EPUB vs PDF - A Comparison

In the rapidly growing arena of electronic publications, there are two open-source contestants for the e-book market: EPUB and PDF.

A Little Background

The EPUB format, based on HTML/XHTML, is primarily used for the commercial book market. As the most widely used e-book format, it is supported by all major e-readers except Kindle (but that is about to change). The EPUB format is particularly well suited to mobile devices because it features reflowable text. This means that the text in an EPUB will reflow appropriately on a mobile device, no matter what its size. You can make the type larger or smaller, and the text will reflow appropriately. Text will not be cut off at the right margin, and you will not have to scroll horizontally to read the remainder of each line.

The PDF format, on the other hand, is primarily used for business or technical documents. It was developed as a way to quickly convert documents designed for print (8½ by 11 or A4) to an online format. This means that when you access a PDF on a smartphone, the type is usually too small.  If you use older PDF readers, you often have to enlarge the PDF manually and then scroll horizontally to read it (which is annoying).

Undoubtedly, there’s a mashup occurring between the traditional markets for PDFs and EPUBs. PDFs, which were often relegated to the business and technical domain, are now being used for e-books. (Note that PDFs can be read with e-reader software and PDF-reader software.) Additionally, current PDF readers are being improved so that they can more easily reflow text and do all the good things that e-readers can do.

EPUBs, on the other hand, will certainly be spreading into the technical and business environments, once problems related to complex formatting are solved.

A Summary

Here’s a table that summarizes the differences between PDFs and EPUBs (as of 9/6/2011):

Feature	EPUB	PDF (viewed with a PDF Reader)
Reflowable text	EPUBs automatically reflow (and hyphenate) and are well suited for mobile devices.	PDFs are written in concrete – remember, they’re based on printed pages, typically 8½ by 11, and (with many PDF readers) they do not reflow when enlarged. This can make PDFs difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. Note: Adobe Reader X and a few other readers give users the ability to reflow text; however, this feature is typically not automatic.
Change the font and specify a particular font size	EPUBs can do this.	PDFs cannot do this on many PDF readers.
Page turning	To turn the pages of an EPUB, users swipe horizontally.	To turn the pages of a PDF, users scroll vertically, and because of bottom page margins, there are typically larger gaps between pages.
Complex tables	With EPUBs, complex tables can be problematic, and content or coding often needs to be tweaked to make these types of tables work.	With PDF, although complex tables may not require tweaking, they are often difficult to read on smaller devices and pose problems (horizontal scrolling) when enlarged.
Graphics	On small mobile devices, graphics can be difficult to read in EPUBs.	On small mobile devices, graphics can be difficult to read in PDFs.
Search	Available with EPUBs.	Available with PDFs.
Annotation	Available with EPUBs.	Available with PDFs.
Copy text	Available with EPUBs.	Available with PDFs.
Audio and video	Available with EPUBs (depending on the e-reader).	Available with PDFs.

The bottom line

As these two technologies invade each other’s spaces, it’s likely that they will borrow from each other’s feature set. In fact, it’s already happening, since the latest Adobe Reader can now reflow text. So stay tuned to see what happens as these two technologies morph and compete in the rapidly expanding, multifaceted world of e-books.

Source: http://blog.techw.com/?p=287

Enabling Flash on Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty)

Enabling Flash on Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty)

I am used to Fedora Linux OS, however I decided to get familiar with Ubuntu 11 (Natty).
First thing first, I downloaded Ubuntu 11 and Installed it successfully.
with its Unity UI (apart from its classical UI), it just looks simple but pretty.. it is awesome.

Having Natty successfully installed, another first thing I tried was installing Google Chrome, it simple because I dont wanna miss Angry Bird game from it.
With the following simple command :

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

The Chrome also setup and run very well.
First thing I tried from Chrome of course its addicted "Angry Bird" game.
I download and run the game.. but uppppssss.... the game could not run well..

After short conversation with google, I found the reasons and solution for this issue. It is because the Angry Bird game is a flash based game, default installation of Ubuntu does not include flash support as it may violate the Intellectual Property.

