Our Lovely Sucks Post Office
I did some business again with post office. Like what I said before about Mr. Postman. And here are the fascinating pictures I took with my phone camera, a 1.3MP without flash. Yeah, not look good, but tell something.
It’s Started in Parking Lot
More stories and pictures please read the complete post.
Abandoned the Rails
So it will be happened.
Twitter Said To Be Abandoning Ruby on RailsWe’re hearing this from multiple sources: After nearly two years of high profile scaling problems, Twitter is planning to abandon Ruby on Rails as their web framework and start from scratch with PHP or Java (another solution is to stick with the Ruby language and move away from the Rails framework).
Python or PHP? :-)
via TechCrunch
MS Exec on Mac
Steve Ballmer, caught giving a Powerpoint presentation on… Mac :-)
I do not know this is for real or not (the original version looks like a real!), indeed, a flickr user known as Steve Ballmer (I think it was fakesteveballmer) commented on a picture, “That first picture which you doctored with a mac logo needs to be removed from the stream here!”.
Have fun!
via MacUser
UPDATE: It’s for real! Another flickr user confirmed it. But, someone said it was not Steve’s laptop, but from previous non-MS presenter. Again, have fun :-)
Five Things to Know About U.S. Border Laptop Searches
PC World’s article, Five Things to Know About U.S. Border Laptop Searches
“We think people should know that they basically are leaving their right to privacy at the door when they cross the U.S. border. There is no assumption of privacy [at a port of entry]. said Gurley.“This is by far not an epidemic of any sort,” Gurley said. “But we think people should know that they basically are leaving their right to privacy at the door when they cross the U.S. border. There is no assumption of privacy,” at a port of entry, she said. Here are five factors Gurley says travelers should know about:
1. No evidence needed to take your laptop
2. Anything can be searched
3. Your PC might not be returned right away
4. Don’t take anything you don’t want to share
5. Be cooperative
Oh Mr. Postman
When I read the Kompas paper of Saturday 19, 2008, I was interested to a letter criticizing how Indonesian post office failed to deliver Ms Yenny package, which is a watch been sent from Japan. Here is the letter, rough translation by me (sorry):
On March 14 2008, I visited East Depok Post Office at the Jalan Kerinci Raya, Depok, needed to grab my package sent from Japan. Being said, according to post office staff who deliver the package, they have been tried to sent twice to home, since no one showed up, they brought it back.Finally, I grab the package by myself, and opened it while on the way to home. Unfortunately, I was so surprised, the contents of the package which is a Benetton watch brand in a box is actually unavailable.
What bring to my curiosity, the outer envelope is wrapped perfectly. But, after being opened, it looks like the envelop has been opened before, then wrapped again.
I am really sorry to Ms Yenny who had such experience. I am alone have such experiences at least three times.
The first time, it’s when I try to send a package of used handphone to my brother in Malang. I went to local post office at Pasar Minggu, the woman in office told me this, “Please do not use our service. According to our experience, Malang (or East Java in general) has been a bad reputation for lost package for electronic devices.” Wow. I am stoned. I said thanks to her for saying that. It’s quite good she said the fact than give me nothing then I lost the package after while. But, having to know how post office such reputation (told by post office staff itself) is terribly worst.
Then, when I ordered some books from Amazon. The package invitation came at home, and later the afternoon I visited the central post office at Fatmawati (for area in South Jakarta) to pick it up. What came to surprised me, other than the cost I have paid for Internation Priority Mail for Amazon, I should pay additional fee Rp 120.000 for books about US$120. What a pricey (if compared via DHL). When I ordered previous books via DHL, they cost me nothing other than the shipping cost, which I knew it cost more. But, if compared to the total cost I paid for—and the delivery time which is faster via DHL (4 days compared to a month!), it cost more. Although I do not know whether all package delivered to Indonesia need to pay for customs. EDIT: Okay, I think I am wrong if I complained about the tax policy, such thing may exist. Tough my question is, why I can’t pick my package via near post office (Pasar Minggu in my case) instead of to central one. It’s too far. Inefficient. Or, why they don’t use the postman who deliver it as fee collector too? Inefficient.
Then, It was when I tried to send money to our parent using an electronic account service called Shar-e. The electronic acccount itself is quite good. You can send via post office everywhere. Then our parent can retrieve the money via local ATM from many affiliated banks. But, sending money via post office is quite frustrated. See, no quuee line. You must standing beside many customers who would pay for everything post office payment developing for, like: credit cards payments, motor credits, loan service, retirement payments, etc. Woa, and it’s not a sort of few people. You can count at least 20 or 30 people in one locket desk line, and they are not any quee separation, no entry ticket, no staff to arrange the quee, and so on. Even better, if you visited the office at the first time, you need to ask at lest one in first floor to know where to send a money, and at the second floor, you need to know where is the locket services for that. No sign or whatever! Only crowds of people.
Lessson learned. But, it seems I still have some love-hate business with post office in the next time. Keep your service good Mr Postman, or you’ll die by your own cancers and be replaced by other private services.
