In Memory of Lasantha Wickramatunge

Reproduction

This is true of Lalith and Gaminie and many more.

සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් කර්තෘ ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග මහතා ඝාතනය කර අදට වසර 5ක් ගත වේ.

ඒ 2009 ජනවාරි 8 වනදාය.

නමුත් මේ වසර පහක කාලය තුළ බළධාරීන්ට නිශ්චිතවම ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග මහතා ඝාතනය කල ඝාතකයින් හෙළි කිරීමට තවමත් නොහැකි වී තිබේ.

කොළඹ අධිආරක්ෂක කලාපයකදී මහදවල් ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග මහතාට නාදුනන තුවක්කු කරුවෙකු වෙඩි තබා පලා ගියේ එවකට තිබූ හමුදා මුරකපොලු කිහිපයක් පසු කර ගෙන බව කවුරැත් දන්නා සත්‍යයකි.

නමුත් එවකට එම මුරකපොලුවලින් එසේ බේරී පළා යාමට හැක්කේ කාටද යන්න?
අදද කවුරැත් දන්නා රහසක් ව පවතී.

කෙසේ නමුත් වෙඩි වැදීමෙන් පසුව කලුබෝවිල රෝහලට ඇතුලගත් කල ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග මහතා සදහටම මෙලොවින් සමු ගත්තේය.

ඒ 2009 ජනවාරි 8 වනදාය.

ලංකාවේ ප්‍රධාන ධාරාවේ පුවත් පතක කතුවරයෙකු මහ දවල් අධිආරක්ෂක කලාපයක ඝාතනය කර ඝාතකයින්ට රිසි සේ පළා යා හැකිද යන්න විමසීමත් සමග ඝාතනය කරන ලද සිවරාම්, නිමලරාජන් මෙන්ම ප්‍රගීත් වැනි අතුරැදහන් කරන ලද, පෝද්දල වැනි බරපතල ප්‍රහාරයන්ට ලක් වූ සියලු මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට මෙම තත්ත්වය අත්කර දුන් ඝාතකයින් සහ ප්‍රහාරකයින් මෙන්ම එයට අනුබල දුන් මර්දකයින්, වහාම රටට හෙළි කරන ලෙස, බළධාරීන්ට බල කල යුතුව ඇති සේම, ඒ වෙනුවෙන් සියලු පුරවැසියන් පෙළගැසිය යුතු කාලය කල් දැමීම යනු මෙම පවතින මර්දනකාරී දේශපාලන පරිසරයට තව දුරටත් සහය වීමක් බව අපගේ හැගීමයි.

එබැවින් මර්දනයට එරෙහිව පෙළ ගැසීමත් ඒ මර්දනයට එරෙහිව වන අරගලයට සහය වීමත්, යහපත් හෙට දවසක් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරන සියලු පුරවැසියන්ගේ වගකීමක් බව අද දවසේත් මෙසේ සටහන් තබමු.

DATAMATION is a professional web site

DATAMATION is a professional web site with information on Linux, Apple, Windows and even Mobile architecture.

I am reproducing his article to SHOW how inadequate my blog site (NOW) is.

Few years ago, I used to write almost every day on Linux.

Still visitors are mainly for Linux (not for my bizarre satire on Sri-Lankan affairs, including pathetic politics.

No.1.

I use Linux exclusively now and my current workhorse is Peppermint.

Reason

Light weight.

Sleek.

Web (Google enhanced).

Small foot print.

I download only the packages I use, nothing more.

It has its own weaknesses with which I can live with it.

No 2.

When they started fiddling with the desktop, I was really annoyed and I voiced my (gut out) concerns.

No Linux developer has tried less hard to (I am convinced now) keep abreast with the individual and community concerns.

They are great guys and girls there.

They need accolade if not “Nobel Prize”.

No 3.

I have no worries now with Linux.

I am 99% satisfied with the work output.

No breakdowns for over 10 years.

Only the hardware failures over 10 years (only due to electricity surges).

No 4.

I have Debian, Ubuntu, SuSe, PCLinux, KiWi and few other flavours for an emergency.

Multi-booting is the way out, if you miss something in a particular distribution.

No. 5.

I am currently testing Fedora 21 and it is FAB.

I am downloading the Fedora Games DVD and currently interested on Linux Games ONLY.

That was the only weakness and STEAM Machine will fulfil the needs.

Having said that if I find something fresh, I will post a brief account.

If you are happy with a distribution “Do Not Change!”

No.6.

Subscribe to Linux Magazine (I do) and you'll get a lovely update and a 12 DVDs (12x2) over 12 months (two distributions on both sides.).

That saves my electricity bill downloading images.

If the DVD is defective for some reason, they send you another FREE.

It happened only twice over three years.

No. 7.

Please, please if you find something amiss, do not start a “flame war” but report it immediately and in three months you get a solution free of charge (unlike Microsoft or Apple)

Recently, famous Linux Guru has suggested to Charge (do not do it FREE) a healthy Fee for service provided. I agree, Linux guys and girls also need bread and butter or rice and curry to Live not to Survive.

November 24, 2014

Debian vs Ubuntu:

Which is Best for You?

