ASSASSINS FROM THE FUTURE

What is the difference between humans and machines? They’re both the same but not identical. If you think humans are smarter than machines, you might want to consider the meaning of “artificial intelligence”. As technology develops, it’s amazing – or should I say creepy, to see what machines are capable of doing at the present time or in the future.

If you think machines have to be programmed to be able to respond to their surroundings, then you’d better consider about machines that are able to re-program themselves. Everything that humans can do can also be done by machines – not to mention machines have better accuracy and consistency.

So if you ask me whether the war between machines and humans are possible to happen in the future, my answer will be – it’s very possible. We often create things that we ourselves cannot control. We often create our own dooms. Machines are created to help humans, but not all people have the same purpose – as they say, knives and coins always have two sides.

One of the best movies about machines is The Terminator and its sequels. The Terminator tells a story about a terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – a cyborg disguised in a perfect humanoid form that was sent from the future (year of 2029) to the present time. It had only one purpose – to terminate a woman named Sarah Connor. Why sending a robot just to kill a woman? Hmm... a good question that can only be answered by watching this movie.

Sarah was supposed to give birth to a man named John Connor in the future. John Connor would be the last hope for the mankind to win the war between machines and humans. Sarah also had a protector named Reese Kyle – also sent from the future. The problem was, Reese was only an ordinary human who was far weaker than the unstoppable Terminator.

It was truly a nightmare for Sarah as she never expected that her life would become so important for the future. The Terminator was close on her tail with Reese Kyle desperately tried to save her life as well as his own. This was the beginning of a judgment day. The movies will tell you the rest…

Be careful and be responsible for everything that you create…

The terminators teach us a very important lesson. They’re consistent and determined to their missions and targets… They will keep fighting… Never complains… Never get tired… Never stop… Until terminated… We all should fight like them…

But what really differentiate us from the machines? It all lies within our hearts… It is something that cannot be programmed.













Ivan the Freelancer

RELIGIONS & SCIENCE

A symbolist Robert Langdon once again summoned to investigate crime and conspiracy which took place in Vatican. The group called Illuminati was said to be behind a revenge scheme plotted against the Catholic Church. An assassin who claimed himself to be working for the Illuminati managed to kidnap four cardinals and would kill them one by one.

Besides involving a religion, a product of science called antimatter was also stolen from the lab conducted by physicists. The antimatter was meant to be used as a bomb to annihilate the whole Vatican City by the Illuminati. Robert Langdon along with his partner, a physicist named Vittoria Vetra, must unravel the mystery and conspiracy that threatened not only religion and science, but also human lives.

So the religion and science are once again become issues for some people. A debate between religion and science had occurred from a long time ago. Science has developed at a magnificent speed so that it often questioned our own faith towards our own religion and God. Religions have their own rules that often questions whether all the innovations and creations made by sciences are justified by God or not.

It is said that God speaks to us through the voices inside our hearts. The voice that warns you if you are about or already commits something evil.

Do you believe in God? Everyone has their own answers.

Religions & science belong to the world and should be uniting people instead of separating them.

Religions & science had their own flaws. Religions & science are not perfect because we humans are not too.

Angels & Demons… Which side are you??

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal - WATER FROM THE SKY

When the water falls from the sky, we call it rain. Some say it’s a gift, some say it’s a disaster – Some say its God’s tears; some say it’s just natural.

I want to enjoy the rain like I used to. Now I can’t cause the rain drives me out from my house. Dark clouds and floods never frighten me. But it’s the people I love driven from their house that put me in misery.

May I have the power to reach up and pull ourselves to the sky. Only by then I can smile… when I see the water falling from the sky.

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal - A SONG IN SUNDAY AFTERNOON

The Sound Of Silence ; Simon And Garfunkel Watchmen Movie

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds
while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs
that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools said i,you do not know
Silence like a cancer
grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whispered in the sounds of silence.

- The Sound Of Silence ; Simon And Garfunkel -

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan's Journal - A PLACE TO STAY - A PLACE TO SHARE

They say an art comes from the heart to the brain. If it comes just from the brain, it’ll be just logic. Our earth along with all its living beings is a work of art. It’s the art from God Himself. But what can we do as humans? – As we’re merely his work of art too…

The experts made a forecast that the ocean level will increase due to the rise of temperature of our climate. The ice will melt and many islands, cities, and nations will be threatened by massive and deadly flood. This catastrophe is close in the near future and we all know that. The question is how close and how bad?

The truth is we do not have to be an expert to be able to predict what will happen to our earth, if we still carry on living with our “poisonous” way of life. Thank God, while we’re busy destroying our own world, there are still people out there who can come up with solutions.

A Belgian architect named Vincent Callebaut managed to create ideas and put them into pictures and words. The ideas, pictures, and words turned into a project called “Lilypad a Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees”. No, it’s not a flower or a plant. It’s a gigantic amphibian city – half aquatic, half terrestrial.

This awesome floating city is said to be able to accommodate 50.000 people, pollution free, and have its own abilities to produce all the resources we need – even recycle our wastes. The design of this floating city is inspired by Amazonia Victoria Regia leaf. Imagine if we can build many of these floating Lilypad cities…

You can find further complete and reliable information about the Lilypad project by visiting http://www.vincent.callebaut.org

Will humans and nature finally manage to live in harmony? Many people think that this is an impossible project and can only exist in our dreams. But I believe that all the possible come from the impossible and the reality comes from a dream. It is about how to make the impossible become possible.

