Fed-up With Fedora Linux

Posted: 3/27/2015  Updated: 4/29/15, 4/11/2015

Update 4/29/1515

I forgot to mention that the memory (RAM) management in Fedora truly sucks and I noticed this since I first installed Fedora on my notebook early last year (2014).

I usually have about half a dozen application running at any time. Usually, three instances of Google Chrome browser with total of about 15-20 tabs opened. My 6 GB of RAM is about 90% used up all the time, plus my Swap memory is over 70% used. Responses to keyboard etc. become very sluggish. In this respect, Microsoft Windows is doing a much better job.

This is so annoying!!!!

Update 4/11/15

Printer Installation Failed

Just tried to print a document on our HP laser printer for the first time after all these reinstalls of linux (see below). Apparently, linux recognized the proper printer model, but failed to correctly install the necessary driver this time (Message: printing stopped, run hp plug in). This is upsetting because with Fedora Linux 20 and with my earliest installs of Fedora Linux 21 it used to work nicely out of the box with the same printer as it should be. In this day and age there is no excuse for that happening!

Who are these amateur programmers working for Fedora Linux?

Original

It appears both Fedora 20 & 21 (Workstation) have become instable upon installation of updates. I have now done 4-5 full reinstalls of Fedora on my Lenovo notebook over the past several weeks. I do not install many other applications and I do not claim to be a Linux expert.

Everytime, the instability was triggered by operating system updates prompted by the default Software application. Following first several updates, the boot up after installation ended in Linux emergency mode. Now, with Fedora 21 the latest update done yesterday ended in a Kernel panic (In the Windows world aka Blue Screen of Death).

Today, I googled for crashes with Fedora, but did not find much relevant information other than that there is a Fedora project called Fedup to upgrade Fedora (very aptly named project). Unfortunately, the webpages regarding this project were not very intuitive.

Here is a screenshot of yesterday’s Kernel panic:

The second line from the top says “junk in compressed archive”. Do these Fedora developers not test their stuff before they release it? Grrr!

What A Blunder By Lufthansa

Posted: 3/26/2015

I am not familiar with all the details of the German Wing airplane (Flight no. 9525)  that was apparently, according to the latest news, deliberately crashed into the French Alps by the copilot, who was by himself in the cockpit at the time. A perfect mass murder or the infamous 15 minutes of fame!

Why Lufthansa did not follow the U.S. safety procedures, reportedly in place since 9/11, mandating that there are always two persons (e.g. copilot and a crew member) in the cockpit is a mystery. This is particularly true since cockpit doors were more secured since 9/11 to prevent terrorists from entering the cockpit.

This quite a lapse for Lufthansa since Germans are so famous for thinking of any precautions etc. What if the copilot had become unconscious while the pilot is outside of the cockpit and the cockpit door is secured from the inside?

As an investigator I would also investigate the pilot as the timing of his cockpit exit could be suspicious. He just happened to leave the cockpit when it was approaching this remote area of the French Alps. Apparently, the copilot did not waste time to descend the plane.

Blood Biopsy For Early Cancer Detection

Posted: 3/20/2015

Trigger

Recently read Liquid Biopsy Fast DNA-sequencing machines are leading to simple blood tests for cancer.  I strongly believe liquid biopsy as described in this article has huge potential.

This is another blog post in a series on the topic of Cancer Is History!

China Is Leading

I am convinced that countries like China and India will make lots of valuable contributions in coming decades to science & technology.

China is also facing enormous pressure to fight cancer. E.g. according to the above article “Of all the people worldwide who die of cancer each year, some 27 percent are Chinese.” And the numbers of Chinese people affected by cancer is increasing.

No wonder that the article covers a Chinese researcher, Dennis Lo, who for nearly 20 years pursues “a technique called the “liquid biopsy,” which is meant to detect liver and other cancers very early—even before symptoms arise—by sequencing the DNA in a few drops of a person’s blood.”

