Linux Lot, Some Gone Defunct

Reprodcution

Linux Lot, Some Gone Defunct

Beware Linspire and Freespire that Microsoft Guys/Girls try to use for destroying interest in Linux newbies!

It is time for me to narrow down the first Five Linux Live CDs  only. 

I have no intention of giving points or put it in any order except alphabetical.

However criteria for selection were based on few important qualities.

They include the followings.

 

1. Stable Boot Loader preferably GRUB.

2. Ability to live with other Linux distributions side by side (not only with Windows).  

Black Track4 fails on this issue. 

I cannot installed it, along with other Linux distributions,      so it is available to me only,  in an emergency.

3. Good Partition Manager (which include other OS types) or an editor which does not cause problem with many other partition tools available in Linux.

4. Installation process easy and compatible with other distributions.

5. Security tools and Firewalls and parental control.

6. Availability of Root and User options (unfortunately Ubuntu fails on this issue).

7. Availability of commonly used general purpose utilities or the ability to download them as an open option.

8. Attractive but light weight (tone downed KDE would do).

9. CD burner ideally KDE.

 

10. An assortment of light weight games (including card games) or one single high features game everybody loves.

Unfortunately all of the Live CD/DVDs fail on this feature.

1. Knoppix
2. Mepis
3. PCLinux
4. Puppy Linux
5. SuSe

I have all installed in my 80 GB hard drive.

6. Linux Mint
7. Fedora Linux
8. Vector Linux
9. Berry Linux
10. Zenwalk

For specialists and Newbies with special interest.

11. Arch
12. Chakra
13. Granular
14. aLive / aLinux ? Peanut Linux
15. AV Linux
16. Yoper
17. GoBo Linux
18. Linvo
19. Dream Linux
20. Ubuntu / Lubuntu / Kubuntu / SuperrOS and the lot

Then the Light Weight beauties.

21. Adios
22. Imagine.
23. Peppermint
24. Element
25. gOs
26. Paldo
27. Unity
28. Untangle
29. Chameleon
30. Slax
31. Igelle
32. Myah
33. Leenux
34. Netrunner
35. Exodus
36. ELive
37. ViperOS

Commercial
38. Mandriva
39. XandrOS
40. ? Linspire ? Freespire

XandrOS was the first Linux distribution I installed along with Windows.

It was Debian based and went commercial subsequently and changed hands. Now dormant but an Iso copy can be obtained from Archive Linux site.
 

I have not include the educational distributions like Scientific Linux, Fermi Linux, QIMO, Knoppix for Kids and Kids Linux.

I have also not included the middle weight or the heavy weight like. Sabayon, Monomax, Openmamba, Calculate Linux, ALT Linux, Epidermic and Genitoo.

 

My Tech History

 My Tech History

 

This is my last blog piece and I am going back to my Writing Mode.

ASUS Laptop (2009) was the last thing I bought and it is gathering dust. 

It has Endless OS installed.

For our generation each piece of technology was new.

Making a microphone from a Kiwi shoe polish tin was my first discovery. 

I think I made a tiny One Crystal Radio but without a good antenna I could not receive a radio message. 

The tuner was not good enough.

Only Long Waves and short Waves available then but no FM.

I gave up my experiments very early unlike Bob Lazar in America of the 1980s.

I was good in my physics and got a distinction in physics but decided to do medicine, instead. 

Only one of my friends ended up as a physical engineer. 

I used to visit him at Chandrika Weva in Balangoda and all my Engineer friends ended up suffering from Malaria. 

He is no more. 

I can still remember they were feeding a tiny crocodile in a tiny water tank.

I said, beware!

I was their medical consultant.

Symptoms of Malaria was not typical then and it was very difficult to distinguish from Dengue.

There were no pocket calculators or pocket radios then.

I upgraded myself to mini TV, Radio and Cassette Deck having walked all the way up the Tottenham Court Road, in UK. 

I migrated to a mini Cassette Recorder for dictation of Clinical Records from the bulky Cassette Recorder.

But my real interest was Cameras and had 20 odd mini to major Fuji, AGFA and Canon cameras in my possession.

Currently, I have Fuji Digital Camera, bought 15 years ago and I have not yet mastered all its functions, yet.

I bought a Peterson's Colour Photographic Development Kit but could not proceed without a proper Dark Room. 

I did some Black and White photography (Processing) with my brother as a school kid. 

We formed a Photography Society but our teachers we less encouraging.

 

I had few of my photographs published one in the Commonwealth Magazine.

 

I ended up buying a Digital Microscope (which children use in America) for my Thesis (University did not have a Digital Camera Microscope).

I ended up writing a book on "Microscopes" including its development history.

Fast forward, I bought a portable double deck cassette recorder and Radio Amplifier.

Amplifier was a novelty to me.

I had to cut down on my expenses after marriage but still went to Radio Shack outlet in Manchester to look for gadgets but I did not by any of the Fancy Radio Kits. 

If I remember right Radio Shack was going bust (bankrupt).

During early stage of marriage, 3 piece kit was the "ultimate top range" which we could afford from a Manchester Warehouse with a fancy name (which I cannot remember the name). 

The name may not be Digital Mania, all were analogue gadgets.

If I remember right it was called "HiFi Mania" not WiFi Mania.

Most likely this outlet also may have gone bust.

The combination of Double Cassette Deck, Radio and Amplifier was (of different Models) called a Setup. 

It is a rack one on top of the other.

A Single Model Setup was very expensive. 

The TV was the cheapest second hand Sony and no Video Cassette Deck.

There were no TVs in Ceylon then.

