Selamat Natal 2008

Melalui post ini saya mengucapkan:

SELAMAT NATAL 2008

Semoga damai dan sukacita Natal senantianya memberi pengharapan bagi kita semua.

Tuhan Yesus memberkati kita semua.

Review Film: Mirrors

Sering menonton film seri Supernatural membuat saya jadi terbiasa dengan film horror ala barat (US), dan malah cenderung menganggap film-film horror ala barat yang ada sekarang ini belum ada yang bisa menandingi film seri Supernatural. Sebut saja film The Messengers sebagai contoh, bukannya merinding, tapi saya malah mengantuk menonton film ini.

Tapi agak berbeda ketika saya menonton film Mirrors yang mulai ditayangkan di bioskop akhir tahun 2008 ini. Awalnya saya sudah pesimis bahwa film ini akan membosankan. Akan tetapi saya salah, karena film ini sangat menarik untuk diikuti.

Walau jalan ceritanya sedikit bisa ditebak karena tipikal horror, tapi ada twist di akhir film, dimana pada akhirnya penyebab dari semua "kekacauan" yang awalnya diduga berasal dari mirror diketahui. Dan pemecahan dari "kekacauan" ini juga sedikit tragis (awalnya saya kira semua berakhir dengan baik). Akhir dari film ini juga membuat greget, bagi yang pernah menonton Silent Hill kira-kira begitulah ending dari film ini.

Saya merekomendasikan para penggemar film horror untuk menonton film ini, dijamin tidak seperti film horror sampah buatan Indonesia.

Kebaktian Malam Natal

Berhubung kebaktian malam Natal di kebanyakan gereja HKBP di Bonapasogit dimulai pukul 19:30, dan tidak ada lagi angkutan umum ke dan dari Balige pada pukul tersebut, akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk beribadah di HKBP Sitoluama.

Ini adalah kali pertama saya beribadah di HKBP Sitoluama, biasanya saya beribadah di HKBP Balige. Perbedaan yang mencolok dibandingkan HKBP Balige adalah tidak banyak koor di HKBP Sitoluama (tidak tahu apakah pada ibadah Minggu reguler juga seperti ini). Tidak ada perbedaan dalam hal tata ibadah, maklum biasanya ibadah di HKBP semuanya sudah standar. Akan tetapi, ibadah dibuka dengan kata sambutan, sesuatu yang seharusnya dialokasikan setelah acara ibadah berakhir, dan yang membuat kurang nyaman adalah kata sambutan sampai tiga orang.

Setelah kata sambutan, ibadah dimulai dengan menyanyi dari buku Ende, responsoria, lalu menyanyi kembali sambil mengumpulkan persembahan, lalu kotbah. Ya, kotbahnya dimulai awal sekali, karena setelah itu liturgi sebanyak 10 kelompok akan mengisi ibadah. Sebenarnya saya sudah ingin meninggalkan gereja setelah kotbah selesai, tapi setelah dipikir-pikir di rumah juga palingan "hanya" ngenet, akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk tinggal sampai acara berakhir.

Yah, karena acara liturgis menurut saya sedikit membosankan, saya mempergunakan waktu untuk membalas SMS ucapan selamat Natal yang sudah semakin banyak berdatangan ke HP saya.

Oia, kotbah tadi diambil dari Lukas 2:8-15. Pesan kotbah yang saya ingat adalah jadilah orang Kristen yang sungguh-sungguh menerapkan ajaran Yesus Kristus, dan bukan hanya sekedar Kristen "simbol". Amien, semoga pesan kotbah malam Natal ini bisa benar-benar saya hidupi.

Selamat malam Natal untuk kita semua. Horas.

Review Buku: Komik Kambing Jantan

Komik ini dikarang oleh Raditya Dika, blogger aneh bin ajaib yang sebelumnya telah menerbitkan empat buku yang isinya tentu saja gokil bin bocor. Berhubung Raditya Dika "hanya" bisa nulis, maka ada orang yang bantuin dia untuk menggambar komiknya, dialah Dio Rudiman.

Cerita yang dimuat dalam komik ini belum pernah dipublikasikan oleh Raditya Dika, baik di blog nya maupung di buku-buku nya, jadi ceritanya benar-benar "fresh". Ceritanya seperti biasa mampu memancing gelak tawa, intinya adalah pegalaman konyol Raditya Dika ketika belajar di Adelaide. Tapi gambar komiknya menurut saya terlalu ekspresif, jadi terkesan lebay. Mungkin karena ilustrator nya masih terpengaruh komikus Jepang yang memang ekspresi wajahnya sangat berlebihan.

Yang membuat buku ini agak susah dinikmati adalah karena gambarnya tidak memperhitungkan border tengah, sehingga gambar-gambarnya yang di bagian tengah buku sulit dibaca karena terlalu rapat. Kalau mengenai harga (Rp. 33.000,-) menurut saya cukup wajar, berhubung jumlah halamannya banyak, dan lagi, saya membelinya dari Toko Buku Gramedia yang sedang diskon 30%, jadi saya hanya cukup merogoh kocek sebesar Rp. 23.000,-

Buat penggemar komik, tidak ada salahnya membaca buku ini. Hitung-hitung mendukung dunia per-komik-an Indonesia.

Review Film: Eagle Eye

Menonton film ini mengingatkan saya akan dua film yang sudah pernah saya tonton, yaitu Enemy of the States dan War Games. Mengingatkan akan Enemy of the States karena di film ini ditunjukkan bagaimana privacy sudah tidak ada lagi, segala sesuatunya bisa dimonitoring (di US tentunya) menggunakan alat-alat yang canggih. Mengingatkan akan War Games karena di film ini, monitoring dilakukan oleh sebuah super komputer yang canggih, yang sangking supernya jadi lepas kontrol.

Tokoh antagonis pada film ini bukanlah manusia, melainkan si super komputer, yang berencana menghabisi presiden USA dan jajaran kabinetnya. Dan tokoh protagonis nya adalah saudara kembar dari orang yang awalnya mengurus si super komputer.

Sepanjang film penonton akan disuguhi dengan aksi-aksi yang melibatkan teknologi yang canggih, dimana si super komputer bisa dengan mudahnya mengendalikan lampu lalu lintas, pengungkit mobil, arah perjalanan Kereta Listrik, dll. Selain teknologi canggih, film ini juga mencoba menggugah emosi penonton karena salah satu tokoh dalam film ini adalah seorang Ibu yang terpaksa mengikuti perintah-perintah si super komputer agar anaknya bisa selamat.

Bagaimana akhir dari film ini? Apakah presiden dan jajaran kabinetnya jadi dihabisi? Apakah si super komputer berhasil dilumpuhkan? Apakah si Ibu berhasil menyelamatkan anaknya? Silahkan tonton film nya sendiri, hehehehe. Selamat menonton.

Komik untuk Liburan

Hari Minggu, 21 Desember 2008 yang lalu saya berkesempatan pergi ke Medan dengan menumpang mobil kampus yang kebetulan digunakan beberapa staff karena ada urusan ke Medan. Sedikit informasi mengenai urusan staff di Medan adalah dalam rangka Pekan Raya Sumatera Utara (PRSU) yang tahun ini diadakan pada bulan Desember (biasanya bulan Mei), mungkin ini karena akan ada Pemilu bulan April 2009 nanti.

Sebenarnya saya tidak ada agenda khusus di Medan, cuman ingin menghabiskan waktu libur saja, supaya tidak bosan sendiri di lingkungan kampus yang luasnya segambreng. Sesampainya di Medan, saya menyempatkan diri jalan-jalan di tempat acara PRSU, dengan harapan bisa dapat brosur mengenai tempat-tempat pariwisata di Sumatera Utara. Tapi karena hari itu adalah hari terakhir PRSU dan malamnya akan ada acara penutupan, tidak banyak pavillion yang buka, hanya beberapa, dan brosur-brosur nya sudah habis. Malamnya saya menginap di rumah teman, sekalian tukar-tukar informasi mengenai kondisi terkini.

Esoknya saya pergi ke Gramedia di bilangan Gajah Mada, dan sedang ada diskon besar-besaran di sana, 30% untuk semua produk (kecuali elektronik). Saya yang maniak buku mulai kalap dan menjelajah sana-sini untuk mencari buku yang menarik. Sayangnya Gramedia ini sepertinya kurang up-to-date, karena beberapa buku baru yang saya cari tidak ada. Akhirnya saya cuman membeli tiga "komik", satu komik Kambing Jantan (yang sudah lama saya nantikan), satu komik Kartun Riwayat Amerika Serikat (saya tertarik mengetahui sejarah Amerika dari awal sampai menjadi negara adidaya), dan yang ketiga adalah komik biografi George Soros (saya tertarik mengetahui riwayat hidup salah seorang investor unggul yang diduga turut berkontribusi mengacaukan perekonomian Indonesia tahun 1998).

Setidaknya tambah aktifitas yang bisa saya lakukan selama libur ini selain rencana-rencana saya yang lain.

Libur Natal 2008

Salah satu keuntungan yang saya dapatkan dengan bekerja di bidang akademis adalah libur yang panjang. Ketika lebaran bulan Oktober kemaren, saya (dan rekan-rekan yang lain) mendapat jatah liburan 2 minggu. Demikian juga menyambut Natal tahun 2008, kampus diliburkan selama 2 minggu, terhitung dari tanggal 22 Desember 2008 sampai 2 Januari 2009. Kegiatan perkuliahan akan dimulai kembali tanggal 4 Januari 2009.

Libur Natal kali ini pastinya akan sangat berbeda dengan libur Natal tahun-tahun sebelumnya, karena kali ini saya tidak pulang ke rumah saya Depok. Ya, saya akang menghabiskan masa libur saya di Bonapasogit (kampung Batak), daerah dimana kampus saya berada.

Ada keuntungan dan kerugian ketika saya memutuskan untuk berlibur di Bonapasogit.

Kerugiannya adalah tentu saja saya tidak bisa mengikuti banyak perayaan Natal yang biasanya saya ikuti ketika berada di Depok (Natal Fakultas, Natal Universitas, Natal Naposo Gereja, Natal tempat kerja Bapak, dll). Selain itu, tentu saja suasananya sangat berbeda. Di Depok, banyak pusat perbelanjaan yang (tentu saja ini alasan duniawi ;p) bisa menambah suasana Natal. Di Depok, bisa ketemu teman-teman lama (dan mudah-mudahan menambah teman-teman baru). Dan terutamanya, bisa berkumpul bersama keluarga besar.

