INTELLCOMM

Cara agar anak berakhlaq Islami

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 04:29:00 +0000

Sebagian besar orang tua pasti ingin anaknya menjadi anak yang sholeh dan sholehah serta berbakti kepada kedua orang tua serta bagi agamanya. Akan tetapi, tidak semua orang tau bagaimana caranya agar anak menjadi sholeh dan menurut pada keinginan orangtuanya dan sesuai dengan akhlaq yang dituntunkan oleh agama Islam. Lalu, bagaimanakah cara agar anak bisa berakhlaq sesuai dengan tuntunan agamanya? berikut ini akan diberikan beberapa tips yang bisa digunakan untuk mengajari anak untuk bisa berakhlaq sesuai dengan tuntunan agama:

Saatnya Orang Tua Berhenti ‘Meracuni’ Anak

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 03:55:00 +0000

Seperti biasanya, sebagai seorang dokter kesehatan keluarga di PKPU, sebuah lembaga kemanusiaan nasional yang berlisensi Ecosoc PBB (Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa), saya ditugasi untuk menjalankan program kesehatan anak dan remaja di Penjara Anak di Tangerang.

Setelah beberapa kali berinteraksi dengan anak-anak yang ada dalam penjara itu, saya pun semakin nyaman, bisa berkomunikasi dan melakukan program kesehatan anak dan remaja dengan baik. Ini dikarenakan, adanya dukungan yang sangat luar biasa dari para abdi negara yang sedang bertugas di penjara anak tersebut.

Sambil melakukan program kesehatan, pikiran saya bertanya-tanya, apa sebab anak-anak yang rata-rata seusia 10 tahun sampai 16 tahun itu sampai dapat di-masukkan ke dalam penjara anak ini.

Maka, dalam sesi program kesehatan berikutnya, berupa konsultasi kesehatan fisik dan psikologi secara langsung, saya membuat berapa pertanyaan yang harus dijawab oleh anak-anak.

Diantara pertanyaan itu bunyinya sebagai berikut: Apakah anak-anak mengetahui tempat tinggalnya saat ini dan apa namanya? Sebagian besar mereka mengetahui dan menjawab bahwa mereka tinggal di penjara anak.

Pertanyaan berikutnya, mengapa anak-anak harus tinggal di penjara anak ini? Beberapa anak menjawab bahwa ia melakukan kesalahan dan sudah selayaknya kalau ia harus tinggal di penjara anak.

Memang, ia di lahirkan untuk menjadi anak yang kurang ajar, pencuri, pencopet, anak yang senang perkelahian dan masih banyak “gelar-gelar” lainnya. Saya katakan bahwa anak-anak ini adalah anak-anak yang baik, bisa berbuat kebaikan dan bisa berprestasi untuk masa depannya.

Dengan penuh keyakinan, mereka kembali menyampaikan “gelar-gelar” di atas itu dan menambahkan bahwa orangtuanya atau bapak/ibunya sering mengatakan “gelar-gelar” itu berkali-kali. Bahkan ada anak yang mengatakan bahwa ia tidak layak lagi menjadi anak orangtuanya karena ibunya mengatakan bahwa ia adalah anak yang durhaka dan pasti akan masuk neraka!Astaghfirullah..

Sahabat Indonesian Golden Family, dari cerita di atas mengingatkan saya dalam sebuah tulisan yang berjudul The Toxic Words (Kata-kata Beracun). Tulisan ini, meskipun hanya beberapa lembar namun merupakan hasil wawancara terhadap anak-anak yang ada di penjara. Sang peneliti mengajak anak-anak untuk “mengingat kembali” apa-apa yang terjadi sebelum mereka masuk di dalam penjara. Kemudian, ia menyusun kata demi kata menjadi satu kelompok kata-kata yang dianggap mengantarkan anak-anak tersebut masuk dalam penjara.

Susunan kata-kata itu disebutnya sebagai The Toxic Words (Kata-kata Beracun).

Benar saja, bahwa anak-anak yang masuk dalam penjara itu dalam kesehariannya sering mendapatkan kata-kata yang buruk yang menyangkut dirinya, seperti:

“Dasar kamu! Memang anak pembawa sial!”

“Kamu selalu menyusahkan orangtua!”

“Kamu memang anak terkutuk! Pasti hidupmu akan sengsara!”

Serta masih banyak lagi kata-kata yang buruk lainnya.

Lalu, apa hubungannya antara kata-kata yang buruk itu dengan perilaku anak yang buruk?

Ketika saya belajar NLP (Neuro Linguistik Programming), pembimbing saya mengatakan bahwa manusia melakukan proses berpikir dengan tiga cara yaitu pertama, Berpikir Visual adalah berpikir dengan cara kita membuat gambaran di dalam pikiran kita.Kedua, Berpikir Auditori adalah berpikir dengan cara kita melakukan dialog internal (self-talk). Ketiga, Berpikir Kinestetik adalah berpikir dengan cara melibatkan perasaan atau emosi kita.

Pembimbing saya juga mengatakan bahwa gambaran masa depan seseorang ternyata dapat di prediksi dari hal-hal yang dia yakini. Ketika kita meyakini sesuatu maka seluruh “sumberdaya” dalam tubuh kita sampai level sel terkecil pun akan mendukung apa-apa yang telah kita yakini itu.

Dan sebagian besar, suatu keyakinan dibentuk dari perilaku yang dilihat dan kata-kata yang didengarnya setiap hari khususnya yang menyangkut tentang diri kita. Jika perilaku buruk atau kata-kata buruk yang sering diterimanya, maka bisa dipastikan perlahan tapi pasti bahwa perilaku burukpun akan terwujud dan begitu pula sebaliknya.

