Moved

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Ads desperately in need of attention

At mingpaonews.com, Ads are desperately in need of attention. In the middle we have the usual flying ad of Lufthansa, blocking the view of my latest headlines in a periodic basis. Then we have another CX ad that features a credit card image actually flying to the computer cursor, exactly underneath it, hence preventing clicking of any actual content. In fact, if you use browsers other than IE, you cannot click any content at all because the flash animation is overlapping on the HTML content.

I’m forced to conclude: 1. Ads are more important than content now at Ming Pao news, with the news actually being driven to the background; 2. Airlines like flying ads.

係咪未瞓醒？

舉步維艱

無線新聞派者往尖沙咀採訪，了解風神襲港時的風勢，除了拍攝了記者和巿民在街上的狼狽，也有白鴿舉步維艱的情況。（無線《午間新聞》約 1 分 05 秒。）

風球除下後香港人要趕着上班，紅隧巴士站排長龍，巿民投訴天文台太早太遲除下風球，這些畫面我們都熟識，只是久違了。

李氏力場、颱風。

To be focused on the Mac

Almost every Mac OS X application has these two options under the application menu: “Hide Others” and “Show All”. I never have a good reason to use these, but now, I know what they are for. I figured when I watched Scott Forstall demonstrated Interface Builder for iPhone in the WWDC keynote video—he hide all windows from other applications to make the desktop uncluttered.

One of the inconvenience of using Mac OS X to me is that the desktop seems always cluttered by all the opening windows. In Windows, a window can be made maximised to make it occupy the entire screen and it is then locked in place. This thing doesn’t exist in Mac OS X. Mac just works this way. Some even go so far to proclaim that Mac users are more likely to multi-task. I have always believed that there is no native solution to this, as people have written many applications to free user from distractions (none of them is entirely for this purpose).

It turns out that when you want to work inside a single application, just click the “Hide Others” option, and click “Show All” to go back. There is a hack to make the Dock dims hidden applications’ icon.

Now life now goes on as usual, till another 364 days.

(Im)patiently waiting.

本網誌三週年誌慶

多謝各朋友的祝賀。我對未來沒有甚麼計劃，只希望除咗找到一個真命天子以外，一切都不要變。

呀，務求各位可以找我吃飯，我空閒得很，而且要多啲見人。

Text kerning in Firefox 3.0

I think this article covers some aspect of typography that people is not well aware of... especially if you are not sensitive to pixel level differences.

Just scroll to “Kerning”, Firefox is clearly better in that particular comparison.

I can finally see your status (and you can see mine too)

Holy Crap! I have finally waited the shit out of me long enough to see others’ status messages on MSN and I can have the whole world (well, my contacts) see my status too! With Adium, I can now forget that there existed something called “Microsoft Messenger” which has a hideous, non-Mac interface.

The unofficial Adium build I am running now has these for me to play with:

• Contacts Search
• IM’ing to Facebook contacts
• Setting my status message and seeing others’ status messages
• Sending and receiving offline messages
• Have a message box pops up before a buddy sends the first message

All Mac users rejoice! But maybe a little bit too early though... the build is unofficial and unstable and whatever—read and understand everything before you start testing. I warn you: all data can get wiped clean by this.

Coffee Thinking

I originally planned to go to see a movie in Broadway Cinematheque when I was taking the trains from the University station, but I soon realised that I would certainly have missed the opening by then. So I threw away the whole idea and alighted at Shatin and headed back home.

At a Starbucks enroute, I saw a young woman heading my way when I was waiting for my decaf iced tall latte. The woman’s clothing reminded me that it is hot sunny summer despite it was cold and rainy outside. The way she walked to me was what I hate the most. I’m not particularly sure why girls have to walk like that as if they were models in the Shiseido commercial, besides the idea that they are trying to induce male hormones. Well... after all it is pointless—she wouldn’t be able to induce any sex hormones anyway. And I’m speaking this on behalf of the general male population.

Luckily she was approaching her companion behind me. Then it kept me thinking while I was still waiting for my cup: if she genuinely enjoys walking like this way it wouldn’t be a problem. I walked awkwardly, sometimes on purpose. However I think she wasn’t genuinely enjoying it by the look of it.

An update to my music problems

I mentioned that after I upgraded to QuickTime 7.5 the music cannot be played correctly both by QuickTime and iTunes. Turns out it is logical that they couldn’t play these files—these MP3 music files are corrupted. I don’t know why they go corrupt as over the last few days I have been testing some programs, many of them music related. I don’t know which one of them is the culprit. It could be the QuickTime update itself, the RealPlayer 11 that I installed recently or some Windows music converter software that I run in VMware.

After I restored the music from the back up (not through Time Machine, but rsync), everything seems fine now.

Apple’s keynote and the consumers

Every now and then someone will say that the keynote from Apple’s WWDC is boring. There is no doubt that expectations are high towards any keynote speech of Apple—Steve Jobs is an excellent speaker and his reality distortion field transforms even the most simplest feature to become state-of-the-art innovations. Too high the expectations can lead to disappointment, especially for consumers viewing the WWDC keynotes. The target audience for WWDC keynotes is clearly the developers, and lay-persons might not feel interested in, if not bored by, the content.

Consumers generally like to hear key points with a high WOW factor—iPhone with 3G+GPS capabilities or thin MacBook Air with MultiTouch trackpad—which are also the points which the consumers can understand and talk about. They are happy to hear this and they expect to hear these things in any Apple’s keynote. On the other hand the consumers won’t understand a bit of “Oh! Apple’s announced the Push Notifications Service!” Even if the keynote is all about these innovative technical details, consumers won’t feel interested in any way. The consumer is ignorant (which is a bliss) of the technical innovations that will benefit them in the long run. This is why the WWDC keynote is often “boring”, but in fact, they just lack the WOW factors.

