欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記 2020年06月

MorphOS and Adélie Linux on my G4 Macs? vers. II

Mac mini G4's Optical drive specs

I wanted to try MorphOS and Adélie Linux on one of my G4 Macs. I chose one of my Mac mini G4 models as a candidate.

I downloaded the ISO images of them on my Ubuntu Studio (over Kubuntu 20.04) machine and burned the images on blank DVD+R media. I thought it should work but it did not. Both media were ejected.

WTF?

Then it hit me. Was the optical drive on G4 machines capable of handling DVD+R media or not? I checked the specs of Mac mini G4 and found out that it did not.

I think connecting a capable drive to its USB port should work. I have such one with me.

HAIKU not working on HP Pro 3120 SFF

I also downloaded second version of HAIKU release candidate ISO image and burned it on a blank DVD+R medium.

I booted it from the DVD+R. It booted and the logo came up. I thought it would work. After this, the screen went to black and nothing followed. It seemed that the process had just stuck.

WTF?

I don't know what happened this time. The spec of the mainboard is pretty plain consisting of Intel chips so I guessed that HAIKU would not have any problem.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ

[MorphOS and Adélie Linux on my G4 Macs? vers. II]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

(Shopping for) Hannah

Hannah
She is a mixed breed of unknown breeds. Her hair (or coat) is short. A dray mackarel stripe pattern with most of belly side including the paws white. Her nose tip is dark but her lips are pink. A long straight tail and other features that make her look like a house cat. Not big but an average sized body for a female cat.

For me her visible physical charm is the dark spots on white left calf (if I apply human anatomy to her).

I like that way, the way she is. Buying a pure bred cat from some breeders was not what I wanted. I don't despise those who make living by breeding cats at all. I don't know the people who keep Hannah's parents and why they don't spay the mother. If lack of care is the reason, that act is to be condemned.

I'm just happy to save one of the so many kittens born where kittens are welcome any more.

To my greatest joy, she seems to be very healthy. She is reasonably clever and also reasonably manageable so far.

She doesn't show almost any interest in cardboard boxes, which was a surprise to me. She doesn't like the confinement of boxes or cozy covered beds.

She likes outdoors activities.

She's not a fan of dogs. I haven't had any opportunities of letting her interact with other cats so I don't know how she would react to other cats.

In Japanese: 続きはどうぞ [(Shopping for) Hannah]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

Troisvierges and Houffalize

Hannah is sweet and relaxing on my lap

She was adopted to me when she was around 6 weeks old. She was (I suppose) breast-fed by her mother until then (and started eating food) when she came to me. Her assumed birthday is April 26, 2019 as written on her passport.

For the first few days she was not very much friendly to me but eventually she accepted me and opened up.

Now she recognizes me and relies on me for many things. I provide her with food, care and above all love. She has been properly registered (EU passport), ID-tagged (an implanted chip under her skin) and spayed.

She is now one year and 2 months old. She was only 2 months old when she hit the road with me in my Mazda MX-5 for more than 3 weeks following the Tour de France. Everyday, I slept either in a camp site or on the road with her in a tent (although she preferred to stay outside as much as possible at night). She never went missing (except for some occasion when she hid herself under the hood of cars) but stayed with me.

She can go walking in the forest with me with no leash attached. She recognizes me as her friend or a kind of mother.

National Holiday June 23

It is related with holiness and that's why it's so called.

Hollywood is not related with holiness.

June twenty-third is a National Holiday in Luxembourg.

No fireworks, literally. Figuratively, yes.

Oh, Wuhan virus! Where have you come from?

Who's responsible for this strange event? Or the right question could be "who benefited from it?"

Who benefited from it directly or indirectly.

Mask manufacturers are one of them but by the time new comers (who set up the facilities to produce masks) they realized that too many did so and the market was flooded by the surplus of masks. The prices went down soon after they rocketed. I'm not sure how many of them actually made good on the investment. So I don't list them on the list.

Who benefited from it? I am afraid to say that China as a country did not have a good time and are not having one right now seeing the current situation in Beijing.

Do people in the core of the Chinese Communist Party benefit from it? To some extent, yes but not everybody. Those who oppose the current leader, Xi Jinping, would enjoy accusing him of mishandling the pandemic.

