YPP 2012 Examination. Information System and Technology

Hello dear visitor,


With all the changes that occured within the UN recruitement system since the NCRE 2010 and the fact that there was no IST job family in 2011, I actually haven't got so much opportunities to blog about the new YPP Examination system... Anyway, here are my two cents for those of you who might get lucky enough to participate in future YPP competitions in the IST job family. I took the test yesterday and everything is still fresh enough in my head;

First of all a few major changes:

• The drafting skills are still eliminatory but you don't have to start with that particular part of the examination anymore, nor do you have to stop writing after 45 minutes. This is a major improvement guys! It means that for those of us who aren't very literature-minded, we still get the chance to wrap it all even if it takes a bit more time, and hopefully not get eliminated right away :-)
• The slightly worse news is the International Affairs part. Well, how will I put it... The basic facts about the UN book alone contains more than 300 pages (it's a brief condensate we're talking about). So it goes without saying that the 40 MCQ is a bit of guess play... Note it could be worse; like in 2011 when people had to write the answers with no help whatsoever!
• Then you have 4 essays from which you may choose 3 as you want. Also rather nice to give us this kind of choice.
• Only 8 questions in the end.
• The rest is as usual: 4h30 of work and 6h00 in total (administration)

The first essay went something like this

A. A brief description of what PRINCE and PMBOK and a series of general questions that you can answer based on any of them (I remember only a few but the idea is pretty clear):

• Give a broad commonly admitted definition of what's a project 

• Name (5) risks associated to projects
• Name (5) measures used to evaluate project's success
• Why can we say that a project has failed in some extent if more functionality is provided to the client than initially asked?
• ...

The second essay

B. This one is a classic academic OO/Relational exercise. Given a global description of a system with clients, files, lawyers working on files for client within a juridical section, a chief of section and a lot of other constraints put on that system:

• Provide a high-level UML diagram with main use cases clearly visible;
• Provide a Class Diagram OR a relational model;
• Provide pseudo-code or SQL excerpts to generate indicated reports;

The third essay

B. Telecom related question. I shamefully skipped it (one had to be skipped anyway). Had to do with Multiprotocol Label Switching; what's MPLS? Advantages and so on.

The forth essay

B. A very bizarre and practical question about Helpdesks. How does an ideal helpdesk work. Describe the procedures to follow in different scenarios. And that's it basically. I guess they were just testing our field-experience or so.

 

Question1

In the relation world: what's an index and its advantages. What's a grouped index?

Question2

What's agile development. Advantages and inconvenients.

 

Question3

What's the difference between encryption and cryptographic hash algorithms? When to use the one and when the other?

Question4

Define the concept of taxonomy in the context of Record Management Systems. Why is it important?

Question5

Stateful Firewalls. What is it and when are there used? Name two examples of security rules they do not allow to implement.
 

Question6

Cloud computing: name the main characteristics, the service models and the deployment models
 

Question7

IPv4 vs IPv6. Why the change? What does it imply for ISPs?
 

Question8

Virtualization is becoming all the more popular in computer industry. What examples of virtualization are you aware of and why are they advantageous?
 

 

I will of course try to keep these questions up-to-date, and also try to give my answer (even though I am afraid it will probably hurt sometimes);

PS. The NCRE2010 obviously didn't go very well mostly because of the mandatory drafting paper. Not enough time :-(

2010 NCRE. WEB DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT. EXAM QUESTIONS

This year there were 2 essays and 10 questions (which I personally find better than having 3 essays and 8 questions since essays are real pain when you have nothing specific to say). The whole exam was on 800 pts, the general paper counts for 200, the specialized - 300 pts each part (essays/questions).

The first essay went something like this

A. You're in charge of creating a new website for the UN for hosting "real-time" news, videos, pictures and other content for press agencies. From the concept to the maintenance. (don't remember the details)

The second essay

B. You are in charge of renewing the un.org pure HTML web site in order to:
+ Integrate it with social networks, blogs and chats (web 2.0 related stuff)
+ Allow NGOs and UN staff to populate the content from everywhere on the globe
+ Develop a new scalable architecture and a back-end database for it
It is also known that the development team has been split in two parts and that they are now geographically separated (US/Europe) and that there is a lot of legacy content. So know you're asked to propose a viable solution covering all aspects cited (explain all the phases of your idea). Do not forget the i18n and accessibility issues.

Question1

Define HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and describe the difference between HTTP and FTP; What's a hyperlink; What's the difference between an absolute and a relative hyperlinks and give some examples; (maybe something more)

Question2

List three (3) most important concepts used for web statistics in web development; (something else)

Question3

Question4

What's vector/raster images; describe that advantages or inconveniences; give examples of when to use which (maybe something else)

Question5

What's the difference between HTML and XHTML; Give two (2) advantages and inconveniences of the tableless development approach; what's HTML5

Question6

Define XML; give five (5) examples of usage on the web; give five (5) best practices to avoid incorrect XML files

Question7

What's cross site scripting; why is it dangerous; describe the main types of attacks; (maybe something else)

Question8

How do you implement a "one-to-one", "one-to-many" and a "many-to-many" relations in a database and give a SELECT construct that describes each case; what's the difference between a primary and a unique key; Define classes and ids usage in CSS and give examples (not sure this one came here)

Question9

How do you get information about the page in javascript; define what's a javascript framework and discuss what such frameworks have in common; give a couple (or three) examples you worked with

Question10

Define SEO; give five (5) best practices in use; what's a podcast and how is it used; (and another point I don't remember related to SEO);

I will of course try to keep these questions up-to-date, and also try to give my answer (even though I am afraid it will probably hurt sometimes);

2010 NCRE. THE EXAM DAY :-)

Yesterday after the exam I was so exhausted I just didn't find the courage to blog about the whole thing right away ;-)

So, first things first. I have to say that (like a lot of other people here) I am really glad this test is behind me now. We sure will have to wait a few months now for the results, but at least there's nothing I can do anymore. La messe est dite, Mesdames et Messieurs...

