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MCSE v/s MCSA

Certifications, offered by various vendors are a good way for IT professionals to seek validation for their skills. In today’s arena, there are lots of vendors offering specialization in particular domains. Professionals often get confused about which certification to go for as some of them have as little as hair thin difference between them. It is best to first identify your job role, the knowledge and skills required and accordingly select to take a particular certification to ensure career success.

Let us in this article try and get some clarity between two major certifications of Microsoft i.e. MCSE and MCSA which are often confused upon.

Why MCSE?

For a MCSE (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcse-exam/mcse-exam.html) candidate, it is preferable that he should have at least two years of experience in implementing and administering desktop and network operating systems, and designing a network infrastructure in the typically complex computing environment of medium-to-large organizations. The candidate should also have at least one year of experience administering Exchange Server environments involving multiple physical locations, mixed connection protocols, and Internet messaging.

MCSE has two tracks Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows 2003. The 2003 track requires 6 Core Exams, 1 Elective Exam and 2 Upgrade Exams to be cleared.

Core Exam include:

Group I: 70-290, 70-291, 70-293;

Group II: 70-270, 70-210; Group III: 70-297, 70-298.

Elective Exams include:

70-086, 70-227, 70-228, 70-229, 70-232, 70-281, 70-282, 70-284, 70-285, 70-297, 70-298, 70-299, and 70-301.

Upgrade Exams include

70-292 or 70-296.

Either CompTIA Security+ or Unisys UNO-101 can be substituted in place of the elective exams.

Why MCSA?

The need for qualified system administrators is very real in today’s business market and the excitement for MCSA (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcsa/mcsa.html) is growing daily. A candidate for MCSA should have at least one year of experience working with a desktop operating system, a network operating system, and an existing network infrastructure. As soon as candidates pass their first qualifying exam for the MCSA program, they achieve a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification.

MCSA also has two tracks Microsoft Windows 2000 track and Microsoft Windows 2003 track. MCSA 2003 requires 3 Core Exams, 1 Elective exam and 1 Upgrade exam to be cleared.

Core Exams include:

Group I: 70-290, 70-291

Group II: 70-270, 70-210

Elective Exams include

70-086, 70-227, 70-228, 70-284, and 70-299

Upgrade Exams include

70-292

What’s the difference between MCSE & MCSA?

Let us look at a few major differences between the two certifications which will help you get a clearer idea about them:

MCSA (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcsa/mcsa.html) when compared to MCSE (http://www.whizlabs.com/mcse-exam/mcse-exam.html) is a basic level certification. As an MCSA you must know every thing about implementing, managing, and troubleshooting the existing network and system environments based on the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. However, you will not be responsible to set up new networks and systems as a part of your job function. But as a MCSE knowledge about designing and deploying new networks and systems is necessary.

Being an MCSA professional means that you will be able to implement, manage, and maintain the typically complex computing environment of medium-to large-sized companies. On the other hand, being an MCSE professional you will be able to plan, design, and implement Microsoft Windows server solutions and architectures in medium-to large-sized companies.

The experience that is required for both these certifications is also different. MCSA requires 6-12 months of experience of administering client and network operating systems while MCSE requires at least one year of experience in implementing and administering network operating systems and desktop operating systems.

Jobs for an MCSA include systems administrator, network administrator, information systems administrator, network operations analyst, network technician, or technical support specialist. For an MCSE jobs include systems engineer, network engineer, systems analyst, network analyst, or technical consultant.

MCSA provides you with a credential that represents a set of skills which will be advantageous if you plan to pursue MCSE Certification. Therefore, earning an MCSA will qualify you with the option to use these credentials and acquire MCSE through Upgrade path to MCSE.

If you look carefully, both these exams although similar to each other specialize in different domains. A clear understanding of both the certifications is necessary before you decide which one to opt for. So make the right choice and get going!!

Whizlabs (www.whizlabs.com), an ISO Certified company, is a leading provider of IT skill assessment and certification exam preparation tools. Whizlabs’ suite of offerings include “IT Certification Exam simulators and Instructor-led, Online Trainings” for various exams by Sun, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, BEA, Cisco, and other leading IT vendors and “IT skill Assessment Management Solution” for Corporations, Training Institutes, and Universities.

