“I am here for other children, I am here because I care, and I am here because children everywhere are suffering and because 40,000 people die each day from hunger. I am here because those people are mostly children, we’ve got to understand that the poor are all around us and we are ignoring them, we’ve got to understand that these deaths are preventable, we’ve got to understand that people in third world countries think, care, smile, and cry just like us, we’ve got to understand that they are us, and we are them. My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000, my dream is to give the poor a chance, my dream is to save the 40,000 people who die each day, my dream can and will come true if we are looking into the future and see the light that shines there.” Rachel Corrie

These words were said by a beautiful 5th grade American girl, who later became the great Rachel Corrie. Rachel Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which traveled to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada to show their support for the people of Palestine.
In the Gaza Strip, she attended trainings in non-violent resistance and serving as human shield, she also took part in a mock trial of George W. Bush; as part of the anti-war protest against the war in Iraq.
In an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting network, she said: “I feel like I’m witnessing the systematic destruction of a people’s ability to survive … Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I’m having dinner with.” In an email to her mom she related about a Palestinian family which hosted her in their home:
“The two front rooms of their house are unusable because gunshots have been fired through the walls, so the whole family – three kids and two parents – sleep in the parent’s bedroom. I sleep on the floor next to the youngest daughter, Iman, and we all shared blankets. I helped the son with his English homework, and we all watched a horrifying movie. I think they all thought it was pretty funny how much trouble I had watching it.”
You can always hear the tanks and bulldozers passing by, but all of these people are genuinely cheerful with each other, and with me. When I am with Palestinian friends I tend to be somewhat less horrified than when I am trying to act in a role of human rights observer, documenter, or direct-action resister. They are a good example of how to be in it for the long haul. I know that the situation gets to them – and may ultimately get them – on all kinds of levels, but I am nevertheless amazed at their strength in being able to defend such a large degree of their humanity – laughter, generosity, and family-time – against the incredible horror occurring in their lives and against the constant presence of death. I felt much better after this morning.
I spent a lot of time writing about the disappointment of discovering, somewhat first-hand, the degree of evil of which we are still capable. I should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances – which I also haven’t seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will.”

The songline goes "Twinkle twinkle little star". What is the cause of the "twinkling" of stars? Does light from planets "twinkle" as does light from stars?

A young person of my acquaintance asked me this question, and I didn't have a good answer. Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the atmosphere of the Earth. As the atmosphere churns, the light from the star is refracted in different directions. This causes the star's image to change slightly in brightness and position, hence "twinkle." This is one of the reasons the Hubble telescope is so successful: in space, there is no atmosphere to make the stars twinkle, allowing a much better image to be obtained.

Planets do not twinkle the way stars do. In fact, this is a good way of figuring out if a particular object you see in the sky is a planet or a star. The reason is that stars are so far away that they are essentially points of light on the sky, while planets actually have finite size. The size of a planet on the sky in a sense "averages out" the turbulent effects of the atmosphere, presenting a relatively stable image to the eye.

Mother’s Sacrifice

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… she was such an embarrassment. My mom ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell… anything for the money we needed she was such an embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school.

I remember that it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school… “Your mom only has one eye?!” and they taunted me.

I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world so I said to my mom, “Mom, why don’t you have the other eye?! You’re only going to make me a laughingstock. Why don’t you just die?” My mom did not respond. I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I had said what I’d wanted to say all this time. Maybe it was because my mom hadn’t punished me, but I didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

That night… I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away. Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful, because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty.

Then I studied really hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I’m living happily as a successful man. I like it here because it’s a place that doesn’t remind me of my mom.

This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when someone unexpected came to see me “What?! Who’s this?!” It was my mother… Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom’s eye.

And I asked her, “Who are you? I don’t know you!!” as if I tried to make that real. I screamed at her “How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter! Get out of here now!!” And to this, my mother quietly answered, “oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,” and she disappeared. Thank goodness… she doesn’t recognize me. I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn’t going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life.

Then a wave of relief came upon me… one day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. I lied to my wife saying that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house…just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand…. it was a letter to me.

