Goodbye Windows. Hello Xubuntu

For years I have had a love/hate relationship with Windows in its various incarnations, which has led me to flirt with a number of Linux distributions in the past. Nevertheless, games and other Windows only applications have meant that I have always returned to Microsoft OS's. That was until last week when I finally lost patience with my install of Windows XP. Degradation of performance and the constant threat of viruses finally prompted me to install Xubuntu.I picked that distribution because I have had good experience of using Kuki Linux, which is based on Xubuntu, on my Acer Aspire One netbook. I like the XFCE windows manager because it is...

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Posted in: Linux

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin wants more computers in schools | Technology | Los Angeles TimesVery interesting description of Google Founder Sergey Brin's thoughts on his educationtags: Google, educationAfter he left the Montessori school, Brin felt he was stuck in a 19th-century curriculum, and he ultimately quit high school after his junior year.How I create and publish podcasts » Moving at the Speed of CreativityWow. If he missed any part of podcasting in this article, I don't know what it would be. Very thorough. (Shared by Vicki Davis on the Educator list today)tags: podcasting100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School | Online CollegesNumber 3 is why some schools block Google. To me, that's an AUP violation, not an issue for CIPA.tags: Googletweentribune.com | News for tweens,...

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Recording of Technology Supports for Writing Webinar is Now Available

This past Wednesday, Joan Green and I held a webinar on technology supports for writing which was based on our new eBook, "Technology Supports for Writing" which we recently released. The 51 page eBook which is accessible with Adobe Acrobat Reader includes a great compilation of resources for anyone who needs to support students in the area of writing. Included in the ebook iare over 12 videos that are embedded that let you actually see how the software works. You can view the videos in full screen and get a sense first hand if you think that the program may have application for the students you are working with. During the webinar we highlighted...

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Posted in: assistive technology,Ginger Software,joan green,livescribe pulse smartpen,NaturalReader,Papershow,pixwriter,webinar,writing,writing supports

Becoming an IT Consultant? Ask Your Prospects These 4 Key Questions

One of the most important parts of becoming an IT consultant is making sure you know which type of small business clients you want to attract.How can you find the prospective clients that will most benefit from your services long-term? Look for companies that are big enough to need your services on a regular basis. So these potential clients are candidates for signing on-going service contracts, that bring you the steady revenue that will be the foundation of your business. Doing this successfully, as you are becoming an IT consultant, means you absolutely need to know the major qualifying questions inside out and backwards, like the back of your hand. Geographically Desirable? Because most small business clients need a lot of hand-holding, potential clients need to be located nearby...

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Posted in: becoming an it consultant

Help with Google Earth Images, too

ARGH!! MOST frustrating!You are SUPPOSED to be able to create a placemark in Google Earth and use the img src tag to link to images in the placemark. And you can. But, once again, when you save the placemark, the image doesn't get zipped in with the kmz file - and it's SUPPOSED TO!Anyone have an answer to that?UPDATE 8:27 PMMANY thanks to Shawn Canady, for helping resolve this issue. It turns out that I had too much of a file path included in the img src tag. I had something like "file:///Users/jamesgates/desktop/gepic.jpg" Removing the file:// did it. Sheesh...

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The 22nd Carnival of Computer Help and Advice

Welcome to the twenty-second monthly Carnival of Computer Help and Advice - a digest of recent blog articles that spread the wealth of PC knowledge."Firefox is the second most popular web browser in the world and it continues to gain popularity and market share. With this rapid growth many users, especially new users, are not aware of the wide range of Firefox keyboard shortcuts available. These small combinations of keystrokes when used at the right time can be real productivity boosters. Here are 30 Firefox keyboard shortcuts to help simplify and speed up your daily browsing. Even Firefox veterans may find these helpful." So says Mike from...

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Posted in: Blog Carnival

Help with Google Earth tours

I've searched everywhere I can think of, and I've tweeted about it, and I've even been able to communicate with Frank over at the gearthblog (I point folks there frequently) but I have not been able to find the answer to this question about tours in Google Earth. Maybe a reader can help.You've seen the Google Earth tours, I'm sure, where you're flown to various places around the world and when you arrive there, the balloon opens then closes when you move on. All the while, the narrator's voice can be heard talking us through the tour.I want to make one of those - and I can - but I can't share it.I can set up a folder of locations with each location having a balloon for information about that place. I can click the Tour folder icon and it will do as it's supposed to do, flying me to each location....

