You may have a good heart, without brain, you're a fool. You may have an excellent mind, without heart, you are a criminal. Balance, Yin and Yang, Day and Night, Good and Evil must co-exist together. At the end, the Yang, Day and Good will prevail but not without efforts. Earn they MUST from the opposite side.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Love and Hate for Microsoft IE
Most user like to have alternatives, they don't want a dominant to rule their lives and how they do things in their day to day work.
I use FireFox 1.07 for everyday browsing, no more Internet Explorer 6. Sure as a user I know what I wanted and why I wanted. But after seeing what the next Internet Explorer 7 could do, I wonder if I should stick with my FireFox? Maybe I will, if FireFox can give me:
Or maybe I will stick with FireFox browser if Internet Explorer does not provides:
We'll see, whatever it is, whoever it is, FireFox or Intenet Explorer 7, user wins!
Friday, October 28, 2005
Continual Innovations or Continual Problems
Microsoft manuevueability has become slower and slower. The bigger the company is, the more bureaucratical the management will be. More problem for Microsoft is that they've a long line of products with inherited problems. No quick fix in sight, but a long consuming time for the software developer to fix the bugs.
Don't laugh Google, you will face the same problem like Microsoft if you don't watch and learn. Streamline your product well. I like "the law of focus" by Jack Trout in his book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia". Stay to be search engine, you may search on anything and everything but stay searching at what you do best; you've found your identity; search engine Google.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
The Leadership Challenge: The Two Powers

There are good and evil, day and night, yin and yang, mother and father, brothers and sisters, boys and girls and lastly democrats and republicans. Like the book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia" by Jack Trout says about the Law of Duality; in the end is about two horse race. He was mostly right, Microsoft Vs. Apple, BetaMax Vs. VHS, DVD Blue Ray Vs. DVD-HD, WindowsMobile Vs. Palm OS, Intel Vs. AMD and such and I think he forgot to mention Husband Vs. Wife (divorce rates). Thanks God, I am happily married and stay happily married and I hope you do too!
The Leadership Challenge: The Paralyze of the Good Corporate Governance
There are many problems concerning good corporate governance for the goverment in most Asian countries and Indonesia especially. They are NOT 'good' anymore. Too many decision makers (more then 2), how about 24 elligible parties for Indonesia? Have you ever tried reaching a chorus (agreement) with 24 different leaders in one room?
Merge them together into two main parties for our sake. Don't forget the power of two! UK and USA, Germany (Nazi) and Japan, it takes two to tango NOT twenty four!
This problems of too many cook in one kitchen happened not only to the government but also to many of our (Indonesian) government and private companies. If only they understand and aware of the power of two, they will get a happy family (good and effective working environment) with many children (profits).
And only if my readers can give me quality and constructive feedback, I could be a much better writer. In the word of LG; "Life is GOOD", enjoy it!
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
We (most of the time) took MIRACLE for granted!
I've seen God's miracle at work in nature, I believe 99.99% of His miracle are always at work around us. His BIGGEST miracle has been displayed by natures. Many times, we are just not aware about it.
Some of the nature miracle wonders:
- Life, free air and water (not if you drink Evian water)
- Earth Gravitation (We do not get spinned out of a revolving earth)
- Pregnancy
- etc (you do the listing and when you're done, can you email it to me? thanks)
1000 years a go
Airplane > a UFO, Alien, GOD from other planet
Radio > a possessed talking box
TV > a magic enchanted mirror (mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest queen of all?)
Mobile phone > a magic communication to GOD (Merlin would not have burn the dust magic, simply say the word; voice activation)
NOW
Airplane > a long-distance transporation
Radio > a news & entertainment device
TV > a news & entertainment device
Mobile phone > everyday communication device
99.9999% of the world system is still unexplainable by human science. There are so many miracle are at work right now, we are just not aware of them. Life is beautiful, enjoy it!
