According to Microsoft, Elevate America will provide 1 million vouchers for free access to e-learning courses and some certification exams. The reason? "Since the economic downturn, more people than ever are pursuing Microsoft certification credentials," the company said.

(My request to Microsoft for some data comparing the number of candidates seeking certification during this economic downturn to the number who did so back in 1995-2000 --the heyday of Microsoft certification -- wasn't answered by the time of this writing.)

You can find more details on the Elevate America program here.

LPI Security Exam Now Available
Every since the LPIC-3 certification came along, it has depended on electives to set it apart from the other Linux Professional Institute certifications and round out the upper-level program. Before this month, the only exams available were the core (LPI 301) and a single elective on Mixed Environments (LPI 302). On March 1, the Security exam (LPI 303) went live; more electives are planned, as well.

The vendor-neutral exam provides an attractive complement to the Enterprise-level certification. This table lists the exam's topics and subtopics and the weighting of each one (each number is equal to 1.67 percent; thus, a weight of 5 is equal to 8.33 percent of the exam):

A complete list of all key knowledge areas, utilities and terms to know for the exam can be found on the detailed objectives list here.

Product of the Week: Palaestra Training
With a growing library of titles available, Palaestra Training offers CD-based CBT training modules for exams offered by Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco and a few others. While Palaestra isn't alone in this space, one of the things that sets it apart is that so many of the trainers who put together the CBTs have track records worth noting; many have written training manuals, study guides and related material.

I took a look at three of Palaestra's CBT offerings -- those for Microsoft Outlook 2003, Microsoft MCDST (70-271) and Microsoft MCDST (70-272) -- and I was very impressed by what I saw. Each was a two-disk set, and the pricing is comparable to others in this market. Before you make a purchase, I suggest checking out the free video samples available on YouTube (and via links on Palaestra's site).

Book of the Week: 'Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs'
I like to mix technology reading with business reading. Why? I strongly believe that one of the quickest ways to lose credibility is to not understand what those above you are talking about. If you're an IT manager, you need to know your field well and be able to discuss it with those in finance using the language they're comfortable with.

One of the best books to aid in this endeavor is Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs by Karen Berman and John Knight. Don't let the "entrepreneurs" in the title throw you; this is a numbers book that will help anyone who needs to look at a balance sheet or income statement.

The 30 chapters are divided into eight parts that walk you through the material from the basics to the nitty-gritty:

1. The Art of Finance (And Why it Matters)
2. The (Many) Peculiarities of the Income Statement
3. The Balance Sheet Reveals the Most
4. Cash Is King
5. Learning What the Numbers Are Really Telling You
6. How To Calculate (And Really Understand) Return on Investment
7. Applied Financial Intelligence: Working Capital Management
8. Creating a Financially Intelligent Company

What makes this book stand out? Both of the authors were founders of the Business Literacy Institute, and that experience and the knowledge that comes with it -- along with their ability to express that knowledge at a level that the non-financial adviser can understand -- shines on every page.