安全上課

這兩天努力備課,昨晚睡不好,今早5時許就醒來…我就是個緊張大師。

因為沒有門卡,所以今天沒有按以往的習慣搭頭班小巴。事實證明,我是錯的。除了頭班車之外,我實在不肯定還有沒有車。巴士app的非實時時間表上小巴是一班接一班的開出,實情是站頭沒有車,也沒有人。於是我改搭巴士,巴士很快就到站,但跟小巴比較,我要多走15分鐘路。

踏入校門,舊同事都過來打招呼,舊時人物還在,但新的老師似更多。校舍是永遠地改建中,我要把舊日的印象抹去,才能理解現今的模樣。我坐在圖書館的玻璃房中,除了冷氣不夠外,其他情況都可以。

上課了,一如所料,學生都是一臉茫然。這不是我能控制的,我只能督促他們寫寫寫。不動筆,一切都是水過鴨背。

下課了,超級累,想倒頭大睡。

學生早已在堂上熟睡了。

安全備課

明天要上課了,有點緊張。

因為未有學校設備的登入方法,所以只能用原始的方法講,就是依書直說。

論仁論君子是1993年以來的會考課文,加入中三課文論孝論學的一半,拼湊成論仁論孝論君子,前後不知教了多少轉。不過,每次讀都有新問題,查找答案也是學習的過程。昨天備了幾個鐘,才備了論仁第一則,今天要賈其餘勇,以完成論仁為目標。

以前備課,已抄考過何晏、朱熹、劉寶楠、楊伯峻等注疏正義譯注等,何文滙、招祥麒諸君也有針對這篇課文作深度解釋。但有些字詞,怎樣解才最清晰,有時又未必找到答案,教科書的詞解有時候不是解字釋詞,而只是對譯,用一個現代詞對應古代詞,如果拆開逐字問就得不出所以然來。我希望挖深一些。

當然,我以結果為目標,以提高分數為理想,一定緊遵考評局的出題形式及趨勢,考試主導。

要備課了…

安全搬遷

把新建的網站搬到另一座深山,擾攘一番,終告塵埃落定。這次把材料先用 Monica OCR,然後把 4000 多頁 PDF 掟給 Claude,講清楚要求,並陸續修改,大致完成。如果單計寫程式的時間,它只用了十多分鐘,而且把 OCR 的錯誤也能抓出來;它也懂得預留空間,讓我稍後擴充範圍。這工程,三年之前我是不可想像,也沒法完成。現在用起來頗就手,有沒有實際用途不得而知,但自我感覺良好,因為一鍵就能抓出某課歷屆試題有哪些,答案及注意事項如何,而且可以用多種手法搜尋。我把 AI 對話框加添進去,可以進一步學習考評心法,但那是燒銀紙的,愛祖國,用 DeepSeek,性價比有目共睹。

我實測,叫 DeepSeek 總結考生在語譯題常犯的毛病,它據考試報告作出總結,用了大概 30000 token,美金1仙,如果用 Claude Sonnet,美金1毫,相差10倍。

DeepSeek 的文筆比我好,閱讀速度快,理解能力強,可以取代我。

多情應笑我:我只是代課一個月,燒錢買考試報告 (300元)、新建網址 (美金10元1年)、布置網站(精神眼力,無價)、升級伺服器 (美金6元1月)…,有多少實際用處? 有需要嗎? 值得嗎?

應該說:可有可無。有,我會就手一些;沒有,我的四十年入廚經驗大概還可以應付過去。

不過,這是我以前曾想過做但沒有時間沒有技術做的,現在有時間有助手,不試試不甘心,我追求良好的自我感覺。

這兩天都在5:30醒來,連身體都告訴我準備出發了。

安全重遊

闊別三年,再次上山。

山上景物全非,人事亦然。甫進校門,要到保安崗位登記。見到幾位工友,都是舊時相識,彼此寒暄一會,感嘆世事茫茫,人間滄桑。

教員室比過去更有私隱,到處都是儲物空間,誰在誰不在很難覺察得到。我選擇圖書館的玻璃房做臨時辦公地點,因為我喜歡自閉。

科主任跟我說明了情況,大概知道要教些甚麼。回家前到公共圖書館搜集近三年的歷屆試題(雖然我已自費在考評局買了),準備更新試題庫。我還要更新筆記,雖然這課論仁論孝論君子教了N次,但我向來奉中國香港考評局的評卷參考為圭臬,必須與時並進,完善筆記。

