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 Malaysia
| December 6, 2011 | 1:15 PM |
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New Theme: Matala
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Today we’re excited to launch Matala, our newest theme. You might recognize this one — it was once the primary theme for ma.tt, Matt Mullenweg’s blog. Last year, Matala was released to the WordPress.org Themes Directory, and now we’re thrilled to bring it to WordPress.com.
 The Matala Theme Originally designed by Nicolò Volpato, Matala’s bright colors and dynamic shapes are suggestive of designs seen in Talavera, a pottery tradition common in Puebla, Mexico. Grungy textures, hand-scribbled icons, and whimsically titling text in the main navigation menu join the colors and shapes to give your blog a bright, playful look.
You can use Matala’s fun design as is, or create a look of your own with a custom background image and custom header image.
Matala comes with three widget-ready areas: the right-hand sidebar and two columns at the bottom of your post content column. In addition, there is a full-width page for single-image pages, an option to display a small “Random Photos” gallery on single-image pages, and support for six post formats — aside, status, quote, video, image and gallery.
Learn more about Matala’s features on the Theme Showcase.
       
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Announcing Support for OAuth2 and New Developer Resources
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We love developers and the applications they build to help extend WordPress.com in new and meaningful ways. To continue providing support for developers who build applications that integrate with WordPress.com, we’re announcing support for OAuth 2, as well as a new developer portal, develop.wordpress.com.
 Starting today WordPress.com supports a new method of authentication which makes it extremely easy for third party applications to connect with WordPress.com blogs. This new method uses an open protocol, OAuth2, to allow secure API authorization in a simple and standard way. OAuth2 allows applications to access a WordPress.com blog without ever asking for personal details such as a password or username. Connections from applications can easily be managed within the dashboard and connections won’t break when a username or password is changed.
In addition to supporting the new authentication feature, we’re also launching develop.wordpress.com. If you’re interested in learning more about OAuth2 and other ways to integrate with WordPress.com, then this developer portal is for you.
Develop.wordpress.com contains some handy documents and resources about how you can develop using WordPress.com technologies. The site also houses a channel where you can contact us directly regarding issues such as OAuth2 authentication, client access, and embedding new media types on WordPress.com.
These documents are only the beginning - we’ll be adding more resources and tools over time as the developer ecosystem grows.
 Memolane is one example of the many possibilities for integration of third party applications with WordPress.com. Memolane allows you to pull posts directly from your WordPress.com blog into a graphical time line with other elements of your online life. You can easily view, add to, and share this timeline online. As of today, you can also embed your personal Memolane on your WordPress.com blog using a new shortcode.
So, developers, what would you like to build with WordPress.com?
       
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New Theme: Château
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Today we are introducing an elegantly designed and typographically pleasing theme, Château.
 The Château Theme Designed by Ignacio Ricci, Château has been crafted with close attention to detail and typography. Its beautiful, minimalist look allows you to make your content the focal point of your blog.
Aside from a brilliant design, this theme offers many cool features that help you to personalize your blog. There are two color schemes, three layout options, custom accent color, Custom Header Image, Custom Background, six widget areas, and three post formats — Aside, Gallery and Image. It’s loaded with options that make the theme flexible enough to fit a variety of sites.
Read all about Château’s features on the Theme Showcase.
       
