We won’t keep this up (although the streak might continue), but the third review on Amazon of Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi and William Bartholomew’s Inside the Microsoft Build Engine: Using MSBuild and Team Foundation Build is another rave, titled “A ‘must have’ for any budding build master.” The reviewer says the book is also “a ‘must have’ for build masters as an A+ reference.” Here’s our long post about the book.
Congratulations to Sayed and William for this initial reception to their book.
Want to know more about Windows 7 and what Microsoft Learning is cooking up?
Our new Windows 7 blog series - Working on a Dream - starts next week!
Posted by Tjeerd Veninga
Comments
Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:29 AM by Michael Swoboda
Perfect because we need all input we can get! We have in 10 days our first events for W7 with more than 220 attendees (see www.etc.at/magic7) so hope to get a lot of informations here! :)
If you have any interesting promotional items maybe pls just let me know ([email protected])
Monday, March 02, 2009 3:48 AM by Roel Janssens
Does that also mean that you are preparing a beta exam for Windows 7 ???
Monday, March 02, 2009 1:34 PM by Helmer
@Roel : Didn t you attend the Windows 7 beta exam yet...hehe??
Just kiddin !! Let s hope the exam will be available soon!
@Tjeerd : I m looking forward to it!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 4:14 AM by Roel Janssens
Yes Helmer, I ve already passed "71-771 MCTS Windows 7, Configuring" but I also want to take exam "71-772 MCITP Windows 7 in the Enterprise" when it s available.
Also just kidding of course ;-)
Have you ever considered training people on Microsoft technology? Right now there are over 15.000 Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) accross the world, delivering training in over 150 countries. Together they train hundreds of thousands each year. You ve seen them on our blog and you see them if you follow the links, they are the audience I work with every day and I get a serious kick out of that!
Why? Well because these trainers help other people become more productive for instance. For every team member that is trained and certified, we see significant productivity gains. But those are just statistics, the kick I m talking about hits me when I see people having their lightbulb moment. Aha, is that how it works, wow that will save us time! or Wow, can we do that, with the stuff we already have? . And then there are the stories where people get trained and choose a completely new career, a new life. Because you can do that in IT, just a few weeks of training and you re in business. That s not something most other industries will let you do, in IT you can go anywhere! MCTs are passionate about technology and their passion is contagious.
As an MCT, you also have your options at any time. New products are introduced all the time and you may want to change or add to your specializations. And even if you don t move into a new area, you can be assured that we will change your life for you every few years. New releases, new technology, new tools to work with, it s just the rhythm of the business. As an MCT, we give you access to content on upcoming releases at an early stage, so you have visibility to new technology and what it can do for your customers.
Best of, all in my opinion, MCTs are united through newsgroups, they gather at events and build networks with other MCTs, often across the world. In most lines of training and education you are by yourself a large part of your day, as an MCT there are always other MCTs online, ready to chat, share opinions or help out with specific topics.
The new MCT Program starts this Monday, March 2nd, if you are interested you may want to take a look at our MCT pages, but much rather I d love to invite some of our MCTs to introduce themselves and tell you about a Day in Their Life. And if you have questions on our program or any other related issue, just let us know here too!
Like Dale Carnegie, Carnegie Johnson is an expert at winning friends and influencing people. Of course he is, he’s an MCT. Based in Columbia, SC, Carnegie splits his time between consulting, teaching and volunteering for causes he’s passionate about. I had the opportunity to chat with Carnegie earlier this week while he was working on a project in Los Angeles.
MSL: What’s special about you?
CJ: I m a PC. I m an MCT. I’ve been doing this for 5 years - it s like being part of a family. It gives me the opportunity to travel all over the world and meet other MCPs, MCTs and Microsoft Partners. I feel lucky and blessed to be an MCT - and a PC.
MSL: What do you specialize in?
CJ: I specialize in developer training, Visual Studio, SQL Server, Office business applications. I do primarily consulting, about 70% and 30% training. This combination happens to work out because that s the market I m in. I d rather do more training because it s so much fun and you stay fresh with the latest products, but it s always good to stay in touch with the real-world application of the technology and solving complex problems.
MSL: When and why did you get started with Microsoft Learning?
CJ: I got started by meeting the fine people at Microsoft Learning (MSL) at TechEd in 1999 in Dallas. That was my first TechEd, I d always wanted to go. At first, I was blown away by the sheer size - the number of people, the number of like-minded geeks all in one place. I went on my own and didn t have anyone to pal around with. As I went from session to session, the biggest group to make the most positive impression on me was the MSL group. I’ve been an MCP since 1993 or 1994 and I was familiar with MSL, so I went by the MSL booth and that s when I met a lot of the people behind MSL and they hung out with me, went to sessions together and it opened my eyes as to all of the other things going on with MSL like the MCT program.
MSL: What advice would you give to someone going to their first TechEd?
CJ:
MSL: You won a prize from Microsoft Learning a while back. What was it?
CJ: That was the most awesome prize in the world - Dell XTX M1730 super-duper laptop. It ROCKS! I won it for soliciting the most ads for a promotion that Ken Rosen announced at the MCT summit in 2007. It was to raise awareness for different offers for the certified community. I was able to do the sales pitch to a few companies and they followed through and I ended up winning the contest.
MSL: What are you passionate about?
CJ: I m passionate about solving problems, especially when someone says, "you can t do it." If someone says, “you can t do it,” I m determined that it can be done. I ll get creative with it.
MSL: What advice do you have for certification-seekers or people new to the industry?
CJ: It s pretty challenging right now and certification can be a long road, but don t give up. It’ll really help with getting a job. There are a lot of really good people out there not going into IT because they perceive the learning curve as too steep.But I think that once people start, they can realize that it s not that hard of a task. Case in point - one of our MCT colleagues, Matthew (Roche), tells the story of plugging away at it constantly and now he s at the top of his game. No one is born knowing everything.
MSL: As a small business owner, what are you doing to protect yourself in this economy?
CJ: I need to be more proactive. Most of my business comes to me by word of mouth, by referrals. I ve been reluctant to do advertising and marketing, but I probably should do it. More marketing is my resolution.
Posted by Dana
Friday, February 27, 2009 7:24 PM by Born to Learn : Community Profile: Carnegie Johnson, Microsoft … | WhoSayWhatWhen
PingBack from http://www.whosaywhatwhen.com/2009/02/born-to-learn-community-profile-carnegie-johnson-microsoft/
The Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 book Devon just mentioned will be on the bookshelves soon. To say that these authors are qualified is to dramatically understate their talents!
Itzik Ben-Gan has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP (Most Valued Professional) since 1999! Itzik is cofounder of Solid Quality Mentors. He has written several books and many articles and white papers. You ll find him traveling the world, delivering training and speaking at some of your favorite events such as TechEd and DevWeek.
Lubor Kollar is a Group Program Manager in Microsoft Corp, where he has been working in the SQL Server development organization since 1996. Lubor is the "insider" who can provide a unique perspective. He leads the SQL Server Customer Advisory Team (SQL CAT), sharing the lessons learned through some of the world s most challenging SQL Server deployments.
Dejan Sarka is an MVP and an experienced SQL Server trainer, mentor, and consultant. Dejan focuses on developing database and business intelligence applications. An experienced author and speaker, you may have heard Dejan at one of you favorite events, such as PASS or SqlDevCon.
Steve Kass is a SQL Server MVP and a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drew University. In addition to his teaching, Steve is an author and guest speaker at SQL Server events and user group events.
Posted by Karen Szall
Coming soon.
Posted by Krosen
Friday, February 27, 2009 1:40 AM by Michael D. Alligood
Ken, have the lawyers for Springsteen not contacted you yet? As a friend, I feel it is my obligation to advise you on the legal aspects of "stalking."
Friends of MSL, is an intervention required here?
