My new CCIE, CCVP, Unified Communication blog!

Here is my new blog to document my life, struggle, studies and just about anything in my pursuit to become a better than yesterday…my pursuit to CCIE, CCVP, Unified Communication and other interesting technology…

carlproject.com

The Academy – Video Tutorials of Most Popular Security Technologies

Found this very interesting site of different video tutorials and presentations of some of the most popular security technologies in the market. It helps the Information Security community to educate and learn these technologies. And just recently received a mail, after joining (it’s free!), from Peter Giannoulis (the person behind this effort, thanks Peter!) that ISC2 would consider the video tutorials to earn additional CPE’s for CISSP’s and I supposed SSCP’s as well.

You can visit the site at http://www.theacademy.ca

2006-2007 TCPMag.com Internetworking Salary Survey

Found this latest update from TCP Magazine:

Reference: http://tcpmag.com/salarysurveys/

2008 Global Knowledge Salary Report

Found this interesting report via www.packetlife.net

Average Salaries of Popular Certifications

101,695 – PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)

101,103 – PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

95,415 – ITIL v2 – Foundations

94,018 – (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

93,500 – Cisco CCIE Routing & Switching

88,824 – Cisco CCVP

86,600 – ITIL v3 – ITIL Master

84,522 – MCSD – Microsoft Certified Solution Developer

84,161 – Cisco CCNP

83,692 – Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)

more…. http://packetlife.net/static/files/2008-global-knowledge-salary-report.pdf

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10 Tech Certifications that Actually Mean Something

There are hundreds of tech certifications out there, so how do you know which ones really provide a measure of your knowledge and skills? And which ones will really help you get a job or promotion? Here’s a look at 10 of the technical certifications that offer value in today’s IT job market.

1. Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) or Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) (formerly MCSE)
2. Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA)
3. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
4. Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
5. GIAC Security Expert (GSE)
6. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
7. Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP)
8. Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)
9. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
10. Certifications for Special Situations (including VoIP)

Also from the reference below you can find the sala

Reference: http://packetlife.net/static/files/2008-global-knowledge-salary-report.pdf

A Certified Fraud Examiner – Responsible For The Discovery of The WorldCom Fraud

Found this informative article from Fraud Magazine, on how Cynthia Copper, a CFE and CISA, discovered the accounting fraud in then WorldCom.

Article by By Dick Carozza, Fraud Magazine

Cynthia Cooper just wanted to live a quiet life working for the pride of Mississippi – WorldCom. But as vice president of internal audit she discovered some suspicious entries in the company’s books. Her tenacious investigations uncovered the largest fraud in corporate history.

“Don’t ever allow yourself to be intimidated,” Patsy Ferrell would say to her young daughter, Cynthia, after a grade-school bullying incident. Cynthia remembered that exhortation years later when she discovered fraud of huge proportions at WorldCom. Faced with the decision of vigorously investigating suspicious transactions or looking away, she did the honorable thing and pursued the crimes to the end – but not without months of trepidation, a queasy stomach, and shaking hands. “In many ways, this story is about human nature, about people and choices,” writes Cynthia in the epilogue of her new book, “Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower.” (See excerpt beginning on page 32.) “It shows how power and money can change people, and how easy it is to rationalize, give in to fear, and cave under pressure and intimidation.

It speaks of the importance of living a life of integrity and making decisions we can look back on without regret. It illuminates the value of developing strong boundaries, keeping our paths straight, and guarding against the temptations and trappings of material success.”

