Mengintip Pekerjaan Pertama para Milyuner dan CEO 'Besar'

Senin, 30/01/2012 07:42 WIB

Mengintip Pekerjaan Pertama para Milyuner dan CEO 'Besar'

Nurul Qomariyah : detikFinance

detikcom - Jakarta, Mereka kini menjadi CEO di perusahaan-perusahaan besar. Tapi siapa sangka dulunya mereka hanyalah seorang tukang masak ataupun tukang pengantar koran. Kerja keras dan nasib baik telah mengantarkan mereka hingga ke posisi puncak.

Siapa yang menyangka CEO Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson dulunya adalah seorang pengasuh bayi. Atau CEO JP Morgan Chase James Dimon yang ternyata dulunya adalah tukang menggoreng kentang.

Bagaimana para CEO dan milyuner dunia itu merintis karirnya? Berikut berbagai cerita tentang pekerjaan awal para CEO perusahaan-perusahaan besar dunia, seperti dikutip dari CNBC, Senin (30/1/2012).

1. Doug McMillon, President dan CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc



Doug McMillon pertama kali bekerja di Wal-Mart pada usia 17 tahun. Ia pertama kali bekerja di gudang Arkansas dengan upah US$ 6 per jam. Saat ini, McMillon menduduki posisi tertinggi di peritel terbesar AS itu. Meski demikian, ia mengaku banyak belajar dari pekerjaan pertamanya itu dan ia masih mengaplikasikannya pengalamannya itu saat memegang posisi puncaknya saat ini.

2. Michael Dell, Dell



Dell Inc, perusahaan teknologi informasi yang berbasis di Texas dinamakan sesuai dengan pendiri dan CEO-nya, Michael Dell. Dell didirikan pada tahun 1984. Pada tahun 2011, majalah Forbes memperkirakan kekayaannya mencapai US$ 15 miliar, sehingga Dell berada di jajaran orang terkaya di dunia. Perusahaannya berada di posisi ke-21 dari daftar Fortune 500.

Michael Dell mulai bekerja dari usia 12 tahun, dengan mencuci piring disebuah restoran China. Upahnya ketika itu adalah US$ 2,3 per jam. Ia sempat dipromosikan menjadi 'busboy' alias tukang bersih-bersih di restoran tersebut. Namun sebelum menikmati kenaikan 'pangkat' itu, ia sudah terpikat oleh sebuah restoran Meksiko. Ia kemudian meninggalkan industri restoran dan mengambil pekerjaan di toko koin dan perangko langka, kemudian mencari pelanggan koran dengna telepon, hingga berusia 16 tahun.

3. John Dasburg, ASTAR Air Cargo



ASTAR Air Carko adalah maskapai kargo berbasis di Miami yang singggah di lebih dari 40 bandara, serta melayani penerbangan untuk Departemen Pertahanan AS. Pada usia 10 tahun, Dasburg mulai mencari uang dengan memangkas rumput-rumput di halaman tetangganya. Namun ia kemudian mengambil terlalu banyak pekerjaan dan menyadari bahwa tidak ada jalan ia mengerjakannya sendiri. Ia kemudian mulai 'mempekerjakan' beberapa temannya, dan mengambil sedikit bagian dari pembayaran.

4. T. Boone Pickens, BP Capital Management



T. Boone Pickens adalah CEO of BP Capital Management. Menurut majalah Forbes, kekayaan Pickens mencapai US$ 1,4 miliar. Ia mulai bekerja sejak usia 12 tahun sebagai pengantar koran di Holdenville, Oklahoma dengan pendapatan 28 sen per hari. Pickens menghargai pekerjaan dengan memberikan perasaan merdeka untuk pertama kalinya.

"Sejak saat itu saya tidak pernah menginginkan orang tua saya memberikan uang. Saya ingin mendapatkan uang sendiri," ujarnya.

Ia mengaku dengan mencoba menarik uang dari konsumen yang tidak mau membayarnya adalah sebuah pelajaran berharga. Anda harus gigih jika ingin mendapatkan tujuan Anda. Anda tak pernah tahu pekerjaan yang setiap hari Anda kerjakan akan menuntun Anda kemana, jadi Anda harus melakukan apapun untuk hal yang Anda kerjakan," kata Pickens.

5. Terry Lundgren, Macy's



Terry Lundgren adalah CEO of Macy's, Inc. Karirnya dimulai setelah kuliah, ketia ia bekerja untuk Federated Department Stores. Namun sebagai orang yang baru memulai pendidikan, ia merasa kurang yakin dengan apa yang ia kerjakan. Ia pada awalnya ingin belajar ilmu pengobatan hewan, namun setelah setahun dan bekerja menguliti kerang, ia mengubah bisnis utamanya.

Ia bergabung dengan Federated pada tahu 1975 dan bekerja untuk divisi Bullocks Wilshire di Los Angeleas. Pada tahun 2005, ia mengkoordinasi merger antara Federated dan May Department Stores Inc dan pada tahun 2007, entitas baru yang dikenal Macy's Inc berdiri. Dan kini, Macy's masih tetap salah satu peritel terbesar dunia.

6. Clarence Otis, Jr., Darden Restaurants



Clarence Otis, Jr.adalah CEO of Darden Restaurants, sebuah perusahaan berbasis di Florida yang mengoperasikan semacam pembukaan tempat makan malam seperti Oluve Garden dan Red Lobster. Pada tahun 2010, Orlando Sentinel menyebutkan sebagai salah satu orang paling berpengaruh di Florida Tengah. Ia mengelola 1.800 restoran dengna pekerja lebih dari 180.000 orang.

Ketika Otis bergabung dengan perusahaan itu sebagai keuangan pada tahun 1995, ia telah memiliki pengalaman di bidang jasa makanan. Pada usia 17 tahun, ia memulai pekerjaan pertamanya di restoran bandara Los Angeles dengan upah US$ 3,5 per jam. Ia mengatakan, melayani banyak orang dengan gaya pikiran yang berbeda-beda mengajarinya cara pendekatan yang berbeda untuk setiap situasi dengan pikiran dan gaya yang segar dan positif.

7. Jack Schuessler, Wendy's International



Wendy's International, Inc. adalah induk dari Wendy's yang merupakan restoran makanan cepat saji dan hamburger terbesar ketiga di dunia. Jack Schuessler telah bekerja di perusahaan itu selama 30 tahun dan sejak 2000 hingga 2006 menjabat sebagai CEO.

Pekerjaan pertama Schuessler adalah mengangkut kotak-kotak dari pabrik di St. Louis dengan upah US$ 2,45 per jam. Ia mengaku pekerjaan awalnya yang berulang-ulang secara moral lebih membunuh sehingga membuatnya sulit termotivasi selama 8 jam per hari. Meski tidak menikmati pekerjaannya, ia mengaku belajar banyak dari pekerjaannya itu. "Tunjukkan, Jika Anda tidak menunjukkan, Anda tidak akan dibayar".

