The Big Questions of IT Certifications

·        What is Certification?

o       Certification means you are qualified for a job that works with what the certification is about. This statement is highly debatable but that is what certification companies stress. The Point I want to say is Certifications can be great tools if you use them correctly. Certifications don’t mean you are guaranteed a job, but mean that you dedicated enough to that direction in the IT field that you want to be recognized of those skills. Certification is not enough…but certs are sure a great step in showing your employer you want the job.

·        Why should I certify?

o       Put aside the question, “Do certifications really get you a better job”. If all it does is keep you up to date than $400 a cert is not a bad investment when it is to teach you more about your field. The IT field and any technology field for that matter is always changing…and you must change with it.

o       Certifications allow you to see what is out there and where things are heading. Change is everything. If you aren’t changing with the field you get left behind and put in a corner with no way up. You will eventually lose your job…or at the very least you’ll lose your sanity. No one can work in an environment that doesn’t provide a success and advancement of some kind for very long. Without change you will be stuck with dead end jobs living paycheck to paycheck. Sure its one thing to provide for your family…but providing amazing things for your family comes only when you are happy doing your job and working towards the next advancement. If you aren’t progressing, you aren’t happy and I can say for sure your family won’t be happy. 

o       Certifications keep you relevant in the field. ‘Nough said. Yes certifications do mostly just skim the top of the topic…but normally that is all you really need to pass the HR tests and get the job. Then in the job your get to learn their proprietary nitty-gritty. You see even if two companies require you to be CCNA certified, they both have their own reasons and networks that require only in depth parts of your certification. To know the in depth stuff of their own proprietary solutions means you have worked with them before. If any employer ever asks for that in depth knowledge for an interview than they need your help fast because they don’t know what they really need. You should turn in your resume and ask for an interview. Show them you have what they need and help them understand that you can learn and understand what is solely for their purposes.

o       Certifications get you past the HR departments. It’s sad but people without certs and tons of experience are overlooked by people with current certifications. Yes we can complain and say that’s not fair…or just get the certification that would take less than a week for someone already working in the field for 5 years and usually only spend about $150 bucks to write for the test. The interesting factor is HR wants people that are dedicated. If you want to show your dedication a CURRENT certification shows that. Take advantage of being on both sides and having experience and the certification.

o       The point is to prepare as much as you can for when the opportunity arises you have the ability and expertise to take advantage. And after you take advantage of the opportunity…you know what people will say to you when you land that big job afterwards? “Man, you got lucky”. Funny thing is…you created your own luck by preparation. Would you chance your dream job when it comes along on the global definition of luck? I wouldn’t. I would create my own luck by preparing and dedicating the effort to make it happen. The fact remains that when you prepare and do things for a change you attract the change to occur. You may never happen upon the dream job unless you prepare yourself and practically throw yourself into the direct line of fire. The hard thing about this point is not knowing when the next dream opportunity will happen. Learn to go from cert to cert as a success from success. Don’t just be waiting to feel success only after you can land a dream job or dream advance.

o       Learn from certs outside of your direction in IT. Go into programming. Go into networking. Learn to run a LAMP server. Learn PHP. Learn about security. Learn Mobile apps. The more background you know of each direction in IT the better you are with your own direction. You may even find a different direction to be refreshing. You may even want to go in that other direction. You will never know until you dive into the direction for a while. 

o       About dedication: don’t be like the boy that dips his toe into the water and then comes home saying he went swimming. If you are going to learn something, learn in depth knowledge about the subject. Get a surface knowledge of things and then dive right into the topics of that direction that interest you. By diving into the places that interest you the parts that don’t seem quite interesting will become appealing. 

·        When should I start to Certify?

o       You should start to get certified today no matter your current situation.  Is it going to be tough giving up time? Yes. Worth it? Yes.

o       When you are in high school go to the technology center for half a day and take the certification tests. It’s a great way to get out of dreary High school and into a environment where learning is fun and not considered a chore by your peers. If a tech center isn’t available I am sure there is some class that can get you involved. If all else fails in High school…give up just 1 hour of video games and take certification courses in that small hour.

o       Get your certification during college. I am currently taking 12 credit hours in College, work full time, and get a certification a semester. Tough? Yes. The more certifications you have the more enticing you look to potential employers…not just because of the certs on your resume but the confidence you will have knowing you have what they need.

o       Get certified even if you are in the field and working there for years. Just the feeling of accomplishment will get you feeling better and open you eyes to the things you don’t know currently. Remember: Also go into certifications that are not in your direction…these will be the most satisfying to earn.

o       The point is to start now…where every you are in your life. If you want to be in any computer field you got to earn it.

o       *Note: I have heard from many it is hard to get into the industry with no previous experience. All these people that I hear complain I ask them a simple question: what have you done in your personal life to get real world experience? Most of them say nothing. Some say, “Well I know how to setup my wireless router!”. That may be a good start…but not enough. If Cisco is your thing work with GNS3 and cisco packet tracer to build enterprise level networks on your home PC. I just can’t get why I hear people complain about something they have control over…they just don’t go after it for themselves first. You can get real world experience by simply doing things for yourself. Taking from Brian Tracey again: You are your own CEO. If you want some real world experience then work for yourself. Make a mobile app for yourself.  Build a network for yourself. There are so many real life labs out there on the web for entry level certifications that all you have to do is search and go employee yourself. I am positive someone will hire you over a person with experience when you walk into the interview, looked over what they have and say to them, “I have made a very similar network in the lab that works flawlessly.” The confidence you have will be your sale point.