She wrote:

My son, I think my life has been long enough now. And… I won’t visit Seoul anymore… but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school…. For you… I’m sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you. You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye… so I gave you mine… I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. The couple times that you were angry with me. I thought to myself, ‘it’s because he loves me.’ I miss the times when you were still young around me. I miss you so much. I love you. You mean the world to me.

My World Shattered.  I hated the person who only lived for me .   I cried for My Mother, I didn’t know of any way that will make up for my worst deeds…

Moral:  Never Ever hate anyone for their disabilities.  Never disrespect your parents, don’t ignore and under estimate their sacrifices.  They give us life, they raise us better than they had been, they give and keep trying to give better than they ever had.  They never wish unwell for their kids even in their wildest dreams.  They always try showing right path and being motivator.  Parents give up all for kids, forgive all mistakes made by kids.  There is no way to repay what they done for kids, all we can do is try giving what they need and it is just time, love and respect.

1. 
   1
   Go to www.twitter.com.
2. 
   2
   Click "Sign up for Twitter." You can find this option on a yellow button on the bottom right side of the screen.^[1]
3. 
   3
   Provide basic information about yourself. You'll need to provide the following information to create a Twitter account:
   • Your full name
   • Your email address
   • Your password
4. 
   4
   Choose your username. It has to be fewer than 15 characters long. If the name you've chosen is invalid or unavailable, you'll be informed about it. Once you've chosen an acceptable name, you'll see that it's available for you.
5. 
   5
   Decide whether you always want to be signed in to Twitter on the computer you're using. If it's your own computer, this is a good option. If it's a public computer, you should uncheck the box next to this option.
   • You can also choose whether or not you want Twitter to be tailored toward your recent website visits by leaving or unclicking the check mark next to this option.
6. 
   6
   Click "Create my account."

Edit

1. 
   1
   Start following celebrities (optional). First, Twitter will present you with a list of popular people to follow. Click at least five people to follow and press "Next" when you're done. You'll be presented with another list tailored to the people you chose, and you'll be asked to choose at least five more. You can do so and press "Next" again.
2. 
   2
   Start following people you know (optional). Next, you'll be given the option to follow people you know. You'll have to grant Twitter access to your email contacts. Once you do, you'll be presented with a list of people you know who are on Twitter. You will have the option of clicking on them to follow a few of them, or even to follow all of them -- there may be hundreds of them.
3. 
   3
   Upload your profile picture. Click on the empty profile photo to upload an image of yourself.
4. 
   4
   Write a short bio. Click on the area below your profile photo. Write a short bio about yourself in 160 characters or fewer.
5. 
   5
   Expand your profile. Just click on the "Edit" button that appears to the top right of your profile on your home page. When you edit your profile, you can add more information about yourself in the following ways:^[2]
   • You can change your profile picture anytime.
   • You can customize your header photo.
   • You can update any information regarding your name, bio, website, and location.
   • You can also connect your Twitter account to Facebook by pressing "Connect."
     • Click "Save Changes" when you've finished expanding or changing your profile.
6. 
   6
   Start Tweeting. Now that your account is set up, it's time to start sharing your short-and-sweet thoughts with the world. Just type in a brilliant or witty message and press "Tweet" when you're done.
7. 
   7
   Build your followers. As you get more savvy in the Twitter world, you'll begin to build a base of followers. You can do this by following more people, which encourages them to follow you back, sending out clever tweets that people who aren't your followers may see, and just continuing to be an active tweeter.

