FCT#26 log

This posting is going to be my last posting in 2008, and when I look back, I'm quite amazed what God has done to me so far. How He has changed me, renewed my mind, renewed my strength, moved me from glory to glory... Never doubt that God is indeed a good God. So, here are... the result of my partnership with God. Awarded as Lecturer of the Year 2008 M* C** University - June 2008. *) Achieved Master Degree, Electrical Engineering, Br* University - August 2008. *) Successfully gave presentation to 300 students about the opportunity of being a book author - July 2008. (some of them came to me, ask and show their interest to be an author, I think I managed to motivate them... you go guys). Set a new record of largest-attendance-public-preaching (500 people), B* Church - August 2008. Set a new record of public speaking to a group of 70 Public Relation Managers from all university in Malang - November 2008. Visiting Singapore for a week - November 2008. *) Finally successful

"Hi Wind... So, how's your ADS Application?" (frequently asked question of this month) "Emm... Unfortunately, I failed." (the word "unfortunately" can be replaced with "fortunately" in the coming months or years... no doubt about that. but for now allow me to put the word "unfortunately" as the most suitable word). "Oh... So bad..." (thanks for your sincerity and pray, guys... I do appreciate that) "That's fine lah..." (I answered and still curious why they reject my application. I've put a lot of efforts in it, I have 3 reference letters from the Ph.Ds, I already have supervisor for my proposed research from Curtin UT, I got TOEFL score..., never mind. Beside, I was applying for Master Degree... I'd beter apply for the Ph.D next year) "Oh, ya... By the way Wind, you got girl friend already?" (Hmm... it sounds very familiar question... Let me think... oh ya I it's My mum fave question!)

Starting today up to next week or even could be next month, my emotional quotient has been and will be tested. I just lost my all my cell phones (N E71, N5510, N6215) - including the cards (2 GSM, 1 CDMA, and 1 Singapore Number). Someone broke into my room and took all my cell phones plus couple hundreds thousands (for my monthly expenses) from my wallet. How bad is that? For me, it's bad. Damn bad! Is it influencing my daily routine? Yes, definitely! I lost all contacts, birthday remainder, sermon notes, photos, songs. (So, please, kindly re-send your contact number trough YM or any other messengers). Then, here is the emotional quotient test. Next hours after I lost them, I had to teach Bible Study for the youths. So, I must teach and feel bad and sad because of losing things in the same time. But I did it. I taught as if nothing happen. Nobody noticed that I have deep bad and sad feeling. Everybody just enjoyed the lesson as usual. I speak, chat with others, smile, and cheer as

Sincere itu artinya tulus, sungguh2. Kalo kamu masi kuliah ato sekolah, most likely kamu nggak akan susah nyari temen yang sincere. Kamu bisa dapet sahabat yg bener2 mau bantui kamu tanpa pamrih apapun. Bisa jadi, km jg gitu. Siap bantui temen kamu kl mereka lagi kesulitan. Mau korban tenaga, waktu, ato bahkan korban uang demi bantu sahabat kamu... Semua kamu lakukan dengan tulus, tanpa pamrih... Latar belakangnya hanya satu kamu punya belas kasihan terhadap temen kamu itu, that's all, nggak ada yg laen. Saya ngalami masa2 kyk gitu, dan sampe sekarang saya enjoy a lot berteman dengan teman2 yg seperti itu (who doesn't anyway?) (Before I continue, let me clarify that this posting has nothing to do with fried-potatoe-and-chocolate-banana meeting last week, I know that your heart is sincere for a greater good, u-know-who-u-are). Tapi boleh percaya boleh nggak, nggak bisa nggak, akan ada orang2 yg nggak sincere di sekeliling kita. Orang2 yg hatinya nggak lurus, penuh intrik dan sel

In the book of Mathew, chapter 5, there's a very famous and powerful exposition that Jesus ever preach. It called "Sermon on the mount" (Kothbah di Bukit). This "Sermon On the Mount" starts with "The Beatitude" (Ucapan/Sabda Bahagia). There are 8 beatitudes that every believer should live in their daily life, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven", "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted", "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." and so on. But, anyway, I'm not gonna teach about this "Sermon on the mount". I have my own Sermon. This is probably the most and powerful academic sermon I've ever preached in my career history as an IT lecturer. Since my room at 2nd floor of B* P* Building, I call it "Sermon on the 2nd Floor". Let's start with the first series, called "The Beatitudes" (Sabda Bahagia). And seeing the multi