My examination center was Brussels and it was pretty cool coming from the NCRE-OHRM to arrange the exam to take place in the European Parliament in the Hemicycle right from where the european deputés rule the world :) It was allowed to make pictures, so here is mine:


The first thing that seemed a bit odd to me was the convocation letter saying the exam will start at 1400 but asking in the same time to be present at 1200. I remember thinking they were just making sure everybody will check in in time and didn't really mind taking such precautions. The problem is that it turned out to be a big organizational flaw in that everybody was ready to start at 1300 and that we all had to sit an entire hour in front of our answer booklets just waiting the clock to hit 1400!

Then when it was finally time to start, the Canadian chief of the UN_HR_something_section started reading the instructions - such as no one will be allowed to leave the room after the answers are unsealed, or that eating and drinking are strongly prohibited in the hemicycle - in both French and English in a way that I personally found very much not rehearsed. It took us something like 35 minutes just to find out that half of the answer booklets in the hemicycle were misprinted and then it took us 20 more minutes to replace them. Once done, they started distributing the questions which was also pretty colorful; every occupational group had to raise their hands to get their copy (this is actually what allowed me to my great great surprise to notice that there were only about 10 web designers in the room - so much for my stats). At 1505 the exam scheduled initially for 1400 finally started. At that point we were already sitting in the room for 2 hours.

The general paper in my case went over women rights and is eliminatory. Unfortunately I didn't finish it and wrote only about 2/3 of the required words :( If you ever have to prepare for this test, a good advice would be - rehearse on booklet pages (way narrower than usual A4) and write your text very very fast. 45 minutes seem like 15 minutes at that stage.

Then came the specialized paper which I'll try as promised (mainly to myself) to restitute in my next post. All I can say this far is that it was exactly what I expected: very broad, often confusing, general knowledge. You never know how you did on such an exam, but one thing is sure: it could have been waaay worse. I am really happy they provided us with the exam sample that truly reflects their style.

So 4 hours and 30 minutes flew by... And when I was all ready to leave (I had a train to catch at the Bruxelles-Luxembourg train station just underneath the parliament), the organizational beast reared once again his ugly head and said no one would leave until all copies are collected and counted and sealed. Since everybody was happy to see this whole thing was over, everybody just sat there waiting for another 20 minutes without saying a word until finally... No it still wasn't over... Until finally the chief woman said somebody forgat to sign while checking in in the morning. Phenomenal. We spent 5 minutes waiting for people from the Security (I think) occupational group finding out who it was! Never got why they couldn' t just say his name :-)

Then I left. Now I am waiting.

2010 NCRE. A FEW STATS

There are exactly 2707 candidates this year;

Here is the full list:

18479, 11014, 11086, 11168, 12010, 12580, 12601, 12613, 12686, 12878, 12890, 15264, 15450, 15684, 19360, 20773, 20822, 20828, 21062, 21768, 10089, 15267, 19606, 19929, 20537, 21439, 21528, 21702, 10067, 10101, 10129, 10189, 10197, 10201, 10778, 10779, 10780, 10988, 10991, 10992, 10996, 11004, 11011, 11015, 11023, 11028, 11036, 11053, 11071, 11083, 11089, 11090, 11101, 11113, 11126, 11128, 11152, 11155, 11170, 11173, 11175, 11182, 11189, 11190, 11191, 11192, 11506, 11514, 11517, 11523, 11528, 11538, 11540, 11554, 11556, 11557, 11558, 11566, 11567, 11568, 11587, 11589, 11601, 11607, 11610, 11611, 11616, 11617, 11621, 11622, 11623, 11624, 11625, 11628, 11887, 11917, 11925, 11937, 11989, 12023, 12032, 12037, 12038, 12046, 12051, 12058, 12586, 12591, 12611, 12625, 12628, 12661, 12667, 12679, 12685, 12736, 12776, 12784, 12792, 12793, 12804, 12805, 12809, 12810, 12847, 12885, 12907, 12909, 12931, 13015, 13028, 13041, 13043, 13058, 13076, 13077, 13079, 13080, 13081, 13083, 15260, 15278, 15294, 15325, 15336, 15372, 15373, 15374, 15392, 15421, 15462, 15477, 15482, 15491, 15496, 15498, 15594, 15597, 15598, 15600, 15653, 15661, 15699, 15709, 15716, 15723, 15727, 15729, 15754, 15755, 15762, 18490, 18538, 18685, 18743, 18757, 18805, 18813, 18819, 18860, 18874, 18967, 19146, 19226, 19389, 19468, 19577, 19749, 20211, 20331, 20337, 20347, 20377, 20662, 20745, 20908, 20910, 20972, 21160, 21337, 21338, 21357, 21359, 21362, 21367, 21384, 21387, 21391, 21393, 21407, 21423, 21432, 21458, 21459, 21467, 21495, 21536, 21612, 21638, 21642, 21658, 21660, 21713, 21727, 21728, 21729, 22472, 11003, 11058, 11534, 11555, 11892, 12730, 12797, 12969, 13071, 15308, 15403, 15469, 15488, 15580, 15584, 15618, 15673, 18880, 19799, 19933, 20504, 20625, 20920, 21192, 21349, 21389, 21449, 21473, 21535, 10164, 10171, 15261, 15495, 15534, 15563, 18550, 18559, 19842, 20273, 10061, 10079, 10082, 10083, 10086, 10091, 10092, 10094, 10095, 10098, 10105, 10124, 10126, 10130, 10132, 10139, 10140, 10142, 10145, 10153, 10162, 10166, 10186, 10191, 10192, 10193, 10194, 10195, 10196, 10725, 10726, 10727, 10728, 10729, 10730, 10731, 10732, 10733, 10734, 10735, 10736, 10737, 10738, 10739, 10740, 10741, 10742, 10743, 10744, 10745, 10746, 10747, 10748, 10749, 10750, 10751, 10752, 10753, 10754, 10757, 10763, 10768, 10776, 11027, 11041, 11044, 11047, 11075, 11076, 11080, 11094, 11100, 11103, 11110, 11138, 11141, 11149, 11179, 11510, 11513, 11520, 11537, 11547, 11586, 11598, 11612, 11885, 11891, 11900, 11903, 11904, 11909, 11911, 11913, 11914, 11915, 11916, 11918, 11920, 11922, 11926, 11928, 11933, 11938, 11939, 11945, 11949, 11950, 11963, 11964, 11966, 11969, 11970, 11972, 11981, 11990, 11992, 11994, 11996, 12002, 12027, 12029, 12034, 12043, 12044, 12047, 12048, 12049, 12050, 12053, 12583, 12597, 12599, 12600, 12609, 12616, 12617, 12618, 12623, 12631, 12640, 12641, 12644, 12645, 12652, 12657, 12659, 12662, 12664, 12668, 12669, 12670, 12672, 12673, 12680, 12705, 12710, 12714, 12718, 12719, 12723, 12739, 12753, 12755, 12757, 12787, 12801, 12808, 12811, 12813, 12825, 12854, 12855, 12858, 12859, 12860, 12870, 12872, 12881, 12886, 12888, 12927, 12934, 12936, 12949, 12950, 12954, 12980, 12982, 12987, 13001, 13002, 13038, 13053, 13054, 13055, 13056, 13061, 13085, 15274, 15287, 15297, 15304, 15305, 15310, 15311, 15318, 15319, 15324, 15327, 15328, 15335, 15337, 15339, 15341, 15342, 15343, 15345, 15346, 15349, 15355, 15358, 15360, 15366, 15383, 15390, 15391, 15411, 15422, 15424, 15442, 15455, 15464, 15471, 15480, 15506, 15511, 15530, 15551, 15556, 15582, 15599, 15614, 15645, 15652, 15659, 15664, 15665, 15675, 15688, 15704, 15708, 15714, 15718, 15731, 15732, 15733, 15735, 15736, 15737, 15739, 15748, 18696, 18792, 18859, 18871, 18877, 18887, 18955, 18973, 18976, 18986, 19055, 19058, 19083, 19100, 19116, 19387, 19426, 19432, 19433, 19536, 19560, 19601, 19664, 19674, 19723, 19912, 19944, 19962, 19986, 19988, 19990, 20007, 20060, 20129, 20173, 20184, 20385, 20416, 20423, 20426, 20460, 20470, 20480, 20484, 20530, 20631, 20677, 20699, 20818, 20832, 20862, 20894, 20911, 20931, 20974, 20982, 20985, 21021, 21030, 21038, 21058, 21063, 21133, 21228, 21339, 21340, 21366, 21369, 21380, 21385, 21403, 21406, 21408, 21409, 21414, 21415, 21417, 21418, 21419, 21429, 21440, 21451, 21453, 21454, 21457, 21461, 21462, 21463, 21477, 21482, 21484, 21485, 21492, 21499, 21551, 21553, 21561, 21574, 21575, 21580, 21589, 21607, 21615, 21628, 21633, 21646, 21650, 21659, 21678, 21679, 21682, 21684, 21692, 21693, 21700, 21708, 21714, 21724, 21739, 21740, 21741, 21742, 21746, 21747, 21748, 21772, 10775, 12767, 15470, 15747, 19112, 20095, 20549, 20791, 20849, 21413, 21437, 21456, 10076, 10084, 10151, 10184, 10187, 10200, 10782, 11009, 11032, 11108, 11131, 