YOUNG, RICH AND RESTLESS

Success comes to those who wait, they say, as it involves long and hard work as well as the ability to endure pain. But the following young people are special. They have not only radically changed the way the world communicates, they are making serious amounts of money at a very young age.


While not all of us can join the list of the most influential people in the world, one thing we can learn from them is that they all started with one simple step.

1. Larry Page and Sergey Brin

The two co-founders of Google launched their search engine on Sept. 4, 1998 from a garage. At that time, Larry was 25 and Sergey 24 years old.

The search engine soon gained popularity, especially among research students.

In a couple of years, Google grew quickly and reaped billions of US dollars in profits.

The success story of Page and Brin inventing the world's number one search engine has inspired young people around the world, especially those interested in developing information technology tools.

2. Jerry Yang and David Filo

Yang was 26 and Filo 28 when they invented the search engine Yahoo! in 1995. The Stanford University students started the online directory as a side activity, but the traffic to their Stanford-hosted Website doubled in the first month alone, frustrating the site's administrators, so the duo decided to dedicate all their time running Yahoo! as a full-time business.

Yahoo! quickly grew into a Web portal, acquiring other companies and search engines to expand its range of services.

It went public the following year and raised US$33.8 million by selling 2.6 million shares.

Last year, giant software company Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billon but later cancelled.

3. Steve Shih Chen, Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley

The three co-founders of video-sharing site YouTube all started off as employees of the online commerce service PayPal.

Taiwan-born Chen and German national Karim studied Computer Science together at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, while Hurley studied design at Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

When they launched YouTube in 2005, Chen was 27, Hurley 28 and Karim 26.

Chen and Hurley developed the idea after they experienced difficulties sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Steve's apartment in San Fransisco.

The first YouTube video was entitled Me at the Zoo, and shows Karim at San Diego Zoo.

An estimated 20 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute, and around three quarters of the material comes from outside the United States.

In October 2006, Google bought YouTube for US$1.65 billion.

4. Matt Mullenweg

Born in Houston, the US, on Nov. 1, 1984, Mullenweg is the co-founding developer behind the open source WordPress blogging platform and its founding company Automatic.

Also an adviser to Sphere and WeGame, Mullenweg started his business when he was 19. His creation quickly become a hit among bloggers because the site was easy to access and update. As of last year, the blogging platform totaled 230 million regular hits with 6.5 billion accessible pages. In addition, there is an average of 4 million new postings every month.

Mullenweg who visited Jakarta last January once said he would never sell WordPress because he was not seeking to make a profit.

5. Tom Anderson

Tom Anderson co-founded MySpace, along with Chris DeWolfe and Cody Olson in Salem,

Oregon, in 2003. Born in Nov. 8, 1970, in Los Angeles, California, Tom is now a strategic adviser for MySpace.

Because newly created MySpace accounts include Tom as a default "friend", he has become known as the goofy, the default picture of MySpace. As of 2009, Tom's profile had more than 200 million friends.

It is currently one of the most popular social networking websites in the United States.

MySpace's popularity stems from the functionality it offers with regards to music. When free audio streaming was launched in Sept. 25, 2008, MySpace users downloaded billions of songs in just a few days. The facility made many people believe MySpace could change the music industry on the Web.

6. Blake Aaron Ross

The prodigy created his first Website at the age of 10. Born in Miami, Florida, on June 12, 1985, he began programming while still in middle school.

He enrolled at Stanford University in 2003 where he developed a year later the Mozilla Web browser. He later combined it with Firefox program he developed with Dave Hyatt.

Ross and Hyatt envisioned a smaller, easy to use browser that soon gained momentum and popularity.

Released in November 2004, when Ross was 19, the Web browser quickly grabbed market share with 100 million downloads in less than a year.

In 2005, he was nominated for Wired magazine's top Rave Award, Renegade of the Year, opposite Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Jon Stewart. He was also a part of the Rolling Stone magazine's 2005 hot list. He is the author of Firefox for Dummies, published in 2006.

7. Pierre Omidyar

Omidyar released the online commerce platform eBay on September 1995 at the age of 28.

Born in Paris, France, on June 21, 1967, Pierre moved with his family to Maryland when his physician father was posted to the John Hopkins University Medical Center.

Having graduated from Tufts University in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science, Omidyar and his friends developed an Internet shopping service named eShop Inc.

The service was later sold to Microsoft, but Omidyar remained fascinated by the technical challenges of online commerce. He was intrigued by the technical problems stemming from establishing an online venue for the direct person-to-person auction of collectible items.

