This was published in a hard copy magazine (with many errors, unfortunately) some time back. Lengthy as it is true and perhaps boring, but worth reading. . My Facebookeemia cant keep me quiet, hnn? :) . To Those, The Chosen Ones! -------------------------------------------- . Once a wise rector said at an event, “The more I know, I come to know that I don’t know”. It is true that the more we come to be experienced, the more we realize that there are more things to understand than what we knew. . In the age of Information and Internet, every single piece of information is at our finger-tips, and is a click away from Google Search. If not thousands, hundreds of technical articles and how-to articles on any given technical subject are easily available online. Therefore, there will be no added values to repeat by discussing such technicalities in this article. As many experienced academic professors, and entrepreneurs try to make important things of Information Technology (IT) Industry aware to new comers, in their own ways through printed books, online articles and all other available media, it is observed that little is known or noticed by most of us. On the other hand, it is true that embracing of IT into our uniquely existing society, our Burmese tradition & culture, cannot be generalized and will take its own unique shape as it matures. . Knowledge Has No Border --------------------------------------- Traditionally we, the Burmese, are raised in very conservative way. So much as lovely tradition comes along, the downside is that we tend to think and follow what was taught only. An example is that we go to school from 1st grade until we completed bachelor degree or master degree or so. We learned traditional values, cultural values, and varieties of modern subjects such as science, geography, history, physics, chemistry and so on. But our school curriculums do not introduce us creativity, and practice to think out of the box (out of social norms, and common practice of our society). The result is that we all grew up only to read the textbook, getting them by heart and reiterating what was memorized. We have lost the ability to wander and to create outside of the given scope. How many of us ever make use of school library to read from other resources on the same subjects we are learning, apart from our school textbooks? Nowadays with the evolution of virtualization technology, the differentiation between virtual and physical computing becomes very blur in both networking and server technologies. VMware and other virtualization technologies virtualize servers, while Cisco has introduced the concept of borderless routing. Subjects of science studies cross their boundaries for better and more robust creations. Many innovative inventions in one specialized science area came from the idea of commonly used techniques in other subject area. State of the art bullet train uses a simple technique applied in ancient chariots to balance and to prevent from getting derailed. Centuries of years old day-to-day traditional method of natural cooling technique using rock grips (a.k.a letting cool air pass through the gap in between the pilled rocks to cool the heating underground) is used to keep China’s railway tracks to Larsa under certain temperature throughout the year. All of these examples prove that it is never enough for one to strictly learn just the textbooks. It is necessary for us to collect our knowledge not only from textbooks, but also from all possible resources available, and to understand all other co-related fields of studies open mindedly. . Concept Is Key ----------------------- Many of us come across reading multiple books, references of technical explanations on concepts, and technologies such as old school DNS (Domain Name Services), Compaq’s (now HP) pioneer iLO (Insight Lights-Out, formerly known as Remote Insight Lights-Out), HP’s famous VLS (Virtual Library System), Linux’s in genius LVM (Logical Volume Management), variable subnet length concept, private vs. public IP addressing, NAT (Network Address Translation) vs. PAT (Port Address Translation), Defacto standard PXE (Pre-Execution Environment) implemented as “preseed” in Debian species Linux distributions and as “kickstart” in RedHat and SuSE linux, and as WDS (Windows Deployment Service, formerly known as Remote Installation Service) by Microsoft , to name a few. It so happens that we don’t come to get the clue or understand thoroughly even after reading multiple books, and demonstrations. Only when someone explains to us in his/her own words and in the pattern of our own understanding, do we come to understand the concepts. The reason is because these books or references failed to give readers the concept on that specific subject matter in a way readers can grasp. It is also to note here that each individual human’s ability to understand is uniquely different (although can be categorized). It is also because these books or references are written for readers with different prerequisite knowledge. . There had been many times, that we followed instructions as per the technology or demonstration, and successfully achieved the desired result. But when things turned wrong, we ended up in total chaos and had no idea whatsoever on how to resolve the problem. This is simply because we have implemented this particular solution without properly understanding the concept and how it actually works. Without any proper in-depth understanding, one cannot troubleshoot or address any technical problem to fruitful result. Therefore it is for us to take the understanding of the concept on any subject matter to its utmost