XL AWARD 2010

Kilimanjaro Snow May Vanish In 20 Years

photo: independent.co.uk

The "Snows of Kilimanjaro" will then exist only as a memory - and the title of a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Scientists at the Ohio State University predicted that the ice sheets of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain peak, will melt in the next twenty years due to global warming. Scientists made their forecast after combining data from aerial photographs and ground measurements of ice thickness.
The ice that was present in 1912 gradually decreased by 85% by 2000, and by 2007 another 26% of the amount in 2000. This was the first time that the volume of the ice in Kilimanjaro was measured. The tests were conducted by Lonnie Thompson, a professor at Ohio State University. Professor Thompson said that the scientists have also detected elongated bubbles in the surface of the ice field, which occur when the ice melts and refreezes. There is no evidence this melting and refreezing has occurred at any other period going back 11,700 years.
"The fact that so many glaciers throughout the tropics and subtropics are showing similar responses suggests an underlying common cause," Thompson said.
Change in cloudiness and weather could have also been factors in the retreat of the ice, especially in recent decades, scientists said. These findings were first published in the journal proceedings of United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on November 3, 2009.

Boring

Really, I feel boring with my job and tasks. Everyday likes yesterday (not everyday likes Sunday). Always prepared report, meeting, meeting, and meeting…. Sometimes meeting result nothing. Meeting sometimes make you feel sleeping and bored. Like today, I have no interest with the meeting. My boss feels the same. Because he is my supervisor, he has authority to order me follow the meeting. Like told before, there have no result. Always talk but no action. Now I make report for my boss. But I still remember quotation from Og Mandino quotes (American Essayist and Psychologist, 1923-1996): “The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.”
Ok, I try to enjoy my job.

StressWatch By Michael Mathis And Gerda Hopfgartner

photo: techmagnews.com

Designed by Michael Mathis & Gerda Hopfgartner, the StressWatch has a black bar graph to show your stress levels. Functions like the heart rate and the body`s temperature are monitored. The readings are taken via the lower part of the bracelet and the data gets transformed to guidelines for relaxation. The guidelines are the well-being waves, visualized on the display, the stress line, displayed on the black bar graph, as well as the heart rate and the body`s temperature, located into the clock face. The blues and greens that you see there means that you are mellow, but pink, red or orange means you are stressed, you need to change your breathing and your focus. As you slow down your breathing and find your optimal breathing rate, you will literally see a change of the graphic chart. So the alarming well-being waves transform into smooth one with cool colors and the stress line decreases back to the relaxing indication. The gadget can also tell the current time. Unfortunately, it is only a concept. There is no info on when this gadget will be available for purchase.

Sweden Best at Helping Poor Countries

Sweden is the top contributor to helping poor countries develop, considering its size, policy research organization the Center for Global Development (CGD) said. The Washington-based think-tank's Commitment to Development Index ranks 22 rich countries based on how their policies on aid, trade, investment, security, environment, technology and migration promote global development. Denmark was ranked second, and last year's winner, the Netherlands, tied for third place with Norway. "Sweden scores better than, for example, the United States measured against its economic size and potential to help," CGD President Nancy Birdsall said. "But it is the United States, Germany, France, Japan and the other economies that have the multiple linkages and potential in absolute terms to make a difference for poor countries. Their failure to use it to the fullest is a blow to the cause of truly shared global prosperity." None of the Group of Seven rich nations club make it into the top 10. Canada ranked highest among the G7 countries, in 11th place. France, Germany and Britain tied for 12th. The United States was 17th, Italy 18th, and Japan 21st. (Reuters)

AirAsia: Flight Bandung-Medan route

photo: rionih.files.wordpress.com

AirAsia Airline Indonesia will flight Bandung-Medan route started in November 26, 2009. “We sure average passenger level will reach 75 percent of capacity because no other airlines connected Bandung and Medan,” says Widijastoro, AirAsia Marketing and Distribution Director on Tuesday Novembe 27, 2009. Flight route Bandung (West Java)-Medan (North Sumatera) hoped can give alternative for domestic tourism developing of both provinces. “We also supported trade and tourism exchange between West Java and North Sumatera,” he says.

