CertiGuide to Network+  9  Introduction and “Guide to the Guide”

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Humor

Our philosophy continues with blending humor, real-world lessons learned, and continued support.

At least this way, you know why sometimes our industry can be both brilliant and “FUBAR’d” all at the same time. That is one acronym we won't spell out for you!

The tone is informal, slightly politically incorrect, at least more so than other books, less so than Maximum PC magazine.

If you purchased this book in paper media, you will notice it was designed reduced size, and loose leaf. This is so it takes less space on an already crowded computer desk and lays flat. Also by not binding, we can quickly effect changes for errors, omissions, and outright changes in the industry.

If you purchased this book in electronic form, you will have much less scrolling than with most other publications in electronic form.

Reading by candlelight or the glow of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), we know what we want as students, and what our students told us they would like to see.

Microsoft has a favorite term, heard on their campus. They call it, “Eating our own dog food.” They mean they use their own tools to create new work. (This is great until some test version of an email distribution system running the campus dies.)

Since you the reader are attempting to learn the INs and OUTs of the IT industry, we have brought you what it looks like to “eat your own dog food.” This book doesn't have the traditional label of introduction. Instead, we used a popular form in IT as your first clue to look for whenever you are unpacking a new piece of computer hardware or software. It is called, Readme.1st, READ.ME, or Read.Me!, or other clearly labeled warning that is too often ignored.

The bottom line for ANY PC is, either On or Off. Early in this book, you will learn that this is a Binary option. Binary means two. Computers work in binary. So, to assist you in thinking in binary, the chapter numbers are in binary.

We find that if you are patient, and go through and complete the exercises this will reinforce your learning and the information will stick with you.

We ask the average student to plan on a minimum of 10 hours of study time after completing the course.

A visual person you say? We have included lots of pictures and screen shots of the topics under discussion to help you correlate what you are reading with what you will see live.

Tao is Chinese for “how”. The how of InsideScoop to reflects elements of our Tao in the classroom. The old saying, “Tell them what you are going to tell them. Then tell them. Finally tell them what you told them” has merit. The way the human mind works best is by as many different input styles as possible, and repeat as much as possible.

With that in mind, you will hear some points said one way, then referred to or re-stated again. This is not because we all hid in our corners and typed away. We compared notes throughout the process quite frequently. And when we felt that a point was a 'gotcha', in the real world, we each spoke our piece. A wise person could consider the repetitions a ‘gotcha meterí.

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