一片綠油油的英倫風情!
Comments (0) 剛在網上看到的、一片迷人的British Green by Jaguar。:)
1/18 Minichamps XK, Autoart D-Type, XJ13, C-Type, XK-SS, C-Type #18, E-Type Series III, Road Signature XK140
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Joanna Wang 王若琳: I Love You
By admin, August 31, 2012 9:40 am
早上又聽到了這首記憶猶新的歌，其實大約10年前就聽過陶哲現場的表演，說真的，當時沒什麼感覺。
但這首重新編排和由同樣是來自台灣的創作歌手Joanna Wang的全新演繹則給人一種截然不同的感覺，奇怪的是王若琳的聲音竟然帶有些美國R&B的獨特滄桑，不看樣子還真會以為是個黑人女歌手。
VMware Returns to Per Processor License, vRam has GONE!
By admin, August 30, 2012 8:37 am
NO MORE vTax YEAH!!!
VMware finally has to face the truth: Sales Record is going Down and competitor Microsoft is chasing like a dog, almost onto its foot.
It’s a great start this week’s VMWorld 2012 by announcing the cancellation of vTax from VMW’s new CEO Pat Gelsinger and even the exiting CEO Paul Martiz said the vRam thing was indeed TOO COMPLICATED to implement.
So I am sure we will see 1TB/2TB ESX host to become a norm pretty soon and not to mention the cost per VM will be greatly driving down and become much more competitive than Hyper-V or XEN.
Bravo! It’s time to buy some more VMW now!
Finally, I can’t wait to attend the latest VMware conference in Hong Kong and experience those exciting new features from ESX 5.1!
PS. Congratulations to Equallogic, they have won The Finalist of the Category New Technology in VMworld 2012 Awards.
Update: Sep 10, 2012
VMware vRAM still in place for VSPPs
VMware isn’t completely “striking the word vRAM from the vocabulary of the vDictionary,” as CEO Pat Gelsinger said at VMworld. The controversial pricing model will still apply to those running vSphere in public clouds.Participants in the VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP) will continue to charge according to the amount of memory allocated per virtual machine (VM). Some service providers said they have no major problems with vRAM licensing and pricing because it aligns well with the public cloud’s pay-per-use business model.
“We’re fairly happy with where we are right now,” said Pat O’Day, chief technology officer of VSPP partner BlueLock LLC.
But a West Coast-based VSPP partner said VMware vRAM can put VSPPs at a disadvantage against other service providers, especially when it comes to high-density hosts.
“We’re seeing a lot of large service providers and industry players moving off of VMware and into open source … and that’s putting competitive pressure on us,” said the partner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
How VMware vRAM works for VSPPs
The VMware vRAM allocation limits for VSPPs are different from those abolished at VMworld, which were for business customers purchasing vSphere. For VSPPs, vRAM is capped at 24 GB of reserved memory per VM, and VSPPs are charged for at least 50% of the memory they reserve for each VM.
Also, unlike with the licenses for private organizations, VSPP vRAM is not associated with a CPU-based entitlement, and it does not require the purchase of additional licenses to accommodate memory pool size limits.
The infrastructure for BlueLock Virtual Datacenters runs on Hewlett-Packard servers, packing in 512 GB of RAM each. VMware licensing is a very small percentage of BlueLock’s overall costs, O’Day said. Given the 24 GB per VM cap, the company could probably add even more RAM to each server, O’Day said.
“But that’s not worth disrupting our business model to do,” he added.
VSPPs’ VMware vRAM reactionsVMware discontinued the wildly unpopular vRAM licensing and pricing model for business customers after more than a year of discontent. Some VSPPs worried the move away from vRAM on the enterprise side would also affect their businesses, according to an email one VSPP software distributor sent to service provider clients.
“We have received feedback from quite a few partners who have expressed concern to us over the announcement that VMware is moving away from vRAM,” the distributor said in the email, which was obtained by SearchCloudComputing.com. “The question to a person seems to be, ‘How does this impact me as a VSPP partner whose billing is completely based around vRAM?’ The answer is, not at all.”
But the West Coast partner, who received that email, said the cost of memory on high-density hosts can eat into VSPPs’ margins or force VSPPs to pass the costs on to end-user customers. This partner offers services including hosted virtual desktops that don’t run on VMware View, and vRAM can cost as much as $7 per gigabyte under this model.
“If you’re trying to provision a desktop with four gigabytes of RAM … the memory alone is $30,” the partner said. “You’re at a significant disadvantage as the market tries to bring the price down.”
Furthermore, the complexity of the licensing model makes it difficult to set the monthly costs of vRAM based on usage, the partner said.
