The Prophet

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you, believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude; and then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Friendship

This week, an annoying dispute regarding what I recently have pointed out had poisoned and showed no signs of recovery to the brains of my... which for some reasons I could not even classify who they are anymore. Who could have expected that a minute statement which presumably means nothing at all, had blurred out and could caused a massive contention, not to mention that some indifferent arguments with heart-wrecking tones were called into being. The problem which I believed was derived from misunderstandings and a sense of disregard to the fact that people might have different definition to what a friend is. Similarly with what the rather cute yet thoughtful cartoon besides trying to express, which some of you might ever experience, everyone has their own representation of how a friend should be. There is certainly a relation to what extent it is related with someone's personality and characteristic, however again, it is a subjective issue where someone might clash with other individuals.

To clarify it once and for all, I resort to a hypothesis where I would explain my idea of a friendship. In my picky world of befriending with someone, there are several approaches I have always held firmly onto, I find them quite purposeful particularly because it is impossible to treat my acquaintances equally with how I treat my best friend. These approaches are simply classified as: just associate; close acquaintance; friend; best friend. Associate is simply addressing people who are only connected to me during study or work, everything is business as usual and small talk is no other than a courtesy question whether I have had my lunch. Once the work is done, the next meeting will only take place if the phone rings to inform the next project to be worked on. Close acquaintance takes a step higher than associate where chit chat might take place amidst work. Hanging out occasionally is not beyond the realms of possibility, in which someone's background information is shared and that makes us able to recognize each other better. Meanwhile friend is a lifetime entity and therefore unlike the previous two, only fewer can be regarded as mates. In my opinion, friend should not be bounded by time or places; we could still hang out together even what we individually do for living does not unite us anymore. Personal stories are shared and we know historical background of each other well. There is much less hesitation to share problems as a result of encouraging supports from the mates. Whereas as the best friend, he/she covers all aspects of a friend has with several quintessential elements of an old and long-esteemed figure. Emotion plays a major role and the best friend is a patient listener, able to present themselves very well by realizing when to crack jokes and take issue seriously. On top of that, trust is the main key of all and the value of privacy is highly respected. Obviously, it doesn't guarantee that a best friend will keep our secrets even under the thread of a gun, however the best friend is analogically the butter of bread, they are barely disappointing and stay along until the end.

"They might burn my house down if I referred them only as associates."

Back to the issue, the hubbub was actually coming from my classmates who were apparently surprised when I refer them only as closed acquaintances instead of friends. Some of my close acquaintances or perhaps nearly friends believe that this friendship standard is excessively high. However, not in dread of losing potential friends or regarded being self-assertive, I still find that the points mentioned above are well thought of. Despite the fact that we get along famously and having known them for years, we are still only connected by study or work or projects, even though hanging out together takes places frequently. Obviously, I learned one thing from their extreme response that they might burn my house down if I referred them only as associates. Anyway, the fact is though; time will prove whether they will last and in fact if they don’t, they will still remain acquaintances and without necessarily have to cross the line of being friends. Since as I have pointed out above that friend is a lifetime entity, and I do try my best not to drag someone who is already a friend back to become an acquaintance. The other point is, I rarely regret of losing acquaintances since we are only connected by the environment, no strings attached and no special demand is expected from them. As of friends concerned, I could not afford to lose them because they are irreplaceable and there is not many of them.

To conclude this note, I will share a famous quote to the readers: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” After a deliberate consideration, this quote could actually appear like a two-sided coin. It could mean either “Someone who needs your help becomes friendly in order to obtain it” or like most people believe “Someone who helps you when you are in need is a true friend.” Regardless to which one your choice is, the first meaning is no doubt merely just an acquaintance or even an associate to me, whereas the second meaning sounds more potential of being a friend. At the end, the definition of a friend is certainly altering from one person to another. However, all definitions share one undeniable similarity: a friend lasts. Until the next posting, enjoy!

Mercedes Benz C-class Blue Efficiency

After a long pause of content in automotive section, I finally manage to post a car review despite of some inputs which suggest more contents in inspiration section. Like usual in and specifically in automotive section, the car I featured here is reviewed with my own perspective, which means if you have any critics regarding my opinions about the car, please do kindly keep it for yourself. This time, as you can see from the pictures, I featured a Mercedes Benz C-class which has been Mercedes’s golden child for the last 16 years. While this note was written, I certainly believed that there was no car I have ever driven which has longer name than this one has, precisely Mercedes Benz C180 Kompressor Blue Efficiency T-model Avantgarde. This ridiculously long name obviously describes several things, such as the number 180 which indicates its engine capacity and don’t think that it is a 1800cc engine, instead it is a 1600cc petrol engine; a supercharger which for the reason I don’t know why, is called as Kompressor in Merc’s world; Blue Efficiency represents that the car is the version designed to please environmentalists and therefore boasts some features to make it environmental friendly; T-model means that the car has an estate-shaped body; Lastly, avantgarde represents the highest trim in C-class family.