Do people who oppose President Donald Trump benefit from it? I think they do. The pandemic (or what some people claim as pandemic) has greatly slowed down the economy, on whose growth the fate of President Trump's chance of second term greatly depends.

Who really is happy with this seemingly a hoax? Normal Influenza kill more people annually than this Wuhan virus. Thanks to the so-called lockdown measures taken by a lot of countries our economic activities have been greatly devastated.

In some countries like Japan where no strict lockdown measures were taken, only 1,000 people are said to have passed away from the disease.

In Japan people (used to be "we" as I used to live there) eat mochi (a substitute for the unleavened bread during Passover made from sticky rice) during Near Year's celebration days. It is part of the tradition there.

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzo)

Doesn't mochi sound a bit like Matzo (Matzah or Matza)? Eerie similarity and this is only a tiny part of wide similarities that exist between ancient Hebrew traditions and those of Japan.

Because of the stickiness nature of the food, it is highly dangerous to those who can not chew and mince with teeth and swallow it down well. Senior people (having fewer teeth, using dentures and with weaker esophagus muscles) fall victim to this sticky traditional food and die. The number of death toll is around 1,000 every year (naturally almost all of them during the New Year holidays).

The number of death (half of them are foreigners who happened to be visiting Japan) attributed to Wuhan virus in Japan so far is around 1,000 and less than the mochi related death this year.

Was Wuhan virus (Corona strain of virus) a new strain? Wasn't that just an old face with a new name? Just like the claim that Christopher Columbus found the New World that had been found previously by some Vikings and already had been found and inhabited by indigenous people a long ago?

They (Wuhan virus) were there previously but had not been paid attention to since they were not significant?

In Japan legal residents (Japanese nationals and foreigners who live there for reasons) get (got) around 100,000 yen (around 1,000 euro or 1,000 US dollars roughly?) for free. They (people) are supposed to use it to boost the economy while helping themselves thrive. Isn't that nice? No wait!

Is it really nice? Yes, it feels nice when you get some money with no strings attached. It may boost people's confidence that the government is taking care of the people. Where did the money come from? It is from the tax money that the people have paid or will have to pay.

Back to the topic: Who benefited from Wuhan virus?

One big group that gained a lot was bureaucrats. They don't lose anything but gain more control of the people. They make rules, regulations and restrictions. This so-called pandemic made them do what they do best. They gained a lot of power.

They provide, too. The governments of various countries give help to individuals, companies and others with the money that the bureaucrats gathered from people. Bureaucrats made us dependent on them. They gained a lot of power.

They just gained and lost nothing.

Houffalize (Belgium) and Troisvierges (Luxembourg)

I have never been to Troisvierges although I should have been there a long time ago. I have been to Houffalize many times. How many times? I don't know but it is the town where that famous climb featured in Liège-Batogne-Liège "Cote de Saint-Roch" exists.

I was thinking of carry-bike-trips that I can do without spending much money. Public transportation in Luxembourg is
free (unless you seat yourself in first class seat) and taking bike on board is also free.

I was thinking of traveling to Aywaille and visiting the climb of la Redoute featured in Liège-Batogne-Liège. It costs me. From what I figured out from Belgian Railroad site, it costs around 30 Euro. One way ride from Troisvierges (the last stop in Luxembourg) to Aywaille costs 11 Euro. It costs 4 Euro to take a bike (one way). In total, (11 + 4) x 2 = 30.

I found something. From Troisvierges it is only 17 km to Houffalize. And the best part is it costs nothing.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Troisvierges and Houffalize]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

Free of bugs, Matrix 4 and Dog run

Free of bugs

Computer programs are generally not free from bugs (here they are called bugs but biologically valid entities, just a term used for an instance of euphemism).

Hannah (my female cat) is not free of bugs, either, to my greatest sorrow. I saw tiny dark black bugs around her neck this morning and applied some drops of insecticide there aiming at those nasty creatures. Later I observed dead carcasses there.

I want to eliminate those bugs but they are so tenacious.

The war is not over. Some survive the raid.

I need more insecticide. Those bugs are tough and tenacious. I will keep fighting.

Matrix
Matrix 4 is coming. I enjoyed the trilogy a lot (Matrix, Reloaded and Revolution). I would like to give my shot at guessing the subtitle for the upcoming fourth installment here.

