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Monday, 3 May 2010

Industrial Technology

Enhancing Indonesian Industrial Competitiveness through Industrial Technological Development

International experience, particularly in East Asia, has indicated that raising industrial competitiveness requires investments in various kinds of technological capabilities, including procurement, production, design, engineering, marketing, and other kinds of capabilities (Lall, et.al., 2000: 20). Developing these technological capabilities is particularly important for raising Indonesia's export competitiveness, as its manufactured exports has mainly consisted of resource- and low skill labour-intensive products, which generally involve less effort, risk, and externalities. However, rapid and sustained manufactured export growth requires moving from easy to complex products and processes within activities, and across activities from easy to complex technologies (Lall, et.al., 2000: 20).

Following Lall, (1996a) and a World Bank study on the conditions affecting Indonesia's industrial technology development (World Bank, 1996), we identify the basic and enabling conditions influencing a developing country's industrial technological development.

The basic conditions for industrial technology development in Indonesia are:

1. The pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies, as low inflation encourages firms to make long-term investments in technology development;
2. The pursuit of pro-competition economic policies, as a competitive environment is conducive to drive firms to rapidly adopt and diffuse new technologies, and make an efficient use of new technologies;
3. The upgrading of human resources, as the technical human resource base is a key input into the process of acquiring, using, improving, and developing technologies. In addition to these basic conditions, a number of enabling conditions should be met or created through policies that:;
4. Improve manufacturing firms’ access to foreign technologies through various channels;
5. Improve the availability of finance for industrial technology development;
6. Improve the effectiveness and performance of technology support services.

Governments have to create the policy environment for 1) and 2). The pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies and pro-competition policies constitute the incentive system, which stimulates a firm's demand for improved technological capability. Points 4), 5) and 6) help to improve the supply-side capabilities of a firm. Governments clearly have a role in investing to upgrade human resources, and in ensuring an adequately functioning financial system. They may also need to invest directly in technology support services and in some R and D. On the critical issue of access to foreign technology their role will largely to ensure there are no serious administrative barriers for national firms, who seek this technology.

Music of Indonesia

Indonesia is home to various styles of music, with those from the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali being frequently recorded. The traditional music of central and East Java and Bali is the gamelan.

In 1966, a law was passed (Panpres 11/1965) banning Western-style pop or rock music[citation needed]. On June 29, 1965, Koes Plus, a leading Indonesian pop group in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, was imprisoned in Glodok, West Jakarta, for playing Western-style music. After the resignation of President Sukarno, the law was rescinded, and in the 1970s the Glodok prison was dismantled and replaced with a large shopping mall. The new mall in Glodok is now the centre of recording, production and distribution of modern Indonesian pop and rock music.[citation needed]

Kroncong is a musical genre that uses guitars and ukuleles as the main musical instruments. This genre had its roots in Portugal and was introduced by Portuguese traders in the fifteenth century. There is a traditional Keroncong Tugu music group in North Jakarta and other traditional Keroncong music groups in Maluku, with strong Portuguese influences. This music genre was popular in the first half of the twentieth century; a contemporary form of Kroncong is called Pop Kroncong. In addition, there are regional variations such as Langgam Jawa, which is most popular in Central Java and Yogyakarta[citation needed].

The soft Sasando music from the province of East Nusa Tenggara in West Timor is completely different. Sasando uses an instrument made from a split leaf of the Lontar palm (Borassus flabellifer), which bears some resemblance to a harp.

