YouTube role grows as U.S. election nears

In 2004, YouTube didn't exist. Three years later, politicians have learned to fear and revere the video-sharing Web site that has become a vital part of the campaign for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

From rapid dissemination of political blunders, often with funny tunes, to a new wave of music videos featuring scantily clad women singing the praises of their presidential favorites, YouTube.com has sparked a new interest in politics.

More than 2.5 million people have viewed "I've Got a Crush...On Obama," about Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, since it was posted last month. A rebuttal video of women fighting over Obama and leading Republican contender Rudy Giuliani has been watched more than 500,000 times in four days.

While much on YouTube is skewed to a U.S. audience, the company--bought by Web search leader Google last year for $1.65 billion--now has local sites reflecting the fact that more than half its viewers are outside the United States.

Many candidates vying for their party's nomination to run for president have embraced the technological changes, holding polls via YouTube, asking for campaign input and making announcements on the site.

"In the past, the campaigns sort of stuck their toe into technology and innovation--it was a small detail of what was going on," said Phil Noble, founder of PoliticsOnline.

"The difference in this election is that technology has become fundamental. Every campaign has figured out ways to use YouTube all the time."

It's not just the candidates. YouTube members are getting in too, with thousands of people uploading video questions for upcoming CNN/YouTube debates.

Tough questions
By Friday midday, more than 1,700 videos had been put on YouTube's site for Monday's debate among Democratic candidates. The Republican debate will be on September 17.

Some 25 to 30 of the questions will be picked by a political team at CNN for the two-hour debate. Follow-up questions may also be asked by moderator Anderson Cooper.

Questions are about health care, Social Security, global warming and U.S. foreign policy. Some are serious, others are not. One man played a guitar and sang a song about whom the candidates would choose as running mates for vice president.

Will Wrigley, a 17-year-old who will turn 18 in time to vote in November 2008, asked the candidates for their views on stem cell research.

"I just decided I wanted to have one in," he said by e-mail.

The issue was important, Wrigley added, because it could "improve the health of the people in this nation and around the world."

Kim, a 36-year-old breast cancer patient from suburban New York, took off her wig while saying her chances for survival were not as good as they could have been because she -- like tens of millions of Americans -- had no health insurance.

"What would you as president do to make low-cost or free preventative medicine available for everyone in this country?" she asked.

CNN political director Sam Feist said the network decided to hold a YouTube debate in part to highlight the enormous impact the Internet has on politics.

"Clearly the YouTube phenomenon is the perfect opportunity to merge new media and old media in a presidential debate," he said, adding that the unpredictable nature of the questions will make it harder for candidates to prepare.

Feist said the questions were asked by a diverse group of people -- of all ages and from across the country and several foreign nations. He said he was surprised by the quality of the questions and that there were not more about the Iraq war.

Noble, who feels it is too early to call this a "YouTube election," said it will be fun to see even more innovation.

"What we're doing is putting the most powerful communications tools in the hands of millions of people all at one time and saying 'Tell us what you think about politics'."

cheers Aurobindo

Search engines race to update privacy policies

The major search engines are racing to outdo each other in updating their data retention policies in an attempt to assuage concerns that they keep consumer search data too long.

The latest to go public with their moves are Microsoft and Yahoo.

Microsoft and Ask.com also are proposing an industry effort to create voluntary standards for protecting consumer privacy with search and online ads, a move that is likely spurred by Google's plan to acquire a leader in the online ad market.

Microsoft is set to announce on Monday plans to permanently remove the Internet Protocol address and other identifying data associated with Web searches after 18 months unless the searcher wants the information stored for longer. The company will also store search terms separately from account information that personally identifies a user, such as name, e-mail address and phone number, gathered as part of other Microsoft services.

In addition, Microsoft is promising that it will give people the ability to opt out of behavioral ad targeting it offers on third-party Web sites and it will allow people to search and surf its Web sites without being associated with a personal and unique identifier used for such ad targeting.

Meanwhile, Yahoo is vowing to remove portions of IP addresses and personally identifiable cookie IDs within 13 months except when users want the data retained for longer or when the company is required to retain it for law enforcement or legal processes, said Yahoo spokesman Jim Cullinan.

Cookies are small files stored on a computer so that the computer can be recognized when it revisits Web sites, enabling the site to remember the user's preferences for things like e-commerce and sites that require a log-in.