:)
Friday, February 27, 2009 10:43 AM by louie
FYI, ZZ Top did it before springsteen
Monday, March 02, 2009 11:13 PM by Krosen
True, Louie, but Springsteen did it better! :-)
Sunday, March 08, 2009 6:12 PM by Wm Matthey
He is devoted and pretty much made a convert outa me - I had forgotten how great the Boss can work a song. KEN - listen to "My Okla Home - Blown Away" I live in OKC&Lawton - that really is the nature & history of OK.
Later
Sunday, March 08, 2009 6:22 PM by Krosen
Love that song, William--that whole tour in fact, was his strongest (IMHO). Bruce is an incredible songwriter and performer, but I personally think his greatest strength is as an arranger, particularly with old, almost forgotten songs like the ones on Seeger Sessions. Good call!
Just a quick post to add another title to the list of nine we blogged about earlier this week.
Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Querying (Microsoft Press, 2009), by Itzik Ben-Gan, Lubor Kollar, Dejan Sarka, and Steve Kass, is an update of Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying, which, you can see by its 29 Amazon reviews (most of them 5 stars), is a very effective and popular SQL Server book. Book excerpts and other detailed information about this book will be coming to the blog soon.
This year Microsoft Press will publish my 100th book. It has been some journey, let me tell you. I didn’t start out knowing I would be successful, but I had a dream, a vision, and a destination in mind. Still, the road I traveled certainly wasn’t without its potholes and off ramps. I started out as a guy who loved technology and writing almost as much as breathing. And, on the rare occasions when I wasn’t working or studying, I was with my wife and kids in the great outdoors—swimming, hiking, biking, and wandering about in the real depth of it.
My trip down the road to Book #100 began in 1994. At the time, I was working full-time in the United States Air Force and taking a full-time course load while trying to earn my Master’s degree. I had just earned my bachelor’s degree in May after three years of taking a full class load while also working rotating shifts for my job in the military. When one of my professors suggested I should try to publish my master’s thesis, I set out to do exactly that. My query letters led to a contract for a book titled Electronic Publishing Unleashed (Sams Publishing, 1995).
After having been unsuccessful in prior attempts to break into publishing with my fiction, I was elated to be on the road to having a published book to my credit. By the time I wrote Electronic Publishing Unleashed, gathered contributions from colleagues, and the book was published in 1995, the book was over 1000 pages long. It was my first published book, and it became the book that defined electronic and digital publishing for a generation of readers. Within days of publication, I was already writing the sequel, a book called Web Publishing Unleashed (Sams Publishing, 1996), which became one of the seminal early books on the topic of publishing on the World Wide Web. The huge success of those books lead to more book contracts with the same publisher and had a large impact on my decision to leave the military in June 1996.
In 1997, I wrote a little book about Web promotion. The book talked about silly stuff like how to get your Web page listed on Cool Site lists, how to use giveaways like free t-shirts to get visitors to your site, and how to register with search engines. That silly little book became one of the most talked about Web promotion books of its time, earning me radio and newspaper interviews, and eventually becoming the largest seller for its little publisher, Prima. The book was even mentioned and quoted by Donald Trump in his business books.
A year later, in 1998, I tried to move to full-time consulting in Internet and Web technology areas, but the promise of a new series that I could shape and make my own brought me back to the world of technology writing. The series was Administrator’s Pocket Consultant. My trademark style helped establish the series and was so successful that I became its sole author for a time. However, a strong desire to help shape Internet business brought me back to the tech industry for several short periods during 1999, 2000, and 2001.
This “transition period” was a difficult time for my family and me. I suffered a series of setbacks both personal and professional. Adding to those difficulties were my efforts to launch my career as a fiction writer. Finally, in 2002, I followed the successful publication of my first fiction book with a series of successes in technical writing and these combined successes helped to establish me as both a fiction writer and a nonfiction writer.
A few years later, a crisis nearly derailed me, but I held steady because I’m generally too darn stubborn to give up, stubbornness and tenacity being important ingredients for success, along with a willingness to work in partnership with others. Fast forward to 2009, a year when my 100th book will be published, and you’ll find the same guy—the guy who loves technology and writing, his family, and the outdoors—only now he’s a little older, a little grayer, and a little more sensible (but no less determined and no less exuberant when it comes to doing what he loves). Through sixteen years, 100 books, 50,000 pages, and ten million words, the dream, the vision, and the destination have remained the same, and I hope you will hang in there with me till the road ends. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support.
—William R. Stanek
[email protected]
Okay – I will try to post without causing a ruckus. Let’s see if I can do it!
Announcement:
In accordance with this commitment, Microsoft Learning will retire 12 exams on March 31, 2009. These exams focus on technologies no longer included in Microsoft mainstream support, and are requirements for the Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD), Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), and Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) certifications. To complete these credentials, you must pass all required exams before they retire.
Click here for a listing of discontinued exams: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/status/examstoretire.mspx
Your MCP Gal - Sarah
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:14 PM by Steve
Hey Sarah,
Do you know if the courses associated with the exams will be pulled from the DLC? If so, will it be all Framework 1.x courses - even if they have no mapping to an exam e.g. 2124 / 2373 etc?
Monday, March 02, 2009 9:00 AM by Ann
No ruckus here - but I do have a question: is someone on the Microsoft team still updating the Beta Exam blog (http://blogs.technet.com/betaexams/)? If not, is there another centralized source for that information? It s just that it hasn t been updated since November. If there s a new centralized source, please let us know!
Friday, March 06, 2009 10:16 PM by Les
I have a stupid question.
The page you link to say all expiring exams are 40% off, the 70-447 is 40% off but isn t on your list. Is this exam retiring on 3/31?
Saturday, March 07, 2009 4:44 PM by FilY
what exams are they going to take off the list ?
Friday, March 13, 2009 2:49 AM by Alice
Les -- hmm, I think that is a good question... I found a page at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/discount/default.mspx that lists 70-447 (Upgrade MCDBA Skills to MCITP Database Administrator by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005) as being 40% off, and says:
"Complete your Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD), Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), or Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) certification or upgrade your certifications to Visual Studio 2005 or SQL Server 2005 with a 40 percent automatic price reduction on retiring and upgrade exams. The price reduction is valid on:
• All exams scheduled to retire on March 31, 2009
• All upgrade exams to Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 certifications"
So it looks like they re saying that the upgrade-to-2005 exams are not being retired on 3-31-09, but they are also temporarily receiving the discount.
Friday, March 13, 2009 12:13 PM by Krosen
Ann: Yes, we still update the beta exams blog. Believe it or not, we haven t had any betas since then!
Friday, March 13, 2009 12:24 PM by Krista
Alice: The upgrade exams to Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are not retiring at the end of this month. However, the discount on them is permanent rather than temporary.
This has of course nothing to do with actual learning but just wanted to say that I just got to meet Chef Martin Yan, who is the executive chef with the company who is in charge of the Cafe in our building and he is here in our building today. I got to meet him after watching his cooking shows for years. It was very cool. Now back to your regularly scheduled day.
Posted by BillChapman
For the past few weeks, I’ve been recruiting more bloggers to post on Born to Learn in an effort to provide you a bigger window into the workings of Microsoft Learning. Given the way you’ve eagerly communicated with Krista and Liberty, I’d say asking the ACE (Assessment and Certification Exam Development) team to join us was a good thing. Who else would you like to hear from? What do you want to know?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:39 PM by Daniel
I am working through an E-Learning course offered through the second shot special. I m almost done with the course and I wanted to comment that I believe there should be more mini virtual labs included within the course. The virtual labs are fantastic and bring a lot of value to courses. Is this something that MS might be working on? Your thoughts?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:05 PM by Dana
Hi Daniel,
Funny you should mention that, we re working on getting one of the members of the team responsible for eLearning to blog here. I ll pass your question along.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:28 AM by Jan Groenewold
I d like to hear from the people behind the technet virtual labs. They made a great leap foreward when Server 2008 was beta, but they didn t move on to the Release Candidate :(
Would be great to hear what is planned!
Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:50 AM by Tom Swanson
Keeping with the virtutal lab theme we have going on with the comments - how about hearing from the team that develops the performance based testing. I would like to know what is being done to make sure that testing centers can handle the performance based testing. Have there been any changes made to the testing experience since the trial test that I took last year?
And, speaking of testing, what about guest posts from a representative of Prometric. I know that would generate a lot of comments from your readers. :-)
Note: I’m posting this for some of my team members who are at an offsite conference (and still learning the ins and outs of blogging, which is ironic since this is my first “official” blog post and I didn’t even write it)…
We’re writing to you from sunny Palm Springs, where we’re here attending the 10th annual Association of Test Publishers conference. What is ATP you say? This is the conference where everyone passionate about Testing and Certification, comes together and talks about the latest innovations and the future of testing. We wish you were all here with us, engaging in the thought provoking conversations. But, since you aren’t, we thought we’d provide you with the emerging themes and get your participation virtually.
After the first day of sessions, we’ve seen three main themes emerge:
· Online Testing
· Web 2.0 and Testing
· The Economy and Testing
There’s been discussion, agreement, and disagreement about how these items will evolve the testing industry but we’re curious what your opinion would be if you were here in attendance.
· What creative ways can we use Web 2.0 type interactions in our MCP program? Community development? How do we maintain security of items in a Web 2.0 world?
· What impact do you think Online Testing could have? What requirements would you expect to see coupled with online testing in order to maintain value, security, and integrity of the exams?
· What impact is the Economy having on your decision to get certified?
So, attend the ATP conference vicariously by providing your thoughts, ideas, and comments and we’ll bring the voice of the MCP, back to the testing community.
Shelby Grieve, Stefani Okamoto, and Kristi Svor – MSL Assessments and Certification Exam Development
Posted by libertymunson
Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:17 PM by Edward Laverick
The idea of online testing does make me a bit nervous. I currently have to travel 82 miles to my nearest test centre and while I should (in theory) be the ideal candidate for online testing I would still rather have the knowledge that my certification is secure because all candidates had sat the exam in the same circumstances watched over by an invigilator.
I can see a use for greater web integration in the study side of certification however. I d be heartly in favour of online training and virutal classrooms run by real top flight MCT s.
Monday, March 02, 2009 7:17 PM by Shelby
Thanks for your comments...I completely agree with your concerns regarding online testing. I do think we ll implement some level of online testing in the future but I think you ll continue to see the requirement for a proctor anytime the exam is resulting in a Certification. Interestingly enough, most of the Testing industry agrees with us on this also.
There is a new technology that utilizes webcams and remote proctors, in place of a traditional testing center or in person proctor. In my opinion, it s a really interesting and creative solution but it comes with a whole list of concerns that I don t think are resolved, the biggest of which is scalability (really...how many remote proctors would it take to monitor a program the size of ours???) with reliability a close second.
It will be interesting to see how the internet and Web 2.0 impact the testing industry overall. You can watch for us to bring Web 2.0 concepts to our exam development efforts later this summer. As for online testing, I ll keep you all posted on our decisions for how we ll use this in the future.
~ Shelby
As you may have heard, Solid Code went to manufacturing a couple of weeks ago! As the authors of this book, Donis Marshall and I are really excited for its broad availability and hope that people will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, perhaps a quick overview of the book’s content will incent you to order one today! Let’s take a closer look at the scope of this title.
At its core, the book explores best practices for achieving greater code quality from nearly every facet of software development. Beginning with Chapter 1, “Code Quality in an Agile World,” we discuss how higher quality can be achieved in fast-paced, agile software development teams. The book then moves on to discuss topics like Class Design and Prototyping, Metaprogramming, Web Performance, Designing for Scale, Memory management, and Debugging, to name a few. The material in several chapters is further complemented by real-world case studies from various engineering teams within Microsoft, such as the Windows Live Hotmail and Live Search teams.
Here is an excerpt from the book’s Introduction:
Solid Code has something for every participant in the software development life cycle. More specifically, it is targeted toward application developers who are seeking best practices or advice for building higher quality software. There are portions of this book that illustrate the important role of engineering process as it relates to writing high quality code. There are other parts that focus on the criticality of testing. However, most of this book focuses on improving code quality during design and implementation, covering specific topics like class prototyping, performance, security, memory, and debugging. This book targets both professional and casual developers. Readers should have a basic understanding of programming concepts and object oriented programming in C#. There are no skill level expectations. Solid Code is about the practical application of best practices for managed code application development. The topics discussed within the book should resonate with managed code developers of all skill levels.
Solid Code has something for every participant in the software development life cycle. More specifically, it is targeted toward application developers who are seeking best practices or advice for building higher quality software. There are portions of this book that illustrate the important role of engineering process as it relates to writing high quality code. There are other parts that focus on the criticality of testing. However, most of this book focuses on improving code quality during design and implementation, covering specific topics like class prototyping, performance, security, memory, and debugging.
This book targets both professional and casual developers. Readers should have a basic understanding of programming concepts and object oriented programming in C#. There are no skill level expectations. Solid Code is about the practical application of best practices for managed code application development. The topics discussed within the book should resonate with managed code developers of all skill levels.
Also from the Introduction, here’s an overview of how the book is organized:
Solid Code is organized similarly to that of the application development life cycle. The chapters are not separated into parts, but rather grouped according to four key principles. These principles are outlined in Chapter 1, “Code Quality in an Agile World,” and include: Focus on Design, Defend and Debug, Analyze and Test, and Improve Processes and Attitudes. Focus on Design One of the great themes of this book is the importance of thoughtful design as a means to improve overall product quality. To support this theme, practices such as class design and prototyping, metaprogramming, performance, scalability, and security are explored. Defend and Debug Although great designs are critical to building a high quality software application, it is equally important to understand the pitfalls that hinder delivery of bug-free code. Topics such as memory management, defensive programming techniques, and debugging are all discussed in the context of this principle. Analyze and Test Even the greatest programmers produce bugs despite following the recommended best practices. Therefore, it is important to discuss code analysis and testing as methods for further improving code quality. Improve Processes and Attitudes Beyond best practices, engineering processes and culture can have a great impact on the quality of the work being produced. We explore several key topics for improving the efficiency of the team as well as their passion for quality.
Solid Code is organized similarly to that of the application development life cycle. The chapters are not separated into parts, but rather grouped according to four key principles. These principles are outlined in Chapter 1, “Code Quality in an Agile World,” and include: Focus on Design, Defend and Debug, Analyze and Test, and Improve Processes and Attitudes.
Focus on Design One of the great themes of this book is the importance of thoughtful design as a means to improve overall product quality. To support this theme, practices such as class design and prototyping, metaprogramming, performance, scalability, and security are explored.
Defend and Debug Although great designs are critical to building a high quality software application, it is equally important to understand the pitfalls that hinder delivery of bug-free code. Topics such as memory management, defensive programming techniques, and debugging are all discussed in the context of this principle.
Analyze and Test Even the greatest programmers produce bugs despite following the recommended best practices. Therefore, it is important to discuss code analysis and testing as methods for further improving code quality.
Improve Processes and Attitudes Beyond best practices, engineering processes and culture can have a great impact on the quality of the work being produced. We explore several key topics for improving the efficiency of the team as well as their passion for quality.
Hopefully, these excerpts provide a good overview of what you can expect to learn by reading this book. The scope of the book is broad, but the content, advice, and examples are very practical. We were fortunate to have many great contributors and reviewers from both Microsoft and the industry, and we believe that readers will gain valuable insights from each chapter. So get out there and pick up a copy, and let us know what you think! We hope you enjoy it.
—John
Well there are several ways to do this of course, what I am going to talk about is videos. If you are not an MCT this really won’t apply to you but you are welcome to know about it anyway.
Well there are several ways to do this of course, what I am going to talk about is videos.
If you are not an MCT this really won’t apply to you but you are welcome to know about it anyway.
