The Monochromicon

Played: Metal Gear Solid 4

2008-08-31T23:37:00.008-06:00

Now that my no kill, no alert first attempt is finished, I can give this game a proper review.

"I'm no hero. Never was, never will be."

The quote from Old Snake gave me a great impression of his character. This is Solid Snake's final mission, or rather, (Solid subtracted by is) Old Snake's... This game is truly epic, with 5 Acts to go through and a whole lot of cinematic cut scene to bring conclusion to Snake's saga.

The controls have been refined too... Now you can execute a lot more moves compared to previous installments of Metal Gear Solid. The most useful improvement is the crawl stance, so no more position adjusting from crouch to be able to crawl in the correct place. Another major change is the over-the-shoulder shooting camera. The shooting part now is more like a first person shooter.

Another new feature is the Solid Eye system. Radar, night vision + thermal imaging, and target identification device all in a monocle. And also OctoCamo, the new camouflage system that can mimic the texture and color of the environment. Not to forget the threat ring that shows the presence of enemy in the vicinity. All these features help a lot in the sneaking part of the game, but also change the usual way of playing the game.

Continuing to the arsenal. Now Snake can choose from 69 different firearms in the game. Each with a slightly different handling to suit the shooting needs of the player. The firearms now fall into several categories: handgun, submachinegun, rifle, other firearms, and explosives. This vast arsenal gives player freedom on how to dispatch the enemy in Rambo way, hahaha...

I won't spoil the story in here, but it can be viewed as the closure of Solid Snake's journey and also, another characters'. There are several questions unanswered though, for the enthusiast. But for most of the player who follows the Solid Snake saga, this game gives a pretty good sense of completion.

Oh and for all the completionists, this game gives you tough 40 emblems that can be gained by completing several conditions throughout your play. From wickedly hard Big Boss Emblem, to the patience-needing Chicken Emblem. So this game will keep you entertained during all the replay to get all 40 emblems. And it's not without any benefit, once you get all 40, you'll be rewarded with some items.

All in all, this is the must played game of PS3 right now. And to end this review, let me write down Snake's monologue on the beginning of the game.

"War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies, or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles fought by mercenaries and machines. War -and its consumption of life- has become a well-oiled machine."

"War has changed. ID-tagged soldiers carry ID-tagged weapons, use ID-tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control. Information control. Emotion control. Battlefield control. Everything is monitored and kept under control."

"War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of control... All in the name of averting catastrophe from weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the battlefield... Controls history."

"War has changed. When the battlefield is under total control... ...War becomes routine."

The Dark Knight (2008)

2008-08-02T21:21:00.012-06:00

"Why so serious?"

Perhaps that's the most popular line of this movie. And it represents the presence of the character Joker in this installment of Batman. Heath Ledger surely plays the best Joker I've ever seen. It's dark, gritting, satire, and insane at the same time. It makes me realize how big our loss when Heath Ledger died...

Story wise, it's just another Batman movie. Christian Bale, as good as ever, plays a suitably new take on Batman in this version of the tale. This time, Batman must face Joker -his nemesis- with a new vision of Joker and his whole villainy. The movie starts with daytime Gotham (pretty much rare on a Batman movie), and a superb introduction to how maniac Joker is this time. And then the story moves fast to showcase the battle between Batman and Joker. And when I thought the movie was over, I'm up to some surprise. There's actually a whole arc after the capture of Joker! All in all, this movie is so satisfying...

Ever wonder why The Dark Knight is taken as the title? It all begins with the simple quote from Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
And this time, Batman was set up by Joker to become the villain of Gotham; by demanding Batman to reveal his identity or Joker will kill someone every day Batman avoid to do so.

All in all, this is a must see movie, with the best Joker -hands down- so far.

First Road Trip

2008-07-21T23:03:00.003-06:00

Here's the picture of my first road trip, to Mt. Rushmore (and Devil's Tower before that). And now for the story part. This was my first ever real road trip in the States. From Wyoming through northeast, stopping by Devil's Tower, and into South Dakota we went. Devil's Tower is the first national monument of USA, so it's pretty much historical... rock (well, it's only a textured cool rock anyway). Next stop would be Deadwood (like the HBO series), where we spent a night in KOA cabin.

Seriously, it's pretty much a small cabin, and fitting 4 people on bunk bed and queen-sized bed is gonna be quite a challenge. And (considering it's a campground) the wireless internet, wait, did I say wireless internet on a campground? Yes it was my friend... Well, I guess you can still check your e-mail even during your camping time.

After checking the cabin, it's time to sightseeing! Deadwood is an old west town, with casinos along the downtown street. And we're just in time to catch on a street performance. It's about some wild west story, so there were actors wearing wild west style outfits, shooting blank rounds around, and getting tourists (that's including us) attraction. But all of that commotion along the main street of downtown was just a teaser for a theatrical show, $5 if you want to see the continuation... Let's talk about something else I noticed there, the casinos. There's sure a lot of casinos in this small town. Tried my luck on the slots machine, seems like I already ran out of my beginner's luck. Pretty good $5 worth of fun though...

The next day is Mt. Rushmore... To be honest, it's not as big as I imagined. All those Hollywood movies with Mt. Rushmore as the setting? Truly great camera positioning. Oh, and the lake behind Mt. Rushmore featured in National Treasure 2? It's like several miles back of the carved faces. All in all, it's a great exercise following the trail circling in front of the four American presidents. That done, we're back home through mountain trail.

Now the mountain trail was exciting. It appears that the road in this trail was already there for a long time... Wooden support on the bridge, one car only short tunnels (so you need to honk your klaxon upon entering/exiting the tunnel), and twisting roads. It wasn't the road trip feeling I usually have, this was more like mountain trails back home... After the exciting mountain snaking experience, it's just the boring open road of America. Good old open road, now I only need some country music (and if possible a convertible car, hahaha...) and it's gonna be just like movies.

Now for the thriller part, around two or three hours of my driving... *eerie music cue* It's my first experience driving in American highway; giving the nature of my driving and the long empty open road of the highway, it's a perfect yet scary combination. A combination of me speeding up and my friends reminding me to slow down. Apparently, the fact that the car driven in 80+ mph was scary for them (and hey, my hand is pretty much so stiff when I drove at that speed). And not to mention several slight wavering I need to do because of the traffic condition. That might be screaming, "Don't let Nico drive on the highway anymore next time." Hahaha...

