Friday, October 31, 2008

Back Up Your Data

Do you routinely back up your computer?

It is extremely important to have a routine back up of your computer. Losing important data such as your emails, contacts, photos, music, etc can be a very painful experience. I’ve had two hard disk failures in the past. I did not have a proper back up when the first failure happened, I felt so much despair losing those data. The second time it happened though, I was ready and restoring the files to a new hard disk was a breeze.

You can either back up to external hard disk, DVD or online back up services  such as free Mozy Online. It is also important to have an off-site back up, in case of natural disaster like floods in your area. Remember to encrypt your data when you back up to DVD or external hard disk so that it is safe.

I usually do a weekly back up to an external hard disk, then a monthly back up to DVD and Mozy. I am going to do my back up today because it is the end of the month :)

When you read this post and you have not done any back up, please do it now!

Learn and Grow!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Placebo Effect

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Faith can heal!

Yesterday someone at the office came to ask for some medicine. She said she had an allergic reaction to salted fish she had eaten during lunch. She said that she could feel heat and redness on her face. She was afraid that it’d spread to her whole body. Since the office did not have those kind of medicines, they had to buy it first.

When I heard her story and I saw that her face was not even that red, I told her that I might have the medicine that she needed. I went to another room and got a sugar tablet out of my mint container. I gave her the tablet and told her to take it with water straight away. I told her that it should work quite fast, and if she was still not well after an hour, then she could take the other medicine.

After an hour or so, other staff at the office told me that she was fine and she did not need to take the medicine. She said that she was feeling well after taking the pill that I gave her.

Hmmm…since she believed that the pill would work, it did! Her faith has healed her.

What a placebo effect!

It does not mean that you should not take your doctor’s advice or prescription, but it shows how faith can help you to heal better.

Learn and Grow!

Monday, October 27, 2008

World Heritage Cities Conference - Parade

Ramayana Heroes World Heritage Parade

Monkeys World Heritage Parade

Wanara World Heritage Parade

World Heritage Parade Solo 1

These are some photos from The World Heritage Cities Conference Parade in Solo City, Central Java, Indonesia.

I was waiting on the side of the street since 2PM, the parade passed through at around 3:45PM. There were so many people lining up on the side of the street. Some people were climbing on the pedestrian bridge. I was glad that there was no accident there.

Watching From Above

The most amazing thing that happened yesterday was about the weather. Before the parade, the sky was so cloudy. There were black clouds and it even rained for a few minutes. I was worried that it would rain and they’d cancel the parade. The person standing next to me commented that it definitely would not rain. He said that there were lots of shamans working to make sure of it. Sure enough the dark clouds started to move west and there were only thin white overcast above us.

I received a call from my sister who was worried that I’d be drenched by the rain because it was raining so heavily where she was at. She was only about 4 kilometers from where I was. I told her that it was not raining and the parade went smoothly. She also commented that the shamans were powerful in moving the rain to other part of the city.

Believe it or not…

Anyway I had a great time watching the parade.

Learn and Grow!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A New Life Journey for My Dear Sister

Imelda and Adi Sunset at Hanani

Congratulations to Adi and Imelda!

Your new life has just begun and may your love for each other grows with each passing day.

If you want to see more photos, you can go here.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Blog Action Day - Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day and the topic this year is about poverty. I am joining other bloggers around the world to write about poverty.

What can I do to help and make a difference?

As a teacher and coach, I usually seize the opportunity to talk about personal finance with my students whenever the opportunity arises. I see a need to teach them about personal finance because:

  • Almost all of my university students have no clue about managing their finances;
  • They may have heard about interest, yet they do not know the power of compound interest;
  • They do not know the danger of consumer debts;
  • Negative beliefs about money are prevalent. Scarcity mentality can be found everywhere.

I have a 3-hour seminar about personal finance for young executives, students and teenagers. It is called “The Secret to be A Billionaire” (Billionaire is the new standard for wealth here in Indonesia because almost everybody is a millionaire ha ha ha) I use some of the basic principles written in the book “The Automatic Millionaire” by David Bach and combine them with other financial tips from various sources. I talk about savings, basic investment strategies, reducing debts, giving and shifting beliefs about money.

I want to be given the opportunity by various universities and schools in Solo to give this seminar to their students, so I can help and make a difference by equipping the next generation with better financial knowledge and skills. I hope that by learning about personal finance, they can become catalysts for breaking the vicious circle of poverty.

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso, B. Com for Blog Action Day 2008

Friday, October 10, 2008

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

engkong 

In his 80s, my grandpa is still very healthy, mentally sharp and full of spirit. He is a role model for a fit and healthy body.

Happy Birthday!

Thursday, October 09, 2008

A Very Special Moment in Life

Last night was a moment of great relief and a start on the path of new, higher level of love, happiness and joy. There is a new air of openness, togetherness, love and acceptance.

Recent unfortunate events in our family lives have brought some stress in each of us. The problems came in from different directions affecting several areas of our lives, such as my recent health problem, costly investment in a collapsed MLM business, and a recent hit on our financial portfolio due to the decline in financial market. These problems seemed to have taken toll on our emotional well being. Stress was hanging in the air, yet we were afraid to bring it up because we were afraid that we would open a Pandora box of pent-up negative emotions that we would not be able to handle.

Last night, we finally had our family talk. This family talk is what we’ve been avoiding but also what we’ve been waiting for…what a mixed emotion! What we were afraid of did not happen at all. What we thought of opening a Pandora box of negative emotions turned out to be opening a door to heightened feelings of love, acceptance, forgiveness and freedom. The release of negative feelings such as fear, anger, guilt and hurt brought us feelings of relief, peace and freedom.

Fear not. The truth will set you free!

How do I feel about everybody now?

I am so proud of my dad who has the courage to lead us into having this family talk. By taking the initiative, he has proven himself to be a courageous leader. By talking more openly about his feelings as well as listening to ours, he has shown himself to be a gentle and passionate leader. Finally he leads with his mind and his heart!

I am also proud of my mom who finally lets her feelings out in the open without feelings of fear or guilt of upsetting other members of the family. She has carried her burden so well all these times being the guardian of our emotional well beings. It should not be her responsibility to make us all happy, yet she manages to do it with her big and humble heart. It is time for her to put her burden down and it is time for us to be more responsible for our own feelings. She really is the glue that binds our family together during our emotional turmoil. She always makes herself available to listen and encourage us.

I am very proud of my sister who becomes a great passionate leader herself. She is so mature, independent and courageous. She faces her problems and challenges head-on, solve those problems with decisive actions. She develops her leadership skills combining the best of both worlds – the courage and decisiveness of dad’s and the emphatic heart of mom’s.

Thank you all! I love you all!

Finally, I am proud of myself for being a difference maker. I am an enthusiastic learner who love to share and empower others with what I have learned. I am passionate about personal development and growth. I have a great passion in teaching and I love to see how my students become better people in many areas of their lives. I am most happy and satisfied when I see the twinkle in their eyes when they have an AHA moment…it is like opening a door to unlimited power and endless possibilities.  

This blog post is a very special post for me. It is very emotional and personal. I hope you can learn something from this post and it will inspire you.

Feel the freedom!

Feel the love!

Feel the joy and peace!

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso, B. Com

Monday, October 06, 2008

What’s in My Backpack?

backpack

Continuing from the previous post, this is my backpack for notebook. The backpack is a Victorinox. I like this backpack because it has side pocket for water bottle unlike my previous backpack.

What’s in the backpack:

  1. Notebook HP Compaq Presarion V3505 with Windows Vista.
  2. Notebook charger and adaptor
  3. Logitech mouse – I don’t like using trackpad
  4. Mouse pad – it’s thin, flexible and can be used as wipe too
  5. Toshiba Flash Disk 2GB
  6. PDA HP iPaq 2210 mainly for playing games and reading e-book
  7. 3G Modem – USB / Express Card (currently being borrowed)
  8. Wallet for various membership cards
  9. Pen and mechanical pencil
  10. Tissue and other personal stuff.

If I bring only one bag, then I’ll put my wallet, mobiles, iPod and camera in the backpack.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

What’s in Your Bag – Flickr Group

what is in my bag

Yesterday I added this photo to What’s in Your Bag Flickr Group. These are the basic things that I bring everyday. I also bring my Canon G9 (it is not in the photo because I use it to take this photo HAHAHA)

What’s in my Elle bag:

  1. Red Louis Vuitton wallet that I received for my birthday present in year 2000. In the eight years, I only use it for special occasion. I started to use it as everyday wallet only this year.
  2. Three mobiles – Nokia 6230i, Nokia E51, Nokia 2505 CDMA. I use the Nokia 6230i for my personal number , Nokia E51 for work, IM and internet, Nokia 2505 for cheap CDMA calls.
  3. Calling cards – it is used for coaching to help my clients find their life calling and align it with their jobs.
  4. PDA HP iPaq 4700. It is for PIM (personal info management),  bible, e-books, and play games.
  5. iPod Nano 1st generation with Razer in-ear earphone for listening to music, audio book or recorded lectures.
  6. Timberland journal cover for my daily journal. It is the best! I haven’t found anything more useful than this one.
  7. Pilot G-2 0.5 pen and Faber Castell 2B pencil with sharpener cap and eraser. The sharpener cap is just perfect because not only it prevents the pencil from marking everything else, it is a very compact sharpener.
  8. Brown moleskine wannabe for sketching and free drawing.
  9. Mint and lipstick
  10. Canon G9 camera

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What’s in my tutoring bag:

  1. Esprit bag – it’s more than 5 years old. It is a bit tattered but it is the perfect size for my tutoring gears.
  2. Small whiteboard and eraser
  3. Blue pencil case for my markers and pens
  4. Whiteboard markers, red pens, black pens and a pencil
  5. Attendance card for each student. It is very important to keep track because some of them do not have tutoring every week.
  6. Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary – my trusted companion. I bought it in Beijing in 1998 – 10 years already!
  7. Graph paper notebook for lesson plan
  8. Chinese stroke chart for teaching
  9. Appropriate textbooks for different students

Do you find this interesting? If you are interested to see what others have in their bags, go to What's in your bag? Flickr Group.

Learn and Grow!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Color of Life

serbuk sari

One of the best photo I took in Tawangmangu this week.

Life is beautiful!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Fire Hazard

burnt stitch

Panoramic photo of the remnant after the fire on the empty lot near our house. We were not home when it happened two days ago. I heard the fire was big and it took three fire trucks to put out the fire.

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An abandoned empty lot with lots of dry grass and bushes in searing summer heat has a high risk of fire. We do not know the cause of the fire, but it could be from many things such as cigarette butts, firecrackers, or trash burning. This morning I still saw two people burning their trash there.

I heard that the residents wanted to take a class action against the owner of the property for being negligence and endangering the neighbors.

Inge Santoso