Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Technology Books: CompTIA Network+ Certification Study Guide
CompTIA Network+ Certification Study Guide by Mohan Krishnamurthy; Michael Cross; Dustin Fritz
Overview
CompTIA's Network+ certification is a globally-recognized, vendor neutral exam that has helped over 235,000 IT professionals reach further and higher in their careers. The 2009 Network+ exam (N10-004) is a major update with more focus on security and wireless aspects of networking. Our new study guide has been updated accordingly with focus on network, systems, and WAN security and complete coverage of today's wireless networking standards. As always this companion covers the core Network+ material including basic design principles, management and operation of a network infrastructure, and testing tools. After reading this book not only will you be able to ace the exam but you will be able to maintain, troubleshoot, and install computer networks.
New to this edition are: Intensified focus on network securityTwo NEW practice exams to help eliminate test-day jittersTiered chapter ending quesitons that allow gradual learning
New to this edition in accordance with the newly revised exam is an intensified focus on network securityTwo NEW practice exams to help eliminate test-day jittersTiered chapter ending questions that allow for graduated learningCovers everything from test taking techniques to advanced topics - keeping the beginner and intermediate IT professional in mindLayout of the guide parallels the Network+ N10-004 objectives for ease of study
New to this edition in accordance with the newly revised exam is an intensified focus on network securityTwo NEW practice exams to help eliminate test-day jittersTiered chapter ending questions that allow for graduated learningCovers everything from test taking techniques to advanced topics - keeping the beginner and intermediate IT professional in mindLayout of the guide parallels the Network+ N10-004 objectives for ease of study
This item is Non-Returnable.
Article: Wanted Stick No Bill
Wanted Stick No Bill
We have seen Stick No Bills written on private buildings, compounds of government buildings and so many other places. Simply it means don’t put posters. However, how often we see some posters pasted on top of it? What is the government regulation on such actions? The person who pasted the notices, is he liable for punishment by law? What if he is employed by a company that wants to promote their products? Is that company liable to be prosecuted? Well, let’s imagine a scenario when company X wants to put the company Y in trouble, and stick their bills on the walls. Who will monitor who actually mounted these posters? Is it possible to monitor the entire area with CCTV cameras? Well, ummh, possibly, no and hence we are calling for troubles.
Now Internet seems to require “Stick No Bills” everywhere. Sophisticated communication mechanism, a place for expressing oneself and a high reach has created a platform for such a measure.
You can express yourself on the Internet in the following methods:
· A Static Website, through free web hosting sites such as Tripod
· Through a forum such as phpBB, bulletin boards
· Through a blog offered by blog hosting such as Blogger
· Through social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Orkut
· Through free articles publishing sites
· -And so on .....
Of course, the convention means of mass mailing is always there. People often use these sophisticated communication means to reach out to mass audience in spreading religious, racial, sectarian hatred campaigns. Often targeted individual attacks are also carried out.
Apart from attacking people in politics, movie and music world in public lives and are prepared to face such attack, sometimes they go further to locate sites owned by individuals who are not in public life, but have posted an opinion that is not in favor of such people.
They identify such sites, through social book marking sites, or tags and hunt down these sites by posting anonymous remarks, obscene comments and subjecting them to individual attack.
While Internet predominantly western has many views that are acceptable to be posted, without any interference from the hosting sites, often such allowed views hurt the sentiments and values of Middle East and East.
While it often makes conventional people to keep themselves away from visiting such forums, community sites or active participation in the Internet development, there is a definite need for some regulation that is broadly acceptable by the Internet community at large in the interest of protecting global interest, privacy of Internet surfers, and protection of religious and regional values.
Does Internet require Stick No Bills everywhere, governed by a common law, applicable to the Internet world and hence protecting the Netizen? Your views please!
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
Article:Taking You Closer to Your Home
Taking You Closer to Your Home
For a change, a lighter article from me. Better way to utilize your Eid holidays.
Computing itself is considered to be English. However, a first year electronics engineer graduate can tell you that it’s all about 0s and 1s. However, English has become the default language of computing. But there are several initiatives taken by the language lovers all over the world to move computing from English to their native languages.
Now Windows interfaces are available in the language of your choice, increasing the personalization to your mother tongue. Office tools can have non-English interfaces. You can send and receive mails in your language, chat in your language, design websites in your language and send SMS in your language. Search for Microsoft Language Interface Pack (LIP) and it shall take you to the right site.
Unicode technology has made it possible to have standardization across the technology.
