:::: MENU ::::

Ethereum : Running a private node

File: startTestNet.sh
#!/bin/bash

sudo /usr/bin/geth --datadir="" init genesis.json
#sudo /usr/bin/geth --identity "TestMainNode" --datadir "
" --rpc --rpcport "5678" --rpcaddr "0.0.0.0" --rpccorsdomain "*" --port "30303" --nodiscover --ipcapi "admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3" --rpcapi "db,eth,net,web3,personal" --autodag --networkid 1900 --nat "any"

File: genesis.json

{
"nonce": "0x0000000000000042",
"timestamp": "0x0",
"parentHash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"extraData": "0x0",
"gasLimit": "0x8000000",
"difficulty": "0x400",
"mixhash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"coinbase": "0x3333333333333333333333333333333333333333",
"alloc": {
/*"0x9f04760d4acc712d147f4cb98affe7bb59b72eba" : { "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000" } Cut paste this commented part*/
}
}

Starting the node:
1. Comment the second line of startTestNet.sh (by default it is commented here anyway)
2. cd to this directory root and run ./startTestNet.sh in console (cut and paste the commented accounts inside “alloc” to somewhere. having it there throws error at this point).
2.1 Make sure the data directory path in startTestNet.sh and the data folder (devChain) are same
3. If the genesis block is created successfully, it will say ” successfully wrote genesis block”
3.1 Now comment Line 1 and uncomment Line 2 in startTestNet.sh
3.2 Run: ./startTestNet.sh
3.3 In another terminal, attach to the running geth process using IPC Interprocess communication):
3.4 Run:
sudo geth attach ipc:///devChain/geth.ipc
3.5 Once you are in the geth console, use web3 to create some accounts using :

web3.personal.newAccount()

copy the account number and password in safe place. You will need to unlock the account using the password everytime you want to make a transaction.
4. Now copy all these accounts to the itmo-genesis.json file. The format in which accounts are to be placed is commented. Uncomment and replace the accounts. The balances are all in Wei (1 ETHER = 10^18 Wei)

5. Stop the running node. Comment line 2 and uncomment Line 1 and run ./startTestNet.sh. Now the new accounts are initialized with the balance
6. Comment line 1 in startTestNet.sh. Uncomment line 2
7. run ./startTestNet.sh , the output should be similar like step 3
8. Repeat steps 3.1 and 3.2 . (OPtional: Repeat step 3.4 and run: web3.personal . It will show the new accounts)
9. Now your private node is running. You can make RPC to this node using the ipaddress of this server and the port number defined in startTestNet.sh file. (If your node is inside a LAN then RPC could not be possible. Router should have port forwarding enabled to do so)

10. Note that mining is not started yet. If you create some transactions, then they will stay in pending status. (Run web3 in geth console to see them) To start mining you have to run: web3.miner.start() or you can add “–mine” (without quotes) in the second line of startTestNet.sh . For this, the coin_base and default accounts are to be set. The default account is normally the first account that is created. You can check all those via the geth console by running: web3 . The default account is the one where all the mining rewards are send.

Setup to run private node as a start-up process:

1. startTestNet.sh should be executable
2. Best way to run the node is to run it as a startup process (at least that’s how I am doing it)
3. add the full executable path of startTestNet.sh in /etc/rc.local
3.1 startTestNet.sh should be owned by root to be executable during start-up


Blockchains: A layman’s guide

The Internet, as we know of it is based on request and reply mechanism, where a client (that could be a laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone etc) makes request to a centralized server, the server looks up into its database (if database is needed), processes the request, prepares a reply and sends it to the client again. An example could be, when we type ethereum.org, in our browser and hit enter, the browser sends request to a DNS server,saying “What IP is this name ethereum.org mapped to?” which returns the respective IP address of Ethereum’s server (near to our location). Our client device then uses this IP to send a request to Ethereim’s server to send its webpage to us. Upon receiving the request, Ethereum’s server sends us the appropriate web page. The system, as it is now, looks properly working. But, there is one problem. The DNS server and Ethereum’s server that are centralized servers. If they go down, the entire process can go down. Recently, a DDOS attack was executed on Dyn which is a centralized DNS service provider. AirBnB, Amazon and Netflix are some of the top names that were highly affect by this attack. The problem : a single point of failure.


