Class Presentations: Telephone

        I have grown up in an age of so much technological evolvement. All my life I have had a phone whether it be a land line or a cell phone, one has been available to me, but I never knew the history behind the phone until these presentations. 1876 was the year the patent was given for the first telephone, yet in my mind telephones have only been around since the mid 20th century. I was shocked by how early phones and other communication devices were being created. AT&T has been around since 1877-this information through me off guard. I really did not think AT&T would be so old, I thought it was maybe 40 maybe 50 years old max. I did not believe it was created so many years ago. I found it interesting that the phone has helped improve communication with the deaf since when I think phone, I think phone call-this is something I definitely want to look into more. Overall, the presentation on the telephone and the advances it has made truly taught me a lot. I came to find I really knew nothing about this technology. 

Blog 6: EOTO: Typewriter

 

    Technology has and continues to evolve everyday-a prime example of this would be the typewriter. The typewriter was first patented on June 23, 1868 the patent was given to Christopher Latham Sholes; however, this was not the first printing machine to be thought of. In 1714, Henry Mill came up with the idea of a mass printing machine, and earned a patent for his idea; however, no design or physical machine was every built. From 1868 to 1873, 50 typewriters were manufactured, but none were sold, resulting in the sale of the patent to a gun manufacturer. This sale resulted in the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, this design gave us the QWERTY keyboard design that we know and use today on all our computers and most other devices. They keyboard was also designed to have the keys spaced out so they would not jam when typing. It was, however, more of a decorative machine that looked like a sewing machine. In fact, it was manufactured by the Remington arms company in the sewing machine department. While this design was a bigger hit than the original, it still wasn't a big hit, thus creating the Remington-S&G's successor.  

    The design of the Underwood 1, created in 1896, was extremely popular with the four-row keyboard, front key striking that allowed users to see what they were typing (all typewriters before this did not have this design), and included the shift key to allow capitalization. This machine had superior design compared to all the machines that came before it. By the end of the 20th century typewriters were common machines to be seen in offices and other work places; but, unfortunately, they created a lot of noise, paving the way for the Noiseless Typewriter Company. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as it's designers originally planned. In 1935, IBM Model 01 was released as the first successful electric typewriter. This design allowed for lighter keystrokes and the keys were less spaced out as a result. IBM was so successful they continued to redesign and improve their models. In 1961, the IBM Selectric typewriter was released. This model had a keyboard that looks similar to the ones on our computers today. It was able to have different fonts, italics, etc on the same paper. IBM quickly became the front runner for typewriter design and sales until personal computers and laptops started to make their way into the market. 

    While our society has moved on to new technology like Macs and other PCs and laptops typewriters were and still are extremely beneficial in society. Many third world countries still have typewriters manufactured and are used daily. They are more beneficial to them as typewriters require no electricity and are a cheaper alternative to expensive computers. Typewriters are extremely precise, so they are still used a lot to create forms. There is an instant print out, you do not have to deal with printers, once you are done typing you just take the paper out and there you have your finished paper. There is no negative outcome to your eyes even after hours of use unlike with computers and their screens. However, there are still disadvantages to this machine. You can not just hit backspace when you mess up, you have to white out, allow it to dry, and start all over hoping you didn't forget your thought during the process. You are only able to make one copy at a time, and you can not include graphics with it. 

Citations:

Xavier.edu "A Brief History of Typewriters" https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html

BT.com "The History of the Typewriter" https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/accessories/from-the-writing-machine-to-the-computer-keyboard-the-evolution-of-the-typewriter-11363991455145

Itstillworks.com "Advantages of Typewriters" https://itstillworks.com/13638091/advantages-of-typewriters

Blog 5: 8 Values

 

    "Freedom of expression refers to the ability of an individual or group to express their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and emotions about different issues free from government censorship."-Freedom Forum Institute. Market Place of Ideas, Participation in Self Government, Stable Change, Individual Self Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent are the 8 values of free expression, a huge part of being an American. The great thing about America is that we are able to freely express ourselves without the government censoring us. We are able to say whatever we want, but that does not mean we can't get in trouble for what we say. 