Of course, Apple wants more hype and rumours before the keynotes to generate higher expectations and attention to their keynotes. In fact, they are believed to intentionally leak (fake) product features. The rumour mills are, well, okay at expecting what will be announced next. But they aren’t necessarily correct. There are numerous times do they predict that the (then) Apple phone would be announced but these rumours turned out to be false. And Apple sometimes release something entirely new without the rumour mills saying a word about it before the announcement.

To me, watching the WWDC keynote is like watching a football match (some friends may point out that I never watch football matches, but anyway I’m just making an analogy here). I watch it because I want to know how Apple announces their new products, not what they will announce. If I only want to know the results I could simply skip the keynote and read the news afterwards.

People are always anticipating new gadgets. But how about the software? I believe that good software is a large contributing factor to Apple’s success, though the general public seem to direct their attention to somewhere else. This is why I like to ask people why they buy an Apple product—it seems pretty shallow to me if “being cool” is the only reason. I like Apple because I like their way of working with computers, and this is software related.

Apple: Hong Kong is the New Territories

Source: Apple WWDC Keynote 2008 video.

Problems with QuickTime 7.5

Since yesterday Apple started pushing a new update to QuickTime which bumps the version number to 7.5. Though there seems to be issues with this release that makes MP3 music to be played incorrectly. iTunes won’t even play some MP3 music (iTunes uses QuickTime to play media files, it seems). So I advise people to skip this release and wait for another update.

It’s amazing

When I thought I have gave up, something amazing just happened—the connection went back to normal. Absolutely no problem with 0% packet loss.

In the mean time I watched When Harry met Sally, and I love it.

豈有此理！

今時今日仍用電話線做寬頻。

本來問題不大，但今日的上網速度比正常慢很多，不穩定的情況由今早黃雨開始直至下午仍未好轉，嚴重時資料流失率超過 60%。

每年總有一次半次因為天氣而影響上網，要打電話到網上行的熱線派員維修，上年雨季甚至有一部電腦和解碼器在雷雨天後報銷。

我家的電話線是掛在電話線桿上的，十分兒戲。上網服務由出問題，是不是要考慮轉用別的服務？不過家住村屋，選擇甚少，較合適的服務就是數碼通流動寬頻，連同所有不合理收費要 $408／月，又好像太貴了，而且不可以用點對點檔案共享。

更新：我決定放棄垂死掙扎，是日休息。

四川地震

關於四川地震，我沒寫個一字，我一向認為無到好過遲到，因此不打算寫些甚麼，不過我從其他網誌引述下閱讀了一些報導或文章，或可用以代表自己的想法。

梁文道著《浩劫中見希望　傷痛裏有慈悲》

「然後，我看見了我心愛的成都，以百萬計的市民露宿街頭，令人神傷。可是我要說，這次災劫中最叫人感動的還不是雖然負傷流血卻仍趕赴災區的士兵武警，甚至也不是親臨前線的溫家寶總理，而是這些可愛的成都人。這麼大的一座城市，不只沒有發生災後常見的趁火打劫，更沒有商舖乘機抬價，幾百萬人就這樣秩序井然地守在街頭，照樣過自己的日子。有人譴責部分市民在這當頭仍不忘露天打麻將是幸災樂禍。我卻想起伊朗導演基阿魯斯達米在《春風吹又生》中那最動人的一幕﹕強烈的地震摧毁了無數人的家園，但那些災民在野地上架搭帳篷時仍不忘豎好天線，因為世界盃就快開鑼了，逃難固然要緊，但並不表示世界盃就不重要了！這不只是苦中作樂，這更是人在浩劫中奪回自己尊嚴的努力。天災可以帶走我們的財產、親人以及生命，但不一定帶得走人之為人的起碼生趣。」

明報《紅會行政籌款支出比例最低》二零零八年五月二十日

「社會服務聯會業務總監蔡劍華表示，慈善機構均有不同理念、服務對象、宗教背景、運作方式，市民捐款前應先了解它們的工作重點及財務，然後選擇個人最認同的作出捐獻。『成熟的捐款不是即興、不是在街頭放低 100 元便了事。』」

我（至）系音樂

Nokia 最近推出的新廣告，以手機聽音樂作主題，雖然不太喜歡，甚至認為有點恐佈，但我頗喜歡那口號——「我系音樂」，因為它可以有兩個意思。

誰不知 Sony Ericsson 推出另一系列的廣告「我至系音樂」，明顯衝著 Nokia 而來，敏銳的觸角和快速的回應確值得一讚，可惜那個「系」字不搭，但我又想不出更好的點子。

