Uploading a file to try the Office Web Apps technical preview. Since Word is not available yet, I tried the second most used Office apps, Excel.

I tried making a list of the Web activities feed partners recently added (and those not yet active).

The focus is blogging here. Does web activities bring more social networking and the instant sharing that harms blogging activities? For Live Space, maybe yes.

But admitedly, Live Space need to refactor and clean up the display codes to show things up faster. Like my old argument that my friends only check my Live Space from RSS reader and doesn’t comment because it’s too heavy to open (not yet including the numerous verification redirects), and needed logging in to Windows Live ID to comment (again, Yahoo Messenger is the dominant IM in my social circle).
The layout argument is there too, why limit the expression by only adding gadgets but doesn’t have control on the shape (layout). But let that alone since there’s other blogging sites with such layout limitation too.

back to topic. How much feed partners have blogging activities included? In the official category list, it’s 8 partners or 10.81%, not as much as the 39.19% social networking partners. But look more closely, other partners also had blogging in their activities. Fotolog and MetroFlog for example, are photoblogging site, post picture and tell story behind it. Tabelog, other than reviewing restaurants, had spot for diary (gastronomic diary, I suppose). Social networking sites like Friendster or Facebook also had place to write down thoughts. I hasn’t even checked video sites that could be used for video blogging.

In that incomplete check, feed partners that can be used for blogging goes to more than 20%, not bad actually.

It’s one of the title where I had the special feeling when first reading it. Say… something like love at first sight. When I first got the shipment of Comic Alive magazine from Media Factory to the office, this is the title that caught my eyes (other than titles I already knew), 断裁分離のクライムエッジ by 緋鍵龍彦. By the way, fair warning that the author used to be 18+ oriented comic artist so some of the links are not work safe.

Even so, this title is almost safe for work, most of the times. As per Comic Alive magazine 2009-10, the story has just reached part 5 and no information of single volume version yet. The raw scan is also available somewhere, but apparently nobody translate it more than chapter 1.

Haimura Kiri is a boy with a problem. He had a liking to cut hairs, which turns into obsession. One day, he went to a mansion in the middle of the forest, rumoured to be haunted by ghost of a girl with long and beautiful hair. Half of it is true, because there’s no ghost, just a girl. Kiri fell in love instantly with her hair and want to cut it.
Mushanokouji Iwai is the girl. She stayed in the mansion after her parents deceased. She’s cursed with the “uncutable hair” so she had never ever cut her hair, not even once, because nothing can. This curse is also the reason she quit school as the other students bullied her.

But there’s more behind both of them. Iwai’s ancestor is known as the “hair queen”, passing down that curse to her descendant. Kiri’s obsession is not simply some mental problem, he also had his share of family curse. His ancestor is a legendary serial killer known to have more than 200 victims he cut to pieces using pair of scissors with rough edges.

According to Iwai’s story, great serial killers left curse on their tools, the killing goods. Those tools can’t be destroyed, only passed down to the next generation. Each time, it became stronger, more destructive, more lethal, but worst of all, it brings the ecstasy of killing to their owners, making them turning into serial killers themselves. Kiri does had a hair shear he inherited, something he forgot to try on Iwai’s hair. Combined, maybe they can work out on something.

They’re not free from their curse, but they find a way to fill each others, and ward of the rest of the killers participating in the game (whoever killed the hair queen will get their wish granted).

I think, the first reason that made me interested is, I naturally loves mouthful terms like the title, and the promise of more such name coming up. Then, the relationship between both characters of course. No violent action, both know they liked each others and tried to show it in innocent and clumsy emotions. Anyway, like my opinion about many series, first episode ends beautifully, let’s hope it doesn’t get too long and too complicated.

Ctrl+D in Internet Explorer to add the currently viewed page to the bookmark.

Back then when Netscape is still standing tall, I used the feature to bookmark sites so I can get there easily. Those are reference sites and regularly visited sites such as discussion forum. It’s really an indispensable feature of every browser, especially since not everybody had the money to buy easy to remember domain name.

Windows Live used to have part called Live Favourites that works to store that browser bookmark online and synchronize it with Internet Explorer in other computer. There are other 3rd party solutions predating that, and now we also have Opera browser’s Opera Link and Chrome had the bookmark synchronization feature soon.

Live Favourites is changed, merged with Skydrive and become a social bookmark service like Delicious or Digg. This way, we can share interesting links to our friends and the world to see and comment.

