Chris Wiegman

Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

A conversation the other day got me wondering what is an expert? I mean, what makes them an expert in their field? Is it that they’re smarter than everyone else? Is it just that they spent more time at it that everyone else? What is it?

In the web the idea of an expert is often a misnomer. It seems that to web people the expert title is often given freely to any person who knows more about a specific topic than you do. For example, I was once labeled a Joomla! expert after a single installation of the software without even launching a site on the platform. Why? because I had done it and the other person hadn’t I must be an expert.

On the flip side, after coding CMS systems for 11 years I was told the other day that I was a rookie as I didn’t code in this particular person’s language of choice. To this I had to say really? Simply because I don’t know your language I am a rookie at all things web? How strange.

A single install of Joomla! does not make you an expert in Joomla!. However, the ability to look at the code of Joomla! and be able to understand it and modify it could very well make you an expert in PHP. On the other hand, the ability to code a million line PHP application may make you an expert in your application, but if you can’t read and understand anything else you might never truly grasp the language and will never be recognized as an expert. This last example I see all the time as a CS student in code which is never written, but merely cut and pasted together to perform some function. After all, if you can’t explain or understand what you’ve done than you really haven’t done much at all.

So then, what really makes an expert. In my humble opinion and expert is someone who through their merits and experience is recognized by their peers as a leader in their field. Someone who can not only do the work, but actually understands what they are doing and can communicate that idea to others. So, web people, when throwing around titles such as expert make sure they’re going to a deserving soul and not simply someone who can follow a readme file. Anything else is just insulting to those who really have mastered their craft.

So the Holiday break is finally here. After what has been one of the most hectic semesters of all it couldn’t have come soon enough. The down time, while a needed break, also affords me the time to contemplate what will be next and, maybe more importantly, what I’ve accomplished.

Looking back there are a number of goals completed, a number still to go, and a few that I never even anticipated. In the case of our redesign we started in April, the main site is still to be done. This is due primarily to the uncertain outcome of our university’s web standards committee. We don’t want to over-invest in a product that will not meet whatever standards they decide to come up with. While waiting however I’ve had time to really refocus and expand our web presence while [hopefully] being able to provide a far more useful product to all of our customers. We’ve installed and launched Wordpress MU for individual, group, and class sites. We’re nearing the launch of a MediaWiki installation to be used as our local intranet. Finally, we’ve greatly expanded our social media presence and finally convinced the powers that be that our marketing dollars are better spent on the web than limited magazines and other media.

Stepping away from the web I’ve made a lot of headway in a number of projects. We launched (and then decommissioned) a Squid proxy to restrict internet access during the day due to very limited bandwidth. It worked almost too well and was quickly removed for mostly political considerations. We’ve also begun the rollout of non Microsoft desktops to our faculty and staff in the form of Ubuntu as the primary OS. Only 3 desktops and our webserver have been migrated so far but considering that we had never looked away from MS before that it is definitely a good start. Finally, we added a windows update server to provide more control and better use of our bandwidth while still maintaining the ability to make sure all systems are completely patched.

Now on to the future. My first priority is, as always, our web presence. Pending the outcome of the campus web standards committee I hope to get a new main site in place very quickly. In addition, depending on current content contributions, I would like to see our new Wiki launch at the beginning of the Spring semester. It has been in the making for a little while now and promises to provide a much more complete and, more importantly, standardized method of intra-department communication. Beyond that I would like to see our file services migrated to Samba and Linux away from MS Active Directory as well as continue the gradual migration of departmental desktops to the Linux platform.

With all that I’m sure it will be another busy semester. However as with every semester I look forward to the challenges and can’t wait to see the outcomes!

So I just can’t decide on what I like so here goes another one. Let me know what you think.

So I decided to re-theme again. The goal is something easier to read and navigate. The next step is then to redo my portfolio and about pages as well as to add a resume page. Hopefully that will bring this site a little more in-line with where I want it to be.

So I bought a new iPod classic today. Now I just want to find some headphones to go with it. I’m looking for over -the-ear headphones that would be comfortable for hours each day. The last pair I had to foor the bill was the Telex Stratus 50d aviation headset that I spent $900 for. Considering I don’t fly anymore I don’t think I need to spend over $100. Any suggestions?