Garage Sale

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Senangnya Menjadi Sponge(Bob)

Mungkin ini adalah pertama kali saya menulis kembali di blog pribadi semenjak merantau di Australia. Sibukkah saya? Mungkin iya. Tapi sebenarnya ada beberapa minggu bahkan bulan jeda antara orientasi dengan kuliah. Pertanyaan selanjutnya, seberapa antusias saya belajar di Australia?. Jawabannya jelas sangat antusias. Kemudian beberapa rekan imajiner saya bertanya, sulitkah kuliah di western culture?.

Pertanyaan yang sebenarnya teman-teman scholar lain akan setuju menjawab "ABSOLUTELY!". Mungkin pendapat saya akan berbeda dengan rekan scholar lainnya, meskipun mereka satu universitas dengan saya. Tapi pada umumnya saat semester dimulai artinya teman-teman dan mungkin mahasiswa lain sangat 'terlihat' sibuk. Ini dapat diindikasikan dengan jarangnya mereka 'menikmati hidup', bahkan saat weekend sekalipun. Frankly speaking, sebenarnya kuliah di Australia tidak susah-susah amat. Materinya juga tidak terlalu mengerikan. Mungkin yang menjadi kendala mencerna materi kuliah hanya bahasa.

So, kenapa bisa dikatakan kuliah di Australia dan western countries lainnya bisa dikatakan susah?. Mungkin cuma satu kata untuk menjawab pertanyaan di atas yaitu ASSIGNMENTS. Sadar tidak kalau saya menulis agak beda?. Apa coba?. Huruf capital?. Obviously, yes I did. Bisa lebih teliti lagi?. Ahaaa....benar saya menambahkan S dibelakang ASSIGNMENT. Iya benar sekali bahwa pendidikan tinggi di Australia dipenuhi dengan tugas yang bisa dibilang tidak manusiawi. Dan kabar baiknya (namun bagi sebagian orang buruk) adalah the assignments ini mendapatkan porsi yang luar biasa besar misalnya 50% dari total grade. Kembali membahas tugas yang 'tidak manusiawi', awalnya saya lega ketika melihat sekilas spesifikasi tiap unit yang saya ambil. Tiap unit hanya ada dua atau maksimal tiga assignment tiap semester. Lega tersebut sirna ketika seiring dengan semester berjalan, setiap assignment beranak pinak. Misalnya unit A yang dikatakan cuma dua tugas, ternyata tiap tugas ada empat sub-tugas (bukan soal ya, tetapi sub-tugas). Most likely sih jika saya ambil empat unit dalam satu semester, roughly, saya memiliki total enam belas tugas. Ternyata kesulitan dari assignment tidak hanya berhenti sampai kuantitas tugasnya, namun masalah nyata dalam tugas di universitas adalah soal yang diberikan cukup mendalam. Belum lagi seperti saya yang mempunya background akuntansi yang kuat, sangatlah berjibaku dengan unit yang bersifat teknis misalnya java programming dan database sql. Iya benar anda tidak salah dengar, saya seorang 'nekater' yang kuliah S2 dengan berlandaskan background yang sama sekali tidak berkaitan dengan unit yang saya ambil di S2.

Bagaimana ceritanya saya masih bisa bertahan?. Lucunya saya menemukan metode ini secara tidak sengaja. Saya memperlakukan setiap assignment yang saya kerjakan sebagai latihan untuk ujian. Latihan dengan tujuan saya akan mengerti dengan mengerjakan tugas-tugas tersebut. Hal ini mungkin tidak disadari telah membentuk kita from scratch into something. Apakah saya menjadi terbebas dari ketidaktahuan terhadap materi kuliah?. Tidak juga, namun setidaknya dengan harapan kita bisa menyelesaikan tugas dengan baik, kita 'diperkosa' untuk tahu. Sekarang saya sadar bahwa saya adalah sebuah SPONGE yang menyerap pengetahuan dari 'kesulitan' yang bernama ASSIGNMENT. It is impossible to master every single knowledge, but at least we are not a scratch anymore. Bagaimana dengan grade?. Sejauh ini tidak mengecewakan. Percayalah, kalau kita berangkat sekolah dengan niat seadanya, sering kali semangat kita juga seadanya, padahal apa yang akan kita kalahkan tidak sehebat yang kita dengar. Jangan percaya jika kakak kelas bicara "kalau you kuliah di LN, grade credit itu udah bagus, pass sudah cukup". Please saya tidak mau mengajarkan untuk menjadi sombong, namun bagaimana mungkin kalau kita sudah kalah dalam pikiran sebelum mengalahkan hal yang belum kita hadapi langsung?. Jangan membatasi kapasitas anda sendiri. Lakukan yang terbaik, baru kita lihat hasil panen seperti apa yang akan kita dapat. It is not such a big deal, kalau sudah berusaha keras namun nilai kita masih biasa-biasa saja. Namun alangkah sayangnya jika sebelum berusaha keras, kita sudah membatasi kapasitas kita.

