星期日, 7月 19, 2009

用了五年的 KUROBOX 硬碟終於遞出辭呈

今天一直看到遠端機器出現硬碟讀取錯誤,找了一下原因發現事遠端mount上來的網路磁碟機,已經開始發生硬體錯誤,算一算五年來24HR不停的工作,肩負了家中主機跟伺服器的temp跟cache功能,幾乎是不段讀取的狀態下,撐了五年硬碟才掛點,真該幫他鼓鼓掌。

這台kurobox不單單是nas,他其實做了很多不想讓一般主機硬碟太早掛點的事,我把其他機器上面的站存根cache都移到他身上,當然也包括了24hr不關機的file server跟bt與emule。由於p2p軟體非常的傷硬碟,當初的規劃是用到死,卻沒想到,這一用就是五年多,五年多來這台小機器居然撐了過來,在不通風的機櫃裡面,沒有冷氣吹,雖然他全速的功率也才17w,但是hdd本身得溫度就很高,在封閉空間裡面,他沒當過機,都是router先掛掉。

寫一下這機器的簡史,他是我當初在日本自己帶回來的,玄人志向的改裝部品,換裝debian LINUX,掛上httpd、smb、nfs之後,作為家中檔案伺服器之用,後來添加的media server、fileserver、p2p server都是利用他當作暫存跟動態存去之用,在24hr日以繼夜的操勞下,撐過了五年多的苦難歲月,如今即將卸下工作,進我的博物館了。

後續的要換哪一台呢?目前還沒確定,不過有可能改換ramdisk機型作為相同功能的小伺服器,但是唯一的問題就是,目前32gb的ramdisk實在太貴,可能用hdd到天荒第老都還回不了本.....加上使用上還有發生過很多次自爆的經驗,實在讓我有點擔心,慢慢再來規劃好了,反正目前所有的機器就先靠自己撐下去吧!

星期三, 7月 08, 2009

簡單的極致,pomera 文字處理機

隨著現在各種通訊設備跟電腦的價格降低,我們手上拿的東西也越來越複雜,可以做的事很多,也常常面臨到樣樣精卻少一味的感覺。

記得很多年前使用ppk + palm v的時候,可以拿來打出一篇文章,作筆記的感覺,現在幾乎沒有人這樣使用,甚至連ppk那個等級的輸入設備也都買不到了,取而代之的事cost down過後的產品,華麗,卻有著質感上得不足。

這次分享給大家的,其實是一個cp值低到不行的東西,他真的只能輸入文字,連pim的pda都稱不上。不過也因為如此,也讓我感受到設計這個產品者的用心,他只有一個目標,「最好的攜帶型文字處理機」。

冗長又無意義的開箱文我們就直接忽略,進入本題。

本體大概是電子字典大小的樣子,後面可以比較一下sharp最新的彩色電子字典比較,甚至面積上面還小一號。不過這個機器的天蓋事考漆得金屬,有很多顏色可以選,我手上的這一台是黑色的。而機身的部份,使用翻毛漆塗裝,不沾油也不沾指紋。放在桌上的質感真的很棒,也不會有晃動的地方。

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正面非常的簡潔,只有他自己的名字微微透出「pomera」。

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側邊的角度看起來也很漂亮,很有精品的感覺。

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打開上蓋,可以看到螢幕的其實並不大,感覺有點稍稍失望,不過這個螢幕有他特別的地方,我們後面再談。機身一片黑烏烏,除了貼在上面的說明貼紙外就沒有什麼東西了。

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螢幕邊框有點大,總覺得要是那邊也屬於顯示範圍,應該會有更好的表現。

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背面的端子部份,因為他使用兩個四號電池,所以沒有充電的必要,但是一樣有usb接口、跟microSD插槽作為主要的傳輸方式,裡面唯一的檔案就是TXT標準文字檔,沒有別的了。

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要開始使用的時候,按下側邊的按鈕,就可以打開固定鍵盤的扣榫。