·        How can I certify?

o       Invest cash in yourself. Something I take out of Brian Tracey’s books: invest 3% of total income into yourself and your learning. For a $50,000 salary that is $1,500 or $125 a month. This can easily pay for 3 or 4 certs a year. If you want to become something like VMware certified it requires a class. Some other certs require a class as well. Classes are around $2,000 to $4,000 and usually require you to travel and spend 4 to 5 days learning. If you want those then you will have to commit a bit more of your salary and save for a year…or go into debt and pay it off in a year…which ever you prefer.  $3,000 is a small risk with huge payoffs. Putting off that fishing boat one year for a certification course could mean a yacht the next.

o       Invest time in yourself. If you really want to do something than wake up early and do it. It is amazing how much can be accomplished with that 1 hr of waking up earlier. There will be fewer distractions, less phone calls and less demand for your time in the morning hours. This means more concentration on the task at hand. One hour a day for 6 days a week turns out to be a 3 credit course every quarter. Getting a new certification every quarter isn’t hard when you have the morning hours to get done. If you want to take this to the extreme and get it done far faster than a semester than wake up at 4AM and go to bed at 9PM. 8 hrs of sleep is great plus you have a full 4 hours before you go into work at 9AM (add an hour for getting ready and eating). You could get part time hours by just going to sleep at 9PM…for most of us that is 2 hours difference is all. Think of putting part time hours into a certification…you won’t regret it and would be done in weeks.

o       Certifications are not hard to earn. They are simple courses that mostly can be done in a couple weeks. They usually cover broad topics and skim the surface on each topic. If they take longer it means they are worth more value to you and require you to be working in the field for a while. The certifications that take longer than a couple weeks are usually earned by those that have gotten the easier, faster certifications first and then got into a job the requires them to gain that longer, harder to earn certification. 

·        Where can I certify?

o       Most certifications can be earned from your house. All you have to do is get to a testing center to write the exam (write for exam means take the test…I have no idea who came up of that term) Certifications can mostly be studied all from your home PC.

o       Another part of “where” is where can you get certification study material? That is easy. Google search is a great friend. Learn how to use it and find what you are looking for fast and you will have any answer you need.

o       Most certifications have many books on Amazon. Find the best rated book, make sure it is the current test (because the tests change every couple years) and buy it. They are always less than 100 bucks.

o       Most certifications have web pages that are free dedicated to the exam. Take Cisco for example. 9tut.com has great tutorials and questions. Be very careful learning from these webpages however. They could be great in passing the exam…but all they do is cover the topics of the exam and never get into the in depth knowledge that you need to pass the tests given during an interview. If you are going to learn something learn it well.

o       There are websites and torrents out there that can be downloaded that have study materials and actual exam questions. Some websites even have the full test bank. Although these are great in passing the exam with high scores this type of studying is horrible for everyone. This is why so many people say that being certified doesn’t mean you know your stuff…it just means you know how to take a test. If you choose to use these testbanks then I sure hope you learn the real in depth, soul feeling experience of each direction. Learning those things means progression. Things like money never make happiness. Do things make life easier? YES…but is easier happiness? NO. Get that in your head before you go off in search of riches.

·        Which certifications are right for me?

o       This is a tough question. On one hand people say to go get many certifications in all different areas. On the other hand people say get into a direction you love and get the highest degree of certification available. This is how I put it:

o       If you are starting in the field get the certification that seems most enticing.  Gain that certification and if it was easy go for the second level of that certification. As you gain more and more levels of certification start expanding into other directions. Just as you went through college or high school you had to take classes that didn’t seem very relevant to your direction. This is a good thing. I repeat myself: The more you know about other directions the better you know your own direction. By understanding the dynamics of a database, you can better understand how to network your DB server.

o       Here is a list of types of Certifications (I will not go into much detail…just enough to get you interested J )   :

§         Comptia: Comptia doesn’t rely on vendors specific knowledge. This is good and bad. You get the general overview of the direction, but nothing in dept. Comptia Certifications are great for entry level people looking for a quick easy paced certification that gets them rolling. Some of the highlighted certs in Comptia are A+, Network+, Secruity+ and their new Healthcare+ that they promoting heavily right now.

§         Cisco: The big networking certifications. The beginning cert is called CCNA which almost everyone in IT earns sometime in their career. CCNA is still a very hard test and requires you to know some very specific things about networking and how Cisco makes it easier. CCNP are for people really wanting a cisco networking job at enterprises. Their highest, CCIE is something not very many achieve. I would suggest getting CCIE only if your employer requires it and is willing to put you through the course.

