Diffusion Theory: Google

 Ethan Parker 

9/15/21

Google has been adopted heavily overtime and has seemed to continually be going up when it comes to users and people being on Google more often. Some people have decided to use Google quickly, when it first developed, and some have decided to wait a while to use Google, as well as there are people who will ultimately never end up using Google, but that is their decision and I'm going to discuss who'd choose and do what based on Google and their advancements over time. 

The pioneers for Google or search engines in general were not teenagers but the younger generation at the time which was around 25 years old. Google was founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were both the age of 25 when they had the break through of Google. The pioneers were people that wanted to be able to do something such as search the web and Larry and Sergey figured it out. They were both in College at Stanford University at the time so I am sure people in their grade and of their age wanted the same thing they did, they were just the ones to complete and create it, hence why they were the pioneer leaders for Google. 

The early adopters were the people of the younger/mid age at the time, so from around 18-26 years of age were the early adopters of Google. This age group were the first to begin using Google because for one, it helped college students heavily when trying to find information, therefore it makes since for it to be around that age group because they needed it the most at the time. Google was first launched in 1998 on Stanford Universities server, making it easily accessible for students at Stanford. The founders of Google were around 25 years old, therefore there had to be some form of interest from their fellow college students that lead to the creation of a search engine. 18-26 year olds required the information the most at the time, which makes them the early adopters. 

The early majority brought the young generation of kids to the search engine known as Google. The younger generation at the time were most likely in their early years of middle school or just about to head into their first year of high school. The early majority somewhat makes up the largest amount of users that began to use this search engine because they knew what all it consisted of and it was out for a decent amount of time now and not just some brand new search engine that nobody knew about. In the early years of Google, they were building a positive name to themselves because of what was being put out that Google will be able to do and the performance of Google in the early 2000's. Since in 2000, Google began creating many different features to Google, the younger generation, being those 11-16 year olds, knew what they were getting into. Around this time was pretty much the early prime of Google because of the major advancements and the younger generation at the time was able to witness it all and harness the ability to adapt to Google and know how to work it better than most. 

The late majority group were the people who realized they need to hop on Google and begin using it more. This group of people were a bit older but they aren't too elderly. This groups age ranges from about 35-45 years old. This group were able to watch the entire process of Google and how it began and grew and eventually as times passed, they realized they needed to become a bit more hip to finding information easier and Google was their resource. Most of the late majority were parents or older siblings of the early majority. With that being said, the late majority sort of always had a feel of Google and what it was all about but they never really committed to it and eventually they'd have to because of all the advancements that Google was making, the discuss of Google going around, and the easily accessible information on Google. Over time Google has grown heavily and the late majority adopters did not want to be the first to test Google out, they did not have any reason to test it out and they did not want to waste their time. When seeing the advancements made to Google and what all features it had to it and with the early adopters and the early majority migrating towards using Google, the late majoity had no reason not to begin using Google for daily needs. 

The last group that never quite began using Google or got completely adapted to it were the elderly (the laggards). The elderly wanted to stick with what they knew, they did not care about this new search engine that'd help sort out and find information because they were happy with what they already knew how to do and they do not want to commit to something new and lose their reliable resource of information such as newspaper and ad flyers that has been helping them find information for years. The elderly were also not so hip to technology and they tend to avoid new challenges that have to do with technology such as a new technical way to find information. In the eyes of the elderly, which are from around 60-80 years old (and older), they had their way to find information and they did not believe Google was either good enough to change or if Google was worth taking the risk of changing their source of information. Since they are the laggards, they never really come onto Google and decide to stay with what they have been doing over the years instead. 

To many, Google caught on and began to spread quickly because they were not so focused on selling ads, but they were focusing on helping many find what they needed to find as well as displaying relevant ads that many wanted to see. Google was helpful to many because they had a good amount of information that came quickly and it helped a ton of people when looking for something on the internet, especially college students at the time. So many people decided to become early adopters because they knew Google would be great but they wanted to be the first ones on it. The early adopters had a belief that Google would become reliable and useful for them so they decided to get to using Google early which helped them in the long run because as other decided to use Google later down the road, they knew how to navigate it easier and look up certain information to find certain resources. People are late adopters because they did not want to be the first to try out this new search engine. Late adopters did not want to risk wasting their time to use something that had malfunctions, therefore they waited until time was right to begin using Google. Late adopters were late adopters because they had to see how Google was going to pan out, they had to hear from multiple views opinions on if Google was a good search engine to use or not. After weighing out the positives and maybe a few risks that were at hand, late adopters eventually found themselves using Google for the benefit of themselves. The people who did not become adopters did not trust Google and they felt as though they had everything figured out already and did not need to change how they found their information. Laggards, or people who did not adopt Google at all most likely weren't too good with technology and were comfortable with how they were finding information. Although, Google was not perfect, Google had many failures and downsides early in their career and late in their career as well. The main negatives that users take away is that store your information to better help you with searches (well that's what they say) and they hold your personal information. Many do not give this much attention because they find it helpful at times, which it can be. Many benefit from using Google due to the quick sources at hand that come in an instant and a variety of different sources one is able to use at a single time, al with different informative information. 