Email doesn't have to be boring - Goowy.com
Sign up screenshot:

Desktop Screenshot:

Desktop screenshot | Mail Summary (zoomed):

Goowy navigational menu | MacOS X look

Mail screenshot:

Mail screenshot (zoomed):

Goowy calendar:
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The Inevitable: CHANGE
- Change is inevitable. In a progressive country change is constant.
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), Speech, Edinburgh (1867)
Knowing that nobody can escape whatever "change" in their lives, it is really comforting to know that our lives are not just a monotone show but its a real exciting journey.
This fact could also be very comforting for those who experience growing pains right now, that their lives will change. Some worried that their lives would change to the worse (and some are happy that their lives are better). But hey, nothing last forever (yes, not even the scariest storm).
I'd love to see that nobody is in control of this "change", they simply riding the change. Want some simple basic example? Here you go.
Physiology change:
Early development: A fetus developed and taking pre-determined body structure and shape in their mother's womb. The level od the baby developments are varied depending on their age, genetic DNA and caracther. Some shows an early development of their teeth, some can say papa and mama in early year and some can walk faster then the other. But all these are a temporary developments in certain stages. This growth has to be sustain by mother's milk (breast feeding) and formula milk to achieve a desirable physiological development.
Business related change:
The same thing happen in the early stage of business development, some shows an early success, some achieve an early popularity and some expanding faster then the others. But again, these are temporary developments and has to be sustain by new innovation in order to sustain the business development growth.
The overall stages in physiological and business changes are:
- Incubation period:
- Fetus development - 9 months hands, feet, facial development in the womb
- Business incubation - 9 months? Some take more time then that financial, structure, organizational and strategy development in preparation
Erik Erikson Eight Stages of Human Development: [source]
- Stage 1: Infancy -- Age 0 to 1
Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Description: In the first year of life, infants depend on others for food, warmth, and affection, and therefore must be able to blindly trust the parents (or caregivers) for providing those.
Positive outcome: If their needs are met consistently and responsively by the parents, infants not only will develop a secure attachment with the parents, but will learn to trust their environment in general as well.
Negative outcome: If not, infant will develop mistrust towards people and things in their environment, even towards themselves. - [Business development according to Irwan Hartanto]
Stage 1: Start-up - Infancy -- Age 0 to 1
Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Description: In the first year of businesses, business start-ups depend on others for income, moreal support, and affection (business attention from friends), and therefore must be able to blindly trust the customers (or investors) for providing those.
Positive outcome: If their business needs are met consistently and responsively by the customers, start-ups not only will develop a secure attachment with the investors, but will learn to trust their business structure and market in general as well.
Negative outcome: If not, start-ups will develop mistrust towards customers and things in their business structure and market, even towards themselves. Stage 2: Toddler -- Age 1 to 2
Crisis: Autonomy (Independence) vs. Doubt (or Shame)
Description: Toddlers learn to walk, talk, use toilets, and do things for themselves. Their self-control and self-confidence begin to develop at this stage.
Positive outcome: If parents encourage their child's use of initiative and reassure her when she makes mistakes, the child will develop the confidence needed to cope with future situations that require choice, control, and independence.
Negative outcome: If parents are overprotective, or disapproving of the child's acts of independence, she may begin to feel ashamed of her behavior, or have too much doubt of her abilities.- [Business development according to Irwan Hartanto]
Stage 2: Post Start-up - Toddler -- Age 1 to 2
Crisis: Autonomy (Independence) vs. Doubt (or Shame)
Description: Post start-up business learn to operate, reaching out to new amd potential customer, use strategy, and do things for themselves. Their self-control and self-confidence begin to develop at this stage.
Positive outcome: If the customers and investors encourage the business use of initiative and reassure it when it makes mistakes, the business will develop the confidence needed to cope with future situations that require choice, control, and independence.
Negative outcome: If the customers and investors are overprotective, or disapproving of the business acts of independence, it may begin to feel ashamed of it behavior, or have too much doubt of it abilities. Stage 3: Early Childhood -- Age 2 to 6
Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Description: Children have newfound power at this stage as they have developed motor skills and become more and more engaged in social interaction with people around them. They now must learn to achieve a balance between eagerness for more adventure and more responsibility, and learning to control impulses and childish fantasies.
