|
|
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-19, 3:39 am |
| I'm a little down. I got canned as admin of CertifyExpress (ww.certifyexpress.com) tonight - its the first time I've ever been fired from anything. I don't even know how to react, I've never been fired before. What am I supposed to do?
They did it very sneakily. They deactivated my user account and a lot of my posts. They also kept deleting my farewell messages.
The reason they fired me is that they didn't think I was doing a good enough job for the $2.08/hour for 60 hours per week they were paying me.
The site was more active since I've been there, than its been in at least six months. I just don't understand it, and I don't know how to react.
Have you guys ever been fired? How did you react? | |
| Supertech 2003-07-19, 4:08 am |
| Hold your head high. Nothing to be ashamed of Tracey. You did an excellent job over there and they are poorer without you (and minus a few posts )
Onward & upward! | |
|
| Bummer 
Oh well, I can only say that their loss will be someone elses gain. | |
| KiwiPete 2003-07-19, 5:36 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Supertech
...they are poorer without you
Couldn't have put it better myself.
He's right.
We still love ya.
 | |
| Webmaster 2003-07-19, 9:21 am |
| Tracey, I don't know what you were doing their at the first place.
I'm sure you know that Chester sold that site to the people who now own and operate sites: mcsebraindumps.com, braindumps.com, real-exams.com, actual-exams.com and a bunch of other braindump sites.
Looks like even Chester does not even post there anymore. | |
| enforcer 2003-07-19, 10:44 am |
| First of all, sorry to hear that Tracey, it always sucks when something like that happens, especially when it's done in such a sneaky way. It's probably going to become another braindump site (judging by webmastyers comments below), and they know you wouldn't take that sort of thing.
best of luck for the future
PS does that mean you'll have more time to spend with us? 
quote:
Originally posted by Webmaster
Tracey, I don't know what you were doing their at the first place.
I'm sure you know that Chester sold that site to the people who now own and operate sites: mcsebraindumps.com, braindumps.com, real-exams.com, actual-exams.com and a bunch of other braindump sites.
Looks like even Chester does not even post there anymore.
So that's how we avoid those damn hyperlinks, bold the first letter
I wonder if that also applies with Ass
| |
| Deja-vue 2003-07-19, 12:32 pm |
| Hey, Long-time friend !
Don't worry about it too much, you did everything possible to get that Site going.
We wish you the Best for future adventures!
| |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-19, 12:52 pm |
| I'm an idiot okay, I didn't do my homework before I took the job. I didn't know they owned the braindump sites until recently.
After I found out, I confronted them, and they did this...
Here is the whole list of sites I was able to find that they own:
certifyexpress.com
certificationsuccess.com
certyourself.com
cram4exams.com
mcsebraindumps.com
braindumps.com
cram4exams.com
real-exams.com
actualexams.com
Apparently, the owner owns 1/3 of the certification websites on the net, although I don't know what the other ones are.
Here is the owners info:
Shahzad Shahnawaz
+92.41722909
330-D Peoples Colony No 1
Faisalabad, 38090
PK
Please don't be an idiot like me. Stay away from this guy, and stay away from all of his websites. Don't be naive and trusting like I was. | |
| Tennman 2003-07-19, 2:11 pm |
| I lost my job last week to Paisleyskye, so I know all to well what you are going through. Hang in there, someone with your knowledge of IT won't be out of work long. | |
|
| I hope you meant "I lost my job last week TOO, Paisleyskye" | |
| Tarzanboy 2003-07-19, 3:31 pm |
| If he did lose his job to him, I think there is only one recourse:
Thunderdome.
Cheers,
TB | |
|
| to *her* | |
| prezbedard 2003-07-19, 3:36 pm |
| Very sorry to hear you lost your job. After reading the other replys it seems like you were better off getting out of there anyway. Good luck in your future endeavors. | |
| Tarzanboy 2003-07-19, 4:02 pm |
| My bad.
Anyways, "two may enter..."
Cheers,
TB | |
| nethead 2003-07-19, 4:55 pm |
| Hi Paisleyskye
I think its their loss that they got rid of you and you shouln't dwell on it. You could have done great things over there and everyone was behind you - some of us have now followed you to here! | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-19, 5:01 pm |
| Hey nethead, good to see you over here. | |
| Deja-vue 2003-07-19, 5:06 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by nethead
Hi Paisleyskye
I think its their loss that they got rid of you and you shouln't dwell on it. You could have done great things over there and everyone was behind you - some of us have now followed you to here!
Welcome to EN
| |
| gpearson 2003-07-19, 5:13 pm |
| I am disappointed in CE, Chester (even though he doesn't own the site anymore), and the new owners. I was excited myself to see the number of posts climbing on the site this week.
I'm just about finished with the site as well. Without an admin there that actually works and participates, the site is doomed. Pseudocyber and I have been holding it together for them free of charge, and I have far too much on my plate to give my services away. I want to help others learn about various aspects of the industry and certification, but I'm not putting up with the bull$hit any longer. I can participate here and hit the same general group of members, and I have enough politics to deal with in my day to day job. | |
| Deja-vue 2003-07-19, 5:18 pm |
| nice to see you over here,gpearson
| |
| The Cert Sage 2003-07-19, 5:18 pm |
| On the site where I'm the admin there are no braindumps or talk of braindumps. I have no knowledge of my site being bought by these braindumpers and I still have my admin rights and nothing has changed on the site.
If I find out that the site is owned by that group mentioned above I will immediately resign. I have no intention of working for braindumping scum. | |
| darthfeces 2003-07-19, 5:26 pm |
| keep learning and move on !!!
many people have used the time in between jobs to go back to school or add more certs.
buy and read some tech cert books instead of watching today's springer.
ps. give me the same advise if I get downsized someday.
my company just started ..... | |
| ruscorp 2003-07-19, 5:35 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Paisleyskye
I'm a little down. I got canned as admin of CertifyExpress (ww.certifyexpress.com) tonight - its the first time I've ever been fired from anything. I don't even know how to react, I've never been fired before. What am I supposed to do?