Inilah jawaban, mengapa anak-anak itu sering melakukan pelanggaran-pelanggaran kehidupan sehingga ia harus merasakan hidup di dalam penjara. Pada saat orangtuanya terlalu sering mengatakan kamu memang anak kurang ajar, kamu memang anak pembawa sial atau kata-kata buruk lainnya, perlahan-lahan ia akan menyakini bahwa ia anak kurang ajar, ia anak pembawa sial da akhirnya iapun menjadi perilaku yag kurang ajar.

Sungguh, bila saya membahas masalah seperti ini saya merasa ngeri, kasihan, melihat fakta-fakta diatas amat sering terjadi di sekitar kita.

Masih sangat banyak para orangtua yang bila sedang memarahi anaknya maka keluar semua kata-kata beracun seperti itu. Kalau sudah demikian, kira-kira siapa yang salah, anak yang berperilaku buruk atau orangtua yang salah dalam mengajari anak agar bisa berbuat baik?

Ajaran para Nabi kita mengatakan bahwa anak adalah amanah dari Tuhan yang harus kita siapkan agar ia menjadi manusia yang berprestasi di dunia dan di akhirat.

Oleh karenanya, saya sendiri juga sedang mengingat-ingat kembali berapa banyak kata-kata buruk telah terucapkan pada anak-anak saya, pada istri saya. Sungguh, terasa ngeri sekali bila kita mengetahui dampak dari kata-kata buruk itu, bagaikan “racun” yang siap membunuh anak-anak kita.

Membunuh sifat manusianya sebagai makhluk spiritual ciptaan Tuhan, yang memiliki potesi dasyat dalam dirinya. Maka, solusi terbaik adalah adanya kesungguhan akan perubahan cara berpikir dan bersikap kita dari kekerasan menjadi kasih sayang.

Bagi ummat Muslim, sarana berpuasa, utamanya di bulan Ramadhan, adalah sarana yang paling tepat untuk melakukan perubahan itu.

Mengapa? Karena puasa (Ramadhan) merupakan salah satu “produk” dari Tuhan sebagai sarana paling tepat untuk “memprogramkan kembali” diri kita. Dari yang biasanya mudah mencaci-maki pada anaknya menjadi bertutur kata yang lembut, dari yang kurang baik menjadi baik, dari yang baik menjadi lebih baik lagi, seperti pesannya Nabi kita bahwa “Puasa adalah perisai.”

Apabila salah seorang diantaramu sedang berpuasa, hendaklah ia tidak berkata-kata keji dan tidak pula memperolok orang lain. Kemudiaan apabila ada seseorang yang hendak mencaci-makinya, hendaklah ia berkata: “Aku sedang berpuasa, aku sedang berpuasa.”

source

The banker and the pauper

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:26:00 +0000

Once upon a time, there lived a poor pauper and a rich banker. So it was inevitable that the rich man would be happier than the pauper. However, their natures were opposite, for the poor man was happy whereas the banker was not. The banker was annoyed by the fact that when he tossed and turn in his bed at night, the pauper slept peacefully and always awoke rested and full of energy.

One day the banker could stand it no longer. He decided to find out why the pauper was happy in spite of his poverty. So he summoned him to his house and asked him his yearly income because he believed that happiness could only be measured in terms of wealth.

“i don’t count too well, nor do i really care. I live each day as it comes and never worry about the next”

“well then, just tell how much you earn in one day,” insisted the rich man.

“i earn what i need”

The banker liked the pauper. He wished to thank him for coming to his house, so he presented the poor man with a bag of hundred gold coins.

Now, these coins, which meant so little to the banker, seemed a great fortune to the pauper. He decided to hide the bag , so that he would have the money if ever he should need it. So, when he returned to his house, he dug a big hole in secluded corner of the garden, threw the bag into it, and covered it with the dirt.

However, from that day on the poor man’s life changed. He began to worry about the safety of his money. Every night he slept a little less, and each time he heard the slightest sound, he became anxious about the safety of his coins.

Finally, he could bear his happiness no longer. He went to the garden, dug up the coins and returned them to the banker.

The pauper had learned an important lesson, and so had the banker.

How the beggar boy turned into count Piro

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:23:00 +0000

Once upon a time there lived a man who had only one son, a lazy, stupid boy, who would never do anything he was told. His name was Piro. When the father was dying, he sent for his son and told him that he would soon be left alone in the world, with no possessions but the small cottage they lived in, and a pear tree which grew behind it, and that, whether he liked it or not, he would have to work, or else he would starve. Then the old man died.

But the boy did not work; instead, he idled about as before, contenting himself with eating the pears off his tree, which, unlike other pear trees before or since, bore fruit the whole year round. Indeed, the pears were so much finer than any you could get even in the autumn, that one day, in the middle of the winter; they attracted the notice of a fox that was creeping by.

The fox asked the pears to the boy and the fox gave it to the king. The fox said it was a prince who gave the pears. The fox gave the pears to the king for several times before he asked the king to marry his daughter to Piro. By tricking the king, the fox tried to convince the king that prince Piro was a very rich person. The fox showed a big castle which actually belonged to an Ogre to the king and said it belonged to count Piro. The fox had tricked the ogre too by locking them in an underground prison so the count Piro can get all the castle and all the wealth that the ogre had before.

For the next trick, i’m going to.....

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:21:00 +0000

You are sitting on an outdoor theater. On the stage you see a man selling hot dogs, some children playing, a group of tourists listening to a tour guide, and even a clown with a sad face. In the background is the statue of liberty. It’s a normal day in New York City. Then you hear an amazing statement, “and for my next trick, i’m going to make the Statue of Liberty disappear.” Impossible, you think. How could anyone do that?

