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Hi Folks..  Randy here…

I’ve been trying to learn CSS.  For those who don’t do much HTML coding, it the method for styling your pages.  Colors, borders, widths, and so forth, can be individualized within the CSS stylesheet.  Anyhow, it’s been a bear for me to learn ( you know… Old Dogs & New Tricks ).  I’ve gone to W3C’s website and studied their tutorial, which is great, but I never found a great coding aid until recently.

I’ve used Dreamweaver© for years and loved it.  I still do.  But for working with both page views and stylesheets it leaves something to be desired.  I’ve used Programmer’s Notepad; another great tool.  I love it too, but I needed an app that helped me with the blank spaces in my CSS knowledge mental database.

Here’s what I found.  It’s called Aptana Studio 1.1.  It’s free… repeat FREE…. for the Community Edition.  That’s what I downloaded.  There is a Pro Edition.  There is a price on that one and if you choose you can upgrade from within the Community Edition.  The blurb below is from their website.

Aptana Studio is a powerful, free and open source Ajax development environment which runs stand-alone or within Eclipse. With over 2,000,000 downloads to date, thousands of developers a day are discovering why Aptana Studio is now the leading choice of web professionals everywhere. Why? Aptana Studio offers unparalleled tooling for Ajax including HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript editing and debugging, plus support via additional free plugins for PHP, Ruby on Rails, Adobe AIR, Apple iPhone development.

Here’s what I like about it.  You can work on your page view and your stylesheet at the same time.  Not only will Aptana Studio validate your CSS on the fly but help with your HTML syntax on the page view.  It lets you view your work in both Firefox© and in IE© without leaving the program.  I actually checked how accurate this feature was by openning the same view in both IE© and Firefox© browsers and compared the output with the internal view.  They matched!

What I like most about Aptana Studio is their CSS editor.  I don’t know about you but I don’t code every day.  So I need a little help remembering the values of the properties I’m trying to use.  I can remember properties like ‘width’ and the values for ‘width’ but some of the other properties I don’t use so much.  Ergo, I need a mental push.  Aptana Studio does that for me.  Just type in a property and it shows you all the values available that you can use.  Neat huh!

Aptana Studio also has plugins for PHP, Ruby on Rails, Adobe© Air, and iPhone©/iPod© Touch development.  Cool!  The PHP was the only plugin that I needed for now.  I’ll play with the others later.

For those who care, Aptana Studio has Ajax tools build in.  It comes with their Aptana Jaxer Server integrated into the application so that development of end-to-end Ajax applications requires no further installations or server setup.  It works with most of the Ajax libraries.

Bottom line… This is a great tool for anyone who needs to code or style their webpages.  Two thumbs up for the Aptana crew for this one.  It gets five stars from me.

I got a new article called “Misconceptions about Wireless Networking”. It has to do with wireless networking and peoples misconceptions about the hardware and how it actually works. Please take the time to give it a view.

It was added to the EzineArticles.com directory:
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=447083.

I just submitted another article to EzineArticles.com.  It sprang from an experience at a local MegaMart.  I am constantly surprised that people will get involved in a technology and not learn more about it.  It had to do with another customer who was having problems with his network.  Not to give too much away, I tried to help but all I managed to do was to aggravate this person. 

It stems from just not knowing about how wireless networking works!  Please folks, if you don’t know a modem from a router, get professional help!  Check with your friends and associates.  You’ll be surprised just how many people would be willing to share their expertise with you.

I was fortunate to have been considered an “Expert Author” for the submission of my latest article to EzineArticles.com.  The article titled “A Simple Guide to Wireless Networking“, addresses the questions most laymen have regarding wireless networking.  The first paragraph is quoted below:

“Most folks want that laptop for work, school, or college. Most laptops these days are Wi-Fi enabled. That means that they have the wireless hardware and software built into the computer. To the average consumer, wireless is a form of magic. You turn it on and it works, right? Not always. Understanding the basics to wireless will help avoid frustration and headaches.

To read the full article please click on this link http://EzineArticles.com/?id=393237. 

I hope that if you have basic questions regarding wireless networking for your home or small business, you’ll take a minute to read my latest article.  You can also find it on My Website, http://www.itmservshop.com/simple_wifi.html.

     As technology bounces forward, we seem to be presented with a number of questions.  The most numerous questions I have been asked have been about Wireless Networking.  The reason being that everyone seems to want to buy their High Schooler or College Student a laptop or some other Wi-Fi device.  Most of the new laptops included wireless networking technology.  When they get them home, they’re suprised that they can’t surf the net.  It takes more than a Wi-Fi enabled device to surf. 

