Linux On Microsoft Surface Laptop

 Found some materials on how to do this.

Firstly the YouTube link with title : How to Install Linux on a Microsoft Surface (Ubuntu 22.04 Linux Surface Kernel)

https://youtu.be/6_EHEmz_j4o

Few things needed:

1. Linux Ubuntu Iso download
2. USB key
3. Software called Rufus

When the above are ready, then proceed

• Run the Rufus program with the USB key plugged into the computer.
• When prompted, select the Downloaded Ubuntu *.iso for Rufus. Basically Rufus will create a bootable USB with Ubuntu on it.
• Plugin the USB onto the Surface
• Boot up MS Surface, ensure boot configuration is selected to boot from USB drive.
• Go into Ubuntu installation, follow instructions to install, then Reboot

At this point, Ubuntu is installed, you can boot and login. However, lots of the Surface hardware features are missing, e.g touchscreen, rotation of screen. To get these capabilities, we need to modify the Ubuntu kernel by installing a special kernal

Go to Google and search Surface Linux.

Follow the instructions there.

Update 30 Mar 2024

The following is an attempt to make use of a LIVE Linux on a USB drive. The above discussion is still slightly relevant, but several road-blocks are encountered as discussed below.

 

Rufus vs Universal USB Installer (UUI)

There are various good reviews of Rufus which states some of its advantages, so I won't repeat here. From experience, I can say it is easy to use to write a Linux ISO onto a USB drive and it seemed fast. However, specifically with Microsoft Surface that I tried on, it failed to get pass the Secure Boot (Bitlocker) screen. I changed the options at the MS Surface boot screen on the Security menu, trying all 3 options including no security, but still it would not boot. (Please leave comment, if I did not use correctly - but you must have experience in using Rufus on MS Surface).

Note: I've checked with the Microsoft account specifically to this MS Surface device, and there is no BitLocker key. Yet the device was still unusable.

So then I tried the UUI - and it is similarly as easy to write a Linux ISO to a USB drive than Rufus. This actually was able to go pass the Secure Boot. At the appropriate boot up screen, we should select VTOYEFI option, then followed by "Enroll_This_Key_In_MokManager.cer".

SLAX vs Lbuntu

I chose SLAX because its ISO was under 500GB. After burning this into the USB using UUI, and starting up using the USB, it would not boot. The reason is that it appears UEFI is not fully available for some reason. Switching to Lbuntu instead, and using UUI, the USB was finally able to boot Lbuntu onto the MS Surface.

Now the next problem is that MS Surface Wi-Fi hardware may not have been supported by Lbuntu. So the next step is to find a Linux that supports MS Surface, at least for the Wi-Fi adapter.  

Wifi problem:

It seems that the Linux that I've tried, including Lbuntu and Ubuntu above does not recognize the wifi adapter hardware. From internet searches, it seems the hardware is Marvell branded wifi adapter. A few commands to check whether the wifi hardware adapter is detectable or not:

lspci

ip -a

It will be obvious if theses commands do not mention anything about any wifi adapters

Persistence

To consider persistence, that is keeping the changes made to the Live Linux, the overlayfs in Linux is used. A few good references include:

https://www.baeldung.com/linux/overlayfs-usage

https://linuxconfig.org/introduction-to-the-overlayfs

Security

 

Hidden Cameras

https://us.norton.com/blog/how-to/how-to-find-hidden-cameras - an excellent list of methods to identify hidden cameras 

Will have more in this article ......

iRiver IBC-R6 Bone Conduction Earphone - Manual and Review

 Recently bought this bone conduction earphone from the mature company iRiver of South Korea. You may remember iRiver from the days of really portable MP3 players, recorders and such. It is priced in the mid-range of 65,000 to 70,000 Won. The reason I chose this over no-brand or unheard-of-brands which are less than half the price is because it is from a South Korean company, rather than China. There are more expensive ones of course, such as Aftershock, which has been rebranded as Shokz, but I cannot justify the price to myself.

The first part of this blog would be showing the User Guide / Manual which is originally in Korean. The English translation (via Google Translate Camera function) is also shown below.

The review will be coming soon .... stay tuned

Grand Mafia Strategy

Rules

City Rules

This can be found in: Event Centre -> Governor's War Season 2 -> Battle for The City Hall -> City Announcement -> Check Announcement

Mansions

Level 17 - Get Babe #3 Julia

Campaign 

Normal vs Elite - both have 7 stages.