Positive outcome: If parents are encouraging, but consistent in discipline, children will learn to accept without guilt, that certain things are not allowed, but at the same time will not feel shame when using their imagination and engaging in make-believe role plays.
Negative outcome: If not, children may develop a sense of guilt and may come to believe that it is wrong to be independent.- [Business development according to Irwan Hartanto]
Stage 3: Pre-Establishment - Early Childhood -- Age 2 to 6
Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Description: New businesses have newfound power at this stage as they have developed strategic and decision making (motor skills) process and become more and more engaged in social interaction with its customer around them. They now must learn to achieve a balance between eagerness for more adventure and more responsibility, and learning to control impulses and childish fantasies. On other words, must become more focus.
Positive outcome: If investors are encouraging, but consistent in discipline, new business will learn to accept without guilt, that certain things are not allowed, but at the same time will not feel shame when using their imagination and engaging in make-believe role plays. Some new businesses stay true to their core and be able to have their way [example Google].
Negative outcome: If not, new businesses may develop a sense of guilt and may come to believe that it is wrong to be independent. Many new businesses decided to be bought out by bigger companies. - Stage 4: Elementary and Middle School Years -- Age 6 to 12
Crisis: Competence (aka. "Industry") vs. Inferiority
Description: School is the important event at this stage. Children learn to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential provider. And they do all these while making the transition from the world of home into the world of peers.
Positive outcome: If children can discover pleasure in intellectual stimulation, being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of competence.
Negative outcome: If not, they will develop a sense of inferiority.
- Stage 1: Infancy -- Age 0 to 1
- [Business development according to Irwan Hartanto]
Stage 4: Establishment - Elementary and middle school years-- Age 6 to 12
Crisis: Competence (aka. "Industry") vs. Inferiority
Description: New business establishment is the important event at this stage. It will learn to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential provider. And they do all these while making the transition from the world of home into the world of peers. New established business recognized its limitation and its advantages.
Positive outcome: If new business establishment can discover pleasure in product innovation, being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of competence.
Negative outcome: If not, they will develop a sense of inferiority.
I can go on and on and on. My conclusion is, wherever your personal and business stage is right now, it will change to the better or worse. When it go worse just remember; bad things happen for good things and good things happen for bad things.
IF you are confused, don't worry about it, just enjoy our lives. Life is beautiful!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
You Can't Beat User Experience
I've never experienced Pontiac Aztek, but I am sure already test drive Suzuki APV in Indonesia. I despised the boxy look of Suzuki APV so much on my first impression. When my friend bought one, he took me for a 2 hour ride. To my surprise the interior was very surprisingly roomy, it has more leg-room and head clearance then car on its class.
It had a slow sales in the beginning, but more and more Suzuki APV apperance on the street proved that the market already accepted its odd ugly looking shape and started to see its inner beauty (roomy interior and value for money).
I like beauty, and lets talk about one of the most beautiful utility car I've ever seen; Grand Cherokee (yes, I hope you agreed with me). It was a HOT SUV once in Indonesia, but now it was hard to find in the street of Jakarta. It was a gas guzzler, low quality build and not so roomy interior for an American car.
Lets go to another example, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. In the past, Sony Ericsson (SE) had undeniably more product sex-appeal then Nokia phones. Unfortunately SE did not improve on the menu user-friendliness, on the other hand, Nokia with its user-friendly menu had been improving its design. Nokia is always a leader despite of it odds design, users love their menu user-friendliness.
First impression doesn't last, consumer's experience does!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Interactive Radio Wide Area Network [IRWAN]
In a recent development of xMax by xG Technology LLC has reached a brakthrough of using radio wave to transmit and streaming data at a greater length and a lot less power consumption. Wonderful!