Firstly, I would like to point out that Merc’s car design is one of my least favorite things in the world and that is exactly what happened with C-class. Whereas the front part looks generally well and actually very good in optional AMG styling-packet, the rear section doesn’t speak Merc’s design language at all, it is as cold and passionless as its designer who is a German. Truth be told, the tail of saloon version looks a trifle less annoying, whereas I nearly burst into tears when I saw the estate’s bottom, it is goppingly awful.

Thankfully and unlike its exterior, the interior design of C-class suits my taste rather well, although it couldn’t be categorized as stylist. However, the interior presumably promises a feel of quality and clearly shows the effort of its interior designer trying to make the interior as comfortable as possible. Every button and instrumentation panel is placed within the driver’s reach, driving position is good and especially the center arm rest which provides an excellent arm support. Speaking of standard equipment, C-class is shipped to the customers with a total of six airbags, COMMAND system which includes a 4.5 inch color monitor in the dashboard, dual zone climate control, multifunction steering wheel and cruise control. However, the Avantgarde trim in the car here was equipped with several optional extras, such as leather seats, Bluetooth phone connectivity, navigation system, sunroof, advanced multifunction steering wheel with audio control switches, front and rear parking sensor, 17 inch alloy wheel and some metal insertion in the interior to accentuate the sportiness feel of the car.

The fact that interests me was, this car is the Blue Efficiency version which is designed to save fuel, so it boasts several features which can be seen in the picture. The engineers simply had gone mad just trying to make the car as green blue as possible, for instance they changed the tires with the ones which were claimed to have 17% less resistance than normal tire; The wing mirror was redesigned to gain slicker aerodynamic; They even applied the same technique as used in Maybach production to shed 1.2kg from the windscreen glass s. However, the worrying news of all sadly came from the engine bay, it has a turned down engine capacity from 1.8L in the standard C-class down to 1.6L, yet Merc claimed that it still packs the same power as its predecessor with an acceptable 156bhp. On the paper, this 1.2 ton little three pointed star will do 0-100kph in 9.5 seconds and keep going onto a top speed of 223kph. The fact is though, this car’s performance was not that amusing, but it genuinely came as a surprise to know how it could burn fuel efficiently. Thanks to a smaller final drive ratio, this car will do 160kph in just 3500 rpm, a very low engine rev for a car its class! That also said in highway, the engine noise can be eliminated thanks to a low revving engine. Meanwhile, on a straight and unlimited Autobahn, it really can reach its top speed at around 5000 rpm. So, the final question will be related to fuel efficiency: can it really achieve 6.5L/100km as Mercedes claimed on the brochure? Well the simple answer is no actually, it couldn’t achieve that figure because according to the on-board computer, I only managed to average 9.9L/100km. Obviously, that figure cannot be categorized as economical considering the car only has a 1.6L engine, it should have been able to be more economical. However, please consider these points: Firstly, the car went through various traffic conditions, from stop-and-go traffic jams in the city center to 220kph blast on the Autobahn. Secondly, shedding weight was not a theme during the drive since it had five adults on board and a serious amount of luggage which stuffed the trunk. Thirdly, it was driven by a lunatic. As the driver, I have never been in an economical drive mode and there was no attempt at all to save the fuel, because I fired up all electrical equipments in the car, such as air conditioning, radio, Bluetooth connectivity and satellite navigation system.

After more than 700km of driving, C-class managed to suppress driver’s tiredness and therefore suitable for a long distance journey. Overall, it can be concluded that the style of this car does not float my boat, however the build quality is superb and it is well-engineered. The engine might be small, but it packed enough power for daily needs and also quite economical, although European customers might go for the diesel version which boasts better fuel efficiency and cheaper running cost. The steering provides a noticeable feedback with only slight body roll which gives confidence while cornering and that makes it good in handling sector. It is relatively quiet and comfortable as well, although the ride is surprisingly not as smooth as I was hoping it would be. At the end of the day, it is still a serious and soulless Mercedes Benz, however I reckon that this is one of the least Mercedes that I would actually like.