    Free expression is so important for the American people, it is a core value for our other amendments. Free expression covers our freedom of speech, and press, it helps inform the public. So many other countries are told what they are allowed to publish in the news, America is able to publish whatever they want, this can be good and bad in some ways, but this way we are not told by the government what to say the civilians. Like they say, knowledge is power. Without free expression our reporting is restrained, when the whole story can not be told citizens can be in danger. This is a huge part of why free expression is so important, it can be extremely helpful for civilians. 

   Not only does free expression help civilians when it comes to news reporting, but it can also help inform voters. When we are more informed we are stronger voters and when we are stronger voters we have more fair elections which then creates better democracies. When we are more informed as voters we are able to decide for ourselves who we wish to vote for, who fits our ideology. Free expression also allows for you to advocate for your chosen advocate without the government punishing you in any way. So many countries do not even have the ability to chose who runs their country, we are lucky to be able to not only vote for who we want, but let others know who we are voting for and why we think other people should vote for them. Of course, there are some rules to go along with this, like not being able to advocate for your candidate within so many feet of a polling place. We are able to post our thoughts online, place signs in our yards, where tee shirts, and more. 

    We have to remember how lucky we are to have been able to be American citizens, we don't understand how our simple rights are rights that billions of other people all over the world do not have. 

    

    

Sources: 

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/about/faq/what-is-freedom-of-expression/#:~:text=Freedom%20of%20expression%20refers%20to,issues%20free%20from%20government%20censorship.&text=Some%20scholars%20group%20several%20of,term%20%E2%80%9Cfreedom%20of%20expression.%E2%80%9D

https://10years.mediadefence.org/10-reasons-freedom-of-expression/#:~:text=Freedom%20of%20expression%20is%20a%20core%20value%20in%20the%20democratic,others%2C%20without%20censorship%20or%20reprisals.

Blog 4: Antiwar

 

    

      Antiwar.com and The American Conservative  are clearly antiwar in their objective and ways of thinking. This is something that Americans do not see commonly everyday in this time. Antiwar protests were big in 1960-70's, during the Vietnam War. Most of these protestors are what we think of today as "hippies". I don't think I can accurately guess why it is so uncommon for us to hear antiwar voices, America is a free country after all, isn't it? In the times we are in now, I honestly feel as though I would be hearing a lot more antiwar voices. I grew up in a military family, so naturally I never heard any of this talk at home, but coming into college I really thought antiwar thoughts would be bigger. I am also shocked we don't hear more about people who are antiwar in the news. I genuinely do not think there would be as big of a backlash to it as news outlets might think they would receive. I think the reason we don't hear much about antiwar is fear from antiwar voices that their thoughts would be shot down right away in a very negative way. So, they put their voices on websites that are harder to find unless you are specifically seeking them out. I do think that the government wouldn't want strong antiwar voices out because it seems they are extremely pro-war and these voices would go completely against what they want. 

Sources:

https://www.ushistory.org/us/55d.asp

https://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/pnwhistory_vietnam.shtml

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests

Coded Bias Reflection

 

    Before watching Coded Bias, I knew very little about artificial intelligence, and all that it can do. I was also extremely ignorant to the fact that coding and AI can be bias. I never thought about how facial recognition would be such a big problem. Everyone has their own biases that they have to learn to get over, but I didn't realize a personal bias could make such an impact on technology. Joy Buolamwini noticed that facial recognition software had a very difficult time detecting her face, why? Because she is not white. She was not able to be recognized until she put on a white mask that was able to detect the face and features. This happens when coders have a bias, whether or not they know it, against African Americans or other dark skinned people. They don't see a problem because it does not affect them and their personal lives-in fact, they might not even know that it is causing problems for other people. 