I've just finished watching "August Rush" movie couple minutes ago. It really indeed a good movie, one of the best movie I've ever watched. (Thanks to Ivonne Sabrina who put this movie in her favourite movies list). If you DO love music, I strongly recommend you to watch the movie. I guarantee that it'll inspire you more... Even for me, a guy with no (or very little) music talent, it's still sooo inspiring. I'm not going to review the movie actually (you'd better watch by yourself). But, after watching this movie, I can't stop thinking that all of us has a seed of greatness in certain area. Either area of leadership, entertainment, science, linguistic, music, writing or whatever human being have been developing since the starting of mankind's civllitation. All of us has it! God never creates junk! Whether you realize it or not, as long as you're breathing in the same earth, living in the same sun, sleeping under the same moon, each of us ha

Kalo saya ngeliat mahasiswa saya lagi pacaran, saya itu sering bertanya2 dalam hati... "Kacamata apa ya yang dipake si cowok untuk ngeliat si cewek?" tapi yang sering bikin saya miris itu adalah Kacamata yang dipake si cewek untuk ngeliat pacarnya. Cewek2 itu masih umur 18 ato 19. Hormon estrogen mreka baru aja diproduksi 5-6 taonan lalu, which is gara2 estrogen itu jadi ada bagian2 dari tubuh mereka yang berubah, you-know-what-are-they. While they're in puberty, pikiran dipengaruhi ma buku2 ato film2 romance ala City of Angels, West Side Story, 50 First Date, You've Got Mail, Pearl Harbor, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, P.S. I Love U, Made of Honor dan lain2nya. Blom lagi lirik2 lagu kayak Michael Buble (baca: Bu-ble) yang dengan lihainya bisa menimbulkan nuansa romance kalo didengerin, apalagi ndengerin Everything-nya Michael Buble berdua, di cafe ato candle light dinner... Jadi, dominasi romance ini bener2 melekat. Kalo ada cowok yang bisa punya romance kyk yg a

Psstt...! I have one special ability that normal human being doesn't have. I realize this ability since I was 20-something... I couldn't remember exactly when and how. But, back at that time, it wasn't so sharp. I mean, many times inacurate... Why so? Most probably because I just lack of experience how to use it or may be I wasn't sure if human being can really have this kind of ability. Later on, I know that this ability is a gift and I want to use it in positive way. What ability? Ok, do you know that word "ness" is usually used to turn an adjective into a noun? If you know a bit about grammar, you can compare these sentence to feel the difference: "You're very kind" "Thank you for your kindness" The word "kind" in first sentence functions as an adjective, and the second sentence ("kindness") functions as a noun. We, (yes "you"!), are a unique character that identified by our name. I can use word "Wi

Who are you looking for, Win? In term of soulmate, I've asked that question for the last 4 years... yet still no answer. Last month, I thought I've found someone. She's gorgeous, nice, so talented, has a very beautiful heart, and most important, she loves God wholeheartedly. Then, I started to wonder whether she's the one. I tried to know her inside out, getting closer with her, spent time with her and friends. It's been good... really good tough, till last week. I lost the passion. Completely lost. I don't know what happen, but somehow, it's just lost somewhere. It happens many times. One moment I have that passion, but then the very next moment, it's lost... Who are you looking for, Win? I started to ask, why it's easy for me to have the love passion to someone and all of a sudden losing it in a very short time. May be... all those passion are actually temporary passion after all. It exists in some season and when the season is gone, the passion a

We all are ordinary people with extraordinary dream. Think about that for a moment. Bertahun-tahun yang lalu, saya adalah orang biasa. Saya menjalani hidup dengan biasa-biasa, punya saudara, punya orang tua, punya teman, menempuh pendidikan seperti halnya orang yang lain. Semuanya biasa saja, till one day, I dream an extraordinary dream. Impian / cita-cita yang extraordinary itu changes me from ordinary people to extraordinary. It drives me to a level that I've never been there before. It forces my self to do beyond my current capacity. It's true. Kita semua terlahir sebagai orang-orang biasa... dan memang kita adalah orang biasa, till one day, we encounter an extraordinary dream in our live. Jika kita nggak punya mimpi, kita hari ini tetap sama dengan kita yang kemarin. We're all ordinary people with extraordinary dream... One single dream, can change you. One single dream, can make you extraordinary. One single dream... can change your whole destiny. ...and the $1M ques

