Marine archaeologists find remains of slave ship

Randolph E. Schmid , The Associated Press , Washington | Wed, 11/26/2008 2:21 PM | Sci-Tech 

This undated handout photo provided by NOAA shows the hull remains of the so-called “Black Rock Wreck” measured and compared to the dimensions of known shipwrecks off East Caicos.

Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands. Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.

Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response "was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension," he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But after word got out "people really got on board with it," he said, and the local museum has assisted the researchers. He said this is the only known wreck of a ship engaged in the illegal slave trade.

Keith and his co-researchers from the Texas-based Ships of Discovery organization came across a letter at the Smithsonian Institution that referred to the sinking and began their search for the ship.

"The people of the Turks and Caicos have a direct line to this dramatic, historic event - it's how so many of them ended up being there. We hope this discovery will encourage the people of the Turks and Caicos to protect and research their local history, especially the history that remains underwater," he said.

"It really is a mystery, it's a detective story," added marine archaeologist Toni Carrell.

"We do all of this because we recognize the importance of history. This is an important part of the Turks and Caicos history," she said.

The team was able to determine that authorities on the islands apprenticed the Africans to trades for a year and then allowed them to settle on the islands, many on Grand Turk. The Spanish crew was arrested and turned over to authorities in Cuba, then a Spanish colony.

An 1878 letter refers to the Trouvadore Africans as making up the pith - meaning an essential part - of the laboring population on the islands.

When the wreck was first discovered in 2004 it was named the Black Rock ship because the researchers were unsure of its identity. They have since become convinced by the timing and design of the vessel that it is the Trouvadore.

"We were not fortunate enough to find a bell with 'Trouvadore' on it," Carrell explained. Useful parts of the ship had been salvaged before winds and currents carried it into deeper water.

"It's rare and exciting to find a wreck of such importance that has been forgotten for so many years," said Frank Cantelas, marine archaeologist for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

The team also found the remains of the U.S. brig Chippewa, a ship built for the War of 1812 which was engaged in chasing pirates when it was lost in 1816. That vessel was identified by the unique type of cannons, called carronades, it carried.

Indeed, the researchers said the Turks and Caicos now possesses one of the world's best collections of carronades.

NOAA provided about $178,000 to assist the research.
 

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Indian president in Indonesia despite Mumbai attacks

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AFP) – Indian President Pratibha Patil arrived in Indonesia for a six-day visit Friday, going ahead with a Southeast Asian trip despite deadly militant attacks in Mumbai.

Patil will spend the weekend on the holiday island of Bali before meeting his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Monday, a spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry said.

The visit by the Indian president, who holds a largely ceremonial office, is a follow-up to a 2005 state visit by Yudhoyono to India in 2005, spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

"A number of agreements are set to be made on youth development, sport and agriculture," he said.

A spokesman for the Indian embassy in Jakarta, Sugandra Jaram, earlier said he was unaware of any plan to abandon Patil's trip in light of militant attacks on the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai, which killed at least 130 people.

Patil on Thursday strongly condemned the Mumbai attacks while on a visit to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

"This violent attack was the work of those who have no regard for human life," she said.

Source : news.yahoo.com

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Mumbai attacks despicable and inhumane: RI

Tony Hotland and Dian Kuswandini , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 11/28/2008 7:19 AM | Headlines 

Indonesia condemned the terrorism attacks in Mumbai as despicable and inhumane, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The government expressed condolences to the government of India and to the victims and their families, saying it hoped those responsible would be swiftly captured and brought to justice.

“The attacks are evidence that the threat of terrorism remains real and that it requires constant vigilance and multilateral cooperation in dealing with it,” the statement said.

It added that Indonesia was a staunch supporter of all cooperation in combating terrorism.

Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the Indonesian Embassy in India had made certain none of the 130 Indonesian nationals living in Mumbai was among the victims. 

He said the government had no plans to issue a travel warning advising Indonesian nationals against visiting India.

Indonesia has experienced terrorism attacks, most notably the bombings perpetrated by Jamaah Islamiyah in Bali and Jakarta between 2002 and 2005. Dozens of people were arrested and convicted for the blasts, three of whom were executed early this month.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, however, said it was “too early” to link the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks with JI.

“However, we will keep an eye on any possibility ... and be alert for any terrorism threats,” Susno said. 

The Associated Press reported earlier Thursday that U.S. President George Bush expressed condolences to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a phone call at his Camp David, Maryland, mountaintop retreat. 

“The president offered support and assistance to the government of India as it works to restore order, provide safety to its people and comfort to the victims and their families and investigate these despicable acts,” Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. 

The Justice Department said the FBI was monitoring the situation closely and was prepared to offer assistance if Indian authorities asked for it. 

From Pakistan the AP quoted Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was visiting India as part of a slow-moving South Asian peace process, saying he was “shocked and horrified” by Wednesday’s attacks in Mumbai. 

While India’s PM Singh blamed “external forces” in neighboring countries for the terrorist strikes, Qureshi said “a better understanding” was needed of the incident. 

“Let us not go in for knee-jerk reactions,” he said, pledging full cooperation of his young government to counter terrorism in the region, according to The Press Trust of India, India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, and India has frequently blamed Pakistan for past terrorist attacks in its territory.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Toshiba Satellite M300: Style evolution

Zatni Arbi , Contributor , Jakarta | Mon, 11/24/2008 12:32 PM | Sci-Tech 

Toshiba adds beauty to its mainstream Satellite line of notebooks. The M300 provides great performance, average battery life and a beautiful metallic effect on its exterior. (JP/Zatni Arbi)

If my memory serve me correctly, I bought my first notebook in 1996 just before I was about to go on a 12-day trip to Australia. 

I thought I would need a notebook to enable me to write my reports during the trip so I would not forget the details. Like virtually all first-time notebook buyers back then, I chose a Toshiba Satellite. Because of my limited budget, I bought a Toshiba Satellite 100CS. 

It ran on a 75 MHz Pentium processor. I still have it on my shelf today. It may still be in a working condition, but I dare not try to power it up. The dual-scan screen is already damaged. 

Besides, there is a huge crack on the top cover near the right hinge. The plastic material has become brittle with age, and -- you guess it correctly -- the crack actually happened because of my bad habit of placing a stack of books and magazines on top of the notebook. Only Panasonic's Toughbooks could have survived such an abuse. 

For many years, Toshiba notebooks generally came in dull gray or black colors. But this has just changed. 

"In the past, Toshiba focused on durability and technology, but now we have added style to our design tenets," said Gunawan Nugroho, president director of PT Techking Enterprises Indonesia, a company that focuses on the retail sales of Toshiba notebooks in Indonesia. 