By Bruce Byfield

Debian and Ubuntu are the most influential Linux distributions ever. Of the 285 active distributions listed on Distrowatch, 132 are derived from Debian, including Ubuntu, and another 67 are derived directly from Ubuntu -- just under 70%. Yet the experience of using them differs in just about every aspect. Consequently, choosing between them is no easy matter.
Asked to explain the difference between the two distributions, most users would describe Debian as an expert's distribution, and Ubuntu as a beginner's. These characterizations are partly true, but exaggerated. Debian's reputation rests on its state over a decade ago, and today allows as much hands-on control as each user chooses.
Similarly, Ubuntu is really its design team's conception of easy. Should your work habits not be compatible with that concept, you may disagree strongly that it is easy to use.
However, although Ubuntu is derived from Debian, their differences are marked. From installation and desktop to package management and community, what everybody thinks they know about the two may be wrong, or at least in need of heavy qualification -- all of which makes choosing which is right for you a difficult process.

Installation

Right away, the distribution for you may depend on your hardware. Debian currently develops for 13 hardware architectures, ranging from standard 32 and 64 bit Intel to Arm and PowerPC, with support for two more in progress. By contrast, Ubuntu supports 32 and 64 bit versions as computer desktop environments, and is developing Ubuntu ARM for mobile devices.
Another consideration is the installers for each distribution. Ubuntu's standard installer is designed to require a minimum of user input to keep installation simple and as fast as possible. Should you encounter problems, you can try the expert mode installer -- a lightly re-branded version of the Debian Installer.
The Debian Installer clearly has other priorities. Its graphic version is a GUI that differs from the text-based installer mainly in toolkit, offering no advantage except comfort for those nervous about the command line.
Contrary to Debian's former reputation, it can usually be installed by following the online instructions and accepting the default settings for each stage. However, if you choose, you can make individual choices at every step of the installation process, substantially increasing the required time. Instead of catering to inexperienced users, the Debian installer accommodates all levels of users. It may not be pretty, but, short of compiling your own packages, you are unlikely to find a more flexible installer.

Desktop

Debian and Ubuntu default to different desktop environments. Ubuntu defaults to Unity, the desktop that Canonical, Ubuntu's corporate sponsor, has been developing for the last five years. Should Canonical succeed in marketing its mobile devices, in the future you may be able to have the same desktop on all your hardware.
Debian, though, seems in no hurry to support Unity. Instead, its standard disk images default to GNOME 3.
However, these defaults mean little more than convenience. Both Ubuntu and Debian support multiple desktops. In Ubuntu, other desktops are semi- independent distributions, such as Kubuntu for KDE and Xubuntu for Xfce. These variations share the underlying GNOME technologies with the standard-issue Ubuntu, and may or may not sync with official releases, give or take a few weeks.
In Debian, the choice of desktops is roughly the same, but the teams developing them are less separate from standard Debian. The timeliness of these releases varies, so expect to take some time in online searches to find what is happening with any team whose results may interest you.
Except for Unity, most software written for Ubuntu is also available for Debian. Software written for Debian is almost always available for Ubuntu, because Ubuntu draws its packages from Debian's repositories. Depending on where Debian is in its ponderously slow release cycle, Ubuntu's software is usually more current than Debian's, but as a tradeoff, Debian's tends to be more thoroughly tested and stable.
A warning, though: do not assume that a common origin makes packages cross-compatible. While many packages can be installed on both Debian and Ubuntu, about twenty percent of Ubuntu's packages stand a large chance of being incompatible with Debian due to differences in name and file locations.

Administration and Package Management

Unsurprisingly, both Debian and Ubuntu encourage the use of a root account for administrative purposes, and restricted accounts for everyday computing. However, the chosen security models are different.
In Debian, users do administrative wprl by logging directly into the root account, then -- ideally -- logging out again as quickly as possible to reduce the period of vulnerability. Ubuntu, though, obscures the root password, instead using sudo, and allowing at least one user to enter their own password to issue administrative commands.
Which of these security models is preferable is frequently debated, so you should search for a discussion on the subject so that you can decide which you prefer.
Debian's packages are divided into three main categories: Unstable, Testing, and Stable. A new package enters stable, and transfers into Testing when it has been debugged. When an official release is prepared, the current packages in Testing under further examination, and are eventually become the new Stable.
In recent years, other repositories have been officially or unofficially added, such as Experimental, Old Stable, Security, Backports ,and Update. However, users should pay most attention to the three main repositories.
The advantage of Debian's system is that you can choose a position anywhere between two extremes: rock-solid stability, at the cost of older versions of software, or cutting edge, at the cost of less robust software and, at times, drastic changes in technology that can cripple an unwary user's system. The choice can depend on whether you upgrade a core component, such as the Linux kernel, or a self-contained utility with its own libraries that affects nothing else when disaster strikes.
By contrast, Ubuntu derives its packages from Debian Unstable or Testing. Instead of being organized by testing status, Ubuntu's repositories are organized by other criteria. Main contains software supported by Canonical, Universe software supported by the Ubuntu Community. Restricted contains proprietary drivers, while Multiverse holds software with copyright or legal limitations.
Another major difference is that Debian is much more dedicated to software freedom. By default, it installs only free software, and its installer even goes so far as to offer a kernel free of proprietary firmware. If you want nonfree software, you have add the Contrib and Nonfree sections to each repository.
By contrast, the distinction between free and proprietary is much less clear in Ubuntu. While Debian discourages the use of proprietary software (although allowing users to make their own choice), Ubuntu encourages users to install proprietary software in order to have a computing experience comparable to that on any commercial operating system. You can get the same experience on Debian if you are willing to work, but Debian makes clearer that you do so at the expensive of software freedom.

