I was stumbling around the web and found this quote;
“Work like you don’t need money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one’s watching.”
very inspiring quotes during my busy day and remind me to keep my passion, and love it like I never fail 
Trying to get a homepage up n running is not a very hard task this day. I still remember few years back, write a homepage will require you to open your text editor type tags, validate your HTML, then find a place to host it and pay them for the service. Back in those days, creating a websites will require a company spending hundreds to thousands of US$ just to built a static WEB page.
Then few years later DHTML come to solve the requirement to have a dynamic website. ASP, PHP, and JSP enable people to have a database driven website. Updating content not necessarily change the HTML source code, web-administrator only need to insert, update, n delete database. Some -good- web developers also build a user interface to update the contents so clients can easily change texts, images, even upload a video.
Developers that have business sense, then package codes n database into a product. Make web developers’ job easier by not have to create everything from scratch, shorten development time, and most of all create opportunity for more people to create a websites.
WEB 2.0 make things even more interesting. User generated contents reduce web-admin work. Internet users can modify their own page, using easy to modify UI (started by Friendster if I’m not mistaken, where user can modify their profile page..). Blogging sites, more advanced social networking, made internet even more fun.
Some internet start-ups as well as all giants are in race to create the most sophisticated but easy to use applications. I’ve shared my story about google-applications. Saturday morning I got an email regarding newly launched Google product in their google application portfolio.
Before writing this post, I try to play with it and create a sandbox (http://sandbox.dotjuicer.com – not much to see, but for a person that not focus on web-programming it’s very easy… ).
I imagine a if this kind of application can be introduced to SMEs or even home industry in Indonesia. It will surely help them a lot. They don’t need to spend a lot, even they can do it in nearest internet cafe and build their website as if it built by professional web programmers.
So many things can be done; as a start, maybe universities can encourage their IT students to help nearest SMEs or home industries by set-up a short training course to use this new feature from google. This will have a meaningful impact to the community development. It doesn’t need to be sophisticated, the most important is to be exist in www world then any potential buyers can search them through internet.
Google, please get your emerging market team to Indonesia ASAP
This inspiring video is one of the Gudang Garam commercial (cigarette company in Indonesia) during last year Indonesia’s education day, inspired by true story about kids in a village in West Java that have to swim across a river everyday in order to get their formal education.
I’m very proud and sad at the same time whenever I watch that commercial; proud because we are not quitters country and it shows in very explicit way on how those kids are risking their life to get their rights. How those fighters do their best in order to get ready for their future no matter what.
I also very sad how this kind of story was not become an interested story to reporters (especially foreign reporters who just exposed Indonesia’s bad stories that create negative image to Indonesia. those reporters who over expose our wrong-doings and our fault without being honest to themselves about their own country). Everybody know the power of media, everybody try to expose every good deeds in the media, but I wonder where are those foreign reporters that can look for sensitive information related to Indonesia (a negative ones) when this kind of media coverage should bring those kids a better way to achieve a better education, a better future.
This story was taken from one of Kompas’ reporter article related to education day. Gudang Garam advertising agency (octovate) asking permission to take that story and make a commercial based on that true story.
the impact? civil engineering from University of Indonesia built a new bridge for those kids for free….
that’s how media can give power to powerless people… Hopefully, this will inspire more people in industry to build a commercial that also have positive impact to society, to Indonesia.
When I start my company ; a creative digital media agency (mobile media and internet media), my first priority is to set-up a domain name, e-mail, and (still under-construction) website.
At the same time, I was really into all Google innovations and been trying to keep track of what they’ve done by browsing their google labs and tried out some of their future features in there. My eyes was really into google-pages. I thought to my self, if only google also give a web hosting service with customized domain for free. It will be very useful for a low budget company in order to get exposure in unlimited potential of www.
We can train home industries or help them to use this google-pages as their online front-end with email to contact/contact number so it will eliminate unnecessary mediator that took incredibly high margin and still pressed these home industries to give the lowest price for them.
For example; a handicraft home industry can show their product in WEB by build a simple homepage, using easy to use google-pages and upload their product images. Then point their selected domain name to Google free web-hosting facilities. This will stimulate faster community development.