Rat Race

Welcome, to the rat race,
gonna make you feel like a flat face,
hear me, you gotta hear me screamin,
All this time you have been dreamin,
Wake up, you gotta wake up,
Face the sun, put down the make up

Speak up, why don’t ya speak up,
Are you afraid of the beat up,
See through, you gotta see through,….


Stillness…

And I stood still for a moment, to slow down the pace,

the swift speed I was in, changed the beauty of stillness,

stillness, which I adored so much,

It endowed me a moment of grace, a moment of purity

and now I feel alive again,

 

Just now I realized, that it has been a while,

since I last heard the voices, the echos,

of the thousands of expressions within,

and now when I go back again,

into the depth in search of them,

a divine feeling takes over,

and now I feel alive again,

 

 

(The meta-emotions of this poetry)

(line 1: the interview of Abhi Subedi is coming in my mind)

(line 2: I see the images of Tinkune while writing this line)

(Line 4, specifically the word PURITY: Leonardo Dicaprio in Basketball diaries comes up)

(Line 5: ….)

 

(Line 7: pink floyd)

(Line 9: a strong desire to rhyme the paragraph ending takes over)

(Line 11: I don’t know if it’s something I really feel, or my desire to make it sound beautiful)

 

 

 

 


The Future of Work

Authors: Emil Hedemalm, Manish Lamichhane

Points to consider:

 

1. The Futures

1.1. Blue future: Large multinational corporations.

Entirely possible, at least in the near future. Already big corporations are grabbing a bunch of power, and with treaties like the TTIP and TTP their power further extends so that they can sue entire states that rule against them.

 

The differentiation of corporate careers ‘haves’ from ‘have-nots’ is pretty much already being clear, at least in Sweden. Long-term jobs are being cut down in various companies and managing to find and get accepted to a ‘permanent’ job position is so unlikely that comedians are already making fun of it .

 

The blue future is also the only future which seems to closely correspond to the current capitalistic consumerist society. Although the society is changing slowly, this feels like the current world we are in right now, at least from my experience (Emil) in Sweden, Germany & France.

 

Related to the flexibility and dedication requirement is the daily working hours, overtime, etc. With automation we should be reducing working hours, as 6 or fewer seem to yield higher output and much healthier workers , and just reducing wasted time due to lack of concentration when at work/sitting for too long periods of time.

 

Even though there are some pushes towards this, many big companies are still advocating or assuming that employees want to work 8 hours. E.g. in Germany while at Bosch the country says it has 7.5 hours working day (in general), but they (HR, bosses) were assuming 8 hour / day when making all contracts still. As an anecdotal note, I usually ask and try work only 6 hours a day, which is usually more than enough when I get focused, but this was hard to sustain in the long run when everybody else stayed longer and expected more out of you (social pressure).

 

Due to economical concerns based on inefficiencies in the system (wealth concentrating in the already wealthy and banking sector), many politicians and people are even arguing for more working hours, extension/heightening of pension age from 65 to 67 (if not already done), etc. This is also in line with the blue future’s company culture.

 

The blue future mentions sensors and monitoring employees to ensure they stay healthy. This obviously has privacy concerns, but it could also be seen as a helper and motivator to find problems early, and help people live more healthily (more sports, better food, more social meetings, et al), depending on their needs. Assuming this is made well, it could be an extension of social security nets, which potentially could increase joy in people’s lives, especially if it helps tackle stress from work.

 

Consider for example monitors that suggest you to take a break during work to do some sports or go for a walk to calm your mind. This is already done to some extent socially at some workplaces in Sweden, but not at all the extent it might be needed for all 9-to-5-ers.

1.2. Orange future: Small & Agile start-ups

While the blue future is a large part of today’s society, the orange future has been creeping up on us the past few years, at least in the IT-related and cultural fields. Indie games and small tech companies have more or less exploded in popularity, and new social funding sites such as Kickstarter are helping in the process. Another important site to mention is Patreon, where people can support their favorite creators (youtube, art, music, etc.) through monthly voluntary subscription fees.

 

This is one of my favorite futures, as I highly value time and freedom to work. It probably also aligns well with all remote-working, weird hours, flexible time, etc. Specially being able to choose exactly what you want to work with too. Being in a large company may be secure, but also less flexible.

