"In Finem Omnia" Football Club

From left to right
Up : Setyo "plenthi" Hari (keeper), Prima "kocan" Damar (defence), Setiawan Aji (me, striker), Danang "jinguk" Pamungkas (defence), Joko "Jiwo" (playmaker), Andreas "Kristin" Ari (striker)

Down : Andon "Kothak" (right wing), Hari "Kace" Sigit (Left Wing), Dimas "Celeng" Ariyanto (defence), Budi "Cakil" Gunawan (playmaker)

Yesterday I surfed the Internet. I want to write a blog, but there were no ideas at all. I looked for a picture and found an old picture of me and my football team. Since high school, I joint the Seminari Mertoyudan football club. Every year we have an league and in 1999, my team won as the first. Unfortunally, I already stopped to play football. To many other bussines in my life. Sometimes I really miss to wear a footbal shoes, team's shirt, kick the ball, play as striker and make a goal. He2....

IT-ers reunion

Saturday, March 02, 2007, there was a reunion of alumni of Informatics Engineering of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University. Five alumni joined this occasion. They were (from right to left) :

1.Sinung (TF'99), now works in Sclumberger Oil Company as a Drilling project manager
2.Bimo (TF'00), owner of PT. Mahkota Dewa Indonesia
3.Aji (TF'00), Computer Science lecturer of Soegijapranata Catholic University, owner of Nugroho IT Solutions and Australian Partnership Scholarship awarder
4.Deddy (TF'00), works in Berca as a storage system IT specialist
5.Johan (TF'00), Master of Informatics Engineering student at Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University

Hopefully they can bring this country to the better one.

Lord make me an instrument

Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis of Assisi, 13th century

Terrible day, I broke my glass

I didn't know what happen, suddenly the glass losed from it's frame. Hem, now I must buy the new one. It hurt my eyes.

Maximize your Laptop

Have a brand new or old laptop? How to deal with it?

Nowadays, people prefer to have a laptop rather than a personal computer. It is because the mobility aspect of a laptop. We can bring and use our laptop wherever we want to go. Two or three years ago, laptop is an expensive device, but now we can buy a laptop for only 7-8 million rupiah. That is why laptop so popular in our community now. Some people often ask how to choose the best laptop for them. I will try to describe some laptop classification based on the purposes, prices and specifications.

1.Future purpose
As an accountant has different job compared to an architect or programmer. Your profession can be a good way to choose your brand new laptop. An architect maybe need a high specification laptop to deal with image processing or designing something. An accountant or social worker will use office application in his/her daily activities and need a middle laptop specification only.

2.Budget
First thing you must consider when planning to buy a laptop is your budget. Price still play important role in our community. Laptop prices vary between 6 to 20 million rupiah depend on it's brand and specification.

3.Specification
There are so many laptop specifications, based on it's processor, memory, hard disk, graphic card, sound card, optical devices, port, etc. We can find many different types of processors whether in 32 bit or 64 bit such as Intel Celeron, Intel Centrino, Centrino Duo, AMD, VIA, etc.
Celeron is the lowest type of Intel processor. It's enough for you if you just want to use your laptop for office application or watching DVD. Centrino or Centrino Duo is faster than celeron. You can choose this type of processor if you want to do image processing or playing 3D games. AMD is the competitor of Intel and it has a lot of variants same as Intel but has cheaper price. You can find review of each processor by googling it.

How to maximize your brand new laptop?

1.Software
There are a lot variant of Operating System such as Linux, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Solaris, etc. Linux is an open source operating system. It means that you can directly use it legally without buy it first. Proprietary software like Windows is another choice, but you must buy it first. For people who don't need a specific software, you can consider open source software as your solution. No need to worries about the support because open source software means deployed by a lot of programmer that will help you if you have a problem using it. The other advantage is almost free of viruses. Two years using Linux, I never have a problem with a virus.

2.Memory
Have more memory means have more performance. Random Access Memory used to store temporary files needed by operating system to do your job. Upgrade your RAM and you will get performance improvement.

3.Battery
Battery life depends on many aspect. Recent laptop have longer battery life because it support by new technology such as speed step on Intel and using a lithium cell. Battery maintenance also have effects to your laptop. First time you use your battery, charge it until 8 hours to get maximal performance. You can find information about battery maintenance in Internet by googling it.

