Understanding Internet Security Threats (1)

Understanding Internet Security Threats, That Are Commoly Introduced Into The Wild Internet.

When we are surfing the internet at home or at the office, the computer is exposed to the wild internet where many types of threats might cause the computer to function incorrectly. Unlike a large scale network infrastructure of a corporate that has proper information security management, your computers at home might be vulnerable to the threats.

Definitions of Programmed Threats

Computers are designed to execute instructions one after another. These instructions usually do something useful - calculate values, maintain databases, and communicate with users and with other systems. Sometimes, however, the instructions executed can be damaging or malicious in nature. When the damage happens by accident, we call the code involved a software bug. Bugs are perhaps the most common cause of unexpected program behavior.

But if the source of the damaging instructions is an individual who intendet that the abnormal behavior occur, we call the instructions malicious code, or a programmed threat. Some people use the term malware to describe malicious software.

There are many different kinds of programmed threats. Experts classify threats by the way they behave, how they are triggered, and how they spread. In recent years, occurrences of these programmed threats have been described almost uniformly by the media as computer viruses and (in the more technical media) worms. However, viruses and worms make up only a small fraction of the malicious code that has been devised. Saying that all programmed data loss is caused by viruses.

Experts who work in this area have formal definitions of all of these types of software. However, not all the experts agree on common definitions. Thus, we'll consider the following practical definitions of malicious software:

Security tools and toolkits

Usually designed to be used by security professionals to protect their sites, these can also be used by unauthorized individuals to probe for weaknesses, rootkits are a special case: these are prepackaged attack toolkits that also install back doors into your systeem once they have penetrated superuser account security.

Back doors

Sometimes called trap doors, these allow unauthorized access to your system. Back doors, also called trap doors, are pieces of code written into applications or operating system to grant programmers access to program without requiring them to go through the normal methods of access authentication. Back doors and trap doors have been around for many years. They're typically written by application programmers who need a means of debugging or monitoring code that they are developing.

Most back doors are inserted into applications that require lengthy authentication procedures or long setups requiring a user to enter many different values to run the application. When debugging the program, the developer may wish to gain special privileges or avoid all the necessary setup and authentication steps. The programmer also may want to ensure that there is a method of activating the program should something go wrong with the authentication procedure that is being built into the application. The back door is code that either recognizes some special sequence of input, or is triggered by being run from a certain user ID. It then grants special access.

Back doors become threats when they're used by unscrupulous programmers to gain unauthorized access. They are also a problem when the initial application developer forgets to remove a back door after the system has been debugged and some other individual discovers the door's existence

Why Dayaks Like Hornbills

One day, a Dayak named Ketupong went into the jungle to hunt birds. He saw one with strange red eyes. He raised his blowpipe to his mouth. "Psst" - the dart hit the bird. He bent down to pick it up. Suddenly it changed into a beautiful dress made of bird's feathers. He put it in the bamboo container he used for his darts. It was so finely made and soft that it could be folded up into a small space.
"Have you seen my dress?" He turned round to see who had spoken to him. There was a lovely girl standing behind him. He did not know where she had come from.
"Yes," he said, "here it is. But I shan't give it to you unless you promise to marry me." He had never seen such a lovely girl before and his mother was always telling him to get married.
The girl agreed, provided that he never asked her to tell him her name. They were soon married. The next year, they had a son. Ketupong and his wife (he just called her "wife") were very happy together. They loved their son dearly. However, Ketupong often noticed that his wife was looking up at the sky. "What are you looking at?" he asked. But she only shook her head.
Then he saw his wife weaving two coats. They were a bright green color with an unusual pattern like bird's feathers.
"Who are you making those coats for?" he asked.
"They are for you and our son," she answered. "When they are finished, you can wear them to fly up into the sky."
"I don't want to fly," he said.
"Silly, she smiled. "Don't you know who I am? I am Inchin Temaga, daughter of Singalang Burong. My house is in the sky."
Ketupong was surprised. He had heard of Singalang Burong. He was the Dayak God of War, a great general who had never lost a battle. "In that case, my wife must be a fairy," he thought to himself.
Suddenly, his wife's body became covered with feathers. In a few minutes, her arms changed into wings. She rose into the air. He tried to stop her but it was too late. She flew up, up, into the sky. "Come back! Come back!" he cried. Her voice came floating down, "If you want to visit me, wear the coats I have made for you."
Years went by. All this time, the son was sad that he could not see his mother. He looked so unhappy that his father did not know what to do.
"Take me to my mother," the boy cried. "I want to see my mother again."
"But how can I?" asked his father. Then he remembered the coats which his wife had left behind. So they put on the coats. They immediately felt much lighter. Soon they were able to fly up into the sky. They saw a great palace in front of them. They palace gates opened and a man wearing a splendid Dayak was dress appeared. He was Singalang Burong.
"Welcome, Ketupong!" he roared. "My daughter and I have been waiting for you. Why have you been so long?
Then Inchin Temaga appeared. She was not very pleased to see her husband as she had heard that he had remarried. "Go back to earth!" she told him. "I know that you now have another family there. Our son can stay here with me. My father can teach him a lot. He can follow you later."
So Ketupong had to return to earth. Singalang Burong was very pleased to see his grandson.
At about that time, one of Singalang Burong's men was killed by a giant named Jubang. Singalang Burong showed his grandson the correct way to pay respects to the dead. He told him to pack all the dead man's belongings into a box. "The box cannot be opened," he said, "until we have taught the giant a good lesson. We must cut off his head." The next day the boy went with his grandfather to look for the giant. On the way, Singalang Burong taught him how to use magic and how to look for good and bad signs.

Soon they reached the longhouse where the giant was staying. They decided to wait outside until it was dark. When they entered the longhouse, Singalang Burong gave a terrible shout. He threw his spear at the giant. The giant fell to the ground. He then leapt forward and cut off the giant's head with one blow of his sword. All the other people living in the longhouse, who were the giant's prisoners, were set free. When Singalang Burong and his grandson returned home with the giant's head, everyone was happy. They held a feast which lasted three days and nights. After the feast was over, Singalang Burong pointed to the carving of a strange-looking bird on top of a tall pole. The bird's beak was pointed in the direction of the giant's house. "What's that, grandfa?" the boy asked. "It's a horn bill. It is one of the sacred birds of the Dayaks, we believe that it will help us to beat our enemies in battle."
"Why do you use a hornbill, grandfa?"
"Don't ask so many questions," said the old man. " Probably because it's such a large and strong bird. Anyway, its head and tail feathers are very beautiful."

Later when the boy returned to earth, he taught his father and everyone living in his father's longhouse what he had learned from his grandfather.

Blowpipes

Blowpipes are used as weapons in many parts of Borneo. It is believed that the Muruts of Sabah first used them more than a thousand years ago. They would not have been able to live without these weapons. They did not know how to plant rice at the time but they planted tapioca on the hillsides near their houses. They only way for them to obtain enough to eat was to hunt wild animals and birds with their blowpipes and poisonous darts.