§         Microsoft: They are a big supplier of certifications. You can get the silly ones that I myself wouldn’t pay for with my own money such as Windows 7 MCT. The ones that give you the best bang for the buck are their MCSA and MCSE certifications. They cover all the aspects of Microsoft Servers and anyone that works with Microsoft products always want to get. All their other certifications are there for employers to put their employees through.

§         Apple: I have never really seen these certs used unless you work for apple. They can be obtained outside of their company however.

§         PMI: PMI is all about project management. This is a very lofty certification that requires bachelors degree and at least 3 years experience in project management just to qualify for the test.

§         CISSP: The big Security Certification.  This cert also requires a minimum of 5 years in the field. You can however take the test and then have 6 years to earn the experience and become fully certified. I would have to say taking the test and passing it is enough for employers to take a risk and hire you…this Cert is that powerful.

§         VMWare: The virtual empire certificate. This is another very costly certification but is mostly straight forward. You must take a class to be admitted to an exam. The classes are 5 days and most likely not in your area so traveling expenses and taking time off work are a must.

§         CSIM: This is the highest earning most sought after IT Security Certificate. There is no required experience. Just study and take the pass or fail exam. Very prestigious award.

§         CHFI: this is the Ethical Hacking Forensics Investigator Cert. This is a great one to get into a job with the feds or police department and go help solve crimes. Some get it just to have a side job along with their main job of teaching. 

§         CIW: Certified Internet Web Development. This is all about internet servers and web pages security, design, development, and foundational.  They take certifications from Comptia and apply it to some pre-requirements of their certifications.

o       I have named the main ones here. There are plenty of more to keep you going a life time.

·        Suggestion: continue to get new ones and renew the old ones relevant to your direction currently. Never let one expire…you usually have to take it all over again.

·        My largest Suggestion of this entire article: this is worthy of an entirely separate article which I will be writing on soon. Invest in your Soft skills learning courses. Soft skills can be learned and are not given at birth. You soft skills are probably the best money makers of all certifications. If you cannot sale yourself you cannot sale your talents. Take course to better your presentation, talking, networking, sales (you are all sales managers…more about this in another article), and every aspect in life.

o       The best way I have been able to build my soft skills is by book on “Tape”…or CD or Ipod or whatever. Listening to books on tape while driving to and fro from work and other locations can turn your boring driving time into full 3 semester classes. If you drive the average hours a year as everyone else (more than 1500 hours) than you can read over 50 books a year…that is 50 times more books than the average person reads a year…yep the average person reads less than a book a year.

·        What I want to  see different in IT cets  and what I want ot see more of  (conclusion)

o       I want to see a way that makes certifications more reliable to the employer. Some kind of check list to make sure the client didn’t cheat on the exam by testbanks. Maybe some kind of separate way to verify someone can really do what the certification says they can do that isn’t directed by the certification companies…I smell a start up coming.

o       I also want to see more certifications about management. Management is what is taking over IT in the small business world…which is our world in the US. Be a manager in a small business means you not only manage people, but computers as well. Get into upper management in a small business and you end up being titled “tech support” along side. 

That Mysterious Cloud as a service

There is so much talk about the cloud. This talk about white fluffy stuff can get very confusing if you don't know what the cloud really is. To explain a short Youtube video will describe the basic concept:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae_DKNwK_ms

So hoping that the video changed your view a bit lets just say the cloud is a bunch of services. By using someone else as a service all maintaining, tech staff, upgrades, etc are handled by the provider while you just use their service. All you as their client do is pay a fee to keep their service going.

What is interesting to note about cloud services is the fact that computers in the beginning started off in a cloud scenario...albeit a very small and local cloud. You had your main frame with all the operations and storage centrally located on it. Then you had a client that just displayed the info from the Main frame on a screen. The client didn't do any work other than display the info while the mainframe did everything else. In essence this is what the cloud is. Now there may not be huge mainframes that are room sized to provide you a cloud service but nowadays the cloud could be as simple as a desktop hosting software in a remote location anywhere in the world and others can log on and use the service for a fee.

So the cloud is just a bunch of services hosted at some other location. You pay for the service to work and continue. Us techies like to categorize things so we come up with different ways to show the different services available. Here are the three categories:

• SaaS: Software as a serivce. This is a service that can provide many different functions. If  you use Gmail you are using a form of SaaS. Reading this blog it is a form of SaaS. Watching Youtube is a form of SaaS. There is a very blurry line between what is and what isn't SaaS nowadays. Lets just say if your computer doesn't host the service or doesn't process the entirety of the service you are using a form of SaaS .A good example of SaaS is Google docs or Office 360. You just sign in and use with no need to install. Another good example is the comparison between the old Outlook and gmail. You didn't have to install gmail to get gmail working where as Outlook is an office product that you installed on a machine. Dropbox, google drive, windows sky drive...they are all SaaS. SaaS covers storage, processing power, software and many other services. SaaS could even function as your networking equipment.

