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Career and Job Links

These are links to websites of job agencies and career-based resources. More links may be added over time.

CareerBuilder.com - search 1.3 million jobs to help you find new employment or work. Fresh job listings are posted daily and you can have job info emailed to you.
College Grad Job Hunter - entry level job site for college students and recent grads. Info on entry level careers, resumes, cover letters, entry level jobs, entry level salaries, interviewing, and entry level employers.
Microsoft Office Career Templates - section of the Microsoft Office Online website that contains templates for quickly creating cover letters, letters of recommendation, resumes, and more career-related documents.
Monster Jobs - one of the most popular Internet job search engines on the web. Has an extensive job/career search database and resume building tips.
Tri-Valley One-Stop Career Center - job search help, employment help, training and education resources, business development assistance, and other services in the Pleasanton, Dublin, and Tri-Valley area.
Yahoo! HotJobs - search for jobs, post your resume, compare salaries, and find career advice and research. Thousands of new jobs listed daily.

Education and Training Links

These are links to websites for continuing education and specialized industry training. More links may be added over time.

Brainbench - offers pre-employment testing, assessment, and screening services and products, as well as employment screening and testing.
BrainDumps.com - view actual certification test questions for certifications such as MCSA, MCSE, A+ and Network+, CCNA, CISSP, and many more.
Cisco Networking Academy Program - the Cisco Networking Academy Program provides skills students need to work in IT fields. The program offers web-based content, online assessment, hand-on labs, instructor training, and preparation for industry certifications.
CompTIA - global IT trade association promoting industry standards, growing professional expertise, and providing IT skills education. CompTIA is best known for its A+ and Network+ certifications.
International Computer Driving License - provides individuals with basic computer skills training and validation/certification testing in seven areas, including Basic Concepts of IT, File Management, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Database, Presentations, and Communication and Information. LaPTechS is an authorized ICDL training/testing center.
Microsoft IT Certification and Training Resources - lists Microsoft resources you can use to develop the skills necessary to succeed in the IT industry, including Microsoft certifications such as MCP, MCSA, MCSE, and MCDBA.
Microsoft Office Training - extend your knowledge of Microsoft Office programs with self-paced, web-based training tutorials designed by Microsoft. For owners of the 2003 version of Microsoft Office.
Wikipedia - the largest multilingual open access encyclopedia on the Internet. Over 500,000 articles and still growing.

Information Technology Links

These are links to some IT websites that mostly deal with computer hardware and software analysis and news. More links may be added over time.

AnandTech - independent hands-on reviews of computer hardware such as motherboards, graphic cards, and CPUs, as well as news, guides, and forums.
CNET.com - premiere resource with reviews, news, and prices on tech products, as well as free downloads and newsletters. Other useful sections of the website include the Download.com Spyware Center and the CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test.
Computer Hope - resource website with complete information on all hardware and software and designed to help you with ALL your computer-related questions.
Internet.com - provides enterprise IT and Internet Industry professionals with the news, information resources, and community they need to succeed in today's rapidly evolving IT and business environment.
PC Mechanic - home of do-it-yourself'ers for PC beginners. Contains tutorials, reviews, and a large tech forum to answer your questions.
Sharky Extreme - provides the latest news and reviews, as well as buyer's guides, regarding PC hardware technology for business and home users. Areas of focus are CPUs, motherboards, and graphics cards from some of the leading manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, Nvidia, ATI, Asus, and Creative Labs.
StorageReview.com - comprehensive benchmarks and reviews on ATA and SCSI hard drives, CD-ROMs, and removable storage devices along with storage-related news, links, forums, FAQs, and surveys.
Tom's Hardware - premiere resource for hardware news and reviews, guides, and how-to's for the PC enthusiast.
Webopedia - online dictionary and search engine for computer and Internet technology definitions.

Computer Hardware and Software Links

These are links to websites of some popular hardware and software manufacturers, including websites of some useful utilities technical students often use for troubleshooting computer problems. More links may be added over time.

Bootdisk.com - free bootdisks for MS-DOS, Windows, and Linux, and utilities for troubleshooting.
DriverGuide.com - has the web's largest collection of drivers for all device types.
Futuremark - a world leader in online benchmarks and testing software, and the maker of the popular 3DMark series of benchmarking software for gamers.
Java.com - download the latest Java Software for running Java applets on Windows, Sun Solaris, and Linux operating systems.
Lavasoft - devloper of Ad-Aware SE, one of the most effective, if not the most effective, spyware removal tools. Also develops other similar software security products.
McAfee - creates popular antivirus software and computer security solutions for large enterprise, small/medium-sized business, and home users.
Microsoft - official website of Microsoft software and hardware products and technologies. Useful links include Windows Update (for manually downloading critical updates for Windows operating systems), Microsoft Office Online (for additional Microsoft Office resources and updates), Microsoft Technet (Microsoft resources for IT professionals), and Microsoft Help and Support (knowledgebase of common problems and solutions for Microsoft products).
RARLAB - home of WinRAR extraction and compression utility. Provides the full RAR and ZIP file support, can decompress CAB, GZIP, ACE, and other archive formats.
SiSoftware Zone - website for downloading and purchasing the SiSoft SANDRA benchmarking utility. Other versions of the utility, including the free version, are available from Download.com.
Symantec - the global leader in information security and availability, helping customers secure and manage their data with products such as Norton AntiVirus, Internet Security, SystemWorks, and Ghost. Also provides a database of known viruses and their removal tools/instructions, and a useful Security Check for testing your PC's security threats online.
Trend Micro - view information on Trend Micro's virus scanning and removal products, and use their free online virus scanner, Trend Micro Housecall.

