Majulah (ke) Singapura

Friday, August 21, 2009

Ah it's quite a busy day while I'm working on project proposals for my design studio, and well.. I just returned from some fun trip to Singapore.
This trip is particularly special because I adopt the philosophy "go first, think later"..
My friends and I went without enough plans of where to go, where and how are we going to sleep, eat, etc.
But cool, it's more like an adventure..

We prefer walking around the town with a map, rather than taking trains to circle around.
Some places that took my attention is the Jew's praying place, Synagouge. It is quite a surprise to found one around. Since around South-East Asia, there are almost no sign of Jews community.
And of course, me, I am a person who doesn't have any prejudices towards any religion, I personally interested to the Synagogue. The building's form, characteristic, importance, and the community as well. But unfortunately, it seems that we couldn't enter the Synagogue.
I first notice the Synagogue on the map after a david star sign when I am scanning around the area map of Fort Canning Park, and then I deliberately wanted to see it.
But we stalled around Fort Canning Park and waste some time seeing old cemetery, a colonial building with a classic music playing inside, an archeological site, and 'Battle Box' an interactive museum of the fort itself which tells the story about how Singapore (which that time belongs to the Biritsh) fell to the hands of the Japanese in February 1942, World War II.
And of course, it stole my attention.. haha..

Another funny story is that we watch the movie 'UP', shortly after we reached there and well, that's quite an inspiring movie about adventure.. what a coincidence!
I am inspired about Carl's enthusiasm in adventure and his admiration toward the adventurer Charles Muntz when he was a little boy..
I like a story about admiration, inspiration, a deep passion on something adventurous and challenging.
I like people who had that spirit as well, in fact, human races advances under the lead or charisma and encouragement by people with the passion of challenging and changing the world.

I am into adventure, I am into interesting stories of the ancients, the legends and myths, the marvel of many people who resist against the time.
I want to learn of how can I be one of them, who lives eternally in the hearts of people, whether they are only a fictional character or real figures of the past.
George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, was once trying to figure this issue, and he did it. He admits that he is totally inspired by myth and legends, of how they are told so many times since long time ago, but people still react the same way towards the story.
There must be a psychological explanation of why they resist the harshness of time.
Me, myself, like I've told everybody so many time, I want to live forever, I want to retain my identity as a person who ever lived in the planet earth. I don't want to disappeared just yet, after one or two generation, I want to last forever, I'll always shout this statement everyday if I have to!

In particular, I am more into ancient places than modern places..
To tell the truth, I sometimes imagine in an extensive imagination of activities held at certain places in the past when I visit them. I stand still, inhale some deep breath and recreate imaginary visual and verbal experience that might had happened long ago on particular place I visited.Even if my imagination is not enough to recreate that sensation fully, it is actually quite fun doing it everytime I visit some places.

But it doesn't mean that I didn't like the modern places, I am into it as well..
Even if I am dissatisfied with trends, I agree with the idea of being advanced.
Because what those people in the past had done, is that they did something significant, a totally advanced act of their age.
Thus, to be one of them, I need to made my way, even if it means to destroy themselves..
Oh yes, people are so selfish, I am particularly a very selfish one in this case.
I totally understand the fact if I destroy their history, then there will be another person who'll destroy my history in the future.
But life is a game.. Let's have a competition with those people who endured the test of time..If they can stand for thousand of years, then I'll try to stand for million of years!

Boredom Buster

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Ah, it's quite a long time since I did the last post..

Well, I think I'll just write some simple stuffs for this particular post, actually there are many things to write, but I'm just both too busy and lazy, especially to write some serious writings.

I'm currently having an industrial training in Jakarta, it's tiresome and damn boring!

Damn it! does the adult live like this!? those monotonous office activities.. It beats my mental health, and then I'd ended up getting too sleepy and fell asleep in the office.. Ahh, this is not good..

