Posted by Rich Rodgers on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 05:27 PM
The Obama Healthcare plan will hurt the elderly in many ways if passed. The plan will remove nearly one-half a trillion dollars from Medicare which is depended upon by the elderly today. This money will not be available to help states with their Medicaid requirements, further putting states, already in budget woes, deeper in debt.
The healthcare bills backed by Obama will cost $2.3 trillion, not the $900 billion Obama claims, and will be a "budgetary disaster" that drives up the national debt, explains Washington healthcare expert James C. Capretta. The Obama Administration managed to hide $1.4 trillion in costs generated by the healthcare reform bill though a series of budgetary "gimmicks" that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is required to treat as valid in scoring the bill's enormous cost.
Although the CBO is low-balling the costs of ObamaCare, even it concedes that as a whole, "President Obama's policies would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade."
This $10 trillion deficit spending will cause the deflation of the dollar, and probably cause the reduction of the rating for the dollar. It will be harder to purchase items in the future if the dollar is greatly deflated. There are calls now because of the massive spending deficits being created this year and next year to have the dollar removed as the standard for currency in the world.
Most Americans oppose the healthcare legislation backed by the President. It would reduce lifesaving medical innovation, raise taxes, drive up insurance premiums, break many campaign promises, and increase state budget deficits. It would jeopardize the quality of medical care, while imposing restrictions that failed when tried at the state level. It ignores advice from doctors and federal experts, and lessons from countries with universal healthcare, about how to keep costs down.
Fact-checkers say Obama is lying about health care. Obama often contradicts himself. In the very same speech, Obama claimed that Medicare is "unsustainable" and "running out of money," then contradicted himself by claiming that "Medicare is a government program that works really well," making it a model for national health care. The bill does nothing to curb massive waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, even though it proposes to make massive cuts in Medicare (cuts so painful that most of them will never happen: year after year, Congress waives "the annual cut in fees paid by Medicare to physicians" mandated by an earlier law).
Under the new plan, insurance premiums for the elderly will be much higher than insurance premiums for younger people. Overall health care costs will actually rise under this new plan, not fall as suggested.
The elderly will have restricted access to healthcare compared to health access today. Looking at similar plans in other countries shows large delays in access to critical need exams, access to MRI and similar assistance.
The elderly will be evaluated by health boards to determine if their health care needs are suitable for their age, and restrict access to the elderly. Recent panel decisions to restrict breast cancer screening for women in their 40's and 50's is a signal on how this plan will be implemented in the future.
A CNN commentary noted that Obama's plan would take away "5 freedoms," contradicting Obama's claim that the bill will leave you free to choose your doctor and keep your healthcare plan without government interference.
ObamaCare has also attracted criticism from groups like the Civil Rights Commission for containing both racial preferences and lower standards for treatment in predominantly-minority institutions, potentially harming both white applicants and minority patients. This racial discrimination appears to violate court rulings like the Supreme Court's Adarand decision, and the Rothe ruling by the Washington-based appeals court for the Federal Circuit.
A CNN commentary noted that Obama's plan would take away "5 freedoms," contradicting Obama's claim that the bill will leave you free to choose your doctor and keep your healthcare plan without government interference.
ObamaCare has also attracted criticism from groups like the Civil Rights Commission for containing both racial preferences and lower standards for treatment in predominantly-minority institutions, potentially harming both white applicants and minority patients. This racial discrimination appears to violate court rulings like the Supreme Court's Adarand decision, and the Rothe ruling by the Washington-based appeals court for the Federal Circuit.
Many comments are from: http://www.examiner.com/x-7812-DC-SCOTUS-Examiner~y2010m3d8-The-hidden-costs-of-healthcare-reform-Obamacare-Is-A-Budgetary-Disaster
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 03:08 PM
A London woman desperate to get her lazy boyfriend to exercise has invented an iPhone application that measures how many calories you burn off having sex, The Sun reported Wednesday.
The download, called the Bedometer, analyzes the time and intensity of each sexual encounter-and you can post your results on Facebook.
"The results have been amazing. My boyfriend can't get enough of it," Livvy Thompson, 25, said.
The gizmo is put on the bed and measures raunchy activity using the iPhone
or iPod Touch's motion sensor before adding up the calories.
Administration worker Thompson, of Islington, North London, wanted to encourage lover Dan Dinapoli, 25, to tone up.
"Our initial tests show that a vigorous workout for 15 minutes burns almost 200 calories each," she said.