• PaaS: Platform of a Service. PaaS is used by us developers. Instead of storing and downloading all the coding we use to make SaaS services, we just login and use a PaaS service that has it all there. A good example here is Facebook apps. A developer can code an entire app using Facebooks "codes" called APIs.

• IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service. This is where it comes down to virtualization. With special software we can use a 1 computer and turn it into hundreds of slower, simple computers. This is great when needing to stress test a software program. This idea is the same idea behind putting a shoe on a robot and having it press in a certain area for a billion cycles to see how much ware happens. IaaS allows us to stress test the software program so we know it won't break when it becomes popular. IaaS also allows for all the different types of computers out there to be used without actually having those computers right next to the developer. So the software can be tested in Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, etc and see how it performs. 

Why use the cloud?

• Cost to you as client and for your business. Yes this is a fee you will have to pay for as long as you use the service. In most scenarios though this simple fee will look like a lot, but will definantly make up the difference if lets say you buy your own server and have to spend your time updating, troubleshooting, and sometimes replacing it.
• No need for upkeep. No updates, no downtime, no wasted time.
•  "pay and play" for the most part. You just pay for a service and start using it. 

What the cloud is not:

• free. There is a cost. Even if you don't see it you do have a cost.
• replacement for your home computer. To access these services you got to have some way of getting to it

What I want to see in cloud computing:

I can imagine a world where whatever computer you sign into you have all your info, personal settings, personal documents, email, etc right when you sign in. In all reality this type of computing is just like our old Mainframe and client scenario. The mainframe or 'cloud' does all the work while the client just displays the results. Think of a kiosk where you just sign in and you can continue where you left off at the last kiosk. Better yet think of a personal device just as fast and powerful as any other computer. With all the processing that would have taken up battery life now is used just to display the results.

So I guess the for fathers of computing got it right and were way ahead of their time with cloud computing. Since then we have made a complete loop. Making a complete all in one system doing all the computation and then now as we come back to the hosted services from one central system. 

Conversational Tips for the Analytical Thinkers

As you read this keep in mind that you are probably going to say to yourself, "this isn't me but it sure would help so and so...".  So all I want you to do while reading this is think, "this is for me." and stop trying to help others for a couple mins.

Is it OK to contradict? In short, yes it is OK. There is a very big side note on this statement. Lets go over some scenarios.

Scenario 1

1. You meet with a bunch of friends and they start talking about cars. Someone brings up that a Dodge is better than any competitor. You know all about cars of course...you studied them perfusively for an hour or two. So You (being you...the analytical thinker) go on to say "Chevy is better than dodge hands down". The conversation gets akward right after that statement and you start to get remarks like "My experience with Dodge is...." from the friend.  All you can think of to say is a silly commercial you heard saying that Chevy was the only survivor of the apocalypse. When you both leave you kind of feel akward and are not for sure why the conversation wasn't carried on or why anyone left happy.

what went wrong with this first scenario?

Being the analytical thinker you are, you love debate. You have to look at the pros and cons. This is OK. This is why you are good at what you do. Most of the time when someone brings up a potential debate you take the opposite of what someone is saying AKA if they are for it you are against it. This is great. This is who you are. The problem lies in no one wants to be shot down in a public settings. Public criticism is the worst, yet Analytical Thinkers thrive on creating this criticism. Analytical thinkers however tend to think this is a good converstational device and want to use it often. No wonder no one likes you! You contradict them on ever turn and like it! What is worse is when you contradicted them it is in front of everyone! You didn't have any idea what you are getting into. The point is no matter how many backup statements you can put after you contradict someone in a public setting DON'T CONTRADICT and try to spark the conversation by pros and cons. It will never work and you will leave with that "what did I say?"

If you have to contradict in the public setting I suggest:

1. hear them out. Give them a compliment such as "Dodge is a good car..." ask them questions like "how did you conclude that dodge was the best?" let them talk. Do NOT interject any of your side comments. Give them a pleasant face to look at....not that judgmental face you get right before a debate. Without humilating them in public they can then move on to their experience and go over their pros. The point of this is you are letting them be heard out. Everyone wants to be heard. If you get them talking and let them talk without interuption you just scored points with them.

2. when you actually get to the "contradicting" part after they made their spill maybe say something like "well from what you said Dodge is a great choice! I personally choose Chevy however because....". You could even throw out your funny commercial spill now and make a joke...which would be unheard of from the analytical thinker. The point is to leave the conversation open...try not to use cons but pros about your side.



Now take the second scenario:

Scenario 2
2. You and a friend are out ready to go see a movie when you start talking about the best super hero. You know of course it is Iron Man but he is stuck on saying it is Captian America. You both have strong pros and cons and you go over them. It becomes a great experience.

What went right in this second scenario and why was it different than the first?

