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By admin, November 6, 2011 9:01 pm

今年的車展整個遮打道都洋溢著意大利式的浪漫和激情。

首次展出的有Ferrari F40和Lamborghini Miura SV，一眾法拉利常客有328, Dino, Mondial, Testarossa等，同臺上映的還有一台嬌小玲瓏極為可愛的Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ 620。

這回第一次跟法拉利的超級跑車F40來了個親密的接觸，薄薄的紅色油漆下確實看得出全車是以100%黑白交叉的炭纖材料打造，那震撼的尾翼令在場的全部法記粉絲們都熱血沸騰了起來，如果要用兩個字來形容，”完美”肯定是當之無愧!

另外很喜歡的紅色Alfa Romeo 1600 Spider居然成為了今年香港老爺車會的主題。Dustin Hoffman六十年代的經典電影The Graduate里就是開著這台紅色的1600 Spider。總覺得一眾六十七年代的Alfa小跑車們很能體現出截然不同的意式週日浪漫和悠閑。

後來跑去了車展的另外一邊，發現在遮打道上豎立了一道很雄偉的黃色大門，走近看才發現了是自己最近迷戀上的六十年代林寶Icon “Miura”，而且這台更是極為罕有的SV版本，馬上大叫OMG! 當然在場很多人都不識貨，所以鎂光燈都落在那些紅色的駿馬身上，卻偏偏冷落了這台其實應該為這次全場焦點的意國蠻牛。

最後我跟每年都參展的法拉利鬍子叔叔交流了不少關於Testarossa的知識，他更慷慨地讓我坐進了他紅色的寶貝Testarossa里隨便拍照，這下可把我給寵壞了。

另外當他把所有能開啟的門都打開的時候，引來全場一陣轟動，此後的相機快門聲此起彼落，法拉利鬍子叔叔更是樂得連眼睛都不見了，哈哈。。。

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By admin, November 6, 2011 8:20 pm

參觀Bonhams遮打道老爺車展早就成為我每年的必到節目。去年因事沒去成﹐所以今年決定排除萬難﹐今天絕對不可以再次錯過這個難得的機會。

1. 意大利篇

2. 英國篇

3. 德國篇

4. 日本篇

5. 美國篇

6. 引擎結構

7. 車廂內飾

8. 徽章與細節

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By admin, November 3, 2011 6:02 pm

今天突然發現AA的官方網站展示了即將推出的XJ-S經典敞篷紅色﹐雖然內飾仍然一塌糊涂﹐但是因為實在很喜歡的緣故﹐所以看來又要破費了﹐另外黑色硬頂的XJ-S(73577)也不錯。

當然如果哪個紅色調的繼續偏橙的話(近期AA最為人批評的問題)﹐我肯定還是不會買的﹐怎麼說這可是近港幣1200的車模﹐看樣子AA想錢想瘋了。

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By admin, November 2, 2011 3:28 pm

One of my clients requires W2K3 with MSSQL 2005 and .NET 4 as well as Silverlight4, so I started to deploy the VM from Windows Server 2003 Standard SP2 template, the template itself is configured with the most basic features, there is no IIS or .NET components.

I’ve encountered a few problems that really surprised me:

When I installed IIS, it asked me for both the Windows Server 2003 and SP2 CD-ROM (it never did if I use a W2K3 without SP2), where do I get that SP2 CD huh?  After a while, I figured out the solution is simply to extract the files from the SP2 zip then it completes the whole IIS installation.

Then I encounter another problem when installing SQL Server 2005, the installation failed with error code 1063, Google helped me again, the solution is to install .NET 2.0 first as SQL Server installation files depends on this foundation.

Finally, the client requires .NET 4.0 and Silverlight 4. Luckily, I came across this blog page “Configuring Windows Server 2003 with ASP.NET 4.0 while supporting ASP.NET 2.0“.

