Open Letter to Network World’s John Dix

This just came in from Eman (CCIE Flyer). Looks like some people at NW has a lot of free time ...

In 2007 I was asked to join the SRS Program by the head of Worldwide Channels of Cisco Systems. I had been written several articles that were then rewritten by one of the writers for Network World’s Cisco Subnet. Some might call the type of rewrites done of my articles as plagiarism but I was not really thinking in those terms. I was getting the word out that I was a singly focused recruiter, looking to help CCIEs with their careers. I was at the first Cisco Second Life career fair and my antics there attracted the largest crowd of any of the other companies present that were recruiting Cisco Talent. My avatar owns several guitars and at the career fair I had him playing at my booth. There was dancing and other cool stuff from the crowd there. I was given a robot band by one attendee and several really odd looking avatars joined in and jammed with mine. It was all in great fun and soon the folks at Cisco were thanking me for being a part of this event. I participated in one of the first real career fairs hosted by Cisco in Boston and a part of the new initiative called the SRS (Strategic Recruitment Solutions) program. Because I had already given some of my time to the Cisco Network Academy, the folks in the talent initiative thought I would be a good addition to the effort. I was on the phone constantly with one of the Network World Cisco Subnet contributors and one day while we were talking I shared how I wanted to stay focused on recruiting CCIEs as a focus and he thought it was a great idea. I shared the thought of becoming a career agent instead of simply a recruiter and this also received a positive response and kudos as a great idea.

So my journey began as the CCIE Agent™

I filed for the Trademark rights for the term CCIE Agent™ and threw myself into this completely, like no other decision in my IT Career I decided to apply all my energies into this completely new and original endeavor. Then I left a channel partner to join Bridge Resourcing in London, a big leap for a simple boy from West Dallas, Texas. The folks at Cisco, who manage the SRS initiative, made me a part of the agendas for various Talent Forums around the world doing presentations about CCIEs. My journey took me places I had never even dreamed of going as a recruiter. Athens, Cairo, Zurich, San Jose, London, Brussels, Atlanta, Johannesburg, and Dubai have been locations where we have spread the word about CCIEs.

This activity has blessed me with the chance to present to Cisco Network Academy students giving them the opportunity to ask questions about their career choices and me the opportunity to tell them about the world. This has consistently been the most gratifying part of my journey, helping kids. Then I was called by a network engineer refugee from Iraq. The article I had written about him in the CCIE Flyer had saved his family from slaughter in Lebanon and he wanted to tell me how it had come about. I was blindsided by this news. I had no idea that what I was doing could have that kind of result. Then in January I started CCIEs without Borders/Network Engineers for peace. A concept I had to give free network engineer support to the poorest organizations such as schools and hospitals in troubled or destitute areas. Three dozen CCIEs and Network Engineers from around the world joined and made themselves available to help.

I am not Mother Teresa

No I am not likely to be canonized but the chance to help is magnetic and I have been polarized by the network I am a part of. Yet I do conduct myself positively during these times of turmoil I am an optimist after all. So I have always tried to make sure that those who are in the most need get the most attention. I am limited in my exposure and influence to a community of Network Engineers and Cisco Channel Partners. I cannot fix the problems of our world.
I have become vulnerable in a space on the ether where many people with their own agendas and designs will say and do as they will. Network World Magazine has seen fit to attack my character, my initiatives and my reputation in articles in their Cisco Subnet an area managed by you Mr. John Dix and one of your co-workers Mr. Jeff Caruso. Since you have seen fit to attack me and my work I would like to know why.

Why?

Why do you allow content slanderous to my reputation and then leave it up long enough to draw readers only to pull it down as if it had never been posted? Why without an acknowledgement of its negative and insidious nature without an apology? Why when the lies were proven did you then not respond to my emails about this activity and conduct yourself as if no wrong had ever been perpetrated? Why did Mr. Jeff Caruso email me in 2008 several times telling me he would investigate and get back to me only to stop communicating with me? Why did you yourself Mr. John Dix also promise a response and then also disappear? Is this because Network World and your representatives’ stated goal of causing my business injury is also your goal?
It is my opinion that you are shameless professionals Mr. Dix and Mr. Caruso, with no honor if you can make commitments without keeping them. When others have been slandered on your forum you gauge your response to the harm it has done by readership, rather than social right or wrong.
I await your response to the questions above about why you are allowing attacks on me to ever have been allowed on your forum.

