OUT AND ABOUT

armani and garuda

2010-01-28T00:17:00.000-08:00

Armani Apologizes Over
Garuda Eagle And
Lawmakers Ease T-shirt
Fury
Lawmakers on Wednesday said
there was no need to make a
fuss over the Armani T-shirt
bearing a logo similar to
Indonesia ’s national symbol,
after the Italian fashion house
issued an apology.
Armani Exchange had been
selling the $42 Studded Eagle T-
shirt on its Web site. The
garment featured what the firm
described as a military-inspired
eagle but it looked very similar
to the Garuda Pancasila symbol.
It was removed from the firm’s
Web site on Tuesday after
several protests and even calls
for the label to be sued.
Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar
had reportedly said that the
Garuda Pancasila symbol was
patented by Indonesia.
“This is really Garuda Pancasila,
the symbol of our identity as a
sovereign nation, ” said on
enraged Indonesian, Arianto
Suryowibowo, on Facebook.
“Armani Exchange should clarify
in their T-shirt description that
this is a ‘Republic of Indonesia-
inspired eagle logo,’ not a
military logo from who knows
where. ”
Armani Exchange, in a statement
e-mailed to Reuters, said the T-
shirt had been withdrawn from
its Web site.
“The issue was brought to our
attention and the item was
removed from our Web site
immediately. We apologize for
any offense this may have
caused, ” the statement said.
A lawmaker from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P), Gayus Lumbuun, said
that “Armani deserves
appreciation for its quick
apology, ” saying there is a
difference in perception
between countries in regards to
state symbols.
In Indonesia, the use of the icon
is regulated by law. “We must
accept the apology but they also
have to withdraw the item and
stop its production, ” Gayus said.
Eva Kusuma Sundari, also from
PDI-P, told the Jakarta Globe that
the issue was settled.
“Armani has shown its goodwill,
we accept it and that’s it,” Eva
said.
Ramadan Pohan, a lawmaker
from the Democratic Party, said
the T-shirt is merely a form of
creative art. “I don’t see [what’s
featured on the T-shirt] as our
national symbol although it looks
very similar, ” Ramadan said,
adding that Armani’s apology
shows that the fashion house is
“ sensitive” to the possibility that
its product may stir controversy.
Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen
said earlier that for most military
officers, the eagle symbol used
by Armani is not anything like
the state symbol.
“That is not the Garuda
Indonesia. [For us] it’s a sparrow,
a very big sparrow,” Tamboen
said.
He urged people to stop making
a big deal over the shirt.
Reuters, JG

taiko drum beat from Japan

2010-01-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

Japan's traditional drums are
called taiko. They come in
various shapes and sizes, and
produce a range of captivating
sounds that most Japanese
associate strongly with festivals
at shrines, where drums create
an exciting atmosphere for
everyone present.
These days, taiko are enjoyed by
audiences around the world in
the form of energetic
performances by Japanese
drumming groups. But originally,
the taiko was not a musical
instrument; it was a way to
summon and entertain a deity.
One example was Raijin, the god
of thunder, who was believed to
beat out a rumbling rhythm on
his own drums in the heavens.
Drumming came to be associated
with prayers for rain and good
harvests.
Recent developments include the
use of taiko in arcade drumming
games that have even been
adapted for use in physical
rehabilitation for the elderly. Japanology invites you
into the world of Japanese
culture, both traditional and
modern, explaining how
traditions evolved and the part
they still play today in people's
everyday lives. from NHK world

Yogya art festival

2010-01-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

Well known for its vibrant
culture and creative art scene,
Yogyakarta is a wellspring of
talented artists and artistic
inspiration.
Jogja Biennale, an art and culture
festival organized every two
years, aims to strengthen this
reputation for the city, which is
also known as Jogjakarta. The
festival has become one of the
city’s most eagerly anticipated
events for both local and foreign
tourists.
The 10th edition of the
monthlong event begins on
Thursday, under the name “Jogja
Biennale X: Jogja Jamming, An Art
Archive Movement. ”
Wahyudin, a member of the
festival ’s curating team,
explained the theme: “Just like
music jamming, we want people
from different kinds of
backgrounds to enjoy art
through this festival. We want
people to see that everybody
can enjoy art and everybody can
be an artist.”
He added that the focus on an
“ art archive movement” was
because “we don’t have
documentation of many things
from the past that shaped art in
Indonesia and Yogyakarta today.
We are asking people, especially
artists, to be aware of the
importance of the history of art. ”
Ong Hari Wahyu, a member of
the festival committee, said the
first festival took place in 1988.
But initially the focus was only
on painters. In 1992, a diverse
group of artists organized a rival
festival, called
“ Binal” (“Naughty”), as a
response to Jogja Biennale and
to make the point that art
involved more than just painting.
In 1997 in answer, Jogja
Biennale diversified its focus to
become a festival inclusive of all
kinds of art. “We realized that art
was not exclusively about
paintings and painters, ” Ong
said.
This year the festival will include
indoor exhibitions with works
from 130 artists, street art
created by at least 150
participating artists and groups,
an art archive exhibition and
public events such as
discussions, lectures and
workshops.
The festival will present some of
today ’s biggest names in art, as
well as works by emerging
artists. Entang Wiharso, a veteran
artist who recently participated
in the Prague Biennale, will
exhibit his latest creations —
huge aluminum statues — at
Jogja National Museum during
the festival.
“These figures look great —
they’re up to five meters wide
and three meters in height,”
Wahyudin said.
People can also see Indonesian
expressionist painter Putu
Sutawijaya ’s works at the
festival. Famous for his
depictions of people, this young
painter is one of Indonesia ’s
most in-demand artists. In 2007,
his painting “Looking for Wings”
sold for Rp 1.3 billion ($138,000)
— the highest price paid for the
work of an Indonesian artist that
year — at a Singapore art
auction, Wahyudin said.
Samuel Indratma, from the
festival ’s curating team, said the
main attraction for many visitors
would be the unique and
unusual artworks on display on
the city ’s streets.
He said artist Wilman Syahnur
plans to take a fiber-glass figure
of US President Barack Obama
around the city on a becak (a
traditional bicycle taxi) to meet
the people of Yogyakarta.
“This is Wilman’s way of
criticizing the first black US
president for sending more
troops to Iraq, despite receiving
a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this
year, ” Samuel said.
Samuel also said a group of
artists — Farid Vstevi Asta, Bayu
Widodo, Tatang Tatsoy and Bob
Yudhita — would make over
several public toilets in
Yogyakarta.
“These artists are going to try to
transform dirty, smelly public
toilets into artistic ones, ” Samuel
said.
He said the artists would
decorate the toilets with
drawings and accessories, and
add music to the toilet blocks.
Another artist Samuel mentioned
was Joko Sulistiyo, who together
with some of his neighbors
collected trash and recycled it
into statues of people. Joko ’s
figures will be displayed hanging
from a city billboard.
The festival will also include an
art archive exhibition featuring
works from previous festivals
by a number of well-known
artists, including Tisna Sanjaya,
Nasirun and Edi Prambandono.
Although expectations are high
for this year ’s event, 2007’s
Biennale Jogja IX was criticized
in the local media for being
disorganized, and art activists
protested a proposed auction at
the event.
Kusworo Bayu Aji, this year’s
operations manager for the
festival, was reluctant to discuss
the issue, saying there would
always be critics of any festival.
He added, however, that changes
and improvements had been
made.
This year there won’t be any
sales of artwork, he said. “Unlike
our previous events, we just
want artists to focus on the
quality and creativity of their
artworks. ”
He said that this year’s festival
would be more inclusive, with
the people of Yogyakarta invited
to participate directly in the
festival. Kusworo also
emphasized that this year ’s
festival organizing team
consisted of people with both art
and management skills.
Wahyudin said he was optimistic
about the success of the
upcoming festival. “We are going
to fill the whole city of
Yogyakarta with artworks and
we are going to turn it into a
nonstop art festival. This is
something people won ’t want to
miss.” source jakartaglobe