A curtain closes, hiding the stage. The magician talks to the audience for a few minutes. The statue won’t be easy to move, he says. The music get louder. You can feel the tension in the air. The curtain slowly opens...and you can’t believe your eyes. The Statue of Liberty is gone!

So how does the magician do this trick? Easy! While he’s talking, the hole theater moves very, very slowly to a different position. The people in the audience can’t feel the movement. Behind the curtain, the “actors” quickly move to a replica of the scene and stand in the same positions, but in front of an empty sky. When the curtain opens, you see the same hot dog seller, the same children, the same tourists, the same clown, all are actors. Everything is the same, but the statue of liberty isn’t there. That’s magic!

The Bronx zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:20:00 +0000

What to see: Over 4,000 animals

How to get there: 2 or 5 train to East Tremont Ave/West farm Square. At street level, walk straight ahead on Boston Road 2 blocks to the Zoo’s Asia gate entrance (Gate A).

Admission:

Adult $14

Children (3-12) $ 15

Senior (65+) $ 12

Opening Hours:

The zoo is open 365 days a year!

Monday- Friday 10:00 A.M – 5:00 P.M

Weekends and Holidays 10:00 A.M – 5:30 P.M

Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Tree is the largest plant of all plants. The tallest tree grows over 61 metres in height. Many trees also live longer than other plants. Some trees sometimes live over thousand of years. They are the oldest living things that men know.

People think that trees are different from other plants. Most of other plants grow only for short time and then die. People think of trees as a permanent part of the landscape.

Trees continue to grow as long as they live. They grow new leaves and flowers. Leaves of a tree make food. The food makes the tree alive and help it grows. The flowers grow into fruit. The fruit contains seeds for making new trees.

Trees are different from other plants like herbs and shrubs. Most teees grow at least 4.6 to 6.1 metres but herbs and shrubs are much shorter than trees. Trees have one wood stem, which is called a trunk. Herbs have soft and juicy stem. Shurbs are like trees, they have woody stem but one shrub has more than one stem, and none of the stem of the shrubs grows so thick or tall as a tree trunk.

There are thousands of kinds of trees. But most trees belong to one of two main groups. They are boarfleaf trees and needleleaf trees. These two tipes of trees grow in many parts of the world. Most other types of trees, such as palms and tree ferns grow mainly in warm region.

Venice

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 30 May 2012 00:59:00 +0000

Venice is a city in northern Italy. It is the capital of region Veneto. Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area. Venice has been known as the “Queen of the Adriatic”, “City of Water”, “City of Bridges”, and “The City of Light”. The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy.

Venice is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 117 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot.

You can ride gondola there. It is the classical Venetian boat which nowadays is mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies. Now, most Venetians travel by motorised waterbuses (“vaporetti”) which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city’s islands. The city also has many private boats. The only gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges.

You can see the amusing city’s landmarks such as Piazza San Marco, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, Saint Mark’s Cathedral or villas of the Veneto. The villas of the Veneto, rural residences for nobles during the Republic, are one of the most interesting aspects of Venetian countryside.

They are surrounded by elegant gardens, suitable for fashionable parties of high society. The city is also well known for its beautiful and romantic view, especially at night

Report Text - Penjelasan & Contoh

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Secara umum, report text adalah salah satu jenis teks yang masuk kategori "factual texts." Teks jenis ini sering dikatakan sebagai "saudara kembar"descriptive text sehingga wajar banyak siswa "bingung" cara membedakan kedua teks tersebut.

Sebelumnya, secara singkat dan sederhana, sudah memberikan penjelasananeh mengenai perbedaan keduanya [baca: bingung report text atau descriptive text]; lagi-lagi itu cuma perbedaan kecil dan hampir semua siswa bisa mencerna. Oleh karena itu, untuk mendalami apa itu report text, yuk kita simak bersama-sama keterangan di bawah ini:

Pengertian Report Text

Istilah report text sering juga dikenal dengan sebutan informational report. Report, dalam Concise Oxford Dictionary Edisi 10, diartikan sebagai 1) an account given of a matter after investigation or consideration. 2) a piece of information about an event or situation. Jika disimpulkan, secara bahasa report text adalah teks yang berfungsi untuk memberikan informasi tentang suatu peristiwa atau situasi, setelah diadakannya investigasi dan melalui berbagai pertimbangan.

Definisi report text ini juga hampir mirip dengan apa yang sering disebutkan dalam berbagai buku bahasa Inggris di tingkat menengah, "Report is a text which present information about something, as it is. It is as a result of systematic observation and analyses." [Report adalah sebuah teks yang menghadirkan informasi tentang suatu hal dengan apa adanya. Teks ini adalah sebagai hasil dari observasi dan analisa secara sistematis.]

Dengan demikian, sebenarnya teks report dan descriptive mempunyai perbedaan yang cukup jelas, meski nampak keduanya dikatakan sebagai "saudara kembar" sekalipun.

Intinya, dalam report text itu biasanya berisi dengan fakta-fakta yang bisa dibuktikan secara ilmiah, Oke..

Generic Structure Report Text.

Seperti halnya dengan descriptive text, Report text juga hanya memiliki dua struktur umum [generic structure] yaitu :

General Clasification; Pernyataan umum yang menerangkan subjek laporan, keterangan, dan klasifikasinya.
Description: tells what the phenomenon under discussion ; in terms of parts, qualities, habits or behaviors; Pada bagian ini biasanya memberikan gambaran fenomena-fenomena yang terjadi; baik bagian-bagiannya, sifat-sifatnya, kebiasaannya, ataupun tingkah lakunya. Intinya adalah penjabaran dari klasifikasi yang disajikan dengan ilmiah.

Ada juga beberapa keterangan mengenai generic structure report text, yang meliputi :

General information
Bundles of Specific Information

General information adalah bagian yang menyebutkan informasi umum dari tema tulisan yang. Sedangkan Bundles of specific information, adalah penjabaran dari informasi umum tersebut.