The 99 cent invention follows the Passion application which analyzes a user's bed moves and gives advice on how to improve.
"The Bedometer is the ultimate app as it's fun and functional," app guru Omidad Hiwaizi, of ad agency Chemistry said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589562,00.html?test=latestnews
CED Solutions provides training classes for many applications, programs, and operating systems.
www.cedsolutions.com, info@cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 02:51 PM
10 St. Paddy's Day iPhone Apps to Keep You Smiling
by Nicholas Kolakowski
Name: Yelp
Cost: Free
Find nearby pubs, restaurants and other significant spots with this app, which also offers up reviews.
Name: iBeer
Cost: $0.99
Does this app do anything productive? Absolutely not. Is being able to virtually "pour" a pint using your iPhone worth hours-or at least a few seconds-of amusement? Absolutely.
Name: St. Patty's Pub Finder
Cost: $1.99
Provides reviews, rankings and addresses of more than 60,000 bars, liquor stores and other vital-on-St.-Patrick's-Day locations.
Name: Taxi Magic
Cost: Free
This app lets you find and book a cab. Because you never know.
Name: Guinness Pub Finder
Cost: Free
Exactly what the name implies, this app draws on a database of over 20,000 pubs across the U.S. that serve Guinness.
Name: Google Earth
Cost: Free
For finding where in the world you are, the morning after St. Patrick's Day.
Name: iClover
Cost: $0.99
Find the four-leaf clover in a field of three-leaf clovers.
Name: Pocket Cocktails
Cost: $0.99
This cocktail-recipe app features St. Patrick's Day drink recipes.
Name: St. Patrick's Day Songs
Cost: Free
This app uses the iPhone's 3G or WiFi connection to stream St. Patrick's Day songs to your device.
Name: Irish Slang Dictionary
Cost: $0.99
Fake like you're Irish-or at least know the appropriate lingo-with this app.
CED Solutions provides computer training classes for all sorts of applications and operating systems. Check out the classes today!
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/10-St-Pattys-Day-iPhone-Apps-to-Keep-You-Smiling-224836/?kc=EWKNLEDP03172010A
www.cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840, info@cedsolutions.com
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 12:22 PM
Microsoft's new course Exchange 2010 w/Messaging is now offered at CED Solutions Training Centers. CED Solutions is #1 in Microsoft Certifications in North America.
The Exchange 2010 w/Messaging Boot Camp will be held from 4/3 to 4/11 at the Atlanta training center.
This course provides you with the knowledge and skills to design and deploy messaging solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. This course describes how to gather requirements for a messaging solution and then design the integration of Exchange Server 2010 with the current infrastructure. The course then covers how to plan and deploy the various server roles in Exchange Server 2010. You will explore the various options for implementing messaging security, policies, and compliance. The course also examines the high availability and disaster recovery options and how to develop a troubleshooting plan. Finally, the course describes how to plan the transition from earlier versions of Exchange Server to Exchange Server 2010 and the integration of Exchange Server 2010 with other messaging systems.
This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to configure and manage an Exchange Server 2010 messaging environment. This course does not require previous Exchange Server experience, but does require that students have significant experience in managing Windows Server and Active Directory directory services or Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This course will teach you how to configure Exchange Server 2010, as well as provide guidelines, best practices, and considerations that will help you optimize your Exchange Server deployment.
Contact CED Solutions for more information or to register:
www.cedsolutions.com, info@cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 @ 01:45 PM
CED Solutions provides certification training classes on every one of these highly desired certifications. CED Solutions is #1 in Microsoft Certifications in North America.
10 Tech Certifications Every IT Pro Needs to Know
by Donald E. Sears
No. 10: Cert: Security+
Organization: CompTIA
Purpose: Knowledge of system security, network infrastructure, access control and organizational security.
No. 9: Cert: ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)
Organization: ITIL Certification Management Board (ICMB)
Purpose: To show knowledge of IT operational best practices. There are three tiers of ITIL: Foundation, Practitioner and Manager.
No. 8: Cert: MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator)
Organization: Microsoft
Purpose: Demonstrated expertise in MS systems troubleshooting networks in Windows Server environments.
No. 7: Cert: CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
Organization: International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)²
Purpose: To show a common body of knowledge in comprehensive systems security.
Current Openings: 750
No. 6: Cert: Network+
Organization: CompTIA
Purpose: Shows competency in managing, maintaining, troubleshooting, installing and configuring basic network infrastructures.
No. 5: Cert: MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)
Organization: Microsoft
Purpose: To show wide range of expertise and skills using Microsoft technologies.
No. 4: Cert: CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associates)
Organization: Cisco
Purpose: Show skills in installation, configuration, protocols, wireless, security and troubleshooting medium-sized routed and switched networks.
Current Openings: 650
No. 3: Cert: A +
Organization: CompTIA
Purpose: To show vendor-neutral, tech-support skills in installing networks, conducting maintenance and troubleshooting.
No. 2: Cert: MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers)
Organization: Microsoft
Purpose: To show skills in design, implementation and administration of MS 2000 Windows Server and other MS server technology infrastructures using Microsoft 2000 Windows Server and other Windows server platforms.
Current Openings: 1,000
No. 1: Cert: PMP (Project Management Professional)
Organization: Project Management Institute
Purpose: To show knowledge and skills to manage projects to successful conclusion, on-time, on-budget, using the resources allocated.
Current Openings: 1,400
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/10-Tech-Certifications-Every-IT-Pro-Needs-to-Know-319936/?kc=EWKNLENT03122010STR1
CED Solutions provides Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, and many other certification classes and programs.
www.cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840, info@cedsolutions.com
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Thu, Mar 11, 2010 @ 03:59 PM
For high-tech workers, it pays to be certified, according to research conducted by Dice Learning that shows 10 IT certifications stand out for delivering higher salaries.
"Not all certifications are created equal in terms of paycheck impact. While nearly half of all technology professionals have at least one certification, a minority attributed pay increases to certification," said Evan Lesser, director of Dice Learning, which offers technical training and information about certifications and career advancement, in a statement. "When you combine in-demand skill sets and proven salary impact, specific certifications become valuable to individual technology professionals."
Dice Learning used responses from some 17,000 high-tech professionals to determine which technical skills and IT certifications deliver more compensation and helped workers command higher salaries. For instance, IT pros certified as a Project Management Professional could demand more pay on the job and unemployed workers might find more open positions. According to Dice Learning, there are currently 1,400 available jobs on Dice.com with PMP certification listed as a requirement.
It's a particularly important job today, when companies are beginning to resurrect projects they'd shelved during the downturn, but want them completed as cost-efficiently and quickly as possible," according to a Dice Learning press release.
Other certifications helping IT pros increase their compensation are vendor specific. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCP) and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators (MCSA) all landed on the list, showing that high-tech workers who can prove they are adept at Microsoft systems and associated skills will be in demand. For instance, Dice.com has 1,000 jobs listing a MSCE as a requirement.
"Sought by systems engineers, technical support engineers, systems analysts, network analysts and technical consultants, the MCSE is for professionals who spend their time maintaining the basic platforms on which so much business is conducted," Dice Learning states.
IT professionals trained as Cisco Certified Network Associates (CCNA) are also seeing bigger paychecks, according to this research. Having the "ability to install, configure, run and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks" is paying off for CCNAs, who by getting this IT certification also prove they can handle security and wireless technologies as well as a number of network protocols. Dice.com lists more than 650 available job opportunities requesting CCNA skills.
The Network + certification also landed on Dice Learning's list, which covers managing, maintaining, troubleshooting, installing and configuring basic network infrastructure. Offered by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the Network + certification is also often included in programs by vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Novell and HP. The A + certification, also from CompTIA, is often associated with technical support professionals and shows an IT pro can install networks and conduct preventative maintenance, as well as secure and troubleshoot networks.
Security certifications such as Security + from CompTIA and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) also deliver higher pay, according to Dice Learning, which states "security is a growing concern for businesses around the world." For CISSP holders, Dice.com currently lists 750 open positions.
Process skills could also mean more money, according to this research. ITIL certifications show IT professionals have studied the best practices and can apply them to an employer's IT service management efforts.
"The three-tier ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) certification demonstrates the expertise of professionals in tech management. Public and private organizations use the ITIL as a compendium of IT operational best practices," according to Dice Learning.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031010-microsoft-cisco-salaries.html?hpg1=bn
CED Solutions provides Microsoft certifications and Cisco certifications for many thousands of students each year. CED Solutions is #1 in Microsoft certifications in North America.
www.cedsolutions.com, info@cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Wed, Feb 24, 2010 @ 10:21 AM
CED Solutions Challenge Coin Collection From Our Students
THE STORY OF U.S. MARINES IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF WORLD WAR II DEBUTS MARCH 14 ON HBO
Directed By Carl Franklin, David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa, Tony To, Tim Van Patten And Graham Yost; Written By Laurence Andries, Michelle Ashford, Bruce C. McKenna, George Pelecanos, Robert Schenkkan And Graham Yost.
