IT Insights Blog — TestOut Continuing Education

One of the most rewarding things about working in information technology certification is observing the effects of the well-worn truism that knowledge is power. Power to change your circumstances. Power to rise above whatever challenging circumstances you may find yourself in. Power to discover, or simply create, a path to a better life. Knowledge is power, and certification helps you increase your stockpile of knowledge.

If you look up the word "muchness" in any dictionary, the definition given will probably be something along these lines: "greatness, as in quantity, measure, or degree." (Thanks, Dictionary.com!) You also may see the word described as being "Archaic," and or given some other notation to signify that it doesn't get a whole lot of use in 2018. That seems like a shame. Don't we all need to get a little more muchness out of life?

Somewhat frequently in this space, we share details about some of the fun things that happen during the course of a normal year at TestOut (and TestOut Continuing Education). For instance, the whole company goes bowling every year. There's the Steak Fry, the Halloween Party (complete with costume contest and festive office decorations), and the annual three-part Run Bike Hike fitness festivities. We like to have fun and get to know each other better.

The Flying Lizards are right! The best things in life really are free. Or at least that's what we're hearing from the kids these days. Almost every kid we know who likes video games is flipping his or her lid about something called Fortnite. A "fortnight," which is a thing the British gave the world, is a period of two weeks. Sounds more like a half-month than a fort-anything, if you ask us, but it turns out that the British didn't actually ask anyone. It's just their thing.

Here in the United States, where TestOut Continuing Education is headquartered, public schools — mostly high schools — tend to lump computer skills classes in with everything else that falls under the label "career and technical education," or CTE. In 2018, computer skills are of central importance to learning in most subjects, so it seems a little behind the times to think of knowing stuff about computers as having application only in the CTE bailiwick.