All these were before 1982. 

I returned home in December, 1984.

It cost me a lot bringing them home and TRICO was very helpful (TRICO guy bought ARPICO, later).

The Table Top, Fridge, Freezer and Dryer were the items we had to possess and doing everything at home (DIY) was the norm.

 

Saying Good Bye to Dry Cleaning was the end result.

Of course Computer was my addiction.

I used to assemble my own PC and had 15 unit Network at home and I have now migrated to NUC Basic, while having a mini barrel shaped Radio Receiver that accommodates USB and SD card for Audio play. 

I do not use Apple or Microsoft Windows and the various Linux Distributions from Xandros to Mandrake to Suse to Redhat to PCLinux  were my driving forces during 32 bit days but now full time Debian User (64 bit Version 12).

DOS to Sinclair to Amiga to Atari to Commodore 64 Computers (but NO Radio Shack) were my introduction to computing.

I did not like BBC Basic but did a bit of basic computing including machine language on a cassette. 

Those days making a computer List of Contacts with addresses was big deal.

Dot max printers, I hated but I have a huge Sony Drum Printer which I used for my (Thesis) Printing Work. 

I have had several Tablets and the current one is not Samsung but cheap Android.

I was busy looking after sick children before I migrated to sick elderly and I finally migrated to my bread and butter medicine which was Pathology (after the fact, full investigation).

The current Monitor is huge which I need for easy reading. 

I haven't watched a film for over six months and I hate Talk SHOWS, YouTube and Facebook.

I made only One YouTube (digital) presentation in my entire life and that is also on Linux Usage.

Currently my cellphone with Android 13 version is the Daily Driver and this piece is made on my cellphone which has a good Google Spell Checker.

Editing was done subsequently on my Intel NUC computer.

Cellphone is a Mini Computer by all standards.

I did not spend huge sum on a car which is a depreciating asset but bought a second hand Peudeau car which I disposed, when the spare parts were hard to come by.

Postscript

With Microchip industry at its peak it is not worth investing on tech gadgets. 

If I am given the chance, instead of a Raspberry Pie, I would have made my Mini Computer on a Simple Keyboard by integrating the CPU and RAM of NUC on the keyboard base. 

Just stick the NUC circuit board and mini RAM to the Keyboard. 

Instead of a TV monitor Wireless  Liquid Crystal Display Tablet would function as my digital reader cum monitor( ideally folder in half). 

It is humanly possible and it would be much cheaper but these Corporate Giants will never consider such a venture. 

Their target is profits.

I started with 4MB Video RAM and 128MB RAM to begin with. 

By the way, I am in full retirement and do not consider new inventions but my "Globe Trotter" design in given in my book "Linux Essentials" and one has to buy the book and read.

It is final stage of editing and only on Print Mode and never on Digital Mode.

Unscientific Ceylon and American Politics

Reproduction

Unscientific America

With Mr. Trump coming into power, it is obvious that the word Science has come into prominence.

I did some search (not research which is my bona fide) of America in preparation of a brief visit to New York.

It never materialized.

It ended up me writing two fiction books (not my forte) obliging to a request from my family members to write a few fiction books.

I love writing books on Real Science (not scientific fiction of Sir Arthur Clark's) as an antidote to Arthur's fiction.

The catch phrase in my book was “Ten days in America, I am already broke” which I got printed (fictionally) in my uppers not pants, to avoid all the muggers.

America has few suckers and lot of ordinary people.

My search culminated in writing a book on conspiracies (entire world including Vatican City) which is available on Amazon.

Like America, Amazon is a wonderful organization much better than “Sewing Facebook' and “The Faked News Agency” authored by many unsuspecting guys/girls.

Authoritarian news agencies did not fare well fueling the Faked News.

The reason for writing this piece is to make you read a few books on America.

1. Unscientific America (about how scientific knowledge filter down to the masses).

2. House of Lies (How the business world operates)

3. Third book I have misplaced and cannot remember the Title, is very good and academic.

It is on the line of “The Matrix of American Population Dynamics”.

I am sorry I cannot give the correct name.

Of course that made me to write a book on Ceylonese Dimensions from “Freedom to Anarchy to War Mongering (That is not the name of my book).

It was titled  “Reflections”, a personnel perspective of Ceylonese Politics with corruption.

 

In a Matrix of seven or eight levels.

Mind you I am not a politician but a passive observer.

Kalama Sutta

Followings is the advice by Buddha to his followers in regards to what he preached.

Can these 10 qualifications be applied to our current politicians?

Kalama Sutta 

The Story The people of the small town Kalama complained to Buddha that they were confused by contradictions they discovered in what they heard from various teachers who praised their own doctrines. They asked Buddha, who was staying in the town then, who to believe out of all those who, like himself, passed through their town. "Venerable Sir, some recluses and Brahamins visited this town and praised only their own doctrines, but condemned and despised those of others. And it is common that they do so. Sir, who among them told the truth and who told the falsehood?" Buddha advised them, saying, "Kalama people, it is proper for you to doubt and to have perplexity when doubt has arisen in a doubtful matter." He then, went on to instruct that it is wise to make a proper examination before committing to a doctrine or any teaching. He said that it should be applied to his own teachings as well. 

In Pali, Buddha's reply is recorded thus; 

1. Ma anussavena. 

Do not believe something, just because of its repeated hearing and passed down and retold for many generations. 

2. Ma paramparaya. 

Do not believe something merely because it has become a traditional practice of many generations. 

3. Ma itikiraya. 

Do not be led by rumour, hearsay or common opinion. 

