Online It certification exams-Passquick

No matter what job you have in the world of IT, there’s always more than one cert that fits the job. Let’s look at my job, working on office equipment. There are 3 certs that can be used on this job alone.

There’s the new PDI+ for the machines (like copies, faxes & printers)
There’s A+ for the computers at sends your work to the copiers, etc
And there’s Network+ to keep them connected together.
(This is just a start, there are so many others.)

Too often members think all that’s needed is that “almighty A+”. Well, maybe if you never do anything but repair PC’s and work as a bench tech your whole career. There was a post today from a member who had a B.S. degree in computers but the employer still required A+. I don’t get it, is CompTIA becoming the new benchmark for the IT world? Don’t think so, but at times it looks that way.

What I am trying to say is, why stop at one. If A+ can get your foot in the door, what would happen if you added Network+ or CCNA. All this and I have not touched on the Microsoft certifications. Knowledge is power and a higher paycheck. If you stop, there will always be someone waiting in the wings to run you over for that next step up.

In short, the learning never stops. Websites like Proprofs is here to help. There’s always a member or moderator to help answer that question that can put you over the top to your next certification.

Don’t be a one cert wonder. Study on!!!

Movie Night: The Matrix

When

 Jul 31st, 8:30 pm - 11pm 

Starts Jul 31st , ends Jul 31st

 Where

 Club Obiwan Details

 Contact 

www.clubobiwan.com.cn

 Description

The Matrix, 1999

 Presented in English with Chinese subtitles. This is an Open Air event, but in case of bad weather the movie will be moved inside.

 There is no sequel.

During the year 1999, a man named Thomas Anderson, AKA Neo (Keanu Reeves), lives an ordinary life. A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal–from what or whom he doesn’t know–until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fisburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long.

A revolutionary science fiction film that stands on it’s own. Directed by the Wachowski Brothers?

Free entrance Free popcorn

Balloons

Masking Tape

Bottom line: A formidable prelude to an epic battle with resplendent effects and action spectacles.
July 11, 2008
By Maggie Lee

HONG KONG — As the first film to re-create the 208 A.D. Battle of Chibi, the most famous military feat in Chinese history, John Woo’s “Red Cliff” is a Pan-Asian project with the word “monumental” written all over it. The 140-minute first half that opened across major Asian territories is only a prelude that provides the beams and columns for the narrative framework, but with a few decisive and spot-on action spectacles, it sufficiently kindles expectations for the climactic clash in upcoming Part 2. The Western version will be a shorter, condensed one.

Costing $80 million and years in the making, “Red Cliff” is the most expensive Chinese-language picture ever mounted. Its investors likely are to recoup most of it from the Asian market, where the story has infiltrated school curriculum, computer games and manga.

Although this is hailed as Woo’s “homecoming” after his Hollywood tenure, hardcore disciples of his Hong Kong oeuvre will be straining hard to find the all-stops-out passion and sinewy machismo that ignited his bullet ballets such as “A Better Tomorrow” or “The Killer.” Such signature themes as male bonding and David-and-Goliath face-offs still drive the action, but the functional script has dismantled much of the original story’s dramatic intricacies and character complexities, then reassembled it into a easy-to-follow three-act structure.

The epic opens with ambitious Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) browbeating the emperor of Han into authorizing a campaign to crush his enemies, Liu Bei and Sun Quan (Chang Chen) in their southern strongholds. In the first big action scene, most reminiscent of Woo’s earlier SFX-free brute heroics, Gen. Zhao Yun (Hu Jun) single-handedly battles whole armies to save Liu’s infant son.

The middle act replaces action with character interaction, focusing on Liu’s strategist Zhu-ge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) persuasion of Sun Qun to ally with Liu and his elaborately built-up meeting with Sun’s viceroy, Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). The men’s chemistry flickers but does not sparkle. Most of this section, notwithstanding a gratuitous sex scene plus some comic capers, lacks a gripping atmosphere. The modernized dialogue is accessible but lacks eloquence and gravity.

A change of tone and tempo at 105 minutes into the film brings a welcome catharsis with a 20-minute extended battle sequence that has the speed and grandeur of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai classics. As the troops of Liu and Sun unite in a strategic formation against Cao’s 200,000 cavalry assault, masterfully varied cinematography captures an astounding array of military pageantry, martial arts sequences and ancient weaponry that could be a war game geek’s wet dream.

With an ensemble of key figures to introduce, the main roles physically look the part but still need to warm up to each other. The pivotal Zhu-ge and Zhou have been apocryphally depicted as rivals, but Woo’s decision to follow history and turn them into potential soul mates weakens dramatic power. More of a romantic, melancholy heartthrob, Leung has the acting chops but not the physique or the commanding presence of a martial hero that would be the equivalent of Charlton Heston or Toshio Mifune.

Eschewing the ornate Orientalism of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Curse of the Golden Flower,” production and costume designer Tim Yip goes for historical accuracy and creates a period look that is imperious and dignified.

What is your friend lifespan?
You might ask what a friend lifespan is?
It is how long you remain in friendship with someone until you drift way from each other for whatever reason. Some people remain friends for a lifetime, but some do drift apart.

You are no longer friends with your high school friend.
You may not even remember the friend you met during your internship.
As we grow older, we move from one place to another, we change colleges, work places and we keep meeting new people replenishing those we leave behind.

