EOTO Technology Reflection

 EOTO Technology Reflection

What I found interesting was the printing press. I did not have the knowledge that it was created in Germany, which I thought was unique, especially if I thought it was made in the United States. Back then books were expensive and hard to access. I personally love to read and did not realize how expensive books were to create and sell. The printing press solved the costs of books too which was neat because reading in my opinion is an important skill to have. 

Back then, books were to gain a deeper knowledge of religion, technology, and more. But with the growing prices and how expensive it was to create a book, more and more people could not gain more knowledge. Therefore creating the printing press made more copies of books and made them cheaper!

Since the invention of the printing press, we can exchange information between nations faster and easier. Thanks to the printing press, information was faster to go around, and for people to be able to obtain the information. But what I found interesting was that though it is so fast to spread information, it can be fast to spread false information. False information, especially back then could have a big impact negatively because people can read it and believe that it is the truth. People using the printing press could also share their beliefs and opinions, even if it is
wrong. The information given to be put into the printing press made communication a lot easier especially when it was harder to get information. 

The popularity grew fast so therefore the upsides and downsides of the printing press, raised some concern for the future of it. What stuck out to me is that the printing press is the start of many new ideas that have shaped our way of communicating today. 

EOTO Technology Timeline of Photography

 Timeline of Photography

The photography timeframe fascinated me because though you think it started in 1826, you would have to go back to the 4th Century B.C. when Aristotle mentions the camera obscura. This camera obscura is the theory of looking through a small hole and seeing a picture presented. Unfortunately, the picture would be upside down when looking through the hole. 

Though the camera obscura was the building block of photography, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre were the inventors of photography. Paintings were popular as they were the main form of art back then. The first photograph was created by Joseph Niépce when he took a picture of his view of his home. He used the materials like a sheet of pewter and bitumen. Joseph then used the theory of the camera obscura to help him with his first-ever photo. Though it was the first-ever photograph, it still took around 8  hours for the photo to develop. Louis Daguerre was a painter during the time Joseph created the first photo and loved his creativity. He [Louis] understood that it did take time to develop a photo and then helped decrease the exposure time by using copper sheets and mercury vapor. 

Though I could not find why photography was invented, from my knowledge, I would assume the time it took to create a painting, have it dry, and then give it to the person. In the world of art, any type of art is seen as new and unique, the idea of photography was a great addition to the world of modern art. Photography was a sense of entertainment for everyone because it was something new. In 1889, a film roll was created, which had multiple pictures side by side to create the illusion of movement. 

Photography has continued to grow since the first photograph was made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. People saw these great ideas and continued them. The only negative effect of photography is nude photography. We have a negative view of nude photography now, which aligns with the views on nude photography back then. Though people frowned upon nude photography it was still created as a sense of art and still is today. Heinrich Heidersberger created 'Dress in Light' which depicted nude photography but "dressed" the women in light which created patterns on their bodies.

Being able to witness the growth of photography is tremendous, as we now have digitalization and image editing. With what we have now, it will be amazing to see what we have in the future and the ideas people will have to positively grow this medium. With photography branching into film, it also creates more entertainment for the public. Many saw the potential in photography and how it can be resourceful. We use photography every day, taking pictures on our phones, or it is a hobby for some, we see it every day. Every picture can depict a story to someone that we do not know about, which shows the true potential of just one photo. Though we look at a photograph thinking it looks nice, it means so much more to someone else.

Living in the Age of A.I.

 Living in the Age of A.I

Artificial Intelligence has started to take over small parts of our lives. We use it for school, work, or daily activities. But now, we need to be focused on how it will be used in the future. 

The main concern is that artificial intelligence is taking away jobs. Many families are left with out any sort of income, therefore struggling to find that income. With this though productivity does rise which somewhat helps. What I found interesting is that though people are using more and more artificial intelligence and robots so though the lay people off in that department, they can add more people in different apartments. Though most people think they are still losing the jobs because they are replacing them with robots, which is true because someone may not be qualified for the other departments.

We then get into offshoring, which is going overseas. This is a small part of the responsibility of people losing their jobs due to robots and artificial intelligence. These people are at a greater risk of mortality over the next twenty years after they lose their jobs. This means when multiple people lose their jobs due to robots then the greater risk they are to mortality. 

The thing with artificial intelligence is that though we like to use it to help with homework, activities, and papers, we do not understand that more and more companies will use it. Organizations will use it now, but by the time we reach the work force we will see artificial intelligence everywhere, or at least more than we do now. It will be harder to obtain a job. But if we do get a job then artificial intelligence will continue to grow. The privacy concept with artificial intelligence is that it will be smarter than us and will have more knowledge. What if artificial intelligence continues to grow and we can not stop it? That is what we have to think about. 

Privacy: On and Off

 Privacy: On and Off 

Everyone uses technology now, it is in our everyday lives. From driving in your car to emailing, you believe your daily routine is private, but is it?

