I’m in the Information Technology line for few years now. To be honest, i’m getting quite tired of it. I’m quite a no-nonsense type of guy. If i have a problem, i will try my best to solve it……..to come out with a solution. That’s my initial “dream” when i decided to join this line. Well, it’s quite cool right…to use technology to solve problems.
So i joined…spent 4 years in the university…graduated with OK result…..worked for 3 years…….got a decent pay…being sent to UK for work and training at this age (many people could only dream of going to UK..and i was very fortunate to be given the opportunity). And what now?

Same thing. I realized that my job is getting more and more boring. I fancy technologies….cool stuff like those in Star Wars…James Bond, etc….and i love those new programming languages like Ruby on Rails. But no, those are not the things you are gonna do if you are in IT industry. Maybe few of you will be able to do but not all.

Why?

As for those super high tech stuff….it’s not for us “techie” in the IT industry. It’s more for those R & D engineers (maybe for military or some super big corporations which have millions to spend in R & D).

For Ruby on Rails? Some IT companies do use them…….but for most, it’s too new and risky. And it’s open source….meaning you cannot charge customers much. That is also why PHP is not that popular among the IT companies in Malaysia. It’s free…so there’s nothing much you can charge……and with nothing much to charge…your value will not be as high.

True, you can do that during your free time……but for all of you in this line…you should know that by the time you finish your work and go back home…… it’s already a bit too late.

Cool things aside… i realized that most of the time, we IT developers or “consultants” spend too much time fixing the problems caused by the project itself….not the actual solution. Configurations problem……..programming bugs…..”a developer who has just left and did not keep his codes properly documented and nobody knows what the heck he was planning to do”….etc. So, the entire team could not see the solution we are trying to create…but the problems that we are trying to fix IN THE PROJECT (not the initial problem).

Then we have some friendly sales guy who keep saying YES to your customers….adding new stuff into your project. When asked why…he would say “I need to keep good relationship with them. So no choice, just add few more features” or “This is some free stuff we intend to give in order to STEP INTO the client’s company”. So more and more stuff are added….and timeline remains the same. The developers work like nobody’s business…….and ended up over-exhausted…resigned…(because more work but pay is still same).

Well, i don’t deny that some IT solutions do help out the business processes and the overall performance of a company. But most of the time, the end product will not be something the clients have envisioned.

Hmm…and if you are using third party solution like SAP….it’s very good because it’s very stable and powerful (and freaking expensive). But do you, as the developer, see the whole picture and the problem you are trying to solve?

In the end…i feel that sometimes, we developers or IT consultants, spend too much time on configuration and troubleshooting (which by themselves, can be considered as problems….problems created in the process of trying to solve the main problem). Let’s hope emerging technologies can at least help us fix the main problem faster…..without cracking our head trying to fix problems which are not the problems our customers paid us for fixing.

I’ve been away from my blog for few days now. If you’re observant enough, my blog is not as active as before. I don’t post up as often than before and i even started to wonder why am i still keeping this domain. I started this blog.alvinlim.info from my WordPress-hosted blog because i used to have one thing in mind – to make some side income. But now, i realized it’s not something for me. So i’m wondering whether i should switch it back to WordPress domain since the exposure there is bigger (your new post is shown in the main WordPress page….and if you are good AND lucky, your blog will become Blog of the Minute or something). Since my purpose is to learn more from people…….so meaning the more people or the bigger the exposure, the better.

Hmm, still thinking hard.

Anyway, today, i will begin another journey…….a journey to pursue my dreams. The 2 books on drawing comic/manga have arrived yesterday. I will start reading them today. Let’s hope for the best. Maybe i will scan (as if i have a scanner) or buy a Wacom Graphire 4 (cheapest) to draw………then maybe i can send to some of you or post it up here to get some feedbacks. Will see how it goes.

So do forgive me if i don’t post up that often from now onwards.

Cheers to all.

Everyone makes mistakes…be it the old, the young, the smart, the not-so-smart…anyone. But how many actually learn from them, is another question.

In our daily life, we make mistakes here and there…in our work…in our conversation…in our e-mail, phone calls, sms… or when buying things in a grocery store (like buying lemon instead of oranges… er..ok, they do look very different). Some are small mistakes…yet some are big…big enough that you will remember them throughout the rest of your life. But are these big problems really worth your efforts? Remembering them the rest of your life is quite a big effort, you know? But i know that these BIG problems are the ones that you cannot let go easily….possibly the ones which have changed your life in one way or another. That’s why it’s very hard to let them go.