1. 
   1
   Log in to your Facebook account. Type in your username and password. If you don't already have a Facebook account, you'll have to create one to have a Fan Page.
   • Having a Facebook account will be useful because you'll already be familiar with Facebook and will have friends you can invite to become fans of your page.
2. 
   2
   Click on the settings gear on the top right-hand corner of your page. You can find it to the far right of the page.
   • Click on "Advertising."
   • Look under "Step 1: Build Your Facebook Page" to the left of the center of the screen and click on "Create a Page."
3. 
   3
   Click on the type of page you'd like to create. There are six categories:
   • Local business or place: If you choose this option, you need to select the category of your business or place and to type in the address of your business.
   • Company, organization or institution: If you choose this option, you'll need to select the category of your company, organization, or institution, and to type in the name of your company.
   • Brand or product: For this option, you'll need to select the category of product and to type in the name of the product.
   • Artist, band, or public figure: For this option, you'll need to select the category for the type of artist, musician, or public figure you'll be promoting as well as his or her name.
   • Entertainment: For this category, you'll need to type in the type of entertainment as well as the name.
   • Cause or community name: For this option, you'll have to type in the name of the cause or community.
     • For all of these categories, you'll have to click to "Agree to Facebook Pages Terms" before you can move on.
4. 4
   Click on "Get Started." After you've chosen the appropriate category and provided basic information, you'll be able to start adding some information for your page.
   
   
   
5. 
   5
   Upload a profile picture. You can upload the photo from your computer or a website. Choose a photo that will represent the person or place you are trying to promote.
   • Click "Save Photo."
6. 
   6
   Complete the About section. In this step, you'll provide basic information about your cause. You should include a description as well as a website, because this will improve your rankings.
   • You can also provide another link, such as the link to your organization's Twitter page.
   • Click whether or not the page represents a real celebrity or famous person.
   • Click "Save Info."
7. 
   7
   Decide whether you want to enable ads. Choose whether or not you'd like to enable ads. Advertising is a great way to reach out to more people, but if you choose this option, you'll have to pay for it and provide your credit card information.
   • Click on either "Enable Ads" or "Skip" to move on.

1. 
   1
   Provide more information on your fan page. Now that you've created your Facebook page, you should provide as much information as possible to build support. Here's what to do:
   • First, like your page to build support.
   • Post a status update to give your fans more information. Write your post in the comment box and then click on "Post."
   • Upload more photos to give people more information about your organization. Click on "Photos." Once this brings you to a new page, click on "Add photos," and then choose the photos you'd like to upload from your computer.
   • Upload a cover photo. Click on "Add a cover" on the right-hand side of the place where your cover page should be, and then click on "Upload Photo." Choose a photo for your cover page.
2. 
   2
   Use the admin panel to edit your page, build an audience, and seek help. Use the three subcategories to improve your page. They are:
   • "Edit Page." If you click on this, you can update your page, manage permissions, add administrators to your page, manage notifications, use an activity log, and see a list of banned users.
   • "Build Audience." If you click on this tab, you will be able to to invite your email contacts, invite your Facebook friends, share the page, or create an advertisement for your page.
   • "Help." If you still have questions on how to work your page, then you can visit the help center, or look for tips on getting started.
   • You should only use the "Build an Audience" option once you've filled out the basic information about your page and know how everything works. Your audience should be impressed by how well you run the page, so work out any kinks beforehand.
3. 
   3
   Maintain your fan page. Now that your fan page is operating smoothly, you'll have to stay active on the page so your Facebook friends stay interested and up-to-date about your activities. Here's what you do:
   • Every time there is new information about your company, business, or act, post on your timeline to let people know. Post at least a few times a week, but not so often that your fans get annoyed.
   • When it's relevant, upload recent photos to show what you've been up to.
   • Whenever you have new Facebook friends, invite them to follow your fan page.

1. 1
   If you have an existing account, you will need to delete it before creating a new one. See Close the Old Account below before proceeding. Otherwise, continue to the next step.
2. 2
   Go to www.facebook.com. If you have an existing account, make sure you are logged out first.
   • You will see this signup form:
     
   • Fill it out completely, make sure all the information is accurate, then click the Sign Up button.
     
3. 
   3
   Find your friends. Facebook will next ask you to search your various email accounts for friends. You are welcome to do this at this time, or click on Skip this step at the bottom, and continue with the sign-up process.
4. 
   4
   Fill in profile information. Step 2 of the sign-up process is filling out basic profile info: High school, college, and employer. Again, you may choose to fill this out, or skip this step.
5. 
   5
   Choose news feeds. Step 3 of the sign-up process is selecting your news feeds. Like your favorite pages to get their latest updates. Again, you may choose to do this, or skip this step.
6. 
   6
   Plug in your mug. Now's your chance to shine to the world! Upload a photo from your computer, or take a photo with your web cam. However you do it, Facebook will take it. Of course, like the other steps, you can choose to skip this as well.
7. 
   7
   Your new account is ready! Remember—don't forget to like us!