Let's move from plastic to paper bag

Two weeks ago, I had a discussion with some peoples about sustainable development. It was a very interesting topic. Unfortunatelly, I didn't have sufficient knowledge about sustainable development. One speaker talked about sustainable development in terms of politic, the other one had his own angle of view from economic field. My turn, I spoke about the use of paper bag to change plastic in our daily life activities. It was only a small angle of view, but this brought us the a deep discussion about environmental sustainability.

If we buy some groceries or any other things, the stores usually give us a plastic bag to bring the things we already bought. Sometimes we don't realize that this kind of plastic could not be recycled. Just imagine how many plastic bag used every day. It will increase the non-recycled garbages that have a lot of negative effects to our environment such as issues of global warming, environment destructions, etc.

Many countries in the world didn't use plastic bag anymore. They already used paper bag to change the plastic bag. They choose paper bag because it can be recycled. They aware about the future environment.

Today's International Herald Tribune newspaper gives us a lot of example of the efforts of many countries to recycle the trash. You can read it at http://www.iht.com/indexes/special/trash/index.php. This one is highly recommended to be read.

Indonesia has a lot of problem with trash. Plastic bag still used in a lot of sectors. why don't we try to change the easiest one. Start from supermarket, restaurant, etc?

Finally, it was just a discussion.

A session about Critical Thinking With Tim Moore

Today we (3Mont-ers) have an opportunity to meet Tim Moore, a representative of some Australian Universities. Tim Moore presented a topic about critical thinking from some different point of views. He interviewed some lecturer in Monash University from three different backgrounds. They gave a definition and comment about critical thinking from their perspective.
I try to understand the aim of critical thinking in each of background. I found the same purpose even it says in different ways. The main purpose of critical thinking is to understand whether something is a rubbish or values for us. Critical thinking is a way to identified something so we can say it needed or not.

There's no exact definition about critical thinking. A lecturer from Monash said "It's an interesting word, isn't it? it can be mean anything".

Again :

"The main purpose of critical thinking is to understand whether something is a rubbish or values for us"

Do a lot of reading!!!!

Christopher Abimanyu and B Linggar Yekti Nugraheni Performance in a Charity Concert

“I pray you'll be all right
and watch us where we go...”



A day before having a conference in Bali and Padang, My fiance Linggar performed a duet with Christopher Abimanyu, an Indonesian famous tenorist. “The prayer” song beautifully performed by them in a charity concert held by “Gratia”, Soegijapranata Catholic University Student Choir.

hey Ling, I'm proud of you....

Timebased Internet Connection using CDMA mobile phone

Everday I connect to Internet using my cdma mobile phone and laptop. Unfortunatelly, I must pay to much for the internet cost. If I use mobile-8, I must pay 5Rp for each Kb.
Finally, I got an information about timebased internet connection using CBN. Timebased internet connection is much cheaper for me compared to volumebased internet connection. I do a lot of download and email everyday as a consquences of my project and timebased internet connection gives me a lot of advantages, not only for the cost, but also on the connection speed.

It's an easy steps for you to have an timebased internet connection.
Requirenments:
- Laptop/Desktop
- Windows or Linux Operating System (I never try to other OS)
- CDMA phone or CDMA modem (more expensive)
- Cable data
- Mobile-8 or StarOne (prepaid or postpaid)
- CBN prepaid (actually there are a lot of company that provide timebased internet connectio, e.g : ipnet, jalamedia, etc)

Comparation :

Timebased
Price Rp. 220,- every minute

Pro - better used for a ot of download activities
- 2.5Kbps on average (depends on some aspect)
- on demand connection

Cons - You must refill your account separatelly from your mobile credits

Volumebased
Price Rp. 5,- every Kb

Pro - better used for chatting
- 4-5Kbps on average (depends on some aspect)
- long connection (that sometimes you not used it)

Cons - Another application use the connection, e.g windows update, etc (costly)

Email from Linggar..

Today I get an email from my fiance, it's better if I share it to you....

dear my Aji

life have sharpen our mind, thought and sense.... furthermore we'll never know what life would bring us to... every road should be traveled, every home must be stayed, and that's it how relationship would happen to us on the way we live our live.

Life is too short.. and what i believe is : "the more you give to life the more you'll receive..." You have so much dreams, and it would be enough to enrich your life in so many ways that you never imagine before. Keep moving, keep doing things you want, seize your dreams no matter what life take you to.. and don't let anyone take your dreams away from you.

