IT Insights Blog — Holidays

The IT Insights Blog is taking the day off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Here at TestOut Continuing Education, we often encourage IT professionals and other learners to do something for themselves. It's good to occasionally be reminded, however, of how much other people matter. As Dr. King once said: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' "

Studies have found that about 40 percent of U.S. residents make at least one resolution each time that the calendar turns over to a new year. Further studies indicate that, out of the 40 percent who make a resolution, about 40 percent will be successful in achieving it. In other words, it's more likely than not that you didn't make a resolution — and even if you did, then it's more like than not that you won't be successful in achieving it.

We've spoken out here before about the damage done — both to IT certification as a whole and to individual careers — by exam candidates who cheat to pass a certification exam. Most people in certification can probably empathize with anyone experiencing the various stresses that cause people to resort to gimmicks and shortcuts to pass an exam. Yet because of the ripple effects of cheating, a certification cheater really is the proverbial bad apple that spoils the whole bunch.

Humans have been aware of seasonal fluctuation in the number of sunshiny hours per day for thousands of years. The loved-by-some, hated-by-others timekeeping scheme that we now call daylight saving time (DST), however, is a relatively recent innovation. A New Zealand entomologist named George Hudson first proposed the modern DST regimen in 1895, and it gradually caught on with nations around the world (including the United States, in 1918) over the next few decades.

We occasionally shout out some pretty silly national days here at the IT Insights Blog. (Hey, this is a rough gig. YOU try coming up with something new to write about three days a week for an entire year, Mr. Intelligent Trousers.) For example, in additional to being Feb. 27, today is also Anosmia Awareness Day, National Kahlua Day, National Strawberry Day, National Polar Bear Day, and National Retro Day.