I got this email from Google this morning. I hate how Google tries to force most of it’s services on you by being annoying. Can anyone say Malware? Anyways I awoke to find this email in my inbox this morning.

Important notice: Google Apps browser support

Dear Google Apps admin,​

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010.  After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.  We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience.  We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,
The Google Apps team

Email preferences: You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google Apps product or account.

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

I almost forgot that that I was published online a while ago. I wanted to keep a backup of this just in case I ever needed to refer to it again in the future.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised I won out of all those contestants.

Search Networking Published Paper

I was able to pass all my network certification exams with flying colors by doing the following:
First, research which books are good. I find that you have to buy more than one because some authors explain certain ideas and topics better than others; some books hardly touch on subjects that are crucial to the exams.

Play, play and play some more with the technology you are studying. If you are going after your A+ or Network + and you don’t have the technology to play with, understanding key concepts is going to be difficult. Now that a lot of the enterprise devices have made it to consumer goods, I recommend installing the software trials. Like anything, you must spend money to get money.

Try and stay up to date with technology and understand what the acronyms mean. If you don’t love what you are doing this will be very hard. With so many acronyms out there, it is much easier to remember what they mean if you understand what they stand for. Even if you can’t remember what the acronym does, you can normally understand what it might do. For example, someone new to networking might not know the meaning of DNS or DHCP. Once they know that these acronyms stand for Domain Name Service and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, they are that one step closer not only to acing the exams but to keeping that info with them on the job site, which is really the most important test.

Although many people use exam questions that they find on the Internet, I do not recommend it. Trying to memorize these questions will only frustrate you because exam questions change regularly. In the end, you will finish the exam much faster if you just know how to work out the questions.

The one tip that I learned at a very early age is to make flash cards. Flash cards are great. If you make them yourself, you are studying them at the same time. Try and get a friend or family member to help you with the cards. Also, try to randomize the cards, because it’s amazing how well the human brain remembers patterns.

My last piece of advice for you is to create questions that you think may be featured in the exam and practice them. If you are not sure, look at the questions in a text book. Are there areas they didn’t ask questions on? Do you know how to repeat the steps blindfolded? How do you set up “X” service? If you don’t know, go back and try and learn it again.

To sum up, certification is a lot of work and you must be willing to take it on. Many shortcuts are available, but people who take shortcuts hardly ever get anywhere. Work with the products and you will be