level when seeking any particular knowledge. . There are many people in the world who can be called “Doer of all, Master of None!” Handymen in Scandinavia and many countries around the world, who are very knowledgeable, truly exist. They make good living and contribute tremendously to their societies as handymen. However, no one can refuse that such people almost always lack the fundamental concepts of the subject matters or fields of expertise they claim they excel, without taking any proper academic study. . With that said, one must note that concept is the key. Without the concept, it would be like one sitting or ridding something he/she does not know. . Academic, Training Certificate, and Hands-On Knowledge ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Especially in IT field, one must have heard someone says “You don’t need to study Computer Science or Technology as a major-subject of study; this can be easily learned in any private training center.” One must have very often heard many say “You got Computer Science bachelor degree, you won’t get job. You obtained Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) or Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA), you surely will get job!” Unfortunately such delusional comment originally and mostly made by those IT professionals (so called) who never achieved academic education in IT but bridged themselves into IT fields by completing training courses and certification programs caused tremendous misunderstanding to non-IT industries to an extend many companies, institutions and organizations around the world now thrive for certificate holders, rather than a degree holders whenever they recruit an IT technician. . In reality it may have been true in many cases. But this does not mean that those people, who are certified by corresponding private companies & certification centers, are better than a bachelor degree holders despite that they know specific products or solutions well or better than others. Often times, it is proven that it is not true so. A good example is that you may have heard that there are endless numbers of MCSEs and CCNAs from India available at very cheap cost to recruit on the market, but they possess nothing close to expected proficiency and cannot do any real job. The truth is that academic achievement and certification are two different tracks. Comparing them will be like comparing apple and orange. Achieving such certificates proves that the holder has sufficient knowledge (if truly so as claimed) and competency in specific product or solution. Completing a bachelor degree (or any higher) ensures he/she learned all fundamental concepts thoroughly and knew when and how to apply. Having said that, what differentiates between the certificate holders and the academic degree holders is that the academic degree holders know the concept, regardless of which product it may be. They will also be able to troubleshoot in times of problem regardless of which product it is. Most important of all, knowing fundamental concepts not only a specific subject matter, but also other co-relating subject matters, they will be able to create new solutions in efficient way. . In this case, one may ask whether he/she should pursue only academic degrees, and to ignore any certification program. The answer is that there is no doubt that academic achievement surely is a necessity to excel a field of study, while having certified to operate a product or solution helps with added extra knowledge specific to that product or solution, and indirectly assists us in finding a job. . To support this, we should look at one of millions of the true stories. A computer science bachelor and a certified AutoCAD technician (certified draft man) went to Singapore in search of job. Within a week, the certified draft man got a job with reasonably high salary, while his friend with bachelor degree got his job only 3 weeks later, with lesser salary. One may wonder “What is the point to take 3-year (5 years in ICST time) bachelor course!” The truth is the draft man’s future and career advancement stopped right there since then. The bachelor degree holder advanced his education to higher master degree and his career flourished to managerial level with higher hope of more flourishing in near future. The door to better future and higher class of life is unlocked. . Knowing theories and concepts alone does not do any good if nothing can be realized. Not only do practical and hands-on exercises/experiences allow us to witness what we learned in real action, but also do they provide a more thorough understanding of what we learned. Hence, hands-on experiences are essential to master any given subject matter. . In short, one must remember “Academic achievement lays the seed to true understanding of concept. Hands-on experiences proves your learning, while certifications helps master a certain product solution.” . Trend & Overview --------------------------- Information Technology is the world’s fastest evolving field of study. Every single day, new technology evolves. Anyone fails to embrace risks becoming obsolete. Every new technology is illustrated and explained through thousands of published either online or through hardcopy books. If so, we are already engaged in “Mission Impossible” in coping up with the technologies, putting aside using them to make a living. The truth is not so. Many experts embrace new technologies quickly and easily. Endless geniuses even predicted what would come next. How did they do that so? . That is when the understanding of overview on technologies and the trend comes to play essential role. We