The internet? Tech-Savvy?

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” — Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

I just hate it when somebody who thinks they’re tech-savvy (yes, I said savvy) starts arguing technical trivialities, or tries to convince me of their “ways”.

I remember two distinct incidents:

One guy was supposed to be a tech-expert, after digging deeper, it seems his “great” skills were mostly the ability to get images from Google’s image search and set them as backgrounds on a Windows machine.

Another one was a certified MCSE, he was assigned some helpdesk-style work in his first days, and needed to check a user’s problems of not being able to use his computer. He calls the network admin saying it’s a network problem.

MCSE:

It’s a network problem.

NetAdmin:

Did you try pinging the server? Any reply?

MCSE:

Yes. No reply.

NetAdmin:

Is the network cable connected?

MCSE:

YES!

photo credit: oien

After hours of troubleshooting, it was found out that for this MCSE:

1. Pinging the server was simply clicking “Start”, Run, typing “ping” and pressing the enter key (without specifying the machine/address to ping).
2. A black terminal flashing in and disappearing means no reply.
3. The cable being connected means it’s connected on the PC, he didn’t check the other side of the cable.

This is one reason why I don’t really believe in IT certifications.

I believe that there are some basics that every “expert” should know, and then get deeper expertise in specific topics.