Email Etiquette

Email Etiquette

Web is full of suckers.

Most of them pretend to be your Advisor or Saviour.

This is true with obtaining VISA.

But they are suckers.

They are out there to get your money and email and more importantly your personal details.

They use your identity to get involved in undesirable activities.

Beside your government or its stooges are the most untrustworthy.

For example your Grama Niladari is not innocent.

He/She provides your information (sometimes incorrect) to the politicos and often leave important documents lying around.

Not in a safe or safe place.

In that way I am against this new trend in e-governace and e-commerce.

They provide these information to third parties and there are no legislation in this country to prevent them doing so.

Most of is done under the name of prevention of terrorism but now used for political mileage.

The police is not selective but they are corrupt.

They have no mechanism to anticipate and prevent disaster.

They are always after the fact and slow to respond.

So with this background my advice is simple.

1. If you do not need an email or not competent enough in using please do not open one.

2. If you do have one do not share it with others.

It is private property like an address.

Like our politicos you cannot have more than one birth certificate or more than one identity card.

3. Hackers are out their to use you as a Zombie.

Identity theft is a serious offense.

Our politicos operate in this way.

4. If you are opening an email, you should have at least two not one, for good reason.

I forgot my password for my private email it took three months for me to recover.

I forgot the 'the pet phrase' and the document that I wrote them was misplaced.

After three months, my memory recovered by accident and the pet phrase (now I have a pet phrase recovery method) was typed in to get back to the normal working order.

This was time I was migrating from Microsoft (dual booting) to Linux so my memory loss was not due to sickness but due to work overload and lack of sleep.

Trying to do too many things one at the  same time and wasting my time downloading Linux at night.

It was appallingly slow and University download was even worse and was restricted.

This was the time I had a university email and it was hacked by a guy who worked there for a while (temporary may be) and did some damage due probably to personal vendetta after leaving the university.

He took the password and the email password document of a particular faculty with him.

This was the time of mistrust and terrorism in its peak and with the most bizarre password (it was stolen) of all, I had was stolen.

The password was file was stored in a Microsoft Server which was available for the hacker/s.

So my conviction to go for Linux for the sake of Security was of paramount importance and the university was slow to adapt to Linux.

I never used university portals for my work and developed my own little private network which is practically dismantled to save my electricity bill NOW.

My daughter's Microsoft computer at home with 

wireless connectivity was hacked most probably by a guy in the Engineering Faculty but never ventured to capture the culprit / guy but changed my tactics to be secure.

Coming back, if you forget your password, the easiest way is to give the service provider the alternative email so that they send an instant email for you to have a new password.

This simple technique was not there 15 years ago.

5. The use of alternative email gives you flexibility.

6. I have many emails and one email is for money transactions only and I do not give it to anybody.

7. Another is to keep track with my batch mates and I always get the sad news of demise of another guy with serious illness.

8. Another one for all the academic / magazine articles.

9. The email what I regularly use is called the Junk Email. So anybody who sends an email to it is considered a JUNK MAN / WOMAN.

10. My biggest problem is when I kick the bucket who will be responsible for them.

I have already forwarded them to Apaya Director to take appropriate action since I will be in Apaya as a guest speaker since I have done nothing to stop the Sri-Lankan National / International criminals who go scot free from all their crimes and his / her / their balance of crimes have been credited to my account by accident.

I need to clean my balance sheet at Apaya before I think of my next birth.

Not Sri-Lanka again by default.

I am tired living with criminals, including Cyber criminals.

Mini Garden Concept

Mini Garden Concept

Mini Garden Concept was something built into my sphere of activity but failed to materialize due to constant movement related to my work assignments.

It actually dawned on me that living in the topic is a luxury.

My family hated skyscrapers and confined living quarters.

I always bargained for a good house / garden even if the job was in a far remote corner of this planet.

Once, I had few exotic plants on the windowsill and had to come home for my father's funeral, for 10 days in winter.

None of the plants survived.

I gave up any miniature adventure with plants until I landed in the West Coast of New Zealand south island.

Even there I never saw any ladybirds in the garden.

They use lot of insecticides in agriculture and one day drove with the family past Reefton to collect few specimens but they never survived in the semi-urban garden.