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Prezi - I don't get it

I've talked about this on Twitter, but maybe a reader can help me come to terms with Prezi. I don't get it.I recently saw another person who used Prezi for the presentation, and again I thought, "This is everything that we complained about with Powerpoint. Needless, distracting animations. The only thing missing were sound effects, and I could imagine them containing whooshing sounds and spinner sounds and ratchet sounds to fit the nauseating motions.Seriously, if Microsoft ever decided to steal .. sorry.. build similar visual effects, wouldn't we immediately begin to complain about them?Or am I missing something? Am I allowing my stomach queasiness when I watch the zooming and spinning, etc, to cloud my judgme...

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Congratulations to LTMS600 class

I had such a great day yesterday. I got the chance to hear all about the projects that the teachers in the LTMS600 class did with their students so far this fall. Yesterday was the final day for the course, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.From 3rd graders using a Wallwisher board as a KWL chart, to backchanneling with 8th grade Spanish students, to a Facebook-like project in Mythology that ended up in Issuu, to students making Jing screencasts for the library - and great uses for Google Docs, and student blogs and Google Earth tours.. and more. What fun it was to see and hear about the changes in their classrooms.I wish now that I had thought to jot down all the comments that students had as they worked on the projects. The teachers told of how they didn't want to stop the activity when...

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State's graduation exam passes latest testReady or not, here it comes.tags: testing, graduationTrulia Hindsight - Maps of Properties Through TimeWonderful visualization tool. Excellent!tags: tools, visualizationThe Metiri Grouprange of use chart and sample activity to help teachers focus on "taking it to the next level"tags: blooms, bloomstaxonomyBlooms_Taxonomy_Model_Questions_and_Key_Words.pdf (application/pdf Object)Nice printable handout for discussing Bloom'stags: blooms, bloomstaxonomyBloom's TaxonomyDownload a printable version of the Wheeltags: blooms, bloomstaxonomyBloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domainsanother way of viewing the taxonomytags: blooms, bloomstaxonomyAssessment Cyberguide for Learning Goals and OutcomesNice pie chart of questions and activities for each areatags: bloomstaxonomy,...

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MindGenius 3 Released!

No sooner then I do a review of MindGenius 2.5, I find out that MindGenius Ldt., has just released MindGenius 3. When you first open MindGenius 3 you will see an who new look, complete with the adoption of the Fluid Ribbon Interface. MindGenius 3.0 is much more visually appealing to use but you should feel right at home with the common interface structure. MindGenius 3 kept many of the same conventions as in their previous version such as the Map Explorer and the Picture Gallery Viewer. MindGenius 3 has a clean and inviting look summoning you to jump in and use the program. If you are upgrading from version 2.5 you should be up and running in...

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Posted in: mind mapping,mindgenius,mindgenius 3

Links revision...

Some links were changed and specially several Informix related blogs were added. It's really nice to see new Informix related sites and authors publishing info. In particular I'm very glad to add several Brazilian sites. This is really important for the Portuguese speaking audience. The links added are:Advanced DataToolsThis was a big miss. Lester Knutsen is probably the most noticeable element of this IBM Partner who just recently organized another edition of the Fastest Informix DBA contestIMartins Tudo Sobre InformixA Brazilian site with articles and information related to IBM InformixAskPontesA blog from my Brazilian colleague Vagner PontesInformixBrAnother blog from another Brazilian colleague Pedro HT RodriguesInformix DBAA blog from the well known Andrew Ford, a member of the International...

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Posted in: informix blogs,informix sites

A word about images

This has to be one of the toughest ideas to fully comprehend - the matter of image sizes and 'weight.' And, unless you're aware that it IS an issue, you're destined to continue along doing what you're now doing, never to know what it is you're doing wrong.And Microsoft (PowerPoint AND word) doesn't help matters. What happens when you insert an image into Word or PowerPoint? It displays at pretty much the size you're looking for, doesn't it? The picture fits very nicely on that PowerPoint slide. But, it lies. The picture is NOT that size. The picture is still the 3072 x 2304 size; it's just scaled smaller. And it's still 2.5mb heavy. That might even be acceptable (I would argue it's not, but I'll agree now that it is) if you're just making the PowerPoint for your computer and it won't be shared...

