Knowing what jobs match your skills is just as important as receiving the right career training when choosing a career. Luckily, LinkedIn has developed a great tool to help you learn more about the types of jobs that fit your skill set as well as give you ideas for career you many not have considered.

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The new tool is in the “Skills & Expertise” section, under the “More” tab in LinkedIn. On this page you will be able to enter a career title, skill or keyword into the Search box.

The search results provide you with a wide variety of topics and information to explore and help you decide which career is right for you. Some examples of the information you will find include:

Skills defined. A description of the related career is displayed in the center top of the page. This description includes the primary industry of which it’s a part, but view these descriptions with a grain of salt. The definitions are taken from Wikipedia and have varying levels of accuracy. The small arrow in the box that is pointing up or down is an indication of the amount of positive or negative growth expected from that career field.

Affiliated expertise. A list of “Related Skills” is shown to the left of the description that provides general guidance about other careers that use skills similar to the terms you entered into your search. This list provides you a window into an expansive circle of opportunities that align with your skills.

Professionals with similar skills. This section, located under the career description provides you a list of LinkedIn members who have listed skills similar to those you entered into your search. Viewing these profiles will allow you to see these individual’s career histories (both present as well as past positions) and what keywords they list to summarize their professional experience and abilities. Knowing how others in your desired career field describe themselves should give you ideas on what keywords you want to use in your own profile. Finally, this section will show you how many of these people you are connected to through LinkedIn.

Historical and predicted growth. The small chart located at the top right of the page provides insight into growth trends of the career. Is the career growing or contracting? Are there particular aspects of the career that are experiencing expanding at a quicker rate? The chart shown in this section will provide the answers.

Notable employers. The “Related Companies” section lists notable employers in your area of interest. This section will direct you to their company page. Take advantage of this feature to learn more about the company’s services, products and culture as well as potential job openings.

Find related groups. Why do LinkedIn groups matter? Groups provide one more avenue to explore a career, including the roles and responsibilities of the people in that career, where they work, and their thoughts about the industry. Groups also provide a way to connect with professionals in that career and start building your professional network. For those reasons, be sure to check out the groups section listed on the lower left side of the page.

Opportunities and Openings. Even if you’re not ready to send in your resume, reading the various job descriptions can prove worthwhile. Job descriptions allow you to see what employers are looking for in terms of skills and experience. They can also show you what type of work will be expected in a given career so you can determine whether it suits you or not. Additionally, you’ll be able to monitor what keywords employers are using so you can be sure to have these terms in your LinkedIn profile.

The LinkedIn “Skills & Expertise” section is a terrific launching pad to begin evaluating your career options. Using this tool will help you weigh all potential job opportunities, their key characteristics and responsibilities and who in your network may be an asset as you pursue a career path. But, the section is not just for job search newbies, it can also help more seasoned professionals determine how to expand existing skills or prepare for a career change.

You can start your study for the PMP Credential today. Simply follow our Step-by-Step PMP Study Plan, and prepare for the exam easily, without hassles.

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PMP Exam Study Plan

Preparing for the PMP exam is quite unlike what you did in school and college. Here the focus is not on memorization, but understanding the concepts, best practices, guidelines, and project management framework, as per PMI’s PMBOK Guide (currently Fourth Edition since July 2009).

UPDATE: June 2011 – Although the PMP Exam is changing on August 30, 2011, it is still based on the PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition.

Most of the people I come across have heard about PMP from their friends or colleagues and are interested to gain the professional certification in Project Management.

However, they mostly lack the experience of project management. Most have worked on small projects, and may not have been in a Project Manager position for a significant amount of time. I have written previously about the eligibility criteria for the PMP Exam.

Further, they may have limited knowledge of all the project management knowledge areas, as not all are required for most small day to day projects. No wonder the casualty rate for first time PMP exam takers is so high.

So, when it comes to preparing for the PMP Exam, you need to have a plan that is specific, practical, time-bound and achievable. Without a good game plan, you may simply be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work, or just run out of steam mid-way…

One good Study Plan for PMP that I often recommend to my students is as follows.

1. Quickly enroll in a PMP Exam Preparation Workshop in your city. You can most certainly find one, and you can look up our PMP Training Directory if you need assistance. PMI has local chapters in major cities in almost each country, so you can ask the local PMI chapter for assistance, recommendations or suggestions of upcoming PMP boot-camps.

