Thursday, December 31, 2009

Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid

Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37.

Further studies have ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) from Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

NASA had put the chances that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 as 1-in-45,000. In October, after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path, the agency changed its estimate to 1-in-250,000.

NASA said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.

Don Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, said better calculations of Apophis' path in several years "will almost certainly remove any possibility of an Earth collision" in 2036.

"While Apophis is almost certainly not a problem, I am encouraged that the Russian science community is willing to study the various deflection options that would be available in the event of a future Earth threatening encounter by an asteroid," Yeomans said in an e-mail Wednesday.

Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.

"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said.

Scientists have long theorized about asteroid deflection strategies. Some have proposed sending a probe to circle around a dangerous asteroid to gradually change its trajectory. Others suggested sending a spacecraft to collide with the asteroid and alter its momentum, or hitting it with nuclear weapons.

Perminov wouldn't disclose any details of the project, saying they still need to be worked out. But he said the mission wouldn't require any nuclear explosions.

Hollywood action films "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon," have featured space missions scrambling to avoid catastrophic collisions. In both movies, space crews use nuclear bombs in an attempt to prevent collisions.

"Calculations show that it's possible to create a special purpose spacecraft within the time we have, which would help avoid the collision," Perminov said. "The threat of collision can be averted."

Boris Shustov, the director of the Institute of Astronomy under the Russian Academy of Sciences, hailed Perminov's statement as a signal that officials had come to recognize the danger posed by asteroids.

"Apophis is just a symbolic example, there are many other dangerous objects we know little about," he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.

Source :Yahoo

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Puncak, Bogor : The Favorite Place for Holiday

What are you gonna do for this long holiday ?
well, Puncak still the best place to go for holiday... Specially for Jakarta villagers.


It was located in Cianjur, Bogor, West Java. Just 2 hours by car from Jakarta


The view was very great. Specially if you like country side & mountain view.



The weather was very cool, just arround 15 C.


The best place for your family.


Nice place to spend you holiday here. And you also can try many cheap food here, from vegetables, fruit, candy, etc.


Well, just want to say... Have a very great Holiday... and Happy new year 2010.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

You Need To Know About Plastic

There’s so many people who has warned about the danger of plastic. But still only few people who cared about this warning.
Plastic is a material that can be found in almost every goods. From drinking bottle, TV, refrigerator, pipe, CD, car, cellphone till pesticide. Therefore we can be definite that we used stuff that contains Bisphenol-A in our daily activity. Things that used plastic and contains Bisphenol-A are Food and beverage industry as container to keep the food, wrapping plastic, mineral water bottle, etc. One test proofed that 95% people had used stuff that contains Bisphenol-A.
Plastic is used cause its light, cheap and not easy to be broken. But plastic also has risk to environment and our family health. Therefore we have to understand about the plastic which safe to used.

What is the meaning of the symbol that we can find on a plastic product?


1. PETE or PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), commonly used for clear plastic bottle like a bottle of mineral water, juice bottle and in almost every drinking bottle. Don’t used for warm or hot water. Throw away the bottle if already used for at most 2 times.

2. HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), commonly used for milk bottle. As same as #1 PET, HDPE is recommended just for one time used.

3. V or PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is plastic that hard to be recycled. Its commonly found as cling wrap. PVC contains DEHA which can be leaky to the oily food if warmed. It’s potentially dangerous for lever and kidney.

4. LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) commonly used as a food container or soft drinking bottle. Plastic which have #4 code can be recycled well and also good for other things which need flexibility but strong. This plastic can be said indestructible but it still good for food container.

5. PP (Polypropylene) is the best choice for plastic, especially for food container and drinking bottle and the most important is drinking bottle for baby. The characteristic of this plastic is unclear or cloudy transparent. Find this symbol if you buy things in plastic.

6. PS (Polystyrene) commonly used as Styrofoam food container or disposable drinking bottle. The Polystyrene can leak styrene into food, when it gets contacted. Styrene is dangerous to the brain and nerve system. In addition to food container, styrene also can be found in smoke cigarette, vehicle pollution and building material construction. This substance must be avoid and now many states in America and China already forbid food container with syrofoam material.

