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Ah, the desktop. It’s just as important to keep your desktop clean on your Windows PC as it is to keep your real desktop clutter free, so that you may work at optimal performance. It will help your computer speed up as well. Having to render all those icons on the desktop all the time can really slow things down.

Did you know you can actually remove all the icons from your desktop? If you create a new folder in the middle of the desktop then you move all your icons to the left or right side of the desktop, then you can select everything and drag it all off of the desktop by dragging the new folder to the left or right along with all the other items selected. This is the crude way to remove everything, because technically it’s still all on your desktop but it’s just not visible.

Another way to get rid of most of the main icons is to put them all in one folder on the desktop. Just name it “Desktop Stuff”. Then you magically have a clean desktop and all the stuff that’s normally on your desktop is in one folder right there. It will speed up your computer slightly, but you do have to double click one extra time, it seems like a good trade off though.

If you simply must keep many of the things on your desktop, there are several tools to help you organize all the essential items that you can’t live without on the desktop. First, you can access all the options by right clicking on the desktop. If you go to the View menu you can choose between different sizes of icons. If you put them on Large that might help you realize how cluttered or clean your desktop is. From the View menu you can also align your icons to a grid, or have Windows “auto arrange” your icons. If you like that make circles with and stuff with your icons then you will probably want to stay away from aligning them to a grid.

If you do have them set to auto arrange. You can then sort them by their name, size of the files, or other options like that. Really, the best way to go is to just make one folder and throw all of that junk that’s been piling up on your desktop straight to the desktop master folder. Just imagine your real desktop having one folder where you could have all your family photos and memorabilia right there in one folder instead of all taking up space and collecting dust!

Just by following these simple steps, you can improve the performance on your PC, especially when loading demanding applications such as games or word processor for example. If you have a large number of files you could create different directories such as ‘pictures,’ ‘music’ or ‘video’ for example. I even suggest a scrapbook folder for files you are not sure about how to classify.

RIP isn’t exactly the most complex routing protocol on the CCNA exam, but that makes it easy to overlook some of the important details you must keep in mind in order to pass the exam! To help you review for the exam, here are just a few of those details!

RIP’s default behavior is to send version 1 updates, but to accept both version 1 and 2 routing updates.

R2(config)#router rip

R2(config-router)#net 172.16.0.0

R2(config-router)#^Z

R2#show ip protocols

Routing Protocol is “rip”

Sending updates every 30 seconds, next due in 6 seconds

Invalid after 180 seconds, hold down 180, flushed after 240

Outgoing update filter list for all interfaces is

Incoming update filter list for all interfaces is

Redistributing: rip

Default version control: send version 1, receive any version

Interface Send Recv Key-chain

Serial0 1 1 2

By default, RIP v2 autosummarizes routing updates sent across classful network boundaries. To disable this behavior, run no auto-summary under the RIP process.

R1#conf t

R1(config)#router rip

R1(config-router)#version 2

R1(config-router)#no auto-summary

You do not specify a subnet mask or wildcard mask when configuring RIP &ndash just the classful network, even if you’re running RIP v2.

R1#conf t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

R1(config)#router rip

R1(config-router)#version 2

R1(config-router)#no auto-summary

R1(config-router)#network 172.10.0.0 ?

Debug ip rip displays the routing updates and metrics as the advertisements are sent and requested. To see this in action without waiting for the next regularly scheduled update, run clear ip route *.

R1#debug ip rip

RIP protocol debugging is on

R1#clear ip route *

01:16:54: RIP: sending v1 update to 255.255.255.255 via Loopback1 (1.1.1.1)

01:16:54: network 2.0.0.0, metric 2

01:16:54: network 3.0.0.0, metric 2

01:16:54: network 172.16.0.0, metric 1

01:16:54: network 10.0.0.0, metric 2

01:16:54: RIP: sending v1 update to 255.255.255.255 via Serial0 (172.16.123.1)

01:16:54: subnet 172.16.123.0, metric 1

01:16:54: network 1.0.0.0, metric 1

01:16:54: network 2.0.0.0, metric 2

01:16:54: network 3.0.0.0, metric 2

01:16:54: network 10.0.0.0, metric 2

To see only the routes discovered by a routing protocol, run show ip route followed by the name of the protocol:

R1#show ip route rip

R 2.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.16.123.2, 00:00:26, Serial0

R 3.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.16.13.2, 00:00:09, Serial1

[120/1] via 172.16.123.3, 00:00:09, Serial0

R 10.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.16.13.2, 00:00:09, Serial1

[120/1] via 172.16.123.3, 00:00:09, Serial0

[120/1] via 172.16.123.2, 00:00:26, Serial0

And don’t forget - to turn off all currently running debugs, run undebug all.

