banditkampus

Hello, and goodbye.

2007-04-17T20:13:00.000+07:00

Just in case you didn't notice, this site is closed. #

Update on Campus Thingie..

2007-01-23T16:44:00.000+07:00

My latest scores are here. Not because I want to show them off, but because I am forgetful and would rather have to look here at my blog instead of going to campus if I forget (very likely).

Software Engineering: B
File System: C+
Programming 3: A
UML: A
Data Mining: C+
Database 2: C+

Heaven and Hell

2007-01-20T14:55:00.000+07:00

Ketika kita berpikir bahwa Allah itu Maha Baik, terkadang otak bandel kita akan bertanya, "lalu untuk apa ada neraka?"

Tahukah kau bahwa wakil rakyat di kotaku dan mungkin menyeluruh di bangsaku tengah menuntut (dan hampir pasti mendapatkan) kenaikan gaji?

Untuk itulah neraka ada. Neraka ada untuk mengingatkanmu agar tak bertindak seperti mereka. Neraka ada untuk menenangkanmu bahwasanya segala sesuatu akan ada balasannya.

Quick Freelancing Tips#1: How to spot potential trouble ahead.

2007-01-15T18:36:00.000+07:00

When the project description includes something like:

I'm told/I believe that this work can be done in only a couple of hours for someone familiar with [insert subject here].

Then it's a 95.4928% chance that the work's harder than it seems, and 83.2918% chance it's going to be a difficult client to deal with.

Update: And if it says something like:

The lowest bid wins...

Then it's 194.8912% chance of a bad client.

Disclaimer: Just my 2 cents. Might not be true.

"The" Phone.

2007-01-14T20:46:00.000+07:00

Now this is the reason why I'm cool with using this phone bought for me by my mom. I don't need another fancy phone.

The first time I'm going to spend my money on a cellphone, it's going to be this. Yeah. Even if it's going to come to Asia in 2008. The more time I get to save money for it, the better.

This could be the dumbest logo, I know..

2007-01-13T13:21:00.000+07:00

..but just pretend I am making a satire to the many visual elements overused in Web2.0 sites :) I actually use this logo in RAC. I don't really feel proud or anything about it, but I hope it can convince clients in a way, he he.

My Freelancing Mistakes #01 - Greed

2007-01-09T12:25:00.000+07:00

I am going to openly admit my stupidity and talk about my mistakes during freelancing here. Hopefully this could grow into series of posts that could be useful to all freelancers and whatnot out there. I am sure there will be a lot of posts under this series, because I make many mistakes all the time :)

Mandatory introduction: my name is Hafiz Rahman and I freelance at Rent A Coder, or RAC henceforth. What I write here is my freelancing experience using RAC's system, but I believe my story can be applied on general freelancing area. I am not affiliated with RAC and I write this article purely on my own interest, so there.

The first mistake I want to admit is that I was greedy. If you're too lazy to read down and just want to jump into conclusion, read this loud and clear: Greed kills.

When I started (few weeks ago), I was very excited with everything. I browse through all the available projects, and without thinking too far I immediately placed bid on stuff I'm not even 100% sure I can do. I just want instant success. I just want better rating. I just want more fame.

See, my greed is not necessarily on money. I was willing to be paid small to do jobs with really quick deadline. My thought was the project is pretty simple and I can deliver finished job perfectly before deadline. My aim was not the money, but the status I can get from completing the job, the rating I could get from the client (Buyer, as per RAC's jargon).

What I failed to realize are twofold. First is this pure fact that I had to learn the hard way: There is no simple project. Period. Even if it says so on the project's description. Even if it's only creating a CSS skeleton for a page. Even if you just have to make a simple logo.

The second mistake: I didn't put into account revision tasks. Even though finishing initial task can be done quickly, revision could consume double, thrice, or even more time than that. This is deadly, especially when I have to juggle my time doing other projects too. The time used to revise a work is the time I don't use to do more productive things (like other projects).

Also, revising things tend to demoralize me. Maybe it's because it sucked seeing my original work got teared apart (especially with my own hands). Or maybe it's because I'm too lazy. I don't know.

Eventually, my greed led me into a situation where I had to handle multiple jobs, one deadline coming after another, multiplying my stress. Plus, there might be the occasion where one project consumed time far too long than it is supposed to. This very terrible.

I have made the conclusion that I had better took less project(s) and deliver better quality, rather than more projects and less quality. I don't give a damn about coder rank anymore (I am currently number 140,000-ish). Somewhere in RAC's articles for coders, I read that you do not need to be in the top ten list to make serious money.

And that is true. Plus, I don't think I want to be a sick, depressed, tired top ten coder after all.

Get some rest. None of these matters if you're sick. (--My mom)

My View on Clients and Us, Freelancers

2007-01-06T19:45:00.000+07:00

I don't want to put this wrong, but let me tell you something that I firmly believe now: Not all clients are kings. In fact, saying 'Client is king' is kind of wrong too, because that sounds like the service provider had lesser degree.

Well, I didn't have this belief until recently. Before, I did think that I want to do everything my clients ask, I want to fulfill all their requirements, and so on. But somehow this didn't work out too perfectly.

For example, well, I have been learning days and nights on web designing. So, every design decision that I made is the product of my knowledge, what I have as a designer. When a client told me to "resize that font, it's too glaring", it made me feel sick inside, because all the decision behind it just get ignored. Well, of course, simply changing the visual is pretty simple, but it made me felt like I betrayed something. Felt like now, by obeying him, I'm giving lower quality work, that I'm doing something below my capability.

Not all clients are kings. "The wrong client can kill morale, force good employees out, and cost you big opportunities," says 37signals. And it is true. Especially the morale-killing part.

'Client is king' (sometimes) makes client think that we're their servants, someone willing to do their every word. This is not right. Both clients and service providers have equal degree. So what if you have the money? We have the knowledge to deliver.

Think about it. I believe the whole freelancing thing is more like a barter: of their money and our skills. No one side should have higher power than the others, because this decreases the quality of work in one or more ways.

Plus, bad clients might piss freelancers off, and then they might make blogposts like this in return.

Now, what to do when you already found yourself stuck with the wrong client? I don't know. But I have done some experience on it. Wait for the next post, hopefully I will be able to tell more story.

Still on Freelancing

2007-01-03T22:42:00.000+07:00

Ho Hum. It is currently 11:44 pm here, and normally I would have been sleeping sound this time of the day. But no. Here I am, in an internet cafe, having to send a revision of a project. Argh.

Yesterday I had to do this too. Normally, I would do online freelancing on early mornings and afternoon, but a problem with mistaken deadline (my fault) caused me to suffer this fate. Well, suffer may not be the correct word. I guess 'work more' would be more appropriate.

Oh well, since job's done, let's do a review of everything I have learned and/or experienced and whatever about freelancing as a web developer:

1. I registered to Rent A Coder at December 16, 2006 (at least that's what my profile page says. Today is January 3, so I have freelanced for about 20 days or so. Currently I have won four projects (all in progress), none done completely, and countless of lost bids (hehe).

2. One thing I must learn the hard-way: 1-2 days-deadline projects are just not for me. Not because I can't do them. But this is because I do not have the constant internet connection to communicate properly, anytime I had to. Plus, having to work for deadline this tight is deadly (yesterday I had to go up until midnight to submit a job. This is not healthy for me).

3. For some reason, I never won anything at Get A Freelancer. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm far more active at RAC rather than at GAF, but the atmosphere is kind of different. I think I like RAC's way of hiding other people's bid. In GAF, being able to see how much other people bid and what they say in their bid gave me bad feelings sometimes.

3. Up to now, I still don't have any clear idea on how I'm going to receive my pay money. Via Western Union, yes, but I actually don't know how the whole mechanism work. Good thing I have my mentor here (whose blog post kicked me into the whole freelancing scene). I guess I will have to investigate more to him (ha ha).

4. And, for some strange reason, I think I had my specialization go more into WordPress lately. Before freelancing (like 20 days ago), I know very little about WordPress (uh oh, the secret is out!) but today I am so actively looking for projects on things like WordPress plugin making, WordPress Theme building, and so on. Currently I have done a plugin and two themes, which I think is not bad for someone who just learned WordPress. Plus, I'm not trying to praise my own self here, just want to point out that WordPress is indeed so elegant and easy to learn, and I love it.

Anyways, that's the chronicle so far. I had more works coming my direction, so I guess there will be more stories on this in the future. Stay tuned.

Go. To. Logopond.Com. Right. Now.

2007-01-01T10:40:00.000+07:00

Because I just saw the logo that I created being listed as member favorites. I think this is an important moment. Check it out (valid per January 1, 2007).

Go go go!

PS: It's gone already from the front page. But you can always check my showcase page.

Freelancing != Fun.

2006-12-30T20:52:00.000+07:00

Not always, anyway. Like everything I have attempted before, there is no such thing as easy works. There are always the stomach-crunching part, when I had to get frustrated over and over again due to many overlooked things.

I'm not complaining here, just restating of what I have discovered frequently before. Whenever I think that a job is pretty simple, it always turn out to be something more. Gotta work harder! Yosh!

Indonesia under Internet Emergency!

2006-12-28T06:49:00.000+07:00

Due to the massive earthquake in Taiwan two days ago, up to 80% of internet connection coming from Indonesia to the world is dead.

Yesterday I had a hard time looking for working internet connection, but to no avail. Alhamdulillah (and I am really really grateful to Allah SWT), my usual internet cafe is unaffected--or at least the connection is still working okay to me.