To overcome the boredom (and to avoid falling asleep at the office), I did some stuffs including, reading some architectural books (haha, I'm an architecture students after all), or maybe some novels I saved from the internet, playing phone games, and the most effective one (I think) is my high school habit, doodling and scribing..

It works, and what's better is that I got some personal improvement by doodling.. It's a nonsense isn't it? But yes, my handwriting has improved! I'm quite famous for ugly handwriting, even me, myself couldn't read my handwritings sometimes.

Now I have better handwriting, and I also somewhat mastered architectural fonts, which I couldn't do until now.

Another thing I got from doodling at works is some piece of art I did using markers..

I was doing some CAD works, and then I got bored. I keep on zooming in and zooming out my works at the computer screen and then I got inspired by the lines and colors at the drawings I've made on the AutoCAD.

inspiring CAD image

I remembered this pattern at some pictures I saw in the internet, it was a dress motifs, and I draw these pattern on my skecthbook.

pattern I drew

It's something like that, I'm sorry the image is not sharp enough..

Since I drew it too small, I am dissatisfied and I started to draw a bigger one.

And well, size does matter! I did some changes while working on the bigger one, and the final product... is the picture you see at the top of this post..

It doesn't look related at all!? maybe.. haha..

Past/Present/Future

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Here's some drafts I found just now, and I decided to post it here..

It's about things that I have posted here, including the post about a dream I had (about future computers), my Tea House presentation project, and of course Leonardo Da Vinci..

Well, I remember when I was having a presentation for the Tea Walk project last semester. One of the panelist for my presentation, told me about my plan geometry, that I can only made plan that’s exactly like the star of betlehem.

(since my plan is based on the star of betlehem , but I used rectangles rather than square and I move it so it doesn’t looks symmetrical from the plan).

I asked why can’t I?

She said, it’s because there are some orders that I couldn’t change.

(but this is plan, ma’am, and I didn’t think that my planning doesn’t have anything to do with the ‘orders’ she mentioned)

and she continues, she mentioned Leonardo Da Vinci, maybe because I put the inverted writing (that’s made famous by Da Vinci), which I put intentionally, not because I wanted to imitate Da Vinci.

She said that, “you are not Da Vinci. God has given Da Vinci such gift that his brain is so brilliant that he could create his own or new orders.”

This is actually a public statement and it’s not offensive at all..

But I'm unpleased by hearing her statement.

Which means, I cannot surpass Da Vinci? I cannot create new orders just because I’m not Da Vinci?

I don’t believe in such thing, I do believe that everyone could do anything. Everyone get the same chance!

If it’s about gift-from-God-thing, (I’m sorry if I think too highly of myself) I believed that I’ve got the gift from God as well, I’ve got the potential..! I wouldn’t afford losing just because of that potential thing..

If it’s about hardwork, or maybe environments, etc. that boost his capabilities and made him succeed with all those achievements.. I could accept that..

And after having this dream, about this technology..

Something bothered me, we all know that’s Da Vinci products aren’t only arts.

He’s also a genius philosopher and scientist.

He had this vision of flying machine just like the modern helicopters. But the technology in his era wouldn’t allow him to create such flying machine..

Now I’m asking, isn’t it possible that he had the same vision just like me?

The idea’s just drilled to his brain (of course also after he put some thought on it)..

And he tried to sketch it, to realize it, but unfortunately.. The technology wouldn’t allow me to.. Just like this ring-sized computer I just dreamt of..

Or maybe famous writers of sci-fi books and films like James Bond, with this vision of modern gadgets. And George Lucas, with his vision of a laser blade called lightsaber, weapon of the Jedi.

He imagined that the source of the laser would be a crystal powered by self-charging power cell which is strong enough and small enough to be placed inside the hilt.

But our technology isn’t that advanced yet, and I don’t think that we can limit a light movement (where the lightsaber blade would span up to about 1.2m).

Actually I’ve had my own theory of possible lightsaber construction. It would not light or laser based blade, but rather heat based blade.