You are very bright person, with your brain you can change the whole life itself, with your hand you could also change somebody's else life, you have beauty inside that makes people respect to your life... you have so many wonderful life that you must thank for.. such bless.!!

I am a woman that comes to your life when you're traveling around the world... we met on the cross road, with so much hope to travel our live in our own way and getting closer in every crossroad. No matter what road we choose, they will never lie to us.. and it's worth traveling.

take good care in your road, and i thank GOD to have you in the road i am traveling in right now.

lots of love
yours...

Another two days vacations....

It's not because a national holidays, it's caused by flood in Jakarta. I have another two days vacation because the electricity in "Wisma Budi" didn't work. It just bored for me. I prefer to have a class than stay in my boarding house. Why? because I already have a weekend for take a rest and doing something other than in the resource center. I just watched some movies and Linggar and Cristopher Abimanyu concert. Hem, they sang "the prayer" together, that's way I'm proud of my fiance. She has a high quality of sound, smart and mature..... (he2...). I'll give some pictures of them as soon as possible.
It's more than two weeks since I met my fiance, also my family. Hem, I miss u all.... see you

Flood Everywhere in Jakarta

I have an IELTS simulation test today. I waked up early at 6.30 and the rain was not stopped yet. I took a bath and ate some biscuits, I still not aware yet about the rain. Finished with my biscuits, I went up hurry to IALF.
I must have a breakfast first, then I go to "WARUNG TEGAL" around my boarding house. I arrived at 07.45 and a lot of my friend got late because some road in Jakarta covered by water.
If you want to know the recent situation in Jakarta, visit http://thejakartapost.com or http://www.detik.com

Wonderful Day

What a wonderful day, I got my monthly stipend from AusAid. Hi2... this just a joke. I'll give you another story later because I am in the middle of the computer class now.

A journey to Taman Anggrek Mall.....

I wake up late that morning. I have a date with Elis and Wulan (my pre-departure program classmate at IALF) to go to Taman Anggrek Mall. But unfortunately Wulan must look for a boarding house for her sister. I went to Sarinah Plaza by busway and met Elis there. That was the first time I use busway. It was a first good impression about Jakarta's transportation. Maybe this was a good decision made by "Bang Yos" to develop a mass transportation.
Finally, we met at Sarinah Plaza and continued our travel to Taman Anggrek Mall. Firstly we go to Ratu Plaza by taxi and then we use the "kopaja 66" bus to Komdak (it's a place near the Metropolitan Police Department). We change our first bus with other bus to go to Taman Anggrek Mall. It was an interesting place because it was a big Mall and I have never seen it before in Semarang. (hem, so poor I am)... Just walking around and we not found any laptop store there cause Elis need to buy a new laptop. We just share about anything and it made me comfortable to this city.
We went home at 3pm but I decided to go to Ratu Plaza and walk around to look for a card reader and buy my daily needs.
Hem it was a good journey for me. That was my first experience take a walk in Jakarta. It was my first experience to go by bus in Jakarta (or maybe in other city because I usually drive my own car).
At least I have a good impression about Jakarta in terms of friendship and transportation....

see you in my next journey....

Critical thinking

As a students, sometimes we must summarize a book, article or anything. After summarizing, we must write our opinion to that article or book and this opinion will be discussed later in the class.
To write a good opinion to an article or book isn't easy. We must try to understand the writing rationally, objectively and maybe subjectively according to the author's aim. We need a critical thinking ability in this term.
There are so many definitions of critical thinking. Complete definitions is :

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness"
(A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction, http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/definingCT.shtml)

This definition sounds hard to understand, but actually by learn it day by day and implement it in every situation, we will train our critical thinking ability.

So, critical thinking is not only for understand an article, or a book? No, we can use it for any situation. Listening a headline news, watching TV, film, etc. The first thing we must do in critical thinking is focus to what we want to learn. Focus means give a full attention. After that, we can try to make some questions or arguments about what we learn. Questions or arguments not only for what we don't understand, but maybe if disagree or agree with the statement. Of course, we must do it in the rational and objective way when we try to analyze a case.

Sometimes we can try to think in the way of constructive skepticism. Constructive means that the aim what we want to do is give a positive effect to the author. Critic not always give a negative sides. So think rationally and objectively be a key in constructive skepticism.