I would like to say a lot about this, but for now my mind is actually too full of gratefulness to Allah. So, I would shut. If you would like to learn more about this situation, kindly refer to the following articles (in Indonesian language, all from detiknews.com):

Dirjen Postel Bahas Darurat Internet

Internet 'Sekarat' Bisa Berminggu-Minggu

Just another morning for the newbie freelancer.

2006-12-26T06:36:00.000+07:00

While I certainly am not flying from systems to systems, smuggling illegal goods or having acrobatic combat with pirates, like I used to do playing this particular game, I can say that today I am busy freelancing, thanks to this uber-helpful post by orangbebas.

Due to this, I am often (if not always) online pretty early in the morning, checking emails and stuff. This is pretty fun, as far as I can say. My only concern is that I might never get any webdesigning project if I don't have a portfolio up online. My current almost-positive project is this one where I have to build a WP plugin (half done by now), which is actually not a service that I have in mind (I want to design, not code). But hey, if I can do it, why not, right? I am too young a freelancer to be picky.

In one hour time, I will have to be present at campus, MS Office training. What the? I'm not saying that I'm good with Office, but I'm a Computer Science student. To graduate, the rule is for all of us to have an Office-trained certificate, which IMO is pretty silly. We are probably more capable of making these progs, rather than using it. But whatever. I hope I can have internet access from campus, so I can do something more productive instead.

Links: The 25 BEST things ever said, by anyone. Disagree with the title, but is a fun read anyway.

TOP 20 All-Time Stupid Republican Quotes. My knowledge about the Republican Party is about as much as my knowledge about the names of regions in Pluto, but this is an even funnier read. Enjoy.

Between Rizqi and Money

2006-12-24T07:23:00.000+07:00

I had just been told this:

When you work, never think that you're looking for money. Look for Allah's rizqi instead.

This caused an explosion in my brain. A screeching halt. A change.

That is so very true. Currently I am still not very sure how to define rizqi, but I am sure I have headed to a better direction from now on. Will be sure to learn more.

Displaying an RSS Feed into your website.

2006-12-23T07:08:00.000+07:00

Hey, it's really not hard at all. Take a look at the very content above this post, as I have (temporarily) added A List Apart's RSS Feed into my website. Sweet :)

CSS Mastery iPod Giveaway

2006-12-19T17:51:00.000+07:00

Hey Santa! I am a muslim from Indonesia, so it is pretty safe to say that I have never wrote a letter to you. I don't believe you exist, nor do I celebrate Christmas, but I guess that's beyond the point.

I mean, hey, we're talking about CSS Mastery here! If there's anything I would really love to have, it's this real, dead-tree version, one-you-can-hold-in-your-arms webdesign book. I'm a poor webdesigner, man, I can't afford to buy books off Amazon. I don't even have a credit card.

I think the book would be a refreshing change, instead of having to look around the 'net for resources. And I think it will really make me happy as well. This book will obviously be one of my main arsenal during my struggle to become a professional webdesigner. I certainly am going to fight all my way for it, so share me the knowledge from that book!

Well, here I am waiting impatiently. Come my way, book :)

This is a participation to the contest up at Andy Budd's blog. Mr. Budd is the writer of the book CSS Mastery. The one book that I want to learn from so badly.

Oh my. ALA-id!

2006-12-15T15:18:00.000+07:00

These last months, I think I just completely forgot that there's this site called ALA-id, which is aimed to translate articles from A List Apart into Indonesian language. And worse, I am supposed to keep it growing! My memory is just too terrible!

As of now, there are only three articles there (although the fact is I have more translations ready in my HD). I'm really looking forward to revive (and promote) ALA-id. Anyone care to help? (especially on the promoting part. I'm not famous, as you all know :p )

Links links:

How to choose (and remember) good password. I desperately need to try this.

Photoshop CS3 Alpha out tomorrow! (via The Apple Blog). I don't have a Mac, but I'm practicing. Haha.

Vista will create 100,000 new jobs in IT, and that for every $1 Microsoft makes from Vista, the IT industry will earn $18. What the hey?

Collections of stupid questions and whatnot. Knowledge is power!

Links links.

2006-12-06T15:26:00.000+07:00

Simplebits has new layout and logo. Sweetness.

Romi Satria Wahono, hopefully with the answer to my long-time question, how to deal with internet payments (Indonesian language).

So far, the coolest pixel art I've ever seen. With Web2.0 flavors!

--Add: December 09, 2006

Answer to a childhood question. For us muslims, if we were in outer space, how do we determine our direction and times to do our daily prayers? (via Kottke(!))

Sites I subscribe to, at Bloglines. Nice!

--Add: December 11, 2006--Indonesian Don't Suck Version

Coreplay, Indonesian videogame artists and designers community.

Hellomotion, animation and cinema.

Indonesian Ministry of Design, LOL! Really love the concept (Indonesian language, though).

Ooh, and, How Google Finds Your Needle in the Web's Haystack, via bintang-jatuh.

Am I stupid or what? There's a book out there, and I contribute to it!

2006-11-30T13:05:00.000+07:00

Biarkan Aku Mencintaimu Dalam Sunyi - Kumpulan Cerpen Blogfam.

Down the authors list you will find the word 'Hafiz', which is indeed me. So, why wait? Go grab that book!

On a side note, I have been really, really, terribly inactive in blogfam forum lately, due to work, and school, and business, and everything. Argh, my bad! I will try to be active again.

For a Mother.

2006-11-29T13:53:00.000+07:00

The most hardworking person I've ever met, even to this day, is my Mom. Ever. I've been working a lot lately, but this is peanuts to what my mom does everyday. She's a stay-at-home mom, but the amount of work she's done is incredible.

And I mean it. Incredible.

I'm not going to delve into the details; I think it's enough for you all to know how much I am amazed to her feat. Amazing just doesn't cut it. There's no word for it. I'm running out of expression.

Why am I suddenly talking about my Mom? Well, the reason is because today my emotional burden gets a bit heavy. My heart hurts, and everything. I wanted to post something melancholic, something tragic, but then, I think about my Mom.

It's so very rare that I saw her feeling sad. Really. Angry, perhaps, and happy. But not sad. She's just so unbelievably strong.

And again, compared to her burdens, my pain is nothing. I am hurt from so many things. But my Mom is very strong. Here I'm hoping that her blood, running inside me, will somehow share me such a strength.

I love my mom. I really do. I may as well kick myself hard in the ass if I don't.

Save Rolling Star from Its Own Cover Art!

2006-11-27T16:48:00.000+07:00

January next year, YUI will release her new single, "Rolling Star". All is well in the YUI fandom, the song rocks and everything. But underneath all that, many of us are suffering. The reason? This piece of disaster from Sony, the supposed cover art for said single.

Oh! Mi eyes!

Now, let's bring rationale back to work. We know it's ugly, but why exactly? Let's find out what this picture is trying to convey (and see why it fails so miserably at that).

First, the picture of YUI on the cover. Generally, YUI's image is a simple, lovable, care-free acoustic guitar-carrying singer-songwriter. The YUI you see here is different: leather jacket, electric guitar, rocking pose. To me, this is kind of an expansion to YUI's image in LIFE, one of her previous (and famous) single (although YUI used an acoustic guitar in LIFE).

This contrast is probably inevitable, though, because Rolling Star itself is a rock song (which is something rare in YUI's work). Therefore, we can conclude that the picture is trying to say: this is a Rock song. Which works, kind of.

Now let's go to our second point: Typography. This is where everything starts to go downhill.

To be fair, the text is readable (although a bit too distracting because of its size). It is easy to tell the difference between the title and the artist name. But the typeface selection is horrible! It does nothing to support the rock image, because the only thing it says is 'plain'. Now, if this is the cover art for a more laid-back, acoustic-based song that YUI used to create, the typeface would meet a warmer welcome. But not on Rolling Star.

Typography matters. A lot. And the lack of attention to it is what I think kills the cover. Maybe Sony had their own logic behind this. Maybe the plainness of the text is their way to say,

"Hey, all YUI fans! Never worry! Maybe YUI had a change of image and style in this song (like you see on her pic), but she's still the simple YUI that you all adore. Really! Just look at the cover-text!"

But so yeah, Sony should just eat their contrasting rationale. To me, this cover screams "MS Paint." It just doesn't work.

And so, armed with old, trusty Photoshop 6, a copy of Rolling Star PV and BS Player, I'm ready to roll. My mission is simple: Give Rolling Star the pride it deserves.

Damn straight rock'n.

<3, Hafiz.

The prayer I've been looking for so long.

2006-11-24T12:22:00.000+07:00

Ya Allah, jadikanlah aku hambaMu yang banyak bersyukur dan banyak bersabar. Ya Allah, jadikanlah aku kecil dalam pandanganku dan besar dalam pandangan orang-orang.

Dreampowered.

2006-11-22T06:44:00.000+07:00

Literally.

I woke up this morning feeling really good, mostly because of a good dream I just had.

If I had this kind of wake-up everyday, I might just be invincible. Seriously. This is a really great kickstart to fight the day today. I'm happy.

I felt so good I came up with a new, completely unrelated, thought:

Interesting things die when crammed down your throat.

Ain't I right? Think of school. School is chockful of potentially interesting things: literature, mathematics, physics, everything. But then, I asked myself, how come I mostly ended up hating them?