Okay, tanpa berbusa-busa saya akan melanjutkan menyelesaikan tugas-tugas yang telah menanti. Sekali lagi tulisan ini bukan bertujuan untuk menjadi lebih tau dari orang lain. Tulisan ini juga bukanlah hal yang paling benar dari yang lain. Opini yang baik adalah opini yang disampaikan. Sebaliknya opini yang buruk adalah opini yang tidak tersampaikan.

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Bridge Over Troubled Water

When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I'm on your side, when time get rough
and Friend just can't be found
like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
and pain is all around
like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on the way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

=========================
Initially, I heard this song from friend of mine, tante Oci. Then it has become more familiar in my ears when David Foster recycled it into album named "David Foster and Friends". In that album, this song was sung by Josh Groban and Bryan McKnight. Moreover, I love this song much for two reason. Firstly, the lyric is so encouraging because it delivers friendship topic as well as love. Secondly, I am very keen on singing this song in the next performance in my office.
T_T

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Women in The Workplace

In the recent five decades, women have emerged as the skillful workforce. Moreover, recently, many CEO positions are held by the female leaders. Furthermore, from middle-level manager to low-level labor, there are so many female workers in the workforce. For example, the women have dominated over the men as blue-collar-employees in cigarette factory in Indonesia. Obviously, the women has come up to become a financial support for their family, or even they serve as a breadwinner. However, there are not only benefits related to working mother, but also some considerable drawbacks. It is my belief that the women may work in the office as the men do with some exceptions and I will address my thesis by considering the obvious advantages and disadvantages.

 

First of all, the women and the men have different natural skills. For instance, in a general sense, the female employees are more meticulous and they have senses of art more than the male employees. It does not mean that the women's ability outstrips the men's, yet they have their own talents. Therefore, some positions suit with the female employees instead of the male workforce, such as designer and general affair manager. Furthermore, in the developing country, especially low-income families, fathers serving as a breadwinner cannot earn enough money and they need a financial support from their spouse. Surprisingly, this condition does not happen merely in developing country. According to recent news, mothers in USA has started to work in order to provide their family needs because USA undergoes a considerable financial crisis. For example, since USA government has been shutdown for 3 weeks, the government employees are unpaid while their daily needs have to be fulfilled. The mothers, whose the husbands have taken unpaid leave in USA, have emerged to become heroes. In addition, in some developing countries such as African countries or Asian countries, there are a lot of widows and single parents with dependents. It means that they must provide their family by becoming entrepreneur or workers in factory and farmland, unless they will experience starving.

 

On the other hand, there are some considerable drawbacks related to the women in workplace. Firstly, in terms of childrearing, the mother's time for taking care their children has decreased since they have worked in the office. Obviously, toddlers need abundance of affection from their mother because they undergo a crucial-developing stage. Consequently, the absence of their mother will probably affect their  psychology, such as secure feeling. Moreover, mother obviously should be the closer role model for their baby because toddler in this stage tends to imitate their surrounding behavior. Furthermore, the number of divorce has risen since five decades, especially in the family in which the mother works. It is alleged that the absence of the mother in family probably lead to divorce. Moreover, the number of affair also has jumped dramatically since the women entered the workplace. In addition, money is associated with power. Therefore, the women who earn much money tend to dominate over the men in their family in terms of problem solving and decision making. It possibly leads to debates, fights and everyday turmoil.

 

In conclusion, women entering workplace have some benefits, such as financial support. However, there are some considerable drawbacks, which are women's domination, divorce, affair and family turmoil. I firmly agree that the women may work, provided that they have to focus on their family and children. Family comes first, doesn't it?

 

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How to back up and restore your Windows 8 Activation

This guide will describe how to backup and restore your activation in a few easy steps in case of a worst case scenario and you have to reinstall Windows.