In its first 3 years of inception Whizlabs has helped 300,000 software professionals in realizing their dream of acquiring IT Certifications of their interest.

Whizlabs offerings have fuelled the career growth of IT professionals working in 321 Fortune 500 companies spread in 118 countries across the globe.

The author can be contacted at authors@whizlabs.com

*First Published at Whizlabs’ site.

The Art of the Casino Comp

When you play a lot at an online casino and spend a lot of money, there are times where casinos give a free hotel room or what is called ‘comping a room’. Getting free items such as a hotel room comes when spending is over what the casino considers normal. In spending a great deal at a casino, the casino makes money and wishes to bring these types of customers back.

Not all casinos give away free rooms all the time. There is a limit for some. The way they figure this out is to find the repeat customers that spend what they consider the over their limit money. Playing poker usually helps get more comps, because you are there for longer.

If you frequent a certain casino and wish to get a free hotel room, don’t ask about those type of gifts. Casinos frown on people asking those types of things. Sometimes they may feel cheated or feel that a room is earned. Casinos normally don’t advertise free rooms for spending a lot.

A certain thing to remember is that casinos want your business. In this, they will provide some services not advertised until you reach a certain limit in spending, whether it be with drinks or at the tables. You will only find this out by actually playing at these casinos and seeing if you are one of the lucky ones to get this.

How to Find Out What Your Web Surfer Prospects Want

Who wouldn’t love to have a crystal ball to see the future? Can you imagine an easier life as an Internet Marketer if you knew before hand what your prospects are looking for?

Instead of “pushing” pages,and see what “sticks”, you’d concentrate your efforts on developing Web pages they WANT to READ! Web pages containing information RELEVANT to what they’re LOOKING for!

Wouldn’t sales be easier this way?

You BET! Here’s a set of free tools that will help you do just that.

Here’s Your Own Internet “Intelli-Marketing” Tool Kit.

Just like the NSA (National Security Agency), I gather “Intelligence” to help me give visitors to my Website what they ARE LOOKING FOR! I use a set of FREE tools I call My Internet “Intelli-Marketing” Kit.

I use it with great results; and so can you!

But first, lets suppose you ALREADY have a product you want sell. How do you use these tools to help you?

Let me show you how easy it is!

One of the most popular search words is: FREE. Using the “tools”, you’ll be able to find out all the search term combinations that use the word FREE.

Example:

Free Help Free Internet Access Free Pictures Free Information

Got the picture?

When you find a combination of search terms that could apply to your particular product, create an Information Web Page using these terms as a basis.

For example:

You want to sell a product that helps people stop smoking.

Instead of pushing the product (like the majority of people would do) you can create a FREE Report(information) Page that gives people VALUABLE FREE Information about the life threatening risks of smoking, and How To Stop.

Some additional Keywords you’d look for would be: cancer, lungs, nicotine, addiction, health, and so forth.

This free information page would then help bring targeted prospects to your product’s sales page.

Here’s an online example:

http://www.learninternetmarketing.com/howquit.htm

Now…Time to Build Your “Kit”.

Software:

“Keyword Live” is a great, easy to use program that opens up a whole new way of looking at online keyword activity.

Since it is ‘Live’, you have an opportunity to look at searches not in just the scope of what people do on average over the last week, but what they do on Mondays, or what they do during business hours, or what they do at 7pm at night.

Keyword Live is available free at: http://www.analogx.com/

Via EMail:

You can subscribe to Free EMail Keyword Reports. They furnish you with a report on the most used keywords and search terms. Both are FREE.

WordsSpot 200 http://www.wordspot.com/

and

Weekly top 500 Wordtracker keyword report http://www.wordtracker.com/

Live Online Search Displays:

1. Metaspy. Gives Filtered or Unfiltered search queries. Refreshed every 15 seconds. http://www.metaspy.com/

2. Weekly Search Engine Keyword Statistics For Web and Internet Marketing. http://www.mall-net.com/se_report/

3. Magellan Search Voyeur. Displays a sample of recent searches. Page automatically refreshes every 15 seconds. http://voyeur.mckinley.com/cgi-bin/voyeur.cgi

4. Ask Jeeves Peek Through The Keyhole. Shows 20 recent search requests, updated every 30 seconds. http://www.askjeeves.com/docs/peek/

5. searchUK Spy. Displays 10 recent, non-filtered, searches from this UK search engine. The page is automatically refreshed every 20 seconds. http://www.searchuk.com/spy/

6. GoTo.com Inventory Search http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/othertools.jhtml Click on the “Search Term Suggestion List”. Enter the term you want to search, and you’ll get how many searches were done using that term and other terms that include it, in the past month.

