IT Insights Blog

Life is going pretty good for me lately and I have a whole lot of reasons to be excited. To start with, I’m a University of Nebraska football fan — five national championships, 46 conference championships, and the most wins and highest winning percentage of any program over the last 50 years. “HUSKER POWER” all the way! It’s also TestOut’s 25th anniversary, and to help commemorate it, we just released Desktop Pro Plus, the newest addition to our Microsoft Office training series.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a holiday was established that has changed the landscape of the entire universe. Celebrated by everyone from Wookiee to Nerf, Ewok to Jawa, dark side of the force to the light, May the 4th is a day where we all stop, observe and agree on one thing — Star Wars is Awesome. May the 4th is a day where fans of Star Wars geek out in any way they can, whether it’s through a movie marathon, drinking Yoda Soda or filming an epic choreographed lightsaber battle fans try all they can to understand the ways of the force.

Flowers, other than the ones that are involved in producing fruits and vegetables, don't serve much practical purpose in this world. Yes, they're vital to the Circle of Life that, much like the Force, surrounds us and penetrates us and binds us together. (What, incidentally, does it say about our culture that both the Force and the Circle of Life are now registered trademarks of The Walt Disney Company? Think about that.) And yes, they're a good way for forgetful spouses and children to communicate affection at times like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and on wedding anniversaries. But really? Come on. Flowers pop out for a few months in spring and early summer, stir up people's allergies, then wither and vanish. If anything, a flower is a nuisance, right?

I’ve done a bit of studying on certifications lately — which is a good thing since I write about them for a living. The simple definition of a certification is “a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task.” Although I deal almost exclusively with certifications in IT, I was surprised to learn that there are literally thousands of certs across all occupations. There are certs for business, banking, engineering, real estate, medicine, law, religion, plumbing, sales and even peer support — you can be a certified peer recovery professional providing guidance, knowledge and assistance to others.

On April 4, 1975, two men in Albuquerque, N.M, ventured into a fairly new market with some new ideas and founded what was at the time a language software development company. That company would one day become one of the largest, most influential companies in the world, showcasing the now ubiquitous name of Microsoft. Bill Gates and Paul Allen couldn’t have known how successful their venture would become when it all began. Now, not only is Microsoft continually distributing best-selling products like the Xbox, Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Windows operating system, but the company is training the next generation of IT professionals with its unique certifications.