National Techies Day
The National Techies Day on October 3 is a celebration to bring to light the many opportunities youngsters can take advantage of in the technology industry. If the 21st century can be defined under one banner, then it is the technological banner. We haven’t even reached the quarter-century mark and already we have gone from bulky and heavy computers to sleek and light laptops. There are printers that can print 3D material, some of which have already been used to create sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings and items. In the coming years, experts have already predicted that there will even be job opportunities that currently do not exist. In fact, in today’s climate, for every one high-tech job, four more are automatically created. To bring attention to the fast-growing technological industry, National Techies Day was commemorated.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL TECHIES DAY
The National Techies Day was created by CNT Networks (Computer Networking Technology) and techies.com in 1999. The former is a company specializing in storage networking solutions, while the latter used to be a job website focussing on connecting aspiring candidates with the right job postings in the technological industry. The main purpose of inventing the day was to raise awareness about the various technological careers youngsters could choose from. The industry has grown tremendously in the last 100 years, but if we were to go back right to the start of human civilization, we will truly come to realize how far the human species has come. ‘Technology’ comes from the Greek words ‘technē’ (meaning ‘arts/craft’) and ‘logos’ (meaning ‘words’). In the beginning, the word ‘technology’ was used to refer to a discourse on applied arts. It wasn’t until recently, namely the 20th century, that technology was being used to refer to a number of applied science projects related to concepts and processes.
Human beings started using science and the sources available to them more than 3 million years ago, albeit with simpler technological items like knives, clubs, and fire. Gradually, miscellaneous things like efficient water/sewage systems, cars/trains/ships, cooking stoves, and the like started becoming more and more commonplace all around the world. Anthropologists and sociologists also take into account such technological progress as a way to measure human civilization. Gerhard Lenski, an American sociologist, states that a good way to understand societal advancement is how information travels through it in terms of technology, and this brings us back to National Techies Day. If we want our society to go in a positive direction, we must encourage the young people around us to get into the arena that will not only bring them closer to success but will also be a way of bringing the rest of the world up to speed.
5 FACTS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND
Different amounts of ink for different fonts
Fonts come in all shapes and sizes (literally!), and it is theorized that the amount of ink used by a printer will be different for different fonts due to an individual font’s size, embellishments, and design.
QWERTY to slow you down
During the period of typewriters, the designers came up with the “QWERTY” design by placing commonly used letters apart from each other in order to slow down typers whose fast typing would make the buttons get stuck.
Computers are not as powerful as the human brain
Yes, computers are fast and powerful, but they cannot compete with the human brain as that would mean a computer doing 38,000 million operations per second and holding some 3580 terabytes of memory.
Google comes from unlimited information
The name ‘Google’ comes from the name for the cardinal number ‘googol,’ which is essentially just one followed by 100 zeroes, signifying unlimited information.
3D printing is quite old
The 3D printing technology is not as new as you might think — in fact, it was invented in the 1980s and was known as Rapid Prototyping.
WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL TECHIES DAY
It’s a celebration of technology and techies
Today, it’s hard to imagine a world without technology. The way we shop, work, travel, eat/drink, and socialize is all connected with technology in some way or another. This is also the reason why we should celebrate techies and the dedication they put into their fields. Without these two factors, our lives would turn chaotic.
It’s a celebration of youngsters
The youngsters are the future. It is important that we guide them to the right pathways in order for them to reap the benefits. In the next decade or so, the technology space will continue to grow and grow, creating more and more jobs, many of which we cannot even comprehend at this stage. This is why it is important to prepare the young from an early age.
It’s a celebration of societal progress
Many sociologists believe that technological advancements are evidence of societal advancements by default. The information that is being passed from point A to B is necessary for growth and betterment. By passing information around, we will be able to get newer perspectives sooner, solve a problem sooner, and enjoy the benefits sooner.