Everyone has a different philosophy in developing study materials. First, the Cisco Press versus Sybex. As Priscilla pointed out, Cisco Press does not like humor. Indeed, one of the reasons I left Macmillan as a publisher is that non-Cisco-Press Macmillan books were taking on some of the Cisco Press editorial guidelines, such as not using "foo" because some Cisco image-conscious executive decided it was obscene and offensive. Wiley encourages me to be funny. Without false modesty, I am not the best judge of introductory books, because I was introduced quite a while ago. I have consistently liked the "little black books." I rarely read course-specific Cisco Press books, but I do look at many technology books from them. But, I really spend more time reading RFCs, Internet Drafts, engineering/computer science journals and academic papers, and IETF/NANOG/RIPE mailing lists than I do networking books. The books I do look at most often tend to be in theoretical computer science, statistics, discrete mathematics, etc. Obviously, I do read books and book drafts on which I am a consultant reviewer. I hope this isn't self-serving, but, as technical director of Certification Zone, I'd like to clarify what may be a misconception. True, we have simulated CCIE written tests. Many people have commented that these tests are harder than the actual written. I don't necessarily disagree with that statement, because the true purpose of all the CertZone materials -- white papers, simulated exams, and labs -- is to prepare people for the ultimate test, the CCIE lab. Having just finished the OSPF Part 2 questions that will appear in August, I deliberately put in questions, with thorough explanations, about things that I could see as weird lab scenarios rather than strict protocol preparation. Mike Cinquanti, the publisher, is insistent that the explanations of the questions have real content and educational value. If you take the simulated exam and just count your score, without stopping and evaluating your wrong answers against the explanations, you are cheating yourself of value. Other publishers may have a goal of simulating the written as closely as possible, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's simply that we have a different philosophy. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=13392&t=13392 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
