I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.
This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do,
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute?
-MGMT
Lyrics from a song click when they seem to parallel some personal experience or feelings - good music draws out some internal emotion right?
It occurred to me that often, because of this, we may associate with lyrics, to somehow buttress the way we're feeling - "Hey, I'm not the only one who feels this way". Perhaps even stronger, we may look to our society's bards to give us some tidbit of wisdom, to reveal some gnosis to the rest of us unartsy (and less inebriated) commoners.
Maybe this made sense back in the day when we were in high school or college, when we were the primary consumers of pop music, when artists were far ahead to have a few more years of experience to guide us with. But when you get to this side of 24, you realize maybe all these kids writing the music don't really know what they're talking about.
Albeit, I'm still tired of the job in the office and waking up for the 10am commute.
To be honest, I'm totally misrepresenting the song by just quoting half of it, there's a certain irony to the latter half. I'm definitely digging the psychadelic retroness of this band though.
Jun 12, 2008
Jun 1, 2008
On Food
Over the years, I've realized novelty is one of the things that drives interests more than almost anything else. I tend to lose interest as things get repetitive, and the initial excitement and awe of fine dining has faded a little. I find it rarer and rarer to find a restaurant worth ranting and raving about, and even less inspired to actually blog about it when I do. That's not to say I haven't had any good meals lately. I have (Cyrus was particularly amazing, more interesting than the famed French Laundry), but I find that since I don't blog about it, it just tends to be another experience that fades from memory.
I'm finding that in the past couple of years, I'm prefectly satisfied by the everyday, done well. And more and more I'm finding it's the company that makes the meal, and when that's the focus (rather than the food), I try not to pull out the fat camera in the middle of the conversation. That solid bowl of pho or ramen could be the perfect meal with the right person. It's no 5 hour tasting menu, but something you could do every day for the rest of your life.
Anyways, for the sake of trying to record some of the nicer meals in the past few weeks:
A surprisingly standout meal, especially after finding that this was opened by the same people as the thorougly unimpressive YYZ. I had checked out YYZ quite a few years ago, when the Canadian dollar was substantially weaker, and still thought it delivered nothing special for what it cost. Lucien however, executed its fusiony ideas from various cuisines deftly. Asian and mexican/spanish influences were at the forefront, but not obnoxiously so.
The Berkshire pork belly with clams, cuttlefish, kimchee, toasted barley and a slow poached egg was to die for. On paper it sounds almost like a Korean horror movie, a slab of jiggly meat, bright red and spicy and sour, with that hint of rank fermented vegetable and fishy seafood. In practice it was perfect. The pork was slightly sweet and buttery, melting in your mouth like a good Shanghainese pork shoulder. The "kimchee" itself was entirely untraditional. Rich and spicy, with a hint of tang, but with no vinegary taste or odor whatsoever, I could have just chowed down with that on white rice for a week. The egg was perfectly done, the rich orange was soft and gelatinous, but not runny at all.
I only tasted the king crab and scallop, with heirloom carrots, coconut, black bean and toasted corn. Again, although it sounds like something they'd serve at a fancy taqueria, it was definitely raised way beyond.
The roast squab soto with rice noodles, bean sprout sambal, lobster tofu was interesting, but not as outstanding. The portion of squab was small, the breast was decent, but the leg was a perfect morsel, deboned, crispy on the outside, and buttery on the inside. The rice noodles were a little sticky, and the lobster tofu on the salty side. Not quite a perfect implementation, but both were creative enough that I didn't feel like this was asian food done poorly and served with a high price tag.
I've already wrote too much, but Alberta bison striploin with hominy, sarsaprilla, poblano, treviso, queso fresco was very good. Seared on the outside, bright red on the inside, juicy and tasty on the inside, and the grits on the side had rave reviews too. It simply blew away the bison short ribs I had later that week at Celestin.
Overall, the service was attentive, and someone who looked like either a manager or owner (I wasn't too chatty) was around to help out the wait staff and check on diners.
I've been meaning to try Celestin, since I saw this article in Toronto Life years ago. Finally got to try it, and although it was good, it wasn't outstanding in any particular way. One complaint is that the meal, which was just some appetizers and mains, and not a tasting menu, still took over two hours. Click on the pictures for a description.
I'm finding that in the past couple of years, I'm prefectly satisfied by the everyday, done well. And more and more I'm finding it's the company that makes the meal, and when that's the focus (rather than the food), I try not to pull out the fat camera in the middle of the conversation. That solid bowl of pho or ramen could be the perfect meal with the right person. It's no 5 hour tasting menu, but something you could do every day for the rest of your life.
Anyways, for the sake of trying to record some of the nicer meals in the past few weeks:
Lucien
A surprisingly standout meal, especially after finding that this was opened by the same people as the thorougly unimpressive YYZ. I had checked out YYZ quite a few years ago, when the Canadian dollar was substantially weaker, and still thought it delivered nothing special for what it cost. Lucien however, executed its fusiony ideas from various cuisines deftly. Asian and mexican/spanish influences were at the forefront, but not obnoxiously so.
The Berkshire pork belly with clams, cuttlefish, kimchee, toasted barley and a slow poached egg was to die for. On paper it sounds almost like a Korean horror movie, a slab of jiggly meat, bright red and spicy and sour, with that hint of rank fermented vegetable and fishy seafood. In practice it was perfect. The pork was slightly sweet and buttery, melting in your mouth like a good Shanghainese pork shoulder. The "kimchee" itself was entirely untraditional. Rich and spicy, with a hint of tang, but with no vinegary taste or odor whatsoever, I could have just chowed down with that on white rice for a week. The egg was perfectly done, the rich orange was soft and gelatinous, but not runny at all.
I only tasted the king crab and scallop, with heirloom carrots, coconut, black bean and toasted corn. Again, although it sounds like something they'd serve at a fancy taqueria, it was definitely raised way beyond.
The roast squab soto with rice noodles, bean sprout sambal, lobster tofu was interesting, but not as outstanding. The portion of squab was small, the breast was decent, but the leg was a perfect morsel, deboned, crispy on the outside, and buttery on the inside. The rice noodles were a little sticky, and the lobster tofu on the salty side. Not quite a perfect implementation, but both were creative enough that I didn't feel like this was asian food done poorly and served with a high price tag.
I've already wrote too much, but Alberta bison striploin with hominy, sarsaprilla, poblano, treviso, queso fresco was very good. Seared on the outside, bright red on the inside, juicy and tasty on the inside, and the grits on the side had rave reviews too. It simply blew away the bison short ribs I had later that week at Celestin.
Overall, the service was attentive, and someone who looked like either a manager or owner (I wasn't too chatty) was around to help out the wait staff and check on diners.
Celestin
I've been meaning to try Celestin, since I saw this article in Toronto Life years ago. Finally got to try it, and although it was good, it wasn't outstanding in any particular way. One complaint is that the meal, which was just some appetizers and mains, and not a tasting menu, still took over two hours. Click on the pictures for a description.
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Sankyu
This little izakaya in a random strip mall is one of those things you'd never find if someone didn't bring you there, especially as a tourist. The inside wasn't too fancy. On one side were some stalls with the traditional low tables where you sit on futons, a cabinet was lined with bottle of shochu with namecards on them. There were Japanese men drinking and dining in Japanese. On the other side there were some more normal tables. A couple of harried waitresses rushed around to take orders, specials were on a board, written in Japanese.
We were there for the ramen and the Sapporo draft. The ramen was decent. I think the best in the Bay area compares better, but I had no complaints. The side dishes were pretty good too. Deep fried chicken, stewed pork, hamachi collar, gyoza. I've forgotten the other half the dishes by now. Although none were spectacular "you must try this dishes", they were very good, it's one of those places that you could easily call a regular hang out. And we were there hanging out with the people I'd hang out with forever if I could.
Apr 21, 2008
Dekalog
I should totally cancel my Netflix. For the last month I've been slowly working through the Decalogue, an acclaimed set of 10 short films by polish director Krysztof Kieslowski. I'd seen his Red/White/Blue trilogy while in high school, but haven't gotten around to watching this series (from the late 80s) until now.
It's not a series for everyone. While not obtuse or abstract like some "artsy" films, the pacing is slow and deliberate. There is very little action, much more dialog, and even more wordless shots that set mood and scene. It's really the latter that makes the series so significant. The series is a critic's favourite, being rated 9.2/10 on imdb and 100% on rottentomatoes.
