True story of Stanford University

Fahmi Rizwansyah says:

Untrue story:

The Stanfords visited several great universities of the East to gather ideas. An urban legend, widely circulated on the Internet but untrue, describes the couple as poorly-dressed country bumpkins who decided to found their own university only after being rebuffed in their offer to endow a building at Harvard. They did visit Harvard's president but were well-received and given advice on starting a new university in California. From the outset they made some untraditional choices: the university would be coeducational, in a time when most were all-male; non-denominational, when most were associated with a religious organization; and avowedly practical, producing "cultured and useful citizens" when most were concerned only with the former.



True story:
taken from http://www.stanford.edu/about/history

The Birth of the University

In 1876, former California Governor Leland Stanford purchased 650 acres of Rancho San Francisquito for a country home and began the development of his famous Palo Alto Stock Farm. He later bought adjoining properties totaling more than 8,000 acres. The little town that was beginning to emerge near the land took the name Palo Alto (tall tree) after a giant California redwood on the bank of San Francisquito Creek. The tree itself is still there and would later become the university's symbol and centerpiece of its official seal.

The Stanford Family

Leland Stanford, who grew up and studied law in New York, moved West after the gold rush and, like many of his wealthy contemporaries, made his fortune in the railroads. He was a leader of the Republican Party, governor of California and later a U.S. senator. He and Jane had one son, who died of typhoid fever in 1884 when the family was traveling in Italy. Leland Jr. was just 15. Legend has it that the grieving couple said to one another after their son's death, "the children of California shall be our children," and they quickly set about to find a lasting way to memorialize their beloved son.

The Stanfords visited several great universities of the East to gather ideas. An urban legend, widely circulated on the Internet but untrue, describes the couple as poorly-dressed country bumpkins who decided to found their own university only after being rebuffed in their offer to endow a building at Harvard. They did visit Harvard's president but were well-received and given advice on starting a new university in California. From the outset they made some untraditional choices: the university would be coeducational, in a time when most were all-male; non-denominational, when most were associated with a religious organization; and avowedly practical, producing "cultured and useful citizens" when most were concerned only with the former.

The prediction of a New York newspaper that Stanford professors would "lecture in marble halls to empty benches" was quickly disproved. The first student body consisted of 559 men and women, and the original faculty of 15 was expanded to 49 for the second year. The university’s first president was David Starr Jordan, a graduate of Cornell, who left his post as president of Indiana University to join the adventure out West.

The Stanfords engaged Frederick Law Olmsted, the famed landscape architect who created New York’s Central Park, to design the physical plan for the university. The collaboration was contentious, but finally resulted in an organziation of quadrangles on an east-west axis. Today, as Stanford continues to expand, the university’s architects attempt to respect those original university plans.

Cheers, frizzy2008.

The Wealthy Use Google, The Poor Use Yahoo

Fahmi Rizwansyah says:

Talk about a digital divide. Hitwise recently performed some analysis of the traffic patterns on the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) search engines. Google users tended to be older and spend more money online. Yahoo users, conversely, were often younger and spent less money online. Which is the better audience to have?

Why is it that Google users are likely to be older and spend more and the opposite for Yahoo? Is it the blend of services available? The result Hopkins finds of highly-indexed Google users being 55+ seems odd to me. My parents fall into that age bracket and hardly use the Internet for more than the most casual searches. Meanwhile, my peers, ranging from 25 to 40, seem to have adopted more of Google's services than our parents have. So when Hitwise says Yahoo users are younger, does that mean younger than 25? Younger than 20? Are teenagers the biggest users of Yahoo services?

Why would Microsoft want to buy a company that caters to teenagers? Granted, the 18-34 advertising bracket is highly coveted, as younger people are falling into the purchasing patterns they will likely follow for the rest of their lives. But older people, 34-54, generally have more disposable income.

taken from http://www.europaluxury.com
Cheers, frizzy2008.

Depkominfo Selanggarakan Instalasi Open Source Software Secara Massal

Fahmi Rizwansyah says:

Kementerian Ristek dan Depkominfo menyelenggarakan instalasi Open Source Software (OSS) secara massal pertama di Indonesia untuk 288 unit laptop. Setelah proses instalasi selesai, ke-288 laptop tersebut akan menjalankan aplikasi OpenOffice secara massal pertama di Indonesia, di mana setiap 3-4 laptop dijalankan oleh seorang peserta.

