CompTIA A+ Certification Practice Exams (Exams 220-701 & 220-702) (Certification Press) Review

CompTIA A+ Certification Practice Exams (Exams 220-701 and 220-702) (Certification Press)
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First off, if you're planning to use this as a primary reference for your A+ exam...DON'T. There are errors in the material. Second, if you're one of those who is able to memorize questions and answers and recall them at will, this book won't help you at all, because the CompTIA exam questions are NOT those in this book. Having said that, if you pair it up with a Meyers or Lammle text and use it for review, it will do its job, which is to prepare you for the actual CompTIA examinations. Yes, I know, the Meyers and Lammle books have their own practice tests included on their CDROMs. If you're at all uncertain about how well you've studied, pay the extra money and buy this book, and take the practice tests it provides.
As to the actual practice tests, both those on the included CDROM and from the authors' Web site, you may find them more difficult than the actual CompTIA exams. This is a good thing, because if you are able to pass the practice tests, you're likely to score well on the CompTIA exams. An example? I squeaked out a 76% on the two Practical Applications practice tests from the book and Web site, and then after studying the suggested "weak" areas, scored 850 on the CompTIA exam.
In short, if you're not comfortable with your knowledge and abilities, pick this up and try the tests to see where you need to build yourself up. If you ARE, pick it up anyway and see if you know what you think you know.

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Security Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+ Skills Review

Security Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+ Skills
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Not an Exam Cram type of book, this book is aimed at giving newcomers to the security field a solid background and understanding of what the job entails. Only incidentally does this book follow the CompTIA Security+ certificate examination (Exam #SY0-101) recommendations and thus provide a dual purpose.
The book is organized into tenphases or major sections. Each phase then has a series of Tasks to be performed. The first phase is entitled 'The Grunt Work of Security.' In it you start by making a security assessment of your network. By phase 10 you have completed hardening, securing the storage, set up user accounts, protected against virus and other malware attacks and more. In phase 10 you study troubleshooting.
I found the book to be easy reading, and the phase/task approach worked well for me. It provides a well needed break in the reading. And let's face it, reading about security is a lot less exciting than reading about Harry Potter.

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A step-by-step guide to the tasks involved in security administration
If you aspire to a career in security administration, one of your greatest challenges will be gaining hands-on experience. This book takes you through the most common security admin tasks step by step, showing you the way around many of the roadblocks you can expect on the job. It offers a variety of scenarios in each phase of the security administrator's job, giving you the confidence of first-hand experience.
In addition, this is an ideal complement to the brand-new, bestselling CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 5th Edition or the CompTIA Security+ Deluxe Study Guide, 2nd Edition, the latest offerings from Sybex for CompTIA's Security+ SY0-301 exam.
Targets security administrators who confront a wide assortment of challenging tasks and those seeking a career in security administration who are hampered by a lack of actual experience
Walks you through a variety of common tasks, demonstrating step by step how to perform them and how to circumvent roadblocks you may encounter
Features tasks that are arranged according to four phases of the security administrator's role: designing a secure network, creating and implementing standard security policies, identifying insecure systems in an existing environment, and training both onsite and remote users
Ideal hands-on for those preparing for CompTIA's Security+ exam (SY0-301)

This comprehensive workbook provides the next best thing to intensive on-the-job training for security professionals.

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Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France Review

Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France
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Flames in the Field is a searing account of the heroic efforts of British and French resistance fighters during World War II. Rita Kramer manages to combine both historical detail and subtle character studies in a story that has suspenseful and surprising twists. Although the book is meticulously researched, it reads more like a spy novel that you can't put down. I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about the unsung heroes who helped to vanquish the Nazis; the under-reported role of women in that courageous mission and the political machinations that turned heroes into pawns in a larger game plan. This book is exciting to read and an important contribution to uncovering the hidden story behind the Allied victory.

