Wangjianshuo.com Backup Plan

This blog is my most important digital assert. I cannot imagine what happens when it crashes someday, or I lose all my data. So backup is critical for me – even more critical than my bank account. Here is the backup plan. I hope it is also helpful to other bloggers like me. It also reveals some backstage information about the architecture of this blog.

Home.wangjianshuo.com

Critical Server Information:

Hosting Started at: 28-Mar 2006

Current Hosting Plan Ends at: Sat 28-Mar-2009

Host provider: bluehost.com

Download Database Backup

I guess this is even more important than file backup. So I will do it first everytime.

Here are the links to the 5 database I have on this server:

926

bbpress

blog

blogcn

public

It should be named as backup-sql-databasename-m-d-yyyy.tar

A typical file size should look like:

backup-sql-926-3-20-2007.tar 37,305

backup-sql-bbpress-3-20-2007.gz 39,926

backup-sql-blog-3-20-2007.gz 5,984,544

backup-sql-blogcn-3-20-2007.gz 2,487,559

backup-sql-public-3-20-2007.gz 954,123

Daily File Backup

I should transfer data from this URL:

http://69.89.22.102:2082/getsysbackup/daily.tar.gz?restoretype=daily

to this URL:

D:\jswangmy\Web\History and Backups\backup-home.wangjianshuo.com-2006-03-20.tar

Please make sure the backup file using the backup tool is always named as backup-home.wangjianshuo.com-yyyy-mm-dd.tar.

Home Directory Backup

Instead of the Full Backup, I found the Home Directory Backup Even more helpful, since most of the (huge) data outside my home is useless for me.

That is from:

http://69.89.22.102:2082/getbackup/backup-wangjianshuo.com-3-20-2007.tar.gz

to

d:\jswangmy\Web\History and Backups\backup-home.wangjianshuo.com-dir-3-20-2007.tar

Backup Wangjianshuo.com

Hosting Provider: ipowerweb.com

It is less strait forward than the bluehost.com. You have to enter an email address at

https://host169.ipowerweb.com:8087/panel/host/backup (new window)

and email you when the backup is created.

I have put the backup files in the backup folder. So the only thing I need to do is to click the backup file to download it.

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/backup/ (Password required, of cause)

I Have a BIG Hosting Account

Look at this:

public_html/home 6142.90 Meg

public_html/translate 861.92 Meg

public_html/user 126.04 Meg

tmp/webalizer 83.62 Meg

tmp/awstats 77.74 Meg

tmp/cpu_exceeded_logs 12.39 Meg

tmp/mysql_slow_queries 2.64 Meg

It seems I need to spend some time to kill some of these files to make sure the system is not over-sized. Although I have 200G of disk space, but that does not mean I always have 200G disk space on local computer to keep the backup, and not to mention the bandwidth and time to wait to download.

Then by a closer look, I found this:

public_html/user/mt-user/error_log 126.01 Meg

Well. It is a single file, and it is 126M in size. Not good.

Then I found out this:

public_html/home/axs/log-backup.txt 398.03 Meg

public_html/home/axs/log.txt 307.42 Meg

There are two log files, and their sizes are 398M, and 307M. Not good. I will kill them.

After killing these three files, I already saved almost 1G of data. So, how important to periodically check the sites, and make sure there is no hidden problems.

It is the same for a business or personal life.

Translate folder is also a big folder, but I only need to backup one file in it. The other 750M is useless.

The whole BBS is nothing. It is just some program files. There is only one folder that need to be really taken careful. That is my_templates

Cookbook is nothing. I shouldn’t start some test project on this important server. Since it is there, let it be..

There is another domain called new.wangjianshuo.com. I don’t know when I created, but I don’t think there is nothing in it. It caused backup problem. So delete it.

After checking the top level domain, the only folder that really matters is public_html. So in the future, I will only focus on back up this folder.

Some Interesting Reading

I didn’t read too much recently (I mean on website). The abundance of information turned Internet from a book into a endless maze. I often follow a link just like a cat chasing the wool ball, and forget where I was, and even where I am going. I don’t like this kind of reading experience. Reading is turned into glancing, and my limited attention was evenly distributed to 20 sites and 200 articles (article titles to be more exactly), so I almost read nothing.