武倉頡碼

唔怪得我打極都打唔到呢個字。

呆咗。

係咪有啲似曾相識嘅感覺呢？

來自：應該是世界上最多人聽過的旋律

參考：Wikipedia: Gran Vals

如何表達

感覺，應如何表達，是一個令人困擾的問題。

要嚟嘅終於嚟了

用少少時間整理咗我經常搭嘅幾條巴士線嘅新收費。

路線	目的地	原有收費	新收費	差額	加幅
68M	荃灣鐵路站	$8.4	$8.8	+$0.4	4.8%
68X	佐敦（匯翔道）	$12.5	$12.5	-	-
264M	青衣鐵路站	$9.1	$9.6	+$0.5	5.5%
268B	紅磡碼頭	$16.5	$16.5	-	-
268C	觀塘碼頭	$16.5	$16.5	-	-
269D	瀝源	$14.5	$14.5	-	-
276	上水	$7.6	$8.0	+$0.4	5.3%
968	銅鑼灣（天后）	$20.7	$21.4	+$0.7	3.4%
E34	機場（地面運輸中心）	$13.0	$13.6	+$0.6	4.6%
N269	美孚	$10.5	$11.1	+$0.6	5.7%
N968	銅鑼灣（天后）	$31.0	$32.2	+$1.2	3.9%

呢 11 條巴士線之中竟然有 4 條冇加價。搭港鐵由銅鑼灣去元朗係 $21.9，九巴新收費 $21.4，只相差 $0.5。但其實元朗出港島最平的方法應該係搭西鐵到南昌轉 K16，再喺天星碼頭搭船過海，收 $14.6，相差 $6.8。

唔明嘅唔緊要，我都冇諗住要有人明。

已過月中

月中了
但好像沒有靜下來
而且得了傷風
仍未有閒置的感覺

搭的士聽到呢首歌

I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿,
I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿,
I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿,
I’m a 窿, I’m a 窿, Oh… I’m so a 窿…

混亂

感覺很混亂，希望月中以後會轉好。

或者我都應該轉電話費 plan

但我已經係用緊最低用量嗰個 plan 了，無得再轉啲更低用量的。或者我應該轉去用儲值咭。

就像一場夢

嗯，要醒了嗎？

世紀馬房大宅

大家估吓呢度係邊度。題示：左上角臨海建築物的一帶，是中大。

系會日誌

還有人記得這個嗎？

港鐵：「上車莫怱怱．最緊要輕鬆」

上車莫忽忽？乜嘢忽忽呀？猩猩嗰啲？睇真啲，完來係「怱怱」。

「怱」呢個字喺國語辭典同埋中大嘅粵語音韻集成係冇收錄㗎，究竟呢個字同埋「匆」係咪相通呢？呢個我唔清楚，希望中文比我好嘅同學（亦即係所有取得 C 級或以上嘅同學）幫忙解答。

今日亦有幸見到西鐵綫班次顯示嘅背後，完來係用 Windows 98。

更新：

有不具名人士留言，提及「怱」字在「上一代」經常出現，亦舉出林子祥《千億個夜晚》的歌詞作例子。

王祖藍

好難受，但係我覺得佢好正，尤其係最後嗰個 shot，而家我好鍾意佢。

仲有一連串好難受嘅系列，例如「頭抽」。

I am a none-of-the-above

I was registering Pownce when I noticed this,

which is good. The service isn’t as good though. It gave me a 500 when I was trying to post a flickr link.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 available for download

Download link

Via: bink.nu

為何他會離開你

為何他會離開你　誰叫你自己不會飛
常纏在一起　會換來危機
他找你　不找你　你不智地對他生氣
問他等於問你　當我問候你

雙眼像鑿滿傷悲　誰又敢深愛你但未怪你
昨天那天真的你
若是還有骨氣　拿回纏他的心機
拿去愛惜你　怎可洩氣

原來擁吻　如不放　錯在你

例句：「見鬼勿Ｏ嘴，潛水怕屈機」

蘋果日報「隔牆有耳：做人別太 HKEAA」二零零八年四月二十七日

⋯⋯考試及評核局（HKEAA）忽然追上潮流，喺試題中玩潮語，點知錯漏百出𤓓到爆。

⋯⋯試題包括一個潮語解釋表，說明上述潮語含意，好似指「喪」有「極其」、「誇張」意思，不過卻將「屈機」誤解作「玩遊戲者因無法取勝而屈服」，唔少考生見到考評局知少少扮代表，當場喪笑。

⋯⋯好多人恥笑考評局，指該局自創例句：「見鬼勿Ｏ嘴，潛水怕屈機」最爆，以為有幾個潮語就係潮，其實冇人明。

後補：YouTube 影像。

A “stolen” display

I just moved my father’s rarely used 24" display to my room.

巴士發展計劃

剛剛從香港交通資訊網下載了 2008–2009 年度元朗區巴士路線發展計劃，我第一次閱讀同類文件。所謂的發展，實質是重組。不過「重組」太中性了，中性會比巿民作縮減班次、取消路線等負面聯想，所以要用一個正面的字眼，聯想到只會作中性聯想。無論如何，內容不少利益考慮。

我發現：

• N968 計劃改為 N368，由西隧改為行紅隧，原因十份明顯。不過節省的隧道費沒有回饋巿民，仍收 31 港元，總站遷往中環。深夜多從灣仔、銅鑼灣區回元朗，應該比以前快一點點，但就肯定沒有空座位。
• 264M 計劃改經元朗 13、14 區。新路線應該經十八鄉路吧，那些新興建的巴士站終於有人使用了。

計劃搬網址

我計劃搬網址，很有可能用 WordPress。我在頭痛網誌的設計，更頭痛的是網誌標題。

有一個想法用「和而不同」。我想，為網誌立一個標題，亂找些奇異的組合，甚麼「程式員之死」的就太求其了。美中不足的是，這個標題太理性，不適合我。

另一個是「樽裝咖啡」，好處是沒人用來作網誌的標題，而且副題可以是「但咖啡可注入這汽水樽　情感藏不了」，帥呆了。不過從歌詞找靈感，太 expected 了，而且會容易令人誤會這是人家的附屬網誌。

無論是那一個標題，意思是一樣的。

品牌概念

我覺得好靚。

我覺得無線有做過㗎，亞視就應該放棄咗。

踩場

透過小奧私陸，看到另一篇討論 Firefox 未來方向的文章。我深感作者未掌握實際情況而散播 FUD，所以我做出令人討厭的事：將人家的網誌當成自己的網誌，怒寫幾百字以表己見。

Chris Beard's article on blurring the border of the browser has nothing to do with Firefox becoming another Netscape Navigator. After all, he didn't say Mozilla is going to add Mail, Calendaring et cetra, to the Firefox that you use and love (not me, I use Safari). Firefox's philosophy has always have been cutting down functionality without making the browser unusable.