" According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. " (Bee Movie, 2007) Hehe2... rasanya geli juga ngeliat lebah yang terbang dengan innocent tanpa peduli apa yang ada pikiran manusia. Manusia terlalu pintar sih. Tapi isn't that true? Most of the time, kita bertindak karena sesuatu yang kita pikir kita bisa lakukan dan kita tidak bertindak karena sesuatu yang kita pikir tidak bisa kita lakukan. Seandainya lebah ngerti ilmu fisika, mungkin lebah adalah hewan yang nggak bisa terbang karena menurut fisika, kekuatan sayap lebah nggak akan pernah bisa mengangkat tubuh gendutnya... Tapi lebah nggak ngerti fisika, jadi mereka ya terbang karena ngeliat generasi sebelum mereka juga bisa terbang. Generasi sebelum mereka bisa terbang karena ngeliat generasi yang sebelumnya lagi terbang, be

Maybe, love is the greatest things in the world after all. Many people would do anything, even die in the name of love. Many creative great poets, musics, inventions and discoveries are found because of things called love. Many people willing to leave his family and working hard for his lovely family. It's quite amazed that this simple LOVE word can make people maximize their potential, do many things that he can't do before. You can call it sentimental, overly emotional, over-romantic... But, would you do this to your girl... in the name of love...? (inspired from a bulletin board) give her one of your t-shirts to sleep in. leave her cute text notes. tell her she looks beautiful. look into her eyes when you talk to her. let her mess with your hair. touch her hair. just walk around with her. FORGIVE her for her MISTAKES. look at her like she's the only girl you see. tickle her even when she says stop. hold her hand when you are around your friends. be the one to take her ha

Inspired from this Quantum Leap Posting by Pak Patris, I felt like having my own Quantum Leap on last Saturday Evening. ... and there he goes, stands in a luxurious well-decorated stage before the church musical drama "Gembel Jadi Pangeran" start. His job is to preach what-so-called "Offering Preaching" - a short preaching before offering time... It was easy thou actually, very easy for him if done in front of 10-15 youths - like he usually does in cell group. But this time, 500 people are coming to see the musical drama, 1000 eyes will stare at him and 1000 ears will listen to what he said. And... one more fact, preaching in front of hundreds people is realyyyy reallyyy not his natural ability... So, when I was standing at the pulpit, in front of those foreigners to preach, I felt like having my Quantum Leap. Yesterday, I was Windra, an IT lecturer that usually lecturing 40-50 young college students. In a very short time, I change and leap in into this character.

In M* C** Uni, we have so-called "mentorship" program or "mentoring" if you prefer gerund or "discipleship" is also acceptable. Whatever it called, the purpose of this mentorship is transfering life values from the mentor to the mentees (those who are being mentored). This program is expected to shape their attitude during their 4 years study at M* C**, make them learn how to be a mature, wise, responsible, and successful people in marketplace, whereever they are. (I bet this program makes M* C** Uni different from other uni) So, every student will have one (wise) mentor and at least one co-mentor. They are periodically gather and do some activities. They always have the opportunity to share their (personal) problems and asking for advice to their mentor. Having 15 mentees, our mentorship group is quite lucky to have three mentors, me, the rector of the university (yes, the rector willing to be a mentor and spend her time to do mentorship program) and one

This is a story of great country named United State of Endonesha. An independent and beautiful archipelago country located somewhere in Timbuktu. Hit almost 200million population, this country becomes a living legend. True living legend till now, but very few people know the history behind independence day of this great country. Many blood (and sweat) were shed at that moment. Here's the story. Endonesha - What the United State of Endonesha's historian never tell you Part I - Rapat Penculikan Jam 10 pagi, 14 Agustus 1945 TW (Tahun Timbuktu). Lokasi: Rengasdengklek, Kerawang Prolog: Saat itu Endonesha masih terjajah dan belum menjadi United State. Kondisi ekonomi morat marit, tiga tahun bangsa itu dijajah bangsa Jpang. Dalam tiga tahun itu, Sekarno, pemimpin bangsa itu, telah melakukan banyak negosiasi dengan bangsa Jpang agar Endonesha bisa mengatur sendiri kehidupan bernegaranya. Bangsa Jpang menjanjikan bahwa Endonesha segera diberi kemerdekaan. Bahkan agar lebih meyakinkan,