Communities

For users who may become involved with developing, Debian's and Ubuntu's communities may also be a factor in their choice.
Debian is famous -- even infamous -- for discussing everything in great detail. Especially contentious issues can even go to a general vote.
In recent years, Debian appeared to mellow, but the discussion can still sometimes become a free-for-all. In the past, Debian has been described as a hostile environment for women, and, just recently, the debate on replacing init with systemd became so intense that a couple of veteran developers resigned rather endure abuse.
At the same time, Debian is a meritocratic democracy, with all official maintainers voting on the Debian Leader and other issues. Although appointed positions can sometimes be a source of power, in general Debian officials lead more by suggestion and diplomacy than direct command.
Ubuntu contrasts with Debian in that it has a Code of Conduct for community interaction. Until recently, Ubuntu's community manager was Jono Bacon, who literally wrote the book on The Art of Community, and made considerable effort at conflict resolution. In addition, a Community Council and Technical Board is partly elected every year.
However, this democratic appearance is not quite what it appears. Ubuntu's founder, Mark Shuttleworth, sits on both governing boards permanently, and casts the deciding vote. Shuttleworth -- and, at times, his Canonical representatives -- also have veto power over the community, which in the past has caused several user revolts.

Making a Choice

Beginner or expert? Platform support? Ease of use or control? Unity or GNOME? Cutting edge or stability? Free or proprietary? Outspoken but democratic, or polite or controlled? As you can see, choosing between Debian and Ubuntu comes down to what is important to you.
Before you choose one distribution over the other, I suggest that you decide where you stand on all these dichotomies. Or perhaps some of these divisions is more important to you than the others.
However, no matter how you decide, you can hardly go too far wrong. For all their differences, Debian and Ubuntu did not become the leading distributions in free software by chance. Their joint dominance suggests that either is a valid choice, so long as you understand your priorities.

Fedora 21- Top Hat Award

Fedora 21- Top Hat Award

Red Hat, Fedora and all the old hats of Linux Lineage are there for you to Enjoy this Christmas.
I downloaded In design by torrent and it is superb.
It has as usual both 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

I am currently downloading Games Version. 

Please use the torrent if your connection is slow / breaks down in Sri-Lanka due to political interference, of course.

Internet breaks down, just like your prized ceramic ornamental.

Thank YOU guys and girls of Fedora.
Happy Christmas and New Year 2015

Beautiful Lanka - Lassana Lankave

Beautiful Lanka - Lassana Lankave

අපි උක්කොම  බුරු වරු
 
අපි උක්කොම හොර  බොරු
අපි උක්කොම  බුරු වරු
බුරු වරිගෙන්
පැව තෙන්නා  සේ !

මේ ලස්සණ ලංකාවේ!

අපි උක්කොම  බුරු වරු
අපි උක්කොම  බුරු බුරු  

බල්ලන් බුරන්නා සේ!

චන්දේ ට  සැර සෙන් නේ!

මේ ලස්සණ ලංකාවේ!
මේ ලස්සණ ලංකාවේ!
Translation
Come Elections
We are all cheaters and liars!
We all descent from Jack Ass Lineage,
Of course!

Jack Ass Lineage - Upi Okkoma Buru Varu

Ukkoma Boru Waru

Upi Okkoma Hora Boru

Ukkoma Buru Waru

Buru Warrigen

Peva Thenna Se!

Me Lassana Lankave!

Upi Okkoma Buru Varu

Upi Okkoma Buru Buru

Ballan Buranna Se

Chandeta Sara Senna Se

Me Lassana Lankave

No copyright Attached

Translation

Come Elections,

We are all cheaters and liars!

We all descent from Jack Ass Lineage,

Of course!

This is Why I Hate Facebook?

 This is Why I Hate Facebook

This a reproduction from Dr, Rankin
Why You Should Never Login With Facebook
 
Category: Social-Networking
Mari Sherkin has been happily married for over 25 years, so she was more than a little surprised to learn she had a dating profile on matchmaking service Zoosk.com that she never created. Find out how it happened, and how it could easily happen to you...

What is OAuth, and Why Should You Care?

According to Mary, a popup ad on Facebook invited her to take a look at Zoosk. She says she didn’t want to, so she clicked the X in one corner of the ad to close it. But suddenly she was whisked to Zoosk.com’s home page; she wanted none of that, so she closed the browser window. Mere minutes later, she says, emails from Zoosk members began flooding her inbox, expressing interest in her Zoosk profile -- which Mary says she never created.
That profile included her name, Facebook profile picture, and postal code. Mary lives in a small town 2.5 hours from Toronto, and she is understandably concerned about the damage that could be done to her reputation by this apparent evidence of infidelity.
How did Zoosk get the data it needed to create this bogus profile of Mary? The CBC News reporter who chronicled Mary’s plight found a “technology expert (who) points to what is known as an ‘open authentication protocol’ — or OAuth — where people often unwittingly share personal information with third-party websites.”

OAuth (Open Authentication protocol) is what enables you to “sign in with Facebook” or Google or Twitter login credentials on other sites, eliminating the bother of creating and keeping track of new login credentials for multiple sites. Depending on how OAuth is configured, a site may request access to your personal data and the ability to act as if it was you on Facebook, Google, or whatever service you use to save yourself some time and hassle.