If you notice it, you'll see that Firefox's interface is built from XUL. This very same language can be used by websites like Google to build applications that look like, well, applications, not a website inside a browser. Consider Google making a Thunderbird-like e-mail client for its GMail service, hosted on Google's web servers, with the speed and responsive of Thunderbird, now you understand what I mean. Another good example is Songbird, which is essentially a different XUL coat over the same Firefox core.

When Chris said blurring the border, he means something like making Songbird to be more common. Not Netscape Navigator. In other words, these most likely will interest developers rather than end users. : )

End users might notice a behaviour change. For now people access GMail, they open up Safari (oops, I mean Firefox) and go to gmail.com. They do this because they think GMail is a website that they need Firefox to browse it. What Chris envisioned is that GMail (as an example only), if written as an XUL application, what people do is to open the GMail application, rather than opening Firefox. One less redirection there and people probably likes simpler ways of doing things. And of course, that GMail application is hosted on the web, and so Firefox is just the same little fox.

By then, probably you'll still need to open up Firefox to view regular websites. I dare say Firefox will not have tons of functionality added to it by then. So you don't need to worry so much.

The Weave is interesting because, if you think about it, Firefox works like an Operating System. Weave, like .Mac, enables user to bring their profile with them, so that they can be in the same environment, wherever they go.

然後我再回應：

照 Chris 所說的，Firefox 仍會是網站（或網站式服務）之間的橋樑，只是他希望用戶用這條橋樑之時，未必一定會留意到這條橋其實正是 Firefox。換句話說，我們沒有必要在這條橋上刻意掛上廣告，標示這條橋是 Firefox。反而使用者可以當這條橋是隱形的，因他們只求跨過這條橋。

或者你未有留意，其實這些 XAML/XUL 的技術已經放到現在的 IE/Firefox 瀏覽器之中，你可以試試這個例子。我想，Chris 希望做到的是將 Firefox 的邊框消失，另內容可自成一個好像是獨立的軟件。因此，你所擔心的事，其實已經發生了，只是表達手法的問題。

這有點像微軟將 IE 的技術整合到 Windows 之中，使有些軟件可以使用到 XAML （XUL 的對手技術）。當然，我想 Mozilla 的開發者會將這個整合比起微軟做得更穩定、更輕快。

對於使用者而言，其實他們要做的工作比起應用程式的本身來得重要。如果他們只想用 GMail 寄送電郵，但要他們開一個叫 Firefox 的軟件，指示它到特定的位置，再使用服務，其實是多一層的不便，只是大家習慣了而已。

即使到將來 Chris 所說的願景，仍然會有一個叫 Firefox 的瀏覽器，像現在的一樣，或可能加上一點必要的功能。這個瀏覽器仍會讓一般使用者使用來瀏覽網頁。但使用者不知到的是，他們慣常所用的電子郵件軟體，其實是用上了 Firefox 的核心技術，不竟，整合是要避免使用者看到那個分隔。

希望這些到可以消除你擔心的問題。簡單點說，就是你不會看到分別。

在商而言，微軟有 XAML 技術，Adobe 有 AIR 技術，都和 Firefox 的技術有相似的功能。Firefox 既然是開放源始碼，又是跨平台的軟體，加入這個巿場確有其優勢和必要。這可以提供一個免費、開放、跨平台的選擇給開發者，最終得益的也是使用者。

我想，我的朋友對此事認識更深，本人在此只為無聊。

My Nokia N80 is sick

A few days ago my Nokia N80 is beginning to get sick. The screen is blank when slid. The “Clear” key and two of the navigation buttons don't work when slid open. Nokia doesn't repair it without me paying $1700.

I don't know if I should buy a new phone now. Especially when the phone is just around the corner.

I miss my Nokia N80.

Mobile Internet

I was discussing with my college friends in the library yesterday about the deployment of free Wi-Fi hotspots in government venues. Basically they argued that the deployment of free Wi-Fi hotspots in more locations will diminishes the benefits of 3G networks, and hence making deployment of 3G networks irrelevant.

My stance was at the other end of the argument—3G networks is relevant and it is not a niche market. In a way, if two kinds of technology compete with each other, you can always say one diminishes the benefits of another. However, I would rather believe that the two wireless technologies are not competing with each other—arenʼt they supposed to complement each other?

At some point in the discussion they mentioned that the current pricing of mobile Internet access through the 3G networks is too high for use by the general public. A person having a 3G mobile phone equipped with Wi-Fi transceiver can always find a hotspot to access the Internet, so that they can avoid the high price of transmitting over the cell phone network. They also assumed that hotspots are widespread (or will become widespread soon enough) that people can always find one nearby. Together with the low price of using a Wi-Fi network and now the government actually provided the service for free, people donʼt need 3G networks.