With the emergence of ever-increasing internet awareness and connectivity perhaps new social networks or integration will arise which helps supplying and connecting people to the jobs they seek, even if they are short-term, temporary or otherwise not bound for long-term commitment. Freelancing, contracting and working as a consult or in a consulting company has also been on the rise and is in line with this mentality.

 

The document/presentation mentions the emergence of guilds by trade. I believe this has already started to some extent, if you look at all professional communities, and problem-solving places such as StackOverflow when it comes to (initially) programming, but has now expanded into a wide array of fields and topics (now under the upper Stack Exchange name). For digital art there is the huge community of DeviantArt, and of course for video publishing we have YouTube, which by advertising supports a bunch of artists and creators.

 

1.3. Green future: Sustainable companies and communities

“If all 7+ billion of us were to enjoy a European standard of living – which is about half the consumption of the average American – the Earth could sustainably support only about 2 billion people.”  

 

The rate at which the resources are being consumed by the practise of capitalistic consumerist society, we are soon going to hit the bed rock. If we follow this in a very chronological manner, a very bluish world is on the rise. The assumptions of this economic model that we are currently in (the monetary economy), assumes that the entire earth belongs solely to human beings and thus the resources can be bought and sold and converted into monetary terms, which slowly is being proved wrong. The unsustainable ways of the dominant capitalist consumerist society will be the main reason for the downfall of the blue world and people are highly likely to become more concerned with the  sustainable and greener ways to social interaction. Business is always driven by the basic demand and supply laws. Hence the preference and the social trend and the need for survival will automatically force / mould the falling blueish world into a Green world where society and economy both are highly likely to be adapted to the sustainable and greener ways. Further advancement in this world would make way for a technologically rich society and setting the stage for the Orange world where networks of task-based small companies are bound together by technology.

 

Supporting points for Green World:

 

  1. Reduction in carbon emission:

Green world relies more on the renewable energy sources and also ways to reduce the usage of energy. The report points out approaches like preference of technological communications rather than face to face meeting which needs transportation. Taxation on carbon emission could also be an awareness factor and so people will tend to spend less money by reducing the amount of carbon they produce. The threats of climate change and rising sea levels, climate refugee and the increment in mortality rate due to the effects of climate change would reduce.    

 

  1. Business with a purpose:

2012 Edelman goodpurpose® Study  shows that 72% of people recommended a brand with a good cause over the one without it, which is a 39% rise compared to the 2008 data. This has created a pressure (if organization have rigid business processes and are less adaptive) as well as defined new areas where business can shift to.

 

  1.   Evolving career paths:

Corporate culture defines strict career paths that are hierarchical and based on previous experience, . An employees would excel in one dimension to meet the needs of the corporation /company. Technological advancement are demanding dynamism and multi-dimensional proficiencies in every profession. Computer knowledge has become a basic which previously used to be optional. These changes are breaking the establishment of the traditional corporate culture, creating a more dynamic work environment.

 

  1. Open-ness of information:

A lot of researches are being done in the first world countries on the sustainability and green ways of life. But still the ripples are far-reaching. One of the major reason for it is the lack of free access to the researches. Tax-payers and government fund researches but the final output is again not freely available for access. The researchers and the big Journals put price tags on the researches making the common mass repulsive towards acquiring the information. But, some movements have started against this tradition, protesting in support of free sharing of information 10. And this movement is already gaining some momentum. Torrents and open-source movements have been advocating this since a couple of years now. Once the idea of sustainability and the threats of capitalism and consumerism based society starts reaching masses, the march towards the Green world would not be far.

 

  1. Focus on social aspect of employee:

For the  companies to have innovation and products based on social needs, it becomes a must to work in close collaboration with community and society. And to achieve that, the focus on socialization of workplace is needed. The idea of flexible work hours is already gaining popularity. Plus technology has removed the compulsion for employees not to be physically present in the workplace (at least highly practised in the IT sector ).

 

2. Our future

Why. When. How.  What we want and what we think more personally.

 

Emil: I think for the nearest future we will see a first change into the blue future, with a smaller degree of orange future. Then, after some new radical events (riots, protests, economical collapse), a new future of orange and green should be created, where the green will have the bigger role in the long run.

 

Manish:

 

For the first part, I would also support the idea that the world is marching rapidly towards a Blue future, thanks to the increase in consumerism. But at the saturation point of the Blue world, we will be at the verge of our existence(a bit too extreme idea probably 😀 ) and focusing more on survival and trying to get back to where we were (in terms of resources and balance in ecosystem) . “Going Green” could be the best solution at that point. Referring to my writing in the first paragraph supporting Green world, after the society adapts to sustainable ways, a progressive technological advancement would pave the path for the Orange world which I think is the highest point of stability (looks so at least from the point where we are standing now).