would be focusing on certain technology and perfecting our knowledge in it as we make living on it. It is also necessary to know other supporting technologies and relating implementations so that we can come to see how they are related to each other, or how they dependent on each other. Seeing through such relationship of technologies and dependencies, we then will be in better position to focus on better implementation of our own. Many FTP (File Transfer Protocol) download utilities are freely available on the Internet, but only one or few of them became well known and continue to exist. It is because such well-known utilities (despite the fact they all provide the same functionalities) are better than others such as they download two or more times faster than other utilities. That is just one example of the fact that the programmers who created such utilities were able to take good advantages of underlying TCP/IP communication technology, as well as compressing techniques, by knowing these technologies on top of their programming knowledge. . Just as a side information, when programming, every single instruction in your program has a cost and can be calculated in units of processing cycle (which, in real life, is going to be processed through cycles of the processor, with 2.5GHz, 3.0GHz of CPU speed as we know it). So the lesser our program makes use of the processing cycle, the more we can split our instructions to be processed in parallel through different cores of modern CPUs, the more efficient use of memory and other resources such as disk I/O and the use of main data bus, the more efficient your program can achieve, in addition to the fact that the algorithm, control logic and flow is correctly done. . Hence, we must know the trend and overview of as many fields of studies as possible to our advantages. . Knowledge Sharing ---------------------------- With the technology evolving so fast, given that endless number of experts invented many innovative techniques and products, the ground is for us on how to cope with this and to get on it. Ancient civilization invented the wheel thousands of years ago. It will be useless to try and re-invent the wheel. More over, much more advanced inventions have been around us that we are even having difficulties understanding them, knowing them, and using them. Reading of endless number books on each technology and subject matter needs multiple of our life-times. However, one of the best things human brain has is unimaginable speed, such that no technology on this planet can come closer in comparison to it. On the other hand, it is true that even reading the very same book, human understanding on a subject matter is uniquely very different. Taking both factors to our maximum advantage, if we all share our knowledge without sparing, the need to cope with such ever evolving technologies can be overcome. Thus, we must share our knowledge without exception, and without sparing. It is multi-literally beneficial and it is the only way towards better future. . One may convince that sharing your very own version of knowledge risks being taken advantages by others. In the wrong hands, it may seem possible so. Over time, the truth is that making yourself indispensable does not do any good either, such that you will then be depended by others and you will be in your own imprisonment of irreplaceable-ness. Look at the only doctor in a village. It is true so that he is the savior; he is the only one whom everyone depends upon; he is indeed irreplaceable. But then so, how would he take break? How would he go on vacation without being disturbed? Otherwise, many people could lose their lives without him. Wouldn’t it be better if we have many health-care workers who can save (never the same, but to an extent) patients’ lives? Wouldn’t it be even better if others study academic medical courses to become additional doctors? This example proves the statement below. . Knowledge sharing to anyone is not losing, but gaining, and beneficial to mankind. We must share our knowledge. . Professionalism ------------------------ In materialist world, one wins against another to gain financial upper-hand. One kills another for the interest of its own kind. One takes other’s achievement as if it is his/her own. We come across conflicts and confrontations between supervisor and supervisee, claiming who knows better than whom. Small disagreements erupted to nation-wide war. Just because of different fundamental belief in religion, we grow global enemies in the very same planet we live in. . “How do these things relate to professionalism?” one may ask. It is related certainly so, if you look at all the involving human beings like they are the professionals in what they are doing. A suicide bomber regardless of his/her religion certainly needs to master and ensure the technique to achieve what he/she wishes. A fighter pilot needs to excel flying the fighter plane. A supervisor or a supervisee knows the job to his/her own extent. Every religious person learned his/her religion’s teaching to a degree. So that they are all professionals, but why do they need to fight? Because we, humankind of this day, lack to practice the professionalism. Two disagreed supervisor and supervisee can continue to disagree, but there is no reason to fight or hate each other. They should be open-minded to see the other’s opinion and combined the goods to come up towards better solution. Once I told my boss during a discussion in disagreement “I don’t agree with you, but I would support you.” A simple professional ethic here is “Be a good leader and be a good follower”. . One must note