The news comes days after changes at Ask and Google. On Thursday, Ask said it would allow people to search anonymously and would not retain a user's Web search history at all if the searcher didn't want it to. Searchers will be able to change their preferences using a new AskEraser tool, which will reside on the Ask servers and will work with all the major operating systems. Ask said it will retain the search log data for 18 months for people who don't want to be anonymous and then it will disassociate the search terms from the IP address.

Also last week, Google said it would have cookies expire after two years instead of 2038, although for anyone who visits Google even once in the next two years, the cookie expiration date will be extended another two years.

In March, Google said it would start anonymizing the final eight bits of the IP address and the cookie data after somewhere between 18 months and 24 months, unless legally required to retain the data for longer. That would make it much harder to identify the specific computers used for searches.

The risks associated with retaining search data were illustrated last year when AOL inadvertently exposed the searches of more than 650,000 users. The New York Times was able to discover the identity of at least one of the users, highlighting the risks associated with retaining search data logs.

Microsoft and Ask also said they would work together and are asking other companies and organizations to join them in creating industry guidelines for protecting consumer privacy in the areas of search and online advertising. They said they would provide an update on the effort in September.

The moves come amid discussion in the industry over privacy concerns related to Google's proposed $3.1 billion of online ad provider DoubleClick. Privacy advocates have questioned the deal; Microsoft opposes it on antitrust grounds; and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into it.

"It's a topical area right now, and (the Google-DoubleClick plan) had some influence on us looking at this" now, said Brendon Lynch, director of privacy strategy at Microsoft. "We believe privacy is a very important aspect for our business going forward."

But where do Yahoo and Google stand on the self-regulation effort? Neither company would give a straight answer to that question.

"We're certainly open to having conversations about technical issues, but we don't think this is the right time to participate in that," said Yahoo's Cullinan, without elaborating.

A Google spokeswoman provided this statement: "Our goal is to improve privacy protection and data security for all Internet users by continuing to innovate in the area of privacy."

chheers Aurobindo

The next version of Windows is Windows 7

According to News.com, Microsoft is planning to ship the next major version of Windows within roughly three years compared to the more than five years for Windows Vista. It is also to be known internally as Windows 7 from its previous code name of Vienna.

Sources close to the company says that the company discussed Windows 7 last Thursday at a conference for its field sales force in Orlando, Fla.

Some key points for Windows 7 would be:

1. There will be a consumer version as well as a business version.
2. 32-bit and 64-bit editions will be available.
3. A subscription model to complement Windows is being considered, though no decision has been made on that yet.

According to Microsoft:

“Microsoft is scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year time frame, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar.”

It is clear that Microsoft hopes to avoid the delays in Vista which has opened it to much criticism, especially with customers who have signed up under its Software Assurance scheme.

Microsoft is planning to ship its next major version of Windows--known internally as version "7"--within roughly three years, CNET News.com has learned.

The company discussed Windows 7 on Thursday at a conference for its field sales force in Orlando, Fla., according to sources close to the company.

While the company provided few details, Windows 7, the next client version of the operating system, will be among the steps taken by Microsoft to establish a more predictable release schedule, according to sources. The company plans a more "iterative" process of information disclosure to business customers and partners, sources said.

Windows Vista, the oft-delayed most recent release of Windows, shipped to businesses in November and to consumers in January after more than five years of development. Vista's gestation period was marked by shifting product details as internal priorities changed and problems arose with development.

Like Vista, Windows 7 will ship in consumer and business versions, and in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The company also confirmed that it is considering a subscription model to complement Windows, but did not provide specifics or a time frame.

Next up on Microsoft's agenda is Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, which is expected before year's end.

The discussion of Windows' future isn't surprising, given that Microsoft has been criticized by business customers for delays related to Vista. Many business customers pay for Microsoft's software under a license agreement called Software Assurance.

Windows 7 was previously known by the code name Vienna. A Microsoft representative confirmed that Windows 7 is the internal code name for the next client release of Windows. The details were released "as part of our ongoing outreach to enterprise customers and partners, Microsoft has begun sharing plans for how they will continue to deliver value to businesses in the future…Software Assurance customers in particular," a representative said in a statement via e-mail.

