Meeting the Man

Yeah i know it has been quite a while since my last entry. Just would like to continue where i have left off. Not long after our presentation at the Parliament House to a group of very high profile people and managed to sell the idea and concept, we got to see 'the Man". I came early just to ensure i get to the building that i thought was part of the Islamic Museum. It is just that i was a bit not dressed up to the occasion, but that secondary.

The Man is none other than The Father of Modern Malaysia - Tun Mahathir. Never in my wildest dream to sit and discuss with the man eye to eye. But the topic of discussion which is hot at the moment overwhelms the awe of sitting with him. Indeed it is about IC Citizen. We presented the idea, objective and concept of which he agrees. But one thing that caught my attention was when Tun asked about how do one teach 'ethics'? The same concern that i have discussed on my last blog entry. When i mentioned Case Study as the way...he agrees. I said to myself...wow exactly how i think it should be thus again reconfirmed my earlier hunch. Again i thought...this is my research framework!

Sharing our thoughts with Tun, definitely makes my day!

Major ethical dilemma of the Web and the Internet

A euphoria of discussionss was in the local news when everyone start talking about the need to filter of phonographic sites. Dr M in his blog discussion pushed the idea of filtering, saying now is the 'appropriate time' since the inception MSC and decree declaration of filter-free Internet for Malaysia. A front page news on some newspapers and main stories in major digital media. Comments from all quarters especially the Ministers and Deputy Ministers in agreement.

All this became a sitting target for PSSB new found arsenal to fire home its IC Citizen training and certification bullets. What a great timing. The endorsement form our Parliament House presentation earlier will put the 1Citizen program into the limelight.

But today Charles I. Cragg in "Because Wisdom Can't be Told" (Harvard Alumni Bullettin, October 19, 1940) gave me a lease of life in confirming the correct approach and direction of using case study in designing and developing the training module of IC Citizen. Now i have the Theoretical Ethical Framework and the right methodology.

As Cragg puts it;

"The case system, properly used, initiates students into the ways of independent thought and responsible judgment. It faces them with situations which are not hypothetical but real. It places them in the active role, open to criticism from all sides. It puts the burden of understanding and judgment upon them. It provides them the occasion to deal constructively with their contemporaries and their elders"

I am happy!

"Paparazzi" - Micheal Greyson

Cisco Cybercrime showcase

Cisco Cybercrime showcase

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iCITIZEN in Macau

Hi again! I didn't realize that i have not been updating my blog since when. My last post was about my Bali Trip with the boys. So many things have happened and i jot it down most in my Twitter and Facebook.

iCitizen project has been wonderful, but very taxing on me and my team. Finally we got something going on a global basis, our very own Certification and content for the world.

I was at Certiports APAC Meeting in Macau last March, and had wonderful time meeting the people and had the opportunity to present the concept and idea to the world. The feedback has been outstanding!
Here we come WORLD

AIM 2010

I am not so much into music, but yesterday's AIM 2010 caught my eyes and attention...of course due to Yuna, Aizat and Faizal Tahir...plus the great Afdlin & Co and the band. The rest are just side shows. Here's a tribute to the best song of the year!

AIM 17 - SONG OF THE YEAR



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwZb_lxo6A

Great Time in Tembok, Bali

Hi again, its writing time again. Been planning this trip months ago. I wanted to celebrate our 24th Anniversary in Bali...just the two of us. But as planning continues, more feedback need to be considered. True enough, we owed Muiz a holiday trip for his good result in last years PMR. So Muiz is on, during this school break holiday. Now there is three of us, booked on a bargain air fare to Denpasar.

As the saying goes, we can only plan, when at the very last minute my other better half couldn't make it, due to her work commitment even when its already a school break and found a willing replacement. Since nothing doing, she had to cancel her trip and there goes our "Anniversary in Bali". So as not to disappoint Muiz, Naim is the ever willing replacement. Now the trip became an all 'boys' trip to an exotic Spa Village Tembok Bali.

I can understand the 'caught by surprise' face of Ms Rina the caretaker in Tembok Bali when we appeared at her resort.... minus the leading lady. We did have a good time together, at that beautiful paradise. I was impressed by the hospitality shown by the staffs, even when we did not take full its offer of full adventure. I did enjoyed the 3 hours trip to and fro the resort to Denpasar, the view of Mt Agung from the sea during Sunset Boat ride, I enjoyed 'our' pool, the broleh activities, the food, the comfy room, the fisherman's attire, the dinner dance, and the early picturesque dawn of black sand beach.

I can imagine the fun if Norli was around, perhaps next time. I definitely am coming back to SVTB.

40th Anniversary of the First ARPANET Transmission

Hi, again..it's been sometime since my last input. I came across this wonderful this article by SRI on the ARPANET, the predecessor to today's Internet (http://www.sri.com/). I did have an entry on this in either my Facebook or Twitter (http://twitter.com/arhamid) early last month. Its interesting to know University of Utah was part of that early initiative.

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age. Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Enjoy!

MOUNTAIN VIEW and MENLO PARK, Calif., CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —October 27, 2009—Forty years ago this week, two programmers sat in front of computer terminals four hundred miles apart. Unknowingly, they were about to make history. At the University of California, Los Angeles, Charley Kline typed the word "LOGIN" at around nine p.m. on October 29, 1969. The command went through interface computers built by Cambridge's BBN Technologies (formerly Bolt, Beranek, and Newman) on its way to Kline's counterpart Bill Duvall, at SRI International (then known as Stanford Research Institute) in Menlo Park, California. The first letters, "LO", came through to the SRI machine before the system crashed. The minor setback would be fixed quickly, and the connection was fully in place by 10:30 p.m. The very first data had been sent between two nodes of the ARPANET, a key precursor to the Internet.