All you need to do is to go to Control Panel, Regional Language and Settings, Add support for Asian Languages, Click on details and add the keyboard of the preferred language. Now open Word or any application and start typing in your language. Do search on the websites on your language. Numerous language dictionaries, computing dictionaries and websites are available in several languages. It’s bigger than the English Internet. It’s closer to your heart now.
Now there is a problem though! How am I going to learn typing in my language? It’s very easy. It just takes 15 minutes. Or you have another choice. Microsoft has introduced a Phonetic tool. Just type it in English with the phonetics of your language, and bingo! You get your Unicode characters in your language on the screen.
It’s really a dramatic experience and a memorable one when I learnt to type in my mother tongue. When I wrote a mail to my mom in the language she can read and understand, I realized the impact of introducing our languages into the world of computing.
Do you want to experience the same? Get started!
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
Article: Measuring Yourself in An Organization - The GYRO Way
Measuring Yourself in An Organization - The GYRO Way
Gyro is a device used for measuring changes in direction. Leaving that aside, GYRO here simply means Green, Yellow, Red and Orange. If Management is Y-Axis, and Employee is X-Axis, what this GYRO graph explains us is the matter for the discussion in this article.
As you are aware, every axis has the +, the positive side and -, the negative side. So the Management has positive and negative sides, and so does every Employee.
GREEN box covers the coordinates of positive X and Y axes. Management is positive about the Employee and the Employee is positive about the Management. Perfect harmony, ideal and preferred condition to exist.
In this scenario, Employee has an opportunity to prove, he or she has proved and the Management is happy about this performance. Employee thinks that Management has given the right opportunity, exposure and compensation.
YELLOW box covers the coordinates of negative Y and positive X axes. Management is negative about the Employee, but the Employee is positive about the Management.
In this scenario, Management thinks that it has provided adequate opportunity, exposure, training and standard compensation, but the Employee is still not proving himself/herself. Employee is neither aware of Management’s view nor he/she ignores the fact and is still positive about the Management.
RED box covers the coordinates of negative X and Y axes. Management is negative about the Employee. Employee is negative about the Management.
In this scenario, Management thinks that it has provided adequate opportunity, exposure, training and standard compensation, but the Employee is still not proving himself/herself. Employee thinks the opposite and hence is negative about the Management.
ORANGE box covers the coordinates of positive Y and negative X axes. Management is positive about the Employee, but the Employee is negative about the Management.
In this scenario, Management thinks that it has provided sufficient opportunities for the Employee to prove him or herself. Employee thinks that he has failed in the opportunity, or he/she was not provided adequate exposure, training or support to prove or he/she is not compensated well.
Employees of all the companies in the world fall under one of these categories. And every Management of the companies in the world falls under one of these categories. Of course, new Employees, who have just joined and haven’t got an opportunity to prove; and the Management is neutral can be classified out of this. May be we can place them in a Blue box and bring them under one of these categories as they progress later.
What is the key challenge for every Employee is to remain in the Green box. The key challenge for every Management is to remain in the Green box. This continued presence in the Green box is often challenging and sometimes seems impossible. However, a true two-way communication between an Employee and the Management can make things easier. A successful organization has majority of the people in the Green box.
People in Red box should leave their jobs. They should look for better opportunities. Being in the Red box is harmful for their individual careers as well as for the welfare of the organization. Management should quickly react and give golden handshakes to those Employees who have reached the Red box. They might have been in the Green boxes in the past. But as of now, their status is Red.
People in the Orange box should list down their concerns and grievances and interact with the Management either directly or through the human resources department and should work hard to get back into the Green box. The threat of going to the Red box means losing the job. On the Management’s part they have to reiterate their positive attitude towards such Employees and help them to come out of the Orange box. They may have to provide necessary tools, support, and guidance or may be a package revision if they think that is the reason for his or her being in the Orange box.
People in the Yellow box are primarily due to the fact that in spite of them being positive, Management is negative towards them. This is a dangerous situation to be in. Why because, the Employees are happy about what they are doing, but the Management is not positive about them. Management should invite such people individually and convey them in unequivocal terms that why they are unhappy about the Employee and what they expect from him or her. On the Employee’s part, he or she has to seek constant feedback from the Management to self-assure that he or she is in the Green box and not dropping to the Yellow box. Leaving open ends will push the Employee from the Yellow box to Red box, though they have the potential to prove.
In other words, success of an organization relies on happy Management and happy Employees. Employees need to make sure that they are happy with the Management and make all attempts to eliminate anything that could possibly make them unhappy. Management in return has to provide right opportunities, tools, support, guidance and compensation to ensure their Employees are happy.
