Inspirational

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ― Oscar Wilde

Friendship

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ― Elbert Hubbard

Wisdom

“ Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.” ― James Dean

Inner Beauty

“Boys think girls are like books, If the cover doesn't catch their eye they won't bother to read what's inside".” ― Marilyn Monroe

Relationship

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” ― Jess C. Scott, The Intern

Senin, 08 Juli 2013

Best Graduate's "Terrifying" Speech (by Erica Goldson)


Benarkah menjadi orang terpintar dengan nilai sempurna di kelas akan menjamin kita untuk menjadi sukses? Tidak. Berikut adalah pidato salah seorang wisudawan lulusan sebuah universitas di New York mengenai apa yang sebaiknya kita perlajari di dunia perkuliahan, bahwa kita tidak hanya harus menekuni mata kuliah yang diajarkan di universitas, melainkan kita juga mengembangkan kesenangan kita, hobi kita akan sesuatu yang bermanfaat, dan semua ilmu yang baik yang kita pelajari pasti akan bermanfaat nantinya, entah untuk diri kita sendiri, ataupun untuk orang lain.

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

by Erica Goldson
Here I stand
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years.” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast – How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”
This is the dilemma I’ve faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contend that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don’t do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not “to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. … Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim … is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States.”
To illustrate this idea, doesn’t it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking?” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn’t for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don’t have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can’t run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn’t have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let’s go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we’re smart enough to do so!

~~~~~~~~~~

Bagaimana? Pidato ini terbilang menyadarkan banyak mahasiswa yang seringkali berusaha mati-matian untuk mencapai peringkat tertinggi di kelas namun melupakan atau mengabaikan kesempatan lain yang juga bisa diraihnya di saat bersamaan. Nikmatilah hidup, ambillah keputusan yang dirasa tepat. Cheers!

Resep Ayam Saus Tiram Pedas

Pada saat bulan liburan gini, kebanyakan dari kita nggak tahu mau ngapain. Para social butterfly, sibuk gaul di social media, update status, berusaha ngetweet yang menarik supaya di RT orang, upload foto instagram berharap supaya dilike orang atau sekedar nambah followers. Traveller, sibuk ngebolang, nyasar sana sini tapi tetap bahagia. Aktivis, sibuk organisasi, mondar mandir sana sini buat rapat. Jomblo? Sibuk di depan laptop, nonton video nggak jelas, mantengin status orang, mantengin timeline, sekalinya update status? galau.

Kamu masuk di kategori mana? Nah, kalau saya sih daripada bosen, liburan gini buat eksperimen masakan. Contohnya Ayam Saus Tiram Pedas yang barusan saya bikin. Kalau penasaran, yuk dilihat resepnya:

Bahan utama:
1 Dada Ayam - Potong dadu ukuran sedang
1 Bawang Bombay - Iris tipis
3 Bawang Putih - Cincang halus
5 Cabai Merah atau Cabai Hijau - Iris memanjang

Bumbu:
Garam
Lada
Saus Tiram
Saus Sambal/Saus Tomat (sesuai selera)
Kecap Manis
Gula (Optional)

Nah, cara membuatnya:
Pertama, panaskan sekitar 5 sendok makan minyak goreng. Masukkan bawang bombay dan bawang putih, oseng-oseng sampai harum, lalu masukkan cabai, oseng-oseng sebentar.
Kedua, masukkan potongan dada ayam, aduk-aduk rata. Kemudian masukkan garam, lada, saus tiram, saus sambal/saus tomat, dan 1 sendok teh gula. Aduk-aduk kembali sampai setengah matang. Setelah itu tambahkan kecap manis sesuai selera (terkadang ada yang merasa tidak perlu kecap manis setelah ditambahkan gula tadi, ada juga yang sebaliknya. Tujuan ditambahkan kecap manis adalah supaya manisnya meresap ke dalam ayam dan supaya warnanya coklat menggugah selera)
Tambahkan sedikit air supaya bumbunya lebih meresap dan masakannya tidak kering. Setelah matang, angkat deh

Selamat mencoba :D Bila ada pertanyaan, silakan bertanya.

Rabu, 01 Mei 2013

Scam or Not?

Do you believe this kind of email? I don't know, I'm kind of unbelieving it. Let me tell you what kind of email is that:

After received that kind of email, I replied (and he replied back):



And then I replied again (and he replied back again):


Should I believe it? Well, that kind of money.....

Maybe you also got this kind of email?

Let me know what you think ;)


Senin, 15 April 2013

Belajar Coding Menyenangkan Melalui Internet

Coding itu susah? Relatif sih. Tapi Coding itu cuma buat para programmer genius yang nerd dan anti-sosial? Siapa bilang? Siapapun bisa belajar coding. 

Sekarang sudah banyak website yang menyediakan pelatihan coding yang fun dan interesting. Banyak masalah yang bisa diselesaikan dengan coding, seperti men-sort antiran, menghitung prioritas, sampai membuat software yang bisa membantu orang banyak. Jika Anda menganggap coding itu susah, membingungkan, dan membosankan, atau bagi yang sudah jago dan passion dalam coding, Anda bisa mencoba salah satu website yang menyediakan layanan belajar coding, namanya codeacademy.com.

                                