Edit

1. 1
   Download your information. Having a copy of all your information—from our profile info to your friend's list and photos—is never a bad thing to have as a backup. To do this:
   • Click the account menu icon (white triangle) at the top right of any Facebook page.
     
   • Choose Account Settings
     
   • Click on Download a copy of your Facebook data
     
   • Click Start My Archive
     
   • This will take a while, especially if you have a lot of photos and are active on Facebook.
2. 
   2
   Clean out your existing account. When your archive is complete, empty out all fields that aren't required, and delete. For required fields, use names that are clearly fake (Frondheim Dingleschmidt) or hopelessly general (John Smith).
   • If you want to reuse your phone and email information in the new account, change those to something meaningless before you begin the deletion process. Facebook will not let you have multiple accounts with the same information.
3. 
   3
   Create a temporary email account. To delete your primary email account, you must first create a new one—Facebook will verify the email address, so you can't just make one up.
   • Create a new browser tab (Control-T on a PC, Command-T on a Mac).
   • Go to a free email provider, such as Google or Yahoo
   • Create a new account. It can be a normal email account that you might want to use for real at some point, or a temporary one you will use once and trash. One advantage of an alternate email account is that you can use it for all spam-generating sites—you never have to check it, so anything that is in it will always be spam!
4. 
   4
   Add the new email account to Facebook. In your soon-to-be-defunct Facebook account, go to General Account Settings, edit the email settings, and click onAdd another email.
   • Enter your new email address, and your password, and click Save Changes.
   • You will be sent a confirmation email to your new email address. Be sure you accept the new email. You will be returned to Facebook's account settings page, where you can now make the new email the primary.
   • Click the Primary email: button next to the new email address, enter your password, and click Save Changes. This will close the edit window for your email. Re-open it, and you will see your new email address on top, as the primary email. To the right of your old (real) email address, it will say Remove. Click that, and your old email is cleared out.
5. 5
   Create your new account. See above, under Creating A New Account, for the steps to accomplish this.
6. 6
   Transfer ownership and admin rights. You may be the admin of one or more groups or pages. Before you delete your old account, set up your new account to have admin rights as well.
   • From the left side column of your Facebook timeline, click on the group or page you administer. It will open in the Admin Panel.
   • From the Edit Page menu, select Admin Roles.
   • Add your new account as an administrator.

By David Rosenthal

Siapakah Orang Yang Disebut Editor Itu?

Sebutan-sebutan editor seperti associate editor, acquiring editor, editor, senior editor, executive editor, editor in chief, associate publisher dan publisher; apa artinya itu?

Sebutan itu bisa tidak berarti apa-apa, atau bisa juga berarti sesuatu yang berbeda. Hal tersebut tergantung dari perusahaan penerbitan itu sendiri. Di antara para editor memang ada pembagian tugas. Ada editor di dalam perusahaan penerbitan yang melulu menangani naskah yang diperoleh sendiri oleh perusahan penerbitan tersebut. Naskah yang diperoleh sendiri oleh perusahaan penerbitan berarti adalah naskah yang diperoleh oleh acquisiton editor, yang disamping mengedit sendiri naskah yang diperolehnya juga juga akan menyerahkan naskah yang diperolehnya kepada editor lain. Naskah yang diperoleh sendiri olehperusahaan penerbitan bisa juga berarti naskah yang diperoleh penerbit atau editor in chief, yang disamping menaruh perhatian terhadap aspek bisnis dari suatu naskah, juga mencari naskah.

Apakah tugas paling utama dari seorang editor?

Tiga tugas paling utama dari seorang editor adalah mencari, memperbaiki dan menerbitkan naskah. Di dalam perusahaan penerbitan tertentu, tugas mengedit dipisahkan dari tugas menerbitkan. Di Random House hampir semua editor beroperasi sebagai penerbit, artinya editor juga sangat terlibat dalam semua aspek penerbitan buku, seperti desain, iklan, pemasaran, publisitas dan seterusnya.