In summary, keep measuring yourselves, in the GYRO way. And keep the environment GREEN.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
Article: Handling Work Pressures
Handling Work Pressures
Expatriates working in Gulf countries face a challenge in handling work and peer pressures. Lower and middle management professionals working abroad often become victims of such pressures. However, the perception of their relatives back home is “Life is cool abroad”.
For example, in a developing country, the head of a family may have to bother about several aspects including electricity, water, income tax, house tax payments, school fees of children, health care of parents and family members, social visits to attend marriages and other functions, participating in festivals and other community gatherings. Apart from the commitment to work, travel to and fro the work place, indirect pressures include traffic jams, pollution and the crowd everywhere.
When relatives of these expatriates visit them during summer vacation or other pleasure trips they see a different picture altogether. They get a fantastic feeling as most of the bill payments happen online, not much of traffic on the roads, most of the groceries and home needs are addressed under one roof by hypermarkets, 5-days working a week, furnished apartments and probably a car for everybody.
However, often these people fail to notice that the work pressures are more or less same whether somebody is working abroad or back home. Back home the problems at work may seem lesser in proportion compared to the indirect pressures one faces due to the country's economy, population and competition.
We all would have heard a story in our childhood. How will you make a line smaller without erasing it? Draw a bigger line next to it. It is as simple as that. First line which was made to look smaller is the work pressure. The bigger line next to it is the non-work pressures a man has to face in his country.
However, in Gulf countries, there is only one line. That is the work pressure. Traffic jam, health care, children’s education, bill payment issues are totally removed. Though it looks much better than the situation at home country, this often becomes a cause of worry for professionals.
Let us see the mechanisms to come out of such pressures. These mechanisms are not limited to people living in Gulf countries only. Expatriates from developing countries working in developed countries may apply these in their lives to reduce pressures.
In professional front you may practice the following:
- Be transparent with your peers and seniors.
- Commit only what you can deliver, deliver what you have committed; if there is any deviation due to external factors update your customers and seniors.
- Avoid backbiting about your colleagues or seniors or the management.
- Do not limit your friend circles to office colleagues only; this will greatly reduce discussions again about your work after office hours; meet people from other circles.
- Avoid talking bad about the efficiency of others; to err is human, if your colleague does a mistake, you may do the same tomorrow. So do not use it as an opportunity to score against your colleague.
In personal front you may practice the following:
- Do not over project about your income to your relatives and friends back home; remember it always back fires. When you are in need of help, you may not get the same because of your bragging.
- Do not restrict your friendship only to the community or nationality you belong to. Develop association with other nationalities. Include the citizens of the country where you work. This greatly improves the cultural exchange and helps you get closer to the people.
- Invite friends from other communities and nationalities; do not restrict your family get together only among your closed group.
- Invest wisely; as overseas job tenures are normally short-term, you need to balance between your life style here and the future when you return to your home country. This will tremendously reduce your financial pressures. You have choice whether to live like a king here and go back home as a pauper.
- You do not need to be transparent about your investments, savings and property purchases among your group. This often creates insecurity, jealousness and distance among your friends.
- Even during casual get-togethers avoid bad-mouthing about your company, colleagues or friends. Talk as much positive about your friends, company and people. It may or may not help you, but will never harm you for sure.
- Respect the culture, religion, beliefs and practices of the country you work in. You may have a different opinion about what is being preached and practiced. But remember, this is the country that is feeding you and your family. Please be grateful to the country that is sheltering you. As much you are contributing to this country’s growth and development, this country is paying back to you as well.
Pressures are often created by us. They do not come from outside. Simplicity, honesty and transparency will keep you happy. Live, Love and Laugh, you may never need any medication to reduce your pressures.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=150525
Article:Constructive Criticism
Constructive Criticism
Managing people is a challenging task. Often the manager has to ignore personal assumptions and presumptions, hatred towards religion, culture, race and creed, personal ego and various other traits that will reduce the managerial qualities in the manager.
A successful manager is the one who focuses on the problem or an issue rather than focusing on the people who are part of the issue. Such a manager continues to have a great relationship with his team mates but can be still a terror at work.
When a team member is fired and after the firing he realizes the purpose of the firing and accepts that manager was right in firing him, seems to be an ideal condition right?
Well, when the manager’s words do not affect the individual’s ego, his personality, or something said was specific to him, the ideal condition can exist.
