A few hours before Jakarta's Birthday

Terispirasi karena banyak yg bertanya mengenai kondisi gw. Thanks everyone!

Karena tugas jam 10 malam, gw memutuskan utk brangkat dr rumah (di Sunrise) skitar jam 21.00. Gw naik bis kopaja 88 (Kalideres-Slipi) di Daan Mogot, duduk di deretan tengah. Terus pas deretan belakang kosong, gw pindah ke belakang. Dgn maksud, lbh banyak kena angin dan karena kaki gw panjang, duduk pun jd lebih lega (baca : slonjoran).
Setelah perempatan lampu merah Tomang, naik 3 orang-yg-mnrt feeling-gw-adl-copet. Gw ga bs gambarin ciri2 mereka krn penerangan pun tdk mendukung utk bs melihat mrk dgn jelas. Satu orang duduk di deretan belakang, dua orang duduk di deretan depan. Abis itu, satu orang pindah juga ke deretan belakang. Kasak kusuk nanya ini itu ... Gw tetep cuek. Pas mereka mau merubah posisi duduk dgn tujuan "mengapit" gw, gw bilang aja dgn cool "Wah mesti turun neh ganti bus". Gw pikir dlm hati klo gw tetep di situ kayaknya ga' kan bagus. Sblm lampu merah Slipi, gw dah turun. Tepatnya di halte ex-Gedung LIA. Krn situasi di daerah perempatan Slipi rame bgt klo gw memutuskan utk turun di Slipi yg ada malah gw jadi diteriakin maling dan bisa runyam. Kalo berantemnya ga masalah *sok bgt* Cuma efek di hari-hari besok. Siapa tau mereka preman2 Slipi. Kan gw lewat tiap hari.

Thanks God I am fine and now it's time to sleep. Selamat ulang tahun, Jakarta!

Moral dr pengalaman td malem : just calm down, jangan sotoy, better avoid it ....

Are You in a Position to be Blessed?

When I was a boy growing up in the Deep South, I occasionally went fresh water fishing in the bayous near my home. As directed by the more experienced fishermen, I learned to cast a top water fly close to the appropriate target in the hopes of attracting a large mouth bass; likely under a low hanging branch or fallen tree. Over the years, I was as successful as my companions and considered myself an able fly fisherman

Many years later, I moved to Georgia, near the Florida border. As I met new people, I noticed that many of my friends had large stuffed bass on their walls, much larger than those I had caught in my home state. Soon I had the opportunity to go fishing with a friend from church. This older gentleman, an experienced and successful angler, used an entirely different method than I had learned. Rather than casting flies on top of the water, he used sinking lures that he cast near the bank and retrieved rhythmically, raising and lowering the lure in the water as he reeled it in. Sure enough, that morning he caught a prize bass.

What I discovered was that, despite years of fishing, I didn’t know much about catching the big ones. And to top it off, I had not been fishing in the best place! Let’s just say that, in Georgia and Florida, five to ten pound bass are much more common than where I come from.

I am reminded of the story of a young man who needed a job badly. Day after day, he prayed for something to show up in the mail, but no offer came. He was just about flat broke when he cried out to God in anguish, pleading for a job. Suddenly, he heard a voice, clearly and distinctly: “Fill out an application and send it in.”

My point is that we need to put ourselves in a position where God can bless us. The scriptures offer numerous examples of saints whom God instructed to move to a place of receiving.

If you visit any warehouse, you’ll notice that there is both a receiving dock for incoming freight and a shipping dock for outgoing packages. Why? Simply because the receiving dock is organized and prepared to receive goods and then process them. If inbound cargo were to arrive at the shipping dock, it would disrupt the flow of materials.

Are you expecting goods but working some place other than the “Receiving Dock?” And, if so, have you thought about relocating to a place where God is more likely to bless you? God’s children need to be prepared to receive.

If you are a gifted mathematician, shouldn’t you attend MIT, Stanford, or a similar place where the instruction you need is offered? If you want to learn Italian, shouldn’t you consider a semester in Italy, where the finer points of the language are used? To carry the point to the obvious, if you want to swim, find a pool and jump in.

The scriptures contain many examples of God instructing His children to go to a place of blessing. In 2 Timothy 3:16, The Lord tells the thirsty Israelites to “Make this valley full of ditches.” In other words, prepare to receive what you want: water. If they had not prepared, what would they do when the water arrived?