Now that you have your “Kit”; let’s:

Find Out What Your Competition’s Up To.

To find out which questions show up for a particular term or search phrase I use:

AskJeeves: http://www.askjeeves.com

It shows the “plain english” questions people use to make their searches, and the WEB PAGES relevant to these questions. For you, this can be like “money in the bank”!

Why?

Because what you do is design an Information Page that ANSWERS those particular questions that relate to YOUR product!

Example of an Answer Page:(Use The Complete URL)

http://www.learninternetmarketing.com/ where-can-i-learn-how-to-make-money-online.htm

How do I know if this works?

Check out what comes up at http://www.altavista.com for these search terms:

1. internet marketing ebooks 2. internet marketing course 3. free internet marketing 4. make money online 5. how do i make money online 6. how do i learn internet marketing (check who comes up when you click on the FIRST “Learn Internet Marketing”link)

Once you get used to having the “Intelli-Marketing” Kit working for you; you’ll never want to be without it again!

Don’t waste your time SPAMMING the Search Engines with garbage. Just Find Out What Your Web Surfer Prospects Want and…Give it to them!

How To Find Your Links In Google

As you may know, part of getting ranked high on Google or many other search engines depends on who links to you.

This short article will explain how to find out who is linking to your website, using simple search techniques.

The basic way is to open up Google.com and type

link:yourdomain.com

This will show who links to your home page, including any of your internal pages. However, this isn’t always the best link search, since Google actually only will include websites that link to you if that site has a Google page Rank of 4 or above.

Another way to look is to type

inurl:yourdomain.com

This should show a bit more accurate results. If you look at the results though, you will probrably see a bunch of your webpages as the link results. To stop this from happening, you can type.

inurl:yourdomain.com -site:yourdomain.com

OR

link:yourdomain.com -site:yourdomain.com

This should exclude your website from being included in the results.

Also, you can try using “yourdomain” as a search item which will show sites linking to you as well, make sure you include the “”.

In addition, play around with these search tools. Include the www in your search and try it without the www as well.

These search tools also work great in other search engines. Like Yahoo, Altavista, Alltheweb and others. Keep in mind that each search engine has different particulars and some will give better or worse results.

You can also try to use this with domains that get top ranking for your search terms. If you do a link search on those sites, you can try and trade links or get a backlink from your competitors links. This will help you rank higher, since the links all wind up going to the same place.

Remember, search engine ranking is an ongoing effort and once you can obtain good ranking, it will increase your visits, targeted sales and your sites exposure. All Free.

If you want any help with these, drop me an email at jhoffman@inetgoodies.com

Viral Marketing With Blogs

Blogging is gaining huge traction with entrepreneurs and small businesses. These folks have realized that the “blogosphere” presents a unique opportunity to reach a global audience with little to no cost.

The key to selling with a blog is to give great value to your readers in the form of free information. Blogs build your authority as an expert in your industry and create a relationship with readers that creates a perfect buying environment. But with all the noise out there, you need to be strategic about ways to gain an audience in the first place.

The great thing about blogs is the links that you can get from other bloggers, which bring you traffic. Plus, these links help you rank better in search engines like Google. To get links from other bloggers, you need to say or create something that is worthy of attention.

In other words, you’re looking for publicity, just like you might offline with the mainstream media. But online, a little bit of attention from bloggers often leads to even more attention from even more bloggers, which creates the possibility that something you write could spread virally all over the Internet.

Here are five strategies for creating content that gets attention:

1. Hold a Contest. Come up with a competition relevant to your industry or business niche. Promote it to other relevant bloggers and get them involved. Or, you could create a form of sweepstakes, but make sure to consult an attorney in this case, as sweepstakes are highly regulated.

