Kevin Jensen

First, I will give an overview of what the test was like and then I’ll give you my review of it.

The test was given to me to try and gauge my skills as a .NET Web Developer.  The test was 35 questions and it took around 30 minutes to complete.  It was the c# web 315 test.

I would say the questions broke out something like this:

25% DataSet questions

20% Questions dealing with signing of .dlls

15% SqlClient connection syntax

15% Web.config environment syntax questions

10% Configuring IIS

10% VB6/COM Interoperability with .NET

5 % MISC

Some of the questions where multiple choice, while others were multiple answer checkboxes.  The test did a good job of mixing up the questions so that they were dispersed evenly over the 30 minutes.

My Summary/Review 

Well after this exam, I remembered why I’ve never tried for MCSD.  As you can see from the percentages above there were no questions about 1.) Object oriented design.  2.) n-tier design. 3.) design patterns of any type.  25% devoted to DataSets?  I refuse to use DataSets 90% of the time when developing web applications.  Yes! There are times when DataSets are useful.  YES! Datasets have come a long way in ASP.NET 2.0, but I am not going to memorize the syntax to all of the Merge, Data Relationship, Table methods/properties. 

In my opinion, the only way to find out what a person knows about a technology is to sit down with them and walk through code manually and talk about it.  Ask questions like “Do you know why we did this?”.  “What would you do here to make this more efficient”.  Write up an architecture diagram for a mock customer/project.  These are the things that you are going to be faced with as a developer in front of a customer.

I just don’t get how these Transcender tests or a MCSD license is any indication of your skills as a software developer / architect.

Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 7.0 today.

Download Link

Release Notes Link

Internet Explorer 7.0 Checklists

Let me first say that I’m a huge football fan and I think bringing football back to Louisiana is import for the state.  That being said, I also think that it could have waited another year.

Hurricane Katrina absolutely destroyed the Superdome.  The roof was ripped off, and the entire complex was in shambles.  People have debated since then on whether the team should move or the stadium should be rebuilt.

The state decided to rebuild the stadium at a cost of $180 million. 

Here are some facts about the process:

The majority of the population of the gulf coast region is still living in Houston or Baton Rouge or Atlanta or wherever, largely because FEMA hasn’t gotten around to replacing or repairing anything but a handful of the homes and buildings and other critical infrastructure destroyed by Katrina.

Here’s who footed the bill for the new and improved Superdome:

• FEMA: $115 Million
• State of Louisiana: $13 Million
• NFL: $15 Million
• LSED Bond: $41 Million

Total: $184 Million

So that works out to 62.5% being paid for by the federal government – less than the 75% required by law, but almost certainly more than just “previous quality.”

All this, in addition to the new and improved FieldTurf (which is a substantial upgrade over the old AstroTurf playing surface).

Nothing was done to improve the Superdome’s capability as a storm shelter. It is estimated that those upgrades would cost an additional $30-$40 million.

I sure hope my free tickets are in the mail since I’m now a partial owner of their stadium.

September 11th, 2001 will be a day that will be remembered by everyone.

The country changed that day, and our lives will never be the same. The terrorist indeed did exactly what they wanted. They were able to invoke pandemonium on the United States. People rushed to gas stations in fear of gas shortages. The Government shut down all major transportation vehicles and closed all large buildings.

Here is my recollection of the day:

I arrived at work at 8:00 a.m. I was working at SFA Solutions at the time as a CRM Consultant. I had a 9:00 a.m. meeting at Menttium Corporation to discuss customization plans of their Oncontact CRM package. Brett Greenberg was to meet me their. Just as I was leaving, I got a tip from a co-worker that something had happend in NYC and an explosion had occurred.

I remember jumping on CNN and the network was slower than usual. So I jumped in my car and tuned into the local news station. It took me 40 minutes to get to the office building and when I meet Brett there, we just sat in our cars and listened to the news break. They explained that a Jet had collided with one of the towers and that the building was burning.

When finally peeled ourselves away from the radio and went into the client’s building for our engagement. As you can imagine, the employees at Menttium were not in a mood to discuss anything and we just sat by a radio that they had. I plugged in my laptop and followed the news on the major news websites. (CNN, Yahoo, etc.) I’ll never forget some of the pictures and video clips they showed that day. The video of the plane hitting and the huge fireball. The people jumping out of the windows to prevent burning to death. It was the worst even I have ever seen with my eyes. It seemed like the entire country stopped that day. Again, the terrorists had done everything they wanted.