But all in all, we're arrived home safely and I can still type this. So it's not that bad right? (My driving I mean)

Official New VAIO Annoucement

2008-07-15T08:01:00.004-06:00

Sony finally reveals the new lineup of VAIO notebooks. They are scheduled to be shipped on August. The new series are Z, SR, and FW (as in my previous post). All of them sport new Montevina chips from Intel (called Centrino 2), the P series, with less power envelope, thus promising far better battery life. And of course, all of them bear the stunning VAIO design, the theme right now is the TZ-series-style hinge, on the left side of the hinge is the AC adaptor port, on the right side is the power button. This design was widely known first on TZ series, but the first VAIO that used it (if my memory serves me well) is the X505, superthin, supersexy and superexpensive VAIO. And also for the 16:9 screen ratio laptops, Blu-ray is a great specs, too... Now I'll show you all three new series of VAIO.

Z series are 13.1" ultra-portable (more like thin-and-light to me) laptops with LED back-lighted screen and 16:9 screen ratio (1366X768 or 1600X900). This baby is my current favourite and now is topping my wish list, hahaha... Other specifications are hybrid graphics card (nVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS and internal Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD) that can be switched on the fly (for more graphics power or more battery efficiency), HDMI output, and only 2 USB ports. The design itself is a bit plain, save for the cool hinge.

The next is SR series (another recycled series of VAIO), 13.3" thin-and-light with LED screen too, but a usual 1280X800 16:10 screen ratio. This thing is like SZ and CR both combined, design and specifications wise. Available in 3 colours, black, silver, and pink. Pretty in pink for you ladies, eh? Anyway, on to specs, no HDMI on this one, only 2 USB ports (again?), and options to upgrade on the video card to an ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470. The design is pretty much the same as Z series, save for 16:10 usual screen ratio. The other feature this series has is several modes of usage, you can assign different desktop wallpaper and different shortcut icons on to one of the three available preset button; supposedly for work, home, and play.

On to the final series, the big gun, FW series. 16:9 screen ratio, 16.4" display, 1600X900 resolution. This thing is huge, a bit wider than FZ series, thanks to the 16:9 screen ratio, but it only weighs a bit more. Available in 2 colours, white (pearl finished) and titanium silver. HDMI port, 3 USB ports (nice), and dedicated media keys. The media keys are not touch-sensitive as most nowadays laptops do. But I don't fancy touch-sensitive buttons that much, they are easy to be mistakenly pressed; just a brush of my finger can make my intense gaming session to a media player window, that's annoying. The best thing about this series is the design, wave inspired as Sony stated. Why does Sony always make the cool design on the big laptops? My old A series also has a very cool design, a dealbreaker for me. But since it's so heavy (about 8 lbs for a 15.4" laptop), it's a chore to lug that around. It's very cool, though. One of the best laptop design I've ever seen.

All in all, these laptops are very sexy, even though you need to pay premium tag on these (as every VAIO does). The price for Z series start at USD1799.99, SR series start at USD1399.99, and FW start at USD1059.99. My personal favourite is the Z series. However, the unique wave design of FW series is also compelling to my taste. Any suggestions?

(Credit: sonystyle)

Final Fantasy XIII to X360, My Hope for Square-Enix

2008-07-14T22:50:00.003-06:00

E3 news! A BIG news actually.

Square Enix stated that Final Fantasy XIII will be developed also on X360. And both the PS3 and X360 versions will be launched at the same time! Another slick move by Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft). The last time Sony PSone emerging as a new standard in gaming industry, Squaresoft also ditched Nintendo for PSone. Well right now it's Sony's turn to be ditched, obviously this move is purely business. X360 outshine PS3 sales in US and Europe, thus having a higher potential buyers.

I just hope that this multi-platform change of Final Fantasy XIII doesn't reduce the quality of the game. So far when I see the comparison of multi-platform games, X360 always has the advantage, and it appears that's because X360 programming is much easier than PS3. That's why several visual quality are compromised when it comes to multi-platform games, and usually PS3 is on the losing end because PS3 architecture is much more harder to utilize.
We can just look at Metal Gear Solid 4 as an example. This Konami game is developed with PS3 technology in mind, so it utilizes most of the potency in PS3 bulkier specs. The result? One of the most beautiful game visual ever made. Almost the same of those high-end PC game visual quality.
Now let's see multi-platform games like Grand Theft Auto or alike. It designed with both technology in mind, so tapping all the PS3 power would result on a more complicated development (since X360 architecture is way different). Usually (at least I suspect it will be like that), the PS3 counterpart will not utilize all of the machine's powers, so that both visual quality won't be much different and everyone will be happy (the game developer won't build the same game from scratch, the game console makers won't be complaining because of the game difference, and the gamers would be happy to play the -almost- same game in their owned console). Ahh, politics... But this thing is usually puts PS3 on the losing end, as X360 is already optimized for that performance while PS3 suffers from partial usage of the power.

After all of that rants, my real hope for Square-Enix is to develop the best quality they can achieve on both console, not sacrificing PS3 because of the multi-platform decision. Well, right now I have both PS3 and X360, so this multi-platform thing isn't going to make any major difference. However, I would like to see the best RPG game (visually) as Square Enix usually delivers. I know that J-RPGs are not all about visuals, usually they have a very compelling story. but since we're in the middle of a next-gen visual quality war (PC and console alike), it won't hurt to get a better eye candy for all of the money we spent on buying the consoles.

Well, that was just my two cents.

Played: Assassin's Creed

2008-07-11T23:11:00.006-06:00

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted"

That was the most memorable quote during my whole playing experience. To sum this game up, it's stunning.

Let's start with the story and character first, shall we. The protagonist (that means you) is Altair ibn La-Ahad (Altair/Flying Eagle, son of none), at least that was what the trailers and previews show you. But surprisingly, the plot twist is presented right in the beginning of the game, you are not Altair, instead you are his descendant (like almost-a-millenium-after kind of descendant), named Desmond Miles. How the hell did the trailers show Altair? The answer is that he needs to revisit his ancestor memory, stored deep inside his DNA, through a contraption named Animus. Relive Altair the Assassin as he kills 9 of historical figures during the Crusade War (all 9 were missing during the actual history), all because he broke the Assassin's Creed in the beginning portion of the game. And Al-Mualim, the leader of Assassins, ordered Altair to assassinate those 9 figures to regain his ranks as Assassin. I don't want to give you a spoiler (in case you haven't play this yet, considering it's a pretty old game now), but the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory. After I watch the credit rolls it's almost like the game isn't over yet. I can still use the Animus, I can still do everything as Altair. No sense of completion, at all.

