uCertify: Not another exam preparation software

Image by jackhynes via Flickr

The software development business is a fast paced world.

If you don't update your knowledge you'll easily become less relevant.

A certification can help you differentiate yourself in today's competitive job market, broaden your employment opportunities by displaying your advanced skills, and result in higher earning potential.

uCertify is a company that provides IT certification preparation PrepKits for all major companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Oracle, CompTIA, Cisco, Adobe, ISC-2, EC-Council, LPI and CIW.

They kindly offered me the opportunity to review one of their PrepKits. Since I've been developing web solutions with C# for 4 years, I chose the "Web Applications with C# .NET" PrepKit.

After I followed the uCertify plan, from beginning to the end, I felt much more confident about my .NET skills. I felt this way because not only I've refreshed my memory about important concepts and tested my knowledge with practice tests, but I also reviewed my performance so I could fine tune the areas that needed more work.

I invite you to come with me and discover what a uCertify PrepKit is all about.

This is not another exam preparation software. uCertify's preparation kits offer much more than practice tests.

uCertify offers a learning platform where you can enhance, test and take your knowledge to the next level.

This learning platform is based on a plan that is divided into four critical areas:

1. Study and learn
2. Practice tests
3. Track your progress
4. Enhance your understanding

Study and learn

An ancient Chinese proverb says tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

That is exactly what uCertify does in the Study and learn area.

uCertify's Study and Learn area

It involves you in the learning process by explaining the key concepts that you need to know to pass the final test.


A chapter of the Study and Learn area

uCertify will also prompt you to answer to a fully interactive pop quiz. This helps you to learn the technical terms, concepts and definitions etc., that are essential for the real exams in a test-like environment.


A pop quiz shows up while you're studying

Remember, that the real fight is won in the practice days not in the match day. So, the more you sweat in the Study and Learn area the less you will bleed in the Test area.

Practice tests

Practice is the best of all instructors - Publilius Syrus

The Practice tests area is designed for you to evaluate the quality of the work that you did in the Study and Learn area.

The pratice test area

The uCertify PrepKit comes with Diagnostic Tests that will help you find out how well prepared you are for the real exams and identify your weak points. This way, you can build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points.

You can choose your preferences for the test such as the number of questions, the test duration and the passing score.


The first page of a diagnostic test

Depending on the test mode that you've chosen, the PrepKit engine will provide immediate feedback after each answer.


Reviewing the answer to a question of a diagnostic test

At the end of the test, the PrepKit engine will not only show you the correct and wrong answers that you entered but it will also explain you why the answer is correct or wrong.

The PrepKit also comes with 6 Practice tests that simulate the environment and type of questions that you'll find in the final test.

The Final test is designed to be your final preparation before the exam and the last challenge before you pass your real exam at the first attempt.

The Adaptive test is a special type of test. Like the suggests, in this type of test, the PrepKit engine will choose the next question based on your answer and difficulty level of the previous one.

The Custom test exits for you to test your skills according to your needs. You can choose your questions based on a topic, study note or case study.

Track your progress

You can't control what you can't measure - Tom DeMarco

The track your progress area is divided into 2 sub-areas: Test History and the Readiness Report.

The track your progress area

In the Test History sub-area you have access to your exam preparation performance over time.

Inside the Test History sub-area

It helps you review your progress with the help of a wide array of data:

• Number of tests completed
• List of all the types of tests you have taken
• The date on which you took a particular test
• The result for a test
• Your score in percentage for a test
• The uCertify remark for the test

From here you can review and take a retest of all or only the questions you have marked wrong in a test.

The Readiness Report sub-area , as the name suggests, tells you if you're ready for the real thing.

Enhance your understanding

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes - Peter F. Drucker

To help you take your knowledge to the next level, uCertify PrepKit comes with a section called enhance your understanding. In this area you will remember the exam objectives, browse through 210 flash cards containing key exam concepts, study notes, expert articles, study tips from the pros and a series of how to.

Conclusion

I'm thinking about taking a certification. To help me succeed I will definitely count with uCertify PrepKits.

uCertify have gone well beyond the call of duty delivering a learning platform where you can enhance, test and take your knowledge to the next level using a simple and intuitive user-interface.

uCertify gives a 10% discount for all BCoelho2000's Software Adventures. Just use the code UPG033.