He created a simple prototype on his personal web page, and launched an online service called Auction Web in 1995. The business exploded as people began to register trade goods of an unimaginable variety. Business expanded through word of mouth, and Auction Web added a Feedback Forum, allowing buyers and sellers to rate each other for honesty and reliability.

Omidyar changed the company's name to eBay in 1997. By the time it went public in 1998, the site had more than a million registered users. In 2003, eBay enjoyed sales of over US$2 billion.

He endowed the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund with $100 million. The fund, to be administered by the board of trustees of Tufts University, will invest in international microfinance initiatives designed to empower people in developing countries to lift them out of poverty.

8. Mark Zuckerberg

Born in May 14, 1984, Zuckerberg was 19 when he created the online social website Facebook with his fellow computer science major students as well as roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes at Harvard University, in the U.S.

He launched what he called a "Harvard-Thing" from his dorm room on Feb. 4, 2004 and decided later to spread Facebook to other schools and the public.

Now Facebook is the second biggest social networking site after MySpace, and keeps growing by the day. Millions of users are signing up every month.

Zuckerberg serves as Facebook's CEO and has been the subject of controversy for the origins of his business and his wealth. - JP

Source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/

What are you going to do with the rest of your life?

This is the kind of question no one in this world could exactly answer. I find it hard too.


I first heard this phrase several years back when I bought *The Essential Barbra Streisand" (2002) album and initially, it meant nothing. But don't get me wrong here, I've always loved this song (originally sang by Ms. Streisand in 1974 for "The Way We Were", album) but it's not until yesterday, this phrase really got me and struck me to the bottom.

I am always this kind of person who loves to make plans about my future and the same kind of person who likes to sit around, envisaging every possibility in life. And moreover, pondering on what I can do better to adorn this "mundane" life of mine. And this kind of habit may not only haunt the rest of me but later it goes rampant as I persuade, turning to driving others to do what I think it's good and necessary. It's like making a campaign over *CREATING YOUR BIG DREAMS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE' - what's too late about it? It's like imposing to be heard while my life is still a zilch of interminable struggling.

I am always the one with many big dreams and that's my identity I get whenever I'm around my family, relatives and friends. Whenever they want to have somebody to talk to about wreathing their dreams, I will be their perfect partner. Because I'm always optimistic and do hold on to the faith of pursuing the dreams and the impossible. But the reality now is half the opposite. I can't continue to college and my Hollywood dreams seem so far away beyond what I can reach.

I was never been chided for my lack of conviction in life and will never be, I guess. Meanwhile my 15-year-old younger sister is more of an easy-going type. She takes life for what it is and makes a more realistic plan. She knows how to "chill" and put her feet up every now and then. One of the bad qualities I hate about myself is my occasional laziness. I can't predict when it is coming but its sudden emergence makes it unfeasible to be defeated straightforwardly. It will take tons of seconds to "recuperate" my spirit to be good to GO.

And recently, when I sat around watching a DVD (one of my favorite activities), my mom was telling off my sister to wake up from her nap and as I quote, "You should do something with your life! Do something useful. You have a whole life-span to fill and it won't get somewhere unless you start to take responsibility for your life. What do you think will happen to you in the next five or ten years?!"

Hearing the last question, I was surprised that I haven't been fully understood about the meaning of "pursuing one's dreams". It's not about exclaiming the words to the world but it's more about being brave enough to take the steep steps and dealing with risky business.

And that's exactly what I'll be doing for the rest of my life.

Source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Mastery of English in All Subjects Essential for Teachers, Students

Nowadays, a lot of people in Indonesia are able to speak English at a basic conversational level. But when it comes to more specific issues, let's say science or IT, more work is needed.


Chrisitian Duncamb, director of English and Education Reform at the British Council, said recently that as the world becomes increasingly interrelated, mastery of English in specific contexts, such as that used for conducting research or business, is crucial.

He said that ensuring teachers of subjects other than English have an adequate proficiency in English is important for the realization of the government's policy on English Bilingual Education (EBE), which aims to see at least one international-standard school in every province, at which many classes are taught in English.

Since 2006, 112 schools have applied the EBE.

"A teacher is one of the most important key players in shaping a student's mind, especially those in the early stages of education. So there should be a guarantee that teachers have first mastered English so they can convey the message correctly," British Council education advisor Itje Chodidjah said on the sidelines of a recent symposium on bilingual education.