They did it very sneakily. They deactivated my user account and a lot of my posts. They also kept deleting my farewell messages.
The reason they fired me is that they didn't think I was doing a good enough job for the $2.08/hour for 60 hours per week they were paying me.
The site was more active since I've been there, than its been in at least six months. I just don't understand it, and I don't know how to react.
Have you guys ever been fired? How did you react?
Sorry to hear about your job Paisleyskye. You are an accomplished techie.
Why was your post edited by Webmaster?  | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-19, 6:46 pm |
| Ruscorp:
I don't know why the post was edited, but it is still the same. Nothing in it is different.
Doug or CertSage,
I wouldn't tell you something unless I knew it to be 100% true. I can send you a transcript of a conversation if you would like. I just need an email address. | |
| rnrkenzie 2003-07-19, 7:08 pm |
| I think the web master edited the CE and put certify express so the rest of us would know whare you were talking about.
Hey web master, How about giving Paisleyskye
a job so we can keep her over here!!! | |
|
| Paisleyskye,
You are #1 as far as I am concerned...Just let it go! It is there loss and deep down inside I think you know that. Keep doing what you do and all the members of EN will benefit from that.
| |
| anon-e-mouse 2003-07-19, 9:43 pm |
| Sorry to hear that Paisleyskye. Your reputation as a straight shooter is known in many forums and I would like to say that perhaps getting canned will do your reputation no harm at all.
I find one thing very interesting about this owner ...
Shahzad Shahnawaz
+92.41722909
330-D Peoples Colony No 1
Faisalabad, 38090
PK
I do not want this to sound racist in any way as I know a few very capable IT specialists from Pakistan and my own network Admin is from India, BUT when I see many jobs heading offshore to places that pay substantially less than in the states then I have to wonder ... are these dump just based in Pakistan for conveniene or is it because that is where their major market and user base is? | |
| Tarzanboy 2003-07-19, 10:15 pm |
| Or laws are a little more convienent towards intellectual property....
Cheers,
TB | |
| darthfeces 2003-07-20, 12:49 am |
| convienent ???
how about completely unenforced ...... | |
|
| Interesting comment TB. When it comes to pirated software that region does get a mention, but not as much as certain SE Asian countries. I don't want to get into discussions about different countries, but dang if Americans were not so lenient on their companies and enforced social concience then perhaps it wouldn't be such a problem. I remember wayyy back having friend and family looking for work due to manufacturing heading offshore. | |
| nergalsharazer 2003-07-20, 2:31 am |
| This guy sounds like the kind of guy who wouldn't show up at the company BBQ and probably thinks it is OK to kill women who don't satisfy some of their husband's needs. In other words, he probably came from that country where Willamina Fence is sending all the soon to be formerly performed in America tech support McJobs. | |
| RandomFX 2003-07-20, 5:57 pm |
| ok....I'll bite...I had the impression from some of the above posts that folks here dont like 'braindump' site.....Am I missing something, or misunderstanding it? I just dont get understand a problem with such things, unless its on the angle of somehow helping those who really are not qualified to pass a test thus deluting the meaning fo the cert....otherwise, I dont get it, someone clarify this to me? | |
| rnrkenzie 2003-07-20, 6:01 pm |
| quote:
unless its on the angle of somehow helping those who really are not qualified to pass a test thus deluting the meaning fo the cert....otherwise, I dont get it, someone clarify this to me?
You just hit the nail right on the head. | |
| RandomFX 2003-07-20, 6:01 pm |
| oops went off on the tangent and didnt respond to the main point. Sorry to hear about you getting canned. Though I'm with most others. it's a free trade world (I like it that way personally) so the best thing you can do about them canning you is make em regret it by going elsewhere and doing as good if not better of a job for their compitition, or just for yourself. | |
|
| quote:
Originally posted by RandomFX
ok....I'll bite...I had the impression from some of the above posts that folks here dont like 'braindump' site.....Am I missing something, or misunderstanding it? I just dont get understand a problem with such things, unless its on the angle of somehow helping those who really are not qualified to pass a test thus deluting the meaning fo the cert....otherwise, I dont get it, someone clarify this to me?
Look up integrity in the dictionary. You will then see why we have a problem with it | |
| RandomFX 2003-07-20, 7:35 pm |
| InTegRity's my middle name, but still think there isnt to much wrong with braindumps other then the above reason. | |
|
| Ok RandomFX - if integrity is your middle name how can you consider there isn't much wrong with dump sites. These site are created through the lack of integrity of others. When taking an exam you sign an agreement that you will not disclose the contents of that exam. Therefore someone who knowingly uses that knowledge has the same lack of integrity in my books.
Oh, and for the excuse that "I didn't know" - that doesn't hold at all. For someone to be studying these certs they must have some knowledge. Anyone looking for study materials would search the net - legitimate sites and most of them make that point very clear. One just has to see how quickly posters are flamed when asking for cracks or dumps. I think that alone would be an indication that something is not right. | |
|
| quote:
Originally posted by RandomFX
InTegRity's my middle name, but still think there isnt to much wrong with braindumps other then the above reason.
apparently, it's not... | |
| wbafrank 2003-07-20, 8:45 pm |
| There loss, our gain ....
Welcome back to the fold Paisleyskye.
Sorry to go off topic but RandomFX have a read of the agreement you agreed to when you joined Examnotes - by the way hope to see you on the 215/216 forums - NOT!! | |
| klulue 2003-07-20, 9:57 pm |
| Sorry to hear about your loss. I have been away from the boards for a while and was excited a week or so ago that I started getting responces from some of my old posts there. When I saw that you were playing mod now I thought that it was sure to pick back up to the level it was when I found it over a year ago. It was my first board and really helped me with A+ and Net+. Now that I know what is behind it now I will defantaly stay away for good. Good luck and don't worry about being fired ... it happens to the best once in a while. | |
| bearing 2003-07-21, 3:46 am |
| Sorry to hear about the job Paisley, but it looks like you seem to be swelling the EN membership with your actions. | |
| WPFossil 2003-07-21, 8:58 am |
| Sorry to hear they fired you, Paisley!
