More Way Cool Japanese Toys…
Hihi, everyone! I’m in my hotel room enjoying the wifi (man, this city wide wifi is so damn addictive!). As promised, here are 3 more weird cool Japanese Toys I’ve come across while looking for cheap small souvenir items to bring back to friends in Jakarta. Take it back. Now I am at Starbucks at Vivo City, because I lost track of time to meet Yensi. hahaha.
You cannot talk about weird cool Japanese Toys without talking about Takara’s very popular Rocobo Interactive Robotic Pets. These things are VERY fun actually! I am considering ordering one! These electronic pets have screens for faces that show a variety of emotions, depending on what is happening around it and to it. After a while, they become annoying, even more annoying than the legendary (for being sickening) Tamagotchi toys. If you yell at it, it will throw a tantrum, and yell back at you! *bitting nails in fear*
Want to see it in action? Take a look at this cute 15 second YouTube video from Takara:
Next on my list of way weird cool Japanese Toys is Japanese Look-A-Like Dolls, the perfect gift for the narcissist! For a few thousand Yen (around US$210) you can get a doppelganger made, immortalizing you for all eternity. It seems cool at first, but it’s also a little on the creepy side.
“I Shall Call Him ‘Mini Me’… “
I have to assume clothing is included with the dolls, since the clothing seems to fit so perfectly. Actually, this is not too bad a gift, if you have the cash. But I’m looking for cheap small items for friends, oh well…
Last, but certainly not least for today is Shimajiro, the toilet training tiger! He is extremely popular in Japan, and teaches all the little boys and girls how to pee and poop. He encourages and rewards you with sweet words when you use toilet paper, and when you “finish” your “business.” There is a hularious YouTube video for this character as well. 
Ok, enough for today, Bye Bye!
Way Cool Japanese Toys…
Hello from Sunny Overcast-Skies Singapore! I’m out of Jakarta for a while for holiday before beginning a new job (yes, I left the other job!). I’m currently sitting at the Starbucks at The Cathay, gorging myself on the free wifi.
God, I love Singapore’s technical infrastructure and Internet access: no wonder they are the #3 most-wired city in the world–behind Seoul, Korea, and of course Tokyo, Japan. I had a few job options, one being to work here in Singapore, but I felt working with an NGO in Indonesia was better for my ultimate goal (humanitarian/cultural photography). But now I am beginning to think my friends were right about going to Singapore: the tech is too damn hard to resist! Oh well…
I was debating what items to bring back as tiny gifts for friends in Jakarta, when I came across some very weird cool Japanese toys, and thought to share them with you guys. I love Japanese Culture and Items! It is a reason I avoid going to Tokyo (I know my weaknesses certain Japanese things; I would never want to leave, so I better avoid going there for now! hahaha). Anyway, I will write about 2 or 3 weird cool Japanese toys every day, for the next few days, so take a look at the toys and have fun! Click on the pics below takes you to the web sites you can buy them.
Hex Bug is so cool! I used to build these years ago (robot-building used to be a big hobby of mine). There are many “robo-bug” kits on the market, so robot enthusiasts can build their own, but Strapya (makers of Hex Bugs) took robo-bugs to a new level. They are very simple actually: they use various sensors (audio, light-sensing and touch sensors) to detect obstacles and changes in their immediate environment, and then simply respond in a way similar to an insect. If you make a loud noise, the audio sensor triggers a “you scared me: run!” response. Turn a strong light on it, and they run as if detected by a human or another predator. Think of robotic cockroaches, and you get the idea of the Hex Bug. But this company took them to a new level, with nicer designs and color choices! But one thing I did with my robo-bugs, that Strapya has not done yet, is create fake robot flowers, where the bugs could recharge themselves! Wakakakakakaka! Still, they get an A+ from me!