Ubuntu is committed to Free software (free in cost and free in licensing restrictions), but in "the real world," most computer users are used to having proprietary or nonfree codecs and support software installed (to use Java, MP3s, Microsoft fonts, etc.), so Ubuntu has included an easy way to install these nonfree items. The free in the word nonfree refers to licensing restrictions, not to cost.

to solve this issue, I follow the following steps:

If you're using Unity, you can find Ubuntu Software Center on the left side of your screen.If you're using classic Gnome, go to Applications and select Ubuntu Software Center

Do a filter search for the word restricted and then clickInstall next to Ubuntu restricted extras.

When prompted for your password, enter it.

That's it!

You can find more details here (without all the screenshots).

There are also variations on Ubuntu that include proprietary/nonfree software in the default installation. One popular variation is called Linux Mint.

And now I can enjoy playing angry bird on my Chrome browser and even watching youtube.

Source: Google and some contents from psycocats.net

6LoWPAN vs Zigbee

Written by Akiba

Wednesday, 04 March 2009

After the euphoria of the Zigbee/RF4CE announcement wears off, I still have this lingering sense that the picture isn't really complete. Although the coordinated press releases of the Zigbee Alliance members kind of pounded the message into everyone's brain and cements a second huge potential market for Zigbee, it pretty much just means that along with being an electrical metering protocol, it will also be known as a remote control protocol. This is actually really good news, but chances are that it will end up similar to Bluetooth which was never really able to shake its reputation as a wireless earpiece protocol. One clear thing is that Zigbee now has two large markets under its belt and that's important because it's pretty much the only standard wireless sensor networking protocol that can claim this. This makes it king of the hill, only it's members shouldn't be too complacent because that hill is still really small. Being an industry leader has its advantages such as having a greater chance of survival but unfortunately doesn't necessarily mean that consumers will adopt it. Sure, it can be forced down people's throats by having a Zigbee enabled meter or a Zigbee/RF4CE remote control to come with your Sony Bravia, but if the Zigbee Alliance isn't careful, that's pretty much where it'll end. The real danger for Zigbee is in assuming that because they have the largest potential markets, that consumers will flock to the technology. The true test for any technology is in adoption. This is where 6LoWPAN has the advantage. If you don't know, 6LoWPAN is an IETF draft standard that specifies how IPv6 frames will be carried over the 802.15.4 wireless protocol. The benefit that this protocol, or actually I would be more correct in saying header compression scheme, has over Zigbee is that you can use TCP/IP as the communications mechanism. Notice I didn't mention anything about 6LoWPAN being better than Zigbee, or more efficient, faster, lower power, tastes great, or less filling. Those would be fighting words and I don't want to set off a religious war. The truth is that technological superiority doesn't really matter in terms of adoption except for technical purists, aka geeks. What really matters is that 6LoWPAN uses TCP/IP and TCP/IP doesn't have an adoption curve. There is a huge amount of existing infrastructure, developers, software, standards, and knowledge that people just kind of accept it like air. It's what most of the world uses on a daily basis, whether they know it or not. The weakness of 6LoWPAN is that they don't have a real market for the protocol at the moment and it's mostly because of some technical issues. The main problem lies in the fact that they don't have any standards in place to govern device interoperability of each wireless sensor node. Zigbee spent a lot of time on device interoperability for the nodes and defined standard device profiles that behave in well documented ways. This means that one node can discover what services another node provides, and access those services in a standardized way. They also set up the test labs with testing equipment, checklists, training, certification procedures, and pass/fail criteria to ensure that the devices that make it through the testing and get the Zigbee certified logo adhere to these profiles. Although many people will probably bash me and say that it still doesn't guarantee interoperability, it's still better than anything that 6LoWPAN currently has. Well, I'd better make my point quickly or else I'm going to end up being hated by both groups. My point is that Zigbee has the device interoperability specification and testing infrastructure in place and it also has access to two potentially large markets that are gateways into the consumer home. 6LoWPAN has access to a huge amount of infrastructure, a disgustingly large pool of protocol developer geeks, and TCP/IP which is the lingua franca of communications all over the world. When I said that something felt like it was missing, I really meant that Zigbee needs 6LoWPAN and conversely, 6LoWPAN needs Zigbee. If they could somehow put aside their ideological differences and pointless debates on protocol efficiency, and somehow combine their strengths, this could be a rare case where the sum is exponentially greater than its parts. Not only would something like this re-define how people think of the internet and interact with it, it would also bring some really huge guns into the game…like on the order of Cisco, Microsoft, Google, and Intel. This would be on top of companies like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, and Philips that came along with RF4CE. It would also bring a shower of media interest, funding, and most importantly, excitment back into the tech industry which, in this humble open-source developer's opinion, is something that it is desperately in need of. So yes, the Zigbee and RF4CE tie up is great, but the real holy grail is if Zigbee and 6LoWPAN could settle their differences and work together to really create…dare I say it…the "Internet of Things". Source: http://freaklabs.org