 

Other References

  • PWC, The future of work – A journey to 2022, Very reference

A comparison: E-service in Estonia and Nepal

 

Introduction to Estonia:

                                                                                        Estonia (Credits: Mr. Joshep El Khoury)

Estonia is a very appropriate example of an information society. More interesting is the fact that, it bypassed the industrial phase to reach here. We are in a point of time where preservation of what is remaining of the natural resources we have is a must. Industrial phase was more like a trend to pass through to have a developed society but then the trade-off is the natural resources. Estonia managed to have a highly technological architecture without trading off its resources and hence, setting a trend of its own. Almost all the basic services that citizens and the government bodies use are made online. One of the main reason for this is the architecture of the database system that Estonia followed. Instead of having a centralized database repository , it opted to a decentralized system of components with there own databases and services, all linked together. Modification and advancement of this kind of flexible system was relatively easier, which accelerated the development process for Estonia.

The components of digital society of Estonia:

As mentioned earlier all the basic services used by government bodies and citizens are in the clouds. It has completely changed the way and the perception of doing things and getting things done for both parties. The aspects that have major benefits from the concept of digital society are listed below:

  1. BUSINESS : Gone are those days when Estonians had to run around with legal papers to register a new company. The online business registration service allows Estonians and even Europeans from Belgium, Portugal, Lithuania and Finland with a valid cross-border digital signature. They claim to have a potential user-base of up to 20 millions! As the numbers suggest, the ease of business registration is attracting a lot of entrepreneurs. This case study is one of the many success stories relevant to this domain. Furthermore , taxes can be paid and the information related to taxes can be accessed within minutes using the e-Tax service. These services bring a strong sense of confidence in investors and facilitates running business for entrepreneurs in Estonia.
  2. QUALITY OF LIFE: Health services , security , welfare-benefits, taxation , voting , education  services are all online. Imagine the number of social interactions that are all done online now, by the citizens. If we only calculate the amount of energy saved just from transportation, we can easily infer how advantageous it is for our time.
  3.  GOVERNANCE : “You cannot bribe a computer”, says the President of Estonia, Mr.Toomas Hendrik Ilves. E-governance, online voting and online taxation system removes the human element from the equation;the human element that can be bribed, that is greedy and mean. This has lead to a very transparent system of governance and also a very efficient one as well. And the coolest of all, the e-cabinet system. Ministers interact and communicate with each others using this platform. An agenda to discussed upon is put forward in which the ministers can either agree, object or want to talk about. If no one objects, the agenda is passed unanimously. No more long talks no more unnecessary discussions needed.
  4. ENERGY: Smart-Grid system developed by the entrepreneurs and the software industry people provides services like real-time energy consumption measurement ,metering, comparing various energy packages available. The best of the services provided is the option to choose the amount of energy that one will receive from renewable resources. This by default increases the responsibility of citizen towards energy conservation.

About Nepal:

Nepal was open to the outer world only after 1950’s. That being said, the country was totally unaware / untouched / unaffected by the industrial revolution. Majority of the population still resides in villages. Due to geographical complexities, all the 75 districts of Nepal were within the reach of internet only after the introduction of ADSL. The government had not realized or may be was not stable enough to realize the importance of e-services until recently. The following are the online services available in Nepal:

  1. Company Registration: The service was started from the year 2012. As the name suggests,it allows users to register a new company. The limitation of this service is that  the registration process is active only during office hours and only on work days. This has at least cut short all the hassle an entrepreneur or a business person had to go through, had it not been there. The platform informs that data from all the paper based registrations are still being added. It seems to be in a immature phase and will take some time to grow into full potential (that is if the government body maintains it effectively).
  2. Online Driving License: The online driving license service is a recent initiative from the government. The platform is under construction (and no one is sure how long it will be having that status). As per the marketing, through this platform the users can apply for driving license, book a trail day and and view the taxation amount. Payment is not possible since online payment systems in Nepal is still in a very early phase.
  3. Public service commission: This is the body of the government which is responsible for the intake of civil servants (excluding army). The online platform provides users the benefits of being updated with the current news from every corner of the country (excluding those that are not in the reach of computers or internet or both). It also provides downloadable forms for the application of service in the government.