Tuttuki Bako Finger Game Box has to be one of the must unusual games I’ve come across. I’ve seen nothing like this in the USA, Indonesia or Singapore. It comes in various colors: red, yellow, and black. How does it work? You simply stick your finger in, and wiggle it around hahahaha. Anything you do with your finger, happens to the person on the screen. You can scratch the person’s nose, poke them in the eye, and even harass the game’s stick-man figures. :-S
OK, I had to put this one in, as it so damn weird cool and funny, and I AM a proud American citizen! Rinkya Toys are making The President Barak Obama Action Figure, with Kung Fu Grip! *LMAO* This is actually way cool stuff. You can place him in various poses, where he is giving a speech, to styling and profiling, or holding katana swords. He also comes with an American flag and various detachable hands, so he can hold many items of your own, or point or whatever you want him to do. You can even have him fight Darth Vader with Light Sabers! *Still LMAO*
*Disclaimer* CIA, please do not kill me. I am actually a fan of our President Barak Obama, and I voted for him! I am just showing these toys of him some Japanese company made. I admire President Obama, and LOVE my country: still, this is funny stuff (you guys are probably laughing too, right?). So, please do not kill me. 8-S
Ready to Kick Ass for America!
Taking On The Evil Empire for America! Hell Yeah!
OKOKOK that is enough! Check tomorrow for more toys LOLOL.
Sushi Therapy
Moshi Moshi! (hahaha, ok, I know that is for telephone greetings, not blog posts),
When life totally sucks, and no one to talk to, what should you do? Grab Your Best Friend, Buy Movie Tickets, and most important: GET SUSHI!
X-Tine, best friend and 1/3rd of “The Evil Us’s” (my circle of friends), and I really needed some sort of “escape from reality” time today. So, before seeing JLo in Bordertown (a VERY good movie, by the way!) we stuffed ourselves with sushi and Japanese desserts.
So Hungry, X-Tine’s Using Two Hands!
When ordering, we thought it was not that much food, thinking each individual sushi roll would be small, but OMG, the things were huge! I stuck to my Don dish (meat/veggies over rice) and Tempura, and left ALL THE REST to her hahahaha.
Dig Into That Jellyfish, Girl!
We ordered everything, from partly-broiled tuna sushi roll, to chilled jellyfish, to an assortment of shrimp, tuna and swordfish sashimi. And can’t forget the fish tempura! Put simply, NO WAY we could eat all of that! BUT WE TRIED! What we could not eat, we got for take-away for her mom hahahahaha.
“Mrrph?” (full-mouth talk for “Huh?”) Salmon Roe–eggs–Sushi goes Bye-Bye!
I Have to say, the mini octopi (plural for octopus) scared me at first, as they were whole, with heads still attached! I am not a big fan of eating brains and guts. X-Tine then calmed me down: “they removed the brains, see?” and showed the hole on the side of the neck, where the sushi-ticians scooped out the brains. Uhhhh….
The biggest of the tiny de-brained octopi, hahaha
I have to say, I’ve not tried jellyfish before today. I was apprehensive, but my policy is “I will try anything once!” (of course, this does not mean I will try it a 2nd time in the future hahaha). So, I lifted my skirt, grabbed my balls, jumped into the jellyfish! It was not bad at all! Would I order it in the future? Nope! (hahaha), but if others orderd it, I would not mind sharing it.
Jelly Fish! (we don’t eat the white noodle thingy stuff)
Of course, anyone who knows me knows my rules of food: Always Leave Room For Dessert! NO EXCUSES! Hell, if you can eat all the veggies, you can eat ice cream! If can’t eat all the veggies and dessert, leave some of the veggies, and take a multi-vitamin pill!
Pino (Bon-Bons) and a half-eaten fish-shaped vanillia ice cream sandwich
I got the Pino (a order of six, chocolate-covered vanillia flavored pieces of ice: sort of like America’s Bon-Bons) and X-Tine got the uhhh ummm. I can’t remember the Japanese name, but it is a vanilla ice cream sandwich with red beans (very popular in Asia, but I am not a fan of it still).
Ok, take care. X-Tine and I both feel better now. We always know exactly what to do to cheer each other up: Movies and Sushi!
Gone, But Not Forgotten…
This is Cassie, my most beloved dog I’ve ever had (and I was extremely close to each dog in my life). As I have zero family (that’s right, not even uncles, siblings, cousins: no one. And yes, before you ask, I not even have a ZYX relative either–ZYX=whatever relative type you were going to ask). I am a family of literally one person. This gives me a certain freedom, but also means I have no one on my side at times. My dogs over the years were like my family, like kids I raised and took care of.