Dunia IT (Information Technology) adalah dunia yang kejam... Di balik semua kemudahan yang bisa kamu nikmati so far (your gadget, computer, internet), ada kekejaman di dalamnya. Bahkan dulu saya sempat berpikir untuk ganti haluan dan quit berkarir di dunia IT, saking kejamnya dunia IT. Bagi seorang ITer, berlaku un-avoid-able law: ikuti perkembangan atau mati mengenaskan! Saya bayangkan, seandainya saya nggak pernah ngikuti perkembangan IT setelah saya lulus kuliah S1 10 tahun yang lalu, most likely saya saat ini end up menjadi clerk / juru ketik / petugas administrasi somewhere in a small office with 6 digits salary (less than a million). Bahkan sekarang-pun, setelah saya merasa telah memeras otak habis2an dalam 10 tahun terakhir, membaca puluhan bahkan artikel, buku IT setiap bulannya, belajar newest internet technology, programming setiap harinya, saya tetap masih merasa ketinggalan. I'll give you the example how cruel IT field is. Saya pernah membuat program aplikasi 3-5 tahun

Saya bukan ahli bahasa, tapi kalau saya diberi hak untuk membuat vocabulary baru, saya akan menambahkan kata: setongkol . Arti kata "setongkol" (tm) menurut Kamus Kecil Windra Swastika (KKWS): Setongkol: 1. (adj) sebesar ikan tongkol. 2. (n) usaha-usaha dari sekelompok orang atau individu untuk menjatuhkan (nama) seekor tongkol. Bersetongkol: (v) berkomplot atau bersepakat untuk melakukan setongkol. Persetongkolan: (n) hal bersetongkol. Contoh kalimat: Luka di kepalanya membuat pipinya bengkak setongkol (artinya bengkak di pipinya sebesar ikan tongkol). Adanya persetongkolan di tempat ini telah berhasil diendus oleh seekor kucing. Mereka yang telah bersetongkol akhirnya berhasil mendapatkan tongkol dengan harga murah. Never mind tentang persetongkolan dan tongkol-tongkol itu. Basically, kalo ada orang yang bersetongkol dan melakukan persetongkolan terhadap kamu (mungkin karena kamu mendapatkan sesuatu, mungkin karena dia suka makan tongkol, mungkin karena harga tongkol sedang

Pilih jawaban yang benar. Apa hubungan antara membuat tesis dengan hamil? a. Wanita hamil dilarang membuat tesis. b. Mengerjakan tesis dapat membuat hamil. c. Membuat tesis dapat menunda kehamilan. d. Untuk mengerjakan tesis, perlu hamil terlebih dulu. Silahkan dijawab. But, if can't find the answer, that's fine. You may think that I'm just kidding. But, in a VERY serious note, one of those options are the answer. IT HAPPENED TO ME! Masa...? YEP! It DOES happen to me. Read the options and guess which one is happenning to me. You may keep your answer and see whether we have same thought. Bagi yang menjawab dengan opsi a: Wanita hamil dilarang membuat tesis Mungkin kamu mikir bahwa saat ngadakan penelitian, kita bakalan butuh keseriusan, butuh ketekunan, butuh kerja keras, harus meras otak dan kerja siang malem. Jelas kondisi kayak gini nggak kondusif bagi wanita hamil. Jadi, kalo sedang hamil, ya jangan bikin tesis, demi keselamatan bayi. Hei, siapa tahu nanti bayi itu akan

She was 50 when I was born and I'm 30 when she died. Remember my early kid, when my parents were working so hard from day till evening. At that time, she was like my nanny, she took care of me, fed me, protected me with her love, she was truly my world during my early age. She told lot legendary chinesse stories before I sleep (she's a good story teller, though). She also care about education. She taught me, and my sisters as well, how to spell "A-Be-Ce-De..." during my preschool, how to say "ma-mi, pa-pi, cik-de, cik-nga.", how to read, how to write, and how to count. If I can do coding computer program using very complex algorithms and implemented it in programming language, developing sophisticated application, do count differential and integral today, she's definitely the one who laid the foundation of basic math and language on me... Not to mention the moral values I've learn from her. She occupied big portion in my childhood... and I'll be