Tapi ada juga keuntungannya. Dengan berlibur di Bonapasogit, saya jadi punya waktu banyak untuk mengerjakan hal-hal yang selama ini saya tunda. Seperti misalnya mempersiapkan segala sesuatu yang diperlukan untuk mengurus kepangkatan dosen (udah telat banget sebenarnya, tapi better late than nothing at all), antara lain menulis petunjuk praktikum untuk 5 mata kuliah yang pernah (dan sedang) saya ajarkan, menulis 3 buah paper (akan saya ambil dari Tugas Akhir yang pernah saya bimbing), dll. Selain itu, saya juga bisa meng-explore daerah-daerah yang belum pernah saya kunjungi di Sumatera Utara ini. Tentu saja, ada banyak juga hal-hal pribadi yang tidak memungkinkan kalau saya kerjakan di Depok.

Konsekuensi yang paling berat adalah, saya akan sering berada di kampus, yang saat ini suasananya seperti kuburan, maklum tetangga kanan dan bawah sudah pada pulang ke rumah masing-masing untuk liburan. Mahasiswa juga sudah pada pulang sehingga asrama yang biasanya ramai dengan suara-suara sumbang mendadak sepi ditelan bumi. Untuk membunuh rasa sepi, saya akhirnya menonton film dengan suara yang maksimum atau dengar musik dengan suara yang maksimum. Sebenarnya tidak terlalu sepi juga, karena ada tetangga belakang pagar, kadang-kadang terdengar suara petasan di kejauhan, dan pak satpam monitoring dengan motornya setiap 30 menit. Tapi tetap saja, suasanya beda bila dibandingkan dengan suasana ketika semua penghuni kampus sedang berada di kampus.

Oh well, hope that I can enjoy my very little Christmas Holiday.

Konser Dewa 19 di Pematang Siantar

Kemaren, Rabu 17 Desember 2009, Dewa 19 mengadakan konser di kota Pematang Siantar, Sumatera Utara.

Saya tahu informasi mengenai konser ini beberapa hari sebelumnya melalui spanduk-spanduk yang dipasang di beberapa jalan di kota Balige. Pada spanduk tertulis bahwa konser akan dimulai pukul 17:00 di lapangan Brimob, kota Pematang Siantar.

Berhubung ini adalah kesempatan yang langka (konser terakhir yang saya tonton adalah konser group band Tipe-X di Porsea sekitar 1 tahun yang lalu), maka saya dengan semangat '45 bergerak menuju kota Pematang Siantar yang "berjarak" 2 jam dari tempat saya.

Sampai di lokasi konser, ternyata "tiketnya" ternyata cuman sebungkus rokok X-Mild (promotor konser) seharga Rp. 8.000,-. Pukul 19:00 dan konser belum dimulai. Penonton juga masih sedikit. "Sambel" pikir saya, "ngapain buru-buru kalo ternyata molor, I should've known that concert performance is usually delayed".

Setelah menunggu sekitar setengah jam, akhirnya konser dimulai. Tapi bukan Dewa 19 yang muncul, melainkan band pembuka, yang (sontoloyonya) ada empat band. Tapi lumayan menghibur karena lagu-lagu yang dibawakan lagu-lagu yang saya tau dan saya suka.

Sekitar pukul 21:00 akhirnya Dewa 19 muncul, akhirnya penantian itu berbuah manis. Konser Dewa 19 dibuka dengan suara instrumen yang aneh selama sekitar 5 menit *cape deh*. Baru kemudian Dewa 19 membawakan lagu-lagunya. Semua lagu yang dibawakan mampu membuat penonton berjingkrak-jingkrakan. Bahkan sampai dorong-dorongan (dan ada yang berantem, biasalah orang kampung ;p). Sesekali mobil pemadam kebakaran menyiramkan air supaya suasana tidak terlalu panas.

Secara keseluruhan penampilan Dewa 19 memang bagus, kecuali lagu terakhir yang dibawakan, yang merupakan single terbaru dari Dewa 19 (Perempuan Paling Cantik di Negeriku Indonesia) dimana Once salah masuk, keduluan padahal seharusnya masih intro :D. Tapi yang sangat saya sayangkan Dewa 19 seakan-akan tidak menyatu dengan penonton. Kadang-kadang Once menyapa penonton tapi kelihatannya seperti basa-basi saja. Tidak ada koneksi yang terbangun dengan penonton. Beda dengan konser Jikustik yang saya tonton beberapa tahun lalu di Balige, dimana Ponky berusaha mendekatkan diri dengan penonton dengan menggunakan kata-kata lokal seperti "horas", lalu mengajak salah satu penonton maju ke depan dan berinteraksi dengan penonton tersebut.

Tapi saya cukup puas karena bisa menonton konser Dewa 19, sekalian hiburan yang memang susah ditemui di sekitar Bonapasogit.

GMail makin asik

Saya adalah penggemar setia GMail, semenjak saya mengenalnya *malu* saya selalu menggunakannya. Perlahan-lahan saya tinggalkan yang lama (Yahoo!), milis-milis yang saya ikuti saya alihkan semuanya ke GMail. Walaupun si Yahoo! mencoba merayu saya dengan fitur unlimited space tapi saya tetap tidak tergoda.

Apa yang membuat GMail begitu spesial? Inilah yang saya "rasakan":

• Email dianggap conversation. Jadi setiap email yang saling berbalas, dikelompokkan dalam satu thread, sehingga mudah mencari siapa yang membuka topik dan reply-reply yang mengikutinya.


• Unlimited Filter, beda dengan si Yahoo yang agak pelit.


• Konsep label, dan bukan folder. Awalnya memang agak kikuk karena terbiasa dengan konsep folder si Yahoo, tapi akhirnya sangat berguna. Lebih mudah dimanage.


• Mudah mem-flag email-email penting.

Dan sekarang, kenikmatan itu semakin meluap karena ditambahkannya fitur theme yang membuat si GMail menjadi lebih cantik. Saya menggunakan theme Shiny yang membuat si GMail menjadi tampak lebih anggun *malu*.

Ah, si Google memang jago memanjakan penggemar. Ntah kejutan apalagi yang dipersiapkannya.

Silsilah Nadapdap dari si Raja Batak

Menyambung tulisan saya mengenai Silsilah Manalu dari si Raja Batak, sekarang saya akan menjabarkan silsilah marga Nadapdap (boru dari Ibu saya) dari si Raja Batak.

Urutannya adalah sebagai berikut:

Si Raja Batak -> Raja Isumbaon -> Tuan Sorimangaraja -> Tuan Sorbadibanua -> Silahisabungan -> Sondiraja -> Rumasondi -> Ruma Bunga-bunga (Raja Parmahan) -> Sinabutar.

Sinabutar memiliki tiga anak:

1. Doloksaribu
2. Sinurat
3. Nadapdap

Anda seorang gadis Batak berboru Doloksaribu, Sinurat, atau Nadapdap? Anda patut berbangga karena memiliki pariban seperti saya :)

Referensi: Buku Leluhur Marga-marga Batak dalam Sejarah, Silsilah dan Legenda (Angkola, Karo, Mandailing, Nias, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba). Karangan Drs. Richard Sinaga. Penerbit Dian Utama.

Silsilah Manalu dari si Raja Batak

Secara saya orang Batak, saya ingin sekali-sekali menulis mengenai Batak.

Sekarang ini saya ingin menjabarkan silsilah Manalu ditarik dari Si Raja Batak. Urutannya adalah sebagai berikut:

Si Raja Batak -> Raja Isumbaon -> Tuan Sorimangaraja -> Tuan Sorbadibanua (Nai Suanon) -> Raja Sumba

Raja Sumba (Toga Sumba) memiliki 2 anak:
1. Sihombing
2. Simamora

Simamora memiliki 4 anak:
1. Purba
2. Manalu
3. Debataraja (kadang-kadang ini juga disebut Simamora Debataraja)
4. Sumerham (Toga Rambe)

Kira-kira itu saja dulu yang bisa saya tulis, lain kali akan saya lanjutkan dengan marga Manalu itu sendiri dan juga Nadapdap (boru ibu saya).

Referensi: Buku Leluhur Marga-marga Batak dalam Sejarah, Silsilah dan Legenda (Angkola, Karo, Mandailing, Nias, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba). Karangan Drs. Richard Sinaga. Penerbit Dian Utama.

Ada Apa Dengan Cinta (Laura)

Postingan ini sebenarnya gak ada hubungannya dengan Cinta, apalagi Cinta laura. Cuman pengen nuangin unek-unek aja, kenapa akhir-akhir ini Friendster sering heng-hing-hong, secara Friendster adalah situs jaringan sosial favorite saya.

Tapi ada hikmahnya juga, karena dengan ngadatnya Friendster, saya jadi lebih sering nyoba-nyoba Facebook, dan langsung ketagihan.

Ini beberapa hal di Facebook yang bikin saya ketagihan:

• ada fitur chatting langsung dengan teman (di toolbar bagian bawah)


• ada fitur micro bloggin (seperti twitter)


• semua update terbaru mengenai teman-teman bisa diketahui di satu halaman

Walaupun banyak yang bilang bahwa yang membuat Facebook spesial adalah aplikasinya, saya justru tidak terlalu suka dengan aplikasinya. Terlalu report-ribet dan bikin runyam.

Tapi ada satu fitur di Facebook yang belum saya temukan, yaitu Blog. Kira-kira ada gak ya fitur blog di Facebook. Sudah google, memang ada link untuk blog Facebook, tapi tidak ada link untuk bisa ikutan nge-blog.

Ketika JavaCOMM berulah

Ketika membangun aplikasi yang menggunakan JavaCOMM, biasanya langkah-langkahnya sederhana:

1. Masukkan file comm.jar dalam classpath


2. Atur supaya win32comm.dll beserta javax.comm.properties berada di path (biasanya cukup dengan mengkopi kedua file tersebut ke folder %WINDOWS%\System32 atau ke directory dimana code aplikasi berada)


3. Code, compile, dan execute

Tapi seringkali port (baik serial maupun paralel) yang ada di komputer seakan-akan tidak dikenali oleh si aplikasi, padahal jika dicoba dengan putty untuk koneksi ke port tersebut selalu berhasil.

Sempat beberapa jam berkutat dengan masalah ini, sampai akhirnya ketemu solusi yang ternyata sederhana sekali:

• Kopikan file win32comm.dll ke %JAVA_HOME%\jre\bin


• Kopikan file javax.comm.properties ke %JAVA_HOME%\jre\lib

dan voila, akhirnya aplikasi bisa dijalankan.

Semoga bisa membantu orang-orang yang mengalami masalah yang sama.