Mencemaskan Kualitas Guru Besar (Profesor Masturbasi)

MENTERI Pendidikan Nasional (Mendiknas) M. Nuh mengatakan bahwa guru besar Indonesia belum mumpuni. Pernyataan itu disampaikan ketika Mendiknas mengadakan pertemuan dengan kalangan media di Surabaya beberapa waktu lalu, sehubungan dengan banyaknya pengukuhan guru besar (gubes) yang diselenggarakan perguruan tinggi negeri (PTN) dan perguruan tinggi swasta (PTS).

Prof. Dr. Monyeto__Perfecto_Profesoro

Mendiknas menyatakan bahwa syarat menjadi gubes relatif mudah. Seorang dosen (PTN maupun PTS) yang memiliki ijazah S-3 dapat mengajukan jabatan menjadi gubes dengan melampirkan sejumlah angka kredit di bidang tridarma perguruan tinggi yang telah diperoleh.

Pernyataan M. Nuh itu perlu menjadi renungan kita semua. Mengapa seorang menteri sampai menyatakan kegundahannya seperti itu?

Dalam menjalankan tugas di perguruan tinggi (PT), seorang dosen (baik gubes atau non-gubes) diwajibkan untuk melaksanakan tridarma perguruan tinggi yang meliputi pendidikan, penelitian, dan pengabdian kepada masyarakat. Di bidang pendidikan, saya tidak melihat ada hal penting yang menjadi kegundahan Mendiknas. Hampir tidak ada satu pun gubes di Indonesia yang tidak mumpuni di bidang pendidikan.

Demikian juga pengabdian kepada masyarakat yang meliputi kegiatan, di antaranya, ceramah dalam seminar, nara sumber dalam pelatihan, kursus, dan sejenisnya, pasti telah dilaksanakan dengan mumpuni oleh semua gubes di Indonesia. Di bidang penelitian juga tidak ada masalah. Semua gubes pasti telah melakukan kegiatan itu. Di antara keseluruhan aktivitas tridarma perguruan tinggi, kegiatan penelitian minimal 25 persen harus dipenuhi seorang gubes (juga dosen non-gubes).

Kualitas Penelitian Rendah

Lalu, apa yang menjadi kegundahan Mendiknas? Mungkin, jawabannya adalah kualitas penelitian yang dilakukan hampir sebagian besar gubes di Indonesia relatif rendah jika dibandingkan dengan negara tetangga, apalagi dengan negara maju (Eropa dan Amerika). Diperkirakan, tidak lebih dari 20 persen hasil penelitian gubes di Indonesia menghiasi jurnal internasional. Sebanyak 80 persen lainnya hanya diterbitkan dalam jurnal nasional, bahkan jurnal fakultas atau universitas yang hanya dibaca dan disitir oleh teman sejawat.

