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October 5: National Techies Day 75

Posted by Hemos from the finally-no-more-submissions-about-it dept.
Over the last few weeks, probably thirty million people have submitted the story that Oct. 5 is National Techies Day. Well, the day is here, and I'm still waiting for the parade to come by my door. *grin* Seriously, the point is supposed to be celebrate what "technology professionals" contribute to the world at large.
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October 5: National Techies Day More

October 5: National Techies Day

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  • Just because most managers and directors push paper and do nothing else doesn't mean that that is the only way things can be.

    As a *technical* director or manager, there is no reason why you cannot delegate much of your paper-pushing to pure admin staff, effectively your personal assistants, so that the usual pyramid of paper-pushers-on-top is inverted under you. There will always remain a residue of paperwork that you have to do yourself, like reading others peoples' proposals and laying out your own, but then that's something that techies often do anyway within their own teams.

  • Cool! (Score:1)

    by rbf ( 2305 )
    This is cool, all hail me! ;-) No, really, I think this is a trick by all the greeting card companies! They just want you to buy more cards! In any case, if secretaries can have their own day why not us?

    rbf, who is happily using a Alpha running Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 with kernel 2.2.12.



    LONG LIVE ALPHA!

  • HELP! (Score:1)

    by DukeFH ( 45062 )
    It looks like the "PANIC" button is a replacement for the "windows" button.
  • You can now express your appreciation to your favorite techie by sending them an all-singing, all-dancing animated greeting card from Blue Mountain Arts.

    Trouble is, most techies I know shoot those things on sight.
  • i took a couple out today...

    oh well, to me, every day is "nail a spammer day"!

    at least i have something to look forward to doing tomorrow.

  • for all those wishing to advocate.. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Here is a flyer I made to annoy my fellow office inhabitants.
    You can get the flyer at the NOLUG site [dhs.org].
    It prints out at just under 8.5x11
    spam away.
  • National Techie Day: A good reason to get drunk, as if you really needed a reason.


    ---
  • National Hookers Day?... mmmm... "It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

  • So far as I know, none of the people described by that term call themselves 'Techies'. Geeks maybe (for those of us who consider that a badge of honor). But Techie? I guess they didn't want to call it National 'Be a Geek' Day. I wonder if we are supposed to have a party where we eat Chinese food, have Twinkies for dessert, drink Jolt cola and wear propeller beanies?

    I also noticed there was a letter on the web site from V.P. Gore congratulating the 'Techies' of the world. Considering Gore thinks he 'invented' the Internet, perhaps the man believes he can win over the Geek vote in the coming election? If so, he had better rethink his stance on encryption policy.

    Maybe someone should clue in GW Bush, let him know that he needs to get on the bandwagon quick. Bush could hold a press conference wearing a white button shirt with a pocket protector and do sound bytes containing the words 'Bandwidth' and 'Pipelined Architecture'. Of course Gore would probably retaliate by claiming he invented the microprocessor...

    Jack

  • Oh yeah... now I can get twice as hammered. You see, today also happens to be national Tues-day, always a reason to drink. I got six more celebrations where that came from.
  • No, no, it's the cookie-makers that really stand to cash in. Just think of the possibilities.

    National Techies Day - Send your favorite nerd some (chocolate) chips!

    But some of us refuse cookies from many sites ;-)

  • hehheh (Score:1)

    by Khan ( 19367 )
    DOWN is my friend :) They LUV it when I send that command.
  • Every day is a techie day in my household!
  • I have a solution. Every day is October 5! Suppose this means there will be some problems getting my pay check, and all those 'holiday season' toy^H^H^Hhardware releases will be a bit tricky...
  • I can see it now... next to the 'Get Well Soon' section and the Grandparents' Day cards - an aisle of 'Happy Techies Day' greeting cards with all sorts of cute cartoon circuit diagrams and algorithms. ;)

    ~Ramses
  • Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh ...
    Then why do we have Mother's Day? Wouldn't all the women who are infertile for some reason or another and were wanting to have children resent that ?? Would'nt the men in that relationship resent Father's Day ?? I mean, don't brag it, but don't sweep it under the closet, it's there to be had !!
    =) d

  • The national useless day !!!! (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Is it the #1 politician pass-time to name years, months and days. It's really useless. What's next: October 6, the national hookers day!!!

