Is that for real? Looks like a torture device. It could be the best keyboard in the world but I don't think you could get many people to try it.

Is that for real?

It's a photo of my desk.

Looks like a torture device.

In the beginning, definitely. It takes a few weeks to get up to full speed on this thing. Feels like learning to type all over again.
After that it's quite handy for the more weird key combinations you previously had to look for. All right at your fingertips.

It could be the best keyboard in the world but I don't think you could get many people to try it.

Not at the price it sells for anyway, no. (1295 USD) I guess it's aimed at the desperate, who are willing to try anything.

had access to two pay sites that have online pratice tests (one was smartforce.com

Hmm, seems the site has changed/the company was bought or something. It doesn't look like they offer the same services they used to. At least, I can't find any mention of practice exams for sale. They seem to be focused on selling whole courses now.

Any suggestions on a site with practice exams?

It was an entire course. Ricoh signed all their techs up for it I pretty much just used the practice test because the course would have been better used as a sleep aid.

Here is another one that just sells the tests
http://www.cert21.com/CompTIA-exams.html

I didn't try the A+ one on here though.

can anyone comment on how useful / valuable having microsoft certs ie mcse, mcdba , and so forth are?

While it's certainly not a problem to have them, I've encountered many people who were way too proud of having them, and they invariably know next-to-nothing. (I once interviewed a guy who came in for the interview wearing an MCSE lapel pin, had an MCSE binder, and went on and on about how he got his MCSE. That interview alsted the minimum amount of time possible.)

On the other hand, having one can prove that you know more than absolutely nothing and might be able to get you an interview where you might not otherwise have gotten one, especially in a tight job market.

As far as actual knowledge gained from it, regardless of potentially impressing an employer, I'd say that you're better off saving your money.

The point is that hundreds of thousands of people have them, and theyre not going to raise you above the crowd. It's gonna be an employer-by-employer thing as to whether not having one is a drawback.

you're better off saving your money

But if your employer is funding the courses/exam fees, it may be worth it as well.

can anyone comment on how useful / valuable having microsoft certs ie mcse, mcdba , and so forth are?

I would say it depends a lot on the employer and the position you are applying for. Personally I have seen way to many people who aren't qualified to change a light-bulb but have an MCSE, etc. I greatly prefer people who have the ability/desire to learn on their own. There are a variety of activities that you can list on a resume that show that type of drive (open source projects, classes taken at a real university for knowledge after you have a degree, very broad experience outside of your main goals/work history even if it isn't very deep, experience with an obscure OS, etc.) any one of which would mean a lot more to me than a MS cert.

The MCSE may get you past the HR department, but (I would like to hope at least) your real qualifications will be more important to your manager.

-Mike

But if your employer is funding the courses/exam fees, it may be worth it as well.

Possibly, but watch for attached conditions (commitments to carry on working there for N years or pay them back the course costs).

Peter

True, that would be pretty bad. But my father's business will be hiring an IT guy soon, and they will be training that person. I have no desire to be that person, though. These people are nuts.

Well, I passed my exams (two shots at the OS test), so I am now A+ Certified. It may not be much, but I'm happy with myself for studying up enough to pass this ridiculous "test" of knowledge.

I just wanted to say one thing: Apparently I'm not allowed to speak about the content of the exam, however anyone who looks at the prep books and practice exams will realize that, for some reason, CompTIA appears to be obsessed with the parallel port. I don't know why, but they appear to have a love for it that I cannot comprehend, for there has been at least two questions about parallel ports on every practice exam that I have taken. They must have cried when the USB printer was invented.

Anyway, I'm glad that's over. Now if I could only remember the IRQ and IO address of COM ports 1 and 3....

Congrats. Now you never have to think about it again .

Ah, keyboards that are built the way the God indended them to be ... Thanks for the link! I am down to my last original IBM, and I managed to break one of its 'legs' used to tilt it slightly. The only drawback is that clicking annoys my roommate at work.

No problem. It's always nice to bump into some one who knows The Way.

I have found that most of the Microsoft certificates are pretty useless and easily crammed so the vast majority of MCSEs out there are those who took all the tests in a two week "boot camp" where no-one can fail.
It used to be that if you saw a MCNE (Novell) then they really HAD to know thier stuff to get past the 14 exams needed to pass, but I think Novell may have allowed it to dilute recently.
My favorite exam was the CompTIA Project+ (Gartner Project), the questions were all multi choice where all the choices were correct, you had to choose the MOST correct!! That really does sort the men from the boys.

Yeah, CNEs were usually pretty good, but anyone with only a CNA was a ... well ... chode, and they were as ubiquitous as MCSEs are these days. And they were all proud to show off their lack of knowledge at the drop of a hat.

Bitt, I have to say, I'm proud of my certification. But only for the reason that I got through a ridiculous exam with useless/dumb questions that required the knowledge of stupid, useless facts....I guess college did help me!

But in all seriousness, I probably learned more from the book I chose. I tuned out some of the more useless info, but it was pretty informative, since it focused on imparting real knowledge with a sub-goal of exam preparation. Plus, it was the only book available written after 2002, so I got info on Athlons, WinXP, and other more recent things, in addition to all the valuable knowledge about Windows 95 and 3.x

Granted, I knew a lot of the stuff already, but I'm glad I have something for my troubles...and my money...

So, thanks Matt!