IT Training Today

The Legend Continues After The Man

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:21:00 +0000

There are some who think men should not cry. I believe that at this moment in time, even rocks are crying. The world lost Randy Pausch 25 July 2008. If your not into UTube, his entry may give you a reason to be so.

His lessons of life are amazing.

Of course, this blog is about IT Training, and among other things, Randy was one hella of a trainer.

The AP wire entry on his passing noted

"At Carnegie Mellon, he was a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design, and was recognized as a pioneer of virtual reality research. On campus, he became known for his flamboyance and showmanship as a teacher and mentor."

Personally, I owe this man a great deal. While I have stood by my own beliefs in my style to create Training Remembered (TM), some have taken some pretty low shots at me for my "flamboyance and showmanship."

I don't know if Randy ever read the ground breaking book, Memories Voice. It shows us how brains work. Being "flamboyant" helps gets facts in the brain faster.

So to Randy I say: Until I get the moment to thank you in person for all you have done still on this planet, I thank you from this planet.

Tcat

Mania 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:24:00 +0000

First it was Web 2.0 Now we have Music 2.0

I see (and so will you by selecting the Title Mania 2.0) we have a potentiality new audio standard coming out of Korea known as MT9. More details about its history and features can be found at

Rishi's Blog.

Three things strike me to call this Hot Stuff. (I always need at least 2 reasons).

The claim it can be 10 times smaller in file size.
The ability to single out voice. (More on that in a moment)
No DRM.

Working backwards. I *hate* DRM. It's not the basic idea, it the implementation. I'm not against the concept of locks. Bet most of you lock the door to your home. Door locks (mostly) work. DRM does not stop anyone and annoys the folks who paid for something.

The ability to "work" six different channels appeals to me. Like almost any older military vet, some types of background noise "kills" my ability to hear. I'm not deaf. And I cannot hear a human communication being presented to me when there is low frequency noise that accompanies it. So I avoid having any social time, say ordering a beer, where there is loud music.

Being able to select voice or chorus for hearing communication, like say, training, appeals to me.

Size. Sometimes smaller IS better, despise what all the Spam emails are attempting to tell/sell me. I don't know how much (if any) loss there is dropping in size. It is arguable that the .WMA format is superior/inferior to the .MP3 format for quality verses size. The argument is indeed a small one in my testing. I have seen 75MB .MP3 go to 25MB .WMA with little/no issue on vocals.

That is 1/3 the size for the same effect, as far as training purposes go, for .WMA over .MP3.

Give me say, 1/5 the size, and let me kill the background 'BOOM". Don't foist DRM hassles on me. Keep the quality roughly the same. Give me all that and I'll give away every MP3/WMA player I own. Thanks for the heads up, Rishi! Let me know when I can get a MT9 player and software to convert my stuff.

Open Source is getting some respect

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:50:00 +0000

The piece from InfoWorld says that MS Office will support ODF file formats!

Three cheers!

We are slowly getting a 2-way street! The beta of Open Office V.3 support the DOCX format.
This has been fine on my Windows boxes. I've been left locked out on my Mac boxes, til I could get Open Office V3 for the Macs.

Thank you, Redmond!

Open Source "Winners"

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:59:00 +0000

Following up on my last entry on Open Source.

A few days ago I got an email saying a security survey found open source has fewer "leaks" then ever.

This got my attention because the last round I read claimed commercial and open source we're running dead even.

So overall, Open Source applications are now more secure than commerical.
And free.

A client packing quite a few brain cells asked me how do these authors make money? Do they make money?

A: Some yes. And not in the way you would think.

Working an open source project give the author a more visible "try me out" to any employer. In short, it is a resume/CV builder. So yes, in a way they do make money!

Today I came across the link in this blog. Really interesting collection of programs! My largest gripe is the Windows-centric nature. I'm not Anti-Windows! (I'm a MCSE too). And I'm old enough to know there is more to life than Windows.

However besides selecting the best of "free" (some are Not Open Source, just free), the site does and excellent job of noting any cross-platform features. Additionally, if an offering can be used without touching the registry, it is considered portable.

This is a really 'nice to know'. You have your favorite application on a USB key. No install required. Today I saw a really well made (and fast) 32 Gig USB key for $100. That's pretty impressive. You could walk around with a waterproof USB "hard drive" for $100.

Isn't technology wonderful?

What do we train on?

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:02:00 +0000

NetworkWorld has a little piece on getting certified on Win 2008 and "should you do it?" angle.