8. Bill Watkins, Seagate Technology



Seagate Technology kini merupakan pembuat drive hard disk terbesar di dunia. Bill Watkins bergabung dengan perusahaan tersebut pada tahun 1996 dan karirnya terus meningkat hingga menjadi Presiden dan chief executing officer. Pada tahun 2004, ia adalah CEO hingga pensiun pada tahun 2009.

Karir Watkins sebelum di posisi puncak cukup unik. Setelah lulus SMA pada tahun 1971, ia bergabung dengan tentara AS dan bekerja sebagai medis di pangkalan Missouri. Setelah meninggalkan pasukan AS, ia berkerja shift malam di rumah sakit jiwa dengan tanggung jawab menangkap pasien yang kabur.

Kemudian ia meninggalkan karirnya dan pergi ke California, sebelum akhirnya bekerja di produsen floppy disk Xidex di Silicon Valey. Sejak itu, ia menekuni pekerjaannya di sektor teknologi.

9. Michael Morris, American Electric Power



Michael Morris adalah CEO American Electric Power, salah satu pembangkit listrik terbesar AS yang menyuplai hingga 10% interkoneksi di kawasan timur AS, dan juga sumber tenaga listrik untuk 38% wilayah AS dan Kanada bagian Timur.

Morris memulai karirnya pada uais 11 tahun sebagai pengantar koran di Toledo Blade, Ohio dengan pendapatan US$ 5 per hari. Ia meyakini pekerjaannya itu membuatnya memiliki perilaku yang baik dan juga untuk industri. Kini, ia menerapkan kualitas tersebut untuk pekerjanya dan mempromosikannya setelah itu.

10. Susan Story, Gulf Power Company



Gulf Power Company adalah sebuah perusahaan elektrik yang berbasis di Florida. Mereka melayani 400.000 konsumen di wilayah seluas 7.000 mil persegi mulai dari Florida, Alabama hingga Teluk Meksiko.

Ia memulai pekerjaannya dengan menuliskan pengumuman untuk pernikahan, pertunangan. Ia mengaku pekerjaannya itu memberikan peluang untuk melihat tanggung jawab lain selain pekerjaan utamanya.
build-access-manage on www.dayaciptamandiri.com

Mulai ngajar lagi

Setelah cukup lama vakum dari sekolah minggu, akhirnya saya mulai kembali mengajar kelas Pra Remaja meskipun dengan daftar mengajar tak rutin. Mungkin juga sehubungan dengan 'masa persiapan pensiun penatua' yang sedang saya jalani, maka saya cukup enjoy juga berada di sana,Sudah cukup lama dari tahun 2009 saya memutuskan untuk memilih fokus ke dalam pelayanan penatua, meski telah dijalani dari tahun 2004, kerumitan membagi waktu antara mengajar dan melayani bidang penatua menjadi tantangan tersendiri.Selama tidak mengajar, saya banyak memperhatikan bagaimana orang lain mengajar, khususnya di gereja GKI HI yang selama ini menjadi tumpuan anak-anakku ke sekolah minggu. Dibandingkan dengan GKI BT yang selama ini saya berada di sana, saya mengamati beberapa hal penting.Sekolah Minggu dapat berkembang bila mendapat perhatian dari para Pendeta.Tidak dapat disangkal, kepengurusan yang ada di sekolah minggu memang dibentuk oleh Majelis Jemaat yang notabene juga ada para Pendeta di dalamnya, tapi ternyata Sekolah Minggu memerlukan perhatian lebih dari pada itu. Keterlibatan para istri pendeta dalam mengajar akan membuat hal menarik, dan tentu saja memudahkan komunikasi dan interaksi dengan para pendeta pada umumnya. Demikian pula, keterlibatan para Pendeta dalam kegiatan-kegiatan Sekolah Minggu, tidak hanya pada saat persiapan-persiapan Sekolah Minggu, tapi juga dalam berbagai kegiatan, para Pendeta ditantang untuk terlibat aktif dalam membina dan mendampining para calon jemaat-jemaat dalam lingkungan sekolah minggunya ini. Ini adalah aset dan tidak boleh dilupakan begitu saja dari perhatian para pendeta.Saya yakin, saya melihat potensi ini agak kurang di lingkungan GKI BT, sehingga akhirnya kami di bidang pernah memutuskan untuk melibatkan 'tenaga kategorial' yang akan membantu menjembatani, menbina secara langsung, melakukan mentoring, melakukan pastoral kepada para guru sekolah minggu, pengurus dan jemaat komisi anak. Tapi ternyata, cara ini tidak sepenuhnya benar. Para tenaga kategorial ini, meskipun mereka memiliki hati dan melakukan 'pekerjaan' dan pelayanannya dengan maksimal, tetap saja masih memerlukan perhatian para pendeta, dan tidak hanya pertemuan rutin dan saling update, tapi lebih bagaimana jemaat anak mengenal sosok dan mengagumi para pendetanya. Mungkin terdengar aneh, tapi sedikit banyak, saya belajar mencari sosok dan mengagumi para pendeta pada waktu saya kecil dan mengikuti sekolah minggu.Mungkin tiap gereja memiliki perhatian yang berbeda.Memang benar, tiap gereja memiliki fokus pelayanan dan sedikit banyak tergambar dalam visi dan misi gerejanya masing-masing, tapi toh tetap saja, pelayanan sekolah minggu tidak bisa dianggap enteng. Perlunya keberadaan pendeta mendampingi dan hadir di tengah-tengah pelayanan komisi anak sepertinya tidak dapat dikesampingkan. Beberapa hal yang saya catat dalam pengalaman saya dari tahun 2004, diantaranya adalah sosok pimpinan dan kepemimpinan sekolah minggu yang perlu asistensi ketat. Kemudian juga bagaimana memastikan para guru sekolah minggu mengajarkan hal yang tepat dan baik sesuai dengan ajaran gereja. Dan kepastian kesetiaan para guru sekolah minggu untuk bergereja yang menjadi panutan jemaatnya.Tiap gereja juga memiliki cara sendiri menangani hal ini. Ada yang menganggapnya remeh dan membiarkan saja sekolah minggu berjalan dengan pimpinan Tuhan, ada juga yang sangat menjaga ajaran dan prosedur dalam menjalan sekolah minggu. Semua ini akan kembali kepada apa yang dinamakan 'perhatian' tadi.Apabila gereja yang memiliki perhatian untuk menjadi berkat bagi masyarakat dalam arti luas, seyogyanya mempertimbangkan untuk memiliki dan membina para kader-kadernya dengan maksimal, mulai dari usia dini, dan ini ada di sekolah minggu. Bagaimana sekolah minggu juga menjadi saluran ide, pembentukan pikiran dan opini serta kekuatan moral untuk mendukung ide besar gereja selalu menjadi tantangan sendiri.Memang sekolah minggu memiliki kurikulum yang telah menjadi garis besar pembinaan gereja secara umum, tetapi kekuatan untuk memasukkan ide visi dan misi gereja setempat juga menjadi hal yang harus diperhatikan.Ada saatnya kita lelah.Pada saat-saat tertentu, saya melihat, rekan-rekan pengurus komisi anak seringkali merasakan lelah. Lelah bukan karena mereka tidak suka dengan pelayanan komisi anak mereka, tetapi lelah menghadapi birokrasi. Langkah pemotongan akses birokrasi dalam gereja juga menjadi point tersendiri yang pernah saya tangani. Ketidakefektifan toh tetap saja terjadi. Peran penatua pendamping, tenaga kategorial, bahkan mungkin pendeta komisi sekalipun, dengan mudah dibuat di atas kertas, tapi sangat sulit dikontrol dan dilaksanakan.Saya pernah merasakan capek sendiri pada waktu mengurus komisi-komisi sedemikian banyak dengan beragam permasalahan dan intrik di dalammya, tapi dibalik kelelahan, ada kesegaran. Ada semangat baru untuk bangkit dan memperbaikinya. Dulu saya sempat berpikir, mungkin lebih baik jadi penatua, sehingga saya bisa membantu memperjuangkan ide dan gagasan komisi anak, tapi pernah saya terjebak sebaliknya, sayalah yang mengontrol ide dan gagasan dengan amat ketat sehingga seolah tidak bergerak, sehingga akhirnya saya sadar, saya pada waktu itu merasakan lelah, dan lelah itu wajar. Bahkan Tuhan sendiri pun mengambil waktu untuk tidur dan beristrirahat, tetapi setelahnya, kekuatan doa dan kuasaNya pulih dan mampu menghentak angin ribut di sekitarnya.Mulai lagiMungkin ini bisa menjadi langkah panjang, bisa juga menjadi langkah pendek pelayanan selanjutnya. Tidak ada yang tahu kecuali Tuhan. Selama di hati kecil ini, masih ada kerinduan untuk melihat mata-mata kecil itu merindukan Firman Tuhan, membimbing dan mengajar mereka menyanyi memuji Tuhan, mengenalkan kasih Tuhan kepada mereka, membagikan bagaimana kasih Tuhan begitu nyata dalam hidup saya, sangat lah mungkin pelayanan sekolah minggu menjadi pelayanan saya seumur hidup, tinggal menunggu saja, dimanakah Tuhan akan menempatkan saya, apakah tetap di GKI BT ataukah pindah ke GKI HI . Semuanya kembali kepada kehendakNya.
build-access-manage on www.dayaciptamandiri.com