“He is well known for having been the first to show that a fetus sheds bits of its DNA into the bloodstream of its mother. That finding, first made in 1997, has in recent years led to a much safer, simpler screening test for Down syndrome. By now more than one million pregnant women have been tested.”

Adolf Hitler Was Super Wealthy

Posted: 3/20/2015

Trigger

Recently watched this documentary Hitler's Riches. It provides hard to come by evidence about the income and wealth of Hitler during his lifetime. It also suggests that Adolf Hitler systematically built his fortune. I was not aware of this until I watched this documentary.

This documentary also extensively covers his last will written just hours before he committed suicide.

Mein Kampf Was A Bestseller

His book was translated and sold in multiple languages and it was given away to every German couple at the wedding.

His images and photographs of him (Hitler also had a personal photographer) were sold like merchandise.

Epilogue

I have yet to think about what the import of this documentary is or why the Smithsonian Channel thought it was relevant to release this documentary at this time for what purpose.

Perhaps, I leave it with a question: Was Hitler besides, his monstrous ideology and belligerence, just a business savvy person or was he also full of avarice. I tend to agree with latter.

Is Russia’s Putin a possible parallel to Hitler in this respect! Putin is also reported to have amassed riches (see e.g. this PBS Frontline video).

English For Trippers: The patient patient

Posted: 3/20/2015

These days I overheard colleagues of mine making fun of following two expressions:

• Thanks for your patients! (a doctor may say)
• Thanks for your patience! (a typical customer representative would say)

Hot Recent Science & Technology Articles (8)

Posted: 3/18/2015

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-einstein-scientists-spacetime-foam.html (Is space-time foam just another long debunked Phlogiston or Aether theory?)

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-technology-radio-frequency-capacity.html (full duplex radio integrated circuit)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/like-genes-our-microbes-pass-from-parent-to-child

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/03/humans-may-harbor-more-100-genes-other-organisms

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/peanuts-linked-heart-longevity-benefits-pricey-nuts-201503057777

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/03/ultrasound-therapies-target-brain-cancers-and-alzheimer-s-disease

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/03/does-high-salt-diet-combat-infections

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/titan-could-host-life-not-as-we-know-it/

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/03/secret-chameleon-color-change-tiny-crystals

http://news.sciencemag.org/earth/2015/03/martian-canyons-may-have-been-carved-wind

Fluid–filled pores separate materials with fine precision

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/03/forgotten-synthetic-phd-theses-set-be-given-new-lease-life (Exploiting PhD Theses for more information)

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/03/program-ready-weed-out-tough-drug-leads-ligand-receptor (Advances in computational chemistry)

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/biomedical/devices/magnetic-nanoparticles-promise-to-prevent-strokes-and-heart-attacks

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150225-genetic-geometry-takes-shape/

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/02/cephalopods-camouflage-squid-cuttlefish

http://hms.harvard.edu/news/mind-reading-neurons

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-particle.html

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20150302/saphire.html

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/535251/old-battery-type-gets-an-energy-boost/

http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/02/xeroxed-gene-may-have-paved-way-large-human-brain

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/feb/23/could-the-sun-be-trapping-asymmetric-dark-matter

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/02/electrides-nowhere-hide-computational-tool

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/02/us-opens-home-dna-screening

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/feb/26/filamentous-laser-beams-point-to-new-type-of-phase-transition (Maybe good for rainmaking or control of lightning)

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/feb/24/quasar-spectrum-shines-a-new-light-on-unchanged-fundamental-constants

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/feb/24/quasar-spectrum-shines-a-new-light-on-unchanged-fundamental-constants

http://www.nature.com/news/optics-super-vision-1.16877

http://www.hhmi.org/news/new-fluorescent-protein-permanently-marks-neurons-fire

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/02/first-metal-organic-framework-sensor-detects-ammonia

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/02/paper-test-ebola-dengue-yellow-fever-silver-nanoparticles

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/newly-found-genes-affecting-allergies-asthma-may-provide-drug-targets/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/higgs-boson-could-explain-antimatter/

http://phys.org/news/2015-02-higgs-boson-analogue-superconductors.html

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20150223/schultz.html

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20150223/lasmesas.html

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20150223/farzan.html

English For Trippers: Chubby not choppy, but chummy

Posted: 3/10/2015

This morning teasingly called my wife chubby. This evening I confused chubby with chummy when my wife asked me whether I called her choppy this morning.