Restarted
(Simply because 4th one is a new start)

Reborn, Reincarnated, Reincarnation
(Neo and Trinity characters are dead but they come back. It must be their reincarnation.)

Recreation
(Almost same reason as above.)

Extended
(Because it is an extended version.)

Reinserted
(I read that Cypher character is coming back. In the first part of trilogy he was supposed to be re-inserted back into the Matrix.)

Resolution
(Because it is spelled almost identical to revolution.)

Regarding the story line, I have no idea what it would be like.

Dog run

I put her (my Hannah) on the lease and took her to the dog run in the public park nearby. I wanted to take her outsideas it was a lovely Sunday afternoon.

I had a very unpleasant experience because of a man and his dog. The dog was not responsible for his action. The owner was totally responsible for his dog's actions. I want to stress this first.

If the dog begins annoying a third person, the owner has to take actions to make sure that his dog LEAVE this third person alone.

Anyway, what I really want to do is to have my Hannah enjoy the fresh air. I have to devise a way to make it realize. If there were no chance that she gets bug while exploring the forest, I would let her freely play her in the forest without the lease.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Free of bugs, Matrix 4 and Dog run]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

Kazakhstan's plight?

Cyrillic keyboard layout and US keyboard layout

I saw a video on YouTube telling a story of Kazakhstan's plight (or some kind of problem). The government has officially decided a long time ago (around 2015?) that they would abandon the Cyrillic alphabets and focus on remaining their own Latin alphabet with modified letters.

One of the reasons (official?) for favoring the modified Latin alphabet letters was that Cyrillic letters are too many and the Cyrillic keyboard would cause a chaos situation surrounding the computer usage.

On the other hand, their own alphabet has fewer letters. They (the country) has been working on their alphabet letters in recent years. The government is willing to spend a lot of money to train the teachers who in turn drill their pupils hard. The spending should include the necessary adult education and others since they are making a big transition.

I think it is just a smoke. The real reason must be because doing so should make Russian presence less evident.

The video also showed the history of the country with an emphasis on the transformation of its ethnic population ratio.

When the country was part of the Soviet Union (USSR), Russians (ethnically Russian and other ethnic groups but Russian by nationality) immigrated and settled in the country.

When the country became independent, some (or many) of them left the country.

Kazakhstan's population consists of around 40 % of native Kazakhs, 44 % of Russians and others.

I am not so much concerned about the political tension between them here. What I am going to write and wanted write is this.

So I understand that they are currently using two sets of alphabet letters, which would sum up to around whopping 80 or maybe fewer.

Do you know how many letters (not just simple lines but really complicated letters) Japanese people use in everyday life?

I don't really know but a couple of thousands, maybe?

I can type any Japanese letters (out of thousands) on my Mac or portable phone using a simple US layout keyboard. A normal US layout keyboard has no Japanese letters written on it. It has only A to Z, other numeric letters and other symbols.

I don't understand why Kazakhstan is having a problem with Cyrillic letters. I must conclude that they are still using typewriters instead of modern personal computers. Also in Kazakhstan iPhones and other Android phones (which have a virtual keyboard) are absolutely forbidden and only one of those with actual hardware keyboards (typically found on good old Blackberry phones).

I am not dissing Kazakh people here. On the contrary, I have high respect for the country and the people as they support the cycling team Team Astana. I wish some more Japanese companies step up and financially support professional cycling teams (NTT now is in the league).

I am just saying and repeating what I have written here so many times, which is I don't recognize the need of any keyboards other than US layout ones. A US layout keyboard is the only keyboard that I need and I can use thousands of Japanese letters without any problem (and I have more problems with other keyboards as they have inessential keys that hamper my typing).

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kazakhstan's plight?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

MorphOS 3.14 (or Adélie Linux) on my Mac mini Q4?

MorphOS (https://morphos-team.net/)

22.04.20 - Public Release of MorphOS SDK 3.14 (April 2020)

Amiga OS, which I have never touched, neither the hardware, seems to be the non-relative precursor as it does not share the source code. Much like Haiku OS is considered to be BeOS's offspring. This is much like the way Tibet Buddhism choose its descendant by nomination but not by bloodline.

