Slashdot Mirror


User: afabbro

afabbro's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,720
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,720

  1. The Problem With Certs on Ask Slashdot: Are Any Certifications Worth Going For? · · Score: 2

    The main problem with certs can be demonstrating by googling the cert title or number + "dumps". You will find the exact questions and answers for most tests. (More on "most" in a moment.) I don't mean a detailed outline - I mean the full text of the question, the possible answers, and which one is correct. Memorize the answers and you pass the cert.

    As someone who periodically participates in hiring, I don't see much value in certs. I've had the experience of people who had certs who didn't know their stuff. I've never known any employer who given a choice between someone with many years of experience and someone with a cert, would choose the latter.

    There are other problems with certs. I've always found the format is quite ridiculous. Why should I memorize things? If they test concepts, that'd be one thing, but often certs are "which of these commands is correct" kind of questions. What, am I trapped on a desert island with a datacenter to administer and no manuals?

    That said, certs can't hurt. I find them valuable to study for though less to actually take. Vendors outline everything to get a basic knowledge, and that's useful to go over. The only time I see real value in certs is

    • Your employer is a government agency or some kind of big bureaucracy and they require the cert for a position.
    • Some vendors will only extend certain partnerships ("Gold VAR" or whatever) to companies that have X number of certified technicians
    • Your company is providing services and wants to be able to say "all our techs are certified in X" for marketing purposes

    All that said...the exception to the above is the certs that do have some value. These are the certs that you have to pass a lab for: RHCE, Oracle Certified Master, Cisco's CCIE, etc. A CCIE is highly valuable - those guys bill very well.

  2. Diaspora is still very much alive on Revisiting Open Source Social Networking Alternatives · · Score: 1

    Remember Diaspora? In 2010, it raised $200,641 on Kickstarter to take on Facebook with "an open source personal web server to share all your stuff online." Two years later, they essentially gave up, leaving their code to the open source community to carry forward.

    Diaspora is still very much alive.

  3. Re:Shyeah, right. on Is LTO Tape On Its Way Out? · · Score: 1

    in at least 1 different state

    Are you expecting an entire state to disappear? I mean, I've heard jokes about California falling into the ocean, but a requirement of having backups in two different states seems kind of extreme.

    Particularly because "two different states" could mean "Rhode Island and Delaware" which is very different than "Alaska and Florida."

  4. So encrypt your email on Joining Lavabit Et Al, Groklaw Shuts Down Because of NSA Dragnet · · Score: 1

    In the early 90s, I used to read the cypherpunks email list. During the PGP, Clipper chip, etc. drama, the cypherpunks were discussing practical ways of encryption. They wrote code and collected practical how-to guides on encryption. Lots of good stuff - how to automate encryption on your email, how to make an encrypted "cryptobook" laptop, etc. And no one used it. Today encryption is used only for shopping. When's the last time you got an encrypted email? It isn't for lack of technology.

  5. Re:We already have these... on America's Next Bomber: Unmanned, Unlimited Range, Aimed At China · · Score: 1

    ICBMs have a habit of not being recallable. Once it is in the air, the only abort possible is destruction of the missile. Unfortunately, that still leaves a lot of shrapnel on a ballistic trajectory to the target.

    They get to the target in 30-60 minutes. If you are so confused that you're going to change your mind in 30 minutes, don't launch.

  6. Hell Hath No Fury Like a Geek Inconvenienced on Time to Review FAA Gadget Policies · · Score: 1

    In most cases, you're talking about a few minutes before and during takeoff and a few minutes during landing. During that time, read a book.

    I've certainly used tablets, phones (for apps), and laptops all other times during flight.

    There is no one on this planet who can't live without the Internet for the duration of a flight. If you are so insanely important, buy the plane's service.

  7. Let's start with TekGoblin on Google Is Planning To Penalize Overly Optimized Sites · · Score: 4, Informative

    Seriously, why not link the source instead of some spammy blog?

  8. Re:wikipedia is a collection of expert testimony on After 244 Years, the End For the Dead Tree Encyclopedia Britannica · · Score: 1

    This is seriously one of the best parodies of a Wikipedia fanboy I've ever read.

  9. Re:Dead tree anything is just DOA on After 244 Years, the End For the Dead Tree Encyclopedia Britannica · · Score: 1

    When you're done with one of those ebooks, can you give it to me? Oh. Well, you can donate it to...oh. At least you can sell it used to...oh. Anyway, you can always lend it to...oh.