Saya sendiri lebih cenderung setuju dengan generic structure kedua; karena hal ini bisa membuat siswa lebih paham akan cara menulis report text.

Tujuan Report Text

Setiap tulisan pasti memiliki tujuan mengapa tulisan itu ditulis. Begitu juga dengan report text. Beberapa pakar menyebutkan bahwa tujuan teks report adalah :

Its social purpose is presenting information about something. They generally describe an entire class of things, whether natural or made: mammals, the planets, rocks, plants, countries of region, culture, transportation, and so on.

Jika disimpulkan, tujuan report text adalah untuk menyampaikan informasi hasil pengamatan dan analisa yang sistematis. Informasi yang dijelaskan dalam report text biasanya bersifat umum, baik itu alamiah ataupun buata seperti binatang mamalia, planet, bebatuan, tumbuh-tumbuhan, negara bagian, budaya, transportasi, dan lain sebagainya.

Pola Tata Bahasa Dalam Report Text

Setiap tulisan pasti memiliki ciri bahasa tersendiri; jika recount text dan narrative text cenderung memiliki ciri menggunakan simple past, lalu bagaimana dengan report text? Oke berikut adalah pola grammar yang umum digunakan dalam teks report, yang meliputi :

Use of general nouns, eg hunting dogs, rather than particular nouns, eg our dog;
Use of relating verbs to describe features, eg Molecules are tiny particles;
Some use of action verbs when describing behaviour, eg Emus cannot fly;
Use of timeless present tense to indicate usualness, eg Tropical cyclones always begin over the sea;
Use of technical terms, eg Isobars are lines drawn on a weather map;
Use of paragraphs with topic sentences to organise bundles of information; repeated naming of the topic as the beginning focus of the clause.

Keterangan :

General nouns, maksudnya adalah, suatu benda (baik itu hidup atau mati) yang bersifat umum. Coba bandingkan : Hunting dogs >< My dog. Hunting dogs bersifat umum; sedangkan my dog bersifat khusus.
Relating verbs, dalam grammar disebut juga dengan linking verbs. Seperti to be [is, am, are: present], seem, look, taste dan lain sebagainya.
Timeless present tense adalah salah satu penanda waktu dalam simple presentseperti "often, usually, always" dan lain-lain.
Technical terms, maksudnya adalah istilah-istilah yang meliputi teks report tersebut. Misalnya tentang "music" maka, istilah-istilah musik harus ada.

Contoh Report Text : Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day is a celebration of harvest, thankfulness for peace, and the attempt of Native Americans. It is usually celebrated in late autumn.

In the past, Thanksgiving was celebrated for their rich harvest in New England. In North America, however, it was originally held to thank God for their survival in the new land which was not easy for them. However, in Canada, it had been celebrated as in New England. Thanksgiving now is celebrated in United States of America and in Canada. Thanksgiving festivals are held every fourth Thursday of November in the U.S and on the second Monday of October in Canada. It is usually celebrated in four to five days in the North America and for three days in Canada.

It is celebrated through families and friends gathering to eat and give good luck. Turkey is the main dish in the thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving parades are also usually held. In Thanksgiving homes are decorated with wreaths, fresh and dried flowers. Lamps are lighted to brighten the environment. Tables are decorated with best china and antique silver dishes to mark the occasion.

Contoh Report Text : Venice

They are surrounded by elegant gardens, suitable for fashionable parties of high society. The city is also well known for its beautiful and romantic view, especially at night.

Apple drops '4G' from iPad adverts

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:33:00 +0000

Apple has stopped using the phrase 4G in adverts for its latest iPad.

The description proved controversial because 4G is not widely available in the UK and the iPad will not work with it when it is.

The UK's advertising watchdog and others around the world investigated Apple over use of the 4G phrase.

Apple said the confusion arose because of the ways operators refer to different high-speed mobile technologies.

Word jumble

When the newest version of the iPad was launched in March, adverts for the device claimed it would work with 4G, meaning fourth generation, mobile technology. The 4G in question was a technology known as Long Term Evolution (LTE) that was starting to appear in the US.

However, when LTE arrives in Britain, the rest of Europe and many other nations, it will use different frequencies to those in the US meaning the iPad will not be able to use 4G everywhere.

The disparity led to many complaints. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated and won assurances from Apple that its advertising would change.

A spokesman for the ASA said it had started a second investigation after consumers told it that the 4G phrase was still being used to describe the iPad's capabilities.

The ASA had been "working closely" with Apple to amend the way the iPad is advertised, said the spokesman, adding that the consumer electronics firm had been very co-operative during the investigation.

"We will be checking the amendments to ensure they adhere to the Advertising Code," he said.

Apple said the confusion had arisen because of the different high-speed mobile technologies dubbed 4G by operators and carriers.

Apple would change its terminology to remove this confusion, it said.

"Carriers do not all refer to their high speed networks with the same terminology," said the firm in a statement, "therefore we've decided to use 'wi-fi + cellular' as a simple term which describes all the high speed networks supported by the new iPad."

"The advanced wireless features of the new iPad have not changed," it added.

Pirate Pay torrent 'blocker' backed by Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:31:00 +0000

A Russian company has developed software it says can disrupt and prevent people from downloading pirated content.

Pirate Pay has been backed by Microsoft and has so far worked with Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures to stop "thousands" of downloads.

The tool poses as real bit torrent users but then "confuses" peer-to-peer networks, causing disconnections.

Critics argue that the method will be ineffective in the long term.

The entertainment industry claims that the downloading of pirated material costs copyright holders billions of pounds in lost revenue every year.

Last month, the British Phonographic Industry won a court battle to force UK internet service providers to block its customers from accessing high-profile piracy site The Pirate Bay.