The series is supposedly inspired by the 10 Commandments, although for most of the films I couldn't really identify the particular commandment it was based on; many of them seemed to point to the laws on adultery or covetousness. The films aren't linked together, there's different characters and different stories in each, although they all take place within a similar suburb of Warsaw. There's one particular character who acts as an observer, and shows up in almost all the films, but never speaks nor interacts directly with anyone in the film. Unlike the standard Hollywood fare which keeps you entranced for an hour and a half with nonstop action, comedy, and skin, this is a series that makes you think and feel. Instead of pointing at the breakers of the laws, the series makes you identify with them and emphathize. At times it's more painful than entertaining to watch, but perhaps you feel more alive for it.
The following's a summary (and complete spoiler) of the films. It's a serious disservice to anyone who intends to watch this series, so I recommend skipping over it.
1. I think I liked this film because it centered around a young boy genius who programmed his father's computer for fun. His relationship with his father and absent mother are poignant. There viewer is given a strong sense of premonition as the father and son write a program to calculate the stability of the ice on the local river. Eventually, we find the boy goes out to skate on the supposedly solid ice, just to fall through, leaving the father in despair.
2. A woman seeks her husband's apparently heartless doctor to get a prognosis on his potentially terminal illness, a question that the doctor cannot answer with any certainty. It turns out however, that she's got a deeper reason for wanting to know: she's carrying the child of her husband's friend. It's a child that she wants, if her husband were to die. But if her husband were to live it's a child that she'd have to get rid of. Her problem now also becomes the doctor's problem as he tries to find an answer for her. The ending seems to be the worst case scenario - the doctor predicts that the husband will die. The woman keeps the child, but the husband survives to learn that he has a son.
3. A taxi driver abandons his wife and kids on Christmas Eve to aid a woman, a former lover, find her missing husband. They start off lying that his cab had been stolen to get him out of the house, but as the night goes on, she builds up the lies as they search through hospitals and morgues for her husband. In the end her story unravels, her "husband" was not actually that, but another former lover, from one night in the past involving all three of them. He actually has a family too. She only sought out the taxi driver to keep her company on the holiday night where she felt so incredibly alone. In the end it's not quite clear whether he wronged his family or whether he was simply compassionate towards the woman. Or maybe both.
4. A young woman, who's mother passed away when she was just a child, explores her past in an old letter from her mother. Unclear as to whether her father is really her father, she creates a world where he isn't, and draws him into the incestuous mutual infatuation. In the end, after heartwrenching temptation, she admits that she had fabricated the story. The father and daughter burn the real letter, unopened, the uncertainty to her true father saving their relationship.
5. A maladjusted youth murders a heartless taxi driver in cold blood. His passionate public defender fails to save him from the death penalty. Although the action in the film revolves around the murderer, the heart of the film revolves around the lawyer's failed struggle against the death penalty. I found this movie a little more emotionally detached, but the lawyer's monologue put this as the most political and philosophical film.
6. A young post office clerk falls in love with his older neighbour as he spies on her with her lovers. As he pursues her though, she turns the story around. As she invites him in and embarrases him with his inexperience, he goes from being the crazy stalker to the victim. She becomes penitent for taking advantage of him as he attempts suicide from the heartbreak. Various attitudes towards love are questioned, from his obsessive infatuation to her purely physical and emotionally unattached romps. Fortunately, he survives, but the film leaves the end of their relationship undefined.
7. When a young woman fails to comfort her kid sister after a nightmare, her mother takes over, and the sadness on her face foreshadoes the truth. As she kidnaps her younger sister from a school play and escapes to the countryside, the truth is revealed to the audience. She is in fact the mother; she was underaged when her daughter was born, so her mother raised the child as her own. The situation is complicated by the fact that the father, the man that she's now run to, was her teacher, and employed by her mother, who was the headmistress of a school. As the real mother is distraught by how her daughter only acknowledges her a sister, one wonders then, who really stole the daughter from whom.
8. The film starts in a university class. A journalist comes in and asks the professor about a situation - it happens to be the situation from film #2, what should the doctor have done? The professor's answer is revealing. Distanced from the drama of doctor and the mother, her answer was simple - the child was alive, that's all that mattered. It turned out that the journalist was once a child fleeing from the Holocaust, and the professor had, at the time, turned her down for asylum. The journalist had come back to ask why, the professor answered that she had been falsly informed that the situation was a trap.
9. A prominent surgeon finds he is impotent, and expects his young wife to take on a lover. However, she denies that she would need this. He is suspicious however, and spies on her, tapping her phone calls and sifting through her belongings in her absent mother's apartment. When he finally catches her with a younger man, he waits outside the apartment, afraid to confront her. A secondary relationship builds up between him and a pretty patient. I'm not sure if it was intended, but it almost seemed to show his potential for cheating, if it weren't that he wasn't able to. Later, at another instance he hides in the closet, but this time she breaks up with her lover, and discovers her husband in the closet. In probably the most wincing scene of the series, she's repentant for the pain she caused him. Perhaps she had thought he'd be accepting of it given his initial reaction to his impotence. As he sends her off on a ski trip for some time to heal his wounds, he absurdly discovers that the lover is heading off to the same resort. Crushed by his wife's brazen infidelity, he attempts suicide, not knowing that lover had acted on his own. When she sees the lover at the resort, she flees back home, but it's too late. Fortunately however, (and fortunately for the viewer) Kieslowski chooses not to take the worst possible ending for once, and the husband survives his attempt, and talks to his wife as he recovers from surgery.
10. A pair of brothers meet at their estranged father's funeral. In sorting through the father's effects, they find his apartment spartan, except for a stamp collection worth tens to hundreds of millions of zlotskys. In a comedy of errors, beginning with the son of one of the men accidentally trading some highly valuable stamps for a pile of worthless ones, the two men attempt to swindle their stamps back. As they are sucked into the world of high value stamp trading, they find at the end that the entire ordeal was an intricate plan to swindle them of the entire collection. As one of the brothers had been convinced to trade his kidney for a particularly valuable stamp, thieves break into their apartment while he is in the hospital, cleaning them out. After pointing fingers at each other, the brothers find peace in each other, despite having lost their father's fortune.
It's not a series for everyone. While not obtuse or abstract like some "artsy" films, the pacing is slow and deliberate. There is very little action, much more dialog, and even more wordless shots that set mood and scene. It's really the latter that makes the series so significant. The series is a critic's favourite, being rated 9.2/10 on imdb and 100% on rottentomatoes.
The series is supposedly inspired by the 10 Commandments, although for most of the films I couldn't really identify the particular commandment it was based on; many of them seemed to point to the laws on adultery or covetousness. The films aren't linked together, there's different characters and different stories in each, although they all take place within a similar suburb of Warsaw. There's one particular character who acts as an observer, and shows up in almost all the films, but never speaks nor interacts directly with anyone in the film. Unlike the standard Hollywood fare which keeps you entranced for an hour and a half with nonstop action, comedy, and skin, this is a series that makes you think and feel. Instead of pointing at the breakers of the laws, the series makes you identify with them and emphathize. At times it's more painful than entertaining to watch, but perhaps you feel more alive for it.
The following's a summary (and complete spoiler) of the films. It's a serious disservice to anyone who intends to watch this series, so I recommend skipping over it.
1. I think I liked this film because it centered around a young boy genius who programmed his father's computer for fun. His relationship with his father and absent mother are poignant. There viewer is given a strong sense of premonition as the father and son write a program to calculate the stability of the ice on the local river. Eventually, we find the boy goes out to skate on the supposedly solid ice, just to fall through, leaving the father in despair.
2. A woman seeks her husband's apparently heartless doctor to get a prognosis on his potentially terminal illness, a question that the doctor cannot answer with any certainty. It turns out however, that she's got a deeper reason for wanting to know: she's carrying the child of her husband's friend. It's a child that she wants, if her husband were to die. But if her husband were to live it's a child that she'd have to get rid of. Her problem now also becomes the doctor's problem as he tries to find an answer for her. The ending seems to be the worst case scenario - the doctor predicts that the husband will die. The woman keeps the child, but the husband survives to learn that he has a son.
3. A taxi driver abandons his wife and kids on Christmas Eve to aid a woman, a former lover, find her missing husband. They start off lying that his cab had been stolen to get him out of the house, but as the night goes on, she builds up the lies as they search through hospitals and morgues for her husband. In the end her story unravels, her "husband" was not actually that, but another former lover, from one night in the past involving all three of them. He actually has a family too. She only sought out the taxi driver to keep her company on the holiday night where she felt so incredibly alone. In the end it's not quite clear whether he wronged his family or whether he was simply compassionate towards the woman. Or maybe both.