Well. Recently, I did spend some time to read some high quality blog, and got some interesting articles, like this:

Mark Suster’s experience with Venture Capital (via Feld’s blog).

How interesting. People often think they have the privilege to be superior to others – as a manager? as an interview? or simply as a customer? They show completely different attitude to different people. Maybe this is called civilization. Interesting post, and I like Mark’s description that turned the experience into a vivid blog post.

This is also via Feld’s blog:

Deal Size

What is particularly interesting for me is,

Brad and I have been doing early stage investing since the late 80s (me) and early 90s (Brad).

This may be a standard opening sentence of many articles in U.S, but investing from 80s is amazing for me. What does China look like in early 80s? The change with name “Reform and Opening Up” just happens, and people just enjoy to have the right to “make money” – I mean more money than the country wide same-salary approach. If you see how big the change is, you can see how much the opportunity is. It is not easy to compete with someone who have accumulate professional skills for 20 years. However, in China, in many fields, it is blank market with no strong professional. So there are huge opportunities. That is what I see this market.

Bus from Luoyang to Zhengzhou

There are at least one bus from Luoyang to Zhengzhou every hour.

Here is the schedule.

Schedule

Start from Luoyang. The travel time is 2 hour and 30 minutes, just good for watching a DVD on the bus – if you include the annoying TV commerical interval in the DVD.

7:00

8:00

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

Where is the Bus Stop

The bus stop in Luoyang is at the Tianying Hotel (天鹰大酒店) at Jinghua Road and Wanzhong Road (景华路皖中路). There is a small shop selling tickets, and you won’t miss the place – there are many huge buses waiting there from morning to night.

The Bus

Inside the bus:

The seats:

They have drinking water on board:

and best of all, they have toilet on board:

This is the bus:

The Bus Stop in Zhengzhou

The Bus Stop in Zhengzhou is near the Minhang Hotel (民航大酒店). It is just one cross road away. You can transit to the Airport Bus there. The interval is 30 minutes, and the price is 15 RMB to get to the airport (it takes 70 RMB to take taxi there).

The Trip

The trip was good.

Other Routes

I am Back in Luoyang Now

At the last minute (several minutes after we wake up on the first day of the New Year), we decided to go back to hometown instead of staying in Shanghai for 7 days.

I am in Luoyang, my hometown, and the capital of China for more than 9 dynasties…

There are limited Internet access, so I am be Out of Blogging for several days.

My flight back to Shanghai is on Feb 22, 2007.

So hope you have a peaceful, and “idle” Spring Festival.

The Year of Pig Comes

The year of 2007 is the year of pig according to the lunar calendar.

Let me use Keso’s Google style Piggie Year Greeting Card to send my new year wishes to you.

Image created by Keso

May you have a fruitful new year!

P.S. I just lit up the firecrackers. It is the biggest firecrackers I have ever had – 3000+ of them. Wendy and I were so happy to watch the fireworks in my garden, and I am as happy as a child. It is so good to have a New Year!

Happy New Year via SMS

With technology, people can send more greeting faster, and easier. However, I do doubt about the message it get crossed. If I can send 1000 new year greeting using the time I do it for sending just one card, the value of the card to recipient maybe is only 1/1000 of it, or even less.

SMS was a fashionable way to send New Year greeting. I checked each SMS I got, and I appreciate the card, and will send out a reply personally. However, I feel disappointed when I see so many SMS on my mobile.

In the last two hours, I put my mobile in the bedroom, and when I check it, I saw this:

There are 52 New SMS (in the last two hours). When I took the picture, upload it to flickr, and start to write, it went up to 60.

Well. Among them, like 50% of them does not show up with a name in my mobile – only the telephone number. That means, their telephone number is not on my mobile. Some didn’t put a name, so I totally have no idea about who they are. How sad. The even more sad SMS are, they have a name and a company name, but I still don’t know who they are.

