Twitter

Hi, I'm officially on Twitter now (@katesalemba). As in the other social networkings, I'm a latecomer. I gather, the baristas are there too: Aco (@acopatunru), Ape (@ari_perdana), and Ujang (@ujangw). Rizal is still in denial, while Sjamsu 'can not handle one more additional networking' (what, is he Paris Hilton or something? Haha).

So, let's see how this Twitterati plays out. Wanna bet how long I'll be ... what's the term, tweeting?

Twittery yours,
Kate

Discussion: Crisis and Protectionism

Freedom Institute, Café Salemba, Diskusi Ekonomi, WauBebas.org, International Policy Network, and Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung invite you to:

Discussion on Economic Crisis and the Danger of Protectionism
Featuring: Faisal H. Basri, M. Chatib Basri, Alec van Gelder, and Ari A. Perdana.
Place: Freedom Institute Jalan Irian No. 8, Menteng, Jakarta
Time: Wednesday January 21, 2009, 7-9ish pm

Baristas meeting

Your baristas. Seems like they are planning to apply new stuff to the Cafe?

Cafe Salemba goes mobile

Dear you all,

We officially go mobile. If you want to read Café Salemba on your mobile phone, go to http://cafesalemba.mofuse.mobi

Hope you like it.

Kate

We're INTP?

According to Typealyzer, we here are:

The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

Ah, psychologists are amazing!

To T/S and the likes

Dear Treespotter,

Thank you for your letter. It is so sweet I've been crying all night long. Not that I'm the weak little girl here. But because it, your letter, depresses me. I've been trying to concentrate on my thesis. Damn, if only I knew it could be this tough, I wouldn't have majored in economics. I blame that on the barristas here. Yes, those five disillusioned, irresponsible econ chauvinists: Aco, Ujang, Sjamsu, Ape, and Rizal. They're the ones who made fall me in love with economics. Frankly at first I thought economics was bullshit. I hated economists, they behave like they know everything. But as I started hanging out in this Café, I often overheard them guys talking. And boy, it's interesting. I realized economics is not just about growth, inflation, and employment. It is about why people do what they do. So there I was. When there was an opening, I immediately applied. And I became the manager of the café. The pay is pretty, but it's not the only thing I factored in. I loved the environment too. One thing led to another, I even applied to an economics school.

Then things changed. Apparently I put too much faith in the ceteris paribus dogma, I wasn't all prepared when the fun barristas started to cut their time in the café. I knew they did that because they were involved in many other but also useful things. At the same time I started to write my thesis -- "skripsi" as they call it here. So I too have less time. (Frankly as I desperately needed advice for my thesis only to find all the barristas were busy, I considered quitting. But I changed my mind. This café is still the most fun place for me, even though them barristas can be nasty). Good that the café is still alive though, albeit less frequent happenings. But we -- the barristas, the guest mixers, and me, will all come back safe and sound. I, for one, am still the lesbian cute manager who will resume playing music soonish. Aco will have to resume his Econ101, otherwise we keep cutting his paycheck. Ujang will post again from somewhere rural. Sjamsu has promised to come back in-between his gigs (I hate it when he spends more time with his band playing Queen or whatever somewhere and less time playing here. But I think it's because I have been too skewed to jazz (well actually to hip-hop too recently). OK, I'll play some rock. And yes, we've got Pasha for music too). Ape will report more on his noble fight against poverty. So far Rizal has been very loyal (although I know it's because he's stressed out with his exams there).

Finally let me tell you about my thesis I have been mentioning above. I'm working on the economics of Facebook (another reason I spend more time there than here). I'm interested in how people signal each other through that thing. My hypotheses are firstly, Facebook will provide a way to market to discipline so-called observers. Before, we have seen observers or commentators or op-ed writers (or "pengamat" as they call it here) talk so much bullshit without reservation. Now you can criticize them immediately via Facebook network. They will get aware and conscious. (Blogs to some extent fail to deliver that service). Sooner or later the writers will realize this. They will seek balance between revealing much at the Facebook at the cost of exposing themselves to direct check by "friends" and the enjoyment of "social-networking" (sorry Aco, you don't like this term, I know) at the cost of having to be really careful in saying or writing things somewhere else. The easiest control for this is arguably the size of your network. In other words there is an optimum level of network size (i.e. the number of friends you have in the Facebook) so as to leave you in a comfort zone. I'm interested to find where that level lies, given types of people, and not just op-ed writers.