The short story is they say maybe not now, and it will certainly be in higher demand in the future.

So isn't that sorta like saying in the future the sun will rise in the east?

IMO there is a larger issue here. That is the rise in both respect and quality of open source software. Typically, most folks have a brain link that says Open Source = Linux. Try as I might, I don't see dramatic growth in Linux making being certified (on any level) in Windows 2008 being the next functional equal to being Netware certified today.

It appears the Open Source = Linux brain link to be so last century. This is where I see the old judgement as being, well, old.

This blog is about IT Training, and it is not labeled IT Certification. It appears time to update our mental shortcut that Open Source = Linux, and start IT training on Open Source tools. Let's look at some examples of the changes.

Open Office. This open source offering (with lots of $ponser$ip from Sun) is in beta on Version 3. IBM has released a stripped version of this.

Many pundits like to say Open Office isn't worth a damn because it cannot do X. I'm not disagreeing that currently OO.org cannot do X, Y or Z.

I *do* question from the standpoint of large body count, how many folks (percentage wise) actually need the features X, Y or Z? It appears Open Office already has Too Many features similar to MS Office for a percentage of daily users. Why else would IBM go to the trouble of stripping Open Office down?

On the other side of the coin, Open Office has something going for it (besides being free) that MS Office doesn''t. MS Office 2008 on the Mac doesn't have VB for a macro language. Makes sense since the source code for this was based on the PPC chips (pre-Intel/Apple days). The Mac MS Office users have howled enough that the next major release will have VB back, some time in the next decade.

The critics of course are going to say, Who cares? Mac has such a low market share (percentage wise).

Wait a minute. If the small % for the Mac - Office numbers don't count, why should the same small % of users who need the features in MS Office that are not in Open Office matter? That is just not using the same yard stick.

Lets take another example where Open Source is beating the pants off commercial offerings.

Audacity.

This is an Open Source offering for (almost) everything audio. Ok. Not everyone does audio. And a good number of us do, including me. I used to use a commercial offering. Now I can do everything in Audacity (release) I used to do with commercial stuff. The beta version is giving me features I couldn't buy. UTube video training on Audacity (also free) is leading me into audio areas I didn't dream of before.

There is a common thread here I want to pull together.

Open Office, Audacity, and others such as FileZilla have something in common besides being Open Source (and free).

They are available on OS platforms for 'the big three' (Win/OSX/Linux). No one platform has a big lag over the others. The offerings are available in multiple human language interfaces for the big three platforms.

Dividing by human interface (localization) AND by platform availibity, makes for servicing really small percentages of users, without creating a file format issue.

The best part is training for Open Office (or FileZilla or...) is except for Very Small differences, the same on the big 3 OS platforms.

The free part is just icing on the cake. (OK, a lot of icing).

About the only thing that seems the same is the drive to do more, with less, and do it faster.

The book, The Tipping Point takes a in depth look at change. Another book called The Innovators Dilemma takes on the issues of change facing large established companies. (The fact that the author uses the disk drive industry only make it eaiser for us in IT to follow along.) The second book, The Innovators Solution is not a path Microsoft (and many others) followed.

20 years ago, the buzz was that we're entering the third phase of civilization (The Information Age). Well it hasn't exactly gone as predicted, and we seem to be on course for the big picture.

From my chair, it looks like Open Source is moving from the expermential and early adopter phases and is preparing to enter the large percentage mass appeal phase. I only need to look at myself. Yes, I use MS Office. And I *also* use Open Office. I stopped paying for FTP software, and use FileZilla. The same is true with Audacity. I didn't select those to be a researcher. I just wanted to get something done. That these same products work on the big three means I'm not paying, 3 times.

To the trainer in me, this speaks volumes on what we need to prepare what we are going to be training on.

MCA's $25,000 USD question

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:15:00 +0000

Over at Infoworld, there asking if MCA is worth $25K bucks.

Yup. That is the price tag, pre-paid before starting down the path for Win 2008 and the new top level cert.

Personally, I don't think the 25K is going to be the big show stopper. It's the double-digit years at the top of the heap at the enterprise level that will keep the numbers low. I'm not pretending that 25K is chump change.

And this is certainly one cert that showing up at Prometric isn't going to cut it.

Nice review at Infoworld... Take a peek.

"The Brain"

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:54:00 +0000

Folks who have followed my thoughts for any length of time know that Gudrun and I are really excited to study and follow threads on getting "stuff" (facts, thoughts, etc) firmly rooted in the organic computer we call the brain.

