Back to RO - Ninja Class ??

I accidentally opened Indonesian RO official website yesterday, only to know that there was a new sub episode of RO, called Ninja (eps 10.5). Yes, ninja is one of some new job-classes in RO alongside Taekwonboy and Gunslinger, and i really want to try this new job. In fact, the job has been available in the previous RO Client (ver 0711), but the server i had didn't have any configurations or scripts for it. So, as a GM, i could only switch to ninja class, but i could not do any skills of it .

 
 

So i started downloading the new RO Clients (Ragnarok and Sakray 1100), new server pack (SVN EAthena), translation packs, patches, diffs etc. The largest files were the clients, of course, as they cost about 2 GB in disk space. I hope the download will be finished today.

Actually, it's hard for me to have spare time in this time, because i have two jobs at two different places, so i can only play games on saturday or sunday. Well it's going to be tough sometimes, but at least i can relax for a bit. So i apologize if there were some comments or requests about RO that were not answered in this blog. Honestly, i'm very very busy now .

HARIMAU Coordination Meeting

There was a meeting among three institutions in Indonesia ; BPPT, BMG and LAPAN, about the coordination program of HARIMAU (Hydrometeorological ARray for Intraseasonal variation Monsoon AUtomonitoring). I don't know who'd given such name to the program, but it would make me laugh sometimes when i heard the acronym .

 

There were some well-known scientists from each institution such Pak Timbul and Eddy from LAPAN, Pak Edvin, Fadli and Findi from BPPT, my boss Pak Iyung, and some officials from BMG. And of course the japanesee scientist, Mori-San (whom i desribed in my previous blog), was there too.

 

The scientists from LAPAN knew me actually, but they forgot my name, because the last time i met them was about 2 years ago, when i was still in college in Bandung, and we had short conversation before the discussion began.

It was great to meet many scientists in the meeting that they sometimes threw argumentations regarding the project. The bad thing was (in my opinion), the officials from BMG seemed to be not prepared enough as they often made some statements and questions which were not necessary enough to ask in the meeting. Sometimes they explained something just like we were all not scientists at all and of course, we knew the topics exactly even if they didn't explained them to us. Besides, the officials of BMG came late to the meeting, so we had to wait about 1 hour before the meeting began. That's why i don't like BMG too much (again, it's just my own opinion). But by the way, the meeting was succesful and we would continue the collaboration in the future.

As for me, i don't feel any hesitation again to speak to Mori-San. Because he'll leave tomorrow, so i think it's better to speak anything than stay quite like a dumb. Hehehe ... by the way, thanks God, today was better than yesterday and i'm starting to get my courage and spirit again here, which were lost in the last 1 year .

A Survey With Foreigner

It was a busy day. I had to accompany a japanese scientist to our radar site at PUSPIPTEK, Serpong. By the way, talking with a foreigner made some fun for me. Actually, i sometimes did not know what would i say next to him and i also did not speak english fluently. But fortunately, he understood what i'd said. For addition, there were two scientist accompanied us, so i did not have to worry about the miscommunication among us. Thanks to them.

There're few lessons i've got while i was talking directly to the foreigners. The most important one is, you don't have to follow the linguistic rules strictly such as structure or grammars while you are talking. I know, the rules are important in english, but practically, i found it harder to speak english correctly with foreigners. Although i have TOEFL score at 553, but it still hard for me to speak english fluently. Sometimes it's frustating to me. So, the most important thing when you have to speak english to a foreigner is TALK . Yeah, just talk. Do not think to much about the rules in english language. But, if you can speak english correctly and fluently, it will be a big advantage. Of course, this only will be provided by practice and practice. The more you speak english to foreigners, the more and better english you'll have.

The fun side is, usually the foreigners are really happy to speak to us. Even tough we have bad english or the topics are not in our daily job fields. They will feel more exciting if they can speak in Bahasa Indonesia to us . The lunch and dinner time are usually the best times to talk with them. Suprisingly, many foreigners i've met before are indonesian food lovers. It seems that they will eat everything you serve to them, such as gudeg, nasi padang, and even soto or sate ayam. But i think that they don't like sugar too much in their food. They said that sugar would make many deseases in our body if we consumed it too much. In fact, i agree with their opinion.

Well, it's 6:30 pm now, and i have to do salat maghrib. It's a busy day, but it also a fun day for me. I hope that i can speak more english with other foreigners as well as today. 

Virginia Tech Massacre - The Result of USA Security Arrogance

 

Actually, i have not read the news on monday, until tuesday, when i opened my browser. It just gave me horrible feeling to know that there was a massacre which was causing 33 deaths, including the gunman. I felt more miserable when i read that there was an indonesian student among the victims. Just imagine, when you're taking a class and suddenly, a mad student with guns rushed into the class and tried to shot everyone in there. Scary isn't it ? I can't even think if it happens to me.

The ridiculous thing was, several days before, the USA ambassador in Indonesia made a statement to US civillians for not taking any trips because of  the lack of safety of indonesian airlines system. He even stated that there were still many terorists here targetting US civillians. So travelling in indonesia is considered to be very very dangerous activity at this time. And then what happened next ? As you could see, there was an incident - or actually, a massacre - which was not taking place in our country, but in USA. It was the worst shooting tragedy in USA history. I think the USA ambassador should shut his mouth now .

Many people said that USA is the safest place in the world, with an extremelly full-security system. If you're come from asia or another "suspicious" countries, it will be difficult to enter this "safe" country. But why ? Why could a student in USA (even though the gunman was a korean student), enabled to have weapons and carried them to the school ?  Where 's the security system at school ? Stop mocking the lacks of another country security system and just think about your own country ! Where the weapons are obtained so easilly from the stores, and you still call your country is the most peaceful place out there ?