Because they were crammed down my throat. Had I were pursuing them independently, my love would be pure. And I could just be a math geek right now. But I'm not.

A friend of mine just borrowed this PC that I used..

2006-11-18T13:05:00.000+07:00

..and when he's done he said to me, "Thanks, dude."

And the first thing that my heart responded was, "No, no, I thank you! Thanks for being here."

Me and USA

2006-11-18T12:06:00.000+07:00

Reading Kappa, I had this one question that keeps bugging me. What kind of American product that I've been used day-by-day? What would happen if America just collapse?

First concern is food. Hmm, I mainly just ate whatever my mom cooks, rice and stuff that I'm pretty sure is produced here (rice is probably imported from somewhere, but not America--I guess). I don't really dig McD's or Starbucks or the likes, and only rarely drinks Coke etc. So, I think I will survive if suddenly there's no Uncle Sam.

And then, clothing. Well, I don't know where my clothes came from, but I guess they're either local product or faked-brand product from Taiwan or whatever. I don't wear American-brand shoes. I guess in this case I'm pretty safe as well.

What about PC and stuff? Well, this is one big concern. I use XP, Firefox, and various other programs, mostly from American software manufacturers. If they one day disappear, well, at least I still have the copy, but if I am not allowed to use these American apps, hmm, I think I won't survive long. Will have to find another job, methink..

Next, music. I listen to YUI these days, and she's Japanese. The American band I listen to would be Dream Theater, but whatever that is, it won't matter much if I can't hear American songs again. Oh, and I do not own iPod.

What else, what else? Transportation? I use a Honda motor, running on gasoline made by.. I don't know. Probably not the American. But if it's true, well, I will be pretty much crippled. I need my motor.

I'm running out of ideas. I guess that's the conclusion for now: without America, I will probably have to find another area of interest, since computing (and Internet!) will not be available for me. Hmm, I guess I'm good at farming (at least based on my Harvest Moon saved games!)

But, wait a second, my copy of Harvest Moon is translated in the USA! Zing!

When I try to get something, I tend to lose something..

2006-11-16T18:38:00.000+07:00

Months and months of learning web design, XHTML, CSS, typography, accessibility, and (recently) entrepeneurship, finally had me..

I think I lost most of my ability to write code.

But I'm not really good at programming to begin with, anyway. So heck. The only problem would be this: I'm now working on a coding project. Which, of course, is ironic. I'm just pretending to be a cool programming-wizard here hehe.

But I guess I somehow get to be working on web-based layout as well. Sweet :)

Well, back to work for me now :)

Hafiz Rahman: Heartbroken Daily

2006-11-13T16:56:00.000+07:00

Yes, baby.

~~Help.~~

~~I am not well.~~

I'm done being emo.

I am grateful for this.. but I really have to tell the whole story.

2006-11-06T07:46:00.000+07:00

Last Saturday, I found myself being invited to this university-scale meeting on an INHERENT project. If you haven't heard of it, INHERENT is this project where pretty much every national University in Indonesia is to be connected with a (relatively) high-speed backbone line, pretty much making a gigantic WAN comprised of universities around the nation.

The connection itself is done already, with benefits we've all been enjoying here in Brawijaya. Said benefits, of course, is not the joy of scientific discussion or knowledge sharing with friends from other universities; rather than that, we reap the obvious benefits: we're now getting our mp3s from multimedia.gc.itb.ac.id.

Hehe.

Anyways, the meeting itself was pretty much about doing some web-applications that would revolve around this INHERENT thingie. And this was my first time to be involved in a project meeting like this. Needless to say, it sucked.

First of all, it's too long (not to mention that it started one-and-a-half hour later than the scheduled time). Second, there's a bunch of wannabe-geeks trying to look and sound smarter than others ("When I'm in Kentucky...", "Back in my days in Aussie.."-kind of talk etc), which was sad because it's pretty obvious that they're not really into this web-app thing.

The most obvious evidence is this:

The number of time AJAX is mentioned: Zero.
The number of time Web 2.0 is mentioned: Zero.
The number of time Ruby on Rails/Django is mentioned: Zero.

This is 2006. Are you sure you're talking web-apps? This is so laughably impossible.

Well, enough bashing. I would simply say that in the next 30 days (or less), I will probably have to concentrate on this project. Which probably means pending on other projects. Oh well. I hope the money is worth the effort.

By the way, yes, haven't I mentioned that they didn't even make it clear about how much we will all be paid? This is the third reason why I didn't like being involved in university-, or goverment-scale projects. If only I didn't need the money..

Quick Drop

2006-10-31T10:02:00.000+07:00

Things been pretty slow lately, hum? Been working on homeworks, mostly, since school will be starting again in a week. Not too bad, actually, and I think I just *accidentally* learned OpenGL.

So the story's like this. See, there's this class, Multimedia Concept, where this group had to do some presentation about a work done in OpenGL. To this day I still don't know the reason, but they turned to me to help explain all those OpenGL codes. And me, I know pretty much nothing about OpenGL; but I know logic, and I sort of explained to them based on what I think what the code does.

Well, say, when I saw glPush(), for example, I would just say that it pushes the data into OpenGL's stack. And so on. Silly stuff like that.

And that's that. The trouble came when one of a friend fell into the impression that I'm some kind of OpenGL wizard, so she asked me about this very troubling task she wanted to do with OpenGL, which is part of her final paper. Being the dumb person that I am, I accepted to help her (I just said, "well, this is year 2006, I believe that's doable in OpenGL". Although the fact is I really have no idea how to do it).

And so. I just spend these few days reading books like 'OpenGL Super Bible' and the Red Book. And so I think I just accidentally learned OpenGL. Oh God.

Update: Stupid me. Just visited friendster.com. I don't know why, but I always felt terrible: dizzy, want to vomit, etc, whenever I saw my friends, heard the news etc. I don't know why. I will go home right now. Anyway, this won't matter to most of you.

Company slogan = website?

2006-10-27T19:18:00.000+07:00

A bunch of slogan-to-url that actually redirects to the website of the company that owns that slogan (use the link to find out what's the company name):

..and so on. Got better things to do than to do this little game :)

PS: anyway, for those of you who can read Indonesian language, Ini Bangsamu is updated.

Exciting Times!

2006-10-19T10:37:00.000+07:00

We're all naive and clueless. All we know is a little bit of coding. We don't know crap about business. We would rather watch a progress bar during a download rather than go and make proposals.

Yet, here I am. Calling up my favorite real-life friends to make a software house. This is crazy, yet exciting, times.

We have some system analysts, database specialist, windows programming expert, download-addict, and professional procrastinator (that would be me).

The plan is far from perfect. In fact, there is no plan! We will have to think more about it.

I would love to hear some support/guidance regarding the business side of things (i.e. how to offer to sell something, how to get clients, how to make proposals and contracts, stuff like that). Here I am, speaking on behalf of a bunch of helpless CS guys who knows nothing about moneymaking. Help us.

Rolling Star!

2006-10-11T10:31:00.000+07:00

Takes so long to log into blogger, for some reason. For the past few weeks I've been working on a few projects, and school assignments(!). And it's been tiring, really. In a quick review, here's what I've been doing lately: webdesign, coding, homework, writing books, listening to YUI, reading.

I truly wish I could blog.

Photoshop Tutorial: Reflection in four easy steps.

2006-09-23T08:33:00.001+07:00

If the old adage, “if it's on the internet, then it's true”, is to be believed, then we can safely assume that today, reflections are the new drop shadows.

Okay, okay. Back to serious talk. Reflection is great, but like pretty much everything else in this world, it would bring no good when overused. Personally, I love this effect, so use this technique wisely and don't let it be the next lens flare.

Please.

First, you will need to duplicate the layer that contains your object. The keyboard-free way to do this is via the Layers subwindow: find the layer to duplicate, and drag it to the little 'Create a new layer' at the bottom of the subwindow. The mouse-free way is to choose the layer, then press Ctrl+J (or Layer > New > Layer Via Copy).

Here, my object is a star. The gradient background is irrelevant. Now, I have duplicated my star, but since I haven't done anything with it, the duplicate remains right on top of the original star, and therefore only one star is shown.

Second, flip vertical the duplicate layer we just created few seconds ago. To do this, Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical. Next, pick the Move Tool (press V), and drag the duplicated object several pixels down, until it is located right below the original object.

Now, it looks more like a reflection already. If this is what you want, you can leave now. But the rest of you, follow through.

Third, we want to make the reflection be a bit more transparent, because currently it looks like we're placing our object on top of a mirror. To do this, add a layer mask to the reflection's layer. The easy way is to click the little 'Add a mask' button on the Layers subwindow. The more boring way is Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal All. If you're doing okay, you should that the layer now shows something like this (notice the arrow):

Fourth, pick the Gradient Tool (press G, but it may also show Paint Bucket Tool, so use your mouse to pick the Gradient Tool if that happens). Make sure the selected item on the Layers subwindow is the Layer Mask we just created (if you didn't mess around with the Layers subwindow after we add the layer mask, everything will be fine). Now, pay attention. Your job is to make a vertical gradient, from the topmost area of the reflection object, down about half of the object size. This is merely a matter of need and taste, though. Play around with the Gradient (just use Undo over and over). The general idea is to make the gradient from top to bottom.

Ta-da. The result would be as follow:

Now this is what I'm calling a reflection. We're done. As an bonus step, you can alter the Opacity of the reflection. This is what happened when I set the Opacity to 45%:

Looks better to me, but of course it would depend on the effect you're trying to achieve. Anyway, that's it. I hope you find this tutorial helpful. Enjoy!