"It is not a history, and it is not my story alone. I have attempted, rather, to be the spokesman for my comrades, who were swept with me into the abyss of war." Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed
The epic ten-part miniseries event THE PACIFIC debuts with Part One on SUNDAY, MARCH 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other parts debuting on consecutive Sundays at the same time through May 16.
The HBO Miniseries presentation of a Playtone and DreamWorks production is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the producing team behind the Emmy(R) Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers." Hanks and Goetzman also executive produced the HBO miniseries "John Adams," which won a record-breaking 13 Emmys(R) in 2008.
THE PACIFIC tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. The miniseries follows these men and their fellow Marines from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.
The miniseries is based in part on the books "Helmet for My Pillow," by Robert Leckie, and "With the Old Breed," by Eugene B. Sledge, with additional material from "Red Blood, Black Sand," by Chuck Tatum, and "China Marine," by Eugene B. Sledge, as well as original interviews conducted by the filmmakers.
THE PACIFIC is an HBO Miniseries presentation of a Playtone and DreamWorks Production; executive producers, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Gary Goetzman; co-executive producers, Tony To, Eugene Kelly, Graham Yost, Bruce C. McKenna; producers, Cherylanne Martin, Todd London, Steven Shareshian; co-producers, Robert Schenkkan, George Pelecanos, Michelle Ashford; supervising producer, Tim Van Patten; directors of photography, Remi Adefarasin, B.S.C. and Stephen Windon, A.C.S.; production designer, Anthony Pratt; music by Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely; music supervisors, Evyen J Klean, Deva Anderson; casting, Meg Liberman, CSA, Cami Patton, C.S.A, Christine King; editors, Alan Cody, A.C.E., Edward A. Warschilka, Marta Evry, A.C.E.; visual effects supervisor, John E. Sullivan; special effects supervisor, Joss Williams; costume designer, Penny Rose; historical consultant, Hugh Ambrose; senior military advisor, Capt. Dale A. Dye, USMC (Ret.). HBO Miniseries president Kary Antholis is the executive in charge of the production.
Parts One, Seven and Nine are directed by Tim Van Patten (HBO's "The Sopranos"); Part Two is directed by David Nutter (HBO's "Entourage"); Parts Three and Ten are directed by Jeremy Podeswa (HBO's "Six Feet Under"); Part Four is directed by Graham Yost (HBO's "Band of Brothers"); Part Five is directed by Carl Franklin("Devil in a Blue Dress"); Part Six is directed by Tony To (HBO's "Band of Brothers"); and Part Eight is directed by David Nutter/Jeremy Podeswa.
Parts One, Two, Seven and Nine are written by Bruce C. McKenna (HBO's "Band of Brothers"); Part Three is written by George Pelecanos (HBO's "The Wire") and Michelle Ashford (HBO's "John Adams"); Part Four is written by Robert Schenkkan ("The Quiet American") and Graham Yost; Part Five is written by Laurence Andries (HBO's "Six Feet Under") and Bruce C. McKenna; Part Six is written by Bruce C. McKenna and Laurence Andries and Robert Schenkkan; Part Eight is written by Robert Schenkkan and Michelle Ashford; and Part Ten is written by Bruce C. McKenna and Robert Schenkkan.
In addition to James Badge Dale ("Rubicon"), Joe Mazzello ("The Sensation of Sight") and Jon Seda ("Close to Home"), actors featured in THE PACIFIC include (in alphabetical order): Jon Bernthal ("Eastwick"), Joshua Bitton ("National Treasure"), Dwight Braswell, Betty Buckley (HBO's "Oz"), Tom Budge ("Last Train to Freo"), Josh Close ("The Unusuals"), Nate Corddry ("United States of Tara"), Matt Craven ("Public Enemies"), Linda Cropper ("McLeod's Daughters"), Caroline Dhavernas ("Breach"), Noel Fisher ("The Riches"), Brendan Fletcher ("88 Minutes"), Leon Willem Ford (HBO's "Tsunami: The Aftermath"), Scott Gibson ("Breach"), Josh Helman ("McLeod's Daughters"), Ashton Holmes ("Smart People"), Brandon Keener ("He's Just Not That Into You"), Isabel Lucas ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"), Rami Malek ("Night at the Museum"), Martin McCann ("Closing the Ring"), Ian Meadows ("Home and Away"), Toby Leonard Moore ("Dollhouse"), Henry Nixon ("The Black Balloon"), Keith Nobbs ("The Black Donnellys"), Conor O'Farrell ("C.S.I."), Annie Parisse ("Law & Order"), Jacob Pitts ("21"), William Sadler ("The Shawshank Redemption"), Gary Sweet ("Police Rescue"), Anna Torv ("Fringe"), Claire van der Boom ("Rush") and Dylan Young ("Canal Road").