7. Other (commonly Polycarbonate) can be found in food or sport water container. Polycarbonate can secrete its main material which is Bisphenol-A to our food that can be potentially damaged our hormone system. Just avoid plastic with Polycarbonate.

There still many plastic goods that don’t mention these symbols, specially the local made plastic. Therefore, when you get unsure don’t but it. Although the plastic with symbol is more expensive, that price is more valuable than our family health.
At last, avoid to use any kind of plastic to microwave. Just use ceramics, glass or pyrex as it replacement.
Don’t throw away your plastic trash (specially with Bisphenol-A) at any place, cause it can soiled water and in the end can soiled each and every drinking water.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Third-placed Indonesia looks ahead to hosting 2011 Games

After fulfilling its target of finishing third in the medal tally at the recent Southeast Asian Games held in Laos, Indonesia looks forward to hosting the competition in 2011.

“Being ranked third is indeed a good result and is what we expected,” said the State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng on Friday, after the 10-day sporting event between Southeast Asian nations was brought to a close at the Vientiane National Stadium.

The track-and-field squad won the most gold medals for Indonesia, with a total of seven gold, plus seven silver and seven bronze medals, followed by the weight lifters, who collected five gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the weight lifting arena.

Indonesia brought home a total of 43 gold, 53 silver, and 74 bronze medals to finish third behind reigning champion Thailand, which collected 86 gold, 83 silver and 97 bronze medals, followed by Vietnam with 83 gold, 75 silver and 57 bronze medals.

Indonesia’s gold haul was still below 62, the number of gold medals respective sports associations predicted the country would win.

However, the number three position came as a relief after strong competition from other participants, including Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

After trailing throughout the competition, Indonesia surpassed Malaysia and consolidated its third position on Thursday.

Malaysia remained in fourth place with 40 gold, 40 silver and 59 bronze medals, followed by the Philippines (38-35-51), Singapore (33-30-35) and Laos (33-25-52).

Myanmar (12-22-37), Cambodia (3-10-27) and Brunei (1-1-8) completed the gold-winning countries, while East Timor won three bronze medals.

Indonesia’s push to third place was helped by its 11-gold medal rush on Thursday, with badminton delivering three, and pencak silat, wrestling, fin-swimming, judo, athletics, tennis volleyball and beach volleyball all winning one each.

However, some sports failed to deliver during the Games.

The boxers fell short of winning a gold, winning only three silver and six bronze medals. The pencak silat fighters failed to retain their five-gold haul, bagging two gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

Source :The Jakarta Post

Monday, December 14, 2009

How the Tiger scandal really blew up

As we wind down from TigerCrashGate -- yes, it's true, we're almost done, at least until he returns to the course -- it's worth taking a look at the way that this story spiraled from one-car hydrant-bump to worldwide scandal, one whose cost will eventually be measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here's the key question to all of this: did we need to know about Tiger Woods' secret, off-the-course life? Many argue that this is an unforgivable invasion of a family's privacy, that we're interested in Tiger Woods as a golfer, not as a family man. As long as he keeps sinking long putts on Sunday afternoons, who cares what he does later that evening?

But that just-golf-it mindset doesn't account for the fact that Woods is not "just a golfer," he's the public face of an entire corporation. What he does on his own time is not his own business, not when his actions can do financial harm to those who have invested hundreds of millions in his image. That financial impact, not the "more mistresses or more majors?" question, is the real story here.

Still, the reason why this scandal exploded the way it did is because Woods' secret dealings were allowed to continue unabated, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The more Woods got away with his misdeeds, the bolder -- and stupider -- he got. (Leaving your name on a voicemail? Sending texts from your own phone? Really, Tiger?)