To ensure that Indonesian customers are aware of the new shift toward style, Toshiba has even appointed actress Luna Maya as their brand ambassador for the local market. New advertisements on LCD TVs, notebook PCs and home appliance products now feature the actress. 

And the Satellite M300 is a testimony of the new thrust into style. I recently had a chance to play around with a brand new unit for one week; and I was pleasantly surprised. 

With a high-gloss finish covered with beautiful stripes, called Fusion Finish, the M300 is certainly a head turner. Similar to what HP has done to its latest notebooks, Toshiba uses molten resin to transfer a metallic pattern to the mold. It shatters the notion that one notebook looks no different to the next. 

A newcomer in the mainstream notebook market, the M300 has a 14.1-inch display. I think this is the right size for a traveling information worker, as a 13.3-inch notebook is too small and a 15-incher is too bulky. In the case of the M300, not only the size is ideal, the quality of the LCD panel is also excellent. 

The M300 seems to be business-oriented, although the DVD direct control icons along the top of the keyboard give the impression that it is also ready for entertainment. You only have to touch it slightly with your fingertips to activate the lighted icons. And, the Harman Kardon speakers produce powerful and enjoyable audio. 

Wi-fi, Bluetooth, WebCam, memory card reader, USB ports and other standard notebook arsenals are there. If you press the Fn key, a panel will appear on top of the display screen that tells you what the function keys will do. 

For example, to turn off the touchpad temporarily, you can use one of the Fn combinations. I like this feature, as sometimes the imprinted symbols on the keycaps are too small or too vague to discern. 

The touchpad, by the way, is textured. It feels nice under the fingertips. It is easy to slide your finger over it, and it doesn't get as smudged as other exterior panels. 

What I like, too, is the separate row on the right end of the keyboard where you find the Home, PgUp, PgDn and End keys. 

There is a downside to having a shiny and glossy exterior. The panels, and especially the palmrest, get smudged very easily. Toshiba throws in a piece of soft wiping cloth in the box, but you will still have to spend some time cleaning up smudges. (It is a good exercise, as it builds a stronger relationship between you and your notebook. It will remind you not to put it under a pile of magazines like I did to my Satellite 100CS.) 

A couple of other minor complaints include the relatively long boot time. Most probably this is caused by the "bloatware" that Toshiba notoriously throws into the hard disk of every new notebook. 

A trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 is also included. You can download a third party utility from the Web to get rid of the software stuff that you do not want, which will shorten the boot time. Once Windows Home Basic is running, the performance will not disappoint. 

Personally, I do not like the black lacquered, piano-like key caps as they also get smudged easily. But this seems to be the trend. I first saw a keyboard like this on a Lenovo IdeaPads U110. Fortunately, the keyboard of the M300 is quite comfortable to use. 

There are a lot of LED lights on the notebook, including the Satellite logo, the touchpad and the DVD control icons. They can be a nuisance if you are trying to work beside your sleeping spouse, who happens to prefer a totally dark bedroom. 

More seriously is perhaps the thumbwheel audio volume control that has no minimum or maximum stop. You can turn the volume control to the left or to the right forever and you will have no idea how loud the audio is. I did not find any on-screen display to indicate the actual audio level. 

For around Rp 13 million -- and Toshiba still accepts rupiah despite the fluctuating exchange rates -- this is an attractive notebook that also delivers great Intel Core 2 Duo performance. 

The Toshiba Satellite M300 feels very solid. Its parts blend together very well, like the spices in a tasty rendang dish. This notebook is very high on my list of recommendations.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Strong earthquake strikes off western Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A strong earthquake struck off the western coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra late Saturday. There were no immediate reports of injury and structural damage, seismologists said. 

The quake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, jolted Sumatra's Bengkulu province at 11:01 pm (1601 GMT). Its epicentre lay about 142 kilometres south-west and about 23 kilometres beneath the seabed in the Indian Ocean, the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) was quoted by DPA as saying.

The US Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.8 on the Richter scale. 

Officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage following the quake, which was followed by a 6.3-magnitude aftershock about 10 minutes later. 

It was the latest of series of earthquakes to jolt Indonesia in recent days. 

On Monday, a powerful 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, killing at least seven people, injuring more than 150 others and damaging hundreds of homes. 

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific's so-called "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. 

A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province and around 500,000 homeless.(*)

Source : www.antara.co.id

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GM Indonesia to start new plant in 2009 despite U.S. problems

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/27/2008 11:00 AM | Business

Despite the problems back home in the United States, PT General Motor Indonesia is showing its commitment to Indonesia by laying out big plans for next year -- three new models will be released, new outlets will open and construction will start on a new plant.

While the leaders of the GM parent company are making major efforts to mobilize a bailout from the U.S. government, GM Indonesia is optimistic about its future here, managing director Mukiat Sutikno said on Wednesday.

"We're here to stay. We have no plan to withdraw investments from the country.

"We are even going to release three new models in Indonesia next year, one of which will be released no later than the first quarter of 2009," he said.

A new plant will start to be constructed next year, he said, although no exact timing was given.

At present, GM cars entering Indonesia are completely built up from plants in Thailand and Korea. As of the end of October, GM Indonesia has sold 248 Aveos, 425 Kalos, 70 Optra Magnums, 90 GM Estates and 1,469 Captivas.

Prospects in Indonesia remain very positive, he said, adding that the company had recently opened new distribution outlets in Cirebon in West Java, Jambi in Sumatra, Pontianak in Kalimantan, and Sorong in Papua.

Sales in Indonesia in the first ten months of the year stood at 2,303 units, a significant increase from the total 2007 sales of 1,400 units.

"We hope we will have sold 2,800 units by December," Mukiat said.

Still, next year's sales will likely drop by 30 percent, in line with a decline in the whole automotive industry, he said.

"Eighty percent of Indonesian customers' financing comes from credit loans and the down payments will rise to an average 40 percent of the price. This surely will slow down car purchases."

GM considers Indonesia to be one of its 11 emerging markets, along with Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

"This means Indonesia will be one of the company's main production bases," he said.

GM Indonesia is 100 percent owned by GM Corporation. (iwp)

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Indo Tambangraya to invest $200m in 2009

PT Indo Tambangraya Megah (ITM), the Indonesian subsidiary of Thailand's biggest coal producer Banpu Pcl., plans to raise its capital expenditure in Indonesia by more than double next year compared to a year earlier, to increase its production capacity.

Somyot Ruchirawat, ITM's president director, said the company would spend US$200 million next year, up from $71.5 million forecast for 2008.

"The funding is from our internal budget. We would not use any loans," Ruchirawat said.

The budget will mainly be used to expand the company's mining capacity in Tandung Mayang, Kutai Kartanegara Regency in East Kalimantan, which is operated by PT Kitadin, one of ITM's subsidiaries.