Even here in Kandy we used to have many different ladybirds but not anymore due to liberal and unscientific use of insecticides and poisonous imported fertilizes.

But our children were enthusiastic and we always had mini garden and collecting specimens were their task.

Tray used for collecting rubber latex was the base.

On top of the soil mount in a corner was a plastic water tank.

The water was supplied with a plastic saline bottle hung on a tree branch.

All the tubes (saline tubes perforated with safety pins) were hidden under soil.

The design was left for them to manicure.

It was total success but a mini garden in a bottle was bit of a miss.

Rock garden was another concept.

We even had a big jute plant but it is no more.

I got busy, they grew up and the concept went into hibernation till lately.

The strangest thing I noticed recently was that all those tiny specimens we collected are still in our tiny garden after 30 years.

How they survived without any attention, I cannot figure out.

I know my friends from Colombo when they visit us take few specimens of ferns for indoor decorations but they die a natural death.

I counted at least 7 types scattered all over.

When the domestic aid and the cleaning man comes (he is not a gardener but weeder) I have to give special instructions not to uproot and upset the tiny tots (ferns) in the ecosystem.

Strangely my rooftop water garden also have few specimens taking root.

Mini garden is a workable concept but need constant attention.

Can Dogs Go to Heaven?

The pontiff came and went but the question whether dogs could go to heaven, remains unanswered.

One must not blame the pontiff since he came during our election campaign.

I think one has to follow my simple solution.

Convert them to Hindu or Buddhist before their demise.

Can Dogs Go to Heaven?

The simple answer is Yes.

They are the only ones that can be trusted in heaven, if they happen to be from Sri-Lanka.
 

The answer to that question is very simple.

But there is a caveat.

If the dog is Hindu or Buddhist by descent there is no problem.

Most of them go to heaven (if the master is not a Sri--Lanka politicians with ministerial posts who deal with heroin, Kassipu or other major vices, they go to hell with them) by default, especially if it is a Paraya (stray) dog.

But if the dog is Catholic, it has to wait till the present pontiff re-defines humanely the plight of dogs according to the scriptures and interpretations made by predecessors.

But, I have a suggestion for the pontiff who visits us next year.
There is an easy solution without going into scriptures.

Please make all Catholic dogs of Sri-Lanka blessed and converted to Buddhist or Hindu at the time of their demise.

There is no harm they remain as Catholic, in their active life.

After all Catholics in Sri-Lanka need them for their security with B.B.B (until Bodu Bala Sena is proscribed) in action like a pack of rabid dogs.

What remains to be done for the dogs of Muslim descent of Sri-Lanka is a difficult preposition.
They cannot be converted to any other religion at the time of their demise.

It is sacrilegious!

I have a plausible strategy.

These dogs must be made a permanent member of one of the many branches (not Shea or Sunni sectors) of their political parties before their death.

Then at the time of the demise, there should be an affidavit to the effect that they switched allegiance to the ruling party.

By this subtle method blasphemy can be politically avoided and the religion can be safely bypassed (after all they are animals they need not have a religion).

After all, dead dogs are only valid to the ruling party for propaganda.

They are mortally scared of the living dogs, anyway.

That is why they unleash violence while preaching Avihinsa (non violence).

But if the dog belongs to an atheist, the owner should go to a psychologist and get his advice before writing his Will.

The question is why does an atheist needs a dog, if he or she is not fearing hell or heaven?

Perhaps, she / he may be fearing another atheist from another planet.

Or is he or she fearing all the religious guys and girls on this planet.

Sir, Bertram Russell had to flee from England to China in 1930s.

He feared England more than Hell and Heaven.

When he was in coma (down with double pneumonia) an obituary was published but he recovered to the displeasure of the saints.

He lived to 97 or 99 with no help from any religion.

That is amazing!

This is the debate they are having at present.

Can animals go to heaven?

Some people all over the world have been excited in recent days about reports by news agencies worldwide -- including one from CNN -- declaring that Pope Francis apparently believes they can.

It turns out it's unclear what he believes about this.

A previous pope, Paul VI, had no doubts. "One day we will again see our animals in the eternity of Christ," Paul once told a boy grieving the loss of his pet.

That quote, from the pontiff who reigned from 1963 until his death in 1978, was inaccurately attributed to Francis.