When I moved to Indonesia, I had to choose to bring Cassie, with me, or find a new home for her. I decided it would be best for her to find a new home, where she can run and play freely in the country (there is no place like that in Jakarta). Also, Indonesia had rules and regulations about importing animals from countries that are not rabies free (and vet documents showing she is rabies-free are ignored). I could not see keeping her in some hot and cramped quarantined kennel in a third world country for 3 months with no visitation and no control over what type of treatment or food she would receive! I could not do that to her, so I decided to find her a new home with a caring family.
I found a home with an owner and her family who loves her breed. They had other dogs already (all of the dogs were Cavaliers: Cassie’s breed), and they were not breeders (no damn way I’m giving my dog to a puppy factory!). They lived in the country area and had a wonderful farm-like home. The dogs were all happy. I gave Cassie to them. All seemed fine for 2yrs, in her new home, but this week I got email that Cassie was killed by a 18-wheeler truck. Somehow she got out of the fenced area. She died on her birthday: she would have been 5 years old. 
I should have never left her. I love you baby…
The Uniforms We Are Given…
Allow me to indulge for a moment, so you understand my thinking, before continuing the read this blog post:
No, I’m not in the picture. :p
I used to watch an American TV show called “Good Times.” The TV comedy was centered around a very poor African American family, The Evans (picured above), who was stuck in “the ghetto” (a very run-down, dangerous, inner-city neighborhood). The show chronicled The Evans’ constant struggle with “trying to make ends meet” (American slang for: pay for all things they needed, with extremely limited money).
James Evans, the father, was eventually was killed in a work accident (”killed” on the show, not in real-life). The youngest boy, Micheal (a black rights militant) was reminiscing about lessons of life that his father taught him. One saying James told Michael was “We must play the game in the uniform we are given.” (Meaning: we must go through life with the skin color we are born with, and deal with life as it comes to us.)
Just as we must live life with the skin color we are born with (unless you are Michael Jackson), children must live in childhoods based on their parents’ decisions. Sometimes the choices parents make are hard for the child, but for the child’s own good. Sometimes the choices parents make are purely out of selfish reasons.
My photographic projects, whether special interest or humanitarian, are always focused on unique sub-cultures. One current project is focused on the lives of orphans. This weekend I spent some time at one particular place that I am focusing on. For most westerners, orphanages are places for children who do not have parents due to death, and the kid has no other family.
Actually, I am such a child. My father was unknown, and my biological mother–a Jane Doe: an unidentifiable woman–died during childbirth. I was adopted at 6 days old by my parents (non-biological parents).
In the West, children given up for adoption by their biological parents are technically orphans too, but westerners never think “giving up child for adoption” is the same as “make the child an orphan” as parents are still alive. I am learning very fast is in 3rd world Asia most “orphans” do not fit the Western paradigm of what an orphan is.
The vast majority of orphans in the 3rd world have living biological parents, who have either abandoned the children out of selfish reasons (such as not wanting to be looked down upon for having a non-perfect baby), or the parents willing gave the child to a orphanage in hopes to give the child a better future than they could provide it. Some parents even give their children to the orphanage with an informal agreement it is for a limited time only, until the family can support the child themselves. Only in a very few cases are the children truly without biological parents in 3rd world Asia.
So, these orphans are dealing with the circumstances they are put into. This particular orphanage is extremely well ran, with caring staff and a clean environment for the children to live, learn, and play in. The children have a range of issues, from mental retardation, to physical deformities such as permanent blindness. One 2 year old boy has permanent brain damage due to high fever while fighting the flu. He lays in bed shaking and moaning. He has very good health care, thanks to plentiful donations from Europe to the orphanage, but he seems to have little human interaction at the moment (he’s still sick with flu).
![](http://www.rodneyonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/angel-1.jpg "\")
The children all have heart-twisting stories, but one stands out: a blind girl that I will call Angel (I’m not giving her real name, to protect the child). Angel is a 4 year old, Indonesian-European mixed girl. In addition to speaking Indonesian, she speaks fluent Dutch! The orphanage does not know her origins; she was merely given to the orphanage.
Angel has already gone to Singapore so doctors there could determine if there was any treatment for her eye condition (her blue-gray eyes are covered with a cataracts-like film, giving her a ghostly appearance). Doctors said there is nothing that can be done for her.