Out of all those visual challenges, one thing sticks out the most. When I was at the client’s office I heard a woman crying out loud. I walked over to where the noise was coming from and two women were trying to comfort one of their co-workers. She was watching the footage on a small T.V. and she was crying and mumbling words that nobody could comprehend. We could not calm her down nor get her to stop crying. At that exact momemnt, I had flashbacks of watching peoples reaction to the Kennedy Assassination. I wonder if this is how people felt?

It is now 5 Years later and we are still seeing the effects of that day. Our transportation system has been re-vamped. We have gone through two wars and terrorism seems to be much closer to home than it was for me growing up. I do feel safer today than I did 5 years ago. I think a lot of great things have come out of the 9/11 attacks. I loved the way the country came together. I loved seeing people on bridges waving American flags as I drove under them.

I’m very thankful for all the men and women that were involved in search/rescue teams on that day. There were a lot of hereos that did/didn’t make it out of that rubble. I personally salute each and every one of them. I also thank the men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. These people are protecting the freedoms that we take for granted and make us who we are. You are brave and we are proud.

Well it’s that time of the year again, and I’m going to present my pre-season football picks.

Each year I rank every team on how they will finish in their division and then pick a super-bowl champion

Here are my picks:

AFC East

1. Miami Dolphins
2. New England Patriots
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo Bills

I think Daunte Culpepper is going to light it up for the Dolphins this year and R. Brown will rush for a 1,000 yards.

AFC North

1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Cleveland Browns

Carson Palmer will have another great season and will win the AFC North. Without ‘The Bus’, the Steelers are going to be much weaker. I love McNair and the Ravens to grab a wild-card spot.

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Houston Texans
4. Tennessee Oilers

This is the last year the Colts will make a run. If Payton doesn’t get it done, he never will.

AFC West

1. Denver Broncos
2. San Diego Chargers
3. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Oakland Raiders

I love the Broncos. I think they have the best defense in the league. Look out for them in the playoffs this year, especially if they get home field advantage. I don’t believe enough in Philip Rivers in San Diego until he can prove me wrong as a starting Q.B.

NFC East

1. N.Y. Giants
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Washington Redskins
4. Philadelphia Eagles

This division could be the hardest to pick. I think the Giants will ride the coat tails of Manning and Parcels will have the Cowboys playing much better. I think the Redskins are overrated and the Eagles don’t have enough toughness. I have a hunch McNabb doesn’t last the entire season.

NFC North

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Chicago Bears
3. Detroit Lions
4. Green Bay Packers

I think the Vikes will take this terrible conference with a 9-6 record. The Bears still need a quarterback and the Lions and Packers need a facelift. The Vikings get killed in their first playoff game.

NFC South

1. Carolina Panthers
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. Tampa Bay Bucaneers
4. New Orleans Saints

If Steve Smith can stay health this year, the Panthers will make another playoff run. They will just edge out Mike Vick and the Falcons.

NFC West

1. Arizona Cardinals
2. Seattle Seahawks
3. St. Louis Rams
4. San Fransico 49ers

Look out for the Sheriff. Denny Green is going to take his Cardinals team to the mountain top. Look for Larry Fitzgerald to have a pro-bowl season.

Well That’s my Division Picks. My Pick for this year’s Super Bowl Champion is: Baltimore Ravens.

That’s Right! I picked the Ravens to stun the world and Win the Super Bowl as a Wild Card. I guess I’ll have to come back to this in January and see where I stand.

The Minnesota Vikings open their 2006-2007 season Monday night at 7:00 p.m. the against the Washington Redskins. It will finally be a test to see how good this year’s team is and how well some of the new players will come together.

My predictions for the season this year are 8-8. I still don’t think Brad Johnson is the answer and our wide receiver core looks pretty thin. If the defense can stay healthy, they should be a large improvement over last years squad.

GO VIKES!

Johan Santana pitched another gem tonight!. The Twins are really playing well coming down the stretch and i’m looking forward to the final series with the White Sox.

I could watch this guy entertain all day, and I have. He will be missed dearly.

In the last 7 years, I’ve had 2 subwoofers blow up on me.� I’ve continued to purchase cheap subwoofers over the years and complain when they fry up.

I’ve finally purchased a subwoofer that should last awhile. I ordered the Mirage S12 from Vanns.com. The price is incredible and the reviews on the subwoofer have been spectacular.

I’ve been watching movies for the last 5 months without a subwoofer and let me tell you, it’s not a fun experience. You don’t realize how important bass is in movies until you have none.

This weekend I will be watching The Chronicles of Narnia with BASS!

Well I’ve heard so much about blogpress from my friend John.

So far , so good.