10 skills for developers to focus on in 2012

By Justin James | January 23, 2012, 10:57 AM PST

Software development had a few years of relative calm. But now the rollercoaster is back on track and it's picking up speed, as HTML5 gains a foothold and Windows 8 threatens to significantly change the Windows development landscape. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, you should consider learning at least a few of these 10 software development skills.

1: Mobile development

If you don't think it is worth your time to learn mobile development, think again. Global shipments of Android phones in 2011 are almost equal to PC sales. Add in the other big-name mobile devices (iPhones, iPads, and even the "dying" RIM devices), and what you see is that mobile devices now dwarf PCs in sales. What does this mean? If you make your living from software that can run only on a PC (which includes Web sites that don't work or are hard to use on mobile devices), now is the time to learn mobile development.

2: NoSQL

I appreciate a well-designed relational database schema as much as the next person, but they just are not appropriate for every project. We've been using them even when they aren't the best tool because the alternatives haven't been great. The last few years have seen the introduction of a wide variety of NoSQL database systems. And now that major service vendors (like Amazon and Microsoft) support NoSQL as well, there is no technical limitation on their use. Are they right for every project? No. Are they going to replace traditional databases? In some projects, and for some developers, definitely. This is the year to learn how to use them, as they will only become more prevalent in the year to follow.

3: Unit testing

We've seen unit testing go from being, "Oh, that's neat" to being a best practice in the industry. And with the increasing use of dynamic languages, unit testing is becoming more and more important. A wide variety of tools and frameworks are available for unit testing. If you do not know how to do it, now is the time to learn. This is the year where it goes from "resume enhancement" to "resume requirement."

4: Python or Ruby

Not every project is a good fit for a dynamic language, but a lot of projects are better done in them. PHP has been a winner in the industry for some time, but Python and Ruby are now being taken seriously as well. Strong arguments can be made for Ruby + Rails (or Ruby + Sinatra) or Python + Django as excellent platforms for Web development, and Python has long been a favorite for "utility" work. Learning Python or Ruby in addition to your existing skillset gives you a useful alternative and a better way to get certain projects done.

5: HTML5

HTML5 is quickly pulling away from the station. The impending release of IE 10 is the last piece of the puzzle to make the full power of HTML5 available to most users (those not stuck with IE 6 or IE 8). Learning HTML5 now positions you to be on the forefront of the next generation of applications. Oh, and most mobile devices already have excellent support for it, so it is a great way to get into mobile development too. And don't forget: HTML5 is also one route for UI definitions in Windows 8!

6: Windows 8

Windows 8 should be released sometime in 2012, unless the schedule slips badly. While Windows 8 may very well get off to a slow start, being the top dog in an app store is often based on being the first dog in the race. The first mover advantage is huge. It is better to be in the Windows 8 app store at launch time than to take a wait-and-see approach. Even if Windows 8 sales disappoint, it's better to be the only fish in a small pond than a fish of any size in a big pond, as recent app sales numbers have shown.

7: RESTful Web services

While I personally prefer the convenience and ease of working with SOAP in the confines of Visual Studio, REST is booming. Even Microsoft is starting to embrace it with OData. JSON really was the final straw on this matter, relegating SOAP to be for server-to-server work only. Unless your applications can run in isolation, not knowing REST is going to hold you back, as of 2012.

8: JavaScript

Before the Windows 8 Developer Preview, it was easy for non-Web developers to look at JavaScript as a Web-only language. No more! JavaScript is now a first-class citizen for native desktop and tablet development, thanks to the Metro UI and WinRT API in Windows 8. XAML + C# or VB.NET may be a good way for you to get things done, but if you want to maximize what you can get out of your knowledge, HTML5 and JavaScript are the best bet. They give you Web and Metro/WinRT, and you can also use them for some of the cross-platform mobile systems out there, like Appcelerator's Titanium product.

9: jQuery

If you are going to do any kind of Web development where you are working directly with HTML, jQuery is becoming a must-know skill. While there are plenty of credible alternatives, jQuery is quickly turning into the de facto tool for rich UIs with HTML.