Then comes the gameplay. I must say it's unique, mostly because of the Animus usage. So instead of life/health bar, you have DNA synchronization bar. So unlike other action game where you can take a lethal blow and only punished with small reduce in the life/health bar; in Assassin's Creed, everytime you get a lethal blow (and your sync bar is still filled), Altair will block that blow and your sync bar will be reduced, when your sync bar is gone, Altair cannot block and he simply will die if a lethal blow landed on him. Nice concept and execution. Then the button configuration, it's pretty new too, all face buttons are used to control certain part of Altair's body, (since I played the X360 version):

X is for head, it will be contextual that X can be used to listen, see, or the cool stuff, Eagle Vision.
Y is for your weapon hand, it's used mainly to attack; and press RT while locking on a target it will be counter, the most devastating move in Assassin's Creed (you must time it right, though).
A is for your off hand, you can use it to push gently the other person while you walking in the crowd; or press it with RT (high profile button), and you will grab and throw someone; press it while you running, you will tackle everything in front of you (a la football player).
B is for your legs, press it and you will move at slower pace while mimicking a scholar, it can be used to fool the guards; as for pressing it while in high profile, you will enter free run mode, acrobatics movements and all based on your surrounding. Personally I like doing parkour in the towns, hahaha...

Visual wise, this game do it with style. Great job on creating bustling middle eastern towns, even though there are only 4 towns in the whole game. Character animations are pretty much great, but most the townpeoples are pretty much made by several models, so you'll find a lot of look-a-like citizens. My only complaint is the jagged edges on the shadows of some objects. However given the sheer beauty and artistic feel of the whole game, I can forgive that easily.
For the music and sound department, there's not much music in this game, only when you face do battle, but I like that music very much, give you the urge to kill all the guards, hahaha... The ambient sounds played during your normal, peaceful gameplay is great. You only hear what you need to hear, like the crying for help of the citizens, the speech of some public speaker, and (I don't like this one) beggars that asking you for money. But still the whole crowd effect (a lot of chatter and shouting) is still there, and the developer did a great job emphasizing some sounds.

For the replay value, personally I don't think there's that much of replay value. There's no selection of difficulty level and there's no extra content after you beat the game (even though the ending's a bit off). Well, maybe collecting all the flags, scaling all the viewpoints, and killing all the Templars will sound great for some people; but for me it's not that significant, it has no effect on the whole story after all. But playing highly artistic game like this, you'll want to do the game again even though you know what to do in the whole game, what route should you took, how you should approach the assassination target, etc. Believe me, Shadow of Colossus was also not a very replayable game, but I still play it countless time just to admire the colossi and the environment.

All in all, this game is a great experience. From the artistically stunning visual to the nice concept of gameplay. I can easily recommend playing this game...
There's one that bugging me throughout the whole game though, why can Altair chit-chat with the freshly assassinated target? I know it's for the story sake. But still, a 5 minutes chat with the near-dead people and no guards attacking you? And soon after you leave the ethereal realm where you chat with the deceased, all the guards will swarm on you. That's just a bit off, is Altair a telepathic that can speak all those nonsense with his target just for a split second? I dunno.

First 4th of July

2008-07-04T23:53:00.010-06:00

Here I am, in my first 4th of July celebration. Even though Laramie is a pretty small town, still it's very lively when it comes to 4th of July.

It all started with some kind of festival in Washington Park, free ice cream and watermelon and of course the classic car show (my main driving force). Well here's two stars of the show, '34 Mercedes 500K Roadster and my personal favourite, '65 Ford Mustang.

Then comes the main attraction of every 4th of July. You guessed right, the fireworks! It's pretty much grand considering the size of Laramie, and if you compare it to the fireworks at home, way better here, hahaha... Here's some sample pictures.

Take: PlayStation 3 Firmware v2.40

2008-07-02T12:00:00.011-06:00

Check your PlayStation 3 now guys and gals, because Firmware v2.40 is now released!

New features added are in-game XMB (XrossMediaBar), so long for waiting this, eh? Finally we can do the same thing as in XBOX360. It's been annoying for quite some time that I can't even check the clock when I played my PlayStation 3, is that supposed to make forget how long I've been playing?
However, I got a minor problem with the clock placement. See, when you push the PS button in the controller, the controller number and battery level of the controller is displayed on the top right corner of the screen. Guess where the date and time displayed? You guessed right, top right corner of the screen... Is that dumb or what? Will the programmer please not to put overlapping images on the same part of the screen? I know that the controller number and battery level should fade out after a second or two, but hey, should've put that date and time somewhere else, like in the top left maybe.

Another update is that now you can use your own music to replace the game soundtrack. Personally I don't care about this one, several games do have their own music to create the perfect atmosphere for playing the game. And believe me, you don't want your a cheesy song played during an intense boss fight, right?

Continue on, is the trophy system. Much like achievement system in XBOX360. I don't care that much about this one, after all, what a high number of trophy/gamerscore proves? That you're a total nerd who want to find every achievement in a game? I'll pass that out gladly, hahaha... However, I heard rumour that this trophy thing is going to be a cool stuff in the unreleased PlayStation Home. So I guess I can collect some trophy to be placed in my virtual living room, eh? Too bad that this trophy system is not yet available to the current game library, the game developers need to put new patches soon.

All in all, this update is pretty much make the PS3 look like X360. I can't wait to see the PlayStation Home next, the cool Second-Life-esque (or you can say The Sims) avatar system of PS3. Hopefully it will be released by the end of summer *crossing fingers*.

New VAIO

2008-06-30T21:21:00.000-06:00

The rumour of a new VAIOs lineup has been emerging quite lately in the internet. And my old self as a Sony fanboy urge to post about this, hahaha...

Depicted in the right is the image of Sony VAIO FW (Credit: Crave), said to be leaked from Circuit City website. The new lineup will be FW series, 16:9 screen ratio mainstream laptop (just like the new 16" Acer laptop); SR series, quite possibly successor of SZ series (which is a bit old by now), 13" thin and light with normal 16:10 screen ratio; and (going to be) my personal favourite, Z series (seriously, Sony shouldn't recycling old series code, SR and now Z), 13" thin and light with 16:9 screen ratio. All of the new VAIO will sport Intel's new Centrino 2 (codename Montevina) and ATI graphics chip.

If this rumour turns out to be true, I got myself a new number one in my wish list, VAIO Z, hahaha...

