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On Sabbatical Until December

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
Administrator
At the earliest. Oh, I'll probably check in now and then ....

I've got a bunch of stuff going on over the next few months:

* I have a certification called "Security+" (I'm a computer tech IRL). That cert expires in November. The easiest way to renew this and be "perpetually" certified is to get a higher level certification, called "CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner." I need to do a lot of studying for this, especially because my employer will only pay for the cert if I pass. It's $402. I darn well better pass.
* We're going to start doing Saturday overtime again where I work. I try to take as many of these OT days as possible. I can use the money!
* Something else job-related is possibly coming up. I can't post about it, but it means more work for me, at least for a couple months.
* My wife is now taking graduate school classes after a 15 or so year hiatus. I get to entertain the kidlet while she does homework. That's easy, but it does take time.

Anyhow, I've already told all the "staff" here. If you need to reach me, please e-mail me (thesaxinfo at gmail.com).
 
I'm back. Well, I've actually peeked in on a couple occasions while I was taking a break from studying.

I passed my certification exam today! It's done as pass/fail, so I don't know the exact score. A passing grade is 80% or higher, tho.

I also became a grandfather for the second time last week, so it's been a little hectic around here.
 
I probably could use that test in my resume, being in IT myself. Congrats for passing! Congrats on the Grandchild!!!
 
Great news Pete. This answers the question I asked elsewhere. ;)
 
I'm back. Well, I've actually peeked in on a couple occasions while I was taking a break from studying.

I passed my certification exam today! It's done as pass/fail, so I don't know the exact score. A passing grade is 80% or higher, tho.

I also became a grandfather for the second time last week, so it's been a little hectic around here.

Congratulations on becoming a grandfather a second time. I can't help thinking that if you have a granddaughter, the name Brassica has a nice family ring to it...

Chris
 
IIRC, when one of my daughters was born, and back when I owned saxpics.com, Kim P., the SOTW admin, named her "littlepics" or something like that, which is pretty nice.

IIRC, 6lbs and many ounces. 19 inches. I have the data on my phone, but it's in the other room. A nice head of brown hair. She looks like a decent cross between both my daughters when they were newborns. I'm looking at a newborn pic and realize she's got a blue cap on. Hmmm. Hope the folks at the hospital didn't get confused! (I'd assume my daughter would have noticed before she brought kidlet home.) Name is "Skylarr." I think the name's nice enough, but I don't care for the non-traditional spelling. Really didn't fuss too much for the 2ish hours when we were visiting. My grandson (4 years) says he wants another one. I'd rather my daughter wait until she's 30.

==========

CompTIA, which is the company behind the CASP, has you sign a non-disclosure agreement, so I have to be a bit vague and essentially repeat what's on their website: it was an interesting exam because it asks you to actually do stuff, like configure a network. However, that wasn't the majority of the test. I also recommend brushing up on your Linux skills. I think it was a bit easier for me, too, because I had taken (and passed) the Security+ cert. I also had some practical experience doing some of the things the questions asked.

Oh. Building networks, knowing which thing works at what level of the OSI model, etc., are recommended. Memorize your standard ports, like all the ones listed here.

It's 80 questions, pass/fail, but you need 80% to pass. Kicker: some of those 80 questions don't count. It's not currently adaptive, like the newer A+ exams and Microsoft certs. (An adaptive exam asks you questions until you pass or the exam runs out of questions, but you can't go back and check your answers.) It's a 2hr, 20min test -- I think -- and I used most of it, mainly for double-checking and to make sure I got one of the simulation questions right.

Cybrary.it has a very nice free CASP video series. professormesser.com has an excellent free Security+ video series. The David L. Prowse mammoth Security+ book, which I didn't know existed until after my exams, could probably take you through both Security+ AND CASP and then some. If there's anything by Mark Minasi, get that, too. You could look at the books from CompTIA, but they really aren't that comprehensive.

The nice thing about taking the CASP is that it "renews" all your other CompTIA certs forever and the CASP for 3 years. I was grandfathered in (puns always intended) for my A+ DOS/Windows and Mac certifications, so I didn't even know that you have to either re-take your CompTIA cert(s) or take a higher level cert every three years until I got an e-mail from CompTIA saying that my Security+ cert was expiring, so I had to switch from studying for a Linux+ cert to studying for CASP.

$400, but there are generally coupon codes online for 10-20% off.
 
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