TobyD

I like the points made about certification and "best practices". I have seen some very difficult problems solved with functional LabVIEW code that was so ugly it was nearly impossible to follow. The programmers did not lack skill in coming up with useful algorithms or in making LV do what they needed, but they had no concept of efficient/expandable architectures, good documentation practices, good dataflow practices, etc. I think anyone who passes the CLD has proven they have the ability to follow coding standards - an important skill in any company that enforces such standards. On a side note, I think the standard is set a bit too low for the CLAD. Anyone with 2 hours to spend on the online practice exam and a decent memory (even with minimal LabVIEW experience) can get a 70% on a multiple choice test. I like the multiple choice format for this level of certification and I think the questions (for the most part) are well done, but I really think the passing score should be closer to 90% to give the certification any validity.

Congratulations! I'd hold off on the lottery ticket though. There is a guy I work with who has the following email signature: "Lotto: A tax on people who are bad at math!" "Windows: Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates!" I'm not sure I agree about the Windows dig, but I think he's on to something with the Lotto thing.

QUOTE (schneidley @ Aug 15 2008, 01:26 PM) Welcome to Lava! If you can post your code (or at least a screenshot) we'll have an easier time giving advice. It sounds like you may have some dataflow problems common to new LabVIEW programmers.

QUOTE (normandinf @ Aug 13 2008, 11:11 AM) Supposedly this was done to fix a security flaw in Firefox (see http://codangaems.blogspot.com/2008/06/firefox-3s-file-upload-box.html' rel='nofollow' target="_blank">this rant). Although I haven't found a way around it, I did find that as soon as the file dialog box comes up you can use the standard Ctrl-v to paste the path (regardless of where the focus is) and hit Open or Enter and it works.

QUOTE (Ton @ Aug 14 2008, 11:41 AM) That could be useful for use with the new diagram cleanup button. I noticed it doesn't really know what to do with free labels and usually just lines them up nicely somewhere.

QUOTE (Tomi Maila @ Aug 14 2008, 10:01 AM) That's good for an educational laugh. It reminded me of the song Why Does the Sun Shine? by They Might Be Giants (except not nearly as catchy). Maybe when they turn on the LHC we'll finally find out if http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor' rel='nofollow' target="_blank">John Titor was legit :ninja:

QUOTE (Dan Bookwalter @ Aug 14 2008, 05:29 AM) Interesting idea but it sounds like it could cause some headaches. Glad to hear you found what you needed :thumbup:

QUOTE (jgcode @ Aug 13 2008, 04:31 PM) That was in no way an attack on BenD (Sorry Ben). I just know I was surprised when I went to take the test. I passed, but there was definitely no sleeping going on. I'm sure there are faster coders out there than me (Darren - where's that video) and some of them may even have some time left at the end, but the exam was much more involved than I expected it to be after having studied the CLD practice exams (not more difficult, just a lot more to get done).

QUOTE (BenD @ Aug 13 2008, 10:30 AM) I wouldn't count on it

QUOTE (Dan Bookwalter @ Aug 13 2008, 05:32 AM) Does it have to be USB 1.1? Most all of them are backwards compatible with USB 1.1 devices.

Congratulations!

QUOTE (jzoller @ Aug 13 2008, 08:49 AM) http://www.amazon.com/Best-Nuno-Bettencourt/dp/B0000DZHO0' rel='nofollow' target="_blank">Here

QUOTE (crelf @ Aug 12 2008, 12:47 PM) And here it is as an installable ttf (I added numbers and a couple special chars). Download File:post-8758-1218575037.zip I found this really fun site where you can quickly generate your own fonts online and save them as a ttf file. Then simply install the font to make it available in any program. The only downside is that if you try to change the font size to anything other than 10pt in LabVIEW it crashes hard:

QUOTE (Darren @ Aug 11 2008, 10:55 AM) I am on a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo running Vista (7200 RPM Laptop HDD). Here's what I am seeing. Load Palettes in Background: LabVIEW launch time - 26 sec (first) - 8 sec (second) Initial Quick Drop launch time - 36 sec (first) - 13 sec (second) Load Palettes on Launch: LabVIEW launch time - 64 sec Initial Quick Drop launch time - 0 sec When Load Palettes on Launch is selected LabVIEW consistently takes over one minute to get to a usable Getting Started window so I went back to Load Palettes in Background. The long wait time is a little annoying.

QUOTE (jairak @ Aug 12 2008, 09:58 AM) You will need a valid serial number to activate LabVIEW. If you think your serial number is correct, try contacting National Instruments directly. They are usually very helpful with issues like this.

As promised here I am soliciting advice on how to prepare for my CLA exam (not scheduled yet) and I would appreciate any tips that you care to dole out. I found these two documents that provide a fairly good list of things to focus my studying on: CLA Tasks and Objectives CLA Exam Prep Guide I also have the course material from when I took the LabVIEW advanced class. I'll use that as well. Is there anything else that I should focus on? Any tips to get through the exam on time? How does this exam compare to the CLD in terms of amount of material to complete in 4 hours? I know the NDA is pretty strict on these exams so please don't give away anything that could get you in trouble, but if you have some generic guidance I would love to hear it. Thanks, Toby

QUOTE (Tom Bress @ Aug 12 2008, 07:07 AM) Thanks for the link Tom. I was just beginning yesterday to look into what it would take to get my CLA certification and I was surprised at how little information exists about the exam. Hopefully I can find something useful as your blog develops. On that same note, watch for a post from me soliciting more information from those who know (I don't want to hijack this thread). -Toby

QUOTE (PaulG. @ Aug 11 2008, 11:42 AM) I don't know...I think free screen savers have caused me the most problems, although wallpapers are a close second. Getting somewhat back on track...I didn't know about labviewsearch.com until I saw this thread. I've used it a couple time today and it's pretty slick :thumbup:

We also use WebEx and it works great, although if it were my company I think I'd look for a cheaper solution.

QUOTE (PaulG. @ Aug 10 2008, 02:23 PM) I wouldn't know and I'm offended that you would even ask

QUOTE (Aristos Queue @ Aug 10 2008, 04:14 PM) Those do sound like some good improvements, but I still find it difficult to believe that anyone could code as quickly with the trackpad as with a mouse. I guess it probably just comes down to practice and getting used to something. My mother-in-law is visiting us right now (from Italy) and she has never used a computer. It was comical watching her try to use the mouse (I was trying to teach her how to browse the internet). My 4 year old has much more control.

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 01:43 PM) I use a Windows Vista Laptop, but most of the time it is docked with an external monitor, mouse, keyboard, usb missile launcher. If I do un-dock, I always have a mouse ready to plug in (I use the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000). The mouse fits nicely into a side pocket of my Laptop case and it saves me enough stress to make it worth carrying. On a side note, my 8.6 DVDs just arrived!!! Yeah!

QUOTE (Val Brown @ Aug 8 2008, 12:41 PM) I think any change in paradigm would be faster than writing LabVIEW code with a trackpad I can't even browse the internet comfortably with a trackpad.

QUOTE (BrokenArrow @ Aug 8 2008, 07:32 AM) I'm running Vista and have not seen this issue. I can confirm that Google Desktop is a hog though . Couple that with Vista and you don't have any system resources left at all.

QUOTE (neB @ Aug 8 2008, 07:34 AM) At the end of http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7423' target="_blank">this article there is a txt file that you can download to setup some common shortcuts. I have found most of them to be fairly intuitive. I think I am really going to like the quick drop feature once I get used to it. Right now it slows me down, but as I start remembering names/shortcuts I can see it as a real time saver. :thumbup: