Gerakan Bawah Tanah - Mr. GBT

I want to do so many thing, write books, articles, songs, (computer) code, and what not. But, to do these creative things I have to spend time and thoughts. Unfortunately, I have to many things to do. At least, in the back of my mind I have things to do - like writing reports, minutes of meeting, and the like. These mundane tasks are haunting me, swapping the focus of my mind in any give them. Swapping takes an effort. You may notice that sometimes your computer takes longer to switch between applications (and your harddisk is spinning like crazy that you can even hear it). Some says that the time to swap (between tasks) may take longer than if you finish one of the tasks and move on (to the next one). Rather than piling all the tasks and do them little by little, I should do one by one. But, I just can't. I am one of those people who has to do multi tasking. (Maybe I am hyper-multi-tasking?) A week ago I was watching a TV programme on "how to become a champion." There w...

The past few days (or weeks), I've been too busy like you wouldn't believe. I've spent my days in plane, trains, automobiles, meetings, and what not. I feel bad that I am sort of neglecting my family. A good thing is my wife knows about my activities and supports me. But that doesn't make things right. I still feel bad. This is the curse of getting too many businesses. All of this reminded me of lyrics of Kiss' song, Beth . One of my favourite songs done by a hardrock band. The song talks about busy doing music in a band, but it's the same. Band, work, gig, school, or what have you, they all the same. You're neglecting your family. Anyway, here's the lyrics: Beth, I hear you callin' But I can't come home right now Me and the boys are playin' And we just can't find the sound Just a few more hours And I'll be right home to you I think I hear them callin' Oh, Beth what can I do Beth what can I do You say you feel so empty That our ho...

Who is your most favourite soccer player? I've been thinking about this the whole morning. My choice is Frank Lampard from Chelsea. Last season he has been great in the English league, but really bad in World Cup. After a few games in the World Cup, I just couldn't watch. He had like more than 20 chances but no goal. This season I hope he's doing great. Go Lampard!

Yesterday, I had to go to Jakarta to give a presentation. I decided to take a flight from Bandung to Jakarta. Everything was fine until all the passengers were on board. The plane was on the runaway and I was ready to take a nap. Pilot said, "flight attendances take off position please." Engine roared. Plane was shaking like crazy but it did not move! The suddenly the engine slowed down and the planed went back to the starting place. The flight was cancelled due to technical problem, they said. I don't know what it was but I was glad that we didn't take off. Well, I had a problem. It was 7 AM and I had to give the presentation at 9:15 AM! What to do? Two other passengers and I decided to rent a taxi from the airport to Jakarta. We were in a hurry. It was really expensive (Rp 600,000 or US$60). We took it since there was no other option. The driver drove like crazy. Occationally he drove on the shoulder to pass some cars or trucks! I was scared shitless! But, he did it...

Okay, I have to appologize to all readers. I've been neglecting this blog. It's just ... I am pushing myself to the limit. Here is a list of what I've been doing so far: Teaching : This term I am going to teach two courses (I was assigned four courses! You got that right, four!). They are "Engineering Concepts" and "Security." I dropped "Introduction to Programming" course. Consulting : From now to the end of this year I am involved with four projects. That should be enough. More projects are still coming though. I have to refuse them. The temptation to accept the projects is so great. Running business : Our companies are growing. You've got growing up problems. I also want to put character into our companies. I've been reading books like "Good to Great." Starting up : Again??? Yes, folks. For some reasons this year I am starting companies again. Last month I started a digital music company. This month (or more likely the end ...

I guess I have to learn a new programming language again. This time, it's C#. The reason I have to learn a new language is that we are starting a new software house company. Our first order uses C# as the programming language and .NET as the framework. Last night I spent a couple hours reading Eric Gunnerson's " A Programmer's Introduction to C#. " It's a perfect book for me. It treats the readers as programmers. That is, it skips the introduction on computers and stuff. I knew that already. I taught C++ before (until last semester - this semester I have to many things to do so that I have to delegate this to somebody else) and used Java a few years ago (10 years ago?). The transition from C++ & Java to C# shouldn't be a drastic one. So, I can say that I know C# now. :) I just have to get a compiler to test some of the ideas and get my hands dirty. I told (and will tell) my students that they have to master more than one programming language. It's ...