Part of this is surely because of the coverage bubble that Woods enjoyed for all of his career, a bubble that was born fully formed in Gary Smith's absurdly over-the-top introduction/sanctification of Woods in a legendary 1996 Sports Illustrated article entitled "The Chosen One." The see-no-evil approach to Tiger then dominated the golf media for more than a decade, partly because everyone was so in awe of Woods, and partly because Woods would cut off any access to any media outlet daring to poke around the edges of the mystique.

Did Tiger Woods have everyone fooled? Did the golf media know about Tiger's affairs and cover them up? Did everyone just happen to look the other way at the proper time? Those are questions that each media member will have to answer for him- or herself, but here's one huge clue: there are several golf media members who have not written a single word about this, the biggest story to hit golf in decades. Why? Well, you'd have to ask them, but it's a fair bet that they're setting themselves up as good guys when Tiger eventually does return. ("See, Tiger? All those other guys piled on, but I didn't! I'm still your pal!") On the flip side, credit longtime golf writers like Steve Elling who actually did call out Woods, knowing full well that they'll find that next one-on-one interview that much tougher -- if not impossible -- to secure.

Many in the golf media got completely outplayed on this story because of their insistence that it was no golf story at all, it was nothing but celebrity garbage, tawdry trash-digging that was beneath them. And again, if it was nothing but the personal affairs of a private family, that would be true. But Tiger's absence from the tour is going to cost people and corporations hundreds of millions of dollars and fundamentally alter the game of golf for the short term -- so, yeah, that very much is a golf story.

Journalists who complain that the tabloids were setting the agenda in this story should have been practicing a little shoe-leather journalism themselves. After the initial revelation on the day before Thanksgiving that Rachel Uchitel was somehow involved with Woods, it was a blogger, Ryan Ballengee of Waggle Room, who trumped the mainstream media and first contacted her. In the absence of comments from Team Tiger, the tabloids filled in the gaps, and despite their "bat boy/UFO abduction" rep, were on the whole more accurate than not. (Tiger's admission of "infidelities" plural is a testament to that.)

There were some notable missteps on the tabloids' part. The RadarOnline.com story about Elin Woods moving out proved to be completely groundless, even though many outlets picked it up and ran with it. (We decided not to here because of the flimsiness of the sources.) More significantly, the Life & Style story about two professional golfers calling out Woods turned out to be an utter falsehood; we had decided to mention it here because there was on-the-record attribution, not "unnamed sources." Surely, we figured, no magazine would be foolish enough to print actual names without verifying. Wrong. Lesson learned -- and that's an aspect of this story that deserves further scrutiny.

This is not to defend the tabloids' approach to celebrity -- they look at stars the way that the rest of us look at a Thanksgiving turkey right out of the oven -- but their dogged method of running down a story does indeed have its merits. (Paying interview subjects is not one of them, nor is publishing articles without bylines.) Still, if other journalists were similarly unconcerned about their future access to their subjects, they'd be able to uncover some secrets on topics more important than celebrities' sex lives.

For now, though, the Tiger story has reached a natural stopping point. We can take some time over the holidays to breathe deep, stop wondering about how many more mistresses will come out of the woodwork, and -- thank you, heaven -- stop hearing lame Tiger jokes.

The old Tiger Woods is gone. The new one -- well, we haven't met him yet. But he won't be on the same celebrity-worship pedestal as the old guy ... and, all in all, that's probably for the best.

Source :Yahoo Sports

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Records fall on day 3 of SEA Games

Siow Yi Ting of Malaysia marked her birthday with a Southeast Asian Games record-setting performance in the 100 meters breaststroke Friday when a slew of competition records were also set in swimming, weightlifting and shooting.

After the third day of the games, Vietnam unexpectedly topped the medals table with 14 golds, eight of which it won Friday in seven events, ranging from karate to cycling.

Singapore also has 14 golds but is second because of fewer silvers and bronzes, while Thailand is third with 13 golds.

Much of the attention Friday focused on the pool where five of Friday's six races produced records. Siow, who turned 24 on the day of her race, swam the 100 meters breaststroke in 1:09.82 minutes, beating the 1:10.15 time set by Nicolette Teo of Singapore in 2007.