rejuvenating Yogya arts

2010-01-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

Breathing Yogya’s
Artistic Spirit
A man wearing a red shirt and
shorts sits on the floor in front
of a life-sized painting he is
working on. He is applying a
light gray color to a portrait of a
girl, his eyes moving back and
forth from the painting to a small
photo he has taped on the
canvas.
It is Thursday, the night of the
soft opening of Yogyakarta ’s
10th Biennale. This arts and
culture festival is held every two
years.
Melodia, the painter, is finishing
his work at the Taman Budaya
gallery, located at the city center.
“ I’ll finish it tonight so I can get
good sleep,” Melodia said. “I’d
like to finish this at home, but
the organizers wouldn ’t like to
hear that,” he said with a laugh.
At the gallery, which is one of
the biennale ’s four main venues,
visitors watch while he finishes
the painting, part of an
installation he is preparing for
the festival.
Born and raised in Jakarta,
Melodia has been living in
Yogyakarta for 24 years, ever
since he moved there to study at
the Indonesian Institute of the
Arts. “I feel like this is the right
place for me to live if I want to
be a painter, ” he said.
Strolling around Yogyakarta, it’s
easy to see why Melodia believes
that. Historical sites and
traditions are preserved here.
Old fashioned bike-taxis and
horse carriages are common,
giving a sense of a slow moving
city where time and space are
available to turn ideas into art.
Along the popular Jalan
Malioboro — famous for its art
and handicrafts shops — carved
street lights, painted trees and
puppet figures are everywhere.
During events such as the
biennale, art installations spring
up in unexpected places.
In front of Bank Indonesia, there
is a tall, bright yellow pole with a
small toilet on top. It ’s a creation
by Eddi Prabandono, a regular
participant in the biennale. Over
by the March 1 Monument —
which commemorates a battle
for independence against the
Dutch — a modern statue of two
figures stands, draped with a
banner asking, “How artsy are
you today?”
Butet Kertaradjasa, the biennale’s
director, said that through the
festival, he and his crew want to
ensure the city lives up to the
vision of Sukarno, Indonesia ’s
first president, who described
Yogyakarta as the country ’s
capital city of art.
Butet added that Yogyakarta is a
good place for artists to live and
work together. “The society in
Yogya is very supportive and
open, ” he said.
During the monthlong biennale,
for example, city residents
donate to the organizers, such as
sachets of coffee and sugar,
instant noodles or just money.
“ We call this gurun gunung ,
which means hajatan rame-rame
[many hands make light work].
Local artists come here to
support us, ” Butet said.
The secretariat for the event at
Taman Budaya, or the Culture
Park, is busy and friendly, with
artists coming and going until
midnight. Everyone seems to
know each other and people
hang around for discussions
about artworks or compare
notes on their latest creations.
High appreciation of the arts is a
characteristic of the city ’s
society, said Yulia
Rustiyaningsih, from the local
department of culture and
tourism, which helps fund and
promote the event.
“Even on weekdays, there are a
lot of performances on the street
corners of Yogya, ” she said.
“And on weekends there’s
always something going on,
from a wayang wong [human
puppet] show to traditional
dances. ”
“Here, people are very friendly
and welcoming about art
works, ” Melodia said. He added
as a painter, he needs to meet
other artists to get feedback and
inspiration. This is difficult in
other places such as Jakarta and
Bali.
“In Jakarta, everything is so far
away, you can’t go to several
galleries in few hours and it’s a
waste of time,” he said. “If you
don’t have appointments or
money interests, it’s almost
impossible to meet other artists
and hang out. ”
As for Bali, the popularity of the
Island of the Gods with tourists
often leads painters to
commercialize their work.
“I could have lived there and
earned a lot of money, but then I
would not be able to put myself
on the map of visual art in
Indonesia, ” Melodia said.
To do this, he said he needs to
constantly create paintings and
participate in local exhibitions.
“ The challenge is how to create
honest paintings and still make a
living out of it. ”
Although many residents in the
city conform to Melodia ’s non-
commercial attitude, this doesn’t
mean that Yogyakarta hasn’t
produced internationally known
artists. Djoko Pekik is in the
forefront of Indonesian painters
today. He spent the darkest
period of his life in the city when
imprisoned at the Vredeburg
Fortress, under suspicion of
being a communist during the
political purges of the 1960s.
Popular with critics for his social
commentary and depictions of
Java ’s cultural values in his
paintings, Djoko is also known as
the “billion-dollar painter.”
At a 1999 exhibition, one of his
paintings, “Indonesia 1998
Berburu Celeng” (“Indonesia
1998 Hunting Boars”), sold for
Rp 1 billion ($106,000), the first
time an Indonesian painter had
crossed that mark.
Eddi, the sculptor responsible for
the bright yellow pole with the
toilet on top, was recently
awarded a residency by the
Vermont Foundation to live in
New York for three months next
year and have his works
exhibited at a gallery there.
The artistic vibe of Yogyakarta
has also proven attractive to
foreigners like Pipin, an
American student who has been
living there for about three
months. She is learning
Indonesian at the State
University of Yogyakarta, as well
as taking classes in batik
painting and crafts.
For the biennale, Pipin joined a
group of graphic designers who
were involved in painting
statues.
She said she came to Indonesia
because she was attracted to the
culture and the language and
ended up in Yogyakarta, drawn
by its vibrant art scene and
friendly locals.
“I like art, that’s why I enjoy
living here,” she said.
source jakartaglobe

balinese painting conservation

2010-01-19T05:06:00.000-08:00

Danish Art
Conservationists Bring
New Life to Balinese
Paintings
The first time Martin Bernsted
and Torsten Hvas flew from
Denmark to Bali was in 2003.
Aside from the divine beaches
and the stunning sunrises,
Bernsted and Hvas were there
for the art scene, and they both
brought a passion for paintings
with them.
A visit to Puri Lukisan Museum—
one of the oldest museums in
Ubud, the island ’s center of art
and culture — was revelatory,
but not in a good way.
“We were in state of shock about
the condition [of the paintings],”
Bernsted said.
Some of the paintings had small
holes and tears. Some had been
damaged by the damp, with
mold loosening the paintings
from their stretchers. Some had
been damaged by spider bites or
gecko feces.
Bernsted, a professional art
conservator who studied at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts and currently works for the
National Museum of Denmark,
immediately thought something
should be done to preserve the
paintings.
Hvas, Bernsted’s colleague and a
self-described “cultural
entrepreneur,” said, “The
paintings that we saw were
world-class art pieces. But
compared to paintings we ’ve
seen in Europe and the US, the
artifacts on display suffered
from so many different sorts of
damage it was unbelievable. ”
Soemantri Widagdo, one of Puri
Lukisan Museum ’s art curators,
said: “Due to the tropical
conditions and our inadequate
efforts — due to a lack of
funding — many of the
paintings suffer from mold and
insect damage, as well as
vandalism. ”
Soemantri also said most of the
museum staff lacked the
knowledge and skills for art
conservation.
Bernsted and Hvas thought that
with their combined expertise
they could help. But aside from
simply restoring the paintings,
they also wanted to transfer
their expertise to local museum
staff and artists.
In 2004 they met with Tjokorda
Gde Putra Sukawati, the eldest of
the three princes of Ubud and
chairman of Puri Lukisan
Museum, who gave his strong
support to the idea.
In April 2007 the Danish duo did
an assessment of all the works
exhibited at the museum. The
assessment included damage
evaluation, photo documentation
and recording information about
the climate.
The first art conservation
training took place at the
museum in January the
following year. Nine participants
were chosen, four museum staff
and five Balinese artists. Ten of
the most damaged art pieces
were selected for the students to
practice restoration techniques
on.
The workshops were designed
to cover three main elements.
The first element was
museology, which includes
theoretical approaches, such as
understanding the impact of
things like daily maintenance,
daily handling of the artwork
and public admittance.
Second, prophylactic
preservation is the practical form
of museology, which includes
proper techniques for re-
stretching canvases, using
specialized equipment and
mending damage such as holes
and tears in canvases.
“The general idea is that we can
do almost any kind of repair, but
it is better to prevent damage
from occurring in the first place, ”
Bernsted said.
The last element is climate
control, which is especially
crucial in a tropical country like
Indonesia. Bernsted said climate
control was mainly a matter of
preventing damage from light,
moisture and heat with the
correct use of dehumidifiers and
air-conditioners.
“In Indonesia it is a very difficult
matter, because it uses a lot of
resources, ” Bernsted said. “Any
methods to stabilize the climate
in the museum rooms that are
low cost and low technology are
very important. ”
I Wayan Sumadi, 41, has been
working at Puri Lukisan Museum
since 1995. He said that he once
attended a workshop on
conservation and restoration
techniques at Denpasar ’s Bali
Museum, but it was only
theoretical and didn ’t cover any
practical techniques.
“Martin and Torsten taught us
[practical techniques] and
brought the actual equipment.
This kind of workshop never
existed before, ” Sumadi said.
“After they taught us, we — the
museum staff — are more
confident about trying to fix
damaged paintings. ”
Sumadi said art conservation in
museums was particularly
important because “the artworks
will be there for a long time —
they’re not there to be sold.”
Soemantri said the workshops
had been very beneficial for the
museum, which has since
managed to restore about 30
paintings. “The workshops will
serve our community for years
to come. They ’ve provided a
longer life to our collection,” he
said
While Bernsted and Hvas have
received some funding for their
work from Danish organizations,
including MSActionAid Denmark
and the Danish Center for Culture
and Development, they have also
established their own company
to raise money. The company,
the Southeast Asian Art
Conservation Center, provides
professional conservation
services to private collectors.
“We will use the money to cover
our expenses, but more
importantly to pay for the staff
education and to buy additional
equipment needed for the
workshops, ” Hvas said.
He said that the goals he and
Bernsted have are to enable local
museums to continue art
conservation on their own; to
promote a more responsible
attitude from Indonesian
museums toward taking care of
their artifacts; and “for
Indonesia as a country to use
the rich cultural heritage and
talents of the younger
generation more actively. ”
source jktglobe

