My Relationship With Technology

     There is no doubt that at my current age, 19 years old, I am at the center of the population engulfed in technology. My generation has never seen life without it and only knows how to live with it by our side. This is a scary thought, but is also so interesting when really looked into. I feel that I have a very good relationship with technology, however, I am not blind to the problems and issues it causes in my life and those like me. The world and the internet are a scary place these days and its hard to not get sucked into the mess.     

    I feel that since I have grown up surrounded by technology, I have been able to make it work in my life exactly how I need. From an outside perspective some may say I, or teens like me, use it way too often, but that is just because they don't understand the way in which it works within our lives. A great example of this is how productive I can become because of technology. Being born with these devices means I know exactly how to use them and exactly how to manage them. The new generation is able to create and learn so much quicker because of technological advancements. That doesn't even bring in the idea of how much we are able to communicate and learn from each other. Social media alone has created such an amazing space for children to experience things they never would have without it. This statistic from statisa.com show exactly how many of us truly are connected and within each others reach. 

    However, as I had mentioned before, I am not oblivious to the harmful effects social media has on so many individuals along with myself. I ,myself,  have been victim to cyberbullying and I know so many others that have as well. I would be lying if I had said that technology has not caused me to have depressive episodes or effected my mood. Nevertheless, nothing is perfect. For as much as social media may be harmful to us and can cause a variety of issues, nothing compares to the amount of good that it can do for us. We have been able to push so much farther forward because of it and have grown as a species more than we could ever imagine. 

    Lastly, my digital footprint is something that I have never been very worried about. I see social media as a way to express yourself, to have fun, and to be who you are. There are always people saying that you have to be careful what you post and to worry about what everyone else thinks. And while I completely agree that it is important to be careful and smart on social media, I do not think individuals should have to limit themselves. A study by Inc.com shows that in today's day and age companies do not really care about "drinking" or things of that matter on social media accounts. Everyone knows that you've done it, and everyone knows that everybody does it. Its things like this that make me unworried about my digital footprint. I know that I have been smart with what I have put out there, and I can say that I show exactly who I am. That personally is what is most important to me. 

Machine Learning

While listening to everyone's presentations so many ideas and topics and interested me, however, one had caught my attention even more than the others. This idea was machine learning and everything is brings with it. Machine Learning is completely taking over our society as we know it and before we even realize it will be absolutely every where. For example a few categories that machine learning falls under are things such as: AI, facial recognition, medicine, everyday jobs, etc. It has already impacted us more than you could ever imagine and once you start to notice it you wont be able to stop seeing it around every corner you turn or even within the palm of your hand. 

The kay part behind machine learning is big data. Big data is the new oil of the future and is data that is on a scale that our brains as humans cannot even comprehend. It is how our machines these days learn and grow and continue to surpass us. The biggest and arguably scariest implication of big data within machine learning is artificial intelligence. AI is our future and is is much closer than we think. Artificial intelligence is able to think far past what the human brain can and will overall control every part of society as we know it. This sounds amazing and like a future we only see in movies but it is very much here. The scariest part is that there is no stopping it and there is no telling how far it may go. 

Machine learning also hits on so many more topics that we see every single day within our lives. Such as facial recognition on our iPhones. Also within our countries such as Japan and China we have seen this be taken to a whole other level. Facial recognition is being used within security footage, cross walks, grocery shopping, and even public transportation. All of this can be seen with the documentary Age of AI. The biggest question we have now is how far are we away form a future were we are controlled by robots? Will we advance so far to a point where humans are meaningless? For now we just have to wait and see what the future holds. 

Diffusion of Innovations

Snapchat is a social media app that has completely taken over the lives of newer generations. With over 530 million users it has grown more and more popular than many other social media platforms throughout the years. Why has it become so popular? What makes it so captivating? How has it lasted as long as it has. These are all questions that people want to know. Everyone wants to create an app that takes over but what does ti actually take for it to happen?

Snapchat was created on July 8, of 2011 and has since stayed as prevalent as ever. As a person who uses snapchat everyday I can think of multiple reasons as to why it has remained so popular for all of the years. For starters, it is exactly what our generation wants. Quick communication that doesn't even involve talking to one another. As we move further and further into the future the idea of quick communication becomes that much more popular. Snapchat does this in an amazing way where users send quick images back and forth allowing for instant communication that also allows you to see the other individual. As Roger's mentions within his theory adopters are one of the key aspects for something to not only blow up but stay relevant. Snapchat has created millions of adopters within the newer generations because of its usage of quick communication. 

