Preparation for Microsoft Azure Solution Exam 70-532

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Exam Target Audience

One of the recent hot IT topic is cloud technology. Microsoft and Amaze are two most active providers for cloud service. Microsoft’s Azure solution is very popular now. Learning Azure and obtain its cert will be very useful. The 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions exam is targeted towards a Developer candidate. Candidates who are experienced in designing, programming, implementing, automating, and monitoring Microsoft Azure solutions. Candidates are also proficient with development tools, techniques, and approaches used to build scalable and resilient solutions.If you’re an experienced .NET developer, then you’ll likely have an easier time preparing for this exam. As a result, the exam will assume you are proficient with development tools, techniques and have experience developing scalable and resilient solutions.

Skills Measured

Here’s a high level break down of the exam objectives:

  • Design and implement websites (15-20%)
  • Create and manage virtual machines (20-25%)
  • Design and implement cloud services (20-25%)
  • Design and implement a storage strategy (20-25%)
  • Manage application and network services (15-20%)

Note: The percentage next to each is the approximate break out of how much of the exam focuses on each objective area. As you can see it’s pretty evenly distributed across the 5 areas.

The full exam objectives are listed on the official page for the 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions exam.

Free Video Courses / Training

There are many video training courses available for the 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions exam. The courses top on my list are over at the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA), but there are many more. Here’s a list of video courses I used while studying for this exam with the approximate length of the training courses.

Another video training option that’s not Free, but there is a Free Trial available is Opsgility on-demand Azure training.

Books

There are a number of books on Microsoft Azure. The one geared towards studying for the exam is the “Exam Ref 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions” from Microsoft Press. This book is an excellent study resource to accompany all the other materials, as it’s condensed to cover the exam objectives list.

Note: Do NOT rely to heavily on any single study resources, even books.

Here a list of some Free eBooks available for download:

Documentation

The documentation for Azure is an excellent study resource too! It’s been built out pretty heavily and even accepts contributions from the community via GitHub. I really encourage you to browse around the documentation and read, read, read in addition to all of your other study efforts.

Practice Tests

The typical practice test vendors do not currently offer any practice exams for the 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions exam. Due to this fact, I actually developed some of my own practice test questions to help me prepare for the exam, and I put them up free for anyone to use!

Take the practice tests: Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions (70-532) Practice Test

While the list of questions I put together is not an exhaustive list, this offers yet another tool you can use to help prepare for the exam. Please don’t complain about the quality or the extensiveness of the questions. It takes a lot of time to write test questions! Also, I put these up on GitHub so feel free to browse the source code, fork it or whatever.

Play Time

It’s fine to get “book smart”, but there certainly is no substitute for just getting in there, playing around and practicing. Something Microsoft offers to encourage this is a Free Trial with $200 to spend on all Azure Services. So go dig in and experiment with how this stuff all works, and get some real world experience that will help you pass the exam. This is not just useful if you’re new to Azure. It’s also very useful if you’ve already been developing on Azure but just haven’t done much with certain features yet. Additionally, if you have an MSDN Subscription, then you already have some free monthly credits to use Azure available to you too.

Exam Study Tips

Here’s a few tips of techniques I use when studying and preparing for certification exams:

  • Make sure to go through each exam objective category and study until you’re comfortable with that topic.
  • Use at minimum 3 study resources on each topic. The variety and repetition will help you retain everything.
  • Play with stuff. “Book smarts” are good, but practical hands-on experience is better.
  • Make flash cards and/or practice test questions to help memorizing the stuff that can be memorized.
  • Don’t be afraid to fail an exam. You will learn what areas you need to focus on better and can always take it again.
  • Give yourself a deadline. Once you’re in a comfortable study pace, estimate when you’ll be ready for the exam and schedule it.
  • Get your family on board to support you spending a significant amount of time outside of work to study.
  • Choose the online proctored exam option when scheduling the exam. This way you can take the exam in a less stressful environment that is the comfort of your own home.

By using the above info, hope I can pass the exam and earn your Azure certification !

info source: http://pietschsoft.com/post/2015/06/06/How-I-passed-the-70-532-Developing-Microsoft-Azure-Solutions-certification-exam

Diary of IT Man – Got a MCSA Windows Server 2016 Certification

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Cheers that I got a MCSA Windows Server 2016 certification which I passed the exam in one take yesterday. I just needed to take one Microsoft exam # 70-743 to upgrade my MCITP window server 2008 to MCSA. If anyone want to get info to pass the 70-743, feel free to contact me. Moreover, I have a spare Microsoft exam coupon which will be expired in end of Sept 2017; I can sell it to you in great discount, feel free to contact me.

