If you are planning to take any of the Sun or mysql certification exams after June 1, it is important for you to understand that Prometric will no longer be conducting the tests. Oracle has switched to Pearson VUE

From Oracle’s website

Effective June 1, 2011, Java, Oracle Solaris, MySQL, and NetBeans certification exams will be offered through a new test delivery partner – Pearson VUE – and will no longer be available through Prometric.

This will consolidate all Oracle Certification exams within the operations of a single testing vendor so we can provide better service and global testing coverage for these Oracle certification exams. Pearson VUE currently has over 5,000 test centers worldwide in 165 countries.

To help prepare you for this transition, here are some important dates for you to be aware of:

• If you are planning to take an exam on/after June 1: Registration will begin at Pearson VUE on May 16, 2011 for all scheduled exams on or after June 1. Visit pearsonvue.com/oracle on or after this date to create a new web account and get started.
• If you are currently registered to take an exam with Prometric or planning to take an exam on or before May 31: You can continue to register at Prometric through May 23, 2011 (walk-in registrations will be permitted through May 31, 2011), but you must complete your exam by June 1, 2011.

If you currently have a Sun or Oracle exam voucher or exam retake voucher:All vouchers will still be valid through their original expiration date and will be redeemable with Pearson VUE starting on May 16, 2011.

Full announcement can be viewed here

Amit is an Oracle expert who has written some excellent posts at Skill-Guru
He  has created a 49 questions for  OCP 11g certification practice test questions – 1Z0_050

The test costs $2.99 and 6 questions are free to try.

More details about the exam 1Z0_050

Time : 105 minutes

Number of questions : 77

Passing score : 61%

Exam Price: US$ 195

This Oracle Database 11g: New Features for Administrators practice test comes with money back gurantee. If not satosfied, we will refund your money.

Objectives of this 1Z0_050 exam : Read more…

From September 1, 2010, All Java, Oracle Solaris, MySQL,Oracle Solaris Cluster and Open Office Certifications will be re-published under the Oracle Certification program with new Oracle Certification titles

• The exam format and objectives for each of the exams will be the same as they were previously under Sun so there is no impact to those preparing to get certified.
• If you are currently holding a certification exam voucher for one of these exams, they will be valid through their expiration date and can be redeemed at Prometric.
• If you currently hold an existing Sun certification, your current Sun certification title will still be recognized under the Oracle certification program and will continue to be valid. You can upgrade your certification at any time to the latest technology release to receive an Oracle certification title.
• If you are in the process of preparing for a certification exam that you will take after September 1, 2010, you will receive an Oracle certification title and will have use of Oracle Certification Program Logo for endorsement of your proven skill by Oracle Corporation.
• Candidates taking exams between September 1-3 may see either Sun and/or Oracle-branded exam titles while registering and taking exams during this transition period.

More details can be found here

Spring framework is very popular and need of spring knowledge among the IT industry is raising. But I found that getting a spring certification is not very easy.  To get the spring certification voucher you have to take spring training from spring source, which are available in few major cities of India or you have to have a prior work experience in spring.

You can find spring training locations here…

Read more…