The Inflatable Soapbox

I decided to start a gripe list.  So here is the Stupid Things item for today.

Changing Amazon Associates email is incredibly convoluted and stupid.  At every other site, you change your  email by logging in, changing your email,  and verifying the new address (with a notice sent to the old address).

Not at Amazon!  They are very security-minded.  I had to add another user (me) to my account.  Then click the link in the email sent to the “new user” (me) and register a new account (for myself).  Next, I logged back in as “the old me” and confirmed the new user (the new me), and deleted myself (the old me).

After logging back in as “the new me”, I find “the old me” is gone and my email is changed.  Who’s programming this crap for them, Microsoft?

CompTIA or Computing Technology Industry Association is a non-profit global trade association created in 1982. It used to be called Association of Better Computer Dealers, Inc. (ABCD) and it “represented the business interests of the information technology industry” (CompTIA literature).

CompTIA s focused on research, networking, UNIX, imaging, mobile computing, and multimedia development for its members, particularly providing technical and security support on products manufactured by Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Lotus, some Linux variations and the like. Although, the association do not manufacture computer softwares and hardwares like Cisco and Microsoft but CompTIA remains top organization among IT vendors.

Another area where CompTIA has emerged strong is its vendor-neutral certification programs, that develops human resource standards for IT professionals in the IT industry. It believes that technology lasts longer than vendor products, therefore, people with accredited expertise are more valuable to sustain the industry.

CompTIA Certifications has several tests, namely:

A+ – It is considered as the most popular certification in the IT industry worldwide. I validates skills in technical support covering products from leading IT manufacturers. Predictability certification programs developed by Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Novell and Certiport II recognizes A+. The test covers the knowledge and skills of the professionals on installation, configuration, dagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking.

Network+ Its area of concern is in acquiring and validating fundamental networking and administrating skills and knowledge of IT professionals. As it is also a popular certification, it is recognized by MIcrosoft, Novell, Cisco, Compaq, Lotus and 3Com as part of its certification track.

IT Project+ – IT project management as its own qualifications skills. It is the first IT project management accreditation designed by IT professionals. It is particularly putting importance on soft skills and management in the IT industry.

There are more certifications that CompTIA gives. Among these are Linux+, Security +, CDIA+ (Electronic document imaging systems), CTT+ (Certified Technical Trainer), e-Biz+ (electronic business), HTI+ (Home Technology Integrator), i-Net+ (Internet and Web protocols, management and technologies) and Server+ (Server support and proficiency)

Here are the top reasons why this certification should be the preference:

1. CompTIA A+ Certification is recognized by major IT manufacturers. By obtaining your credentials for A+ you establish yourself as having the necessary knowledge to install software and hardware, do preventive maintenance, do basic networking and have a basic understanding on computer security. It also opens doors to more advanced certifications and job opportunities.
2. Open source software popularity to save on cost – Many companies are tightening their budgets on IT resources thus prefer the open source software. A CompTIA Linux+ certificate holder can install and maintain effectively programs that support open source software.

3. CompTIA certificaitons are popular worldwide – A holder of this certification will also enjoy the prestige thus opening more doors of job opportunities. Since CompTIA have a large number of members, recognition of competence is widely established in the industry.

4. IT Security is becoming a great concern among organizations – Security+ Certification holder can find jobs on the growing number of organizations who value the protection of their data.

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SelfTestEngine is Exams Preparation Tool for Comptia exams such as BR0-003 and BR0-001 exams.

Today is Document Freedom Day. If you’re not one of the open source faithful, or even if you are, you might not be familiar with this digital independence day. According to the web site at http://documentfreedom.org, “Document Freedom Day (DFD) is a global day for document liberation. It will be a day of grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of Open Document Formats and Open Standards in general.”

The site does a thorough job of explaining the meaning and importance of this, but I will offer a brief summary here.

Many, if not most, people use proprietary software from companies like Microsoft and Adobe to create, edit, and manage their documents. Microsoft Office applications, Adobe Photoshop, and many others, create letters, spreadsheets and photos which are saved in a secret format known only to the company that created it. That’s great for the company that wants to control your access to your own data, determine how (and if) you can share it with others, and force you to upgrade if you want to keep support for your documents. Not so great for you, the creator/owner/manager of all these documents.

Another important issue is the preservation of documents in the digital era. There are documents from millennia gone by preserved on paper, scrolls, clay pots, even stone. The earliest known cave paintings are accessible to all who can see them. Who will read your Microsoft Word ’97 novel even five years from now?

I urge you to visit http://documentfreedom.org to learn more about the importance of document liberation. Start by freeing your own documents, then shine the light of freedom to light the way for others. Namaste.

I had an idea several years ago for a web site that acted as an exchange for real and virtual currencies. I was never an avid gamer but, after discovering Second Life and IMVU, I realized how many people were spending (and earning) money in these 3D virtual worlds. While there are some companies (IGE and others) that facilitate buying and selling of virtual goods and currencies, there didn’t seem to be a true virtual/real currency exchange market yet. One that would provide daily exchange rates for directly changing one currency into another, virtual or real, for a small fee. Like most of my ideas, this was added to a very long “projects” list. I had a good idea, I was sure, but neither the time nor resources to develop it.

Fast forward to 2010. IMVU and myYearbook are the first partners of the new Currency Connect, “a service that allows virtual world and social networking site members to exchange virtual currency among partner websites.”¹ They don’t (as far as I can tell) offer exchange with real currencies, though. That would certainly involve regulatory compliances which would complicate matters. But how long can these virtual currencies, purchased with real money, be unregulated? Over two years ago, “Linden Lab, the company that runs the popular virtual world Second Life, announced… that all in-world “banks” must now be registered with real-world banking regulators.”² Dave Rosenberg noted, in his blog on CNet News last December³, that the door is open for much larger players to bring their huge user bases to the game. Certainly PayPal, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft could stake a claim in this, as yet, wide open territory.

Where does that leave me? Crossing yet another promising idea off my list? Probably. I still don’t have the resources needed for development. So I’m throwing this idea out into the blogosphere. Maybe someone with capital or connections can make use of it.

What do you think? Thumbs up or down?

¹ http://www.currencyconnect.com/FAQ

² http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/second-life-welcomes-bank-regulators

³ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10415702-62.html

Image courtesy of Pulsar Media

I haven’t made any scientific comparisons, I only share my experience. I’ve been a devoted Mozilla/Firefox user for many years. My current workhorse is an AMD Phenom Quad core box with 8GB RAM and it flies.

I tend to keep 40-60 tabs open, on average. I can run the latest Firefox on this box and it will have severe performance problems (the screen turns grey, desktop unresponsive) even with nothing else running. I have to restart Firefox 3 times daily. It takes a long time to reload, so this is a major inconvenience.

I am now running Chrome with 42 tabs, as well as Thunderbird, Gimp, Pidgin, 5 terminals, and 2 virtual machines (Ubuntu 10.4 using QEMU and OpenSuse 11.2 using Virtualbox 3.1) – all this on a fully pimped-out Compiz 3D desktop on a 24″ display – with outstanding performance from Chrome.

I love the Fox, but until it gets its act together, I’m using Chrome.