I am pretty sure about how they did it – find a SMS people send to them, change the signiture, and have the mobile to send it to everyone in his contact list. I don’t know how much name card I distributed – maybe 1000 in my last year (I used up several boxes). In a Donews meeting, I may send out 100 name cards, and get about 100. That is the reason I received those SMS. My Nokia 6670 had really slow CPU, so it takes long time to open all those SMS…

When technology helps people to get things done easier and faster, it still cannot replace the human. Just as photography helps to capture image easier, the understanding of beauty was still as hard. When Social Network Software, and all kinds of software helps to make communication easier, human’s feeling like love and hate still works exactly the same way as 1000 years ago. I agree technology helps, but cannot replace what human has to do.

Anyway, Happy New Year!

Two Year Ends

There are two year ends in China.

One is Dec 31, the last day of the western calendar.

The other is today, the last day of the 12th month in lunar calendar. (I don’t think I should also call it December).

This year end seems to be more like the last day since it allows more time (7 days) to take a break. Many business also shutdown, and so do my friends, so it provides a better environment to really take a rest, and do some reflection.

This is THE moment for people to return home and reunion with their families. The peak of transportation for returning people will sharply goes down, and be ready for the next return peak 7 days later.

Reading Books

Today, I start to read some books, like The Importance of Living (1937) By Lin Yutang. It is a great book. It expresses simliar philosophy toward life as Alan De Botton in The Art of Travel. To be more exactly, it is the wisdom of living from long time ago in the history. I’d like everyone who are interested in Chinese culture to read this book. It explains a lot of interesting things in China and compare it with the western culture.

The book was written in 1937. So many things changed after 70 years. It seems current Shanghai is more like New York and Boston in terms of culture, and is completely from the values of traditional Chinese culture. For example, the “cult of idle life” disappeared from daily life in Shanghai. A idle afternoon is nothing compared to 10 dollors of business for many people.

I feel like a Lin when I try to bridge the western and eastern culture, however, I don’t have the wisdom to see through the true difference, and how to brigde it culturely. So let me just start by introducting some handy information first…

So, have a great Chinese New Year (if you celebrate it in your country/area/region).

It is Approaching to the Year End

Tomorrow is the last day of the Chinese lunar year. After that, is 7 days of Spring Festival Vacation, from Feb 18 to Feb 24.

P.S. Yesterday, I got an email asking me about my suggestions of how to get to the Great Wall during his one week of Shanghai business trip. I know he will be surprised if I tell him that it is in another city (Beijing) which is two hours of flight away. The Great Wall is still about one or two hours’ drive from the airport.

The similar questions I received from email were:

1. How much does it cost to hire a taxi to go from Shanghai to Chengdu.

2. Does Shanghai has electricity supply. …

I am used to questions like this. Sometimes, people just need some basic information about a completely new city. I happen to be willing to help.

My Top 5 Favorite Streets for Walk

Along with my favorite road, I have the Google Map Satellite Image with you. If you want to see clearly where it is, you can click the “-” minus button to zoom out.

No 1: Xinhua Road 新华路, Xuhui District

Xinhua Road is always quite, and peaceful. There is almost no business along the road, and the tree forms a deep and green tunnel. It is splendid especially in springs.

No. 2: Huashan Road 华山路

No. 3: 复兴西路

No. 4: Kangping Road 康平路

Kang Ping Road does not seem to a road in a big city. It is more like a village, with few traffic. Actually, it is the heart of the area.

No. 5: Yong Jia Road 永嘉路

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am not a person who enjoy too much of a western holiday. However, Shanghai is moving fast to embrace any holiday possible, from Christmas, to Women’s day.

Today, the Xujiahui area is full of a special atmosphere – the smell of love? It is even more crowded and busy, and it seems every girl (OK. Not every, but many) has a handful of roses on the street.

So, happy Valentine’s Day!

Motel 168 Going Public?

After dinner, and open TV, I noticed a piece of news on China Business Network (CBN) channel:

Motel 168 is going public this third quarter, aiming to raise 100 million USD. Morgan Stanley will be the underwriter.

I also find a piece of news here.

Home Inn (HMIN) was just listed, and I believe Motel 168 is a good hotel. I remember one of the first Motel 168 Hotels was opened near my home, and I visited it immediately. It is a good hotel, with more modern design than Home Inn, and the color design is more lovely.