4. A young woman, who's mother passed away when she was just a child, explores her past in an old letter from her mother. Unclear as to whether her father is really her father, she creates a world where he isn't, and draws him into the incestuous mutual infatuation. In the end, after heartwrenching temptation, she admits that she had fabricated the story. The father and daughter burn the real letter, unopened, the uncertainty to her true father saving their relationship.
5. A maladjusted youth murders a heartless taxi driver in cold blood. His passionate public defender fails to save him from the death penalty. Although the action in the film revolves around the murderer, the heart of the film revolves around the lawyer's failed struggle against the death penalty. I found this movie a little more emotionally detached, but the lawyer's monologue put this as the most political and philosophical film.
6. A young post office clerk falls in love with his older neighbour as he spies on her with her lovers. As he pursues her though, she turns the story around. As she invites him in and embarrases him with his inexperience, he goes from being the crazy stalker to the victim. She becomes penitent for taking advantage of him as he attempts suicide from the heartbreak. Various attitudes towards love are questioned, from his obsessive infatuation to her purely physical and emotionally unattached romps. Fortunately, he survives, but the film leaves the end of their relationship undefined.
7. When a young woman fails to comfort her kid sister after a nightmare, her mother takes over, and the sadness on her face foreshadoes the truth. As she kidnaps her younger sister from a school play and escapes to the countryside, the truth is revealed to the audience. She is in fact the mother; she was underaged when her daughter was born, so her mother raised the child as her own. The situation is complicated by the fact that the father, the man that she's now run to, was her teacher, and employed by her mother, who was the headmistress of a school. As the real mother is distraught by how her daughter only acknowledges her a sister, one wonders then, who really stole the daughter from whom.
8. The film starts in a university class. A journalist comes in and asks the professor about a situation - it happens to be the situation from film #2, what should the doctor have done? The professor's answer is revealing. Distanced from the drama of doctor and the mother, her answer was simple - the child was alive, that's all that mattered. It turned out that the journalist was once a child fleeing from the Holocaust, and the professor had, at the time, turned her down for asylum. The journalist had come back to ask why, the professor answered that she had been falsly informed that the situation was a trap.
9. A prominent surgeon finds he is impotent, and expects his young wife to take on a lover. However, she denies that she would need this. He is suspicious however, and spies on her, tapping her phone calls and sifting through her belongings in her absent mother's apartment. When he finally catches her with a younger man, he waits outside the apartment, afraid to confront her. A secondary relationship builds up between him and a pretty patient. I'm not sure if it was intended, but it almost seemed to show his potential for cheating, if it weren't that he wasn't able to. Later, at another instance he hides in the closet, but this time she breaks up with her lover, and discovers her husband in the closet. In probably the most wincing scene of the series, she's repentant for the pain she caused him. Perhaps she had thought he'd be accepting of it given his initial reaction to his impotence. As he sends her off on a ski trip for some time to heal his wounds, he absurdly discovers that the lover is heading off to the same resort. Crushed by his wife's brazen infidelity, he attempts suicide, not knowing that lover had acted on his own. When she sees the lover at the resort, she flees back home, but it's too late. Fortunately however, (and fortunately for the viewer) Kieslowski chooses not to take the worst possible ending for once, and the husband survives his attempt, and talks to his wife as he recovers from surgery.
10. A pair of brothers meet at their estranged father's funeral. In sorting through the father's effects, they find his apartment spartan, except for a stamp collection worth tens to hundreds of millions of zlotskys. In a comedy of errors, beginning with the son of one of the men accidentally trading some highly valuable stamps for a pile of worthless ones, the two men attempt to swindle their stamps back. As they are sucked into the world of high value stamp trading, they find at the end that the entire ordeal was an intricate plan to swindle them of the entire collection. As one of the brothers had been convinced to trade his kidney for a particularly valuable stamp, thieves break into their apartment while he is in the hospital, cleaning them out. After pointing fingers at each other, the brothers find peace in each other, despite having lost their father's fortune.
Apr 13, 2008
Them fighting words
Procrastinating on blogging is one of those things I really should stop doing. Most of the time it results in having some thoughts and never getting around to writing them down. On weeks like this, it's delaying to the point where it's simply not newsworthy anymore, but maybe it's still relevant.
I drove up to SF twice last week to shoot what was expected to be a lively event, the Olympic Torch Relay through San Francisco. Being the only North American stop, plenty of protesters were expected to be in town. I drove up on Tuesday night to catch a candlelight "vigil" organized by the International Campaign for Tibet.
The event reminded me a lot of the March for Freedom I saw in Kashmir; they even had a an open-bed truck, similar to the JKLF campaign truck. It made me wonder for a moment, "What's so special about Tibet, that people would care so much for it, and so little for Kashmir?". I can't say I've done much research, but from the cursory investigations, the main difference seems to be that Tibet has an international PR campaign, while Kashmir does not.
Overall, the event was not half as big as I expected it to be, given the media hype. There was a reasonably sized crowd, but I wouldn't say it was huge. There were people carrying candles, people cheering and chanting, people on stage giving motivational speeches, and a "Tibetan" band playing rock music and a bunch of Tibetan girls right up at the front of the stage cheering them on. Overall, it was quieter than I thought, but the event was photogenic, despite being dark.
The drive up was made worthwhile by discovering the best falafels I've had to date in the Bay Area, at Hayes & Kebab in Hayes Valley.
I took the bike up on Wednesday at lunch, expecting heavy traffic. I had applied for a press pass, but was arriving way too late to go pick it up. I'm not sure it would have helped, since even the press wasn't informed of the true torch route. I admit, I was hoping to catch some passionate protesters. Maybe police in riot gear mixing it up with Free Tibet and Free Burma and Save Darfur protestors all mixed up in a bunch.
A few days before I realized a number of Chinese coworkers were all planning to go up for the event. I was really surprised, since my main motivation was to go catch some pictures of the protestors, but it turned out that the various alumni associations of the major Chinese universities were organizing for their alumni to go up; they were told to bring flags and wear red. Later in SF, I talked to some people who told me that the Chinese consulate had sent busses to schools like Davis to bring in their students. Plus, on Tuesday night I had overheard a rumour that the Chinese consulate was arranging for people to show up early at the location for the start of the torch event, to crowd out protestors.
So I wasn't particularly surprised to arrive at AT&T Park seeing a flurry of red flags and yellow stars. I'm sure the Chinese in the Bay Area (and anywhere in the world, for that matter) far outnumber the Tibetans. The two sides shouted slogans at each other, one chanting "Dalai Liar!" while the other one yelled "Hu Jintao is a Liar!". Not exactly what I would call making progress.
There was a long wait as the torch ceremony was supposed to start, and much confusion about whether the torch would show up; there were plenty of (highly believable) rumours that the route would be changed, plus the layout of the police and barriers already suggested that the torch wasn't going to head down the expected path. After waiting around (and in the meantime finding a random building from which I could quietly dial into a conference call at work), rumours started floating around that the torch had already left, and the crowd started dispersing.
As I wandered around, I almost caught the only potential spot of conflict - some idiotic Caucasian male yelling at the "Chinamen" to "go back home", which, although elicited responses of "kill him!", didn't lead to any real violence.
The most surprising thing really though, was seeing my relatively staid and prim Chinese coworkers whipped into a nationalistic frenzy of red and gold. As I talked to another coworker back at the office later on wednesday, I could sense despair in her voice as she described how unfair it was that the western media was portraying China's police actions in Tibet. Most of the Chinese coworkers were pretty pissed at white Americans waving signs calling for the boycotting of the Olympics for the benefit of the 1.3 billion suffering human rights violations in China. They assert that the vast majority of those 1.3 billion actually want the Olympics in China, and I'm obliged to believe them.
On the other hand, I can't find any criticism for small and supposedly persecuted independence groups seeking publicity and support from foreign governments. Obviously, they'll be ignored at home. And this way is certainly a better alternative in terms of getting attention than say, resorting to terrorism or violence.
I drove up to SF twice last week to shoot what was expected to be a lively event, the Olympic Torch Relay through San Francisco. Being the only North American stop, plenty of protesters were expected to be in town. I drove up on Tuesday night to catch a candlelight "vigil" organized by the International Campaign for Tibet.
The event reminded me a lot of the March for Freedom I saw in Kashmir; they even had a an open-bed truck, similar to the JKLF campaign truck. It made me wonder for a moment, "What's so special about Tibet, that people would care so much for it, and so little for Kashmir?". I can't say I've done much research, but from the cursory investigations, the main difference seems to be that Tibet has an international PR campaign, while Kashmir does not.