It is said that the first blowpipe was made from bamboo. It was sharpened at one end. The point was then hardened over a fire. This weapon could be used both as a blowpipe and spear. However, bamboo blowpipes were not very accurate. The hole in the centre of the bamboo was too big, which made it impossible to shoot the darts straight. So blowpipes were made of hard wood, sometimes nine feet long, with a small hole bored down the centre. These wooden blowpipes were more accurate than bamboo blowpipes, but it was difficult to make the hole. Than a clever man thought of the idea of using a hot iron to make it. Even then, it sometimes took several weeks to make a blowpipe. Sometimes a sharp knife was tied tightly with rattan to the end of the blowpipe, and a metal mouthpiece was fixed at the other end.

Blowpipe darts are similar to arrows. They are usually made from wood or bamboo. They are about ten inches long and very thin and light. One end is sharp and the other end is shaped like a cork. This cork-shaped end helps to make sure that the dart travels in a straight line. The darts are dried in the sun and later hardened by fire. The pointed end is often dipped in poison which is made from the sap of a tree and the fangs of a poisonous snake. It looks like a black sticky paste.

Poisonous darts are placed ready for use in a bamboo container, which is hung above a fire so that darts are kept dry.

When an animal is killed with blowpipe, a hair is pulled out from its fur and stuck on the blowpipe, and a drop of blood from the animal is rubbed on the weapon.

Muruts can shoot very accurately with blowpipes. They can even hit a small bird from thirty yards away.

Pendet

Pendet is a traditional Balinese dance, in which an offering in theform of a ritual dance. As a religious dance, Pendet is usually performed during temple ceremonies.

Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carry in their right hand a small offering of incense, cakes, water vessels, or flower formations set in palm leaf with these they dance from shrine to shrine within the temple. Pendet, thus, may be performed as a serial and continue intermittently throughoin, the day and late into the night during temple feasts.

The original Pendet dance is performed by 4-5 young girls in temple yards. Pendet dancers bring flower in small bokor, they spread the flowers around the temple. This dance is a symbol of welcoming God in some ritual ceremonies in Bali. Pendet actually has simple dance movements. These movements are the basic dance movements of Balinese dance. Pendet has undergone later development with variations and now is not only performed in ritual ceremonies but also in some social events. Pendet since has been known as a welcoming dance.

Malaysia, Negri yang Lupa akan Sejarah Bangsanya

Sebagai warga Indonesia, wajar saja jika saya merasa harga diri Bangsa ini sudah tak dihargai lagi oleh Negri jiran. Rentetan klaim yang dilakukan Malaysia terhadap pulau-pulau perbatasan dan warisan-warisan budaya Indonesia, mempertontonkan seakan Malaysia ingin menunjukkan hegemoninya atas Indonesia. Rasa superioritas yang teramat berlebihan.

Ada baiknya Malaysia mengingat kembali sejarah Sriwijaya, Majapahit, "Ganyang Malaysia", atau hutang budi Malaka terhadap Pati Unus. Dengan menengok kebelakang, diharapkan langkah kedepannya akan lebih bijak. Jangan pernah berpikir jika hari ini bisa mengajukan klaim atas Ligitan, Sempadan, Ambalat, wayang kulit, reog, sampai tari pendet, maka besok bisa Kalimantan, Sumatra, Monas.

Ahh tapi kita tahu bahwa Malaysia tak seberani itu, baru saja TNI melakukan latihan perang, mereka langsung hengkang. Mengingatkan kita akan Nurdin M Top dengan hit & run-nya.

Lampung & Krakatau Volcanic Island

Ancient Chinese travel chronicles refer to a place in the most southerly part of Sumatra called "Lampung" or "place of southerly winds". The province is generally flat with the highest mountains of Gunung Pesagi, Tanggamas, Seminiung, Sehincan and Raya all being dormant volcanoes. Bandar Lampung, the Provincial capital, was formerly two separate towns, Tanjungkarang and the port of Teluk Betung, which after the infamous eruption of Krakatau were both completely covered in volcanic ash. In the course of development, however this town have merged together to become one single city.

Tourist Office: Jl. Ahmad Dahlan no. 79, Gunung Mas, Bandar Lampung 35211
Phone. (0721) 263401, 361430
Fax. (0721) 266184

Getting there:
Domestic airlines have daily flight from Jakarta. Rajabasa bus terminal is one of the busiest in Sumatra, with a constant flow of departures. The trip from Jakarta takes eight hours which include crossing Sunda Strait between Merak in Java and Bakaheuni Lampung by ferry. Three trains a day run from Palembang.

Place of Interest

*Bandar Lampung has a Museum and a Monument of Krakatau Eruption.

*Krakatau Island
Krakatau is an inhabited island and located on the southern part of the Bay of Lampung. Krakatau is reachable in three hours by boat from Canti, a fishing village near Kalianda, South Lampung. Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) is still growing, first emerging from the sea in early 1928, 45 years after legendary eruption in 1883.

Krakatau Island is currently among three destination in Indonesia that has been qualified in the New 7 Wonder of Nature campaign held by the New 7 Wonders Fondation (two other candidates is Lake Toba and Komodo National Park).

*Pugung Archaeological
Pugung Archaeological site in Pugung Raharjo village, 40 kms northeast of Bandar Lampung is a site of megalith and prehistoric relics as well those of the classical Hindu-Buddhist period.

*Merak Belantung Beach
Merak Belantung Beach is 40 km south of Bandar Lampung, on the way to the seaport of Bakauheni, the beach is ideal for swimming and wind surfing. Cottages are available.

Balinese

The Balinese population of 3 million (1.5% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok, and in the eastern-most regions of Java (eg. the Municipality of Banyuwangi).

The origins of the Balinese came from three periods: The first waves of immigrants came from Java and Kalimantan in the prehistoric times of the proto-Malay stock; the second wave of Balinese came slowly over the years from Java during the Hindu period; the third and final period came from Java, between the 15th and 16th centuries, at the time of the conversion of Islam in Java, aristocrats fled to Bali from the Javanese Majapahit Empire to escape Islamic conversion, reshaping the Balinese culture into a syncretic form of classical Javanese culture with many Balinese elements. The Balinese people generally got a large proportion of their ancestry from there.

Balinese culture is perhaps most known for dance, drama and sculpture. The culture is noted for its use of the gamelan in music. The island is also known for its form of wayang kulit or shadow puppet theater. It also has several unique aspects related to their religions and traditions. Balinese culture is a mix of Balinese Hindu religion and Balinese custom.

Ngaben

Ngaben, or Cremation Ceremony, is the ritual performed in Bali to send the deceased to the next life. The body of the deceased will be placed as if sleeping, and the family will continue to treat the deceases as sleeping. No tears are shed, because the deceased is only temporarily not present and will reincarnate or find his final rest in Moksha (freeing from the reincarnation and death cycle).

The proper day of the ceremony is always a matter of consulting a specialist on ceremony days. On the day of the ceremony, the body of the deceased is placed inside a coffin. This coffin is placed inside a sarcophagus resembling a buffalo (Lembu) or in a temple structure (Wadah) made of paper and wood. The buffalo or temple structure will be carried to the cremation site in a procession. The procession is not walking in a straight line. This is to confuse bad spirits and keep them away from the deceased.