So who is your best friend?
Is your best friend from high school with whom you shared your best kept secrets, still your best friend?
Or has he also drifted since you moved away from your city after your first full time job.
Perhaps your girlfriend is your best friend now.
Girls usually are good at keeping up with old friends, and they usually make friends for life, and they even share their Boyfriend’s secrets with their best friends, but for a guy, usually his drinking partners become his closest friends.

But they say that ‘Old is Gold’, and never to be sold, usually your childhood friends and high school friends are the only friends you will ever have for your lifetime. You colleagues, your drinking buddies, and club buddies will come and go, but when you are in need of help, your old friends will stand by you. Even if you call your high school best friend after 15 years of not calling, and ask for a favor he will most probably oblige. He might not even think that you are calling after 15 years, and that is for asking a favor.

He will feel so good hearing your voice that he would do anything to help you. Then, why did we forget them. Why do we forget to call him on his birthday, or his marriage anniversary. However short our friend lifespan would be for new friends, we should always try to keep in touch with our old friends.

A small gesture of remembrance, a greeting card in Christmas, a random invitation card for a ceremony , calling him on his birthday, letting him know of your promotion, of your childbirth etc will go a long way in nurturing your friendship.

And this we should do with all our new found and drifted away friends as well. Just as you drifted away from him, there must be tens of other people drifted away from him, but he will remember the one who remembers him. Who knows, he might become your best friend?

Jon Bon Jovi is a legendary rock star from next-town-over-from-me New Jersey. At the same time he’s a songwriter, actor and accomplished entrepreneur. To put some frosting on the cake, Jon went from sweeping floors at a recording studio to selling over 120 million records world-wide.

Some people call it luck, some people call it talent, but I know for a fact that it is Jon’s out look on life that brought him every ounce of success that came his way. The beauty of life is that it is within all of us to adopt a paradigm that will bring us more Happiness and success than we could ever imagine.

1. “Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.”

One thing that I think we can all agree upon is that when the going gets tough giving up is easy. life is made as such that accomplishing easy goals is not nearly as satisfying as going through trials and tribulations acquire a well deserved prize.

That’s why for Jon it was important to trudge past all his failures and get back on his feet until he accomplished his goals. These trials came over and over again in his career and life, and I’m sure he has learned to look forward to the hard times because they are a sign of the rewards to come.

2. “Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.”

There’s something inheritantly boring about the 9-5, which is why many people speak badly of it. Not necessarily because it’s too hard, or because we might fail, but certainly because of the fact that boredom kills off who we are.

Passion, in any way shape or form, is what sparks the vitality within us. If we’re going to be spending the better part of our day working and earning a living (or making a fortune) we should at least be doing something that we love, so we’ll love our lives.

3. “Don’t get too comfortable with who you are at any given time - you may miss the opportunity to become who you want to be.”

The infamous comfort zone, oh killer of hopes and dreams. When our stomachs are full, and we’re totally satiated, we have no desire to go look for food. When we are comfortable enough with our living condition, we will most certainly not strive as hard to go after our dreams.

Going after your dreams, while exciting and fun, is designed to be hard. Laying around in the sack, stuffing ourselves with junk food, and numbing ourselves with alcohol is much easier, and is the trap that we must all avoid in order to experience a much grander journey to illustratious destinations.

4. “Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.”

My biggest pet peeve would have to be complainers. I know this sounds like complaining, but it breaks my heart to see people blinded to the beauty of life by putting all their focus on the negativity. life has good stuff and bad stuff, and whatever we think about expands.

Part of our test, the one where passing leads us to a more fruitful existence, is becoming conscious of ourselves and of our self-talk. By concentrating on the positives, and letting the negatives hang by the way-side we are effectively making our overall experience and perception of life more positive. This is all done without actually changing what the rest of the world is like.

5. “Each one of you has something no one else has, or has ever had: your fingerprints, your brain, your heart. Be an individual. Be unique. Stand out. Make noise. Make someone notice. That’s the power of individuals.”

On one hand, the one that looks at the grand scheme of things, we are nothing. Nothing compared to God and the vastness of the universe. On the other hand, we are just a part of a collective of people who are very much the same, and want similar things out of life.

That’s why we have to stop looking at those hands, and create a universe where we can function in the collective, but do so with style and flare so that we may stand out and leave a legacy.

6. “Map out your future - but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.”

Jon’s life was not written in stone, it was flexible and took many unexpected twists and turns. This makes him just like us. His ability to be spontaneous and comprise made his life more exciting.

While there is great merit to being a stand for what you want to do, and have an unshakeable commitment to a cause, there are many paths that will lead to that goal, some more fun than others. It’s your life, take the scenic view.

7. “The only enemy is ignorance.”

This comes out of you from nowhere, just when you thought ignorance was bliss. The truth is that it’s not a sin to be ignorant, but it is a sin to remain ignorant. Being closed off, and uneducated will lead one to live a shallow life where nothing more than carnal pleasures exist. That’s what Hitler’s goal was for every person in the world, to be nothing more than an animal.

By being open minded to any possibility, reading, learning, and fully experiencing life from all angles we are allowing ourselves to grow. We are allowing ourselves to make a positive influence on our neighbors and on shaping and changing the world.

Go ahead and study the great, successful, and happy men of history. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and there’s a good chance that anything you could come up with has already been thought of before. Use their knowledge to take your life experiences to the highest level.