Welcome to
Clarence's Gateway
   
What!? You call this a home page?
Sorry to disappoint you. But you probably won't find anything interesting here (yet). I registered the domain just because I want to access my web server when I am at the office. (Or maybe be when I am on the road with my mobile phone... damn, why GPRS is soooo expensive?)

This gateway machine, www.clarenceho.net (aka ak47), is the NAT+firewall+wireless LAN AP machine at my home. It all started in 1999 when my ISP told me that I could upgrade to a flat-rate ADSL subscription. Great idea, I thought. Finally I can have my own webserver. Back then, my ISP didn't provide web-based email service. So I always wanted to have my own web-base POP3 application such that I can read my mails when I was behind firewall in the office. After a few hours of copying others' code and hacking, I have the application implemented in Perl. All was ready, except one little problem: I need to know my server's IP address as my ISP assigns random IPs. Tried those free DNS services but find them unreliable. I ended up writing a shell script to send emails to my office mailbox every time the server connects to the Internet after a reboot or disconnected accidentally...

Finally in 2001, I took the plunge and registered the domain clarenceho.net. By then, although my ISP already had web-based mail service, I still love to use my own. The Perl program was already replaced with Java Servlet and JSP. This machine also runs a home-brew WAP application so that I can send emails with my mobile phone. Yes. All these are already implemented by other peple millions times. But I still love to develop and use my own applications.

Oh, and sorry that you won't be able to try the applications. They are for my own use only.

(OK, OK... all the crap above only means one thing: I am too lazy to design and write fancy HTML for this site!)

   
News (2003)
April 2003: Haven't updated my site for a long time. Just added a brief notes on how to generate certifiates with OpenSSL.
March 2003: Added a new album for Flower Show 2003.
 
News (2002)
Dec 2002: Another hardware upgarde within this month. My old Nikon LS-20 scanner is being replaced by a Minolta Scan Dual III. DPI-wise, the two scanners are similar (LS-20 is 2700 DPI while Scan Dual III is 2820). But the Scan Dual III has much better dynamic range and A/D conversion.
Dec 2002: Upgraded one of my machines from Celeron 300A (o/c 450) to Celeron 1.1G. The motherboard on that machine is a Slot 1 Asus P2BF. A Powerlap converter is used to host the new 370 Tualatin CPU. It is quite amazing that a 4 years old motherboard can be upgraded beyond 1G... and that only cost me ~HKD600 (USD75), including the coverter and CPU.
Nov 2002: Finally confirmed: My friends and I are going to try studio photography! And that's with pretty girls... oops, I meant professional models... Yeah!
Oct 2002: The Outfax.com site that created by my friend Eric and I is almost finish. There is nothing on the main page yet. But we already have all the functions implemented and tested. This project's idea is from Eric. I was involved just because I thought Java+JNDI+RMI+C+Linux+Window+image programming would be fun...
Sept 2002: Upgraded the gateway machine to FreeBSD 4.6.2. Having some problems with the wireless LAN. The PPTP connection with the Win2k notebook experiences random line-dropping. Not serious problem though. Maybe will investigate it later when I have time.
Sept 2002: The part-time M.Sc. program started. Good excuse to leave the office on time. :)
Aug 2002: Bought 2 vintage lady watches during the visit to a "vintage coins and watches show". Found them in a pile of junks. One is an Oris and the other is a Tissot... both seems to be older then me :P. Anyway, they both use Swiss movements and are in acceptable condition. HKD$40 each...so a really good deal. Esp. considering that I bought them for practicing my "watchmaker" skill only. Hope that I can get them re-assembled after cleaning and oiling...
Summer 2002: So I failed the CFA... just as expected... by everyone :(
Feb 2002: Started to assemble my second mechanical watch. The movement is an ETA 2836-2. Automatic with calendar. It is more difficult than I thought.
   
Computers
More to come later. For now, check out my gateway machine's status
   
Photography
My photo album is yet to come. My ("antique") Nikon CoolScan II is currently collecting dust: just another example on how lazy I am... (or is it just an excuse of not showing my ugly photos?) Anyway, I do post photos to these newsgroups occasionally: news://news.freeforum.org/interest.photography and news://news.popart.com.hk/photo.beginner.
   
Horology
Also stay tuned. For now, visit the great site timezone.com if you are interested in Horology. Make sure you also check out those excellent articles by Walt Odets at The Horologium. My favorite hangout is the Public Forum. I also enrolled in their Watch School.
All text and images at this website are copyright © 2002,2003 Clarence Ho. All rights reserved.