Blog Post 7

 Living in the Age of AI:

    The use of AI has increased dramatically in the last couple of years. I first learned about it two years ago. Someone showed me what ChatGPT and it has helped me tremendously with writing emails and answering questions I don't know. AI is super beneficial to many people and many businesses. However, it will affect many people because AI is taking over jobs. 

    AI has many pros and cons. For starters, many people who have helped invent and create their own AI platforms have spoken out, saying they have regretted doing so. Geoffrey Hinton, the "godfather of AI," has spoken out, saying AI has many dangers. He believes AI will become more intelligent than humans and could possibly wipe out human civilization. What scares me is how AI could potentially "rule" the world. Some fake social media accounts are run by AI bots that people read and believe. God forbid, but if one of these fake social media accounts with a decent following posts something like Russia just launched a nuclear weapon at the United States, it would scare many people. Another thing AI has been doing in the past couple of years is giving false information about political candidates. This can interfere with elections and possibly sway the entire election. 

    AI is not all bad, though. AI is used in many fields like healthcare, production, and much more. AI can do tasks for companies much quicker and more accurately than humans. I know many people in the workforce now who use AI to make their lives way easier. For instance, one of my friends works in the financial sector, and sometimes they have to code things. He will write me this code, and the AI will correctly give him the code he needs.

    Many countries are trying to create AI-enhancing military weapons. This would create a new form of warfare. In recent years, there have been many more cyberattacks. Many believe these cyberattacks are made with the help of AI. This poses a major risk for many people because it can affect everyone and will be more available to those who want to carry out these attacks. 

 Overall, AI is a very sophisticated piece of technology that can do more harm than good if we allow it. As a society, we must be careful about how we use it. Although it has many pros, it also has many cons. 

Blog Post 6

EOTO Presentation Reflection:

During the presentations, I learned a lot about different inventions that have revolutionized the world today. The most interesting ones I learned about were Facebook and the printing press. These technologies have greatly impacted society, and their innovations are still used today.

The Printing Press:

The printing press is one of the most influential inventions of all time. Johannes Gutenberg invented it around 1440 in Germany. This device allowed many authors and news outlets to produce multiple copies of their work quickly and cheaply. This printing press could produce up to 3,600 pages per workday. This was insane because before, they had to handwrite everything they wanted to be published. This invention is still used today to produce books, newspapers, magazines, and any written work. Even though there has been a decline in physical copies, this invention is still very important.

Facebook: 

Facebook is one of the most influential companies in the 21st century. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Severin, Andrew Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes while they were students at Harvard. I honestly did not know who these other people were; I thought Facebook was only created by Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook changed the way we communicate with others. It was one of the first social media platforms to connect people from around the world. Even though Facebook has many positive aspects, it also has many negative aspects. Facebook has had negative impacts on people's mental health, privacy, misinformation, and much more. Something I found overall, Facebook has changed the way we communicate with each other and has helped people stay connected. 

Blog Post 5

TED TALK:

After watching the Ted Talks, it is safe to say anything we do is being watched, tracked, and stored. Many people have this notion that the internet is somewhat safe and that these companies protect our data; however, that is not the case. They literally take every piece of data they can and sell it to other companies. 

In the first Ted Talk with Juan Enriquez, he talks about digital tattoos. Digital tattoos are information about the users. For example, with Facebook, everything we post or say (even if deleted) will be forever on its servers. Another crazy thing he talks about is Face.com. Before this Ted Talk I had no idea what this was, but after he explained it, I realized how much information these companies sell. Face.com in 2011 had around 18 billion faces. It was ultimately bought out from Facebook in 2012. However, Face.com was able to give people records of people with just a picture of their face. People can get so much information on other people without even knowing or talking to them. 

In the second Ted Talk with Catherine Crump, she discusses how police and the government can track you. They can do this via automatic license plate readers, GPS trackers in vehicles, and cameras on the side of the road. These devices can determine where you travel frequently, your daily driving routes, and basically anywhere you go. The intent of license plate readers is to determine whether a car has been stolen, if your registration has expired, etc. Realistically, you would think it just checks the license plate and gets deleted. However, that is not the case. The police departments keep all the data just in case they need it for the future. They have millions of innocent people's data, just in case. After hearing about this, I wonder how many photos of my license plates they have. 

Due to the controversy surrounding this, some states are taking action. In North Carolina, there is a law that limits the retention of license plate data to 90 days. This may sound like a step in the right direction. However, you probably drive past a license plate reader every day, whether that be on the side of the road or mounted on the top of a police car. 

In the last Ted Talk with Christopher Soghoian, he discusses how the government has so much access to our phone calls and how the telephone companies have provided them with wiretapping assistance. When the government first started listening to our phone calls, they were done manually. However, as technology increased, calls were then recorded to tapes and drives so they could be reviewed. This is no secret. Many people know the saying "Big Brother is always watching," but I don't think they realize how much they're watching. Something that kind of freaked me out and did not put much thought into was how other governments have the same technology and can be listening to our conversations as well. 