A while ago, somebody wrote that there are books that want to be read and those that don't. Jim Collins' book, " Good to Great: why some companies make the leap and others don't ," definitely is one of the books that want to be read. It's a good, no ..., great book! I have not finished reading it and could not put it down. Originally I wanted to read " Built to Last, " also by Jim Collins. While visiting a friend's office I saw " Good to Great " and borrowed it. I guess I have to get my own copy and perhaps also get " Built to Last ." One of the things that I have in mind when I started my companies is that I want to make them great companies. I am still struggling with them right now, but I believe they will become great companies! It's time to finish reading the book and implement the wisdom. Wish me luck!

I am really disturbed with current thread on "orang paling keren" (the coolest person?). Basically, it came up as a challenge to trick search engine to put pages (from Multi Level Marketing - MLM - users) at the top page of Google and Yahoo. (If you want to find out more about this, check my page on " orang paling keren " but it's in Bahasa Indonesia. And here is a serious article about " paling keren ") According to Priyadi , the coolest person is Chewbacca. I think NOT! He is not "orang paling keren", because he is not "orang" (human). On the other hand, he is closer to orang utan . ha ha ha. In any case, he is not the coolest person. (By the way, if you don't get it, this post and link is to generate traffic and increase Priyadi's rank.) One interesting thing I found is that the search results from Google and Yahoo differ greatly. Go crazy about it ... On Yahoo's, Priyadi's page is number one (which is the correc...

In various mailing lists I've seen debate - no, war - among operating system lovers. They defend their OS religiously. It's really a war. I love operating systems. In fact, I used to be an OS maniac, obsessed with OS. Whenever a new OS came out, I had to try it. One OS that made an impression to me was Oberon. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to tinker anymore. The latest OS that I played with was GNU/Hurd. Now, I am just a plain OS user. That is why I want to have a truce among operating systems. Can we do that? If you see in my picture, there are different operating systems. From left to right: Microsoft Windows (not really shown because a web was shown instead), Mac OS X (on an iBook G4), and GNU/Linux Debian. Yes, I use all of those OSs on daily basis.

Apparently it is difficult to make jokes in two culture at the same time. Here's the situation. I am giving presentation in Indonesia but the language is in English. The audience is a mix of Indonesians and non-Indonesians, who don't speak Bahasa Indonesia. The majority of the audience is Indonesians. Now, the question is should I make Indonesians jokes or English jokes? They are different. I watch stand-up commedy on TV when I have the time. There's not that many stand-up commedy (commedians) in Indonesia. Usually I watch them on Tonight's Show with Jay Leno. Sometimes he commedians as the guest. Most of their jokes are American jokes. Sometimes I don't understand the joke because they are so tight to events that happened in the US (which I don't know - I don't watch CNN that often), or to characteristics of places and people in certain region in the US. Any suggestion of jokes that cross cultural boundaries? (Gotta be in English though.) Commedian handbook...

Finally, I made a change of my blog at blogsome ( rahard.blogsome.com ). I took the time to customize its CSS to make it closer to slashdot . Apparently, CSS is fun and addictive! And, darn..., Blogsome is so cool. It's going to take a good portion of my time. I have just realized that it is so configurable. I wish I can do the same thing with this. (I know I can, it's just time that I don't have right now.) I've got things to do right now. A lot of preparation for my next gig ; presentations and becoming a presenter in English! It's going to be a challenge, but I am game for it. Bring 'em on.

Have you ever had a situation where you have decided to do something and then something better comes along? For example, you decided to buy a notebook (or a car, house, whatever). After you bought the notebook then a newer and better notebook (which cost the same or even cheaper) is available. You hate yourself. I have had many occasions in which I have decided to make a " gig " (presentation, training, workshop, teaching, etc.) on a certain date. Then, a better offer (bigger audience, better pay, bigger impact) comes along on exactly the same time. What to do? I have made a committment. Well, I have no option but to decline the latter offer. I hate myself for that, but promise is a promise. I just have to do the best gig ever! This is also a common theme in a song. Boy meets girl. (They think) they fall in love. They make committment to each other. Then, the boy meets another girl (or the girl meets another boy). She or he is better (prettier, more handsome, funnier, more un...

