ZounZ

Butler or Estate Manager?

2008-04-23T05:03:00.001+07:00

BatmanAlfred, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

What would batman do without Alfred?
Alfred's role was more than just a butler, he was also in charge of Bruce Wayne's properties, Batman's gadgets, cars, sometimes adviser and pretty much all else that runs in the house while Bruce is busy being Batman.

Ever wondered what a real life Alfred would be referred to? and how much he would actually earn?

To start with, how does one become like Alfred?

In the real world, you could probably start with getting a proper training at Starkey International Institute. It is a proper training institute for a professional Household Manager, Estate Manager, and Personal Assistant. Training includes, Service Management System & Software; Service Technology; Private Service Entertaining and Wine Cellar Management; Culinary Skills that customize Flavor Profiles; Technical Skills; Human Resources; People Management Tools; and Service Etiquette and Protocol.

How much does Alfred earn?

Doing what he does, Alfred should be referred to as Estate Manager as listed in Starkey's Levels which include:

The Estate Manager - $80,000 and $250,000 per year
The Estate Security Manager - $60,000 and $150,000 per year
The Certified Household Manager - $60,000 and $120,000 per year
The Butler - $60,000 to $85,000 per year
The Certified Personal Assistant - $60,000 - $100,000 per year
Professional Couples - $80,000 to $250,000 per year
Private Chef - $60,000 to $85,000 per year
House Keepers - $50,000 to $75,000 per year
Caretaker - up to $50,000 per year
(Wooooooow Look at those numbers!!!)

Who would employ real life Alfreds?

Royalty, Millionaires, Billionaires....
I guess there are plenty of openings, as according to the Wall Street Journal’s publication, “Richistan,” by Robert Frank, there are 9 Million Millionaires and 1 Million Billionaires who would be needing the services of a real life Alfred.

Interested?
Go visit www.starkeyintl.com

The time is 10 past 10!

2008-04-21T21:12:00.002+07:00

TAGSLR, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Is it just me?
Or has everyone always noticed that most watch advertisements always show watches pointing at around 10:10? I was chatting to a friend of mine, Danil, and we were talking about the importance of graphics in advertisements. And he was pointing out the little details which people may not realize that actually makes a difference.. for example... what time the watches show on advertisements..

I was curious.. so i checked it out...

CO2 Emissions rate Vs Death Rate Vs Birth Rate

2008-04-19T02:27:00.003+07:00

breathingearth, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

This website (www.breathingearth.net) shows you the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels of each country, including the death and birth rate within the country.

I highlighted my country (Indonesia) to see the local condition..

If the data above is anywhere close to accurate.. then the following is a scary thought..

Earth at night

2008-04-19T02:12:00.002+07:00

Earthatnightbynasa, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

This is what the earth looks like from space at night..
From this picture you can see which countries lights up the earth most at night..
From my eyes its:
1. North America
2. Europe
3. Japan

Earth spins 2 seconds slower?

2008-04-19T01:09:00.005+07:00

The Earth, originally uploaded by Esparta.

So i was chatting with my sister Irene, and she told me that she read somewhere that the earth is spinning 2 seconds slower..

I was curious, and of course i turned to Google for answers..

So this was what i found..

IT'S TRUE !!

"Researchers examining ancient corals noted that annual growth patterns suggested there were more days in a year in Fossil corals from the Devonian Period (380 million years ago) recorded 400 daily cycles. About 290 million years ago in the Pennsylvanian Period, there were 390 daily cycles each year. Assuming that Earth's revolution around the Sun has not changed dramatically, this means that the number of hours per day has been increasing and that Earth's rotation has been slowing. Today, the length of a day is 24 hours. During the Pennsylvanian Period a day was ~22.4 hours long. In the Devonian Period, a day was ~21.8 hours long. Earth's rotation appears to be slowing approximately 2 seconds every 100,000 years. Why are Earth days getting longer? Some scientists suggest that tidal cycles create a “drag” on Earth, causing it to slow down."
From Lunar and Planetary Institute
(http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night.shtml)

Your internet connection speed

2008-04-15T18:04:00.001+07:00

internetfrog, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Ever wondered how fast (or how slow) your Internet connection is exactly?
Use this online tool to find out!
http://www.internetfrog.com/mypc/speedtest/
As you can see on the picture that my download speed is actually pretty fast..
But the upload speed was shocking...
How accurate is this?
I dont know.. i guess it captures the speed at that moment of time..
And with a connection like mine (Ridiculously slow at times)..
I guess i was just lucky to hit a download speed of 619 kbps..