Although I knew this cert did not have any benefit to my career path, it was just the responsibility of IT guy to update his knowledge as well as academic qualification. IT field updates very fast, and it is very hard for to trace the technology. Let’s keep on learning…

Agile的Scrum項目管理

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十年前開始流行的的Project Management Professional (PMP) 和 PRINCE2 項目管理認證，現時有新的競爭者叫 Certified Scrum Master (CSM)認證，現已開始越來越多人留意了。

Scrum是一種新的項目管理的架構，通常為Agile (敏捷)方式的開發工具，而且通常用於軟件開發項目上。Agile/Scrum能夠處理複雜問題，將它們分拆，及優先考慮到單獨的任務中，然後將這些任務委託給最適合解決每個任務的專門團隊成員，所以它被認為較有效率。

以下是兩編bloger文章，很好地介紹Agile/Scrum的應用，值得參考：
Scrum 是什麼（1）：雙重回饋機制 –> http://teddy-chen-tw.blogspot.hk/2011/12/scrum-1.html
Scrum 是什麼（2）：Scrum 的內涵 –> http://teddy-chen-tw.blogspot.hk/2011/12/scrum-2.html

Agenda of FDA Inspection

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FDA-logoRecently, FDA conducted audit to my company. FDA is known as Food and Drug Administration whereas US has FDA organization and China also has CFDA organization. Its official web site is https://www.fda.gov.

I would like to post their 3 days inspection agenda for your reference. To pass FDA audit is essential for export medical product; let’s well prepare for it.

Day 1
·         Introduction
·         Opening meeting.
·         Introduction/Presentation
·         Plant Overview (Warehouse, Manufacturing and Quality control areas).
·         Tour on facilities.
Lunch
·         Quality Manual.
·         Company Organization Chart.
·         Document Control / Records.
·         Change Control of Documents
·         Human Resources (job description, hiring, training).
·         Quality System Management Review.
Day 2
·         Daily wrap up.
·         Environment Control (Clean rooms, ESD and other applicable).
·         Design Control / History File.
·         Risk Management.
·         Device Master Record (DMR).
·         Change Control of Projects.
Lunch
·         CAPA.
·         Complaint Handling.
·         Field Actions / Recall.
·         Incoming Inspections.
·         Purchasing / Incoming Goods/Warehouse Activities.
Day 3
·         Daily wrap up.
·         Device History Record (DHR).
·         Internal Audits.
·         Validation Activities.
·         Non Conforming Product.
Lunch
·         Quality control (in process and final inspections).
·         Packaging / labeling.
·         Handling / Distribution/ Shipping.
·         Final Release.
·         Identification and Traceability.
Day 4
·         Daily wrap up.
·         Calibration / Maintenance program.
·         Field service/Technical assistance.
·         Decontamination / Returned Products.
Lunch
·         Housekeeping (Cleaning, pest control, building maintenance).
·         Statistical Techniques.
·         Pending Points.
·         Inspector’s findings Discussion.
·         Closing meeting.

HK-Shenzhen tech park in Lok Ma Chau Loop

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Charles Mok e-Bulletin

The government announced this week that it will partner with Shenzhen to develop Lok Ma Chau loop into a innovation and technology park. While I agree that more land supply for R&D is positive, given the huge investment in infrastructure that our taxpayers will pay for, we have the responsibility to ask the right questions to make sure Hong Kong will get value for the deal and generate positive impact, not rely on empty promises — granting entry permit waiver for “verified” Shenzhen workers, criteria and requirements to the tenants in the park, strategic role that this massive project carries in relation to other planned R&D land use at new development areas in the New Territories.

Transparency and accountability must be ensured throughout. I demand the government to release more details of this project, especially the cost estimate of development and what will be included in the proposed tech park, such as the proportion of land reserved for e-commerce, data centres.  

Hong Kong Tech Voucher now open for application

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SMEs which operate in Hong Kong for at least one year can now apply to the Tech Voucher Programme (TVP). Subsidy up to $200,000 will be provided on a 2:1 matching basis. Funding areas under the voucher programme include: technology consultancy; purchase, rental or subscription of customised equipment or hardware, software and technological services or solutions.

Check out our info kit here and the official guidance note to know more about the TVP. I will closely monitor the implementation of the voucher programme and identify the areas for improvement. You are welcomed to write to me about any issues you see in the TVP.

Policy proposals to the government

The government is soliciting views on the 2017 Policy Address and 2017-2018 Budget and each year I will submit to the government a list of policy and funding proposals to elevate the sector growth and push forward the innovation and technology development in Hong Kong.

I have submitted a proposal comprising 20 key recommendations on 10 areas, including: IT Talents And Employment Support Programme to foster partnership between IT businesses and universities to train more IT specialists; $1-billion InnoTech Studies Fund; establishing Technology and Law Reform Committee, InnoTech & Economic Transformation Working Group; creating Startups Accreditation Programme, Digital Marketplace Trial to help startups and SMEs win projects; overhauling the STEM education; establishing a Smart City Sandbox for innovative developments; increasing land supply for technology development and more. Your views are appreciated.

 

How to protect you against Android phone loss/theft

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How to protect you against Android phone loss/theft

(1) At Android smartphone
1. Select “Settings” icon, then “Location and security”
2. Select “Device administration”
3. Enable “Android Device Manager”
(2) At PC
1. Go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager
2. Login your Android related Gmail account
3. Now you can LOCATE, RING or LOCK your phone or ERASE your phone’s data in case of theft or loss.

