Volatile Yard 挥洒自如 Write anything I want to write...

Last Updated: 01-Dec-2008

After installing Ubuntu on a desktop PC, you may want use a bootloader other than GRUB for some reasons. (And this, a very nasty one, is mine.) You can choose to use extlinux [syslinux.zytor.com], which is a variant of the famous syslinux [syslinux.zytor.com] bootloader for ext2/ext3 filesystems. The steps here have been tested on Ubuntu 8.10 but should be applicable to other Linux distros as well.

1. Preparation

You need to have a Ubuntu Live Installation CD / USB stick to do the job.

Things I have done to install my GNU/Linux boxes with Ubuntu 8.10.

Last Updated: 01-Dec-2008

1. Requirements

My requirements for my GNU/Linux box:

• Do not compromise system performance for fancier graphics
• A comfortable environment for software development + entertainment!

I read from a newspaper that there would be a blood donation drive in Cheras Leisure Mall on 21-Sep-08, and I went there for my 32nd donation. I reached there in the morning to hopefully get my turn in shorter time. I did.

As usual, I registered for donation and answered the questionnaire prepared. I'm worried about my blood pressure but it was within the normal range, great! Everything proceeded as usual. It took about 5 minutes for me to donate 450ml of blood.

I observe something in my recent blood donations. Well, before that I have to make a very absolute and clear clarification that my main motivation of donating blood is to help myself and help others who need it. Don't misunderstand my intention and motivation! :) What I observe is: A few years ago, many organizations or companies sponsored donation drive generously, so donors would get some gifts as bonus after donation. However, very few or even nobody sponsor donation drives these days. Of course this will not stop regular donors from donating blood. I just wonder that, this phenomenon is most probably due to economic recession. Global economic recession is really there!

If you wonder why I always write about blood donation, I was actually inspired by a secondary teacher who is also a blogger a few years ago. I don't know him in person, but just happened to read a few posts by him about blood donation. He is blogging in Cikgu Lee (in Malay) and Cikgu Lee (in English). I think it's good to spread the message about blood donation around. Anyway he writes more and better than me about blood donation, check it out if you like.

I made my 30th blood donation long time back. Since then I didn't write about blood donation for several months. What happened?

I did go for a donation drive held in Tesco Extra Cheras on 27-Apr-08. The response to the drive was overwhelming, and I needed to queue for about an hour for my turn. I spent almost two hours there but donated 450ml of blood smoothly and successfully. Everything is fine except for one incident: I lost my donation record book just before the drive!

I put my record book in my pocket and drove to a few places before I went for the donation. It somehow just lost. I think it must have dropped somewhere but I have failed to find it back. I didn't lose anything else. When I registered for blood donation, I got no choice but to tell the girl that I just lost my book. She gave me a new record book, and told me that I could go to PDN to retrieve my old records and have them recorded in this new book. I also donated for UMMC besides PDN, but they did not share the same database. So I need to make a separate trip to UMMC if I want to retrieve the old records there.

Haha... I felt a bit sad about it... and I decided to write about only when I have settled this thing by retrieving the old records. I finally went to PDN on 17-Sep-08 (Holiday for Nuzul Al-Quran) to retrieve my old records. I had made 9 donations for PDN and they were enough to make my book look 'good'. I will go to UMMC only when I have the time someday. I didn't make blood donation in PDN that day as it was late and I got to attend a dinner that night.