I bet you guessed it: this is a private setting. It happens that when you are in private with one other it seems like debate is a must to keep a good conversation. You both are happy cause there is no other person listening in to feel dumb around. A word of caution would be if someone came into the conversation during the conversation...just switch over to letting the other talk about the pros and then get your chance and spill over the pros of your super hero.


Now I would like to caution contradicting in general.

General Triggers

Even in a private setting contradiction is tricky. There are some triggers to remember during private converstations that will help you see that the other isn't in the mood for a debate even though they are in a private setting.
1. look at their eyes. They will say "I am open" or "I am closed" to debate. It is very easy to tell...you just have to look at them...which is hard for us Analyticals.
2. If you hear anything like "My experience is..." you have not oversteped your bounds yet. Just match them and say "That is an interesting point of view! My experience is....". This leaves it open. No criticism so you are OK for now.


so as you go throughout your day analytical thinkers think "Am I contradicting and is it appropriate?" With a conscious effort for a couple days this question will become natural and you will be on your way to being a great conversationalist... Whatever that means.




For more great insights I found a webpage that goes over some funny stuff:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-curses-of-the-analytical-thinker/2466

Parental Control/addict helper software

Parental Control Software
The internet in its raw form in my opinion is so tasteless and goes way outside the bounds of even an adult. However, there are so many good things about the internet that the internet cannot just be disconnected from our lives. This is where Parental controls come to play. If you read up anything about me you will see I favor K9 Web Security. After much research you just can't beat what you get for free from this software. Most paid softwares don't even compare. K9 can also be combined with opendns to lock down almost everything. The keyword to that last phrase was *almost*. It's impossible to block everything sadly. This is why blocking "bad" sites is just not enough. Another tool that is need is accountability reports.

Addict Helper Software
Accountability reports are usually used by addicts. These reports get sent to a sponsor or another person to review and talk about with the addict. What I want to persuade is that these accountability reports should be used not just for addicts but for parents and kids. The fear of having someone else know where you are going on the internet through reports is a good tool to keep you away from the demoralizing aspects of the internet. I have heard that convenant eyes is a great accountability solution. It does have a monthly cost, but is worth the cheap price tag. I would not recommend x3watch. Very often it doesn't work not sending the report to your sponsor and if the report does send it only shows random snipets of what is going on.

Incomplete Protection
Combining the tools of blocking the internet and adding the accountability reporting is a good step towards what is being looked at on the computer screen. This is not complete however. There are loop holes to consider. A teen could have all the above enabled on the PC and still get around the security.

Here are some additions to the above recomendations:

1. Disable boot from external drive and CD then password protect the BIOS. This makes the PC not able to boot to a disk that could have a bootable OS system. Booting to another OS system could allow avoiding any software installed on the current OS on the disk.

2.   Make an Admin user on the PC with a password. Then make all other users standard users with update rights. This dissallows anyone from installing keyloggers (records what keys are being pressed...which if on the PC your password when typed could be hijacked). This also doesnt allow the software installed to be disabled. Even my highly recommended K9 has a flaw that can be disabled by changing a files contents and restarting. Without admin rights however this flaw is no more.

3. have each parent create their half of one password. On any password you create make the password split into two passwords that each parent only knows their part to the password. This is security 101 to any corperation. Don't give anyone all the keys to the castle. The responsability eats away at the person and since we are all human we all can fail.

4. Setup OpenDNS on the router and not on each indivdual PC. Doing this adds more security when a device that doesn't have K9 or other parental software installed to have access to your "bad" list. There is a loop hole with this concept in they can just change their PC DNS to another and get around this step 4. To counter I would suggest getting a router with DD-WRT firmware so you can force DNS resolution to always use the DNS you provide on the router.

5. use pingdom.com. This trys to setup communication to the router. If it fails it emails you that it is down. Without going into to much tech stuff it would be better if you used TCP settings to communicate and use a port you opened up. The port could be a protocol you use but could also be something you don't. If you don't use it just map the port to an IP not used on your home network. If a hacker notices this port is open and attacks it, he can't get anything out of it. pingdom is a great way to notice if someone is bypassing the router and connecting directly to the modem. Connecting directly to the modem means they bypass any security set up on the router.

6. May I suggest a tidius but good way to block everything except what is needed on the internet? block all catagories of the internet with the filter. After they are all blocked start browsing to your favorties list. Allow each of those websites that you know are good and can be trusted. Amazon and ebay sites in my opinion cannot be trusted as a simple search can lead to very revealing stuff. after allowing all your favorites start browsing around a little and when you have a website you know is good allow it. It's funny but I bet you only visit around 20 sites normally. Only when searching for something on google would you venture out of these 20 sites. So when you want to venture out in the open have the neccessary security, get someone to allow you full access for 20 mins while you search down your big project. That's all you really need to find the solution. If it doesn't you can always allow for more. I am sure your spouse or whomever will be gratefull you didn't spend hours resesarch on a the topic. Then, afterwards, your walls come back up and your secure again.