4. Ma Pitakasampadanena. Do not be led by because it is in the scriptures. 5. Ma takkahetu. Do not be led by mere logic or surmise. 6. Ma nayahetu. Do not believe something merely because it accords with the axiom of one’s philosophy. 7. Ma akaraparivitakkena. 

Do not believe something because it appeals to specious reasoning or "common sense". 

8. Ma ditthinijjhanakkhantiya. 

Do not believe something just because of the bias towards the idea or notion.

 9. Ma bhabbarupataya. 

Do not believe something because the speaker´s seeming ability and seeming trustworthiness. 

10. Ma samano no garu ti. 

Do not be led by upon the consideration that he is your teacher. Kalamas, when you yourselves directly know, "This is unwholesome, this is blameworthy, this is condemned or censured by the wise, these things when accepted and practised lead to poverty and harm and suffering," then you should give them up. Kalamas, when you yourselves directly know, "These things are wholesome, blameless, praised by the wise; when adopted and carried out they lead to well-being, prosperity and happiness," then you should accept and practise them." The Pali text runs like this: 

"Etha tumhe Kalama. Ma anussavena, ma paramparaya, ma itikiraya, ma pitasampadanena, ma takkahetu, ma nayahetu, ma akaraparivitakkena, nid ditthinijjhanakkhantiya, ma bhabbarupataya, ma samanro no garu ti." 

1. Do not accept anything on mere hearsay (repeated hearing). 

2. Do not accept anything by mere tradition. 

3. Do not accept anything on account of rumour. 

4. Do not accept anything just because it accords with the scriptures. 

5. Do not accept anything by mere superficial supposition or surmise. 

6. Do not accept anything by mere axiom (inference). 

7. Do not accept anything by merely by specious reasoning. 

8. Do not accept anything merely because of the bias towards the already held notion. 

9. Do not accept anything merely because the seeming ability of the individual or the preacher. 

10. Do not accept anything upon consideration that the ascetic is a respected teacher. 

But when you know for yourselves ¨these things are bad, these things are blameable, these things are censured by the wise, undertaken and observed these things lead to harm and ill¨, abandon them.

Cipolla's five fundamental laws of stupidity

 Reproduction

Carlo M. Cipolla (15 August 1922 – 5 September 2000) was an Italian economic historian. He was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.^[1][2]

Biography

As a young man, Cipolla wanted to teach history and philosophy in an Italian high school, and therefore enrolled at the political science faculty at the University of Pavia. While a student there, thanks to professor Franco Borlandi, a specialist in medieval economic history, he discovered his passion for economic history. 

He graduated from Pavia in 1944. Subsequently, he studied at the University of Paris and the London School of Economics.

Cipolla obtained his first teaching post in economic history in Catania at the age of 27. This was to be the first stop in a long academic career in Italy (Venice, Turin, Pavia, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Fiesole) and abroad. 

In 1953 Cipolla left for the United States as a Fulbright fellow and in 1957 became a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Two years later he obtained a full professorship.

Essays

Cipolla produced two non-technical, popular essays that circulated in English among friends in 1973 and 1976, and then were published in 1988, first in Italian, under the title Allegro, ma non troppo ("Forward, but not too fast" or "Happy, but not too much", from the musical phrase meaning "Quickly, but not too quick").

The first essay, "The Role of Spices (and Black Pepper in Particular) in Medieval Economic Development" ("Il ruolo delle spezie (e del pepe nero in particolare) nello sviluppo economico del Medioevo", 1973), traces the curious correlations between spice import and population expansion in the late Middle Ages, postulating a causation due to a supposed aphrodisiac effect of black pepper.

"The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" (1976)

The second essay, "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" ("Le leggi fondamentali della stupidità umana", 1976), explores the controversial subject of stupidity.

These are Cipolla's five fundamental laws of stupidity:

1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places, and under any circumstances, to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Corollary: a stupid person is more dangerous than a pillager.

By creating a graph of Cipolla's two factors, we obtain four groups of people. Helpless people contribute to society but are taken advantage of by it; Intelligent people contribute to society and leverage their contributions into personal benefits; Stupid people are counterproductive to both their and others' interests; Bandits pursue their own self-interest even when this poses a net detriment to societal welfare. An additional category of ineffectual people either exists in its own right or can be considered to be in the center of the graph.

As is evident from the third law, Cipolla identifies two factors to consider when exploring human behavior:

• Benefits and losses that individuals cause to themselves.
• Benefits and losses that individuals cause to others.

Cipolla further refines his definition of "bandits" and "naïve people" by noting that members of these groups can either add to or detract from the general welfare, depending on the relative gains (or losses) that they cause themselves and society. A bandit may enrich himself more or less than he impoverishes society and a naïve person may enrich society more or less than he impoverishes himself and/or allows himself to be impoverished.

Graphically, this idea is represented by a line of slope -1, which bisects the second and fourth quadrants and intersects the y-axis at the origin. The naive people to the left of this line are thus "semi-stupid" because their conduct creates/allows a net drain of societal welfare; some bandits may fit this description as well, although many bandits such as sociopaths, psychopaths, and non-pathological "jerks" and amoralists may act with full knowledge of the net negative consequences to a society that they neither identify with nor care about.

Carlo M Capolla and Five Type of Stupidity

Carlo M Capolla and Five Type of Stupidity

Carlo M. Capolla proposed this theory in 1976.

Fulbright Scholar in 1953.

He was a professor of economic history at University of Berkeley in 1957.

Born in 1922

He died in 2000 at the age of 78.

