periods of brief movements.
N2 is Light Sleep
N3 is Deep Sleep
Memories are probably stored during deep sleep in a raw and random fashion.
NREM = Non Rapid Eye Movement
REM = Rapid Eye Movement
SCN = Suprachiasmatic nucleus
Suprachiasmatic nucleus regulates Diurnal Rhythm
In REM sleep memory is reorganised and redundant information is filtered off.
REM sleep is generally 25% of the total sleep and we tend to dream in REM sleep.
Memory is stored during REM.
REM starts as short bursts and as one sleeps longer REM tends to last longer.
We have 6 cycle per night.
We generally needs 8 hours of sleep out of which 4 hours of deep sleep is vital.
One need not worry about these stages since these patterns are determined by autonomousmelatonin secretion.
Approximately 75% of sleep is spent in the NREM stages, with the majority spent in the N2 stage. A typical night's sleep consists of 4 to 6 sleep cycles, with the progression of sleep stages in the following order: N1, N2, N3, N2, REM. A complete sleep cycle takes roughly 90 to 110 minutes.
A sleep cycle is a recurring pattern of sleep stages that the body goes through during a night's sleep. Each cycle typically lasts about 90 minutes and consists of REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM sleep, with the latter further divided into stages.
A typical sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, but can range from 60 to 110 minutes.
Each cycle includes:
Non-REM Sleep
This phase has three stages: N1 (light sleep), N2 (slightly deeper), and N3 (deepest sleep).
REM Sleep
This is when dreaming occurs and brain activity is similar to wakefulness.
During a night's sleep, you cycle through these stages multiple times, with the deeper stages (N3) occurring more frequently in the first half of the night. The exact length of sleep cycles and the amount of time spent in each stage can vary between individuals and even from night to night for the same person.
Importance of Deep Sleep
Deep Sleep (N3) is crucial for physical restoration and is linked to the release of Growth Hormone.
REM Sleep and Dreaming
REM sleep is essential for cognitive functions like memory consolidation and emotional processing.
Most adults experience about 4-6 sleep cycles per night.
Waking Up
Brief awakenings can occur between cycles, which is normal and not necessarily a sign of poor sleep.