It works on some of PowerPC Macs, too. I wanted to test it on my Mac mini G4 to see if it runs better than Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard. It's not free (free of charge) but one can try it out for the first 30 minutes without any restrictions.

From the site
Q: How much does it cost?
Answer:

The price is 79 EUR for one laptop or desktop computer. Special pricing of 49 EUR per device is offered for EfikaPPC and Sam460 systems.

The unregistered version of MorphOS includes the full functionality, but slows down operation after a 30 minutes period until you choose to reboot your computer.

It costs €79 to have the license. Is it light on the CPU?

I have several PowerPC G4 Macs and they are all supported by this OS according to the FAQ.

Step 1. Download the appropriate image from the official site
Step 2. Burn it on a blank CD (in my case DVD)
Step 3. Boot the G4 machine with the booting media
Step 4. Install the system on the HDD
Step 5. Enjoy (and consider if paying for it is worth the price)

Adélie Linux RC-1 (release candidate One)

I also almost at the same time downloaded and burnt the image files on the blank DVD media. The one I chose was the big file for PPC32, which translates to for PowerPC G3/G4 CPUs.

Installing MorphOS would be very easy (as reported by many people who tried it) while installing Ad&ecaute;lie Linux would be very hard on PowerPC Macs. The automated installation method won't work as so written on the official site.

What is June 23 mean in Luxembourg, anyway?

I had a vague idea what it meant before I ran into this artcle (https://luxtimes.lu/luxembourg-guide/41020-how-luxembourg-celebrates-national-day).

This article won't be there long so this writing will soon be irrelevant. (Luxembourg Times)

The tradition of celebrating the monarch’s birthday with a day off to carouse, dates back to the 19th century when Luxembourg was still part of the Netherlands. When the Dutch and Luxembourgish thrones parted company in 1890 (because at the time, the Grand Duchy could not be inherited through the female line, and Wilhelmina succeeded her father to the Dutch throne), the House of Nassau-Weilburg decided instead to celebrate the Grand Duke’s Day, doing so on the ruling Grand Duke’s birthday.

This passage got me wonder if the treaty between the Netherlands (its ruling monarch) and Grand Duchy of Luxembourg had was similar to the one between Monaco and France.

I once read somewhere that technically speaking France can take Monaco back under its wing completely if Monaco's royal family failed to produce a male successor to its throne. There has to be a son at least in the royal family for Monaco to survive.

Is this going to happen? If French government claims its share of Monaco under this specific condition, all the feminism population will undoubtedly play havoc upon French government. They would call it gender inequality. Monaco could have a female ruler in the future against the odds.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [MorphOS 3.14 (or Adélie Linux) on my Mac mini Q4?]の続きを読む

June 23rd is a National Holiday in Luxembourg

... but there seems to be no big celebration after all

Commonly known as Duke's Birthday, June 23rd is normally a quiet day followed by a series of events (highlighted by fireworks in the sky near the center of the city). They usually block the big avenue between the center of the city and the central station and have a parade attended by the Royal Family.

Due to the Wuhan virus pandemic, there seems to be no events happening. The current Duke will make a televised address to us but there will be no big celebration in the previous evening. On the eve of the holiday people will still go out since the following day is a holiday but there will be no big gatherings.

The quiet Tuesday in Luxembourg but it is just another business-as-usual day in neighboring countries so businesses are open. For those who work here in Luxembourg and commute by crossing the border, it is a pleasant day for shopping and all.

Many of us (living and working in Luxembourg) will go cross the border for shopping in neighboring countries. Many visit Germany for household stuff (and food) and others visit France or Belgium for other stuff. Prices are generally lower in the neighboring countries except for fuels, tobacco products, alcohol products and some other rare stuff.

Cycle lanes in Luxembourg

RTL news site (https://today.rtl.lu/) = permanent

An article (https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/1534781.html) = not permanent, will disappear eventually

This article says that the government is thinking of making some country roads exclusive for cyclists and for the local farmers and local residents' cars during Summer.

I have a mixed opinion on it.

1. Promoting cycling activities and promoting the cyclist-awareness (keeping a safe distance between cyclists and automobiles) among drivers is good.
2. Having safe roads for cycling is good.