Books
Guns, Sails and Empires
Decline of Empires
Money, Prices and Civilization
Between Two Cultures

One should apply this principle to both Politicians and to the average voter.

In my understanding our average voter is stupid and he/she is outside the 5 Types of Stupidity of Capolla

Five Types of Stupidity
 

1. Always and invariably we underestimate the stupid people in circulation.

2. The probability of stupidity is independent of other characteristic like gender, race, nationality, colour, age, sex, education level and social standing.

There are lot of stupid monks and priests in Ceylon.
They have become TV actors.

TV / Media Presenters in Ceylon are in this stupid category.

The worse case scenario is Zelensky who has contributed to the death of over 500,000 well trained, well educated and nice Ukrainians.

It is too, late to oust him now.
He thinks he is smart and saviour of global democracy.
In fact, he has destroyed diplomacy, democracy and peaceful coexistence.

There are lot of stupid people in Davos and UNO.

3. Stupid person is a person who causes loses to another person or group of persons, often deriving no gain to himself and often causing harm to himself.

4. Non stupid people often underestimate the loses and damages caused by the stupid individuals.
Non stupid people often forget that they are stupid individuals, all the time or all the places or under any circumstance and to deal with or associate with a stupid person is always a costly mistake.

5. Stupid are the worse type of people to be associated with.

They are worse than bandits.

1. Intelligent People

2. Bandits

3. Stupid

4. Helpless people

Granny Award

Granny Award
This is an old piece rendered to suit current political climate in Ceylon.

I intend to award a ‘Granny Award” in my mother’s name who is in her early nineties (please note she is no more, I thank God for early departure) to any person who comes up with an English Drama based on the stages mentioned below.

The contents are “Open Source” authorized generally under Linux GPL Convention.

1. Originator, unknown Ceylonese author in his late nineties (I claim he is not my father).
2. Rendering by a bookshop assistant who wishes to be anonymous.
3. This edition is by me (mini-me version) and Baba (one of my dear friends who is no more with us) version, Samba, Bimba, Zimba, Sinha Bar (Lion Bar), Ali Baba (Kandy Elephants) and Hora Baba versions or any Ceylonese Unborn Baba version can participate in future development of this animal story (copyleft).

The Big Daddy version is only for private consumption of my friends, especially after a suitable spirit beverage from abroad not with Ceylonese Dust Tea (not Tiger Wood’s illegal TEE).

Currently the “Pothe Gura” is me the current author.

Evam Mesutham Ekam Samyam!

So said and so heard.
 
1. I was privy to a Relay Carnival (passing the buck, really fast, like the hedging deal) in the Animal Kingdom (they are more humane and eats only when hungry).
I was the only Ceylonese selected by an island wide Lottery conducted by Hela Karumaya or Urumaya Surekuma Undertakers (HUKU-SUMU for short).
 
2. I was on holiday in a Forest Reservation (Jungle Habitat) or what is left of it.
 
3. I observe an elderly (prostate enlarged) Peter Rabbit grazing.

4. Jack the Jackal (with financial interests in Ceylon and USA) greedily waiting for an innocent prey.
 
5. Scene of Jackal chasing the Rabbit (both hip joints replaced by bionic prosthesis delivered by a Television Giant of Ceylon).
 

6. Blind Forest Hermit (Herman Hermit) descends from heaven and land on a busy Tri-Way  Junction (Thun Man Handiya).

7. Rabbit approaching the hermit in break neck speed without a crash helmet.
 
8. Rabbit jumps over the hermit visibly shaken up and annoyed.
 
9. Lands a squirt of Holy Water (urine for short) right on the nose and mouth.
 
10. Hermit really thinks that the water is  really “Holy” has come from heaven and ascends to a Lower Jhana.
 
11. Jackal approaches the hermit at the junction with bionic speed and put on breaks and crashes.
 
12. Jackal licks the nose and face of the hermit.
 
13. Hermit attains a Higher Jhana.

14. The angry Jackal then takes a little bite of the forehand of the hermit.
 
15. Hermit is rudely awakened from his Transient Ishaemic Attack (T.I.A).

16. Jackal reprimands the hermit.
 
“Why don’t you stay few feet above the ground”.

17. Well, I was thinking about my Bank Balance of Merit (Pin with a PIN number) in Seylan Bank and settle where I ought to be was his answer.

18.“Well then, did you see a rabbit running this way?”
 
19. Yes, Yes, I heard an animal running past but I cannot say what species he is but I can very well tell you he is a male.
 
20. You say you are a hermit and blind.

How can you see the sex of the animal running fast in your meditative mode.
 
How come?
 
21.  didn’t the master tell you, it is inappropriate and illegal to think about SEX in meditative trance.
 
22. We animals think of sex, only when we are in full flow and not otherwise jackal proclaimed.

23. Can you tell how the blind hermit instantly guessed the sex of of the fast moving passerby?

The rabbit whispered a phrase to the hermit while passing which is what a guy chased by the policeman in Ceylon says in retreat!

Help;
 

Nothing to do with urine or prostate gland and due to some other reason.
 
Postscript:
 

The Purva-Bhava Connection
 
1. The hermit was a traffic warden, an active member of Hela Urumaya who went to heaven for a short stay and regressed back to earth for more merits.

2. The rabbit was a monk who went in search of emancipation to Ceylon Parliament (he is called R-Thana and deposited his hard earned “Pin Keta” money in a private bank).
 
3. The jackal was a Private Banker in Ceylon, better than an American swindler.
 
4. I was the CNN Reporter Assistant (only doing editing) of I-Reports.
 
Corollary
Only a male jackal with large prostate can squirt a healthy vigorous stream while running and a human being cannot.