The confusion may have begun when Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera referred to Paul's quote in a story that carried the headline, "The pope and animals: 'Heaven is open to all creatures.'"

The story itself does not indicate Francis said that. Instead, it refers back to Paul VI.

The writer for the newspaper pointed to something Francis actually did say: "Sacred Scripture teaches us that the fulfillment of this marvelous plan cannot but involve everything that surrounds us and came from the heart and mind of God."

That remark, the writer suggested, "widened the hope of salvation" to animals and all of creation.

The headline on the article quoted Francis as saying, "Heaven is open to all creatures." But there's no sign Francis said that.

A search through the current Pope's writings and remarks showed no immediate sign that he has taken a clear position on the question.

Dog Shit as a Meditative Object

Dog Shit as a Meditative Object

All dog lovers should read this.

I was to write about my 'Mini Garden Concept' but this is more urgent matter to deal with.

It was only yesterday, I was walking down our foot path and there was a little tussle brewing.

I generally avoid such encounters like, I avoid dog shit on our path.

This guy was a old polio case with a big limp and at the street level with direct eye contact.

I knew him as a casual labour when young not for good reason.

He refused to cut grass as fodder for the young cattle (cow and a bull) my wife had saved from the slaughter house.

His refusal did not deter me doing this menial job of looking after them for over seven months.

The other was a wife of a policeman who died recently as a pensioner.

She was on top flight of the steps.

I did not look up but diverted the guy's attention to me.

Then he said that dog shit was on his steps everyday.

He knew, I love dogs and feed all the stray dogs I meet on my walkaway.

The lady, in a second retreated to her house.

This guy is living at a higher level and there is another guy who is very friendly with me because of his reading habits.

He is relatively poor but I make a point to buy a book or two of his choice, if I meet him in a bookshop.

I like him since he always has a question or two for me to answer or expand upon, which sometime end up as a blog piece.

I have this canny habit of rephrasing his question to make his next question more vulnerable.

He is caring for all the dogs (now partially stray) that come to his house from the neighbourhood.

I told him the other day, that he is stupid and with the cost of living as it is, feeding dogs is not a minor matter.

I told him, I feed stray dogs on the street but never take them home as my company.

These dogs have the uncanny habit of pleasing you with a drop of a hat.

I tell him, follow me, when I see dog shit in my garden, I clean them up immediately in meditative mode (my dog never does it on the steps) since my wife has a big aversion.

Mind you dog shit is dog shit and smelly if your dog is not a vegetarian dog (there aren't any vegetarian pedigree dogs).

My dog has limited space but his shit is small and in pellets formation and easy to cast away like a bad though in meditative mode.

His only problem is constipation both he and I suffer due to dehydration (extremely hot weather even in Kandy).

So dog shit is a meditative object for me but for many Buddhists in this country dog shit is enough to start a war now that the ethnic war is extinguished (but the mad hatters are harping on).

I was able to stop the tussle, just yesterday.

But I won't try it once the parliament is dissolved.

All our political stray dogs are there cohabiting with shit on the floor of the house with p words.

I was looking down from my balcony and there were five or six dogs on the road making their territorial marks.

It just reminded me one of our present minister's pedigree dogs were poisoned for political reasons.

So they (now he is just a citizen with lot of spare time on his hands) will be busy igniting the ethnic war while at the same time visiting Buddhist temples.

How can these Buddhist monks practice meditation not on 'dog shit' but on 'ethnic purity shit'? 

This theme is called 'territorial integrity' which dogs possess in abundance.

Warning for Newbies using LiveCD/DVDs

Warning for Newbies Using Live CD/DVDs

It is an advantage to use PAE based distributions.

PAE stands  for Physical Address Extension (32 and 64 bits machines)

Now that it very easy to obtain a Linux Live there are certain prerequisites or conditions one must satisfy before experimenting with them. I would list some of the mistakes I have done and continue to make in spite of the familiarity. Some of them I call killer sharks. The take over the entire system with minimum warning and they forget Live Booting is fun and game and there should no be any commitment to them like Microsoft Apple Mac as from the box.