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接下來就會自動彈起來。

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用手掀開之後,就換看到鍵盤浮現了。

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機構跟我之前與大家分享的另一個對折鍵盤很類似,不過這個產品的邊框都是金屬製的,外面加上翻毛漆,質感真的很不賴,同時活動也非常的流暢,沒有不順的感覺。

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攤開來之後,就是完整的工作環境,鍵盤跟10吋的eeepc大小完全一樣,但是加上特化的文字工作能力:「高反差與高解析度lcd」、「20hr以上的兩顆四號電池工作時間」、「全尺寸的鍵盤」、「媲美thinkpad的堅固輸入底座」,都一再的表示,這是一個極致的文字輸入器。

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螢幕採用的是高反差與高解析度lcd,看起來跟eink的質感非常接近,同時具有將近180度的可視範圍,作為文字閱讀或是編輯,都有極佳的表現。同時因為是tft lcd,所以不會有eink更新遲緩的問題,更加適合進行編輯動作,或是長時間閱讀。

螢幕的解析度是640*480,字型有三段變化,輸入法當然沒有中文,不過日文的atok、ms-ime都支援,是用過之後,真的是非常完整的文字輸入功能,加上鍵盤的快速鍵,複製、貼上、剪下、取代,都是針對文字編輯所放置的功能。

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昏暗燈光下,閱讀一樣非常的清楚,但是他並沒有背光,跟電子書一樣,需要靠環境光閱讀。

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背面的鍵盤下面有強化支架,打起字來,穩如泰山,本體不搖不晃,加上回饋深度也夠,作為長時間輸入也非常舒服,我認為鍵盤的穩固度遠遠超過市面上一般的NB。

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除了第一次按下去的扣榫之外,操作過程沒有任何扣榫,連l型的輔助支架都是輕輕一推就可以收起來。

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旁編的是sharp的彩色電子辭典AC890,相較之下真的華麗許多。

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不過螢幕的精細度跟可閱讀性就差別有點大了。

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兩台放一起,會發現,sharp ac890甚至還要來的大一點。

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再跟fujitsu u2010放在一起看看,其實還真的大小都是屬於同一個範圍的。但是u2010可以跑很多的應用程式,上網也很方便,不過比到鍵盤的話,這方面就差很多了,pomera遙遙領先。

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在這個年代,針對特定功能的特化機型已經幾乎不存在了,我想以後也很難看到這一類的產品。不過針對一件事作好的執著設計,也是頗值得大家參考。

星期四, 7月 02, 2009

美國資深經理人對於來源資料的價值感有所改變

Execs Go Online for Business Intelligence

JULY 1, 2009
Internet = Information

Getting the most up-to-date business information has always been important for business executives. In the past, they scoured newspapers and the trades for information and insights on trends and developments. But now, to find information fast, they turn to the Internet.

According to the “Rise of the Digital C-Suite” study from Forbes Insights and Google, the Internet has become the most valuable information resource for US executives.

Information Resources that US Senior-Level Executives Find Valuable, March-April 2009 (% of respondents)

Online ranked ahead of at-home and at-work contacts, personal networks, trade publications and outside consultants as an information resource. Newspapers and magazines trailed behind.

When it comes to locating business information online, search engines were rated higher than other digital tools, such as blogs, social networking sites and subscription search services.

Information Sources US Senior-Level Executives Find Valuable for Business Research, March-April 2009 (% of respondents)

The most important information executives searched for online was competitor analysis (53%), followed by customer trends (41%), corporate developments (39%), technology trends (38%) and compliance and legal issues (26%).

Surprisingly, 53% of executives preferred to gather information themselves rather than delegate research tasks to employees.

“Senior executives of all ages found the Internet to be a profoundly useful tool,” wrote the survey authors.

Online information sources will likely grow in importance, as executives under age 50 use new media tools more often than their older counterparts.

英國電視、網路媒體的起伏變化

Delivering Digital Marketing

JULY 1, 2009


Karin von Abrams
eMarketer Senior Analyst
Friends, not cannibals.