有點緊張,有點期待(出糧)。

希望安全上班,無風無浪到終點,安全下班,搵兩餐。

安全心死

顏淵問於仲尼曰:「夫子步亦步,夫子趨亦趨,夫子馳亦馳,夫子奔逸絕塵而回瞠若乎後矣!」夫子曰:「回,何謂邪?」曰:「夫子步亦步也,夫子言,亦言也。夫子趨亦趨也,夫子辯,亦辯也。夫子馳亦馳也,夫子言道,回亦言道也。及奔逸絕塵而回瞠若乎後者,夫子不言而信,不比而周,無器而民滔乎前,而不知所以然,而已矣。」仲尼曰:「惡!可不察與?夫哀莫大於心死,而人死亦次之。日出東方,而入於西極,萬物莫不比方。有目有趾者,待是而後成功,是出則存,是入則亡。萬物亦然,有待也而死,有待也而生。吾一受其成形,而不化以待盡,效物而動,日夜無隙,而不知其所終,薰然其成形,知命不能規乎其前,丘以是日徂。吾終身與汝交一臂而失之,可不哀與?汝殆著乎吾所以著也。彼已盡矣,而汝求之以為有,是求馬於唐肆也。吾服汝也甚忘,汝服吾也亦甚忘。雖然,汝奚患焉?雖忘乎故吾,吾有不忘者存。」《莊子·田子方》

The Life of Saint Macrina

Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Saint Macrina. Translated by W. K. Lowther Clarke. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1916.

Gregory of Nyssa (4th century) is widely considered the father of Christian mysticism. While exploring mysticism, I came across Gregory of Nyssa and his short biography of his eldest sister Macrina. Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebaste were all Macrina’s brothers and were all bishops. Macrina, Basil, Gregory, and Peter are all saints among many Christian traditions.

Macrina was betrothed to a young man who died before their marriage. She never married. After her father’s death, she took care of her mother and both began to live the ascetic life. Macrina and Peter organized a double monastery, one for men and one for women.

The most important theology of this book is Macrina’s deathbed conversation with Gregory, who happened to visit her. Her sayings touch on the nature of the soul, the origin of death, and the nature of the journey from death to life again.

It’s sad to read Macrina’s deathbed sayings. While we all know one will die sooner or later, death, whether sudden or prolonged, is not something to rejoice in or celebrate. Only faith that goes beyond death can bring hope.”She knew of one store-house alone for her wealth, the treasure in heaven. There she had stored her all, nothing was left on earth.” (p. 63)

安全糊口

避席畏聞文字獄,教書只為稻粱謀。

舊校找我代課,雖然只是一班一個月,但因已斷糧三年,為兩餐重操故業。為保安全,我只會依書直說,不加批判思考,謹遵某氏定理第一定律:XXX永遠是對的;第二定律:如果XXX錯,參考第一定律。

我的筆記全都銷毀了,要重新學習。教書,第一步是搜集歷屆試題,我的紀錄止於2023年,明天會到公共圖書館找2024-2026的試題,更新一下。

我以前做過一個試題庫,用家稱便,但退休後刪去了網址,即使重看程式碼,也一臉茫然。我請AI做了一個指定篇章的試題庫,暫時只具備列出、搜尋、顯示卷面的功能,稍後加上評卷、樣本、報告等資料,敝帚自珍,只供自己抄考。

當然,一鍵即可銷毀。

按年列出試題。可選顯示評卷及報告。

搜尋。按年份、篇章、題型檢索;除試題外,亦可搜評卷及報告的文字。

新增試卷只須加入PDF即可。

試題趨勢。顏色深淺與佔分比重有關。

蟬聯亞一

準備就寢之際,讀到中國香港大學榮登/蟬聯QS亞洲大學之冠,位列北大清華之上,領先新加坡國立大學以及新加坡南洋理工大學幾位,興奮莫名,睡意全消。QS亞洲大學前十名,中國香港佔了一半,北都大學城將更有吸引力。

雖然,我不明白,為甚麼QS世界大學中國香港大學明明被新加坡國立大學及新加坡南洋理工大學夾住,QS亞洲大學排名卻反轉。

叨了母校的光,我在南極的同學對來自中國香港大學的我頗為敬重,我謙說我是幾十年前畢業的,那時還是在英國非法割佔實施殖民統治但不是殖民地的黑暗年代,不可同日而語。不過,他們,尤其是大陸的同學,對我們解散了百年歷史的學生會感到錯愕,可是,他們也不會多問,因為,彼此心照。

