You are here: Home > Rabih Sukkar

About Rabih Sukkar

I am a Civil Engineer and Tech geek living and working in Beirut. You can find more about me in the 'About' page.

Author Archive | Rabih Sukkar

Another PDF Converter: FreePDF Creator for Windows

By on May 10, 2013 in Microsoft

143of365[NTR23] by ntr23 on Flickr

There are multiple PDF converters available online. It is however always convenient to install a PDF converter on your PC, and I have already introduced you to PrimoPDF a while ago. I should note here that we are exclusively discussing a PDF converter for Windows, since Macs come with a built-in PDF printer.

An alternative to PrimoPDF that has been brought to my attention is FreePDF Creator from PDFConverter.com. The installation is very straightforward: just head to the website and download the software. After downloading the executable file (which is about 12 MB), double-click to install the converter. You need to supply a name and email in the installer, and you’re good to go. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

Oracle Primavera P6 Version 8: Project and Portfolio Management – Packt Publishing

By on May 3, 2013 in Books

Oracle Primavera P6 Version 8Once in a while, a publisher releases a book that seems to make up for years of frustration – its readers letting out a collective sigh of relief. This is such a book.

If you are a project manager or a project planner, and particularly if you work in the construction industry, you cannot have missed Primavera software, particularly Primavera Project Planner – or P3.  You also know that, for a very longtime, it was almost impossible to find a decent reference in the market for this high-end project management tool. Just go to Amazon – for example – and search for ‘Primavera’: the book we are about to discuss comes out on top, while other publications are either outdated, expensive or hard to find. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

Project Planning Pro for iPad: Planning and Scheduling at your Fingertips

By on May 1, 2013 in Apple

Project Planning Pro

If your daily work includes the creation of project schedules, a safe bet is that you make use of Microsoft Project or Oracle Primavera. These two competing products are the mainstream, and their new versions are more powerful than ever.

What if you just needed a small application to quickly prepare and modify a small project plan that you can carry with you in the field while leaving your notebook in the office? How about using your iPad for more than playing Angry Birds? This is where Project Planning Pro comes in.

I have discovered this neat little software more than a year ago, and below is my long overdue review. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide by Chris Seibold – O’Reilly Media

By on August 27, 2012 in Books

It’s no secret that I am a fan of O’Reilly’s books. Having switched to a Mac for my personal computing needs three years ago, I had upgraded my machine to OS X Snow Leopard when that release became available a couple of months later.

Background

One month ago, I became an early adopter of the latest release of Mac OS X: the much-awaited OS X Mountain Lion, which promises to bridge the gap between your Mac and iOS5, the operating system that powers the iPad and iPhone. The new OS X release adds features that are found in iOS5 such as Reminders, Launch Control, Notes and iCloud integration, for instance. But how do you find out about all those new features, as well as the numerous improvements? Is there a reference that you can use, without having to haul a 800-page tome around? Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

Certification Roundup: Project Management and Green Initiatives

By on August 5, 2012 in Certification

Coffee time by antwerpenR, on Flickr

Here’s a brief roundup of the articles about certification contained in this blog so far. If you want to get a project management or sustainability certification, you will find the following information that I hope will be of interest to you.

Let’s start by project management certifications.

  • If you are new to project management, you will want to get the CAPM certification, which will last you five years without the need to maintain it. Bear in mind the requirements in term of course-ware or experience: all the information you need is provided in the CAPM article.
  • Once your CAPM is expired, you will want to get the highly coveted PMP. You might be experienced enough to get your PMP without stopping by the CAPM, which is entirely acceptable. The course-ware and experience requirements are more stringent than those of the CAPM. You will find all the necessary info in the PMP overview. The PMP will be valid for three years, during which you will need to meet certain criteria in order to maintain your certification: get the details in the corresponding article.