  • Heh. (Score:1)

    by Psiren ( 6145 )
    Only in America. Thankfully.

  • Hmmm (Score:2)

    by deefer ( 82630 )
    I don't think I'll be advising the Postal service to lay on any extra staff to deal with the flood of cards...
    Anybody else notice that the only times us techies get recognition is when there is a server or system down ?
    You all know what to do.... :)
  • How about it? National slashdottian day ... either that, or National CmdrTaco Day (or National Rob Malda Day, whichever) ...
    Bet M$ would jump in first and get a monopoly on it though *grin*
  • Is it the #1 politician pass-time to name years, months and days. It's really useless.
    It is most decidedly NOT useless. If they weren't spending their time passing resolutions to make October 5 be National Techie Day, they would instead be passing even more laws to increase our taxes and restrict our liberties.

    Be thankful that we don't actually get all the government we pay for! I cringe whenever I hear people talking about eliminating waste in government, because I don't want them becoming more efficient at taxing me and trampling my rights.

  • What did you call me? (Score:3)

    by TopSpin ( 753 ) on Monday October 04, 1999 @11:16PM (#1638585) Journal
    Celebrate myself? The arrogance detector just blew a fuse.

    For those of you who live a nice sheltered existence among other
    `techies', here's a clue; National Techies day may as well be National
    Wealthy Persons day, or National Smarter-Than-You day. Don't go
    around bragging about National Techie's day to your non-techie
    associates because deep down they resent their ignorance and your
    competence.

    The majority of non-techies have occupations that suck the soul dry.
    They do not, like you, hang out at the SlashDot equivalent for
    whatever trade they practice happens to have simply because they can't
    get enough of it. They don't like what they have to do and they
    really don't like people who enjoy their work. They would rather you
    hate your work and strive, as they do, to have maximal `fun' whenever
    you can get away with it.

    OTOH, life is short and they were born to be unhappy. Screw'em :)

    !! National Techies Day !!
  • If Hallmark is behind it, they're *really* stupid. Think about it: how would you say thank-you to a techie? Mail them a *card* via USPS? Yeah right! People who really want to say thank-you will email their favorite techie with a plain-text message, headers that conform to RFC 822, a three-line-or-less signature, and a heartfelt message: "Thanks for fixing the broken stuff. We'd be lost without you."

    That said, I have to agree with the other posters: this is a pretty silly holiday.

  • Wild (Score:2)

    by vipw ( 228 )
    How is this different from all the other "Sure glad my employees aren't going postal days"?
    National Secretary Day
    National Librarian Day
    etc.
  • Is this about encouraging young people to be intersted in technical careers, or is it about sending e-greeting cards (presumably with targetted banner advertisements) to technical proffessionals?

    Why not just call it "National Spam a Techie Day" and at least be honest about it.
  • This is all well and good, but we'll have alot better chance of getting the day off if it's some obscure religious holiday. I proclaim October 6th Hoomaliyali, an ancient Burmese day of fasting.
  • Maybe GW knows he doesn't have to pander for votes.
  • I'm all for it. Then October 6th can be 'Cancel the account of a known spammer' day.

    :>

    - Darchmare
    - Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
  • According to the press release the "founders" are CNET and techies.com... hmm, sounds like CNET and and CNET to me. This is just a scam to get lots of hits on a new .com site. Hmm. Save your hits for sites that deserve it.

  • The whole idea behind having a National [insert occupation here] Day is to appreciate people that are traditionally under-appreciated, such as teachers and secretaries. Or to heighten awareness, such as National [insert disorder here] Day, Week, or Month.