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The true story of women agents of the secret World War II Special Operations Executive, mandated by Winston Churchill to "set Europe ablaze" by organizing resistance in occupied Europe during the prelude to D Day. Intrigue and heroism, adventure and betrayal figure in this account of British-led efforts to defeat the Nazis in wartime France, based on extensive research in records, documents, letters and memoirs, and the author's interviews with surviving agents and officials. Despite sporadic defeat and betrayal, SOE leaders managed to delay the arrival of German reinforcements to the Normandy beachhead, contributing to the eventual Allied victory. Details of the operations of SOE recounted here remained secret for decades after the war, finally revealing the human cost of the reconnaissance and sabotage efforts that helped to shorten the conflict.

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American Empire: The Victorious Opposition Review

American Empire: The Victorious Opposition
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The echoes of war loom over a divided North American continent in Harry Turtledove's American Empire: The Victorious Opposition, the third book in the middle trilogy of books. Starting with The Great War saga, Turtledove has told a tale of alternate history, with the Confederacy having won the Civil War and still being around in the early 1900s. The American Empire trilogy has told the story of the inter-war years, and Turtledove's ideas are fascinating. Unfortunately, the writing doesn't keep up with it.
Harry Turtledove really confuses me sometimes. I love the concept of this series and I love what he's doing with it. The idea of a Confederacy taking part in World War I and the rise of a Hitler-like figure in the downtrodden South that sparks World War II is fascinating. However, the way he writes just annoys me. His constant repetition (he uses the same metaphors over and over) and his need to introduce his characters every time we see them in the book are just grating. We know that Abner Dowling served under Custer during the First World War and that Dowling didn't like him. Even if we hadn't read the previous books, we got that the first time Turtledove introduces Dowling in this book. We don't need to get it again the next time, and the time after that. It's like Turtledove thinks that his readers don't have the attention span to keep all of his characters straight. While that may be a valid point (previous books have had a lot of viewpoint characters), Turtledove has actually toned that down in this one, having only a few characters act as main ones. Others are introduced as some of the previous ones die off, keeping the cast to a manageable level.
This brings up another point as well. Turtledove is not afraid to kill off some of his characters, so it's nice that you don't quite know who's going to survive and who's going to live. However, some of the characters' fates are so obvious that it felt really boring, just waiting for the inevitable end to the storyline. Some of these characters we have been following for six books now, so it seemed a shame that their deaths were so telegraphed. Even when they weren't telegraphed, they seemed very perfunctory. Two of the characters just die off with no real ending to their ongoing story, which bristled. We've been waiting six books for the payoff to their story, expecting some sort of comeuppance or resolution, but nothing happens. The character just dies and that's it. End of story. I was not amused. Turtledove also spends time developing his next set of characters who will carry the next series, with the sons and daughters of our well-known characters finally getting their time on stage so we can get to know them.
Another fault with the book is one I had with the Blood & Iron as well. Too much of the history is a pale imitation of what really occurred in history. Some of it is unavoidable. The blacks in the Confederacy are the Jews from our real history (brought to life in a very chilling scene late in the book). The United States is Britain as it led up to the war (though at least Turtledove avoids having the President make a speech about "peace in our time"). However, Turtledove doesn't make it different enough to be as interesting. Kentucky, a state that the USA has controlled since the war, is the Rhineland, even down to the Confederacy moving in troops when they promised to keep it demilitarized for twenty-five years. While all the events in the book inevitably led to the conclusion we all know about (World War II), the events themselves should have been at least slightly different. That's what made The Center Cannot Hold more interesting. Different events occurred, surprising the reader even as we know where it will ultimately lead.
With all of this wrong with the book, how were the characters? Just like other Turtledove books, they were hit or miss. Some of them are interesting (Chester Martin and his attempt to unionize the construction industry in California really has me wondering where Turtledove is going with this one, which is a good thing), while others are bland and boring (Nellie Jacobs has to be one of the most worthless characters I've ever read about). Others are intriguing just because of who they represent in real history (Featherston, Clarence Potter). Overall, Turtledove does a passable job.
One good thing about the book, however, is the mood. As the book reaches its conclusion and war looms on the horizon, there's a palpable sense of fear and resignation that, because of Featherston, war is unavoidable. The United States has finally drawn a line that he can't cross, and when he does (just like in real life), the inevitable conflagration occurs, leading us into the next series. The tension is very well done, making the ending much better than the rest of the book.
The Victorious Opposition is a triumph of concept over prose, and I think that's why I can't read any other series by Turtledove. The concept of this entire series has kept me hooked for six books, when other, better-written books have turned me off and forced me to give them up. If you are a fan of alternate history and can get past the wretched prose and obvious characters, then give this book a try. If you are not in that select group of people, then give it a miss.
David Roy