"We are going to invest in equipment to increase freight capacity. This project alone will cost us about $60 million," Ruchirawat said.

He was quick to add that these figures and the size of the project could still change, if adjustments were needed due to the current financial situation.

"Because of the economic situation, we are reviewing some projects and acquisition plans to see whether what we are going to invest will satisfy our shareholders or not."

The company however will move forward with projects such as the expansion of its coal port facility in Bontang, East Kalimantan to increase handling capacity to 18.5 million tons from the current capacity of 12.5 million tons.

ITM is the fourth largest coal producer in Indonesia.

As of September this year, the company produced 13.2 million tons of coal, up from 12.9 million tons in the same period last year.

It has reduced its 2008 coal sales target to 18.1 million tons from an initial target of 19.5 tons, because of heavy rain in Kalimantan which has made mining more difficult.

The company hopes to produce 20.5 million tons of coal next year. It exports 90 percent of its production.

As the domestic obligation for coal producers will be enforced next year, ITM will increase its sales to domestic buyers, Ruchirawat said. -- Alfian

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Shoe producers take a beating as demand slows

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 11/22/2008 9:37 PM | Business

The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Saturday that shoe factories in the province were already suffering from the impact of the global economic slow down.

Chairman Erlangga Satriagung said that demand for products from the U.S. and Europe had already decreased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

“Moreover, prices of imported raw materials have also risen, due to stronger dollar,” Erlangga said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the shoe industry in East Java employed some 35,000 workers and that their livelihood were threatened if the government failed to come up with measures to curb pressure from the sloping demand.

So far, he argued, the government and the central bank had yet to come out with meaningful measures to cushion the burden carried by employers.

“Nobody is happy to close his own business and fire all his workers, unless he is force to do so,” he said. (and)

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Demand for RI workers remains high in Singapore

Apriadi Gunawan , The Jakarta Post , Singapore | Mon, 11/24/2008 11:36 AM | Potpourri


JP/SuherdjokoJP/Suherdjoko

Ade Makage can't wait for every Sunday to roll around, as it is the day where she can meet fellow Indonesian migrant workers at Pasir Ris area in Singapore.

On Sundays, Ade, a female migrant worker (Tenaga Kerja Wanita, or TKW) from Mandao, gets to meet with her friends from an Indonesian fellowship club and enjoy leisure activities together.

One of the routine activities that members of the group enjoy is praying together at one of the biggest churches in Pasir Ris. Afterwards, the TKW stroll along the beach together while sharing stories.

The TKW, who are mostly maids, tell each share the ups and downs of working away from home.

Ade said she planned to stop working as a maid because she wanted to look for a new working experience.

"It's possible that in the near future I will quit working as a maid because I know of an opening in another place as a waitress," Ade told her friends on one of their recent Sunday walks.

Ade said she was excited about the new work opportunity because the salary was higher: While working as a maid she was paid S$240 (Rp 1.9 million) per month. Meanwhile, the new position offered a salary of S$6 (Rp 47,000) per hour.

Suharti, a TKW from Solo, told her friends she was pleased to be working as a maid in Singapore because she received a bigger salary than that which she previously earned in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The mother of three said she could send money home every three months to cover her children's school fees.

"Working here (in Singapore) I can collect money for my children's education back home in our village," said Suharti, who previously worked as a maid in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

"It's enough when compared with the salary I received when I worked in Malaysia and Indonesia, and I couldn't save anything," she said.

Suharti said her current salary as a maid in Singapore was S$340 (Rp 2.7 million) per month. She added that she had not thought about returning to Indonesia just yet, because she wanted to continue working in Singapore to support her family.

Sundays are enjoyed by the members of other Indonesian fellowship clubs in Singapore.

Botol Panjaitan, one of the many Indonesian migrant workers employed by the industrial sector in Singapore, said there were many clubs for Indonesian people who worked in Singapore.

The 32-year-old said the Indonesian fellowship club in Singapore that had the largest number of members was IndoSing.

"IndoSing membership has now reached more than 1,000 people. The IndoSing members gather every Sunday and often communicate via chatting on the Internet," Panjaitan said.

Panjaitan, who has been working in Singapore for less than one year, said he had seen that the activities carried out by clubs for Indonesians who work in Singapore was positive, especially in improving relationships.

"The friendship of Indonesian workers in Singapore is so strong because they often communicate through the Internet and gather together in various places," said Panjaitan.

Singapore's senior minister of state for foreign affairs, Zainul Abidin Rasheed, said the number of Indonesians working in Singapore had reached around 60,000. Most worked as maids, with the number of Indonesian citizens working as professionals in the country was still low.

"Singapore still needs workers from Indonesia. We hope that these will be professional people; this is important so they are able to compete with workers from other countries and Singapore citizens," Rasheed told The Jakarta Post recently.

Rasheed added that apart from being professional it was hoped that Indonesian workers would develop knowledge of the customs and daily lives of Singaporeans.

When asked about the number of Indonesian workers needed by Singapore, Rasheed said the quantity was unlimited because there were still many sectors, such as the industry sector, that needed professional workers.

Rasheed said that to protect foreign workers in Singapore, including those from Indonesia, his role was to ensure the application of the laws that guaranteed worker safety.

"In recent months we have found some cases of violence towards foreign workers here, but all cases have been processed according to the legislation.

"We never tolerate situations where Singaporean citizens act roughly toward foreign workers," Rasheed said.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Nusa Penida: A sanctuary for the endangered Bali Starling

Trisha Sertori , Contributor , Ubud | Thu, 11/20/2008 10:43 AM | Surfing Bali

Bali Starling breeder and veterinarian Bayu Wirayudha of the Friends of the National Parks Foundation has turned around the extinction of the bird species, with 45 juveniles born in the wild from released, captive-bred parents. (JP/J. B. Djwan)

On a small island off Bali's coast, Nusa Penida, a little white bird with a vivid blue mask is successfully breeding in the wild.

Over the past six months, 45 of the 65 Bali Starlings bred and released by the Begawan Giri and Friends of the National Parks Foundations since 2006 have hatched offspring.

While not native to Nusa Penida, the Bali Starling has been released on the island in an effort to ensure its survival in the wild.

Back on Bali, where the Bali Starling is the province's emblem, the bird has become critically endangered through poaching and loss of habitat.

Bali Starling breeder and veterinarian, Bayu Wirayudha of Friends of the National Parks Foundation, said the reason for the difference in the birds' survival is simple; on Nusa Penida, traditional laws on the protection of birds and animals are still in place.

"But in West Bali, where the Bali Starling has been bred in captivity and released into the West Bali National Park for decades ... there is not this traditional land-based law," said Bayu.

Shifting breeding of the Bali Starling to Nusa Penida has drawn the ire of some organizations, Bayu said, however the recent bird count of 45 birds born in the wild on the island tells Bayu his experiment in creating new colonies in safe zones is working.

