UberStudent-2.0.4-64 bits

UberStudent-2.0.4-64 bits

Student is one of the best LINUX distributions with lot of educational packages.

It is an Ubuntu Derivative.

It has amazing amount of educational utilities for student to research workers.

It is cloud ready and that is, it's strength.

It is heavy on my computer with 1 GiB of RAM.

One should have ample RAM for its installation and daily use.

It has everything except blender.

Why blender is not included, I do not know.

Its only disadvantage is that it is Ubuntu based and Unity desktop might be an Achilles heel.

But with Debian, the God Father of Linux is there as it is, there is no attrition to Linux and UberStudent.

I feel it should take the Debian root to its advantage and drop Ubuntu.

This does not mean I am against Ubuntu.

I am one who supports Ubuntu’s new found direction and freedom.

It has done the donkey work and now it should be free to decide its future without worrying about the community.

After all Ubuntu is not blocking its derivatives of preemptive actions or closing the door.

All the utilities are there as Open Source.

It is the onus of the derivatives to enrich the repositories with their own packages without waiting for Ubuntu to give the lead.

Talking about Linux apart from Debian, Yellow Dog (Redhat derivative) and Ubuntu nobody else supported the Apple hardware.

I never used Ubuntu on a regular basis, coming from Redhat base and as a Mandrake user. 
Then I changed to Suse but gave it up when Novel took over.

Now I use many derivatives including PCLinux which does not have 64 bit distribution but supports 32 bi and 64 bit hardware.

I have only one 64 bit box and all the others are 32 bits.

I came across Ubuntu by accident and used it as a demonstration utility.

Now I am so much in love with Ubuntu, I am downloading and collecting its old versions in my archive.

Linux should encourage competition.

It can stand up to challenge and that is, its strength.

Ubuntu’s move is a challenge to old school but that itself should be the guiding principle to make appropriate adjustments in the developer mentality.

All this is to support UberStudent with all the might.

It should stand up to the challenge and develop its own personality.

All those who are students and in education both school and higher institutions should do their utmost to make UberStudent the best educational package on this planet.

Its cloud preparedness is its strength, with or without Ubuntu One.

Best Christmas Gift is Puppy

Best Christmas Gift is Puppy
When I say a Puppy, I mean Puppy Linux.
I am averse to giving a Puppy as a X'mas gift, since the poor fellow is really neglected when all in the household go back to work and children to school after holidays.
It is the worse gift as far as the puppy is concerned.
Whereas, if one gives a Puppy Linux where there are many breeds going over 100, it is play time for kids as well as adults.
The latest Precise has many derivatives with KDE; LXDE; Gnome and Mate.
 One has an array of desktop displays to choose.
The Rasor and SlimPup are over 400 MiB and SlimPup has Blender, Gimp and Inkscape to choose which are heavy weight applications in Linux.

I wonder, how they have bundled them in only 400 MiB.
I like the MATE for its unobtrusive and organized desktop.
LXDE is also rich with its applications.
If one is crazy there is FAT pup in 64 bits.
Go and enjoy the holiday with Puppy of your choice.
The precise has done precisely what light weight mind should carry, on holidays, in a BOX or a mini CD.

CyLonLinux=Good Work

CyLonLinux 12.04-Good Work
It is with Christmas Spirit and with some elation I report that CyLonLinux, that I downloaded few minutes ago is pretty good effort.
It has desktop effect that originated from enlightenment  or ELive.
It id Ubuntu based with mix of Gnome and KDE utilities like K3B.
It has TOR which I liked very much and I used DuckDuckGo browser to reach the wider web.
It has Docky and both Firefox and Chrome Browser.
It also has GamBase II which is one of my recommendations for newbies.
All the above except the browsers (FireFox and Chrome) I love.
I prefer Debian's hassle free IceWeasle to other browsers.
It has latest blender 2.8 and all the utilities one uses on a daily basis.
It was heavy on my RAM (1 GiB) but ran well on both old IBM Netvista and Think Centre.
It did not have cloud utilities but that should not deter anybody using it.
I tried the SINHALA installation script but gave up since graphic interference was too much.
If one is installing it one should not go for a live session but straight go for installation in English to save the RAM.
It also used 60 to 70 % of the CPU in a live session with active browser. 

Well done boys and girls of the www.CylonLinuxWeebly.com.

I hope they will put out a have a light version with Abiword for computers older than my computer.

 My Comments at the web site

I download and test Linux distributions.
It is almost a hobby and post comments on parafox.
I have done it over many a times and wanted to call it a day.
Then I found CyLinux and downloaded it to see lot of Sri-Lankan seeds.
First I thought it was CeyLinux project and then when I went to their site I could not find any links.

Then quite by accident I found a link to your web site.

Your work is excellent and I was impressed by your inclusion of TOR and Gambase II.

I have a few, if you care to heed to them.

1. Keep it independent

2. Do not have any link with the Sr-Lankan Government.
Officials will infiltrate your development efforts and slowly kill it by their propaganda.
Case in point is Hanthana Linux in our schools. Its leading developer has already left it and I know him well enough, so no more comments about Hanthana Linux.