Each Normal stage has to be completed first, then only the Elite stage can go to the same level of stages.

Elite #5-12 - Bubba - Need Sparrow, Vinny, Mike, Nurse Doxxy, Nioh

Elite #7-12 - Anonymous - Need Sparrow, Big Shot, Bubba, Lok, Nurse Doxxy

Defense

Wall 

This is one of the keys to defense against attackers. The higher the level, the better.

In general, go to Investment Center to upgrade various wall defence items.

Within the Wall, the Traps also need to be upgraded.

Enforcers can be selected as Defensive Enforcers within the Wall. Some Enforces are better than others, e.g. Sparrow, @nonymous, Tony, etc.

Radar - built this structure to ensure you get notified when others are attacking you.

Enforcers should return home (from Robbing or other activities), once you know (from the Radar notification) that you are under attack.

Safehouse

Keep Enforcers and Associates in Safehouse if Turf is under attack.

Police Raids

Enforcer - choose the one that is under the Wall category, e.g. Tony or El Cortardo. 

Gear up the Enforcer - maximise the biker gear.

Jewels - biker attack and biker defence, wall defence and trap attack

Crew Defense buff - enable this under the Combat buffs

Specialties - normal or Governor - should be all Biker and Crew Def/HP

Reinforce vs Station

Station - will be based on our stats. We can also station our Underboss on the other Turf, but if the battle is lost, then we will lose the UB too.

Reinforce - based on the stats of the other player.

Construction

Workshop

Workshop has links to Set, Armory, Jewels

Materials needed for workshop items can be obtained from Kingpins. Click on Item -> Upgrade -> Select Missing Material -> Method of obtaining

Buildings:

Wall <- Workshop <- Smelter 

Training vs Hospital vs Diamond Production

For miniH:

To train T4 bikers takes 6 days 18hr, 240,000 influence Hll events

Given that stats are:

2 training, 2 diamonds

total associates 1.993m

hourly upkeep 5.053m

training speed bonus 229.3%

training time -69.63%

associates/session 15,747

---

hospital capacity: 566/791,764  318.8%  566

Robbery

Clothing to increase speed: electric gun, builder's shirt/boots, investor's trouser/dagger

Clothing to increase load: investor's trouser/pistol, builder's shirt/shoes/shovel 

Robbing efficiency - Level 4 resources:

Arms. 1.26m x 14 PTS / 126min = 0.14 pts/min

Metal 0.945m x 14 pts/ 96. min = 0.138 pts/min

Depot 1.26m x 14 pts/ 140mi. = 0.126 pts/min

Diamond  0.4725 x25 pts / 82mins= 0.144 pts/min

Enforcers

Specialties increase: when Exp level of Underboss is increased.

Enforcers level up when: attacking kingpins, go on campaign

Troops increase

- by Enforcer Rank increase

Items

Where to acquire the items that we need?

Go to Faction Shop -> Faction Shop to buy with coins.

Go to Faction Shop -> Broker to buy with gold.

The items are categorised in:

Premium: Direct/Random Relocator

Kingpins

Experience

DMG      L1 L2         L3         L4

1        819 1431 2304 3973

2       1638 2862 4608 7946

3       2457 4293 6912 11919

4      3276 5724 9216 15892

5      4095 7155 11520 19865

Governor's War Specialties

DMG L1  L2         L3         L4

1        492  858         1382 2383

2        984  1716 2764 4766

3        1476  2574 4146 7149

4        1968  3432 5528 9532

5        2460  4290 6910 11915

Please excuse the numbers above if the format is jumbled up. The first column is the DMG levels reading downwards. Across the columns are the 4 different levels.

The Levels L1-L4 are the levels of the Kingpins

The DMG is in the game, where if we have enough Energy, we can hit a L1 Kingpin with DMGx2 or DMGx3 etc.

The main question the table above tries to answer is: Should I hit on a L4 OR using the similar energy to hit a L1 by using DMGx4?

The answer from the table is hitting a L1 with DMGx2 or DMGx3 is better than hitting a single (DMGx1) L2 or L3. However, if you can hit L4, then it is better to hit 1 L4 Kingpin (Exp=3973) than hitting an L1 Kingpin using DMGx4 (Exp=3276). 