Overall, the event was not half as big as I expected it to be, given the media hype. There was a reasonably sized crowd, but I wouldn't say it was huge. There were people carrying candles, people cheering and chanting, people on stage giving motivational speeches, and a "Tibetan" band playing rock music and a bunch of Tibetan girls right up at the front of the stage cheering them on. Overall, it was quieter than I thought, but the event was photogenic, despite being dark.
The drive up was made worthwhile by discovering the best falafels I've had to date in the Bay Area, at Hayes & Kebab in Hayes Valley.
I took the bike up on Wednesday at lunch, expecting heavy traffic. I had applied for a press pass, but was arriving way too late to go pick it up. I'm not sure it would have helped, since even the press wasn't informed of the true torch route. I admit, I was hoping to catch some passionate protesters. Maybe police in riot gear mixing it up with Free Tibet and Free Burma and Save Darfur protestors all mixed up in a bunch.
A few days before I realized a number of Chinese coworkers were all planning to go up for the event. I was really surprised, since my main motivation was to go catch some pictures of the protestors, but it turned out that the various alumni associations of the major Chinese universities were organizing for their alumni to go up; they were told to bring flags and wear red. Later in SF, I talked to some people who told me that the Chinese consulate had sent busses to schools like Davis to bring in their students. Plus, on Tuesday night I had overheard a rumour that the Chinese consulate was arranging for people to show up early at the location for the start of the torch event, to crowd out protestors.
So I wasn't particularly surprised to arrive at AT&T Park seeing a flurry of red flags and yellow stars. I'm sure the Chinese in the Bay Area (and anywhere in the world, for that matter) far outnumber the Tibetans. The two sides shouted slogans at each other, one chanting "Dalai Liar!" while the other one yelled "Hu Jintao is a Liar!". Not exactly what I would call making progress.
There was a long wait as the torch ceremony was supposed to start, and much confusion about whether the torch would show up; there were plenty of (highly believable) rumours that the route would be changed, plus the layout of the police and barriers already suggested that the torch wasn't going to head down the expected path. After waiting around (and in the meantime finding a random building from which I could quietly dial into a conference call at work), rumours started floating around that the torch had already left, and the crowd started dispersing.
As I wandered around, I almost caught the only potential spot of conflict - some idiotic Caucasian male yelling at the "Chinamen" to "go back home", which, although elicited responses of "kill him!", didn't lead to any real violence.
The most surprising thing really though, was seeing my relatively staid and prim Chinese coworkers whipped into a nationalistic frenzy of red and gold. As I talked to another coworker back at the office later on wednesday, I could sense despair in her voice as she described how unfair it was that the western media was portraying China's police actions in Tibet. Most of the Chinese coworkers were pretty pissed at white Americans waving signs calling for the boycotting of the Olympics for the benefit of the 1.3 billion suffering human rights violations in China. They assert that the vast majority of those 1.3 billion actually want the Olympics in China, and I'm obliged to believe them.
On the other hand, I can't find any criticism for small and supposedly persecuted independence groups seeking publicity and support from foreign governments. Obviously, they'll be ignored at home. And this way is certainly a better alternative in terms of getting attention than say, resorting to terrorism or violence.
Apr 7, 2008
Stuck in a Moment
After work today I spent some time cleaning out my cube a little, getting rid of piles of notepad that have been sitting around for years, unused. I realized I hadn't turned the page on my office calendar in a while; I never look at it, I just pinned it up since we all got them for free.
It still read April 2007. Last night at dinner, we were talking about how time seems to speed up as we age. Days blow by, each one not to different from the last until a month or a year has passed. We also talked about how the last seven years have seemed, in many ways, like an extension of the university years. It was the work term that would not end.
Just going through my iTunes collection recently I heard I song that I hadn't listened to for a while. It reflected the listlessness I felt a year and a half ago.
Some things do change though, feelings certainly being some of them. I'm not even sure what it is now. Apprehension? Excitement? Doubt? It's the feeling you get before jumping off the cliff, when you know if you hesitate you'll slow down and fail to leap. Is it faith or foolishness? I guess I'll see when I nail the landing.
It still read April 2007. Last night at dinner, we were talking about how time seems to speed up as we age. Days blow by, each one not to different from the last until a month or a year has passed. We also talked about how the last seven years have seemed, in many ways, like an extension of the university years. It was the work term that would not end.
Just going through my iTunes collection recently I heard I song that I hadn't listened to for a while. It reflected the listlessness I felt a year and a half ago.
Some things do change though, feelings certainly being some of them. I'm not even sure what it is now. Apprehension? Excitement? Doubt? It's the feeling you get before jumping off the cliff, when you know if you hesitate you'll slow down and fail to leap. Is it faith or foolishness? I guess I'll see when I nail the landing.
Mar 31, 2008
Inside Out
Most of the time, I don't listen to Christian music much. One exception was Delirious. I really loved their music, irrespective of being labelled in the Christian music genre. I don't recall the last time I found myself listening specifically to worship music, but we had this song at church on Sunday, and I'm finding the melody particularly soothing today.
A thousand times I’ve failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I’m caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
Your will above all else
Still my purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
My heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
-Hillsong
A thousand times I’ve failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I’m caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
Your will above all else
Still my purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
My heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
-Hillsong
Mar 25, 2008
New and Shiny
Last night I noticed the stairwell at work was closed off, they were waxing the plastic floor tiles.
This morning, the normally black and dull stairwell was all black and shiny.
I need to do that with my life. Wax it up and make it shiny. But then, it'll only be on the surface.
This morning, the normally black and dull stairwell was all black and shiny.
I need to do that with my life. Wax it up and make it shiny. But then, it'll only be on the surface.
Mar 23, 2008
Soul Mountain
I used to enjoy reading as a child. I loved it. I chewed through books obsessively; once I started, I wouldn't put it down until I finished. I'd read under the desk in class, and under the covers in bed with a flashlight. Once in high school though, that died down a fair bit. There were other things to do, other forms of entertainment. Now that I've graduated, I rarely read books. There's enough email, tech specs, whitepapers, code and webpages to go through.
Usually the time I start reading is before a flight to Hong Kong. Ever since I finished Les Miserables on a flight to HK, I've found it a wonderful 14-20hrs of clear reading time. Alas, the last book I bought, Soul Mountain, by Gao Xingjian, was as dry as cardboard. The translation by Mabel Lee contains little in terms of flowery language. The vocabulary is simple and the conversational style obtuse. The only characters are pronouns, there is no plot, the text is prone to philosophize or drift into descriptions of psychadelic dreams. It even contains a chapter of a conversation between he and she, conversing on the philosophy of a book with no plot.
I end up buying books before flights to Hong Kong. Ever since I read through Les Miserables on a flight in high school, the 15 hour flight time becomes a luxury to chew through a book that might take months for me to get thru piecewise. Unfortunately, this book took me a year and a half to get through. I wonder if all Nobel Prize winning books are so dry.
I think though, that the Prize might have been for the few moments of clarity, where Xingjian pulls together guilty thoughts and emotions of being human, the ones I'd rather not think about, and drops them bluntly on the page with little adornment.
"I drink some tea and experience a moment of bitter regret. Maybe she will one day look me up, maybe not. However this chance meeting leaves me with a pleasant feeling. I would not pursue such an innocent young girl, perhaps I will also never truly love a woman. Love is too burdensome, I need to live my life unburdened. I want to find happiness but I don't want to take on responsibilities. Marriage always follows and then the tiresome anxieties and resentment. I have become too indifferent and no-one can make my blood surge with passion anymore. I suppose I'm getting old and there's only a bit left of what can barely count as curiosity, and there is a lack of desire to bring about an outcome. The outcome isn't hard to imagine and would end up being burdensome. I would rather drift here and there without leaving traces. There are so many people in this big wide world and so many places to visit but there is nowhere for me to put down roots, to have a small refuge, to live a simple life. I always encounter the same sort of neighbours, say the same sort of things, good morning or hello, and once again am embroiled in endless daily trivia. Even before this becomes solidly entrenced, I will already have tired of it all. I know there is no cure for me." --Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian
Usually the time I start reading is before a flight to Hong Kong. Ever since I finished Les Miserables on a flight to HK, I've found it a wonderful 14-20hrs of clear reading time. Alas, the last book I bought, Soul Mountain, by Gao Xingjian, was as dry as cardboard. The translation by Mabel Lee contains little in terms of flowery language. The vocabulary is simple and the conversational style obtuse. The only characters are pronouns, there is no plot, the text is prone to philosophize or drift into descriptions of psychadelic dreams. It even contains a chapter of a conversation between he and she, conversing on the philosophy of a book with no plot.
