Getting a credit card

I've always been a no-credit guy. I don't like to ask for any loan for any purpose. That's my principle since I was a kid, perhaps parts of what my dad has taught me. Now, I've created and/or implemented more than 2 automotive loan application systems (one of them is a product of my employer), and since I know exactly the formula they use for the loan installment payments, it further discourages me from taking any loan.

I have neither a car nor a house. I plan to have one of both in the next 2-3 years, and I know I may need to take a loan for them. One way is to apply for a loan in the local bank using my current employment records & employer's recommendation as part of the loan application attachments. The loan itself may be able to cover only 30% of a car's price though.

From my experience in deploying the loan application system on multiple funding companies, I know also that a good credit history is required for a large amount of loan. Even though credit card is new & highly unpopular as part of Indonesian life style, it's getting its popularity among the urbans in the recent couple of years.

Now, after looking at this very nice post about how to increase your credit score, I know that I need to get at least a credit card, and use it! :P. I did get myself a credit card 4 years ago, which I planned on using them to buy books from Amazon. Yet, it's never been the case. I paid the annual fee, but never use the credit limit even for once.

For an American whose credit card history is quite long, since the 30's I believe (a few years back I've read the credit card history in the US through some book, I forget the book's title though), it's very important to get a good credit card history for applying a larger amount of loan. But, for an Asian countryman, is it already accustomed to have it?

Is it true that a decent hard-working employee can never pay himself a good house/car in cash? I find it's rather hard to accept, yet easier to believe.

A better work in the next 5 years?

Since highschool, I always believe that I need to keep on learning in order to stay alive. The same with my line of work. I'm trying to keep myself up-to-date with what might be a valid source of income for the next years to come. I've been trying to keep myself to think that I need to be able to find myself a good, if not better, work in the next 5 years.

My current choice is a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science & Java. I know I need to upgrade myself with a Master Degree, either in Management or Business Adm., and I need to learn Ruby (from the look of it). And it must happen within the next 1-2 years.

Reading Joel's list of books that he requires an MBA candidate to learn, I notice that not a single book from that list I've read. It's been more than a year since my last intention to read one Java-related book, from cover to cover, in two months. But, it's never been a successful story.

Now, Joel is expecting an MBA candidate to read one book every two weeks at a constant pace, for the next three years. It's just incredible. The pace that every persons in this world are running is just incredible. I'm running all the time, and yet it seems the finish line is running faster than I am.

I wonder if anyone feels the same as I do..

Today's Reading - 12 Dec 05

Iranian blogger is rejected to visit the US due to his blog contents.
His lesson teaches us to be careful in saying our political views, to be careful NOT to bring up unnecessary information about our personality when we're crossing any border, and also to think again whether being searchable by Google is a good thing or not.

Erik Thauvin is receiving e-mails that says he has Java Trademark Infringement on his blog site.
I'm not too sure I understand what this means, I sure hope it's just part of the Sun Partner program, but the issues of trademarks & copyrights are not easy ones and they tend to limit people's freedom rather than to protect their own rights. Some folks in Indonesia even joke at the possibility of having Indonesian government pay Sun Microsystems because we have an island named Java :). By naming my blog as "java developer in java", I think I may just made myself a good candidate for the Java Trademark Infringement. We'll see.. :)

A good summary of the machine vs. humane interface
I've read the initial post by Martin, and read Cedric's comments. I believe that for an SDK release to have too many humane interface is not such a good thing. It may be making too many assumptions on different people's intuitivity. A good SDK release should only include things that 90% of its own developers agree that they'll use them. Convenient methods with more than 3 lines may be okay, but shorter methods may be unappropriate. A language change, as what we had with Java 5, which reduces the boilerplate codes and introduces generics & annotations, is better than having too many humane interface for an SDK release. Maybe a good research or survey on java.lang classes and utility classes created to help the usage of java.lang classes are possible objective ways to solve this debate.