However, the true extent of the financial impact is strongly questioned by internet rights campaigners.

Swamping

Bit torrent blog Torrent Freak reported that Pirate Pay began life as traffic management software for internet service providers.

From here they discovered it could be used to swamp peer-to-peer networks - which are used to share the files - with false information.

"After creating the prototype, we realised we could more generally prevent files from being downloaded, which meant that the program had great promise in combating the spread of pirated content," said Andrei Klimenko, the company's chief executive, in an interview with Russia Beyond the Headlines.

The technology has received high-profile praise from the president of Microsoft Russia - Pirate Pay was awarded one million rubles (£62,000, $100,000) from a seed investment fund set up by the company behind Windows.

A recent campaign saw Pirate Pay "protect" recent Russian film Vysotsky. Thanks to God, I am Alive, made by Walt Disney Studios.

Pirate Pay said it blocked 44,845 attempted illegal downloads of the film.

However, as the Torrent Freak blog pointed out, the blocked downloaders might have simply just tried again later.

'Social issues'

Although exact details on how the system operates are not known outside of the company, security researcher Richard Clayton from the University of Cambridge told the BBC it was a process that could work, if only in the short term.

"If you flood the network with lots of lies, then you will be short of real things.

"[But] the networks are robust about this in the long term because you will say to your peer 'please give me this data', and when it gives you the data it will say 'this doesn't match' and throw it away."

Mr Clayton, who blogs about such issues, said peer-to-peer networks would eventually adapt, sharing information about "bogus" peers such as those reportedly utilised by companies like Pirate Pay.

Mr Clayton added: "You don't solve social issues with technical fixes.

"The social issue here is that a lot of people think that the legal offerings are too expensive and don't provide what they want.

"Once you solve that, nobody's going to want to mess around with complicated bits of software to get what they need."

src

Anontune: the new social music platform from 'Anonymous'

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:32:00 +0000

(CNN) -- In a move sure to attract attention from the music industry, a small group of coders claiming to be part of Anonymous is putting together a social music platform. The rather ambitious goal: Create a service that seamlessly pulls up songs streaming from all around the internet.

The project, called Anontune and still in its infancy, is designed to pull songs from third-party sources like YouTube and let anonymous users put them into playlists and share them — while keeping the service from being shut down by music industry lawsuits.

Reached by e-mail, one of the creators of Anontune told Wired the project was started by a group of anons who met online six years ago on what was then an underground hacking site. The group, mostly focused at the time on "cracking," began discussing music, favorite artists and what they would do to fix current music business models.

"We would say stuff like, 'People really use YouTube as a music player yet it really sucks for that purpose ... it's too unorganized,'" the anon wrote to Wired. "And then, 'YouTube does make a good music player but you can't play all your songs on it since the obscure ones aren't uploaded,' then eventually, 'Hmmm, what if you were to combine music websites like Myspace, Yahoo, YouTube and others?'"

On the ever-sprawling internet, music can pop up anywhere — Tumblr pages, blogs, The Hype Machine (to name but a few). Almost any song is available at any time, whether posted by legitimate sources or uploaded by fans or pirates, and Anontune would tap into that rich reservoir.

It wouldn't be the first time Anonymous squared off with the record industry: When popular file-sharing site Megaupload was shuttered by the Justice Department in January, Anonymous retaliated by attacking the websites of the Recording Industry Association of America and the DoJ. The DDoS attacks provide an undeniable look at what Anonymous can do in a copyfight, but if the creators of Anontune succeed, they could make something far more disruptive to the music industry.

The Anontune concept remained nothing more than talk until one day in early December, when an anon posted a link to Anontune and said he planned to make their ideas a reality. The others looked at the site. Although it wasn't very good, the working prototype got enough people interested in the project that they "formed a team that day and stopped hacking," the anon said.

The platform has been in development for just a few months, according to the video above (titled "Message From Anonymous: Music Has Changed"). Although Anontune is still very rudimentary, the service is meant to improve the way music is played online.

"It has come to our attention that the state of online music has been sabotaged by the fat hands of corporate involvement," the Anontune video's voiceover states. "These changes have led to a world in which your enjoyment of music is controlled and billed by the minute."

How Anontune Works (And a Word of Caution)

Anontune works by automating what most people do online manually. After setting up an account, users can build playlists by simply typing in the names of songs they want to hear, or they can choose from the names of songs imported from their iPods. Anontune's "music engine" — which runs in a user's browser — then finds the songs on the web. Currently most of the tracks come from YouTube and SoundCloud, but there are plans in the works to add Yahoo Music, Myspace Music, Bandcamp and others. From there, users, of which there are currently fewer than 1,000, just press play.

(A word of caution to curious readers: The system relies on executing a Java applet. Unless you are extremely trusting or using VMWare, you should think very carefully about running code on your machine that was written by members of Anonymous.)

The stated central aims of the service's creators are to provide a flexible, open platform for users to listen to music without having to pirate it or face legal repercussions — read Anontune's white paper here. True to form, users of the service can largely remain anonymous.

Although the site is still very crude and its origins obscure, the idea of Anonymous — even a few far-flung members of the group — tackling online music is compelling. But Anontune could come into the world with a target on its back, even if it operates using completely legitimate methods, according to Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Corynne McSherry.

"What we're seeing here is a situation where the government is getting much more involved in enforcement, and we know that the U.S. government doesn't like Anonymous all that much anyway," McSherry said in an interview with Wired. Other music services can attempt to cut deals with music labels to avoid legal hot water, but that's not really an option here.

"I think content owners, if they feel like the site is a really viable site, they're going to be pretty nervous [about this]," McSherry said. "Because they like to have people that they can make deals with, and there's no one to make a deal with in this situation."