Constructive criticism is all about identifying the mistakes, flaws in team members and point out to them in such a way that they benefit from your criticism. At the end of every feedback, if you note that your juniors have made serious attempt to correct themselves; you are very much following the principles of constructive criticism.
Manager’s job is not only to manage; he or she often shapes the career of his juniors. He or she should understand the strength and limitations of his or her team members, appreciate them in whatever way they are, and try to work on improving them.
Manager’s farewell party often consists of flamboyant speeches from the juniors that what they learnt from him or her, and how they are going to miss him or her, etc. But after the boss has gone, it’s invariably all bad-mouthing how much he or she acted as a dictator, how much he or she was rude and tough. This will never serve the purpose.
While the manager has to be broad-minded, look beyond individuals and give importance to their roles, a team member of every manager also should be polite enough to point out the flaws in his or her manager’s decisions. Often, juniors ignore to point-out the mistakes of seniors because either they are scared or they don’t want to upset the “boss”. They feel insecure of being targeted.
It’s within an employee’s right to give preference to the company’s image and benefits; the diplomacy to point out the senior’s mistakes ensures that the result is win-win for everybody. The attitude to show that you know better than your senior or manager or as if you were waiting for him or her to do a mistake shows your narrow mindedness.
In effect, the word TEAM as we all know by now, Together Everyone Achieves More needs to be understood and followed to form a successful organization.
Organization is just made up of individuals. A good manager and able team members are the catalysts of a successful team. Such a team can handle any crisis, can avoid losses to the company, can bring great orders and maintain happy customers all along.
Manager is not only to manage the team; but also to manage himself. An efficient manager sets an example due to his people-oriented managerial traits. Constructive Criticism is one of the important managerial traits.
Let each one of in our company develop such managerial qualities and become successful managers.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
Article:Complacency A Killing Attitude
Complacency A Killing Attitude
Complacency creeps into everybody's life at least once or sometimes more than once. A secured job, adequate salary and a comfortable work place often puts people into such a situation where the learning curve stops. They start enjoying the other facets of life. While it’s very important to have a good personal life we need to ensure that our careers do not take a back seat in this process.
Often we find average people sticking to the job. This doesn't mean that company is happy with their performance or they couldn't find an alternative. It’s often because recruitment is a painful, time consuming and expensive process. In Gulf countries to get a visa, driving license and ready-to-market time itself is 6 months for every employee. Companies often ignore the lack of performance and give additional time for their employees to avoid another recruitment process. This may often send wrong signals to employees. They may assume that company is happy with their performance or they couldn't find an alternative. This assumption is wrong.
People working in HR department need to update themselves on organization behavior and various HR trends. People in sales need to learn about global economics and economic conditions of the countries where they do selling. Marketing people have to be updated about global trends and innovative ways they can reach the market effectively. Support engineers and consultants have to constantly update themselves with the latest technologies, products and vendors and earn latest certifications. Project management people should learn from the successful projects implemented globally; how much time and resources they were able to save, how efficiently the project was executed, etc.
Finance and accounting should learn from the corporate success stories and methodologies by which big companies maintain cash flow, execute projects with adequate funds, improve collections and do efficient budget forecasting.
Management also has to learn from the success of companies in the same industry. Proper planning and execution has been a key factor for growing companies.
So it’s constant learning for each and everybody in the organization. Complacency in any part will affect the individual concerned as well as the organization.
Can we leave the stove on with the food in it? It will spoil the food. Can we let a child to grow on his or her own without nurturing it with the knowledge and good habits?
You should deliver your top class performance as if your job is always under threat. We should learn as if there is a project tomorrow. We should prepare as if there is always a challenging assignment round the corner. We should sell as if every day is a year end. We should plan well in advance so that we don't suffer with surprises during the execution.
Many big organizations spend more time on planning and execution happens at the speed of a blink of an eye lid. So if you get time, plan for your individual career, for your role in the company and assist your department in planning.
Never let complacency creep in your life. This attitude will kill your growth and affect your future.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
Article:Compartmentalization Theory
Compartmentalization Theory
I meet several people during my office hours, colleagues, customers and vendors. I meet several friends and their family members after working hours. I notice people go through several emotions and I can visibly see the tension, pressure, insecurity, panic and over sensitivity to the issues around them.
People who go through various troubles in life often resort to heavy smoking, drinking or become dependent on anti-depressant drugs. Also many take help from Psychiatrists to come out of their mental tensions. Many simply cry whenever they find time, end-up in getting headaches.
