Training, Re-training and On-going Training

Many people, maybe just too many people have this very skewed perspective about the concept of training. Even the definition of Training found in Wikipedia is too obscure for a person to really understand what the heck training is about.

To this, I tend to be very simplistic. It's ALL about repetitively performing some predefined tasks in order to adapt to a particular work.

Strictly following this definition of training, I don't think any creative minds would like the idea. As a matter of fact, any currently highly trained workforces are all very likely to be replaced by computerized automation or robotic solution in the future. YOU'RE FIRED.

I'll despise myself if anybody tagged me as highly trained. No no, that's not me.

Creativity, innovation, revolutionary, evolutionary, dynamic, spontaneous and even FUN are the attributes I will value for any senior personnel I'm going to hire. Well of course, in any organizations we need foot soldiers or so called highly trained specialists to actually do the jobs.

The truth is even a person like me need to bow down to the dreaded cruel reality in order to make a living, so YES, you can just viewed me as highly trained (and I would like to add the word) sophisticated specialist but make sure you compensate me well.

The bottomline is any such highly trained person shouldn't forget that they too can make a difference by thinking out of the box. Don't just be a fool. LOL

Now, I'm thinking about training a data mining model to do my analytical thinking, YEAH BABE YEAH !

Sleepless Night

Darn, the word 'Insomnia' popped out from my head and yelled.

On the record, I'm now at page 174 of this 994 pages SAS Advanced Programming book and the counter just can't stop. I get kinda excited though. Some of the technical details are quite interesting and definitely will be helpful when I'm gonna optimizing my project data integration batches. Take for example, it is fun to think about how many passes/scans of data is needed for some of the proc sql statement.

Emm... It's time to create a Nerdy SAS blog.

Anyway, SAS Intelligence platform 9.2 is still long way from perfection.

Page 176 now :D.

I saw an article about S&P providng credit scoring solutions to banks. Hmm, maybe I should find one good day and knock on their door to see the stuff.

Pelikan went up to MYR1.24. Well, I still got no time to organize my transaction history for blog posting purposes. Give me some time.

Haiz, just googled about 'Cure for Insomnia', this is what I get:

...
In the long run, the best cure for insomia I’ve found is regular and vigorous exercise. Once I got more serious about my workout routine, I found myself sleeping like a baby at night. Just 3-4 times a week I got for a short 20-30 minute run, and on the off days I do some push-ups, sit-ups, and lift free weights. Most people can’t stand the thought of exercise, but just 20 minutes of a day is a very small price to pay for better sleep!
...

That's why I went and played that stupid basketball game and got my hand injured. Duh!

I also peeked on DOW JONES data. The downward pressure not strong enough to reverse the recent bullish movements. H1N1 or N. Korea or a big time president assassination would do the trick. Peace Please!


Speaking of H1N1, I will (if free) post up pictures of my stockpiles of Dettol 'Kill Flu Virus' sprays, pandemic period food supplies, surgical masks and a couple of N95 masks. But bear with me, the so called 'pandemic period food supplies' were almost deplenished by a hunger nerd every morning. Duh!

This sort of self murmuring during a sleepless night starts to freak me out, boring....

Back to my crunching of book and snacks. Ciao.

Be Fear, My Hand of Wrath

WTH, played basketball once after so many years and I've injured my left hand and right ring finger. Geez, who said sports is healthy?!

Previously I already visited a general clinic nearby and the doctor prescribed some blue-coloured pills (Viagra?) and a tube of cream for muscle relief thingy. Useless.

I've decided to give traditional chinese treatment a try.

The fella charged me MYR70.00. MYR30.00 for the herbs he put on my hand wrapped with bandages and MYR40.00 for professional services. He said I can just unwrap the thing after 24 hours. Emm.. kinda efficient, don't you think?

Well, will know the outcome tomorrow. God (or whoever) bless me.

Burn Baby BURN !!

It's darn dry and hot out there and sometimes polluted with hazes. It smells like hell and feels like hell.

And the best is the hell fire burning near my house, right behind my yard.

Apparently some idiotic morons did a open air rubbish incineration and cascadingly it turned out to be a wild fire on the run.



Firefighters spent like 3 hours to put it off and yes, you're right, it smells like hell.

IBM MQ Solution Designer Certification

O ya. I almost forgot to post my status on the IBM MQ certification test number 996.

Compared to the SOA certification I previously taken, which I commented most of the questions are very subjective to different minds, MQ exam is straighforward and technical indeed. Maybe one or two questions are abit gray because of the way they phrased the statements, the rest are the kind either you know or you don't know because you didn't study.



I think this paper is not a big problem for professionals who got extensive designing and solutioning experience (like me!). Another certification paper on MQ administration should provide more comprehensive coverages on how MQ really in action operationally.

Wireless Mini Dehumidifier

I bought this gadget from Ace Hardware shop at One Utama, costing me few ten bucks. Usually, I bought disposable Thirsty Hippo-something for absorbing excessive moistures at home, but it seems like going to incur relatively pricey ongoing $$.

Here is how it looks like.



In front, an indicator is available to show you the amount of moistures absorbed, relatively by different colours.






Back there, you get a socket to connect to power outlet to heat up the device to enable something called water crystal regeneration thingy



For first trial, I placed this in my very humid store room and one day after, the colour indicator turned to pink, phew! Then I went and recharged it for 7 hours and now back to purple colour and my store room got less moistures. Cheaper indeed.