Gudrun found a software entry in the category known as 'mind mapping'. This is not some voodoo trick. It has been around a while, just not really well known.

What makes this entry unique is the 'Personal Edition' is really free, not trialware. Sure its limited in the fact that you cannot tie a base thought to files on you drive. That takes the version that is $150. USD. And yes, multi-user versions have a higher price tag.

The part that got my attention is they offer Windows, OS X and Linux versions.

While the Personal Version (free) is limited to connecting web sites, anyone preparing to study in a particular area of study is probably searching the Internet. The first glance at this offering suggests it would be much more intuitive than bookmarks on the subject.

Maybe you want to give this method a shot. Check out the Personal Version of The Brain from http://www.TheBrain.com

If you have given it a try, please offer your thoughts here. Thanks. And thank you Gudrun for this great find.

The Trojan Horse still works

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:35:00 +0000

Sigh.

A really good article from Wired reminds me that the 1st Trojan Horse appeared 3K years ago, give or take a bit.

And Ryan Singel points out that not much has changed.

I read, a lot.

I *get* human nature hasn't changed much in thousands of years.

Maybe if we relate the cost to the city of this 'victory' prize, we'll get people to think.

Hope springs eternal.

And right now, that is about all I got, hope.

So I hope we can change the thoughts of oh, 0.5% of the users.
And hope like hell the 1st really new Windows since 1985 really is here soon, and it may safe the other 96% of those....

Training Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:24:00 +0000

Oh boy.

Here I'm going to ask for what is probably impossible.

I am hoping that I live long enough to see us as IT folks to train intelligence to our end users.

Why? Because it is in there best interests.

As a electronics geek, I've always had a bit of a bleeding edge, excuse me, leading edge leaning. So I have a number of email accounts, including Gmail.

I noticed enough attempts actually getting through to my inbox to join some Google Group, asking me to verify my account request, not just saying, no such group.

It got to a point where I am going, WTF?

I got the answer, and it is here.

Damn!

I get things change. I have learned to roll with that.

And clearly, we are not going to stop spam by a single great idea, like Sender Policy Framework (SPF).

The 'final' answer is to make Spam unattractive from a reward standpoint. That will only happen when we as IT geeks educate our people to not buy stuff sold in spam. AND to not accept "baiting" that something was taken from them. AND to not follow links to "racy" topics.

This is a high bar. Probably impossible. Maybe we can train our users (and ourselves) to a point where spam is a less attractive business, thereby reducing spam.

It's a sad day when CAPCHA has been "had" by the black hats. Again, this isn't theory. I'm seeing it myself in my own inbox. For the readers that want the "how data", here you go.
http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Blogs/2919.aspx

I have faith that the Googlers can control this.
I have hope that we who care of, the end users, make all this not worth while by not responding. Get rid of the demand and the supply will dry up. Simple math. Hard solution.

Tcat

Hello Boys! I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:15:00 +0000

I do believe that is one of the great lines from the Si-Fi movie, Independence Day.

My co-author Gudrun sold me that it is time to look @ IT Training Today.

Obviously the most comments came from my FL thoughts. To answer a few questions I saw...

I was the lead on Exam Prep i-Net+. Matt and L.A. certainly killed themselves along with me getting that out the door in a couple weeks (yes, weeks). Matt did fantastic graphics.

Someone else suggested Sunbelt should sue me for my thoughts. I suspect Stu is pretty happy I at least spelled the name of the company right ;-) And, yes there are great folks in the Sunshine state.

So what has been going on out there?

I'm getting a number of reports that IT Training (and testing) is on the rise. Well we always seem to do better when the "R" word is tied to the economy.

CompTIA wants a 'super cert' if you got A+, Network+, Security+ and Server+. I was promoting a Triple Crown (no Server+) years ago. It appears CompTIA is reversing course after 'drinking the Kool-Aid'.

Cisco and Microsoft are really starting to play hard ball with the illegal brain dump sites. Yes, some folks call guidance 'a brain dump'. Maybe that is a marketing thing. Illegal is posting actual questions or having someone take the test for you!

MS-Vista just isn't taking the world by storm. It never will. The DRM stuff takes so many cycles making sure you didn't stick electronic probe to suck a movie off the video card, Vista will join MS-Me and MS-BOB. However if your studying Windows 2008 Server, you are probably surprised at the power and features!