I end up buying books before flights to Hong Kong. Ever since I read through Les Miserables on a flight in high school, the 15 hour flight time becomes a luxury to chew through a book that might take months for me to get thru piecewise. Unfortunately, this book took me a year and a half to get through. I wonder if all Nobel Prize winning books are so dry.
I think though, that the Prize might have been for the few moments of clarity, where Xingjian pulls together guilty thoughts and emotions of being human, the ones I'd rather not think about, and drops them bluntly on the page with little adornment.
"I drink some tea and experience a moment of bitter regret. Maybe she will one day look me up, maybe not. However this chance meeting leaves me with a pleasant feeling. I would not pursue such an innocent young girl, perhaps I will also never truly love a woman. Love is too burdensome, I need to live my life unburdened. I want to find happiness but I don't want to take on responsibilities. Marriage always follows and then the tiresome anxieties and resentment. I have become too indifferent and no-one can make my blood surge with passion anymore. I suppose I'm getting old and there's only a bit left of what can barely count as curiosity, and there is a lack of desire to bring about an outcome. The outcome isn't hard to imagine and would end up being burdensome. I would rather drift here and there without leaving traces. There are so many people in this big wide world and so many places to visit but there is nowhere for me to put down roots, to have a small refuge, to live a simple life. I always encounter the same sort of neighbours, say the same sort of things, good morning or hello, and once again am embroiled in endless daily trivia. Even before this becomes solidly entrenced, I will already have tired of it all. I know there is no cure for me." --Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian
Mar 2, 2008
Palo Alto Afternoon
Woke up late and with the flu, so drove down to University Ave. in Palo Alto to get an attemptedly healthier lunch (perhaps also to assuage the guilt after a week of chili fries in Salt Lake City). Reminded me of how comfortable it can be here.
Couples walking down the street. Strollers with twins. A pair of big poofy Chows waiting for their owner in front of the Apple store. College girls in short skirts or skinny jeans shopping in the 20C weather. Teenagers hanging out and smoking in the park. A homeless guy with a "NAM VET" sign and a blaring boombox singing "I'm not a hippie..". Flowering trees against a brilliant blue sky. Al fresco dining at 3 in the afternoon. A couple with cakes in front of Satura Cakes, a kid eating a grilled pork chop outside of Pasta?, two girls with a big plate of nachos in from of Andale. Four odd middle aged korean women in designer clothing and tall boots.
That and a big flank steak salad with a pecan chocolate tart means it's time to go back for an afternoon nap.
Dec 13, 2007
Obsessive Compulsive or How to Roll Your Own NAS
So here's a story of why I usually tell people to buy a Dell instead of building your own computer. If you're only interested in setting up a NAS, just skip to the last section.
The History
Up till last year I had archived almost all my data on optical media, first burned on CD-ROMs, then on DVD-ROMs as they became more affordable. However, as the stacks of CDs grew, I found myself getting impatient swapping through CDs or DVDs to look for some old file. Especially when it came to the photo library, this started becoming rather time consuming. There's also the risk that the dyes on the discs could break down over time and I'd risk losing the data.
With the rapidly falling price of hard disks, I figured I could use a RAID array of some sort to have all the data available "online", and maintain some level of safety for the stuff I'm emotionally attached to.
At the time, some consumer level NAS products were starting to become available. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage, which is basically a fancy term for a computer that sits around purely for the purpose of making files available on the network. The features I wanted were:
1. Some level of security against losing files (RAID 1 or RAID 5)
2. Fast file copies (Gigabit ethernet)
3. Convenience (constantly on -> low power)
4. Quiet (since it sits in my room)
5. Future proof (flexibility to upgrade or add disks)
6. Reasonably affordable
At the time, none of the products on the market really met all these needs; items notably 2,5 and 6 were usually missing. I should note that the current generation of products out there feature most of these, except maybe 5 still might be hard to find.
In any case, I figured I might be able to build my own for less than the retail models (around $800 for a 600GB Buffalo Terastation at the time). I ended up getting a $300 fanless VIA EPIA EN12000, which consists of a fanless CPU on a motherboard that had basic onboard graphics, video and audio (which I don't need), gigabit ethernet, 2 ATA controllers, and 2 SATA ports, allowing me to connect up to 6 hard disks. On top of this I needed to get a stick of RAM, a power supply, and some hard disks (I got 2 250GB SATA drives). I always wanted to find a small case that I could stick it all in, but I never actually found the perfect case.
The key to getting this to work was FreeNAS, a small FreeBSD package that fit in under 32MB (at the time). You install it on a USB stick, and boot off of it, and configure the settings via a web browser. I was initially impressed by how easy it was to install. Download the image, burn onto CD, boot from CD, and it works. From there you can install it onto a USB stick in a minute, and reboot and run from USB instead of CD. This left all the hard drive connections available for storage, instead of requiring one for the operating system. It also gave me a sense of security that if anything ever happened (like I lost the USB stick), I could replace it very quickly.
Anyways, this actually cost about the same as the 600GB TeraStation, except that I had 100GB less, and no case. And then it occurred to me that the hard drives were actually pretty hot, and noisy, and I wondered if it defeated the purpose of getting the relatively expensive fanless CPU and power supply.
The "Upgrade"
Well roll ahead a year and I've pretty much filled up the 250GB (they two drives are in RAID1, so I have 2 copies of everything). Now I can get 2 650GB ATA drives for $250. I imagined a simple upgrade. FreeNAS development has progressed, and I figured I could try a new version of that as well.
Downloading the latest build of FreeNAS, burning it to CD, and booting worked fine and only took a few minutes. I could see the updated web interface allowed for more features, and my data was still accessible. However, installing the OS to USB just wouldn't work. I did a quick search on the FreeNAS forums, and didn't find a solution. If I had spent more time searching, I could have found a solution and saved myself an entire day of trying to figure out what was going on.
I'd say FreeNAS has pretty good functionality, but it's not a commercial product, and it has a number of rough edges, and documentation is one of them. If you're technically adept and familiar with UNIX, it's surprisingly easy to use. If not, there's probably a number of places where there's a potential to get stuck. There is a bit of actual "documentation", but most of the knowledge is actually in forums where people discuss problems. It takes a bit more effort to delve in there and find the solution to your problem (although in retrospect, it's likely that someone has seen your problem before). In the end I figured out that I the installation was failing because the USB drive was plugged in when the computer was starting; plugging it in after FreeNAS was finished solved that issue. Oh well, at least I familiarized myself with FreeBSD in the process.
Since I didn't take the "upgrade" path (so as to not ruin my original settings, in case I messed them up), I had done a fresh install to a new USB disk, and it took me a little while to look through all the configuration settings and set them all to my liking.
After everything was working, I decided to add in the new drives, and... nothing, my computer wouldn't even POST with the new drives plugged in. After an evening of trying to figure out what was going on, I figured it was either a BIOS problem, or something wrong with the ATA controller on the EPIA motherboard, since it was fine as long as the disks weren't plugged in. I tried flashing the BIOS to a newer version, which seemed to hang for about a half hour, upon which I got impatient, reboot the machine, and found that it no longer POSTed at all.
So this leads to the first trip to Fry's, for a new $39 motherboard (let's call it #2) and CPU and finally, a case. Come home and set it up, and it doesn't turn on, at all. The motherboard has been returned before, so that's probably the problem. Go back to Fry's for motherboard #3 at $50, and manage to get that booting. I can boot into FreeNAS, but it hits a similar problem once I plug in my new disks. I finally search through the forums and realize I need to tweak the BIOS to disable the hard disks completely. If I had figured it out earlier, I probably wouldn't have bricked my EPIA. So fine, I get the machine set up almost completely, but two things bug the hell out of me. First, the fan on this CPU is blazingly loud. Secondly, this motherboard will not boot with a keyboard plugged in.
The CPU is a $55 Celeron 430, which is a fairly new design, and relatively power efficient. I measured the whole board to run at around 45W, which is much worse than the EPIA, which ran between 13W-17W. I figure if I lower the clocks, I should be able to get the CPU to a state where it can run without the fan. What I need is a better motherboard that allows some overclocking settings, so I get an ABIT branded motherboard #4 for $80. It's a slight improvement, since it allows booting without the keyboard, and I can overclock, but I can't lower the clocks any further. So it's back to Fry's for a Gigabyte motherboard #5 at $85, which has a pretty new G31 chipset. This one's got all the nice BIOS settings, and I can lower the clocks till the motherboard runs fine without a fan, and it's "only" using about 38W. Plus the motherboard has a nice smart fan feature that will actually turn on the fan when the CPU heats up (unlike the cheap #3 that had the fans on full power constantly). Great, except that FreeNAS crashes once it starts trying to boot from USB. It actually boots fine from CD. I try to get this working for a day, but I suspect it has something to do with FreeBSD 6.2 not supporting the G31 chipset.