Secondly, Spence signaling theory is alive and well. Add to that the revealed preference principle: trust what you see, not what you hear; trust what people do, not what they say. It is very interesting to see how people try to make others believe what they are. Hence, the urge to get into the middle, to appeal to the majority. Or to be exclusive, for whatever reason. Many people tone down their otherwise strong ideology so as to get more friends from "the other side". Some do just the opposite so as to be perceived as a sexy eclectic and hence getting more friends from "the same side". Some put their academic titles so explicitly, their first names are professor or doctor. Some buy Blackberry and can't wait to let people know when they download Facebook-for-Blackberry. Some keep reporting their status with different cities to reveal their big fly mileage. Some students use that to make fun of their teachers and professors (some are so excited they sound silly). Some are just so cool.

So that's it, T/S. I've been busy. And pardon me that I don't care with the current crisis. Maybe the barristas do. But thank you, I'm nostalgic too. Buy me drink?

Cheers,
Kate Salemba (see, the damn Facebook has forced me to reveal my identity)

From the Manager

Hi, I'm back (hi, Rizal). Yes, it's been a while since my last post. I guess I was having a blogger's block. Or I have been curious about Facebook. Or in a state of confusion brought by so many political comedies recently (there is no way you can't avoid them: they're all over the media, TV, and even in talks between friends and coffee addicts here -- mostly about Bank Indonesia, BLBI and noisy DPR).

Fortunately, an actress turned politician has saved me from further gloom. She just accused and sued a former rival of using fake university diploma. The latter beat the former in a governor race. Both are pretty. But our actress seems to think that it's impossible to have two legally pretty politicians with university degree. Oh boy.

I'll go hibernate again.

Entering the third year

Ah, I can't believe I'm still with this café after almost three years. I was recruited by them hosts on December 18, 2005. There was a quick interview. I was asked if I could manage the logistics of the café and I said I could do not only that but I also chose good music. I only raised one question, why the name - here's what they told me. So there I was: managing and setting the playlist, while they were fixing econ drinks. Until I figured, hey I could do my own econ, too.

Café Salemba is entering its third year tomorrow. Many things have happened in the foregoing two years. The hosts now, except Rizal, are all in Indonesia. Rizal -- once a guest blogger then joined as a permanent host -- is now in Virginia, sipping coffee a lot at Cafe Hayek run by his boss there (of course Marginal Revolution and EconLog are also in the neighborhood). Ape (or sometimes he prefers A.p), is now wearing two hats: one when he is in Tanah Abang neighborhood, another in BEJ area, where he enjoins Sjamsu who in turns also visits Gambir frequently -- not the station, mind you. Ujang is in Jogjakarta now doing a big research project. Aco is still in Salemba (he now moonlights at EPI, by the way, with Dede Basri). Oh yes, we so far have four guest bloggers: MT, Puspa, Tirta, dHani. The first two are now in U.S., the third is in Australia, and dHani is in Jakarta.

On behalf of the Café I would like to thank all you visitors, commenters, critics, and competitors. We have learned a lot from interacting with you and we sure hope more to come. Should you have any suggestion to improve the café please let us know. For any inconvenience to date, we apologize.

In the meantime, enjoy Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé. They are way more fun than J. Stiglitz or M. Yunus, I guarantee you.

Ekonomi dan Politik di Indonesia

... is a new blog hosted by one of your barristas, along with Dede -- another economist from the Salemba School. The blog talks about Indonesian political economy issues. Its main target is Indonesian audience, so yes, it is in Bahasa Indonesia.