On the other hand,
3. I don't like cycling on flat roads.
4. Having more line-separated cyclist lanes along the main roads (like those frequently and ubiquitously found in the Netherlands and Belgium) is much better.

My Linux PC (an old second hand HP) is running slow?

I wonder. It is an old PC, indeed. I just swapped the CPUs from Intel Pentium Dual Core E5500 to Core 2 Quad Q9500. The clock speeds are almost identical but the latter has twice as many cores as the former. My current configuration should be almost twice as snappy as it used to be. Still it feels sluggish for some reasons.

It feels sluggish when some files are being copied via the USB ports. The sluggishness has something to do with its old archaic chipsets maybe.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [June 23rd is a National Holiday in Luxembourg]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

French borders are open now?

Are French borders open now?

Now (or lately) I have been taking advantages of "free public transport" in Luxembourg and have been commuting by train and bus to work (and of course back home). There is also an issue with my car (Mazda MX-5 and it needs to be repaired). I am not saying that my Mazda MX-5 has a problem but someone bumped into it a while ago.

Today (at the time of starting to write this, June 16) I noticed something (as I was off Yesterday). There were trains going to Longwy, France from Luxembourg. This means as I guessed that the French finally opened its borders (at least one of its border shared by Luxembourg) to other Schengen treaty countries.

The Belgium border shared by Luxembourg has been open for a while for those visiting the family or for shopping. I remember that the Belgian government said it would open its borders from June 15 and so on for sight-seers and others.

Outdoors people

I was living in the U.S.A. in the early 90's and one of my favorite TV shows was SNL, Saturday Night Live. I learned a lot of English (actually Americanism to be exact) by watching the show.

One of the issues that SNL at that time dealt with was PC, political correctness stuff. they made a lot of jokes about it. Short people was not an acceptable expression but gravitationally challenged people was an acceptable alternative, for example. One of the expressions that I remember is this, outdoors people where traditionally homeless people was used.

I was going to disembark the train this morning at the station which is the last stop before crossing the border when I saw and heard the conductor on the board asked seemingly an outdoors person by the appearance of his if he had a train ticket to get on board. He replied, "No but ..." in French as the question was also in French.

As you can see, nobody asks you if you have a ticket in a public transportation in Luxembourg unless you are seated in a first class seat anymore. The man was going to get aboard a train which was about to cross the border so this man needed a proper ticket.

Unlucky for him! I don't know he bought a ticket to get on board later or not.

Highest point (altitude) in Belgium

Signal de Botrange (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_de_Botrange) is the place located not too far from the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. The altitude is whopping 694 meters (2,277 feet). That of Luxembourg is a tad lower than this place (560 meters).

It is located about 45 km from Aywaille, Belgium. It is a bit closer to Coo, Belgium. These two names (of the towns or villages) were chosen because there are train stations that Belgian Railroad's IC (International something? They skip many small stations) trains stop.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [French borders are open now?]の続きを読む

テーマ:ヨーロッパ - ジャンル:海外情報

Post-COVID-19 in Luxembourg and others

Post-COVID-19 or Pre-COVID-19 version 2?

Luxembourg is loosening the restrictions enforced on many aspects of life here.

Sports Gyms and swimming pools in Luxembourg city had not been allowed to open their door to the public until recently. They are open now.

Kids under age 9 (?) were no longer obliged to wear masks in public except when they are at school. Those playgrounds (slides, swings and sandboxes) in public parks are now open and kids can play there.

Now restaurants can have 10 people eating together (having a birthday party or some occasions).

Luxembourg government is giving some subsidy money to those who buy new bicycles (electric ones included) up to some amount (25 % of the purchase price) from January to the end of this year. Now it is a good to buy a new bike.

The infection case number is very low despite the efforts that the government is making to test any residents and cross-border workers who are willing to get tested for COVID-19.

It seems that the storm is over. Really? For me it just looks like the calm before the storm. It is coming back this Fall, one way or another.

One way: a stronger force with more death tolls
Another: a smaller aftershock

A PCR test is not an antibody test. We (Luxembourg residents) are having a nation wide PCR testing but it does not say anything about the history, whether we were once infected but recovered or have not been touched.

https://www.webmd.com/lung/antibody-testing-covid-19#1

This was the top suggested URL for antibody testing when I searched on DuckDuckGo. It tells us that scientists don't know (since COVID-19 is new and could be man-made virus in the lab) exactly how the antibody for it works.