Bahkan, tidak ada satu pun hasil penelitian rektor di dua PTN terkenal di Jawa Barat dan Jawa Timur -kalau kita simakcurriculum vitae-nya- muncul di jurnal internasional. Karya internasionalnya terbatas pada naskah yang dipresentasikan di international conferences atau seminars, yang menurut ahli di Barat hanya merupakan forum komunikasi antarahli. Naskah di dua kegiatan itu baru dapat diterima dan dimuat di jurnal internasional setelah di-review sedikitnya oleh dua ahli sebidang. Jika memenuhi syarat, karya itu diterima. Jika tidak memenuhi syarat, ditolak.

Suatu survei oleh Scientific American menunjukkan bahwa kontribusi ilmuwan (termasuk gubes) Indonesia pada khazanah pengembangan dunia ilmu setiap tahun hanya sekitar 0,012 persen (12 publikasi/100.000 ahli), yang jauh berada di bawah kalau dibandingkan dengan USA yang besarnya lebih dari 20 persen. Oleh beberapa ahli barat, jerih payah upaya ilmuwan Indonesia untuk ikut berkontribusi terhadap perkembangan khazanah ilmiah dunia diistilahkanlost science in the third world.

Pernyataan bernada sumbang itu terutama disebabkan hasil yang disumbangkan ilmuwan Indonesia tidak sampai ke hadapan mitra bestari sesama ilmuwannya yang sebidang hanya karena ditulis dalam berkala yang berjangkauan terbatas. Keterbatasannya disebabkan sempitnya sirkulasi persebaran publikasi dan berkala tiras yang sedikit sehingga tidak dilanggan oleh perpustakaan utama pusat kegiatan ilmiah internasional, serta penggunaan bahasa yang tak terbacakan secara luas. Akibatnya, judul tulisan karya ilmuwan Indonesia tak tertampilkan dalam layanan cepat bibliografi dan kata kuncinya tak terambil oleh penyedia pindaian internet.

Keprihatinan Mendiknas sebenarnya terletak pada peraturan yang dibuat oleh Mendiknas sendiri tentang syarat-syarat menjadi gubes. Di dalam peraturan sama sekali tidak ada persyaratan bahwa untuk menjadi gubes harus memiliki karya publikasi internasional. Karena kemudahan itu, banyak fakultas dan universitas mengambil peluang untuk berlomba-lomba membuat jurnal baru di lembaga masing-masing. Banyak dosen membuat penelitian ala kadarnya, lalu memublikasikan di jurnal lembaga masing-masing agar cepat naik jabatan.

Profesor Masturbasi

Karena kemudahan menjadi gubes di Indonesia, kini ada istilah Profesor Masturbasi. Yakni, seseorang yang mendapatkan gelar keprofesorannya melalui karya yang dilakukan sendiri. Penelitian dilakukan sendiri (biaya sendiri, tidak berkolaborasi dengan lembaga lain), ditulis sendiri (tidak di-review oleh ahli sebidang dari negara lain, tetapi di-review oleh teman sendiri), dipublikasikan di jurnalnya (milik lembaga sendiri), lalu untuk naik pangkat/jabatan sendiri. Cerdas juga yang membuat istilah tersebut karena masturbasi memang dilakukan sendiri, bahkan cenderung sembunyi-sembunyi.

Sekarang Indonesia telanjur memiliki begitu banyak gubes. Dan, haruskah kita teruskan mencetak gubes-gubes baru dengan kriteria yang kita miliki sekarang? Sudah saatnya Mendiknas mempertimbangkan untuk membuat persyaratan baru menjadi gubes. Salah satu di antaranya, harus memiliki sedikitnya dua atau tiga publikasi internasional (bukaninternational conferences atau seminars).

Jika persyaratan ini dilaksanakan, niscaya Indonesia akan memiliki gubes-gubes yang mumpuni di segala bidang (tridarma perguruan tinggi). Dan, Mendiknas dijamin tidak akan gundah lagi.