1. Go to C:\Windows\System32\spp\ and backup the store folder as this turned out to be the only folder you need to make backup of (verified by myself)

Attention:
The store folder might be hidden, open up Folder options from Control panel and choose View tab, select Show hidden files and folders + uncheck Hide protected system files

Attention 2:
Make sure to verify that the store folder contains these files and folders!

1 file named data.dat which is hidden
1 file named tokens.dat which is visible
1 folder named cache containing a file named cache.dat

2. Re-install Windows

3. After Windows is re-installed I suggest running a new Command Prompt as Administrator where you need to type in slmgr -upk to uninstall the key so the status changes to Unlicensed

4. After step 3 you need to reboot in Safe mode and easiest way is by using msconfig via Run. Choose the Boot tab and then Safe boot-Minimal, apply and restart when prompted

5. After the PC has rebooted in Safe mode open a new Command Prompt as Administrator and type net stop sppsvc to stop the Software Protection Platform service (sometimes you can get a message that it's already stopped and not running)

6. Go to C:\Windows\System32\spp\ and replace the current store folder with the backed up one (I just copied the folder and pasted over the old one replacing the files altogether)

7. Go to Run and use msconfig and choose Normal boot under General tab this time, apply and click restart when prompted

8. When restarted you can see that the watermarks are gone and by checking the usual slmgr -dli/dlv/xpr commands in Command Prompt you'll see that it worked and you're activated + by checking the Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0 you'll see License Status: License renewed and Genuine Status: Genuine

CLICK FOR PROOF --->10rr8up.png<--- CLICK FOR PROOF


I have tried and verified this with Windows 8 Enterprise Edition x64 a couple of times and typing from my activated PC again. I could literally do this all day
This solution should be possible to do with any edition of Windows 8.

And now that this is confirmed to work, taking backup and restoring the activation in Windows 8 shouldn't be a hard thing to do and should work beautifully once we buy Windows 8 and activate it legit when it ships.

As for now enjoy all the testing and use of Windows 8 with confidence!

Here's the nice tool mentioned in another thread to use to check statuses:

Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl....aspx?id=11936

PS.

IMPORTANT

The solution will likely 100% fail if you make changes to hardware and re-install Windows and then trying to restore activation again, but this have been the case since the Vista days.
And also you can't activate one edition of Windows thinking you can use the backup for another edition later.
The activation is tied to your specific hardware and OS edition, so keep this in mind.

I would also like to clarify that now that we're activated with the KMS solution the activation is valid for 180 days, nothing more nothing less. There is no magic behind this backup solution that could expand the period further then the 180 days without re-activate via an KMS server eventually.
Once we buy the retail version of Windows 8, backing up the activation would be a more permanent solution given that you don't change the hardware or OS edition along the road which means you have to reactivate and backup again.

EXTRA IMPORTANT

It has come to my attention that installing certain hardware drivers will break the activation on Windows 8 forcing you to reactivate. One way to prevent this from happening would be to make sure everything is installed and up to date before activating and then take the backup. That way when you have reinstalled Windows and the hardware drivers it should work just fine restoring activation later.



If you have come this far and still reading this then congratulations you deserve a gold star. You should have the knowledge to backup and restore your Windows 8 activation without problems by now and understand what this is all about.
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here, it will save much time for both parties!


.: The information contained in this thread is for general guidance regarding backup and restoration of activation in Windows 8. I, JaguarXJ12 will not be held responsible for loss of activations if something goes wrong :.

source: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/35737-GUIDE-How-to-backup-and-restore-Windows-8-activation

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Idioms (Again)

• Not everyone's cup of tea
• Break a leg
• Busy bee
• easy as pie
• as mad as hatters
• for a song
• couch potato
• string attached
• the lesser of two evils
• it goes without saying
• Average Joe
• Plain Jane
• Sharp as a tack
• Cry baby
• Good for nothing
• a pretty penny
• a penny saved is a penny earned
• mint condition
• bag of bones
• cutting edge
• bleeding edge
• etc

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Simple Idioms

There is no doubt that idiom is essential to make your speaking up. However, you should deliver it appropriately unless it would lead to chaotic conversation. Furthermore, idiom doesn't always come with sophisticated phrase. I'd like to share simple idioms which I have read before for as follows:

1. To die down - to become more quite; to diminish; to subside
2. to come about - to happen; to occur; to be caused
3. to stand out - to be noticeable; to be prominent; to be clearly seen
4. to break down - to fail to function; to stop working properly
5. to fall through - to fail to occur; not to happen
6. to get ahead - to make progress; to succeed
7. to get around - to travel; to move about
8. to hold on - to wait; to pause
9. to open up - to talk honestly and freely
10. to come up - to arise
11. to break in - to interrupt
12. to catch on - to finally understand
13. to look on - to watch; to observe; to be a spectatore
14. to settle down - to become calm,quite, or peaceful; to begin a normal; stable life
15. to show up - to arrive; to appear
16. to take after - resemble; to look like
17. to go without -not to have; to lack
18. to turn into - to become; to change into
19. to get over - to recover from
20. to turn to - to ask help of; get advice from

Could you help me to organise the other idioms?