I have the luxury of having a driver (yes, a good driver). Due to the hectic and congested traffic in Jakarta. You'll be lucky if you can fulfil all 3 appointments from a different corner in Jakarta in one day (no kidding). I often fell a sleep in the car while commuting (it was a good napping).
Many times during my commuting napping (sleeping in the car) I didn't get an R.E.M (Rapid Eye Movements) sleep. Half a sleep in the car, often times I was lazy to change the radio frequency and been forced to listen to the F!&%$@G bad songs! I wish the radio can read my mind (yes, you wish!).
How about if all the radio already have their radio program (like TV Program) in details up to the song list? It would be great! So I can search for my favorite songs and program it for my 60 minutes journey. NO MORE BAD SONGS!
This xMax technology would probably can be utilize to put a TAG into each song. Not only it will benefits listener, where they can program their music. Giving them interactive control also means good advertising relevancy by tagging to the listener favorites.
Its a WIN-WIN solutions. Why didn't you think of that? I call it an Interactive Radio Wide Area Network ~ a.k.a IRWAN. Cheers.
SMS culture due to under developed broadband infrastructure?
I am very lucky to live in Jakarta where broadband is available. It really makes my day, checking email, chatting, blogging, posting and such. Unfortunately 95% of Indonesian people still have not enjoyed the luxury of broadband yet for the following reasons:
- Its NOT yet available in the rural area
- Rural area (small town) people have lower buying power
- Rural area (small town) people do not need broadband !?
- Indonesian goverment are a bunch of old fashion people (and stupid?) who don't know the importance of broadband. Let alone understand what I am talking about.
But how about for some Asian countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan who have more developed broadband infrastructure then us (Indonesia). Why are they so hook up with SMS? Interesting phenomena, anyone would like to do research on this interesting behavior?
Location. Location. Location???
Well, not really. Let's demystify strategic location. Is it important? You bet it is! But its not a requirements anymore (look who's talking).
Recently my wife and I just open two baby stores. We sell baby clothing and stuffs. Our baby store was hidden at the very end of the mall corridor. Its mind boggling to see how extremely well our baby stores doing.
Lets find another example a strategic location (domain name) in virtual world. How about these names? Check it out and see for yourself how an easy name (strategic name) did not make it to the top.
List of companies who own a good strategic name but did not quite make it:
Legends: red is bad and green is good
- www.web.com Vs www.yahoo.com
- www.book.com Vs www.Amazon.com
- www.books.com Vs www.Amazon.com
- www.internet.com Vs. www.cnet.com
Brainwave-length Personal Communication Gateway (BPCG)
Mark my words, you hear it from me first!
In the near future maybe less then 20 years from now (before 2025), the way we communicate will be different from now. Internet and mobile communications will be replaced by... yes! yes! yes! Brainwave-length Personal Communication Gateway (BPCG)!
What is Brainwave-length Personal Communication Gateway (BPCG)? BPCG is a device that can read and transmit your brainwave to others or simply broadcast them to designated recepient(s).
This device can't be real! I don't want people to read my mind, its my privacy! There is a reason why BPCG has a word "GATEWAY" into it. It means your privacy protected (password protected), you only open your port of communication to your desired recipients and vice versa.So in the future, you can make a phone call while in the cinema using BPCG to your wife and colleagues without have to disturb your neighbors and without have to say it out loud. How about saying whats on your mind to your dream girl/woman without embarassing yourself. In 2025 you can!
Perhaps you can perform magical brainwave-length broadcast in the Church and play God? Or will God opening His communication port to this device (BPCG) so your prayer be heard loud and clear? I hope so...! Mark my words, you hear it from me first!
Largest metro areas and languages of the WORLD!
