Jack Who??

That was my reaction after reading match report for Arsenal 10-2 win against Burgenland XI and 3-1 win against Stuttgart. At that two matches, Jack Wilshire was named in the score sheet. two goals against Burgenland and one goal against Stuttgart.


I have heard some of the Arsenal reserves players such as Nazer Barazite, Rui Fonte, Gavin Hoyte, Kieran Gibbs, Jay Simpson, etc, but I haven`t heard about Jack Wilshire at all... :x . After try googling for the player, I managed to find some websites that discussed him and looks like he is really a good talent :D

Here is the fact that I can summarize about him

- (still) 16 years old !!
- Can play anywhere in midfield (left, right, center, holding midfielder, behind strikers). But currently he often positioned as left midfielder by Neil Banfield (Arsenal reserves manager)
- Left footed
- Has been with arsenal since 9 years old
- Break into u18 team last season when he was only 15-16 years old and ended the season with double digit goals and assists !! He was also featured in some reserves team games
- and above all.. He is an Englishman, thats why English Arsenal fans are so ecstatic about him :D

Hope that he will be featured in Carling Cup this season to gain some experience in higher level football :D Who knows next season he might be breaking into Arsenal`s first team just like Cesc Fabregas ;)

Here is some interesting links about Jack Wilshire

Wenger, The Key Man in Jack Wilshire Development
Jack Wilshire assist and goal at reserves team game vs West Ham
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Playstation 2, Coltan and Congo Civil War

"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms,"

-Oona King, ex British Parliament member-

Until mid 2008, at least 140 million of Playstation 2 (PS 2) are sold worldwide, making it as a best selling game console ever. Nevertheless a report which was issued by Toward Freedom, an independent media, had linked the success of PS 2 with the brutal Congo Civil War (1998-2003). Won`t you be curious to know what is connection between the two things??

It started at 1997 when Laurent Kabila with support from Rwanda, Uganda and Angola had successfully toppled Mobutu Sese Seko to become The President of Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC). Unfortunately, the relation between Kabila and his allies (especially Rwanda and Uganda) deteriorated and turned into hostility after Kabila had expelled his Rwandan chief of staff. And then war erupted after Rwanda and Uganda assisted Tutsi Minority in DRC to rebel against Kabila.

Thats it?

Nope... in fact we are entering the main topic right now. The rebel was situated in eastern provinces (see picture below) which is "accidentally" very rich in ore called Coltan (Columbite-Tantalite). This ore is the principal source for tantalum and niobium (other name for columbium) transition metal which mainly used to make capacitors for various electronic devices. Interestingly 80 % of coltan reserves is in DRC while 80 % of coltan production comes from Australia.

Uhmm.. before we continue to the next paragraph, there is a little correction for image below, I think tantalite should be Ta2O6 instead of Ta2O5 :p Same correction is also applied for columbite :D

And the story goes....

Based from a BBC news article, The Coltan price was only $40/lb at January 2000 when it suddenly rocketed to $380/lb at Desember 2000 and by July 2001, the price was around $100/lb. This event will surely not be wasted by the rebels (plus Rwandan and Ugandan Armies who backed them) as their source of income. It was reported in DRC United Nations mission website that in 18 months Rwandan Army had made fortune at least $250 million through the sale of coltan, even though no coltan is mined in Rwanda

Interestingly, at that same time, Sony began to launch its phenomenal PS 2. I quote this from wikipedia :

Only a few million people had obtained consoles by the end of 2000 due to manufacturing delays.^[8] After its release, it was difficult to find PS2 units on retailer shelves.^[9] Another option was purchasing the console online through auction websites such as eBay, where people paid over one thousand dollars for a PS2.^[10] The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the console's backward compatibility, selling over 980,000 units by March 5, 2000, one day after launch, in Japan.^[11] This allowed the PS2 to tap the large install base established by the PlayStation — another major selling point over the competition. Later, Sony gained momentum with new development kits for game developers and more PS2 units for consumers

So, PS2 experienced a huge demand but there was supply shortage (manufacturing delay) and according to an established economic principle, the price will increase if the demand also increase. of course it was not PS2 who solely responsible for the rocketing coltan price. It was believed that increase in selling of mobile phone and PC`s also helped to increase coltan price.

Meanwhile Sony spokesperson, Satoshi Fukuoka denied that Sony has been using "bloody tantalum" from DRC`s coltan. After enquiring to their suppliers, Fukuoka stated that the tantalum they use is not "illegally mined Congo coltan". Nonetheless, he admitted that it is difficult to ensure not a single "bloody tantalum capacitor" is being used. I quote what he said in toward freedom website

"The material suppliers source their original material from multiple mines in various countries. It is therefore hard for us to know what the supply chain mix is," he said. "I am happy to state to you that to the best of our knowledge, (SONY) is not using the material about which you have expressed concern (illegally mined Congo Coltan)."

Is it true? I don`t know for sure...
I just can say, "The Truth is Out There...."