Castle Analogy
Think of the analogy of a castle. You need walls to protect the inside. The walls need to be high enough to evad a baruage from the air. There are guards to only allow what is good in.  Another thing worth mentioning is when the King or Queen step out of the castle they never go out alone. There was always a protector, even if the protector was a single archor with a keen eye for look out.

What happens in the movies when the King/Queen leaves without a gaurd? He/She gets into pearl. Although he/she may come back a hero, he/she still got into trouble and had to find a way out.

can you see the simularities from the castle to the web protection?

Conclusion
I would hope parents/addicts and anyone alike don't have just the raw internet flowing from their PCs. I would also hope that this article was helpful to someone and in turn will help many.

Comparing ICS with older. Sensation 4g

What's Different? I am seeing nothing posted on comparing the old with the new. so I thought I would get into some of the things and let you know my experience

1. upgrading went without a hitch. downloaded and installed. was as simple as that

2. after install I got hammered with "this app wants permission to access". some of them didn't respond when I clicked on them on the notification area...Facebook app said it had to force close every time I did it. I went into the app store and found out there was a facebook update. after the update facebook stopped with the permissions thing. I got random permission requests as I played with it. I would think they eventually will disappear.

3. all my apps seemed to be OK with the update. K9 still works and still redirects webpages to its own version of firefox. play store is fine. my wireless settings transfered, my call records transfered over, my text messages where all there.



so whats different?

1. the look. You get some nice different styles of text. the loading bar is a circle that I get mesmorized each time I look at it and wonder how the white becomes white again. the notification area looks smoother. the notification icons on the top are clearer. the overall appearance just looks refreshed.

2. there are shortcut buttons on the bottom that are static. This means you can have 4 fav apps always avail to touch no matter what screen you are on. they can be changed just as if they where on the device screen.

3.The feeling for the device just feels smoother. I tap on something and it reacts...no "did I tap on it right?"

4.instead of dragging down an app to remove it you now drag up

5. to make a folder you can just drag an icon to another icon and make a folder.

6. the folder isn't just a simple vanilla folder but a transparent folder with tiny icon representing what is inside.

7. HTC weather now when you open it you don't get just a simple today forcast but a 3 day forcast without having to click on the box...great

8. the settings have changed a little. It looks better.


after looking through it for 15 mins this is all I came up with.

overall I am impressed. It looks fantstic and feels very much like I got a fresh new phone in an old jacket.

Thanks Google!

Is Cisco Linksys Guest mode secure enough?

Is Cisco Linksys Guest mode secure enough? The question I am trying to ask is does the guest mode really work and keep guests out of the main network. In short yes it does keep people out of internal networks. The problem is far from over though.  Here is my research:

1. connecting to the guest SSID says it is unsecure. I am not too worried as cisco has it's own password to allow people onto the internet...but wait this is a problem.  since this is an open network with no encryption everything is sent in clear text. This is a potential disaster. In theory after connecting to this network and opening the web browser cisco the browser window will ask for its password. if you send this password isn't it in clear txt? someone simple on the network with a packet sniffer can grab the password when someone logs on. Is this an issue? well sort of. I wanted to use this for select people, not everyone. These select people would be employees on break or a 3rd party company in the store doing a demo and wanting internet access. So for someone to get into the the Guest account would only need to do some sniffing around to get the guest password. Biggie? Well I won't want people on my network that I don't know which is why I am so picky.

2. This wireless should only allow internet access, no file sharing between clients connected to the network. In other words HTTP or HTTPS and that is it. This will have to be tested at a later time.

3. if you have your main page open in HTTPS the login screen from Cisco to type in the password doesn't pop up, it times out making you think something isn't connecting right. This is a potential problem since most home pages used are in HTTPS.

4. I cannot specify how long to release an IP to this guest. You can select from 1 to 10 guests on your your guest wireless. So if I wanted only 5 people on my guest access at a time DHCP would only release 5 and then the pool would be full till DHCP releases the oldest. The problem lies in I cannot say how long it takes for DHCP to delete entries not being used...This is only handled in the main settings effecting all connections and not just the guests in the guest wireless. This also means with lots logging on this even though maybe someone is gone it still doesn't allow any one one till the oldest expires. I wish there was a DHCP release time for Guest access. 

5. there is no way to filter what guest access actually details. I cannot filter traffic to only allow HTTP traffic for example. If I do any type of white list it has to be done to all wireless devices, and not just what is on the guest list. This is a bummer. I would of liked a rule saying "I want my guests only access to these websites and nothing else". I  would have also liked to not allow traffic between guests...making it more secure per guest.

6. I would have also liked to see some QOS on guest vs internal networks. I want to make sure my internal networks don't suffer because someone decides to watch hulu and download the next big game on bittorrent in our guest SSID.

7. Some other things: I cannot change the Guest access SSID, so I am stuck with "name-guest" with "name" being my internal SSID. I cannot change the IP address scheme. I don't know what would happen if I decided I wanted my internal network to be 192.168.33.0....

now for some good news.

trying to access the internal network while logged on to the guest network doesn't work. In all practicality they have made it separate from the internal network. This is great.



so to summarize yes guest mode keeps guest just guests on you network. The problems with guests on the network however, are very troubling. With no QOS, no filtering, and no encryption I don't see this working for very many.

