Oracle 9i certification track is still worthwhile

As Oracle 9i database became desupported this year I started to have some doubts if I should go for 1z0-007 exam (Introduction to Oracle 9i SQL). I sent an email to Oracle to ask how desupporting of Oracle 9i will affect the certification path "Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Associate" which consist of 1z0-007 exam. Will this exam be also discontinued? Can I expect the new 10i or 11g exam in this track?

Oracle answers:

"Currently Oracle does not have any plans to retire the Oracle 9i certification track. When an OCP track retires, candidates pursuing the track are given at least 3 months time to complete their exams".

That's good to know.
Besides I guess that a lot of databases still uses 9i version and that's another reason why it's still worth to certify.

I hope this will help some lost soul who got to this page looking for clear answer.
Good luck with your exam :)

Google AdSense Exclusion List

There are many websites which declare aversion to any kind of certification cheating, but on the other hand they publish AdSense content encouraging their readers to use illegal materials and services. And moreover they get a profit - dirty money from illegal business, payed by Google who gets it from the criminals.
This is ridiculous!

There is a first result of discussion started on filtering of Google AdSense. From now on if you are the author of any certification oriented site publishing AdSense and want to have your pages free of the braindump/gunman advertisements there is a possibility to purchase Google AdSense Exclusion List from CertGuard - the company which fights against those illegal sites. The annual subscription cost varies from 20 to 100 $, depending on the frequency of updates.

I think it's worth a shot if you want your site to be considered as credible by conscious readers and first of all, if you don't want to fuel dirty business.

Fasten your belt

Which certs are better? These from vendor or those vendor-independent like CompTIA? Or should I go for something non-proctored like Brainbench? Is their cert credible or is it just a scrap-paper? Which is the best credential and which just a fake made for money? There were a lot of discussions about that and there will be on this blog.

But what if there existed something different? What if one could get vendor-independent certification for free and what is more important - gain the respect of the community. Why should the community respect it? Because they've developed the tests by their own! Smells a little bit like one of web 2.0 ideas. And it really works for those who are interested in Java related areas.

What I'm talking about is the JavaBlackBelt Certification Community founded few years ago by John Rizzo and Nicolas Brasseur. The point is not only in certification but also in the fact that everybody can contribute by creating her/his own questions. These are moderated also by the community. I wrote that the exams are for free but actually I lied. For most of them you have to pay with... the contribution points which you've earned by adding/commenting/moderating new test questions.

The exams are taken on-line so what about cheating? JavaBlackBelt answers to that question quite reasonably.

The site keeps your profile where your certification track is stored, divided to levels which are visualized as belts of various colours (like in some martial arts). To achieve the highest, black belt you have to pass around 20 tests.

I think this is a very interesting alternative for Sun certificates all the more JavaBlackBelt exams covers much wider set of Java related skills. There are even more extreme opinions.

Seems like it's true what they say in their logo - they not only certify the developers, they build them.

More interested? See the presentation:
JavaBlackBelt presentation at Javalobby
(those guys are quite funny, have a look at slide number 13 ;))