3. Get in touch with Anuradha Ratnaweera.
He was the one who got the Sinhala Unicode to Debian.
He is an expert and consultant to many original projects.

4. Ubuntu does not support our Unicode well and one has to work with Canonical to iron out the rough edges.

5. Ubuntu has made a decision not to support community with the development of the Unity Desktop.

6.Gnome is also going through lot of changes with its new desktop.

7. KDE is heavy and like Knoppix using LXDE is an advantage.

8. I do not use Ubuntu very much except for demonstrations (I do not like SUDO due to security reasons) but I like the SuperOS (KiwiOS is similar) very much which is an Ubuntu derivative.

9. UberStuendt which is also a Ubuntu derivative has lot of educational packages that you can use in CylonLinux.

10. I am not sure which way Linux will go with Cloud Computing is on the horizon and all the distributions with heavy footage will disappear giving way to sleek light weight browser based distributions.

11. You should explore the possibility of using Cloud utilities and have a light weight distribution ready in case there going to be sea of changes in the IT World.
Good Luck and god bless you.

CylonLinx=Good Work and that is how I have described you in my blog post.

Moment Meditation

Moment Meditation
If I am asked what is meditation?
I would try to answer it by saying,
Moment gained is moment lost in Meditation,
Moment not gained or lost is the the true
Focus of attention in Meditation.
Equally, it is not a void or an empty phenomena or vacuum,
But the height of intense attention
That is not measured in seconds
But by nanoseconds of intensity,
Which is very difficult to achieve
In a world of distraction.

One should try to see
Its own application 
In a moment of meditation.

Apple Mac and Boot Loaders for Linux Distributions.

Apple Mac and Boot Loaders for Linux Distributions.

Boot Loaders both Grub and LiLo can be pain in the ArXXXX if one is installing as many as seven (7) distributions in one computer.

That is what I do .

Each distribution, I use for a particular purpose, for testing and demonstrations.

Sometimes it is the smallest distribution that does it well.

I am going to talk about AntiX in a while, just hold it for a moment.

Because I use so many passwords including my Bank Cards I tend to forget some of them due to lack of use.

I forgot the root password for  PCLinuxFullMonty.

One cannot ROOT without a root password in Linux.

That is my work horse and I use it everyday including for downloading distributions for testing.

I wanted to do some simple task, home keeping task, one may call it BOX keeping task, like what cricketers wear when they go out for batting.

Like cricketers protecting their testicles one has to protect important data when computing and Linux has a way of doing it.

All important tasks are delegated to root user which normal user cannot use unless he is given sudo user privilege.

I could not remember the password and I could not cover my computer genitals.

That speaks lot about Linux.

Once configured I rarely do any household task.

 Once the firewall is properly configured, one can do seamless work day after day.

No complaints.

It is true that Linux computer should run 24/7 day schedule.

.

No hassle of updating too.

I decided to format and install it again since that is what I do in December.

This time because of our industrial action and particularly the laziness acquired during long drawn out strike, this was bit delayed.

I keep entire December for enjoying and the computer also get a rest.

But not this time round, we have to extend the sessions to accommodate for the lost time.

December 1st and second I was busy installing PCLinuxFullmonty.

Only PCLinux.

Others were OK and I could remember their passwords.

Installing went OK but with a hitch.

It did not recognize some of my other distribution in its GRUB file for booting.

I Installed Debian 6.0.6.

It recognized all but but PCLinux failed to start.

The fact of the matter is PCLinux is KDE desktop.

Debian was Gnome.

They do not speak to each other.

That is true as far as GRUB booting is concerned.

Then I re-installed PCLINUX without formatting home partition.

This time Debian did not boot.

Then I go for my magic-wand.

It is called AntiX, a Debian based Mepis derivative, and tiny and install in 10 minutes.

It restored my boot Loader with all in its menu.

I used to do all this manually with Redhat and Mandake and edit the boot partition line by by line.

Mankdrake had LiLo and Redhat had very good GRUB then.

Now of cause Linux does not need a boot partition and all is integrated with root partition and they can be mounted from any partition and MBR has all the details.

Coming back to Apple Mac it is Unix based and it still uses 1 MB bootstrapping partition which none of the partition tools is able to do now.

I installed Debian in the Apple Mac and then mounted Xbuntu and reduced the home partition and installed Xbuntu on the available space.

Now it has two bootstraps but can recognize only one.

that is the last install boot partition.

Apple Mac does not have MBR like in windows and it recognize only one boot partition.

I know one thing I can do is to edit the boot menu in the boot partition using an editor.

I am too lazy to do that now and I have no idea how Apple uses its command to recognize alien distributions.

This is how Apple works and even Windows 8 is trying to emulate Apple very late in its downward trend evolution.

I can use only one Linux distribution in an Apple hardware.

It is an absolute waste of resources as far as hardware is concerned.

The core Debian used only 280 MB of hard disk.

That is how powerful Linux is.

Rest of Linux utilities are spread over var and user partitions.