Dulu ada ungkapan bahwa editor adalah jenderal berbintang lima bagi setiap buku yang diterbitkannya. Saya rasa, ungkapan itu masih tetap berlaku sampai sekarang.

Tugas yang pertama adalah mempertimbangkan nilai komersil dan nilai sastra dari sebuah naskah berdasarkan selera anda. Caranya ialah dengan banyak membaca. Andalah yang memutuskan apakah penulis ini layak untuk diangkat, apakah naskah ini pantas untuk diterbitkan dan apakah penulis berbakat ini pantas untuk dikembangkan.

Tugas yang lainnya, yang penting, ialah melakukan apa yang bisa anda lakukan untuk membantu pengarang dalam mencipatakan buku sebaik mungkin. Dalam melakukan tugas ini anda sebenarnya lebih berfungsi sebagai pelayan; ketimbang sebagai majikan dari sang pengarang. Anda bersikap mendukung dan kritis terhadap pengarang. Anda melakukan apa saja yang perlu dilakukan untuk membuat sebuah karya menjadi lebih baik. Dan dalam hubungan dengan pengarang tertentu, ini bisa berarti bahwa anda tak perlu berbuat apa-apa lagi.

Pernahkah ada kasus dimana bantuan editorial tidak diperlukan lagi?

Ada. Kadang-kadang kita menerima naskah yang sangat sempurna. Dan dalam kasus seperti ini maka yang kita lakukan tinggal menandatangani satu-dua potong kertas agar naskah segera masuk ke proses produksi.

Bagaimana dengan pengarang yang membutuhkan begitu banyak bantuan editorial ?

Memang ada situasi dimana kita perlu melakukan diskusi dan editing untuk membuat naskah menjadi lebih baik.

Keputusan bisnis seperti apa yang diambil oleh editor?

Di dalam penerbitan buku umum, sampai kepada batas tertentu, seorang editor bisa memutuskan sampai seberapa besar jumlah uang muka yang pantas diberikan untuk sebuah naskah, dan bagaimana mengembalikan uang muka tersebut kepada perusahaan lewat penjualan. Tentu saja, ketika kembali, uang itu harus lebih besar dan perusahaan harus memperoleh keuntungan agar bisa menerbitkan buku-buku yang lain.

Apa yang menjadi ukuran dari keberhasilan editor?

Dalam suatu kurun waktu tertentu ia berhasil memperoleh sejumlah naskah. Dan ketika naskah tersebut terbit, bukunya meraih keberhasilan. Sebuah buku dikatakan berhasil bila ia bisa memberikan keuntungan finansial atau penghargaan yang besar kepada pengarang maupun kepada penerbit.. Jika dalam setahun anda bisa memperoleh 20 naskah atau buku, dan semua buku tersebut tidak memberikan keuntungan finansial dan tidak pula mendapat pujian dari para penulis resensi, maka berarti anda bukan seorang editor yang baik. Jika dalam setahun anda bisa memperoleh 20 naskah atau buku, dan sepuluh dari buku tersebut memberikan keuntungan, beberapa hanya pulang pokok dan beberapa yang lainnya merugi, maka berarti anda masih tergolong seorang editor yang baik.

Catatan :

1. David Rosenthal bekerja untuk sebuah imprint bernama Little Random, yang menjadi bagian dari Random House, Inc. Dan di dalam Random House terdapat pula imprint-imprint lain seperti Random House sendiri, Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon, Crown, Vintage, Ballantine Books, Fawcett Books, Fodors Travel Books dan–seperti kata Rosenthal–”Entah apa lagi, hanya Tuhan-lah yang tahu…” Random House, yang berdiri sejak tahun 1939, adalah sebuah perusahaan penerbitan buku yang terbesar di dunia.

2. Tulisan ini diambil dari buku “Book Editors Talk to Writers”, sebuah buku kumpulan transkripsi wawancara tentang aspek editorial. Pewawancara dan Penyunting: Judy Mandell. Penerbit: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

3. Penterjemah: Mula Harahap