March Madness at CCIE Flyer!

The CCIE Flyer Challenge!

What if you had a chance to get a couple of workbooks that would help you stay sharp or prepare for the CCIE R&S lab? Yup if you could get both Narbik’s Troubleshooting Workbook and the Advanced Routing and Switching 2.0 Workbook would that be a good deal?

FREE?

Oh that would be better, because free is always good. If I also threw in an additional $1,000 discount to any of Micronics’ SP, RS or End-To-End classes that would be even better, right? Well I try to stay on top of what future CCIEs and current CCIEs might want so here’s a great deal for you.

A CONTEST!

You bet, a contest to see who can complete 10 – 15 troubleshooting mock labs is afoot. The window of opportunity for you is a short five (5) days to complete. The first twenty (20) lucky people who do the best on these labs will be awarded both workbooks, Troubleshooting Workbook (written by Narbik and Dan) and the Advanced Routing and Switching 2.0 Workbook written by Narbik. All that plus a $1,000 discount to any one of Micronics’ SP, RS or End-To-End classes, anywhere in the world.

ONLY 20 (TWENTY) LUCKY CONTESTANTS WILL BE AWARDED THESE FABULOUS PRIZES. (I feel like a game show host!)

WHEN?

Next week I will roll out the announcement and the link to the mock labs and you are invited to, “Start your engines” race fans.

The fine print: If you have attended classes from Micronics you only have to pay $1,500 for future training, so don’t be greedy you will not be allowed to use the $1,000 discount offered in this competition against that price.

Cisco Networkers 2010 Bahrain

If you are going to Cisco Networkers 2010 in Bahrain, be sure to meet up with Eman. This just came in from him:-

Cisco Networkers 2010

March 28-31

Bahrain

I am a real fan of Networkers or as Cisco began to call the event, “Cisco Live”. But I received some great news; they are calling it Networkers again. Really, in Bahrain this next month Cisco Networkers is scheduled for March 28 thru 31. These events are worth the pilgrimage many of us make to attend. I have begun my plans for attending Networkers in Bahrain and I hope to see many of you there. If you find me I will give every CCIE a CCIE Flyer wagon and take a photo to use in the CCIE Flyer magazine. I will have to endure great hardships to get there. I will have to leave the warmth of my home crossing the mountains of snow left by two sequential blizzards here in Delaware. Endure the frosty glare of security thugs at the airport and the long flight time having cocktails with strangers. The things I do for you guys; I swear!

A Pilgrimage to remember

My last trip to Networkers er…ah Cisco Live (sorry John) was in 2008. Since I live on the east coast here in the USA I decided I would make the trip all the way to Orlando in my car. That was a fun event and I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to the CCIE Party and the many events and displays. But Networkers is much better for techies to attend. There are labs, training, product demos, opportunities to meet with Cisco experts, design clinics, consultancy for troubleshooting specific scenarios, educational sessions, and many exhibitors providing many more interesting opportunities for network engineers to benefit from the event.

Agenda

Registration

Education

Breakout SessionsIT Insights ProgramTechnical SeminarsLabsCase StudiesTechnology PanelsBirds of a FeatherCisco Career CertificationMeet the EngineerTechnology SolutionsCustomer Advisory CommitteeRecommended Reading ListGreen Initiative

• Agenda
• Why Attend
• Registration
• Education
• World of Solutions
• Service Provider Program
• Content Program
• Cisco Keynote
• Networking Opportunities
• Cisco Live and Networkers Virtual
• Travel and Hotels
• Visas

Education

At Cisco Networkers Bahrain, you'll build the knowledge you need to make a powerful difference in your organization. You'll find answers to your questions on specific technologies and network environments. You'll learn about the emerging trends in technology and communications that will change the way people live and work. You'll gain new insight into how evolving network technologies will affect business strategy. And you can earn the certifications that demonstrate to current and future employers your skill and expertise.

In a challenging economic climate, value is more important than ever. Cisco Networkers Bahrain offers the education you need to make you a more valuable resource in your workplace by making your workplace more efficient and effective.

• Session Catalog

So please mark your calendars and send me a note so I know where to find you!