1. First priority is the graphic capability. NVidia is the graphic card Linux find it easy to configure. Lot of manufacturers do not provide necessary OEM data for Linux to configure them. If you have the wrong card you may not be able to join the fun. They may boot up bit might do some damage to the card. The damage may be due to wrong low level configuration or due to graphic intensity of the distribution. One example is SuSe which is graphic intensive KDE. On the other hand it may be like Swift Linux with low graphic intensity with the mind set for old computers and may not be suitable for graphic card with much power.

2. Second is the RAM. I recommend minimum of 1 GiB but more the merrier then the live session will be quite fast to boot and execute its virtues.

3. Third is the monitor. Lot of old distribution cannot configure LCD monitors. I of course in my early days with wrong horizontal and vertical configuration burnt few cathodes out of commission. Now of course most distributions tell you it has not got the driver for the card and uses the least harmful configuration for the live sessions.

4. If you have got a hard disk without an operating system or data no harm can be done. I often use the live session for preparing the hard disk. Partitioning and formatting can be done to get the hang of the process but with Operating system and data in the hard disk and no changes to the hard should be done without saving data.

5. Doing any of these without a UPS power supply is a risk. If power fails one should immediately terminate the session.

What can go wrong for Android Tablets?

Lot can go wrong with Android tablets.

This was posted in 2011 and Google has improved.

I started using an android and testing it on real time.

I will post you with my updates, some of them are already in asokaplus.

Long period elapsed from the concept to execution and most of it was tested on high end of the market.

The average user was not involved in the decision making.

It was probably an effort of a small team which worked hard (dedicated to the task at hand). To begin with it was the development of the browser. Then the tiny OS without security enhancements.

It was a new browser not a time tested one.

There were many suitable candidates for this new browser in the  Linux community and none of them were considered or compared with the Chrome. 

Now take FireFox.

It has lot of loop holes when used in the Microsoft Environment.

It originated from Linux but then arched its way out to embrace Microsoft community.

With that it lost the security features.

It is possible to customize it in the Linux environment and even in that environment some cookies till lately (penetrated even my computer) do some undesirable things.

I was doing lot of downloads without a firewall and hacker (most likely windows guy from India-that is far as I went in search of the guy) installed a script in the browser.

Fortunately I detected it in matter of hours and took necessary steps.

Instead of point to point I went for Torrents which has a way of of using the port and testing the threads.

Even torrents can be attacked and it happened to LinuxTracker and lately Linux foundation is affected by a similar attack.

If Linux could be attacked it is going to be chicken feed for attackers in Microsoft environment.

Chrome will have to deal with this threat.

It has no human resource to deal with like in the Linux Community.

In a commercial environment Linux does not prosper as was shown in Fedora Project.

Fedora’s contribution was marginal when compared to Debian.

It was today I (rather PCLinux) detected something fishy.

I was using point to point download overnight (two files) and one of them (either Zenwalk or Absolute Linux let in a cookie in between the download streams disrupting my download (point to point) today.

Equally it could have happened after the downloads were finished and I did not terminate the download as usual and left the computer running.

If I had the torrent running this would not have happened which I usually do.

I removed all the Google Cookies (including useful ones) to get some sanity back and system running smoothly.

Any browser is vulnerable and not foolhardy.

So Google gadgets are also vulnerable.

In any case I do not use Chrome.

I am into Cloud computing I have to and I will be using the browsers.

I think Linux has to develop a utility like torrent to deal with this problem and Google with its limited staff cannot do that.

For cloud to succeed something better than the browser has to take the  tiny  computing moments and events into control.

I believe the browser is not the best vehicle for Cloud computing.

Time will tell whether my apprehensions are true or false.

Google cannot do it alone.

The stakes are high if they fail. 

Like viruses for Microsoft viruses it will be Cookies for Google that set in a bad omen (for Chrome and Google).

It has to forge a friendship with Linux Community for it to be successful.

The mistake it did was to declare it’s kernel is pure and original. It is not and it is vulnerable.

Linux has to look forward to the challenge and take a giant stride now  (before it is too late) in Cloud Computing.

Linux can do it with or without Google’s help. That is my belief.

WordPress Web Hosting

WordPress is a Open Source Content Management System (C.M.S) that provides a simple web application platform for web hosting.

If you a Linux geek you can download it and tweak it to satisfy your needs but the open license prevents you from developing new themes other than what is already agreed and known as the standard.