My BlackBerry Curve 8520 Gemini

Yesterday I bought BlackBerry Curve 8520 Gemini at Supermall Lippo Karawaci Tangerang because my pervious cellular phone is out of date (you can see in picture). My Sony Ericsson K-750i looks old, dirty and fat. I have been used this K-750i for more 3 years. Now, this is time for me to change cellular phone. BlackBerry Curve 8520 Gemini itself claimed as cheap Blackberry with price is Rp. 3.2 million (US$ 300). This price is not expensive for cellular phone like Blackberry. BlackBerry Curve 8520 Gemini shape is almost similar with BlackBerry 8900 Javelin but lighter because used plastic texture. Not ignored slam resistance and solid. But Gemini has some decreased specification likes only equipped with 2 megapixels camera and have no GPS tools. This cellular phone looks cool and nice.

Specifications :
Network : Quadband GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Dimension : 10.9 x6 x 1.39 cm
Weight : 106 gram
Operating System : BlackBerry OS
Camera : 2 MP
Display : 2.64 inch, TFT MCD 65.536 colors, 320×240 pixels
Messaging : SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging, Email (push-email) corporate and individual account via BIS/BES
Transfer Data : EDGE 10, GPRS 10
Browser : BlackBerry Browser
Memory : Internal 256MB Flash Memory, External MicroSD (TransferFlash) up to 16GB
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g (optional), microUSB data cable.
Battery: Lithium Ion 1150 mAh, Standby time 408 jam, 5 hours talk time.
Other Features : BlackBerry Maps, BlackBerry Messanger,Polifonik (mp3), full QWERTY keyboard, Trackpad Navigation, Media Player, GPS/A-GPS support (optional), java, BlackBerry Maps, Organizer, Calculator, Voice dial, Word ToGo.

Longest Words

(45) PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­CONIOSIS (also spelled PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­KONIOSIS) = a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.This is the longest word in any English dictionary. However, it was coined by Everett Smith, the President of The National Puzzlers' League, in 1935 purely for the purpose of inventing a new "longest word". The Oxford English Dictionary described the word as factitious. Nevertheless it also appears in the Webster's, Random House, and Chambers dictionaries.
(37) HEPATICO­CHOLANGIO­CHOLECYST­ENTERO­STOMIES = a surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct and between the intestine and the gall bladder.This is the longest word in Gould's Medical Dictionary.
(34) SUPER­CALI­FRAGI­LISTIC­EXPI­ALI­DOCIOUS = song title from the Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins.It is in the Oxford English Dictionary.
"But then one day I learned a word

That saved me achin' nose,

The biggest word you ever 'eard,

And this is 'ow it goes: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
(30) HIPPOPOTO­MONSTRO­SESQUIPED­AL­IAN = pertaining to a very long word.From Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words.
(29) FLOCCI­NAUCINI­HILIPIL­IFICATION = an estimation of something as worthless.This is the longest word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Interestingly the most common letter in English, E, does not appear in this word at all, whilst I occurs a total of nine times. The word dates back to 1741. The 1992 Guinness Book of World Records calls flocci­nauci­nihili­pilification the longest real word in the Oxford English Dictionary, and refers to pneumono­ultra­micro­scopic­silico­volcano­koniosis as the longest made-up one.
(28) ANTI­DIS­ESTABLISH­MENT­ARIAN­ISM = the belief which opposes removing the tie between church and state.Probably the most popular of the "longest words" in recent decades.
(27) HONORI­FICABILI­TUDINI­TATIBUS = honorableness.The word first appeared in English in 1599, and in 1721 was listed by Bailey's Dictionary as the longest word in English. It was used by Shakespeare in Love's Labor's Lost (Costard; Act V, Scene I):
"O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;for thou art not so long by the head ashonorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easierswallowed than a flap-dragon."
Shakespeare does not use any other words over 17 letters in length.
(27) ELECTRO­ENCEPHALO­GRAPHICALLY = The longest unhyphenated word in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed.), joint with ethylene­diamine­tetraacetate (see below).
(27) ANTI­TRANSUB­STAN­TIA­TION­ALIST = one who doubts that consecrated bread and wine actually change into the body and blood of Christ.
(21) DIS­PRO­PORTION­ABLE­NESS and (21) IN­COM­PREHEN­SIB­ILITIES These are described by the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest words in common usage.

Some say SMILES is the longest word because there is a MILE between the first and last letters!

source: fun-with-words.com

One Decade of Blogger

In Blogger index page, at footer side listed © 1999-2009 Google. Yes, even this service just knowing by many people in the middle of 2000’s. Blogger exactly was one decade year old. Ten years is old and mature enough for an internet service. In the 10th years, Google already MENJARING more than 300 million active readers (including me) and loaded billion word that equal with 3.2 billion novels. Every minute, 270 thousands words added in here or around 338 million words each day. This is fantastic number if we see from quantity. Blogger started his debut in 1999 in SanFransisco, in the middle of dotcom booming. Ev Williaws is the one of founders, also follow involved for developing micro-blogging service Twitter. In 2003, Google succeed acquisition Blogger and Pyra Labs.

