Billy the Turtle, coloured

Part of Billy!

Don't Cry - Akeboshi Piano Cover

Don't Cry from Akeboshi, Naruto's theme song!! :D

Endless Love - Jackie Chan

Enjoy :) Jackie Chan's Song of the Myth, Endless Love.

Kiss, the Endless Love

Another piano mash up. This time Yiruma's Kiss The Rain and Endless Love Korean Drama Theme Song.

Akankah Dia Dia Dia

I mix the two songs of Akankah Dia by Sidepony and Dia Dia Dia by Afgan :) Played on piano. "Like" it if you like it :)

Crush Piano Cover

Enjoy :)

Bandung!

I took some pictures when I went to Bandung :)

Payphone Piano Cover

As I promised:

Don't Cry - Park Bom (Piano Version)

Sorry, I recorded the song quite in a rush, because I was moving to Singapore and my friend requested the song very badly. Anyway, got some background noises because I did not record it in a studio or specialised room. Forgive the bits of slips if you notice :) Thank you!

Payphone coming up soon. Just need to find time to upload, which currently is quite difficult :( Be patient! :D You can request song, but I am not sure when I can do it because I am starting university soon.

Living without a Burden

Here is something I found recently.

Think of a burden or pressure that you have been having for a while. Be it your parent's expectation, your expectation, your boss expectation, your fate (such as something you have been telling yourself, "It is my fate to be like this"), anything. Now, concentrate on that burden. Done? Then say this to yourself:

"I don't need to be burdened to live."

Did you smile to yourself? Well, I did. When I said that to myself, I felt very free, as if I own the world, nothing could stop me. When I am deeply worried, I said that. If you have been reading books with New Age theme, this is somewhat an affirmation. It is also explained in the book Creative Visualization.

Here is my own view about the matter. You decide if it is true to yourself:

Your mind has been chained with burden knowingly or unknowingly. I have not entered the working world, so I don't understand enough about it, and I agree that what I am telling you may not work in the real working world. However, you often know that you could do something yet be burdened by it. Why? There was a saying (found in 9GAG :p), "If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying? - Shantideva." It is debatable. We worry about the future because it is uncertain even when we can solve our problem, unlike 1 + 1 = 2. But then, the stress will build up until your body and mind could not take it. At that point, stop and say to yourself, "I don't have to do this as a burden".

By saying it, I do not mean you should leave your work unattended, or you will get fired (obviously). You will work hard, but never take it as a burden because a burden is tiring but a work does not have to be tiring.

Cheers :)

'Did Nokia make a mistake by going with Windows Phone?'

For the Nokia fans and Windows Phone Fans, here is an interesting view of Nokia's move in adopting WP instead of Android.

Did Nokia make a mistake by going with Windows Phone?

Batman!!!

For the Physics geek, here you go!

Batman would die after using his cape

A very interesting fact indeed, and I just wonder who would do something like that, spoiling the coolness of memory cloth. Ckck. Even worse, released before the Dark Knight Rises. Worst, its a work of final-year masters students. I wonder if they do that in the Physics Department, like calculating the possibility of Batman's cape, Ironman's suit, etc. If that is true, I should take Physics course instead of Computer Science course.

Not Changing My Phone :(

Unfortunately, though I have found a seller of HTC Radar, I decided not to buy a Windows Phone. Reason being that many news about WP8 devices came up on websites such as Ubergizmo (or here, and its sister website Uberphones), wpcentral and WMPoweruser. I am afraid it is a sign that WP8 devices will launch in a month or two. Of course, I took the news with a pinch of salt as those rumors may just be nothing close to truth. But always better to keep using your old phone if it still works rather than waste money right before the right time. :)

Bully the Rabid Rabbit!

Meet Bully the Rabid Rabbit! You can call him Billy's "friend". I am still thinking how to make the hands and the feet. No colour and no skeleton yet. :)

Touchscreen which can transform into Physical Keys

The post about Spike may seem interesting, but before that, there was a news that gives even a better solution to difficulty in typing with touchscreen. You could look it up here for the news in Ubergizmo. Click here for the page with comprehensive outlook, including the complete advantage(s) and disadvantage(s). The video is here (embedding was disabled).

