EOTO #2 Response: Sherman Antitrust Act

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was passed by Congress that prohibited trusts. This Antitrust Act "authorized the federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve them." This act's goal was to promote fairness in the economy while regulating interstate commerce. Ever since this act came into play, it has prohibited combinations that restrain trade between states or foreign nations. In 1920, the Supreme Court creates the Rule of Reason which says that not every contract restraining trade is unlawful. All of these things still come into play today with the internet. The U.S Department of Justice "filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the online giant engaged in anti-competitive conduct to preserve monopolies in search and search advertising."If this would have happened, many small companies would not stand a chance against this competitor. The promotion of economic fairness is strongly advised in the Sherman Antitrust Act. Hypothetically, if Apple started raising their prices on their products and creating a monopoly for them, other competing companies would not be able to compete against Apple. This act has helped all the smaller competitors overcome and achieve their ecumenic goals. However, this at was not very successful because of narrow judicial interpretations of what constitutes trade among states. Overall, monopolies have ben outlawed. This is fantastic for Americans who can't compete with larger companies. Without this act today, the larger companies would have monopolies that no one could take charge of any of the trade that would go on between states. 

Privacy on and offline

 Technology is a wonderful thing. It has been advancing throughout the centuries and continued to provide society with news, entertainment, and media. Many people around the world use social media networks to get new information and connect with others online. However, there are negative aspects of technology. There have been many cases where big online companies have violates people's privacy. A big mistake people make is letting technology turn against you (aka letting it violate your privacy). By this I mean, letting the computer learn more things about you than normal. We voluntarily put personal information about ourselves online, thinking that no one will have access to it but us. As careless at that is, the companies who's websites we put our information on has direct access to the information we put on the website. According to FTC "Facebook violated the law by failing to protect data from third parties, serving ads through the use of phone numbers provided for security, and lying to users that its facial recognition software was turned off by default." This affects me by companies like Facebook can take my information and post it for everyone to see along with my friends and families. In order to protect ourselves from this danger is to keep our personal information like our phone number to ourselves, not posting the online. The government should be protecting us, by protecting out 4th amendment, which justifies the protection of private information, more strictly online. If this violation keeps up, the big internet companies will use our information and sell it like Facebook did and there will be no way we can get it back. The government should play a big part on the internet to help protect us and our information. 

Final Post: Option #1

 I have been using technology all of my life. From the computers at my elementary school I used to learn to type to my cell phone I have today.  Social media became a part of my life when I was in the 5th grade. I downloaded Instagram for the first time and ever since then I have used instagram everyday. I have other social media networks such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook but Instagram was the platform I use the most. Today, I use snapchat more. I was very exposed to things on the internet at a young age because of Instagram. I got to keep up with new songs that came out, new artists presenting new music, and a new platform because of social media. My time in middle school and high school was a time of growth and realization. I was a very quiet girl during this time. I never spoke in class, kept to myself, and got scared whenever I was called on. Whenever I had to presentation assignment, I would do the minimal vocal parts as possible out of fear of failure and being wrong. However, behind the screen I had all the confidence in the world. Posting filtered pictures of myself on my Instagram feed brought in likes, which boosted my confidence. Getting that type of satisfaction behind the screen was bad for my mental health. I became increasingly more lonely. When the pandemic hit, my "digital footprint" expanded from Instagram to Snapchat and TikTok. These two platforms expanded my exposure to media and communication. TikTok gave me the entertainment I enjoyed during my day-to-day routine and Snapchat let me see what my friends were doing rather then taking their word for it on a text. Despite all the connections I received from social media, it decreased my mental health, lack in confidence, and lose the social aspects of my life. When I got to college I slowly learned that I do not have to be perfect in order to be liked. The reality is, everyone has their flaws and you don't have to be "picture perfect" in order to be liked. I stopped going on social media as much as I used to because I want to go out and be with my friends more and I want to experience the world without looking on a screen. 