    Although there are so many National X Days around now that no-one takes a blind bit of notice. (I was rather amused a while back, however, to discover that it was National Incontinence Week.. My immediate thought was "Show your support! Piss your pants!")
  • >Now, what do you get for the hooker who has everything?

    Antibiotics.

  • >Maybe yes, maybe no

    Rocky Rococo: Do you know what this is?



    Nick Danger: That's a brown paper bag.

    Rocky Rococo: That's correct. Now, look inside.

    Nick Danger: Why that's easy. That's a pickle.

    Rocky Rococo: Good. Now I think you're ready for *this!*



    (Firesign Theater, anybody?)

  • It is important to note that the vast majority of Microsofr's donations are software. While most other software companies assess value of donations as either cost or wholesale value, Microsoft assesses all of their donations at _retail_value_. Any comparisons between Microsoft and other software companies in this field are irrelevant.

  • I did... (Score:1)

    by Wah ( 30840 )
    ... in this [slashdot.org] thread
  • Oh yeah... now I can get twice as hammered. You see, today also happens to be national Tues-day, always a reason to drink. I got six more celebrations where that came from.

    You complete lush. I confine my drinking to days ending in 'Y'... :-)

    ---

  • No wonder I'm so cynical... (Score:3)

    by MoxCamel ( 20484 ) on Tuesday October 05, 1999 @01:37AM (#1638603)
    The whole idea behind having a National [insert occupation here] Day is to appreciate people that are traditionally under-appreciated, such as teachers and secretaries. Or to heighten awareness, such as National [insert disorder here] Day, Week, or Month.

    Are we under-appreciated? Cripes, most techies in the US are *way* above the poverty line, some are millionaires, and many are overpaid (probably including myself). How many of these Silicon Valley millionaires and 3-digit income geeks have been supporting charities with their new-found wealth? (answer: very few!) How many teachers have become millionaires by teaching, yet use their own paycheck to buy classroom supplies?

    This is a stunt I'd expect to see from Microsoft/IBM/Sun/Netscape--push a self-important, over-hyped agenda for the sole purpose of inflating the ego. I for one don't plan to participate, and I'd urge others in the community to nip this idiocy in the bud before it gets any bigger.
  • No, no, it's the cookie-makers that really stand to cash in. Just think of the possibilities.
    National Techies Day - Send your favorite nerd some (chocolate) chips!
    - Seth Finkelstein
  • Techies are a special kind of animal,and deserve a day of their own. Just like the fish, cows,pigs and penguins you fed your favourite pet as a treat for animals day ;-)
  • Although many teccies are doing well, especially those that have taken the step of going freelance/contracting (the main benefit is not money but having a peer relationship with the people who pay you), there is still a long way to go before our role in industry is properly appreciated.

    The proportion of major companies in which there is no career progression to board level if "all" you do is provide technical infrastructure is still huge, and permanent technical staff are usually regarded as low-level grunts well below paper-pushing middlemen in most industries. This is usually even the case where the company's entire existence is founded on the technology, like in almost all the national PTTs.

    There's a long way to go still.

  • birthday (Score:1)

    by HiH ( 61053 )
    Is it just coincidence it's also my bitrhday ! (Well.. the date might also have been chosen after me !)
  • The proportion of major companies in which there is no career progression to board level if "all" you do is provide technical infrastructure is still huge

    But surely if you progress to board level you'll be a paper pusher, and not a techie. What self-respecting techie wants to become a manager? I certainly don't. I'd rather get to play with the new hardware than have some dimwit secretary telling me which meetings I have to attend.
  • HeHeHe... ok...now THAT's a holiday I can enjoy.
  • ...then the oh-so-ever thoughtful and kind users at my job won't mind me downing our servers while I kick back and drink another can of Jolt and scarf M&M's. I mean, it's not like we do ANY work around there...those Novell servers run ALL by themselves with NO problems whatsoever...especially the ARCserve server..now there's a QUALITY piece of software that never, EVER decides to abend itself in the middle of a full backup...no SIR! QUALITY!..it's what ARCserve and CA are ALL about! (insert sarcasm where appropriate) ;)
  • And here I thought all this fuss was over my 21st birthday. Now I'm all disillusioned and stuff.