Reference
- Toward Freedom
- BBC News
- Wikipedia
- DRC United Nation Mission Website

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Wenger - I am in the market for a midfielder

News from Arsenal.com :

By Richard Clarke in Austria

Arsène Wenger is aiming to bolster his midfield for the new campaign but, as yet, he does not have a specific target in mind.

After the Barnet game on Saturday the Arsenal manager said that he would bring in “one player certainly... maximum of two” before the window closed at the end of August. After the 1-1 draw at Szombatheyli on Tuesday he was more specific about the position but not the person.

“We will need one more body in there,” said Wenger when asked about his midfield. “At the moment we do not have Alex Song who is going to the Olympic games, Abou Diaby was not here tonight and nor was Fabregas.

“If we find a reasonable target then we will do it. But there is no special name on the list.

“We have some time. We have until August 31. We left 11 players back in Austria for this game. They will play in Stuttgart [on July 30].”

Before that, on Monday, Arsenal go to Ritzing to play a Burgenland XI. Arsenal TV Online subscribers will be able to see this game live.

[ Wednesday, July 23, 2008]

Well..since Pat Rice contacted O`Neill to keep him informed of Gareth Barry`s recent status, I think it`s quite obvious that Barry will be Arsenal`s top target in their central midfield. Beside Barry, maybe Wenger could try Samir Nasri in that position. Although, Nasri will likely to be deployed in right wing which was his position in Marseille

Hopefully Wenger can outflank Benitez in the "Battle of Gareth Barry" ;)

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Ben Elton-The First Casualty

Have I told you that I like historical novels? Well if I haven`t, I`m going to tell u now :D

I found this novel at the University Library. Well.. looks like a nice book as a "supplement" for my "busy" research. Don`t know much about the author but according to the book , he is also known as a stand up comedian. Errrr.. so what a stand up comedian do with a historical novel? Let`s see about that ;-)


It tells us story about Douglas Kingsley, a successful Detective with the London police, who becomes an enemy of the state after he refused to take part in the Great War and denounces the war as a stupid and illogical. As a punishment, the court decides to put him in jail along with the criminals that he successfully nabbed before. But then a terrible incident happens which would change Kingsley`s fate. A well known viscount, son of a political figure and was known for his patriotic poems as well as his action in the battlefield, is killed mysteriously. So the government (who regard Kingsley as their top detective) decide to to fake Kingsley`s death at the prison and send him to the battlefield in Ypres in order to investigate the matter

And so the investigation begins in the middle of The Third Battle of Ypres. For me, the investigation is a mixture of comedies and also ironies. We could see the irony when Kingsley tries to interview his witness, then suddenly artillery shell comes and blow his witness to pieces of debris. The investigation itself makes us to think whether the viscount death really worth of deep investigation compare to other soldiers death. While on the other hand I could hardly not to laugh at the masturbating lunatic soldier at one of the Kingsley`s interview session and at the MP Sergeant who stamp his feet so hard every time he finishes his words.

At the end.. well you can guess yourself who is the real killer :D

Overall I give this novel 3 out 5 stars ;-)
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Jack of all trades and master of some??

We meet again :D

Maybe curiosity surround when someone look at my blog headline

"wish to be jack of many trades and master of some"

what is exactly mean?

well.. it was written in opening page of an extractive metallurgy textbook (written by Prof Terkel Rosenqvist). He said that (if I`m not mistaken because I forgot the exact words) a metallurgist should be jack of many trades and master of some. At first I dont understand what does the phrase mean, but with a help from google and wiki, I managed to solve the mystery :p

From wiki :

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in any one. The term has become a cliché and often used as an insult in its current form, which is only half of the quote. The full quote, "Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one,"^{[citation needed]} is actually a compliment, though the term stemming from it, just 'Jack of all trades' is usually seen as a compliment to someone who can adapt to most situations.

A Jack of all trades may also be a master of integration, as the individual knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring their disciplines together in a practical manner. Such a person is known as a polymath or a Renaissance man, and a typical example is someone like Leonardo da Vinci.

So it is a pun from an established idiom. Metallurgist should be know several things outside his field as a metallurgist and he manages to become expert in some of it (including his own field, of course :p).

Speaking of this wordplay, I remember an anecdote from my undergrad year in Bandung Institute of tech (ITB) which stated that an ITB student is an expert in many areas but excluding his own field, :O . Well sometimes it could be right, because I know someone with a astronomical background but he becomes an expert in military and intelligence things :D

How about me? well I`m not too expert in metallurgy, I just know several things (look at my CGPA). Beside metallurgy I also have an interest in historical things and love to read about it. But I dont think I`m an expert in this subject also.. :p. Anyway, since I`m doing research in semi-solid metal forming of steel (thixoforming) as my postgrad research subject, hopefully I can become an expert in this field. Ameen.....
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Welcome...welcome...

Sometimes writing could be very easy and sometimes could be very difficult.

Sometimes words are flowing endlessly from your brain and you can type it with unbelievable speed... but sometimes it seems like you don`t have anything to write (or to type) and you just staring and empty paper (or an empty page of word processing page) for hours

It`s very long time since I want to write a blog, but it is just now that I can realize it :p

See u soon :D
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