Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

After taking the ACE Renewal Lab Exam on August 31st, I was notified today that my Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer Certification ( that I achieved in 2020 ) has been renewed! Back in June, I was pleased to receive this email that went like this - Google Cloud invites you to a Public Preview of a free, open-book, non-proctored lab to renew your Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) certification.   What’s new? The ACE Renewal Lab Exam is a no-cost, non-proctored, hands-on lab exam. You can consult documentation and access the GCP search bar within the Google Cloud console, just as you would in a real-life setting. Who is eligible? All Associate Cloud Engineers whose certifications expired in 2023 or will expire in 2023 are eligible. Successful completion of the lab exam will renew your ACE certification for three years. When is it available? You can take the lab exam anytime during the three day window from August 29 to 31. If you’re not available during that window, more opport...

I passed the Google  Cloud Digital Leader   Certification Exam ! I found the no cost Learning Path for the exam on Google Cloud Skills Boost very useful, especially the material on business transformation strategy.  It has 4 very well-written modules delivered via videos with transcripts: 1. Introduction to Digital Transformation with Google Cloud 2. Innovating with Data and Google Cloud 3. Infrastructure and Application Modernization with Google Cloud 4.  Understanding Google Cloud Security and Operations For a summary of the important Google Cloud services, I reviewed the illustrations in GCP Sketch Notes which are now also a part of the book Visualizing Google Cloud: 101 Illustrated References for Cloud Engineers and Architects Some highlights from the Google Cloud Skills Boost modules that also come with great illustrations - The Digital Transformation module introduces Google's six core tenets for transforming culture: Talent  Environment Structure Strateg...

In my endeavor to be multi-cloud fluent , I took the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification exam and cleared it! I found Google's Cloud Skills Boost Cloud Architect Learning Path  courses similar to Microsoft Learn's Learning Paths & Modules - refreshingly crisp & easy to digest. The course content with great explanatory illustrations is also a great future reference to keep. I especially liked the reasoning provided in the official Google sample tests with answers, extremely useful - Sample questions and answers available from the  Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification exam home page . Practice exam quiz in the  Preparing for the Professional Cloud Architect Exam  course To better understand and differentiate between Google Cloud services under each area, the following were invaluable: Google official documentation on comparison of AWS and Azure services to Google Cloud which is frequently updated GCP Sketch Notes ...

I have been keen to achieve the  AWS Solutions Architect – Professional certification since sometime to improve my understanding & intuition for multi-cloud technologies. I'm glad to have finally achieved it.  The exam covers a wide breadth of topics. I found the following resources very helpful: Stephane Maarek's Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional 2022   13 hour video course that includes a 596 slide deck for reference . Among the practice tests, I especially loved this  Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional  (4 hours) course from AWS on how to come up with the reasoning for picking the right option for a question. Anti-patterns are highlighted and the limitations of services were well explained to show why certain choices should NOT be used. This added a whole new perspective.  AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional Sample Questions Udemy AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professiona...

I received the formal notification about passing the Google Cloud Certified - Associate Cloud Engineer exam after the customary review, today.  Although I received the provisional Pass result at the end of the exam, it seems odd that a company whose premier product is synonymous with speed takes up to a week to review & provide formal confirmation. I like these certification exams as: they provide a structure for learning new topics highlight key areas in a subject  lets us validate our learning through simulated scenarios  the virtual badges are fun to collect  For my preparation, I used Qwiklabs, Udemy and the official Google Cloud documentation.  Some of the Google Cloud documentation gems I found during the journey are the Google concept mapping with Azure & AWS articles. Besides the labs feature, Qwiklabs now includes video tutorials. The decks are a treat & useful for future reference  Google Cloud Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure Esse...

I like using G Suite products and I'm now Google Cloud certified in G Suite Although I've been using the Google's office suite since a long time, there were some interesting features I learnt only while preparing for the exam Google's Applied Digital Skills free video lessons have great learning content for anyone interested in their office productivity tools

I'm a fan of several sites of the Stack Exchange family . I was thrilled to know that I'm among the top Pro Webmasters Stack Exchange users with over 950 reputation to receive cool swag . Thank you, Stack Exchange! The Stack Exchange family currently consists of 65 question and answer sites  & has over 1.2 million users.

13 years after founding the website 4GuysFromRolla & writing for it for all these years on Classic ASP & ASP.NET, Scott Mitchell is calling it quits. And oh! I got to know just today that the site I've been following since 2000 is pronounced 4GuysFrom Rawl-ah , not 4GuysFrom Roll-ah.  He has made a candid assessment of why the site started failing after he sold it to Internet.com during the dotcom heydays. Scott Mitchell belongs to that rare breed of developers who can also explain things well as they can identify with the audience. Like scores of other web developers, I relied heavily on his tutorial site when I started my career with Classic ASP. He has consistently maintained the quality of articles & they are always educative. His  "An Extensive Examination of" series  of articles covering important .NET topics is excellent material for self-learners. As I mentioned earlie r, I find it is an interesting coincidence that beside...

I thank everyone who made it possible for me to win the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award in the ASP / ASP.NET category  again  for my community contribution s. As I mentioned earlier, the best part of the award is that you get to hobnob with folks passionate about Microsoft technologies - authors , speakers and other technical community leaders. I was among  1014 MVPs worldwide who were re-awarded during this quarter. Beginning this October Award quarter, additional technical expertise’ are now being recognized--Windows Phone Development and Windows Azure. Niraj Bhat is the first Windows Azure MVP from India.

Microsoft recognizes those who make contributions to technical communities with the annual Most Valuable Professional award. I'm thrilled to receive the news that this award which I first received in 2005 & in subsequent years has been renewed for this year as well. I thank everyone who made this award possible. The best part of the award is that you get to hobnob with folks passionate about Microsoft technologies - authors, speakers and other technical community leaders. Contributing to technical forums is part of my continuing education & it is gratifying to be rewarded for that. There have been many people who have inspired me with their work towards technical communities but I would specially like to mention Martin Honnen & Scott Mitchell . Related: Be a Microsoft MVP I attended MVP Summit 2008 MS MVP Authors from India