New interviews with pioneers Duvall and Kline will be made available on October 29 on www.computerhistory.org, along with links to other resources. This will kick off a series of Computer History Museum activities on the history of the Internet and the Web.

"The 1969 connection was not just a symbolic milestone in the project that led to the Internet, but in the whole idea of connecting computers—and eventually billions of people—to each other," said Marc Weber, founding curator of the Museum's Internet History Program. "In the 1960s, as many as a few hundred users could have accounts on a single large computer using terminals, and exchange messages and files between them. But each of those little communities was an island, isolated from others. By reliably connecting different kinds of computers to each other, the ARPANET took a crucial step toward the online world that links nearly a third of the world's population today."

"The development of the ARPANET, which had no commercial application at the time, underscores the power of coordinated basic research and the importance of that research to our society," said Bill Duvall. "In the 1960s, computers were not interconnected and most were not even interactive. A few research groups were looking at the potential of networked computing and how distributed systems might be used as information repositories and collaboration tools, but they were hampered by a huge obstacle: they lacked a network to weave their projects together. Bob Taylor and Larry Roberts at ARPA understood not only the potential of computer networking, but also the challenge of networking during an era when computers were generally not standardized, and did not use a common language or alphabet."

"The ARPANET was built to permit ARPA-supported computer researchers to share common interests without geographical limits," said Bob Taylor, who helped conceive and fund the ARPANET in the mid 1960s as head of computing research at ARPA (U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Taylor and his Program Manager Larry Roberts chose the people and places to build the network, assigning unique roles to three institutions: Cambridge-based BBN built the special Interface Message Processors (IMPs) that connected the main computers to the net and served as the system's administrator; SRI was the Network Information Center, which besides acting as a central library kept track of all the computers on the net and ran the Domain Name System until 1991; and UCLA was the Network Measurement Center, researching and improving how data moved across the network. An original BBN Interface Message Processor (IMP) computer is in the Computer History Museum's collection.

By early 1970, those three Centers were all connected, along with the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. By 1972, the network had 37 nodes. A few years later, the ARPANET would begin the process of connecting itself to other networks that had sprung up—a process known as internetworking—leading to the Internet on which the World Wide Web and email run today. Both SRI and BBN played key roles in internetworking, and SRI's mobile radio van was used in several watershed experiments. The van is now a part of the Computer History Museum's collection.

Utah Trip

I just can't imagine what Utah is like. When i was asked to go for this working trip i wasn't know what to aspect. I have relatively a good idea what's to come professionally, that is lots of work to deal with our new partner based in American Fork, Utah ( a world renown Certification company), but the least of what Utah would be like?

Looking the map of Utah doesn't help at all, it give you an impression of desert and empty space. I was dead wrong! Utah is very interesting. The people, the environment, the fresh cool air, the vastness, and the view is just fantastic, one of the best on this god given earth. The food (being Malaysian...an important criteria) simply represent most parts of the world.

Professionally i met some of the most wonderful people i've ever met in my working life. I'm sort of a difficult person to engage with immediately on first meeting, but that changed my view when in Utah. I met this sweet lady Sunny our host, an American of Korean lineage, made you like her as if you are at home in this foreign land! Another lady Marnae, the editor came to explain things but made me think, as if, hey! i known her for years. We talked on professional things, but already know of her whole family...uncommon in most parts of the world other than Malaysia. So do Quinn, David, Joe, Dave, Sarah, of course Ray and others. Hmm! I can now appreciate the plurality of Utah community whom most are devout Mormons.

I learn some wonderful insights from David, a professional psychometrician, Sinead and Steve on the product development commitment, Joe and Dave on the items...even when i've done this some years ago. We learn a lot of the technicalities from Marcus in item authoring using his SCO editor, only to spoil his scheduled three day slots to a day and a half. I appreciate the sensitivity to provide us a space to pray too. How i wish i can show them the Malaysian hospitality.

The last thing is, i have a glimpse of Utah wonderful natural history, their National Parks. Being there to appreciate the Arches and arches in formation in those highlands of canyons simply made you wonder the gift of god to us. I'm going to see the great Salt Lake!

hamid

Sandy, Utah

Eid -ul-Fitr Celebration

Eid -ul-Fitri is one of the important festivals of Muslims. After Ramadan, the month of fasting Muslims celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitri. Eid-ul-fitri is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, which Muslims follow. The sighting of the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the month. In Arabic the meaning of Eid is Festivity and Fitr means to break in English. Eid-Ul-Fitri means to celebrate the breaking of the month of fasting On the Eid day early in the morning all the Muslims take a bath and wear their new clothes which they have got stitched beforehand.after dressing they have breakfast which includes dates and then proceed to the Mosque (masjid) for a Eid prayer ceremony and recite the takbeerat “allahu akbar, allahu akbar” meaning Allah is the greatest. Apart from this many other Eid prayers are recited to remember Allah on this occasion.(Ramadan). Eidul Fitri in Malaysia is a colourful event, everyone dressed up in new and colourful traditional attire of 'baju melayu, samping and songkok' while the ladies in traditional 'baju kurung or kebaya'. Everyone proceed to the nearest mosque for the morning Eidul Fitri prayer before meeting and greeting to ask for forgiveness. They then proceed to fiends and family homes for the traditional feast of 'ketupat, kuah kacang, lodeh, and rendang'. Not forgetting the 'kuih raya' and of course the 'duit raya'. Most have an open house to all guest, friends and neighbours. Everyone enjoys Raya food, the one things that binds Malaysians well. Eidul Fitri is truly a One Malaysia event that everybody love. hamid 3rd Syawal 1430