At the recent MCT Summit in Prague we recorded almost all the sessions and are now in the process of providing that content online through the MCT Download Center. The first of the videos is up and it is the Raising the Quality Bar as presented by Matthew Roche. This went up first to test the process and because Matthew kept asking, “is my video up yet? When will it be up? Can I point people at it yet?” and so on, so I put his up first. Today there are several more being uploaded which will include all the Day 1 Keynotes. Those keynotes were the Welcome by Tjeerd, the MCT Benefits by Tjeerd and company, Readiness Today by Bill (that’s me) and “Synchronicity: The power of the Modern O”S by Stephen Rose and Joey Snow. Also posted is the “final” MCT Summit Microsoft Office 2007 OneNote notebook containing all the presentations, handouts and other materials. Breakouts were also posted for some of the Day 2 content, you can see the reference for the agenda in the Microsoft Office 2007 OneNote summit notebook. To get to the downloadable videos you must login to the Download Center, and then scroll the selection menu down to see the MCT Summits category. Select in the Sub menu MCT Summit 2009 and you will see those all laid out before you. The videos require Adobe Flash ™ in order to view them; this was the smallest that could provide a usable image. The raw data for each hour video ran from 800 megabytes to 1.3 gigabytes. The compressed files are less than a tenth of that. Please spread the word to other MCTs about this content being available to them and go and review them yourself. A lot of really valuable information was given during the sessions and being now able to see what happened in all three rooms can give you more information for the classroom.
At the recent MCT Summit in Prague we recorded almost all the sessions and are now in the process of providing that content online through the MCT Download Center. The first of the videos is up and it is the Raising the Quality Bar as presented by Matthew Roche. This went up first to test the process and because Matthew kept asking, “is my video up yet? When will it be up? Can I point people at it yet?” and so on, so I put his up first. Today there are several more being uploaded which will include all the Day 1 Keynotes. Those keynotes were the Welcome by Tjeerd, the MCT Benefits by Tjeerd and company, Readiness Today by Bill (that’s me) and “Synchronicity: The power of the Modern O”S by Stephen Rose and Joey Snow. Also posted is the “final” MCT Summit Microsoft Office 2007 OneNote notebook containing all the presentations, handouts and other materials.
Breakouts were also posted for some of the Day 2 content, you can see the reference for the agenda in the Microsoft Office 2007 OneNote summit notebook.
To get to the downloadable videos you must login to the Download Center, and then scroll the selection menu down to see the MCT Summits category. Select in the Sub menu MCT Summit 2009 and you will see those all laid out before you. The videos require Adobe Flash ™ in order to view them; this was the smallest that could provide a usable image. The raw data for each hour video ran from 800 megabytes to 1.3 gigabytes. The compressed files are less than a tenth of that.
Please spread the word to other MCTs about this content being available to them and go and review them yourself. A lot of really valuable information was given during the sessions and being now able to see what happened in all three rooms can give you more information for the classroom.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:21 AM by Sasa K.
Great! Thanks! I couldn t make it to Prague (altough I planned to), and this is what I wanted to see!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 7:11 PM by Dave Franklyn
Bill, you will NEVER be able to make MCTs happy. Amused, maybe, but not happy.
Thanks for the update!
DaveF
In “All Sayed all the time (and MSBuild),” we gave you a pretty thorough description of Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi’s Inside the Microsoft Build Engine: Using MSBuild and Team Foundation Build (Microsoft Press, 2009), written with William Bartholomew. We mentioned then that the book’s first review on Amazon was up. The book’s second review on Amazon is now posted, and it’s another 5-starrer. The review’s title is “Highly Impressed.”
Pamela Passman, our Corporate Vice President for Global Corporate Affairs, announced a new initiative yesterday:
Elevate America provides unemployed American workers with immediate access to free and low-cost tools and training designed to build critical job skills needed in today’s economy.
I’m very proud of my team’s contributions: Microsoft Learning will provide one million training and certification vouchers to help individuals acquire and hone skills, differentiate themselves, and get a job.
Additionally, all Americans can now access a new online resource to find information and resources that will help them obtain necessary technical skills for jobs today and in the future. Participating state and local governments can also choose from a selection of offerings to make available to their citizens through designated partners.
Key Microsoft Learning components of Elevate America include:
Visit Elevate America to learn more, or join the Elevate America twitter to stay informed!
Monday, February 23, 2009 12:42 PM by Ben Watson (Microsoft Learning)
Just to add to Ken s comments, the e-Learning vouchers are for e-Learning *collections* so people will get access to several courses in each collection with an average collection retail value of US$350. Any of our collections are available under this initiative (the rare exception is where we don t own the IP etc). Each state who joins the Elevate America program will decide how to disburse their share of the vouchers.
This initiative also complements our world-wide Second Shot campaign where anyone who signs up for Second Shot can also get any one e-Learning collection for US$35 (an average of around 90% discount).
So any way that you look at it, Microsoft Learning is really stepping up and helping those in need around the world. Of course, this is about offering training on Microsoft software cause we are Microsoft <grin>. I can only hope that other IT companies do the same.
Sincerely,
Ben
Ben Watson
Director, Learning Products & Services
Microsoft Learning
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:23 PM by Kenneth R. Skinner
I am retired but build computers and have given some to elderly people to help them get on the internet. I have trouble configuring them, and would like to get more training in this field. I have bought the book, (Expensive)
Windows Vista Resource Kit, 2nd. Edition, but it still doesnt tell me what I need to know.
I need more of a hands on, step by step book or course on what to do when Vista wont load, or other programs. Thank You.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:55 PM by Ken Jones
To answer Kenneth Skinner s request for a more hands-on Vista book, we can highly recommend Windows Vista Inside Out by Ed Bott, Carl Siechert, and Craig Stinson.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:06 PM by wong yau
Just add this to get information on it. thanks for the good info
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:23 PM by mikkel
nice now i can learn how 2 use blogs
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:57 PM by Jordan
Kenneth,
The Vista Resource Kit Volume 2 is over 1500 pages and a majority chunk of that is Enterprise level information.
If you want to hone your skills on Consumer level stuff, look into the training guides for 70-620 Configuring Vista Client and 70-623 Consumer Support Technician for Vista Client.
Even if you dont take the exams, the books can help establish a good skillset.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:13 PM by Robert Bole
I really congratulate Microsoft on Elevate America and the package of services that you are pulling together. I think it wise to match existing technology/programs that Microsoft has with the subject of building out more IT skills in America.
However, one thing that I notice is that your approach is very "enterprise level" meaning focused on the systematic infrastructure markets of education, workforce development. Again, I think that a wise first move.
However, in this particular time of economic stress are you going to push a more direct to consumer strategy? What you have now is well presented, designed and very functional, but for a very "khaki-pant" crowd. Do you have interest in working on an adoption strategy with community groups, nonprofits or other widely distributed organizations?
Monday, March 02, 2009 6:52 PM by PMello
I ve signed up for Second Shot, and have purchased some collections. Now, how can I get help paying for MCTS exams?
Monday, March 16, 2009 12:15 PM by Andrew
We are an Atlanta-based Microsoft Certified Partner for Learning Solutions. We have been actively exploring ways to reach out to our community to provide skills update training - similar to what this program seems to do.
As we already have the learning infrastructure in place, are there any roles designed for the existing Microsoft CPLS network within this program? It would seem as though we would be good candidates to provide the instructor-led training, spread the word, etc.
Live Meeting: Certification 101: Getting Started with Microsoft Certification (Worldwide) Investing in training and certification can help make you more valuable in today s economic climate. Join the Microsoft Certified Professional team for a Live Meeting to learn about the value, benefits, and process of getting certified: choosing a certification path, preparing for your first exam, taking an exam, and what to expect after that.
Register for one of the following Live Meetings:
•
April 7, 2009, at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
April 7, 2009, at 5:30 P.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
Register for Upcoming Microsoft Certification Exam Coaching Sessions (Worldwide) Take advantage of a Live Meeting exam coaching session, hosted by a Microsoft Certified Trainer, to help prepare for your Microsoft Certification exam. Each session will help you understand the key exam topic areas and how to better focus your study efforts.