11502, 11978, 12020, 12570, 12581, 12594, 12650, 12654, 12655, 12698, 12707, 12745, 12768, 12877, 12943, 12959, 12994, 13003, 13024, 13065, 13070, 15252, 15258, 15270, 15338, 15361, 15363, 15380, 15420, 15431, 15432, 15451, 15456, 15512, 15524, 15539, 15566, 15572, 15579, 15616, 15625, 15654, 15660, 15662, 15680, 15682, 15696, 15705, 15741, 15753, 15766, 18562, 18834, 19292, 19361, 19455, 20045, 20251, 20771, 20981, 21102, 21183, 21203, 21388, 21428, 21443, 21448, 21450, 21578, 21591, 21677, 21681, 21691, 10074, 10107, 10112, 10119, 10120, 10123, 10136, 10141, 10143, 10174, 10190, 11092, 11096, 11102, 11165, 11576, 11592, 11620, 11935, 11941, 11947, 12021, 12614, 12734, 12748, 12750, 12754, 12777, 12779, 12818, 12821, 12822, 12844, 12897, 12913, 12928, 12944, 12984, 13005, 13011, 13032, 13034, 13042, 13050, 13051, 15300, 15370, 15371, 15376, 15435, 15438, 15468, 15500, 15505, 15520, 15525, 15632, 15633, 15636, 15637, 15642, 15647, 15656, 15687, 15698, 15706, 15720, 15749, 18456, 18554, 18555, 19309, 19500, 19550, 19578, 19581, 19590, 19669, 19753, 19827, 19828, 19829, 19845, 19850, 19881, 19890, 20136, 20231, 20287, 20391, 20463, 20465, 20476, 20496, 20867, 20868, 20934, 21095, 21330, 21433, 21504, 21509, 21511, 21545, 21569, 21573, 21614, 21651, 21652, 21656, 21657, 21664, 21712, 21717, 21726, 21731, 11020, 11099, 11183, 11570, 13007, 13023, 13040, 15457, 15486, 18515, 18599, 18666, 20029, 11072, 11142, 15447, 15553, 15629, 15651, 15667, 15726, 20022, 21210, 21354, 10068, 10077, 10181, 10987, 11006, 11013, 11078, 11093, 11112, 11127, 11129, 11132, 11143, 11161, 11609, 11898, 11974, 12574, 12656, 13030, 15285, 15298, 15409, 15433, 15481, 15503, 15509, 15613, 15620, 15621, 15671, 15712, 15721, 18487, 18621, 18674, 18704, 18797, 19034, 19771, 19870, 20405, 20408, 20434, 20487, 20503, 20505, 20763, 20764, 20855, 20888, 20999, 21399, 21564, 21620, 21632, 21639, 21640, 21690, 10995, 15387, 10203, 11193, 11571, 11884, 11908, 11921, 11934, 11943, 11958, 11959, 11975, 11976, 11987, 12004, 12033, 12036, 12040, 12620, 12653, 12677, 12695, 12700, 12716, 12725, 12726, 12752, 12765, 12783, 12815, 12816, 12820, 12842, 12849, 12861, 12902, 12917, 12922, 12983, 12985, 12988, 12989, 12991, 12998, 13021, 13022, 13086, 15303, 15309, 15334, 15365, 15415, 15467, 15492, 15499, 15552, 15565, 15607, 15610, 15615, 15619, 15631, 15681, 15694, 15715, 15722, 15728, 18838, 18846, 20261, 20336, 20435, 20458, 20510, 20639, 20740, 20851, 20902, 20915, 21078, 21370, 21392, 21435, 21464, 21503, 21538, 21680, 21767, 21771, 10078, 10096, 10102, 10117, 10138, 10146, 10167, 10794, 11033, 11054, 11055, 11066, 11077, 11088, 11178, 11497, 11509, 11549, 11550, 11551, 11575, 11578, 11893, 11894, 11899, 11910, 11927, 11936, 11944, 11952, 11954, 11995, 11997, 12001, 12007, 12039, 12572, 12576, 12579, 12588, 12593, 12621, 12636, 12638, 12643, 12660, 12663, 12674, 12702, 12704, 12729, 12735, 12737, 12744, 12746, 12761, 12771, 12788, 12826, 12836, 12850, 12851, 12862, 12863, 12866, 12894, 12910, 12914, 12942, 12957, 12960, 12972, 12990, 12996, 13004, 13014, 13033, 13078, 15251, 15254, 15256, 15268, 15269, 15290, 15293, 15307, 15312, 15314, 15332, 15333, 15368, 15369, 15377, 15382, 15389, 15399, 15406, 15407, 15410, 15413, 15414, 15417, 15426, 15427, 15434, 15441, 15465, 15483, 15504, 15510, 15526, 15527, 15535, 15536, 15541, 15542, 15549, 15561, 15562, 15576, 15578, 15588, 15593, 15595, 15605, 15617, 15623, 15635, 15638, 15650, 15658, 15702, 15734, 15746, 18566, 18664, 18671, 18858, 18867, 18903, 18935, 19173, 19184, 19547, 19626, 19641, 19649, 19715, 19754, 19757, 19831, 20011, 20020, 20070, 20147, 20158, 20163, 20270, 20329, 20424, 20444, 20447, 20524, 20536, 20539, 20543, 20563, 20584, 20591, 20603, 20783, 20792, 20952, 21121, 21336, 21365, 21383, 21394, 21395, 21398, 21400, 21401, 21404, 21410, 21430, 21436, 21460, 21468, 21470, 21472, 21493, 21510, 21520, 21530, 21531, 21534, 21539, 21541, 21544, 21549, 21552, 21560, 21562, 21568, 21579, 21587, 21592, 21593, 21596, 21598, 21606, 21629, 21630, 21634, 21644, 21661, 21675, 21685, 21697, 21699, 21701, 21703, 21709, 21720, 21733, 10070, 10073, 10093, 10097, 10100, 10109, 10110, 10122, 10150, 10157, 10161, 10163, 10175, 10755, 10756, 10759, 10760, 10761, 10762, 10764, 10765, 10766, 10769, 10989, 11007, 11018, 11021, 11026, 11037, 11038, 11042, 11045, 11046, 11052, 11061, 11069, 11087, 11091, 11097, 11105, 11116, 11130, 11133, 11136, 11147, 11153, 11171, 11174, 11177, 11180, 11527, 11888, 11895, 11930, 11931, 11984, 12000, 12005, 12030, 12052, 12587, 12604, 12605, 12606, 12619, 12622, 12642, 12651, 12692, 12706, 12711, 12713, 12722, 12727, 12728, 12733, 12738, 12749, 12786, 12843, 12856, 12857, 12867, 12880, 12895, 12903, 12920, 12923, 12925, 