R1#undebug all

All possible debugging has been turned off

Don’t overlook RIP and IGRP when it comes to the CCNA exam. OSPF and EIGRP are more complex to configure, but you need to understand how distance vector protocols work in order to pass the CCNA!

Okay you have now passed your certification test, congratulations! Now what? How is this going to actually improve your life, your career? Have you thought about your plans after you have passed the test? For many taking a certification exam is only a stepping stone to true success.

The first thing I would do even before pursuing a certification is to have a plan on how this is actually going to help you in your career. Just because you have passed the test does not mean you are an expert. You must first prove it to the rest of the world. How do you do this?

Sit down at your computer or desk and write out your career goals for the next year, five years, ten years and your entire working career. How does this certification fit into those goals? Can you use it to establish more credibility as an expert?

The first step I would take is to start writing tutorials on the subject matter that you claim to be an expert in. Post these tutorials to your own website, blog or eZine distribution websites. the more you write about a subject the more likely a person is going to consider yourself an expert in the field and the certification just backs that up as well. The more visibility you receive the more likely you are to get clients that are willing to pay for your services.

The second step I would take is not to stop studying! The best thing for you to do is learn as much as possible about your subject matter and to stay on top of it. Each time you learn something new write about it. This not only helps you stay visible but shows that you are up to date with the latest technology. If you are studying for another certification or an upgrade to your existing one learn all you can about the material and then start writing tutorials that teaches others on the same subject. Not only will this help reinforce what you have already learned but it could lead to increased job offers and other opportunities.

The third step would be to visit as many newsgroups as possible to put your knowledge to the test. By helping others this way you reinforce what you have learned and again gain valuable exposure in the field.

Lastly I would find a local user group in your area and start volunteering for it. This will greatly increase the number of contacts you can network with and make your name known in the community. Do not have a user group in your area? See if you can start one and start speaking about your area of expertise to a local crowd. Later I would connect with other regional user groups to see if they are looking for speakers and then start speaking at these user groups.

For many the certification test is the place where most people stop in their careers and then complain that this test did not really help them. The test is merely a stepping stone in establishing more credibility. The rest is up to the individual. You reap what you sow. Certification only contains some of the seeds that you need to plant in order to become truly successful.

There are four fundamental pillars that are recognized in building a successful CRM strategy &ndash Identify &ndash Distinguish &ndash Interact &ndash Customize &ndash a concept that was developed back in the 1990’s and adapted by the CRM community.

Interact &ndash An interaction strategy that was thoroughly envisioned allows a company to see each customer as an individual and over time learn their behavior which means when a change occurs staff will be able to quickly respond and when the response is positive it will have a positive impact.

Interactive management gets harder as the customer relationship gets more complex. You deal with outbound channels which may include catalogues, email, mail outs, and telephone calls out. As well you deal with inbound channels which include tracking your customers and responding to them. This occurs whether you have a brick and mortar store or a web store, whether you sell products or service. Communication is key to the success of any business.

Distinguish - When it comes to interaction with your customer there is no one size fits all so you must take the time to distinguish between your customers. You need to be able to group like customers so that you can send them relevant information at any time. You need to be able to tailor different elements of your building to the correct customer base.

When you combine your historical data with your real time data you can do a great job of predicting customer behavior before they ever happen. This gives you the ability to warn sales teams of pending changes to the market. It also makes it easier to establish a successful cross sell program.

Interact - Once you distinguish your clientele you also save money and you do a better job of targeting your market and interacting with the appropriate market. So rather than sending the same communication to everyone you break your customers into groups by distinguishing where they belong. That means the customer also gets better information.