They also suggested that the seemingly lack of popularity in accessing the Internet with a cell phone is an evidence that mobile Internet access isnʼt popular among the general public. Instead, more people bring their laptops to coffee shops and restaurant alike to surf through a Wi-Fi connection. Whatʼs the point, I reckon they believed, of having a ubiquitous Internet connection anyway? It isnʼt necessary

Having bought a 3G cell phone with a Wi-Fi almost two years ago, and switched back to a 2G network recently, it is difficult for me to argue otherwise. The reason for my switching was not of the pricing or of the speed—I considered the pricing acceptable I would say. For $38 a month ($10 less if on a contract) I could use 20MB of bandwidth daily. Never on one day did I exceed that bandwidth limit. I did not like it for three reasons: 1) They added a hideous red toolbar on top of every page, and there was no way to turn it off; 2) the pricing was not fair, namely it only covers browsing, not downloading, chatting et cetra; 3) most importantly, it is not enjoyable to surf the Internet with my Nokia N80. It is easy to understand—how would surfing the Internet with a numerical pad and four-way navigation buttons be enjoyable? Not to mention the phone does not have enough processing power to render many web pages, and N80 is a powerful smart phone by comparison.

Not if compared to the iPhone though. I donʼt want to repeat the whole argument of accessing the Internet with the iPhone. I just want to say that if it is not making mobile Internet usable, nothing is. I believe that the lack of popularity in using the mobile Internet isnʼt limited by what you can do while you are on the road or the pricing being extravagant—itʼs limited by the device.

And frankly it is unfair to compare the current 3G networks with the future Wi-Fi networks. Iʼm sure that pricing for both will go down. Iʼm sure both will be available in more locations. Iʼm sure that both will be faster. Not just one but another as well.

Before I go into the idea of the two wireless technologies complementing each other, lets consider for a moment that they are competing. If they are, the question would be whether people will find it worthwhile to pay more for a ubiquitous service that is actually slower. And if yes, how much more money? How much more available? How much slower?

Letʼs consider these with the technologies of today. Consider a person having a cell phone that makes the mobile Internet actually usable. For as low as $28 a month he gets 20MB of daily usage and $68 for unlimited (applies to browsing only, extra charges for other use). If you look at Wi-Fi, PCCWʼs unlimited plan is priced at $98 a month (available to Netvigator Broadband users only). Gov Wi-Fi is free, of course, but they are only available at government venues.

My friends suggested that in the future more hotspots will be deployed at less the fees. Firstly I doubt whether our government will deploy them in more locations, as doing that would result in criticisms of the government being interfering with the free market. Nor will PCCW makes it free for them being a commercial service provider. Municipal Wi-Fi or public contributed hotspots maybe the way out, but they wonʼt be in the near future, if at all coming.

So is ubiquitous worth it? Iʼll share a few personal experiences.

• One day I have to send an e-mail on the road and it is rather urgent. I was in a hurry as I was running late. I ended up sitting on the bench trying to access the Internet through one of those telephone booths. People looked at me as if they havenʼt seen people using a laptop on a bench in a train station (me neither). (Speaking of which, the signal from telephone booths isnʼt strong enough. Usually I canʼt receive the signal just across the four-lane roads.)
• Another time I was on the streets looking for the bus route and bus stop for some destination. I didnʼt bother heading to a nearby Starbucks, not to mention taking out a laptop and looking for a telephone booth.
• I was on the streets with nothing to do one day and I was thinking maybe I could go to watch a movie or something. If only I could check out what a theatre is showing I donʼt need to go there and found out I was not interested in any of them.

I donʼt use the Internet 24/7, but I use it when I need it. And I couldnʼt foresee when I am going to need it. Iʼm going to use it briefly for the moment that I need it. And I need it right then. If this means Iʼm what can only be described as in the niche market, then just be it. This also made the meaning of a niche market, well, meaningless.

Or one might say that it is a niche market because people donʼt need to access the Internet when they need it. In other words: not necessary. This is difficult to argue whether something is necessary for the general public. But I reckon one might argue that it is not necessary to access the Internet after all. Or one might argue that it is not necessary to take the bus when I could walk. I could write another article of this length just devoted to this particular topic. So I am not going to discuss much about this.

And for the two wireless technologies being complement of each other, one way to look at it is that the mobile phone networks are for mobile phones and the Wi-Fi networks are for laptops. (Surprise!) Laptops are bulky and you donʼt want to bring it out everyday. If you use a mobile phone, the 3G networks is adequate for most. Of course the line becomes blur now when laptops become smaller and can be used with 3.5G networks, while mobile phones are equipped with Wi-Fi transceiver. However, this wonʼt make either of these technologies irrelevant, they are good at what they are good at.

Things might change tomorrow. Wireless services are getting faster, more available and cheaper. But as for today, the both are not being kicked out anytime soon.

I think what I dislike about is that people think our government is advancing telecommunications by deploying hotspots. In my eyes, they are at best better than nothing. After all, you should remember that the government did not have any plans rolling out hotspots back then when the ITU conference is held in Hong Kong and attenders complained about the state of wireless Internet access in the city. By that time, municipals Wi-Fi was already being deployed at other cities, Singapore being one example. Our governmentʼs action is slow and I doubt whether they would advance any further when the public has forgotten the reasons they are deploying hotspots at the first place.

Battery-tale

I recently noticed that battery didn't have enough capacity to power the computer for 2 hours after fully charged. When I bought this laptop last June, the computer can be used for 4 hours without recharging. coconutBattery indicated that the battery capacity is now half of the original capacity. So I reckon I should request to have the battery replaced.

