Fun Facts 

Fonts

Does Your Font Have Feet?

What a question you say!  Have you ever noticed that some of the type styles, or fonts, on your computer have feet and others do not?  The first people to add serifs, or feet to their letters were the ancient Romans.  Back then, messages were written by chiseling them into stone tablets.  It was easier (and also neater) if they first chiseled the feet of the letter, then used a bigger chisel to cut the letter's main shape.  Today, people believe "feet" or serif type styles, help us read a long line of type, such as in a storybook.  So next time you read a book and see letters with "feet", think of them as helping you "walk" through the words!

Do All Letters Have Feet?

Letters without feet are called  sans serif, which is French for "without stroke".  About fifty years ago, a group of designers thought type would look more modern if it were less fancy, so they developed sans serif letters that looked clean and crisp.  Sans serif is easy to read when only a few words are used in a large size.  Just take a look at a STOP sign.  It's easy to read, isn't it?  That's because STOP signs, and lots of others, too, are often written in a sans serif font.

One of the most popular footless fonts used is named Helvetica, a word derived from the Latin name for Switzerland, Helveta.  And as you may have already guessed, Helvetica was designed during the 1950s in - you guessed it - Switzerland.

Look at the fonts on your computer.  Notice those fonts with feet and those without.

Getting the Point

The word "point" when talking about fonts, means the size of a font.  How large is the font?  Point size measures the height of a letter, but keep in mind a larger point size changes a letter's entire size (height and width).

Point size is measured from the very top of the letters (arms) to the very bottom (tails).  The following chart and letter examples may help you decide how large to make your type.

Sometimes there are more choices for font point size than those displayed.  Type in a number not listed; what is the largest point size in the program you use for word processing?

Computer Uses

Flight of Fancy

    When the Wright brothers invented the fist airplane, they used only a few simple parts to fly their contraption.  Today, pilots rely on computers to help them navigate.  Computers can even help planes use fuel efficiently and keep track of the location of other planes in the sky.  Have you ever heard a flight attendant ask passengers to avoid using electronic devices such as radios, cell phones, and remote-controlled toys?  This is because those devices emit radio waves that interfere with the plane's computerized navigational systems.

    Airlines also use computers on the ground to make reservations for millions of customers.  Computers keep track of each seat on a plane, so when you make a reservation, your seat number will be assigned to you and to no one else.

Strike Up the Band!

    Imagine writing 1000 musical compositions for entire orchestras and other musicians by hand.  Incredibly, that's exactly what Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart did during the course of his short life!  He carefully wrote down music for all the performers of a piece, including singers, conductor, and instrumentalists.  Often composers gave their hand-written music to the orchestra just in time for a concert.  In dim candlelight, the players had a tough job reading the hastily scrawled markings!

    Today, composers can link an electronic keyboard to a computer and play music while the computer "writes" it down!  Special software even allows the computer to write the correct pitches and rhythms.  Imagine how helpful this would have been to Mozart!

Computerized Cars

Believe it or not, most of the cars we drive today are made with the help of computer-automated robots.  You may not realize it, but computers are also found inside today's automobiles.  Various parts such as the engine, brakes, exhaust control, and suspension, are adjusted by computers to make an auto run efficiently and safely.

Keep Our Roads Safe

Next time you're in a car, notice how long you and other cars stop at traffic lights - there's almost a rhythm to the way everyone moves about, isn't there?  That's because traffic engineers use computers to keep traffic moving smoothly and safely.  By counting the number of cars and trucks with electronic sensors, engineers can decide how to time traffic lights along a busy street.

Weather Watch

For over 200 years, farmers used weather vanes to determine wind directions.  Today, computers help meteorologists (people who study weather patterns and predict weather) determine what weather to expect.  In fact, modern weather forecasting would be impossible without computers, because weather forecasters handle huge amounts of data received from ground stations, satellites, weather balloons, and more.  And to be accurate, the data must be processed very quickly -- something computers do best!

Saving Lives

Medical science has been revolutionized by computers.  In hospitals, some machines help damaged organs function properly.  Dialysis machines filter and clean blood.   Inside the body, a person's weak heart can be strengthened by a computer called a "pace-maker".

Today doctors can even look inside the body without performing surgery.  Ultrasound machines allow doctors to view organs using sound waves.  Images are seen on a screen or monitor after they are converted from sound, using computer technology.  Patients can see images of their own heart beating, and a mom-to-be can see the beating heart of her unborn baby!

Check It Out!

Does your grocery store use computers at the check-out counter?  Before computers, clerks had to punch prices on the cash register's keys.

Today clerks pass items over scanners.  The code printed on the package indicates the name, size, and price of the product which prints out on the receipt.  Some registers even call out the price aloud!  The computer also keeps track of what is sold, helping the store manager decide when to re-order.

A Printer's Dream Come True

The printing industry has been revolutionized by computers.  Previously, the layout of a page was arranged by cutting pieces and pasting them together in the desired format.  Pictures, their captions, headlines, and copy were pasted in place by a designer, and the resulting page layout was photographed.  It was painstaking work that took a lot of time and patience.

Today, computers eliminate the need for scissors and glue.  Items can be moved around the computer screen effortlessly.  Rulers along the screen show the user exactly where the item is on a printed page.  Color can be altered and type faces changed, just by pushing a few buttons.

Find out more fun facts and ways to use your computer for art and craft fun by reading the book where the above facts are described:

Sabbeth, Carol.  Kids' Computer Creations.  Charlotte, Vermont:  Williamson Publishing Co., 1995.

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Last updated June 23, 2011 ~ Mrs. K. Bradley
kbradley@otsegoknights.org