FIND ME...!!!

Newton's Three Laws of Graduation

Just wanna share following comics with you. You can click on respective pics to enlarge.

Copyrighted Jorge Cham http://www.phdcomics.com

Christmas Gospel Rally Singapore 2008

Christmas Gospel Rally Singapore 2008

The Lord who
entered history

Sunday, 14 December 2008
16:30 Indonesian Service
19.30 Chinese-English Service

Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre
(next to Dover MRT)

Speaker:

Pdt. Dr. Stephen Tong

Amazing Maths

Get this from a mailing list... enjoy...

Absolutely amazing!

Beauty of Math!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9

12 x 8 + 2 = 98

123 x 8 + 3 = 987

1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876

12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765

123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654

1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543

12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432

123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11

12 x 9 + 3 = 111

123 x 9 + 4 = 1111

1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111

12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111

123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111

1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111

12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111

123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88

98 x 9 + 6 = 888

987 x 9 + 5 = 8888

9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888

98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888

987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888

9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888

98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it? And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1

11 x 11 = 121

111 x 111 = 12321

1111 x 1111 = 1234321

11111 x 11111 = 123454321

111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321

11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this...

101%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN,

look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!It's up to you if you share this with your friends & loved ones justthe way I did.

Have a nice day & God bless !!

The Eyeballing Games...

Just to know this interesting games from my friend's blog.

Its all about accuracy. How accurate can you to find the middle of the line segment, the center of the circle, and many more. Its pretty simple, just click, drag, release. The website will tell you how close are you the the exact answer. The lower your score (meaning smaller your answer deviate from the solution) the better you are.

Here are my score:
I'm one of those ordinary people ya?

How about you? Try for yourself here.

More about the game: http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/about.html

Steve Jobs' (CEO of Apple) @ Stanford University

Barack Obama's Victory Speech

A Week as A Environmentalist

Hi All, now I'll shift a bit from the usual badminton topic to my past week activity. This week is the week for International Waste Congress organized by ISWA (International Solid Waste Management) with WMRAS (Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore). This event was held in Suntec City Convention Centre 3-6 Nov 2008.
Welcome reception was held @ Hortpark, Singapore's Gardening Hub. It was a great dinner under the starry sky.
On 5th and 6th, there is a parallel event held by NEA: Clean and Green Singapore, Schools' Carnival. This event basically comprises of booths showcasing the effort spent by various education institution start from primary, secondary, JC and ITE for being clean and green. It is very encouraging to see the future generation of Singapore speaking about 3R (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycling), alternative energy sources, and other nature loving activites. Below are the snapshots of the event.

Composting
Eco Park solely powered by wind energy
Dynamo powered handphone battery charger inspired by dinamo powered light
Even Nokia will plant a tree under your name in Kalimantan if you recycle your handphone, any type, any brand.... battery also can..
Below are the showcase made 100% by recycled materials

This is my favourite
Today, I visited Pulau Semakau Landfill. I believe this is the only offshore landfill in the world made by closing the sea area between Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng. This was done by building 7km perimeter sand bunk. For a landfill, I can say that this will be the most beautiful landfill in the world. The best thing is that, its odour free. This can be done since no food or other organic waste can be thrown in this landfill. Only ashes and waste that are non-incinerable (e.g. pvc pipe) can be dumped here. Below are few of the pics:

Wordle

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Above is wordle from my blog. You can create your own here.

European Tournament Wrap Up

Indonesia were represented by Djarum Badminton Club did quite well in last 3 tournament held in Europe ahead of Denmark Open Super Series. Below is the chart prepared to summarized how the Djarum players performed in Bitburger Open, Bulgaria Open and Dutch Open 2008


3 Title, 7 Runners Up, and 5 Seminalist were a very good result indeed. In fact, Shendy, Meiliana, Fran and Rendra will be recalled back to cipayung to represent the national team. Who knows Andre, Pipin, or Febe will be the next on the line to be Cipayung's squad.

Few pictures from Bulgaria Open:
Rosaria "Pipin" Pungkasari
Fran/Shendy and Rendra/Meiliana
Photos from Dutch Open:
Andre Kurniawan Tedjono, MS Champion

Fran/Shendy

Shendy/Meiliana
Bitburger Open 2008 Full Result
Bulgarian Open 2008 Full Result
Dutch Open 2008 Full result

Meanwhile in Denmark Super Series, Pelatnas team only managed to clinch 1 title. Again, the title come from Indonesia Olympic Gold Medallist Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan. Good news is that two of newly-formed womens double performed very well. Rani Mundiasti/Jo Novita lost in the finals to seeded no 4 Chin/Wong from Malaysia while Nitya Maheswari/Greysia Polii reached semifinal.