Customize &ndash CRM is a positive way enhance your customer interaction using technology. But the most powerful part of CRM software is the ability to customize it so that it fits your unique business. You can configure it for your own business rules, your modeling, business platform, and a host of other abilities.

The same goes for retrieving that information. With just a click of a mouse you can easily retrieve data in the format you want. Once you customize the software to work with your business you will quickly see the benefits to CRM software.

It’s a hi-tech generation which means most of your customers will be very computer savvy and even involved in some degree with customer software in the workplace whether it’s a full CRM system or a smaller type database. That means they’ll be that much more impressed when you over them top notch CRM software.

So although not everyone agrees with the fundamental pillars most would agree that a good CRM strategy will Identify &ndash Distinguish &ndash Interact &ndash Customize. In fact it’s a way to stay ahead of the competition.

To pass the BSCI exam, you need to know the difference between IRDP and HSRP. While they have the same basic function, the operation and configuration of each are totally different.

The aim of both is to allow hosts to quickly discover a standby router when the primary router fails. IRDP is commonly used by Windows DHCP clients and several Unix variations, but you do see it in Cisco routers as well. IRDP is defined in RFC 1256.

IRDP routers will multicast Hello messages that host devices hear. If a host hears from more than one IRDP router, it will choose one as its primary and will start using the other router if the primary it’s chosen goes down.

HSRP is a Cisco-proprietary protocol that is designed for quick cutover to a secondary router if the primary fails, but the host devices don’t “see” either the primary or secondary router. The hosts use a virtual router as their default gateway. This virtual router has its own IP and MAC address! All the while, the router chosen as the primary is actually the one doing the routing. If the primary router goes down, the secondary router quickly takes over with no major interruption to network services.

The HSRP routers communicate by multicasting updates to 224.0.0.2, and its through these hellos that the HSRP routers decide which router is primary and which is secondary. HSRP is defined in RFC 2281.

The configuration of each of these will be covered in a future tutorial. In the meantime, I urge you to read the RFCs mentioned in this article, and visit .cisco.com/univercd to read about the configurations and options available for both of these vital protocols.

Kelly Dodson knows firsthand why companies value the ability to use computers and software. An administrative assistant in Kansas, Dodson used to keep her CEO’s calendar by hand, until one day an important meeting slipped through the cracks.

That painful experience compelled her to seek training in the effective use of the company’s scheduling software. And today she feels she couldn’t do her job as well without it.

As early as 1999, the Progressive Policy Institute estimated that 75 percent of employees use computers in their work, and that figure continues to increase as computers make their way into more and more aspects of individuals’ lives. Since just about every job today is connected to computers and software in some way, employees who lack the ability to use that information successfully are finding themselves increasingly marginalized.

The effects of this evolution for individual workers are real, and they show up most vividly when it comes to the bottom line. Research has shown that workers with the right computer skills can earn 17 percent to 40 percent higher wages than those without, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and California Journal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Office of Productivity and Technology agrees, emphasizing, “It is not merely the employee having a computer on his desk-but rather having complementary computer skills-that causes wages to increase.”

Commenting on information workers’ adoption of technology, Laura Stack, productivity expert and author of “Leave the Office Earlier,” said, “The people who succeed are those who take the time to figure it out rather than struggling each time, doing it the hard way, or taking too much time. Employees who self-educate themselves will experience a performance boost from using the full range of available functions.”

That is to say, whether you’re an administrative assistant, auditor or staff attorney, having the right computer skills can make a difference in your career and your paycheck.

So what can you do to get those skills? Dodson was lucky enough to develop them on the job, with support from an understanding employer. But without basic computer literacy, it can be tough nowadays to get a job in the first place.

The Web offers a myriad of courses and programs on a range of technical skills, from basic computer literacy to complex programming and IT training.

“Software training is evolving into a just-in-time approach,” Stack said. “Many workers complain about the slow response from the company help desk or lack of available training. It’s more efficient for workers to access self-help online resources, such as Microsoft Office Work Essentials, to allow them to find answers to problems they are experiencing in real time.”