balinese master of art

2010-01-19T04:58:00.000-08:00

I Made Sidia has been called “the
busiest man in Bali” – indeed, a
typical day at this artist’s house
in Desa Bona might involve
dance lessons, gamelan
rehearsals and village meetings,
to say nothing of his faculty
position at the Indonesian
Institute of the Arts in Denpasar.
There appears to be nothing in
the vast realm of Balinese arts
that this man cannot accomplish,
whether it be choreographing
pyrotechnic spectacles for the
Bali Arts Festival or applying
three layers of make-up to a
fidgety young boy.
Between dancing at the Solo
Dance Festival today and leading
Desa Bona ’s gamelan orchestra
in Nusa Penida — an island off
Bali — on Sunday, the renowned
dalang (puppet master) will stage
shadow puppet performances
on Friday and Saturday at the
Jakarta Convention Center.
The performances will be Sidia’s
first in the capital city after
returning from a semester
abroad, teaching and performing
traditional Balinese arts in the
United States. He danced,
drummed and chanted in dozens
of venues, from New York to
Georgia, from elite universities to
public elementary schools.
“The youngest children were the
most curious,” he observed.
“They would ask, ‘Why is this
mask red? Why is that one gold?
What do the hand gestures
mean ?’ Sometimes they stumped
me, and I had to tell them,
‘ Because that’s just our
tradition.’”
Sidia’s stint in the States was his
longest time abroad, but he is a
seasoned traveler. Over the past
two decades he has performed
and taught in Australia, Taiwan,
Japan and a handful of European
countries — not to mention all
across the Indonesian
archipelago.
“When I share Balinese culture
with other people, I like to learn
about their culture, too, ” he said.
In addition to his bright red-and-
gold gamelan instruments, Sidia
has accumalted an eclectic
collection of instruments from
around the world, including
bamboo flutes from China, a tiny
violin from New York and a
ceramic drum from Denmark that
sounds like a heavy rock
plummeting into a deep pool of
water.
“Every culture has something to
offer,” he said. “Maybe music,
maybe cuisine, maybe legends
or religion or philosophy. ” Given
his profound respect for
tradition, it is no surprise that
Sidia ’s father, I Made Sija, is also
an accomplished artist.
In his day, Sija carved wooden
masks and cast puppet shadows
as well.
Sidia’s wife, Suasti, danced so
beautifully in her youth that she
toured through Canada, “when
she was 6 years old— the same
age as Sugi is now,” said Sidia,
beaming at his energetic son.
A born performer, Sugi loves to
play with his father ’s
instruments and puppets.
Culture is a family business in
Bali; fathers pass their talents
and tools on to their sons. Thus
traditions remain firmly
embedded in the island ’s
collective unconscious, but each
generation adds new
technologies and techniques.
Sidia is renowned for his love of
innovative visual effects. His
performances have included
transforming 3-D puppets —
designed by his brother,
Nyoman Sira — computerized
projections of landscapes and
characters, and the occasional
Roman candle.
Thus traditions remain firmly
embedded in the island ’s
collective unconscious.
“I think my favorite thing about
performing in Jakarta is the
children, ” Sidia said, noting that
keeping young people
entertained throughout a
performance that can last several
hours is a great but rewarding
challenge.
Of course, the show will offer
plenty of entertainment for
grown-ups as well; a dalang,
after all, must be “at once a
musician, priest, comedian and
philosopher. ”
Sidia remained coyly silent about
the subject of this weekend ’s
performance. But past shows
have not silenced his reputation
as an outspoken social critic.
Previously, he has addressed
issues such as swine flu,
deforestation and the 2002 Bali
bombings, all interwoven
seamlessly into the epic
narrative of the Mahabharata.
Besides tradition and current
events, Sidia also cites
improvisation as a shaping force
in his performances; so
audiences can be sure that each
performance will be relevant,
timely and lively.
source jakartaglobe

china tougher on censorship

2010-01-17T23:43:00.000-08:00

China SMS Users May
Have Accounts Canceled
for 'Dirty Words'
Mobile users in Shanghai caught
sending dirty short messages,
photos or videos by phone could
have their numbers cancelled as
part of China's crackdown on
pornography, state media
reported Monday.
An employee at the Shanghai
subsidiary of China Mobile, the
world's biggest phone operator
by market value, said the
company would search for
keywords and then forward the
offending messages to the police
to investigate.
"We will first block the user from
sending and receiving
messages ... and the police
station will then evaluate it," the
unidentified employee was
quoted in the Global Times as
saying.
If police found the message
contained "dirty words", the
phone number would be
cancelled, said the report.
State media said last week China
Mobile users would be banned
from sending texts if they are
found to have distributed
pornography or other "illegal"
content by phone.
But this latest report indicates
the mobile operator could now
go one step further by cancelling
phone numbers.
Calls by AFP to China Mobile were
not immediately answered.
China Mobile had 518.1 million
subscribers at the end of
November, according to the
latest company figures --
accounting for more than 70
percent of the country's mobile
phone users.
China strictly censors the
Internet and other media, saying
it is aimed at curbing
pornographic or violent content.
But critics allege the so-called
"Great Firewall of China" is used
to strangle dissent and curb the
spread of political content
deemed a threat to Communist
Party rule.
More than 15,000 pornographic
websites, including over 11,000
mobile WAP sites -- websites that
users can access via cell phones
-- were shut down or blocked in
2009, the official Xinhua news
agency said last week.
Beijing has vowed tougher
online policing in 2010 as a key
element of "state security."

google smartphone

2010-01-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

Google Always Shaking Things
Up
Google sure does love shaking
up the system. The technology
giant presented its new Nexus
One smartphone this week,
which advances the state of the
art and adds to the catalog of
great app phones.
Remember the original Google
search page? It made news
because your search results
popped up fast and weren ’t
cluttered with ads. Remember
when Google went public? It
made news because the
founders auctioned off shares to
the public. Remember when
Gmail came out? It made news
because it offered 1,000 times
the free storage space of
competitors like Hotmail and
Yahoo.
And now Google wants to shake
up the way we buy cellphones
— by letting you shop for the
phone and the service
independently on a new Google
Web site, Google.com/phone.
To introduce this phone store,
Google took the wraps off a
brand-new cellphone, designed
by Google and made by HTC,
called the Nexus One. It ’s pretty
sweet, it advances the state of
the art and it ’s a welcome
addition to the catalog of great
app phones like the iPhone and
Motorola Droid.
You ’ll have to pay $529 without
a service-provider contract. But
the Google news this week isn ’t
quite as earthshaking as Google
seems to think it is.
First, the new phone is almost
exactly the size and shape of the
iPhone. It ’s bland-looking. But it’s
so thin and rounded, it feels
terrific in your hand.
It ’s loaded with gleaming,
attractive features. It’s hard to
choose which is more gratifying:
the speed — instant, smooth
response when you’re opening
programs and scrolling — or the
huge, 3.7-inch touch screen,
which has much finer resolution
than the iPhone (480 by 800
pixels, versus 320 by 480).
There ’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, like
an iPhone, but also a removable
battery and a camera with an
LED flash, autofocus and picture
settings, although the photos
themselves are roughly on par
with the iPhone ’s.
The Nexus has no physical
keyboard — only an on-screen
keyboard, with a handy
suggestion feature that I actually
prefer to the iPhone ’s: as you
start typing a word (“unfo”), the
Nexus displays an entire row of
likely candidates, which you can
tap, thus saving yourself more
fiddly typing-on-glass.
Radically enough, you can also
dictate. The transcriptions aren ’t
what you’d call miraculous —
accuracy is maybe 90 percent —
but if you have simple messages,
speak clearly and remember to
pronounce your punctuation,
this “experimental” feature is
often much faster than typing.
There ’s better integration all
around: you can upload pictures
and videos straight to YouTube,
Picasa, Facebook and so on, and
you can tap a person ’s name and
choose how you want to initiate
contact.
Despite these goodies, the Nexus
is missing some important
features that iPhone fans take
for granted.
For starters, the Google app store
is much smaller, featuring just
18,000 little games; there are
well over 100,000 for the
iPhone.
Worse, even if you find good
ones, you might not have space
to install them. The Nexus can
accommodate memory cards up
to 32 gigabytes and yet,
inexplicably, the Nexus allots
only a tiny 190 megabytes for
downloaded apps.
The Nexus doesn ’t come with
any iTunes-style companion
software, either.
There ’s no physical ringer on-off
switch (you have to do it on the
screen), and therefore no way to
tell by touch if the ringer is off.
The Nexus One also lacks a multi-
touch screen like the iPhone. So
zooming into photos and Web
pages is awkward and hard to
control.
Finally, the Nexus just doesn ’t
attain the iPhone’s fit and finish.
The buttons under the screen
(Back, Menu, Home, Search) are
balky, often ignoring your
finger-presses completely.
But maybe it doesn ’t matter if
the Nexus One isn’t nirvana.
Google says it’s only the first
Google phone of many.
The idea of the Google phone
store is pure, giddy idealism:
You ’ll buy the phone you want,
then you’ll shop for the cell plan
you want, from the carrier you
want.
This is all supposed to be a huge
break from the current way of
doing business, but plenty of
phones (from Nokia and Sony
Ericsson, for example) are
already sold this way: over the
Web, unlocked, to be outfitted
with cell service later. Google ’s
system makes this much easier
but it ’s really not such a new
idea.
You should root for the Google
Store ’s success, because the
obnoxious policies and fees of
cellphone companies have
gotten out of control.

