Labor Day
We list for your convenience our PCATT courses for September. Enjoy your three day weekend! |
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Vacation photo of Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park
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Greetings,
Feeling helpless means having no Internet access, no cell phone service, and no way to charge electronic devices. That was me recently... on vacation. It shouldn't matter; that's what vacations are for, right? According to a TEKsystems survey, 67% of senior IT professionals are expected to be available during their vacation. Author Patrick Thibodeau thinks the percentage is 95%. Read how other IT folks manage themselves on vacation. By the way, I enjoyed my vacation knowing things were being handled exceptionally well by my PCATT colleagues. Hope you have a chance to vacation, connected if you choose, or not.
All the best,
Beryl Morimoto
Program Manager
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Which Companies Protect Your Data?
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Graphic from siliconangle.com
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This report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation evaluates the policies and actions of major Internet companies and social networking sites as to whether they publicly protect your data.
These questions were used for evaluation purposes:
- Do they require a warrant to view content?
- Tell users about government data requests?
- Publish transparency reports?
- Publish law enforcement guidelines?
- Fight for users' privacy rights in courts?
- Fight for users' privacy rights in Congress?
What you'll find are interesting results and an optimistic conclusion.
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Pay Trends and Demand for IT Skills
Foote Partners, LLC, Research Group has released their "IT Skills Demand and Pay Trends Report" summary. The three major highlights are:
- "After four years of miserable results, pay premiums for IT certifications finally returns to positive quarterly growth, powered by gains in Architecture, Project Management, Database and IT Security certifications
- Noncertified IT skills pay continues its long growth run in the 2nd Quarter thanks to strong gains in Management/Methodology/Process, Database, Mobile Computing, Big Data, and Database skills
- Solid (and accelerated) national IT jobs growth and aggressive IT Transformation initiatives at hundreds of employers are widely influencing pay for IT professionals"
As usual, Foote Partners does an excellent and thorough job and the summary is worth your time to review.
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Aiming for the C-Suite?
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Graphic from cio.com
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IT professionals wanting to be IT executives will require a different set of skills. "Too many people hang their hat on knowing a technology when those skills are becoming more of a commodity. The higher-level skills are those around company strategy, product development and customer-focused innovation. Big data, cloud and CRM can all be outsourced," says Pamela Rucker, Chair of the CIO Executive Council's Executive Women in IT. So what does it take? Here are eight executive tips. If you are ready to apply for a CIO position, CIO resume tips and CIO resume samples will help you on your path to the C-Suite. |
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An Insider's Experience With a MOOC About SDN
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Information Technology Specialist, Aldrin Caraang
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Information Technology Specialist, Aldrin Caraang, recently took a MOOC about SDN and wrote an engaging description about his experience. There were over 50,000 people in this free, six-week course offered through Coursera. At the end of this article, Aldrin provides links so you can learn more about the MOOC and SDN. There are lessons for all of us, that in our world of rapidly changing technology we must push ourselves beyond our comfort zone and continue to learn.
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The Mindset of the College Class of 2017
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Image from Beloit College
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Each year, Beloit College publishes the Mindset List which profiles the entering freshman class. The List was started 15 years ago by English Professor Tom McBride and Ron Nief, Director Emeritus of Public Affairs, with the purpose of helping faculty relate to new students and avoid dated references. From the Mindset List of 60 traits, we thought you would enjoy the following:
- They have never really needed to go to their friend's house so they could study together.
- Rites of passage have more to do with having their own cell phone and Skype accounts than with getting a driver's license and car.
- Having a chat has seldom involved talking.
- A Wiki has always been a cooperative web application rather than a shuttle bus in Hawaii.
Perhaps these items will help us relate to the younger generation.
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Labor Day 
Labor Day is a tribute to the contributions made by workers to America's prosperity and success. We hope you keep that American spirit of hard work combined with continuous learning. We list for your convenience, PCATT courses for September and beyond. Enjoy your three day weekend.
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Keeping Your Memories in the Cloud
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This review of 10 photo-storing services with a description of each and a comparison of features in a quick-reference chart includes a list of prices. You've heard of Dropbox, Flickr, and iCloud, though others like Everpix and Picturelife may not be as familiar. The staff of The Verge selected their favorite "Power User Choice", "Average User Choice", and "Free Choice". Perhaps you'll find a photo-sharing service that fits your needs.
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And Finally...
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Regular readers know we end with something weird or amusing. This item doesn't quite fit any category, and it's not even new as it was making the rounds about a month ago. It's still interesting so it's included as our final item. With all the talk about the NSA and spying, how about doing a little spying on yourself. Try Immersion, "a people-centric view of your email life", developed by engineers at the MIT Media Lab.
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