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Be like Coca-Cola

"You cant climb the ladder of success with the dress of failure" - Zig Ziglar

How many times did you feel like everyone didn't understand how great you are?
You have the skills, the know-how and the will to win... but you're not making an impact. And if you're not making an impact... then no one knows who you are.

In the past, a great company also had this issue. It had a great product but it wasn't making an impact. It's name? Coca-Cola. It's impact in history? Legendary.

Let me show you how you can benefit from Coca-Cola's history, go from being great to be seen as great and change the world!

The Extraordinary Product

In the initial stage of it's history, Coca-Cola was a medicinal product. It was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, which were popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was good for the health.

Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence.

Coca-Cola was a great product but it was not enough to be legendary.

How does this apply to you?

Allow me to introduce a new kind of brand: the You brand! In the business world, you are a product. People want to buy your know-how, your skills and your services.

So, how can you drive your customers and competition crazy?

You have to focus on being a great product first. To build a great product I believe that you should focus on creating meaning in the world.

You can create meaning in 3 ways:

1. Increase the quality of life
Coca-Cola's primary goal was to create a refreshing and delicious drink that would increase the quality of life and bring happiness to their customers.



Recently, Coca-Cola is sending a team of Happiness Ambassadors around the world to visit 206 countries in 365 days. Their mission: Find out what makes people happy.

Just like Coca-Cola, your goal is to enter your customer's mind and discover what makes them happy.

2. Right a wrong

Coca-Cola works with local health officials and a variety of experts to educate communities on relevant health concerns, tackling such issues as polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and proper hygiene.

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation has pledged $2.5 million over a three-year period to further develop community HIV/AIDS programs in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.

3. Prevent the end of something good

The Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) is the The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation's flagship water program and is the umbrella under which all future water programs will fall. Launched in 2009, RAIN is a public-private partnership made possible through a six-year, $30 million commitment from The Coca-Cola Company. The initiative will provide sustainable, clean water sources, hygiene education and sanitation services to millions of people throughout Africa .

If you achieve this points you will turn customers into raving fans and your product into a legend.

The Unique Image

Coca-Cola's directors knew that a good product was not enough. They knew that Coca-Cola needed a new image if it wanted to change the world. And it all started with the bottle.

In 1915, the Coca-Cola Company launched a competition among its bottle suppliers to create a new bottle for the beverage that would distinguish it from other beverage bottles. A bottle which a person could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was.



The contour bottle, as it's known inside the company, was born.

How can your brand achieve this?

You can improve your brand uniqueness if you remember these 3 ideas:
- Be yourself!
You are the only person in the world that can use your ability!

If you ignore what makes you unique and you try to be all sorts of things to please everybody, how can you differentiate yourself from your competition and offer a unique sell proposition to your clients?

- Be aware!
If you ignore the market changes, your uniqueness will become less relevant.

- Be loud!
Let the world know who you are and why should they care!

Use the medias that your audience use and tell them how they can benefit from using your unique attributes.

The Unmistakable Logo

As the Coca-Cola bottle evolved from a simple medicine bottle to a unique model, the brand image also had several improvements.

Coca-Cola's brand logo is one of the top most recognizable logos in the world, placing Coca-Cola high on customer's buying preferences. In fact, Coca-Cola is recognized by 94% of the world's population and is the most widely recognized word after "OK".

How your own brand and customers can benefit from a unique logo?
- Identity
Your logo should reflect who you are and show what makes you different.

Think about pirate's flags. Every pirate had it's own personalized version of the pirate's flag.

The colors of the flag held symbolic significance and importance. The early pirates sailed under the Red Flags. The color red in pirate flags symbolized bloodshed and a warning. They were a symbol that little or no quarter ( mercy ) would be given. The pirates were looking for an early surrender and an easy conquest through fear and intimidation.

Just like the pirates, think about the message that you want to communicate to anyone that sees your logo. Then choose the colors and symbol that best match your message.

- Visibility
If you don't make yourself visible no one will find you.

Place your brand logo in every outpost that you own. In every comment that you make. In every e-mail that you send.

This will increase customer awareness about your brand. The pirate's flag were hoisted high on the flag mast so it could be seen by everyone.

- Loyalty
If you effectively implemented the all of the previous ideas you have turned your customer into raving fans.

