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Blog Restarted, Finally

It has been five years since my last post , claiming to restart my blog. But due to various reasons, the restart never actually took off. Many things kept me busy in the last five years, I - Received a Ph.D. degree of Computer Science and Engineering from University of New South Wales. Married my lovely wife. Published a book on " Cloud Data Management " with colleagues. Joined Yuruware , and built Boomerang product that leads to acquirsation. Left previous company due to U.S. head office refocus and Sydney R&D close down. A few days ago, I received my new offer from a Bank for a role in a Big Data project. The new journey is about to begin. And I can't wait to share my new learnings and experiences on my new blog platform etc.v2 //Eat, Think, Code. - Yep! A new blog build with Static Site Generator Jekyll in GitHub . So what happen to all posts here? Well, they are at least 5 years old. There is not much point to migrate them over to the new blog just...

Restart blogging

It has been years since my last article posted in this blog . Two years exactly! In the last two years, I has been drifted among several SNS websites, including  Facebook , Renren (a Chinese Facebook-like website), Twitter , and Weibo (a Chinese Twitter-like website). However, none of them kept me for a long period. It always starts with an exciting experience, but unfortunately ends with frustration and boringness. Because they are nothing but 140 characters, photo sharing, like, and comments. Nevertheless, the fast-pace style experience drains my patience of writing long articles, leaving no time for blogging in the last two years. I now come back as my Google+ has brought my Blogger into integration. Google+ is more than a SNS website to me. It is also a portal of all Google services in the future. A decent integration is all I expected to combine my Google services together. In fact, another reason for not bloggi...

斯蒂芬斯港之行

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回国一趟,不开心的感觉就一直徘徊不去。即使是以往总是能让我静下心来的南天寺,这次也没有太大的帮助。本以为自己是个理性的人,一直追求“不以物喜,不已己悲”的境界。最后才意识到,理性只是对外界的事情,没有人会对自己的事特别是感情的事理性,甚至理智的。所以,不以物喜,容易;不已己悲,难! 生活实在很悲摧!实验,论文,报告,事情一件接着一件,睡眠越来越少。本打算周五晚上美美地睡一觉,周六出去郊游。结果因为改论文,也只得睡上个一小时就上路。虽然睡眠不足,虽然顶着熊猫眼,虽然在不开车的时候不停地在车里补睡眠,虽然接下去的周日差不多睡了一天,但周六玩得实在是尽心极了。 这次郊游共有Jessie、YY等八人。目标是 250 多公里远的斯蒂芬斯港。于是八人两车,来回 500 多公里的行程,从凌晨 7 点出发,到子夜 12 点赶回。全程足迹涉及纳尔逊湾的灯塔,芬戈尔湾隔海小岛,安娜湾和费舍曼斯湾的骆驼和沙漠,最后我们还绕道塔格湖,摄下美丽的星空和漂亮的黄昏。 安娜湾边骑骆驼 菲舍曼斯湾边的沙漠 塔格湖的黄昏 塔格湖上的观星者

亚拉湾边一棵树

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深更半夜开车到亚拉湾边,拍了这棵树。 谷歌地图坐标  http://goo.gl/LZayi 。 亚拉湾边一棵树

About.Me

从 Live Space 迁移到 WordPress 后的第一贴。 某次路经 About.Me,觉得它家的域名很酷,就在上面预定了一个带自己名字的地址。终于今天收到地址开通的通知。赶忙去更新修饰了一番——不知为什么,就是很看好 About.Me 这个网站——打算将它作为个人信息的聚合站点。 一直在找好的个人信息聚合站点——可以把所有我注册过的 Web 2.0 站点都统一显示出来。试过好多这类网站,也曾用过一阵子 Google Profile ,但都不乘手。希望 About.Me 能够如我所望,迅速发展壮大。

真正的悲剧

Twitter 上盛传 伍皓人大演讲遭网友扔一身五毛纸币 。 刚开始并不解伍皓是谁?后来在 Google 和 Twitter 搜索并关注了好一阵子。才以自己的理解,大致弄清楚了来龙去脉。 伍皓其本身已算是体制中的另类,对他投扔五毛纸币?这大概就是自由者的能耐和胆量。 Twitter 上细致的分析不多,揶揄讥讽的转推倒有一大片。事件的轰动性让人失去了正常思考的理性。 欺软怕硬,人云亦云,一棒打死这才是真正的悲剧。