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Building Lucrative Online Store in Indonesia: An Information Systems Approach

Technology has influenced the way people sell and purchase. Since the conventional markets have been saturated, technology has generated a breakthrough-electronic commerce. E-commerce is associated with selling and buying by using the internet (Rodgers, Yen & Cou, 2002, p.186). Obviously, online trade grows rapidly in line with the growth of technology. Indonesia has experienced online commerce booming as well. According to Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association (2012), Indonesian internet users reached 63 million in 2012 and it will probably increase gradually to 82 million users by 2013. As a result, it is such an enormous opportunity to establish profitable ventures (Jennex, Amoroso & Adelakun, 2004, p.263). Therefore, we should address the key factors of establishing favorable online store system. It is my belief that maintaining consumers’ trust is indispensable in e-commerce and this paper considers previous empirical researchers. 

First of all, McKnight, Choudhury and Kacmar (2002, p.334) claim that the consumers’ trust is a significant factor to overcome perceived risk and uncertainty. Without physical contact, consumers may hesitate to buy commodities from virtual stores (Flavian & Guinaliu, 2006). For instance, internet users who do not have any experience engaging with online transactions may be reluctant to purchase from e-commerce web sites. This is because they are afraid of being exploited in terms of privacy and finance. Therefore, there is no doubt that a company which maintains its consumers’ trust will be more competitive in terms of profitability. 

To establish trust, there are three factors to consider. Firstly, according to Wiedmann, Hennigs, Varelmann and Reeh (2010, p.138-140), technology significantly determines the trust. Moreover, technology element is associated with security and privacy foundation. A secure e-commerce application protects its systems and data from threats or exploitation. This means that an e-commerce system should be prudently designed to become reliable and trustworthy in order to maintain consumers’ trust. The application should be equipped with a secure encryption system and an antivirus to avoid failure. 

Furthermore, Wiedmann et al. (2010, p.142) describe that usability plays a crucial role to maintain trust. The usability is closely related to usefulness, ease of use and good information quality. This means that online stores should be useful, easy and informative in order to eliminate the hesitation of consumers. For example, a catalogue located on a company’s web site should be easy to access and it should state clearly important information, such as price, terms and conditions, delivery methods, payment methods and discounts. Furthermore, Nicolaou and McKnight (2006, p.334-335) examine that perceived information quality influences trusting belief and intention to use e-commerce application as well. In addition, the e-commerce portal can be emphasised with attractive design without omitting usability concepts. 

Finally, Dillon and Reif (2004) point out that customer service positively influences purchase decisions in e-commerce. Customer service consists of vendor knowledge, delivery time, and responsiveness, form of payment, vendor reliability and return convenience. Since customer service can propagate trust and it maintains buyer loyalty as well. Therefore, online stores should establish outstanding customer service in order to enhance its outcome. 

In conclusion, maintaining customers’ trust is the key factor of e-commerce success. Consequently, online businesses should build their system by considering security and privacy concepts, reliable information quality and customer care in order to maintain consumers’ trust.

*) "Copy Paste" without acknowledging the initial author is considered to be academic theft

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REFERENCES

Chen, J., & McQueen, R.J. (2008). Factors affecting e-commerce stages of growth in small Chinese firms in New Zealand: An analysis of adoption motivators and inhibitors. Journal of Global Information Management , 16(1), pp. 26-60.

Dillon, T.W., & Reif, H.L. (2004). Factors influencing consumers' e-commerce commodity purchases. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal , 22(2), pp. 1-12.

Flavian, C., & Guinaliu, M. (2006). Consumer trust, perceived security and privacy policy: Three basic elements of loyalty to a web site. Industrial Management & Data , 106(5), pp. 601-620.

Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association. (2012). 2013, pengguna internet Indonesia bisa tembus 82 juta. Retrieved from http://www.apjii.or.id.

