My Relationship With Technology 

Throughout this course we discussed many things including the timeline of constitutional laws in our country, the advancement of technology in communication and the advancement of technology in general. The advancement of technology is a funny thing because it is completely unpredictable and we never know what is going to make an impact and what will not. For example, the video from the world fair from the 1960's predicts what the world will look like in the future and it is very different from what we have today. They still predicted a few things to be almost correct but it is almost impossible to predict the future. There are too many variables that we cannot account for. Another example is a television show like The Jetsons. The Jetsons was a TV show that followed a family set in the future. Of course they had a lot of things like flying cars that do not exist yet in our future. It is hard to say if these kinds of things will ever exist.

I think that it is important to remember that while technology has a lot of positive benefits there are of negatives that also come along with it.  For example, social media can be seen as a huge negative. With social being in the name it has actually led to people being less social and keeping to themselves more. The video about the negatives for technology and cell phones is really eye opening being it shows how everyone looks in the modern age from a different perspective. The video follows the main character being ignored and confused by all of the people being on their phones and looking right past him. This a sad reality that we all live in. Almost anyone can relate to feeling like the people around them are ignoring them. Or in a public setting for example like going out to eat and everyone is on their phones during the meal. Every time anyone is waiting in line at bank, restaurant, and/or amusement park they are on their phone doing something. The constant screen time and phone use is a huge concern for the current and next generation.

Another notable place where technology has changed everything is education. In schooling across all levels technology is a huge part of it. I can remember since 6th grade I had my own personal device provided for me by the school. It is difficult to think about going to class and doing school work without a website like Blackboard or Google Classroom. I actually still prefer all of my tests to be done with paper and pencil because I feel more connected to the content. Technology has changed schools a lot and I think it is for the better. It is very easy to access all of your assignments in one spot and to be able to see your grades. It makes it easier for the students and more efficient for the instructors as well. 

 Our generation's relationship with technology is definitely rocky but I think at the end of the day it does more good than it does bad. It has given the world so many things to make everyone lives simpler and easier like GPS and access to the internet for example. Obviously all of the negatives technology brings like things like cyber bullying but so many examples out weigh the negatives. As a civilization everyone will just need to learn how to adaptt and take all the good things about technology and the leave the rest.

  

EOTO Project #1

The Importance of the First Email:

    The First email was invented in 1971 by a computer programmer named Ray Tomlinson. Tomlinson was working for the firm, Bolt, Beranek, and Newman and was barely even trying to invent the email because he did not think it would turn out to be such a big deal. Tomlinson was looking for a way for people and computers to interact better in addition to sending files between computers rather than just between different users on the same computers. I would say Tomlinson was successful. He was also credited with sending the first email which was really underwhelming. His first email was just a test with a combination of random letters on the keyboard. Tomlinson thought working on this project was "A neat thing to do" and did not really grasp the importance of what he was really doing. He never would have thought that on that day he would make something so impactful for the entire world.

    Looking at the impact of the email it obviously has changed communication forever. Even though it was invented in 1971 using email was not mainstream until the 1990's. As a college student email is a part of my day to day to life and it would be completely different without it. Same thing with the business world. Many occupations require you to check your email more than twice a day. Also, it is very common to find that people have several different email accounts. I know that I have three different ones for three different purposes. Many have professional, personal, and then maybe a spam email account. People have gotten very comfortable using email. Everyone is very familiar with the type of language and professionalism that is usually expected on email. 

    It is clear to see that email has had a very large impact on todays society but it is difficult to grasp how large that impact really is. The number of emails sent every second exceeds 3.13 million. There are 7.9 billion email accounts world wide and active email accounts exceed 5.6 billion. Gmail is the popular email provider with, 1.8 billion active users. The average user has at least 1.86 email accounts. It is clear that email has had a tremendous impact on our culture and society. It is difficult for people to think of world where they are not frequently sending and receiving emails. Before this, it was just phone calls. Now in the present day we also have text messages which are a lot more casual than emails. Thinking about it, it would be extremely difficult to communicate in the modern world without email. I guess it would have to consist of constant calls and voicemail. It would always be hard to learn information and be in the know with what is happening in the world. Email has been so beneficial in the way that we learn and communicate. Without it students, business owners, and many more would have to find another to communicate their daily needs.

The Importance of the Eight Values of Free Expression

     The first amendment of the constitution is the first amendment because it is arguably the most important and should be the first of our rights that should always be protected. James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, along with the other founders believed that our freedom of speech would be the driving thing that makes the United States unique from most other nations. It is human nature to not agree on everything so it is important to voice opinions and respectfully debate on topics where the same idea is not shared. The whole purpose of the constitution is to ensure the betterment of the people and how can we better off the people unless we allow everyone to freely think and choose their own paths. For me as an American citizen it is difficult to imagine a place where I could not freely say what I was thinking and to voice my own opinions. The eight different speech theories of values of free expressions are meant to prove why free speech is so detrimental to a flourishing nation.

1. Marketplace of Ideas:

    The marketplace of ideas is the idea that when there is a choice from right from wrong people will ultimately choose right. More specifically the choice of truth or falsehood. When people have the opportunity to see both of them then it is more likely that people will choose the truth. For example, if one news station is saying that something that is not true and has no real backing but another news station that is telling the truth and all of the proper evidence then it is only natural for people to realize which is right and what is wrong.

2. Participation in Self-Government:

    In our country for every presidential election there are many debates so that the American people can better decide on which candidate they would like to vote for. These candidates say whatever they believe will give them a better chance of winning the election. If they were unable to say what they wanted to say then the people who are voting would not have an accurate gauge at what they really think. It is important for the voters to fully understand each candidate.

