The Invention of Radio and How it has Changed the World

The invention of the radio is attributed to several inventors and scientists, but the most commonly recognized inventor of the radio is Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian-born physicist, and inventor. Marconi demonstrated the first successful long-range wireless communication in 1901, using a system he had developed based on earlier work of other scientists such as Heinrich Hertz and Nikola Tesla. Marconi's invention of the radio revolutionized communication and led to the development of many technologies that use radio waves, including television, mobile phones, and satellite communication. Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy, which is now known as the radio. 

Creating the radio was driven by the need to overcome the limitations of existing forms of long-distance communication, such as the telegraph and the telephone. Prior to the development of the radio, communication over long distances required physical cables or wires to transmit signals, which was impractical for many applications. The Radio was invented to allow wireless communication, which made it possible to transmit and receive messages over long distances without the need for physical connections. This was a major breakthrough in communication technology, as it enabled people to communicate with each other from different parts of the world in real time. The radio was initially used for military purposes, but it soon became popular among the general public for entertainment and information broadcasting. Today, the radio continues to be an important medium for communication, both for entertainment and for emergency broadcasting purposes. 

This extraordinary development of radio has had a significant impact on our world in numerous ways. Firstly radio made it possible for people to communicate with each other over long distances without the need for physical cables or wires. This greatly improved communication and made it possible for people to stay connected with each other when they were far apart. Additionally, radio revolutionized the way we receive information. It made it possible for news, music, and other forms of entertainment to be broadcasted to millions of people at the same time. This had a profound impact on the way we consume information and entertainment. Furthermore, radio has also changed the way we interact with each other. It has made it possible for people from different parts of the world to communicate with each other in real time. This has had a great impact on our understanding of other cultures and our ability to work together across geographical and cultural boundaries. Lastly, this monumental invention also contributed to the development of other technologies, such as television and the internet. These technologies would not have been possible without breakthroughs in radio technology.

Although Radio has progressed communication as the way we know it, I believe there are some negative effects as well. Radio broadcasts can sometimes spread misinformation or propaganda, leading to public confusion or even harm. This is especially true in countries where the government controls the airwaves and uses radio broadcasts as a tool of propaganda. In addition, the rise of radio as a popular form of entertainment contributed to declining of other media, such as newspapers and magazines, which led to job losses in those industries. 

Eight Values of Free Expression Post

Out of all of the values of free expression, the one that connects most with me would be individual self-fulfillment (self-actualization). The concept of individual self-fulfillment is implied in the Constitution's protection of individual rights, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I believe free speech is so essential in this country because it enables individuals to express themselves and create their own identities. Expressing oneself is personally very important to me; I think it emphasizes individualism and standing out in a very competitive incoming generation. In the United States, you are encouraged to be independent, thinkers and express your opinions, and ideas freely, which means everything to me as someone who wants to write/give my opinions for a living. 

Additionally, I believe this value is crucial because expressing oneself can be a powerful tool for personal growth and self-discovery. From my personal experience, by exploring one's thoughts, feelings, and ideas through self-expression, individuals can gain a better understanding of themselves and their place in the world, which I think is even more important for teenagers like myself. The last thing I will note on why this value is so important to me is the fact that it promotes creativity and innovation in society. I my view, American culture values this, and by expressing oneself, it is a way of tapping into one's creative potential. You see, in culture, that art, music, and other forms of self-expression are celebrated and encouraged in American society, which I think is fantastic. 

An event I believe that is relevant to this value is Twitter no longer enforcing its COVID misinformation policy. This policy, as we discussed in class, was used to silence people across the world who questioned the media narrative around the COVID-19 virus and its treatment options. To make matters worst, it was the government enforcing the censoring, not the private section, that is, Twitter. This directly goes against the 1st Amendment and the idea of self-actualization. By censoring people's ability to speak their minds about a pandemic, it creates doubt in their heads that something is being hidden from them and just leads to more speculation and fear overall. In my opinion, this policy Twitter had was a well-intentioned effort to address the serious problem that is the spread of misinformation, but the policy was not implemented effectively, leading to unintended consequences such as the censorship of legitimate information and opinions. 

Other social media platforms did this as well, which caused a bigger-picture problem, censorship of any kind, including censorship of COVID-19 information, is a direct violation of freedom of speech. People should always have the right to express their opinions and share information, even if others disagree with it or it's completely wrong. Also, a problem this censorship had was impacting public health in a negative way. Censorship of this magnitude on all these social media can prevent people from accessing important information about the virus, such as how to prevent the spread, which could lead to an increase in cases and deaths. Lastly, censorship can stifle scientific debate and hinder progress in the development of effective treatments and vaccines. Throughout history, scientific inquiry has depended on the free exchange of ideas and information, which was prohibited by this censorship. 

Privacy of Cell Phones or Lack there of

    Protecting one's privacy is key to ensuring human dignity, safety, and self-determination. It also allows individuals to freely develop their own personalities in this ever-changing world. Most importantly, I believe privacy is about the freedom to make choices without fear: like how you want to live, what you personally believe in, who your friends are, and what you want to share with whom. A lack of privacy leads to uniformity and self-censorship, which in turn pushes our opinions to the edges and erodes our ability to engage in healthy/normal debate. While watching Christopher Soghoian's Ted Talk, I was genuinely surprised that when first making phones but especially cell phones, the first priority was to have surveillance and the ability to track one's data. Additionally, it made me consider how this tracing has and will affect my family and me in the future. 