You can see from the pictures I took three years ago. Interesting news. Going NASDAQ seems to be destinaty of any “promising” company, while they all avoid Shanghai Stock Exchange or Shenzhen’s.

Disclaimer: Don’t treat it as an investment advice.

Bought Sony DAV-DZ820KW

Here is the list of feature on the Sony website about DAV-DZ820KW. I don’t understand more of the terms. I believe most people feel the same for specification of computer component.

  • S-DIAT (Sony Digital Infrared rays Audio Transmission Technology) Wireless Surround Speakers, brings you the “non-compressed” and “no interfered” close-to-original digital sound
  • Digital Cinema Auto Calibration – Silver Grade (DCAC) was developed by Sony to automatically measure and adjusts the speaker settings to your listening environment in a 30 second. The accuracy on speakers to the best listening position is within 2 cm – fast & accurate
  • 7 kinds of Speaker Formations fit different sharp of the rooms and get the best surround sound effect
  • Unique upgraded 32bit S-Master Full Digital Amplifier, delivers close-to-original sound quality and more powerful audio performance
  • New Portable Audio Enhancer with Front Input enhances portable music enjoyment and make sound from portable audio clear and better
  • Digital Cinema Sound (DCS) -Cinema Studio EX A/B/C
  • HDMI Terminal Output , full digital audio and visual signals transmission, maintains the best Signal-to-Noise (S/N) level and ensures the perfect AV signal quality
  • Incorporates Upscaling function by HDMI, the SD video signals 480i and 576i can be upgraded to HD video signals 720p and 1080i
  • Power Output: 142Wx 5 + 180W x 1 + 130W x 2, Total 1150W(RMS 10% THD)
  • Karaoke function with Microphone Input x 2
  • Multi-channel Super Audio CD, Stereo Super Audio CD Playback
  • DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW (VR/ Video Mode), DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL (Dual Layer), VCD, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, JPEG & DivX Playback
  • A/V Sync function eliminates time-delay between picture and sound
  • Decode Format: Dolby PRO LOGIC / Dolby PRO LOGIC II / Dolby Digital / DTS
  • 12 bit / 108 MHz Video DAC
  • Precision Cinema Progressive (NTSC/PAL)
  • 30 Radio Stations Preset (FM 20/ AM10)
  • Front / Surround Speaker:

    Floor Standing Design ; 2-Way Bass Reflex Speaker System ; 3 ohm Impedance

    Built-in 1 x 2.5cm Nano Fine Tweeter Unit and 7 x 10cm Bass Speaker Unit

    Speaker Cable Length: 5m (Front Speaker) ; 15m (Surround Speaker)

  • Centre Speaker:

    Slim Design with DSP ; 1-Way Closed Box System ; 3 ohm Impedance

    Built-in 3 x 8cm Speaker Unit; Speaker Cable Length: 5m

  • Subwoofer Speaker:

    Passive speaker design

    1-Way Bass Reflex Speaker System; 1.5 ohm Impedance

    Digital Direct Twin Drive (DDTD) Sub-woofer

    Built-in 16 cm Speaker Unit; Speaker Cable Length: 5m

  • Input Terminals:

    Aution Calibration Microphone / Audio (Line In) / Microphone x 1

    Microphone x 1

    Optical x 1

    Coaxial x 1

    Composite x 1

    Audio x 1

  • Output Terminals:

    HDMI x 1

    Component x 1

    S-Video x 1

    Composite x 1

  • Dimensions (W x H x D) (mm):

    Main Body: 430 x 55x 390

    Front Speaker with stand (Long): 280 x1200 x 280

    Centre Speaker: 380 x 47 x 61

    Rear Speaker with stand (Long): 280 x1200 x 280

    Subwoofer: 240 x 374 x 375

    Surround Amplifier: 280 x 280 x 60

  • Weight (Kg):

    Main Body: 4

    Front Speaker with stand (Long): 4

    Centre Speaker: 0.5

    Rear Speaker with stand (Long): 4

    Subwoofer: 6.7

    Surround Amplifier: 1.6 / 0.45

Nanpu Bridge

I searched for “Nanpu Bridge” in Google. Surprisingly, I didn’t see an entry from my site for this topic. I should not be. I believe there should be at least one entry for most any topics in Shanghai in the first page of Google! (Just kidding. I am not that ambitious). However, I found out I really didn’t write about the bridge, which I drive by twice every day in the last three years.

