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FaceBook Integration

February 22, 2011 by aerlaut

After a long time of hiatus, I felt the urge to write again. I’ve had times when I wanted to write, but it was soon followed with unproductive periods. I did understand the importance of writing, especially in expressing one’s ideas to the world, but I just did not have the patience and time to back up my claims and made my arguments stronger. I had the ideas, but almost all of it ends in discussions without further follow up.

Another perspective to drive writing is of course readership. The more people read one’s writing and appreciate it, the more willing he/she will write. This is also a problem I found when I wrote. It seems that nobody’s reading what I wrote. My writing might not contain much, but I would really like some people to respond to the ideas I pitch, rather than receiving silent replies.

It sounds ridiculous to want people to respond to one’s writing, and you might even call me an interactivity freak, but hey, isn’t interactive media much more appealing than static media?

I had thought of searching for a Facebook app that would post my writings onto my profile page. It’d be much better than to let it stay silent right? I’m currently trying this app called “WordPress” and it says it features the ability to pull one’s post onto the Wall. I do hope it works.

Soo… Does this post show up?

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New York, New York

December 25, 2010 by aerlaut

New York, New York… name of a restaurant that serves the humungous 8-inch Yankee Burger, garnished with fries served on a 14cm plate. The meal normally cost $32 bucks, if you can’t finish it in 1 hour. If you do, it’s free. Great bargain?

I really want to try out the burger. But naah… never mustered up the courage to do so.

Another thing is, our team failed to pass the prelims in the New York City Business Plan competition. I think our idea is quite solid, but somehow it doesn’t pass. Which means, the others’ are better. It’s frustrating.. we’ve worked on it for a whole month, turning over stones and looking over little details that we might have forgotten.

Well.. better luck next time.

There are still other business plan competitions due in January, such as SMU’s Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (www.smu.edu.sg/lky/), NTU’s Ideas Inc. (www.ntu.edu.sg/ideasinc/) and ITB’s Entrepreneurship Challenge (www.iecitb2011.com). I’m planning to join one or two of them with my friends, cross your fingers, hopefully we’ll pass this one XD

By the way, the title of the post reminded me of this song:

Great song by Frank Sinatra… Wish I could be there.

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Several Plans for the Upcoming Months

November 28, 2010 by aerlaut

Dear all,

I’m writing this to remind myself of what I”m going to do in the several months to come. I’ve been learning several programming languages to make website, starting from the basic which includes HTML and CSS and moving on to PHP and Javascript with MySQL support which adds interactivity to the web. What I’ve learned is only the basics and there are still a lot of things to learn.

I’ve been obsessed with the web and computers for years already, but I’ve only taken the bold step  now. I’ve learned about HTML, CSS and PHP, but I’ve never used it. The only time I’ve used it is when I was making a website for a committee which I am in, Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia Singapura (PPIS)’s Panitia Buku (Book committee). We were trying to compile writing from several representatives from Indonesian communities in Singapore, mainly reflecting what they feel about their own profession in Singapore. These people then suggested what can be done in Indonesia to raise the standard bars higher.

The website I made is still up, and you can visit it at maknaihadir.ppisingapura.org. The website is very simple, and I only used HTML and CSS to make the website. Prior to the development,  I had exposure to HTML, but not to CSS.

Moving on to PHP , MySQL and Javascript, my next project (which I have in mind until now) is :

  • Improve PINTU’s Exam Wishes (EW) system (during PINTU 9’s management)
  • Work with PINTU webmaster to improve features in PINTU’s website (www.pintusingapura.org), as to enable greater utilization of the website to improve efficiency (during PINTU 9’s management)
  • Long term plan to make Kharisma Bangsa alumni’s website (targeted completion : about 6 months)
  • Mid-term plan to make an Indonesian law website, to facilitate easier access to the rules and regulations for interested parties in laws in Indonesia (especially investors) (targeted completion : 4 months)
  • Work with people to get the above projects done ^^

Aside from that, I’m also planning to initate contacts with various aspects of the Indonesian community to support the growth of the nation 😀

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This Earth of Mankind – NUANSA 2010 and the Novel

November 1, 2010 by aerlaut

Sabtu kemaren (30 Oct 2010), gw berkunjung ke NUS untuk menonton NUANSA 2010, with its title : This Earth of Mankind (http://earthofmankind.com/). Bagi temen2 yang belum tau, NUANSA adalah sebuah annual arts showcase yang diadakan oleh PINUS – Perhimpunan Indonesia NUS.

Saat pertama kali title NUANSA di publikasikan, gw gak tau bahwa “This Earth of Mankind” adalah nama sebuah buku. Gw baru nyadar itu adalah sebuah novel saat chatting dengan Astari, yang sudah pernah membaca buku berjudul Bumi Manusia, which is actually the original Indonesian version of This Earth of Mankind. According to Astari, Bumi Manusia adalah salah satu textbook pelajaran di Fakultas Hukum Universitas Indonesia (FHUI). A novel as a textbook for law studies? Fancy that!

Bumi Manusia ditulis oleh Pramoedya Ananta Toer, salah satu novelis paling termashyur dari Indonesia. Novel yang diterbitkan pada tahun 1980 ini adalah buku pertama dari sebuah tetralogi yang bernamaTetralogi Bumi Manusia (juga dikenal dengan Tetralogi Buru dan Tetralogi Pulau Buru).
Ketiga buku lainnya adalah :

  • Anak Semua Bangsa (1981)
  • Jejak Langkah (1985)
  • Rumah Kaca (1988)

Menurut Wiki, Bumi Manusia sudah diterjemahkan dalam lebih dari 20 bahasa.