翻墙

有些人要翻墙出来,而我的博客却又不得不翻墙进去。毕竟,国内的父母和朋友们那天心情好,说不定就会溜达上来逛逛。如果不能访问,会让我感觉很糟糕。 写一会儿 Paper,再设置一会儿反向代理服务器。到现在为止,博客的文字内容已经能够被访问了。博客上的图片的访问,还没有彻底解决——昨天,图片的反向代理服务器工作正常,但用于替换图片地址的脚本代码却没完成。到了今天,脚本代码可用,而代理服务器却挂了,一直配不回来。 一道墙,把中文字分成了国内的和国外的。现在文字有了,图片也迟早会有的。

又一个真正做软件的人走了

北京江民新科技术有限公司董事长王江民先生因心脏病突发逝世,享年59岁。 从 90 年代就开始玩电脑的人,或许不知道王江民先生,但是对于他所设计的 KV 系列杀毒软件,特别是 KV300,必定有所耳闻。KV300 是当时杀毒界引领潮流的产品。杀毒速度快,查杀准,绝对的装机必备。特别在那个互联网络和光盘尚不发达的时代,KV 系列创造性地通过报纸发布反病毒公告,允许用户手动添加新的病毒特征码字串,以更新病毒库。正因有如此多的功能,虽然价格昂贵,当时的我也是想方设法,弄了一套正版的 KV300。闲来无事,手动添加病毒特征代码,丰富病毒库,也成了当时的一种休闲乐趣。 再抬头看看现在的杀毒软件业,公司之间不停地攻击诋毁,产品满是概念炒作却缺乏创新。真正做软件的越来越少,也难怪现在的杀毒界被戏称为“娱乐界”了。 IT 或许真的是“挨踢”业界吧?相对于现在的全国人均寿命,再也没有比“英年早逝”更适合的词语了——用来形容那些逝去的但又曾撑起中国软件业的 IT 精英们。身体亚健康似乎是这个行当一直挥之不去的阴霾。看来自己也要注意锻炼。 突然想起,家里还收藏有一份王江民先生亲笔签名的 KV300 软件。现在,这份还未拆封的软件也将成为一个绝唱——不知是否会增值?呵呵。

手捧 PDF

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这一刻,我内牛满面。 终于可以手“捧”着 PDF 文件,读我最爱的《银河英雄传说》了。 手捧 PDF

YouTube 挂了

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登陆 YouTube ,结果发现 YouTube 居然挂了——并不是被墙,是真的挂了。整个页面空白,只返回一串信息,“Http/1.1 Service Unavailable”。 目前尚无任何组织和个人对此表示负责! Youtube is down

高墙低瓦

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仿明代风格的砖瓦高墙下, 横卧着木结构和玻璃房相结合的星巴克咖啡。 虽然对国内星巴克的那种面向小资的市场定位不待见, 但不得不承认, 在这个建筑环境下, 东方文化和西方文化, 古代建筑和现代设计, 看起来是如此地统一。 木结构和玻璃房相结合的星巴克咖啡

法律与自由

网络世界的三个案例——相当有趣的三个案例: - 开源软件代码托管网站 SourceForge 按照美国的出口管理规定,屏蔽了伊朗、朝鲜、叙利亚、苏丹和古巴五个国家的 IP 地址。这些国家的用户将无法访问 SourceForge。 - Google 高调宣布考虑退出中国市场,不愿意再按照中国的法律法规和政策,过滤搜索结果。 - 伊朗总统大选期间, Twitter 将原本已经计划的网站维护工作延后至伊朗当地时间的凌晨时分进行,以便网站在伊朗白天能继续正常运作,支持“伊朗绿色革命”。 开源软件促进会(Open Source Initiative)对开源软件有着 十条严格的定义 。其中两条为“不得对任何人或团体有差别待遇”和“对程序在任何领域内的利用不得有差别待遇”。 SourceForge 之做法实在有背“开源软件”之初衷。“开源软件”的流动不再自由。 虽然 SourceForge 上托管的程序代码来自全球各地,但因为其主机在美国,所以 SourceForge 声称它必须遵守所在国的法律法规。另一边,同是美国公司的 Google,支持言论自由,拒绝作恶,声称它在中国的子公司“谷歌”将可能不再按照中国的法律法规和政策,过滤搜索结果。 SourceForge 是禁止出口的。而 Twitter 却是要强制出口的。所以就算是计划的网站维护也可以为了“绿色革命”而延期。补充一个消息, Twitter 的老总说了,他们正在研发新技术,帮助用户绕过伊朗和中国等国家的网络审查。 有时候他们选择法律,有时候他们选择自由。个个正义凛然。网络发展到现在,很多问题已经不再是单纯的科技问题了。“网络冷战”的铁幕可能已经拉开了吧?

Google 退了?