It's hard not to notice that Anontune is popping up just as the U.S. government's case against Megaupload is getting heated. Even though Anontune's creators say the service isn't a rebuttal to the shuttering of the file-sharing service, its timely unveiling could serve as a model for a different way for Anonymous to respond to incidents (as opposed to, say, directing Low Orbit Ion Cannons at the website of the Recording Industry Association of America).

"The project is not so much a response to Megaupload but a response to the tycoons from the RIAA shutting down music services," the anon wrote to Wired. "You may have heard about what Anonymous has done in Operation Payback. We believe the underlying reasons for the revolt were (mostly) correct, however their approach is unlikely to change anything in the long run."

When asked about Anontune by Wired, an RIAA spokesman declined to comment.

Anontune's creators hope that in its complete version — it's only about 20 percent there so far, our source said — the service can improve the way people engage with music.

"We have a lot of plans regarding this," the Anontune co-creator told Wired. "The development of software to assist in achieving musical peak experiences, illumination of the functions and roles of music, psychometric testing based on music preference. It's all there and this is possibly the most interesting part of the whole project."

Anontune's technical aspects can be reviewed online, and the site's operators are taking donations. Even though its creators are still hurriedly trying to get the service up to snuff, the site has massive goals. One only needs to look at the final note on the above clip's YouTube page to get a taste.

"We need to think bigger," it reads. "This is Operation Mozart."

src

Own an iPod? Then you're suing Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:20:00 +0000

(Mashable) -- If you're one of the millions who purchased an iPod between September 12, 2006, and March 31, 2009, you might be in for a surprising email from RealNetworks.

The company, which developed Real Player and the service Harmony, has officially enlisted iPod owners in a class-action lawsuit against Apple -- though you do have the right to recuse yourself.

Why RealNetworks? Back in 2004, the company created the music service Harmony, a digital rights management (DRM) translation service. It allowed users to play songs downloaded from the RealPlayer music store on Apple's iPod.

But as any iPod user knows, songs must be loaded onto iTunes to be played on Apple's devices. That's because Apple created an iPod firmware update not too long after the announcement of Harmony, which blocked it and other music services from uploading songs to the iPod.

Several iPod users filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of unfairly blocking competition. Now -- eight years later -- it's gaining steam.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California gave the lawsuit class-action status in November 2011. The website ipodlawsuit.com, which details the entire case, explains:

"The lawsuit claims that Apple violated federal and state laws by issuing software updates in 2006 for its iPod that prevented iPods from playing songs not purchases on iTunes. The lawsuit claims that the software updates caused iPod prices to be higher than they otherwise would have been."

If you own any of these devices — first through fourth generation Nanos, second and third generation Touches, first through third generation Shuffles, a fifth generation classic iPod or the special edition U2 iPod — you're automatically included in the lawsuit. (Official notices began going out this week.) But you give up any right to sue Apple individually over the same concerns.

Alternatively, you could also request exclusion from the case. However, if Apple does end up losing, you don't get to share in any kind of "recovery" that may be rewarded.

So far, there's no money involved — no actual settlement or reward has been determined.

If you're one of these iPod owners, will you opt to be excluded from the case, or will you take part in a class-action lawsuit against Apple? Sound off in the comments.

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Your Facebook 'likes' can get you fired

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:41:00 +0000

Clicking the "like" button isn't speech protected by the First Amendment, a judge ruled. Some legal experts, however, wonder if the judge understood what liking actually implies.

FORTUNE -- Applying old laws to new technology can be tricky. Earlier this year, the blogosphere was buzzing about an unresolved lawsuit over who owns business-related Twitter followers, the employee or the company. Now comes a decision in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia that tackled a different issue: Can an employee be sacked for liking something (or someone) on Facebook?

The facts in a nutshell: In Bland v. Roberts, Bobby Bland and four coworkers in the sheriff's department in Hampton, Va., clicked the "like" button on the Facebook page of Jim Adams, who was running against their boss, Sheriff B.J. Roberts, in 2009. Roberts won, and promptly fired all five, citing budget constraints, unsatisfactory work performance, and a lack of "harmony and efficiency" in the office. But Bland and his cohort contended it was liking Adams' Facebook page that got them canned.

Of course, openly supporting your boss's opponent in a political campaign seems risky on the face of it, but leaving common sense aside, the case hinged on whether a Facebook "like" meets the standard of free speech as protected by the Constitution. The judge ruled that it doesn't, adding, "In cases where courts have found that constitutional speech protections extended to Facebook posts, actual statements existed within the record" (emphasis is his).

MORE: 6 companies hiring vets

That's fine as far as it goes, say legal scholars, but the act of liking something on Facebook may be far more of a statement than the judge apparently realized. "Judges in general do not really understand Facebook," observes Eric Goldman, who teaches at Santa Clara University School of Law in Silicon Valley. He also directs the school's High Tech Law Institute and writes a blog on high-tech legal issues.

"Clicking on 'like' is so easy -- or what social media mavens call "frictionless" -- that the implications may be overlooked even by the person doing the clicking," Goldman points out. A few of those implications: When other people visit the page you've liked, you may appear publicly as someone who likes it and, depending on your privacy settings, your "like" may turn up in all your friends' newsfeeds.

Your "like" may also appear on your profile page and, if you like a business or an ad, the sponsor may buy another ad that redisplays your like to your friends. You may also be automatically signed up for a barrage of further news, sales pitches, and other information about whatever it was you liked.

MORE: Stuck in middle management? Five ways out.

Goldman and other experts believe all that, taken together, is more than enough to add up to speech as First Amendment cases have generally defined it. "But you can't blame the judge for not grasping all that liking entails," Goldman adds. "Nowhere on the site is it really spelled out -- and that ambiguity may be deliberate on Facebook's part."

