The greatest danger for most of us is not
that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it
– Michelangelo –
Practice and Theory
Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain [where] he is going. Practice must always be founded on sound theory.
– Leonardo da Vinci –
And God said, “My dear child, I really think you need some sleep.” Blarrr!!
Last night I’ve had a weird experience. I was watching CSI: NY on AXN, the episode where a girl died of thalium radiation exposure. There were thunders outside, but the plot had successfully made me curious so I decided to watched the show instead of going to sleep, although I’ve been through an exhausting weekend. Suddenly, in the middle of the show, a lightning struck with horrifying sound and my TV just turned off in a snap. I was terribly shocked. I couldn’t turn my TV back on, but the other electronic instruments I have seemed to have nothing wrong, even the satellite receiver. I waked my wife up, so if something worse happened I wouldn’t be alone. We checked everything and we found that it’s just the TV which we couldn’t turn on. At first, my main concern was my little daughter. Born in the internet age, she will surely find it hard to survive any days without TV. I tried to think of the solution, but exhaustion made me decided to sleep and think about in the morning.
The next day, which is today, this morning, I woke up and my wife suggested to try to turn the TV on again. Guess what happened! It turned on! I was amazed. Last night I was sure there’s some parts of the TV that broken out, at least the fuse and I have to replace it. But this morning, everything seemed to be alright. So what is the explanation for this?
Well, like I said before, I’ve had an exhausting weekend, but I insisted on watching the show. I think God tried to send message to me that I was doing something wrong. He forced me to sleep so I could wake up in the morning in good shape, just as I always ask in my prayers every night (at least as I remember). Despite all that terrifying thunder last night, it didn’t rain, not even a drizzle. At least I didn’t find any trace of it. I think this is how prayers work, so guys, keep on praying!
Last night I’ve had a weird experience. I was watching CSI: NY on AXN, the episode where a girl died of thalium radiation exposure. There were thunders outside, but the plot had successfully made me curious so I decided to watched the show instead of going to sleep, although I’ve been through an exhausting weekend. Suddenly, in the middle of the show, a lightning struck with horrifying sound and my TV just turned off in a snap. I was terribly shocked. I couldn’t turn my TV back on, but the other electronic instruments I have seemed to have nothing wrong, even the satellite receiver. I waked my wife up, so if something worse happened I wouldn’t be alone. We checked everything and we found that it’s just the TV which we couldn’t turn on. At first, my main concern was my little daughter. Born in the internet age, she will surely find it hard to survive any days without TV. I tried to think of the solution, but exhaustion made me decided to sleep and think about in the morning.
The next day, which is today, this morning, I woke up and my wife suggested to try to turn the TV on again. Guess what happened! It turned on! I was amazed. Last night I was sure there’s some parts of the TV that broken out, at least the fuse and I have to replace it. But this morning, everything seemed to be alright. So what is the explanation for this?
Well, like I said before, I’ve had an exhausting weekend, but I insisted on watching the show. I think God tried to send message to me that I was doing something wrong. He forced me to sleep so I could wake up in the morning in good shape, just as I always ask in my prayers every night (at least as I remember). Despite all that terrifying thunder last night, it didn’t rain, not even a drizzle. At least I didn’t find any trace of it. I think this is how prayers work, so guys, keep on praying!
MoPress: blogging anytime, anywhere
I wrote this post using MoPress, J2ME based mobile blog client. The interface still has flaws, but I hope it will get better. Nice, but I think for now I won’t use it regularly.
AMANAT BERSAMA #INDONESIAUNITE
– Kami adalah generasi baru, pewaris sah Bangsa dan Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia.
– Kami adalah generasi baru, yang menolak untuk hidup dan tumbuh dengan rasa takut. Kami memilih menjadi pemberani.
– Kami adalah generasi baru, yang percaya setiap kekerasan hanya akan melahirkan kekerasan baru. Karena itu, kami akan berusaha untuk memutus rantai kekerasan melalui karya kemanusiaan di mana pun kami berada.
– Kami adalah generasi baru, yang percaya penuh dengan prinsip demokrasi, kemanusiaan, kesetaraan, dan saling menghormati. Karena itu, kami menolak segala bentuk diskriminasi.
– Kami adalah generasi baru, yang akan membangun sebuah bangsa dan negara yang bermartabat dan terhormat, mampu mempersatukan Indonesia, melindungi hak-hak individu, berdiri di atas semua golongan, serta memuliakan manusia-manusia yang menjadi rakyatnya.