(This writing based on my discussion in the IALF course)

== Beside critical thinking, there is critical literacy, I'll discuss it as soon as possible ==

Great Discussion About Plagiarism

Today's session is about Plagiarism. Our English lecturer, Michael, gives us a reading material about plagiarism fact in a University. This reading material shocked me because there are a lot of people that do plagiarism and now they become a professor. I shocked because a thesis supervisor whom he's a professor, do a fatal plagiarism when he did his thesis to get master degree.
I realize that culture on aware and avoid plagiarism still hard to follow in Indonesia. But why? Who's wrong if a lot of students in Indonesia just stealling idea or words from other people's works?
Maybe there's no education about plagiarism in formal school?

Plagiarism is about honesty and morality....
I learn much from this day's discussion.

Rainy day in Jakarta

It was two days ago since Jakarta cooled by the water from rain. Everyday always rain here, morning, noon, or afternoon. A lot of effects caused by this situation. Flood in same places, "kaki lima" food seller become more dirty, etc. It's not comfortable to take a walk in some lane specially arround my boarding house. The positive effect is the wether is cooler now compared with the average wether.

I really want to give you some picture of the condition, but unfortunatelly I don't have usb cable for my camera. Anyone have it?

Two biggest Linux groups merge to be Linux Foundation

www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-23 09:30:28

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The two biggest supporters of Linux software have merged to form the Linux Foundation.

A San Francisco non-profit, the Free Standards Group, have merged with Open Source Development Labs of Beaverton, Ore., the organizations said on Tuesday in a joint statement.

The Linux operating system competes with Microsoft Windows and Unix as the computer platform for other software programs to run on. It is open-source software, which means the code is publicly available and can be changed by anyone.

The Linux foundation's members include major technology companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle, as well as the two largest Linux makers, Novell and Red Hat. It will be led by Jim Zemlin, former executive director of the Free Standards Group.

The new group will defend Linux vendors and customers against intellectual property lawsuits. It also plans to help increase usage of Linux by aiding development of the software and helping the operating system work with open-source and proprietary software.

(Agencies)

from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/23/content_5640559.htm

From me :
Indonesia has a lot of capable and competent person to develope many open source system. Unfortunatelly, The government not too concern about this. Government of Indonesia must pay a lot for proprietary software. It doesn't mean that we can't use the propietary software, but there are a lot of software that can be used freely to support their work.
I'm wondering if all of intelectual in software engineering work together with government to use and develope a cheap software...... hem... maybe I can join it.

Mandala Airlines, what happens?

I have reserved ticket to go to Jakarta long before the day I want to go. I reserved one ticket for me, and one return ticket for my viansee. The flight was delayed at 18 January 2007 from 18.25 to 21.00. It's so long even there were an announcement about this problem early in the morning before I went to airport.
I enjoy the flight at night, and I arrived to Jakarta almost at 10pm. But unfortunatelly, a day before my viansee flight at Sunday, 21 January 2007, Mandala call us and said that all flights at 21 to 25 January was cancelled beacuse the planes not suitable to fly. Hem, I'm dissaponted but it's Ok because it's better that they cancelled the flights then there would be another risk.
This announcement is too late. We were confused because there's no airplane ticket alvailable for the next day because it's a holiday, there's no agent that give a service (or we don't know).
My viansee's brother helpe us to fine the ticket via online service, and finally we got the Garuda ticket....

Hem, a nice experience. this night, my viansee must be in the midlle of her profession examination. I hope that you successfuly past the test.

My First day in IALF

I've been in Jakarta for one week, I stay in Jl. Setia Budi Tengah 10A Jakarta Selatan. This is my first day in my course at IALF. What a huge facilities here (free and fast internet, a lot of collection of book, many television connected to satellite, hotspot, exclusive class, native teacher, etc). I'm wondering that some of you (PAK MUL Community) increase your English ability to get an Australian Government Scholarship.
Actually, the English requirenment is not too high, only 500 (TOEFL) or 5.0 (IELTS). It's easy to reach if you learn hard.

Hem, Cakil has came to my boarding house last day, he came accompanied by his girl friend. We plan to go to Frater Sigit's house and maybe Jonte's house if the busway project is finished. I don't know yet about Komeng's house. I'm sorry if I can't go to your places because I have no car or motorcycle.