Yahoo partners with Google

Yahoo! Partners with Google

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Yahoo Inc.'s efforts to revive takeover talks with Microsoft Corp. have reached a dead end, prompting the Internet pioneer to hire online search leader Google Inc. to handle some of its advertising sales.

The news disclosed Thursday caused Yahoo shares to plunge 10 percent as investors abandoned hope that Microsoft would renew a nearly five-month quest to buy the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

Although a stock sell-off is never welcome news for any company, Wall Street's disenchantment comes at a particularly bad time for Yahoo and its board of directors.

Yahoo is trying to fend off a shareholder mutiny led by activist investor Carl Icahn, who has vowed to replace the company's board because of the way the directors handled the Microsoft negotiations.

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Microsoft Announces New Master-Level Cert Track

Microsoft Announces New Master-Level Cert Track

Microsoft has finally released some information on a new certification that has been in the works for some time, the Microsoft Certified Master certification.


The information on the new cert was announced by Jim Clark, Microsoft's senior product planner, and Per Farny, Microsoft's director of advanced training and certification, at a session during the Microsoft Tech-Ed Conference in Orlando, Fla.

The Microsoft Certified Master certification track, according to a press release, sits above the Professional series of certifications. In the works for about three years, the track has been at times unofficially called the "Series III," and there were indications that the cert would fill an apparent gap between the two current Technology and Professional tracks and the Microsoft Certified Architect series of certifications.

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ECUK to launch ICT Technician Register

ECUK to launch ICT Technician Register

There is currently no professional qualification for the growing number of technicians who work in the key fields of IT and communication systems. The Engineering Council UK (ECUK) has announced its intention to rectify this omission by offering such individuals the opportunity to apply for registration as Information and Communications Technology Technicians. Those meeting the competence requirements for entry onto the new register will be granted the post-nominal title ICTTech.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has been at the forefront of developing the ICTTech award, which will initially be offered through a small group of engineering institutions licensed by ECUK. Assessment of the first applicants should begin by the end of this year, with a view to the ICTTech register going live at the beginning of 2009.

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Register for Beta Exam 71-652: TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring

Register for Beta Exam 71-652: TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring

You are invited to take beta exam 71-652: TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring. If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. The 71-xxx identifier is used for registering for beta versions of MCP exams, when the exam is released in its final form the 70-xxx identifier is used for registration. By participating in beta exams, you have the opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about exam content, which is integral to development of exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals and developers as we continually improve exam content and maintain the value of Microsoft certifications.

70-652: TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring counts as credit towards the following certification(s):...

An introduction to CGI scripting with Python

An introduction to CGI scripting with Python

The Python programming language is occasionally a topic here at CertForums, so when I saw this news item, I couldn't resist. -Trip

Mention Common Gateway Interface scripting to a Web developer, and their first response is likely to be "I use Perl." While Perl has long dominated the CGI scripting world, there are other, and perhaps better, tools available. In this tutorial we'll take a look at CGI scripting with Python, a fast, versatile, multi-platform language. Python is an interpreted, object-oriented language named after the BBC television show "Monty Python's Flying Circus." No johnny-come-lately, Python's first release was in 1991. Developed by Guido van Rossum, Python is the scripting language of choice for many enterprises, including Google, NASA, and ForecastWatch.com.

Find out more by going to Linux.com.

Hospital dumps Microsoft Exchange for Linux-based clone

Hospital dumps Microsoft Exchange for Linux-based clone

Taking a page from the doctors at Moses Taylor Hospital, IT staffers at the facility in Scranton, Pa., last year diagnosed their messaging system and came up with an effective treatment that has turned out to be a lifesaver. The patient in this case was an aging Microsoft Exchange 5.5 environment that couldn't support increased message loads and was going to cost a bundle to upgrade. After conducting an evaluation of alternatives, the hospital decided not to upgrade to a newer version of Exchange. Instead, it went with a Linux-based Exchange clone that it felt could meet the needs of its 700 users without forcing them and IT to learn a whole new system. As it turns out, it wasn't feature sets that swayed the decision. It was the price, according to Frank Fallo, manager of network systems and workflow development at Moses Taylor.

Full story at...

Dozen SQL, Developer Exams To Be Retired in 2009

Dozen SQL, Developer Exams To Be Retired in 2009

A number of exams that count toward the MCDBA, MCAD and MCSD titles will sail into the sunset in 2009. This according to a Microsoft blog post from Trika Harms zum Spreckel, a member of the marketing team in the Microsoft Learning Group.

Twelve exams make up the unofficial list, according to her post, but she explained that the group has yet to finalize the list and make it definitive.

Source

MCP Exam Retake Registration Ends May 31

MCP Exam Retake Registration Ends May 31

Microsoft's exam retake promotion ends June 30, but MCP exam takers who want to participate in the program have until the end of May to register into the program and register for an exam.

The program had been extended from its original expiration date of Jan. 30, 2008.

To register for a free 2nd shot - Click here

Source

Vista Credential Inching Toward 20K

Vista Credential Inching Toward 20K

Windows Vista might be getting dinged in the press lately, but it's not stopping anyone from seeking the MCTS: Vista -- Configuration certification. In fact, the title appear to be one of the hottest of the new-generation Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exams.

According to numbers posted on the Microsoft MCP Web site early this month, 18,869 IT pros worldwide passed an exam to obtain the MCTS: Windows Vista -- Configuration. The next big gainer? The MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications certification, at 266 fewer holders than the Vista title.

Read more here

Beware: Fake Cisco Routers

Beware: Fake Cisco Routers

An internal Federal Bureau of Investigation presentation states that counterfeit Cisco routers imported from China may cause unexpected failures in American networks. The equipment could also leave secure systems open to attack through hidden backdoors. The scope of the problem is broad and results from a complicated supply chain originating in Shen Zhen. From a narrow project failures perspective, network problems caused by this equipment should be treated as any other hardware malfunction. Of course, the entire concept of third parties using compromised hardware to infiltrate public and private systems in the United States is another matter entirely.

The full story can be found at the ZDNet.com blogs.