In my opinion, remembering mistakes and regret bout them are not necessarily a bad thing. True, it will make you tired because no matter how much you regret, you cannot change the past. But if you want to choose to remember them, then make sure you remember them because you do not want to repeat those mistakes again. Make them your lessons……not your burden.

Nobody is perfect in this world. Even robots/machines are not perfect. They do have a certain level of defects. Imagine….for the machines/robots to make mistakes in something they’re designed to do for their entire life span. And for human beings to make mistakes in something which they are not designed to spend their entire life on….is not really a big deal right?

After all, making mistakes is part of our nature. We’re living beings…not machines or robots.
So, don’t treat yourself too bad if you made some mistakes here and there in your life. That’s how we all learn. Learn from mistakes…know what went wrong and correct them so that you won’t repeat the same mistakes next time. Remember that only a lunatic or a fool, will make the same mistake over and over and over again without a slightest hint of improvement.

Don’t you think so? I donno why, but to me, our world used to be a safer place (excluding the world war thingy). But now, everywhere we go, there’s a certain level of insecurity among ourselves. What if after this corridor, there’s someone waiting to rob us? What if i’m sleeping halfway, and the robber just come into my house? What if my children get kidnapped? What if my daughter becomes a victim of a stalker?

There are so many murder, rape, robbery (and others) cases happening around us….regardless of where you are now – be it in the States, Malaysia, Canada, France, Australia or UK. If you don’t believe me, try to flip through the pages of your local papers. Boy shot his dad….or dad & uncle raped his own daughter.

Did these kind of cases happen 20 years ago? Or i was too ignorant at that time to notice? Or i’m not imagining things, these cases ARE increasing….together with suicide cases.

Many people are so concerned about terrorism after the 911 incident….and many have neglected other form of security. People should start looking inside their home, than just looking for intrusion from outside.

I donno what else to say actually but i’m quite sad that our world is turning to be in this state. I still remember, 20 years ago, my parents would allow me to go out and walk alone (around the neighborhood). But now, i seriously doubt it is safe for a small 5 years old boy to walk alone outside.

And it’s really not pleasant…to keep asking your female friends to bring pepper spray with them….and to be careful with driving alone at night. This world is no longer what it used to be.

Well….let’s hope that everything will turn out for the better (and safer) so that we won’t have to worry so much about our own safety when walking on the street.

p/s….one thing good about UK is that their police force is quite efficient. At least, people will feel safer with a proper police force looking after them. But for Malaysia… ?

I am sure most people will answer either Yes or No when it comes to this question. If No, then good for you but please don’t start to always think that you are wrong….that’s a bit too pessimistic.

And if you always think you are right……which happens to a lot of people especially those with strong ego…..then i can tell you one thing – you are definitely wrong.

I’ve come across some very egoistic people in my career so far…….and it’s only 3 years. I’m sure you have the same (if not worse) experience than me. Seriously, these are the people who are a pain in the a**. They will always think they are right and you are wrong. Whatever they say or do, are their so-called “best practices” and they expect others to follow them……And some are even worse, they make you feel like a fool in front of everyone but did not realize that the real fools are themselves.

I have this friend who used to work with me in a local company….he’s a very egoistic person. He always thinks he is right and others are wrong. Fortunately, he wasn’t the team leader back then. He used to like to make us feel like a fool by responding loudly in front of everyone “Not like this la…why you do like this?” or in a very rude and displeased tone “What makes you think you are correct?”. Most of my colleagues were very patient back then, except me. In the end, i responded to him by raising my voice and showed him why he was wrong and the rest were correct.

To me, these people are living in their own illusionary world……..they create their own world…..surrounded by their own fantasies that they are the greatest, the wisest…..or the most leng chai/leng lui. Yea, they ARE whatever they think they are…….if that world of theirs have only 1 occupant – themselves.

Throughout mankind’s history, there’s not a single person in the world who can claim that he is forever right (er…as in correct…not right or left). Nobody can do that and nobody ever will. Even geniuses like Einstein, Da Vinci, etc…they did make a lot of mistakes in their illustrious life. So what makes YOU think you are always right?

Do everyone a favor, stop dragging everyone around you into your own world of fantasies. We don’t deserve that. Learn to be humble and listen to what others have to say. I believe that in this world, nobody is always right and nobody is always wrong.

Be fair, don’t sentence someone to death without even hearing the person out…..unless you want to be an outcast in this society. Ok, i’m trying to exaggerate a little.