Filtering our search results clearly compromises our mission. Failing to offer Google search at all to a fifth of the world's population, however, does so far more severely. 当年的豪言壮语犹 在耳边。如今却是 抽身离去,人走茶凉 。 看的懂 Google 的声明,却看不懂这背后的逻辑。起因是因为来自中国的——据说还是通过台湾的一台服务器中转的——攻击。攻击的目标是 Google 的邮箱服务 Gmail,攻击的目的是为了获取部分人权人士的邮件内容。全篇声明出自首席法务官之手,文中虽未出现政府字样,但明眼人也知文中之所指。针对这样的攻击, Google 提出了它的解决方案——退出中国市场? 这是什么样的逻辑!首先, Google 在进入中国市场时,根本就未将 Gmail 等服务带入中国, Gmail 被攻击与谷歌中国又有何干?关闭谷歌中国听来更像是报复,而非解决问题。其次,就算 Google 退出了中国市场,如果有心人真想针对 Gmail 发动攻击,这样的攻击真能随着 Google 退出中国市场而终止吗?如果还有攻击是不是连 Google.com 都关了?抑或建个墙,把所有中国的访问都堵在外面?最后,如史蒂夫·鲍尔默所说,针对网络攻击天天都会出现,没什么不正常的。就事论事,如果事情起因真是攻击, Google 就该考虑提高自己服务的安全性,这似乎才是个正确的逻辑。 反观国内,哀鸿遍野,仿佛世界末日一般。去谷歌中国献花的有之,撰文缅怀的有之。刹那间,似乎争论了数年的那个“谷歌 =? Google”的问题迎刃而解了——虽然以前的舆论都是拒绝承认那个自我审查的谷歌。通篇官方声明, Google 说的都是关闭谷歌中国业务,又不是要禁止中国用户登录 Google.com 或 Gmail。该怎么上还是怎么上吧,只要它们不被刻意墙掉。 每个人都在祭奠。每篇祭文言必提那句 Google 的非官方格言“Don't be evil”。祭文看多了,我都觉得自己要仰视 Google 了。毋须置疑,和国内的大部分互联网络企业相比, Google 绝对是君子般的道德楷模。但 Google 是...

关于 Avatar

2010 年 1 月 1 日,新年的第一天,某时,在向第 N 个朋友介绍 Avatar 这部电影的时候,突然蹦出了这句话“其实 Avatar 讲述的就是钉子户们和动迁小组之间的战争故事”。那个瞬间,我被我自己的跳跃性思维给囧到了。书读百遍,其意自现——电影也同理呢。 上网马上去看豆瓣的影评,果然也有人和我持同样的观点“ 《阿凡达》:一次伟大的反拆迁斗争 ”。心有戚戚焉。据说这片子 1 月份在国内上映。这样的主题,居然和谐地公映了……

历史上的中国是很牛的

Update V1 (on Dec. 25th) ,这篇的标题很吸引眼球,但是内容还是散了点,过于蜻蜓点水了。好在從周有将那天我们 讨论的内容做总结和详注 。 看了LZ的博客,觉得上次两人聊天的内容确实很有意思,我也来发表一下自己的看法。 历史上的中国,跟今天的美国有类似之处。美国天天都在喊“自由民主”、“市场经济”,对于和自己价值取向不一样的国家,动则扣上“独裁专制”、“邪恶轴心”、“无赖国家”等帽子,要他国开放市场、实行政改、提高汇率、军费透明,或者就是经济制裁、武器核查、军事打击......总之,美国的国际行为是一点都不民主,而且很霸道的。 中国在历史上,也很有意思。华夏民族高举着周公、孔子的大旗,用儒家的意识形态去衡量天下各国(当时的世界观范围内)。如果不信奉儒学,就会被称为“夷”、“蛮”、“戎”、“狄”,反正就是没有开化的野蛮人。 儒家文化一般表现为两个方面,用凝练的话说就是“内圣外王”,既重视内修,又强调实践。魏晋之际,黄老玄学与儒学逐融,士人知识分子崇尚清谈;唐代佛学(特别是禅学)盛极一时;宋明时期理学和心学的发展,“儒释道”相互作用——儒家“内圣”的一面在历史发展过程中被不断地加强。纵观儒学文化2500多年的历史,秦汉以后,其实“内圣”是重于“外王”的。 因此,出现了一个十分有趣的现象。首先,汉族经常被外族打败,乃至被驱赶、被占领、被统治。若留心一下中国古代史,这一现象其实占据了大部分时期。秦汉两朝是典型的军事帝国,除了汉初因需修养生息,对匈作战失利之外,基本上保持了对外强势的地位。秦尊“法”,汉则是重视儒家“外王”(如董仲舒的“天人感应”)的典型。但西晋以后,由于儒者渐行偏重“内圣”,玄礼双修,一直到晚明,汉人社会多数重文轻武。肇始于“永嘉之乱”,十六国、南北朝、唐末至五代、宋辽金夏、元代、明末至清代,总的形势就是,汉人政权在和异族的斗争中,屡战屡败。甚至于典型的汉人王朝——唐、明——两代,唐朝皇室都有胡人血统,明初虽将蒙古族政权赶出了中原,但事实上明与蒙古之间继续相争了两百多年,(从全中国的范围来看)两者基本上存亡相始终。以此来看,事实上,__汉人在中国悠久的历史当中,占有绝对优势地位的时间其实非常短暂__。 但是,从另一面看,汉族虽然武斗失败了,甚至被外族统治,但其文化自豪度十分高。就像上面所说,外族只有接受儒家文化,作为...