Jennex, M.E., Amoroso, D., & Adelakun, O. (2004). E-Commerce infrastructure success factors for Small companies in developing economies. Electronic Commerce Research , 4(3), pp. 263-286.

McKnight, D.H., Choudhury, V., & Kacmar, C. (2002). Developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: An integrative typology. Information Systems Research , 13(3), pp. 334-359.

Nicolaou, A.I., & McKnight, D.H. (2006). Perceived information quality in data exchanges: Effects on risk, trust, and intention to use. Information Systems Research , 17(4), pp. 332-351.

Rodgers, J.A., Yen, D.C., & Cou, D.C. (2002). Developing e-business: A strategic approach. Information Management & Computer Security , 10(4), pp. 184-192.

Wiedmann, K.P., Hennigs, N., Varelmann, D., & Reeh, M.O. (2010). Determinants of consumers' perceived trust in IT-ecosystems. Journal of Theoritical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research , 5(2), pp. 137-154.

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To what extent do you agree or disagree e-mail is the best way to deliver information (IELTS Task 2)

As we live in hi-tech age, technology has provided an ease in terms of communication. Obviously, the most brilliant invention in communication era is e-mail or electronic mail. There is no doubt that e-mail has replaced conventional methods to deliver messages. However, electronic mail brings many benefits as well as some pitfalls. It is my belief that using e-mail is more advantageous than traditional mail and I will examine my thesis by considering the obvious merits and demerits in using e-mail.

To begin with, using e-mail to deliver information has some advantages. Firstly, e-mail has hyper-transferability. This means that e-mail is able to convey messages extremely fast compared to conventional mail. For instance, delivering traditional mail may be delayed due to weather or other hampering conditions. In addition, this method is considered to be inexpensive to deliver data and information. By connecting to ISP, standing for Internet Service Provider, you will experience limitless access to sent messages. Moreover, some public place are equipped with free hotspot. It means that sending message can be costless. Finally, regarding environmental preservation, using e-mail to convey messages and documents is considered as a smart way to reduce paper consumption. As a result, the use of e-mail can be associated with reducing the overuse of resources such as trees and forest.

However, there are some considerable drawbacks as well. According to some research papers, the greatest obstacle, with which internet deals, is security issues. The security is associated with global current problems, which are viruses and phishing. The virus is able to damage our data and operation system and e-mail can be medium to contaminate our computer because of file attached or trapping url link. Furthermore, phishing, associated with earning money illegally, is potential to harm e-mail users in terms of economic loss. Consequently, we can be trapped and become a victim of this crime if we are not careful.

In conclusion, despite some problems, the merits outstrip the demerits because it is fast, inexpensive and environmentally friendly. Therefore, I firmly believe that e-mail is an appropriate method to deliver messages as well as documents.

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in task 2 IELTS we should write 250 words

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Indonesian Learners: 100 Commonly Misspronounced Words (British English)

I frequently find people speaking in English fluently but still mispronounce some words. Do you experience it as well? Obviously, pronouncing is not everyone's cup of tea. However, in order to improve your oral skill, it's the best way. Let's figure the words out.

• Vehicle
• Purpose
• Occur
• Examine
• Chance
• Determine
• Focus on
• Muscle
• Law
• Stomach
• Advertisement
• Financial
• Protein
• Colleague
• Exchange
• Analysis
• Castle
• Literature
• etc. (will be updated)

Check your dictionary and see the phonetic or how to pronounce it well.
Could you help us please.......

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Should The Indonesian Government Subsidise Petroleum? (One Sided Essay)

Today, The Indonesian government is dealing with a crucial problem in budgeting. The government allocates large energy subsidy in 2013. The energy subsidy is defined as a sum of money granted by government to aid person or group for reducing fuel price in the market. The subsidy, which is a part of the Indonesian budget, should be prudently granted.

Firstly, the huge subsidy can risk the Indonesian economic. By 2013, the energy subsidy based on Indonesia budget attains IDR 247 trillion. It means that the subsidy is approximately 24% of Indonesian expenditure. On the other hand, the global price of petroleum increases significantly. By assuming that the domestic demand of petroleum is stable, the subsidy would skyrocket because of the global price of petroleum.  Moreover, if the subsidy rises significantly, the budget structure will change too. Consequently, some productive expenditures may be reduced or the new debt may be ballooning. For example, when petroleum price climbs too high, productive expenditure, such as development of infrastructures will be cut. In addition, the new debt containing interest will burden the budget.