For both certifications, the ultimate reference is naturally the PMI website. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

The Estidama Pearl Qualified Professional Certification

By on July 26, 2012 in Certification

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Tower, by Rabih Sukkar

If you are working – or would like to work – in the domain of sustainability, or if you are a Green Building enthusiast, it makes sense to get a relevant certification – it might even be a part of your job requirements.

Arguably, the US Green Building Council provides the most famous of these certifications, and we have discussed before how to get and maintain the LEED Green Associate designation, which is the stepping-stone to the highly regarded LEED AP. An individual holding a LEED AP is a key person in the team tasked with designing a LEED-certified building, and is the main contact person between the design firm and the US Green Building Council.

The Estidama initiative

In the Middle East, effort is being made to develop Green Building rating systems tailored to the region’s particular requirements, notably with respect to the hot and humid climate. The leader in the domain is the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) in the UAE. The huge undertaking started by the UPC some five years ago resulted in the development of a full-fledged rating system that was released early in April 2010.

This initiative is called Estidama, which means sustainability in Arabic. A narrative on the Estidama website explains that the UPC expanded the triple bottom-line of sustainability – people, planet and profit – to account for the cultural sensibilities and tough climate of this part of the world. The three pillars of sustainability hence become four: social, environmental, economic and cultural. These four pillars are reflected in the simple but powerful Estidama logo itself.

The rating system that is at the core of the Estidama initiative is called the Pearl Rating System. Continue Reading →

Comments { 8 }

Microsoft’s MCSE is Back…Sort Of

By on May 3, 2012 in Certification

empty class by keno, on Flickr

I have learned yesterday that Microsoft is bringing back the MCSE. Not really the MCSE, but an MCSE nevertheless. Confused yet?

As I have mentioned before, I owe the original MCSE a lot. It has allowed me to change careers into IT and has helped me build my experience and ‘move up’ as an IT professional for almost a decade, before working as a Civil Engineer again. I have other certifications, but having those three MCSEs (on Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003) has been extremely beneficial. Will this vendor-specific certification again establish Microsoft as the premier technical certification provider? Why did Microsoft bring the MCSE back? Continue Reading →

Comments { 2 }

SharePoint 2010 for Project Management by Dux Raymond Sy – O’Reilly Media

By on May 1, 2012 in Books

SharePoint 2010 for Project ManagementIf your work revolves around projects – whether you work in design, construction, technology or another field – and you use (or are required to use) Microsoft SharePoint, then you really need this book.

In this eagerly awaited update of the previous edition that covered SharePoint 2007, Dux Raymond Sy takes you by the hand and shows you the capabilities of SharePoint 2010 as a Project Management Information System, or PMIS. Having bought the first book, I was alerted by my favorite publisher of the availability of the updated book. I grabbed the second edition as quickly as possible. The differences between SharePoint 2007 and 2010 are many, and it is preferable to get the edition that covers the version that you use at your place of work. An overview of the basic differences between the two editions can be found here. Continue Reading →

Comments { 1 }

Tales from the Tech Attic: Sinclair ZX Spectrum

By on April 23, 2012 in Technology

ZX Spectrum by Marcin Wichary, on Flickr

Today is the 30th anniversary of one of the most famous home computers of the 80′s, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Tributes are surfacing on the Internet, and a couple of must-read articles are by the BBC and the tech site The Register.

This machine and several similar ones by Atari, Amiga, Commodore, and others, were used at home by tech geeks everywhere, much before the ‘Mac or PC’ era, and the ZX Spectrum is special to me because it is at the origin of ‘The Tech Bug’. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }

How To Maintain the PMP Certification

By on March 27, 2012 in Certification

Project Management Plan by perhapstoopink, on Flickr

If you are a Project Manager who has sought to be certified, you might have acquired the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the PMI. It is arguably the most prestigious certification in the field of Project Management. As mentioned in our general article on certification, it is a maintainable certification, meaning that you have to renew it – every three years, in the case of the PMP. Having discussed how to get the PMP certification, we now turn the subject of maintaining your PMP.

How to go about keeping your PMP, and how to do it in a cost-effective way is discussed in what follows. Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }