Learn, Learn and Learn

Many proverb to express how age never hinders you from learning or studying. Nowadays, learning is as easy as opening you gadget or PC, and  read, listen or watch stories, news, or articles.

But here, we are talking systematic learning just like a college. And guess what, it's also as simple as you open your gadgets and do those things (read, listen, watch). The only difference is you will need to solve the problems, tasks or quizzes from the lecturer.

So how do we do it? In this very advanced internet and technology world, you can access many online learning courses. As now they are called MOOC (simply call mu:/k), massive-online-open-course, you can access it wherever and whenever you want, as long as you want to learn and have Internet connection.

You can check mooc-list.com, to look for any free course, but you can always pay for many courses that will give you Verified Certificate of Completion. However, by using paid course you will have more authenticity of the certificate and you can use it for further usage, for example, to add it to your CV or portfolio.

As the MOOCs are spreading nowadays there still many experts debating on the impact of it. Whether MOOCs will improve a higher education or destroy it instead. Simply because MOOCs are different from traditional online courses in that they are usually free, open to anyone with an Internet connection and draw hundreds or thousands of students. MOOCs can be created by institutions and individuals and are most commonly offered by third parties such as Coursera, edX, and Udacity. Colleges and universities don't typically accept MOOCs for credit unless they are associated with their own programs. However, experts predict that will change in coming years as institutions feel pressure from their peers and students to accept the classes.

Despite the hype, many question the quality of the courses, arguing that the best way to educate students is through face-to-face interaction. MOOCs may offer discussion groups, but that is nothing like having a back-and-forth conversation in real time.

For me, I think it is an improvement of higher education and  I believe MOOCs will be effective for a person who wants to learn, and have limited resources, like time and budget. And for MOOCs, I usually use Coursera because it can be accessed using mobile apps (and I can watch and listen to the course while going to the office, etc) . However, I haven't finished any course yet, and the one I took a couple of weeks ago will be completed in next 1 or 2 months (I guess). I took "Competitive Strategy" course from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU).

In fact, I'm also taking a degree in Management, using online system in Indonesia, which is Entrepreneur University of Indonesia (UWIN), and operated Haruka Edu as the online program manager. But, this program is still a hybrid, since it's still using face-to-face interaction for admission of new students, mid-tests and examinations. And the students still can have back and forth discussion with the lecturers via live chat or during face-to-face interaction.

So, the conclusion is, nowadays you can learn anywhere you want, whenever you want, without worrying about the budget and time constraints as long as you have an Internet connection. Whether you want the certificate or not, the important thing is the implementations of what you have learned.


And here are some snapshots from the Course and the certificates.

Screenshot of Coursera 

Screenshot of Coursera

Certificate

Make the Big, Bigger!

Dear Readers,

Instead of arguing the political views that we have nowadays or I shared previously, I'm going to share some knowledge that you have/haven't known before, regarding Self Development.

It's, simply a  summary of a book that I've been reviewed along with my colleagues and professional for quite sometimes. The book title is "Now, Discover your Strengths" or in another edition they called "StrengthsFinder" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O Clifton, first published in 2001.

And importantly, after you buy and read this book, it has a unique code on the back cover, so you can join a test to measure your Strengths, in https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/. Only by passing the test you can find your Strengths and develop them and make them bigger for your own purpose.

Firstly, in the book, you will be explained about how many Strengths that Gallup Organization has found during the interview with 1.7 million professional from many fields of professions. Later, the book will call this Strength as "Talent Themes". Gallup concludes that there are 34 talent themes. And grouped into 4 Domains. Which are : Relating (working with people), Impacting (Influencing People), Striving (Working Harder), and Thinking (Working Smarter)

And the essences of the book is to encourage us to identify, understand, and grow our top 5 talent themes and use these Strengths to create more productivity of ourselves and also everyone in our organization. Let's go one by one of these 4 Domains, which contain 34 Talent Themes.

RELATING THEMES (Working with People)

Harmony-People strong in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather they seek areas of agreement.

Communication-People strong in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Empathy-People strong in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of others people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations.

Includer-People strong in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Individualization-People strong in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

Relator-People strong in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

Responsibility-People strong in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

IMPACTING THEMES (Influencing People)

Command-People strong in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

Competition-People strong in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

Developer-People strong in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Positivity-People strong in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Maximizer-People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.

Woo-People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meetings new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

STRIVING THEMES (Working Harder)

Achiever-People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Activator-People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Belief-People strong in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

Significance-People strong in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.

Discipline-People strong in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their world is best described by the order they create.

Adaptability-People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Focus-People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.

Restorative-People strong in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.