Despite all my exposure to technology, I have experienced the horrors of the internet. Some days I will be on my phone talking to my friends about the Corgi I want to get after I graduate. I will go on my social media platforms and ads for Corgis/dog products will pop up out of no where. This Artificial Intelligence is scary because it is listening to what I say while my phone is completely off, violating my privacy. The most A.I. tech is Alexa. My parents got an Alexa for Christmas about 3 years ago. The device knows my parents voices just by them saying "Alexa." Once they tell Alexa their command, the device will follow their command by recording what is being said and searching the internet and telling them what they want to hear. With the Alexa being connected to their phones, "she" goes everywhere with them, learning about them; where they go, what they do, what they like to eat, what music they listen to, etc. This is a violation of privacy by recording conversations. The biggest danger is intruders can access Alexa through your window. The location of the window "could potentially give anyone from the outside access to your other smart home devices." If a hacker potentially gets connected with the Alexa, they have access to everything that you said in the house when you think no one was listening. I think this issue will be presented more in the future. The countries who have access to AI tech are quickly advancing it. In the video, "In The Age of AI" it mentions how China uses AI tech to watch all of the society and "give people a 'social credit' score, punishing some for certain behavior and rewarding other for what the government considers good citizenship." If China can violate their own residents privacy, nothing will stop them from compromising America's technology. If this issue doesn't get presented and stopped soon, then I believe that China will find ways to slowly take over/destroy America from the inside out. 

Progressive Era

 The Progressive Era started in 1880's. Women started their own magazines about women specifically and talking about their right to vote. However, the Progressive was fired up by WW1, specifically with the antiwar protesters who did not want America to get involved. Hundreds of them were throw into jail just for voicing their opinions. Today, many antiwar voices are not seen in the media/main stream news. Examples of this are ANTIWAR.COM and The American Conservative.   The writers of these websites have very strong antiwar voices, yet are never seen on mainstream media. The American Conservative website has a lot of talk about the war between Russia and Ukraine. Many people in America think that America should get involved in this war and help give aid, supplies, and troops to Ukraine who is suffering a drastic amount because of this war. Others disagree. They think that America should not get into the war because it does not involve America. Since Ukraine is not apart of NATO, American should not have to get involved in this war. America is in deep debt, decreasing economy, and under a horrible presidency. The Biden Administration announced that the United States will provide more than 1 billion dollars for those affected by the war in Ukraine. "This funding will provide food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies, and other forms of assistance." As humane and generous as this sounds, this will not do well for America. After going through a global pandemic, this amazing country is not in the proper condition to give countries that absurd amount of money. America needs to be focusing on her own basic needs to be able to function properly. Because of these strong antiwar options people want to spread the word to get others on the antiwar side. However, since the democrats practically run the media, you will not see such antiwar opinions anywhere (unless searched on the internet) because the far left is keeping people from seeing these opinions to prevent others from having their own opinions on the war. If it is not pro war/pro Ukraine then that opinion is wrong. The pro war supporters (aka democrats) keep this off of the media to make sure that only their word gets to the people in order to ensure that it is only their opinion that is correct. 

EOTO #1 Response: Bluetooth

Bluetooth was introduced in 1994 and was named after King Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark and Norway. Bluetooth was named after Harold "united Scandinavia and Bluetooth wanted to unite mobile PCs and cellphones to communicate. But Harold reportedly got his 'Bluetooth' nickname from a dark, dead tooth not from eating an extreme amount of blueberries." With this technology it can communicate using low power radio waves. This allows the phone to connect to a speaker, wirelessly to play music and answer phone calls. Because it is wireless, this technology got put into cars, stores, and other facilities to play music and other uses. Bluetooth is affordable for all people and is very easy to access and use. To connect to Bluetooth, one has to go to the settings on their phone, click the Bluetooth icon, and click the device you want your phone to connect too. Some devices ask for a password in order to connect with the phone but that is very rare. Bluetooth also avoids interferences with other wireless devices. Meaning, that if a device is connected to it another device can not can not connect to the same bluetooth product while it is being used. The problems with Bluetooth is that there are distance limitations to it. Depending on the Bluetooth device, Bluetooth devices can stay connected within ten meters to one hundred meters. Bluetooth also has very poor security. When paired with a Bluetooth device, smartphones pair for data transfer  however, this makes it easier for hackers to pounce at the opportunity. It is easy for someone to lose data if your Bluetooth gets paired with the wrong device. Bluetooth has horrible battery power. If connected, one's phone battery and Bluetooth device battery will drain at a drastic speed, leaving one to constantly charge both devices. With a Bluetooth device connected to another, it can have an effect on the data transfer. Bluetooth is much slower at transferring data than WiFi. Because of this, one will have to constantly reconnect the devices together. The transmission can also be affected by too many applications being opened and running at the same time. 

