MCTS

MCTS

I think I’ve set myself up for an interesting adventure, I’ve decided to shoot for the MCTS, also known as “Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist” – and I’ll be taking the tests without a single guide book. Yep, you heard that right, no test study guide. Now, if I were you, I’d be asking “Why?!” – well, there are none. The tests required for the MCTS are so new, no books have been published on them.

I’ll be working with one of my co-workers, Laura, on this, our plan is simple: Learn everything there is to know about VB.NET 2005. I think that should about cover anything on the test.

Seriously, we are going to start by studying “Programming Microsoft Visual Basic 2005: The Language,” one of the recommend Microsoft references for the test. We may look at another book or two, but right now I think this is the only one we’ll need. I’d like to get my hands on a copy of “MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit” – but that won’t be available till July, and I’m hoping to have passed the tests by then (this is why).

Wish me luck, somehow I think I’ll need it.

Adam Caudill

Assange, Ecuador, and the Cyberarmy

ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London http://t.co/bz4O9bjF — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 19, 2012 The news that Julian Assange has asked Ecuador for political asylum is flooding twitter as his supporters do their best to attract attention to his cause, and rally everyone they can to contact Ecuador’s embassy in London to urge them to grant Assange’s request. While I’ve watched the Assange case since before the first allegations came out of Sweden – that’s not my interest here, my interest is in what Ecuador could do if they wanted to.

SOPA Is Inevitable

SOPA, while it’s not likely to be passed as-is, I would be willing to bet money that something SOPA-like will be passed. It may be watered down with many of the most offending parts removed, but for those backing SOPA it’ll still be a real victory. For them getting it on the books, even in a weakened form means it can be tweaked (and extended) later. There’s been an amazing resistance to SOPA, from the boycott of GoDaddy to public statements from celebrities such as Adam Savage – the public outcry against this horrid piece of legislation has been quite inspiring.

Is this thing on?

Wow! It’s been over a year since this blog o’ mine has seen any activity, though I’ve certainly not forgot about it. A lot has happened in the last year, so I’ll use this post as a bit of an update (and a warm-up for my return to blogging). I’m not going to promise you’ll see a new post daily as was once the case, though I’ll try to ensure something new is up at least once a week.