March 17: Preparing for your Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client Exam (70-620)
Register Now:
7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
5:30 P.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
March 24: Preparing for your Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance Exam (70-432)
April 2: Preparing for your Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Configuring Exam (70-631).
Register Now: 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
April 14: Preparing for your Microsoft .NET Framework - Application Development Foundation Exam (70-536)
April 16: Preparing for your Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Application Development Exam (70-541)
Register Now: 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
April 21: Preparing for your Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring / Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring Exams (70-640/642)
April 23: Preparing for your PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator / PRO: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator Exams (70-646/647)
April 28: Preparing for your Exchange Server 2007, Configuring exam (70-236)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:21 AM by Charles
Having watched the recording for the Vista 70-620 exam that was done last year, these are great.
Anyone have any recommendations on how to record these while I m watching them? i.e. for review purposes later.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 7:07 PM by Dave Franklyn
This is great! I am an MCT who teaches a lot and I ll be letting all my students know about it.
Thanks!
Monday, March 02, 2009 3:11 AM by Mario
Is it possible to download the event and watch it later?
Regards
Mario
Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:49 PM by Alice
Charles, I don t know the best way to record the whole thing yourself with audio, but you should be able to download a PDF of the slides during the presentation, by clicking on a little printer icon toward the lower-right corner of the LiveMeeting window.
Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:52 PM by Alice
Mario, they usually post some kind of content from it online after the event, but it has sometimes varied as to the extensiveness, format, and promptness of availability. If you go ahead and register for the event, even if you aren t able to actually attend it, you ll be on the list to receive an email linking to whatever recording/slides/etc they do post later.
Friday, March 06, 2009 3:11 PM by Peter
I m planning to take the 70-432 before March 24 so the coash session is too late for me. There are many webcasts and virtual labs for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 in MS websites but there is no way to filter or identify which one will be helpful for which MS exams. It will be very helpful for anyone who is interested in getting MS certification if such filter or identification (tags) is implemented.
I m planning to take the 70-432 before March 24 so the coach session is too late for me. There are many webcasts and virtual labs for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 in MS websites but there is no way to filter or identify which one will be helpful for which MS exams. It will be very helpful for anyone who is interested in getting MS certification if such filter or identification (tags) is implemented.
A good morning to you all (and to you too, Mickey Rourke). We’ll be posting detailed descriptions, including book excerpts, for all of these books in the coming weeks, but here’s a list of the books that Microsoft Press finalized and sent to the printer in the last month (in order from a month ago to last week):
John Jansen is a test lead in the SharePoint Designer Product Group at Microsoft. Look for a post about his book very soon.
“Wow. thank you so much for sharing this. You and I spent most of our days, 5 days a week, almost every week (excluding summers) for 9ish of our most formative years. And now I hardly know you....”
The prettiest girl in my elementary school (except, of course, for my wife) sent me that note in response to my personal contribution to the “25 Random Things about Me” meme that swept through Earth-F recently.
I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
Sarah and I only recently reconnected on facebook during a mass and pretty much spontaneous resurfacing of the Thomas K. Finletter Elementary School Class of 1982-ish, and I probably haven’t seen her since we graduated from the eighth grade in 1982.
We weren’t particularly close friends—but when you spend nine years (kindergarten through eighth grade) in a small elementary school with the same kids, you couldn’t exactly consider any of your schoolmates “distant” either.
What I primarily remember about Sarah is that she was smart, pretty, a great cellist, and that my best friend Adam had a crush on her for pretty much all of those nine years.
Still, that note knocked the wind out of me, because in my mind we were still pretty much the same people we were all those years ago.
They all look pretty much the same, instantly recognizable, yet strangely middle-aged even though my wife and I still look as youthful as ever. (I suspect they’re thinking similarly when viewing our pictures.)
Adam is the doctor he always knew he would be; Sarah is the musician we always know she would be; Perry and I still share our passion for 1980s-vintage video games.
And my elementary school pals have reminded me that certain elements of my personality have pretty deep roots:
“Never thought I d see this! Perry, are you seeing what I m seeing? He really does still have the Superman Suit.”
But inevitably, reality creeps in: the class clown is now an air-traffic controller who has been a foster parent to over a dozen kids over the years; since the last time I spoke to Adam, he’s divorced, remarried, and is two beautiful kids richer; Billy is no longer with us.
And I realize: as I live my life on facebook, the identity I have built for myself in the present is under gentle assault from my past.
So far, I don’t mind, even though my co-workers and fellow MCT friends are now notified anytime a new elementary school picture of me is posted, and my old friends have started to send me “just what the heck do you actually do?” messages when viewing our recent MCT Summit India posts.
No, I’m far more concerned with the surveillance from my present: my mom is now way too comfortable with Facebook and not only enjoys tracking my whereabouts but feels compelled to comment on them.
When touring the streets of Prague in the snow last month, a co-worker snapped a picture of my snow-covered head and uploaded it to Facebook. Within minutes, my mom texted me: “Get a hat!”
When I landed in Seattle after returning from India, I changed my status to “Ken has landed at Sea-Tac.” Mom was dialing within seconds.
When I started teasing the still-secret but very big and exciting community project we’re quickly putting together at work, I had to swear my wife and kids to secrecy, ‘cause I know my mom will comment if she finds out.
And I realize that as I live my life on facebook, I give up the privilege of selective privacy.
Every day my Facebook friends and I learn a little bit more about each other.
My fifteen-year-old daughter aspires to be a teacher and was surprised to read my confession that teaching rather than technology is my calling in life.
My kid sister and I each shared in our respective “25 Things” how much we miss each other despite the twelve-year age difference and 3,000 miles that separate us.
I have co-workers who are extremely cool people, whose updates I enjoy following and even commenting on, but who I don’t speak to at all in the office, except maybe for the typical elevator small talk.
And pretty much my entire circle of friends, relatives, and co-workers past and present have done their best to convince me that my daughter’s diagnosis that her father suffers from “Obsessive Fanboy Disorder” is pretty much on the mark.
I’ve always believed that my work-life and home-life have no boundaries, that the person I am at work isn’t that different from the person I am at home, the person I am with my friends, and the person I am in my community(s).
But Facebook is testing that belief, first shaking it and now, ironically, cementing it.
Much has been made of the “myspace/facebook” generation, and I’ve no doubt that my kids will grow up to have very different social habits and expectations after spending their youth living out loud.
But I wonder about the impact of social networks on my generation—when life-long habits are broken. When we’re well-aware of how they change our lives, and self-aware about how we adapt to them.
I’ve thought about the e-convergence of my lives a lot lately, and I’ve decided I kind of like it. I know some people who maintain separate Facebook accounts for home, work, and other purposes, but I’m enjoying the identity integration. Each re-connection with a former elementary schoolmate, high school friend, college friend, relative, mentor, or colleague resurfaces a bit of me that I’d forgotten, and I feel richer for it.
So I’m gonna roll with it for a while and enjoy the experiment.
Besides, I always have Born to Learn… so far my mom hasn’t found this blog.
Don’t tell her, okay?
Monday, February 23, 2009 1:25 AM by Facebook » Blog Archive » Three Essays on Community - Part 1: My Secret Identity
PingBack from http://facebook.tootblog.info/?p=8537
Monday, February 23, 2009 8:39 AM by Dana
Regarding how our children will experience all of this differently from us, I just picked up "Born Digital, Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives" by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser. I ll let you know how I like it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:16 PM by Seth
this is some great insight. I know I tend to separate out my work life from my home life, and so forth. But I have always thought in the back of my mind, that I am who I am, and I am more than just the sum of these parts. It still does strike me weird when these two worlds collide. But I m like you, I think I like it.
A few days ago we invited y’all to submit questions about certification development. Steve Maier asked “How much do you look at the comments that people put into the exam?” This is a great question and one that gives me the opportunity to tell you lots of good stuff. First I have to explain the difference between beta exam comments and live exam comments.
