New CCIE Logos

Cisco announced new official CCIE logos, effective January 12^th. The one I got is on the picture below.


Personally, I prefer the old logo for many reasons. Since there have not been "cease and desist" about the old logo yet, I think I will keep on using it. At least until my eyes get used to the new look.

I should not forget to mention that other Cisco certification logos have changed. They are sporting similar design like CCIE - which is the cause of my dissatisfaction with it. Take a look at CCIP one, for example.


I wonder if one can be CCIP in something other than "service provider"...

She doesn't care about all this, as long as I'm not in the bad mood about the thing I promised not to mention again after my last post. She's been great support in my learning efforts so far. In fact, she is the one pushing me to do more. I'll write about that in due time.

It's Not Me...

This time, it's official.

I just received letter from Vue (handwritten address, alright) and I'm not the mysterious #20080002.

That being said, this is my last post on this subject. It's time to move on to different things and possibly prepare for another go. One thing is certain, I'm not spending money on February 11^th attempt.

Sorry everyone for bothering you with this.

The Human Network

I finally got what it means. Allow me to explain.

Last year, Cisco launched new campaign under the name of Human Network. At first, I thought it had something to do with Web 2.0, collaboration and all other 2008 buzzwords. Nope, I was wrong. Let me tell you a little story. The subject is, of course, CCDE :-).

Sometime in 2007, Cisco started their invitation-only CCDE beta program. They tried new approach, where beta group participated to some degree in the creation of the exam. We made our comments on blueprint, took written exam, made comments on it. There were discussions, not so lively, but it was working. Then, practical exam was supposed to happen. There was silence... and silence... and silence... and then, there was an invitation to join beta exam on Networkers in Orlando in 2008. Fantastic! We sign-up, but it gets cancelled. Cisco tells us it's not required because they wish to do bulk testing and not have prolonged beta period. By doing so, they wish to avoid long wait for the results (ha!). Bulk testing was scheduled for October 1^st in Chicago. We get our invitations, we register, we go and take the 8 hour torture^Wtest. The results should not take long, they tell us, only 4 to 12 weeks. Fantastic! We wait... 4 weeks pass, nothing... 6 weeks, nothing... 8 weeks, nothing... 12 weeks, nothing... Then, sometime in 13^th week of waiting the results start trickling in. BY POST! Not e-mail, not online database, not web sites, by regular mail. Funny, this is coming from the company which is selling us "online everything". To make things funnier, one of the recipients of the infamous results letter tells me that his envelope was addressed by hand! Yes, 21^st century, Cisco Systems sends exam scores in a handwritten envelope. To make things even funnier, if it's humanly possible at this point, online database gets loaded with what appear to be bogus results. Two people (those with handwritten envelopes) who got their passing scores tell us that their online result says "FAIL".

The Human Network, apparently, means that Cisco may be giving up on the whole electronic communication thing and switching to producing IOS-powered pens. Perhaps even pencils. Think of it as a reverse process of what Nokia did. No more Nokia boots, no more Cisco routers. Great pens, though, with nice multicolor bridge logo on them. Makes me wonder would I need to buy SmartNet for Cisco SmartPen...

Needless to say, I bet they misspelled something in my address, as I have not yet received my Envelope. I have "bogus" score, though. Should I trust it, or still hope? Does it matter any more at this point?

CCDE Result is (not) In!

Woohoo! The result is in. Sort of...

Please, refer to my previous post about 2008.

Still waiting for #2, I'm afraid :-(.

UPDATE: Neverending story! It appears that at least one of the two people who got "pass" scores in letters are also seeing "fail" score in the cert tracking system. I have not received my letter still, so the game is open, once again.

I want this CCDE nightmare to end.

UPDATE 2: Now both Ryan and Reinhold are reporting that they see FAIL scores in the tracking system. False hopes live on :-)

Who is CCDE #20080002?

Happy New Year!

This post has pretty much nothing to do with networks. I'm allowed one of those from time to time, am I not?

2008 has been a year that left me with mixed feelings. I'm sure that I don't have to talk about all the bad things, like economies going into deep recession. 2008 was also a year in which She moved in with me and that I travelled a little bit more than usual. Those are all nice things. Still, bad things prevail.

I would like to state that I wish 2008 never ever happened. I really can't think of any single event in 2008 that I would really wish to remember for the rest of my life.

Begone you foul, foul year!

2009, I wish you welcome from the depth of my heart. Don't pay attention to your expired cousin.

I'll return to regular network ramblings later. Sorry for interruption, but I had to share my thoughts on 2008 with someone. Who is better than everyone and noone in particular!