Ebola From NEJM

Ebola From NEJM
In resource-limited areas, isolation of the sick from the population at large has been the cornerstone of control of Ebola virus disease (EVD) since the virus was discovered in 1976.1 Although this strategy by itself may be effective in controlling small outbreaks in remote settings, it has offered little hope to infected people and their families in the absence of medical care. In the current West African outbreak, infection control and clinical management efforts are necessarily being implemented on a larger scale than in any previous outbreak, and it is therefore appropriate to reassess traditional efforts at disease management.
Having cared for more than 700 patients with EVD between August 23 and October 4, 2014, in the largest Ebola treatment unit in Monrovia, Liberia, we believe that our cumulative clinical observations support a rational approach to EVD management in resource-limited settings.
Early symptoms of EVD include high fever (temperature of up to 40°C), malaise, fatigue, and body aches.
Clinical Features of Ebola Virus Disease.
The fever persists, and by day 3 to 5 of illness, gastrointestinal symptoms typically begin, with epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Patients routinely presented to our facility after 2 or 3 days of severe vomiting or diarrhea, during which they posed a substantial risk to their communities and had a high probability of testing positive for Ebola virus in blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Although some patients tested positive on PCR within 24 hours after symptom onset, we found that a negative test result could not be relied on to rule out disease until 72 hours after symptoms began. Of the patients who tested positive for Ebola, none that we were aware of had contracted disease from an infected contact during the early febrile phase of illness. No ancillary testing was available in our facility.
We observed that recurrent episodes of emesis resulted in an inability to tolerate oral intake. Large volumes of watery diarrhea estimated at 5 or more liters per day (a manifestation not unlike that of cholera) presented suddenly, persisted for up to 7 days or (rarely) longer, and gradually tapered off. Associated signs and symptoms included asthenia, headache, conjunctival injection, chest pain, abdominal pain, arthralgias, myalgias, and hiccups. Respiratory symptoms, such as cough, were rare. Commonly observed neurologic symptoms included delirium, both hypoactive and hyperactive, manifested by confusion, slowed cognition, or agitation, and less frequently, seizures. In the absence of adequate fluid and electrolyte replacement, severe lethargy and prostration developed.
In approximately 60% of the patients we cared for, the development of shock was manifested by diminished level of consciousness or coma, rapid thready pulses, oliguria or anuria, and tachypnea. The distal extremities were cold despite high ambient temperature, and peripheral vasoconstriction was apparent. In aggregate, these clinical findings suggested metabolic acidosis due to severe hypovolemic shock. Evidence of hyperdynamic or distributive shock was infrequently observed and if present was a late finding. Clinically significant hemorrhage from the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract or both occurred in less than 5% of patients before death. Sudden death occurred in a small fraction of patients who were in the recovery phase of their illness, possibly as the result of fatal arrhythmias. Most deaths occurred between days 7 and 12 of illness.
Symptoms began to improve in approximately 40% of patients around day 10 of illness. We observed the development of oral ulcers and thrush around this time, associated with throat pain and dysphagia. Nearly all patients who survived to day 13 ultimately lived. Our discharge criteria included 3 days without gastrointestinal symptoms and a negative PCR test for Ebola virus in blood. We noted that some patients with initial evidence of clinical improvement developed neck rigidity and diminished levels of consciousness. These symptoms were associated with a slight increase in late mortality. The role of central nervous system involvement by EVD, secondary infection, or aseptic processes could not be assessed.
Particularly vulnerable patient populations included children less than 5 years of age, the elderly, and pregnant women. Of the four women who presented with late second- or third-trimester pregnancies, three died shortly after miscarrying, and none successfully carried a fetus to term. Four Liberian staff members became infected with Ebola virus, and three of them died. According to individual investigations, these infections were not attributable to any known breaches in infection-control procedures in the Ebola treatment unit; instead they are thought to be possibly related to transmission in the community where the outbreak was active.
Health care workers in West Africa remain overwhelmed and challenged by the scarcity of resources that would be available in developed countries for improving the care of patients with EVD.4 When patients arrived at our facility, they were moderately to severely ill, and each physician was responsible for the care of 30 to 50 patients. Direct patient contact in the Ebola treatment center was typically limited to intervals of 45 to 60 minutes two to three times a day, owing to substantial heat exposure and fluid losses that providers experienced while wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE). Under these conditions, physicians had 1 to 2 minutes per patient to evaluate needs and establish a care plan.
Rapid clinical assessment required triage of patients into one of three categories: those who were clinically hypovolemic, not in shock, and able to provide self-care; those who were hypovolemic, not in shock, but unable to provide self-care; and those in shock with evidence of organ failure whose outcome would not be altered by any available medical intervention. The majority of patients we cared for were in the first category. We believe that this group had the highest likelihood of having a response to our limited available interventions.
We observed that patients who were hypovolemic, not in shock, and able to care for themselves had potential for recovery with oral antiemetics, antidiarrheal therapy, and adequate rehydration with oral electrolyte solutions. Given the massive fluid losses observed with EVD, oral antiemetics and antidiarrheal therapy appear to be important early interventions that may limit life-threatening dehydration and shock. In our experience, these regimens were successful at controlling symptoms, facilitated oral intake, reduced gastrointestinal fluid losses, and helped to reduce environmental contamination by body fluids. Health care workers with limited time in PPE were then able to direct their efforts toward encouraging and facilitating oral intake.
It was our impression that the cohort of patients who were hypovolemic and not in shock but unable to provide self-care would benefit the most from short-term intravenous fluid therapy and electrolyte replacement. Establishing intravenous access, delivering an adequate volume of fluid, and ensuring safe management of needles and devices required intensive individual-level patient care. Routine use of intravenous fluid therapy in our facility was prohibited by massive caseloads, limited number of health care workers, and limited time in PPE.
The central purpose of Ebola treatment units has historically been to isolate infected persons early in the course of disease — often soon after fever onset — in order to break the chain of disease transmission in the community. However, all efforts must be made to optimize the level of medical care provided within these facilities. Resistance by infected people to voluntary admission will persist unless the treatment facilities are seen as a place to go for treatment and recovery and not as a place to die isolated from loved ones and the community. Our observations support aggressive use of antiemetics, antidiarrheal medications, and rehydration solution to reduce massive gastrointestinal losses and the consequences of hypovolemic shock. Selective use of intravenous fluid therapy in the population that is most likely to benefit is a rational approach under the current circumstances. When possible, broader use of intravenous fluid therapy and electrolyte replacement, guided by point-of-service laboratory testing, is likely to significantly improve outcomes.