The climax of Ngaben is the burning of the whole structure, together with the body of the deceased. The fire is necessary to free the spirit from the body and enable reincarnation.

Ngaben is not always immediately performed. For higher caste members it is normal to perform the ritual within 3 days. For lower caste members the deceased are buried first and later, often in a group ceremony for the whole village, cremated.

The Irrawaddy Dolphin in Mahakan River

Genetically the Irrawaddy Dolphin is closely related to the Orca. The species name brevirostris comes from the Latin meaning short-beaked. They have a large melon and a blunt, rounded Lead, and the beak is indistinct. The dorsal fin, located about two-thirds posterior along the back, is short, blunt and triangular. The flipper are long and broad. It is lightly coloured all over, but slightly more white on the underside than the back. Adult weight exceed 130 kg (287 lb) and length is 2.3 m (8 ft) at full maturity. These dolphins are thought to reach sexual maturity at 7 to 9 years. Its gestation period is 14 months, giving birth to a single calf every 2 to 3 years. Length is about 1 m (3 ft) at birth. Birth weight is about 10 kg (22 lb). Weaning is after two years. Lifespan is about 30 years.

The Irrawaddy Dolphin in Indonesia almost known as "Pesut" and founded in Mahakam river systems, including Semayang, Melintang, and Jempang lakes, in East Kalimantan. A survey reported approximately 100 dolphins in Semayang Lake and the Pela River and adjacent Mahakam River.

In Semayang Lake, Irrawaddy Dolphins perform daily migration from the lake to the Mahakam River, returning to the lake in the evening. They may be found at distance up to 1.300 km upstream in major rivers, and indication of movements of considerable extent (Reyes, 1991).

Kreb (in IWC, 2000) described her research on this species in the Mahakam River, and its associated lakes and in nearby coastal waters of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The middle section of the Mahakam River and tributaries between Mum Kainan (180 km from mouth) and Melak (350 km from the mouth) was identified as primary dolphin habitat. The distribution changes seasonally an is influenced by water levels and perhaps variation in prey availability. Dolphins move into tributaries during high water and back into the main river when water levels recede. Most sightings were made at confluences and river bends.

Threat's

Incidental catch: Irrawaddy Dolphins are accidentally caught in fishing nets in Mahakam River.
Habitat degradation: Irrawaddy Dolphins from Semayang Lake were formerly observed in the Mahakam River up to Tenggarong and Samarinda. Since the 1980's, probably due to the intense activity related to the timber industry, they are no longer observed near these towns but only above Muara Kaman (Reyes, 1991). Habitat degradation may limit the distribution and abundance of Irrawaddy Dolphins, particularly in fresh water. Dams (Baird and Maunsouphom, 1997), gold mining using mercury abstraction techniques, increased sedimentation as a result of deforestation and other changes in river catchments, overfishing, harmful fishing techniques (poison and electrofishing), vessel traffic and noise pollution are all potential threats to this species. Coastal development with concomitant eutrophication is also cause for concern (IWC, 2000).
Overfishing: Reduction of fish populations in Indonesian rivers by illegal fishing methods is a serious threat.

Status
The Irrawaddy dolphins are classified by the IUCN as a critically endangered species.

Kecak Dance

Kecak a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms. Taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, the dance tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sinta, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka, "Ravana".

Social Networking Sites as a Breaking News Source

Social networking sites offer people online a gathering spot to casually share their opinions and interests with other like-minded participants. Recent event however have indicated how effective these online communities are for breaking news on a national and international level.

Although interest or opinion may vary from group to group there still remains a common interest in national or word news. Considering these social platforms connect people from all over the world on a 24/7 basis you're looking at their considerable potential as information sources.

What we're focusing on here is the ability of these social sites to gather and circulate late breaking news. Compared with the more traditional syndicated news networks it can be argued that social network sites are in fact more efficient and expedient in delivering news to the public. Take that CNN! By passing information along through word of mouth using the speed of the internet news that travels this fast is hard to beat.

Let's examine 5 reasons why a social network online can outperform the more traditional news broadcasting networks.

News Collected as it Occurs

Social platforms do not 'assign' people to gather news or information but instead are merely designed to share information or interests. Site members do however possess an insatiable and natural curiosity. Just through sheer numbers members combine to create a catch basin of global proportions. As a result the are capable of collecting information of little or great consequence anywhere in the world on a 24/7 basis.

Information Transmitted Fast

Any information picked up either through heresy or observation is usually immediately 'released' on the internet. To date there is no more efficient means with which to dispense information to the general public quicker than the net.

As is often said in basketball, 'Nothing but Net!'

Syndicated networks for the most part still have certain 'hoops' thru which they must 'jump' before releasing information. This may tend to slow their process.

No 'Red Tape' or Protocol

Without the traditional 'red tape' or protocol that syndicated news networks contend with online communities hold an unfair advantage. The legalese involving fair play, accuracy, and ethics do encumber syndicated networks. The lack of such restraints however concerning online communities does 'allow' for information to be dispensed much faster to the general public.

Word Gets Out Quicker

News tends to flow from person to person and often time is simply brodcast to the masses. The net result is that information spreads virally and this word of mouth effect should not be overlook for its efficiency and speed. There is no 'formal' channel through which information is directed which means word is spread continuously, not at scheduled intervals. This process 'increase' both speed and just as importantly exposure.

No Regulated Responsibilities

Within any social network community there is no delegation of duties, responsibilities or authority. You are looking at a world-wide community with the capability of filling any role that may seem appropriate at any given time. From observing an event or translating its meaning to distributing the information this flexibility and spontaneity enables news to be collected and spread like a wild fire.

This lack of structure is built for speed but on the other hand can lead to occasional inaccuracies in reporting facts.

Social networking sites have both the channels and the manpower to deliver late breaking news at lightning speed. Using word of mouth to spread information social sites possess the ability to transmit news unencumbered by any red tape further accelerating the transfer of this information. It is not suggested that online communities replace syndicated news networks as news source but merely that they can compliment them if needed. Social network sites based upon their prominence on the internet possess the potential to be much more that they were designed for and this should not be ignored.

Tenggerese

The Tenggerese are the descendants of the Majapahit princes. Their population of roughly 600.000 is centered in thirty villages in the isolated Tengger mountains (Mount Bromo) within the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park in East-Central Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.

The Tenggerese generally profess Hinduism as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements.
Their priest are called Dukun or Resi Pujjangga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. Membership of the priesthood is hereditary and generally passes down from father to son. Each village has only one of these three priest, together with three assistants, namely Legen, Sepuh, and Dandan.

Both Muslim and Christian missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggere. However, the Christians have met with hardly any success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. Even so, due to the negligible number of them, most of them either reverted back to Hinduism or converted to Islam. The Tenggere Muslim have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.

Festivals

The main festival of the Tenggerese is the Yadnya Kasada, which lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain by presenting annual offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce. They will also see the examination of the medicine men memorizing prayers. The medicine man who passes the exam is decided to be spiritual leader of Tengger tribe.

