CertCities.com News
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Nov. 7, 2007: Vol. 8, Issue 37
Editor: Becky Nagel (bnagel 1105media.com)
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SPONSORED THIS WEEK BY:
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- Web 2.0: Guide to Hosted Security by Jeremy Moskowitz
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In this issue:
1) THIS WEEK'S IT CERTIFICATION NEWS
- Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2008 Upgrade Exams for
MCSEs, MCSAs
2) DULANEY ON CERTS
- Are Testing Centers Where They Need To Be?
- Three Cisco Exams Retiring
- Cisco Extending CCNA Localization
- Technology Pioneer: E. Clarke Porter
- Book of the Week: 'The World Is Flat'
3) ZUBAIR'S TIP O' THE WEEK: MAKING YOUR MOUSE WORK IN
WINDOWS
COMMAND PROMPT
4) FROM THE FORUMS: BLOCKING PROXIES, SIMPLE MULTICAST
STREAM, MORE
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1) THIS WEEK'S IT CERTIFICATION NEWS
NEWS: "Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2008 Upgrade
Exams for
MCSEs, MCSAs"
Last week, Microsoft released new certification exams that
allow
Microsoft Certified System Engineers (MCSEs) and Microsoft
Certified
System Administrators (MCSAs) certified on Windows Server
2003 to
update their credentials to Windows Server 2008.
http://certcities.com/editorial/news/story.asp?e
ditorialsid=1283
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2) DULANEY ON CERTS
By Emmett Dulaney
ARE TESTING CENTERS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE?
One of the biggest certification shakeups in 2007 has to be
the
decision of the larger vendors (namely, Microsoft and Cisco)
to stop
supporting both VUE and Prometric testing, and instead
exclusively
support one or the other.
As a result, press releases and communications have
sometimes sounded
a bit odd. For example, on Oct. 30, Cisco sent out a press
release
about the localization of CCNA/CCENT exams (which I'll
discuss below)
that jumped topics in the middle and included this nugget:
"Additionally, Pearson VUE, Cisco's primary exam
delivery partner,
will add new testing facilities to accommodate growing
regional
demand. Since January, Pearson VUE has activated 69 testing
facilities in mainland China, bringing the total number of
test
centers in the country to 211."
Intrigued (and curious about how meaningful -- or
meaningless -- those
numbers may be), I went to http://www.vue.com and chose
Locate a Test
Center, then narrowed the results to centers that offer
information
technology exams under Cisco. I searched for all the sites
within
a number of countries, then divided that amount into the
latest
population numbers available for each country, according to
the
CIA's "The World Factbook" (http://tinyurl.com/2b2kg9).
I discovered that Australia has a ratio of 1 testing center
for every
537,741 residents. That turned out to be very close to the
average.
The ratio for Bermuda is low at 1-33,082, while France's
ratio is
rather high at 1-1,044,491. Canada's ratio is about
1-347,000. And
for the United States, the ratio is around 1-370,000.
I then highlighted all the locations in China and found far
less
than the 211 stated in the press release. In fact, only 17
locations
showed up (the same number that showed up for India,
surprisingly).
China, according to July numbers, has a population of 1.3
billion.
With 17 testing centers, the ratio is 1-77,755,993 -- and
even if
you go with the 211 testing centers from the press release,
you
still end up with a ratio of 1-6,264,701.
I'm not sure that a ratio of 1 testing center to every 6
million
people is something to be that proud of just yet.
THREE CISCO EXAMS RETIRING
Nov. 6 marked the retirement of three Cisco certification
exams:
INTRO 640-821 (which was tied to course INTRO 2.1), INCD
640-811 and
CCNA 640-801 (both of which were tied to course ICND 2.3).
Replacing them are exams on newer technologies: INCD1
640-822, INCD2
640-816, and CCNA 640-802, respectively.
All Cisco certification exams are now available worldwide
exclusively
through VUE testing centers, and you can find more
information about
all the Cisco certifications at http://www.cisc
o.com/go/getcertified.
CISCO EXTENDING CCNA LOCALIZATION
Cisco also recently announced that upcoming localized
versions of
the Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA)
certification exam
will be made available between now and early next year.
Translated versions of the exam that will be made available
by the
end of this year are:
- Japanese (Dec. 1)
- Simplified Chinese (Dec. 8)
- Spanish (Dec. 28)
And early next year, localization will be done in:
- Russian (Jan. 11)
- French (date not announced)
- Korean (date not announced)T
The Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) exam
is also
being localized on the same dates as the CCNA.
TECHNOLOGY PIONEER: E. CLARKE PORTER
One of the not-quite household names in technology belongs
to E.
Clarke Porter, who nevertheless has had an enormous impact
on
certification as we know it.
Long associated with testing, he developed the first
electronic
testing system in 1979 for the National Association of
Securities
Dealers. He was also a founding member of what was once
known as
Drake Prometric (now Thomson Prometric) and convinced Novell
that
proctored IT certification through Prometric centers was
worth
trying. Prometric's CNE certification became the catalyst
that
propelled the certification market for over a decade.