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Of “What don’t I know?”
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Throughout my intellectual pursuits, I have come to learn the different meanings of this question. When I was still a little boy, it served as a guide for me to choose what to learn. Ignorance is relative. I outline what I know and compare them in terms of depth and accuracy with that of my peers. A greedy learner, I would grab whatever was around me and absorb it as if I was a sponge.
The few hours when I hid myself in bookshops had been the most wonderful moments in my childhood. Not able to afford the books I liked, I memorized them in the few hours when my mother was shopping and then regurgitated them in my notebook. I also remember how I competed with my friends in elementary school in getting the most questions right in “ Who wants to be a millionaire?” It gave me great pleasure when I shouted “Eh, I didn’t know this” and went on to find out more in the library. Contrary to the common scene in primary schools in Malaysia (especially the Chinese elementary schools), I was fortunate enough to have teachers who encourage questions. To quench my curiosity, I even resorted to disturbing them during their tea breaks. Even after I entered high school, I still wrote to one of the teachers (who then furthered his study in Taiwan) to ask about calculus long before I was supposed to learn it.
However fun knowing more was, I was soon dragged into a black hole of confusion. Knowing more led me to more unknowns. While one source states that the velocity of light is constant regardless of reference frames, John Moffat’s research tells me that the velocity of light has actually slowed down with time. The discovery of noble gas compounds such as xenon fluoride also contradicts the teaching in my Chemistry textbook that noble gases do not form compound with other elements. I had always taken Keris (or Kris), the asymmetrical dagger as a symbol of solely Malay culture. However, little did I know that it was, in essence and contrary to common misconception, a symbol of confluence of the myriad of cultures that existed in ancient Southeast Asia. (If you are interested in this, I recommend you the book " What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You-The Annexe Lecture Vol 1 " by Farish A. Noor) This realization then taught me that to completely believe one source is not a wise act. Due to differences in experiences, geographical regions, cultures and times, different people and sources have dissimilar and sometimes contradictory standpoints and opinions. In order to sort through this confusion, I have to learn from diverse sources to gain a complete picture. Then, based on this complete picture, we can make our own judgment after evaluating the reasoning and proofs behind those differing opinions. From then onwards, I strive to comprehend an idea using as many sources as I can.
I was once proud of what I have learnt in investments and financial management through books and the internet. At a tender age of fifteen, I was able to discuss value investment, taxation and candlestick charts with my uncles. One day however, my curious little cousin asked me, "So, how much have you earned in your investment?” I could not answer him as I had not started my investment portfolio back then. I felt shameful. I could never claim that I know something well unless I can apply it in life. From then on, I started learning not for the sake of knowing but also for to apply knowledge in life.
This question is also important in exploring a new or immature field. The buildup of knowledge is actually a series of questions and answers. As I realized that most of our great ideas are inspired by uncontrollable dreams and not by systematic conscious thinking techniques, I started to become increasingly thrilled by the possibilities of detecting, simulating and modifying the general patterns of inspirations in dreams. If it could ever be done, it will soon be a new field of study which further broadens the scope of neuroscience. It will also generate a great leap in artificial intelligence technology once we can incorporate the thinking pattern of dreams into computers as such organic creativity is an important part of human minds.
“What don’t I know?” As simple as it may seem to be, this question has helped me to build up my whole knowledge base. I am sure as I progress on in pursuing, applying and creating knowledge, I will find out more meanings behind this question. This essay was written two years ago as a response to one of the admission essays questions. I like it very much. Hence, this post. If there is anything you would like to know deeper, I would love to research, analyze and
write about it. Just tell me using the comment box below.
Since I am not of working class, you can feed me by visiting my sponsors' recommendation.
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New Theme: Fruit Shake
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Over five years ago, when WordPress.com was just getting started, we launched a theme that has become near and dear to many of us. A theme that even then stood out from all the others with its, well, its banana-smoothie-ness. It’s about time to shake up the Banana Smoothie, isn’t it? Maybe even give some other fruit a shake? We think so. Let’s take a look at its delicious successor, Fruit Shake.
Click to view slideshow.
The goal of Fruit Shake was to capture Banana Smoothie’s essence and serve it up to everyone with a refreshed design — and even more fruity flavor. Hence, your choice of three fruit-flavored color schemes: Banana, Blueberry, and my favorite, Dragon Fruit. And just like, Banana Smoothie did, Fruit Shake comes with its own fruit shake recipe widget — courtesy of the incomparable Jane Wells — that lets you share your love of bananas, blueberries, and dragon fruit with your blog readers. Also, there may or may not be a secret, unlockable, fruit in Fruit Shake. Or not. I can’t say much more than that except, well, it might be a secret. If it even exists.
Of course, if you just like the basic colors of Fruit Shake you can also personalize the design with your own custom header and custom background image. You can even remove all the widgets from the sidebar in Appearance → Widgets and create a sleek tumblelog look for your blog. In other words, you don’t have to be obsessed with fruit to enjoy Fruit Shake. It doesn’t hurt though. 
If you want to know more about the cool features in Fruit Shake we’ve made a page that outlines them all on the Theme Showcase. You can read up on Fruit Shake there and check out a live demo or just activate it on your blog and start experimenting! And if you have a self-hosted installation of WordPress you haven’t been left out of the fun. Fruit Shake will be making its way to the official WordPress Theme directory where you can download it and install it on your blog.
       