The Electronic Industry Association International ( http://www.eta-i.org ) has taken CompTIA rollovers back in house. I *finally* got my Master status, taking and passing all the RESI (Residential Electronic Systems Integrator) exams. And as a Master, I'm done for life.

Gudrun and I have finally gotten moving in the direction we we're looking at for http://effectivegeek.com

Only we really haven't done IT there! We have teamed up with Harry from http://www.SMBNation.com/

The first offering (fast becoming a series) is Certification Success
http://www.amazon.com/Certification-Success-success-anything-getting/dp/0977094979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208176626&sr=8-1

Since our work is *really* about the fantastic organic computer located between the ears, our new effort can be applied to any 'high bar' endeavorer. We're working on a "Project Mgt." book, taking on the weird ways of being human.

Folks that have known me since almost forever have been surprised that I had pretty much stopped beating the drum for subliminal learning the past couple years. Beyond experiments I conducted on myself, http://TcatU.net really laid to rest (for me) that subliminal study is a great aid. How great depends on you preferred learning style in the first 20% of Dale's Cone of Experience. And even if hearing or seeing (as opposed to reading) is on the bottom of your brain preferences, anything extra is, well extra.

So finally, a study was done that pretty well goes against the opinion that subliminal learning cannot work.

Quoting from:
http://www.technoccult.com/archives/2008/03/30/subliminal-exposure-to-corporate-logos-effect-how-people-think-study-says

“This is the first clear evidence that subliminal brand exposures can cause people to act in very specific ways,” said Gráinne Fitzsimons. “We’ve performed tests where we’ve offered people $100 to tell us what logo was being flashed on screen, and none of them could do it. But even this imperceptible exposure is enough to spark changes in behavior.”

The blog from the Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/03/20/think-apple-it-boosts-creativity/ says:

"Scientists have long debated whether subliminal messages, the idea that subconscious exposure can shape behavior, really work. In recent years, the consensus opinion has tended towards no. But most studies measured if subliminal messages caused people to buy products. Fitzsimons and his colleagues wondered if the exposure resulted in behavioral changes that don't show up on the balance sheet."

I am *so* glad both Gudrun and Harry had the courage to grant me the mini-rant on subliminal learning, as well as allowing me to offer my research on the best (Windows) program for subliminal delivery to the computer screen (the program is free of adware, spyware or even cost), in the Certification Success book. Thank you to both of you!

The two of us are releasing some of our training material for Certified Technical Trainer through http://www.TotalRecallPress.com shortly. Yeah, I know it has a + sign now. And I earned my CTT years before CompTIA had it, so I'm proud to say I'm sans +.

If you met me about oh, 40 years or more years ago, you correctly assumed I slept with a camera. (Freelance photographers don't make $ when you don't have a camera). I pretty much gave up the idea of photography when I had to do it for a living, for Uncle Sam, wearing a green suit. Me shooting silver while the other side is shooting pieces of lead back sorta turned me off to the idea.

Well my polite yet firm friend and co-author finally sold me on picking up a camera again, in 2008. I started with Berlin Germany and found taking pictures was fun again. So I'm putting up cities as I fancy @ http://photos.Travel4RoadWarriors.com/

My choice of shots is not what you would normally think of. My Philadelphia stuff has no liberty bell, for example.

Looking not too far out, it appears the 3rd MS-Windows will be out soon. (The 1st was DOS Windows, the 2nd, NT Windows). Don't believe me, do a Start-Run and enter CMD (return). You see the NT Version # and final build #.

Hardware is getting pretty exciting too. The same folks that gave us the 3.5" 'DeathStar' HD (now a Hitachi product), have RaceTrack Memory coming.
http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn13648-ibm-creates-working-racetrack-memory-device.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

1/2 million MP3's, (or 3,500 movies) stored while using less power could mean a heck of a lot of subliminal learning.

I'm going to experiment with allowing comments. Certainly, you Don't have to agree with me, or even like me. All I ask is to keep in mind your word choices might be read by minors.

Best,
Tcat

Go Ahead, Bite the Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:17:00 +0000

As I said before, I’m not posting for the sake of posting.

Now that Apple has Boot Camp with a corporate offering of an unofficial way to load Microsoft XP, it is time to talk Apple. I got the 20” I-Mac the day the driver contest was done. Ok. The next morning (Saturday) because I didn’t hear the news the contest was over till Friday evening.

2 weeks later Apple posts Boot Camp.

So I got to admit, I am pretty impressed with the hardware and software that is native to Apple. I haven’t looked @ them since I was burned with the Lisa.