Some believe Angel’s Expat father and his maid conceived Angel, and when he left the country he abandoned the mom and child, and the mother could not cope with a blind daughter. Some others believe she might have been the result of a “contract marriage” (where woman is married to guy for a specific time)–I’m still trying to understand contract marriages. All of these are theories only. On one knows Angel’s true story.
She loves constant hugs and to be carried, even though she gets around the orphanage fairly well on her own. Every time she bumps into a person, she enthusiastically puts her arms in the air to be picked up. If that does not work, she tries to climb the person.
*~ We all had a fun laugh when this happened to our shy driver. After several failed attempts to be picked up by the driver, Angel tried to climb him like a tree, ending up with him standing there with her stuck in mid-air with her arms and legs wrapped around his legs in a wrestling death grip. hahaha ~*
She has no surprise-from-touch response, for lack of a better term. Meaning: if she is walking, and bumps something, like water she just flows around it without breaking the song she’s singing. If you touch her hand or suddenly speak to her in a quiet room, she is not the least bit startled. She must have been blind for most of her very young life.
I could not hold her for long, out of fear of adopting her hahaha. She is so sweet and adorable, she ripped my heart out when she called me “Papa” when trying to get me to hold her. I would have given her one of my eyes, if that was humanly possible (and I am not kidding). My friend, Yensi, spent a lot of time carrying Angel around the orphanage, singing with her as they went along. Angel’s extremely smart: she will be amazing one day.
Surprising was the fact the orphanage does not have an immediate need for money, as several organizations in Europe provide the majority of their monetary needs. What they do need is food items, such as Ovaltine, baby diapers, etc. I will help them with that each month.
Anyway, the kids make me rethink life. Maybe “the uniform i was givien” is not so bad to have received…
Take care!
Rodney Reloaded…
OK, you’ve all read in the previous blog post of my growing hatred of Indosat M2 Broom “Classic” service due to it’s pricing structure, plus the annoying fact it never delivers anything near the promised 3.6Mbps speeds. As a technical person, I realize the speed is actually “up to” 3.6Mbps, but only in a perfect world.
If there are no sunspots AND there are zero negatively charged protons in the atmosphere AND there is extra electrical power being fed to Indosat’s broadcast towers AND Jupiter is aligned with Mars and Venus in triange formation, THEN you will MAYBE see 3.6Mbps speed!
Even more sneaky is Indosat is doing “Bandwidth Throttling!” Put simply: they track users’ bandwidth usage then increase or decrease the speed for the user. Heavy-traffic gets slowed down, like BitTorrent and video streaming, while text-oriented stuff (like general browsing) is not slowed down. So, when hitting YouTube, maybe your wonderful pseudo-3.6Mbps speed will drop to just 5 or 10Kbps. BUT if you go to a speed-test site, to test your bandwidth speed, Indosat will then “throttle up” the speed, so it will test at near 3.6Mbps, then slow down when you return to your YouTube viewing hahaha. YouTube is just an example here. And yes, one of the Indosat Techs told me this: I taught English at Indosat’s Headquarters for over 3 months, and some of the students are system people.
I decided to ditch my IM2 Classic service, and go with IM2’s Broom Unlimited (for description, read the previous blog post). I called more than a dozen vendors that sell the Broom Starter Kits (which are used to activate the service) but none had kits for Broom Unlimited. They only had Broom Starter Kits for Classic only.
A BIG misconception many people believe is the starter kits are generic, and thus can be used for activating Classic or Unlimited service accounts: WRONG! Some kits can be for either service, but MOST kits can only be used for Classic. There is NO visual difference between the kits: no wording or special code. Vendors just are told at the time they get the kits which they are. Vendors I contacted only had kits for Classic service! *~ cry ~*
I then decided to go to IM2 Broadband Center (main center) in Plaza Semanggi, a mall I absolutely hate. I got there and guess what: they don’t have any kits except for Classic! The IM2 customer service guy told me they are intentionally not selling the Unlimted Kits, as so many people want them (uhhh, that is a bad thing????). He went on to say there “may be” some Unlimited kits available in June. *~ WTF! ~*
I had The Evil Twin on the phone, and she gave lots of advice. Eventually the guy said “there is a new service: Broom ‘Xtra’ Unlimited. Only Giant supermarket downstairs at the underground level sells it.”
