河國榮, An Aussie in Hong Kong

Before leaving home for L.A., I took possession of a new iPad. I knew I'd be carrying my computer with me wherever I went, and the MacBook Pro can get heavy after a while. I should clarify that when I'm in L.A., I invariably walk everywhere, only taking the public transport when I have to travel longer distances. It's not unusual for me to walk 4 to 5 miles in a single day while I'm here. Needless to say, my waist is getting smaller :-)

So, I brought the iPad with me. Right from the beginning, it has been a great help to me, especially allowing me to communicate with others when I couldn't speak (I can speak now btw). It's small, light, and the display is great. I have no idea how the PC companies are going to beat it except perhaps in I.T. and geek communities where access to everything under the hood is preferred.

It does have its flaws however.

Typing is difficult to get used to. You cannot rest your hands downward between taps because every contact with the screen types another character. It's also difficult to keep your hands in the right place positionally when you're typing. With a physical keyboard, you're calibrating your hand positions every time you press a key. It happens automatically. It's not possible with a meta-physical keyboard though.

To make things more difficult, I usually type using the Dvorak keyboard layout, and Apple has not provided that layout on the iPad. I hope it arrives with iOS 4.

Speaking of omissions in the current iPad OS, there's no Traditional Chinese on the iPad. Ouch! Hopefully, we'll see it with iOS 4 too.

And if you're a touch typist, the iPad might not be able to sense your fingers on the 'keyboard' when you're typing very quickly.

But all of those problems aren't overly difficult to deal with. There is one problem however that is potentially very serious. Ergonomically, the iPad is a nightmare.

The ideal posture for someone on a computer is to sit with the screen just below their horizontal line of sight, and with the keyboard lower than the wrists which are in turn lower than the elbows. That's not possible when the screen and keyboard are one and the same. The result is significant back strain and pain if you type for any length of time. I spent 4 hours today editing and updating my web site and I can certainly feel the pain in my back.

The solution is an external keyboard. The iPad supports Bluetooth keyboards, so I'm going to have to get one soon. Another advantage of having an external keyboard is that I'll be able to use the Dvorak layout again, because while the iPad doesn't provide a Dvorak meta-physical keyboard, it does support the Dvorak mapping on external keyboards. And incidentally, when using an external keyboard, you get to see all of the screen rather than just half.

There is one disadvantage to using an external keyboard though. The iPad by its very nature is interactive. If you have the iPad in front of you and the keyboard near or on your knees, the distance between the keyboard and the iPad will be a long way to move your hands every time you need to interact directly with the iPad. Oh well. You can't win them all.

Last note. Trying to edit a web site on the iPad is extremely challenging. None of the code editors available for the iPad are even close to being capable and useful editors, unless you're someone who can code with one eye closed. CSS and HTML editors on the iPad have a long way to go. If only we had something like Espresso on the iPad.

I need to stop now so my back can relax.

Take care all.

The Friday before last, I did one of Peisha's lessons at home and then a few hours later sang again in a different kind of vocal training at a friend's place for another hour. This particular lesson of Peisha's was a hard one with close to 45 minutes of gruelling workout. Not long after beginning the other training session, my voice was already feeling tired.

The next day, I was made very aware of my error. I had developed something known as Supraglottal Muscle Tension Dysphonia. The muscles around the voice box had tensed up making speech difficult. The only remedy is rest, vocal rest. So I've not spoken anything since last Wednesday.

Here in L.A., I get around with my newly acquired iPad. Before coming over, I purchased a popular painting program for the iPad called Brushes. Now when I need to communicate with someone, I pull the iPad out and write the words on the iPad using Brushes. It's quick and effective.

The people here are great, showing understanding and patience. There have however been two unexpected reactions. The first is that many people respond by also speaking very softly. Perhaps it's a learnt rule when being polite that you respond in a conversation in a similar volume to your partner. Some of the people talking to me can get very soft though.

The second reaction which I've seen at least twice is that the other person immediately looks for paper to write their response on. The assumption is that since I can't speak, then I'm also deaf. They are of course unaware that I'm not mute, simply on strict vocal rest, but it's an interesting response anyway. What is bizarre is that I've even seen this reaction from my wife who is very aware that I'm not deaf!!!

I'll be in L.A. for another week. Take care all.

I'm off for L.A. in a couple of hours, but before I go…

We're going to see Gary's show in September. We have our tickets.

Are you going?

譚偉權史上首個個人音樂會

It's complicated.

Flying to L.A. was supposed to be relatively easy to arrange. We booked the flight with our agent in mid-late July, a full three weeks before the scheduled date of departure. The return flight was confirmed, and I was put on the waiting list of 4 flights from HKG to LAX. Going online to zuji, every flight of every airline was pretty full. Apparently, people were returning home after visiting the World Expo during the Summer holidays.

I stayed on those four waiting lists until the booking's deadline, and then my agent tried to keep me there because the return flight had been confirmed. It was only a few days ago that I discovered that Cathay doesn't allow someone to remain on a waiting list past the deadline. The rules are that you either 'publish' the ticket by the deadline or lose it, but you're not permitted to 'publish' a ticket if the seat hasn't been confirmed. So, your agent is forced to rebook your ticket each time the deadline is reached, effectively putting you at the back of the line every time. Cathay needs to do something to improve their system.

For more than a year, I've had this project in my mind, thinking about it, planning it, sometimes writing it down. Now however, Project S has become an actuality.

We've been working on Project S for several weeks. Next week, I'll be flying to L.A. to continue work on it, and you'll begin to see more about it soon after.

Hello people. It has been a long long time, but I'm still around. Just needed to let you know that. Things are interesting, and getting more interesting. Last week, I was in New York helping a group of people to develop and fine tune a Broadway play. It was extremely challenging and tiring but very satisfying. It's not possible to say whether I'll be invited to perform in the public release of this play, but there is a chance nonetheless....