Review Laskar Pelangi

Laskar Pelangi (English: The Rainbow Troops) is a 2008 Indonesian film adapted from the popular
same titled novel by Andrea Hirata. The movie follows a group of 10 schoolchildren and their two
inspirational teachers as they struggle with poverty and develop hopes for the future in Gantong
Village on the farming and tin mining island of Belitung off the east coast of Sumatra. The film is the
highest grossing in Indonesian box office history and won a number of local and international
awards.

Synopsis
The movie, set in the 1970s, opens on the first day of the year at a Muhammadiyah elementary
school on Belitung. The school needs 10 students but is one short until near the end of the day, when
a straggler fills out the ranks for their teachers, Muslimah and Harfan. Muslimah dubs the children
“The Rainbow Troops” (sometimes translated as “The Rainbow Warriors”) and the movie traces
their development and relationships with the teachers.
Background and impact

The film “reportedly” cost 8 billion rupiah (US$890,000) to make and was a year in production.
Most of the child actors in the film are from Belitung, and Producer Mira Lesmana explained that
choice by saying: “In my opinion, there won’t be any actors with a deeper connection to the roles
than those who were born and lived in Belitong their entire life.”

The Bangka Belitung Provincial government declared some of the locations used in the film as areas
of importance to culture and tourism in 2010, and provincial tourism chief Yan Megawandi said the
decision was “primarily” made to help raise funds for the Muhammadiyah elementary school on
which the film and novel’s story are centered.

The film’s local and international success fueled a tourism boom on Belitung, with Indonesian airline
Garuda reopening direct service from Jakarta to Tanjung Pandan, Belitung’s capital. A provincial
government official that month said he had no hard data on the increase in tourist arrivals as a result
of the film, but said that nearly all seats on flights to the island from Jakarta were booked in the first
week it was open and that most arrivals were asking about information on how to visit the film’s
locations.
Product Review
Acer Iconia Tab A100 (Reviewed By Mike Andrew)

Orientation
While the 10-inch tablet market is very crowded and highly competitive right now,
when it comes to 7-inch powerful and reliable slates, there are still some gaps that
need to be filled. The Iconia Tab A100 wants to do just that, being a very interesting,
portable, and snappy gadget.

Evaluation 1: Design and Display

When talking about 7-inch tablets, the aspect is very important. The Tab A100 does
not disappoint from this point of view, being elegant and classy. The front face is
surrounded by glossy black plastic, while the back of the tablet is a dark gray plastic
with Acer’s logo in the middle. In terms of portability, the Iconia Tab A100 is also a
more than a satisfying device, being about the same size and weight as the HTC Flyer,
for example.

      The 7-inch touch screen with 1024×600 pixels resolution offers great image
quality, contrast, and brightness, but does more of a mediocre job when talking about
viewing angles. Still, the display is overall decent and holds the comparison with the
HTC Flyer or the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.

Evaluation 2 : Performance and Software

The Iconia Tab A100 features the already classic Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor
with 1 GB of RAM memory and is therefore at least as snappy and powerful as any
other 7 or 10-inch tablet on the market right now. The cameras are surprisingly
decent, the 2 MP frontfacing and the 5 MP rear-facing devices offering pretty much
the best image quality you might hope to find on a slate.

In terms of software, Acer’s 7-inch tablet is set to be a pioneer, being the first slate of
its category to be powered by the Android Honeycomb OS. Not only that, but it will
run on the latest 3.2 version of the operating system, which means that you will get
loads of apps and snappy performance.
Evaluation 3: Connectivity and Pricing

The Iconia Tab A100 is set to feature WiFi and Bluetooth compatibility, as well as a
micro-USB port and a micro SD slot card. It would have been perfect if it would have
featured HDMI as well, but still it is pretty decent for a 7-inch tablet.

Interpretation

As far as pricing is concerned, the Acer Iconia Tab A100, which has not yet been
released on the market, will be available for 329 dollars (the 8 GB version) or for 349
dollars (the 16 GB version). This is consistently less than HTC Flyer’s or Blackberry
Playbook’s prices, to name two of the important 7-inch tablets right now.

Summary
Wrap up, while the Iconia Tab A500 is still struggling to become one of the important
names in the tablets’ world, the from this Android tablet review it looks like a winner
right away. Packing good technical specifications, as well as a decent display and a
revolutionary software for a 7-inch tablet, Acer’s new slate also comes at an
affordable price tag and will probably mesmerize technology fanatics all around the
world.
Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix Orientation
Orientation
I absolutely love the Harry Potter series, and all of the books will always hold a
special place in my heart.
Evaluation 1
I have to say that of all of the books, however, this was not my favorite.
Evaluation 2
When the series began it was as much of a “feel good” experience as a huge
mug of hot cocoa. The stories were bright, fast-paced, intriguing, and
ultimately satisfying.
Interpretation
Order of the Phoenix is a different kind of book. In some instances this works.
You feel a whole new level of intensity and excitement by the time you get to
the end. I was truly moved by the last page. Other times the book just has a
slightly dreary, depressing feel. The galloping pace of the other books has
slowed to a trot here, and parts of it do seem long, as if we’re reading all about
Harry “just hanging out” instead of having his usual adventures. Reading in
detail about Harry cleaning up an old house, for example – housekeeping is
still housekeeping, magical or no, and I’m not very interested in doing it or
reading about other people doing it.
A few other changes in this book, the “rear world comes much more in to play
rather than the fantasy ^universe of the previous books, and Harry has
apparently been taken off his meds. I know that he had a lot to be grumpy m
this book, especially with being a teenager and all, but the sudden change in
his character seemed too drastic. He goes from being a warm-hearted,
considerate person to someone who will bite his best friend’s heads off over
nothing. It just seemed like it d’dn t fit with his character, like he turned into a
walking cliche of the “angry teen” overnight.
Summary
The “real” story seemed to happen in the last 1/3 of the book, and this part I
loved. I actually liked the ending and yes, I cried as sad as it was. It packed a
punch and it made me care about the story even more. Still a really good book,
with some editing it would have been great.