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By admin, October 30, 2011 5:39 pm

英國開動印鈔機，美國再度「量化寬鬆」，歐元瀕臨崩潰。中國雖然在賬面上是最大的「債主」，但在一個連美金也日漸泡沫化的時候，美元儲備有多少、持有幾多國債券，當一個國家經濟前景的雞蛋已經通通砸進了歐洲和美國這個籃子裡的時候，又有多大意義？

第二次世界大戰之後，有足足四分一世紀，亞非小國獨立，歷史給了足夠的時間讓人類痛定思痛，走上大國之路。但納粹滅絕、蘇俄發動的冷戰方酣，人類浪費了大好時機，搞到今日田地，要從頭收拾這個廢墟，為時已晚。中國開放市場，西方生產線爭相搬入中國，導致西方銀行金融信貸過剩，連英國的機械工業也已經空洞化之際，一個「債」字，把歐美拖垮。今日的孽債，早埋在什麼時候？比中國開放市場的一九七九年更早。「債」的詛咒不是今天才開始的。在金融海嘯之前，非洲許多窮國每天要償還一億美元給世上最富裕的國家，譬如西非的利比里亞，外債高達三十七億美元，但每年ZF的總支出只是一億二千萬美元，即是香港地產富豪，足可以「殺起」像利比里亞這種國家一百五十年的總支出：醫療、教育、軍隊和警察的薪酬。

債的詛咒，始自第三世界向歐美借貸，正式形成噩夢，在七十年代的石油危機。罪魁禍首是以沙地為首的石油輸出國組織，大舉提升油價。阿拉伯的油王酋長，以這種方式，形同任意為自己印鈔票——幕後有美國的支持，因為美國要用金錢誘使沙地阿拉伯、巴林、科威特等石油國，使之不倒向蘇聯，收買其成為忠實的聯盟。油價一升，沙地阿拉伯的美金收入暴漲，錢多了，存進歐美銀行。西方的銀行一度「水浸」，要急謀借貸出路，第三世界國家便成為最理想的對外借貸對象。因為別的「債仔」，可以「走路」，但第三世界如菲律賓、剛果，有土地資源，是跑不掉的。石油輸出國組織的現金收入，轉了一圈，落到第三世界貧窮國家貪污腐敗的元首的口袋——這些獨裁國家，子承父位，兄終弟及，早年反英抗法的所謂「民族英雄」，一旦「當家作主」，即刻腐化，喊假大空的口號，建水壩、修皇宮般的ZF大樓、起高速公路和大體育館，用民族主義的口號麻醉本國的賤民，歐美銀行的熱錢通通貪進了私人口袋又轉一個圈，化為瑞士銀行的戶口和英美的房地產。

英美領袖略施小計，就變了一場人類有史以來最偉大的五鬼運財戲法。第三世界的部落基因同時發酵，如果他們只熱衷假大空倒還好，壞在他們自相殘殺，貪污的獨裁家族政權，為了鞏固權力，用借來的錢買武器。二十一世紀，第三世界欠下的債務，其中有兩成是用來買軍火的；美國、俄國、中國是三大主顧，他們也樂得眉開眼笑。八十年代扎伊爾總統賽哥，其擺脫殖民地獨立後「吐氣揚眉」的成就，是為他那個黑人國家借下五十億美元，他本人中飽私囊，層層搜刮，名下在比利時擁有十一座古堡，巴黎、突尼斯、瑞士的豪宅無數，尚有幾架私人飛機。這些黑人酋長「先富起來」之後，歐美銀行的貸款以「國債」的名義結具成全國的負擔。但現金買了飛機、遊艇、豪華房車，這一切，卻都又是歐美白人國家的優等物質名牌，繞一個圈，又回到了西方的銀行，不過戶口已經是各大名牌的企業老闆。

歐美國家的政治領袖比起非洲土著，智商很高。還記不記得七十年代末、八十年代初銀行利息高達十五釐的日子？因為列根和戴卓爾治下的財政部長和銀行家，在聯手愚弄他們鄙視的第三世界獨裁者：從此窮國即墮下債務的深淵，其蟻民也墜入十八層地獄。在那幾年，油價還是上升，但原材料價格下降，南美洲要賣幾多噸香蕉給美國才抵得上利息？道理就像今日的中國，賣幾多件血汗T恤，才換回一百億美元外匯，然後又用同一筆外匯買LV、紅酒、波音新客機？「橋唔怕舊」，騙局的理論一樣，惟中國與南美洲的扎伊爾之流的第三世界不同之處，是中國擁有十四億人口，是一個大國。這樣一來，七十年代歐美對第三世界，通過中東油價和未開化的非洲獨裁者為槓桿的吸星大法，雖可同樣施於中國，但中國的廉價勞工市場，卻反過來也把歐美的實業生產力吸走。換言之，七十年代歐美對亞非第三世界的吸搾，如果是強姦，則中國加入了這場淫亂派對。二十年來，與歐美合夥變成了一尊精髓互吸的歡喜佛。

