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In this episode we have a discussion about the tech we use and how it helps us in our daily life and also how being tech-savvy could make you more productive. The topic for this week’s episode of the Self-taught Novice Podcast is ‘Being Tech Savvy’. Being tech savvy basically means having a well-rounded idea on how you can exploit technology to enhance your daily living. The mere fact that we are living in the digital age does not imply that all persons are tech savvy. There are still quite a number of people who find it difficult making use of seemingly simple devices like the mobile phone. Our educational system is mostly certificate-driven. Most students are not aware of and do not consider the possibilities of taking online courses as options in their education. But there are more learning opportunities available online. We cannot learn it all though, but then we need to have a fair idea of what goes on around us in the tech space. The internet is a place of learning. There are those who have managed to navigate the internet and identify with the tech environment so much that they are able to exist in the tech space in a social way. For most people, the internet is just a social tool for communication. They are unable to fully navigate and exploit the available resources to a meaningful end because they are not tech savvy enough. They do not realize the many opportunities and are not able to make good use of them. This takes us back to S02E04 of the Self-taught Novice Podcast which focussed on using algorithms to our advantage – we need to understand the ecosystems in which we word so as to be effective. Do have a listen to that episode in case you missed it. The internet is not just all tech stuff; it is a community. We cannot isolate tech and humanity, the two now go hand-in-hand. WhatsApp, for example, is a tech tool, but it integrates society’s quest for easy communication. Tech can be incorporated in our day-to-day activities. The Google Search Engine may be used for mundane activities like looking up songs and their lyrics, actors and their family lives and so on. Here are some tricks to help you maximize the use of the Google Search Engine. If you want to find a cluster of keywords together, for example, ‘pinkball photoshop’, enter ‘pinkball+photoshop’ instead. The latter gives a more tailored search result than the former. When searching for PDF files, JPEG, or PNG files, simply attach .pdf, .jpeg or .png respectively to the name of the file. Some people are of the view that search engine optimization is ruining many businesses. Most people hardly go beyond the second page of the search results; all the content beyond the second page then form some ‘dead zone’ – The first page is not the best bet for finding the right information, you need to comb through all the pages. In addition to making use of e-learning opportunities and search engines, we need to know how to responsibly use tech for entertainment. Responsibility is relative and differs from person to person. However, besides that, you must budget your internet time wisely. Working for long hours without leisure would surely cause you to burn out; how we spend our leisure time would affect our productivity during our working hours.  Vimeo, Facebook Watch, Instagram, YouTube, amongst others are all available; you decide how best you define your entertainment. There are a lot of people who underuse their smartphones and other tech gadgets because they have little knowledge on their full capabilities. Let’s not limit being tech savvy to coding. We must make conscious efforts to acquaint ourselves with the workings of tech around us so we can maximize their use for our good. It is not enough to be just consumers of tech products, and even as consumers, we must understand tech in order to be good consumers. How do we ensure that people do not have a narrowed view of tech? The view on tech is already narrow.