Unifying All Linux distributions-Is there a justifiable case for this approach?

Unifying All Linux distributions-Is there a justifiable case for this approach? 

Let me be forthright.

There is no case for Free software Foundation or the Community based Linux Distributions to follow a unifying theory.

In fact it is a waste of productive human endeavour.

Just as there are many newspapers, and many models of cars and sports and clubs that deal with these sports institutions, the variety of Linux distributions deliver a product that would appeal a greater user base.

What is probably lacking is the many developers do not focus on a certain or particular theme or vision and do it for the fun of it.

It may have a religious flavour or a sport or hobby enthusiasm and the human nature is for these to wax and wane.

That is the reason for some distributions to go dormant and some of them to have an active community support.

The community support and vigour is the one that make the Linux distributions successful.

It may not be true for a business model which is based on a particular task of course makes ends meet and make a profit at the end of the day.

If one mix this like Fedora and Redhat I believe that middle ground is never reached.
The tendency is for it to shift towards the business model.

They were the failures.

Suse also come into this fold.

For argument sake I will use five categories of users.

1. General users.

2. Hobbyist and gamers.

3. Students.

4. Scientists.

5. Technocrats

The beauty of Linux is that it can cater for any of these appeals.

Unlike business model which identify certain section of this population Linux should not restrict itself to a certain segment of the users.

In the beginning of the Linux story and history it was the hobbyist that played the major role.

Now that Ubuntu has taken a very distinctive an admirable vision and direction other developers also should focus on these efforts with their vision as a priority.

I always say even Linux developers have to make room for providing rice and curry or bread and butter for their families, once the hobby element is taken out of the denominator.

One should not measure the success by the fan base.

It should be based on the utility value.

I will give one example since I have downloaded and tested as many as 300 hundred distributions from September, 2009 and still continue to do that with a less aggressive manner to cut down on my electricity bill and also because the Sri-Lankan Teleom does not provide me the speed I pay for them .

I pay for 50 K bit and get barely 5 K bit per second.

With the 20/20 promotion they only worry about the profit and not the service that they provide to their customers.

There was a distribution based on Slakware was for writers and its last version was in 2009.

If I remember right it was named PocketWriter

It was a live distribution and I was not able to install it since that was the time I was getting into habit of writing at least to document, a portion of the lovely distributions I tested (not all).
I really liked this distribution. 

This distribution has gone dormant since there are fewer writers in this world than readers.

I hope the developer who did this distribution if he reads this piece activate this distribution for the sake of writers like me (I have deliberately excluded writers and media men and women who use Linux distributions in my informal list above).

That is the point I want to drive in this piece.

Even though the user base is limited the utility value of all the big and small Linux distributions outweigh the the consumer base.

If we use the Unifying Theory we are going to lose these innovative but very useful distributions.

Some of them are tiny like Puppy, 4M Linux, Finnix and many more.

They have a place in this Universe of Linux distributions.

We must not fall into the trap of Apple and Windows mentality.

Now that I have tested few Apple Macs, it is pain in the ARxxxx for users like me who do not like to be slaves of the gadget as well as the operating system.

I hope I have started a “Flame War”.

It is good for the the next generation of Linux distributions.

I hope somebody makes a distribution like PocketWrier for writers like me that can be installed in my netbook and not a Mega Super Computer.

That is the the vision that is lacking in Commercial and corporate Linux.

We need technocrats not the corporate CEOs.

Linux and Mobility with Wireless World.

I have more information for you.
My decision to go mobile was proven right.
My wired connection is giving me only 5 Kb per second and it cannot even connect me to Google let alone my email..
I switched it off and ecven my torrent downloads are at snail pace.
I only went for a data plan and no iPhone or mobile telephone used.
I hate telephones and take them as constant irritation and enemy to productive work.
I am made to understand that cell phones will eclipse the human population soon.
It is matter of time 
Only internet and prepaid SIM.
The other requirement is Linux compatible unlocked dongle and a good Linux distribution, ideally a latest edition.
They are Ubuntu easily the best and automatically connected me to the Internet.
It gives all the details too.
I will list them down (some numbers are changed to mask my IP Address) here if one is doing manual configuration.
They guys and girls in Dialog, Mobitel. Airltel, Tigo and the rest do not understand them unfortunately.

1. IP Address ooo.222.222.152
2.Broadcast Address as above 000.222......
3.Subnet Mask. 255.255.255.255.255
Default Router 00.64.64.64
Primary DNS.000.19.72..201.
Secondary DNS.000.19.72.201

Please do not use above they are not real.
Then comes Knoppix 7.0.4. Live or installed but one has to look for the network utilities and configure but it is automatic and no manual entries.
Sabayon 10 is also pretty good and I am posting this with Sabayon Gnome the brand new touch screen compatible and compiz version.

Good luck with your mobile roaming with Linux and there over 200 active Linux distribution to choose.

I have stooped downloading and testing them to save my electricity bill which is more than I pay for the Linux Magazine for a year subscription and I get a DVD with every issue.

Why don't you subscribe to it and save time and electricity?