  10. Re:Britannica is still around... on After 244 Years, the End For the Dead Tree Encyclopedia Britannica · · Score: 1

    Wikipedia is not progress.

  11. Re:Citable on After 244 Years, the End For the Dead Tree Encyclopedia Britannica · · Score: 1

    >This is mainly due to the fact that there is no "stable" Wikipedia --

    This is mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of those in academia (=higher education) consider Wikipedia to be absolutely unreliable.

    Everyone should consider Wikipedia unreliable.

  12. Re:Causality Failure... on USS Enterprise Takes Its Final Voyage · · Score: 1

    He already has. (Novel's premise is that the Eugenics Wars have already come and gone - they just weren't the big military conflicts people expected.)

  13. Re:Why the negative headlines? on Third-Generation Apple TV Lands With a Thud · · Score: 1

    Editors don't change headlines here? I guess you've never had an accepted submission.

  14. Re:More useful than you think on The Numbers of a Life · · Score: 1

    At first glance, the whole idea of personal analytics seems kind of worthless. But imagine comparing analytics among populations

    That is statistics, not "personal analytics".

    Personal analytics appears to be what was earlier called "narcissism".

  15. Where are prisons located? Exactly. on Why Making Facebook Private Won't Protect You · · Score: 1

    Most prisons are built as public-works projects in remote communities where your other choices are making minimum wage at McDonald's or the gas station. Prisons can get away with this because the local workforce is often desperate for a good-paying job.

  16. Re: Deregulation on Book Review: Occupy World Street · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You cannot seriously consider Rolling Stone a source of anything more than dopehead diatribes. Dude, it's Rolling Stone - they were marginally relevant to the 70s music scene. Marginally. Since then they've been nothing but a venting platform for drug-addled baby boomers who refuse to shut up.

  17. Re:...huh? on Anonymous Defaces Panda Security Site · · Score: 1

    You make it sound like there's only a handful of them,

    People who want to feel alternative and underground and rebellious and cool by wearing Guy Fawkes masks? There's a ton.

    People who also break into computer systems and deface web sites? A handful.

  18. Re:Remove one head..... on Anonymous Defaces Panda Security Site · · Score: 1

    Anonymous != LulzSec. LulzSec != Anonymous.

    Oh, whatever...anonymous runs around saying it's anonymous and you can't define anonymous and anonymous is an "anarchic, digitalized global brain". So for all you know, there is a lot of overlap or even 100% overlap. You don't really know.

  19. Re:Script kiddies revenge on Anonymous Defaces Panda Security Site · · Score: 2

    Defacing for defacing sake is childish.

    Defacing for defacing sake is the Anonymous motto.

  20. Re:I don't want my cloud provider to know type of on Google Unifies Media, Apps Into Google Play · · Score: 1

    Or better: Tarsnap - "online backups for the truly paranoid".

  21. Re:You are not more important than others. on Cell Phone Jamming Devices Enjoy an Increase In Popularity · · Score: 0

    I have friends who are doctors, some of them psychologists. I have a friend who is an eye surgeon.

    Oh you do not. Give us a break.

  22. Re:No on The Fallout From a Flickr DMCA Takedown · · Score: 0

    Well, since you USED ALL CAPS, you must be right.

  23. Re:Obesity on Government Should Ban Skinny Models To Curb Anorexia, Say Researchers · · Score: 1

    Here in the United States I think we need to do something about obesity first...

    I don't know why this was mod'd down. Obesity really is the problem. Most of those "skinny" models are not "skinny" - they're normal-sized. It's just that Americans have become a nation of morbidly obese people.

  24. Re:It's True on Government Should Ban Skinny Models To Curb Anorexia, Say Researchers · · Score: 2

    It's not like the average person can moderate the amount of advertising that rapes their eyeballs and subconcious every day.

    Nonsense. Don't watch TV. Don't listen to the radio. Use Adblock Plus. I'm assuming your eyes gloss pass magazine ads automatically.

    Seems pretty moderated to me.

  25. Re:If you want a baseline on Suggestions For Music Hosting? · · Score: 1

    Cogent has a horrible reputation. 90% of the complaints about poor networks on WebHostingTalk.com are about Cogent.