Pearl Linux User Name and Password

Here, I have reproduced a read me file of Pearl Linux since I could not find the user name and password.

It is an Ubuntu Derivative which has a Mac Os appearance and is 1.5 GB.

At the login screen please type "custom" as the user name hit enter then for password lease that field blank and hit enter.

Found a small issue with the fonts not looking correct and I thought I deleted the Iso but I guess not.
All you have to do if you already downloaded Pearl is go into system settings and change the font from Veranda 9 (?) to Ubuntu 10 and this is important,

On Rendering check the box to left, Hinting change to slight and Sub-pixel order change to RGB. 

That is the only change that was made.

Their will be more of a README file coming soon. 

Garbage Characters for Sinhala Font

Garbage Characters for Sinhala Font

Certain elements affiliated with ruling coalition is distorting Sinhala Font in a enews page.

I do not use this site anyway but lot of my friends do.

Below is a email note I posted them.

It is not a big issue.
Kindergarten stuff.

Please go to UTUBE and watch “Rosa Natuwa” Song and Dance.
You see the same issue but song is played well in Sinhala

If the web browser does not have the Sinhala Font it reverts (assumes) Chinese characters.

Report it to Google, FireFox or Chrome Browser, what ever it is applicable.

I am trying Amazon to work on it for my writings (translate few of my books to Sinhala).

They do not understand that our alphabet has more than 50 characters.
If lot of people request (in millions) they would act on it.
In the mean time, they should drop the Sinhala Font and use English letters and use Google's Transliterate Format.
Or else they could use images with Sinhala Writings.

There was a time (I hated it) lot of dirty Sinhala words were circulated in emails and government knew it and took appropriate action.
Then the used images and that dirty habit died a natural death.

But this is more political and robust political action is mandatory.

Preparation for Concentration / Focus for Moment Meditation

Preparation for Concentration / Focus for Moment Meditation

1. Do not Think of the Past ( I have not finished my work)

2. Do not Think of the Future ( I have lot of things to do)

3. Do not let the mind drift ( a mosquito hovering)

4. Do not say it is warm (dress appropriately but do not look for a fan)

5. Do not say it is cold ( dress appropriately but do not look for a heater)

6. Do not be lazy

7. Avoid company (If one cannot avoid not more than five for a group)

8. Do not look for solitude

9. Be aware of the current setting (if you are in a bus find a corner and pretend you read a book/note)

10. Be aware of the current physical need (voiding, hunger, physical disability)

If there is a hindrance (as you may perceive it), do not react to it but accept it as a fickle and passing episode like quicksilver.

Then any place is good for moment meditation.

If you are not meditating, just focus and do what you have to do in the present moment to the best of your capability.

In a sense your mind is in a Moment Mediation Mode (3M).

If one practices these few principles with diligence and awareness, getting into moment meditation becomes just a habit not a “result seeking work” endeavor.

One's productivity in what ever one does goes up by the minute.

It is not easy but one has to practice and become adept at it.

Then you do not need a guru and become a master and not a slave of a rigid protocol dispensed by an unprepared master.

Update on Mahela and Sanga.

Update on Mahela and Sanga.

I pity these two players now having decided to play till the world cup is over in 2015.

They will have a bad taste in their mouth at the end of their cricketing saga.

My wishful thinking was that they could have retired before the tournament but I still respect their enthusiasm and sacrifice to cricket.

My gut feeling is that they will burn out even (if that has not happened already) before the tournament commences.

It is already seen in Dilshan.

Then we can see the real Sri-Lankan cricket talent without the old guard worst than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Sri-Lankan cricket management run by politicians, wheeler dealers in business and old cricketing cronies (I think they wet their pants when a female Indian Cricket Board secretary gives them  an order to play in India by their own command; it is given by either by a telephone call or by an email) are ruining our old talents, while young ones who represent Sri-Lankan cricket is a collection of "rag tag of players".

In any are case I do not watch cricket now and won't revise my predictions already made.

I hope either South Africa or West Indies could lift the cup, this time round (unless of course, they do a silly mistake in a vital match).

 

Below is a reproduction.

I hope above blog post done in only ten minutes before I went to sleep needed, another 25 minutes of editing and looking for typos.

I was I was listening to BBC radio and listening to cricket and I had to give up editing and went down to my son's room and peo TV was blocked for (cricket from UK) cricket and then I had to make my wife to move out to answer a call to get to the digital TV (Capture card) and tune into Eye Channel and was able see to Mahela's mastery.

Take my word, they are the modern version of Rohan Kanhaie and Kallicherran of yesteryear West Indies. 
This I said long time ago when they were young.

I will not miss a match when Mahela is on song.

Sanga should learn a lesson or two from Mahela.

West Indies cricketers who are young and never seen the two classy players mentioned above should watch Mahela and Sanga play limited over games and believe that they can produce high class players (their problem is batting once Lara was gone).