This film showed how important it is to know your own biases. There were clips shown of police officers using facial recognition, but it was stated time and time again that this system has identified the wrong people when it comes to crime. How is this helpful? It is only making it harder for the police to find the actual criminal, and it is harmful to the person who is wrongfully arrested. Honestly, after watching this short film it has made me more aware of how big biases can be, and how we as citizens should be more aware of what is good and bad with AI and facial recognition.

Blog 3: Six Freedoms of the Black Lives Matter Movement

VOA News released an article on August 21, 2020 entitled "Police Response to Press at Black Lives Matter Protests Tests First Amendment", the article talks about the journalists that were tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets, and detained by police officers after identifying themselves as media and showing their credentials in Washington D.C. However, Washington D.C. was not the only place to break first amendment rights of journalists; in Seattle, Washington and Cleveland, Ohio journalists were subpoenaed for unpublished footage, and in Portland, Oregon the Department of Homeland Security created intelligence reports on their local media reporters. The U.S. Park Police in Washington placed two of their officers on administrative leave while the investigation is going on for the local incident. Many media experts have stated that the police retaliation is against the first amendment rights of the journalists, going to protests for their job. 

One of the six freedoms in the First Amendment is the right to peacefully protest, which according to the article the protests the media was covering were done peacefully. The press was hit with rubber bullets, tear gassed, and detained. This goes against the freedom of press that is covered by our First Amendment right in the Constitution. According to the article, the police ignored the proof that the members of the press were media and allowed to be there. In Seattle and Cleveland, press outlets were subpoenaed for unpublished footage. This clearly goes against first amendment rights. 

The article talks about how different foundations, the Freedom of the Press Foundation being one, are gaining information and data on incidents including police breaking different First Amendment rights. "The Tracker has received reports of at least 700 incidents involving media at the protests, including more than 100 arrests and at least 114 physical attacks allegedly carried out by police. The scale of incidents is the highest recorded by the Tracker since it was formed in 2017 to monitor incidents in the U.S." 

The article clearly has a bias towards the police following the brutality that has been going on, but it does not hide the fact that hundreds of people have been punished for carrying out their rights as American citizens. 

Citation: 

VOA News: "Police Response to Press at Black Lives Matter Protests Tests First Amendment" 

https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/police-response-press-black-lives-matter-protests-tests-first-amendment

Blog 2: History of the United States Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court of the United States also known as SCOTUS is the highest federal court in the U.S., it was established in 1798 by the U.S. Constitution, Article Three of the Constitution to be specific. The Constitution allowed Congress to decide the makeup of the Supreme Court; they ultimately decided the court would have six justices that would serve until they decided to retire or died. President George Washington signed the act into law. The first assembly was on February 2, 1790 in New York City, NY after being pushed back from the set date of February 1, 1970 due to transportation issues on the justices' part. No cases were heard in the first term of the Supreme Court, they mainly worked out their organizational procedures.  Their first decision was made on August 3, 1791. The chief justice leads the meetings and sets agendas for each meeting each week. The current Supreme Court is composed of chief justice John Roberts, Jr. and associate justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only female supreme justice until 2009 when Sonia Sotomayor joined. The court continued to have only 6 justices until 1869 when it increased to 9 justices, this remains the number of justices a part of the Supreme Court today. 

    There are many traditions associated with the Supreme Court, for example the seating arrangement for the court is very specific. The Chief Justice takes his place in the middle of the Bench, the senior Associate sits to his right, the second senior to his left, and the cycle continues on from there-alternating from left to right by seniority. Traditionally, black robes are worn by the Justices in the Court; however, Chief Justice Jay and his colleagues did wear red facing robes-his robe is now on display in the Smithsonian. 

Citation:

History.com Editors. "Supreme Court." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 11 May 2010, www. history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts.

Supremecourt.gov https://www.supremecourt.gov/