WikiLeaks 

Julian Assange

When it comes to information sources; Wikileaks was one of the most well known non-major news networks that the people used to get information from. It was important because it was one of the major sources of information for government leaks. Everything from past documents that people find and share online, to live videos that the government tried to hide was shared. One good example of this is with the leak made by Julian Assange on the pentagon papers. This was so important of an example because it helps show how the government is restricting peoples first amendment rights. They are trying to bring information that the government is trying to hide to the eyes of the people. In class we talked about how Julian Assange leaked the pentagon papers that opened the American people’s eyes to some of the lies about the Vietnam war. We learned about how he hid in the embassy of Ecuador until their government was overthrown and then British government then raided the embassy to capture him. Here is a man that risked everything to inform people about some shady and illegal activities by the government. Because of this he was forced into hiding for years then thrown in jail and never actually charged with anything but continued to rot away in jail. He is the perfect example as to how a government will violate your rights if you act out against them by revealing information they were trying to hide from everyone. 

EOTO Presentation Whistleblowers

 Whistleblower

Definition

Whistleblowers are often displayed in the media as some sort of person that spends their life trying to expose something and being called crazy for it. However, the definition of a whistleblower is a person that exposes information activity within either a private, public, or government organization that is deemed illegal, illicit, unsafe, fraud, or abuse of power or funds. Whistleblowers are often small people in government or organization that simply have found out that their bosses or higher up have been abusing their power. They then go out of their way to spread or report this information to the people often with repercussions or downsides to themselves.

 

Examples

There have been many different famous whistleblowers over the years but let’s focus on Edward Snowden. He was a former worker for the NSA or National Security Agency. He was then employed as a contractor for the CIA when he learned about the government using multiple different software and surveillance programs to spy on both the American people and important people abroad. This leaking of information lead to him being wanted by America and fleeing to Russia in order to escape punishment for revealing this information. His leak allowed for the people to know that their government was truly spying on its own people and keeping all their information in servers illegally. It is thanks to people like him and their sacrifice of normal life that people learn about the hidden information that their government is hiding from them.

The Age of AI

 

Privacy

Pros

There are a lot of advantages that can come from advancements in AI and machine learning related to privacy. One good advantage is that these advancements will allow computers to be able to identify new threats to themselves like hackers and viruses. This will allow antivirus software to be able to protect people’s computer and data better and stop people from gaining access to your private info.

Cons

Just like with every other advancement with technology there are downsides to these upgrades. One of the main ones that is related to privacy has to do with AI and machine learning. The idea that with these advancements is that AI can be used to hack into people’s devices and monitor them for information. Its basically a race between hackers and antivirus AI to see which can outdo the other first.

National security

AI can be used in national security in many ways. However, while it can be helpful it can also be harmful to people’s privacy. An example of it being helpful is with AI’s that are being developed to identify terrorist and people that intend to harm others. While this will help protect some people it all depends on how much is implemented. A good example of too much being China and their overuse of surveillance and use of AI to constantly monitor its people.

Security and identity theft

Identity theft is a major issue for many people currently. The way that AI can be used to help stop this is with tracking software. These AI software’s can be used to help track people’s online profile and see if someone is trying to use their information that is not the original person.

EOTO Echo Chamebr

 Echo Chamber

Definition

There are multiple ways that you could define an echo chamber. The simplest one is that it is a situation in which one seeks out information that will reinforce one’s own ideas or beliefs without ever encountering any opposing views or information. Echo chambers are often related to the idea of confirmation bias with echo chambers often leading to confirmation bias in people. The reason for why echo chambers are related to confirmation bias is due to the idea that people will go online looking for information to reinforce their ideas or beliefs. If they are directed and stuck in an echo chamber they will only find information that says they are correct. This leads them to believe that they are correct without fact checking or looking for new information. The reason that this concept is called an echo chamber is due to the relationship that this idea has with confined spaces or areas. In these spaces people will look for information and the idea that your beliefs are echoed back to you.