In John 21:1-6, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, and John had been fishing all night without anything to show for it. In the morning, Jesus told them to “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty of them!” (Living Bible) They simply needed to obediently put themselves in a position to be blessed. If you have a fear of failure, just remember that you’re not responsible for the outcome, you’re just responsible for obeying.

Acts 1:4 tells us that the apostles were to wait in a particular place, Jerusalem, for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise ….”

You may feel that where you are is really not where God wants you to be. A good indicator of being in the wrong place would be an unhealthy emotional climate, where your skills are not used fully. You may decide that you would be better off elsewhere, perhaps in a place more fitting with Christian values.

As the bride of Christ, you should “fit in with your husband's plans.” (1 Peter 3:1, The Living Bible) Accept that God wants to fulfill His purposes in your life, including giving you the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4) Then, actively cooperate with the Lord about getting to the place of blessing. Like Paul, Timothy, Mark, and many others, be a fellow laborer with Christ.

“And if you do as I say in this letter, then you, too, will be full of joy, and so will we.” (1 John 1:4, The Living Bible.)

Source: By Curtis C. Mosley © 2003
http://www.livingthesolution.com/positiontobeblessed.htm

Don't be an avoider!

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature am a slave to the law of sin.
—Romans 7:21-25

At times, most of us avoid doing what we instinctively know is good. It’s funny how this works: We avoid things that could benefit our lives and run toward those things that could be destructive.

For example, many of us know we should be eating more nutritious foods to benefit our health, but we avoid the discomfort of changing our habits of cooking. Or, some of us know we need to exercise more, but avoid the discomfort of having to change our schedule in order to do so.

When it comes to spiritual disciplines, like prayer, studying the Bible or meditating on God’s Word, we often avoid doing what we know we should do. In all areas of life, too often we seek the things that can hurt us and while we should embrace the things that can benefit our lives, we don’t.

Somebody once said to me, “The things we avoid are usually the things we need to embrace.” I’ve thought about that quite a bit, and I agree with the statement. The Scriptures are our guide in this area. The Bible is clear that we should be doing everything in our power to embrace those things that will bring God’s blessing into our lives. For example, the Apostle Paul said both “Flee temptation” and “Whatever you do, do all in the name of Jesus.”

Now is the time to take a strong stand against those realities that can damage your life or detract you from experiencing the purposes of God. Resolve not to be an avoider. Don’t put off anything that could bring you closer to what God has in store for you!

Seeking and looking

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5

I realize I am guilty of looking but not really seeing. Right in front of me, God’s wisdom sits like jewels of heaven ready and waiting to be captured and used. Too often, I “drive” through life not looking left or right but speeding ahead to my next stop. If we aren’t looking carefully, we’ll miss all God has. Wisdom is often found amongst things not easily seen, yet right there all along, to be discovered when you seek it. Today, be reminded that Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Have a blessed day!

The Passion of God

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Romans 5:8

Personally, I have a passion for backpacking-vacations, my hubee Tepho, my Performing Arts team, my DATEr, walking on the beach, and off course God. Sometimes I will spend 3-4hours per day for practise, or work extra days to afford a vacation on the beach in Bali and I will not miss Naughty Nuri's. Passion usually involves a deep love and a deep sacrifice for something or someone.

What's your passion? What do you think about during the day and dream about at night? What are you willing to love deeply and love sacrificially?

I wonder for a moment what is the passion of God. Then the answer comes to me. You and I are the passion of God. God has a one-track mind. He loves me. He created me. He gives me life and breath. He brings me new life through the sacrificial death of Jesus.

With His love and His Holy Spirit, He passionately pursues me. Isn't it nice to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are loved with the passion of God?

Is it too difficult?

Jeremiah 32:27

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"

Have you ever found yourself in an overwhelming or daunting situation that seemed impossible to understand or face? Is it difficult to comprehend the plan or the purpose behind what you are going through? Do you find yourself asking, “Why Lord?” Do you sometimes plead with God, “I don’t know what to do or how to do it. I need You to make it through this!” … Yeaahhh, I feel it now.

Personally, I have been in this position more times than I can count. I jump into an adventure full force thinking I have everything I need to make it happen, only to find out that I have merely a part of what is needed to do the job - not all of it. I am in over my head.

