King Ping has a new logo

Thanks to Wes (Trafic Transit) King Ping now has a new logo now. The new logo looks cool and fits the design very much. Check out the logo at KPing.com.

Here is Fred’s comment about this.

Got a suggestion / Feedback / Comment / Feature Request, let us know we would be glad to hear that from you.

Technorati Tags: KingPing

King Ping has started to ping

Last week I asked you people to suggest some good AJAX libraries and I also gave you a hint, saying that I am currently working on a pet project. Ok now its time to reveal that pet project. It’s actually an AJAX version of a ping service hosted by Fred.

People at Diva Marketing helped us to get a good name for our service and it was christened as King Ping. Currently it is pinging around 18 ping services and has its own domain at KPing.com. More features to come. You could find more info about it, in the about page.

So guys have a look at the King Ping and do let me know your suggestions / comments / feedbacks or feature requests. You can either leave them here or at Fred’s Blog or drop me an email.

Happing Pinging…

PS: If you blog about King Ping then tag them with ‘KingPing’

Technorati Tags: KingPing | AJAX | BlogTool

MCP Program takes new path

Microsoft is changing its certification pattern with the release of the next version of Visual Studio. NET and SQL Server. They are introducing a new framework for certification that will pair up a credential with a skill-identifying certification based on a tiered approach consisting of three credentials:

• Tier 1: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
• Tier 2: Microsoft Certified IT Professional or Professional Developer
• Tier 3: Microsoft Certified Architect

Out of which the last exam Microsoft Certified Architect is supposed to be very rigorous, board-level certification. Microsoft released information about this exam somewhere in last April.

The following is the update path for the current exams

MCDBA + 2 exams – Microsoft Certified IT Professional

MCSD + 2 exams – Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (Enterprise Application Developer)

MCAD + 1 exam – Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (either Windows or Web Developer)

Microsoft is yet to give information regarding MCSE and MCSA. But those people who have already taken the current titles (MCP/MCSE/MCSA/MCDBA/MCAD/MCSD) will still have their certifications intact.

My current plan is to take that one exam for Web Developer and upgrade my MCAD title to Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (Web Developer). But who knows there is lot of time to decide though ;)

So guys share with me how your upgrade path is going to be.

Technorati Tags: Certification | Microsoft

Arfa - Youngest MCAD

Till now I was quite proud that I got MCAD and even posted my certificate. But I felt very bad about it when I found that a girl named Arfa Karim Randhawa in Pakisthan has finished her MCAD at the age of 9. Ya even I didn’t believe it at first (I read it twice before believing). Here is the link.

To recognize her talents and encourage her Microsoft has invited her to its Redmond campus and also arranged for an interview with Bill Gates.

What impressed me most was how she was described.

She made an impression through a combination of charm, flattery and boldness uncommon for someone her age. For example, during Arfa's meeting with Gates, she presented him with a poem she wrote that celebrated his life story. But she also questioned him about what she perceived to be the relatively small proportion of women on the campus."It should be balanced -- an equal amount of men and an equal amount of women," she explained afterward.

Here are some more excerpts

Later in the afternoon, she sat outside with S. "Soma" Somasegar, a Microsoft corporate vice president, and described her vision for a self-navigating car. He listened to her ideas and told her about some of Microsoft's existing software for cars.

To be sure, despite her question to Gates about employing people her age, Microsoft wasn't about to offer a job to someone so young. But Somasegar talked about the possibility of an internship in a few years.

"The thing that's exciting to me is her passion for technology at this age," said Somasegar, who decided to invite Arfa to Redmond after reading a story about her in MicroNews, an internal company newsletter.

I think it is a big success for Microsoft and also a real booster for both Microsoft and also the developers who use Microsoft technologies.

It looks strange how Robert Scoble missed it. Come on Scoble stop comparing Technorati and Bloglines and blog about this too. She promises to be a better evangelist than you for Microsoft ;)

Update: Some one in the comments said that this is news is a fraud. Here is the official news from Microsoft site itself.

BTW Scoble I am still waiting for your answer. Take some time to comment on this apart from comparing different blog searching engines. ;)

Technorati Tags: Certification | MCAD | Scoble | WorldRecord

Infinite Universe

The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida has put up a very Interesting Java applet on their site. It begins as a view of the Milky Way Galaxy viewed from a distance of 10 million light years and then zooms into towards Earth in powers of ten of distance. 10 million, to one million, to 100,000 light years and so on and then when it finally reaches a large Oak tree leaf. But that is not all it zooms into the leaf until it reaches to the level of the quarks viewed at 100 attometers. (wow) Here is the complete URL

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index

This is a fantastic representation of how magnificent the Universe is and how vastly infinite it is both in the macroscopic and the microscopic level ;) Thanks Srikanth for pointing this out to me PS: Seeing a web site using Java Applet after a very looong time ;)

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My Certificates

At last I have scanned and uploaded my Microsoft Certificates as promised. I have also created a photo set in Flickr.

Sorry for the delay guys.

Oops, I have forgotten my MCAD Certificate :(

Technorati Tags: Photos | Certificate

AJAX Library

Regular readers of my blog would have noticed that off late, I am not updating the blog much. The reason for that is, first work is taking most of my time, second I am working on a small pet project, more on it later ;-) so as to get my hands dirty with AJAX. I was googling around to find out a good library for AJAX, so that I can start with it. And I came across Backbase. It looked very promising, so I downloaded the community edition and started working with it. But I felt it is very complex and I am not sure whether it is worth the effort and moreover I am worried about the lincening too. So people I need some help from you. Can you suggest/recommend or point me to some good library for implementing AJAX into web applications. I am particularly interested in libraries which work (at least decently) across platforms. So guys I am waiting for your replies. PS: I have already written a small wrapper function for XMLHttp object, which works in the latest version of both IE and Firefox. I will post it once I finish testing it. Meanwhile if any of you want to have a look at it, just leave a comment or mail me.

Technorati Tags: AJAX | Library | Backbase | XMLHttp

Bought Sun Exam Voucher

Work has become hectic again and believe it or not I came to office even last Sunday too. So no time to update the blog :(

Sorry people for keeping you waiting.

Last week I brought the voucher from Sun Microsystem at 25% discount for my SCJP. It’s valid till July 2006. But I have put my preparation on hold due to the work pressure.

Oops my boss is calling me, will get back to you soon.

Technorati Tags: Certification | SCJP