Blog #6: EOTO Reaction

I enjoyed the Each One Teach One technology presentations, as I got to learn about new technologies and learn more about some that I use every day. My favorite topic that I learned about was Josiah's presentation about carrier pigeons.

Carrier Pigeons

During Josiah's EOTO presentation, I learned about how pigeons were used to deliver messages across distances.

The pigeons, referred to as Carrier Pigeons, would deliver mail during the Roman Empire. They were also popular in the Middle East. The most common method of mail delivery was by horse, but the wealthy could use carrier pigeons because they did a faster job. The pigeons were also useful for sending messages during WW1 and WW2.

The British Royal Family has been collecting pigeons for racing for a long time, which Josiah believes gave the species a purpose and is the reason for their large population.

I thought it was an interesting point for him to bring up the large pigeon population and connect it to their work. I agree with Josiah that the British collection of pigeons could relate to their liveliness. I did not know the British enjoyed collecting them and setting them up in races! 

That is really interesting to me because when I think of a pigeon, I think of a bird walking around near restaurants in New York that people are shooing away. Meanwhile, a British person might take it for their entertainment.

My Thoughts

One question I have about carrier pigeons is how does the bird know where it's going? I am guessing they are bribed by food and treats by whoever is receiving the mail.

I also wonder how much weight the pigeons could hold and comfortably take flight with. I imagine that however the mail attached to them, it was uncomfortable and potentially disrupted their flying abilities.

Finally, I am curious about whether carrier pigeons could only fly in nice weather conditions. If you need to ship mail on a rainy day, can you do it or do you have to wait for clear conditions?

Blog #5: Privacy, Online and Off

The modern world's technology can be an amazing tool and resource in our day-to-day lives. However, it can also be invasive and dangerous. My eye has been opened to the dangers of the internet and our identities on it after watching several Ted Talks. One video in particular stood out to me.

Electronic Tattoos

The Ted Talk was given by Juan Enriquez. He began with an analogy about how people are stuck with their tattoos forever, and how we are also stuck forever with our electronic tattoos: our data on the internet.

This was a useful way to help people grasp that whatever they put out onto the internet stays there forever. It is a common thing that people regret sometimes years later, similar to regretting their tattoos.

These electronic tattoos include information such as your activity on Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Yelp, GPS, cell phones, Travel Advisor, Wikipedia, credit cards, credit scores, and more.

Enriquez discussed that this information is being surveilled by people and that it is difficult to hide from your electronic tattoos for this reason.

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition is another large aspect of being linked to your digital actions. There are machines that can identify a person from their face and reveal their shopping habits for sales associates to take advantage of.

Enriquez speaks about how people used to have to try really hard to get famous and be known, but now we all risk unknowingly being known because our data is easy to access and being watched.

He also says we are threatened with immortality due to our identities being plastered on the internet, which will live forever.

Personally, I was aware of the idea of electronic tattoos before because I think it is similar to the term "digital footprint", which I am familiar with. I believe this is a crucial topic that should be taught to young kids before they put anything on the internet that they will regret.

Protection Moving Forward

The only solution I can think of to protect ourselves from our electronic tattoos being used against us is to be careful and conscious of the tattoos we create moving forward. I say this because we know we can't change the impact we have already had, hence why they are electronic "tattoos".

Blog #4: EOTO- Newspaper

Early Newspapers

The newspaper wasn't invented at a specific time or place, but it evolved into its creation with the development of technology. One of the earliest forms of newspaper was in Ancient Rome in 59 BCE, called Acta Diurna. 

These were daily government news updates that were handwritten and posted publicly. Information such as events, births, deaths, daily gossip, military campaigns, executions, and more were shared with the people.

A similar system occurred in 1556 in Venice, Italy. This newspaper, also known as Avisi, was centered on military and political notices.

Both of these newspapers were handwritten by scribes since the printing press was not yet invented, or widespread. Scribes could only write a limited number of copies by hand. Therefore, it was common for some community members to be uninformed.

Impact of the Movable Type Printing Press

The world of newspaper was forever changed when Johannes Gutenberg created the movable type printing press, a machine that could print many copies of paper quickly at a large rate. This was revolutionary compared to the block printing method, where the writing would be carefully carved into a block of wood before being transferred onto the paper in ink. It was laborious and time consuming. 

In contrast, the movable type sparked efficiency with the individual metal letters and symbols that could be arranged quickly to form any message. This was incredibly useful because the printer operators spent far less time carefully making the message into the wood, and they were able to focus on maximizing their output of copies.

Gutenberg's innovation was a game-changer and began the Printing Revolution. The mass production of newspapers allowed for the thorough dissemination of information.

