52 things Tom Whitwell learned in 2015

Source: medium.com - @tomwhitwell

1. $8 pizza tastes 11% better than $4 pizza, even when the pizza is the same. [Bourree Lam]


2. In 1990, more than 12 million children died before the age of 5. In 2015, that number will fall to 5.9 million. [Nicholas Kristof]


3. 18th Century books looked almost exactly like smartphone screens. [Clive Thompson]


4. Every day, WhatsApp handles twice as many messages as the entire global SMS system — around 40bn messages [Benedict Evans]


5. Apple uses lasers to tidy up the insides of aluminium iWatches after they’ve been precision machined. Nobody else does that. [Greg Koenig]


6. More than half of the world’s feed crops will soon be eaten by Chinese pigs [The Economist]


7. If you’re selling a product based on emotion, leave out the cents (i.e £16). If you expect purchases to be driven by logic, add some cents (ie £15.97). [Nick Kolenda]


8. When product designers decide that they want a perfectly smooth ‘puller’ on their zips, thousands of Chinese people have to spend 8 hours a day manually aligning pullers with sliders. [Bunnie Huang]


9. The Mock Prison Riot is held every spring, and features hands-on training and technology exposure to corrections, law enforcement, military, and public safety practitioners from around the world [Mock Prison Riot]


10. A temple in South India was found to have more than $22 billion in gold hidden away in locked rooms rumoured to be filled with snakes. [Rama Lakshmi]


11. In China, cigarette companies are allowed to sponsor schools, with slogans like “Genius comes from hard work. Tobacco helps you become talented.” [Andrew Martin]


12. The Daily Mail now employs 720 journalists, 200 of them in the US. [Mark Sweney] The Guardian employs 964. [Tom Standage]


13. In Ghana, lots of people are talking about (and buying) a huge, ugly feature phone with a big battery that can power other electronics. Nobody is quite sure what the hook on the top is for. [Emmanuel Quartey]


14. To encourage use of WeChat payments, TenCent persuaded their advertisers to give away $80m to customers in one day. [Connie Chan]

Safe and Sound

1. I can't do everything today, but I can take one small step!

The first step is by far the hardest. Successive steps are always easier.

2. I will do what no one else is willing to do!

Every day, think of one thing to do that no one else is willing to do. After a week, you'll be uncommon. After a month, you'll be special. After a year, you'll be incredible, and you definitely won't be like anyone else

3. I will face a fear!

“The most paralyzing fear is fear of the unknown”

4. I will appreciate someone unappreciated!

All around you are people who work hard with little or no recognition. Vow to be the person who recognizes at least one of them every day. Not only will you give respect, you'll earn the best kind of respect -- the respect that comes from making a difference, however fleeting, in another person's life.

5. I will listen 10 times more than I speak!

”Never speak just to please yourself. When you do, you please no one”

6. I will not care what other people think!

“It's your life. Live it your way.”

7. I will be OK with less than perfect!

" You can't accomplish anything until you let go. Do your best, let go, and then trust that you'll work hard to overcome any shortcomings. "

8. I will stop and smell my roses!

" Unlike a want, what you have isn't a hope, a wish, or a dream. What you already have is real. And it's awesome. And it's yours. Appreciate it."



Source

The Edensor

Sering aku merasa heran. Kawan-kawanku The Brits, Yankee, kelompok Jerman, dan Belanda adalah para pub crawler kawakan. Mereka senang bermabuk-mabukan. Tak jarang mereka mabuk mulai Jumat sore dan baru sadar Senin pagi. Sebagian hidup seperti bohemian, mengaitkan anting di hidung, mencandu drugs, musik trash metal, berorientasi seks ganjil, dan tak pernah tekun belajar, namun mereka sangat unggul di kelas. Aku yang hidup sesuai dengan tuntunan Dasa Dharma Pramuka, taat pada perintah orang tua, selalu belajar dengan giat dan tak lupa minum susu, jarang dapat melebihi nilai mereka. Dengan ini, kutemukan paradoks kedua, dalam diriku sendiri. (Edensor, halaman 111-112).