It probably developed from Ubuntu Turnkey applications and has a significant market share of web hosting for smaller companies. 
My intention here is to let you know that there is http://www.wordpress.org that gives you a blog space like here in Google’s blogspot that can be your personal web site before you mature into a Web Wizard. 

Other reason for me to
highlight it here, is that it has support for Sinhala fonts and Tamil fonts for your web writings. 

Do not wait till Government provides you with necessary infrastructure in IT including fonts, go and become a Web Star (not a Mega Star) by learning the basics with WordPress. 

It is easy as a word processing program and you will ascend to greater heights once you master the Codes.

A glossary of the Codecs are published elsewhere free for access.

It is free but once you are mature you can pay a nominal fee and upgrade your blog site which for me is almost a complimentary website without annoying advertisements that hide your creativity.

I downloaded
WordPress some months ago but failed to write something about it since I was obsessed with Linux 100 Live CDs. 

Now I am quietly delving into inner strengths of Linux and Open Source talking about WordPress is appropriate here.

The omission was a serious lapse on my part and my apologies for that.
WordPress is as important as Dropbox for new wave of web activity with cloud computing on the horizon.

Internet Banking = Dangers not Evaluated; The WARNINGS not Heeded

Internet Banking = Dangers not Evaluated; The WARNINGS not Heeded

This should be read in conjunction with Bugger the Bankers.

I will only give only a glimpse of it.

The reader should update his or her own risk element, if not on daily basis but on monthly basis.

Let me dispense with the underline presumptions.

There are two presumptions.

One is that computers never make mistakes and better than humans.

Computers make huge mistakes whereas humans make small mistakes, like counting the balance.

Computer can make million of mistakes in a fraction of a second but human can make only one mistake at a time, which many of us do not guard against.
 

Humans try to prevent repeating the mistake, whereas computers keep on doing the same mistake million times.(No fortune company will come out with the true facts, like the Ponsi scheme that went round globally without any hindrance, till the banks started collapsing.

We have too many banks.

 
What we need is a few banks with credibility.

Like me forgetting, to take the balance after payment is made.

The cashier, if he or she is a good one will promptly return the money.

Computers will never gives back the money that was wrongly paid (server administrator can safely transfer it in seconds to some far away destination without any trace of the transaction) or comes behind you with the correct balance in hand.

The sever administrator can swindle any excess, knowing very well that somebody has made a mistake.

This happens in big shopping networks and that is why the items and articles are more expensive than in the open market.

They never audit or declare these frauds fearing that they will loose the market.

Banks are no different.

They only see one side of it.

The customer side.

Never its own staff.

If they make a mistake they will hide it by all means like a cat covering its poo.

The second premise is very simple.

Majority (99%) including me is very bad at balancing accounts on daily basis.

The bank jump into your shoes under this pretext and may even one day ruin you.

In fact, I managed without a bank account for nearly six years when I returned from abroad with six credit cards.

That was only period in my life, I never asked for a loan and did not make a single mistake.

I was doing my own banking and balancing my accounts.

But I have one cardinal principle.

That is, I may not make mistakes on a daily basis but one day I will make a huge mistake.

I will guard against that mistake which will ruin me.

It will last good for me.

I have also another resolution.

My maximum loss should be theoretically not more than Rs.100,000/= (never a million which young ones are enticed and coaxed into by all commercial banks).

Each one should have a credit limit which he or she can bear, which is usually three to ten times the basic salary (not the total salary).

If one exceeds that limit, he or she on his or her own peril one day, one has to blame oneself not the bank or the creditors.

The day I make that big mistake, I will close all my accounts and delegate my finances to someone whom I can trust.

The problem is finding one whom I can trust in this blessed Buddhist country.

So if you do Internet Banking,  the moment (fraction of a second) you press the button,  you are taking a big risk.

The song bugger the bankers is making a huge impact globally and the banks are hell bent on promoting their vices on many new form of advertisements and in many fronts.

Even children not born are not spared.
Do not fall to their trappings which are worse than Merchant of Venice..

That is, promote free spending with a noose around your neck.

I felt like writing this having seen a young mother with her baby attended by her mother did not check the bill when she was making her payment.