The rabbit in this story did it due to fear.
 

Z-Linux

Zencafe GNU/Linux

ZENIX GNU/Linux

Zen Linux 

Zen or Meditation concept made me to use it once. 

ZevenOS is a good one I use its latest version.

Alinux and Peanut Linux

Peanut Linux 15 is available for download.

Log in with root keep blank the password.

It is pretty Good.

Brings me all the nostalgia.

I have highlighted the distributions I have tried at least once!

0Linux

2XOS

64 Studio

AbulÉdu

Adamantix

ADIOS Linux Boot CD

AgiliaLinux

All in One - System Rescue Toolkit

Aleader

Alinex

aLinux

AliXe

Amarok Live

Amber Linux

Anarchy Installer

Ankur Bangla

Annvix

AnNyung Linux

Anonym.OS LiveCD

ANTEMIUM Linux

Antergos

Antomic GNU/Linux

Apricity OS

aptosid

Arabbix

Arabian Linux

ArcheOS

Archie Live CD

ArchLabs Linux

Ares Desktop

AriOS

Ark Linux

arkOS

ArtistX

Arudius

AryaLinux

AsianLinux

Asianux

ASLinux

ASPLinux Russians use this Distribution.

Asturix

Athene Operating System

ATmission

Atomix

Augustux

Aurora SPARC Linux

Aurora OS

Aurox Linux

Why I encourage mosquito breeding?

Why I encourage mosquito breeding?
 

I managed to fine a huge book on mosquitoes and won't dish out remedies to exterminate mosquitoes. My fish thrive on their eggs and are very healthy and I do not need to buy fish food.

Mosquito larva is our cesspit cleaner.

Cockroach is our gully cleaner.

The gecko is our pantry cleaner.

Please do not kill any of them with potent insecticides and these poisons kill our bees.

A Gram of fish food is more expensive than Thriposa or Samapoa.

This was something I wanted to write for some time but kept delaying it for many reasons including political. When some issue is taken out of context and used as a political gimmick, even with much discomfort, I tend to refrain from taking the center stage.

Train to think logically and constructively,

I sometime find it difficult to find an audience (group of intellectuals in a forum) to discuss a topic at length. This was something we used to do even when we were just interns.

For an example we were faced with a dilemma of the treatment protocol as interns. On many occasions we were sure we had made the correct diagnosis but the standard treatment did not ensue improvement or recovery. In one of these occasions we decided to double the dose of an oral antibiotic which was only 12 cents a capsule.

We could not double the other agent given I.M and very painful too since with the wrong dose of that,   I have seen a few children die (not any one who was under me) as misadventures.

Most of the misadventures were hushed up even then since the treatment was free and innocent patients were prepared to take some of the gullible lies from the administrators. This has become a common occurrence nowadays let me not digress. When we did increase the dose the patient started responding.

That was good news.

Unlike today we did not rest with that we asked the question why half the capsules were not working

Obvious conclusion was that somebody was introducing dud capsules in the supply chain.

We reported this and the Ministry then had the way to investigate the supply procedure and then caught pilfering from the Medical Supply Division and the substitution of dud ones to replace the same.

This was big news then.

This is a common practice in India even now before they reach our shores.

That was Professor Senaka Bible's time and we were very happy.

Years later I came to Colombo General Hospital and this practice was rampant as nothing constructive to abort this practice was in situ and Professor Bible had died under mysterious circumstances.

The modus operandum was for the guys to come as patients and take month's supply of drugs and unload them at the nearest private pharmacy.

There were many other offences (rice and eggs were meant to for patients were stolen during the Pang Polling days) I discovered as a D.M.O but these things are happening in much bigger scale now and I am still digressing from the major objective.

The point I want to bring out is that there is very poor accountability and the procedure for investigations is hampered both within and outside the health sector.

This is true for correct diagnosis too.

If one looks at a record of a patient who returns home comparatively well or who succumb in both private and public institutions the error rate of diagnosis is around 60% to 80% .

This figure has never been estimated for PMs (postmortems and not prime minister) after the introduction of private practice. Many a times not done in a proper scientific way.

Postmortems are avoided at very convenience of the doctors (I was a trained pathologist, paediatrician and a gaeriatrician). The other issue is that there is no proper consultation among individuals with expertise in other fields and different skills.

This is the salient feature in the practice of medicine in Ceylon. When something goes wrong the the diagnosis that come to the forefront is dengue.

The gullible media also report them without serious investigation.

All what one needs is a platelet count and a slide test that detect antibodies (no distinction from old or new antibodies). The test to show rise in titre is not evident in many cases. There are multitude of other that can lower platelets.

Concrete proof is lacking and impartial objective scrutiny is never done before or after the event. Once it is labelled as Dengue many doctors can have a sigh a relief that they have covered up their inefficiencies and tracks.

Unfortunately it covers up the administrative failures too. When a society is corrupt to the core and in effect the legal and medical systems are not strengthened to investigate and find viable remedies this filters to all the other segments of life including schools and universities and proper conduct of examinations and elections to are left to the undesirable elements.

That is when non-medical people too get involved in detecting virginity when the pertinent question that should be asked is;

Is it consensual (does not matter one is married or not-even in marriage it should be consensual not by force due the fact one is legally married; marriage gives a license) or not?

Every other case of death is buried under the mountain of dengue (we have to formulate strict guide lines).

1. The correct procedure is to have strict guide lines for diagnosis of dengue.

2. Then the next step should be and when the death is contentious (not dengue) there should be a procedure to arrive at an alternative diagnosis.