Life is sometimes like a test because we honestly believe we have it all together only to discover that some life circumstances are not on our radar and are certainly not part of the study guide. I have come to realize that these “tests” lead us to a deeper understanding of our need for God.

Luke 12:12 promises, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." I know that I am driven to seek God when I lose sight of what to do and I feel lost. He is our provider of ideas and the author of purpose in our lives - hence the word Inspiratio or inspiration.

Dear Sweet Father,
I know that You are with us at all times as the Holy Spirit gives us the thoughts and words we need to meet Your purpose for our lives. I have to admit I often I try to handle life on my own instead of trusting Your words and Your Spirit to guide me. Help me to fully rely on You, Lord, as a student in the school of life and to trust You with my “tests” knowing that I can’t “pass” without Your power and presence. Bless my Project Manager and strengthen him with Your awesome power. Thank You for loving and saving me and thank You for giving me the answers when I need them. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Penemu dari indonesia yang terlupakan

Ternyata kita mempunyai banyak ilmuwan serta pemikir yg hebat, selama ini kita mungkin cuma tahu dan selalu dihebohkan oleh kehebatan ilmuwan manca yg menjadi penemu dan banyak diantara mereka peraih nobel yg tersohor...

Berikut merupakan daftar penemu dari negeri tercinta INDONESIA yg mungkin kita tidak tahu :

1. Abdul Jamil Ridho & Niti Soedigdo - Penemu Varietas Unggul Singkong Raksasa

2. Adi Rahman Adiwoso - Penemu Teknologi Baru dalam Telepon Bergerak Berbasis Satelit

3. Alexander Kawilarang - Penemu Kapal Ikan Bersirip

4. Andrias Wiji Setio Pamuji - Penemu Reaktor Biogas

5. Arief Mulyana Djumra - Penemu Pemacu Produktifitas dan Kualitas Udang dan Ikan

7. Aryadi Suwono & Tim Peneliti ITB - Penemu Bahan Pendingin Baru yang Lebih Hemat Energi

8. Ayub S. Parnata - Penemu Bakteri Kompos Organik

9. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie - Penemu Teori, Faktor dan Metode Habibie (Teknologi Pesawat Terbang)