Espana

2008-06-29T15:56:00.005-06:00

The grand stage of Euro 2008 is over, and Espana beats Deutschland in the final... They was the better team during the whole game, so even though I was rooting for Germany, it was not that bad to admit defeat. Spain won the tournament in style, unbeaten during the whole tourney, matching France's record.

Felicidades, Espana!

Hands On: Metal Gear Solid 4

2008-06-28T11:32:00.001-06:00

Finally, the game I've been looking forward to... Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

First impression, it's taking the cutscene game genre to the next level. The first 30 minutes of the game is like 25 minutes of cutscene and 5 minutes of gameplay. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it much. Stunning visuals, excellent voice acting (David Hayter even manage to change his voice into a deeper, older version of snake), and great characters, old and new (personally I like the coolness of Drebin 893).

I'll update the report once I finish Act 1, Liquid Sun.

Hands On: Final Fantasy Tactics A2

2008-06-24T21:21:00.014-06:00

Ivalice... Now a major setting in the Final Fantasy universe. This time, it's the parallel world concept first known in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The main character is Luso Clemens, teleported into Ivalice by the means of a mysterious journal.

The first time I pick this game up, it's so hard to put down. Maybe it's because of the genre, I always fond of strategy games, especially the one where you can change jobs. The battle can last up to 1 hour, and yet I always said, "one more quest and it's done". This thing is highly addictive to me, so bad that I'm starting to think to postpone playing this, can I? Hahaha...

Walk In The Park

2008-06-15T00:53:00.011-06:00

Well, today (yesterday, technically) we went to Rocky Mountain National Park.

To be honest, at first I'm not that interested to go to the national parks. I'm not a very nature-loving person after all (more like game-loving, lol)... I'm looking forward to the shopping part in somewhere around Fort Collins instead. But after I set my foot (or to be precise, car) in the vicinity of the national park, I knew immediately that this is something I'm going to love. And it's true...

We passed snaking road through canyon (snaking, like in Mario Kart DS, hahaha) to reach Estes Park, nearest town to the national park. The town was pretty much like Batu or Trawas in Indonesia (as Matt pointed out), but this one is much more developed. Well, practically most of the thing in here is more developed... After Estes Park, here come the Rocky Mountains National Park. Well, this is my first time to any national park, so it's a unique experience. First of all, it's huge (really huge). And then you can traverse the park with car (or rather you must, because the park covers a whole lot of ground). There are several conveniently placed stopping spot to pull over the car and enjoying the scenery (and photo sessions too). And they also have several mountain trails for hikers, you just need to park your car on the parking lot and start hiking through the trails. All in all, if you want to see everyplace, try to hike every trail, you might need a whole week to do so.

We spent nearly 4 hours inside the national park, stopping every other time to admire the scenery (and took pictures, of course), and yet I think we only covered less than 5% of the whole park. Our starving stomach limited our travel inside the park, it's demanding to be filled, thus we went back to Estes Park to grab some food. And luckily, on our way back, we saw three elks laying around the trees. I was able to took several close-up pictures of the elks. And I also found a flowering cactus, a sign of luck, hahaha...

Netherlands Rules!

2008-06-13T14:36:00.005-06:00

Speechless and amazed! Netherlands beat Italy, and now they beat France, 3 - 0 and 4 - 1 consecutively. I can't even imagine this, two of the world's best teams has been taken down, and with huge score margin! Netherlands sure is on fire in Euro 2008. Let's hope this will last until the end.

I love watched the Dutch play, their attack is so strong, wave after wave of attacks torrent the opposition's defense. And yet they cannot defend, in my opinion, their defenders are so poor that it can be ignored, hahaha... But they have one of the best goalie (even though he's pretty old now), van der Sar. Countless has he saved dangerous shots for Dutch. That's the goodness in watching Dutch, you'll be treated with relentless attacks, because they cannot simply sit idle after making one or two goals, they keep attacking. Fun and entertaining matches.

In the end, Oranje FTW!

Old Snake

2008-06-12T00:00:00.003-06:00

This is a tribute to the legendary hero, Solid Snake.

His last game, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, is out today. This is practically the most awaited game for me right now, and one of the main reasons I bought a Playstation 3. I just can't wait to buy this one and play it. But I still have Assassin's Creed to finish, oh well, too bad I can't play it right away...

...but that was when I rule the world

2008-06-03T16:56:00.003-06:00

Hear this song, feel the majesty of the song...

What would you think the lyrics mean?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
be my mirror, my sword, and shield

my missionaries in the foreign field
for some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
never an honest word
but that was when I rule the world

(Credit: MTV)

100 Tahun Hari Kebangkitan Nasional

2008-05-20T00:00:00.002-06:00

Aku adalah seorang reformis.

Aku berjuang untuk perubahan; perubahan ke arah yang lebih baik.
Aku berjuang demi negaraku, bangsaku; agar negaraku, bangsaku semakin maju.
Aku berjuang bukan untuk kepentingan pribadi; melainkan untuk kepentingan bersama.

Perubahan demi perubahan telah kuprakarsai.
Negaraku terus berusaha kuperbaiki.
Kepentingan bersama selalu kujunjung tinggi.

Namun apa yang terjadi.

Mengapa perubahan ini tidak kunjung juga menunjukkan hasil yang baik?
Mengapa negara ini tetap saja kesusahan untuk menjadi negara maju?
Mengapa tetap saja banyak orang yang mementingkan diri mereka?

Aku terus memprotes kebijakan yang tidak sesuai dengan visiku selama ini.
Kebijakan yang tidak membawa negara ini untuk maju.
Kebijakan yang didasarkan kepentingan pribadi atau golongan.

Aku terus memprotes dan memprotes, perubahan telah banyak terjadi.

Tapi tetap saja tidak sesuai dengan harapanku selama ini.
Aku masih belum terpuaskan meskipun beberapa kemajuan sudah tercapai di negaraku.
Tetap saja ada hal yang kurang.

Aku adalah seorang reformis.

Benarkah itu? Apakah aku benar-benar setuju dengan semua perubahan ini.
Perubahan yang terjadi dalam waktu yang singkat dan terus berlanjut.
Terus berlanjut tanpa tujuan yang jelas.

Tapi itu bukanlah hal yang penting, karena aku adalah seorang reformis.
Itu adalah dasar perjuanganku selama ini, satu-satunya hal yang harus kupertahankan, harus.
Harga diriku tidak membolehkan perubahan ini untuk dipertanyakan.

Karena aku adalah yang memutuskan hal ini, diriku sendiri.
Mana mungkin aku mempertanyakan hal yang selama ini sudah menjadi keyakinanku?
Aku harus terus menjalankan perjuangan ini, demi kebaikan bersama.