Creating new colonies for endangered birds is often a successful method of preventing extinction of a species. The United States Fish and Wildlife service is currently working with scientists to relocate the endangered short-tailed albatross from its volcanic Torishima Island breeding grounds in Japan to the Bonin Islands -- at a cost of US$5.67 million, writes the Environment News Service website.

The 45 Bali Starlings bred and hatched on Nusa Penida have brought wild populations of the Bali Starling back from the abyss of extinction.

For almost a century, the Bali Starling has been at threat of extinction. Bird counts from 1912 show a contraction in habitat range and by 1966 the bird was declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In 1978, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) placed the Bali Starling on its critical list.

The Indonesian Government and bird protection organizations around the world saw, as early as the 1980's, that immediate action was needed to prevent the bird from being lost in the wild. Captive breeding programs were successfully established in Bali, however birds released into the wild were quickly poached and populations of the bird continued to plummet.

Unlike most starling species, the Bali Starling with its white feathers and vivid blue mask is a highly attractive bird. Its beauty spelt its downfall, with poachers collecting both wild and captive-bred released birds for sale; and at Rp 5 million to Rp 10 million per bird, poaching in Bali's national parks was a lucrative business.

"The only reason for their extinction is illegal poaching. All starling breeds are very adaptable and can live by the sea, in mountain zones, urban regions and grasslands," said Bayu.

"The Bali Starling is simply too beautiful and everyone wants one as a caged bird -- it's about prestige," said Bayu of the bird that is found in greater numbers in aviaries in England or America than in the wild on its home territory.

Bayu began breeding the Bali Starling in captivity at the Bali Bird Park in 1992.

"We were the first people to officially breed the Bali Starling. The bird had been declared endangered in 1966 by IUCN and on the CITES critical list by '78," said Bayu, adding if populations were numbered below 20, they were classified as extinct.

There were grave fears that the Bali Starling, with constantly falling numbers, could reach a crisis point in wild breeding viability.

"Until a recent release in the West Bali National Park, there were believed to be less than 10 birds in the wild. However, in 2005, I could only count five birds and of those only one was not closed-banded.

"Closed-banded birds have all been bred in captivity. That suggests of those five birds only one had bred naturally in the wild ...," said Bayu.

He added that bird counts in the Bali Barat National Park showed populations would grow with captive bred releases, then plummet sharply, suggesting a high level of poacher activity.

"Its easy work for the poachers when there are a lot of birds; we see the population grow and then overnight it collapses. Poachers can collect a lot of birds in a couple of days and make a lot of money."

And it is the poacher problem that has been the cause of population failures on Bali, Bayu said. Addressing that issue at the grassroots level is why Nusa Penida island was seen as a safe haven for released birds.

"We started the Nusa Penida program in April 2004. We located nine villages that still had traditional laws protecting birds, so we were not bringing in a totally new idea.

"We then met with 16 other villages to discuss bird protection person to person," said Bayu, adding that by June 2006, all villages on Nusa Penida had written bird protection into their traditional laws.

"Each village has its own bird protection law and punishments. One village even purchased all the caged birds in their village and released them ... their regulation states there is no reason to have caged birds, Bayu said.

Despite high levels of poverty on Nusa Penida, to date not one bird has been poached, says Bayu of a conservation project that depends on the support of local people for its success.

"In rural regions, people still have great respect for traditional laws. When birds are released from captive breeding we hold a ceremony in the temple and the birds are blessed. So the Bali Starling on Nusa Penida is protected by government law, local law and also by God, from the temple blessing."

Convincing people from impoverished villages that they had a role to play in protecting wildlife called for genuine support for those villages, said Bayu. But with sponsorship from Bank Danamon, American Express, Pertamina and Karya Tangan Indah, agro farming of white teak, mahogany and sandalwood trees for farmers as well as reforestation is now underway across the island.

"Nusa Penida had positive press for their protection of the Bali Starling and that made them really proud. Before that Nusa Penida was seen as a poor and dry area.

"If the bird release is the main course in this, the side menu must somehow help locals ... this is the idea behind the agro forestry and reforestation program, to improve the environment and economy," said Bayu of the grassroots approach to conservation and wildlife protection that is benefiting all.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Young leopard fighting fit, ready to return to the wild

Theresia Sufa , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/20/2008 10:36 AM | City

LOOKING FOR FREEDOM: An injured two-year-old leopard, Aceng, looks out of his cage at the Gadog animal center in Bogor. He is waiting to be released back to Karang Mountain in Pandeglang, Bogor, where he was found injured by a trap two months ago. (JP/Theresia Sufa)

Vets are considering releasing a two-year-old leopard caught in an animal trap in August back into its natural habitat in the protected forest area on Karang Mountain in Bogor.

The leopard's rear leg was caught in the trap placed by locals to ensnare deer and wild boar in late August.

Residents of Saninten village, Pandeglang, Bogor, released the animal from the contraption and named the animal Aceng.

Upon learning of the incident, two NGOs, the Animal Sanctuary Trust Indonesia (ASTI) and International Animal Rescue, tracked down the animal, captured it and nursed it back to health at Gadog animal rescue center.

"After two months, its condition has improved. We wanted to release it on Nov. 10, but we postponed it because we have not received any response from the West Java Center for Natural Resource Conservation (BKSDA)," said deputy head of ASTI Bogor Andy Sean Kindangen.

"The BKSDA said before that they would let us release it as long as the villagers were fine with it. So we asked the villagers repeatedly about it and apparently they are looking forward to Aceng's return," he added.

Andy said it was crucial to release the animal immediately, so that it would not become domesticated and forget its survival instincts.

"We are happy if Aceng acts wildly and aggressively. It shows that it is in good condition. If it just stays quiet and lazy, we will be worried ... We are racing against time to release him while he remains in good condition," he said.

Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta, has said it will accept the creature should it not adapt back to the wild.

Of the 76 animals being held at the center, only 50 are expected to be released back into the wild.

The future of the center, which has been threatened by financial woes, was given a boost recently when the center signed a cooperation agreement with the ASTI, which was formed by animal lovers Andy and Annette Elizabeth Pipe.

The center welcomes animal lovers to adopt the animals in a three-month contract in which the parent would cover the animal's food costs.

The cheapest animal to adopt is a snake that eats Rp 150,000 (US$13) worth of amphibians and reptiles per month.

Fans of the more cuddly animal varieties may opt to foster the center's honey bear at a cost of Rp 800,000 per month.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Images captured of 4 planets outside solar system

Seth Borenstein , The Associated Press , Washington | Mon, 11/17/2008 9:48 AM | Sci-Tech

Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away - three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.