Furthermore, the energy subsidy may not achieve its main purpose which is managing inflation. However, about 70% of the subsidy is used by individual and household, while the remaining is used by manufacturing and public transportation.  As a result, the subsidy will not achieve main goal because most of subsidy is used by individual, instead of the productive sector such as manufacture and business.

In conclusion, the Indonesian government has to manage the energy subsidy carefully because the large subsidy may harm Indonesian economy and it may miss the main goal which is managing inflation. The government should reduce the amount of subsidy because the global price of petroleum increases significantly during 2013.

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*lagi belajar menulis single sided essay :D

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ADS Die Hard (Part2)

Apakah perjuanganku sampai di sana? Tentu tidak saudara, masih ada cerita sequelnya.  Karena perasaan penasaran dan tidak terima, aku memutuskan di tahun 2012 aku harus berjuang lagi untuk mengejar beasiswa. Apa pilihan tahun 2012? Ternyata stay the same, ADS!. Apa yang membuat aku begitu bandel dengan pilihan mengejar ADS? Bisa jadi karena aku malu dengan rekan-rekan sekantor, bisa jadi karena penasaran, bisa jadi karena tidak terima atas penolakan, atau bisa jadi nama tengahku adalah "kepala batu". Entahlah semua perasaan waktu itu sangat bercampur, susah mengidentifikasikannya. Daripada bosan dengan cerita prosesnya bagaimana, aku klik tombol skip aja yah. Hampir mirip prosesnya dengan tahun 2011, tapi tahun 2012 ini seleksi internal diganti menggunakan tes TPA dan Psikotest, Luar Biasa! Yang lebih luar biasa lagi proses seleksi ini bentrok dengan jadwal short course di Sg! Kesel? Banget!

Proses ADS 2012 kali ini aku lebih calm, tidak se-excited tahun sebelumnya. Karena sudah tahu step-stepnya lebih konsentrasi kepada materi aplikasi. Form Aplikasi aku perbaiki, CV dibuat lebih menarik, dan Pilihan studi aku rubah. Form Aplikasi lebih aku tekankan pada future position dan apa yang akan aku kontribusikan di masa depan. Benefit dari ADS aku sebutkan tanpa pada Me-Sentris. CV aku permak dari segi isi, grammar, dan bahkan layout. Akhirnya aku murtad dari pilihan studi akuntansi (yang merupakan background pendidikanku) beralih menjadi Information Systems. Aku menebak bahwa aplikasi yang menjanjikan, profil diri yang bagus, serta pilihan studi yang tidak tepat akan membantu aku untuk lolos.

Puji Tuhan 2012 aku masuk shortlisted candidate. Excited? Biasa saja karena tahun lalu aku juga mengalaminya, emosi mungkin semakin menurun. Bahkan menurutku perasaan over-excited dapat menjadi bumerang. Kandidat lain mungkin orang yang luar biasa di bidang akademis sedangkan aku orang biasa. Kandidat lain mungkin memiliki kemampuan bahasa inggris yang luar biasa, sedangkan kemampuanku biasa saja. Ini bukan perasaan minder ataupun menyerah. Ini adalah perasaan mengukur kemampuan diri sebelum berkompetisi. Jika kandidat lain memiliki nilai akademis yang bagus dan kemampuan bahasa inggris yang baik, apa yang bisa aku jual dalam wawancara? Pikiran inilah yang terngiang dalam kurun waktu November 2012 s.d Januari 2013. Aku ingat quote ex atasanku (Mr. Rendi) "Jika kamu belum bisa menjadi terbaik, jadilah yang berbeda". Bahkan aku secara tidak sengaja membaca quote dari Bill Gates seperti ini "If you can't make it good, at least make it look good.". Kedua quote inilah yang memacu semangatku untuk berusaha mendapatkan beasiswa meskipun kompetitorku lebih berkualitas.