Monday, 8 February 2010

High & Lifted Up

It was a windy day.
The mailman barely made it to the front door. When the door opened, Mrs. Pennington said, "hello", but, before she had a real chance to say "thank you", the mail blew out of the mailman's hands, into the house and the front door slammed in his face. Mrs. Pennington ran to pick up the mail.
"Oh my," she said.
Tommy was watching the shutters open and then shut, open and then shut.
"Mom," he said, "may I go outside?"
"Be careful," she said. "It's so windy today."
Tommy crawled down from the window-seat and ran to the door. He opened it with a bang. The wind blew fiercely and snatched the newly recovered mail from Mrs. Pennington's hands and blew it even further into the house.
"Oh my," she said again. Tommy ran outside and the door slammed shut.
Outside, yellow, gold, and red leaves were leaping from swaying trees, landing on the roof, jumping off the roof, and then chasing one another down the street in tiny whirlwinds of merriment.
Tommy watched in fascination.
"If I was a leaf, I would fly clear across the world," Tommy thought and then ran out into the yard among the swirl of colors.
Mrs. Pennington came to the front porch.
"Tommy, I have your jacket. Please put it on."
However, there was no Tommy in the front yard.
"Tommy?"
Tommy was a leaf. He was blowing down the street with the rest of his play-mates.
A maple leaf came close-by, touched him and moved ahead. Tommy met him shortly, brushed against him, and moved further ahead. They swirled around and around, hit cars and poles, flew up into the air and then down again.
"This is fun," Tommy thought.
The maple leaf blew in front of him. It was bright red with well-defined veins. The sun-light shone through it giving it a brilliance never before seen by a little boy's eyes.
"Where do you think we are going?" Tommy asked the leaf.
"Does it matter?" the leaf replied. "Have fun. Life is short."
"I beg to differ," an older leaf said suddenly coming beside them. "The journey may be short, but the end is the beginning."
Tommy pondered this the best a leaf could ponder.
"Where do we end up?"
"If the wind blows you in that direction," the old leaf said, "you will end up in the city dump."
"I don't want that," Tommy said.
"If you are blown in that direction, you will fly high into the air and see things that no leaf has seen before."
"Follow me to the city dump," the maple leaf said. "Most of my friends are there."
The wind blew Tommy and the maple leaf along. Tommy thought of his choices. He wanted to continue to play.
"Okay," Tommy said, "I will go with you to the dump."
The winds shifted and Tommy and the leaf were blown in the direction of the city dump.
The old leaf didn't follow. He was blown further down the block and suddenly lifted up high into the air.
"Hey," he called out, "the sights up here. They are spectacular. Come and see."
Tommy and the maple leaf ignored him.
"I see something. I see the dump." The old leaf cried out. "I see smoke. Come up here. I see fire."
"I see nothing," the maple leaf said.
Tommy saw the fence that surrounded the city dump. He was happy to be with his friend. They would have fun in the dump.
Suddenly, a car pulled up. It was Tommy's mom. Mrs. Pennington wasn't about to let her little boy run into the city dump.
"Not so fast," she said getting out of the car. "You are not allowed to play in there. Don't you see the smoke?"
Tommy watched the maple leaf blow against the wall and struggle to get over. He ran over to get it but was unable to reach it.
Mrs. Pennington walked over and took the leaf. She put it in her pocket.
"There," she said, "it will be safe until we get home."
Tommy smiled, ran to the car and got in. He rolled down the back window and looked up into the sky. He wondered where the old leaf had gone. Perhaps one day he would see what the old leaf had seen - perhaps.
top

poem special for my friend

If you're friendly and you know it,
clap your hands.
If you're friendly and you know it,
clap your hands.

If you're friendly and you know it,
and you really want to show it,
If you're friendly and you know it,
clap your hands!

Saturday, 6 February 2010

weight

Do you know about weight gain ?
Nowadays it seems like everyone is looking for a solution to weight loss. But if you’re reading this health article, you might actually be looking for a solution to the opposite problem: You want to know how to gain weight and build muscle in a healthy manner without having to resort to harmful drugs or expensive weight gain supplements that don’t work.

In a nutshell, weight gain can be achieved with the combination of good nutrition and a consistent weight training program. When it comes to nutrition, it’s essential to have a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and good fats if you want to add weight. Proteins are necessary, because they repair and rebuild muscles after a workout. The average person should take in 1/2 gram of protein per pound of body weight to be healthy. But if you want to gain weight, you should consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Red meat, eggs, fish, poultry are great sources of protein that also provide important amino acids that aid in healthy weight gain.

And don’t leave out the carbohydrates, which the body stores in the muscle tissues and liver in the form of glucose. When your body needs energy, it turns to these stored carbs for fuel. If you don’t have enough carbohydrates, your body will convert protein into carbohydrates to get energy, thereby robbing your body of the proteins it needs to help you gain weight.

Carbohydrates are comprised of three types: simple, complex and dietary fiber. Simple carbohydrates can be obtained from sources like fruit juices; complex carbohydrates come from potatoes, oats, brown rice, whole grains and pasta; and dietary fiber comes from vegetables such as sweet corn, black beans and broccoli, among many others. The best approach is to get your calories from eating raw foods, but this is not always possible for people who have trouble gaining weight. For them, meal replacements can be important tools.