So in the end, there are positives and negatives to Google, it matters on how you feel and how you see it to decide if you want to use Google or not. For many, they will never adopt Google, but for others Google is reliable and has everything they need and they'll recommend using Google quickly. 

Privacy In The Digital Age

Ethan Parker 

9/13/21

Technology as we know it has been very beneficial for our everyday use. Technology helps us perform many different things that we would not be able to do if we didn't have a cell phone, a laptop, or wifi present. With all great advancements, there is always a form of counter fire. Technology is great in all but it can also be a pain to many of the individuals that use it along with their families, friends, and everyday lives. The issues of the electronic tattoo, the police tracking our movements, the cell phone surveillance, and electronic cyber bullying are all issues that play a role in the everyday lives of humans. These issues are quite scary and can have a long lasting impact on tons of people. These issues certainly affect me as well.

It is not fun to hear that I am constantly being tracked every time I leave my drive way or my cell phone being under surveillance 24 hours of the day. This can actually become very dangerous for me and the ones that are around me because I have no idea who could be following me or watching me at all times. I cannot stand that they scan my license plate and always know where I am headed, that puts me at complete risk because I always have a pair of eyes set on me and if it were to be hacked, the person who hacked the system would know my street address, who is with me the most often, where I work or go to school, and what my family looks like. This issue must be handled or limited in some fashion because it seems like the government is just trying to take over the entire world. They are trying to track everyone and know all the moves that are happening at once and it is not fair, we have the right to freely live our lives, we should not have to be monitored all the time. My friends and family are also being affected by my car being tracked. Since my friends and family are who I am around the most, there is no telling how many times their faces have been caught when scanning my vehicle. It is a shame to say that by just riding in the car with me, I put my friends and family at risk of being caught in a digital picture that will be stored and kept forever and there is no telling who  decides what is done with the picture of the people around me, will it be stored for usage or trashed, we'd never know or find out. The government must put an end to this. How come there has not been some form of debate within the governmental system about this enormous issue? The government is supposed to protect our rights but they are funding police officers who drive vehicles that pretty much follow our every move, and who is to say the government is not 100 percent apart of this process? There is no way they know nothing about this issue, they need to act for the people immediately and stop stalking our everyday lives. It is very sad to say, there is almost nothing we can do about this invasion issue. Many need transportation and we must have a vehicle at home to get from point A to point B and there is almost no way around stopping the pictures uploaded by the police scanners as long as we have to get to work, pick up friends and family, and go somewhere such as the grocery store. In order to protect ourselves from these police trackers is to move to another country or a very unknown state in the US that does not have much police attention, but that is very unlikely. If we want to stop the tracking of our vehicles, we must live somewhere with no vehicle present but that is a hard ask because "we the people" have the right to live our everyday lives and the government should be on our side.

The surveillance on a cell phone is entirely unfair and should also be changed immediately due to the fact that many people have a cellular device and use it to carry out conversations to the ones they love every single day. This issue relates to me heavily especially because I do have a cell phone and I know for sure that many of my friends and family members do as well. These issues affect me strongly because I always have my phone with me pretty much at all times. It is painful to hear that we are being monitored based on our cell phones because I know I use mine often and pretty much keep it with me everywhere I go. What else is being tracked through my cell phone? Since I have my cell phone so much, they know where I go the most, they know who I talk with the most on the phone and this makes me feel unsafe. It makes me feel as if my identity can be taken away from me easily and quickly and that is certainly not a great feeling. Since they have surveillance on my cell phone, they must know my phone number easily, they must know my location, they must know my credit card information, and they most likely also know who is the most important person to me based on my recent call logs. Yes this puts me at extreme danger being that I can lose my identity and a hacker can pretty much take my life over, as well as this puts my friends and family at huge risks also. Since my friends and family are in such close contact with me through my cell phone, who's to say the information they tell me has not been recored? My friends and family may trust me with specific information that is being taken and told elsewhere, they're street addresses could be recored as well since they send me information like that through text messaging. Due to me being tracked and monitored via my cell phone, the ones around me and in my circle are not at risk and could be in nearly as much danger as I am. It is not that difficult for hackers to break into surveillance systems or spy on specific projects such as the one that tracks our phones. The government must put an end to the tracking of our cell phones, they need to let us live our lives, especially being that we use our cell phones so much and because they are so important to many of us today. But it is sad because, the government is who is behind this all. The Government is tracking us through our cellular devices, they track every move we make and it is scary. It seems like we are living in a robotic world where everything we do is being watched with multiple sets of eyes. Can we even do anything to protect ourselves from this extreme invasion of privacy? It would be very hard to do actually since many of us actually need the cell phone to stay in contact with many people they love. The cell phone provides a wide variety of things that help us all go about our daily lives and it is hard to just throw that away but I guess it is a fair price to pay to no longer be tracked and followed even though the government will find a way around it and continually track us, so is it even worth it?