A lot of places will bring someone in to bring sales up (or visits in this case) and then let them go once sales are up. Sort of like a temporary marketing ploy. Doesn't sound like they were fair to you and it would probably serve them right if their activity dropped back to its "pre-Paisley" level.
Good luck with whatever you do in the future! | |
|
| Now you have time to do somthing real important. Like a vacation or teaching me me exchange. yea thats the ticket teaching me;-)~
Good luck on your next adventure you are better off without that site on your card | |
| Gareth Leung 2003-07-21, 9:16 am |
| I don't know what's happening there but I've quit this morning as a mod there. | |
|
| yeah, I did yesterday as well... | |
| enforcer 2003-07-21, 9:26 am |
| If I was a MOD there I would have quit too | |
| PCDude 2003-07-21, 9:47 am |
| Paisleyskye, Sorry to hear that. Hey keep your head up. I know how you feel I got laid off 4 months ago and now I have a better job doing the samething with better benifits and more money.... | |
| aliss 2003-07-21, 12:15 pm |
| good to hear about the new job pc dude gives me hope. I just moved back to St Louis and need to start looking, so it's nice to hear there are some jobs out there. | |
|
|
|
| yes, supposedly
I call that pulling the plug myself! | |
| Papiya 2003-07-21, 4:35 pm |
| You might have got fired because the post level recently has gone way down . . . the fewer people who visit the site mean fewer people to sell stuff too . . . and that might put a pinch on the management. And oftentimes they won't give you the real reason for firing you but a bogus reason that sounds reasonable. Happens to a lot of us, epecially in this economy. Don't take it so hard. | |
|
| actually the site was becoming more popular again thanks in great part to Skye's efforts. | |
| macabre 2003-07-21, 4:54 pm |
| Once again let me offer my sympathies, Paisley.
For the rest of you, I got kicked off of CertifyExpress today as well for posting in support of Paisley, along with 99% of the other moderators. They run things really badly over there! Avoid that place at all costs...you can get everything you need here, and better quality to boot.
Just call me a CertifyExpress refugee...
quote:
Originally posted by Paisleyskye
I'm a little down. I got canned as admin of CertifyExpress (ww.certifyexpress.com) tonight - its the first time I've ever been fired from anything. I don't even know how to react, I've never been fired before. What am I supposed to do?
They did it very sneakily. They deactivated my user account and a lot of my posts. They also kept deleting my farewell messages.
The reason they fired me is that they didn't think I was doing a good enough job for the $2.08/hour for 60 hours per week they were paying me.
The site was more active since I've been there, than its been in at least six months. I just don't understand it, and I don't know how to react.
Have you guys ever been fired? How did you react?
| |
| thecomeons 2003-07-21, 6:54 pm |
| gee. i was away for a week and i missed all of this.
paisley sent me a pm via en and asked if i wanted to mod at ce, so i take a geoff duke at the site as i signed up there around the same time as i did here.
what i saw was that paisley had done a good job in rustling up some mods (including some guy called someguy), but also there was some bitching in the general forums about mising posts and crap.
the annoying thing was the pop overs and pop unders.
tracey, you're best off out of there. i'm sure you could find something better for $120+/week. the site is obviously in the hands of cowboys. there are plenty of other sites out there that will pay you as much and more for less work | |
| ghaouf 2003-07-21, 7:56 pm |
| you get paid to become a Moderator | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-21, 8:30 pm |
| The comeons and everybody:
Yes, I did send PM's to certain people on this site to moderate on that site when I was admin. Doing that was very wrong on my part, but I didn't know it at the time. I had always been contacted by other sites through a PM on Exam Notes whenever I was asked to moderate on other sites.
I always thought that was just what you did to get good moderators. I have since however, found out that this practice is very wrong, and that it is actually something called "back-dooring". I was completely unaware that it was wrong when I did it, or I would never have done it in the first place.
I apologize for my stupidity, naivity, and ignorance to anybody I PM'd, to the Webmaster (I'm so sorry Dmitri - I really didn't know), and to Exam Notes itself. Like I said, that was always how I was contacted so I thought it was the norm. I had no idea that what I was doing was wrong - and now that I do know it won't ever happen again.
For those of you who did respond moderate over there - sorry that I took you to a place with owners like that. If I had any idea of what the outcome would be, I would never have gone there myself.
For those of you who didn't respond or who declined - consider yourselves lucky to have avoided that mess.
Galouf,
I dont' know of any site that pays moderators - its strictly a voluntary position.
I was getting paid to be an admin. | |
| Redstar 2003-07-22, 12:08 am |
| I too say sorry Paisleyskye!
And welcome all new people to this site.
| |
| thebonzodog 2003-07-22, 4:23 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by RussS
Ok RandomFX - if integrity is your middle name how can you consider there isn't much wrong with dump sites. These site are created through the lack of integrity of others. When taking an exam you sign an agreement that you will not disclose the contents of that exam. Therefore someone who knowingly uses that knowledge has the same lack of integrity in my books.
Oh, and for the excuse that "I didn't know" - that doesn't hold at all. For someone to be studying these certs they must have some knowledge. Anyone looking for study materials would search the net - legitimate sites and most of them make that point very clear. One just has to see how quickly posters are flamed when asking for cracks or dumps. I think that alone would be an indication that something is not right.
If its so awful then why does this site advertise so many of them? | |
| enforcer 2003-07-22, 5:37 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by thebonzodog
If its so awful then why does this site advertise so many of them?
don't ask | |
| Dracken 2003-07-22, 6:52 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Gareth Leung
I don't know what's happening there but I've quit this morning as a mod there.
Did everyone else quit there also? I didn't see alot of moderators left when I quit. I noticed the site was down for maintenance now though. It is really to bad, CE was coming back to life. This place seems alot better though. | |
| Gareth Leung 2003-07-22, 8:14 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by ghaouf
you get paid to become a Moderator
No. | |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 10:22 am |
| So, is this where all the Ex CE Mods have gone?
