天佑的自由天地

年青時代的 Steve Jobs，相當之嬉皮士風格． :P

Apple I 和 Apple II 的出現遠早於 IBM PC，它們不但影響個人電腦之後的發展，還大大加快個人電腦的普及化，它們的地位可謂舉足輕重．

回想當年我都曾經是一個 Apple II 的用家，最初的機種是 Apple II+，當初還是 40-column 的，字體非常大的，但我還未使用過錄音帶這個媒介 :P ，我一開始就是用 5 1/4" 軟碟的，那時還分單面和雙面軟碟的，當時為了節省金錢，會用打孔機在單面軟碟打孔當作雙面軟碟用的．

以至後來的 Apple IIe，80-column 咭，還有震撼當時的音效咭 Mockingboard，將 Apple II 時代的單音音效進化至可以播放較為複雜的音樂，令我在 Ultima IV 的世界內更投入，每當回想 Apple II 時總會令我想起它帶給我的歡樂．

如果大家想了解清楚有關 Apple I 及 Apple II 的歷史，可以瀏覽 LowEndMac 內的一篇文章 Macintosh Prehistory: The Apple I and Apple II Era

新的 WordPress 1.5.1 已經可以下載了．

WordPress 1.5.1 Released

以下是部份的改動．

• Login and feed fixes for IIS
• Faster gettext i18n
• Improved i18n string coverage
• Extended ping support
• Paging on the Manage->Posts page
• URI-safe accent stripping for all UTF-8 characters in the Latin Extended-A Unicode block
• Query string style argument list support for wp_get_links() and wp_get_linksbyname()
• Improved hierarchy listing in wp_list_pages()
• Support for a Status: theme header field that allows themes to be marked as private, publish, or draft
• Improved caching and database query reduction
• Active plugin and theme highlighting
• Plugins can now have multiple option pages
• Pingbacks now work on hosts with fopen off like Dreamhost

在 Codex 內有詳細升級步驟的文章 Upgrading WordPress

在 WordPress Forum 內有一個題目 Upgrade 1.5 > 1.5.1 是講解由 WordPress 1.5 更新到 WordPress 1.5.1 的程序，大家可以參考一下．

我今晚都會進行 upgrade，因為今次的更新，除了修正問題，還有效能上的改善，最重要還有安全更新，所以我覺得現有用家都應該安裝這次更新． :)

雖然本人並不是一個 Mac 用家，但一直以來，我都是很認同 Mac OS 的那一套，介面華麗之餘，又真正方便用家，例如之前 Mac OS X 10.3 Panther 的 Exposé，到現在 Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger 的 Dashboard，Spotlight － 功能等同 Microsoft Longhorn 備有搜尋功能的檔案系統 WinFS（但已經確定延期，不能及時嵌入 Longhorn ）等，都是完全為用家而設，而 Microsoft Windows 不論在功能及介面上都是一直跟著 Mac OS 走的，如今一個資深的 Windows 用家 Paul Thurrott ，亦他寫的一篇 Windows Longhorn Build 5048 Review 中寫了以下一段說話，可見 Mac OS 的確有它的一套，當然如果想了解多些 Windows Longhorn 的話亦都可以看看這篇評論． :P

I have to be honest here. After a year without a single new Longhorn build and very little concrete information about what was going on with the project, I had high expectations for build 5048. And a pre-WinHEC briefing with the software giant did nothing to assuage those hopes. Plus, I've seen advanced Longhorn UI work and I knew how cool this thing was going to be.

Build 5048 communicates none of that. And that's a shame, because Microsoft had a chance to ramp up the momentum of a product that, quite frankly, could use a little momentum. On the one hand, we have Windows XP with SP2, which many people describe as "good enough," a phrase that will haunt Microsoft for years to come as it tries to foist new Windows and Microsoft Office versions on them with decreasing success. On the other hand, I present the competition, Linux and Mac OS X. The Linux market may be convoluted and disjointed, but Linux, too, is "good enough," and it's free, along with "good enough" applications like OpenOffice.org and better Web browsers, like Firefox.

It gets worse. Apple's Mac OS X, recently upgrade to version 10.4 ("Tiger," see my review) is more than "good enough." In many ways, OS X is simply better than Windows, especially for experienced computer users, and Tiger rubs Microsoft's nose in the embarrassment of shipping a key Longhorn feature--instant desktop search--a full year ahead of the software giant. That's right folks. We already knew that Microsoft was facing smaller, nimbler competitors. But those competitors are now starting to outperform Microsoft in the feature department too. It's time for Redmond to stop pretending Linux and OS X don't exist.

Anyway, Longhorn build 5048 is pretty boring. That it's boring by design doesn't make me much happier. I do know that the company will add back major new functionality in time for Beta 1 (currently scheduled for June 30, 2005, but you know how those release dates have a way of slipping) and then again for Beta 2 (a nebulous release that Microsoft will not commit a date to). But sitting here in early May 2005, surveying the state of Longhorn, it's not pretty. Longhorn build 5048 is a disappointment. Here's what I found out about this build during a busy week of testing.

UrbanGiraffe 的 Dissection of a WordPress theme: Part 3 已經推出了，如想知道之前 Part 1 和 Part 2 的連結，大家可以參考之前的文章 UrbanGiraffe - Dissection of a WordPress theme．:)

最近就有線電視新聞一台的節目《新增點》，在香港 blog 界內引起很大的回響，覺得將 blog 定性為網上日記是貶低香港 bloggers，覺得非常不滿，在我看過以下四篇文章後，雖然以身為初哥 blogger 的我說出來好像有點班門弄斧，但都想說一說自己的看法．

• Blog文化？主流媒體的食古不化！
• BLOG＞網上日記
• 我這小天地是 blog 還是網上日記？
• BLOG＞網上日記(2)

blog 只不過是一件工具，怎樣去使用它絕對是各位用家的自由，網上日記只不過是 blog 其中一種的型態，但硬將 blog 定性為網上日記，我都感到有少許不滿和不安，因為我不想見到其他大部份香港人有所誤解，覺得 blog 只是年輕人的玩意，等如網上日記，並沒有什麼特別，從而抹殺了 blog 其他的可能性及可朔性，文章題材完全是作者的選擇，是日記還是時事評論、深情分享、小說、政治意見等完全是悉隨專便，百花齊放．而 blog 容許讀者及作者互相留言表達自己的意見，互相討論，trackback 功能令到各他 blog 的聯繫更大時，這又豈只網上日記這麼簡單呢？

很坦白說我 blog 的年資很淺，根本不足一個月，只是年紀較大，三十過外，所以不見這個 blog 便不是網上日記，當中的部份文章就是談及我的生活，但這樣做有什麼問題？因為生活就是我 blog 的一部份，我想分享什麼是我的自由，當然我不只想分享我的生活點滴，還會包括其他事情的想法、感覺，這就是我的 blog，亦不只是網上日記．

至於 Sidekick 所提及的一人一信行動，我覺得是過於激動及粗暴一點，只會令人覺得香港的 bloggers 沒有文化，我比較傾向於較溫和的做法，好像建立一個聯署簽名的網站去表達 「blog 不只網上日記」，讓其他人去瀏覽，支持的話便在該網站簽名，再向有關人等（例如傳媒機構等）發送一個提及該網站的電郵去表達我們的不滿．