Cyber bullying should also be stopped in an instant, this is very dangerous and can ruin the lives of many people. This issue does not seem to affect me as much as it may others because I am not always on the social medias constantly as well as I have not run into any of those relationships where I have had someone who was so upset to where they wanted to ruin my entire life forever and not care the consequences. But there are still people out there that want to ruin who you are, they'd love to see you fall and be unable to do what you were doing before. Say for example I was always on social media, constantly putting my business out there, I could easily run into some form of cyber bullying that may have roots that could lead it to being worse than just cyber bullying. This issue would affect me heavily because I would have this narrative that many will see and it would send many different question towards my direction. This issue would hurt me in the long run because misinformation could be being loaded onto many different sites and all over the media about me and I would not even know right away. This could ruin all of my future chances at something I have had in mind, it could easily ruin my lifelong goals, it could take away my job and many other valuable aspects about my life. This issue would have a lesser impact on my friends and family but it could still impact them in the long run. My family would soon have bad information on their name and they'd be constantly looked at as the people who around the person (being me) with all of the misinformation (bad things) that are going around. My family would be trashed and looked at awkwardly also and it'd simply be because someone out there on social media or the internet found someone (being me) that puts everything about their life on the internet. My friends would distance themselves from me due to all of the hate and weird looks that'd be coming their way. They would not want to be know as the friend of the guy who lost his job because of said information. It would not look good on them at all. As soon as my life would be ruined, my friends and families lives would be hurt as well. These issues are hard to cope with and the government must do some form of justice for those who do have to go through something of this nature. The government should be looking to help us inserted of letting things like this slide by. The woman on the TedTalk should have gotten more attention than she did and not the negative attention, but someone of government looking to help her case. The government must be more on top of these things and be looking out for signs of the cyber attacking and bullying because it is ruining lives and it is costing people their occupations. There are some ways to stop this, but in the case of the woman on the TedTalk, there is no way to stop a crazy man such as the one she described. Although, when on social media, limit what you post or talk about because there is always someone watching and oftentimes, someone documenting what you post. That is how we must stop the cyber attacking, we need to give less resources for these people built with anger to have, we are giving them everything they want in information about our lives. Our lively information must be more cared for and information that we believe should be secreted, in which it should be. By doing this, it will be harder for those built off this anger to make us look so bad and cause us to lose something valuable like our job. 

In conclusion, being that we are US citizens and have lives of our own, we should not have to worry about the privacy invasions through a variety of different directions. The government should be the ones to help stop these privacy invasions but it looks like they are the ones leading it. We must come together and value our information much more, become more secretive and ask questions often, and most importantly, we need to read through all terms and conditions policies. 

EOTO Com Tech Timeline

 Ethan Parker 

9/8/21

There have been many different immaculate discoveries within technology overtime. These inventions and creations have in a way helped us in everyday life but some inventions have had a negative impact on our everyday lives. Google in my opinion is a very vital invented search engine on the internet because of the ability to prove they can provide high quality results to all users. Yes, Google has their positives but we must not forget the negatives either. 

The inventors of Google are very intelligent men. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the two founders of Google and they have a serious background to back up their intelligence. Larry Page studied computer engineering at Stanford University where eventually he met his co founder of the soon to come Google, Sergey Brin. Sergey Brin on the other hand is a computer scientist and entrepreneur. After the both of these founders met at Stanford University, they began working together and they eventually created a search engine that sorted pages on the web due to the popularity of the page. These two successful men were available to invent and officially publish their precious Google on September 4th, 1998. The overall mission and intent of creating Google was "to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful". 

Positives:

So why is Google so important? Google is very important and a very popular search engine due to the fact that Google generates a large variety of search results in a quick and short amount of time. Google collects and distributes information that it finds across the web. Google is the most popular search engine used in the world today and they beat out tough competitors such as YouTube, Amazon, and Facebook. Over 86% of the search market share uses Google as their priority search engine and there is a very little amount (close to none) of people in the world today that do not know about Google. Google not only is a great source for fast results, Google is also used for providing quick images, news websites, Google videos, and location services such as Google maps. Google has helped many people in the world across the lifespan of Google. Like I stated earlier, Google is the most used search engine and it is continuously helping people find needed resources daily. Many tend to only think about how Google is used for searching information, or facts only, but no, Google has many different roles when it comes to the searching options humans use everyday. 

