Finally, after weeks of researching and fine-tuning hardware specifications to meet our needs, today I confirmed about HKD96,000 worth of purchases for our company, BBDO Hong Kong. From DELL I ordered an LTO-2 tape autoloader external backup drive (PowerVault 122T LTO-2, 200/400GB capacity per tape) and 3 Optiplex GX280 desktop PCs (P4 3.0GHz/512M/80G/Combo) with 17" UltraSharp LCD displays. Got the new Optiplex case which is more boxy and looks cooler — their "Next-Generation Desktop (DT) Chassis" as shown below. These just came out! Even on DELL's US site, they still have pictures of the old case. Also ordered a Fortinet FortiGate 200A firewall bundled with the 2nd-year hardware/firmware maintenance. Next week I'll be ordering 2 DELL PowerEdge 2800 servers, 1 for file serving and the other as an application server running SQL Server. These will replace existing servers that are aged. Am waiting to meet face to face with one of DELL's tech support engineers on Monday to discuss storage options before firming up the server orders. Am anxious to start playing with all this cool gear but it'll be a lot of work — some of it on the weekends, unfortunately.
Day before yesterday I came back home to find the lights on my D-Link DWL-2000AP Xtreme G Wireless Access Point completely out. Power connection on both ends was fine so I felt the AC adapter and it was cool, not warm as it normally is, and then I put my nose up close to the adapter and sure enough, I smelt the familiar burnt odor of a failed power supply. So last night I picked up a new AC switchable adapter that supported the 5V, 2.5A rating that the D-Link uses. Lights turned on and started blinking. But I soon found out that the unit itself had problems that were hardware-related. Tried resetting and reconfiguring it and initially, I got some of the web-based config pages to show up (although strangely, some graphic elements were missing, which hinted at more serious problems) and I even changed a few settings (admin password and SSID) but later I was totally unable to connect to it, even after multiple resets. The LAN light just continually flashed on and off.
So tonight I picked up a Belkin High-Speed Mode Wireless G Router (model F5D7231-4) from the helpful and knowledgeable folks, Sam Shum and Eric Chu, at IntelliTech System in the Wanchai Computer Mall (Southorn Centre, just above the Wanchai MTR station). These guys sell all the major wireless broadband brands, including Linksys, D-Link, ZyXEL, 3Com, and Buffalo but have always recommended Belkin for its stability and high-quality drivers. And based on their recommendation, I recommended Belkin to 4 of my friends and colleagues — Greg Li, Patrick Wei, Raymond Leung, and Andy Man — who ended up buying their product and were happy with it. So finally, I myself got a Belkin and just got it set it up and can say that I am totally impressed with their product. Everything from the packaging, printed manual, exterior casing, and through to their web-based configurator is top notch. I can see evidence everywhere of the fine details they took care of (e.g. sticker that seals the bubble packaging that holds the unit and says "STOP: Run the Installation CD-ROM FIRST"). The instructions, explanations, diagrams, and definitions in the manual (and in the web-based configurator) are easy to understand and follow (lots of screen captures and diagrams help!) — definitly one of the best I have ever come across. I also like the "Designed in California" note (just like Apple products!), tastefully printed in small type under the unit. Lifetime warranty (competitors only offer 1-year warranty)! Mac OS 9 and OS X support! Access Point and Wireless Bridge modes! Dynamic DNS, Parental Control Web Content Filter, and STOPzilla pop-up blocking support! And last but not least, a high-quality Delta AC adaptor!
If you're in the market for a new wireless broadband router, I strongly recommend Belkin over all the rest. And I have had my fair share of experience with broadband routers and wireless devices (access points and wireless network cards and antennas). Before the D-Link I used an Apple AirPort Base Station (1st generation) along with a Linksys broadband router (wired only). Worked with the old WaveLAN and Lucent (now Agere) gear too. I currently have the Belkin in Access Point mode hooked up to my stable and reliable ZyXEL Prestige 314 broadband router (wired only). I have a somewhat fancy setup here at home with basically 3 web servers (2 IP cameras and this PowerBook G4/500MHz running Mac OS X Server 10.3.8 which has served you this very page!) that use different TCP ports (to get around my ISP, PCCW Netvigator, blocking incoming port 80).
Christopher Keyes' "Letter to the Editor" published in the South China Morning Post on Feb 15, 2005 had an excellent argument for the planned ban on smoking in all restaurants in Hong Kong. I couldn't agree more with him.
Beware smoker's logic
Tuesday, February 15, 2005To read letters criticising the plan to ban smoking in public places is to be overwhelmed by "smoker's logic". They all seem to argue, as in "After smoking, alcohol" (February 12), that the legislation is "less about smoking than a drive by professional campaigners to dictate all kinds of behaviour" and that the next steps are bans on alcohol, coffee and chocolate.
They seem oblivious to the distinction that someone indulging in these less-than-healthy products does not endanger the health, or affect at all, a person enjoying a meal at the next table. The government is not proposing to ban smoking but to ban irresponsible smoking. We have enacted traffic laws not to prevent people from driving but to prevent them from driving irresponsibly.
Let's face it, smoking is a disgusting habit that, done uncaringly, endangers others' health and ruins their enjoyment of a meal or drink. I know many smokers who are sensitive to this, which usually means stepping outside for a few moments. They are not the problem; it is the irresponsible smokers who are. It is time they realised that the legislation is less about them than their effect on others.
To help smokers bridge the gap between their behaviour and its effects, perhaps they could consider a situation where someone sets a boom box on a restaurant table and blares out music at levels that most find offensive and pose a threat to the hearing. If this were a common occurrence, would the government be out of line enacting legislation requiring them to use earphones?
CHRISTOPHER KEYES, Lantau
On this Mac OS X Server-based PowerBook G4/500MHz server, I installed Webmin a few days ago following these instructions. Tonight I got phpMyAdmin installed and then converted the database this blog uses from Berkeley DB to MySQL following these instructions. Thank God everything went smoothly! I am amazed at how well these Open Source applications work and am thrilled to be learning much more about getting programs installed Unix style. I have a lot more I want to share about my experiences with, for instance, getting DBI and DBD::mysql Perl modules installed but at the moment, I just have my notes on each step of the process in email messages that I have sent to myself. I will write up and post some of what I have learned here soon. I also majorly need to update our photo gallery — 8 months out of date! Time now to hit the sack though!