smartphone increase

2010-01-16T00:40:00.000-08:00

Worldwide smartphone
shipments are expected to rise
about 20 percent next year.
(Photo: Antara)
Smartphone Makers’ Shares
Heat Up on Soaring Sales
Taipei. Shares of major
smartphone makers and other
suppliers of microchips and
touch-sensitive screens in Asia
have been stellar performers
recently thanks to optimism over
sales growth next year.
As more feature-jammed
smartphones fly off the store
shelves, South Korea ’s Samsung,
the world’s No. 2 mobile
telephone maker, which supplies
touch panels, saw its share price
rise to a two-month high this
week.
In Taiwan, shares of Asustek
Computer, one of the firms that
got into the smartphone
segment this year, are hovering
at their highest level in more
than a year.
Worldwide smartphone
shipments are expected to rise
about 20 percent next year,
faster than the 9 percent growth
predicted for global PC
shipments, according to research
company IDC.
“ There is a huge opportunity,”
said Derek Lin, who manages a
multimillion-dollar fund in
markets in Asia for Taiwan ’s Uni-
President Asset Management.
“ The two biggest players in
South Korea, and HTC and some
other components makers in
Taiwan are all likely to benefit
from the boom, ” Lin said.
Samsung and LG have recently
boosted their smartphone line-
ups to compete with Apple and
Research In Motion, even though
some analysts have doubts
about Samsung ’s software
platform.
Of 45 brokers tracked by
Thomson Reuters, 43 rate
Samsung Electronics, which
makes memory chips and sells
flat-screen televisions, as either a
buy or a strong buy.
Another strong performer is chip
designer and supplier Mediatek.
Its shares have more than
doubled this year.
Mediatek and Qualcomm entered
a patent arrangement last month,
paving the way for it to gain a
bigger share in the fast-growing
smartphone chip market. US chip
designer Marvell Technology
expects smartphones to take the
lion’s share of the global
cellphone market in the next six
years.
With big PC names, including
Acer and Dell, entering the
market, where telecom operators
are selling more models running
on new software, a price war
looks set to intensify and hurt
margins next year.
Analysts attributed lower
handset prices to the rollout of
new technologies, including
cheaper panels and chips that
save power and extend battery
life.
Investors have started selling
shares of some smartphone
makers, such as Taiwan ’s HTC,
after the world’s No. 4
smartphone vendor posted
worse-than-expected November
sales this week. The stock has
fallen 10 percent since a near
four-month high on Nov. 26.
“ I want to be cautious about the
sector because selling prices are
going down next year, ” said
Vincent Chen, a technology
analyst at Yuanta Securities.
“ Not just HTC, other players will
also get hurt,” said Chen, who
put a “sell” rating on HTC.
HTC shares are trading above
most Taiwan tech rivals at about
14 times Yuanta ’s 2010 earnings
per share forecast, Chen added.
Given a lack of scale and 3G
patents, Citi rated HTC at “sell”
and forecast its 2010 net profit
would fall 16 percent from 2009,
with its operating profit margin
shrinking to 13.1 percent from
this year ’s 16.4 percent.
Mediatek was not a good target
at its current price of around
517 New Taiwan dollars a share,
said Jih Sun Investment
Consulting manager Kevin Chung.
“ There are risks and I don’t think
foreign investors will add to
their holdings. If the stock falls to
400 New Taiwan dollars to 450
New Taiwan dollars, then I
believe some people will pay
attention to the stock again, ” he
said, citing growing pricing
pressure in the smartphone
market.
Reuters

recharge your phone with kinetic energy

2010-01-16T00:31:00.000-08:00

The mobile kinetic energy
charger, an invention being
developed by ITS students in
Surabaya.
Say Goodbye to Low Battery;
Recharge Phones on the Run
Surabaya. Soon you won’t have
to worry about running out of
battery on your cellphone when
out and about, even if there isn ’t
an electrical socket available.
The solution comes from a
mobile charger developed by a
team led by Harus Laksana
Guntur, an engineering lecturer
at the Sepuluh Nopember
Institute of Technology (ITS) in
East Java capital Surabaya. But
unlike solar or battery-based
chargers, this invention uses
people ’s energy to recharge
cellphones.
The innovative gadget converts
kinetic energy into electricity,
which means that charge is
generated every time you move.
The prototype comes in a clear
fiberglass box that can clip onto
a belt. When it moves, the main
components — a dynamo and
magnet built into a coil —
produce induction that
generates electricity, working
much like those shake flashlights.
An important feature is a small
rechargeable battery, which
stores the charge.
“Actually, the electricity
generated by the coil can directly
power the cellphone.
Unfortunately, the current is
unstable and tends to make the
phone hang, ” said Muhammad
Rudy Hermanto, the ITS student
who invented the charger.
It is an idea Harus wants to
develop, as he and his team of
students continue work on a
number of inventions utilizing
kinetic energy.
“ Actually, the mobile charger is
simply a prototype,” he said. “In
the future, we would like to
collaborate with the military to
develop chargers for their
communication devices. ”
Harus said such a charger was
well-suited for military purposes.
In warfare situations, he
explained, soldiers would have
difficulty recharging their
electrical equipment in the
jungle, especially when they
have to move about frequently.
A kinetic charger, however,
would make that possible, as
body movements have the
potential to produce up to 150
watts, which could power a
computer or about 70 BlackBerry
smartphones.
In one test, in which the wearer
was walking at about four
kilometers per hour, the
prototype mobile charger
completely charged a cellphone
in about five minutes.
“ The faster the wearer moves,
the faster the charging process
because their walking speed will
affect the speed of the magnet ’s
movements inside the coil
generating electricity, ” Harus
said.
The ITS team plans to eventually
make the mobile charger as
compact as a matchbox. Its
inventors are in the process of
filing for a patent and hope to
mass produce the device in the
future.
In the meantime, they are
looking for an investor to help
further development.

sailing solo round the world

2010-01-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

Australia's Teen Solo
Sailor Hits Halfway Mark
Sixteen-year-old Australian sailor
Jessica Watson has rounded the
halfway mark of her solo,
around-the-world voyage.
On Thursday, Watson’s parents
were in a plane trying to get a
glimpse of her as she passed the
most southerly point of South
America, Cape Horn.
Watson is attempting to become
the youngest person to sail solo,
nonstop and unassisted around
the world. She set sail from
Sydney in her 10-meter yacht on
Oct. 18 and planned to make the
38,000-kilometer journey
through some of the world’s
most treacherous waters from
Australia and back again in about
eight months. AP

sailing solo by an Indonesian

2010-01-14T05:08:00.000-08:00

US to Bali Alone by
Sailboat Is Goal for
Indonesian
New York. A 51-year-old
Indonesian man plans to sail
across the Pacific alone, heading
for a long-awaited homecoming
in his native country.
Rob Rama” Rambini, who works
as a professional photographer
in San Francisco, California, plans
to head for Bali in his Jensen
Marine Cal 30 sailboat named SV
Kona, a journey he believes will
take about eight months.
“I initially wanted to leave at the
end of 2009, but I had to
postpone my departure due to
the bad weather. But I am sure I
will be able to embark on the
journey before winter is over, ”
Rama said via e-mail on Tuesday.
“If everything goes well, I
predict that by the end of this
year I will reach Bali, ” said Rama,
who has not set foot on
Indonesian soil for the last 26
years.
In Indonesia, he hopes to reunite
with his mother, Trisutji Kamal,
who lives in Jakarta and who he
has not seen since he left for the
United States.
Rama plans to travel from San
Francisco to Tahiti, then to the
Cook Islands, then Fiji to Bali. He
hopes to stay for one or two
weeks in the Cook Islands, then
about two months in Fiji to rest
the boat before completing the
journey.
Rama says he is preparing
himself physically and mentally
for the journey while waiting for
the right weather conditions to
materialize.
“Anaerobic exercise on a regular
basis makes me healthy. And of
course I must always focus on
keeping a positive mental
attitude, ” he said.
Rama sailed often in San
Francisco Bay before deciding to
embark on his proposed
journey. “The currents in the San
Francisco Bay Area are quite
difficult. Many people say if you
are able to sail in the Bay Area,
then you can also navigate a
boat in other seas, ” he said.
Sailing in the open ocean is
dangerous, sometimes even life-
threatening, but Rama says he
tries to be calm in the face of all
the risks.
“The ocean is so vast and there
are no guarantees, not even for
experienced sailors, that we will
be safe. All I can do is make
proper preparations and
minimize the possibility of an
accident, ” Rama said. “Leaving in
the right season is a good start.”
He believes that although SV
Kona is not very large, it is
strong enough to sail the ocean.
“I have absolutely no doubt.
Kona is entirely made from
fiberglass, [and is] a type of
sailboat that has proven strong
in the ocean. The boat will easily
reach Bali or endure any other
long journey, ” he said.
Rama plans to chronicle the trip
on his Facebook page and also
with a blog called “California to
Bali Solo Voyage.”
Antara

