EOTO #1

  

On January 11, 1838 in Morris town Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail invented the eclectic telegram. They wanted to be able to signal systems that would make it so that people could communicate over long distances.

    The first technology anywhere that used codes to communicate messages over long distances. It enabled military leaders to conduct affairs, oversee forces, manage the delivery of supplies and keep in touch with the government and the bosses. President Lincoln sent almost 1000 messages over the span of 4 years. They first demonstrated the electric telegraph at Vail's Speedwell Iron Works. Rember that this was during a time when people were reliant on this type of technology yet. People hadn’t even seen something like the telegraph yet, so the invention was a game changer.  They had to rely on messengers riding on horseback during these times. The telegram was a huge innovation for people. It was helpful in starting up the nation's economic expansion. Once it became popular it was a huge commodity all around the world. The electric telegraph created the age of instant communication for people. It was easier to hear messages and get messages because people didn’t have to wait on a messenger to bring them from miles away, rather they could just stay where they were and receive it over the telegraph. It also made it easier to send messages because you could send them from one telegraph to The telegraph enabled four messages at a time to be sent on a single wire. It happened in New Jersey. The Menlo park research facility was able to be built after the telegraph took off and became a success. This is where they would build and test the advanced technology they were studying/inventing.

Final Post: My Relationship With Technology

                                         

   I would say my relationship with technology is neither healthy nor extremely unhealthy. I am not a prominent user of social media. I do like to peer on social media every now and then when I am bored. I however am not someone who ever uses their phone when there is company around.  I am healthy in the fact that I like to focus on what is in front of me. I do not let my phone distract me from the present moment. 

    I think I give technology an appropriate amount of my time. I do use technology for the better part of the day, especially when it comes to my schoolwork.  I have nerve damage in my dominant hand, which prevents me from properly writing. I find it near impossible to keep up with the notes in any of my classes when writing. I am very grateful for my laptop, as it always me to perform on the same level as anyone else. I am able to keep up with notes, do my assignments quickly, and perform well in my classes. Technology also allows us to completely educate ourselves for free if we wanted to. We can learn anything we would in school online, all through multiple online sources. 

    Technology can also mislead you. A lot of people get very misled when they don't know to look at the proper sources. Anyone can add to the information on the internet, so you need to make sure that you are looking at the correct resources. I worry that people are too reliant on the internet for their information. They also are not properly researching their information, and are easily misled.

    I think compared to most people in my generation, I am on the better side of technology usage. I am someone who does not have Tik Tok for instance. So I am not spending hours upon hours looking at my feed. However, I still use social media and watch youtube videos which is not the best usage of my time.

    My online footprint is not really present. I do not have anything come up on myself when I googled my name.  However, that is only the footprint I leave visible to other people. My footprint is very long in terms of those who run the internet. For everything we use, we agree to a series of terms and conditions. We basically sign up to let companies track our data. I remember I got my first iPod around the age of ten years old. Legally you have to be 13 to sign up for an Apple Id. However, it was more than easy to lie about my age. I was only ten and had all my data being tracked by internet companies. Imagine someone following a ten-year-old around the park tracking down every move they make. Kind of weird right. 

    

        

Blog #4 8 Values of Freedom

    James Madison wrote the first amendment of the United States and in that, he said: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”  We the people have to be able to understand that as a whole everyone has to be able to speak their minds and address the things that they feel should be addressed. Our government has to stand by us and hear what we have to say, we have to work with our government and hear what they have to say. We are whole in perspective because we all have the right to speak out on what we believe.

    I remember growing up reciting and hearing this in elementary school every morning before homeroom; "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.the significance of this was that everyone in the whole school was reciting these words together as a whole with one heart over their hand facing the American flag. Part of that is to remember what we are as a country and the rights we have. Justice for all means that everyone is treated fairly and justly. One thing that is evident in what is being spoken is that we are a nation under God living with liberty and justice for all. As a nation we are supposed to be working together not around each other, part of that requires being able to hear everyone's voiced opinion. When people are upset or have questions and need to talk about it, that is the best time for others to listen and hear them. Let people voice their opinion, listen to what they need to speak about.  Without freedom of speech people can’t talk about things and we we are not one nation as a whole. Freedom of speech is what people are born with, it is a God given right. 

    First of all people have minds that need to be spoken. People are not supposed to suppress what they have inside they have to let things go. If one can’t voice their opinion it is hard for them to feel connected or free. Part of what we live for is freedom. America is also known to be “the land of the free” this is what our country and government was founded on. Whenever people need to let things out it is a good thing. If someone has something on their mind that they want to speak about the best thing to do is just listen. Let them say what they have to say. Understanding that everyone's opinion is valid and that you should’t prevent people from saying what's on their mind is not really a good thing. 

Personally I would want to know what someone is mad about if I made them upset. 

Blog #8 Diffusion

     Some are Early Adopters and Some are Late Adopters because while both are exposed to or informed about a new innovation. This is very interesting to see especially because sometimes there are consequences to adoption. It was much different before technology was so advanced. People were able to be without technology and now it has become a huge dependency. We see the rest of the world's species does not use technology at all but “technology is information” they say. Through the lens of Diffusion Theory, many things popped out.