"Microsoft is scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year time frame, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar," according to the representative.

cheers Aurobindo

The Flight Number of one of the Airliners Hijacked by Terrorists Tells a Story of Destruction when Changed Into a Particular Microsoft Font-Fiction

Summary of eRumor:
An email says that the flight number of one of the airliners hijacked by terrorists on September 11 is "Q33NY". If you highlight that flight number in Microsoft Word and change the font to one called "Wingdings", you'll see a graphical representation of the hijacking including an airliner, the twin towers, death, and the Star of David.

The Truth:
This is a hoax, but judging from the emails we're getting, people want something about it to be true.

It is built upon the previously known fact that "NYC" has corresponding symbols in Wingdings that seem to have destructive meaning too.

"Q33NY" is not associated in any way with any of the hijacked airliners. It is not one of the flight numbers. It is not the tail (registration) number of any of the airplanes (we have the actual tail numbers below), and was not a designation on radar that day, and is not the identity of the subway tunnel leading to the airport or the World Trade Center. It's not one of the gate numbers. With few exceptions, all civilian aircraft in the U.S. have a tail number that begins with "N". TruthOrFiction.com has searched the FAA database that includes all airliners and found no airplane with Q33NY or any that begin with "Q" at all.

There's been a bit of mischief with this eRumor along the way. The original version is the one we have below. It clearly stated it was referring to the "flight number." It was easily demonstrated, however, that was not a flight number of any of the hijacked jets. Other versions started circulating that said it was the "tail number" or the "registration number." More recently, some versions are making the rounds that claim it was the gate number.

Here is the information about each flight:

...American Airlines flight #11.
Took off from Boston destined for Los Angeles.
Struck the World Trade Center.
The tail # was N334AA.
...United Airlines flight #175.
Took off from Boston destined for Los Angeles.
Struck the World Trade Center.
The tail # was N612UA.
...American Airlines flight #77.
Took off from Dulles near Washington D.C. destined for Los Angeles.
Struck the Pentagon.
The aircraft tail # was N644AA.
...United Airlines flight #93.
Took off from Newark destined for San Francisco.
Crashed in Pennsylvania was flight #93.
The tail # was N591UA.

The "Wingdings" font in Microsoft Word is one that is a collection of symbols rather than letters. It is true that if you use "Q33NY" in Windings, you'll get the sequence of symbols suggested but it's irrelevant.


A real example of the story as it has been circulated:


Here is something really strange:

1. Did you know that a flight number from one of the planes that hit one of the

two towers was Q33NY

2. copy that flight number into MS Word

3. Enlarge the font size to 26

4. Change the font to Wingdings

5. HERE IS WHAT YOU GET.


JUST WATCH IT.

..SOME ORKUT TIPS AND TRICKS FOR YOU..

may work…may not work…… try it hahaha

Invisible on orkut

13Apr07

–>



You can hide your orkut profile name with this new trick. The old trick alt+0173 does not work anymore.Follow this simple steps to make yourself invisible on orkut:
Click on the above blank textbox
Press Ctrl+c ( yes for copying )
Open your orkut profile edit page
Then in the name and last name text box. Pres ctrl+v […]

Proxy for orkut

Now you can access orkut from those place where it is generally blocked by the system admins. You must have seen “access denied” message that come up whenever you try to access orkut in your offices or colleges or even schools,
I have found some working orkut proxies that will you to login into your orkut account.

- A proxy by orkut itself http://images.orkut.com
- Also try http://images3.orkut.com
- http://www.atunnel.com
- http://www.kproxy.com or http://62.193.235.46/
- http://calculatepie.com
- http://bravebadger.com
- http://www.torperkut.com/

Please tell me about other proxies that worked well in your case.

Watch the Pictures of ur Friends in Action:

copy and paste this code in your Scrapbook’s Address Bar

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i
Adding Special Symbols in Scraps !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a much awaited trick on Orkut very less users know about it
be d one n Impress ur friends !!

Press alt key and d following 4rm num pad …

alt + 987 - █
alt + 1 - ☺
alt + 2 - ☻
alt + 3 - ♥
alt + 4 - ♦
alt + 5 - ♣
alt + 6 - ♠
alt + 7 - •
alt + 8 - ◘
alt + 9 - ○

alt + 0178 - ²
alt + 0489 - é
alt + 0756 - ô
alt + 0742 - æ
alt + 0719 - Ï
alt + 0739 - ã
alt + 0729 - Ù

the same way many combinations can be tried..