The differences in the above two players as opposed to Sri-Lankan players were they always played like that every time they came to the crease, limited or not.

I never missed them when they came to Colombo on short visits (including great Westly Hall, Greenich and Griffith and I think Lance Gibbs the spinner).

Sorbers I have not seen playing live.

Vivian Richard is a class of his own and there is nobody currently to match him.
 
Brian Lara is the epitome of style.
 
There is a documentary on West Indian cricket of yesteryear produced by a cricket loving Englishman. 
 

Everybody who is a cricket lover should see that documentary including West Indians.

Without them cricket will be dead the way Indians cronies (not players) not West Indian who are marketing cricket like tooth paste and soap opera (Bollywood style).

I hope west Indies stop fighting and play gentleman cricket and beat India who has become too big for comfort for any cricket (IPL included.)

They actually gave Indian a wake up call and scare.

If not for Dravid, the Wall (a real mature cricketer of class, whom I like very much) I would be rubbing salt on their wounds.

Dravid was one player who was very badly treated by Indian Cricket Selectors, who thinks that any Indian who can play soft ball cricket can represent India.

Now that Kersten is gone like in Sri-lanka (political involvement) all the cronies will get in to ruin Indian Cricket Board and ICC.

On a finer note my daughter, my wife and the Gon Bass (work supervisor) did not let me sleep even three hours at a stretch and woke me up three times on three different occasions in spite of the fact it was a Saturday.

My dog was the only considerate soul who did not disturb my sleep but left a big poo in the living room to state emphatically, industrial action all right I need to go out and I am not a prisoner on hold, like an American prisoner in the Guatemala Bay.

 I had to do the cleaning.

A Model of Ebola Transmission and Its Suppression

 From NEJM

A Model of Ebola Transmission and Its Suppression

Stephen G. Baum, MD reviewing Yamin D et al. Ann Intern Med 2014 Oct 28.

Isolation of critically ill patients within 4 days after symptoms develop is key to truncating the epidemic.

The current Ebola outbreak in three West African countries is unprecedented in both the number of people infected and the case fatality rate. Without a vaccine or a curative drug, hopes for arresting the epidemic rest on hygiene and isolation measures. To quantify what might be necessary for effective control, researchers developed a stochastic model based on incidence, case fatality rates, and contact tracing from the early days of this outbreak in Liberia, as well as viral load data for survivors and nonsurvivors of an outbreak in Uganda in 2000–2001.
The resulting assumptions for the model were that Ebola transmission increases with viral load. For survivors, the load is greatest 4 days after symptom onset. For nonsurvivors, it is greatest late in the disease and immediately after death; throughout the course of infection, it may be 100-fold that of survivors. Based on these data-driven assumptions and the likely number of contacts for infected individuals at the various stages of illness, the probability of infecting at least one other person was 32% for survivors and 67% for nonsurvivors. The authors estimated that isolation of 75% of critically ill individuals within 4 days of symptom onset has a high probability of eliminating the disease.

Slippery “Banana Bat Story” or the “Fruit Bat Story” of Ebola

Slippery “Banana Bat Story” or the “Fruit Bat Story” of Ebola

It is easy to get Ebola from a banana kept in the veranda / porch for ripening.

These are the steps.

1.The bats (who are staving in the wild due to deforestation, now venture into houses for food) come at night, and land on a tray containing banana.

2. It accidentally drops an ornamental ceramic on the floor shattering it and scattering the pieces on the floor.

3. House wife eats banana from the bunch and discovers a piece of banana on the floor and her prized ornamental ceramic on the floor.

She picks one piece and in the process cuts her tender fingers in the left hand.

She immediately touches the wound with the right hand fingers smeared with (contaminated by the bat) banana fruit contaminated with bat's saliva.

4. Then she washes her hand and wipes her face with a towel hung over night for drying.

Unfortunately, she does not know that bat's thick fruity dropping had been on it.

(She loves fruity aroma of her make-up.)

5. She had high dose of virus (minute dose of virus is enough to cause disease) in her BLOOD, BOWEL and her FACE.

She is downed with fever and later hemorrhage and was diagnosed as Dengue and was not isolated and she contaminates the entire intensive care unit.

The first case of Ebola in this country of ours was misdiagnosed.

The disease spread by our bats into the villages.

The government orders the extermination of bats and in this pretext clears, the remaining rain forest.

Poor Sri-Lankans in the cities catch the bats trapped on the giant electric wires and eat them as a delicacy.

The entire island is now on full alert and the politicians leave the country on the pretext of international Ebola conference and never return.

The Ebola has saved this country from corrupt politicians.

The caveat is one should not eat slippery banana and should not slip away from this country.

The citizens are considered a high risk population (on this planet) except politicians and are trapped in this island enclave for ever.

Pepe, The People's President (Mewa Lankawe Venne Nane)

From BBC (Mewa Lankawe Venne Nane)
Pepe, The People's President
Uruguay's President Jose Mujica says he has been offered $1m (£630,000) for his vintage Volkswagen Beetle.
Mr Mujica, once dubbed "the poorest president in the world" because of his modest lifestyle, said the offer had come from an Arab sheikh.
He told the weekly Busqueda magazine that if he did accept the offer, the money would be used to help the poor.
President Mujica - popularly known as Pepe - lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.
In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration - mandatory for officials in Uruguay - was $1,800, the value of his blue 1987 Beetle.
Busqueda reported that the offer for the car was made at an international summit earlier this year in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
"They made me an offer," Mr Mujica, 79, told the magazine.
"I was a bit surprised, and at first I really didn't pay too much attention to it. But later, another offer came in, and I began to take it a little more seriously."
Jose Mujica has lived in his wife's farmhouse rather than in the presidential palace
The president said he had "no commitment to cars" and would happily auction it.
He joked that he had not sold it so far because he needed it for his dog Manuela, famous for only having three legs.
Mr Mujica said that if he got $1m for the car, he would donate it to a programme he supports that provides housing for the homeless.
President Mujica is barred by the constitution from running for a second consecutive term and a presidential election held last month is to go to a second round.
A recent survey gave Mr Mujica an approval rating of nearly 60%.