The ultilization of the heat isn't like vibroblade, where the blade is heated up with a very high frequency generator (that's why it's called vibroblade), but rather a fireblade.

Because I remember that fire were made of three aspects, oxygen, fuel, and heat (or the fire itself).

Oxygen exist everywhere, all we need is this ‘fuel’ that could easily distributed to 1.2m span requirements that’s fit into the hilt for a very long period of time (and if possible, self-charging like the lightsaber power cell). And all we need is just an ignition button to fire up..!

Well, just to track back to possibilities of a more advanced ancient technology, George Lucas put this line in every Star Wars opening “a long time ago, in the galaxy far far away”.

See the line? ‘a long time ago’.. Maybe he also realized that there are possibilities that super advanced technology does exist in the past..!

Then, what's so special about Da Vinci? He's just an ordinary human, and a dreamer like us..

Soon we'll be living in the future..

Do you believe that some things in life exist because they were meant to exist?

Or maybe, it’s there because it’s meant to be there?

I’ve been taught recently about things called Genius Loci, or ‘spirit of the place’ that somewhat drove people to made a certain space so special in a macrospace.

In other word, the spirit somewhat affecting things and create only an exact condition (of what it meant to be) or something that’s meant to be there or that way.

They’re special because they really are special..

I also understand that sometimes, things become special because of some great achievements, or maybe a breakthrough or something new that’s unconsciously made people to start labeling things to these achievements, breakthroughs or anything else that’s worth, and put them in place in their hearts.

Just like iPod and Walkman, just name about other portable music player that’s sounds so perfect.. Honestly, I can’t think about anything good except these two.

And this is what labels are..

Okay, do you remember the song Yesterday from The Beatles?

Paul McCartney first got the tunes from his dream, and when he woke up, he jumps to his piano and trying to play the tunes he heard in his dream so it won’t just lost away.

Recently, I’ve been having weird dreams for the last few days. And just now, I’ve had a very interesting dream.

A similar dream to McCartney’s.. Well, it’s not about music, but a vision of a future technology.

I dreamt about a future computer, how it looks like, how it works, and the logic behind these.

Here’s what I’ve been dreaming about..

First, I dreamt about watching an ad video of latest Apple Computer product (which only exist in my dream).

Their latest product, if I still remember, it's another MacBook series. Similar to MacBook Air, not in the context of its shape or specs, but rather in the context of it’s portability.

This new product integrates the iDisk system to it's own computing system..

I mean, this latest MacBook doesn’t have any physical harddisk. All the access to the data storage is done wirelessly. Which also means the internet connections are supposed to be incredibly fast.

(And this is in my dream, okay? So just, consider that it is already fast enough, as fast as the internet connections in the future maybe?)

This is just like what Steve Jobs intention by releasing MacBook Air!

A wireless future..

Still in my dream, then suddenly, all the videos I’ve been watching on YouTube are about Apple Computer and wireless technology.

Greater potentials of wireless technology for future computers.

Let’s say, each parts of hardware that runs the computer are connected wirelessly.

Each hardware has it’s own wireless transmitters.

Then, future computer should have been incredibly small, light and ultra portable..

And now, this is my own McCartney’s Yesterday part..

Something suddenly popped out in my head. I talked to myself (in my dream of course), “Ah, I know how the future computers will looks like, it will be as big as a ring in our finger”.

Then suddenly, all the details about this ring computer just came up.

Like it was already there before..

I know all about it, how it’s work, and the mechanism, theoretically..

This ring-sized computer would have a control stick as big as main control stick in Sony Ericssons phones. This control stick can move to all directions (not 4 directions like phones).

This control stick is used to navigate the pointer in the computer screen.

To click, simply click the control stick, just like phones..

Now where’s the screen and the keyboards? The ring is actually projected the screen to the air from nothing. Remember watching sci-fi films and games where computers don’t have any physical screens and keyboards? They are actually projected in the air, but it’s touchable (after projected).

