Mourning

May 19th, 2008 at 12:23 · Filed Under Blogging, China, Humanity · Comment 

At 14:28 CST today, one week after the Sichuan/Wenchuan Earthquake, China will mourn for three days. The Chinese National Flag and Regional Flags of Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR will be raised at half mast. The Chinese public observe a period of silence to express mourning; vehicles, vessels, trains and air-defense alarms will sound followed by 3 minutes of silence.

Let us mourn and pray for those who lost their lives in the earthquake.

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The aftermath

May 19th, 2008 at 11:57 · Filed Under Blogging, China, Humanity · Comment 

It has been a week after Sichuan, center China, was hit by the worst earthquake in 30 years with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. Over ten of thousands lost their lives in this quake. The golden 72-hour has passed.

There are many articles and blogs about the suffering of the Chinese people and that’s enough and I am not going to write another one. I was going to write but my heart was so heavy and sorrow after reading articles and blogs on the Internet. I am deeply touched by the heroes who went for rescue. I am deeply touched by pictures and reports of the dead and survivors. I am deeply touched by the Premier of China, Mr. Wen Jiabao. His orders and words echoed so powerfully in my heart that China has risen to be a powerful giant nation.

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Virtualization – Installing Ubuntu Linux with VMware on MacBook

May 14th, 2008 at 13:40 · Filed Under Call Me a Geek, Computing, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris · 3 Comments 

I have successfully installed 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) Linux on my Mac Book. Out of my expectation, the installation was rather quick and easy compared to installing Solaris 10. I had tried installing Solaris 10 on my Mac Book. Solaris installation was successful but I couldn’t boot into it. I wondered why.

My Mac Book sports an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz with 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive. I am too skeptical to have 2 physical partitions on my hard drive. Thanks to VMWare Fusion, I can create virtual partition with it. After I have installed VMware Fusion 1.1.1, I created a Ubuntu-64-bit virtual partition and installed Ubuntu from the ISO disk image. With VMware Fusion, I can install directly from the disk image without having to burn a CD or DVD.

Since my Mac Book is codenamed Uranus, I called my Ubuntu on Mac Book, Uranus-Zeta. The idea is from the ζ-ring of Uranus

Like Linux, Mac OS X is a UNIX like operating system. Why do I need Linux? Well, there are a number of reasons. One being you can and another to learn new things. But these are not the reasons to motivate me. Being a software developer developing cross-platform software, I do tests on multiple platforms. Having Linux to run on my MacBook means I can develop and test my software on both Mac OS X and Linux environment without switching to my Linux/Solaris boxes. Another important reason is that I see the needs to support my clients on Linux arise and soon Solaris. Having the ability to run three different operating systems on one machine can be productive and versatile for me.

The other obvious reason is that I have a Core 2 Duo. Meaning I am having two 64-bit CPUs in one processor. It will be a waste of resources if I don’t utilize the computing power I already have. Assigning each CPU to run different operating systems and tasks is called virtualization.

With VMware Fusion, I can run Linux and Solaris side-by-side with Mac OS X without the need to boot into anyone of them at one time. This is a great feature when supporting clients in Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris.

Here are some screen shots (click to enlarge) of Uranus-Zeta:

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Mind your own business!

May 14th, 2008 at 11:40 · Filed Under Critiques, Politics · 2 Comments 

After Myanmar was hit by typhoon, China was hit by the worst earthquake in 30 years on May 12. Many people died in these disasters. International societies are offering aids to Myanmar and China. This is moved by compassion and humanity. When our friends or neighbors are in need of assistance, we help.

So, Malaysia government offers aids to Myanmar and China. Good course. But don’t ask the people to donate. Where is all the money the tax payers paid? What is all the money the country has earned from exporting oil and other commodities?

The Malaysia government can’t even take care of the scarcity of rice in the country. It can’t even feed its own people now, and yet it offers help and urge the “Rakyat” (the people) to donate! Shame on you and mind your own business!

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Sugar from Brazil

May 13th, 2008 at 10:43 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, General, Marketing · Comment 

Brazil is the world largest producer and exporter of sugar, particularly ICUMSA 45. Sugar from Brazil is highly sought after by buyers around the world. ICUMSA 45, the highly refined sparkling white sugar which is used in manufacturing food stuffs, is even sold off before it is produced. At one time, Brazilian sugar production has sent the world sugar price to plummet to five cents a pound.

More than half of the sugar produced in Brazil is supplied to domestic foodstuffs manufacturers, for domestic consumption and ethanol production. Brazil has increased her annual sugar production because export has outweighed domestic consumption.

High Sea Sugar supplies sugar and molasses directly from the mills.

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Queue up please!

May 12th, 2008 at 19:44 · Filed Under Critiques, Education, Politics, Social · Comment 

When grandma, Dmitry and I were at the immigration department to renew our passport, I noticed a group of students from Kolej Yayasan Saad at the department to apply for their passports too. One infuriating scenario was that these students were treated like VIPs and they did not have to queue up. They were escorted by immigration officers into the counter to apply their passport. Ordinary people were waiting for their numbers to be called outside the counter.

Why did they have such privilege? Isn’t supposed to teach these school children to queue up and to play fair in the society? I guessed these students really enjoyed being a VIP and roamed in the corridor of power! What a bunch spoilt brats!

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Looking for a web hosting provider?

May 3rd, 2008 at 11:05 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Marketing, Web · Comment 

Alright, you need to find a web hosting company which provides web hosting services at a price ranging from $4 to $8. And you want a detailed review of their web hosting service to ensure reliable service. Look no further, visit webhostingchoice.com for a list of web hosting providers. It is easy, quick and hassle free.

At webhostingchoice.com, you have a comparison chart of pricing, fees, disk space, transfer and rating to help you choose a web host of your choice. Click on every links to checkout the web hosts’ websites to learn more about their products and services before you jump in.

This site also includes a learning center to help you through the web hosting jargon words, hosting scams, marketing gimmicks used by web hosting providers to lure and lock in customers. The site provides comprehensive advice and FAQs to guide you selecting a web host and to avoid pitfalls and tricks.

A list of useful links and resources is also included for your convenience. You may want to sign up their newsletter for monthly updates of hosting tips, offers, coupons, interviews and etc. to keep you abreast of the web hosting business and to enjoy discounts from coupons.

Take a look before you jump!

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I want to break free (and I have)

May 2nd, 2008 at 23:04 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Funny, Music, Philosophy · 3 Comments 

For many years I lived with a dream to build my own dream place and finally I had. The achievement was satisfying until the reality struck and I was forced to let go all I had built and owned. So, today, I broke everything into pieces. It took hard work and courage to built, but it was harder and took greater courage to break. What a short-lived dream but gratifying. I wanted to break free and I finally had my wish came through today. I am a free man, alas.

Life still goes on…

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云也退

May 1st, 2008 at 4:18 · Filed Under Blogging, Chinese, Poem · 1 Comment 

这么多年的感叹，岂能一言道尽。所以一时心血来潮，在夜深人静的这一刻，写了一首诗：

风散云也退、
雨烟隐山丠、
大江急奔腾、
旭日湖中沉。

2008年5月1日贺文耀著。

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