    Many people became Early Adopters because they have certain advantages such as high opinion leadership and social status. Many people Become Late Adopters because it isn’t as accessible for them to adopt an innovation or they are more skeptical about the innovation and its cost. And some people are not adopters at all since it is harder for them to afford the innovation, they have a lower social status, may be older in age, and more focused on “traditions.” There are many downsides to adopting new innovations because these adoptions have consequences whether it be from lack of research beforehand, an increase in inequality, loss of jobs and more. Some of the negative effects innovations in technology have caused are; ill health, indirect costs like social conflicts arising or a failed product, and more. 

    Having social media platforms can be draining and oftentimes bad for the brain. Not having any social media platforms can benefit people because of the detriments they are avoiding that come along with social media. It is hard to see the positive side of social media when it has become so negative and it is easy to assume that the positive side of media has outweighed the negative because of how popular it is. On that note it does not prove that the negative side of social media has outweighed the positive side because it has. To weigh that cost benefit analysis with a new communication technology there would have to be potential adopters and provide positive reactions and benefits to these adopters. A new idea would have to be adopted that would provide a greater advantage than current communication technology.

Blog #6 Anti-war

     It requires digging deep in order to hear strong anti-war voices, especially in today's world because of how the mainstream news tends to hide these voices. There are a lot of people out here that aren’t getting heard or are being disregarded by mainstream news and media platforms. These media sources seem to not want these people to be heard because how the harsh reality that these people challenge to expose is not on their agenda. It seems that the truth inside the voices of these people is actually what they make out to be against their agenda.

    These voices do in fact need to be heard, it is a big obstacle for people who should be heard to have to work around mainstream media considering these mainstream media platforms tend to bring attention away from anti-war voices. It seems like war gets covered up and even more so the impact that war has on the world. For one thing, it is complicated enough to have to listen to what the news goes on about especially in cases of war because everything that gets put on the news is so misconstrued. It also gets harder and harder to find mainstream news platforms that are trustworthy. We see that oftentimes they gain influence over their viewers before even bringing them the truth. War is usually influenced and provoked and most of that is only seen on the inside. It's harder to hear what's going on when you are nowhere near.  Notice how in the US media platforms especially local ones often treat their platform as an influencer rather than an informer.

    It seems you hear the real news everywhere but on the news because oftentimes news platforms are controlled or paid off to hide what is actually going on. In some instances completely misconstrue what has gone on or is going on to bring people away from what is going on. US media platforms are streamed worldwide but the US doesn’t seem to stream the rest of the world's news and media platforms within its borders. It seems like this is why we have to seek out obscure websites to hear strong anti-war voices. 

Supreme Court Blog #3

 

    I have somewhat of a background on the Supreme Court from taking a politics class earlier in college. We went over the basics like judicial review, important cases, and the setup of how Judiciaries are chosen.  I feel that there are important things to take away from this video. One of those takeaways is that this video shows what a textbook can not show. The justices are discussing with one of the experts documenting the Supreme Court for a majority of the video. They explain how the court appears differently when viewed, from how they actually operate. The most surprising thing I learned is how they try to make points aware to each other during the process of oral argument between the lawyers. The justices stated that the lawyers are more of a mediator. They make sure to ask the lawyers specific questions throughout the hearing, in order to spread awareness of points of the case that they find vital. Those who come to watch the court hearing are under the misconception that the hearings are just made up of justices making dialogue with the lawyers. In reality, it is just a professional way to bring the attention necessary to issues in the case to their fellow justices. Myself included, I had no idea this was how they operated. As stated by Justice Kennedy, people are always questioning if the oral argument in the courtroom makes a difference. I thought to myself for a moment, why don't the justices just review the facts of the case on their own, and come together to make a decision? They are the highest order of justice. It was then that he said Abstract principles have to be applied in a real-life situation, and that the lawyer's purpose is to do exactly that. The most important takeaway of the video is exactly that. These nine justices dedicate themselves to reserving the highest order of justice in this country, yet they like anyone else do not have the ability to just look at something and decide if it is correct or incorrect. They need to have an argument said to them, to remind them of the realism of the case so that they can abstain from making a compromised decision. It is important to realize that lawyers represent the voice of the people, bringing the facts and opinions of the general population to the most prominent figures of justice within our government.

AI Technology

 

    Automation is becoming a major issue. Advancements in technology are creating a massive line of unemployment. Robots are automating the tasks needed in factories. This is causing a lot of blue-collar workers to no longer work. Advancements in technology may be speeding up production, but overall it is a negative effect. To be honest I believe we really don't need to increase the speed. Most factories are making more products than there is demand. By speeding up the process, we are not only being wasteful, but we are taking the opportunity to bring food to the table right of the hands of many Americans. This automation is cutting out the middleman. 

    You either make it or you don't nowadays. While the amount of wealth may grow in certain individuals, overall poverty will skyrocket. Another concern about AI is privacy. It is concerning how much data new technology can automate about you, just from using a search engine like google. With algorithms, companies can learn information about what we click on, and what kind of ads we are interested in. It is through data collection that these internet companies make the most of their revenue. They make an extremely large portion of their wealth from collecting data and having targeted ads sent toward us. 

    Advertisements are making companies more money than the services they provide currently. Even by messaging your friends on social media, data is collected. You say you are going to meet up at 6:45 tonight, this is still collected. AI technology is quite innovative, but we really have to be aware of the consequences that come with it.