I just hope for the best, that this tragedy will not happen again in the future, especially to indonesian student in USA.

Bandung Eps 3 - What should i do ?

Menunda2 sesuatu yg penting itu nggak baik, dan hari ini gw kena batunya. Maunya pergi ke Bandung dgn tenang pake kereta sore, nggak taunya malah dapat kereta malam. Itupun nyaris kehabisan tiket. Gw lupa kalo besok libur nyampe 3 hari, makanya banyak org yg mudik. Jadilah Gambir kemarin malam ramai luar biasa. Tiket2 pada habis. Masih untung gw dapat tiket argo gede terakhir, kalo nggak harus naik bus lg ke bandung.

Setelah memohon2, akhirnya gw bisa ambil sertifikat TOEFL hari sabtu. Buat bapak2 yg udah bela2in piket sabtu di UPT Bahasa ITB, hatur nuhun ...

Omong2 soal nilai TOEFL, nggak terlalu jelek. 553 udah di atas standar buat S2 di ITB atau beberapa Univ di Jepang. Benar jg perkiraan gw, nilai yg anjlok ada di listening. Gara2nya, gw sempat ngelamun pas ujian listening comprehension . Padahal yg paling penting pas listening tu konsentrasi. Pikiran melayang sedikit aja, lewat dah ....

And now, what should i do then ?? Should i continue to pursue my dream ? Or i just stop here ? Stop here and live my daily life again ?

If i continue, there will be some consequences.

First, i might (or have to) lose my current job as a full-time programmer. Actually, i've been "lectured" by my bosses, a few days ago, for not beeing professional at work for this 2 weeks. They said that my performance has dropped significantly, compared to the 1st year. Well, i can't say anything that time. It's true. But i couldn't help it. To take a TOEFL test in ITB, you have to register it personally. It means that you have to go to bandung on work days, from monday through friday. So it will take at least 2 days. Then i have to study before the test, take a trip to bandung etc, it will spend more time. That's why, i can't work normally in this 2 weeks. I've so exhausted.

Second, i should change my life and find another job. Go back to BPPT ? it might be possible. At least i'll have a scientific job. But, what about the salary ? There's no guarantee that i'll be payed as much as i've got now. Below 1 million rupiahs ? I can't live in Jakarta with such low sallary.

What should i do then ? It just give me a headache to think about it now.

Tahun penuh Bencana

Entah dosa apa yang sudah dilakukan oleh bangsa ini, yg jelas kecelakaan pesawat Garuda Indonesia di Yogya kemarin seakan memberi gambaran, kalo Tuhan sedang menghukum bangsa kita. Belum dua hari berlalu sejak Gempa di Sumatera Barat yg merenggut puluhan nyawa di Solok, tiba2 berita duka datang lagi dari Yogya. Ironisnya, belum ada sebulan sejak kecelakaan terbakarnya kapal feri Levina 1, sekarang yg terbakar malah pesawat udara.

Memang, umur itu Tuhan yg menentukan. Tiap hari ada yg lahir dan mati. Tapi baru tahun ini, angka kematian masal akibat kecelakaan meningkat tajam, dan kecelakaan ini tidak cuma terjadi di darat, laut dan udara juga kena imbasnya. Tragedi di awal tahun 2007 "dibuka" dengan hilangnya pesawat Adam Air yg hanya meninggalkan serpihan2 di selat Makassar, seluruh penumpang dipastikan tewas. Di waktu yang hampir bersamaan, kapal feri Senopati Nusantara karam karena penyebab yg sama, cuaca buruk. Belum selesai masalah karena dua kecelakaan di atas, transportasi darat ikut didera tragedi yg sama. Kereta tabrakan, anjlok dan terbalik di mana2.

Bulan februari yg terjadi juga sama. Malahan lebih parah dari bulan sebelumnya. Mulai dari banjir bandang, angin puting beliung, tanah longsor, seakan sudah jadi berita harian yg dilihat di TV, koran atau Internet. Dan lagi2 kecelakaan terjadi lagi, kali ini kapal feri Levina 1 menjadi aktornya. Setelah terbakar dan menewaskan ratusan orang, kapal ini kembali menelan korban pada saat ditarik kembali ke pelabuhan. Ironisnya, yg menjadi korban adalah petugas yg berwenang dan pers yg bermaksud meliput kapal ini dari dekat. Di udara, pesawat2 mendarat darurat di bandara terdekat karena masalah teknis.

Bulan maret ini pun dimulai dengan bencana gempa bumi di Solok dan kecelakaan Garuda di Yogyakarta. Padahal Garuda adalah maskapai nasional Indonesia dengan standar keamanan yg sudah diakui secara Internasional. Lalu kenapa masih terjadi kecelakaan maut seperti ini ?  Kapan ini semua berakhir ?

Sekedar iseng, coba perhatikan catatan kecelakaan transportasi/bencana tahun 2007 di bawah :

• 01/01 ( 01 Januari ) : Adam air/KM Senopati Nusantara
• 02/02 ( 02 Februari ) : Banjir Jakarta
• 22/02 ( 22 Februari ) : Levina I
  
• 03/03 ( 03 Maret ) : Longsor NTT

Coba perhatikan tanggal dan bulan kejadian. Aneh kan ? Satu lagi, kecelakaan Garuda kemarin terjadi tanggal 7 Maret 2007, kalo diubah ke format tanggal pendek menjadi 07-03-07 = 737, jenis pesawat garuda yg celaka adalah Boeing 737 !

Entah ini pertanda atau bukan, yang jelas, mari kita sama2 introspeksi diri, tobat sebenar2nya tobat kepada Tuhan dan minta ampun atas segala dosa yg kita dan bangsa ini lakukan selama ini.