In my medical career I have seen many nursing mothers making big mistakes that include caring for the baby, let alone finances.

If you are 'Senior Dog' Friendly, you are invariably 'Kids Friendly' and 'Senior Citizen Friendly'

If you are 'Senior Dog' Friendly, you are invariably 'Kids Friendly' and 'Senior Citizen Friendly'

We get old disproportionately.

Some of my pet fish never gets old.

They never sleep and I cannot figure out the biology (not advantage) behind it.

They are always always alert and kill themselves by their alertness.

I decided to changed the fish tanks and in the panic one fish got trapped behind the aerator and could not get out and it escaped my attention (old age).

I forgot to remove the aerator (forgetfulness another malady of old age) before changing water.

It took five solid hours (which I did not) since the water I do not discard but put them to my plants as fresh supply of nutrients (no artificial manure except tea leaves and my dogs liberal supply of not so friendly squirts, everything biodegradable, and environmentally (trying) friendly and I hate plastics).

Our dog got annoyed and after cleaning up utensils could not find the dog.

I do not call him (he prefers me looking for him and he hides like a seven year old) but go looking for him but after 10 minutes (of my daily exercise) searching I could not find it.

He is almost 80% blind with cataract and has early arthritis,I feared and figured he is injured.

Called him loud and after about another few minutes which was expanded my anxiety to about one hour, he just appeared on the top steps and I was on the bottom.

He has not lost his old tricks.

He thinks I am at his age of seven not geriatrics like him.

Dogs needs exercise.

Dogs needs lot of water.

His dish was empty and filled it up, fed him with yogurt and I made some yogurt drink (if I make it myself it costs 5 times less) for myself and dropped to sleep immediately (I skip lunch now, eat when I am hungry only-'Single Meal' principle of prehistoric man and his dog).

I woke up with some beautiful dreams (enough material for few more scientific articles but decided to pen down on the above issue).

My friendly advice is that one should not have a dog.

It reminds me of my age now.

I prefer to be young at heart, just 18 not the octogenarian feel.

I need freedom but I cannot go out and come late.

Dogs gives you lot of exercise at the expense of your freedom.

I prefer the freedom now.

Lot of young adult with young kids go for a dog without thinking (emotions) which is very demanding.

They do not take into account the risks.

I will list them now without any priority.

1. They low to gnaw on your footwear.

They are very expensive and even the slippers are expensive and we do not discard them once the slipper part is broken. For few rupees one can buy the upper part but removing the old putting them back are very difficult (I had a haematoma under my thumb and the shop keeper refused to push them in for me-that is the way we are served in a shop in this blessed country).

2. They gnaw on the extension wire, when there is no supply but when you switch on the plug there is impending fire hazard.

3. They urinate all over (It is liquid urea for plants me) and very smelly too.

When he is angry it squirts on my pillow, the pillow has to being a top place.

Imagine you wear a hat and it does a squirt on the hat.

They are not accidents like in kids but deliberate ploys to mark his treasures.

If you have any, they have to be hidden well away from your pet.

It might break up a family of young adults, especially one is averse to dogs.

4. There is enough dog hair to cause allergy.

5. Rarely it might do the big job on the sofa.

The above is enough to put you off rearing one but if you decide have one, dog's safety is almost equivalent to kids safety and senior adult safety.

6. No tripping wire.

7. No multi-plugs but dedicated plugs well away from the reach of toddlers/dogs.

8. Kids monitors have known to kill toddlers (strangling, fire, electrocution).

9. Fish tank should be on solid stand (dog does not drink from it) so they do not topple over kids.

They are heavy, I have known of a kid dying with a fish tank on top of the kid cutting his belly like a knife.

10. Ponds are a hazard for kids and puppies.

Bathing on puddles one can get drown in mud.

This list can go on but a small garden with flowers is much better than indoor fish tank, dogs and cats (unlike dogs steal food-especially cheese).

But a pond is a risk but I have a mini pond on a cement raising out of any hazard.

Kids friendly environment with open air is a luxury that one can ill afford.

That is why I hate condominiums.

That is where children learn to develop temper tantrums.

I hate to come to Colombo, even a lift is an antithesis to me.

Skyscrapers is a nightmare and that is why I have the shortest stop overs at Singapore.