Self-Assurance-People strong in the Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their ability to manage their own lives. They possess an inner compass that gives them confidence that their decisions are right.

THINKING THEMES (Working Smarter)

Analytical-People strong in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation.

Arranger-People strong in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

Consistency-People strong in the Consistency theme are keenly aware of the need to treat people the same. They try to treat everyone in the world with consistency by setting up clear rules and adhering to them.

Connectedness-People strong in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Deliberative-People strong in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.

Futuristic-People strong in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

Ideation-People strong in the Ideations theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Input-People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Intellection-People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Learner-People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

Context-People strong in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history.

Strategic-People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

And as for me, I have :
Learner
Achiever
Relator
Competition
Strategic

and apparently I need to keep studying and learning to develop my biggest Learner - Talent Theme. A lot challenges to feed my Achiever and Competition. As well as to socialize to expand my Relator. And finally to keep thinking to increase my Strategic.

What about you guys?

PS : all of the themes above are the trademark of Gallup Organization and Strengthsfinder


Thanks for reading,

Sakti Halomoan S

Lagi lagi gara-gara Ahok!!

Akhirnya saya harus update blog yang sudah berbulan-bulan saya tinggalkan. Ada perasaan menggelitik yang membuat saya ga jadi tidur. Dan itu gara-gara Ahok (literally),  and my first Bahasa article.

Cerita berawal dari niat (dan akhirnya dilaksanakan) untuk ikut memberikan dukungan ke Ahok, seorang pemimpin birokrat alias Gubernur DKI Jakarta saat ini, yang digadang-gadang akan maju lagi untuk pemilihan berikutnya. Alhasil, KTP saya akhirnya buat Ahok.

Isengnya lagi istri saya posting deh di Facebook biar afdhol (eh kayak ibadah aja). Dan barulah semua momen datang berupa like dan balas-balasan komen di Facebook, sampai akhirnya whatsapp dari orang-orang terdekat. Yang isinya kurang lebih saya sudah mulai jauh dari Aqidah dan Al-quran dan Hadits, menurut mereka.

Sedikit latar belakang saya, saya hanya seorang pegawai swasta biasa, yang dididik oleh orang tua saya dengan prinsip demokrasi dan kebebasan berpendapat, serta agama yang kuat. Maklum, opung (panggilan kakek di Sumut) dan inyiak (panggilan kakek di Sumbar) saya adalah orang-orang terpandang dari sisi agama, yaitu agama Islam). Dan sayangnya, cucunya ini tidak sepintar mereka, bahkan sarjana pun belum lulus.

Balik lagi ke topik pembahasan kita, yaitu gara-gara Ahok saya ga bisa tidur, dan akhirnya menulis di blog yang saya tinggal berbulan-bulan, dan yang jelas ga ada isi menariknya. Maklum profesi saya bukan penulis seperti mas Tere Liye atau om Jonru yang luar biasa itu.

Setelah dibombardir komen dari Facebook tersebut, saya panik, bercampur sedih dan sedikit shock. Karena saya sudah di"cap" (mungkin ya) mengarah kepada kekafiran. "waduh, bisa repot nih" pikirku. "Apa benar saya sudah jauh melenceng dari aqidah saya ya?"pikirku lagi.

Saya cerita dikit lagi ya latar belakang saya (ga papa kan? Biar panjang aja artikel di blognya, hehe). Jadi, saya dulu menempuh pendidikan agama setelah saya SD, yaitu di MTsN di kampung halaman saya. Dari semua ilmu yang saya dapat, saya sangat menanamkan ke diri saya bahwa Islam adalah agama yang fleksibel. Dan saya imani itu, termasuk Al-Quran adalah kitab yang tak lekang oleh waktu. Segala permasalahan kehidupan sudah ada di dalamnya, hanya tinggal kita bisa menarik inti dari ayat-ayat Al-Quran secara benar atau tidak. Dan ini sangat luar biasa, karena sampai sekarang pun masih tetap dipelajari, untuk memahami ayat-ayat tersebut secara benar.

Nah, setelah ketakutan akan dicap kafir bahkan oleh orang-orang terdekat, bahkan telontarlah satu ayat yang menyanggah dukungan terhadap Ahok tersebut, maka saya bertanya-tanya dan melakukan riset kecil tentang ayat tersebut. Ayat yang dimaksud adalah Al-Maidah ayat 51. Tentu saja saya tidak akan bahas detail tentang ayat tersebut disini. Mohon maaf sekali jika anda berharap saya akan bahas tentang Asbabun Nuzul atau pun etimologi "Auliya'" (Wali) dll. Tapi saya akan lampirkan tautan yang dapat Anda baca langsung.