Ataukah ini hanya harga diriku? Apakah ini adalah kepentinganku sendiri?
Aku tidak bisa terus mempertanyakan hal ini, aku masih mempunyai harapan, harapanku.
Bahwa negara ini akan berubah terus dan kemajuan adalah hasil akhirnya.

Aku adalah seorang reformis... Benarkah?

- monolog untuk 100 tahun Hari Kebangkitan Nasional

Battle of the Davids

2008-05-14T20:58:00.006-06:00

Finally, the final two of American Idol are the Davids! They both have great vocal qualities, Archuleta is all-rounder singer, Cook is a very original artist. But personally, I'm rooting for David Cook. "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" he sang at the top three gave me up, don't you agree?

Go David Cook!

AXIS scam

2008-05-12T18:38:00.007-06:00

It has come to my attention now that my family also got hold of this rumor and they're also pretty scared of it. Not so long ago, this is a hot issue back in my home country. Somebody spread a rumor that the new Indonesian cellular network provider, AXIS is a supporter of the satanic church (some other version of the rumor is that AXIS a supporter for terrorist based in Middle East). Not so long, the rumor expands to the Christian community, and the added content is that if you pick up any call from unknown number started with 0866 or 0666 you'll die.

So first thing first, it's a rumor, don't trust it. It's possibly a black campaign directed to the new provider (btw, I'm not in a way or another affiliated with AXIS, except that the employees and me are of the same nationality, hahaha...).

So all of you who wants to protest me, hold your horses. How can I claim that this is a mere rumor? First rule of identifying a rumor, it comes in many flavours, no exception on this one, there's several version of the rumor spreading. And if you need more explanation, allow me to explain with my limited knowledge (boosted with the help of Google and Wikipedia, every student best friends).

About the affiliation between AXIS and satanic church or terrorist organization. We have no explicit evidence of this is not true, neither we have any that confirm these (at least that's what Google gave me). So any statement made with no explicit evidence to back it up is not valid (as every CSI fans should know). Leave me any link in the comment if you want to oppose this point.
Now on to the exciting and scary part altogether, pick up a call and you'll die. To elaborate this point, let me give you a background story. Several years ago (I forgot the exact time), there is a lot of battery recall by the electronic manufacturers. This recall is not for granted, they made some production error, in which some of the batteries are punctured or not in a good, sealed cells. This kind of damage is only happens on the Lithium battery (Li-ion and Li-PO/polymer). When a punctured battery is exposed to a certain heat level, it may explode (I'm too lazy to explain the chemical reaction, or rather I'm not able to, hahaha...). And depending on the cells in the battery, the explosion might lead to a chain reaction, bursting each cell with more intensity on each explosion. This thing is -at least in my view- the one who started the whole rumor. There is several occasion that this explosion happens when you use your phone and it builds up heat during your call and eventually the battery explode right in your hand (possibly burning your cheek also), but I haven't heard any fatality (feel free to fill me up on this one). But that possibility is astronomically low nowadays, that issue has been fixed for a few years. Now on to the rumor, you pick up a call and you die. In what way? Explosion? As I explain before, the battery need to be exposed to a certain heat level, so unless you pick up your cell phone after you bake it in an oven, you won't find your cell phone explode right in your cheek. The moral of the story is, don't make a phone call so long that your battery -and your ear- heated up pretty bad (and so does charging).
The least important rumor for me is the number part, 0866, 0666. Why is the one who start the rumor always use the -so called- devil's number? If you wiki it, designated prefix for cell phone number in Indonesia is only, I repeat only, 08, so 06 is a fake number, big fake if I may add. About the 0866, it's still possible. But then again, the numbers used by Indonesian cellular network provider so far are (according to my knowledge), 082 (AMPS, old time 1G), 081 (most GSM), 083 (GSM, Lippo Telecom and AXIS, the real AXIS), 085 (GSM, Indosat), and 0888 (CDMA, Mobile8). So it's ridiculous to believe that 0866 is a real number used by Indonesian operator. If I may add, don't fear the number, for what you believe is what you should fear.

So there goes my arguments. In conclusion, don't fall for this rumor, it's just some scam, some prank, don't panic. Oh, and here's some extra video I got from YouTube if you want to know how the real battery explosion looked like (but it's a laptop battery). Anyway, credits for this post are from Google and Wikipedia (YouTube too), but since I read those articles a long time ago, I'm too lazy to give the links.

Boom de yada

2008-05-07T22:06:00.014-06:00

I don't know why, recently I just got so hooked up with the Discovery channel's new ad, titled "Boom de yada" (I look it up in the official website),

It's such a great ad, showing the beauties of the world, and of course some Discovery channel's shows. If you want to know the lyrics, try your listening skill, hahaha...

Or easier, go here: splendAd
And you can download the mp3 file here: Boomdeyada.mp3.zip

In closing, "Boom de yada!"

The Monochromicon v0.1

2008-05-05T00:00:00.002-06:00

Finally I've finished working on v0.1!

The recent updates are navbar on the top ~~(one link is still missing there, collections)~~, new title image, archive search on top right, and I clean up the sidebar a bit.

Please leave a comment of you have any suggestions for improvements.

Update: v0.1a, change in colour palette and title font change (credits to Mefi), omitting the collections link

Gamma Version

2008-04-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

Here's the Gamma Version, as expected, pretty quick revamp on the blog layout. Planned upgrades are buttons on the header part and a few cleanups based on feedbacks. I don't think I can pull those things quick enough, but expect an upgrade in the looks of this blog!

Eee PC and Its Impact

2008-04-25T23:39:00.015-06:00

Netbook, new term of in computing product introduced by Intel when they announce the coming Atom processors line. The first netbook that gain great popularity is ASUS Eee PC (image credit: ASUS). Designed to be cheap, portable, and user-friendly laptop, this very small notebook (9" footprint) quickly gain its popularity because it's cheap and very capable as a second laptop (given you only surf and type several documents on the way).

ASUS Eee PC starts the new market of computing products, the netbook market. Eee PC, along with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Program, flood the laptop world with a small, but not powerful laptops. The netbooks are designed to be internet surfing machine (thus the net part) and they can perform basic office productivity task. Their specifications are not that great, usually emphasizing the durability and battery life (thus usually netbooks used low energy processor, small screen size, and low capacity solid state drive to reduce the energy consumption and cost). Intel's coming processors (Atom series), are designed to fulfill the needs of netbook market. Beside the hardware specifications, usually netbooks use Linux as the Operating System to reduce the cost of licensing commercial OS (Windows or Mac).