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WordPress for webOS: A New Way to Blog
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 It’s a new way to blog, on a new type of platform. Today we’re excited to share a glimpse of the future for all the WordPress mobile apps. Drumroll please! I give you WordPress for webOS, available as a download for the HP TouchPad with support for more webOS 3.0 devices coming in the future.
Here’s the run-down: It’s the first official WordPress app to have a full featured WYSIWYG (what’s this?) post editor. The app has been translated to all languages available on the TouchPad. It uses a “Sliding Panels” interface, which takes full advantage of the larger screen of the TouchPad and makes for fast and easy blog management on the go. Check out the video below to learn more!
Of course the app also features everything else you’ve come to expect from a WordPress app. You can manage posts and pages, as well as add new ones. Moderation is built right in, and you can even reply directly to comments. If a comment comes in and you’re working on something else with your TouchPad at the time, you’ll get notified about it. Peruse the Stats panel for in-depth information on what your visitors like the most about your site.
 Another neat thing about this app is its use of “Cards”. This is a webOS invention that lets you stack screens belonging to the WordPress app in a single pile, making it very easy to, for instance, write a post while keeping the main window open. In fact, if you tap an email address in a comment, a compose email card will be stacked together with those of the app.
Learn more about WordPress for webOS at webos.wordpress.org and follow @WPwebOS on Twitter for the latest news!
Are you rocking a TouchPad? You can download WordPress for webOS directly on your device using the HP App Catalog. Just search for “WordPress”. Visiting on a device? Follow this link to download.
Get involved! Just like all the other official WordPress apps, WordPress for webOS is an Open Source project that craves your mad programming skills. Head on over to the development section to learn more.
Huge thanks to Beau Collins for some major webOS pwnage. We’d also like to thank our partners at HP for making all of this possible.
So, what’s your favorite invention in WordPress for webOS?
 Comment detail view with a few comments pending moderation.  Compose card using the WYSIWYG editor.  Post detail view. The main sliding panel is collapsed.  Stacked cards and notifications example.
       
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Personalize Your Blog with the New Custom Design Upgrade
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Today we’re excited to bring you Custom Design, a powerful new tool that combines easy to use, code-free font selection from Typekit and a beautiful CSS editing interface with world-class support from our famous WordPress.com Happiness Engineers.
You’ll find both new features—Fonts and CSS—under Appearance → Custom Design in your dashboard. Custom Design costs just $30 a year, and both features include a free preview so you can try them out first.
 Example of Custom Design landing screen. Fonts Made Super Easy
The Font Editor provides a visual preview of your blog with over 50 gorgeous premium Typekit fonts—from foundries like Mark Simonson, exljbris, FontFont, and the League of Moveable Type—and allows you to easily modify the size and style of your fonts. It works with all themes, no coding skills required!
 Example of choosing fonts with the Font Editor. We worked closely with Typekit on this new tool—incorporating their long experience with delivering beautiful fonts on the web—to create the best experience possible. With the Custom Design upgrade comes the ability to manage all your Typekit fonts settings from within your dashboard; you no longer need to make a roundtrip to Typekit and back to update the fonts on your blog.
If you are already using Typekit fonts on your blog, you are grandfathered in—meaning your fonts will continue to display as they do now but you’ll have limited editing and functionality. To take advantage of all the new features, we encourage you to upgrade to Custom Design.
CSS Backed by Expertise
This popular tool received a visual refresh with its merge into the Custom Design upgrade. If you know your way around a cascading style sheet, you can use the CSS Editor to really put a personal touch on your blog and create an entirely new design.
 CSS editor in action. If your site already has custom CSS enabled, it will continue to work as it does now, and visitors will see no changes to your design. Furthermore, you’ve been upgraded to the new Custom Design package for free, so you now have full access to all the new features, including the Font Editor.
Along with the CSS Editor updates we’re making the WordPress.com CSS forum officially supported by the WP.com Happiness team. Bring your CSS customization questions to the forum and you can get expert help.
From your feedback—and by seeing your cool customizations in use all over WordPress.com—we know that design tools on WordPress.com are put to good use, so we hope you love this new upgrade. Fonts are now incredibly easy. We’re now helping you craft your CSS. Let’s make something beautiful.
If you’d like more details on the new upgrade, head over to Custom Design.
       
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