Berikut tautannya :

http://www.imranhosein.org/articles/understanding-islam/73-neither-friends-nor-allies.html oleh Syeikh Imran N Husein

Dan

http://seekershub.org/ans-blog/2009/09/07/friendship-with-non-muslims-explaining-verse-551/ yang dijawab oleh Abdullah Mizra dan dicek & disetujui oleh Faraz Rabbani.

Dan yang paling menarik dari kedua tulisan tersebut menurut saya adalah, adanya perbedaan pemahaman tentang etimologi "Auliya" dari berbagai macam versi terjemahan. Kemudian, tentang sebab turunnya ayat, serta konteks dari ayat tersebut, yang sangat mudah disanggah dan kontradiktif terhadap surat Al-Mumtahanah ayat 8 dan 9. Dan terakhir adalah akhir tulisan oleh Syeikh Imran N Husein mengenai "Shark and Sardines (Hiu dan Sarden)",

Sehingga saya menarik beberapa kesimpulan yaitu :

Pertama, kata "Auliya" yang diterjemahkan kebahasa indonesia sebagai wali/pemimpin mempunyai makna yang sangat spesifik namun diterjemahkan juga secara luas pada bahasa lain sebagai :"teman". Yang menurut saya kurang tepat sehingga menggiring kepada opini bahwa kita dilarang untuk berteman dengan orang-orang dari agama Yahudi dan Nasrani.

Kedua, mengenai konteks, dimana berdasarkan sebab turunnya ayat, surat Al-Maidah ayat 51 ini juga mempunyai konteks terbatas, yang mana menurut saya juga kurang tepat untuk menjeneralisasi larangan berteman/mempunyai wali dari kaum Yahudi dan Nasrani. 

Terutama setelah saya pahami lagi surat Al-Mumtahanah ayat 8-9 tersebut, yang mana sangat spesifik dijelaskan bahwa Allah SWT tidak melarang umat Islam untuk berteman (showing kindness and dealing justly), dengan kaum Yahudi dan Nasrani jika :  kaum tersebut tidak memerangi umat Islam, dan mengusir umat Islam dari tanah halamannya.

And this is the best part (londo dikit ye) : kita balik ke Ahok, pertanyaannya :

- Apakah Ahok (mewakili kaum Nasrani) sedang memerangi umat Islam? Menurut hemat saya, tidak! Dan malah memberikan perkembangan dan kinerja yang baik buat saya yang Islam ini.

- Apakah Ahok mengusir saya dari tanah saya? : bisa ya bisa tidak. Tidak bagi saya, dan iya bagi orang Islam yang mengembangkan praktik prostitusi dan hiburan di Kali Jodo (itu juga gara numpang seenak udelnya juga kali ya?), anyway sarkastik dikit boleh lah ya.

Dan yang terakhir ga kalah menarik juga, yaitu tulisan Syeikh Imran tentang Hiu dan Sarden, kalau anda baca, mungkin anda akan sependapat dengan saya. Dimana kita harus tahu, apakah sosok seorang Muslim berada di posisi Hiu atau Sarden, dimana sang Hiu menggunakan kekuatan Agama untuk memakan sarden-sarden seperti saya yang bodoh ini.

Oke, kita sampai pada kesimpulan, dimana menurut saya, dan saya gunakan untuk memberanikan diri saya untuk memberi dukungan berupa KTP kepada seorang Ahok daripada menakut-nakuti diri saya bahwa saya sudah mendekati kekafiran yaitu : kita tidak sedang berperang dan Ahok tidak memerangi saya, justru membuat perubahan yang saya rasa sangat berarti untuk rakyat di DKI Jakarta. Saya korelasikan lagi dengan prinsip saya dimana Islam adalah agama yang fleksibel, sehingga apa yang saya lakukan untuk memberikan dukungan pada Ahok tidaklah menjurus kepada kekafiran. (mendingan saya state sendiri biar puas, terserah yang lain mau cap saya apa)

Sedikit contoh untuk direnungkan :

Apakah kaum Muslim yang minoritas di US atau Eropa, yang selalu dihadapkan dengan pilihan calon non-Muslim semuanya akan dicap mendekati kekafiran jika memilih orang-orang yang mereka anggap akan memajukan negara yang ditinggalinya?

Dan jika calon yang dimaksud seperti Donald Trump yang ingin melarang kamu Muslim untuk migrasi ke US dan membelenggu hak-hak muslim, maka saya setuju dengan Anda, memilih Donald Trump adalah sikap yang mendekati kekafiran.

Last but not least, saya mohon maaf jika ada yang tidak sesuai dengan apa yang seharusnya. Dan terimakasih sudah membaca blog sederhana ini.

