Windhu - "Pulse"

Stage one - You don’t know much You are in awe of all the other techs. You make a lot of dumb mistakes. You feel like you are swamped all the time. You have to read a lot before you dare try anything for fear of breaking something. Everybody dumps on you because you are the new kid. Things take longer for you to accomplish. You work a lot of overtime, often without pay. You don’t get paid a lot. You wonder if you’ll ever get a break. You realize that school didn’t quite prepare you for the real world. Work hard. You’ll make it. Stage two - You know a lot of stuff You’re good and you know it. So does everyone else around you. They can see that you are good. You don’t have to tell them. Things get done quickly. You even amaze yourself sometimes. You are valuable and can command a good salary. The managers and business owners want to keep you on board. They want you to be happy and offer perks to entice you to stay. You get calls from headhunters all the time. It is very flattering and a ...

Earlier this month, GigaOm’s Alistair Croll wrote a terrificly depressing and honest piece about the ways the Internet is changing and, as a result, some of the potential disasters that could bring it to its knees in the future. Below is Croll’s list of the top “10 Ways the Internet (As We Know It) Will Die.” Someone subverts DNS Zombie networks attack Massive physical infrastructure failure Death by a thousand fragments A really good virus breaks the routers Updates break how updates work The Net stops being neutral The lawyers get involved Walled gardens Humans take themselves out Bottom line for IT leaders Since the Internet is a mission critical system for doing business, IT leaders should take a general interest in promoting practices that support a stable, neutral, and secure Internet. Some of the issues in this article are a little overblown — such as DNS being subverted and updates breaking updates — but it correctly notes that the Internet is currently f...

Michael Trapp, writing for knowhow-now.com , has composed a list of what he believes will be the hottest certs for 2008. The list is based on job growth, sales of certification training material, and “a little guess work.” 1. MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) With more than 80% of the Operating systems used in the world being Microsoft's, no surprise why this certification is on top of our list. 2. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Trapp reasons that most network administrator jobs right now are IP related and they are in more demand at a higher professional level as compared to Microsoft Certifications. 3. MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) Demand for these developers is up over 80% compared to last year. Trapp says there are only a little over 3,000 currently with the certification. 4. SCJP (SUN Certified Java Programmer) Trapp says that a Java credential is one of the most valuable credentials that a programmer or developer can have, si...

There are hundreds of tech certifications out there, so how do you know which ones really provide a measure of your knowledge and skills? And which ones will really help you get a job or promotion? Here’s a look at 10 of the technical certifications that offer value in today’s IT job market. 1. Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) or Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) (formerly MCSE) 2. Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) 3. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) 4. Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) 5. GIAC Security Expert (GSE) 6. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) 7. Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP) 8. Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) 9. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) 10. Certifications for Special Situations (including VoIP) In addition, for those who have little or no experience in IT, entry-level certifications such as those offered by CompTIA may...