What else makes Snapchat so desirable? Well, Snapchat, like many of its social media competitors, does not have only one function. While Snapchat allows for quick communication it also allows for many other uses. For example Snapchat's memories feature. Memories is almost identical to the iPhone camera roll however is instead within the app and only saves images or videos taken within the app. This, along with many people I know is the best feature of snapchat. It allows me to keep all my videos and pictures of my friends within a specific place and also takes up no storage on my phone unlike my camera roll would. This has been a huge reason why I still use Snapchat and I believe the main reason most people do as well. I cannot delete the app as I would lose all of my memories and the photos that I have saved within it. 

Overall, Snapchat has done an amazing job at not only targeting the newer generations but also keeping them engaged and on the app. It has every aspect that the Diffusion of Innovations theory discusses and overall hits every category. While it may not involve the older generations like some social media platforms do, it doesn't need to as it has such a large audience as it is. Also as I mentioned before it has created reasons for people to not want to delete the app which will allow them to keep this audience for as long as it wants. 

Smith-Mundt Act

The Smith-Mundt was a har done to research as it seems to have caused lots of controversy throughout the years. It is also called the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948. Its original use was to prohibit the U.S. Department of State and the BBG, or Broadcasting Board of Governors, from spreading government produced programming within the U.S. This was done out of the fear that the government/other agencies would use this information as propaganda to influence citizens. 

                                    

Propaganda is when biased or misleading information is used to promote or even publicize a certain political point of view. Within war times especially, propaganda was seen everywhere. With posters such as the one of Uncle Sam that encouraged young males to go to war, it has been around for as long as we can remember. Throughout the years however it has not only gotten worse, but also even harder to detect. This makes it that much more harmful. With social media taking over our society propaganda is hidden every where within the palms. of our hands. Things such as funny memes are used to influence the way we think about certain views. It is has gotten to the point where these days it may be hard to tell what is propaganda and what isn't. 

The Smith-Mundt act itself was also modernized in 2013 where it promoted greater government transparency which also allowed for the government to spread information freely greatly influence public opinion. Many people see this has a good thing but it also has my cons. While the government will be much more open which will allow our people to be in the know more and a lot more comfortable with what is occurring, it still allows for much more information to be spread to us and in a lot more places. Propaganda may be everywhere but at least we will know that it is going to be. 

Overall, there is not telling what will come next with the Smith-Mundt Act. We as a society have come to the point where accept that this knowledge is everywhere and know what is going on. I feel that we have all come to terms with how social media has taken over our worlds and that there is nothing we are going to be able to do about it. All that we can do now is be mindful of what we read online and take into consideration what effect each post or comment may have on us and the way we think. The Smith-Mundt act itself has done many great things and will continue to control the way information is spread within the United States. 

Online Privacy

 Within today's day and age we have almost zero privacy. Technology has created a world where nothing is private and anyone in the world could know everything about you from just a few clicks. There are also many instances these days where we don't even know our information is becoming known. This is especially prevalent within Christopher Sotoghian's TED talk where he discusses phone calls and the way in which we are being listened too. Without our knowledge it is said that the government secretly listens too and notes down our private phone calls every single day. The government wants this information and has been especially upset with newer technology that has been stopping them from being able to listen. As we advance more and more phones are now able to stop these hacks with encryptions and are causing frustration within the government. For now I guess the question is whether we as people care or don't care about the government listening in on our private conversations. 

    However, it is not only the government that we have to be worried about. Other issues may arise such as the ones seen within Darieth Chisolm's TED talk where she discusses private images of herself that her ex boyfriend had posted to the internet for everyone to see. She has coined this term as revenge porn.  Nowadays with social media being so prevalent it is scary to think. about the ways in which someone you know could ruin your whole life or reputation within seconds. A single stupid image or video could result in terrible events. Social media has cerated a world in which we all watch each others every move and judge each other off of images or 10 second clips. There is pretty much nothing we can do about this which is also what makes it so terrifying. As we move further and further on with technology issues such as this one may only seem to get worse. 

With all the privacy issues within our so society there is only one question we can ask ourselves. How do we prevent it? In my opinion, there are multiple stances to take on this topic. When involving the government I feel that we may actually have a chance at change and stopping these issues in the future. If we as people can take a stand form the government we may be able to limit the amount of information taken from us/listened to without our knowledge. It may seem impossible but there must be ways in which the government can be called out or even stopped for their actions thus far. On the other hand when it comes to us as people I feel that there is no prevention. Whether it is our family, friends, or even community there is no stopping a single persons actions in posting something about you whether it is true or not. The only way we can try to prevent this to be better as people and to not put ourselves into situations where we are vulnerable for something like that to happen. 

Email

Everyone knows what email is and has without a doubt used it at some point, but that not how it always was. The invention of email was a revolutionary point within our history and before it there was nothing like it ever seen before. Before email postal services ruled the world, and contacting someone could take days or and then even longer for a response back. The first version fo email was invented in 1865 at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After this things began to take off. 