Salam,

Sakti Halomoan S

Next Level of Entertainment

Good Evening Bloggers,
Tonight I want to share my experience using Kodi (formerly XBMC), for those who don't know what Kodi/XBMC is, Kodi is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more. Kodi runs on Linux, OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android, featuring a 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the internet.


Basically Kodi can play most of media file extension, and you can play streaming media (movies/musics/etc) or you can set Kodi as your media server, so you can access all you media files through all your TVs or Devices within your home network. So you wont need to plug and play your USB/HardDisk from your Family Room to your Bed Room, to watch your favorite movies.

Ok, I think its getting insteresting. But now, how you first install this wonderful software? You're going to need device(s), which has Linux/Windows/Mac/Android/iOS/Raspberry platform. And then you will have to install Kodi software in your platform. As for iOS, unfortunately, you will need to jailbreak the device first before you can install Kodi on it.

The stable release of Kodi as for now is the 15.2 version (Isengard)





When you have installed Kodi to your devices, make sure you install this great add-ons source : Fusion,so you can watch your favorite movies or tv show on your devices.

And to use it as media server, you need 1 dedicated device with storage as a server and connect to your home network so you can access the media from any devices at your home.

Below are some great add ons for Kodi that I usually use (its unofficial add ons, and you need to manually configure in your Kodi to have it installed) :

• - Genesis : plays latest movies and tv shows
• - Phoenix : IPTV mostly Live Sport events
• - Sport Devils : Live Sports IPTV
• - Prime Wire : plays latest movies and tv shows
• - Tidal : plays high quality musics
• - Navi-X : IPTV, movies and tv shows source
• - LihatTV : IPTV (including Indonesia  Channels)
• - SALT (Stream All The Source) : play movies and TV Shows
• - KodiLand : IPTV

Note : please go to here for tutorials on how to install Fusion on your Kodi

What are you waiting for...Enjoy your Favorite movies and tv shows anywhere.

Create your Own apps patch with Flex 2

Hi Guys,

This is my 2nd post, and I think I'm going to share about creating a patch for some apps in Jailbroken iOS. You might ask, why do we need to patch the app? anything wrong with the app? Well, actually nothing wrong with your app. But creating a patch mostly used, to get some Pro/Premium feature in your free/non-premium apps. E.g : you want to use some paid stickers in Path application, which is only enabled in Premium mode, but you don't want to spend any penny. All you gotta do is just patch it with Flex 2 and you will be in Premium Mode, so you can download all those stickers for free.

What do you need?

• Jail-broken iDevices (iPad, iPhone, iPod) - i believe most people who jailbreak their iDevices knows a lot how to use it.
• understanding how to use Cydia
• some findings thru search engine about Obj-C

What should you do?

You're going to need the Flex app itself, which now has been developed to version 2, or simply Flex 2. you can get it by adding the repo source to your Cydia. You can buy this app in BigBoss repo ($3.99), but in this case I'm using insanelyi repo (http://repo.insanely.com/), and after adding this Repo, all you need to do in your Cydia is find/search Flex then install it to your iDevice and Respring.

And after you get this Flex 2 installed on your device, just open the app, and look for app that you want to patch. I'm going to show step by step how to get Path (premium) using Flex 2 patch. But you can also apply it to any apps you want, simply by choosing the app in Flex 2.

Here we go, patching Path, so you can go Premium...

Open Flex 2

Open Flex App

Tap on App

Tap on the "+" icon, and tap on the app you want to patch. (in this example will be "Path")

Tap on "Add Units"

Tap on "add units" and then tap on "Path"(Executable Section), and if there's a pop up notification, just tap on "execute"

Search the code :

Search the code and tap on these two classes (ticked icon will show up when you tap it. After done, you can go back to "Units Section", and set the the Value "True" for both units. and then you can go to Path apps, and download all sticker free as you are Premium Mode now.

Enjoy!!!

 

Hello There!

Hi Readers,

I'm Sakti, 29 years old Managers at one of biggest Technology Company in the world. I'm here to share things and stuffs you might like to discuss or maybe just to share what I felt and experiences through.

I might be wrong and I might be sloppy on my opinions and thought, hence I guess it wouldn't be a problem, since I am always in a learning mode. I'm just hoping by creating this blog at least train me to be a better person in writings and open a wider scale of intelligence so I can learn something every day.

In particular moment (may be when i get bored writing about work) I might also post some of my hobbies in this blog and that would be : exploring an OS (mostly iOS), photography, graphic design, travelling, and family sharing. 

So, thank you to read my blog, enjoy the post, feel free to comment.


Cheers


Sakti