My Home Fiber Network - After Revamping

Date:  June 1, 2011

Ever since I bought the Cisco Linksys SLM2008, and link it after the ONT, I am very satisfy with my home Fiber Network.  Everything seems to work now.  And Everything Works With Caffeine!

Here is how my network looks like now...

My MIO TV Works!

As you can see the biggest benefit out of this revamping exercise is... My MIO TV finally works after 1.5 years since it is cold storage in my store room.  I finally can have sport channel now.  I can watch ESPN Sport News too.  And it does not freeze any more.

So, the trick is, I uses an extra set of Aztech HL280e Powerline Home Plug (A technology that uses your home power line at home as a media to transport IP data) to trunk the traffic from ONT directly to the Singtel 2Wire 5012NV router.  By doing so, I am running very clean pipe from the ONT to the MIO TV.  So, now I am suspecting that my internal Cat6e fiber from the data cabinet to TV console area are bad.

And YES, I have found the only usage for SingTel 2Wire 5012NV is to provide IPTV for the MIO TV console.  :)

My AirPort Extreme/Express Works!

The ONT connects to my Cisco Linksys SLM2008 managed switch which has VLAN 10 tagged.  So, whatever behinds it can see the tagged traffic.  i.e. my DLink DIR-655 AP router actually can get another set of Public IP from SingTel.  And then, I daisy chain two DLink GE switch behind, and my AirPort Extreme / Express connecting to it are able to interoperate with the DIR-655 AP router.  No longer I need to set static IP on all my wireless devices, and I can also see each wireless segments.  Unlike before.  That 2Wire 5012NV is really crappy.

Perfect Timing

Date:  May 23, 2011

There can never be such a perfect timing again.  But it is a proud story to tell.

We booked 2 tickets on Jetstar.

It is 12:50pm flight to go to KL.

As usual, I followed his car to his apartment at Meyer Rd.  So that I can pick him up in one car to the airport.

We reach Terminal 1 at 12:05pm.

And this is when he told me "Oh!  Sh*t!  I left my passport in the car."

There is no time to lose, so, I pass my car to him, so that he could drive back to Meyer Rd to get this passport.

He passed his IC to me, and said "Try to see if can check me in, most likely cannot."

By the time I walk to the counter, it was 12:10pm, and they are about to close the counter.

The counter girl was nice to check me in, and she also check him in.

But the condition is he must change his boarding pass at this same counter before 12:30pm.

I called and waited for him.

I told him that I need to go to the boarding gate to try to explain and stop the gate from closing.

He said, "Still got time!  You wait for me outside the Departure Hall."

Around 12:27pm, I don't know how, he made it back, and pass me my car outside the Departure Hall.

The clock is ticking....

He ran to the check in counter.

I drove the car and U-turn into car park lot and park the car.

He SMS me and said "I am walking to gate D33, quick."

After I park the car, I ran.

About 12:33pm, I reached the custom gate, continue my run to gate D33.  Damn the renovation, I have to climb stairs.

I ran.

He called "Where I you?"

I waved my hand from far.  He sees me, and walk inside the gate D33.

At 12:38pm, I reached the gate.  I asked the counter girl, usually what time you guys close the gate.

She said 10 minutes before the flight.

I walked in, perspiring.  Sweat all over the place.

I am glad we both made it.

Worst case is he has to catch the next flight or fly Firefly.

But we both made it.  Just imagine ... Jetstar counter should be closing 40 min before.  And the Gate closing 10 min before.  And the passport is at Meyer Rd.

I am glad we both made it, and it is a proud story to tell.

I am very sure this will not happen ever again.

HaHaHa.

Then he said, "你的车很好跑!"  (Your car can drive smooth and fast!)

 

Original article extracted from IMerlion

Blog Notes:

Today, I was talking to a developer who develops software clients on the smartphone for my company. They told me that, currently their software works on the Google Android phones, but not the HTC Hero. Somehow, the "keypad" functions were re-written by HTC and the cross platforms codes has failed to work as the APIs are a bit different. And they have not yet tried Motorola's Droid or other new Android phone sets yet.

This has reminded me about the failure of Microsoft CE or Windows Mobile who has make the original mistake, by allowing your OEM's partner to change the codes specifically to their liking...

Google have to put a stop to it? Otherwise, there will be multiple OS within the same Android OS platform, and they will never catch up Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch or the iSlate...

Apple / iPhone Rules....

--ken

Developing For Android vs The iPhone: One Developer's Experience

Thye Chean's Space War for the iPhone was originally developed for the Android platform.