It is not like AIDS virus (HIV virus). It seems that we can develop antibody against COVID-19, thank GOD!

One week of the cold span that I had toward the end of May including coughing could have been just a common cold, another strain of flu or indeed COVID-19.

If I had been infected with COVID-19 through something I touched in the supermarket, I could have some kind of antibody in my immune system (in the blood). If I did, I would have better chance of surviving the second wave physically.

I don't think I would survive the financial difficulty when the second wave hits and the second lockdown hits.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Post-COVID-19 in Luxembourg and others]の続きを読む

テーマ:ヨーロッパ - ジャンル:海外情報

Anthy to Mozc move

Japanese Input Method changes

From Anthy-iBus to Mozc-iBus

I was using Anthy and I was almost happy with the environment it offered until I found that Anthy's dictionary (custom dictionary so that I can make my own entries of my needs) did not work. I tried several time to add some words to it but failed. Kasumi (the custom dictionary) even game me some error messages that it crashed.

That was when and why I decided to try Mozc-iBus for a change.

I booted Synaptic and installed MOZC related packages.

I found mozc worked just as it was supposed to immediately after the installation (and switching from anthy) and its custom dictionary also worked as it was supposed to be. I am even happier than I was with Anthy.

The Japanese Input Methods have not been updated (in terms of features) for some time but at least they seem to work OK now.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Anthy to Mozc move]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Negative and that's all I have to say about that

COVID-19 test result came by SMS

As the title suggests, I tested negative (like most of the testees in Luxembourg). That's all.

I kept myself quarantined during the lockdown period. Once a week I went to a supermarket for food (for me and Hannah) and went for a walk with Hannah in the forest. I went to a pet supply store once and bought small things in a store in the same building as the pet supply store. That was almost everything I did during that period.

Am I ready for the possible (or most likely) second wave of COVID-19 this coming Fall? The answer might be two or threefold.

Physically, mentally and most importantly financially or economically. So that would make threefold.

Questions:
1. Physically fit, am I?

2. Mentally strong, am I?

3. Financially or economically viable, am I?

Answers:
1. Probably yes. I have not been to the doctor for a long time. I think I am not physically weak. I could be stronger if I keep regular exercise routines (starting now) by this coming Fall.

2. Probably yes.

3. No. I would not be economically viable anymore if the government decides to lock the country again this Fall for a few months.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Negative and that's all I have to say about that]の続きを読む

テーマ:ヨーロッパ - ジャンル:海外情報

Troisvierges (three virgins?) in Northern Luxembourg

Troisvierges in Northern Luxembourg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troisvierges

A whopping altitude of 560 meters above the sea level (1,837 feet) is the highest point in this country. Troisvierges is a commune (town) covering the area. There are actually other smaller villages in the area but I guess Troisvierges is the only town with the city hall (or government office) in the area.

There is a train station in the center of Troisvierges.

I always wanted to visit the highest point in the country but was always lazy to do it. Now I really think I have to.

Looking at the train schedule, I realized, much much belatedly, that I can easily go to Aywaille (Belgium) or Liège (ditto) by train that passes Troisvierges.

Aywaille (pronounced like "eye-why-you" or simply "IYU") is the nearest train station to the famous climb of la Redoute known for the race Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

I'll do some research and inquiry to make this trip possible.

Belgium has announced their intentions to open its border from June 15th, 2020. My trip should be possible from that date on.

So far I have looked for the train connections. I don't know if the train would allow me to take my bike. I saw the train(s) at the central station but did not see any signs indicating the bike space. I could see the fare on Belgian railway site. Since the Luxembourg domestic railroad is free of charge, I am paying only the Belgian part of the fare. It is really inexpensive.

I will visit the Luxembourg central station and ask at the counter if carrying the bike is allowed on that train.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Troisvierges (three virgins?) in Northern Luxembourg]の続きを読む

テーマ:ヨーロッパ - ジャンル:海外情報

Rainy June days in Luxembourg

Ubuntu Studio over Kubuntu 20.04

I encounter messages telling that I have encountered a bug while using it. I am not upset as I am not doing anything critical. I am just getting used to it now.