“You basically hand VMware your wallet and let them take whatever they want,” the partner added. “… The pricing is so complicated, we have no way to estimate how much we’re going to pay VMware at the end of the month.”
In a blog post discussing the continuation of vRAM for VSPPs, VMware said the vRAM model allows service providers to sell more computing capability from the same infrastructure, and to control the memory oversubscription and service profit margin through allocated vRAM delivered to customers.
VMware vRAM timeline
July 2011: VRAM licensing and pricing model announced at vSphere 5 launch.
Aug. 2011: VMware increases vRAM limits in response to complaints.
Aug. 2012: At VMworld, VMware eliminates vRAM licensing and pricing for business customers.
賽車的種類 (轉文)
By admin, August 28, 2012 8:58 am
今天看到MC論壇magic1911的美文，又學到o野啦!
1.賽車是分成很多類的，有賽道耐力賽、方程式、拉力賽、爬山賽……..，而每大
類比賽又可細分出好几种小類來；2.單拿賽道耐力賽來說，不同的賽車可分成很多不同的組；
3.不同的分組規則是隨著時間改變的，以賽道耐力賽來說，60年代大致分：S組、P組、
GT組;70年代：gr1-gr5;80年代：A組、B組、C組；90年代到現在：GT1、GT2、lmp1、
lmp2。（我這只是個大致的分類，時間線不太准，分的也不細）4.在賽道耐力賽的這類分組中有一組賽車被稱作原型車組，60年代的P組、70年代的
gr.5組、80年代的C組、現在的lmp組就是這一類，這种車不做量產，只為比賽單獨
成產几輛。330P4屬于60年代的2.0+P組，原型賽車的一种；而GT40賽車（分MK1-4？？？記不清啦反正有好几种型號）有些型號屬于P組，有些屬于S組。因為GT40的有些型號推出過街車版，這种型號的GT40賽車被認為是高性能街車的改裝版，也就被分在S組了。而對于只出過几輛原型賽車的GT40型號，則被認為是P組。（gt40的MK1-4等，雖然樣子差不太多，他們在配置上可是相差的非常之大的，些型號要被看做是不同的車）
總之賽車的分組、規則、限制，非常复雜，而且經常性的會有所變化。此外1967年330 p4在比較大型的比賽上只在Daytona 24 Hours中贏了FORD和Prosche。lemans24h和Sebring 12 Hours都是FORD贏的，Targa Florio是Porsche贏的。而Ferrari就是從330P走下巔峰的，從此至今再也沒拿過lemans 24H的全場總冠軍。
Prince Original Graphite (POG) Long Body (LB) MidPlus
By admin, August 27, 2012 2:15 pm
It’s one of its kind among the rarest ones, I’ve seen it on TW once, but no longer for sell available now.
I’ve finally got a chance to test drive this POG LB MidPlus (100) yesterday, it belongs to my tennis friend’s collection, he bought this racket from the States about 10 years ago.
Somehow, it’s quite stiff than the usual POG Oversize, very powerful, lots of spin, but I still can’t really manage to hit the center well, probably due to it’s 28 inches length.It feels very much close to Michael Chang’s long body (the blue one with signature) but even heavier.
I noticed this POG LB comes with one green line stripe deco than 4 stripes on the normal POG and “GRAPHITE LB” printed on the stabilizer bar instead of “GRAPHITE”.
百度貼吧的汽車模型吧
By admin, August 26, 2012 10:55 pm
又是一個很多令人目不暇接大量圖片的好地方!
外型感覺頗有問題的Hotwheels Elite F355 Berlinetta
By admin, August 25, 2012 11:44 am
風火輪官網終於展示了法拉利F355 Berlinetta的圖片，這個系列將會有3種顏色，紅色X5477、黃色X5479和黑色X5478。
從外型看來，應該是援用了以前風火輪的舊模具，所以感覺外型不太準確，尤其是最重要的性感側面、完全失去了F355應有的吸引力。另外發現引擎前入氣孔跟之前的普通版一樣沒有用網狀鏤空，給人一種很玩具的感覺。
顏色方面暫時看來也有些問題，不解的是為什么不用法拉利F355耀眼的火紅色，而選擇這暗淡的深紅色﹖難道是照片的問題﹖因為之前的官網法拉利F348也是同樣問題，但拿到真實車模的時候並非照片的顏色。
看來10年前UT出的那些F355硬頂、敞篷和GTS們身價應該會持續高企，只因為型準遠大於內飾精密的原因，所以有UT法拉利F355的朋友們可千萬別現在低價拋售來買風火輪精細版的喔。
另外想說當年UT除了法拉利F355外，還有很多都是外型極之準確的精品，如法拉利550、Caprice和一眾不能不提到Porsche 993硬頂、敞篷、RS、Targa、GT2等!