Governor's War

Events Sequence

Day1 : Robbery

Day2 : Street Sweep / Police Station - Kingpins, Action points, Police Stations, family currency/insignia

Day3 : Increase Influence - enforcer wheel, family currency/insignia 

Day4 : Speed Ups

Day5 : Kill Event / Massacre Day

Battle

L5 Police Station - Bruiser Square

T3: Bruisers 1.140m Hitmen 1.169m Bikers 0.588m Cars 0.151m

Our Side: Hitman Square  UB: Bruiser Mike. Call for Bruisers.  

T3: Bruisers 1  Hitmen 1  Bikers Max Cars 0

Enemy has:

L5 Police Station - Bruiser Square

T3: Bruisers 1.064m Hitmen 1.144m Bikers 0.425m Cars 0.0m

Our Side: Bruisers Square  UB: Biker Bubba. Call for Bikers.  

T3: Bruisers Mine Max  Hitmen 0  Bikers Others Max Cars 0

good win

Notes Nokia 8.3 Android 11

DON'T BUY - Mine got Overheated with no chance of recovery. Bad thermal design.

Recovery Mode

Forgot Password

Missing Back button

Wifi - Hidden and MAC address

Screenshot button missing 

This notes may apply to Anroid 11 mobiles in general, although the notes are based on my Nokia 8.3. This is because the Nokia 8.3 is running Android One, which is supposed to be an unaltered version of pure Android.

Recovery Mode

===============

To enter recovery mode:

- plug in USB-C cable

- turn off the phone

- Press Volume Down AND Power button and hold for a few seconds.

Once in Recovery mode, the options are:

- START

- Restart Bootloader

- Recovery Mode

- Power Off

- Boot to FFBM

- Boot to QMMI

- 

Forgot Password

=================

This will WIPE ALL DATA

- Go to Recovery Mode as mentioned above.

- Select Recovery Mode. The Android logo is shown

- Unplug the cable

- Press the Power and the Volume Up key once

- The Recovery Mode menu will show many options

- Choose the Wipe Data / Factory Reset

Missing Back button

====================

By default, Android 11 hides the 3 usual buttons, including the Back button.

To enable these 3 buttons on Nokia 8.3 Android 11:

- go to Settings -> Accessibility -> System Navigation

- Choose between:

Gesture Navigation

3 button Navigation (includes the Back, Home, Apps buttons)

Wifi - Hidden and MAC address

================================

Two important items when connecting to a Wifi on the phone is:

- using a Hidden wifi network

- using the Device MAC address, NOT Randomized Mac.

Unfortunately modern Android phone deliberately make these two security features very hard by HIDING the relevant settings.

On a totally new Android phone, with no SIM card, adding a Wifi network also seems to be a challenge. I forgot the exact details, but persevere and click through all possible options to add the first wifi network.

Before configuring the phone, ensure to 

i) change the network Wifi settings, to be it NOT HIDDEN temporarily.

ii) Add the MAC address of the phone

Then go into the phone and start Configuring:

- go to Settings -> Network and Internet -> Wifi

- Click Add Network at the bottom.

- Type in SSID, Security option eg WPA2, Password

- Click Advanced Options

--- In Hidden Network, change to 'Yes'

--- In Privacy, change to 'Use device MAC'

- Click Save and Connect.

Go back to network Wifi and change back to:

- Hidden Network enabled

Screenshot button missing 

=============================

In previous Android or other handset, the screenshot features is available in two places:

1. Swiping down from the Top of the screen will reveal apps settings like WiFi connection, GPS, HotSpot, Bluetooth, etc, AND Screenshot.

2. Pressing the Power and Volume Down button, will trigger screenshot.

However the above methods is no longer available in Nokia 8.3 running Android 11. It may also be the same for other mobile brands using Android 11.

The Screenshot however is still available in a new spot. This applies to whether using 3-button navigation or Gesture navigation. To trigger Screenshot, simply go to the screen that shows the multiple background apps.

i) Using 3 button navigation, the Background Apps is available by pressing the Squre icon button. Then the words Screenshot will appear on the bottom.

ii) Using Gesture navigation, the Background Apps is available by Swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen. Then the words Screenshot will appear on the bottom.