Focus. Focus.

2006-09-07T08:39:00.000+07:00

Since yesterday, I've been practicing on one thing. Focus. Part of it is inspired by the chat at SVN about watching Tiger Woods in person, while playing a competitive golf game. Me, I believe that your mind can alter things. And most importantly, I believe your mind can alter *yourself*.

I've gotten to the point that I came to think, "wow, I guess I just modded my brain." You see, I exercised focusing while driving. And to help myself focus, I break everything I saw into two things: safe path (the road I should take to return back home safely) and obstacles (everything else I should not bump into). I kind of decided that safe path should look green, obstacles are red.

And after a certain point, I actually saw green and red things, moving frantically, updated real-time. My brain actually translated all I saw into red and green objects. I don't know if it helps me focusing; but it did feel both weird and interesting at the same time.

Oh, and I think I've found a solution about a long-standing problem. I've been looking for a way to store my ideas quickly, whenever I am, whatever is happening. I've been thinking about using note books, or maybe on a cell phone, or laptops, or whatever. But now that I think of it, nothing can beat the Kottke way (I'm too lazy to find the actual blog post, so I link to the main page instead): a piece of paper

Bring a piece of fresh A4 paper everyday, fold it so it fits into your pocket, get a pen, and you're set. This is the first day I'm doing this: everything seems working well. I've scribbled notes about what I'm going to write here, my ideas on building intranets, blog design realign, and whatever.

Been fun.

Smalltalk.

2006-09-06T12:18:00.000+07:00

My! Very educated morons just screwed up numerous planetariums. And various other new mnemonics to remember the planets now that Pluto is gone.

I am currently looking for a good, *updated* JavaScript book. The goal: AJAX.

Drop shadows not bomb.

2006-09-05T14:39:00.000+07:00

Could've been a better looking shirt.

But still, damn strong words.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated topic, 25 best license-free pixelfonts.

If I die today..

2006-09-02T12:51:00.000+07:00

..what would happen then? What have I done today?

I will have met a friend and, at least, left a good memory.

I will have, at the last day of my life, struggled to keep a good relationship with a certain someone.

I will have left my parent in confusion. I've forgotten to inform my parents where I'm going today. I'm out now and they don't have any idea where I am.

I will have fulfilled my responsibility to a client; but will not be able to do the revision he'd asked.

I will remain a very thin guy; Won't be too heavy for anyone carrying my dead body to the cemetery. Good. I don't want to burden others while I'm already dead.

I will have left ala-id unchanged, 3 articles only. I have more translations ready, but I won't have the chance to post them.

I will die young, a 21 years old guy trying to be a good person in general. I know God is watching, I don't know if I've already put a good enough show.

Those are the things that came across my mind. What about you? What if you die today?

If I die tomorrow, I'd be alright / because I believe that after we're gone / the spirit carries on (The Spirit Carries On -- Dream Theater)

Truly, I love death more than a baby loves his mother. (Ali bin Abi Thalib)

Death is a resting time for a Muslim. (Ali bin Abi Thalib)

Ironic, I know

2006-08-30T13:18:00.000+07:00

You don't need to have a finger to count anyone who's having fun supporting IE6/Win when building a web according to web standard. It's just. Plain. Painful. Just look at all the bugs they have to fix in IE7. And if you've been around for some time, you probably have heard the familiar “IE6 is holding back the web” complaint.

Yet, one of the most important thing for any serious web designer to have is, indeed, Internet Explorer 6. Oh, the irony.

Not because we like it (we don't). And not because we can work more efficiently with it (it's exactly the opposite). But it's because IE6/Win is the most widely used browser on Earth.

Which is why it's important to any web designers. Ignore the damn thing, and you're ignoring the majority of your visitors. Support the damn thing, and join the pain.

Me, personally, I just can't lose that IE6. It just has to be in my PC. Which is a dilemma, because IE Seven is coming, with better support on CSS and web standards in general. Problem is, when you're installing that new thing (Release Candidate 1 as of now), then your IE6 is gone.

Which is a no, no.

If you want to have both IE6 and 7 in your PC, then you will need to install the standalone mode, which may or may not be an easy thing (I'm still downloading the stuff right now).

Problem solved? Well, no. Because most likely, IE7's Conditional Comments won't work on a 1-PC, multiple IE environment.

A solution from Microsoft would be to use Virtual PC to install a few copies of Windows in your PC, and have the different browser version there. The catch is, of course, you will have to buy both the Virtual PC and the multiple installation license. Le Sigh.

Another cheaper solution is possible, but you will have to get dirty (and risky), editing Registry and all that stuff.

Moral of the story: well, I don't know. The world could've been a better place, that's for sure.

Checklist

2006-08-28T08:33:00.000+07:00

What I've done today:

Httrack'd dw-magz.
Httrack'd webpagesthatsuck.
Tested browsrcamp. Useful!
Added CrazyEgg tracking to this site.
Modified ala:id's layout a bit.

Plans:

Fix various design aspects of ala:id.
Make this place XFN-ready.
Staying alive. Thats for sure.

Using charmap and calc to find your favorite HTML Entities.

2006-08-23T09:13:00.000+07:00

Did a funny experiment today, which begins from a question: what if I wanted to find a certain HTML entity for a strange character (say, © for the copyright char ©), but at the same time I'm too lazy to find the info somewhere in the internet (or probably being offline)?

Enter charmap and calc. Of course, I assume most of you run Windows; I don't know what's the equivalent of these progs in other OS's.

It's simple, really. First you open up charmap (Start > Run.. and then type 'charmap' and enter). Next, find that strange character you'd like to enter.

Done? Now look at the text at the bottom left corner. It will have something like 'U+00A9: Copyright Sign'. Ignore everything but the numbers: you have '00A9', which is a hex number. You don't really have to understand what a hex number is, so don't worry.

Next, run calc and go into Scientific Mode (View > Scientific). At the left hand side you should see a panel with four options, 'hex | dec | oct | bin'. Pick the 'hex' one. Next, input that number we get from charmap into the calc.

Now choose the 'dec' option. You will see that the number you entered earlier changes into a different number. That's our HTML entity number. To use it inside your HTML, simply add '&#' at the beginning and ';' at the end of that number. Our end result would be ©, which is indeed the HTML entity for the copyright sign.

And that's it. I'm not sure if every character in charmap has its own HTML entity code, but rather than being doubtful simply give it some test, test, test and see if it works.

An offer you can't resist.

2006-08-22T08:15:00.000+07:00

If you happen to be one of the 98.172% of the community who opt not to disable image loading on their browser, I believe you didn't miss the announcement above: Hafiz Rahman (that's me) is now offering webdesign services!

If you're looking for a standard-compliant solution for your web that is both functionally effective and visually enticing, then look no further. Let's talk. My e-mail address is right up there. Remember that just as it says: you can't afford to lose me!

banditkampus 2.0 is here.

2006-08-22T08:01:00.000+07:00

And I love this design, been a solid joy working on it (aside from the usual designer's frustation that is trying to support the wretched IE6/Win). Everything here is XHTML+CSS, hopefully as standard-compliant as it could be. But, why the pondering: just view-source and comment away, dude!

From now on I will write mostly in English, so anybody unfamiliar with the language might not be joining the ride any further. I truly apologize for that. Yet, the name of the blog —banditkampus— is here to stay. Proudly, I must say.

Anyway, let's talk about stuff that matters: Content. I never really felt comfortable about writing useless minutae details of my life in my blog (“My cat just totally ate my lunch and I'm like, starving!”). Which is ironic, because that's the kind of crap I fill my blogs with all this time.

Well, no more. From now on I will try to provide actual content. About web standards. Or design in general. Or about programming and geek materials alike (I study computer science, after all). And, yes, the usual pondering about life and things will still appear from time to time.

Well, that's that, lest this blog degenerates into meaninglessness like it used to be :p

things i'm working on lately

2006-06-27T12:34:00.000+07:00

1. gw lagi uas. tapi ini ga penting. 2. eating away all the articles from a list apart 3. a php-based random fantasy name generator, karena gw orang paling ga bisa ngarang nama 4. neocd rental management system. lagi-lagi web-based app pake php 5. translate artikelnya a.l.a (liat poin 2). baru dapet satu setengah. Kalo dapet banyak gw upload dah. 6. nonton world cup. gw pegang argentina. 7. gw juga lagi heran kenapa lama-kelamaan pikiran gw banyak hal2 serius gitu. apa gw makin tua yah? 8. udah (kayaknya). ngantuk berat :/

workstuffinteresthuzzah

2006-06-09T21:23:00.000+07:00

http://jobs.37signals.com/jobs

06/06/06

2006-06-08T12:49:00.000+07:00

hehehe, gw baru nyadar dua hari lalu itu tanggal 06/06/06. Dan (asli ini gw ga bikin-bikin) saat itu gw lagi getol2nya nyetel 'Route 666'-nya Laruku. btw, gw mau ngomel2 setidaknya dua hal.

1) Q: Coba tebak siapa pelanggar terbesar UUD'45?

A: Negara Indonesia. Alasan: gw lupa pasal berapa, tapi ada kan yang isinya "fakir miskin dan anak terlantar dipelihara oleh negara"? Well, gw jujur belum pernah lihat satu pengemis yang dipelihara negara, jadi..

2) Q: Apakah guyonan paling gak lucu pada penyaluran bantuan korban gempa Yogya?