Sebuah Prinsip Sederhana

Seorang teman saya pernah mengatakan sebuah prinsip yang sederhana namun kebenarannya sangat terbukti.

Prinsip itu kira-kira seperti ini, "harga sesuatu yang mau kita capai bergantung dengan usaha kita untuk mendapatkannya, dan sebaliknya, besar-kecil usaha kita bergantung dengan harga sesuatu yang mau kita capai tersebut". Istilah kerennya, hubungan itu merupakan sebuah biimplikasi.

Sebuah contoh sederhana adalah, apabila ada sebuah pemerintahan mengatakan bahwa kesejahteraan rakyat adalah hal yang utama, tinggal "tabrakkan" saja dengan kenyataan, apakah memang sudah ada usaha yang sungguh-sungguh dari pemerintah untuk mencapai itu. Kalau kenyataan berkata lain, berarti jelaslah bahwa apa yang dikatakan pemerintah tersebut hanya omong kosong belaka.

Prinsip sederhana ini dapat digunakan untuk menilai integritas dari seseorang/sekelompok orang, yaitu untuk melihat apakah perkataan seseorang sesuai dengan perbuatannya (dalam konteks klaim prioritas).

Pelajaran yang dapat dipetik adalah:

• bersungguh-sungguhlah dengan apa yang kita ucapkan


• berhati-hatilah dengan apa yang kita ucapkan


• jangan menyinggung-nyinggung Dian Sastro, karena penggemarnya banyak euy :)

Vanity is My Favorite Sin

Kata-kata di atas adalah kalimat yang diucapkan oleh sang Iblis pada film The Devil's Advocate.

Yang namanya "sin" apalagi itu adalah favorite si Iblis, pastilah sangat menghancurkan. Tapi herannya, kenapa banyak orang yang justru terbuai dengan perbuatan itu? Kalau dipikir-pikir, justru tidak ada untungnya sama sekali, tapi ruginya? Sangat banyak, sebut saja bertambahnya orang yang tidak suka akan ke-sombongan kita.

Tapi mungkin itulah manusia, cenderung mementingkan ego sendiri. Ego, I'm better than thou. Mine is the greatest. Etc. Kalau sudah begini, tinggal tunggu saja menjadi Devil's favorite sinner.

Note:

• Vanity: Feelings of excessive pride

Pekerjaan Tungku

Saya tertarik pada sebuah ilustrasi mengenai procrastination (menunda-nunda pekerjaan) yang saya baca dari buku "Saya Akan Melakukannya... Besok!".

Pada ilustrasi itu diceritakan ada sepasang suami istri yang sudah lama merencanakan untuk pergi liburan. Tibalah pada hari keberangkatan, pesawat mereka akan berangkat sore hari, dan si suami pergi ke kantor dulu di pagi hari karena ada pekerjaan mendadak. Dia meminta si istri untuk mempersiapakan segala keperluan mereka untuk berangkat (pakaian, passport, tiket, dll). Ketika si istri akan berbenah, dia melihat ada tungku kotor di dapur. Akhirnya dia pergi untuk membersihkan tungku itu, tapi ternyata tungku tersebut sangatlah kotor sampai-sampai si istri menghabiskan waktu sampai sore. Ketika si suami pulang, dia melihat bahwa ada tungku yang bersih mengkilap, tapi segala keperluan yang mereka butuhkan untuk berangkat belum beres, sehinga mereka batal berangkat.

Pelajaran yang dapat diambil, membersihkan tungku itu baik, tapi lebih baik lagi mengerjakan hal-hal lain yang lebih urgent (prioritas tinggi). Tidak ada gunanya menghasilkan sesuatu yang baik dengan mantap, tapi malah mengabaikan hal-hal lain yang lebih esensial.

Ah, andaikata semua orang bisa fokus ke hal-hal yang lebih esensial, dan tidak terjebak dengan "hal baik" yang less important. Ya, andaikata...

Prinsip Ompung Pareto

Sebenarnya, dalam bahasa Batak Modern, prinsip ini bernama "Pareto Principle", sebuah prinsip yang dikembangkan oleh Joseph M Juran.

Prinsip ini menyatakan bahwa untuk setiap event, 80% hasil (effect) diperoleh dari 20% usaha (cause), oleh karena itu prinsip ini juga dikenal dengan nama Aturan 80-20. Pareto sendiri sebenarnya adalah nama seorang Ahli Ekonomi berkebangsaan Italia bernama Vilfredo Pareto, yang mengamati bahwa 80% pendapatan di Italia berasal dari 20% populasi penduduk. Dan surprisingly, distribusi ini juga berlaku di negara-negara lain.

Kalau dilihat di kehidupan sehari-hari, tampaknya aturan ini juga berlaku. Contoh sederhananya adalah dalam rapat, 80% keputusan rapat umumnya dihasilkan dari 20% pembicaraan, sedangkan 20% keputusan rapat lainnya, dihasilkan dari 80% pembicaraan. Sebenarnya masih banyak contoh lainnya kalau kita mau mengamat-amati lingkungan sekitar kita.

Implikasinya apa? Kalau proporsi hasil terbesar (80%) itu dihasilkan dari usaha yang terkecil (20%) sudah seharusnya kita lebih fokus lagi ke usaha itu. Implementasinya bagaimana? First thing first. Make priority. Ketika melakukan sesuatu, fokuslah ke usaha yang menghasilkan hasil terbesar.

Selamat mendefine ulang prioritas-prioritas masing-masing kita dalam kehidupan ini.

Pejabat Narsis Itu

Saya, Lampet Kurang Mateng, menghimbau agar seluruh masyarakat kota Kutu Kupret menjaga kebersihan lingkungan masing-masing. Saya, Lampet Kurang Mateng, menghimbau agar seluruh masyarakat kota Kutu Kupret supaya segera membuat KTP, dll

Himbauan di atas juga akhir-akhir ini (sebenarnya sudah agak lama, tapi saya lupa kapan pastinya) sering sekali diperdengarkan di radio lokal di kota kampung tempat saya berada.

Seharusnya sih himbaun tersebut memang benar-benar ditujukan untuk menyampaikan pesan-pesan bagi masyarakat. Tapi dengan munculnya nama "Lampet Kurang Mateng" setiap kali himbauan tersebut diperdengarkan malah membuat himbauan tersebut menjadi ajang "narsis", ato lebih blak-blakannya kampanye terselubung. Kalau memang tujuannya adalah sebagai iklan layanan masyarakat/himbauan, gak perlu lah pakek "memperkenalkan diri" segala. Bukan "siapa yang mengatakan" yang penting, tapi "apa yang dikatakan" itu yang penting.

Jadi ingat juga si kumis yang baru-baru ini juga menjabat, dia membuat iklan sadar pajak gede-gede, tapi bukan menunjukkan kenapa sadar pajak itu penting, tapi malah menunjukkan kumisnya :)

Tapi itulah yang namanya aji mumpung, mumpung masih menjabat, mumpung masih bisa menggunakan uang kantor dengan dalih kebaikan rakyat, mumpung Sandra Dewi masih single. Kalau masih sekali-sekali sih gak papa, tapi kalau keseringan bisa bikin mual.

Kapan ya punya pejabat pemerintahan yang benar-benar mementingkan rakyat, bukan malah meng-abuse rakyat?

Buaya Dikadalin

Awal Agustus yang lalu account saya yang di Multiply dicuri oleh orang iseng. Awalnya orang iseng tersebut memberikan sebuah link yang menuju ke blognya, tapi ketika diklik, ternyata halaman blog tersebut me-load sebuah halaman login ke Multiply yang palsu.

Saya, dalam kondisi mengantuk (jam 2:30 AM) dan penasaran (karena dia mempost artikel SARA di blognya), dengan sukses memasukkan username dan password saya di multiply ke halaman login palsu tersebut.

Awalnya saya masih tidak ngeh, kalau ternyata informasi account saya telah dicuri, sampai ada pemberitahuan di email saya bahwa alamat email dan password Multiply saya telah diganti. Dengan perasaan cemas campur jus terong belanda, saya coba login ke Multiply, dan ternyata sudah tidak bisa lagi. WTF. Sial, buaya sudah dikadalin.

Akhirnya saya cuci muka (biar segar), lalu melakukan pembalasan. Saya kontak admin server dimana si orang iseng tersebut meng-host halaman login multiply yang palsu tersebut, dan menyatakan bahwa server tersebut telah disalahgunakan untuk kejahatan phishing. Selain itu, saya juga mengirim email ke admin Multiply menceritakan kronologis pencurian account saya. Ketika menghubungi admin kedua server tersebut, saya menyertakan link-link milik si orang iseng sebagai bukti.

Tak sampai satu minggu kemudian muncul notifikasi di email saya bahwa account saya di Multiply telah di restore (alamat email diganti kembali ke alamat email saya yang di GMail, dan password saya telah direset). Selain itu, tidak lama berselang, admin di server tempat host web palsu itu mengirim email ke saya bahwa account si orang iseng (beserta halaman-halaman webnya) telah di-suspend. Biar nyaho, siapa suruh ngadalin buaya?

Moral of the story:

• Jangan ngenet dalam kondisi ngantuk


• Kalau mengalami pencurian identitas (melalui phishing) jangan ragu untuk langsung mengontak admin-admin server yang terkait


• Selalu ingat bahwa Aura Kasih lebih cantik dibandingkan Dian Sastro

Issu do i

Lagu-lagu Batak (murni) kebanyakan didominasi oleh lagu yang mangandung-andung (bukan mengandung, mangandung-andung adalah kata dalam bahasa Jerman Kuno yang artinya ratapan tangis). Kalau musiknya ceria, biasanya liriknya sedih. Kalau musiknya sedih, biasanya liriknya ceria. Jarang-jarang ada lagu Batak yang musik dan liriknya ceria.

Tapi agak berbeda kalau lagu Batak sudah "dikawinkan" dengan musik dari daerah Melayu, jadi meriah euy, baik lirik dan musiknya jadi ceria (walau liriknya kebanyakan mengenai percintaan).

Seperti lagu yang berjudul "Issu Do I" yang dibawakan oleh Trio Lamtama, dari awal musiknya sudah bikin bergoyang, dan liriknya juga tidak sedih. Bercerita mengenai seorang pemuda yang mencoba meyakinkan bahwa dia setia pada hasiannya (pacarnya), dan mengenai berita bahwa dia ada "main" itu cuman issu (gosip).