The Penny Press

Newspapers in America were quite costly for the time, generally six cents. The high expense was another obstacle to distributing newspapers and having a well informed society.

In 1833, Benjamin Day took note of the high price and created a New York City newspaper called The Sun. His paper found major success because he sold each one for only one cent to gain a larger working class audience. This became known as the Penny Press.

Comic Strips

In 1896, comic strips were introduced into newspapers. Publishers wanted to attract more customers to their papers by including comics for immigrants and non-English speakers to look at, since they could not understand the written news.

Yellow Journalism

While the newspaper is a fundamental step in the progression of communication in society, one downside is the spread of misinformation. Publishers and editors became greedy for more people to buy and be interested in their newspapers, so they wrote deceiving titles. These titles make the story seem intriguing and tempt people to buy it to find out more information.

Known as Yellow Journalism, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph created the term as two opposing publishers who would alter the information and exaggerate for a larger profit.

Click Baiting

This reminded me of the very common concept of click baiting today. Click baiting is when titles of videos or online articles entice the viewer to click on them by exaggerating or rephrasing information. Often, when the viewer is baited in and clicks on the title, they do not find anything about what the title insinuates. This strategy uses its misleading nature to achieve more viewers, which is similar to Yellow Journalism in the newspaper industry.

Blog #3- Key Post: The Eight Values of Free Expression

The Eight Values of Free Expression stem from the First Amendment. 

They include:

1. Marketplace of Ideas/Discovery of Truth: John Milton fought against needing to have a licene to print and publish by arguing that truth beats falsehood when they come together.
2. Participation in Self-Government: Supports free speech for candidates and their policies, leading to citizens being well informed about what to vote for.
3. Stable Change/Safety Valve: The idea that free speech of venting will help prevent violence.
4. Individual Self-Fulfillment/Self-Actualiztion: Freedom of speech allowing citizens to be individuals and express themselves.
5. Check on Governmental Power/Watchdog Role: Freedom of the press keeps citizens informed of any abuses of power to maintain checks and balances.
6. Promote Tolerance: Freedom of speech grows the tolerance of the citizens to become tolerant to upsetting speech.
7. Promote Innovation: Citizens use free speech creatively to make up a diverse and interesting community.
8. Protect Dissent: The ability to criticize and disagree with the government.

I believe that all of these values are crucial, but a few stood out and resonated with me the most. This includes Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, and Promote Innovation.

Stable Change

Firstly, Stable Change was a concept that caught my attention because I didn't quite understand it at first. I wasn't connecting how free speech would lead to less violence. Once I worked through it, I strongly agreed with the value. Without the freedom to vent and express ones anger through words, the next best way is through actions. To prevent violence and riots, it is important that people are allowed to express and share their feelings. This way, their words will be heard and violence wouldn't be necessary.

Individual Self-Fulfillment

Secondly, Individual Self-Fulfillment stood out to me because I think it is very important for people to be able to express their thoughts and not be afraid of being punished for their opinions. Everyone should be able to feel comfortable to be themselves and create their own identities. People are constantly evolving in and out of different traits, habits, beliefs, values, and personalities. Free speech needs to exist and protect citizens while they discover who they are and who they aren't.

Self Actualization is also a part of this value. Cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman defined it as "finding things that fit your deepest strengths, your deepest values, and your sense of why you're here on this planet." He also noted that he doesn't believe self actualization is a linear process, instead in waves. Free speech allows citizens to discover these parts of themselves without fear of punishment.

Promote Innovation

The value of promoting innovation stands out to me because I enjoy being innovative and creative, therefore, I resonate with it deeply. When I was reading about this value, it reminded me of slam poetry and the way people use it to bring awareness to issues in society. I think slam poetry of that kind combines the values of promoting innovation and protecting dissent. Slam poetry can be a creative and interesting way of criticizing the government.

I am not a poetry writer, but I do enjoy painting and drawing. It is important that free speech protects the messages I wish to portray through artwork, as well as other unique ways that citizens would like to communicate. The image above is a painting by Banksy, called "Love is in the Air". The artist created this work with a message to spread hope and peace instead of violence. I believe that artwork and its message should be protected under free speech.

I believe freedom of speech is essential because if citizens aren't allowed to communicate about injustices, they may never be resolved. Overall, each of the eight values of free expression are equally as important in my opinion, but these three resonated personally with me the most.

Blog #2: Supreme Court

Although I was previously uninformed, I learned a lot about both the Supreme Court and some specific Chief Justices while watching the two videos. 