Want to know how I feel today? Have a look at this: http://budi.efx2.com/view/45746/Churning-Graduate-Students/ ... typing in this rocking chair ... ... i am feeling great ...

Have you ever noticed that if you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself? I don't know whether this is just me or it is a common thing. (Pointers? Hints?) There are some small things that could be done. Many times I think that these things could be done by my students, workers, peers, fellows, employees, but nooo... I have to do them myself. For example, I still have to manage and maintain mailinglists myself. (Add subscribers, remove bounced subscribers manually, modify and configure systems and so on.) I still have to tinker with operating systems and applications. Another example, I still have to design and edit some web sites for community services. This things actually could be done by my students. (BTW, there are other examples that are not IT related. There are other things such as community services, business deals, academic experiments, and so on. You get the idea.) It is not that I don't want to delegate tasks. I did and still do delegate things. But, ...

Do you believe in coincidence? Here's the deal. In a few hours I was confronted with stories of successful people and companies. First, I was wandering around in a bookstore while waiting for my kids. I found this interesting book about Oprah Winfrey written by Amelita Lusia. I was intrigue by this book because it is not a translation. It is written by an Indonesian. Here's Oprah, an American black woman. What's her relation to us (Indonesian)? I don't know. But I know this, many Indonesians know who Oprah is. She's an amazing successful person! I am not an avid the Oprah Winfrey Show, but whenever I watch it, it is superb. The thing is ... her success was an an instant. It was not an accident. It was hard work. The second thing. I arrived at home and turned on the TV. It was about Simon Cowell. Yes, that American Idol notorius judge. Again, this is about sucessful person (and TV show). I didn't know how it started, but now I know. Again, the same theme emerges,...

Well, it's time to take a test again. This time I took PersonalDNA test. The result is I am an Encouraging Idealist . Unfortunately, blogger does not allow javascript embedded into my posting. Click here instead to see my complete result.

One book on the table. Read me , she says. I'll give you surprises you'll never find elsewhere. Ten books. Stacked on top of each other. They don't really care whether you read them or not. One of them whispers. Please, don't read me. I am ashamed of what's written inside of me. These books are just part of a quota that must be met. Publishers must publish books. If good writers don't come along, they just publish whatever they can lay their hands on. It's your fault!

We all know that UNIX is an Operating System, but UNIX is also Music? Don't believe me? Have a look at the picture on the left. This picture was taken Mei 2006 at Grand Preanger Hotel, Bandung. Apparently their fun place is called " UNiX's: The House of Music ". Whoa. That is new and news to me. This place was used to be called something else (I forgot). I have not had a chance to enter this house of music . Don't know if I ever be. The name is interesting, though. I wonder if they serve "login:"? ha ha ha. Maybe the menu is in command line ?

I wanted to write about the Yogyakarta Earthquake, but decided to wait. For some reasons, I felt that I am exploiting the victims by generating traffic to my blogs. I know that it is not the case, but that's how I felt. But, on the other hand, I wanted to say my condolence to all the victims and their families. So, this post. The heck with traffic. Our research center ( Microelectronic Center ) the university was shocked by a news that one of our researcher - Waris, who is doing his doctorate, passed away during the quake. He went to Bantul for a holiday with his family. Our deepest sympathy and condolence to his family. We will miss him. I was born in Yogyakarta. I even make jokes about Yogya, its people, and technology. It is a special city for me. I am sad to see what happened to Yogyakarta and its people. I hope they can get through this as soon as possible and as painless as possible. Hang on. May God be with you.

I've been searching for the meaning of " security architecture ." Various references point to different directions, depending on the source of the reference. For example, security architecture according to network companies is network security. Database people think that security architecture is access control, IT consultants think that security architecture is a working framework and activities, and so on. In anycase, I decided to define my own security architecture. A presentation material is available at my presentation's page . Unfortunately, it is in Bahasa Indonesia. Although, the terminologies are in English. Go there (to the presentation page) and read the "security architecture" presentation, which I presented a few days ago (24 May 2006) in Jakarta. Comments and feedback are needed.