Denmark Open Super Series 2008 Full Result

Photos taken from:
http://photo-forum.net/forum/read.ph...horum_uriauth=
http://dutchopen.nl/uk/photos.php

Indonesia As the New India

Articles from NewsWeek

Indonesia As the New India

This stable democracy with a hot market economy resembles another Asian giant in the 1990s.

George Wehrfritz and Solenn Honorine

NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Oct 20, 2008

Jakarta today could be any of Asia's 21st-century boomtowns. The malls buzz, traffic snarls and modern office towers dominate the skyline. It all feels profoundly normal—but that's big progress in a place that, barely ten years ago, seemed destined for ruin. Following the fall of longtime strongman Suharto, and with Indonesia reeling from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, many analysts feared that Asia's third-biggest country (population: 235 million) would go the way of Yugoslavia. Instead, it has become a cohesive, robust and exuberantly democratic moderate Muslim nation. Things are so buoyant that Indonesia invites comparison to another Asian giant: India.

Both remain corrupt, chaotic and excruciatingly complex. Yet each is also an attractive emerging economy, and in India's case, a star of the developing world. Could Indonesia be next? Its economy grew by 6.3 percent last year, the main stock exchange ranks among the world's best performers since 2003 and last year foreign direct investment nearly tripled, to a respectable $4 billion. All of which resembles India in the 1990s, when reforms kick-started a potentially massive economy—though outsiders barely noticed until the IT sector took off and growth passed 8 percent. In Indonesia, the key sectors are energy, mining and soft commodities like rubber, palm oil and cocoa. And in an exclusive interview, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he sees no inherent reason why a big democracy like his can't grow as fast China, which has posted 10 percent growth rates in recent years.

That would put Indonesia on a lot of magazine covers. In fact, the country already looks better than India in two ways: its per capita income ($3,348) is a third higher, and thanks to Jakarta's fiscal austerity, it now boasts one of the lowest debt ratios in the world. "After ten years of restructuring, Southeast Asia's largest economy is in great shape," says Nicholas Cashmore, CLSA's country head and chief researcher in Jakarta.

Indonesia's political turnaround has been just as dramatic as its economic one. The president, known universally as SBY, is a former general who was elected in mid-2004 and has since become the country's most effective democratic leader. In four years, he has helped Indonesia roll up its terrorist problem and rebuild from the 2004 tsunami. Less appreciated (but more enduring), he has backed a profound political decentralization program, empowering hundreds of local administrations. Jakarta now rules by consensus, not decree. This has its downsides: it makes it impossible to railroad through big national development projects of the sort China is famous for. As SBY himself admits, "in many circumstances, we face local communities that don't agree with government projects, so we have to convince them. I do not think the system is wrong. In a democracy like ours, change, reform and resistance are normal."

The country's largest parties now basically agree on economic policy and the need to reduce corruption, improve the rule of law and make government more efficient. Key democratic institutions—including a free press, impartial courts and a legislature chosen by voters—are remarkably robust, and the once all-powerful military has largely removed itself from politics. Meanwhile, regional autonomy has triggered economic booms at the periphery, in contrast to the typical Southeast Asian model. "From the U.S., the U.K. or even Hong Kong," writes Cashmore, "it is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of Indonesia's potential [or] appreciate just how much more there is to the country beyond Jakarta." By his calculation, greater Jakarta now accounts for just 15 percent of Indonesia's GDP, a relatively small share compared to other Asian capitals.

Indonesia's accomplishments are all the more impressive when you remember how far and fast the country has come. The fall of Suharto's New Order (a highly centralized system that vested absolute power in the dictator and his cronies) 10 years ago was accompanied by a financial meltdown so severe that the IMF had to step in. Indonesia also faced fierce separatist insurgencies, Christian-Muslim violence and Islamic extremism underscored by the 2002 Bali bombing. The country seemed to be teetering on the brink of wholesale disintegration. Yet today, as Australian National University economist Andrew MacIntyre and the Asia Foundation's Douglas Ramage argued in a recent report, observers should start thinking of Indonesia "as a normal country grappling with challenges common to other large, middle-income, developing democracies—not unlike India, Mexico or Brazil."

