chaotic night
Unpredictably, Friday night becomes a chaotic night for Merapi’s evacuees. The story started when the volcano was rumbling in the distance. It was in the midnight when the loudest rumble could be heard even from more than 30 miles far from the Merapi’s hot pit.
In my current place, that is 30 miles from the hot pit, villages come out from their home. The rumble even could wake them from their soundly sleep. Villages come out and directed their eyes to the volcano. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy night so the hot pit of Merapi was invisible. The 30 miles away panic is only last for minutes. But, right in the slope and evacuation camp that only 10 miles from the active crater’s of Merapi, the fear last for hours.
Right after the rumble, Jalan Kaliurang was rushed by evacuation since the street is the main evacuation lane in the Sleman regency. While the evacuees were going down, I tried to go up, tried to draw near the hot pit. Police closed Kentungan junction, the main access to the higher Jalan Kaliurang. Finally, I found another way to pass the barricade.
It was the real chaotic night. While thousands of evacuees tried to abandon their last evacuation camp, there also sand fall. Sand, pebbles’, and ashes fall from sky that narrowing the evacuees’ vision. Approximately, evacuees had to go more than 5 miles from their last evacuation camp.
tea party ?
formerly, i heard the “tea party” words in the junior high school in a history class. it was ten years ago. now, as the midterm election in the US become a trending topics, the “tea party” word come into sight again. the question, what is actually the current “tea party movement” ?
according to some analysis, the current tea party movement share the same idea with the tea party that existed centuries ago and known as the boston tea party. the shared idea is to deny the rising tax. the current movement deny tax as the feds raised it nearly three times than usual. for every US citizen, it is a hard situation. but for US government, tax is needed for the economic recovery. the issue triggered a serious debate that now fueled US midterm election.
speaking in sound bites
a few days ago, the jakarta post released an inspiring article about public speaking. the article titled “speaking in sound bites”. the writer’s main argument is that sound bites is an effective weapon to attract audience. how come ? as the writer said:
Speaking in sound bites is, I have learned, quite an art form. It is not a matter of simply excising words from complete sentences or speaking like an auctioneer to cram in as many words as possible in under 15 seconds. Rather, it is the ability to craft short sentences that pack the most punch.
the article is so inspiring that makes me thinking about how Indonesian elite speak. it is generally known that Indonesian elite including not only political elite but also the economic elite never speaks to the point. complicated word that tend to be a deceiving words are to some how a general template.
in other side, as I’ve experienced in my public speaking occasion, complicated speaking is always a way to give your brain a chance to think. in short, somebody that speak a long, boring and complicated sentence is a person that unprepared to speak.
is obama a bonus ?
i deeply concerned how the US government undertake their public diplomacy. since obama’s victory, US have manipulated his image internationally for public diplomacy purpose. formerly, I have searched that Bush was not the source for US public diplomacy. but Obama, just like a bonus for US public diplomacy strategy. how come ?
it is deeply rooted on global frustration on Bush, his administration, and US foreign policy toward Iraq, Afghanistan, and recent global economic crisis. I think, this is a hard situation for US diplomat regarding positive image of the US. unexpectedly, there is Obama that come into view as a promising successor for Bush. Obama become expected figure not only for US citizen but also for global community. beyond such a high expectation then, Obama is now become main source for US public diplomacy. just see how US Dept of State manipulate his positive image for such a particular issues.
how to devaluate money ?
why devaluate ? because it could make your currency more competitive. in other word, devaluation could make your export cheaper than any other country. as a consequence, it could also cause trade imbalance. especially with other countries that the currency is not competitive.
according to recent slate coverage about the currency war issue, there are various ways to devaluate money. first, government could devaluate its currency by print more money. second, government could devaluate its currency by buying another countries debt. there are many more complex strategy to devaluate money. but those two are the most effective strategy.
currency war: the defitinion
i have read slate coverage about the latest currency war. slate wrote an inspiring coverage about the fundamental knowledge of the war. therefore, the article mainly talking about the definition, the basic knowledge that is needed to move to a more serious discussion about the currency war.
A "currency war" is just a headline writer’s term for what economists describe as "competitive devaluation." It’s helpful, in this context, to think of a dollar or a euro—any currency, really—as just another product: Its value goes up and down according to market forces. At any given time, any given currency exists in a global market determined by supply (how much of a currency exists) and demand (how much investors want to buy goods and assets denominated in that currency).
currency war
currency manipulation is the government’s new weapon. as BBC said, it is government’s new weapon for the battle for economic recovery. many country have tried to undervalue their currency to raise the level of competitiveness of the currency. no wonder, some expert call it “competitive devaluation”
the issue now evoke intense debate among money expert. there are two main position on the debate. first, government said that currency manipulation will raise the competitiveness of certain domestic economy. second, some money expert said that such manipulation will be dangerous for the recovery battle itself. therefore, the issue will be a hot topic for the next G-20 meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
Ipad Killer
few months ago, samsung announced its new tablet called galaxy tab. tranceforward, the gossip burgeoned so fast on the street. the crowd perceived that tab will be the real Ipad killer. according to its technical specifications, the galaxy tab have a better capability than ipad. but the question, is the galaxy tab the real ipad killer ?
the possible answer is no. the tab is not a real killer. the most important point is the street price that not much different with the ipad. in Indonesia, the tab priced near $ 700 with a data plan contract. meanwhile the ipad price outside the provider line are priced not much different with the tab’s price. several reference revealed the ipad’s price that only around $ 650 for 16 GB Ipad on the street outside provider offerings.
android apps proliferation
start form nothing in 2004, android become promising mobile operating system in 2010. some analysis said that will overthrow its older brothers, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Apple next year. CNN said, this is android sensation. another phenomenon, the application proliferate on a very high rate growth. this is actually the open source nature, when the freedom to develop give the strength to beat the giant.
readwriteweb said:
According to recent statistics from AndroidLib.com, the Android Marketplace saw 9,331 new mobile applications added to its app store during the month of March, 2010. This number is even more phenomenal when you look at the Android Marketplace’s historical growth. In December of last year, for example, there were 3,807 new applications added to the Android app store. By January, 4,458 more were added. In February, 5,532 arrived. And now, 9,331. If this trend continues, we could possibly see a month this year where the number of new applications tops 5 digits. And with numbers like this, Android could soon give Apple a run for its money.
the growth is phenomenal. CNET said that the growth show the big potential of android as mobile operating system. but such a high rate proliferation of android apps not always bring good implication as CNN said:
For users, it means apps in the store could be buggy, might not work well depending on their handsets, and could deliver a frustrating experience.
so, be careful android. despite the growth is phenomenon, frustrating experience is also the next possibility.
deepwater horizon
It is too late again to analyze the largest accidental oil spill in the history of petroleum industry. the only question is, what is deepwater horizon ?
I just found that deepwater horizon actually the name of an mobile oil rig. previously, I imagined that deepwater horizon is a specific glossary on petroleum industry. I googled it and finally found that it is not a specific glossary, just a specific name of mobile oil rig that exploded on the Mexico gulf in the middle of 2010.
The Deepwater Horizon was a 9-year-old semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, a massive floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in waters up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) deep and drill down to 30,000 feet (9,100 m).
the most interesting are the complex network behind the rig. we can see the interaction among world biggest petroleum company. the rig was produced by Korean heavy industry manufacturer, Hyundai and owned by Transocean. subsequently, the rig was operated under Marshallese flag of convenience. between March 2008 to September 2013, BP leased it. unexpectedly, the rig exploded in April 2010.
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