Knocking It Out

And the journey into A+ Certification continues......

Like a lot of certifications, not everything that is tested is what you'll encounter in the real world.  Having supported users in the wild, there are a lot of things you aren't ever going to do...chances are, you will walk into an existing network setup, the procedures for security, adding users, etc. will be predetermined.

But it is cool to learn how to scratch build again, just like the old days.  Most of the motherboard, RAM, and other hardware areas are my favorite, because I remember what it was like to actually work on that stuff, before it just became a matter of swapping machines and getting new ones under warranty in a lease situation.

And networking is something that you can never know everything about, regardless of how long people seem to have been at it, there's always a gremlin in the works somewhere.

But some of the stuff is just plain rote memorization and kind of dull.  I've found the best antidote is to skip to another chapter that is lighter reading,  get that out of the way, and then dive back into the guts of Windows or whatever else was causing your eyes to glaze over.  The Mike Meyers book lends itself pretty well to that...I think just reading the book straight through would be tough for a lot of people, there Windows chapters in the middle, then LAN's and networking are the meatier chapters and they occur in the middle of the book, where a lot of people are going to bog down...

But not me!

Tools and Limitations

As I'm grinding through this A+ endeavor, I'm using the venerable CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide by Mike Meyers.  As far as I can tell this is the updated version of the one that's been around for years.

I've also got the CompTIA A+ Training Kit from Microsoft Press.  I looked at both before I ponied up for the hardcover Meyers book, since it seemed to start from a lower level and have a little more meat on it's bones, prose-wise, than the Microsoft book, which seemed to be written in a denser, just-the-facts type style.

I have the Microsoft book on EPUB, and it has uncovered one limitation of e-readers for technical materials that have a lot of diagrams, figures, etc.  The way the formatting breaks out it can be 5 pages or so before a diagram that is referenced shows up, and there's not an easy way to flip through the pages like with a dead tree version.

Having some experience, I do tend to prefer the Microsoft version, since it doesn't spend as much time on history and defunct standards like the Meyers book does.  Both are a pretty good complement to the other, but if I had to do it all over again, I might go with the printed version of the Microsoft manual.

What this world needs is a good, cheap, light, 8.5x11 e-reader screen that will display PDF files at normal page size.  I've found tons of great technical stuff online in all areas that are only on PDF, and again, the small screen size works against things that were meant to be printed in magazines.  And scaling up on the ereader is just kind of a hassle on most things, depending on layout.

An A+, but not in school!

Having spent a consider amount of time in tech support, I've always enjoyed helping people and being the bridge between the tech stuff that is making them crazy and getting things back to the way they should be.

I've never gotten any computer credential in the past, because back in the day a little experience in the real world went a long way.  That has changed now, I believe, so I'm currently pursuing getting an A+ CompTIA credential.

It'll be good to get up to date on a lot of things I haven't had a lot of experience with, such as printers, mobile, etc. and even in the learning materials I've run across so far it's been an interesting walk back through memory lane for a lot of things that tried to become standard but didn't work so well....anyone remember Windows Millenial version?  I didn't think so......

As a study aid, and in the interests of maybe helping anyone else who might be doing the same thing, I'm thinking of posting my notes here.....it'll be a good way to keep my nose to the grindstone, and burn some of this arcane stuff into my brain.

Still Kickin'

I'm still trying to resuscitate this thing.  The patient is stable but still unconscious....but recovery is in site.

Since settling into my new digs, a new lifestyle, it has taken a bit to get re-oriented.  Plus some of the links/interests have gone away or transformed.  Such is life.

I'm diving back into programming, but now some other areas are claiming my interest.  There's still the aviation angle, but I also am finding the whole "Tiny House" and sustainability movement interesting.  And how to survive in our New Economy.

Life remains interesting, perhaps too interesting.  Stay tuned for new links, new ideas, and hopefully the beginning of an audience.

Failing Upward, Or At Least A High-Paying Sideways

I see David Pogue, whom I took to task in a previous post, has moved from the New York Times to Yahoo.  I think this is perfectly in line with the new, dumbed-down Yahoo that now seems to contain more linkbait and spam than it did before.

There are a lot of surprising things in the world around us, but this doesn't seem to be one of them.

A Site Worth Checking Out

Have had this site - Neocities - bookmarked for a bit, haven't set up an account and played with it yet, however.  It's an attempt to get back to the old Geocities era, back before Web 2.0 ( or whatever version we are on now).

Sounds like a fun sandbox to play in - check it out if you have the chance.

Data and Reality

If you've been following events at all, you probably know that 64 year old Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Key West last week.  And you've probably also heard the backlash now that some other people have said they looked at the GPS data from her swim and think she cheated.

I think this highlights one of the issues of our data-rich world.  We have become so enamored of crunching the numbers and simulating reality that we have lost any real connection to what that data represents.

The Earth is not a set of data points that refreshes on a regular basis.  It is a moving, swirling, growing and decaying non-stop show.  I'm not sure who the people are who are questioning Nyad's swim, but I am pretty certain of one thing...they haven't spent much time in the Florida Straits, or else they'd be familiar with the Gulf Stream.

I can't fault anyone for looking at the raw data and seeing her speed up, but you have to wonder why someone wouldn't stop to think about all the possibilities before opening their yap for the media.

My understanding of this affair currently is that independent oceanographers have agreed with Nyad's version of events.  So I'm guessing that this is now a non-story.

But one other thing convinces me that the attempt was free from cheating.  On video of Nyad's swim, we see a flotilla of boats and kayaks around her.

That's a lot of people to keep quiet if you are going to pull a fast one.