The brand's unique logo will be the key to the mind association between the product or service that you provide and your customers!

Conclusion

A great product isn't enough to change the world. Just like Coca-Cola, you need to realize this first. Then you need to add a unique image to your product, so your audience can see it as great!

I hope that you take this information with you, use your secret formula to build your great product, add a great image to it and change the world!

This is Coca-Cola's secret formula for success. What's your secret formula?

P.S: This article was inspired by the extraordinary history of Coca Cola, the irreverent Guy Kawasaki, the one and only Ken Blanchard, the inspiring Zig Ziglar and all the wonderfull people that I was lucky enough to met throughout my life!

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TagSystem = Organization + Productivity

Finding files in the hierarchical structure of a file system can be a real challenge. The time that you spend looking for files could be used in more productive ways.

I've tried to organize better my file system incorporating methodologies like GTD. The results improved but I thought that they could be even better.

I needed something that was better than searching.

Let me show you how I improved my organization skills and my productivity.

The problem

The problem with the file system's hierarchical structure is that a file can only be associated in one folder. However, a file is typically associated with more than one context. And many times the contexts associated with that file are completely unrelated.

The solution

With a TagSystem you can achieve all this and more.

With a TagSystem you don't have to worry where to store the file in the file sytem. You only have to set all the contexts or tags associated with that file. Example: "Productivity, Blog, Article, Pictures".

The implementation

I'm using Tag2Find to implement the TagSystem solution and it works like magic!

Every time a new file is stored in your hard drive, Tag2Find shows you a dialog so you can easily insert the tags associated with that file.

The fun part begins when you start searching for the files that you've tagged:



Once you start entering a context, all files associated with that context appear. Need to access it in your file system? Right click it and choose "Open in Explorer". Need to refine your Tag Search Results? Simply enter more contexts.

This way you can stay organized and escape the hierarchical file system hell structure.

What about you?

How do you keep your file system organized to improve your productivity?

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Search 2.0 - Find the information that matters

We're living in the Information Overload Era.

Let's face it: there's no way you can keep up with the rate of new information that knocks on your door every day.
New e-mail messages, new RSS feeds, new podcasts, new blog posts, new Twitter messages, new Digg submissions, new LinkedIn updates, new Flickr photos... you name it!

Being able to find the real interesting stuff is the real challenge.

Search engines, like the almighty Google, have definitely provided answers to this problem.

However I believe that today we have resources to enhance the quality of our search results.

Enter Search 2.0.


The real interesting information in the world spreads like a virus.

It works like this: You've found a cool site and you tell 5 friends about it. Each friend talks about the site to another 5 friends. And it goes on and on.

In Marketing, this behavior is called Viral Marketing.



The Dark Knight Marketing Campaign has used this technique to promote the movie. So has Cloverfield.

So the point is: the cool and interesting information travels from people like you to people like me, and vice-versa.

How can you leverage this?

Today there's so many social networks where people trade photos, links, experiences... One of the most popular social networks is called Twitter.

Image via CrunchBase

Because every message that you sent via Twitter is public: you can search all conversations via twitter to find the real cool interesting information!

Just go to http://search.twitter.com and start searching for the topic of your interest!

But I already got my list of RSS Feeds!

You have to free your mind! RSS feeds are cool! I also have a list of RSS feed of my favorite authors. However, there's a lot more going on in the web besides your favorite author's articles.

You can't imagine the list of great articles that I've discovered using search queries like http://search.twitter.com/search?q=business+model.

And guess what: you can subscribe to your search queries via RSS and get notified every time a new result appears. Top that!

Why should you care?

If you're an entrepreneur:
- Time is a critical resource. Find the cool interesting stuff as soon as it is found!

If you're a company:
- Monitor what customers/fans say about your brand
- Check what the competition is doing

If you're in the marketing business:
- Be notified every time someone searches for a product or service that your company sells and make the call to action.
For example: Monitor search queries for management software and reply directly to your potential customer. This way you will instantly find yourself talking to an interested customer.

Guy Kawasaki has written a great article about how you can use Twitter as a tool and has online magazine rack” of popular topics called AllTop.com.

How are you using the Search 2.0 to find new cool stuff?

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Software Tools Paradise

I love software.

I believe that software has the power to change the world.

I believe this not only because software has been solving our problems for years but also because software is beautiful.