Most exams that we create go through a phase that we call beta. The beta exam is available for a limited time on an invitation-only basis, which allows us to collect data about each item and determine which items distinguish a qualified candidate from an unqualified candidate. After the beta phase is complete, we review the data about each item and decide which items we are going to keep for the live exam (more details on this process will be provided in a future blog). Scores for the beta candidates are then determined based on the items that we decide to keep.
Just like during a live exam, the candidates who take the beta exam can submit comments about each item. We read every comment submitted during the beta phase of exam development. These comments are one of the data points that we consider when we are deciding whether to keep or kill an item during this phase. If candidate comments indicate a technical flaw, multiple correct answers, no correct answer, or lack of clarity in an item, we will review that item and its associated comments with subject matter experts. These beta comments are SUPER IMPORTANT to help us understand what’s going on with an item, and we depend on you submitting them. You should also be aware that we have no way of knowing when you mark an item for review but don’t have time to provide feedback on it. Because we have to limit the time allotted for comments for security reasons, be sure to comment on the items that you believe have the most critical issues before you comment on items that might have minor issues.
[Tangential side note: Folks who are invited to take the beta version get to take the exam for free. Yes, that’s right, I said free. Click here to find out more about how to participate.]
Unfortunately, we cannot review all the comments that you submit on live exams. There are simply too many. We do, however, read a sampling of candidate comments from each exam as part of our annual review process.
At this point I’ll bet you’re saying, “How am I supposed to submit feedback about a live exam if you don’t read my comments?” That’s easy. If you have feedback about an exam, send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you are concerned that a specific item is technically inaccurate, you can submit an Item Challenge, and we’ll look into it.
Well, that about covers it. Funny how such a short question can lead to such a long answer!
If you have other questions about exam development, add them here as comments, and we’ll work the answers into our posts over the next few months.
Posted by Krista
Friday, February 20, 2009 1:46 PM by Edward Laverick
Hey Krista,
The link for the item challenge form is wrong, it looks like its got your webmail URL tagged to the start of it.
Friday, February 20, 2009 3:40 PM by Krista
Hi Edward,
Thanks for pointing this out, I fixed it. It was only a matter of time before the world figured out that I am hopelessly link-challenged.
Friday, February 20, 2009 7:08 PM by rhagman
The "click here" link to the beta exam information has the same issue
Saturday, February 21, 2009 9:28 AM by Bart
Hi Krista,
I ve been taking Beta exams since 1996. Last summer I took the great 70-113 but was kicked out during the comment period of one of the tests. I m pretty sure my comment was not saved and regret it thoroughly. Can work with Prometric to enhance their (beta) test engine to ensure that (beta) comments are saved, even when you re kicked out because comment-time times out? Maybe even add a sentence to the dialog box that says that comment-time is over, like "your current comment has been saved". Would make me feel much better. Thanks, Bart
Saturday, February 21, 2009 12:54 PM by Christopher Kusek
I take great pride in providing comments for the beta exams, though it saddens me that even after the comments were taken into account (which I know they re read in the Beta s) that very simple things like questions being completely wrong, are not corrected - not to mention a series of grammatical mistakes which violate the integrity of the question, or a series of inconsistencies within the questions.
I m not saying that is the case with every and all exams, but in general when the comments are read, and perhaps just ignored (when you know they re read) it doesn t give me a whole lot of faith that the beta period was anything more than simple a trialing of the content which either will or will not be updated to reflect the reality of how it should be delivered.
Monday, February 23, 2009 2:34 AM by Kjetil
I miss a "tag question for comment" during the exam. When I m finished with the exam I don t want to browse through all questions to locate them.
Love the beta tests! :-)
Monday, February 23, 2009 12:09 PM by libertymunson
I m back. I have become a blog junkie...
Let me take a minute to provide a little more detail about how comments are used to evaluate items after beta, which should address some of the concerns raised in Christopher s comment. First, please, please, please, comment if you find typos, misspellings, or grammatical errors. Although we go through a rigorous item development, review, and edit process, it is very easy to overlook mistakes like this in large item pools given the schedules that we are working toward. We will fix them (with confirmation from SMEs or our planners) before we publish the exam, but we can t correct them if we don t know about them.
Second, it is not uncommon for one candidate to comment that a question is “bad” while another comments that it s "great." In these cases, it’s difficult for us to know which candidate is “right.” Because we don’t have the time to review every comment that we receive (we literally receive hundreds of comments on a typical beta) with SMEs or our planners, we have to make a judgment on which comments will be reviewed further. To do this, we consider whether the person making the comment answered the question correctly, how that candidate performed on the beta, how many candidates provided similar comments, how the item is performing psychometrically, and how critical the comment is in light of the other comments that we receive. As a result, some items may fall through the cracks of our review process.
So, as a tip when you’re providing beta comments, the best way to catch our attention is to tell us when the item is technically inaccurate, if there is no correct answer, if there are multiple correct answers, or if it’s unclear. Explaining ‘why’ is helpful when you have time to do so, but seriously, the magic words for us to review an item more closely are: this question is technically inaccurate; this question doesn’t have a correct answer; or this question has multiple correct answers.
By the way, the purpose of the beta exam is to “test” the content in an environment that’s similar to the live exam. We are trying to determine what works and what doesn’t and to identify errors that we may have missed and opportunities to correct the content before publication. This is why beta candidates don’t receive a score immediately after the exam. We only want to score people on the content that “works.”
I hope that clarifies the process a bit more.
Liberty Munson
Microsoft’s Psychometrician
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:38 PM by Greg Low
Hi Liberty,
The biggest problem I see with this process is that insufficient time is provided for comments.
In one recent exam I did, I had a four hour timeslot allocated. I did the exam in 40 minutes, found probably 50 questions that needed comment and was happy to spend the rest of my allocated time commenting on them.
After a few minutes, the system said "you have one minute left in the comment period".
What exactly is the point of that? I was up to about the fourth question that I wanted to comment on. Most of the questions with real issues were later in the deck and I didn t even get close to commenting on them.
Regards,
Greg
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:44 PM by Greg Low
The second problem with this process is how SMEs are located.
I m regularly seeing situations where the process of locating the SMEs is outsourced. The requests that come from the outsourcers have so little pre-planning that they effectively say "can you be in Seattle next Monday?".
If the SME pool is limited to those who don t know what they re doing for work next week, there is a significant problem with the process and it s hard to imagine you getting the outcome you re after.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 6:12 PM by libertymunson
Hi Greg,
I get this type of...let s just call it "feedback"...a lot about the amount of time allotted for comments. Unfortunately, for exam security reasons, we have to limit the amount of time allowed for comments to something that would give candidates a reasonable amount of time to comment while not giving those that would use this time for nefarious reasons additional opportunities to take advantage of our process. It s a true balancing act between getting the feedback that we need and the security of the exam (so that the certification remains valued in the industry).
For beta exams, we double the amount of time allowed for comments to 30 minutes because this feedback is so important to our development process, and to be perfectly honest, I strongly believe that this is the most that we can give candidates to maintain the security of the exams. By the way, my team has an Anti-Piracy Program Manager (who you’ll meet later), and I bet she wishes we would reduce it even more.
My recommendation is that you try to prioritize the feedback that you provide and start with the most important problems/concerns/issues that you have. I realize that this is difficult, but it is the best solution that I can provide given that possibility of providing more time for comments is remote at best.
To your question about SME recruitment, we have this planned for a future blog, so I’ll forward your comment to the person writing that blog so they can address your issue.
Thanks for the great feedback on our process!
Friday, February 27, 2009 6:20 AM by Greg Low
Are you sure that 30 minutes is allowed? I can t think I had more than about 8 or 9 minutes before it said "one minute left". There s no chance I had 30 minutes or I wouldn t have got to only question 4 or 5.
Is that supposed to apply to all beta exams?
