Blog Post 5: Privacy

In our world there is absolutely no privacy. Everything we do is monitored through one kind of technology even when you don't think so. Every phone call we make has the chance to be listened in on by our government, a foreign government, a criminal or anyone able to hack into the surveillance system. Even if it is not an important call like something as simple as talking to your mom on the phone about the groceries you got this morning; someone could have possibly been listening if they wanted to. 

We need to be more careful with all the information we put online. Anyone can find out too much information about you by just looking up your name. If anyone were to search up my name on google my instagram comes up where you can figure out where I live and go to school. You can see all of my friends names as well as where they go to school. My linkedIn comes up where you can see my major and where I went to high school. My family also comes up so with all of this information you could probably find my home address within minutes. It is crazy to think that a random person could have all of this personal information with no trouble at all.

We need to start protecting ourselves and choose what we put online more carefully. I had my instagram profile as public where anyone could see it but after watching all of the TedTalk posted I am switching it to private. I never really thought about how complete strangers could use my information against me. Not only am I putting myself at risk but all of my friends too, because they are all over my instagram and their profiles are also public. My family is also at risk because they're on it too and anyone who knows how to use a computer can look up my mom or dad and find my address and that could lead to a very dangerous situation. 

Blog Post 4

 

Jaap Haartsen invented bluetooth in 1994, along with wifi and the internet. If the radio had not been invented then this would not have been possible because bluetooth uses radio waves to operate. Since mobile phones were growing fast in popularity, Dr. Haartsen along with others decided they needed to improve the telephone. He created a way to use frequency hopping techniques that required a little amount of energy while simultaneously blocking interfering signals. There was no particular problem they were trying to fix, they just wanted to improve technology. 

Bluetooth has changed the way that we communicate for the better. Listening to music through airpods has changed our world because now you do not have to deal with untangling your headphones all the time. There is just the earpiece that goes in and you press the bluetooth button on your phone. Bluetooth is so easy to use and set up. Bluetooth has many benefits like hands free communication in the car, you can just connect through bluetooth and your car will play the phone call through its speakers. The only downside to bluetooth is that if you connect to a device and you go too far away from it then the connection will disconnect.

As I was researching about bluetooth I wondered about how it got its name. Turns out that bluetooth was actually just a filler name, something they called it in the meantime until they came up with the real name but there were too many patents and licenses that it made it impossible to change names so bluetooth stuck. An employee at the time, Jim Kardach was reading about Viking Kings and found an interest in Harold Gormsson. He was nicknamed "bluetooth" because he had a rotting front tooth that had a blueish tint. King Harold was famous for uniting Denmark and Norway so the employee thought it was fitting because they were uniting PC and cellular industries.

Bluetooth was definitely beneficial to our society but it has negative affects as well. People love listening to music through airpods or headphones but what they do not know is that a certain level can damage your hearing. If you are listening above the recommended level which is between 60 to 85 decibels you should lower the volume immediately. Many people do not pay attention to these warning but over time they can cause harmful effects. Another harmful affect from bluetooth is that you are more susceptible to having your iPhone hacked. If your bluetooth is turned on all the time, then your device is more easily to be discovered and taken advantage of. It is recommended to turn your bluetooth off whenever you are not using it just to be safe. The susceptibility of Bluetooth to security breaches is one of its drawbacks. Weak connections can be used by hackers to get access to private information or resources. Additionally, due to low-level radiation emissions over time, extended exposure to Bluetooth signals may result in minor health issues including weariness or headaches

Blog 3: Eight Values of Free Expression

Promote Innovation

"A community in which free speech is valued and protected is likely to be a more energized, creative, interesting society as its citizens actively fulfill themselves in many diverse and interesting ways." I feel that promoting innovation resonates most with me the most for many different reasons. How people express themselves is what makes everyone different from one another. If everyone was the same there would be no creativity in the world and we would struggle greatly. There would be no pushing each other to be better and no innovation. Healthy competition is an incredible source of creativity. People want to be the best so it forces them to step outside their comfort zone and explore their full potential. When challenged people develop new skills that they can continue to use in the future. Everything we have built in our society is a result of multiple great minds coming together and testing each other. Everything we see like skyscrapers, schools and technology to name a few would not have been possible without multiple different minds coming together. Everyone has something different to offer, even if they do not think they do, everyone is unique and can bring something new to the table. People need to express themselves so that they feel heard, sometimes all people want is someone that will listen.