Google has even added in features for the younger generation today. When looking up something you will notice two grey bars under the search bar. One grey bar stating "Google Search" and the other one stating "I'm Feeling Lucky". Well if you were to hover over the "I'm Feeling Lucky" grey bar it will switch to something that may state "I'm Feeling Adventurous" and you can click on this grey bar as it will take you to a Google game. The younger generation knows much more about technology than the older generation does so this is a great feature to add for those of the younger generation that will ultimately end up with more people using Google which is a win for Google as well as the younger generation certainly uses the Internet much more than the older generation does which means Google will be in usage much more because of the large percentage of the younger generation that uses Google on a daily basis. In the end, the younger generation is much more tech savvy than other generations and this leads to large use of Google as well as much more usage for others using Google because of the younger generation teaching those how to properly navigate through Google.

Google as we know makes finding information much easier as we know but Google can also help your company in a huge way. Google is a well-known and heavily used search engine that many different people use and look at daily, with that being said, there are various amounts of advertising opportunities for companies as they can pay to advertise on Google and maybe in return have many different customers shopping with their company. Google recognizes what we are looking up and say for example I am looking for a certain pair of sneakers and I look at this specific website to read about the sneakers and their benefits, Google may produce an ad that has to do with those sneakers or sneakers that are very similar. This helps the customer and researcher in many different ways because now they know more about the sneaker itself and can also find a place to purchase the sneaker due to the companies ad. In the long run, the company and the researcher/customer will both benefit but it is all because Google. Google was the search engine that realized what searches I was looking up and they lead me to the website as well as produced the ad that helped me tremendously. Google has certainly come a long way as they are also researching into driverless cars. This is mind blowing as Google is mainly just known for their quick results when looking for information online. The Google team is big on research and they know the benefits of self driving cars and are looking into developing their own. It is actually amazing what all Google has turned into and they will only continue to get better and increase their brand name.

Negatives:

Although Google has many positives and is a great search engine to use, Google also has its bad side. A long while ago, Google was pretty much just used for information and that'd be the end, people would find what they needed and get on with their day. As Google advanced and began using ads often, Google has began showing off their own ads more than they do the competitors. Google was strongly in favor of their products over more-specialized competition which was looked for much more often. This was soon looked at strongly and is the most recent lawsuit on Google in the past couple of years. This is not good because people who often shop online and look for certain companies products, that have been out much longer than Google product and persuasive ads, are now running into to an extreme amount of Google ads per search and they are not able to access what they want in the time they want. This is not good for Google as they will certainly lose many users to the difficulty navigating through all of the ads, this will result in less users which will untimely result in less revenue made for Google. 

Google is also known to be one of the most privacy seeking search engines there are. Google does not give any privacy to users as they have gotten in big trouble before for breaching customers privacy and trusts. First things first, Google tracks all of your searches and search history. No matter what you have cleared, nor what you have deleted, Google can access it somehow due to them having all of your searches stored. With the little information we know, Google could easily have your street address, your current location, your phone number, and credit car information all in one and it would not be surprising if they did, especially if you have done online shopping before. Google knows what accounts you use and oftentimes when you first login to a computer or laptop, Google will automatically log you in on Google based on the account you use most often or the account you were last logged in as. Yes many see this as helpful, but it is an extreme invasion of privacy. Google recently faced a huge lawsuit due to tracking billions of users and their internet browsers set in "private" mode. Due to this, Google has learned almost everything about many different users. They have learned about hobbies, friend, favorite foods, your most liked shopping sites, and embarrassing things you may want nobody to know. Google was fined at least $5 billion for "collecting information about what people view online and where they browse". It is quite scary for us that use Google often because they are virtually watching our every move and it is a complete invasion of our privacy. 

Google has gone through many different lawsuits and the last one I am going to discuss is the DOJ lawsuit. Google has engaged in making deals with phone companies such as Apple and Samsung to automatically set their default browsers to Google. The lawsuit also states how Google was using their dominance to make sure on android devices, all Google apps were already preloaded on the phones. Google is slowly trying to turn themselves into a monopoly. Nearly 90% of all internet searches go through Google and with what they are doing, they are pushing to make it 100%. This could be very bad for many different companies, specially companies that use Google to get their name out there. Google is participating in unfair practices to make sure their search engine is being used the most. Google used the large amount of money they were making to pay other companies to help block out competitors and help keep Google in the lead with a big name in the search industry. Google has been paying Apple billions per year to making sure they keep Google as the default browser on Safari on each Apple phone. The DOJ case is arguing that Google are using their anticompetitive practices to harm multiple groups. Groups being American customers who are practically forced to accept what is going on, advertisers who has to pay a specific amount to Google to reach their customers online, and tech companies who cannot get out from behind Google's huge shadow. These three groups are not able to pretty much do what they want are fight for what's right because of how powerful Google has become and if they aren't stopped soon, they will become a major monopoly. This case has been named the biggest antitrust case against a tech company since the one against Microsoft in 1998. After Google was pretty much caught and accused, they disagreed with everything that was stated and said that the lawsuits were completely false. In the end, Google is asserting their power unfairly and are looking to take over the search industry completely. 

