Review: CompTIA Cloud Essentials by ElementK
Cloud Essentials is a new certification from CompTIA (CLO-001) focused on helping business and IT decision makers understand cloud IT services. The objectives for the exam are solid and the 2-day course fills a significant gap. These are actually topics I’ve been lecturing on for several years so I’m happy to see them put together in a certification exam. This review, however, is strictly on the textbook Cloud Essentials (ISBN 1424619416) published in 2012 by ElementK.This book is, unfortunately, the only text published for this exam so far. ElementK hardly has a reputation...
Read MoreMeetingBurner
A new contender is taking the on-line meeting field currently dominated by GoToMeeting and Cisco’s Webex. I, personally, have used them all to lead on-line training events and I’ve had a Webex account for over a decade. Fresh out of Beta, MeetingBurner is a full-featured, relatively mature service. The expected feature list is there with registration, a dial-in number plus VoIP and good Skype integration, video, screen sharing, ability to switch presenters, recording, chat, mobile, and a simple “meeting temperature” gauge.A small Java download is required to share...
Read MoreReview: Facebook: the Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer
[amazon_link id="1449397417" target="_blank" ]Facebook: The Missing Manual, 3rd edition[/amazon_link] by E. A. Vander Veer is a notable effort. The speed at which Facebook is changing makes it almost impossible to keep a print edition current, yet the 3rd edition is not only current but the author helpfully points out what is likely to be changing in the near future and how that affects the reader. She has done a good job of pulling together the many aspects of a complex and quickly evolving topic.[amazon_link id="1449397417" target="_blank" ]Facebook: The Missing Manual[/amazon_link] is...
Read MoreSQL Pocket Guide by Jonathan Gennick – Review
[amazon_image id="1449394094" link="true" target="_blank" size="medium" align="left"]SQL Pocket Guide (Pocket Guides)[/amazon_image]The [amazon_link id="1449394094" target="_blank" ]SQL Pocket Guide (3rd edition)[/amazon_link] by Jonathan Gennick (O’Reilly, 2010) is a must have for the database butterfly. I move among several DBMS on an almost daily basis. Once in a while I need a refresh on how one flavor of SQL differs from another. In comes the Pocket Guide. The Guide covers the latest versions of DB2, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server. Gennick points out where...
Read MoreReview: Microsoft Excel and Word 2010 Step by Step
I’ve always been pleased with Microsoft’s Step by Step (SBS) series. The content is a consistently high quality and the format is very easy for self-study. The 2010 series holds to those standards. [amazon_link id="0735626936" target="_blank" ]Word 2010 SBS[/amazon_link] is jointly authored by Joyce Cox and Joan Lambert. [amazon_link id="0735626944" target="_blank" ]Excel 2010 SBS[/amazon_link] was authored by Curtis D. Frye. All three authors are seasoned veterans and highly capable authors.The SBS series is written for beginning users of the applications. There is an...
Read MoreWordCampMSP Report #6
WordPress Performance – Mitchell HislopAnother lively presentation that substituted for a cup of coffee – a Google Analytics Demo.He taught us how to use in-page analytics to learn from traffic spikes. The key is to annotate any release of info or change in the Website. He coached us to not waste opportunity, convert any entrance into a visitor, who will interact with conversion events (contact, play a video, membership).Next we got to see how create a Custom Report . Using Intelligence Beta – alerts when a condition is met, you could receive an email at that point in...
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