3. The third step should be to have independent clinical audit that is not practised in this country.

I can give you an incident when medical people failed to come to consensus regarding the increase of kidney disease in North Central Province. They did not have a protocol to deal with the scenario.

The dengue scenario is no different to me.

We are barking at the wrong tree.

Only taking political mileage.

Poor mosquito should not be an escape goat and escape route for our indifference since medicine like books are given free by the government.

All governments are also culpable whether they are democratic or otherwise.

We need a system in place when the system fails everything else fails.

Nobody ask the question why almost 50% did not vote. Simple answer to that is when the system in place has failed the very system that generate credibility is lost for ever and the apathy sets in.

These are not only philosophical points but these are social issues too. Everybody in power, not in power, able, disable, in private practice, in government institutions and in all spheres of activity should have a fare share of responsibility.

We are all culpable either direct or indirect or not in action or out of action or in the thick of actions.

We cannot leave it to the politicians alone.

What is lacking is sincerity and transparency.

As Buddhists we will have to pay our dues for these crimes of inactivity and indifference now not in next birth.

Mosquito Logic and Xi Jinping

Mosquito Logic 

14. What happens to a mosquito when it bites the Speaker of the House?

Her basic degree becomes a PhD.

15. What happens to a mosquito when it bites an AKD?

She forgets her promises to her partner.

16, What happens she bite Xi Jinping? 

 Nothing much except one has a deep hole in ones pocket due to DeepSeek knowing your purchase power.

Both President Putin and Xi Jinping are younger to me and they might take my advice and but President Donald Trump would not. Both Biden and Trump were 78 when assuming the chair but Trump is younger by 4 years.

Quoting these facts is to discourage young people taking up politics. There are many other fields that include computer industry which is booming.

 Xi Jinping (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus the paramount leader of China, since 2012. Since 2013, Xi has also served as the seventh president of China. As a member of the fifth generation of Chinese leadership, Xi is the first CCP general secretary born after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

1. What is the first thing a mosquito does when it lands on the moon?

It takes the space suit off for the first feed which it missed on the flight.

2. What happens to a female mosquito who lands on a nudist camp.

She does not know where to begin.

3. What does it do when it meets a fellow mosquito in a nudist camp?

Check the sex to mate.

They are not homosexual (unlike human beings).

The following is what happens to the mosquito being after a bite.

4. What happens to a mosquito when it bites President Trump?

She (It) becomes a Megalomaniac.

5. What happens to a mosquito when it bites our P.M.R.W?

She becomes a crook.

6. What happens to a mosquito when it bites our President MS?

She becomes impotent.

7. What happens to a mosquito when it bites ex-president MR?

Her mind becomes small but body gets bloated.

8. What happens to a mosquito when it bites a Catholic Priest?

She / he (no sex in heaven) gets an instant email from heaven with a request to be transferred to hell.

9. What happens when a mosquito bites a Buddhist Monk?

She (It) forgets to repeat its instant buzz or Stanza.

10. What happens when a mosquito bites a Buddhist Nun?

It changes it sex to a male.

11. What happens to a mosquito when it bites a Muslim Priest?

She becomes a male and instantly grows a beard but forgets to wear a cap.

12. What happens to a mosquito when it bites a Hindu Priest?

Its colour changes to blue of God Vishnu.

13. What happens to a mosquito when it bites an atheist?

She develops her sense to discriminate believers and feeds only on atheists.

Mosquitoes

There are more than 3500 species of mosquitoes worldwide. 

More than 300 of these species are found in Australia. 

There are almost 100 species of mosquitoes in Western Australia.

Canada has  60 species.

UK has  30 species

Pacific has 200 species

Eggs mature within 48 hours.

500 to 100 eggs per lay.

After larval stage (may be 30 cycles) undergo 20 more cell division cycles and become adults.

From egg to adult is only 10 days.

Male live on nectar for about a week.

The female live 5 to 7 weeks but given favourable living conditions can live up to 6 months.

1. There are about 3500 species of mosquitoes and about 2500 species probably  are in current circulation.

2. I believe, it is the most versatile insect on this planet.

3. Only about 40 species are diseases producing and the rest is an evolutionary store waiting to be discovered

4. All of them start life underwater as multitude of egg types.

5. The larvae are upside down in water and breath through a pair of siphon located in the tail end.

6. Anopheles do not have a siphon and lie flat on water surface and breath trough a pair of holes in one of the segments.

7. Job of larvae are to eat a lot and grow fast.
They are filter feeders.

8. Elephant mosquito larva eat other mosquito larvae

9. Dragon fly larva breakfast is mosquito larvae

10. 4 molts.

11. Emerges as a Pupa.
Trumpets (breathing apparatus) pop out from the head.

12. Some flowers are only pollinated by mosquitoes. 

Males only feed on sugar of flowers.

13. Adult mosquito has navigational tools.

14. Females of only some varieties need a blood meal before laying eggs.

15. Giant mosquito larvae while not blood suckers help to kill other mosquito larvae and control the population explosion.

16. Killing all mosquitoes is not a solution to control mosquito born disease.
Environmentally useful guys are also killed in that process.

More Dangerous Than A Snakebite

Reproduction

More Dangerous Than A Snakebite
with Curtis Cost

April 3, 2023 By Hilda Labrada Gore

What could possibly be more dangerous to your health and life than a rattlesnake bite? Vaccinations. 

Our guest, Curtis Cost, the author of “Vaccines are Dangerous,” explains why shots have more serious consequences than many may have initially realized.

Curtis describes problems, beyond “side effects,” that can arise not only from the covid-19 shot, but from all shots. 