Diffusion theory

Why do so many people use instagram? Why is it relevant in society? Instagram is a social media platform that people around the world use to spread information, spread content, and post about day to day lives. The diffusion theory, described by Everett Rogers is that "diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over the among the participants in a social system." This franchise has grown in the last decade with users joining online every day. With the last decade, Instagram has be used for the promotion of the self image online. People (especially young users) will post pictures of themselves online and get hundreds of likes. Because of this, Instagram has spread all over the world. The idea of getting satisfaction of the self image on the internet promotes the idea of posting more and more. The early adopters of this app have gotten the idea of how to make themselves look better and better on the internet so they can become a popular content creator. This app can also lead to toxicity and horrible mental health. Because image is everything on the internet, lacking in likes on this app can lead to a low self esteem. Many people online use the anonymous ability behind the screen to cyberbully others. This is an incredible downside to this platform because many people have taken their own lives because of the cyberbullying and lack of confidence one gets from seeing prettier people on the internet. Users will do anything to "look the part" in order to get the amount of likes to satisfy their confidence. With girls especially, many decrease is self love because of how society perceives women to look/act. However, despite this idea, many women have chosen to ignore what society asks of women and have chosen to be themselves on the internet to spread a more positive vibe to show how women do not have to be picture perfect in order to be liked on the internet. I do have instagram despite all of negative impacts social media has on people. I use social media to keep in contact with people I do not see in day-to-day life, post pictures of me and my friends, see promotions on news/movies/media/fashion, and promote the university I go to. I benefit greatly from this platform because of the friendships I have kept over the years of being apart from all the people I went to high school with. For me, this positive outweighs the negative outcomes of social media. I have learned to not care about what people think about my looks on social media. With the careless attitude towards what people think, I have gained confidence and love for myself while spending positive reinforcements to others. 

A.I. Tech

In the film, pbs.org/frontline "In the Age of A.I.", there was talk about A.I. technology in the lives of society. This video expresses many concerns about how in the major world countries A.I. (artificial intelligence) are contravening privacy and trespassing in people's lives. The film showed China having A.I technology all over their cities, scanning the faces of all the people in the area. This A.I. project "uses AI to give people a "social credit" score, punishing some for certain behavior and rewarding others for what the government considers good citizenship." Xiao Qiang says "China is on its way to building a total surveillance state." With this in mind, the idea of China technologically advancing is scary for other world countries. China could get the power to violate America's privacy in their own country. If this is the case, China will figure out America's secrets and use it as ways to take over out beloved country and look into the lives of the civilians everyday lives.

Alexa, the voice assistant that speaks through an Amazon Echo has been proven to be dangerous to people's privacy. This device is listening to every word someone says all the time. Inputting the Alexa into your home is allowing the device to record the things you say without knowing what will happen to them. Alexa awakes whenever the name "Alexa" is spoken. Once the Alexa is turned on it records your voice and what you are saying. It will collect the information on how people interact based off of what they are saying. Though Alexa has an awake word, it will not exclude other voices. Because of this, Alexa will be engaging with whoever is talking in the room. It is almost like Alexa is constantly listening the surrounding voices in the room it is in. This form of AI technology will learn people's everyday routines, what music they like, things they want, and things they say. This is very dangerous because this can lead to information about yourself getting out into the world for people's viewing pleasure. 

EOTO #2: Net Neutrality

The internet we use today is a diverse, equal substance that everyone in the world can use. Imagine if that didn't exist. Only the wealthiest people and business owners could have a fully functioning internet, while keeping other users/businesses from accessing content, spreading ideas, and speaking truth. The people who can't afford this internet would have limited access on news, media, music, and other accessibility's we have right now. 

Net Neutrality "is the idea that the relationship between you and content on the internet shouldn't be altered by internet service providers --- that ISPs should provide nondiscriminatory access to internet content, without manipulating the transfer of data, and treat all web traffic equally." With this implication, free speech and idea sharing is promoted. ISPs are not allowed to regulate what the people see/have access to. Without this concept we will not have as much diversity on the internet and it can quickly turn political. Some think that without this, that it is a violation of one of our First Amendment rights of freedom of speech/expression. We have the right to say whatever we want (with limitations) and express how we feel about certain issues. Without Net Neutrality this will be taken away on the internet. In a political sense, if one party takes over the internet the other party will not have the ability to speak freely on the internet. 

The younger generation will be greatly affected by this concept if it doesn't keep coming into play. ISPs will have access to the users ability to access different types of information by limiting the amount of information the people can see. Another affect is the younger generation will be limited on the distribution of ideas and speaking truth on the internet. This is where a political conflict can come into play. The people who can not afford to have access to all information will be express that this action takes away their freedom of speech/expression on the internet. This does not violate that First Amendment right because it is not involved with the government directly. Only the government can violate your rights. However, this action should not be taken lightly. This problem can lead to online bias with the companies that can afford to have access to the information getting posted. People will not be able to see both sides of the arguments and will have to take the writers word on what is being presented. 