In some ways Indonesia's democracy is even more sophisticated than those other states'. Take decentralization. Jakarta, like New Delhi, oversees national defense, internal security, finance, foreign policy and the justice system. But unlike the Indian government, Indonesia's—thanks to two "big bang" reform packages passed in 2001 and 2006, and supported by SBY—must now coordinate most other activities through the country's 33 provinces and nearly 500 local administrations, where popularly elected leaders make policy, manage two thirds of all civil servants and oversee everything from schools to economic development. As World Bank economists Wolfgang Fengler and Bert Hofman observe in a soon-to-be-published study, Indonesia has turned itself from "one of the most centralized countries in the world into one of the more decentralized ones."

To see what that means on the ground, follow the money. Under a new fiscal system implemented in 2001, regions are allocated a huge slice of the country's budget to spend more or less as they please. Poor and remote areas receive the most per capita, and those with abundant natural resources get shared extraction revenues. According to the World Bank, regional governments in Indonesia now account for 36 percent of all public expenditures, compared with an average of just 14 percent in all developing countries. And locals can promote whatever agendas they choose. "This is the real revolution," says Erman Rahman, who heads the World Bank's local governance initiatives in the country. Regions with proactive leaders have become laboratories of experimentation from which innovative anti-corruption, public-health and economic-growth initiatives have emerged. For his part, SBY has enabled this process by maintaining macroeconomic discipline and political stability. And his support for local autonomy has undermined separatism, extremism and communal violence.

One regional pioneer, Gamawan Fauzi, took power in West Sumatra's Solok region in 2001 and quickly created a one-stop shop for government services, replacing an opaque and complex web of offices and brokers. Fauzi's concept was to bring all government services under a single roof, post set fees, promote autopayment and guarantee prompt service as a means of rooting out corruption. And it has worked: the model has since been emulated across Indonesia, and Transparency International reports that corruption, while still high, has been reduced substantially.

Other local leaders have earned fame by initiating innovative new programs. Gede Putrayasa, who heads the poorest of nine regencies on the tourist island Bali, won office in 2001 on a pledge to provide universal medical insurance and free education. The latter proved relatively easy (he simply waived the 5,000 rupiah monthly fees), but improving health care without breaking the local budget was tougher. Under the old system, funds went to hospitals and local administrators, who did things like stockpile pharmaceuticals procured from companies that paid kickbacks. Putrayasa's innovation: provide every local household free health insurance that compensates clinics for services actually provided. "There's not a big savings," says Putrayasa, "but everyone is covered and the efficiency is much better because there is no longer any corruption."

Such reforms have stimulated economic growth. Putrayasa's health-care and education initiatives (as well as a jobs program that sends underemployed rice farmers to Japan) have reduced the local poverty rate fourfold to just 5.5 percent today. Better local governance has also made Indonesia a major beneficiary of the global soft commodity boom. Together, the value of its four largest crops—rubber, coconut, palm oil and cocoa—rose from $2.3 billion in 2000 to an estimated $19 billion in 2008, CLSA calculates. That's thanks to local leaders like Fadel Muhammad, governor of the hardscrabble province of Gorontalo on the island Sulawesi, who turned his constituents into the country's best corn farmers by deploying teams of agricultural consultants; providing subsidized seeds, fertilizers and rental machinery to farmers; and giving cash rewards to village leaders who boost yields. Since 2002, Gorontalo's poverty rate has shrunk from 49 to 29 percent.

Of course, decentralization has its problems. Analysts and watchdog groups say that while the number of effective leaders in the 500 local administrations has spiked from a handful to 50 or more under SBY, they are sometimes particularly effective at blocking necessary national reforms and projects. The result, says Ramage, is that progress will be "evolutionary, not revolutionary." For example, the Trans Java highway, which would link Jakarta with Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, was launched in 2004 with a target completion date of 2009, but is still only 10 percent done because of local opposition.

Nonetheless, Indonesia has already become a beacon of stability in Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. Its antiterrorism campaign—Indonesia has shut radical madrassas, established an effective counterterrorism force and cracked down hard on suspected cells, while also avoiding human-rights abuses—is seen as a model for the region. And as the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia's democratization has implications from Morocco to Mindanao in that it exemplifies an alternative to zealotry, intolerance and extremism. "Indonesia is not immune to radicalism we see worldwide, but this is exactly why we must maintain our identity as a moderate, tolerant nation," says Yudhoyono. "It enables us to prevent a clash of civilizations."

SBY is likely to win re-election next year, but even if he loses, analysts don't expect any sharp change in policy, because all the major political camps in Jakarta agree on the current reform blueprint. Even India does not enjoy that kind of stable consensus on how to catch China.