None of the four giant gaseous planets are remotely habitable or remotely like Earth. But they raise the possibility of others more hospitable.

It's only a matter of time before "we get a dot that's blue and Earthlike," said astronomer Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He led one of the two teams of photographers.

"It is a step on that road to understand if there are other planets like Earth and potentially life out there," he said.

Macintosh's team used two ground-based telescopes, while the second team relied on photos from the 18-year-old Hubble Space Telescope to gather images of the exoplanets - planets that don't circle our sun. The research from both teams was published in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science.

This image provided by NASA Nov. 12, 2008 shows the northern polar region of Saturn showing both the aurora and underlying atmosphere, seen at two different wavelengths of infrared light as captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. According to NASA scientists Saturn has its own unique brand of aurora that lights up the polar cap, unlike any other planetary aurora known in our solar system. This odd aurora revealed itself to one of the infrared instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Auroras are caused by charged particles streaming along the magnetic field lines of a planet into its atmosphere. Particles from the sun cause Earth's auroras. Many, but not all, of the auroras at Jupiter and Saturn are caused by particles trapped within the magnetic environments of those planets. (AP/NASA)

In the past 13 years, scientists have discovered more than 300 planets outside our solar system, but they have done so indirectly, by measuring changes in gravity, speed or light around stars.

NASA's space sciences chief Ed Weiler said the actual photos are important. He compared it to a hunt for elusive elephants: "For years we've been hearing the elephants, finding the tracks, seeing the trees knocked down by them, but we've never been able to snap a picture. Now we have a picture."

In a news conference Thursday, Weiler said this fulfills the last of the major goals that NASA had for the Hubble telescope before it launched in 1990: "This is an 18 1/2-year dream come true."

There are disputes about whether these are the first exoplanet photos. Others have made earlier claims, but those pictures haven't been confirmed as planets or universally accepted yet. The photos released Thursday are being published in a scientifically prominent journal, but that still hasn't convinced all the experts. Alan Boss, an exoplanet expert at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Harvard exoplanet hunter Lisa Kaltenegger both said more study is needed to confirm these photos are proven planets and not just brown dwarf stars.

MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager, at the NASA press conference, said earlier planetary claims "are in a gray area." But these discoveries, "everybody would agree is a planet," said Seager, who was not part of either planet-finding team.

The Hubble team this spring compared a 2006 photo to one of the same body taken by Hubble in 2004. The scientists used that to show that the object orbited a star and was part of a massive red dust ring which is usually associated with planets - making it less likely to be a dwarf star.

Macintosh's team used ground-based telescopes to spot three other planets orbiting a different star. That makes it less likely they are a pack of brown dwarf stars.

The planet discovered by Hubble is one of the smallest exoplanets found yet. It's somewhere between the size of Neptune and three times bigger than Jupiter. And it may have a Saturn-like ring.

It circles the star Fomalhaut, pronounced FUM-al-HUT, which is Arabic for "mouth of the fish." It's in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and is relatively close by - a mere 148 trillion miles away, practically a next-door neighbor by galactic standards. The planet's temperature is around 260 degrees, but that's cool by comparison to other exoplanets.

The planet is only about 200 million years old, a baby compared to the more than 4 billion-year-old planets in our solar system. That's important to astronomers because they can study what Earth and planets in our solar system may have been like in their infancy, said Paul Kalas at the University of California, Berkeley. Kalas led the team using Hubble to discover Fomalhaut's planet.

One big reason the picture looks fuzzy is that the star Fomalhaut is 100 million times brighter than its planet.

The team led by Macintosh at Lawrence Livermore found its planets a little earlier, spotting the first one in 2007, but taking extra time to confirm the trio of planets circling a star in the Pegasus constellation. The star is about 767 trillion miles away, but visible with binoculars. It's called HR 8799, and the three planets orbiting it are seven to 10 times larger than Jupiter, Macintosh said.

"I've been doing this for eight years and after eight years we get three at once," he said.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Prada, LG's latest fashion phone icon

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

Do you believe that the cell phone you are using speaks a lot about you? I don't. But I guess I don't belong to the greater majority. Undoubtedly, a lot of people believe that their cell phones are the message. That's likely to be the reason cell phone makers have worked feverishly to come out with attractive designer models.

Some phone manufacturers rely on the creativity of their internal design teams, while others collaborate with famous design houses and launch co-branded products. Nokia, Apple and Sony Ericsson knead most of their snazzy gadgets using in-house talent. Others choose to work with a partner. Take Motorola, for example. It collaborates with Dolce & Gabbana, and then the denim king Levi's also came up with their own cell phones.

It's common for two major brands to collaborate in creating fashion consumer electronics. Alcatel-Lucent teams up with the French fashion magazine Elle. In the computer world, Acer works together with Ferrari to design their high-end notebook.

In fact, design has become a crucial factor in product development. That's why we have been hearing the word ""experience design"" coming into the lingo of cell phone production. Designers do not just design the next products, they are supposed to create a unique experience that customers are expected to be willing to pay a premium for.

LG, the South Korean electronics company, is also known for its stylish mobile handsets. Still fresh in our minds are the black Chocolate and the shiny Shine. LG seems to have decided to continue going down the path of elegance. Early this year, it joined forces with Italian Prada and the outcome is the handsome, black LG KE850. It is, certainly, much more than a combination of pizza and pulkogi.

Prada Phone

Hardware-wise, the Prada phone by LG may not be a top charter, although, like most other LG phones that I've played around with, the precision craft is very obvious. It is just a little bit wider than the sliding Shine (KE970), which is another gorgeous looking cell phone from this Korean giant.

On the Prada cell phone, the first hardware buttons you will see is the three that form a thin bar along the bottom. The buttons let you start and end a call or step back to the previous menu. The other physical buttons -- the camera shutter release, the screen and key unlocker, the volume control and the profile selector -- are all perfectly flushed with the chrome-look band that wraps all the four sides.

So, how do we make a call or send a message? Here is where the software brightly shines. Prada played a major role in determining how the user interface should look, and they did a stellar job.

The capacitive, touch-sensitive LCD panel has a resolution of 240 by 400 and it can display 256 thousand color shades. The home screen fills the large LCD all the way to the edges. At the bottom of the screen there are four icons for general menu, call-making, messaging and contacts management. Tap on the general menu with the tip of your finger, and you'll have the second tier menu. LG has done an excellent job in programming the software. There is hardly any delay in the phone's response to our finger tapping.

On the home screen we can place an analog or a digital clock. This clock literally floats on the screen. We just use our fingertip to drag it around the screen. When we tap on it, an icon for alarm setting will appear. If you choose the Fish theme, you'll have a koi that will swim to the spot where your finger touches the screen. Choose the Butterfly theme, and you'll see a butterfly that will flutter its way to the contact spot.