Thanks to NUANSA 2010 yang telah membawa cerita ini kedalam sebuah musikal drama, I’m dying to get my hands on the novel.The life the actors brought into the play, the music composition and the perfect combination of just about every nook and cranny kept me at the edge of my seat, craving for every flip of the scene. And guess what? HSS Library NTU punya 1 copy! Yay!

 

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Feeling around

October 26, 2010 by aerlaut

People watching or crowd watching is the act of observing people and their interactions, usually without their knowledge – Wikipedia

Kalau itu sih udah biasa.. mau yang lebih ekstrim..? Try to guess what people are looking at, thinking or listening. Now that’s a challenge.

People watching mencoba menyimpulkan hal-hal sosial dan karakter tentang seseorang dengan berbagai cara. Salah satu hal yang dilihat adalah cara subjek kita berpakaian. Selain itu, kita juga bisa melihat bagaimana subjek kita berinteraksi dengan individu lain. Bahasa tubuh (body language) dan cara berbicara (kalau kita bisa nguping) juga menambah bumbu kedalam kesimpulan kita.

Tertarik people watching? Silahkan kunjungi http://www.wikihow.com/Begin-People-Watching untuk tips-tips people watching.

Naah…  berbeda dengan people watching, kita mencoba untuk menebak apa yang dia pikirkan, perasaan dan bahkan karakternya. Emang bisa? Gimana caranya?  Pengen tahu? Read more…

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What does “wealth” mean to you?

October 25, 2010 by aerlaut

The only wealth you will keep forever, is the wealth you have given away –  Marcus Aurelius Antonius

Marcus Aurelius Antonius, the last of the five good Roman emperor, and one of the most important Stoic philosophers said that. An intriguing Tweet from one of my friends.

Thinking over the emperor’s words, it stumps me. How could wealth one has given away be something that we keep forever? Don’t we lose it the instance we gave it away? What does this Stoic philosopher mean?

Looking back at the words, the problem lies in our understanding of wealth. The question is simple. What does wealth mean?

Several definitions from some established dictionaries :
– An abundance of valuable possesions or money – Oxford Dictionaries
– Abundance of valuable material possessions or resources – Merriam-Webster Dictionary
– A large amount of money and valuable material possessions, redistribution wealth – Collins Dictionary

I naturally replied to the tweet, inciting an answer. The reply tweet says to incorporates knowledge and affection to ‘wealth’, depending on our own individual definitions. I’d definitely include time to my dictionary of ‘wealth’ too.

What’s interesting comes when we expand the idea. How then do we judge which people are wealthy and which are not?

Let’s say, my definition of wealth encompasses knowledge and experience. The more knowledge and experience a person has, the wealthiest the person is. The wealthiest and most fortunate man, would be the one who has gone through so much and to so many places. But thinking about the limited amount of resources and time a person has, how does one become so ‘wealthy’ with knowledge in this life?

A simple answer would be to go through life frequently contemplating what we have done. Each and every mistake would be a great learning. One misadvantage though, it can be done only once the event has passed, and we have to personally experience it. So, how do we gain more ‘wealth’?

Once, I attended a talk (I’m sorry I forgot who the speaker was). He (yes I remembered the speaker was a ‘he’) told the audience “I had been living for more than a hundred years”. Everybody looked at him quizzically. So do I. ‘This guy must be crazy’ I thought, bracing for the next thing he was going to say. “I may not look like it. But I’ve been living a hundred years” he repeated. Yea right.

“I don’t literally live for a hundred years.  I live several years older by reading books, especially biographies. I learn from other’s lives.”

A nice way to think about it. 😀

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PINTU – Pelajar Indonesia NTU

October 25, 2010 by aerlaut

PINTU – Pelajar Indonesia NTU (website : www.pintusingapura.org). Organisasi mahasiswa yang bergerak untuk menyejahterakan dan meningkatkan taraf kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia di NTU. Organisasi ini sudah berdiri selama kurang lebih 8 tahun (sekarang sedang komite ke 8).

Organisasi ini adalah organisasi yang unik, karena PINTU secara formal tidak diakui oleh universitas. Konon, sempat ada talk diantara komite utama PINTU dengan perwakilan NTU Students Union (BEM NTU), apakah PINTU ingin diformalkan, sehingga orang-orang yang memegang posisi-posisi komite yang ada di PINTU bisa mendapatkan poin.

Oh, FYI, poin disini digunakan untuk mendapatkan kamar di salah satu Hall of Residences di NTU (asrama di kampus). Tinggal di hall (that’s how we NTUans say it) lebih murah daripada tinggal diluar. Selain biaya sewa kamarny yang lebih murah, makanan di kantin-kantin NTU juga lebih murah. Selain itu, karena letaknya di dalam kampus, perajalanan menuju tempat kuliah tidak membutuhkan biaya, dan dapat dilakukan dalam waktu yang cukup singkat. All translates to cost reductions.

Namun, pejabat PINTU waktu itu tidak setuju bila PINTU dijadikan sebuah organisasi formal, takut kualitasnya akan menurun akibat diberlakukannya sistem poin di tatanan jabatan PINTU (orang yang ikutan hanya untuk mendapatkan poin). Maka dari itu, orang-orang yang menjabat di posisi PINTU adalah orang-orang yang bertindak secara sukarela dengan passion untuk melayani pelajar Indonesia di NTU. Continue Reading »

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