    Cell Phones track where you go, and what you do and reveal details about your life that prove quite valuable to the government and companies. I think even though this is the case, I see it in two ways. Firstly when I watch and read more about this topic, I get more concerned because I or someone in my family's identity can be stolen because of all this data stalking by these cell phone companies and the fact that one could take advantage of this, and certainly could ruin one's life. My other thought is sort of indifference to the tracking because, on a real-life scale, it doesn't really affect my family or me at all. From doing more reading on this topic, I have found that the main purpose of all this tracking is to use the data to give to companies, so they can sell you things. Along with finding evidence of criminals or threats against the country. My family and I are not threats against the country, so even though it can be scary to think about the fact that someone can always be listening/watching your activity on your phone, it doesn't really bother me because I don't have anything to hide. 

    As I said previously, if you ask the government why they do all this tracking, they will say that they do it to fight crime and protect public safety. Their mindset is that they have a clear and compelling need to access digital data and that it balances the interest against their citizen's expectation of due process and the rule of law that is essential to maintaining trust in technology. Putting that aside, I think the government can protect its citizens from identity theft by preventing unauthorized disclosures of personal information and letting individuals have the right to review such information, requesting corrections if wrong, and being informed of any disclosures. Lastly, I think you should take all the precautions to make stealing your identity as challenging as possible. You can do this by not putting sensitive information in an email, social media, or text messages, as well as creating strong passwords and keeping them secret from others. Also, you can protect your accounts and credit with certain applications out there that allow for more protection. Furthermore, you can boost your computer's security and add alerts to your bank account to make sure your accounts aren't being used. 

   

My Reflection on Supreme Court

    When reading over the overview of the Supreme Court created by the History Channel,  there were many aspects I wasn't aware of; firstly that when the Judiciary Act of 1789, there were 6 justices originally put into place, and they would serve on the court until they were retired from the court or they passed away. Furthermore, another fact I didn't know was that the court's authority was weakened after Chief Justice Rogers Brooke Taney ruled that African Americans could not be considered U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the U.S. territories. Also, I wasn't aware that there have been about 100 Supreme Court Judges and Justices, and I found it interesting that around 7,000 cases a year are reviewed/argued by the Supreme Court. The most surprising thing I learned was that the youngest Supreme Court Justice in history was 32 years old; this surprised me because previously, I would have thought that they wouldn't have considered a person in their thirties for such an important decision. 

    The biggest takeaway from reading about the history of the Supreme Court was that Brown vs. Board of Education was perhaps the most important case in its history. I say this because if segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, then, segregation in all public places is unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court did not give a deadline by which schools had to integrate the law, which means many states chose not to desegregate their schools until the 1960s. My personal view of the Supreme Court hasn't changed per see, but after reading, I have a better understanding of why the Supreme Court is so important, and its purpose overall. Now when I think of the Supreme Court's duties, I think of interpreting the law and defending the constitution, and if they don't, they need to be held accountable. 

My Top Five News Sources

Personally, I get most of my news from Twitter. I would say I check Twitter most often throughout the day, and it provides news on current events, pop culture, and sports. Twitter is also a very credible source, in my opinion, because you can decipher the real news from the fake news by either checking if someone is certified and has a good history of credibility or you can check the comments and see by the interactions whether the news is real or not. Because I'm so into sports, I find myself going to different Twitter Spaces and seeing what these groups are saying are certain topics. Lastly, I like how you can direct message, someone, you want to connect with directly, and Twitter allows you to do this; also, you can create a personal brand on Twitter which allows others to identify with you better. 

Secondly, a news source I also use frequently is Bleacher Report. This one is specifically for sports news. I have the Bleacher app on my phone, which sends me notifications when major moves happen in sports, and you can customize what it alerts you on. For example, I could set it only to send news for a certain team, player, league, or all leagues and teams. I would highly recommend Bleacher Report to anyone interested in sports and staying up the date with all the news in real-time. Lastly, Bleacher Report has thousands of articles to read on various topics, and they are super well-written and researched. 

Also, Google is a great news source I use. Google is updated constantly, and it is always relevant to the news cycle going on. Google gives you thousands to hundreds of thousands of websites and articles it links you to and gives you dates on all of them. Additionally, you can go to third-party courses, and news websites, and most are reliable, but I wouldn't just blindly believe one website or application that you are reading. Lastly, Google allows you to have thorough research and not have one perspective 

                                                                                      

Another great News source for me is the Associated Press. They have been around for a long time, and for a good reason, they cover news and over 50 Pulitzer Prices. To me, they seem very neutral on a lot of topics and stick mostly with facts and have a good understanding of the material they are covering. I find it a terrific place to get information on global events and sports as well. Lastly, their stories and articles are incredibly interesting and distinct. 

My last main news source is ESPN. As an aspiring sports writer, I almost use ESPN and other Sport Journalistic associations as an example of what I want to write in the future. The reporters that work for ESPN are top-of-the-line and have most likely been writing for a long time, so it's super compelling to read their work. Also, ESPN tracks almost every sporting event and every sport that there is; they offer live statistics, report insights on particular players, and cover every major league. I think they are great at what they do, and they offer a tremendous amount of information.