Archive for the ‘Preplogic’ Category

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PrepLogic Responds to Your Feedback

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

How about another round of QA with your Managing Editor and a few inquisitive customers? Our first item comes from the A+ Essentials (220-701) Practice Exam. The question is:

Your boss wants you to procure an external hard drive for his PC so that it can be quickly backed up. If he wants the quickest backup, which of the following busses should you use? Select the best answer.

A.) IEEE 1394
B.) IEEE 1284
C.) RS-232
D.) USB 2.0

The correct answer is A. Let’s run through why A is the right choice.

Answer choice B, IEEE 1284, is the spec for parallel ports which, when compared to either USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394), is much slower—about 1.5 MB/s. Definitely out. C, RS-232 is the spec for serial ports. Also too slow at 115 KB/s. That leaves A and D. USB 2.0 is an excellent transfer mechanism; but, when compared to FireWire, it’s slower: 480 Mpbs.
Tom from Mariposa CA had a question about the explanation for why FireWire is correct. We explain that FireWire is good for up to 800 Mbps and is, thus, faster than USB 2.0. Tom writes: “IEEE 1394 is 400 Mbps; USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps; IEEE 1394b which is not a choice here, runs at 800.”
Technically, Tom is correct. The b revision for IEEE 1394 is the one that runs at 800 Mbps. But, the community doesn’t refer to FireWire by its revision designation in more common parlance. All things being equal, the IEEE 1394 revision that runs at 400 Mbps is actually IEEE 1394-1995. But we don’t call it that; likewise, we don’t refer to the 2006 revision of the standard as IEEE 1394c-2006. Nor will we call the as yet unreleased (and blazingly fast at 6.2 Gbps!) IEEE 1394 revision as IEEE P1394d. Whatever the currently used FireWire standard is, it will be referred to as IEEE 1394 (or FireWire).

The next item we’ll go over comes from PrepLogic’s CCNA Voice Practice Exam. The question states:
“Using the given analog sound wave diagram, which part of the sound wave depicts the amplitude?” For reference, we’ve included this diagram.

ccna-voice-q43

The answer choices are as follows:

A.) Letter A
B.) Letter B
C.) Letter C
D.) Letter D

The correct answer is B.

James from Melbourne, Australia remarks that he “[does not] agree with… letter B. Self study says it’s… Letter C”.
Here’s the rub: the diagram actually shows two different types of amplitude identified by both Letter B and Letter C. So how do you distinguish? Well, only one type of amplitude is important to telecommunications and, thus, the CCNA Voice exam: peak amplitude. Peak amplitude is exemplified by Letter B. Peak-to-peak amplitude (Letter C) is a common way of measuring amplitude, but peak amplitude—the absolute value of the signal, is more appropriate for this measurement.

The last item we want to discuss comes from PrepLogic’s Security+ (SY0-201) Practice Exam. The question:

Which of the following is NOT true about password security?

A.) Passwords are kept secret at all times.
B.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient length.
C.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient strength.
D.) Passwords are generated of personal possessions or preferences.

The correct answer is D.

Stuart from Sierra Vista, AZ writes that he sees two answer choices that are repeated. This is actually another excellent demonstration of how CompTIA creates distracters that pull you away from the correct answer. The problem is that, in reading quickly, answer choices B and C do, indeed, look the same. However, if you look closely you’ll see that answer B indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient length” while answer C indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient strength.” This just shows that you have to make sure to read your questions very carefully when taking the test.

Ok, that’s all for now. Check back soon for another installment!

Posted in A+ Certification, CCNA, Certification, CompTIA, Preplogic, Security+, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A+ Certified Guy Going for the Gold in Vancouver

Friday, February 26th, 2010

A little less than an hour from now (1 p.m. PST), Olympic athlete and certified IT professional Steven Holcomb will continue his quest for the Gold Medal at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.  As reported by the Microsoft Born to Learn blog and by CNET, Steven’s an A+ certified professional and a Microsoft MCP who has taken some time off from the tech world to pursue the ultimate prize in both the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh events at the super-fast Whistler track in Vancouver.  Holcomb and his partner Curtis Tomasevicz finished out of the medal race at sixth place in the 2-man event. However, coming into competition on Friday Holcomb, Tomasevicz and their U.S. teammates Steve Mesler and Justin Olson are sitting in first place in the 4-man bobsleigh event.