myspace fall back behind facebook

2010-01-14T04:58:00.000-08:00

MySpace Trying to Put
on Fresh Face In Battle of
Social Networking Giants
New York. Wrenching job cuts at
News Corp ’s MySpace are only
the first steps the online hangout
must take to regain its cool.
Outshone by newcomers
Facebook and Twitter, MySpace
must reverse worrying trends in
user metrics and replace a
lucrative advertising deal with
Google worth $300 million year
that expires next year, or risk
lining up among Friendster,
AltaVista, GeoCities and other
once-mighty Internet brands.
That means redefining itself as a
music and entertainment site,
improving returns for
advertisers and maybe finding a
new home, analysts said.
“People are very fickle in social
networking,” said Jeffrey
Lindsay, a Sanford Bernstein
analyst. “Unless you’ve got a
way to keep them continually
refreshed, you get a five-year
life out of them and then after
that they ’re really not very
good.”
Some wonder if News Corp chief
executive Rupert Murdoch will
prove as fickle, although most
say a sale of MySpace is highly
unlikely in these markets.
News Corp bought MySpace for
$580 million in 2005, a move
that made Murdoch, the man
who made his fortune in
newspapers, look like a Web
visionary. But declining
advertising revenue trends and
the rise of Facebook means the
once-reigning teenage social
network is looking increasingly
middle-aged.
“The problem is that banner ads
on MySpace have not proven to
be successful, ” Forrester
Research analyst Josh Bernoff
said.
Facebook has ads that engage its
users better.
“You’re going to need a bunch
of smart people developing an
ad format that has these clever
features in it that make it work,”
Bernoff said of MySpace.
MySpace has a three-year search
advertising deal with Google that
guarantees the social network
$300 million a year. But it is
unlikely Google will sign up for
another round at the same
terms, analysts said.
Pali Capital analyst Richard
Greenfield estimated a new
Google deal could be worth half
as much, while some estimates
say it could be 75 percent less
valuable.
Instead, MySpace could try to
find a Google rival looking to get
a boost in the search game.
Some analysts speculate that
Microsoft is a possible contender.
Microsoft is “desperate to grow
their online business so they’re
in a similar position,” Lindsay
said.
“Google is so badly burned that
they’re not going to come back
with anything resembling the
original terms. ”
Breakingviews.com, an online
business commentary Web site,
speculated this week that
Sumner Redstone, whose Viacom
lost the MySpace bidding war to
News Corp, would love to match
the social network with his MTV
Music Networks.
Bankers and analysts say it is
hard to put a price tag on
MySpace when News Corp does
not provide detailed financial
accounts.
MySpace is part of Fox
Interactive Media, which is part
of News Corp ’s “Other” segment
that reported $1.9 billion in
revenue for the nine months
ended March 31, 2009. That was
down from $2.2 billion in the
same period a year before.
“It’s tough to value social
networking sites because no
clear business model has
emerged yet, ” said Robert
Jackman, joint head of the
technology, media and
telecommunications mergers
team at Jefferies & Company.
“Murdoch and others still have
time to make this work. Any
significant M&A in the space
would be somewhat of a bet”
until people figure out how to
sustainably make money off the
millions of users.
Music might be the answer. The
MySpace Music service — which
lets users share and discover
songs — has performed well,
analysts say, and some think the
social network could recast itself
as an entertainment-centric site.
That could bring in lucrative
advertising contracts with
studios, music labels and
entertainment companies, which
would have a good idea of the
audience they are reaching.
Such a move could let MySpace
make a dignified exit from being
the older player, after ceding its
position as the social network
leader to Facebook.
Facebook’s monthly unique US
visitor count rose to 70.278
million in May, edging ahead of
MySpace ’s 70.237 million visitors.
Globally, Facebook had 307.1
million visitors in April, far ahead
of MySpace ’s 123.3 million
visitors.
Reuters

web suicide - online suicide

2010-01-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

Facebook Blocks Web 2.0
Profile 'Suicide' Sites
Facebook said Monday that it is
blocking a website called “Web
2.0 Suicide Machine” that helps
users delete their social network
profiles.
The number one social network
also said it had sent a “cease-
and-desist” letter to another
website, Seppukoo.com, which
also helps you kill off your
virtual identity.
The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine site,
which features a hangman ’s
noose on its homepage, deletes
profiles, friends and other
information on Facebook,
MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn
for users who provide their
account information.
“This machine lets you delete all
your energy sucking social-
networking profiles, kill your
fake virtual friends, and
completely do away with your
Web 2.0 alterego, ” it says.
Facebook, in a statement to AFP,
said the suicide site was in
violation of Facebook rules.
“Facebook provides the ability
for people who no longer want
to use the site to either
deactivate their account or
delete it completely, ” Facebook
said.
“Web 2.0 Suicide Machine collects
login credentials, which is a
violation of our Statement of
Rights and Responsibilities
(SRR), ” it said.
“We’ve blocked the site’s access
to Facebook as is our policy for
sites that violate our SRR, ”
Facebook said. “We’re currently
investigating and considering
whether to take further action.”
Facebook, which claims more
than 300 million users, also said
it had sent Seppukoo.com “a
cease-and-desist letter for
similarly violating our policies.”
Seppukoo.com urges users to
“ impress your friends” and
“disconnect yourself” by
committing online suicide in the
manner of Japanese samurai.
Ritual samurai suicide was
known as “seppuku.”
“As the seppuku restores the
samurai’s honour as a warrior,
seppukoo.com deals with the
liberation of the digital body, ”
the site says.
AFP

high tech and social life

2010-01-14T04:39:00.000-08:00

Internet, Facebook and
Mobile Phones Enhance
Social Life: Survey
Contrary to popular belief, the
Internet and mobile phones are
not isolating people but
enhancing their social worlds,
according to a US survey.
The survey was sparked by a
2006 study by US sociologists
who argued technology is
advancing a trend seen since
1985 — Americans becoming
more socially isolated, their social
networks shrinking, and the
diversity of their contacts
decreasing.
But the study by the Pew
Internet and American Life
Project, titled “Social Isolation
and New Technology,” found
people’s use of mobile phones
and the Internet is actually
associated with larger and more
diverse social networks.
“When we examine people’s full
personal network... Internet use
in general and use of social
networking services such as
Facebook in particular are
associated with more diverse
social networks, ” the researchers
said in a statement.
“Our key findings challenge
previous research and
commonplace fears about the
harmful social impact of new
technology. ”
The telephone survey of 2,512
adults, conducted by Princeton
Survey Research International in
July and August this year, found
that since 1985, the extent of
social isolation has hardly
changed at all.
It found 6 percent of the adult
population has no one with
whom to discuss important
matters but this figure is largely
unchanged since 1985.
The survey, however, did find
that people ’s “discussion
networks” have shrunk about a
third in the past 25 years and
become less diverse as they
contain fewer non-family
members.
But people who have mobile
phones and take part in a variety
of Internet activities are
associated with larger, more
diverse core discussion
networks.
On average, the size of people’s
discussion networks is 12
percent larger among mobile
phone users, nine percent larger
for those who share photos
online, and nine percent bigger
for those who use instant
messaging.
The diversity of people’s core
networks tends to be 25 percent
larger for mobile phone users,
15 percent larger for basic
Internet users, and even larger
for frequent Internet users,
instant messagers, and those
sharing photos online.
Internet users were as likely as
anyone else to visit their
neighbors and take part in local
community activities.
“Cell phone users, those who use
the Internet frequently at work,
and bloggers are more likely to
belong to a local voluntary
association, such as a youth
group or a charitable
organization, ” the study found.
“However, we find some
evidence that use of social
networking services (e.g.,
Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn)
substitutes for some
neighborhood involvement. ”
The researchers said most uses
of the Internet and mobile phone
have a positive relationship to
neighborhood networks,
voluntary associations, and use
of public spaces.
“Our survey results suggest that
people’s lives are likely to be
enhanced by participation with
new communication
technologies, rather than by
fearing that their use of new
technology will send them into a
spiral of isolation, ” they
concluded.
Reuters

sexy sms evidence for divorce

2010-01-14T04:32:00.000-08:00

Sexy SMS Messages Most
Popular Evidence for
Divorce at a Kalimantan
Court
The discovery of steamy SMS
messages from another man or
woman was the trigger for 123
out of 247 divorce cases in 2009
in Pangkalan Bun, Central
Kalimantan, according to records
at an Indonesian religious court.
“Steamy SMS messages from the
cheating partner became the
main evidence in most divorce
hearings, ” Judge Mahali from
Pangkalan Bun’s Religious Court
told Kompas.com.
Besides SMS messages from the
other man or women, the other
main reasons for divorces in
Central Kalimantan were due to
financial reasons and
irreconcilable differences.
According to Mahali, most
spouses told the court that they
had suspected their partners of
cheating for months and the
“ sexts”, or sexy text messages,
confirmed their suspicions.
“Technology is getting more
advanced so even though the
steamy SMS messages were
erased, somehow some of them
could still be recovered and be
presented to the court as
evidence that affairs had
existed,” he said.
Since the beginning of the year,
Mahali said that 28 people had
filed for divorce. However,
Mahali did not say how many of
the 2010 divorce requests were
triggered by texting.
“I think the higher divorce rate
in Central Kalimantan is caused
by the improvement of people’s
legal knowledge. Now they know
what to do or where to go when
they want to divorce their
spouses, ” he added. from jakartaglobe

australian drug dealer in bali

2010-01-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

Indonesian Police Nab
Another Australian in
Bali on Drug Charges
Indonesian police say they have
arrested an Australian citizen
allegedly with illegal drugs on
the resort island of Bali.
Chief of police Maj. Gen. Sutisna,
who uses a single name, said on
Monday that Timothy Geoffrey
Lee was arrested at his rented
house near the popular Kuta
beach after a tip from Interpol.
The Australian Broadcasting
Commission reported that Lee
was wanted by the Australian
Federal Police since 2008 and
was suspected of being part of
an Australian drug ring.
He says police seized four liters
of liquid methylated
amphetamines during the
Saturday raid.
Lee, 45, who holds Australian
and British passports, is being
questioned. He has not been
charged. Last month seven
Iranians were arrested in Bali for
smuggling methamphetamines
in their stomachs.
Drug trafficking carries the death
penalty in Indonesia.
Associated Press, JG

