Facing Facebook

This is the year 2008. Probably most of you have heard of "Facebook", the (probably) most famous networking site on world wide scale. There are pros and cons about this service. Those who are for the service likes the vastness of choices from controlling privacy to "applications" that you can choose to make you stand out from the sea of users, while those who are against (or mildly speaking: those who have other thoughts) the service called it as withdrawing people from existing social network, intruding privacy to the extent of "CIA can pull out any information easily".

I'd say (again), this is the year 2008. At this moment, we say happy birthday to someone in another city while we are watching a movie which was released in another continent a month ago. We order our food from a simple text message during our corporate meeting. We are looking for a recipe from a GPRS-connected cellular phone. The world is literally on your thumb. Yes, it costs damn expensive, but that's the reality that we are facing everyday. Like it or not, any facility that makes our life easier works like a damn good knife: it has two sides that you have to use wisely. There's no free lunch. There's always a catch. At least, that's what I believe.

I wouldn't grumble out the reality. I'd carefully choose things that I want to use and stay alert. Boycotting is a thing of the past as there are too many varieties of services as well as people's personalities and interests involved. For example, would you boycott "Microsoft" or rather use "Linux" and optimize your learning abilities?

I personally think, if we overworked ourselves with the ideas of "privacy" and "control", we'd get into the argument of "state" VS "citizen". Something that is pretty tiring and lengthy to explain..

I have a profile in "Facebook". I check it and tinker with it from time to time. I don't always accept invitations. I rarely do. Sometimes I seek out friends, most of the times I don't. Sometimes I tinker with the dumb but funny applications, most of the times I opt the quiz type.

I really like "10 Seconds Interview", though.

southern connection

I happen to be in Kupang, the capital city of East Nusa Tenggara, an archipelagic island on the far south of Indonesia.

Internet connection has been a challenge over here, although a few days ago, Internet connection seemed to work pretty okay up from Soe, 700 meters higher than Kupang. I have been trying to get online to the Internet since yesterday morning. Nothing has changed after 24 hours.

I was able to browse and download, but I could not manage to upload a single byte of data. It's more than just "pretty frustrating".

FYI, cybercafes are not reliable down here. Only one that belongs to state's telecommunication company does okay. Then, only two major hotels provide instant Internet connection. There are actually three major recommended hotels, but only two are equipped with proper telephone network.

>-"wi-fi", the next big thing in wireless communication

read wired.com may 2003 edition this morning. i haven't been there for years, only to find out they still have similar GUI to several years ago. not that i'm complaining. after browsing the site for a while, i bumped into their may 2003 edition: Issue 11.05 UNWIRED - A Wired Special Report - May 2003 on "get wireless" -- basically a pretty thorough look using non-geek lingo into the wonderful world of "wi-fi".

"wi-fi" is the next big thing after "3G" mobile technology that enables you to do a lot of things with your petite mobile device, from texting to sending pictures to record short video and exchange them with other users up to sending e-mails and browsing the so-called 'world-web-wait' from users' tiny mobile screen (despite recent pretty big screens in PDAs and other mobiles, for me it's still something smaller than regular 14 inch screen ).

"wi-fi" will allow you and your gadgets (mobile handset, PDAs, notebooks, etc.) to hook up to the net without any wire. true, without those nerve-breaking telephone fee and RJ-11 nor RJ-45 cables. hassle and tangle free.

but the still, despite the wonderful idea, existing and functioning technology, would "wi-fi" bandwagon "internet cable" and/or "adsl", "isdn", bluetooth" etc. in its acceptance and usage among wider public? especially public with limited internet access.

is "wi-fi" an alternative to expensive internet connection? what about the management of different radio frequencies used as the medium? how much do people have to pay? true, the price of "wi-fi" gadgets has been decreasing, but to what extent? the question of public infrastructure and low cost alternative internet connection are still valid as these seem to be the possible way out to equal distribution of information to all level and class of users worldwide.

the best thing about "wi-fi" that i myself agree is the nature of dematerialization. can you imagine the world without copper cables or plastic cables? cut down the amount of cables, but what about the physical storage hardwares? how can we dematerialize "hard disks", "compact disks" and all those teeny tiny electronic components that make up your personal computer at home and at work.