A way that Net Neutrality can effect me is by how I listen to music. This music streaming service is very dependent on third-party platforms and other ISP connections. Because of this they are not their own independent service, so without Net Neutrality Spotify will be in danger. Spotify expressed worry that this service would be "put at a competitive disadvantage relative to larger competitors if broadband providers in the United States decrease across to certain content." This company would be competing hard for consumers to be interested in their streaming service against bigger/more expensive companies. Because they can not buy their way to get exposed to others on the internet, the companies that can afford to be on the internet can block the smaller companies from other consumers screens. Because of Net Neutrality consumers can freely choose whatever internet service they want and determine which one is the better option for them. 

Free Expression? (8 Values)

 Freedom of Expression, why is it so important? Why is it that America values this more than other countries? The freedom of expression comes with the First Amendment, giving U.S. citizens the right to freely speak, peacefully protest, freedom of the press, petition the government, and express our religious views without government interference. These five inalienable rights are the most precious and valuable right of a free people against governmental tyranny.  We have a strongly protected right to disagree with the government and any one else. We as citizens of the United States have a patriotic duty to criticize the government when they begin to abuse the power given to them through the United States constitution by the consent of the governed.  An example of this goes back to the founding ideals of America. Frustrated and angry with Britain, the American colonists began to express their anger with the British taxes that were levied to eliminate the debt as a result of the French and Indian War. The freedom of expression began with the famous "No taxation without representation" mantra. When this spoken protest got very little results, the colonists realized that actions speaks louder than words. The Sons of Liberty out of Boston, Massachusetts began to boycott British products and protest British taxation as a more effective means of expressing their discontent. As the events continued to unfold the British government became more tyrannical and the colonists became more expressive. Events such as, the Stamp Act Riots, The Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party, were the ultimate examples of freedom of expression for the American colonies. The Stamp Act Riots were caused because of the British tax on the colonies for every piece of paper. The Boston Massacre was a riot that broke out because major force the British were putting on the colonists. This rebellion led to the British shooting at the colonists, ending in a bloody slaughter. The Boston Tea Party was a protest on a tax the British put on tea. The colonists dumped chests of tea imported from Britain into the harbor out of frustration for the imposing tax. The oppressive actions of the British government coupled with the fearless and patriotic expression of antigovernment protests by the colonies would be the spark to ignite the American Revolution for independence. This goes to show that the freedom of expression in a variety of forms is built into the DNA of every American. 

EOTO #1: Television

 The Television is one of the most revolutionary items that came about in the United States. It helped bring together the country in times of grief and patriotism. The television started in the United States in 1927 by a man named Philo Taylor Farnsworth. He started his experiment while he was in high school. His invention scanned images with beams of electrons and is considered the direct ancestor of modern television. 

There were not many things to watch on the television at first. You couldn't change the channel and see different shows like you can today. On every TV the same thing would be playing for everyone to watch. This helped bring the country together to be informed on the news and watch the same entertainment. The channels would not run all night like they do now. They would end at the same time every night and the screen would go grey. The primary source of news and entertainment was the television. 

The biggest turning point in television history is the 1960 election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. This event showed how television changed politics. Those who listened to the radio sided with Nixon and those who watched television sided with Kennedy. The percentage in voting for women increased during this election because many of the women watched the television and saw how handsome Kennedy looked. This motivated them to vote for Kennedy. With the television as a political tool, the image of the president became just as important as their political skills. Following this, Kennedy's assassination was the very first time a president had gotten killed on television. This tragic event united the country in sadness and grief. 

As the television's technology grew, the media industry also grew. This helped form the entertainment industry today. Television is no longer the primary source of news and entertainment. Now, there are smart phones, computers, and other ways to get the news and entertainment. People's attention span is on more than one source such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Instagram, TikTok, and many others. No one sits with their family and watches the news or a tv show together. Because of this, people are uninformed about elections, politics, and news that is happening. They blindly go into elections to vote for candidates or they do not vote at all. 

There are many negative effects to this piece of technology. People have gotten into the habit of binging. They will binge watch shows for hours on end without seeing the light of day, face to face interactions, or physical movement. These three things led people to have a low self esteem, negative mental health, and weight problems from binge eating. Our society losing our social aspect of communication because of so many eyes stuck on the tv. People do not know how to physically interact with one another because of the many hours spent on the screen. Unfortunately, this is a problem that will not be solved because the technology is so advanced, it is used as apart of every day life.