A Certified Nut

Gonna have to replace your eyeballs every 90 days now...

...cause somebody found out a way to hack iris scanners.

Accessing services in Windows

Services are programs that run on Windows machines that run pretty much constantly and don't require user intervention. Bring up calc.exe on your machine and the only way it really works is if you type numbers in. Install Apache Web Server on your machine and Apache will appear in your list of available services and people would be able to reach web pages on your machine.

To view and control services on your Windows machine, do one of the following:

• Go to Start-->Control Panel-->click on "Administrative Tools" and then "Services".
• Go to the Run line-->type in "services.msc".
• Right click "My Computer"-->click on "Manage"-->expand "Services and Applications"-->highlight "Services".

You'll see a list of installed and available services on your computer. They will have one of two possible statuses: "Started" and "Paused". If the service is stopped, that entry will be blank. Mostly you'll see "Started", since not every service can be paused.

Then you'll see the "Startup Type". There will be three types here: Automatic, Manual, Disabled. Then you'll see the account the service is running under. Most of them will be "Local System".

Some power terminology you need to know

The A+ is not a certification for working with high-voltage power, but you will be expected to be familiar with some terms and issues when working with power. Here are a few:

• Power surge-an unexpected increase in the voltage coming through a wire. Power surges can short out cabling and power supplies.
• Power spikes-an unexpected, but shortlived increase in voltage.
• Sags-a temporary drop in voltage.
• Brownouts-a longer drop in voltage.
• Blackouts-a total loss of power.

You'll need to condition the power coming into your machines, meaning you need to remove the spikes and the sags so that there is a nice steady 115-120V stream of power coming in. To do that you'll need a UPS. You can get models made for the desktop, rack-based ones that can be mounted in network racks, and you can get ones that condition the power for your entire data center. Failing that, you can get surge protectors. They won't help you with the conditioning thing or with keeping power flowing, but they can protect your machines from power spikes and surges.

And those network and data center UPSs that I've pointed out? You can imagine that they're quite expensive but you should also know that installing them isn't as simple as plugging it into an electrical outlet. You'll need a certified electrician to come in and route electric power through the UPS. This isn't exactly something that I would call plug-and-play.

A+ acronyms-IR

IR-infrared. A type of wireless protocolthat uses infrared light as the transmission media.

A+ acronyms-IPSEC

IPSEC-internet protocol security. A protocol that allows for encrypted and/or authenticated IP sessions.

A+ acronyms-IP

IP-internet protocol. The primary communication protocol of the internet.

When should you schedule your A+ exam?

I’m with Garfield. I hate Mondays. Not as badly as Garfield hates them, but I don’t like them just the same. I have trouble getting and staying focused; my mind’s not in gear, that sort of thing. Some of you may relate. I like Fridays, but when I think about it closely, I have the same problems on Fridays that I have on Mondays. My mind’s not as focused as it should be, it’s thinking about other things other than the task at hand. Again, some of you may be able to relate. While I can focus on important tasks when I need to, Mondays and Fridays just aren’t as productive as other days during the week, at least for me.

I have problems with mornings, too. The AM just isn’t a good time for me to be really digging into certain projects. I need to put a couple of hours between me and rosy-fingered dawn before the pistons really start to move. After lunch, early afternoon, Tuesday through Thursday, has always been a great time for me to start projects, really delve down into the nitty-gritty of an install or documentation project. All my cylinders are firing and so on, making those days, and that time of day, the best most productive days of the week for me. Some of you may be able to relate.

So when it comes time for me to schedule a certification exam, what time of week and what time of day do you think I should schedule the exam for? What times of the week should I avoid?

Your answers on when you’re most productive are going to be different from mine. Some of you are morning people; some of you love Mondays. This isn’t high school or college anymore where you take exams when the professor tells you to. You can schedule your certification exams almost anytime you want. Make that work for you.

A+ acronyms-IIS

IIS-Internet Information Services. Microsoft's web server application.

A+ acronyms-IEEE

IEEE-Institute of Electricla and Electronics Engineers. A professional organization for electrical engineers. For our purposes, it also serves as a standards body for various technologies, like Firewire, Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

A+ acronyms-IDS

IDS-intrusion detection system. A piece of software or hardware that looks for evidence of hack attempts on a system and sends alerts when it finds that evidence. THere are two basic types-NIDS, network-based IDS and HIDS, host-based IDS. NIDS are devices that sit on the network and examine traffic going across the wire. HIDS is a piece of software on a host that analyzes file contents and sends alerts when it detects unauthorized changes to any file it monitors.