I’m also trying to link everything to my Twitter and Facebook account. So if you can find me here or there, you’ll find me on Tumblr.

So, here it is: notes.bellamybudiman.com

Yes, according to him. At this point I can no longer tell if this is a sarcastic joke or simply otherwise. Assuming it’s not a joke, as what Aulia pointed out, he is a major facepalm considering what he does for a living. I can now also assume that a kindergarten student can also become a system administrator.

Sorry, bub, you asked for it.

One of the matters involved here is as simply as what is the proper etiquette when you are replying someone else’s tweets, and whether you should use RT to reply or not. Let me give you the ground rules of proper manners on tweeting.

What is RT? And why is it such a big deal?
RT stands for ReTweet and NOT Reply To. And if you ask us if this is something that we made up or not, then the answer is NO. It is written in Twitter’s help guide, and let me quote that for you:

What does RT, or retweet, mean?
RT is short for retweet, and indicates a re-posting of someone else’s tweet. This isn’t an official Twitter command or feature, but people add RT somewhere in a tweet to indicate that part of their tweet includes something they’re re-posting from another person’s tweet, sometimes with a comment of their own. Check out this great article on re-tweeting, written by a fellow Twitter user, @ruhanirabin.

So you see, even if this function is not yet available officially in Twitter’s API, they support this is as one of the community’s culture, and they encourage it that you use it correctly.

When we — early adopters — see new Twitter users used RTs for replies, we often suggest them — in a polite manner initially, of course — so that they could follow the culture and try to change their point of view on what RTs really are. RTs are meant to forward your friends’ tweets, something that is worth checking out, something that is worth reading, an important and useful information, some might say. But not for replies. Why? Because most of the time, we don’t give a shit on what you’re talking about in your replies, and when you’re engaged in an conversation with your fellow newbie friends. RT-ing would subconsciously trigger avid Twitter users to treat that message as something useful. And when these messages turned out to be just regular conversation, in which you misused RTs, then you’re polluting the timeline, and we just wasted a few seconds off our precious time to read everything that has no importance whatsoever.

So what do we do? Should we stop using RTs for replies?
Very much yes. Ignorant users may disagree with me, and some of my friends who suggested them to stop using RTs to replies even get disses from these users. Some responses from these ignorant-is-my-middle-name users include:

• “Why don’t you just unfollow me? I don’t like seeing people mad about RTs in my timeline anyway.”
• “Are you a Twitter cop?”
• “Do you think you own Twitter?”
• “I think it’s up to me. Besides, it’s only Twitter.”

And so on, I could give you tens of dumb reasons, but you get the big picture. Okay, actually, we don’t mind passing the culture to new adopters. Most of them probably don’t know and that RT is obviously easy to be misunderstood as “Reply To”, and we really appreciate when they know what to do and what not to do as they earned our respect. We don’t, however, respect those who are ignorant and instead of understanding the whole concept of what the Twitter culture is, they decided to fight back with the wrong thing they believed in.

I agree completely that the internet is a free world, but being free is not without rules, and on top of that, you’re not the first retarded bozo that knew Twitter. The Twitter may not be ours, but we followed the culture right on from when it was established. And since this is a social networking service that requires us to interact socially, I really think that you should follow the “rules”.

If your reason to RT is to keep the conversation thread, let me tell you this. As long as you reply directly on that specific tweet, Twitter will keep the thread logged, and you can see that conversation take place in your Twitter client. So your reason is no longer valid.

Who often use RTs for replies?
From what we’ observed, the main culprit for this utterly-dumb manner, apart from new and ignorant Twitter users, are probably celebrities. If you follow them in Twitter, I can assure you that at least 90% of them used RTs for replies. Some of them even abused hashtags with improper uses, such as this. At first we really thought that this is because UberTwitter’s failure to design an easy and understandable software, because most of these incidents came from UberTwitter uses. But no, every major Twitter client available in the market, although some suck in designing a proper user interface, provide the means of both RT-ing and replying. So unless you are purely an idiot or you have your excusable reason, then it’s just you and your lack of intelligence.

Can we rely on Twitter to reduce this madness?
I sure do hope so. In the coming weeks, unless hell froze over, Twitter is going to launch Project Retweet. That is making RTs into their official API, and hopefully reduce the number of the misinformed, and have them use RTs and replies properly. But personally, I don’t think that this is the ultimate cure. From what I see, an ignorant is always an ignorant.

And oh, some reads that you might find interesting and useful:

• What is the meaning of ‘RT’ in Twitter?
• RT is for aRTis
• Twitter FAQ: RT, HT, OH, ETC
• The Art of Retweeting in Twitter

And one more thing, if you still don’t get it, or if you’re offended with what I wrote in here (then you’re probably one of the culprits who is indeed ignorant), or if all else fails, please just fucking read this. Period.

Taken from here.

