Wednesday, February 23, 2011

TANGAN TUHAN

Lokasi: depan Lab. Telematika, Teknik Elektro - ITS, waktu: Rabu, 23 Februari 2011; pagi, antara 09.00-10.00

Saya duduk dengan seorang teman, menanti kedatangan dosen. Beberapa saat datanglah seorang pria paruh baya, dengan postur tinggi besar dan agak gemuk. Ia mengambil posisi duduk dekat saya, di bangku yang sama.

Pak Rus: Menunggu dosen ya, Mas?
Saya: Iya, Pak.
Pak Rus: Siapa?
Saya: Pak Hariadi, Pak.
Pak Rus: Oh...! Saya juga menunggu Pak Hariadi.
Saya: Mmm..., Bapak dosen di sini juga atau...?
Pak Rus: Oh! Saya mahasiswanya Pak Hariadi.
Saya: Ooo...! (Sambil mengangguk-anggukkan kepala) Mahasiswa S3 ya, Pak?
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. Mas sendiri?
Saya: Saya mahasiswa S2, Pak.

Selanjutnya, lelaki itu pun beralih pertanyaan ke Mas Dirvi, teman saya, yang berdiri dekat tiang di depannya. Sementara saya kembali sibuk dengan artikel pada laptop yang saya pangku sejak awal.

Selang beberapa saat, saya tertarik dengan percakapan antara Pak Rus, Mas Dirvi, dan seorang ibu; mahasiswa S3; teman Pak Rus; yang datang kemudian. Perbincangan soal beasiswa lah yang mebuat saya tertarik.

Saya: Bapak kuliah S3-nya dapat beasiswa ya?
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. Saya dari awal kuliah pasca dapat beasiswa.
Saya: Mmm..., bagaimana caranya, Pak? Lewat rajin baca-baca informasi di pengumuman ya?
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. Saya ikutin info yang ada di tempat saya kerja.

Setelah perbincangan antara kami berempat, diketahuilah bahwa Pak Rus ini adalah seorang PNS di tempatnya bekerja, di Jojga. Namun, hanya sebagai seorang tukang kebun. Kontan hal tersebut membuat saya semakin tertarik pada pria berkukit coklat ini, yang juga berpenampilan simpatik, low-profile, dan tampak ramah.

Saya: Lho! Bagaimana ceritanya, Pak? (Tanya saya dengan penasaran. Teman saya pun tak kalah heran. Kami menyimpan kekaguman yang serupa.)
Pak Rus: Saya ini... D2-nya di teknik. D3 nggak selesain (karena suatu permasalahan yang diceritakannya pada kami, tapi tak akan saya paparkan di sini). S1-nya di ekonomi. S2 juga ekonomi.
Saya: Terus kok bisa S3 di teknik, Pak?
Pak Rus: Basic saya kan di teknik, Mas. Dulu waktu mau ambil S1, dosen saya bilang, "Ngapain Kamu ambil ekonomi? Nggak, nggak nyambung itu." Tapi saya tetap ambil saja. Saya kan dapat beasiswa.
Saya: Ooo...!
Pak Rus: S2-nya saya ambil manajemen. Lalu, dosen saya juga ada yang bilang begitu, "Ngapain Kamu ambil ekonomi? Nggak cocok. Banyak saingannya. Ntar susah ketrima kerja." Lha! Terus saya pun kuliah S2 lagi di teknik.
Saya: Lha! Bagaimana bisa, Pak? Kok bisa nyambung dengan teknik? (Saya sambil terpelongo.)
Pak Rus: Ya itu, berkat Tangan Tuhan, Mas. Kalau nggak, nggak bakalan mungkin. Saya juga lulus tepat waktu. Sementara ada tuh temen saya seangkatan S2-nya tapi nggak lulus-lulus sampai sekarang. Kadang saya jadi nggak enak pas ngasih-ngasih saran. Mereka malah jadi tersinggung.

Kami pun tertawa mendengar penjelasan Pak Rus yang polos dan low-profile itu.