2. Create a Tutorial or Free Ebook. The Internet is built on information. Create a useful guide based on your expertise and people will take notice. You’ll gain publicity, new prospects and hopefully sales from just one effort.

3. Give an Award or Hold an Event. Create an award for the best blogger or website in your niche, or try creating an industry awareness event that you orchestrate. The most valuable traffic you can get is from related, but perhaps non-competitive businesses in your own industry, and any industry loves to buzz about who’s the best or what’s going on.

4. Give to Charity. Combine a fundraising or paid online event with a pledge to donate all proceeds to charity. You’ll be doing a good deed and be perceived as a good citizen, and you might also get loads of free publicity as well.

5. Be Controversial. A good controversy almost always gains attention. Do or say something that goes against the grain of your industry or niche. Be careful not to go too far, but it’s much worse to simply play it safe and have no audience at all.

These are just a few ways to gain attention online with your blog. The key is to think about what has value to your desired audience (as opposed to just you), and then find a creative way to present it.

To find out more about how to use these 5 strategies, plus learn about several more, download the FREE Viral Copy Report from Copyblogger. In this 30-page viral marketing report, you’ll discover 11 strategies in 4 categories that grab attention and result in links and traffic to your blog.

Safari Holidays in Africa Are Amazing, Book Now

For those people that have never been on a safari in Africa might often find it difficult to imagine the sensational wildlife you might photograph. The holiday makers who come to a walking safari are regular tourists like you and me, some are into photography, some are into Africa as a country but all of them are interested in a new eye-opening experience.

The sensational thing about a safari is the fact it is so different from a standard holiday to France, there are very little families. Each African walking safari company will give you an English speaking safari guide to take you through the outstanding areas of Southern Africa. The most popular wildlife you may see are cheetahs. All the above tremendous animals are not tame and of course don?t feed them. If you are interested in taking wildlife photographs of the wolves you should make sure you turn off the flash as you do not want to scare the animals. The tremendous animals in Africa can put a smile on your face. See the beautiful wildlife on an African Safari and experience South Africa.

If you would like to discover more about eye-opening holidays in South Africa you can use the search engines like Yahoo to note a company that offers safari holidays from the UK, the costs could range from one hundred pounds to seven hundred pounds.

What are your views within the Criminal System?

CRIME…… Do you think treating a minor more like an adult is tough on crime or ineffectively tough on them?

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS……… Do you think part of the problem of juvenile crime is the Criminal System itself?

JUVENILES…… According to statistics, Juveniles prosecuted in adult courts have a higher rate of recidivism than minors who were tried in juvenile courts, Do you think they should have the same rights and responsibilities as adults and are mature enough to understand the consequences of there actions? UNDER THE LAW………… Do you think minors have the same degree of empathetic capacity and impulse control as does a mature adult and do you think they formulate the same intent as adults in the Criminal System?

CRIMINAL SYSTEM………… What are your views on the Criminal System do you think American Justice punishes according to the intent and not simply the act?

Discover about Income Drawdown Pensions – Financial Advise

When you give up work you do not have to take out your pension fund instantly. Instead, you could well make a decision to put-off procuring an annuity until the age of seventy-five and if you do so you may well find you will get a more valuable package. It’s referred to as income drawdown.

When you are aged between fifty & seventy-five years old you are free to delay the possession of your pension annuity from your insurance company. Instead, you are able to draw as much as one-hundred and twenty percent of the pension fund that could have been purchased using Government Actuary rates, leaving the remaining cash safe until you demand it. On your part, all you need to do is to make certain that you obtain a pension annuity by the instance you get to seventy five years old. Get Independent Pension Drawdown advice at http://www.firstplacefinancial.co.uk.

But, what would come about if you wished to take the income draw down selection, and then departed this life? If this did turn out then your current spouse or dependant(s) would have three selections: take a lump figure, after tax at 35%, or go on with income removal, or purchasing an annuity with the financial investments. Your surviving companion has until they reach sixty years old to delay the ownership of a pension annuity, however no financial benefits are authorised to be given in the period-in-between.