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Today's Webspiration Training

Today I was called into a Middle School to do some training with teachers on Inspiration to help support a student with writing and reading comprehension difficulties. Last year I had done a comprehensive assistive technology evaluation and had made the recommendation to the Child Study Team that the student would benefit greatly from using Inspiration on a computer as a pre-writing strategy and to help him to better understand and retain information. When I went into the school today I decided to take a little different tact and worked with the teachers on getting them comfortable with Webspiration. Since all of the teachers did not have Inspiration...

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Posted in: graphic organizers,inspiration,inspiration 8,webspiration

Glance to the Rescue

While I have used Glance in the past to do webinars and to do screen sharing, I have never had the opportunity until yesterday to use it to remotely control someone's computer. One of my students called me on my cell phone and shared with me that she was having trouble doing APA formatting in Microsoft Word. I suggested that we do a session using Glance and that I would take control of her computer. I quickly shot off an email with the log-on link to her colelege email address and within seconds we were up and running. I was able to take control of her PC and show her how to use the Reference Tools within Microsoft Office 2007 to create her citations...

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Posted in: Glance,screensharing,technical support

Business as Usual?

I've not been able to get this out of my mind. Recently I had the opportunity to talk with a Business Education student teacher. I was told that in the classroom to which he's been assigned, the current teacher teaches Office all day - from a textbook. And, under the pretense of "Differentiated Instruction" allows the students to work their way through the book at their own pace. Meanwhile, the teacher sits at her desk and .. who knows what she does.The student teacher asked her if he could use the Office Live site and was told no, because she can't make the students create a site that requires an email address. Fine. The student teacher asked...

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Tes Tulis CPNS Departemen Perhubungan

Tes Tulis CPNS Departemen Perhubungan terlewati, tinggal menunggu pengumuman apakah lolos atau tidak. Pengumumannya sendiri akan diumumkan langsung melalui website Departemen Perhubungan.Jika anda penasaran apa menjadi materi dalam tes perhubungan kali ini mungkin saya masih dapat mengingat beberapa soal yang akan saya post-kan berikut ini:Jumlah Soal 200 tipe pilihan ganda dengan Lembar Jawaban Komputer.100 Soal TKD (Tes Kemampuan Dasar) dan 100 TKB (Tes Kemampuan Bidang)100 soal kemampuan dasar terdiri dari1. Pancasila dan UUD2. Soal Sebab Akitat3. Soal Pilihan Majemuk4. Sinonim5. Antonim6. Wacana7. Deret Angka8. Matematika9. Logika10. Psikotes...

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Posted in: MySelf

Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course Preview Webinar

Learn how you can get more of the best, steady, high-paying small business clients in your local area. This free live preview event is exclusively for those who are not currently owners of the Computer Consulting Kit™ Home Study Course. As no recording will be made available, this event is only available live. Registration is limited to the first 100, first-come, first-served.Sign-up now so you don’t miss out!Title: Computer Consulting Kit™ Home Study Course Preview Webinar Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Time: 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EDT After registering...

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Posted in: Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course,Joshua Feinberg

Teacher found herself when she gave up some control

This is terrific. Here are some comments from a teacher who has been working to enhance her lessons with more technology. Specifically, using tools that give her students more creative power. Read what she has to say about her experience. Have you been there? Would you say that this teacher has been transformed?---"First thought that pops into my mind is: Becoming a facilitator and not a teacher was difficult to overcome. I had to give the reigns to the students. In the beginning, I felt I was not teaching and therefore useless. Afterwards, my thoughts changed completely. Seeing the students rise to occasion was fantastic. The students became the teachers and I became the learner. Does that sound corny?This has become my highlight of each marking period, or now semester. I look forward to...

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Another great Skype lesson

This was just shared in the Classroom 2.0 Diigo group today. http://www.mrmayo.org/?p=272Here are some 7th grade students talking about copyright with the man himself, Larry Lessig, of Creative Commons fame. If you're reading this I'm sure I don't need to say more about who Larry Lessig is. And, for those of you who are not permitted to use Skype, send that link to your Principal and again urge him/her to reconsider. It's FAR too good a tool to remain locked ...

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Creating Interactive Handouts with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Earlier this week I spoke about how you could easily create printed handouts from your Captivate 4 projects. While this is certainly an added benefit and a good approach when you are doing workshops-wouldn't it be even better if you could show your participants how to accomplish the skill in an interactive handout. Why not take the printed handout an add a video demonstration to it to make it even more engaging for your learners. If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro9 Extended it is easy to add a video to your Microsoft Word document and then convert it to a PDF file and distribute it electronically.In this example I created my video demonstration using...