Numbers shown are the population within the immediate surrounding area of the established border of the city, and also include the city limit population figures. Revised (10/01/04)
Toyko, Japan 31.2 million
New York City - Philadelphia area, USA 30.1 million
Mexico City, Mexico 21.5 million
Seoul, South Korea 20.15 million
Sao Paulo, Brazil 19.9 million
Jakarta, Indonesia 18.2 million [I live here, previously I lived in San Francisco]
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Japan 17.6 million
New Delhi, India 17.36 million
Mumbai, India (Bombay) 17.34 million
Los Angeles, USA 16.7 million
Cairo, Egypt 15.86 million
Calcutta, India 14.3 million
Manila, Philippines 14.1 million
Shanghai, China 13.9 million
Buenos Aires, Argentina 13.2 million
Moscow, Russian Fed. 12.2 million
LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD
Languages spoken by the most people (Native speakers only)
Chinese Mandarin 1 billion +
English 512 million
Hindustania 498 million
Spanish 391 million
Russian 280 million
Arabic 245 million
Bengali 211 million
Portuguese 192 million
Malay-Indonesian 160 million
Japanese 125 million
German 100 million
Korean 78 million
French 77 million
Chinese, Wu 77 million
Javanese 75 million
Chinese. Yue 71 million
People got MIXED up about this poem
Well, it was a good and moving poem, but I am not the creator of it. I was simply the email forwarder (messenger). Will someone find the original author of the poem?
Monday, October 17, 2005
Widen your spectrum of color
One year ago, I've found the right word for narrow minded people; fanatic; a child (immature). Not exactly the right word you say?
Lets explore my arguments further. As a father of two children, I have privilege to observe their behaviors. Both my children love to see cartoon. Have you ever wonder why they were only attracted to cartoon? Why did they turn their head away every time I switched the TV program to a non-cartoon movie/program?
I've noticed that many children only responded to certain color. Perhaps the ability to recognize (register) colors still only limited to 12 colors? To support my arguments, I gave a 4 year old boy a 120 color pencils. Later I asked him to give me a RED pencil color. He was confused for more then 5 minutes in deciding which one is the red one I asked of him? Finally, he turn around to me and asked,"Why there are many red pencil colors in this pencil case?"
Isn't a narrow minded people only recognize (register) a limited set of colors? The inability to recognize (register) more colors brought a fanaticism inside of them. They failed to recognize more colors that can give them more knowledge DEPTH.
Are you still staring at a 256 colors computer monitor? I hope not. Your mobile device display probably already using 65,000 colors. If yes, perhaps you are not optimizing a full advantage of smooth 16.7 million colors of JPG (Joint Photographic Group). Isn't it time that we all get to know any colors available in the universe? Isn't it time to admit that our "red" color is not the reddest and maybe not the brightest.
This self-righteousness was not the monopoly of certain group of people, perhaps as a Christian (I do believe in Jesus), we should know better that we do not hold the whole truth unless we are in His love (love your neighbours as your self).
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Old Habit Die Hard! (Part 2)
Its human nature to develop a habitual action modification resistance. Isn't that why Microsoft Word had to mimick (imitating) almost all Word Perfect GUI (Graphical User Interface)? By doing that, Microsoft Word can be 'accepted' by Word Perfect users then switch them to MS Word forever.
I really think, in any relationship, the ability to adapt and accepted is crucial before the ability to influence. Do you want to influence your customers? Adapt and be accepted first!
Ask the RIGHT questions, get the RIGHT answers
The future provides some kind of holographic message disc (Holographic Versatile Disc) and because of the storage limitation, the holographic message disc only provides a clue. Will Smith has to ask the right question in order to get the right answer. "That was not the right question" respond fromn the disc indicating you're on the right track (if you're looking hard enough and pay attention to the details).
I have many friends who think that I know almost everything. They maybe right, but I am not a genius. I ask the right questions in order to get the right answers. There are books, library, Google, Yahoo, AltaVista and MSN Search to help you answers your biggest question ever in your life. A little patience is all you need.
Case in points:
- My friend wants to know if I can post the difference between ASP (Active Server Pages) and JSP (Java Server Pages).