Why opt for income drawdown? Well first & foremost because it could result in you earning a better wage from your pension by doing so. You can also choose specifically when you purchase the annuity, therefore if you leave work at a point when the annuity rates are low, waiting may well be a smarter decision. If the remaining shares increase as hoped for, then simultaneously with the fact that the annuity rates develop with age, you may finally be able to acquire an improved pension than you may have been offered initially.

Moreover, it also means that when you depart this life your wife or husband or those legally responsible are secured economically, as they are officially entitled to the remaining stocks, as highlighted earlier.

Like all investments, there are risks subsequently though. If venture performance on the remaining stocks & shares is bad, the level of settlement payable might lower. And it’s important to be aware that there is no assurance that the pension bought will ultimately be anywhere near the total figure that could have been paid for at the outset.

The Current Outstanding World of HD Ready Televisions

LCD, which commonly stands for Liquid Crystal Displays, is a recent type of television screen which has lately become extraordinarily in demand. LCD screens in recent times are frequently found in computer displays. Alternative categories of well-liked televisions would for sure include plasma. Find bargain televisions to buy at Digital Direct.

For an extended period of time tubed tellies were much less expensive than any sort of LCD or Plasma. Customers trusted & felt relaxed with them and they knew precisely where they stood with them & of course the most important reason was because they were remarkably cheap At the present it is an absolutely different story as tubed TVs have been ceased and been swapped by bargain televisions in the model of Plasma and LCD’s, what had once been extraordinarily pricey are these days incredibly inexpensive and of great value for currency paid.

It is presently likely to procure high definition tellies at an astonishingly economical price. This is the most up to date kind of machinery in regards to televisions. High-definition machinery have allowed numerous individuals to get pleasure from its crystal clear picture and audio. Hi-Definition has taken over analog broadcasting and switched it with an all digital system. To experience full Hi-Def you will need a source of Hi-definition TV signals, a tuner to receive & makes sense of those signals & a high performance display screen that can reproduce the astonishing detail and dramatic colours of HDTV pictures. You might also need to acquire a TV that is HD ready, it is achievable at the moment to acquire a cheap digital flat screen whether it is an LCD or Plasma that will be able to help you to attain this.

With a digital television you are likely to receive a considerably improved picture and mechanical class. Hence you can now see anything within the comfort of your own home.

Can Voice Recognition Technologies Make Transcription Services Redundant?

Many businesses need to convert recorded voice to text and have long been looking for ways to do it quickly and inexpensively. Transcribing medical dictation is a prime example.

Some years ago, when voice recognition software became commercially available, most people expected that the solution had finally arrived. Businesses looked forward to cutting down on transcription costs and everyone who hated typing looked forward to getting rid of their keyboard.

Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be rather different. Voice-to-text technology has been a big let down so far.

The fact is, voice recognition software is easily thrown off track by many different factors. If you don’t speak clearly and distinctly, it may not give you the right output. If you try using it in a noisy place, it will fail more often than not. If you have an accent, it may not understand you. Even if you have a bad cold, you’ll find that the software may give incorrect results!

In other words, voice recognition software works reasonably well under ideal, laboratory conditions, but not in a typical home or business setting!

Healthcare professionals who attempted to use voice recognition technologies to eliminate transcription services found that they need to “train” the software to function well. That takes a long time and a lot of work. Most wound up continuing to outsource their medical transcription work.

Of course, there are many other types of situations where transcription is needed. Examples include recordings of seminars, teleconferences, interviews and classes that need to be converted to text.

In natural speech, people tend to use lots of “aahs” and “umms” as well as unnecessary phrases like “you know”. Current voice recognition technology is just not capable of filtering out such irrelevant sounds or words.

In addition, people also string together several sentences using “ands”. The software can’t break up such speech into meaningful sentences. Nor can it break up speech into meaningful paragraph units the way a transcriptionist can.

And if the recording is filled with background noise, or if more than one person is talking at the same time, the software will not function reliably and consistently.

Maybe sometime in the future someone will invent voice recognition technology that can handle all the above issues. Till then businesses will need to use transcription services, particularly for work like medical transcription, where accuracy is critical.

About the author:
John Travers is a business consultant who has written about transcription services for businesses, jobs in transcription and related topics.