I’m still struggling whether should I take the advantage of the computer bundle from Microsoft and AMD. The deal is part of the Tech Road Show package, with sell 64-bit AMD CPU, Asus mother board and 64-bit XP for US$250. The hardware alone already costs $500. The catch is that you have to attend the show in person to pick up the package. My linux box is running on an old P3 733MHz and it’s about time to upgrade. So on top of the MS/AMD bundle deal, I only need to shell out another $200-$300 for a case, RAM and harddrive. The whole new computer would cost less than $600. My only concern is that I don’t have much time to setup the new server.
Today I come across an interesting on-line radio station. It has been operated for quite some time, and apparently ignored by the main-steam media in Hong Kong. I get to know about it because a forum I often visit is introduced by one of their programs, with a link provided to download the recording. The name of the radio station is very grass-rooted, even a bit misleading. It is not a communism party mouth piece, rather it is organized by a group of enthusiastic independent minded in Hong Kong after the last year’s shutting up of famous talk-show hosts incident. The programs has a lot of variety, but mainly focus on different kind of talk shows. Among the hosts of the programs, there are some well known names like council members or writers on newspapers, usually the name you can associate with those who represent the less fortunate to fight against the unjust authorities. So far I had only sampled a few programs, the quality varies. I would probably give follow it a while and if time permits, I may could become a loyal listener of some programs. The radio station is a non-profit organization and its operation expense rely solely on private donation. There is no commercials in the programs and refuse to accept money from business or political groups. If I like the program, I’d probably donate a small amount via paypal to show my support.
The only big news for all the geeks around the world happened today is that Apple annouced it will ditch IBM/Freescale and switch to Intel processors in the future. That could means the Macintosh strike back after it lost the OS war to Microsoft. Every analyst said there will be a hugh risk for Apple to migrate its the software which is the major differentiating factor between a Mac and a Windows machine. Those guys defined lacks technical insight of how OSX works. OSX is just an UI layer sitting on top of the a FreeBSD kernel. It is not that complicate to port OSX to x86 machines, probably it only have recompiling all the libraries. I can already sense that Steve Jobs is trying to get even on Bill Gates. Here is my prediction, somehow the OSX for x86 will be hacked to work with non-Mac Intel machines. There will be a version someone leaked into all major peer-to-peer download sites. Once OSX for x86 had gathered enough momentum in the underground world, Apple will launch it as an alternative to replace Windows. The battle of OS is getting interesting once again. Windows, OSX or Linux, who can domain the desktop market?
Today finally Charlie conquered my home. I was sick last night and slept for 16 hours straight skipping dinner. This morning Pat prepared some chicken rice soup for me and came to visit me with Charlie. It was Charlie’s first time taking an elevator, it was so scared that it refused to get inside. I have to kick its butt to get it moving. Charlie went into my place and sniff around. We put Charlie in the balcony while we were having brunch. After lunch we walked Charlie at the park next to the golf course near my place. Charlie was so happy that it can visit so many new places. Lucky that I wake up early this morning, or Pat was planned to have Charlie to use its licking attack to wake me up.
Today is the 2nd faith formation session of the WYD team. In order to prepare for the long walk in Koln, we went to do hiking in Lynn Headwater Park. The first half of the hike is pretty nice, just flat gravel trail along the river. The second half is a bit tough, we have to go up and down on the hill side and even hike up to the peak viewing points. I volunteered myself prepared lunch for the group, so I made everyone a sandwiches last night. Pat complains about QC problems on her lunch, but at least no one is sicked. At one of the look out area up in the hills, we have a good view of Vancouver. Between us and the city, there is a huge forest area. I wonder, how did Vancouver look before all the trees are cut down, the land are turned into roads and buildings. Everyone enjoy the hike with praise and worship, station of the cross and faith sharing, except me. I’m fine with the church stuff, and I’m also fine with the long walk. What really bothers me is my running nose during the whole trail. Partly it is because I caught a cold last night, and partly it is due to hey fever from the trees and grass. I also have sour knees haven’t recovered from last week’s fun run. The hike is not really fun for me. On my way home, my eye libs feel so heavy. I guess after I finish writing my blog, it’s time for me to take a nap. I had a feeling that I will sleep all the way until tomorrow.