These boot-camps may be 4 day or 5 day in length, are are quite intensive. Some companies even run them on weekends, so you don’t have to take leave from your busy project schedule.

Another alternative to Classroom Training is to Study Online for your PMP Exam. Yes, you can do this now, and study at your own time and convenience. Using Online PMP Exam Preparation Classes, you can also get the 35 PDUs or Contact hours, and they are considered valid for the PMP Exam.

2. Assess the gap in your knowledge: After you’ve attended the PMP Exam Preparation training of usually 35 contact hours ( a pre-requisite of PMI before you can take the exam), you will realize how big is the gap in your knowledge and the PMI’s project management framework.

You should ask questions such as:

* In which knowledge areas do I have the least knowledge?
* In which kind of organization types have I never worked at?
* What kind of HR theories do I follow, and which are new to me?
* What kind of professional and social ethics are the norm in my company and my country?
* Is there a significant difference in my understanding and the best practices?

With the answers, you will be able to assess the amount of study you need to do, and how close or far you are from the PMP Certification exam.

3. Filling up the PMP Certification Application Form: The next thing you should do is to fill up your PMP Certification application at the PMI website. It generally gets approved within a week, if not audited, and you can then straight away take the Code given to you to schedule your exam at the Prometric website.

UPDATED June 2011: In Singapore, there are now 2 Prometric centers, and it takes at least 6 to 8 weeks before you can get a free slot for the exam. This is a boon in disguise, because you DO need atleast 6-8 weeks of earnest study time, to fill the knowledge gap, and prepare for the PMP exam properly. After all, you do want to pass it in your first attempt. It isn’t cheap and you are probably stealing time away from your family, so get it right the first time.

4. Firm up Your Study Plan in earnest: Once you know your PMP certification exam date, you can then work backwards to today, and calculate the amount of days you have left at hand. This is all you have now, so use it wisely.

A good study plan is to ensure you have enough time to read, understand, and try your hand at mock PMP exam questions.

Get the PMP Exam Preparation Books, and start reading. You can also start with the PMBOK Guide, but it not a very easy read, and is commonly known as the remedy to cure insomnia. If you can’t sleep, start reading any chapter, and within a couple of pages, you might be fast asleep.

My recommendation is to read Rita Mulchahy’s PMP Exam Prep Book, 6th Edition, which aligns to the PMBOK Guide Fourth edition. By the way, both books are easily available at Amazon or your nearest bookstore.

5. Suggested PMP Exam Study Plan:
Assuming that you have atlest 6 weeks before the exam, spend the time as follows

First Round of Basic Study – Rita’s PMP Exam Prep Book

* 2 Days for Project Management Framework
* 18 Days for the 9 Knowledge Areas (2 days each)
* 2 Days for Professional & Social Responsibility

For each day of study, read the base material, and create a mind map or write the key points on 4 by 6 index cards. You must attempt a few mock exam questions from each knowledge area, as you finish reading it. This will give you an idea of the kind of questions that come in the PMP exam.

Second Round – Test the Knowledge
Now that you have done one full round, start every morning and spend 5 minutes drawing the 42 Project Management processes on a piece of paper – just like on the PMBOK guide, page 49. Initially it will be hard, but with daily practice, you will be able to make it very quickly.

The second thing you need to do daily is to write down the Earned Value Calculation Formaulae on a daily basis too. Soon you will be able to write them out quickly. Make this a habit, and it will prove to be of immense use in the exam.

* 2 Days to review the entire mind map or cards, and make sure you still remember the key concepts.
* 1 Day to do a full mock test of 200 questions. There are many free or paid tests available that you can use to access your level of understanding, speed of answering and depth of knowledge. I found this online test to be a very Good PMP Exam Simulator.

Third Round – Strengthening

* 10 Days to review the framework and 9 knowledge areas each from PMBOK Guide, Fourth Edition. Each day do 30-40 mock exam questions
* 1 Day to do another full mock test of 200 questions. You should see huge improvement from the past test, or else you need to identify the knowledge areas where you seem to score the least.
* 4 days – study only the weak knowledge areas again, and attempt to fill the gap in your knoledge.

These 3 stages alone take about 40 days, which is about 6 weeks.

Take Action – Write Down Your PMP Study Plan
Like everything else in life, Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Go ahead, get up and take some action. Don’t just keep reading post after post and get overwhelmed by the exam.