 

Apart from these, most of the government organization have a website for themselves which is not so well maintained and not so inviting. Comparing the online services to Estonia would not be possible in any way as Nepal is still far far away in terms of technological advancement. The government is trying to emphasize more into the intake of more IT employees and also the trend of setting low budget for IT is changing (but in a snail-pace). The country can learn a lot from Estonia since it still has not reached in its industrial phase yet. Estonia’s success story could do some badly needed magic trick to make the country technologically advanced.

 

 


Nepal: An analysis of competitiveness

Nepal is in 100th position of the competitiveness list.It has increased its rank from 102 to 100 over a span of 1 year. The report takes into account a number of factors like commodity price fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainties and security issues. Nepal’s overall performance is 3.85 over the scale of 7 which is same as that of Kenya (1).

From a Geo-Political perspective, before 2006 a so-called revolution to overthrow the constitutional monarchy , which was more like a civil war, was the most prominent reason for the set back of Nepalese economy. There were strikes for days and it was extremely difficult for the businesses to maintain the even the break-even level. Many of the hydro-power houses were destroyed which had a direct negative impact, specifically in the manufacturing industries. After the success of the political movement, the number of strikes and violence decreased gradually, which was a spring season for the economy. India was playing a major role in the political scenario, dominating largely the Chinese influence (2) .

Recently, some months back, a new constitution is promulgated in Nepal which is attracting international investors, specifically in the hydro-power sector. A note-worthy point here is, Nepal is the second-richest country in water resources after Brazil. An investment in hydro-power project gives a very promising return. Furthermore, the Nepalese seem to have understood this opportunity and so, the investment in hydro-power is increasing on yearly basis. Last year, the construction of biggest hydro-power of the country was initiated which was solely invested upon by the Nepalese without any foreign investors. Also, the share market index (also know as NEPSE) seems to have a gradual rise in the past few years (3). There was a huge fall in the share market during the period of revolution. This lead to bankruptcy of many investors. With the gradual political stability, the share market index is rising, thus improving the confidence of investors.

 

Image not found

Fig: NEPSE INDEX

 

The main occupation of the country is Agriculture. It is accountable for 60% of GDP and 75% of the exports.Since the formulation of the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1975–80), agriculture has been the highest priority because economic growth was dependent on both increasing the productivity of existing crops and diversifying the agricultural base for use as industrial inputs (3). Sugarcane, Oil seeds, tobacco, medicinal herbs are some of the largely produced cash crops. The government is putting more emphasis in attracting youth in agriculture by providing initial investments for free and reducing the interest rate on the agricultural loans largely. This policy has become successful in drawing more and more youth in the agricultural sector (4).

Human resource is another booming industry. Nepal has become a popular cheap labor resource for  countries like Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE , and also Israel ,Malaysia etc. One of the biggest sources of income of the country at present is the remittance received from this labor market. Furthermore, due to the its low currency value, Nepal is also popular outsourcing hub for the information technology market. There has been a gradual increase in investment in IT businesses, whose major target is to have a foreign outsourcing contract, more than enriching the technological standards of the nation.

Nepal was open to the rest of the world after the 50’s. Tony Hagen’s documentary on Nepal is also accredited for drawing the world’s attention (5). After 90’s, when the country actually started keeping records of the tourists visiting the country, it could be seen that the number of tourists visiting each year is gradually increasing. Tourism is the largest industry in Nepal and is the major source of foreign currency and revenue. The recent earthquake  was a huge blow to the country’s economy. More than any other sectors, Tourism sector was greatly affected. If the country focuses on reconstruction and introduces strong campaigns like “Visit Nepal ’98” (6), it could be a very good travel destination given the land diversity, adventure options and varieties of animals and birds found.

