Technical rants from a geek.
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IT Certifications Aren’t Worth the Paper They’re Not Printed On!
Posted on December 11th, 2009 4 commentsAt work we are trying to attract a new client. They toured the facility, they looked around and asked questions, all while my peers and I demonstrated our knowledge and abilities. They were impressed as we took actual phone calls for actual users. They oohed and awed as we remotely administered dozens of servers, of varying types and platforms. It all seemed to be going smoothly until they wanted to see our certifications.
We were like see our what… You are kidding right? We are doing the work for many other customers and we have real working relationships with fortune 100 companies, but they want us to produce papers to prove that we can do it. We all agree we should go get the papers; how tough could it be? So we all start working on our Server+ certifications and other IT(Information Technology) Certifications.
Server-like Systems
So we get this software that swears up and down that they follow theComptardComptia Server+ to the letter, since I have taken A+ training courses I believe them completely. The question and topics covered by Server+ range from Antiquated to Unrelated. The test and course material meticulously covers the disadvantages of SIMM tin leads vs copper leads, and other information that is so old it predates the Internet and I couldn’t find a a good link to it.
There were many other unrelated topics, such as fire control systems. I guess in a small organization the server administrator is trusted with the lives of everyone nearby and allowed to choose how water is sprayed onto to giant pile of flaming computers. This is for safety officers, loss prevention agents, managers, lawyers (to prevent lawsuits) or insurance companies (to prevent claims). I fail to see how the guy who decides which piece of software to install should be responsible for FIRE! It seems a little unrelated to me.
These weren’t isolated portions either, they kept throwing old and unrelated junk at me. PIO modes from 20+ year old hard drives, history lessons of who invented what, hooking up hard-drives in desktop systems, and finally how does a USB coffee cup warmer get its power (and other passive power USB devices).
This is how related Server+ is
When the information wasn’t unrelated it was old. Here is a quote from the course material:
- Created in 1986.
In an industry that you have to read the news daily or get left behind, what from 23 years ago could possibly still be relevant. I skipped the 32bit/64bit transition because I knew I didn’t have time to keep up to date with all the news, when I stepped out of IT for a while. I picked it back up just earlier this year, and I hit the books (The Web really) relearning what was needed. Only occasionally do I need knowledge generated during my 18 month IT Hiatus a year ago. How could I ever need knowledge about something 23 years ago rather than more knowledge from now, or at least the historical relevance of archaic tools. I could understand studying why one technology beat out another. But no, they go into technical details like this:
- Standard: SCSI-1
- Data Bus Size (bits):8
- Clock Speed (MHz): 5
- Throughput (MB/s): 5
- Maximum Devices (including SCSI controller): 8
- Cable(s): 50-pin Centronics
When the information wasn’t old or unrelated it was inaccurate. I could see how some of these could be judgment calls, like when they said
ItanicItanium as a good 64bit chip. I was was there for the beginnings of the Itanic, and I know better, and the Itanium Sales Forecasts agree with me. But, someone still could still disagree because on some level it is still an opinion. However some of the items that used in this Certification are just plain wrong by the math.
Incorrect Question
[Warning Technical Gibberish incoming]
In one of the multiple choice questions in a practice test they asked “How much Memory can a 64 bit CPU address?” and there was no correct choice provided. For those who don’t know, a CPU does the thinking and RAM/Memory store what is being thought about. The “bits” in a CPU refer to the number of wires used to “address” the RAM. Since each Byte (1 letter or number) has its own address, and each wire can only be on or off this sets a pretty hard cap on how bytes the CPU can easily talk to. A memory address is a unique combination of 1s and 0s (ons and offs) that those 64 wires can take.
Anyone who has taken 7th grade math knows how to calculate how many possibilities exist in a simple combination like this. However, let’s assume that you have been deprived a basic education and are clever enough to try and figure it out for yourself. The first wire has 2 states (on/off), and the next wire has 2 more so I guess we should multiply to get 4 total states. If you work it out this keeps holding up for all 64 wires. Just multiply 64 twos together, or if you remember your 7th grade math take 2 to the 64th power and prove 2^64 bytes in exabytes is 16 Exabytes and can be addressed by a 64bit CPU.