Horse Choir - Just for Fun!

2008-04-15T09:07:00.003+07:00

singinghorses, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

So..
You've seen horses in equestrian events..
You've seen them in Horse races..
You've seen them in movies
But I guess you haven't heard them sing...

Follow this link:
http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf

Watch these horses hum tunes..
click on each horse to start them singing..
click back on a horse if you want it to stop..
there is a horse on drums on the left most...
then one on bass..
one on vocals..
and the one on the right is on trumpets.. I guess..

Just for Fun!

MyMiniCity

2008-04-15T00:35:00.006+07:00

Myminicity1, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

A friend of mine (Derry) sent me a link on Facebook.
The message says:
"Please go to the link below to improve my city. Thanks
MyMiniCity - http://jakarta-indo.myminicity.com/"

I thought that it was some sort of a social network site of some sort. When I clicked on the link, it led me to a site showing a landscape with little roads and houses and buildings and trees.

It turns out that its some sort of a gathering page that turns each page visit into an addition to the "population" or "building" or other improvements to the "city" that my friend had built. The page also has a "news bulletin" where all the visitors can post messages as "citizens" of the city.

There is a "build my city" link on the right hand side of the page, and so i decided to build a ZounZ city of my own. You can start by choosing a country, then naming your own city, then with a click of your mouse... TaDAAaaa.... your own mini city online.. Well, the point is, get more visits on your city page, and watch your city develop. You can also check out your city ranking, and try to develop your city and get on top of that list.

At the moment I have a population count of 1.. So just to past your time, do take a moment to visit ZounZ city whenever you can ok ! "Together we could build a better ZounZ city.....!"

Did that sound like an election campaign message or what?? :)

See you there!

Did you know why the name "Bluetooth"?

2008-04-05T22:51:00.003+07:00

Bluetooth, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Most of us like myself would only know Bluetooth from our gadgets, and that its used for wireless connection between Bluetooth enabled gadgets.

So what exactly is Bluetooth?
When Bluetooth was officially introduced in 1998, its original purpose was to be a wireless technology to rapidly transfer voice and data between desktop and notebook computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, camera phones, printers, digital cameras, keyboards and even a computer mouse replacing the use of wires/cables. It was developed first by a trade association named the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which was set up by five companies Ericsson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel. Today the SIG's members include Microsoft, Lenovo, Apple, AT&T and thousands more.

So why the name Bluetooth?

Bluetooth was initially just a codename for the technology, and was taken from the nickname of Harald Blåtand who was the King of Denmark between 940 and 985 AD. The rumor was that the Danish king was given the nickname Bluetooth because he was so fond of blueberries that his teeth were stained blue. The founders of the Bluetooth SIG felt that the name was appropriate because Harald Bluetooth and the technology are both of Scandinavian origin, and just as King Harald Bluetooth united the Scandinavian countries, Bluetooth technology unites multiple forms of wireless communication into a single, secure, low-power, low-cost, globally available radio frequency.

So what do you think of the new logo I came up with above?

Ice Hotel

2008-04-02T00:02:00.003+07:00

icehotel, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Its late, raining heavily and cold at the moment..
Reminds me of my thoughts when I was reading an article on a magazine about the Ice Hotel along the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden.

As I read the title, I wondered if it was just another hotel in some freezing country, and it turns out to be a real hotel built out of ice and snow. The hotel was first built in the late 1980s and is rebuilt every year in winter as the hotel melts back into the river during summer.

The ice hotel is built from 10 000 tons of crystal clear ice blocks made by freezing the water from the Torne River into blocks, and 30 000 tons of pure snow. The best part must be the fact that the basic building material is free from mother nature. It takes about 6 weeks to build the hotel from scratch. Once built, the hotel has about 60 rooms, sleeps over 100 guests, and every bedroom is unique.

The rooms are furnished with everything ice as most of the decor within the hotel. The beds are made from slabs of solid ice and the tables and chairs are carved out from blocks of ice. To provide (some) comfort, reindeer skin blankets are put over the beds and chairs.

