Week 8 & 9: EOTO Presentations

Mobile Games 

Mobile games started with the introduction to mobile phones, games that could be controlled with a directional pad.

Smartphones introduced touchscreen which allowed for a few interface with games. 

Clans and Guilds games were easy for multiplayer and multiplayer games were top grossing for almost all mobile apps. 

The Clash of Clans mobile app has made 7 billion dollars over the past 8 years. 

Week 7: EOTO Com Tech Timeline

DVDs and Blu-Ray

   

    DVDs and Blu-Rays are quite similar in their usage but have revolutionized home viewing for the common people. DVDs were made like CDs but were made with a shorter wavelength for television shows and movies. Blu-Ray disks are the upgraded version of the DVD but made with an even shorter wavelength to hold more space for longer movies or shows. As seen in the figure on the left, this shows a better description of how wavelengths work on various kinds of disks (Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD). Blu-Ray disks were also able to be played on different forms of media, instead of just using a DVD player you could use Blu-Rays on an Xbox or a PlayStation. 

    

    The history of disk technology starts off all the way back in the late 1940s with 8-Track tapes. 8-Tracks were a magnetic tape recording that were like the older brother to cassette tapes. Then came along Phonograph Records or as we refer to them today, Vinyls. These records allowed music to be played all throughout the home with phonographs. Then the music industry moved on to cassettes, a lighter and portable way to listen to music. Cassettes became the mainstream way of listening to music in the 80s from portability access and its lightweight design. This also spun off into a video format of cassettes called VHS or video home system. VHS allowed for movies and TV shows to be viewed right at home on your very own television! After that, the compacts disks were made and brought another kind of portable music listening into the industry. This also led to the movie industry to switch from cassette to disk, and then the DVD was created. The only upgrades the DVD evolved into were HD DVDs and Blu-Ray disks. 

Photo came from: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/music-industry-sales/

    DVDs have made the packaging of disks easier to store in the sense that DVDs take up a lot less space than VHS tapes, and also were easier to maintain. Like in Libraries, DVDs didn't have to be re-wound in order for someone else to rent it out. DVDs could also have the empty box displayed on the shelves and when brought to the counter, to then have the librarian search for the movie in a large drawer, so that the user can rent out the movie. DVDs also didn't wear out, as long as there were no scratches on this disk, the library almost never had to worry about re-buying the same movies and shows over and over again. 

Sources:

Crawford, Walt. “Up to Speed on DVD.” American Libraries, vol. 30, no. 8, 1999, pp. 71–74. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25637294

Fischetti, Mark. “Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD.” Scientific American, vol. 297, no. 2, 2007, pp. 98–99. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26069421

Week 6: Eight Values of Free Expression

Promote Innovation

    Free speech is important for different subjects including diversity, expression, and creationism. The Promote Innovation theory allows for citizens to express their opinions and emotions through art easily. There are many countries where if you take an opposing stance on official matters, your art can be destroyed and you could be thrown in jail. Promoting innovation also allows for businesses to thrive. Private businesses have their own form of creation where they offer goods and/or services to encourage citizens to keep a stable economy. Both of these forms of Promote Innovation allow for citizens to create a happier society. 

    Art is the best way to allow individuals to express themselves in various matters with various opinions. Art is an expressive medium that allows the artist to relax while living in a heavily political society. In photography, photos taken during rally's, riots, and protests are taken to show a citizen's want for change while also having historical evidence of the events that have happened. If American didn't have protected speech, then a lot of artists would be arrested for controversial works. Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist, had a set of photos of a man dropping a Han Dynasty Urn. These sets of photos being taken lead to his arrest as the urn is a significantly symbolic object to the Chinese people. If this set of photos was created in the US, it would just be promoting art and its political stances. 

Business is another way to allow citizens to creatively fulfill themselves as members of society. Free speech allows business owners to take any stance they want to on political topics. For example, if a business wants to sell BLM pins they can, or if a business wants to sell Anti-BLM pins they also can. 