Breakthrough Clue To Cancer Drug Failure

Posted: 3/10/2015

Trigger

Just read “Team Finds Clues to Cancer Drug Failure”. This article is not terribly specific as to the significance of the discovery, but if confirmed or improved upon this could be big news.

Transporter Proteins Change Shape

“Now scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have published a pair of studies showing how the primary protein responsible for multidrug chemotherapy resistance changes shape and reacts to therapeutic drugs.”

“The researchers found that when certain ligands bind to P-gp, they trigger local conformational changes in the transporter. Binding also increased the rate of ATP hydrolysis, which provides mechanical energy and may be the first step in the binding pocket closing process.

The team also found that ligands could bind to different areas of the transporter, leaving nearby slots open for other molecules.”

I am not an expert, but this sounds like these researchers are on to something to make cancer history. :-)

Will The U.S. Congress Finally Privatize Amtrak!

Posted: 3/10/2015

Trigger

Just read “Amtrak Bill Continues History of Wasted Subsidies”.

Salient quotes:

1. “Amtrak has cost the government over $45 billion in subsidies over the last 44 years, allowing it to finance the upkeep of unprofitable routes, overstaffed trains, and the mismanagement of its food services.”
2. “The operating loss is unlikely to continue to decline due to the losses in Amtrak’s long-distance routes, which bleed about $600 million annually. After factoring in depreciation and other expenses, Amtrak lost a total of $1.1 billion in 2014.”

Amtrak is one of those god send examples of how bad government is in running any business!

Since Amtrak is a government run business it is allowed to persistently violate federal laws like ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) according to the above article.

Amtrak is run for people like former U.S. Senator current U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden who used to take the Amtrak from his home in Delaware to commute to Washington DC.

In The Name Of Limited And Small Government

Privatize Amtrak immediately or let it finally go bankrupt!

Extraterrestrial Life Unlike We Know It

Posted: 3/10/2015

Trigger

Just read “Titan Could Host Life "Not As We Know It" Saturn's moon Titan is too cold for cell membranes to form as they do on Earth. But researchers have come up with a cell membrane that could exist on Titan.”. Here is another article about it from Scientific American.  Finally, some scientists come to their senses that extraterrestrial life may not be anything like we know it.

I have previously blogged here about extraterrestrial life e.g. here.

A Hypothetical

To quote from above article: “Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a thick atmosphere. Clouds. Complex organic molecules. NASA has called it "one of the most Earth-like worlds we have found to date." … "It's awfully cold down there. It's about 94 degrees Kelvin. … one of the most basic biological structures, the cell membrane, can't exist. Because to form, the oily membranes depend on the presence of liquid water.  … Titan does have plenty of liquid … but it's liquid methane. …. computer models to determine whether any molecules on Titan might mimic the membrane-forming compounds here on Earth. Based on a catalogue of organics observed by NASA's Cassini mission, they found a candidate: acrylonitrile. Its internal electrical charge distribution would allow it to self-assemble into membranes, just like phospholipids do here on Earth. It's similarly flexible and stable. And there's a lot of it on Titan.”

Caveat: Potential membranes are not living cells or anything resembling life.

Why Social Security Is A Really Bad Idea!

Posted: 3/7/2015

Trigger

Just read “Aus der Rentenkasse Griechenland leiht sich selbst Geld Die griechische Regierung leiht sich Geld bei der Rentenkasse des Landes - und zahlt es angeblich auch pünktlich zurück. Die Zinsen sind niedriger als auf dem freien Markt.”.