One of the best things we have seen that really works is to write your Study Plan, and then share it with your spouse, friends, and inform me. You can Post your PMP Study Plan on the PM Forum for all to see and encourage you. Once you share it with someone, you have shown your commitment, and you are more inclined to follow through. Your friends, spouse, and I will encourage you and make sure you have the time to study, and get the PMP Credential to boost your career options and credibility.

Ultimate Objective of this PMP Study Plan
You need to think differently to gain the PMI’s perspective of answering questions. We have written several posts in the past, which show you how to think and act in the correct way, the best way, which aligns wth the PMI’s way of thinking, to get the most out of any situation, and ace the PMP exam easily, on your first attempt, and be qualified, certified with PMP.

I am currently engaged with mentoring some young technology start-up businesses.  What strikes me about these companies is that they spend the majority of their time utilising their skills to deliver their product.  They are agile, knowledgeable and very hungry to succeed and to create.

When do they find time to “learn” new emerging technologies?  They seem to have learnt it “on the fly” as they go along – such is the pace of technology at the moment.  With cloud computing, mobile computing and social media now becoming the current “bubble”, I realised just how easy it is for anyone in IT to become out of date quite rapidly.

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There is an old saying which says “use it or lose it” and I will add “use it, grow it and keep your eyes open to what is happening around you, always”.   In this process we must keep learning.

Stopping learning, even for a few months or a whole year can make a huge difference.  It is like being having a motor car – use it regularly and it works fine (sure it may need a little maintenance), but leave it parked outside for a year unused and the battery will be flat, tires a bit softer, oil a bit tired, the gas will have lost its vitality etc.  (Of course it does depend on where you park it – it may not even be there when you return!)

Learning is the same, especially in IT (and most other professions – like medicine, law, tax etc) we need to keep up to date, and even a few months “out of the game” will render us less sharp, and left with an uphill battle if we want to regain our status.

If “IT” is our career, then we need to learn on a regular basis, via personal learning, e-learning, books, attending classes, or as I am realising, by working with very sharp entrepreneurs who are leveraging the three technology areas listed above without even breaking into a sweat.

What are your experiences of keeping yourself in the best shape you can?

The essential guide to understanding and using firewalls to protect personal computers and your network

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    An easy-to-read introduction to the most commonly deployed network security device
Understand the threats firewalls are designed to protect against
Learn basic firewall architectures, practical deployment scenarios, and common management and troubleshooting tasks
Includes configuration, deployment, and management checklists

Increasing reliance on the Internet in both work and home environments has radically increased the vulnerability of computing systems to attack from a wide variety of threats. Firewall technology continues to be the most prevalent form of protection against existing and new threats to computers and networks. A full understanding of what firewalls can do, how they can be deployed to maximum effect, and the differences among firewall types can make the difference between continued network integrity and complete network or computer failure. Firewall Fundamentals introduces readers to firewall concepts and explores various commercial and open source firewall implementations–including Cisco, Linksys, and Linux–allowing network administrators and small office/home office computer users to effectively choose and configure their devices. Firewall Fundamentals is written in clear and easy-to-understand language and helps novice users understand what firewalls are and how and where they are used. It introduces various types of firewalls, first conceptually and then by explaining how different firewall implementations actually work. It also provides numerous implementation examples, demonstrating the use of firewalls in both personal and business-related scenarios, and explains how a firewall should be installed and configured. Additionally, generic firewall troubleshooting methodologies and common management tasks are clearly defined and explained.

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

Cisco on Monday rolled out a new set of routers designed to allow wireless carriers to deploy mobile services more easily.

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With the move, Cisco is aiming at Alcatel Lucent, which is a major player in wireless networking gear and betting heavily on low power and its new processors. In addition, Juniper is also targeting wireless network providers. Cisco’s routers are installed at more than 500 service providers globally, including Comcast, NTT Plala, PCCW in Hong Kong, China Telecom and Tata Communications.

These telecom equipment makers are chasing carriers that are likely to struggle to keep up with traffic. Cisco estimates that there will be two network connections for every person in the world.

Cisco called its latest wireless effort the Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers Systems. The idea behind the collective platform is to allow carriers to deliver mobile, video and data services faster.

Specifically, Cisco introduced three wireless service provider offerings:

ASR 901 is a cell site router designed for 2G, 3G and 4G services.
ASR 903, an Ethernet access router for mobile applications.
ASR 9001, a smaller version of the ASR 9000 edge router.

These products run on Cisco’s network virtualization, which mixes various parts of a network into one 96 Tbps system, as well as the company’s mobile framework.