Frankly, first time I heard the term bookmarking site or social bookmark, I never grasp the concept. Bookmark that I know is keeping links so I don’t forget and can access is quickly. Because of the tree structure of desktop file, without searching feature, I tried putting value to pages and decide if it’s worthy to bookmark or not. Rather than article, I bookmark the main page because most of the sites are static with links I can quickly find back the article, unlike the hi-speed internet of nowadays.

Being that, seeing peoples who seem to bookmark (& broadcast) anything they see is… not so understandable. Not just using bookmark site, but also the currently more trendy Tweet & Retweet. As in typographical design tips, when the whole sentence is bolded, there’s no emphasize anymore.

Well, in this information super highway age… (wait, that term’s almost a decade old isn’t it?) where articles come and by quickly (yeah, Twitter) keeping them has its good side. For example, when writing articles and need those lot of reference links back (either for description or maybe arcane art of SEO) it’s easier to find from shortlist of bookmark rather than use search engine to find them back.

While at it, why not broadcast it to everyone?

Rarely I went out on Sunday because tomorrow is work. Like I believe celebration starts by afternoon and ended in the afternoon, in Sunday, what’s left from weekend is just waiting for the next work day and work load. Anyway, I rarely went out for quick shopping on weekend too, always going around out of the house (not outdoor) probably until night.

Yesterday I can’t find the book I need in the Plasa Indonesia Kinokuniya bookstore, so I decided today I’ll go to the other store to look for it. I also spent a lot yesterday so it’s best not to spend time too long and ending up using more money (for snacks).

The plan is simple, go, pick up the thing, back home. This is the fasting month in the country with largest Muslim population on Earth after all, so close to sunset all restaurant are full house. With that kind of majority market, it’s not easy to find religiously unclean restaurant that might offer more chance to sit down.

*points to the right*
The shopping bag content. The one I need is actually the rightmost. Can’t find the other title so I just pick up another title for reading. Got four star, but the ending doesn’t seem so.

Tips… when going home, it’s best to do it a while after the sunset, because most peoples would already be inside malls and restaurants to have dinner, or eating at the street side sellers. The street is relatively not so congested.

For some users, the announcement of Facebook Lite might be a holy grail even more than Apple’s announcement. It’s something close to life, and free as beer. The thing is not the lighter interface it promised, but that this alternate interface push away those annoying applications. Yes, we want to know our friends, but we don’t care about their mafia game, or who they are according to zillions of quiz applications. We want to know about their snappy thoughts (status update, groups), interesting links, or their activities (events, photos) and interact with them. Those apps, as far as I know, are just like 97% of e-mail traffic.

Some basic science class now. Evolution is triggered by change in natural environment forcing organism to adapt or die. Events like the mass extinction weeds off most of the old player and introduced new face. When Facebook decide to change their layout design so that most apps are pushed back to the next tab instead of cluttering the first page, there’s joy. No more checking profile infested by dozens of useless applications they never cleaned.

But they evolve, as we know it, into application that spam the news feed as often as possible. These are quiz applications which grow in variant faster than any other computer virus.

Then Facebook Lite will eliminate those apps from feed, keeping only the basic functions like status message, links, photos, etc. I missed groups and pages, but can live with it as long as there’s no those pesky quizzes.

And as I commented in several places, how I’m so wrong. They evolve. First day Facebook Lite is launched, I had my feed already infested by something scarier. The applications are using the access they have to post generated picture into the Wall, then tag everybody in the contact list to spread itself. What a horror, it’s no longer a virus, it’s evolving into a Photo apps cancer.

I just hope Facebook will review and kill them off as soon as possible.

After yesterday’s near-accident, today we had another one.

Old news is, my mom confirmed she had injured muscle after check up yesterday. It’s from when she got robbed during her visit to her hometown for relative’s funeral. Doctor’s advice is just wait and heal, don’t exert herself. Hope she could.

Another one. I forgot bringing my digicam again today. The bus I’ll take to work is having problem again. This time, the main water pipe from radiator to the engine leaked. The engine compartment itself is dirty with grease, oil and dust; yeah, dirty job. Their makeshift repair uses only one tool, a scissor to cut off the damaged part of the pipe which fortunately is located near the connection with the engine block. After cutting it off, they attach it back and fill the radiator with water. Never realized it need so much, but this is a bus after all, a little more than three metres tall and can take probably 70+ passengers in full load (standing packed like canned fish).

In this Ramadan month, I think I saw increase of refrigerator with Coca Cola label in the public. One of it is in Slipi junction where I transferred bus in the morning. It’s not an automatic vending machine (which will probably receive resistance from local shops) but a refrigerator placed outdoor. It’s still clean for now, but I wonder how long it would survive the heat and dust and oily smokes from buses. But the timing is just right. Sweet and cool drink as the dusk came.