"Ini akan dicatatkan di MURI (Museum Rekor Dunia Indonesia -red)," kata Asisten Deputi Pendayagunaan dan Pemasyarakatan Iptek Kementerian Ristek Kemal Prihatman di sela proses instalasi massal Open Source Software di Jakarta, Sabtu (2/8). Dalam kesempatan itu, MURI juga mencatatkan hotspot dengan akses SSID terbanyak dalam satu waktu secara bersamaan dan konten blog terbanyak dalam waktu tiga jam.

Sementara itu, Pakar Telematika Onno W Purbo yang juga merupakan panitia acara itu mengatakan ada dua filosofi diselenggarakannya kegiatan pencatatan.
"Kita ingin tanamkan bahwa meng-install software open source itu mudah dan yang kedua kita ingin tanamkan bahwa menulis dalam blog itu juga mudah," katanya.

Kemal mengatakan sejak penandatanganan kesepakatan bersama penggunaan OSS di 18 Kementerian/Departemen pada Indonesia Go Open Source (IGOS) Summit Mei 2008 lalu perkembangan open source sangat positif.
"Namun memang tergantung kesiapan dari bagian di masing-masing instansi, ada yang masih proses dan ada yang sudah menggunakan," katanya.

Untuk Kementerian Ristek sudah 100 persen untuk server dan 95 persen desktop yang telah menggunakan OSS, sisanya tetap menggunakan software proprietari karena memang belum ada penggantinya. Sedangkan Dirjen Aplikasi Telematika Depkominfo Cahyana Ahmadjayadi mengatakan, pemassalan OSS di Departemen Kominfo khususnya di Dirjen Aplikasi Telematika sudah 98 persen dan dua persen dengan proprietari.

Semangat OSS sudah dimulai di Indonesia sejak 30 Juni 2004 dengan deklarasi lima instansi pemerintah yakni, Kementerian Ristek, Depkominfo, Depdiknas, Depkum dan HAM serta Kementerian PAN disusul dengan diluncurkannya OSS versi Indonesia IGOS Nusantara pada 12 Juli 2005, ujarnya. Kementerian Ristek, kata Kemal, juga sedang mempersiapkan delapan aplikasi khusus untuk Kementerian/Departemen seperti aplikasi inventaris kantor, aplikasi kepegawaian, aplikasi pengelolaan anggaran, hingga aplikasi pelayanan publik. Aplikasi tersebut nantinya bisa di-download di web Depkominfo dan bersifat customized karena terbuka untuk dimodifikasi, ujarnya.

Perangkat lunak open source sudah disediakan secara gratis oleh pemerintah dan merupakan pengganti perangkat lunak berbayar (proprietari) yang di pasaran cukup mahal seperti Microsoft.

taken from mediaindonesia.com
Cheers, frizzy2008.

Ten ways to tell it’s not SOA

Fahmi Rizwansyah says:

Are we having fun yet? I’ve talked plenty about companies implementing JBOWS (Just a Bunch of Web Services) versus full-throttle SOA, but is there a way to tell the difference?

Here are a few clues that you may be not quite as service-enabled as you thought:

1) If a vendor tells you that you need to buy a suite to get to SOA… it’s not SOA. SOA means complete freedom from suites and integrated packages.

2) If a vendor is trying to sell you hardware… it’s not SOA. Enough said.

3) If you’re sending out email inquiries or making phone calls to find out what services are out there…. it’s not SOA. Registries and repositories are essential for service discovery and validation.

4) If nobody’s sharing services… it’s not SOA. You can have all the standardized services you can handle, but if it’s services within silos and nothing more, then it’s services in silos.

5) If developers and integrators are not being incented or persuaded to reuse services and interfaces… it’s not SOA. Without incentives or disincentives, they will keep building their own stuff.

6) If your CIO is clueless about what’s going on with shared services… it’s not SOA. To truly function, SOA-based infrastructures need to cross organizational boundaries, and it takes someone at the management level to bring these efforts together. Otherwise, again, it’s services in silos.

7) If the IT department is running the whole show… it’s not SOA. Sorry IT folks, but SOA needs to have the business heavily involved in the effort as well.

8) If it only runs one operating system or platform… it’s not SOA. SOA has nothing to do with any single OS.

9) If it replicates a SOA in place elsewhere… it’s not SOA. Every company has unique business requirements and processes, and no two SOAs will be alike.

10) If you have to rewrite or redesign code to make things run right… it’s not SOA. SOA is supposed to make rewrites unnecessary.

Qualifier: of course, there’s no such thing as a perfect SOA — the important thing is the fact a company is working toward service orientation at some level.

by Joe McKendrick
(Source of inspiration — James Governor’s “15 Ways to Tell It’s Not Cloud Computing“)
Cheers, frizzy2008.