If you want the types of controls to guest access I would like to send you to DDWRT or Tomato Firmware for your router. The router must be "open-source" and be on their lists on their website for it to work. It is a little tidus but newer routers actually make the process really simple. As to how to setup the DDWRT with guest access...that is a whole other animal and probably should go to another post sometime.

This is a great leap in the right direction Cisco, I just was expecting a little more.

Next-Gen Firewalls...how are they different than Proxy or Parent Control?

I have been reading alot about these next-gen firewalls. Everytime I read this remarkably new idea I often think "sure its great, but how does it differ from what we already have?" Don't Proxy routers do the same thing in a sense? They redirect traffic to only go where you want it to go. A proxy can allow or not allow certain traffic to go through in and out.

Also I have a bigger stake to hammer into the ground: how does next-gen firewalls differ from parental control software? K9 Web security blocks certain websites from poping up according to catagory. You can also white list and black list types of traffic. So in other words just like a next-gen firewall you can disallow all traffic for lets say instant messaging in for example...same goes for K9 Web Security.

I fail to see any difference of all this other than the fact that a next-gen firewall works at the network level of computing, instead of the client level. Which all this is great, don't get me wrong....it is far better than just port blocking firewalls...but still how is this so revolutionary?

 I also like the idea that all these devices are put into one single device. I guess that is revolutionary. Kind of a swiss army knife of sorts for networking i guess.

I guess we can say that Blue Coat had it right from the start for "next-gen" with their ProxySG...

IPv6 Handed out like SSNs

I have been thinking of the whole responsibility factors that go into the internet...there are none for those that haven't followed along lately. You can post anything under any name and get away with it. You can create viruses that harm and do so much bad and get away with it. There is no responsibility to what you do on the internet.

Granted Social media is changing that, somewhat. But you can still fake everything and get away with anything under you screen name as long as you don't tie them together.

What I want to see is IPv6 addresses given out to us like SSNs. Maybe a block of addresses for the multiple devices you would carry. Granted this is far from the norm but think of it. We use these addresses everywhere. With BYOD going ramped in 2 years your company will likely make you bring your own device to connect to corporate. Each device you own you have a IPv6 addresses tied to it and cannot change (kind of like a MAC but without the ability to change it...ex.MAC cloning)

think of the responsibility that happens. No one gets away from doing something against the law. Everything you do leads a trace back to you. You are responsible for everything you type and look up. I can hear some people begin to get worried....something along the lines of "but the the government knows where I am always and I have no privacy..." Privacy is an issue. That is why before we do this there are ground rules....like there should have been when the internet was created...

I can also hear the "what if I get my IPv6 stolen, I lose my ID..." yes that is how it is with SSN...why is this such a threat? At any rate yes SSN fraud is horrible and happens a lot. With IPv6 however if there is something stolen or you suspect it stolen there is a trace back to what has happened. It's like a paper trail without any break in the trail...

Ultra Notebooks, Inputing methods, and a guess on future computing

So here is a novel idea for the new Ultra notebook class of computing:
1. laptop design with keyboad that is detachable
2. Super slim design of ultra notebooks
3. multi-touchable screen
4. Keyboard is the fancy seperated key design you see on all the new laptops
5. The keyboard doesn't have a touch pad. Why would you ever use the touchpad?

So in essence think of the Asus Transformer, slim it down a bunch, take off the touch pad mouse on the keyboard and you got the new wave of computing.

I personally think we need to find a new way of inputing to a computer. The keyboard is great and I don't see it leaving any time soon for normal computing but there needs to be a new way with the way our computer devices are changing. A keyboard isn't fitting in with tablets and phones sense it is just to big. The touch screen keyboard is nothing like a regular keyboard and you end up pecking out your words.

Speech is looking promising since it can be done easily and without any extra device other than a tiny microphone in the device. I think a grand hoop from keyboard to voice was what Apple was imagining with Siri...It just didn't explode like the smart phone or tablet did. I imagine this is because no one wants to be seen talking to a phone telling it what to do in a public area.

So that leaves mind input. We have been able to control station changing with mind control, why not look into text input and "mouse" scroll movements. I think just as we looked into seriously making a smart phone smaller and better that with the same focus mind inputs would become readily available and easier for the mass public.

The new Google glasses look somewhat promising to the new computer device and is a step towards the grand view of contact lenses the government is trying to figure out.

Before I get extreme I would think the future of computing lies in BYOD. Bringing your own device that becomes your corporate computer and personal computer. This is an IT nightmare but is easily handled by instead of locking down each individual device, the lockdown has to happen on the network side. There also has to be a IPS/IDS system in place for anything unwanted that comes in from a device doesn't spread and IT staff are notified and asked to clean up the mess. With this in place then it makes it easy to impliment the corperate network outside of the building since everything is in place.

