30 replies to this topic

[ciardha]

Here's a random question that even my computer programming relatives noticed for years but none of us have an certain answer- why do pages and images load faster if you scroll the mouse over (without pressing any of the mouse buttons) it as it's loading? I've even noticed if you pick a certain image on a page when multiple images are loading and if you scroll the mouse over that image, it will put more focus on loading that image. Also if you are having difficulty getting an image to load fully, if you refresh the page and scroll the mouse over the part of the page where it stalled it will finish loading the image.

My relatives and I have noticed this since we first went to the graphic heavy world wide web in the mid 1990's and it's still true today (I still do it regularly on my computers I know), even the IT people at work are stumped by this. We've thrown out speculations, but is there a real technical answer?

[racerxdsr]

Didn't know that Cisco uses a GUI now. I'm learning how to program the basic things right now via CLI. HAHAHA

All the Network Admins I know use CLI or the Command line. It has more features and more powerful. In addition to knowing the commands for CISCO IOS I suggest you make sure you understand all the Network Layers and protocols. Sometimes you have to run sniffers and be able to troubleshoot down to the network layer.

I understand enough to be dangerous but its not my area of expertise.

Jo I also understand you are Filipino, I am also and I train and deal with a team from Manila from time to time LOL.

Good luck, try for the CCIE they command 6 figure salaries.

Regards

[racerxdsr]

The A+ exam is considered the "base" certification at my office. It's the "how do I build a PC from the ground up?" cert, with basic troubleshooting like "create a batch file" and "schedule a chkdsk" thrown in for good measure. It's also one of the cheaper certifications (Microsoft and Cisco will charge you $$$$$) and shows you're fairly serious about entry level IT work. The pass rate is approximately 30% on the first try, so you do need to study for it!

Once you have A+, and have gotten hired at an IT shop, they will sometimes comp you for the more expensive ones. My office comps up to MSCE, which is $3,000. Half the folks in my master's program are getting a free ride from their places of business, because the degree looks so darn good to their clients!

A+ is an okay start for getting your foot in the door but for the most part showing a Security+ Cert and or a VMware Cert is gonna get you noticed. Everything is Security focused now and VMware is becoming more and more common in the corporate world. Learning how to build a computer you can do as well but the money is in Security and Virtualization. If you get a helpdesk job in IT you will not be using your A+ Cert. It all depends on what type of company you find a job. I started as Consultant for a company and traveled to customer locations and did work anywhere from building servers to network administration.

Don't get me wrong A+ is great but I started with a Unix Cert and ended up a Windows Admin. My Unix Cert and my Windows Experience got me in the door and that is what you need to do first. The training will come as you work but you need to get in first. I suggested Security + and Vmware b/c that is what is hot right now and it will set you apart from others who only concentrate on the OS portion. The OS you can learn on the job but you have to get the job first and then sell yourself and the training will come. I am speaking from experience and as a person who might interview you if you applied for a position in my department. It is very competitive and its hard to break into the upper positions without help. As far as costs for tests? They average about $200 per test now, not including what you might spend in study materials free or used.

Good Luck

[James S Cassidy]

Windows has actually caught up with Macs in terms of graphics these days. But Mac is still preferred among the art set because it's easier to use and it just works, whereas with Windows you have to know how to install a decent video card

I'm....going to polity disagree with that. From experience there is always a difference being "creating" and "rendering." Windows from my point of view has a hard time with the "creating" part. Oh it can render it just fine, but it doesn't like to create as smoothly as you might want it to. However, Windows are more...I am not going to say dumbed down, but a better term would be "simple." Which is not really a bad thing because it makes people who are not into it as much able to do most things with ease.

So it is a preference really.

For really, really high end applications, like CG rendering, you'll want a pretty beefy Windows sytem as a desktop, because you can get the same horsepower from a Windows system that costs a thousand dollars that Apple will charge you $2,000 for.

I'd still prefer Macs for reliability. There is a good reason why Macs are more expensive. I don't really need it for creating 3-D images, otherwise I'll just go to my Mac. I just need something to take video and maybe edit it with effects. I could do it on the Mac, but I am using that for business...this one is for pleasure and my own side projects.

You didn't really answer my question though. What Operating System should I run? Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, something else Windows. It's not a hardware problem, it's a software.

I am not so good with Windows even though I had one most my life. Problem is, my Vista keep crashing and can't even run my old XP programs. At least not without hours of headaches. So, will Windows 7 provide me with what I need? Or is it going to be another big headache and waste of money for me.

[racerxdsr]

You didn't really answer my question though. What Operating System should I run? Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, something else Windows. It's not a hardware problem, it's a software.

I am not so good with Windows even though I had one most my life. Problem is, my Vista keep crashing and can't even run my old XP programs. At least not without hours of headaches. So, will Windows 7 provide me with what I need? Or is it going to be another big headache and waste of money for me.

I thought the MACs did that stuff really well. Windows was more for the business applications such as DBs and Office Products.

I haven't used Windows 7 for Movies but I hear good things. Windows & is supposed to be more stable than Vista. The guys I know who did all that stuff used Adobe for their photos and video on Windows OSes. It comes down to what software you use to do your editing and publishing.

Hope that helps.