In the second level menu, we'll have all the icons for making calls, for handling multimedia (including the 2MP camera), for accessing the accessories (calculator, converter, memo pad) and for changing some settings. There is not much we can do in terms of personalization, though. We cannot change the icon view into a list, for example, or replace the look of the icons. We only have four themes for the home screens and we cannot modify them in any way except by replacing the wallpaper. Customization is not a strong point of this cell phone.

However, entering text using the screen keypad is surprisingly easy, although you won't be able to do it as fast as you can with a Nokia E70 or a BlackBerry. Still, the user interface is excellent. Even for someone with large fingers like mine, pressing the right date on the calendar can be done without excessive effort.

The LG Prada phone is a tri-band GSM with GPRS and EDGE capabilities. It supports mobile browsing and e-mail. The digital camera, which uses a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, can also function as a camcorder with the LCD screen as a large viewfinder. There is a LED flash at the back. The cell phone only comes with 8 MB of memory. If you want more storage capacity for your photos and music, just insert a Micro SD card.

While Bluetooth 2.0 is supported, Wi-fi is not. On the up side, it is an MP3 player with good audio quality. It is even an FM radio. The good thing about it is that it has a decent battery life given its slim form factor.

The box in which the unit comes was also designed by Prada. Unfortunately, the use of cardboard does not really produce the expensive image that this product is meant to project. But, we don't lug this box around, do we? On the other hand, the leather pouch is impressive. I was told that it was made in Italy with its superior Italian leather craftsmanship. The pouch fits the cell phone like a glove. Even when you hang the cell phone on your neck with a strap, the leather pouch will never slide down and fall.

Prada has very stringent requirements on how the cell phone is marketed and sold. You will not find it in any Prada store -- definitely not in Jakarta.

The Prada phone, or the LG KE850, is a great mid-range phone if you're not too techie and you have a lot of extra cash to spend. There are just enough setting options to keep you busy or pretending to be busy while sitting at Starbucks waiting for your date to show up.

The software, I must reiterate out of admiration, is very responsive. It really makes using this cell phone a joy. The icons on the screen are pretty precise, which is no small feat either. After some practice, I had no problem navigating the menus and entering numbers and characters. Its price, at around Rp 7 million, is quite steep. But, hey, it's a Prada! And it is a head turner, for sure.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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Sense of crisis deepening in beleaguered Indonesia

SINGAPORE: Rising oil prices and fears of a bird flu epidemic are deepening a sense of crisis enveloping Indonesia and prompting predictions of a cabinet shake-up next month as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attempts to defuse mounting public tension.

The darkening mood stands in stark contrast to the optimism that surrounded Yudhoyono's victory a year ago in Indonesia's first direct presidential elections. Despite enduring faith in his own competence as an administrator, Indonesians are voicing growing doubts about whether his unwieldy coalition government can steer the country through its mounting list of troubles.

Analysts warn that the risk of unrest is growing as Yudhoyono prepares to raise fuel prices in October just as the country celebrates the traditional Muslim fasting month.

"The situation is not understood by most people here. They oppose it," said Kurtubi, an analyst at the Center for Petroleum and Energy Economics Studies in Jakarta. "But the government has no choice."

Although Indonesia is a considerable producer of oil, economic growth in recent years and inadequate spending on new wells have made the country a net importer of petroleum. The government is also saddled with extensive fuel subsidies that are particularly important to Indonesia's many poor people.

Yudhoyono is a former general with experience fighting both rebels and terrorists, and his promises to uproot corruption and revive investment still inspire confidence among business leaders at home and abroad. So does his willingness to acknowledge and tackle longstanding problems like bureaucratic inertia and legal uncertainty.

But because his party lacks a majority in Parliament, Yudhoyono rules through a coalition that has since stumbled over a string of calamities. These include the devastating South Asian tsunami, illegal burning of jungles that covered parts of neighboring countries in choking haze, the re-emergence of polio, spiraling commodity prices and increasing cases of avian influenza that the government has labeled an emergency.

With a second hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico threatening still higher oil prices, anxiety in Jakarta is high. The benchmark stock index dropped 2.6 percent Thursday.

Opposition party leaders have been calling for Yudhoyono to replace his economics team, saying it had lost the confidence of the people and of investors, although political analysts have long been predicting that the president was eager himself to form a more cohesive cabinet.

Yudhoyono alluded to the possibility of a reshuffle last month, saying that he would review his cabinet's performance.

Coordinating Economy Minister Aburizal Bakrie is a member of the party of the ousted former President Suharto. He was among a group of politically connected tycoons who after the Asian financial crisis fought government efforts to wrest control of their bankrupt companies to help pay for a huge bailout of the banking system.

He may enjoy the support, however, of fellow party member Jusuf Kalla, Yudhoyono's vice president.

More speculation surrounds the possible replacement of Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar, a technocrat formerly at the Asian Development Bank, and of Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh over what critics complain has been meager progress in tackling corruption among high-level officials.

But even SBY, as Yudhoyono is widely referred to in Indonesia, has not escaped criticism, particularly over what many see as his own indecisiveness. A national magazine recently had a cover story playing on a popular re-translation of the president's ubiquitous acronym: "Selalu Bimbang, Ya," or "Forever undecided, right?" The president's spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The anxiety created by rising living costs has been exacerbated by the government's admission that it could face an epidemic of the bird flu virus. Bird flu has killed four people in Jakarta alone, while eleven other patients remain hospitalized with symptoms of the virus.

On Monday, the government invoked powers to hospitalize and quarantine those suspected of being infected by the virus. It has since announced plans to conduct mass slaughters of poultry.

Chicken is perhaps the most widely consumed meat in Indonesia's diet, and the country has vast numbers of free-range poultry, so the impact on public consumption is likely to be significant, analysts said.

Already, fears of the virus have sparked travel warnings and sent members of the foreign investment community in Indonesia rushing to clinics for vaccines and remedies.

Yet paramount among the fears facing Yudhoyono is the effect of rising oil prices on his country's 218 million people. Early this month, Yudhoyono announced plans to cut fuel subsidies in October.

Indonesia subsidizes the price of fuel in the amount of 73 trillion rupiah, or $7 billion, a year, a figure that it estimates will balloon to 140 trillion rupiah this year as world oil prices rise.

The swelling cost to the government of the subsidies sent the rupiah plunging in August to its lowest level in four years and precipitated a similar decline in stock prices.

The subsidies are a legacy of Indonesia's days as a big oil exporter. Few analysts or economists dispute that the subsidies need to be eliminated. Not only do the subsidies eat up government revenue that could be used for public works or alleviating poverty; they also offer relatively little benefit for the poor.

