Technology and Privacy

 The three videos that I watched presented some very glaring issues for how we as a society handle our privilege of technology. With the constant development of new technology every day criminals are receiving new avenues every day and finding ways to deceive government and law enforcement. In turn, governments and law enforcement must begin to track technology, but how do you know who is a criminal and who isn't? It is very difficult to until a crime is committed so governments decided it would be easier to just track everyone. At some point though, when has the surveillance gone too far?

The first two videos discuss how police and governments have used technology to track citizens in their everyday lives. Cars, phones, and much more can be tracked as specifically as a second by second basis to determine someone's daily routine. Police have license plate scanners to automatically bring up a profile on someone who simply drove past their vehicle. Not only that but governments want to track every single conversation, phone call, email, and text message sent. Some companies such as Apple and WhatsApp are attempting to encrypt these conversations to hinder the government from seeing them, however it will never fully stop them.

The third video takes the matter to a more private scale. The speaker, Darieth Chisolm, speaks on how she has been affected by revenge porn. Her former partner blackmailed her and nearly ruined her career due to images which were either sent by Ms. Chisolm or were taken by him without her knowing. This brings up two interesting points. First, that whatever you put out into the internet or cloud is there forever, even if you think you may have deleted it. The second is being careful about the information which you share with others. Obviously this is not to say it is Ms. Chisolm's fault but to rather raise awareness to online safety.

So how far is too far? How much farther will we go before no one has even the slightest bit of privacy and just becomes a set of numbers in a larger system. Of course we want to protect ourselves from harm and crime, but sooner than we know it those security measures could be turned against us. I think this is an issue that will never truly be solved.

Relationship With Technology

 My relationship with technology has varied throughout my life in terms of just how exposed I am to media and technology. Our generation has had the opportunity to be exposed to the most impressive technology and media in the history of humanity, and we sometimes take that for granted. However, it is not always great and can also comes with some negative impacts. 

My whole life I have tried to maintain a healthy relationship with technology and not allow it to influence my life to much. The first technology/media I was probably exposed to was TV. Besides watching shows and cartoons I watched lots of sports and sports talk shows like SportsCenter as I want to be a sports journalist. Soon after that I was being exposed to the internet through computers and smartphones. Then, not much longer after that came social media. 

I think that older generations would find it absolutely astounding how far technology and the internet have come at such a quick rate. I'm sure that no one a few decades ago imagined children today having access to technology they had never even seen before. For example, my classmates and I have completed all of our work this semester on an online blog and the grades of which will be entered on an online grading system. This use of technology at such a young age is great and can be very beneficial in some aspects. According to WGU.edu, this abnormal use of technology and exposer to media strengthens problem solving, decision making, multi-tasking, and spacial awareness. Children are also inherently better with technology that previous generations seeing as you could probably give a toddler and iPhone and they would figure out how to use it within a few minutes. There are also some negative mental affects too, however, such as lower attention spans, depression, obesity, and a lack of privacy to name a few. Kids are spending more and more time with social media and technology, some times up to 8-10 hours per day. I admit I am fault to this sometimes but recently I have been trying to limit my screen time as much as possible. 

In terms of a digital footprint I do not believe that mine is very large. For starters, when I google my name I am not even the first "Aidan Ahearn"(spelled exactly like that) to come up as there is a lacrosse player with that exact name playing at Villanova. I think this is also because I generally keep a low profile on social media. I regularly use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat yet almost never post on those accounts except for Snapchat occasionally and rather just use it to keep in touch with close friends. I think in some ways, especially for my career path, I should almost increase my digital footprint so that I can network and create name recognition.

Five Eyes

 One of the most important issues facing many countries today is security and surveillance. Nowadays, in some way or another, everyone is being watched. If you have a phone, computer, bank account, social media account, etc. you are being watched. 

One of the largest intelligence and surveillance organizations in the world is known as Five Eyes(FVEY). Five Eyes is an international intelligence sharing alliance currently consisting of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. 

FVEY was instituted during World War II with informal, secret meetings as a way for American and British codebreakers to communicate and distribute intelligence on the Axis powers during the war. The programs continued to be used throughout the Cold War and FVEY, having originally been informal meetings, was officially instituted during the 1960s through the ECHELON surveillance system. Initially, FVEY was meant to just be used during wartime so countries under the alliance could gain an information advantage, however, seeing its success, it was turned into a global communications monitoring system. The system would continue to be broadened and intensified as the "War on Terror" came about, giving FVEY more authority to use its powers. 

FVEY collects information through two main methods. The first, called the PRISM Program, gathers information from large technology firms, such as Google and Microsoft, in order to gain information about the general public. The second, dubbed the Upstream Collection System, gathers more direct, exact information from civilian communications through fiber cables. This method is able to track precise data, down to the very word of a casual conversation, whereas the PRISM Program method gathers more broad data in order to classify civilians into groups. 

With an organization as large and as powerful as Five Eyes, there is bound to be some controversy in the mix of things. The rise of the internet across the world gave the intelligence alliance more need to up data tracking and more routes to be able to do it, yet also more ways to get caught overstepping their bounds. People all across the world had had suspicions and doubts about the alliance for some time but it wasn't truly brought to light until 2013. This is when the infamous Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, leaked information that FVEY was spying on the very citizens it was claiming to be protecting. 

Diffusion of Innovations: Typewriter

 The initial diffusion of innovations in relation to the typewriter began with developments in the early 19th century. This phase of pioneers included many inventors in Europe and the United States but was highlighted by Christopher Lantham Sholes in 1867. In a way, Sholes was picking up on a trend which he had read about in the Scientific American of a British inventor who was gaining traction with a similar machine. Sholes pioneered the first practical typewriter and truly kicked off the experimental phase of typewriter development.