On the other hand, companies like Apple and WhatsApp have created sophisticated encryption that makes it difficult for the government to read people's text and monitor their calls. However, this is a double-edged sword. I believe in privacy, but many terrorist organizations communicate via WhatsApp and Apple iMessage. If these are super encrypted where the government cannot see them, it could lead to an attack that they could have potentially prevented. Overall, this makes you wonder what is more important, people's privacy or people's safety. 

Overall, it is crazy to think how much data companies, police departments, and government have on us. Watching these Ted Talks really opened my eyes to how, everything you do, someone is listening, tracking, or watching you and saving it to a drive. Just looking at these Ted Talks on Ted.com, I bet they took my information. Things are only going to get worse as technology increases and there is basically nothing we can do.

Blog Post 4

Netflix was created on August 29th, 1997. It was created by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. Reed Hastings came up with the idea after being charged $40 in late fees for a movie rental from Blockbuster. In 1997, when Netflix launched, it only had 900 movie titles, and viewers had a 7-day rental period. Each rental only costed fifty cents per movie. Then, in 2000, they increased their library to 5,200 movies and TV shows. They also changed their price model to a subscription-based service. Subscribers could rent up to four movies at a time with no return by dates. The monthly subscription was priced at $19.95. 

In 2007, when it introduced its online movie collection, Netflix shocked the world. In the beginning, many people didn't use the service because there were only 1,000 films available to stream compared to the 70,000 films on DVD. The streaming service only worked on Windows applications, which meant people with Macs could not stream on their devices. Many people did not believe in Netflix's transformation into streaming. Many analysts thought this was going to be Netflix's decline. Obviously, they were wrong. In May of 2011, Netflix became the largest internet streaming service. It accounted for 30% of the traffic during the peak hours. It is crazy to think about how many people were watching Netflix. 

In 2008, Hulu and Apple launched video rental services. To compete with them, Netflix gave all rental-disc subscribers unlimited streaming at no additional cost. Netflix knew that giving members who already had unlimited access would prevent them from switching to Hulu or Apple. Each year, Netflix must keep evolving to keep its subscribers. There are over 200 streaming services today throughout the world, which means there are a lot of other options if Netflix does not continue to evolve.

Netflix's price has increased dramatically from 2011 to 2024. In 2011, they had a flat rate of $7.99 a month, which allowed users to watch unlimited streaming videos. However, at the time, their online library was not as extensive as their DVD collection. Then, in 2013, they came out with subscription options. The basic package ($7.99) would allow users to stream on one screen, the standard ($9.99 allowed users to stream on two screens at once, and the premium ($11.99) allowed users to stream on up to four screens at once. From 2013 to 2017, the price of the basic plan stayed the same at $7.99. In 2019, they raised the price one dollar to $8.99, and then in 2022, they raised the price to $9.99, which then phased out in 2023. They ultimately got rid of the basic plan in 2023 and came out with the Standard with Ads for $6.99 a month. Then, for the Standard Plan from 2013 ($9.99) to 2020 ($14.99), there was one dollar increase each year. However, for the past three years, it has stayed consistent at $15.49 a month. Lastly, the premium plan from 2013 ($11.99) to 2022 ($19.99) has increased a dollar each year as well. Then, in 2023, the price stayed the same at $19.99, but in 2024, it increased the price to $22.99. After looking at this data, it is safe to say they're going to continue to raise the prices. However, the big question is how much will people be willing to pay. 

Year	Basic	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium
2011	$7.99	–	–	–
2013	$7.99	–	$9.99	$11.99
2014	$7.99	–	$10.99	$13.99
2015	$7.99	–	$11.99	$14.99
2017	$7.99	–	$12.99	$15.99
2019	$8.99	–	$13.99	$16.99
2020	$8.99	–	$14.99	$18.99
2022	$9.99	–	$15.49	$19.99
2023	Phased Out	$6.99	$15.49	$19.99
2024	–	$6.99	$15.49	$22.99

Netflix has significantly impacted many industries. Netflix ultimately shut down Blockbuster. Even though Blockbuster could have bought Netflix in 2000 for 50 million dollars, they backed out. Netflix created an easier, more efficient product, which ultimately led more people to use their service. Before Netflix, Blockbuster was one of the only places you could rent DVDs. Another industry it impacted was movie theaters. Netflix created a whole new experience for people to watch their movies and shows. People were able to watch in the comfort of their own homes at a reasonable price. Lastly, Netflix destroyed the DVD industry. Everything we watch today is through a streaming service or watched on cable. Many stores have stopped selling DVDs because no one buys them. Netflix discontinued their DVD by mail on April 18th, 2023

Overall, Netflix has revolutionized the way we watch films today. It is the number one streaming service, with 260.28 million subscribers worldwide. Netflix is constantly evolving each year. They have created their own production company, announced plans to create their own movie theater called Netflix House, and signed deals with the NFL to stream both games on Christmas. 

Blog Post 2

The Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial branch in the United States and has jurisdiction over all laws. Its main purpose is "ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is "distinctly American in concept and function." 

