verITableLIFE

Certification Kick

I am back on a certification kick, this time focusing on IT Security; and since it is related to technology, I figured I would share my methods and secrets of what I do to prepare myself for the big day. There are 5 milestones that I will follow for every certification exam that I take: selecting a book, setting up a lab environment, searching for online video training, taking practice tests, and finding an exam voucher. Now you may find some of my techniques overkill or a waste of time, but this is just my way of approaching certifications. Take what you want and throw away what you don’t. Read the rest of this entry »

Tis The Season….For Scams

As some of you may know, I am a big fan of selling online; especially venues such as Half.com, Craigslist, and eBay. The ability to sell and purchase online opens more possibilities for everyone; however, there is an opportunity that is opened that most may not be aware of: that being the opportunity to scam somebody. The best way that I can help explain what I mean is through an example, which just recently happened to me.

This Black Friday, I ended impulse buying an HDTV (at a great price) with every intention on selling it. One of the first things I did when I got home was write up a description to post on Craigslist. After I had my write up, I went online to find some of the TV’s specs and a nice picture to post with it. As always, I put my Craigslist ad up and setup an e-mail filter to make sure I won’t miss an offer. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Chat Adds Video and Voice

On Tuesday, November 11th, Google decide to add Voice and Video to their Gchat. I was unable to play with it until today and I must say that it is very impressive. Of course, all Google products that come to market seem to impress me, but the voice and video really take the cake. 

Quality

When using the voice through Google Chat, I was expecting that there would be some chatter or grainy sound quality. I was completely wrong! The sound quality was great, very smooth. I would go as far as putting it on par with Skype, if not better. Moreover, the video quality matched that of the sound quality. Very smooth graphics, not choppy at all. However, when enlarging the video to full screen, you will start to see some problems. But what would you expect when you are broadcasting from a webcam. Read the rest of this entry »

Computer Ethics Guest Post

As some of you may know, I am a guest writer for WNY Tech Blog. I recently wrote a post about Computer Ethics that I feel everyone should read. Computer Ethics is an important subject, and should be taken seriously.

Please take 5 minutes to head over to the Computer Ethics post at WNY Tech Blog and give it at least a quick once over. And as always, comments are appreciated.

Fixing Computer Problems

When you are known as the “computer geek” to friends and family, you give an implied impression that you are there to solve every and any technology question or mishap. As we all know, if you know anything about computers, you must know everything about about technology. To some this may be a burden; while other may enjoy the challenge. Personally, I enjoy helping others.

I am faced with various computer problems throughout the day: from trivial, user related questions, all the way up to complex server questions. The amount of things that can go wrong with computers is almost infinite; there are too many problems for any one person to be able to resolve without the help of an IT community: the IT community being the Internet. One of the greatest resources, as you already know, is the Internet. Where am I going with this? I am saying that every user has the ability to diagnose and fix their own computer problems. 

As much as I love to lend a helping hand, sometimes it’s hard to help others who don’t help themselves. Now in a work environment, I wouldn’t expect someone to try to fix their own computer problems unless they worked in the IT Department; but when dealing with home computers, I believe that the first step in solving a problem shouldn’t be calling someone. Instead take 10 to 15 minutes to research your problem. If you are getting an error message Google the error message verbatim, if there is an odd behavior try searching for that behavior. When searching for computer problems online, also be sure to add your operating system to the search to help get more specific results.

Remember that most computer problems can be fixed through a little bit of research, and at the same time you will have learned that much more. In the event that you are unable to diagnose and solve your computer problems within those first 15 minutes, then go ask your go to computer geek.

Election Time

Election time is right around the corner, and what better than some links to help keep you in the loop. Here is a collection of some links that are helping me stay informed and educated on the 2008 election. Remember, if you are note registered to vote and you qualify, visit Rock The Vote.

Drudge Report

The Drudge Report is one of the best places to find your news on the Internet before it breaks. Although this site isn’t a dedicated election site, there seems to be a lot of news revolving around the election; which makes Drudge Report the one of the best places to get the information first.

Real Clear Politics

I use Real Clear Politics to see the the 2008 election spread. They chart out the under/over in a easy to understand graph, and the information is always current. In addition, they provide all the polling resources that they used to gather their data to ensure validity and allow you to research yourself.

CNN Election

If you are a fan of CNN, then I would recommend that you check out CNN’s Election site. 

FOX News Election

On the other hand, if you are more of a FOX News kinda person, you may find that the FOX News Election site more appealing.

Stay informed and Rock The Vote.

Virtualization

Earlier this week, I went to a Microsoft seminar which the underlying theme was virtualization. I dabbled in virtualization for the past three years, thinking of it as more of a hobby or a playground to test environments; however, after watching some of the Microsoft presentations and listening to some case studies, I started to look at virtualization in a new light: it is the way of the future in technology.

What is Virtualization

Some of you may be asking yourself, “What is virtualization?” Simply put, virtualization is the process of using one physical server (or computer) to run multiple virtual computers. If this is still a little confusing, I will try and give you an analogy. When you go to Best Buy and purchase a new computer, bring it home, power it on, set it up, and then finally log into Windows you will notice that there are some programs that you can run. Lets say your computer came with Microsoft Office, you can then open Microsoft Word. After you open MS Word, you can open another instance of Word, and another and another. If we compare this to virtualization, we have the physical server being like the Windows operating system that comes with the computer, and each new Virtual Server would be like opening another instance of MS Word. Hopefully that will help give you an idea of what virtualization is. Read the rest of this entry »

Be Nice to the IT Department

When you are in the Information Technology profession, people come to you with every question that has to do with anything technology. There is rarely a buffer to their questions or an understanding of what we go through; people just assume that “The computer guy can fix it.” In most cases, that is true; however, people never realize that each new problem takes time to research, understand, and execute a plan. Most importantly, time that is spent fixing the little problems can consume a majority of one’s day. This is a double edged sword, because having the mindset of a technology guru gives us a logic that differs from that of a normal user (this is a generalization), creating a thought process or problem solving ability ideal for solving computer problems: nine times out of ten we can come up with a solution. That is great. But ten times out of ten, we will spend the time trying to come up with that solution. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Chrome Users Beware

UPDATE: Google Chrome has modified their EULA !!

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a new web browser, competing with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc. I will admit, that I downloaded Google Chrome and gave it a test run; however, USERS BEWARE. I will agree that it is much faster than both Internet Explorer and Firefox, but does have increased speed make up for waiving the right to content you post and publish?

As an IT Professional, I try to evaluate products on multiple levels. When reading the Google Chrome EULA, I was SHOCKED. Posting anything via Google Chrome gives Google the right to your content. Why is this bad, well for the blogging community, a bloggers content is what makes a site worth visiting and unique; if bloggers start to post pages using Google Chrome, they no longer have a unique post…..it becomes the property of Google as well. Below is the portion of the EULA that concerns me: Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator

It is official, I am a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA). You may remember from my previous post, Starting a Technology Career Path, that the last exam required to complete this certification gave me a hard time. After writing the post, I was inspired to finish my certification track and started studying. I owe a lot to the free training material I received through Microsoft TechNet; for those of you who are interesting in becoming an IT Professional I would strongly recommend that you visit Microsoft TechNet and browse through all that they have to offer. To learn more about how I used Microsoft TechNet visit my first guest post on the WNY Technology Blog; which will help lead you in the direction of free Webcasts, Virtual Labs and Podcasts.