She also took part in the 400 meters freestyle relay where Malaysia won a bronze in a time of 3:51.40, which beat the previous meet record of 3:51.86. Singapore won the gold in 3:45.73 while Thailand took the silver with a time of 3:48.09.

"I just relaxed my mind and swam hard, that's how I did it," said Siow, an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas.

"It was simply awesome, really an amazing feeling," she said, noting that she hadn't been swimming anywhere near her personal best for a long time.

Siow represented Malaysia at the Sydney Olympics when she was 13.

Games swimming records were also by Malaysia's Daniel Bego in the men's 100 meters freestyle, Vietnam's Huu Viet Nguyen in the men's 100 meters breaststroke and Malaysia's Khoo Cai Lin in the women's 400 meters freestyle.

Source :The Jakarta Post

Australia Shipping Alert Over Massive Iceberg

Australian authorities Friday issued a shipping alert over a gigantic iceberg that is gradually approaching the country's southwest coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice, which dislodged from Antarctica about a decade ago before drifting north, was being monitored using satellites.

"Mariners are advised that at 1200 GMT on December 9, an iceberg approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,054 miles) south-southwest of the West Australian coast was observed," it said, giving the iceberg's coordinates.

"The iceberg is 140 square kilometres in area -- 19 kilometres long by eight kilometres wide."

Experts believe the iceberg -- known as B17B -- is likely to break up as it enters warmer waters nearer Australia, creating hundreds of smaller icebergs in a hazard to passing ships.

"It's still 1,700 kilometres away, so it's quite a long way away, it's not really on our doorstep yet but it's been heading steadily towards us," glaciologist Neal Young said Thursday.

Young earlier told AFP that an iceberg of that size had probably not been seen in the area since the days when 19th century clipper sailing ships plied the trade route between Britain and Australia.

The iceberg has been floating around Antarctica since shearing off the icey continent but had lately begun heading north because of ocean currents and weather conditions.

Its discovery comes after two other large icebergs were spotted further east, off Australia's Macquarie Island, followed by more than 100 smaller chunks heading towards New Zealand.

Young described the icebergs as uncommon, but said they could become more frequent if sea temperatures rise through global warming.

Source :Yahoo News

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Thailand Celebrates 82nd Birthday of Ailing King

Thousands of well wishers waving Thai flags and dressed in pink gathered Saturday to catch a glimpse of Thailand's ailing King Bhumibol Adulyade, who has been hospitalized for more than two months and was to make a rare public appearance to celebrate his 82nd birthday.

The palace has said that Bhumibol, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is recovering from an inflammation of the lungs and is in no danger, but concerns about his health and the eventual succession have shaken the nation.

The king, who had not appeared in public since Nov. 2, left the Bangkok hospital where he has been staying since Sept. 19 to make his way to the Grand Palace, where he was to appear in front of members of the royal family, government officials and members of Parliament before greeting the crowds outside.

Many Thais donned pink shirts as a tribute to the king, a trend that first started two years ago when astrologers determined that pink was an auspicious color for the king's health.

"I've been doing this every since I was 40 years old," said Thongsuk Saechin, an 86-year-old housewife who traveled from Nakhon Pathom, 55 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Bangkok to see the king and wish him well.

It was also a chance for weary Thais to put aside political differences and unite behind one cause - something most haven't done since fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption. Since then, a series of sometimes violent protests by pro- and anti-Thaksin forces have rocked the country and raised doubts about its political stability.

Bhumibol, who has been on the throne for 63 years, is a constitutional king with no formal political role. But he is widely revered and regarded as the country's sole unifying figure. His disappearance from the public eye and a lack of details about his health have caused widespread uneasiness about the country's future.

The king's health is a particularly sensitive topic because of concerns that the succession may not go smoothly. The heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not yet have the stature or moral authority of his father.

Open discussion of the matter is barred by strict lese majeste laws that make criticism of the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Bhumibol's birthday is typically celebrated with several days of fanfare that start with the king presiding over an annual military parade in his honor.