More information here

http://www.olee.com.sg/prod_dehumid_reusablemini.html

IBM SOA Fundamentals (2008) - 000-669

I went to take this SOA entry level certification last Tuesday during the IBM SOA Service Management Conference 2009 in Malaysia (The exam is FREE!). Well, the thing is I don't really have the luxury of abundant time to prepare for this one, partly because I was prep-ing for MQ 996 Solution Designer exam the day before (Will post details on this later) and I only managed to cover the following reading materials.

*Best Practices for SOA Management (Chapters 1 - 3)
Publication number: REDP-4233-00

*Propagating Identity in SOA with Tivoli Federated Identity Manager
Publication number: REDP-4354-00

*Understanding SOA Security Design and Implementation (Chapter 1)
Publication number: SG24-7310-01

*WebSphere Service Registry and Repository Handbook (Chapter 1)
Publication number: SG24-7386-00

*Implementing Technology to Support SOA Governance and Management (SKIPPED)

*SOA fundamentals in a nutshell (Quite a number of questions from this, thought might not in a direct way)


Publication number: SG24-7538-00

More:
IBM Recommandations for Test Preparation


I find most of the questions in the paper very subjective and open ended to the background and experiences of one person. Giving an analogy, the question can be:

13. Please select 2 out of the following that best describes the way to die peacefully.

a. Died when sleeping (Pretty obvious huh)
b. Jumping down from 100 storeys tall building
c. Jumping down from 50 storeys tall building
d. Use a knife
e. Use a gun

When I saw some of the questions similar to the above style, I was like "HUH", then "EMM", then "SHIT"... Well, at the end I need to resort to 2 of my most effective strategy:

A. Use Common Sense in The Context
B. Choose either the shortest or longest answer (!)


By the way, there's another candidate in the same room with me that can't even tell the test number (000-669) when the proctor asked him. What's the whole point of taking the test without even understand the details of the test, its' objectives and structures.

Result receipt

83.3%..... Answered 9 questions wrongly. Darn.

The bottomline is this test is just merely testing your knowledge and common sense on SOA at a very introductory level and yet term "Fundamentals".

I guess product specific certification is more interesting... I like the logo though.

Why holidays can be bad for your health

Eddy said: May be this is THE reason for me not being to ANY vacation for the past few years.


World Health Organisation issues warning on stress and offers tips for travellers

By Jeremy Laurance, Health editor


Anxiety caused by fear of flying causes 3.5 per cent of in-flight emergencies

Travel is said to broaden the mind – but it can also damage it, experts say.

In an unprecedented move, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning that the stress of international travel can lead to mental disorder in vulnerable people.

For the first time, the global health agency has included detailed guidance on the psychological impact of travel in its annual publication International Travel And Health.

Simon Calder: Travelling overseas can be a cure, not a curse
Almost one billion people leave home to venture abroad each year, just over half of them tourists going on holiday, and mental problems are "among the leading causes of ill-health among travellers", it says.

"Psychiatric emergency" is one of the most common medical reasons for evacuation by air ambulance, along with injury and heart disease, the WHO report says. Up to 100 patients a week are brought back to the UK by air ambulance, according to the British Ambulance Association, and many more are returned on commercial aircraft, mostly accompanied by medical staff.

FlyMeNow, an air charter company based in York, said it had flown a man with bipolar disorder from Egypt back to Manchester last October, after he became manic while on holiday with his wife. "He had to be sedated for the flight; he was stretchered on to the plane and police were waiting when it landed in Manchester. He was taken to hospital where he was stabilised on drugs and discharged the next day," said Andrew Whitney, the commercial director. The cost of £25,000 was paid by the family, who did not have travel insurance.

Dan Sanders, of Oxford-based Air Medical, said the company had flown a woman from Ireland back to Germany last year accompanied by "four to five" security escorts. "There had been some violence on an earlier flight but when she got in a light plane she was fine. I think she realised no one was watching – she had no audience," he added.

Extreme anxiety such as phobia of flying is a key problem faced by travellers, and is involved in 3.5 per cent of all medical in-flight emergencies. People who suffer panic attacks may feel more comfortable in an aisle seat when travelling by plane, the WHO adds.

It warns anxiety sufferers to avoid caffeine, certain over-the-counter cold medications and the anti-malarial drug mefloquine (brand name Lariam), which has been linked with psychotic episodes in some people.

Air and road rage are on the rise, it says, and travellers arriving in exotic places, freed from the social constraints of home, are at greater risk from drink and illicit drugs, which can trigger mental breakdown. One study showed that more than half of backpackers had used illicit drugs and another found the proportion of individuals who drank alcohol more than five times a week doubled from 20 to 40 per cent.

Pilgrimages to places with historical or religious significance carry particular risks for the mentally fragile. "A traveller may become overwhelmed at pilgrimage centres such as Mecca, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela, as well at holy places in India," it says.

Adjustment to different cultures, lifestyle and languages can cause distress in some people. Equally, returning home can present a challenge for younger people after long-term trips, such as those taken by gap year students who have identified strongly with the new culture and may experience a sense of loss on leaving.

The WHO says medical staff should include an "enquiry into psychiatric history" as a standard part of any pre-travel consultation for vaccinations or health advice.