12937, 12947, 12981, 13012, 13027, 13036, 13059, 15271, 15275, 15284, 15299, 15320, 15348, 15356, 15357, 15384, 15385, 15418, 15419, 15439, 15517, 15522, 15538, 15544, 15547, 15550, 15559, 15639, 15640, 15641, 15730, 15738, 15740, 16921, 18653, 18753, 18774, 18870, 18892, 19235, 19287, 19307, 19327, 19370, 19401, 19430, 19539, 19919, 19945, 19979, 19984, 20059, 20062, 20067, 20138, 20176, 20638, 20696, 20697, 20977, 21005, 21080, 21345, 21353, 21373, 21405, 21411, 21422, 21441, 21442, 21447, 21465, 21566, 21582, 21604, 21621, 21625, 21631, 21653, 21666, 21667, 21670, 21706, 21710, 21735, 21762, 10170, 10771, 11024, 11104, 11118, 11151, 11577, 12610, 12845, 12868, 12879, 15286, 15301, 15523, 15567, 15609, 15612, 15628, 15668, 15678, 18631, 18738, 18894, 18965, 19878, 20248, 21356, 21371, 21374, 21599, 21662, 21672, 21694, 21769, 10003, 10049, 10148, 10154, 11051, 11553, 12893, 15326, 15533, 15583, 15707, 18820, 19053, 19296, 19685, 19818, 20272, 20300, 20420, 20738, 20801, 21109, 21426, 21427, 21445, 10069, 10137, 11114, 12571, 12758, 15692, 20156, 20657, 21331, 21508, 21595, 11896, 11929, 12014, 12756, 12915, 15296, 15449, 15501, 15528, 15596, 15626, 19067, 19677, 19931, 20309, 21434, 21623, 10004, 10005, 10008, 10010, 10012, 10015, 10016, 10017, 10019, 10021, 10023, 10024, 10026, 10028, 10036, 10038, 10041, 10044, 10047, 10051, 10064, 10075, 10080, 10085, 10087, 10090, 10103, 10106, 10108, 10113, 10115, 10116, 10121, 10128, 10149, 10156, 10158, 10165, 10172, 10173, 10177, 10179, 10180, 10188, 10198, 10199, 10682, 10767, 10770, 10777, 10781, 10783, 10784, 10785, 10786, 10787, 10788, 10789, 10790, 10792, 10793, 10983, 10985, 11001, 11008, 11016, 11017, 11025, 11029, 11030, 11050, 11059, 11060, 11065, 11068, 11073, 11079, 11107, 11111, 11117, 11119, 11120, 11124, 11125, 11137, 11144, 11158, 11160, 11162, 11163, 11164, 11166, 11176, 11181, 11184, 11185, 11186, 11503, 11507, 11512, 11515, 11516, 11518, 11522, 11525, 11526, 11529, 11532, 11533, 11539, 11543, 11548, 11552, 11560, 11562, 11563, 11564, 11569, 11572, 11581, 11588, 11590, 11591, 11596, 11602, 11605, 11606, 11613, 11615, 11619, 11886, 11890, 11901, 11902, 11905, 11912, 11923, 11932, 11942, 11948, 11951, 11955, 11956, 11961, 11962, 11965, 11967, 11971, 11977, 11980, 11982, 11985, 11988, 11993, 11999, 12006, 12008, 12009, 12012, 12013, 12015, 12017, 12018, 12022, 12025, 12026, 12028, 12031, 12035, 12041, 12054, 12056, 12573, 12575, 12578, 12584, 12590, 12592, 12595, 12608, 12612, 12624, 12629, 12632, 12635, 12639, 12647, 12648, 12658, 12666, 12671, 12675, 12682, 12697, 12701, 12708, 12712, 12715, 12717, 12742, 12766, 12770, 12772, 12773, 12775, 12794, 12798, 12799, 12802, 12803, 12812, 12819, 12824, 12827, 12828, 12832, 12833, 12839, 12840, 12841, 12852, 12853, 12864, 12865, 12869, 12887, 12891, 12900, 12906, 12911, 12921, 12926, 12929, 12930, 12956, 12963, 12964, 12966, 12967, 12968, 12970, 12973, 12976, 12986, 12995, 12999, 13000, 13008, 13009, 13013, 13016, 13017, 13020, 13031, 13044, 13046, 13052, 13060, 13066, 13067, 13069, 13074, 14015, 15255, 15265, 15277, 15279, 15281, 15282, 15289, 15292, 15313, 15316, 15321, 15322, 15331, 15344, 15351, 15353, 15354, 15362, 15364, 15375, 15398, 15401, 15412, 15416, 15429, 15446, 15460, 15472, 15475, 15478, 15479, 15484, 15487, 15493, 15507, 15514, 15518, 15519, 15537, 15545, 15546, 15548, 15555, 15569, 15574, 15585, 15587, 15589, 15592, 15601, 15611, 15622, 15624, 15627, 15634, 15646, 15672, 15677, 15693, 15697, 15700, 15701, 15711, 15724, 15742, 15744, 15745, 15750, 15756, 15765, 18475, 18481, 18486, 18500, 18509, 18521, 18530, 18558, 18577, 18589, 18632, 18657, 18689, 18716, 18725, 18727, 18758, 18762, 18763, 18768, 18771, 18772, 18818, 18823, 18908, 18945, 18949, 18950, 18959, 18975, 18977, 19018, 19115, 19129, 19144, 19187, 19189, 19272, 19364, 19393, 19423, 19442, 19444, 19498, 19508, 19556, 19557, 19592, 19595, 19607, 19614, 19630, 19647, 19648, 19657, 19684, 19696, 19734, 19738, 19788, 19826, 19848, 19862, 19872, 19906, 19924, 19927, 19966, 20006, 20016, 20073, 20092, 20101, 20108, 20112, 20150, 20164, 20181, 20199, 20239, 20246, 20314, 20333, 20334, 20381, 20406, 20417, 20418, 20440, 20497, 20568, 20582, 20632, 20658, 20700, 20762, 20782, 20785, 20803, 20806, 20864, 20879, 20884, 20885, 20891, 20916, 20923, 20924, 20926, 20970, 21103, 21140, 21180, 21191, 21334, 21346, 21348, 21350, 21351, 21358, 21364, 21378, 21382, 21386, 21390, 21396, 21412, 21416, 21421, 21425, 21438, 21466, 21471, 21474, 21476, 21487, 21488, 21491, 21496, 21497, 21505, 21513, 21516, 21525, 21532, 21543, 21548, 21550, 21555, 21563, 21565, 21567, 21571, 21577, 21581, 21583, 21586, 21605, 21609, 21617, 21618, 21619, 21636, 21637, 21645, 21654, 21663, 21671, 21674, 21686, 21688, 