25 Desember 2012 aku mengunjungi my grandpa di Malang Selatan. Satu hal yang menarik adalah aku bertemu dengan sang "Legenda". Sang "Legenda" itu adalah Omku (sepupu dari Papa) bernama Totok. Beliau mungkin seumuran mamaku, cacat sejak kecil karena sakit panas. Om Totok susah untuk berbicara, tidak bisa berjalan (seperti polio), dan tangannyapun tidak bisa memegang dengan sempurna. Kacamata tebal menghiasi wajahnya, hidup sangat sangat sederhana sekali banget (penggunaan kata ini lebih sopan namun tidak mencerminkan keadaan sebenarnya). Apa yang menjadikan beliau legenda? Dengan keterbatasan fisiknya, beliau pernah menggunakan sepeda yang beliau desain sendiri, mengayuh (dengan tangan) dari Malang Selatan Menuju Solo dan Finish di Kudus. kira-kira 1 Bulan adalah waktu tempuhnya. Jangan tanya menginap dimana dan siapa yang membantu, hal tersebut memang jauh dari nalar orang sehat. Semangatnya menginspirasiku untuk berjuang mendapatkan tiket ADS ini. Mungkin beliau orang yang terbatas fisiknya, namun tidak peduli berapa lama sampai ke tempat tujuan, beliau tetap sampai juga. Ini bukan masalah waktu tempuh, tapi tujuan. Bagi beberapa orang superb mungkin akan sekali "gowes" untuk meraih tiket ADS, namun aku bukan mereka, bukan orang superb. No Matter how long does it take, my short term destination is ADS.

Hari besar itupun datang juga, yah hari wawancara. I were there last year, and failed. Tapi karena mungkin karena semua materi sudah aku rangkum dalam presentasi, aku tidak begitu takut. Interviewer ku ada 2 orang (1 Australian Lady dan 1 Indonesian Gent). Mereka adalah akademisi dan biasanya seorang profesor. and Guess it! Salah satu interviewer ku adalah pengamat politik dan peneliti LIPI yang cukup terkenal sering melemparkan kritikan tajam kepada pemerintah, Mr. Ikrar Nusa Bakti. Luar Biasa Hariku! Dalam hati aku mendesah "it will be not easy". Normalnya wawancara adalah interviewer mengendalikan kita dan mereka menggali informasi penting dari kita. Aku sadar kemampuan bahasa inggris aktifku cukup mengenaskan, aku bahkan bisa saja stuck at the moment, dan robohlah panggungku. Telintas dipikiranku aku harus menguasai pewawancara bukan sebaliknya, namun dengan langkah halus tentunya. Karena pemikiran tersebut aku putuskan sebelum wawancara aku menyiapkan presentasi tentang teori studi, keterlibatanku dalam sebuah tim, Masalah yang terjadi dalam institusi (terkait dengan studi dan keterlibatan dalam tim), Solusi, Bagaimana posisiku dalam pemecahan masalah tsb, Pilihan studi dan alasannya, dan jawal kuliah. Aku cukup "berjudi" untuk memutuskan membuat presentasi ini, karena aku tidak tahu apakah hal ini diperbolehkan atau tidak. Setidaknya strategi ini dapat mengarahkan pertanyaan demi pertanyaan sesuai dengan skenarioku.

Hasilnya? Februari 2013 adalah momen dimana aku mendapatkan email yang di awali "Congratulation". Apa tipsnya? Mungkin hal sederhana saja : tampil beda dan tricky. Mungkin hal inilah yang membuat interviwer tertarik kepadaku dan memilih aku. Dan perjuangan 2 tahun itu berbuah manis, setiap kerja keras pasti ada hasilnya. Namun aku sangat sadar ini bukan destinasi terakhir, apalah artinya meraih beasiswa tanpa berhasil lulus dan meraih sertifikat dari universitas?Anda tertarik mengejar beasiswa? Just do it! Klik disini

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ADS Die Hard (Part1)

Tak pernah terbersit dipikiranku untuk kuliah. Bayangkan saja SMA saja hampir tidak memiliki dana untuk sekolah karena masalah "ekonomi domestik". Luar biasanya kedua orang tuaku memperjuangkan pendidikanku bahkan sampai kuliah D3. Puji Tuhan aku sudah ada di bagian tangga bernama Sarjana. Mungkin gelarku lebih tepat disebut SST dari pada SE. SST aku definisikan bebas sebagai Sarjana Setengah Tua, pantaslah aku meraihnya pada usia 27. Tanpa berniat menyodorkan sebuah alibi, "perjalanan" edukasiku memang cukup panjang, setelah SMA aku beruntung bisa masuk ke D3 kedinasan karena alasan "ekonomi domestik". Setelah lulus D3 aku harus "mengabdi" kepada institusi yang membiayai sekolah aku. Melanjutkan pendidikan  pada jenjang yang lebih tinggi normalnya harus menunggu 2 tahun setelah ada penempatan definitif di intitusi. Namun ada juga rekan-rekanku yang masuk kategori "Abnormal" yang bisa langsung berkesempatan melanjutkan pendidikan di jenjang D4 tanpa harus bekerja dahulu. Puji Tuhan aku masih "Normal".