In the great iPhone versus Android debate, a common argument is that the open nature of the Android platform will eventually steamroll over the walled garden that is the iPhone. As more and more manufacturers come up with their own devices, they will eventually eat up Apple’s marketshare, or so the argument goes.

However, what Android defenders omit or play down is the fragmentation of the platform that results from having multiple devices, with multiple screen sizes and screen resolutions, and varying capacities, all running customised versions of Android. The greatness, or otherwise, of the Google Phone, does not remove this problem. In fact, it contributes to it, being yet another device on an already fragmented platform.

How bad is the problem of fragmentation? The example of developer Lim Thye Chean gives us an insight into the problems faced by an indie developer on the Android platform.

Thye Chean is the Singapore-based CTO of a Malaysian-based tech company. He is also the father of 10-year-old iPhone developer Lim Ding Wen of Doodle Kids fame. Thye Chean developed a Space Invaders clone on the Android platform called Space War to encourage his son to develop his own arcade game for the iPhone.

Space War now occupies a top 10 slot in Android’s arcade games category. However, the problems with ensuring that this game is compatible with different Android phones has given Thye Chean so many headaches that he is taking a break from the Android platform.

When he first released Space War on the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, things went well. However, when the HTC Hero came along, the problems began. He began getting bug reports that the game crashed, and this was a problem he could not duplicate until he got a Hero himself.

“I found that in the Hero, immediately after installation, the sound file will return a NULL value on start-up. However, once it goes through the first crash, it will subsequently work. I ‘solved’ this problem by not playing any sound (since it is NULL) rather than letting it crash.” He still does not know why the problem occured.

When the HTC Tattoo came along, he played around with it but because it had a very small resistive screen, it was hard to use so he decided to not support the Tattoo. “It is the start of the multiple resolutions nightmare. If I wanted to support multiple resolutions, then I either make my game Android 1.6 and above ONLY (and break all compatibility with all the devices mentioned above), or I switch between both for development and testing. I would have to develop using 1.6 code and compile it to run on 1.5 devices.”

Now the Motorola Droid has come along, and it has a WVGA screen. People who download Space War on the Droid are complaining that the game runs way too slow. The poor performance is because the game is running in compatibility mode as Android will scale the HVGA screen to WVGA screen automatically. “Where do I get a Droid to test? Now players start giving me 1 star reviews because it does not support Droid.”

To add insult to injury, Android apps can only be sold in just nine countries around the world. “So even though I have spent so much time maintaining it, I still have no hope of selling it. And if this is not bad enough, some countries cannot even get the game, and this includes Malaysia (where he is a citizen of).”

It’s not that Thye Chean believes that iPhone development is a walk in the park. He faces a problem with fragmentation there as well. His Space War port, recently released for the iPhone, will run on the latest hardware, but will not on the older iPhone 3G, it will run very slowly. However, the issue of fragmentation is much less than with Android.

And there are other problems as well, chiefly the fact that the App Store is so crowded that it is hard to stand out. However, Thye Chean is willing to give it a shot, at least for now.

It's hard to take the experience of one developer and extrapolate on it to say this is a problem all developers face. But Thye Chean's experience at least tells us that even if the total number of Android phones surpasses that of the iPhone, it's not the end of the iPhone.

Good Story: 孩子在为谁而玩

Another good story... Sorry, is in Chinese...
Do you work for yourself or do you work for something else,
it can be changed easily...

动机的寓言：孩子在为谁而玩

一群孩子在一位老人家门前嬉闹，叫声连天。几天过去，老人难以忍受。

于是，他出来给了每个孩子25美分，对他们说：“你们让这儿变得很热闹，我觉得自己年轻了不少，这点钱表示谢意。”

孩子们很高兴，第二天仍然来了，一如既往地嬉闹。老人再出来，给了每个孩子15美分。他解释说，自己没有收入，只能少给一些。15美分也还可以吧，孩子仍然兴高采烈地走了。

第三天，老人只给了每个孩子5美分。

孩子们勃然大怒，“一天才5美分，知不知道我们多辛苦！”他们向老人发誓，他们再也不会为他玩了！

【心理点评】你在为谁而“玩”

这个寓言是苹果树寓言的更深一层的答案：苹果树为什么会自断经脉，因为它不是为自己而“玩”。

人的动机分两种：内部动机和外部动机。如果按照内部动机去行动，我们就是自己的主人。如果驱使我们的是外部动机，我们就会被外部因素所左右，成为它的奴隶。

在这个寓言中，老人的算计很简单，他将孩子们的内部动机“为自己快乐而玩”变成了外部动机“为得到美分而玩”，而他操纵着美分这个外部因素，所以也操纵了孩子们的行为。寓言中的老人，像不像是你的老板、上司？而美分，像不像是你的工资、奖金等各种各样的外部奖励？