that being professional does not only mean knowing a technique or a subject matter to an excellent level. It also means that he/she practices the techniques truly from the perspective of knowledge, without any personal emotion, but professionally. . Therefore, if for one to claim as professional, one must excel the technique, practice without personal emotion, the most important of all, to the benefit of mankind. . High Standards ---------------------- In life, we experience not only racial discrimination, but also professional discrimination. A good example will be that both students studied law. But law degree graduates from Harvard and Yale are very well respected around the world, whereas no one in the world recognizes a law degree graduate from Burma as a lawyer. It is a painful reality because of the standards each university adheres to. Students graduated from universities with high educational standards can enjoy their reputation and earn the respect of others. The standard of universities including UCSY and who would recognize the quality/standard of which university is beyond our control. Thus, it yields no benefit in discussing this. However, what we can do is to set ourselves high standards. As mentioned above, we must collect maximum knowledge from whatever possible resources when studying or seeking knowledge. With that said, regardless of which university we graduated from, we then can prove our own excellence of knowledge. Indirectly so, in time, we contribute our school to gain its recognition and respect around the world. . Just because everyone in the street throws trash everywhere, should we not do so. Just because we graduated from a small and unpopular school, should we not look down and limit ourselves. . Set your own high standards! Master your field of technical interest and study! Always set high standards in anything you do! . Being Good Citizen ----------------------------- This seems irrelevant to discuss in this article and in this magazine. Albert Einstein had discovered “Relativity Theory” many years ago. Leave that aside. Universally true relativity theory is “Everything is interrelating each other and interdepending each other!” . In spite that computers were invented to help automate manual labor work faster and more efficiently, the way they work internally from the very first computers to this modern age computers merely are closest possible resemblance of how human brains function. One can correctly believe that they are miniature implementation of mechanical brains. Human sleeps; computers hibernate. Our brain can process millions of tasks at the same time, consciously or sub-consciously; computers have foreground and foreground tasks and scheduled tasks. And so on. . People have respect (if not very high, to a very good degree) on us having qualified to study computer science & technology. We have campuses of our own instead of being combined with other majoring subjects in Yangon Universities. We must be proud of being special ones; being intelligent ones, and being a clever kind. Along came the chance and opportunity to show others what we can do to change Burma, and its people. It is by showing that we are good citizens. . We have lived in different lifestyles, under different government trends. People of Burma after living under such extreme lifestyle, are now behind the average knowledge, educational standards, and social accountability. . - We proudly throw garbage in the streets. - We now have mentality such that “Now the police is around, we cannot cross the road. Wait until he is gone to cross the restricted road” is now commonly practiced. - We parked our cars whichever way it is convenient for us, ignoring what others will have trouble with. - We at some points in time (during the 88’, early 90’) started to think both graduating from university, and driving the bus yields the same living. . Above examples are only a few to name. We have lost much of our values of being good citizens over time as a trade-off to survival. . Now, we have a clearer sight of our future. All that is needed is for every one of us to do our best as individuals towards a better future. In this, what we can do is by showing ourselves as good role model citizens. . - We can start disciplining ourselves by being good in personal character. - We can start dressing (as cheap or old as possible it may be) neat and tidy. - We can start behaving verbally and physically like decent people. - We can start being considerate of others, being helpful to anyone who is in need of help. - We can start being accountable for what we speak, and act. - We can start being responsible for whatsoever we are concerned. - We can start sharing our professional and technical knowledge and wisdom regardless of which race and what religion. - We can start keeping our campus clean, by not throwing any garbage ourselves as well by reminding friendly and positively whenever others do so. . And so on. You all are chosen to be in this profession of Information Technology, the world’s most advanced technology. . You are the chosen ones! . Being one of the chosen ones, myself of my time, it is my responsibility to share my cumulative knowledge, the wisdom I have ever earned through studies, the teaching of beloved teachers, and life-time experiences, with my sincere wish of seeing my next generations flourishing to their maximum. . May you all succeed, without exception, in all future endeavors! . (In memory of our beloved ICST/UCSY teachers’ parental gratitude)
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:48:27 +0000
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