Safari: The Fastest Browser?

It seems that the "product war" between Apple and Microsoft will still continue. After launching their newest operating system: Mac OS X Leopard, Apple now claimed that their latest web browser: Safari is the fastest web browser today. On their official website, you will see there are three categories which are included as comparison tools.
Html performance:

The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2.

Javascript performance:

And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2.

Application launch:

You guessed it right, Safari still leads with time needed to load is only 1.74s, Opera comes in second, while Mozilla and Internet Explorer in third and fourth respectively.
What does all that mean for you? Less time loading pages and more time enjoying them.

Wow, it is indeed a really bold claim. But I am sure they won't go telling the whole world about it, if it is a lie. I have just used Safari for a few days now and from what I can tell it is really quicker than Mozilla. They will have to continue to develop it though as there are maybe only a few add-ons that can be installed with it. Unlike his rival Mozilla which has a lot of add-ons that you can install according to your needs and preferences. Aside from all of that, I think that Internet Explorer and Mozilla has a new rival that can really beat them as the "fastest web browser".

Click here to download Safari.

Downloading Youtube Videos

Have you ever heard about Youtube? If you haven't got any clues about Youtube, then probably you are in a town where you don't have internet access. Quoting from Wikipedia: "Youtube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips". As stated before, you can watch almost anything in Youtube from movie, tv clips, music videos and even a video of your own production.
Youtube was founded by three former employees of Paypal, namely Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. See below Youtube's earlier office in San Mateo.

It currently has 67 staffs and it is now acquired by Google Inc, in a deal worth US$1,65 billion. The deal was closed on 13 November 2006. TIME magazine awarded Youtube as "Invention of the Year" for 2006. Here is the look of the new office for Youtube in San Bruno.

Enough about history lesson, now to the important part. As you probably know that you can watch any videos in Youtube's website but the site itself doesn't provide you the tool or link to download the video you want. I don't know if this legal or not but you can download the video if you want. After doing some Googling (using the keyword "downloading youtube video", here are some sites that will provide you the download link of Youtube's video that you want.

• Javimoya
• Techcrunch
• Youtube Downoader
• KeepVid

Using those sites to download the file is easy, but it requires you to open the site first, enter the Youtube's video path until it finally gives you the actual download link. For me it is easier to use Mozilla add-ons that you can find here. Just download the add-ons, install and restart Firefox. After restarting Firefox, right-click on the toolbar (area to the left of your navigation bar), choose Customize. It will then open a window where you can choose a lot of items. Locate the VideoDownloader, and click to drag and drop it after the Home button. There you go, you can now download the video from Youtube just by clicking the VideoDownloader button. Easy right?

Creating DropDown Menubar

I have been wanting to post this cool blogger hacks for a while, but due to my busy daily routines I haven't found time to really post it. But now because there are two people who ask about it, I decide it to give it a try. This hack was originally created by Alastor in his blog, you can read his full guide to make this hack works here. All credits must go to him, as I was just using it in my blog. There is also another hack to show recent post in the dropdown menu, which was made by Vivek Singh. You can find all the details here. Now, I didn't just use it as it is, because I was not satisfied by listing all my categories in the dropdown menu (which can be many categories). So I did a little hacking by myself to limit the number of categories you want in your drop down menu. I have tested here in my blog and it worked. If you want to try, feel free to give it a try but don't forget to back up your template first. If something goes wrong, you can always revert to your old template.
I based my hack on Alastor's. All the steps required are the same as his. But I replace the code in his post in the "a) Categories in the Menubar:", with this code here.
This code is used to limit the number of categories to 10, if you want to have more just replace the number 10 in "if (labelnum++ < 10)" to whatever number you want. Remember there are two lines which are using the number "10", be sure to replace both of them. Ok, there you go your dropdown menu is ready to be tested. If you have any questions feel free to leave it at the comment section of this post or just shout in the shout box. Cheers!