The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices. The current members of the Supreme Court are John G. Roberts Jr. (Chief Justice), Clarence Thomas (Associate Justice), Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (Associate Justice), Sonia Sotomayor (Associate Justice), Elena Kagan (Associate Justice), Neil M. Gorsuch, (Associate Justice), Brett M. Kavanaugh, (Associate Justice), Amy Coney Barrett, (Associate Justice), and Ketanji Brown Jackson, (Associate Justice). These justices are appointed by current and former presidents. There have only been 17 Chief Justices and 104 Associate Justices since the formation in 1790. 

Something I found interesting about the Supreme Court was that it receives around 7,000 cases annually and only accepts around 100 a year. I understand they can't accept all of these, but I feel that the Supreme Court could accept more than 100 cases per year. Something I did not know was that when the Supreme Court was formed, there were only 6 justices. I always thought it was an odd number, so the ruling could not be tied. Another thing I found interesting was that justices are appointed for life. I feel this is absurd because if you have justices who are all similar in age, I feel their perspectives may be the same. I think this may alter some decisions due to growing up in different time periods and may affect younger generations with their rulings. 

Blog Post 3

8 Values of Free Expression

    There are 8 Values of Free Expression. Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfilment, Check on Government Power, Promote Tolernace, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. These values are crucial when looking at the First Amendment. To me the First Amendment is very important and needs to be protected at all costs. It provides us protection from the government and lets us speak freely on what we think needs to change. The three values I found to be the most influential are Checking on Government, Participation in Government, and Individual Self-Fulfilment. 

Individual Self-Fulfillment:

    In Edwin Baker's Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech, he discusses how free speech allows people to express their feelings and thoughts on an issue. This is crucial for Americans because it allows us to speak up against things we do not believe in. I find this value to be very important because it allows me to speak freely and express my opinions. I feel very fortunate to be an American because in many other countries, citizens are not allowed to express how they feel or speak freely on issues. 

    In today's world, with cancel culture, people are afraid to express how they really feel. Cancel culture is a double-edged sword because technically, "the people" who are canceling a person are expressing their feelings and thoughts, and the person who is getting canceled is also expressing their feelings and thoughts. 

    

    

    

Participation in Self-Government: 

    Participation in Self-Government is the foundation of the United States of America. This value is crucial for our democracy because it allows us to express our opinions on the government and the laws it creates. Without free speech, we would be unable to protest against what we feel is wrong, and democracy would not exist. 

    The government is very different today than it was 20 years ago. The nation is very split on their beliefs. This is good and bad because people participate in their self-government rights however, I feel it affects people's views. Many people do not vote for people who they think should be in office but are voting for officials friends and family want them to vote for. Which ultimately takes away their right to participate in Self-Government.  

Check on Governmental Power:

    Checking on Governmental Power is very important because it allows us to know what is happening within the government. This also allows reporters and the press to dig into what lawmakers are planning to do and inform the people about what is going on. Without this, many people would not know what is going on. In my prior blog post, I talked about how I receive my news, and if reporters were not digging into what is going on, I honestly would have no idea what lawmakers are doing or plan to do. This would be very detrimental to everyone because many people would not be able to speak on the issues or protest what new laws are being made. 

    Overall, all of the values are important in our society however, the three I went into detail about are the most important to me. As a society, we need to question and speak up about the government's actions so we do not lose our First Amendment freedoms to continue being a democratic nation. We also need to constantly fight new laws and policies that are affecting our First Amendment Right to free speech. 

Blog Post 1

As a Gen Z student I can tell you first hand no one in my generation and the generation below are getting the newspaper and receiving the news that way. Nowadays with social media most of us are looking at Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, and much more. It is safe to say almost all news is digitalized. Even my grandparents do not read the newspaper and they're old. For me I get most of my news and information from these platforms.

Instagram:

As embarrassing as it sounds I get a lot of my news from Instagram. Here I usually see the big headlines and the smaller headlines like which celebrities have passed and which celebrities are fighting. You have to be careful especially regarding politics because many of the things written about both parties can be false. 

Tiktok: 

TikTok is one of the newer social media platforms, and has grossed 150 Million American Users. Here many news outlets have created their own accounts and post what is going on in the world. With TikTok again you have to be careful. There have been rumors of propaganda going on with this platform because it 

YouTube: 

I found YouTube to be very good during major headlines. When something big occurs they create a breaking news tab that is on the home screen. There you will be able to watch live coverage of what is going on from reliable sources like NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. 

News 12 Long Island:

When I am back home I News 12 the most. This is our local news channel and it basically tells me everything I need to know on what's going on around me. I usually put this on every morning I wake up to see what big headlines occurred the day before, and what the weather is going to be like that day. 

X (Formerly Known as Twitter):

X is another form of news outlet I use. I personally think X is great for breaking news. I will usually get a notification from X when something major occurs almost instantly. The one thing X is not good for is politics. There is a lot of false information regarding both candidates.

Overall, social media is a very powerful tool to stay connected with friends, but it also helps people stay connected to what is going on in the world. News outlets have been shifting to social media over the past decade because more people use social media over watching TV, or reading a newspaper.