3. Stable Change:

    The idea that groups of people who are being alienated or feel like they are not being heard are allowed to be heard. This theory believes that doing this allows people to speak rather than resorting to some type of violence. Having the ability to rant when something is wrong allows people to hear so they can help fix the problem.

4. Individual Self-Fulfillment:

    Being able to speak freely just makes us feel like our individuals who have our own individual thoughts. Having people in your country think about things differently and from a different prospective allows everyone to be themselves which make our government very unique. This also just makes us human. No two people are the exact same and having the ability to freely speak and think proves that to be true.

5. Check on Governmental Power:

    This specifically speaks on the press on how they have the power to expose any abuses of power by government. Then, the people are able to determine weather it is right to make any changes in the figures we vote for. A good example of this is the Watergate incident where it led to President Nixon being the first President to ever resign from office. It is important for the people to have the ability to receive fair and unbiased news.

6. Promote Tolerance:

    This is implies that the more we see things that upsets us like any kind of hate speech or something like that is good for us because it shows us to be more tolerant in other parts of life. It is an interesting thought because hate speech is something that can get really ugly and inappropriate. Hate speech is certainly dangerous but the exposure to it can allow people to become less sensitive and learn from it.

7. Promote Innovation:

    Having the ability of free speech allows for a much better sense of community because it encourages individual ideas. This is similar to individual self-fulfillment because it is about being your own person and creating a diverse environment. It makes life more interesting to be different than everyone else and having your own ideas.

8. Protect Dissent

    This is the idea that is our responsibility as American citizens to critique the government and that it is ok even if your opinions are not the most popular. It is important that not all opinions are the same because everyone has different backgrounds which means that everyone has their own perspective. 

Understanding the U.S. Supreme Court

     In our great nation we have several levels of court. The highest level being the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has nine justices that directly appointed by the President of the U.S. with the approval of the senate. Unlike many other political positions they do not have term limits so they could theoretically serve for as long as they live which does happen. A new appointment is only made after another one of the justices step down from the position. The Supreme Court has been established as long as the constitution has been ratified but only gained validity after Marbury V. Madison in 1803. This very famous court case established judicial review which means the courts are allowed to review and invalidate the action of another part of the government. This is an example of separation of powers in the United States. 

    All members of the Supreme Court stay incredibly busy as they see over 100 cases a week but only will choose to take a few. In our country there are so many lawsuits and court cases that it is impossible for the Supreme Court to see of all of these case. This is why State and local courts are so important. It is up to the state or local court to determine whether a case is important to be viewed by the Supreme Court but this does not mean that they have to take it. A fun and interesting fact I learned from the videos we watched was that every time a new justice is appointed they take a new official photo.

    The videos we watched on the Supreme Court were super informational. As someone who is not an expert on the Supreme Court but is heavily interested in learning more about government I learned a lot. I think that it is so important to be informed on how your own government operates and works. It is only beneficial to yourself to understand the policies and inner workings of the government. To tie that back to the Supreme Court, these are the people that affect the well being of everyday people the most with many not even realizing it. This is something that I can really take away from what I learned is that throughout all the major court cases in American history it is the supreme court that is making all of these major decisions for the country and their citizens. 

Top Five Sources of News and Information

     In the ever changing world its important to always stay up to date with news globally. News has become more and more available due to the advancements in technology. Unfortunately, this also means that there has been an increase of false news. Its difficult to be able what is reliable and whats not so you just have to stay diligent and review more than one news source. All the news that I follow are very different and all unique in their own way. My top five news sources are Instagram, X TikTok, ESPN, and the New York Post

Instagram 

    Instagram is traditionally thought to be social networking site but with the over 2 billion users many of them are news pages. The different news pages vary dramatically with all them covering different things in different ways. Instagram is really good for the fastest information in my opinion because it is very easy to make a post and there are so many users so companies try to break the news there first. I follow several news pages on instagram including all the major news companies. Instagram biggest problem is that there are maybe too many news accounts on the app and many of them are incredibly unreliable. Also, on instagram most people only read the headline and the article that is linked to the post. This can alter somebody perspective because they are only reading the headline rather than digger deeper to know more by reading the actual article.  Instagram

TikTok

    TikTok has become incredibly popular in last several years. It is similar to Instagram in the way that they are both social networking sites as well in their formatting. TikTok also faces the same problem as Instagram with many of the post only including the headline and not any additional information. TikTok is different in the way that it more video based so there are posts that include somebody actually talking and explaining the topic. It is difficult to say which social media platform is better because both platforms are very user friendly. I think TikTok does a really good job of making the news stories a little more engaging with the video aspect.  TikTok

X

    X is another social networking site but is a little more established than Instagram and TikTok. X, formerly known as Twitter is mainly just thoughts and feelings people share. In the individual posts people mainly did not add more than two sentences.  News sources use their X accounts to provide photos and links to their news stories. X has been known to be a very controversial platform because many people have engaged in heated arguments. This has actually caused people to stay away from the platform. X is one of the best for having a short and condensed version of the news. X

ESPN

    As a large sports fan its natural for to closely follow an all sports news network. ESPN does a great job of covering all sports from football to cricket. I follow ESPN on all social media sites as well as frequently check the website. They provide up to date news on all sports as well as keeps a log of a lot game scores and seasons. ESPN also has several TV channels that feature live games, news, and talk shows. All the networks are super accessible with the ESPN app. ESPN is a very entertaining way to keep up with the world of sports. ESPN

New York Post

    My last most used news source is the New York Post. The New York Post is a newspaper based in New York City is and was founded all the way back in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton. This news source provides up to date news on all topics. Mostly known for its political and world news its a great source for accurate confident news.  The website is super easy to use and includes all of the features to easily find all articles for all topics. New York Post