Every year the ice hotel is rebuilt with new designs, usually spreading over a space of about 53,700 feet, and apart from the hotel itself, it includes an Ice Chapel available for a wedding ceremony or christening, an Ice art exhibition hall, a cinema, and the famous Ice bar where you can enjoy ice-cold vodka from a shot glass made from ice.

(Ice Chapel)

(Ice Bar)

(Ice Shot Glass)

Amazing! Could you imagine the atmosphere in that place, and how it would feel sleeping on a block of ice? For around US$450 a night you could go experience it yourself. As for me, here i am feeling cold in a tropical country, and to go freeze myself at the Ice hotel, I have to save up for the room fare, the US$5000 one way ticket and fly 25 hours to get there from Jakarta, before thinking about how to get myself back home. Hmnmnmn... i guess for me, that experience could wait a while :) . For those lucky enough to have been there, i would like to hear about your experience. In the mean time I have to be content with looking at the pictures.

Visit www.icehotel.com

My Baby Tree

2008-03-28T14:22:00.005+07:00

mybabytree, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Did you know that Indonesia owns 10% of the world's remaining tropical forests? But I'm sure you know that the world is facing global warming issues partially due to deforestation.

Well, as an Indonesian, I'm sad to say that we are losing lots of trees to illegal logging. maybe that's why the weather has been so unpredictable. I read a news headline that says "Deforestation puts Indonesia as 3rd largest greenhouse gas emitter" and the news was "Deforestation, which releases a significant number of carbon dioxide, has put Indonesia as the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States and China"

So what do we do? Go plant more trees in the forest? I guess you could actually do that if you have a forest conveniently behind your house. :) The smarter way to play a part in saving the world from global warming would be through this website i accidentally came across, www.mybabytree.org. Its a website by WWF that encourages people to plant a tree in the Indonesian rainforest. By paying a small amount of $5.50 and WWF will plant the tree on your behalf. And the cool thing is that you could monitor the tree planted under your name through Google Earth.

So... be a superhero now! Save the earth from global warming :)

TV Mobile Phone

2008-03-23T22:54:00.009+07:00

hitech, originally uploaded by sugihsutjiono.

Do any of you own one of those TV mobile phones? Do they really work well? As in.. display clear pictures.. no “ants” all around? Well, we have a new craze over these TV mobile phones in Indonesia, especially with a price tag starting from around 1.5 million rupiah (about US$ 150), people are buying these phones up quick. All those available in Indonesia are mainly based on Chinese phones assembled in Indonesia. I know that major mobile phone brands like Nokia, Samsung and LG does produce TV enabled phones too, but i don’t think its available in Indonesia yet. Brands that I know are available are HiTech (www.hitech-mobile.com) and Ktouch (www.benephon.com).

What I would really like to comment on though is not how good (or how crappy) these phones are, but rather on how inconsiderate the message on their billboards can be. I was driving along a main road one evening and I came to a stop at a traffic light on a busy intersection in town (for those who know, its at Harmoni, Jakarta). And there it was. One GIANT billboard with a TV mobile phone and some text on it. I dont remember the exact words but the text was something like “Macet? Nonton TV GRATIS pake HP” (Traffic Jam? Watch TV on your mobile phone for FREE).

Geeeezzzzz … If you read my previous post, you would understand my frustration…. Really!! Traffic is bad enough in jakarta. Can you imagine if the person in the car in front of you was busy watching TV on the phone and did not realize that it was time to make a move? More traffic!!

Well, I guess good marketing is one that sells huh! Doesn’t matter if it sends the wrong message across. something like “its OK to drive and watch TV on your phone”

Traffic !

2008-03-23T22:12:00.001+07:00

Macet 2, originally uploaded by basibanget.

Could Someone do something about the traffic in Jakarta PLEASE!

FYI, I live in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. The traffic jam is ridiculously bad. Jakarta must be the new traffic jam centre of the world. Took me 3 hours to travel less than 10 km @ 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. from the city centre to my house. So how do you like traveling at about 3 Km/hour? How’s your traffic situation?

The day ZounZ started making a SounD !!

2008-03-22T08:00:00.004+07:00

Borobudur sunrise, originally uploaded by M3R.

Well….All great things had to start somewhere… :)
So here goes…
Keep updated to New trends and new random info from all around @ zounz.com
Enjoy!