Bahrain here I come!!!

CCIE Flyer January 2010 Edition

The CCIE Flyer January 2010 edition is out now at http://www.ccieflyer.com. This month, yours truly had the honour of gracing the front cover thanks to Eman, my chief at the CCIE Flyer. I probably should consider being a full time StormTrooper teaching CCNA classes to the young Darth Vader-wannabes ;-)

CCIEs Making History

This just came in from Emmanuel Conde of CCIE Flyer
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EINSTEIN3

CCIEs MAKING HISTORY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_(US-CERT_program)

(Really I don’t Make This Stuff Up!)

I wrote about how dumb I am getting in my old age when I mentioned that kids are helping me along with that degeneration. (called the Eman Effect) You see kids are like little Einsteins today and I discovered that through the “Dumbing Down”, or as they call it “Renormed” IQ scores that are used today. What is commonly known as the “Flynn Effect” proves that over time I am being made dumber!

From Wkipedia; IQ tests are re-normalized periodically, in order to maintain the average score for an age group at 100. In fact, the necessity for this re-normalization provided Flynn with an initial indication that IQ was changing over time. The revised versions are standardized on new samples and scored with respect to those samples alone, so the only way to compare the difficulty of two versions of a test is to conduct a separate study in which the same subjects take both versions.^[3] Doing so confirms IQ gains over time. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect)

If Einstein had taken an IQ test it has been estimated his IQ would have been about 160 and that was in 1920. So according to the Flynn Effect the score of the average child in diapers with an average IQ today is actually as smart as Einstein!

That is why the next generation of Network Engineers is smarter than the first was right out of the starting gate! So it comes to pass that more cool work is being created for these young minds to be challenged by.

Why do I share such tidbits with you?

Because I have this thing about spilling my unrestrained thoughts out to you, that and I was excited to learn about roles supporting what may be the coolest project I have been asked to provide CCIEs for ever. Back in the 90s I was providing IT staff as part of the Human Genome project and those IT guys really were psyched about being a part of the endeavor. Today I was asked to help staff a huge government initiative called Einstein3 with engineers who hold Top Secret/SCI, Homeland Security and Full Scope/Lifestyle Poly clearances.

The Einstein Program is an intrusion detection system that monitors the gateways of US government agencies in the USA. There have been various phases of this program and now we arrive at Einstein3. Talk about your cyber wars and the ether strewn with data carnage! This is cool stuff. I mean, how long would you have to look to find a job where you would literally had a chance to grin all day and do real cool stuff that would make your resume look like Arnold shared steroids with it? As long as it took to call me or shoot me an email actually!

Several companies are asking me to help provide staff for some of the coolest work a CCIE or IT professional could ever find. So if you are a developer, Project Manager, CCIE, IT Security professional or CCIE (I know I said CCIE twice didn’t I?). What are you waiting for shoot me an email eman@ccieflyer.com and let’s tal these roles are piling up with over 80 that I am aware of in and around Washington, DC.

What you need to do is remember kids stay away from drugs, don’t whine, make sure you are Santa Clause worthy, keep your criminal record clear of anything but tickets, and most of all (drum roll please) contact your local CCIE Agent™.

If you take my advice and study real hard in school passing a few Cisco certifications along the way you too can make History. Those folks who get a chance to work in this history making cyber security program will have added to their resumes inclusion into an arena that will push their careers for the foreseeable future. Ok well maybe just until they retire.

[edit] Einstein 3: Version 3.0 of Einstein has been discussed to prevent attacks by "shoot[ing] down an attack before it hits its target".^[24] The NSA is moving forward to begin a program known as “Einstein 3,” which will monitor “government computer traffic on private sector sites,” with AT&T thought of as being the first. The plan, which was devised under the Bush administration, is controversial given the history of the NSA and the warrantless wiretapping scandal. Many DHS officials fear that the program should not move forward, because of “uncertainty about whether private data can be shielded from unauthorized scrutiny.”^[25] Some believe the program will invade the privacy of individuals too much^[26]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_(US-CERT_program)

No longer a passive hardening of sites, Einstein3 is actually charged with going on the offensive. How coo is that? Going out and “Shooting Down” offending sites is part of the goal of Einstein3. Still got your attention huh?!