The interface would be like iPod touch or iPhone, where there is only one button. Just push the main button (in this case, the control stick), the computer will be activated and the screen will be projected. To turn of, just navigate through the screen and choose the turn off or shut down option. Or maybe, by pressing the main button long enough to shut the computer down. Simple..!

The ring-sized computer would comprise of ultra fast and ultra small nano-processor, ultra small lens that could manipulate carbon particles in the air to project (or maybe create) the screen and keyboard, and ultra small and strong battery.

Of course they’re all works wirelessly with connection to a server that holds and handle all the tasks and any data processes. The server will handle everything, and we only need to carry this ring-sized computer to do any computing tasks..

And just like McCartney, after I woke up, I went to my computer and start writing, so it wont just lost away..haha..

All of these things I mentioned, maybe are possible in the future, when we achieved a super-advanced technology. I remember my lecturer, Mr. Lim Take Bane mentioned about his own theory of the famous Crystal Skulls.

He said that it’s could possibly a source of knowledge, maybe it’s a crystal based processors, harddisk, etc. which could store much more data than silicone (which we used today).

I agreed with his idea of this crystal-based technology, I even had my own theory if we relate back to ancient technology, which allows them to create such well, designed and arranged structures like the pyramids and great temples.

Isn’t it possible if ancient people are really more advanced than us, that they could use other materials or mediums to transmit energy (like electricity, heat, etc.)?

If our civilization today is more electricity based which transmitted through conductors like steels and other metals, and wave based such as these wireless technology.

Maybe the ancient people had already found the next generation of technology!?

That’s why we never met any metal wiring, or any technology similar to ours today, on these ancient sites..

But sometimes, we do meet some unidentified figures or something in their pictures, glyph, or writings.

What is it? UFO? Extraterrestrials? Or maybe, these ancient technologies that they had to build their structures that we haven't understand yet.

We actually are about to leave the digital era, we’re about to enter the next era of technology, the fluid interface.

Let's just see, students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen.

The wearer can summon virtual gadgets and internet data at will, then dispel them like smoke when they’re done..

This is just like what I’ve been talking about my vision of ring-sized computer!

The future is near. Soon, we'll be living in the future..!

(Im)possible extend

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

For eons, humankind has always been obsessed with immortality.

Why are we so obsessed with it? Is it because we don’t want to leave mortal world? Or maybe because the fear of death? Or fear of what will happens after we die?

Actually, the answer is so simple, it’s because immortality is something that we could not achieve..

It is because of our natural behavior and fact that reality isn’t as beautiful as what we sees in pictures, movies, books, stories, dreams, etc.

We always wanting something, and we always wants what we can’t have. It’s just like dream, dream is not a dream anymore if it’s become true..

This is something that I believed..

We actually can find a way to immortality, but God wouldn’t allow us to.

Remember, God create men in His own image. We are actually the personification of God.

God create the earth and the heavens. And we create our homes and machines.

God create us, human, and we create robots.

Maybe it’s just this simple, we are actually a system made by God, a very intelligent one. Just like in computers, we create a program, an intelligent program.

We could think creatively, because God made us that way. Just like how computer nowadays can think with it’s own artificial intelligence from programs we wrote.

We could heal ourselves from wounds, we could replicate ourselves and many more. Just like how computer programs could fix themselves if there’s any error in the system, and they could even replicating themselves (like computer virus and other similar programs).

That means, we are actually like computer programs to the user, God.

And this is the point..

We actually develop such technology that would theoretically made us immortal, or even bring people back to live. Bring people back to live? Is it possible? Maybe, since we are actually a consciousness system ourselves, then these consciousnesses might be exist somewhere after they leaves our mortal body after we dies, only God knows and have the power to access and do things to these consciousnesses (or system).