A: Gw denger di tipi tadi pagi: Penerima bantuan yang tadinya datang mau mengambil terpaksa balik lagi. alasannya? Bantuan dari Bank Daerah Yogya (Ato apa namanya gw ga cukup peduli untuk nginget) cuma bisa diberikan kalau mereka punya rekening di bank itu. WTF. Gw ga ada komen buat bangsa ini.

Words.

2006-06-05T19:37:00.000+07:00

Beberapa hari lalu gw mikir tentang satu hal bagus. And, being the kind-hearted guy that I am, I'd share.

You may think negatively only if you use that thought to make a solution about:
a) how to prevent that negative thing from happening. b) how to recover when that negative thing happens anyway.

You heard it first here, folks! Spread the words!

found a cool thing, but no time to play around with :(

2006-05-17T20:02:00.000+07:00

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ yui, not YUI, but oh well. I hate being busy.

diary of a 1337h4x0r #1

2006-05-16T19:58:00.000+07:00

I have a box. It's been with me for a couple months. It keeps telling me that it used to belong to another hax0r, but I never like to think about it that way. To me, it's always been with me, my box. And life carries on. However, I just can't deny the presence of that other hax0r. Apparently, he'd planted quite a few backdoors inside this box. I tried my best to get rid of those pesky apps, but it turns out there are a few that I'm unaware of, but they definitely exist. Now and then, that damn hax0r would just log into my box using the few backdoors that I didn't manage to remove. Yet. And it leaves me with a helpless feeling. And anger. Beyond explanation. Obviously a 1337h4x0r like me wouldn't accept such a thing. After all, I have the root password. I'd just change the IP address and that damn hax0r would be no more. Unless my own box broadcasts its new address, of course. But I really, really, really pray to God that it won't. Seriously.

7K

2006-05-15T20:45:00.000+07:00

KKK-KKKK = Kami Kerja Keras Karena Kami Kepingin Kawin Join Us!

OMG! Ga bisa brenti ngakak gw :D

2006-05-12T20:11:00.000+07:00

(thanks to Bram yang punya foto ini XD ) Ini foto jaman masih SD, Min Malang 1. Here's the cast of characters: Pertama, paling kanan sendiri yang wajahnya susah (mungkin gara2 ketutupan), pake dasi merah baju kotak2, itu namanya Dimas. Sekarang di ITS. Trus anak sok imut di depannya yang pake dasi kupu2 ama jas item, itu Bram, sekarang juga di ITS. Wajahnya sekarang dijamin gak imut kaya yang ada di potoh. Di kirinya Bram, bergaya seolah-olah lagi bilang "Oke banget ga sih gaya gw?", itu Dardiri. gw ga tau dia sekarang di mana :( Di belakang, antara Bram ama Dardiri, yang lagi loncat, itu Jabba, sekarang FK Unibraw. Gayanya masih ga berubah mpe sekarang, persisss XD Gitu2 tapi pinter ga ketulungan, heran gw :p Pake baju kuning sebelah kirinya dardiri, itu Hilmy. sekarang di Jakarta ye kayanya, jago IT gituh, tapi gw ga tau tepatnya. Di frenster juga ada de orangnya.. Nah, terusss yang bergaya ala kingkong make dasi kupu2, itu Febri, sekarang di ITB. Pinter abes, ga karuan wes, dan terbukti menebar aura yang membuat orang2 di sekitarnya ikut pinter. Buktinya waktu gw dulu sebangku ma dia pas kelas 5 sd, rapor gw rangking 2 bo.. (bilang aja kalo gw tukang nyontek, ha3).. Yang pake biru2 di belakang, pake topi tinggi (maaph, gw ga tau baju adat ini namanya apaan), itu Farid. yang gw inget dia tuh kalo ngomong sopan, alus banget gitu... Di belakang yang ketutupan tangannya Febri, itu Edwin. Gw ga tau Edwin ma Farid sekarang di mana.. Truss, di belakang lagi agak ke kiri, yang keliatan kopiah ama matanya doang, itu Tatak, sekarang di FK Unibraw barengan Jabba. rumahnya deket rumah gw dan gw sering maen bareng juga kalo liburan.. NAH, dan the very finale.. centerpiece dari foto di atas, cowo yang make baju adat jawa lengkap dengan blangkon dan baju coklat, bergaya bak mafia yang cool dengan tangan di saku dan pandangan mata yang seolah berkata "alah dipotret aja mah gw udah kenyang tiap hari"... ...that would be me. GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA kok bisa2nya gw gaya kaya gitu.. *nangis air mata* (ya iyalah!)

Milky Way

2006-05-09T19:51:00.000+07:00

Milky Way Ketika malam itu langit terbelah Dalam hujan debu cahaya meruah Kudengar pucat pasi hatimu Sekian lama bersabar, menunggu Dan aku berharap ada di sana Saat itu, kala bintang-bintang merona Tanpa lagi tertunduk lamunan waktu Hingga kembali, meluruh dan satu Dengarkan aku, sekali saja Sebelum rembulan sayu pertanda sudah waktunya lagi, kau dan diriku pinggirkan tangis, arahkan laku Meski tak usai semesta berpisah Tersendat buram pejamkan langkah Di antara embun dan bunga-bunga terbangun Pulang kembali, arungi musim dan tahun Kekasih, cakrawala perlahan merah Bermula, berkunjung dan lelah Maka kita beranjak, tak lagi bertemu hingga terbuka, panggung angkasa yang kelu 12-13.11.2003

my silly steganography!

2006-05-03T20:08:00.000+07:00

Ga tau gw tadi siang kesambet setan apa ga ada angin ga ada ujan, tau2 kepengen bikin aplikasi kecil buat steganography gitu. Gw sendiri ga seberapa paham steganography tu apaan, yang jelas yang ada dalem kepala gw adalah gw pengen nyembunyiin teks ke dalem satu file gambar, yang kalo diliat biasa teks itu ga keliatan sama sekali. Tapi kalo gambar yang sok inosen itu dibaca dengan algo tertentu, kebaca deh pesan rahasianya. Kekekeke. Dari tadi sih udah bikin algo encode/decode-nya, cuman aplikasi benerannya belom. Prosesnya karena gw ga bisa mikir yang ruwet2, kayanya sih cuman algo ecek2 gitu, tapi bodoh ah. jadi kira2 kaya gini (don't blame yourself kalo ga ngerti, gw juga sebenernya ga seberapa paham, ha2): Pertama2, tiap gambar itu terdiri dari pixel2. Tiap pixel memiliki value warna tersendiri, dalam range hex antara 000000 (black) ampe FFFFFF (white). Nah, kalo angka itu kita pecah lagi, kita dapetin nilai RGB(red, green,blue)-nya, karena tiap warna sebenernya adalah campuran dari unsur warna red, green dan blue dengan nilai antara hex 00 mpe hex FF. Misalnya untuk warna dengan value hex 23FFAC (gw ga tau ini warna apaan, ngasal ajah), maka value dari unsur: - R = 23 - G = FF - B = AC (inget ini masih dalam bilangan heksa, bukan desimal). Nah, kalo ke tingkat lebih rendah lagi, kita bisa convert masing2 nilai unsur warna ini ke dalam bilangan biner. Nha, karena masing2 unsur warna memiliki nilai antara 00 mpe FF, maka dalam biner angkanya menjadi antara 0000 0000 hingga 1111 1111. Dalam pikiran gw, gw pengen ambil dua digit terakhir dari nilai biner ini, trus gw ganti dengan digit bikinan gw sendiri. Jadi misalnya binary 1111 1111 pengen gw isi dengan value binary 00, sehingga nilainya ganti jadi binary 1111 1100 Tentu aja karena gw ngrubah nilai digit ini, value-nya juga jadi berubah. Yang tadinya 1111 1111 tu dalam hex adalah FF, maka 1111 1100 menjadi FC. Perubahan value ini tentu mempengaruhi warna yang dihasilkan. Karena itu gw cuman ambil dua digit, biar perubahan ini relatif kecil. Bisa aja 4 digit ato lebih yang dimodifikasi, tapi ya warnanya berubah jauh. Gambarnya jadi kaco dunk.. Buat apa si kita masukin angka dua digit segala? Ya, itulah kode yang ingin kita sembunyiin ke dalam gambarnya! Dengan sedikit perubahan warna (dikit kok!), kita bisa masukin kode yang kita mau! Ntar kode itu kita terjemahkan jadi huruf, angka, dan simbol macem2.. Tapi, tapi, kalo cuman dua digit, biner lagi, bukannya kombinasinya kecil? Dapetnya cuma 00, 01, 10, dan 11 kan? 4 kode bisa buat nyimpen apa? Hehe2.. inget2, modifikasi nilai biner tadi kan dalam SATU unsur warna kan? Yang binary 1111 1111 (hex FF) itu kan hanya nilai satu unsur warna, sedangkan total kita punya 3 unsur warna (R, G, B) di dalam satu pixel. Jadi.. gw akan merubah nilai dua digit biner terakhir dari TIAP unsur! Nilai-nilai dua digit biner ini kan kalo digabung bisa jadi 6 digit total, atau maksimumnya dalam biner adalah 11 11 11. Ini berarti kombinasinya ga 4 lagi, tapi 64~! (coba deh, 111111 biner = 64 desimal). Gw pikir si 64 cukup tuh: - angka 0 - 9 : 10 kode - alfabet : 26 kode total 36, masih sisa cukup banyak buat simbol2 dan laen2nya. Hanya kalo hurufnya ga bisa dibedain huruf gede ato huruf kecil, karena abis2in tempat dan kombinasinya kagak cukup :) Oke, jadi sekarang kita masuk proses encode ato decode dulu ni? Encode aja yak? Gw juga ga seberapa ngerti encode itu pengertiannya apaan, tapi dalam pikiran gw, ini proses di mana gw nyembunyiin satu karakter ke dalam satu pixel. Here's the magic: Pertama-tama, kita harus bikin tabel translasi dulu. Karena ada 64 kombinasi, kita tentukan dulu tiap angka ini berelasi dengan karakter apa, misalnya: 0..9 = angka 0 - 9 10 - 25 = alfabet a - z, dst. Terus, kita ambil nilai RGB dari pixel yang kita mau. Nilai RGB ini kita pecah jadi nilai R, G dan B. Pake contoh aja ya, biar kagak ribet: Misal kita pengen masukin karakter 'a'. Dari tabel translasi di atas, kode 'a' bernilai 10. Ini desimal, nilai binarynya adalah 1010. Terus, karena kita bisa nyimpen 6 digit binary ke dalam satu pixel, maka kita tambahin aja depannya pake 00, hasil akhirnya 001010 (nilainya tetep 10 desimal, ga berubah). Pokoknya biar gampang, kita bikin total digitnya 6. Abis gitu, kita pecah nilai tadi menjadi tiga, karena kita pengen masukin ke dalam tiga unsur warna yang berbeda. Mecahnya dari depan aja biasa, jadi kita dapet 00, 10, dan 10. (proses mecahnya ini algoritmanya gw sempet ruwet sendiri, dan males juga jelasinnya di sini. kalo mau tau tanya aja ye :p) Udah deh, nilai 00 kita masukkan ke digit terakhir nilai R, trus 10 yang pertama ke digit terakhir dari G, dan 10 terakhir ke digit terakhirnya B. Kesimpen deh karakter rahasianya. Ya gitu aja encodingnya, gampang. Terus, untuk membantu program decodernya nanti untuk mbedain apakah file gambar yang dia baca ada message rahasianya ato gak, kita kasih aja kode untuk awalan pesan dan akhiran pesan. Kasih aja karakter yang aneh apa gitu, yang ga keliatan di keyboard. Udah beres, untuk proses dekodingnya juga sederhana. Kita ambil satu pixel, kita pecah jadi tiga, kita ambil dua digit terakhir dari biner masing2 nilai warna, trus dua digit ini disambung2 lagi. Hasil sambungannya dicocokin ama tabel translasi, jadinya karakter apa. Udah selese :D Ecek2 juga yak ternyata? he2, gw ga sanggup mikir algo yang macem2. Terus lagi, problem gw sekarang adalah gw baru bisa nyimpen ke dalam format gambar BMP, dan tau kan kalo format BMP tu gedenya ga tanggung2. Pengen bisa juga support untuk JPEG, GIF, PNG dan laen2nya itu, tapi ya.. tunggu ntar deh kalo jalan :p Oh iya, dan batasan laen yang gw dapet adalah ini. Karena kita nyimpen satu karakter ke dalam satu pixel, otomatis kita dapet jumlah karakter maksimum yang bisa kita sembunyiin ke dalam satu gambar sebesar (panjang x lebar) gambar tersebut. Kalo lebih dari itu ya ga bisa dunk.. kurang banyak pixelnya.. Hm.. panjang banget ye postingnya. Mana ruwet gini lagih. Ya, moga2 bisa bantu2 orang lah. Niat aslinya si malah buat bantu2 gw sendiri soalnya gw gampang lupa kalo urusan gini.. sayang ntar idenya ilang. he2 Oke, smell y'all later :D