Mount Bromo

Mount Bromo (2,392 m) isn't the highest mountain in Java - that honor goes to nearby Mount Semeru at 3,676 m - but it's probably the most famous one. Bromo is in fact only one of the many peaks inside the massive Tengger Caldera, but it's easily recognized as the entire top has been blown off and the crater inside constanly belches white sulphurous smoke. The inside of the caldera, aptly dubbed the Laut Pasir (Sea of Sand) is coated with fine volcanic sand and the overall effect is unsettlingly unearthly, especially when compared to the lush green valleys all around the caldera.

When timing any activities in the area, bear in mind that sunset is soon after 5 PM and sunrise is correspondingly early at around 5.30 AM. This means you'll usually need to get up by 3.30 AM or so to get there in time for dawn.

A legend connected with Mt Bromo tells of the origin of the Tenggerese people. According to the story, it was during the closing years of the 15th century, when the East Javanese empire of Majapahit was in decline, that a princess of the kingdom, named Roro Anteng and her husband Joko Seger, retreated to the Bromo region and established a separate principality, which they named Tengger, a combination of the last syllables of each of their names. The region, it is said, developed and prospered, yet no descendants were born to the ruling couple. In despair, Roro Anteng and Joko Seger climbed to the top of Mt Bromo and prayed to the gods, asking for their help. The gods consented to the request on the condition that the last child born be sacrificed in the crater of the mountain. This Agreed, the royal couple returned home happily and it wasn't long before the princess gave birth to their first child. In fact, the gods turned out to be more than generous and in the following years 24 more children were born. However, when the princess learned that the twenty fifth child, named Kesuma, was to be the last and thus the one to be sacrificed, she could not bring herself to fulfil her part of the bargain. In anger, the gods threatened fire and brimstone from the smoking volcano and eventually there was no alternative but to throw the child into the crater. Shortly after the sacrifice had been made, the child's voice was heard, ordering the Tengger people and their descendants to perform an annual ceremony at Mt Bromo, to commemorate the event and to appease the anger of the gods.
To this day, the Kasodo ceremony, held on the 14th day of the Tenggerese month of Kasodo (December), is the biggest event of the year for the people of Mt Bromo.

Proboscis Monkey, Long-Nosed Monkey

Proboscis monkey, also known Bekantan, or Indonesian nickname is monyet belanda meaning 'Dutch monkey' the Indonesian word for Dutchman, as Indonesian noticed the Dutch colonisers often also had a large belly and nose.

Proboscis Monkey is endemic Borneo's mangrove, lowland, riverine and swamp forest. Proboscis Monkey have the longest noses of all primates. In alderly animals, it can reach 17,5 cm, although its function is not known for sure. Both males and female have the large noses. The male is much larger and heavier than the female. A male is 2 to 2,5 feet (66-72 cm) long and weighs 35-51 lbs (16-23 kgs), while a female is 1,2-2 feet (53-61 cm) long and weighs only (15-24 lbs) 7-10 kgs. Their tails are as long as their body.

Like other similar monkeys, the Proboscis Monkey climbs well. It is also a expert swimmer, often swimming from island to island, and has been picked up by fishing boats in open ocean a mile from shore.

Proboscis Monkey lives in small groups of 10 to 32 animals. Group membership is very flexible, and animals are known to move from group to group quite often.

Status : Due to ongoing habitat loss and hunting in some areas. Only about 1000 are known to still exist in the wild. Proboscis Monkey is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscis_Monkey

The Lament of The Reed-Flute

Listen to this reed, how it makes complaint, telling a tale of separation: 'Ever since I was cut off from my reed-bed, men and women all have lamented my bewailing. I want a breast torn asunder by severance, that I may fully declare the agony of yearning. Every one who is sundered far from his origin longs to recapture the time when he was united with it. In every company I have poured forth my lament, I have consorted alike with the miserable and the happy: each became my friend out of his own surmise, none sought to discover the secret in my heart. My secret indeed is not remote from my lament, but eye and ear lack the light to perceive it. Body is not veiled from soul, nor soul from body, yet to no many is leave given to see the soul'.

This cry of the reed is fire, it is not wind; whoever possesses not this fire, let him be naught! It is the surge of love that bubbles in the wine. The reed is the true companion of everyone parted from a fried: its melodies have rent the veils shrouding our heart. Whoever saw poison and antidote in one the like of the reed? The reed tells the history of the blood-bespattered way, it tells the stories of Majnun's hopeless passion. Only the senseless is intimate with the mysteries of this Sense; only the heedful ear can buy what the tongue retails. Untimely the days have grown in our tribulation, burning sorrows have travelled along with all our days; yet if our days have all departed, bid them be gone-it matters not; only do Thou abide, O Thou incomparably holy! Whoever is not a fish is soon satiated with His water; he who lacks his daily bread, for him the day is very long. None that is inexperienced comprehends the state of the ripe, wherefore my words mest be short; and now, farewell!

Ujung Kulon National Park

This national park is located at the western-most tip of Java, Indonesia. It includes the Ujung Kulon Peninsula, the volcanic island group of Krakatoa and other islands including Handeuleum, Panaitan and Peucang. In addition to it's natural beauty and geological interest. The area was designated a World Heritage Site in 1992 for containing the largest remaining lowland rainforest in Java. It is also one of only two homes of Javan Rhino. A population of 50-60 live in Ujung Kulon. Additional species in the park include Javan gibbon, banteng, Javan leaf monkey, crocodile, green turtle, green pea fowl, jungle fowl, barking deer and mouse deer.

Peucang Island

Peucang island's beach is superb for swimming and shallow snorkelling reefs are also found all along the shore.

Panaitan Island Area

Panaitan's hills rise from pristine forest with wildlife of deer, pigs, monkeys, crocodiles, large phytons and a wide variety of bird. Panaitan island's rugged coastline and wide sandy beaches shelter several scuba diving reefs and create exceptional surfing water.

Permits for Ujung Kulon National Park are available at the town of labuan, where there is a National Park office. There is also an office at Taman Jaya. Accommodation is available on Peucang islands

The Javan Rhino in Ujung Kulon

The Javan rhino probably the rarest large mammal species in the world. Weight ranges between 900-2,300 kg, and the body length between 2-4 m. This rhino can reach up to 170 cm.

Only one population of Javan rhino survives in Indonesia, in Ujung Kulon on the island of Java. The Javan rhinoceros has been protected since 1931 in Indonesia. Ujung Kulon National Park, located on south-western side of Java, was set aside for the conservation of the species.

The Javan Rhino can live approximately 30-45 years in the wild. It historically inhabited lowland rain forest, wet grassland and large floodplaints. The Javan Rhino is mostly solitary, except for courtship and child-rearing, though groups may occasionally congregate near wallows and salt licks. Aside from humans, adult have no predators in their range. The Javan Rhino usually avoids humans, but will attack when it feels threatened. Scientists and conservationists rarely study the animals directly due to their extreme rarity and the danger of interfering with such an endangered species. Researches rely on camera traps and fecal samples to gauge health and behavior. Consequently, the Javan Rhino is the least studied of all rhino species.