Both art and business play important roles in free speech for American citizens. Different people's art can also be turned into a business. You can be a political artist and sell accessories that lean to a certain political side. In a very political climate, like during voting season, it can be beneficial to artists who want to profit off of bumper stickers and pins. Looking back on the 2016 election, I saw many people and knew many people who had Bernie 2016 bumper stickers on their cars. Being an entrepreneur and an artist in a free speech nation can be very profitable depending on the political climate. 

Link to more on Ai Weiwei's Urn photograph: 

https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/learn/schools/teachers-guides/ai-weiwei-dropping-han-dynasty-urn-1995

Week 5: The Progressive Era

 Anti-War News

 

The article I found interesting on the anti-war website reported on how the Pentagon took money for COVID relief and spent that money on more weapons. 

According to the article, the money given to the Pentagon was used to make jet engines, drone flight controllers, and uniforms for the military. This money was supposed to be used on companies that make N-95 masks, ventilators, Personal Protective Equipment, and much more. 

They spent 1 billion dollars on military weapons when they were supposed to spend it to help save the lives of many Americans. The article also explains how the US Postal Service was going to send five masks to every household but the White House shut that idea down.

I think stories like this are not heard in mainstream media because America likes viewing itself as a hero to other countries, so if we are off fighting wars to "help" other countries we are the good guys, when in actuality we are just making things worse. The anti-war idea makes it seem like the authors hate being American when in reality they are just trying to spread news that is hidden by many news sources. 

Link to news source: https://original.antiwar.com/phyllis-bennis/2020/10/02/the-pentagon-took-money-for-covid-19-relief-and-bought-more-weapons/

Week 4: Civil War & Reconstruction

 BLM

Link to story: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/employees-told-they-cant-wear-blm-buttons-at-seattle-area-fred-meyer-and-qfc-stores/

This story tells the reader that the company Fred Meyer does not want their employees wearing BLM movement pins/masks.

This new rule that Fred Meyer put into place for their employees goes against their freedom of speech and can also be applied to freedom of assembly.

This goes against freedom of speech because in America you are allowed to voice your opinions on any issues happening within the world. Wearing a pin that says BLM on it means that the wearing is in support of change due to many corrupt and violent acts that have happened to people of color. Wearing accessories that say BLM on them do not change the way an employee works, therefore there should be no issue with employees wearing such items. 

This can also kinda be applied to freedom of assembly. The BLM movement happens throughout many protests in order for the American public to get change to happen in the government. Wearing BLM pins means that people support the need for change and support the protests taking place in order to receive that change. 

On the other hand, Fred Meyer is a private company not owned by the government. Therefore private companies can basically make any rules they want. For example, if they didn't want their employees wearing pins with BLM on them, the smarter thing to do would've been to ban pins from being worn during work hours, since it is not a part of the work uniform. Otherwise, I just think Fred Meyer is being ridiculous with this rule as it doesn't affect an employees work ethic. 

Week 3: The Founding Era

 History of the Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court went through a lot of work to get to where it is now. Our government started off with our Declaration of Independence, to the Treaty of Paris, to drafting our Constitution. 

    The Supreme Court not only had to figure out what laws they wanted to put into place for our new country, they also had to deal with slavery at the same time. After 100+ years, the slave trade finally ended in 1808, which lead to the 3/5 Compromise, Fugitive Slave Law, and the 20 Year Rule. All these things lead to Civil Rights and how the Supreme Court should handle this problem happening in their country. After about 50 years the 13th Amendment was passed banning slavery and then the 14th Amendment which gave African American's citizenship. 

    These Amendments helped make America what it is today, trying to become a non-discriminatory country. Trying to make every human have the same rights as everyone else no matter who they are or who they claim to be. For example, over the summer there was a new civil rights law passed that protected gay and transgender persons in the workplace. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was the law that was passed in favor of those who are gay and have different gender identities. This law helps those who have different sexualities and gender identities be treated in the workplace just like everyone else. 

New York Times overview of the law:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html