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

Cloud computing discussions invariably begin with the “IPS” taxonomy: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service. This taxonomy has the virtue of being comprehensible and neatly partitioning assessment requirements Microsoft 70-640 Training .

Want an application? Look to a SaaS provider for a single purpose application (HR, financials, printing, etc.)

Want to write your own application? Look to an IaaS provider that lets you create your own custom application.

Want to understand the concept of leveraging someone else’s software smarts to manage the plumbing while you focus on application functionality? Then look at something like Google App Engine to get an idea of what PaaS could be.

This latter category was always kind of an afterthought because it lacked very strong entrants. However, that’s changing–big time. I wrote about this a few weeks ago in my blog, where I noted “PaaS is where it’s at.”

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Cloud providers of every stripe are converging on what will be the development battleground of tomorrow–PaaS. They’ve clearly identified this as a crucial market–one in which the victors will enjoy huge spoils. It’s also a market that will present significant challenges to users.

The evidence of this convergence is all around us. Amazon, by far the most successful IaaS provider, has steadily been surrounding its core services with additional functionality that, while not announced as “platform,” has the undeniable effect of providing a set of services that help build applications faster and manage collections of resources easier. Think RDS for managing and scaling databases; direct connect for securing external application access; virtual private cloud to segregate applications within AWS (Amazon Web Services) data centers; and CloudFormation for application management.

At last week’s Dreamforce event, Salesforce outlined its PaaS offering based on the recent acquisition of Heroku. While once a Ruby on Rails-oriented offering, Heroku has been extended to support Java. It’s also been integrated with Salesforce’s Database.com. And it’s supported by the Database Rights Option, which integrates on-premise data with Salesforce applications. Salesforce may call it “the social enterprise,” but the collective offering is clearly aimed at providing a generalized platform for application development.

Of course, it’s not just big players staking a claim here. A number of small firms have recently been funded, each providing a slightly different framework for building cloud-based applications. While each of them (including one from VMware, which is certainly no startup) claims to be open and multi-cloud, it remains to be seen how well they deliver. Just as likely, in my view, is that cloud providers will adapt (aka “improve”) each platform in a way that hampers its vision of application portability.

The net effect of this is that the neat IPS taxonomy is rapidly breaking down into a much more complicated cloud computing world in which every provider is seeking to offer a solution that covers a large proportion of customer computing needs. Your SaaS provider wants to help you write your own applications. Your IaaS provider wants to surround its infrastructure with useful functionality that makes your developers more productive. In this new cloud computing combo plate world it’s far more difficult to easily discern just what a provider brings to the table, and that ambiguity presents definite challenges for enterprises  Microsoft Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training..

You can use a wireless network (WLAN) to share Internet access, files, printers, game consoles, and other devices among all the computers in your home. After you’ve completed the initial wireless router setup and added your computers and devices to the network, you can use your home network to surf the web or to play online games—whether you're sitting in your living room or relaxing in your backyard.

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It's easier than ever to set up a wireless network, especially now that Internet access and routers (like Linksys wireless routers and D-link wireless routers) have become widely available.

What you’ll need to set up your wireless network
An operating system that supports wireless networking
The Windows 7 operating system fully supports wireless networking. For Windows Vista users, we recommend installing Windows Vista Service Pack 2 before setting up your wireless network. For Windows XP users, we recommend installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. Use Windows Update to check whether you need the service pack and to install it. Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Windows Update, and then click Check for updates. Although the service packs for Windows Vista and Windows XP are not required for wireless networking, they can make things much easier and can help protect you against hackers, worms, and other Internet intruders.
A broadband (DSL or cable) Internet connection
To set up a wireless network, you need a broadband or high-speed Internet connection (not a dial-up connection) provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), usually for a monthly fee. Two common broadband technologies are Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable technology. These require a DSL modem or a cable modem (often provided by your ISP). After you have an ISP and a modem, you're ready to connect to the Internet.

Set up a new connection to the Internet:
Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Windows XP
A wireless router, a DSL modem, or a cable modem with built-in wireless networking support
The router converts the signals coming across your Internet connection into a wireless broadcast, sort of like a cordless phone base station. Newer DSL and cable modems come with integrated wireless networking capability and are called modem routers. If the modem router you received or purchased from your ISP already has wireless capability built in, you do not need to purchase a separate wireless router. Just follow the instructions provided by your ISP for activating your wireless connection.