Windows services inside Windows Azure Platform

After running the following command line in Windows Azure, net start Following running services are returned. These Windows services are started: Base Filtering Engine Certificate Propagation Cloud Drive CNG Key Isolation COM+ Event System Cryptographic Services DCOM Server Process Launcher DHCP Client Diagnostic Policy Service Distributed Link Tracking Client Distributed Transaction Coordinator DNS Client File Server Resource Manager Group Policy Client Hyper-V Guest Shutdown Service Hyper-V Time Synchronization Service IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules IP Helper IPsec Policy Agent KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator Network List Service Network Location Awareness Network Store Interface Service OS Diagnostic Service Plug and Play RdAgent Remote Access Connection Manager Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Remote Registry Secondary Logon Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service Security Accounts Manager Server Software Licensing System Event Notification Service TCP/IP NetBIOS ...

The Windows version number in Windows Azure Platform

I finished a prototype of performance monitoring system yesterday. One of its functions is to query the version number of running systems. So then it returns: Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002] According to the version number given, the possible Windows system in Windows Azure Platform should be either Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Obviously, as a server operating system, it is unlikely to be Windows Vista. Therefore, it is for sure that an Azure Instance runs Windows Server 2008 in it. It is interesting that the newest server version, Windows Server 2008 R2, does not sit inside Windows Azure Platform. Is the Azure Team also waiting for the Service Pack 1 of Windows Server 2008 R2? To make sure that the new system is safe enough?

Provisioning on existing cloud platforms

Forward: I participated in a book chapter writing in last month. The book chapter is about cloud provisioning. And the following are some paragraphs prepared for that chapter. Prominent cloud platforms, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), open source platform Eucalyptus, Microsoft Windows Azure, Google App Engine and GoGrid Cloud Hosting offer a variety of services to their users for monitoring, managing and provisioning resources. Amazon EC2 offers three services namely Elastic Load Balancer , Auto Scaling and CloudWatch . Eucalyptus uses a hierarchical controller structure. Windows Azure implements a service called Azure Fabric Controller . GoGrid Cloud Hosting provides a service named F5 Load Balancer . Google App Engine supports scalable technology that all Google applications are based on. All five cloud platforms are able to do load balancing, provisioning and auto scaling to some extent. But the way of achieving the provisioning goals varies. Some platforms can be ...

Running samples of Geneva Beta 2 in Windows 7

As the official website advised, Microsoft code name "Geneva" is an open platform that provides simplified user access and single sign-on for on-premises and cloud-based applications in the enterprise, across organizations, and on the Web. Currently the newest version is Beta 2, released on Aug. 18, 2009, about two months later than the release of Windows 7. So when my colleague, Yang, tried to make its samples run in Windows 7 Professional. Some strange errors popped up. We worked together for a long time to modify setup scripts and authority issues, getting it work eventually. I categorized errors that we came across, and corresponding solutions we made as following. 1. Error in “Run SamplesPreReqSetup.bat” The script cannot find httpcfg.exe tool in the current running environment. You can install this by going to the following link "http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=100322" Please ensure that httpcfg.exe is installed in your PATH or the directory this sc...

Migrating Google Page Creator to Google App Engine

Forward: this is an article that I was originally posted in Chinese on April 19th, 2009 before closure of Google Page Creator. Although Google Page Creator has already been deprecated nowadays, the idea of using Google App Engine as a free web server to host static files is somehow still applicable to Blogger users. Therefore, I translated the post into English to share my experience of migrating Google Page Creator to Google App Engine, as well as mapping multi-directory structure into single directory structure to achieve backward compatibility with Google Page Creator by configuring app.yaml. Google has announced to shut down Google Page Creator in June this year. The disappearance of the free web hosting service brings us an inevitable painful of finding alternatives. As announced, the official solution is Google Page Creator migration to Google Sites . But for those Blogger users who want to host their JavaScript and CSS files for free, Google Sites might not be an appropriate ...