I can imagine this is a very smart and intuitive location, even though it is very annoying if we got used to the previous methods. It is intuitive because the Screenshot is taken for the whole screen. What better location than to put the Screenshot at the Background Apps area, where we can scroll through different Background Apps to take screenshot for.

NOTE: The word background does not mean wallpaper background. It means the multiple apps that we open, but it is hidden by the recent app. So these background apps are the ones still running but not on the front screen. 

Google Drive Desktop - Different modes of Syncing and Offline

 A bit of background first on Google Drive:

Google Drive have been in existence over many years. It's basically an online, browser based, file storage where you can drag-n-drop any files from your computer onto the webpage of Google Drive. Then there are specific Google office apps which are equivalents to Microsoft Office such as:

Docs (like Word)

Sheets (like Excel)

Slides (like Powerpoint)

.... and even better new apps like: Forms, Drawings, etc

Basically Google Drive allow you to have a file system / file storage plus working on some of those files online from a browser webpage.

Google Sync

Then came the little technology that allows us to install a component on our computer, which then automatically syncs between Google Drive and our computer. This means that we see the Google Drive files and folders on our computer, through File Explorer - as if those Google Drive files are on our computer. 

The reason for this blog is that the Google Sync technology has undergone a few iterations with new names and so creating some amount of confusion. Every few years coming back to this technology again, the name has changed. I may be mistaken, but I roughly remembered the earlier name as Google Sync -> then it became Backup and Sync -> now it became "Google Drive Desktop"

Google Drive Desktop

This post is about the new syncing technology called Google Drive Desktop (now that we are sort of clear on the history) and we won't mention the previous products from this point on.

Installation

Simply open your favourite browser and search engine and type: Google Drive Desktop

Then click on the results as shown below.

Installation Problems

It is worth mentioning a few of the installation problems I encountered which does not seem to have a specific or logical solution - but I managed to solve it and will share it here. 

The problem occurs after installing the Google Drive Desktop, the little icon in the taskbar is visible but nothing much else. There is a button or link to prompt us to sign in to our Google account or sign in to Google using the web browser or various other ways to prompt us to sign in to Google. But after signing in, still there are no options in the Google Drive Desktop taskbar icon except to sign-in. So I encountered this loop where I keep signing in and there are no results after that. Right click on the taskbar icon and select Preferences, and a window seems to pop up and disappear immediately. There is also a new icon on the desktop itself, and that also prompts us to sign-in, again repeated sign-in had no results.

You may also see the 'Success!' message below after each sign-in attempt, but we may still get nowhere, i.e the Google Drive files is still not showing in our local computer.

Here are a few things I tried that may in combination provided the solution:

- Restart your computer, perhaps do this two or three times.

- Definitely try signing in two or three or more times after each step.

- When there is an opportunity to sign-out, then completely sign-out of any Google accounts.

- Finally when there is an option to 'Disconnect' from Google Drive, then click Disconnect (this may appear in a smaller window)

Summary - keep on trying various things to sign-out, disconnect etc and signing in again until it works.

Installation Working

When the installation is successful, then in Windows File Explorer, it should show the Google Drive like this:

Syncing Warning

1. By default all files in MyDrive on Google Drive will be synced and appears in File Explore on the local computer

2. Deleting a file on the local computer, e.g. through File Explorer, will ALSO delete the file in the cloud Google Drive.

For my usage, I prefer NOT to sync everything between the Google Drive and my computer, so I prefer to choose which folders in Google Drive need to be synced to my computer.

The next section will discuss more on how to configure the other modes of syncing, and not deleting the files on the cloud when the local file is deleted.

"Set up offline access" - Right-click on the file or folder you want to make available for offline use. Next, choose "Available Offline" under the "offline access" menu.

Syncing with Offline access

Several modes are described here:  https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9308619

Essentially with the offline access mode, we can work on the documents while temporarily not having internet connection. For example, this could be on a flight, in a park, in a coffee shop where we don't trust their public wifi, etc.

1. Working with non-Google files (ie not Docs, not Sheets, etc)

Assuming Google Drive for Desktop is installed, open the Google Drive folder. Select the file or folder to be accessed offline. Right-click on it, and select Drive File Streama and then Available offline.