If you do need to purchase a wireless router, be sure that you buy a wireless router and not a wireless access point. The Linksys router is a popular router for wireless networks because it’s simple to set up. There are many routers to choose from, for example:

Linksys wireless routers
D-Link wireless routers
Cisco wireless routers
ASUS wireless routers
While you're looking for a wireless router or other wireless equipment in stores or on the Internet, you might notice that you can choose equipment that supports four different wireless networking technologies: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n. We recommend 802.11g (Wireless-G) or 802.11n (Wireless-N) because they offer excellent performance and are compatible with almost everything.

NOTE: If you do not want to buy a wireless router or if you want to connect computers or devices temporarily for a specific purpose, like sharing devices or games, you can set up a temporary wireless network without a router. This is called an ad hoc network.

Set up an ad hoc network:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
A computer with built-in wireless networking support or a wireless network adapter
If you have a newer computer, you may already have built-in wireless capabilities. If this is the case, you don’t need a wireless network adapter. Here’s how to check whether your computer has wireless support installed:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Windows XP

If your desktop or laptop computer does not have built-in wireless support, you need to purchase a network adapter to wirelessly connect your computer to your wireless router. If you need an adapter for a desktop computer, buy a USB wireless network adapter. If you have a laptop, buy a PC card-based network adapter. Make sure that you have one adapter for every computer on your network.

NOTE: To make setup easy, choose a network adapter made by the same vendor that made your wireless router. For example, if you find a good price on a Linksys router, choose a Linksys network adapter to go with it. To make shopping even easier, buy a bundle, such as those available from Linksys, Actiontec, D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft, and Buffalo. If you have a desktop computer, make sure that you have an available USB port where you can plug in the wireless network adapter. If you don't have any open USB ports, buy a USB hub to add additional ports.

A copy of your router setup instructions
Before you begin setting up your wireless network, it’s a good idea to make sure that you have the copy of the setup instructions provided by the router manufacturer or your ISP. If you do not have a copy, visit the manufacturer’s website for get instructions on how to set up your router. All routers vary, and you may need to consult the instructions to set up your wireless network using your specific router.
Shopping list

Shop for a wireless router
Shop for a computer with built-in wireless networking support
Shop for a wireless network adapter
After you have everything you need, follow these five steps to set up your wireless network.

1. Connect to the Internet
Make sure that your Internet connection and your DSL or cable modem are working. Your wireless network depends on this connection.

2. Connect your wireless router
These are the steps for connecting a stand-alone wireless router to your DSL modem or cable modem. If you have a modem router, follow your ISP’s instructions for connecting your network.

Since you'll be temporarily disconnected from the Internet, print these instructions before you go any further.

First, locate your cable modem or DSL modem and unplug it to turn it off.

Next, connect your wireless router to your modem. Your modem should stay connected directly to the Internet. Later, after you've hooked everything up, your computer will wirelessly connect to your router, and the router will send communications through your modem to the Internet.

Next, connect your router to your modem:

Note: The instructions below apply to a Linksys wireless router. The ports on your router may be labeled differently, and the images may look different on your router. Check the documentation that came with your equipment for additional assistance. Or do a Bing search on “[your manufacturer/model] wireless router setup” to find images and instructions.

If you currently have your computer connected directly to your modem: Unplug the network cable from the back of your computer, and plug it into the port labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN on the back of your router.
If you do not currently have a computer connected to the Internet: Plug one end of a network cable (included with your router) into your modem, and plug the other end of the network cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on your wireless router.
If you currently have your computer connected to a router: Unplug the network cable connected to the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port from your current router, and plug this end of the cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on your wireless router. Then, unplug any other network cables, and plug them into the available ports on your wireless router. You no longer need your original router, because your new wireless router replaces it.

Next, plug in and turn on your cable or DSL modem. Wait a few minutes to give it time to connect to the Internet, and then plug in and turn on your wireless router. After a minute, the Internet, WAN, or WLAN light on your wireless router should light up, indicating that it has successfully connected to your modem.

3. Configure your wireless router

Using the network cable that came with your wireless router, you should temporarily connect your computer to one of the open network ports on your wireless router (any port that isn't labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN). If you need to, turn your computer on. It should automatically connect to your router.

Next, open Internet Explorer and type in the URL or address to configure your router.

NOTE: Do this on the computer that you are using to set up your wireless network. The computer automatically links you to the router’s page. If you type the router’s URL on a different computer, typing the address in the navigation bar will not take you to your router’s configuration page.