Five government leaders attend Yudhoyono's inauguration

This news I quoted from Jakarta Post on Tuesday 10/20/2009 :

Government leaders from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and East Timor are attending the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Australian Prime Minister Minister Kevin Rudd, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and East Timor Prime President Jose Ramos Horta all have arrived at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building. Representatives from Japan, the United States, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Czech Republic are also on attendance.
In addition to the foreign dignitaries, former president B.J. Habibie and former vice president Try Sutrisno were also among the guests. Megawati Soekarnoputri, who lost to Yudhoyono at the presidential elections, was absent, but her daughter Puan Maharani was there. Meanwhile, outgoing vice president Jusuf Kalla, who also lost to Yudhoyono at the elections, attended the inauguration. Megawati's husband, Taufik Keimas, the MPR speaker, will swear in Yudhoyono.

Today when I going to my office, I passed through Majelis Perwakilan Rakyat or People's Consultative Assembly building at Slipi, South Jakarta. Many police and army around there place. If usually day trip in this area always traffic jam, today is going worse. Beside traffic jam, Jakarta condition also so hot. Police and blockade and secure traffic infront building and we must looking another way to our destination place. This is take extra time. Be patient. The result, I came late to my office….. But not only me, my boss came late too…Ha..ha..ha.., he doesn’t angry because he came later than me…..

Little Possibility Asteroid Hit Earth

photo: dsc.discovery.com

Earth residents can be a little bit relief at least for temporarily. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Wednesday 7 October, 2009 clarified asteroid with size 269,748 meter have little possibility will hit Earth on April 13, 2036. From NASA calculated, in the first time calculated Apophis asteroid have possibility 1:45,000 hit Earth in 2004. This calculation could makes people panic. Whereas, after researchers recalculated and make new analyze of asteroid orbit now the possibility changed become 1:250,000. Astronomy expert in NASA Earth Object Program, Steve Chesley said that new calculated can be done after Apophis known percisely. In 2029 Aphopis position predicted will in 29,451 km above Earth.

Flight with Garuda Airlines

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, I had call of duty to go to other cities. Not so far away from Jakarta. I had to go to Semarang, Central Java. I get flight at 9.20 by Garuda Airlines and arrived at Ahmad Yani Airport Semarang at 10.20. From Semarang I picked by my colleagues to three regencies, that is Demak, Kudus, and Pati. I have job to monitoring physical and finance progress. How far the progress until today, there any problem in field? Wow, so hot weather in these three regencies. The second day I visited Surakarta regency and Sragen regency. Same weather…. You can imagine monitoring how hot it field in the midday and dusty. Heavy vehicle traffic around me so noisy and make air pollution. From Sragen I decided to go back to Jakarta from Adi Sutjipto, Jogjakarta and bought Garuda Airlines ticket at their counter for flight at 16.10. I have not enough time to go to Prambanan Temple even the distance is near. At that time I must check in first. But flight from Jogjakarta make me a liitle bit scare and worried because in that afternoon the weather is not really good. Cloudy and looks would be rain. In one hour flight, fasten belt keep on even the plane was take off a half hour before. I sat near windows but I saw nothing but black and dark cloud. I can felt flight sometimes shake. I was chosen to read newspaper. But over West Java the weather going better and I can saw the sun and landed smoothly at Soekarno Hatta Airport runaway at 17.15. Thank God. Now I went go home, take a bath, eaten hot noodle, than go slept. I was tired.

Unicycle Robot

photo: dailymail.co.uk

A Japan sparepart company Murata Electronics showed their product, an unicycle robot named Murata-seiko-chan. Demonstration exhibition held on Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto prefecture, West Japan on September 26, 2009. Robot with height 50 centimeter and weight around 6 kilogram have many kind censor to keep it balance when pedal move forward and when it turn to the right or left.

Crazy Marketing Way

I am sure marketing experts not agree with this company marketing already had done. This new maybe was a month ago. Max Motors, a truck dealer company in United States of America (USA), maybe has no idea to competed in the market and catch customer interest. So to overcome this problem, this dealer offered free AK-47 for every truck sales. It’s crazy way to get customer. The customers maybe not interested with this promotion but on the contrary they afraid to buy a truck. As customer you can be assumed as terrorist because have AK-47.