[/Technical Gibberish]
What bugs me most about this is that the guy in the video said the 16 Exabytes. Even though the guys in the video was completely un-photogenic, talked with a funny lisp, and made many errors, he still seemed to genuinely know what he was talking about. Every statement he made could readily be independently verified. Unfortunately the Fact pages and tests were constantly off base and full of shit.
Unfortunately the tests are the part that match up with the Comptia Server+ Certification. Meaning that if they brought in any kind of expert who knew what they were doing, they would get conflicting results. Unfortunately this has been my experience with all certifications from microsoft, Comptia, Cisco and even the majority of classroom study.
What does this mean for companies that hire based solely on certifications? I think it means that they are very likely to hire misinformed idiots, and this unfortunately matches up with my experiences.
I think IT needs a proper Apprenticeship like carpenters, blacksmiths an electricians of years gone by. Maybe not for 7 years, but at least as long a college degree. Even interns and former interns do much better than people with IT certs and no experience. If something like this were common it would weed out people who just wanted a quick buck and tried to get certs by memorizing questions and answers and it would practically guarantee that any journeyman would be better prepared than most independent consultants today. It would also get rid of all those idiots who get a 4 year computer science degree and still don’t learn how to turn a PC on. Certifications as they exist now help make those idiots, and those idiots waste your time and money. -
I Gotta Teach These Guys Linux
Posted on September 9th, 2009 3 commentsI have the goo fortune of working with a bunch of knowledgeable Technicians and IT professionals who all need to ump up their Linux Skills. So here is a typical hour of me giving them Linux pointers and advice in our chat room.
Sometimes working with computers feels like this. BTW do not enter the Russian Roulette command
(09:50:33 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?14205
(09:51:12 AM) Dan: http://bash.org/?622896
(09:51:27 AM) Dan: http://bash.org/?877430
(09:51:31 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?87517
(09:55:22 AM) Joe: I keep forgetting I am supposed to be coaxing you guys into learning about linux
(09:55:44 AM) Joe: Please, partake in this factual accuracy about Gentoo Linux: http://bash.org/?464385
(09:57:25 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?673372
(09:58:15 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?667626
(10:06:08 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?233331
(10:06:26 AM) Joe: seriously time “uptime” in a linux command prompt – http://bash.org/?741630
(10:08:18 AM) Joe: The command prompt has a number variables it keeps track of behind the scene, they all start with $ and $ random is one of them
(10:08:59 AM) Joe: $RANDOM will generate a random integer usually between 0 and the largest valid size of an tint on your system
(10:09:21 AM) Joe: so on a 32 bit machine it will return a number between 0 and 2^32
(10:10:02 AM) Joe: we can see this used with the modules “%” to return a number between 0 and 5 here: http://bash.org/?96164
(10:10:41 AM) Joe: Yes that command works
(10:10:50 AM) Dan: what is the -rf ?
(10:23:41 AM) Joe: the -f means if you would ask me if I am sure instead just rm the file
(10:24:12 AM) Joe: the -r means recursive delete everything inside of things in this folder
(10:27:04 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?34315
Unknown command.
(10:27:58 AM) Joe: /etc is where all the configuration files are stored, kind of like the registry in windows, but it can all be worked with a regular text editor
(10:28:13 AM) Joe: /root is for root, the admin user to store files and stuff
(10:28:45 AM) Joe: /home is the same as the vista c:\users or the xp c:\documents and settings
(10:29:17 AM) Joe: that is proper syntax for the shutdown command
(10:31:06 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?253947
Unknown command.