Examples

There are a lot of examples of echo chambers both online and not but the most well-known and often the biggest tend to be online communities. Many of these communities are on social media platforms such as Face book and twitter. Most people will join these groups based around a single idea and kick out anyone that disagrees with the common concept or try to prove them wrong. Another great example must be reddit and its communities that will often gang up on opposing view and threaten people or other groups that disagree with them. Now let us look at the most well-known of these communities: the flat earth society. They have multiple different groups and chat rooms on all different platforms including their own website that are focused on just repeating the ideas and beliefs that they have. They also use their own twisted information to denounce other people’s facts and beliefs. If you don’t believe me, try going on one of their communities like Facebook and post something like a meme about how they are wrong it will at least give you a funny reaction out of them. Also, if you believe that echo chambers are only online then you would be wrong. There are many in person groups that meet and basically cause an echo chamber effect to occur. One example of these groups is with the Westbrook Baptist Church. These people where convinced by their pastor Fred Phelps that his ideas and belief that God was punishing the US for its tolerance of homosexuality. This echo chamber at the church lead to multiple protest with signs saying everything from "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," and "Don't Pray for the USA.". While this is one of the more extreme examples of an echo chamber and its effects on the world in real life it is still one of the more well-known echo chambers that occurred.

https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-snyder-v-phelps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media)

The Progressive Era

 Anti-War

Let us start with why I think anti-war voices and journalist are important to have and be able to listen to. The people that are most outspoken against war are the ones that pay the most attention to exactly what is happening during that war. They are usually the people that investigate if people are committing war crimes. These anti-war people tend to be the main way that the public learns about the horrors that governments commit during war and what they try and sweep under the rug during said wars. Its due to this that most of the times anti-war voices are usually the best people to have during war to keep the government in check and the people informed about what is truly happening during these wars.

Now we can look at why there are not many anti-war voices in the modern media. Lately in the mainstream media there has been little to no anti-war voices that are being broadcasted. One of the reasons for this is most likely bribes. There have been multiple people that have broken away from main media outlets saying that they had multiple papers and journals shot down by their bosses for no reason. The main reason for these situations happening is simply because the government is trying to control the main stream media that most people listen to. If they can take out these people that are talking about all the ideas or facts that they don’t want the people to focus on it makes the governments life and war a whole lot easier to continue without the people becoming angry and refusing to support it like what happened with Vietnam.

EOTO Presentation

Telephone

 History

    The first time that people learned about and talked about the telephone was when Alexander Gram Bell patented his idea in 1876. Bell started the idea of the telephone due to his interest in transmitting information over wires. Bells idea led to the first ever telephone line and switchboard being constructed between 1877 and 78. In just 3 years the number of telephones being used was almost 49,000. Later in 1890 Bell started to combine his company with others. This led to the creation of the American Telegraph and telephone company or AT&T.

Impact

    The telephone had major impacts on communication and society no matter how you look at it both good and bad. Some of the good impacts it had on communication was it made it much easier to contact someone a large distance away almost instantly from home or someplace close by. Before the telephone many people had to ether use the mail system and letter to contact a distance relative or friend or pay large amounts of money to get a telegraph sent out to them. Another good impact that the telephone had was make tons of jobs with the need for more construction of phone lines and people to work the switchboards. Then there are the down sides with the phone lines taking up a huge amount of space in the cities and scaring many people with the idea of harm from these lines. Another downside that has happened more recently with line taps and surveillance is that it has become extremely hard to talk to people on the phone privately as someone from your phone company or government is most likely listening or recording the call.

Diffusion of inovations

 personal computer/ home computer

The innovation that I want to investigate is the personal computer and at home computers. The main problem that was around for consumers when the computer first became available was simply the cost. As it is for many new technologies that are first released, they tend to be too expensive for most normal families or consumers. Many of the early consumers of personal computers were companies and the higher ups at companies. They used computers because it gave them a way to easily store and access information for their work. All the multiple different applications that were coming out for the computer at the time making their life easier. A great example of this is with taxes. Multiple applications were coming out for computers that would help people and companies manage or file their taxes. A main problem that came about due to computers was hackers. Hackers and scammers were one of the main reasons, other than price, that people would not get a computer. There were multiple different adds or info campaigns going around talking about hackers and scammers stealing your information online or from your computer scaring the normal consumer away from these devices. Overall, there are some people that did not wish to get computers simply because they ether did not understand them or preferred their previous tools or devices. A good example of this is with my grandparents they refused to get a computer for years saying that they can’t understand any of this new technology and preferred good old pen and paper.