Microsoft Office Work Essentials is a comprehensive resource with occupation-specific tools in programs such as Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint. The site has hundreds of free templates, how-to articles, product demonstrations, tip sheets and other resources. Available 24/7 at .microsoft.com/workessentials, it helps professionals in more than 30 occupations-including auditors, project managers, sales managers and human resource professionals-find tools to help them improve their skills.

“Local computer superstores and community colleges also offer inexpensive courses on many common software packages,” Stack said. “The day I spent at Comp USA learning PowerPoint saved me much time and frustration of trying to figure it out myself.

The e-commerce business is all about making money and then finding ways to make more money. Of course, it’s hard to make (more) money, when consumers don’t feel safe executing a transaction on your Web site. That’s where SSL (Secure Socket Layer) comes into play. Understanding how SSL affects e-commerce business can also potentially help you to unlock (more) money from your customers.

You need SSL if…

- Your business partners log in to confidential information on an extranet.

- You have offices that share confidential information over an intranet.

- You process sensitive data such as address, birth date, license, or ID numbers.

- you have an online store or accept online orders and credit cards

- You need to comply with privacy and security requirements.

- You value privacy and expect others to trust you.

If you are doing online business where sensitive information such as credit cards, Personal data will be transferred, you surely need to secure your website. Gaining your customers trust is of the utmost importance. Your customers will only purchase the product if they feel safe and confidant about you.

Before the introduction of SSL it was difficult to ensure privacy over the web in online transactions. There was a general distrust of the ability to conduct online transactions and a fear that an individual’s credit card information could be picked up by a third party and used for unauthorized purchases.

SSL should be enacted on pages requiring a password or might contain personal data most clients would like to keep private. Some sites will place SSL on some pages and forget other pages that are equally as sensitive. For the sake of your personal experience with ecommerce, you should implement SSL protocol.

Any website that conducts business over the Internet and has e-commerce transactions should use SSL (Secure Socket Layer). It is the standard way to secure transactions by encrypting data and providing authentication over the web. SSL prevents hackers from accessing personal information, impede misuse of information.

A certificate authority (CA) is an authorized company or individual for that matter that has the ability to issue and verify digital certificates. There are several of websites that offer a digital certificate. One of the popular Global Certification authorities is MindGenies (.sslgenie.com).

Project management software exists in many different levels of sofistication and variety of prices. This article aims to help project managers realize what kind of project management software tools they need and find out how computers can help them in everyday routine.

Before choosing some particular tool you should have a look at the different kinds of projects to manage and corresponding PM skills. It is very important to pick a project management software tool appropriate for you and your organization. The following types of projects and project management software should cover the field broadly, though any categorization is very relative.

Project management software for small projects, usually in single functional area

At this level project managers usually plan and schedule only durations of project subtasks rather than resource capacity or work estimates. They do not need to track a project budget and their project status reports contain only completion date tracking.

Project management software in this situation helps project managers to automate such basic routines like

* planning project flow

* occasional status reports preparing

* producing Gantt charts

If your project management tasks are not intended to grow and such functionality is enough, you should not spend a lot of money nor waste your time on long learning curve about features you’ll never use.

Project management software for managing larger projects

Project budget is very important now, therefore we need a project management tool to give us the capability to estimate resources and money at every stage of the project. As more people are getting involved in the project, software should provide the ability to create numerous status reports - from simple total project cost to more sophisticated ones.

As the size of the project grows, the number of project management techniques increases. Requirements for project management software change accordingly. At this level project management software must be able to work not only with the static representation of start and finish dates for each project subroutines, but it needs to be powerful enough to simulate the project and reschedule it every time something changes in project flow.

Project management software for huge multi-project environment

At this high-end level we need project management software that meets a lot of additional requirements. Now we need to roll-up multiple projects and require consistent information for decision-makers. Among the features they need are:

* material resources allocating (including finances)

* scheduling and tracking a pool of human resources

* sharing resources between multiple projects

* sophisticated risk assessment tools

* detailed project performance tracking

* creating a detailed project budget. This brings project management software closer to the company’s accounting system

If you need a lot, you have to spend a lot. Project management software for this purpose costs from $400 up to $3000 and even more. Such packages usually have network versions and team communication capabilities.