Facts File on EBOLA-2014

Facts File on EBOLA-2014

Typically, Ebola symptoms appear 8-10 days after exposure to the virus, but the incubation period can span from two to 21 days.

It can be difficult to determine if a patient is infected with the Ebola virus disease in the early stages.

This is because the Ebola symptoms such as fever, headache and muscle pain are quite common symptoms to other diseases.

It is no different from dengue

The diagnosis is based on the patient’s history.

If any person is presented with Ebola symptoms, then he/she will be tested for the Ebola disease. Samples of blood or body fluid can be sent to a laboratory to be tested for the presence of Ebola virus.

Then a diagnosis can be made rapidly.

This is how Sri-Lankan Attitude and no preparation at all.

“When issuing visas to persons from countries where the Ebola virus is prevalent, we have made medical certificates a prerequisite. A lot of countries have on arrival visa privileges at the airport. But in these cases we will be requiring medical certificates. Before arriving in our country they must secure a medical certificate proving that they are not carriers. Measures have been taken to examine persons arriving at the Bandaranaike International Airport.”

Health staff are inspecting passengers as they disembark.

This measure is in place especially for visitors from West African nations and Congo.

The data is referred to the Divisional Medical Officers of Health who then carry out follow up inspections.

Also in the event that any person displays symptoms of the disease within 21 days of arriving in the country then steps have been taken to have them immediately taken to the IDH hospital.

Ambulance services have been provided at the airport and doctors too have been assigned for this purpose.

Risk factors

From Mayo Clinic

For most people, the risk of getting Ebola or Marburg viruses (hemorrhagic fevers) is low.

The risk increases if you:

1.Travel to Africa.
You're at increased risk if you visit or work in areas where Ebola virus or Marburg virus outbreaks have occurred.
2. Conduct animal research.
People are more likely to contract the Ebola or Marburg virus if they conduct animal research with monkeys imported from Africa or the Philippines.
Provide medical or personal care.
Family members are often infected as they care for sick relatives.
Medical personnel also can be infected if they don't use protective gear, such as surgical masks and gloves.
Prepare people for burial.
• The bodies of people who have died of Ebola or Marburg hemorrhagic fever are still contagious. Helping prepare these bodies for burial can increase your risk of developing the disease.

Ecology

Ebola virus is a zoonotic pathogen.

Intermediary hosts have been reported to be "various species of fruit bats throughout central and sub-Saharan Africa".

Evidence of infection in bats has been detected through molecular and serological means.

However, ebolaviruses have not been isolated in bats.

Secondary hosts are humans and great apes, infected through bat contact or through other end hosts.

Pigs on the Philippine islands have been reported to be infected with Reston virus, so other interim or amplifying hosts may exist.

Ebola virus disease

Ebola virus is one of the four ebolaviruses known to cause disease in humans. It has the highest case-fatality rate of these ebolaviruses, averaging 83 percent since the first outbreaks in 1976, although fatality rates up to 90 percent have been recorded in one epidemic (2002–03). There have also been more outbreaks of Ebola virus than of any other ebolavirus. The first outbreak occurred on 26 August 1976 in Yambuku.

The first recorded case was Mabalo Lokela, a 44 year-old schoolteacher. The symptoms resembled malaria, and subsequent patients received quinine. Transmission has been attributed to reuse of unsterilized needles and close personal contact, body fluids and places where the person has touched.

During the 1976 Ebola outbreak in Zaire, Ngoy Mushola traveled from Bumba to Yambuku, where he recorded the first clinical description of the disease in his daily notes.

"The illness is characterized with a high temperature of about 39°C, haematemesis, diarrhea with blood, retrosternal abdominal pain, prostration with "heavy" articulations, and rapid evolution death after a mean of three days."

The prototype Ebola virus, variant Mayinga (EBOV/May), was named for Mayinga N'Seka, a nurse who died during the 1976 Zaire outbreak.

Ebola is a rare but deadly virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs.

Ultimately, it causes reduction in clotting factors leading to severe, uncontrollable bleeding. The disease, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever or Ebola virus, kills up to 90% of people who are infected.

Ebola virus disease is a serious, usually fatal, disease for which there are no licensed treatments or vaccines.

It is endemic in Africa.

Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. It is thought the Ebola virus has been living harmlessly in fruit bats for many years, building up in this population and spreading to other forest animals including chimpanzees and gorillas.

Ebola is extremely infectious but not extremely contagious.

It is infectious, because an infinitesimally small amount can cause illness.

Humans can be infected by other humans if they come in contact with body fluids from an infected person or contaminated objects from infected persons.

While the exact reservoir of Ebola viruses is still unknown, researchers believe the most likely natural hosts are fruit bats.

