Study Tools: Mnemonics

The easiest way to think about mnemonics is to think of them as mental shortcuts to help you remember something.  I have been using them for studying for a year or so and they are very helpful.  They do take a bit of time to get used to using, and there is some time investment required to build them, but the return you'll get outweighs that minor cost.

ROYGBIV is an example of mnemonic that most kids would recognize.  It's an easy way to remember rainbow colors (and one of the first things I can remember learning.  Actually, I remember one teacher writing

a                                                                          lot

on a black board to teach us not to write alot.  I can still remember what she looks like and how many other kids were in the room).  I actually have a bachelors in Psychology, so I won't get too into it, but just remember they're effective.

This is another one many people have seen.

There are actually world memory championships where contestants must do things like memorize a deck of cards in under two minutes.  They do this by practicing memorizing things.  This is not a skill unique to certain folks; anyone can do it with practice.

First you need to determine what you want to memorize.  As an example I'll use the formula for Schedule Variance from my Project+ training.  The formula is

SPI=EV/PV

For those of you who are curious, EV is Earned Value (multiply the percent of work done by the cost of completing that work) and PV is Planned Value (The planned cost of the work).

I could sit down and just repeat it over and over (a brute force method... Aka Drill and Kill).  Instead, I chose to develop a shortcut.  It is

eee vee pee vee schedule vee vee (spoken similar to easy peasy lemon squeezy).

Now a good thing to know is that mnemonics don't need to make sense to anyone else. Or even to you.  All they need to do is trigger a memory.  In thus case that phrase instantly brings the correct correct formula to mind.

Mnemonics don't need to be aural either.  Pictures are also a great way to remember.  For instance, the formula for Cost Performance Index (CPI) IS

CPI=EV/AC

Now the right hand side spells evac, as in evacuate.  So when I see CPI I visualize those letters on fire with a bunch of people running for their lives away from it.

If you see the CPI mushroom cloud, EV/AC!

Remember, the more vivid and full the mnemonics, the better it will serve you!

Once you've built your mnemonics begin using it with your note cards and other studying.  Soon it will begin to recall the info you need.  Eventually you'll just see the mnemonic in your head when presented with the trigger and you'll instantly know what it means.

Best of luck preparing, and please feel free to share your mnemonics below!

Study Tools: Note Cards

I have found that note cards are a great study tool.  I first started using them with Professor Messer's Network+ course.  First I would watch the videos and take copious notes on what was covered.  After that I would take those notes and then transfer the important points to some blank note cards.  From there it was an easy task of just going over them as much as I could.

There are really only three steps in developing this tool.  The secret is discipline.  You have to keep up on it. You must do a little every day and the overall effort will be immense.

The first step in the process is easy to do but takes a bit of practice.  All you have to do is read (or watch) and write down the important points.  The hard part is knowing what information to copy down.  The Sybex lines of books tend to italicize important points, and they also list exam related items at the end of the chapter.  Many books will do a similar thing and alert you to important ideas or definitions through boxes off areas on the page or other visual cues.  When I was using the Professor Messer books I copied over as much as I could write down about what he was saying (everything if I could get it).  This led to a lot of pausing the video so I could catch up with my writing.

The second step is also easy.  Just copy down the most pertinent notes from your first step onto your note cards.  I don't always write down every single note, some things I know I don't need to put onto note card format since I already have it memorized.  My general rule is to put it on a note card if I think it is important and if I cannot repeat the information with no cues.  This process can take a while since you need to re-format the information into a question on one side and then write the answer on the reverse.

The third step is also easy.  Just read the cards.  Read them a lot.  Every day.  Every hour.  Every spare moment you can find read the cards.  The more you go over them, the more they will stick in your brain, and that's the idea.  The key to success is the ability to recall facts, ideas and concepts clearly.

My current Project+ deck, note the business card. (and I'm only about 75% done!)

The biggest problem I have with note cards is simply the size of them.  I end up with stacks several inches high, and carting them all around town is a bit of a pain.  Fortunately, I have figured out some methods to combat this.

1. Do not make all of your note cards at once.  Instead, make them in sections.  Chapters of a book make for great sections.  Only carry one or two sections at a time.  Study them until you can answer every card, then switch up to another section.
2. Carry all your note cards in your bag, but only a few on you at any time.  Rotate out cards frequently to keep your brain guessing as to whats next.
3. Develop two, or more, decks.  Go through all your cards and set aside the ones you cannot answer immediately (My "Stumper" deck).  Take all the cards you know the first time and put them away for now (my "Easy" deck) and only carry around the ones that stump you.  Go over the first deck every other day just to keep it fresh, but focus mostly on the Stumper deck.  As you find yourself answering Stumper deck cards more and more frequently, move them into the Easy deck.  Once you only have one (a BIG Easy deck) you should be doing pretty good!

My stumper deck (right) and the easy deck (left).

The best part for me about this process is I get to spend time in coffee shops listening to music and relaxing.  I am furiously writing out note cards or focusing on reading, but at least I get to see a new spot and enjoy a nice cup of coffee (or tea).