 

References:

 

  1. Competitiveness: Reports highlights ( http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/report-highlights/ )
  2. Archives: Indian Express ( http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/as-nepal-maoists-meet-7party-reps-in-delhi-revolt-at-home/415/ )
  3. Wikipedia: Agriculture in Nepal ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Nepal )
  4. Agriculture Development Bank: Brocher ( http://www.adbl.gov.np/doc/newsletter/130128085914_ADBL%20Brochure%20English_FINAL.pdf )
  5. Tony Hagen’s Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=698bRqBM4iU
  6. Visit Nepal ’98 ( http://www.travel-nepal.com/vny98/ )
  7. Export Diversification and Competitiveness: Nepal’s Experiences ( http://www.nrb.org.np/ecorev/pdffiles/vol21_art3.pdf )

 


NVIDIA drivers and BumbleBee issues with Ubuntu 14.04 (Solved)

I recently got Dell Inspiron 3543 laptop which has I7 processor, 8 GB RAM (replaced the initial 4 GB with 8 GB) and 2 GB dedicated NVIDIA graphics card. It comes with a default Ubuntu installation, (which my retailer replace with Windows 8.1 and again I replaced that with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ). This is when the  issue started coming!

 

Ubuntu by default uses Nouveau graphics drivers. But for the NVIDIA graphics hardware to be used, NVIDIA native drivers are needed. The following links have pretty useful information regarding this:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/301648/how-to-install-nvidia-driver-in-ubuntu

http://askubuntu.com/questions/464354/update-nvidia-drivers-with-xorg-edgers-ppa

 

(PROBLEM 1)

In my case, first when I tried to select NVIDIA driver from System Settings > Software & Updates > Additional Drivers it reselect the Nouveau driver (default). The changes did not take place.

(SOLUTION 1)

Upon looking it up to various forums, I found out that sometimes the server that is being used to download the drivers causes the issues. Its better to change the download server to “Main Server” from “Ubuntu Softwares” tab in Software & Updates. After this, going to Additional Drivers, the driver menu will be reloaded and caches will be update. Trying to select the NVIDIA driver worked for me after this.

 

(PROBLEM 2)

After rebooting, my login screen did not appear. It was gone. Moment of panic initially for a beginner in Ubuntu, but, I heard the start up sound of Ubuntu. That meant that, the system booted normally but there was issue with the login screen. (On a side note, my desktop environment was Unity during all this).

 

(SOLUTION 2)

From http://askubuntu.com/questions/41681/blank-screen-after-installing-nvidia-restricted-driver link , I came to know that the culprit was NVIDIA’s driver. It seems that Linux does not entertain multiple drivers for the same hardware. To solve this I logged in using Ubuntu’s terminal login (Ctrl + Alt + (Fn key if in laptop) +F2) and then uninstalled NVIDIA’s driver and reinstalled Nouveau Driver (default) and reconfigured Xserver following the instructions in the link. Upon rebooting, my screen was back.

 

(PROBLEM 3)

Then an old geeky pal of mine, Kaushal Niraula, suggested me to use BumbleBee. It enables graphics  fallback system in Linux. (In simple terms,here Fallback means, when you need NVIDIA graphics for example, for playing games or 3D visualization etc, then, automatically NVIDIA graphics is used. The performance comes with a trade-off though. It consumes more energy.So, using NVIDIA graphics for applications not demanding more graphics will not be energy-economic. In these cases, by the virtue of fallback technology, the graphics is automatically switched to Intel’s default, which is pretty smart in terms of power management as well.)   I followed the instructions provided in the link in BumbleBee’s website (Ubuntu Wiki). But upon hitting the command:

optirun firefox

I got this error message:

**[ 4703.996785] [ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU, secondary X is not active.**
**[ 4703.996910] [ERROR]Aborting because fallback start is disabled.**

(SOLUTION 3)

I finally found out that, the ubuntu wiki link provided above was already expired! So,again after surfing around a bit, I found the correct instructions to install BumbleBee here. I followed every step in the first comment and then rebooted my system.Finally I could see the icon og BumbleBee in the top right corner of screen.Click on the icon and you can see “Configure Apps” option. There, you can set the apps that you want to use NVIDIA with.

I have compiled all the issues t in hat I have faced during the process. Hope it will help to someone facing the same issue with NVIDIA.