Ebola Symptoms are the following:

1. Fever
2. Bad headaches
3. Muscular Pain
4. Increased Weakness
5. Fatigue
6. Diarrhea
7. Vomiting
8. Stomach pains

9. Unexplained bleeding and breathing difficulty

Over time, symptoms become increasingly severe and may include:

Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea (may be bloody)
Red eyes
Raised rash
Chest pain and cough
Stomach pain
Severe weight loss
Bleeding, usually from the eyes, and bruising (people near death may bleed from other orifices, such as ears, nose and rectum)
Internal bleeding
It is almost like Dengue Fever

Severe headache
Joint and muscle aches
Chills
Weakness
But, only mode of transmission is different.
Complications
Both Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers lead to death for a high percentage of people who are affected.
As the illness progresses, it can cause:
Multiple organ failure
Severe bleeding
Jaundice
Delirium
Seizures
Coma
Shock
One reason the viruses are so deadly is that they interfere with the immune system's ability to mount a defense.
But scientists don't understand why some people recover from Ebola and Marburg and others don't.
For people who survive, recovery is slow. It may take months to regain weight and strength, and the viruses remain in the body for weeks. People may experience:
Hair loss
Sensory changes
Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
Weakness
Fatigue
Headaches
Eye inflammation
Testicular inflammation

Ebola Survivors and Sex

From Scientific American

Let’s Talk about Ebola Survivors and Sex

Wear a condom: That has been the standard—and strong—advice from public health officials trying to thwart the spread of HIV or syphilis.
 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has spent decades trying to get people to put them on.
 But now health workers are pushing the latex prophylactic for a different reason:
Ebola recovery.

People are surviving the disease. Doctors Without Borders, which oversees many Ebola clinics in west Africa, is sending home recovered Ebola patients with a stack of condoms, and health workers are urging them to only engage in protected sex for at least three months after recovery. The virus has been found in the semen and vaginal fluids of convalescents for weeks or even months after symptoms of Ebola have abated, setting off concern that the virus could be spread via sexual contact with otherwise healthy individuals. In men, one study found that Ebola continued to persist in semen for 90 days. U.S. health officials are echoing this caution as a small number of patients have been released from American hospitals.

To date, however, there has not been a single documented case of Ebola transmission from sexual activity.
Moreover, simply detecting the genetic presence of the virus in recovering patients does not automatically mean that disease transmission could or would take place—especially if the virus is only present in relatively low concentrations. Although a whole, functioning virus is needed to transmit an infection to another person, current testing methods are also so sensitive they also detect nucleic acids from the virus that continue to lurk in bodily fluids during recovery. “It’s essentially like finding a bone of an animal but that doesn’t tell you if there’s a live breathing animal,” says Daniel Bausch, a professor of tropical medicine at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

That may be why one 1999 study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which followed 29 people recovering from Ebola and their household contacts (including sex partners) for up to 21 months, found that although four of the five tested convalescents had at least one semen sample with detected Ebola virus inside it none of their sexual partners developed symptoms of Ebola, even if they had unprotected sex during that period.

So why the “safe sex” warning when thousands of patients have survived Ebola and may have gone on to have sex, apparently without infecting their partners? Extreme caution is not an overreaction with this disease. Studies by Bausch and others have also detected live Ebola virus in sexual fluids that can successfully grow in cell culture, suggesting it could also lead to infections in other individuals. It is possible that sexually transmitted Ebola may have flown under the radar because there has been a dearth of data from outbreaks in years past. Also, although extremely unlikely, it is possible that mild Ebola—with very minor symptoms that were not recognized as such—has developed in patients’ sexual partners. Thus, the CDC warns that convalescing patients must either abstain from intercourse and oral sex for three months or use condoms for that entire time.

Let’s Talk about Ebola Survivors and Sex
With any infectious disease, when patients have a high viral load in their bodily fluids, it increases the risk they will pass disease to someone else through direct contact with those fluids. With HIV, for example, the risk of passing the disease between partners increases with higher viral load: For every 10-fold increase in viral concentration, one 2012 study suggests there is about a threefold increase in the risk of transmission per sexual act. And with HIV, condoms are a highly effective mode of blocking disease transmission because the virus is primarily spread via contact with sexual fluids or blood.

As with HIV, when Ebola progresses, a patient’s viral loads inch upward and that boosts the chance of disease transmission via contact with bodily fluids. Moreover, a certain degree of natural immunological protection for certain body parts—the central nervous system, eyes and gonads—makes it difficult for virus to exit those bodily parts, which may lead to the virus continuing to be present even after the virus was cleared from the blood, according to Bausch. And if an Ebola patient’s disease proves fatal, his viral load at death is particularly high, which boosts the risk of contracting the disease from interacting with the corpse.

Ebola virus manages to thrive in a variety of bodily fluids. It is found in its highest concentrations in blood, vomit and feces. But coming into direct contact with semen, vaginal fluids, saliva or even sweat could still be risky while a patient is symptomatic. (Although it’s not likely patients in the throes of illness would be engaging in sex. And live Ebola virus, according to WHO, has never been isolated in human sweat.) Just how infectious those fluids may be after recovery, however, remains a series of question marks. Studies in this area have been extremely small and continue to be largely inconclusive. Thus far, there are no recorded cases of sexual transmission of Ebola. With more than 13,500 cases currently in west Africa right now, however, public health officials do not want to take any chances.

Bruce Ribner, the clinician who led the Emory University Hospital team that treated patients Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, said in a recent interview with Scientific American that although studies have shown Ebola patients shed genetic material from the pathogen into their sexual fluids there is scant evidence they are often shedding viable virus that could infect others.
Yet even Ribner advised his patients about the recommended CDC guidelines of not having unprotected sex for three months.
For now, it’s better safe than sorry.