myths on terrorism

2010-01-12T16:24:00.000-08:00

Five Myths About
Terrorists
By now, more than eight years
after the Sept. 11 attacks, we
should be better at plucking a
terrorist out of an airport
security line. After all, we have
some idea of what he ’ll be like:
young, socially alienated and
deeply religious. And he ’ll come
from a country like Afghanistan,
Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon,
Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or
Yemen. (Under new rules
announced last weekend, people
bearing passports from these
countries will undergo special
scrutiny at airports.)
Or will he? What if he comes
from Northern Virginia, like the
five young men who were
arrested in Pakistan on Dec. 8
and who have been accused of
planning “terrorist activities,”
according to Pakistani
newspaper reports? The bottom
line is that we can no longer
assume that terrorists will come
from any particular country or
fit any particular profile. The
more we learn about what
makes people vulnerable to
recruitment by terrorist
organizations, the less any of the
old generalizations hold up.
Most terrorists are spoiled rich
kids
Many prominent jihadists are
indeed well-off and well-
educated. Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab, the suspect in the
failed Christmas Day airline
bombing, comes from one of the
wealthiest families in Nigeria.
After the 2001 attacks, much
was made of the engineering
backgrounds of some of the
hijackers, and Osama bin Laden
famously hails from a wealthy
family with close ties to the
Saudi royals.
But terrorists come from all
socioeconomic backgrounds. For
poor people in countries where
economic prospects are bleak,
jihad can be one of the few jobs
available. Of the 25,000
insurgents and terrorism
suspects detained by US forces
in Iraq as of 2007, nearly all
were previously underemployed,
according to Maj. Gen. Douglas
Stone, the commander of
detainee operations at the time.
Al Qaeda recruits come from the
Middle East
Al Qaeda’s core organization,
which was responsible for the
Sept. 11 attacks, is now based in
Pakistan, but terrorist
organizations claiming to be its
affiliates include Northern
Africa ’s Al Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb, Jemaah Islamiyah in
Indonesia and al-Shabab, which
is fighting in southern Somalia
and has been recruiting
Westerners.
The organization also has a more
amorphous following of
independent cells and individuals
around the world. It is almost
impossible to target or quantify
this following because it isn ’t
centralized in any one location.
Such self-made terrorists can be
found anywhere, even in Fort
Hood, Texas.
More broadly, there is no
particular political system that
reliably promotes or deters
terrorism. And democracy is not
the cure-all it is often assumed to
be. There are many more
terrorist incidents in democratic
India, for example, than in non-
democratic China or Saudi Arabia.
(This may be because
authoritarian regimes are good
at controlling terrorism within
their borders.) Failed and failing
states, such as Yemen and
Somalia, also make particularly
fertile ground for terrorism.
Al Qaeda is made up of Islamic
zealots
To the contrary, rank-and-file
terrorists who claim to be
motivated by religious ideology
often turn out to be ignorant
about Islam. The Saudi Interior
Ministry has questioned
thousands of terrorists in
custody about why they turned
to violence, and found that the
majority did not have much
formal religious instruction and
had only a limited understanding
of Islam. According to Saudi
officials, one-quarter of the
participants in a rehabilitation
program for former jihadis had
criminal histories, often for drug-
related offenses, whereas only 5
percent had been prayer leaders
or had other formal religious
roles.
In the Netherlands and
elsewhere in Europe, second-
and third-generation Muslim
youths are rebelling against
what they see as the culturally
contaminated Islam their parents
practice and that is promoted in
their local mosques, favoring
instead the allegedly purer Islam
that they discover online or via
imams from the Middle East. But
the form of Islam they turn to is
often highly unorthodox. For
example, the Hofstad group in
the Netherlands — a network of
radicalized young Muslims —
practiced a sort of do-it-yourself
Islam cobbled together from
Web sites and the teachings of a
self-taught Syrian imam who is
also a former drug dealer.
Rather than Islam leading young
recruits toward Al Qaeda, it may
be an ignorance of Islam that
renders youths vulnerable to Al
Qaeda ’s violent ideology.
Terrorists are driven by strong
beliefs
Terrorist movements often arise
in reaction to a perceived
injustice, whether real or
imagined. Yet ideology is not the
only, or even the most
important, factor in an
individual’s decision to join. In
my research and interviews with
terrorists, many speak, in
particular, about being
motivated by a feeling of
humiliation. A Kashmiri militant
founded his group because, he
said, “Muslims have been
overpowered by the West. Our
ego hurts … we are not able to
live up to our own standards for
ourselves. ”
The reasons that some people
become terrorists are as varied
as the reasons that others
choose conventional
professions: market conditions,
social networks, contact with
recruiters, education and
individual preferences.
Most terrorist groups disappear
quickly; those that survive tend
to have the sort of flexible
ideology that can attract a
diverse array of recruits and
funders. Al Qaeda is among the
most disciplined groups, but its
goals and its list of enemies are
constantly shifting. Documents
analyzed by scholars at the
Combating Terrorism Center at
the US Military Academy reveal
an astonishing lack of clarity
about the group ’s purpose, even
among leaders of the
organization. Abu ’l-Walid, a
leading strategic thinker for Al
Qaeda, has complained about
constantly shifting strategic
goals, lamenting that “waging
jihad like a rhinoceros is stupid
and futile. ”
Terrorist recruits are alienated
loners
According to The Washington
Post, Abdulmutallab, the alleged
Christmas airplane attacker,
wrote in an online Islamic forum:
“ I have no one … to consult, no
one to support me and I feel
depressed and lonely. I do not
know what to do. And then I
think this loneliness leads me to
other problems. ”
But for most terrorist recruits,
the problem isn ’t so much a lack
of friends as having the wrong
friends. This dynamic isn ’t so
different from the way gang
recruiting works in the United
States: Terrorists often join an
armed struggle because they
have a buddy who has done so.
In a survey of 516 Guantanamo
detainees, researchers at the
Combating Terrorism Center
found that knowing another
member of Al Qaeda was a better
predictor of who became a
terrorist than was belief in the
idea of jihad.
Ultimately, some individuals may
join terrorist groups out of a
misplaced desire to transform
society. But over time, the social
and psychological rewards of
belonging can eclipse such
motivations. Terrorists want to
better their own circumstances
at least as much as they want to
change the world.
by Jessica Stern, a lecturer at
Harvard Law Schoo l, serves on
the Hoover Institution Task Force
on National Security and Law.
The Washington Post

from ubud to hollywood

2010-01-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

From Ubud To
Hollywood For Balinese
Medicine Man
A 95-year-old man sits cross-
legged on the mat in front of me.
He looks comfortable in his white
polo shirt and batik wrap, with a
piece of yellow cloth worn
looped round his waist like a
belt.
Silver hair frames his wrinkled
face and his old eyes sparkle
every time his index finger
finishes drawing a line on the
palm of my left hand.
“And the other line, I show to
you again this, the luck line to
the middle finger, ” the old man
says in his knows-no-grammar
English. “Oh, you have two luck
line there. This is meaning in
your life. Don ’t worry, you will
be lucky.
“According to the line to the ring
finger, I show to you this is
money line. And I see money line
to the ring finger very deeply,
long, start from there to there.
Very good. ”
The old man is Ketut Liyer, a
Balinese medicine man, artist and
palmist whose name has been
the talk of the town since
Elizabeth Gilbert ’s novel “Eat,
Pray, Love” — which details the
author’s friendship with Ketut —
became a best-seller.
The story is being made into a
film, featuring Hollywood star
Julia Roberts. Filming for the
movie recently took place in
Ketut ’s hometown, Ubud.
Ask any local taxi driver if they
know where Ketut lives and
chances are they will quote you
a pricey fare for the short ride
— but they all know where the
medicine man’s house is.
Ketut’s house in Pengosekan, in
the Ubud area, is barely
discernible from the main street.
Like most Balinese houses it is
dominated by light gray and
orange bricks and has intricate
designs around the edges. The
home has several buildings, and
the main house stands out
elegantly with a wooden door
decorated by floral-patterned
carvings.
A number of black-and-white
paintings of Balinese gods by
Ketut himself are displayed on
the walls. The sound of running
water from a small fish pond and
the scattered frangipani flowers
on the ground create a peaceful
ambience in the quiet garden.
Earlier that morning, when I
arrived, a middle-aged man was
talking to Ketut while a Chinese-
Indonesian woman waited for
her turn.
The woman, Alexandra Tjoa, or
Alex, flew from her home in
Switzerland to Bali for a vacation,
she says. While there, she
decided to visit Ketut, the man
she had read about in Gilbert ’s
book.
“I was just curious,” Alex says
when I run into her the next day
at a restaurant. “He is such a
sweet grandpa.”
Perhaps it is the way Ketut talks
that makes him seem such a
character. He hardly uses the
word “ saya ” (“I”) when
speaking in Indonesian to his
clients. Instead, he addresses
himself as “ kakek
” (“grandfather”).
He talks slowly as if he wants to
make sure his words can be
understood. When he speaks in
English, he often checks to see if
I follow him, saying, “My English
not good, but you understand,
right ?”
Ketut is said to have the ability to
cure sick people, mostly with
herbal remedies, and foresee
people ’s futures by reading their
palms and studying their ears
and faces.
The knowledge was gained from
his ancestors, he says, with
manuscripts written in ancient
characters on palm leaves
passed down through the
generations for centuries.
He focused on becoming a
medicine man when his second
wife passed away many years
ago.
“I stayed single after my second
wife died because I was
determined to be a medicine
man, ” Ketut says. “I was so
occupied with painting and
curing people I forgot to look for
a wife. ”
He doesn’t dwell on past
misfortune, believing instead
that everything happens for a
reason.
“My first wife left me and
married another man,” he says.
“But I believe that was the way
thing was meant to be. Then I
met this beautiful woman and
married her. ”
From his second marriage Ketut
had one child who died when
she was very small. He then
adopted a son and a daughter
who have blessed him with four
grandchildren.
Being someone many people
turn to for advice — or just out
of curiosity — Ketut says he
always tells them nothing but
what he really sees.
“Once a man came to me and I
could see that he would suffer
from a serious illness. I told him
that and advised him to be
careful, ” Ketut says. “If it is not
good, I will tell them it is not
good. And if it is good, then I will
tell them that it is good. If I made
up things, according to my
religion, my spirit would go to
hell when I die. ”
Ketut takes my left hand and tells
me to bend the fingers. He draws
a line near my pinkie. Later he
tells me I will marry twice in my
life, to which I respond with a
laugh.
“Are you serious?” I ask.
“I only tell you what I know,” he
says.
There are three more people
waiting to see Ketut after me, so
I decide to continue the
conversation the next day.
When I arrive early the next day,
Ketut is holding a newspaper,
trying to read the small letters.
“Can you please read it to me?”
he asks, handing me the
newspaper. “Tell me what it
says.”
It is an article about him and
how he met Gilbert a few years
ago. Once in a while, his eyes
look into the distance and he
smiles. At times he touches my
arm, signalling me to pause so he
can comment on what I read.
“Yes, I remember Liz,” he says
when I mention the author’s
nickname.
“Who is Julia Roberts?” he asks
when the article mentions the
movie being filmed. I explain
that she is the actress playing
Gilbert.
He nods when I ask if he
remembers meeting Roberts, and
laughs when I say he should
have been in the film too,
playing himself.
“No, I am too old. Besides, I have
this kidney problem that causes
pain here, ” he says, touching his
waist.
Asked if his life has changed
since Gilbert ’s book shot to fame,
Ketut says that everything
remains the same for him in Bali.
“I don’t think that [my life] has
changed,” he says. “I wake up in
the morning and meet people
here, sometimes they come
early, other times [they come] at
10 or 12, or late in the afternoon.
In the evening, I meditate.
“I don’t feel famous. Nothing
special, you see.”