These new netbooks will possibly shift the computer market. Netbooks offer lightweight, durable, and most important, cheap computer to carry around even though it's not powerful to handle complex operations. Maybe the future of the computing will be desktop computers on the office or home as your primary computer and these netbooks on the go, who knows?

Beta Version

2008-04-25T02:15:00.004-06:00

After 4 months of initial development (I just learned the tricks of basic html editing), now I proudly present the Beta Version of Monochromicon. I changed the header to a graphic and added several links and shoutbox on the sidebar. With the excitement of html editing momentum on me now, expect to see the Gamma Version soon before I fully vamp this blog to v0.1!

The Raven - Kremlin Dusk

2008-04-24T14:34:00.004-06:00

Did you notice the relation between the two posts before?

Yeah, suddenly I become so poetic, hahaha...
Actually, it's not that I suddenly become poetic, it's just that I got so hooked up with Hikki's Kremlin Dusk. And if you know me good enough, you'll know that I'll dig deep to find anything about something that I like (read the Star Naming Conventions if you want more proof).

As usual I used the internet digger's (is it a new term?) best friends, www.google.com and en.wikipedia.org to find anything related to Kremlin Dusk, and I stumble upon Edgar Allan Poe, and -as you can guess- his poem titled The Raven. And as the lyrics of Kremlin Dusk suggests, it's derived from the poem. Whew, so much for the long explanation.

Kremlin Dusk by Utada Hikaru

2008-04-24T13:11:00.013-06:00

All along I was searching for my Lenore
In the words of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe
Now I'm sober and nevermore
Will the raven come to bother me at home
Calling you, calling you home
You
Calling you, calling you home

By the door you said you had to go
Couldn't help me any anymore
This I saw coming long before
So I kept on staring out the window
Calling you, calling you home
You
Calling you, calling you home

I am a natural entertainer
Aren't we all holding pieces of dying ember?
I'm just trying to remember who I can call,
Who can I call?

Home,
Calling you, calling you

I run a secret propaganda
Aren't we all hiding pieces of broken anger?
I'm just trying to remember who I can call,
Who can I call?

Born in a war of opposite attraction
It isn't, or is it a natural conception?
Torn by the arms in opposite directions
It isn't, or is it a Modernist reaction?

Born in a war of opposite attraction
It isn't, or is it a natural conception?
Torn by the arms in opposite directions
It isn't, or is it a Modernist reaction?

Is it like this? (Born in a war of opposite attraction)
Is it always the same?
When a heartache begins (Torn by the arms in opposite directions)
Is it like this?

Do you like this? (Born in a war of opposite attraction)
Is it always the same?
Will you come back again? (Torn by the arms in opposite directions)
Do you like this?

Is it always the same?
And will you come back again?
Do you like this?
Oh, do you like this?

Is it like this? (Born in a war of opposite attraction)
Is it always the same? (It isn't, or is it a natural conception?)
(Torn by the arms in opposite directions) If you change your phone number,
(It isn't, or is it a Modernist reaction?) Will you tell me?

Is it like this?
Is it always the same?
When a heartache begins,
Is it like this?

If you like this,
Will you remember my name?
Will you come play it again,
If you like this?
Oh, do you like this?

(Credit: Anime Lyrics)

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

2008-04-24T13:11:00.012-06:00

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door —
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; —
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; —
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" —
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning— little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door —
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered— not a feather then he fluttered —
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before —
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never — nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite — respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! —
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted —
On this home by horror haunted— tell me truly, I implore —
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting —
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!— quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted — nevermore!

(Credit: Wikipedia)

Earth Day, Some Simple Thoughts of Mine

2008-04-22T21:00:00.010-06:00

Today is The Earth Day (image credit: Adrienne Lay), you can always check everything about it on wikipedia, or go straight to the website. But I'm not logging over the definitions and all... It's just several of my thoughts regarding this day.

So here we are, 2 centuries away since the industrial revolution, and I believe you already know what damage our earth sustained during our industrialization. For me, Earth Day is just another celebration. Of what? It's just a celebration over our conscience -that finally can grasp the concept that we've made a lot of damage to the earth-. We celebrate that we can think -once again, think- what effort we can make to relieve the damage we made.

What we need now is actions, I can't believe that US still hasn't committed to the Kyoto Protocol. They need to do that, because US is the largest gasoline consumer in the world. Imagine how many greenhouse gas they produce! I notice that there are efforts from within the US itself to force the government ratify the treaty. There's also several debate regarding the usefulness of the protocol. However, if you sign the treaty, at least you have some commitment to do good to your mother earth, isn't it?

Another form of actions are already taken course in the technology world. Right now, major electronic suppliers give their best to reduce harmful effect to the earth caused by their products. They strive to reduce toxic materials like arsenic and mercury in the production of electronic components, they also try to increase the percentage of recyclable parts in their products. We need to continue doing that, surely do. Now let's don't forget the automobile industry as well, hybrid era is dawning upon us. These type of cars have less gasoline consumption than regular internal combustion cycle, and not to mention hydrogen modification made on some cars (notably the new BMW). Fuel cell is too far away to be true right now, let's not dreaming about it yet. The cost to make fuel cell powerful enough for a car (and at the same time keeping the compact footprint) is too high, it may cost millions of dollars to build one, and yet we thought that hybrid is expensive enough, hahaha... Hmm, these are only small example of what can we do to Reduce. Reduce the emission, reduce the risk of damage to earth, and reduce the amount of unusable energy (efficiency of internal combustion engine is merely less than 40% theoretically, so practically it can't go higher than that). We also need to reduce, the price of these technology. As we all know, these technology comes at a premium. It's partially because of the oil companies (let's not forget their economic reason, too). The oil companies are also need to explore new energy source. Hey, fossil fuel is hurting our planet big time, why not change to other utilization rather than using them directly? Hydrogen production from coal is not a very new thing, why don't we develop that, at least we can reduce the usage of fossil fuel as a pollutant.

Now let's talk about Reuse and Recycle. This one requires our conscience, the people conscience. I know that in developed countries they already have this concept in their community. However, in developing countries, recycle is not that common. We really need to socialize that concept in the developing countries, especially when most of the developing countries nature are ones that still haven't corrupted much from the industrialization. Not recycling will hurt those nature, it will contaminate the earth. As for the reuse part, hey developing countries are good at this! Have you ever compare the price of used stuff in developing country and developed country? In here (by here I mean US), used stuffs are so cheap. Try buy a 90s car in Indonesia, you'll get one at around IDR 40 million. In here, you can one at around USD 1,000 (roughly IDR 10 million), that's a quarter of Indonesian price! Now that's a real reuse for you, hahaha... Not to mention the flea market.

