Category Archives: General

MacBook零售價普查

Tech Zone

隨著新款Macbook相繼登場，筆者週二和週六將走訪各銷售點，提供最新報價！

(截至 3:30pm)

Apple Store
卡價。學生/教學人員送iPod Touch
新13″白 – $7788，教育價$7388。
新13″ unibody  – $9288，教育價$8488。有貨，週二買週五送貨。

旺角

西洋菜街 百老匯
卡、現金、分期同價
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – $7000
新13″ unibody – 未有消息
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 未有減價打算

西洋菜街 鐳射
現金「平少少」
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – $7400
新13″ unibody – 未有消息
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 未有減價打算

西洋菜街 豐澤
卡、現金、分期同價
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – 無
新13″ unibody – 約一週
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 未有減價打算

西洋菜街 New Vision
卡、現金同價
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – $7500 Display Unit
新13″ unibody – 約兩週
舊13″ unibody – $8488
*New Vision是眾多商號中唯一有員工知道13″ Unibody出左新機。不過位哥哥都唔知部機已經係’Pro’，令筆者有點失望。

旺電 Protech (113號)
現金減約5%
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – $7400
新13″ unibody – 無
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 未有減價打算

旺電 Ultimate (205號)
現金、EPS減約4%
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – 無
新13″ unibody – 月尾
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 未有減價打算

旺電 Inconix (318號)
現金95折、卡97折
新13″白 – $7800
舊13″白 – $7400 (Cash $7200)
新13″ unibody – 一週以上
舊13″ unibody – $10200, 可能減價

Note:
新13″白 – MB240ZP/A
舊13″白 – MB881ZP/A
舊13″ unibody – MB466ZP/A
新13″ unibody – MB990ZP/A

Who Wants to Buy a Mac through Retail?

Project n, Tech Zone, , ,

Is there even one reason to buy a Mac through a retail outlet in Hong Kong? Let’s see what you get if you buy retail instead of online,

– Not the newest model
– No free iPod Touch
– No educational discount. Even worse,
– Might not even get the retail price unless one pays cash

So unless one needs a Mac immediately–and mind you, WWDC is tomorrow–it’s almost certainly a better idea to buy online.

That said, if you really need to buy a Mac from retail, here is my very limiting recommendation,

Great – New Vision. Friendly staff and most importantly, there are currently offering the old White MacBook for HK$7000!

Poor – The computer store at the back of Mongkok Computer Center. Not only do they charge the retail price for the old White Macbook–and only when you pay cash–the staff is rude and ignorant. Don’t expect them to enlighten you on what’s new with Mac.

六四晚會：香港政治的諷刺…

General, Political Economy

去了六四燭光睌會那麼多年，我當然支持睌會的舉行。但支持並不代表對睌會沒意見。老實說，睌會每年的統籌都只是一般，而今年更是此平常更加一般。

音響效果 – 不知怎的，後半揚聲器不斷發出低音怪聲，又時不時有嚴重feedback。趙紫楊的錄音可能原本的質素已不是很好，結果聽起來就好像外星話。不知是事前測試不足，還是臨場壞機？

視覺效果 – 聽不到廣播，也應看得見台上活動吧？錯！大會只有兩個不太大的銀幕，在足球場後方不要說舞台，連銀幕都看不清。不是說今年籌得款項特別多麼？大會應做的，一是弄來大兩倍的銀幕，不然就弄多兩倍數目路銀幕。看不見又聽不到，那就真的不知去來幹嗎？

流程 – 摒除上述兩點不足之處，本年的睌會流程平心而論是比以往好，主要因為六四當事人佔的時間多。但所謂新一代的表現還是一如以往的不濟。當然，我可以理解有能力的青年人為甚麼不願出多點力…

睌會未能盡善可是令人十分的失望。很多人是第一次參加睌會，他們這次的感覺，會直接影響他們再次參加的意欲。參加人數的確是比以往多出許多，但這早在預期之內在。主辦單位應該盡地一鋪，扭盡六壬也要把晚會搞好。曾特首變相為晚會拉客，主辦單位卻又變相為晚會趕客，也許就是香港政治的諷刺。

我家小黑是改革開放功臣

General, Political Economy

我家的唐狗小黑今天二十歲生日。從小黑出生的那一天，小黑每大一歲，祖國GDP最少升個八巴仙。不幸的是小黑年事已高，近年多有連累祖國。去年打個噴嚏，來了個雪暴。五月的那個冷顫更是塗炭生靈。由此可見，小黑的健康絕對是興國利民之本。

上述當然是笑話一則。但近來社會上就是有人可以把一個更爛的偽邏輯言之鑿鑿說成事實。「沒有武力清場就沒有新中國」背後的理據，比起「小黑大一歲 = 8% GDP Growth」更站不住腳。假若前者就此成立，我的博士論文還用得著花那麼多時間寫？幸好為此背書的好像沒有經濟學家或統計學家，不然我得為我的專業重新打分了。

朋友，即使您認為當年是有清場的必要，即使您二十年來每年今日都不會去維園，還請您尊重您我他的智商，不要隨便拿祖國今天的成就來正當然化二十年前的那一夜。

Random Thoughts

General, Tech Zone

24
Alright let’s not pretend we couldn’t have guessed how the story would end. Silly politics. Unrealistic travel time. Bullet-speed conversations. And of course, Jack Bauer is always right, particularly when it comes to torturing for information. Still the gunfights are second to none, which is really the only reason why I continue watching the show.

American Idol
I did my part–voted twenty times with 5 different phones for Adam Lambert–but in the end Kris Allen triumphed over Adam. Personally I really like Adam’s final performances more than Kris’, particularly the last song “No Boundaries”. Now on the song, I actually like it somewhat. The lyrics are terrible–e.g. “Just when you’ve almost gave up on your dreams”–but I do enjoy the melody.

CSI:NY
I longer I watch this show I more I adore Gary Sinise, great acting. It is unfortunately that Emmanuelle Vaugier (Jessica Angell) is leaving the show, but at least fans will have the comfort that all the regular cast are staying, for now.

Storm Rider II (風雲II)
Due at the end of the year, this movies feels like one of Frank Miller’s, but made 10 years back. Seriously, these guys need to work more on the keying (aka “blue-screening”).



VirtualBox

Tech Zone

virtualbox

With my research on MMOPRG players comes the need to support multiple generations of Windows. I was getting so annoyed with quadruple-booting that I decided to virtualize everything instead. I hit on VirtualBox, a open source, cross-platform virtualization application. I have pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to setup virtualized, or guest, OS. It is really as simple as going through the normal setup of an OS, just within the window created by VirtualBox. Great.

That said, by giving out all these goodies for free no wonder Sun is in trouble financially…