Berikut saya tuliskan liriknya (tapi secara grammar Batak saya masih tingkat pre-Basic, mohon maklum kalau ada kata-kata yang salah):

Issu do I
Trio Lamtama

(*)
Cinta hian do ahu tu ho
Sian nasa rohangku ito
Unang curigai ahu
Unang cemburui ahu
Cinta hian do ahu tu hu

(**)
Sayang hian do ahu tu ho
Pos roham unang marsak be ho
Unang curigai ahu
Unang cemburui ahu
Sayang hian do ahu tu ho

Reff:

Kabar na binegem issu do i
Pamora-mora do i
Aut dijaha ho ma di bagas rohangki
Holan goarmu do di si

Unang cemburui ahu
Unang curigai ahu
Cinta hian do ahu tu ho
Unang cemburui ahu
Unang curigai ahu
Sayang hian do ahu tu ho

Kembali ke (*), (**), Reff

Bagi yang berminat mendengar, silahkan download lagunya di sini (hasil upload sendiri, mohon link-nya jangan disebarluaskan).

Cem betul aja

"Kami memberikan bukti, bukan janji".

Kata-kata di atas semakin sering saya dengar di radio lokal yang memang akhir-akhir ini semakin dipenuhin oleh kampanye parpol-parpol menjelang pemilu 2009 tahun depan.

Yang bikin eneg (mau muntah), orang-orang yang mengatakan kata-kata tersebut adalah orang "asing" dalam pengertian adalah orang kota (tidak tinggal di Bonapasogit) yang baru-baru ini datang ke kampung karena keperluan kampanye, yang tentu saja belum jelas apa kontribusinya (dia dan partainya) yang juga kebanyakan adalah partai-partai baru) untuk kemajuan daerah ini, tapi dengan seenak udelnya mengklaim "memberikan bukti", cem betul aja kawan ini, amagoi amang, accit nai ate-atekku (mak jang, sakitnya hati ku).

Tapi, hepeng do na mangatur negara on (uangnya yang mengatur negara ini), kalau dia (dan partainya) punya banyak uang, sukanya lah, mau ngomong akan mengembangkan pertanian, mau menggratiskan pengobatan, mau bilang Dian Sastro lebih cantik dari Aura Kasih itu terserah dia lah.

Mudah-mudahan rakyat sekarang sudah lebih pintar memilih, mana yang tulus mengembangkan daerah Bonapasogit, mana yang cuman mau mem-buncit-kan diri sendiri. Tapi agak ragu juga bah, cemana lah, kabupaten tetangga aja baru "mengalaminya" :(

Ambal ni hata (by the way), ngapain pulak awak mikirin politik, mendingan matikan radio, nyalakan MP3, dan baca-baca ebook.

Ketika Rasa Malas Melanda

Heran, sudah beberapa hari ini bawaannya males ngapa-ngapain. Yang ada cuman merenung dan bertanya, "kenapa rasa malas ini datang?", "kenapa datang di saat penting?", "kenapa belum timbul semangat lagi?", "kenapa Sandra Dewi masih single?"

Kalau sudah begini biasanya saya tidak mau maksa untuk melakukan apa-apa, mungkin memang tubuh ini minta istirahat dulu, pikiran minta bersantai dulu, hati ini minta ditenangkan dulu, perut minta diisi B2 Panggang Karo.

Untung aja ada hiburan, The Big Bang Theory Season 2 Episode 6 dan The Simpsons Season 20 Episode 4. Tapi itu hanya untuk sementara, pada saat menonton banyak adegan lucu yang membuat tertawa dan bersemangat, tapi hanya untuk sementara, begitu si Homer Simpson dan si Flander dipatuk burung, berakhir juga keceriaan dan semangat itu.

Iseng-iseng lanjutin baca Head First EJB, tapi gak masuk, mata memang membaca Master Mock Exam nya, tapi pikiran ntah melayang kemana.

Jadinya begini, nulis post yang gak jelas, sekedar merekam perasaan hari ini. Sedikit menghibur, tapi ah sudahlah, mungkin lebih baik jadi robot sementara, melakukan kerjaan dengan mengesampingkan emosi. Semoga tidak selamanya.

Mantap Kali Fuang

Sejak kapan engine blog di FS menggunakan Wordpress? Jadi keren kali kurasa :)

Mengembalikan GRUB

Si Ubuntu ngambek, dia tidak mau memunculkan GRUB, padahal si Vista harus cepat-cepat diload karena ada yang mau dikerjakan, akhirnya pakai cara brutal, basmi saja dulu si GRUB:

• Masukkan CD instalasi MS Windows Vista


• Pilih Menu Repair


• Di System Recovery Options pilih Command Prompt


• Ketik "Bootrec.exe /FixMbr"

Voila, si GRUB hilang tak berbekas. Masalah selesai? Untuk sementara. Yang penting, si Vista sudah bisa diload, dan GRUB tidak muncul lagi.

Tiba-tiba muncul kerinduan *halah* untuk menggunakan Ubuntu lagi. Tapi bagaimana mungkin, si GRUB sudah tiada. Untungnya ada cara untuk memunculkan si GRUB lagi:

• Load Ubuntu menggunakan dalam mode Live


• Jalankan terminal


• Ketik "sudo grub"


• Ketik "find /boot/grub/stage1"


• Catat apa yang muncul pada terminal


• Ketik "root (hd0,x)"
  catatan: ganti x dengan angka yang muncul waktu menjalankan perintah "find /boot/grub/stage1"


• Ketik "setup (hd0)"


• Ketik "quit"

Restart Ubuntu dalam mode LiveCD dan voila, si GRUB muncul kembali. Semua senang :D

Hasil Resmi IOI 2008

Dapat dilihat dari sini.

Kampanye Untuk Sinode Godang HKBP

Hanya turut serta membantu kampanye Sinode Godang HKBP yang akan diadakan tanggal 1-7 September 2008 yad.

Silahkan baca dari gambar di bawah ini:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="531" caption="Sinode Godang HKBP"][/caption]

Heaven is a Place on Earth

Saya suka menonton film, dan ketika menonton film bukan hanya jalan ceritanya saja yang saya simak, tapi lagu-lagu yang diputar di film tersebut, istilah bahasa Bataknya Original Sound Track.

Seperti hari ini, saya menonton film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay dan mendengar ada lagu yang sangat enak didengar (menurut saya), dan judul lagu tersebut adalah Heaven is a Place on Earth. Lagu ini diputar ketika adegan Harold mencari wanita pujaannya di Kota Amsterdam.

Tidak butuh waktu lama untuk mendapatkan MP3 lagu tersebut, tapi ternyata versinya tidak sesuai dengan yang di film tersebut (kebanyakan versi remix, jadinya lagu ajeb-ajeb), tapi pada lagu ketiga ketemu versi yang cocok, yaitu yang dinyanyikan oleh Belinda Carlisle.

Untuk videonya dapat dilihat dari youtube.

The Square Root Of Three

Baru nonton film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay dan ternyata ada puisi mengenai akar dari tiga, bagus juga, sangat kreatif (walau si Kumar mengakui bahwa puisi tersebut lame). Pencipta puisi tersebut adalah David Feinberg.

Berikut puisinya:

I fear that I will always be
A lonely number like root three
A three is all that's good and right
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath a vicious square-root sign?
I wish instead I were a nine
For nine could thwart this evil trick
With just some quick arithmetic
I know I'll never see the sun
As 1.7321
Such is my reality
A sad irrationality
When, hark, just what is this I see?
Another square root of a three
Has quietly come waltzing by
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer
Rejoicing as an integer
We break free from our mortal bonds
And with a wave of magic wands
Our square-root signs become unglued
And love for me has been renewed

Angka 1.7321 tentu saja hasil pembulatan karena akar dari tiga adalah bilangan irasional (seperti yang tertulis juga di puisi tersebut) dan bilangan-bilangan setelah koma pada bilangan irasional tidak memiliki pola.

Menggabungkan Dua Partisi di Vista

Secara tidak sengaja saya membuat partisi baru (buat partisi kok tidak sengaja? hehehe), karena tidak diinginkan saya ingin menggabungkan partisi yang baru dibuat tersebut ke partisi "induk" nya. Ternyata caranya tidak susah, saya catat di blog ini, siapa tahu ada yang memerlukan atau suatu waktu saya yang memerlukannya (karena lupa dll):

• Buka Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management


• Klik Storage


• Klik Disk Management


• Klik kanan di partisi "induk" nya lalu pilih "Extend Volume"


• Sebuah window dengan dua pane akan muncul (secara default pane sebelah kanan menunjukkan partisi yang akan digabung).


• Klik Next

Dan partisi yang secara tidak sengaja dibuat telah digabung kembali dengan partisi induknya. Semoga bermanfaat.

Hasil IOI 2008

Walaupun belum resmi diumumkan, tapi sudah ada website yang menampilkan hasil akhir IOI 2008. Tim dari Indonesia akhirnya berhasil mendapatkan 1 emas dan 3 perunggu. Hasil lengkapnya dapat dilihat dari situs ini (unofficial).

Berbunga di lingkungan yang tidak kondusif

[caption id="attachment_156" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bunga di Lantai"][/caption]

Sekelilingnya adalah beton, hanya sedikit tanah yang dia miliki, tapi bisa berbunga dengan indahnya. Kira-kira, apa rahasianya ya?

Mie Gomak

[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Mie Gomak"][/caption]

Sekedar mau nampilin salah satu makanan favorit di Bonapasogit. Sebenarnya pemandangan di depan lumayan bagus, ada Danau Toba di kejauhan, tapi tidak terpikir untuk mengambil gambarnya waktu itu.

PS: Gambar diambil di kantin SMA Bintang Timur Balige ketika saya bertugas menjadi anggota Tim Pemantau Independen.

Matrikulasi itu

Kemaren saya dapat kesempatan memberikan sebuah materi dari serangkaian materi yang akan diberikan ke mahasiswa baru di tempat saya mengajar.

Karena jadwal yang diberikan kepada saya sudah sore (mulai pukul 15:00) saya ingin mengetahui apakah mahasiswa baru tersebut masih memiliki energi yang cukup untuk berkonsentrasi untuk menyerap materi yang akan saya berikan.