Categorization above was rather comprehensive over the last years. But modern project management reality changes constantly, therefore we can talk about one more project management software category.

Project management software for managing multiple projects in small and mid-size businesses

It often happens that project managers face the need to manage multiple projects simultaneously, using resources that can be shared between them. But they do not need a huge and extremely expensive project management software tool with thousands of not really needed features. What should they choose? ConceptDraw Project can be the answer. It is a cross-platform (Mac OS X and Windows) project management software tool that allows the project manager to automate project routines - from planning and assigning resources to powerful report generating capabilities

Most of us wonder whether there really is such a thing as conference call etiquette. Indeed it does, and should be followed if you want to make your next conference call a winning one.

There are several stories of how conference calls went sour, and ended up not achieving their objectives. It failed because of odd background noises, such as the sound of a dog barking somewhere outside, that of loud typing on a keyboard, babies crying in the distance, and so on.

It is true that the person on the other side cannot see you. It should not mean that you get busy with your other work while the conference call is on. It is imperative that you should not carry a bag of pretzels while you are walking in for a conference call. The munching of the pretzels would be heard all over the place and this would be bad manners.

You also should not carry your laptop in a conference call and start to energetically type out matters that do not pertain to the conference call. The sound of your typing would not only disturb the train of discussion, but would show your disrespect to others in the room.

THE DO’S AND DON’TS

The conference call is fast being seen as a substitute for the traditional meeting. Thus, it has its own rules of etiquette, which set the path towards having a successful and meaningful communication.

THE DO’S

* Before you go into a conference call, you should be well prepared on the subject matter of discussion.

* You should be punctual, and arrive before the conference call can begin.

* You should adjust the volume of the microphone and speak clearly into it.

* Before you start to talk about matters of concern, you need to introduce yourself.

* As you begin, you should be brief and to the point. Also, when asking questions you should name the person to whom your question is directed.

* You would need to remember that, the participants in the conference call cannot see you, and hence, are not aware of your expressions, or other non-verbal communication. For this reason you should make sure you commit everything to speech.

* You should be aware of the conference call agenda and the time that you have been allotted for making presentations or fielding questions.

* You would be required to see that background noises, if any, should be at the bare minimum.

* When mentioning telephone numbers or web site addresses, speak clearly and articulately. Repeat them for a better comprehension.

THE DON’TS

* Do not ever put your conference phone on hold. If you do that it may start playing music which would be heard by the other participants. It is always better to mute your phone and call back into the conference.

* Do not carry on a conversation with the person sitting by your side while a conference call is going on.

* Do not use acronyms or terms specific to your agency.

Always maintain a friendly attitude towards the other participants. Do not worry about the titles of the people attending the conference.

Congratulations on your decision to earn your CCNP certification! As a CCIE, I can tell you that Cisco certifications are both financially and personally rewarding.

To earn your CCNP, you first have to earn your CCNA certification. Then you’re faced with a decision - take the three-exam CCNP path, or the four-exam path? They’re both quite demanding, so let’s take a look at each path.

The four-exam CCNP path includes the Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks exam (BSCI), Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks exam (BCMSN), Building Cisco Remote Access Networks (BCRAN), and Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT) exam.

The three-exam path combines the BSCI and BCMSN exams into a single exam, called the Composite exam.

I’m often asked what order I recommend taking the exams in. After earning your CCNA, I recommend you begin studying for the BSCI exam immediately. You will find the fundamentals you learned in your CCNA studies will help you a great deal with this exam. You’re going to add to your CCNA knowledgebase quite a bit when it comes to OSPF and EIGRP, as well as being introduced to BGP.

I don’t have a preference between the BCMSN and BCRAN exams, but I do recommend you take the CIT exam last. You’ll be using all the skills you learned in the first three exams to pass the CIT. It’s a very demanding exam, and it’s a little hard to troubleshoot technologies that you haven’t learned yet!

The CCNP is both financially and personally fulfilling. Once you complete your CCNA studies, take a little breather and then get started on your CCNP studies. The more you know, the more valuable you are in today’s ever-changing IT job market.