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Secrets of Question Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results Review

Secrets of Question Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results
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This is perhaps the best all-around sales book I have ever read. While other books point out much needed information, or say the same thing with a different perspective that is sometimes necessary to understand a point, this book should be THE starting point for any sales professional. This book has helped me greatly in my success as a sale professional. It is a sales book, a persuasion book, and a psychology book all rolled into one. Everyone seems to try to start people off with "You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar" by Sandler, but this book is everything that book is and then some.
Where are the differences? Other books take an elementary strategy to the sales process. First you prospect, then you get the appointment, then you interview the customer, then you give your presentation, then you handle objections, then you close, close, close! I have even heard one person ask what the point of "step 1" is....and his answer was to get to "step 2". while this is somewhat useful to understand, it doesn't help you DO it, it doesn't tell you what to do and how to do it, and it's little more than an outline.
Secrets of Questions Based Selling gets down to the nitty-gritty. He brings things to the table that you may never think about if you don't read this book. He talks about how people interact, how they need to ad value, how they mismatch, how different types of questions serve different purposes- some are solely for the benefit of the person doing the questioning and ad no value to the person answering (i.e.- What CRM product are you currently using in your company?), while others provide more value to the customer (How many customers do you think you are losing because you do not have voicemail and people are hanging up?), etc.
I have read A LOT of books on sales, and I keep finding pieces of this book in all of the other works. High Trust Selling, Sandler's work, Selling with NLP, SPIN selling, etc. They may build on things differently, but this book IS the foundation.
So, as yourself these questions:
1. Am I EVER going to read a sales book? (If so, this should be the first one)
2. Have I been reading sales books, but haven't read this one yet? (If so, this should be the next one you read)
3. Have I been reading sales books, but haven't quite found a useful one yet? (See #2, and this will be a useful book- if you learn it)
Overall, this is a GREAT book that provides a GREAT foundation to your sales knowledge. However, always keep in mind that you have to use what you learn (which means you have to LEARN it first), and that you can't hit a baseball by reading a book. Use the books to learn the mechanics, but then get up and swing the bat a few times, and then get out and hit the ball!

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Applied Data Communications: A Business-Oriented Approach Review

Applied Data Communications: A Business-Oriented Approach
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I just finished a course on data communications at a local college. Since I knew absolutely nothing about the topic. I had nowhere to go but up. Mr Goldman's book is very readable and is chock filled with charts, checkoff lists and such that I will use when I get into the IT field. His objective to get the reader to think in terms of applying the material rather than memorizing it. He suceeds. Does he have any other related works out there? I'll buy them.

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* Provides frameworks and methodology for solving problems as technology continues to advance* Starts with the overall business problem, and then shows how technology can solve the problem* Provides an in-depth applied understanding of the technology covered and is targeted to the IT employees who actually build the networks* Business-oriented, problem-solving approach, including real business case studies stressing the business impact of data communications

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Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?: Hard-Hitting Lessons on How to Get Real Results Review

Managers, Can You Hear Me Now: Hard-Hitting Lessons on How to Get Real Results
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Denny F. Strigl, former CEO and president of Verizon Wireless, is a no-holds-barred type of guy. Writing with performance consultant Frank Swiatek, Strigl offers straight-shooting advice for managers and those who aspire to the role. The authors lay out exactly what's required of you every day to become a great manager. They present no sweeping concepts or grand theories, and little here will surprise you. Nevertheless, the authors outline the proper activities, behaviors and characteristics of a quality manager. getAbstract recommends this simple yet savvy book to any manager or manager-in-training.

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