Baduy People and Their Forbidden Territory

The Baduy, who call themselves Kanekes, are a traditional community living in the western part of the Indonesian province of Banten. Their population of between 5,000 and 8,000 is centered in the Kendeng mountains. Their homeland in Banten, Java is contained in just 5000 ha of hilly forest area 120 km from Jakarta.

The Baduy are divided into two sub group; the Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy) and the Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy). No foreigners were allowed to meet the Inner Baduy, though the Outer Baduy do foster some limited contacs with the outside world. The community of villages in which they live are considered mandalas, derived from the Hindu/Buddhist concept but referring in the Indonesian context to places where religion is the central aspect of life.

The Baduy observe many mytical taboos. They are forbidden to kill, steal, lie, commit adultery, get drunk, eat food at night, take any form of conveyance, wear flowers or perfumes, accept gold or silver, touch money, or cut their hair. Other taboos relate to defending Baduy lands against invasion: they may not grow sawah (wet rice), use fertilizers, raise cash crops, use modern tools for working ladang soil, or keep large domestic animals.
There is evidence that they were originally Hindu, and adopted this many centuries before foreign influence including Arab (Islam), European (Christianity), etc.

The population of about 400 Baduy Dalam consists of 40 families Kajeroan who live in the three villages of Cibeo, Cikertawana, and Cikeusik in Tanah Larangan (forbidden territory) where no stranger is permitted to spend the night. They are probably the purest Baduy stock. The Dalam follow the rigid buyut taboo system very strictly and thus they have made very few contacts with the outside world as they are considered as "People of the sacred inner circle". The Dalam are the only one of these two major clans that have the Pu'un, the spiritual priest of the Baduy. The Pu'un are the only people that visit the most hallowed and sacred ground of the Baduy which lies on Gunung Kendeng, in a place called Area Domas. Unlike the Luar, the Dalams are hardly influenced by Islam.

The Baduy Luar make up the remainder of the Baduy population, living in 22 villages and acting as a barrier to stop visitors from entering the Sacred Inner circle. They do follow the rigid taboo system but not as strictly as the Dalam, and they are more willing to accept modern influence into their daily lives.

Dayak People

The Dayak or Dyak are indigenous to Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroup, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorised as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. The Dayak were animist in belief; however many converted to Christianity, and some to Islam more recently. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.

History

The consensus interpretation in modern anthropology is that nearly all indigenous peoples of South East Asia, including the Dayaks, are descendants of a larger Austronesian migration from Asia, thought to have settled in the South East Asian Archipelago some 3,000 years ago. The first population spoke closely-related Austronesian language, from which Dayak language are traced. About 2,450 years ago, metallurgy was introduced; it later became widespread.

The Dayak people of Borneo posses an indigenous account of their history, partly in writing and partly in common cultural customary practices. In addition, colonial accounts and reports of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully-cultivated economic and political relationships with other communities as well as an ample body of research and study considering historical Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea dwelling groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Coastal population in Borneo are largely Muslim in belief, however these groups (Ilanun, Melanau, Kadayan, Bakumpai, Bisayah) are generally considered to be Islamized Dayaks, native to Borneo, and heavily influenced by the Javanese Majapahit Kingdoms and Islamic Malay Sultanates.

6 Things About Dayaks

1. The Dayak people represent a group of Proto-Malayans inhabiting the inner part of Borneo. They are related with the Batak of Northern Sumatra, Toraja of South Sulawesi, and various tribes Timor, Celebes, Sumatra and Moluccas. During their history, the Dayaks experienced many external influences, especially of Hinduism, a religion that many ethic groups of Borneo converted to. Still, Dayaks are highly conservative, and each village is organized in clans composed of various families that admit the authority of a sole chief; this structure allows a tight collaboration in field labor and other collective works. During the harvesting period, festivities accompanied by dances are kept.

2. Dayaks usually make their villages on the banks of the rivers and lakes. They make branch huts. The large houses are destined to host a whole clan. Sometimes, these houses can be 200 m (660 ft) long. The whole clan works to make these houses built from trunks, bamboo, branches and leaves. Their interior is divided in compartments destined for the life in common of the men, workshop for crafts and shelters for each family.

3. Dayaks worship a superhuman power, called semangat, that rules the lives of humans, animals and plants. This invisible life force dwells many places: all the human body parts, cut hair, shadows, names, the water in which a human or animal bathed, traces imprinted in the mud.... Semangat can enter any body, and it is somehow like a soul that can be destroyed by other more powerful souls. The soul of any man is inherited from a forebear, that's why the cult for the forebears is crucial. Wooden earvings are supposed to host the souls of the dead. All the souls submit to divine powers: the sky, whose image is the hornbill bird, and the land with water, symbolized by the infernal snake.

4. Like all Proto-Malayans, Dayak are a mix between Mongoloid and Asian Blacks, with the predominant genetic background being Mongoloid. Dayaks, both men and women, are famous for their heavy metal rings worn as earrings, that deform their ear lobes.

5. Men are assigned to four classes: children, teenagers, young men and old men. Each class has specific tasks. Young men are before all warriors that have to defend the village against neighboring tribes. When defeating the enemy, Dayaks beheaded them and preserved their heads as trophies in the communal houses. That's why they inspired dread amongst other people, being famous as "head-hunters".

6. Dayaks use machetes during their journeys through the jungle. They use blowpipes and envenomed darts for hunting small game and birds. Only Proto-Malayan, and some tribes of Amazonia are known to use this weapon.

Dayaks collect rubber from the rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica). They exchanged rubber on the coastal areas for tools, farm equipment, seeds and western products.

Dayak fishermen used canoes made of wood boards, joined by resins or rubber for a total impermeability. These people used reds, fishing baskets or wood barrels with a funnel-shaped orifice.

Wayang Kulit

Wayang kulit, shadow puppets prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, are without a doubt the best known of the Indonesian wayang. Kulit means skin, and refers to the lether construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.

The stories are usually drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Serat Menak. The island of Lombok has developed its own-style of Serat Menak called "kazangiloonga".

There is a family of characters in Javanese wayang called Punakawan; they are sometimes referred to as "clown-servants" because they normally are associated with the story's hero, and provide humorous and philosophical interludes. Semar is the father of Gareng (oldest son), Petruk and Bagong (youngsent son). These characters did not originate in the Hindu epics, but were added later, possibly to introduce mystical aspects of Islam into the Hindu-Javanese stories. They provide something akin to a political cabaret, dealing with gossip and contemporary affairs.

Banjar People

Banjar or Banjarnese is the name of an interior and coastal native ethnic group which settled in the Banjar region and in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, the fourth biggest city on the island of Borneo.

Sub-ethnicities

The division of Banjar People into 3 ethnicities is based on the location of the fusions between Malay, local Dayaks (Dayak Bukit, Dayak Maanyan, Dayak Lawangan, Dayak Ngaju, Dayak Barangas, Bakumpai), and Javanese.

1. Banjar Pahuluan, who lives in the valleys by the upriver of Meratus mountain ranges. They live on agriculture.
2. Banjar Batang Banyu, who lives in the valleys by the river of Negara. They take pride of their position as the people of the ancient capital. They are also prominent merchants.
3. Banjar Kuala, who lives in Banjarmasin and Martapura. These people are the people of the new capital.