I believed we are able to gain the technology, but then, only God who able to decide whether these consciousnesses are allowed to return into mortality (if we’re attempting to revive), or maybe preserves our body and soul into immortality (if we’re attempting to gain immortality.

But then, Let’s just back to the relationship between God as the user, and us as the programs.

Remember ugly Window Vista security program that always ask us when we’re executing another program? It would ask us, the user, to allow or not for the program to run?

Then it’s up to the user to let the program work or not!

It’s up to God, whether He allow us to revive a person, or maybe live forever. We may have the ability to build the technology to do it, but the user decides.

Of course God can also do these things even without us, and our technology that are much inferior to God. It’s just like how the user or programmer execute a program or wrote a new program for the computer.

There are the examples,

Remember the prophet Isa (in Islam or Yesus in Christian, since the Moslem actually believed that Yesus is not God or maybe son of God, but a prophet), granted a miracle by God to revive a dead person?

Also Shaitan or Satan, whose wish is granted by God to live until the end of the day?

Why God wouldn't allow us to revive people? or gain immortality?

Because it will bring us the ultimate sin, which was done by Satan himself..

'The Pride'..

We will be too arrogant to accept that there is a supreme being, called God that has created us. Since we are able to live forever and revive a dead person.. We would think that we, ourselves is the God..!

Remember Dajjal or the Antichrist, the false Messiah who will come before the end of the day..?

He, who actually is a human that granted to live until the end of the day and given the power by God to revive a dead person.

The power has made him arrogant, 'The Pride' has born within his heart, and he refuses to accept God as his supreme creator..

Let's just wrap it up.. No matter how hard we try, if it’s without any allowance from God, we could never made it..

Even if we are made by His own image, we are just His creation. A creation can never beat the creator!

Just like us and our creation, I don’t believe that we, one day might be ruled by robots, by machines, just like in many science fiction stories with apocalyptic future..

Well, even in those stories, we humankind, are who in the end won against the machines, against our creations. Which also means, we can never surpass God, our creator..

note: I’m touching a bit about religion here, but I didn’t wrote this with any offensive materials or means to other religion. Because actually I didn’t wrote any of these, it’s just different names or terms (called by different religion) for the same thing.

Viable Visions

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I like watching star wars, I like both the original and prequel trilogy..
And I really like the character Darth Vader.
How he transformed from the Anakin Skywalker, chosen one to the dark one, Darth Vader.
Given with the highest midi-chlorian counts, and many potential skills. Especially the vision of he future he had..

The fear he builds from his vision, provocations and conspiracy from Darth Sidius have turned him into the Dark Side.
His choice to follow what his heart says would result such a massive change in his role (but his fate doesn't change).
What an amazing story..!


Actually, I don't know if I'm just inspired by it..
Or maybe it's just really the way it is..

I sometimes saw vision of the future..

And, one by one, it did happened! Well not exactly how I saw them, but majority, yes!
Sometimes they came through dreams.. And sometimes..
Through imagination..
Like I'm the one who’s carving it, I told myself what would happened next and it become one concrete picture of what the future would looks like, or what would happened in the future..

Well, it’s not like the visions of Anakin Skywalker about his mother's and his wife’s death..
But these vision I had, also quite a bad moon rising..


Sometimes I wonder, do we all chained by fate?
Since I have had many series of coincidence, which I considered too packed, or it happened in such a weird mechanics.

If these visions I had are what to be happened, or maybe what we called ‘fate’. And we cannot changed them..
Then life is meaningless..


I had (or maybe, I carved) some terrible visions.
And I saw it's happened each day, each night, one after another.
Will it eventually end the way I saw them?

It's just like saying,
"Why do we build, knowing everything is destructible?"
"Why do we live, know everyone will die in the end?"
My visions mostly are all about those unpleasant future where I sometimes saw that I didn’t win anything.

Why should I worked, I studied, I lived, I woke and sleep everyday, I ate, I put myself as part of the society (which I hate)..
If in the end, I win nothing?