[James S Cassidy]

I thought the MACs did that stuff really well. Windows was more for the business applications such as DBs and Office Products.

I haven't used Windows 7 for Movies but I hear good things. Windows & is supposed to be more stable than Vista. The guys I know who did all that stuff used Adobe for their photos and video on Windows OSes. It comes down to what software you use to do your editing and publishing.

Hope that helps.

That's helps thanks.

I would do it on a Mac, but it's not really mine. I could make ANYTHING on the Mac, but the biggest issue is money. I don't have that good of a budget to spend thousands of dollars on that fine hardware and software. That's the saddest part.

However, as they say true talent is not in the best tools, but what one can do with the tools that are available to him. That plus the fact that Macs are not so good as gaming computers which I need a gaming computer to do what I need it to do. Windows is better at that than Mac is. And I am not even going to touch Alienware. ><

[Catwho]

Didn't know that Cisco uses a GUI now. I'm learning how to program the basic things right now via CLI. HAHAHA

Yeah the office I work for uses Cisco Only for all the routers, wireless access points, and other networking bits.

There are hazards to IT no one tells you about. One time I had to replace a jerry-rigged patch cable with a proper custom 30 foot one because the 14 foot we had tried to use was too short to reach from the new server to the network rack... So I had to stand on a really wobbly chair since the router the cable went to was, for whatever reason, on the very top row of the six foot rack. After I got it plugged in, I nearly fell off the chair and bashed my head.

Edited by Catwho, 25 April 2012 - 11:23 PM.

[JoHamSandwich]

All the Network Admins I know use CLI or the Command line. It has more features and more powerful. In addition to knowing the commands for CISCO IOS I suggest you make sure you understand all the Network Layers and protocols. Sometimes you have to run sniffers and be able to troubleshoot down to the network layer.

I understand enough to be dangerous but its not my area of expertise.

Jo I also understand you are Filipino, I am also and I train and deal with a team from Manila from time to time LOL.

Good luck, try for the CCIE they command 6 figure salaries.

Regards

Yea, I'm familiar with the basic protocols right now, I'm finishing up Class 2 of 4 for CCNA. I'm thinking of doing CCNP after I get certified for CCNA, then hoping CCIE after I get a decent job.

[Catwho]

Ah, as for Windows OSes, you do not want anything but Windows 7. XP is no longer for sale and will be retired in 2014, Vista was a joke from the very beginning, but Windows 7 is probably the smoothest, cleanest OS they've come up with to date. It just works in a way that Vista doesn't, and it does things that XP cannot do.

Windows 8 will be released in a few months, but honestly, it's just Windows 7 with tablet features tacked on. For a stand alone workstation, you want Win 7.

[The Tax-Man]

That's helps thanks.

I would do it on a Mac, but it's not really mine. I could make ANYTHING on the Mac, but the biggest issue is money. I don't have that good of a budget to spend thousands of dollars on that fine hardware and software. That's the saddest part.

However, as they say true talent is not in the best tools, but what one can do with the tools that are available to him. That plus the fact that Macs are not so good as gaming computers which I need a gaming computer to do what I need it to do. Windows is better at that than Mac is. And I am not even going to touch Alienware. ><

Lol it just kind of pisses me off when you say 'fine'. To my experience, you can throw anything at a decent win7 system and it'll take it just as well as a Mac. So I prefer it, seeing as how a system of the same quality costs as much as $1000 less.

[Catwho]

A+ is an okay start for getting your foot in the door but for the most part showing a Security+ Cert and or a VMware Cert is gonna get you noticed. Everything is Security focused now and VMware is becoming more and more common in the corporate world. Learning how to build a computer you can do as well but the money is in Security and Virtualization. If you get a helpdesk job in IT you will not be using your A+ Cert. It all depends on what type of company you find a job. I started as Consultant for a company and traveled to customer locations and did work anywhere from building servers to network administration.

Don't get me wrong A+ is great but I started with a Unix Cert and ended up a Windows Admin. My Unix Cert and my Windows Experience got me in the door and that is what you need to do first. The training will come as you work but you need to get in first. I suggested Security + and Vmware b/c that is what is hot right now and it will set you apart from others who only concentrate on the OS portion. The OS you can learn on the job but you have to get the job first and then sell yourself and the training will come. I am speaking from experience and as a person who might interview you if you applied for a position in my department. It is very competitive and its hard to break into the upper positions without help. As far as costs for tests? They average about $200 per test now, not including what you might spend in study materials free or used.

Good Luck

The assumption was someone who had no formal IT training wanting to start off. We're a small, all-in-one IT shop, and most of the part timers have no formal tech training. (The full time folks all have at least associate's degrees in networking or something along those lines. I'm the weirdo that got a BA in English and then sort of wandered into IT second hand and is now getting a master's degree in it...) Networking+ and Security+ are probably more worthwhile in the long run, but for someone starting from the ground up, they're probably not the best place to begin.

If nothing else, A+ will permit you to build your own PCs, forever freeing you from the overpriced pre-assembled name brand boxes. My current build was from a $275 kit from NewEgg. Between the minor upgrades I've done so far, I've sunk around $500 into it, but a similar custom build from HP or Dell would have set me back $1500. That alone is worth it if you're a computer geek.