A month after google-pages tried out, I find an article in my google-reader that google launch their new product called google apps (google applications).
It has google docs, google calendar, google pages, start page, etc. I tried out google apps standard edition (because it’s free :p). It turns out they provide mail service and customizable domain into what-ever domain you have. So I try my company domain, dotjuicer.com
Now, I have my domain web-page (although it still under-construction :p), my email service (using @dotjuicer.com) that also can be retrieved using POP3 or IMAP, and ‘dotjuicer’ calendar.
Total cost: IDR 100,000,- (for a year domain name rent)
If we can leverage this and equipped home industries so they can have their front-end in internet with this low cost implementation, I believe they will get lots of benefit out of it.
It’s cool, it’s cheap, it’s applicable, and relevant for community development in emerging markets.
One of Google remarkable innovation in media and advertising industry is adsense/adwords. The question is; will it worth for your company to use this service?
Not to worry! Google provide the tool to examine whether adsense/adwords will work for your company. It’s in google labs site, but everybody can try it.
Google trends will see how frequent a keyword searched in Google by internet users. The beauty of it is not the rank it self or you can compare more than 1 keyword at once; but it also presented based on region and time (cool!! – IMHO) . I tried the service by comparing “motor yamaha” and “motor honda”. The result is as follow (see the detail of originating area the search was made);
So, does your company website / product is worth to be registered as a adword/adsense? try it out in Google trends
I browse around universities websites and find all universities have e-learning features in their web. Most of them are created by in-house University’s IT team.
Hopefully, those universities share the same vision and standards on how to deliver best computer mediated learning system to their students; or even extends it to anybody who join the programs. Because I remember my programming concept lecturer said “don’t reinventing the wheel”.
If e-learning developed by every universities built by their own standards, there will be a good chance to have same functionality in many standards, many algorithms in many programming languages. It will be such a waste of ‘intelectual’ time .
Why don’t universities gather and create a forum (doesn’t need to be a physical forum, can be virtual forum – try google project ) to share, create, and develop a standard to deliver the best computer mediated learning system in Indonesia. Or building an the best e-learning system is ‘unofficial’ way to show my university is more andvanced than yours?
Let’s imagine that all Universities are working together to build a standard for e-learning system focus on high-school graduates, it will be such an efficient way because no one research, build, and solve the same issues; and Universities can do their individual effort by customize e-learning system for people in rural areas around Universities’ city. There will be more challenges for universities and good impact for communities development.
Look at Google, their commitment on solving problem and their openness become their unique value that lead them to be the most respected .com company. They engage more talents to achieve one goal: create the best search engine that works for everybody.
Having a working e-learning system for IT literate people especially Universities students for me (IMHO) is useless. Because there are facility like Google, Wikis, Specific interest groups, scientific articles, and other technologies can be easily accessed and used by Universities’ students.
But creating an e-learning applications for non IT or English or Bahasa literate community will be a challenge that need to be conquer. They are actually communities that really need technology to accelerate their learning processes. They really need a technology that work for them, not the other way around.
nrimo, is suppose to be a great concept of life that teach us to accept everything we deserve as a compensation of what we’ve done.
An elementary school teacher in Indonesia will not be able to afford a Harley Davidson just count on their salary every month; but they will get other non-material appreciation because of their service to produce Indonesia’s next generations. If someone choose to be an elementary school teacher, they should realize this and commit to this path without compromise.
Unfortunately this concept of life become a weapon to irresponsible people to continue their economic colonialism to people in rural areas. People in rural areas are brainwashed so they will receive their destiny to be poor. Somehow, ‘nrimo’ is perceived as blindly rely your life to the destiny. If God wants you to be poor, then what ever you do, you will always be poor.People in rural villages are made to believe that being poor was their destiny by neo-colonialist people, so they can take maximum benefit out of it. These low educated people are brainwashed so they don’t have any desire to develop themselves and easily satisfied by minimum material appreciation.
It’s been happening so long that they believe that there is no other way to life their live but being poor. During Soeharto’s era, this situation was strengthened by subsidizing on every life-critical needs so these poor people didn’t see negative impact of this misdefined ‘nrimo‘.