The Three Circles

The most memorable experience to drive along the bridge is the three circles on the Puxi side. You go three one or two or three full circles before you get onto the bridge (depending on where you come from). It is amazing to feel your body is thrown to one side of the car door for like two minutes or longer. From Google maps, you can see this part:

Image in courtesy of Google Maps

P.S. If you are interested about how I added the map, use this code but be sure to get your own map API key.

<script src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=2&key=google_map_key” type=”text/javascript”></script><div id=”map” style=”width: 640px; height: 480px”></div><script type=”text/javascript”>if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById(“map”));map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl()); map.setCenter(new GLatLng(31.210117,121.497175), 18, G_SATELLITE_MAP); }</script>

Photos of Nanpu Bridge

This is the photo of the typical H-shaped Nanpu Bridge.

Photography by Wendy Fan

Photography by Wendy Fan

The view from top of the bridge:

Sun set on the west of the city:

Getting on to the bridge:

Leaving the Nanpu bridge:

Nanpu Bridge is symoblic because it is the first bridge connecting the west and east part of the Huangpu River.

You can still get onto the top of the bridge with an elevator. The cost is 5 RMB, and it opens from 8:30 to 5:30 PM. Once upon a time, it was an important attraction for Shanghai. However, recently, fewer and fewer people visit the bridge, since the view from the bridge to the Pearl Tower is completely obstructed by high-rising buildings between them.

Thanks for Giving Credit to Me…

From technorati.com, I noticed an reference to my blog at http://www.zhouhongquan.cn/. In his first blog, he mentioned he wanted to setup a blog using my template and style. Finally, at the footer of every page, he put a disclaimer like this:

© 2007 Hong Quan Zhou. Some rights reserved. Template design inspired by Wangjianshuo Blog

I appreciate Hongquan sensitivity about copyright, and his effort to show contest to people who contributed. I’d like to say thank YOU for doing the right thing on the Internet. It definitely helps people to create a better Internet.

BTW, Hongzhou seems to be a very nice guy. He skillfully adopted the template and was careful enough to change some small things (like the little E (which means edit) under the footer of each page) so it fully worked. I also like the posts (although there are just 8 of them), and learnt PIPES from his blog.

My Learning Curve…

Every blog started with inspiration and help from other blogs. As I put it in many places, my blog was inspired by a blog called russianlegs.com (it is not accessible today). Later, most of the template and settings (including the current entry URL format) were inspired by Andres. The simplicity of this blog is very like his, although it is completely different now. I remember at the first I just put his CSS to my blog to try if it works, and this caused Andres to write an article called: Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery…, and I wrote:

I was a Called Copier Today.

Wow. That was in Sept of 2002 – a long time ago. 5 years ago, I was not as mature as today, and that was the time I seriously studied “credibility”. I am so happy that Hongquan paid enough attention to it and “give credit to where credit is due”. This is really great.

P.S. I just find out many links in my previous entry was not available. The domain names do not work, and you can only see “seo parking” pages… Yes. 5 years means a lot on the Internet space.

DVD and Movie

In the recent year, I found more and more Chinese movies uses the approach to issue DVD the same time as the movie. By “issue DVD the same time”, I mean when the movie hits theater, it can also be purchased on DVD in super markets at pretty cheap price. This is a new model that does not happen in most countries.

It works this way. When there is major release of a Chinese movie in theater, you can buy the DVD (not-pirated) in super market, department store, and other channel.

Their price is also low. For example, the newly released movie costs 15 RMB (2 USD). The same pirated DVD are 5 RMB – 8 RMB. In this case, most people still like to buy the genuine version of the DVD.

Also, the distributors are fighting with pirated DVD on timing. Some issue their DVD along with the film, so for many people, they have the choice to either buy DVD (genuine) or go to theater.

