CCNA Certification

October 15, 2007 - 12pm

I’m in the process of getting my Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification. There are two routes you can take for the exam: one test with everything on it, or breaking it up into two smaller tests that contain the same information. Assuming the two-test option would be easier, I very lazily spent the last year reading and studying the first book. I finished it several months ago and never bothered to take the test.

Then, I found out that the test is changing at the beginning of next month–this would mean that my $100 study materials would be useless and need to be re-purchased, and that I’d have to re-read the intro book.

So, after studying a bit, I took the CCNA Intro exam on Friday and passed. (Whoo!) A small part of me was hoping I wouldn’t… I figured that if I failed the first exam, there would be no point in trying to pass the second within this time frame.

I now have to read and memorize a 500-page Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices (ICND) textbook before the end of the month, then pass a test on it. Two of my coworkers have taken the full test, and both made at least two attempts before actually passing. It’s not an easy exam.

There are only 13 chapters, so I’m going to read a chapter a day. Really, this isn’t much different than what I did at the end of every semester in college… I’d typically slack off for most the semester, then realize with horror I had an entire program/case study/semester-long project due. I’d spend the next two weeks barely sleeping and working 18 hours a day, pausing only to sleep and eat.

It’s a good system.

Canada, part 2

October 13, 2007 - 6pm

You know how Megan and I went to Canada a while ago?

Yeah, I’d almost forgotten too.

I finally finished uploading and captioning my photos. Take a look.

Future Tense

October 9, 2007 - 1pm

I had a moment a few weeks ago when I purchased a Roomba, and realized that I’m living in the “future.” Since technology rarely advances in sudden enormous leaps, we only see incremental changes to existing technologies. It’s only when I take a step back and think about everything that’s changed in the last ten years that I can be amazed by how far we’ve come.

For instance…

  • Ten years ago the original Playstation was the premier gaming console, and was about 1′x1½’x2″ in size. Today, the PSP is essentially a significantly improved version with better graphics and wifi–and it fits in the palm of your hand.
  • I have a robot, something I’ve wanted since I saw Short Circuit for the first time. While it’s unlikely that owning a Roomba will result in any Steve Guttenberg-related hijinks or teach me to love, it’s a start. I have a robot slave that does my (vacuuming-related) bidding, and that makes me very happy.
  • My iPhone would have been a prop on Star Trek ten years ago. Now, I’m able to watch videos, listen to music, and communicate with my contacts nearly anywhere I go. I have the entirety of the wealth of the Internet at my disposal, so long as I have a cellular or wifi signal.
  • With Netflix’s streaming movies, iTunes, and bittorrent, I have access to nearly every movie and album ever made. I can have these within hours or minutes, and I never even need to leave my apartment. A few days ago, I wanted to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey and didn’t want to wait for it to be delivered via Netflix. I went to The Pirate Bay, and had a DVD-quality copy of it within a few hours.
  • I never need to take anything with me to work. I can connect to my home network from the office, and I can do nearly anything I could do if I were actually there. If I need a file, I connect and grab a copy. If I want to listen to my music, I connect and stream it to my workstation. If my DVR is giving Megan problems, I log in and fix them. Even textbooks come in PDFs now, so I can put a copy on my work computer, my phone, and my home computer without needing to lug a book around with me.
  • Speaking of books, you don’t even need to go to a library to read the classics any more. Project Gutenberg puts copies of public domain and copyright-free books online. (Little-known fact: project Gutenberg was not named for the inventor of the printing press. It was actually named after Steve Guttenberg. The misspelling was intentional.) I could read Othello sitting in my car on the side of the interstate if I wanted to.

All of this stuff is commonplace today. What will seem ordinary ten years from now?

If you want to copy anything here, please email me first.
© Marc Teale 2008.