Blogging

Before this semester, the closest thing to blogging that I have done was put out a few Tweets. Blogging was just something different for me, but I actually really enjoyed it. Blogging has evolved heavily since 1994. This form of mass communication gives anyone the power to publish their work. Also it allowed anyone to be able to build and manage a website. For me to be able to have taken this class was truly a blessing. When we first were told about how this blogging assignment in the beginning of the semester, I wasn't so sure how I was going to like it. It turned out to be extremely satisfying and one of my favorite assignments I would have to do each week. Having a "personal diary" not only made me find one relevant news story each week, but also taught me to enjoy reading the news and now I am much more educated on current events. I am no longer the kid in the room that is clueless about whats happening around the world. Also, thanks to this class I am much more aware of what I post online as well as how to prevent my personal information from being so easily accessed on the Web. Being informed about internet privacy and the first amendment really changed my perspective on a lot of things. This class being Media, Law and Literacy allowed the class to cover a wide variety of meaningful lessons that help prepare naive students, like myself, be more educated in todays society where almost everything involved media.

TED TALK

Living in a world where everyones phone calls, text messages, and video chats are so easily accessed by anyone, its become a scary time. People argue that it helps the police catch bad guys and the government stop terrorist, which is definitely true. But if the government and police have a harder time catching bad guys, that also means that stalkers, terrorist, and government agencies will have a harder time hacking into the other billion people who use technology to communicate. Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.. have the responsibility to keep its users and customers safe. They often do the exact opposite and sell your information which can get into the wrong hands. Technology is magnificent, until it gets into the wrong hands. The TED talks that I watched prior to writing this blog, covered multiple diverse reasons why having privacy in technology is so important. These incredible devices that everyone loves so dearly, have many times turned into users worst nightmares when they are hacked. Catherine Crump talked about how small and surprisingly dangerous the information police have access to just by taking a picture of your license plate. She also talks about how military level weapons are being brought into the police force more and more each year. The other TED talked that I really enjoyed watching was Christopher Soghoian's. His addressed helpful tips to avoid surveillance while using your device. He dives into how more advance crypto by big companies will help everyone. Overall these TED talks were extremely informative and  gave myself a ton to reflect on.