《金瓶梅》在四百多年前，好似早有預見，一個西門慶，一個潘金蓮，講的不就是今日歐美與中國？好笑的是，春梅和李瓶兒，如印度、越南等，還要爭着上西門慶的床呢。國際貨幣基金會必要時就「干預」了，要第三世界重整債務，迫令其「經濟改革」，譬如，多賣點農產品，少些「公共開支」。但第三世界既然獨裁，黑鬼總統夫人又怎捨得少上巴黎少掃幾隻鑽戒呢？貪污如故，造成的只會是削減可憐的賤民的教育和醫療。世界經濟困局，陷入了泥潭，原因就是如此，一點也不複雜。明眼人一看，就知道貧富懸殊，只會加劇，絕對沒得救。世界即將在人性和政治的醜戾自私中覆滅，出生早一點的，如英國殖民地時代的香港人，英國人給了你時間、機會，你可以造好自己的救生艇。晚出生的一代，像什麼九十後，如同今日的蘇丹和埃塞俄比亞同齡的人，就沒有什麼機會了——不錯，香港的九十後，再「赤貧」也有褲子穿，不必皮包骨。但絕望的本質是一樣的。

- 陶傑

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By admin, October 28, 2011 1:19 pm

I just found out “Reality” (by Richard Sanderson), one of my favorite songs of the 80s is actually from a 1980’s French movie “La Boum”, and Guess What? That little girl (14 years old) in the movie is Sophie Marceau later we all know who she is.

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By admin, October 26, 2011 10:35 pm

After playing with Head YOUTEK IG Extreme Pro almost 3 weeks, I’ve decided it’s time for me to get an extra stick for spare in case my 1^st one broke as Head YOUTEK IG Extreme Pro is famous for eating strings.

It came to my attention someone has posted a 99.9% new IG Extreme Pro in a local tennis forum, so I contacted the seller directly and bought it without hesitation at almost 30% off the original price.

One of the most important reasons is because I do need an original Grip 3 IG Extreme Pro.

Originally I was thinking selling the original Grip 2 at the same tennis forum, and there was actually a NO Brain approached me asking for 50% off, then I found out it’s very easy to change the grip to a Grip 3 at a pro-shop, even better, I simply put an over grip on the of the Grip 2 solved the problem with $40.

After receiving the racket, I couldn’t be happier, as I found out it’s almost new, even newer than my 1^st one, absolutely no scratch on the bumper that makes me wonder if the previous owner actually went to court and hit the balls.

Then it’s the perfect Grip 3, I can feel it’s even a bit smaller than my DIY Grip 3.

Anyway, I do hope the pair will last for a long long time, probably another 20 years just like my beloved POG. Well, it may not be a good news for local pro-shop though.

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By admin, October 26, 2011 10:21 pm

I’ve asked Equallogic Support the following question today, it turns out I had wrong understanding about RAID10 before.

Client enviornment is running VMWare using EQL PS6000XV, 16 15K RPM disks (ie, 14 disks + 2 hot-spares)

In RAID10, there are 7 spindles as RAID10 only ultilizes half the disks, so there are only 7 spindles producing the atual IOPS.

In RAID50, all 14 spindles are used.

I/O pattern is mostly random (30% Read, 70% Write)

Does this mean in this case RAID50 is faster than RAID10 in terms of IOPS as there are 14 spindles in RAID50 compares to 7 spindles RAID10?

Reply from Equallogic’s US Support

The thing to remember here is that with RAID10 it will make two writes, one to each disk.

With RAID50, it will need to make the read/write/parity to all of the member disks in the raidset.