In contrast in most cities, invasion of consumerism that lead to corruptive behavior is caused by the absent of ‘nrimo’. Many people want more than what they can afford, try to find a shortcut to get what they want, and do anything to achieve what they want.
telecommuting:”Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy limited flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links.more“
I’ve spent 1.5 hours driving to my office (around 35 Km), it will be the same time frame for me to conduct a weekly meeting to set a week goal(s). Although I’ve spent most of time reading google reader from my mobile (not a good sample of safety driving, but I was so bored… because my car only move once every 5 minutes).
I’m subscribing to wireless internet connection for IDR 350,000.00 (US$ 40) for 1.2 GB volume/month. On top of US$35 / week for gasoline, stressful experience on the road, possibility to get a scratch car because motorbike. As soon as I arrived at the office, then I open my notebook, connect to Internet (using my office’s internet line), and start to work.
I wonder, how many people in Jakarta are actually a ’space independent’ work force. How many of them have to spend hours of their time and travel from their house to their office. Then I start to think how can they actually save their salary.
If it’s not for having a meeting and monitor my subordinates, I can stay home and work from my bedroom without have to worry about which way I should take to avoid 3 in 1, which way that have the least traffic and where I should have my lunch.
Not just it will cut half of my cost per-month, I also actively contribute to reduce pollution, decrease traffic accident statistic, and increase revenue to people that open a business around my house especially restaurant.
All I have to do is create a working standard in order to make telecommuting works in my company. I know that not all business will be effective by this working type, but creative agencies, digital media people, software developers, even receptionist and secretary can work from their house.
It will be the best long term solution for traffic jam rather than build never ending ‘busway’ road and mono-rail projects that not resulting anything but corruptions and more traffic jam.
Some of you might have previous version of image above showing how people evolve. For me; image above will tickled me in a way that we actually going back to nomad because technology enable us to do so.
The difference between ancient and ‘neo’ nomad maybe only its tools and ‘know-how’. On ancient nomad, people will and always gather in groups, have their own sign/language, their own symbol, create their own currency (on bartering things) and their own unique habit (culture). All tools that used as means for their activities are simple, practical, and specific. Even, in some literature fashion also indicate their identity as a member of specific ‘ancient nomad’ groups (-although I’m still curious on how we can know how a pre-historic people dress-up-). Ancient-nomad will move places because many reasons included in this 2 groups; resource to support their groups and/or security.
‘Neo-Nomad’; will have all the social values had in ancient-nomad. Especially in Indonesia; I think Indonesian will be very easy to complete this sentence ‘let’s gather for ….”. We have community for almost every car type(even if it not a rare car), specific product from a brand – from id-mac, id-apple, ipod touch community, iphone, etc- , and specific sub-(sub-sub-…)group.
Thanks to technology, physical appearance will not be a mandatory; because we can have a ‘gathering’ in mailing lists, chat rooms, multiparties calling, and group SMS. Every participant can/want/need to be involved in decision making process; although most of the them never meet each other in person.
Demands (or dreams) to get more than what we have will always be there; either we need it or we want it. Started with a device that can only receive limited characters and a device that can exchange single duplex voice; now a device can do all things; text, voice, internet, music, photo, and ‘carry-able’.
Why we need it to be a ‘carry-able’ device? One of the reason is because we really want to take control on what we have, including our social networks / groups / community.
Technology shifted us to a ‘neo-nomad’ creatures.
1 million question: are we ready for this?
Wednesday February 6th, 2008 Communication and Informatics Departement Indonesia represent by Mr. M. Nuh (Minister) and Mr. Ilham Habibie representing Habibie Center as a legal representative of IGADD Indonesia signed MoU that show government support on this non-commercial movement and action call to close digital divide in Indonesia.
Although there are still lots of works need to be done to achieve the goal, what was happened in minister’s office show government full support in this program.
Personally, I really hope this MoU will not only be another support on paper without any follow up actions. Hopefully this join effort of intellectual communities, professional volunteers, sponsors and support by government will lead Indonesia to close digital divide issue that hold back economic development in rural areas that will lead Indonesia to a better future.