The Oldest Person in the World Dies at 115 Years Old

photo: metro.co.uk

The oldest person in the world, Gertrude Baines, 115 years old, dies on Friday September 11, 2009. Besides known as the oldest man in the world, this woman be more famous because become the oldest United of States citizen who chosen Barrack Obama in the past president election. Baines, an Afro American, dies at Western Convalescent Hospital since the last ten years of her rest of life. “She is respectable woman. This is blessing and honor for us to take care of Baines for the last ten years,” says Emma Camanag, a hospital employee. Baines become the oldest person in the world when Maria de Jesus from Spain dies at 115 years old on January 2009. Now, the oldest man predicate keeping by Kama Chien, 114 years old Japan citizen.

Formula Milk at Refuge Camp Can Dangerous

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) remembered that formula milk given at disaster area can become dangerous for baby and child healthy. Government appealed to tighten donation and formula milk shared monitoring to all victim of West Java earthquake that happen on last September 9, 2009. “We pushed mother to keep give mother milk to their children and not to consume formula milk from donation because it can be dangerous for children,” says Head of Unicef representative in Indonesia Angela Kearney on press release on September 10, 2009. In the emergency situation in disaster area consumed formula milk can become high risk because water supply minimum. “It the main reason why formula milk can become dangerous,” says Kearney. From Unicef survey result in Yogyakarta earthquake disaster area in 2006 found diarrhea cases in under 6 months babies happened because they drink formula milk (25.4%) twice more than compared with babies who not drink formula milk (11.5%). Amount of diarrhea cases happened on child between 6-23 months also increased fivefold compared with amount of diarrhea cases before earthquake happened.

Blackberry Market in Indonesia is Very Conducive

Regional Vice President Asia Pacific Research In Motion Singapore Pte Ltd Gregory Wade said Indonesia market very conducive from Blackberry products. This is because internet penetration in Indonesia still low, people enjoyed social networking features and like opened various features in the same time, that can facilitated by Blackberry. “Analyst saw Indonesia not any longer part of Southeast Asia, because Blackberry product sale level is so high,” says Wade on Thursday (September 10, 2009) in Jakarta. Since end of August, Blackberry producer, Research In Motion operated 15 Balckberry Authorized Customer Center offices.

Marriage on 09/09/09

More than 250 couples in Malaysia said their promise vow in mass marriage ceremony at Buddha Temple in Malaysia on September 9, 2009. The special date 09/09/09 mirrored that their marriage can be everlasting till grow old and death do their apart. Mass marriage also organized at some places in Malaysia. That country has China ethnic citizen life together with Malaya and India ethnic citizen. “I choose 09/09/09 because the date symbolized eternal love,” says construction supervisor Thomas Wong (30) and agreed immediately by his couple, Ivy Tan 925). “I hope can give marriage reception party that can be remembered forever. Only once in our life time to get that special number date,” she added. Wong realized his marriage at Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur. Date of 09/09/09 fir China ethnic people is very special number because they mention number I seem like voice for “forever” word in China language. A spokesman at that temple said that mass marriage ceremony is the biggest compared with previous mass marriage on August 8, 2008 (08/08/08). Number 8 in China culture also means “prosperity”. At that time was 470 couples join to mass marriage and this year is 556 couples. Meanwhile in Florida, United States, a local vital statistic officer offered that marriage registered for special date with price US$ 99.99. Another moment connected with that date is new iPod release. Their rescheduled iPod launched from September 8 become September 9, 2009. Focus Features also released their new movie titled 9, a animation movie about the ninth revelation. That date is not only good to make sale promotion but also the last number repeated.

Japan Promises Reduce 25 Percent Their Carbon Emission

New chosen Japan Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who will inaugurate on September 16, 2009 has brings changed connected with climate change regulation. He promises Japan will reduce their carbon emission till 35 percent in 2020 from emission in 1990 based. This is very big reduce compared with 8 percent that promised by business partner society of former Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso. Hatoyama stressed, his government will take aggressive movement about climate change problem. He shows this attitude in New York, United States of America, when met with another countries leader.

Religion Figures Agreed to Help Diseases Socialization

To prevent and cured infected and another diseases, some religion figures agreed to inform and give explain about healthy living behavior socialization to people. More over with increased of A-H1N1 influenza and bird influenza (H5N1) cases in Indonesia and season disease like dengue, malaria, and diarrhea. That kind of diseases can reduce their spread by healthy living behavior. “When religion figures talks, people will considered that thing is must be done because become part of deed and devotion,” explains General Director of Disease Control and Environment Healthy, Department of Health, Tjandra Yoga when talk in prevent and cured of various diseases in Indonesia socialization with some religion and youth figure on September 7, 2009.