Subsidies on gasoline prices benefit primarily wealthier Indonesians who drive fuel-inefficient cars. And the artificially low prices the subsidies create has given rise to a brisk trade in smuggling Indonesian crude and refined product out of the country.

Source : www.iht.com

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Orang-utans under threat as palm oil plantations spread

David Adam, environment correspondent

Demand for a common vegetable oil found in one in 10 products on UK supermarket shelves is driving orang-utan populations towards extinction, environmental campaigners warn today.

Groups working to save the remaining orang-utans in south-east Asia predict the uncontrolled trade in palm oil could cause the extinction of the continent's only great ape in little over a decade. They want to raise awareness of the threat among shoppers and are calling on the big supermarkets and the government to act.

Ian Redmond, the chairman of the conservation group Ape Alliance, said: "To the average shopper in Britain, the problem seems a world away. However, anyone who buys chocolate, crisps, bread, cakes, detergents, toothpaste, shampoo, lipstick or a host of other products may be an unwitting partner in causing the extinction of the orang-utan."

Orang-utan numbers in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia - the only place they are found in the world - have crashed in the last 15 years and are now below 60,000. Experts say an estimated 5,000 die each year as the remaining forest is chopped down to establish profitable palm oil plantations.

Palm oil is a major ingredient in many processed foods, although it is often labelled as vegetable oil. Imports doubled between 1995 and 2004 to 914,000 tonnes, making Britain the second biggest European importer after the Netherlands.

Sir David Attenborough, who visited Borneo earlier this year, said: "I was in areas where five years ago there was a wonderful rainforest and there's now a palm oil plantation. It's being chopped down all the time."

Ed Matthew, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said most palm oil entering the UK came from destructive plantations. This year the group asked 96 UK companies about their palm oil suppliers. Of 18 that responded, the majority did not know where their palm oil came from.

Mr Matthew said: "We've focused on the supermarkets because of the power they hold in the food market. We know from past experience that when a supermarket says they want a prawn that is one-and-a-half inches long with 80% water content and a curve of 30 degrees, it will be supplied. If the major retailers said they wanted palm oil from sustainable sources they would get it."

A spokesperson for Tesco said: "We are engaging on the issue of palm oil. We have arranged a meeting with other retailers through the British Retail Consortium to consider the evidence."

Source : www.guardian.co.uk

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SBY’s Democratic Party can win poll: Survey

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 11/17/2008 6:53 AM | Headlines

OF SWING VOTERS: University of Indonesia communications expert Effendi Ghazali (second right) speaks during the release of a survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on the position of swing voters ahead of the 2009 elections, in Jakarta on Sunday. Other speakers included Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan (right), LSI executive director Saiful Mujani (left) and LSI researcher Miftah N. Sabri. (JP/P.J. Leo)

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party would win the legislative election if it was held today, a survey published Sunday said.

The survey, carried out by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on 2,197 respondents in 33 provinces between Oct. 26 and Nov. 5, showed the Democratic Party was popular with 16.8 percent of respondents. The vastly bigger Golkar Party and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) received only 16 percent and 14 percent approval respectively.

LSI executive director Saiful Mudjani said the surge in the Democratic Party’s popularity was due mostly to the party’s image as a graft-free and capable one, with Yudho-yono symbolizing its anti-corruption drive and leadership capabilities.

The survey revealed that Yudhoyono’s resurgent popularity (62 percent in Nov-ember, compared with 45 percent in June) also played a crucial role in drawing people to the party.

Compared with the LSI’s survey last June, the Democratic Party has risen in popularity by 8 percent, while Golkar and the PDI-P have dropped by 4 percent and 10 percent respectively.

Saiful said the high number of swing voters — 45 percent — had caused the drop in votes for major parties, with the exception of the Demo-cratic Party.

“All parties are experiencing negative growth in supporter numbers, with more members leaving than joining. But with the Democratic Party, more members are joining than leaving,” he said.

The survey suggests the high number of swing voters stems from low voter loyalty to the parties because of the latter’s perceived poor performance in conducting their job.

The Democratic Party has improved its showing over its 2004 figures by 10 percent, with Golkar and the PDI-P falling by 6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.

All other parties, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) also saw a significant loss of popularity.

The survey ranked the PKS in fourth place with 4.9 percent, followed by the PKB with 4.6 percent, newcomer the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) with 3.7 percent, and the PAN with 3.2 percent.

However, the large number of swing voters has also allowed for new parties to attract voters, with Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra and Wiranto’s People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) gaining at the expense of more established parties.

The survey gave Hanura 2 percent of votes.

“All possibilities are now open because of the swing-voter factor,” the LSI’s Saiful said.

“Golkar and the PDI-P can no longer be seen as the only parties able to win the election, because now we must take into account the Democratic Party.”

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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RI economy grows 6.1 percent in Q3

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 11/17/2008 6:42 PM | Business

The global economic downturn has been blamed for slowing growth in the Indonesian economy which was recorded at 6.1 percent for the third quarter of 2008, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The Q3 growth was 0.4 percent lower than the 6.5 percent recorded for same period last year, BPS data shows.

The drop in global commodity prices, including crude palm oil and aluminum, decreased Indonesia's export volume which had contributed to the slowing economic performance, Kompas.com reported Monday.

Another contributing factor mentioned was the high prices of fuels, water and electricity.

The economy was moving slower but had still recorded a growing performance thanks to high consumption during the fasting month and Idul Fitri holidays, BPS chairman Rusman Setiawan said on Monday.

During the third quarter, he said, there had been declining growth in some countries, including the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom which had recorded 1.6, 0.7 and 1 percent growth, respectively. (ewd)

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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The KT610: LG's QWERTY flip

Zatni Arbi , Contributor , Jakarta | Mon, 11/17/2008 10:55 AM | Sci-Tech

You must have seen the "Handy Smart" by LG. At least, you must have seen it in advertisements.

Yes, this all-black clamshell smartphone has been around for some time and its photos are everywhere: LG has been quite aggressive in promoting this nice model, which, as far as I can discern, has three "firsts".

The KT610 from LG is a 3G and HSDPA cell phone with a large internal QWERTY keypad that makes texting more comfortable. The absence of Wi-Fi, however, means users must rely on the cellular infrastructure for data communication. (JP/Zatni Arbi)

I believe the KT610 is the first smartphone from the Korean electronics giant to use Symbian S60 operating system. So, if you have become comfortable with the menus and the user interface of Nokia products -- which a lot of people have reportedly found the easiest to use -- you will surely feel at home when using the KT610. Given Nokia's dominance in the cell phone market, this was a smart decision.

Second, the KT610 was also the first flip smartphone from LG with a full QWERTY keypad. The two hinges are on the left side; when opened there is a full QWERTY keypad complete with the familiar menu button found on any Nokia product. More on this later.

