I haven't been blogging lately, because life has been pretty busy with the holidays, new baby and trying a few spare-time projects in VS2005. 

If you are a MCAD or MCSD in .NET, you can take the upgrade exams to upgrade your certifications to the new MCPD.  They are currently in beta, and it looks like they've opened the beta to anyone.  See the training section at http://msdn.microsoft.com/flash/currentissue.htm

I'm scheduled to take all the upgrade exams between mid-Feb and mid March.  I've found that studying for exams forces me to examine areas that I otherwise don't take a serious look at.  Like tracing, code access security, reflection and some of the more arcane areas of web services.  And, if I schedule exams ambitiously (really close together), I'm more likely to spend the time that I should preparing. 

My practice has been to go through the preparation exam guide with a fine tooth comb, play with the areas that you haven't touched and prepare "cheat sheets" (Study guide).  As I finish a study guide, I'll publish them here.  Hopefully you will find them useful.