10: User experience

Other than getting that first mover advantage in new app stores, there is little to differentiate many applications on a feature basis; it's a crowded field. User experience, on the other hand, is a different story. Creating a great user experience is not easy; it starts before anyone even downloads your application and continues through to the uninstall process. In the age of instant $0.99 and free app downloads, and ad-supported Web apps, the barriers to switching to another application are mighty low. If your user experience is poor, do not expect much business.
build-access-manage on www.dayaciptamandiri.com

Belajar Mengucap Syukur

Orang yang merasa puas dan selalu mengucap syukur, berkatnya semakin ditambahkan Tuhan setiap hari.

Itu karena mereka menghargai pemberian Tuhan meskipun bernilai kecil.

Mereka sadar sekalipun bernilai kecil

pemberian Tuhan itu mendatangkan kebaikan bagi hidup mereka.

Betapa seringnya kita membiasakan diri hidup dengan ber-sungut2,

tidak mengucap syukur dan tidak menghargai berkat2 kecil.

Kita menjadi...

orang yg tidak pernah puas.

Kita lebih sering menuntut dan tidak pernah merasa cukup

atas kebaikan orang lain kepada kita.

Kita menuntut agar orang lain bersikap begini dan begitu.

Kita menuntut agar mereka lebih memperhatikan kita,

tetapi kita mengabaikan dan tidak pernah

memperhitungkan banyak hal yang sudah mereka lakukan untuk kita.

Parahnya lagi kita menganggap Tuhan tidak mengasihi kita,

Tuhan berlaku tidak adil kepada kita

dan kita membandingkan diri kita dengan orang lain.

Kita berpikir orang lain lebih diberkati Tuhan.

Marilah kita tinggalkan rasa tidak puas ini

dan belajar mengucap syukur untuk

tempat tinggal, pakaian, makanan, orang tua, anak,

teman, pekerjaan, sekolah, upah

dan untuk segala sesuatu yang bisa kita nikmati,

maka berkat Tuhan akan selalu mengalir atas kita.

~~ ~~~

"Siapa mencintai uang tidak akan puas dengan uang

dan siapa mencintai kekayaan

tidak akan puas dengan penghasilannya.

Inipun sia-sia."

~ Pengkotbah 5:9 ~


build, access and manage your IT infrastructure and web applications

Catatan Untuk Tahun Naga #naga2012 By Tanadi Santoso

2012 YEAR OF THE DRAGON

NAGA AIR POSITIF dengan ELEMEN KAYU

Tahun Dramatis untuk Pengembangan Bisnis

 

Tahun 2012 adalah tahun naga air. Naga memiliki chi yang kuat, kharisma sebagai pelindung kekuasaan dan pembawa kemakmuran. Untuk itu, tahun ini akan sangat bagus dimanfaatkan untuk membuka usaha baru, maupun mengembangkan usaha yang telah ada. Naga air membawa hawa dingin dan aura misteri. Kesuksesan besar di tahun ini mungkin dapat dicapai dengan kombinasi passion, enthusiasm, dan  perfect planning.

 

Indonesia di Tahun Naga 2012

Indonesia yang 'lahir' tanggal 17 Agustus 1945, bernaung di bawah shio Ayam Logam dengan elemen Kayu. Indonesia di tahun ini akan lebih mampu mengayomi kesejahteraan rakyatnya. Analoginya sama seperti kayu yang bertemu air bisa menjadi pohon rindang yang menyejahterakan makhluk-makhluk di sekitarnya. Namun, elemen Logam pada Ayam bisa menghancurkan kayu, tergantung siapa yang 'memegang Logam' itu. Untuk itu, kemajuan negara Indonesia di tahun 2012 ini sangat ditentukan oleh kepemimpinan yang bijaksana.

 

Partisipasi rakyat dan media akan menjadi kunci dalam pembentukan kejayaan bangsa dan negara. Kemakmuran akan datang bila keadilan ditetapkan, korupsi berkurang dan terorisme ditumpas. Optimisme masyarakat yang tinggi akan menunjang kemajuan di tahun Naga air ini.

 

Pada bidang politik, diperlukan kehati-hatian yang ekstra. Pemerintah bagaikan perahu, rakyat bagaikan air. Air mampu membawa perahu ke tujuan, tetapi air dapat pula menenggelamkan perahu ke dasar samudera. Untuk itu, selalu berhati-hati pada arus dibawah air tenang yang berbahaya. Naga adalah pencengkeram tahta langit yang cerdas dan berwibawa dan mumpuni. Bagi yang terlibat di bidang politik, jangan terburu nafsu melihat posisi yang berkilau, harus cerdas bersiasat.  

 

Kesehatan

Air adalah awal dari kehidupan. Air bisa mengalirkan kesehatan, tapi bisa juga merusak. Naga penuh misteri, jadi hati-hatilah terhadap penyakit yang tidak terduga sebelumnya.  Jangan remehkan penyakit yang kelihatan kecil, semua bisa berdampak besar. Virus bermunculan dan datang pergi tanpa pamit. Jaga diri maupun lingkungan. Sayangi ginjal anda, banyak minum air putih dan jaga pola makan.

 

Asmara & Perjodohan

Naga adalah hewan yang penuh integritas dan keperkasaan. Tahun ini merupakan tahun yang baik untuk mencari cinta sejati. Cinta yang berkembang adalah cinta yang dibarengi dengan kemurnian. Selain itu, Naga adalah hewan otonom. Ia tidak membutuhkan naga lain untuk memutuskan sesuatu. Untuk itu, Anda tidak perlu terlalu mempertimbangkan pendapat orang lain dalam perjodohan, petiklah intuisi dari dalam, dan putuskan sendiri.

 

Bencana Alam

Naga Air – Kayu yang membawa sifat dramatis acapkali mengundang berbagai bencana bagi banyak negara dalam versi yang berbeda. Tanah, Air, dan Angin akan saling berebut menyambut kedatangan Sang Naga. Hal ini bisa menyebabkan bencana tak terduga pada manusia. Banyak berdoa, banyak beramal, dan segera siapkan payung ASURANSI anda J.

Shio yang bernasib Baik:

–      Kerbau               : Titik balik terbaik, tapi perlu kekuatan mental

–      Kelinci                 : Rejeki datang, tapi jangan terlena

–      Naga                    : Kerja keras akan mendatangkan pengakuan

–      Monyet              : Kesempatan besar, tapi jangan keras kepala

 

Shio yang bernasib Kurang Baik

–      Ular                      : Tenangkan hati, kenali jati diri lebih dalam

–      Kuda                    : Tajamkan intuisi pada percaturan kehidupan

–      Kambing            : Perlu lebih obyektif dalam menilai situasi

–      Anjing                 : Berkepala dinginlah saat rumor menyergap

 

Shio Tikus (Ci) 1948, 1960, 1972,1984,1996,2008

Tahun yang cemerlang dan gemilang bagi warga Tikus yang rajin menabung dan beramal di masa lalu

Waspadalah terhadap penyakit dan kecelakaan karena bisa menyebabkan hilangnya rejeki dalam jumlah besar

Bisnis dan mitra bisnis berjalan baik. Ada peluang untuk peningkatan karier

Perjodohan bagus dan penuh warna warni, study lancar, tapi harus berhati-hati pada pengaruh negatif teman

 

Shio Kerbau (Gu) 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009

Keberanian mengambil langkah-langkah kunci akan melahirkan kesuksesan baru yang telah lama ditunggu

Jangan terlalu berkepala batu, perlu ikuti pendapat orang lain untuk keseimbangan kehidupan

Segera perbaiki manajemen usaha anda, analisa ulang perubahan market dan perbaiki networking anda

Perlu menguatkan emosi positif pada perjodohan dan karier untuk mencapai kemajuan

 

Shio Macan (Hauw) 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010

Tahun yang dramatis bagi warga Macan, perputaran rejeki  naik turun mengguncang emosi sepanjang tahun

Ketika rejeki mengalir deras, atur dengan bijak keuangan dan pekerjaan Anda

Kaji ulang pribadi Anda untuk menghindari malapetaka, koreksi emosi dan perkuat kesabaran

Perjodohan hingar bingar, penuh resiko dan ketidak pastian. Banyak berbuat amal akan membantu

 

Shio Kelinci (Touw) 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011

Kelinci yang kreatif dan dinamis akan menemukan banyak kesempatan di berbagai bidang

Kepiawaian dalam berdiplomasi hendaknya digunakan secara jujur, tidak semata untuk keuntungan sesaat

Kaji ulang tiap tawaran yang datang

Tahun yang sangat baik untuk warga Kelinci yang mau kembali belajar dan membuka cakrawalanya

Jangan manipulasi emosi dalam perjodohan, tahun Naga tahun integritas. Perkuat kesetiaan dan perdamaian

 

Shio Naga (Liong) 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012

Tahun baik bagi Naga,  kerja keras akan meningkatkan rejeki dan citra diri. Penanaman kerja mulai membuahkan hasil yang terlihat nyata

Walaupun Anda sedang bertahta, ingatlah bahwa kelengahan bisa memancing malapetaka. Proyek besar harus didukung perencanaan matang

Perjodohan lancar, tidak banyak gejolak, tetap harus berhati-hati karena elemen kayu sering tidak  terduga

 

Shio Ular (Coa) 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001

Lima bintang kehidupan Ular berawan kelabu, perlu banyak beramal dan "ciak cai" menguatkan aura diri

Kerahkan segala potensi anda dalam perencanaan. Selalu buat Plan B dan Plan C untuk cadangan

Rasa malas dan bosan memperlambat gerak Anda dan bisa membawa kemerosotan

Perjodohan bagus dan perkembangannya menggembirakan. Perlu keberanian lebih dalam menguatkan hubungan

 

Shio Kuda (Be) 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002

Kemampuan beradaptasi menjadi sangat penting untuk bertahan. Untungnya kuda sangat kuat ketahanannya

Upaya sering serasa tumpul, persaingan kian ketat. Kuncinya adalah ketekunan, kerja keras, negosiasi, dan kebijaksanaan

Saat pada titik menyerah atau maju terus, maka hendaknya dipaksakan untuk maju terus pantang mundur

Perjodohan harus melalui jalan terjal  panjang, tetapi tujuan akhir akan menyenangkan dan membawa kebahagiaan

 

Shio Kambing (Yo) 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003

Semburan api Sang Naga seringmenghanguskan kehidupan warga Kambing. Perlu ketabahan untuk bangkit lagi

Apabila terlalu sosial, ada kalanya justru akan dimanfaatkan oleh si penipu ulung. Harus selalu extra berhati hati

Tugas akan menumpuk dan kesibukan setiap hari menghadang di sepanjang tahun. Kadang ada kebahagiaan mendadak yang tidak terduga menghampiri

Jodol ada ketidakpastian diawal tahun. Perlu pemantapan hati untuk mengarungi bahtera percintaan

 

Shio Monyet (Kauw) 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004

Monyet sangat ideal dengan Naga air, mendapat sinar terang dan penguatan pada setiap ada kesulitan

Sebaiknya tidak selalu mengikuti kemauan sendiri, monyet perlu bantuan mencapai gerbang kesuksesan

Kecerdasan diri dan ketajaman mata membuat bintang anda bersinar dan dukungan melimpah, tahun yang baik

Jodoh perlu keseimbangan emosi dan saling pengertian. Mengalah justru akan memberi banyak nilai positip

 

Shio Ayam (Kee) 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005

Warga Ayam memperoleh sukses dan rejeki sesuai usaha dan kreativitas masing-masing

Bila kerja keras terus dilakukan, tidak mustahil kemakmuran dan kekuasaan datang tahun ini. Jangan sombong, jaga diri

Sifat perfeksionis bila digabungkan dengan strategi, naluri, dan intuisi bisa membawa bisnis apapun menjadi cemerlang

Perjodohan butuh kreativitas anda untuk menjaga kedamaian dan keharmonisan.

Karier bagus dan saatnya untuk menunjukkan kemampuan anda kepada atasan.

 

Shio Anjing (Kao) 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006

Tahun yang kurang baik bagi warga Anjing, harus banyak beramal, banyak makan sayur kurangi daging untuk menciptakan garis terang untuk diri sendiri

Gunakan strategi ilmu padi, makin berisi makin merunduk. Jangan bertengkar banyak bekerja keras

Selalu waspada terhadap segala hambatan, kesulitan kecil bisa membesar bila diremehkan

Perjodohan penuh canda ria dan banyak waktu manis yang bisa menjadi memori panjang

 

Shio Babi (Tie) 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

Tahun yang baik bagi warga Babi, kharisma naga menguatkan chi dan semangat Babi, rejeki mengalir dengan baik dan meriah

Dewi Fortuna banyak membantu segala perkerjaan, jangan membuang peluang yang datang sekecil apapun

Kesuksesan akan datang tidak hanya dari kerja keras, tapi juga dari network yang tepat

Jodoh sudah waktunya untuk datang, kesabaran anda membawa hasil positip

 

 

By: Team Tanadi Santoso, Surabaya, 22 jan 2012.

Dibuat untuk senyum dan tawa, jangan terlalu serius menerimanya
build, access and manage your IT infrastructure and web applications

Jakarta dari FX-18

Money and You..

Orang terkaya no. 1 di dunia ϑi tahun 2010 dan sekarang orang terkaya no. 3 ϑi dunia, Warren Buffet memberi nasehat :

"Jauhkan dirimu dari pinjaman bank atau kartu kredit dan berinvestasilah dengan apa yg kau miliki, serta ingat :

1. Uang tdk menciptakan manusia, manusialah yg menciptakan uang.
2. Hiduplah sederhana sebagaimana dirimu sendiri.
3. Jangan melakukan apapun yg dikatakan orang, dengarkan mereka, tapi lakukan apa yg baik saja.
4. Jangan memakai merk, pakailah yg benar˛ nyaman untukmu.
5. Jangan habiskan uang utk hal-hal yg tidak benar-benar penting.
6. With money:
You can buy a house, but not a home.
You can buy a clock, but not time.
You can buy a bed, but not sleep.
You can buy a book, but not knowledge.
You can get a position, but not respect.
You can buy blood, but not life. So find your happiness inside you.
7. Jika itu telah berhasil dalam hidupmu, berbagilah dan ajarkanlah pada orang lain.