Let me know if you have any of the important clearances needed to be a part of this awsome program and I will be happy to pull you away from that really boring security role you are in now. Make big bucks and kill stuff now that’s real cool!

Peace!

Network Engineers for Peace

CCIEs without Borders

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2622798&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Information Technology has not always trod upon the glory road. It rose to prominence as companies began to realize that Information Management was eclipsing the paperbound capabilities of their staff. Searching reams of paper to locate a piece of archived data became nearly impossible especially as a cross reference might be needed. So IT/IM became a blessing for companies to streamline and make swift the ability to access data and to create information stores. Slowly, very slowly we the IT folks were beginning to justify our expense to our companies. We were still considered a group of professionals with no cost justification. I recall trying to work through the expenditure matrixes created to purchase furniture and making it relevant to Servers, Wiring Closets and Desktop PC Operating Systems. It was not unusual for a bean counter to ask me to quantify the value of my department. What was it worth to keep the CIO, AP/AR, Secretaries and staff connected to the servers and the applications they needed running? Heck, to me it was a no brainer, I strongly believed, in fact I knew that nothing could get done without IT. One day one of my wiring closets lost a hub and with it went the CIO and President of the company’s ability to send email. Suddenly IT was important and just as suddenly I was given my first real budget.

Fast forward not to today, no, just to the 80s. We started seeing the predecessor to electronic commerce as ATM or Telephone Banking. After ARPANET closed out the end of the 60s holding out no real hope to those of us still in High School like me, but the 70s and 80s started getting me all worked up. PC software was just starting to take hold at least where I was working. I was running mainframes from IBM and Amdahl feeding mountains of paper into printers as I mounted platters and tapes into drives for the Credit Union back in Dallas. Then in the mid-90s the news was out when Yahoo, MSN, Amazon and eBay started drawing hits and Internet traffic eclipsed a quarter of a million.

Just 15 years ago we saw the beginning of a revolution, a revolution of information access. What followed was a new freedom of speech as people began to socialize and exchange even more than just hard facts, but social realities.

The sharing of data propelled the human genome project and is providing information critical in the tracking of pandemics. No longer was the internet’s reputation base upon chat sites and pornographic images. The internet became a vehicle for change a Cadillac driven by many many independent wandering gnomes who were not afraid to cross the borders. Today thousands of URLs are cropping up daily these masses have been given a freedom of speech that are not supported by their own countries laws or actions. So we have arrived at a place in the evolution of the internet where we can intentionally make a difference, not just collaterally as was sometimes the case.

The work done by network engineers and IT professionals all over the world has engineered a nest in the ether like many birds have done for centuries to nestle and bring up their prodigy. We have had woven beneath us a place, safe from laws that are forced upon the masses at borders they cross.

No borders, no reason for war, right? No restrictions on information, no wars right?

There are real places and real things happening outside the virtual space we are so comfortable in. There are remote clinics treating the displaced, treating the sick and treating the victims of HIV/AIDS as well as schools treating the minds of children where books are hard to find. You can make a difference and peace can be the outcome. I ask you to be a network engineer for peace in 2010 as I extend free support to some of these very needy institutions and people making a difference without enough funding. Won’t you join us here in the CCIE Flyer to donate your time to reach across borders to help keep them on-line? I am looking for volunteers and those who may need more experience to add to the resume while making a noble effort to reach out and help others.


I will not use anyone’s information who volunteers for recruiting or other purposes.


Thanks


Peace in 2010!


Eman Conde,
CCIE Flyer

Happy New Year from Narbik Kocharians

Happy New Year people :-). This just came in hot from the oven and it's a New Year message none other from Narbik Kocharians.

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Hi All,

I hope that you all have a peaceful, healthy, and wealthy new year. We saw lots of changes in the routing and switching labs in 2009 and I believe we will see similar changes in the SP, Voice and other tracks as well in 2010.

I would like to assure you all that I will continue teaching the tracks like I have been, I just added more material to what I already have in order to make the learning easier and fun.

I have been extremely busy writing new material, writing material in different tracks, starting my VODs, and God willing soon we will be offering online classes.

I worked with Maurillio Gorito to tech edit the “CCIE Routing and Switching certification Guide Fourth edition”, an excellent book by Wendell, Rus, and Denise for the written exam.

