CompTIA Network+ 2009 - I already work in IT, so what is the big deal?

Throughout my consulting and teaching career, clients and corporate students have always said to me "I don't need to take a networking class, I have been working in IT for many years, why should I?"  

Well times have change, long gone are the days of working in desktop support or help desk or application support and not having to know anything about the network infrastructure that all these groups based their daily activities on.  Today's IT professional needs to keep up with the ever changing world of technology.  Everyone  needs to understand how all of the big parts of IT work or fit together.  CompTIA's 2009 Network+ course is not your old out of date Network+ class.  This course has been updated to include discussions on several area of technologies that have evolved over the last 5 years along with up to date information.   

Top Reasons Why You Should attend a Networking Class
1)  Think about your job and how it impacts the network.  The knowledge attained by learning how a network device and network protocol work, may help in troubleshooting an application.  Also, it may help the network engineers in troubleshooting your application problem.
2)  Think about how your job impacts the security of the network.  Security is every one's responsibility.  How can you secure something if you do not know how it works.  Understanding the vulnerabilities in how an application works within a network, provides a better understanding of threats and risks to the application or users you support.
3)  Last but not least, it never hurts to not only get training on a network but also get a certification which can be beneficial with your experience.
The bottom line is no matter what area of IT you are in, networking knowledge is a must, regardless if your job requires this knowledge or not.  Even if you will never be responsible for a switch, router, firewall or remote access server, knowledge of these devices and how they work will benefit you whether in supporting or troubleshooting.
 

Good luck and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 

- Tom Pruett, Cisco & Security Expert; MCT, CTT+, CISSP, CWNA, CEH, CHFI, CCSI, CCNA, MCSE LinkIn with Tom

Awesome HTML5 Tutorial & More!

Due to a Linked In reference, I discovered this wonderful tutorial on HTML5 by Mark Pilgrim. - http://diveintohtml5.org There are several reasons to like this, but most of all, I like the font selections. For old eyes like mine, this makes reading an absolute pleasure. 

Another thing I found is the Video chapter (Chapter 5 – Video in a Flash http://diveintohtml5.org/video.html ) This has a fantastic explanation of how all video on the web works, or should I say, the different “container” formats. 

Finally, and this was the reason for the reference from a friend, if you are an “old” hand in the business, and remember the days of Apple II, you will enjoy the video at the bottom of the video.html file.

- Leslie Koorhan, .NET Expert; MCT, MCSD (.NET), MCTS, MCDBA, MCPD LinkIn with Leslie

Quickly Create a Bibliography Using Word '07 or '10

To quickly create a bibliography using the Word 2007 or 2010 Reference tools:

1. Choose the tab on the ribbon for References to find the Citations and Bibliography tools.
2. The Style you choose from the list (i.e. APA, MLA, etc.) will determine the format for citations in the document.
3. Click the button to Insert Citation.
4. Choose Add a new source, and then choose the Type of Source (i.e. book, journal article, etc.) from the drop down list.
5. Fill in the blanks , click OK when you are done, and let Word do the rest! Continue to add citations as necessary - Word will remember them for you.
6. When you are done with your research, click the button for Bibliography, choose a style, and Word will automatically create the bibliography for you from the Citations you entered. Slick!!

- Irene Heckert, Microsoft Office Expert; CTT, MCAS, ITIL Certified, MOS LinkIn with Irene