Linux and Mobility with Wireless World.
If one is an ardent Linux user one is discriminated for being such in Sri-Lanka.
This had been the case few years ago but with routers hitting the market we were lucky.
Lately even the server functions are slow and not reliable and I was without internet connection for over 10 days.
I decided to opt for Mobile connection as a backup which my daughter uses since she prefers the mobility than to hook up to a wired Ethernet.

As usual I did a market survey to find both Mobitel and Dialog do not support Linux with their dongle devices.

I did not check Tigo and Airtell.]

I bought few dongles for wireless router (which I do not use now) when I was abroad but they do not have slot for SIMS.
I knew of a vendor who is quite up to date with gadgets in Kandy and he found me a dongle that can be used with any SIM and Linux compatible.

After that I found a wireless router that was Linux compatible.

Armed to the teeth I went to Mobitel and bought a SIM and with the help of the guys at the desk after several visits we were able to mount my Linux distribution with the dongle attached.

Below is an email related to that story.
It still has minor hiccoughs, none of which the Linux cannot negotiate.
It is strange that the dongle should not have Linux script to support Linux and the guys and girls who work for Microsoft and Apple have to bootstrap their efforts to be less discriminative in a commercial world.

This is why one of us has to be a hacker to hack these dongles for them to be universally acceptable. 
I have no time for those activities till I retire but a guy who has more time and adept at Linux should try it for me. 

Following is an email I posted to Mobitel Service.
Thanks for your help.
The SIM is still temperamental with my Linux Distribution.
It is all due to the dialog box wanting a number, password and ping information.
I persisted with not entering any data in those entries and at last the SIM sent a message to handshake with the server.
Still there was a problem since I worked with the live distribution on RAM and not on my hard disk installation.
In a couple of goes the hard disk installation picked the message and I was quickly on the web.
Unfortunately every time I wanted to access the web I had to configure it since the netbook was earlier used with the wired router ( I will have a go, with the wireless router when I have time).

Then I changed the SIM to Mobitel Dongle but it was not automatically recognized by Linux.

I opened is files in it to find install Linux file and clicked it and the script installed 7 files in a folder but still those files were not automatically recognized by Linux since the root kit and its files are meant for Microsoft and Apple Mac.

I believe a clever Linux guy (not me) can write a simple script to overcome this problem of the Mobitel Dongle without any physical changes.

I will look into these files when I have time (busy now).

In the process I may have corrupted the SIM and may not be able to use it anymore.
I will be visiting you to buy another SIM if it was the eventual outcome of my adventure with the mobile gadgets.
Thanks again.

Knoppix-7.0.4-Linux Magazine Issue

Knoppix-7.0.4-Linux Magazine Issue
I have good news for Linux Lovers.
Linux magazine for December 2012 is out and it has Knoppix 7.0.4.
Knoppix developers have iron out all the problems it had with the issue of April Magazine release.
I have already stated those issues here.
Go and download Knoppix 7.0.4 or if you bit lazy go and get three issues of the magazine now.
This edition has different desktops in addition to LXDE.
It is a fantastic live DVD from which one can install into hard disk.

Apple Mac, Yellow Dog, MakkOS (Fleas) and My Dog-The Connection and the Nation Building

Apple Mac, Yellow Dog, MakkOS (Fleas) and My Dog-The Connection and the Nation Building

All the above have literal and metaphorical connection.

The common denominator is thee size of one’s pocket.

All except Yellow Dog is going is going up and the trend is exponential with the announcement of our budget which is is economically strangling the nation with debit and credit crisis.

While the black money is going in percentage from 30% to 50% and we are debiting our money in the NBT (Nation Building TAX) and if one is having Rs.33,000/= turnover (above the SME-Small and Medium Enterprises) a day one is taxed for helping the economy in which the current government is unable to encompass and accomplish its energy with unnecessary extravaganza.

Yellow Dog is is open source distribution that can be installed in a Apple Computer.

I do not think any one of us in the university can afford to buy an Apple computer for productivity work.

Leave alone if one us including academics can afford an old netbook, it is a luxury.

Some years ago I figured out the cost of one Microsoft computer not pirated, I could have three computers, one at office, one at home  for me and one for my kids for playing games (basically DOS games that are / were very good but out of vogue now).

If I revise my old computations with Apple as an example today I can have almost 50 computers wirelessly connected in my SME business model using Linux as the Link Language.

The beauty is that the economics of the  NBT pundits cannot figure it out or understand the Linux OR its open philosophy and versatility.

They are engrossed with hedging deals instead of critical thinking.

What about MakkOS, the dog fleas which are plenty in this country like IRCs in Welikada with some political backing or the vote bank.

But the trouble is the treatment of dog fleas has gone up and I have to live with my dog and its fleas.

There is a saying in Sinhalese, that we say “if we sleep with a dog we wake up with dog fleas”.

That is of course if we are not interrupted by mosquito menace.

Fortunately we have a temporary respite with torrential rain and not full game o f cricket.

That is also a blessing since we can switch off the TV to save on electricity.