21695, 21696, 21698, 21711, 21716, 21718, 21719, 21725, 21751, 21753, 21754, 21755, 21756, 21757, 21759, 21764, 21867, 23182, 23183, 23185, 10185, 10997, 11897, 11973, 12024, 12684, 12687, 12688, 12694, 12703, 12732, 12741, 12782, 12814, 12953, 13010, 15263, 15378, 15386, 15388, 15400, 15428, 15473, 15485, 15581, 15643, 15644, 15686, 15691, 18472, 18570, 18583, 18637, 18849, 19312, 19545, 19561, 19779, 19908, 20364, 21120, 21381, 21431, 21478, 21533, 21576, 21643, 21750, 10152, 12676, 12763, 12829, 15663, 20535, 21641, 21707, 10104, 10529, 12962, 15291, 15408, 21452, 11983, 12607, 12683, 12720, 12774, 12780, 12830, 12898, 12904, 12919, 12933, 12938, 12939, 12955, 13006, 13047, 13063, 13064, 13084, 15306, 15323, 15453, 15494, 15497, 15502, 15683, 15695, 18802, 18864, 18962, 19141, 19153, 19162, 19170, 19317, 19424, 19431, 19955, 19965, 20133, 20140, 20357, 20362, 20640, 21090, 21368, 21512, 21584, 21624, 21704, 21738, 21761, 21770, 10088, 10118, 10127, 10147, 10176, 10183, 10204, 10791, 11012, 11154, 11585, 11626, 11919, 11946, 11957, 12055, 12596, 12598, 12689, 12693, 12747, 12781, 12874, 12952, 12992, 13026, 13037, 13048, 13082, 15272, 15288, 15315, 15330, 15352, 15461, 15531, 15532, 18465, 18655, 18701, 19295, 19408, 19574, 19663, 19732, 19821, 19837, 19900, 19903, 20088, 20481, 20564, 20748, 21199, 21341, 21355, 21500, 21556, 21559, 21597, 21602, 21721, 21749, 21752, 10984, 11070, 18575, 18579, 20039, 21343, 10155, 10178, 10758, 11043, 12837, 15273, 15317, 15590, 19299, 20293, 21376, 11035, 11063, 11106, 11109, 11148, 11889, 12003, 12011, 12019, 12582, 12585, 12589, 12602, 12626, 12627, 12646, 12678, 12724, 12740, 12846, 12892, 12896, 12905, 12924, 12951, 12961, 13025, 13062, 13068, 15295, 15436, 15608, 18457, 18556, 18596, 18633, 18906, 19241, 19242, 19381, 19532, 19637, 20107, 20110, 20201, 20472, 20599, 20624, 20826, 20904, 20907, 21061, 21361, 21372, 21377, 21483, 21570, 21627, 21669, 21705, 21715, 21743, 23181, 10081, 10774, 11084, 11085, 11095, 11122, 11123, 11565, 11573, 11574, 11906, 11907, 11953, 11986, 12059, 12630, 12633, 12634, 12637, 12764, 12795, 12796, 12800, 12823, 12831, 12834, 12835, 12838, 12889, 12979, 13075, 15283, 15329, 15443, 15489, 15508, 15513, 15515, 15568, 15573, 15586, 15603, 15604, 15606, 15670, 15757, 18513, 18608, 19464, 19787, 19795, 19796, 19921, 19926, 20645, 20777, 20860, 21397, 21502, 21506, 21507, 21554, 21557, 21558, 21585, 21626, 12769, 12806, 12997, 18482, 18773, 18778, 19349, 19505, 19621, 20266, 20690, 20835, 10071, 10072, 10099, 10111, 10114, 10125, 10134, 10159, 10160, 10168, 10169, 10182, 10772, 10981, 10982, 10986, 10990, 10993, 10994, 10998, 11000, 11002, 11005, 11031, 11034, 11039, 11040, 11048, 11056, 11062, 11064, 11067, 11074, 11081, 11082, 11115, 11121, 11134, 11135, 11140, 11145, 11146, 11150, 11156, 11157, 11159, 11169, 11172, 11496, 11498, 11499, 11500, 11501, 11504, 11505, 11508, 11511, 11519, 11521, 11524, 11530, 11531, 11535, 11536, 11541, 11542, 11545, 11546, 11559, 11561, 11579, 11580, 11582, 11583, 11584, 11593, 11594, 11595, 11597, 11599, 11600, 11603, 11604, 11608, 11614, 11627, 11629, 11637, 12577, 12615, 12665, 12681, 12690, 12696, 12699, 12743, 12751, 12762, 12785, 12789, 12790, 12871, 12875, 12876, 12884, 12918, 12932, 12940, 12948, 12958, 12974, 12975, 12977, 13035, 13073, 15257, 15259, 15266, 15276, 15347, 15379, 15381, 15402, 15404, 15425, 15437, 15463, 15466, 15540, 15554, 15557, 15558, 15564, 15571, 15575, 15630, 15648, 15657, 15669, 15761, 15763, 18460, 18492, 18574, 18628, 18667, 18700, 18798, 18829, 19088, 19120, 19355, 19356, 19470, 19602, 19604, 19844, 20014, 20017, 20026, 20027, 20081, 20103, 20151, 20235, 20306, 20498, 20500, 20526, 20541, 20546, 20680, 20781, 20825, 20886, 20953, 21200, 21332, 21333, 21342, 21344, 21347, 21363, 21375, 21455, 21481, 21489, 21490, 21517, 21518, 21519, 21521, 21522, 21523, 21526, 21547, 21572, 21588, 21594, 21600, 21616, 21635, 21648, 21655, 21665, 21736, 21737, 21744, 21758, 21765, 21766, 23179, 10131, 10135, 10202, 10773, 11057, 11544, 11618, 11991, 12709, 12759, 12760, 12791, 12807, 12817, 12848, 12882, 12883, 12899, 12901, 12993, 13019, 13029, 13039, 13045, 15253, 15280, 15367, 15396, 15397, 15448, 15454, 15458, 15459, 15529, 15591, 15674, 15679, 15689, 15703, 15710, 15717, 15725, 15751, 15752, 19412, 20245, 20252, 20352, 20691, 20767, 20893, 21106, 21154, 21424, 21444, 21475, 21486, 21524, 21529, 21542, 21546, 21601, 21603, 21722, 21723, 21760, 10040, 10065, 10999, 11022, 11049, 11960, 11968, 12042, 12873, 12912, 12935, 12945, 13018, 13049, 15394, 15521, 15570, 15577, 15713, 15719, 15743, 15758, 15760, 18609, 18735, 20534, 20983, 21501, 21649, 21689, 22943, 10133, 10144, 12778, 12941, 15516, 15666, 18606, 19033, 20279, 21590, 21687