There are some bugs as expected in this early stage of version. People are working on the bugs and these bugs will be crushed soon, I hope.

I downloaded a desktop theme called something like Mac Mojave theme (not exact). I did not want to download it and install it but I could not find a way to put the menu bar on top of the screen. The default location of the menu bar is down and I don't like it there. I remember doing it (relocating the menu bar) in Xubuntu (Xfce) was much much easier.

I don't know if this Mojave theme includes (by default) the Dock feature. Maybe I have to download the Dock module??

All I want to do is having the menu bar above not down below. I don't want to have any resource consuming extra features!!

This is my first time using Kubuntu (the KDE Plasma desktop environment). Is it really less resource-consuming?

I switched back to Breeze Dark theme (installed by default) and the menu bar stayed above. OK, then I don't need the Mojave theme at all.

Troisvierges and CFL network

(all the images are clipped screenshots from CFL's site)

Troisvierges is the town (village) where the highest point (altitude) in Luxembourg lies. I would one day like to visit the place by train with my bike and ride up there. Now that the public transportation in Luxembourg (except for the first class seats) is free, I have no excuse not to.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Rainy June days in Luxembourg]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

The second (or third) wave is to come?

The second (or nth) wave is to come this Fall?

Luxembourg along with the majority (many of?) of European countries enforced "Lockdown" during the first COVID-19 pandemic. The police in those countries were given the authority to fine businesses and individuals who did not follow the rules.

The Swedes decided not to lock down the country and let the nature go through its course.

The Japanese government enacted looser restrictions over businesses and individuals. It basically asked or encouraged people to be prudent. I don't think the Japanese police were giving any tickets to anybody during the period.

Biggish meetings like concerts, sporting events or similar were cancelled by the organizers but some went on.

Now (only now just immediately after the first wave) people are criticizing the Swedish government's decision not to lock down the country citing the numbers of death or patients infected with the virus which are relatively high compared to the neighboring countries.

I think it is too, way too early to say anything conclusive. This is only my personal opinion. Maybe those who are criticizing the decision made by the Swedes are right. Or maybe they can prove to be wrong in the future. Who knows?

This Fall when the weather turns to be cooler, it is almost sure that people in Europe (because most European countries do have cold Winter) start catching a common cold and also a flu (could be COVID-19, other strains or even newer and stronger strains). The death toll will rise.

If and when COVID-19 returns, what will happen? Do those countries that had lockdown measurements and kept the majority of residents free from COVID-19 have better defense against the second wave when people don't have antibody against it?

Or does Sweden have better chance of managing the second wave?

It is not only about the defense against the disease but the mindset that people have when it hits again.

Physical readiness and mental readiness

The Swedes may be ready for the second wave physically (antibody in many people's immune system) and mentally because they were not hiding themselves behind the closed doors (self-locking). They did not let the disease dictate their lives. They have seen many deaths.

When the second wave arrives in countries where people self-quarantined themselves, how do people react to it? Won't they panic and overreact to it even when a small number of people die?

I believe that we (living in countries where the lockdown took place) will be more vulnerable at the second wave.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [The second (or third) wave is to come?]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

Kubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu Studio Installer

So now I am on it

I am writing this entry on my HP Pro 3120 SFF running Ubuntu Studio over Kubuntu 20.04.

I had to install Kubuntu twice because the first installation finished with some errors. Now I think I am running as it is supposed to be.

The first thing I did after the initial installation of Kubuntu 20.04 was of course install Ubuntu Studio Installer on it.

The second thing I did was running the Installer and installing everything.

The third thing I did was installing "Synaptic" on it.

The fourth thing I did was installing Anthy and its ibus related packages using Synaptic.

After this I set upon the task of setting up the Japanese Input Method correctly so that I could write Japanese on the system.

After a brief fiddling, I successfully achieved what I wanted to achieve. Now I can write in Japanese.

I don't understand why I failed it on Ubuntu Studio 19.10 a few months ago. It was supposed to be an easy task.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu Studio Installer]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

PowerBook 100 mainboard from the Netherlands

Mainboard and PSRAM card

I won the ebay auction item containing a PowerBook 100 mainboard and an additional bonus PSRAM card. Happy! They were not expensive.

