The LTB.log

So if it’s not already obvious, I’m pretty awful at keeping up with the blogosphere. At approximately one post per quarter, I haven’t given my readers (all three of you?) much to follow. But every once in a while, I get a harebrained idea for a topic and manage to brain-dump for just long enough to produce a readable, if occasionally interesting, post.

For those who know me, you’ll know that I travel quite a lot. It’s only July, and I’m already Platinum on Delta and Diamond on Hilton for the year, so suffice it say, I spend a lot of time away from home. [sigh]

Traveling a lot generally means eating out a lot, and I’ve managed to hone a few techniques to both reduce my dining expenditures and generate occasional rewards. Specifically, I’m a member of two services that have proven to be quite effective at saving me money eating out. While I don’t want this article to appear to be a blatant marketing pitch for either service, I figure I would be remiss not to share this tip.

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My 12-step botnet recovery program, originally presented at DC404.

1. Admit that you are powerless over bots.
2. Believe that a power greater than yourself exists and is necessary to identify and eliminate malware, botnets, and the Windows hosts that contain them.
3. Make a decision to turn your will and your life over to ShadowServer, Malfease or another similar volunteer effort.
Tags: botnets, howto, malware, security, technology, windows
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Incredibly cool, and I’m incredibly jealous. Now I’m going to have to dig my Sinclair out of the shed. See my pictures, check the web page, or check out my lil’ video for highlights:

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While I’ve long debated the real value of professional certifications in the IT industry (I’ve known numerous highly-certified ignoramuses), it would be ignorant to refute the hard data that demonstrates the perceived value of certification and the resulting remuneration benefits.

Further, not all certifications are alike, and since I have approximately a dozen certifications myself, I can tell you conclusively that some effectively demonstrate proficiency, while others are barely worth the paper they’re printed on.

This blog topic was actually prompted by a very interesting post at TechTarget entitled The Value of the VCP (VMware Certified Professional). Personally, I believe the VCP is amongst a very few certifications that do a good job of testing and proving proficiency.

In his post, Joe Foran draws the conclusion that the single-test VCP certification by itself actually holds more value than any other multiple-test vendor certification (including those from Red Hat, Citrix and Cisco)! Joe’s post was certainly an interesting read, and if you plan on pursuing professional certifications, you owe it to yourself to pay attention to his sources.

Disclaimer: I am a VMware Certified Instructor, and teach VI3 VCP courses. So, don’t just take my word for it, do your own research.

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I’m off to Anchorage, Alaska tomorrow to teach a VMware VI3 class, and am actually quite giddy about it. Alaska remains one of the few place in the US that I haven’t yet visited, but still want to. I emailed Bruce Potter looking for recommendations on things to do in Alaska, and his [summarized] response was: “Drink and eat. seriously.” Seems the food there is outstanding and good venues are plentiful. He specifically suggested several great restaurants and bars, and quite a few natural sights to see as well.

I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll manage to see some northern lights while I’m there. Based on my lovely wife’s research, it looks like I may have to drive a couple hours north for maximum visibility, but if the conditions are right, it will be well worth the trip.

Look for pictures upon my return…

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