The two-day DDB conference in London, sponsored by Broadcast magazine, brought together representatives of the UK government, the BBC, BSkyB, ITV, Virgin Media and other broadcasters with executives from Hulu, NBC Universal and Google. Media agencies and consultancies also took part.

Inevitably, the spotlight was on the relationship between TV and online viewing.

First, some remarkable facts:

  • Google is effectively the UK’s eighth-most-popular TV channel in terms of audience attention—and its revenue per hour is 30 times that of commercial channel ITV1. (This from Kip Meek of Ingenious Consulting Network and a consultant to the team behind the “Digital Britain” report.)
  • The BBC iPlayer carried 44% of all video streams seen on UK PCs in 2008, according to David Elms, head of media practice at consultancy KPMG.
  • Outright piracy is rampant. Oxford Economics calculated that in March 2009 alone, online theft of UK TV content was worth £531 million ($982 million). Moreover, 25% of all online TV piracy is estimated to take place in the UK.

So is TV at war with the Web?

UK Consumers Who Have Watched a Music Video on YouTube in the Past 12 Months, by Age and Gender, March 2009 (% of respondents in each group)

Broadcasters have certainly felt hard done by, as they saw their expensive content posted online without their say-so. Ad revenues for commercial broadcasters have fallen sharply and continue to tumble. Broadcasters also feared that people viewing online would spend less time watching television.

That turns out not to be true.

Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBC Universal, shared details of NBC viewers’ media behavior during the 17 days of the Beijing Olympics. Extraordinary usage around the clock enabled NBC to gather a wide range of data. Working with research firm Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), the broadcaster monitored a number of individuals watching Olympics coverage on TV, the Web, a mobile phone or a video-on-demand (VOD) device.

Among the conclusions drawn at NBC:

  • The Web and other new technologies are ushering in a new “golden age of media,” in which multiple media usage is the norm.
  • TV is still king—across all generations. Viewer numbers and audience engagement levels are higher than ever.
  • Consumers expect multiplatform content—though most will not consume it on all devices.
  • Technical capability does not equal consumer interest. If you can’t offer simplicity and a great user experience, don’t bother.
  • Broadcast TV and the online channel can be best buddies. The Web does not replace traditional TV; it complements and extends it. NBC found that the more platforms viewers had, the more TV viewing of the Olympics rose.
  • Cross-platform ads really work, boosting brand recall and message recall in viewer samples by 40% or more.
  • Mobile TV viewing is coming to the mass market. But not yet.

Similar data on viewers’ perennial loyalty to TV content came from a study by the UK Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK) and broadcasting industry body Thinkbox. So the war is off, and a new consensus is emerging among TV broadcasters and content owners: If you can’t beat them, join them. The new mantra is about monetizing content across various platforms.

Broadcasters still struggle to do this, of course. But at least they are developing business models that tackle the problems head-on.

Teen and Young Adult Internet Users in Select Countries Who Prefer to Watch Online Video on TV Channel Websites*, September-December 2008 (% of respondents)

For example: Carolyn Fairbairn, director of corporate development and strategy at ITV, said that the company saw two ways to grow profits in the brave new multichannel world:

  1. Selling more content globally, including online
  2. Moving viewers away from personal video recorders (and the ability to skip ads) and toward VOD

ITV estimates that VOD will account for between 12% and 20% of all UK TV viewing by 2012. Another estimate, from UKTV, puts VOD viewing at about 10% of the total in 2013.

ITV is counting on the chance to insert pre- and midroll video ads into VOD content. It is also following the development of micropayments—which may give broadcasters a chance to claw back some of the revenue lost to the online channel.

Finally, it was heartening to see satellite broadcaster BSkyB unfazed by the threat of “new media.” Rob Webster, director of channels and operations, said that Sky considers its subscription model “absolutely sustainable.”

Meanwhile, Sky will continue to promote high-definition (HD) television—partly because even non-HD television viewing appears to rise in HD households—and will develop “addressable ads” for launch within two years. Because it can profile the viewing interests and habits of its subscriber households, Sky will be able to sell ads matching those interests and charge advertisers a premium.

For now, in the UK at least, TV and Web are sitting at the same table.