Facebook: The Evolution of Social Networking Activity

Last week, if you tuned in to The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was aired by a local television station, which I am sure none of you watched, which I find presumably inspiring, there was an interesting discussion which I could use as a topic for the first posting of 2010. Well firstly, allow me to wish the readers a blessed and joyful New Year! Wish you all the best on your endeavors. Right then, back to the issue. Now, in case if you so daft that you have no idea at all about who Oprah Winfrey is, do worry no more because that doesn’t matter, at least for the time being. Instead, what I want to discuss in this posting is about the content of the show I had watched. It basically featured world’s most “worshipped” social networking website of all time: Facebook. Of course, like almost all Oprah Winfrey Show, there are always guests featured in the show and the episode this time featured the man behind Facebook who was also a Harvard student and is the CEO of Facebook today, Mark Zuckerberg. During the interview, he basically talked about the history or early days of Facebook where it was initially built limited just for internal Harvard students, it then spread to the entire region and neighboring states before reached the entire world. But the main point is, Zuckerberg did not realize that Facebook could gain users so fast and more importantly, be used by people around the globe. Now that is actually from the founder’s point of view, so the remaining question might come from the users: how much does Facebook have contributed to our live?

The man behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

Firstly, I had to be very careful when I referred Facebook as “world’s most worshipped social networking website of all time” because the reader definitely looks forward for a credible piece of reading material. So, despite the fact that I occasionally don’t believe in statistics and neither should you, I googled some (seemingly) reliable statistic related to Facebook just to give an overview of what I am on about. Frankly, every figure I had read suggested an astounding impression, so impressive that I nearly banged my head against the wall to wake myself from reading something which appeared almost unbelievable. Mind you, Facebook was originally found in 2004 by Zuckerberg and his roommates in his dorm room; five years later Facebook claimed that it has a total of 350 million active users and that figure is actually more than the number of American population which tops number three in the world; this month Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by monthly active users in the world; Facebook is available with 70 languages which makes it the most translated social networking website today; more than 2.5 billion photos are uploaded to Facebook by the users every month; In 2008 with an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion, Forbes Magazine listed Zuckerberg in #158 out of other 400 wealthiest prominent in the country and was entitled as America’s youngest Billionaire; The founding and history of Facebook became the main inspiration behind the movie “The Social Network” which is scheduled to be launched on October this year.

"Why should I sign up an account in a website where people wrote useless stuffs such as: “It’s raining.” Or “I am hungry.” Or maybe “My dog ate my shoes.”"

At first, I was quite reluctant to use Facebook service for several reasons. Firstly, at that time I already had another social networking website which so far I could recall, I rarely updated or even checked it, so rare that I only checked it when Halley comet appeared. The other reason especially related to Facebook, why should I sign up an account in a website where people wrote useless stuffs such as: “It’s raining.” Or “I am hungry.” Or maybe “My dog ate my shoes.” The thing is though; I do find that there are several positive sides of using Facebook, such as we could be reconnected with our friends whom we have never seen for centuries long. The other good point is, the users could share photos and be able to limit people who have access to them. And the best of all, the users are completely in control with whom they want to befriend with and how much detailed information they want to include in their profile page. Harshly speaking, I could reject a friend request if I want to. Unfortunately, Facebook also has several downsides. The problem is and I believe most of you will agree, Facebook is very addicting and somehow very intoxicating. People could spend hours with their eyes glued to the monitor while checking on their friends’ latest status update, or simply looking at the photos and videos. Moreover, there are thousands of games, quizzes and applications which are very helpful if you are trying to find something to kill the time. It was so addictive that some companies are actually blocked this website to prevent the employees from sneaking around from work just to update their status or check others’.

Frankly and regardless the mind-blowing statistic above, I have to say that Facebook has brought the global communities into a whole new dimension of the way how people are connected to each other. Even such an anti-social individual like me have to conceive that Facebook has really been a part of the modern urban culture these days, especially after my ten-year-old niece asked me to approve her friendship request, if you know what I am on about. And that is the uniqueness of Facebook users, they range of children until the elderly people. Furthermore, the Facebook webpage can be seen almost everywhere, in the house, in the bus stations using mobile devices, in the office, well maybe using a bypass website or I don’t know how those geeks crack it. All in all, despite the controversies, banning actions and lawsuits filed against this very company, I do find that Facebook is positive as long as the users to stay in control and aware about things they posted, especially those materials which related to personal privacy and some sensitive themes, such as politics and religion. Until the next posting, enjoy!