Based on her experience as a trainer, it takes at least two years before a teacher can really teach in English.

In addition, she said, the government should also assess teachers in order to gain a complete picture of their ability, including their knowledge of the content to be taught and their mastery of English.

"The ministry's Education Excellence Institute (LPMP), which has trainers in all of its chapters, can do this assessment," she said, adding that the trainers must first undergo training themselves. "This is where the British Council comes in."

The British Council has been cooperating with LPMP to train English teachers in several primary schools.


However, Itje is not yet sure when the training for trainers will be conducted as the thorough plan is still being deliberated. But several areas of focus have been identified including pedagogical ability, language level of teachers and learners and knowledge of the materials.

Director general of primary and secondary education at the ministry, Suyanto, said that although the policy had not progressed much, the government would continue to work on it and support schools in need of help.

As part of a similar effort, the Cultural and Language Faculty of the University of Indonesia (UI) also recently held training sessions for English teachers from 25 high schools in Depok, West Java.

Indah Welasasih Ludji, the coordinator of the English writing workshop, said that the training was held to help students prepare for English writing tasks in college as well as to prepare the teachers themselves so that they may comply with the government's policy on international standard schools.

"Many students may be able to speak English fluently, but not all of them know how to write scientific papers, or even write at all in English. And that often happens here," she said, adding that the training covered how to write functional and narrative prose as well as essays.


Source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Sulit Menerjemahkan, Baca Lima Langkah ini!

Kegiatan terjemahan ternyata tidak semudah yang diperkirakan. Cukup banyak hal yang harus diperhatikan. Namun, seorang penerjemah profesional haruslah terus berusaha untuk menghasilkan terjemahan yang berkualitas baik.


Sebagai awalan, berikut lima pedoman sederhana untuk diketahui oleh seorang calon penerjemah. Pedoman ini dikemukakan oleh Anton Hilman (1977) dalam bukunya 'Pedoman Umum Menterjemahkan Tahap I', yaitu:

1. Membaca dengan cermat naskah bahasa sumber

Hal ini dilakukan untuk memahami pesan keseluruhan dan arti setiap kata, berikut juga dengan arti sampingannya. Untuk itu, perlu disediakan kamus yang baik, ensiklopedi, penutur bahasa sumber, dan rekan sekerja. Tujuannya, untuk menghindari hal-hal sebagai berikut:

(a) pemakaian padanan yang kurang tepat

(b) kecenderungan untuk mengubah naskah bahasa sumber

(c) penerjemahan harfiah atas ungkapan yang tidak difahami. Sebab, hal ini akan mengorbankan pesan bahasa sumber, di samping juga menyimpang dari hukum sintaksis bahasa sasaran.


2. Membaca ulang produk terjemahan

Hal ini dilakukan tanpa membandingkannya dengan naskah bahasa sumber. Lakukan selang beberapa saat kemudian sambil mengadakan perbaikan naskah bahasa sasaran agar susunannya lebih lancar, judul sesuai dengan kata, istilah, dan pengertian yang terdapat di dalam naskah bahasa sumber.


3. Membaca kembali produk terjemahan

Lakukan hal ini sambil membandingkannya dengan naskah bahasa sumber, mengadakan penyesuaian seperlunya


4. Meminta bantuan orang lain untuk menilai

Seorang penerjemah patut merasa curiga terhadap dirinya sendiri. Ya, bahwa mungkin saja ada hal-hal yang tak dapat diraba atau ditangkapnya dalam naskah bahasa sumber.


5. Sadari, bahwa menerjemahkan tidak sama dengan menyadur dan seringkali ada penyampaian pesan yang kurang jelas

Ketidakjelasan ini tidak hanya disebabkan oleh penguasaan yang terbatas akan bahasa sumber, tetapi juga atas bahasa sasaran.

Melihat pedoman tersebut, tentunya, perlu kesabaran dan keinginan untuk terus berlatih dan belajar menerjemahkan. Ada baiknya, bila penerjemah menyimpan daftar kata yang mempunyai arti khusus dari teks yang sudah ia terjemahkan.



Sumber : http://www.kompas.com/

Investasi pada Guru, Ciptakan Masa Depan Pendidikan yang Baik

Kondisi guru di dunia saat ini bukan saja menghadapi tantangan kekurangan guru, tetapi juga menciptakan guru masa depan yang mampu menyiapkan siswa menghadapi tantangan global. Untuk itu, perlu investasi yang berkelanjutan pada guru guna menghasilkan pendidik yang terlatih dan memiliki motivasi kuat dalam pembelajaran.