Holcomb is an avid video gamer and is pursuing a computer science degree.  And you can see his dedication to the IT business just by looking at his twitter name; pcbobsledder.  He also likes to have fun at work. Check him out as he does The Holcy Dance in his free time in Vancouver.

Be sure to check out Holcomb as he continues his quest for Olympic gold. The 4-man bobsleigh event concludes Saturday, February 27.

UPDATE

They did it!

CompTIA A+ certified technician Steven Holcomb and his “Night Train” U.S. Olympic 4-man Bobsleigh team took the Gold Medal.  It was the first time the U.S. won the gold in that event since 1948, and almost certainly the first Olympic Gold Medal for an A+ certified technician.

Posted in A+ Certification, Certification, CompTIA, MCITP, Microsoft, Preplogic, Uncategorized | No Comments »

PrepLogic vs. Train Signal

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Guarantees are all about confidence. The reason a company offers you a guarantee is to ensure you that there are no risks when you make a purchase. With a good guarantee, you either get the product/service that you want, or you get your money back. Either way, you win. As an IT training provider, our guarantees have to give you the security and confidence that our training products will meet your needs and will give you the IT skills you want. And we have to give you enough time to try the product, because with IT training it may take weeks or months for you to find out if the product works or not.

PrepLogic and Train Signal both offer you guarantees to make you feel secure about your IT training purchase. Let’s take a closer look at these guarantees and see which program does the best job ensuring your satisfaction.

When you buy from PrepLogic, you get not just one, but TWO separate guarantees. First off, PrepLogic gives you a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase within the first 30 days for ANY reason, we’ll give you your money back. Even if you haven’t opened it or used it. Doesn’t matter. The full amount of your purchase is eligible (minus a small processing fee). There’s no buyer’s remorse when you’ve got PrepLogic’s Money Back Guarantee.

Train Signal offers a guarantee program, too. It’s good for 90 days, but there’s a limit on how much they’ll guarantee. The money back guarantee only applies up to $397. At PrepLogic, your entire purchase is covered, whether it’s $300 or $3,000. We want you to feel confident on any purchase, especially those that represent a larger investment for you.

In addition to the Money Back Guarantee, PrepLogic offers the Pass Guarantee. Not only do we guarantee you’ll be satisfied, but we guarantee you’ll pass your exam, too. Train Signal doesn’t have a similar guarantee. Our Pass Guarantee stays in effect for a full 180 days after you purchase your training. With Train Signal, you’re out of luck totally after 90 days. We know that people aren’t always able to get ready for their test right away. Our customers have jobs and school and families, after all. So we give you six months to get ready for your test, without having to worry about whether your training is going to work.

When you’re talking about guarantees, there’s a difference between a company that’s just hedging their bets and a company that’s sincerely backing up their promises. Train Signal only covers a portion of their training for a portion of the time. PrepLogic truly knows your needs and gives you the guarantee you need to be confident. Now who are you going to trust when it comes to your money and your career?

If you have questions about our Money Back Guarantee, Pass Guarantee or any of our training products and programs give us a call. 1-800-418-6789. Talk to you soon.

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Posted in Certification, Preplogic | No Comments »

Comparing Pass Guarantees: PrepLogic vs. Transcender

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

For more than 12 years, one of our top priorities has been to give you the assurance you need to be confident in our training. To earn your trust, we let you try our products for free through our demos and previews. We also give you a shot to try our complete training packages at no risk for 30 days, so you can get a taste of the real thing before you buy.

Another important way we earn your trust is with our guarantee programs. We offer a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee and a Pass Guarantee. It’s important that we offer both, because they’re very different. The Money Back Guarantee states that if for any reason you’re unsatisfied with your PrepLogic training products, we’ll refund your money. Now that’s a great way to ensure we make a good first impression. But it’s more meaningful for us to help you pass your exam. That’s where the Pass Guarantee comes in. Our Pass Guarantee states that if you use PrepLogic training for your exam, then you’ll pass that exam the first time. If you don’t, we’ll give you the money you paid to train for that exam back.