I asked him what is Broom Xtra as I never saw it on their web site or heard of it. He explained: The standard Broom Unlimited service is Rp. 100k/month, with 256Kbps speed for the first 2GB of data, and the rest of the month is at a slower speed of 64Kbps of unlimited data. The new Broom “Xtra” Unlimited service is Rp. 125k/month, with 256Kbps speed for the first 2.5GB, and the rest of the month is at 64Kbps of unlimited data. Basically, you get 25% more data at high speed for 25% more $ for the starter kit (starter kits are a one-time cost). Fair enough!
The only downside is the IM2 Broom Xtra starter kit is Rp. 200k instead of Rp. 150k (the price of the Classic/Unlimited kits). I’ll live with that one-time extra price!
But here comes the kicker: The Indosat guy said “Giant’s selling “Extra” at Rp. 275k because they are the only location in Indonesia that has it until late May/early June! *~ WTF!? ~*
I go to Giant, and yup, they have it! BUT at that higher price. As you can see below, the price is clearly Rp. 200k, but Giant has a monopoly. OK, I still say that one-time price is acceptible.
![](http://www.rodneyonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/broom_extra-2.jpg "The Legendary Bigfoot, uhh I mean Broom \")
I’m using Broom Xtra right now. *~ Loves It! ~*
The Indosat guy is right, it’s very fast: faster than then predicted 256Kbps. I rechecked and Broom Xtra is not listed on their website, and not even found via Google search. It is a brand new product they were planning to announce in the future, and the only way to get it is by praying the IM2 guy tells you, AFTER you visit their location.
Now, how did Giant get the unheard of kits? I am sure some deal is made, and asked. IM2 guy said “the vendor stand owner knows ’someone’. Thus that extra Rp. 75k is going into the vendor booth owner’s pocket — and probably a percentage to the IM2 guy as well! Oh well, corruption is widespread in Indonesia. I will look at this time as “helping the Economic Crisis.” hahahahahaha.
The Matrix Has You, Rodney…
Internet access in Indonesia is not quite as widespread or has as fast access speed as in the USA. And certainly Jakarta lacks the city wide free Internet access that Singapore currently sports. But, one thing I do like is access via 3G networks: simply plug in a SIM card into a USB modem, and connect. My personal favorite access provider is Indosat. I like Indosat’s prepaid service, called Broom! Broom comes in two flavors: Classic and Unlimited.
Broom Classic gives you high speed, 3.6Mbps, access for a fee based on credit vouchers (about 200k Rupiah will get you about 300MB of data). Once you use up your Rupiah credit, you must buy more credit. That 300MB can last you for 1 day (if you do lots of YouTube videos or porn) or 3 months, if you only do email. The time it lasts depends on your personal type of usage.
*~ I’m currently buying about 600K Rupiah of credit a month! kyaaaaa ~*
Broom Unlimited gives you just that: unlimited data for only 100k Rupiah per month, but at 256Kbs for the first 2GB of data, and the remainder of the month would be at 64Kbs. If you leave your computer online 24/7 to download, there is no limit, but simply at a slower connection than Broom Classic.
I currently have Broom Classic, and I hate it. I, nor anyone else I know with Classic, NEVER sees speeds anywhere near 3.6Mbps! I barely even see 256Kbs using Classic! So, why bother?
I’m buying another Broom Kit (Rp. 150k) and activating it for Unlimited! Unfortunately, you cannot change Classic into Unlimited (Indosat knows they making a fortune on people using Classic, for nowhere near the promised speed!).
I received a free Broom Kit with a new modem I purchased. I tried to activate it for Unlimited but could not. I called customer service, and was told “oh, kits with modem already set to classic” hahaha. They trying soooo hard to force people to classic. Screw That!
Tomorrow, I’m going Unlimited!
Take care!
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson for Today
Prabayar: Prepaid
Taxi Cab Coolness…
I meet the most interesting taxi drivers when I travel around the city and in other countries. I only wish I had taken pictures of them all. But, I do have two stories to share about taxi drivers who are out-of-the-box thinkers, and made their taxis so cool and unique! Pics of the taxis are at the end of the post. Don’t bitch about the pictures’ quality. I was in moving/bouncing taxis shooting with my Blackberry’s crappy camera! And no laughing at the drawing!