The next phase, involving the early adopters and uptake of typewriter development was started with Sholes continuing to work on his typewriter model and eventually signing a contract with E. Remington and Sons. He had been developing and updating his typewriter for years but the only true way to make people want to buy it was to have a contract with a larger company. Once he began working with E. Remington and Sons his first production typewriter, the "Remington", began to sell quickly.

Once the Remington began to be manufactured and released to the public the typewriter began to hit the stage of early and late majority. Even with the success, Sholes continued to update his typewriter in order to keep up with public demand. Along with E. Remington and Sons he released a Model 2 version, 4 years after the first model, with a shift key so that users could switch between capital and lowercase letters while typing.

Typewriters would continue their supreme reign over the world of communications for quite some time. Several updates and changes were made throughout the years, such as making them electric and portable. However, every great thing comes to an end, at that is no different for the typewriter. By the early 1900s the final "laggards" and skeptics were beginning to use the typewriter, however there was a new sheriff in town. With the invention of the computer the typewriter never stood a chance. The typewriter lacked in nearly every aspect compared to the computer and soon became obsolete. With the introduction of the internet though, some people still prefer the simplicity that it offers.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is one of the most important institutions in the United States, yet many people do not know much about it or of its history. By reading the article on the history of the US Supreme Court on History.com I learned many things which I did not already know. 

Before reading this article, I did not know much about the beginnings of the Supreme Court. The court was originally created in 1790 and was made up of 6 justices, not 9. The court also did not hear its first case until 1791, as the meetings during the first term were reserved for organizational matters. That first case, on August 3, 1791, would end up being a very small, unimportant case about a financial dispute between a family and a farmer who owed a debt to them, something very uncharacteristic of the Supreme Court we see today. 

I think that one of the biggest takeaways from reading this article is how integral the Supreme Court is to the everyday life of US citizens. Many people, especially in the past decade or so, blame presidents for the bad or good things happening in the country. In reality the people who make the decisions which shape our lives are Congress and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has made crucial decisions, good and bad, on cases dealing with topics such as racial inequality(Plessy v. Ferguson), rights to a lawyer(Gideon v. Wainwright), abortion(Roe v. Wade), and much more. What this article made me realize is just how influential a group of 9 people can be to our society and how much of an impact they can make. 

    

Communication Breakthroughs: The Typewriter

 One of the greatest technological breakthroughs in the history of communications would have to be the typewriter. Being developed all throughout the 19th century, the first practical typewriter was not invented until 1867 by an American inventor named Christopher Lantham Sholes. 

Sholes gained inspiration for his model from an article he read in the Scientific American about a British inventor who was working on a similar type of machine. During the next few years Sholes continued to develop and fine-tune his typewriter, such as making it faster and more efficient. It wouldn't be until 1873 that the machine would come to reality, when Sholes signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, NY to being the manufacturing of his typewriter. The first model was put out the following year and was branded as the "Remington". Even then, the initial model still had some kinks to straighten out. For example, the original model did not have a shift key meaning that it could only type capital letters. However, this was remedied in 1878 with the Remington Model 2.  

                      

Remington Model 2 Typewriter

Once the Remington was first introduced, many companies wanted to begin the manufacturing of their own models of typewriters and the industry began to take off. Versions of electric typewriters were experimented with in the 1870s, with Thomas Edison inventing the first one in 1872. Later on in 1920, James Smathers introduced a more practical, office-use electric typewriter. Another advancement for typewriters was making them portable, with the first one being introduced to the market in 1909. Some features that were worked on ended up not being successful, however, such as noiseless models because it was unable to print letters dark enough. 

The typewriter had immediate positive impacts on the working world once it was manufactured for the public. First off, it drastically increased both the speed and efficiency of office work for businesses and government and allowed for information to be communicated much faster. Typewriters also greatly helped people with disabilities such as blindness to be able to communicate through writing. However, the most significant effect typewriters had was on women in the workplace. Specifically, between the 1950's and 70's there was a massive increase in the amount of female stenographers and typists with around 64% of the field being comprised of women.

Eight Values of Free Expression

The eight values of free expression are essential values to our democracy that allow for liberties such as free speech and debate as well as the ability for the people to place checks on and investigate their own government. I believe that the two most important values of free expression are checks on governmental power and promoting innovation.

The first of the two, check on governmental power, is essential to keep a balance between the people and their government. Without the ability for the people to call out their government when they see abuse of power or to investigate the government when there appears to be wrongdoing, the government holds all the power. It is the job and responsibility of journalists, news sources, and even everyday citizens themselves to highlight and expose abuses of power by government anytime they see them and inform the people. Especially now, when with rapidly advancing technology it is easier than ever to be an independent reporter. One of the most prominent cases of this is Edward Snowden in 2013 exposing the NSA for abusing their power and spying on American citizens. Through this the people can make an educated decision about their government and who they wish to vote for in the next election.                           

               

The second of the two most important values, promoting innovation, is essential to the success of a government and a country as a whole. A successful country must encourage innovation within its people and promote new ideas and free thinking. This pushes a country forward through new inventions, technological breakthroughs, new medicine, and much more. A country which does not promote innovation with its citizens creates a uninspired, drone-like working class that ultimately leads to the demise of that country. Realistically this looks like promoting STEM programs and schooling for youth, encouraging immigration, and attempting to work productively with other countries.