純與fusion

fusion n.

1. An occurrence that involves the production of a union.

2. A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy.

3. The state of being combined into one body.

4. The merging of adjacent sounds or syllables or words.

5. The combining of images from the two eyes to form a single visual percept.

6. Correction of an unstable part of the spine by joining two or more vertebrae; usually done surgically but sometimes done by traction or immobilization.

7. The act of fusing (or melting) together.

以上是Webster’s online dictionary給fusion這個詞的定義。所有的定義都有“將不同的東西混合、組合、或聚合在一起”的意思。

純，在《漢語大辭典》裡有六個不同的讀音，共有二十三個解釋。最常用的解釋是：不含雜質，專一，質樸，和諧，等等。

如果要將“純”翻譯成英文，大概不會用到fusion這個詞。同樣，如果要將fusion翻譯成中文也不會用到“純”這個字。

有一家公司的英文名稱叫Fusion Design，它的中文名稱叫“正純設計”。這兩個名稱的意義真是南轅北轍。Fusion是這幾年相當流行形式，它的主旨是將不同形式融合在一個設計裡。而純還要加上正應該是很單純，很專一，絕無雜質。

香港這個“兩文三語”的地方，街道、屋、公司、團體、商場、品牌，所有的東西都有中、英文兩個名稱。一般來說，這兩個名稱是取其同義，或是同音。當然也會有例外，但是象這家Fusion/正純的公司，可算是非常有創意了。

其實，近年香港許多地方的取名，特別是私人屋苑的名稱，中英文之間毫無關繫，給許多人，特別是不太熟悉香港的人，平添了許多麻煩。同時，對中英文水平不太高的人，特別是青少年，帶來很不好的影響。因為，這樣很容易使人對一些字詞的意義產生誤解。

啟功與翻版

啟功是北京師範大學中文系教授，著名國學大師。他的書法也是數一數二的。稱他為書法大師絕不為過，有人甚至稱他為書聖，儘管他自己絕不會同意這些稱號。

啟功的書法這麼了得，他寫的字畫當然價值連城。在今天，任何商品都有可能是冒牌貨的市場上，假冒的啟功字畫也到處可見。我們越來越有法制觀念的公民，一定會說要將那些製造、販賣這些假冒字畫的人繩之於法。

一天，幾位朋友帶啟功到了潘家園，讓他看看商店裡掛滿的假的啟功字畫。啟功的第一反應是驚愕，繼之又笑起來，還坦然地說：「人家用我的名字是看得起我，他學的這手字一定花了不少功夫，…」

這個故事使我想起一些「藝人」、「電影人」，他們經常埋怨他們的唱片銷量少，他們的電影票房低，還把責任歸咎到翻版上去。他們是不是應該向啟功學習，再反省一下自己，看看自己作品的水準到了甚麼等級。

Who’s on trial?

‘Trial run’ 是試驗、試行。當我們對一項新的計劃是否成功沒有十分把握的時候，試行一段時間，以觀效果，是很好的辦法。

香港人煙稠密，許多地方人車爭路，險象橫生。有關當局有見及始，將一段非常繁忙的馬路劃為行人專用區。這當然是一項德政。然而，當局沒有十分把握這項計劃一定成功，所以，來一個’trial run’。因此，上面這個路牌就出現在這一段繁忙的馬路上。

當局要試行的是行人專用區計劃。雖然， 這是在道路上進行，絕不是’道路測試’。因為，這個詞組所指測試對象是道路，而不是行人專用區計劃。正確的中文應該是’行人專用區試驗計劃’，或者是’行人專用區計劃試行階段’，並注明從某月某日開始，到某月某日結束就更加清楚了。

Creations and creator

‘in generative applications, code is allowed to generate further code.
some of the responsibility of decision making is ceded to the application,
which itself bears the marks of its creator, no matter how subtle.’

— meta
Generative Design: Beyond Photoshop

This is the same situation we are in. Our God, the creator of the universe, created us in His own image so that we bear His marks. However, once created, He allows us to grow in our individual way.

The user of a generative application attempts to create some artifacts of his liking. But he is unable to mould the creation directly like a potter doing to his clay since some of the decision making power have been given up. What he can do is like a gardener doing to his plants. He can do things like giving more water or more sunshine so as to influence the plants’ growth.

Hong Kong drivers use their eyes again

The Hong Kong Government once again called on drivers in Hong Kong to “Watch out for radio news” in May 2005.

“Watch out” 的確有留意的意思。但是，它是用在用眼去留意的場合。電台廣播是要用耳朵去聽的，”Watch out”是不可以用在這一場合的。

然而，類似的標語已經不是第一次出現在香港的街上。難道有關的官員連這樣明顯的錯誤也看不出來? 難道從來沒有人向有關部門指出? 又或者是這些標語從來沒有人會看的！

Exporing the possibilities

‘Most art schools today teach classes in Digital Art, which to them means How to Use Adobe Photoshop. Although such courses often claim to explore the possibilities of a new medium, they generally explore little more than the possibilities that somebody else (namely, Adobe) has found convenient to package in a piece of commercial software.’

— Golian Levin
Generative Design: Beyond Photoshop

Indeed, computers are everywhere and are used to perform so many tasks. It is difficult to think of any subjects taught in colleges that are not involved with computers and software. We can generalize the quotation above to read:

Most schools today teach classes in any subjects you care to learn, which to them means How to use a piece of expensive software (name the brand and the package you want). Although such courses often claim to explore the possibilities of a new approach to the subject matter, they generally explore merely a minute portion of the possible functions that somebody else (name the vendor of your chosen software) has found convenient to package in a piece of commercial software.

It seems that computers can do everything. We ask them to do more and more for us. In fact, have we notice that computers are asking us to do more and more things in their ways. Computers are controlling us!!!