Mahone

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  1. The CCNA route and switch is an excellent cert to get, even if you end up going down the systems path. Managing systems is that much easier if you also have a good understanding of the underlying network infrastructure and employers recognize this. Plus, in my experience, it’s rare that you find yourself in a position where you only do systems or only networking. There is almost always an overlap, even if that overlap is merely communicating proficiently and/or resolving disputes with the teams responsible for network infrastructure. Unless you go down the dedicated networking career path, the CCNP is completely unnecessary, but fun to do if you have the time. Let us know how it goes.
  2. In a criminal defense context, i'd absolutely agree with you. But immigration is a different beast entirely. From those I associated with while going through this process, of those that said they had a lawyer, many later regretted the choice to do so because they didn't believe the advice they received really assisted them in anyway and others claimed they in fact made the process harder than it needed to be due to the lawyer giving them incorrect advice. Visajourney.com is a good forum for those going through US immigration - the question has been asked countless times on there and the answer from those that have been through the process is nearly always the same. A straight forward case does not need a lawyer; most people don't use a lawyer and are almost always fine. The exception is waiver cases and in said waiver cases, a standard immigration lawyer is not going to help. You need one that specialized in waivers and they will not be even close to cheap. I don't anticipate that most of those going through the criminal courts will advise to not use a lawyer and it seems to be the exception, not the norm when they don't use one. It's apples and oranges.
  3. The first bit of research would tell them they can't do this. If they aren't going to even bother checking the basics of US immigration law then yes, hire a lawyer.
  4. Agreed. Had I not been through the process myself and associated myself with dozens and dozens of others doing the same thing for a couple of years, some with and some without lawyers, I'd be arguing for getting a lawyer right now and telling everyone who disagreed with me that they were idiots for not getting legal counsel. It does seem counter intuitive, but of the immigration lawyers that are even close to affordable, most of them are like the quack doctors of the medical field. Those that are genuine and really know what they are talking about will likely cost everything you have and more and their expertise is generally only needed in waiver cases. But take this for what it is, advice from a stranger on the internet.
  5. I'm not so sure that this is necessary. Having been through the process of applying for US residency and now about to go through the process again for US citizenship, my experience is that so called "immigration attorneys" are at best very expensive proof readers and in some cases their knowledge of US immigration is so poor that they actually make the process more difficult. Most people who hired them ended up saying it was an unnecessary waste of money. In 99% of cases, everything an immigration lawyer can tell you can be found on the USCIS website. Just do the research and you'll be fine. Assuming you end up marrying this girl, make sure you collect as much evidence as possible to prove your relationship is bonafide and not a sham marriage. Keep things like text messages, facebook messages and photos. DO NOT ELOPE. The exception to this is if you need to apply for a waiver for whatever reason. Lets hope you don't, but if you do, an immigration attorney that specializes in waivers is definitely what you need. Outside of immigration, be prepared for your family to potentially express their displeasure at you having a relationship with a 'foreigner'. We had issues on both sides, with my family having a predisposition against Americans in general and her family accusing me of marrying her for a green card. Others went as far as to place bets on how many months/years our marriage would last. You may end up having to grow a pretty thick skin.
  6. Some application software is available for Linux, some packages have equivalents, others can be emulated. Some you just can't use on a Linux OS. Choice of operating system is like choosing any other tool, just depends what you want it for. Personally, I rarely use Linux on my personal workstation, it just doesn't do everything I need it to do. But I have used it for many servers. Linux is always my first choice for external DNS servers and web servers. I have also used certain Linux distros for penetration testing in the past.
  7. As I get sent off for cremation, I want the song 'Firestarter' to be playing for the audience. As long as I get that, I'm happy.
  8. The caller ID that you see can also be easily forged. Many telephony providers allow the customer to have control of the outgoing ANI/caller ID that will show up on the called persons phone, particularly if the customer making the call is a business. I've been managing VoIP telephony systems for a few years now for various companies as part of my job and I can easily configure our systems to make a call to my cell phone or anyone else's phone and have the caller ID show up as any number I like, including numbers that don't comply with national standards here in the US, such as '012345'. That's not to say that every telco the call passes through en route after the callers own telco will allow a blatantly forged caller ID, but in my experience, they do.
  9. So is such counsel for US members of the church only? Or does it apply to all LDS members worldwide? Should British LDS members heed to the rating guidelines provided by the United States only, or that of their own country only, or both? Is a movie acceptable for a US LDS member to consider seeing because it's rating a PG-15 in the US despite higher rating in other locations, but not for a British LDS member to consider seeing the same movie because it's rated an 18 in the UK? I'm terms of your analogy, would you consider going into a mine because the US rated it as safe, despite the warnings of it being dangerous by other countries? What about the other way around? I'm glad you have such faith in the rating system provide by a single entity. But for me, I take into account many more factors before making a decision as I see the world as far less black and white than you do.
  10. I don't see it as black and white as this. It's fairly common for church members in the US to boycott R rated movies, and this has rippled over to the UK where LDS members often avoid the closest UK film classification equivalent, an 18. But then we have films rated 18 in the UK that are rated a PG-15 here and vice versa. So would that make it okay for LDS members in the US to consider viewing it, but not in the UK? Every classification board makes a decision on rating using their own criteria and it's far from uncommon for them to come to different conclusions. Therefore I research each movie individually and use the local rating as only one of several factors contributing to my decision as to whether it would be suitable or not.
  11. I had to provide the National Visa Center with an enhanced criminal record/police certificate from the UK and they performed further FBI "background checks" afterwards, before I was issued a US visa. Bear in mind that many of these immigrants come from countries where such records are either not kept, not kept in any centralized location, have long since been lost or destroyed through war or the government aren't going to cooperate with US embassy requests for such information. So unless an individual has garnered the attention of a foreign government that is included in FBI background checks, such checks will likely not help much.
  12. Fair enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Obama supporter. But being a Muslim and acting like a Muslim are not the same thing and I will correct anyone who tries to imply that they are.
  13. Mostly true, but it still wasn't the question you asked. In fact you just partially answered the question you actually asked.
  14. The other reason that is matters is for the same reason those teenagers who recieve an email in their inbox, or on Facebook telling them that a virus is going around that will destroy the "zero sector" of their hard drive (this one has been doing the rounds since the 90's). They don't know if its true or not but decide the best course of action is to forward or repost it "just in case", assuming no harm comes from doing so, but in actuality do cause harm by spreading false information all over the Web. Real viruses do exist and are dangerous, but this one doesn't and passing it on just does more harm than good.
  15. Actually you asked why I'd assume he is being facetious. As that is what I said I had assumed.Happy to hear the evidence you have. Yes, it matters. Spreading false information, at the least contributes to ruining the credibility of the person who made the claims, even if their other claims are valid and stand up to scrutiny.