16 Agustus 2009
#IndonesiaUnite
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Amanat Bersama ini disusun melalui proses wiki di http://wiki.indonesiaunite.com dari tanggal 9 Agustus 2009 sampai dengan 14 Agustus 2009.
Timeless
— Sergio Mendes & India.Arie —
Kindness is timeless
Love is so easy to give
It just takes a moment
To show somebody that you care
To show somebody that you careIn the world that we live in
Everybody wants to be so cruel
To be in the in-crowd
Got the hottest clothes,the hottest shoes
We’re reading the tabloids
And we’re flossing in the club
But the freshest thing you can do is
Give someone your loveKindness is timeless
Love is so easy to give
It just takes a moment
To show somebody you careKindness is timeless
Love is so easy to give
It just takes a moment to…Give someone your love
To give someone your lalala love
To give someone your love
Give someone your love
Your lalalala love
Give someone your lalala loveThe clothes that your wearing
It will one day be out of style
The car that your driving
One day will vax out in miles
Your hair and your makeup
And the time that it takes up
It will take the same care of
Ya give someone ya loveKindness is timeless
Love is so easy to give
It just takes a moment
To show somebody you care
Kindness is timeless
Love is so easy to give
It just takes a moment to…To give someone your love
To give someone your lalala love
To give someone your love
Give someone your love
Your lalalala love
Give someone your lalala loveGive someone you love
Cause kindness is timeless
Notes:
It’s a beautiful song. I’m a fan of brazilian music, so I really love it musically. The lyric has a deep meaning, it’s timeless, just like the title says. You’ll find it relevant to the actual life, even for 1000 years later… You should hear it.
A True Christian
Jumat malam lalu, saya dan istri saya mengalami musibah. Taxi yang kami tumpangi menabrak mobil di depan di jalan tol Jagorawi. Tantrie terantuk kursi depan sehingga mengalami pendarahan ringan di hidung. Kedua kendaraan mengalami kerusakan yang cukup parah. Perusahaan taxi mengirimkan kendaraan tapi butuh waktu lama. Akhirnya saya putuskan untuk menghentikan kendaraan yang lewat untuk minta tolong agar istri saya segera dibawa ke rumah sakit, dengan keyakinan bahwa Tuhan pasti akan menggerakkan hati seseorang untuk menolong kami. Karena saya berniat membawa istri langsung ke Bogor, saya mencari mobil dengan nomor polisi F. Lalu lintas masih cukup padat, jadi banyak mobil yang bisa kami mintai tolong. Mobil pertama yang saya cegat tidak mau berhenti. Mobil-mobil berikutnya bernomor polisi B. Akhirnya saya cegat juga mobil bernomor polisi B, dengan harapan pengemudinya bersedia mengantar kami ke Bogor. Salah satu mobil akhirnya berhenti. Ternyata pemiliknya tinggal di daerah Sentul, dan pada saat kami naik, dia sedang mendengarkan RPK FM. “Puji Tuhan,” kata saya dalam hati. Bukan hanya menggerakkan hati seseorang, Tuhan bahkan mengirimkan salah satu hambanya yang setia. Namanya Pak Aaron. Kami pun berkenalan dan berbincang-bincang. Ketika saya dan istri mengucapkan terima kasih, dia berkata bahwa justru dia yang bersyukur karena Tuhan memberinya kesempatan untuk menolong orang lain.
Malam itu, Pak Aaron telah memberi contoh bagaimana seorang Kristen yang sejati: memberi pertolongan pada orang yang tidak dikenal dan bersyukur atas kesempatan itu. Tidak mudah untuk melakukan apa yang Pak Aaron sudah lakukan malam itu. Kita yang sudah terbiasa dengan kegilaan dunia ini akan cenderung berpikir seribu kali untuk menolong orang yang tidak dikenal. Bahkan sejak jaman Yesus pun, kecenderungan pilih-pilih dalam menolong orang pun sudah ada, seperti dikisahkan dalam cerita orang Samaria yang baik. Baiklah sekarang kita berdoa, supaya ketika kita diberi kesempatan menolong orang lain, kita tidak terjebak dalam pertimbangan akal sehat yang malah menghambat kita menjadi saluran berkat bagi orang lain.
Tuhan, terima kasih untuk Pak Aaron yang sudah Tuhan pertemukan dengan kami. Pakailah dia selalu sebagai saluran berkat bagi orang lain, sebagaimana Tuhan telah rencanakan baginya. Amin.