We’re not the only team to offer a Pass Guarantee, so today we’re going to compare our Pass Guarantee with one our competitors, Transcender, so you can decide whom you’d rather trust for your IT career training.

At first glance, both guarantees are pretty similar. Both PrepLogic and Transcender offer Pass Guarantees. Both programs offer to refund your money if you don’t pass your exam the first time. But that’s where the similarities end.

PrepLogic gives you more time to train. Our Pass Guarantee is available for 180 days, Transcender’s is only available for 90 days. That gives you twice as much time to train and get ready for your exam. PrepLogic doesn’t force you to rush your training to get in before the deadline, or leave you out in the cold on Day 91. We know that you have other priorities in life, and sometimes you can’t get ready for your exam as quickly as you like. We want you to be confident you’ll pass, even if your training goes longer than you expected.

PrepLogic guarantees more products than Transcender. Our Pass Guarantee covers every training product you purchased from PrepLogic for your exam. That includes LearnSmart Video Training, practice exams, audio training, Printables, Mega Guides… everything. Transcender’s guarantee only covers practice exams. We ask you to trust our full line of products, so we should guarantee our full line of products. And that’s what we do. If you fail your exam, we’ll refund your money for everything you used for your exam.

PrepLogic also doesn’t require you to return anything. Transcender forces you to ship back your CDs on your own dime. We don’t want to put you through any extra burden, so we avoid all of the hassle and expense of returning products. Simply send in your request with your failing score report, and that’s it.

Clearly PrepLogic’s offer is better. But don’t take our word for it. Check each of these programs out for yourself, and come to your own conclusion. Right now, thousands of people are depending on IT career training to help survive in this economy. Are you confident in the training you’ve chosen? Only PrepLogic offers the best products, the best trials and demos and the best guarantees.

If you’d like to learn more about our products and programs, give us a call. 1-800-418-6789. Thanks.

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Posted in Certification, Preplogic | No Comments »

PrepLogic Responds to Your Feedback

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Hello everyone!

As most of our customers know, each of our practice exam questions feature a little blue link at the top of the engine that enables you to issue feedback for that question.  This is a great benefit for us for a couple of reasons. First,  it helps us identify and correct the rare spelling/content errors that appear.  It also helps us keep in touch with customers and take the pulse of the people who are using our training to get ready for the exam .  We felt like this would be a neat opportunity to take some of the feedback people have sent us recently and use our blog as a way for us to answer those questions, personally.  So, let’s start it off with a good question regarding the Certified Ethical Hacker exam.  Specifically, question number 249, which reads:

What are some common ways to prevent password guessing on a Windows Machine?  Select the best answers:

A.) Block ports 135-139

B.) Enforce Complex passwords

C.) Log security events 529 and 539

D.) Use NTInfoScan (now CIS)

E.) Use L0phtcrack

Obviously we can eliminate answer choice D as it’s a vulnerability scanner.  The latter is eliminated because, while it is an password auditing tool, it would only help us—at best—identify weak passwords.  The correct answers, then, are A, B and C.  The feedback we received from the customer is as follows:

“The Question is asking for ‘ways to prevent’ but logging does not prevent anything.  It is a detective control.”

Allow us to elaborate, a bit.  It’s true that logging is a detective control, but remember that the question is asking for ways to prevent a very specific kind of network attack: password guessing.  Logging security events 529 and 539—the log on and log off events, respectively—will allow us to see where on the system someone might be attempting to gain access through password guessing.  Without the logs, we’d be hard pressed to identify and counteract the threat.

Ok, our next comment comes from question number 114 of the CompTIA A+ IT Technician (220-602) practice exam.  The question reads:

You are configuring an email application on a laptop for a new user. The user is a salesperson and will be traveling most of the time. The email client and the email server both support the IMAP and POP3 protocols for receiving mail and you need to determine which to use. Which of the following characteristics about the users’ needs would be most important in determining which protocol to use? Select the best answer.

