[plug] Warning--rant ahead

[Brad Campbell]

Simon Scott wrote:
> Its what I call the '21st century disease'. It seems almost everyone has lost 
> the ability to say 'I dont know, but lets find out'. I have been fed all 
> sorts of BS, from salesmen in particular, simply because they are not willing 
> to admit that they dont know. People have to realise that its OK not to know, 
> noone can know everything, and the ability to effectively research and 
> resolve a problem is much more useful than the ability to ramble incoherently 
> about topics you know nothing about.

I feel this is one of the biggest problems we face today as a society. 
Perhaps along with the complete reluctance to "ave-a-go".
One of the things I have noticed in industry is that people are 
completely unwilling to think outside the square. If they are not 110% 
sure about something, they don't even try.
My theory is the worst you can do is to stuff it up so badly you have to 
pay someone else to fix it. This applies to anything from lawnmowers, to 
8 litre marine diesels, to motorcycles, to tv's, fridges, washing 
machines, blah blah blah blah.. I mean with a little bit of a clue, If 
you put it back together the same way it came apart, while replacing the 
bits that are broken the thing has to work!

I'm sorry about the rant, but I just get pissed off with people who 
won't have a go themselves when they obviously can do the job.

The summary of Simon's point though is..
"Know what you don't know"
Nobody got fired for "I'm sorry sir I'm unsure of that, I'll find out 
and call you tomorrow".
Hell I had one client look at me with complete surprise and tell me I 
was the first person they had spoken to who would not bullshit them and 
admit I did not know the answer!. Suffice to say he became a lifetime 
client.

To put a bit of linuxy stuff in here. I'm having fun at the moment 
working on a driver for an unsupported satellite tv card.
Most of it has been written by a gentleman on the east coast, but with a 
bit of diplomacy I have actually managed to get a channel into the 
manufacturer of the card and they have assigned us a technical liason 
who is really answering our questions on the hardware.
Niiiice.. They also do a Terrestrial version, so when we have that 
working I can recommend it as a DTV card that will work with Aus 
broadcasters :p)


Brad

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