Aku ingin mendaki puncak tantangan, menerjang batu granit kesulitan, menggoda mara bahaya, dan memecahkan misteri dengan sains. Aku ingin menghirup berupa-rupa pengalaman lalu terjun bebas menyelami labirin lika liku hidup yang ujungnya tak dapat disangka. Aku mendamba kehidupan dengan kemungkinan-kemungkinan yang bereaksi satu sama lain seperti benturan molekul uranium: meletup tak terduga duga, menyerap, mengikat, mengganda, berkembang dan terurai dan berpencar ke arah yang mengejutkan. Aku ingin ke tempat yang jauh, menjumpai beragam bahasa dan orang-orang asing. Aku ingin berkelana, menemukan arahku dengan membaca bintang gemintang. Aku ingin mengarungi padang dan gurun-gurun, ingin melepuh terbakar matahari, limbung dihantam angin, dan menciut dicengkeram dingin. Aku ingin kehidupan yang menggetarkan, penuh dengan penaklukan. Aku ingin hidup! Ingin merasakan sari pati hidup! (Edensor, halaman 42)




Bermimpilah, karena Tuhan akan memeluk mimpi itu. (Edensor, halaman 34)

Obsessive-Compulsive, Crazy Love

Nobody knows that I am a secret spy
I follow you home, careful to walk behind you
I climb up your tree and hide in the leaves
To keep you from seeing who I am

Call me obsessed, but I need to know your name
Your age, your address and where in the world you came from
It’s silly to think that I’m on the brink
Of falling right off my rocker

Oh, I want to know
All about your mom and your favorite song
And why you hypnotize me
Well, I tell you what
I’m the definition of obsessive-compulsive, crazy love

Late after dark, your light is on upstairs
And I watch you dance as if you were Fred Astaire
A little finesse, a sparkly dress
And I could be Ginger Rogers

Oh, I want to know
All the books you read and your favorite sweets
And why you hypnotize me
Well, I tell you what
I’m the definition of obsessive-compulsive, crazy

La, la, la I’m like a firefly
La, la, la in the evening sky
I’m all aglow whenever I see you walking by

Oh, I want to know
If you ever plan to hold my hand
And why you hypnotize me
Well, I tell you what
I’m the definition of
Obsessive-compulsive crazy love

Crazy Love - Mindy Gledhill

Shortest Way to Track Each of Europe Capital

Step on

4 Places before I Die.

Iam admirer for someone who quits their job and start to travel around the world, ticking off their bucket list. But life doesnt happen that way for everyone. For me, I had to work hard for many years to do that. But this is the most of my travel bucket list to seeing the earth greatest sight. And someday, this will happen to me.

Hot-air ballooning at Cappadocia, Turkey

Take the breathtaking sight of natural panoramic of natural rock formations, city landscape and panoramic picture-perfect image of hundred ballon in the air in the semi-arid town of Cappadocia.

Go on safari during the great wildebeest migration

Described as “the World Cup of wildlife,” the great migration of more than a million wildebeests, 500,000 gazelles, and 200,000 zebras from the Serengeti natural wonders. Taking place from July through October, the migration is high drama and immense, with animals stampeding, leaping into rivers, honing in on their prey, and giving birth.

Aurora-gazing at skies of Alaska

Camping with looking at the skies, starring for some hours with someone...

Hajj while Iam young

The top of my bucket list, Hajj during young age. Completed the fifth of the Pillars of Islam. To be better moslem. 

What's on your travel bucket list?

Siapapun, Merantaulah...!

MERANTAULAH
(Syair Imam Asy-Syafi’i)

Orang pandai dan beradab tak 'kan diam di kampung halaman
Tinggalkan negerimu dan merantaulah ke negeri orang
Pergilah 'kan kau dapatkan pengganti dari kerabat dan teman
Berlelah-lelahlah, manisnya hidup terasa setelah lelah berjuang


Aku melihat air yang diam menjadi rusak karena diam tertahan
Jika mengalir menjadi jernih jika tidak, dia ‘kan keruh menggenang
Singa tak 'kan pernah memangsa jika tak tinggalkan sarang
Anak panah jika tidak tinggalkan busur tak 'kan kena sasaran

Jika saja matahari di orbitnya tak bergerak dan terus diam, 
Tentu manusia bosan padanya dan enggan memandang
Rembulan jika terus-menerus purnama sepanjang zaman, 
Orang-orang tak 'kan menunggu saat munculnya datang

Biji emas bagai tanah biasa sebelum digali dari tambang
Setelah diolah dan ditambang manusia ramai memperebutkan 
Kayu gahru tak ubahnya kayu biasa di dalam hutan
Jika dibawa ke kota berubah mahal seperti emas