Hey Yall!  | |
| Deja-vue 2003-07-22, 10:40 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by pseudocyber
So, is this where all the Ex CE Mods have gone?
Hey Yall!
pseudocyber, good to have you here!
| |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 10:42 am |
| About the site being down ...
I was pretty miffed they were deleting posts without notice if anything slightly negative was said about the owners or the site in general. They were also deleting PRIVATE mails.
Greg Pearson and I were Super Moderators at the site. Tracey came on as Admin. She kept us in the loop - first bring CE back up and then when the fit started hitting the shan what was going on.
Since they were deleting resignation posts and posts critical of their actions and the site, I posted my resignation/history/warning over and over about 35-40 times. I don't think they could keep up with my posting. There was some new admin that popped in named Thomas - I let him have it. I had an active session and I don't think they were savy enough to kill my session or block my IP. So, in the middle of my posting and a couple other MODs posting replies to the new admin, the site went "down for maintenance".
I suppose they're feverishly working on deleting ALL of our posts we ever had (I had around 2800), all of our accounts, and blocking our IP's.
They are total IDIOTS. None of it makes any sense. Tracey had the posts up to 35 one time when I came in and did a search for new posts. You have to understand - there were times over the past year when there were NO new posts for DAYS!
Argh .... | |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 10:50 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Deja-vue
pseudocyber, good to have you here!
Hey Deja-vue! It's nice to be among friends! | |
| ace123 2003-07-22, 10:52 am |
| sorry to hear about it | |
|
|
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 11:31 am |
| You too Gareth! | |
| CertTimes 2003-07-22, 12:58 pm |
| The site is a well known braindump and the guy who owns it is a partner with Shabaz Mian, the head honcho at testking among other sites who has been linked to other braindumps, like the Kessler guy, as well as stealing material from other sites and selling it.
To the guy whateverFX, it's scum like these that are devaluing your certification currency. The fact that this group owns a third or more of the cert sites out there is testament enough. And to the guy who MOD's at certsuccess, are you gone yet? I doubt Paisley is speaking anything but the truth in this regard, as I have investigated so many of these sites and the connections are downright scummy.
I've had some interesting run-ins with Shahbaz and his gang, and have been threatened by them for some of the editorial content in my newsletter, The Cert Times. As if they could intimidate me into silence. They obviously don't know me that well.
Paisley and anyone else reading this board, if you have other sites you know of that are owned by these crooks, let me know. I'll start a list in The Cert Times. Unfortunately there are still quite a few who believe that it doesn't matter where they get the info from as long as they pass, but the same folks will whine about paper MCSE's. Duh! Get a freakin' clue!
quote:
Originally posted by Deja-vue
nice to see you over here,gpearson
| |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 1:02 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by CertTimes
Paisley and anyone else reading this board, if you have other sites you know of that are owned by these crooks, let me know. I'll start a list in The Cert Times. Unfortunately there are still quite a few who believe that it doesn't matter where they get the info from as long as they pass, but the same folks will whine about paper MCSE's. Duh! Get a freakin' clue!
I was going to post just the whois info, but I thought ya'll might be interested in my "goodbye" post. So, here it is (this is a little long). The whois info is at the bottom - it has NOT been verified by me, I just took Paisley's list of sites and pulled what info I could.
quote:
First – Please make sure to IMMEDIATELY COPY THIS POST for possible reposting. The new owners are summarily deleting messages which expose the truth about this site. If you copy this post, and it is deleted, and you agree with it, you can repost it to spread the word. Thanks.
Who I am and why am I writing this? My name is “Pseudocyber”. I joined Certify Express as a member in June of 2001 and was immediately fairly active. My current profession and title is a Network Engineer although I have some other certifications. I am more interested in networking. I was allowed to become a moderator of a couple of forums by Chester, the former owner of CE. Just because I hung around a lot, Chester made me a “super moderator” capable of editing and working with threads all across CE. It’s a fairly powerful responsibility as far as moderating goes – since I can edit people’s threads, delete them, move them, etc. I have tried to be honest and open about it when I edit someone and when I move someone and have not normally had a problem.
I am writing this post to inform the members as to the nature of this site and the new owners and to announce my resignation as moderator and super moderator from this site.
What is going on here? – Paisleyskye (deletedqueen) was recently hired by CE to be the Administrator for CE. She single handedly recruited many new moderators and convinced some old ones to come to CE and moderate the forums and the forums were beginning to be active, again, after more than a year of relative inactivity. She was summarily fired and her access removed over the weekend. As she began to say goodbye and air some of the dirty laundry about CE some “higher power” (owner or programmer for CE) began deleting her posts and other moderators’ posts as they resigned in turn, out of protest, frustration, disgust, and disdain for braindump site owners.
Braindumps? I thought braindumps were illegal and would get you banned from the vendors sponsoring the certifications?!? Yes that is true. The information given in certification exams is trademarked, copyrighted, and considered confidential material. When you take an exam, you enter into a contract in which you agree not to divulge the material to 3rd parties – in effect, a non-disclosure agreement. You expose yourself to sanction from the vendor, civil, and possibly criminal liability when you use or participate in the use of “braindumps”.
Is CertifyExpress a braindump site!?!? Yes and no. Yes in that it seems the new owners of CertifyExpress own other websites which either openly support or provide braindumps. I have attached WHOIS lookups to several sites which are listed at the bottom of this post. In some cases, the registrants have tried to hide their identities. In some cases they are totally open. You can notice the similarities in the information supplied and the dates applied for and expiring on and reach your own conclusions. No, in that there aren’t any braindumps which are available through the site that I know of. Every now and then, someone will post a link to braindumps or ask for them – these posts have usually been edited by me or Gpearson – I don’t know if they will be tolerated going forward as most of the moderators leave.