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Posted in: Adobe,Adobe Acrobat 9,Adobe Captivate,handouts

New Livescribe Pulse Smartpens Announced

OAKLAND, CALIF. – Oct. 19, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Livescribe Inc. announced the expansion of its line-up of award-winning Pulse smartpens, a computer in a pen that digitally captures and syncs handwriting and audio together. Customers can now select a 4GB and 2GB model in a new, stylish titanium color. The 4GB model holds more than 400 hours of recorded audio and provides ample storage for consumers to add applications such as, entertainment, education and productivity tools to their smartpen when Livescribe launches its Application Store later this year. The 4GB Pulse smartpen has a retail price of $199.95 and the 2GB model is $169.95.Also,...

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Posted in: livescribe,livescribe pulse smartpen

Set Form Element Readonly with Javascript

How we can Set Form Element Readonly with Javascript ..a piece of the code is hereopener.document.getElementById('jml_aset').setAttribute('readOnly','readOnly'); or the complete forum can be found hereIm affraid any lost.. Maybe copy any source code to this post is good idea...<script type="text/javascript">function blah(bool) { if(bool) { document.getElementById("ta").readOnly = true; } else { document.getElementById("ta").readOnly = false; }}</script><textarea id="ta"></textarea><input type="checkbox" onclick="blah(this.checked)" />or this solution[1] use setAttribute and removeAttributeif(document.formOne.fieldInfo.checked){ document.forms['myFormId'].myTextArea.setAttribute('readOnly','readonly'); //2nd readonly more freedom}else...

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Posted in: Javascript,Web

MySQL Stored Procedure that have Variable Table Name and it's Query Validation

I have try and try about MySQL Stored Procedure that have Variable Table Name and it's Query Validation. First i try to make MySQL Stored Procedure that have Variable Table Name. I so newbie in stored procedure, but after any success it feel so nice.This stored procedure primary target is giving a increment counter in a field. The increment value of a asset (Asset Information System) giving a unique ID between each number of asset even the asset is the same.below is primary procedure to do the increment.DELIMITER $$DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS `db_simaset`.`addnew`$$CREATE DEFINER=`root`@`localhost` PROCEDURE `addnew`(in tabel varchar(15), in kodeaset varchar(11),in banyak numeric,in awalancounter numeric, codesppa varchar(20), id_transaksi numeric, tglpenerimaan date, tglpembukuan date)BEGINset...

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Posted in: PHPMySQL

Another Google Wave video to see

I had two questions about Waves. One: How can you tell which are the latest edits to a wave. Two: Is it possible to know if any of your contacts are online and in the Wave application? I think I have the answer to my first question (A vertical green bar appears on the left edge of the wave entry), but I don't yet know the answer to the second question.However, I did find another good video to suggest. It showcases 15 features of a wave, in rapid fire succession. Here it ...

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TEDTalks as of 10.13.09Ted talks in a spreadsheettags: tedThe Stupidest Thing You've Ever Heard OfSee if you find anything of casual interest. :-)tags: twitter, prezieducational-origami - homeVery nice wiki as a resource for Digital Bloom's, 21st C teaching, and much more. Nominated for best wiki in 2008tags: web2.0, bloomstaxonomyCreate Great-Looking Interactive Quizzes (in minutes) - embed in any website / blog!Create embeddable quizzestags: quiz, toolsGoogle Fast Flipvery interesting. Flip through papers from around the world, arranged by topicstags: google, fastflipLearning Is Messy - Blog » Blog Archive » Process The LearningInteresting article for elementary teachers. tags: learningSmoking, Sexting and the Cyber General - The Institute for Responsible Online and CellPhone CommunicationThis...

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50 out of 70 were blocked

I just can't stop thinking about someone who recently queried a large group to ask about their filters at school. She said she's at her wit's end. Her science teacher had gathered a collection of seventy science sites, but when he got to school only twenty were accessible.Are she and I the only ones who find something terribly wrong with that pictu...

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Context Organizer- One Strategy for Students with Reading Disabilities

For the past 1 1/2 I have been working closely with Henry Lewkowicz at Context Discovery to help get the word out about his innovative software application, Context Organizer. Context Organizer is Windows based application that can very quickly summarize information from various sources. In today's information age all of us are bombarded with information that is coming at us from all angles at the speed of light. But in order to keep up we must have access to this information and be pretty good at skimming and reading quickly all of the text. If we are on the web or reading a Word or PDF files we must be able to read quickly and absorb the information...