Saya memberikan test sederhana berupa sebuah persamaan:

X + Y = X / Y

Dengan sembarang saya memilih seorang mahasiswa untuk menjawab berapa nilai X apabila diketahui nilai Y sama dengan 3. Mahasiswa yang saya tunjuk tidak dapat menjawab, mungkin masih syok karena diberikan soal mendadak. Saya tanya mahasiswa di sampingnya juga tidak bisa menjawab. Hmm... mungkin perlu waktu sedikit lebih lama untuk loading. Dan memang benar, mahasiswa berikutnya sudah bisa menjawab dengan benar. Setidaknya saya amati hampir semua mahasiswa mencoba menghitungnya (yang artinya mereka masih berkonsentrasi :D)

Saya membawakan materi dengan topik email. Sebenarnya bukan ini topik yang diberikan kepada saya di awal, tapi saya meminta kepada koordinator matrikulasi supaya saya diberi topik ini karena saya ingin mendidik mahasiswa baru supaya mereka tidak membuat kesalahan yang sering dilakukan ketika berkomunikasi dengan email, terutama untuk kesalahan-kesalahan yang sering saya amati secara langsung.

Secara teori saya merasa semua sudah disampaikan, sayangnya saya tidak bisa mengamati ketika praktikum karena ada masalah dengan login mereka.

Well, I'll see that in the matriculation test.

Kejujuran itu spesial lho...

Tidak percaya kalau kejujuran itu spesial? Silahkan tonton iklan sirup *** yang menggambarkan bahwa anak yang melakukan kejujuran sebagai sesuatu yang spesial.

Secara sederhana, kalau kejujuran itu adalah hal yang spesial, berarti ketidakjujuran adalah hal yang umum. Apakah memang begitu? Apalagi negara Indonesia dikenal sebagai negara yang penduduknya taat beragama, kejujuran seharusnya menjadi nilai yang ditanamkan sejak kecil, dan seharusnya adalah hal yang biasa.

Ada dua dampak ekstrim dari kisah di iklan tersebut:

1. Orang-orang akan semakin giat berbuat jujur supaya dianggap spesial


2. Orang-orang akan semakin giat berbuat ketidakjujuran karena menganggap itu hal yang umum

Semoga saja dampak ekstrim yang paling banyak terjadi adalah yang pertama.

PS: Saya bukan kritikus iklan, cuman kebetulan ada kesempatan nonton tipi selama 2 minggu *nasib manusia goa* jadi tertarik melihat dan mengomentari iklan yang "tidak biasa".

Kereta bawa motor

Pernyataan di atas adalah jawaban teman saya yang rumahnya di Bandung dan berencana membeli sepeda motor di Jakarta, ketika saya tanyakan bagaimana cara membawa sepeda motor tersebut ke Bandung.

Sekilas tidak ada yang aneh dengan pernyataan di atas, tapi kalo pernyataan di atas diucapkan di daerah Bonapasogit, mungkin banyak yang akan mengernyitkan dahi, karena kereta di Bonapasogit artinya adalah sepeda motor, dan motor di Bonapasogit artinya adalah mobil. Jadi bisa dibayangkan kira-kira makna pernyataan di atas apabila diucapkan di Bonapasogit :D

PS: Bonapasogit adalah sebutan untuk kampung orang Batak.

Selamat Berbahagia Kawan

Mungkin sudah agak basbang, tapi tidak ada salahnya terlambat menyampaikan ucapan turut berbahagia atas pernikahan kedua teman saya, Ondy Dharma Indra Sukma Tambun dan Imelda Rinawaty Simanjuntak pada tanggal 9 Agustus 2008 yang lalu.

Sayang sekali saya tidak bisa mengikuti acara tersebut karena ada urusan di Jakarta. Karena saya sudah mengetahui bahwa saya tidak dapat hadir di acara tersebut, saya menyempatkan diri datang ke pesta martumpol mereka di HKBP Glugur Medan.

Berikut satu gambar yang saya sempat ambil di pesta martumpol mereka:



Selamat menempuh hidup baru kawan. Semoga senantiasa diberkati Tuhan.

Dirgahayu Republik-ku Tercinta

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="313" caption="Indonesia"][/caption]

Semoga rakyat-mu bisa merdeka dari segala macam bentuk penjajahan. Amien.

PS: Judulnya bukan kampanye terselubung ya :) (sengaja dikasih dash dan penekanan huruf "k" - red).

Logic is Everywhere

Today is the last day of Summer School program that followed since 4th August 2008 at Faculty of Computer Science, University of Indonesia. The topic of the summer school is "Computational Logic and Its Applications". Almost all the lecturers are from TU Dresden, Germany. But there is also one lecturer from ANU, Australia, and of course one from UI.

The topic is really new for me, since my educational background is in Mathematics, and I work in education field in Informatics, so I never learn (or even heard) about Computational Logic. And as I predicted, the topic is really brain-teasing. Classical Logic that I've learned in one of my course during my undergraduate study is far simpler than what I learned during the summer school.

I'll write (very) brief information about each of the lectures in my next posts, but for now, I'll just give a general information about the courses given.

The first course was Propositional Logic and Satisfiability Testing from Holldobler. He's the Director of the ICCL. Then came Axel Grossmann with his Probabilistic Reasoning. Topic about Proof Theoretical Foundations for Specification Languages was given by Alwen Tiu. Stefanus gave course titled Modal Logic (where truth has several modes ;p). Course about Description Logic was given by the only beautiful lecturer of all, Anni-Yasmin Turhan. Possega gave a course on Interactive Theorem Proving. And the last but not least, a the only mathematician, Ganter, who gave a course on Formal Concept Analysis.

Frankly, I don't understand the whole course very well, but I'll try to learn it again when I come back to my campus, because all the topics are really interesting.

Well, that's all for now, hopefully I have enough time to write each of the courses given.

Indonesia at IPhO 2008

As usual, TOFI got golds at International Physics Olympiad 2008 that was held in Vietnam, 20-29 Juli 2008. With this consistent achievement, I believe that Indonesia will be more appreciated by other countries, and Yohanes Surya vision that Indonesia will have a Nobel Laureate will be fulfilled.

Hmmm.. I can't wait to see what will TOKI bring from IOI 2008. Nothing to do with this :)

Best Pork Food in Medan

[caption id="attachment_128" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Panggang B2"][/caption]

When in Medan, I usually go to Ola Kisat if I want to eat pork food, especially Babi Panggang Karo (BPK).

But then, lots of people said that there's a place that offer a better BPK than Ola Kisat, the place is Tesalonika.

So two weeks ago, I decided to give it a try. The pork meat there usually ordered in a KG (kilogram)-based. I bought 1/2 kg of BPK for Rp. 19.000,- plus Rp. 3.000,- for the Rice, Soup, and Vegetables.

And it's true that, the taste is much more delicious than in Ola Kisat. Of course, this is my personal preference.

So for the next time, I'll change my prefered place to Tesalonika.

When things got f*cked up

It doesn't take a scientist to consider whether "that" arrangement is unfair or not. It truly is a sh*tty idea, completed with lame argument, conveyed with big bullsh*t.

In that kind of situation, I'll just use my common sense, and don't let f*cked things ruin my plan.

But, even in a very bad situation, I'll still try to always give my best.

Kompas E-Paper

I just want to share a link where you can read Kompas newspaper (printed version) digitally. You can access it here. So far the access is still free. I just wonder, how will they get money?

Three days ago, 26 Years ago

A very handsome child was born and now become the most handsome man ever.

Okay, I heard complaints already. Coveting means slacker.

Pesta Danau Toba: Not that bad

I was curious about Pesta Danau Toba, because since I've been working in Laguboti, I've never been to that event. At first I was afraid I couldn't go to that event because of my strict schedule and over weight job :), but then I heard that the closing of the event is delayed until 18th July 2008, and so the chance for me to go there finally came up.

So I went to this event on 18th July 2008. What makes this event special was that the president of Indonesia, Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will close the event by himself.

I arrived at Parapat in the afternoon, I thought that I late but the event hadn't started yet. The event would not be started until Mr. President showed up, and we all waited for Mr. SBY about 2 goddamn hours (it's rainy there!).

But the waiting was worth it. The shows were very fantastic. Pretty contradictary with what lots of people said in mailing lists. They said that the event wasn't as good as it's promoted in the media. Maybe they came at the wrong time :)

The event was started with a traditional dance from Simalungun, called "Harian Bolon" (if I'm not mistaken). The dancers dance the dance in the rain with joyous terpsichore. SBY was amazed with the dance and the dancers zealously that he invited all the dancers to perform at the Palace.

Then come the speech parts, opened by the Minister of Culture and Tourism. I didn't really pay attention to what he said :) (Hey, I didn't come to this event only to hear that boring speech, hehehe). Then continued with speech from Samsul Arifin (Silaban). This new North Sumatra Governor is really funny that Jaya Suprana gave him a reward from MURI as the funniest governor in Indonesia ever. The speech then closed by SBY.

After that, there's a show about the longest Ulos in Indonesia (and even in the World, claimed Jaya Suprana) and also a traditional dance of Batak Toba, called "Sigale-gale". The dance was very awesome, unfortunately I didn't have a nice view to record the video :(

The most interesting part of this event is that SBY and all ministers, chief of BUMNs, etc sang a Batak song called "Na Sonang do Hita Nadua". I recorded the video, but I didn't quite sure I could share the video of the president :)

After the closing of the event, there's a music shows from famous Bataknese singers, such as Jack Marpaung, Joy Tobing, Bunthore, Nauli Sister, etc. There was also a performence by the famous Batak Commedian, Nai Malpinas dkk. I recorded almost all the shows.

The show was planned to be ended at 1:30 AM, but too bad I can't stay that long, I'm afraid that there will be no transportation mean available for me, so I went home at 00:30 AM from Parapat, and I arrived home at 2:30 AM (yeah, the transportation was very rare at that night).

Ah, what an experience :)

[gallery]

Afternoon Jogging

Today I felt so bored (you may think that I'm easily get bored, well not really, but it is normal considering the place where I stay is very draggy) that not even a fabulous movie can cheer me up.

So I decided to do a little workout, jogging. At first I planned to jog from my campus to Laguboti, but then my friends warn me that the road is unsafe because lots of cars passing through in a high speed. So they suggest me to jog from YTP Arjuna until Gasaribu village. And so the jog started.

[gallery]

The above pictures are what I saw when I was jogging. In the left and my right side there are rice fields spreading as far as I my eyes can see. The third picture is the condition of the road where I jog, not too smooth but still fine.

I thought that it'd take only 30-35 minutes to travel all the road, but it took 90 minutes for me to travel and back to my campus, very exhausted but I kinda enjoyed it. For the next jogging, I plan to go to Lumban Binanga, they have a very beautiful view out there.