Third, because it looks like Nokia's immensely popular Communicator series -- including the E90 -- people have called it the first Communicator wannabe. In fact, LG touts it as a communicator that is smaller than the Communicator. Nice try. Actually, several handset makers have come up with a clamshell QWERTY handset. Among the newest models is the Asus M930.

There are a couple of differences between LG's KT610 and the far more expensive Nokia E90, of course. The LG KT610 has a 2.4-inch primary screen, which is a much smaller screen than the one on the E90. No complaints about the quality of the QVGA, 262,000-color screen, though.

This smartphone is a 3G device (there is a front-facing camera for video calls), and it supports HSDPA with speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. A feature that is sorely missing, however, is Wi-Fi. I still do not understand why LG did not include this feature and made us rely solely on the mobile network for data access.

The good thing is this extends the battery life, especially if you -- like me -- always forget to switch off Wi-Fi when not needed.

The external screen is very limited, unfortunately. While it is capable of displaying important information such as battery level, the operator's name and the selected profile, it does not provide the entire view that the camera can capture. Using the internal screen as a viewfinder is a possibility, but it takes a lot of getting used to; otherwise you will be taking pictures with the camera facing your belly.

But not everything is less than impressive about LG KT610. As is the case with the majority of products from LG Mobile that I have reviewed, this smartphone also shows excellent workmanship.

It feels very sturdy, although luxury is not its forte. I like the keypads -- both external and internal. The external keypad may look retro, but it's large and very convenient to use. The internal keypad is also large.

Too bad, though, the fine character imprints on the individual buttons, which you can use only by pressing the Chr key, may be too small for people with limited vision, like myself.

The navigation pad is great, and there is a dedicated camera button both inside and outside.

What else has LG thrown into the bag? With EDGE, GPRS, UMTS and HSDPA capabilities, it is Web- and Google-ready. It also has built-in GPS and a MicroSD slot.

Forget about music playing, as there are no dedicated playback and volume control buttons.

LG Mobile Indonesia told me that this Handy Smart was quite popular. I can see why -- it costs less than one third of the price of a Nokia E90.

It certainly cannot compete with the E90 in winning the hearts of discerning users, but in a market where showing off is important, it can be one of "the" handsets to have.

Grandma and Grandpa would be happy using it, as texting is made very easy. If only it had a feature that would read aloud the messages and every character being typed, I would not hesitate recommending it as a Christmas gift for them.

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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YOUTH CRUISE

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 11/13/2008 8:05 AM | Headlines

Participants of the 35th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program disembark from the Nippon Maru, which arrived at Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, from Brunei on Wednesday. Thirty-one young people from the ASEAN member countries and Japan are taking part in this year’s program. On Saturday, they will leave Jakarta for Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines before returning to Japan on Dec. 10. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

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Tsunami early warning siren all at once

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The government to test a Tsunami early warning on November 11, 2008 all at once all over Indonesia on 4.00 pm WIB. Bali has six tsunami early sirens to be tested.

"We urge everybody on November 11 not to panic when the siren goes of, its only just a drill," said the Denpasar Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) information and data chief division Sutrisno, here Wednesday.

Sutrisno said the announcement in the tsunami early warning system socialization to all local government arrays held here.

He also said that the sirens will set off for one minute with "This is only a tsunami early warning test" announcement would be repeated three times.

"This socialization to prevent public panic," he said.

The Bali six early warning towers spreads over BTDC Nusa Dua. Seminyak, Kuta, Kedonganan, Tanjung Benoa and Sanur.

After the trial on November 11, trial test would be routinely conducted on the 26 of every month at 10.00 pm local times. This effort is to increases public awareness and to test the early warning siren device.

The alarm would sound on a steady note with three minutes or more duration.

If the sirens sets of, other warning instrument like `Kentongan` (drum made from bamboo which is struck to sound an alarm), `Bedug` (large drum suspended horizontally at mosque to summon to prayer)and Mosque`s public announcement systems and other instruments are expected.

Apart from siren warning, the BMG would also warns in five different applications such as Short messages service, and audio and text channels.

BMG itself would only need approximately less than five minutes from the earthquake occurrence whether its a tsunami potential or not.

"After the earthquake, our device would read and predicted it straight away for tsunami potential or not," sutrisno said.

Based on the history, Bali had experienced twice three meters high small tsunamis from Sumbawa tsunami on 1997 and Banyuwangi tsunami on 1994.

Source : www.antara.co.id

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BI regulates bigger forex purchases to steady rupiah

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/13/2008 10:39 AM | Business

As the rupiah declines, the central bank will limit the purchase of foreign currencies above US$100,000 to those who can provide information to justify their transactions.

Through a new regulation to be effective starting Thursday, Bank Indonesia expects this policy to help balance demand and supply in the forex market, reduce extreme pressure on the rupiah and minimize forex purchases for speculative purposes, governor Boediono said in a statement Wednesday.

"The regulation is based on the free foreign exchange system that Indonesia now has, in which every citizen is free to own and use foreign currencies, as stipulated on the Law No. 24/1999 on foreign exchange flows and the exchange rate system," Boediono said.

"This is not a foreign exchange control policy or capital control mechanism that limits capital flows between countries,"

Individual customers and registered Indonesian and foreign companies are still allowed to freely purchase foreign currencies through spot, forward, or derivative transactions, BI said.

However, Indonesian citizens or firms wanting to purchase more than $100,000 in foreign currencies need to provide evidence of justifying transactions, such as invoices used to import goods or pay debts.

Meanwhile, foreign parties can only purchase amounts above $100,000 through spot transactions.

The regulation is expected to limit speculative purchases of currencies. With the regulation in place, BI expects that banks should be able to detect when customers purchase dollars for speculative purposes.

Analyst Farial Anwar has said that the fall of the rupiah was caused by the free foreign exchange system adopted by Indonesia.

With capital control, Farial said, the government could more easily manage the flow of short-term funds, or hot money, in and out of Indonesia.

"Hot money is harder to monitor and control and it enters only the financial sector, not the real sector. It makes us black and blue, while only 2 million people out of our 220 million population are engaging in the financial sector.

"If the rupiah stays at the current level for a long time, it will affect state financing and people will suffer," he said.

On Wednesday, the rupiah fell 1.6 percent to 11,485 per dollar as of 4:10 p.m. in Jakarta. At one point the currency reached 11,700 Wednesday, approaching the 11,900 it reached on Oct. 28, which was the lowest since 2001.

"Investors are switching from the capital market to the foreign exchange market to compensate for their losses, thus the dollar strengthens. Investors say it's a safe haven," Farial said.

According to Bloomberg, the rupiah has weakened by 14 percent in the past month, making it the worst performer among Asia's 10 most traded currencies.

-- Aditya Suharmoko

Source : www.thejakartapost.com

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