In 2002, the blackberry phone was invented. This allowed for mobile emails and communication and completely reinvented everything. Before this emails were only on desktop computers allowing for very little flexibility. However, now within a mobile device email began to really take over the world. To put it in perspective even before email had been introduced to mobile phones, it was still so popular that in 1976, Queen Elizabeth became the first head of state and monarch to send an email. 

Although email is one of the most revolutionary inventions fo our generation, everything has its downsides. One of emails biggest flaws is spam. Spam emails are a strategy used by companies or individuals to overload your inbox with loads of emails to subscribe to or buy their products. There is pretty much no way around this issue other than having separate email accounts created just for spam. Another major issue with email is that is very easily hackable. Within the past couple of years there have been hundreds of massive email leaks that have exposed government secrets, private information, and individuals private conversations. This is obviously out of the control of email companies and email itself, but is still a major issue that still needs to be dealt with. 

Antiwar

Within today's society antiwar and opinions on the topic itself seemed to be silenced by all mainstream media. Why is this? We live in a country of freedom yet are silenced when our opinions go against the government. It almost impossible to find articles discussing antiwar, however when you do, the truth it finally unveiled. Looking through American Conservative  one of the very few websites discussing antiwar, I was bale to see a completely new perspective on these topics than ever before, especially compared to what is within our news channel today. An article that stood out to me more than others was titled, Biden's Pointless Troop Deployment, and as you can probably guess, discussed Biden's deployment of 3,000 American soldiers into Afghanistan. I remember when this all went down and it was, within mainstream news, rarely discussed in a negative way. Even though everyone knew that this incident went completely out of control and took a wrong turn, the new still defended it and made it out to seem like everything was okay. I found this article so appealing because of quotes such as, "Biden has chosen the worst of all path: further escalation by deploying troops without any real capabilities to deter Russia, all while distracting from more important issues of national security. What could go wrong?" Hearing someone talk openly about topics such like this is so refreshing as it is almost never seen within current times. 

American Conservative, is not the only website currently discussing topics such as these. Antiwar.com is another great article that discusses ideas that go against mainstream media and all social norms. The website itself goes all out, bringing forth every country and their current military and governmental issues. I really like this because instead of just discussing America'c current situation, you are able to get insight into everything that is going on within the world and are able to look at everything from a much broader perspective. A key apart of the website that stands out to me is its blog tab that goes in depth into specific issue and topics around the world. It is a great way to hear the truth about these problems and to learn the tru meaning behind everything.

Overall, Antiwar and everything comes with it is not something I have thought about or researched myself very much, however, now that I have seen the truth behind a lot of issues going on without our and many other countries governments I am going to continue to research these topics. I never realized just how silenced our mainstream media was and I am fascinated to understand more behind these beliefs and continue to learn the truth that everyone is hiding. 

History of Google

Google has become one fo the most widely known and used companies of our generation. Everyone knows what Google is and what is does, but how did Google get to this point? What did the early days look like? Google, along with many other of the massive companies of our time,  began with two college students in a garage. These two students were Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who attend Stanford university at the time. They began the creation of Google within the garage of Susan Wojcicki, who at the time was a marketing manager for Google. Wojcicki rented the garage to the fellow students for $1,700 a month in order to pay her rent. Funny enough Wojcicki is now the owner of Youtube, a massive company, currently owned by Google itself. 

After only five months of being working within the garage, Google, originally called Backrub, had began to blow up and Page and Brin were ready to move on. Their current headquarters, located in Mountain View, California, covers more than 2 million square feet and Google is now named one fo the Big 5 companies. The Big 5 companies includes companies, such as Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. 

However, everything has two sides and with Google, a built around the internet, there are bound to be many problems. One major issues with Google is the dark web. The dark web is a part of the web very difficult to access that contains everything illegal one could imagine. It is a place full of crime and Google may be one way to access it. Another big issue with Google is its infinite amount of information and the finger tips of anyone who has access to the internet. This may seem like an amazing thing on the surface but when put into the wrong hands, could prove to be very dangerous. Lastly, Google has had some issues with biases, especially within politics. Some say that since Google has control over what pops up when we make our searches, the information may lean towards one direction more than the other in terms of political topics. 

Overall, Google has been one of the biggest advances for our generation and will continue to remain at the top within the industry. Without Google we wouldn't be where we are today and it has proved to be one of the most beneficial and useful tools of modern society. 