Why?

Because software does exactly what we tell it to do. And it does this over and over again. Forever.

So, it's not a surprise that I love small software tools that make our day great.

I've found a list of more that 20 programs that do a lot of cool things. They aren't world changing or paradigm-shifting applications but they are still cool!

From "Recovering closed applications" to "Closing all open files before ejecting a drive". From "Allowing only one instance of a program to run" to "Making all windows but the active one transparent".

You can find these and a lot more at 1 Hour Software!

Do you know more cool lists like this one?

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Software Communications Group Launched

I've talked about how we are making presentations everyday and how critical it is to know how to deliver our message to our audience and persuade them.

Since I realized that, I've been studying how we can take our communication and persuasion skills to the next level.

I'm also a great believer in the power of knowledge sharing and how it can enable us to evolve beyond our own boundaries and beyond our own individualities.

So today a new group is born.

It's called Software Communications.

This group's goal is to help you successfully deliver high impact software communications, persuade your audience and change the world!

Share your knowledge, your know-how and your experiences with us!

I invite you to join Software Communications today!

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How bodybuilding can improve your productivity

You are interested in increasing your productivity?

Congratulations! You've completed the first step to achieve that goal!

Every day you try to be more productive, but somehow you're not achieving the level of productivity that you want.

You finish your day thinking: "How could I've only finished these tasks?".
Or worse: "I haven't completed anything! How is this possible?"

Well, I would like to share with you an activity that improved not only my productivity but my overall health: bodybuilding!

I will show you how bodybuilding can help you:
- Increase your focus
- Fight procrastination
- Achieve your goals
- Go beyond your limits
- Improve your self confidence


Increase your focus

If you focus on one task at a time you're increasing your chances of completing it. The quality of your work will also benefit as you start to make less errors and delivering a great product to your clients.

Spreading your focus on several tasks at a time (multitasking) is usually a bad idea. Studies show that you take about 30 minutes to focus on a task and another 30 minutes to remove your focus. (reference?)

Bodybuilding can help you control your focus. Here's how:

- Focus on one exercise at a time. Don't worry about what you're about to train next. Visualize what you're about to do and do it.

- On every exercise focus on the muscle group that you are working. Take your time. Isolate the muscle group with your mind. Everybody can pick up weights but very few can focus each exercise on a specific muscle group.

- When you are training with weights that use more than 80% of your strength you need all your focus to handle the weights. One small distraction and you can end with a weight in your chest or worse.

When you are absolutely focused on your exercise you will stop listening what happens around you.

As you continue training you will learn how to enter the, what I like to call, the Maximum Focus Mode.

This technique alone will boost your productivity levels! Money back guaranteed.

Fight procrastination

One of the major enemies on your quest for productivity is called procrastination.

You procrastinate when you choose to complete a task a later time because some other "important" task appeared. Other times you're simply too lazy to even start or care to finish it.

Why would you want to do that? Clearly this will hurt your productivity levels because your leaving your path to the finish line. Imagine what happened if a 100 meters athlete suddenly left in a middle of a race to go to the swimming race.

Bodybuilding can help you prevent procrastination. Here's how:

- Your chances to escape procrastination increase as your ability to focus on a task increase; In bodybuilding you are trained to focus on a exercise at a time. One repetition at a time.

- You will learn how to follow a plan. Each muscle group needs 3 to 4 sets of (ex: 10 repetitions). Every bodybuilding instructor will teach you that switching, for example, from the triceps to the biceps training if you hadn't finished your triceps training set, is a bad idea.

- Bodybuilding brings discipline to your life. Like every sport bodybuilding has some guidelines that you must follow to achieve optimum results. From gaining muscle mass to losing weight: every goal needs self-discipline to get the work done!

Achieve your goals

You will increase the chances of achieving your goals if you start with one in mind.

The athletes that run the 100 meters race only look at the finish line. They always run with that goal in their minds. The finish line.

Again, choose one goal and use all your focus and will to win to achieve it.

Bodybuilding can help you achieve your goals. Here's how:

- Learn to set achievable goals. The weights don't lie. You can try to lift 200 kg but if you're not ready for it you will not lift it. If you're not careful you will hurt yourself too in the process.

- Learn to create a plan to achieve your goal. Create an exercise routine to achieve your goals, use your self-discipline and focus on achieving your goal!

