8/1/2007 -- CompTIA is currently beta testing its Printing and Document Imaging (PDI+) certification exam and has made it available for free to invitees for a limited time.

From all appearances, it looks as if the invitees are those who simply requested a copy of the objectives from the CompTIA site. The beta testing is scheduled to end on Aug. 31.

For more information on the certification and beta, go here.

The Value of Certification?
Last Monday evening, I was unable to go to Netflix and move Run, Angel, Run to the top of my queue. In fact, I was still unable to do so on Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon.

Frustrated at the page that kept popping up and telling me that the site was down, I started wondering what it takes to work at Netflix. Does this company place a high value on Cisco certifications? Microsoft? Red Hat?

Curious, I went to Monster.com and typed in "Netflix" as my search criteria. A total of 91 job postings came up. I skipped over those that were drivers and non-IT positions, and then looked at those that remained.

There was a posting for a "Senior Software Engineer for Customer Service -- Applications" that required seven to 10 years of experience, as well as knowledge of C#/.NET, Java and so on -- but no certifications.

There were also postings for a senior software engineer, a vice president of systems development, an operations technical writer and even a technical support representative (who must have "trouble shooting" as opposed to "troubleshooting" abilities). None of these required certifications of any type. Most listings included both a "qualifications" section and a "nice to have" section, but nowhere did certifications -- from any vendor -- enter the picture.

Far be it for me to say that there's value in having a third party authenticate your employees' skills, but it's been a while since I've seen a site of this size go down for so long.

Book of the Week: 'Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything'
While not a hands-on manual, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything is one book that every administrator should read for ideas and suggestions about things that can be implemented in their environment. Written by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, Wikinomics focuses on how mass collaboration is changing the way we create not only content, but value.

While the title may make you think of Wikipedia, the examples throughout the book include every method of collaboration used or currently in use, from the Goldcorp Challenge to today. The 10 chapters make for an easy summer read, and the odds are good that you'll walk away with an idea of how to accomplish something better.