If Ever You're In My Arms Again

It all came so easy, all the loving you gave me
The feelings we shared, and I still can remember
How your touch was so tender, it told me you cared
We had a once in a lifetime
But I just couldn't see, until it was gone
A second once in a lifetime, may be too much to ask
But I swear from now on

Chorus:
If ever you're in my arms again
This time I'll love you much better
If ever you're in my arms again
This time I'll hold you forever
This time will never end

Now I'm seeing clearly
How I still need you near me
I still love you so
There's something between us
That won't ever leave us
There's no letting go
We had a once in a lifetime
But I just didn't know it
Till my life fell apart
A second once in a lifetime
Isn't too much to ask
'Cause I swear from the heart

Chorus

The best of romances,
deserve second chances
I'll get to you somehow
'Cause I promise now

About Imagine Cup 2008's Winners

I just read a news in detik.com titled Inilah Para Bintang Imagine Cup 2008. Indonesia is great, I talked to myself. I tried to search more information about the winners of Imagine Cup 2008 directly from its website, and I found no winner from Indonesia for the 8 categories contested. What the f*ck?

But then I scrolled to the bottom of the page and found an (additional?) award for Rural Innovation Award, and there was the team from Indonesia. Is this detik.com's definition for stars?

Modifying Vista Look

Bored with that not-so-cool standard theme MS Vista offered? Well, you can change it with any theme you prefer by following these simple steps:

1. Install VistaGlazz (download the installer from here). This tool will allowed themes that have not been verified by the operating system to be installed. Run the installed program and click a button to patch the dlls.


2. Restart your computer.


3. Download any theme you desired and extract to %WINDIR%\Resources\Themes.


4. Right click on your dekstop, choose personalize, and click Theme link.


5. Choose your preferred theme and activate it.

To make your vista look even better, you may want to replace the standard icon as well. Just download any icon you like, and modify your registry:

1. To change drive icon: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\Explorer.exe\Drives\X\DefaultIcon (where X is the drive letter whose icon is to be changed).  Just replace the default value in the righ pane with the preferred icon's path and name.


2. To change default folder icon: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Icons. Add string variable named "3" and enter path of the icon as the value. Also add string variable named "4" and enter path of the icon as the value.

My vista look is now:

[wp_caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My Vista Theme"][/wp_caption]

The Mist

Last Saturday I was so bored so I decided to watch a movie titled The Mist.

It's a story about horrible creatures (product of military experiment) invasion. The lab where the creature was created was somehow leak and all the creatures went out to town preying human flesh. The terror begun when a mist surrounded the town, and from that mist all the creatures showed up to catch and eat human flesh.

Almost all people in town gathered at a store. At the end, a group of people consists of a father, a son, a young woman, and a couple of old man and woman managed to escape from the store and tried to travel as far as they could, far away from the mist. In the middle of their travel, the car run out of gas. So the man killed all other person in the car, he thought it's better for them to be killed by a gun instead of eaten by creatures.

But, not long after he killed other persons, a bunch of military personel came to rescue. And all he could do was crying, regreting what he's done. May be it will be different if he didn't act stupid and encourage other person to strive until their last and not surrender to death.

Moral of the story: Even in a very bad condition, there will always be choices. Pick one that give more chances to step ahead.

Not all

Not all people who like to quote Bible verse is a person who's a true Christian (although they might be "religious" - doing religious activities, wearing religious attributes, etc). So don't ever judge a person by his/her words.

Shawsank Redemption is a movie that gives a very good example about my statement above. It's just too fabulous to be written here, so I suggest you to watch it by yourself :)

Activities during Academic Holiday

My campus is in holiday now, but it's only for the student, the staff (lecturers, administration staff, etc) are not. Pity me :(

Even in this holiday, I still have lots of "homework" to do:

• PI Del's Entrance Test program that will be held on 9th July 2008


• Job Training supervision


• Final Project supervision (now in collaboration with supervisor from I*B - not this one :))


• Course preparation for the next semester

Beside that homework I have several matters to do:

• Reading books (There are several book that I've started but has not been finished yet)


• S****r S****l


• A******g S*********p


• etc (suddenly I realized that almost all my plan is quite confidential so I think it'll better for me to stop writing about that, heheeh)

Several matters listed above are the implementation of my mindmap (previous post).

Alright then, I hope that I could accomplish all that I've planned.

Mindmapping Myself

After several occasions occurred lately, I felt that I need to re-organize myself. First, I have to re-define what's the most important things in my life, and focus my energy on that. Second, I have to list what's the least important things in my life (that I kept doing), and throw those off my life.

I finally noted down five most important things in my life (sorry I can't write it here, it's confidential :)). These things also have several related things, so I need to depict them in a tree-like structure, and also such a ways that is easy to memorize. I remember a methodology that can be used to draw something that resembles to how human brain works and will help us to memorize something better, that is Mindmapping (I'll not explain about this, yet).

I use Freemind program to draw a mindmap of my life (plans, priorities, etc). I thought that it will be just a two level "nodes", but it grows to almost five level with lots of branches. But it's kinda fun, I can memorize all that I wrote.

Creating the mindmap is easy, the hardest part is to conform with what I've written. I have to, and I must, because it'll help me to be a better person.

NB: This post has nothing to do with the upcoming 18th July 2008.

Firefox 3 Download Day Certificate

To appreciate those who've participated in helping Firefox setting a Guinness World Record, Firefox gives a certificate that can be generated online through this link.

There's no validation process whether the person requesting the certificate really downloaded FIrefox at the designated date, so any person can create their own certificate.

I think it'll be funny to put the certificate as my desktop wallpaper :)

Life is short

Today is a very dark and gloomy day for our campus, because we lost two of our dear fellow workers Ramlan Marpaung (Photocopy Staff) and Berton Situmeang (Security) who died in a  accident in their way to Balige on Tuesday, July 01, 2008.

Ramlan was a very warm and helpful person. He used to greet me with his smile using his funny Batak language's accent. "Horas lae, tibu ma ho ro" and "Naeng mangan do lae?" were two greetings that he used to say to me when we met. He was also ready to give his help anytime when I need him for my work, especially in PMB.

Berton Situmeang was also a friendly security. When I went home from office late at night, I used to saw him walking doing his duty monitoring our campus, and he used to greet me there.

As a Christian, I believe that they're now with LORD in heaven. May God blessed and give strengths to their family.

This moment reminds me that life is very short, and I must make the most it. I'll try to never waste my time in useless activities.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21

A new home

I've moved from my old house to a new home (house is different with home) for about two weeks (sorry, no screenshots). Comparing to my new home, I'd prefer the old house because:

• this new home doesn't have a TV line (yet)


• (this is the worst) this new home doesn't equipped with a connection to our campus' LAN (yet)


• this new home is located in the second floor


• this new home doesn't have a heater

The good thing about this new home is that the furnitures are fine, has a good view spot (I can't directly watch a football match in a huge field behind my home).

This makes my daily routines changed a lot. The most influenced part is my cyber life, it decreased pretty much. But I tried to look at the positive things: now I have more time to learn about Mathematics again, and also watch my movie collections :)

Reporting in Java using JasperReports and iReport

This post is a quick-and-dirty explanation about how to create a reporting application in Java platform.

First, you need to download the iReport. It's an open source graphical report designer for JasperReports. And of course, you must then install it.

Now start the iReport (I use the 1.3.3 version) and create the data source: Data -> Connections/Data Sources. The wizard is intuitive, so you can create it easily. For this example I use "Database JDBC connection" data source type to access MySQL database.

After that, create a new document that will be used as the report: File -> New Document, for now we just need to replace the default name with the desired name, and leave the other properties as it is.

You can now design the report according to your needs. You can add static text, fields (retrieved from the database), etc using components provided in Library window.

To test your report, click Build -> Execute (with active connection) to see the report with the data you've defined in the data source.

Easy right? We will now learn how to call the report from Java application, and for this example I'll use desktop application (using Java Standard Edition).

First, save your report: File -> Save as... (it'll be saved with .jrxml extension). For this example, I give it name News_Report.jrxml.

Use the following code to call the report:

[sourcecode language='java']
import java.sql.*;

import net.sf.jasperreports.view.JasperViewer;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.xml.JRXmlLoader;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperCompileManager;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperFillManager;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperPrint;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.design.JasperDesign;
import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperReport;

public class SimpleReport {

public static void displayReport(String reportFile) {
try{
JasperDesign jasperDesign = JRXmlLoader.load(reportFile);
JasperReport jasperReport = JasperCompileManager.compileReport(jasperDesign);
Connection jdbcConnection = openConnection();
JasperPrint jasperPrint = JasperFillManager.fillReport(jasperReport, null, jdbcConnection);
JasperViewer.viewReport(jasperPrint);
}catch(Exception e) {
System.out.println("Error occurred: " + e.getMessage());
}
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
displayReport("News_Report.jrxml");
}
}

[/sourcecode]

This is not

This is not to be discussed or debated!

*because I plan to implement it without hearing any objection, huahahahahahah - devil's laugh*

Seize the Day

This post is just an excerpt from my daily devotion taken from Our Daily Bread on Saturday, May 17, 2008. This has motivated me, and I hope that this will also motivates those who read it.

• Life changes when you least expect it to. The future is uncertain. So, seize this day, seize this moment, and make the most of it.


• You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.


• Seize the opportunities that God gives you today.

Be blessed!

That Earthquake

It was around 9:30 PM when suddenly I felt my body trembling. I thought it was the effect of alcohol drink that I've just drunk, but then I asked my friend and he said that it was an earthquake. And it happened twice. Suddenly the condition of earthquake victim in China across my mind. I can only pray that the earthquake won't bring devastating effect to the people and region in the area.

Related links:

• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008sfbc.php


• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008sfa9.php

I've forgot my first love

Do you know a Matrix?

Yes.

Do you know how to count the determinant?

Yes.

Do you know how to count the rank?

Ups.

Do you know Newton Method?

Ups.

Then I realize, I've forgot my first love.

Ai Holan Ho

This is the lyric of one of my favorite Batak songs.

Holan Ho

Nang Pe Gaor Galumbangi
Nang Ro Haba Habai
Sai Hulugahon Do Solukki
Manjalahi Ho

(*)
Nang Gaor Hata Hatai
Ro Tusi Pareonki
Sai Hupasiding Sai Hupasiding
Humokkoppo

Reff
Ai Holan Ho Di Rohakki
Ai Holan Ho Di Nippiki
Dang Muba Dan Mose 2x
Sai Hot Do Ho Di Rohakki

Return to (*)
Return to Reff 2x

Dang Muba Dan Mose 2x
Sai Hot Do Ho Di Rohakki

Detik Parser

I have some leisure time this Saturday so I think it'll be good if I wrote a useful program. So here it is, a program that will read an HTML source of Detik News website, parse all the titles, save all the titles in a list, and finally return the list. The title will be saved in an entity-like Java class so it'll be much easier to save it using ORM mechanism using Hibernate, etc.