On the router configuration page, you might be prompted for a password. The address and password you use varies depending on what type of router you have, so refer to the instructions included with your router or on the manufacturer’s website.

For quick reference, this table shows the default addresses, user names, and passwords for some common router manufacturers. If the address is not listed here, you can read the documentation that came with your router or go to the manufacturer's webpage to find it. There may be multiple website addresses you can use.

Router
Address
Username
Password
3Com

http://192.168.1.1

admin
admin
D-Link

http://192.168.0.1

admin
admin
Linksys

http://192.168.1.1

admin
admin
Microsoft Broadband

http://192.168.2.1

admin
admin
Netgear

http://192.168.0.1

admin
password
Actiontec

http://192.168.0.1

username
password
Internet Explorer shows your router's configuration page, along with the modem IP address and other information. Most of the default settings should be fine, but you need to configure three things:

Your wireless network name, known as the SSID. This name identifies your network, and it appears in a list of available wireless networks. You should change the default SSID that your ISP provided and give your network a unique name that none of your neighbors are using. This helps you identify your network, and it can help keep your wireless network secure by preventing it from overlapping with other wireless networks that might be using the default SSID.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2), which can help protect your wireless network. It’s important to help secure your wireless network by setting up a network security key, which turns on encryption. With encryption, people can't connect to your network without the security key, and all information sent across your network is encrypted so that only computers with the key to decrypt the information can read it. This can help prevent attempts to access your network and files without your permission. Wi Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2) is the recommended wireless network encryption method. Wireless encryption (WEP) is not as secure. Windows 7, Windows Vista Service Pack 2, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 support WPA2.

When you set up most routers (stand-alone routers and modem routers), you are asked to provide a pass phrase that the router uses to generate several keys. Make sure that your pass phrase is unique and long (you don't need to memorize it). Some routers and modem routers now come with a function called Quick Security Setup (or QSS) that automatically issues you a key when you press a button on the router.

Be sure to keep a hard copy and a digital copy of your network security key and pass phrase, in case you lose or misplace them. You can recover a lost network key or reset it on your router, but these are complicated processes that are different for every router and they sometimes entail setting up your network again.
Your administrative password, which controls your wireless network. Just like any other password, it should not be a word that you can find in the dictionary, and it should be a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Be sure to save a hard copy and a digital copy of this password, too, because you'll need it if you ever have to change your router's settings.
The exact steps you follow to configure these settings will vary depending on the type of router you have. After each configuration setting, be sure to click Save Settings, Apply, or OK to save your changes.

Get more help making your network secure.

Now, before connecting your computers and devices to the network, you should disconnect the wireless network cable from your computer.

4. Connect your computers, printers, and other devices to the wireless network
You can connect multiple computers, printers, and many other peripheral devices, such as an Xbox, Xbox 360, TV, cell phone, iTouch, or iPad, to your network. Before you connect them to your network, make sure that the computer or device you want to add has built-in wireless networking or a network adapter. Many newer devices have built-in wireless capability. If the computer or device you want to add does not have built-in wireless network support, plug the network adapter into your USB port and place the antenna on top of your computer (in the case of a desktop computer) or insert the network adapter into an empty PC card slot (in the case of a laptop). Windows automatically detects the new adapter and may prompt you to insert the CD that came with your adapter. The on-screen instructions guide you through the configuration process.

Use the following links to find step-by-step instructions for adding your specific computer or device to your network using your operating system. There are instructions for each operating system, and they show you how to automatically or manually add wired (Ethernet) or wireless computers and how to add computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP. There are also instructions for adding printers and both wired and wireless devices.

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Use Windows XP to join a network
Add a Windows XP-based computer to your network
Windows XP: Add an Xbox or Xbox360 to your network
5. Share files, printers, and more
Now that your computers and devices are connected, you can begin sharing files, printers, games, and much more. One of the top reasons for setting up a home network is to share a printer. Another is to share files. The steps for doing this, however, aren’t always obvious, so here are instructions to get you started:

Share a printer

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Share files
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
File and printer sharing with Windows XP, 2000, 98, ME, and NT 4.0
File and printer sharing: Frequently asked questions
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Troubleshooting
After your wireless network is set up, Windows can help you troubleshoot network connection problems.

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Get more help setting up, securing, and using a wireless network:

Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP

Think about how much you do—or could do—with your phone: make phone calls and send and receive email, IM, and text messages. You probably download TV shows, movies, and music to your phone. And of course, you take, send, and receive photos. It's truly amazing—anywhere you go, you're connected. So here's the question. If you already have everything on your phone, why sync it with your PC?