best lyrics ever (and not-so-bad music)

2006-04-26T20:16:00.000+07:00

The foolish dreamer who tried to reach out and grab the faint brightness they saw when they closed their eyes. With their eyes shut, they can't see the outstretched hand unsure what to do quite far out of range, and blurry. Somehow I haven't given up on myself, and I live on. If I laugh just once, it's worth crying however many times. I'm doing everything I can to rebel against fate, You're the only one who has the right to judge what you think is right or wrong. sailing day, take the helm, without waiting for the dawn, raise the sails foolish dreamer. The stupid believer who found they had met countless troubles and dangers with love. The certain brightness they saw before their eyes wide open, filled their emptied heart with purpose. and in doing so once again I urged myself onward willing to lose however many things to gain one. Doing everything I can to prove I am alive. The mistakes and errors are treasures that only I hold dear. sailing day, take the helm gather up the sadness and despair, stupid believer. everyone sends out their own ships. And the brightness each of them sees is a lighthouse. that's right! I still have my own soul. Of course I'm always willing to stake my life on just one second of living. Doing everything I can to prove I am alive. loss and regret are treasures that have meaning only for me. sailing day, take the helm gather up all those days of adventuring, stupid believer Doing everything I can to rebel against fate There's a lighthouse whose light shines only on me and will never fade away. sailing day, take the helm the foolish dreamer who raises the sails hapilly amidst a storm we're all believers eternal dreamers.

what to say?

2006-03-28T08:07:00.000+07:00

saw something hurtful this morning. abis gitu muntah2 di kamar mandi jurusan.

Dumb.

2006-03-16T15:02:00.000+07:00

Hahahahaha. Kalau kalian mau males-malesan, ayo. Aku lo lebih males dari kalian. Kalo mau sama-sama ga ngerjain tugas, tak temeni. I don't care about my score. But you do. Bikin kelompok kok mesti nyari orang-orang yang mau ngerjain.

stretch.

2006-03-11T09:58:00.000+07:00

you think I have all the time for you, and you think I have all the time for you. Come to think about it, I don't even have time for myself. (ps: ga ada apa2 kok. Cuma iseng pengen ngomong gitu.)

Prestasi belajar minggu ini...

2006-03-10T08:38:00.000+07:00

hahahaha. gw mau nulis aja udah ketawa duluan. Senin - ga ada kuliah Selasa: - Analisis Desain Sistem... telat setengah jam. Orangnya malah ga dateng. - Sistem operasi... jadwal setengah dua, masuk setengah tiga. - Basis Data terdistribusi... kaga masuk. Rabu: - MPPI... dosen ga dateng. Kamis: - Kewirausahaan... dateng. - DIP.. ga masuk. Jumat: - Grafika Komputer... masuk, tapi terus ngabur dari kelas. - Basis Data.. masih ntar siang. Rencananya si ga masuk lagi. with love, banditkampus

(un)healthy dose of depression.

2006-03-08T09:59:00.000+07:00

Cape. Kerja. Tugas. Pusing. Masalah. Seneng. Kecewa. Sedih. Kesal. Kalian semua sesungguhnya terlalu bukan siapa-siapa untuk merasa berhak menjatuhkan semua ini padaku. Jangan memaksaku meledak.

Gw sadar blog ini ga enak dibaca, karena...

2006-03-03T14:27:00.000+07:00

..gw bukan tipikal orang yang bisa nulis di keramaian. Sifat yang ga menguntungkan, gw tau. Tapi emang rasanya ga nyaman aja, sedang kebanyakan gw ngeblog ya di kampus. Aneh aja rasanya kalo gw lagi nulis, dan terus ngrasa bahwa orang-orang mungkin ngliatin di belakang punggung gw. Um, tapi, itu bukan berarti kalo lagi sepi, gw bisa nulis hal2 yang enak dibaca. Ga sama sekali. Jadi, ya, paragraf di atas separuhnya gw cuman nyari2 alesan aja. Ga tau, gw sendiri nyadar kok kalo tulisan2 di sini acak2an banget. Anyway. Kemaren gw slese baca bukunya Gie, Catatan Seorang Demonstran (CSD). Kalo dipikir-pikir, nulis catatan harian gitu ga banyak beda dengan dia ngeblog yah? Ato diary? Tapi bukan ah kalo diary. Gw yakin, karena dalam salah satu entry di CSD, Gie nulis tentang bagaimana dia pagi itu nyibukin diri nulis diary. Nah, masa dalam diary kita nulis "aku tadi nulis diary"? (gw ga tau lagi debat sama sapa, dan juga ga tau kenap gw ngotot tentang fakta di atas) Hanya kalo dari yang gw baca, gw jadi mikir. Orang jaman dulu tuh cepet dewasa. Bener deh. Gie ngerayain ulang tahun ke 17 di Amerika, dan dia di sana udah bicara banyak hal tentang Indonesia, ikutan diskusi-diskusi di Berkeley dan segala macem. Gw 17 tahun masi ngupil di kelas ga bisa apa-apa. (Sekarang juga masi ga bisa apa-apa, tapi minimal udah berkurang ngupil di kelasnya). Serem aja karena kalo gw pikir tentang diri sendiri dan orang-orang yang gw tau sifat-sifatnya. Kita rata-rata udah mulai 20-an, tapi masi ga ada dewasa-dewasanya sama sekali. Padahal tontonan kita bisa jadi udah yang buat paling dewasa ga karu2an. Maenan kita. Bacaan kita. Tapi otak kita anak-anak. Dan bukannya anak-anak itu jelek. Tapi ketika usia kita terus bertambah, mau gak mau, dunia mengharap kita bertindak dewasa. Ups, bukan mengharap. Memaksa. Otherwise you won't survive. Gw ga tau jadi dewasa itu seperti apa. Apakah kemudian gw akan bosen maen Ragnarok Online, apakah gw ntar ga bisa lagi ketawa-ketawa waktu nonton SpongeBob bareng adek yang masih SD, gw ga tau. Apakah jadi dewasa berarti gw punya anak-istri dan nantinya hidup gw melulu kerja dan kerja, gw ga tau. Screw that. Capek gw mikirnya. Dan capeknya itu karena emang pikiran gw belum nyampe. Dan ga tau kapan bisa sampe ke sana. Gw punya pikiran. Kebahagiaan itu bukan bintang yang sedang kamu tuju. Kebahagiaan adalah ketika kamu susah payah merancang roket yang dapat membawamu ke sana. Kebahagiaan itu bukan pantai pasir putih yang ingin didatangi. Kebahagiaan adalah jalan di tengah-tengah hutan melingkari gunung yang kita lalui untuk sampai ke pantai tadi. Jangan-jangan, kedewasaan juga begitu? Bahwa sekarang inilah kita dewasa, saat kita mereka-reka bagaimana kita meraihnya?

okay.. damn..