A.) The user has a significant amount of disk space available.

B.) The user requires that all email delivery be encrypted.

C.) The user needs to access her email from multiple machines or email clients.

D.) The user requires access to existing email messages, even while offline.

The correct answer is C.  Here’s the feedback we got from the customer:

“This question clearly states ‘You are configuring an email application on a laptop for a new user. The user is a salesperson and will be traveling most of the time….’ Yet, the answer to the question implies the user will not be using the laptop. The correct answer according to the test is ‘The user needs to access her email from multiple machines or email clients.’ If that is the case, why state that a laptop is being configured for the user. The answer is B, or is this a trick question?”

You’re right, technically it is a trick question. But it is similar to the type of question you’ll find on the actual A+ exam.  The question relies on your assumption that because we opened with a laptop that means the salesperson will necessarily use the laptop.  This question is less about the hard, technical knowledge required to be a PC tech and more about preparing you for the kinds of questions you’ll encounter on CompTIA’s tests .  A+ may be an entry-level certification, but the test is no joke (one of the most gifted technicians I’ve known failed the 600 series A+ three times).  They will try to trick you.  You have to be able to see through distracters, like the laptop in this question, and get to the meat of what they’re looking for.

Alright, that’s all for now.  Keep the feedback coming in, folks!

Posted in A+ Certification, Certification, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Microsoft, Preplogic, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Microsoft Lab Exams

Friday, December 18th, 2009

So, there’s been a lot of confusion, lately, over the sudden emergence of a lab-based version of Microsoft’s Active Directory Exam, labeled 83-640.  Microsoft’s exam page was published back in November of last year and since then, questions have just been flying all over the forums and blogosphere about what this means for Microsoft Certifications.  Let’s see if we can’t answer some of the questions and dispel some of the rumors.

First, the test itself: 83-640 is a performance-based exam with a multiple choice component.  So, you get the best of both worlds.  Sounds great, right?  In theory, a virtual lab would be a better demonstration of a candidate’s ability to actually use the given product, rather than simply memorize and regurgitate facts on a fully multiple choice exam.   That creates trust between the successful candidate and an employer and adds value to the certification as a whole.  Win for everyone.

Unfortunately, it looks like there’s a few snags.  Distribution appears to be a big one.  83-640 is offered here in the US, but only in specific areas.  The official word from Microsoft is that before an area can begin offering the virtual lab, they have to meet some fairly stringent infrastructure requirements.  This is because the content for the labs is offered over the Internet on virtual machines.  Once the area meets the infrastructure requirements, they have to test a bunch of people.  Once Microsoft seems reasonably sure that the area can adequately handle the load, they pull 70-640 from the roster.

In practice, things seem a little spotty.  Pay attention to the comments on the page we linked above.  One imagines offering content over the Internet, rather than on site, would pose some serious security and QoS risks, even on the best of days.

So, moving forward, what does this mean for Microsoft certs?  For the time being, not a lot.  Microsoft is quick to point out that the expense of developing and delivering lab based exams is prohibitive, and they are proceeding with caution.  Comments on both borntolearn and technet blog posts all indicate that we may see a single new lab exam sometime next year, but as to when all of Microsoft’s exams will switch format—that remains to be seen.

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Posted in Certification, MCITP, Microsoft, Preplogic | No Comments »

Preplogic Halloween: My! What Big Claws You Have!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

halloween_costumePrepLogic is taking casual Friday to the extreme. Check out Sean, who’s celebrating Halloween a little early in the PrepLogic sales department. (My favorite part is the headphones he has on top of his “ears.”) If you called up this afternoon, you may not have known that you were speaking about your IT career training with the Big Bad Wolf (or GI Joe, Spider Man or one of the many other costumes our guys got decked out in).

Our Tampa, Florida offices are right around the corner from Ybor City and the big Guavaween festival coming up this weekend and our sales guys are ready to go. And let’s not forget about the people from our editorial, marketing and accounting departments getting their kids ready to scare the neighbors and fill up their bags with candy. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t business as usual. Everyone’s still working full force to get you the high quality training you need for your career — they’re just doing it in costume!

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

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