Cisco Certification Lab

by Scott LaPlant on with No comments

Working on upgrading my certifications (moving away from Microsoft centered certs and working toward more Cisco).

There is a whole cottage industry out there willing to provide anyone looking to get into the Cisco ‘field’ with equipment, advice, etc… My advice is for you to spend a little time getting to know Cisco’s wonderful Packet Tracer program, found here: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/course_catalog/PacketTracer.html

Nothing beats getting hands on experience with Cisco gear (highly recommend the Cisco 3640 router and if you can swing it, the 2960 switch). The 2960 is CCNP level and can also be used for the CCNA certification track. Essentially, killing two birds with one stone.

Thank you Capital One

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I have a few credit cards. I like to think I’m responsible with credit. I only use credit when my wife tells me it’s ok – hence the reason I think I’m responsible with the use of credit.

So, the other day I received a call from Capital One to tell me that I’m a valued customer they would like to ‘upgrade’ me to their new Venture card. It has no annual fee, I can earn all kinds of ‘perks’ like ‘free miles’, ‘rewards’, etc… Note the quotation marks?

My informed consumer radar is usually pretty strong. I understand that nothing in life is free. That doesn’t mean companies are the enemy. You’d hope they’d provide great service or some value to you to compete in a competitive market. Yet, the financial services industry isn’t a competitive market per se. It can be if you have stellar credit and are generally a well informed consumer. Even then, when understanding what does and doesn’t effect your credit can be a mystery. It’s getting better but, we have a ways to go as far as this industry is concerned.

Anyway, back to Capital One and my upgrade. So, I decide to let them ‘upgrade’ me to the Venture card. In doing so, shortly after I receive a letter detailing the card and the jump in my interest rate. Needless to say I’m no longer a Capital One customer. They provided me a nice shiny card and a humongous interest rate jump to go along with the new card. Bonus! (not)

Moral of the story, I should have asked some very simple questions. I was blinded by the ‘generosity’ of a company I had decided to do business with and have had great relations with in the past. Shame on me for not doing my homework.

It’s your fault!

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Yesterday was a wild ride. Not just here in the United States either. Financial markets all over the world are tanking. It’s been a fascinating thing to watch from the perspective of an investor, albeit a sort of morbid fascination. I’m not a professional investor and I only stick to sectors of the market I understand when investing. Yet, there is no real understanding of this market or more importantly, our political leaders.

All this talk from politicians in Washington D.C. blaming Standard & Poors for our credit downgrade is laughable. Mr. Speaker and the Republican leadership, Senator Harry Reid and the Democratic leadership, combined with the President – it’s your fault!

People want to blame our mess on President Bush. You’re not alone. I’m one of those people too. Yet, we need to stop looking backward and start dealing with the hand we’re dealt now! Blaming the other party isn’t a solution for this mess. The polarization of our political system and by extension this country is at the heart of our problems.

Mr. Speaker, pointing a finger at President Obama isn’t a solution to our problems. Sure, it might provide you a little political cover. It may even score you a few political points with your ‘base’. It’s not a solution. It solves nothing! Mr. Speaker, it’s your fault!

Mr. President, blaming the Standard and Poor organization for this mess shows a real lack of leadership. Are the big three credit rating agencies culpable? Sure, they showed a wanton disregard for the financial meltdown of 2008. Yet, what they’re doing now is exactly what they should have done then. So, should we be pissed about it now? Hell no! It’s not their fault, it’s your fault! If it makes you feel better, we can include President Bush too but, explain to me how a strategy of reminding people who got us into this mess gets us out of it? If for no other reason than to ensure we don’t make the same mistakes then I can get on board with that. Limit it to that context, please.

Sometimes leaders need to lead. They don’t position and posture to hedge their bets for the next election (Senator Mitch McConnel). They do what’s right for the country, not just the upper 1%. They make tough choices, they tell people the truth and then they go about making it happen.

The United States political system has always been about compromise. When you hear Senator John McCain say ‘the American people don’t want compromise’ it makes me shutter. Dear Senator McCain, real leaders lead!

If the American people doesn’t want compromise and I believe a certain subset doesn’t, explain how that is good for the country as a whole? How does that solve any current problem we have? Does continuing to go into debt to finance big oil subsidies, tax cuts that cost everyone billions of dollars provide us a solution?

To the American people I’ll say this; if you’re not paying attention to the political discourse in this country, if you’re not demanding more of our leaders and expecting them to lead, expecting them to find solutions then all I can say is it’s your fault!

Credit Agencies customer service numbers

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We’ve all heard of the horror stories about dealing with the credit reporting agencies. Recently, I’ve had the misfortune to experience this nightmare first hand.

Before I rant too much on this, I want to share some info with the three people who read this blog regularly.  If you want to contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies and speak with a human being, take the following numbers down:

  • Equifax - 800-846-5279
  • Experian - 800-493-1058
  • TransUnion – 800-916-8800

The numbers provided above will get you straight to a human being within a matter of minutes.  Getting them to do what you want and what the law states in many cases in another matter entirely, so your mileage may vary. The key is knowing the facts pertaining to your particular situation, being honest and probably most important, being persistent.