My own stupid analysis: when ease sounds yucky

Good God I’m not a police officer (in Indonesia). ‘Cause if I were one, at some point in my career I would have been called a “kompol”. That is an abbrev for Komisaris Polisi or police commissioner (it was “mayor”, Indonesian for “major”, back in the era before the police wanted to be different from its army and navy competitors). It sounds like “ngompol”, an Indonesian slang for an act of “unintentional pee”. You know, as in “Honey, wake up, he ngompol again” – said a woman to her husband as their baby wets the bed in the middle of the night (conversation back in the days when diapers were not as good).

No, it’s not just the police, of course. I’m sure you have heard tastipikor, setwapres, jampidsus, musrembang, or back then, sesdalopbang (google-up yourself, I've made my point). I don’t know if it’s just me, but dikdasmen (pendidikan dasar dan menengah – basic and mid-level education) reminds me of basement and budpar (budaya dan pariwisata – culture and tourism) really sounds like a thunder.

Bank Indonesia is the winner. They have this campaign against counterfeit money with a rupiah identification method called “3D”: dilihat, diraba, diterawang (looked, touched, held-up-to-the-light). It is really funny, because they used the prefixes as the basis for the abbrev – not the words themselves! (lihat, raba, terawang – to look, to touch, to hold up to the light). Maybe it is because LRT doesn’t sound catchy enough. Or maybe they got it from marketing class somewhere. Well, in either case, I guess they could have come up easily with 10D, then – should they want.

Them in Hollywood are equally ridiculous: Brangelina.

Wonder now. Why is it SBY rather than Susbamyo? JK rather than Juskal?

Is this yet another market-gone-wild thing? Because I thought you can’t even force something that sounds too funny. So, I guess it’s a matter of time, kompol will die out. Wanna bet?

Shoot, I still prefer the SMS way.

Help! Can't reinstall that 'recent comment' thingy

Dear Visitors,

While you're enjoying Rizal's story on our date below (I don't usually date a guy, so don't trust Rizal's account completely), may I ask for a favor?

Call me a lousy manager, but yes I'm dumb in HTML code. I've been trying to re-install the "recent comments" widget on the sidebar with no avail. We had it before, until Blogger forced me to switch to the new system -- I lost it!

So, what should I do? Appreciate any help.

Talking Nonsense #278

Café Salemba is proud to present its third album: Regulation. Unlike the previous albums, Tax the Dead Birds and I Didn’t Shoot Milton, this one comes with more fusion and a little hard rock. It has five compositions: Got a Nobel? (featuring Jeff Sax), Indonesia Bangkit, Non-Farmer Can Also Be Poor, Screw the Market (composed by me), and Price Is Like Oxygen (featuring H. Chavez).

Hope you like it.

From the Manager

Happy new year, everybody!

Pxkit

My mom is very efficient. Maybe too efficient, she wrote pxkit in one of her recent short messages to me. It took me awhile before I understood that what she meant was ‘penyakit’ (illness). Yes, she has been using x as a short-hand for 'nya', the suffix; and I figured that out. But x in the middle of a word? That was kind of new to me.

This morning, Simon Gower complains in The Jakarta Post about too many short-hands used in text language. He listed, among all, 2b for ‘to be’, gr8 for ‘great’, 4c for ‘foresee’, and even the already very obvious ones like cu for ‘see you’, ur for ‘your’, or (again, even!) wanna for ‘want to’. He calls all this ‘oddities’. And he asks, “Can we stop this SMS mess?”

My answer would be “No, we shouldn’t even try”. I think short-hands in hand phone textings are fun and clever. Gower indeed admits that "these oddities have their place", but he quickly adds, "that place is surely on the small screen of mobile phone where space (and texting fees) is of concern". O’coz, datz d whol idea, mr!

Gower goes even further as saying that the ‘oddities’ can create an "unnecessary intrusion for people who are learning the English language". Why on earth should we bother with those who are studying English? It ain’t me mom’s buz.

