Those Who Can, Teach. Oh, They Make Good Money, Too

Is there a more obvious way to increase your income than to teach what you know? After all, IT training is a growing market and there are plenty of opportunities for certified trainers. Network World's Linda Musthaler investigated the steps needed to launch a training career. While it takes time, money and work, the payoff can be significant.

The first big piece of advice: Get certified in your area of expertise.

Most vendors want you to hold one or more technical certifications covering their products, at least for the products represented in the courses you would teach. For example, a trainer who teaches Cisco courses must minimally hold the CCNA certification.If the trainer is going to present a specialty course, he also must hold any related certifications for that specific topic.

Next: get a technical trainer credential. 

This certification validates that you have the necessary presentation and classroom skills to teach adults. Just because you are an expert IT professional doesn't mean you have the skills to be a great trainer. Most of the big vendors have their own trainer certification. You can also seek out vendor neutral instructor certifications from firms such as CompTIA.

Finally, Musthaler says, look for work from the vendors themselves, or from providers such as Next Step Learning, New Horizons, Global Knowledge or QA. There are even training brokers.

Not everyone can become a good teacher but if you think you have the right stuff, training could be the key to unlocking plenty of extra income. 

-- Don Willmott

Post originale: http://career-resources.dice.com/articles/content/entry/those_who_can_teach

FOSS4G/Open data Geonews: State of the Map 2011 in Denver too, Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap, OpenHeatMap, QGIS with ECW, and more

Here's a few recent open source geospatial software and open data news.

On the open data front:

• MapQuest continues to dive into OpenStreetMap
• Here's an interesting graph on OpenStreetMap data accuracy per contributors density
• Denver will host the 2011 State of the Map Conference, at the same place and same month than the OSGeo's FOSS4G 2011 Conference.
• Here's an entry named Wikipedia makes OpenStreetMap more prominent
• There's a few entries a critique of OpenStreetMap, another specifically on city labels in OSM
• The Wall Street Journal estimates Open Source Mapping Poses Threat For TomTom, Nokia
• Here's OpenHeatMap, an online tool for creating heat maps and choropleth maps

On the open source software front:

• Shapely 1.2.6 has been released
• OpenGeo won a contract with UK's Odnance Survey
• Here's an entry on using QGIS on Windows with ECW
• And an entry about kml 2.2 in gvSIG

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Post originale: http://slashgeo.org/2010/10/22/FOSS4GOpen-data-Geonews-State-Map-2011-Denver-too-Wikipedia-and-OpenStreetMap-OpenHeatMap

Slashgeo: FOSS4G/Open data Geonews: State of the Map 2011 in Denver too, Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap, OpenHeatMap, QGIS with ECW, and more

Here's a few recent open source geospatial software and open data news.

lue lisää

Post originale: http://slashgeo.org/2010/10/22/FOSS4GOpen-data-Geonews-State-Map-2011-Denver-too-Wikipedia-and-OpenStreetMap-OpenHeatMap

Is it Too Late for Foursquare Competitors? SCVNGR Hopes Not, Launches New Apps

SCVNGR, one of the up-and-coming startups in the "check-in" application category has been on a roll lately. It has almost 500,000 users, is on track for reaching one million users by year-end, has integrated with Facebook Places, has launched a self-serve platform and has established partnerships with 1,000 businesses including Warner Bros., Sony, NatGeo, ZipCar, Journeys, Hot Topic, NE Patriots, Boston Celtics, NY Times, Boston Globe, and several universities. There are also 12,000 locations offering rewards to the app's users.

Today, SCVNGR is launching updated versions of its mobile applications for iPhone and Android, in hopes of enticing even more users to sign up.

Sponsor

SCVNGR 3.5

The new release, SCVNGR 3.5, is much more social. Users can now comment on their friends' check-ins and activity or even just dole out a "plus one" (+1), common Web shorthand for "I agree."

Another new feature is the "social map," which, like it sounds, maps your friends' check-ins on a map. The activity streams feature has also been updated, aggregating check-ins, pictures, badges, challenges and rewards into the stream together.

Finally, the updated version of SVNGR is better highlighting where you can find real-world rewards, one of the primary reasons users download and play apps like these. In the Places section, for example, businesses offering rewards display "REWARD" next to their entry. And a "Rewards Nearby" feature within the "Rewards" section will help you scout out deals. Meanwhile, the "My Rewards" feature lets you track your progress on achieving various rewards, which are given out after a certain number of points are reached.

But Can Anyone Beat Foursquare?

SCVNGR, a Google-backed venture, launched in May of this year under the direction of Seth Priebatsch, its 21-year-old CEO. Priebatsch created his first startup at the age of 12, and later launched SCVNGR as a college freshman. He's now on "leave-of-absence" from Princeton, managing a team of nearly two dozen at SCVNGR, a company whose most popular demographic is 17-31 year olds. As Foursquare is now doing with its university program and college-themed badges, SCVNGR is heavily involved in college outreach, working with 20 universities, offering ways to entice users to explore their campus.

Of course, SCVNGR still trails behind location-based startup Foursquare in terms of user base. As of yesterday, Foursquare just hit the 4-million user mark, which prompted blogger Om Malik to note that reaching a million users for a service is the hardest. "Once you get those, the rest is gravy," he said. But SCVNGR may soon join the million user club, if its growth trend continues - it's signing up about 5,000 users per day right now. However, compared to Foursquare's 20,000 users per day, it's still going to lag far behind.

Whether or not SCVNGR, or any check-in service for that matter, can catch up with Foursquare's lead at this point is debatable. Have you played SCVNGR? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Discuss

Post originale: http://jkdodd.soup.io/post/83383396/Is-it-Too-Late-for-Foursquare-Competitors

Can you plan too much when creating a new business?

Excessive planning is often procrastination in disguise. Entrepreneurs may be nervous to actually begin their startup and want to justify to themselves that they are being productive.

Hawaii with Kids: On Oahu, the Adults Need a Playground Too

National Geographic Traveler columnist Christopher Elliott recently visited the Hawaii with his family. Read his first blog post here. 

Like almost every other destination on the planet, Hawaii claims to have something for everyone. But on Oahu, the most visited of the Hawaiian Islands, you have to look hard to find something for kids. 

Check into your hotel in Waikiki, as we did a few weeks ago, and you'll find plenty of fun for adults. Our property, the highrise Hilton Hawaiian Village, had a range of excellent restaurants, upscale shops, and amenities. 

But our three kids were overwhelmed by the enormous property -- overwhelmed, actually, by the entire Waikiki experience -- and although they managed to find a kids' pool and a beach where they could build sandcastles, they didn't connect with it the same way they had with the less touristy Big Island. 

Same problem at our next hotel, the Outrigger Waikiki On The Beach. Great property, with all the creature comforts you could want from a first-rate resort hotel. But apart from the stand selling shaved ice next to the pool, the kids were completely unengaged. They preferred to stay in their room and watch SpongeBob reruns.

Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/10/hawaii-with-kids-on-oahu-the-a.html