惟妙惟肖的1比18車模人偶
By admin, August 24, 2012 1:35 pm
想不到現在俄國製作人偶Scale Figures的工藝已經達到了如此高的水平，但是我還是覺得中國人的雙手更加靈巧，絕對可以生產出比喝伏特加的民族更高一籌的人偶模型。
上星期在一間軍事場景模型鋪子就跟那裡的老闆閑聊時就提起過這事，我認為絕對是一條可行的財路!
好了，我看好中國大師們的傑作，等著你們的啦~我會第一個支持買的!
昂貴到不可思議的金色美國車模!
By admin, August 23, 2012 5:35 pm
這些都是屬于美國肌肉車模店老大Supercar Collectibles的獨家產品，早年制作的1比18清一色金色車模竟然最后的拍賣价過上万!
在現在美國經濟极度低迷的環境下，竟然還有人肯大把大把地花鈔票來購買心頭好，說明這個國家那1%富有的人真的還是相對地极之富有。
我不太清楚這些車模的文化和歷史，想必應該又是一种情意結吧，不過這次完全是老美的地道文化，中國人對于這种不精密甚至可以稱得上是簡陋的玩具最終成交价完全惊訝得吐舌頭!
1969 CHARGER DUKES OF HAZZARD GENERAL LEE 1:18 GOLD PLATED -VERY RARE SAMPLE CAR
US $2,351.00 [ 42 bids ]
ITEM #32485APG – 1969 DODGE CHARGER DUKES OF HAZZARD DIRTY VERSION GENERAL LEE 1:18 SCALE GOLD PLATED 1 of 1 SAMPLE CAR. It is called the “Dirty Version” as the replica car appears to have been driven on the dirt back roads of Hazzard County. This item is the original Gold Plated sample car made for Supercar Collectibles for the approval process. Only one Gold Plated sample car was made, and it will come with a certificate stating that this is the original sample car. Differences from the original 8 production cars, include “no production date” stamped on the chassis, and the stamp on the muffler stating “1 of 8″ is not there (the original 8 production cars had the stamp on the muffler “1 of 8″. This car has been out of the box, and handled by the staff at RC2 ERTL, and the staff of Supercar Collectibles, as part of the inspection and approval process. Being that this car is the sample car and prototype, it does have the typical inconsistencies with the application of the “dirt overspray” and finger prints on the left side of the roof, which blurred the General Lee imprint. This is all part of the originality of this one of a kind sample car.
A certificate will be included with the replica car, (with the auction winners name on it) stating that this is the original Gold Plated 1:18 scale Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Dirty Version, that was sent to Supercar Collectibles for the approval process.
1965 ED MILLER SUPER STOCK PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE 426 HEMI 1:18 GOLD PLATED #50899G
US $1,009.99 [ 13 bids ]
#50899G ED MILLER SUPER STOCK 1965 HEMI BELVEDERE. 1 OF ONLY 6 MADE and only 2 to be auctioned on eBay.
A gold plated 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Hemi Super/Stock car of Miller & Guenther. Winner of the NHRA World championship in 1967
This 1:18 scale die cast replica looks like it’s ready to run down the 1:18 scale quarter mile drag strip. A very detailed, gold plated lettered drag car made by Die Cast Promotions / Hwy 61 . All the race day decals are in place, the hood doors, and trunk open, driveshaft turns, battery is in the trunk, cables too.
It features a very detailed 426 Hemi cross ram motor, with spark plug wires, fuel lines, the fuel filters, 4 tube headers, and a real metal brake line going to the master cylinder. The doors open to a carpeted “no back seat” interior, detailed with a tach on the dash, and a 4 speed on the floor. Then around back the trunk opens to see the battery mounted in it, and the battery cables are there too. Underneath check out the open headers, rotating driveshaft, working suspension, narrow tires up front, and a pair of slicks on the rear. I myself just love those open headers. These are now here in stock ready to ship you, and your order is appreciated.
1965 ARLEN VANKE SS/C PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE 426 HEMI 1:18 GOLD PLATED #50901G
US $1,000.00 [ 18 bids ]
#50901G ARLEN VANKE SS/C 1965 HEMI BELVEDERE. 1 OF ONLY 6 MADE and only 2 to be auctioned on eBay.