中國內地遺失回鄉卡/證的補領手續

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由即日起，香港中旅社為應付港人於中國內地遺失回鄉卡/證的情況，現可替港人即日辦妥出境證件(即臨時入出境通行證)。 因此，如在內地失卡，必須於當日下午3:30前到羅湖補卡中心代辦補領手續一般來說，可即日領取臨時入出境通行證返港，免遭滯留內地。如於當日黃昏及/或晚上才到羅湖補卡中心代辦補領手續則可於第二天中午12:30前領取臨時入出境通行證返港。
該補卡中心之地址及辦公時間如下：
地址：羅湖中旅社補領中心 ─ 連廊2樓C4室 (即羅湖商業城對面)
辦公時間：星期一至星期日(上午8:30至下午9:30)
查詢電話 : 852-2334-8833 或 86-755-8234-7136
費用：人民幣230-250元(如能提供證件相片2張，費用為人民幣 230元，否則需支付人民幣250元)
補領手續及時間由中旅社作最後的決定。返港後 , 必須到香港的中旅社辦理補領回鄉卡的手續。
中旅社亦提醒市民到內地前應影印身份證、回鄉卡及護照。如對以上有任何問題, 請致電 852-2334-8833 或 86-755-8234-7136作出查詢。

 

Refresh to display a web page using Python

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Python Program Example 1.

If you’re going to need a refresh on the same tab, you’ll need selenium webdriver. After installing selenium using pip, you can use the following code:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
import time
driver = webdriver.Firefox()
driver.get("http://www.python.org")
while True:
   time.sleep(10)
   driver.refresh()

If you are browsing a static page, you can pass a parameter in it and run, for example passing "pycon" to search as below script:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
driver = webdriver.Firefox()
driver.get("http://www.python.org")
assert "Python" in driver.title
elem = driver.find_element_by_name("q")
elem.clear()
elem.send_keys("pycon")
elem.send_keys(Keys.RETURN)
assert "No results found." not in driver.page_source
driver.close()

Python Program Example 2.

from link http://geekinessthecoolway.blogspot.hk/2013/05/tired-of-refreshingscript-for-automatic.html

A script will automatically refresh the page after every few seconds,so that my keyboard’s F5 button is spared. But still there is redundancy, one has to keep looking at the same thing again and again to check if any change has happened. So,I added few more lines to the script. Now whenever the result will be declared (or there will be any new notification) a song will start playing automatically.

Here is the resultant script:

import urllib
import time
import os
import pygame
uri = “http://upresults.nic.in”  #url where result will be declared
source = urllib.urlopen(uri).read()
nw_source=source
cntr=0
flg=True
while nw_source==source:
if flg:
time.sleep(5)  #refresh every 5 seconds
try:
nw_source = urllib.urlopen(uri).read()
except IOError:
print “Error in reading url”
flg=False
continue
cntr+=1
print cntr,” times refreshed”

flg=True
pygame.init()
pygame.mixer.music.load(“kar_chale _hum_vida.mp3”) #pass the path to the music file
pygame.mixer.music.play()
while True:
pass

Using Webdriver under Selenium:

WebDriver是主流Web应用自动化测试框架，具有清晰面向对象 API，能以最佳的方式与浏览器进行交互。

支持的浏览器：

  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • Apple iPhone
  • Android browsers

Selenium WebDriver 又称为 Selenium2。

Selenium 1 + WebDriver = Selenium 2

标准的安装步骤

  1. 选择Python的版本。Python主流的有两个大的版本，2.7和3.5（请注意，从Python的3.5版本开始，不再支持Windows XP操作系统，Windows XP用户请安装3.4版本）。我们的例子将会选用面向未来的3.5版本。
  2. 在Windows安装Selenium2.0，有两种途径。使用pip命令行或者源码安装。以下两种方法，使用任何一个均可。推荐pip的方式。
    1. 方法一：pip命令行安装，运行 | cmd，打开命令行，-U其实就是--upgrade，升级安装。 
      pip install -U selenium
    2. 方法二：源码解压安装，前往https://pypi.python.org/pypi/selenium下载最新版的PyPI版本的Selenium，解压后执行 
      python setup.py install

Source Information: http://www.jianshu.com/p/3ce95cbc65be

Selenium 3.0.1 出现的问题以及解决

3.0.1 更新以后，需要做两个操作：

  1. Geckodriver executable needs to be in PATH。Geckodirver的下载地址：https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver/releases
    报错内容:

    WebDriverException:Message:'geckodriver'executable needs to be in Path

    geckodriver是一原生态的第三方浏览器，对于selenium3.x版本都会使用geckodriver来驱动firefox，所以需要下载geckodriver.exe。放置在Path 环境变量可以访问到的地方。例如 C:python34

  2. 需要将火狐的安装路径放到path，然后重启（必须重启电脑）
    报错内容：

    selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: 'geckodriver' executable needs to be in PATH.

    参考地址：http://stackoverflow.com/questions/40208051/selenium-using-python-geckodriver-executable-needs-to-be-in-path/40208762