Bagi dosen yang sudah gubes, tetapi belum pernah sama sekali memublikasikan karyanya di jurnal internasional (jumlah gubes ini sangat banyak di Indonesia), inilah saat yang tepat untuk melaksanakan itu(menulis di jurnal internasional). Hal itu tentu saja tidak berlebihan, apalagi berkaitan dengan diberikannya tunjangan profesi dan tunjangan kehormatan kepada gubes. Semoga. (*)


Sumber :
*). Agoes Soegianto, Guru Besar Biologi Lingkungan Universitas Airlangga
Radar Sulteng :  17 Februari 2010

How to Write a Technical Article

The above title is a note taken from <http://gems.leme.org.pt/PmWiki/index.php/Resources/HowToWriteATechnicalArticle>. I post the link here to benefit myself in writing research paper.
The note applies to technical papers in computer science and electrical engineering, with emphasis on papers in systems and networks.

Click the link above for detail description.
Hopefully, the link above will benefit others as well.

How to Read a Research Paper

Among the questions that you should ask yourself when reading a research paper are the following:

1. What is the research paradigm that the author is using? Example paradigms are psychological experiments, formalization and theorem proving, and artifact design and construction. If the paper is part of a well established field, you should describe the field and its current state.
   
   
2. What is the problem area with which the paper is concerned? For example, "Automatic Generation of Compilers from Denotational Semantic Descriptions of the Source Code" would describe a research paper on compilation.
   
3. What is the author's thesis? That is, what is he/she trying to convince you of?
   
4. Summarize the author's argument. That is, how does the author go about trying to convince you of the thesis?
   
5. Does the author describe other work in the field? If so, how does the research described in the paper differ from the other work?
   
6. Does the paper succeed? Are you convinced of the thesis by the time that you have finished reading the paper?
   
7. Does the author indicate how the work should be followed up on? Does the paper generate new ideas.
   
   
8. Some papers implicitly or explicitly provide a new way of doing things or of thinking about problems. If your paper does so, describe the approach.
   

From: http://gems.leme.org.pt/PmWiki/index.php/Resources/HowToReadAResearchPaper

My Twin Babies

My wife gave birth to twin babies boy and girl yesterday night, the boy is 2.3 kg while the girl is 2.7....

I'll update this posting later... gotta go to hospital :)

Calon Bayi Kembar-ku

Minggu ini, kehamilan istriku sudah berusia lebih dari 34+ minggu. ini adalah kehamilan kedua setelah keguguran akibat virus Toxoplasmosis pada kehamilan pertama. Ada perasaan risau bercampur menjadi satu dengan rasa gembira dan bahagia. Risau, barangkali karena pengalaman keguguran dan serangkaian perawatan Toxo yang memakan waktu dan biaya.

Waktu dulu periksa detak jantung bayi di kehamilan minggu ke-7 di Hospital Pusrawi Kuala Lumpur, dokter bilang… “baby sihat, heartbeat stabil, dan normal.., hmm.. tapi kenape ada dua detak jantung.. haa... Baby ni kembar laaa”. KEMBAR!!! Kami terkejut tak percaya namun juga gembira sambil bertakbir dalam hati ALLAHU AKBAR. Mungkin inilah buah dari kesabaran dan ketabahan.

Begitu cerita ini sampai ke teman2 satu lab di MIMOS, semua berkomentar : “Wow man… having twins baby!!, it’s amazing!!”, iya amazing memang, namun tentu dengan kerepotan yang juga amazing. Ditambah lagi dengan kondisi kami tinggal di negeri orang tanpa sanak family, Istri yang masih sibuk dengan se-gudang assignment dan research Masternya… Ah apapun ini adalah rezeki dan anugerah yang patut disyukuri.

Untuk masa kehamilan normal, artinya hanya 6 mingguan lagi menunggu hari kelahiran, tapi untuk kehamilan kembar kemungkinan besar akan premature, perkiraan dokter minggu ke-36. Artinya hanya kurang 2 minggu lagi permata hati kembar kami insyaAllah akan hadir menemani hari-hari indah kedua orangtua-nya.

