certifications

Return of the $2 Restaurant.com deal

Remember the Restaurant.com deal from a couple weeks ago? Well, it's back! From now until Halloween (aka October 31), you can get a $25 gift certificate for a restaurant in your area for just $2. Just enter coupon code TREATS when you get to the shopping cart.

There are a few conditions, of course, usually in the form of a minimum food or drink purchase. However, it's not as if you have to order a case of wine or anything. And you can print the coupon right on your own printer: It's immediately ready for use. … Read more

Get a $25 restaurant gift certificate for $2

Ever tried Restaurant.com? Me neither, but I've heard good things. Basically, you search for a participating fooderie in your area, then buy a gift certificate on the cheap: $3 for a $10 certificate, for example, or $10 for $25.

There are requirements, of course, usually in the form of a minimum food and/or drink purchase. But it's not like you have to order a case of wine or anything. And you can print the coupon right on your own printer: It's immediately ready for use.

To make an already good deal even better, Restaurant.com … Read more

Get a $25 restaurant gift certificate for $5

Ever tried Restaurant.com? Me neither, but I've heard good things. Basically, you search for a participating restaurant in your area, then buy a gift certificate on the cheap: $3 for a $10 certificate, for example, or $10 for $25. There are requirements, of course, usually in the form of a minimum food and/or drink purchase. But it's not like you have to order three bottles of wine or anything. And you can print the coupon right on your own printer: It's immediately ready for use.

To make an already good deal even better, Restaurant.com … Read more

11 open-source projects certified as secure

Coverity, which creates automated source-code analysis tools, announced late Monday its first list of open-source projects that have been certified as free of security defects.

Eleven projects made the list: Amanda, NTP, OpenPAM, OpenVPN, Overdose, Perl, PHP, Postfix, Python, Samba, and TCL.

San Francisco-based Coverity, working in collaboration with Stanford University and under a contract from the Department of Homeland Security, is analyzing source code to certify that open-source projects written in C, C++, and Java are secure. Coverity has not disclosed the amount of the DHS contract.

The certification was created so that companies can "select these open-source … Read more

Noncertified Linux professionals make more than certified peers

Foote Partners has noted that noncertified Linux professionals make more money than their certified peers.

This possibly may be a reflection that the market is able to separate the wheat of real-world experience from the chaff of a paper certification, but SearchEnterpriseLinux collects a few other opinions:

Bernard Golden, CEO of the open-source software systems integration firm Navica, says the trend is very interesting but ultimately makes sense. While he recognizes that there is a need for certification and that certification is still very much in demand by both organizations and professionals, Golden points out that certification is only good for demonstrating ability in established, commodified skills.… Read more

Remedy for hard-to-shop-for people

There's always at least one person on your holiday gift list who is impossible to shop for. Instead of buying just anything and hoping he or she will like it, how about a gift certificate from one of these online stores? >> Amazon >> Best Buy >> Crutchfield >> Newegg >> SonyStyle.com And two pluses for buying the certificate; your gift recipient can pick whatever his or her heart desires, and you won't end up on the lame present-giver list.