To implement a weight gain program, it’s imperative that you eat several smaller meals a day rather than three larger meals. Why is this important? Because as the frequency of meals increases, so will nutrient absorption rates. More frequent nutrient delivery also means your body will be in a better position to regulate insulin levels, which factor into weight gain. The problem is that if you’re like most people, you probably don’t have time to prepare six meals a day. Meal replacements, which are commonly referred to as as MRPs (meal replacement powders), can provide a solution.

As the name suggests, MRPs are supplements that replicate the effect of having eaten a meal. MRPs don’t do anything more than a good, healthy meal; they just make eating more convenient and portable. You might think MRPs would be a grim and tasteless option. But the good news is that as more people have used and become knowledgeable about them, they have forced nutrition companies to come up with palatable products that really work. Quality MRP brands like Prolab, EAS, Met-Rx and Optimum Nutrition not only taste good; they contain an assortment of vital proteins and vitamins. (That’s not always the case with MRPs you find in the grocery store, so buyer beware.) You don’t need a kitchen to prepare an MRP; all you need is water or juice and a shaker. It’s almost like having a personal chef who provides nutritional meals at your command, any time of the day.

There are a few things to consider before you head out to the store and buy your first can of MRP. By far the most important criteria is the taste. No matter how nutritious it is, if you don’t like how it tastes, it isn’t going to help you. Next are the upgrades. Beware of companies that add extra whey protein or glutamine because these are rip-offs.
keep u'r body!!!

Possesive Form

Forming the possessive

The possessive form is used with nouns referring to people, groups of people, countries, and animals. 'Belonging to' or 'ownership' is one of the relationships it expresses :

* John owns a car. ('John' is the possessor or owner)
* It is John's car.



* America has some gold reserves. ('America' is the owner)
* They are America's gold reserves.

It can also express other relationships, for example:

where someone works or studies or spends time:

* John goes to this school. This is John's school.
* John sleeps in this room. This is John's room.

a family relationship:

* John's mother
* The Queen's daughter

qualities:

* John's patience.
* The politician's hypocrisy.

Form

To form the possessive, add 's ('apostrophe -s') to the noun.
If the noun is plural, or already ends in -s, just add:' (an apostrophe).

For names ending in -s:

In speaking we add the sound /z/ to the name, but in writing it is possible to use either 's or just '. The 's form is more common. e.g. Thomas's book, James's shop.
Examples

* The car of John = John's car.
* The room of the girls = The girls' room.
* Clothes for men = Men's clothes.
* The sister of Charles = Charles' sister.
* The boat of the sailors = The sailors' boat.

There are also some fixed expressions where the possessive form is used:
Time expressions Other expressions
a day's work For God's sake!
a fortnight's holiday a pound's worth of apples.
a month's pay the water's edge
today's newspaper a stone's throw away (= very near)
in a year's time at death's door (= very ill)
in my mind's eye (= in my imagination)

The possessive is also used to refer to shops, restaurants, churches and colleges, using the name or job title of the owner.
Examples:
the grocer's the doctor's the vet's
the newsagent's the chemist's Smith's
the dentist's Tommy Tucker's Luigi's
Saint Mary's Saint James's

1. Shall we go to Luigi's for lunch?
2. I've got an appointment at the dentist's at eleven o'clock.
3. Is Saint Mary's an all-girls school?

EDUCATION

ANCOR WAT, CAMBODIA


Located in Northwestern Cambodia, Angkor. the Capital of the Ancient Khmer Empire was possibly founded around the Ninth Century AD by King Jayavarman II. However, the city reached its peak glory in the 12th Century under Kings Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII. The most beautiful and most famous monument in the city, Angkor Wat, lies about one kilometer south of the Royal town of Angkor Thom, which was founded by Jayavarman VII.

King Suryavarman II, who reigned between AD 1131 and 1150, dedicated the Temple of Angkor Wat to the Hindu God Vishnu. The temple was constructed over a period of 30 years, and illustrates some of the most beautiful examples of Khmer and Hindu Art. Covering an area of about 81 hectares, the complex consist of five towers, which are presently shown on the Cambodian national flag. These towers are believed to represent the five peaks of Mount Meru, the Home of Gods and Center of the Hindu Universe. Angkor Wat features the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which runs along the outer gallery walls, narrating stories from Hindu Mythology.

With the decline of the Ancient Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat was turned into a Buddhist Temple and was continuously maintained, which helped its preservation. In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the monument, and the whole city of Angkor, a World Heritage Stage.