Justin had a problem having his battery replaced. He can't get his battery replaced without travelling to the other side of the globe and he argued that the world is not flat. Apple has a pretty good customer service track record in the states. Apparently, this really applies in the states only.

My strategy was to call Apple's technical support. To do that I have to purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan to extend the complimentary telephone support to 3 years. That costs about $2000, which is a pain in the ass. But I have to buy it anyway, so this is a good opportunity to do so.

The staff at the call centre were not helpful (damn!). What they did was to ask me a bunch of questions about battery conditions and my usage pattern, and tell me that "No, you can have the battery replaced." She suggested me to visit the authorised service centre (yes, there is only one) instead.

I took the battery and the computer to the service centre in Times Square. It was a small office. I'm surprised that so many Hong Kongers have bought so many iPods and Macs, what we deserve is a small office for customer service. It is a contractor's office, though. The staff offered to let me leave the battery for four days and it will be sent to Singapore for examination. This is the best I can get. Frankly, as long as they don't tell me to leave my computer with them, I am okay.

Finally, today I visited the service centre again and was glad to hear that they have the battery replaced. I walked out of the office with the brand new battery and as I am typing this, the battery was charged to the full.

They should have just sent me a replacement in the mail and I'll sent back the faulty one. This is such a prevalent practise in the states and Apple do that (in the states). Four days is still too much. I remembered once I took my ThinkPad to a service centre in Quarry Bay and they have the motherboard replaced in four hours. I doubt if Apple's service centre in Hong Kong do anything other than sending faulty units to Singapore.

I won't go so far as to declare that world is not flat.

你鍾意寫程式嗎？

最近和一個一年級的同學在 MSN 談。如果算年級，我和他相差四屆。

我問：You like programming?

他答：我入大學之前從未接觸過電腦既知識, 而家就愈讀愈鐘意.

感覺這一類的學生不多，相反的卻很多，隨便可找個例子。

O mio babbino caro

A beautiful, touching aria — O mio babbino caro,

O mio babbino caro
Mi piace è bello, bello
Vo'andare in Porta Rossa
a comperar l'anello!

What I am surprised with is the English translation,

O my dearest daddy
He pleases me, and is handsome, handsome
I want to go to Porta Rossa
to buy the ring!

The Cantonese translation is even more fun (provided by Pineapple),

親愛的爸爸
我鍾意佢、靚仔、靚仔

That somewhat speaks my heart as well.

這本來就是香港人的公共空間

這本來就是香港人的公共空間。

難度食蕉阿叔或者警察以為自己大哂？睇住佢哋除咗影相冇嘢可以做嘅不知所惜，我覺得好好笑。

話時話一開始嘅時候嗰個男仔好似幾靚仔。XDD

騎劫公共空間

謝：小奧私陸

是依然還是真的？

再撩交嗌，就拖你出去斬...眼...斬...足...成...日...

中文版的口號是：「無糖依然可口可樂。」英文版的是「real coke taste zero sugar」，英文的比中文的誇張多了。

台灣大選

我不可能有甚麼獨特的見解，只覺得馬勝出總比謝勝出好，到底他是在香港出生的呀！就算謝勝出也算了，最起碼此後不用再聽阿扁的講話。

記得本世紀初，美國有布殊仔，台灣有阿扁，香港有董生，我笑說這是一個有趣的組合，現在終於一個個退下來，總算有新的開始。

今天從電視聽到一些言論，指台灣是一個成熟的民主社會，又不能與香港作比較。我在想，推行民主要有自由和法治作基礎，不能說一人一票就相等於民主。

新加坡與台灣，均聲稱擁有所謂的民主政制，基礎卻不完善，反而香港有完善的基礎，卻沒有推行全面的民主。將香港與一個沒有自由可言的地區，或者與一個沒有法治可言的地區作比較，當然是不可以了。

只可惜這裡的居民都向錢看，對投票不感興趣。

資訊科技？究竟所謂何事

我不明白。

原來，我比我的朋友都要浪漫，浪漫得脫離現實。

菠蘿！咪咁多心啦！

XDDDD!

My newest wallpaper

This is my newest wallpaper :)

下一站設有分段收費

數月前朋友告知，乘坐九巴時聽到以下廣播：

「下一站設有分段收費。下一站係...」

朋友不明所以。既然乘客已上車，即已符車費，下一站是否設有分段收費對乘客而言並不重要。

對！不過，這段廣播的對象其實是司機。

理據：

1. 就車上乘客而言，是否分段並不重要。
2. 廣播內容只有廣東話，沒有英語及普通話。

簡單以言，九巴可能認為司機經常忘記調整八達通機，所以用電子報站器來提醒。

不過，我認為報站器、八達通機和電子車費顯示器可以合併，用一個按鈕來更新所有儀器，免卻麻煩。

唔好彩

從來都唔覺得流感高峰期係乜嘢一會事，今年終於感受到。

除咗我病咗一個禮拜之外，我有兩個朋友、朋友的女朋友、甚至係老細都病咗。

最初覺得有啲肌肉痠疼、頭痛咁，全日都好攰每天瞓十幾個鐘，到周末以為有啲好轉，但係就開始喉嚨痛同埋咳，呢幾日有轉返做有啲頭暈，真係頂佢唔順。好彩嘅係，一直都冇發高燒，如果唔係就仲麻煩。

星期日見好返少少，出街行吓。去到葉一堂見到有個男仔睇緊書，咁我好奇行緊啲睇清楚啲嘅時候，唔小心撞到書架，隻腳痛咗半日。

呢個星期真係好唔好彩。

可愛嘅眼仔

你你你你你你你你... 幾時見過... 眼珠係凹㗎？

祝所有今日生日嘅人生日快樂

(PS: I’m sick again.)

BIG NEWS

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

給最開心的人

窮途末路之時　我急需的是你聲音
每當天色昏沉　你就像太陽為我暖身
對於朋友　你的細心　已足夠花去半數時間
尚有精神娛樂大家　從沒離群

我有我美麗

香港電台電視部《傳媒人》2008年2月24日

我不介意演清潔女工，但必須有所發揮。若只需問人家有沒有舊報紙，根本不需演技，難度我沒演技？

帶給觀眾歡樂，不介意做配角，但也講求發揮，盡顯專業精神，自得其樂。

《傳媒人：余慕蓮 - 我有我美麗》

時間河

「時間河」是林一峰《你今日拯救咗地球未呀？》唱片裏的一首歌，歌名旁寫上「給離開了的人」。與唱片同名的音樂劇由林一峰和蘇玉華於 2005 年演出。我有留意到宣傳，但沒去看。

這首歌在我的 iTunes　裏被表示為三棵星，代表一般。

數天前去林一峰演唱會，他唱了這首歌，台上背景播放劇裏的片段。在那個時候，我終能感受這首歌描寫的感覺了。其實歌詞、故事主題、唱片裡的小冊子都已經明示了它說的是甚麼，可是我沒有細心留意，更何況要感受。諷刺的是，我的後知後覺和部份歌詞所寫的類同。

其實早有提示，原來是我沒有留意。

現在五顆星都未能代表我對這首歌的感覺。讀今天的新聞，再聽這唱片，又有深一層的體會。

直播特首睇煙花

點解無線要影曾特首影啲煙花，而唔直接影啲煙花？

取自 dchome.net。

喺年初二晚放煙花嘅途中，無線加插曾特首睇煙花嘅情況，一共三次，每次大約兩至三秒。第三次更白痴，就正正係喺緊接完場前，煙花放得最激放得最大聲果陣轉咗去影曾特首。我都明白潮流興擦鞋同埋邀功嘅，但係無線都唔駛擦得咁出面㗎喎，最衰係阻住我睇煙花（同埋影響我睇煙花嘅心情）。

其實做香港人可唔可以有啲性格，唔好因為人哋有權勢就黐埋去影人呢。而家你喺直播緊煙花呀，唔係直播緊曾特首睇煙花呀。你影胡諾言都話好啲，話哂都係我有少少鍾意嘅男藝人之一。

當然啦，同我哋嘅兩間免費電視台講性格係冇乜可能嘅。當我留意到無線嘅主持人雞啄唔斷，我就轉咗去亞視，聽到：

某女藝員：

…原來今年（日期）同埋（日期）都係宜嫁㗎喎，諗住結婚的朋友就要快啲了。

某男藝員（疑似陳啟泰）：

咁你又有冇興趣結婚呀？

果然係一山還有一山高，一豬還有一豬兜。

喝一口一個新世界

我又好哂錢咁買咗隻林一峰嘅專輯啦，計埋呢隻一共有七隻光碟或影像光碟。

係《城巿旅人》又或 “Travelogue Three”。

我好鍾意喎，除咗咁樣講之外我唔係好識點形容。

或者我講吓我鍾意邊幾首歌，畀聽過嘅人知到我點解會鍾意。

包括象鼻尾貓、咖啡／伴侶和 smsnicq。

其實我想講我每一首都鍾意。

我已經聽到傻咗了。

仲有呢我去咗德福睇林一峰囉，好近呀，差唔多係隔離咁滯。XDD

同埋佢嗰日正式簽咗東亞娛樂了，林一峰係咪仲叫做獨立音樂人係一個疑問。真係估佢唔到。

吞併之後

嘩！

簡潔統一的站牌設計別具一格，顏色鮮明字體清楚，那些「歡迎」呀，藍底或無聊圖案呀統統被棄掉。

如果有人說地鐵的指示不清楚，我會認為是他們自己的問題。

當然這個新格調也不是所有人都能接受。

大地任我行香港版的旅行書裏提到地鐵 「sleek, pristine and always on time, it is also rather soulless」。當一切太過程序化公式化的時候，系統的本身好像缺少點人情味。又或者我們十年後重臨同一個地鐵站，發現到處依久光鮮，不許每天經過的人留下任何痕跡，我們對地鐵站還能存有怎樣的感情？

對於遊客，地鐵站顯得冷酷無情，看來沒有情調，千篇一律。相反就算到一個古舊的歐洲的車站，看到破損似藏著一些歴史，也只是看來很有情調。其實地鐵站的情在於生活體驗，只有每天走進去的香港人才能感受。

減慢步伐，重溫某個角落曾出現的人和事。

地下鐵碰著他…

站牌的英文字型是 Myriad。

Another laughter: Possessions of obscene articles

Section 21, Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Chapter 391), the Laws of Hong Kong.

Prohibition on publishing obscene articles

(1) Subject to subsection (2) any person who-

• (a) publishes;
• (b) possesses for the purpose of publication; or
• (c) imports for the purpose of publication,

any obscene article, whether or not he knows that it is an obscene article, commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $1000000 and to imprisonment for 3 years.

Emphasis added.

In other words, if there is no intention of publications, merely possessing obscene articles (which I believe many boys do) does not constitute an offence. Though even if you have no such intention, the police can argue that you do.

