Those of us here at Global Knowledge got some exciting news this week. MidOcean Partners, a private equity investment firm, purchased Global Knowledge from Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe, the private equity firm that owned us since 1995.

Labor Day was created to honor American workers in 1882, and while some of us see it as the end of summer, others see it as a welcome break from a sometimes harrowing work year. If you’re lucky enough not to know what I mean, then keep reading these submissions:

Since childhood most of us are taught that the number 13 is a harbinger of bad luck. Many old buildings skipped the 13^th floor when they were built; one place I worked at built the floor but closed it off and bricked in the windows.

Probably the most notorious superstitious use of the number 13 is Friday the 13^th. Whether you cater to this belief or not, it’s still as good a reason as any to take advantage of the end of the week to reminisce about unlucky (or lucky), funny, strange, unusual, or just plain creepy work stories. So, without further ado, here’s a few ancedotes to get you started:

The editors and authors here at the Global Knowledge Training Blog are taking a much needed vacation this week. We’ll be back on January 3, 2011.

We want to thank you for your support and comments over the past year. We have a lot of exciting plans for 2011, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Dice, the job board for technology professionals released data that indicates an increase in job opportunities in several cities compared with this time, last year.

October is many things — it is when the temperatures begin to drop (here in North Carolina, at least), it is when Halloween happens, it’s when we see pink ribbons everywhere in honor of breast cancer. It’s also National Cyber Security Awareness month! Yes — a whole month dedicated to promoting security in cyberspace. (We know, we’re excited too.)

According to a news report in this week’s Federal News Radio, the U.S. government is going to need about 1,000 IT security workers in the next few years to build the force needed to protect this country’s military infrastructure. One big issue is going to be finding enough workers who have the needed IT security skills.

Cisco Systems recently released the findings from a research study they did asking IT Security Decision Makers/Contributors (ITSDMs) about tracking vulnerabilities and policy enforcement in the corporate environment. Highlights from the key findings are below: Software & Hardware The vast majority of ITSDMs monitor employees’ technology use to learn what security applications (63%) and/or OS employees […]

Committing to doing a proper ‘Lessons Learned’ followup for every project is important. The time for Lessons Learned is as close after the lesson is discovered as possible. In many cases, this review is when any important phase or aspect of the project is completed. Reviewing and updating the Lessons Learned should be ongoing and […]

Federal IT pros say the US is at high risk for computer attack. With all the talk of the cyber security bill that wound its way through congress, it is interesting to note the findings of the recent Federal Cyber Security Outlook for 2010 survey. This poll found that 74 percent of respondents believe that […]