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Posts written in March 2014.

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    Kentico Certified Developer

    A couple days ago I passed my Kentico exam. If anything, I think I've learnt more about Kentico and just how much the platform has to offer. The exam is filled with a wide range of questions from the very simple and straight-forward to the ones that require a more time for deep thought.

    In fact, I found the first few set of questions so simple, it got me second guessing myself. I'll admit, I found the exam a little tricky and there are some questions you have to read very carefully, especially ones around K# syntax.

    I dedicate this certification to all the awesome guys at Syndicut. I seriously couldn't have done it without them.

    I guess I can now display this:

    Kentico Certified Developer Logo

  • Crucial 480GB SSDThe plan originally was to ditch my current laptop, Alienware M11x R3 for something a little more recent with a better build quality. Even though my Alienware is an amazing workhorse for the type of work I do (with a very high spec), I started to get annoyed with the common issue these laptop's have: screen touching the keyboard when closed.

    I wanted to get an Apple MacBook Pro Retina. But that got thrown completely out the window when I decided to go on the path of getting a property! Eek! So I had to make do with what I currently have on a very modest budget.

    As of late, I started noticing that my laptop was getting very sluggish and kept freezing every so often. This continued even after carrying a full factory format to give my Operating System a fresh install. The only thing I could amount this to was that my hard drive was on its way out.

    Luckily for me, at the same time, Amazon had some great offers in their computer components section and managed to get a Crucial 480GB Solid State Drive at a price that was an absolute steal!

    I've heard online and from a few friends of mine that once you go SSD, you definitely won't go back...and this truly is the case. I wasn't expecting to see so much of a performance increase. My laptop has never performed this well.

    At the same time, I decided to upgrade my current Operating System to Windows 8. I was getting a little bored of Windows 7. Plus, I quite like the new tiles interface. Very pretty! I don't understand the complaints or negativity. Some are obviously scared of change...but that's for a future blog post.

    Here are a few things I've noticed since my upgrade:

    • Boot times have minimised substantially.
    • My laptop always used to feel very warm during long-term usage. Now it always feels cool.
    • I'm sure battery times have improved.
    • Virtual Machines load in seconds, rather than minutes.

    Upgrading to a SSD is a very cheap and easy way to get more out of your machine. Highly recommended!