After leaving Prometric, Porter co-founded Virtual
University
Enterprises, better known as Pearson VUE. VUE was one of the
first
companies to use the Internet in the testing process,
allowing for
self-registration, appointment changes and so on.
Today, Porter serves as the co-founder, CEO and chairman of
Integral7
(http://www.integral7.com/), a company that provides credentialing
management software and services for certification. Porter
is
responsible for "executing its strategy to provide
enterprise
credential management and verification services that
unleash,
enhance and protect the value of certification and licensure
programs."
BOOK OF THE WEEK: 'THE WORLD IS FLAT'
In keeping with the global theme of this week's first item,
let me
introduce you to the one book everyone should read: Thomas
L.
Friedman's "The World is Flat" (http://tinyurl.com/yods2l). Originally
published in 2005, it's since been updated and expanded.
Friedman has
now rearranged some of the chapters and added two new ones
to make
the "Further Updated and Expanded" version (or
Release 3.0).
If you read absolutely nothing else, the second chapter
alone -- The
Ten Forces That Flattened the World -- make the book worth
purchasing.
Here, Friedman discusses how such things as Apache, workflow
software,
Netscape and so many other technologies have turned the
world into
the level field it is today.
To comment, go to:
http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.
asp?editorialsid=249
Emmett Dulaney is the author of several books on Linux,
Unix, and
certification, including the Security+ Study Guide, Third
Edition. He
can be reached at edulaneyinsightbb.com.
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3) ZUBAIR'S TIP O' THE WEEK: MAKING YOUR MOUSE WORK IN
WINDOWS
COMMAND PROMPT
QUESTION:
How can I make my mouse work at the command prompt in
Windows
2000/XP/2003?
ANSWER:
When you open a command prompt (Start, Run, cmd.exe), you
may not be
able to highlight the contents on your screen with your
mouse unless
you properly configure your command prompt. More
specifically, you
need to configure your command prompt for Quick Edit mode.
Here's
the procedure:
1. Open command prompt by going to Start, Run, and typing
cmd.
2. Click on the upper left-hand corner on the C: icon and
select
Properties.
3. Click on the Options tab and check the Quick Edit Mode
box under
Edit Options.
4. Click OK and then select "Modify shortcut that
started this
window."
I recommend that you also customize the command prompt by
going to All
Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. That way, you'll get
the mouse
support no matter how you start the command prompt.
To comment, go to:
http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.
asp?EditorialsID=250
-- Zubair Alexander, MCSE, MCT, MCSA and Microsoft MVP, is
the owner
of SeattlePro Enterprises, an IT training and consulting
business.
His experience covers a wide range: trainer, consultant,
systems
administrator, security architect, network engineer, author,
technical editor, college instructor and public speaker.
Zubair holds
more than 18 technical certifications and bachelor of
science
degrees in aeronautics and astronautics engineering,
mathematics
and computer information systems. His Web site,
www.techgalaxy.net,
is dedicated to technical resources for IT professionals.
Zubair may
be reached at alexandertechgalaxy.net.
------------------------------------------------------------
----
4) FROM THE FORUMS: BLOCKING PROXIES, SIMPLE MULTICAST
STREAM, MORE
The following posts were made to our forums recently by IT
professionals like yourself. To post your own comments,
please
register with the forums.
To respond to one of these posts or find out more, go to the
link under each post. To read our other posts and start a
thread of your own, go to http://certcities.com/f
orums/
-----------------------------------
*Blocking Proxies* (Cisco -- Real World Forum)
bmcmillin writes:
"How do you prevent users inside the network from
accessing proxy
sites on the Internet and bypassing the firewall
restrictions? I know
you can block all SSH and SSL connections, but that is a bit
drastic
and unrealistic. I could also block the individual proxy
sites, but
that would take me about a week (provided I knew all of the
proxy
sites). Plus, there is the problem of people using TOR. None
of these
proxies use the same port number. What is a self-respecting
network
guy to do?"
Read the entire post and responses (15 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5601
-----------------------------------
*VNM Support of the AS5350XM Gateway* (Cisco -- Real World
Forum)
hudsonmbg writes:
"I would like to find out if the AS5350XM Universal
Gateway supports
the VNM. I know it is supported by the 3660 and other
lower-end
gateways. The scenario is just to connect an analog phone
line into
the router to connect to a VoIP network. I am doing this for
a
telephone provider who needs a line for telephone calls from
a
competitor network and trust me, they won't think twice of
getting an
E1 from their competitor.
The client has an Ericsson GSM switch with no support for
RJ-11."
Read the entire post and responses (0 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5598
-----------------------------------
*Simple Multicast Stream* (CCNA/CCNP Forum)
bwgray writes:
"Is there a simple way I can generate a basic multicast
stream in a
lab enviornment? A ping -- would that work?"
Read the entire post and responses (1 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5604
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