Now to state the extreme. I can see future computing edging towards implants. Devices that our body excepts and gives power to. With new devices in our bodies taking power away from normal functions the body and mind must be fit and well.
check this link out for more info on this idea:
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dDoHDXukdwewfKhQfDajegcOUrLX?format=standard
Think of just some of the implimentations of genetic computing: a computer that knows what you eat and how it is affecting your body. Browsing the WWW with just the swipe of your eyes.

Think how that would change our learing atmosphere. General learning is no longer needed. A computer inside of us already knows it all and can show us whenever wherever. Is this a bad thing? If everyone has all the knoweldge then it comes down to making right decisions with the knowledge. Instead of needing to spend our young years learning the general knowledge we start were the last of us ended, not needing to catch up. We just sped up elementary through college learning to seconds instead of 2 decades. We don't have to repeat any learning. We get relevant information to the task at hand when we need it, not needing to learn useless information in what we want to go into.

Is this scary? sure I have focused on the good, but is the bad really relevant? is whomever saying this is bad just scared of what will happen? All I can say about the fear of unkown is look at Columbus or any adventurer. They had fear. They conquered their fear and look at where it got human life.

CCNA Exam: Headers questions on the Exam

I have been working towards my CCNA certification. Here is a major topic covered in the exam but not in the books.
Its all about what is in a Packet header. Questions about the packet header are about what IP address would be in the host packet sent to the reciver and visa versa. It would also cover Destination and source IP and MACs.
A sample question is: If host A is sending a packet to Host B and in between them is a router and two switches what information will be in the header of the packet sent by Host A? The answer is The MAC address of the interface on the router facing Host A and the destination IP which is from Host B.
A tricky part of these questions is the fact it sorta switches on you when you look at it from the other end. Take this as an example: If host A is sending a packet to Host B and in between them is a router and two switches what information will be in the header after the Router? Answer: the MAC address of the interface you just left and the IP address of the Host.

To figure out these problems is simple. the source MAC is always the next hop unless you are sending it to the the actual host, then it is the interface you just left. The destination MAC is always going to be the Host you are sending to. The Destination IP is always going to be the IP of the Host. SO the Source IP has to always be from the Source.

It seems quite simple when you get the naming right. Take this part of the test slow and you will do just fine!

IPv6. WIll it change networking?

IPv6 will change the way we look at networking and how we use the OSI and networking models. Right now we have many mobile devices connected to their own network not behind a traditional router and firewall. Look at phones or tablets and how they use 4G. They are connected directly to the internet not behind a home router (except when connected to Wifi). They have got to have their own IP of some sorts right?

With IPv6 I can see how we think of networking desolving and moving towards a much broader way of networking. things like NAT and PAT are out. I could even see us doing away with MAC and just having the IPv6 being the way a program connects to our device. With so many IPv6 addresses avail why not? Why do we need to have 2 layers of device "names" and just have the IPv6 handle who is who? In a sense we are completely getting rid of the whole in home network scheme and using outside appoaches for our networking. Someone else is in charge of how our device connects to other devices. I know what you thought when I said "someone else". Yes this is a concern. I can see this and many complications with this approach.  I hope to address some of these right now.

For one complication there is security.  to have a device connected directly to the internet requires that device to have its own firewall or at least a way to filter out bad requests. The device itself needs to be powerful enough to do its own routing on top of all its own processing. Unless this can be avoided by just having routing as a service. Use the cloud as a service to route traffic and keep things safe. You use the cloud as your defualt gateway so to speak.

To connect to a device that is right in front of you is another problem with this approach. With the traditional way you have an easy way of connecting together and sharing info to computers near by because you are on the same "network". To give a solution just think bigger. instead of connecting to your home router that is so close, you connect to a router cloud outside your home. The cloud keeps your IPv6 that tells who you are.

I hope you came to this conclusion too: but what if we are moving around? To explain routers send traffic to networks and not clients. It is kind of like the postal service. when you send a letter and it arrives at the first "hop" or postal office all they look at is the zip code and send it to the main office for that zip code. It is then routed to the correct address at that office. Same goes for networks. If I send an email from my computer right now to gmail, it will find out where gmail network is send it on its way through hops till it gets to the router with that network, and then that router will send it to the correct server hosting Gmail. Of course there is more to this example but essentially that is what is happening.

SO...what if we are moving around? Our IPv6 address moves with us....in the way we network now we had a MAC and that MAC was assigned an IP of the network we are attached to to communicate with the outside. In my proposed model This seems like it wouldn't work. This is where connection speed and the cloud comes to play. If you are connected to the could having it do your routing then your device talks to your cloud. So to keep it simple: the cloud keeps up where you are going and routes you to your desinations. The cloud finds out how to get to you and the device gets to find out what routes are best.

This is entirely a new model of networking. I hope I have made my self clear. I am sure I will revist this sometime soon and revise how I get the idea acrossed. I wrote this in terms of the audience already knowing a little about how the OSI and networking models work.