2006-02-24T18:14:00.000+07:00

friendster is painful. I hate this weird wish to never exist in the past.

Ini Aku Lagi.

2006-02-24T14:00:00.000+07:00

Gw emang lama ga nge-blog. Hiatus. Sayangnya, hidup ga pernah bisa hiatus, dia jalan terus. Banyak hal yang terjadi. Good and bad. Seneng dan sakit. Ga tau harus cerita apa, dari mana tapi, ini aku lagi. sebisanya nulis lagi.

Just jumped in because I found something unbelievably cool..

2006-01-13T05:24:00.000+07:00

http://islam.speed-light.info/relativity_quran.htm well, do you know that Al-Quran (Koran, the book of Islam) states that: - Speed of Light is always the same at 299792.5 km/s - Faster objects experience slower time (Time Dilation) - Time passes slower near bigger mass (General Relativity) - Pulsars and Black Holes - Wormholes (Length Contraction) - Gravitational Lensing Oh. Wow. This is a must read. Go, there, quick.

Why don't presidents fight the war?

2005-12-24T14:27:00.000+07:00

You know what? System of A Down got a point there. Why do they always send the poor? Kenapa gak Bush aja yang perang di Irak sono, kalo emang dia mo menang? Kenapa harus ngajak2 rakyatnya yang belum tentu tau apa-apa? Kenapa harus ngajak2 negara laen, padahal rakyat di negara laen juga belum tentu tau apa-apa? Why don't you fight your own damn war? Anyways.. gw udah agak legaan dikit sekarang. Tugas Pemrograman Internet Terkutuk Itu Pun Selesailah Sudah!!(TM). Biarpun masih harus revisi.. ahh, bodo amat itu. Gw udah bela2in ga maenan RO gara2 ngerjain tugas sialan ini dari pertama lagi, udah ga makan, udah keujanan tiga kali sehari.. I'm glad karena kerjaan yang pertama gw rasa kaco banget codingnya. Trus gw bikin mulai dari nol lagi, dikebut seharian... jadi sih. Programnya jalan, sehat-sehat. Fiturnya gw bilang udah memuaskan-lah. Cuman gw yang kaga sehat. Hancur otak gw kebanyakan ASP.NET. ASP.NET kurang ajar!! *geram* Gw kaga suka make ASP.. hiks. Gw tadi mikir nih. Kalo make PHP, itu dari HTML biasa yang static, trus lu kasih PHP biar bisa "idup", bisa interaksi ma visitor. You "extend" your HTML. Tapi kalo make ASP.. duh. Itu lu coding Windows, trus lu masukin (paksa) ke dalam HTML. Dan mulai dari pertama, Windows don't belong to the Web. Jadi.. ya.. gw mikirnya ga bisa sinkron aja. Gw asli cape bgt. Tapi bentar lagi mo angkut2 PC, mo dibawa ke kantor dan sebagainya. Huh, sekalian gw minta bayarin makan deh. Laper abis nie.. gw berhari2 ga makan teratur (tadi udah bilang ding), selaen karena kebiasaan maen di lab malem2, juga gara2 stres mikirin asp.net. Gimana ini, gw aslinya udah underweight, ga pernah makan pula. Ntar tau weight gw non-existant gmn, gw melayang2 gituh XD Out dah. gw mo maenan Travian lagi yak :D

seandainya gw kebun buah, udah subur sesubur-suburnya ini..

2005-12-20T20:55:00.000+07:00

..sehari2 gw keujanan mulu :p Di sini kok sering banget ujan ya? Pernah sampe gelap.. banget, padahal baru jam berapa. Abis gitu ujan ga abis2. Tadi kayanya di kelas gw ditelpon, abis kuliah suruh ngantor de. Abis slese kuliah tadi jam setengah lima. Nha sekarang jam 9 malem gw masi juga di kampus ini XD Susah gw mikirnya. Mo kerja ato mo bikin tugas ato mo maen game ato mo tidur. Mana sie yang lebih penting? Ehh tapi gw setadian bisa YM-an mulu sama orang2 jauh :D sore2 tadi ada sasko yang ngelag abis gara2 pake telkomnet instan (dude, I know the pain), trus malem2 ada mbak kappa. Wuah jarang2, biasanya YM gw nganggur cuman buat liat2an doang. Hm..orang2 kok dah pada mo pulang yak? Gw jadi ga tenang ini.. udahlah. Besok gw mikir lagi mo posting apa :p

I... can't remember what to write :/

2005-12-19T18:41:00.000+07:00

Jadi ya.. a few quick notes aja yah. Udah tau kalo Tim Berners-Lee, inventor dari WWW, bikin blog? Link-nya ada tuh, di sidebar gw. Sampe sekarang si baru ada satu posting, tapi baca aja de. Ini orang yang dari kerjanya kita bisa ngeblog kaya sekarang dan segala macem. Give the old man a visit :) Terus lagi, sub-situs dari blog ini udah gw bikin. Isinya cuman puisi sih, tapi puisi ini gw buat berdasar dari lirik lagu-lagu Jepang gituh. Sampe sekarang gw ada beberapa dari Laruku doang: liriknya dalem. Apa kamu tau kalo Feeling Fine, biarpun nge-beat kaya gitu, sebenernya adalah lagu yang sedih (banget)? Check my reinterpretation at On Wings to find out more. Trus, gw nemu manenan baru, simulasi bikin village, di travian. Gw ini juga lagi nyoba2 maennya gimana, he2 Udahh.. gw lupa mo nulis apa lagi, plus perut lagi laper nungguin temen yang dipesenin beli nasi goreng. Lab sini dingin abis, jadi gampang laper :/

"we all think you're a fool!"

2005-12-17T19:56:00.000+07:00

gw baca di blogfam cerita soal blogger indonesia yang ditangkep, err.. dimintain keterangan polisi. Gara-gara tulisannya soal foto SBY dan Mayangsari. Ada beritanya di detik, monggo dibaca lebih lanjut. Dan soal ini, si blogger sendiri bikin riposte yang bagus di sini. Yang lucu superpakartelematikarajahutan (notice the sarcasm here) mr. roy suryo ikut2an turut campur dan segalanya, bisa diliat di sini. Gw ga mau komentar ah. Ntar gw diciduk, anak istri makan apa coba (ignore the fact that gw ga punya anak istri)? Tapi emang deh ya, dasar superpakar kita ga ada kerjaan. Gw sempet kesel juga waktu dia gembar-gembor masuk tipi bisa nunjukin soal situs bikinannya Dr.Azahari--dia bilang tau di mana servernya, siapa yang punya, dan laen-laen. Kyahahah. Gw juga BISA ngliat gituan doang. Anak TK juga bisa. Bahkan KAMU PUN BISA!. Gituan aja ampe jadi berita TV. Sebagai orang komputer gondok juga nie :p Tapi ya udahlah. Ga enak juga ngomongin orang. Btw, gw tadi dari siang ampe sore bersih2 kantor. Jadi ceritanya gw ikutan bikin satu perusahaan software gitu, dan kemaren ini dah dapet kantor di lante dua sebuah ruko punya temen gw. Nah, makanya tadi itu ma bos gw dateng deh ke "calon" kantor. Bujug dah ah kotor abess... Akhirnya berdua cowo2 preman ga jelas ke toko beli alat-alat pel, cairan pembersih apa segala macem, dan akhirnya rodi berdua ngepel2 ga jelas, sampe ada temen2 yang datang. Tempatnya asik sie, walopun ya sekarang masih blum ada apa-apa. Bagus interiornya. Rencana ntar malem mo nginep situ, tapi ya ga tau ni. Udahan dulu deh, gw mo browsing lagi :)