Some orkut misconceptions

26Jan07–>

1: ORKUT IS DELETING PROFILES
- Orkut is NOT deleting profiles
- Orkut is run by google which is having a 300% growth in terms of revenue for this fiscal year

- They can handle any abysmal requirement of processing power or space
- They are NOT experiencing any information processing or storage problems as yet.


cheers Aurobindo

JSP and Java Servlets

JSP

JSP stands for Java Server Pages. JSP is a server-side technology Java Server Pages are an extension to the Java Servlet technology that was developed by Sun.

JSPs have dynamic scripting capability that works in tandem with HTML code, separating the page logic from the static elements -- the actual design and display of the page -- to help make the HTML more functional (i.e. dynamic database queries).

JSPs are not restricted to any specific platform or server. It was originally created as an alternative to Microsoft's ASPs (Active Server Pages). Recently, however, Microsoft has countered JSP technology with its own ASP.NET, part of the .NET initiative.

Java Servlets

Servlets are Java technology's answer to CGI programming. A JSP is translated into Java servlet before being run and it processes HTTP requests and generates responses like any servlet. However, JSP technology provides a more convenient way to code a servlet. Translation occurs the first time the application is run. A JSP translator is triggered by the .jsp file name extension in a URL. JSPs are fully interoperable with servlets. You can include output from a servlet or forward the output to a servlet and a servlet can include output from a JSP or forward output to a JSP.

They are programs that run on a Web server and build Web pages. Building Web pages on the fly is useful (and commonly done) for a number of reasons:

The Web page is based on data submitted by the user. For example the results pages from search engines are generated this way and programs that process orders for e-commerce sites do this as well.

The data changes frequently. For example, a weather-report or news headlines page might build the page dynamically, perhaps returning a previously built page if it is still up to date.

The Web page uses information from corporate databases or other such sources. For example, you would use this for making a Web page at an on-line store that lists current prices and number of items in stock.

Advantage of Servlets Over CGI

Java servlets are more efficient, easier to use, more powerful, more portable, and cheaper than traditional CGI and than many alternative CGI-like technologies. More importantly, servlet developers get paid more than Perl programmers.

Efficient

With traditional CGI, a new process is started for each HTTP request. If the CGI program does a relatively fast operation, the overhead of starting the process can dominate the execution time. With servlets, the Java Virtual Machine stays up, and each request is handled by a lightweight Java thread, not a heavyweight operating system process. Similarly, in traditional CGI, if there are N simultaneous request to the same CGI program, then the code for the CGI program is loaded into memory N times. With servlets, however, there are N threads but only a single copy of the servlet class. Servlets also have more alternatives than do regular CGI programs for optimizations such as caching previous computations, keeping database connections open, and the like.

Convenient

Hey, you already know Java. Why learn Perl too? Besides the convenience of being able to use a familiar language, servlets have an extensive infrastructure for automatically parsing and decoding HTML form data, reading and setting HTTP headers, handling cookies, tracking sessions, and many other such utilities.

Powerful

Java servlets let you easily do several things that are difficult or impossible with regular CGI. For one thing, servlets can talk directly to the Web server (regular CGI programs can't). This simplifies operations that need to look up images and other data stored in standard places. Servlets can also share data among each other, making useful things like database connection pools easy to implement. They can also maintain information from request to request, simplifying things like session tracking and caching of previous computations.

Portable

Servlets are written in Java and follow a well-standardized API. Consequently, servlets written for, say I-Planet Enterprise Server can run virtually unchanged on Apache, Microsoft IIS, or WebStar. Servlets are supported directly or via a plugin on almost every major Web server.

Inexpensive

There are a number of free or very inexpensive Web servers available that are good for "personal" use or low-volume Web sites. However, with the major exception of Apache, which is free, most commercial-quality Web servers are relatively expensive. Nevertheless, once you have a Web server, no matter the cost of that server, adding servlet support to it (if it doesn't come preconfigured to support servlets) is generally free or cheap.

What is JSP?

Java Server Pages (JSP) is a technology that lets you mix regular, static HTML with dynamically-generated HTML. Many Web pages that are built by CGI programs are mostly static, with the dynamic part limited to a few small locations. But most CGI variations, including servlets, make you generate the entire page via your program, even though most of it is always the same. JSP lets you create the two parts separately. Here's an example:

Advantages of JSP

Over Active Server Pages (ASP)

ASP is a similar technology from Microsoft. The advantages of JSP are twofold. First, the dynamic part is written in Java, not Visual Basic or other MS-specific language, so it is more powerful and easier to use. Second, it is portable to other operating systems and non-Microsoft Web servers.