There are about 300 candidates in total thus for each discipline; Knowing that only 30-40 of them make it to the interviews and 20-25 to the roaster, I get something like 12 candidates competing for one seat. Hardly Mission Impossible, but still pretty hot though.

Good luck everybody.

2010 NCRE. WEB DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT. SAMPLE TEST

As previously stated in my first NCRE-related post (the one in Russian), I would like to start a discussion about the exam sample provided on the NCRE website this year and later this week maybe also discuss the actual exam. More precisely I would like to share my opinion about some of the technical essays and questions that I personally find quite difficult and extremely wide.

First essay

A. You have been asked to set up a new multilingual site under the United Nations main web site (www.un.org), on the issue of the Millennium Development Goals. What are the basic requirements for setting up such a site? Describe the steps involved in establishing the site from concept to launch, including the taxonomy of the site and its multilingual and accessibility aspects.

How does one set up a website? This one reminds me of times when I used to spend nights looking for free web hostings and then struggled to find cheap DNS registrars (even if they were 3rd level ones) to get a nice compelling website name. Basically to tackle this question I would start by describing all the aspects of getting your website's code online:

• Arrange file hosting and set the overall working environment (make sure the responsible service makes the necessary: backup, versionning, project's CMS...)
• Discuss the domain name (un.org/name or name.un.org? + implications/considerations)

Afterwards, I would start talking about the actual system and the design/development choices to make. Are we gonna use an existing (custom or COTS) framework? Are there any coding conventions already available (gently introduce the i18n, L10n, m17n concepts and discuss whichever fits)? Taxonomy (general navigation considerations)? Are we supposed (very probably yes) to be accessible on platforms other than standard PCs (--> accessibility issues)?

A lot of topics to discuss thus. I would put it all out.

Second essay

B. A developer has been engaged to set up a database driven web site in which content is to be entered via a web-based form into a MS-SQL Database. The publicfacing web pages for retrieving the data and populating a template would be in .ASP. The Web Server being used is Apache running on a Sun Solaris Operating System. Draw a flow chart to illustrate the set-up. Would the developer need any additional software to complete the development of the proposed site? If so, what is required, and where would it be in the dataflow?

Discussion

Third essay

C. You are the Manager of the United Nations web site, which comprises of a number of sub-sites, in the six official languages, with information prepared and produced by different Departments. You have been asked by senior Management to devise and establish a clear, coherent, workable and acceptable governance mechanism for the entire site which will take into account the different needs of the content-providing

Departments which maintaining a degree of centralization so that institutional branding is not compromised. Prepare an outline for this governance mechanism setting out responsibilities of contentproviders, the technical group and the management group.

There is a very detailed article on wikipedia that pretty much says it all about the website governance. No comments.

Question1

What is a Content Management System? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Describe the underlying technology of a Content Management System – how content is entered, stored and displayed.

Discussion

Question2

Briefly describe what is meant by the following terms:

a. Hits to a website

b. Page-views to a web site

c. Unique visitors to a web site

d. 404

e. SHTML

f. XML

Discussion

Question3

What is streaming media? What are the main formats of streaming media that are currently in use on the Internet? Discuss the relative advantages of each of the formats over the others.

Discussion

Question4

Create a basic HTML page which will use JavaScript code embedded into the page that will display the day, date and time on the top left corner of the web page. Write out the entire HTML code for the page including the JavaScript element.

Discussion

Question5

Are there any differences in the way the major Internet browsers display HTML content? Describe how Internet Explorer, Firefox (Mozilla), Opera may display the same content differently. What does a developer need to keep in mind when creating web pages so as to ensure that these pages will display as intended in all the major browsers?

Discussion

Question6

What are the image formats that can be displayed on a web browser? What are some formats that cannot be used on a web page? Explain which format is best suited to display each of the following and why:

A colour photograph on a web page;

A two-colour navigation button.

Discussion

Question7

What is UTF-8? Under what circumstances would you recommend using UTF-8? Is there an alternative to it that will serve the same purpose?

Discussion

Question8

What is a cookie? When and why are they used? Describe a situation when using a cookie or cookies could enhance user experience. How can cookies on a website provide improved user analysis?

Discussion

PS. I will try to populate all the discussions so that this page stays up-to-date in the future

2010 NATIONAL COMPETITIVE RECRUITMENT EXAMINATION (P-2)

Подобно многим до меня, в этом году я решил подать заявку на участие в ежегодном NCRE тестировании ООН по направлению WEB DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT. Тестирование будет проходит 01/12 в Брюсселе в здании парламента евросоюза.

Для тех кто не знает, это тестирование является одним из немногих прямых путей попадания на работу в структуру объединенных наций для простых (молодых) специалистов. Каждый год в зависимости от процентного состава кадров каждой из стран организации объявляется конкурс для набора персонала, открытый лишь для граждан тех стран, чье представительство в ООН недостаточно. Россия в этом году не входит в перечень подобных стран (как собственно и несколько лет подряд до этого), но зато вот Бельгия наконец-то входит.

Моя запись на эту тему в этом блоге обусловлена в основном желанием как-то отвести душу и расслабится перед жестким тестом в среду. Еще хотелось бы поделиться с будущими поколениями конкурсантов тем материалом, что удастся накопить за время моего грядущего приключения которое я очень надеюсь уведет меня гораздо дальше предстоящих письменных тестов (приключение это собственно уже началось ибо какой-то отсев уже был и на основании моего онлайн досье мне и прислали повестку).

