Jiwa Kacau

Basri ada tinggal mesej, "kalau dapat Jiwa Kacau, email aku." Terkejut jugak, seminggu lepas tu, telefon Rinting, ada orang hanta benda pakai pos laju. Alamat Shah Alam. Sah. Dah sampai. Bagus ni. Dengar dah jauh dah pergi. Terima kasihla Basri. Kira hadiah raya le ni?

black cofee

........................red was the new green that year. everything was red, even the roses know to act 'red' eventhough they were actually yello. never overshadowing their cousins, they compliment the red counterparts beautifully, giving life to the house. it was a middle size post colonial, single storey house styled in a typical upper class malay. it has big lawn. the house was positioned at the right side and this gave an ample space for flower plants and fruit trees at the left side to share the sun and space together. a beautiful gazebo at one end of the garden was left intentionally to age and be covered with miss and crawling plants and parasit. marble table and bench in the middle. perfect. a small sen garden, little pebbles in greyish colour was made to surround a small pond that includes tortoise, Japanese koi, goldfish and local freshwater fishes. round, smooth rocks surrounded the pond were quite clean, as it were scrubed occasionally from dirt and were left there for a more soothing effect. bubbles floats accross the pond's surface, a sign that the fishes were happy. the edge was made in such a way that it will be hard for the tortiose to climbed out of the pond.

How to build a successful web startup. 15 do's and don'ts

This is something I taken from BD4D. It is a great article and it make a lot of sense. It was about how to start a web startup in UK but I think the situation is the same here in Malaysia, or, pretty much all over the world.

10 Ways to Promote Yourself for Free

1. Start a Blog – Blogging is a powerful way to promote yourself. The trick is to increase your status from being a nobody, to someone who is considered an authority in the industry. This demonstrates that you really know what you re talking about. Make sure to avoid things that could upset people like politics or useless details about your personal life. To get started blogging, download and install WordPress (wordpress.org) or a similar blogging tool – it only takes five minutes to set up a blog.

2. Promote a Cause – A great way to make the world a better place, while also promoting yourself, is to help a worthy cause. Find something you re passionate about changing and create a web site about it. A great example of this is “G8 Reboot” (g8reboot.net). The founder, Gareth Knight, wanted to help raise awareness about the G8 summit so he created this site. In addition to doing a good thing, he also became fairly well known for it, which in turn will bring in work.

In a weird way, this has happened with us and BD4D. We didn’t start it to promote ourselves, but it happened anyway.

3. Speak at an Event – A stellar way to promote yourself is by speaking at an event. You are instantly seen as a leader in your industry, presuming, of course, that the event is related to your job. Spend time Googling for events in your specialist area of the industry and get in touch with the event organisers. (Why not get in touch with us?!) They are always looking for talented fresh blood and they just might take you up on your offer to speak.
Attend Events – If you can t quite convince the event organisers that you re the next David Carson, then the next best thing is to attend the event and meet as many people as possible. Make sure that you ve got a good stack of quality business cards in your pocket, put on a smiling face, and go shake as many hands as you can. You d be surprised how many opportunities could come out of it.

4. Create Your Own Gallery – If you re serious about raising your profile, a great idea is to start you own gallery. It can be digital or physical, but it will be much easier if it s digital. Think of an interesting subject, invite some artists that you respect, and go for it. A great example of this is the Ping-Pong remix by Gaston Caba. By doing this, he not only promoted great artwork but himself too.

5. Network – Nothing will get your name out there like some good solid networking. If you re an introvert it s often quite scary meeting new people. However, once you get started, youll enjoy it and will make a lot of friends in the process. The best way to network is to find local events that relate to your field and go there with your goal of meeting people.

6. Don t forget your Signature – Every email you send out could act as a small advertisement for you and your skills. You’d be surprised how often people click on links in email signatures. Make sure to put the full URL of your site (including the http:// bit) with the name of the site. Avoid cryptic messages or strange spelling and you’ll be onto a self-promotion winner.

7. Start a Community Web Site – One of the most powerful ways to promote yourself and your skills is by starting a web site that is centred around your industry. This takes quite a bit of time and effort, but the payoff can be amazing.

8. Have a Memorable Business Card – When you re networking at events and parties, the first advertisement people will ever see for you is your business card. If it s printed on good quality paper, is well designed and, easy to read you will help people to remember you and what you do. This is a vital step to moving your career to that next level.

