Bakso Trisno

I wish it has no MSG, but judging from the bowl (which has a specific brand) I don't think I will get my wish :)

2012 Resolutions

I don't know wethere I should make a resolution or this is even a resolution, but I just want to write this down. This is what I want to do everyday:

• read a few pages from a conventional book;
• read a few pages from an ebook;
• write a few pages for book(s);
• write a blog post.

This is not easy, but I want to push myself. There may be some missing dates or inclomplete tasks, but I have to try. How far can I go?

Facebook's Timeline Bug (2012)

First day of 2012. I tried to post photos, status, etc. on my facebook. They don't show up in my timeline. It shows up in main page (facebook.com) though, but it will be pushed by new updates/status. Does anybody know what's going on?

I don't like this timeline, but what can I do? There's no option for old facebook view. Too bad.

(App designers, read this ... give users option to stay with old look and feel.)

Seesmic Problem?

I use seesmic web interface to access my twitter, but or the last couple of days I've been having problems with. I cannot login. What gives?

I even tried to change my password. Mail confirmation was received and I changed the password according the instruction, but I still cannot login. Right now, I am using twitter web interface.

If this problem persists, I may have to ditch seesmic. Oh well.

Keynote on Computational Intelligence

This morning I was asked to give a keynote speech ini a conference. The original keynote speaker was not able to make it and the conference was started this morning. I have spare time in this afternoon, so I said that I am able to do it in this afternoon.

The main idea of my speech is to encourage everybody to do research in the future area. Computational intelligence methodologies and tools are needed to explore the future. One of the application is in the social network area. Many people - especially younger generation - live in two worlds; real world and cyber world. Just like in the real world, there are (social) problems in the cyber world. I gave an example of our twitter research, in which we are trying to understand the structure of Indonesian twitters.

Before that, I told them how little we understood about such problems by showing Barricelli's universe. Barricelli did an experiment - simulation using the first computer, when von Neumann and his group were not using the CPU cycle - about a digital universe. There are codes in Barricelli's program that we don't understand (yet) and was not executed at that time. Little that we know.

The second area that we should look more into is games. I showed them that games are really taking off. Look at Zynga, who made all those interesting games in Facebook. Of course there are more games outside Facebook and those games require good artificial intelligence (AI) engine. (I forgot to mention Siri.)

The third area that they should look into is security. I told them about research that we did in identifying attack and intrusion using neural networks. However we ended up using "conventional" statistics in trying to understand the component of an attack.

That's all folks.

Gmail new look?

On my gmail screen there is a note saying that I should look into Gmail's new look. Before switching to the new look, I looked into the features. For some reasons, there's no control of the fonts!

I am always partial to fonts. I use userstyle (stylish) just to control Gmail's fonts. I hate to switch. I like to stay, but I may have to switch :(   Ouch

Breakfast ...

This is my breakfast this morning ... plus tea (and coffee afterwards). So, what's yours?

Good morning ...

Google Chrome Ads in Indonesian TV channel

I was surprised to see Google Chrome advertisement in Indonesian TV channel(s). Some people already mentioned that awhile ago, but I didn't notice. And then I saw the ads. Good stuff.

New Blogspot Interface

I have just noticed that Blogspot (blogger) has a new interface. It is cleaner, nicer, and more "modern". So far, I am enjoying it. This post is just a test of this new interface.

With new and clean interface, I might blog more often here ... :)  No promises though

Is Wireless@SG still working?

Next week, I will be travelling to Singapore. One of the things I found out in my previous trips was difficulty in getting WiFi access. It is strage, since in Bandung or Jakarta I can find WiFi access easier.

In Singapore, I usually try to use Wireless@SG first. It usually doesn't work. For example, in SimLim, there is a wireless@SG signal but once you're connected there's no route to anything else. As if it is on but nobody manages it. So, I usually switch to whatever wireless services available (which normally I have to pay). And, sometimes, it is so expensive (especially in hotels).

Now, yesterday I got a "spam" in my mailbox (I think it's from iCell) telling me that Wireless@SG is being upgraded. Is it? Is it better? Or, even, is it working?

My Class

Here is a picture of my Introduction to IT class. Only 11 students in the class. Yay! It should be easier to teach? (Is it?) The size of class is dropping each year. Don't know why.



Our "only" problem is the class is at noon. It's difficult to fight sleepyness :)

Guilty feeling when reading

Somehow I have a strage feeling. A gulty feeling when I am reading. What gives?

My funny reason is that when I am reading, I am not producing anything. I am not productive. I don't contribute to humanity. Thus, the guilty feeling.

But, when I don't read, I don't gain knowledge. I am stuck. And I won't be able to produce anything good.

So?

Independence: what does it mean?

Next week, 17th August, we have our Indonesia independence day. This year is our (2011-1945) year of independence.



Now, what does independence mean to me? It means a great deal. Although I was not born when Indonesia was colonialized, I now how it feels to live under oppression. These days we live under different kind of oppresions. Censorship is one of them.

New Class

New term has started. I am teaching "Introducti0n to Information Technology" for Pharmacy international class. This year, there are only 10 students in class. Yay!

I just remembered. I should take a picture of the class. Oh well. Next class...