Oh! Shit

It was a usual day of my life in which something unusual happened.Well it’s the happening of my bachelors days.Things were running cool till the POST BREAK periods.We used to have 8 periods those days.Now right after the lunch break, I was busy with my ordinary gossips with my friends when I felt a pain as if a throne has pricked me from underneath…. Wow I was feeling it deep inside me.Not bothering myself much about it I carried on with my lecture on the generally unacceptable things (of matured adolescence, you know). Our lecturer entered the zoo and was duteous as usual.Now my lecture was surpassed by the authorized one’s.I started feeling uneasy,not because my words were dominated but because something else was going on with me.The pain was increasing,making its way from my stomach towards the downward portion.I, then with all my senses, finally realized that I was in any emergency situation and my body really needed to reduce its weight,Oh my god I really needed to shit out the pain from the private lower door!!!God was with me then, at least I think so because with my realization the bell(indicating the end of the period) rang. But I think at that time I understood the meaning of the saying “God helps those, who help themselves,”. As said earlier, my class was a zoo and I was surrounded by those humans who, at times, on getting opportunity turned into a lethal beast.If I hit the road for my destination, that would be the opportunity for them which they were always seeking for.So due to that torturophobia I could not gather my wits to dare the undareable (undareable act for my class). Now started the worst hour of my life…..the pain through which I had to pass was hills and mountains compared to what I had thought would be.Then came into the scene my English lecturer and the man responsible to make me attached to my chair in those hour of extremities.(else I would have out of there in an instant heading towards my destination). He also showed his duteous character and I was getting out of control,out of my nerves actually, as the pressure inside me had reached to its peak. I started getting the downwards attacks and my open fingers curled with each other to defend the attacks as strongly as possible as a result of which my whole body started rocking as if an internal earthquake was taking place within me at times which no other being in the class could experience, the victim was me and only me.The civil war inside me which I was fighting with own self , produced enough heat to undress me in those cold December days. I had started getting stares from my neighbours which added the pressure as I now had to dodge them too. I converted the heat energy generated within me into sound energy by asking the time with one of my companions. After getting the reply I carried on with my battle. The burning heat made me throw off my muffler and I got interrogated if I was stripping in the class!!!The weight within me would attack and pressurize the door to knock it open and the uppermost part had to dramatize the expressions as if nothing had happened and things were normal to the extent to which they never were!! Suddenly everything was put to a dead end as if a full stop had been put to it. And I was dropped back to reality. I then asked the time again and to my surprise only one and a half minutes had passed.Now came in the limelight that another mightiest enemy of mine, the time.My stay with the reality was short as the lightening…and it was the calm before the storm!!! I had only just started enjoying my companionship with the painless minutes when the pressure rich of pain started as a Tsunami and this time I found myself weak enough in front of its immense strength!! My door of hope,the door of protection which was holding my prestige till then was trembling like the papers of a textbook kept in the window in the months of MAY JUNE. I had thoughts aroused somewhere in my busy mind about giving up but again second thoughts of the disastrous consequence came in with a small video footage of me standing in the front of the class tied in the ropes in front of the beasts who are ready with their weapon of words to fire at me,which made me to have a third thought to quit the first one and carry on with the second one.But unluckily my physical aspect was just ready to give up when the final bell rang,which I call “the bell of relief”. One of my enemy,time,was in its knees now and I was at a bit of ease.So fully utilizing the time I ran towards my heaven and its heavenly pleasures which I was going to gain by losing the reason of the battle,the reason of the pain.I was getting nearer and nearer to my goal.Finally, standing at the doorway I came to realized that…………………heaven actually smelled phenol !!! Luckily there was no other guy in that block who fighting the same battle as I was.I then finally with head high up in the air like that of the king sitting on the throne…the ownership of which puts the battle to a dead end making me the one and only winner.My victory was celebrated with all sorts of sounds made up of all sorts of musical notes possible (which were sometimes flat like PUNWAA and some times sharp like PAT TA TA TA TA TA PATTPATTTTTTTTTTTT)which were the sound of the pain and the weight within me being released by my MOST STRONGEST DOOR HAVING INCOMPARABLE ENDURANCE AND STAMINA!!!!!! And believe me those extraterrestrial noises……… were MUSIC TO MY EARS at that period. I was only just enjoying my throne when the intruders of the peace arrived who were there to flood out the heaven with the natural H2O oozing from their water resources.It was a shame to be in front of them and have the soap in hand as they would suspect my long stay in the throne and all my conspiracies to hide the secret would go in vain. SO I holded my lines and waited inside heaven waiting for the right time to plunge back to earth from the heavenly pleasures.The bell indicating the end of the break periods rang and every face in the wash room moved back to their respective destinations which was when I decided to emerge……………………I then joined the herd of the animals(of which I was a part but this time I was their unidentified victim as well) with a proud look.Someone from the pack fired ”u’r lookin a bit different,and…and……… proud …..as if ya have won a war……. and where were u all this time……….”. I replied with a grim demonstrating all my yellow enamel assets…………………………..PROUDLY AS IF I HAD WON A WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