WPhone
I wrote this from my Nokia E51. I think this WPhone plugin brings me one step further. Now I can post anything, anywhere.
But, what’s so special about it? These days you can post blog using any GPRS mobile device. Well, WPhone has mobile view feature. It means that your mobile device don’t have to fetch too much byte. It’s cheaper and faster, both qualities of convinience.
But, there’s one thing missing. You can’t upload photo from WPhone. Or, I just forgot to set it up?
Seesmic
Seesmic is a desktop client to manage your Facebook and Twitter lifestream in one timeline. Seesmic can also create groups (or userlists) and search results of Facebook or Twitter lifestreams.
Requirement for installation:
Platform: Mac/PC/iPhone/Web
Prerequisite: Adobe AIR
Review:
I found that this stuff is quite cool. We don’t need to sign in to Facebook or Twitter using a browser, just run Seesmic, set your Facebook/Twitter account for the first time, set it to run when you start your computer and you’re always keeping up with your Facebook/Twitter lifestream. Seesmic can handle multiple Twitter accounts but only one Facebook account.
Seesmic brings your Facebook wall right to your desktop, including application post, friend’s photo or video posts, everything that you usually see on your Facebook wall. To give a comment, just place your mouse cursor on top of your friend’s profile picture until you can see the ‘@’ symbol and then click it. You could also use the pop menu by clicking the gear symbol to show that you like a post or to put your friend in a userlist.
Seesmic can be use to update either or both Facebook and Twitter. If you have already add Twitter application to your Facebook page and set it so your tweets always get posted as Facebook status, Seesmic doesn’t make your status appear twice in Facebook. There is also an option to allow Seesmic determine which account you are using to send reply.
Well, there’s still room for improvement and for us to explore this application, so have a try and enjoy!
How to type special characters in Macbook
I’m really impressed by what a MacBook can do. Back then when I used my old PC or notebook, I’ve had gone thru some trouble to find how to type special characters, especially when I worked on my French course homework and needed to type é, è, ê, œ, ç, etc. I had a character map and had to switch keyboard layout to do those things. Recently, I found that I wouldn’t need any character map nor to switch layout. All I have to do is press Alt/Option button and one or two other key. The best part is, I don’t have to remember the combination, because Apple made the combination very intuitive. For example, to make a ‘ç’ we only need to type Alt-c and add Shift to make it capital or to make a œ we just simply type Alt-q since ‘Q’ somehow looks like ‘œ’.
Here’s the complete combination:
Type Alt and the character in the left column to create the character in the right one:
` + a/e/i/o/u --> à/è/ì/ò/ù * 1 --> ¡ 2 --> ™ 3 --> £ 4 --> ¢ 5 --> ∞ 6 --> § 7 --> ¶ 8 --> • 9 --> ª 0 --> º - --> – = --> ≠ |
q --> œ w --> ∑ e + vowels --> á/é/í/ó/ú * r --> ® t --> † y --> ¥ u + vowels --> ä/ë/ï/ö/ü * i + vowels --> â/ê/î/ô/û * o --> ø p --> π [ --> “ ] --> ‘ \ --> « |
a --> å s --> ß d --> ∂ f --> ƒ g --> © h --> ˙ j --> ∆ k --> ˚ l --> ¬ ; --> ; ' --> æ |
z --> Ω x --> ≈ c --> ç v --> √ b --> ∫ n + a/o/n --> ã/õ/ñ * m --> µ , --> ≤ . --> ≥ / --> ÷ |
* release the first two keys (e.g. Alt+`) before typing the letter to be accented, including capitalized letter. For example, Ü is the result of the combination of Alt + u -> [release] -> Shift + u.
Type Alt + Shift and the character in the left row to create the character in the right one:
1 --> ⁄ 2 --> € 3 --> ‹ 4 --> › 5 --> fi 6 --> fl 7 --> ‡ 8 --> ° 9 --> · 0 --> ‚ - --> — = --> ± |
q --> Œ w --> „ e --> ´ r --> ‰ t --> ˇ y --> Á u --> ¨ i --> ˆ o --> Ø p --> ∏ [ --> ” ] --> ’ \ --> » |
a --> Å s --> Í d --> Î f --> Ï g --> ˝ h --> Ó j --> Ô k --> l --> Ò ; --> Ú ' --> Æ |
z --> ¸ x --> ˛ c --> Ç v --> ◊ b --> ı n --> ˜ m --> Â , --> ¯ . --> ˘ / --> ¿ |