Relation with Dayaks

The relationship betwee Banjar people and the neighboring Dayaks are always in good term. As some of the Dayaks who converted to Islam fuse themselves into the Banjar culture and call themselves Banjar. The surrounding Dayaks think of the Banjars as their brothers and sisters. This is further strengthened by the fact there are many inter-marriages between the Banjars and the Dayaks, even in the level of royalty. For example: Biang Lawai, a wife of a Banjar King was of Dayak Ngaju ethnicity. This means that the Banjarnese Kings and Queens have Dayaks lineage in their blood.

Music of Indonesia

Indonesia is culturally diverse and every one of the 17,508 islands has its own cultural and artistic history and character. This results hundreds of different forms of music, which often accompanies dance and theater. The musics of Java, Sumatra, Bali, Flores and other islands have been documented and recorded, and research by Indonesia and International scholar is ongoing.


Gamelan

The most popular and famous form of Indonesian music is gamelan, an ensemble of tuned percussion instruments that include metallophone drums, gongs and spike fiddles along with bamboo flutes. Similar ensembles are prevalent throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, but gamelan is from Java, Bali and Lombok. There are rivalries between different regions' variation of gamelan, espicially Java and Bali.

Central Java

Gamelan is intricate and meticulously laid out. The central melody is played on a metallophone in the center of the orchestra, while the front elaboration and ornamentation on the melody, and at the back, the gongs slowly punctuate the music. There are two tuning system. Each gamelan is tuned to itself, and the intervals between notes on the scale vary between ensembles.

The metallophones cover four octaves and include types like the slenthem, demung, saron panerus and balungan. The soul of the gamelan is believed to beside in the large gong or gong ageng. Other gongs are tuned to each note of the scale and include ketuk, kenong and kempul. The front section of the orchestra is diverse and includes rebab, suling, siter, bonang and gambang. Male choruses (gerong) and female (pesindhen) solo vocalists are common.

West Java

West Java, or Sunda, has a diverse brand of gamelan. Gamelan degung, gamelan salendro and tembang sunda are three primary types.

Like This

If anyone ask you
how the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting
will, look lift your face - and say,

Like this.

When someone mentios the gracefulness of the nightsky, climb up on the roof and dance and say,

Like this.

If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is, or what "God's fragrance" mean, learn your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.

Like this.

When someone quotes the old poetic image about clouds gradually uncovering the moon.
Slowly loosen knot by knot the string of your robe.

Like this.

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don't try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

Like this.

When someone asks what it means to "die for love", point here.
If someone ask how tall I am,
frown
and measure with your fingers
the space
between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body,
the returns.
When someone doesn't believe that, walk back into my house.

Like this.

When lovers moan,
They're telling our story.

Like this.

I am a sky where spirits live.
Store into this deepening blue, while the breeze says a secret.

Like this.

When someone asks what there is to do, light the candle in his hand.

Like this.

How did Joseph's scent come to Jacob?

Huuuuu.

How did Jacob's sight return?

Huuuu.

A little wind cleans the eyes.

Like this.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz, he'll put just his head around the edge of the door to surprise us.

Like this.

Candi Borobudur

Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist Monumen in Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.

Borobudur is built as a single large stupa, and when viewed from above takes the form of a giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the nature of mind. The foundation is a square approximately 118 meters (387 ft) on each side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six are square and the upper three are circular. The upper platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large central stupa. Each stupa is bell shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Statues of the Buddha sit inside the pierced enclosures.


*Location
Approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Yogyakarta, Borobudur is located in an elevated area between two twin volcanoes, Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi and two rivers, the Progo and the Elo. Besides Borobudur, there are other Buddhist and Hindu temples in the area, including the Prambanan temples compound.

Silat

Silat is a collective word for a family of martial arts created by the Malay people from Southeast Asia. Originally developed what in now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Singapore. Silat was also traditionally of Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Practitioners are called pesilat.

The movements of silat are often performed as a dance during festival such as weddings. These performances can be done either solo or with a partner and are often accompanied by music, notably the gong, kendang (drum) and suling (flute). As a result several traditional dances were influenced by silat, such as inai. In the Minangkabau area silat is one of the main components in the men's folk dance called randai, besides bakaba (storytelling) and saluang jo dendang (song-and-flute).

The Grammarian and The Boatman

A Grammarian once embarked in a boat. Turning to the boatman with a self satisfied air he asked him:

"Have you ever studied grammar?"
"No", replied the boatman.
"Then half your life has gone to waste", the grammarian said.
The boatman there upon felt very depressed, but he answered him nothing for the moment. Presently the wind tossed the boat into a whirlpool.
The boatman shouted to the grammarian:
"Do you know how to swim?"
"No", the grammarian replied, "my well-spoken, handsome fellow".
"In that case, grammarian", the boatman remarked, "the whole of your life has gone to waste, for the boat is sinking in these whirlpools".

You may be the greatest scholar in the world in your time, but consider, my friend, how the world passes away-and time!

PhotoShop Can Be Easy to Learn - Start Today

If you are a beginner at digital photography and want to learn how to manipulate your images, I recommend you learn PhotoShop. Now, there are plenty of inexpensive PhotoShop done programs available for download, but that's not what you should be learning. If you are serious about digital photography on any level, you should be learning PhotoShop.

It is the industry standard and one of the most powerful images editing applications known to the industry. Aside from just editing digital photos, PhotoShop can be used to create logos, design affiliate websites, design ebook covers, and design CD covers, convert photos into paintings and much more. If you are not sure about spending $ 800 on PhotoShop, keep reading this article; you might change your mind.

Back in December of 1982, Adobe Systems Inc, was founded, but probably had no idea of how quickly PhotoShop would become such a popular application. Finally in 1989 when Adobe PhotoShop was launched on the Macintosh, the beginning of a whole new generation of photography was born. PhotoShop has come a long way since version 1.0, and is still being developed and improved every year. It seems that when PhotoShop has reached its perfection, yet another version is released.

Some of the world's best photographers and digital artists use PhotoShop for every masterpiece they create. Some artists have used PhotoShop to make a living, creating stunning pieces of art and selling them for thousands of dollars. Now, you don't have to be an artistic genius to make money with PhotoShop. The good news is, you can use PhotoShop for some of the most basic digital edits and still generate money. It's just a matter of being creative. If you are a photographer, it is essential to use PhotoShop.

Without PhotoShop, you'd never be able to fix an imperfect smile, or correct bad lighting, or swap out heads in a photo. Seriously, you can do that! Once I was shooting some infant photos and I had shot several dozen photos of infant twins. I could never get both of them to look perfect at the same moment, so I just got their best expressions from all the photos I shot and than merged them into one photo to make the perfect shot.

Adobe has drastically improved the features and usability in PhotoShop over the years, but for a complete beginner, it can seem overwhelming. So how do you learn PhotoShop? Well, there are dozens of way to tackle the application, but there is only one way to truly learn anything. Patience and time are the two key elements. Unfortunately, there is no magic method to learning PhotoShop, so it will take time. You can't just plug information into your brain; it's not that simple.