Fortunately, I do not watch SORROW-Lankan cricket but more interested in how the hedging deal was accomplished with ex-cricketers in the fray and running the SHOW.

I sometimes think if I hedged myself with an ex-cricketer instead going on an academic exercise called industrial action, I could have earned the entire emoluments in the university in one transaction.

That is only a wishful thinking.

Coming back to my dog which is having an expensive taste is refusing to eat the meager meal provided.

I did a survey and realized he wished that I should be back on with industrial action lest he missed all the fun we had during the prolonged strike.

Yes, we had dog food those days without our salary being paid but the dog food we shared had more meaning than all the 6% increase in educational funds we were asking for.

I am in full agreement with my dog who does not understand anything about Work or Free time (duly paid after three months) or Strike.

Yes the company we had eating dog food was worth in gold than the promises we were entertained by the economically Enlightened Economists.,

We are treated like Pol Buruwas by the elite.

Fortunately my dog who is eternally wagging his tail is a Pol Buruwaa but I am not.

Who else are the Pol Buruwas?

They are the poor voters

Linux Update on Apple Mac

Linux Update on Apple Mac
I have lot to report now.
Even though, Apple Mac on IBM hardware is based on Linux architecture boot parameters are different from Microsoft.
There is no BIOS but it has something called EFI where Apple Mac boot parameters are locked in and that little bit less than 1 MB [in fact few kilo bites] cannot be erased or formatted.
That little bit is essential for booting the computer and probably the firmware is written there and is permanently resident there.
I could not change it and after installing Ubuntu, I could not boot any other CD.
I searched the web and an Apple user who seemed to be having the mind of a HakingTosh PLAYER helped me.

One has to hold down the C for Command line and P and R for RAM to get the factory boot options AND THEN I could boot all the CDs I downloaded with Linux for Power Pack PCs.

 I managed to install Debian xfce.
The old Mac has very little RAM.
It took a very long time while connected to the internet for updating files.
Ubuntu and Xbuntu [I have now installed Xbuntu because my favorite word processor is AbiWord ] 6.0.6 version [ do not confuse with Debian 6.0.6]which is few years old and has no updates and installation was pretty breezy.

Debian is the latest 6.0.6 and has upto date facility.

I managed to install Yellow Dog 5.0.2 and had to terminate it due to not having the third CD downloaded.

It is like the old Redhat 8 with 6 CDs and it is pretty good.
I had to do lot of searching for the images. 

Its partition tool detects Apple firmware unlike gParted in Ubuntu and Xbuntu.

I could also use a home partition.
Yellow Dog based on Redhat has the best partition tool for Apple Mac hardware.

OK then, thanks to Debian, Yellow Dog and Ubuntu for your their excellent work on Apple hardware.
I won't test or write on Apple Mac for sometime, lest I will destroy the precious little RAM I have in my old Apple hardware.
i have done enough installing already.
I am currently downloading the 4th, 5th and 6th CDs of Yellow Dog.

If you have any additional information on Linux on Apple Mac please do not hesitate to make some comments below for other users Apple users to experiment with Linux.

Linux-Ubuntu on Apple Mac

Linux-Ubuntu on Apple Mac
You may be wondering why there was no addition to my blogpost.
I did not have access to internet for two solid weeks all due to thunder storms and the local telecom server unable to provide service.
I wanted to write about Linux on an Apple Mac and my first encounter with Apple Mac computer had to be delayed by about three weeks.

Three weeks ago, I was hunting for a RAM for IBM Server which I had misplaced after dismantling its components.
With the strike on, I did not want it (the server) to be obstructing my massive clean up efforts.
Before tidying up, I just wanted to see whether I could find few 266 DDR RAMs.

I was looking for them over the past 9 months.

It needed an EEC (Error corrected) dedicated RAM.
I walked into a computer shop and the guys knew me instantly and after a little search gave me a negative reply.

As I was walking out I saw an Apple Mac (Globe) with a beautiful monitor.
I asked, is it working and the guy said not Apple but Ubuntu.

That was a pleasant surprise and I got the young chap to run it and he even did not know how to open the CD tray.
I jacked in a USB Linux and it did not boot but after a long pause it booted up Xubuntu and it had Abiword, my favorite word processor.

I told him nobody except me would by it and nobody knows Linux in Kandy as much as I do and it is not Ubuntu but Xubuntu to be precise.

I checked the hard disk capacity which was 36 odd and the RAM was pretty low in today's standard and it was a good toy for me to play with Linux testing. 

I told him I will be back in two hours and if they quote a good price the deal was on.

I was collecting money for breast cancer project in those two hours.

Try all your tricks and tell me how it boots and BIOS etc were my instructions.
When I came back, they had given up on it and only the live CD was booting after a very long delay.

I managed to take the live CD out and could boot live only once at home and the thunder storms started and the install script did not work.
The same night the local server of the telecom was out and I could not have any access to download a Linux CD to install.

Ubuntu 5 and 9 power pack editions, I had were of no use and did not boot.
I downloaded Xubuntu 10 and it also did not boot.

All this was due to low RAM.

