It's a dark day

As expected, Beijing had a rain after 110 days' drought, which cast the sky in dark. As planned, we had a job laid-off in China, which cast our hearts in dark. I still can't comfort myself since some of my friends are let go. I don't wanna comment much here since the stories behind the facts are beyond my imagination. I just say "You guys are the best. Good luck!".

Sun's Q2 FY09 Financial Results

(The following words only represent my own opinions, which has nothing to do with the ideas of Sun Microsystems.)

Our CEO Jonathan Schwartz just wrote about Sun's quarterly financial results in his blog.
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/q2_fy2009
As expected, it's mixed as the world is in the recession. But the results do show strong growth businesses of Sun, from Java to Mysql, from Solaris to xVM, from CMT to x64 to Open Storage. I see Solaris plays an important role in the growth, not just Solaris subscription billing itself. Solaris enables the functionality of xVM, CMT and Open Storage.
And I really appreciate the insight in the blog.
"Like the market for traditional storage, the networking marketplace is characterized by very high prices, proprietary software and restrictive hardware platforms - exactly the environment in which open source software and commodity components create choice and competition, welcome changes for customers seeking budgetary and technical relief."
Will we have Open Switch based on OpenSolaris in the future just like Open Storage? I don't know. The market should determine it.
The company is on the way of reshaping itself, transforming the innovation into the revenue.

Farewell to 2008

It's time to say goodbye to the year 2008. It's an amazing year for the world. "Earthquake", "financial crisis","Olympics","Omaba", all of these have become the keywords of the year. For me, what does it mean? It's my third winter in Beijing, my second year to work at Sun after graduation. I acquired more opportunities to develop myself. I started to conquer projects independently, coach other engineers and expose myself more outside the team.

Looking forward, I think the year 2009 is a really challenging year ahead. Everybody understands the impacts of the recent financial crisis are significant for the industry, especially for the company. The global economy is sure to slow down. I'm part of a U.S. company who relies a lot on its Wall Street customers, so of course 2009 will be full of uncertainty to me. I can't tell myself what's going on in the near future. But one thing I can promise is that I will continue to commit on what's necessary to keep my competence. Sometimes men have a tendency not to scarify their current interests for their future good. The crisis is the opportunity to make it changed.

Happy new year!

Miles Xu

December 31, 2008

Excellent TV Show Every Midnight, Don't Miss It.

Are you suffering from insomnia? Are you feeling boring at midnight as a cat person? Are you having a terrible emotion these days? Now there is a savior on earth. He can resolve all the problems you are suffering. Who is he? He is an excellent doctor, outstanding actor and ridiculous salesman. His name is Hou Xinzu, so called "Hou Zong". Where is his clinic? Is it expensive? Wait till one clock every midnight, and turn on your television. He will appear in his personal treatment session with his pretty assistant on most of the local TV stations. Not only can he cure your insomnia, but also you are watching a world-class comic show. But it's not enough. The most important point is that he educates you how to become a creative salesman. So what about the name of his TV program? Direct Sales TV Advertisement. The most representative show he has ever performed is to sell the watch with the brand Rosdenton.

What? You never heard of Rosdenton. It's a shame. According to Mr. Hou's words, Rosdenton is a world famous watch brand and it has an elegant alias------"Rolls Royce in the watch world". Now you should admit that you are behind the times. Believe me, after watching his TV show, you will throw your bad emotions to the sky. He's crazy and funny! He acted with his heavy-accent Mandarin like this: Now Rosdenton is the most famous watch you can find in China. It represents your social status. It can gain you active position in the business negotiation. It will be popular forever. Look, the surface is made of French sapphire with 0.06 carat South African Diamond and 2 carats Austrian Crystal Diamond. Inside the watch, the core is made in Switzerland.
Guess, how much is the price of the watch?
The pretty assistant sitting beside says, 20 thousand Yuan?
Absolutely too high, the watch is directly sold from the factory to the customer, guess again.
10 thousand?
No, since we are the very first channel to sell the watch, the company offer a great discount.
5 thousand, it can't possibly be lower. It's a diamond watch!
Well, your assumption is still too high. It only costs you 2888 Yuan!
Wha, I can't believe it. I also need one!
Believe it! I would be crazy. How can Rosdenton offer such a low price to the customers. It's unfair! I got no profits! My heart is deeply hurt by the discount! I can't do the job! Come on, my dear customers, don't be hesitate! Dial our service number to order the watch belonging to you! We can only offer 10 watches this session. If you miss the opportunity, I'd like to congratulate to you! Why? Because you will never have the chance to get it any more.