I finished the 2500 page 2.0 advanced CCIE R&S. I've worked on the SP work book with Paul Negron (who has tech edited the previous version of the CCIE R&S cert guide and many other Cisco press books). I've worked on the Security work book with Piotr, an extremely knowledgeable person who happens to also be a Dual CCIE (Soon to be Triple). I have not seen a match when it comes to security.

I've worked on the Troubleshooting labs with Dan Shechter (a Triple CCIE), what a gentleman, this guy knows his stuff. I mean he knows it and he knows it well.

I am still working on the VODs and online training.

Note to mention the fact that I taught 28 boot camps and bunch of custom classes. Sometimes when you are this busy, deadlines are NOT met, and sometimes I completed the book; but when I looked at it, I did not care for it, so I deleted the entire thing and started again. Some of my students are getting upset but I WILL NOT SELL CRAP, QUALITY MUST BE THERE or else I will not sell or put my name on it.

I am also looking into adding other tracks like CCNA (R&S, Security, and Wireless), CCNP, CCVP, and CCSP. But I offer these with world leaders; these are people that rule in this area and have no match. Once negotiations are completed, I will let everyone know who these guys are. If you have done any work in IT, you will know these gentlemen.

Starting end of Jan people who attend my boot camp will see a huge change, I have added around5 hours of additional lecture and I have added the following material to what my students get when they attend my boot camp:

• Foundation – Upon registration, the students will get an E-copy of this work book. This work book will prepare my students for the BOOT CAMP and NOT the actual lab.

• Advanced CCIE R&S 2.0 – This is a 2500 page work book that is technology focused covering every item in the blue print.

• Boot Camp 2.0 – This is a brand new work book that contains mock labs, there is a mock lab for RIPv2, there is a mock lab for Eigrp and so forth. These are tough labs and they convey unbelievable amount of information a MUST have work book.

• Troubleshooting 2.0 – Each student gets 2 eight hour troubleshooting labs. These labs are designed to cover the blueprint. You basically load the initial config file which configures the routers and switches for EtherChannel, Trunks, RIPv2, Eigrp, OSPF, BGP, Redistribution, Security, Multicasting, Ip services, IPv6, and etc…… and once the initial configuration is loaded, you will have 15 tickets to resolve. Unbelievable is all I can say about these labs.

• 360 Program – These are 2 volume work books plus a lab guide.

We have added CCIE Service Provider and Security tracks to our schedule and you can see them on our website as of today; we are planning to offer these tracks on monthly basis soon. Remember once you purchase one of the tracks the other tracks will ONLY cost you $1500 each. For example, if you purchased R&S, the SP will cost you $1500, and if later on you decide to take the security track, it will cost you another $1500, as I have stated before, this certification should NOT cost you an arm and a leg. Remember, just because its $1500, the quality WILL NOT SUFFER.

We have added more racks for our students, and we have made the price affordable, ONLY $450 for the entire month, 24 hours a day for 30 days.

One big favor, when ever you attend a boot camp, no matter who the vendor is, be vocal, write about your experience, what happened, what was your expectation going in, and if they met your expectation. This is the best way to keep us vendors honest, if you liked the boot camp, write about it, if you did not like the boot camp you should also write about it.

Many times people attend these boot camps with vendors that have an excellent reputation and they don’t get what they were promised or they paid few thousand dollars for a week of slide shows, they should write about these vendors every where. People read these posts and they decide where to spend their hard earned money.

Don’t worry I have spoken to the owner of GS and other forums and they have absolutely NO problems with true posting of your experience with any product or boot camp. I get over 10 e-mails about some of the flame/arguments that goes on in some of the forums and blogs, but my new year’s resolution is to IGNORE them all.

I have made guys famous by getting into arguments with them, I am NOT mentioning any names here but this is the way it’s going to be, I will NOT participate in any of these useless and pointless discussions. I know…..I know….I am NOT being nice, but if you know me, you know that I am a straight shooter, I call it exactly the way it is and some have a problem with that, well……… that is their problem and no one else’s.

Teaching has turned into “lecturing”, chalk talks have turned into “Let me get back to you” or “Let’s check the doc-cd” or the instructor purely uses his/her artistic maneuvering to get out of it. O well………..enough of this and that…… I hope this gave you guys an idea of what’s happening in Micronics Training Inc. I hope to see 5 digits next to your names soon.