I have long railed against those seeking and providing braindumps. Why you may ask? Because it is CHEATING. When you cheat, you’re cheating yourself – you’re cheating yourself out of an education or out of the fulfillment you get when you truly earn something. As I stated above, when you take an exam, you are agreeing that you did not cheat and that you will not help others cheat. If you do, your certification may be revoked – permanently. If you seemingly “get away with it” then you will not know as much as someone who truly learned. You may get a job but eventually someone will have doubts about your ability and you in turn cast doubts upon the value of the certification and wind up hurting us all. I am sure people that cheat and use braindumps don’t care about others – but you loose all credibility with real professionals.
It has been pointed out that the links on the home page and to the side go to braindump sites and isn’t a bit hypocritical of me to rail against braindumpers but help a site which supports them. Yes it is. I have tried to work from the inside and persuade people not to use braindump sites while working with the former site owner, Chester to remove the links. However his answer was that it paid the bills. When Paisleyskye came on as admin, one of her goals was to get the forums going where there was a lot of activity on CE and use it to acquire legitimate clients and remove the advertising links to braindumpers. I suspect this strategy ran astray when she discovered the new owners were linking to their own braindump sites and didn’t take kindly to her idea.
A short history of CE This is only from my perspective and my experience. I joined in June ’01. At the time, the forums were very lively and active and there were moderators from all over the world. The owner was Chester and he would participate in the forums – mostly in the Windows OS side. The moderators were very good and professional with a lot of experience. Newbie’s seeking knowledge could come to CE and count on being welcomed, included, and having most of their questions answered. Many stayed on and began participating themselves. It was all good.
Some time around the middle of 2002 a little bit of a flame war started between a couple of moderators. This was mostly in the moderators forum so many members were unaware of any problems. However, it wasn’t handled well by Chester and Turgon, still the highest poster below Chester, was summarily deleted by Chester. There were some harsh words all round but it was generally agreed that Chester didn’t handle it well and about half of the moderators left out of protest. From this SNAFU I lost some friends which I had made in CE – Turgon, Cat, Macabre, and Yeti. Still, other moderators decided to stay and work with CE and try to make it what it was before “the split”.
After the split, some new moderators came on and some stayed. Traffic on the site was noticeably down with many days of no activity. I stayed on because I like learning new things from other people and I like helping people when I can. I suppose this is the feeling of the other moderators. We all help and moderate for no fee, no salary, no compensation paid to us.
Frankly things were beginning to get pretty boring for me on this site. I was growing tired of the newb’s showing up asking for braindumps and mundane questions about MCSE certification. I am a network engineer and my interest lies in networking but not many people seem to be pursuing network certification. Or if they are it’s more of a LAN Administrator function which in my opinion means “server admin” – Microsoft, Novell, xNix.
During this time – from mid 2002 there was virtually NO communication from Chester or anyone else. In this time, the site went down for a few days with no explanation. Also during this time, apparently some kind of problem with the testing database/software developed as most new posts were from practice test takers complaining about the answers being wrong on the tests. It seems the tech support for the tests are the forums – however no one bothered to tell the moderators about this or give us any ability to do anything about it. I finally resorted to just posting back to people that they were screwed up and we knew it but couldn’t do anything about it.
About two weeks ago, Paisleyskye came back and started posting. She said she was the new Administrator of Certify Express. Some people had raised an eyebrow or two about this – she was involved in the split before although the details have been lost in the past somewhere. Additionally she had not been very active in the forums for some time. However she was generally welcomed back and she began setting about getting a good group of active moderators again. Just when she had accomplished this goal, she confided in me that she was receiving pressure from the owners of this site, through a programmer of this site known as “Certblast”. The were wanting her to start coming up with content and developing study guides. Paisleyskye confided in me what she was being paid and how she was hired. Based on what she told me, she was being paid hardly anything and it seemed to me she was hired to admin the site, not develop for the site. I believe that she communicated this to the owners through Certblast and she was summarily “fired” by the owners/Certblast removing her privileges and begin deleting her posts and “private” mails. She came back in as deletedqueen and posting goodbyes to colleagues and moderators and asking why her posts were being deleted without explanation or notice. These posts were deleted as well.
Other moderators began resigning and posting their resignations and these were deleted as well.
Are the new owners and their website worthy of my time and attention (and yours)? NO. I am a professional Network Engineer with a job. I have a wife and two children and a house. I moderate on this site because I used to enjoy it and that was my only compensation. I do not have enough time in the day to devote to my family, my employer, my education and sacrifice any of it to a site in which the owners clearly do not appreciate or value the skills and time I devote to this site.
In life – whether it is the real world or on the internet (in Cyberspace) – I believe life is what you make of it. You will be judged by the company you keep. I used to be in good company on this site – with the other moderators and the former owner Chester. I can no longer say this. Chester lost my respect when he did not bother to inform the moderators, much less consult with us, on the site’s sale to a new owner. The new owners have NEVER bothered to communicate with ANYONE beyond Paisleyskye – to my knowledge. I can only judge them by their ownership of braindump sites, by their links to these sites and others, by their neglect to CE, by their rude and inconsiderate behavior in not answering any of the many posts about who they are and will they talk to us, and by their harsh and inconsiderate treatment of Paisleyskye, and finally by their cowardly behavior in summarily dismissing people and deleting posts and “private” mails between members.
Be warned about the mentality and thoughtlessness of the owners of CE. Be warned that you may be associating with purveyors of braindump material and may therefore endanger your certification if not your ethics. Be warned soon this site will be a wasteland of inexperienced newb’s and cheaters neither of which have valuable, real-world, hands-on experience which to share.
Where can you go from here?]/b] Here are a couple sites where I moderate/mentor/or just frequent and post:
http://www.techsupportforum.com (mentor) – all kinds of support issues
http://www.networkstoday.com (super moderator) – professional networking admins & engineers
http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com (member) – an awesome forum for PC hardware issues & home networking.
For certification I would recommend: http://www.examnotes.net
And Freak’s site: http://www.mcsefreak.com
And keep an eye out for Paisleyskye …
http://pages.ivillage.com/traceyrosenblath/
[b]Summary and Thanks Well, that’s about the end of this rant. I hope everyone has understood what has happened and why. FWIW, I can be reached at pseudocyber@hotmail.com.