Demikian pesan Organisasi Pendidikan, Ilmu Pengetahuan, dan Kebudayaan Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (UNESCO) berkaitan dengan peringatan Hari Guru se-dunia, Selasa (5/10). UNESCO menyerukan negara-negara untuk berinvestasi secara serius pada guru.


Sebab, dalam perubahan dunia yang cepat dan saling ketergantungan negara-negara di dunia, guru tidak lagi cukup membekali siswa dengan pelajaran-pelajaran dasar. Guru juga mesti bisa menjadikan siswa yang bertanggung jawab sebagai warganegara lokal dan dunia.


Para guru itu mesti membekali siswa dengan teknologi baru dan kemampuan untuk membuat keputusan tepat soal kesehatan, lingkungan, dan tantangan lainnya. Untuk itu, dukungan pendanaan pada program perekrutan, pelatihan, serta pengembangan profesional guru harus selalu ada.


Ketua Umum Pengurus Besar Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia (PGRI) Sulistiyo, mengatakan peningkatan mutu dan kesejahteraan guru mesti berjalan beriringan. Tanpa keberpihakkan pada guru, nasib pendidikan Indonesia tidak mengalami perubahan yang signifikan.


Laporan wartawan KOMPAS Ester Lince Napitupulu



Sumber : http://www.kompas.com/

Ajari Kreatif, Sebelum Dijejali Macam-macam...

Jauh sebelum anak dijejali dengan target-target tertentu seperti nilai yang bagus, mengerjakan PR, ikut les ini dan itu, Anda harus bersiap diri menjadi orang yang kreatif untuk membuka ruang-ruang kreatifitas mereka.



Belum semua anak saat ini memperoleh tanah yang subur untuk dapat mengembangkan kreatifitasnya. Tak hanya di sekolah formal, melainkan juga di dalam lingkungan keluarga, anak kian tenggelam dibenamkan oleh ambisi para pendidik, dan bahkan orang tuanya sendiri. Keduanya bukan hanya tidak mengembangkan, namun kadang justeru cenderung mematikan potensi kreatifitas anak-anak.


Untuk itulah, dalam makalahnya 'Mendorong Anak Berpikir Kreatif', pemerhari anak dan juga Ketua Komisi Nasional Perlindungan Anak Seto Mulyadi merasakan, para orang tua perlu memiliki keseriusan yang tinggi untuk memberikan tanah yang subur bagi tumbuh dan berkembangnya kreatifitas anak-anak mereka. Menurutnya, secara sederhana kreatifitas dapat diartikan dalam beberapa definisi berikut, yaitu:

- Kemampuan mencipta sesuatu yang baru

- Kemampuan membuat kombinasi baru berdasarkan data, informasi atau unsur-unsur lain yang ada

- Kemampuan yang mencerminkan kelancaran, keluwesan atau fleksibilitas, orisinalitas dalam berpikir dan mengelaborasi suatu gagasan



Kreatif Mengembangkan Kreatifitas


Lalu, bagaimana kita dapat mengembangkan kreatifitas mereka? Seto punya beberapa kiat sederhananya di sini, antara lain:

- Cintai mereka setulus hati

Dengan mencintai mereka setulus hati, kita tentu mau menerima mereka apa adanya. Kita pun akan menghargai keunikan mereka tanpa harus memaksanya menjadi orang-orang yang kita inginkan.

Kalau mereka pandai menggambar, berikan acungan jempol sebagai tanda bangga. Kalau memang kurang pandai bernyanyi, jangan paksa ia menyanyi dengan bagus agar bisa masuk TV.


- Beri kesempatan mengekspresikan ide-idenya yang cemerlang

Membuat roda mobil bersegi empat atau menggambar air laut berwarna jingga, semuanya bisa terjadi. Maka, apapun karya yang dihasilkan dari idenya, biarkan anak Anda merasa bebas dan aman mengekspresikan ide-idenya yang unik dan orisinil itu.

Secara psikologis, memberikan tempat untuk mengekspresikan ide-idenya itu akan merangsang potensi kreatif anak untuk berkembang secara optimal. Jangan terlalu banyak dilarang atau disalahkan. Mereka hanya butuh batas-batas yang jelas dan tegas dari Anda, namun hal itu harus tetap fleksibel dan tidak kaku.