The touchscreen could transform itself to protrude out each key when you are typing, and go back to flat when you are done. Check it out, no harm doing so :)

Illness and Forgiveness

A teacher of mine told me that whenever you are praying for healing when you are sick, you always begin with asking for forgiveness of yourself. Some people may frown upon that idea. The reason is the idea that sin causes illness is from stone age and has been thrown away as time flies. I remember I was taught that in the Bible, the sick were associated with being sinful, which might be the stem of such view. Why, then, my teacher told me to ask for forgiveness?

It actually connects quite well with New Age ideas. Sickness is associated with stress inside your body and/or mind, not sin. Illness is an indicator that you need to take a rest and so on. People can look carefree on the outside while stressful deep within to the point where they may not even be conscious of that stress, examples being me, my sister and my dad. Still, why do you need to ask for forgiveness? I think it roots from the idea of guilt. Many people feel guilty for what they have done wrong, intentionally or accidentally. And therefore, they believe in their innermost heart that they are not worthy of health (although they carry themselves confidently and carefree).

Indeed, being guilty free itself is not a very good idea, because that is the reason there are psychopaths, serial murderers who enjoy their doings yet feel no guilt at all. But that does not mean that we keep that guilt forever. Ask for forgiveness, then believe in yourself that you are going to change, not to do the same mistakes again. Then, ask for healing, for health. Never, ever, ever ask how are you going to be healthy (Although this does not mean you can just pray and not consulting a doctor, because that would be very stupid. Praying would complement all that you do to regain your health, enhancing your treatment and medicine as if you play game using an item to increase damage to 200%). Don't forget, say thank you to everyone who help you in your healing, the one who drive you to the doctor, who help you to walk, who buy for you your medicine, who pray for your healing. Cheers :)

Billy the Tumbling Turtle!

Introducing Billy the Tumbling Turtle!

I haven't coloured it and add skeleton to it. I have plans for it, but let's see when I can make it true :) For now, enjoy the turtle :)

Prayer before Meals

Sometime ago, when I was browsing 9GAG, I found someone who expressed uneasiness with people thanking God for the food served in front of them while not thanking the people who make the food available to you, such as the farmers, the drivers of food distributor, the cooks and so on. Well, I cannot disagree with the guy. Thanking God only should not be enough. The people serving the food in any ways would be instruments of God which we need to thank as well. Even better, if you believe in sanctity of lives from animals and plants, you should thank them as well for the lives they give for you to survive.

Thus, I make my prayer before meals something like this:
"Thank you, God (if you believe in God in any form or of any religion) for giving me this food. Thank you for all the portions of lives in it, the lives of animals and plants, the people who serve the food for me and all the people involved such that the food is served in front of me. Bless each lives in it and I pray for their dreams to come true, in this world or the next."

Well, I made such prayer because I believe in the next world, whatever you call it: heaven, reincarnation, etc. I also believe that it does not matter whether it is a life of human, animal or plant. Indeed, respecting them should not be done equally such that you treat human and animal the same (although some humans are savage beyond beasts). Some people respect animals more than plants, but I try to respect them equally (sometimes I use this as a reason why I do not like vegetables :p I don't like it, not because of the life value, but yuck, veggies). Anyway, that is my version of prayer. Of course, a prayer is almost always personal. Even when they share the same meaning, they could be said differently. This prayer of mine is far from perfect, but it includes respecting everything about the food.

For those of you who does not believe in deities or God, just say it in your heart that you hope the people who serve you the food get what they deserve. And if you have different beliefs from me, I will not force this prayer to you. Just make sure you are grateful for the food :)

Actually, this prayer was also included in the "Creative Visualization" book I told you on a post last time. Same meaning. I came up with it before I read that part of the book, but, oh well.

Why Blackberry Flourishes in Indonesia

You would find that Blackberry handsets are not so popular around the world, but is very popular in Indonesia. Why? Compared to other OSes, (current) Blackberry OS is clearly less dynamic than other OSes. One reason for its popularity is Blackberry Messenger (BBM). When all your friends (even better, colleagues and your boss) are on BBM, you would not want to miss anything. Especially in a company which employees are on BBM, you need to have one. If not, get outta here.

But then, people argue there are other messengers like Y!M, Google Chat, MSN, and the latest would be WhatsApp which popularity is rising, at least around my circle of friends. What is so interesting about BB? The reason being is the carriers. Internet connection on mobile phones were, let's say, widely unavailable and unreliable in Indonesia until BB came in. Since BB uses special APN (Access Point Name, kind of the type of connection you use on your phone) to enable its services, and the price for BB plans are comparably cheaper than GPRS and 3G (which at that time was fairly new and expensive), it became popular.