According to a report, these genuine DVD sell millions of copies and these money flows back to the movie maker.

Although these DVD are very cheap, they have many advertisement. On the cover, back and inner page of the package, there are many printed advertisement. Inside the movie, people still need to watch about 5 minutes of TV-commercial (which you cannot skip). The advertisement supported distributing model is also interesting.

I have a feeling that on this land, there are many new models to be tested. It may be the future of the audio-visual industry.

Maybe I am wrong…

The Painted Veil Movie

Recently watched the Painted Veil DVD, for twice.

It is a very good movie, and I love the conciseness and the details of the movie. It is the few touching movie I have seen. Zhang Zhang was very correct, that it is the movie directors should make.

Highly recommendate!

Should I Drive in Shanghai?

Ken asked:

Just starting to gather info for a trip 4 of us are taking to Shanghai in August. Should we plan on getting a car and driving around the countryside during our 1 week stay?

My short answer:

Ken, I don’t know where you come from. My suggestion is, never think of driving a car in Shanghai, even in countryside if you are not from China. That can be exciting, and challenge, also dangerous. 1 week is too short for you to get used to the road system in Shanghai. You know what, even people from nearby cities like Hangzhou or Suzhou need to help a guide to sit in their car to find the destination.

For people from left driving countries, it is challenging. I tried to drive in Australia, it was not too hard, considering the relatively lower traffic, and better traffic rules. If you drive in Shanghai, it is not that easy.

Even if you come from a right-hand driving places, you need some time to get used to the traffic rules. Here are some tips for you if you really insist:

1. Slow down or prepare to stop when you see green lights. Green lights do not garentee a clear path to go through.

2. Always be considerate to pedstrains no matter what kind of rules they break. Watch out for people on the street. Their understanding is, if they are in the street, and cars should slow down. Don’t take it for granded that they will yeild.

3. Be focused and always read be ready to stop.

For more about driving in Shanghai, I hope my section about car and road helps:

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/car.htm

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/roads.htm

Good luck!

Best Shanghai Eatery Streets?

10:09

stephen posted some streets named and asked me to translate them into Chinese. It is said they have the best eateries in Shanghai.

Dong Jia Du Lu 董家渡路

Renmin Lu 人民路

Yong Jia Lu 永嘉路

Xiangyang Nan Lu 襄阳南路

Hefei Lu 合肥路

Jinan Lu 济南路

Zhaozhou Lu 肇周路d to the list

Si Nan Lu 思南路

Huai Hai Zhong Lu 淮海中路

Tai Kang Lu 泰康路

Personally, I didn’t remember any special eatery on any of the street. What I do know is:

Dong Jia Du Lu was a nice place for silk, and clothes. They were recently shutdown also.

Ren Min Lu is the circle road that runs around the old Shanghai – “old” means very old, like one thousand years.

Yong Jia Road, and Si Nan Road are my best place for a walk in the afternoon. They are simply two of the most beautiful streets in Shanghai.

Tai Kang Lu is the art street with a lot of art companies, and workshops.

Huai Hai Zhong Lu is the shopping street.

Can anyone provide more information about eateries on the street? I am just not a eater, and don’t know much about where to go eating…

Eric is in New York

From Eric’s blog, he is flying to New York. He posted two pictures, which does not seem to be true – it is more like a 3D model.

Photograph by Eric Zheng

Photograph by Eric Zheng

Few days ago, when Eric chatted with me on MSN, he said he was going to New York. I asked why. He simply said the cheap flight ticket is good. He cares more about the cheap flight ticket, and the trip is even like a side-result of the flight. :-) So he is there!

It reminds me of the cold winter in New York in 2004.

Look at what I have here for that winter:

  1. Taxi in New York City
  2. Life in New York is Tough for Me
  3. Subways in New York
  4. Skyscrapers in New York
  5. I am in Shanghai
  6. Cold New York
  7. New York Pictures
  8. Christmas Eve in New York City
  9. New York – Day 2

P.S. Recently found new blogs

  1. Xiang Li
  2. Estelle Yang

We had lunch at Hengge’s home last Sunday.