Saya: Hebat ya, Pak! Bagaimana bisa? Apa Bapak rajin ke lab? Riset begitu? Bagaimana?
Pak Rus: Ya itulah, Mas. Saya juga nggak tahu. Biasa saja. Berkat Tangan Tuhan itu. Saya saja sampai sekarang nggak percaya. Terus..., habis tamat S2 saya juga langsung S3, seperti sekarang ini.
Saya: S2-nya dulu juga beasiswa?
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. S1 saya dulu kan juga. Dari S1 itu. S2 juga. Sekarang S3 juga. Lumayan, per tahun dapat 36 juta dari Dikti. Itu langsung dapat. Walau saya harus presentasi dulu di Jakarta, di depan Dirjen. Orangnya sambil mantuk-mantuk dengar saya. He, he...! (Kami pun ikut tertawa ringan.)
Saya: Wah, hebat! Lumayan sekali itu, Pak. Bagaimana caranya?
Pak Rus: Ya itu: Tangan Tuhan, Mas. (Kata-kata yang sering sekali ia ucapkan. Tampak sangat bersyukur.)
Saya: Iya ya, Pak. Hari gini kita harus giat mencari beasiswa. Apalagi tuk pasca.
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. (Iya mengamini sambil mengangguk ringan.) Ya...! Lumayan lah, Mas. Uang beasiswa kan lumayan buat tambah-tambah. Wong disuruh sekolah kok.
Saya: Hebat Bapak ya! Sekolah terus tanpa henti, sampai sekarang S3. (Saya berulang kali bertanya padanya tentang bagaimana ia bisa melewati itu dengan mulus hingga S3, dan bagaimana ia melakukan riset-riset akademik. Seolah saya tak percaya. Terlebih, ia mengambil bidang yang berbeda-beda untuk beberapa jenjang. Dan, lagi-lagi ia menjawab, "Berkat Tangan Tuhan.")
Pak Rus: Iya, Mas. Saya saja banyak yang crash di kantor (tempat ia sebagai PNS). Orang-orang di kantor pada ngomong, "Tukang kebun kok S3." Banyak yang skeptis dan nggak setuju, Mas. Ya..., gontok-gontokan mereka itu. He, he! (Kami pun ikut tertawa ringan. Dan, saya tetap tak bisa menyembunyikan kekaguman saya. Terutama saat tahu bahwa dulu saat lulus D2 dia hanya mendapatkan pekerjaan sebagai tukang kebun yang urusannya bersih-bersih dan lain sebagainya - saat seseorang menawarkannya untuk jadi PNS.)
Saya: Hebat sekali, Pak!
Pak Rus: Berkat Tangan Tuhan, Mas. Saya juga nggak percaya bisa sampai sini. Tukang kebun kok S3.

Pak Hariadi, dosen yang ditunggu-tunggu pun, datang. Percakapan singkat, tapi sangat bermakna, pun usai. Namun, dari sana... saya sadar bahwa banyak hal yang tidak masuk akal bagi kebanyakan orang, tapi bisa tercapai selama Tuhan menghendaki; selama Yang Maha Kuasa menolong.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

SEJUTA FACEBOOKERS TOLAK BOIKOT FILM ASING


Ikuti grup di Facebook untuk menolak pemboikotan terhadap film asing! Grup ini dibuat untuk menggalang penolakan terhadap boikot film-film asing (Hollywood, Bollywood, Mandarin, dan lain-lain).

Seperti yang telah kita ketahui, pemerintah hendak menerapkan bea masuk bagi distribusi film-film impor. Hal itu sangat mengancam keberadaan fillm-film asing untuk masuk ke Indonesia, baik di bioskop maupun di keping-keping CD atau DVD.

Bayangkan! Anda tak kan bisa lagi menyaksikan film-film seperti Spiderman, James Bond, Fantastic Four, Twilight, dan lainnya. Anda juga tidak akan bisa lagi memandang dan menikmati akting dari aktor dan aktris favorit Anda, seperti Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Sharukh Khan, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, dan lain-lain.

Sementara itu, film-film lokal sebagian besar masih buruk kualitasnya, kurang mendidik atau cenderung merusak dengan cerita-cerita mistis berbau seks dan kekerasan, rata jalan cerita alias alurnya, dan cenderung picisan alias lebih mementingkan komersialitas tanpa begitu menghiraukan kualitas.

Mau dibawa ke mana generasi bangsa ini dengan tontonan yang semakin tak berkualitas? 

"Seperti diketahui, kebijakan bea masuk film impor sendiri tertuang dalam SE-03/PJ/2011 tentang Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) atas penghasilan royalty dan perlakuan Pajak Pertambahan Nilai (PPN) atas peredaran film impor. Pihak distributor juga dibebani tarif PPN dan PPh atas film impor flat sebesar 0,43 dolar atau setara Rp 3.870 per meter.

Kebijakan itu pun langsung direaksi MPA, sebagai erwakilan produsen film Hollywood di Indonesia dan Ikatan Perusahaan Film Impor Indonesia (perwakilan produsen film Mandarin dan India). Mereka pun memutuskan  menghentikan peredaran film-film mereka di Indonesia." (Dikutip dari: SurabayaPost.co.id)

Monday, February 14, 2011

What is The Essence of Valentine's Day (for You)?

What is the essence of Valentine's Day for you?
I think, that is an interesting question somebody can ask to you - especially if we connect it to the nearest event.

February 14th is celebrated annually by people around the world, especially by the couples who are falling in love each other. It's such an obligation to send chocolate or a bucket of flowers to your spouse or lover. Obligatory, it's also a thing to do to have a candle light dinner together, and then lasted by a romantic date - whole night long.

