'I learn everything from the internet'

'Where did you learn how to make that?'
'How did find the way to fix that?'
'They didn't teach that in class, where did you learn that?'

Those three questions above is a fraction of the whole idea as to why google is google today.
The google search engine has become an educational center, for those who are looking for specific skills; may it be in cooking, in designing, self-home decor, online literature, etc. etc.

"I learned how to design a website from scratch through online video tutorials, for free! And the sh*t that I got from the internet is much more than the ones I learned in college."
- Axxio Graphic Designer, Lula

We do not urge anyone reading this to quit school, and start googling your way to adulthood, yet to create an awareness, that Google and its partners have created a conduit in which quenches the thirst for knowledge, in addition to those who want to acquire other skills, or even self-serving skills.

TRAUMA HEALING

TRAUMA HEALING

Thinking about the victims of the Merapi incident in Jogjakarta, it is important to not only fulfill their physical needs. Their emotional needs are highly affected by this incident and it is crucial to help them cope with their trauma.

Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. Traumatic experiences causes human beings to experience struggles with upsetting emotions, frightening memories or a sense of constant danger that you can’t let go of. You might also feel numb, disconnected or unable to trust other people. It takes a while for human beings to get over their pain -after a terrible incident- in order to feel safe again. To speed up the recovery the support from family and friends is crucial for effective treatment methods.

Trauma recovery tips

It is not a one day process to recover from emotional and psychological trauma. You need to let yourself cope with the losses and fear you’ve experienced. This takes a lot of time. You shouldn’t force yourself; try to be patient when you are dealing with your recovery. Finally, be prepared for difficult and volatile emotions. Allow yourself to feel whatever you’re feeling without judgment or guilt.

Staying grounded: A trauma self-help exercise

It is very important to stay ‘grounded.’ If you are feeling disoriented, confused, or upset, you can do the following exercise:

• Sit on someone’s lap. Feel your feet on the ground. Press on your thighs. Feel your behind on the lap and your back against the other person. (It is recommended to do this with a family member that you trust).
• Look around you and pick six objects that have red or blue. This should allow you to feel in the present, more grounded, and in your body. Notice how your breath gets deeper and calmer.

Trauma self-help strategies:

• Don’t isolate. Following a trauma, you may want to withdraw from others. But isolation makes things worse. Connecting to others will help you heal, so make an effort to maintain your relationships and avoid spending too much time alone.
• Ask for support. It’s important to talk about your feelings and ask for the help you need. Turn to a trusted family member or friend.
• Establish a daily routine. In order to stay grounded after a trauma, it helps to have a structured schedule to follow. Try to stick to a daily routine, with regular times for waking, sleeping, eating, and exercise. Make sure to schedule time for relaxing and social activities, too.
• Take care of your health. A healthy body increases your ability to cope with stress. Get plenty of rest, exercise regularly, and eat a well-balanced diet.

Combined Help to reach our people

A while ago we have briefly informed you about citizen journalism. This time we provide you with an example that clearly illustrates the online journalism process:

The website http://www.merapi.combine.or.id/ , is a newly established website that is supported by citizen journalism in order to expose the recent Merapi incident in.  People report from the actual location of the incident, and contribute their information and opinions through this website in order to raise awarness and a clearer understanding of the ongoing situation and the dynamic development of the concequences that the eruption of the Merapi has brought among the victims.

In order for such a website to perform in terms of reaching a wide audience, it certainly cannot be operated by only one person. This website is connected to various online sites such as Twitter, Facebook and also Voulenteering Oragnizations such as “Gabung sbg relawan” ,  “sampaikan bantuan anda” and a few others.
It takes a wide range of people, to keep this website on the move.

