Traffic Circle 2.0

and find the right Windows 7 learning product for your user level and working needs. And, while you’re at it, how about saving 30% on a wide variety of titles? See the deal at Que Publishing’s Windows 7 Resource Center.

Windows 7, CompTIA A+ Certification, and Windows Live?

Check out my Books page

Want a better laptop? Upgrade to a bigger hard disk or more RAM. Let me show you how:

• Upgrade your laptop’s hard disk
• Upgrade your laptop’s memory

Learn more about my latest books and video projects by visiting my page at Que Publishing’s website.

I’m starring in my first YouTube video, thanks to the fine folks at InformIT’s ON Certification website. If you’re wondering what makes my book unique and useful, check it out here:

or follow this link: Mark Soper discusses his CompTIA A+ Cert Exam Guide

CompTIA A+ Certification exams usually change every three years to reflect changes in the industry, the new exams usually have new numbers, and once you achieve A+ Certification, you keep it for life. 

Starting in January 2011, none of these will be true. CompTIA’s current 220-701 (A+ Essentials) and 220-702 (Practical Applications) exams will be replaced by new exams with the same exam numbers! What’s new? Windows 7 coverage.  Windows 7 has been such a big success at both the retail and corporate levels (unlike the unloved Windows Vista) that CompTIA decided not to wait to roll out changes. But wait, there’s more!

Because the new 2011 CompTIA A+ Certification exams will be ANSI certified, CompTIA A+ Certifications will no longer be “for life” as with certifications earned in the past and up through December 31, 2010.  Instead, the new A+ Certification CE (continuing education) will be good for three years. Fortunately, CompTIA has created a list of many activities A+ techs might already perform that are good for CE credits.

So, if you want a lifetime CompTIA A+ certification without worrying about CE credits or Windows 7, there’s still (barely) time to get yourself to a testing center. To get yourself up to speed, I’d suggest getting a copy of my book CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Cert Guide and using its extensive print and DVD-based resouces to prepare yourself.

Please join me Thursday evening from 6:00PM to 7:30PM, September 17, at McCollough Branch Library, Evansville, Indiana, for the first of two presentations on digital photography. 

I’ll be discussing how to shoot better photos of school events and sports, based on my latest book The Shot Doctor: the Amateur’s Guide to Taking Great Digital Photos.  This book and others will be available for sale, and I’ll be happy to sign and inscribe them for you.  See a sample chapter here: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1347408

Learn more about the program here: http://evpl.org/events/search/event.aspx?id=18983.

Need a map?  Go here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107016838176065254607.00043feb8844aa3119721&ll=37.99481,-87.563095&spn=0.142856,0.275688&z=12&om=1&iwloc=00043feb94b7a95143145

I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

My latest book, The Shot Doctor: The Amateur’s Guide to Taking Great Digital Photos, is now available at your favorite bookstores including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and others.

Find out more by checking out the chapter on Recipes for Better Daytime Digital Photographs or by taking a look at excerpts available at Google Books.

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Windows 7 lately, and my latest Windows 7 Feature Focus article, on Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise XP Mode, is now up at Maximumpc.com.

If you need to run non-3D Windows XP applications and don’t want to worry about tinkering with them for Windows 7, take a close look at XP Mode.

Even if you think you know what XP Mode can do for you and how it works, be sure to check it out. It cuts through the misinformation and helps you deal with some of the trickier features of this new virtualization environment.

My tenth book, Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center, has just been published by Que.

It’s a complete guide to the Windows Media Center feature in Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions. Special features include:

- How to connect standard and HDTVs and home theater systems to your PC

- How to watch and record TV and movies

- How to find your favorite actors, directors, and genres

- How to use WMC to help you with fantasy sports

- How to play both casual and high-performance 3D games from your WMC desktop

- How to access media on other PCs through WMC

- How to use an Xbox 360 as a Windows Media Extender

- How to use Windows Media Center, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker to make WMC even more powerful

- Where to find the best third-party programs that make WMC even more powerful

- How to watch TV on your WMC PC, even if you don’t have a TV tuner

Hear my interview with Plugged In’s Justin Williams here. Read the Amazon.com reviews here.

Evansville Courier tech columnist and MacOS developer Justin Williams interviewed me for his weekly Plugged In radio show on WNIN-FM88, and you can listen to Episode 3 here. You’ll want to hear the entire show, but if you’re in a hurry, my segment starts at 18:17 into the program.

I’ll be appearing on the show again later this year to introduce my newest book Unleashing Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center after it hits bookstores in November. 

Many thanks to Justin and to WNIN-FM88 for the opportunity.