Всех желающих приглашаю делится своим опытом, впечатлениями и просто мнением в комментариях на мои посты. Дальнейшие посты буду вести на английском для большего резонанса в сети и начну пожалуй с обсуждения заданий и решений.

Ajax Custom Form Submission Mechanism

Consider the following basic html code snippet:

<form name="detailform" method="post"
action="../someURL?Action=ProcessSubmit">
<input type="submit" value="Start">
</form>

Clicking on the "Start" button will cause the browser to collect all the form controls <name,value> pairs between the form opening and closing tags surrounding the <input...> submit button tag and post them to the server at the URL indicated in the action property of the opening form tag. So far, so good. The only thing to notice here is that the data to submit collection mechanism is completely transparent for us and that this approach of submitting data inevitably reloads the window's content in the browser, replacing whatever it currently holds with the new html response from the server.

This, of course, and especially the reloading part, can be pretty much annoying for those of us wishing to ajaxify form submissions. The reason is that we generally don't want our pages to reload in the first place, which means that the submit kind of button is certainly not an option. We have got to use a simple kind of button instead, an <input type="button"...> thus :

<form name="detailform" method="post"
action="../someURL?Action=ProcessSubmit">
<input type="submit" value="Start"
onclick="ajaxSubmit(this, 'DefaultAction')">
</form>

This in turn means that we wont be able to benefit from the automatic data to submit collection mechanism mentionned above. We will have to come up with our own parser code to build the final URL to post. In the example above clicking the "Start" button wont basically do anything else other than jumping into the ajaxSubmit() function, the rest of the work being left up to you:

function ajaxSubmit(obj, urlAction) {
if(formSubmitValidation()) {
//some working variables -- cosmetics
var baseURL;
var formNode = getFormObj(obj);
var idx1Trim = formNode.action.indexOf("..");
var idx2Trim = formNode.action.indexOf("ProcessSubmit");

if (idx1Trim!=-1) { //IE7
baseURL = formNode.action.substring(2, idx2Trim) + urlAction;
} else { //FF
baseURL = formNode.action.substring(0, idx2Trim) + urlAction;
}
//adding custom calculated parameters: timestamp, ajax tag
params = (new Date()).getTime() + "&KindRequest=Ajax";
//the actual form parsing
baseURL = baseURL + "&" + parseDOMSubTree(formNode) + params
//posting the form
ajaxRequest(baseURL);
} else {
alert("Validation Problem");
}
}

It is always a good idea to first validate the fields submited before actually submitting them. Nevertheless, this validation problem falls out of this post's scope and will therefore be left aside. The second interesting point, beside the browser related cosmetics, is the form parsing itself. This is done by the recursive parseDOMSubTree(formNode) method which takes the form-to-submit element as argument:

function parseDOMSubTree(obj) {
var url = "";
for ( var i = 0; i < obj.childNodes.length; i++) {
// we know the root has a child. does it have a tagName?
if (obj.childNodes[i].tagName != null) {
// if no - never mind, just loop further. otherwise check it
switch (obj.childNodes[i].tagName.toUpperCase()) {
/*for form elements other than the ones below, you will have to
write the url append instruction youself :) */
case "TEXTAREA":
url = url + obj.childNodes[i].name + "="
+ escape(obj.childNodes[i].value) + "&";
break;
case "INPUT":
switch (obj.childNodes[i].type.toUpperCase()) {
case "HIDDEN":
case "TEXT":
url = url + obj.childNodes[i].name + "="
+ escape(obj.childNodes[i].value) + "&";
break;
default:
}
break;
default:
// we are checking some other kind of tag. just dive into it
url = url + parseDOMSubTree(obj.childNodes[i]);
}
}
}
return url;
}

And of course, last but not least, the ajax request call responsible for managing the client-server connection. Let's take a look at the code:

function ajaxRequest(url) {

var html = "";
/*
* important flag. we are loosing the asyn aspect but still are keeping the
* neat refresh part of the ajax tehcnology
*/
var asyn = false;
// Ignore cross-browser issues for the moment being
xmlhttp = false;
if ((window.XMLHttpRequest) && !(window.ActiveXObject)) {
// asyn = true;
xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
if (xmlhttp.overrideMimeType) {
xmlhttp.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
}
} else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
try {
xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
} catch (e) {
try {
xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
} catch (e) {
}
}
}

if (!xmlhttp) {
alert('Cannot create XMLHTTP instance');
return false;
}

xmlhttp.open("GET", url, asyn);
// Set the callback function -- needed in case of asynchronic work :-)
// xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {callbackAjaxRequest(xmlhttp); };
xmlhttp.send(null);
/*
* we are operating in synchrounous mode if this ever changes - just comment
* this line and uncomment the one above
*/
callbackAjaxRequest(xmlhttp);
}

The callback method looks like this:

function callbackAjaxRequest(xmlhttp) {
if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4) {
if (xmlhttp.status == 200) {
var xmldoc = xmlhttp.responseXML;
//from here on you can manage the resulting XML as you wish

var rootNode = xmldoc.getElementsByTagName('ajax.updates')
.item(0);
var responseStatus = rootNode.getAttribute("status");
var id;

if (responseStatus == "OK") {
for (i = 0; i <>
if (rootNode.childNodes.item(i).nodeName == "item") {
id = rootNode.childNodes.item(i).getAttribute("id");
document.getElementById(id).innerHTML = rootNode.childNodes
.item(i).firstChild.nodeValue;
}
}
} else {
// for FF/IE compatibility reasons -- the objects re
for (i = 0; i <>
if (rootNode.childNodes.item(i).nodeName == "item") {
html = rootNode.childNodes.item(i).firstChild.nodeValue;
}
}
/*this document.write doesn't work in IE if asyn mode above*/
document.write(html);

}

} else {
alert("Ajax Request Problem");
}

}
}