Final Exam Post: My Relationship with Technology

Technology & I

It is so often now that we hear of a new technological breakthrough product is coming out. For example, it seems like each time a new iPhone gets released, the announcement that a newer one is getting released only one month later.

Due to the technological advances in our world today, I would say that I am pretty connected to both of my devices. My laptop and my iPhone. While there are many advantages to having high-tech devices like these, there are also disadvantages. oftentimes, I find myself missing out on the little things, or not paying attention to something important because I was looking at my small screen. 

Viewing Mobile Data on your iPhone

A feature on the iPhone that I just recently became aware of is "screen time". With this feature, you can see exactly how much time you are spending on your screen as well as how your usage data from one day compares to the other days in the week. 

So how do I view my screen time?

Settings-->scroll down--> Click "Screen time"

This is my screen time. If I were to click on "See all activity", I would be given access to view more specific data regarding: 

-My percentage of increase or decrease from last week
-Total time spent on my screen in the entire week
-Time spent on "entertainment"
-Time spent on "reading & reference"
-Time spent on "social networking" 

You are also able to see how much time you spent on each of your apps, and if you want to view your daily usage data, instead of weekly you can click on "day".

Benefits of monitoring "Screen time"

• access to "real-time reports" 
• The ability to set limits for yourself or your children
• Helps to improve sleep
• Fewer distractions
• increased time to try new activities

How access to "screen time" can benefit the kids of the younger generation

If parents monitor their kids' screen time starting at a young age, when they get older they will not feel as inclined to constantly be checking their devices. When I was younger, before access to "screen time" data existed, I was given no restrictions. Due to that, I feel like I spend more time on social media, and on my phone in general. While this can mostly be seen as a benefit, it can also be viewed negatively because my devices can be distracting to what is going on in the real world around me. I plan to limit my use that I spend on social media, or things that aren't completely necessary. 


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208982

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/featured-topic/5-tips-for-reducing-screen-time

Week 16: Kim Jong-Un Possibly Dead

Missing in Action: Kim Jong-Un

Amidst all the coverage surrounding Covid-19, this past week there has been lots of news coverage and reports regarding North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un.

North Korea's Communist dictator, Kim Jong-un (believed to be 36 years old) missed his famous Grandfather's, Kim II Sung 108th annual birthday commemoration on April 15th. His whereabouts remain unknown and he has not been seen in public or heard from since April 11th.

American President Donald Trump spotted with Kim Jong-Un in North Korea in June of 2019

Possible theories on his whereabouts

While nobody knows for sure where Kim Jong-Un is, or where his health status stands, below are some of the most talked-about theories from reporters all around the world:

• He was injured in a cruise missile test
• He had a botched heart surgery
• He is perfectly healthy and is just "laying low" to avoid catching Covid-19.

The effect Media has on this story

If it weren't for the media and reporters all around the world, this highly-covered news-story would not be a thing. North Korea has always been very private about everything, and different countries are now using satellites to "spy" and look for any sign of Kim Jong-Un's whereabouts. 

What happens if Kim Jong-un is unable to rule his country?

In the United States, if our president was unable to perform his duties as President, the Vice President would take over, and in the small chance that the Vice President was also unable then the next person in the line of succession takes over. This is where the black and white area for North Korea comes into play. If Kim Jong-un is unable to rule, North Korea has no "line of succession plan" in place. 

There has been some talk that either Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo Jong would take over, or his uncle, Kim Pyong II would take over. While each country has its own theory of Kim Jong-un's health status, none have been proven to be true and the truth is still unclear.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/28/kim-jong-uns-uncle-emerges-as-possible-successor-in-north-korea/

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/27/846514585/rumors-spread-after-kim-jong-un-misses-his-grandfathers-birthday-celebration

Week 15: Propaganda

Propaganda

• Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. 

Example of Propaganda back then

Propaganda was used by Adolf Hitler, Germany's president and chancellor from 1934 to 1945. Hitler used propaganda to convince his country of national socialism ideals. Ultimately, this resulted in Hitler being the leader of the genocide of the Jews, which is officially known as the Holocaust. 

This is one of the propaganda signs that was used during Hitler's reign, and it is now at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is a poster of a stereotyped jew. The caption reads, "Behind the enemy powers: the jew".