Principal photography for THE PACIFIC was completed on location in Australia's Far North Queensland and Victoria over a ten-month period beginning in August 2007.
ABOUT THE STORY
On Dec. 8, 1941, just over 24 hours after the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. For a decade, tensions had been mounting between Japan and the U.S., as the Japanese expanded their conquest of a large region including much of China and Southeast Asia. As a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States officially entered World War II, already in its third year of being waged by countries of the Allied powers, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Canada and Australia, against the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy.
Practically overnight, military recruiting offices across the country were jammed, as thousands of Americans rushed to enlist in the armed forces. Many of those young men chose to join the Marine Corps, which saw its ranks more than triple in the six months following Pearl Harbor.
While HBO's miniseries "Band of Brothers" followed the experiences of one company of Army paratroopers in the European Theater of Operations, THE PACIFIC depicts the war a world away in the Pacific Theater of Operations, which encompassed most of the Pacific Ocean and its islands, including the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This miniseries follows the intersecting odysseys of three men of the 1st Marine Division, an infantry division nicknamed "The Old Breed" for its position as the oldest and largest active duty division of the U.S. Marine Corps. With the support of their fellow Marines and comrades in the Navy, Air Force and Army, the 1st Marine Division was at the forefront of many of hardest-fought campaigns of the Pacific War.
Private First Class (PFC) Robert Leckie (played by James Badge Dale) grew up in Rutherford, NJ, one of eight children. He began a professional sportswriting career for the Bergen Evening Record newspaper at age 16. Leckie, who would be christened "Lucky" by his comrades in arms, was one of those who enlisted in the Marine Corps just after Pearl Harbor. He served with H Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division as a machine gunner.
Sgt. John Basilone (played by Jon Seda) was raised in Raritan, NJ, one of ten children of Italian immigrant parents. In 1934, at age 18, Basilone enlisted in the U.S. Army and served three years in the Philippines, where he was a champion boxer. After a brief return to New Jersey, Basilone enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940 and was a machine gunner with C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and later with the B Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division.
Born to a privileged family in Mobile, Ala., PFC Eugene B. Sledge (played by Joe Mazzello) had relatives on both sides of his family who fought for the Confederacy. Sledge was the son of a physician who was a medical officer during the First World War; he had turned 18 just one month before the U.S. entered the war, but a heart condition kept him from enlisting until Dec. 1942. Although his family urged him to train as an officer, Sledge ultimately joined as an enlisted man and served with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division as a mortarman.
Over the span of ten hours, THE PACIFIC takes an unflinching "under the helmet" look at the experiences of these men and their brothers in arms, each of whom finds himself fighting for his life on faraway specks of land they had never heard of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. Forced to endure extreme deprivation and a debilitating climate, while fighting a brutal enemy who would rather die than consider surrender, these Marines are driven to the brink of their humanity.
THE PACIFIC depicts these battles physical, mental and emotional as it explores the true human cost of war.
CED Solutions supports our Armed Forces and our returning veterans and offers the free tuition 12-day online Microsoft Office Suite of Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint course to service members returning from "In country." Contact lhamil@cedsolutions.com for more information.
CED Solutions is #1 in Microsoft Certifications in North America.
www.cedsolutions.com, info@cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Tue, Feb 23, 2010 @ 10:22 AM
More than one million people are actively using Google Wave, the search engine's real-time collaboration platform, to work together on various projects. Collaborative debate Website Debatewise.org used Wave recently to let 1,000 people from more than 130 countries debate issues arising from the Copenhagen climate change conference. Caroline Dahllöf and Carolyn Uy, founders of application development outfit Lyn And Line, use Google Wave to create educational story applications. Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said Forrester is working on a session on Wave as an example of next-generation collaboration tools for distributed teams for its next IT Forum. More than one million people are actively using Google Wave, the search engine's real-time collaboration platform, to work together on various projects.