Fuck, why should I?
Isn't the world is give and take?
Then I'd pay any amount, just let me take something in return.

Does the singer, Morrissey, were right when he's saying "I decree today's life, is simply taking and not giving"?

Hell yeah, that old man got a point there!!!


Or maybe, it’s the power of the mind?
I recently believed that human, had a very special gift from God.
We could do everything just by thinking of it!
In simple way, It’s called motivation. Which drove us to work, so we can gain what we wanted.
But in a an advanced way, we could even bypass the ‘work’ process to get the result we wanted.
We could even manipulate life..!
But it would only happen if someone with such strong mind power is willing to manipulate the life itself.

And yes, maybe it’s because I’m carving it with my mind unconsciously and consciously.
That’s sounds crazy, but that’s the way it is!
I have such weird imaginations, and unfortunately..
All those unpleasant things I imagined about the future are coming to life, because of my own mind power.. Ironic..

Possible? Possibly.. (Fuck my head, and all it's contents and thoughts of unpleasant future!)

Back to Anakin Skywalker, he drowned to the dark side of the force to change the future. To change the fate that is going to happened in his vision..
And the question, can it be changed? Because actually, Anakin's own changes into Darth Vader is one of his vision he saw in his earlier life.
Which means, he changed nothing at all..

What about me? My visions are coming to the reality, each of them..

Count Dooku said to Anakin, "you have fear, you have anger, but you don't use it"

I do have both of them, accumulated each days in my head..

Then, should I turn into another Darth Vader?

And I refuse to sleep

Monday, January 12, 2009

A little sorry for everyone, actually I'd like to post a continuation of my previous post, because it's not ends there. There are still lot of things to wrote, and I haven't finished it..

And well actually I got little distractions, I experienced a thing called collective dreaming (that's my own). I ever experienced this when I was a little kid where I awoke in dreams as another person, not me, not myself.

I was an illegal immigrant who tried to get inside the ship, Titanic (why Titanic?? I don't know exactly, but I just know that it was Titanic). I hid inside a wooden crate and I lost sense of time when I was there until I heard that people's voices panicking and I understand that the ship's drowning..

I'm trying to find my mom who hid in another crate, and then I saw my mom (and my mom isn't my mother in the real world, she was a different person and she called me not with my name, it's someone else's name but somehow I reacted like it was really my name.

We were trapped inside the ship's storage with other immigrants and I don't recall how we survived. I just remember there are group of small boats with candles at both end of each ships.

We reached the shore and finally a small town, from the people and the shape of the houses it looks like I'm in the 19th century town..

Suddenly after these horrible things happened, there's a running festival in the town, I was one of the participants, as the race goes by, I can recall no more details about the dream..

And it's morning already..

Okay, here are some things that I'd like to explain.

Well I have this dream not because I have just watched Titanic (you know, I was very young back then and my parents wouldn't allow me to watch Titanic), so it doesn't have anything to do with excitements after watching some movies or something like that.

And the era, yes.. It looks like it was in the 19th century, I wore clothes like an English paperboy in the 19th century..

Well, what I'm trying to say that, I experience the same experience in dreaming, where I have continuous conciseness like I was somewhere else and experience those kinds of feelings. But for this one, I wasn't really another person, and I can still feel the dream's sensation even after I woke.

I know you might say it's a normal thing when we experience such different sensation and we can still felt it when we woken up. Well I know the 'normal thing' in dreaming! I have experienced that as well, I ever dreamt about fighting with my brother and I suddenly woke up, with the emotional sensation that's still in my head, I punched my brother who was sleeping beside me.. hahaha..

But these dreams that I was talking about, are different, it's not just some kinds of attached emotions from the dreams. It's like creating collective consciousness in your head..

And how does it feel?? It feels a little pleasant but also terrible.

Dreams have always been like that, it taunts you everyday. I'd like to refuse sleep, but my body won't allow me to..