History

The first thing I learned was about the rise of the court. I was unaware that the Judicial Branch was viewed as less powerful than the others at some point in time. In fact, it wasn't until Chief Justice John Marshall struck down an unconstitutional act of Congress in the early 1800s that respect was raised for the court, and the Judicial Branch was finally seen as equal to the other branches.

Chief Justice Feelings

The first video gave an in-depth view into what the Chief Justices think and feel while occupying this position. Chief Justice David H. Souter reflected on the beginning of his term when he was advised that it would take him several years to settle into the role and not feel as overwhelmed. This was interesting to hear because it reminded me that the Chief Justices are just people and also feel emotions like stress and overwhelm.

With this information, I was interested to hear from Justices who have become comfortable in their role. Firstly, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor shared how she believes that it is important for each Justice to shake one another's hands before they have a conference. She reasons that the physical contact allows the Justices to begin on a friendly note. Hearing her insights allows me to get a feel for what the energy in the conference room is like as a Justice.

Secondly, Justice Clarence Thomas shared that he likes to approach conferences with an outline of what his decision for each case will be. With this system, he says that his opinion might change during the conference, but it is unlikely. I found it intriguing to hear about his personal habits to feel prepared for his duties as a Justice.

Overall, this part of the video was informational, and I felt like I received insider advice for becoming a successful Chief Justice.

The Process

I previously had no knowledge of the process that Justices go through when granting or denying certiorari. The second video explained each step, beginning with the Justices asking the lawyers questions for 30 minutes each and hearing their arguments. From there, the Justices privately gather in a conference room to discuss and vote on the case. 

Once a decision is reached, a Justice on the majority side is assigned to write an opinion that explains the legal reasoning behind the choice. Any Justice can write another opinion that disagrees with that view or agrees with different reasoning. The opinion drafts are sent to all nine Justices as they try to get each other in agreement. I was surprised to learn about how long of a process this can be. Once the final decision is made, the opinions are released to the press so they can report the court's decision and reasoning to the people.

The videos taught me about how important of a role being Chief Justice is and increased my respect for them further. They also emphasized the importance of the court having the trust of the American people. Without it, the court would have no power, according to the videos.

Before watching these videos, I had minimal knowledge about the Supreme Court and its Justices. Now, I am informed about the court's history, processes, and the duty of the Justices.

Blog #1: Top 5 Sources of News and Information

Although I do not intentionally seek out news and information very often, I inevitably encounter it as I browse the internet daily. This allows me to be aware of relevant current events.

TikTok

My primary source of news and information is TikTok, the social media app where various content is shared in short videos. Since I spend a decent amount of my free time roaming the app for entertainment, it is where I am most likely to stumble across new information. When I use the app, I commonly learn about something new that I wasn't previously aware of. I enjoy using TikTok as a news source because the short video format helps the information to be shared efficiently and understood easily. However, misinformation is often spread on TikTok, so I am cautious and don't assume everything on the app is true. For this reason, I only use this source to bring a topic to my attention and, if I am interested, research it further with reliable sources.

Instagram

My second source of news and information is Instagram, another social media platform. Similar to TikTok, the news I encounter on Instagram is usually accidental, as I am on the app mostly for entertainment or communication. However, I learn about many current events by viewing story posts from the users I follow. Many people like to use their accounts to repost political and activism posts for all of their followers to see, which brings more awareness to the topic. Because of this, Instagram is a great way to learn about current news that my peers are most passionate about. False information is also commonly spread on Instagram, so I believe it is crucial to fact-check important information elsewhere.

Google

My third favorite news and information source is Google. I enjoy using this search engine because it gives me quick results, often with a direct answer to my question in the first result. Also, Google has helpful sub-websites, such as Google News and Google Scholar, which are amazing for discovering news and information from reliable sources. Overall, Google will give me the answer I am looking for quickly and efficiently.

Youtube

My fourth favorite source is YouTube. I usually begin my research on Google, and occasionally, a YouTube video will be one of the top results of my search. I enjoy using YouTube as a source when I want a more structured and in-depth explanation. Many YouTubers who post informational content break down concepts and make them easier for their viewers to understand, compared to reading an advanced and potentially confusing article. YouTube is also great for physical demonstrations, depending on the topic being researched.

The New York Times

My final favorite news and information source is The New York Times. I occasionally visit the website to browse article headlines and discover current events. I will read articles that I find intriguing or relevant. While I enjoy this source for its abundance of information, I dislike the constant advertising for buying a subscription to the website. It is disruptive to my research process, as it often covers the whole screen and the article I was reading. However, I enjoy that The New York Times website has material that covers a multitude of topics, from world news to cooking recipes.