Here's the NewsEntity.java:

[sourcecode language='java']
package org.gandhim.news.model;

/**
*
* @author gandhim
*/
public class NewsEntity {
private Long id;

private String datePublished;
private String link;
private String subTitle;
private String title;

public void setId(Long id) {
this.id = id;
}

public Long getId() {
return id;
}

public String getLink() {
return link;
}

public void setDatePublished(String datePublished) {
this.datePublished = datePublished;
}

public void setLink(String link) {
this.link = link;
}

public void setSubTitle(String subTitle) {
this.subTitle = subTitle;
}

public void setTitle(String title) {
this.title = title;
}

public NewsEntity(String datePublished, String link, String subTitle, String title) {
this.datePublished = datePublished;
this.link = link;
this.subTitle = subTitle;
this.title = title;
}

public String getDatePublished() {
return datePublished;
}

public String getSubTitle() {
return subTitle;
}

public String getTitle() {
return title;
}

}
[/sourcecode]

And this is the parser, DetikParser.java:

[sourcecode language='java']
package org.gandhim.news.parser;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import org.gandhim.news.model.NewsEntity;

/**
*
* @author gandhim
*/
public class DetikParser {

private static List newsList = new LinkedList();
private static String url = "http://www.detik.com/indexberita/index.php?fuseaction=indeks.berita&idkanal=10";

public static List doParse() {
setupProxy();
return parseHtml(getRawHtml());
}

public static void setupProxy() {
System.setProperty("http.proxyHost", "your_proxy_server_ip");
System.setProperty("http.proxyPort", "8080");
}

public static String getRawHtml() {
String rawHtml = "";

try {
URL detik = new URL(url);

URLConnection detikConnection = detik.openConnection();

BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(detikConnection.getInputStream()));
String readLine;
while ((readLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
rawHtml += readLine + "\n";
}

} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("Error occurred: " + e.getMessage());
}

return rawHtml;
}

public static List parseHtml(String rawHtml) {
if (rawHtml == null || rawHtml.trim().equals("")) {
System.exit(-1);
}

String startNews = "namakanalindex";
int startPos, endPos;

startPos = rawHtml.indexOf(startNews);
startPos = rawHtml.indexOf("

", startPos) + "
".length();
endPos = rawHtml.indexOf("
", startPos);

String[] news = rawHtml.substring(startPos, endPos).trim().split("
• ");
  
  int awal, akhir;
  String datePublished, link, subTitle, title;
  for (int i = 1; i < news.length; i++) {
  datePublished = "";
  link = "";
  subTitle = "";
  title = "";
  
  // untuk tanggal publikasi
  awal = news[i].indexOf("") +
  "".length();
  akhir = news[i].indexOf("");
  datePublished = news[i].substring(awal, akhir);
  
  // untuk link
  awal = news[i].indexOf(" " akhir = news[i].indexOf("\" class=\"judulindex\">");
  link = news[i].substring(awal, akhir);
  
  // untuk subjudul (jika ada)
  awal = news[i].indexOf("") +
  "".length();
  akhir = news[i].indexOf("");
  
  if (akhir != -1) {
  subTitle = news[i].substring(awal, akhir);
  }
  
  // untuk judul
  awal = news[i].indexOf("class=\"judulindex\">") +
  "class=\"judulindex\">".length();
  akhir = news[i].indexOf("");
  title = news[i].substring(awal, akhir);
  NewsEntity aNews = new NewsEntity(datePublished, link, subTitle, title);
  
  // simpan ke list untuk ditampilkan di Readers
  newsList.add(aNews);
  }
  
  return newsList;
  }
  }
  [/sourcecode]
  
  Now you'll just need to write a code to store each of the NewsEntity from the list to a database. I suggest to use Hibernate.

I don't care...

"I don't care about anything else, what's in my head must be implemented."

Then, you must bear all the coming consequences. Go to hell with your "bright" idea.

My Point of View about UAN

Being a Tim Pemantau Independen (Independent Monitoring Team) member for 2008's SMA (Senior High School) and SMP (Junior High School) UAN (National Final Test) assured me that the implementation of UAN is not appropriate yet.

Lots of the teachers (from my interaction with them) complaint about Government's policy that set a standard of graduation for UAN (a student must pass a certain grade to be considered graduated). They said that the standard only applicable if all schools in Indonesia got the same facilities. The situation now is, only schools located in cities (mostly) got good facilities.

In my opinion, UAN is good, because the students can measure themselves, whether they've acquired a decent knowledge or not. But, the result of UAN shouldn't be used to determine students' graduation. I agree that the graduation of students is determined only by the schools, since they're the one who has guided the students from the early stage of their education.

If the students decided to continue their study, let the next-level institution determine whether a student fulfill their requirements or not. For example, a high school can set a standard of SMP UAN's grade of 5.5 to enter their school.

Of course several things need to be considered more thoroughly, like if all of SMA set their standard of SMP UAN's grade of 5 then there must be left some students who can't enter SMA.

Dilbert Comics

Dilbert website changed its skin. Lots of people responded negatively, like:

• http://blogs.sun.com/kevin/entry/new_dilbert_com_web_2


• http://blogs.sun.com/venky/entry/whats_up_with_dilbert_com

This is because they use flash (not all browsers support flash). But actually, we can still read Dilbert comic by using its RSS from here.

In the state of questioning

To many questions about what happened recently bogging my mind.

And now I stand in the crossroads.

Stop believing and walk it my own.

Or, keep believing?

Being a TPI

Last three days, from 22 until 24 of April 2008, I was assigned to be a TPI (Tim Pemantau Independen - Independent Monitoring Team) for UAN (Ujian Akhir Nasional - National Final Evaluation) at Bintang Timur 1 Balige (BTB) high school in Toba Samosir region.

From my observation, generally the UAN at this school run smooth. The teachers did their job very well in watching the students. There were some cheating activities observed by me though, and when I found that, I just looked sharply at the eye of the students who cheated and they'd stop (but they'd tried again and again). I've written all the activities that I observed in a report form and gave it to the committee.

From the committee I got information that there are schools that helped their students by providing the key answer for their students and distributed it via hand phone. This has been a circle of evil. The teachers didn't want their students failed. Because if their students failed, they'll be blamed. Because of that condition, the students didn't prepare themselves very well for the UAN, and just depends on the "help" from their teachers.

Then I just wondering, will there be any follow-up from the report by TPI committee?

Google Holidays Logo

Opened a Google page today and the logo's changed (temporarily) to commemorate Earth Day:

Google has created logos to commemorate some event since 1999. The history of all Google's holidays logo can be seen here.

You are wrong!

Hey you silly flock, you're all wrong. We're the best. Ours is the rightmost. You don't deserve to do your activity anymore. There's no such thing like tolerance. Now, get lost!

About my top three tracks at LastFM

There are only three songs that I listened most currently at LastFM, they are:

1. Big Mountain – Only One.


2. Juges Trio – Holan Ho.


3. GrooveBandit – Rindu.

The first song is about a guy who's really mad about a girl that he wanted to do anything to show her that she's the only one who stole his heart away. Besides strong in lyrics, the music is also cheering because its genre is reggae.

The second song is in Batak language. I don't know the exact meaning of the lyric, but I'm sure it has the same theme as the first song.

There's nothing special about the lyric of the third song, but it sure has a lovable beat and a fine tune. I usually play this song to accompany me while I sleep very late at night.

If you're interested to hear the song, just google it or search in multiply [dot] com.

Latex on Wordpress

The reason why I started to write articles about Mathematics is that I want to learn how to write using LATEX. The first two article didn't need LATEX because I could easily wrote it using available fonts in my keyboard. But for the next article, I'll need LATEX for Wordpress to write more sophisticated Mathematical formula.

Here's my experiment:

$latex i\hbar\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\left|\Psi(t)\right>=H\left|\Psi(t)\right>$

Well then, I'll start to write using Latex in the next post.

A Motivation

Today I got a visit from my seniors at FMIPA UI. Well actually I've never met them at campus, because they graduated long before I entered FMIPA UI, but I knew them from our Christian Fellowship mailing list in which I'm one of the moderators. They're husband and wife. The husband graduated from Department of Chemistry and the wife graduated from Department of Biology. The husband has just graduated from his Doctoral study at Tokyo University and came to this village (Laguboti) to visit his parents.

They were in my campus for about two hours, and almost all the conversation are to motivate me. One of their words that I'll always remember is "keep on trying". Yeah, I've almost lost my faith and start giving up, but their motivation is such a relief for me. This can be applied to all aspects in my life. I'll keep on trying. Thanx Bang, thanx Kak.

Temperaments

Hippocrates (460-370 BC) divided temperaments into four categories[1]:

1. Choleric. Persons with this type of temperament have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types.  But they are easily angered or bad-tempered.


2. Sanguine. Persons with this type of temperament always feel confident (sometimes cocky), and also arrogant. But they are also considered indulgent (lenient).


3. Melancholic. Persons with this type of temperament can be highly creative, but can also become overly pre-occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. They are also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases.


4. Phlegmatic. Persons with this type of temperament is calm and unemotional. They generally self-content and kind, but their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant. They are more reliable and compassionate than Sanguine, that makes them a more dependable friend.

My friends once told me that there is a way to recognize people's temperament: see what they say while seeing something bad.

• Choleric guys will say "hey, that's a terrible situation, I'll go there and help them" (go there and do something)


• Sanguine guys will say "hey, that's a terrible situation, come on people, please help them" (and just saying that)


• Melancholic guys will say "how pity they are" (and moaning)


• Phlegmatic guys will say "oh, that's a terrible situation" (and do nothing)

Most people usually have two dominant temperaments, and two non-dominant temperaments. You can take this test to see your portion of temperaments. Mine is 48% Melancholic, 33% Phlegmatic, 8% Sanguine, and 13% Choleric.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments

US and Kids

US Government prepares their kids to be an excellent scientists by equipping them with knowledge about technologies they're used. NASA and CIA for example, they provided web pages dedicated to kid that provide informations about their technologies.

How about Indonesia? Naaahh, don't expect too much :)

Vectors (Part II)

• The set of all n-tuples of real numbers, denoted by Rⁿ, is called n-space.


• A particular n-tuple in Rⁿ is called a point or vector. Can be written as:
  u = (u₁, u₂, ..., u_n)


• The real numbers u_i are called the components/elements (scalar) of the vector u


• Two vectors u and v are equal, written u = v, if they have the same number of components and if corresponding components are equal


• The same vectors operations are applied


• -u = -1u


• u - v = u + (-v)

Next: Basic properties of the vectors in Rⁿ.