In a TED Talk, we are tracked every day by location information, which can reveal where you go or where you do not go. With this information, the government can get a rough picture of your day-to-day life. Another example from this TedTalk is the government uses a license plate reader and police officers read every single license plate and have pictures of where, there was one where the license plate reader took a picture of a father and his two daughters in their driveway. This is stored by the government as well.

Another TED Talk mentions how we all have electronic tattoos and there is facial recognition as well. Electronic tattoos can include credit cards and where you have made purchases or emailed someone, it is always going to be out there. Going back to facial recognition, once someone's face has been identified, you can find a lot about that person like his social media and criminal records. 

The last TedTalk I will mention here is the fact that telephones were made to be surveillance first. This can be government or even some sort of hacker. A plus to Apple products, FaceTime and iMessage are not easily wiretapped. Another app that is hard to wiretap is WhatsApp.

However, as I think about it, I never viewed these issues to affect me, knowing now that practically my every move and have a lot of my records, social media-wise. My friends and family honestly probably do not know about all of the information that I just received because they have not seen these TED Talks. The government originally used wiretapping to surveillance the calls and they (the government) are now in possession of daily lives that should be kept secret. To protect ourselves we need to use FaceTime, iMessage, and/or WhatsApp to have our conversations not traceable and we need to be cautious of what we put out there.

The Eight Values of Free Expression

These eight values of free expression were here to help with our individual values, ideas, and opinions. This also helps with dialogue, understanding, and increases public knowledge. If we do not have freedom of speech then we can not grow new ideas and learn, which helps communities.

Individual Self-Fulfillment

This gives people the freedom to create their own identity and show who they are. I see this a lot every day with people standing outside somewhere telling others why they should not shop there, or even on social media. Social media gives everyone the chance to express who they are through the accounts they make. Every day people post their beliefs about politics, or essentially anything that is posted online. 

Individual Self-Fulfillment also helps find people who share the same beliefs, hobbies, interests, etc. Especially on social media, people can easily find others who are the same and therefore can share the same ideas and learn from each other. 

The Market Place of Ideas

This can also be known as the Discovery of Truth, when the truth and the falsehood are allowed to be free for everyone to hear and listen to, the truth will always come out on top. I can see this as well through social media as well, with multiple posting what their opinions are whether or not they are true. This also gives people the right to disagree and cause controversy. 

In this society, we have access to multiple viewpoints which is necessary for us to see everyone's opinions and enhance accountability. Like the previous value, this helps with the idea of being creative and showing their true self. Another important aspect is the idea of checking what we see online and gives us the ability to critique what we see.

In this day and age, our main form of getting ideas and opinions out there is social media. Platforms like TikTok, Twitter (now known as X), Instagram, etc. are vital applications for everyone, but people can post something that is not true. There are many sites that are not verified and can cause the spread of information that is not true. But, on the other hand if the topic is important, people will make sure to check their information beforehand. 

Although, everyone has the right to post opinions and voice their beliefs, celebrities and influencers definitely have a bigger voice than others, then creating their followers to listen to what they have to say, even if it is not true. But, despite the criticism of this theory, it is an essential concept unpinning many modern legal and philosophical interpretations of free speech and democracy. 

These two concepts are important to me especially in this day and age where social media is a vital platform for everyone. We are allowed to be creative and show our true selves. The fact we can share ideas and opinions freely is successful for us to make progress positively. This shows the importance of these speech theories and how we can speak and share the truth and learn more ideas, which I will stand by. 

The History and the Workings of the Supreme Court

 Unfortunately, I do not know much about the Supreme Court. I know that once you are on the Supreme Court, your term does not end unless by impeachment. They also focus on the law and when it shall be applied. After watching the two videos on the history and workings of the Supreme Court, I found them interesting, as well as some key takeaways from the videos. 

 

One of my favorite quotes in the first video is from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "We are quiet, but it is the quiet of a storm center." The Supreme Court looks at many different cases, and although they are quiet during the decision of the case, the aftermath is what causes the storm. In all of America, there have been just over a hundred Supreme Court Justices, averaging at about 16 years for their term. Keeping in mind, the Supreme Court has existed for over 200 years. Thanks to John Marshall and the Marbury v. Madison case, we now view the Supreme Court as a co-equal branch of government. 

The Supreme Court receives around one hundred new cases a week, totaling up to around seven thousand a year. Only accepting one hundred a year, the Supreme Court needs to ask if the law was used properly and if it's constitutional. 

What I found interesting is that each of the nine justices will work separately with law clerks and secretaries during cases but then will work all together when the case is brought up to the Supreme Court. Another fact I found interesting is that a Justice's term is not over and once you are appointed you are in that position for life. 

A thing I found surprising is that to have a President be in his position you have ballots and voting. But for the Justice, the President will decide who is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and you can not vote or use a ballot box for them, so you really have to trust whoever is the President at the time. To me, that would put a lot of stress because you will get backlash from people in the United States and sometimes they do not realize that Justice's all are people as well. 

Lastly, the amount of work they have to do seems unimaginable to me, getting seven thousand cases a year and only choosing one hundred out of all of those must be hard. Knowing what these people have to go through is really tough and I can not do it myself so I applaud those who can, especially because of their term being lifelong.