     What do we need to get that wireless computer talking?  To find out please take the time to read my latest article, “A Simple Guide to Wireless Networking”.  Just Click the link to the article.  If you find it useful, then email me at wifi@itmservshop.com with a comment, or leave a comment here.

I know it sounds kind of silly.  We’ve been blogging on Blogspot, a great place to blog if you don’t have a website, for a while.  Thanks to Wordpress, we now have the ability to tweak the look and feel of our blog.

If you are interested in blogging on your website, then go to Wordpress.com.  The installation was easy and setting it up a pleasure

A great many people looking for upgrades to their certifications think primarily about instructor led classes. Typically delivered in a brick and mortar location. Sometimes in seminar form in some hotel’s meeting room or suite. A number of us just don’t always have the time to cut out of our daily schedule to attend instructor led classes. Granted, the best method for delivering knowledge is to go to school and receive the information from an instructor. But sometimes that just can’t happen.

As an alternative, people are looking today towards Computer Based Training. CBT’s are lessons, usually on CD, delivering the information using today’s multimedia technology. There is also a concept called eLearning. You subscribe to the classes you wish to take and pay a fee. You are given a login to a website and you learn at your own pace. Remember the self-paced education that you got from schools like CIE and others with the little subject books and the test in the back? Well, eLearning is a little like that only on the Internet instead of using those little subject books. Many people like this method because they can start and stop their lessons whenever they choose.

CBT’s do the same thing except the learning is self contained on the CD. You don’t need a high speed internet connection. Just a computer with a CD drive on board. The content is quite similar. It’s just a matter of taste. One of the benefits of the CBT is that you own the CD. Your eLearning subscription can run out before you’re finished with the product.

In any case, just remember that if you need more education for continuing in your profession, CBT’s and eLearning are viable alternatives to schools. There are many providers out there. You can learn just about any technical skill, especially in IT, from their catalogs.

Looking forward, we know that the Baby Boomers will be leaving the workforce (some have already left). We know that most of the IT experience is in the heads of those Boomers. So what is the outlook for companies which depend on their experienced workforce to prosper. Well, I think that they are going to be scrambling madly for IT practitioners to fill the void left by the exiting Boomers.

What should this mean for job seekers in the IT industry? It means that you will have more leverage in your job search. It will be a seller’s market. Some of our bretheren are already jumping ship to take more lucrative positions in companies that are feeling the early loss of their aging knowledge base.

So, now is the time to dust of your books, make sure that your certifications are up to date (yes, I’m talking to all you MCSA/E’s specifically - God forbid you NT 4.0 folks haven’t gotten with the program), and that your resume is buffed up to land those positions that will be going vacant within the next 4 years. If your Cisco® certs are coming up for renewal, make sure to take the tests and keep fresh. With the changes in and additions to the CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, and CCVP you need to keep up. Don’t forget the wireless certs. They will be hot.

There are many modes available to keep yourselves up to date. Most everyone thinks of self study as their learning mode of choice. This may be a good way to go. There is a lot of study material available. CBT’s (Computer Based Training) is a good method to use, if you can’t work instructor led training into your schedule.

Instructor led training is most often the most effective means of keeping yourself fresh. This means you’ll have to go to school nights and weekends if you don’t have your days free. But, overall, you get so much more with an instructor. I find that pass rates on certification exams are higher with student who have had instructor led learning with labs.

Anyway, I thought that I would share a few observations with the IT folks. Being a Baby Boomer myself, I’m here to tell you that in a year or two, I’ll be out of the IT market. Someone’s going to have to replace me.

There has been a new development regarding the new PMI PMP exam. We have learned that PMI lowered the passing score for the new PMP exam. We also know that this new score will be retroactively applied to all examinations taken since September 30th of 2005.
We have no indication at this time that the lower passing score is temporary condition or a permanent change. But whatever the reason, we encourage those of you who failed the new exam to watch your mailboxes over the next few days to see if your exam grade is indeed modified.
Your best strategy is to sit for the exam when you believe you are ready to do so. Don’t let this lowered passing score push you into taking the exam until you’re fully prepared. Regardless of what the passing score might be, this is a very difficult exam!

ITM Servnet has been in the IT and Internet business community since 1997. We will continue to provide quality products and services to the IT technology arena. We have great deals on Domain Names, Web Hosting, and eMarketing. We also help IT professionals to find IT training through the major vendors, like Cisco©, Microsoft ©, PMI©, HDI©, and Oracle©. Please come visit us at the link below.