Travel Essentials in Indonesia

Fahmi Rizwansyah says:

How to get in and get out of Indonesia

By AIR

The principal gateways for entry to Indonesia are Jakarta and Bali. Flights from neighbouring countries also stop in several Indonesian cities. Singapore has some of the cheapest flights to Indonesia and is a major travel hub in the region, so it may be cheaper to fly to Singapore, from where you can enter Indonesia by air or ship. From Penang in Malaysia, you can take a short flight or ferry to Medan in Sumatra.

AIRLINES
The number of carriers servicing Indonesia has waned over the past few years. Nevertheless the glut of alliances between carriers means there are still enough options.
Air France, www.airfrance.com
Air New Zealand, www.airnz.co.nz
Air Paradise, www.airparadise.com.au
Australian Airlines, www.australianairlines.com.au
ANA (All Nippon Airways), www.ana.co.jp
Cathay Pacific, www.cathaypacific.com
China Airlines, www.china-airlines.com
China Southern Airlines, www.cs-air.com
Eva Airlines, www.evaair.com
Garuda Indonesia, www.garuda-indonesia.com
JAL (Japan Airlines), www.jal.co.jp
KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), www.klm.com
Lufthansa, www.lufthansa.com
MAS (Malaysia Airlines), www.malaysiaairlines.com.my
Northwest Airlines, www.nwa.com
Philippine Airlines, www.philippineairlines.com
Qantas, www.qantas.com
Singapore Airlines, www.singaporeair.com
Silk Air, www.silkair.com
Thai Airways, www.thaiair.com

AIRPORT
Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is spacious, modern and efficient, but only has a few good and shopping outlets. Bali’s smaller Ngurah Rai International Airport is slightly more interesting. Shopping is also overpriced here but more varied than at Soekarno-Hatta. In peak tourist seasons when a few jumbos land, it is standing room only and queues are long. Standard duty-free items are on sale at both airports.

From AUSTRALIA
Bali is the major gateway to Australia, with almost all flight to/from Indonesia routed via Denpasar. Direct flight connect Denpasar with Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin. Garuda and Qantas used to be the only carriers competing on most of these runs, but a couple of new outfits strated in 2003. Air Paradise flies from Melbourne and Perth, and Australian Airlines (operated by Qantas) from Sydney and Melbourne. Other direct flights to Indonesia are Perth – Jakarta and Sydney – Jakarta (both Australian Airlines).

To/From CHRISTMAS ISLANDS
If your tourist pass is running out and you’d like to return to Indonesia, Darwin is not your only Australin short-hop destination option. Christmas island in Australia’s Indian ocean Territories is only 360 km away from Jakarta, and there’s a weekly return charter-flight, which at the time of research departed Saturday from both Jakarta and Christmas island.

NEW ZEALAND
There are no direct flight between Indonesia and New Zealand; however, Air New Zealand, Garuda and Qantas connect Auckland with Denpasar via Sidney, Melbourne or Brisbane.

Flight Centre (0800 243 544; www.flightcentre.co.nz) has an office in Auckland and many branches throughtout the country. Also checkout deals in the travel section of the New Zealand Herald.

The USA
There are no direct flights from the USA, but there are plenty of options that involve a stopever in another Asian destination, such us Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore or Malaysia. If you are traveling from east coast USA, it’s better to travel via either Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

If you are also visiting others parts of Asia, some good deals can be organized (eq, there are cheap tickets between the US west coast and Singapore with stopovers in Bangkok for very little extra money). However, be careful during the peak travel seasons (June to August, and Chinese New Year) because seats will be hard to come by unless reserved months in advance.

US websites worth checking out for lowcost flight include, www.lowestfare.com and www.travelzoo.com .

CANADA
Getting discount tickets in Canada is much the same as in the USA – shop around until you find a good deal. Again, you’ll probably have to fly into Hong Kong or Singapore (or Europe from the east coast) and carry on from there to Indonesia.

The UK
There are no direct flights to Indonesia from the UK; however, there are plenty of airlines offering services via Europe, Asia and/or the Middle East. Discount air travel is big business in London. Advertisements for many agencies appear in the travel pages of weekend broadsheet newspapaer, in Time Out, the Evening Standard and in the free managazine TNT.

There are plenty of travel agencies worth checking for fares. STA Travel (0870 - 160 0599; www.statravel.co.uk) has branches across the country. Other reputable agencies are Trailfinders (0207 – 938 3939; www.trailfinder.com); Flight Centre (0870 – 890 8099; www.flightcentre.co.uk) and ebookers (0870 – 010 7000; www.ebookers.com).