One thing that's not ambiguous at all: In the wake of Bland v. Roberts, if you'd like to keep your job, be very careful with what or whom you "like."

---------

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Report: Smartphones, not computers, drive most Facebook use

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:37:00 +0000

(CNN) -- According to comScore's new Mobile Metrix 2.0 reportreleased Monday, Facebook's mobile usage is on the rise. In fact, the report revealed that Facebook users spent more time accessing the social network on smartphones than on computers in March.

Facebook users spent an average of 441 minutes — or 7 hours, 21 minutes — accessing the social network via smartphones during the month. By comparison, users spent 391 minutes — or 6 hours, 31 minutes — checking out Facebook on PCs.

The comScore report also revealed that smartphone users spent more time on Facebook than on any other social media network, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare. In fact, Facebook is the second largest mobile property behind Google. The social network garners more than 78 million unique monthly smartphone visitors, 81 percent of which access Facebook through its mobile app.

Besides showing that people spend a good chunk of time on Facebook, the data underscores the importance of a mobile strategy for the social network's business success. Facebook currently makes little revenue from its mobile app — the app doesn't include ads, and only started to include "sponsored posts" in users' news feeds last March.

Facebook admitted its mobile struggles in its recent IPO documents. "If users increasingly access mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users," the company writes in its filing documents, "our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected."

In light of these stats, a Facebook smartphone makes all the more sense. The company could capitalize on its mobile leadership position. But because Facebook has not officially made any announcements about its hardware plans, it's unclear when a Facebook phone will actually enter the market. In the meantime, we can hope that the company continues to update its mobile apps.

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Finding Fact of Conditional Sentences

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:21:00 +0000

Find the facts of these sentences:
1. If Mira had found the cellphone, she would not have bought the new one
Fact:.....................................................................................................................
2. Rangga would go to the hospital if his brother stayed at home
Fact: ....................................................................................................................
3. My mother would have spent her money if my father had not reminded her to save it
Fact:......................................................................................................................
4. If Arya had awaked that morning, Tono would have asked him to go to Bandung
Fact:......................................................................................................................
5. If Mrs Harris paid the job, Linda would save it to the bank
Fact:......................................................................................................................
6. Selly would have sold the bag if her sister had not asked the bag for her
Fact: .....................................................................................................................
7. Dany would win the race if he joined it
Fact: .....................................................................................................................
8. If Rais had thrown the garbage away, it would not have stunk our room
Fact:.....................................................................................................................
9. They would have worn the clothes if i had not told them about it
Fact:.....................................................................................................................
10. Lanny would tear the paper if she found it
Fact: ....................................................................................................................

Italian nuclear boss shot and wounded in Genoa

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Roberto Adinolfi, 53, was shot in the leg by a gunman on a motorbike but is said not to be in a serious condition.

Ansaldo Nucleare is part of aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica.

No group has said it carried out the attack but investigators quoted in media reports suggest anarchists may have been behind it.

The anarchist movement has a strong presence in the port city and, according to Italian news agency Ansa, police were examining recent pronouncements by some anarchist groups calling for "a shift to a new phase that could lead to armed action".

The shooting happened shortly after 08:30 (06:30 GMT) as Mr Adinolfi was leaving his house.

He was approached by a motorbike carrying two people wearing helmets one of whom fired three shots at him. He was hit in the leg just above the knee.

The head of parent company Finmeccanica, Alessandro Pansa, said it was an extremely worrying development.

"If this attack was linked to a political or social dispute this would be very serious, something unseen for years and the result of an extremely complex climate and a difficult situation in the industrial sector," he said.

He added that his colleague had been operated on and was not in a serious condition.

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Kerja sampingan mendulang dollar mudah di Microworkers

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Buat yang ingin cari tambahan dan dapet penghasilan dari internet dengan cara melakukan tugas-tugas yang anda sukai mungkin anda bisa mencoba situsMicroworkes.

Di situs ini anda dapat memilih tugas yang ingin anda lakukan dan mendapatkan pembayaran dari tugas yang anda kerjakan, bayaran yang anda dapatkan tergantung dari kesulitan tugas tersebut, tapi tenang saja sejauh ini tugas yg diberikan gampang kok, seperti

mendaftar di suatu situs, klik iklan, dll. tapi kalo ada pekerjaan yang meminta password email kita jangan pernah dikerjakan ya...soalnya kemungkinan itu spam.

Pay out di Microworkers bisa dilakukan setelah penghasilan anda telah mencapai $10 yang bisa diambil melalui paypal anda, hal lain yg menarik lainnya adalah pada saat anda mendaftar anda akan mendapatkan bonus $1 di account anda.

berikut screen shoot dari beberapa pekerjaan yg saya lakukan di Microworkers :

Buat temen-temen yang mau ikutan microworkers, silakan klik daftar disini

Both, Either, Neither, Nor and So

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Expression	Example
both … and …	I like both cats and dogs.
so	Jane likes cats. So do I.
not … either	Jane doesn't like cats. I don't like cats either.
either … or …	Jane either has a cat or a dog.
neither/nor	Jane doesn't like cats. Neither do I./Nor do I.
neither … nor …	I like neither cats nor dogs.

Exercise

Telling Time in English

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Exercise

Exercise on Telling the Time

Explanation

There are two common ways of telling the time.

Formal but easier way

Say the hours first and then the minutes.

Example: 7:45 - seven forty-five

For minutes 01 through 09, you can pronounce the '0' as oh.

Example: 11:06 - eleven (oh) six

More popular way

Say the minutes first and then the hours. Use past and the preceding hour for minutes 01 through 30. Use to and the forthcoming hour for minutes 31 through 59, but .