10. Budi Noviantoro - Penemu Klip Penambat Bantalan Kereta Api dengan Dua Gigi

11. Dani Hilman Natawijaya - Penemu Indikator Alam (Terumbu Karang) terhadap Siklus Gempa

12. Djuanda Suraatmadja - Penemu Beton Polimer yang Ramah Lingkungan

13. Eddyman, Intan Elfarini & Kanaka Sundhoro - Penemu Obat Antinyamuk Alami dan Murah

14. Evvy Kartini - Penemu Penghantar Listrik Berbahan Gelas

15. Fuad Affandi - Penemu Pupuk Alami dari Air Liur

16. Herman Johannes - Penemu Tungku Berbahan Bakar Briket Arang Kayu dan Dedaunan

17. I Gede Ngurah Wididana - Penemu Formula Minyak Oles Bokhasi

18. I Made Budi - Penemu Formula Sari Buah Merah untuk Pengobatan

19. Lalu Selamat Martadinata - Penemu Alat Pemanggil Ikan

20. M. Djoko Srihono - Penemu Penjernih Air Limbah

21. Maruni Wiwin Diarti - Penemu Senyawa Antimikroba dari Rumput Laut

22. Minto - Penemu Kompor dan Pengering Hasil Tani dengan Tenaga Matahari

23. Mumu Sutisna - Penemu Hormon Penyubur Anakan Padi

24. Mulyoto Pangestu - Penemu Teknik Ekonomis Pembekuan Sperma

25. Neny Nurainy - Penemu Varian Virus Hepatitis B Indonesia

26. Puji Slamet Arif - Penemu Motor Listrik Hemat Energi

27. Rahmiana Zein - Penemu Teknik Pemisahan Cairan dalam Kecepatan Tinggi

28. Randall Hartolaksono - Penemu Formula Kimia Pemadam Api Ramah Lingkungan

29. Rizal & Juffri Sahroni - Penemu Penghemat Bahan Bakar Diesel

30. Robert Manurung - Penemu Minyak Jarak Murni

31. Saverinus Nurak - Penemu Mesin Pompa Tangan Berkekuatan Tinggi

32. Sutjipto & Ryantori - Penemu Konstruksi Fondasi Sarang Laba-laba

33. Sutrisno - Penemu Alat Perangkap Lalat Buah

34. Sedijatmo - Penemu Konstruksi Fondasi Cakar Ayam

35. Septinus George Saa - Penemu Rumus Penghitung antara Dua Titik Rangkaian Resistor

36. Sofin Hadi - Penemu Metode Cincin untuk Sunat Tanpa Luka

37. Sri Wuryani, Mustadjab, Euis M. Nirmala, Siwi Hardiastuti - Penemu Pengawet Aroma dalam Hampa

38. Tjokorda Raka Sukawati - Penemu Landasan Putar Bebas Hambatan Sosrobahu

39. Warsimin Adiwarsito - Penemu Marmer Buatan

39. Widowati Siswomihardjo - Penemu Bahan Baru untuk Gigi Palsu yang Lebih Aman dan Murah

40. Windu Hernowo - Penemu Penghemat Bahan Bakar Mesin

41. Yanto Lunardi Iskandar - Anggota Tim Penemu HIV & Metode Peningkatan Hematopoiesis

43. Yudi Utomo Imardjoko - Penemu Kontainer Limbah Nuklir

44. Zahlul Badaruddin - Penemu Zahlul Integrated Unit (Desain Sistem Efisien untuk Produksi Obat/Kimia)

45. Joko Suprapto - Penemu mesin tenaga air laut

46. Liem Tiang Gwan - ahli Radar (radio detection and ranging) yang mendunia

47. Joko Sasmito - Penemu Biochip Kedokteran

48. Prof Sutaryo - Penemu Cara Mudah Deteksi DB

Twitter (From Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) - A tiny fraction of those who use the fast-growing social network phenomenon Twitter generate nearly all the content, a Harvard study shows.

That makes it hard for companies to use the micro-blogging site as an accurate gauge of public opinion, the Harvard Business School study showed.

Twitter Inc is a social networking website in which users post messages of 140 characters or less -- known as "tweets" -- that can be viewed by other users who elect to follow them.

The Harvard study examined public entries of a randomly selected group of 300,000 Twitter users. The researchers studied in May the content created in the lifetime of the users' Twitter accounts.

It found that 10 percent of Twitter users generated more than 90 percent of the content, said Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, who led the research. More than half of all Twitter users post messages on the site less than once every 74 days.

The median number of lifetime "tweets" per user is just one, according the research.
Companies are increasingly turning to Twitter to improve their understanding of how consumers view them, he said.
But some users are far more active and vocal than others, limiting information gleaned from messages on the site, said Piskorski, an assistant professor of strategy at Harvard Business School.

"If you're trying to get what a representative cross-section of the public is thinking, you're probably better off staying away from Twitter," he said in an interview.

Piskorski said Twitter could still be useful in responding to specific customer concerns. It can also be effective marketing, as companies with Twitter accounts can advertise sales and deals to users who follow them on the site.

JetBlue Airways Corp, Comcast Corp and Dell Inc are among companies with Twitter accounts.
JetBlue provides information on Twitter such as announcements of terminal changes at airports and tips on how to pack and directly answers customers' questions. Dell uses Twitter to point customers to discounts. Comcast's account largely responds to customer gripes.

"Enough of our customers are talking about their interactions with us that we get a decent sample of what's going on on a daily basis that we wouldn't necessarily get from other long-term studies," JetBlue spokesman Morgan Johnston said in a telephone interview.

Unlike other social networking sites like Facebook.com, men are almost twice as likely to follow other men on Twitter than they were to follow women, according to the study.

Women were also more likely to follow men than they were to follow other female users.
Piskorski said the study did not indicate whether this was because women were asked less often to be followed or because women are more selective in accepting followers.

Follow up research to these findings will likely be released later this month, he said.
According to recent data compiled by Nielsen Online, which measures Internet traffic, Twitter's website had more than 7 million unique visitors in February, compared to 475,000 in February 2008.

(Editing by Jason Szep and Eric Beech)

Time Machine or Forgiveness

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

A question : “Wouldn’t we all wish we had a time machine so that we could fix some of the problems we caused or mistakes we made in the past?” I’ve thought about that question quite a bit. I have to admit having a time machine would be a good thing to have, because I would love to have some “do-overs,” if given the chance.