Fresh-N-Fruity:
If I am not using a private car and driver, I take a taxi to and from work. I usually find the taxi driver waiting inside of the taxi, with the windows rolled down. I usually dread getting in, as there will usually be mosquitos!
*~ I always feel like King Kong swinging at tiny airplanes! ~*
A few days ago, the taxi was waiting, with windows down. I got in with dread, but found a wonderful surprise: a fruit basket! This driver had a fruit basket between the front two seats, bottles of water in one front seat’s back pocket, and an assortment of magazines in the other front seat’s back pocket!
By the way, for my American friends: that brown fruit is Snake Fruit (I cannot remember the actual Indonesian name for it, but was told that is what it is nicknamed). The outer covering really feels tough and smooth and like scales!
The smell of the fruits and foliage was sooooo nice. No mosquitos, and no Jakarta traffic smell! Umm. The driver was very proud of his taxi, of course, and had a big grin at my surprise. He showed me a newspaper clipping where he was interviewed and his taxi was pictured! It was so cool. :)
Bling!
Last year I went to Singapore so many times that the immigration people knew my name, and began to even question was I living there on a tourist visa, and simply leaving and returning every month hahaha. When I had to go to the Indonesian Embassy for my work visa. As the embassy is always packed, I would have to get there EARLY morning to insure all can be processed before I flew back to Jakarta a few days later. So, I went out from the hotel early to find a taxi.
*~ Yes, you can NOT get the Indonesia work visa within Indonesia. You must get it from an Indonesian embassy in another country, go figure! This is the only country, by the way, that cannot process a work visa within its own borders–I’ve checked. I’ve no idea why! ~*
I flagged down one guy with these cool blue sunglasses, and got in. The car smelled like a buddhist temple (not in a bad way)! But, there were soooo many decorations! toy cars, coins glued to the steering wheel, and lucky charms from three religions hanging from the rear-view mirror! And he was playing some way cool music. He was a member of the music group, and taxi driving was his day job. He definitely had style!
Take Care!
iCarumba, Batman!
I know it’s really ‘Aye Carumba’ and not iCarumba–I studied Spanish for 4yrs! I’m using my “i” version because I’m noticing there are so many i-things in the world: iPods, iPhones, iGlasses (a software) and even iDogs, iFish and iCats! It’s enough to make you scream “iYaiYai!” *~ok, bad pun~*
Even worse than the iCat is the fact social networking web site popularity has dramatically increased over the last year, to the point many people have multiple accounts, with mostly the same individuals on their buddy and friend lists! Even more worse is some sites begin with one vision in mind, and it mutates due to the demands of a user base they never intended to attract. Facebook is a great example:
Facebook began as a way for people to be in contact with others they rarely meet or see: family who live on the far side of the country, fellow students from the university you used to attend, etc. And you can share pictures to them, since they are currently away from your “real” life. Facebook was not intended for daily friends to interact, or for posting quick, poorly written status messages every 5 minutes. It was meant to be a representation (or “Face”) of your life, so others who cannot see your life firsthand can at least sample it. Search was pretty much limited to companies, universities, and high schools (not for current high school students, but for high school ALUMNI to find each other). All was wonderful, until: teenagers!
Teenagers turned Facebook into Friendster (which is actually designed for your often-seen-real-life friends and buddies to have a cyber-life in addition to real life). While Facebook creators were not really happy with this newly rising group of users, it did increase their total number of customers, which in turns attracts advertising and revenue (as businesses did not care “who” was online, only that it was hundreds of thousands of them).
I’ve noticed that more than 90% of the people on the average person’s Facebook friend list is a person they see fairly often, talk to on the phone often, or SMS to often (or all of the above!). I’ve even seen people communicate in stereo! (e.g. sending SMS to each other, while also updating each other’s “walls”). When asked “why?” I often hear “well, they wrote me comment, so now I must write one.” (uhhh…)
These web sites are supposedly to be all in fun, I know. But, lets say you have Facebook AND you have Friendster. Does the average person interact with different people on the two different services? NO! most of the people on a person’s list for one service is on the list of EVERY service account they have! So now people are getting messages from the same individuals on Facebook, on Friendster, on SMS, on the Phone, and lets not forget Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger (hates it!), Sypke, ICQ, IRQ, Google Talk (I can name easily more)! *~OK, Moving On…~*
I am the same. I have all these services too! And I have SMS, Blackberry Messenger, and Twitter (which is the only service most people need, as all most people do is make quick comments to each other on all the other services, which is what Twitter does better than anyone, but anyway…). I have SO MANY Web 2.0, Social Networking Accounts, that when I do remember to visit them, I must always request “email me my password” or worse, “email me my username” Because it been SO LONG I cant even remember them for the web site! EVEN MORE SCARY is some people can’t even remember which email address they used to sign up for that particular web service, because they have SO MANY email accounts too! So, some people can’t even tell that web site where to send their forgotten info!
