Microsoft Learning extended their second shot offer through June 30, 2008 but you must sign up soon! This offer allows you to retake an exam if you fail to pass the first time. There are a couple of good things to know about this deal. You must register for second shot on Microsoft's site before registering for your exam to take advantage of the retake. Be sure get your free voucher and take your initial exam by May 30 so that you can schedule the retake, if you need it, by June 30. Good luck!

If you are studying for your exams, or if someone you know is considering an A+ certification, be sure to look through this list of great A+ certification books. While you are there, you can compare prices and read my reviews. For more A+ resources, visit our A+ resource area.

Here is a quick, digestible little guide on Monitoring Physical System Performance for the MCITP exams. uCertify.com provided this as well as several other small study guides for Microsoft exams. These are examples of the type of material that uCertify provides in their products, so for the full materials, head to their website.

From uCertify.com, come these 10 free questions for your Microsoft exam. Take this mini test to find out how prepared you are for the 70-305 exam. For more resources, take a look at Microsoft's Preparation Guide for the exam.

Quite a few readers need to know what certifications will help them get started in IT, or what certifications will help them transition to IT. Fortunately there are quite a few and I have compiled my top picks.

If this list does not have what you are looking for, try checking directly with vendors of products that you work with to see if they have a certification program. GoCertify maintains a very comprehensive vendor list.

CIW has released a new certification at the CIW Professional level. It is the CIW v5 Database Design Specialist and was created for programmers and developers who are required to design and plan relational databases. CIW is a vendor-neutral certification program that covers the skills needed not just for a specific product, but an entire job role.

Everything else in life seems to be geared towards quicker, easier, smaller, and more portable. Why not the tools you use to study? Forget the cumbersome books. Toss your backpacks and notebooks. Ditch the classroom. Here are some great products designed to let you study on the go.

Get a free certification right here on About.com. The XHTML course is 10 weeks long. When you complete the course you can take a free online exam, at the end of which you will receive a certification. The exam is not easy. You will need to be an XHTML expert to pass. Good luck!

Here is a great way to get some free training. Scott Ford has put a series of A+ training podcasts up through iTunes. They are free and each last from 3 to 20 minutes. Some even have simple video slideshows to go along with the audio. To find the podcast, search for "Scott Ford" in iTunes.

How do you use your non-IT experience to transition into IT? Making a career change can be tough and I get lots of emails from people looking for help in making this leap. Here are my tips on how to make the transition a bit easier.