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Because synchronizing your phone with your PC is the best way to transfer information, settings, and files. You keep all your information up to date. And you have it at home and at work.

Keep appointments
We're all overbooked. If you've entered an appointment or meeting into your PC and haven't synced with your phone, you could miss the appointment. If you’re scheduling appointments away from home on your phone and your phone's not synced with the up-to-date schedule on your computer, you may miss the appointment and have to call the dentist, piano teacher, or doctor to reschedule. Often, you have to pay for those missed appointments. Plus, you go through the hassle of rescheduling.

The latest version of Windows Phone makes it even easier to keep track of appointments. The new Today screen that appears when you turn on your phone shows your appointments and any missed calls, unread messages, and your programs. The new Lock screen displays new messages and appointments without requiring you to enter a PIN when the phone is locked—all while providing access to mute, speakerphone, hold, and other functions during calls, so you don’t miss a thing. Call it appointment insurance.

Take work, projects, or homework with you
Need to finish your homework—a report on fifteenth-century Paraguayan dictators—or practice a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation? Now you can do this work on your phone while riding the bus or sitting in a coffee shop. Have to complete a report or speech or enter data into an Excel spreadsheet for a project you're working on? Catch up with your work on your phone while you’re waiting for your teenager to finish guitar lessons or while you're having the oil changed in your car. It's possible just by installing Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 on your Windows Phone. And because you get the familiar Microsoft Office look and feel and the programs that you’re used to, there's no learning curve.

If you're using a touch screen phone, you get additional features, such as word count and spell check. You can create charts in Microsoft Excel Mobile, plus you can create documents in Microsoft Word Mobile, and you can highlight sections of content that you would like to fix later or that you've downloaded and want to remember. You can use OneNote Mobile to take quick notes or to save web links and then sync your notes with your PC, so you always have up-to-date information.

The latest version of Microsoft Office Mobile is compatible with the Office 2010 and previous Microsoft Office and Office Mobile releases, so you can work with all your existing Microsoft Office documents. Plus, Office Mobile gives you even more options for working with documents from your phone. Now you can create even richer charts in Excel Mobile, use SmartArt and Themes in PowerPoint Mobile, and view the contents of zipped folders. And wouldn’t it be nice to have a choice about how you view those documents? If you use Windows Phone, you do. With Windows Phone, you can choose between Mobile view (enhanced for display on phones) or Full Desktop view when working on documents. Also, the improved clipboard on your Windows Phone makes copying and pasting to and from any applications on your phone simple and intuitive.

Office Mobile 2010 includes a new application that makes working with documents on your phone even easier—SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. This application makes sending your Microsoft Office documents from your phone via email or saving them directly to SharePoint Server simple. You can open SharePoint documents directly from your phone, edit them, and save them to the server. You can also sync them to your PC.

You can download a free Office Mobile upgrade for qualified phones. If Office Mobile is not pre-installed on your phone, you don't have to get a new phone. You can just purchase Office Mobile separately from Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Read this article to learn even more about Office Mobile 2010.

Save pictures
You take pictures with your phone, right? You take your phone everywhere, so when you don't have your camera, you just take pictures with your phone. You snap photos of your kids when they do something cute, which, let's face it, as parents, you think is pretty often. You're on a great mountain bike trail, and you take a picture to send to your friends. And what was once only available to private eyes and spies is now right on your phone. Espionage is at your fingertips. Sort of. Honest espionage. Like covertly snapping a shot of the cute guy you've been telling your friends about. Or taking a picture of the waterfront condo your parents want to buy. You can send these pictures right away, but you probably want to save many of them to your PC. One word: synchronize.

Protect your stuff against loss or theft
Here's a question for you. What's easier to misplace or even lose: your phone or your PC? Loss, theft, and malfunctions don't just happen to others. They happen. To everyone.

Although replacing a lost or stolen phone isn't exactly fun, it's a job you can take care of pretty easily. Replacing the email, contact information, pictures, music, and documents that you stored on that phone, however, can prove to be an impossible task if you haven’t synchronized your phone with your PC on a regular basis.

And remember this. You wouldn't dream of not backing up your PC. For your phone, synchronizing is your backup.