Even so impressed, I’m going to take my Apple Certification tests and get the functional equal to the MCSE. --- There you go: I said it publicly, so now I have to do it.

Should you wish to dig further, try http://train.apple.com/certification/
Best, Tcat

Boycott The State Of Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 21:51:00 +0000

Any one who knows me knows I've been around the block a few decades.

I could never understand why all the crooks and thieves live in FL. Well I know now. It is because there laws for proving a person committed a "white collar" crime like stealing my work, (and my name, reputation) etc.... is not something Law Enforcement will touch in their own back yard!
I know. A good man contacted me this week about http://www.ExamSaver.com

He already had purchased work I created for http://www.totalrecallpress.com and http://www.studyexam4less.com via ExamSaver.

The Clearwater, Fl based ExamSavers owned by Jason Bortz, is Out Right Lying via telemarketers that they have brand new material I created just for them! I had never heard of them before! Nor have I contracted or endorsed any work for them.

Well a little digging I discovered two things:
1) Jason and ExamSaver have judgments entered in court for failing to pay as agreed and collection agencies are after this outfit.
2) I spoke with no less than 3 government agencies in FL who bottom line said, we cannot help you. It is a civil matter to file in WA state. I guess FL thinks, as long as the money is coming to FL we don't care if its legal money earned or not. At least that it seems how the law works in Florida.

As I have said in this blog before. Bitching won't fix it. Action will.

I am asking you to boycott firms that are Florida based. Not just the criminals like Jason and ExamSaver who stealing from me my work and also affect my reputation with false and fraudulent assertions.

I want you to deny a dollar to the GOOD firms like SunBeltTools.com too. Stu from SunBelt has the power and the moxy to make FL lawmakers tighten up the scam haven they are running down there.

Sorry Stu. You’re a good man with a good operation. And you got the clout to fix your home state. That is the cross you have to bear. Leave FL or fix it. In the meantime, while I thank you for saving Kerio firewall and keeping it free to home users, I'm going to tell the world to take your free gifts and not give you a dime until you make FL fix itself or move. May I suggest Huntsville, AL ? Nice people, lots of tech folks due to the Goddard Space Center, low cost of living. Trade up buddy!

Tcat

Expansion: 2006 Style

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 02:13:00 +0000

As we move towards February 2006 and Cupid Day (14 February 2006)...

I have keeping my on-going "LUV" relationship up with Southwest Airlines. And it occurred to me that other people want to create a value for value LUV relationship with you! I know because I was busting my butt behind the scenes.

So soon to be publicly announced, I bring you:
Great Rates from the Network Professional Association http://snipurl.com/NPA_1

The NPA is a vendor neutral ORG focused on networking and has positions open for the folks just starting out to the old farts like me and Ed as well as everything in between.

This is a great org! I was surprised to read the newsletter and find out that my old buddy from way back, Ed Tittel and I renewed with the NPA and CNP status in the same month!

The great rates deal is currently only available to a few of our friends north of me (Canada) and to ETA-I.ORG members. Now don't get me wrong. I don't tell Newfie jokes. And I'm not Canadian but I have been an ETA-I.ORG member for years. So you can understand my nature prejudice to say this is also available to ETA-I.ORG members.

Not an ETA-I.ORG member yet? Got A+? => Get a 2nd Certification (Computer Service Technician) from the ETA-I.ORG for $49.00 AND get all (CompTIA/Microsoft) RU Ready practice tests from http://www.studyexam4less.com/rollover.asp

This gets you an entire team effort for your future career AND covers you with a 2nd certification as well as a direction otherwise not open to you. In closing... If you are known by the company you keep... I have been a proud member of CompTIA and the NPA going well back to the previous century; I joined StudyExam4Less and the ETA-I.ORG as this century dawned.

Looking in the rear-view mirror of my life, these we're some of the better choices I made. Please learn from my wins. The bonus is for most of you, this comes from the cheap seats to boot.

Above all, to thine own self follow thine own advice

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:48:00 +0000

With apologies to Shakespeare I think when he said that it is most important to look at yourself honestly it logically follows that if you’re giving advice, you damn well better be following it.

Well it’s not exactly like I fell off the wagon.