Toady morning I managed to download both Xubuntu and Ubuntu 6.0.6.1 and fortunately I managed to install Ubuntu on the first go.

Several goes with Xubuntu (to save the RAM) did not work with some file errors in the CD.
I could not find a Debian or any other less than 700 MiB (CD version) to instal on the old Apple Mac.

It is again Ubuntu to rescue.

What ever false propaganda people are spreading against Ubuntu, it was Ubuntu which had the nerve to spread its influence even on Apple hardware.
In less than 10 minutes it copied the files and in another 7 minutes it installed and configured the hardware in a Mac which had 80 odd RAM.

It is amazing what Linux can do even with low RAM.

It has open office 2 and firefox which was old but got me to my email and blogspot in an instant but without cookies.

I hate cookies which is pain in the neck and delay mounting files.

BIB THANK YOU to guys at Canonical and the guys who keep old repositories full of old Linux distributions.

If not for you lot of working hardware would be in the junkyard.

Now I can say I am an Apple hardware (if not software) convert.

What should I do with my email when I finally kick the bucket?

What should I do with my email when I finally kick the bucket?

I have enormous amount of web writing varying from Bullshit to Buddhism.

My Bullshit is visited by many including Americans.

It is currently at 70,000/= and I think 50,000 of it is my own visits (I have blocked my visits now).

I want it to pass 100,000 before I kick the bucket and you may help by visiting it.

The blogspot is called parafox at Google and mind you most of it is GOO like Guha Goda or Goo Goda in Kandy.

My erudite or better but Buddhist, philosophical and political one's are at Asokaplus at Wordpress.

Type Asokaplus and Buddhism and you get to those contents, hardly a few visit them (Not even me) by accident.

What it means is Web is mostly junk and do not sit in front of your computer like me for hours on end but go and visit your friends.

Till I get 100,000 visits I have decided not to socialize with anybody except myself.

You can get me out of this serious malady by visiting parafox at least once a day not in the morning but before going to bed.

That is the time I open my emails (many in fact) and post blogposts.

I have decided not to do that in the morning since our industrial action is suspended not over yet.

I will finish this bullshit by posing a question which you should help me to solve.

It is a radical and political problem.

What should I do with my email when I finally kick the bucket.

Your suggestions are put in my blogspot (parafox) not in any order of merits.

Ideally one should post a comment here instead of sending me an email.

Booting Netbook with a SD Card

Booting Netbook with a SD Card

I was lucky to find a Netbook with reasonable RAM with hard disk more than 100 GiB.

It also had SuSe enterprise edition to make a good buy in Sri-Lanka.

There was no buyer for it until I discovered it in a shop in Kandy.

Dealer was not a computer expert but a good salesman.

I could negotiate a good price having convinced him nobody will buy it (except perhaps me) with Linux as an operating system and if he has to install Microsoft there will be additional cost for him.

He won’t be able to boot it from a Flashdrive and he needs a USB DVD ROM to boot Microsoft.

That was some additional expense for the buyer.

Then I came home since I did not have spare cash (they stopped the salary for 3 months) because of the strike action.

Three months was a long time and I negotiated a loan from the bank and bought it, a week after initial negotiation.

Having bought tit I left it without using it since SuSe 10 was very old for me with OpenOffice instead of Libre Office.

In addition I could not get any additional software without registering with Novel (just like one register with Microsoft).

this was annoying for me to say the least.

I did not won’t a somewhat Virtual Guy taking control of my Linux Freedom.

Equally I did not want to lose warranty.

Then I realized only a few of the Linux distribution were compatible with Netbooks.

Finally I found Pinguy with all the software (11 series of Pinguy-Ubuntu derivative) including gParted and UnetBootIn and even Ubuntu One.

So one day I eased everything and booted and installed Pinguy.

I of course tried resizing the partition to get some space for Pinguy but it did not boot SuSe afterward..

In any case the partitioning done by the foreign vendor was horrible and did not have any understanding of Linux I believe.

That is the long story and the little story is how i booted it with a SDHC Memory Card.

Again I had to delay this due monetary reason.

Two days after we suspended the strike action I was in full swing and saw a 16 GiB SDHC Card and bought it using my credit card.

Methods and Materials.

1. Netbook

2. Linux image written on a DVD (Pinguy in this case).

3. Couple of Flashdrives.

4. USB Hard drive.

5. SD or SDHC

6. DVD RW Writer, optional.

7. Laptop for getting things ready with a DVD.

8. If not a Desktop. In my case the downloading was done with the desktop and all the Linux images were copied subsequently to the USB Hard disk.

STEPS.

1. Install Pinguy.

2. Using Pinguy prepare either USB Flash Drive (UnietBootIn) or USB hard drive as spare Live systems(Using Live DVD).

3. Boot Pinguy with SDHC card in slot.

4. Use gParted to partition SDHC Card.

5. First partition has to be FAT32 (in my case 4 GB FAT 32,  4 GiB NTFS and 8 GiB Ext4)

6. Run UnetBootIn and I gave the path to where my Linux Pinguy image was (in the USB Hard Disk). Be careful of the nomenclature of the disk names (HDD 1 Sda2, Sda 3 etc) and where it should be installed (in this case SDHC Card).

in about one has a bootable SD Card.