What about me? Well, that's just my thoughts lad and lass... Me? I'm still happy with turning my heater on all the time when I am in my apartment (but hey, at least I have a good reason, I came from a tropical country and haven't adjusted with the climate here). Anyway, I'll stop using heater all the time when I've adjusted... I know that it's a lot of rant. That's all, over and out.

The World Ends With You

2008-04-22T20:31:00.004-06:00

Yay, it's out today! Square Enix's newest NA localization game.

You play as Neku Sakuraba, in a funky, modern (the setting is in Shibuya), musical-themed RPG.
What's crazy is that you need to watch both screen of the Nintendo DS at the same time during the battle. It's pretty weird at first, but as you get used to it, it's the coolest battle system you ever play in DS 'til now!
It's not your normal RPG, I guarantee. Cool theme + cool battle system = cool game!

Anyway, I'm still waiting for the localization of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Final Fantasy IV for DS. Hope it will come out soon! I can't wait to play as Kain...

Thir13en

2008-04-13T20:11:00.006-06:00

I just can't figure out why I like the number thirteen? So I reserve this post just for the right time, 13.4.08

The number thirteen is considered as a number that brings bad luck. Maybe I like it because of the notoriety, or maybe I just like weird things, hahaha...

Anyway, I think it's a good time to post something weird too in this one. The origin of my quote, "Hope along with Faith can be Reality"

It's actually a contracted version of a poem I made a long time ago during the high school era. I already forgot the actual words, so I made it again, hahaha...

"Hope"
A trivial thing hope is, that man often misunderstand it as a mere wish.
A sincere thing hope is, that we can always depend on it.
A powerful thing hope is, that we can always try to fulfill it with our faith.
Never stop hoping. For hope always exists, even during the darkest of days.

"Faith"
Faith is what they say for believing completely.
Believing no matter what you may sense.
Believing that you can accomplish your hope.
Believe in your faith. It's just the thing dependable when all else fails.

"Hope along with Faith can be Reality"

California...

2008-04-03T19:26:00.009-06:00

Ok, here's my first actual concert in here. Phantom Planet, the band that plays the theme song of The O.C. (an old drama series), California.

The band personnels are, Alex (vocalist, top left autograph), Darren (guitar, bottom autograph), Sam (bass, clear enough right?), and Jeff (drum, I don't even need to mention).

And the concert was really a wow! There's surely a lot of energy going out there. Alex's signature move, jumping off the bass drum, was so shocking when seen live. The personnels are also friendly, and one shocking things, they remember Rachmat (he was reporting their concert at Jakarta back in 2002)! And it's (according to my knowledge), the first time ever the word Indonesia announced in the US' concert (most probably a dramatization, hahaha...). And they also performed the cover song of Radiohead, as Matt's requested. So cool!

So, I can conclude my post with, "California... here we come..."

Museum

2008-03-18T20:38:00.003-06:00

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

I wonder do we have this kind of thing back in Indonesia? I also wonder if there's one, will it be popular? Anyway, at first I don't think I'll enjoy this kind of trip to museum. But after spending the whole noon (approximately 10 am to 3 pm), I guess I had enjoyed it.

Now back to the questions. Museum in Indonesia is very scarce, and it's scarce because of a reason, it's not popular (see, both questions answered at the same time). But that's not the point, the point is in how to make them popular. Hmm, let's start by making a lot of interactive things in the museum, interesting interactive things. Like things you can touch (think touchable replica of the moon crater), things you can play (parking a space shuttle on a space station?), and a lot of other things. And don't forget to spice up the look of the place, as it's the first thing to attract people in. It doesn't need to be big, as long as it's interesting.
One problem, that will need a lot of money. Well yeah, that's the main problem. Unless there'll be someone/organization/company to sponsor that. The next thing will be socialization. It's pretty simple, just ask the schools to get their students to go to the museum. That'll improve the popularity, especially when the museum is interesting.

Cowboys Game

2008-03-01T18:36:00.006-07:00

Basketball game, not the way I've experienced before... That's the only sentence I can say first when I see the game here. The atmosphere, the band, the size of the stadium, all those things add up to a memorable thing. It's the last home game for the Wyoming Cowboys in the 2007/2008 season.

Let's see... The stadium of the game is big compared to the stadium I've been in Surabaya. To think that this is only university stadium. It proves that basketball is a popular sport in here. As opposed, I never see any soccer stadium here.
The band, or should I say, part orchestra, is a very new thing to me. I mean, to have the whole brass instruments to play the musical scores to cheer the players up, that's just wow! Not to mention the cheerleaders' routine, straight from the one I usually see in the television.

In closing, it's just amazing. I never seen one before, not even in the popular soccer game back home (surely I won't, how can a brass instruments compete with the huge open air stadium, not to mention the crowds?).

Oh yeah, seeing this makes me remember my high school days. Fine days of cheering the school's team. And yes, I can't fill mineral water bottle with coins here, hahaha...

Party Weekend

2008-02-10T20:49:00.002-07:00

Hmm, this weekend was truly a party weekend. With Yan Yan's birthday and the potluck consecutively... So this is my friends now in here. It's nice knowing you all guys!

Oh, and here's a nice pic where everyone's not ready.

Nasi Goreng

2008-02-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

It's kinda hard to believe how famous nasi goreng is. It just struck me that Rie, Aya, and Hideya (from Japan) also Choi (South Korea) and Yan Yan (Hong Kong) all knew the word nasi goreng is. At first I thought that they can just called it fried rice, but the thought to know that it's actually famous in the Indonesian language, never crossed my mind. I felt so proud of it, I mean, as an Indonesian.

But as for today's chat I got with Eve, she pointed out to me that there's still several other neighbor countries that also use the word nasi goreng. So I guess it's not only Indonesian proud now, hehehe... However, I'm still proud of it.

The Star Naming Conventions

2008-01-20T23:02:00.003-07:00

I've searched in the internet to find a name for my Dervish character in the Guild Wars. I just so influenced by Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, the name of the main character is Altair. I wanted to give my character that kind of name...