As a web 2.0 adopter, I sometime feel the urge to try these different kinds of social networking sites. I have to admit that I left most of them with no updates, or to make my life easier, just as mirrors to what I’ve been doing on my social networking site of choice. As to this point, I subjectively chose Twitter to be my favorite. Why? Well there tons of reasons. I even like this better than Facebook, and to prove my point, even Facebook wants to be like Twitter. Without trying to sound like I’m endorsed by Twitter, here are some of the reasons why:

• It’s simple, you microblog in 140 characters or less and off you go. No buts and no required formats.
• It packs the power punch for you to come up with literally numerous ideas on what to do with it.
• It has an API. What’s an API? It’s an Application Programming Interface which allows you to send to and retrieve data from Twitter, and do practically whatever you want with it (see above).
• It has numerous desktop clients and mobile apps on a plethora of operating systems that makes your interaction with the service even more elegantly facilitated.

Now let’s take a look at Plurk:

• It views status updates on a horizontally-laid layout. I don’t see how this improves anything, usability-wise. Because most people scroll vertically, and scrolling horizontally would be quite inefficient.
• It has that annoying Plurk signature URL when you sync your updates with Twitter. I got to tell you, Plurk users, these URLs don’t even make themselves useful and they’re piling up junks in the Twitter timeline.
• It doesn’t have an official API, so I don’t think developers could pretty much do anything with it. Well it does have an unofficial API, if you must.
• The karma system is just pointless. Seriously, what the hell does it do anyway? To me, it seems like it’s just Plurk’s unique way to differentiate from Twitter, a niche or some sort. A niche that doesn’t actually do something.

I think it’s clear on why I chose Twitter over Plurk. It offers me a great deal of flexibility and accessibility as a designer and an occasional programmer, which is probably what the web 2.0 is all about for me. I have to stress that this is my point of view, it doesn’t mean that I’m starting a war between Plurkers and Tweeters. I do have my own Plurk account as well, but I simply don’t care about it.

And oh, before I forgot, since this post could possibly bring out a gunfight, especially when it appears as a note on my Facebook account, on behalf the geeks (geeks, not nerds, or dorks in case you can’t differentiate that) that I know on Twitter, if you don’t even have a clue on what I’m talking about here, please don’t even try to make a comment that will potentially humiliate yourselves. Geeks, you know what I’m talking about, and you know that I have to be extra specific in explaining things like this to people like them :D

Apparently the church’s sound system mixer volume are all maxed out with almost no margin. Very “smart”. Where is the logic in these people?

Maaf sekali kalau ada pihak yang tersinggung, saya memang orang yang suka bicara apa adanya, dan saya tidak suka mentutup-tutupi hal-hal yang menurut saya memang pantas dikeluhkan. Beberapa jam setelah kebaktian, saya lalu mengecek account Facebook saya dan melihat bahwa salah satu teman saya pun sudah mengomentari status ini:

dibutuhkan sumbangsih untuk berpikir bareng2 jalan keluar yang terbaik untuk semuanya… kalau untuk logic kayaknya ada d.. cuma yang kurang pengetahuannya.. so yang pinter-pinter di bidang ini … dibutuhkan disini…. he..he..he.. talk less do more.. :)

Oke, kalau begitu saya akan sumbangkan pendapat saya di sini yang saya harap bisa mewakili sekian banyak keluhan teman-teman saya yang berpendapat sama, dan apa yang menurut pandangan saya menyebabkan kami menjadi “malas” untuk bahkan berinisiatif mau membantu. Sekali lagi, saya hanya mengutarakan pendapat saya, dan karena begitu banyaknya orang sensitif di sekitar kita, saya harus ingatkan, kalau tidak siap mendengar uneg-uneg saya, silakan menutup browser Anda. Tidak ada paksaan di sini, dan tentunya Internet adalah forum bebas tempat saya boleh mempergunakan hak bicara saya.

Pertama, menurut saya, ini bukan masalah pengetahuan, tapi memang masalah logika saja. Saya rasa kebanyakan orang awam pun (bahkan saya pun bukan orang yang bekerja di bidang sound engineering), bisa membedakan kalau suara sound system di gereja pagi ini terlalu “cempreng”, dan logisnya suara bagian bawah (Low) haruslah ditambah. Untuk apa kita punya sound system dengan harga mungkin ratusan juta, namun hanya bisa mengeluarkan suara yang setara dengan layar tancap kompleks dekat rumah? Dan tentunya dengan pengalaman operator yang setelah sekian tahun mengoperasikan hal ini, bukankah sudah saatnya ada pembelajaran yang masuk?

Kedua, banyak dari teman-teman saya yang sudah rela ingin membantu memperbaiki kondisi kualitas suara gereja kita ini, tetapi tidak selalu diterima dengan tangan terbuka. Bahkan seingat saya, sudah ada beberapa pelatihan yang dilakukan. Contohnya, beberapa tahun yang lalu, salah satu teman saya mau mencoba memperbaiki pengaturan mixer gereja, tetapi malah disambut oleh “yang punya gereja” dengan komentar, “Jangan! Nanti rusak!” Padahal teman saya ini memiliki studio musik dan usaha rekaman sendiri dengan peralatan yang jauh lebih baik dengan apa yang dimiliki gereja saat itu. Tentunya orang ini adalah seorang profesional yang mengerti apa yang dikerjakannya, apalagi dia juga seseorang yang kuliahnya pun jurusan musik. Alhasil teman saya ini hingga sekarang lebih memilih untuk tidak membantu memperbaiki sound system gereja. Apa boleh buat? Mungkin dia sudah kecewa dengan perlakuan yang didapatnya.