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So there you have it folks, Narbik Kocharians' New Year 2010 Message. I am very interested how the other vendors will play catch up to this especially IPExpert and Internetwork Expert since I also own both of their products as well. Cheers!

Epilogue of 2009

What a year this has been! Economy turmoil still very much alive and the after effects still felt until this very day, the H1N1 virus rampaging all around the world causing WHO to put the most serious threat level 6 mark on it, earthquakes happening here and there especially in Japan and Taiwan, elusive murderer Ishihashi was finally captured, etc.

I am glad that 2009 will be over pretty soon in a couple of hours to be exact if you are on the GMT +8 timezone. Let's hope that 2010 will bring us good news and better prospects this time. I for once am looking for major positive changes in my life in the year 2010 and that includes my still yet to end journey to the top of the CCIE mountain. Hopefully with help from people like Narbik Kocharians, IPExpert and Internetwork Expert, I may one day see the light at the end of the tunnel (if I managed to focus and stop my nonsense on IM sites ;-)). We'll see ...

With that, I am a much bigger, badder, more focused and an extreme opportunist for the year 2010. The picture above tells it all.

So What's Happening with Narbik Kocharians?

Narbik Kocharians have been pretty quiet nowadays. Just a few posts here and there on GroupStudy and *poof* he disappears using his CCIE jutsu skills. However, I was lucky enough to catch him at the right moment today and brought him back to my lair for questioning. Here is what I have found so far before he managed to 'escape' me again.

Narbik locked himself for the past week or so and he has just finished his 4th troubleshooting lab and the boot camp 2.0 work book for the CCIE R&S track.

He is almost done with the CCIE SP workbook.

He is also almost done with the CCIE Security workbook.

He will finish the OSPF route filtering in the next two days (by this I assume it's the VoD).

I am assured that what he says is NOT I repeat NOT vapourware. He can be a little lagging sometimes in mails/schedules but we all need to remember he is a one-man army. Looks like 2010 is bringing in good stuff to all of us already :-).

Let's hope the other vendors have some juicy details to share with us for 2010 as well!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All :-)

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May our kind friendship continue into the year 2010. Best wishes and lots of love. Sounds cheesy for a StormTrooper? Probably I should just blast anyone who says that with my resin blaster >:-).

I am now starting to get into broadcasting live whenever I have the free time (getting time off from studies/my other tonne of hobbies) and when the mood is right. I will be broadcasting about my life hence the broadcast title "The Way Life Is". If you are interested to see what I have been doing or what life in Kuala Lumpur is really all about instead of relying on edited videos and edited information from the Internet, please feel free to point your browser to http://ustre.am/9Urh. Feel free to follow me on UStream as by doing so, you will get updates to what I have in store next. You are MORE THAN WELCOME to suggest what you would like to see (no nudity or profanity). Just comment on this post or drop me an e-mail. Thanks!

The next live streaming will be on a typical Malaysian Chinese Wedding (lunch) this 26th December 2009 which will be broadcast at 1315/1330hrs (GMT +8).

CCIE Flyer December 2009 Edition

Hot from the oven, CCIE Flyer December 2009 Edition is out! Get it at the usual place, http://www.ccieflyer.com oh and notice the upper right hand corner of the cover page when you visit the site :-).

My CCIE studies have been slowing down partly due to the festive seasons and wife needs some Christmas attention. Speaking of which I gotten myself an Alfa AWUS036H high-powered wireless USB adapter. Now it works perfectly with Linux and it supports packet injection. Now tell me what am I going to do with this? *grins*

CCIE Flyer November 2009 Edition

CCIE Flyer has been out for quite some time at http://www.ccieflyer.com. This month, I did not submit an article partly because I was not pleased with the way I wrote. Well, we'll see what I have in store for December's issue and as a hint, it has something to do with Starwars :P.

Other than that, this month I sidetracked a little from my CCIE studies and did a CISSP training. It was kinda fun to see how ISC2 sees a perfect world with its exam versus real life scenarios. I do hope to pass the CISSP at one point since security is my first love and the very reason why I started on Linux back in 1997. Maybe I should put CISSP as a New Year Resolution for 2010? Choices choices ...