Bekerja sama dengan code.org yang menyediakan website-website untuk latihan coding, codeacademy, Anda akan diajari cara membuat code from scratch. Jangan khawatir juga Anda belum mengerti istilah-istilahnya, karena ada penjelasan yang mudah dimengerti di setiap exercise. Selain itu, codeacademy membuat coding menjadi fun dan tidak membosankan, karena setiap Anda menulis suatu kode, hasil dari code Anda akan segera tampil di layar kanan. Tidak perlu takut codingan Anda salah, karena codeacademy juga melakukan auto-corrector yang akan memberi tahu dimana kesalahan Anda. Berikut tampilan layar exercise:

Latihan membuat table dalam HTML
Beberapa bahasa pemrograman yang ada di codeacademy

Codeacademy juga menyediakan berbagai macam bahasa pemrograman lengkap dengan exercises dan Quizzes yang bebas Anda pilih. Dari mulai HTML, Java, PHP, sampai Phyton, dan lain-lain. Berikut tampilan pilihan bahasa pemrogramannya dan exercisesnya:
latihan-latihan di dalam pilihan bahasa HTML dan CSS











Jika Anda sudah ahli dalam bidang pemrograman, Anda juga bisa menggunakan menu Teach, dimana Anda bisa membuat latihan untuk kemudian dimasukkan ke codeacademy dan bisa dikerjakan oleh orang banyak. Berbagi ilmu itu hebat! Berikut tampilannya:

Anda bisa membuat course baru












Tidak peduli apa pekerjaan Anda, apa status Anda, apa jurusan perkuliahan Anda, everybody can learn how to code, because they will learn how to think. Bagi Anda yang punya waktu luang dan ingin mencoba belajar hal baru atau sekedar mengasah kemampuan Anda bagi yang sudah pernah belajar pemrograman, codeacademy adalah website yang cocok karena Anda bisa mengerjakannya dimanapun selama mendapatkan akses internet. Selamat mencoba!

16 April 2013

Senin, 25 Maret 2013

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins


Review of Book Two in The Hunger Games Trilogy


The 74th annual Hunger Games has ended and the victory belongs to Katniss and Peeta. Despite the excitement and celebration of District 12 there is an underlying feeling that the Capitol will find a way to curtail any threat of rebellion. Katniss knows her defiance has lit the kindling of something greater than herself and she is ever alert and anxious about her surroundings.

Katniss returns home to find her relationships with Peeta and Gale strained and confusing. She is trapped between wanting her independence and submitting to her status as the symbol of a rebellion. To further complicate her life, Katniss receives an unexpected visit from President Snow who advises Katniss to calm the uprising. He issues thinly disguised threats warning her that if she cannot stop the rapidly growing revolution, then those she loves most will be killed.
Sixteen-year- old Katniss must now decide if she’s willing to lead an uprising against the oppressive, volatile, and dangerous Capitol or continue a charade that would require her to marry Peeta and for the remainder of her life worry about the threat of the Capitol. Although she wants to run away, Katniss ultimately decides to protect her loved ones by becoming engaged to Peeta and continuing on with the victory tour. Despite her attempts to appease the Capitol, she is unable to stop the districts’ increasing demonstrations of rebellion.
In a surprising change of events, the Capitol announces that for the 75th annual Hunger Games, there will be a reuniting of past victors. Once again Katniss and Peeta are thrown back into the arena where they must fight to the death, and this time their defiance will not be in question.
Catching Fire sets the stage for a major uprising against the Capitol and solidifies Katniss’s role as the symbol of the rebellion - as mocking jay. In this second installment of the exciting series, readers will finally learn more about the twisted plots of the Capitol, understand the mystery of District 13, and see a clear development of a love triangle.

Sabtu, 26 Januari 2013

Resep Bubur Putih Polos

Well, mungkin beberapa orang berpikir, "Plis banget ngepost resep bikin bubur putih" tapi saya yakin ada orang di luar sana yang nasibnya sama dengan saya, yakni tidak tahu cara membuat bubur putih sampai akhirnya googling -__-
Saya harap resep ini bisa berguna, terutama buat yang hidup sendiri (hiks) atau anak kuliahan yang tinggal jauh dari rumah. Resep ini saya praktikan sewaktu saya sakit, berhubung saya kuliah jauh dari rumah (ngontrak) jadi saya harus bisa merawat diri sendiri, jadilah bikin bubur sendiri. Berikut resep bubur putih polos yang mudah dan enak:


ini buburnya ditambah irisan daging ayam dan
taburan daun bawang
Bahan Utama:
- Beras, cuci bersih.
- Garam
- Daun Salam (optional)
- Air Matang, perbandingan sekitar 1 : 3 dengan beras (misalnya berasnya 1 gelas, airnya 3 sampai 4 gelas)

Cara Membuat:
- Tuangkan air matang dan beras secara bersamaan, setelah mendidih, tambahkan garam dan daun salam. Fungsi daun salam disini adalah supaya buburnya harum dan menggoda selera. Sedangkan bagi yang ingin buburnya tawar bisa tidak memasukkan garam.
- Aduk terus sampai mengental seperti bubur yang biasa dijual abang-abang bubur ayam :D
- Sudah jadi! Selebihnya bisa tambahkan sesuai selera.

*hati-hati kalau kebanyakan air nanti terlalu encer, kalau kurang air (tinggal tambahin air sampai kira-kira pas) nanti tidak bisa jadi bubur. Dan kalau buburnya tidak diaduk terus selama memasak, nanti jadi berkerak di bagian bawah panci

Gampang kan? Gampang kan? walaupun kepala sedang pusing dan nggak ada orang dirumah, Anda bisa bikin bubur sendiri. Rasanya nggak aneh-aneh jadi lidah orang sakit bisa menerimanya :D
Semangat mandiri!