如将外部评价当作参考坐标，我们的情绪就很容易出现波动。因为，外部因素我们控制不了，它很容易偏离我们的内部期望，让我们不满，让我们牢骚满腹。不满和牢骚等负性情绪让我们痛苦，为了减少痛苦，我们就只好降低内部期望，最常见的方法就是减少工作的努力程度。

一个人之所以会形成外部评价体系，最主要的原因是父母喜欢控制他。父母太喜欢使用口头奖惩、物质奖惩等控制孩子，而不去理会孩子自己的动机。久而久之，孩子就忘记了自己的原初动机，做什么都很在乎外部的评价。上学时，他忘记了学习的原初动机———好奇心和学习的快乐；工作后，他又忘记了工作的原初动机——— 成长的快乐，上司的评价和收入的起伏成了他工作的最大快乐和痛苦的源头。
切记：外部评价系统经常是一种家族遗传，但你完全可以打破它，从现在开始培育自己的内部评价体系，让学习和工作变成“为自己而玩”。

Good Story: 做一棵永远成长的苹果树

Read this from the web... This is very true... You have to always be in the growing mode... cannot because of a few failures or roadblocks and choose not to grow...

成长的寓言：做一棵永远成长的苹果树

一棵苹果树，终于结果了。

第一年，它结了10个苹果，9个被拿走，自己得到1个。对此，苹果树愤愤不平，于是自断经脉，拒绝成长。第二年，它结了5个苹果，4个被拿走，自己得到1个。“哈哈，去年我得到了10％，今年得到20％！翻了一番。”这棵苹果树心理平衡了。

但是，它还可以这样：继续成长。譬如，第二年，它结了100个果子，被拿走90个，自己得到10个。

很可能，它被拿走99个，自己得到1个。但没关系，它还可以继续成长，第三年结1000个果子……

其实，得到多少果子不是最重要的。最重要的是，苹果树在成长！等苹果树长成参天大树的时候，那些曾阻碍它成长的力量都会微弱到可以忽略。真的，不要太在乎果子，成长是最重要的。

【心理点评】你是不是一个已自断经脉的打工族？

刚开始工作的时候，你才华横溢，意气风发，相信“天生我才必有用”。但现实很快敲了你几个闷棍，或许，你为单位做了大贡献没人重视；或许，只得到口头重视但却得不到实惠；或许……总之，你觉得就像那棵苹果树，结出的果子自己只享受到了很小一部分，与你的期望相差甚远。

于是，你愤怒、你懊恼、你牢骚满腹……最终，你决定不再那么努力，让自己的所做去匹配自己的所得。几年过去后，你一反省，发现现在的你，已经没有刚工作时的激情和才华了。

“老了，成熟了。”我们习惯这样自嘲。但实质是，你已停止成长了。

这样的故事，在我们身边比比皆是。

之所以犯这种错误，是因为我们忘记生命是一个历程，是一个整体，我们觉得自己已经成长过了，现在是到该结果子的时候了。我们太过于在乎一时的得失，而忘记了成长才是最重要的。

好在，这不是金庸小说里的自断经脉。我们随时可以放弃这样做，继续走向成长之路。

切记：如果你是一个打工族，遇到了不懂管理、野蛮管理或错误管理的上司或企业文化，那么，提醒自己一下，千万不要因为激愤和满腹牢骚而自断经脉。不论遇到什么事情，都要做一棵永远成长的苹果树，因为你的成长永远比每个月拿多少钱重要。

NGB & SGIX

Today, was at the IDA's workshop for the Next Generation Broadband...
After hearing all the presentations, here are some of my thoughts...

1. Setting up SGIX @ 1-Net and Global Switch? So, to peer, you still need to buy a local loop to connect. So strange, Equinix is there, and all Telcos are there, why does the decision makers decides on these 2 locations? IDA shall change it to Equinix and pay for all the cross connect charges, etc and fund the project.

I think this will be another failed project. So funny, up until so many years, they finally realize that this is a problem in Singapore. How many years that HKIX (Hong Kong IX) has exist??

2. Yes. 100M or 1Gb to your home. The questions is where is the contents? Unlike Japan, Korea or Hong Kong, Singapore has no Content. So, even if you have 100M, your latencies and download speed for overseas website still going to be slow. Look at today, if you subscribe to 100M from Starhub, does it mean that your web surfing experience improved? nope.

I think IDA should fund the International bandwidth so to make it successful.

But also becareful... that means P2P downloads will increase, visits to porn sites will increase. So, how does IDA going to fix the related social problems?

Let's wait and see...