Friday, February 27, 2009 4:27 PM by libertymunson
For most of our beta exams, you will get 30 minutes for comments. I can only think of one exception in the 2+ years that I ve worked on this program. In that situation, we could only give candidates 20 minutes for beta comments because the number and type of items on each instance of the beta exam was sufficiently large that we couldn t provide 30 minutes for comments and still remain in our 4 hour seat time window. This is an extremely rare event though and something we try to avoid at all costs. (In fact, I received enough... again, let s just call it "feedback"… about the decision to reduce the comment period to 20 minutes that it s unlikely to happen again on my watch).
If you don’t think you are being given the full 30 minutes for comments on a beta exam, contact your Regional Service Center (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/support/worldsites.mspx). We will investigate the issue and ensure that Prometric is delivering the exam according to our exam specifications.
By the way, we allow a maximum of 15 minutes for comments on live exams. Although most live exams allow for a 15 minute comment period, some do not. None of our exams can exceed a 4 hour seat time which includes launching the exam, reading through all the instructions, signing the NDA, taking the exam, and receiving the score report upon completion. Really, we only have about 3.5 hours for the actual exam (note that amount of time you actually receive to complete the exam is based on the time estimates we receive from beta participants—our goal is to ensure that 95% of candidates can complete the exam in the time allotted). Because some items take candidates longer to complete, requiring a longer exam time, I sometimes have to “steal” time form the comment period on live exams to ensure a valid and reliable exam is administered. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen on a few live exams.
Liberty
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:11 PM by Coleen
I m taking a psych-assessments course this semester, so thinking a lot about psychometrics--which has put me in mind of my Microsoft testing experiences. So, it s interesting to see this come up.
I have commented a few times on exam questions, but found one thing that kept me from doing so: as soon as I was a click or two away from finding out whether I d passed, the suspense was too overpowering--I had to see how I d done, and to heck with the comments. If I could have the opportunity to comment _after_ finding out, I would likely have taken the time more often.
Maybe it s test anxiety, I don t know...is there any reason one couldn t be allowed to comment _after_ finding out the score (keeping in mind that this step wouldn t have to show whether a taker had gotten a particular answer right or wrong)?
Thanks.
Thursday, March 12, 2009 2:00 PM by libertymunson
What a great observation! I hadn t given much thought to why we don t get as many comments for live exams as we do for beta exams, but I suspect that the excitement/fear/anxiety of getting your final score is likely a big reason why people don t spend the time commenting on live exams.
The reason that we don t allow candidates to provide comments after they know their score is because many will spend the time trying to identify the items that they missed rather than provide us feedback on the items. Because exams include a limited number of questions, by definition, they can only cover a subset of all possible knowledge/skills/abilities that could be measured. Being certified means that you are at least minimally qualified on how to use the technology or perform the job role (as defined by the content domain (i.e., objective domain)) regardless of the actual questions included on the exam (let’s ignore piracy (a.k.a. cheating) for now). This is one reason why we don’t tell you which items you missed. Rather, the score reports indicate the content areas where you should focus your efforts because doing so will likely give you more knowledge and skills in that area than you would gain if we told you which items you missed. The bottom line is that certified people should be competent in the content domain regardless of the specific questions asked. Focusing on the specific items missed might help you pass the exam in the future, but this won’t give you broader/deeper/stronger competence in the content domain that is truly needed to be minimally competent.
I’m guessing someone will see this and comment about braindumps and other cheating behaviors. As I’ve mentioned in previous comments to other threads, we take cheating seriously (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/policies/default.mspx). In fact, we have someone on our team who is responsible for defining and enforcing policies to address these issues. She will post a blog soon sharing what we can about our anti-piracy program.
Your friendly psycho(metrician)
Friday, March 13, 2009 3:15 AM by Alice
Exam security is certainly important, but I am wondering what difference it would make to allow early finishers to use some of their left-over exam time to get a longer comment period.
Let s say someone takes an exam with 120 minutes to complete the exam and 15 minutes to comment. They finish taking the exam in 90 minutes. Now instead of only having 15 minutes to comment, the left-over 30 minutes from the exam-taking time could be added to the comment period, letting them comment for as much as 45 minutes if they want to. They d still only have a total of 135 minutes to potentially look at the exam questions, the same as if they had used the whole time as originally allocated.
Friday, March 13, 2009 1:10 PM by libertymunson
Hi Alice,
My guess is that you re not going to like this answer. Don t worry, you re not alone. I have to stand firm on this...I have to be the bad gal...because, unfortunately, it only takes one person to abuse the comment process to create security issues. The amount of time provided has nothing to do with seat time--it has everything to do with balancing the security of the exam with our desire to get additional feedback on the quality of the items.
Although I understand why people would legitimately want more time to provide comments, I cannot compromise on this issue; I ve weighed the risks of increasing (and decreasing) comment time, and I will not be increasing the comment time for live or beta exams.
As much as I d like to be Microsoft s psychometrician forever, odds are, some day in the very distant future (I hope), someone else will have this job. That person may disagree with my position and change the comment time, but unless something changes in ways that I can t imagine, it seems unlikely.
Friday, March 13, 2009 2:37 PM by Krista
And Alice, following on what Liberty was saying, I d like to reiterate that comments on a live exam are actually NOT the best way to get us feedback about an exam...we can t guarantee that we ll actually read them, because we get so many. You can always submit feedback about the exam by simply sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Try to include as many details as possible about the item or issue you encountered and which exam.
(from MCT Summit India)
For those of you who aren’t on the Microsoft Press Connection newsletter, help celebrate our 25th anniversary with two free e-book offers. The February offers are valid from February 19-25, 2009. If you want to get monthly updates, you can also sign up for Microsoft Press Connection newsletter.
For February:
*******
Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition: Build a Program Now! by Patrice Pelland
Make building new programming skills fun and fast with a quick-start, project-based approach.
Download this e-book
Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition, by Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, and Jerry Honeycutt with the Windows Vista Team
Your definitive resource for deployment and operations—straight from the experts
Do enjoy~~~ :)
Posted by Joanne Lin
Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:27 PM by Windows Vista » February - Microsoft Press 25th Anniversary "Free e-Book of the…
PingBack from http://windows-vista.shuublog.info/?p=1885
Friday, February 20, 2009 7:00 AM by Ronald Wong
I tried to follow the link for the Vista Resource Kit 2 Edition. It lead me to a link for the Visual Studio 2008 book instead.
just thought you might want to know.
I had purchased the 1st edition. It was a tome that was unmatched at the time. It did make it easy since it was paper back edition of well over a 1000 pages. I look forward to comparing this if the link for it ever comes back up.
Friday, February 20, 2009 7:01 AM by Ronald Wong
I had purchased the 1st edition. It was a tome that was unmatched at the time. It did not make it easy since it was paper back edition of well over a 1000 pages. I look forward to comparing this if the link for it ever comes back up.
Friday, February 20, 2009 12:01 PM by Joanne Lin (MS)
To Ronald: Hmmm.. I just tried it and it turned out to be the Vista Resource Kit 2nd Edition for me. So I don t know what happened when you downloaded it - can you try again and let me know if it still happenes?
Does anyone else have that problem?
Saturday, February 21, 2009 1:22 PM by Christopher Kusek
Vista Resource Kit has a problem due to its size.
I detailed a way to get it downloaded here :)
http://www.pkguild.com/2009/02/21/mspress-windows-xp-book-download-workaround/
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 7:14 PM by Shannon
I couldn t download the Vista book either.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion (Microsoft Press, 2009)(720 pages, ISBN: 9780735620704), by Charlie Russel and Sharon Crawford, was published in January and is available now. The book comes with a companion disc, which includes configuration scripts for the virtualization environment and their command-line equivalents, scripts for common administrative tasks, and a fully searchable e-book.
A short stretch of the Introduction follows, as well as the book’s “Contents at a Glance.” Both describe the book’s organization. Better yet, following those is a book excerpt from Chapter 6, “Configuring SBS in Hyper-V,” to illustrate the book’s coverage; it’s an overview of Hyper-V.
