tony c

I think this is similar to a death knell, but while I can find examples of the phrase, I can't find anything that explicitly defines it, and I hate using language that I'm unsure of. Can somebody either confirm my understanding or correct it?

I think I tried too hard with my last question - let me try again. I'm a student, and I'm working on getting my CCNA certification. I've taken courses, gone through the books, and I've passed 2 practice exams without issue. While I'm sure that a certification might get me an interview, I want to be competent, and competence usually comes with experience. What can I do to gain practical experience in networking, and what do professionals subscribe to (either on paper or RSS feeds) to keep up with the technology?

I'm trying to improve my overall understanding of networking, as well as understand things that I should be focusing on to hopefully get a job as a network engineer. I do PC repair and I'm working on a CCNA certification, but I'm starting to see that many professionals don't consider someone with a certification to be qualified. So-

- What are considered the essential skills that everyone in networking should have?

- When you're evaluating/looking for an employee, what attributes do you look for?

- Are there any essential degrees or certifications?

- Are there any trade publications, blogs, websites, etc that I should be looking at?

- Where or how can someone without experience gain some?

- What would be a typical career path for a network engineer?

- What changes are coming- what will network engineers be working on in 5-10 years?

Repairing a computer for a friend with Windows XP, and he's using iTunes, which is a little heavy on the RAM, especially for the older rig that I'm working with (512mb, and the owner won't pay the extra couple of dollars to put in a gig). I've looked around a bit, but I can't find anything that will define for me what I'm looking for, simply an MP3 playing program that is very sparing on memory. It doesn't need to mesh with any MP3 players, it doesn't need fancy options, it just needs to play music directly from his hard drive. Any suggestions?

I'm studying for my CCNA, and I'm just trying to confirm that I understand collision domains. If I hook a switch up to 4 computers, do I then have 4 collision domains, or just one? I think 4, but the book I'm studying has an odd diagram that seems to contradict this, and most of the answers I find online are too obtuse to verify.

I had a DVD-ROM that was working perfectly, but a mechanical issue forced me to replace it (read: kids broke it). The old one was hooked up strictly through IDE and power cables. I replaced it with a cheap Nexxtech DVD-1S16 drive, hooked that in the same way, and while it reads data it won't play sound on DVDs. CDs do play sound. Checking the manual, it says I need to use an audio cable, so I hooked up a 4 pin audio connector. Still no sound. I checked my device manager, and the drive is set to use digital CD audio. For testing I disabled this, and I still have no sound. I tried automatically updating the drivers through Windows, which was unable to find any, and I can't find any additional drivers on the Nexxtech website. Is there anything else I should try?

I had a DVD-ROM that was working perfectly, but a mechanical issue forced me to replace it (read: kids broke it). The old one was hooked up strictly through IDE and power cables. I replaced it with a cheap Nexxtech DVD-1S16 drive, hooked that in the same way, and while it reads data, it won't play any sound. Checking the manual, it says I need to use an audio cable, so I hooked up a 4 pin audio connector. Still no sound. I checked my device manager, and the drive is set to use digital CD audio. For testing I disabled this, and I still have no sound. I tried automatically updating the drivers through Windows, which was unable to find any, and I can't find any additional drivers on the Nexxtech website. Is there anything else I should try?

I had a DVD-ROM that was working perfectly, but a mechanical issue forced me to replace it (read: kids broke it). The old one was hooked up strictly through IDE and power cables. I replaced it with a cheap Nexxtech DVD-1S16 drive, hooked that in the same way, and while it reads data, it won't play any sound. Checking the manual, it says I need to use an audio cable, so I hooked up a 4 pin audio connector. Still no sound. I checked my device manager, and the drive is set to use digital CD audio. For testing I disabled this, and I still have no sound. Sound is working fine for everything else. Any suggestions?

I'm trying to find the mandatory minimum sentence for smuggling prescription type drugs into the USA. I'm not in any trouble, just trying to find correct material for a debate. I can't find any websites that clearly define what those sentences are. Can somebody please please point me to a website that shows the answer? Just answering the question will do me no good, as I'd like to back up what I say with a reference to the specified website.

Thanks

My wife is on a diet, and is very focused on losing weight. I've always bought her candy for Easter, but now I'm not sure if I should give her any. Would it be better if I didn't give her the candy, since that would show I support her diet, or do you feel that she would rather have it, since it is a special occasion and I've traditionally given her candy on Easter before?

I have a copy of Visual Studios 2005 Standard Edition with a cracked disk. Everything is licensed and legal, but I can't install it on my computer, the disk will not run in my drive. I've searched around, but I can only find Visual Studios Professional Edition on the Microsoft website. Does anyone know where I can download the Standard Edition. I'm not looking for any illegal or cracked software, just the ability to use what I already have. The microsoft website has support for this product at the rate of $99 for email support and $240 if I call them, so apparently calling them is out of the question.

My problem really boils down to this - Disk 1 cracked. I have a fully licensed copy, but the disk will not function. The other disks are fine. The crack can be seen on the reverse side of the disk, and all my efforts to repair the disk have not worked. The store I purchased it at will not exchange it. I was able to burn the disk regardless, but when I try to run the Setup or autorun .exe's I get the error "Unable to launch D:/Setup/setup.exe". Is there something in particular I can try to properly launch the setup, or is there a place I can download Visual Studios 2005 Standard edition for free, and just use my existing and paid for license key? I'm not looking for any illegal or cracked software, I just want to use what I alreeady paid for.

I'm doing research for a school project, in which I am creating a budget for a fictional video game I am creating. I am trying to find the correct prices for middleware tools that are available, but if it's listed anywhere it's hard to find. In particular, I'm looking for costs associated with the Havok physics engine, Trusoft's Artificial Contender, and the CRI ADX library, as well as LiveMove (not middleware but still a development tool ). I have gone to the companies websites and I've searched for video game budgets online without finding prices. Can anyone give me a heads up to these prices? I appreciate the assistance.

I am deaf, and considering a move to King, North Carolina. Does anyone know if there is any ASL Kingdom Halls (Jehovah's Witnesses) in the area?