With Read/Write sequential IO, the difference would be minimal. With an environment as you described (virtual environment) where there are many small random I/Os, RAID10 will be quicker.

RAID10 will also be quicker if a drive fails whereas the performance with RAID5/50 is poor when the raidset is degraded and a rebuild is going on.

And of course, the space issue when considering RAID10 or RAID50 is a huge consideration

 

Then, I got an even better answer from a Dell storage expert in Hong Kong

Actually spindle in RAID10 is still 14, not 7; 7 is the capacity oriented view. We still consider using all disks during I/O.

But you may notice that above chart didn’t mention for Read performance? And yes, read performance for RAID 10 and RAID 50 or even RAID-5 will almost the same!  The different will mainly focus on write.

RAID 50 is two RAID-5 and stripe, the RAID parity overhead will still exist across the disks; the more disks you have in the RAID group, the more overhead and performance penalty you have!

In RAID 10, every RAID group consists with two disks only, so overhead and performance penalty is minimum.

 

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By admin, October 26, 2011 12:29 am

這次用了整個星期做研究﹐閱覽過無數網站﹐只挑最經典的和最好看的收。集中火力70年和71年這段﹐最後終于在美國和加拿大找齊了我所有的最喜愛款式。

最後發現各款的黑色還真難找﹐想不到老外對黑色的肌肉車特別情有獨鍾﹐另外郵費貴得完全不想提了。

大功告成﹗YEAH﹗

1/18 Highway61 (H50656) Dodge Challenger R/T  Black 440 with Magnum 500 Wheels 1970

1/18 Highway61 (H50654) Dodge Challenger R/T 426 Hemi Black 1970 (Limited 600)

1/18 Highway61 (H50601) Dodge Challenger R/T SubLime Green 440 1970

1/18 Highway61 (H50691) Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi Orange 440 1971 (Limited 504)

1/18 Highway61 (H50784) Dodge Challenger T/A M3 Panther Pink 340 1970 (Limited 500)

1/18 GMP (GMP1803120) Plymouth SR70 GTX Black Bird Street Fighter 1970 (Limited 500)

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By admin, October 25, 2011 1:28 pm

No more worries using the pre-released or pre-production versions. As usual, it’s recommended to wait for at least another month before upgrade to the latest firmware.

I am going to try the latest SANHQ and HIT/VMware this week for sure.

Equallogic PS Series Firmware, version V5.1.2
Enhanced Load Balancing, VSSA and Thin Provision Stun

SANHQ 2.2
Live View and 95th Percentile Reporting, as well as RAID Evaluator (ie, R10 > R50 performance prediction)

HIT/VMware 3.1.1
Support for VMware Version 5, VMFS 5, Thin Provision Stun, VASA, Datastore Clusters and Storage DRS

Finally, I also noticed the release of a newer version of EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module (MEM) V1.0.1

Update: Oct 27, 2011

I’ve upgraded the SANHQ to version 2.2 and immediately tried two of the most interesting features,

1. Live View

It does provide very useful detail ONLY when you need it, such as when you suddently found IOPS is abnormal and wanted to find out which volume is causing the problem. However to be honest, I would rather use VMTurbo’s Usage for VM table, it’s much easier and easy to find the bad VMs.

2. RAID Evaluator

I found this is the most useful one in my own environment as I may expand my Equallogic SAN capacity by changing from RAID10 to RAID50, so I definitely need to know the estimated  performance decrease if I do so, it shows me 41%, wow, that’s huge!

I recevied a false alarm email with subject “SAN HQ Notification Alert” immediately after the SANHQ upgrade completed

Caution conditions:

10/27/2011 9:02:44 PM to 10/27/2011 9:08:08 PM

Caution: Controller failed over in member eql (IT DID SCARE THE HELL OUT OF ME)

Caution: Firmware upgrade on member eql Secondary controller.
 - Controller Secondary in member eql was upgraded from firmware version to version V5.0.2 (R138185)
 - Condition already generated an e-mail message. If the condition persists, additional messages will be sent approximately every 6 hours.

Caution: Firmware upgrade on member eql Primary controller.
- Controller Primary in member eql was upgraded from firmware version to version V5.0.2 (R138185)