*~ How Fucked-Up is that? That you have accounts you not visit for so long, you cant even remember the username or password or even email account anymore, yet you STILL KEEP IT! It like keeping Duncan Donuts even though they are 3 months old! ~*
I recently began to think “why do I have these accounts? And I don’t even log into all of them alway, so why do I keep them?!” I asked friends and they too said the same! Most of the adults log into one or two often, and maybe check the others from time to time, simply to clear the messages from the inboxes. Teens like to use them all, but that’s OK: they’re teen hahaha!
So, I have decided to delete all my social networking accounts, except Yahoo! messenger, Twitter and Facebook. (I’m still undecided, Maybe I will keep MySpace instead of Facebook, which is Hell-A-Boring to me with its lame applications, while MySpace has lots of cool content, like Music artist pages, enhanced video capabilities, etc., and MySpace has many more users than Facebook–contrary to what most people may believe). For Facebook status messages, I do not even update them! I only update Twitter, and have Twitter auto-feed Facebook status box hahahaha.
Now that that’s settled, what about the buddy and friend lists? How many “friends” do you have on your Yahoo!, Friendster and Facebook? How many of them are really friends u interact with, or have history (such as attending the same university class, or coworkers) via that service? How many of those “friends” on your lists do you never even hear from? How many of them do u comment to (not counting you ‘replying’ their comments) because you are thinking of them, and want to give them a cool shout-out? I’ve seen “friends” with over 600 “friends” on their list (usually the pretty girls have this many, cos guys can’t help but add them, so they feel they are cool hahaha). Is it so bad to “decline” a friend request? Is it so bad to clean the list and keep just people you “actually” know and interact with? Is it so evil to delete 300 of those 600 people, because you heard from them only once, and not ever again? Let’s find out!
I’m trashing anyone on my list that I cannot immediately remember who they are! On my old Yahoo! Messenger account (I trashed it about 3yrs ago, cos so many people and spam email) had like 150 people on it! and I had NO IDEA who they were! Today I have maybe 20 total on my Yahoo! Messenger buddy list, but I know who they are, and I hear from them at least once in a while, but I separate them into Yahoo! Messenger groups. I’ve 5 groups:
- “A-List” (for those very few who are close, real-life friends I constantly interact with)
- “Friends” (nice people who I know in real-life, or interact with for many years)
- “Friends-At-Large” (good people who I don’t get to chat to often, due to distance, real-life things, etc, but we stay in touch from time to time)
- “The Others” (stolen from the TV show “Lost”: people who I’ve met, and rare to talk to, but feel I should maintain contact to. Usually ex-coworkers, or networking-relationship)
- “The Psychos” (only 3 on this list: Neurotic people I’ve marked as permanently offline, and ignored. Miss Split-Personality with her multiple accounts, The Stalker, and The Nympho-Travel Agent are in this group)
Anyway, I will soon be freed from the chains of too much Web 2.0 (social networking web sites, for you non-geeks). Later I’m cleaning house! I’ll keep only those services that have unique specialties, then trashing the rest!
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson For Today:
Lengkap: Complete
Contoh (example):
Ibu saya senang karena dapur saya sudah lengkap.
My mother is happy because my kitchen is already complete.
Take care! Oh crap, I forgot I used to have a Multiply Account! I have to log back on at home and trash that one too *cryyyy…. Lord All Mighty, Please Deliver me from the Evil that is “invite your friends to use this service”!
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet …
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet…
Anyone who reads this blog knows my passion is creating images (aka, photography). But what most readers do not know is VERY FEW people I know in real life, especially at work, know I am a photographer! Most see me as the shy, quiet techo-geek with a teddy bear body. This is great.