I tried wiki-ing the name Altair, and it turns out to be a name of star. And as curious as usual, I dug a lot of information just for the sake of my Dervish character. Altair is derived from Arabian language, literally means the flying. Altair (or alpha Aquilae) is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and the twelfth brightest star in the nighttime sky (credit: Wikipedia). Not satisfied with that I searched for the list of the star name, and I got a lot of Arabic language as the name of the stars. It appears that the trivial naming convention for star is using Arabic language. I crossed several interesting name. Fomalhaut (Final Fantasy's XII strongest gun) is actually derived from fum al-hawt, means mouth of the whale. Betelgeuse, Ras Algethi, and Aldebaran (also from Final Fantasy XII) are also named from Arabic language. This knowledge is so new to me that I dug deeper until I finally get some interesting name based on the star (just as I wanted to get a name like Altair), Lesath (or upsilon Scorpii, credit: Wikipedia).

Happy Jack

2008-01-19T20:04:00.002-07:00

Sledding, well I'm gonna try snowboarding next time. Snow sport is a must in this snowy area, don't you agree? I just found out that this sledding thing is also intense, I only get into the bottom of the hill in two of my four attempts. The other two? Eat snow (pun intended), hehehe...

The Promise

2008-01-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

As I promised... The photo of the university.

The photo was taken after the orientation for international student. I actually surprised to know that the students of this campus is approximately 13,000. Well, that's roughly almost half of the Laramie's population! I guess this is a perfect place to study, with the quiet environment and all that much student. Oh, and one thing. I went to Denver today, and finally got the chance to see the nearest metropolitan (not that I haven't been there before, but hey, I was just in the airport). Denver is really big, and they got a lot of Asian groceries, too. I visited Korean (H Mart), Indonesian! (Sabo Jaya), and Vietnamese (Viet Hoa) stores. There must be a lot of Asian people there. And from this trip to Denver (we travel by car), I get the feel of America (country music + long highway, unfortunately there is no corn field in both sides of the road, hehehe...). Truly America.

World of Snow

2008-01-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

Laramie... Maybe the most memorable of the journey to here is the flight from Denver to Laramie. It's my first flight using small aircraft, and so, I haven't used with all the swaying and rocking of the aircraft. Also, a notable thing is the great view of Rocky Mountains, covered in snow. It's been a harsh welcome to in the regional airport, chilling gust of wind, not to mention the already below freezing point air temperature (in fact, the temperature hasn't reached the freezing point yet until this blog is published).

The first thing I notice in Laramie is that almost everything in the side of the road is covered by snow. It is really a world of snow... Beautiful, yet torturing at the same time (because of the temperature, of course). It's been a whole new experience in here, adapting to the weather, adapting to the calm life of a small town (it's far more calm than Surabaya, heck, and I thought that Adelaide is calm enough).

I got to live on my own (for the first time) in the University Apartment. It's not what I thought it will be. The apartment is not that kind of multi-story building with several units in each floor, instead, it's just a usual house built side-by-side forming a complex. But it's comfortable enough for me (and it's big, considering it's just a single bedroom type). And to be honest, at first I feel lonely in here. But not anymore, not since the internet guy came over and install my internet and cable TV. I'm saved now... About the snow part, I just found out that there are wet snow and dry snow. As for today, I've felt both of them. Wet snow is the first time, and it's kinda harsh, like throwing small slushes of ice to your face and your jacket, feels like rain on a motorcycle ride. As for the dry snow, just experienced it this afternoon, it's far better. It's like a fluttering cotton in the air, and it feels nice to, cold but immediately dissolve when you touch it. It's far better than the artificial snow back in Surabaya (Dunia Salju, anyone remember that?).

Oh, for the closing lines... I have yet to get a photo in the university. I'll post it along with the blog as soon as I get one.

See You Arizona

2008-01-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

Wow, this is my last night here. I guess it's time to bid farewell, for now... I'll see you when I see you (Ocean's Thirteen). I was having a very great time here.

Stardust (2007)

2008-01-01T00:34:00.005-07:00

"Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really... "Do the stars gaze back?" Now *that's* a question.

The first lines of Stardust reveals the nature of this story. This is the magical journey of a boy turned man named Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) into the Stormhold kingdom. He leaves The Wall (his village) into the magical kingdom of Stormhold to search a fallen star for his love, Victoria (Sienna Miller).
Stardust start off like a typical fantasy movie with narration and all. But soon after the journey begin, a lot of unexpected things take course, and Stardust will surely brings the audience in a joyful ride through the story. The story is unraveled quickly and yet it is still easy to follow. A lot of actions happened through the course and, ultimately, it ends with a grandeur finale (although it is a cliché ending).

All in all, Stardust is a very original movie (story-wise) and a very entertaining one. It is a must-see movie, at least try to see the DVD version, I'm going to do that (because it's not in the theater anymore, too bad)...

New Year, New Places, New Experiences, A Whole New Journey

2008-01-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

It all begins with...
Happy New Year!

Okay, I'm in US now. What to do? Never been this far from home... Already missed it and everyone back home. But somehow I'll manage to do it, I have to. It's been a pleasant journey to the US. But how I find it peculiar that I feel more "abroad" in Changi and Narita (airports of Singapore and Tokyo, respectively) than LAX. Maybe it's because of the building construction, LAX is a bit un-modern (is that a word?) compared to those two. Oh, I forget to say that I went to US through that two transit sites. And yes, it's pleasant yet tiring... From the flights I had, I found that Stardust is a really good movie, a weird fantasy movie, but also beautiful at the same time. And I finally get to see Ratatouille (what a pathetic movie mania I am, not able to see those two films before my flights here).

The first weeks in America, I was in Arizona, lodging at my aunt's. Great fun! A lot of static electricity (is that fun?). No, I mean about the shooting I did there. It's fun (and yet hard) to shoot Browning handgun, Luger Mini Thirty assault rifle, Remington shotgun (this one kicks pretty hard, even when I used only 2 3/4 shells), and two other rifle that I don't know (.20 caliber, small one; and 7.62 mm 5-shot rifle). I wonder how they did all that kind of shooting in the movies? Now I'm sure that all those precise shootings were a trick. It's so hard to shoot even a handgun that it took me 3 shots to hit a bottle of water just 10 feet in front of me (I mean, that's not far). Oh, and I already mention the shotgun right? The recoil is so hard that you'll never want to hold it in one hand and shoot it (believe me, don't do that).

The next three days, I'll be going to my actual destination. And I believe that it will be a very exciting place, too. It has to, I'm going to spent a lot of time there! Wyoming, the state of cowboy (I just got that the other day, when I browse the internet searching for resources about Wyoming), sounds great?

Okay, okay... Enough rant. I've spent a lot of words just to write this first post.