 On
the Net
with Chris Goh
The Challenge of a Generation
I was fortunate enough to be part of a recent program involving women keen
to learn more about IT. Most of them had been unemployed for some time and
lived in sometimes difficult domestic situations.
What was very apparent early on was that the women lacked self esteem, which,
given their circumstances, is not unusual. But I believe these courses make a
difference and I must congratulate TAFE on a program encouraging women into IT.
This era of convenience created by innovation and technology also brings complacency
– and unforeseen costs. Teachers recount that since the advent of calculators,
log tables became unnecessary, while spelling and grammar checkers have usurped
an understanding of the importance of spelling, syntax and grammar. Librarians
will tell you that the convenience of the internet has in part made the traditional
encyclopaedia redundant (remember the shelf full of World Books?)
And a generation of children with working parents now have a Playstation as
babysitter, making them more adept at playing games than borrowing books.
If you watch the nanny reality show, her consistent theme is discipline. And
while it often has connotations of punishment, discipline also means having a
routine, while the discipline of establishing a set of principles is the key to
the show’s underlying theme to preparing children for the hidden challenges
of life.
The challenge of this generation: How do we avoid taking the world around us
for granted? How do we find the discipline to allow us to bypass our fears of
empowerment and spirituality? It’s a challenge that can only be answered
with more challenges.
If you’ve ever been to a self-empowerment workshop, you’ll know that
they ask you to set goals for yourself. Then they try to instill a sense of discipline
in setting about achieving those goals. It’s not complex – but being
disciplined is hard work.
Many people believe that they’re not good enough. It’s an easy –
and perhaps lazy – frame of mind to fall into in an era where success is
often measured by material wealth and the perception that successful people are
brainier than everyone else. However, achieving your goals is about using your
insight and knowledge to make a positive difference in the world. And to do that,
it all comes down to the simple fact that you need to be disciplined enough to
follow through.
Next week, I’ll look at the era of cost cutting and what it means for
IT.
Hotnews
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the governing
body of the development of domain names. It has approved a new domain for mobile
devices: .mobi The domains issuer will be a joint venture company called mTLD,
made up of industry biggies such as GSM, Nokia, Vodaphone and others. This comes
in the midst of controversy as UN member nations voice their concerns about the
US having control over the internet and the power to create new parameters, such
as the XXX domain. The nations don’t want the internet looking like a series
of Cable TV stations especially when such a universal resource has great cultural
impact.
New Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo already has the axe out, although the telco says
that making more than 90 account executives in its business and government sales
team redundant is the result of an earlier review. More than 4000 middle and senior
managers are still under review and observers believe the cuts are an attempt
at trimming bureaucracy in the telco pending an end-of-year sell off.
A physicist at the University of Barcelona has discovered that most earthquakes
are related to each other. Alvaro Corral has shown that statistics from various
earthquake show that the intervals between earthquakes was consistent. When the
stats were correlated for a number of zones, it showed that earthquakes in multiple
zones were inter-related.
Hotsites
- www.puzzles.com
- If you love puzzles, this domain has it all. Do some puzzles online or download
programs for hours of puzzled pleasure on your desktop.
- www.jigzone.com
- If you have a bit of time and love a good jigsaw, you’ll enjoy this online
site, which allows you to put together pictures of all kinds.
- www.funtrivia.com
- If you think you’re up to the level of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
or just want to increase your knowledge of the world, this fun site can help you
excel at your next trivia site.
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