"Orang Yg Berbahagia Bukanlah Orang Yg Hebat Dalam Segala Hal, Tapi Orang Yg Bisa Menemukan Hal Sederhana Dalam Hidupnya dan Mengucap Syukur dlm segala hal

Indonesia butuh IT DASHBOARD seperti ini..

IT Dashboard

Posted by rjivan on March 28, 2011 at 2:21pm

The IT Dashboard is a management tool for the United States federal government CIOs to use in overseeing their IT spending. To support transparency and open government initiatives, Federal decision makers also chose to make the IT Dashboard available to the general public. In the IT Dashboard, members of the public can view the same data about performance that government officials use.

Background

In June 2009, Federal IT leaders asked two questions about their IT budgets. These questions are common in the commercial world, but have been difficult to answer in the public sector:

• Where are our IT dollars going?
• Are we getting value from our investments?

The answer to these questions is a website that gives insight into the acquisition and management of the federal government's $75 billion-plus IT portfolio. The result is the IT Dashboard, a site built in collaboration with the government's most senior IT leaders and nearly every federal agency.

Purpose of the IT Dashboard

The IT Dashboard provides full lifecycle performance information on IT projects' scope and status. The data allows users to see project status, spot problems and trends, manage performance and quality expectations, and establish accountability. The tool is useful to the public and to government IT leaders who plan and manage IT investments. The home page screen shown above gives an overview of the tool.
IT Dashboard’s value comes from several facets:

• Mashing-up data from multiple data sets (IT project justification, schedule/status, expenditures, contractors.)
• Ensuring that real-time and complete data is available.
• Presenting the data and comparisons in ways that are visual and easy to drill into.
• Providing only high-level data that doesn't overwhelm the viewer.

Site Design and Functionality

Originally conceived as a PHP application, the IT Dashboard evolved to a Drupal-based application, employing the Drupal API, several modules, and basic theming. While not all functionality is built in a customary Drupal way, we have modified all pages so that they can be accessed using menu hooks. The advantage of using such hooks is that now all those pages can use the Drupal API, and contributed modules, without worrying about whether or not Drupal has been properly bootstrapped.
One of the primary requirements was that REI Systems deploy the IT Dashboard rapidly. Since the source datasets were already available, developers avoided the need for a data migration step by working with the existing data model. With a working data model and Drupal’s easy-to-use components, we went to initial release in under six weeks. Since the launch in 2009 active development has been ongoing.
Another requirement was that the IT Dashboard incorporate captivating and practical data visualizations. To meet these requirements several visualization libraries are used across the site. FusionCharts drives most of the bar, pie and line graphs throughout the site. Google Motion Charts and JuiceKit power the more advanced Tools section of the site.
Initial plan was for agencies to enter monthly updates through data entry screens. However, this approach quickly led to delays and data quality issues. To address these issues, we introduced an XML API, allowing for system-to-system integration between the IT Dashboard and the systems used by more than 26 Federal agencies.
Access authentication for data providers is handled by integrating with an existing security system, included within the OMB's MAX system -- the tool used by federal agencies to enter and report official budgetary data. This integration was accomplished by extending the Drupal Central Authentication Services module (CAS), which controls role-based data access at both the application and database levels. The application makes certain data visible to the user only if they have appropriate permissions; otherwise, the user is limited to viewing only the publicly available data and graphics. User credentials are propagated to the database and are stored in a database session. This information is used by the Database Views module to enforce authentication and authorization rules.
The use of the FusionCharts library, which uses the Adobe Flash plug-in for rendering, meant that many mobile users were not able to easily access the same information as desktop users. To address the growing need for mobile use, a mobile-friendly version of the website was rolled out using the jqTouch library and the javascript visualization library flot.
Apache SOLR powers the search capability. A private SOLR index is used for authenticated users and a public SOLR index with a subset of the data is used for anonymous users.

Infrastructure

To support easy scalability and accessibility, the IT Dashboard resides in the cloud.
The federal government selected a technical environment that is robust; provides Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS); offers high levels of security, scalability, reliability and accessibility; and has a security plan and existing capabilities to protect publicly accessible web sites that disclose government information.
The IT Dashboard leverages a Content Delivery Network (CDN) structure for the public portion of the website to improve overall system performance. Business data is stored in a separate MySQL database; the Drupal database contains only Drupal-specific configuration information, along with static content.
The infrastructure was selected to support a tool open to use by more than 26 government agencies, members of Congress, the IT vendor community, and the general public - whomever may have some interest in the federal government IT investments.

Module Use

Contributed Modules
Major modules that were used were:

• CAS - Integrates with existing OMB CAS implementation named MAX.
• CCK - Used for data entry and file uploads.
• ClamAV - Scan attachments for viruses.
• Context - Used for page layout.
• Skinr - Allows easy application of a pre-built style library to blocks.
• ThemeKey - Eases transition from old theme to new theme on per page basis.
• Views 3 - Allowed us to plug in our own query backend, necessary to access separate application database.

Custom Modules
The following custom modules were developed for the IT Dashboard:

• Data Controller - A Views 3 Datasource plugin that has support for aggregations and efficient query generation.
• PHP Dataset - Describe data sets for views using custom PHP code. We are using this to drive views that require data from the application database.
• Views FusionCharts - Display style plugin to render view output as a FusionChart. This module is compatible with Views 2 and 3.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

We learned one significant lesson through this effort, namely that Drupal APIs were more versatile than we had originally believed. Our work on the IT Dashboard started initially with a PHP application, not using any Drupal APIs. We found several problems with this approach, each of which make system maintenance more complex and error-prone:

• The logic in SQL queries tended not to be re-used.
• Security items need to be addressed separately for each page viewed.
• There was not clear separation between logic and presentation.

Upon observing these problems, and gaining confidence in Drupal APIs, we revised several pages to use the Views module, which allowed us to:

• Centralize the logic of most queries in View Default.
• Establish a clean separation between View logic and View display.
• Most SQL-injection and XSS issues are already addressed in the code of the contributed modules.

As with any complex development effort, we met several challenges, and learned lessons that may benefit others in the community. The most significant challenges included:

• Reconciling preferences of different stakeholders for different visualization and layouts in order to take advantage of Drupal's strength in a consistent presentation style.
  Drupal offers many ways to utilize templates and generic modules to implement a consistent look and feel across many screens. However the quick turnaround and occasionally conflicting preferences from different stakeholders made it difficult to develop an overall design that leveraged this Drupal strength. We have made a number of revisions since launch to improve consistency and we plan to address this challenge by spending more time up-front on mock-ups, and facilitating agreement across stakeholders on the end-state vision.
  