I mentioned in my last blog, I decided it was time to reveal to the world my current project. I met with some influential people to present my work. I dragged my 22in LCD HD display (because I hate how images look when presented by projectors) and 17in MacBook Pro to their meeting room, and like Clark Kent, I stripped off my mild-mannered persona, and became Superman. What is most interesting is the people were shocked this was my work. One of them said “it’s like discovering Clark Kent is really Superman!” because when I speak of my projects in detail, I cannot hide my passion of the subject, and I am uber-confident in my vision and goal (confident, not egotistic… there is a difference!).
*~ Now u see why I titled this post “Faster Than A Speeding Bullet…” hahaha ~*
The one hour interview ended up being more than 3 hours. I was so happy, because the individuals understood exactly what my goals and motivations were, and felt they can help the people and the topics of the project (poverty, education for poor children, and environmental issues). I also made it clear, while the government does need to make changes to address certain humanitarian issues, I did not want the government see as the bad guy, which they agreed. *~Hurray!~*
The audience was shocked both by the pictures (1. the high quality of them, 2. i got such deep information about the individuals–ex: I could say during the slideshow “This is Nelly, her father is ….”). They felt my deep sincere interest. And best of all, they saw that this is as much a cultural/anthropological academic study as it was a photographic study. Perfect!
At the end of the 3+hr meeting, I must say things went much better than I expected! I cannot go into specific deals (surprise hehehe) just yet, but I will give you an overview of where this project is going:
- Coverage of this project will be on a major talk show (Indonesians would be shocked, If I said what show: it’s that big) *Side note: I will be doing a documentary study on the talk show host, per that person’s request! wow!*
- Newspaper and magazine articles are being planned
- Internet photo galleries, with audio commentary will be created
- The first of several books will be a reality (and the book cover is ready)!
I am so excited, I’m not sure where to begin to explain it all. Let’s start by showing you the book cover, then I will explain the project, based on what you see.
The overall project is called “Fighting Desperation” and is a multiple-project project. What is a multiple-project project? Basically, I am working on a project that is made of several small projects. Each small project stands on its own as a solid, independent body of photographic work and research, but they each support my larger umbrella project, “Fighting Desperation.” Think of each small project as a stone block, and the umbrella project is the pyramid the blocks are used to build. If you are a Star Trek geek, think of the umbrella project as the starship Enterprise, and the smaller projects as the shuttle-crafts. :p
I should tell you, each small project is not worked one and completed sequentially (project #1, then #2, etc). This current project is actually project #3, not #1! Small project #1 is still ongoing. Small project #2 is completed (as it was a very small, but independent, project). I will return to small project #1 this weekend, and it will be even better than this current project (as I learned a lot of lessons from this project).
I picked the name, Fighting Desperation, as it has two meanings: 1. my projects are meant to fight various forms of desperation people are sadly enduring: poverty, economic instability, and and anguish suffered by women, children, and their families (these topics happen to coincide with some of the MDGs of Indonesia). 2. They are people who find themselves in desperate situations, which lead them to take desperate measures to fight for their existence, essentially the living, breathing models of fighting desperation.
When I first began this project, I thought of the people as scavengers. Certainly, they do use scavenging as a means to survive, but the longer I studied and spent time with the people, the more I came to appreciate, respect, and admire what they really are: survivors. So, in my book cover, I intentionally used strike-out for the word scavenger, and put survivor in red. I want people, before they even open the book, to know these are survivors!
Anyway, enough for now on this project. After the 3+hr interview, they wanted to see other forms of my work. I showed them slideshows of past projects. There were just speechless. I’m very happy; people will receive help because of my work!
Indonesian Lesson of Today
Yes, I’m trying to use more and more Bahasa Indonesia in my daily life: 1. meetings at work are painful sometimes, as people know very little English. 2. I find I like studying the language 3. I can interact more and more with people I encounter when conducting projects.
Yakin: sure, certain
Merasa: to feel
Tentang: about
Jawaban: answer, response
-nya: indicates possessive, (also specifies specific one to topic. like “the coat”, not “a coat”)
Contoh (example):
Yuli merasa yankin tentang jawabannya.
Yuli feels sure about her answer.
Similar words:
Seyakinnya: absolutely convinced
Meyakinkan: to convince someone
Keyakinan: conviction, belief
Take care!