Hitler wrote a book and in his own words, he said propaganda was: "The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly"(Hitler, Ch V1).

Example of Propaganda now

Today, advertising is considered to be propaganda. 

• The activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services. 

Any brand that is promoting their product over another brand's product is considered to be propaganda. Whether it's in a newspaper, a magazine, on a poster, billboard, or even a tv commercial it is considered to be propaganda. 

This is a poster with Michelle Obama's face photoshopped into it. This poster is considered to be political propaganda, as she was the First Lady from the years of 2008-2016. 

View my Powerpoint on propaganda below

Outside Sources: 

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/arts/design/24muse.html

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/War%20Reporting%20on%20the%20U.S.%20War%20in%20Iraq.htm

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda?s=t

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/advertising?s=t

Week 14- How Our Privacy Is Constantly Being Violated

Privacy Being Violated

When people think about privacy, now more than ever their thoughts go directly to the internet. 

Electronic devices all of which include smartwatches, smartphones, amazon's Alexa, connected cars, smart toys, and drones are using their sensors and software to gather information and data about people. 

Personally, one of my biggest fears is the violation of my privacy. This fear doesn't stem from me having things to hide, but it stems from the rights that I am given in the fourth amendment of the constitution. 

What I didn't realize for the longest time, is that even though the 4th amendment exists, privacy violations happen every day. Celebrities, in particular, are always getting their rights violated when it comes to privacy violations. 

"The Fappening" which occurred in 2014 is a prime example of how rights were violated, specifically the rights of celebrities. 

Ultimately, the Fappening "exposed how little security celebrities had on their personal online accounts and how easily hackers were able to gain access to them."

After watching these Ted Talks about privacy, I realized that I didn't understand the extent to which it could be violated. We are always being watched, our internet searches are always being monitored, it is even possible for someone to go as far as to listen in on the private conversations you have in your own home through a device known as the "ring". 

It frustrates me to see how often our privacy gets violated, it makes me understand the importance of being cautious when doing things that you would have never expected would be watched. It is possible for any electronic device to have glitches, and after watching these Ted talks, this is where my attention went to the most. 

https://www.dictionary.com/e/historical-current-events/the-fappening/

https://www.dictionary.com/

Week 13: Online Self Audit

Google Utilizing Data Tracking 

While it shouldn't come as a surprise, Google tracks what you are searching by browsing through your google history. 

So you find yourself asking, "What's the big deal". What many internet users don't know about Google's tracking activity is how in-depth and far they go. They tally up all of your purchasing transactions based on digital receipts that you choose to receive through your Gmail account.

Many people use Gmail for storage and organization, however, what these Gmail users are not aware of is when they are using Gmail, they are giving consent to Google to search through their inbox to assemble a folder of all of your past purchases. 

When Google was questioned about this by one of their Gmail users, Google responded to by stating that the reason they gather purchase data is: 

"To help you easily view and keep track of your purchases, bookings, and subscriptions in one place, we've created a private destination that can only be seen by you."

What does that mean? 

Essentially, the point of Google gathering this data is there to give you the ability to track packages, renew subscriptions, and even cancel reservations. 

All in all, it is important to ensure that you are aware of what you are signing up for when you make any sort of account, whether it be a Gmail account or a social media account. When we click "yes" that can also mean giving the owner of these accounts access to your credit card transactions.

My personal takeaway

There are so many different platforms that when I sign up for one I need to make sure that the terms and conditions that I am agreeing to are not only reasonable but that they are safe and protect my privacy. Snapchat is just a small example of a user not being aware of what they are giving up when they sign up. When you sign up for snapchat, you click "agree" to a license agreement that states that your snapchats may be purchased by a future employer. Ultimately, even when you think something is gone it will be out there forever and the platform in which you are using may have rights you aren't even aware of. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90349518/google-keeps-an-eye-on-what-you-buy-and-its-not-alone

Week 12: Diffusion of Innovations

Technology: Snapchat 

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a "multimedia messaging app used globally" where one can send videos, photos, and chats that disappear after viewing them. 

According to the main website of Snapchat, is it described as "a new kind of camera that's connected to your friends and the world"

How Snapchat became so popular

I would say one of the main reasons that Snapchat became so popular was because you were able to edit your photos in the app, add geofilters to show your location in a creative way, or filters to your face. While Snapchat is most commonly used by younger generations as a way of communication, as it continues to evolve it finds new uses. It can also be utilized by companies to market their products, show behind the scenes footage of their employees or their workplace, and even gives celebrities a platform to follow in order to stay updated on what is going on in their life.