前幾天到中國港大參加一個工作坊,感到很陌生。建築物是多了,人也多了,保安也多了,但總沒法找到舊日的味道。

三年制、二年級毋須考試、…這次第,更與何人說。

安全虛擬

今早又進一步完善虛擬機器,用 rclone 掛載了 One Drive 及 Google Drive,可自動同步雲端硬碟,按需下載,速度快,又安裝了 Xfe,複製移動檔案視覺化,大致上足不出機就可以充分利用中國香港不能用的服務。但 update Chrome 時不知怎的中了地雷,幾乎要重新安裝,幸好能夠解決。

Linux比較快,對硬件要求較低,但使用習慣要調整一下。全世界都在去微軟化,最近Acrobat更給人用逆向工程全套複製成開源軟件,股價大跌。如今很多軟件都要訂閱而不是賣斷,小數怕長計,改用 Linux 及開源軟件是長遠之計。

ArtCraft 開源軟件,Microsoft, Adobe 等都被人用 AI 高仿了,但不是翻版,而是改寫,功能相若,毋須訂費,免費下載,Window, Mac, Linux 可用。我用過 PdfCraft,自我感覺良好。

據中國香港合法可用的 Gemini 云,ArtCraft 已製作下列流行軟件
• 對標 Adobe 創作套件:
• PhotoCraft:對標 Adobe Photoshop(支援開啟 PSD/PSB 檔)
• VectorCraft:對標 Adobe Illustrator
• FilmCraft:對標 Adobe Premiere Pro
• LightCraft:對標 Adobe Lightroom(RAW 格式顯影與相片管理)
• PdfCraft:對標 Adobe Acrobat(PDF 處理工作台)
• EffectCraft:對標 Adobe After Effects(特效與動態圖形)
• DesignCraft:對標 Adobe InDesign(排版設計)
• 對標 Microsoft Office 辦公套件:
• WordCraft:對標 Microsoft Word(文書處理)
• GridCraft:對標 Microsoft Excel(試算表)
• DeckCraft:對標 Microsoft PowerPoint(簡報製作)
• 其他專業工具:
• 包括 FigCraft(介面設計)、SoundCraft(音訊工作站)、CADCraft(CAD 電腦輔助設計)以及 GridCraft、ArtCraft Studio(生成式圖影渲染與 3D 構圖等)。

Hearing Voices

Christopher C. H. Cook, Hearing Voices, Demonic and Divine: Scientific and Theological Perspectives (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2019), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31021586/

Christopher C. H. Cook is a medical doctor (psychiatrist) and an Anglican priest. His training makes him well-qualified to discuss this topic. This book is free to download (open access).

This book first discusses voice hearing in a general religious context and then focuses on Christianity. He discusses cases of hearing voices in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and then moves on to such phenomena in Christian tradition and contemporary claims. He ends the book by summing up his perspectives in science and theology.

Different from other “hearing God’s voice” books, this book also addresses voices from other sources, originating from the self, satanic, angelic, etc. The author does not view hearing voices purely as religious experiences or symptoms of mental illness. It can be either, or it can be both.

To be honest, his discussion from a psychiatrist’s perspective is not easy to follow (e.g., hallucinations, auditory verbal hallucinations, multimodal hallucinations, etc.).

His accounts of hearing voice cases in the Bible are more familiar to me. But his account of voices in Christian tradition is even more interesting to me, including the Desert Fathers, medieval religious figures such as Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Ignatius, Teresa of Ávila, and John of the Cross, and in more recent times the Quakers and the Charismatics.

The author’s position on hearing voices is that hearing God is a normal part of Christian experience and did not stop after the apostolic age. However, he also warns that discernment is needed, as there are counterfeits, and sincerity does not guarantee truthfulness. Though he summarizes criteria proposed by different traditions, he does not think they are conclusive. The gold standard he proposes is the fruit test: whether the voice reflects and reveals the presence of God in Christ and transforms the life of the hearer, which should be tested by the church community and scripture. However, he does not think hearing voices is a necessity. He cites Thomas Merton as an example, a contemplative who practiced contemplative prayer but did not say much on hearing voices. He also points out that Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross were both very cautious about hearing voices.

As for me, I haven’t heard God’s voice except through His words in the Bible. Some are eager to seek the still, small voice and boast about having heard such voices. I am not in a position to judge their authenticity, though many are sincere. To me, possibility doesn’t imply credibility. And if the voices lead to pride and deviation from the written word, I would be even more suspicious.

I read this book, again, because of her.