 

Protect Dissent

I believe that this freedom is extremely important in our society. I feel that you should be allowed to express your opinion without fear of being thrown in jail. If I do not the same view as one of our leaders and I want to express that opinion I should be able to, in an appropriate manner of course. If I were to start a violent riot, that would be a different story. If I wanted to share my thoughts on social media like millions of other people do I feel like that is a good outlet for creativity. It forces people to see more than just their point of view. It also makes you think from a different perspective. Maybe you grew up with one point of view and started actually researching about the topic and realized you do not even agree, it has just been what your family agreed upon and has been forced on you this whole time. Since you are surrounded by these beliefs when you are a kid, you often embrace what your family or society teaches without questioning it. But as you get older and experience more in life, you begin to question everything around you. When you see that the ideas you were taught with don't match your values, experiences, or abilities, you could start to question the ones you were raised with. The process of becoming your own independent person is a normal aspect of growing up. You begin to believe things not just because you've been taught to, but also because you've given them careful thought, considered many viewpoints, and finally decided on what feels right for you. It's a necessary step in developing your own and distinct identity.

Blog 2: US Supreme Court

After watching both shorts films it shocked me to see that none of the videos included the original 1787 or 1791 versions of the Constitution, which included the Bill of Rights. Given that those are the real copies of these documents, I find this interesting. Considering that the first Constitution was drafted in 1787, I believe it is important that they have access to those records. The fact that they had all the documentation from the Civil War impressed me as well. I will always find it fascinating that groups of people like women, Native Americans, African Americans, and so on were left out of the original Constitution, despite the fact that I was already aware of this. 

I learned from watching the video that the US Supreme Court hears over 7,000 cases annually. The power to take a decision from a lower court to the Supreme Court interests me. I found it very interesting that, after receiving all of these files, they only accept roughly 100 per year, indicating that it is an extremely time-consuming procedure. Following this procedure, they all review the paperwork before deciding whether to approve or reject the case once a week. 

Blog 1: My Top 5 News Sources

 

https://www.nytimes.com/

New York Times- I receive much of my news from the New York times. My mom will often send me news stories through there and I will browse through more stories on my own. The New York Times also has fun games to play that I do daily, such as the wordle and connections. I like this news source because although it is based in New York city it covers the news nation wide. Therefore I can find out about all the news thats going on in the world in one place without going to different sites. This is one of my favorite news platforms because it is a reliable source that has a good reputation. 

https://www.instagram.com/abcnews/?hl=en

Instagram - This is not a typical place to get news but I find that I constantly find out something new. Instagram, is a good place to get news about celebrities or influences because they are always posting on social media. The one concern I have about this is that you have to be careful because it could e fake news. Instagram is also good because you can follow news channels such as ABC, CNBC, CNN and many others. You can look at all these different news channels on one app and you can see quick shortened versions of the story. 

https://www.foxnews.com/

Fox News - I grew up watching Fox News. It was constantly on in the morning before I would go to school so this is a top news source for me. Fox news is one of the most watched news sources in the country which demonstrates its reliability. They also provide breaking news and live coverage which I like because I do not have to go to another channel. If its something important they will interrupt their current story with the new one. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@cnn?lang=en

TikTok - Tiktok is an app I use when I need to pass some extra time or if I am just bored. There is often times where I am mindlessly scrolling or watching funny videos and a news story will appear on my feed. I do not follow any news platforms on tiktok but sometimes they come up on my "for your page." A "for you page" is a feed of videos personalized for the user based on previous videos they have watched, their age and gender. So if I find the story interesting enough I might go to their profile page and see other news stories by them. 

https://www.snapchat.com/?original_referrer=www.google.com

Snapchat - Snapchat is one of my most used apps. I use it to talk to my friends more than I use iMessage. I wish I did not but if find myself on it constantly watching people private stories and just texting back and forth with my friends. A private story is where you can chose who sees your posts, you can add as little as one person and make as many as 20 different stories with all different people. After I am finished viewing these stories, snapchat has its own stories in the discover page. This has many stories that offer worldwide news, some stories are titled Daily Mail, Stay Tuned and E- News. This is an easy way to quickly catch up on the news because it gives the most important details while still giving you the full story.