• Legacy system includes a data model that isn't suited to new uses.
  The IT Dashboard has a separate application database that originated from a previous system. We addressed the challenge of accessing this database by using a custom query plugin for the Views 3 module.
  
• Facilitating expansion/collapse of table data detail to suit user preferences (an example of custom display functionality).
  Many IT Dashboard screens have custom functionality, which could not be satisfied by the Views module at a basic level. For example, some screens offer a table view of data. However, the desire not to overwhelm all users with the full set of data led to a decision that some rows should offer an "expand" button to allow drill-down capability at the user's option. Implementing this customized functionality required custom coding.
  

Project Team

The site is currently operated by a nine member team, composed of the following roles:

• 4 Drupal developers
• 1 database developer
• 1 QA engineer
• 2 business analyst
• 1 project manager

Additional Information

REI Systems is a leading provider of web-enabled, database-driven knowledge management and performance support solutions for federal agencies, state and local governments, and the commercial and industrial sector. For more information, please visit us at http://drupal.reisys.com.

Drupal Commons menjadi produk kami selanjutnya..

An Analysis of Acquia's Drupal Commons

Isaac Sukin  | Mediacurrent Intern

Contact Author

Aug

19

2010

Drupal Commons is a Drupal distribution billed as “social business software.” That means that Acquia is distributing Drupal bundled with some other modules preconfigured to work as a company’s interactive user-facing website. Drupal Commons 1.0 was released on August 5th.
The Purpose of Drupal Commons
I talked to Jay Batson (vice president and co-founder of Acquia) while writing this article and he confirmed what Dries Buytaert himself had implied in a blog post: the goal of Drupal Commons is to compete with the likes of Jive SBS and Telligent. Jive and Telligent are expensive software designed to allow easily setting up a business-oriented social website. Acquia started working on Drupal Commons in response to inquiries from large, multinational companies who were frustrated with the limitations of the proprietary social enterprise software choices. They liked the flexibility of Drupal, and were willing to pay for it – but they weren’t comfortable starting with “just” a framework. They wanted a base on which they could build, something that they could market to their CEOs as “enterprise-ready out of the box” while still being easily extensible. These companies are the target market for Drupal Commons; they’re the ones who want to pay for the services surrounding it.

…the goal of Drupal Commons is to compete with the likes of Jive SBS and Telligent.

Jive and Telligent have a 4 and 5-year head-start, respectively, and Acquia knows that it will need to keep working on Commons to displace them. But the very existence of Drupal Commons is enough to make its competitors feel the heat. Unlike Jive and Telligent, Commons is free as in beer. It’s also open-source and (because it’s based on Drupal) has a vast library of extensions that make adding additional functionality almost as easy as clicking a checkbox. Perhaps most importantly, it’s totally extensible. Drupal is a framework; it’s designed so that any part of it can be modified or replaced. According to Jay, much of the enthusiasm Acquia has heard about Commons is from companies ecstatic to be liberated from the restrictions of the very limited APIs that accompany proprietary software. No longer do companies have to be held back by a roadmap of features that will never get written; in the rare case that a Drupal module doesn’t already exist for the purpose, it’s possible to create a new one that does the job. Not so with Jive and Telligent.
It’s not as if Commons is lacking in default features, either. Acquia has focused on the right features to meet the needs of very large companies. The result is a solid starting point for large businesses to make the transition to building relationships with their customers over the internet. Drupal Commons provides a fairly complete business-oriented community structure out of the box.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s free? That fact alone dramatically reduces the risk of experimenting. The tech guys can install it on their local computer, test it out, let the manager play with it, and decide if it’s something that could benefit their company. That’s just not possible with Commons’ competitors, whose fees are prohibitively steep.

Social Networking vs. Social Enterprise

Drupal Commons is not designed to be a social network – it is designed to be social enterprise. Here’s the distinction: social enterprise sites are designed to be administered by a privileged group representing a company – a group that moderates posts and answers questions on a website devoted to discussing a brand or products. (Interestingly, Jay told me that Acquia had allowed all users to create and moderate groups until a few days before launch, when a number of beta-testing companies pushed back.) Norton’s Symantec community is a good example of an enterprise social community. In contrast, social networks are designed to be free-for-all sites focused on users and their content. Facebook is the pinnacle of social networks.

So let’s be clear: Drupal Commons is not a social network like Facebook.

The category Commons falls into is clear from the default User Roles alone: in addition to the standard Anonymous and Authenticated users, Drupal Commons provides a Community Manager and a Content Manager role. On a social networking site, all users would be content managers, and community managers would be global administrators.
What concerns me most about Commons is the gap between the audience it was designed for and some of the audience that will actually use it. Acquia is probably the most high-profile company in the Drupal community, so when they advertise a product as “social,” the large (but less lucrative) community of people looking for an easy way to build a user-oriented Facebook-style website will be attracted – and then disappointed. Jay assured me that if Acquia saw a demand at the business-customer level for a traditional social networking site, it would look into developing a solution – and while I believe him, I don’t think either of us really expect that to happen.
So let’s be clear: Drupal Commons is not a social network like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Buzz, Digg, Reddit, Care2, or TakingItGlobal. Drupal Commons is an enterprise social platform like Jive and Telligent, and it’s a fairly good one. There will be people who abuse that distinction, but no one will ever be able to stop people from misusing tools or not reading the documentation.
By the way, if you’re looking for a way to build a site like Facebook using Drupal, I can show you how to do it.

Flexible vs. Beautiful

There is a bit of a conceptual conflict inherent in Drupal Commons. Commons is designed to be something usable out of the box – something you can install and show your boss in under 15 minutes. At the same time, the incredible power (and in some cases, complexity) is still available, and that creates some interesting paradoxes.
For example, Drupal Commons includes a custom theme based on the powerful Fusion base theme. It’s not very pretty, but it does have some customizations that make using Commons a little more fluid. According to Jay, the theme was intentionally designed to be flexible rather than beautiful so that companies could easily brand the theme in their own way. That wasn’t an arbitrary decision; it was something they got a lot of feedback on from the large companies testing the product. Some had tried OpenAtrium before (an out-of-the-box intranet based on Drupal) and had trouble customizing its default theme.

Drupal core is supposed to be “flexible rather than beautiful,” while Commons is supposed to be the awesome out-of-the-box experience.