In conclusion, Google for many can be seen as a great search engine or a very poor search engine and it all depends on how the searcher feels about Google and what all they honestly care about. Be careful when using Google as they are always watching, but enjoy the quick results and useful links Google has to provide for us anytime everyday. 

Eight Free Expressions

Ethan Parker 

9/6/21

Throughout these eight Free Expressions, there are a few that stand out to me honestly and it may have a slight bit to do with what all we go over in the classroom but, they still stand out and are very interesting topics to discuss and go over. 

Individual Self-Fulfillment (aka Self-Actualization) immediately caught my attention as I was reading through the Free Expression Values. This expression is very important to me actually because in class we discuss the first amendment a good amount and the Freedom of Speech falls under amendment one which has got me thinking. After many different in-class discussions, I have learned that the first amendment is very vital to citizens and without it, we would not live the free life we live today. The first amendment helps citizens more than many can actually imagine and it provides us with that individual self-fulfillment, that freedom to express ourselves through discussion and comments, the ability to build a name for ourselves through our Free Speech. Freedom of Speech does allow one to pretty much build themselves a narrative and helps one to express themselves as an individual. This one certainly feels the most important to me, while in class there are a select amount of words that is often stated and those words are "We the people" and I am all for "We the people" as we do live in a democracy and the people have their own say and should be able to build their own identity. If Free Speech does not help one to express themselves, then what does it actually do? We live in a democracy where we are allowed to have say, have thought, and think a free mind. Therefore, we can successfully build our own identity with the

Free Speech that is given to us. In order to bring change and actually live a life that we would like to live, Free Speech is key to that lifestyle. Through free speech, we are able to express opinions we'd like to express as well as pour change into our own society, this is why the Freedom of Speech is so important! It does in fact become an aspect of human dignity due to the recognition of a special value in humans and that special value is our free speech. Oftentimes people can get human dignity confused and human dignity states that us humans deserve the respect for being humans and the recognition of our special qualities and values in humanity. Therefore, no matter the difference in the human, they ought to be treated with respect. Human agency also blossoms from this Free Expression Value, not only being able to pretty much build your own identity out of the Freedom of Speech but defending yourself, engaging in community discussion, or speaking up when you feel the need for change, you are also converting the Freedom of Speech to human agency and to human autonomy. You are converting it to human agency because human agency states that humans do in fact make their own decisions (just like in free speech, where humans make their own decisions to speak or state an opinion). So yes, eventually when one fully engages in Free Speech, they will soon connect it to human agency. Human autonomy is also in close connection to the free use of speech as human autonomy states that one should live their own life and be their own person which directly correlates to Free Speech because if you express yourself through Free Speech as well as begin creating your own identity through the Freedom of Speech and your mind also, you then are participating in human autonomy due to the fact that are you are living your own life and you are being your own person. In general, Individual Self-Fulfillment is very important to me as everyone should be able to build themselves up and express how they feel through opinion and speech and it is vital that we use all the perks that come with the first amendment, especially the Freedom of Speech. 

Promote Innovation feels very personal to me as I strongly agree. If there were no valued free speech, then the community would be very boring and they'd be one sided and everyone would be very similar in many different ways. When free speech is valued, everyone can speak their own mind as well as all of these creative new ideas form which make the community a much more interesting society as everyone brings something different to the table and the community will have many different important aspects revolving around them. Promote Innovation is very important to me because I feel like all communities must engage in free speech and use it to their advantages. We must value the importance of free speech and treat it with much care because we'd be in a very dark place without it. Promote Innovation is the most personal one to me because throughout my 4 years of High School, I had a very strong voice inside of the school as well as some parts of the community. During school, I'd spread Important information that needed to be known, I spoke up for the student body when we felt there was needed change, and my friends and I successfully influenced the staff to put out surveys of what the students would like to see more in the classroom (for specific classes) at the ending of each semester. With that being said, some changes did occur and some changes did not occur, but that is fine. What matters most is that the community inside the school building valued free speech and when something felt incomplete students or staff would be creative and brainstorm ideas to help the situation at hand. It made the school much more interesting and it felt very energized to be in the building everyday (pre-pandemic). What I am getting at is that, if free speech is actually used and taken in as importance, "We the people" can make change and that change will positively help the community in the long run making it more fun to be around and very diverse in ideas and activities. Since our student body and staff were sort of on the same page, we all got to work together on interesting activities and events to make the school building a more interesting place to be around that didn't feel like you were just going to classes and that's it. Many movies and TV shows show the community engaging themselves to hopefully do whats right and make things more interesting rather than plain and straightforward. After watching specific movies that sort of show the first amendment at use, you realize that a community that engages in free speech and values it even, succeeds and are energized to see what's next or exited for the next big interesting moment because they spoke out, they used their voices and helped lead themselves and their communities to a better society as a whole with citizens that engage in interesting, creative, and exiting community discussion and community action. 