Snapchat's Early Adopters

Snapchat has been successful since day 1. Ultimately, the early adopters of Snapchat were younger kids. between the ages of 13-20. Snapchat is popular amongst young teenagers because of its ability to allow users to begin what is known as "snap streaks". Each day your streak will increase by 1 and represents the number of days you and a Snapchat friend have snapchatted back and forth (by picture or video, not chat). Snapchat streaks don't start until day 3 of sending consecutive snaps.

Negative Consequences in the Use of Snapchat

People often post stuff on Snapchat that they don't feel is serious enough to post on their other social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) Sharing videos through Snapchat and uploading the videos on to what is known as your "My Story" is also becoming more and more popular. With the popularity of posting on Snapchat, also comes consequences. Often times teens think that since the Snapchats disappear after a certain amount of time, they can post whatever they want. This, however, is not the case. When you sign up for Snapchat you sign a license agreement, which states that anyone, typically companies, though can purchase all the Snapchat that you have posted. If someone is posting negative information about someone else, or them partaking in illegal activities this can create issues for the snapchatter.  Snapchatters now can create a private story which is a completely separate story from their "My Story" and only those they select can see it. However, snapchatters are warned about what they post as people can take screenshots as well as spread them between one another.  Unless you turn Snapchat on "ghost mode", all of your friends can see your location on what is known as "snap maps". 

The blue chat icon in the bottom left indicates that the snapchatter has a snapchat(s) to open from friends. Below where it says "My Story" are subscriptions you can subscribe to for free to get your news from your favorite news outlets. Below those, are where the stories that you post to snapchat show up for you to see.

Major Takeaway from using Snapchat

There are always going to be consequences for what you post on social media, no matter what platform you post it on, so always think twice about what you post before posting.

https://www.mic.com/articles/157607/snapchat-ipo-snap-inc-women-early-adopters

https://whatis.snapchat.com/

https://dailydolphin.hbcsd.org/5115/science-and-technology/why-is-snapchat-so-popular/

Week 11: The Eight Values of Free Expression

The Value of Protecting Dissent

There are 8 values that we consider to be a part of the values of free expression. Amongst the 8 values are:

•  Marketplace of Ideas
• Participation in Self-Government 
• Stable Change
• Individual Self-Fulfillment 
• Check on Governmental Power
• Promote Tolerance
• Promote Innovation
• Protect Dissent: The value I personally deem the most important, inspiring, and most meaningful. 

The values of Free Speech fall under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and to this day remains one of the most popular rights in the Constitution

To me, the value of protecting dissent is the freedom of all U.S. citizens to have the right to express their opinions without being held back or restrained by the government. The right to dissent ultimately means freedom of speech, which as you can see above, falls under the first amendment.

I feel that one of the reasons America is so special when being compared to other nations is that U.S. citizens are given the opportunity for freedom regarding all topics and they are also encouraged to have their own viewpoints and thoughts. To me, this is one of the many reasons America is so powerful.  I feel that U.S. citizens' right to dissent is a right that will continue to be "crucial" to our American Democracy. 

Our right to freedom of expression goes hand in hand with our right to dissent. The right to dissent is not only one of the most important values of free expression, but it is also a "fundamental human right". Some important examples of people who are now considered to be American heroes and activists based on their beliefs and opinions are Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, and Matin Luther King. Based on these few examples of people, it is clear that the right to dissent paves the pathway for those who become and those who are already famous activists.

"The ability to express our opinion and speak freely is essential to bring about change in society."

The right to dissent is inspiring because it allows for some of the most important events in history to be talked about by those whom we consider American heroes. A human rights activist named Peter 

Tatchell feels that one of the best ways we can move forward is by people with different views challenging their opposing views. 

“Free speech does not mean giving bigots a free pass. It includes the right and moral imperative to challenge, oppose and protest bigoted views. Bad ideas are most effectively defeated by good ideas – backed up by ethics, reason – rather than by bans and censorship.”

https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2016/04/free-speech-important/

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/the-right-to-dissent-crucial-to-american-democracy