Ekoangge’s Weblog

Throughout my life I have encountered the chance to experience position of being a leader. I have leadership experiences through being a head coordinator in Winning Eleven competitions at Paramadina University. My involvement in this competition at the Paramadina University has been a great learning experience. I have gain important qualities of being a good leader through these experiences. Some of valuable leadership traits that I obtained and strengthened are: how to be a team player, to be a better listener, to have more patience, to be not afraid of constructive criticism, to be outspoken, and to be a problem solver. Even though I have gained a lot, I still have more things to learn to become a better leader such as being more assertive, being more disciplined, becoming a better public speaker, and learn how to be realistic and not too optimistic. Being a head coordinator in this competition gave me the opportunity to make some decision and network. This has given me a different perspective of looking at things. I also managed to control my team, and high-performing teams have extensive communication mechanisms. We communicate regularly with each other wither in person, via telephone, or through e-mail and keep those unable to attend meetings informed of the group’s progress. We decided to use an Instant Messenger chat or Facebook chat for its real time communication and message logging ability to allow us to keep those not able to make the chat informed. I have to include this other element, the art of how I relate to and engage others. I had moved out from my normally disciplined routine in my parent’s home to an environment where no one set any boundaries for me. I had to learn how to listen and look up to my personal team at the same time. Most of the time, I would be the problem solver and divide the workload with the members in our group. Throughout my leadership experiences I have noticed that I have a charismatic quality that helps me lead better. These programs have people who are highly experienced in being a successful leader. I believe it can help me expand my thinking skills, enhance my leadership skills, and help develop my goal setting skills.

Microsoft plans to offer free Web versions of Word (shown here), Excel and other programs by 2010
If you’re one of the two million or so people who use the free, Web-based word processor or other apps from Google or Zoho, it may seem odd to you that Microsoft is still charging $500 for the full version of its desktop Office suite — and that hundreds of millions of people still pay for it. In fact, last year Microsoft brought in about $19 billion, or just under a third of its total revenue, from the business unit that sells Office. And increased sales of Office, in particular, are credited with helping the Redmond, Wash.-based firm beat analyst estimates for first-quarter earnings on Oct. 24.
Goldman Sachs analyst Susan Friar recently called Microsoft a “laggard” in moving to browser-based software. But, in reality, it’s not even a player. Although Microsoft announced on Oct. 27 that it will roll out “lightweight” Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote as part of its next release of Office, that release isn’t expected until 2010. Meanwhile, Zoho, which is based in Pleasanton, Calif. and has 500 employees, has been offering its free, Web-based word processor, Zoho Writer, since 2005. Google Docs, which is ad-supported, has been around since 2006.
“I think it’s about time the Office suite is free,” says Zoho’s tech evangelist Raju Vegesna. “We paid $500 for an Office suite when the price of the hardware was $5,000. Now the price of the hardware has come down to $500, and it doesn’t really make any sense for a piece of software to cost $500.”
The main reason most people still use Microsoft Office, even though they don’t really need it, is because it’s all they know. Rather than risk the potential frustration of figuring out a new application, both companies and individuals continue to shell out for a bunch of familiar programs that, frankly, most of us barely scratch the surface of. (When was the last time, for example, you inserted a formula or recorded a macro in Word)?
To its credit, Microsoft has done a swell job of keeping us hooked with offers like a free 60-day trial and discounted versions of Office that sell for as low as $80 online. For most users, however, free Web apps are really all you need.
And they’re getting better all the time. Zoho has spreadsheet, word-processing, presentation and organizing programs, and lets you work both online and off; it even has an iPhone app. Google Docs, which focuses on collaboration, lets you upload and edit existing Word and PowerPoint files, then chat in real time as you work on presentations and reports with colleagues. Because the applications reside on the Web, developers can quickly eliminate bugs and add bells and whistles, like the ability to insert headers, footers and pagination (all of which were recently added to Zoho Writer). The programs still feel simple to use, so you’ll never feel overwhelmed, and you can edit worry-free, since auto-saving features ensure that you won’t lose any work you haven’t saved.
So here’s what I suggest. Before you pay even the lowest price for Microsoft Office, give Zoho or Google Docs a try. They aren’t confusing, and they won’t make you feel stupid. To make absolutely sure, I became my own guinea pig. I typed this story in Zoho Writer, even though I had never even tried it until this week. So far, so good. Here’s hoping my editor feels the same.

source: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1855616,00.html

It is very difficult for me if I must thing about the role of science for the best future, according to me all of knowledge and science is very important to our live, but in this chance I will try to predict for the best future what do people need to make it success.We live in a time of great change and challenge. In my mind, integrating the Environmental science and the transformative power of computer science – is necessary for responding adequately to the challenges facing humanity and our planet. Why it must be integrated. First reason why I choose Environmental as a future science because every day when we read of the headlines of any newspaper not only local newspaper but also international newspaper provides images of disease, hunger, poverty, natural disasters, and pollution. That tragedy makes us sad and we can look that tragedy around of us. For example, Buildings an apartment can be constructed with new more sustainable methods. Transportation can be provided while using less energy. In other words, we must think differently. We need the knowledge or science to solve this problem, so in this case I need Environmental scienceEnvironmental science is a discipline that fosters new ways of thinking. Environmental science is an applied science designed to help address and solve the challenges the world faces. It is also by its very nature a global science.I hope in the future the goal of the Environmental Science is to provide people with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them.Second reason why I choose computer science, because we need computer science to solve human’s job. Computer science has created new technology that helped the people in this world. For example internet world. This technology makes people smarter and cleverer than before. I can access and get information from that technology. Computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernon Vinge writes about internet in the future that all of people in the world can access the knowledge quickly. Beside that Ian Foster, director of the computational institute at the University of Chicago, writes of the interaction between science and computer science in Two way street to science’s future, and argues that scientists need to develop their computer science skills:
… the scientist of 2020 will be adept in computing: not only will they know how to program, but they will have a solid grounding in, for example, the principles and techniques by which information is managed; the possibilities and limitations of numerical simulation; and the concepts and tools by which large software systems are constructed, tested and evolved. This knowledge has been picked up on the job by many pioneering scientists and will hopefully be instilled in the next generation by more formal training. The idea that you can be a competent scientist without such training will soon seem as odd as the notion that you need not have a solid grounding in seventeenth-century mathematics (such as algebra).
From these studies we can learn that technology especially computer science in the future will change this world, The people will need computer to help their live and make their job finish quickly, and between human and technology always together like Romeo and Juliet. If we combine this knowledge between Environmental Science and Computer Science for the future, it will give good impact to our society. We can imagine that all people can access this knowledge quickly. People can share a new knowledge with internet and technology media so many people will know how to improve and repair their environment, especially for a developing country like my country Indonesia. My community can get new information and how to keep good time.The Environmental Science will solve the Environment damage and Computer Science will help the people to get that knowledge with technology media.