So it's back to Fry's again for another Gigabyte motherboard #6, which is based on the older 945G chipset, has the same clocking features as the G31 version, and is only $55.
Conclusion: Roll Your Own NAS, the quick way
The current market for home NAS hardware is much broader than what was available a year and a half ago. There's a number of brands that will sell you a small box that can fit 2 disks for about $150 (without the disks). Higher end products like the most recent Terastation gives you about 1TB of storage for about $650. They're definitely much more convenient than my setup, they're more power efficient and they're much smaller too. I never ended up finding a nice small case that fit perfectly, so I ended up with a standard PC case.
The power consumption problem is not too bad. My system draws between 38W-70W. The Buffalo Terastation runs at about 60W. The Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ draws around 26-50W.
On the plus side, I have 4 disks, but still have space for 2 more disks, plus I have PCI and PCIe slots to add SATA controllers, so I could potentially have a lot more storage. The main benefit though, is that I know even if my CPU or motherboard fails in any way, I can replace it with pretty much off the shelf parts to get my data back (I may have some trouble in terms of getting the perfect quiet system though). My coworker got a $150 Linksys NAS200 that just died on him after a couple of months. I'm hoping he's lucky and that the NAS200 runs Linux, he might be able to set up a Linux machine and get the data back off of his drives.
Here's my build your own NAS cookboook:
1) Get a Celeron 430 processor, around $50
2) Get a Gigbyte GA-945GCMX-S2 motherboard, around $55
3) Get 512MB of DDR2 memory, about $15
4) Get a 64MB or more USB memory stick. You might have these lying around, you can probably get one for a few bucks or free somewhere.
5) Get a case and power supply. I got a CoolerMaster Elite 330 for $40 and it has a lot of drive bays.
6) Get as many hard disks as you want.
7) Put the system together, hook up a CD-ROM drive (just borrow one).
8) Download and burn FreeNAS onto a CD
9) Boot the FreeNAS CD
10) Insert USB stick
11) Follow the FreeNAS menu to install the OS on the USB stick
12) Turn off the machine and remove the CD-ROM, put in
13) Plug in the network, turn on the machine, and use the menu to set the IP address
14) From another computer on the network, you can access the FreeNAS machine with your web browser, and you're on your way.
One other interesting product that came out fairly recently is the Intel D201GLY2 motherboard. It's got a low end Celeron 220 soldered on, runs at about 19W and sells for $70. It's got 1 ATA and 2 SATA ports, 10/100 ethernet (no gigabit), and 1 PCI slot.
At this point, I might try to recover the BIOS on the EPIA board. If I can manage to do that, I might set up a second system to leave at my parent's house. I'm theorizing I can get my box to sync with that one, so that I'd have an extra level of security, in case something physically happens to my box here.
The History
Up till last year I had archived almost all my data on optical media, first burned on CD-ROMs, then on DVD-ROMs as they became more affordable. However, as the stacks of CDs grew, I found myself getting impatient swapping through CDs or DVDs to look for some old file. Especially when it came to the photo library, this started becoming rather time consuming. There's also the risk that the dyes on the discs could break down over time and I'd risk losing the data.
With the rapidly falling price of hard disks, I figured I could use a RAID array of some sort to have all the data available "online", and maintain some level of safety for the stuff I'm emotionally attached to.
At the time, some consumer level NAS products were starting to become available. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage, which is basically a fancy term for a computer that sits around purely for the purpose of making files available on the network. The features I wanted were:
1. Some level of security against losing files (RAID 1 or RAID 5)
2. Fast file copies (Gigabit ethernet)
3. Convenience (constantly on -> low power)
4. Quiet (since it sits in my room)
5. Future proof (flexibility to upgrade or add disks)
6. Reasonably affordable
At the time, none of the products on the market really met all these needs; items notably 2,5 and 6 were usually missing. I should note that the current generation of products out there feature most of these, except maybe 5 still might be hard to find.
In any case, I figured I might be able to build my own for less than the retail models (around $800 for a 600GB Buffalo Terastation at the time). I ended up getting a $300 fanless VIA EPIA EN12000, which consists of a fanless CPU on a motherboard that had basic onboard graphics, video and audio (which I don't need), gigabit ethernet, 2 ATA controllers, and 2 SATA ports, allowing me to connect up to 6 hard disks. On top of this I needed to get a stick of RAM, a power supply, and some hard disks (I got 2 250GB SATA drives). I always wanted to find a small case that I could stick it all in, but I never actually found the perfect case.
The key to getting this to work was FreeNAS, a small FreeBSD package that fit in under 32MB (at the time). You install it on a USB stick, and boot off of it, and configure the settings via a web browser. I was initially impressed by how easy it was to install. Download the image, burn onto CD, boot from CD, and it works. From there you can install it onto a USB stick in a minute, and reboot and run from USB instead of CD. This left all the hard drive connections available for storage, instead of requiring one for the operating system. It also gave me a sense of security that if anything ever happened (like I lost the USB stick), I could replace it very quickly.
Anyways, this actually cost about the same as the 600GB TeraStation, except that I had 100GB less, and no case. And then it occurred to me that the hard drives were actually pretty hot, and noisy, and I wondered if it defeated the purpose of getting the relatively expensive fanless CPU and power supply.
The "Upgrade"
Well roll ahead a year and I've pretty much filled up the 250GB (they two drives are in RAID1, so I have 2 copies of everything). Now I can get 2 650GB ATA drives for $250. I imagined a simple upgrade. FreeNAS development has progressed, and I figured I could try a new version of that as well.
Downloading the latest build of FreeNAS, burning it to CD, and booting worked fine and only took a few minutes. I could see the updated web interface allowed for more features, and my data was still accessible. However, installing the OS to USB just wouldn't work. I did a quick search on the FreeNAS forums, and didn't find a solution. If I had spent more time searching, I could have found a solution and saved myself an entire day of trying to figure out what was going on.
I'd say FreeNAS has pretty good functionality, but it's not a commercial product, and it has a number of rough edges, and documentation is one of them. If you're technically adept and familiar with UNIX, it's surprisingly easy to use. If not, there's probably a number of places where there's a potential to get stuck. There is a bit of actual "documentation", but most of the knowledge is actually in forums where people discuss problems. It takes a bit more effort to delve in there and find the solution to your problem (although in retrospect, it's likely that someone has seen your problem before). In the end I figured out that I the installation was failing because the USB drive was plugged in when the computer was starting; plugging it in after FreeNAS was finished solved that issue. Oh well, at least I familiarized myself with FreeBSD in the process.
Since I didn't take the "upgrade" path (so as to not ruin my original settings, in case I messed them up), I had done a fresh install to a new USB disk, and it took me a little while to look through all the configuration settings and set them all to my liking.
After everything was working, I decided to add in the new drives, and... nothing, my computer wouldn't even POST with the new drives plugged in. After an evening of trying to figure out what was going on, I figured it was either a BIOS problem, or something wrong with the ATA controller on the EPIA motherboard, since it was fine as long as the disks weren't plugged in. I tried flashing the BIOS to a newer version, which seemed to hang for about a half hour, upon which I got impatient, reboot the machine, and found that it no longer POSTed at all.
So this leads to the first trip to Fry's, for a new $39 motherboard (let's call it #2) and CPU and finally, a case. Come home and set it up, and it doesn't turn on, at all. The motherboard has been returned before, so that's probably the problem. Go back to Fry's for motherboard #3 at $50, and manage to get that booting. I can boot into FreeNAS, but it hits a similar problem once I plug in my new disks. I finally search through the forums and realize I need to tweak the BIOS to disable the hard disks completely. If I had figured it out earlier, I probably wouldn't have bricked my EPIA. So fine, I get the machine set up almost completely, but two things bug the hell out of me. First, the fan on this CPU is blazingly loud. Secondly, this motherboard will not boot with a keyboard plugged in.