Want more peace of mind? Try the Microsoft My Phone service. It’s free. My Phone backs up the contents of your Windows Phone—contacts, calendars, photos, text messages, documents, and more—to the My Phone website for password-protected access and retrieval from any PC with an Internet connection. A bonus: After you’ve synced your phone’s contents to My Phone, you can search your text messages from the My Phone site. With My Phone, you can also easily send photos to social networking sites—from your phone—and even locate your phone if you lose it.

Sync and save—time, money, and your important information!

IT job seekers have real reason to hope. No fewer than 10,000 IT jobs were added to payrolls in May alone, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, reflecting a steady month-over-month increase since January. And in a June survey by the IT jobs site Dice.com, 65 percent of hiring managers and recruiters said they will hire more tech professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the previous six months.

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IT job seekers have real reason to hope. No fewer than 10,000 IT jobs were added to payrolls in May alone, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, reflecting a steady month-over-month increase since January. And in a June survey by the IT jobs site Dice.com, 65 percent of hiring managers and recruiters said they will hire more tech professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the previous six months.

LinkedIn Quick Tip: How to Discover the Hottest New Job Skills
IT Careers: Hottest Jobs, Skills in Cloud Computing, Mobile Application Development

But which jobs have the greatest growth potential — and stand the best chance of withstanding outsourcing or another economic downturn?

To find those hottest of hot jobs, we’ve scoured listings on IT hiring sites like Dice and Modis and talked with IT execs about the skills they’re looking for in the year to come. Our sources point to a cluster of new job titles created to make IT more agile, more social — and more tightly intertwined with business.

Our results are not scientific. The six job titles you see here have actually been listed, but we didn’t choose them based on frequency of appearance or random sample polling. Instead, we picked them because we think they answer the real needs of businesses that want to prepare for the future. In short, we expect they will pay well, have staying power, and truly influence the organization either now or in the future. When’s the last time you heard that about a job in IT?

Hot IT job No. 1: Business architect

The notion that IT is separate from business has faded into antiquity. Upper management recognizes that technology is not just integral to success, but actually drives the way companies pursue their business goals. To help merge technology and business processes, a new breed of enterprise architect — known as the business architect — is emerging.

“Business architecture is about making sure the whole business holds together,” says Forrester Research (FORR) analyst Alex Cullen, who researches IT strategy and organizational planning. “It’s a role built around business planning, pointing out opportunities to utilize IT more effectively” in sales, customer service, and other key areas.

Unlike the traditional enterprise architect, whose role is to organize technology to meet business goals, the business architect is a member of the business organization, reporting to the CEO and fashioning high-level company strategy with technology in mind. The successful business architect has a deeper knowledge of the company’s business model and workflow than the average enterprise architect. Think MBA with an IT focus.

Vendors and IT departments alike let inertia guide their actions to noncompetitive results — and often reinforce each other’s inertia in the process

Simon Wardley has written an interesting post claiming that Microsoft’s biggest enemy is not Google, Facebook, or Apple — it’s Microsoft. Wardley’s research suggests that inertia makes it easy for Microsoft to continue doing what it’s done in the past with great success. Inertia is also an important force within IT departments. IT leaders seeking to help their businesses differentiate from the competition should guard against technology inertia.

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As Bill Gates said, success is a lousy teacher
Wardley spoke at Oscon 2010 about how open source vendors could disrupt market incumbents by taking advantage of the incumbent’s existing business model. In his blog post, he quotes Bill Gates, who once noted “success is a lousy teacher.” Wardley explains:

That’s one of those basic lessons that often gets forgotten in business. In this world of competition, there are two fronts to fight on. The external front includes those competitors who attempt to either gain a creative leadership position or to disrupt your existing model. The other front is internal and against your own past success.

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Vendors often focus on external competition, but the ability to compete effectively externally is directly impacted by how the degree a vendor’s corporate culture can allow it to look beyond past success. Historical success in a given product area creates sacred products which must be protected and definitely not commoditized when considering new opportunities or new competitors.

Wardley claims that Microsoft’s recent cloud moves, while admirable, aren’t enough to compete in a services-based marketplace built around open source:

While Microsoft has made much of a fanfare about its recent moves into the cloud, it was a probably a significant internal battle for Microsoft just to make the change from products to services. However, this new world is likely to be rapidly commoditized to marketplaces based around open source and hence the real question becomes whether Microsoft will be able to make the further change necessary to survive in that world?

Microsoft’s future business should be intertwined with open source in the domain of utility services. Unfortunately, the last group of people who are usually willing to accept such a change are those who have built careers in the previous domain; that is, products.