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Cleared 70-320 – Became MCAD

Published May 30, 2005 | In Certifications

Hmm, Cleared my 70-320 exam also and attained my MCAD certification.

As I told (in my blog) 70-320 was little difficult for me to prepare. But the exam wasn’t that difficult as I expected. But I had lot of questions from ADO.NET, which really helped me 😉 and I got 968 this time. As usual Microsoft Self-paced kit was very useful for this exam.

So, now the big question, what is next? And the immediate answer is break 😉 I have been continuously writing exams for nearly 4 months now. So planning to take a break for about a week or two and then start with my next exam. And in the mean time I should decide my next exam. I have two options.

  • First one is to go for MCSD (I have only two more to go) or
  • Go for SCJP (Sun Certified Java Professional)

Right now I am not able to decide which one to go for. So people give me your suggestions.

Posted in Certifications | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Taking up 70-320 tomorrow

Published May 27, 2005 | In Certifications

After postponing for more than two times, I have finally decided to take up my 70-320 exam tomorrow (27-May-05). Long time readers of my blog will know that if I clear this exam then I would become MCAD.

Preparing for 70-320 was a little difficult for me when compared with other exams as it covers not only Web Services, SOAP, UDDI but also .NET Remoting and also tricky things like storing and retrieving data as XML etc. Though these concepts are very interesting for me, I have very little practical experience. So I have been putting in a lot of effort and gained some practical experience by getting my hands dirty by writing a couple of toy webservices. I found the videos from LearnVisualStudio.NET very helpful, especially the 4000 series. It was lying in my hard disk for sometime, but now only found how useful they are. Thanks Bob Tabor.

And if every thing goes fine, I would be a MCAD by the same time tomorrow.

Posted in Certifications | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Received My MCDBA Welcome Kit

Published May 26, 2005 | In Certifications

I just received my MCDBA Welcome Kit. It was quite thrilling to see my name in the certificate which is signed by Bill Gates. I thought of uploading the scanned copy of my certificate. But then the thought of connecting my scanner, dusting it off and switching it on delayed that (ya it’s been a while since I used it last). Probably I will upload it this weekend. But I am not sure whether this violates Microsoft’s Certification Agreement. Can any one more throw light on it?

In addition to the usual contents (like tie pin, MCP card etc..) the welcome kit also contained gift and discount coupons. As an MCDBA I get 1 year free subscription for SQL Server Magazine and discounts for MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. I have filled and posted the coupon for my SQL Server Magazine.

I am now seriously thinking whether to take up MSDN and TechNet subscriptions or not. The reason is that they are costly and I am not sure whether I will be able to use them effectively, as I am mostly working in J2EE nowadays at my work. Anyways I have around 3 months to decide. (The offer holds good for three months from the date of certification)

PS: BTW can anyone of you who have already subscribed, tell me whether it is worth to subscribe for MSDN or TechNet or both.

Posted in Certifications | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Welcome to blogging Yuva

Published May 19, 2005 | In Random/Personal

It’s nice to know that I have inspired my Cousin Yuva to blogging. He has just started his blog. He is just 14 years old but a way ahead of the kids of his age. (His blog will prove that)

He just told me that he is into a new project called BaBIE (Build a Better Internet Explorer). A browser combined with the best features of IE and Firefox. He has more details about this at his blog.

Welcome to blogging Yuva and best wishes for your BaBIE

Posted in Random/Personal | 6 Comments

Preparation for 70-320

Published May 10, 2005 | In Certifications

Even thought work is taking most of my time, I have learned a lot of new things about web services, remote scripting, SOAP etc in the last two weeks. Thanks to my preparation for 70-320.

I am currently using Microsoft Self-Paced Kit for my preparation towards 70-320. I am also reading lot of articles from MSDN Webservice Home and from Tim’s Site.

My work pressure is forcing me to make this entry a short one. I will post more links once I find time.

Posted in Certifications | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Finally MCDBA – Cleared 70-315

Published Apr 24, 2005 | In Certifications

Upaaa. 😆 Finally became MCDBA. Cleared my 70-315 exam this Saturday. Any guess for the score, ya it is 1000.

I was slightly thrilled after seeing the score. May be I found the answer to the long lasting question ‘What is the maximum score for a Microsoft exam?‘. I am certain that I got the maximum and the maximum score is 1000 (at least for my exam)

The reason being that in the report card, there are bar graphs which show the percentage for each section of the exam that you have scored and for me all the five bar graphs were showing 100 % (which means that I have scored 100% in the exam) correct?

Speaking about the exam, it wasn’t that difficult as I expected. There were lot of questions from ADO.NET and Web Services. I expected them only in my 70-320 exam ;-). Microsoft self-paced training kit was really helpful. It took me only 1 minute per question to answer. The total time allocated was 150 minutes.

So, what’s next? Have one more exam to become MCAD and 3 more exams to become MCSD. So I am planning to take up 70-320 next and then 70-316 and then 70-300

Self-note – I have allocated 2 weeks time 70-320 and hopefully should complete it with in that time. Planning to used Microsoft Self-paced Kit for this one too.

Posted in Certifications | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Taking up 70-315 tomorrow

Published Apr 22, 2005 | In Certifications

I am planning to write my 70-315 exam this Saturday (23 April).

It’s been a long preparation for me. I was preparing for more than 3 weeks. I have mainly used Microsoft Self-Paced training kit and ASP.NET Quick Start and also a couple of articles from MSDN.

If every thing goes fine, I would be a MCDBA by the same time tomorrow.

Hmm.. that gives me a thrill feeling. Hey 70-315, I am coming to crack you up.. be waiting for me. 😉

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Dual search – The future?

Published Apr 18, 2005 | In Google/Yahoo

In my previous post I wrote about yagoohoogle. Now it has got some features like a firefox extension, its own blog, a YaGoohoogle search box to your site, and movable frames. The author says that he is receiving some fair amount of hits.

One of my friend introduced me to DualSearch. This one allows you to compare the results of both Google and MSN.

Is Dual search going to be the future?

Posted in Google/Yahoo | 1 Comment

BrainBench Games – My Status

Published Apr 6, 2005 | In Certifications

Work had become hectic and added to that is my preparation for 70-315. I found time only to clear the following three exams in BrainBench during the free offer period.

  • MS SQL Server 2000 Administration
  • MS SQL Server 2000 Programming
  • XML Concepts

If you are interested you can view my Brainbench online transcript here.

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Getting the Best of both Worlds – Update

Published Apr 6, 2005 | In Google/Yahoo

In my previous blog, I was talking about how the user is going to get the best of Google and Yahoo. And this site www.yagoohoogle.com has done exactly the same. This site lets you to see the result of both Google and Yahoo in the same page in two different frames. Might be quite useful at times, particularly when comparing the results returned by both Google and Yahoo. Check it out at www.yagoohoogle.com

Posted in Google/Yahoo | 1 Comment