The CPU is a $55 Celeron 430, which is a fairly new design, and relatively power efficient. I measured the whole board to run at around 45W, which is much worse than the EPIA, which ran between 13W-17W. I figure if I lower the clocks, I should be able to get the CPU to a state where it can run without the fan. What I need is a better motherboard that allows some overclocking settings, so I get an ABIT branded motherboard #4 for $80. It's a slight improvement, since it allows booting without the keyboard, and I can overclock, but I can't lower the clocks any further. So it's back to Fry's for a Gigabyte motherboard #5 at $85, which has a pretty new G31 chipset. This one's got all the nice BIOS settings, and I can lower the clocks till the motherboard runs fine without a fan, and it's "only" using about 38W. Plus the motherboard has a nice smart fan feature that will actually turn on the fan when the CPU heats up (unlike the cheap #3 that had the fans on full power constantly). Great, except that FreeNAS crashes once it starts trying to boot from USB. It actually boots fine from CD. I try to get this working for a day, but I suspect it has something to do with FreeBSD 6.2 not supporting the G31 chipset.
So it's back to Fry's again for another Gigabyte motherboard #6, which is based on the older 945G chipset, has the same clocking features as the G31 version, and is only $55.
Conclusion: Roll Your Own NAS, the quick way
The current market for home NAS hardware is much broader than what was available a year and a half ago. There's a number of brands that will sell you a small box that can fit 2 disks for about $150 (without the disks). Higher end products like the most recent Terastation gives you about 1TB of storage for about $650. They're definitely much more convenient than my setup, they're more power efficient and they're much smaller too. I never ended up finding a nice small case that fit perfectly, so I ended up with a standard PC case.
The power consumption problem is not too bad. My system draws between 38W-70W. The Buffalo Terastation runs at about 60W. The Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ draws around 26-50W.
On the plus side, I have 4 disks, but still have space for 2 more disks, plus I have PCI and PCIe slots to add SATA controllers, so I could potentially have a lot more storage. The main benefit though, is that I know even if my CPU or motherboard fails in any way, I can replace it with pretty much off the shelf parts to get my data back (I may have some trouble in terms of getting the perfect quiet system though). My coworker got a $150 Linksys NAS200 that just died on him after a couple of months. I'm hoping he's lucky and that the NAS200 runs Linux, he might be able to set up a Linux machine and get the data back off of his drives.
Here's my build your own NAS cookboook:
1) Get a Celeron 430 processor, around $50
2) Get a Gigbyte GA-945GCMX-S2 motherboard, around $55
3) Get 512MB of DDR2 memory, about $15
4) Get a 64MB or more USB memory stick. You might have these lying around, you can probably get one for a few bucks or free somewhere.
5) Get a case and power supply. I got a CoolerMaster Elite 330 for $40 and it has a lot of drive bays.
6) Get as many hard disks as you want.
7) Put the system together, hook up a CD-ROM drive (just borrow one).
8) Download and burn FreeNAS onto a CD
9) Boot the FreeNAS CD
10) Insert USB stick
11) Follow the FreeNAS menu to install the OS on the USB stick
12) Turn off the machine and remove the CD-ROM, put in
13) Plug in the network, turn on the machine, and use the menu to set the IP address
14) From another computer on the network, you can access the FreeNAS machine with your web browser, and you're on your way.
One other interesting product that came out fairly recently is the Intel D201GLY2 motherboard. It's got a low end Celeron 220 soldered on, runs at about 19W and sells for $70. It's got 1 ATA and 2 SATA ports, 10/100 ethernet (no gigabit), and 1 PCI slot.
At this point, I might try to recover the BIOS on the EPIA board. If I can manage to do that, I might set up a second system to leave at my parent's house. I'm theorizing I can get my box to sync with that one, so that I'd have an extra level of security, in case something physically happens to my box here.
Nov 24, 2007
Inspiration
Tonight I walked outside and looked up. High altitude clouds, like waves in the sand, stretched in all directions, veiling the brilliant full moon and dispersing its halos across the sky.
After a day of big, thick, low hanging clouds, the sky felt so open and so far away.
I was out in the suburbs of Cupertino, but for a moment I recalled the open skies of Kashmir. There the mountains were a little taller, the sky a little darker, and the people a little more hospitable.
In August I piggybacked a trip to our company's Pune office with a photography workshop by VII photographer Gary Knight.
I really had very little idea of what the workshop was like. Other than that it was in Kashmir, and had something to do with photojournalism and storytelling, and it was not for beginners. When I saw the website in May, I just thought "Damn, this is f!@#ing cool", and filled in the registration without too much thought.
A few days later, I got a reply regarding the registration, was out $1000 in deposit, and I emailed the coordinator (whom I later discovered was Gary's wife) with a few more questions. I got this as a reply, and although initially I felt like this description still left a lot of holes about workshop, in retrospect I'd say it's perfectly accurate:
"With regard to an average day I'm not sure there's any such thing with Gary's workshops. They're not structured in a classroom style and a lot will depend on who the participants are and where they are with their photography.
The way it normally works is that everyone has a meeting with him when they arrive (it's to your advantage to arrive the evening of the 22nd as you could then see him either pm on the 22nd or am on the 23rd and be out shooting the same day. Before you arrive you should research some story ideas. Often what you end up photographing is not what you set out to do but it's a really useful exercise in getting you focused and off the starting block.
Gary talks with everyone individually and gets an idea of their photography and what they hope to achieve in the week. You'll then work with a fixer on your story (if necessary) and go out and start work. In the afternoon/early evening there's an editing session followed by dinner with the group. It's all fairly convivial and open to change."
Unfortunately, I slacked off with the preparation for most of June and July, and by August I found myself scrambling preparting for the work part of the trip, that I really didn't have much preparation at all for the photo part. I did use the trip as an excuse to get some new gear (Canon Rebel XTi, and a the 10-22 EF-S lens). I had thought, maybe when I'm in India for work, I can catch up on my research on Kashmir, but really, that didn't happen.
The one interesting tidbit I picked up was an Indian Express (delivered daily to my hotel) about independence in Kashmir. Another editorial expressed desires of reunification between India and Pakistan (it was approaching the 60th anniversary of India's independence from the British Empire.
So as the plane headed through the mountains towards Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, I had a great sense of trepidation. The greenery below and the blue skies above were a far cry from the vast stretches of slums in Mumbai and the brown-grey haze over Delhi. The Kingfisher airline flight landed in the small airport, alongside military jets and helicopters. It's one of those airports where attendents roll a staircase on wheels up to the door of your plane, where you disembark and entire an empty hall, guarded by men in army fatigues and submachine guns. While you wait for someone to cart in your luggage, you fill in registration forms for foreign nationals, as locals pester you with offers of beautiful houseboats that are cheaper than the one you already have booked. At this point I was still a little hesitant to mention why I was there. I didn't want to be accidentally mistaken as a journalist, who tend to be less welcome than tourists.
I had email confirmation that Gary had arrived. I had the address of the houseboats I was supposed to head to. I had a fair bit of Indian currency. I had the expectation that there would be a driver to pick me up. But as I walked out of the single building arrivals terminal, along a long driveway to a gate thronged with rickshaw drivers, I really felt like I had absolutely no clue what would happen next.
After a day of big, thick, low hanging clouds, the sky felt so open and so far away.
I was out in the suburbs of Cupertino, but for a moment I recalled the open skies of Kashmir. There the mountains were a little taller, the sky a little darker, and the people a little more hospitable.
In August I piggybacked a trip to our company's Pune office with a photography workshop by VII photographer Gary Knight.
I really had very little idea of what the workshop was like. Other than that it was in Kashmir, and had something to do with photojournalism and storytelling, and it was not for beginners. When I saw the website in May, I just thought "Damn, this is f!@#ing cool", and filled in the registration without too much thought.
A few days later, I got a reply regarding the registration, was out $1000 in deposit, and I emailed the coordinator (whom I later discovered was Gary's wife) with a few more questions. I got this as a reply, and although initially I felt like this description still left a lot of holes about workshop, in retrospect I'd say it's perfectly accurate:
"With regard to an average day I'm not sure there's any such thing with Gary's workshops. They're not structured in a classroom style and a lot will depend on who the participants are and where they are with their photography.
The way it normally works is that everyone has a meeting with him when they arrive (it's to your advantage to arrive the evening of the 22nd as you could then see him either pm on the 22nd or am on the 23rd and be out shooting the same day. Before you arrive you should research some story ideas. Often what you end up photographing is not what you set out to do but it's a really useful exercise in getting you focused and off the starting block.
Gary talks with everyone individually and gets an idea of their photography and what they hope to achieve in the week. You'll then work with a fixer on your story (if necessary) and go out and start work. In the afternoon/early evening there's an editing session followed by dinner with the group. It's all fairly convivial and open to change."
