Geek Software of the Week: GRC’s SecurAble

What does your PC’s CPU support in terms of modern system security? Now, you can find out with a small, free, and very neat program from Steve Gibson at GRC!

SecurAble Web Site

“SecurAble probes the system’s processor to determine the presence, absence and operational status of three modern processor features:

* 64-bit instruction extensions,
* Hardware support for detecting and preventing
the execution of code in program data areas, … and
* Hardware support for system resource ‘virtualization.'”

Demand for Techies is High, Supply is Low!

Good for us ol’ time techies! Less folks are going into tech because it is too geeky. So, those of us that are hard core techies are in demand… good for us. After years and years of just plain ol’ hard core experience, I am now finally getting certified… I just got my Certified Citrix Administrator paper… and I am going for more. And, sure enough, I get more e-mails now saying, “Don’t you wanna move to California or New York and get a new job?” Ah, no. I like North Carolina!

Report: Supply of IT Pros Down, Though Demand Is Up

“The bad news is IT job growth is bad; the good news is because there aren’t enough good workers to go around. Good news if you’re in the workforce, that is. IT employment posted a small increase in April, but has remained essentially flat for the last 11 months, finds the April 2007 IT employment report released on May 9 by the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses, a trade association that represents IT staffing firms. April saw an increase of 900 IT workers, leaving the total level of IT employment at 3.67 million, where it has rested since August 2006, found the report. Between May and July 2006, IT employment rested at 3.66 million. ‘IT employment has remained essentially flat for the last 11 months because of limited supply of IT professionals, not lack of demand. To the contrary, demand for IT professionals remains very robust with unemployment below 1 percent in many IT skill sets,’ said Mark Roberts, CEO of NACCB. The report stated that, while companies have always used IT staffing and solutions firms to address the flexible nature of their services, clients are increasingly turning to IT services firms because they are unable to fill their IT vacancies through internal channels.”