racism with alien ?

2010-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Are Critics Right to See
Racism in The Alien
Adventure ‘Avatar’?
Near the end of the hit film
“ Avatar,” the villain snarls at the
hero, “How does it feel to betray
your own race?” Both men are
white — although the hero is
inhabiting a blue-skinned, nearly
three-meter-tall, long-tailed alien.
Strange as it may seem for a film
that pits greedy, immoral
humans against noble denizens
of a faraway moon, “Avatar” is
being criticized by a small but
vocal group of people who
allege it contains racist themes
— the white hero once again
saving the primitive natives.
Since the film opened to
widespread critical acclaim three
weeks ago, hundreds of blog
posts, newspaper articles, tweets
and YouTube videos have said
things such as the film is “a
fantasy about race told from the
point of view of white people ”
and that it reinforces “the white
Messiah fable.”
The film’s writer and director,
James Cameron, says the real
theme is about respecting
others ’ differences.
In the film (read no further if
you don ’t want the plot spoiled
for you) a white, paralyzed
marine, Jake Sully, is mentally
linked to an alien ’s body and set
loose on the planet Pandora. His
mission: persuade the mystic,
nature-loving Na ’vi to make way
for humans to mine their land
for unobtanium, worth $20
million per kilo back home.
Like Kevin Costner in “Dances
with Wolves” and Tom Cruise in
“The Last Samurai” or as far back
as Jimmy Stewart in the 1950
Western “Broken Arrow,” Sully
soon switches sides. He falls in
love with the Na ’vi princess and
leads the aliens to victory over
the white men ’s spaceships and
mega-robots.
Adding to the racial dynamic is
that the main Na ’vi characters
are played by actors of color, led
by a Dominican, Zoe Saldana, as
the princess. The film also is an
obvious metaphor for how
European settlers in America
wiped out the Indians.
Robinne Lee, an actress in such
recent films as “Seven Pounds”
and “Hotel for Dogs,” said that
“Avatar” was “beautiful” and
that she understood the
economic logic of casting a
white lead if most of the
audience is white.
But she said the film still
reminded her of Hollywood’s
“Pocahontas” story — “the
Indian woman leads the white
man into the wilderness, and he
learns the way of the people and
becomes the savior. ”
“It’s really upsetting in many
ways,” said Lee, who is black
with Jamaican and Chinese
ancestry. “It would be nice if we
could save ourselves.”
Annalee Newitz, editor in chief of
the sci-fi Web site io9.com,
likened “Avatar” to the recent
film “District 9,” in which a white
man accidentally becomes an
alien and then helps save them,
and 1984 ’s “Dune,” in which a
white man becomes an alien
Messiah.
“Main white characters realize
that they are complicit in a
system which is destroying
aliens, a k a people of color, ” she
wrote, “[then] go beyond
assimilation and become leaders
of the people they once
oppressed. ”
“When will whites stop making
these movies and start thinking
about race in a new way ?”
wrote Newitz, who is white.
Black film professor and author
Donald Bogle said he can
understand why people would
be troubled by “Avatar,”
although he praised it as a
“ stunning” work.
“A segment of the audience is
carrying in the back of its head
some sense of movie history, ”
said Bogle, author of “Toms,
Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and
Bucks: An Interpretive History of
Blacks in American Films. ”
Bogle stopped short, however,
of calling the movie racist. “It’s a
film with still a certain kind of
distortion, ” he said. “It’s a movie
that hasn’t yet freed itself of old
Hollywood traditions, old
formulas. ”
Writer/director Cameron, who is
white, said in an e-mail to The
Associated Press that his film
“ asks us to open our eyes and
truly see others, respecting them
even though they are different,
in the hope that we may find a
way to prevent conflict and live
more harmoniously on this
world. I hardly think that is a
racist message.”
There are many ways to
interpret the art that is “Avatar.”
What does it mean that in the
final, sequel-begging scene, Sully
abandons his human body and
transforms into one of the Na ’vi
for good? Is Saldana’s Na’vi
character the real heroine
because she, not Sully, kills the
archvillain? Does it matter that
many conservatives are riled by
what they call liberal
environmental and antimilitary
messages?
Is Cameron actually exposing the
historical evils of white
colonizers? Does the existence of
an alien species show that all
humans are actually one race?
Although the “Avatar” debate
springs from Hollywood’s
historical difficulties with race,
Will Smith recently saved the
planet in “I Am Legend” and
Denzel Washington appears
ready to do the same in the
forthcoming “Book of Eli.”
Bogle said that he was glad the
film made people think about
race. “Maybe there is something
he does want to say and put
across ” about race, Bogle said.
“Maybe if he had a black hero in
there, that point would have
been even stronger. ”

tips on smartphone GPS

2010-01-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

Finding a smart GPS
phone
Zatni Arbi , Contributor ,
Jakarta
In the past, each time you had
to
meet someone in an obscure
corner of Jakarta, you would
ask
him for a map.
He would then draw a map to
show you how to proceed
from
the nearest point that you
were
still familiar with. You would
study the map and,
subconsciously, create a
mental
image of the roads.
You would begin to feel less
confident. You would stop,
get
out of your car and ask the
people for directions.
The people would either say
they were not sure or would
simply give you the wrong
directions. Three minutes
later,
you would have stopped
three
more times and still find you
were in the middle of
nowhere.
Then you would approach a
group of ojek (motorcycle
taxis).
You ask them for directions,
and
they would tell you, “It’s not
far,
but it’s difficult for me to
explain.
Why don’t you pay me and I’ll
lead you there”.
Then, after some negotiation
over the “fare”, you would
start
again with him riding right in
front of you. You arrived 40
minutes late.
You know what? You should
have done it the moment you
saw a group of ojek drivers.
Often, they are the most
effective GPS.
Still, it may not always work.
What if you are out in the
wee
hours of the morning and
there
is simply no ojek in sight?
What
if you stray into an area rife
with criminals, and the last
thing
you should do is stop and get
out of your car? This is where
a
GPS can be a lifesaver.
Absolutely, a GPS device is not
a
groundbreaking innovation.
For
many years we have had
Garmin, Tomtom, Magellan
and
others. Most smartphones
from
Nokia, RIM and Apple also
have
fairly sophisticated GPS
functionality already built in.
Increasingly, GPS handhelds
come from Taiwan, too.
Among
others, we have Mio, which is
one of my favorites. What
about
an alliance between East and
West?
Recently, I found out that
Garmin, one of the top leaders
in
GPS, had joined forces with
ASUSTek Computer from
Taiwan
to make Nuvifone GPS/GSM
phones.
Announced in February last
year,
I think the alliance is a great
mutual symbiosis. ASUS has
not
been able to grab a
significant
market share now crowded
by
those from mainland China. By
hooking up with Garmin, it
now
has a better chance to grab a
bigger share of the
smartphone
markets in Asia and the
United
States.
Courtesy of ASUS Indonesia, I
was able to casually test-drive
a
Nuvifone G60. Interestingly,
although it is not made in
Germany, the “u” in the name
is
with an umlaut. It supports
HSDPA and has both
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so it has
a
complete connectivity
arsenal.
The first time I lay my hand on
it,
I was pleased to see how
solid it
felt. I liked the rather
rectangular
shape. The user interface is
quite
simple and intuitive.
Too bad there is no hardware
keypad; in my case, that was a
turn-off because I always
make
mistakes when entering
characters using the screen
keyboard. Sending text
messages can be a challenge
for
people with fat fingers like
mine.
On the other hand, I like the
return, menu and scroll icons
along the bottom of some
screens.
On the home screen, there is a
primary button for making
calls,
another for searching points
of
interest (POIs), favorites,
nearest
intersections, contacts,
addresses
etc. The third main button
will let
us view the map.
On the same screen we have
four smaller shortcut icons for
looking up our contact list,
sending text messages,
composing email and loading
the
Web browser.
The strength of the
collaboration
between Garmin and ASUS
seems
to concentrate on the GPS
side,
for which Garmin has a lot of
expertise. We can send our
location in terms of longitude
and latitude. So, if we are
stranded on a desert island,
we
can easily tell others where
we
are. This is actually what
makes a
GPS/smartphone combination
such a great idea. The
problem,
of course, is that on a desert
island it is unlikely we will
have
GSM coverage.
In their attempt to preserve
battery power, the engineers
must have made the screen
go
blank after a few seconds,
while
the device continues to give
voice directions. I found it a
bit
disconcerting at first, but later
on
I realized that we do not
really
have to see the map all the
time
to stay on track.
I found that the device took
some time to get the
information
from the satellites. Once it is
locked in, it works fine. This
Nuvifone is also a Location-
Based Service (LBS) device. It
has
the ability to keep track of its
own whereabouts. Not
surprisingly, we can send our
exact location to a friend
using
SMS.
An application called Ciao!
lets us
find out the location of a
friend
and then navigate to where
he
is.
We can also insert the
location
information, called geo-tag,
into
photos that we take with this
GPS smartphone.
The camera is just a 3 MP
version. It cannot capture
video
and it does not have a flash,
which might be considered a
bit
too limited by today ’s
standards.
In addition, I managed to
make
the operating system hang up
a
couple of times, although
after a
while it would start up again
on
its own. I am sure the two
companies are working hard
to
solve the problem.
More seriously, this GPS and
GSM
device has an Achilles heel in
the
most important area of a
smartphone, which is the
battery.
I could not tell whether it was
because my demo unit had
passed through a number of
reviewers ’ hands, but the
battery
life seemed to be quite short.
With the GPS function actively
telling me where to go turn-
by-
turn, the battery juice seemed
to
last only around four hours.
We
need to have the bundled
cigarette-lighter charger in
the
car if we plan to use it on a
day
trip.
This makes the G60 clearly a
Portable Navigation Device
(PND)
first and a smartphone
second. If
you are looking for an
intelligent
smartphone, I guess you had
better look elsewhere.

