PacketJanitor

Packet Janitor is a title I gave myself. It was at a time in my career when there were internal discussions about titles at the place I worked.  I've always enjoyed my work; at that time, all I cared about was being allowed to do what I enjoyed.  I don't mean to say that titles are not important, but for me, at that time, it seemed trivial. So, anytime the topic of titles comes up, I say, "Just call me the packet janitor."

I happen to be one of those people who enjoys my field of work, which happens to be network technology. It's not about the command line, API, or automation for me. It's about sending a message 20,000 miles in under a second. It's about what we can accomplish when we can communicate so efficiently. As technology improves, new capabilities are discovered. New challenges are uncovered, but not all of them are technical. Many of our technical advances have created problems for us analog humans. Everything about how we encode digital information in analog signals, to the social issues that communication technology exposes, fascinates me. I can talk about work the way some people talk about the game. I couldn't possibly hope to master it all.

My passion for everything mentioned above goes hand in hand with my excitement for learning and sharing knowledge, hoping that a new idea is teased out or an old idea is better understood. I believe that teaching is also learning. If we aren't learning, we can't possibly hope to be very effective at teaching. It is interesting to note that communication technology is enough to transfer information. With teaching, it is much more than that. Teaching requires learning enough about the learner to build the appropriate latticework necessary for understanding to flourish in the learner's mind. With the proper latticework, thoughts, and ideas will climb independently, but each learner's mind has a unique terrain.  The latticework that benefits one learner may not benefit another.  Active learning requires active teaching. Not merely the transmission of information.

The first half of this is about my motivations. What I hope to do with that is build and operate computer networks that help advance humanity. I'm not talking about cybernetics or a melding of technology and biology. I'm referring to improving understanding and encouraging critical thinking that will allow humanity to overcome many challenges that have plagued it over thousands of years. I don't pretend to know where to begin with solving humanity's problems, but I am certain that improved communication technology will be a prerequisite for many of those solutions. I merely want to be a part of that. It is enough for me to know that the work that I enable other people to do could be the thing that brings lasting change. This is how I hope to serve.

In closing, I want to acknowledge that up until this point, I have been very idealistic. I am not naïve to the fact that there is a tremendous amount of work ahead of us. While we increase the speed and quantity of data we can send, humans struggle to consume it without twisting and abbreviating it, thus altering its meaning. A lot of noise needs to be parsed and filtered, but we have to do it in a way that doesn't stifle the freedom to share ideas. I hope we can overcome some of these hurdles with minimal negative impact, but the probability of significant bumps seems too high to ignore. We need to do a lot of work in this area.

Inspire fellow network professionals through enthusiasm and a passion for learning.

Share knowledge and collaboratively discover new ideas or just revisit old ones.

Enable organizations with a strong mission emphasizing community and or humanitarian value.

Build and operate resilient and flexible networks.