The new, leftist Greek government just ‘borrowed’ money from the Greek retirement savings system promising to pay it back later and to borrow it only for 15 days. Reportedly, it is undisclosed how much money the Greek government borrows, but it is estimated at least 4-5 billion euros.

For anyone, who is not following the news the Greece has been bankrupt and has been extremely indebted.

The U.S. Social Security

The U.S. Congress has for decades appropriated the surpluses of Social Security to spend the money on God knows what instead of responsibly reinvesting the money so that one day this pay as you go system could be replaced by a capital saving system.

Better even Social Security should be phased out in favor of private, individual savings for retirement!

A Better World, Run by Women Fantasy

Posted: 3/7/2015

Trigger

Just read this laughable essay in the Wall Street Journal Life And Culture section “A Better World, Run by Women Male biology has brought the world war, corruption and scandal. Women are poised to lead us to a better place”. Written apparently by a come lately male feminist, i.e. MELVIN KONNER “professor in the department of anthropology and the program in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University. This essay is adapted from his new book, “Women After All: Sex, Evolution and the End of Male Supremacy”.

Female Supremacy Fantasy

This professor has apparently fully consumed all the baloney dished out by numerous feminists in the last 3-4 decades.

Women are as guilty as men for all the wars in human history as were men. Women are as biased or prejudiced against other human beings as men. Very few women are like Lysistrata or Florence Nightingale or Bertha von Suttner or Elsa Brändström.

Has this professor ever seen pictures of German female concentration camp wardens? Probably not.

Over history, females have committed nasty crimes too. Just take a look at Roman history. Perhaps, women do not carry out as many crimes as men, but they plan them too and look for men to carry them out.

Why Is Indian Food So Delicious?

Posted: 3/7/2015

Trigger

Just read “Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious”. My appetite was rising, my mouth was salivating when I saw the headline. :-)

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

The above blog post gives full meaning to this adage.

According to the above blog post, Indians use over 200 ingredients in their recipes, on average a dish has seven ingredients, and the flavor components of the ingredients of a dish do not overlap. That is in a nutshell the secret of Indian cooking honed over thousands of years by many people.

Multitude Of Regional Cuisines

This aspect, I believe, was not mentioned or discussed in the above blog post.

The Global Warming Hoax Exposed (1)

Posted: 3/7/2015

Trigger

Just read “Cold Pacific Ocean is offsetting global warming”. The article quotes infamous Michael Mann too often, thus it might be biased.

What Little We Know About Our Climate

The above article is a wonderful example for that!

In this article we are reminded of 10-20 year long cycle only recently known as the Pacific or Atlantic Decadal Oscillations.

It mentions a possible 70 year cycle called Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.

Donkeys Save Sheep From Pedators In Germany

Posted: 3/7/2015

Trigger

Just read “Esel sollen Schafe vor Wölfen schützen Esel sollen Schafsherden in Niedersachsen vor Angriffen von Wölfen und Hunden schützen. Denn anders als die Schafe flüchten die Esel nicht, sondern vertreiben die Raubtiere mit Geschrei und Huftritten.”.

In Germany, shepherders employ donkeys as guard dogs to prevent wolves and other predators like dogs. Apparently, donkeys are brave, they instinctively face the threat by first screaming and then kicking while sheep always try to run away.

Wolf Packs In Germany

Thanks to environmentalists and animal rights activists wolf packs are proliferating fast in Germany, according to the above article. There are now an estimated 20 wolf packs with about 200 wolves. Their numbers have doubled in the last two years.

Unfortunately, the above article says nothing about the threat from stray dogs. I wonder whether this could also be an increasing problem since so many people have chosen to have pets over the past two decades or so.

The reader comments to the above article were very ironic and satirical: Something like donkeys should guard the politicians as well or why not introduce bears as well.