Being a cheerful person I am often encountered by these questions, “Hey, you don't have any problems at all in your life?”, “You don't have any work today?”, “How do you look always relaxed?”, “How you are able to smile and crack jokes even during difficult times?” and I simply return a smile to them and start explaining a theory.
It is the “Compartmentalization Theory”. I am successfully practicing this theory for nearly 12 years now.
People who listened to this theory often felt that I must share this with more people and advised me to get this published in a magazine or a newspaper. Of course, they readily came to a conclusion “It’s very difficult to practice this, Man!”
While we agree to the philosophies hard work is important, success comes after sweat, 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, we also cannot deny the external factors that may influence the outcome of our actions.
I normally start by explaining to my friend to consider his or her mind as if it is made-up of several compartments. First I advise them to break the mindset of considering only two compartments – Family and Career.
I then ask them to name these compartments as Education, Career, Friends, Colleagues, Wife, Children, Love life and Money. I also advise them to add any more compartments if they feel it is necessary. For example, for many of us, privacy may be another compartment. One odd day you may feel to be away from your wife, children, and friends and be alone for few hours. Yes, privacy is an important component and hence an important compartment too.
Once these compartments are created in our minds, then we need to practice the core of this theory. Consider these compartments as if they are air-tight compartments. Success and failures in one compartment should not influence or affect the actions in another compartment. There should be no spillover of effects from one room to another room. For example, if you had a fight with your wife before leaving for the office, you should not be rude to your colleagues or customers. You should not miss out the smile when others smile to you with a “Good Morning” or “Hello”. If you had a tough day in the office, do not go back to home with these pressures. When your wife wants you to come with her for shopping, do not link your tough day as an employee with your evening role as a husband.
These are two different actions, independent of each other, happened in two different compartments, Career and Family. By letting the tensions, pressures, irritations and frustrations intermingle; you end-up in doing no justice to either of these roles.
Though it is difficult to practice, a conscious effort to practice this can definitely bring a change in your life. Try this out and definitely you will write me back soon saying how happy you are now.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=147284
Article:Building Your Second Line
Building Your Second Line
It’s essential for you to build your second and third line in your line of operations within your organization. It ensures a strong organization. There are other benefits too:
· When you go on vacation, you know you have your right man doing the job.
· When you are on an overseas trip or for training abroad, you know your project is in safe hands.
· When you are sick and you need a leave very badly, still you need somebody to do your job without compromising the quality.
· And finally when you leave your job, you know that the job is safely handed over to your successor.
Last one may not sound that positive to you. But imagine a situation where you are joining a company and your predecessor has left the state of affairs in a mess. You don’t know the status of the project you are going to handle, no documentation, no passwords and no clear way ahead.
It’s very essential also to maintain a great relationship with your ex-companies. In the Information Technology industry, which is still small, in spite of across the regional and international boundaries from where you may get an offer, references from ex-companies can make or break an interview.
Who knows a great relationship with your previous companies can also do a world of good to you when you have to return back to them for another stint or favors.
People who have aspirations to migrate to different countries require reference letters, character and conduct letters from all the employers one has worked with.
Building a second line or third line is as easy as keeping your team informed on what you are doing, sharing the knowledge you have gained on-job, clearly documenting the project implementation, progress of the project, meetings with the customers and next steps.
Involving your juniors in the mega projects you handle also gives them great assurance, they look at you as an inspiring leader and one who values team work. This greatly solves situations a, b and c.
Remember, unless somebody had taught you in your previous assignments, you are no superman to have learnt all by yourselves. Now, why don’t you pass on such benefits to your team mates and colleagues?
TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More, you would have seen many posters talking about team work and this is one catchy one-liner. Let’s put this into practice.
One odd-day you are not well, call-up your second line and he or she is in charge. You want to go for a training, drop a mail to your second line and there he or she goes.
While building second and third lines have all the benefits, it may create a feeling of insecurity in your minds. What if, company fires me after they have found a perfect replacement for me? What if, my junior learns all the tricks of the trade and leaves me in the middle. Remember, nobody is indispensable in an organization. Everybody is replaceable in the company. Though the organization is made up of individuals, organization is always greater than few individuals. People come and go, company stays here.
You can try to bring individual excellence. This is short lived. A process-excellence based approach takes you miles ahead. It makes you a professional.
And for all, when you are capable of teaching others about the finer points, you are already an expert. Experts always have a job in this world.
So why to worry? Start building your second and third lines and enjoy working. And feel free to take those breaks without worrying about your projects.
~Mohan Krishnamurthy
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