7. Boot it to see whether the installation is right.

8. Follow the same procedure for Flashdrives and test to see whether they work and remove them and place them in a safe place (Use them in case your original system breaks down. It rarely happens with Linux though and in my case never but when accidentally I format partitions with an operating system, I fall, back to the live CD/DVD.

Now it is Flashdrives and SD Cards both of which are environmentally sound as compared to CD/DVDs which are not.

Good luck if you are trying my experiments to get a hang of Linux.

NEMO! Who was he?

NEMO!

Who was he?

I only knew about the Waltz Disney character the Fish but never knew the name NEMO had a long history.

Below is a reproduction of Google’s contribution  to Winsor McCay on his 107 birth day anniversary.

Please Go and Visit Google and Doodle please.

Google Doodle Winsor McCay

The Google Doodle tribute to Winsor McCay

Google has celebrated the 107th anniversary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland with one of the search engine's most elaborate doodles ever.

The doodle recreates the adventures of the main fictional character from the illustrator's comic strips, which first appeared on 15 October 1905 in the New York Herald.

Widely regarded as one of the great figures in the comics form, McCay's bold and stylistic innovations in the early part of the 20th century redefined what the medium could do and set a standard followed by Walt Disney in decades that followed.

Born in Michigan in either 1869 or 1871 – the date is disputed – McCay received some basic art training while attending business school before going to work in the printing and engraving industry in Chicago. He later moved to Cincinnati, where his first major comic strip series was A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle, which appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer over more than 40 instalments.

Little Nemo, based on the adventures of a boy of around six-years-old, ran in the New York Herald from 1905 to 1911. The strip, which ran only on Sundays, features Nemo's adventures as he tries to reach the Princess of Slumberland, daughter of King Morpheus, who desires Nemo for a playmate.

McCay was hired by William Randolph Hearst in 1911 and went to work on Hearst's New York American, a morning newspaper, as an editorial cartoonist. He also started to experiment with animated cartoons and creating the classic Gertie the Dinosaur as well as a short Little Nemo film.

McCay died on 26 July 1934 of a cerebral embolism.

USB Booting with Linux

USB Booting with Linux

This piece long overdue.

The real reason is our strike and I was doing three times the work I had not done at home and was organizing my living room and workshop.

These were done on a leisurely pace not in a rush as when I was working.

My dog took a lot of time of me which he really enjoyed and the little squirrel is a bundle of energy.

All the same I got all my computers USB bootable one by one.

I have used only two methods.

Method 1

I. UnetBootIn and get the stuff copied to a USB stick.

this has disadvantages.

UnetBootin takes over the flash drive entire and one cannot have storage space except of course home folder.

It uses only FAT partition

One cannot get the GRUB installed with your existing operating systems in the hard drive booted.

The real advantage is one can make any iso image bootable provided that one has enough space in the USB stick and your RAM is at least 1 GiB.

Anything less is not advisable.

Method 2

This is the method I prefer since in an emergency, the hard drive systems can be booted in a breeze or if they are not working one can boot up with the external hard disk and start doing repair work from there if the operating system used in the USB hard drive is packed with Rescue utilities .

One can use Rescatux.

But here I will take PCLInux as an example.

Its USB Creator is now solid and very good (latest download after Texstar took a back seat).

One has to use the PCLinux USB Creator

1. The advantage is it uses Linux Partitions.

2. It writes the GRUB already in the Master Boot record.

3. One has to do the installation once one has finished all the installation in the Internal Hard disk/s.

4. It has storage more space.

5. In my case my archived isos reside on the spare NTFS partitions

6. It is easy carry in your front shirt pocket and one cannot lose or misplace it like the Flash Drive.

7. Password protected and safe with your critical data 

I have not given the details since all that is there in this blog under different titles.

Other reason is to thank the PCLinux team for doing a good job without making a big ha ho.

Thank YOU PCLinux Guys and Girls.

Pooches, poo and "crottes de chien"

Dear Friends.

Since our strike is suspended and in suspensions (not underwear) for now, till the real budget comes in November, let us read some real news.

If we continued with the strike we would have had POOS up to our BRIM not dogs of course and I get the information, they we collecting by the buckets.

Years ago Kandy had Bucket latrines and thank god the Municipality discontinued this procedure.

We had to go to Guha Goda- (I think it was derived from Gu Goda which the British could not pronounce and went as Guhagoda) in our public health appointment and unfortunately when we reached there they were unloading the Municipality products.

That was the first and the last day I went there.

But it was a good opportunity for me to put some insight into practice later when I started as an intern.

At Ratnapura Hospital, The Children Diarrhoea Ward was no different from Gu Goda or Guha Goda.

I requested that it should be cleaned on several occasions but the staff took me as joke, it was never cleaned it continued to be Gu Goda.

I came home for weekend break and returned on Monday in probably five or six buses (all the bridges were blasted by the JVP from Kegalle to Darniegala to BulathKohupitiya).

