I clean my couches maybe once a year -- if that -- and mainly, I find doggie kibble and lint, sometimes a useless TV remote. Once, though, I hit the jackpot and gathered up about $2 in change in the crevices; happened after a summer party at the ol' abode.
Sometimes you have to look in the most obvious places to find something of incredible value. Free training vouchers from Microsoft? Kinda sorta like the change I found, probably better. And there are still some vouchers available if you just look hard enough. In Bellingham, Wash., for example, you can find out how to nab one for certifying with Microsoft Office programs at WorkSource. According to this news reporthttp://www.bellinghamherald.com/602/story/892779.html, they still have some that were issued as part of Microsoft's Elevate America program.
I blogged about Elevate America when it debuted back in February. . It's a worthwhile program and it's not just available in Bellingham, but at training centers across the country. To find out where you can get more localized availability info, start here.
Have you taken advantage of any of the programs available through Elevate America? What did you think? E-mail me or post here.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 05/01/2009 at 11:59 AM1 comments
The Windows 7 exam beta turned out to be hotter than ex-lovers throwing fists at a Jerry Springer show. Microsoft Learning has been scrambling to meet the demand. If you want the chance to take it for free, keep tabs on new registration slots being opened
here.
Are you taking the beta? We'd love for you to review the exam for MCPmag.com. Write me for details.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/30/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
I love my Vista and I'm grateful that Redmond still continues
to make improvements. Vista SP2 RTM'ed (or, for some, it might be RTFM'ed) this week, which means it's due to hit PCs in the next two months or so, by most guesses.
Updates include Windows Search 4.0 integrated right into the OS, plus some wireless and Bluetooth enhancements. Windows Server 2008 Standard will have Hyper-V fully integrated (just one instance, though). Admins who need some time to test the update will be happy to note that Microsft will provide an update blocker.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/29/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
Microsoft Learning's Born To Learn Blog has been updated, and not a moment too soon as some team members are about to jump on the Career Express. You'll find it at
this new URL.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/28/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
Microsoft's Tech-Ed event comes to L.A. in a few weeks, which means Microsoft Learning's Career Express gets rolling on May 1. Like most good ideas, this one started with a crazy brainstorm session, said Ken Rosen, Group Manager for Community and Evangelism with Microsoft Learning. At some point, Ken said a team member suggested that rather than fly everyone out, "what if we took our travel budget and got an old conversion van and painted it like the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine" and then took the show on the road and made few stops and held events, and the idea took root. Well, Ken tells me that the bus won't look quite like the Mystery Machine or Ken Kesey's Magic Bus, and maybe that's a good thing.
On a side note, Rosen indicated that the goals of the trip emphasized less the certification aspects, and said it was more about "helping folks who are already certified or thinking about becoming certified become more aware of the opportunities that are out there for them in IT once they become certified, or are already certified and want to further their knowledge. Or figure out what areas to invest in, for products that are coming down the pipe. That sort of thing." I like their approach and it's refreshing, when all around them everyone is slashing travel budgets. The Career Express, to me, seems to be a grassroot outreach effort that's akin to what Microsoft Across America did for showcasing Microsoft's newest technology, if you're familiar with the ad-wrapped trucks that rolled up at several events over the last two or so years.
They'll be blogging and posting videos of their trip, starting in Atlanta and will announce Twitter meet-ups from the road. You can catch it all at the Born to Learn blog.
(And my interview with Ken will be available in next Monday's Redmond Radio podcast.)
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/23/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
There's lots of analysis already about Oracle's purchase of Sun, mainly looking at how the buy will affect Microsoft (
think MySQL and Oracle 11g), IBM (
think DB2 and Big Blue's
failed talks with Sun) and Web browing and Web development (
think Java) . Not mentioned much is OpenOffice. It'd be interesting to see if OO continues to remain free figuratively and literally. All I care about at this point is that I don't have to resort to using Google Docs or Zoho.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/21/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
The Born to Learn bloggers, as they criss-cross the country by bus, wending their way to Tech Ed in L.A., still manage to muster time for a few posts about the goings ons in the Microsoft Learning Group.
You might be happy to hear that with the impending release of Windows 7, there's been some significant progress in developing the certification exams; the group will be releasing a beta exam early next month.
Naturally, I want to know your thoughts; and if you expect to review it, send me an e-mail.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/16/2009 at 11:59 AM2 comments
My boss Doug Barney likes to
tout the virtues of the Mac with regularity in Redmond Report (
click here to subscribe). I've got the Mac envy and have been forwarding my wishlist to the IT folks. They tell me to keep dreaming -- my five-year-old, business-class desktop is a solid hunk of hardware that hasn't had major problems, save for a hard drive upgrade about three months ago.
Further thwarting my Mac-upgrade efforts is Microsoft again dredging up the Mac Tax -- just in time for next Wednesday, of course.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/10/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
Mainstream support for Office 2003 ends next week. I'm unsure of our own company's migration plans; I just haven't asked. Since I'm mostly holed up at the home office without an official Office 2003 license, I switched to OpenOffice long ago. I just can't fork over the dough when there's a free, highly capable alternative.
I'd like to know your thoughts on OpenOffice 3.0, especially if a) you're an admin who's moving to OO rather than newer versions of Office, b) you switched, only to find out that Office has features that your company really needs, or c) you're running both (and explain why).
Your comments might make it into an upcoming feature. Send all comments to me at [email protected].
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/10/2009 at 11:59 AM4 comments
Keith Ward, the
VirtualizationReview.com head honcho, writes a certification column at About.com. There's some good certification information over there, including something from
an interview with yours truly.
I still want to hear about your certification efforts here at MCPmag.com, but if you've got more general questions or want to see certification from the perspective of our resident cert curmudgeon, head on over there right now and give Keith a shout.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/09/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
We might not have heard the
last of Conficker, but what noises that it's making are likely to be as vociferous, as the worm tries to draw little attention for its masters. Security analysts are reporting an uptick of activity from a Conficker.E variant that's spreading via P2P.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/09/2009 at 11:59 AM0 comments
Early last spring, Silverlight was supposed to be the RIA of choice for Major League Baseball's online game streaming. We saw the demo and then we waited. And waited. In November, MLB Advanced Media benched Silverlight for Adobe's Flash Player.
The baseball season opened up this week and it looks like some streaming customers reported poor performance and glitches with Flash. Both players look like they need some more time at triple-A.
Posted by Michael Domingo on 04/08/2009 at 11:59 AM2 comments