(10:34:48 AM) Joe: /usr is where software the End user of a system is supposed to go
(10:35:04 AM) Joe: /usr/src is where all the source code for the system goes
(10:35:07 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?7748
(10:35:43 AM) Dan: LOL
(10:37:00 AM) Joe: http://bash.org/?687845 – “lspci -vv” will tell this guy his answer
(10:40:31 AM) Joe: another one of complete factual accuracy http://bash.org/?849884
(10:40:49 AM) McD left the room.
(10:49:13 AM) Dan: hehehe
(10:49:21 AM) Dan: thus the creation of bash.org
(10:50:55 AM) McD entered the room.
(10:50:55 AM) mode (+v McD) by Dan
(10:51:28 AM) Joe: Linux is just a kernel (drivers and stuff), GNU adds all the commands and utilities (ls, the command line a login system etc…), then there are two major desktop environments(menus and buttons and GUI stuff) KDE and Gnome, the people who made these named much of their software starting with either k o a g http://bash.org/?639564
(10:51:37 AM) Joe: k or gI got paid to be part of this nonsense. I got paid well to be part of this. My life is so much better than it was a month ago.
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I actually blocked uploads for the image contest
Posted on September 2nd, 2009 No commentsI have finally disabled uploads for the agencynil contest. If anyone cares I have taken the source code which is simple, and only slightly sloppy, added a GPL license, and stuffed it in an archive, and named it uqloader short for sQeaky’s uploader
. Don’t try to use it if you any kind of comprehensive solution. However, if you want to learn about writing proper PHP, security checks and basic data management, this code is the best I could assemble in 6 hours.
GPL and Pedestrians
Either way, enjoy.
For those who don’t know about source code and GPL licensing, here is the best I can do in a few paragraphs:
Source code is to software as blueprints are to a building. They are the instructions a computer performs when they run a program. I feel it is very important to keep as much source code as possible open and available to as many people as possible as opposed to hidden and secret. If it is open and readily available, others can point out flaws and bugs making it harder for virus writers and hackers. Being open also makes it easier to insure that the end user keeps control of technology they have purchased. It is all too easy for a big company (or anyone for that matter) to make system that does something in secret while claiming to do another. Keeping software open also allows for a software project to continue if there are non-technical reasons for its failure. The GPL is a license for guaranteeing software stays open.
For example: windows is a closed source Operating System. If Redmond Washington were hit by a meteor, swallowed in and earthquake, bombed by a terrorist, or whatever that thoroughly takes them out it would be a big deal. Since no one really has the full picture on what is going on inside, the impact to everyone using windows would be drastic. There may be some source code floating about and maybe even the ability to assemble that into a working OS, but no experts like the people who made it exist, and making new experts takes time. Security updates would be slowed if not stopped, new features, simply wouldn’t happen. That alone would cause the loss of billions of dollars to various business. I am not saying it going to happen, but there is a single point of failure for most PCs that their owners have no control over.
Now, think about all the closed source software (most software you walk into a store and buy) that you rely on. For some that list is small, but for most people, definitely all office workers that list is pretty big. Who made your OS, the drivers for your hardware, the software you need to get your job done (What about the software on your phone)? What would happen if the people who made that software had financial difficulties and slipped something in that disabled it unless you paid more money. Sounds like extortion, but a court battle won’t save you from losing business now.
I do not want to sound off the deep end crazy, but I simply don’t trust microsoft or many other large software companies. They have done nothing to earn my trust and have numerous questionable business practices ranging from dubious to flagrantly illegal. I will not use their software because I don’t want them to do something to me. You do what you want, but just because the list of big business screwing around with closed source software is small, doesn’t mean it won’t or hasn’t happened. Check out the Sony Rootkit Fiasco if you think it has never happened.
Anyway, I think keeping software open and freely accessible is really important. If you want to learn more about it check out sites like Osalt who track open counterparts to closed systems, you may also want to check out Firefox, Ubuntu, and Open Office. Have a good one, and sorry about the dire tone of this post, but that is how I get on these kinds of posts.
Translator
AssuredTS.com/toppij and Associated Postings by Joseph Toppi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.assuredts.com/toppij. © 2009 Joseph Toppi