I feel as though Protect Dissent is one of the Free Expression Values that occurs the most in the world today. When watching the big news sites such as CNN or Fox News, you see people that are featured that may be somewhat criticizing the government in a way. It is sort of the job of the people to add in criticism to the government and it almost makes the government stay in line because they do not want a excruciating bad name on themselves. I certainly see the Protect Dissent occurring the most often in the world today as many people do dislike the government and certainly criticize them often. I'm sure everyone has once had even the slightest disagreement with the government and that is why this Free Expression is the most occurring one in todays society. Many schools hold discussions on what may be going on within the government and everyone discusses or talks about it and not many agree with what the government may be doing. Many teachers and professors discuss the flaws of the government and sometimes that is their job nd what they are required to do. Many people that have big groups of politically interested friends engage in conversation about the government all the time and many times majority disagree with what the government is doing and this just goes to show how often we have our own views against the government. A lot of people peacefully (not all the time) protest against the government and based on the First Amendment, our system cannot stop us from disagreeing with the government and we have a right to criticize the government actually. In a sense, the government sort of needs us to criticize them or let them know when we are upset or feel as though they are doing something wrong. I state that because if we never speak up towards the government, they will never believe they're doing anything wrong, which results to no change and a stagnant government which is not what we want. We want a government in which we have say and we can change it in ways through the use of the first amendment. Since we are always questioning the government and showing concern, there are changes that occur due to the speaking out of the people. I strongly believe the Protect Dissent expression is certainly used and seen the most in the world today, there are many (people from all different states) that disagree or even criticize the government daily, just look at Twitter, there is always someone who posts or announces (weather publicly or privately) about hating the government, it is something that will continually happen no matter what with no slowed pace, this is why it is the most used Free Expression on the list. 

I watch a show called Shannon and Skip Undisputed where Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discuss sports topics for a long period of time per show. I can directly relate this show to the Free Expression of Stable Change. Yes, I understand that stable change suggests that if the people were not able to speak their minds or "vent" then it may lead to more violent actions. On the show, one of the hosts, being Skip Bayless, does not favor the great athlete Lebron James. Skip Bayless has a long history in not really liking Lebron James as a athlete to much and he is not a big fan. Due to the many followers and fans Skip Bayless possess, if the fans were not able to freely speak or maybe listen to he discussion and arguments Skip makes on the topic of Lebron James, dangerous actions could occur. We live in a world today where you can speak the mind freely and that is what Skip does. Oftentimes, Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discuss topics suggested by their fans. Say some of the fans that share that hatred of Lebron James did not get to suggest specific topics or listen to Skip Bayless speak his mind freely on national TV, it could resort to violence. Yes, this is probably the worst case but it is still possible and still could be something someone my due if we as people were not able to speak our minds all the time wherever we'd like. Skip is a huge influencer and many look up to him and value his information that he puts out, especially the followers he has that share the same dislike in Lebron James, therefore you can never quite put it past that if there was no way to speak our minds freely or gets these fans comments involved (which is also speaking freely) then an act could resort to violence and that is what the Stable Change expression is all about, speaking your mind. This specific expression says that if we allow those to speak their mind, less violence would occur and the statement is not wrong as many clear their minds through speaking freely and it generates a more stable community that throws in their two cents or how they feel rather than resorting to violence. It'd be difficult if we couldn't speak our minds or "vent" at all, then it could get dangerous quickly. Theories ultimately can help explain things going on in the real world today because they allow us to look at the situation a bit more clearly and thoroughly. We are able to see many sides with theories, ultimately helping us to find the solution. Theories help tremendously when it comes to dealing with things going on in the real world today as we are able see situations from different angles and could maybe even figure out multiple answers. They help us so much because not only might we find multiple solutions but we could also use our solution gathered from a theory to figure something else out or help out some other situation because we have gained that much more knowledge stemmed from a theory. At the end of the day, theories can help tremendously as they could help lead us to solutions as well as new theories and more knowledge and due to us having the right to speak, everything is much more civilized and nothing really requires anyone to resort to violence because everything can be fixed or cleaned up through discussion or the use of speaking our minds clearly. 

In conclusion, theories are very important as they can certainly lead to many different discoveries. Amendment number one is vital to our communities across the world as they unlock power that we've been destined to tame. We must act as the people in an orderly fashion and use the rights we possess to our advantage. 

The Supreme Court Significance

Ethan Parker - Blog Post #2

9/4/21

The Supreme Court is a very vital piece of the United States of America and without The Supreme Court us as individuals would not have that taste of freedom we currently have, we would no longer be living in a democracy. There are many different reasons that make The Supreme Court the most powerful judicial body in the United States and it is safe to say, they do deserve their role. 