U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is a key part to our government's system and structure and always has been. While I have already learned so much about the Supreme Court throughout my lifetime there is still a surprising amount of information I was unaware of. To start off, I was unaware that when the Supreme Court was established in 1789, it gave Congress the power to create inferior federal courts. This is something that I never thought of as I never researched the beginning of the Supreme Court. Another piece fo information about the Supreme Court that I was unaware of was that the justices were required to hold circuit court twice a year and within each judicial court as well. At the time travel methods were very difficulty so I cannot image how difficult this must be and see why it was abolished after 100 years. I believe the most important take away from what I learned about the Supreme Court is just how long it has been around. and how it has stayed relevant to this day. From the very beginning the Supreme Court ruled the justice system and this proves that it is just as effective as it has always been. I believe the most surprising thing I had learned was about the first every court case. The fact that it was a simple case between a farmer and a family he had owed debt to shows that no matter the situation, big or small, the supreme court will take care of it. My thoughts for the Supreme Court have not changed too much. The only thing. that is now different for me is I have a lot more respect because of how long it has stayed relevant. Overall. I never viewed the history of the Court and found it very intriguing to see just how long these decision have been being made. 

The 8 Values of Expression

Stable Change, a value created by Benedict Spinoza and a key part of the 8 Values of Expression, brings forth a very important idea. This idea brings up the issue of hate speech and the way in which it is protected by the government. Why or why not is this an issue? Spinoza believes, "It has been suggested that a society in which angry and alienated citizens are allowed to speak their mind, or "vent," will be more stable, as people will be less likely to resort in violence." This is something that I completely agree with and feel is very prevalent in our current society. Currently, they're our huge debates going on around the country, whether it is about covid-19, war, sexuality, etc. we are all allowed to express truly how we feel whether it may be hateful or not. This is what gets conversation going, helps up solve problems, come up with new ideas, and overall evolves as a civilization. A very prevalent example of this is a protest that occurred just this week. The protest took place in front of the capital where over 35,000 people marched against vaccine mandates. Whether people would like to consider this hate speech or not, is goes against what a large group of people in this country believe and sparks conversation. A conversation that will helps us communicate, plan, and move on. 

Promote Innovation, another value, apart of the 8 values of expression, that really catches my idea. This value was created by Jack Balkin  and brings forth the idea that a community and space where free speech is valued and protected, is much more likely to be interesting, and creative and energetic. One thing that our country is none for and that makes us so special is our ideas. We express ourselves like on one else and discover so many new creative ways of thinking and teaching and expressing ourselves. We show this within our companies, movies, social media presence, etc. This is discussed in great detail with an article by Shrutin Shetty called, Why are Americans consistently more Innovative and Entrepreneurial? Without our first amendment rights, we would never be where we are today. With the ability to express ourselves, talked about our ideas, create conversation, and even assemble together, we are able to bring forth so many new ideas freely and openly. 

Lastly, Protect Dissent, 8th and final value created by Steve Shriffin, discusses the individuals right to go against the majority, and even the government. This is so important in todays society and can be easily overlooked. It is also an ideal that i personally really agree with as I feel that I am someone who tends to lean away from the majority rule and take things and make them my own. One last comment I would like to add is that not all of the 8 Values of Expression are huge things that may change everything but while working together and all being used at the same time we can see a true change and they way they make our country that much more special. 

Top 5 Sources of News and Information

Throughout the years there has been a wide variety of sources that people have gotten their news and information from. For the longest times news papers were the sole source of this information. This evidently switched to the television and new stations, to now in todays society, social media. 

Twitter is currently the most popular source used for news and information by todays generation. With access to Twitter straight from your phone, real time feedback and updates it is very difficult for anyone else to compete. However, it does seem like Twitter is beginning to slow down and may be passed soon by other apps or websites. 

Facebook is another huge social media source for receiving news and information. However, this one is more for the older generations. It was the Twitter before Twitter. Facebook is still very important ,however, as it allows for every generations to stay connected to current events and keeps families in contact. Facebook is also very easy to use allowing for individuals with very little social media knowledge to gather news and information easily . 

Snapchat is another form of social media that is currently taking over the lives of our generation. Snapchat is the jack of all trades when it comes to social media apps. It allows for communication, entertainment, news, photo albums, and more. With all this available at your finger tips it goes without said that if you're going to use Snapchat for all of these other things you might as well use it to discover current events and news going on within the world.

Instagram, Snapchat and Twitters' biggest competitor, is another huge social media platform used for news and information. Instagram for a very long time now as been a huge information source for this generation. With features such as 'stories' people are able to post in real time current events occurring around the world. Also options and features that allow individuals to share other peoples posts makes information and news spread very quickly.

Lastly, Youtube, a source that not many people would think of right away when asked about news and information. However, for the newer generation Youtube has become very popular in delivering current events and keeping everyone up to date. One thing Youtube can do that many of these other sources cannot, is create very long detailed videos on these current events. The other platforms mentioned spit out quick information, while Youtube has the ability to do both.