WEEK 7

BACKGROUND OF THE IPHONE

The coolest thing I learned was that Steve Jobs called the development of this project,
“The Purple Project,” under a name so that no one would be able to really know what
was behind closed doors if somehow information got out.

He announced the iPhone at the MacWorld Convention in January of 2007, and then
the iPhone was released in June of the same year. It was mentioned that Apple sold
270,000 iPhones its first weekend. 

Before iPhones, smartphones were typically copies of the Blackberry. So it was
incredible to see a phone that was not only touch screen, but a completely different
look than what was normally seen on the market.

It then took 6-7 years before a phone was developed that could actually compete
with the iPhone, which ended up being the Samsung Galaxy S/HTC.

One negative of the iPhone mentioned in the presentation was the light of the screen.
There are negative aspects of the light such as eye strain and not allowing you to go to sleep.

I loved this presentation because simply, I love Apple and I love my iPhone. So I
thoroughly enjoyed getting to here about the background of this product and the
way it has transformed our communication world!

WEEK 6

THE FIRST TELEVISION BROADCAST

For my piece of communication technology, I decided to choose the television broadcast.
I have also loved television and love watching live broadcasts, whether it is the local
news or a national news outlet. I love the idea that it is live and you are getting up to date
information, hence why I chose the television broadcast as my piece of technology.

The first television broadcast occurred on July 2, 1928. It was created by a man named
Charles Francis Jenkins. It actually was located in Wheaton, Maryland which is a suburb
of DC and the TV station was given the name W3XK. 

Something I found very interesting with this timeline is that this happened in 1928,
which really was the last year before the Great Depression. So just to give a background
of what was about to happen in our nation I find this extremely pivotal.

Through this TV station, Charles Francis Jenkins invented a way to transmit pictures
over airwaves. He ended up calling this process, “radio vision.” Luckily at the time,
he was given permission to experiment with the station so he could really solidify
and figure out everything. 

Jenkins aired programming five nights a week! Something funny I found out was
that oddly enough, it was commercial free for the first 13 years. Man oh man, what
would it be like to watch commercial free television? One can wish!

This entire idea of a live television broadcast and the first TV station, really sparked
an interest for the TV sets in general. As we know, eventually TVs transformed from
black and white to color as it quickly became a popular ideal.

In today’s society, there are now 2.5 televisions per household globally. This just
shows you how important television sets are to the people of today. There are
now close to 2 billion televisions sets in this world. So people must love watching TV, right?

https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-the-television/

WEEK 5

ELIZABETH WARREN IS BASHED

I explored the site, American Conservative. I read an article titled, “Elizabeth Warren
Lost Because She’s Elizabeth Warren.” What a strongly negative and opinionated
article!

The article goes on to degrade Warren and everything “wrong” about her candidacy. A quote from
the article that truly evokes the feeling of the entire article (and author) is,
“Sexism had nothing to do with it. The Massachusetts senator was unlikeable and showed
contempt for the truth.” So it is easy to see that we are seeing the opinions of someone who is far right.

The article develops into a “this is why Elizabeth Warren was such a poor choice” article.
It describes the primary season as “long, and excruciatingly stupid.” It mentioned that she
was politically toxic coming from a brand of white progressivism. 

Some of the article’s content include Warren’s views and plans if she were to become
elected. The author continues to react negatively towards these views. The author
also includes Twitter posts that were used to defend Warren, as then the author
dismisses all supportive tweets.

These voices are not in the mainstream media because I believe that most media
agrees with the left side. While I do tend to agree with the left side, it is easy to
say that there are less and less conservative outlets in mainstream media.
To find these opinions, you either have to A) search into the depth of Google
or B) just go on Facebook. So it is very interesting to see how an article like t
his would never even appear on a major news outlet, as a similar article bashing
the right side would be normal.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/elizabeth-warren-lost-because-shes-elizabeth-warren/

WEEK 4

FACEBOOK IS SMARTER THAN YOU THINK

This article discusses Facebook and its relationship with its consumers. Facebook currently has
2.5 billion users worldwide. But most users probably do not know that they are being exposed.

An unsecured server leaked phone numbers that were potentially linked to Facebook users.
It is now no longer publicly accessible as it has recently been taken down, but no one is
positive who revealed the numbers.

This shows just how unsafe social media is. With most organizations moving into the world of
the Internet, many files and logistics are also being transferred online. But many of these
organizations do not have the expertise to do so efficiently, and most important of all, safely.

The article referenced Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of Identity Theft Resource
Center. She said, “The exposed data could put users at risk of scam phone calls and other fraud.”

This is certainly a scary scenario being that Facebook has many older users compared to other
social media outlets. Many older adults might not understand how smart scammers can be and
can easily be looped into the whole plan so it really is a scary time.

Social media has been seen as “toxic” because it only shows everyone’s “highlight.” It
is not realistic. People are not going to post the negative things in their life, which
makes people think that everyone is living a perfect and happy life except them.

Social media is now not just taxing on mental health, but as the article states, our
identity could be in jeopardy. 

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-user-phone-numbers-still-online/

WEEK 3

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

The U.S. Supreme Court began in 1789 by the third article in the U.S. Constitution.

This article stated that Congress was allowed the power to create federal courts.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 was signed by George Washington, which was where the
Constitution allowed Congress to determine the organization of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

An interesting fact that I read in an article was that the original meeting, which was scheduled
for February 1, 1790 in the New York City Merchants Building was postponed. It
was postponed due to transportation issues. Interestingly enough, they met the following day. 

There were no cases during the first meeting. The meeting consisted of
generic organizational procedures and confirmation that all logistics were set in stone. 

The first decision occurred on August 3, 1791 and the case was titled West v. Barnes.
This case was between a farmer and a family he owed money to. 

The first Chief Justice is appointed by the President. This action is accepted or denied
by the U.S. Senate. The Chief Justice serves as the spokesperson for the federal
government’s judicial branch. The Chief Justice will listen to arguments and discussions
of cases. The first Chief Justice was John Jay. 

The Chief Justice also deals with trials of impeachment against the President of the
United States, which interestingly enough happened very recently.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts

WEEK 2

JESUS IN SCHOOLS?

 An article from the Washington Post discusses religious activities and practices in the school system. It mentions that anyone, including teachers and students can practice their faith on a campus, they just cannot force it upon anyone or cause a disruption.

The act of pushing religion on one another in the school system would be against the First Amendment. The First Admendment says that there in no establishment of a certain religion in this country, and on the contrary, prohibiting the exercise of religion.

The article mentions that, "schools are forbidden from initiating or sponsoring religious activities." However, it mentions that teachers cannot get in trouble for saying, "Merry Christmas" to their students and colleagues - Christmas, coming from the word of Christ. So where is the line drawn?

It seems as though as long as the teachers are not forcing religion on the students it is fine. It is okay for a teacher to wear a cross necklace and use it as an expressive way of faith, but to verbally leave it at the door.

The article says that religion signs can be used for teaching material purposes only. It mentions that religion can be offered as an optional class for the student as well.

It is a very interesting and thought provoking concept for me because my brother went to a Christian private high school, where they would literally pray before every class. While I went to a public high school where Jesus was not talked about. It provided two different educational environments for both of us.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/24/can-students-pray-in-public-schools-can-teachers-say-merry-christmas-whats-allowed-and-forbidden/