Throughout these very informational Supreme Court videos, I have learned many different facts that I did not know before. Something that stuck out to me about The Supreme Court was the first thing juices do before they sit down is shake hands. When this was stated in the video, it certainly stuck with me as it shows the mutual respect everyone has for each other and it shows how everyone realizes the importance of who all is being sat at the table to discuss. I feel as though shaking hands should be used more often in politics and in general today to initiate specific events such as discussions and gatherings. It seems we have somewhat gone away from the respect side of things in todays world because many people involved in politics as well as positions within a job are one sided and they cannot see both sides of an argument as well as they build hatred for their competition rather than respect for making them better at what they are doing. Another interesting gem I have learned from the two videos is that the opinion writing is the most time consuming process of the courts opinions and it can be rigorous as well. This opinion writing derives when a decision is made as a group and it is time to begin writing the decision off. This writing process can last for months as the writer sort of tries to fit everyones strongest opinion into one and satisfy everyone by adding their say. Oftentimes while these drafts and revisions are going on for quite some time, things change drastically. The majority can become the minority in the blink of an eye and sides can quickly switch and next thing we know, the entire opinion has changed and the writer is a completely different person and feels a different way than the person before. The opinion writing process is very interesting but it is necessary in the long run. 

Plenty of take-aways can be drawn from The Supreme Court. I believe the most important take-away about The Supreme Court is that they need the people in order to continue the constitution and working on side of the law as well as they must continue writing so our structure could stay intact. If people stopped wanting to listen to The Supreme Court or The Supreme Court stopped writing and acting on side of the justice system, we as a country would practically fall apart, there would no longer be structure and many rules that we need in place would fall quickly. I say the people are the most important take away of The Supreme Court because the people have say, we can use our rights and The Supreme Court acts as that vision for the people. The Supreme Court is the last court seeking justice as they live for the people and by the constitution. They protect our civil rights and pretty much allow us to be free and have say in the government, they fight back against the laws that arise to limit the power of the people, therefore we need them to continue writing. We must take part in the relationship we have with The Supreme Court as we help each other and are in this battle of freedom forever together!

The videos has many surprising twists and turns that shocked me in a way. One of the most surprising things I've learned about The Supreme Court is that they have say and choice about what cases they would like to hear. It is almost like dealing with a bully because you must let them (The Supreme Court) call the shots. If they do not want to hear a case, they do not have to and it's pretty much that simple and easy for them to do so. When they do want to hear a case, four of the nine justices must state that they agree to hear the case for the process of hearing a case to officially go through. They get a very large amount of cases in a year and they only choose specific ones to hear per year which is interesting as well as surprising because they are denying many different cases based on how they feel about the cases, they get to make the overall choice and it's surprising because only The Supreme Court has that power. Out of all the petitions they get per year, they choose less than half to actually hear and that is somewhat shocking because you'd think since they are so much for the people that they'd want to hear all cases no matter what because they act as if they want to help everyone individual person they can and I cannot imagine how they decide which cases may be false or not valid to hear. In the end, The Supreme Court is very interesting and very surprising at times because they slightly reveal their real power and it is great to see they hold all this power and are pretty much on the side of the people. 

Throughout my history of learning about The Supreme Court, I always thought of them as a villain like figure because of what they may have been doing that us people would not really know about. Until I watched the videos, I did not know how completely on the side of the people The Supreme Court were and it is awesome to see that being that they hold a large abundance of power. The videos have changed the way I see The Supreme Court because of the long and rigorous processes they go through. They aren't just forcing any decision, they take their time to make sure that get all decisions as correct as possible with limited slip ups or failures. The Supreme Court fights for our rights and that is surprising due to how many petitions that choose not to hear because they are considered invalid or not worth the time. I think of The Supreme Court in a much more positive of a way after the videos because of everything they do for the people and how civilized and focused they are on their job and tasks at hand. When a case comes in, everyone begins doing their job to their fullest capability to make sure everything runs smoothly and in an orderly fashion for the people. They put in countless hours of work and dedication to those cases that come in and it is great to hear about and see due to them fighting for us as individual people that are free. 

In conclusion, the videos that discussed The Supreme Court (Part I and Part II) and many different things that revolve around The Supreme Court were great videos to watch that held very informative information that many people need to see. As long as we have a Supreme Court, we can remain intact and have that structure that is vital to keep. Most importantly, we will be able to keep our civil rights and freedoms under the constitution which is very important in the world today and for the future. I strongly recommend watching the two Supreme Court videos to see what all they go through and how they have ever lasting impact on the people. 

My Top 5 News Sources!

 Ethan Parker - My Top 5 News Sources!

8/25/21

There are many different news sources in the world today and it is very difficult to be able to build a state of trust with these news sources. Many sources oftentimes love displaying biased or misinformation on a live platform that gets many different viewers daily. Here are my top 5 sources I love gathering information from daily!