9. Be Nice – You d be surprised at the power of simply being kind and thoughtful towards people. The trick is to not have secret agendas and hidden motives with people – just be honest and open. This will show people that they can trust you and that it s nice to work with you. In a world of selfishness, a smile and a kind word can go a long way.

5 Things Not to Do!

1. Don’t be Abrasive – The best way to throw your career into the dungeon is by being difficult to work with. If you get a reputation for being abrasive and closed minded, people will steer well clear of you, and most likely, advise their friends to avoid working with you as well. Everyone likes a happy person, so try to smile when someone asks you to do something and do your best to not complain. It s also a great idea to listen to other’s ideas and offer encouragement wherever you can.

2. Don’t Let Your Web Site Get Out of Date – The first sign that someone is not on top of the game, is an out of date web site. It says “I’m not keeping up to date with technology and the industry … and I m lazy!” Either way it’s not the message you want to be giving to potential employers and contacts. By keeping your site fresh and fun, you re showing visitors that you re informed and motivated. Oh and don’t forget the spell-checker.

3. Don’t be Idle – Let’s face it, no one is going to call you up and say, “I know we ve never heard of you, but we’d like to give you some work.” So the cardinal enemy of self-promotion is idleness. Get out there and network! The primary thing that will separate you from the masses is the fact that you ve gotten off your ass and done something. People will respect you for it.

4. Don’t Make it Hard to Be Contacted – If you ve got a web site (which you should, if you re concerned about self promotion), make your contact details very prominent on the homepage and every other page to follow. If someone wants to call you or email you, don t bury your contact details six pages deep in your site. Clients won t try that hard, and neither should they have to. Another great idea is to include your photo on the site, which helps people put a face to the name.

5. Don t Stalk People – Although we ve encouraged you to network with people, there’s a fine line between being out-going and being just plain annoying. If you really want to get mentioned in a magazine or newspaper, send a press release and follow it up with a phone call or two. But don’t try to annoy people into covering you. If anything, it will just encourage them to avoid you even more.

Hangat Hujan Dini Hari

Berjingkat pelan mengaget tidur resahku
Bersahutan makin riang digerah mimpiku
Bernyanyi-nyanyi mengajak menari usir nyeriku
Berbisik menggetik goda penat mata hatiku

Tik,tik.tik, bunyi hujan di atas genting,,
Airnya turun tidak terkira,
Cobalah tenguk, dahan dan ranting,
Sawah dan kebun basah semua…

Bersenandung lirih sedih terdengar senyumku
Bergantian tergambar mandi hujan diwaktu kecilku
Berbasah celoteh cerah pulang ke rumah ibuku
Berkeinginan bila bisa mengulang semua itu

Hujan rintik-rintik,
Turun tak berhenti,
Di halaman, di jalanan,
Payung warna-warni,
Seperti jamur, yang tumbuh subuh,
Disiram hujan rintik-rintik...

Berbutir-butir air mata tumpah-ruah dipipiku
Berbagai luka-lara terhapus sudah di dalamku
Berganti warna-warni pelangi di kain selimutku
Berdoa agar hujan ada untukku kapanpun itu

by Ika Vantiani

From poems, words and other assorted goodies’ 2002

Syed Haziq & Syed Abdullah

Apa makna Raya bagi yang tidak ada lagi ibu atau bapa? Setiap kali Raya, allahyarham atuk Hj, Ali B. Niat dan allahyarham walid, Syed Abdullah Syed Mustaffa sentiasa dikenang. Hanya sedekah yang kami mampu beri. Al-fatihah

Tapi lain sikit Raya kali ini, kerana ada Syed Haziq. Mata bulat, rambut ala-ala Mawi dan kaki dah semakin kuat, asik nak berdiri. Insyaallah, esok, selepas exam nanti terus ke Taman Rinting. Kita raya sama-sama dengan mama.

Fasting & Holly Month of Ramadan

I've started a topic in Newstoday, 'have anyone try fasting from 6 morning to 6 in the evening?' and got very interesting responses. It shows that the practice of fasting is not only limited to Islam but other religion and it is really good for body and soul.