I would like to thanks my friends, mentors, and fellow members: Paisleyskye, Gpearson, USNavyretired, Nethead, Someguy, Boromir, Turin, Turgon, Macabre, Cat, Yeti, Freak, Blackhawk, Kasor, Myself the Elf, Widgewarm, Overclocker, The Kiss Guy, Arockinmom, Dracken, UUAllen, Bob Johnson, and Elayneman. If I forgot to mention you, I sincerely apologize.
CU on the ‘net!
HAND! :wavey: (Have A Nice Day)
FYI: Who are the owners and what else do they own? See below:
certifyexpress.com
Registrant:
Dotster Default Contact
11807 NE 99th Street
Suite 1100
Vancouver, WA 98682
Registrar: DOTSTER
Domain Name: CERTIFYEXPRESS.COM
Created on: 07-DEC-99
Expires on: 07-DEC-04
Last Updated on: 21-JUN-03
Administrative, Technical Contact:
,
1219 19th St.
,
certificationsuccess.com
Domain name: CERTIFICATIONSUCCESS.COM
Registrant Contact:
Certification Success (anderson@certificationsuccess
.com)
+1.+1.NA
PMB 194
9340 E. State Route 350
Raytown, MO 64133-6505
US
certyourself.com
Registrant:
Shahzad Shahnawaz
330-D Peoples colony
Faisalabad, Punjab 38090
PK
Registrar: DOTSTER
Domain Name: CERTYOURSELF.COM
Created on: 16-NOV-00
Expires on: 16-NOV-08
Last Updated on: 21-JUN-03
Administrative, Technical Contact:
Shahnawaz, Shahzad sales@testking.com
330-D Peoples colony
Faisalabad, Punjab 38090
PK
0092-41-7229090
cram4exams.com
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Registrant:
Next Generation
Next
Next, Next
PK
Registrar: DOTSTER
Domain Name: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Created on: 27-OCT-99
Expires on: 27-OCT-06
Last Updated on: 09-JUN-03
Administrative, Technical Contact:
Generation, Next XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3fBw
lW@privacypost.com
Next
Next, Next
PK
222121312414
braindumps.com
Domain name: BRAINDUMPS.COM
Name servers:
oak.forest.net
willow.forest.net
Creation date: Dec 11 1997 00:00:00
Expiration date: Dec 10 2005 00:00:00
Registrant Contact:
Shahzad Shahnawaz (info@cram4exams.com)
+92.41722909
330-D Peoples Colony No 1
Faisalabad, 38090
PK
cram4exams.com
real-exams.com
Domain name: REAL-EXAMS.COM
Name servers:
OAK.FOREST.NET
WILLOW.FOREST.NET
Creation date: Fri Jul 26 2002 18:52:40
Expiration date: Tue Jul 26 2005 18:52:40
Registrant Contact:
Shehla Zahid (webmaster@real-exams.com)
+1.NA
xx
xxxxxxx, Jm Jm
xxxxxxx, 76776
PK
actualexams.com
domain: actualexams.com
status: production
organization: ACTive
email: inpakistantoday@yahoo.com
address: Junaid Jamshed
address: 5-C 30/30
city: Karachi
postal-code: 99999
country: PK
admin-c: inpakistantoday@yahoo.com#0
tech-c: inpakistantoday@yahoo.com#0
billing-c: inpakistantoday@yahoo.com#2
nserver: invalid-address.joker.com 194.176.0.5
registrar: JORE-1
created: 2000-12-04 12:17:16 UTC regcom
modified: 2003-05-29 09:09:39 UTC JORE-1
expires: 2003-12-04 12:17:16 UTC
source: joker.com
db-updated: 2003-07-21 15:08:12 UTC
| |
|
| "freakin'" clue is my trademark | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-22, 1:34 pm |
| Hi Certtimes,
Check your private messages. | |
|
| quote:
Originally posted by Deja-vue
pseudocyber, good to have you here!
Yes, I'm glad we'll be seeing you around here more pseudocyber! I mostly lurked on the old CE board, and I enjoyed reading your posts. | |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 2:27 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Spid
Yes, I'm glad we'll be seeing you around here more pseudocyber! I mostly lurked on the old CE board, and I enjoyed reading your posts.
Thanks! Good to be here. | |
| thecomeons 2003-07-22, 5:35 pm |
| wb pseudo. you've helped me out at both ce and en. looking forward to bumping into you more often.
(are you going to use the superhero avatar over here?) | |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-22, 9:19 pm |
| Hi thecommons! Avatar - I hadn't thought about it. I don't know.
FYI - certifyexpress is still down. LOL. I wonder how long it's going to take to complete "the purges". | |
|
| CE was the 1st certification forum I have ever been on and it was quite fun back then. The mass quitting of various mod after turngon just signal trouble and I came here from the link display by one of you mod in your signature.
It is unfortunate I suppose... perhaps in the mass deletion they would erase all record of me ever asking if network+ would be worth my time... cough. | |
| Tech Ranger 2003-07-22, 10:49 pm |
| It is wonderful to know that Tracey belongs to us again. If this episode harms the purveyors of dump, then Skye has inadvertantly contributed to a cause she has always championed. | |
| freak 2003-07-22, 10:53 pm |
| Amen to that | |
| Redstar 2003-07-23, 12:02 am |
| Amen Amen!!!! | |
| Tennman 2003-07-23, 1:48 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by freak
I hope you meant "I lost my job last week TOO, Paisleyskye"
Your right freak, I should have said TOO. Got to watch those typo's. | |
| Gareth Leung 2003-07-23, 2:01 pm |
| CE is up now.
All my posts has gone.
Three mods remain there:
Supertech, Blackhawk and overclocker. | |
|
| I don't think I'm even gonna go check my posts I am sure that they are all gone too - not that I give a crap either way, to be honest... although maybe some of those posts could have helped someone else. | |
| Gareth Leung 2003-07-23, 2:10 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by freak
I don't think I'm even gonna go check my posts I am sure that they are all gone too - not that I give a crap either way, to be honest... although maybe some of those posts could have helped someone else.