For a while there I just wasn’t studying new topics in a big way. Sure I keep up each day with the new news: how about 10GB 1” micro drives for cell phones?

http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,107422,00.html?SKC=storage-107422

Excuse me --- that is small stuff. To be honest, my brain hasn’t been challenged to take on a major project such as say, learn a new language. Like many of us, I did the New Years Resolution thing. Unlike some, I usually stick to what I say I’m going to do (even when it starts hurting). If you’re new to the name of doing what you say you will --- I got some great news: If you make a promise to yourself or someone else and it becomes painful, the mouth quickly learns to become a self sealing entity.

The odd thing (for me) is my next major thing isn’t IT related. I have decided I am going to become reasonably fluent in reading and speaking Spanish. I guess writing will become the next logical step afterwards.

It is my approach that is typical of Tcat but isn’t typical of the world. First, a confession: – My personality style is both damn lazy and very short on patience when the results column is coming up a bit short. Given that I want to satisfy those two traits I have to find “outside the box” ways of getting things done, without looking for something for nothing.

So for more than 30 years I have been an advocate of learning while sleeping. If you are of the belief that because you are sleeping you are somehow “temporally dead” you can either stop reading this now or go get a bit more information.

I started this game in life with a carbon microphone and a reel-to-reel tape deck. It served me well back then. However technology changed life (BIG TIME). And in this entry I’m detailing how I am moving on the Next Big Learning while sleeping.

Really it is a combination of technologies, all really interesting.

I’ll start with my MP3 player. It is from SanDisk. It weighs in @ about 40 Grams (About 1.5 ounces), with its single AAA battery. While it’s mere 512MB can only hold about 18 hours of instruction I can stick upwards of another 2GB of flash memory in the side while adding approx. 4 grams of weight. That RAM takes me to over 60 unique hours of instruction. This is more than a typical class week of a boot camp or nearly double the regular working hours of a week (assuming 100% productivity).

Now the 18 hour thing of 512 MB works out really well because that is what the player is rated for on a single AAA alkaline battery. However I’m an eco friendly guy so I went to Radio Shack and get a modified version of the Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable battery system. They say a single charge lasts 4 times longer than an alkaline and it can be recharged in 15 minutes. So now I got a solid week worth of instruction with no batteries to buy or chargers to haul around.

Total investment (so far) about $100.USD

Now the i-Pod like ear buds that came with the SanDisk may be fine for the Greyhound @ 30 K FT (Southwest Airlines) for daytime learning and I’m not thrilled at the idea of rolling around in my sleep getting tangled up in sound cord. I have always said “go to Radio Shack” for a pillow speaker. Well it turns out Sharper Image has a similar just more expensive offering too.

Well in my digging into tech 2006 style I found @ http://www.dreamessentials.com/a_relax_pillowsonic.aspx , which is a stereo version and flat as a bug in a rug for $20. Trust me, its great. I’ve added about 30 grams to my backpack for my road warrior days.

To complete the tech tour and major brain upgrade I am happy to receive input. Google fails me, completely and utterly. This is because while the most fantastic http://www.wordsgalore.com/ (freeware, several languages) works perfectly while sitting in front of my laptop, however seems to stutter and struggle with making working MP3 files. While I will put in time to see if I can fix Words Galore remember I said I’m pretty focused about getting hash marks in the win column, QUICKLY ?

Google shows me commercial offerings starting @ $40 --- for young children who will interact with the computer (and I want to sleep). Moving up the wallet draining offers what I am looking for is hovering about $250-500 USD. It appears instant gratification (3 days by postal mailing) isn’t cheap.

eBay to the rescue. I found new from an established seller the same 8 CD set that was $400 as a 2005 edition (updated and used) for less than $30 delivered with insurance. Now we are talking a total investment that is doable on a teacher’s salary.

Back to the MP3 player. RIP the CD’s cheer to MP3. Plug in the USB V2 cable. The MP3 player wakes up and becomes a removable disk drive. 10 minutes of Copy/Paste. Like a magician, a week worth of training in a package not much bigger than the Zippo lighter I packed in the Army.

Isn’t technology wonderful?

No, I have not gone to the trouble of “time warping” and burying the data in subliminal format (yet). This is the first week of the New Year. Funny, but it took time to research the best shortcuts for a major brain upgrade, 2006 style.

I can tell you that even without the subliminal format I began to have dreams about my brain upgrade on night 3. Right on time for me! What I found so funny was: the dream incorporated the fact that the data was not subliminal. The dream was making it OK to be back in the Army and learning this “new” way. And I must be getting old: the women in my dreams we’re way cuter than the one’s I remember from the Army. Let me think about this till next time…

Tcat

An insecure state of affairs

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 21:47:00 +0000

Ok. I admit I love meeting the new folks. And 3.5 weeks (straight) as a road warrior has taken a bit out of me. I switched over to a cross country backpack instead of a rolling duffel bag. It's great for rougher terrain... And my body is paying ;-)

So back to the real world.