Lastly, except in unbearable traffic jam in front of the marketplace, my phone had helped me avoid walking quarter way to the office door. Game, a little bit of RSS browsing or checking Windows Live mobile. I can’t browse full site with my browser, and had no intention to do so either. Seeing full site in such small screen (read: less than 7~8”) is not comfortable. My phone plan also doesn’t constitute unlimited data, so had to keep an eye on the usage. I don’t use G’ Reader. This morning I used Netvibes mobile, but maybe I should try Bloglines mobile too. Any other suggestion for web based RSS reader that can be accessed in the lowest common denominator mobile web browser ?

I still think it’s best if the traffic department close down the street at the left side of the marketplace so peoples making shortcuts won’t clog the crossroad there. That way, the officers just need to keep the public minibus to keep on going instead of waiting for passenger in the middle of the street.

When much of the population is of old age and no more as productive as they used to be, the powers being doesn’t simply give new children as the next generation. Instead, they torn away the elderly, pulling out every usable guts inside and stuck it in the newborn.

Why, you might ask. Well, isn’t it obvious? So they don’t have to deal with the cost of getting those new gutters when they can use something that’s already there.

Now sorry about the personification way of speech, but isn’t that how IT procurement works without deal contract with manufacturer?

I paid my utmost respect to notebook bag makers, they respect better credit than I’ve given all these time.

My notebook is a HP TouchSmart Tx2. My bag is a vertical messenger bag from local manufacturer.

Today when I’m just a few hundred metres from home and is crossing the street, a motorbike almost had me. As the rule of engagement in street here, they act angered first as for not being blamed. Well, my bag flies in a parabolic trajectory, probably 1.5 metres high and landed on concrete centimetres from passing car wheel approx. two metres from the place I’m standing on.

In panic, I quickly opened up the bag as soon as I got back home. Amazingly, no crack. The worst thing is the hard drive hatch is opened a bit, which I could manage to forcefully push back without screwdriver and avoid voiding the warrantee seal. Windows loaded fine so far and there’s no voice of anything broken inside. The touch screen also works fine, active nor passive.

Thank God.

As far as my memories goes, there’s no fatal quake in Jakarta. The largest damage I’ve ever heard is just cracks in the wall, once. Even so, we still enjoy evacuating the buildings. In shopping centres, this could be a nightmare for the shop owners isn’t it. Imagine, peoples grabbing things and grabbing the chance to get out with the commotion even though they know there couldn’t be any large scale disaster.

Today, in the middle of heated meeting to discuss the upcoming publishing schedule, things starts shaking. Standing on the 3rd floor, the shaking can be felt. We then evacuate the building, no panic. Shortly after, the meeting continue with talk about how if the printing company said there won’t be last week delivery then there will be local quake in the room (epicentre: the sales manager).

This month is troublesome. We had the Ied, where many Indonesian have the tradition of going back to their hometown to meet with their relatives. The homecoming is in such a large scale that it congested all inter-province highway out of the major cities such as Jakarta capital area. So congested, seems like the government declared, except the nine prime commodities, there will be no logistic shipment for a week before and after the Ied. Book’s not included in prime commodities of course. That’s why we’re in tight schedule.

From various news sources, the epicentre of the quake is 30 km under the sea, southeast of the town of Tasikmalaya. At 7.8 Richter scale, it’s quite big. A mosque in that city’s downtown is ruined.

While I spent the afternoon doing proof checking in the pre-printing division, there’s something interesting happened in the elevator at the back of the office. I heard from colleague who passed the place around 13.30 that they hear voice coming from inside the elevator.

According to witness A, there’s sound he thought to sounds like the elevator is falling down. There’s also voices like female screaming from inside. When checked, there’s nothing wrong with the elevator. He also mentioned, once when he’s doing overtime work and is going back using the elevator, he’s almost trapped inside and emergency intercom not working at all. When the door opened, first floor’s surface is already knee-high.

Witness F gave a less scary description. He said it sounds like a woman being pushed inside.

The third witness, I hasn’t had the chance to ask about this experience.

But it’s not that surprising. Our new building does seem to have a lot of problem. One of it is yesterday’s fire. That elevator in particular is believed to be used item (cheaper) and it’s not the first time there are story about something close to apparition there. With today’s event, it would be interesting if we had the resource to trace back where that elevator came from.

I’m glad that I’m working in the second floor, we go up and down through the emergency staircase.