– M. LAMICHHANE


Pokali Waterfall, Okhaldhunga, Nepal

Mero Desh Mero Jimmiwari( Part 1 Rumpel Sti

 

Nothing amuses more a child than nature.All of us,once in a while, after it rained (mostly) have seen a semi-circular collection of colors and screamed with joy,resolving the display of nature into what the childish conscience wants to make of it.Its just wonderful to see a rainbow, isn’t it?What if I tell you I have touched it! Yup, you heard me right and no I am not drunk.This can happen if you are in Nepal and ,would not mind traveling a couple of hours by road from the capital city to Okhaldhunga.

Okhaldhunga has hills in its courtyard and mountains at its roof.One of the seven components of Saptakoshi,which is the largest river of Nepal,Likhu river falls in the same district.Pokali,which is claimed to be the second highest waterfall of Nepal lies near the border of Okhaldhunga and Raamechap.To reach Pokali isn’t very difficult if you do not have any problem travelling by bus for some hours.

When I was planning to travel to Okhaldhunga,  I knew near to nothing about how to reach there. I just had a tiny piece of information that Pokali lies in Okhaldhunga and then one can see a rainbow in the waterfall. I went to the old buspark (KTM) and then enquired about the waterfall and the best route. No one seemed to have much information about it;not even the locals!! Finally someone informed me that the route from Ramechap is the shortest to reach the waterfall, of which the informant was “not so sure”.

If you’re planning to go to Pokali, this part is for you. We (me and 4 of my travel mates) took the long route by taking a bus to Sanghutaar (Raamechap). The fare was Rs 450 and the time of departure was 8:00 A.M. sharp in the morning.It took us nearly 7-8 hours to reach Sanghutaar. We stayed in the local lodge there which was very cheap. (50 Rs a bed and 80 Rs per meal which was rice and the likes that Nepalese prefer). The owner of the place was Mr. Ganesh Shrestha a.k.a. Ghadiwala (The Watch Man). He used to be a photographer of his time.We were fortunate to have a chance to see a vintage Yashika Camera which was 25 years old! The next morning, we had to hike for around 3 hours along the banks of Likhu river to reach Sirishe. I’ve heard that now-a-days one can get direct bus to Sirishe.We had our morning meal here at a local hotel owned by Sunuwar kaka(I dont remember his name but I cant forget his hospitality.). Still we are in Raamechap. From here, we could see the waterfall in the hills already. So close, yet so far. We crossed the river Likhu  and then from here started, Okhaldhunga. We hiked for around 3 hours through the farms and villages, rivers and brooks.Finally after 2.5 to 3 hours of hike, we could hear the waterfall roaring 500 meters before the actual location. It was just amazing!!

Being honest, I don’t have much words to describe the actual feeling.I mean, this entire journey’s experience is not-so-expressable with words. There is a committee which looks after the waterfall which was led by Mr. Om Subedi then. The committee’s work is praiseworthy, I shall say. There are stairs so that you can see the entire view of the waterfall. When at the foot of the waterfall, we could not hear our words well due to the roar of the waterfall.But, when we climbed the stairs to have a more closer look, we were just spellbound. Once there, you will find yourself looking at an angle of 75 degrees, trying to see the origin/head of waterfall. Visit there during rainy seasons Shrawan  (July / August) and you can see the waterfall at its best. Plan accordingly so  that its sunny when you get there. And then, at the other end of this perfect plan, you can touch a rainbow formed by the rays of sun striking the droplets from the waterfall. Again, a small information here. You can get a direct bus from KTM to Dhade (Okhaldhunga). This way you don’t have to put much effort to reach the waterfall exactly.

Lastly, I had assured Mr. Om Subedi that we will advertise about this place through facebook and internet which at that time I was unable to. This blog post is an attempt to put some light to one of the most beautiful, yet shadowed places in Nepal. To everyone, who reads this (specially to those Nepali feet craving for newness) Pokali hits the must-reach list. Its near to ktm, easily reachable, cheap and top of all mesmerizing. This article might have some flaws and places where I can correct myself. Write me at manishlamichhane@gmail.com if you need more information or have some feedbacks. So long readers!

 


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