I was contracted to do all sorts of different classes from Northern CA to the Baja Border. And being a professional, I delivered what I was contracted to do.

Notice I didn't say this is what the students actually wanted.

They all wanted Security.

Notice I didn't say they wanted Security+.

As a trainer who has been around the block a time or three, I know how to handle this. Race like a bat out of hell through the contracted course then create custom training for each students experience level based on what they really wanted.

Here is the funny part. Not one person wanted to know how to do bad things. They all wanted to be able to identify how to know when bad things are happening to them, and they cannot even tell. Well I made a quick flash movie showing how the typical bad guy works now. Forget script kiddies. These guys are pro's. I showed them the hiding in plain sight communications systems. A couple of those revealing clues brought rapid classroom attention and glowing heads.

After the feeling of utter despair had sunk in, I showed them free work from the US Govt. that will cover your (ass)ets really well, if you use them.

So my real point in this entry is its time for the IT training industry to get off its certification status smug feeling and start showing people what they really want. They want reasonable security, not impossible to get or outdated certifications.

So yeah. It was a rough almost 4 weeks. And the warm handshakes and hugs I got from the folks telling me I showed them what to show their employees and their children made the current feeling of rode hard, put away wet... All worth while.

Seasons Greetings,

Tcat

Hey Amigo! Want a Taco? An HP Pavillion?

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:21:00 +0000

Ok. It's obvious this week, I'm late.

I was on the Greyhound @ 30K Ft (Southwest Airlines) heading to San Diego for the next week's gig. I didn't let any moss grow under my feet getting to Mexico. Its a favorite (food) place of mine for decades.

Before you get the impression I'm Jet Setting about the planet... I spent $2.50 USD for the bus and trolley, door to door from landing @ San Diego to walking into Mexico. I was planning on spending almost $8. USD to take the 90 minute 1st class bus south however a dude from New Jersey who knows his way around Tijuana I meet on the bus from the airport suggests I follow him for a few minutes around TJ. My first reaction is to blow him off. I've seen enough of TJ to know it just rip-off tourist city. And not keeping an open mind is being dead, just waiting to be buried. So I say: Great and thanks.

Damn. I thought I knew TJ.

It turns out I only knew what I saw. The hotel he showed me (bottom line $32) had a bed close to Hilton comfort. Internet cafes are pretty much on every block. Average is 20 stations with lease retire about 3 years old. Rate? About 10 NM (About a dollar) for 30 minutes; 50% more for a full hour.

I settle on Harry's favorite (because its 20 meters from the motel) with Armando Meza's place on 8th, just east of Revolution (Main St and tourist central). I like the fully private booths and headsets with microphone so Skype is an option to my personal extranet.

Checking out prices, Baja has all the goodies of the good old USA. That includes speaking and writing English. This is good because Geek is my first language, English my second. I haven't had time to fit in a third, like Spanish or German.

Oh yeah. MasterCard and Visa are welcome along with the cash of many countries. I feel like Hong Kong has camped south of Los Angeles. The only difference I see between Fry's or CompUSA and TJ is they dance like wolves to fill an order rather than pull it out of the back room. And... For Sure! They keep you happy while some poor soul is humping butt to get you your product from some secret location. The US mass marketers could learn a thing or three from this "backyards" part of the planet.

So my geek tastes are pleasantly surprised and fulfilled.

Going 9 meters south of my 24 hour "casa", I found a cart that only offers oysters, clams and soda. I asked about the oysters (in English since I cannot say this in Spanish). I'm offered a dozen for $4.50 USD. OK. I'm expecting some death on a half-shell since I can spend that for *one* oyster at Shuckers in Seattle (my home town).

Since my TJ shock has been positive, I take a risk. I ordered six, and got back to the motel casa and watch (in English) the Sunday edition of the Wall Street Journal and wait to get sick. I figure the oysters we're so tasty and cheap --- something had to be wrong.

Two hours gone by and I'm --- hungry for more. I get another dozen. A local, who can speak Spanish and English did strike up a chat with my "cart" about things in Spanish. The gringo (me) enters the chat because the local tells me the owner was happy I found her place so cool that I came back the same day.