From the Introduction:
What’s In This Book Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion is divided into seven parts. The first four roughly correspond to the developmental phases of a Windows Small Business Server network. Part 5 deals with Premium Edition features and Part 6 covers maintenance and troubleshooting. The last part is made up of appendices with helpful information.
Part I: Preparation and Planning Planning and preparation are the sine qua non for any kind of network. It comes down to the old saying, “If you don’t have the time to do it right, how will you find the time to do it over?” Chapters 1 through 4 are all about doing it right the first time.
Part II: Installation and Setup Chapters 5 through 8 take you through the process of installing Windows Small Business Server and performing initial configurations using the Getting Started Tasks. This section includes helpful chapters on configuring Windows SBS virtualization and migrating from Windows SBS 2003.
Part III: Performing Basic Tasks The chapters in this part cover the day-to-day tasks of running a network: configuring disks, setting up user accounts, arranging the sharing of information among users, adding and removing computers and printers, managing software updates, and backing up and restoring data.
Part IV: Performing Advanced Tasks Chapters 17 through 22 provide insight and information about managing e-mail, connectivity technologies, and using Group Policy. In this part, you’ll also find chapters about setting up and managing a Microsoft Office SharePoint site.
Part V: Premium Edition Features Chapters 23 through 25 address features found the in Windows SBS 2008 Premium Edition. These chapters are about installing a second server, installing Microsoft SQL Server, and adding Terminal Services to your network.
Part VI: Maintenance and Troubleshooting Chapter 26 covers the extensive library of monitoring tools in Windows Small Business Server. Chapter 27 is all about how to save your business, your network, and yourself in the face of the many varieties of disaster that can afflict networks.
Appendices The appendices include an introduction to networking, instructions for automating installation, and a list of resources for the users of Windows SBS 2008.
Here’s more on the book’s structure:
Contents at a Glance
Acknowledgments xxii Introduction xxiv
PART I Preparation and Planning Chapter 1 Introducing Windows Small Business Server 2008 3 Chapter 2 Understanding 64-Bit Windows 13 Chapter 3 Planning Your SBS Network 23 Chapter 4 Planning Fault Tolerance and Avoidance 47
Part II Installation and Setup Chapter 5 Installing SBS 2008 67 Chapter 6 Configuring SBS in Hyper-V 81 Chapter 7 Migrating from Windows Small Business Server 2003 109 Chapter 8 Completing the Getting Started Tasks 163
Part III Performing Basic Tasks Chapter 9 Managing Users and Groups 185 Chapter 10 Shares and Permissions 203 Chapter 11 Disk Management 221 Chapter 12 Storage Management 249 Chapter 13 Installing and Managing Printers 285 Chapter 14 Managing Computers on the Network 307 Chapter 15 Managing Software Updates 331 Chapter 16 Configuring Backup 351
Part IV Performing Advanced Tasks Chapter 17 Windows SBS Console v. Server Manager 383 Chapter 18 Configuring and Managing E-Mail 411 Chapter 19 Managing Connectivity 435 Chapter 20 Using Group Policy 477 Chapter 21 Managing Reports 509 Chapter 22 Customizing a SharePoint Site 525
Part V Premium Edition Features Chapter 23 Installing the Second Server 551 Chapter 24 Introducing SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition for Small Business 579 Chapter 25 Adding a Terminal Server 595
Part VI Maintenance and Troubleshooting Chapter 26 Windows SBS Reliability and Performance Monitoring 627 Chapter 27 Disaster Planning 649
APPENDIX A Introduction to Networks 665 APPENDIX B Automating Installation 671 APPENDIX C Resources 673
Index 675
And here’s the book excerpt:
Hyper-V Overview Windows Server 2008 (and thus Windows Small Business Server 2008) includes built-in virtualization with the Hyper-V Server Role. Hyper-V is hypervisor-based, native virtualization that uses the hardware virtualization capabilities of the latest Intel and AMD processors to provide a robust, fast, and resource-conserving virtual environment.
Emulation versus Hypervisor There are two basic methods of virtualizing operating systems: emulation and hypervisor. Emulation builds an execution environment on top of the underlying operating system of the host computer and uses software to simulate the hardware that is made available to the guest operating systems.
A hypervisor is software that runs directly on the hardware of the physical server and provides a narrow hardware abstraction layer between the hardware and the base operating system. The hypervisor can use the native hardware support in current Intel and AMD processors to improve the overall performance and security of the hypervisor.
Because Hyper-V is a hypervisor and is built in to Windows Server 2008, it runs more efficiently and natively. A server running Hyper-V has multiple partitions, each running natively on the underlying hardware. The first partition is known as the parent partition and acts as the hardware and operating system control partition for all the other partitions where virtualized operating systems run. The other partitions are child partitions, each with their own operating systems, running directly on the hypervisor layer, as shown in Figure 6-1.
Windows Server 2003 supported using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 as a virtualization solution. Virtual Server is not a hypervisor-based virtualization: It is designed to run on top of an existing operating system—the host operating system—and provide an emulated hardware environment for guest operating systems, as shown in Figure 6-2.
Hyper-V runs on x64 versions of full Windows Server 2008 and Server Core, as well as the new Hyper-V Server. In most cases, Server Core, or the standalone Hyper-V Server, which is based on Server Core, should be the preferred parent partition for a server that will be used for virtualization. This limits the resource footprint of the parent partition and also makes it easier to protect, because the number of services and attack vectors is fewer on Server Core.
Requirements The requirements for enabling the Hyper-V Role on Windows Server 2008 are as follows:
In addition to the requirements for the parent partition of Windows Server 2008, each child partition requires approximately 75 megabytes (MB) of RAM and the hard disk space used by the operating system in the child partition.
Finally, it is important that your server have a minimum of two NICs installed, exclusive of any special management NICs such as an HP iLO. One of these NICs will be reserved for remote management of the parent server and ensures that you can always connect to the parent partition to manage the child partitions.
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Have you taught introductory developer courses in a high school, college, or other learning environment? Microsoft Learning is creating a new exam program targeted at measuring a beginner’s knowledge and skills in a broad technology area. We’re looking for volunteers to help us with the development of exams for this new exam program.
We expect the first wave of these exams to cover the following content domains: basic programming, beginning Windows development, beginning Web development, and introductory database administration. While minimal hands-on experience with the technologies will be recommended, job experience is neither assumed nor recommended for these exams. Most of the questions will test the candidate s understanding of basic concepts rather than the candidate s ability to successfully complete a task.
Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you’d like to participate, and let me know which of content areas you could help us with (basic programming, Windows, Web, or DBA). If you know someone else who would be interested in volunteering, please send them a link to this post. We want to hear from as many people as possible.
Post by Krista
Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:33 PM by James Hippolite
Tried. Failed. Error message:
The Tumbleweed MailGate 3.5.1 program
<[email protected]>: host mail.global.frontbridge.com[216.32.180.22]
said: 554 <[email protected]>: Recipient address rejected: Access
denied (in reply to RCPT TO command)
Thursday, February 19, 2009 7:31 PM by Krista
Hi James, sorry about that. I ve updated it to an address I know will work. :0)
Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:48 PM by Steve Maier
I was about to say the same thing, but saw the new address. My feed reader only has the only one tho.
Friday, February 20, 2009 12:56 AM by Dauthiwarlord
I´m interested, I´m from méxico :P!
Friday, February 20, 2009 7:05 AM by Brian Scarbeau
I ll help. Just sent you an e-mail.
Friday, February 20, 2009 1:25 PM by Krista
Thanks to everyone who has already contacted me! I ve sent the materials directly to each of you. Please let me know if you don t receive them.
Over the past couple of days, we’ve listed quite a few deals, discounts, free stuff, promotions and ways to make money. Here’s a complete list all in one easy to open blog post:
[Remove this Comment]Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:49 PM by Windows Vista » Do I Have a Deal For YOU!
PingBack from http://windows-vista.shuublog.info/?p=1712
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:39 PM by Matt
Out of curiosity, where does one find the promo code for the Tech Ed MCP discount? I don t see anything on the MCP site...