However, it’s an ironic choice. Drupal core is supposed to be “flexible rather than beautiful,” while Commons is supposed to be the awesome out-of-the-box experience. And Fusion is so amazing as a base theme that creating a separate Fusion sub-theme instead of forking the default Commons theme is relatively easy and practical. When I said this to Jay, he responded that I “spoke like a Drupal expert.” If Acquia was building websites using Commons, he said, they would probably create a subtheme of Fusion instead of modifying the Commons default theme. But because of Commons’ target audience, the people who will usually be branding a website’s theme will be the IT department at large multinationals. They will know enough CSS and HTML to play around with the default theme, but they won’t know enough about Drupal to create a new one. If they hire a Drupal company to build the theme, then that company should know enough to build a complete theme.
You’re probably beginning to see how much Acquia’s target audience influenced their design decisions. Luckily for smaller companies, and unlike with proprietary software, it’s easy to just switch out the default theme with one of the hundreds available on drupal.org.
Another interesting example is the actual decision companies have to make to use the Drupal Commons install profile rather than the Drupal core install profile. Acquia learned from Red Hat’s approach on this front. Commons, like RHEL, will attract business people – decision makers – because of the marketing language around it. Commons is billed as a Jive and Telligent competitor, which makes sense to executives. It’s presented as an out-of-the-box solution, which sells well to your boss. Acquia supports it, which the I.T. department appreciates. Drupal core doesn’t have that reputation, even though experienced Drupal developers can make any kind of website with it. As a result, the kind of developers that large companies with lots of money might hire might be able to scaffold the exact requirements of the business more quickly if they started from the core install profile instead of dealing with the assumptions Drupal Commons makes about the use cases of its intended audience. (Either way, companies will be able to build enormously powerful websites that do exactly what they want. It’s just a question of how quickly.) On the other hand, it seems to me that Acquia has pretty much gotten those use cases right, in which case building on top of Commons makes complete sense.

What’s Inside

Drupal Commons revolves around Organic Groups. A Commons-based website essentially consists of a bunch of groups, each of which can have their own forums, wikis, blogs, documents, polls, and activity stream. There are also userpoints, email notifications, bookmarks, user relationships, and a WYSIWYG editor (CKEditor, to be precise). Users and groups have pretty comprehensive dashboards that can be customized by administrators. Basically, these are the right features to have for an interactive corporate site, and they work as advertised. They’re also essentially the same features you would get if you installed the same modules as Commons on another site, albeit with some saner default settings.

These are the right features to have for an interactive corporate site, and they work as advertised.

Moshe Weitzman (the original author of Organic Groups) has a nice post analyzing the choice of modules, and I generally agree with him, although I’d like to reiterate two points. First, Heartbeat was an odd choice over Activity 2.x (and the much lesser-known Message). My theory about Heartbeat is that it was chosen because although Activity 2.x is fairly stable it doesn’t have a stable release. The way Commons uses Heartbeat, it is nearly functional identical to Activity 2.x, with the main difference being that Activity uses historical records while Heartbeat does not (a minor technical detail). I say that Heartbeat was an odd choice mainly because Activity has 5 times as many users and its code is more Drupal-y. They’re both actively developed although the Heartbeat issue queue is more aggressively maintained.
My second gripe is with the rules for which passwords are allowed. Weitzman wrote that “Password Policy should be classified as torture” – but this is not true. The Drupal Commons password rules are torture, yes, but the fault lies wholly with Acquia. Commons configures the password rules during installation to be inhumanly obnoxious. It would have been enough to require that passwords be a minimum of 5 characters long, which the Password Policy module can happily do. Luckily, the Commons defaults are not written in stone.
I’d also like to point out that the custom module Acquia wrote to display statistics to group moderators (called Quant, and now available on drupal.org) is pretty sweet. Thanks to my senior-year AP Statistics teacher Jason Smith, I’m fascinated by statistics, and I’ve tried and failed to write a comprehensive, extensible module to collect and display stats about a Drupal installation without writing dozens of complex SQL queries. To whichever Acquia engineer wrote the Quant module, please accept my hearty congratulations.
For more about what you’ll get when you install Drupal Commons (and why you should do it), take a look at the features and benefits Acquia lists. My favorite feature: “Oh, and it’s Drupal.” That implies security, quality, internationalization, extensibility, and scalability. Drupal’s greatest strength is its flexible API and module repository, so it’s easy to build on Commons to add additional functionality as you see fit. My favorite benefit: “Drupal Commons creates the online conditions that permit happy serendipity to emerge from your community members.” Okay, so it’s an arguable point, but “happy serendipity” reminds me of gumdrops and lollipops.

Final Thoughts

Before I got off the phone with Jay Batson, he said, “if there’s one thing I hope that you take away from this conversation, it’s that this is version one.” There were lots of features Acquia considered for inclusion in Drupal Commons and ultimately they chose to focus on the ones that were most important to their target audience and then get a release out the door. There will naturally be some growing pains, but there is an enormous upside for Acquia, Drupal, and Commons users. Acquia is committed to the continued evolution of Drupal Commons and the first version is a worthy launching pad. Future features will likely include group hierarchies (basically allowing sub-groups) and user-configurable dashboards. Other possibilities include document hierarchies, contact lists / newsletter ability, and tweaks to the Calendar system.

Companies looking at Drupal Commons for a social enterprise solution can be assured that they will not be left in the dark.

Drupal Commons has a few advantages over its competitors by virtue of being an Acquia product. There’s the technology – Drupal, of course – but there’s also Acquia’s hosting, support, and training services. Acquia will host a Drupal Commons installation for you, provide support to help you configure and maintain it, and train people in your company to moderate it through partnerships they refer to as the Community Roundtable. As a result, companies looking at Drupal Commons for a social enterprise solution can be assured that they will not be left in the dark.
As large companies embrace Drupal through Commons, the result will help Drupal become a better framework. They will fund features and patches (as they have already done through Acquia during the Commons development process). And these improvements will help the community grow.
It’s worth noting that Drupal Commons is built on Drupal 6. At the time of this writing Drupal 7 was still in alpha, and while the D7CX movement has done admirably well, not enough contributed modules have upgraded to make a Drupal 7 version feasible yet. Drupal Commons is also designed for stability, and Drupal 7 won’t be officially stable until the full 7.0 release.
Contrary to the hopes of some, Drupal Commons should not be mistaken for a user-focused social network. Instead, Commons is aimed at large companies, and it is a great choice for that audience. I also foresee Drupal Commons being particularly useful for in-house developers with less Drupal experience and for small- and medium-sized companies looking to use Drupal as a springboard for building better relationships with their users.
Acquia’s Drupal Commons provides a flexible social business platform out of the box. Version 1.0 is a solid foundation for future growth, but there’s plenty to like right now. Unlike its competitors, Commons is free and open-source, which means it’s easily extensible with custom code or the thousands of Drupal modules and themes. Commons is a fantastic contribution to the Drupal space – so go try it out!
Many thanks to Jay Batson for taking the time to talk to me about Drupal Commons and clear up a number of questions I had about it. I’m encouraged by this level of outreach and community participation – in keeping, of course, with the spirit of Drupal Commons.