In 1994, Cynthia landed a job in internal audit at WorldCom – then known as LDDS – in Jackson, Miss. When the company moved to her hometown of Clinton, Miss., population 23,000, she thought she would settle into a comfortable niche, surrounded by her husband, children, extended family, and lifelong friends. But her nightmare started in the summer of 2002 when, as the vice president of internal audit, she grew increasingly suspicious of some accounting entries. “The more we investigated, the stranger the reactions from some of our colleagues became,” she writes. “No one would give us a straight answer.” Cynthia tells her story to Fraud Magazine from her home in Jackson. Read more…

Reference: http://www.fraud-magazine.com/FeatureArticle.aspx

To learn more on how to become a Certified Fraud Examiner – CFE, check this: http://www.acfe.com/home.asp

How to Become a Star at Work

by Robin Sharma

The only way you will ever truly succeed in this new knowledge-based economy is to become a star at work, that is, an individual who stands far above the crowd and one who is totally unique in a world where most people are trying to be more alike. The moment you make a deep commitment to becoming a star at work and burning all your bridges to the person that you once were, your life will change in an unmistakable way. The day you decide to start acting like the person you were destined to become is the day that you begin to tap into the wellspring of human talents that will lead you to your own form of personal greatness. These are not the simple musings of yet another professional thinker spouting hackneyed euphemisms in the hope that one day someone will take note. These are the hard, cold facts of life – and they have been so for hundreds of years. And to deny them and continue living a life of complacency is to abandon your duty to do something special with your life. As Ashley Montagu observed: “The deepest personal defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has in fact become.”

To become a star at work and to start seizing some of the matchless opportunities that are out there in what I believe to be the most exciting time in the history of humanity, you first need to make the decision to raise the standards that you will work and live by. Commit to living by a benchmark far higher than anyone would have the right to expect from you. Take a good hard look at the way you spend your days and ask yourself whether your agenda reflects your priorities. If there is an incongruity between the activities you invest your energies in and the values you hope to live by, you have a problem and need to make some immediate course corrections. For example, if your goal is to have a meaningful and rewarding work experience but you devote your days spinning your wheels on mundane tasks that never advance your professional goals, you need to do refocus yourself on the things that truly count. If a rich and happy family experience is high on your list of life priorities but you have not been to your son’s soccer game in a year and you cannot remember the last time you sat down to do homework with your daughter, you need to sharpen your pencil and rework your schedule. The facts never lie and the activities of your schedule will ultimately reflect the quality of your life.

The next step in becoming a star at work is to dedicate yourself to becoming “a person of action”. In life there are three types of people. First are those that make things happen. Second are those that watch things happen. And third are those people who wake up one day, at then end of their lives, and ask “What Happened?” Today, make a firm decision to join the first group – the group of human beings who have decided that life is a gift and every day is a new opportunity to learn, grow and contribute. As you go through this day, look for opportunities to bring a sense of excellence and mastery to your work. What little thing could you do over the next few hours to build relationships at work or make your clients say “Wow?” What mental attitudes could you adopt to reframe what is negative into positive and rekindle that enthusiasm that you had when you were just a kid? What simple gestures of decency could you do to show your teammates that you care and are committed to showing leadership in a world where real leaders are few and far between? As I wrote in my latest book “Who Will Cry When You Die?”: “the smallest of actions is always better than the noblest intentions,” and today is your chance to make a difference. “There’s nothing really difficult if only you begin. Some people contemplate a task until it looms so big it seems impossible but I just begin and it gets done somehow. There would be no coral islands if the first bug sat down and began to wonder how the job was to be done,” noted John Shaw Billings.

Here are seven more things you can do over the next 10 days to become a star at work:

1. Take your hero to lunch. Find someone who has created the kind of professional and personal life that you want and have the courage to take them out to lunch. If there is an author you admire and she lives in your city, pick up the phone and ask for a meeting. If you just read an inspiring article about someone who had turned adversity into advantage and you know you can learn from him, send out an e-mail and open up the lines of communication. In this new knowledge economy, the person who learns the most wins. Learn from heroes.
2. Set “learning goals.” Most wise performers on the playing field of business set career, financial and personal goals but few set specific learning goals. For this year, I have set clear objectives as to how many books I will read, how many seminars I will attend and how many personal growth retreats I will visit. I also try and set a daily learning quota of three new things every day to keep me stimulated and excited about my work as a professional speaker and leadership coach.
3. Become indispensable. While working at a major league legal firm after I had completed law school, I asked one of the senior partners what one had to do in order to become successful at this firm. His response has never left me and has been exceedingly helpful. “Robin,” he said, “the real secret of success is to be so good at what you do that this firm will not be able to run without you. Be so good at what you do that you are the first person that we all think of when we need advice. Be so good at what you do that you become indispensable. Then your success will be assured.” So my challenge to your is this: pick your best three talents – 3 core competencies that you have that truly make you special – and then commit to refining them over the coming twelve months until they set you apart from the crowd. Make a personal vow that you will become so good at your professional craft that you become indispensable to your team and to your organization as a whole. Then watch your career soar.
4. Make time to think. It is a strange paradox of the frenzied age that we live in that we have become so busy that we do not even have time to think about the things that we are so busy about. We spend our days on projects that need to get done and in meetings that need to be attended. We spend our evenings with people we need to meet and doing activities that need to be completed. But let me ask you? When was the last time you went for a solitary walk in the woods and deeply reflected on the way you are working and living? When was the last time you took a few hours to gain some real clarity into where you want to be professional and personally five years from now? Henry David Thoreau said: “It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is what are you so busy with?” Carve out at least one hour every week for some serious reflection, introspection and self-examination so that you will keep learning from your weeks.
5. Start a reading group at work. If you want to be a leader, you must first become a reader. Knowing how to read and not doing so puts you in precisely the same position as someone who cannot read. We live in an age where ideas – not bricks and mortar – are the currency of success. One idea, well executed, can transform your team, your culture and your entire organization. One idea, read in a single book, can reshape your thinking processes, transform your character or renew your health. Here’s the thing: you just don’t know which book contains that one idea that will revolutionize your life. But believe me, it is out there. And it is waiting for you. Read daily and ensure those around you to do the same. The company that learns together stays together.
6. Look like a star. Get serious about physical mastery. Commit to being in peak shape so you increase your energy levels and enhance your stamina. Rekindle that healthy glow that comes from running or swimming or going for a brisk walk at lunch. And make the time to dress and conduct yourself in a way that conveys your commitment to excellence, not only in business but in life.
7. Think contribution. We all have a deep human hunger to be a part of something larger than ourselves. We all carry within us a core craving to do something important in our work lives and know that, at the end of the day, our energies have been invested in activities that have added value to the world and made a difference in people’s lives. Begin to see the higher meaning of the work that you are doing and stay focused on adding value to others. As the 13th Century philosopher Rumi said: “When you are dead, seek for your resting place not in the earth but in the hearts of men.”

Reference: http://content.monster.ca/11032_en-CA_p1.asp

12 Rules for a Hero’s Destiny

by Arupa Tesolin, Intuita

1. Any concept imperfectly created will be limited by the magnitude of its imperfection.

2. A vision born in the heart and beheld with clarity in the mind must, in obedience to the law of creation, be created in the world of form.

3. If you can create without doubt, you are no doubt a creator.

4. If you see the glass is half-empty, you are seeing the circumstance not the dream. To transcend the circumstance you must see what’s not there.

5. True commitment begins when we can reach the point of not knowing how we can possibly go on and decide to do it anyway.

6. To set a goal is to limit infinity.

7. When you are tested ask why. What purpose does it serve? What am I learning here? Sometimes an apparent setback or disappointment serves the greater purpose of galvanizing desire or birthing a greater success.

8. Act as though you already are who you want to be, are already doing what you want to do, and already have what you want to have.

9. Money isn’t everything. It’s a resource, one of many. All resources to support you come from but one source – your infinity.

10. Decide what you need and ask for it. Imagine your every request being fulfilled.

11. Give your best to every client, whether small or large. You never know to whom you are offering your gifts. If you did, you’d be humbled.

12. Perfection is REAL. Be perfect in the quality of your beingness. Offer yourself as it’s devoted servant. Become the hero of your life.

Reference: http://assessment.monster.ca/8189_en-CA_p1.asp