Have to agree with you, Freak. | |
|
| what a lame way to end the course of what used to be a pretty good site | |
| Deja-vue 2003-07-23, 3:33 pm |
| This is what Madmartigan posted in the General Discussion at CE:
Paisleyskye is NOT here!
As a former member of CE who spoke out against the current management's inexcusable conduct against the former administrator Paisleyskye, my account name and all the posts associated with it have been summarily deleted by said management. In spite of Tlingit's assertions that he only deleted people's accounts who obviously didn't want to be here anymore, it is my belief that my account was deleted due to the fact that I took a direct stand against the current management and for no other reason.
Let's set that aside for the moment. Paisleyskye's account was deleted as well AND I have it directly from her that her IP address has been blocked from accessing this site, so she has no way of further accessing this site - not that she'd want to anymore. Imagine my shock this morning when I saw somebody logged in as Paisleyskye browsing the boards.
This person is NOT the Paisleyskye that used to be the site administrator. We can only be left to assume that it is someone else POSING as Paisleyskye - to what end I cannot say. Based upon the recent egregious violations of common decency by the current site owners and administration, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were using Paisley's name to make false statements that would end up being attributed to her. DON'T BELIEVE THEM! After all, these are the same people who went snooping in Private Messages and at that time sent PM's under Paisley's credentials that she did not write.
In short, don't believe a word these people say. They've already proven that they can't be trusted.
...my .02 worth...
(before it gets deleted)
| |
| Tarzanboy 2003-07-23, 3:59 pm |
| It is sad, yet amazing what some people will do to discredit others...
Cheers,
TB | |
|
| This is an interesting discussion. I have never liked certify express. This site and Cram session (before they became Brain Buzz) have been the only two sites that I like to get cert info from. I may have checked out others but Exam Notes (IMHO) is the best. I have not been here much as I am working on Software Test Certiication so now I am on Sticky Minds a lot.
I am glad to see most of you back here.
| |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-23, 5:58 pm |
| Overclocker just came back in and resigned as MOD on CE.
Supertech is posting lots of links to examnotes.net | |
|
| omg, I just went there to check out the posts and boom! popups. it wasn't this fruity b4... | |
|
| and apparently supertech is deleted also? heheh, the drama! | |
| ruscorp 2003-07-23, 6:28 pm |
| I have never posted to CE however after seeing their actions they are a pretty lame bunch. | |
|
| what a bunch of losers. Talk about eliminating the credibility - and therefore the value - of your own site. A very sad display indeed... | |
| The Cert Sage 2003-07-26, 1:26 am |
| So we sit on the same server as dumps? Are we suppose to move? They stink so bad that the stench of being on the same server reflects on us? What about the 75 other sites that sit on that same server. That resolve to the same subnet. Theres one glaring fact that can't be overlooked that people seem to gloss over here........
We are registered in the US. The police, piracy groups, Microsoft can close us down, throw us in jail so why haven't they done that?????We are not guilty of doing anything illegal or immoral. Look around...theres not a braindump anywhere on certificationsuccess.com or talk of braindump questions from other sites. We are legit.
Now here's what I know for sure so far. The same person that owns certificationsuccess.com is the one that hired paisleyskye for the admin job at certifyexpress.com
I was hired the same way, talked to the same way, had the same money deal. He was like a project manager at that time I was hired for certificationsuccess.com and he was suppose to get this new site going and find an admin for the owners. He could have been doing that for the owners of certifyexpress.com also. Finding and hiring an admin for them.
Myself and the owner had a long conversation with paisleyskye to get her to come to work for our site as part of the admin team. She got a different job and we went a different direction. But when she says the owner of certificationsuccess hired her to be the admin of certifyexpress...I no reason to not believe 100% that what paisleyskye says is true.
What I don't know for sure 100% yet is that the owner of certificationsuccess.com has lied to me and is the owner of braindump sites. It's conjuncture like a lot of this talk. But I've known Paisleyskye for a long time and have respected her work even longer. If she says its true...there must be a fire where she says there is smoke.
I will keep posting here until I know the full truth. But without a doubt I was at least lied to and not told what was happening with my owner working for another site.
BTW, I'm also guilty in the past of that "back dooring" to recruit mods. I didn't know it was in bad taste either and I apoligized to Dimitri and promised to never do it again. | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-26, 1:29 pm |
| Doug,
From your post it is obvious that you have conflicting feelings about this. On the one hand you feel everything is legit, and other hand you feel that you've been lied to by your owner. On the one hand, you say you know that what I've said is true, but on the other hand you feel some kind of moral obligation to give your owner the benefit of the doubt.
One thing I find very interesting is that CE was had its admin contact updated to a UK address for someone named Daryl on July 22, 2003....
Nobody here is going to come right out and tell you what to do. I can tell you that sometimes its easier to believe a lie than the truth. You have to search within yourself, and decide what you believe is right. If you know you've been lied to, then you know this guy hasn't gone out of his way for you the way you have for him.
Just know that regardless of what you do, there are sites that aren't owned by that guy that would welcome a strong, supportive member like you with open arms. | |
| klulue 2003-07-28, 9:07 am |
| Pseudo -
Good to see you over here. My account is still active on CE - I guess that I am going to have to borrow your exit-ing message and start posting it all over there, Probably tonight when I have some time. | |
| Gareth Leung 2003-07-28, 11:24 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by klulue
Pseudo -
Good to see you over here. My account is still active on CE - I guess that I am going to have to borrow your exit-ing message and start posting it all over there, Probably tonight when I have some time.
But the site is down since yesterday... | |
| klulue 2003-07-28, 3:19 pm |
| So I see ...