Google periodically publishes use cases for Wave. While these prove quite different in nature, they're all linked by a common thread: collaboration among multiple people or co-workers to achieve common objectives.
Co-workers are using Wave to instant message each other, share files and documents and edit each other's work, all in real time. Users can even play back Wave content and interactions.
Collaborative debate Website Debatewise.org used Wave recently to let 1,000 people from more than 130 countries debate issues arising from the Copenhagen climate change conference. This Global Youth Panel used Wave to debate climate change, sharing links and other content.
To do this in a manageable fashion, Debatewise.org founder David Crane said the panel created one index wave containing links to all the debates, each of which had its own set of sub-waves, one for each point making up the debate.
To get debaters to write summaries of the discussion in the first Wave blip, Crane and his colleagues exercised a little social engineering by leaving notes in a blip saying "Part of point added to the summary," to publicly pat participants on the back. Wave's design, real-time communication and playback feature enabled this to work.
"I'm a huge believer in collective intelligence and think these tools give Google Wave significant advantages over a traditional wiki for bringing new participants into the fold," Crane said. "As a result, we had healthy, live debates on a global scale, giving a voice to youth around the planet in an international forum, and have learned what to do next time."
Caroline Dahllöf and Carolyn Uy, founders of application development outfit Lyn And Line, use Google Wave to create educational story applications, such as The Rescue of Ginger. Ginger, targeted for children between the ages of 2 and 5, is available on smartphones based on the Google Android and Apple iPhone platforms.
Colleagues Dahllöf and Uy live more than 5,000 miles apart with a time difference of nine hours. While one is sleeping, the other is working, leaving messages and source code in Google Wave for the other to see at her convenience. Moreover, they use multiple waves to compartmentalize their workflows.
Dahllöf and Uy said they use a wave to work on source code changes together; one for tracking bugs, a wave for storyboarding, where they add, edit, or comment on each other's ideas. They have a separate wave for people they need to contact.
"The beauty of this organization is that every morning, we can look at our inboxes and get a quick overview of what the other person has been doing," Dahllöf and Uy said. "Because Google Wave notifies us when there is a change, there is no need for an extra e-mail summarizing what has happened.... Having all of our conversations in different waves has made it easy for us to stay informed despite the distance and time difference."
Dennis Elliot, the Web manager at Clear Channel Radio in Greensboro, N.C., said he created a wave called Big Game Home Invasion, an on air and online promotion involving two clients that required input from sales people, the sales manager, the station program director, the station promotions director, the online content coordinator and himself.
"Without a Wave, we would have had to resort to numerous back and forth e-mails, sending graphics files to each other for approval, having people go from office to office to see updates and answer questions and lots of time tracking people down by phone
. Instead, we did the entire project in Wave in just a fraction of the amount of time it would normally have taken," Elliot said.
So there are people using Wave for collaboration beyond just, the "OK, I'm here now what the heck do I do with it" reaction some consumers ascribe to the platform.
Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler told eWEEK he doesn't discount the early use cases, adding that Forrester is working on a session on Wave as an example of next-generation collaboration tools for distributed teams for its next IT Forum.
"Wave is still in the 'what's it good for?' stage," Schadler added. "But it's a classic c&e problem [chicken & egg]. It's only disappointing, though, in the context of the big bang with which they launched it and it was received."
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Google-Wave-Used-For-Disparate-Collaboration-Cases-804873/?kc=EWKNLEAU02232010STR2
CED Solutions is #1 in Microsoft training in North America. Microsoft SharePoint collaboration software training and Microsoft Office Suite collaboration software training is available in classroom and through Remote Classroom Training and distance learning.
www.cedsolutions.com, info@cedsolutions.com, (800) 611-1840
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Fri, Feb 19, 2010 @ 02:14 PM
The Cisco CCSP Certification now requires CCNA Security as a prerequisite course. These courses may now be taken at the warm Ft Lauderdale training center of the Institute of Professional Learning. The Cisco CCSP Certification encompasses the four courses of Securing Networks with Cisco Routers and Switches (SNRS); Securing Networks with ASA Foundation (SNAF); Securing Networks with ASA Advanced (SNAA); and Securing Networks Using Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS).
The Cisco CCNA Security is required prior to attending the above courses. Both courses may be taken back-to-back for a total of 15 days of training.
Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA® Security) validates associate-level knowledge and skills required to secure Cisco networks. With a CCNA Security certification, a network professional demonstrates the skills required to develop a security infrastructure, recognize threats and vulnerabilities to networks, and mitigate security threats. The CCNA Security curriculum emphasizes core security technologies, the installation, troubleshooting and monitoring of network devices to maintain integrity, confidentiality and availability of data and devices, and competency in the technologies that Cisco uses in its security structure.
Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP®) validates advanced knowledge and skills required to secure Cisco networks. With a CCSP certification, a network professional demonstrates the skills required to secure and manage network infrastructures to protect productivity, mitigate threats, and reduce costs. The CCSP curriculum emphasizes Cisco Router IOS (ISR) and Catalyst Switch security features, Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), secure VPN connectivity, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Cisco Security Agent (CSA), Security Enterprise and Device Management, Network Admission Control (NAC) as well as techniques to optimize these technologies in a single, integrated network security solution. In addition, CCSP leverages the new CCNA Security certification as a prerequisite.
The CCNA Security and the CCSP combined are 15 days in length with the next dates of March 1st to March 16th in Ft Lauderdale. The price of the course including roundtrip airfare, lodging, breakfast and lunch, snacks and refreshments, Cisco Authorized Course Materials, practice exams, and all certification exams is $9,995.
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA®) validates the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size route and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN. CCNA curriculum includes basic mitigation of security threats, introduction to wireless networking concepts and terminology, and performance-based skills. This new curriculum also includes (but is not limited to) the use of these protocols: IP, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Serial Line Interface Protocol Frame Relay, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2),VLANs, Ethernet, access control lists (ACLs).
The Cisco CCNA Certification Boot Camp is also available in Atlanta. The Cisco CCNA Boot Camp training has two parts, CCENT and the completion of CCNA. CCNA Boot Camps are 7 days in length and include roundtrip airfare, lodging, breakfast and lunch, snacks and refreshments, Cisco Authorized Course Materials, practice exams, and all certifications for $4,495.
The Institute of Professional Learning has outstanding instructors and staff and is located in a Class A building in Ft Lauderdale.
www.iplearning.net, (800) 611-1840, info@iplearning.net
Posted by Rich Rodgers on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 10:21 AM
3G broadband
Sure, it's not as good as it could be. And the competing mix of standards-as in UMTS/EvDO (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System/Evolution Data Optimized)-creates compatibility problems. But it wasn't that long ago that one could get Internet access only by finding a Wi-Fi hot spot or plugging in an Ethernet cable. With 3G broadband, smartphones, netbooks, laptops and even mobile offices can get pretty good Internet access pretty much anywhere.
802.11g
The first generation of wireless networking technologies were cool.And if you were just accessing Internet content, they seemed plenty fast. But you could forget about sending large files to other systems on the same wireless network. 802.11g made wireless usable for most networking tasks and helped boost the spread of Wi-Fi to offices, homes, parks and hotels around the world.
AJAX
It seemed simple at first-just a set of scripts and standards technologies that were already around for building Web applications.But the mix of technologies that make up AJAX launched a Web revolution, making it possible to build attractive and interactive Web-based GUIs that didn't require extra plug-ins or extensions and that worked well in most modern Web browsers.
Amazon EC2
Probably the first real iteration of a cloud-computing platform, Amazon.com's Elastic Compute Cloud is still one of the most popular.Making it simple for anyone to throw a virtual server machine onto Amazon.com's powerful server platform, EC2 changed what it meant to own a server or even run a business: A large number of new businesses don't even own server hardware-their entire operations run on EC2.
AMD64
At the beginning of the decade, general-purpose 64-bit computing wasn't looking promising. Intel's Itanium architecture was proving difficult to implement and was generally seen as a disappointment.Instead of taking Intel's rewrite approach, Advanced Micro Devices built its 64-bit platform on existing processor technology, and pushed 64-bit processors into the mainstream.
BlackBerry
You have to admit that if a product gets compared with a highly addictive drug, it must be a huge success. The CrackBerry, er, BlackBerry quickly became a must-have mobile device, and it's still pretty much the mobile device of choice for business users. By making it easy to stay connected anywhere, the BlackBerry certainly boosted productivity (and probably ruined more than a few vacations).
Blade servers
Blade servers have become so commonplace that it's easy to forget how stunning it was to see an entire server room of systems reduced to a single rack.
Bluetooth
It can be easy to think of Bluetooth as a failure, especially if one looks at its early promises. But then consider all of the wires and cables you aren't using anymore, and you come to appreciate the accomplishments of Bluetooth.