I gave instruction for it to be cleaned when I return on Monday

I went straight to the  diarrhoea ward to see it was in the same mess as it was on Friday.

I talked to few of the mothers told the nurses to get me some KOSU (Mops were not known) and I myself changed to a short (not a trouser) and started cleaning it from one end to the other.

Then, the laboures came and chased them away saying I do not need them.

This was hot news that day and children were piling up in the main ward not seen by (the other guy who was from Colombo did not turn up on time and came only at 11 A.M.) a doctor.

I only saw the diarrhoea patients till the other guy came.

When I got the news that the other guy came. 

I went to my room had a bathe and a cup of tea.

I used to make my own cup of tea.

I had a brand new electric kettle (these were the time we did not have tooth paste) which my brother brought from UK.

Mind you all the doctors in the hospital had Infectious Hepatitis in that year. except me.

I believe I was the only one who practiced simple hygiene.

This was many moons ago and we would been in a mess, like Guha-Goda, if we continued on our action and could have got Infectious Hepatitis instead of a salary hike.

READ MORE,

Dogs and Digital Tombs

Dogs and Digital Tombs

This is the best feature article I read during Christmas,2011.

Unfortunately it is taken off the main page and I had to search for it today.

I have some extracts below for your perusal.

I have a suggestion for French and People in Paris.

Instead of stoned tombs in the cemetery, they should have a server with DIGITAL TOMB with all the photographs and videos of the dogs when they were alive and well for not so dog lovers or dog loving Sri-Lankan administrators to see.

For the poo ("crottes de chien"), I have suggestion, they must send them to Sri-Lanka as fertilizer for the Banana Plantation we are growing in the thick of virgin forest to feed American entrepreneurs.

We love anything including "poo", if it is foreign but make sure they are scented with French cosmetics for poos, please.

This is good for our City Planners in Kandy and Colombo where dogs are rounded up and slaughtered and some end in dinner plates as "chicken substitute".

It is no point saying all the beings be happy and content like a mantra.

Without them (dogs) we cannot protect our things from petty thieves.

Extracts

The pampered pooches of Paris

By Joanna Robertson Paris

Pet dogs in the French capital appear to enjoy the freedom of the city, accompanying their owners just about everywhere - and even have their own cemetery.

The pampered pooches of Paris

By Joanna Robertson Paris

Pet dogs in the French capital appear to enjoy the freedom of the city, accompanying their owners just about everywhere - and even have their own cemetery.

There are hundreds of thousands of dogs in Paris.

They can be chosen from puppy-shop windows or ordered from countryside breeders.

They are seen traveling about the city, nestled amongst the groceries in shopping trolleys or peering out of handbags.

Dogs perch on the running boards of mopeds - ears flying in the wind - or sit, swathed in blankets, in bicycle baskets.

They are petted on the bus, the tram and the metro and, for a flat-rate ticket costing 5.10 euros (£4.25), the smaller ones can escape the metropolis and take the train to anywhere in France.

Access all areas

When on all four paws, dogs in Paris can choose from 72 gardens to walk in - from formal palace grounds to tiny urban squares.

In between, they can mark lamp-posts, trees, ornamental masonry and the corners of Art Nouveau metro stations to their hearts' content.

Paris dogs snooze under cafe tables and sit politely in restaurants.

They are allowed into shops - even when officially not - and, from time to time, sneak into cinemas, usually for a matinée on a wet afternoon.

Each dog has its own preferred vet and there are hundreds to choose from.

Each vet has a preferred dog diet. Calves liver, braised. A little "blanc de poulet" (white chicken meat) or a slice of rare roast beef.

What goes in must come out, and Paris dogs apparently drop 20 tons (20,000 kg) of "crottes de chien" (dog poo) on the city's streets every day, although who exactly weighs it remains a question that even the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) cannot answer.

From time to time, the city's more creative residents have used the crottes as pavement art, sticking them with coloured flags, photographing and painting them.

My Dear Friends
There is good news for you.
Read the article

Chocolate Consumption, Cognitive Function, and Nobel Laureates

If you eat  lot of chocolate (I am not sure dark / or milky) one day you will be a Nobel Laureate before you even become a professor.
It is a good idea to increase its consumption before the examination.
The secret of success is that you have to share half of the chocolates with me who has send this good news.
My dog will get the Nobel price for Wisdom for sharing chocolates with me daily before my name is proposed for similar purposes.

My daughter and my wife tell me he will get cataract before the nomination day.

But he gets dark chocolate too.

I think mango (Mango Friends) is the best (I think it has more flavonoids which I gave him today for test trial of cognitive functions after a dose of dark chocolates.

He actually talked today and said " ...... This part is withdrawn on the advice of my friends but it starts with M M but not 3 M of Minute Metta Meditation------but one can substitute one’s own original thesis in expectation of Nobel Nomiation (NN for SHORT).

Unfortunately I could not record it.
Keep this as a secret until he and me gets the Nobel Prize before the world ends this year in December 12-12-12.