Over Pure Servlets

JSP doesn't give you anything that you couldn't in principle do with a servlet. But it is more convenient to write and to modify regular HTML than to have a zillion println statements that generate the HTML. Plus, by separating the look from the content you can put different people on different tasks: your Web page design experts can build the HTML, leaving places for your servlet programmers to insert the dynamic content.

Over Server-Side Includes (SSI)
SSI is a widely-supported technology for including externally-defined pieces into a static Web page. JSP is better because it lets you use servlets instead of a separate program to generate that dynamic part. Besides, SSI is really only intended for simple inclusions, not for "real" programs that use form data, make database connections, and the like.

Over JavaScript

JavaScript can generate HTML dynamically on the client. This is a useful capability, but only handles situations where the dynamic information is based on the client's environment. With the exception of cookies, HTTP and form submission data is not available to JavaScript. And, since it runs on the client, JavaScript can't access server-side resources like databases, catalogs, pricing information, and the like.

Over Static HTML

Regular HTML, of course, cannot contain dynamic information. JSP is so easy and convenient that it is quite feasible to augment HTML pages that only benefit marginally by the insertion of small amounts of dynamic data. Previously, the cost of using dynamic data would preclude its use in all but the most valuable instances.


Cheers Aurobindo

10 signs that it's time to look for a new job

Making a job change can be a life-altering decision, often requiring considerable courage and a leap of faith--but it's easier if you're convinced it's the right thing to do. Having just made a major career shift herself, IT pro Becky Roberts put together a list of factors that helped guide her decision.

The signs she identified that point to the need for change include knowing you aren't performing to the best of your ability, being unable to picture your future with your current company, recognizing that your skills are falling behind with no hope of updating them, and feeling underappreciated or underpaid.


it goes here

Use hacker strategies to build a successful information security career

This chapter from InfoSec Career Hacking: Sell Your Skillz, Not Your Soul offers advice on determining the type of information security job that's right for you, how to dig for the details about companies you're pursuing, best ways to make contact with employers and key personnel, and how to get more mileage out of the relationships you establish.

The information security field may be heating up, but that doesn't mean it's easy to break into it. The Syngress book InfoSec Career Hacking: Sell Your Skillz, Not Your Soul offers a hacker's-eye view of best strategies for reconnoitering the infosec job market and preparing yourself to excel in the field. This sample chapter offers advice for determining the type of job you want, gaining public and internal information about targeted companies, and establishing and leveraging effective contacts.


it goes here...

A Manager's Guide to IT Terminology

You have to read this white paper to know the latest IT teminology...

it goes here

cheers

The top 10 IT skills on the way to extinction

1.Cobol
2. Nonrelational DBMS
3. Non-IP networks
4. cc:Mail
5. ColdFusion
6. C programming
7. PowerBuilder
8. Certified NetWare Engineers
9. PC network administrators
10. OS/2
The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills
Are your skills in need of upgrading?

In fact, the harder you try to declare a technology dead, it seems, the more you turn up evidence of its continuing existence. Nevertheless, after speaking with several industry stalwarts, we've compiled a list of skills and technologies that, while not dead, can perhaps be said to be in the process of dying. Or as Stewart Padveen, Internet entrepreneur and currently founder of AdPickles Inc., says, "Obsolescence is a relative -- not absolute -- term in the world of technology."

1. Cobol
Y2k was like a second gold rush for Cobol programmers who were seeing dwindling need for their skills. But six-and-a-half years later, there's no savior in sight for this fading language. At the same time, while there's little curriculum coverage anymore at universities teaching computer science, "when you talk to practitioners, they'll say there are applications in thousands of organizations that have to be maintained," says Heikki Topi, chair of computer information services at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., and a member of the education board for the Association for Computing Machinery.

And for those who want to help do that, you can actually learn Cobol at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, which according to Mary Sumner, a professor there, still offers a Cobol course. "Two of the major employers in the area still use Cobol, and for many of their entry-level jobs, they want to see that on the transcript," she says. "Until that changes, we'd be doing the students a disservice by not offering it." (see also: "Cobol Coders: Going, Going, Gone? ")

2. Nonrelational DBMS

In the 1980s, there were two major database management systems approaches: hierarchical systems, such as IBM's IMS and SAS Institute Inc.'s System 2000, and network DBMS, such as CA's IDMS and Oracle Corp.'s DBMS, formerly the VAX DBMS. Today, however, both have been replaced by the relational DBMS approach, embodied by SQL databases such as DB2, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, says Topi. "The others are rarely covered anymore in database curricula," he says.