Answer: CLICK HERE for the answer (how did you do that? duuhhh... try to put keyword in Google and Yahoo bro)
- My Aunt wants to know more about PhotoShop tips and tricks
Answer: CLICK HERE for the answer (how did you do that? duuhhh... try to put keyword in Google and Yahoo sister)
Is that BIG enough question for us? Coming soon...
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Old Habit Die Hard!
Blessed and long live for my mother. She is 58 yr old and she is tech savvy. She is using Nokia 9500 Communicator as her main mobile phone. I really enjoy to see her discovering new features from time to time on her Nokia 9500. Her feature discoveries gave her more power to do more with less time with that Nokia 9500 phone. I am sure your personal existing mobile phone can do the same; is to make your life easier and faster.
Not many people that I've met are taking advantage of the technology though. Have you ever heard about "scheduled" sending? It means that you can program your email OR your mobile SMS (short text messaging system) to send the message at designated times. Ha ha... , you had not heard about it yet, yes? I knew it.
Well, thats the beauty of the "scheduled" sending. My mom is a lady of her words, one time she promised her American friend a time sensitive information. New York city and Jakarta have about 12 hr different. She knew that she couldn't wake up in-time if she had to deliver the message manually. Using her feature discovery of "scheduled" sending option, she typed the message and had it send automatically according to her schedule (who wants to wake up at 4.30am to compose a short message and send it). Voila, while she was sleeping the phone automatically send her SMS to her friend in New York. Everybody happy.
Technology Driven Companies
There were more then 1,222 technology companies in the US went under (bankrupt) because they've built useless technology.
What do I mean by useless technology? Take a look around, have you ever used ALL of the Microsoft Office features? How many percent did you use all the features? According to the research, most people use less then 20% of the software features!
The thought of building a better software (tools) will automatically dominant the market share is absurd. Usability, intuitive interface and exposure (through frequent advertising and guerilla marketing need to be established), without it no matter how excellent is your engine and interface, no customer means no sustainability.
Does BetaMax Vs. VHS rings the bell? How about Microsoft Vs. Mac? We all know that BetaMax and Mac are the better product (way much better and more superior!). They are not major market share player. Microsoft and VHS are the major market share player although their product is more inferior. Microsoft and VHS were not technology driven, they were market driven.
Lesson learned! You products or services must FLOOD (exposure) the market first, make your customer get used to your interface design and workflow. Once it became their habit, you just hooked them with your magic charm.
Products and services exposures are very effective, otherwise how can you the word "books" synonymous with the word "AMAZON" on the internet?
Technological Interface Design
Technological Interface Design:
Not many people realized that we interfacing with technological interface design everyday. In a developing country such as Indonesia, where broadband still limited in the big cities, the frequency of interfacing with Internet browser and computer office applications such as Microsoft Office still limited to professionals and the big city populations.
Interestingly enough, for a developing country such as Indonesia where mobile subscribers are more then fixed telephone subscribers and already we've seen so many people exposed to technological interface design. A first elementary grade now can type SMS (text message) easily, it accellerated the learning process greatly.
Exposure to technological interface design thats based on application and flow logic will shape the way of the thinking of the young generations. The downside are obvious, because more and more user-friendly and ingenious interface design, it will build intimacy to the application and thus displaying an anti-social behavior.
Or maybe, someday Technological Interface Design will become a nessecary tool for socializing.
My First Blog
- Technology:
- Mobile Technology and Application
- Wireless Networking (WIFI, WiMax and xMax)
- Operating System (Interface)
- Arts
- Digital Arts
- Digital Applications Review and Tips & Tricks (PhotoShop, Illustrator, Freehand and Flash)
- Politics:
- Geo-Politics
- Behind Political Decision Making
- Greed and Power
- Business:
- Retail Business (Windows Dressing, Point of Sales and Promotional Strategy)
- Consulting Business (Business Commuications, Consulting Strategy and Survival Guide)
- Religion:
- Understanding the Word of God to avoid extremism
- The biggest commited SIN in the Church (ignorance, abstraction and absurdity)
- Human Resources Developments:
- You, a leader?
- Creative Sales Techniques and Approaches