Firefox
Just a few years ago, the future of the Web and the browser looked bleak. Internet Explorer dominated the market, and Microsoft wasn't interested in browser innovation. But when Mozilla released Firefox, we finally got real browser choice and innovation. Firefox reignited the browser wars, and today we have more competition and choice in browsers than ever before.
Gmail/Google Apps
Sure, Web-based mail and other applications existed before Gmail and Google Apps. But none offered the features, convenience and reliability that Google did. Now, entire businesses are running using only Google's Web-based e-mail and productivity applications.
iPhone/iPod
It was called the Jesus Phone. And while that moniker was definitely hyperbolic, it's not hype to say that Apple's iPhone completely changed the smartphone market. And many of these changes probably wouldn't have come about if the iPod hadn't set the stage for the iPhone's usability and design.
Mac OS X
While the first iMac got lots of attention, it wasn't until Apple totally revamped its core operating system that the Mac revolution really took off. Mac OS X was a full rewrite built on a Unix core, and since its release has pretty much set the bar for operating system usability and innovation.
Multicore processors
People who have moved from a PC based on a single-core processor to one based on a multicore processor are typically blown away. There in your system-which most likely cost less than $1,000-is a processor that would smoke the most powerful servers and workstations of the 1990s.
Netbooks
Vendors have pushed microlaptops on us before, but these systems have all failed due to being underpowered and overpriced. The current wave of netbooks fixes those problems, achieving small size along with decent capabilities and low prices. While hardware vendors may hate them, netbooks continue to be popular with consumers.
Openoffice.org
Sure, if the bar for success is supplanting Microsoft Office, then Openoffice.org has been a failure. But if overall impact is considered, Openoffice.org has definitely been influential, especially when it comes to opening up document formats.
POE
Power over Ethernet is still a relatively new technology, and many companies haven't implemented it yet. But companies that have moved to POE have seen major benefits, especially in the ability to run devices such as VOIP (voice over IP) phones, access points and other appliances without the need for a wall wart to provide power.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Coming into the decade, Linux was already a hot commodity, but it wasn't until Red Hat launched the buttoned-down and subscription-priced Enterprise variant of its Linux distribution that Linux was truly ready-both in terms of road map stability and of business model-to truly storm the enterprise.
Salesforce.com
Rising from the ashes of the failed ASP (application service provider) market of the late 1990s, Salesforce.com proved that companies would run vital enterprise business applications-even CRM and sales force automation-over the Web.
Social networks
They may seem like a big waste of time, but social networks have had a significant effect on the way people and businesses connect and communicate.
Solaris 10
During the latter half of '00s, Sun Microsystems' Solaris 10 sat at the leading edge of operating system technologies, with unique capabilities that include Containers virtualization, Dtrace system instrumentation and the ZFS file system. Solaris 10 also helped put a stamp of inevitability on the x86-64 architecture and on open-source as a platform licensing strategy.
Treo
Looking at it today, the Treo may seem like just another smartphone.But the early Treo set the stage for and was very influential in the development of modern smartphones. Any phone today that isn't an iPhone or a new phone directly influenced by the iPhone owes a huge debt to the Treo (and even the iPhone is influenced by the Treo).
Twitter
Twitter is a waste of time. We'll just post that on our Facebook and corporate collaboration system status updates. Hmm. Maybe Twitter has been massively influential and changed the way we all communicate.
VMware
Virtualization has been around for more than 10 years, but it was in the last decade that it really took off. And, to a large degree, the impetus for this drive to virtualize was VMware technology. Offering everything from simple-to-use products that let consumers run virtual machines to the most robust enterprise-class virtualization platforms, VMware has made it possible to run whole farms of servers with very little hardware involved.
VOIP, Skype, SIP
Like virtualization, VOIP technology has been around for more than 10 years. However, it's only in the last 10 years that the technology has reached a real state of usability. Skype helped show consumers how cheap and easy voice calls can be from a PC, while SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) signaling eased standards-based interoperability among vendors, opening the door for the integration of many different kinds of products into the communications mix.
Windows XP
With all of the recent hype about Windows 7-and the bad experiences that nearly every user has had at one time or another with Windows XP-it might seem strange to see Windows Vista's predecessor on any top tech list. But XP is certainly the most dominant operating system of the decade. And when Vista proved to be a disappointment, a majority of users and businesses were happy to stick with XP (and many still are).
CED Solutions provides training on Microsoft Certifications