A Dream May Come True

Have you ever had a dream come true? If you are dreaming, you can experience any of your wildest fantasy, event if your fantasy includes meeting famous people. This dream is not mine but someone close to me, you may not believe it but it happened.My friend's has this dream for a long time and that is to meet his idol Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane, the former French's national team's skipper. If you watched last year's tournament in Germany, you probably will know him. He was making his "mark" in the tournament by headbutting Italy's defender Marco Materazzi. Zizou claimed he was being insulted by something that Materazzi said. Making him lost his temper and you know what happened next. But before that shameful display, Zizou has long been known as a maestro in football. He lead French national team to be world champion in 1998 by beating Brazil 3-0 in the final, where he scored two goals. Two years later he then lift the European Cup in Amsterdam beating Italy in the final through a golden goal by David Trezeguet. He was also a winner at club level, with Juventus and Real Madrid to name a few of clubs which he played for. He won almost all silverware that can be won.
If you watch the local Indonesian tv or read the newspaper, you will know that he was in Jakarta to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He even taught a few tricks to the president and a bunch of kids. Coming to Bali, maybe was not on his agenda. But who knows, my friend Benny was really hoping he will come to Bali. Now, coming to Bali is one thing, but meeting him by coincidence in a traffic light, wouldn't it be too much to ask? Hey nothing is too much for the almighty if he wishes it to happen.
Benny was driving his motorcycle to work when suddenly near "Simpang Siur" he was passed by two white Landcruisers. He glimpsed at those cars, at first he didn't realize who was in the car. Suddenly, he was like struck by a lightning. He said to himself, "It's Zidane, couldn't be him. But it is him." He was still unsure, but he tried to chase that car. When he got close enough he was then really sure that it was Zidane. Didn't want to waste any time, he got a hold on his backpack, moved it upfront. Opened it and took his Kodak digital camera out. Zidane was in the front car, while his bodyguards (two really scary muscle men) was in the car behind. He prepared to shoot but got uncertain whether to take picture or shoot video. But he decided it was better to take pictures. The window door was a bit opened, so he screamed, "ZIDAAANEEEEEE !" Zidane was playing with his children, hearing someone called his name he turned with a bit discomfort. Benny managed took a picture (you can see it below), but when he tried to take a second someone was yelling, "Hey, who are you. What are you doing?" Benny was surprised because within a flash Zidane's bodyguard have come out of the car and took his motorcycle's key. Benny said, "Sorry, I was just going to take a picture of you". At first he thought the bodyguards will take his digital camera but thank god they didn't. Nobody else realized that Zidane was in that car, well if they were they wouldn't have brought a camera with them except for Benny. After that the green light turned on and the car drove away, leaving Benny with his "keyless" motorcycle. He had to call someone in the office to pick him up and get the extra key. He got late into the office, I hope his boss wouldn't get mad at him.

What lesson can we learn from this story? That you can meet a famous footballer anywhere? No, surely not. It is, if you have a dream, keep living it, try everything that you can to achieve it and don't forget to pray as prayers have a lot to do with luck, just ask Benny. If you have achieved your dream, it would give you great satisfaction. As my friend Benny described: "This is one of the best of the best moment in my life".

Survival Of The Fittest

Darwin once proposed a very famous theory, "survival of the fittest". The phrase is a shorthand of a concept relating to competition of survival or predominance.

Originally applied by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology of 1864, Spencer drew parallels to his ideas of economics with Charles Darwin's theories of evolution by what Darwin termed natural selection.

The phrase is a metaphor, not a scientific description; and it is not generally used by biologists, who almost exclusively prefer to use the phrase "natural selection".While the British economist Herbert Spencer is often credited with introducing the phrase "survival of the fittest" in his 1851 work Social Statics (relating to free market economics) or his First Principles of a New system of Philosophy of 1862, he actually did not use the phrase until after reading Darwin's Origin of Species. and introduced it in his Principles of Biology of 1864, vol. 1, p. 444, writing "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."

Enough with the phrase, I'm just giving you a look into the origin of the phrase. Every time I heard that phrase it reminds me of my youthful days in high school. Oh it seems just yesterday, but no... it's already fourteen years ago. Wow, I'm feeling old suddenly, sniff... And before I'm getting all blues and all wet, shall we continue?
Does the phrase I've mentioned before still applied up until now? If you ask me, yes it is. The phrase was originally termed for animals, because they are fighting against each other to find food or just to guard their territory. In their world it is either kill or to be killed, hence the term natural selection, the strongest will survive and the weak will be slaved or extinguished.
In todays world, kill or to be killed is not literally applied but it happens in our daily activities. Here is to give you an example. A person come to an office and applied for a job, after an interview and some tests, that person is hired. But because he/she is still new, he/she has to follow a probation test for three months. A contract has been signed and now he/she can work at his/her new office. Daily routines coming up, feeling a little bit bored, and not satisfied with the working conditions (salary probably). Go online and then find a new job opportunity that meets his/her requirements. Feeling lucky, send a resume. Wait for a few days, a call come in his/her mobile asking if she can come to have an interview. To cut the story short, that person is accepted. Now the tough choice comes (it isn't exactly tough because if you look at the salary proposed your decision will be very clear).
The question is, will you take the new job and abandon your current? Not to mention that the probation period is only half way through, but you would also break a gentleman agreement (for women may we call it a lady agreement?) with your current boss. Well, probably those wouldn't be your first considerations. The first thing that would come in mind is your survival, how well your current and your next office can meet your needs. If your criteria is not met by the current, than the h**l with your agreement, it's just a piece of paper right? Just tear it off and fly to wherever the place that would ensure your existence. After all we all just preserving our being in this world, survival is the key. Will you be the fittest? Probably not but surely the most prosperous to be.

