Gerakan Bawah Tanah - Mr. GBT

I've given up on making yearly resolution. I don't know why. Perhaps, it's because I've never really tried to put real effort ini making the resolution (and making it happens). It's just something I wrote (randomly?) at that particular time. So, this year (like the year before), there's no 2009 resolution for me. How about you? What's your new year resolution? What? None??? this screen has better resolution.. . :D

I've seen people ... live in their superficial lives. ... what a sad world that would be Do they (even) realize it? ... do they care? I wish ... I am not one of them ... with you around

Everytime I go to a conference, seminar, and the like, I've got a name tag or some sort of identification. Over the years I've been collecting them. Here's a picture of some of them. Now, they're there collecting dusts. What should I do with them? Throw them away? Tell me.

I can't stand looking at that unempty recycle bin. I just have the urge the empty it. Do you?

After almost one month away without internet access, now I am back. For almost one month I went to Mecca for my hajj (pilgrimage). It was a deep religious experience for me. There was internet access in various places. I just decided not to access it so that I can focus on my hajj . In fact, I don't want to think about other things (work-related stuff). Just hajj . I turned out I am fine without internet access for a month. I consider myself an internet addict, btw. :)

Yes ... this exists in our world ... too many, in fact. Do you care? From Campur 2 [taken @ cikampek toll, november 2008. budi rahardjo]

24 hours ... is not enough to finish these tasks 24 minutes ... is too long while waiting for you

Last week I was invited to give presentations in Yogyakarta. The venue was in a 5-star hotel. The hotel and the event was great, but ... my (biggest) complaint is internet access. Internet access in this hotel was expensive. For 24-hour access, it costs US$16. Okay, to some of you this might be acceptable but not for me. Not far from the hotel, on the street outside the hotel area, there were internet cafes. Internet access there was much cheaper. I think this situation is not unique to Yogyakarta. It happens in all parts of the world. I still don't understand why hotels charge an arm and a leg for internet access. They are not in the business of making money from telecommunication, right? If they are, then they should open game center or internet cafe (with lots of computers). They should offer free internet access as part of their service. Focus on the service. Many friends told me that I should get 3G/3.5G/UMTS access (from cellular companies) instead of relying on hotel service...

Everybody needs attention ... ... not money ... ... not things ... ... not anything ... ... just a little attention ... ... that's all! ...

My iBook G4 (tiger) is having a problem I updated the software. There was an infinite loop of "Your network settings have been changed by another application" pop up when I tried to configure the network. Apparently lots of people had the same problem after the latest security update is applied. Arrrghhh. After following the discussion below, I managed to "fix" the problem. (Basically, I removed all locations except automatic in the Airport configuration.) http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1710040&tstart=0 I can't beleive that Apple is so sloppy in their product (software). Oh well...

we exchanged words but we've never talked communication is not a dictionary search looking up for words and trying to map our feeling onto them sometimes you have to paint your feeling with colors that have no name

This (Saturday) morning was great. It was bright and cool at the same time. Hey, it's Bandung. What do you expect? ha ha ha. So, I decided to take some pictures in the backyard. Here they are. From Indonesia From Indonesia From Indonesia From Indonesia From Indonesia From Indonesia Good stuff, eh? Those are the ones in the backyard. There are more in the frontyard, but if I put them in this page, it's going to take forever to download those pictures. ha ha ha. I am joking of course, but it's true that I have a beautiful home. It was a slow Saturday morning, but it was a great one.

After using Google Chrome for a few days (weeks actually), I decided to stick with Firefox. At lest for now. Yes, Chrome seems to be better technically (I like the process vs thread approach), but I am having difficulties managing my blogs with it. I guess blogs won! I know, I know, I know. It's still beta. You're forgiven, Chrome. I am going to try the next version / update. Which is when?

I decided to give Google Chrome a spin. I tried to edit one of my blogs which is based on Wordpress . For some reasons, all paragraphs became one (long) paragraph . I tried to edit it again. In the editor, the paragraphs looked fine but when I published the entry again, those paragraphs became one again. In the end I used Firefox to edit that blog entry. It worked. Also, some stylings (like italics , etc.) were gone. (known) bugs? Long time ago I had similar problem with Safari, but it's fixed now. Maybe it's the same problem?

It's that time of the year (again). School is back. I am teaching a couple courses this semester; one for undergrads and one for grads. As usual, I ask my students to create blogs. Assignment should be written in their blogs. They have to have blogs. No option :) Before, I had to bring papers home (and back to the office) if I want to mark their assignments. Now, all I have to do is access the net. It is interesting that most students mix personal writings and assignments. To me, this is interesting because I can see the other side of them, not just the technical (assignment) aspect only. Yeah, I have to go through some unrelated posts, but that's ok. Sometimes I even find interesting writings. So, my students, keep on writing!

I am teaching an IT course for non-IT students. It's a challenge, especially for me the teacher! Now, I am trying to teach number conversions. I have to teach them how to convert decimal numbers to binary (octal and hexadecimal) and vice versa. I know the theory, but I need a better explanation. Remember that this class is a non-IT class. I am looking for an animation or some sort to make the explanation simpler (better). Any pointers?

Just to let you know that I am teaching a new course this term. It's an " Introduction to Information Technology " course. You think that this is an easy topic for me, eh? Apparently not so. Well, I am familiar with the topic, but I have to follow the class according to the textbook. This is also a paralel class, which means I have to sync the class with the other classes. Since this is a new class, I have to prepare the course material. There are some power point presentation files from the publisher of the textbook, but they're ugly! (I don't understand why a good publisher could release such a crappy presentation materials.) Anyway ... I have to work hard(er). As if I have nothing else to do. Grrr...

It's that time of the year. School is on! Tomorrow I am going to teach a new course; an Introduction to Information Technology. I am excited ... but ... here's the story. I've just got the information about the class not long ago. The formal information that I am teaching the class was delivered a couple weeks ago. Now, I am struggling to digest the textbook which I've just got a couple weeks ago. I've been working hard on this course for the last two days. Well, I actually looked at this a couple weeks ago but I didn't dig deeper. Today I spent the whole day (and night - in fact, I am still going to) working on the course. [Students, look what I have to go through to prepare a good class. I hope you'll enjoy the class.] This afternoon I went to Starbucks at BIP and read (almost) one chapter from the book. I got the gist of the content, but I still have to prepare the lecture. After I got home, I head straight to my computer and did some internet search. The...

As usual, I went jogging this morning. But this morning was different. Today was quiet. The universe was quiet . ha ha ha. I guess that's because yesterday - 17 August 2008 - was our Independence Day . Everybody was so busy yesterday with their events and competitions that they were tired and perhaps were still sleeping. I took some pictures on my way. Here they are ... My jogging track. Look how quiet it is and how the beautiful the background is. Yeah, I live in a nice place. I can see the mountain and there are still green trees. I hope it's still the same. Indonesian flag waving in front of an empty school. Ah, how lonely it must have been. a house with independence theme... good stuff. I went home charged by the quiet environment. Ahh...

Here's the deal. I have sooo many reports that I have to read. I am still reading them. Last Friday, a book arrived at my office. It was a textbook for a course that I have to teach next term (which is starting in about a month). I have to read this 600-pages textbook in one month. Not only that I have to read it, I have to understand it. Heck, I am teaching the course. Can you imagine if I don't understand what I am saying? And as if that's not enough, a few minutes ago I arrived home from a late meeting. Lo and behold, three thick reports were in my doorstep. I think I was asked to give comments to the report in a week. Ha! What next? Don't tell me that there's another book/report that I have to read ASAP! Aaarrrggghhh