Seorabaja-Djokjakarta Rail Diagrams (1937)
This is taken without permission from Envisioning Information, by Edward R. Tufte, tenth printing March 2005 page 24-25.
This map is incredible. Not only the contents displayed rail routes and its time table from Surabaya to Yogyakarta vice versa, according to Tufte’s word:
Drawn in November 1937 (annotated in Dutch, then in Japanese). By smoothly suppressing a dimension first here and then several times there, finessing perspective treatments entirely, and changing the focus, this 24-hour railroad plan abstractly traces out multiple paths thourgh three-space and time, in a four-dimensional tour with dozen other variables carried along.
As you can see in the biggest version, it contains towns which passed by rail—the first train leaving Surabaya about 4:50 in the morning reached the next stop (currently Stasiun Gubeng) about ten minutes later, and so on, distance between town, and also a profile of valleys and mountains crossed by rail.
Wonderful graphic work.
What... of the Month?
Yeah, I want to share you this.
I’ve been long time to think whether I would share the news or not. But, here it is. They call me the …. of the month. I ridiculously say, what? If you read it, that’s the answer of me to be called ….. of the month. Cause you lucky to win some sum of money, they called you, it.
Being a designer is a life curse to me. I get some trouble into it. One of my friend even catch me being a imitator. And, I am happy he catch me that :-) Yet, somehow people happy to be called a good copier, was they? But, I am not. A good designer is at his heart and his head.
After all, I hope it is not like the Oscar’s curse :-) I’d rather say, of course no!
Be productive and work overtime, hell yeah!
7 Indonesian on 2008 TopCoder Open
2008 TCO Finalist Brackets are Announced!Announcing the 120 finalists for the 2008 TopCoder Open! Through the hard work, sweat, creativity, fast fingers, sleep deprivation and determination by the best of the best, the field has been narrowed down. See who you’ll be cheering for!
Sorry if I am being late to announced this, but the final lists has been wrapped. It’s official that 7 (seven) Indonesian are going to join their 120 wordwide fellows to compete in the prestigious competition held by TopCoder, Inc, in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 11 – 15, 2008.
Looking Out Indonesian Books
When visiting book stores in Jakarta, I recall the first impression to think why the hell Indonesian book title are such pathetic?!
One of favorite titles on computer book are “Panduan Lengkap“ or Complete Guide for particular subject. It is great having complete guide for the subject, and it usual. But when you open the book, and trying to figuring out several detailed topics, the books lost many of them. And, when you are mastering a particular topic, you’ll easily give a damn to the author, stating the book is complete. It’s far from being complete! And, looking how thick the pages, I look into Photoshop Complete Guide (Indonesian authoring it), it only 336, compare it to Photoshop Classroom from Adobe, it count 496 pages, and it’s just a book for beginner (they do not called it complete guide at all)! Why the hell Indonesian author genuinely said complete guide?!
Let’s look another kind of titles, oh great, you’ll have to find a lot of books about little or tiny subject, like Yahoo! Messenger, Google Gadget and Yahoo Widget, 3G Internet Guide, and so on. Wow, they just a little topics. Why the hell they wrote it for a book? The book usually goes 100+ pages. If they intend to help people, just create a website and bring Indonesian manual. Write book for sophisticated topic. That’ll help to people. And wonder how the publisher get the return on investment on such topic which fastly changing. But, I also wonder, why the hell such titles are published, and it became usual. Are Indonesian people lazy to read (english) manual? Those apps usually have great manual. Why they do not read it first?
That are my first impression of Indonesian book for computer subject. Great and ambitious titles, shallow explanation, bad research, for programming book—lot of code example seem badly written (no technical reviewer?), much written for application (manual/documentation) not the technology itself, and thin book—and so it cheap (yeah thick books [and so it expensive] doesn’t mean always a good book, but that make sense that the writer do their job). And, when you try to find speciality topic (try to find XHTML/CSS and web standard on web design and web development category), it would be harder to find Indonesian writer on paper. What if we going more to another topic, are they going to be same pattern?
Several times ago, when I recall to asked myself, why I loved to read English language book than waiting for Indonesian author written for the particular subject. I think I got the answer today.
Kill Sign Up Form, Hug your Future Customer
You are required to give us your email address, select a password, tell us your name, your location, verify this strange word, agree to our terms of service, and finally, you will get what’s behind the form.
Taking care of sign up form is one of biggest usability issues.
If you were a visitor trying to figure out what the new web based services is, and you are pushed away to fill out so many form with your personal information, well you may easily think to close the website and either go to other website.
So far, no form. It’s only when you want to publish or share your movie that Jumpcut asks for your name and email so you and others can access the movie you just made. Through this process, you learned what Jumpcut does, and you did it without having to jump through a sign-up form. That’s gradual engagement.
That’s it gentleman. Take care the sign up form wisely. Prepare for the nicest way for your future customer. Instead of bringing up full sign up page detailed with so many personal information, why the hell not giving up the future customer a chance to view what you are doing to. Then, you can talk to them to bring up their information if they are willing to use the services. Nice!