Does anyone have a time machine? I think we could all use one. We all have some cleaning up that we could do. Unfortunately, time machines don’t exist. This is why we need forgiveness.

Jesus says that once we come before Him and confess our sins, He wipes the slate clean. He actually moves our sin and brokenness far from His heart, and looks on us as though we had never sinned.

That’s different than the time machine idea, isn’t it? A time machine depends on our fixing things that might help us feel better about ourselves. On the other hand, forgiveness leads to transformation of our hearts and lives by giving us a sense of freedom that goes beyond comparison. While “do-overs” would do us good, we need forgiveness more! We need freedom, not regret!

An Astonishing Flamenco Performance

Thanks to Ika who got the tickets for all of us. We were enjoying the-sweaty-part-by-Señor!

Tome a bailar con usted, Señor! (read : take me dance with you, Mister)

I could hardly contain my excitement as I stepped into the auditorium. Sitting on the audience seat before La Fragua performs was incredible. I ended up getting a nice seat. Row F, number 2,4,6,8,10. It was held at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, June 4,2009 at 08.00pm for 90minutes.

Behind of me, were some spanish guys screaming ‘Ole!’ every time their heart leaped with joy by the breathtaking actions the dancers and musicians did.

Watching Lola Rodriguez Jaramillo on stage last night was like meeting someone I adored in my previous life. The surprise, the awe, the experience were all brand new.

She entered from the left wing of the stage, and Jesus Herrera from the right. Now this man, I must say, looked a lot more handsome than I saw him in youtube. He wore black suit, same hair style, the same perspiration spraying out from it everytime he spins. Dramatic natural special effect! Darn!

Together they nailed the first dance item, transporting the feeling of lust and longing and clandestine love affair that they showed to the world by not showing it. Lola killed the audience with her back, torso and arms movements, and especially resurrected me from death and killed me again with her footworks.

And I believe I was actually in heaven of artistic souls when watching Jesus snap his fingers and become one with the beats his feet produced. I adored his eyes who beamed with passion, oblivious of thousand pairs of eyes which he enchanted. Dance for the sake of dancing.

The second bailaora came on stage (I have yet to find out her name). She wore black and was wrapped in red shawl. This dance piece that she brought, boasted more of rebelliousness, power and pride. She exhibited more of hand movements and executed stronger footwork. With her tall figure, the whole performance seemed phenomenal. I thought she was going to show some shawl attraction, but she kept the shawl buckled up on the back of her waist, left me curious.

But not for long, for after some mesmerizing musical piece done by Jose Manuel Tudela on guitar (yes, THAT spanish guitar) and Raul Fernandez Rodriguez on cajun drum, Lola came back.

Seeing her in that famous red polka-dotted white bata de cola and wrapped in red shawl, I knew she was going to show some amazing attractions. So, there she spin, kicking her dress’ tail and causing the stage dust to scatter and conspire with the other elements of the performance to create the supporting effects.

I was successfully stunned by her skill in playing with the shawl. Lola could make the shawl look alive just using one hand. Spinning it in the air, throwing it back to her body in such elegant ways. For one split second I had to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

Before I was fully recovered from the Lola Euphoria, she went out and replaced by Jesus. This bailaor came silently with an aura of a cyclone. Suit buttoned. Then, before he unbuttoned it, many spanish diplomats in suits had already began to unbutton theirs while screaming more of ‘Ole’s and reddening their palms from clapping too much. Jesus was simply spellbinding! He left me speechless with some even stronger and ridiculously fast footwork, impressive poses and of course the famous ‘many spins in one go’, something that we find a lot in kathak performances but not in flamenco dances.

I was also happy to see for the first time a flamenco dance with castanets performed by Lola and the other bailaora. The mood went up here, as castanets always intrigue somehow happiness and joy.

I don’t think it won’t be too much if I ask them to come back again next year, no? Otra mas!!!

PS: Here, I embed you clips of Compania Flamenco La Fragua doing one their best dances in bata de cola and shawl. Stunning!

Thanks to "The Light Bearer" for allowing and helping me in this story.

Source: http://thelightbearer.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/otra-mas/