Aha! Is it just that's all like? No, I think! In my opinion, Valentine's Day is not just about loving and staying all night long with your lover. But, it's larger. It has biggest aspect it can have - as long as still related to all about love and affection. So? You can share your affection, attention, and also love to everybody needing, to each member of your big family, to your neighbors, to your partners and/or relations, to the orphans, to the homeless people, to the beggar, to the poor, and even to your enemy or fierce rivals.

As long as you can celebrate the day with that, you succeed to celebrate Valentine's Day or Day of Affection.   

Still The Same

By: 'Ammar Lelo Andiko

You told me it's different
You told me it's a high-end
I tried to trust you
I did it with no question in two

But you forget one thing
The thing all people think
It's still the same, Mate!
It's still the point we hate

You asked me why it's happened
You know we both already waited
You asked me why we're still here
You know it's still the same there

The rest is just the way to come home
Together we laugh at stupidity of our own
On the edge of that junction, Friend
I said, "It's still the same," again

Surabaya, February 13th 2011
To a nation that will change

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Next Derby of Italy

Courtesy of: 4.bp.blogspot.com
In hours we will watch together the big match between Juventus and Inter Milan. This derby - which is well-known with Derby d'Italia - meets two fierce rivals those have been enemies each other since the very beginning of Italian football rise. The meet between the two teams always give attractive and high tension game. Both's supporters have huge prides for their each team. The loyalty to the club should even often be paid by the blood whenever there was a clash between them. Italian police have to provide tight security for the two team's matches to prevent big and larger anarchy by supporters. 

It's the hottest in Italy. Even hotter than Derby della Madonina, which meets Inter and AC Milan. That's why   That's why the match is called as Derby d'Italia, which means the derby of Italy. That's why this match called as a derby - though most derbies meet two teams in a city.

As an Interisti, of course, I support Inter to win. In a social network site, I read that some people dare Inter to win 2-0 in Juve's home in Turin. I agree with that, and I think that's worthy for Inter today's status. But, you may have different idea - especially if you're a Juventini - related to the previous meetings of the two teams. Inter won 14 times, drew 17 times, and lost 60 times.

Forza Inter!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Connecting Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube

It's been so long since the last time I posted "tricks" labelled post. This time we're going to find out how to connect Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube each other. You know that the four social networks are so essential in our daily lives. Some of us use more than one of them. Two, three, or sometimes four. We do know it. But, we often feel lazy to open them all in one same time. You can imagine how our browser could be, while they all are opened. It's gonna be messed up, isn't? Hard to gaze at.

Someday you might think to post a status or comment or tweet, but it (the status) is going to be updated and shown in other accounts. For example: you tweet in Tweeter, then you want your tweet to be shown in your Facebook account. Here, we're try each possibility to do so for those four social networks.

1. Connecting Twitter and Facebook
  • Log in to your Facebook account!
  • Do searching with query "twitter"! After doing this you'll find third party application by Twitter.
  • Then let this app to be used in your Facebook account by clicking "allow"!
  • The rest is gonna be so easy, just by following further instruction needed.
  • Next, you need to check the box of "Facebook Profile" to allow Twitter to post update to your wall.
  • The last, you will see the next window 

You can see that there's a statement where "Your Facebook & Twitter accounts are connected!" After all, your tweets will be updated also in your Facebook, but it might not be the same vise versa. It means that your Facebook status will not be updated in your Twitter timeline. It's a single direction telecommunication.

2. Connecting MySpace with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

These are gonna be easier because we just find all links to connect the four accounts in one page only.
  • Sign in to your MySpace account first!
  • Point to "My Stuff" drop down menu to find "Account Settings"! Then click it!
  • In settings you will find "3rd Party Syncing". It's a sub-menu of "Stream Settings" in bottom left corner. Then click it!
  • In this 3rd Party Syncing, you'll be offered to link your MySpace to any other four accounts: Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, and YouTube.
  • You just need to click and follow the Sync button to make links with other accounts.
  • By clicking, the new tab/page will be opened for you, which will bring and direct you to each account you mean. Of course, you need to log in or sign in first. Each operation is so simple and easy to trace.
  • After all, you'll see your sync status that it's stating whether your accounts synced already.
  • Between MySpace and Twitter, your sync is bidirectional. It means that your tweet will be shown in your MySpace status, and vice versa: your status will also be able to show in your tweet. Between MySpace and Facebook, you only have single-direction communication, where your MySpace status will be shown in your Facebook status, but not vice versa. It's same with sync between Twitter and Facebook. Between MySpace and YouTube, you also find single-direction communication, where your video upload and comment will be shown or updated in your MySpace status - not vice versa.
  • The character of communication direction, can be seen on the window below.

From things we've done, we will have known that Facebook is the most flexible site among the four. It can accept and show all tweets and statuses from Twitter and also MySpace. The status update from Facebook cannot be shown in Twitter and MySpace. It's probably caused by unsupported apps yet - provided by the last two sites. I've also found no way to sync Facebook and YouTube.

That's all for this time. Happy trying!