The man did actually post the photos to the Internet, that's why the police located him and put him into custody. He has a difficult case to argue.

I strongly disagree with anyone who say that downloading the photos is an offence. It's not. My opinion.

Our police chief is naïve in that he was happy to tell the press a scapegoat had been arrested. I wonder whether our police chief would still be happy for that if he was reminded of the terabytes of pornography being shared on a daily basis.

They even contacted the Interpol or other overseas authorities to obtain the posters' Internet Protocol address or have the obscene articles removed (the articles are still pending for classifications). I think foreign authorities and internet websites have no obligation to comply. Frankly, requesting the addresses of the posters and remove the celebrity photos? They must think we are crazy.

I just hear another laughter at us.

《攣到爆》四度公演

一字一「笑」講你知　香港基佬嘅愛與哀愁

好值得睇嘅演出。場地移師對面的演藝學院歌劇院舉行，規模肯定比起以往大，亦有全新的佈景及服裝。最唔明白係無啦啦又會關東亞娛樂嘅事。除咗出碟之外我諗唔到其他原因。

無論如何未睇過嘅都應該睇吓，因為我搵唔到另另一個劇目比起呢個更具代表性。

仲有呢，呢$300蚊唔係淨只睇梁祖堯囉。

誰伴我　誰是我心魔

每次想起這句，仍是一陣唏噓。

Ｗ創作社

Coffee: Sandwiches, we can't be friends.

New York Times “Starbucks to Close Stores and End Sandwich Sales” 31 January 2008.

“In short, the scent of the warm sandwiches interferes with the coffee aroma in our stores,” said Howard D. Schultz, the company’s chairman and chief executive.

This is why I like Starbucks. At least they make themselves appear that they concentrate on making good coffee.

Thanks Cleave.

專家

明報《專家﹕姊弟戀男方受照顧　自覺公平交易》2008年1月28日

他分析，姊弟戀的男主角往往會享受對方安排所有生活細節，包括金錢及性需要，甚至由對方「教導」自己。由於社會傳統觀念認為年紀大的女性與年輕男性走在一起是「佔了便宜」，因此男方可以在她們身上尋到尊嚴，並認為「犧牲色相」滿足女方的性需要，就有權利在其他方面得益，以為這是一種「等價交換」的公平交易。

他表示，若姊弟戀的兩人均擁有一定身家及地位，關係反而會較持久；但一般來說雙方收入有差距，男方最終會在經濟上依賴伴侶。若女方決定放棄這段感情，被拋棄的男方會認為她破壞了遊戲規則，無法接受失去靠山，可能失去理性而做出過激舉動。若男方殺人後自殺，更是一種害怕面對將來、不負責任的幼稚舉動。

如果將男女的字眼互換，這兩段有會變成怎樣？

他分析，兄妹戀的女主角往往會享受對方安排所有生活細節，包括金錢及性需要，甚至由對方「教導」自己。由於社會傳統觀念認為年紀大的男性與年輕女性走在一起是「佔了便宜」，因此女方可以在他們身上尋到尊嚴，並認為「犧牲色相」滿足男方的性需要，就有權利在其他方面得益，以為這是一種「等價交換」的公平交易。

他表示，若兄妹戀的兩人均擁有一定身家及地位，關係反而會較持久；但一般來說雙方收入有差距，女方最終會在經濟上依賴伴侶。若男方決定放棄這段感情，被拋棄的女方會認為他破壞了遊戲規則，無法接受失去靠山，可能失去理性而做出過激舉動。若女方殺人後自殺，更是一種害怕面對將來、不負責任的幼稚舉動。

我覺得這兩段所說的也很合理，尤其是「佔了便宜」那部份。

姊弟戀不是甚麼奇異的事，就只是與傳統男女關係有所不同，社會人士大驚小怪而已，可恨的是這些分析就只有套用這些傳統觀念，沒甚見解，倒不如問各界私奶，定有更精彩的言論。

問題不一定出在專家，不竟一篇男女殺人自殺的報導，不值得放到頭版去，更不必找專家來分析這個問題。

這位專家是城市大學應用社會科學系犯罪學課程主任黃成榮。我認為應再找一個性別研究的學者來加以討論較為合適。

更新：晚上再讀蘋果日報，發覺他們找的專家更適合。

蘋果日報《專家之言：姊弟戀趨普遍　相處仍有壓力》2008年1月28日

香港家庭及事業發展服務訓練總監司徒漢明，形容今次命案是一宗悲劇。他表示，姊弟戀並不完全是建築在金錢之上的，近年社會亦普遍接受男女之間相差「十幾廿年」的戀情，不過男女雙方年齡相差太大，相處起來並不容易。

他說，20多歲的男子很有活力及冒險精神，追求金錢、事業，但40多歲的中年女子，則渴求踏實和安穩的生活，體能、活力不斷減退，雙方相處會出現不協調，若有金錢糾紛等問題，則更易起磨擦，他表示，男女之間無論出現多嚴重的金錢和感情問題，都絕不能用暴力來了斷。

關注家庭暴力受害人法權會主席吳惠貞說，情侶之間年齡相差太遠，容易產生矛盾及衝突。「佢哋本身都可能有好大壓力，行出街都驚人哋以為佢哋係母子或者姊弟。」吳惠貞說，除了金錢及感情會導致關係破裂，家人、朋友是否接受都很重要。

這條算式是計算甚麼的呢？

12.5+ceiling(max(a+5b-10, 0))×1.2

忘記解答：新界的士的車費。