Disabling UAC Secure Desktop on Windows Vista Home Edition

This people acting as if it's their first time using Microsoft Product. They're complaining about Vista's UAC (User Account Control). Disabling it is not a good idea, but we can still minimize the annoying effect of secure desktop by disabling it (I suggest you to keep using UAC because it can improve the security).

Here are steps to disable UAC Secure Desktop:

1. Click Start -> Run type “regedit”


2. Go to key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]


3. Find a key PromptOnSecureDesktop and modify the value into 0


4. Restart your computer

And the Secure Desktop won't be there when the UAC popped-up.

Vector (Part I)

Vectors are quantities which possess both "magnitude" (a quantity that can be represented by real numbers, called scalars) and "direction". They can be represented by arrows (having appropriate lengths and directions that emanating from some given reference point O).

Operations on vectors:

1. Addition: if (a,b) and (c,d) are the endpoints of the vectors u and v, then the endpoint of u+v is (a+c, b+d).


2. Scalar Multiplication: if (a,b) is the endpoint of the vector u, then the endpoint of ku is (ka, kb).

Next: Vectors in Rⁿ

Nadapdap Family Tree from Si Raja Batak (The King of Batak)

Still related with my previous post, now I'll write a family tree for Nadapdap descended from Si Raja Batak. So, here it goes:

Si Raja Batak -> Raja Isumbaon -> Tuan Sorimangaraja -> Tuan Sorbadibanua -> Silahisabungan -> Sondiraja -> Rumasondi -> Ruma Bunga-bunga (Raja Parmahan) -> Sinabutar.

Sinabutar had three sons:

1. Doloksaribu


2. Sinurat


3. Nadapdap

It means, whoever girls with a family name Doloksaribu, Sinurat, or Nadapdap can be proud because they have a pariban (I'll explain about this later) like me :D

Manalu Family Tree from Si Raja Batak (The King of Batak)

What I'm writing here is taken from a book titled Leluhur Marga-marga Batak dalam Sejarah, Silsilah dan Legenda (Angkola, Karo, Mandailing, Nias, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba) written by Drs. Richard Sinaga, published by Penerbit Dian Utama.

So, here's Manalu Family Tree descended from Si Raja Batak:

Si Raja Batak -> Raja Isumbaon -> Tuan Sorimangaraja -> Tuan Sorbadibanua (Nai Suanon) -> Raja Sumba

Raja Sumba (Toga Sumba) had 2 sons (**):

1. Sihombing


2. Simamora

Simamora had 4 sons (**):

1. Purba


2. Manalu (*)


3. Debataraja (sometimes called Simamora Debataraja)


4. Sumerham (Toga Rambe)

(*) If I'm not mistaken, all of the above "marga" is from Batak Toba tribe. Other Batak tribes also has "marga" that still has relations with the above "marga", e.g. Manalu in Toba is related with Tarigan in Karo, etc.
(**) Daughters were rarely written in Batak's Family Tree.

Passion

I agree that passion is a very good "thing". With passion, people can do something very well, even better than expected. But what if a person doesn't have a passion for something? Should he/she be impelled to have a passion for something? From the WordWeb dictionary application, passion means:

• strong feeling or emotion


• the trait of being intensely emotional


• any object of warm affection or devotion

See? They're all related with emotion/feeling, and in my opinion, anything related to it can't be forced to someone. All we can do is to suggest/evoke/advise them to have a passion on something, and whether the person want to have a passion on that depends on him/her. If the person agreed that the passion on something is good, he/she will try to have one.

Opera for Google Android's Platform

Opera is trying to be consistent as a number one web browser producer for, not only PCs, but also mobile devices. And as Google's Android Platform is taking a fame, Opera is tuning itself to the platform by developing a web browser for the platform.

The most interesting thing about this is the way Opera created the application. Instead of re-writing the existing Opera Mini web browser, they created a wrapper that translates Java ME API calls into android API calls, and they're using MicroEmulator tool.

Unfortunately, by the time this post is written, no hardware available that will run Android, so for now the Opera Mini for Android can only be run in the Android Emulator. You can download the Opera for Android Platform here.

Related link:

• http://labs.opera.com/news/2008/04/10/

Millennium Problems

No one can boast of his/her field of expertise, because each field has its own strength. I still can't understand people who have a blind fanaticism toward their field and tend to look down other field. F*ck you! I'm sorry I have to say that because it's suck to be you!

By the way, while reading an email in a mailing list that I joined, I was reminded of Seven Millennium Problems in Mathematics that has not been solved until recently. Actually it's an interesting topic to be a research topic, but I guess I need thousand of hours before I can attack one of that beautiful problem :)

Suspicious

There's a chapter in UU ITE that makes me suspicious, is he (the so-called pakar) the one who suggested that chapter? I copied the chapter here:

BAB VII
PERBUATAN YANG DILARANG

Pasal 27
(1) Setiap Orang dengan sengaja dan tanpa hak mendistribusikan dan/atau mentransmisikan dan/atau membuat dapat diaksesnya Informasi Elektronik dan/atau Dokumen Elektronik yang memiliki muatan yang melanggar kesusilaan.
(2) Setiap Orang dengan sengaja dan tanpa hak mendistribusikan dan/atau mentransmisikan dan/atau membuat dapat diaksesnya Informasi Elektronik dan/atau Dokumen Elektronik yang memiliki muatan perjudian.
(3) Setiap Orang dengan sengaja dan tanpa hak mendistribusikan dan/atau mentransmisikan dan/atau membuat dapat diaksesnya Informasi Elektronik dan/atau Dokumen Elektronik yang memiliki muatan penghinaan dan/atau pencemaran nama baik.
(4) Setiap Orang dengan sengaja dan tanpa hak mendistribusikan dan/atau mentransmisikan dan/atau membuat dapat diaksesnya Informasi Elektronik dan/atau Dokumen Elektronik yang memiliki muatan pemerasan dan/atau pengancaman.

I guess the above can only be applied if that person has ever had a "nama baik" :) and sure he must be aware of the first point as well.

Homesick

I feel so bored, everything here makes me sick, there's nothing that can make me feel cheerful, all I found here are damn f*cking things.

I really wanted to go home immediately. I wanna see my family. I wanna hang out with my friends. I wanna do lots of things this small-and-remote village can't provide. But my leave for this year is running out, I have to wait until the first of May before I get new leaves.

Meanwhile, I'll just motivate my weary soul to do my best (though I know that it isn't) in everything I do.

PS: Actually there are several things that keep me feel a little cheerful: The Simpsons Episodes, Someone out there, someone out there, and Netbeans :)

Golden Rule

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

No matter who you are, what's your position, how old are you, from which race you are, as long as you're Christian, this rule applies.

Don't expect something you didn't do to others!

Lazy on the Sunday Afternoon

I thought that I could learn lots of things in this Sunday (got so many things in my to-be-learned list), but what can I do, after going home from church I felt asleep for almost 5 hours.

As an excuse, I assure myself that I deserve that, after all sleep-late-at-night days I have in the previous week. And now, I just can learn a little topic in JEE (JMS), but it's better than nothing at all.

Still got many things to do for the next days though, so I think I'll just sleep now :)

Bye Ramiele

Too bad you're eliminated in this episode, I thought that you can make it at least to the top 5. But that's okay, you did a good job there, and may be this is not your way of success, I believe that you can be succeed out there. Good bye Ramiele.

Now, I hope that Kristy Lee Cook can stay longer there :)

Unsuccessful Manager

Ah, finally I got this position, I want to surprise those who've chosen me so that they'll still think that I'm the right person in this position. I think I'll plan, err not plan (coz I never plan anything), but am intended to make something different, even if it's silly and ridiculous I don't care, I just need to make something different.

But wait, I need to go for a while...

Prepare your safety boat

Beware, the storm is coming, everybody for himself.

Marlojong ma hita sudena.

You just need to improve

A week ago, I went to Samosir Island, an Island that is located on Toba Lake, the greatest lake in Indonesia. It makes Samosir has lots of beautiful landscape.

But don't be surprised if you found that not much tourists visit there. Yeah, I've heard lots of excuses explanations that it's all started because of Monetary Crisis Indonesia had back on 1997. But you just can't make it always as an excuse, Indonesia is not at crisis now, well at least compared to 1997. I think what you need is to revitalize your human resources, train them to behave nice to tourists (I found a very good example of this, when I went to Wisata Hotel at Pangururan, no one was came to serve us, even though there are three of the Hotel staff sitting there just watching tv), and the most important thing is to speak English.

Yes, you can get your glorious days back, you just need to improve your human resources.

Sibursik

It makes me wondering seeing such a creature who always take complicated things easy and make easy things complicated. Two thumbs (down) for you, creature!  This creature also has no brain, but always think that it's the best (shame on you!). One of its strongest "ability" is to spit out dirty and seem-look-good words at the same time, how amazing!

I believe that this creature must cost a fortune if I sell it at ebay. But maybe it'd hard, since it's kinda tough to tame. I guess I just keep it on its cage and feed it daily. Yes, I think it's the best solution. Meanwhile, I'll still open sale for it (just like transformer movie, you won't know who'll want your stuff ;p).

First Post in March

Wow, procrastination is really a dangerous disease. I just wanted to defer writing a post for about a week, and this is what finally happen, a three-weeks delay! Even though I have reason for this holdup, I still feel terrible because I've promised to myself to write post at least one per week. Well, I'll stop grumbling then, and start writing.

I was very busy in the last three weeks, so much to do, so little time available. Besides assigned as a co-lecturer in PABI course, I have to supervise my students in their Second Year Project (SYP) and Final Project (FP) activity. SYP is for second year students and FP is for thir year students.

For SYP, I was assigned three groups, and the tools used are mainly PHP+AJAX+MySQL, and their topics are: Scholarship Information System, Full-featured Photo Gallery, and Online Testing System for Senior Highschool. I hope that groups under my supervision can accomplish all the tasks that I've given to them and they can produce a high quality and ready-to-use application, not just do the project for merely a grade.

For FP, I was assigned two groups. FP is different with SYP in case that FP will give a chance for the students to conduct a small research in Information Technology area. The topics for my FP groups are Struts and Spring MVC Comparison and Crossword Puzzle Generator. I hope that the groups can enjoy the process and learn a notion of research.

Besides academics business, I've several other businesses that were assigned to me, and not to mention other activity regarding to my future.

I hope that I can perform much better this semester.