CONTINENTAL EUROPE
STA Travel has offices throughout the region. Check out its website at www.statravel.com for office locations and contact details. Nouvelles Frontieres (www.nouvelles-frontieres.com) also has branches throughout Europe.

France has a network of travel agencies that can supply discount tickets. OUT Voyages (08 20 81 78 17; www.otu.fr) and Voyageurs du Monde (01 42 86 16 40, 08 25 30 02 90; www.vdm.cm) have branches throughout the country and offer some of the best services and deals.

Recommended travel agencies in Germany include STA Travel (01805-456 422; www.statravel.de) which has branches in major cities across the country.

In Italy, CTS Viaggi (840-501 150; www.cts.it) is a student and youth specialist with branches in major cities.

In Spain, recommended agencies include Usit Unlimited (902 252 575; www.usitworld.com) and Barcelo Viajes (902 116 226; www.barcelo-viajes.es), both with branches in major cities.

In the Netherlands, NBBS Reizen (0900-10 20 300; www.nbbs.nl) is a stalwart agent.

ASIA
All the following air fares are for one-way travel.

MALAYSIA
The most popular flight is from Penang to Medan in Sumatra with Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines also flies Medan – Kuala Lumpur and Pontianak – Kuching.

PHILIPPINES
Bouraq and Merpati both have flights from Manado to Davao in the Philippines, but you need an onward or return ticket to enter the Philippines. Philippine Airlines flies Manila – Jakarta.

SINGAPORE
Silk Air flies into several cities including Medan, Padang, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Manado, Makassar, Mataram, Balikpapan and Solo.


By SEA

MALAYSIA
Most sea links are between Malaysia and Sumatra. Confortable, high-speed ferries between Penang (Malaysia) and Belawan (near Medan, Sumatra) are one of the most popular ways to reach Indonesia. The other main ferry connection is between Dumai (Sumatra) and Melaka (Malacca). From Johor Bahru in southern Malaysia, daily ferries run to Batam and Bintan islands in Sumatra’s Riau islands. From east-coast Kalimantan, speedboats depart every morning from Tarakan to Nunukan and from Nunukan to Tawau.

SINGAPORE
A popular way to reach Indonesia is via the Riau islands in Sumatra. The main stepping stones are the islands of batam and Bintan, both only a short high-speed ferry ride from Singapore. From Batam, speedboats travel through ro Pekanbaru on the Sumatran mainland. From Bintan, Pelni ships run to Jakarta and other destinations, and other ships go from Bintan to Jakarta.


By LAND

There are three possible land crossings into Indonesia. It’s possible to cross by road at Entikong, between Kalimantan and Sarawak (eastern Malaysia); get your visa in advance.

The border crossing between West and East Timor at Motoain was open at the time of research; a visa in required when traveling from East to West Timor.

The road from Jayapura of Sentani in Indonesia to Vanimo in Papua New Guinea can be crossed, depending on the current political situation. A visa is required if traveling into Indonesia.

by Indonesia Trekking

Whatever you bring, make sure you to pack light & within the baggage restrictions on your air ticket. Airlines are becoming more stringent & do impose hefty charges for excess baggage!

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

• Passport valid for at least 6 months from date of departure and must have at least 1 completely blank page (no stamps, nothing) upon arrival in Indonesia for Indonesian Immigration to attach the visa on arrival. Otherwise, you will be denied entry into Indonesia
• Tickets, itinerary, travel insurance policy and any travel vouchers
• Visa (if necessary) – for most countries including Australia, NZ and USA a US$25 30-day tourist visa is issued on arrival into Indonesia, payable in most currencies, or by credit card.
• Money – change some cash into Indonesian Rupiah before you leave home or at the airport when you arrive in Indonesia. There are ATM’s at all airports, cities and main towns in Indonesia. Change AU$400 minimum per two weeks stay, less for boat trips. Travellers cheques are becoming more and more difficult to change outside major centres, so cash, preferably new 50 or 100 dollar notes and a credit or cash card enabling you use ATM’s are the go. Make sure you have RP 100,000 left over at the end of your trip for airport departure tax when leaving Indonesia.
• Ticket or document wallet to store you valuables.
• A sense of humor and an open mind – Indonesia has a very different culture to us and things don’t always go to plan. These two qualities will ensure you get the most from your travel experience and they don’t weigh anything!

Cheers, frizzy2008.