    In regards to celebrating techies, there doesn't seem to be any more of a celebratory atmosphere at work today than there ever is.

    There are flower bouquets and card for Secretaries' Day... shouldn't there be, I don't know, special Linux distributions or something available for Techies' Day?

    -----
  • Why not just call it "National Spam a Techie Day" and at least be honest about it.

    Then you'd have people with thoughts of "National Spam Day".. only instead, we'd really make a "National Spam-The-Spammers Day," and

    Vengeance is ours!
  • >I guess they didn't want to call it National 'Be
    >a Geek' Day

    Or maybe the Internet America people (of 1-800-BE-A-GEEK tv ad infamy) would have tried to sue CNet and techies.com (listed as founders).

    Or more likely, they're just going along with the techies.com theme.

    -LjM

  • Yep, it's my favourite techie's birthday today. What a nice surprise! I will have to send him an e-greeting...

  • Well the first techie appreciation day is almost over, and by all counts it was a great success.

    We heard speeches about the difficulties of holding onto jobs, the instability in a techies life and the isolation caused by it all.

    The fact that these problems are caused by massive salaries, a huge job market and owning houses so big that we can't find the front door anymore was not mentioned.

    Look in the employment section of any newspaper; techie appreciation day is everyday.


    Hotnutz.com [hotnutz.com]
  • From the site:
    ...Buy a techie friend a sandwich.

    Um, that's pretty lame. Unless of course it's a really BIG sandwich...

    on the other hand, I have not had Sushi in a long time...

    System halted
  • It's about time we people receieved thanks. Machines have already gotten theirs. From the "I Can Do It!" daily aphorism calendar, Friday November 7, 1997:

    I take a moment to express gratitude for the machines in my life that help it run so effortlessly. Thank you, computer, refrigerator, stove, microwave oven, telephone, fax machine, and everything else!

    I keep that page taped to my monitor at work.

  • So when do I get to unwrap my gift :)

    yeah yeah I know, OBVIOUS TROLL

    So pay the money you damn goat and get over my bridge :)
  • nly instead, we'd really make a "National Spam-The-Spammers Day," and

    For Spammer's Day, let's support them in a nationwide effort to locate them and show our support in person at their doorsteps. Imagine a spammer answering his door and receiving the gift of a free clue bat [tuxedo.org] !
  • Cool. Mine too.
    LetterJ
    Writing Geek/Pixel Pusher
    jwynia@earthlink.net
    http://home.earthlink.net/~jwynia
  • What self-respecting techie wants to become a manager?

    This would be a great thing. Imagine a world where management actually had a clue about technology. Where hardware/software was purchased because careful thought had been given to its usefulness, and not because Mr. CEO liked the coffee-cup holder (CD-ROM) that sticks out of his CPU. Where we don't have to use 10-year old computers to run the latest software.

    I'd hope more techies would get into management. I'm aware of at least one MBA program in IS just for this purpose (at [shameless plug]Tennessee Technological University, my alma mater)

  • it's mine, too :-)

    So, at least, we got an excuse for parading in front of the Empire Slashdot Builing(TM) ;)

    And BTW: congratulations to you!

    kampi
  • A good point well made. But I still wouldn't want to do it. I'd be the first to welcome someone who did though.
  • .... and whoever said nerds were arrogant!?

  • I have found that the built-in backup utility, DISMOUNT, is a quick and easy way to insure that no data is lost due to user and OS mistakes. The system backup utility, DOWN is an even faster way to insure complete data integrity.
  • Since ou were asking... The Man with the Sign of the Beast just gave 1 billion dollars to charities in the U.S.

    And he has repeatedly spoken about his plans of philanthropy in the future.

    No matter what you think of him... that is very respectable.

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