To really learn PhotoShop, you need a step-by-step video PhotoShop Tutorials that will help you every step of the way. Similar to learning in a classroom environment, you'll need an instructor to walk you through the most essential features, it's like walking through the dessert with no water and no shelter. You will be lost and completely hopeless. After some time, you will probably give up and quit. PhotoShop is not hard to learn, but you will need instruction and video seems to be the method of choice when it comes to learning PhotoShop.

The main thing to realize is that you CAN learn PhotoShop. It is not so difficult once you learn the basic. Without the basics, you'll be searching the Internet forever trying to find the perfect PhotoShop Tutorials. Youtube and the video sharing sites are loaded with PhotoShop tutorials. Yes, I agree, there are some fabulous tutorials out there, but they are just tidbits of information.

You can watch all day long and learn small bits of PhotoShop, but you'll still be frustrated at the end of the day because you still don't know where half of the tools and functions are. During tutorials are great for experienced users or others who just want to freshen up their skills. To become a PhotoShop Master, you must first learn the basics; such as the menus, tools, layer styles, layer adjustments, filters, adobe bridge and more. Without the basic understanding you'll only continue to get frustrated? Once you learn everything you need to know about the basics, then you can start watching freer video tutorials. This will help you expand your ability to apply amazing effects and begin to compete with the Pros.

As mentioned previously Digital Photography Pros use PhotoShop, as well as many other programs, but PhotoShop is always the program of choice. If you want to make money with your photos, design beautiful websites and graphics, or create stunning artwork, PhotoShop should be your #1 program of choice.

With patience and good step-by-step instruction, you will learn the application quickly. If you are interested in learning PhotoShop, we recommend you start with a PhotoShop CS3 Tutorial.

Lovers

O lovers, it is time
to set out from the world.
I hear a drum in my soul's ear coming from the depths of the stars.

Our camel driver is at work;
the caravan is being readied.
He asks that we forgive him
for the disturbance he has cused us,
He asks why we travelers are asleep.

Everywhere the murmur of departure;
the stars, like candles
thrust at us from behind blue veils,
and as if to make the invisible plain,
a wondrous people have come forth

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, a Islamic Jurist, Theologian, and Mystic

Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi (30 September 1207-17 December 1273), a Islamic jurist, theologian, and mystic. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most of his life in an area called Rum because it was once ruled by the Byzantine Empire.

Rumi was born in Khorasan, possibly in or near the city of Balkh. Rumi's father was Bahauddin Walad, a theologian, jurist, and a mystic from Balkh, who was also known during his life time as Sultan al-Ulama or "Sultan of the Scholars". When the Mongols invaded Central Asia, Bahauddin Walad with his whole family and a group of disciples, set out westwards. On the road to Anatolia, Rumi encountered one of the most famous mystic Persian pouts, 'Attar, in Nishapur. 'Attar immediately recognized Rumi's spiritual eminence. He saw the father walking ahead of the Son and said, "Here comes a sea followed by an ocean. "He gave the boy his Asrarnama, a book about the entanglement of the soul in the material world. This meeting had a deep impact on the eighteen-year-old Rumi, and later on became the inspiration for his works.

From Nishapur, Walad and his entourage set out for Baghdad, meeting many of the scholars and Sufis of the city. From there they went to Baghdad, and Hejaz and performed the pilgrimage at Mecca. The migrating caravan then passed through Damascus, Malatya, Erzincan, Sivas, Kayseri, and Nigde. They finally settled in Karaman for seven years. Rumi married Gowhar Khatun in Karaman. They had two sons: Sultan Walad and Ala-eddin Chalabi. When his wife died, Rumi married again and had a son, Amir Alim Chalabi, and a daughter, Malakeh Khatun.

On 1 May 1228, most likely as a result of the insistent invitation of 'Alauddin Key-Qobad, ruler of Anatolia, Bahauddin came and finally settled in Konya in Anatolia within the westernmost territories of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.

Bahauddin became the head of a madrassa (religious school) and when he died, Rumi, aged twenty-five, inherited his position. One of Bahauddin's students, Sayyed Burhanuddin Muhaqqiq Termazi, continued to train Rumi in the religious and mystical doctrines of Rumi's father. For nine years, Rumi practiced Sufism as a disciple of Burhanuddin until the latter died in 1240 or 1241. Rumi's public life then began: he became a teacher who preached in the mosques of Konya and taught his adherents in the madrassa.

During this period, Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there.

It was his meeting with the dervish Shams-e Tabrizi that completely changed Rumi's life. Shams had traveled throughout the Middle East searching and praying for someone who could "endure My company. "A voice said to him, "What will you give in return?" Shams replied, "My head!" The voice then said, "The one you seek is Jalaluddin of Konya. "On the night of 5 December 1248, as Rumi and Shams were talking, Shams was called to the back door. He went out, never to be seen again. It is believed that Shams was murdered with the connivance of Rumi's son, Alauddin; if so, Shams indded gave his head for the privilege of mystical friendship.

For more than ten years after meeting Shams, Mulana had been spontaneously composing ghazals (Persian poems), and these had been collected, in the Diwan Shams Tabrizi. Rumi found another companion in Salahuddin-e Zarkub, a goldsmith. After Salahuddin death, Rumi's scribe and favorite student, Hussam-e Chalabi, assumed the role of Rumi's companion. One day, the two of them were wandering through the Meram Vineyards outside Konya when Hussam described to Rumi an idea he had had:"If you were to write a book like the Ilahinama of Sanai or the Mantiq ut-Tayr of 'Attar, it would become the companion of many troubadours. They would fill their hearts from your work and compose music to accompany it. "Rumi smiled and took out a piece of paper on which were written the opening eighteen lines of his Masnavi. Hussam implored Rumi to write more. Rumi spent the next twelve years of his life in Anatolia dictating the six volumes of this masterwork, the Masnavi, to Hussam.

Rumi died on 17 December 1273 in Konya; his body was interred beside that of his father, and a splendid shrine, the Yesil Turbe (Green Tomb; today the Mevlana Museum), was erected over his place of burial. His epitaph reads:
When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

Earning Your Degree Online

Today getting an education is easier than ever. With the revolution of the internet, earning your degree online is the easy way for many busy people to get the degree they need. After all, the job market is pretty tough these days and many people are looking for a way to increase their education and skills to make themselves more marketable to companies.

Although one option you have is to attend a traditional college, many people are choosing to go with online education to earn their degree.

Of course there are some great advantages to earning your degree online. There are also a few disadvantages that you should consider as well. Even though this is definitely a great option for students today, you'll want to weight both the pros and cons so you can make sure that online education is the right option for you.

Top Advantages to Earning Your Degree Online

First of all, let's take a look at some of the top advantages to earning your degree online. There are many! One of the main advantages of pursuing your degree on the web is that you have a lot of flexibility.

There's a good chance that you already have a busy life. Adding school to that can be difficult. When you study online you can fit education into your own schedule instead of having to be on the schedule of a college or university. You'll also save time on commuting as well.