#50901G – this is a 1:18th scale, 22K Gold Plated replica of 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Super/Stock Hemi (SS/C) car of Arlen Vanke, as raced in 1969, to beat the ZL1 Chevy boys. What do we mean? Keep reading…
The short version of the story is Chrysler contacted Arlen about building a car to beat the new ZL1’s that Jenkins and Strickler were running 10.90’s in, on the 11.31 class record. Chrysler hated getting beat, and needed Arlen to build a car for the NHRA World finals (coming up quick) as this event was the only place a record would be accepted by NHRA at the time. Arlen agreed to try and do it, but first he had to locate a ‘65 to start with, and then had to build it in a very short amount of time! Using the Golden Commando’s A/Stock back up car, and completely going to town on it to build a Super Stock car, Arlen pulled in to the event a bit late, but soon enough to compete. Without even firing it up prior to the first run, it was started, pulled to the line, and the car launched great but the 4 speed got stuck going to 2nd! So that was fixed, he pullled to the line again, launched again, hit 2nd (fine), hit 3rd – and the nose of the car dropped down, coasting to the finish. The record setting Saturday was over…
Arlen pulled out the 4 speed that night, found the problem, and was back at the track Sunday. Now only a record could be set if he was in the class finals, but he had his eyes set on it. Going through the field running 11:40’s or so (as if you went under the class record other than “record days” or “event finals” you were disqualified). Yes, he did make the event finals, and what a last run it was. No problems, just power to the pavement, the full quarter mile, and ran an oustanding 10.64 bettering the old record by .7 seconds! A Chrysler product had set a new record, and Arlen – was smiling.
This record setting car is in it’s race winning day Green Custom Paint by Greg with real “gold foil” lettering, and it looks like it’s ready to run down the 1:18 scale quarter mile drag strip. This is a very detailed fully lettered drag car made by Die Cast Promotions / Hwy 61 as a limited edition of 504 produced for Supercar Collectibles.
It features an opening hood with scissors style hinges, and a very detailed 426 Hemi cross ram motor. It has spark plug wires, fuel lines, fuel filters, 4 tube headers, real metal brake lines, and more. The doors open to a carpeted “no back seat” interior, detailed with a tach on the dash, and a 4 speed on the floor. Then around back the trunk opens to see the battery mounted in it, and the battery cables are there too. Underneath check out the open headers, rotating driveshaft, working suspension, narrow tires up front, and slicks on the rear. The front edge of the hood has actual gold foil lettering just like the real car did.