Conditions like autoimmune dysfunction, asthma, allergies, and other debilitating issues that result from injections are often not perceived as triggered by vaccines. 

Curtis connects the dots.

He also goes over why he’s especially passionate about getting the message out about the inherent dangers of these shots to the African American community.

Xandros was an excellent Edition

Xandros Desktop OS
Rate this project    Newsforge editors have succeeded in getting hold of a review copy of Xandros Linux 1.0, apparently due to be released today: "Xandros seems to be what Lindows could have been if it had stayed true to its Linux roots, both product-wise and philosophically. I like Xandros; I like the ease of use combined with common-sense security options and configurability; I like that it reaches out to Windows users without alienating the Linux community; it may just end up becoming the main distribution in my house." The Xandros web site is still keeping the release a secret, but the NewsForge review should give us an indication of what to expect from this newcomer on the desktop Linux scene. 

 

Corel Linux
Rate this project    "Xandros Corporation today announced that it has signed a strategic licensing agreement with Corel Corporation, giving it access to Corel's Linux desktop OS and related technologies. The newly formed company will focus on developing the desktop and server markets with assistance from its founding parent, Linux Global Partners. Xandros has secured a $10 million capital commitment from NY-based Linux Global Partners, a Linux-specific investment company with financial holdings in several key desktop application companies. The new company will be headquartered in Ottawa, Canada and has already retained a majority of the original software architects of the award-winning Corel Linux operating system."

Read it all here.

Xandros was an excellent Edition

I started Linux with Caldera Linux and Debian (along with Books on Linux).

Along the way, I found Xandros which aroused my enthusiasm with Linux. 

I could not memorize its name for few hours and remembered it as Xandows (X and windows put together). ? Similar to Lindows.

The correct name is Xandros.

It has X of Linux.

It has Andros as in Android.

It is sounding like Windows.

It has a Delux edition and both are available in Archive Linux site.

Thank YOU guys for keeping a copy and there is true nostalgia.

Web site: xandros.com (not active)
Origin: Canada
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: KDE
Architecture: x86
Based on: Debian
Wikipedia: Xandros
Media: Install CD
The last version | Released: 4.2 | July 26, 2007

Xandros (or: Xandros Desktop) – an easy to use, highly compatible Linux distribution for desktop computer users. It provides an alternative operating system environment that is simple to install, configure and use, provides extensive Microsoft Windows OS and network compatibility, and harnesses the power of Linux to provide a viable, highly functional and reliable Linux desktop that is easy to use.

Features:
– Simple, powerful and complete Linux desktop operating system
– The only Linux desktop that installs out of the box alongside Windows XP with NTFS resizing capability (Deluxe only)
– Ability to run many Windows applications via CodeWeavers CrossOver Office & Plugin products (a US$79.95 value included with Deluxe only)
– Free North American shipping and handling for Xandros Desktop Deluxe (limited time offer)
– Xandros Desktop Deluxe Edition only US$99.00
– Xandros Desktop Standard Edition special introductory price only US$39.95 plus shipping and handling.

Xandros Desktop leverages the performance and reliability of a Linux distribution to create a secure desktop operating system that breaks down the barriers between Microsoft Windows and Linux. A simple 5 step graphical installation process and uncomplicated configuration facilities get your system up and running quickly while the familiar point and click interface and easy to use applications get you surfing the Web, sending e-mail, chatting, word processing and printing immediately.

The Xandros Desktop is based on the Open Source, K Desktop Environment (KDE) which immediately gives it a familiar appearance whether you are accustomed to Microsoft Windows or another Linux distribution.

 

 

Xandros

Web site: xandros.com (not active)
Origin: Canada
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: KDE
Architecture: x86
Based on: Debian
Wikipedia: Xandros
Media: Install CD
The last version | Released: 4.2 | July 26, 2007

Xandros (or: Xandros Desktop) – an easy to use, highly compatible Linux distribution for desktop computer users. It provides an alternative operating system environment that is simple to install, configure and use, provides extensive Microsoft Windows OS and network compatibility, and harnesses the power of Linux to provide a viable, highly functional and reliable Linux desktop that is easy to use.

Features:
– Simple, powerful and complete Linux desktop operating system
– The only Linux desktop that installs out of the box alongside Windows XP with NTFS resizing capability (Deluxe only)
– Ability to run many Windows applications via CodeWeavers CrossOver Office & Plugin products (a US$79.95 value included with Deluxe only)
– Free North American shipping and handling for Xandros Desktop Deluxe (limited time offer)
– Xandros Desktop Deluxe Edition only US$99.00
– Xandros Desktop Standard Edition special introductory price only US$39.95 plus shipping and handling.

Xandros Desktop leverages the performance and reliability of a Linux distribution to create a secure desktop operating system that breaks down the barriers between Microsoft Windows and Linux. A simple 5 step graphical installation process and uncomplicated configuration facilities get your system up and running quickly while the familiar point and click interface and easy to use applications get you surfing the Web, sending e-mail, chatting, word processing and printing immediately.

The Xandros Desktop is based on the Open Source, K Desktop Environment (KDE) which immediately gives it a familiar appearance whether you are accustomed to Microsoft Windows or another Linux distribution.

Xandros, Inc. was a software company which sold Xandros Desktop, a Linux Distribution.

The name Xandros was derived from the X Windows system and the Greek island of Andros. 

Xandros was founded in May 2001 by Linux Global Partners (Will Roseman and Dr. Frederick Berenstein). The company was headquartered in New York City with its development office in Ottawa, Canada.

