IT Insights Blog

There's something to be said for persistence. Not everyone has the willpower and commitment to start something and then see it through to the end. One thing that's been said for persistence is the thing that was said by the late Shel Silverstein, who probably should have been America's poet laureate at some point, but somehow never was. (Also towering up to the clouds in that particular hypothetical category: the late Theodore S. Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.)

There are a lot of good things about IT certification. Money — more about that in a second — is just one of them. Certification is a great way to learn new IT skills or brush up old ones. Most people study for at least a month or two to prepare for a certification exam. That's a lot of time spent concentrating on IT mastery. Even if you're just getting back up to speed on things you already knew, having a learning mindset and developing good study habits is invaluable.

Singer and songwriter Michael Stipe of R.E.M. once explained that he wrote the lyrics to the hit single "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" as an aggregation of everyday experiences: "The words come from everywhere. I'm extremely aware of everything around me, whether I am in a sleeping state, awake, dream-state, or just in day-to-day life, so that ended up in the song along with a lot of stuff I'd seen when I was flipping TV channels."

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.

There's (apparently) terror on the high seas! And we mean really high. Like, sky-high. Literally. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sounded the alarm earlier this week during a special hearing of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space to discuss "The Emerging Space Environment: Operational, Technical, and Policy Challenges." Good for the Senate for continuing to make space exploration a priority. Or, well, that's probably at least a priority for some.