Well I will have to keep an eye on it I guess | |
|
|
| ruscorp 2003-07-28, 10:47 pm |
| Just got the last Cert Times, July 2003 edition. EN and this thread are mentioned. | |
| Tech Ranger 2003-07-28, 11:49 pm |
| Great job, Ben. Don't allow yourself to get discouraged. You are doing good work. | |
| The Cert Sage 2003-07-29, 12:19 am |
| I am no longer associate with that website. Thanks for the information Paisleyskye. Your information was right on target. It made the decision easy. The founder has left the building:
http://www.certificationsuccess.com...p?p=13681#13681 | |
| bearing 2003-07-29, 3:56 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by The Cert Sage
The founder has left the building:
That must hurt like hell? | |
| thecomeons 2003-07-29, 4:42 am |
| the discussion forums seem to have crumbled behind you too, i see. | |
| Sorcerer 2003-07-29, 5:38 am |
| The Cert Sage,
Is it possible to remove my account....
Sorcerer | |
|
|
| The Cert Sage 2003-07-29, 9:24 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by Sorcerer
The Cert Sage,
Is it possible to remove my account....
Sorcerer
Sorry guy, I removed my admin rights. I have no more power over there now than a regular member. Email one of the admin team if any of them are left. | |
| GalaxyGal 2003-07-29, 12:55 pm |
| T-
It's been a Long Time! I just happened to pop in looking for free guides.
I am a firm believer in Karma! At some point we all get what we put forth.
I remember being fired back in HS from my first job (when I was a slacker) and later in 1997 I was downsized. No matter what look forward not back, keep your eye on the prize. Which they probably kept you from what with all the time you put in!
------------------------
"Please don't be an idiot like me. Stay away from this guy, and stay away from all of his websites. Don't be naive and trusting like I was."
------------------------
You're no fool. Nothing wrong with trusting people. Seems like I 've done that and been burned too. Just keep your eyes open.
~the other T | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-29, 6:02 pm |
| Thanks GalaxyGal,
That does make me feel better, but I still feel like an idiot.
It's great to see you again. I've been wondering what ever happened to you. | |
| Sorcerer 2003-07-30, 3:23 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by The Cert Sage
Sorry guy, I removed my admin rights. I have no more power over there now than a regular member. Email one of the admin team if any of them are left.
It is dealed with....
b.t.w. The site is down, that fishy (to say at least).
Sorcerer | |
| dok klene 2003-07-30, 8:00 am |
| The site has been down for about 12 hours now. | |
| CertTimes 2003-07-30, 2:43 pm |
| I wanted to point out something that I wrote in the latest issue of The Cert Times. Just as I hate the companies that rob others of their work, I also believe that innocent and ethical companies deserve equal and positive consideration. Although I didn't accuse Digital Forest of being owned by or in cahoots with the sites mentioned in my Editors Letter, some perceived it to be, including Chuck Goolsbee, VP of Technical Operations at Digital Forest. Chuck and I spoke at length after I received an email from him, and in fairness and to be sure fingers aren't pointed at the wrong parties, I promised to post to this thread his response. FYI, I also received several emails from others familiar with DF, and all said they were an upstanding and legitimate company. Following is an excerpt from the email Chuck sent;
The truth is that the server hosting the sites you mention is NOT owned by digital.forest. They are owned by a client of ours, a web developer and web hosting company who uses our facility for server
colocation. As per our usual arrangement we offer DNS services to our colocation clients, which is why these domains are listed on our DNS servers, oak & willow.
Until a few days ago I will honestly say I was unaware of the nature of the business this client (of a client) was doing on our network. This is not unusual in the colocation business - We have nearly a
thousand servers in our main datacenter here in Bothell, and probably host tens of thousands of websites.
Chuck went on to say that, upon learning of the nature of the clients business, they cancelled the clients account. This actually happened prior to The Cert Times hitting the email.
Digital Forest was not and is not a culprit here. I want to be sure this is clearly understood. They did all the right things when notified of the clients activities. If anything, I would highly recommend their services, and confidently, based on the numerous emails I received regarding them.
Ben Ice
Editor - The Cert Times | |
| azimuth40 2003-07-30, 3:57 pm |
| Well I guess that explains all the sites being down for maintenance. Apparently they are down until they find a new home with adequate bandwidth.
Thanks for the follow-up | |
| pseudocyber 2003-07-30, 5:59 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by klulue
Pseudo -
Good to see you over here. My account is still active on CE - I guess that I am going to have to borrow your exit-ing message and start posting it all over there, Probably tonight when I have some time.
Thanks Klulue! You too! You can use my message any time - I saved it first before posting - seeing how fast they were deleting people's posts. I posted a PRETTY LONG message about 30 times - LOL. The admin later said it was "bad stuff" and I replied that it was multiple posted because posts were being deleted. At least he gave me a "fair point" FWIW. | |
| Super_Mario 2003-07-31, 9:55 am |
| The site is down alright...
I got this from a very good source....
"From what I can gather it was on the same subnet as the testking server. Because of all the whois lookups that were floating around, the cabling company got to hear about this. They didn't want testking on their patch, so booted them off. As CertificationSuccess was on the same subnet they got booted off too..."
Again, it is the end of an era for me.
Since Doug left, and for quite good reasons, I also felt that I did nto want to hand around. It is a shame, as it was quite a good site.
Nevertheless, life must go on.
S_M | |
| enforcer 2003-07-31, 9:57 am |
| Welcome to EN | |
| ruscorp 2003-07-31, 11:47 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by GalaxyGal
T-
It's been a Long Time! I just happened to pop in looking for free guides.
Come around more often. | |
| Paisleyskye 2003-07-31, 12:51 pm |
| Welcome to EN SuperMario! | |
| GalaxyGal 2003-07-31, 2:22 pm |
| ruscorp-
Thanks, will do. Looking up stuff for CCNA. Hoep to write it before October is out.
Hey it looks like we are almost neighbors! | |
|
|
| Super_Mario 2003-07-31, 4:03 pm |
| Hi Guys
Thanks...
I am a bit busy lately..just rented a new place...and all the moving to do , etc...such is the life of an xpat.
Will clock in regularly...and perhaps make of this place home...
BTW...who is the boss over here...hopefuly not from Tureky !!!
regards
S_M |
|
|
|