It's always a joy when Allah blesses you with a child. Children bring happiness and joy. Karenanya menanti kelahiran anak adalah kegembiraan bagi setiap orang tua. Kegembiraan, mungkin karena anak selalu membawa janji-janji keceriaan dan kebahagian. Anak juga adalah penyejuk mata, permata hati yang dinanti, apalagi ketika sang anak tumbuh membesar menjadi insan berguna. Harapan-harapan kebahagian seperti inilah yang sedang aku dan istriku nantikan.

Having a child is also trials and great responsibilities. One of the very first duties we have toward our new child, besides physical care and love, is to give our child a name that carries honor and Islamic meaning behind it, dan sudah ada beberapa nama-nama indah yang kami sudah persiapkan.

Sekarang hanya berdoa semoga si kembar lahir dengan selamat melihat alam fana ini dan benar-benar menjadi cahaya mata kami yang terhiasi ilmu, iman dan taqwa. Amiiin.

No International Law for Gaza

I really curious about the issue in Gaza lately, it makes me read a lot of articles on many blogs as well as articles on Online newspaper.

A new report on Al Jazeera shows what some of the world already knew. It shows that, since 1967, the Israeli Government and the Israeli Military have been conspiring and working together to steal land from the Palestinians and build permanent settlements there.

By permanent settlements I don’t mean a few buildings. I means whole towns with residences, synagogues (should that be sinagogues?), police stations, schools, roads, etc.

Of course, according to International Law, this practice is illegal but it seems that even the laws of Israel have been corrupted to allow this settlement activity to continue without proper permits and in spite of many U.N. Resolutions demanding that such activity be stopped.

The report said, it appears that 120 ‘authorized’ settlements have been constructed since the 1967 war on Palestinian land with another 100 ‘unauthorized’ settlements placed here and there wherever Jewish people decided might be a nice place to live.

Now can you imagine how you would feel if suddenly an army of occupation invaded your town and just threw you and the rest of the people out of their homes and into the street without compensation, then demolished the town and set about building a nice little Jewish town there, a Jews-only enclave?

Or they constructed a settlement close by in a pick spot then they set about taking the farmland that you relied upon to make a living, and created Jew-Only roads that cut you off from friends and relatives and, in some areas, constructed giant concrete walls that meant your kids couldn’t get to their schools. How would you feel?

Since 1967, the Palestinians have suffered this monstrous crime. Day by day they have watched their land disappearing, their legal rights being trampled on. But most monstrous of all, as it was happening the rest of the world did nothing, absolutely nothing.

Well a few countries did make some tut-tutting noises but to all intents and purposes, the world did nothing and by doing nothing it gave the Israelis a sense of legitimacy, a sense that, well, we Israelis can do anything we like and, besides, we’re here now and that’s the end of the matter.

A Palestinian group, Yesh Din, which has collated this settlement building information, is urging dispossessed people to take legal action against the Israeli government. Yeah, sue the very Government that has been deliberately acting in contravention of International Law and laws governing Human Rights and its own laws for sixty years! Great idea.
How much longer is the so-called civilized world going to allow Israel, a rogue nation that is fully supported in all its evil, unlawful deeds by the U.S.A., to trample all over the Palestinians?

Facts about Gaza

Facts relating to the situation in Gaza:

1. Number of Palestinians killed so far: 870;  number of Palestinians injured so far: 3661 [Source:Al Jazeera] and needless to say that these numbers are on the rise as I'm writing.
   
2. Among the killed are women, elderly people and A LOT OF CHILDREN.
   
3. Humanitarian supplies: food and medical aid are not allowed to reach Gaza. And those who dare even try are stopped, or should I say FORCED to stop.  We're talking about Israel defending itself people, that includes not only air and ground assaults, but also starving innocent civilians to death and taking away their right to try save each other.
   
4. While thousands of people around the world are protesting to condemn the brutal barbaric attacks on Gaza, Arab government are -as usual- still looking for ways to somehow solve this crisis without pissing off Israel or upsetting its friends… but we choose to blame foreign governments that are backing Israel! [People protesting, Arabic]
   

I'm actually out of words right now so I'll just quote a friend who wrote in his blog: "our homeland is bleeding .. and we are only watching .. shoes should not only be thrown at Bush I guess".