Example: 7.15 - fifteen minutes past seven

Example: 7.45 - fifteen minutes to eight

Another possibility of saying '15 minutes past' is: a quarter past

Another possibility of saying '15 minutes to' is: a quarter to

Another possibility of saying '30 minutes past' is: half past

Example: 5:30 - half past five

Watch

Note

Use o'clock only at the full hour.

Example: 7:00 - seven o'clock (but 7:10 - ten past seven)

In English ordinary speech, the twelve-hour clock is used.

Beispiel: 17:20 - twenty past five

For times around midnight or midday you can use the expressions midnight or midday / nooninstead of the number 12.

Beispiel: 00:00 - midnight

Beispiel: 12:00 - midday or noon

To make clear (where necessary) whether you mean a time before 12 o'clock noon or after, you can use in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night. Use in the morning before 12 o'clock noon, after 12 o'clock noon use in the afternoon. When to change from afternoon to evening, fromevening to night and from night to morning depends on your sense of time.

Example: 3:15 - a quarter past three in the morning OR a quarter past three at night

More formal expressions to indicate whether a time is before noon or after are a.m. (also: am - ante meridiem, before noon) and p.m. (also: pm - post meridiem, after noon). Use these expression only with the formal way of telling the time.

Example: 3:15 - three fifteen a.m.

It is not usual to use a.m. and p.m. with past/to.

Example: 3:15 - fifteen minutes past three OR a quarter past three

American English

Beside past Americans often use after.

Example: 06:10 - ten past/after six

But: in time expressions with half past it is not usual to replace past by after.

Beside to Americans often use before, of or till.

Example: 05:50 - ten to/before/of/till six

Future II Progressive (Future II Continuous)

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Future II progressive puts emphasis on the course / duration of an action taking place before a certain time in the future. It can also be used to express an assumption regarding a future action.

Future II progressive is not used very often as it can usually be replaced by future II simple.

Form

A: He will have been talking.
N: He will not have been talking.
Q: Will he have been talking?

Use

action taking place before a certain time in the future
puts emphasis on the course of an action

Signal Words

for ..., the last couple of hours, all day long

Exercise on future II progressive

Future II Simple Level: elementary

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:54:00 +0000

Future II Simple expresses an action that will be finished at a certain time in the future.

Form

A: He will have talked.
N: He will not have talked.
Q: Will he have talked?

Use

action that will be finished at a certain time in the future

Signal Words

by Monday, in a week

Exercise on future II simple

Past Perfect Progressive (Past Perfect Continuous)

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:53:00 +0000

The past perfect progressive puts emphasis on the course or duration of an action taking place before a certain time in the past.

Form

A: He had been talking.
N: He had not been talking.
Q: Had he been talking?

Use

action taking place before a certain time in the past
sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple
puts emphasis on the course or duration of an action

signal words

for, since, the whole day, all day

Exercise on past perfect progressive

Past Perfect Simple Level: lower intermediate

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:51:00 +0000

The past perfect simple expresses an action taking place before a certain time in the past.

Form of Past Perfect Simple

	Positive	Negative	Question
no differences	I had spoken.	I had not spoken.	Had I spoken?

For irregular verbs, use the past participle form (see list of irregular verbs, 3rd column). For regular verbs, just add ed.

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ed

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ed	Example
after final e, only add d	love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled	admit – admitted travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i	hurry – hurried

Use of Past Perfect

action taking place before a certain time in the past
(putting emphasis only on the fact, not the duration)
Example: Before I came here, I had spoken to Jack.
Conditional Sentences Type III (condition that was not given in the past)
Example: If I had seen him, I would have talked to him.

Signal Words

already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day (with reference to the past, not the present)
If-Satz Typ III (If I had talked, …)

Exercises on Past Perfect

Grammar in Texts

„The Canterville Ghost“ (highlight verbs in past perfect simple)

Tests

Past Perfect Simple: Level 2, Level 3

Future I Simple going to..

noreply@blogger.com (Zaenal Muttakin) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:50:00 +0000

Going to future expresses a conclusion regarding the immediate future or an action in the near future that has already been planned or prepared.

Form of going to Future

	positive	negative	question
I	I am going to speak.	I am not going to speak.	Am I going to speak?
you / we / they	You are going to speak.	You are not going to speak.	Are you going to speak?
he / she / it	He is going to speak.	He is not going to speak.	Is he going to speak?

Use of going to Future

an action in the near future that has already been planned or prepared
example: I am going to study harder next year.
a conclusion regarding the immediate future
example: The sky is absolutely dark. It is going to rain.

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Apple drops '4G' from iPad adverts

Pirate Pay torrent 'blocker' backed by Microsoft

Anontune: the new social music platform from 'Anonymous'

Own an iPod? Then you're suing Apple

Your Facebook 'likes' can get you fired

Clicking the "like" button isn't speech protected by the First Amendment, a judge ruled. Some legal experts, however, wonder if the judge understood what liking actually implies.

Report: Smartphones, not computers, drive most Facebook use

Finding Fact of Conditional Sentences

Italian nuclear boss shot and wounded in Genoa

Kerja sampingan mendulang dollar mudah di Microworkers

Both, Either, Neither, Nor and So

Telling Time in English

Exercise

Explanation

Formal but easier way

More popular way

Watch

Note

American English

Future II Progressive (Future II Continuous)

Form

Use

Signal Words

Future II Simple Level: elementary

Form

Use

Signal Words

Past Perfect Progressive (Past Perfect Continuous)

Form

Use

signal words

Past Perfect Simple Level: lower intermediate

Form of Past Perfect Simple

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ed

Use of Past Perfect

Signal Words

Exercises on Past Perfect

Grammar in Texts

Tests

Future I Simple going to..

Form of going to Future

Use of going to Future

Signal Words

Exercises on going to Future

Tests