tentang ilmu yang bermanfaat

2005-12-16T12:27:00.000+07:00

bagaimana pendapatmu tentang ilmu yang bermanfaat? Setahu gw dari ajaran Islam (yang gw pribadi yakin kebenarannya, tentu aja), semua ilmu yang kita miliki ga ada artinya kecuali yang bermanfaat. Engkau boleh ingat sejuta halaman kamus dalam kepala, tapi semua itu ga ada artinya kalau ia hanya dimiliki tanpa ada implementasi, tanpa ada pemanfaatan. Umar Bin Khattab pernah terus-menerus mempelajari surat Al-Baqarah dan tidak mau beralih pada 113 surat-surat lainnya dalam Al-Qur'an, sampai ia merasa yakin benar seluruh hidupnya telah menjiwai surat Al-Baqarah ini. Sebelum dibahas tentu kita harus tahu definisi ilmu bermanfaat itu kaya apa. Dan soal itu terus-terang pengetahuan gw juga ecek-ecek, jadi mohon maap kalo jadinya ngasal. Buat gw indikasinya gampang aja, kalo gw (ato orang laen) dapet masalah dan jalan keluarnya didapet salah satunya dengan make ilmu yang gw punya, artinya tuh ilmu bermanfaat. Sedangkan ilmu yang cuma dipendem, gw sekedar tau tapi ga pernah dipake, nah, itu dia ilmu yang ga bermanfaat. Yang dalam agama gw ga diperhitungkan sebagai amalan apapun. Itu klasifikasi yang kita punya sekarang, dua jenis ilmu, bermanfaat dan yang kagak. Nah. Sekarang omongan kita agak serem dikit. Karena gw gak begitu jago bahasa ilmiah, jadi gantinya jangan marah kalo liat metafor dimana-mana. Cuma itu cara yang gw paham untuk nerangin maksud gw. Jadi gini, ilmu itu baik bermanfaat ato gak, kalo dimiliki akan bisa membuat kita "terbang lebih tinggi". Dalam hal pengetahuan, tentunya. Semakin canggih gaya bahasa kita, semakin ruwet cara berpikir dan memandang segala sesuatu, semua itu yang gw maksud "terbang lebih tinggi". Di satu sisi hal ini menyenangkan, karena lu jadi bisa liat apa yang orang banyak belum tentu bisa liat. Tapi apa efek negatifnya ada? Yep. Tentu aja ada. Semakin tinggi kita terbang, semakin dikit orang yang bisa mahamin kita. Apa artinya kita ngerti teknologi yang ruwet-ruwet kalo tidak ada orang yang bisa kita ajak bicara tentangnya? Padahal fitrah bersosialisasi mengalir dalam nadi setiap kita. Dan ketika kita terlanjur terbang tinggi, seringkali kita lupa mempersiapkan bagaimana mendarat kembali, bagaimana caranya datang lagi pada orang-orang yang telah kita tinggalkan. Dan tidak dapat dipahami adalah satu hal yang menyakitkan buat kita manusia. Keterasingan. Kesendirian. Semua itu penderitaan yang harus dan telah dihadapi sekian orang yang telah pernah terbang tinggi dengan ilmu yang dimiliki. Sebagian bertahan hidup, namun kita takkan pernah tahu sedalam apa derita mereka. Sebagian lagi mati, karena akhirnya terbang terlalu tinggi dan terbakar matahari. Sebagian lain lagi pun mati, karena tanpa mereka yang memahami, mereka kehabisan tenaga untuk terbang dan runtuh kembali pada bumi tempat mereka berawal. Nah, di sinilah ilmu yang bermanfaat pegang peranan. Dengannya engkau dapat mendarat kembali. Pada mereka yang memahamimu, atau setidaknya yang akan ada untukmu. Normalnya, gw pikir, semua orang dapat terbang tinggi dengan ilmu. Namun tidak semua akan bertahan hidup dalam ketinggian. Pertanyaannya sekarang, untuk siapa ilmu itu kita manfaatkan? Untuk mereka yang kita harapkan dapat memahami? Atau untuk diri kita sendiri? Jawabannya, menurut gw, jelas. Kedua-duanya. Manfaatkan ilmumu untuk dirimu sendiri, agar lebih tinggi kepakan sayapmu dan lebih banyak lagi yang dapat kau saksikan. Namun manfaatkan pula ilmu untuk orang, sehingga kau akan dapat kembali mendarat pada mereka. Satu waktu dan bisa jadi seringkali, kau akan membutuhkan mereka. Setinggi apapun terbangmu.

i hatez asp.net to piecez

2005-12-14T20:19:00.001+07:00

Argh!! Malesinn.. Jadi mata kuliah pemrograman internet ada tugas besar bikin web application database dosen. Yah, your run-on-the-mill program gituan lah. Sistem informasi. Standar. Cuman kok makenya ASP.net.. Nangis gw. Tau ga, ASP.Net tu bertele-tele banget. Namespace-nya bejibun, mo koneksi ke SQL ribet (gw inget minggu lalu lima jam lebih ngutik2 baru nemu gimana biar dari ASP.NET nyambung ke SQL Server), blum lagi gw maen bikin program asal aja ga ada dokumentasi. Mo dokumentasi gimana, nginstalnya harus MSDN, dan itu bisa ampe 6 cd. Harddisknya sapa coba. Bandingin ama Manualnya PHP, lengkap, cuman berapa belas MB (kalo ga salah). Codingnya lamaa banget bukan karena logikanya susah, tapi karena syntax-nya yang trial-and-error gara-gara ga ada dokumentasi. Dan yang paling nyebelin dia tuh cuman jalan sama aplikasi berbasis microsoft. Webserver kudu IIS, apache ya kaga bisa. Sql ya SQL Server, MySQL gw ga tau support apa gak. Dan spesifikasinya berat banget. Makan harddisk banyak. Mana ASP.Net tuh tiap halaman kalo pertama dibuka dia compile dulu, jadi lama abis. Ahhh, malesin de. Coba make PHP enak, cepet langsung jalan. Gw stres tiga minggu ngerjain ini ga kelar-kelar. Gw benci ASP.NET! (PS: jadi, kalo lu pade browsing ke mana gituh, dan ekstensi file-nya bukan *.html, bukan *.php, tapi ekstensinya *.aspx, nah brarti tu halaman dibikin pake bahasa setan ASP.NET. Ingat2 ama gw kalo nyasar ke situs gituan, dan tolong itu microsoft disumpahin dalam birama 3/4 karena telah bikin bahasa pemrograman yang nyebelin banget!)

lab, rumah kami yang baru

2005-12-13T13:30:00.000+07:00

Hari-hari ini kehidupan bercampur-aduk luar biasa cepat. Tugas kampus, pekerjaan, tugas-tugas pribadi, masalah-masalah, luka hati, kesepian, semua runtuh satu-persatu. Pagi hari gw dibahagiakan oleh sebuah mimpi, malam hari gw remuk-redam dan seperti tenggelam dalam hidup yang gelap. Tapi.. ya udahlah. Gw bukan sedang pengen cerita tentang itu. Dari senin minggu lalu, lab di kampus buka sampe jam 9 malem. Sejak itu, gw sebagai computer-addict sejati, jelas ga pernah absen. Malem-malem gw dari senin itu ampe senin lagi (kemaren) selalu abis di lab: browsing yang alhamdulillah cepet gilak kalo malem (download speed pernah ampe 200kbps), maen2 Ragnarok private server bareng2, treak2, basically being a geek on his element. Banyak cerita lucu dan serem seminggu ini. Misalnya kejadian sabtu, waktu cuman ada dua orang di lab: gw ama Ibnu, seorang temen sekelas yang kebetulan pengurus lab (ps: gw sendiri ga termasuk pengurus. Gw lebih suka jadi yang diurusin :p). Waktu itu jam-jam abis maghrib. Gw udah selese solat di musolla bawah dan baru balik ke lab (di lantai dua). Temen gw yang pengurus turun mo solat. Nah, waktu gw pertama masuk lab itulah, dari ruangan Tata Usaha di sebelah lab kedengeran lagu-lagu gitu. Gw pikir apa.. coba. Padahal kalo diinget, di lante atas itu ga ada orang selain gw dan Ibnu tadi. Hari sabtu semua pada pulang cepet dunk. Dan lagu-lagu itu anehnya pertama kayak dangdut gitu: jadi gw pikir paling ada pegawai lagi nonton picidi dangdut ato apa. Tapi trus lama-lama.. kok jadi suara orang ngaji yah? Bener deh, cuma karena gw lebih mberatin keburu pengen browsing aja, jadi gw gak mikirin lagi kejadian tadi. Gw anggep aja itu suara ngaji dari masjid luar ato gimana (padahal jelas-jelas dari ruang sebelah). Trus agak lama Ibnu balik. Begitu dia masuk lab, tau-tau lampu di ruang TU tadi mati-nyala sendiri, dan kayaknya dia juga denger suara lagu-lagu tadi. Trus dia tanya ke gw, "di sebelah ada orang yak?" Sebagai temen yang baik dan ga pengen dia ikutan serem, ya gw ketawa ambil bilang, "iya tadi kayaknya ada orang." sambil sok cuek gitu, padahal dalem hati gw miris juga XD Abis gitu ga ada apa-apa lagi, selain tuh lampu aja yang mati-nyala sendiri ga jelas. Gw bodo amat de, tetep aja ngliat di monitor ga brani liat-liat ke mana-mana lagi. Tapi ampe pulang udah ga ada kejadian apa-apa lagi. Tapi yang jelas, gw suka maen di lab ampe malem. Temen-temennya (biar itu.. aja, dan cowo.. semua) asik juga diajak maenan RO dan apa aja. Malah kemaren ampe pada piket tuh, nyapu-nyapu lab yang emang aslinya kotor banget. We really do love this place, after all. It's like, our second home, sementara kos-kosan ato rumah sekarang tinggal jadi tempat sekedar tidur aja. Sayang di sini belum boleh nginep. Coba kalo bisa, bakal pindahan ke sini semua tuh :D

banditkampus' untitled #0001

2005-12-11T18:57:00.000+07:00

this is the first post. Imagine something cool to read here.