A great doctor and comic actor, isn't it? Funny and Ridiculous. I can't help laughing since I saw a monkey with exaggerated facial expressions jumped here and there. Sure, I doubt about its ability to stimulate consumers and then promote sales. But in terms of entertainment, I would never suspect it's the gospel of millions of sleeplessness including me in the lonely night. Some guys are totally addicted to the show, which is almost the only way to make them sound asleep every night. I should have full confidence Mr. Hou would be the super comic star of the next generation.

You may be curious about the watch. It sounds good. But how can it be that cheap? 2 carats Austrian Crystal Diamond, that's not real diamond. Mr. Hou says,"I didn't say it's a real diamond. I said it was Austrian Crystal Diamond, another material." OK, then how about 0.06 carat South African Diamond? It's real. 0.6 carat costs about 20 thousand Yuan. 0.06 carat is 1/10 of 0.6 carat. Does the diamond cost 2 thousand yuan? No, 0.06 carat is merely nothing, and only worth several hundred. Then the limitation is 10 watches this session? Yes, please notice every time we replay the ad. It's another session. So if we play the show for 1 thousand times, we can afford as many as 10 thousand watches. At this point, you must be angry. You were cheated. I had the same feeling when I got to know the fact. But never mind. Mr. Hou can comfort you,"Are you OK? You expect to get a real diamond watch with 2 thousand yuan??? I expected your intelligence quotient to be normal. And I never cheat you. I have full confidence in the watch. I will never recommend it to you without having a deep understanding in Rosdenton. If you guys thought I was cheating, Rolex isn't cheating,right; Omega isn't cheating, right? Are their watches worth the money you paid? You know, I spent much money to screen the ad and run the company. At least I sold the watch at the price it should be. But those guys sold them at the price much higher than the actual cost. But you foolish guys never complain about Rolex and Omega. You treat wearing them as a form of luxury."

Up to this point, I think we, the consumers should think about the issue once again. Mr. Hou's words is somewhat reasonable. As consumers, we often stays in circumstances of being cheated in purchasing products and services. We get the software with defects. We get the house decoration service with low quality adobe. We get the milk with poisoned materials. How to avoid cheats? We have to be the expert of all aspects. If that day does come, I think it's the sorriness of our society.

Beijing Olymics Night Piece

I was working on a hot issue of the company, which exhausted much of my time. So I didn't write blogs. But I hesitate to show you some pictures I took on the day the Olympic openings was held. Amazing fireworks, isn't it?























And I took a walk around the Olympics Stadium last night.
Here are some photos. I didn't use a tripod(So you know it's not an easy task). Please forgive me.

The Fireworks After The 2nd Rehearsal For Beijing Olympics Openings

Hi buddies,
As I mentioned, my current residence is a choice position to watch the fireworks, part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Yesterday, the second round dry run was held at the National Stadium. And a grand fireworks across the Central Olympic Zone(especially at the Olympics Village) followed it.
Here are some photos to share with you guys.

The days before Beijing Olympics 2008

As my residence isn't far from the National Olympic Stadium in Beijing, everyday the cluster of stadiums can be found in the distance when I look through the window. Well, we know the world's feelings are complicated towards the Games. No matter what kind of attitude everybody has, applause or resistance, this year will definitely be an extraordinary one for the nation.
Though unluckily I don't get any tickets, I often comfort myself that at least I can watch the amazing fireworks at a choice position in person. That's not too bad.

sight outside my residence


close-up


the National Olympic Stadium "Bird Nest"




the National Swimming Center "Water Cube"


the newly built skyscraper adjacent the stadium