3. Non-IP networks

TCP/IP has largely taken over the networking world, and as a result, there's less demand than ever for IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) skills. "It's worth virtually nothing on the market," says David Foote, president of Foote Partners LLC in New Canaan, Conn. Foote tracks market pay for individual IT skills, which companies usually pay as a lump sum or a percentage of workers' base pay, either as a bonus or an adjustment to their base salary. SNA, Foote says, commands less than 1% premium pay. "It's like a penny from 1922 -- there has to be someone who wants to buy it."

Despite the fact that many banks, insurance firms and other companies still have large investments in SNA networks, the educational offerings in this area are also rare, according to Topi. "The dominant model of protocols is TCP/IP and the Internet technologies," he says.


4. cc:Mail

This store-and-forward LAN-based e-mail system from the 1980s was once used by about 20 million people. However, as e-mail was integrated into more-complex systems such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange, its popularity waned, and in 2000, it was withdrawn from the market. According to Foote, "cc:Mail is a bygone era. Now e-mail is tied into everything else, and cc:Mail didn't make that leap." Just the same, the product continues to be commercially supported by Global System Services Corp. in Mountain View, Calif.

5. ColdFusion

This once-popular Web programming language -- released in the mid-1990s by Allaire Corp. (which was later purchased by Macromedia Inc., which itself was acquired by Adobe Systems Inc.) -- has since been superseded by other development platforms, including Microsoft Corp.'s Active Server Pages and .Net, as well as Java, Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP and other open-source languages. Debates continue over whether ColdFusion is as robust and scalable as its competitors, but nevertheless, premiums paid for ColdFusion programmers have dropped way off, according to Foote. "It was really popular at one time, but the market is now crowded with other products," he says.

6. C programming

As the Web takes over, C languages are also becoming less relevant, according to Padveen. "C++ and C Sharp are still alive and kicking, but try to find a basic C-only programmer today, and you'll likely find a guy that's unemployed and/or training for a new skill," he says. (see also: "Hot Skills, Cold Skills ")

7. PowerBuilder

Recruiters that have been around since the 1990s, such as David Hayes, president of HireMinds LLC in Cambridge, Mass., remember when PowerBuilder programmers were "hot, hot, hot," as he says. Developed by Powersoft Inc., this client/server development tool in 1994 was bought by Sybase Inc., which was once a strong Oracle competitor.

Today, PowerBuilder developers are at the very bottom of the list of in-demand application development and platform skills, with pay about equal to Cobol programmers, according to Foote. Nevertheless, the product keeps on trucking, with PowerBuilder 11 expected this year, which has the ability to generate .Net code. (see also: "35 Technologies that shaped the industry ")

8. Certified NetWare Engineers

In the early 1990s, it was all the rage to become a Certified NetWare Engineer, especially with Novell Inc. enjoying 90% market share for PC-based servers. Today, however, you don't have to look far to find CNEs retraining themselves with other skills to stay marketable. "It seems like it happened overnight," Hayes says. "Everyone had Novell, and within a two-year period, they'd all switched to NT." Novell says it will continue supporting NetWare 6.5 through at least 2015; however, it has also retired several of its NetWare certifications, including Master CNE and NetWare 5 CNE, and it plans to retire NetWare 6 CNE. "Companies are still paying skill premiums for CNEs, but they're losing value," Foote says.

9. PC network administrators

With the accelerating move to consolidate Windows servers, some see substantially less demand for PC network administrators. "You see the evidence for that in the demise of those programs at the technical and two-year schools and the loss of instructors," says Nate Viall, president of Nate Viall & Associates, an AS/400 (iSeries) recruiting company.

10. OS/2

A rough translation of OS/2 could be "wrong horse." Initially created by Microsoft and IBM and released with great fanfare in 1987, the collaboration soon unraveled, and after repeated rumors of its demise, IBM finally discontinued sales in 2005. OS/2 still has a dedicated community, however, and a company called Serenity Systems International still sells the operating system under the name eComStation.

So, What are you thinking of????

Decide it now... or never!!!!!!!