The greatest strength of the note card is for facts.  Things like port numbers, types of contracts, OSI layers etc. are great.  More fluid concepts and ideas can be a bit hard to get on a note card, but at least it will get your brain thinking about these things regularly.

And the best part, 300 blank note cards only put me back $2!

Free Geek - Part 1

I have mentioned Free Geek in a few posts and figured I would expand on them!

Free Geek, at its core, is a hardware recycler.  I found it in Portland, Oregon, and was fortunate enough to get a spot as an intern at the Help Desk.  I am honestly surprised I got the spot since I had no recent IT experience going into it.  Fortunately Help Desk is basically just customer service, something I am rather good at.  And even better, they provided on the job, hands on training for everything I would need.

Free Geek accepts donations of used (in basically ANY condition... they've found beehives in donated hardware before...) electronics, computers and basically anything with an on-switch.  From there, they either reuse components if they work, or if they don't they get broken down to their components and recycled (did you know that a ton of computer waste has more gold in it than a ton of earth from a gold mine?).  Re-used components are either reassembled into new, usable computers running Ubuntu, or are sold in their thrift shop for cheap.

Volunteers can earn up to one free computer a year, either by building 5 computers or by volunteering for 25 hours.  They accept volunteers of almost any age (minor children need an adult guardian with them.  I saw several pairs as I was there and though it was a great way to bond and support kids), and provide them with one of three routes:

• Recycling
• Building
• Interning

Working in recycling basically means you rip apart old stuff and sort it for disposal.  I went the Intern and Build routes, but I always through recycling looked like fun.  Depending on your physical ability you can do things like rip printers apart (they're not meant to be disassembled), tear down computer chassis or do less strenuous tasks like break down keyboards.  Not much ends up in the trash, they are able to recycle the plastics and metals... sometimes at a profit.

Building was a lot of fun for me.  They start you at a bench and teach you the basic parts of a computer (RAMBUS vs. SO-DIMM, CD-ROM vs. Hard disk etc.  It's very basic, but an excellent spot for a beginner to start).  After you can identify all the component pieces they move you onto pre-build, which is where you disassemble computers.  Lots of vacuuming is involved! (if you've ever opened a 10 year old computer you know what I mean ).  Once it's (relatively) clean, you simply follow a really long flow chart to determine what can be re-used.  Basically only stuff that's 1-2 years old is kept, everything else gets moved to recycling.  Any components which are damaged (blown capacitors, bent pins etc.) get sent to Advanced Build to be tested and repaired.  Everything else that is kept is tested and then used in Build.

Build is the next stage, and teaches you how to perform Quality Assurance (QA) and to build computers from (almost... the CPU and motherboard are already in place) scratch.  They have developed a great checklist which teaches you how to put everything together.  Given the odd assortment of franken parts sometimes you just have to try different combinations of components before things work (frustrating!).

Once you've built 5 computers you can, if you wish, go onto Advanced Build.  Advanced Build is not something I did, but it looked very interesting; you can work on Macs, servers, test electronic components, rebuild motherbuilds etc.

That's all for for now... stay tuned for more information on their Internships!  And definitely check out their website.

Preparation is key : Career Planning Part 1

It had been 6 years after leaving IT in college before I finally made the leap back into it.  In the mean time I did nothing IT related.  I worked for a small business working in their office.  My IT experience in those years was mostly restricted to fixing a jammed printer or removing the occasional virus.  I am not sure what finally flipped the switch and pushed me back into IT, but I have some ideas:

• A desire to learn something new
• Wanting more money (Part time doesn't exactly pay a lot)
• Wanting a greater challenge
• Wanting to be around technology

Regardless of the actual reason, I began looking at different paths to get back into IT.  I was fortunate, in that there was a local computer recycler called Free Geek near me.  They have multiple offerings in the way of volunteering, everything from their receiving dock to interning at their Help Desk (i'll write more about my experience there in another post).

Through some miracle (seriously, I had had NO IT experience in the past few years) I landed a position as an unpaid intern at their Help Desk.  I worked 8 hours a weeks, in two four hours shifts.  All the training was hands on and on the fly.  I learned everything from some Linux command line to how to field a call to how to build a computer from nothing.  True, I had some of these skills before, but getting the opportunity to work with other nerds was a huge boost.  In addition to this internship I also volunteered building computers, which gave me a solid base for my certifications.

After a month or two of volunteering I began looking for a paying IT gig.  I submitted dozens of resumes to Craigslist ads, and several directly to companies (Nike and the like).  The only reply to any of them was a phone interview which turned into a part time job working at an IT consulting company.  It was tiny, a handful of employees, but it paid!  During this time I had begun to study for my Network+ (a friend had a copy of the book so I started here instead of A+, where most folks start.  Also, Professor Messer was, and still is, a godsend!), which I obtained in November of that year.

This job, like my previous one in an office, was also part time.  This was nice since it allowed me a lot of time to study and pursue other pursuits, but it still wasn't enough.  The company I was with still wasn't offering me enough, it was simply too small.  I began looking for ways to expand; I was still volunteering, not interning anymore build working in their Build program, and finally found an IT recruiter who helped me out...

Stay tuned for Part 2!