Do Tea and Cigaretes count?If not, no - if yes - pretty much every day.I'm chasing immortality through lo calorific intake... and the vain hope that I'll be able to grow some new lungs someday.*cough. Nairn , UK

I do it often. Sometimes I forget to eat.Christians also fast, my father does. JazX , Pittsburgh US

i lost 60 pounds in high school by doing that. -scarabin- , Los Angeles , US

why would you want to not eat for 12hours? whats wrong with being fat. oBeseLilNinja , Japan

sometimes happens, but i try to avoid it, coz simply my body refuses to do anything. Fariska , Milano , Italy

i think it's important to be a master of your own body and be able to resist your animal urges; such as eating. it's a great test of will.you'll be surprised by how weak you are without practice. -scarabin- , Los Angeles , US

I would headbutt someone if I didn't eat for 12 hours, how about a smoothie during that time, would that count? radar , Charlotte , US

why would you want to not eat for 12hours? whats wrong with being fat? oBeseLilNinja (Oct 7 05, 04:50) Frankly? Lots. Nairn , UK

12 hours is nothing - especially as a designer.....when I was pouring concrete for a living it may have mattered. bulletfactory , Kansas City, US

That is pretty easy to do. After a couple of days of fasting the hunger goes away - or so I am told. I have only gone 2 days with out food.If you cut out water though, then that would be hard. canuck , Thunder BayCA

one side of my family is jewish and the other is buddhist. between the two, we've always fasted regularly.i always feel refreshed afterwards.if you decide to fast, be sure to cut out the worst bits of your diet (red meat, refined sugar, caffeine and nicotine, where applicable) at least twice the amount of the fasting time before you begin the fast. eg: if you plan to fast for two days, give your body a buffer period of four days on either side of the fast without consuming any of those things. paraselene , London, UK

being jewish, once every year I fast for 24 hours (usually works out to about 27 hours) on Yom Kippur. I've done it every year since I was about 12. It's not really that hard, plus it makes you appreciate how people with very little access to food might feel. Baskerville , London , UK

Apa khabar syed! Saya puasa tiga hari (saya bini orang melayu). Saya puasa 7.05 - 6,35 (UK).Mana JB? Saya rumah Skudai. Malaysia boleh! nicko , Surrey , UK

that's fantastic, nicko - I'm overwhelmed by happiness for you. Nairn , UK

i fasted for a week once when i was in the army to see if I could do it.water and vitamins for a week.by about the 2nd or 3rd day i didn't find myself hungry very much.by the time i was done.. the smell of fried eggs and greasy burgers in the mess hall turned my stomach.took me about 2-3 weeks to go right back into regular eating habits... and that first cheeseburger tastes SOOOO good. haha.skankd0g , US

i skip dinner often when i have too much work to do, and i rarely eat breakfast.it does feel somewhat cleansing in a strange way. -sputnik- , Denver , US

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents


My advise to those interested in starting a blog is; don’t listen to anyone except yourself. Don’t read anyone else’s blog and try to emulate it. Don’t sits down with a list of ‘must’ and try to achieve it. I broke so many rules because I don’t know there were any and I did just fine. ~ Yam Sam Shackleton


As an introduction and also a hand book for bloggers and DIY cyber journalists, this book start of with an introduction on the weblog history and in-depth look at the advances and development it have gone through for the last couple of years. It lists out free and paid weblog service provider and tool for the benefit of the readers. Surf to Reporters Without Borders website to purchase it or you can also download a pdf version for free.

"Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles. "

Whorfian hypotheses; the effect language has on reality and how reality effects language.

Ali, 24 lives in Bintulu with his parent since he was little. Work in government and received his tertiary education at local university. He speaks Malay and listens to Malay songs and films. His brother, Hassan, 26 studied in Australian and since coming home he have been a fan of rugby and listen to English songs, especially Kylie. Both came from the same background but what cause the differences in their personal characters?



Language is important in our life and it not only works as a mean of expression and a tool for communication between one another, it also influences the way we think and perceive the surrounding world. Based on the study of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, they have came up with two hypotheses, linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity.

Linguistic determinism is the stronger version of the Worfian hypotheses. It suggested that language control the way a person conceptualizes about the world. People from different culture have a different perspective or concept about the world. Some language have different concept about certain things or object, for example snow. For us, in Malay there is only one word to describe snow, that is salji but for Eskimo, they have 52 words to describe snow. For us, a ketupat is a traditional dish that we can easily get here, but for Eskimo, they might not even have a name for ketupat. Here it seems that language have an effects on reality as it control one concept about the world.