Another great advantage of earning your degree online is that usually you can finish an online degree faster than one through a traditional college. There are many special courses offered that may only take a few weeks as well.

When you take online courses from institutions that are accredited, they are considered to be just as good as those that come from regular universities.

You can also save big time on materials for your classes. Often when you take classes through a traditional college you'll end up spending big bucks on books. Most of the materials you'll need for online courses are on the web. You won't have to pay for expensive books you'll never use again, saving your money.

A Few Disadvantages to Consider

Of course there are a few disadvantages to earning your degree online as well. The main disadvantage is that you won't get any actual interaction with the professors or others in your class. You'll only be interacting through chats, discussions, and emails. Some people find this is a harder way for them to learn.

For some people they find that a big disadvantage to online education is all the distractions around them. It can be difficult to get away from the distractions of family, chores, and other distraction within the home.

Independent study requires a lot of self discipline for it to work.

The Bottom Line

Most people find that the advantages to earning your degree online far outweigh the disadvantages. Of course this is a decision that you must make yourself. Take the time to consider the pros and cons.

If you like what you see, then considering getting started with online education yourself. It can make a big difference in your life.

Is Home Learning the Right Choice?

Home learning is now a highly competitive field - there are hundreds of home learning providers offering everything from university level degres to language certificates and IT training. In the past few years home study has become a mainstream from of education with a number of advantages over more conventional methods of home learning, such as university of college.

Any course you study should be immediately recognised by employers. A home learning course should be undertaken with a credible and respected provider, or you could risk spending months studying for a certificate worth almost nothing to your potential boss. Once you have decided on the right home study option you should ensure that their courses are fully accredited and that the qualification you receive is a worthwhile investment.

Any good home learning course will be geared towards giving you everything you need to begin working in your chosen field. A home learning student therefore has a distinct advantage over the competition, including those with university and college qualifications. A university differs as subjects are treated in an academic manner; i.e. theory and less emphasis on applied knowledge.

For example a degree in computer science gives you a broad understanding of the subject but graduates will still require additional "on the job" IT training before starting work. To put it simply, they are two very distinct methods of learning and complement one another greatly. As previously stated a home learning course is concerned with vocational skills and university with an academic and theoretical understanding of a subject. With a quality home learning provider you'll have access to many resources you would only expect a university to provide; you'll be in direct contact with your online tutor and other students often and on a regular basis through an online learning portal. The best home learning providers offer 24-hour assistance with your course and a dedicated personal tutor.

The skills you develo through home study are unique from university or college study: they demonstrate a desire to succeed and willingness to spend your own time acquiring new skills and knowledge. These are clearly attributes fundamentally the quality and relevance of the course is the most important factor when choosing a course.

If you have chosen a good home learning provider, and provided that you have studied hard and achieved a good grade the qualification will speak for itself and lead to a successful career.

Culture: Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi - Land of The Heavenly Kings

The road from Makassar or Ujung Pandang to Toraja runs along the coast for about 130 km's and then hits the mountains at a distance after passing the market village of Mebali. They form a sharp contrast with the lovely green of the fertile, rain fed terraces and the rusty read of the tropical laterite soil. This is Tana Toraja, one of the most splendid areas in Indonesia.

Tana Toraja has a specific and unique funeral ceremony which is called Rambu Solo. In Tana Toraja, dead body is not buried, but it is put in Tongkonan for several time, even can be more than ten years until the family have enough money to held the ceremony. After ceremony, the dead body is brought to the cave or to the wall of the mountain. The skulls show us that the dead body is not buried but just put on stone or ground, or put in the hole The funeral festival season begins when the last nice has been harvested usually in late June or July and lasts through to September.

Source: www.My-Indonesia.info

PhotoShop Tutorials for Everybody

PhotoShop, developed by Adobe Systems, is a graphic-editing program used to edit or create graphics or pictures. It is popular software to media editors nowadays.

PhotoShop is very quite difficult to beginners. It requires months of extensive study to be fully adept at the various features of this software. Try to learn first the three simplest ideas of the program to begin your study.

Study the basics of PhotoShop. These basics will be the foundation in further exploring the program. Search the internet for various free tutorials and try to do them on your own. It may take a little while to perfect the craft. Continue using the program to be familiarized with the most often and basic tools used.

Explore the "Edit" function. Under "Edit" is the "Help File". Read extensively about the different tools and functions of PhotoShop.

Always save your working image under a different filename. Keep your original file unaltered. Explore the different tools by trying their effects on your working image. Hit the undo button to revert back to previous action.

If you feel lost on what to do next, try searching the Internet for tutorials. There are also many online forums you can participate on, for your questions and further reading about the program.

PhotoShop has a "Preserve Transparency" feature that keeps a transparent background for your graphics. The "Type Tool" creates text on an image.

After learning the basics, further on exploring the other functions. You will be amazed at how extensive PhotoShop is.

Author : Jeyanth Watson
Source : www.articlecity.com

Do it Yourself Solar Power Systems Are Simpler Than You Think

So you've been looking at your rising electric bills, eying all the government incentives for going green, and now you've decided that you want to install a solar energy system in your home. Great! You could hire contractors for the whole process, but if you like to do things yourself, one of the simplest options is to shop around for an affordable gridtied photovoltaic (PV) power kit. The benefit of using such a kit is that you don't need to set up a battery bank, instead, your sunpowered system is connected right to your home's circuit box, and the energy generated by your solar modules is used to offset your electric bills.


Working on the Roof

If you want to install your home solar system on the roof, you'll need to get your hands on the proper building permits and roofing materials. Since the solar modules will be installed on special rails or mounts, part of the roof will have to be removed to make some extra shingles, nails, and roofing caulk to make sure your roof is just as rain-proof after the process as it was before.


Always Call the Electrician!

If you are going to do the wiring yourself, it is essential to have a master electrician examine your work to make sure it is safe and properly wired together. Electrical wiring and the safety precautions involved can get pretty complicated, so don't even think about skipping this step unless you happen to be a master electrician yourself.


Do You Have Basic Carpentry Tools and Skills?

So, you've got your home solar kit, you've made your plans, and you've got some construction experience under your belt. But do you have the proper tools? You'll need a ladder to get up on your roof, of course, as well as all the required roofing repair materials, a hammer and nails, a tool belt-you get the picture. You'll also need a good power drill for drilling and tightening fasterners. Check the solar power kit for instructions and a list of tools you need to complete the job. As much as possible, try to get everything together before you start the job.


Don't Forget about Safety

If you have the proper experience, this is a no-brainer. You'll want to have eye protection, ear protection, gloves, and scaffolding or rope-and-harness system to guarantee that a slip won't lead you to an unfortunate and dangerous fall. Working on a roof puts you in a hazardous situation, and you want everything to be secure. Always ask for help if you're not sure if something is safe!


Resources

Most home PV kits come with some sort of instruction manual or video tutorials. But it's still a good idea to read up on the subject as much as possible before you get to work. Many books and website offer basic instructions and advice on how to install solar power kits. Make sure you completely understand what's going on, and then have fun making your solar energy system work!