Looking for efficient algorithm to solve x^y mod z

I am in the middle of coding and suddenly realized that I have to solve (code) x^y mod z, where x, y, and z are large integer numbers. Straight coding, that is by multiplying x by y times before performing mod with z, is inefficient.

I know that I am dealing with big integers, but my interest is in the algorithm. I am reading fast exponentiation right now, but just in case any of you know better algorithms (or libraries). I am using C language, if that's important.

American Idol 2009 Finale

I watch American Idol and enjoying the show. Most of the time. So, I watched the 2009 Finale.

I was surprised with the finale. It was excellent. The thing that surprises me is the guests. I could not believe they were able to bring many stars, such as Black Eyed Peas, Cindy Lauper, Keith Urban, Lionel Ritchie, Rod Stewart, Santana, Kiss, and ... Queen! Whoaaa...

I love rock music. A long time ago I even went to a Kiss concert, when I was in Canada. ha ha ha. So, I loved it when Adam Lambert sang with Kiss. When he started singing "Beth", I said to myself; are they going to bring Kiss? Sure enough, the answer is yes! I could imagine Adam singing with Kiss, though. If it's not Kiss, I'd say Aerosmith would be a good choice for Adam.

In my opinion, Danny Gokey has the best vocal. Adam Lamber has the best performance. He is a star. And Kris Allen has the most commercial pop vocal today. My son said that these days people like Jason Mraz and the like. So Kris Allen was lucky that the people who voted (I guess, mostly teenagers, girls) liked him better. I do enjoy Kris's performance with Keith Urban (singing Kiss a girl). By looking at that performance, I understand why he's the winner. Girls would love that.

Anyway, I love that finale show. It was a great show. Congrats to all of you there.

Rewiring my brain

yeah,
... it's time to rewire my brain
... it needs some refreshing ideas
... stuff it with great ideas
... some wild ones too
... remove sad memories
... attach happines


come on
help me
rewire my brain


[there should be a nifty tunes attached to this? :) ]
[br, may 2009]

Google and Morse Code

I've just visited Google.com and got the following page:



Ah... It has been a while since I used Morse code.
Now, let's give it a try. I put [--. --- --- --. .-.. .] in the search field of Google. The result is ...

Your search - --. --- --- --. .-.. . - did not match any documents.

How come there's no match? Google should provide the search result in Morse code. Ha ha ha. Any takers out there?

-... ..- -.. ..

Internetworking Indonesia Journal (Vol.1/No.1) published

Dear Colleague,

The Inaugural Issue (Vol.1/No.1) of the Internetworking Indonesia Journal (IIJ) has just been published. You can get free access to the papers (PDF) at the following location:

http://internetworkingindonesia.org/iij-vol1-no1-spring2009.html


Here is the Table of Contents:

The Overhead and Efficiency Analysis on WiMAX's MAC Management Message
by Ardian Ulvan, Vit Andrlik & Robert Bestak

Loop-back Action Latency Performance of an Industrial Data Communication Protocol on a PLC Ethernet Network
by Endra Joelianto & Hosana

"Wayang Authoring": A Web-based Authoring Tool to Support Media Literacy for Children
by Wahju Agung Widjajanto, Michael Lund, & Heidi Schelhowe

Studi atas Prilaku Pengguna Layanan Wide Area Network (WAN) BPKP
by Desi Nelvia & Rudy M. Harahap

Issues in Elliptic Curve Cryptography Implementation
by Marisa W. Paryasto, Kuspriyanto, Sarwono Sutikno & Arif Sasongko


Hormat kami.

Thomas Hardjono (MIT Kerberos Consortium)
Budi Rahardjo (ITB)
Kuncoro Wastuwibowo (PT Telkom)

Wowed by slideshare

I was going to create a presentation that I have to do in two days. I've got some ideas but they are still 10% of what I needed. I need inspiration. So, I went to slideshare.net. Boy, ... it was a "bad" decision, I guess.

I ended up browsing lots of slides. Just because they are awesome. How could they create great presentations? They are very good in design. Me? I have no idea what "design" is. I need a more formal foundation in this.

Is there a book, web, tutorial, or something that I can use to study good designs?
Please ...

As for my presentation, it has to wait for one more day. Hey, I said I have two days. :)

Vote for who?

Tomorrow is election day. We - Indonesians - will vote for the political party (ies) that will rule Indonesia. Great. But the sad part is that I don't know what or who to vote. Suggestion anybody?

Perhaps it doesn't matter anyway?

Free Photos for Presentations?

I do quite a bit presentations. To make things more interesting, usually I put interesting image or photos in my slides. (I know not to over do with the images and such.) The question is

where can I get good and free photos for my presentations?

I see those presentations at slideshare.net and envy those great images. Aaa...

what a mess (cabling and stuff)

taken an hour ago at home ...



that's not all. the rest? even worse ... ha ha ha

Indonesian Village

Accidentally, I found the following web site: Indonesian Village. It's an interesting site, because it tells story (and perhaps dreams) of an Indonesian Village. Check it out:

http://indonesianvillage.com/

Tired ...

Last night I was so tired. I planned to take a short nap (say, less than 1 hour) and then worked on various things (finishing marking student papers, editing book drafts, and so son). But, I ended up having a long sleep.

I did wake up one hour after started to sleep. I was going to wake up, but I thought ... another 5 minutes wouldn't hurt. Alas. Five minutes turned into an hour! After that I didn't feel like working. So I ended up sleeping for 7 hours. Dang! There goes my working hours.

Today I have to sleep less. (But, the sign is pointing to a different direction ... more sleep. ha ha ha.)

uʍop ǝpısdn

˙˙˙
puɐɯǝp ɹɐlndod ʎq ʞɔɐq
˙˙˙

Can You Change Somebody?

You see somebody. You don't like what you see, for example his/her values, attitude, and the like. You said to yourself. I can change him/her.

You know what... You CANNOT!

S/he must change her/himself. You cannot change somebody. Especially if that person is not willing to change.

Gone from indonesia matters

I've just found out (my accident) that this blog was not listed in Indonesia Matters. Previously, it was listed as part of top 10.

Hey, I didn't make this blog just to be a top 10 blog. So, it doesn't really matter anyway.

On a side note, I just have to find time to update this blog. I've been focusing my attention on my worpress blog. Time is not on my side this time ...