Other than that they also cooperate with radio stations. JALIN MERAPI was established trough the cooperation with a number of the community radio stations around the Merapi area. They include, Radio Lintas Merapi (Dusun Deles, Desa Sidorejo, Kec. Kemalang, Kab. Klaten) Radio K FM (Desa Ketunggeng, Kec. Dukun Kab. Magelang), dan Radio Merapi-Merbabu Community (MMC) (Dukuh Kuncen, Desa Samiran, Kec. Selo Kab. Boyolali).
JALIN MERAPI is supported by Community Radio Stations of Yogyakarta, Community Radio Stations in Central Jawa, COMBINE Resource Institution, Kappala Indonesia, Lembaga Kajian Islam & Sosial, and KOMPIP.

The site is managed by JALIN MERAPI and Combine Resouce Institution. Copyright within the documents of the site is acknowledged to each of the contributors. It is allowed to post articles from different media with the condition of mentioning its sources


With the fact that so many organizations and people are involved in this matter, it is only obvious to conclude that in order for a website like this to work, support and cooperations are needed. This will not only help in addressing a wider audiece, but it also supports the crediblity as the organizations involved are accepted by society.

Disgusted? Or Sympathy?

Media ethics, in short, is the fundamental line in which governs media practices; as in it is a body that collects rules and regulation that insures the work of media that will protect the public from the media; the media and the government; and vice versa.

In the aforementioned collection of ethical values, one of which highly champions the degree of 'political correctness' when it comes to the practice of Photojournalism as well as the article piece when it comes to death, depicting death, rape, or other violent and/or inhumane tragedies. ie: one media should not depict the name of a rape victim, they could use initials or aliases with the consent of the victim; another example would also be not to depict any gore pictures explicitly to the public.

Some journalists might disagree with this rule, because to them, the real gore and death should be depicted to procure emotional attraction and distress of the readers, so the readers will know and sympathize; yet in accordance with media ethics regarding this matter says otherwise.

One event in particular, one that is close to home, is the Merapi, Jogjakarta incident that took place in the 26th of October, 2010. Seputar Indonesia Television News Channel (SINDO, in short) depicted the victim of the incident; the scene depicts a gatekeeper, whom resides by the bowels of the Merapi Volcano, that refused to leave along with his family and neighbors in the area... or what's left of them, 70 percent burnt flesh, uncanny dusts that fell of a body.... you get the picture

Disgusted? Or Sympathy?

The uncivilized

I was on my way out the morning before; it was at about 8 am. As I drove out of my neighborhood, I noticed a lot of people walking on the street. They wore training outfits which indicated that this was a sports event. A so called "morning walk" I suppose.  As I drove further I landed in a big traffic jam. I looked to my side and saw all these people walking on the street causing cars to move to the middle lane, to avoid any accidents. Then I noticed that there was a sidewalk right beside them...seriously? Why cause such trouble when all you need to do is walk where you are supposed to walk? It is so typical for indonesians to raise attention just because they're having an event and suddenly they want all the privilege for it; like walking on the street just because they're having their "morning walk". After a while the police came blowing on their whistles telling the walkers to move to the sidewalk. Finally, I thought. Yet, there were still people who did not obey the orders and nothing was done about it.  Ck ck ck *shaking my head*
-sam

citizen journalism

Citizen journalism involves people without professional journalism training using the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others.

This is practically what you do:

1. You might write about a city council meeting on your blog or in an online forum.
2. You could fact-check a newspaper article from the mainstream media and point out factual errors or bias on your blog.
3. You might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event happening in your town and post it online.
4. You might videotape a similar event and post it on a site such as Youtube

STEP UP 3D

Step up in 3D!!!

So, I just watched the movie... well, aside from the super hottie Luke (Rick Malambri), I actually enjoyed this movie very much. The dance moves were awesome, especially with the 3D effect it felt like they were battle dancing against you right there in front of your face. Well, the movie is about a tight-knit-group of New York City street dancers. So, Luke (The one I fell head over heels for) and his crew including Natalie (Sharni Sevani) and Moose (Adam Sevani), team up to battle against the world's biggest hip hop dancers. Well, the dance routines are amazing and one thing you will learn about Dance in this movie is that it will change your life forever. Don't miss this one!

-sam