Source: Wikipedia

The Power Of 7

If we talk about the number seven, then we are talking about numerology. Number is a result of human culture that is bond to mystical beliefs. Many scientist have dedicated their life to research number and their power. One of those is German's top researcher, Annemarie Schimmel. She published her book, entitled The Mystery of Numbers, on 1993. In her book, she said that numerology and the mystics surrounding numbers have fascinated mankind for thousand years. The sun and the moon have always made men felt that there is something hidden behind it.
Schimmel knew that the number seven has always been the favorite. This made her wrote: "we are hoping that after reading the book, the readers won't make 6 and 7 as their favorite numbers, but to also have knowledge about symbolism and the mystics about any number".
Shchimmel who also know as a philosopher added, "at least the readers will be able - we are hoping for it - to understand why there are three street lights (red, yellow and green), why many people have chosen "lucky" numbers such 7 to be their car's registration number. Number 7 have fascinated men for many years now."
On the other hand, Schimmel wrote that odd numbers have an important role in many culture beliefs, and in theology speculations." But for Plato, all even numbers are bad sign. Vignil said that God loves odd numbers.
All this maybe have not been the consideration for most people yet the number of couples who are getting married on this day, 7th July 2007, are huge. According to the South Jakarta registration office, there is a fivefold increase in the number of people who want to get marry on that date compared to any other date. This shows that people still believe that number 7 is the lucky number, probably it will stay as favorite for a long time.

Source: Detik.com

Tukul: The New Phenomenon

Tukul, when you hear that name you probably wondering who is he? Why is he so famous now in Indonesia? For you who is not so familiar with him, Tukul is a host for a show called "Empat Mata" in a local television network. At the beginning, sometime in June 2006, the show was only aired once a week. But now because the rating has gone sky rocketted, the show is aired everyday from Monday to Friday. Not only that, it is said that Tukul received between 20 to 30 million rupiahs per episode. His contract has just been renewed to 260 episodes. Just calculate it, and imagine what amount will he receive for a month or a year. Astonishing right?
Tukul who started his career as a comedian, has now become a celebrities. With his jargon "Silen please!", "Kembali Ke Laptop", "Puas? Puas?" he set a new trademark for a comedian. You can see nowadays, people are not shy to admit that they come from a small village, a village which represented by only a dot in the map. They now have a new idol, Tukul Arwana, who himself admitted that before becoming a successful presenter, he had to go from a village to another to act, and often he didn't get a warm welcome. But now through hard work and commitment he has turned all of that and silence his critics.
He really has inspired many people, young and old, male and female, even kids. Take this as an example: I was sitting in front of my counter desk at my internet cafe, when two teenagers trying to come inside. But he wrongly opened the door, he should have pulled the door, instead he pushed it from the outside. I said "pull the door, don't push it". After he opened the door, he smiled to me and said "sorry, I am a katrok (villager/peasant) like Tukul". Hearing that I said to myself, Tukul is really a great star, he can make people forget they come from somewhere only he know, or make the city people admitting they come from a small village. It's amazing, really amazing. He is the new phenomenon in Indonesian television. Let's just hope he carries on this way, just keeps humble, keeps his feet to the ground and as always giving a good joke. Quoting from MacGyver (again): "From the bottom of my heart, I salute you!"

Human Nature?

Have you ever blame anyone for something? Have you ever wonder why did you blame this person? Was it really his/her fault? Or was it just your brain justifying that she/he was guilty to cover your guilt? I guess it is really easy to blame other people for your mistake(s). This is really common, so wise men call it human nature. It is as human as eating, drinking, making friends, or even the need to have a partner in life (partner in crime not included).
Take this for an example. In my office we have a server, and I am working in a department where we build software for the company to use and manage the daily works. But sometimes a lot of users just blaming our department whenever the software doesn't work. Maybe they have forgotten that aside from the software there are also what they called hardware, which includes the server itself, networking, or even the user's computer. These what make the software works, and it is not otherwise. So to have the software working properly as you told them to do, the peripheral must work first. Users don't know this, all they know is that when the software giving error messages, they just pick up their phone and call our department to solve the problem. Sometimes it is the problem with the software, but most of the times it is the user's mistake. If it is their mistake they won't admit it, they keep saying that they have done the proper way and the software giving error. Oh so human, isn't it? Maybe the human have forgotten what makes them so different from plants or animals, their common sense. Before we blame other people, just take a few moments to look back and evaluate. Hopefully we don't have to put the blame to anyone and that will make the world a better place to live in.

Still Alive

Hi, for those of you who were wondering if this blog still alive or not, well I've got news for you... This blog is still alive and kicking! I have been busy lately. Busy? That is not entirely true, the truth is I was on holiday. Galungan has passed, but Kuningan is still to come. Furthermore, I was busy setting up my internet cafe. This is a new business which I started with my wife. Hopefully it will be a success. To succeed I think we need to put a lot of energy in it and of course lots of prayers. So I am hoping my fellow bloggers will show some support and just leave comment in this post. By the way, the internet cafe has a blog also, you can find it here. It still needs a lot of improvement as I don't have enough time to complete it. Well, that's it for now just make sure to come by from time to time, maybe you can help me to solve some problems that may - definitely will - arise.