The situation may change soon. Waiting for RIM to release BB OS 10 combined with better availability of mobile internet connection from the telcos and cheap local-made Android phone, added with the new iPhone craze and its plans (even when it is clearly much more expensive compared to in other countries), you never now when the trend for BB changes. The problem becomes even bigger when you realized that for quite some time, the government and RIM has been playing Tom and Jerry. First, demand for a server in Indonesia, done. Next, factory in Indonesia, failed (and instead, the new factory is in Malaysia). Well, demographics show that BB user is almost all about Indonesians. If something happens such that Indonesians decide to leave BB and BB OS 10 is too late to help, RIM may need to find another savior.

This is my own view, may be right or wrong. Let's hope everyone gets the best.

Windows Phone - Updated

While on the matter, I actually want to change phone to a Windows Phone, budget one. I want Samsung Focus 2, but it is not sold in Indonesia and Singapore, or anywhere near on that matter :( I have no objections against Nokia, but its handsets compel me. Lumia 800 (or worse, 900) is too expensive for a trial Windows Phone. Lumia 710 is perfect match for hardware and price, except for the hardware Windows buttons which I despised completely. Lumia 610 is a no go because the 256 MB RAM ruins the whole thing about background processing *thus live tiles and so on. I need WhatsApp, which according to forums I read need the background thingy.*

Initially, I refuse adamantly to own a HTC. Not that it is a bad brand, it is a good brand. But progressively, its models have basically same design concept. Of course, it could be a branding system, like iPhone which only has one model. For the price and RAM, I think I need to give in to HTC Radar. Its online prices are in between Lumia 710 and 610, its RAM is 512 MB thus background processing is available and it has capacitive buttons. The problem is, its sale is hard to be found. It has been taken down in online stores. Too bad. Hopefully I can find it :)

*Update:
Lumia 610 indeed lacks RAM, which disables it of App backgrounding. However, according to GSMArena review, the Live Tiles and Push notification (which is need for WhatsApp) still work. Only memory-intensive apps do not work, like Skype, and when you open heavy apps, it has some lags (given examples in the link are Nokia Drive and Maps). Sorry for the misleading facts.

Smartphone Touchscreen Keyboard Case

I have always been a fan of smartphone with QWERTY keyboard. Well, not so much of the Blackberry type. I always want to try the type of HTC Desire Z or Motorola Droid, although I have never had one and currently using Blackberry Curve 9300. The reason being is touchscreen QWERTY is not very accurate and you could not type without looking at the screen unless you have been really using your phone for some time. 

I like Windows Phone OS keyboard because it is accurate compared to other OS's keyboard as of my own experience. You could read about the technology here. One of my friends told me iPhone keyboard is nice and accurate. I don't know, but I don't think it is accurate enough. That's when I start thinking why not we make a QWERTY keyboard for touchscreen smartphone that does not require power? I do not mean something like a bluetooth keyboard case such as this. I was thinking this idea: if we can use a capacitive pen input to replace finger, why don't we make QWERTY keys that use the same concept on the phone to match the touchscreen QWERTY?

Well, just on time, I read this project (named Spike) in Kickstarter. Yes. I value very much this idea. I know last time there was someone who made a QWERTY pouch for iPhone (named iTwinge) but I do not think many would want to make their gorgeous iPhone looks like that. Spike would be better, but I do have another idea which touches more of a complete case rather than just for QWERTY.

Apologies for the bad drawing. The basic idea of QWERTY case I came up with is that of the iPhone leather case which cover you can open, modeled like this Capdase. I want the front cover to be flipped open upwards when we want to use the touchscreen only. What is different? The front cover of the case would be comprised of a glass (the yellow portion in the picture) and of a QWERTY (the red part of the picture). The QWERTY is made like Spike, manual and does not need another power source. This way, you could type and see what you are typing, and as a phone case the screen is fully covered.

If possible, I would like the keyboard to look elegant as well, because this idea is dissimilar to Spike in which QWERTY in spike could be hid when not being used. Also, I prefer the case to be universally available, meaning not only for iPhone but also for top notch models of other brands. The problem lies in the marketing as not all gadget accessories sell as good as iPhone accessories :(