Unfortunately, I slacked off with the preparation for most of June and July, and by August I found myself scrambling preparting for the work part of the trip, that I really didn't have much preparation at all for the photo part. I did use the trip as an excuse to get some new gear (Canon Rebel XTi, and a the 10-22 EF-S lens). I had thought, maybe when I'm in India for work, I can catch up on my research on Kashmir, but really, that didn't happen.
The one interesting tidbit I picked up was an Indian Express (delivered daily to my hotel) about independence in Kashmir. Another editorial expressed desires of reunification between India and Pakistan (it was approaching the 60th anniversary of India's independence from the British Empire.
So as the plane headed through the mountains towards Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, I had a great sense of trepidation. The greenery below and the blue skies above were a far cry from the vast stretches of slums in Mumbai and the brown-grey haze over Delhi. The Kingfisher airline flight landed in the small airport, alongside military jets and helicopters. It's one of those airports where attendents roll a staircase on wheels up to the door of your plane, where you disembark and entire an empty hall, guarded by men in army fatigues and submachine guns. While you wait for someone to cart in your luggage, you fill in registration forms for foreign nationals, as locals pester you with offers of beautiful houseboats that are cheaper than the one you already have booked. At this point I was still a little hesitant to mention why I was there. I didn't want to be accidentally mistaken as a journalist, who tend to be less welcome than tourists.
I had email confirmation that Gary had arrived. I had the address of the houseboats I was supposed to head to. I had a fair bit of Indian currency. I had the expectation that there would be a driver to pick me up. But as I walked out of the single building arrivals terminal, along a long driveway to a gate thronged with rickshaw drivers, I really felt like I had absolutely no clue what would happen next.
Aug 27, 2007
Let me take you there
I don't know if one flies to the other side of the planet to find oneself. It was never really my goal.
What I did find though, was the end of routine.
Hopefully I'll remember enough to share it later.
Aug 18, 2007
Thoughts on flying
I think it's the relative efficiency of travel in North America - great highways and extensive air coverage, that you would never think of travelling for more than 24 hours at a time. Even flying from Toronto to Hong Kong, practically the other side of the planet, only takes around 18 hours.
So I didn't really expect that it'd take more than 36 hours to get to our Indian office. I think it didn't seem quite as long last time, since I stayed in a hotel overnight in between flights in Delhi. This time it was an 8 hour layover in Hong Kong, followed by a 3 hour drive from Mumbai to the office.
The highlight really was Hong Kong. I landed, got through customs quickly (it was 5am), got some HK dollars at an ATM in the airport and got on the Airport Express train to Central. The ticket is about US$20 for a single day round trip ticket (unfortunately, if you're not coming back on the same day, then it's the same price for a one way ticket). I was intending to go grab some wonton noodles, but ended up cabbing over to my uncles' place for a quick shower, hung out with my cousins for a while, and had a Shanghainese "brunch" with my grandmother before getting back on the Airport Express and getting back to my gate with plenty of time to spare.
Oh, and there's free wifi in the departures area in the Hong Kong airport.
On the topic of free wifi at airports, it seems like Northwest lounges don't secure their wifi, so hanging out around their lounge will get you free internet access. You can also find free wifi by the Fairmont Hotel located inside the Vancouver airport. I haven't found anything in the Toronto airport yet though.
So I didn't really expect that it'd take more than 36 hours to get to our Indian office. I think it didn't seem quite as long last time, since I stayed in a hotel overnight in between flights in Delhi. This time it was an 8 hour layover in Hong Kong, followed by a 3 hour drive from Mumbai to the office.
The highlight really was Hong Kong. I landed, got through customs quickly (it was 5am), got some HK dollars at an ATM in the airport and got on the Airport Express train to Central. The ticket is about US$20 for a single day round trip ticket (unfortunately, if you're not coming back on the same day, then it's the same price for a one way ticket). I was intending to go grab some wonton noodles, but ended up cabbing over to my uncles' place for a quick shower, hung out with my cousins for a while, and had a Shanghainese "brunch" with my grandmother before getting back on the Airport Express and getting back to my gate with plenty of time to spare.
Oh, and there's free wifi in the departures area in the Hong Kong airport.
On the topic of free wifi at airports, it seems like Northwest lounges don't secure their wifi, so hanging out around their lounge will get you free internet access. You can also find free wifi by the Fairmont Hotel located inside the Vancouver airport. I haven't found anything in the Toronto airport yet though.
Aug 11, 2007
A Good Day
Fly into YYZ, get picked up by my sister, have Shanghainese food for lunch, and a 3 hour pho dinner. It was a good day.
Wake up and chat with a reporter for 2 hours about journalism and photography, get some work done, pick up my shoes, dumplings, opera in the park, and dessert at Blowfish. It was a good day.
Climbing in the morning (although, I feel like I should have done better), where they played the entire Shins album, smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch, watching M&D pledge their undying love for each other, Congee Wong, wedding banquet, watching Garden State before going to the airport and (hopefully) getting my visa approved (again). It was a good day.
Thank God for good days.
Wake up and chat with a reporter for 2 hours about journalism and photography, get some work done, pick up my shoes, dumplings, opera in the park, and dessert at Blowfish. It was a good day.
Climbing in the morning (although, I feel like I should have done better), where they played the entire Shins album, smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch, watching M&D pledge their undying love for each other, Congee Wong, wedding banquet, watching Garden State before going to the airport and (hopefully) getting my visa approved (again). It was a good day.
Thank God for good days.
May 24, 2007
He says this is us
I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
-U2
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
-U2
May 16, 2007
May 9, 2007
Mar 20, 2007
I Bet Your Baby Drives Better Than You Do
Dear Lady,
Just because you had one accident, that "Baby On Board" sign won't save you from another. Let's think for a second what that sign really means. It suggests that you're carrying something valuable in that death-mobile of yours that careens wildly down the expressway. Obviously that nine months of your life (give or take a few is worth) more than the decades invested into that scientist, engineer, doctor, lawyer, sales clerk, or general miscreant you plan to wipe out of existence, without a mere glance to your mirrors, let alone blind spot.
Really, what do you expect that sign to accomplish? It's far too small to warn the world of either your 4-lane wide lane ego or lane change. You'd think flashing lights and a siren on a tank would be more appropriate to protect both your little bundle of joy and warn your fellow drivers to get the hell out of your way.
I would even go as far as to recommend putting some eyes and a brain on board that grinding metal box of destruction that you send flailing through the streets of California. On the other hand, maybe not. You know, just in case Jr. there miraculously survives to adulthood and wonders "what the heck was Mom thinking with that sign?"
Sincerely,
A Concerned Driver.
Just because you had one accident, that "Baby On Board" sign won't save you from another. Let's think for a second what that sign really means. It suggests that you're carrying something valuable in that death-mobile of yours that careens wildly down the expressway. Obviously that nine months of your life (give or take a few is worth) more than the decades invested into that scientist, engineer, doctor, lawyer, sales clerk, or general miscreant you plan to wipe out of existence, without a mere glance to your mirrors, let alone blind spot.
Really, what do you expect that sign to accomplish? It's far too small to warn the world of either your 4-lane wide lane ego or lane change. You'd think flashing lights and a siren on a tank would be more appropriate to protect both your little bundle of joy and warn your fellow drivers to get the hell out of your way.
I would even go as far as to recommend putting some eyes and a brain on board that grinding metal box of destruction that you send flailing through the streets of California. On the other hand, maybe not. You know, just in case Jr. there miraculously survives to adulthood and wonders "what the heck was Mom thinking with that sign?"
Sincerely,
A Concerned Driver.
Feb 18, 2007
Roast Suckling Pig
Unlike woe, I don't recall the fortune of experiencing the Chinese New Year festivities in Hong Kong. Miss CoolBeans asserts that her childhood memories of the celebrations are highly memorable.
I must have missed out in Toronto, but I can't complain here. Sizzling 74F/23C weather seems to be just the ticket to spur on a whimsical Saturday. Rock climbing, dim sum, and hanging out with the old crew. There was a celebratory air in the crowds at the taiwanese Ranch 99 supermarket, and the visible traffic and street parking around dinner time.
Really, I can't think of anything more to ask for... hm, maybe some red pockets? Must remember to ask for those tomorrow!
I must have missed out in Toronto, but I can't complain here. Sizzling 74F/23C weather seems to be just the ticket to spur on a whimsical Saturday. Rock climbing, dim sum, and hanging out with the old crew. There was a celebratory air in the crowds at the taiwanese Ranch 99 supermarket, and the visible traffic and street parking around dinner time.
Really, I can't think of anything more to ask for... hm, maybe some red pockets? Must remember to ask for those tomorrow!
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