 Dengan kondisi menikah dan memiliki tanggungan, alangkah naifnya jika aku berpikir untuk melanjutkan studi dengan biaya sendiri. Kuliah ekstensi S1 masih terjangkau secara biaya, apalagi ketika itu aku belum menikah. Kembali ke "salam pembuka" ku, bahwa pendidikan tinggi adalah beyond my imagination. Tapi lucunya namanya manusia aku jadi tergoda untuk coba-coba bermimpi melanjutkan pendidikan. Layaknya Eve yang tergoda dengan bujuk rayu ular di Eden, bahwa pohon yang ada di tengah-tengah taman tersebut buahnya sangat lezat dan berkhasiat. Apalagi setiap bulan April pada tiap tahun muncul pengumuman penawaran beasiswa.

ADS layaknya buah yang menggairahkan dilihat. Program beasiswa bernama Australian Development Scholarship adalah beasiswa yang diberikan pemerintah Australia kepada masyarakat Indonesia untuk melanjutkan studi S2 dan S3 di universitas Australia. Tertarik? Tentunya, siapa yang tidak senang dibiayai dalam studi?. Kenapa ADS? Mudah saja, karena sifat beasiswa ADS adalah Grant instead of Loan. Di institusiku memang ada beberapa beasiswa ditawarkan tapi kebanyakan sifatnya loan alias pinjaman. Berapa lagi uang yang harus Indonesia keluarkan? Ah sudah terlalu banyak hutang negara ini.

Percobaan mengejar ADS ku dimulai dari tahun 2011. Diawali dengan pendaftaran melewati institusiku (karena institusi dimana aku bekerja adalah Key Agency dari Australian Scholarship). Banyak sekali berkas yang harus aku siapkan mulai dari legalisasi ijazah dan transkrip (Indonesia maupun Bahasa Inggris), Legalisasi Akta Kelahiran, Surat Rekomendasi Atasan, Surat Pernyataan Kandidat, Surat Penilaian Atasan, Formulir pendaftaran internal, Statement of Purpose, dan sertifikat TOEFL. What a Biro-crazy insn't it? Setelah memasukkan berkas ke institusi tibalah namanya tes internal berupa assessment kandidat. Assessment kandidat ini mirip presentasi singkat kepada BOD institusi dan ada beberapa tes psikologi. Setelah sekitar 2 bulan keluarlah hasil assessment tersebut. Sudah diterimakah aku? Belum, setelah lulus assessment internal, aku sudah bisa disebut ADS Candidate from Key Agency, yang artinya aku berhak "mewakili" intitusiku untuk berjuang sendiri di seleksi ADS. FYI: biasanya dari 4000 an pelamar akan diseleksi atau shortlisted menjadi sekitar 750 kandidat. 750 Shortlisted candidates akan berhak untuk mengikuti tes Wawancara dan IELTS untuk didapatkan sekitar 400an awardees untuk menerima beasiswa ADS. Cukup panjang? JELAS, no doubt brother!. Singkat kata setelah berjuang sepenuh hati dan keringat jrennngggggg tibalah pengumuman di bulan Februari 2012. Bagaimana hasilnya? Luar Biasa saudara-saudara! Aku belum lolos! Hahahaha perjuangan 9 bulan dengan level self-confidence tinggi menuai hasil (pada waktu itu) sangat mengecewakan. Lelah dan Menguras Emosi, itulah gambaran perjuangan 9 bulan ADS. Bayangkan ketika aku masih berstatus kandidat, sudah bertebaran ucapan selamat dari rekan-rekan sekantor seraya bertanya "kapan berangkat ke oz?". FYI: Bahkan ada kandidat ADS yang telah 5 kali percobaan. Luar Biasa! 

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My Captured Moment

Belum genap 4 bulan DSLR Canon ini menemani saya. Banyak momen-momen unik yang belum saya bagikan kepada blogger. Dengan kualitas dan kemampuan fotografi yang terbatas saya memberanikan diri untuk berbagi hasil jepretan saya kepada blogger. Plz feel free to criticize this picture :)

Jakarta punya museum

Lorong

Batavia dalam jendela

The Lader

Batavia Muda

Cycling and Smile

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