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Posted in: Context Organizer,information overload,reading,text to speech

Copyrighted? But I NEED that video!

During a recent discussion with two other teachers, the subject of YouTube videos came up. One person commented that she was upset that she couldn't show some of them to her classes, as they are PERFECT for what she's trying to get across. The conversation went something like this.Woman: "I link to them and even embed them, but the kids cant see them at school, and some don't have computers at home. It's tough"Man: "I download them all and upload them into my Moodle."Woman: "Well, you know that's against the YouTube acceptable use policy and a violation of Copyright."Man: "Hey, I need them to teach with, so I do what I have to do. I'll use them as long as I am teaching that subject."And all of that could be avoided if the teachers were given a different filtering policy from students and access...

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Check out this WallWisher by 3rd graders

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/FVRocks2Isn't that a fun site? This was put together by some third graders who were studying rocks (of course). What a fun way to post what you know or WANT to know and have others comment on it. Non-threatening, easy to use, and fun. A nice way to get the third graders eased into computer work, don't you thi...

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Free Webinar: Technology Supports for Writing

Technology Supports for Writing Join authors Brian Friedlander, Ph.D and Joan Green M.A.CCC-SLP for a free webinar to learn about their new interactive video ebook.Space is limited.Click Here Reserve your Webinar seat now or go tohttps://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/440908155Learn about a new interactive guide to cutting-edge technology tools, strategies and resources to improve the writing process. This video ebook is now available at www.ittsguides.com. We plan to record this webinar and make it available for viewing for one week after the session. Please register here even if you can't participate live and we will notify you...

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Posted in: assistive technology,brian friedlander,eBooks,joan green,webinar

Oh BOY! My google Wave account just arrived!

Yes, I'm a geek, and I'm a lucky man. I COULD have been a geek in the 1950's when computers were just 1's and 0's. Today, however, I can play with cool stuff like the Google Wave.A while back I had pointed you to a video about the Google Wave that was an hour and 20 minutes long. Here, though, is a video that does a great job of explaining it in only ten minutes.Oh, and sorry, I've given out all eight of my available invitations to the Wave....

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Posted in: google,wave

MySQL Stored Procedure that have Variable Table Name

First Time Using Stored Procedure in MySQL 5 is a high class type of database programming to me. I still newbie in this kind of programming.But in this article i want to show you that a direct variable table name doesn't work in MySQL Stored Procedure. The example below will got error table nameDROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS addnew;DELIMITER $$CREATE/*[DEFINER = { user | CURRENT_USER }]*/PROCEDURE `db_simaset`.`addnew`(in ptabel varchar(20), in kodeaset varchar(20), in banyak numeric, in awalancounter numeric)BEGINset @awalancounter=awalancounter;set @inc=1;set @ptabel = ptabel ;while (@inc <= banyak) do begin set @awalancounter=@awalancounter+1; insert into @ptabel (kode_aset, no_aset) values(kodeaset,@awalancounter); set @inc=@inc+1; end;end while;END$$DELIMITER ;then, to make it...

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Posted in: PHPMySQL

100 Blog Follower

Cukup lama mendapar 100 Follower..tapi akhirnya dapat juga...Terima Kasih Bagi Followe...

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Posted in: Blogger

Hidup is so Complicated

Mau ini, mau itu. Memang manusia memiliki keinginan tak terbatas. Tak terkecuali tentang teman hidup ataupun orang istimewa. Naluri ingin bersama lawan jenis adalah naluri yang alami, ada, dan melekat pada individu normal. Tentu kita bisa mengambil makna dari kalimat yang cukup populer "Di sisi seorang laki-laki hebat pastilah ada seorang perempuan hebat sebagai pilarnya". Lalu bagaimana nasib seorang laki-laki hebat tanpa seorang wanita yang mensupportnya..?? Banyak dan bahkan biasa dalam kehidupan..Hal diatas mungkin sebagian kecil dari penyebab seseorang mengalami penambahan pada beban pikirannya. disamping itu masih banyakk hal yang menyebabkan seseorang harus berpikir demi kelangsungan kehidupan di masa depan.Semakin maju peradaban (entah saat ini semakin maju atau semakin mundur yang...

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Posted in: MySelf