the balibo 5 : death by ignorance

2009-12-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

The balibo 5 movie is about 5 young australians journalist, television crew killed in balibo in september 1975 during east timor turmoil was a warzone tragedy.

This movie has opened old wounds of Soeharto-Whitlam era and the friendly bilateral relationship between australia and indonesia and east timor.

Off course this film has been dramaticized though based on true stories.

War tragedy is tragedy, with numerous victims, or even friendly fire from own allies, truth is somehow always covered in clouds, there are always 2 sides of the coin. Amid the turmoil of civil war between east timorese, there were bloody fighting between east timorese factions. The left wing fretilin were fighting against apodeti for power in the small, backward, dry island of east timor. Political negotiations were made
between jakarta - canberra.

The rest is history.

Tony maniaty, an australian journalist for ABC who was also in balibo at that time, managed to escape. He has warned the other 5 young journalist not to go into balibo as there was heavy fighting going on balibo, western border town to Indonesia. But they do not heed the warning, and pursue the hot stories to balibo. It is either their bravery or ideal jurnalism that took them to their fate, but other may see it as their ignorance or blatant stupidity. Rushing out to hotspot without a proper preparation.

Official inquire stated that they were killed in cross fire between the warring militia.

Maniaty has also warned roger east, 50 years old reuters reporter who was investigating the missing journalist, not to go to dili by himself. Few months later, roger east was also shot allegedly by indonesian troop at the dock of dili.

War always leave tragedy behind.. Bravery... and Heroism and countless victims.
Who was responsible ? Only God knows.

Who was responsible for iraqi highway to death ? Or cambodian killing field ? Only God knows. With all due respect to
all the balibo victims,
I think it is more romantic to tell a tale the death of a missionary. Such as nomensen in north sumatera, or stanley in papua or other missionaries true stories.

Balibo five leaving traumatic hardened uneasy feeling .

This movie is a must and great important subject for journalism student especially in preparing those who were assign to conflict hotspot of the world.

Read more >>
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five?wasRedirected=true or http://balibo.com/press

beware of internet addiction

2009-12-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

Internet addiction is contagious, it has spread all over the world like a wild fire.
Blogging or blogwalking or social networking in facebook, friendster or myspace has attracted millions of users.

Some people can not take their finger off the keyboard. And stay connected online always, day or night . ..

Facebook claims 350 millon users. The biggest social network on the planet.

Internet has become major popular hobby, past time activities or major occupation.
Uploading and downloading mp3, audio or video. Searching for free sofware, applications.. Social networking... Web camera or running internet marketing business.
And so many other fascinating things to do.

This is why it is important to keep watch and be alert if the internet virus has incubate in our own lives, endangered our live and our way of live or change our moral values. Do not be overpowered by the internet. You are the boss..

free pink panties giveaway

2009-12-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

Victoria's Secret is world leading women underwear with legion of beautiful hot sexy supermodels. They always have shocking marketing tricks.. To keep the already big lingerie market share.

Good news for Victoria's Secret fans... Your favourite lingerie store will give away free pink panties... But it is only available for pink registered member only.

According to our trusted source.. [ as if we have any ] they will also give away lingeries that is worn by the hottest Victoria Secret sexy model on the fashion show that night.. .

This may be attracting those guys that dreaming of dating those hot models... So get in line boys at the nearest VS stores.

Disclaimer: this article mean for solely entertainment purpose only, we are in no way associated or endorse Victoria's secret panties, lingerie or bra.

the best gifts

2009-12-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

Having trouble selecting that perfect gift for someone..? I just found a few suggestions to consider:

@ The gift of listening, no interupting, no planning your response, just listening, people love to have a good listener
@ The gift of affection, being generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, handshake and pats on the back
@ The gift of laughter, sharing funny stories and jokes, your gift will say:" I love you," we need a good laughter everyday, laughter is the best medicine.
@ The gift of written note, expressing in a brief handwritten note your appreciation or affection.
@ The gift of a compliment, sincerely saying "you look great today " or "you are special" can bring smile and warm heart to others.
Let us make the world a better place.. for you and for me, by sharing the best gifts today.

holiday season is here

2009-11-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays......
Time goes by.. Without realizing finally december is here again.. Favourite time of the year for most people. December... The last month of the year always associated with joyous holiday season of Christmas present and time of joy ... or .... party till you drop attitude for some people toward the new year's eve celebration.
It is a good time to reflect our life and look behind. And think of other less fortunate with the spirit of Christmas.
At the end of the year.. on new year's eve we realize more than at any other time in our lives that we can never go back in time.., we can look back and remember but we can not retrace a single moment of the year that is past.
On reflection or pondering, we may fear what the future will hold or we may think it will open a new hope or a new open door of opportunities.
We need not remain chained to our old memories and strive toward the future.
God faithful care will extend to every day of the new year.
I wish you all a Happy Holidays

internet addiction

2009-11-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

The word internet or world wide web captures our contemporary experience of life. Almost all people I met, either have internet connection or have try to connect to the internet. Most have personal computer or laptop or a regular visitor to internet cafe or rental shop. They connect to the internet regularly on daily basis.
We have become accessible 24 hours a day, and to day with a smartphone we can connect anywhere.. While riding a bus, in campus, on the beach, in the hotel lobby, airport.
Some psychologist see this craving to stay connected as an addiction.
So many benefits we can get from today information technologies through the internet. And the world seems getting smaller or faster in every aspect of life.
They are millions of people stay connected through personal blog, blogwalking, or social networking.
Off course internet also has some disadvantages as well, among other: people are drawn away from their actual social life, less interactive with their neighborhood, and may be less healthy life style.
Internet technology is good, as long as we are not overdoing it. Sometimes we need to turn off those internet and deliberately limiting the use of technology, and preserving our way of healthy life style physically and socially.
Turn of the PC or handphone for a time .. Let us take a walk in the wood, go get your bike do some exercises. Go fishing with your friends or whatever you prefer to do.. Back online in an hour or so.

my first blog

2009-11-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

seems to me that every one I met [these days] are having a blog or having a social network account, such as facebook or friendster, or building a blog at wordpress or blogspot and other domain that give free access to blogging. after giving a serious thought, i think i would join with the flow, so here i am ... why do not provide some of my time.. reading and writing a personal blogs or whatever opportunites comes in the future.

as a new beginner in this fascinating [?] world of blogging,, seriously I do not know what to do or to start with,,,, what kind of things should I write in this personal blog.... Things that i am familiar with

let me start with my hobby. I love rock music,,,, i love it loud and proud, so I might share my favourite rock band first... I love DEFF LEPPARD from UK.

<>Def Leppard are an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone.<>

Members:
Joe Elliott – lead vocals, additional guitars, keyboards (1977–present)
Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals (1982–present)
Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals (1992–present)
Rick Savage – bass, keyboards, additional guitars, backing vocals (1977–present)
Rick Allen – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1978–present)

<>Studio Albums :
1980 - On Through the Night
1981 - High 'n' Dry
1983 - Pyromania
1987 - Hysteria
1992 - Adrenalize
1996 - Slang
1999 - Euphoria
2002 - X
2006 - Yeah!
2008 - Songs from the Sparkle Lounge

Compilation Albums :
1993 - Retro Active
1995 - Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)
2004 - Best of Def Leppard
2005 - Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection

<>

And the other band is guns n roses the bad boys from the USA. Unfortunately due to sharp musical view differences between Axl rose and Slash this group has to be disbanded, sadly enough for millions of fans worldwide.
welcome to the jungle. As far as I concerned, the best album is appetite for destruction and their dvd welcome to the video.
Off course some other people love other groups or other line of music. That does not matter. Music is the heart of personal passion and choices... In fact i love all genre of music... My collection of mp3 has grown so much.. I need a new and bigger hard disc.
Music is my passion.. My life.