- Ajak mereka memperkaya wawasan di bidang yang diminatinya itu.

Menonton konser musik, menonton pergelaran tari, melihat pameran lukisan, pertandingan olahraga, dan sebagainya, yang selama ini menarik minatnya. Dengan begitu, si anak akan punya banyak pengalaman, sehingga gudang gagasan di dalam otaknya pun akan lebih penuh untuk mengembangkan kreatifitasnya sendiri.

Sumber : http://www.kompas.com/

Pemanfaatan TIK (Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi ) Untuk Pendidikan

Saat ini komputer bukan lagi merupakan barang mewah, alat ini sudah digunakan diberbagai bidang pekerjaan seperti halnya pada bidang pendidikan. pada awalnya komputer dimanfaatkan di sekolah sebagai penunjang kelancaran pekerjaan administrasi dengan memanfaatkan software(perangkat lunak) Microsoft word,Excel dan Acces. Dengan masuknya materi Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi dalam kurikulum baru, maka peranan komputer sebagai salah satu komponen utama dalam TIK mempunyai posisi yang sangat penting sebagai salah satu media pembelajaran.

TIK bukan merupakan teknologi yang berdiri sendiri, tetapi merupakan kombinasi dari hardware dan software. Ada hal penting yang harus diperhatikan dalam memanfaatkan TIK sebagai media pembelajaran yaitu Hardware dan sofware yang tersedia dan jenis metode pembelajaran yang akan digunakan.

Beberapa pemanfaatan TIK pembelajaran diantaranya :

1. Presentasi

Presentasi merupakan cara yang sudah lama digunakan, dengan menggunakan OHP atau chart. Peralatan yang digunakan sekarang biasanya menggunakan sebuah komputer/laptop dan LCD proyektor. Ada beberapa keuntungan jika kita memanfaatkan TIK diantaranya kita bisa menampilkan animasi dan film,sehingga tampilannya menjadi lebih menarik dan memudahkan siswa untuk menangkap materi yang kita sampaikan. Software yang paling banyak digunakan untuk presentasi adalah Microsoft Powerpoint.

Ada beberapa hal yang harus diperhatikan dalam pembuatan bahan presentasi, diantaranya :

a. Jangan terlalu banyak tulisan yang harus ditampilkan

b. Tulisan jangan terlalu kecil karena harus dilihat oleh banyak siswa

c. Perbanyak memasukkan gambar dan animasi

d. Usahakan bentuk presentasi yang interaktif

2. Demonstrasi

Demonstrasi biasanya digunakan untuk menampilkan suatu kegiatan didepan kelas misalkkan eksperimen.

Kita bisa membuat film cara-cara melakukan suatu kegiatan misalkan cara melakukan pengukuran dengan mikrometer yang benar atau mengambil sebagian kegiatan yang penting. Sehingga dengan cara ini siswa bisa kita arahkan untuk melakukan kegiatan yang benar atau mengambil kesimpulan dari kegiatan tersebut.

Cara lain adalah memanfaatkan media internet, kita bisa menampilkan animasi yang berhubungan dengan materi yang kita ajarkan (Meskipun tidak semuanya tersedia). Sebagai contoh untuk menampilkan arah vektor dari perkalian silang kita bisa mengakses internet dengan alamat

http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/Flash/ClassMechanics/RightHandRule/RightHandRule.html

3. Virtual Experiment

Maksud dari virtual eksperimen disini adalah suatu kegiatan laboratorium yang dipindahkan didepan komputer. Anak bisa melakukan beberapa eksperimen dengan memanfaatkan software virtual eksperimen misalnya Crocodile Clips. Software ini bisa didownload di http://www.crocodile-clips.com/s3_1.jsp, tetapi kita harus register dulu untuk mendapatkan active code yang berlaku untuk satu bulan.

4. Kelas Virtual

Maksud kelas virtual disini adalah siswa belajar mandiri yang berbasiskan web,misalnya menggunakan moodle. Pada kelas maya ini siswa akan dapat mendapatkan materi, tugas dan test secara online. Kita sebagai pendidik memperoleh kemudahan dalam memeriksa tugas dan menilai hasil ujian siswa. Terutama hasil ujian siswa akan dinilai secara otomatis.

Sebenarnya banyak bentuk pemanfaatan TIK lainnya yang dapat digunakan untuk membantu siswa dalam proses belajar mengajar. Tetapi semua itu tergantung kepada kita bagaimana cara memanfaatkannya.