The weaker version of the Worfian hypotheses is linguistic relativity. It suggested that language influences the way a person conceptualizes the world and their surrounding. This is easier to accept and can be seen in many cultures. For example, in Malay, there is no word to describe the color turquoise but this does not prevent the speaker to describe the concept of the color. This shows that it is not impossible to understand certain concept even if the language does not have a specific word for it. Here, it shows it is reality that effect language. Through the Whorfian hypotheses, it have shown the relation and effect language have on thought and culture. Language is a very important component in a civilized society. It can be affected by 3 things; the physical environment (lexical items and color terminology), the social environment (kinship) and the value of the society (taboo and euphemisms). For teachers, to teach effectively, these 3 items that can effect language must be understand so they can use it in their approach in teaching their student.

Physical environment is the thing we experience in our daily life. Language can be effected by physical environment in 2 ways, lexicon and color terminology. Lexicon is A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style. In every culture, there is a certain concept that is more important than others. For example, An Eskimo have 52 different words for snow while in our culture (Malay) we have only one word for snow. This is because snow is an important part of Eskimo culture but not us.

In a study by Berlin and Kay (1969) they have summarized the color terms and general patterns. If the language has two terms, it is equivalent to black and white. This is concept of color to the Jale people of New Guinea. If there is a third term, it is red (example, Tiv of Nigeria), the forth and fifth term will be yellow or green (or vice versa) (for example the Garo of Assam). The sixth and seventh terms are blue and brown (the Burmese) while the rest of it may be gray, pink orange and purple. All together, there are 11 basic color terms. Studies have shown that every culture and society analyze color in a same way. The different is that culture with less technology will have a narrower view on color.

Social environment is the relationship between the people around us. The most important and obvious linguistic effect on society is kinship. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, kinship is define as Connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship. Relationship by nature or character; affinity.

In an English society, kinship is made of words like son, mother, father, sister, daughter, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousins, wife, husband, etc. There are, in all 15 lexical kinship distinction. Other than these 15 words, there are also terms like eldest brother, younger sister, great granddaughter and so on. But in some language, the kinship terms that are used in English society may not be used in the same manner in other culture. They may use these words to describe relationship that is not connected blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship.
In Malay for example, brother can be someone older than us but without any relation. It can also be a name for a husband, regards of the age. Uncle and aunt can be anyone that is in the same age range of the father and mother.

The value of society can also be affected by language especially in the phenomenon of taboo words and euphemism. Taboo words are word that is vulgar and can offend the other person that hears it. It may have a sexual, religion politic and death connotation. The word is also rude, have a racist or sexist meaning. Taboo words are not permitted in the normal society as it can cause conflict. Euphemism is inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive.

These taboo words have an effect on society. If it is wrongly used, it can cause severe embarrasses to the speaker. Some words are considered taboo and to avoid from using this word, the speaker will replace it with another more subtle word. For example, American prefers to use rooster then cock. This is to avoid the word cock that has a strong sexual connotation.
Just like lexical items, color terminology and kinship, taboo words and euphemism is a part of a culture and cannot be separated. All of this is unique from one culture and another and might have an influence on the language.

Refference

CIK SHARIFAH ZAINAB SYD. ABD RAHMAN, LINGUISTICS AND SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING, UPM EDU3232, 2004

Classic album review : The Pilgrims 'Perfume Garden' 1992

" O that this too too sullied flesh would melt
Thaw, and resolved itself into a sew
Or that the everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst self slaughter
Dead, God,
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie or 't, all fie, 'tis an unneeded garden
that grows to seed "
(Hamlet, Act I, Scene II)


When we were growing up and eager to learn how to play the drum and guitar and did not wash our Jack Parcel just to grunge it up we often skipped co-curriculum and go jamming with friends. It was either Nirvana or Pilgrims. I remember singing ‘rape me’ to death and the funny thing was, I don’t even know any words other than ‘rape me’. That was our own anthem then, but we always have an alternative song to sing along to whenever we have extra vocalists in our hands. ‘Sua sue good morning, sua sue good morning, sua sue good morning, istimewa rajah!!!’ No other sing along songs can beat the feeling of snotty kids shouting to the microphone like there are no tomorrow. This was essentially one of the most important album by an independent punk rock band back then and still relevant today. It was a classic, and after they had managed to put out another great album, ‘away from the numbers’ before become totally silly and freaky. Sad.

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