Sunday started early and it's time to get a nap before my teaching gig in San Diego this week. Been there before. Good place. (New Horizons in north San Diego). I'll cut them a deal, if I can come back at least once a month. It’s a good training center, well run. - And I could get wrap almost 4 days around a week’s class to learn more about TJ and their yummy food.

Based on the data I collected this weekend, don't be surprised if I have an entry that says something to the effect of: Good Riddance! and greetings to President Fox and the citizens of Mexico. 2-3 days for a broadband connection install in a 200-500 USD a month Casa? Let me think. Ok, done thinking: potentially Paradise, here I come.

I'm forgoing the frog of the week to get some sleep to be 100% for my class this week. If I'm a little late next week --- like this... you know where I am. It's OK to be very jealous.

Tcat

Great Certifications Are Small

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 13:26:00 +0000

Save a Frog! Join the ETA-I.ORG

http://snipurl.com/SaveAFrog

My quest to get affordable certification tests has met with some natural resistance. I’m getting a number of comments that while the ETA-I.ORG looks great, Human Resource departments (those who do the hiring) don’t know about CST (pdf) or CNST (pdf) much less it’s Certified Web Specialist (CWS) or IT Fiber programs.

Fair enough.

And repeating what was so popular to say in the 1970’s: and still valid today: “If you are not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”. HR will not know what CST or CNST is until we either take the test or roll our A+* or Network+* to ETA-I (and put that on our CV/Resume). and/or ETA-I will be more widespread and well-known.

And my point for this entry is not about ETA-I or CompTIA.

Recently I rejoined a small (yet elite) group. It got me thinking about something I read in 1975 from Robert J. Ringer book Looking out for #1.which was re-issued in 1985 and available at Amazon.com for way under $10. USD.

In this engaging read when the author was at one of his deepest (and not-happy) moments in life, a truism hit him. Now I’m not going to ruin the story for you by repeating it here. And the point was: What are you offering the planet that you cannot get from 999 other people?

I read that in 1975 and it really hit home. It has helped define who I am.

So let’s bring that back to training and certification. I’m really happy to have rejoined the Network Professional Association and enlisted as a Certified Network Professional.

Let me say up front, joining the NPA and getting your CNP is not cheap. I dropped $400 USD. This is the same amount of money Microsoft charges for being an MCT. While the MCT is not exactly a commodity, being a CNP gets a “what’s that?” Nothing the OCR scanners looking at CV/Resumes are going to pick up (today). Personally, I don’t care if nobody knows what a CNP is. I’m getting my $400 USD dollars worth, many times over.

So the logical question becomes “Why would I drop $400 USD?”

The answer is:
It is in your best interests.

Rational:
Assuming you can afford $400 USD; look at what you get each month:

Members get a whole lot of “free” stuff from corporate sponsors. I remember this from when I was a member and Chapter President of Seattle, WA –USA in the 1990’s. Yes, being an NPA member wasn’t cheap. What I got mailed to me each month was an incredible stack of software that was licensed to my test lab. Stuff that otherwise would have cost me thousands of dollars a year, or gone without. So when I heard that the NPA was making a push in this century, it was a no-brainer to get back in the fold.

Call it enlightened self-interest (as R.J. Ringer would have said). Sure the corporate sponsors are getting mindshare. The NPA is getting members. We get stuff we couldn’t afford to play with otherwise. A Win/Win/Win.

Because I have been around since 8KB was the total RAM on a mainframe, I have a “few” acronyms behind my name. Generally I don’t list them unless it is relevant to a class I’m teaching or a book I’m working on.

So when I go teach Network+ in CA next week, I’ll write:

CNP/CNST/CTT/Network+.

All but CTT are directly related to networking. And I’ve been a CTT for just shy of 10 years so you might want to know I known something about training. I’m sure as hell not going to tell them I got a perfect score on the LANtastic certification test. Who would care about LANtastic today? It’s about relevance, not intimidation.

Why put CNP and CNST on the board for a Network+ class? It’s to show them the greatness in small certifications. I could put MCSE too. And what would be the point? It’s not something that is exactly difficult to find a MCSE. So remembering what I learned from Ringer 30 years ago: I’ll take the odd certification as enlightened self interest.

(* ™ or ® of CompTIA.org)

Welcome to my blog

noreply@blogger.com (Tcat) — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 17:29:00 +0000

Why this blog site?

Well because we are getting nailed with excessive test fees and poor questions.

Just complaining isn't an answer. As it used to be popular to say:
"If you are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

So here is a starting point.

Tcat
http://snipurl.com/SaveAFrog