With Greg Hunt in Hong Kong

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/163572

How observant are you??

Source: http://expernomics.com/yer/intermezzo.html

Macau Open Gold Grandprix and Bitburger Open Wrap Up

TAUFIK HIDAYAT finally win something...... It has been a while since we saw this winning expression....

By clinching the title, Taufik helped Lee Chong Wei to continues his runner up streak... what a de ja vu ... since Olympic Games 2008 LCW seems to be a runner up specialist...

Indonesian young men doubles Fernando Kurniawan/Lingga Lie managed to reach semifinal before being eliminated by the champs and seeded no.1 KKK/TBH from Malaysia. Another Indo future shuttler Alamsyah Yunus played well to reached semi. He was defeated by current world no.2 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia.

Full results of Macau Open here

From Bitburger Open 2008 in Germany... Maria Febe Kusumastuti won the women singles final by defeating Aditi Mutatkar from India in rubber set 22-24 21-8 and 23-21. She saved 3 match points from Aditi before closed the 3rd game 23-21.


Unfortunately WD seeded no 1 Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa Irawati failed to won the title after losing to Nielsen/Roepke from Denmark. Other semifinalst from Indonesia: Fran Kurniawan?rendra Wijaya in MD and Rendra Wijaya/Meiliana Jauhari in XD.

Full results of Bitburger Open here

Source of Pictures:
http://sports.sina.com.cn
badmintoncentral.com

China Masters Super Series 2008 Wrap Up

Sony Dwi Kuncoro clinched his third consecutive super series by defeating Chen Jin from China PR in straight set 21-19 and 21-18. He proved himself as a serious contender in men singles and of course its a good news for Indonesian badminton. After Hendrawan's heroic action in Thomas Cup 2002 and Taufik Hidayat 2004 Olympic Gold Medal, Indonesia practically silenced in men singles sector.... New hero has born...


Sony positioning as Indonesian first single in Thoman Cup 2008 has been proven accurate based on his recent performance. I believe it is the time for Indonesian men singles to wake up and start producing more world class player. I believe few are in the making.... Simon Santoso (current world no 7), Andre Kurniawan Tedjono (26), Tommy Sugiarto (39), Yunus Alamsyah (45) and Ari Yuli Hartanto (49). Taufik? He needs more drive..... hope he can get back his form...

Other result, Olympic gold medallist Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan once again proven that they are the best in men doubles by defeting Sun Junjie/Chen Xu from China 21-17 and 24-22. World rank #1 Nova Widiyanto and Lilyana Natsir failed for the second time in two weeks in super series finals. This time they lose to world rank #3 Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen. One thing worth noting is the bad call by the linesman when score shown 14-11 for Chinese pairs; Nova and Lily never recover from the bad call and lose 17-21 and 17-21. Poor quality of refreeing was also seen in the men singles match up.

Full result can be seen here.

This week, Indonesian player will be competing in two turnaments. The national team will compete in Macau Open Grand Prix Gold 2008, while the team from Djarum Club will participate in Bitburgeropen 2008 in Germany. Wish them all the best....

Taiwan Open Gold GP and Japan Super Series Wrap Up

Indonesian team did well in Taiwan Open Gold GP and Japan Open Super Series.

1. Taiwan Open Gold GP

Indonesia were represented by Rani Mundiasti/Jo Novita (WD), Chandra Wijaya (MD), Simon Santoso (MS) and Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita (XD) where the last two managed to clinched the title... Simon Santoso was the finalist of the last two super series (Singapore SS and Indonesia SS) won the tournament by defeating Roslin Hashim from Malaysia. Indonesian yound mixed doubles pair upset the home side (seeded no 4) Fang/Cheng...

2. Japan Open Super Series
Indonesian managed to clinched the mixed double title via All Indonesian Final. Muhammad Rijal won his first ever Internatioanal title (partnered with Vita Marissa) by defeating world's No 1 Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir in rubber set. Sony Dwi Kuncoro has a nice revenge by trashing World's No 2 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia. Indonesian young pairs Septano Bona/Mohammad Ahsan failed to clinched Indonesian 3rd title after losing to experienced pair Paaske/Rasmussen from Denmark.

SONY DWI KUNCORO, Japan Open Super Series 2008 Men Singles Champion

Muhammad Rijal/Vita Marissa, Japan Open Super Series 2008 Mixed Doubles Champion


Photos Source: Agence France Presse - AFP