Before contacting a credit reporting agency, be prepared with all the facts and circumstances pertaining to your particular issue.  If you’re looking to dispute an item on your report, I would recommend you speak with someone who has experience in dealing with these types of issues. In many instances, you can do yourself more harm than good.

The cottage industry that has sprung up around credit repair is nothing short of astounding. It’s an industry that is masked in secrecy with a mixed reputation. Just like with anything, you’re paying for their expertise and experience. I highly encourage you to do your homework before paying anyone to work on your behalf.

Avoid anyone who states they can ‘fix your credit quickly’. It’s simply not possible and the old adage of ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’ certainly applies here. Your credit score is a reflection of how you manage your credit, bill payments, and limitations of credit. If you’ve been irresponsible with credit, future creditors have a right to know this. However, if you have a legitimate issue, the system is designed to help you – which is where the persistence comes into play. If something is an error, you’re not going to stop until it’s corrected.

What is so frustrating is that the credit agencies make it absolutely difficult for good people to dispute legitimate issues.  Not everyone deals with these things everyday and sometimes all we need is a human being on the other end of a phone, helping us navigate this confusing and frustrating maze of mis-information.  It’s my hope the numbers provided in this post will help you the same way they helped me.

Maybe it’s not coming…

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The redesign is coming… for those three people who still visit this blog, I just wanted you to know that.

Unfortunately, work is challenging and my time is limited so… keep your fingers crossed that I find a little time in the next few weeks to pull the trigger. It’s nothing to write home to mom about. Just different than what I have now and will hopefully look decent on a Windows machine using Internet Explorer (that sorry excuse for a browser).

Redesign coming….

by Scott LaPlant on with 2 Comments

I’ve long been unhappy with the design, layout, and overall function of this website. It’s not been very well designed for the one-off quick post or providing a great layout for archival (my fault).

Look for the redesign within the next week. Should simplify the structure of the site greatly while providing me greater flexibility in posting style.

Cutting the cord…

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I recently made a comment on facebook about how my wife and I cut the cord (cancelled cable) and several friends inquired as to what we did to replace cable.

This post is intended to answer that question. I didn’t have time to get into detail with everyone so hopefully you can find something here that will help with your decision to keep or ditch cable. Since we made the decision to do away with it, we’ve not missed it.

Deciding to ‘get rid of cable’ shouldn’t strike fear into anyone. If your primary goal is to save money then you’ll with this decision. We saved $160 a month. You’ll also be happy to learn that you really won’t miss much (if anything). We did pick up a digital antenna and have found it acceptable in the sense that we can pick up a few of the local channels. Combined with our Apple TV we’ve not missed any of the show’s we enjoy. Keep in mind, most people only watch a few select channels anyway.

The downside to going the Apple TV route is that you’ll need to purchase the content you want to watch. If you only watch a few shows a week, you’ll probably be ahead. If you like a ton of variety, this option can get expensive fast. Luckily, we own every episode of friends and most epsiodes to date of ‘Two and a half men‘. We’ve augmented our Apple TV viewing with a subscription to Netflix This seems to work pretty well for us.

Another option is the Boxee Box. Like the Apple TV, you can stream Netflix movies and TV shows. The benefit to the Boxee Box is that you can do a little more with it – think a bit more flexibility. A great example is the ability to use RSS feeds from your favorite Video website view them on your TV using the Boxee Box. Gigaom‘s NewTeeVee site has a great video on some of the great tricks you can use with the Boxee Box. View it here: Gigaom NewTeeVee Tips

The Rocku is another great offering that provides a bit more flexibility for those less willing to get down and dirty with RSS and some of the other features of Boxee. The really great thing about the Rocku is that in addition to Netflix, you can also subscribe to hulu content from the Rocku device. Aside from that I’m not completely familiar with this device. I’ve read some pretty good things about it however. Your mileage may vary like anything else.

There has never been a better time cut the cord. There are a tremendous amount of options and online resources to help educate yourself. I know from our vantage point, the $160 a month in savings was worth the decision. It’s not that we can’t afford it. Just based on the options we have available in our area, combined with the utter crap on television (aside from ESPN of course) we just decided our money and time could be better spent elsewhere.

I hope this helps. Feel free to drop a question in the comments. Good luck and happy savings!

Merry Christmas

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My family would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. It’s been a wonderful year for my family in so many ways. We’ve been blessed and count ourselves lucky. We wish the New Year to bring many a new start with the hope of a better future.

Happy Thanksgiving

by Scott LaPlant on with 1 Comment

This has been a crazy, awesome, fun, and blessing filled year for me and my family. We have a lot to be thankful for. This past year was about taking advantage of opportunities and helping to provide some of our own for those less fortunate.

Look around you and say thank you for the fortunate circumstances you have. If you’re reading this, you’re fortunate to be able to afford a computer on which to read (and surf, blog, etc..).

The crazy time of year is upon us. I used to love this time of year because of what it would mean for me. Thankfully, I no longer have that sort of view. I’m so excited to spread some holiday cheer, spend time with family and the people I care about.

Have a safe, fun, love-filled holiday season! I hope your family has had the same good fortune mine has.