Contoh lain, saya ingat betul waktu itu ada paman teman saya yang juga bergerak di bidang yang sama, mau dengan sukarela membantu mengatur sound system gereja kita ini sehingga menjadi lebih baik. Hasilnya? Terus terang saya lupa apakah menurut pihak tertentu, paman teman saya ini visinya tidak sama dengan gereja atau paman teman saya ini tidak memiliki kualifikasi yang dibutuhkan. Lho kok lucu? Apapun alasannya, apa hubungannya visi gereja dengan keinginan seseorang yang mau membantu mengoptimalkan kualitas suara gereja? Toh paman teman saya ini kan bukan teroris yang jelas-jelas visinya tidak sama dengan gereja, dan dia memang seorang sound engineer yang memiliki kualifikasi yang saya kira pantas untuk pekerjaan seperti ini.

Contoh lain lagi, salah satu teman saya juga sempat mengajarkan bagaimana menggulung kabel mikrofon dengan benar ke karyawan gereja. Teman saya ini juga seorang musisi dan profesional di bidangnya, yang tentunya juga berharap bisa membantu gereja agar perlengkapan tata suaranya bisa dipelihara dengan baik. Lagi-lagi “yang punya gereja” mengeluh, “Males lah, lama kalo gulungnya begitu.” Kalau saya berada di tempat teman saya ini, tentunya saya akan lebih memilih untuk bicara pada tembok. Paling tidak, tembok tidak balas menjawab dengan komentar yang tidak berkualitas.

Sekarang jelas kan? Tidak aneh kalau kami lebih memilih untuk membawa mixer sendiri ketimbang mengandalkan gereja. Terus terang, saya akan lebih tenang kalau saya bisa mengatur keseimbangan suara instrumen saya sendiri.

Ketiga, saya sering sekali mendengar komentar “Kalau mau bagus, ya bantuin dong!” berseliweran setiap kali ada keluhan tentang sound system gereja. Oke, sekarang ini kembali ke panggilan pelayanan masing-masing. Terus terang, setelah beberapa kejadian seperti contoh di atas dan juga yang telah saya alami sendiri, saya sedikit patah arang untuk mau melayani di bidang ini. Menurut saya pribadi, seharusnya seberapa berat pelayanan seseorang, itu menjadi pengalaman yang menyenangkan dan mendekatkan orang tersebut pada Tuhan. Dalam hal ini, saya dan mungkin beberapa orang lainnya lebih sering dikecewakan.

Pernah beberapa teman saya juga sudah membantu menjadi operator sound system di gereja. Maaf kalau ini hanya pengamatan saya saja, tapi kok saya malah melihatnya seperti teman-teman saya ini “dikerjai”, dan mereka diharapkan untuk menjadi operator sound system setiap minggu, dan setiap minggu mereka diharapkan untuk standby pada ketiga jam kebaktian. Saya adalah orang yang realistik, pelayanan sih pelayanan, tapi apakah ada orang yang mau setiap minggu standby dua jam sebelum dan sesudah tiga kali kebaktian? Dan karena saya melihat hal ini adalah sesuatu yang krusial, bukankah lebih baik gereja mempekerjakan sumber daya manusia yang memang ahli di bidangnya? Lalu biarkanlah orang ini yang menentukan sendiri apakah honor yang diterimanya mau dianggap sebagai persembahan atau tidak. Saya rasa gereja kita mampu untuk ini apabila dana yang kita miliki dipergunakan dengan sebaik-baiknya, apalagi ini kan juga untuk kelancaran ibadah.

Akhir kata, sekali lagi, semoga ini bisa menjadi kompilasi dari sekian banyak keluhan yang sering saya utarakan dan sering saya jumpai dari minggu ke minggu. Dan kalau menurut Anda pendapat saya ini tidak akurat, ya silakan saja dibuktikan mana yang benar, saya sih tidak keberatan selama ini untuk kebaikan gereja.

Update: Oh, it does work! Cool!

Note: This is a repost of what I’ve written in Neuro-Designs’ Company Blog.

Just two days ago, our good friend Jonathan Nasution came up with the idea on integrating Twitter users to report traffic updates. I took the chance to develop this website together with him, as a pet project for Neuro-Designs. The basic idea is to have Twitter users update their status with the latest traffic report, and we mine that data as a feed to WordPress. The result? Well, you would just have to see it for yourself.

This is work on the go, so I’m quite surprised with what we can come out with in just two days. I really feel that both WordPress and Twitter are easily integrated, and they contribute an immense impact to the world of Web 2.0. Thanks for all the support and suggestions, guys! Especially to Charles Johnson, Aulia Masna, and Andira Pramanta.