Gower is right that ideas (delivered in the way of his accused oddities) "run the risk of getting lost if the reader is not familiar with the short-hand or just cannot be bothered to spend time to figure it out". Two things here. If I were to text you, I would have to make sure (or at least assume on my own risk) that you would understand what I would be saying, with or without short-hands. On the other hand, if I accept a weird sms with oddities, I would simply trash it right away, unless I am interested, for which case I would simply reply with ‘?’ – This has been working well so far.

So, Mr. Gower, relax. I hope d govt ppl r all out 4 holidays, so no time 2 read ur complaint coz odrws, theyll start thinkin’ o some way 2 regulate sms texting... LOL & :-)

Language

Manager's Top Movies

I remember, when we started up the Café somebody (don't remember who exactly) suggested not to have any posting on lists -- you know, that thing people like to have in their blogs: list of favorite movies, books, etc. But I'm gonna break it, cause it seems fun. Here's my "top" movies list, in alphabetical order (I have set up my own stupid rule: at most one movie per letter allowed).

Annie Hall (1977), Being John Malkovich (1999), Clockwork Orange - A (1971), Dreamers - The (2003), Erin Brockovich (2000), Farewell My Concubine (1993), Groundhog Day (1993), Happy Together (1997), Jaws (1975), Kikujiro (2000), Life is Beautiful (1997), Maléna (2000), North by Northwest (1959), Philadelphia (1993), Rosencrantzs & Guildenstern are Dead (1990), Strictly Ballroom (1992), To Catch A Thief (1955), Usual Suspects - The (1995), Vertigo (1958), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001).

Movies

Polygamy, again

I agree with Aco. That is, I don't disagree with the practice of polygamy.

What concerns me more is the fact that the President (and that means, representing the State) needs to have a say on this. It is amazing that SBY can't say a word on a lot of things he is supposed to be decisive, yet he quickly reacts to private matters like this. In today's paper (linked later) it is reported, SBY wants people not to make a big deal out of this polygamy thingy. Well, you, a president, should not make a big deal out of it.

Polygamy is not and never supposed to be the State's business. Managing taxpayers money well is.

Polygamy

SmackDown

I'm sorry for that kid who died after an injury from a smackdown match with his friends. Also for other injured kids everywhere, regardless of what they just saw on tv: wrestling, cartoon, or crappy 'sinetron'.

But banning SmackDown? Give me a break.

When your kid gets injured trying to practice what he saw on tv, it's not your tv's fault (or the producer's, or the station's, for that matter). It's yours. When your kid gets kicked by another kid who happens to get the idea from tv, it's not the tv's fault, it's that kid's parents'. So, go sue them irresponsible parents.

If you want compensation from a tv station for a damage you think caused by it, the tv station should also demand compensation from you if your kid learns good stuff from its other programs or shows. If you say, no, you have paid your due every month, I'd say OK, the damage has also been deduced from that payment. Fair, no?

Well, now you're calling me a Lativi protector? Get this: I don't give a damn to that company. I don't even like SmackDown. It's totally stupid. A display of a bunch of airheads bumping into each other with silly chicks walking around. Here's what I would do: turn off the tv. Watch House MD, CSI, Lost, or Grey's Anatomy -- while my kid (if I had one) is sleeping...

Wait, I got an idea. While people are banning SmackDown (and Lativi), I'm gonna play it here in the Café. Big screen. Who says I don't have business sense?

SmackDown

From the Manager

Boy, I hate that Econ-101 series. Never known economics is even more boring than inflation, growth, and interest rates. Damn it.

Well, I'm glad the world is not just that. At least these bitches are back. And oh, this guy is entertaining (he's totally right: Ahmad Dhani is a genius!).

JakJazz wasn't so bad. (But what was Shakatak doing there?).

I'm playing Ray Charles. Hit the road, Jack!

From the Manager

Happy (belated) birthday to ... us :-)
.... It's really been a year?

New member

We'd like to proudly announce the newest addition to the Café Salemba family: Cemara Perdana.

P.S. Regardless of your opinion about population control, please note that my wife and I did not contribute to the population growth. In fact, we were adjusting the supply and demand for children disequilibrium.