Testing everybody (and some more) in Luxembourg

Luxembourg government intends to test all the residents and cross-border workers in Luxembourg. It was reported in an article that I read that they intend to set up the tenting stations including some drive-through testing locations by the end of July.

By then we will be informed of how and when.

I am curious.

During the lockdown period (2 months), I pretty much kept myself (and my Hannah) contained. I went to a local supermarket (often on foot) only once a week. I went out for a walk in the forest with Hannah but kept ourselves out of any close contact with anybody.

There was a time when I got sick, seemingly with a common cold or slight flu during the containment. Here is a short description of the symptom.

I felt a bit tired and felt slightly feverish during the day. Only when I lay down to sleep at night, I started to cough (not too seriously) for 10 or 20 minutes. I could eventually sleep peacefully and woke up feeling better (or well) the next morning. I did not cough anymore during the day. This went on for 4 to 5 days.

Was this COVID-19 at work on me? Had I touched something at the supermarket that had the virus on the surface?

I suspect the coughing was triggered by the position I took. By lying flat on my back, I let my lungs fold on their own. I guess when I am sitting or standing, my lungs are better positioned and breeze more freely.

This is the only reason that I can think of to explain the sudden coughing before falling in sleep.

So I am curious if I had contracted COVID-19 at that time and have developed the antibody to fight off the virus.

For me (if I have ever contracted) it was just like a slight cold. I did not take a medicine (as I hate one). I did not feel like seeing the doctor nor needing to rest in bed all day. I had appetite and went for a walk with Hannah and went to the supermarket on foot (3 km) and back (6 km). I did not think it was COVID-19 symptoms but it could have been. I am curious.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [PowerBook 100 mainboard from the Netherlands]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

PowerBook 100 from Belgium

Collecting the software

I am collecting needed software for my incoming PowerBook 100 (or Portable and other 680x0 Macintosh models).

The one that I bought from Belgium (an ebay auction item) has arrived. I got the non-functinal PowerBook 100 and its matching Floppy Disk Drive in the box.

I still don't have the AC/DC power adapter for it.

In the future when it becomes operational, I will try at least three configurations, System 6.0.8L, System 7.0.1 (or 7.1) and System 7.5.3 (or 7.5.5).

The optimal configuration will depend on the amount of RAM available. They say that if there is more than 4 MB of RAM on it, System 7 won't be a bad choice. If anything less, I will be using System 6.0.8L.

I remember using System 7.5.5 on my Macintosh Plus (with I believe only 2 MB of RAM). Of course I was not using any serious software programs on it. I played a card game (like some Solitaire). It worked good. So I know that System 7.5.5 works on even faster (68000 8 MHz v.s. 16 MHz) PowerBook 100.

From Belgium

A box arrived (actually I had to go to the local post office to get it) containing a non-functional PowerBook 100 with a defective LCD screen and a floppy disk drive.

I had a quick inspection inside. The case was OK and all the screws were tightly in place. It had a seemingly (I am almost certain of its spec) 2 MB PSRAM memory card.

I still don't have a proper power adapter for it so I can not see what would happen when turned on or how it would act. I will get one soon and see.

PowerBook 100 mainboard with bonus 4 MB (?) PSRAM card

It is an ebay auction item from the Netherlands. I won it. I don't know it will work. If it won't, I can not complain. The seller described it as "only for parts, not working." I wanted to get my hand on that 4 MB PSRAM board. For me, the mainboard is a bonus and the PSRAM board was the main attraction.
In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [PowerBook 100 from Belgium]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

欧州在住者が自転車レースを追い掛けてる日記とか

MorphOS and Adélie Linux on my G4 Macs? vers. II

(Shopping for) Hannah

Troisvierges and Houffalize

Free of bugs, Matrix 4 and Dog run

Kazakhstan's plight?

MorphOS 3.14 (or Adélie Linux) on my Mac mini Q4?

June 23rd is a National Holiday in Luxembourg

French borders are open now?

Post-COVID-19 in Luxembourg and others

Anthy to Mozc move

Negative and that's all I have to say about that

Troisvierges (three virgins?) in Northern Luxembourg

Rainy June days in Luxembourg

The second (or third) wave is to come?

Kubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu Studio Installer

PowerBook 100 mainboard from the Netherlands

PowerBook 100 from Belgium

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