Open Source Links

These are links to websites of some useful Open Source software or free applications and utilities that are released under the terms of the GNU Public License Agreement. More links may be added over time.

CutePDF - the free version of CutePDF allows you to create PDF files from any printable document without needing Adobe Acrobat products.
Darik's Boot and Nuke - DBAN is a self-contained boot floppy or CD that securely and completely delete the contents of any hard disk using DoD standards.
FreeBSD - an advanced open source operating system based on BSD Unix for x86 compatible (including Pentium and Athlon), amd64 compatible (including Opteron, Athlon 64, and EM64T), Alpha/AXP, IA-64, PC-98 and UltraSPARC architectures.
KeePass - an open source password safe. Passwords can be stored in highly-encrypted databases that can be unlocked with one master key or key-disk.
Knoppix - a bootable, live system on CD or DVD that can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk.
Mandriva - the company which develops Mandriva Linux. A strong graphical Linux operating system, famous for being easy to install and ready to use as a desktop or as a server. Mandriva also accompanies its products and first-class consultancy, support, and training for Linux.
Mozilla.org - website that coordinates and integrates the work of others to develop open source projects such as the Mozilla Firefox web browser and Mozilla Thunderbird email client.
Memtest86+ - based on the original Memtest86 utility, Memtest86+ is a free memory test for x86 (PC) computers. This utility is a very thorough, stand-alone memory diagnostic program.
phpBB.com - phpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customisable open source bulletin board package. phpBB has a user-friendly interface, simply and straightforward administration panel, and helpful FAQs. It is based on the powerful PHP server language and a choice of MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC database servers which makes phpBB the ideal free community solution for all web sites.
Red Hat - official website of Red Hat and Fedora Linux with news, support, documentation, whitepapers, downloads, consulting, training, and embedded solutions.
Samba.org - the official website of Samba, an open source suite that has, since 1992, provided file and print services to all manner of SMB/CIFS clients, including the numerous versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems.
SUSE Linux - Linux users and technical enthusiasts worldwide use SUSE Linux Professional at home and on the road. Get product, support, and download information.
The Apache Software Foundation - supports the development of a number of open source software projects, including the Apache webserver. Includes license information, latest news, and FAQs.
TheOpenCD - a collection of high quality free and open source software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, email, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation.

Networking and Security Links

These are links to websites that mostly deal with computer networking and network security. More links may be added over time.

Broadband Reports - use this website to find broadband availability in your area and use a number of online tools to test the security of your broandband connection.
Gibson Research Corporation - Internet security website that features many useful utilities available for public use, such as the Shields! UP Internet Security Detection System that scans on request the user's computer, especially the Windows file sharing and reports vulnerabilities.
homePCnetwork - website for information on home PC networks. It is exclusively devoted to help home users build, maintain, and optimize home PC networks.
Tom's Networking - a good website for reviews on networking and security-related products such as routers, wireless NICs and firewalls. This website also has great how-to guides, such as this very comprehensive guide to Building a Home Network from Scratch.

Web Design and Hosting Links

These are links to websites for helping you create and publish your own web pages. More links may be added over time.

Bravenet Web Services - a free web host and web tool provider. Get a website, guestbook, counter, forum, calendar, or over 20 other free interactive web tools.
Designs By Mark - Photoshop tips and tutorials for all versions of Photoshop, and Illustrator tips and tutorials with website graphic tutorials and web design resources.
FortuneCity.com - a popular and inexpensive provider of web hosting, domain name hosting, and web design services.
Network Solutions - another popular provider of web hosting, domain name hosting, and web design services.
No-IP.com - a dynamic dns provider, both free and paid, backed by an industry proven network of highly available nameservers.
Open Source Web Design - community website to download free web design templates and share yours with others. OSWD has over a thousand free web design templates and counting.
W3 Schools - provides free, comprehensive tutorials and interactive exercises in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, ASP, ADO, and VBScript, among other languages. A great reference website for any web designer.
World Wide Web Consortium - hosts specifications, guidelines, software, and tools for standardizing websites and individual web pages for cross-browser compatibility. Services are provided to validate web pages in HTML, XHTML, and CSS.
Yahoo! GeoCities - a popular and inexpensive provider of web hosting and domain name hosting, owned by the Yahoo! Internet directory.

Community Links

These are links to some personal or business websites of current LaPTechS students and staff members, or former LaPTechS students and staff members who have gone on to bigger and better things. More links may be added over time.

Door 2 Door Tech Solutions - Greg Caulder's website for his web/email hosting business. He also offers other services including on-site computer repair, home security, home video survelliance, web and Macromedia Flash design, database management, and general tech support.
linus.no-ip.com - Linus Gibson's personal website that contains information about him and the projects he's done that he makes freely available to the public.
Sonoma College - accredited degree college offering programs in the fields of Allied Health and Homeland Security. Alan Pruitt is a former LaPTechS student and is now the Director of the HREM program (see the Faculty & Staff page).