- You will feel with more energy. It's easier to accomplish your goals if you're feeling great and with lots of energy. Many people say that they are already feeling tired... so why would they want to go to the gym?

Well I know that it's strange but... as you continue training you will start to feel less tired! Especially if your sitting in a chair 8 hours a day.

- It will improve your brain power: "According to recent research in the field of neuroscience, bodies that exercise regularly stimulate brains to have higher levels of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF); brains with higher levels of BDNF have greater capacity for knowledge."

More about this subject at entrepreneur.com.

Go beyond your limits

Imagine that your exercise routine included a bicep training exercise. The goal was 4 sets of 12 repetitions.

You've chosen a weight (i.e: 20kg) for the first set, you did the 12 repetitions successfully.

Now you've picked 25kg for the next set.

When you're reaching the 9th repetition you're brain starts to play games with you:

"Hey you! Are you sure that you need to do 12 repetitions? Maybe 10 are enough. Why don't you put down those weights for a minute?"

Now this is a critical moment and here's why:

How many times you've set up a goal and you didn't achieve it? How many projects you've started but never completed?

Bodybuilding is a great way to train yourself in the art of achieving your goals.

In this case, your GOAL was making 12 repetitions. When you've reached the 9th repetition you can choose to say: "No! I can and I will achieve my goal!".

You do the 10th, the 11th and the 12th repetition.

Now you have gone beyond your own limits and improved your goal achievement skills.

Every single time that you overcome your own doubts/laziness/fears/weaknesses you are improving yourself. It also improves your self confidence which is critical in every aspect of life.

In this sport your only opponent is yourself. That's why there are mirrors in the gym, so you can look your opponent in the eyes and say: I CAN DO IT.

Conclusion

From losing weight to gaining muscle mass. From increasing productivity to improving your goal achievement skills. Body building can help you go beyond your limits and take yourself to next level.

Do you have the will to win?

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Top list of funny code comments

Have you ever found or write a funny code comment?

Remember when someone changed that critical line of code and you decided to express your feelings about that? Or that piece javascript code that you've had to hack to make it work with IE6?

Well you're not alone because I've found the most funny list of code comments ever posted on the internet!

You can read all about it at codeulate.com!

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Mustoverride keyword on C# .NET with Generics

Recently I needed to ensure that every type that derives from my new type should override some methods.

For my surprise the VB.NET knows the mustoverride keyword but the C#.NET compiler doesn't!

By the way: "The mustoverride specifies that a property or procedure in a base class must be overridden in a derived class before it can be used" - Source MSDN

So how did I implement the mustoverride concept in C#?

Follow the rabbit!


Imagine that you've created a type named: OperationsManager.

public class OperationsManager
{
}

The OperationsManager type knows how process Operations.

The OperationsManager type should be a generic type that is parameterized by the Operation type.

But how do we specify that all derived types of OperationsManager must override some methods of the Operation type?

Answer: with Interfaces and the Generic's where clause.

Here's the plan:
1. Define an interface that all Operation types must implement: IOperation
2. In the OperationsManager type define in the where clause that all Operations must implement

public interfacw IOperation

{

void m1();

void m2();

}

public class OperationsManager<Operation> where Operation : IOperation, new()
{
public static Process()
{
Operation op = new Operation()

op.m1();

op.m2();
}
}

Now you can define n Operations and process them:

public interface IOperation
 {
  void m1();
  void m2();
 }
 
 public class OperationsManager<Operation> where Operation : IOperation, new()
 {
  public static void Process()
  {
   Operation op = new Operation();
   op.m1();
   op.m2();
  }
 }
 
 public class A : OperationsManager<A>, IOperation
 {
  public void m1(){Console.WriteLine("A.m1");}
  public void m2(){Console.WriteLine("A.m2");}
 }

 
 public static void Main()
 {
  OperationsManager<A>.Process();
  // or
  A.Process();
  
 }
 

Comments are welcome!

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The Developer's Work At Home Guide To Happiness

Everyone that works at home to:
- finish a personal project
- improving software development skills
- learn a new language
- update on a new technology

Well, the following article will help you find the balance that you need between your personal and work life.


I've just discovered Ryan Farley's blog and his great post The Work-at-Home Developer’s Guide to Happiness.

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