This year's military parade, which was scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled, as was his annual speech to the nation on the eve of his birthday. This is the second consecutive year the ailing king has had to cancel his widely watched televised speech due to health reasons.

Source :The Jakarta Post

Ministers open Green Festival in Jakarta

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, accompanied by Forestry Minister Zulkili Hasan, and Minister for Women’s Empowerment Linda Gumelar, opened Green Festival 2009 fun eco-festival at Bung Karno Sports Complex's east parking lot in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Saturday.

The free-entry festival, held by a partnership association of three mass media and four corporations, will run over the weekend to promote global warming awareness.

The festival is jointly held by Kompas daily, MetroTV, Female Radio, consumer goods manufacturer PT Unilever Indonesia, state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, electronic company PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia and Sinar Mas Group.

The parking lot would be divided into four main areas to exhibit simulations of the global warming phenomenon, environmental workshops, music entertainment, and tips for individuals to reduce domestic carbon emissions.

“Delivered monotonously, these messages would not come across. But [through this festival], it is expected the messages would be accepted by most members of the public,” Gusti said in his opening speech.

Last year, the festival successfully attracted 44,000 visitors. Eighty percent were mothers and children.

Green Festival
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Source :The Jakarta Post

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Disney does Dickens ... again

With Christmas still a month away, it seems Hollywood movie producers simply couldn't wait to present moviegoers with a little gift before the holiday season began, with Disney's release of A Christmas Carol.

This 3-D animated feature is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous book of the same title, widely regarded as one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told and traditionally enjoyed by millions each year during the holiday season.

A Christmas Carol, first self-published by Charles Dickens in 1843, tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a conservative and individualistic financier, who has devoted his life to business and making money. The social perspective of the story and its portrait of Christmas traditions have played a big role in reinventing Christmas, with an emphasis on families and friendship.

In his miserly outlook, Scrooge (Jim Carrey in this version) forgoes friendship, love and the Christmas spirit itself. His obsession sees him becoming a cold-hearted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things related to charity, fun and happiness.

The feature begins seven years after the death of Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley (Gary Oldman). One night, the ghost of Marley visits Scrooge, warning him his soul will bear heavy chains for eternity if he does not change his ways, and to tell him another three spirits will visit him.

The first of these is the Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes Scrooge back to his childhood and shows the old man his tender side.

The second, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes him to the home of his nephew, Fred (Colin Firth), to take a look at Fred's middle-class social life, and then to observe the modest life of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, during his family's Christmas dinner.

In this scene, Scrooge is touched when he sees the high spirits of the disabled Tiny Tim.

The third, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, gives Scrooge visions of a future if he does not learn and change his behavior. One of the visions is that Tiny Tim will die.

The 96-minute feature is beautifully directed by Robert Zemeckis, with a similar technique to that he employed in animated films such as The Polar Express (2004) and Beowulf (2007).

Thumbs up also for Jim Carrey for taking on a multitude of roles in the film, including as young, middle-aged, and elderly Ebenezer Scrooge, and as the three ghosts that haunt him - grappling with different "ye olde" accents for each.

Hollywood star Gary Oldman also plays three characters (as Bob Cratchit, Marley's Ghost and Tiny Tim), and Robin Wright Penn plays Belle and Fan.

The optional 3-D feature comes highly recommended, as this adds to the intimacy of the story with its graphic depictions of the three spirits, and gives moviegoers a fuller experience of Disney's Dickensian England - sliding down rooftops and flying over chimneys and through forests.

Adding to a long list of films based on A Cristmas Carol, including three by Disney in the past 26 years, and Jim Carrey's past role as The Grinch who stole Christmas, Zemeckis has done well to give his own take on Dickens' imagination, adding new dimensions to the tale.

However, think twice before taking your kids watch this one if they're a bit sensitive, as some of its scenes could have them jumping out of their seats.

Three out of five stars.

A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney Pictures, 96 minutes)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Produced by Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey & Robert Zemeckis
Written by Robert Zemeckis based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Starring: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes, Colin Firth & Robin Wright Penn

Source :The Jakarta Post

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