癡心 Leica迷 攝情記事 (轉文)
By admin, August 23, 2012 4:42 pm
清末創辦的南洋兄弟煙草後人簡永楨，銅鑼灣加路連山道孔聖堂就是他家族在1935年捐出的，他也是土地發展顧問公司的老闆，去年舉辦攝影展時，老朋友郭炳江也來撐場。他鍾情收集 Leica相機，同一款式他買兩部，一部用一部儲，放在家也放在保險庫收藏，相機與鏡頭共有240多件，連全球只有三部的 Luxus Hektor都是他的收藏之一。
記者：黃碧珊
攝影：梁志永
儘管市場不斷有新功能新款式的相機推出，每當問攝影發燒友他們的 Dream Camera是甚麼，相信十個有十個也會答是 Leica。因為 Leica在1925年推出的相機，奠定現代35mm相機基礎，現時大部份相機沿用這規格，而且是專業全畫幅（ full frame）相機中最細的。
1961年，簡永楨十多歲時，父親要送他一部相機，並讓他自己選擇品牌及型號，結果他揀了輕巧的 Leica M3，自此愛上攝影也愛上 Leica，「當時僅從外形上選擇」。淺水灣酒店及沙田龍華酒店等，變成他的練習勝地， Leica拍攝出來的照片對比效果突出，機身又耐用，從一而終變成 Leica收藏家。對簡永楨而言最有紀念價值的當然是昔日父親所贈的 M3，對此型號有份特別感情，不同款式的紀念版收藏他逾十部。汶萊蘇丹登基銀禧紀念時，特別訂製送給賓客的鍍金 M6，則買了兩部相連獨立編號，「一部用來珍藏，一部使用。」
天書也有多個版本
相機及鏡頭各約120件，簡永楨擁有共240多件 Leica產品，「部份會放在家中，有些則儲存於可容納四個人的大型銀行保險庫。」每次打算買新機前也要到家中或保險庫翻一翻，確認從前沒買過那個型號。 簡永楨擁有多本不同版本的「天書」，記錄了 Leica歷年推出的相機及鏡頭。訪問時，我問他展示的相機是哪年出品，他便按機身編號，從天書查出來，「這本1994年版本，是一個已故賣舊相機的英國 朋友有份製作，並送了一本給我；與官方版本最大的分別是，按罕有程度評分。」由 R1至 R10，評分越高越為特別。
今年5月在維也納拍賣會，標 誌 Leica首部面世經典相機、至今僅存12部的測試用途原型0系相機，便以全球相機成交價紀錄216萬歐元（約2159萬港元）拍賣，在天書中的評級是最 高級的 R10。「我沒有最高級的 Leica，但有 R8或 R9級別的。」雖然拒絕透露藏品的價值，但一部 R9級別的軍用 M1現時巿價約13.5萬元。他帶來其中11項珍藏讓我見識，7部相機及4個鏡頭的價值，都肯定超越記者的身家了。
因為攝影愛上旅遊
他的辦公室掛滿他拍的旅遊照片。「六十年代可以去外國旅行是一件興奮的事，記得當時去日本也帶着部 M3。」數碼機 M9，菲林機 M6 MP、 R7、 R6.2及首部擁有的 M3都是他現時常用的旅行機，「通常只帶一部相機及一支廣角鏡」。前年去伊朗帶了兩部相機及數支鏡頭，算是最大陣仗了。
平日工作滿是工程的規劃計算，旅遊時簡永楨喜歡拍靜態環境，他笑說：「我是個感性的人。」鍾愛充滿古物、古蹟或大自然的地方，像敍利亞、伊朗、秘魯、不丹等較古樸國家，就算已發展國家也選擇到鄉郊之地，如法國酒莊、澳洲大紅石等。
前年年底，簡永楨到墨西哥看瑪雅遺址，以 M9配上24/1.4廣角鏡，拍攝數百幅相片，部份照片加上瑪雅文化的闡述印製成書，並舉辦影展。
他的公司就是他的長期展覽場，接待處、影印間、走廊、甚至員工的開放式辦公室，也掛滿他的作品，「沒有機會經常旅行，看着照片可回味當時情況。」當是在講求急速無誤的辦公室裏，留有一點空間抒發他的感性。
簡永楨珍藏
【二戰德空軍專用菲林機 IIIC K】為應付北方嚴寒天氣，德軍要求 Leica生產特別的空軍專用相機， IIIC快門配上低溫使用的滾珠。每部相機編號後加上 K字，以及加上 W.H.德軍簡寫作辨認。391609K產於1943年二次世界大戰期間，當時物資短缺，為減少鉻的使用，將外殼塗上黑灰色。現時網上拍賣價約6000美 元（約4.68萬港元）。
【首批800部菲林機 M3】M3是 Leica的經典之作，由1954年至1966年共生產約22萬部，編號從700000開始，簡永楨擁有的其一部是700545，屬首批生產800部之 一，保留需拉兩次桿才可過一張菲林的雙撥快門設計，其後改為一般相機拉動一次的單撥。現時首批 M3的網上拍賣底價約7800美元（約6.1萬港元）。
【全球僅三部 Luxus Hektor】產於1929至1931年，以早期 I型號為藍本，銅機身配蜥蜴皮外殼，共生產了95部。簡永楨擁有編號48404 Luxus，原為德國一名參軍闊少所擁有，曾帶上戰場拍攝敵軍情報，在95部中僅得三部原裝配用的 Hektor鏡頭，其他的都是 Elmar鏡頭。
【戰後德軍版 M1】沒有測距器的機身，較 M3及 M2結構簡單的 M1，1959年推出銀色版專供科學研究、顯微攝影。其後配上綠色外殼作軍用相機，分別在1960年、1961年及1964年各生產50、75及83部， 合共208部，背面刻上 Bundeseigentum字樣，是「聯邦財產」的德文。現時網上拍賣價約17274美元（約13.5萬港元）。
【汶萊蘇丹登基銀禧紀念版 M6】1994年，汶萊蘇丹為紀念登基25周年，特製350部鍍金 M6送給特別嘉賓，機身頂部刻有兩個黑及紅色的汶萊皇室徽章。每部機設兩組編號，2001XXX為 Leica生產編號， HB-XXX則是汶萊蘇丹編號， HB解作 His Majesty Brunei（汶萊陛下）。現時網上拍賣價約2萬美元（約15.6萬港元）。
【蔡司測試機 M4】1967年，推出 M4改善 M3及 M2裝底片方法，將小轉軸改為固定軸心，而且迴片扳手由齒輪改為較方便的拉起轉動，簡永楨認為實用性較高。德國鏡頭品牌蔡司為測試鏡頭與相機的配 合，1970年特別訂了五部 M4作測試之用，在機頂刻上的型號與編號中加上「 M及大白點」以茲識別。
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