1. My number one and most reliable news source has to be CNN. Growing up CNN was always on the TV in the living room as well as in class we always seemed to go through CNN when covering news. CNN discusses a variety of different topics and they are usually current events that are very important in the world today. Oftentimes today when watching CNN you will quickly see that COVID-19 is often talked about and that specific discussion can sometimes last a very long period of time while overlapping other news topics. I love tapping into CNN news because they are a reliable source for current events today that must be publicized. CNN is also a fun news source to watch as many times the talk show host tell short jokes or use puns to lighten the mood a bit, it is awesome to see them do this because it shows they enjoy their job and they are using their excitement to discuss news topics rather than talking in a monotone voice the entire show. Yes, I am sure many of the hosts and people featured on CNN could be biased but many times the two or three people discussing the topic are arguing different sides which allows the viewer to feel both ways of the argument. If you want to stay up to date on big news and current events that are taken very seriously, I highly recommend CNN news. I recommend CNN because they are a trusted source of news and information and they have a variety of professional talk show hosts that know how to engage an audience into the conversation. 

2. My second news source is Fox News. Fox News is very similar to CNN as they both cover the latest issues and headlines of what is going on in the world today. The reason I mention Fox News is because usually it comes on during the late evening around 8pm whereas CNN airs early in the morning from around 6am. Many viewers that watch CNN also watch Fox News due to the difference in when the shows are aired. A viewer could wake up early in the morning and turn on CNN while they prepare to attend their occupation, then in the evening when they are off of work they can turn on Fox News and watch what all the hosts have to discuss before going to bed. Fox also usually titles their topics and discussions very uniquely and the titles make us viewers look at those people being targeted sideways at times which can make viewers anxious to hear about the topic on the show. Fox News is a great resource to use when looking for vital information, about 4 in every 10 individuals trust Fox News and that says a lot surprisingly. I strongly recommend Fox News because of the strong information the talk show provides as well as it's aired at a reasonable time where many can watch it.

3. YouTube is another source that is phenomenal to use when it comes to gathering information. YouTube consists of many different content creators that share their own opinions and give out handfuls of information a day. Oftentimes, big news shows such as CNN and Fox News have a YouTube channel and by watching their YouTube, you can get their spill of what they'd talk about on the talk show, but shorter and more summarized. YouTube is a huge network that gathers many different videos per minute, therefore a large variety of information is being put out a day, it is almost like you have unlimited information when scrolling through YouTube. YouTube also has pretty much everything you could possibly look up and it ranges from informational and 'how to do' videos all the way to entertainment videos. I really enjoy YouTube because not only could you get a plethora of information from the Google owned source but you could also purchase a better version of YouTube to receive no ads and the first couple of months are free of charge! How awesome would it be to watch everything you ever wanted to with no commercials and no ads with no charge? That is very tough to beat. In the end, I would strongly recommend the use of YouTube for daily essentials you may need help with, such as resetting a computer, or even how to tie a tie, YouTube has it all! As well as YouTube could help you find reliable information quickly without having to watch a hour long segment. 

4. The fourth source I use to gather information is Instagram. Believe it or not, Instagram sometimes has some very powerful information that must be read. Yes, lots of people using this app could be very biased but recently, false posts have been edited to where there is a source at the bottom of the post showing where the real and factual information can be found. This is extremely helpful to the users of Instagram because it sort of limits that biased and false side Instagram could sometimes hold. I also really love using Instagram because I get daily notifications when big named people post informative statements and posts, such as Chris Cuomo. Another informative person I love hearing from on Instagram is Adrian Wojnarowski. I love hearing from Adrian Woj because he is a very reliable source in the sports industry and he always has the latest news on what big things have happened over the last couple of weeks or days. I love using Instagram because of everything I can explore using the app, I am on the app a decent amount of time per day but I am glad I can browse through many different trusted individuals and receive vital information. In conclusion, I strongly recommend Instagram because of all the powerful information it actually holds and corrects if wrong as well as how you can stay up to date on pretty much everything you need because you can get notifications when a reliable source posts something new. 

5. The Daily News Podcasts is another source I love hearing from. This news source is pretty much a podcast that is produced from The New York Times. Those who know about The New York Times know it is very factual and has good information that many need to see or hear. Throughout this podcast, journalists are interviewed often and it lasts about 30 minutes per episode. There is a lot of information viewers could gather from a 30 minute podcast with known journalists. the topics vary per episode but each journalist who is featured on the show pretty much shares their story and what all they've had to go through which directly correlates to the specific topic of the episode. It is very interesting to listen and gather information from because you never know what these famous journalists may have in mind to discuss and it could be something that either you have dealt with or may encounter in the near future. I love podcasts in general but I really enjoy listening to this specific one because of the great information and trusted sources that the podcast provides. I certainly recommend taking a listen to one of these podcasts to gather strong stories of known Times journalists as well as overall information on what is going on in the world today. 

In the end, there are plenty of sources out there that you could be looking at and following for top news. I'd recommend researching those programs before spending large amounts of time using them, some of them may have a bad history or do some things you may not approve of. With that being said, I hope my top 5 news sources may have helped you out a bit when looking for news sources to use, I certainly love using them! Looking forward to blogging with you all again soon, thanks!