Truly an inspiration… I wonder, what can we do to help?

My Butterfly, thank you for sending me an email about this.

Ivan the Freelancer

HUMAN NATURE

I say this with regrets, but it’s not human nature to forgive others. We tend to fight back rather than letting go. We say we forgive, but we don’t forget. The problem is… we tend to remember the bad things rather than the good things about what other people have done to us. Forgiving is often the hardest thing to do in life. Maybe that is the one that differentiate us from God Himself. God is merciful but we humans don’t. After all, we are only humans… Please forgive us… Forgive me too…

The war against terrorists started from a long time ago and took place almost all over the world. The big question is what triggers it in the first place? Is it really true that we are fighting the bad guys? Or maybe we are just fighting at each other? This question must be asked from both sides and both point of view.

The Kingdom tells a story about a team led by an FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) who was sent to investigate a terrorist attack at the housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Terrible bomb incidents took place at the compound and killed many locals and foreigners. Ronald Fleury took off along with his team members Agent Sykes, Janet Mayes, and Adam Leavitt on a revenge mission with an objective to find and stop the mastermind behind the bombing.

Upon arrival at Saudi Arabia, the elite team was supported by Colonel Fariz Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom). Fariz and Ronald slowly became friends and along with the team, they tried to unravel the horrors behind the bombing act. The mission got more difficult as they only had five days, given by government, to solve the case before they had to leave the city. The city was being watched. In fact their every move was being monitored. Ronald thought he only needed a Kevlar to protect his life until he realized that the city was too hostile even for an experienced FBI agent like himself. They needed full firepower just to stay alive.

This is a movie about human nature – A mixture between action, drama and politics. You will get different moral story depends from your point of view and perception. Hope you can get and absorb the positive messages from this movie.

Sometimes a war is inevitable, but a war is always useless...

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal – MATCH SELLER GIRL

For some people, childhood memories never fade away. They linger but asleep. Sometimes, you remember them when you experience certain things in life – Things like a simple lunch I had at the office with my colleagues just few days ago.

Men used to smoke their cigarettes after lunch, but not me, cause I don’t smoke. Suddenly, in the middle of our conversations, there was one thing that caught my attention. A blue-and-yellow-colored matchbox full of matchsticks was laid on the table. Not many people used it nowadays because there’re so many easy-to-use lighters sold everywhere.

The match reminded me of a story that I used to listen when I was little. There was this cassette that contained a bedtime story about a little girl selling matches on a windy and snowy night – One of the saddest stories I’d ever heard in my entire life. Some of you may already hear / read about this, but let me share it anyway. There’re many versions of this story, but this is what I remember. Since it was only a cassette, you could only listen to the sound (dialogs, songs, and music). But I’ll try to tell you the story here by writing it.

It was a cold, windy and snowy night at Christmas when a little girl was walking around alone in the streets selling matches to the people around. The wind is so strong and snows fell to the ground. Nobody noticed a little girl trying her best to offer and sell matches just to get something to fill her empty stomach. Having no one to give her shelter and no home to give her warmth and comfort, she struggled to face the cold snowy night.

“Sir, will you buy these matches? Madam, please buy these matches. It can warm your body and light your fireplace at home. Please, buy one or two for your family. Does anyone need matches? ” The girl kept repeating those words but found no one who’s interested.

The night was getting late and the cold weather pierced to the bone. People started to go home and entered their houses. But the girl still could not sell even a single matchbox. She could barely walk as her stomach cried for food and her body started to weaken. She still tried to knock on doors to see if she could sell her matches. But no one wanted her matches because they had their own fireplace at their houses. They didn’t even realize that the girl was all alone and her body nearly frozen.

As the night got colder and colder, the little girl did not have anymore strength to walk further. So she tried to find a safe and warm place to get some rest. Tears fell from her eyes along with prayers that came out from her tiny frozen lips. “I’m dreaming of a warm house, full of food. God, I’m so cold and hungry.”

Suddenly, she had an idea to use her own matches to warm up her own body. She pulled one matchstick from the box and lighted it up. The fire emerged from the match but quickly washed away by the cold wind. “Oh, still cold, I’ll try to light three matchsticks all at once.” The little girl said. The fire quickly lighted up the matchsticks finally giving her warmth. The warm sensation brought up pleasant memories throughout her life – But not for long because her body started to freeze again as the matchsticks were burnt up.

One last hope, she tried to light up all of her matches. The fire gave her warmth that made her smile. It was a sad smile, knowing that no more matches left. “God, I’m so cold and hungry… Cold… Hungry…”

As the last match was burnt up, she fell to the ground. “I’m so sleepy… so sleepy.” Soon enough, she had visions – Visions of her grandmother who actually had passed away long ago, standing at a nice place with lots of food and warmth. “Grandma, is that you? Oh grandma, please take me with you… I am so cold…”

The little girl finally fell asleep and had the most beautiful dream ever. It’s a dream where she was with her grandmother – the person who truly loves her. They flew to a place, full of warmth and delicious food. She felt warm and happy – Little did she know it was a sleep that she would never wake up again.

In the next morning, people found her frozen body lying on the street with burnt matches scattered around her. Her heart stopped beating but there was a smile on her face. She’s now on a place far away from here… Sleep well little girl, no more hunger, no more pain – you won’t need anymore matches…

Ivan the Freelancer