2. Working with Google files (eg. Docs, Sheets, etc)

Install the Google Docs Offline extension. In Drive, click Settings, thenSettings.
Go to the Offline section, check the Create, open and edit your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device while offline.
Right-click a file and turn on Available offline.

3. Working on mobile phones

On your mobile device, open the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides app. Tap Menu and thenSettings. Turn on Make recent files available offline.

Syncing Mode Preferences

As shown below, there are at least 3 different syncing modes. To come to these options, right click on the Google Drive Desktop taskbar icon, then select Preferences.

1. Google Drive - My Drive - Stream files

The files are mostly in the cloud (not on our computer). But when we need to work on the files with no internet connection, we can make the files and folders available offline. See section above about working with offline files.

2. Google Drive - My Drive - Mirror files

The files are stored both in the cloud of Google Drive and also on the local computer. The files on the local computer are available to work with, even when there is no internet. There is no extra steps to make these files to be offline, since there is always an offline or local copy already.

3. My PC - This option allows us to select files or folders originally on our local computer already, to be stored / backed-up on the cloud. Click on the Add Folder button to select which existing local folders should be placed on the cloud.

When everything is working, opening the taskbar icon for Google Drive Desktop should show something like this:

Setting up a Secured Email Server

 This article is Work In Progress....

There are lots of good info on the web about setting up email servers. So this article will start with some links to those sites.

References:

https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-your-own-email-server/

Mail Server - it looks like the most popular on is 'hmailserver' - https://www.hmailserver.com/download/

Metaverse and the Bitcoin Blockchain CryptoCurrency

 Metaverse - What is it?

The metaverse has been around for a few decades in one way or another. However it is not until recently when Facebook chief - the Zuck - announced the new name Meta for his company that the Metaverse has come into heightened attention. Here are some definitions of the Metaverse typically found on Google search:

Wikipedia - "A metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, the term is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets"

Nvidia - "The metaverse is a shared virtual 3D world, or worlds, that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative. Just as the physical universe is a collection of worlds that are connected in space, the metaverse can be thought of as a bunch of worlds, too. Massive online social games, like battle royale juggernaut Fortnite and user-created virtual worlds like Minecraft and Roblox, reflect some ..."

Bybit - "Living, working and playing in an alternate reality requires funding, and that means cryptocurrency. Just as there are several metaverses to use, there are also multiple cryptocurrencies. Understanding the options, differences, and pros and cons f each one can help you make the best investment decision for your needs.

When I first encountered the hype about the Metaverse, it sounded very much like Virtual Reality (VR) - which was the big thing touted in the late 80s and early 90s. VR has not really taken off in the big way, although there are definitely some tangible benefits realised. Things like pilot training simulators and immersive technology certainly have their niches. There could even be a revival in the form of Google Glasses and the Oculus devices. Thinking a bit deeper, VR is usually associated with the technology that allows the  3D immersive experience. Although the implementation of the Metaverse is  also dependent on technology, the Metaverse is much more than about the 3D reality aspect - but it seems to encompass all aspects of the virtual world itself, including commerce, way of life and much more in this alternative metaverse.

The life and commercial aspect of the Metaverse is where cryptocurrency comes in. The quote by Bybit above says it precisely. What currency is better suited to a virtual meta world, then a virtual meta currency embodied by the cryptocurrency blockchain?

Here are some of the up and coming cryptocurrencies that may follow the development of the Metaverse:

ALIEN WORLDS (TLM)
Atari Token (ATRI)
Bloktopia (BLOK)
Boson Protocol (BOSON)
CEEK VR (CEEK)
Chromia (CHR)
CryptoPlanes (CPAN)
DEAPcoin (DEP)
Decentraland (MANA)
inSure DeFi (SURE)
IOTEX (IOTX)
METAHERO (HERO)
MINIGAME,
MRE
METAL
NJF
Polygon (MATIC)
Radio Caca (RACA)
RMRK (RMRK)
Sandbox (SAND)
Solana (SOL)
SQUID,
Starlink (STARL)
TERRA VIRTUA KOLECT (TVK)
Theta Network (THETA)
Torum (XTM)
UFO Gaming (UFO)
Verasity (VRA)
Victoria (VR)
Vulcan Forged (PYR)
WAX (WAXP)