Xandros Desktop was based on Corel Linux  a Debian based  distribution that was acquired along with the development team behind the product from Corel Corporation  in August 2001 after Corel decided to exit the Linux distribution market.

Xandros was a founding member of the Desktop Linux Consortium and member of the Intercop Vendor Alliance.

In July 2007, Xandros bought Scalix, a Linux-based email and collaboration product, based on HP OpenMail HP OpenMail.

 In July 2008, Xandros acquired Linspire.

In 2013, Xandros, Inc. changed its name to Bridgeways, Inc. and soon after, the Xandros website was taken offline. 

(The Xandros website was last updated in November 2009.).

As a result, DistroWatch listed Xandros as discontinued.

On 1 January 2018, PC/OpenSystems LLC purchased Xandros and Linspire from Bridgeways, Inc., and resurrected the Xandros branding with Xandros OpenDesktop (a commercial release) and Xandros OpenServer (a free release), based on Ubuntu 20.04.

 Xandros OpenDesktop would later be rebranded as Xandros Enterprise Desktop and Xandros OpenServer would be rebranded as Xandros Enterprise Server, and PC/OpenSystems also introduced free versions named Xandros Community Edition (using GNOME) and Xandros Developer Edition (using dwm). 

Learning a Second Language, the Contribution of British Council Library. Learning a Second Language, the contribution of British Council Library.

It is also important to highlight that the Second Language that is not the Mother Language is localized to the Right Hemisphere of the Brain which is the Creative side of the brain. Left side of the brain of a right handed person is the Logical or functional brain which deals with automatic processes.

Reproduction

Learning a Second Language, the contribution of British Council Library.

What is, “Learning a Second Language” has got to do with Long Life?
It may sound ridiculous or not relevant.
Let me untangle the tangled minds.
Suppose in your retirement, you like to visit a foreign country or one of your friends living abroad invites you to visit him/her.
 

Won’t that be a nice to have a working knowledge of English?
 

But if your friend is from Germany or France, would it be enough, knowing only English?

English is the business language of the world and if you intend to expand your local business to a foreign soil, it is vital that you have a team with language expertise to communicate and work with.
One cannot become an efficient ambassador, unless you are an expert and well versed with the language of the local community.

Depending on a translator is a handicap.

It was unfortunate in my formative years nobody emphasized the importance of language except my maternal uncle who was a Buddhist Monk.

If at all they discourage learning English.
I had the common sense that if I were to master science, English was the language of instruction.
The city school I went did not have a proper library. 

For my luck British Council Library was doing a yeoman service to help young readers of our time. 

Because of political indifference and interference, the USIS library closed its operation in Kandy long time ago.

I would close my introduction by saying that a sure way to train a dictator is to make him or her learn only the mother tongue of the local community. We have had enough examples in this small country with ethnic division making inroads and politicians capitalizing on the fringe.
None of the above is my reason for encouraging one to learn at least two languages.

Please read on, to get my point of view.

Learning a language and mastering it is no easy task for most of us. This is especially so when it is learned as a second language. When the mother tongue is not taught properly and its advantages and disadvantages are not highlighted, at an early age, children are at a loss to coordinate their interests and achievements. This is true for learning languages and I am yet to find a child who is genuinely interested in learning a language (for example Sinhala or Tamil) for its own beauty.
They become rote learners and drag along, in a system oriented for examination performances. Rather than bringing the best out of the innate talents of children, language difficulty becomes a stumbling block to progress.
If children are forced to learn a single language, there is no way of unlearning the bad habits.
Single language narrows the interests of young children.
If the quality of the available reading material is poor how are we to instill creativity in young minds?
One of the most interesting feature of leaning a second language is that it should arouse the creativity along with curiosity.
 Learning a language and its intricacies is quite different from learning a language of instruction. 

For an example English is a suitable medium of instruction for science without which vast knowledge base cannot be tapped.
Similarly, learning a computer language is entirely a different exercise altogether.
So language of upbringing (mother tongue), language of instruction (English) and the language of technical communication (Linux) are few facets of the emerging global trends and requirements.
Only few of us have the mastery of all these aspects of communication. 

How we could direct our children without unduly burdening them in early years of their life is the challenge for our educationists and reformists.
 

What is happening is little bit of this and little bit of that and the final chutney (Achcharu) is not of any taste to the child's creative mind.
There is a particular age where children are at ease with learning a second language other than the mother tongue. Beyond this period it is a tedious task for any body. To learn a new language especially the phonetics as an adult is not an easy task. Then there are many other aspects including, grammar, syntax, idioms, expressions and dialects to deal with.

I am no specialist in this game of languages.

As child I was attracted to books initially for the colorful pictures then to the stories. I was in no way attracted to the daily papers except the cartoons. Neither the history nor the literature attracted me but quite unknowingly the science was the theme that interested me.
There was the Russian ‘Sputnik’ and the Lyka the dog going to the outer space in my childhood. Gradually I begun to understand that unless I learn to read English I won’t be able understand all those exciting cartoons (Tin Tin, Denis the Menace and Andy Capp) and science fiction.
Learning English was fun and learning Sinhala was boring, in early years of my life.
For my luck I had very good Sinhala teacher and a very good English teacher. If not for them I would not have gone far. 

Even though, I left the homely village life in my formative years to a school in the city, quite frankly I did not learn much in the city school.

It was actually the British Council Library that provided me with all the books I needed. City school library was not much to talk about. So I learned my second language at my own pace at my own leisure.

The seat of knowledge was the British Council Library.

By the way, my blogging habits started due to British Council Library.

They had a program called WriteClick!